The Bowdoin Orient

When I look back on the four years I spent as a student at Bowdoin, I will remember them fondly. I arrived here as a seventeen-year-old student who had not been to school in America since fourth grade.

During the past two weeks the College has apparently taken it upon itself to remind graduating seniors that in about a month we will no longer be students at Bowdoin College. From the letters in our mailboxes asking us how to pronounce our names at graduation to the emails asking us to request our cap and gowns and the bittersweet reminders that in a few months we won't have access to the soon-to-be-defunct Bearings, Bowdoin seems intent on waking us up from the dream that we'll always be college students. On behalf of the Class of 2012, we get it.

From the outset of this campaign season, Republican presidential hopefuls have sought to capture support from the disgruntled Republican base. Mitt Romney appears to have adopted the strategy of hiding his true values and opinions in an effort to appease the GOP base, but his time would be better spent making the case for a new direction for the Republican Party.

Four years ago I wrote an essay about finding home.

Two weeks ago, faculty gathered to discuss a proposal recommending a weeklong Thanksgiving break. The new schedule would add two days to the current three-day break in Bowdoin's academic calendar. The proposal calls for the extra class days to be made up by shortening fall break to a single day and by having the first Friday of the semester follow a Monday schedule.

The idea of campaigning for a job with a goal of diminishing its importance has always confused me, but that's exactly what Republican hopeful Rick Perry has pledged to do.

The printing policy enacted at the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year needs to be reevaluated. At the time, the arguments in favor of a new pay-as-you-go printing policy made sense. Paper has a cost and the College's efforts to make students aware of that cost is understandable.

The men's lacrosse team will play at Williams this Saturday for a spot in this season's NESCAC championship tournament and a chance to take home a NESCAC title.

The last few weeks have been filled with papers, midterms, occasional sunny days providing hope for the coming of spring and the anticipation of everyone's favorite week of the year, Ivies. Amid piles of homework, busy extracurricular schedules and time consuming social obligations, what was once one of my favorite days of the year—next to my birthday and Christmas—snuck up on me. This Sunday is Easter. Five years ago, the idea that I would be unaware of when Easter Sunday was less than a week out was unfathomable.

The men's lacrosse team will look to avenge last year's NESCAC semifinal loss to Middlebury when the Panthers come to Brunswick this Saturday.

Spring has arrived. After months of wondering when—and if—the snow would melt, we now can take comfort in the small pleasures derived from walking across campus without worrying about wet socks or falling on an ice patch. At Bowdoin, spring semester always has been somewhat of a misnomer, but when the snow does finally melt to reveal the brown grass and the pathways we forgot existed, the months of trudging over snow mounds and navigating through icy pathways suddenly seem worth it.

This Monday, a nationwide initiative known as "Meatless Monday" finally made an appearance at our beloved dining halls. The concept—a dinner without any meat to get students talking about the environmental impact of eating meat—actually worked. While initially appalled by the idea that I would have to go someplace else to enjoy a dinner that included a main course, I thought back to my experience in Italy, where eating meat twice a day was an idea so foreign to my Italian roommates that they sat with mouths agape as I explained American dietary tendencies. I decided to go to "Meatless Monday" with an open mind and a hungry stomach.

Sitting out on my veranda overlooking the pool and the blue Caribbean Sea while taking in the warmth of another cloudless, sunny day in Barbados, a strange thought entered my head: "I can't wait to go back."

Just like the spring weather, men's lacrosse is starting to get hot, as four straight victories have vaulted the Polar Bears back into contention for a top-three seed in this year's NESCAC tournament.

Last week something happened that reminds us all how dependent we are on the uncontrollable. We don't generally appreciate things that disrupt our plans.

After an up-and-down start to the season, the men's lacrosse team will face perhaps its toughest test yet, taking on undefeated Connecticut College this Saturday at Bowdoin.

