The Bowdoin Orient

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its Executive Committee candidate debate at Jack MaGee’s Pub and Grill on Tuesday night, the apex of Bowdoin politics. Only three of the seven races are contested. 

Candidates were allowed two-minute opening statements. Afterward, they had another two minutes to answer three questions from moderators, including BSG Vice President for Student Government Affairs Charlotte McLaughry ’15 and BSG Vice President for Student Organizations Harriet Fisher ’17. At the end, there were one-minute closing remarks. 

Running for BSG President are Danny Mejia-Cruz ’16, Justin Pearson ’17 and Roberto Tavel ’16. 

Mejia-Cruz began by highlighting his past experiences, which include his positions as a member of the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) and Vice President for Student Organizations.

He cited his efforts in working on long-term projects, such as reforming the Credit/D/Fail policy, extending Thanksgiving break and introducing graduate school preparatory classes and expressed a desire to see these initiatives through. Alluding to the college’s changes inadministration next year, Mejia-Cruz emphasized the importance of keeping BSG’s “continuity of leadership” and stressed his credentials as someone who not only knows but also contributes to what has been done on campus in the past years. In addition, Mejia-Cruz also hoped to replace the Orbit with an everything-Bowdoin App—an app he has been working on since last summer, which would include year-long Bowdoin events and dining menus.Pearson mentioned holding similar positions in BSG like the other two candidates, but stressed the differences in their accomplishments.

“When I was elected as Vice President of Student Affairs, there were five Good Ideas submitted to the Good Ideas Fund during the entirety of that year,” said Pearson. “Now we have over 25.”Pearson stated he would like to increase BSG’s visibility on campus and ensure that students’ opinions are represented clearly to the administration. He went on to speak about facilitating an open Bowdoin community and included informal events such as Gelato or S’mores on the Quad. He hopes to create more discussion spaces that encourage dialogue on hotly contested issues. Additionally, Pearson looks to work with professors on uploading their syllabi to Blackboard before classes begin.

Tavel said he believed this election was not about who has the most experience, but who has the vision to redefine BSG’s role to the student body.

“BSG has become an event planner first and a policy advocate second,” said Tavel. “I plan to change this. I think we have an awesome opportunity next year to work with President Rose and fix some major policy issues.”

Tavel spoke about BSG’s role in rallying and mobilizing students to self-advocate for matters which they care about, such as the lengthening of Thanksgiving break. He stressed BSG’s role as a representative entity of the student body rather than a mere liaison between the students and the administration, highlighting that “it should not only ask how students feel about important issues but also encourage them to take ownership in those issues.” He hopes to rejuvenate what the BSG means to its own members and to make BSG meetings and its administrative processes less of a “chore.”

The race for Vice President for Student Government Affairs features Michelle Kruk ’16, Riley O’Connell ’18 and Emily Serwer ’16.

 Kruk emphasized her experience working with Bowdoin staff, faculty, dean and trustee members. She mentioned her current discussion with McLaughry for the creation of a multicultural liaison to BSG and pledged to continue to represent marginalized groups on campus.

O’Connell stated that he would like to bring an “air of transparency” to the BSG by keeping students better informed on its meetings and agendas. He stressed the importance of improving BSG’s relationship with the administration and hoped to help facilitate consistent meetings with President Rose next year.

Serwer expressed her plan to improve BSG’s presence on campus through the use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. She emphasized her work as Director of Programming and said, if elected, her experience would maintain BSG’s cohesive workings as a team.

Lucia Gibbard ’18 and Luke Von Maur ’16 are competing for the position of Vice President for Student Affairs.

Gibbard could not be at the debate. Fisher spoke on her behalf. Reading from the candidate’s speech, Fisher stated that Gibbard “understands what issues at Bowdoin students actually want to see resolved.” She pledged to popularize and increase the students’ understanding of how the SAFC operates.

Von Maur stated that he would like to foster greater interaction between classes, to reinvigorate the Good Ideas Fund and Common Hour, and to make Bowdoin “the best four years for all students.”

Andrew Millar ’16, Wylie Mao ’18, David Levine ’16 and Kevin Hernandez ’18 are running uncontested for, respectively, the positions of Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President for Student Organizations, Vice President for the Treasury and Vice President for Facilities and Sustainability.

