The Bowdoin Orient

It's hard to say what exactly Nathan Englander's short story "Everything I Know About My Family on My Mother's Side" is all about. It's got something to do with hard cider, a woman fondly dubbed "Bean," the Freedom of Information Act, and a Jewish-Ukranian butcher who—one can only infer—gets smote by vengeful Old Testament God when he falls into a vat of boiling hams.

"Hammer and Sickle"—one of nine stories compiled from the last 30 years of Don DeLillo's career in his first-ever anthology, "The Angel Esmeralda"—depicts two prepubescent girls who anchor a children's news program. Their local access broadcast purports to offer international investment advice, and the scripted dialogue alternates between sounding—as it should—inane and informed. Their father, a man behind bars, watches them on television and thinks to himself their lines must have been written by his wife. Although fewer and fewer prisoners return to watch subsequent airings of the program, the dialogue of the children's show is unforgettable: "The word is Dubai." "Say it." "Dubai."

Tonight's concert will be The Transports' third performance; the comedy punk group debuted their sound at the Art and Music Party at Quinby House in February and competed in last week's Battle of the Bands, where they placed second after the NARPs. The group is comprised of seniors Mikel McCavana and Nyle Usmani, Kendhall Davis '13, and Sam Seda '15.

Former Bowdoin Writer-in-Residence Margot Livesey's seventh and newest novel is an homage to Charlotte Brontë's 1847 classic, "Jane Eyre." Having never successfully finished any work by a Brontë sister, however, my experience reading Livesey's "The Flight of Gemma Hardy" felt highly akin to reading Harry Potter.

One of the most underrated episodes in the history of "The Simpsons" is a little ditty from the fourth season entitled "Duffless." Although it's one of the most disjointed of the show's entire run, the episode is both touching and poignant as it depicts a month-long struggle Homer undertakes in an attempt to overcome his alcoholism. It's also damn funny.

Peter Coviello, chair of the English department, will lead a discussion of Herman Melville's "Benito Cereno" Wednesday as part of the Bowdoin Book Lecture series.

Perennial groans regarding the inadequacies of the College's Internet connectivity may finally fall silent. The College has nearly completed the installation of the world's fastest wireless technology, a process which began in early December. Mitch Davis, Bowdoin's chief information officer, negotiated a deal with Cisco that brought the company's brand new, top-of-the-line wireless system to campus, placing Bowdoin among the first three organizations to receive a shipment of the company's new Aironet 3600 Series wireless access points.

In his latest work, "The Marriage Plot," Jeffrey Eugenides alternates between the points of view of three different characters and flashes back to different moments in their past ad nauseam. This facet of the 406-page "epic" might make the act of reading it easy for those of us who suffer from internet- and texting-induced A.D.D., but, ultimately, it betrays an utter lack of inventiveness.

When it first aired in 2009, "Parks and Recreation" suffered both poor reception and little acclaim in its first season; many critics failed to see how the show was any different from "The Office."

After an unexpected setback in plans and some last-minute scrambling, WBOR finalized its plans for the fall concert last Friday: Indie rock outfit Surfer Blood and alternative rapper Kreayshawn will perform tonight in Smith Union.

First years Emily Tucker and Matt Goodrich blazed into the WBOR scene this September with the debut of "Power Out Radio," an hour-long program on Sunday nights devoted to the best of contemporary alternative and classic rock.

Nasra Hassan '13 broke onto the WBOR scene this semester with a Bollywood music-themed radio show, "Porcelain Doll and Iron Steel." Hassan said she's watched her "fair share of Bollywood movies," and got the idea for the show after taking "Indian Cinema and Society" with Professor of Anthropology Sara Dickie last semester.

Associate Professor of English Ann Kibbie will present a lecture on Patricia Highsmith's "Strangers on a Train" next Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Main Lounge, Moulton Union as part of the Bowdoin Book Lecture Series. Highsmith (1921-1995) was an American novelist and short story writer who was perhaps best known for her psychological thrillers. Her works have garnered both commercial and critical acclaim.

Of the 20 graduating Bowdoin seniors and alumni who applied for the Fulbright Program this year, six have been granted a fellowship and one student has been listed as an alternate.

While most seniors aim to stay afloat next year, one student is ready to take a plunge. Max Goldstein '09 was one of 40 graduating college seniors nationwide named to receive a Watson Fellowship for 2009-2010. Announced March 15, the grant provides graduating college seniors the opportunity and means to pursue an independent project of their design outside of the U.S. for the 12 months beginning on August 1 of this year.

In the midst of an economic crisis that has stocks sinking into the red, Bowdoin is continuing its pledge to go green. In a recent e-mail sent to all members of the Bowdoin community, President Barry Mills stated that the College will continue to strive toward its pledge to become carbon neutral as outlined by the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), a nation-wide pledge signed by Mills in the spring of 2007.

Chris Hill '74, the lead negotiator with North Korea under the Bush administration, is expected to be named the next U.S. Ambassador to Iraq by President Obama, ABC News first reported on Monday.

Brunswick Downtown Association and Bowdoin College, with support from the Nathaniel Davis Fund and the Association of Bowdoin Friends, will host "Longfellow Days 2009" from February 1 - 26 in celebration of Bowdoin graduate Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Meddiebempsters young and old will reunite during Homecoming for a celebration of the group's 70th anniversary. Members from various generations of Bowdoin's oldest a capella group will perform in a concert on Saturday night. The performance will feature between 50 and 60 former members of the Meddies who are now alumni of Bowdoin. Current and former members have several events on their reunion agenda throughout the weekend, including rehearsals for Saturday's show.

"Parterre," an exhibit by artist Lauren Fensterstock that raises the question of how man fits in with?and attempts to control?nature, opens today at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. The museum invited Fensterstock to browse through its archived works last summer in hopes that she would respond creatively to them. When Fensterstock came to the museum in August 2007, she knew that she was most interested in works of art depicting nature but wanted to be open to what she found.

The Dudley Coe Health Center has filled one of the two vacant positions created by recent staff departures. Sonya Justus has been hired this fall by the Dudley Coe Health Center to replace Karen Marlin as a physician's assistant.