November 1

VOL. 136, ISSUE 9 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012 SWARTHMOREPHOENIX.COM

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SPORTSDRAMATIC STORYLINES OPEN NBA SEASONNew sports columnist Dayo Fay-anju begins his Phoenix debut with a preview of the NBA season that’s just beginning, running through contenders and pretenders alike. 9

OPINIONSCAST AN INFORMED VOTE THIS YEAR!Use your ballot to its utmost extent; don’t just vote for a presidential can-didate and stop! The Phoenix has gathered together profiles of cani-dates running for six down-ballot positions. Page 16

LIVING & ARTSGROUPS CAMPAIGN TO ELECTION STRETCHFive days before a general election, campus political groups are mobi-lizing to support the Obama and Romney campaigns in the final stretch of a seemingly-interminable political season. Page 7

NEWSROCK THE VOTE: VOTING PATTERNS AT SWATIn a recently conducted survey, students show that they will be vot-ing in several different ways, while some expressed disenchantment at the political system and plan to stay home on November 6. Page 4

The Ph enixThe Official Campus Newspaper of Swarthmore

College Since 1881

XC Competes at Centennial Conference

ChampionshipsA Daily Gazette Column Triggers Dialogue

Regarding Athletics at SwarthmoreBy JENNI LUSports Writer

Continued on Page 5

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

JULIA CARLETON/PHOENIX STAFF

Swarthmore student athletes, accompanied by Phineas the Phoenix, filled the floor of Tarble Pavilion on Friday night during the annual Homecoming Pep Rally. Despite the large presence of athletes involved in varsity, club and intramural sports on campus, a column recently published in The Daily Gazette sparked controversy regarding athletics on campus.

Column Stirs Controversy

Last Saturday, the Swarthmore cross country teams took part in the Centennial Conference Championships. Led by Jacob Phillips ‘13, the Garnet men scored 104 points to finish fourth behind the strong teams from Haverford, Dickinson and Johns Hopkins. On the women’s side, Jenna Cody ’16 led the team to a sixth place finish, with a score of 150 points.

Phillips finished the race in his typically strong fashion, placing seventh overall and earning First-Team All Centennial Confer-ence honors — the first Garnet runner to do so since Lang Reynolds in 2003.

From the very beginning, Phillips had his eye on the prize. “That was my goal go-ing into the race and I knew exactly what I needed to do to accomplish that,” he said. The race turned out to be thrilling until the end, without a clear top seven in front until the very end of the five-mile race. “It turned into a sprint finish where First Team hon-ors were decided in the last 200 meters,” said Phillips. But despite an exhausting race, Phillips still managed to enjoy the adrena-line rush. “[It] was incredibly exciting and encouraging to me because I’m never the runner who can out-sprint someone,” he said.

Cody emerged as the leader of the wom-en’s team, finishing 17th overall despite dealing with a sprained ankle. With such an important race on the line, Cody cer-tainly felt the weight of it. “The atmosphere was definitely more intense than the other races,” she said. “It was pretty exciting for everyone.”

While the team may have been looking for a stronger finish, Cody was still pleased with the results. “We ran great as a team … we were able to work together and get all seven of our scoring runners across the line in less than 24 minutes,” she said. Head Coach Peter Carroll was equally proud of his team, saying, “Considering all the setbacks we had on the women’s side, I thought we performed gallantly.”

With the Centennial Conference Cham-pionships behind them, both teams are now focusing on the upcoming NCAA Mideast Regional Race on Nov. 10, with a chance to qualify for the national championships. Phillips hopes to build upon the men’s team’s performance last Saturday. “We were further behind Hopkins and Dickin-son than we would have liked … [at Region-als] we’re running against about forty addi-tional teams that we didn’t see at Centennial Championships,” he said.

Fortunately enough, this upcoming race will bring out the strengths of many of their runners. “The terrain at Regionals will be much more rugged, which will favor some of our runners who are better on hills,” Car-roll explained. Phillips shared similar con-fidence. “We’re a team that’s historically strong on hills,” he said.

With a hunger for a stronger perfor-mance, both teams will be entering the NCAA Mideast Regional Races with a competitive fire. However, as last week’s race proved for Phillips, cross country can be unpredictable. As he put it, “Ultimately, we’ll have to see what next Saturday brings.”

There is a certain risk that comes with trying to stir up controversy at a place full of highly opinionated people. When Paul Vernon ’16 published a column arguing for cutting funding for athletics, de-em-phasizing recruitment and eliminating the physical education requirement, he experi-enced the repercussions of those hazards.

“There are so many things wrong with this,” wrote one anonymous commenter. “You, sir, just attacked 40 percent of your school. That is unintelligent,” commented another. One particularly peeved per-son stated, “You are putting words in the mouths of every student-athlete on cam-pus.”

But as the outpouring of anger, pleth-ora of debate and seventy-plus comments show, Vernon’s column has sparked a tre-mendous amount of argument, both about athletics at Swarthmore, about the nature of the article and what the appropriate re-sponse is when someone writes something that is not necessarily popular.

“He had several points that weren’t terrible, but that were very badly argued in terms of incendiary nature,” said Da-vid Hill ’13, who was one of the few com-menters on Vernon’s column that opted not to be anonymous, and felt the piece un-necessarily targeted athletes. “It really casts dispersions upon athletes. A lot of them are my friends, brothers or other associates,

and they worked really hard to be here.” Many students, like Hill, felt that the

column was offensive. In particular, people were irked by the argument that explicitly recruiting athletes, but not students with other extracurricular talents, was problem-atic. Some felt that Vernon was insinuat-ing that athletes are less worthy of being at Swarthmore. “The fact that he implied that admissions lowered their standards for me to get in really irked me,” said Billy Len-non ’16, who was recruited to play tennis. “I was recruited,” he said. “But I wouldn’t have been recruited if I didn’t have the grades.”

Jim Bock, the dean of admissions, made similar statements about the admission of athletes. “What all of our students share is a love of learning and a great interest in the life of the mind and the value of a superla-tive liberal arts educational both inside of and outside of the classroom.”

Bock said that while athletics was cer-tainly considered, it was only one of a myriad of extracurricular activities that they explored. “Coaches focus on recruit-ment and finding talent and encouraging appropriate applications to the College, but admissions deans also forward names to appropriate coaches when we meet stu-dents on the road at college fairs, at high school visits, and during interviews at the College,” he said. “We do the same for mu-sic, engineering, classics, etc. There are no defined ‘quotas’ for each individual sport, but each year we do admit a percentage of students whose athletic talent may have

tipped the scales in terms of admission as for any special talent or need.”

Bock did say that the athletics depart-ment and admissions office had a close re-lationship. “There is a very strong history and collaborative relationship between the admissions and athletics offices, and I communicate on a regular basis with Adam Hertz, Director of Athletics, and with coaches as needed,” he said.

Still, according to Bock, the aim is to construct a campus with a diverse array of interests he said, and athletics are just one example of that. “All students are admitted for a reason beyond her or his academic qualifications, and we know each brings a wealth of talent, potential and intellectual depth to each class.”

In addition, people disagreed with Ver-non’s argument that because sports are competitive and cutthroat, they are hence perhaps out of sync with the rest of the at-mosphere at Swarthmore. “I think that ath-letics, for those who choose to participate in them, fits very much into the Swarth-more experience,” said Victor Brady ’13, the co-president of student council and a student coach for three teams. Hill agreed, calling the notion that competition in ath-letics could cause athletes to develop values that were out of sync “frankly insane.”

“You don’t bond or work with people in a more close fashion than on a sports team,” said Hill. “You can’t play basketball, or soccer or any other team sport without teammates. Even in individual sports, you still have people you train with.”

By DANIEL BLOCKNews Writer

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NewsGarnet Weekend Provides Impressive Host of EventsGarnet Weekend, which took place last weekend, showcased athletic events, lectures, tours and work-shops for the 1000 plus people in attendance. PAGE 3J Street: Pro Israel, Pro PeaceTwo juniors have started a chapter of the political pro-Israel, pro-peace organization on campus. � ey seek to bring discussion, lectures and lobbying e� orts to campus. PAGE 4

Living & Arts Beautiful and Bizarre as Life: Dancing Around the Bride Debuts at the PMAColumnist Zoe Wray reviews an exhibit that calls at-tention to the o� en-overlooked elements of daily life and highlights the relationships between American postwar artists. PAGE 6With the election days away, Swat sprints to the � nishFive days before a general election, campus politi-cal groups are mobilizing to support the Obama and Romney campaigns in the � nal stretch of a seeming-ly-interminable political season. PAGE 7Cathy’s Hurricane Re� ectionNew columnist Cathy Park examines the small beau-ties wrought by the gargantuan destruction of Hur-ricane Sandy. PAGE 7 Crum Regatta Racers Beat SandyReturning a� er last year’s break in tradition, the Crum Regatta crowns two returning champions and rewards participants for creativity, spirit, and e� ort. PAGE 8 Dorm Dive: A Wall of Memories, Past

and PresentPeek inside the Wharton quad of � rst-years Frank Wu, Salman Sa� r, Byran Green and Craig Earley, whose decorating style re� ects their shared value of friendships new and old. PAGE 9Merrily’s Cast Brings Characters to LifeActors and actresses in this year’s musical moved au-dience members with poignant performances as they delivered the familiar message to keep your friends close. PAGE 10 Free in Fall: An Autumnal Re� ectionColumnist Kieran Reichert re� ects on the ephemeral-ity of a fall break spent in the Adirondack Mountains.PAGE 11Can You Dig It?: Tattoo TalkEVS Technician David Toland, proud bearer of 64 tattoos, gives advice ranging on shop choice to design selection. PAGE 12 Local Teens Are Not Ville RatsColumnist Sam Zhang calls for a reexamination of language that alienates college students from the local community. PAGE 12Dear Nestor: A Letter from a Scared Senior� e Phoenix’s advice columnist returns to quell fears of permanent joblessness and o� er interview advice for career-hunting seniors. PAGE 12 Hasty Halloween Costumes From Your ProfessorsStruggling to come up with creative costume ideas? Check out suggestions from professors in your favor-ite departments! PAGE 13

OpinonsSta� Editorial� e Phoenix commends the College Administration and the sta� of Sharples for their top-notch response to Hurricane Sandy. PAGE 14� e Climatology of HurricanesPatrick explains the science behind Hurricane Sandy — and how climate change has exacerbated storms in recent years. PAGE 14’Cause We Like To Party: Halloween Edi-tionWith the infamous Halloween Party approaching, Sean Bryant o� ers advice for the costumed revelers out there on making your night a success. PAGE 15In Defense of the Electoral CollegeDanielle Charette examines the Constitutional background behind what has become an unpopu-lar method of choosing a President — and says we should keep it. PAGE 15

SportsRookie QBs Looking GoodJamie notices that quarterbacks straight out of col-lege are starring in the NFL, and thinks that’s a great thing. PAGE 17Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame Unveiled Swarthmore inducted its � rst Hall of Fame class, hon-oring the best athletes over the past 100 years to have played for the Garnet. PAGE 18Women’s Soccer Prepares for Centennial Playo� sWith Saturday’s loss to Haverford, the Garnet enter the Centennial tournament as the #5 seed, facing Muhlenberg on � ursday with a semi� nal spot at stake. PAGE 20


Hurricane Sandy! Tell Me About It, Stud | Page 3

NewsHurricane Sandy! Tell Me About It, Stud

On Sunday afternoon, members of the Swarthmore College community received an email informing them that the college would be closed on the following Monday and Tuesday because of the impending arrival of Hurricane Sandy. As the dorms erupted in joy at this surprising yet heavily wished for occurrence, upperclassmen everywhere expressed disbelief about the cancellation of classes. Atish Agarwala ’13 said, “I’ve never had a class cancelled because of weather in my time here.” This was the first time that Swarthmore’s Provost has cancelled classes since 9/11. The Office of the Provost cannot recall a time before that during which classes were cancelled for weather-related incidents.

As lethargy set in amongst the occupants of the dorms on college due to an unexpected four-day weekend, the various departments of the college’s administration were abuzz with activity. The college’s maintenance and dining teams seemed to be the busiest as they prepared for hurricane-inflicted damage and potential food and staff shortages.

Linda McDougall from Dining Services recounted the dining team’s activities in a detailed email about how they managed to keep Sharples functioning seamlessly through the storm.

After an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon, Janet Kassab, one of the two Shar-ples managers on duty, realized that Sharples

would have to cater to everyone on Monday since there would be no Essie Mae’s or coffee shop open. McDougall recalled, “Janet went into emergency preparedness mode and had to be sure there would be enough staff to man the dining hall. At this point Patti Woods, a supervisor, jumped into making many phone calls for staff. Janet also realized that the worst of the storm was to hit our area 4:00 p.m. so we thought it in the safety of the students that we would pack out a bag meal for dinner in case the storm was at its peak and students could not safely walk to Sharples.”

Minor hiccups were met and countered such as the cancellation of SEPTA trains. Linda said of the crisis, “Late Monday night we were told SEPTA was closing down so we now had to adjust staffing to compensate for staff who agreed to work and could now not get here. At this time we relied on our snack bar and coffee bar staffs as well as high school kids to staff the dining hall. That all worked out very well.”

Students who went to Sharples on Mon-day to eat lunch and collect dinner would have seen many deans and President Rebecca Chopp behind the tables, handing them food supplies. Kassab praised the community’s spirit, saying, “On Monday, we had the help of President Chopp, Provost Tom Stevenon, Associate VP of Human Resources Pamela Prescod-Caesar, Dean of Admissions Jim Bock as well as Professor Paul Rablen, Tom Elverson (Dean’s office), Mike Hill and Jo-anna Gallagher (public safety) and Stu Hain

all pitch in to help man our dinner pack out station. We also had Student Council and many coaches and staff call and offer to help. This is an amazing community we work in!”

Even as all the planning, advance order-ing and improvising by the dining team paid off, another section of the administration was hard at work trying to keep things run-ning smoothly. Ralph Thayer from Main-tenance gave an account of the hurricane’s impact on the college in an email early this morning.

Speaking about the overall impact, he said, “We came through the storm with very little damage. Aside from the electrical out-age (a problem we shared with millions in the tri-state area), the hurricane passed as little more than a windy nor’easter.”

The Maintenance Department’s work started on the Friday before the arrival of the hurricane. Preparations, as listed by Thayer, included stowing “the outdoor furniture and secured items prone to flying in the wind. We took down and stored the Calder mobile sculpture and cleared debris from gutters, storm inlets, roof drains and window wells. Last but not least, they topped up fuel sup-plies in the emergency generators.”

On Monday morning, only essential staff came in, since the college was closed for ev-eryone, and they handled cases of flooding in Parrish and college housing on Elm Avenue. Thayer added, “Roof, window and door leaks were reported in the Science Center, Hicks, Worth and Alice Paul.”

Thayer detailed the Monday evening

power outage experienced on the main cam-pus: “Power went off on the main campus at 8:06 p.m., was then partially restored but was off fully by 10:06 p.m. Standby generators for life safety systems were activated.”

It was Tuesday that experienced potential problems. “On Tuesday morning, the Field House generator failed. The Dining Hall was transferred to the Heat Plant Generator for the duration of the outage. We continued to monitor the campus and arranged for a back-up generator to support the campus in the event that the power was not restored. Power was restored at 3:06 p.m., just as the truck mounted generator arrives on Cam-pus.”

As students emerged unscathed and well-fed from the unexpected weekend, President Chopp’s email sent on Wednesday morning seemed a fitting conclusion to Hurricane Sandy and its impact at Swarthmore. She acknowledged in her email that other areas have not been as lucky as Swarthmore. She praised the community, saying, “While these are sobering times, I do want to take a mo-ment to express how very proud I am of the way our community came together to brace for, and then endure the storm. I want to particularly acknowledge the dining, facili-ties, environmental services, residential life, and public safety staff who stayed on campus through much of the most critical 48 hours to keep our students safe, fed, and supported. I also want to acknowledge the fine efforts of our Crisis Management Team, who led and coordinated our crisis response.”

The PhoenixPAGE 3THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

Swarthmore Community Comes Together For The StormBy NEHMAT KAUR

News Writer

I think the format works very well ... [the events]

were very well-organized and in-depth.Payyi Wann

Swarthmore parent

This past weekend, schedules were packed for the students, families and alum-ni who came to the third annual Garnet Homecoming and Family Weekend. Along with athletic events, tours, workshops and faculty and alumnus talks as in the past two years, new networking receptions, Garnet Hall of Fame Unveiling and Legacy Circle Luncheon were added on, encouraging more interactions among the three groups.

The Family and Friends Weekend used to be in the spring, but the event was moved to October to enable parents to visit students earlier. It was renamed three years ago because “We were adding this homecoming component and we want this homecoming part to be first because we re-

ally hope to draw our alumni back,” said Melissa Pizarro, director of donor relations.

“Students will discover that when they become alumni, they will take any oppor-tunity to come back and visit,” said Chris-topher Edley Jr. ’73, dean of the UC-Berke-ley Boalt School of Law and speaker of the highlight of the weekend, the McCabe Lec-ture entitled “Creating the K-16 Education System American Needs.”

