The Bowdoin Orient

A Bowdoin student's allegations of anti-Christian hostility sparked investigations into the conduct of two faculty members and one administrator. Though college officials have cleared all three staff members of any wrongdoing, the cases shed new light on the discussion about intellectual freedom and the role of religion on campus. The story of Ryan Helminiak '05 encompasses his student disciplinary case for placing more than 1,000 religious pamphlets in library books, along with what he perceived as religious discrimination during classes taken in the fall of 2001 and spring of 2003.

A sting operation conducted by the Department of Safety and Security resulted in a car chase last week when a man suspected of theft fled from campus security and then led state and local police in a high-speed pursuit.

College growth continues to head south. Literally. With the recent purchase of two additional houses south of College Street, Bowdoin is continuing to slowly acquire residential property in the neighborhood that separates the College's main campus from its Farley Field House athletic complex. Since the campus is bordered on three sides by residential neighborhoods, the purchase of nearby houses by the College has been a key long-term expansion strategy for decades.

Members of the new student group Clean Energy Now plan to present a letter to President Barry Mills and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Katy Longley today urging the College to purchase 100 percent of its electricity from clean, renewable sources of energy.

Along with final papers and presentations, the end of the year also brings another dreaded annual ritual: the housing lottery. For some, this year's lottery was particularly stressful. The College is suffering a housing crunch, leaving the Office of Residential Life to face the task of navigating through the difficulties.

Ten local nonprofit organizations that might otherwise have been left unfunded will be supported by the College's Common Good Grant this year. The Common Good Grant program was established in 2001 through a restricted gift by an anonymous donor who wanted to acquaint students with grants, philanthropy, and the needs of nonprofit agencies.

We wholeheartedly support the current student-led drive urging the College to commit to purchasing 100 percent of its electricity from clean, renewable sources of energy. In order to more fully articulate its commitment to curbing global warming and promoting energy independence for our nation, the College needs to take this meaningful step forward.

Because I am certain that virtually no Bowdoin student will be reading my column this weekend, down from the five that have typically muscled through columns past, I deliver to my non-student readership (my parents) a scorcher of a column on domestic spending policy. Read on. The political firestorm of the week in Washington centers around a Senate appropriations bill, comprised of both a hurricane aid package and a fifth emergency defense funding request, that weighs in at a whopping $106 billion. President Bush, under pressure from fiscal conservatives in Congress, vowed Tuesday not to sign the bill in its current pork barrel-laden incarnation if the final price tag topped $92 billion, leaving senators to pare a hefty sum from the bill.

Congratulations, friend. You made it to Ivies Weekend. You have endured the relentless onslaught of problem sets and three-to-five page essays. You have persevered through the 8 a.m. classes, the 80-minute lectures, the five-hour Friday afternoon labs, and the all-nighters. You bravely beat back frostbite, the common cold, the uncommon cold (syphilis), mono, ringworm, carpal tunnel syndrome, and a knife-wielding ruffian in the basement of School Street Apartments.

On a recent calm, sun-kissed afternoon, I set out on my first kayak run of the season. I am blessed to live high on the west bank of the freshwater tidal portion of the Kennebec in South Gardiner. Astronomically high spring tides at new moon coaxed the still-cold waters higher as they crept past their usual levels. Nary a breeze ruffled the still waters as I reveled in the mystic glow of newfound spring. I drifted aimlessly, the lazy current as my guide; one with earth, sky, and water.

In last week's Orient, we were very disappointed to find Disability Simulation Day (DSD) inaccurately portrayed and one of our statements misused. Brooke's quote, "It's frustrating when students stare at you...People shouldn't stare. It's not polite," misconstrues her reaction by taking her statement out of the context of an anecdote.

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.

On most spring weekends, students use the Quad as a venue for sun tanning and disc tossing. On Saturday, students will use it as a dance floor. OK Go, a Chicago-based rock band, will join the long tradition of bands that have performed on Ivies Weekend?a list that includes Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Simon and Garfunkel, B.B. King, and Louis Armstrong.

Type "Bowdoin College" into the iTunes Music Store, and it will actually return results beyond the generic weather report podcasts. Thanks to the efforts of those in Information Technology (IT), New Media Director Mark Leaman and Multimedia Designer Kevin Travers, podcasts featuring the Asian studies department, the music department, Bowdoin sports, and BCNews are now accessible on iTunes and through the Bowdoin podcast web site.

In his career, Julian Schnabel has worked in many locations and used a wide array of artistic media. A visual artist, Schnabel's tools include those of a painter, sculptor, photographer, and film director. He will be delivering a lecture titled, "Learn How to Make Indian Jewelry from a Real Indian" in Kresge Auditorium Saturday at 5 p.m.

We've all been there: You're dressed to impress, ready to party, and suddenly, disaster strikes. Whether it's a broken strap, a hem that's fallen out, or one of countless other mishaps, fashion emergencies are never fun. There are, however, some quick and easy ways you can fix things so that you can keep on dancing for the rest of the night.

Denzel and Spike are at it again, but this time there's less fun to go around. With "Inside Man," Spike Lee abandons the unorthodox cinematography exemplified in previous films like "Malcolm X" and "Do the Right Thing," and delivers a mainstream effort that does not offer anything particularly unique.

Gritty's Vacationland?($7.49 for a six-pack at Hannaford) This week provides the first glimpse of summer as the seasonal brews find their way to the shelves of beverage outlets everywhere. My first experience with this seasonal ale was last summer at a barbecue with some neighborhood friends?a terrific context in which to try a beer called "Vacationland."

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.

Eager to repeat their upset win over Bates in the indoor Maine State Meet, the Bowdoin Men's Track Team stepped onto the Colby track with anticipation. After trading the lead throughout the day, the Bears came up short in the last event of the day, falling to the Bobcats by just five points in Saturday's state meet.

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.