Swarthmore

A familiar thin smile crept over the face of Michael S. Dukakis as he held aloft a rolled copy of his speech and waved it at the cheering audience. His failed race for the presidency long over, the Massachusetts governor seemed to bask for a moment in his warm reception Thursday night at Swarthmore College, his alma mater, whose enduring Quaker values, he said, led him into politics. In his speech that evening, and again yesterday morning in a question-and- answer session with about 100 Swarthmore students and faculty members, Dukakis said Swarthmore instilled in him a conviction that the most fulfilling thing in life is to help others.

Sometimes less is (Swarth) more. While some college football teams boast as many as 90 players on their roster, the Garnet Tide carries only 44. The thin roster has led at least one Swarthmore assistant coach, Dom Scamuffa, to crack that the depth chart is "horizontal. " Depth or no depth, however, Swarthmore usually proves too tough for Ursinus, whom it plays tomorrow afternoon at Patterson Field in Collegeville. Swarthmore has beaten Ursinus 10 of the last 11 years, the only exception being 1985, when the Grizzlies enjoyed their only winning season since 1972.

When Swarthmore College opened its Lang Concert Hall 23 years ago, George Crumb wrote Music for a Summer Evening for the event. The anniversary of the hall's opening was celebrated Saturday when James Freeman led Orchestra 2001 in a program that repeated Crumb's work. As if time had paused, Crumb was there to hear his work, and Eugene D. Lang was there to narrate a piece, but more important to announce that he had established a fund to ensure that Swarthmore can commission music annually from young composers, to be performed in the hall that bears his name.

In 1984, the Chicago Cubs won the National League East, and Swarthmore's football team had a winning record. Since then, Swarthmore's program has foundered at or near the bottom of the Centennial Conference, and - until this season - the Cubs had done the same in the NL East. So it must be particularly good news to fans of the Garnet Tide that the Cubs are in the playoffs again - because right now, Swarthmore is the hottest team in the Centennial Conference. Coach Fran Meagher can suit up only 42 players, and four starters play both ways.

Lee Gilbert wondered if having a 13th anniversary party would be pushing her luck. But superstition aside, she and her two friends decided they would have the party this fall, celebrating their endurance as store owners. Gilbert, Marge Bowler and Mary Custer, all artists over 60 who live in Swarthmore, pooled their talent and resources 13 years ago to open the Studio in Swarthmore, a showcase of American art and craft with special emphasis on the work of Delaware County residents.

The Swarthmore students sat in a circle, earnestly debating whether to study the life cycle of 10-bean soup or salad bar chickpeas. Chickpeas it was. It was one trivial detail in a mind-bogglingly complex new course that aims to track the flow of campus food from production to consumption to disposal. The purpose isn't cutting costs or getting rid of those icky waxy tomatoes, although both issues came up last Wednesday. The point is to make the 18 students more aware and responsible about their place in the natural world.

When he became head coach last spring at Swarthmore, one of the nation's more academically exclusive schools, Karl Miran expected a numbers problem. Still, this year's incoming contingent of 10 freshmen and one transfer, unthinkable for most Centennial Conference schools, is low even for the Garnet (5-5 overall, 3-4 conference). "It's a scary thing to go into a season thinking if this guy gets hurt or that guy gets hurt, what do you do?" said Miran, who has only 40 players. "It's great for the kids though.

Don't look now, but Swarthmore just might be the hottest team in the Centennial Conference. Last week, the Garnet Tide beat Gettysburg, 24-22. It was their first victory over the Bullets since 1984, and their first win at home since 1987. It also improved their record to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the league heading into tomorrow's 1:30 p.m. game at Ursinus (1-2, 0-2). Keep in mind that Swarthmore went 2-8 in both 1987 and '88. But Ursinus coach Steve Gilbert doesn't think there's anything fluky about Swarthmore's fast start.

Jonathan Molloy's goal with a minute to play tied the score at 9-9 and his assist in the third overtime period helped the Swarthmore men's lacrosse team (5-9, 2-5 Centennial Conference) defeat visiting Haverford, 10-9. Freshman Geoff Geppert had three goals for the Fords (5-8, 3-4). Tim Schwalje had two goals and two assists but Penn (3-9, 1-5 Ivy) was eliminated from league tournament contention in a 7-6 loss to Dartmouth (3-8, 1-4) in Hanover, N.H. Josh Fox (Lower Merion)

When Ernie Prudente took over as varsity basketball coach at Haverford College in 1957, Swarthmore already was the school's big rival, but Drexel was the powerhouse opponent. "I coached the varsity and the JVs at the same time - 25 guys," Prudente said yesterday. "I was happy to have a job. " Prudente coached Haverford for 12 seasons, then switched to the other side of the rivalry. He coached Swarthmore's basketball team for 11 seasons. He also was a football assistant at both schools and coached Swarthmore's baseball team for 25 years.