“I enjoyed hearing Mr. Edley’s talk about the future of education,” said Bruce Rockwood ’68, now retired professor and chair of the Legal Studies Department of Bloomsburg University. “I have been teach-ing for about 35 years. I think Swarthmore is always a place that produces educators for elsewhere. We plant the seeds of ideas and develop programs for the colleges and universities we teach at.”

There were also two faculty lectures af-

ter the McCabe lecture. Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology and An-thropology and Coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program Lee Smithey gave a lecture titled “Culture and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland,” and Professor Ellen Magenheim, Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics, talked about health care challenges.

The college provided a variety of pro-grams for the approximately 1,000 people coming to Garnet Weekend. Besides lec-tures, there were athletic events, and the women’s field hockey team, women’s volleyball team, women’s soccer team, and men’s soccer team all competed with Haverford. Garnet Weekend usually takes place in the third or the fourth weeks of Oc-tober. “We choose the weekend that has the most athletic events,” said Pizarro.

Considering previous years’ responses, the college initiated a new form of the net-working receptions event. Last year, the business networking session was sepa-rated from the health and law reception session. This year was the first time the college put all three of the fields — law, business and health — together in this one hour reception.

“It gave them an opportunity to flow,” Pizarro said about the change. “We have all these groups on campus at the same time so we hope to give students the best opportunity to network with everybody that’s around.”

“I think the format works very well,” said Payyi Wann, mother of a Swarthmore freshman. However, she expected to see more juniors and seniors coming to such networking events in the future. She came with her husband, and said that she thinks the Garnet Weekend events were “very well-organized and in-depth, and next year and for the next four years, we plan to come back.”

Wenkai Lu, Wann’s husband, also sug-gested having an event just for the parents so that they could “mingle more infor-mally.” He hopes to see someone organize

such an event to promote communications among parents.

Alexander M. Capron ’66, professor of Law and Medicine at the University of Southern California, is a Swarthmore alumnus and a parent of a sophomore at the college. Professor Capron came to the law session of the networking receptions. He believes more sessions on academic professions, such as the teaching profes-sion, could be added to the receptions.

Craig and Linda Giangrade, parents of Tara Giangrade ‘16, also came for the week-end to learn more about the college and to “see how our daughter interacts with her friends.” They went to the lectures, Presi-dent’s Welcome and Quakers, Swarthmore and the Underground Railroad Walking Tour.

But this weekend was also for students. “We want to make sure our students know that it’s happening. For the future of Garnet Weekend, I would love to see more student

engagement,” said Pizarro.

This year, there were two students in the Garnet Weekend Planning Commit-tee. They attended the meetings and brought student per-spectives. Eliza Polli ’13 was one of them. “I thought the Pep Rally was the best it has ever been and

the community seemed much more en-gaged in the activities, possibly because of the events surrounding the Hall of Fame in-ductions and the Haverford athletics day,” she said.

Brone Lobichusky ’14 agreed. “I think the addition of the Hall of Fame this year was excellent, and I look forward to seeing that in the future.” Lobichusky hopes to see more events centered on students. “I hope the Planning Committee can work on a survey of students and see what they would attend and be excited about.”

“I think my dream would be to be walk-ing down Parrish Walk and hear students talking about how excited that they are as the Garnet Weekend is coming up,” said Pizarro.

Garnet Weekend Provides Impressive Host of EventsBy CHI ZHANG

News Writer

JULIANA GUTIERREZ/PHOENIX STAFF

President Rebecca Chopp welcomes attendees of the Garnet Homecoming and Family Weekend this past Saturday morning in Lang Concert Hall.

NewsPAGE 4

The Phoenix

A chapter of J Street, a political organiza-tion that calls itself the home for “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Americans,” held its first interest meeting on Friday October 26 in Kohlberg. The chapter, led by Jacob Adenbaum ’14 and Caleb Jones ’14, sees Israel’s occupation in the West Bank and Gaza not only as a fundamen-tal violation of human rights, but as a politi-cal hurdle in the way of Israel’s existence as a democratic state.

“[J Street] is an organization premised on the idea that being pro-Israel isn’t mutually exclusive with opposing the occupation and some of the humanitarian abuses that are tak-ing place in Gaza and the West Bank,” Aden-baum said. “In fact, it’s not just that they’re not mutually exclusive, it’s that being pro-Is-rael necessitates being concerned about those issues because the fact that there’s this vast mass of stateless Palestinians undermines Israel as a democratic western state in a way that really is unacceptable for Israel’s future.”

He and Jones decided to start the chap-ter of J Street at Swarthmore because they thought that this particular angle on the con-flict wasn’t being heard on campus. While the Israeli occupation is often talked about as a humanitarian crisis affecting Palestinians, it

is seldom talked about as a crisis affecting Is-rael’s existence as well.

SPJP, Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine, is a human rights organization on campus that aims to end the occupation through social activism. Adenbaum points out that J street and SPJP differ in this main respect — Although both groups want to see the Israeli occupation come to an end, the discussions and goals are framed in different contexts. SPJP is a humanitarian group, and J street a political one. The group’s founder thinks J Street’s approach will be most effec-tive.

“I think that if you’re going to be pragmat-ic, you want to say to Israel, ‘Look, this is in your interest. You can’t keep being what you want to be if you’re going to keep occupying the West Bank,’” Adenbaum said.

Danny Hirschel-Burns ’14 is a Jewish member of SPJP. Although he thinks that J Street is an interesting organization with lots of potential, he does not plan on joining.

“I’m not religious, but I see my Jewish values as a commitment to social justice and equality, so I feel like I need to be an activist,” he said. “I [also] personally don’t agree com-pletely with J Street’s vision of the two state solution. I’m skeptical of it. I think there can be one state for two people and an inclusive democracy can work.”

SPJP has often been seen as a group who

is, in some ways, against Israel. Hirschel-Burns admits that while “Israel is very rarely the good guy in our conversations,” the vio-lence happens on both sides and no one in SPJP would deny that.

“It’s a shame that there does seem to be this rumor that SPJP doesn’t welcome Jews ... When we talk about this at the meetings, people are throwing their hands up in the air in frustration,” he said.

Although he is sure that this rumor is not true, Adenbaum admits that it might be hard to join a group that is so critical of Israel as a Jewish person who has grown up in strongly pro-Israel households.

“For people who grew up in a Jewish community truly dominated by the likes of AIPAC, [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], hearing some of the criticism of Israel can be hard and can sometimes be alienating,” Adenbaum said.

“J Street could be a way for people who have grown up in that AIPAC world to get some traction on the issue. It’s a gentler way to jump into that kind of advocacy... By com-ing out right off the bat and saying, we are pro-Israel, but what Israel is doing is hurting itself, that can be easier for Jews who have been AIPAC brainwashed.”

He adds that a lot of what J street can in fact do at this collegiate level is show people that there is a way of approaching the issue

that doesn’t involve rejecting Israel or its le-gitimacy — that there’s a way of approaching these issues that is both consistent with being a truly liberal zionist, and also being against the human rights violations taking place in the region.

Still, both Adenbaum and Hirschel-Burns agree that there is immense potential for co-operation between the two groups.

Hirschel-Burns is happy that a J Street chapter is starting up because he believes it may be a constructive group to have discus-sions with.

“When SPJP is the only group on this is-sue, it just doesn’t have as much clout. Es-pecially if the perceived opposition is Hillel, which SPJP has worked really hard not to have that be the case,” he said.

Adenbaum is excited by the prospects of collaboration between the two groups as well. “SPJP is fundamentally an ally of an organiza-tion like J Street. We all want the same thing, which is that we have a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” he said.

J Street is planning on creating dialogue, doing some kind of lobbying effort, and bringing speakers to campus.

The first meeting had approximately 10 attendees, and while schedules are still being considered, the organization plans on having weekly meetings to have discussions and plan future efforts.

J Street: Pro Israel, Pro Peace

By AMANDA EPSTEINAssistant News Editor

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

Students Bring National Organization to Campus

As the election quickly approaches, much of Swarthmore’s student body will have the op-portunity to vote for the first time. With several voting options — such as absentee ballots, vot-ing in Pennsylvania and not voting at all — stu-dents are taking various approaches to voicing their right to vote.

In a survey of 89 random Swarthmore stu-dents, 32 students said they would use an ab-sentee ballot to vote in their respective home states, while 43 non-Pennsylvania native stu-dents plan to vote in Pennsylvania. Among the remaining students, three participated in early voting in their home states during Fall Break, one Swarthmore student is going home to Del-aware to vote next week, and 10 students will not vote at all in the upcoming election.

The most common reason for choosing to vote via an absentee ballot was the desire to vote for state propositions or their state’s rep-

resentatives in the federal government. This was particularly true for those surveyed from Massachusetts, a state that has a tight Senate race between Scott Brown (R) and Elizabeth Warren (D). Closely following wanting to vote for their state’s specific elections or issues were students from swing states who want to vote in their state’s election.

“I’m in a swing state and Paul Ryan’s dis-trict. I owed it to myself to vote against him,” a student from Wisconsin wrote, while Nick Witchey ‘15 said explained his choice of an voting absentee by saying “Ohio needs peeps to vote for Obama”.

Although not as commonly expressed, the other reasons for absentee ballots were laziness (the convenience of mailing in a ballot) and home state pride.

“I worked on the Obama campaign in ’08 in Indiana, so my decision to vote with an ab-sentee ballot is more to reassert my support for him because Indiana is voting red,” Danny Mc-Mahon ’15 explained.

For those who decided to register to vote

in Pennsylvania, however, the rationales were predominantly uniform: 75 percent of students surveyed who said they were voting in Penn-sylvania claimed to do so because they thought it would make a bigger impact on the election than voting in their home state would.

“I decided to vote in Pennsylvania because Mississippi is usually pretty definitive in its vote, and my vote would have more impact in a large swing state than a small state from the South,” Uriel Medina ’16 said.

A male sophomore from the predominantly Democratic state of New Jersey, who wished to remain anonymous, used a similar reasoning, saying that he wanted his vote to count for Re-publican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

First-time voter and New York resident Cecilia Paasche ’16, along with a few other Swarthmore students, expressed the desire to vote in person.

“I wanted the experience of physically vot-ing for the first time,” she said. “I always went inside the booth and voted with my parents, so now I get to do it myself.”

Besides these two relatively common rea-sons, the remainder of Pennsylvania voters chose their voting method because their par-ents instructed them to. In general, there was no correlation to students’ home state’s proxim-ity to Swarthmore and whether students chose to vote in their home state or in Pennsylvania.

Half of the students surveyed who will not vote in the upcoming election were too lazy to register to vote; the other half chose not to vote because of a lack of faith in politicians. These students are not the only dubious Swarthmore students. Hope Brinn ’15, who is registered to vote in Pennsylvania, is also cynical of the vot-ing system, which is why she plans to vote in Pennsylvania.

“There’s a [lot] of corruption in Pennsyl-vania and Delaware County in particular,” she said. “However, I know that gerrymandering will make it difficult for me to have an impact.”

The election takes place next Tuesday, No-vember 6. Swarthmore College’s local polling place is at the Swarthmore-Rutledge School at 100 College Ave.

We Rock The VoteBy SARAH COE-ODESS

News Writer

Students Vote Absentee, Early, In Home States, At Swat ... And Not At All

Out of 89 polled students,

36 percent of people

said they would use an

absentee ballot to vote

in their respective home

states, while 48 percent

non-Pennsylvania

natives plan to vote in

Pennsylvania. 4 percent

said they would vote at

home during Fall Break. 1

percent will return home

to vote (to Delaware). 11

percent will be abstaining

from voting in this

election entirely.

ARE YOU REALLY

THAT BUSY?

ABSENTEE

VOTERS VOTING FOR

RESPECTIVE STATES

ABSTAINING

FROM

VOTING

VOTED

DURING

FALL BREAK

WILL

RETURN

HOME

NON-NATIVE PENN.

VOTERS VOTING

IN PENN.

48% 36% 11% 4% 1%PARKER MURRAY / THE PHOENIX

NewsThe Phoenix

PAGE 5THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

Week in PicturesSandy, Garnet Weekend and Halloween

Preparation Take Campus By Storm

JULIA CARLETON/PHOENIX STAFFThough students, faculty and staff were left unscathed by Sandy, many trees across campus felt the brunt of her fury.

KATY MONTOYA/PHOENIX STAFFMembers of Sigma Xi, a national science research society, present posters of their findings in the Eldridge Commons of the Science Center.

ZHENGLONG ZHOU/PHOENIX STAFF

Not everyone was offended. Brady, for example, felt that the points Vernon brought up were important. “I think these are valu-able concerns, and ones that are often ex-pressed not just in this community,” he said. “I think it’s very valuable to have construc-tive dialogue.”

Vernon, for his part, feels his points were somewhat misinterpreted, and emphasized that it was never his intention to offend peo-ple. “It seemed like my words had been mis-construed slightly,” said Vernon. “I didn’t anticipate that kind of reaction.”

Still, Vernon says he can understand why some people are angry, and that while he may not have anticipated the uproar, he is not shocked. “Given that I criticized some-thing that people have strong feelings about, I’m not surprised by the reaction it caused,” he said. Vernon hopes the takeaway point, however, is not anger, but contemplation. “I hope it caused people, even those who re-acted that way, to think further about it and realize that while athletics does have many positive elements to it, there may be a couple things that may be problematic,” he said.

Above all, Vernon is sticking to his points. While he does not believe that ath-letics “make you less smart or different than the other people at Swarthmore,” or nega-tively influence one’s values, he felt aspects of it could. “It’s an activity that takes up a lot of your time. Many of the relationships that you form as an athlete are with other athletes. And the characteristics of athletics may foster slightly different values and attri-butes than Swarthmore says it’s mission is,” Vernon said.

While the community may, by and large, have expressed disagreement with Vernon, there has been a wide range in how that dis-agreement has been expressed. Hill says he has tried to be respectful. “I think if you dis-agree with someone you should be able to do so openly and constructively,” he said, not-ing that that is why he chose not to remain anonymous in his post. “I put my name on it because I wanted to put forth my opinion. But I didn’t want to hide behind the Internet to do petty nonsense,” he added.

But not everyone tried to stay civil. Some posters accused him of being on drugs, or trolling. And one went as far as to ask what cubby his toothbrush was in.

However, the reaction to such targeting has been, at least openly, negative. “Just be-cause I or anyone else disagrees with the ar-ticle and the point of view, doesn’t mean that

we should take any issue or make personal comments towards the author,” said Brady.

Hill agreed. “If you believe they are being insulting or offensive, to sink to their level, or even below it, is absolutely egregious for Swarthmore,” he said.

Aaron Dockser ’13, Daily Gazette opin-ions editor who published the column, went further. “The vast majority of responses were emotionally misguided, assuming an argument which Paul never put forward in the article, an argument against the value of student athletes or questioning their worthi-ness to be Swarthmore students,” he said. “Never did Paul come close to making such claims.”

Vernon, for his part, seems unfazed by the criticism. “It doesn’t really bother me,” he said, noting that the fact it was online and anonymous meant he “didn’t try and take it too personally.” And Dockser pointed out that it was far from the first Daily Gazette column to inspire controversy.

Still, many have wondered what inspired Vernon to write such a column. Vernon says he got the idea when wondering about why the school has a P.E. requirement, and why it is the only extracurricular required. “So I decided to explore the issue further in the ar-ticle,” he said. It was then after a discussion with his editors, in particular his opinions editor, that he decided to continue and dis-cuss athletics as a whole, a decision that Hill thinks the editors should have taken more carefully, especially considering Vernon’s freshman status. “If anyone was offended, I don’t particularly blame him. I blame the ed-itor,” he said. “I’m not saying they shouldn’t have published it, but I’m saying that some-one should have read that, and as a veteran of Swarthmore, realized ‘oh, this will offend people.’ If that wasn’t his intent, there should have been some sort of stopgap,” he added.

But Dockser said that controversy was considered, and embraced. “Did I antici-pate the ‘controversy?’ Did I warn Paul? Of course,” he said, before rhetorically asking “Since when was the possibility of disagree-ment a disincentive to publish an opinion in the opinion’s section of a college newspa-per?”

Regardless of one’s take, the column has certainly inspired controversy. And accord-ing to Dockser, that is not necessarily bad. “I thought many people would read the article and be intrigued or passionately af-fected,” he said. “These are certainly desired responses to an opinions piece.”

‘Column Controversy,’ continued from page 1


Students adorn windows, doors, walls and every other nook and cranny in preparation for Halloween.

Living & ArtsThe Phoenix


OUTSIDE BUBBLEthe

“Dancing Around the Bride”Now—January 2013Philadelphia Museum of Art

� e Philadelphia Museum of Art opens a new exhibition this week that ex-plores the lives and works of Marcel Duchamp, and his contemporaries in postwar avant-garde art: composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cun-ningham, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Aiming to demonstrate the in� uence of Duchamp on these four artists, the exhibit highlights the interweaving aspects of the artists’ works, includ-ing the “use of chance [and] the incorporation of everyday materials into their art.” � e exhibit features stage sets, musi-cal compositions, dance videos, and paintings. � ere are also live perfor-mances of works by Cunning-ham and Cage, featuring former dancers of the Merce Cunning-ham Dance Company and will be at an additional cost. “Danc-ing Around the Bride” will run until January 2013. For more in-formation about the exhibition, visit www.philamuseum.org.

