The Bowdoin Orient

Despite missing the boat on Google, the rate of return on Bowdoin's endowment last year far exceeded the average return of the 746 schools that participated in this year's survey by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO).

After several months of debate, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) narrowly passed, 12-10, a resolution proposing the creation of an Academic Bias Incident Group, which would respond to allegations of academic bias on campus.

The Bowdoin Department of Safety and Security confiscated a pellet gun and a stolen construction sign from the room of a Coles Tower resident over Winter Break. They discovered the pellet gun, which is banned under the College's firearms policy, and the sign, which was stolen from a construction site on campus, during a sweep of all dorm rooms that were supposed to be vacant during the break.

On January 24, Bowdoin friend Edmund Benjamin died at the age of 86 while at Laurel Point Health and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Pierce. Benjamin was not a Maine native?he was born in Grenada, West Indies?and yet he spent many of his last years here, working as a security officer in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art until he retired in 1999.

-Attendance: 25/26. Absent: Ray Carta '08. -Clark Gascoigne '08 attended the meeting to show his continued opposition to the Academic Bill of Rights.

CORRECTION: A subsequent article contains a more complete report of events. Taryn King died at the hospital, not in the ambulance.

A Bowdoin student died of unknown causes while studying in Ireland, the College announced Thursday. Taryn King '07 was studying abroad through a Butler University program at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

Dean of Student Affairs Craig Bradley said that a Butler official told him that King mentioned to a roommate before bed that she was feeling ill. She reportedly woke up at approximately 11 a.m. local time Thursday and asked a roommate to call for emergency assistance. She died on the way to the hospital.

Bowdoin has lost many of its friends in recent months. Death is difficult to deal with and can be difficult to talk about, but as much as it is a time for grieving, prayer, and remembrance, it is a time for reflection. When tragedy strikes so close to home, we come to the realization that life can be far too short.

The State of the Union address is an annual opportunity for the president to outline his accomplishments during the previous year, as well as his goals for the next. However, this year I have become increasingly aware, despite partisan spin, of what has gone right, of what has improved in our country and abroad.

I'm not even angry. Anger came and went a long time ago. No, Hamas's sudden rise to power January 25 just disappointed me. For you see, just about everyone who cares about Israel has this tantalizing dream, where an Israeli leader and a great Palestinian peacemaker spend weeks together, getting to know each other and negotiating a peace. The dream reaches its pinnacle when the two of them have a joint ceremony, Israeli and Palestinian flags intertwined, and declare a Palestinian state, economic cooperation, and, at long last, a time when parents can nurture their kids, rather than grieve for them. Then the two leaders leave, and the people they represent go their separate ways, tougher for the experience and deeply respectful of each other. Yasir Arafat put that dream on life support when he rejected Ehud Barak's offer at Camp David. And now Hamas has pulled the plug. The disappointment I feel now is the disappointment of a dream dying.

It's time to go back to school?back to below-freezing temperatures in the middle of April and your horrible roommate who "accidentally" peed on your desk chair at the end of last semester. While winter in Maine can be a difficult time in any Bowdoin student's year, it can be that much worse when you have to leave your significant other behind. Whether he's your high school sweetheart or you met her on your abroad program, that last kiss goodbye is never easy.

Do your parents keep scrapbooks of old photographs? Mine do. I'm not talking about the scrapbooks filled with photos of first steps, first birthdays, and first nude adventures in public; I'm talking about when they were in college. Have you ever seen pre-graduation college pictures of your parents? I could count the ones I've seen of mine on one hand, causing me to suspect that there are no more than five.

I feel that there is a good deal missing in the current campus debate about the Academic Bill of Rights between both sides. College Republicans are crying discrimination while the College Democrats are insinuating that the Republicans wish to destroy Africana and women's studies. What has gotten lost in this dialogue apparently is no one seems to be asking where this misnomer of a bill originated and who is behind it. When students understand the right-wing source of the Academic Bill of Rights, I believe they will see why the Bowdoin College Republicans suddenly have changed their opinion on discrimination issues. David Horowitz, a former Marxist and now a far right-winger, is one the main sources promoting the Academic Bill of Rights. The leftist -sounding nature of the Academic Bill of Rights comes from Mr. Horowitz's Marxist background. Mr. Horowitz's goal is not to promote academic diversity, but instead to put professors in fear of alienating right-wing students. His Students for Academic Freedom (SAF), and Middle East studies oriented Campus Watch (CW), do not hide their openly anti-leftist, dogmatically pro-Israel agenda. The Academic Bill of Rights merely opens the door for abuse by the Right.