Voting will be open until Sunday, April 12 at 8 p.m. Cast your vote at bowdoin.edu/vote 

The Judicial Board (J-Board) received 44 applications this year, six fewer than it did in 2014. Following an intensive application process that began in January, five new members were recently selected to serve on the board for the rest of their Bowdoin career: Indre Altman ’18, Daniel Buckman ’18, Nora Cullen ’18, Sasha Kramer ’16 and Justin Weathers ’18. 

The five new members were announced by J-Board Advisor and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Lesley Levy in an email on Monday.

In the first round of the selection process, prospective candidates were asked to submit a written application which included short essay questions and a recommendation letter from a student or Bowdoin faculty or staff member. All applicants were then interviewed individually by half of the current J-Board. 

“They asked a lot of questions that had to do with Bowdoin rules and policies in the first round,” said Kramer. “But I don’t know if they were necessarily looking for any exact answer. I think it’s more about assessing how you reason a difficult situation out or what morally makes sense in your mind.”

Following a series of cuts, 24 students proceeded with the group interviews.

During the group interviews, finalists reviewed hypothetical case scenarios—one social and one academic—in groups of four under the observation of current J-Board members. The selection committee—comprised of Levy, J-Board members and Bowdoin Student Government (BGS) representative Chrissy Rujiraorchai ’17—then voted on which candidates to select.

“We look for people who represent the student body well and who will be dedicated to the position,” said J-Board Chair Jacques Larochelle ’15. “Definitely someone who understands the role of the board on campus and has the ability to be confidential as well as to communicate well within a team setting.”

Reflecting the ongoing trend of the last few years, first-year applicants continue to constitute the largest portion of the application pool, followed by sophomores and relatively few juniors. According to Larochelle, this year’s applicant group was the most diverse in it has been for the past three years. At the same time, he said that the board makes a conscious effort to be as representative as possible of the student body.

“Diversity is something we always consider and always talk about,” said Larochelle. “We received a very diverse pool of applicants in terms of gender, race, economic background, geographic location, etc., and I think we have also selected a diverse group to join our board this year.”

The newly appointed members will have individual meetings with Levy after Spring Break to go over the general expectations of the J-Board. Additionally, there will be a multi-day training session at the beginning of Senior Week in May to prepare them for the next school year.

“I hope our work on the board will encourage Bowdoin students to be the best that they can be,” said Altman. “I have not gone through any case yet...but I think there is a learning experience behind the judicial process in that everyone can make mistakes and everyone can learn from [his or her] choices. I hope the decisions we make will affect each individual in a positive way.”

The men’s cross country season ended on November 22 at the NCAA D-III Cross Country Championship at The Golf Center at Kings Island  in Mason, Ohio. Senior captains Avery Wentworth and Kevin Hoose competed as individuals on the 8k track, finishing in 88th and 210th place respectively.

“My hope the entire season was to help the team qualify for nationals,” said Wentworth. “So it was kind of a bittersweet experience. I had never been to the nationals before, and I was really excited to have been able to make it as a senior. At the same time, it would have been great if we made it as a group.” 

With the sludge of melted snow covering the entire racecourse, Mason welcomed 32 teams representing various colleges and universities across the nation, as well as 56 individual qualifiers. Racers from these teams and the individual qualifiers made up the pool of 280 competitors. The Bowdoin duo earned their qualification following their performances at the New England D-III regionals a week before.

“Racing at a golf course was fun with the up-and-down terrain. The snow had already melted, everything was muddy, and adverse conditions made running a little more exciting,” said Hoose.

Having fallen down twice due to the slippery track, Hoose’s progress in the race was hindered, and he ended his impressive cross country career with a time of 26:00.9 to finish in 210th place. Wentworth added to his cross-country resume with an 88th place finish, improving his personal record to a 25:14.7 time.

“If there is anything about this race that I wish to be highlighted, it would be Avery’s performance,” Hoose said. “He had an incredible year leading our team, and for him to perform so well in the last race of the season, we are all very happy for him and very proud of him as well.”

Last week, Wentworth was named a NESCAC All-Sportsmanship recipient, and also one of the 15 Bowdoin seniors who earned fall All-Academic honors for the third consecutive year. The NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Team recognizes student-athletes from each varsity team who have demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship in their respective sport. In order to be qualified as an All-Academic, an individual must be at least a sophomore and a varsity letter winner with a cumulative grade point average above 3.35.

“Looking back, I really have no regret at all,” said Wentworth. “We came into this season as a fresh team. Last year, we graduated five of our seven varsity runners, and we were uncertain about how things would go on from there.”

