New ball game for women's lax
Let the tradition begin. The Hopkins women's lacrosse team enters a new era on March 6 when it kicks off its 1999 season against Davidson College, its first game in the NCAA Division I ranks.
   For the past 23 years in Division III play, the Blue Jays have enjoyed a level of success that has included six trips to the NCAA semifinals, six conference championships and in the last five years a better than 80 percent winning record.
   But all that now is history, according to head coach Janine Tucker. Full story...

SAIS prof keeps watch on Congo
The nation of Congo is replete with such natural resources as oil, copper, cobalt, diamonds and gold. Of all the developing nations on the African continent, it is the one perhaps best positioned to enter the 21st century with hopes of prosperity and growth.
   But today those valuable resources that could be used to feed its hungry, repair roads and erect new buildings are being used for another purpose--to fuel its war machine.
   The nation currently stands on the brink of a major civil war, a conflict that could soon become a regional one, as no fewer than six neighboring nations stand poised to enter the fray. According to I. William Zartman, director of African Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies, the situation is certainly a dire one. Full story...

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