I'm the secretary of Ladd, and Sunday our representative to Bowdoin Student Government told us that the Academic Bill of Rights was being considered. I was surprised and intrigued on two levels: first, I wasn't aware I even had academic rights, and second, and more relevant, was why BSG was spending its valuable time amending it.

I would like to thank the Bowdoin community for its incredible support during these last few weeks.

I was disappointed by Joshua Miller's recent essay about a trip to Denny's Restaurant. The 173 words describing a female patron's appearance and eating habits were particularly discouraging.

As with many in the Bowdoin community, it is with pride and a smile that I remember Phil Soule. In the mid-'80s he was known as the Soule Man (that's a Blues Brothers/Sam & Dave reference for the current students). I knew him through track and field, football, and the fact that I went to high school with his children at Deering High in Portland.

Dear Dr. Jeff: I just got over a mild case of mono, but haven't been cleared to play hockey. How come? ?M.P

Dear Dr. Jeff: Can you have genital herpes and not know it? Can a person infect you with herpes, even if they've never had any sores? ?L.H.

There are times in life when you arrive at a place and know?in some inexplicable yet unimpeachable way?that you have come to exactly where you are meant to be at that moment. Denny's restaurant was not one of those places. Portland, Maine, at 3:00 a.m. one Sunday morning last November was not one of those times.

They are more than the voices chanting in "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" or "Homeless." They are more than Paul Simon's discovery and the backing vocals on his masterpiece, "Graceland."

"Sex is like having dinner," Woody Allen once observed in a famous stand up routine. "Sometimes you joke about the dishes, sometimes you take the meal seriously." The same goes for sex in cinema; when it comes to on-screen love, there's a fine line between the tasteful, the tasteless, and the downright tasty.

The Oscars just can't quit Jake and Heath. In this year of critically acclaimed politicized cinema, the Oscar nominations, which came out this Tuesday, sent a strong message of support for "Brokeback Mountain," Ang Lee's film about two cowboys repressing their love. It received the most nominations of the field with eight, a point of note as, since 1980, the film receiving the most nominations won the Oscar for best picture all but four times.

Harp Lager?($8.49 for a six-pack, available at Hannaford) The Guinness Brewing Company has created quite a beverage with this imported lager, combining pub-style beer with subtle sophistication. When opened, Harp slowly releases a dark and full-bodied smell much like other high end beers, a true sign that the flavor is ensconced in the heart of the beer, not just the spices.

Ah February, month of the Superbowl, Olympics, Groundhog Day, Presidents Day, Black History Month and . . . what's that last one? Right, Valentine's Day. Rah (shakes pseudo-pom-pom apathetically). Bitter, moi? Au contraire, in the spirit of Hallmark I'm reviewing three wines for the grape-hearted, 11 days early.

As is the case with most musical pairings, the duo of Gary Wittner and Howard Johnson happened by chance. Wittner and Johnson, who will be performing their jazz concert at Kresge on Saturday at 3:00 p.m., met at a restaurant in New York City.

This time 250 years ago, a family in Salzburg grew larger by one son, and the music community grew by one genius. Baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, the composer we know as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart grows a year older on the January 27th.

Finally, a best picture frontrunner that's actually fully deserving of the title. In this year of highly politicized cinema, from "Good Night and Good Luck" to "Munich," "Brokeback Mountain" one-ups all of these films, delivering a powerful, human drama that breaks down barriers for the depiction of homosexuals in cinema. It would be no small feat for this film to reach a mainstream audience with such a message, but that is exactly what is happening.

The members of the Bowdoin Men's Track Team tested their form against Colby, MIT, Tufts, Springfield and Gordon and find themselves to be in good shape.

Something is missing from this year's Super Bowl. There is no circus of words from Terrell Owens and Freddy Mitchell. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Tedy Bruschi are not solemnly overstating their respect for the opposition, while publicly disregarding their own team's accomplishments.

The Bowdoin Swimming and Diving Teams returned to intercollegiate competition with Trinity and Wesleyan after a winter break training trip to Mexico. Both the men's and women's team took second, defeating Trinity, but losing to Wesleyan in Saturday's meet. Dominating Trinity 198-100, the Polar Bears lost to Wesleyan by a mere two points, 146-144.

The men's and women's squash teams suffered tough losses to Bates on Wednesday night. Despite many close individual mathes, the men 5-4, while the women were defeated 8-1.

The Bowdoin Men's Hockey Team opened last weekend with a very disappointing 4-1 loss to the University of Southern Maine. The Bears quickly recoverd from the loss, defeating Salem State in an away game the next day.