“But I am really proud of all of us, especially with the younger guys who really stepped up and performed amazingly well,” he added. “I am excited to continue to train and race with them, now that we are moving on to indoor track and field in the winter.

Field hockey advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinal after two victories last weekend, a 4-0 shutout against Mount Holyoke and come-from-behind, overtime win against Skidmore in the quarterfinal. The team hopes to defend its 2013 title at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. The Polar Bears will face top-ranked Salisbury University tomorrow in a rematch of last year’s national championship game, while second-ranked Middlebury College will meet The College of New Jersey in the other semifinal.  

With the quarterfinal against Skidmore knotted 1-1 in sudden-death overtime last Sunday, Rachel Kennedy ’16 charged down the middle of the field with nobody between her and the Skidmore net. She burst into the circle, veered right around the diving goalkeeper, and slid the ball into the net, sending Bowdoin into the semifinals and the Ryan Field crowd into frenzied celebrations.

The Polar Bears had always expected that their opponents last weekend would be tough.“[The teams] who qualify for the NCAA Tournament are always very strong,” said Adrienne O’Donnell ’15. “We knew both of the teams would be tough, but we tried to concentrate on our games rather than focusing on theirs. I think our strategy works really well.”

In Saturday’s game against Mount Holyoke, captain Colleen Finnerty ’15 scored just two minutes into the contest, taking advantage of the Polar Bears’ first penalty corner to score her seventh goal of the season. Kimmy Ganong ’17 fed the ball to Kim Kahnweiler ’16, whose clean stop allowed Finnerty to lace a shot that hit off the pad of Lyons goalie Liz DiCesare and went straight into the cage.

Twenty nine minutes into the game, Ganong put the Polar Bears up 2-0 off a feed from Kennedy. Twenty minutes later Kennedy blasted her own shot past the reach of DiCesare, assisted by Liz Znamierowski ’16. O’Donnell closed out the scoring by converting a pass from Mettler Growney ’17.

The next day, Bowdoin played against Skidmore in a tense overtime game.“Skidmore is an exceptional team,” said Head Coach Nicky Pearson. “In the last game, their goalkeeper and defenders played very well. So did their two forwards, who were immensely dynamic and excellent goal scorers.”

Skidmore scored a goal five minutes into the game when Dani DeGregory rifled a shot past Bowdoin goalie Hannah Gartner ’15. Fifteen minutes later, Skidmore’s Seeley Francher nearly doubled the Thoroughbreds’ lead. She squeezed a shot around a diving Gartner, but first-year Meredith Tibbals ’18 was on the goal line to knock the ball away.

The Polar Bears had a number of chances at the end of the first half, including a shot from Finnerty that hit the post, but they were unable to find an equalizer. Their frustrations continued into the second half. Less than five minutes after play resumed, Skidmore’s goalkeeper just managed to stop a shot with her foot, and 15 seconds after that, a pass barely eluded captain Pam Herter ’15, who would have had the ball in front of an open net.

Bowdoin finally found a goal with 13:36 remaining in the second half. Herter won a footrace down the left side of the field, rounded a Skidmore defender near the end line and passed to Kennedy, who one-timed it for the goal. The Polar Bears almost added a go-ahead goal a few minutes later when Kennedy burst through the center and laid the ball out for O’Donnell, whose shot was stopped by the onrushing Skidmore goalkeeper.

Skidmore almost netted a winner off a corner with less than four minutes remaining, firing a shot past Gartner. Luckily for the Polar Bears, Finnerty was in position on the goal line and swatted the shot away before letting out a celebratory roar.

Deadlocked at 1-1, the teams headed into a fifteen-minute, sudden-death overtime. Bowdoin wasted no time with its aggression, earning a penalty corner just one minute into play. But, O’Donnell’s shot from the corner clanked off the post, and Skidmore took the ball and pushed down the field, earning six consecutive penalty corners . 

Kahnweiler was injured on the second corner and came off the field, but returned a minute later to help the Polar Bears fend off the Thoroughbreds’ onslaught. Gartner successfully drove away each of Skidmore’s shots during a tense, five-minute flurry of attacks.      

“Our defensive group did an exceptional job of denying them all scoring chances,” said Pearson. “They allowed us to turn the tide in the end.”

When Bowdoin regained possession after defending the sixth corner, Finnerty connected on a pass  to Kennedy, who was all alone at midfield and sprinted downfield to score the dramatic game winner.

