Steve Kolowich
Number of articles: 77First article: January 28, 2005
Latest article: September 17, 2010
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Cult comedian Mitch Hedberg dies on tour
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised Your guide to surviving Ivies
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised The final revelation: Setting the record straight on Ivies Weekend
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Facebook helps students mourn the loss of friends
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Informal Arabic class aims to fill course gap
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Re-Orienting the student newspaper for the future
Recent attempts by the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) to bring the Bowdoin Orient to its knees have put this newspaper at a crossroads. It could fight back; it has leverage against the purse-keepers, and might win in a showdown. Or, the Orient could treat this crisis as an opportunity to undergo a drastic but inevitable metamorphosis.
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Deans plan advising reforms for Class of '12
A year and a half after a reaccreditation team identified academic advising one of Bowdoin's weak spots, the College will report its plans to improve pre-major academic advising to the Board of Trustees next weekend. The report will mark the culmination of an initiative that began last September and has involved a number of meetings with students and faculty as well as an advising survey of current first years.
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Market adjustments: Campus eateries struggle to cope with food price hikes
In the offices that overlook the serving lines at Thorne Dining Hall, whose top-ranked fare was celebrated most recently this week in the style pages of the New York Times, a team of literal and figurative bean-counters are constantly brainstorming ways to maintain Bowdoin's dining reputation in the face of spiking food prices.
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Informal Arabic class aims to fill course gap
Bowdoin's Arabic teacher spends two hours a week teaching the alphabet, pronunciation, and simple word combinations to a class of some 15 students on Friday afternoons. Although he often stays after class to help beginners with questions, he does not get paid overtime?in fact, he does not get paid for teaching at all. That's because Bowdoin's Arabic teacher is a student.
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Faculty cuts CR/D/F in required courses
Future classes of Bowdoin students will no longer be able to protect their grade point averages from low marks in required classes, the faculty decided Monday. By a 66-16-1 vote, the professors passed a motion to prohibit students from using the Credit/D/Fail option in courses taken to satisfy distribution requirements beginning with the Class of 2012. The new rule was passed despite the pleas of more than 40 students who assembled to greet faculty as they passed through the Thorne Hall lobby on their way to the meeting.
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Faculty to consider limiting Credit/D/Fail
The faculty may vote as early as next week on a measure that would forbid students in the Class of 2012 and beyond from using the Credit/D/Fail option in classes taken to fulfill distribution requirements. The Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee (CEP) is expected to submit a motion at Monday's faculty meeting addressing the question and recommending that the body vote in favor of the rule change.
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Bowdoin to replace all loans with grants
Policy takes effect in fall; current students will not incur further debt
College graduation is often associated with freedom. But with tuition costs at an all-time high, Bowdoin graduates often find themselves shackled by student loan debt years after receiving their degrees. No more.
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A chat with Governor Baldacci
Maine?s top politician weighs in on Moosehead Lake, Opportunity Maine, NASB, and Barry Mills?s golf swing
Two-term Maine Gov. John Baldacci is no stranger to the Bowdoin campus. In October, Baldacci spoke at the re-opening of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, and on Monday the governor stopped by a government class to talk Maine politics with students. The Orient caught up with Baldacci this week in his State House office to discuss issues of concern to the College and its students. [Editor's note: Portions of this interview have been edited for length.]
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Labor union protests treatment of workers
A local labor union is claiming that Bowdoin is complicit in the exploitation of construction workers on the site of the future Watson Ice Arena. Iron Workers Local 7, a union headquartered in South Boston, began distributing fliers this week charging that CCS, the steel erector subcontracted in the construction, does not "abide by community standards regarding wages and working conditions."
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Peer schools announce aid reforms
Bowdoin officials say they will continue exploring changes, but no decisions imminent
Several of Bowdoin's peer schools have announced new plans to ease student debt in the face of rising tuition costs. Colby College announced Monday that it will eliminate loans from all financial aid packages for students from Maine, replacing them with grants beginning next fall.
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Bowdoin Brief: Sierra Magazine awards Bowdoin with honorable mention
Sierra Magazine has awarded Bowdoin an honorable mention for being one of America's most environmentally conscientious colleges.
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Alumnus joins Thompson; candidates trek to Maine
As a number of students have latched on to presidential campaigns, a notable Bowdoin alumnus has leaped into the fray as well. Larry Lindsey '76, an economist who has served as an advisor to Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, has signed on to former Sen. Fred Thompson's campaign as a senior economic advisor. In a campaign press release, Thompson praised Lindsey for playing "a critical role in cutting taxes for hard-working Americans."