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Contemporary art can o� en seem cryptic and inaccessible to viewers. De-void of recognizable � gures, it leaves us with random dabs of paint, slashes of lines and absurd juxtapositions, making it appear impossible to even understand how the work speaks to us. And yet, para-doxically, some art actually embraces life and experiences common to all human-ity, no matter where nor when they live. Dancing Around the Bride: Cage, Cun-ningham, Johns, Rauschenberg, and Du-champ, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s latest exhibition which runs until January 21, displays the works of contemporary artists who accomplished this crossover of art to the realm of life. In contrast to the work of Pop artists like Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei, which connects art to the products of modern American cul-ture, the featured works of John Cage, Bruce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Marcel Duchamp use their art in an intermediary role, to call attention to the beauty of life’s fundamen-tal properties that transcend any cultural context.

In every aspect, the exhibition strives to mirror the mechanisms of living. Just as our lives don’t neatly fall into a linear logic of organization, where events and thoughts and feelings fall neatly in steps with marked causality, Dancing around the Bride doesn’t either. Instead, the ex-hibit centers on four themes, titled � e

Bride, Chance, � e Main Stage, and Chess. Each theme has a unique char-acter and reveals di� erent facets about the relation-ship between Du-champ and Cage,

Cunningham, Johns and Rauschenberg, who were all a couple generations young-er than Duchamp.

� e � rst theme, � e Bride, begins in an acoustic sound chamber, designed by Philippe Parreno, a living artist who col-laborated with the curators in the exhibit’s visual and spatial organization. Mounted on a plexiglass wall in the middle of the hallway about 20 feet in front of us � oats Duchamp’s 1912 oil painting Bride, who would enjoy the role as enigmatic pro-tagonist in Duchamp’s monumental work of the 20th century, � e Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (� e Large Glass). In this smaller canvas, visually similar to Duchamp’s notorious 1912 Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), we see virtually nothing that could in-dicate the subject is a bride — but such is expected with non-objective abstract art, anyway. Despite this lack of visual representation, however, Duchamp does manage to convey aspects of the wom-an’s form in a way that connects both to the work’s title and the nature of life in general. Primarily comprised of smooth earth tones, Duchamp weaves delicate ar-abesques with sensuous shading reminis-cent of human skin throughout the com-position, evoking an elegant bride potent with untouchable allure and burgeoning sexuality. Around her rebound the works of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg that she inspired. Although clearly stem-ming from Duchamp’s Bride, these works o� er new considerations to ponder about the bride as a concept. Rauschenberg’s 1959 “combine” painting, Bride’s Folly, presents a cascading stream of white paint through the center of the canvas, surrounded by bold, unmixed hues and with an actual fork stuck in the middle of the veil of white. Whether Rauschenberg is poking fun at the elevated status of the bride or acknowledging the ironic anxi-ety that surrounds the happy occasion of a wedding is le� open for viewers to decide.

� e next theme, Chance, becomes surprisingly touching in its charming celebration of the mundane laws that govern the universe, including gravity,

randomness and time. Duchamp’s 1920 gelatin silver print Élevage de poussière (Dust Breeding) at � rst glance appears to be a photograph of an ocean-soaked sand beach. It looks quite intriguing. But in fact the image we’re looking at is six months’ worth of dust that Duchamp has delib-erately le� to accumulate on the glass of � e Large Glass as he has been working on it. Only an artist like Duchamp, who embodied in his work John Cage’s state-ment that art should be “an a� rmation of life — not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and one’s desires out of the way and lets it act of its own accord,” could have thought to call dust accumulation a work of art. People o� en sneer at contemporary art for its lack of the traditional “technical mastery” that we associate with classical artworks and retort “my kid could have made that.” But in fact that kid most de� -nitely could not have made it, because Duchamp possessed a rare awareness of the brimming potential in the minutiae of life, and he was the � rst to unleash it with such direct, uncompromising force.

� e third theme, � e Main Stage, contains the largest gallery and is the most complicated theme of the four. In the center of the gallery is a dance plat-form, where throughout the run of the show viewers will have the opportunity to watch dancers from Merce Cunning-ham’s original dance studio perform Johns and Cunningham’s choreographed homage to Duchamp Walkaround Time from 1968. At various points through-out the day, di� erent sound recordings of Cunningham and Cage play, setting o� sudden random spasms of sound as viewers peruse the gallery. On the pe-riphery of the dance � oor hang combines and paintings by Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns which complement the theme of life’s primacy in art that breathes through the entire show. Johns’ 1964 oil on canvas with objects titled According to What, for example, calls attention to the absorbing beauty of pure pigment on linen canvas. Johns gives us a shock of unadulterated red, a jolting block of blue and a jaunty punch of yellow, completely breaking the artistic canon of creating illusion. Although his work may seem simply conceived due to its spontaneity, it gives us pause as we return back to the fundamentals of art, and therefore the fundamentals of life.

Chess provides a sweet, endearing end to Dancing around the Bride. Cage and Duchamp were avid chess partners: a� er Cage � nally got the courage in the early 1960s to ask the already-lauded Duch-amp for chess lessons, Duchamp agreed, and the pair saw each other every week until Duchamp’s death in 1968. � e gal-lery thus serves both as a testament to Duchamp’s friendships with Cage as well as Johns and Rauschenberg and as a met-aphor for the artistic exchanges that oc-curred between these giants of American postwar art. Particularly moving is Cage’s 1969 plexigrams series called Not Want-ing to Say Anything about Marcel, a title based o� Johns’ response to a reporter who inquired about his feelings upon the death of his friend and inspiration.

It is clear through this and all of the other rooms in the exhibition that Cage, Johns and Rauschenberg deeply admired and were fond of Duchamp, forging an artistic brotherhood perhaps stronger than that of the Impressionists or Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. As legacies of Duchamp in the American postwar art scene, Cage, Johns and Rauschen-berg committed themselves to continu-ing their bold forefather’s crusade for the appreciation of life’s randomness, for all that is absurd and stupid. � ey took the commonplace laws which we never no-tice that govern our daily lives, and made them art: they took notice.

Beautiful and Bizarre as Life:

Media Farmer’s MarketToday from 3—7 p.m.Media � eater parking lot on State St., Media

If you’re looking to indulge in the last of fall’s produce, stop by the Farmer’s Market in Media today. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the farm-er’s market features salsa and chips from Dos Gringos, local vegetables and fruits from Fruitwood Orchards, Hillside Farm and Herrcastle Farm, and baked goods from Great Harvest Bread Company, My House Cookies, and Zsa’s Ice Cream. � e � nal farmer’s market of the season will be on Nov. 15, so stock up on some local foods and produce. � e Farmer’s Market is located in the Media � eater parking lot on State Street.

Swarthmore Co-Op Food Truckathon!Friday, November 2 at 5:30 p.m.

Trucks will be parked outside the Co-Op

COURTESY OF TWITTER.COM

� is Friday, the Co-Op is hosting another event, bringing some of

Philly’s best food trucks to the Ville. Parked by the Co-Op

will be Birds of Paradise, Mesa Fresh, Good Spoon, Foo Truck, Street, Food Philly, John’s Tamale Cart, Spot Burger, Ka Chi, Jim-mie’s Cupcakes, Mom-Pops, Zsa’s and Made In � e Shade. Starting at 5:30 p.m., there will be live mu-

sic and the food trucks will be serving up delicious food,

desserts and beverages. � e event is BYOB, so grab some

friends and try a taste of Philly and food from all around the world.

By CAMI RYDER

‘Dancing Around the Bride’ Debuts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

ZOEWRAY

Aesthetic Apperceptions

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK.COM



The Perfect Storm: Sandy and Catan, Sitting in CD

CATHYPARK

Through Rose-tinted Swoggles

With Election Day 2012 now less than a week away and countless bitter-ly - fought campaigns hurtling toward their currently unknown conclusions next Tuesday, many Swarthmore groups remain fiercely engaged in the process, even as they reflect on a busy campaign season nearly passed and look into the future of political activism and engage-ment at Swarthmore and beyond.

Many members of the Swarthmore College Democrats have remained busy throughout the semester, participating in everything from voter registration drives to phone banks to local canvass-ing efforts. This year the group is focus-ing primarily on only three campaigns: George Badey for Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district, Larry Demarco for the Pennsylvania State House’s 161st district, and President Obama’s reelec-tion campaign.

Heading into the final stretch, the group is redoubling its efforts, with events planned for nearly every day between now and Tuesday, including a paid canvass in Upper Darby, multiple canvassing trips to Ridley, and continual van runs on Election Day that will take students to and from the polls. Swarth-more Democrats President Allegra Po-cinki ’14 and several others will also be working as poll watchers on election day. Additionally, over the next couple of days, the Obama campaign and Larry Demarco’s campaign manager will be opening a staging location in either Up-per Tarble or Parrish Parlors, where they will coordinate those interested in vol-unteering for get out the vote efforts.

Despite these and other events throughout the semester, Pocinki ex-presses a certain disappointment in the way many intellectually passionate stu-dents seem to approach the election: “I thought we would have twice as many members this year as we do. People here generally care about what’s going on, but not enough to do anything. And that re-ally surprised me and disappointed me. It’s not like we live in a heavy blue state or a heavy red state here. There’s a lot

that could be done here and people don’t really care.” And though she acknowl-edges that hers and many of her fellow Swat Dems members’ personal po-litical views often fall left of the official Democratic platform and the expressed views of many of the candidates they campaign for, she considers the group’s central aim to be working towards real, pragmatic political change, something largely symbolic efforts to support mi-nor third party candidates can’t provide: “They just won’t get anywhere.”

Susana Medeiros ’14, another mem-ber of Swat Dems, has been working this semester as a liason between the club and Larry Demarco’s campaign. In this capacity she has helped the campaign to fundraise and coordinate phone banks and canvasses, where students can participate in his campaign. She was also featured in a campaign ad with fel-low Swarthmore students which ques-

tioned the Republican candidate’s stances on several women’s

r e p r o -

ductive issues. In DeMarco’s campaign, Medeiros

sees “an opportunity to overturn a cat-egorically red local district. While Penn-sylvania will usually go blue in Presi-dential elections, especially in the Philly area, down-ticket races are typically dominated by Republicans.” Because lo-cal races are “almost entirely about how many doors each campaign can knock on,” Medeiros has spent much of her time going from door to door and dis-cussing the candidates’ positions and ideas. Though she often sees evidence of widespread disillusionment in the polit-ical process, she nevertheless finds many “who remain impassioned and curious, who demand and respond.” It’s in these encouraging signs and exchanges that she seems a path to “rebuilding a politi-cal consciousness that has … been lost.”

On the other side of the political spectrum, members of Swarthmore College Conservatives, which, accord-ing to Co- P r e s i d e n t T y l e r Becker

’14,

now number around 20, have also par-ticipated in phone banks for Mitt Rom-ney and other local candidates at the field office in Springfield. Many of the club’s long-term aims, however, focus more on creating a sizable and ideo-logically formidable conservative pres-ence on campus than on any specific campaigns. “We will be having our own election night event to watch the results together,” Becker acknowledged, “but in reality Swarthmore Conservatives is still building.” Next semester, the group plans to start a reading group “to read classical texts, and explore conservative and libertarian philosophy,” and hopes to bring more conservative speakers to campus in the future. At least for now, the club continues to prioritize intel-lectual exploration of the underlying principles of American conservatism and conservative policies and concepts: “While campaigns have very tailored messages understanding these messages when you see them and being able to in-terpret what they mean is really impor-tant in our society.”

Other politically oriented groups on campus, though not directly linked with one of the two dominant Ameri-can political parties, remain, in their own way, aware of and engaged in the process. This Friday, Earthlust, the um-brella group for environment clubs on campus, will be hosting a parlor party focused, according to group member Benjamin Goloff ’15 “on our presi-dential, senatorial and congressional candidates and their positions or non-

positions on some critical environmen-tal issues.” For his part, Goloff expresses extreme disappointment in the limited role environmental issues have played in the election thus far: “When you look at Obama and Romney, they both take the same tactic in avoiding the envi-ronment as a real campaign issue: de-emphasizing substantive policy changes and framing ‘energy’ as a purely market-focused imperative,” wrote Goloff in an e-mail. “Politics aside, anyone seriously engaged with environmental problem-solving knows that addressing environ-mental problems is impossible without honest, directional decision-making and solid legislation to back it up.”

As Election Nears, Groups Look to Final Stretch

By AXEL KODATLiving & Arts Writer

ILLUSTRATION BY RENU NADKARNI

Sandy, Seniors, and Settlers of Catan Mix Surprisingly Well

Campus Political Groups Engage Supporters, Plan for the Future

I live in Wharton CD 1st, an exclusively senior hall in an exclusively — minus one junior — senior section. The trade-off for the lack of awkward leaning-in-the-doorway-chatting-with-someone-in-the-room interac-tions that vamp up the noise level of the hall is that hall life is virtually non-existent. At this stage of my college career, this bothers me very little; I’ll bump into fellow hallmates in the bathroom or at the water fountain, give them a perfunctory greeting, then sidle away with a

knowing smile. It is not that seniors in Whar-

ton CD are less friendly, nor is it that we don’t care about hanging out with people on our halls. CD merely attracts a type of person who would rather have a peace-ful and quiet dorm life than a vibrant hall culture that might

cause angst at two in the morning because you just can-not bring yourself to knock on that door and tell those neighbors you see walking around campus every day to turn the music down. Also, most seniors are tired, tired people. We’ve come to establish a routine at Swarth-more that takes effort to change and frankly, we might not have the time, energy or desire to try to change that comfortable routine.

When Sandy hit and the power went off, I had just come back to my room. Most of my close friends (who lived on my hall when I was a Willets kid) live across campus in Worth. I had stayed in their quad for most

of the day, discussing parenthood and the character de-velopment of Disney movies with the gusto of one who lays out one’s mound of reading and fingers through the first two pages of the first reading for four hours. Within the first five minutes that I came back, all light vanished and my eyes were frantically trying to trace the outlines of objects that had existed in my vision just a moment before. My phone flashed as texts arrived with the all too informative “Power Is Out!” type notifications.

I had expected at least some heads to pop out of the utterly dark rooms into the hallway but this hall was quiet. Eerily quiet. Standing in the middle of my dark room, I made quick calculations as to whether it was worth going back when I heard someone dragging a large, heavy object on the carpet in the hall. The se-niors who live in the little cove to the left of my room were moving the lounge couches so that they could play board games in the halo of emergency lighting. “Hey,

do you want to play?”I don’t know if I’m the only one who’s never played

the game “The Settlers of Catan” before but it’s ruthless. You have to strategically take away your opponents’ re-sources and pathways so that you can build the most settlements and then hog more resources until you emerge victorious by being a greedy hoarder with 10 Victory points.

I did not win. Playing this game, however, was the first legitimate informal hall experience I had as a se-nior. I played with M, Y, T, and B, whose names I choose not to disclose but which you can probably find out with relatively minimal stalking if you so wish. I knew all but one by name before but had never interacted with them for such a prolonged period of time. As Sandy threw a passionate tantrum outside, we played with equal fervor. Speed isn’t a crucial aspect of the game so dur-ing the moments when we pondered the best strategy to crush our opponent’s chance of survival, we shared genuine conversation. Personally, it’s been a very long time since I’ve gotten to talk to a group of people who were so relaxed and sincerely, purposefully engaged. No computers, no phones, no work, wholly unplugged. I remember that night’s conversation as astoundingly pure because it lacked the obligatory effort of friends who already shared a lot of memorable moments to-gether. There was no history and no contract for a fu-ture; we were stranded in a particular moment in time when we could fully appreciate and enjoy that moment for what it was.

“We’ve come to establish a routine at Swarthmore that takes effort to change and frankly, we might not

have the time, energy or desire to try to change that comfortable routine.”

ALL PHOTOS BY SADIE RITTMAN/PHOENIX STAFF

Regatta participants warm up a� er a cold day on the crum creek.



Crum Regatta Racers Beat Sandy, Continue Tradition

� e moans from crew members entering Crum Creek on Sunday morning seemed more indicative of some tortuous rite-of-passage à la pledge season than voluntary quests for fame and glory, but as the shrill blast from the Martin Warner’s whistle signaled the start of the 40th annual Crum Regatta, racers proved they were in it to win it. Braving the frigid waters in various stages of undress and perched upon a wide spectrum of “� oating” contraptions, the six teams carried on what Regatta Commodore Martin Warner introduced as one of the college’s “largest, mostly continuous traditions” — a reference to last year’s gap year.

� e Commodore initially predicted the straw-hatted Skinny Dippers (Yvonne Socolar ’13, Erin Curtis ’13, Emma � omas ’13 and Taryn Colonnese ’13) as the 2012 victors. � eir cra� — the only � oatation which kept all members dry when seated on board — certainly appeared to be more structurally sound than the crew-favorite duct tape, water cooler combinations that ruled the morning.