“It was an exciting moment for all of us,” said Finnerty. “That was my last game on the home field, and the goal is something I will remember forever. Senior players always talk about going out with a bang, and we definitely did.”

Tomorrow, the defending national champions will play Salisbury in their eighth Final Four in the last 10 years. 

“We have a lot of respect for Salisbury,” said Finnerty. “At the same time, I think the game will come down to who wants the victory more, and quite frankly, I believe Bowdoin does.”

Following a pair of conference losses against Hamilton and Williams two weeks ago, the women’s soccer team took advantage of the festive atmosphere during Homecoming Weekend by dealing Connecticut College its second loss of the season in a 3-1 win at Pickard Field.

“We definitely had a very tough couple of games before fall break,” said Maggie Godley ’16. “However, we went into the Conn game with positive attitudes, and we were mentally prepared to fight for more wins.”

During the opening half, the Polar Bears rallied to a 2-0 advantage despite being outshot by the Camels, racking up only five shots to Conn. College’s nine.  

The Camel’s statistical dominance did not translate to the scoreboard, and Bowdoin keeper Bridget McCarthy ’16 succeeded in fending off the attacks. Just two minutes into the game, she deflected a shot from the Camels’ Michelle Medina, who kept the offensive pressure during the game’s opening 15 minutes.

“We started off a little shaky, which allowed for Conn. to have the upper hand at first,” Jamie Hofstetter ’16 said. “Bridget was so key for us, because without her amazing saves, we could have been down by two or three goals. I really think that she was the reason we were able to flip the switch and put pressure on Conn. after those first minutes of struggling.”

The Polar Bears became more aggressive after the wave of sustained assaults. Almost immediately after McCarthy made her third save in the 13th minute, Godley rifled a shot into the Camels’ net after a feed from Hofstetter.

“Our goalie made a save, and our team was able to get the ball up the field relatively quickly,” said Godley. “When Jamie dribbled forward and made an attacking run with the ball, she drew in the Camels’ defenders, which left a lot of space open for me to score.”

Hofstetter topped the ball into the Camel’s net 17 minutes later, scoring a goal off the feed from Amanda Kinneston ’15 and securing the Polar Bears’ 2-0 advantage going into the second half of the game.

At the 77-minute mark, Abby Hammerl ’17 sent another goal for the Polar Bears past the outstretched fingers of Camels keeper Bryanna Montalvo after a cross from Alexa Yurick ’15. The Camels finally scored with just under five minutes remaining when Medina tallied their only goal.

Bowdoin closed out the game with 11 total shots and five fouls to the Camels’ 14 shots and six fouls. 

This Saturday the team will travel to Colby for an 11 a.m. match, its second-to-last game of the regular season.

“Colby will be a tough fight, but I have no doubt that we will come out against them the way we did this past weekend,” said Hofstetter. “I think we have what it takes to win the NESCAC tournament this year as long as we continue to stay focused and work as hard as we always do.”  

The field hockey team (6-1 NESCAC, 9-1 overall) is now ranked second in the nation after rebounding from its first loss of the season against Trinity by beating Husson University 3-0 on October 8. It went on to dominate NESCAC play last weekend when it defeated Hamilton 6-0 on Saturday and shutting  out Williams 5-0 on Sunday. Yesterday the team traveled to the University of Southern Maine (USM) where it won easily in the rain.

The Polar Bears fell to Trinity at home on October 4, marking the team’s first regular-season defeat and first home setback since 2010. Despite outshooting the Bantams 11-3 in the opening half and 19-6 in the second half, Bowdoin failed to break through their defense. Trinity goalkeeper Sophie Fitzpatrick turned away 14 shots for the Bantams.

The back-and-forth action of the two halves left both teams locked at zero at the end of regulation, but the balance was upset three minutes into overtime when Bantam Kelcie Finn charged past Bowdoin goalie Hannah Gartner ’15 and slipped an open shot into the back of the net. 

“The loss was certainly not a result of a lack of trying,” said Head Coach Nicky Pearson. “We played very well. But, unfortunately, the ball just did not pass our way. Trinity got a break in overtime, and they converted it.”