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Rankings concern Mills, peer presidents
Weeks after being awarded the seventh spot in U.S. News and World Report's annual list of America's top liberal arts colleges, Bowdoin has taken a position against the controversial U.S. News list and other rankings systems. Along with 18 other liberal arts college presidents, President Barry Mills co-signed a statement, released September 7, expressing concern over the ?admissions frenzy? and ?the way in which rankings can contribute to that frenzy and to a false sense that educational success or fit can be ranked in a single numerical list.?
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Planning ahead
Pending final approval from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and the U.S. Navy, Bowdoin may nearly double the size of its campus by 2012?for free.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: The final revelation: Setting the record straight on Ivies Weekend
For a year and a half, this little plot of real estate here in the back of the Orient has been my sanctuary from the furore and vexation of academia. Out there, my essays, exegeses, and existentialist ruminations lurch and strain beneath the weight of scrutiny.
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Keeping the faith
Brian Lockhart '08 was enjoying a beer at Ladd House last year when he was approached by several first-year students. Under most circumstances, Lockhart would have enjoyed such attention, but in this instance, he panicked. Spying an open window, he chucked his half-full beer can into the night. Lockhart does not have a phobia of first-year students, nor is he a chronic litter bug. He is, however, a member of the Bowdoin Christian Fellowship (BCF), and felt guilty about drinking in front of younger members of the group.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Spring heartbreak: Readjusting to Bowdoin's brisk pace, climate
Spring Break is a lot of things. It's a time to exhale, forget about functions, formulas, Foucault, and failing grades, and coax your blood pressure down to a rate that doesn't make your forehead resemble a topographical map of Utah. It's an opportunity to catch up on reading, sleep, and episodes of "The Office." It's an excuse to head south and reintroduce your pasty, translucent skin to the long-forgotten phenomena of "sun," "warmth," and "body shots." But despite its virtues, Spring Break one thing above all: a tease.
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Bowdoin, Brunswick negotiate BNAS pact
Herschel Sternlieb showed up at Wednesday's meeting of the Brunswick Conservation Commission (BCC) prepared to make a presentation proposing the construction of a public park on Brunswick Naval Air Station (BNAS) land once the base closes. He was second on the commission's agenda.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: This is the most important thing I've ever written
Over the past year, I have used this space for a number of different purposes. I have waxed philosophical, attempted to analyze the oft-perplexing behavior of myself and my peers, described my various social misadventures?I have even resorted, on several occasions, to letting my imagination run wild all over the page, a dangerous and bewildering exercise indeed.
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Constitutional conflict: Pointing to constitution, BSG seeks J-Board oversight
Earlier this month, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Laura Lee, and the leadership of Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) sat down to discuss the issue of BSG oversight in the process by which Judicial Board (J-Board) members are selected. Though the deans and the BSG officers failed to see eye-to-on some of the finer points, everyone in the room agreed on one thing: A little change might go a long way.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: The plight of the vegetarian-philosopher-king
As February trudges patiently along, Bowdoin first years may find themselves doing some serious introspection. At least, that's what happened to me two years ago.
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Mills, BSG set Darfur committee plan
President Barry Mills and Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) have reached a tentative compromise regarding the creation of a Community Response Committee (CRC), which would consider how Bowdoin might respond to "humanitarian issues" in the world. Mills had opposed the creation of a permanent committee, while BSG recently passed a resolution calling for one. Mills?s proposal satisfied a number of officers, including BSG President DeRay Mckesson '07 and Vice President of BSG Affairs Dustin Brooks '08, who said that a committee administered by the student government could be just as effective as one administered by the College.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Correction: Booze and responsibility are compatible
On October 20, I used this space to lecture about temperance. I climbed up on my soapbox and explained that the freedom built into the college lifestyle should not be abused, because someday in the not-too-distant future our generation will be responsible for preserving civilization in an era of growing population, advancing technology, diminishing natural resources, and mounting cultural tensions. Well, a real man knows when to admit he was wrong. And I've got to say, I was way off base on that one.
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Students create eavesdroppers? forum
Bowdoin students may want to think twice about what they say out loud this semester, because if they're not careful, it might end up on the Internet.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: How I became famous (or: Why I love Wikipedia)
People love to read about celebrities. Us Weekly, a magazine that keeps citizens well-informed as to which pop culture icons deserve our scorn for their iniquitous "fashion faux pas" each week, has been in publication for 27 years. People Magazine, whose cornerstone is its yearly naming of the "50 Most Beautiful People Alive," has been around for even longer.