“[I have] a general rule of thumb: if it looks like a boat, it will probably work like a boat,” Warner said prior to the race.

A� er winning with the aforementioned duct-tape-water-cooler cra� , the crew members of Bare Bones felt inclined to disagree. Reviving their winning model from 2010, Eli Siegel ’13 and new crew member Joe Liang ’13 sprinted downstream with Jeewon Kim ’13 in tow, � nish-ing well ahead of the competi-tion and setting “a new speed record,” according to the Com-modore. Although far from the driest route downstream, the success of second- and third-place teams H.M.S. Chapunga Dwam and � e Lapras using a similar technique emphasized the necessity of human-generated locomotion in speed-ing down the creek.

“� e boats that look like boats never win,” two-time champion Siegel said with a laugh, a� er securing the Leif Ericson Award for � rst-place � nish.

“� ere’s no current [in the Crum],” Kim explained. “You have to pull [the boats], and oars aren’t going to do it.”

Meanwhile, the Skinny Dippers — propelling them-selves with sticks and a Sharples tray from the safety of their mattress — � nished in a tie for last place. � e rul-ing was the result of a compromise established between crew members of the H.M.S. Price Ferchill and the Dip-pers a� er roughly 10 minutes in the water and more than half the course to go. Proposed by the Commodore from the shores of the bank, crowd members eagerly an-ticipated team members’ reply.

“A tie?” echoed H.M.S. Ferchill crew member Stuart Russell ’14. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Following the acceptance of shared defeat, both cra� s’ crews abandoned ship to race to the � nish line.

“I called it wrong!” the Commodore lamented a� er the awards ceremony. “But it’s [part of] the fun of it. You never know what’s going to happen.”

� e Skinny Dippers believe their “� erce costumes” — spandex with the aforementioned � ower-decked bonnets — prompted the Registrar’s ill-fated prediction; however, their decorative garb failed to earn them the Queen Elizabeth Award, which went to Charon Ferry Across the River Styx for their use of alternative mate-rials and artistic attire. With one crew member hang-ing onto the triad of � oating bins, the remainder of the three-person crew pulled the contraption and carried an undead joy-rider downstream.

“[Our strategy is] not to die, and to drag hell-bound souls down with us,” cloak-clad Hilary Traut ’13 ex-plained pre-race. With a plastic skeleton along for the ride, their adherence to theme (the Styx is a river in Greek mythology that separates the living from the dead) possibly turned the judges’ hands in their favor.

Winning the Christopher Columbus Award for their second-place � nish and exemplary team spirit was the scantily-clad crew of the H.M.S. Chapunga Dwam (Ty-ler Hanson ’13, Aaron Dockser ’13 and Justin Reyes ’13), whose aerodynamic speedos may have motivated their downstream sprint.

“� e water is freaking cold,” the crew members of � e Lapras con� rmed minutes a� er discussing their plans for a warm shower. � e only team with � rst-year sailors, room-mates Lucas Chen ’16 and Richard Monari ’16 spent their fall break on campus work-ing on their cra� , determined to emerge from the race with “money and glory.” Although they received the Crum Creek

Cruiser Award for best engineered vessel, Monari said they’d only enter the Regatta again if they came up with a di� erent design — presumably, one that le� them dryer.

� e Skinny Dippers, for their part, were happy to cross the Regatta o� their bucket list and secure their goal of a last-place � nish. � e Commodore “loved their laid-back presentation” and “summer garden-party theme,” enhanced by their ships’ lazy progress down-stream. Crew members rescued shoes and skeletal bones as they made their way slowly to the � nish.

As for the Commodore? He blamed his mispredic-tion on an unlikely culprit — his admiral’s hat, topped with feather plume.

“It pinches,” he explained while walking back to school. A� er removing it, one could see a faint indent where the band pressed into his scalp. “I get a little dizzy [a� er a while].”

ACROSS1. Constrictors5. We have a news radio about it8. Organic catalyst11. � ey’re no allowed, along with ands, buts12. Portuguese islands13. Decay14. When Taylor Swi� and her boy-friend are getting back together?16. Glowing gas17. I don’t understand how it’s dif-ferent from beer18. Cleopatra’s killer21. African student org.23. How old Taylor Swi� is feeling right now?26. With “phile,” a wine lover27. Virtual version of stringed instrument?29. Indian bread30. Annum31. With “king,” villain of German poetry32. “Goosebumps” author (initials)

DOWN1. Black or Lima2. Eleven, in Paris3. Sea o� the Black Sea4. Wicked mermaid5. Attorney for an electrical circuit?6. Previous to7. Q-U separation9. Most insigni� cant10. Queens, from Manhattan

15. Hugely18. Repent19. Vow20. Type of colony Australia was22. Pirate a� rmative

24. Negative pre� x25. Verbal28. Stammers

BY PRESTON COOPER

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

This Crossword Would Be “Red” If This Page Were In Color

Despite Predictions, Minimalist Ships Rule the DayBy ALLI SHULTES

Assistant Living & Arts Editor

The boats that look like boats never win.

Eli Siegel ’13Member of Bare Bones



For Fresh Kicks, It’s Worth Going the DistanceThe Best Places to Shop for Sneakers (and Deals) in Center City Philadelphia

Free in Fall: An Autumnal Reflection on Life and Listening

Willets Cat Sees Stars: Illustration by Elizabeth Kramer

KIERANREICHERT

Habit of Art

GABRIELACAMPOVERDE

Smart Swat Shopping

A leaf, browned and stiff, detaches. Hav-ing surrendered the solid security of a tree branch, it has naught but the autumn breeze to hold onto. The wrinkles and folds that the mere idea of winter etched now determine its path: an irregular spiral towards the ground. It careens, sheds any delusions of control, and sinks stolidly along its fated route. Not until it meets the dewy ground -- slimy and stuck amid scores of fellow decomposing leaves — does it know rest.

In the seasonal life cycle of the tree and the leaf, I see echoes of my own. Right around the time of falling leaves — mid-to-late-October in this part of the world — I found myself in a different kind of free-fall. Upon the closing of school for fall break, I felt a landing of sorts, as though I had just set down after a long and bumpy flight. This feeling, I decided, was an unlocking from a groove, the necessary line of maxi-mal efficiency that Swarthmore demands we adhere to, and it was followed by the unconstrained possibilities of life without obligation. Well, at least life without imme-diate obligation — this is Swarthmore, and therefore even breaks aren’t really breaks.

I had postponed the planning of a trip for the impending break for weeks be-fore the date arrived. As it happened, I still had no plan when the first weekend came around. I spent Satur-

day luxuriating in the seemingly endless free time, and continued the revelry into the night. There, with a group of friends in Philadelphia, I felt the habit of a recent graduate slip over my thin scholarly skin. I walked around the city with friends and cavorted in freedom, enjoying the trial of a rapidly approaching identity.

The next morning, I carried out the vague plan I’d made the night before by driving a few friends up to New York City, where they each had plans of their own for the week ahead. Still feeling light and unen-cumbered by any kind of itinerary, I zipped through the drive with nary a thought in regards to the next few days. Those few days, it turned out, progressed in much the same manner: I walked around the city, spent the night on an inflatable mattress, and then continued my way north out of a fortunate confluence of mine and a friend’s plan and a desire to see the autumnal foli-age at its peak.

I was not disappointed. I spent a few

days at Hamilton College with my friend and her sister (also a friend), preparing my thesis and just absorbing the novel yet familiar feel of their college. From there, Clinton, N.Y., I set out to Burlington, Vt. via NY Rt. 8, a scenic byway through the Adirondack Mountains. Though I’ve done some blue-highways driving before, this was the most picturesque drive I’ve ever done. I was hemmed in on both sides by every imaginable hue in nature, in fact too numerous to name, except for one: blue. Though not the first color you think of to characterize the fall, blue seemed to me the most spectacular. I’ll elaborate.

While driving, one cannot help but look ahead. Ahead of me on this trip was usually road and trees of spectacular col-ors, but occasionally I was afforded a more open vista, which then allowed me to see farther into the distance. In this distance were mountains, generally, and some-times lakes, but these are marginal to what I want to describe. Ahead of me, for my

column’s purposes, was the blue distance. Every scenic vista I came to, at a high point or a mountain pass or simply a clearing through which the highway traveled, I saw the mountains bathed in an airy blue. This color must not be foreign to me, as I must have seen it all the other times I’ve looked out to distant mountains, but it stood out to me this time. Having this blue wash way out in front of me proved to be a wonder-fully complimentary frame for the lush New York and Vermont scenery in the foreground.

I spent my only night in Burlington at a place called Radio Bean, a café/bar with live music, listening to their house band play honky tonk. I met a few inter-esting people, had a few tasty drinks, and walked a few blocks back to the hos-tel for the night. Then I was back through the Adirondacks the next morning, and through Pennsylvania to Swarthmore the next afternoon.

Those next few days, which, like the

first moments of consciousness upon awaking, were ephemeral and quickly for-gotten, included some familial bonding, including a hike and a family dinner, and served to slowly wake me up after a brief Fall Break siesta of unplanned movement. The time away had been equal parts soli-tary and in company, and in company with those for whom I care, so that when Sunday finally did arrive, I felt well rested and well nourished in preparation for the return of Swarthmore’s rigor, and could only remem-ber the week before as a dream.

In that dream, I walk along a Swarth-morean path and watch as a leaf floats earthward and settles atop the layer of vari-ously decomposed leaves — a scrap on a pile of death or the foundational lining of a new season of life. Like this dream, and my fall break, I think my Swat career will pos-sess those qualities of a thing so perfectly suited to sate my desires: an indiscernible onset, blink-fast progression, and evanes-cent memory.

I feel that recently I have not been paying enough atten-tion to all the sneaker heads on campus who are looking for a place to grab new kicks. Sneaker boutiques are my

favorite because you are immedi-ately absorbed by a wall where ev-ery item is something new to take in. Back home in New York City, I know exactly where the legendary places are, and I thought it would be good to see if anything in Phila-delphia could compete. Here are a

couple of places that have already received great reviews from the locals and that I recommend you should check out soon!

UbiqUbiq is a sneaker boutique located right of off Rittenhouse Square that promises to serve any sneaker head with a large selection of shoes as well as street fashion apparel. Rating: 4.5/5Price: $$1509 Walnut St.Philadelphia, PA 19103215.988.0194www.ubiqlife.com

Now, listen to this. You walk through a glass door into this Rittenhouse Square boutique and are immediately teased by shelving units that only allow you to catch a glimpse of what lies ahead. You stroll up the small set of stairs and slowly but surely you start nodding your head as you hear Drake’s “HYFR,” which sets the mood for the rest of your visit (I am not lying here, the song went on, and it was as if they knew about my Drake obsession). You are ini-tially brought to a room filled with an epic variety of Chuck Taylor’s and some great picks of Nike SB’s. A smaller room

in the back has clothing and fitted caps from Obey, Ubiq, 10 Deep and Milkcrate.

Ubiq has a large selection of sneakers and includes clas-sic brands like Converse, Adidas, and Puma as well as more unique brands like Supra, Karhu, and Saucony. Like most sneaker boutiques, there are little sales, and the price rang-es are high. However, there is no price you can put on the variety you can find here.

There is also a small section dedicated to women’s sneakers from brands such as Keds, Nike, and Vans. Other shoes include all-weather boots from Sorel. The selection is indeed small, but most of the sneakers from the men’s section can be unisex.

One of the best features of this boutique is the pop-up shops it hosts. Currently on exhibit is the Kenny Lyon for Hall of Fame Pop-Up Shop in which this artist and designer displays some of his drawings and cartoons on the walls of the second floor of the shop. It is interesting to walk around and see some of his work. I appreciate how Ubiq makes use of its space and converts it into something that goes be-yond its primary function of displaying merchandise and establishes itself as prominent in street fashion and culture.

Overall, it was a pleasure to be surrounded by sneakers at Ubiq. The atmosphere was welcoming and comfortable, and the staff was always by my side in case I ever needed assistance.

Abakus Takeout This shop modeled after a takeout store makes it its mission to provide the most unique sneakers in Center City. Abakus Takeout is located in the heart of Chinatown and specializes in a selection of Jordan’s, Nike SB’s and Adidas. Rating: 4/5Price: $$$227 N. 10th St.Philadelphia, PA 19107

215.351.7978abakustakeout.com

Here the store front is the first thing that gets to you. The store blends in well with its other store fronts, and un-less you are paying close attention, it is easy to confuse it for just another restaurant or shop from the area. Upon enter-ing, you are greeted by spray paint cans and toys, a pleasant surprise that suits Abakus’s theme of street fashion. To the right of the small shop is a screen of an ongoing game of what seems to be some version of NBA2K. Abakus is known throughout Philly for having the most unique variety of sneakers, something that you might not immediately think of seeing in your typical sneaker shop. The shelves here are lined with bright neon and oddly pat-terned kicks that demand anyone and everyone’s attention. Amongst this selection also lie classics like Jordans, which always grab your attention even in their most basic form. This is most definitely the place to shop if you want some-thing different and outlandish (in a good way) to add to your wardrobe. The atmosphere here is very relaxing and takes you on a journey, secludes you from the rest of your day, and traps you in a space that is far from what you would have ex-pected to be. Abakus tries to fairly serve all its customers by providing a close to equal selection for both men and women. The staff is also very helpful and seems very knowledgable as to what the current trends are for each brand and is hap-py to help with your orders. The person whom I was talking to even recommended some sneakers for me, which I have to say were very tempting. Abakus not only met all the expectations I had but also surpassed them. I am definitely looking forward to taking trips here with my friends and letting them have fun pick-ing out new sneakers.



“Merrily We Roll Along,” with mu-sic by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, is both depressing and inspiring.

The musical was directed at Swarth-more by Jonghee Quispe ’14 and stage-managed by Marta Roncada ’14. It was performed on LPAC mainstage this past weekend.

“For me, the most difficult part of the play was also the most enjoyable,” Quispe said. “I didn’t have a lot of mod-els to go off of, since the play is not produced very often. We had to make it ourselves. We were left on our own. That’s what makes it original and from our own hearts.”

Quispe has now directed or music-directed a Sondheim production in each of her three fall semesters at Swarthmore. Two years ago she music-directed “As-sassins,” and last year she directed and music-directed “Company.” She has done other directing work at Swarth-more, including music-directing “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (by Rebecca Feldman and William Finn) last spring.

“This is the most I’ve ever felt any sense of ownership over a production,” she said. “It was our vision, it showed, and people responded to it.”

Quispe was fortunate enough to have 17 actors in the show, enough for the large ensemble that the musical calls

for. One of her proudest moments was “the blob,” a group of black-clad critics and “important people” whom Gussie (Anna Ramos ’13) bosses around. In the “blob scene,” the critics stood in a tableau center-stage and moved to sing, then resumed the tableau, moved to sing again, and so on. The scene was sharp and enjoyable.

The production can be characterized by those two adjectives. One of the audi-ence favorites, judging by the loud, long applause after the song, was “Franklin Shepard, Inc.,” sung by Charley (Paolo Debuque ’15). In the song, Charley lash-es out at Frank for being obsessed with

making money and not caring about music or his friends — “The rest of us he keeps on hold,” he sings. The song is ex-cellent, and Debuque filled the room with manic energy; his acting ability was surpassed

only by his singing ability.Daniel Cho ’15, acting, dancing, and

singing trifecta, was excellent as the lead, Franklin Shepard. Cho’s greatest success in the production was his abil-ity to find good even in Frank’s worst moments, and to be a character that the audience can first hate, then love.

Cho and Debuque worked well to-gether onstage. The memory of their frustration and disdain for each other at the beginning of the play became more and more poignant as the play went on and their love and respect for each other started to shine through.

Not to be outdone, the other leads and the ensemble were energetic and

passionate.Kimaya Diggs ’15’s solo near the end

of Act I, “Not a Day Goes By,” about her constant pain in the wake of Frank cheating on her and his absence, was heart-wrenching. Ramos was utterly detestable as proud, sexy Gussie, Alli-son Hrabar ’16 was solid and likeable as Mary, and Chris Magnano ’14 was very funny as lighthearted, and sometimes pathetic Joe.

When asked about their favorite mo-ments in the play, audience members responded differently.

“My favorite song was ‘Old Friends,’” said Sarah Kaeppel ’15, who said that she liked all the singers but that “my fa-vorites were Anna and Kimaya.”

Patrick Ross ’15 said that his favorite moment of “Merrily” was “Anna Ramos’ walk. It characterized Gussie very well. You know what type of character she is before she even opens her mouth.”

“I really liked the part at the end with the video,” said Quitterie Gounot ’13, referencing the video that was project-ed onto the scrim (a type of gossamer screen) behind the actors during the fi-nal song. The video showed clips from the production’s rehearsals. “As some-one who doesn’t do theater, something that strikes me a lot is how the ensemble works together … and it was interesting how the video mirrored the content of the song,” Gounot said.

The play moves backwards in time, starting with a big party celebrating Frank’s success and showing his misery, and ending when he, Charley, and their new friend Mary are just starting out, full of hope about the future. The video continues the trend of going backwards by showing what came even before the show. At the same time, the video tells the audience that Swarthmore students are at that same hopeful beginning as Frank, Charley, and Mary.