The team returned to the win column with a 3-0 non-conference victory over Husson. Just three minutes and 50 seconds into the first half, Adrienne O’Donnell ’15 struck the first goal off a feed from Kimmy Ganong ’17. Eleven minutes later, Ganong tallied a goal of her own, with the assist coming from Rachel Kennedy ’16. With under a minute left in the first half, Kennedy—who was named NESCAC Field Hockey Player of the Week— dished another pass to Liz Znamierowski ’16, who scored the team’s third goal of the game and her second of the season.

Bowdoin’s performance against Hamilton on Saturday afternoon was even more dominant, with Hamilton managing only two shots in the entire game and the Polar Bears racking up 32 (26 on goal) while holding an 8-0 edge in penalty corners. Bowdoin started off strong with a goal by Kennedy at the four-minute mark. Goal scorers included Kim Kahnweiler ’16, Ganong, O’Donnell, and Sarah Weill ’18. In the end, the team earned a 6-0 shutout victory against the Continentals.

Kennedy continuued her season in fine form against Williams, scoring four goals en route to a 5-0 shutout. She struck the first score after a pass from O’Donnell, dropping an aerial into the Ephs’ cage 19 minutes into the opening half. Ganong doubled Bowdoin’s lead with less than two minutes before the first half ended, assisted again by O’Donnell.

With 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Kennedy buried a rebound off the pads of Williams’ Margaret Draper. Then, 36 seconds before the game ended, Kennedy ensured the victory by netting another goal off a feed from Pam Herter ’15. Bowdoin outshot the Ephs 23-3 and held a 19-1 edge in penalty corners.

Yesterday the Polar Bears extended their shutout streak with a dominant  7-0 performance against the University of Southern Maine (USM). Kimmy Ganong ’17 struck first for Bowdoin 12 minutes into the game. Kennedy  quickly added two goals to her season total, with Liz Znamierowski ’16 also scoring yo give Bowdoin a comfortable 4-0 lead before halftime. 

For Homecoming the Polar Bears will host a struggling Conn. College on Saturday at  1 p.m at Howard F. Ryan Field.

“I am very excited about the upcoming homecoming game against Conn.,” said Kelsey Mullaney ’16. “As a team, we have been working hard to get prepared for the weekend. It is really an exciting day to play for our alumni.” 

Bowdoin welcomed 35 new faculty members this academic year, 11 of whom are in tenure-track positions.

Todd Berzon, having finished his postdoctoral work on late antique heresiologies at Columbia University in 2013, is the only new tenure-track professor in the Department of Religion. He is currently exploring representations of the tongue in ancient Judaic and Christian traditions. He said he is looking forward to the balanced environment between teaching and conducting research. 

“I want to be at a school that values both teaching and researching, where neither seems to be the exclusion of the other,” said Berzon. 

The economics department received three tenure-track professors this year, including Gonca Senel, who is teaching two sections of Principles of Macroeconomics this semester. Having earned her doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Senel said she is thrilled to be in a smaller liberal arts environment where she can develop closer relationships with her students as well as colleagues across different disciplines.

“At UCLA, every department is a small, self-sufficient island,” said Senel. “The inter-departmental link that we have here is something really special that cannot be found in bigger universities.” 

Zachary Rothschild, a professor at Carleton College, joined the Department of Psychology. As a social psychologist, his research focuses on the effects of existential concerns on people’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. He is currently teaching Data Analysis and will be teaching a 2000-level Social Psychology course and an advanced Existential Social Psychology seminar in the spring. 

Also joining the psychology department is Hannah Reese, who came to Bowdoin with a desire to return to teaching after spending time serving as a staff psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and doing research at Harvard Medical School. 

“I really love the people I worked with and the research I had done, but I also really want to get back to teaching and working with the students,” Reese said. 

Her postdoctoral work focused on body dysmorphic disorder, and she is currently investigating the nature and treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. 

Dana Byrd was a postdoctoral fellow at Bowdoin for the past two years before being hired to a tenure-track position in the art history department this fall. Her  research focuses on American art and material culture. Byrd is planning to write a book on the physical artifacts of life on plantations from the Civil War era through the end of Reconstruction. “I’m really interested in how slavery and the end of slavery were portrayed and discussed in art, as well as the way people experienced it during and after the Civil War era,” Byrd said. 

Even after spending two years at Bowdoin, Byrd said that she still appreciates the level of engagement her students exhibit inside and outside of the classroom, as well as the intellectually stimulating conversations she has with her colleagues and the academic resources the College offers. 

 “I was convinced to stay here because it is a really wonderful place,” said Byrd.