JUST COMPENSATION

New attention is being focused on Swarthmore’s lowest-paid staff members as a result of the student-driven “Living Wage and Democracy Campaign” (LWDC) and the suggestions made by a staff committee set up to examine the College’s compensation system.

Since fall 2000, the LWDC, composed of students and staff members, has issued a series of petitions and proposals to the campus community. Their goal: to improve staff compensation, primarily with the implementation of a base wage that would allow “a single-income family to provide for its own basic needs ...; without government assistance.” The salaries of an estimated 100 to 150 people, mainly members of dining and environmental services, would be affected.

“The living wage campaign challenges the College to live up to its stated commitment to social justice,” says Sam Blair ’02, an LWDC leader and math major with a peace and conflict studies concentration. “The way to do that is not only to teach about social justice in the classroom but also to model it in real life.”

Discussions of staff compensation are not new at Swarthmore. However, the LWDC’s work, along with the 2000 hiring of Melanie Young as associate vice president of human resources—a position that had been unfilled for a year—provided the momentum needed for the College to conduct a comprehensive study of wages and related issues.

The Staff Compensation Review Committee (CRC), formed last spring at the request of President Alfred H. Bloom, consisted of 13 staff members, including Young, with a broad range of jobs at the College. Among its recommendations, made last fall: a $9 per hour “Swarthmore minimum wage.” The current hiring minimum at the lowest College job grade is $6.66 per hour; the federal minimum wage is now $5.35.

Other recommendations included the following:

According to Young, the overall compensation goal for College staff should be comparable with that of the faculty. “That is, Swarthmore should have a salary and benefit plan that is slightly better than the average of market comparison groups,” she says. Young explains that the College regularly compares its numerous job classifications with both local and national benchmarks and has spent considerable new funds in recent years to bring staff compensation up to competitive levels.

“I thought two things going into this process: It must be inclusive, and it must be grounded in the facts,” Young says. “So we worked hard to have a committee that was inclusive of lots of viewpoints and that studied a shared set of facts, not just opinions.”

Although filled with strong opinions, the debate over staff compensation at Swarthmore has been largely civil and unmarked by hostility—unlike at Harvard University, where, last spring, student activists made national headlines by staging a successful three-week sit-in. That is no accident.

“We’re very concerned about not alienating anyone,” says Kae Kalwaic, an LWDC leader and administrative assistant in the Education program. “People can come on board softly, without harsh confrontation.”

For Kalwaic, who has worked on these issues for seven of her nine years at the College, a living wage and other workers’ rights are human rights issues. “We feel that you can’t run an institution with resources and a huge endowment and not pay people a living wage,” she says. “If the administration wanted to find the money and live up to the College’s commitment to social justice, that’s what they’d do.”

The CRC’s recommendations received the endorsement of top administrators and the Finance and Trusts Committee of the Board of Managers. However, LWDC members issued a response that found fault with many of them. Among their counterproposals was a minimum wage of $13 an hour and the maintaining of retirement contributions as they are so that those funds could be used in other areas, such as improving the College’s health insurance plans.

“The numbers [the CRC presented] are inadequate, and some things, such as the suggestion to freeze the benefit bank for employees taking single coverage, seem punitive and make no sense to me,” says Barry Schwartz, Dorwin P. Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action and an adviser to the LWDC steering committee. “You can’t give with one hand and take with the other. These initiatives will cost money. The College should face it and set a reasonable timeline.”

“We purposely created the recommendations as a unit,” Young says. “They are meant to work together as a package. If you change one or two, the whole changes. Not that we won’t look at suggestions, but we want people to look at the whole.”

As for a timeline, Young does not know how long it will take to fully implement the recommendations, but she is sanguine about the process. “Some people on the president’s staff think it will take five years, but I hope three,” she says. “And there’s still work to do.” Indeed, having recommendations in time to be included in next year’s budget process was just one of Young’s goals. Another is to have a new job-grading system designed and “ready to go” by the end of this calendar year.

—Alisa Giardinelli

Center celebrates

Award-winning author and screenwriter Sherman Alexie spoke to a capacity crowd at the Lang Performing Arts Cinema last month. The author of Reservation Blues, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and the screenplay for the film Smoke Signals peppered his talk, “Killing Indians: Myths, Lies, and Exaggerations,” with characteristically trenchant and witty observations about life after Sept. 11 as a “brown guy.”