“This show continuously made more sense to me as we kept doing it,” said Ana Apostoleris ’13, who played both an ensemble member and Frank’s new-est, youngest girlfriend in the first scene. “The concept of where we came from and how we got to where we are is so not abstract, so relevant to where we are right now that it was really powerful. The show gave you a lot of time to think about it and your own personal relation-ship with it.”

Without feeling preachy, “Merrily” leaves a young audience with the mes-sage that our lives can be full of hope and inspiration, and that we must hold on to our love — of our friends and our art — if we want to be happy.

‘Merrily’ Tells Swarthmore It’s Our Time

NITHYA SWAMINATHAN/PHOENIX STAFFThe plot of “Merrily” moves backward in time, fol-lowing a progression of misery to hope.

By JEANETTE LEOPOLDLiving & Arts Writer

NITHYA SWAMINATHAN/PHOENIX STAFFMembers of the ‘Merrily’ cast perform a score in LPAC. The show featured a total of 17 actors and had three performances over the weekend.

Show Leaves Students With The Message That We’re Just Starting Out

The concept of where we came from and how we got to where we are is so ... relevant

to where we are right now that it was really powerful.

Ana Apostoleris ’13



ld and new friendships reside in a boys’ quad in Wharton EF2. First-year roommates Frank Wu, Salman Safir, Bryan Green and Craig Earley

have created a multifunctional space that houses memories, fosters friendships and allows home-work to be done. Aside from the beautiful view of Wharton’s courtyard, the dorm’s location is noted as one of the major benefits of living there. “It is close to everything,” Earley explained, and while the occasional mouse has invaded the dorm, the engaging hall life in Wharton definitely makes up for it. From birthday par-ties to study breaks, the overall atmosphere “is very nice,” Earley said. “We [also] have the best RA,” Wu add-ed. “Seth [Udelson ’13] treats us like adults. He is just another great friend that is always here for us.”

Wu and Safir share the double in the quad. Safir’s bed is paral-lel to, and lies against the back of the room where three large windows are located. Wu’s bed is per-pendicular to Safir’s and is directly adjacent to the end of his bed. With each other’s desks and dressers at opposite corners the center of the room is left open, creating a very large space. The set-up is rela-tively new, Wu explained. Up until fall break the room was more “symmetrical ... the typical college room.”

Not everyone was happy with the change though; Safir noted that “some friends begged us to change it back.” Safir and Wu explained that their room has become an open gathering space for the hall. “We try to keep our door open,” Wu said, allow-ing their friends to come study, hang out, or even nap on their beds. The only negative consequence of this arrangement has been the array of items left behind on an everyday basis. This led them to cre-ate a ‘Lost & Found’ area. “We have a spoon there right now,” Wu said, but shoes, phones, socks and even soy sauce have been seen there.

This interesting room dynamic would have been impossible if all of the roommates had not gotten along. “The four of us have matching personalities,” Wu said. There have been no problems yet, “except for Salman’s alarm clock,” Earley added jokingly. “He

sets about 10 alarms in the morning but none ever get turned off.”

Earley occupies one of the singles and likes that they allow him to be as social as he wants to, while also allowing him to be “really productive.” Al-though his room might seem small to most, Earley argued there is plenty of room for all that he needs, including his books. “I love to read,” he asserted. He has a “wall of important things” that holds important Swarthmore phone numbers, a white board, and random notes from friends including two abstract origami pieces. “These are origami donkeys that my friends started,” Earley explained. “They were not able to complete them, but I love them anyway.”

For Green, the best thing about having a single is that “you can be alone for long periods of time.” Green noted that he and Safir are currently work-ing on a chemistry paper together and that it is very “convenient that he is right outside.” Green’s room

is adorned by empty plastic bottles lining his win-dowsill, on his desk, and the floor. “I leave trash in this corner,” he said, pointing to the area behind his door. The pile is composed of cardboard and paper along with a few wrappers. Green did not say why he clings to any of this “trash” or the bottles instead of disposing them, so it shall remain a mystery.

Meanwhile, Safir decorated his part of the room with objects that take him back to Ohio, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, places that are “part of who I am,” he said. He has a Cleveland Indians baseball cap, a football program designed by a friend for his high school, a Green Bay Packers teddy bear called Jamal given to him by his sister and a high school gradu-ation picture of his two best friends from Okla-homa, Wade and Leah. “I miss [my friends] very much. That is why I keep these mementos,” Safir explained. He does have a large cheesehead hat and a Batman mask that are simply “fun to mess with” and of course Febreze to ensure the room remains “smelling fresh at all times … a good idea since we’re all boys.”

Wu sticks to photographs he has hung near his bed. They depict “memories from senior year,” Wu said. “It can be hard to stay in touch with friends af-ter high school,” he explained, which is why he and his closest friends made a pact to not let that hap-pen. Despite missing old friendships like Safir, Wu has been able to form new ones with his roommates and hall mates. As a new member of Swat’s Rhythm ’N Motion, Wu has also gained new friendships there.

The most notable aspect of their room is proba-bly the “wall of memories” and speaks of the room-mates’ value for friendship. Near the ceiling on the left wall is a large collage of photographs showing silly faces, gentle teasing, genuine laughter and companionship. The plan is to add pictures contin-ually throughout the year until it goes around the room. “Like a timeline,” Safir explained.

ODORM DIVE

By MAYRA TENORIOLiving & Arts Writer

Craig Earley, Salman Safir, Frank Wu &

Bryan Green

2016Wharton EF 2nd

The Wharton quadmates have created a “wall of memories” to commemorate their friendship. They hope to add photos to the

collage as their first year marches on. ALL PHOTOS BY SADIE RITTMAN/PHOENIX STAFF



Local Teens Are Not Ville Rats

Stop calling local teenagers “Ville Rats.” It’s such an obviously bad phrase. It’s mean, disre-spectful and goes against what we stand for as a college. We are guests in the area, and for us to show up here and stereotype a large swath of the local population is pretty damn rude. “Ville Rat” is a spiteful term, and worst of all, it’s unfair. It is adults picking on teenagers. It is classism and elitism. And it prevents more productive rela-tionships between us and the local youth.

It’s fair to assume it began as a label specifi-cally for teenagers who break into the fraternities and solicit students for alcohol. But over time, usage changes, and I’ve heard it used more often as a blanket term for “local teenager.” For exam-ple, the very first student review of Swarthmore on the US News and World Report website says, “[The town] is always overrun with ‘Ville Rats,’ teenagers that have nothing better to do than sit around on the streets.”

Unfortunately, calling local teenagers “Ville Rats” has become somewhat of a tradition that’s

passed down as cultural information during orien-tation, and it doesn’t seem to be examined much from year to year. It just strikes me as bizarre how that conversation unfolds:

“We don’t discriminate against anyone here, and we don’t tolerate any sort of name-calling. Treat people as equals. By the way, local teens are called Ville Rats.”

This isn’t a new phenomenon. In 2006, stu-dents Lesley Goodman and Ruth Halvey wrote in their semi-famous linguistics paper on the pronunciation of the word “Swarthmore,” “Due to the prestige of the College, many students’ fairly high socio-economic background, intellec-tual elitism, and ambition, many students may feel (consciously or unconsciously) superior to local residents. There are certainly feelings of contempt towards at least one group of resi-dents: local adolescents are commonly referred to derisively as ‘Ville Rats’ and sneered at when they appear on campus, though not all students feel strongly on the matter. However, there is lit-tle indication that such hostility extends to other groups of local residents.”

No! That’s not who I want to be, nor is that how I want people to see us. We are better than that … right? But is there really any other inter-pretation for the observer? As “concerned grad” wrote on the Daily Gazette forums last year, “Imagine what it would be like to be a teen from the ville, and to see the expression ‘ville rat’ — which, as I hope is clear, means nothing but ‘teen from the ville’ — occur 32 times in this thread, and only periodically between quotation marks or in indirect speech. What sort of impression would you form of the student body?”

Another angle to consider is that these “rats”

are the children and relatives of the staff who work here. We should stop using the term out of respect for them as well.

A common retort is that these teens deserve it. They harass college students, ask for alcohol, break into the frats, and yell racial and homo-phobic slurs. But if our best response to delin-quent teenagers is name-calling, then we should be kicked the hell out of Chester. We can’t ex-pect to fix issues in other communities if we can’t properly address the problems in our own. The good news is that since this is a real issue, we can become better people by figuring out how to deal with rambunctious (and obnoxious) teenagers in a peaceful, nonviolent way.

Moreover, the administration has been work-ing hard to strengthen relationships between the borough and the college. Swarthmore mayor Richard Lowe presented President Chopp with a key to the borough in 2010, saying, “There’s so much talent at the College and the more interac-tion we can have, the better. We’d like to benefit from that talent and help the College at the same time.”

With the town open to these possibilities, we are in a position to take up mentoring, tutoring, and other role model positions within the com-munity. We can positively influence local youth — yes, especially the ones who loiter and say hateful things and generally lack direction. The worry is that efforts to build these relationships could be jeopardized by the words we choose to use. The framing of these teenagers as “rats” an-tagonizes us from the start, eliminating the pos-sibility that they might be interested in getting to know us and developing these relationships as well. A strong us-vs-them mentality perpetu-ates harassment and violence. And most of all: if I was a teen from the Ville, I certainly wouldn’t want to have anything to do with a group of peo-ple who call my friends and me “rats.”

In general, the more people hang out with borough residents, the more they tend to have more realistic and grounded perceptions of the local community, while being less prone to ste-reotyping. As we eliminate “Ville Rats” from our vocabulary, we should also encourage local in-volvement. The college and the town have both made formal statements that they would like this to happen, so why not?

The college is an overwhelming presence in the local community. We have the most land, we pay the most taxes, and we employ the most peo-ple. We should be considerate of the influence that this gives us, and the collateral effects that our culture may have on local pride. I under-stand that nobody is really trying to hurt anyone. This is more of a question of mindfulness than anything else. For the tiny amount of effort that it takes to stop saying “Ville Rat,” we can get so much back in return.

Tattoo Talk: Telling A Story With Body Ink

Language Choices Negatively A� ect the Relationship Between Town and College Dear Nestor,

I’m a senior applying for jobs and I’m scared that I sound juvenile in my interviews. My interviewers never react to what I’m saying, which makes me think that they aren’t interested, even though I think I’m talking about the most interesting things in my life. I feel badly and like I’m never going to get a job. Do you have any advice?

-Scared Senior

Dear Scared Senior,

� is is such a stressful time. With the external pressure of � nding a job weighing on you, it is only natural to doubt yourself. Unfortunately, on top of this, the interviewers are not providing you with the reassurance that you need to inspire con� dence as you answer their questions.

Consider, however, that from the questioners’ perspective, this may ac-tually represent a strategy to test your independence, your self-esteem and your ability to improvise in the absence of encouraging feedback. � is ap-proach makes sense, because most people function well with positive rein-forcement. However, with no reassurance or validation, we are o� en at our most vulnerable. In most workplace situations, no one pats you on the back. If anything, employers, coworkers, and clients will criticize you. As a result, these interviewers are perhaps looking to simulate a workplace setting; in this way they can see how you would perform under stress.

In reality, these interviewers are not primarily trying to make you feel ‘unwanted,’ they are just observing you under pressure. Instead of viewing their reactions as being negative, I suggest you view this experience as of-fering a challenge: ‘How can I shine without reassurance?’ Prepare yourself in advance. Try visualizing a time when you presented well or excelled and bring that memory and energy with you to the interview.

Also, the interviewers may not reassure you to avoid giving you a sense of false hope. � is is better for both parties to avoid your feeling misled if you ultimately don’t get the job. In fact, the opposite result may very well occur. You may be pleasantly surprised to receive a job o� er despite feeling con-cerned about the interview. � is could be a tactic to prompt the candidate to be more eager about joining their company and to feel more enthusiastic and positive when he/she is given a job o� er.

Ultimately, on a subconscious level, we perceive these interviewers as the ‘gatekeepers to our future.’ And when we feel an interview is unsuccessful and believe that we won’t get the job, this in turn makes us feel rejected and inadequate — as if we have failed. It can feel personal.

� e truth of the matter is, yes, there is no certainty that you will get a job. But, you may not fully appreciate the impression that you are making. As a Swarthmore student, you have already dealt with copious amounts of work, experienced di� cult professors, and learned how to be a successful student. Having attended such a high-pressure institution with distinguished standards, you — more than many college graduates — are preparing for the “real world.”

I encourage you to view these interviews as learning experiences that will make you stronger. In life, you will frequently face adversity and not always be rewarded with what you want or believe you deserve. In many instances, decisions are made that have very little to do with your performance. Don’t let the interviews get to you on a personal level. Following the interview, you may want to ask yourself: What could I have done better? How could I have responded di� erently? Even more importantly: What did I answer well? What makes me unique and interesting? Bring all of the answers to your next interview. Post-interview, I would suggest that you just relax. At this point, the result is not in your control.

� e key is to be you, as well as to believe in yourself. If an interviewer doesn’t see what you have to o� er, then the heck with them. Some other com-pany down the road will be lucky enough to appreciate your talents.

Good luck!

Best,Nestor

David Toland is an EVS Technician whose new column, Can You Dig It?, details his experiences at Swarthmore, in the US Army, and with his three children: a daugh-ter, Hunter, 11; and two sons, Noah, 13, and David, 12. Driven by an enjoyment of poetry and digital story-telling fostered in Learning for Life, David is writing to share his life ex-periences with the Swarthmore community.

Some inject heroin, I inject ink. Both have the same effect; but tattoos are more expensive and just as addictive. Everyone has scars, I just pay for mine. Some call it mutilation, I call it therapy. I have been

getting tattoos for over 20 years. I do not consider myself an expert on this topic, but I am very knowledgeable about tattoos and the en-tire process. For one

thing, tattoos have become more common-place in the last five to 10 years. You would be hard pressed to find a girl who does not have some kind of tattoo on her ankle, shoulder, near her crotch or the standard

“tramp stamp” on her lower back. If I had a nickel for every tribal armband tattoo on guys trying to look hardcore, I would be a rich man!

Almost every single town in this coun-try with a population of over 5,000 people has a tattoo shop. When I started getting tattooed, the only places to go around this area were motorcycle club tattoo shops. They were not the nicest places, to say the least. There are underground shops in peo-ple’s basements and garages which I would not recommend at all. Currently, the tattoo industry has changed significantly for the better. A lot of the tattoo shops have artists with degrees from art schools or colleges.

Nonetheless, I have been in the tattoo culture for a long time and the shop is not the only factor you should consider. There are many shops where there is fantastic work being done and some work that looks like a five year old drew it. My tattoos have been featured in several different maga-zines and I give all the credit to the artist. The artist is the most important factor if you are considering a tattoo. In 2000, I was fortunate enough to visit Rainbow Tattoos in Munich, Germany. At that time, Rain-

bow was known as the best tattoo studio in the world. It was a pleasure to meet the artists there and have an opportunity to see their work. The artists in that studio had a two to three year waiting list for all their clients. I was in Germany only for a month and I wanted to be tattooed in this shop. I left my number in the outside chance that they would call me with news of a cancella-tion. It never happened.

In this day and age, you need to be very careful of all the hazards that can occur from getting tattooed. If you are thinking of getting a tattoo, my recommendation is to check out the studio to make sure it is clean and has a current certification from the Board of Health. Ask the artists if they use sterilized needles and fresh ink for every tattoo. Not only can diseases be contracted from the reusing of needles, but also from “recycled” ink.

Out of my 64 tattoos, I picked only one off the wall at a tattoo shop. It is a 1950s style pin-up girl and it ended up in a tattoo magazine. The other 63 tattoos are original designs, U.S. Army tattoos, or commenda-tions I earned during my time in the mili-tary. I also have special tattoos dedicated to

all three of my children. When my daugh-ter, Hunter (a.k.a. Baby Girl), was four years old I asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She said, “I want Baby Girl tat-tooed on your arm in hot pink.” I now have that tattoo on my arm in hot pink. As you can see, she calls the shots!

If you look at all of my tattoos, they tell the story of my life. There is a story be-hind every one of them. My advice if you are thinking of getting some ink is to get something meaningful to you that you will not regret. I would not recommend getting a person’s name tattooed on your body if you have only been dating a month. I have seen it many times before and sure enough, the couple is not together a month later. This is my conclusion after being around the tattoo world for more than twenty years. Whether you get an elegant dragon or a Tweety Bird tattoo, both are equally impressive if they have a special meaning to you. Think long and hard before getting a tattoo, because it is going to hurt and it is going to be there forever. I do not regret any of my tattoos. I think Johnny Depp said it best, “My body is my journal, and my tat-toos are my story.”

Dear NestorSuggestions for Scared Seniors

SAMZHANG

Vowel Movements

DAVIDTOLAND

Can You Dig It?



Halloween Help From Your Favorite ProfessorsA Collection of Creative Costumes

Classics DepartmentMedusa: � e most popular of the three serpent-head-ed Gorgons, this terrifying mythical monster is a sure-� re way of stopping that cutie across the cafeteria stone cold in his tracks.

