The Bowdoin Orient

Bowdoin Student Government saw four tight races in its Fall election, which ended Wednesday. The newly-elected senior class president, junior class president, first-year class president, and sophomore class treasurer, won by less than ten votes.

Two Bowdoin students were ejected from President Bush's campaign appearance in Bangor yesterday on suspicion that they planned to protest inside the event. Another Bowdoin student, who worked at the event, was involved in the removal.

Although Bowdoin students may enjoy their Friday and Saturday night festivities, local neighbors do not share the same level of excitement. On Monday, members of the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities met to discuss community relations, especially regarding weekends and noise levels.

The heads of Bowdoin's largest political organizations collided this week on one of Maine's leading television networks, engaging in a debate that will no doubt be a precursor to this year's heated political season.

Despite rain and cold, 430 Bowdoin students, faculty, community members and alumni took on 53 different projects for the sixth annual Common Good Day on Saturday.

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be showing up at Morrell Gymnasium next month?not to shoot hoops, but to discuss his new history book.

College Democrats are preparing for their first-ever state college convention to be held at Bowdoin next Friday and Saturday.

Both sides argue that the November election is the most important in years, if not in America?s history. But the debate on campus does not reflect this; in fact, it suggests precisely the opposite: that the issues at stake are worth squandering for the sake of personal gratification, ?gotcha? attacks, and silly diversions.

In any relationship between authority and the masses, between institutions and individuals, it is highly likely that the interaction will develop some antagonistic characteristics. Above all, the elements of any institution dedicated to the protection and moderation of its members will undoubtedly cause friction with those who they are intended to protect. Take, for example, Bowdoin Security.

While semi-dozing in class the other day, I came to the realization that, despite Bowdoin's relatively diverse group of personalities, there are certain groups of people that appear in virtually every class. To help you all differentiate between these groups, I have come up with a list of those who appear most regularly.

The other night at dinner I found myself sitting down to eat without a fork. Or cereal. The first is noteworthy because I had prepared a salad; the second because the only utensil I had grabbed from the abundant silverware holders of our very own Thorne dining hall was a cereal spoon. In fact, the latter is doubly noteworthy because you can't accidentally acquire a cereal spoon in Thorne

In one of its first actions of the new school year, the College Democrats put up signs that said, "Bush out of Control? Weedwhacking with the College Democrats." I found this ad thought-provoking: what kind of maniac would use a weedwhacker to trim a bush? Hedge shears would do the trick, but a weedwhacker would not only be ill-suited for the job, but also extremely dangerous.

. Kerry's repeated assertion that the promotion of democracy throughout the Middle East will not be a major concern is one of the gravest flaws in his proposed foreign policy. The Bush administration, on the other hand, has made it a cornerstone of their Middle East policy and has acknowledged that until there is major structural political and economic reform in the Arab/Islamic world, terrorism cannot be defeated.

The author of "Student uneasy about joining College Dems" in the September 17 issue has the prerogative to feel anyway he chooses toward any student group on campus. However, it is not necessarily legitimate to feel uneasy about a group that one has not even visited with. I could say that I dislike the state of Florida because I feel that there is too much political corruption, the weather is always gross, and Mickey Mouse is the devil; however, if I then say that I have never been to Florida, I doubt anyone would take my opinion seriously.

Although I cannot directly respond to both attacks against the College Republicans in last week's Orient, I will provide my commentary on last week's letter by Charlie Ticotsky '07 entitled "GOP Needs to Clean it Up."

I was disappointed to read Ben Peisch's misleading piece in last week's Orient. In the years I have been an officer for the Bowdoin Democrats, I have heard many criticisms but have never heard us called "infamous." Peisch's article is itself partisan "mudslinging" that does nothing to advance debate.

Many of the town residents that live around our campus have reported that this semester has been one of the loudest and most disruptive in recent times. The Brunswick Police indicate that over 15 infractions have been issued to Bowdoin students in the area of Longfellow Avenue alone.

Twelve Bowdoin students signed on with architect Alan Holt last Saturday to facilitate a day of collaborative planning and design for the civic center in the town of Ogunquit. Open to year-round community members, the event drew an outspoken crowd of 60 citizens whose dispositions ranged from enthused to enraged.

Dear Dr. Jeff: What's the difference between alcohol poisoning and just being real drunk? R.S.

I'm in a UFO, peering out a porthole window at a two-headed alligator, a giant lobster attacking a trap and a jail cell. I should be dreaming, but this scene is 79-year-old Philip Day's reality: It is his backyard of crazy constructions, a West Bath quasi-theme park that he has deemed the Loony Lagoon.

Dear Dr. Jeff: "How does Emergency Contraception work? Is it basically medical abortion?" J.K.

The wonder that little things can hold is amazing: there's soft, green moss on an old tree stump, frog eyes peeking out of a pool of water, a web of roots in the ground, and small orange, black and white fungus. The more you look, the more you can see?and the awareness of all these details is illuminating.

One fine day a few years back, director Kerry Conran had a vision, and most everything in it was fake. Fake sets, fake monsters, fake airplanes?real weird. So he got his crew together, busted out the blue screen, filmed for a measly 26 days and let the computer do the dirty work. And out came Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

SC: The characters in the play are all based on various people I've met in my life, but also are very rooted in who I am as a person. I was interested in exploring what happens to people who, in some ways, have their horizons limited by various problems, both personal and social. For this reason, the characters speak poetically, in a heightened language we do not associate with these types of people. To borrow a line from Charles Mee, I've written characters that "sound right to me."

A series of tribute concerts will take place at Pickard Theater this weekend in celebration of the life of the late Tony Montanaro, Maine's own internationally-renowned mime artist, film director, and theater teacher. The performances will feature the work of Montanaro's former students and will include 11 acts ranging from interpretive dance to poetry to comedic skits. Shows are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. plus a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee.

The movie develops their relationship with humor and sentiment, beginning with their fish-and-chips date that quickly evolves into a tumble in bed because as Dunst says, "A little fooling around can be good for your game" and ending with a full-fledged romance with the necessary elements of star-gazing, climbing into bedroom windows, and incredible lip-locks.

After the Daily Red debacle, I was unwilling to try another organic wine, but I didn't want to discount the whole group because of one bad bottle, so I tried again. It was the color of the squishy stuff in a lava lamp. This set off alarm bells in my head, because that's not what a wine should look like.

John Cusack, clay-mation hamburgers, and numerous failed suicide attempts. All the traditional features of cinematic greatness are represented in this 80s staple.

Jason Spooner may be a Colby grad but don't hold it against him. His band will return to Jack Magee's Pub next Thursday to regale students with another unique performance.

It's a common sight in professional sports today. After a routine play, a player will begin to celebrate wildly. In baseball, home run celebrations are commonplace. Many players have signature moves, such as the Bret Boone bat flip, the Sammy Sosa hop, or the now-defunct Barry Bonds spin. Soccer players take off their shirts, run around, and do all sorts of crazy things.

A hidden jewel lies in the backwoods of Brunswick, a place that pulls you into the outdoors, offers decent exercise, and can even provide some friendly competition. The place is Enman Field, home of two of the best disc golf courses not only in Maine, but also in the entire country.

I woke up Sunday morning on a couch that was about as far away from my room as can be, and it wasn't pretty. My head was killing me, my clothes smelled like a dirty bar rag, and I had a feeling I'd be riding the pain train all day long. After sitting up and collecting my bearings, however, something occurred to me: the day had finally arrived.