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A-Board OKs combined concert
Bowdoin students often trek to Colby or Bates to see their team clash with their rivals. In coming years, they may also make the trip to see their favorite bands perform.
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Joyce: Dems' agenda could ease burdens
The political power shift in Washington following the Democrats' reclamation of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives could mean less debt for Bowdoin students and their parents in the near future.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: The other November holiday
Around this time of year, families gather together to celebrate a great day in the history of our country. I'm talking, of course, about November 20: Traffic Light Day.
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Booze bust prompts concerns
Most Bowdoin students are accustomed to having Security check for violations of the College's alcohol policy. However, most of these checks are conducted on weekend nights at parties or large social gatherings where alcohol is being served.
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Out of the classroom and into the fire
In any 90-minute class block, at least one student will usually leave the room at some point. The reasons are various and often mundane: A student might be going to use the bathroom; he might be going to blow his nose; he might be going to check his email. When sophomore Ian Yaffe gets up and hurries out of class, he might be going to fight a fire.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: I'm bringing innocent back
At the sight of children squealing with glee and chasing each other around a jungle gym, most adults will sigh wistfully and think, "Oh, to be young again!" The exception, of course, are residents of Howard and West halls?located across from Longfellow elementary?who are more likely to say, "QUIET THE $%#@ DOWN! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS!?"
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School board to face elementary questions
While the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) is getting the majority of the attention on the Bowdoin campus, a race for at-large school board representative between incumbent Malcolm Andrews and challenger Kathy Thorson highlights an issue that could have a similarly significant effect on local public schools.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Raise your degree of success
When I was about eight years old, I asked my dad how expensive college is. He told me it cost $20 each year to go. Because this was more money than I could ever image being in one place at one time, I panicked and began saving every nickel I could excavate from beneath the sofa cushions and every dime I could extract from between the car seats.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: The price of freedom: $46,300
Freedom. It is a mighty concept, appealing to the most optimistic regions of the human heart.
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BSG reps, Mills discuss Darfur activism
President Barry Mills met with Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) President Deray Mckesson '07 on October 10 to discuss BSG's disagreement with Mills concerning the creation of a permanent College committee to identify crimes against humanity.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Genes: you'll grow into them
Back in the now-distant days of my blithe youth, the concept of adulthood befuddled me. I couldn't figure how my parents enjoyed "healthy" food when it failed to satisfy standard chocolate, peanut butter, or high fructose corn syrup criteria.
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Mills: No contact with BSG on Darfur
There has been no formal communication between Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) and President Barry Mills since BSG passed a resolution endorsing a permanent committee to identify crimes against humanity on September 27, Mills said Thursday in an interview with the Orient.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: How I kicked my coffee habit: a hero's tale
Ever wonder what the deal is with the lady on the Starbucks seal? The one who beckons you into her lair with her bewitching grin and the promise of temporary mania followed by atypical bowel cycles?
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Congress fights the good fight
As students of American culture, you may have heard tell of a legislative (or "law-making") body known as "Congress." That's right, your middle school teachers weren't just yanking your chain when they taught you about our nation's bicameral legislature.
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College moves forward with plans for new gym
The days of waiting in line for treadmills, lifting dumbbells elbow-to-elbow with teammates, and searching in vain for spaces to stretch may be numbered for Bowdoin students.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: And you thought Orientation was awkward...
During the fall of my first year at Bowdoin, I felt compelled to join a group on the then-benign Facebook called "Why Is My Life So Awkward?" Upon first discovering the group, I had been touched. "Finally," I thought to myself, "a group of collegians who, like me, have failed to outgrow their adolescent ineptitude. I shall find my niche at Bowdoin yet!"
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: First year of the rest of your life
Hey there, [your name], you old horsethief, you! How was your summer? "Good?" Really? Because I usually get a different answer! No, it wouldn't be awkward if you had said anything other than "good," not awkward at all! Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'd like a few minutes alone with the first years.
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Administrators Facebook the facts
Early last summer, first-year Jessica Song created a group on Facebook called "First Night Party!!" She got the idea from friends who had made a similar group at another college and thought that it would be fun to make one for the Bowdoin network. To Song?s surprise, her new classmates, whom she had never met, began joining the group in droves.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: The final countdown
"Finals." It sounds so terminal?like an incurable disease whose end result is as excruciating as it is inevitable. I imagine a doctor in a lab coat standing gravely by at my bedside on a mid-May morning, stiffly clutching his clipboard. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kolowich," he softly utters. "I'm afraid you have...finals."