What You Need: A bed sheet and some serious hair product. Tease out your hair with assorted picks/hair-spray/holding gel and experiment with di� erent wash-able dyes, or else play with braids, weaving miniature plastic snakes into the design.

Extra Inspiration: “If you wanted something that was both a learned allusion and scary, there’s the pediment sculpture from the temple of Athena at Corcyra (c. 6th CBE I think)” -Professor of Classics William Turpin

Deluxe Deities: Prometheus (chains, ketchup, and stu� ed vultures required); Dionysus (god of wine — Franzia, anyone?); Atlas (the globe could get heavy — plan with caution)

English DepartmentMagical Hats and Half Masks: A simple yet elegant – and easy – way to dress up as some of your favorite magical characters, from Harry to Merlin.

Verbatim: “What better than Merlin’s magic hat or Dumbledore’s cap? “Well, perhaps one of those New Orleans ‘domino’ half-masks with iridescent feathers.... “Or (since in my � rst-year seminar right before break, the students and I discussed the great movie Amadeus), a unicorn mask like the one Mozart wears in the party scene!”

-Professor of English Literature Peter Schmidt

Recommended Reading: Choose any of your child-hood favorites and run with a beloved protagonist. Grab a blond wig and magnifying glass for Nancy Drew, don some overalls for Huck Finn, or tie up your hair with a blue ribbon a la Lemmony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” Blame confusion over your out� t on disparate visual imagery.

Religion DepartmentDitch the Devil: It’s overdone. Alternatively, Adam and Eve are slightly less popular and typically a good deal sexier.

Revive Our Roots: According to Professor of Religion Ellen Ross, there’s a whole slew of Quaker characters craving a costumed debut. “[T]here’s always the 17th c. George Fox– Quaker founder; 17th c. Margaret Fell (she wrote lots of books, had lots of children, was im-prisoned a number of times, lived at Swarthmoor Hall in England [where we get our college name]); Lucretia Mott – a Rebecca Chopp favorite ... then there is Issac Hopper, [a] major ‘performance artist’ Quaker aboli-tionist — [there’s a] great large portrait of him in Par-rish Parlors.”

Departmental Disguise: Ross additionally remem-bers a year in which religion members dressed up as the faculty of the Religion Department. “It was very funny — we were all very recognizable!” If you’re planning on sharing pictures, be kind — grades aren’t in yet.

Statistics DepartmentWe’re not really sure how to do this one. � ankfully, Professor of Statistics Steve Wang suggested a few ideas from paleontology — his � eld of research. Not-so-luckily, we’re not so sure you want to attempt a tri-lobite or anomalocaris design.

Skeleton Construction: Let’s face it — if you’d been dead since prehistoric times, that all-inclusive skeleton suit would be a far cry from your bodily remains. Us-ing felt cut-outs, only pin a few bones onto your all-black clothing.

Art History DepartmentPick a Painting: � ere’s lots out there — whether it’s the Mona Lisa or Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup, � nd a sub-ject that speaks to you and imitate. Aim for subjects with distinguishing characteristics. If you’re feeling ex-tra-ambitious, turn yourself into a piece of abstract art.

Prof Pick: “I would love to appear at Halloween as Giovanni Arnol� ni in Jan van Eyck’s famous double portrait now in the National Gallery in London. � e hat might be a challenge ... and an A� enpincher would be required as an accessory.”

-Professor of Art Histroy Michael Cothren

Supplies to Scrounge: Felt works great for non-human subjects, as do cardboard boxes/cutouts. Face paint and makeup can additionally spice up a bland imitation.

Helpful Hint: Even if you deign not to include a frame (no small hindrance to your typical dance moves), in-clude a label — as a belt, as a bowtie, on your shoes — with the name of the painting and the artist to boost recognition for less familiar subjects.

Biology DepartmentAssorted Sea Creatures: Grab a group and arm your-selves with interactive accessories to make waves on the dance � oor.

Expert Suggestions: An annual attendee of the Univer-sity of Washington’s Invertebrate Ball, Professor of Bi-ology Rachel Merz has seen her fair share of maritime garb. “I think the [costumes] that are the most fun are those that you can do as a group (e.g. a colony of corals or a stack of the sex-changing mollusk Crepidiula or a cleaner � sh station complete with cryptic predators), or those costumes that let you interact with others - think sea squirt (armed with a squirt gun, of course), or be-ing a decorator crab and attach new items to your cara-pace, or something that free-spawns (with the help of a bubble blower), or one of the most favorite, pun cos-tumes (a red ribbon around your neck to be ‘red tide’ or holding a clam shell over one’s head to be ‘clam up’, etc.”

Props to Ponder: Foam swords (sword� sh), fairy wings (� ying � sh), red nose (clown � sh), short plaid skirts with apples/pens/notebooks (school of � sh)…

Maybe Sandy spoiled your weekend costume-shopping plans. Maybe your past two weeks have been midterm-ridden or paper-laden. Maybe you’re holding out for that holiday epiphany, that sudden vi-sion of a clever, eco-friendly, socially conscious and just-so slutty costume that’s worthy of your status as a totally unique Swarthmore student.

Whatever your excuse for being costume-less with less than two days to go before one of Swat’s biggest parties of the year, don’t fret. When it comes to quirky character knowledge, who better to turn to than de-partmental professors?

By ALLI SHULTESAssistant Living & Arts Editor

OpinionsThe Phoenix


When I decided to come to Swarthmore, I never consid-ered Philadelphia a place that was ever hit by hurricanes. Now, in the past two years, two major hurricanes or tropi-cal storms have hit the area. This week’s devastating weather may have just been the “Frankenstorm” — a freak, statistics-flaunting event — to make many sound the alarm that cli-mate change is starting to make this kind of event less a freak of nature and more the norm.

So is this the new normal for Swarthmore? Like with much of climate science, the answer isn’t easy, and it could be months or years until we know for certain whether hurri-canes like Sandy and last year’s Irene are infrequent disasters or the beginnings of a trend driven by higher oceanic tem-peratures and melting polar ice, other byproducts of climate change. And, although the scientific evidence backing cur-rent theories of climate change is indisputable at this point,

there is current disagreement among climate scientists about how hurricane activity will change the future of our planet.

Hurricanes begin as a clus-ter of thunderstorms in the sea. If the seawater is above a critical threshold of 26 degrees Celsius, the storms can become concentrated

and create a vortex of humid air, which constitutes a hur-ricane. Hurricanes typically form during the hurricane sea-son, which in the Atlantic runs from May to October. The worst time of this season is typically in September, when the difference between air temperature and sea temperature is greatest.

Part of the reason the Franken-storm was so unique was that the storm came so late in the season. Not only are temperatures usually not right for hurricanes in late Oc-tober, but ordinarily storms arriv-ing from Sandy’s location end up missing the mainland and careen harmlessly out to sea. This is since strong cold fronts blowing off of the East Coast typically cause hur-ricanes to miss the mainland United States. This year, how-ever, there was an unusually intense high-pressure system in the Northern Atlantic. The storm was turned by the pres-sure disparity to instead make landfall in the mid-Atlantic United States.

The cause of this odd high-pressure system is a mystery to climate scientists at the moment. Some have suggested that the melting of Arctic sea ice, which is currently hap-pening at record-setting rates, has caused the seawater in the northern Atlantic to be heated more than usual by the sun.

Others have suggested that the melting of Arctic ice is affecting the Earth’s climate in more complex ways, altering

wind and weather patterns across the entire Northern

H e m i -

sphere. These changes are due to what is known as “upper level air flow,” or the wind currents that circle the Earth high above us. These currents have been shown to have a slower eastward progression than they once did, which could be responsible for more persistent weather patterns, causing more severe droughts, heat waves, and cold waves, as well as unseasonable weather events such as the Frankenstorm.

The frequency of reported hurricanes has risen steadily for the past century, and over the past decade or so has in-creased even more rapidly. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, there were consistently eight to nine tropical storms and hurricanes named by meteorologists. Since 1992 how-ever, the number of namings has been above 11 storms each year, along with the record-breaking 2005 hurricane season in which 31 storms were named, including the most devas-tating hurricane on record, Hurricane Katrina. (For refer-ence, there have been a total of 19 tropical storms or hurri-canes this year — the third year in a row there have been 19 or more named storms).

Activists point to this alarming and unprecedented spike in the number of hurricanes as a demonstration of how cli-mate change is already taking its toll on society. However, scientists have been slow to argue for any connection be-tween global climate change and the increased number of storms. One reason behind this skepticism is that we may be naming more storms because we have become better at detecting and defining hurricanes and tropical storms. Our records since the advent of satellite monitoring in the 1970s are not as accurate and precise as the records we are tak-

ing today, and so it is hard to un-derstand how unique the recent increase in hurricane activity really is. There has also been a mixed bag of results in what climate models suggest about future hurricane ac-tivity — one published study says that further warming will increase hurricane frequency, while anoth-er argues that hurricane frequency will decrease in changing climatic conditions.

There may still be good ques-tions about how tropical storm frequency is being affected by climate change, but scientific evidence is clear that cli-mate change will increase the intensity of hurricanes in the future. Since the 1970s, there has been a steady increase in the measured “Power Dissipation Index” of hurricanes, which measures the intensity and duration of a storm. One study showed that hurricanes in the 21st century last 60 per-cent longer, with wind speeds 15 percent higher than hur-ricanes thirty years ago. Storms get their energy from the water, so there is likely a connection between higher water temperatures and the strength of the hurricanes that form above. Warming also increases the amount of water vapor in the air, which develops into more concentrated, intense precipitation both on water and on land.

Before Hurricane Sandy arrived in New York City, hundreds of New York City residents took to the streets

in Times Square, protesting the recent lack of politi-cal discourse about global climate change, which

has been dubbed “climate silence.” This si-lence has been reaching new levels with

the recent presidential campaigns, in which neither major candidate has talked seriously about global climate change and the damage it could do.

While extreme weather isn’t a new phenomenon, extreme weather events may increase in scale and scope as global climate change be-comes more rampant. The amount of damage it could do and the num-ber of lives it could take will only be apparent several days after the storm dissipates, but the best strat-egy to ensure the damage done is minimized is to bring our carbon emissions under control and to prepare for a future world with a much different climate. This means rebuilding our cities and infrastruc-ture to be able to withstand extreme weather events, and to do the best we can to plan new developments with an eye on the future.

We are extremely lucky damage has been minimal here at Swarth-more from hurricanes Sandy and Irene, but we cannot afford to sit and wait for another extreme weather pattern to develop — miti-gation as a campus and as a planet must begin today.

The Climatology of HurricanesSandy Should Be A Call To Action:Climate Change Is Happening Now

Admin, Sharples Deserve Praise For Efficient Response

to Sandy

Staff Editorial

Swarthmore College has done an excellent job of keeping students informed of the situation with regard to Hurricane Sandy. A total of 18 emails were sent to students before, during, and after the hurricane, which kept students informed as to the situation and the way facilities and services were handling the inclement weather. In addition, the College sent out several emails to parents in order to reassure them that all necessary precautions were being taken. In these sorts of situations, communi-cation is key, and we thank the College for keeping us all in the loop.

According to Public Safety, no injuries were re-ported on campus as a result of the hurricane. Di-rector of Maintenance Ralph Thayer and Dean of Housing Rachel Head, along with several others, sent out detailed emails advising students how to properly handle the storm, with an emphasis on warning students to be vigilant for flooding in dorm basements and to not travel outside unless absolute-ly necessary. Seeing the devastation that Hurricane Sandy caused in nearby New Jersey, lives were quite possibly saved by not downplaying the severity of the weather.

The College also made a good call in canceling classes on Monday and Tuesday. The cancellation came as a surprise, as classes have not been cancelled at Swarthmore since 9/11, but the decision was ab-solutely necessary. Though the severity of the storm greatly diminished by Tuesday morning, occasional gusts lingered, bringing branches down from trees and causing outdoor travel to remain a hazard. We commend the College for their foresight in closing the College on Monday and Tuesday.

We also wish to extend gratitude to the staff of Sharples, who, despite an early closure on Monday due to the weather, was still able to provide food for students in the form of take-home meals. In ad-dition, the Sharples staff deserves a big thank you for coming in earlier than planned on Tuesday (the original opening time was 12 p.m.; Sharples opened at 11 a.m. instead). It was no small feat for Sharples staff to return to campus through the damage of a storm that was still lingering in the area.

In short, Swarthmore College and all its employ-ees deserve the thanks of the student body for their dedication to keeping us all safe during the storm.

In a storm so severe, the efforts of the Col-lege contributed greatly to the even-tual miracle that no one on campus was seriously in-j u r e d .

COURTESY OF EARTHOBSERVATORY.NASA.GOV

Hurricane Sandy over the Atlantic Ocean. The storm reached maximum sustained winds of 110 mph and caused a 14-foot storm surge in NYC, the highest ever recorded for the area.

PATRICK AMMERMAN

Popular Science

While extreme weather isn’t a new phenomenon, extreme weather events may increase in scale and scope as global

climate change becomes more rampant.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012 OpinionsThe Phoenix

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LETTER, OP-ED & COMMENT POLICY

Our perennial disgust with the Elec-toral College is underway. In every presi-dential election but three, the popular vote and state electors have named the same winner. Yet that hasn’t stopped Americans from grousing that the Electoral College is complicated, unfair, and responsible for George W. Bush’s presidency.

Right now, there’s a very plausible chance that Mitt Romney, with huge ma-jorities in the South, will win the popular vote while not necessarily making it over the 270 electoral vote finish-line for a national win. Should that happen, I’ll be disappointed, yet I’ll defend the Electoral College just the same.

Residing in the Swarthmore dorms of-fers many of us the distinction of living in a “swing state,” with Obama’s lead over Romney in the Keystone State now nail-

bitingly narrow. I’m still voting in Connecticut, partly because of our close Senate race between Lin-da McMahon and Chris Murphy,

but mostly out of an inexplicable loyalty to New England. Am I throwing away my vote in one of the nation’s bluest states? Probably. Do I still defend the Electoral College? Absolutely.

The Federal Register records 700 futile attempts at doing-away with the Electoral College over the course of our nation’s his-tory. A change in how we determine our president would require a Constitutional amendment — a purposely tricky under-taking. Formally editing the Constitution calls for three-fourths of the states to ratify. Smaller states, though, wield a dispropor-tionate sway through the Electoral College and are unwilling to alter the procedure.

Some Republicans, who have suddenly awoken to the inequities of the Elector-al College, are proposing the “National Popular Vote” Bill to salvage what they in-terpret as a conservative popularity edge. Unfortunately, initiatives like these betray our underlying Constitutional principles in favor of a particular election. Genuine conservatives ought to pay heed to James Madison, who warned of majoritarian tyr-anny and outlined his vision for a combi-nation of popular and state-based govern-ment in Federalist No. 39.

In an environment in which citizens

increasingly project their political discon-tents onto the Feds, the Electoral College reminds us that states and localities mat-ter, because it’s the states, and sometimes specific counties, who cast the final die. All too often, we look to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to solve our problems because we don’t trust the people down the street.

Highlighting this collapse in engage-ment, the influential 1950’s sociologist Robert Nisbet wrote, “We continue to ring changes on themes handed down from the eighteenth century without realizing that the power of the bells to stir consciousness is always limited by what already lies with-in consciousness. When this has become altered, no amount of frenzied change-ringing will suffice. For the symbols of liberalism, like the bells of the church, de-pend on the prejudgments and social tra-dition.” Complaining about the Electoral College amounts to misunderstanding a political symbol because we’re close to los-ing the local, social fact of American life.

Nisbet loved localism — meaning small towns, schools, churches, civic clubs and trade unions. If this sounds reminiscent of Robert Putnam, prominent political sci-entist and Swarthmore alum, you’re right. Putnam’s studies are essentially a contem-porary expansion of the Nisbet thesis. We haven’t witnessed the total demolition of World War II that Nisbet did, yet we risk being just as atomized and disillusioned as Nisbet’s neighbors because we’ve aban-doned community and localism. Instead of reviving our little Burkean platoons, we turn on cable news to see what’s happen-ing on the 24-hour national stage.

Occupy Wall Street didn’t take its grievances to City Hall — it demanded federal redistribution, federal student loans, federal bank-crackdowns. This faith in national intervention falsely romanti-cizes movements like the French Revolu-tion, in which the mass wields unfiltered power. I’m not saying one-man-one-vote automatically spells radical Jacobinism, but it does risk the sway and prejudices of a fickle citizenry. Better to have an ordered republic that absorbs citizen opinion and directs those opinions toward stable elec-toral institutions. Institutions like the Electoral College force politicians back toward state engagement, reaffirming the fact that we are a nation of states and not just people. If this means voters in Ohio receive a disproportionate amount of the

spotlight, so be it. The Electoral College, in short, resists federal know-it-alls and returns to state and local concerns. We’re forced to talk about things like coal mines, ethanol and the Navy because these are important matters in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Virginia.

