The Bowdoin Orient

A Bowdoin Outing Club (BOC) trip returned to campus Wednesday night after spending an extra night in the Allagash woods. The group, led by Karl Koehler ’14 and Stephen Ligtenberg ’15, had been unable to return its car in time. The group had no ability to contact the College or officials at the BOC who were left wondering why the students had failed to return their car in time.

Visiting Assistant Professor Leslie Shaw, who taught anthropology at the College since 1998, died unexpectedly on the evening of August 29 following complications from surgery. She was 57 years old.Shaw will be remembered for her tremendous spirit, influential work, and role as a mentor, colleague, and friend.

“Leslie quietly set a high bar for service, excellence and collegiality, qualities that we each hope to achieve with some measure of grace but which she embraced with seeming ease,” Christle Collins Judd, dean for academic affairs, wrote in an email to the Orient.

Shaw demonstrated a clear passion for her work that was evident to students and colleagues alike. Professor Susan Kaplan, chair of the sociology and anthropology departments, said Shaw brought quiet, but palpable energy to the departments.“She’d come into a room and she’d be a powerful presence,” Kaplan said. “Very quietly, not grandstanding.”

According to a recent Orient survey, the average starting salary for graduating seniors who have found employment was $42,339. This figure is slightly above the national average for recent graduates of $41,701, as reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. College graduates' difficulties finding employment were highlighted by an Associated Press report last week that said that about 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 were jobless or underemployed last year. The survey was emailed to all seniors, 214 of whom replied. Of those, 84 percent are currently seeking or have successfully found paid post-graduate employment; the other 16 percent are pursuing other opportunities, such as graduate school. Of those entering the labor market, 57 percent have found employment, while 43 percent are still looking.

Paula Volent, senior vice president for investments, was Bowdoin's highest paid employee in the 2009 calendar year with total compensation of $772,873, according to federal tax documents. The 2010 Form 990, a tax document filed by all nonprofit organizations, places Volent's total compensation above all other chief investment officers in the NESCAC. Collette Chilton, the chief investment officer at Williams College, was the second-highest paid, receiving $600,410 in total compensation in 2009. Volent was paid a base salary of $416,600, bonus and incentive compensation of $300,000, retirement and other deferred compensation of $35,034, and other reportable compensation of $2,883. Since 2002 she has been the College's highest compensated employee.

In a break from tradition, all incoming first years will spend their first night at the College together in Farley Field House. In an email sent to the student body on Wednesday, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster announced that Pre-Orientation trips will be mandatory for the Class of 2016. The decision is part of an experimental change to the Bowdoin first year Orientation process. In past years, approximately a quarter of students did not participate in a Pre-O trip. "Our goal with this initiative is to create a common introduction for all entering students, rather than having participants and non-participants," wrote Foster in an email to the Orient.

Two Brunswick businesses faced diverging fates last Saturday; while the sports bar Benchwarmers closed its doors indefinitely, Frosty's Donuts reopened under new ownership.

After many years of false starts, OneCards will be accepted as payment at select businesses in downtown Brunswick. Domino's Pizza, Aki Sushi, and Big Top Deli are currently set up to accept student identification cards as payment, with more businesses soon to join.

Entering the final year of his term, President Barack Obama appointed Karen Mills, wife of President Barry Mills, to his cabinet.

In as little as two weeks, Bowdoin and the Town of Brunswick may reach an agreement on the proposed exchange of the McLellan Building for the now-vacant Longfellow School property.

After a successful season in which the men's double team of Stephen Sullivan '11 and Oscar Pena '12 won the D-III title, the men's tennis team is bringing into its ranks a new coach. The athletic department hired Conor Smith this summer following the departure of Colin Joyner '03, who left Bowdoin to pursue an MBA. Joyner left behind a six-season legacy consisting of 73 victories and the team's first NESCAC championship, which it won in 2008.