Students fundraise for Haiti hurricane relief

News in brief: Security warns about potential car vandalism

Security warned students to be on the lookout for potential catalytic converter theft following an incident Monday morning. A security officer on patrol noticed a jacked-up van in the Stowe Inn parking lot around 2:30 a.m.
“The thieves were actually in progress jacking the vehicle or underneath the vehicle when the security vehicle came patrolling through the lot,” said Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols. “They saw it coming and they took off, and so by the time the officer got there they were gone.”
Security contacted the vehicle’s owner, who had it examined by a mechanic. The catalytic converter was still intact.
The incident followed a series of nine catalytic converter thefts this past weekend at the University of Maine, Orono. However, when Nichols reported the incident to Brunswick Police on Monday, there had not been any recent thefts in Brunswick.
According to Nichols, most of the vehicles targeted in Orono were Honda Accords produced between 2000 and 2002. The vehicle targeted at Bowdoin was also a Honda.
A catalytic converter is a part of a car’s exhaust system that catches pollutants. Converters also contain valuable metals, which make them a target for theft. A well-versed thief can cut a catalytic converter from a car in less than a minute using a power tool.
Nichols advised students and community members to park in well-lit, well-traveled areas and to be on alert for anything suspicious, like the sound of power tools at 2:30 in the morning.
“We ask students, faculty, and staff to just be aware of any unusual activity on campus,” he said.Security will also be watching parking lots more closely.
“I think all of us working together, we can do a lot to safeguard the campus,” said Nichols.

News in brief: BSG kicks off No Hate November

This week, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) kicked off the fourth annual No Hate November, an initiative aimed at removing bias and raising mindfulness on and off campus. Unlike in past years, the month does not have a focus on one particular issue.
“The mission is to have a month full of events on campus that will create dialogue about issues surrounding inclusivity, respect, bias and hate,” said BSG Vice President for Student Affairs Ben Painter ’19.
There are a dozen events planned this year. Each event focuses on a specific issue, such as microaggressions, transphobia, mental health or police brutality.
“We didn’t want to focus on one topic too much,” Painter said. “For example, if we focused on race, which was brought up to have one big focus, issues of sexuality wouldn’t be part of No Hate November. Issues surrounding disability wouldn’t be part of No Hate November. And so we didn’t want to exclude any group that wants to have an event.”
Aasif Mandvi, an actor and comedian known for his work on the Daily Show, will be coming to campus next Thursday to address issues of tolerance and discrimination through comedy.
“Comedy is a way to access really uncomfortable and sometimes difficult issues,” Mandvi said in a phone interview to the Orient. “Comedy can also point out the truth sometimes with things. There’s a famous quote, that art lays bare the truth that are hidden by facts. So comedy is an art form. And all art lays bare certain truth that are hidden by the kind of conversation we have. Comedy is a different type of conversation that can expose some kinds of that stuff.”
Mandvi said that today’s poisonous social and political climate make engaging in difficult conversations about intolerance “more important now than ... ever.”
“[Mandvi’s] a big name,” Painter said. “Hopefully it’ll draw people out of the cracks, people who usually wouldn’t go to events. I’m looking forward to that because hopefully that’ll start conversations in corners of the campus where they usually don’t have these conversations.”

News in brief

Students fundraise for Haiti hurricane relief

October 28, 2016

Over the past week, Bowdoin students have helped raise hundreds of dollars for disaster relief in Haiti. Fundraising efforts are continuing for the Caribbean island nation, which was struck by Hurricane Matthew on October 4.

“We’ve been really surprised in how much we’ve been able to raise,” said Reyada Atanasio ’17, who is one of the students leading the fundraising campaign.

Students raised funds by selling breakfast goods including donuts and coffee outside of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library last Wednesday. They also sold baked goods after a talk last Thursday on healthcare in Haiti by Dan Fitzgerald, a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

“Even if [people] weren’t interested in buying donuts or coffee or anything, they still donated, and those extra donations really helped our effort,” Atanasio said.

The students involved plan on holding another bake sale outside of H-L and are considering the possibility of tabling in Smith Union.
Atanasio became involved with the fundraising efforts after encouragement from Associate Director of the McKeen Center Andrew Lardie.

“[Lardie] contacted me because I had previously been in one of [Assistant Professor of Anthropology] Gregory Beckett’s classes, and Beckett is very involved with Haiti,” Atanasio said.

Beckett helped the students decide to give the donations to an organization called the Lambi Fund, a grassroots organization in Haiti.

“Especially after the earthquake in 2010, a lot of humanitarian organizations and NGOs went into Haiti to help with the relief effort,” said Atanasio. “But the disconnection between their efforts, the government’s efforts and what the Haitian people actually needed has kind of resulted in a lack of success.”

Sophie Binenfeld ’17, who has also been involved in fundraising efforts, also took Beckett’s course on contemporary Haiti. She said that international aid was one of the topics discussed in class.

“This was a nice opportunity for us to give money to a reputable organization that we know is going to do good things for Haitians,” she said.

The Latin American Student Organization (LASO) also launched its own fundraising drive. The group also plans to sell baked goods and launched a GoFundMe page to raise donations.

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