After Sandy’s mayhem along the East coast, professional pundits like CNN’s An-drea Mitchell took to the screen to ques-tion (or was it to kindly suggest?) whether Washington might delay Election Day be-cause of the hurricane. Never mind the fact that the United States carried on with elec-tions during the Civil War. Election rules are not designed or tweaked based on pres-idential whim. They depend on the proce-dure of state legislatures. To assume other-wise undermines our remaining examples

of federalism and the Constitution’s care-ful delegation of shared authority. What’s more, clamoring for a federal rain-check funnels an undue level of confidence into the national executive, encouraging the kind of pretentiously “imperial” presiden-cies we’ve watched under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

This brings us back to the current swing-states, which have received an un-godly level of news attention. Sure, watch-ing candidates in flannel traipsing around a pumpkin patch in Iowa is hokey and contrived. But this appeal to a rugged, clas-sic American spirit is far preferable to the Washington Beltway. The Electoral Col-lege has its quirks, yet it gets politicians out of DC and into real, lively communities. And it probably sells more apple cider.

In Defense of the Electoral College

DANIELLECHARETTE

The Nascent Neoliberal

It’s the week of Halloween, everybody! You know what that means, right? The Halloween party is right around the corner! Let’s pop some bottles in anticipation. Now, when thinking about what I was going to write about this week I said to myself, “Slam, there is no way you cannot make a list of Do’s and Don’ts for this Halloween week-end!” So lets jump right into it, shall we?!

Do’s1. Look Good, Feel Good: Halloween is one of the

very few nights of the year in which you can probably dress scandalously with no (or very little) judgment. If you are confident enough to don very little clothing,

please do so! If you are super creative, I suggest you really have fun with your costume! It’s meant to be a lot of fun. Keep in mind, you’re going to be at a party with 18 to 20-somethings and hormones will be raging, so

try and look good. It will be such a confidence booster knowing that you’re leaving to go to this party looking and feeling amazing. Why not let some of those eyes at the party be looking at you?

2. Get Ready With Your Clique: Being with your clique before the Halloween mayhem begins will prob-ably be some of the most fun you will ever have during your time here at Swat. Getting those finishing touches on your costume, while people are smiling, laughing and having a great time is a really beautiful moment. Not to mention, looking back at all the love being captured through all the pictures taken will make the memories so much sweeter. And let’s not forget that it will probably

be some of the last wholesome moments you will have before the ratchet night begins.

3. Play to the Theme: If you’re dressed as a police of-ficer, try some corny pick-up lines that have to do with the costume! If you’re going to be an Italian Mobster, re-ally channel Tony Montana and tell someone to say hello to your little friend (sexual pun not intended). It will be hilarious and it will really show that you like to have a little fun. You’d be surprised by the amazing things you can say when you really adopt your Halloween persona.

Don’ts1. Blaming Too Much on the Goose: Newsflash!

There will probably be alcohol wherever you go. It’s college. Drinks will be around and you’re going to be feeling great because it’s Halloween. Please, do not overconsume because be-ing sloppy is never a good look. Not to mention, when you’re dancing, you want to have some control of your limbs. And when you can’t remember where you put your phone, ID, keys, etc., you’ll start to panic and emotions will become uncontrollable. Keep in mind that you want to remain cognizant of your surroundings. So please, don’t blame too much on the goose. You don’t want to be that person hugging the gar-bage can in the corner of Sharples.

2. Being Too Cool to Dance: If you’re going to show

up, dance! You don’t look cool standing by the window acting like you’re too cool for a Swarthmore Halloween party. If you’re going to show up to a party, then party! You end up looking like a jerk and no one is going to want to be around you if you choose to stand with your hands on your hips or your arms crossed on the side of Sharples. It’s annoying to see. Catching your breath after tearing up the dance floor or even trying to find some-body is totally allowed and acceptable, but if you haven’t moved from that spot for over an hour, you need to leave.

3. “If I Don’t Go Home With Someone, I Lose”: That is the absolute worst mindset to be in! Never have that be your goal. This is the most important don’t! It is crucial that you make sure you have fun first and foremost. Be with people you love. Go hard in the paint with those

loves! Tear up the dance floor with your clique and don’t stop ’til you’ve had enough! Have all the fun and if someone would like to continue that fun with you all the way to the bedroom, then that’s the icing on the cake to a great Halloween night.

With all this said, I encourage you all to be

safe and have all the fun! Halloween should be a fun experience for all, so let’s try to make that happen. And remember, when in doubt, channel King Beyonce and tell yourself “I may be young, but I’m ready.” Have a fun Halloween, y’all!

’Cause We Like To Party: Halloween Edition

SEANBRYANT

Real Talk With Slam Halloween is one of the very few nights of the year in which you can probably

dress scandalously with no (or very little) judgment. If you are confident enough to don very little clothing, please do so!

OpinionsThe Phoenix


Cast An Informed Vote This Election!

Don’t just stop at U.S. President. Up and down the ballot, all elections are important. That’s why The Phoenix is bringing you these profiles of candidates running for offices that rep-resent Swarthmore. If you’re registered here, these are the names you’ll see on the ballot on November 6. We encourage you to look them over to ensure that you know who you’re voting for! The races profiled here are those for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Pennsylvania State House, and three Pennsylvania state executive positions: Attorney General, Treasurer and Auditor Gen-eral. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett (R) is not up for reelection this year; neither is Swarthmore’s representative in the Pennsylvania State Senate, Republican Edwin Erickson of District 26.

U.S. Senate One-term Democratic Senator Robert Casey is running for reelection to the Senate this year. In 2006, he de-feated Presidential Candidate-to-be Rick Santorum to win the seat. His challenger, coal magnate Tom Smith, has gained ground in recent weeks, though Casey still maintains a single-digit lead in most polls. Casey is the Senior Senator for Pennsylvania; he is serving with Republican Pat Toomey, who was elected in 2010. Robert Casey (D): Casey has long been a favorite son of the Democratic establishment, both in Pennsylvania and in Washington. The son of a former governor, he has been a household name in the state for some time. He falls in line with his party on most issues, with one major exception: Casey is one of the few Democrats in Congress who opposes abortion. While in the Senate, he co-sponsored multiple bills to advance gay rights, including the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. He also co-sponsored the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which was widely criticized as an act of censor-ship against the internet. Tom Smith (R): Smith has dabbled in politics recently, but most of his career was spent in the coal industry, where he built his own company and ran it for 20 years. Though he is running as a Republican in the Senate race, he served as a Democratic committeeman in his hometown of Plumcreek. He has laid out a detailed economic plan which places emphasis on simplifying the tax code and deregulation, as well as increasing energy production in America. Smith drew fire last August when he reaffirmed his no-exceptions stance on banning abortion by seemingly comparing having a baby out of wedlock to being impregnated by rape. He later walked back the comments, saying that the two situations were not analogous.

U.S. House — 1st District Swarthmore fell victim to redistricting in 2011, so the town is no longer in the Seventh Congressional District represented by Republican Pat Meehan. Our new district, the First, is represented by Democrat Bob Brady. Meehan and Brady are both favored to win their reelection bids. Brady’s opponent is John Featherman. The two men have faced off once before, when they ran against each other for the same seat in 1998 (though Featherman was running as a Libertarian). Bob Brady (D): Brady is considered one of the most liberal members of the House of Representatives. A former carpenter, he is incredibly popular among labor unions and civil rights groups. He is also a strong supporter of campaign finance reform, advocating partial public funding of political campaigns. John Featherman (R): Featherman describes himself as a libertarian — fiscally conservative and socially lib-eral — who breaks with his party on such issues as abortion and gay marriage. Though he has launched sev-eral campaigns, he has never held political office. His career has been mainly in publications and real estate.

Pennsylvania State House — 161st District Republican incumbent Joe Hackett has served one two-year term in the State House; he was elected in 2010 by a sizeable but not outstanding margin. Republicans control both houses in the Pennsylvania State Legislature as well as the Governor’s seat. Joe Hackett (R): Hackett served in law enforcement as a detective for 26 years before his election to the State House. He was given the honor of NENA Legislator of the Year in 2011. During his time in the House, he collaborated with other Republicans to pass welfare reform and crack down on fraud. He is also a strong advocate of increased transparency in government. Larry DeMarco (D): DeMarco has worked for years as a lawyer and community organizer. He is a sharp critic of Governor Corbett’s budget cuts to public education and other areas. He has also called for stronger regulation of fracking and increased taxes on companies which use this natural gas extraction method.

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE EXECUTIVE POSITIONS

Pennsylvania Attorney General Appointed in 2010 by Governor Corbett, Pennsylvania’s current Attor-ney General, Republican Linda Kelly, has opted not to seek election to a full term. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement office in the state of Pennsylvania. Duties include overseeing prosecutions, criminal investigations, and advising the Governor on legal matters. On a side note, the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General is one of the oldest public offices in the United States, created in 1643 when parts of Penn-sylvania were still under Swedish control.

David Freed (R): Freed is Governor Corbett’s preferred candidate for the Attorney General post; electing Freed is one of Corbett’s top priorities. Freed is a strong supporter of the Pennsylvania Voter ID law; he also supports the death penalty for first-degree murderers. In response to the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal, Freed has advocated for the creation of a special unit for the prosecution of child abusers. He is an experienced prosecutor, having served as the Dis-trict Attorney of Cumberland County for 15 years.

Kathleen Granahan Kane (D): Polls show Kane with a very slim lead in the race for Attorney General. In March, she received the endorse-ment of former President Bill Clinton. Although she has been an out-spoken critic of the Pennsylvania Voter ID law, she has said that she will enforce it if elected as the office of Attorney General necessitates. In the wake of the Sandusky scandal, she has criticized the statute of limitations on sexual predators. She has extensive experience as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office of Lackawanna County.

Pennsylvania Treasurer Democrat Rob McCord is running for reelection to the office of Pennsyl-vania Treasurer. If reelected, term limits would force him to retire at the end of his second term. The Treasurer’s primary responsibility is to man-age and protect the finances of the State of Pennsylvania, In addition, the Treasurer oversees several programs that extend credit to struggling families and help students pay for college. Rob McCord (D): McCord has had a career both in the public and pri-vate sectors, spending time as a business manager for entrepreneurial organizations in the technology industry and in numerous positions on Capitol Hill. During the campaign, he has placed emphasis on job creation and reforming state spending to make it more efficient. Diane Irey Vaughan (R): Vaughan served for five terms as the Com-missioner for Washington County. She commonly touts this experi-ence, noting that during her terms Washington County repeatedly balanced its budgets and ranked third among counties nationwide for job growth. She emphasizes cutting back on wasteful spending and creating an environment to foster job creation.

Pennsylvania Auditor General The office of the Auditor General describes itself as the “independent fiscal watchdog” for Pennsylvania. Its basic responsibility is to watch over state taxation and spending and prevent fraud, as well as to ensure that state institutions are running efficiently. Term limits are forcing the Democratic incumbent, John Wagner, to retire this year. Eugene DePasquale (D): DePasquale is a member of the Pennsylva-nia House of Representatives. He is also running for reelection in the State House this year. He is a strong environmental advocate, spon-soring bills while in the State House to invest in renewable energy. He has also promised to conduct an audit of the Department of Environ-mental Protection to ensure proper regulation of natural gas drilling. John Maher (R): Like DePasquale, Maher is a member of the Penn-sylvania State House also running for reelection to his seat there. He commonly touts his background as a certified public accountant. In the State Legislature, he sponsored several bills to crack down on fraud and corruption in the public sector, as well as many to increase government transparency. He promises he will continue this trend if elected Auditor General.

Polling Locations: It’s all for naught if you don’t know where to go! If you live in Palmer, Pittenger, Roberts, Mary Lyon, or Strath Haven (basically any dorm south of the railroad tracks), you will vote at the Cerebral Palsy Association of Delaware County, located at 401 Rutgers Avenue. If you live in any other dorm (any dorm north of the railroad tracks) you will vote at Swarthmore-Rutledge Elementary School, located at 100 College Avenue. Polls at both locations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 6.

Voter ID: For the upcoming election, you will NOT need a photo ID, unless you are a newly registered voter, in which case you will need to present one. A Swarthmore College ID is valid, provided it is unexpired and your face is visible. After this election, though, all voters will need to present photo ID before voting.

By PRESTON COOPEROpinions Editor

SportsTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

The Phoenix

Fall Sports Teams Honor SeniorsVolleyball, Field Hockey Have Games with Playoff Implications

PAGE 17

AKSHAJ KUCHIBHOTLA/PHOENIX STAFFAbove, Danielle Sullivan winds up to serve during volleyball’s 3-1 victory over Haverford. Below, Aarti Rao looks to pass during field hockey’s 4-3 loss to the Fords.

Rookie quarterbacks have been judged and reassessed before and during this season like no other season. With the debut of five new starting quarterbacks to the NFL, all fresh out of college and thrown into the deep end, it is always worth looking at their progress and how they are performing. Though this brief assessment should be taken with a pinch of salt: Cam Newton had a phenom-enal year in his rookie season and seems to be suffering a sophomore slump, and these rookies have only played at most 8 games in their careers.

What struck me most about this new class is that these quarterbacks have been remarkably competent. Usu-ally rookies are kept on the bench or given a few plays over a season to blood them slowly. Many quarterbacks drafted to the NFL never see game time or only play one season before they are shipped out. Some quarterbacks, I’m looking at you JaMarcus Russell, are complete busts from the start despite great college careers. But in this class it is worth noting that at the very worst, these new quarterbacks have played with a degree of maturity that

is surprising. Even poor, ancient Brandon Weedon has managed to look competent for the Browns, maybe better than Colt McCoy but certainly no worse than his pre-decessor. RGIII, Luck, Tannehill, Weedon and Wilson have proven

themselves so far this season to be good quarterbacks who can give their respective franchises something to build on.

What is an interesting development this year is that coaches have systems in place that fit the players that they drafted to lead their teams to victory. Tannehill was drafted by his former college coach who spent the off sea-son training the offense how to play his desired style of football, something that Tannehill was running success-fully at Texas A&M. Kyle Shanahan has developed an of-fensive play book that brings in plays that RGIII utilised successfully at Baylor combined with a strong, dual threat running game to confuse opponents facing such an ath-letic QB. In Indianapolis the Colts have let themselves be broken to the needs of Luck. They took Coby Fleener in the second round of the draft to make Luck feel comfort-able in the transition to a pro offense. By drafting Fleener, the Colts showed that Luck was going to be given every chance to succeed in the NFL because they would back him just as they had backed Peyton Manning. Wilson has not been given the same advantages as his other rookies but managed to win over Pete Carroll with his intense work ethic and mental approach to the game, two inte-gral parts that make someone a winner in the NFL. Wil-son beat out Tarvais Jackson and Matt Flynn, who had just been handed a lucrative deal to be the starter in train-ing camp simply through impressing the coach with his skill set. Wilson gained something in training camp that most of the other rookies were drafted with: respect.

But of all the rookies the most impressive is not Wil-son or RGIII but Tannehill, who seems to be the major change from last season that could turn the Dolphins into a playoff team in one season. At 4-3 the Dolphins stand a chance of reaching the play offs after beating the Jets comfortably in New Jersey. Despite losing their greatest offensive threat, Brandon Marshall, and having a young receiving corps, they have managed to score more than enough to churn out three victories in a row. Though their passing yardage is not necessarily that high compared to other teams with rookie QBs, they have a great running game at the moment that takes some of the pressure off of Tannehill and enables him to play like an established player. Though he did throw three interceptions against the Texans and two against the Cardinals those are for-givable errors for two reasons: the Texans were his first opponents and both of those teams have formidable de-fences that most quarterbacks struggle against.

Rookie QBs have dominated discussion in the NFL this season even more that whether Cutler or Suh should be the most disliked player in the NFL. But they are being discussed for their positive play rather than their negative attributes.

Though each of these players has a different style, they are able to play in the NFL with teams that are willing to fit a scheme to their strengths rather than forcing them to conform to the style that the team already plays. And it is working for the moment.

Rookie QBs Looking Good

RGIII, Luck, Tannehill, Weedon and Wilson have proven themselves so far this season to be good quarter-backs that can give their respective franchises something to build on.

JAMESIVEY

Out of Left Field

SportsThe Phoenix


Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame UnveiledInaugural Class of 12 Inductees Honored Over Weekend

On Friday, Swarthmore inducted the inaugural class of the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame. In a small ceremony in Tarble Pavilion, members were greeted by President Re-becca Chopp, Athletic Director Adam Hertz, and others in front of the newly unveiled Hall of Fame display.

The honorees were introduced to the crowds at Garnet Weekend events including the pep rally and men’s soccer game against Haverford. If you didn’t get a chance to make it to these events, meet the Garnet Hall of Fame class of 2012:

Avery “Bunky” Blake Jr. ’53, is the only product of the Swarthmore lacrosse program to be named an All-Ameri-can all four years he played. A tremendous scorer, he still ranks highly in the program record books, coming in at first in career goals (132) and fifth in career points (116). Dur-ing his Swarthmore career, the Garnet won four straight Pennsylvania-Delaware League Championships (1950–1953). Davis is a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and lives in Penn Valley, Calif.

Charles “Chip” Chevalier ’93 was the last great player in the Garnet football program that once existed. He set re-cords in nearly every offensive category, including career passing yards (5,376), completions (410), and touchdowns (41). Without a team now, these records will surely stand the test of time. In his senior season, Chevalier led the Centennial Conference in passing (2,371) and total offense (2,564), efforts which earned him Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year and All-American honors. Chevalier lives in Clark, N.J.

