The Bowdoin Orient

The 2010-2011 academic year had the usual ups and downs—transports, thefts, a national championship, Meatless Monday, a salary thaw, a notable bias incident and nice weather for Ivies. These stories, along with many others, are chronicled in this summary of a year of Orient articles.

The comprehensive fee to attend Bowdoin will be going up. Just how much, however, remains to be seen. When the Board of Trustees meets next weekend, voting on and accepting a comprehensive fee for fiscal year (FY) 2012 will be one of the major tasks on its itinerary.

Men's tennis coach Colin Joyner '03 is the only male to be openly gay as a collegiate athletics coach—ever.

In the span of just 15 minutes, people from three separate vehicles yelled harassing language at two students near Howell House between 8:15 and 8:30 p.m. on April 2. According to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols, people in the second car shouted a racial slur while those in the third called out a sexual slur; the language of the individuals in the first car was indiscernible.

The slew of Coles Tower thefts continue. Two more students reported having cash stolen from their rooms on the 13th floor of the tower on March 31. Although the exterior doors to their rooms had been locked, the bedroom doors were left unlocked, said Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols.

One Security investigation has reached its conclusion. Over Winter Break, eight students received harassing phone calls from someone claiming to be a Bowdoin student, said Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols. Nichols said the calls were "not threatening, but inappropriate."

The investigation to find the person or persons responsible for the March 1 bias incident in Coles Tower remains ongoing. Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols speculated that it was unlikely the party that wrote "I love Meatful Monday. F*g n***er" on a white board on the 15th floor of the building would come forward and confess at this point.

As a result of the discussion following the Coles Tower bias incident, the College may be adding new lighting around campus.

Though 30 fewer students are studying abroad next year and 510 students in the Class of 2014 are rising as sophomores, Residential Life is confident housing will not be an issue in the 2011-2012 academic year. "We have enough beds," said Interim Director of Residential Life Lisa Rendall. Rendall added that the current configuration of housing—including "forced" housing in Brunswick and Stowe Hall—would remain the same, and that more forced housing would not be added.

"We didn't know we were any good." Those were the words of curling team captain Carl Spielvogel '13—the head of a 6-1 team that is heading to collegiate nationals in Chicago.

Bowdoin's faculty and staff salary freeze, originally implemented in 2009, will be ending early. President Barry Mills announced Tuesday that full and associate professors, as well as staff, will be receiving a 2 percent pay raise. Assistant professors will see their salaries increase by 2.5 percent. The increase will be reflected in March paychecks, but the move is being made to begin retroactively from July 2010. The freeze was expected to last through the current fiscal year (FY).

Sether Hanson '13 would have preferred his usual alarm clock wakeup last Sunday morning. Instead, he got a fire alarm, a shouting roommate and a face full of fire extinguisher exhaust. Just before 6 a.m. on the morning of January 30, two students came into Hanson's room in Ladd House and discharged an ABC fire extinguisher on both him and his roommate, as well as across his room, according to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols. Hanson and his roommate had been sleeping at the time.

McKenna Teague '12 did not even know it was over. After firing the final penalty stroke past the Messiah keeper in the NCAA D-III Championship title game, she turned around, gave a quick fist-pump, and slowly began to jog back to her team.

This year, Rainbow Seven is ensuring that Date Week caters to the full spectrum of sexual orientations. Rainbow Seven, sponsored by Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance (BQSA) in conjunction with the Alliance of Sexual Assault Prevention, is a new endeavor to help members of the Bowdoin queer community meet each other.

With less than a week until the polls open, Maine voters are looking at a three-horse race for governor. Different polls have shown a considerable amount of variety. The most recent, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday, had Republican Paul LePage ahead with 40 percent of the vote, followed by Democrat Libby Mitchell and Independent Eliot Cutler tied at 26 percent. Cutler has made significant gains in recent weeks.

One thousand four hundred writers. Two weeks. One champion. It is what Conor Williams '05 calls "the Washington Post version of a reality show," and he is right in the thick of it.

Closer medical care might be just what the doctor ordered. Mid Coast Hospital will be extending its services and moving part of its operation to a new office building in Maine Street Station. The construction and move-in is set to be completed in May 2011, Mid Coast Hospital Executive Vice President Lois Skillings said.

The investigation to find last week's assault perpetrator is ongoing, but has yet to yield results. In an e-mail to the Orient, Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols wrote on Thursday regarding the process that he had "Nothing to report."

Brock Cochran's summons to West Bath District Court for September 21 most likely will be postponed. According to Lieutenant Mark Waltz of the Brunswick Police Department, Cochran, accused of stealing electronics in multiple parts of Maine, was revealed to have a prior record of thefts. If convicted, these prior occurrences would bump the current charges against him to felonies.

After a year that saw 26 alcohol transports and a reexamination of Bowdoin's party scene, the campus drinking culture picked up right where it left off. By the second day of classes four students had been transported to the hospital for reasons relating to alcohol, though there have been none since.