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Suspect flees from Security, local cops
A sting operation conducted by the Department of Safety and Security resulted in a car chase last week when a man suspected of theft fled from campus security and then led state and local police in a high-speed pursuit.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Your guide to surviving Ivies
Congratulations, friend. You made it to Ivies Weekend. You have endured the relentless onslaught of problem sets and three-to-five page essays. You have persevered through the 8 a.m. classes, the 80-minute lectures, the five-hour Friday afternoon labs, and the all-nighters. You bravely beat back frostbite, the common cold, the uncommon cold (syphilis), mono, ringworm, carpal tunnel syndrome, and a knife-wielding ruffian in the basement of School Street Apartments.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Snap back to reality
So I had this weird dream the other night. I dreamt that Bowdoin was an episode of VH1's "I Love the 90s," and that Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) had decided to distribute those old slap bracelet thingies in a joint effort with the Department of Safety and Security to make students more visible to traffic, and a bunch of washed-up pseudo-celebrities made fun of us for it.
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Techie team gears up for RoboCup
Considering the temperate spring weather, it was not surprising to see students flock to a soccer game last weekend to support their friends and classmates. What was surprising was that the spectators actually withdrew from the 60-degree temperatures outside to do so. And the players were not Bowdoin undergraduates. They were robots.
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Contract workers in critical condition
Two construction workers are still in a critical care unit after the van they were driving crashed on their way to campus last week. On April 5, three employees of Knowles Industrial Services of Gorham, the contractor that the College hired to do masonry for the renovations of Appleton and Hyde Halls, were traveling south on Interstate 295 toward their Bowdoin job site. The driver lost control of the van and crashed, seriously injuring two of the men.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Hitting rock bottom
Listen, we didn't ask you here today to watch "Corwin's Quest: Realm of the Yeti" on Animal Planet. I know, I know, that is what I said on the phone. We invited you over because I feel... we all feel...that we need to confront you about something. Yes, I am serious. Wait; before you get upset, just hear me out. We've been noticing changes in your personality since it began?your behavior, the tone of your voice, your priorities. We all see it. You disappear for long periods of time without leave. We'll all be hanging out, and you'll slide into a back room and lock the door. We all know what you're doing back there.
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Facebook helps students mourn the loss of friends
Following the deaths of Katie Scott '06 and Taryn King '07 earlier this academic year, students found different ways to cope. Some attended College-sponsored vigils. Some attended funerals. Some sought the counsel of college staff, family, and friends. Some posted on King and Scott's Facebook "walls."
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Sign changes, healing begins
As the hand at the helm of the College, the administration is responsible for making tough calls, protecting institutional interests and traditions, and providing the student body with the resources and guidance it takes to maintain Bowdoin's reputation as a beacon of higher education. These duties are anything but trivial. As wide-eyed fledglings, hungry for a socially and intellectually rich four years, we, the students, depend on the College administrators to vomit a nourishing Bowdoin experience down our throats, having already chewed and digested it themselves; so to speak.
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Housing crunch prompts more students per room
Stowe, Howard Halls to house ?quints,? RAs to take on more roommates
The Office of Residential Life has planned significant alterations for certain campus living spaces in response to a housing shortage caused by increased demand for on-campus housing. These changes will have immediate implications for the upcoming housing lottery. Residential Life plans to officially make the updated lottery information available today. Beginning next fall, all of the quads in Stowe Hall and three of the 14 quads in Howard Hall will take on an extra occupant and become "quints," adding a third bed to one of the two bedrooms, which currently house two beds each.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Have faith in understanding
"Dixieland." What sorts of things leap to mind when you hear this term? Warm weather? Moonshine? Ted Turner? Those good ol' boys from Hazzard County? Home? The inexplicably popular Trace Adkins single "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk?" I'm willing to bet that for the majority of Bowdoin students, mention of the South evokes a hodgepodge of interrelated ideas: Red states, religious yahoos, "values" voters, country bumpkins carousing around in pickup flatbeds with their shotguns and smell hounds, stopping periodically to participate in a hootenanny and/or elect Bush.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Humor, with cleverness substitute
Everybody loves a clown. Well, except for people who are paralyzed by fear at the mere mention of clowns (e.g. anyone who has seen the movie "Poltergeist" or heard of John Wayne Gacy, Jr.). Or people who think clowns are boring (e.g. anyone whose parents were so manipulated by classical conventions that they actually hired a clown to perform at your birthday party). Or people who think clowns are stupid (e.g. anyone who has ever borne witness to the musical stylings and stage antics of the Insane Clown Posse). Or anyone who thinks clowns are depressing (e.g. all vocational clowns). OK, that's a horrible example. Let's start over.