Alexie's remarks were preceded by a five-song set from Jim Boyd, a guitarist and singer/songwriter who played selections from his album alterNATIVES and the Smoke Signals soundtrack. Following the talk, Boyd returned to center stage to sing two more songs, including one he wrote about Alexie, appropriately titled “Story Man.”

Alexie and Boyd’s visit was a highlight of the Intercultural Center’s (IC’s) yearlong celebration of its 10-year anniversary. The center’s “Celebrating Growth, Building Tomorrow" program honors what Acting Director Meghna Bhagat calls its “growth and growing pains" since it officially opened in April 1992. The first event, a reception and history panel that featured founding alumni and former directors, occurred in September; speakers such as noted gay rights activist Barbara Gittings, author Fernando Gonzalez, and award-winning filmmaker Frank Abe visited campus last fall. In addition to Alexie, speakers this spring include Helen Zia, author of Asian American Dreams, and Joo-Hyun Kang, an activist for gay people of color. Bhagat is also organizing the IC’s first Alumni Day, which will take place in April.

The IC originally consisted of three organizations—the Hispanic Organization for Latino Awareness; the Swarthmore Asian Organization; and Action Les-B-Gay, now the Swarthmore Queer Union. Last year, the newly formed Native American Student Association also joined the center.

Housed in the former Board of Managers room and nearby offices in Clothier Memorial Hall, the IC provides offices for these groups as well as a large meeting room that they share. The room’s recent renovation provides much-needed space for the IC’s administrative offices and for its library, which will be named in honor of former IC Director Annamaria Cobo, now the head of the Center for Hispanic Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania.

—Alisa Giardinelli

Clothier fields to be modernized

Goal posts are conspicuously absent from Clothier Fields these days. Football games and practices have given way to soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, and intramural sports.

Now the College’s stadium field is about to undergo more dramatic changes. At their February meeting, the Board of Managers approved a $2 million plan to upgrade Clothier Fields, including adding lighting and artificial turf and resurfacing the outdoor track.

Lighting the field will extend the hours for outdoor sports. “The ability to practice in the evenings should lessen conflicts with academic demands, especially for intramural teams,” says Adam Hertz, associate director of intercollegiate athletics.

Artificial turf is also expected to increase outdoor play by extending the season itself. “In early spring, our teams are normally forced to go indoors because of bad weather or wet conditions,” Hertz says. “With artificial turf, if there’s snow on the ground, you can shovel it off and start playing. Turf also maintains its quality through summer droughts.”

The technology of artificial turf has improved substantially in recent years, Hertz says. “It’s not like the old Astro Turf, which was like green carpet. Many think it’s better than natural grass now. Artificial turf doesn’t rut or develop bare spots, which can cause injuries,” he says. That durability has an economic advantage as well, says Larry Schall ’75, vice president for Facilities and Services. “If you’re on a grass field too much, you ruin it,” Schall says. “This you can’t ruin.”

Combined with recent improvements to indoor athletics facilities, the Clothier Fields project will give the College “a showplace athletics complex,” Hertz says. “We hope these changes will not only improve facilities for our current athletes but attract new ones as well.”

—Cathleen McCarthy

Housing Crunch

A sharp drop in the number of students studying abroad this spring—combined with a larger than usual number returning from fall foreign study—caused a scramble for student housing. So many students signed up at the December housing lottery, looking for rooms for the spring semester, that the College was forced to exercise what Myrt Westphal, director of residential life, calls “the overflow option.”

“Before each school year begins, we always hold 400 beds, 375 of which are taken by freshmen. The remaining 25 are shifted to the waiting list, which usually consists of sophomores,” Westphal says. “If the new class—or overall enrollment—is larger than expected, we go to the overflow option. This spring, the overflow mainly consists of juniors returning from foreign study.”

Students with low lottery numbers had to select rooms in the Strath Haven Condominiums, on the corner of Yale and Harvard avenues—rooms usually reserved for visiting professors and guests of the College.

Strath Haven was first used for overflow student housing during the 1996­97 academic year when the classes of 1997 and 2000—two of the largest in College history—pushed the student population to a record high. But no students have lived there for a year and a half, Westphal says. This spring, however, there are about 1,375 students studying on campus, out of a total tuition-paying student body of 1,432, which includes students on exchange programs or studying abroad.

“Our class sizes have stablized now,” Westphal says, “but having enough housing still depends on 7 to 8 percent of students living off campus or being on leave.” That percentage dropped this semester, mainly because only 57 students are studying abroad, compared with the average 85 to 90 of recent spring semesters. Westphal attributes the decline to “students choosing not to go abroad because of world conditions” but adds that no students have spoken to her about this particular concern. “We’re not alone in this,” she adds. “My counterpart at Haverford is having the same problem.”