As Ivies looms on the horizon, the tally of alcohol-related hospital transports takes on renewed importance in the minds of some. There were no alcohol transports between Dean of Students Affairs Tim Foster's meeting with first year students about alcohol on February 12 and Spring Break. Since then, there have been two.

When a student's phone rings in the middle of Spanish class, President Barry Mills usually is not on the other line. But for Kyle Dempsey '11 on Monday, he was. Mills was calling to inform Dempsey he had been named a 2010 Truman Scholar, the first Bowdoin student to be awarded the honor since 2003. The award was not the only Bowdoin success over the past several weeks; Sarah Ebel '10 and Skye Lawrence '10 both received Watson fellowships at the beginning of Spring Break.

For several nights this semester, Super Snack will be facing some competition. In an effort to extend weekend nights in hopes of reducing alcohol-related problems, Dining Services will try keeping Jack Magee's Grill open until 2 a.m. on select weekend nights. According to Director of Dining Services Mary Lou Kennedy, the plan is to try the idea on three Saturday nights spread out across the course of this semester. "One of the things I have heard over and over again is the compressed social time on the weekends," Director of Student Activities Allen Delong said.

The $12,000 grant awarded to the Brunswick Police Department already appears to be having an effect. Early Sunday morning, Akiva Zamcheck '11 received a court summons for underage possession of alcohol by consumption while walking home alone on Page Street.

A week after Marc Seligson '12 was arrested on assault charges and student leaders gathered to discuss solutions for alcohol problems, a 20-year-old sophomore male student was arrested for drunk driving and the Brunswick Police Department received a $12,000 grant to increase enforcement against underage drinking.

The occasional series "How it feels" last ran in the 2005-2006 volume of the Orient. In this 2010 revival, Bowdoin students tell the Orient about their experiences—good, bad, or just extreme. Here are their stories.

At the end of the school year, Assistant Director of Residential Life Dudney Sylla '08 will be leaving his position after two years on the job.

Forced housing is here to stay. According to Associate Director of Housing Operations Lisa Rendall, all of this fall's forced housing will remain as such in the spring. Though previously there was a possibility that some of the 25 forced triples in Brunswick Apartments would have been able to revert to their intended double form, a combination of fewer students going abroad than anticipated, others taking time off from Bowdoin, and still more living off campus has caused the tight living conditions.

As students navigated course selection this week in anticipation of the deadline at 5 p.m. yesterday, they were faced with a question: what is the best way to fill out a registration card to get first choice courses? Theories abound, according to Registrar Christine Cote, and students typically attempt a number of techniques they believe will ensure as many first-choices as possible.

Aspiring journalists and sports enthusiasts alike gathered together to see iconic baseball reporter Buster Olney, senior writer and baseball analyst for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, speak about the realities of beat writing and life as a sports journalist. The event, held in Lancaster Lounge last Friday evening, was set up by the Career Planning Center (CPC). Fifty students attended, according to Associate Director of Career Planning Dighton Spooner, and were able to ask Olney questions on a variety of sports-related topics. Olney traveled to Bowdoin to introduce Susan Leonard Toll '85, a lifelong friend who was inducted into the Bowdoin Hall of Honor on Saturday.

The Brunswick Police Department is increasing its enforcement of underage consumption of alcohol around the town of Brunswick and on the Bowdoin campus. According to Community Policing Officer Terry Goan, a new team comprised of himself, Patrol Officer Robert Lane and Detective Aaron Bailey has been set up to increase police presence in the town and at the College to deter those under the age of 21 from drinking.

The Orient chooses the male and female "Athlete of the Season" based on his and her exemplary performance, leadership, and commitment to their respective programs. The winners are decided by the editors of the Orient. Stephen Sullivan '11 Stephen Sullivan didn't always love tennis this much. "I started playing when I was 12, my mom made me play," he said. "I didn't really like it, I preferred team sports." Then much more of a soccer player, the 12-year old Sullivan hardly expected tennis to be his sport of choice. In truth, he may not have realized it until his arrival at Bowdoin.

In order to increase efficiency, Campus Activities Board (CAB) has written a new constitution that will bring changes to membership and rename the organization the Entertainment Board (E-Board).

To cut costs across the league, the NESCAC will be implementing new travel regulations next year for regular season games that require an overnight stay. The new policy will place limits on the number of players that can travel to these games, and will save Bowdoin an estimated $15,000, according to Director of Athletics Jeff Ward. The number of players allowed to travel under the regulations varies greatly, and was decided on a sport-by-sport basis. The decision to make the limits at a conference level was made to avoid giving a competitive advantage to schools that have fared better in the economic crisis.

Bowdoin sports hit a roadblock over Spring Break, with men's ice hockey, women's ice hockey, men's basketball and men's swimming and diving all facing difficulties in post-season play. The lone winner was women's basketball, which won the NESCAC championships after failing to win the tournament last season. The women's basketball team received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after its conference championship, and pounced on its first opponent Castleton, winning by a score of 72-31. Katie Bergeron '11 led the team with 16 points.

