The Bowdoin Orient

The Judicial Board's (J-Board) search to fill five open positions concluded recently, as the J-Board released its final selections for the 2011-2012 J-Board to the College on Wednesday. The five successful applicants were notified of their acceptance on February 23.

Edwin M. Lee '74 was sworn in as the 43rd mayor of San Francisco on January 11, filling the position vacated by the new Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors elected Lee, previously the city administrator, as the new mayor. Lee's ascension in San Francisco has gained national significance as he will become the city's first Asian-American mayor.

For the first time since 2003, WBOR will not be bringing a spring concert to campus. The Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) pulled funding for the concert last week after a change in the act, which was not reported to the SAFC.

In search of community service and learning, almost 100 Bowdoin students spent their Spring Break across the United States and in Guatemala participating in this year's Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program. The diverse trips ranged from working with migrant workers in Florida to volunteering in schools in New Jersey.

Jamie Nadeau '10 has become the first Bowdoin student to receive the prestigious Princeton in Africa Fellowship. This was the first year the fellowship was offered to non-Princeton students. With the fellowship, Nadeau plans to travel to Zambia in July to work for 11 months with the Kucetekela Foundation, which provides scholarships to Zambian children so they can attend elite secondary schools. Nadeau will be working in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Nadeau studied abroad at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa during his junior year, but decided he wanted to return to Africa after being unsatisfied with the community service opportunities presented to him in Cape Town.

The Office of Residential Life sent notification letters to students who applied to join the staff on Thursday. The Office received 110 applications for the 71 available spots, half of which were from this year's staff members.

Come Sunday, students will begin tackling taboo topics of conversation during the first installment of the Undiscussed. The Undiscussed began in 2008 as an independent study project by Alyssa Chen '08. Each year it centers on a specific theme, this year's being "choice."

As the semester draws to a close and finals approach, many students will try to balance holiday parties and end-of-the-semester celebrations with their academic work this weekend. The Bowdoin administration wants to ensure that students have a safe and healthy end of the semester without any major incidents. So far this semester, there have been 14 alcohol- or drug-related hospital transportations, up from last year's eight transportations at end of the semester. The number of transportations is evenly split between seven females and seven males. It was evenly split last year as well.

After leaving her registered bike unlocked over Thanksgiving break, Chelee Ross '12 returned to campus to find her bike missing from her Howell House residence. This is a familiar tale for many students, but Ross was determined to get her bike back and took an uncommon approach to do so.

Not many schools have an academic calendar like the one Bowdoin has. The school allocates a long four weeks for Winter Break and two weeks for Spring Break, but only a mere five days off for Thanksgiving, including the weekend. While the calendar may seem odd to some students, the administration has the layout of the academic calendar down to a science.

Student blogs featuring both students' academic and leisure interests, have taken campus Web browsers by storm. Many visual arts professors now ask their students to create blogs to showcase class assignments. There are also those who are delving into the blog world by choice to introduce others to what they are passionate about—everything from music to fashion to photography.

Seniors are applying in record numbers this year for several fellowship and research opportunities. While only some of the deadlines for certain fellowships have passed, the Office of Student Fellowships and Research has already seen a substantial increase in applications compared to last year.

In the past few weeks, seniors have been seen around campus dressed in their best suits and business attire, a far cry from the usual Bowdoin uniform of T-shirts and sweatpants; the recruiting season has begun for many seniors interested in business and financial careers. However, the well-dressed seniors represent only a fraction of the graduating class, as the interview season for those interested in the humanities or arts is much later in the year.

It was a college student's dream come true last weekend when Papa John's showed up outside several College House parties to give out free pizza slices to hoards of hungry students. Students rushed for the individually boxed slices. Best of all, there was no catch. The students grabbed a few slices and went on their merry way. General Manager of the Brunswick branch of Papa John's Denise Whitmore said that this is all part of the store's new promotion targeting Bowdoin College students.