Foreign Study Adviser Steve Piker says he is not convinced that recent events caused the decline. “The number is certainly down significantly from last spring,” he says, “but we don’t know that it’s due to the crises.” He points out that the total number of Swarthmore students studying abroad this academic year is 151, which is normal. “The difference is that 94 students studied abroad in the fall compared with an average of 65,” he explains. “There is always an imbalance between semesters, but I can’t remember it not being in the other direction.”

“I don’t think any student mentioned the crises to me in talking about foreign study,” he adds. “Of course, the students who come in to talk to me are those who want to study abroad. There is a good possibility that I didn’t speak to those who chose not to for that reason.”

One factor in the large number of students choosing to study abroad last fall may be a change in College regulations allowing first-semester seniors to participate in foreign study for the first time; 12 seniors studied abroad last fall. Whether some juniors decided to take advantage of the new rule and delay foreign study to fall 2002 or opt out altogether will not become evident until students begin to apply for fall programs.

—Cathleen McCarthy

Multifaith tribute

We have much healing to do, and we gather tonight to do that and to mourn those lost. We lost alumni, we lost family, and we lost dear friends,” Pauline Allen, Protestant adviser, told a somber group gathered in Lang Concert Hall on Dec. 11, for a memorial service three months after the terrorist attacks.

“On Sept. 10, if someone had told us what would happen the next day, we would have dismissed it as a fair piece of science fiction—or as a bad dream. Yet it happened,” said President Alfred H. Bloom, who witnessed the World Trade Center attack with his wife, Peggi.

Students, staff, and faculty members read from the Buddhist, Hindu, Quaker, and Muslim traditions and offered hymns and songs from the Jewish, Catholic, and Bahá’í faiths. Music expressed the emotions of the occasion, from the drama of Fauré’s “Requiem,” sung by the College chorus, to the comforting familiarity of “Amazing Grace,” offered by the student a cappella group Sixteen Feet.

Two students from New York City shared their thoughts, including Katherine Bridges ’05 who read a touching poem she had written about her brother-in-law, a firefighter who died on Sept. 11. Faruq Siddiqui, professor of engineering, read with feeling from the Quran: “Whosoever killeth a human being ...; it shall be as if he had killed all man-kind, and whosoever saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.”

Siddiqui, a Muslim, then added his own words: “Muslims all over this country have prayed to Allah for healing the wounds opened up by this monstrous act, for bringing the people of this country together, for letting the better angels of our nature take over our thoughts and deeds so that we may, as people of various faiths and beliefs, make this world a better and safer place to live in.”

—Cathleen McCarthy

User-friendly signs

Thanks to recently designed and installed signs, visitors to the

College are finding it easier to navigate their way around these days. “There was an old-style attitude that if you don’t know your way around the campus, you don’t belong here,” says Janet Semler, director of planning and construction for Facilities Management, who has overseen the sign project since it began in January 2000. “But more than 20,000 people visit this campus each year, most of whom are not part of our College community. We want to welcome these visitors by making the campus more user friendly.”

In Memoriam: Bonnie Brown Harvey ’54

Bonnie Harvey, former assistant to the health science adviser, died on Nov. 17. Harvey worked at the College for 24 years, helping countless students navigate the medical school application process, before retiring in 1996. Professor Emerita of Biology Barbara Yost Stewart ’54, who served as health science adviser from 1985 to 1996, said of her friend and classmate, “She knew every student by name and shared their ups, their downs, their joys, and their woes.” Although the acceptance rate for Swarthmore students and alumni applying to medical school is twice the national average, inevitably some applicants are rejected. It was with these students, said Stewart, that “Bonnie was at her best. She was so sympathetic and compassionate. She commiserated with them but also tenderly encouraged them to go on with their lives.”

New Alumni Managers

The Board of Managers elected three new members at its December meeting: Cynthia Graae ’62 and Bennett Lorber ’64 are Alumni Managers, and Tanisha Little ’97 is a Young Alumni Manager. They will serve four-year terms.

Graae is a Washington, D.C., freelance writer with a lengthy public service career, working mainly on civil rights issues. Lorber is Thomas M. Durant Professor of Medicine and chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the Temple University School of Medicine and Hospital. Little is a corporate law attorney for Stroock , Stroock & Lavan in New York.