A "dumbfounded" Edna Escher-Gaston, 61, of Swarthmore, was tearfully happy to learn this week that she'd won the "Best Mom on Wheels" contest run by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation . The grandmother of six was one of 10 finalists but got about 25 percent of the almost 2,000 votes tallied online by the foundation. Apparently, the campaign run by daughter Karen Dechaux of West Chester paid off. "I read all the other entries of the moms as well. Just to be in the top 10 among them was so humbling," Escher-Gaston told the foundation, set up by the late Superman star who became a quadriplegic in a horse jumping accident and his devoted wife.

An online contest titled "Best Mom on Wheels" has fittingly been extended through Sunday, Mother's Day. That means more time to vote for a disabled Swarthmore grandmother, Edna Escher-Gaston, one of the 10 finalists in the contest, run by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation , set up by the Superman star who became a quadriplegic and his devoted wife. Karen Dechaux of West Chester calls her mother "my best friend and role model. " Dechaux was only 8, growing up in Swarthmore, when a terrible accident on I-95 left her newly divorced mother paralyzed from the waist down.

Tyrene White has never met Chen Guangcheng, the blind lawyer at the center of a rapidly evolving diplomatic dispute between the United States and China. But she knows that his revelations about the horrors of China's one-child policy - the work that got him tossed into prison - are absolutely accurate. She's done a similar investigation herself. White, an Asia specialist at Swarthmore College, is perhaps the foremost authority in the United States on China's birth-planning laws.

Swarthmore's Karen Borbee was named the Centennial Conference coach of the year in women's lacrosse on Tuesday. Now completing her 19th season, the graduate of Penncrest High and the University of Delaware is a former member of the U.S. national team and is in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Swarthmore's Annalise Penikis and Caroline Murphy (both from Strath Haven High) were named first team all-conference, as was Ursinus' Alyssa Thren (Upper Perkiomen)

Tom Conley's RBI double in the 12th inning gave Massachusetts a 5-4 win over Temple on Sunday at Earl Lorden Field in Amherst, Mass. Freshman starter Patrick Peterson gave up just one earned run in 72/3 innings for the Owls (16-27, 4-11 Atlantic Ten) and left with a 4-2 lead. But a pair of errors let UMass tie the game in the ninth and the Minutemen (16-16, 9-6) went on to win. SOFTBALL: Paige Collings hit a two-run home run, but Drexel (21-24, 6-11 Colonial Athletic Association)

Jonathan Molloy's goal with a minute to play tied the score at 9-9 and his assist in the third overtime period helped the Swarthmore men's lacrosse team (5-9, 2-5 Centennial Conference) defeat visiting Haverford, 10-9. Freshman Geoff Geppert had three goals for the Fords (5-8, 3-4). Tim Schwalje had two goals and two assists but Penn (3-9, 1-5 Ivy) was eliminated from league tournament contention in a 7-6 loss to Dartmouth (3-8, 1-4) in Hanover, N.H. Josh Fox (Lower Merion)

The late Molly Yard made a name for herself as a prominent feminist and civil rights leader, who for a time led the National Organization for Women. But her activism started much earlier as a student at Swarthmore College in the 1930s, when she successfully led a move to ban sororities on campus - well, at that time, they were called fraternities, even the ones for women. The groups enrolled more than three-quarters of Swarthmore females at the time but discriminated against Jews, argued Yard and her cohorts.

AT TRADITIONAL poetry events, poets read their written work aloud. But this weekend, Swarthmore College shows that not all poetry is composed in a written language, or even in a language that can be spoken. "Signing Hands Across the Water" is a sign language poetry festival featuring American and British poets who express themselves through movement rather than by speaking. The festival is the work of Rachel Sutton-Spence, a reader in Deaf Studies at Britain's Bristol University and a visiting professor at Swarthmore this year.

Helen F. North, 90, professor emerita of classics at Swarthmore College, died Saturday, Jan. 21, at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. In a tribute to Dr. North, Swarthmore College president Rebecca Chopp said: "The college has lost not just a brilliant scholar who was instrumental in building one of the most influential classics departments at a liberal-arts college, but also, as one who taught and cultivated relationships among generations of...