Now that our politicians have finally taken care of that little thing called health care reform, perhaps it's time they try to solve a different problem. The issue I'm referring to is none other than the money-driven, archaic and, quite frankly, boring way college football decides its national champion.

Facing Bates in a thunderous Alumni Gymnasium, the men's basketball team saw its season come to an abrupt end, losing the NESCAC quarterfinal matchup by a final score of 80-64.

College is a place for a lot of things. A place to make friends, a place to expand our horizons, a place to try things you never had the opportunity to try before, and, yes, a place to drink. While it's probably not what our parents are paying thousands of dollars for, drinking has been part of, either directly or indirectly, virtually every college student's experience for as long as alcohol and education have existed simultaneously—in other words, a very long time.

In a season that began with so much promise, the men's basketball team is finally limping closer to the finish line.

Health care reform is one of our nation's most controversial issues. My question is, quite simply, why? In the second major attempt to pass a bill to reform our nation's health care system, we find ourselves, once again, unwilling or unable to do so.

The new year has not been kind to the men's basketball team. The Polar Bears have dropped four of their last five January games, including two of their first three NESCAC matchups.

History is rife with tales of fraud and corruption, of cheating and controversy. We've learned to accept that it's a "dog-eat-dog" world and nothing is truly as it seems. People are, by nature, fallible, and this fallibility drives us to dishonesty. So when we hear about the governor of South Carolina cheating on his wife, we may get to chuckle at his expense, but we won't be surprised.

The issue of gender-neutral housing, once a chief concern for our Bowdoin Student Government leaders, has manifested itself in a grassroots movement for change. Seeking to bypass the internal debate and bureaucratic hold ups of attempting a top-down reformation of our housing system, a group of frustrated students has decided to take matters into their own hands.

In the football team's final game of the season, the Polar Bears (2-5) will take on traditional rival Colby College (4-3). After being defeated by Bates for the first time since 2003, Bowdoin will look to finish the season on a high note by claiming a share of the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) title.

"Spring forward, fall back." We all know the drill. Every second Sunday of March an hour mysteriously vanishes from existence only to be returned five months later on the first Sunday of November. Daylight saving time is a cultural phenomenon that claims to be rooted in practical efforts to save energy during the summer months, but let's be honest: we just like enjoying nice, long summer days.

"We have some breaking news, there is a boy in what looks like a homemade hot-air balloon floating ten thousand feet above the ground in Northern Colorado!" In the latest example of a society gone haywire, we have Richard Heene and his family's bizarre attempt to captivate our nation's attention and our media's equally bizarre willingness to oblige.

Coming off an impressive all-around performance against the Hamilton Continentals during homecoming weekend, the football team travels to the unfriendly confines of Trinity College to face an undefeated Bantam team on Saturday. The Polar Bears are hoping to do what no football team has done in seven years—win at Trinity College. "Trinity is a huge game," senior captain Matt Leotti said. "We've got to go out and have a great week of practice, and just bring it on game day."

Michael Vick is back playing quarterback in the NFL. After a two-year hiatus (if you can call a prison term a hiatus), Michael Vick proves that we are a nation of forgiveness and a nation of second chances. Michael Vick committed a crime and paid the price. But his actions are, at least in part, a result of societal shortcomings born out of our nation's obsession with a sport so ruthless that its participants can become, quite literally, monsters.

In what could be the season's defining game, the football team (1-2) looks to bounce back from a two-game slide when the team returns home to face Hamilton College this Saturday at 12 p.m.

Sometimes I still don't believe it ever really happened. It was a day that started off as innocently as any other; a beautiful, cloudless morning decorated with the graceful songs of the morning birds and a bright, warm sunshine that could bring a smile to even the greatest cynic's face. I was busy daydreaming and gazing longingly out the window hoping my teacher would allow her class to enjoy a quick game of kick ball when my thoughts were interrupted by the sudden, strangely-timed announcement on the PA system.

