The Bowdoin Orient

As pundits argue over the impact of youth voters in the 2004 election, one thing is clear: Bowdoin students of all political persuasions voted in force on Election Day.

Bowdoin College was recently recognized for its students' success in competing for 2004-2005 Fulbright grants. The school was acclaimed in the Chronicle of Higher Education for being one of the colleges that has received the most grants for the 2004-2005 year, with four of its student applicants receiving Fulbright awards.

It may have been cold and rainy outside, but temperatures in many rooms across campus were rising as Tuesday night wore on.

Today many are struggling to accept a wider world that does not, on the surface, share this calling: on campus, individuals' values are subordinated to a growing social awareness, while in society as a whole these same values are becoming increasingly elevated to the realm of political and social policy.

Even though the results are just a few days old, it's already hard to keep track of the lessons from, and implications of, Tuesday's election. Here are some early thoughts, in no particular order.

Like most liberals across the country, I'm still in a state of residual disbelief. Those people who gave their time to try and unseat George W. Bush will no doubt be licking their wounds and dwelling on what might have been for some time. And that's important; the wounds from this election will take long to heal.

Voter intimidation was a hot topic heading up to this year's election. Accusations were flying. Emergency backup lawyers were called up from the minor leagues. The fear was that people would arrive ready to vote but wind up fleeing in a frenzied panic.

Therapists like to say that there are five stages of loss: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I think most people who hoped to see John Kerry as President-elect on November 2 have experienced all of these emotions in the past few days.

In a previous work of remarkable genius, I alluded to some of the hidden treasures that Brunswick has to offer. For this week's edition of David's wisdom, I will delve more in depth into some of these locations, with the hope that you all will find as much joy in them as I have.

This year, as usual, the Republican Party returned to its old battle cries. One, in particular, always gets me: there is nothing more damning for a politician to fall into than the "tax-and-spend" big-government liberal category. It's an enormous political anchor that need not be accompanied by actual facts; public perception will suffice.

As I looked around the Bowdoin community yesterday, I saw, understandably, the long faces of those who worked so hard for a Kerry victory. This week held many surprises for our country, but it's important not to abandon hope.

The last few days around campus I have heard some of the most bigoted and hateful remarks that I have heard in my four years here. Some of the things that have come out of the mouths of professors and students have been appalling. What the liberal population of Bowdoin and large parts of the Northeast need to remember is that there are people who disagree with them.

Some watched it in Macmillan. Others tuned in at Morrell Lounge. But Ken Akiha '08 watched most of Tuesday's election returns in the "CNN room." "It was a little ridiculous," said the California native of the curious T.V. setup in Hyde, his first-year dorm. Fellow first years thought it would be fun to see what news network called the state results first.

It's true that I am a member of the Bowdoin Democrats. It's also true that I was the team captain of a group of 21 students sent down to help Kerry Headquarters in Lewiston, Maine. But politics aside, I went to Lewiston to help get out the vote.

You probably hear it before you see it. The noise gets just loud enough so that you're able to dodge out of the way before you're run over. The ominous rumbling you heard, however, was just the combination of wheels on pavement and poorly-oiled trucks.

I spent two hours on patrol with Officer Roma of the Brunswick Police Department last Sunday afternoon?so I guess you could say I was a police officer for Halloween. As long as you are willing to sign a waiver, saying, among other things, that you will "dress appropriately," anyone, any day, can go on patrol with a Brunswick police officer as part of their "Ride-a-Long" public relations program.

One of the greatest clichés in nature writing is the individual who has discovered spirituality at the top of a mountain peak. He (or she, let's be fair here) stands above an endless bank of billowy clouds, has struggled beyond sweat, blood, tears?all those damn corporal ties that bind us to the earth?and has passed, finally, into the magical realm of the sublime.

Maine Recycles Week runs from November 8-15 this year. Sustainable Bowdoin is gearing up for this event and hoping that we will utilize all those well-marked recycling bins located around campus.

Dear Dr. Jeff: My ex-girlfriend told me she was diagnosed with genital warts, and that she needed to be treated to prevent cancer. She was a virgin when we met, which means she must have gotten them from me. I've never had an STD as far as I know, and I'm feeling bad, and pretty worried, about all of this. C. L.

In early July of this year, Democrats and Republicans were viciously at odds over one very hot, very divisive topic. It was on all the newscasts and the networks' verbal wrestling match shows. Chris Matthews bellowed and Bill O'Reilly spewed. It could have been gay marriage or abortion or job outsourcing?but it wasn't. It was a movie.

To be honest, there's not much to distinguish The Humble Gourmet, a small café and catering establishment on Pleasant Street, from any other sandwich joint in Brunswick. Like Wild Oats and Big Top Deli, which seem to have the Bowdoin market cornered, Humble offers freshly made, vegetarian-friendly sandwiches, soups, and pastries. The staff is spunky (but humble!), the décor eclectic, and the walls are pasted with community announcements.

I've noticed that wine drinking has become a hot topic of late. All of a sudden, all over the place, the media is full of wine drinkers. Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, in fact, far from it. But what is causing this huge interest in something so ancient? I don't know, but I'm giving you a heads up about some of the wine-related stuff out for consumption (pun intended).

Detective movies are fairly common, but existential detective movies? Those are harder to come by. Nevertheless, director David Russell brings us just such a movie in the form of I Heart Huckabees, out this week at Regal Cinemas in Brunswick.

At a nursing home in East Texas, Elvis (played by Bruce Campbell of the Evil Dead films) and JFK (who is, oddly enough, black) are alive and...well, they are in a nursing home. But the sudden appearance of a murderous Egyptian mummy at the facility forces these cultural icons to rally their strength to defeat evil. Strange, yes. B-movie bliss, also yes.

What song, artist, or album changed your life? KJ: Joni Mitchell's Blue; the song "California" really touches me... I mean, I read Vogue. ST: Elliott Smith's XO, because it was the first record I bought that was made after 1979.

The night of triumph, elation and dozens of random man hugs in the streets of Boston started with a simple question. "Dude, we're going to Boston. We're leaving at five, you in?" senior Chris Mosher (the man I now refer to as my guardian angel) asked me this question at four o'clock last Wednesday.

Under overcast skies, the Bowdoin women's cross-country team returned to Colby, the site of its first meet of the season, to compete against Colby and the ten other NESCAC teams in the conference championships. The women faced a very competitive field as well as a challenging course and finished eighth overall. Middlebury and Williams tied for first, followed by Amherst, Colby, Wesleyan, Tufts, Trinity.

After a thrilling 1-0 victory over Amherst in the first round of the NESCAC tournament, the Bowdoin men's soccer team moves on to the final four this weekend at Williams, where it will face Middlebury on Saturday. If the team loses another game this fall, it will be the end of the season for some Polar Bears and the end of careers for others. With the amount of talent on this year's team, however, the Polar Bears are confident that they can outlast Middlebury, Williams and Wesleyan, the other three NESCAC teams still alive.

I always liked the Impossible Dream image of 1967 better than the Curse image that permeated later Red Sox seasons. Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Lonborg, and Tony Conigliaro were the heroic dragon slayers of the Impossible Dream era. The quest is over now, but we should not forget Tony Conigliaro's beautiful but abbreviated contributions to the cause. Conigliaro was hit in the eye by a pitch at Fenway Park in a game against the Angels on August 18, 1967.