The Bowdoin Orient

A wide variety of leaders in education, politics, and business agree that Teach For America (TFA) is a successful program in its efforts to help close the nation's achievement gap because of both its inventive model and, most importantly, its results.

Proponents say special consideration for legacy applicants enhances loyalty among alumni; critics maintain that it gives some an unfair advantage. The practice has been controversial for years. In the 2004 presidential campaign, President George W. Bush?a third-generation legacy himself?joked about following his father's footsteps to Yale University, but he and Senator John Kerry opposed legacy status as a factor in admissions.

Four first years were caught breaking into Moulton Dining Hall through a steam tunnel they entered from a campus construction site last Friday at 2:30 a.m. According to Assistant Director of Security Mike Brown, the students "took off running" after stealing "bags of bagels, pastries, Lucky Charms, and knives." Brown said that many of the bagels involved were sesame.

Members of the new student group Clean Energy Now plan to present a letter to President Barry Mills and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Katy Longley today urging the College to purchase 100 percent of its electricity from clean, renewable sources of energy.

Students Embracing Disabilities (SED) ran a simulation Thursday encouraging students and faculty to experience first hand the daily challenges faced by those with disabilities on campus. Students from the group handed out glasses, among other items, to students in Smith Union so they could walk around campus for either five minutes or the entire day simulating hearing or visual impairment.

The Board of Trustees has agreed to hit a target on-campus student body population of 1,700 by the 2008-2009 academic year, according to Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Katy Longley at a faculty meeting on March 7. The current on-campus student body population is 1,666, up from 1,635 in the fall of 2001 when President Barry Mills was inaugurated.

President Barry Mills agreed with Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe that Bowdoin students could be influential in curbing underage drinking in the Brunswick community when asked in a recent interview with the Orient.

"As a Brunswick resident and citizen of Maine," Mills stated in the letter, "I believe current efforts to repeal these protections at the polls in November are wrong and inconsistent with the fundamental principle of equality in America." Mills cited Bowdoin's longstanding position against discrimination in the letter, and said that "the protections provided by Bowdoin College to its students, faculty, and staff do not promote one lifestyle over another. They simply provide equal footing for all to participate in our learning community."

In the midst of an allegation that a senior administration official improperly used the work of a faculty member, the College says it is working to update and expand its policy to protect intellectual property.

Erik Tillotson, a man arrested numerous times in Brunswick, has approached students at their off-campus residences on the west side of Maine Street, Assistant Director of Security Mike Brown said early this morning.

President Barry Mills has been told he is healthy and cancer-free. After a March 15 prostate cancer diagnosis, Mills underwent surgery this summer to remove the cancer. Beyond the necessary recovery period he took after the procedure, Mills does not expect any further health-related setbacks in his schedule.

Bowdoin Student Government is struggling to implement its ideas and programs, is encountering difficulty in communicating with the student body, and is divided over its current state of affairs, an Orient investigation has found.

Though bear hunting is most often practiced far from the Bowdoin Quad, a proposition to ban the practice will appear on ballots in Brunswick and the rest of Maine on November 2.

Two anonymous students have reported symptoms of date-rape drug ingestion to members of Residential Life.

Delightfully far from tacky and quite refined, you're not going to find a Hooters anywhere on Monhegan Island. Twelve miles from mainland, the tiny island offers a glimpse into pristine Maine.