Give us a break

Editorial: Due course

When students were notified of their spring semester courses on Monday, a number of computer science and neuroscience students were left without the courses they need to finish their majors. This issue did not stem from Polaris, which continues to work well. Interim Registrar James Higginbotham reported to the Orient that 84 percent of students were enrolled in three or more classes during Round One registration and that the back end of the system was operating smoothly. Polaris provides a simple and streamlined process for students—a welcome improvement over the paper registration that students used as recently as the spring of 2013. For computer science majors, the problem is that there are too few courses to meet growing student demand. In neuroscience, an interdisciplinary major without its own department, the issue is that students are only sometimes given priority for required biology, chemistry and psychology courses.
Demand for next semester’s computer science offerings was incredibly high. Every course filled up after Round One registration, leaving dozens of students who are hoping to major or minor in the subject without any options. Unfortunately, this is not a new trend. Last spring, Caroline Pierce ’16 collected over 80 signatures on a petition asking the College to hire an additional computer science professor. The Office of Academic Affairs has said that it is working to accommodate more students in next semester’s classes, but any solution it offers will be a stopgap. We understand that resources are scarce and that expanding an academic department is an expensive and incremental process. However, the experiences of the many students who were turned away show that long-term solutions are necessary.
Neuroscience majors also struggled during the registration process, although for different reasons. Because the major has no corresponding department, and courses are not listed specifically as neuroscience classes, it can be hard to navigate the program’s requirements. This is especially true since majors do not receive preference for every biology and psychology course that is part of the Neuroscience Program. These issues could easily be rectified by officially cross-listing relevant biology and psychology courses with neuroscience and by offering neuroscience students priority where necessary.
The problems faced by neuroscience and computer science students indicate that there is room for improvement in our curriculum, both in terms of creating space where there is substantial demand and helping students enroll in the courses they need. One of the College’s greatest strengths is offering intimate classes in which we can learn from our excellent faculty. Students will be best served if the administration can ensure that they have access to the courses they are required to take without greatly inflating class sizes.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Natalie Kass-Kaufman, Sam Miller, Leo Shaw and Kate Witteman.

Editorial: A more vocal majority

Why a productive campus conversation needs to involve all students, not just students of color

“If your conscience stops at the border of Maine then you are less than who you should be,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explained while at Bowdoin on May 6, 1964. King’s words should resonate for the many students who find that Bowdoin’s New England location isolates them from recent national racial issues. As these issues make headlines both nationally and at Bowdoin, the College is primed for dialogue about race relations; however, that conversation will not be productive without participation from students of all races. While many students of color have mobilized in response to recent events, there has been a lack of engagement from the majority of Bowdoin’s largely-white student body.
There is no excuse for such apathy at Bowdoin. Recent events have demonstrated that Bowdoin is neither immune to insensitivity regarding race and culture, nor isolated from national events. In November, members of the men’s lacrosse team hosted an annual party where some guests wore Native American costumes, despite warnings from other students and the administration that doing so would be offensive. The administration rightfully chose to punish the guests involved. Then, in December, a man reacted to the non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases by murdering two New York City policemen, an event that directly impacted the Bowdoin community.
Bowdoin has begun to facilitate conversations about race. The new Student Center for Multicultural Life will serve as a hub for programming on campus. President Mills indicated that classes will likely no longer be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day beginning in 2020, the next time the start of the semester coincides with the holiday. Furthermore, College policies regarding bias incidents and the College’s responses to national race-based events show a willingness to confront those who are racially insensitive.
Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the student body to take advantage of the resources provided by the administration, and not leave them just for the minority members on campus. At a panel held as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations this Monday, a number of minority students expressed frustrations at the microaggressions they still face regularly on campus. However, as the panel was mostly attended by students of color, those comments were not able to reach those who would most benefit from hearing them.
While Bowdoin can provide the spaces for discussion, they cannot force students to participate in them. Students must choose to do so on their own, whether by attending organized forums or by having casual discussions with their peers. We understand that this kind of engagement can be uncomfortable—that is part of what makes it so important.
As Elina Zhang ’16 wrote in her December 5 op-ed, “Always assume you have the legitimacy to be concerned about other peoples’ struggles.” For any substantial conversation to occur on campus, students of all colors must participate.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Nicole Wetsman and Kate Witteman.

Editorial

Renewing the case for a week-long Thanksgiving vacation

This piece represents the opinion of The Bowdoin Orient editorial board.

December 5, 2014

The two weekdays on campus before the start of Bowdoin’s Thanksgiving Break are surreal. Professors announce “sick days” well in advance. Class attendance plummets. The dining halls are conspicuously empty, and students who live close enough to drive start taking off by Monday afternoon.

In the last three years, the faculty has rejected two separate proposals by the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and BSG respectively, that would have extended Thanksgiving Break to a full week and moved up the beginning of the academic year by two days. Faculty members voiced concerns that the plans would hinder their summer research and would be unfair to students who would not be able to afford a week-long trip home for this holiday. We do not feel that the faculty acted in the best interest of all students in making their decisions.

While the faculty’s arguments for vetoing a longer Thanksgiving Break are not invalid, they are a selective reading of the facts. The proposal would indeed lessen professors’ research time by two days at the end of the summer, but it would also give students and faculty four extra days for Thanksgiving Break. And although lengthening the break to nine days would leave a few students on a quiet campus for a longer period of time, it would also grant about an additional 20 percent of the student body the opportunity to share Thanksgiving dinner with their loved ones. According to a survey conducted by the College in 2011, 84 percent of respondents said they would be able to travel home during a week-long break, compared with the 64 percent who said they would go home either way. The percent of students from outside New England has increased from 62 to 66 percent just between the Class of 2017 and the Class of 2018. For the extra Bowdoin students who could see their families those few days would make all the difference.

Without faculty approval for a schedule change, students and professors currently get the worst possible outcome. Classes empty out on the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week as students from outside the Northeast vote with their feet and schedule earlier flights home. In seminars, the absence of only a few people significantly affects the quality of discussions, while some professors cut back on lesson plans or cancel their lectures altogether. Those who do fly on Wednesday are subject to the most expensive ticket prices, a schedule too tight to account for weather emergencies and the threat of delays on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

This issue has been in the minds of students for at least the last four years. The Orient editorial board has voiced its support for a longer break in 2010 and 2012. The faculty has repeatedly failed to consider how important this issue is to students. Thanksgiving is an important family holiday that is celebrated nationwide, and many students would undoubtedly appreciate the opportunity to spend it with their loved ones.

After returning from this year’s Thanksgiving vacation, students quickly needed to get back into the swing of things. In the Bowdoin way, everyone greeted each other by asking how their breaks were. The common refrain given by almost every student was: “Too short.” It is time to re-examine the case for a longer Thanksgiving break.

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