Winning combination

Swarthmore women’s basketball has attracted many fans in the past couple of years. Lately, they’ve been coming to watch Heather Kile and Katie Robinson vie for points. Kile, a senior forward, set new standards for the team from the very beginning of her Swarthmore career, leading her teammates to three Centennial Conference play-offs, including a run for the championship in this year’s final game against Western Maryland.

After defeating Franklin & Marshall 61­56 in the semifinal game, Swarthmore could not get its offense moving and managed only 12 points in the first half against Western Maryland and lost 66­38. The team’s season record was 20­7 overall and 12­3 in conference play.

Kile was named Centennial Conference Player of the Year in 2000 and was the first woman in conference history to be named First Team All-Conference for four years. In January, Kile broke the College’s scoring record, finishing the regular season with a career total of 1,921 points.

This year, Kile shared the spotlight with sophomore guard Robinson, who earned four conference Player of the Week honors and was later named Centennial Player of the Year. On Feb. 6, she scored a school-record 40 points in an 85­82 double overtime victory over Johns Hopkins.

“She and Heather both had an amazing season,” says Adrienne Shibles, assistant professor of physical education and head coach of women’s basketball. Robinson led Swarthmore to the Seven Sisters Tournament championship with 29-point games against Vassar and Wellesley and 18 rebounds against Vassar. She was named outstanding defensive player of the tournament and earned All-Tournament honors.

“Heather is probably the best basketball player ever to come through Swarthmore. We will really miss her next year. Katie is a crowd favorite. She’s so fun to watch,” says Shibles. “These women have come to expect to win—which is nice. They’re confident, and they play well together.”

—Cathleen McCarthy

In In other winter sports ...

Women’s swimming (9–2, 5–2) captured its second consecutive Centennial Conference Championship, outdistancing runner-up Gettysburg, 707–604.5. Three relay teams and three individuals provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. The Garnet closed the conference meet on a high note, as the 400 freestyle relay team of Melanie Johncilla ’05, Amy Auerbach ’02, Davita Burkhead-Weiner ’03, and Natalie Briones ’03 won in a meet with a school-record time of 3:37.68. The 800 freestyle relay team of Johncilla, Katherine Reid ’05, Burkhead-Weiner, and Auerbach were victorious in a school-record time of 7:55.78. Briones and Burkhead-Weiner teamed with Kathryn Stauffer ’05 and Leah Davis ‘04 to win the 200 freestyle relay in a school-record time of 1:39.16. Broines came home from the three-day meet with team-high of six medals.

Men’s swimming (5–4, 3­3) set three school records en route to a fourth-place finish at the Centennial Championships. Mike Dudley ’03 won the 200 individual medley in 1:56.28. John Lillvis ’03 captured the 400 individual medley in 4:11.49. This duo teamed up with Jacob Ross ’05 and Mike Auerbach ’05 to set a school record in the 200 freestyle relay with a third-place finish of 1:28.24.

In women’s indoor track, Imo Akpan ’02 won six gold medals at the Centennial Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships to earn Outstanding Female Athlete of the Meet honors. Akpan won the 55-meter dash in a school-record time of 7.20 seconds, which automatically qualified her for a trip to the NCAA Division III Championships. She set school and meet records in the long jump with a leap of 18’0.5”. Akpan also won the 200-meter dash with a school, conference, and meet-record time of 25.51 and crossed the line first in the 400-meter dash in a meet-record time of 58.34. Earlier this season, Akpan set the school record in the 400 with time of 57.4. Akpan also teamed with Njideka Akunyili ’04, Elizabeth Gardner ’05, and Claire Hoverman ’03 to capture gold in the 1,600-meter relay and the distance medley relay. The 4 x 400 relay team set a school record of 4:07.60, and the distance team set a school and meet record with a time of 12:37.97. Sarah Kate Selling ’03 broke her school record in the pole vault by clearing the 7-foot mark at a meet earlier in the season.

The badminton team captured its first-ever Northeastern Collegiate Tournament Championship. Karen Lange ’02 was the women’s singles champion, and Brendan Karch ’02 captured the men’s title. Karch teamed up with Chris Ang ’04 to win the men’s doubles title, and Ang paired up with Olga Rostapshova ’02 to win the mixed-doubles championship.

In men’s basketball (6­19, 2­11), Jacob Letendre ’04 set the school record with 44 steals this season, and he ranks fifth on the career list with 84 steals. Matt Gustafson ’05 led the Garnet in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. Gustafson’s 55 three-pointers rank him third on Swarthmore’s single-season list.

—Mark Duzenski