The Bowdoin Orient

The U.S. Senate is considering a new version of the Higher Education Act with potentially broad implications for the Bowdoin community. This new version calls for widespread changes to the previous version of the act, including fixing interest rates on federal student loans while at the same time increasing the maximum size of Pell Grants, the primary form of federal education grants.

Faculty are working to create new courses to fit into Bowdoin's recently updated distribution requirements. While many existing courses will be kept, some current courses will disappear to make room for new ones.

In the first of three annual Board of Trustees meetings, the board approved a $2.7 million increase to the 2005-2006 budget to compensate for unforeseen expenses.

ABC News Correspondent Cynthia McFadden '78 has been promoted to co-anchor of the ABC News broadcast "Nightline."

Midway through Sustainable Bowdoin's conservation competition that has dorms compete to decrease energy usage, Maine and Coleman halls have significantly increased their electricity consumption.

The war in Iraq will feel much closer to home come December.

I'm not a member of the Bowdoin Film Society, so it might seem presumptuous of me to opine on how it should conduct its affairs. But I don't believe it's unreasonable for me to suggest that a film society should concern itself purely with film. If it were my decision, the film society would focus on the "classics," particularly those that are not standard fare on American television and in American theaters?here I'm thinking of Fellini, Bergman, Kurosawa, and the like.

Every 1 hour and 37 minutes, a crime of domestic violence is reported to police in Maine. Domestic violence does not discriminate. While students may consider domestic violence to be an issue of older adults, you may be surprised to know that women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence. At some point in their lives, approximately one third of women report physical or sexual abuse by a husband or partner.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a 19 million acre landmass in northern Alaska. The Coastal Plain is a 1.5 million acre area on the northern portion of ANWR where there is an enormous amount of oil. There is more petroleum in ANWR than in any other known land oil field in North America. Why, then, do we not extract the oil from ANWR in order to lessen our dependence on Middle Eastern oil?

America is a society that values liberty over equality. We separated from England largely because of our desire to live autonomous lives without the burden of a powerful, authoritarian regime on our shoulders. The Declaration of Independence explicitly mentions our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Equality, remarkably, is absent. Our notion of liberty extends to economic matters as well. We do not live in the world envisioned by Marx and Engels with the state's hand constantly meddling with our business decisions.

I think it is important for Orient readers to know that Congressman Mike Michaud's labor discussion, mentioned in last week's article "Dems draw crowd with Franken," was a co-sponsored event between the College Democrats and Bowdoin Democratic Socialists.

There is something inherently unfortunate about end-of-the-semester evaluations: they are at the end of the semester. Students will soon be off to other corners of campus, taking different courses with different professors.

We've all done it. Boy, girl, firstyear, senior, every single one of us has, at some point in our lives, stalked an object of our affection. I use the word "stalk" in this article to describe all the things we do as a result of our innate and uncontrollable desire to be near someone we really, really like. Whether it is in the library or at a meal, online, or in the union, we have all stalled or dawdled, double-clicked or feigned interest in the latest piece of useless campus-wide mail in order to merely catch a glimpse of our crush. Bowdoin is an environment that is extremely conducive to "stalking." We are a small, close-knit community where everybody knows your name. And your face. And who you like and who likes you and who you liked very publicly outside Harpswell Apartments at 1 a.m. last Saturday night.

I wanted to take a minute to compliment the people of grounds and facilities on the beautiful flowers recently planted outside of the library.

While perusing the Bowdoin web site recently, I happened across the Orient editorial regarding the Bowdoin Studnet Government (BSG) and the Maine ballot question on sexual orientation ("Stick to your mandate, BSG"). I wish to applaud the Orient editorial board for its wisdom in opposing this proposed statement.

Is "Emergency Contraception" the same thing as "RU-486"?

Don't be fooled by the name. Jurassic 5?performing tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. in Morrell Gymnasium?includes six rappers: Mark 7even, Chali 2na, Zaakir, Akil, Cut Chemist, and DJ Nu-Mark.

Tonight marks a big event for the Bowdoin Poeting Club. "All I Need is One Mic Night," a free performance featuring members of Poeting, Taiko, the Bowdoin Step Team, and the Gospel Choir, takes place this evening at 7:00 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium.

Nothing soothes the soul like a solid sci-fi flick. Serenity, Joss Whedon's big screen foray and extension of his late TV show, "Firefly," is as soothing as can be. With special effects that hover slightly above shoddy, and a humbly remote vision of the future, Whedon's pet project shirks the facetious expectations associated with the genre. By accomplishing this, Serenity achieves a humility that makes the film feel like a surprise rather than a bargain.

Old East India Pale Ale ($5.99 for a six-pack, available at Hannaford) This IPA is a standard on the tab at the Sea Dog Brewery and delivers a great taste that only Sea Dog could. Because it is 6.2 percent alcohol by volume, I happily purchased this beer the other night down at the bar, curious to see how smooth this IPA would taste in relation to others I had sampled in the previous hours. The first thing that struck me about this beer was that it was noticeably darker than any of the other beers on tap and seemed to weigh more, although I am told that is untrue.

What is the best song ever made? BM: The Mountain Goats's "No Children." HW: "Baba O'Reilly," by The Who.

Boston-born comedian Dane Cook, hot off the release of his latest two-disc album, Retaliation, will perform tonight at Colby College's Wadsworth Gymnasium, as part of his promotional "Tourgasm" tour.

Bill Murray returns as the master of moribund in Jim Jarmusch's latest effort, Broken Flowers. Murray plays the title role of Don Johnston, a successful but aging bachelor who's all wilted jowls and waning sexuality. After receiving an anonymous letter informing him that he may have a son from a long-gone fling, Don is pushed back into his past to search for the possibility of a fulfilling future.

The Polar Bears did not let the tough weather conditions faze them as they slipped and slid on a rain-soaked course at the Maine State Meet at Colby. Bowdoin captured second, losing to Colby, but outran Bates.

The Bowdoin Water Polo Team will look to avenge close losses to Boston College and Colby next weekend in the North Atlantic Conference Championship, to be held at Bowdoin. The team ended the regular season fifth in its conference, an improvement over last year's sixth place finish.

Both the Red Sox and the Yankees will undoubtedly spend the rest of their off-season with their heads held low in shame. Both teams spent an unbelievable amount of money trying to maintain their pace of consecutive ALCS appearances.

Soccer fans in Europe share the fanaticism of football enthusiasts in America. That same love for competition extends to Australia and its national pastime, rugby. I've spent my entire life watching the American triumvirate of baseball, basketball, and football. However, one of the things I looked forward to in studying abroad was the chance to learn about rugby.