The Bowdoin Orient

Bowdoin is a drastically different place than it was 10 years ago, according to a draft of a self-study released by the College this week. Changes over the past decade detailed in the report include a complete reorganization of residential life, a significantly more diverse student body, and a larger faculty.

Many students will be pulling an all-nighter this weekend, but this one will be by choice. At least 175 Bowdoin students are expected to walk in Bowdoin's first-ever Relay for Life tonight to raise cancer awareness and challenge the notion that the condition does not affect the student population.

Four of the seven Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) officer positions were unopposed, but nearly a thousand students still chose to vote in this week's balloting.

Sixty-six high school students will be traveling to Bowdoin by plane, train, or automobile free of charge this weekend. These students are all high school seniors and have all been accepted to be a part of Bowdoin's Class of 2010. However, for most of these accepted students, "The Bowdoin Experience" will be the first time they see the College up close and in person, instead of in brochures and on the internet.

As part of Professor of Government Christian Potholm's class, Conflict Simulation and Conflict Resolution, seniors Ben Martens and Antwan Phillips have been selected by their classmates to be the two candidates in Bowdoin's annual mock congressional race. Over the next few weeks, the two candidates and their support teams will raise money, create a constituency, and square off in a debate before the election is held on May 7. The election has been held each year for the last 15 years.

When two Bowdoin first years arrived on campus last fall, there seemed to be something missing: an organization helping to fight hunger. So they decided to do something about it.

Students Embracing Disabilities (SED) ran a simulation Thursday encouraging students and faculty to experience first hand the daily challenges faced by those with disabilities on campus. Students from the group handed out glasses, among other items, to students in Smith Union so they could walk around campus for either five minutes or the entire day simulating hearing or visual impairment.

The College must seriously reassess the academic advising system, especially in light of the new distribution requirements. Faculty must be adequately trained to discuss the curriculum broadly with their advisees so that students can make the right choices about their academic plans.

So I had this weird dream the other night. I dreamt that Bowdoin was an episode of VH1's "I Love the 90s," and that Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) had decided to distribute those old slap bracelet thingies in a joint effort with the Department of Safety and Security to make students more visible to traffic, and a bunch of washed-up pseudo-celebrities made fun of us for it.

The controversy over the Muhammad cartoons has faded from the front page, but I'm not over it. I felt mixed emotions about it. Anyone who has ever taken a class with me knows I exercise my right to free speech even when everyone else in the class wishes I would not. It would be beyond hypocritical of me, then, to not support free speech. Yet in this case, I actually thought the Danish newspapers should not have printed the cartoons, and papers like the New York Times made the right decision in not rerunning them. This was hard for me to square, until I realized this: There is a cost to free speech, and in this case, that cost was not borne by the speaker.

I am proud to say that I, Sarah Genevieve Riley, a soon-to-be graduating senior, have never been in a fight. That is, until last weekend when I was drawn into a particularly brutal round of verbal fisticuffs with a fellow Bowdoin student who shall remain nameless because I don't know his name. Now, my point in mentioning this little t?te-à-t?te is not to place blame, as both of us said things we shouldn't have. No, I am telling you about this verbal mudslinging because it should not be happening at a school like Bowdoin.

As we are all painfully aware, there is genocide being committed in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Since 2003, troops and militias supported by the Sudanese government have been deliberately attacking civilians in a dramatic escalation of a much longer regional conflict. While estimates of casualties vary, it is certain that tens, probably hundreds of thousand of innocent men, women, and children have been murdered. Thousands of women have been raped as part of a deliberate strategy of intimidation. Millions have lost their homes. The U.S. State Department has placed the Government of Sudan on the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

The letters in response to my April 7 op-ed ("Posters inflame, do not inform") seem to have been made out of confusion more than anything, and so I will try to clear some things up.

I am deeply saddened by the opinion piece by Matthew Schweich ("GOP campus politics detrimental" April 14). It's inappropriate to personally attack individuals by means of this publication. I took great offense for Alex Linhart, and for myself as part of the company whose "twisted interpretation of conservatism" is deemed so inherently evil and bad for campus politics. Additionally, I find the accusations to be overly harsh and simply misguided.

We ought to be saying "thank you" to the important people in our lives every day?but since this does not always happen, from time to time we consider it appropriate to make a special point of showing our appreciation.

In the March 31 issue of the Orient, Frank Chi '07 wrote that college campuses are no longer "centers of activism," but instead "typify the deadbeat of apathy." Bowdoin is unfortunately an example of this. However, here on campus we suffer this fate not only because of pop culture's substitution for political activism, but also as a result of the actions of the Bowdoin College Republicans.

Listen, we didn't ask you here today to watch "Corwin's Quest: Realm of the Yeti" on Animal Planet. I know, I know, that is what I said on the phone. We invited you over because I feel... we all feel...that we need to confront you about something. Yes, I am serious. Wait; before you get upset, just hear me out. We've been noticing changes in your personality since it began?your behavior, the tone of your voice, your priorities. We all see it. You disappear for long periods of time without leave. We'll all be hanging out, and you'll slide into a back room and lock the door. We all know what you're doing back there.

Dear Dr. Jeff: A friend of mine seems to be pretty down. How would I know if he's depressed? ?J.B.

While most seniors have turned their focus to graduation, Eric Davich '06 prepares for another sort of celebration: the performance of his music honors project, "Transcending the Comfort Zone." Davich wrote the piece in eight movements and has employed 35 Bowdoin students and faculty to participate in the orchestra.

"And the Polar Bear goes to..." The Second annual Bowdoin Film Festival will take place Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Auditorium, Sills Hall. And even if the idea of seeing Bowdoin's resident film critic judging the competition doesn't thrill you to the core, the idea of seeing young filmmakers in action should.

Hennepin?($8.29 for a four-pack at Warmings) One of the resident music professors on campus highly recommended this brewing company from Cooperstown, New York, touting its brews as being like none other. So, I picked up a few bottles of this Farmhouse Saison type beer and gave it a rip. Wow, he wasn't kidding.

I am not one of those people who go to bars and then order a glass of the house red. The bar is just not a place where I can enjoy a glass of wine. It's loud, crowded, and generally too smelly (though not necessarily in a bad way) to really appreciate the wine, and to be honest, most offerings are not very remarkable anyway.

When a generous donor gave the music department the opportunity to bring a musician to campus for a residency, the department wanted someone who would have wide appeal.

Everyone likes a good deal. There's some inexplicable satisfaction in finding what you need (or don't need) for a steal. That is why we hit up sales, shop around, and fall in love with Target and TJ Maxx. Discount stores are the best way to save some cash while not skimping on style. Although Freeport is a Maine mecca for cheap, high quality fashion, Target in Topsham and TJ Maxx at Cooks Corner can be just as promising in what they have to offer. Plus, with one-stop shopping, everything is at your fingertips.

Gritty's Pub Ale?($6.89 for a six pack at Hannaford) It seemed time for me to say hello to one of my old favorites, Gritty McDuff. Known for his robust taste profiles and witty labeling, Mr. McDuff gave a true clinic in how to make a pale ale with this brew.

The Bowdoin Men's Lacrosse Team rebounded from two consecutive losses with a narrow victory over Colby on Tuesday, defeating the Mules 10-9. Bowdoin most recently fell to Middlebury in a heartbreaking 12-11 overtime decision and Wesleyan 6-3, before turning on the heat against the Mules.

At about the time most students were waiting in lunch lines at Moulton and Thorne on Patriots Day Monday, senior Avery Galleher was warming up with 20,000 other athletes at the 110th Boston Marathon starting line.