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College House System subject of campus enthusiasm, debate
As a selection committee prepares to consider a record 213 candidates for residency in Bowdoin's six college houses, interviews with leaders of the College House System show that there is not a consensus on what the goals of the system should be. According to Director of Residential Life Kimberly Pacelli, the applicant pool is significantly larger than normal.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Read this if you wish to survive the invasion
Are you a regular reader of the Orient? If you are, then you probably already know: We've got aliens. Exhibit A: Item one of the February 17 installment of the Orient news section's "Bowdoin Briefs" reads, and I quote: "A mysterious design in the snow appeared early this week on the Quad and left members of the Bowdoin community baffled as to how it got there. While some wrote it off as the work of student pranksters, others suggested that extraterrestrial forces might be involved." Need any more evidence? Didn't think so.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Communication breakdown
A few weeks ago, I was chatting with someone about my aspirations vis-à-vis my college education and professional future. He asked me what my major was, and as I tried to respond he cut me off. "Doesn't matter," he said, "as long as you learn how to COMMUNICATE." At first I was annoyed, because when he asked about my major he had clearly planned to interrupt me. But he was older, employed, and ostensibly wiser than I (and balding, which I understand also implies wisdom), so I didn't disregard his insight right away. And the more I reflected on my own communication skills and those of my fellow collegians, the more worried I became.
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Security radios in WBOR show
It is the job of the Department of Safety and Security to keep the Bowdoin community safe. This year, Security has also made it its job to keep the Bowdoin community entertained. On their WBOR 91.1 FM show "Listen!" which airs from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays, Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols and Assistant Director of Safety and Security Mike Brown try to do both. Their show combines music, guest interviews, and discussion linked by a common theme of educating listeners about issues relating to their safety and well-being.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: College diet includes healthy dose of irony
I read a story on BBC's news web site recently about a man who caught a mouse in his home. The man was bored, and instead of ridding himself of the mouse by drowning it or returning it to the wilds of British suburbia, he (probably) thought to himself "Oi, wouldn't it be a kick in the knickers if I torched the little bugger alive?" As fortune would have it, the man was burning brush in his backyard at the time. Giddy, he hurried outside and with sadistic pleasure cast the hapless rodent into the flames. "That'll teach 'im to dally about me property!" the man may or may not have said, reveling in the illusion of great power.
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These Revelations Will Not Be Televised: Beware the web of indictment
Do your parents keep scrapbooks of old photographs? Mine do. I'm not talking about the scrapbooks filled with photos of first steps, first birthdays, and first nude adventures in public; I'm talking about when they were in college. Have you ever seen pre-graduation college pictures of your parents? I could count the ones I've seen of mine on one hand, causing me to suspect that there are no more than five.
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Security confiscates contraband over break
The Bowdoin Department of Safety and Security confiscated a pellet gun and a stolen construction sign from the room of a Coles Tower resident over Winter Break. They discovered the pellet gun, which is banned under the College's firearms policy, and the sign, which was stolen from a construction site on campus, during a sweep of all dorm rooms that were supposed to be vacant during the break.
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Meddies take Korean holiday
The Bowdoin Meddiebempsters are accustomed to performing for quiet, attentive audiences, but how about a group of Buddhist monks? They are used to singing in cafés and restaurants, but how about one of the swankiest night clubs in Seoul, South Korea? They are no strangers to sharing the stage with other talented singers, but how about a famed Korean diva? They are familiar with playing alumni functions, but how about the first ever convocation of Bowdoin Korean alumni?
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Student assaulted again at School Street
Over a month after he was confronted at knifepoint in the basement of his 10 School Street residence and fended off the assailant with a Tide bottle, Joshua Cippel '08 was accosted again Wednesday night in the same location. This latest incident, which occurred at about 9:00 p.m., is the third report of trespassing on the school-leased property since the beginning of November. Cippel was coming up the basement stairs after dropping off laundry when he was "assaulted," according to the report compiled by Bowdoin Security.