Danielle Duffy ’98 was a two-sport star for the Garnet, dominating in competition in both field hockey and track and field. In field hockey, Swarthmore won three straight Centennial Conference Championships (1995, 1996, 1997), earned the program’s only NCAA Playoff appearance (1996), and won the 1997 ECAC Championship with Duffy as a leader. Duffy was named Centennial Player of the Year three times (1995, 1996, 1997) and was an All-American in 1996. She ranks first all-time in Swarthmore history in ca-reer points (235) and second all-time in career goals (68). On the track, Duffy also proved exceptional, as she led the Garnet track teams to conference titles in 1997 (indoor) and 1998 (outdoor). During her career, she earned eight individual Centennial Conference gold medals, earning the conference’s Most Outstanding Performer award in 1997 and 1998. She lives in Media, Pa.

Richard “Dick” Esrey ’50 was perhaps the most versatile athlete in school history. As a tailback in single-wing foot-ball, Esrey was an all-around player who could threaten in any play. He was an Associated Press Football All-American in 1948 and 1949, and his program records in career points (126) and career touchdowns (21) were never bettered. As a baseball player, Esrey led the Garnet baseball team in nearly every statistical category during his four-year career. In bas-ketball, Esrey was a leader on the MASCAC Champion 1947 team and the 1949 team that reached the MASCAC champi-onship game. Esrey currently lives in Princeton, N.J.

Eleanor Kay “Pete” Hess (1924–2011) worked to ad-vance women in athletics well before the implementation of Title IX. An administrator for 33 years, Hess first was chair of the Department of Physical Education and Athletics for

Women from 1965 to 1979, before then serving as the as-sociate chair for the Department of Physical Education and Athletics from 1979 to 1990. She was a great coach as well, from 1957 to 1984, she led the lacrosse team to 121 victories, second most in program history, and led the field hockey program to 140 victories, the making her the winningest coach in program history.

Richard “Dick” Hall ’52 is the top professional ath-lete Swarthmore ever produced. He had a 19-year Major League Baseball career, pitching for four different clubs. First playing for the Baltimore Orioles, Hall helped the team win the 1966 and 1970 World Series. At Swarthmore, Hall was a multi-sport star for the Garnet, playing five dif-ferent sports: baseball, football, basketball, track and field, and soccer. On the baseball field, today Hall still holds many of the program’s pitching and hitting records, including ca-reer strikeouts (281), single-season strikeouts (108), career ERA (1.69), single-season ERA (1.01), career batting aver-age (.412), single-season batting average (.510) and single-season home runs (6). His mark extends to the track--Hall still holds the school record for the long jump (23.25 feet), set in 1951. He lives in Timonium, Md.

Swarthmore once had a wrestling team, and Patrick “Hondo” Holmes ’82 was its shining star. He qualified for the NCAA Championship four times and was a two-time All-American from his second place finish in his weight

class (134) at the 1980 NCAA Division III National Tour-nament and fourth place finish in 1981. Holmes held 12 program records, including most career wins (116), most career match points (481), most dual meet wins (76), most dual meet wins in a season (23), and most career falls (32). He lives in Pasadena, Calif.

Gwyneth Jones Cote ’84 was one of the best athletes of her era, dominating for the Garnet lacrosse and field hockey teams. Cote still holds the lacrosse program record for career points (374) and career assists (176) and ranks fourth all-time in career goals (198). She was a First Team All-American in 1984, a year in which she set not only the Swarthmore record, but NCAA Division III record for as-sists in a single season (55). She lives in Westfield, N.J.

Heather Kile Lord ’02 led the Garnet basketball team to its best seasons during her career. She is the leading scorer in the history of the program and, until 2012, in the entire Centennial Conference (1,965). In 2001, Lord led the Gar-net to its first ever Centennial Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Lord left her mark on the program record books, ranking first all-time in ca-reer free throws (557), second in field goals (704), second in rebounds (1,263), and third in steals (231). If there was an individual award available, she won it: Lord’s individual accolades include the prestigious Jostens Trophy, Kodak and D3Hoops First Team All-American, GTE Academic All-American, Centennial Conference Player of the Year, and four-time All-Centennial First Team. Today she lives in West Chester, Pa..

Robert “Tiny” Maxwell ‘07 (1884-1922) only played for two seasons, but left a tremendous impact on the Garnet athletics program, as well as the game of football itself. Max-well earned football All-America honors in 1905 after lead-ing the Garnet to a 7–1 record. He left Swarthmore in 1906 to play professionally. One of the most prestigious awards in Division I football, the Maxwell Award, is named after him. He excelled off the football field as well. In track and field, Maxwell’s hammer throw record of 138 feet 6 inches has stood for more than 100 years.

McWelling “Mac” Todman ’77 led the Garnet soccer team’s run to the NCAA Division III Championship Match in 1974, the program’s best finish in NCAA play ever. That year, Todman scored a tournament-best five goals, and was Second Team All-American, First Team All-Region, and MAC South Player of the Year. Todman ranks second all-time in career goals (35), third all-time in career points (70), and second all-time in single season points (40, 1974). Thanks to track races being run in meters now, Todman will forever hold the school record in the 100-yard dash (9.8). He lives in Glenside, Pa.

The 1984–85 men’s tennis team was inducted for their exceptional team effort. They won the 1985 NCAA Divi-sion III team championship, the NCAA Division III dou-bles championship, and produced five All-Americans. In the 1985 NCAA Division III Team Championship Tourna-ment, the Garnet defeated Kalamazoo College 5–4 to win the title, in a match for the ages that was determined in the third tiebreaker of second doubles.

Do you know any athletes that should be inducted? Do you want athletes who played more than football to be in the Hall of Fame? You can send suggestions to http://www.swarthmoreathletics.com/Hall_of_Fame_Nom.

By DAN DUNCANSports Editor


Hall of Fame inductees were escorted by representatives of their respective sports.


The Garnet Weekend Pep Rally introduced Hall of Fame inductees to the school.

SportsTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

The Phoenix

Dramatic Storylines Open NBA Season

At that winter externship mixer (and beyond), you might find yourself in the midst of V.I.S.F.s (very important sports fans). For the Swarthmore Student Body’s convenience, the Phoenix has put together a flash card primer of strong storylines for the young 2012-2013 NBA season. Without further ado…

The Lakers: ReloadedFacing the dead end created by father time and their appar-

ent replacements as Western Conference Powers looking to permanently put them down, the Lakers front office lived up to its historical resiliency. With the additions of Dwight How-

ard (formerly of Orlando) and Steve Nash (formerly of Phoenix), the 2009 & 2010 NBA champs reloaded for one last cham-pionship run with the 34-year-old Kobe Bryant after consecutive second round playoff exits. With the offensive profi-ciency of new point guard Steve Nash and the famously dominating defense of

center Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant presumably have less work to do on both ends. That said…

Bearded Blunder?The refurbished Lakers must still face the Oklahoma City

Thunder: a team too fast, too springy, too young, and too ener-getic for L.A.’s core of 30-plus year old players to handle. While center Kendrick Perkins has proven a thorn in the side of both Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, the hyper-athletic wing duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook can famously torture players like Steve Nash and Metta World Peace. The team is coming off a painful finals loss and Olympic seasoning for three of its stars. But the team also turned its famous core trio into a duo: the Thunder traded reigning Sixth Man of the Year James Harden to the Houston Rockets just before the opening of the season. Time will tell if the debearding of the team will derail the title hopes of the reigning western conference champions. Oklahoma City is not alone in their need to answer questions of absence. Back East…

Bearish Bull Market?The Chicago Bulls, owners of the best record in the Eastern

Conference in consecutive years, will spend crucial parts of their season without superstar guard Derrick Rose, who sustained an ACL injury during the 2012 play-offs. Rose’s injury has been historically devastat-ing to players who use their speed and agility as much as Rose does, and his offense may be sore-ly missed on a team that had difficulty scoring outside of Rose and mercurial big man Carlos Boozer. Things are uncertain in the windy city, but their team is at least young. The same cannot be said however…

Green with Rage (or Age?)

… for the Boston Celtics, who seasoned the Chicago Bulls in their heated 2009 playoff duel. The 2008 NBA champions are one down in their erstwhile Big Three, as sharp-shooter Ray Allen left the team in free agency for the current archri-val Miami Heat. To replace him, the Celtics convinced Jason Terry (for-merly of the 2011 champion Mav-ericks), Courtney Lee (formerly of the Houston Rockets), Leandro Barbosa (formerly of the Indiana Pacers), and Darko Milicic (for-merly of the Minnesota Timber-wolves and a recurring subject for NBA Memes) to take their talents to Beantown. Like their historical archrivals out west, the Lakers, the Celtics find father time has an emissary on earth to remind them of their age: the Miami Heat. Age, the Celtics hope however, is noth-ing but a number. Experienced, hungry, and fiercely resilient, 17-time Champ Boston will never go without a fight. Unlike the other years in their reign over the east, the fighting may be closer to home than they think: for the first time in their division, there may be actual competition. From the Big Apple…

Underachievers No More... Or Not?

There are now not one, but two teams standing between the Boston Celtics and their fifth con-secutive division title. The Penn Station Band of the New York Knicks is still trying to integrate former western conference scor-ing machines Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire into a team that can win more than one playoff game for the first time in nearly ten years(and the first title in 40 years). Across the east river

at Atlantic Avenue, the refurbished Brooklyn Nets (moved from NJ by Jay-Z) vocally intend to stand up to the Knicks, Celtics, and Sixers (with Andrew Bynum) in the Atlantic division. With Gerald Wallace, Marshon Brooks, Brook Lopez, and a former Kardashian family member (Kris Humphries) flanking Deron Williams and Joe Johnson, the Nets hope to take the Knicks’ place in the hearts of at least one borough of the city. Some have expressed doubt about the charisma of such a cast (consider the acting talent of Kris Humphries (nee Kardashian), but a Russian oil oligarch who was spectacularly profiled on 60 minutes and Jay-Z should more than compensate for questionably market-able individual players.

The Nets are not the only former sadsacks looking to upstage their older intercity counterparts. Across the country in LA, the Clippers will try to encroach upon the Laker show’s territory as they build stronger foundations to ‘Lob City’. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and Lamar (still a Kardashian) Odom will need all their grit and all their guile to give the 16-time champion Lakers a reason to worry, something the Lakers had, until last year, al-most never done in their 30-year history sharing the city. The nations two biggest cities have two competitive basketball teams simultaneously for what may be the first time in history. Size of the city might not matter however, against the reigning NBA champion….

The Reign of the KingMiami Heat. Coming full circle from their bizarre finals im-

plosion in 2011, South Beach earned its parade in June and its rings on opening night. Its three stars (Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh) are flanked by a coterie of sharpshoot-ers, defenders and rebounders in their quest to defend their title. With fellow speedster teams in Chicago and Oklahoma City possibly searching for answers, it seems like the Heat may live up to LeBron’s controversial promise of multiple titles. The catch? 30 year-old Dwyane Wades’ knee troubles, exacerbated by his frenetic style of play, and the lack of relative size on the team (no member of the team is over seven feet tall) might ruin to June 2013 plans of a second consecutive South Beach celebra-tion. For now though, the Miami Heat and their superstar squad

open the season on top and with good reason to think they might end the year the s a m e way. Home-

work or not, don’t miss the fray and the fun of the NBA

t h i s year.

PAGE 19

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The ‘New Lakers’ debuts with the addition of Steve Nash, 10 and Dwight Howard, 12.

BRETT MCLARNEYSR., SOCCER, LOWELL, MASS.

What He’s Done: Scored the game-winning goal against Haverford in the third minute to clinch the Centennial Conference regu-lar season title and home-field advantage through the conference tournament.

Favorite Career Moment: Pizza buffet after the Washington College game. Mmm. Del-ish.

Goals for Postseason: Well, I have two main goals for the playoffs. The first is to approach both tournaments with modesty and realistic expectations. Hubris has often been a weak-ness of our team in the past, and we’d like to avoid that this year. Goal two is to win the na-tional championship.

Favorite Transition State: Chemically speak-ing? It’s E2. Concerted elimination: classic.

If you didn’t play soccer, what sport would you play? Alpine ski racing. I raced slalom and GS up in Vermont until I was 17; I miss the adrenaline.

GARNET ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

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DAYOFAYANJU

Black Balls

New Sports Columnist, Dayo Fayanju, Looks at the Upcoming Season

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COURTESY OF THEEPOCHTIMES.COMDwayne Wade slams it home, James Harden is a bearded wonder, and Derrick Rose drives to the rim.

SportsThe Phoenix


After concluding the regular season with a scoreless tie against Haverford on Saturday, the Swarthmore woman’s soccer team (11-5-1, 6-3-1 Centennial Conference) moved on to the postseason. The Garnet’s conference record was good for a tie for 4th place with Muhlen-berg College (8-8-2, 6-3-1 Conference). How-ever, since the Mules defeated Swarthmore in their sole match this season, Swarthmore will travel to Allentown, PA Thursday night in a Hurricane Sandy-delayed play-in game, with the winner moving on to face top-seeded Johns Hopkins (14-3-1, 9-1 Conference) in Baltimore on Saturday.

Though Swarthmore clinched a playoff berth with its resounding 3-0 defeat of Bryn Mawr last week, it entered Saturday’s tilt with Haverford with much on the line. A win would have moved the Garnet past both Muhlenberg and Haverford in the Conference standings, placing the team in 3rd place and giving them a first round playoff bye. The importance of the match was not lost on captain and defend-er Ariana Spiegal ’13, who also pointed out the added emotion that came with playing on se-

nior day, saying that, “for the seniors, it was our last regular season game that we would ever play on Clothier field, so I think the whole team resonated with the fact that we needed to play our hearts out”.

As was to be expected in a matchup of two of the Centennial Conference’s best defenses, the match was a fierce battle played out pri-marily near midfield. With so much riding on every opportunity, “momentum shifted back and forth every five minutes,” in the words of defender Ellen Bachmanhuff ‘15. Though chances were few and far between for both squads, it was the Garnet who found them-selves on the defensive more often. Haverford managed 22 shots, 8 shots on goal and 12 cor-ner kicks, while Swarthmore struggled to ad-vance the ball, attempting just 9 shots, 3 shots on goal and 3 corner kicks.

One of Swarthmore’s best chances came in improbable fashion when, late in the second overtime, Bachmanhuff blasted a free kick from midfield. The kick deflected off, and past the goalkeeper, but bounced just wide of the net. Despite his team’s late flirtation with victory, however, head coach Todd Anckaitis recognized that the team could have played better, commenting after the match that, “it wasn’t our best soccer.” That being said, the

very fact that the Garnet managed to prevent Haverford from finding the back of then net on any of their 22 opportunities is testament to a superb effort from a Swarthmore squad that would bend, but not break.

Despite his acknowledgement that the Gar-net were not at their best on Saturday, Anck-aitis praised his team’s effort, saying that, “I was proud of the fight we showed”. He added that, “The women worked really hard on the field and fought shoulder to shoulder with each other to represent the college, their se-niors and each other”.

After the game, Swarthmore quickly turned its focus to its upcoming matchup against a Muhlenberg team that handed Swarthmore its most recent defeat. Bachmanhuff emphasized that despite the loss and the fact they will be playing on the road, Swarthmore will not be intimidated, saying that, “Despite what the rankings say, we are not underdogs”.

She also hinted that the team has an added chip on its shoulder as it tries to avenge the October 17 loss. “We are angry and ready to come out fighting”, the defender said. Anck-aitis was confident that the team would put forth a stronger performance than it did the last time the two teams met, saying that “our defense and goalkeeping has been stellar the

last several games so I think we’re in pretty good shape to have success and advance to Saturday”.

Hurricane Sandy ground the entire east coast to a halt. Swarthmore College was no exception, and the school’s closure meant no practice for the Garnet on Monday and Tues-day, making preparing for Thursday’s game a difficult task. However, the Garnet players ap-pear to be using the extra time off to reflect on the Muhlenberg loss and gain motivation. “We can’t practice, so that is never an ideal situation” Speigal said, “but I think our team is very well aware of how we can beat them and remembers how it felt to loose to them”. Anckaitis also pointed to the team’s past abil-ity to deal successfully with adversity, saying that, “we have always responded well to ad-verse conditions happening around the pro-gram so I’m confident we’ll be ready when game time rolls around”.

Swarthmore may be the 5th and lowest seed in the conference playoffs, but the Gar-net know that they are no underdogs. Pre-pared, and excited to avenge their previous loss, Swarthmore appears ready to challenge Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins and whoever else stands in their way of a Centennial Conference title this weekend.

By SCOOP RUXINSports Writer

“I was proud of the fight we showed.”Todd Anckaitis

Head Coach

JULIA CARLETON/PHOENIX STAFFMegan Brock ‘14 plays the ball out of danger.

Women’s Soccer Prepares for Centennial PlayoffsHurricane Sandy Delays First-Round Game at Muhlenberg


Aine Schanche ’16 plays the ball into the midfield.

November 1

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