Amid the constant cheers and splashing of water, murmurs surrounding controversial swimsuits could be heard all around the Women's NESCAC Swimming and Diving Championship Meet last weekend at Bowdoin. The two suits, the LZR made by Speedo and the Nero Comp made by Blueseventy, are thick and increase the buoyancy of the swimmer, thus making it easier for them to cut through the water.

Not showing up for class at Bowdoin gets you in more trouble with some professors than others. But despite the wide range of policies and practices at the College regarding attendance, students have expressed little demand in changing the policy, and the administration—citing other peer schools—has no plans to adopt a more uniform one in the near future.

Not too long from now, the sideline reporter during the big game might just be Bowdoin senior Kaitee Daley. Daley appeared in a one-and-a-half minute segment on ESPNU on Sunday, after the first period of the University of Maine-University of Massachusetts hockey game. The piece focused on the prominently displayed Zamboni in the new Sidney J. Watson arena, which is the fourth collegiate Zamboni to exist in the United States.

Two radiators in Brunswick Apartments burst over Winter Break, causing damage in each location. In both cases, cold air was able to get into the apartment, freezing a radiator and causing a minor explosion.

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG), in conjunction with the Dean's office and Dudley Coe Health Center, has decided to conduct a second poll to measure student opinion about the health care provided on campus. BSG President Sophia Seifert '09 and Vice President of Student Affairs Carly Berman '11 conducted the original survey, composed of questions compiled by the BSG Assembly.

It was almost too perfect. A repeat of the NESCAC finals. Tie game?into sudden death overtime. Double overtime. And then, who else but Lindsay McNamara '09, Bowdoin's all-time leading scorer, to end it once and for all, sealing the field hockey team's second consecutive national title?this time against NESCAC rival Tufts.

There will be two fresh faces on the sidelines of the women's basketball games this winter: Coach Adrienne Shibles and Assistant Coach Alison Smith '05. In June, the College announced the hiring of Adrienne Shibles as the new head coach of the women's basketball team, after former coach Stephanie Pemper unexpectedly accepted the head coaching job at the Naval Academy, a Division I school.

The men's rowing team exceeded expectations at the 44th annual Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend, posting a fifth-place finish in the Collegiate Fours division.

Three feet short. A chance to remain in playoff contention came to just that—three feet. Down 10-6 in the seventh and final inning of the first game of a Bates doubleheader, the baseball team was facing loaded bases and two outs when catcher Reid Auger '10 came up to bat. And when the ball came off his bat, flying into left field, for just a moment it seemed the comeback was there, the game tied. But the moment passed just as the ball fell into the outfielder's mitt.

Despite having been eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the season, the softball team soldiered on through six more games this week. Four of the six games were decided by just one run, but the result was not pretty for the Polar Bears, who went 1-5 on the weekend.

Normally three wins for Trinity isn't good news for the Bowdoin Baseball Team. These, however, are not normal circumstances. With the Bears lying in third place in the NESCAC and needing to pass second place Tufts to make the playoffs, the Bantams sweep of the Jumbos is exactly what Bowdoin needed.

With Trinity secure in first place and Bates and Colby trailing behind, Head Coach Mike Connolly knew Bowdoin's three games against Tufts would be incredibly important before the pitch was even thrown. Unfortunately for the Polar Bears, the baseball team would go on to drop the series 2-1, significantly hurting its chances of making the playoffs.

After back-to-back losses to St. Joseph's, the last thing the Bowdoin Baseball Team wanted to do was extra running. However, upon returning to Bowdoin, the Bears headed straight to Farley Field House and proceeded to run two timed miles and 20 sprints before finally being set free to crash into their beds.

Seven innings pitched, five strikeouts, one earned run. On any other day, sophomore Carter Butland's performance surely would have guaranteed the baseball team a victory. But not this day, not against the now 15-0 Trinity Bantams. Despite Ben Higgins's '11 scoreless eighth, the Bantams would win 1-0, with the lone run coming off of a home run in the sixth inning.

The game was tied at four in the top of the seventh and last inning when Head Coach Mike Connolly pulled aside Jason Koperniak '09, Nick Tom '10, K.J. Kozens '08, and Adam Marquit '11. "This is what is going to happen. Jason, you're going to get a hit," Connolly said. "Nick Tom, you're going to go in for him and steal second. K.J., you're going to bunt him over to third. Adam, you're going to squeeze him home. I'm not going to give any signs, that's what's going to happen." Koperniak doubled. Kozens bunted Tom to third. Marquit squeeze-bunted him home and Bowdoin won 5-4 over Hope College.

With the wind howling across their faces, the Bowdoin Men's Soccer Team stood in anguish. After leading 1-0 at the half, the Bears' season had been taken from them, a championship game snatched from their grasp.

"I'd give up sleeping under covers for a year for the Sox to win it all," first year Bryan Rosata said while watching Game 4 of the World Series last Sunday night. Rosata would not be disappointed. Hours later, Jonathan Papelbon fired a 95 mile-per-hour fastball past the bat of pinch-hitter Seth Smith, and the Colorado Rockies went down with a whimper.