The Bowdoin Orient

Students returning from Winter Break are noticing some changes in their usual laundry routine: a 20 percent price increase of 25 cents per load, as well as the convenience of newly installed LaundryView software. The software allows students to check the status of washers and dryers across campus from their computers. While some students are embracing this new convenience, others are displeased with the price increase.

Bowdoin has adopted a new Student Sexual Assault and Misconduct Policy that aims to make it easier to address matters of sexual assault and misconduct on campus. The new policy, adapted from the University of Virginia (UVA), now offers three different ways to handle a sexual assault case The new policy provides the additional option of a structured meeting with staff from the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.

Bowdoin students may want to think twice about what they say out loud this semester, because if they're not careful, it might end up on the Internet.

After seven years at the College, Dr. Jeff Benson is no longer serving as college physician and director of the health center.

The Brunswick town council will hold a public hearing Monday night during which it will recommend that the town proceed with the $35 million Maine Street Station development project.

Do you ever use paints and pipecleaners to help yourself study? If not, the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs wants to show you how. After a small turnout at last January's first annual "Reorientation," the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs has made fundamental changes to the event, which will take place on Saturday.

The resignation of a BSG member is unprecedented, and there is no provision for this particular situation in the BSG constitution. The replacement of Class of 2008 Representative Erma Drigo dominated this week's Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) meeting, which also included conversations about the school's new sexual harassment policy and the proposed Community Response Committee.

At Bowdoin, we talk a lot about the common good, but few in our small community end up making it their life's mission in the way that Hanley Denning did.

On October 20, I used this space to lecture about temperance. I climbed up on my soapbox and explained that the freedom built into the college lifestyle should not be abused, because someday in the not-too-distant future our generation will be responsible for preserving civilization in an era of growing population, advancing technology, diminishing natural resources, and mounting cultural tensions. Well, a real man knows when to admit he was wrong. And I've got to say, I was way off base on that one.

At 11 a.m. on Sunday, the first round of returning Bowdoin students skipped into Thorne for their first brunch of the spring semester. Tanned and tired from trips to Mexico, Peru, Mars, and Florida, clad in their holiday loot, the Polar Bears appeared ready to take on the new semester, fresh from five weeks of fun, restful traveling, and couch-potatoing.

Human-induced climate change has long been a pressing reality in the minds of scientists, and now it is becoming urgent in the minds of politicians, industry leaders, and people in general. Many are increasingly realizing that taking only half-measures will almost certainly result in catastrophic changes throughout the world (particularly among the most disadvantaged human populations of the southern parts of the globe), and that only immediate and drastic measures will significantly dull the perils of the future.

By JULIA REED GUERRERO
As someone from McAllen, Texas, a medium-sized city about five miles from the Mexican-American border, I feel I must comment on Zachary Linhart's letter about illegal immigrants. Although I cannot claim to be an illegal immigrant myself, I am Mexican-American and grew up in an area where the majority of the population is made up of first-, second-, or third-generation Mexican immigrants, both legal and otherwise.

By ALEX WILLIAMS
There are a variety of strategies that Bowdoin students employ in order to survive the biting Brunswick winter. For those who prepare in the warmth of their own dorm, the J. Crew January catalogue, admittedly, helps many. Those more adventurous shoppers may embark on a trip to Freeport, with visions of themselves sporting North Face fleeces, Patagonia vests, and of course, snow-proof L.L. Bean duck boots.

What happens when a large alcohol industry finds footing in a nation where it is prohibited? Or when bikini-clad women flood the beaches of a country where women traditionally wear clothing that covers most of their bodies? Senior Jocelin Hody, a government major with a concentration in international relations, is exploring these questions through her honors project. Specifically, she is examining how Islamic culture in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is responding to globalization.