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Merton of the Movies a trip back in history
College is a time of high ambition, youthful audacity, and relentless idealism. For these reasons, many of the audience members viewing the Bowdoin Theatre and Dance Department's production of George S. Kaufman's Merton of the Movies?which premiered last night and runs through this weekend?will identify with its starry-eyed protagonist.
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"Colbert Report" a subversive success
Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart's right-hand correspondent on "The Daily Show" and the master of feigned gravitas, has finally been given what he earned long ago: his own show.
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J.W.P. searches for the groove
The Jim Weeks Philharmonic is not your gorp-munching, Birkenstock-wearing, burned out older brother's jam band. For seniors Eric Davich, Dan Wilson, Ely Delman, and Philip Friedrich, exploration into the world of musical improvisation and pursuit of the sublime, elusive "groove" is far more profound.
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Cook to serve comedy at Colby
Boston-born comedian Dane Cook, hot off the release of his latest two-disc album, Retaliation, will perform tonight at Colby College's Wadsworth Gymnasium, as part of his promotional "Tourgasm" tour.
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Lady Rose finds its musical voice
The fact that there are squash courts in Smith Union is relatively esoteric; that among these squash courts lies a hidden haven for Bowdoin musicians is practically unknown. Down the tiled, fluorescent hallway of the second floor of the Union, in a room numbered "11" in black, stenciled digits, the College's resident rockers find refuge. This cluttered little lair is like a second home to Mayu Kennedy '06, Tim Cashman '07, Jason Laurita '07 and Ian Haight '08, the four members of the band Lady Rose. With room 11 reserved four times each week, these musicians spend more time here than they do in any of their classes.
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Speaker and students disappoint
As an ardent supporter of equal rights, I was both frustrated by the guest speakers at Monday's event and disappointed by many of the protestors in attendance. The argument put forth by Mr. Heath, while well-worded, was fundamentally flawed.
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Beam and Calexico a bittersweet mixture
Sam Beam, the Miami cinematography professor-turned-neo folk sensation?known better by his stage name, Iron and Wine?has collaborated with the Arizona-based alternative group Calexico to create a six-song EP entitled In the Reins.
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Ben unfolds stories behind music
iTunes album features interviews with pop pianist
On the heels of his second solo LP Songs for Silverman, released last spring, Ben Folds has put out a 28-track album of live and studio recordings, including speaking tracks in which he explains the origins of his music and his background as a musician. The album was made in conjunction with iTunes, and has been made available exclusively through the iTunes online music store.
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Carrell's talent laid bare as lead in Virgin
For years, he blended in quietly with the Daily Show's stock of eyebrow-raising, stone-faced pseudo-journalists, dwarfed by the imposing genius of Jon Stewart. Through no fault of his own, he suffered NBC's ill-conceived attempt to repackage British humor and sell it to a broad American market with The Office. He achieved minor cult status as Brick Tamland in Anchorman, but still seemed to be treading water in a sea of one-dimensionality. Needless to say, I assumed that he was more suited to supporting a more versatile lead actor than supporting an entire movie.
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Cult comedian Mitch Hedberg dies on tour
Comedian Mitch Hedberg, one of the most popular stand-up acts today and a cult figure on college campuses, is reported to have died Wednesday while traveling between gigs on the East Coast. He was 37. As of Thursday night, his cause of death remained unconfirmed, although some have speculated that his passing may have been correlated with recent drug problems.
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British humour shines in The Office
Traditionally, England's entertainment exports to America have been music-related. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Clapton, Osborne...and well, everyone involved in the British Invasion. They even throw us a film every now and again. But rarely do the trades blow a British TV show west across the Atlantic. But just under a year ago, a rare gem washed up on U.S. shores, and has since developed a devoted, if not enormous, following.
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Albom's Five People meets with approval
Recently, I gave my mom Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven as a gift. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what it was about. I had merely heard various TV and radio personalities who were roughly my mom's age and attitudinal disposition extol the book as a thoughtful and inspiring encore to Albom's first best-seller, Tuesdays with Morrie, which I had not read.
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Webber's Phantom now haunting local theaters
After weeks of anticipation and frantic last-minute shopping, the day after Christmas usually brings with it a kind of pleasant, plump stagnation. This respite is welcome, for sure, but the post-holiday hangover can prompt a certain kind of restless languor that longs to be disrupted. So when my dad asked me if I'd like to go to Joel Schumacher's big screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, I peeled myself off the couch and drove with him to our local movie theater.