Heading into last Saturday's game at NESCAC-leading Tufts, the Polar Bears knew they needed to win if they hoped to prolong their up-and-down season. Behind early goals from first year Elizabeth Clegg and senior Lindsay McNamara, Bowdoin looked like a team that would not be denied as they jumped out to a 3-0 advantage. Tufts' Chrissie Attura scored a goal to cut the lead to 3-1 but Clegg quickly answered for the Polar Bears with a goal of her own assisted by McNamara.

Last Wednesday, April 29, marked 100 days since that historic day when a man born to a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya became the 44th President of the United States of America. In that time, we have seen our new president implement an ambitious (and expensive) economic plan to prevent Americans from feeling the brunt of a serious economic downturn while setting up the infrastructure America will need to continue leading in the increasingly competitive 21st century.

'Going green' has become one of the most popular catch phrases of 21st-century jargon, but what does it really mean? Magazines and newspapers around the country are filled with tons of "easy tips" on how to reduce your carbon footprint and live a more environmentally friendly life. Companies and organizations like Starbucks, Patagonia, Ikea, Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, UPS, and MTV (not to mention our very own Bowdoin College) have already taken steps towards more environmentally friendly practices and have learned that it can save them quite a lot of money. Said the executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, David Yarnold, "going green" "can create competitive advantage" and "strengthen the bottom line."

Thursday's game at Wellesley saw an all-too-familiar final score for the women's lacrosse team as it lost yet another game by a single goal—its fourth such game this season. The team has now lost three consecutive games to fall to 6-6 on the season (1-5 NESCAC). The game was a back-and-forth affair from the beginning as the teams exchanged leads four times in the first half.

With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and escalating violence in the Middle East, it can be easy to forget about a war that is fought without missiles and tanks (so far at least). Yet the ongoing Mexican drug war is neither less serious in nature nor less relevant to Americans' lives than other conflicts around the world.

Spring is back, and so is women's lacrosse. Like the recent Maine weather, the beginning of the lacrosse season has been an up-and-down ride for the Polar Bears, who came into this week's game against Wheaton College with a record of 3-3. Over Spring Break, the team was victorious against Drew, Ohio Wesleyan, and Endicott and suffered one-goal losses to Wesleyan, Trinity, and most recently, Amherst.

When Courtney Martin '09 arrived at Bowdoin four years ago she never expected to be talking about her endeavors on the slopes. She was, at least at the time, a cross-country runner. Former Bowdoin Nordic skiing coach, Marty Hall, had other ideas. Martin, a native of Hermon, Maine, had skied competitively her senior year of high school, but "just to keep in shape for track season."

Score over 1,000 points for the Bowdoin men's basketball team? Check. It may not be on every senior's to-do list, but Kyle Jackson '09 did it anyway, becoming just the 19th player in Bowdoin history to accomplish the feat. "It's an accomplishment that I'm very proud of now and will probably be even more proud of down the road," said the soft-spoken senior tri-captain. Basketball has always played an important part in Jackson's life.

President Barack Obama promised us change. More specifically, he promised us the end of "business as usual" in Washington. After years of behind-closed-doors dealings and shrewd White House cover-ups, he told us we should expect our government to be transparent and accountable. He hoped to change the partisan culture of politics in Washington so that our government could operate more efficiently and more effectively for the American people.

Kelsey Borner '09 has been a pillar of the women's track and field team from the first day she arrived on campus. As captain of both Bowdoin's indoor and outdoor track teams, Borner has helped create a winning and supportive atmosphere for the Bowdoin squad, looking to build on its recent first place finish over MIT and Colby.

The era of change is upon us—or so President Obama and his new administration would like to think. Yet as Obama's administration embarks on its mission to bring real change to the world, some lingering problems stand in the way. One such problem is the centuries-old conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. On Thursday, President Obama and newly appointed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that George Mitchell '54 would serve as the administration's special envoy to the Middle East. What exactly does this appointment mean for America's approach to one of the world's hottest hotspots? To answer that question let's examine why Clinton and Obama chose the former Bowdoin grad for this hefty assignment.