Tick tock. Time is running out for graduating seniors and we're all thinking (consciously or not) about the same thing: What's going to happen to our relationships, or lack thereof, in these last few months of college? Senior spring can be exhilarating or it can be just the opposite?sort of like sex. Graduating seniors are looking for their first jobs and ways out of their parents' houses, while at the same time facing up to the inescapable romantic deadline that graduation

Many students return to campus with goals to start off the New Year and new semester with a bang. The Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching works in conjunction with the Writing Project and the Quantitative Skills Program to help students balance their schedules and learn how to become better students. Elizabeth Barnhart, director of the Baldwin Center, and Holly Schreiber '07, an academic mentor, who has been working with the program for three years, provide helpful tips to ensure success:

Natural light & Natural Ice—$75.00 each per keg I think one of most tragic tendencies of college students nationwide is the degree to which we take for granted the early weeks of each semester. With Winter Break now safely behind us, the freshmen have had sufficient time to catch up with the rest of us in realizing just how miserable midterms and finals can be. But with this newfound knowledge comes newfound responsibility. Now, if you think I'm stressing the importance of hard work now to soften the impending scholarly blows later, you are wholly missing the point and I think it would be better for both of us if you saved copies of this paper for those who deserve it and brushed up on your inorganic chemistry.

Though we may be through with the past, the past isn't through with us. With "Volver," Pedro Almodóvar has returned. In this film, Spain's premier director of films like "All About My Mother" and "Talk to Her" makes a star vehicle for Penélope Cruz. While it may not be the apex of his career, Almodóvar won't disappoint you here. "Volver" literally translates to "return" in Spanish, and this idea haunts the film.

Anne Tyler's most recent addition to her body of work, "Digging to America," concerns the intersecting of different backgrounds within the canvas of family. In an era when the definition of the family is constantly changing, Tyler depicts the possibilities of mixture in an increasingly international world.

All the hype you have probably heard is true. Nas's eighth album, "Hip Hop Is Dead," is something that most of us hip-hop fans have been waiting for all year. It came as quite a holiday present?on December 19 of last year?and revived an industry that has been stagnant for some time.

Winter Break offered no rest for the Bowdoin Women's Basketball Team. Instead, the Polar Bears faced some of its most difficult competition to date. The big news from January was the team's home loss to Maine Maritime Academy on January 17, 51-49. That's right, it's no typo?the Bowdoin Women's Basketball Team lost at home.

The Bowdoin Men's Basketball Team went 5-3 over Winter Break, but it dropped three out of four league games to start NESCAC play.

The Bowdoin Men's Hockey Team will be excited to welcome back Polar Bear Nation this weekend after a fairly tumultuous start to the New Year. The closing months of 2006 were kind to the Polar Bears who went into the Winter Break with an unbeaten record of 6-0-3. But for whatever reason, 2007 has proved to be a much more difficult venue as the men have stumbled to a 2-4 mark since the new year began.

Cutting its Winter Break short, the Bowdoin Women's Track Team returned to campus two weeks early to train. Its hard work paid off, as the team took two wins in its early season meets.

The men and women of Bowdoin rugby proved their worth both on and off the field this season, according to the referees. The Bowdoin rugby teams have been honored by the New England Rugby Referees Society, winning the John Hayes Award. The award is given annually to teams for their sportsmanship, fair play, and the treatment of their match referees.

First things first: Welcome back, and I hope that all of you had a better winter break than Michael Vick did, at least in terms of getting past airport security. And secondly, what a game we had Sunday night. A classic rematch that we had all anxiously been awaiting turned out to be better than we could have ever possibly imagined, with the home team earning a spot to play in Miami in the future. Of course I'm referring to the Mavs' clutch win over the defending, bending the Heat, 99-93. What were you watching? The AFC Championship? I ended last year with an article predicting the outcomes for several NFL teams that were on the bubble for playoff slots. I went one-for-four, picking the Rams, Panthers, Bengals, and Jets to clinch, all of whom failed to reach the postseason with the exception of New York, led by the Penguin, Head Coach Eric Mangini. So after my poor foretelling performance, I decided that this week I would give it another go, only this time for the upcoming year that is already upon us. Last year had it all, from the Bus's Super Bowl run to Motown to Zinedine Zidane's impression of Rosie O'Donnell cage-fighting Donald Trump. And if 2006 is any indication of how the next 365 days will unfold, then we're in for quite a year. So without further ado, I give you my chronological forecast for the year 2007: