The Bowdoin Orient

The Bias Incident Group recently met for the second time this academic year in response to an act associated with homophobia. A student, who requested anonymity, said that she parked her car at Brunswick Apartments on the night of Friday, February 3, and woke the next morning to discover that the word "gay" had been written in the snow on the front and back windshields of her car. In an interview with the Orient, the student, who is openly gay, said that she knows she was targeted because "it took time, energy, and purpose to find my car and write on both the front and back windshields."

When the Trustees convened for their February meeting, some students might not have even realized that they were on campus. "After four years here, it was the first time I think I ever even saw a trustee," said senior Jon Ludwig, who, as a member of the a cappella group the Meddiebempsters, sang at a reception for the board on the Friday night of the February 8 to 10 meetings.

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) received a first look at a proposed revision of the academic attendance policy developed by the faculty's Student Affairs Committee.

Starting this semester, Muslim students can now eat Halal meat?meat permissible for consumption according to Islamic tradition?at Thorne Dining Hall on Friday nights.

Bowdoin's Watson Fellowship and Fulbright Fellowship nominees this year are a diverse group of students, but they all share an important trait: passion.

Campus Kitchen is working with the Dining Service to turn some 20 pounds of vegetables and 15 pounds of meat into stir fry next Friday in an attempt to help alleviate hunger in Brunswick.

To raise campus awareness about the possible concquences of global warming, the College will cover its most prominent polar bears around campus today.

Three years ago the College changed its Credit/Fail policy to a Credit/D/Fail policy. The policy change was driven by concerns that students were abusing the system. Faculty argued that students were putting in minimal effort to attain a passing grade and that their lack of interest was harming the quality of many classes. According to Orient records, students were barely included in the discussion?and the faculty ultimately decided to create a Credit/D/Fail policy that, for many students, is stifling. The threat of receiving a "D" discourages students from broadening their academic interests, even though that exploration is at the core of a liberal arts education.

Last week, Professor Scott Sehon criticized an attempt to improve the J-Board selection process. Sehon bases the majority of his argument on the premise that the J-Board process for hearing cases is thorough and fair and thereby illogically draws the conclusion that the selection process need not be changed.

In last week's Orient, Raashi Bhalla and Zachary Linhart ask Bowdoin to "stop being ridiculous" for charging students fees for parking their cars illegally, forgetting their cards at the dining halls, and locking themselves out of their rooms.

Over the past few weeks, Bowdoin Student Government's (BSG) role in the campus discussion about the Judicial Board (J-Board) has been largely misinterpreted. Recent opinions expressed in the Orient have been written on the premise that BSG did not support the J-Board hearing process or our fellow students on the board.

By KATHRYN SOLOW
Like many rising sophomores, I am facing a great deal of uncertainty, especially the pressing issue of where I will live next year. In light of the housing crunch faced by upperclassmen, the College's decision to have eight freshmen dorms and to create two new college houses to accommodate them is troubling and illogical.

Global warming is a hot topic today. With recent reports coming out regarding the state of our planet, the media and politicians nationwide have locked into "we are all going to die in a fireball of death" mode.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about college students' dependence on laptop computers?the obstacles they represent, the activities we need them for, the solace we find in them, etc. Without debate, we need our laptops to function as students and as social beings; Bowdoin has developed many services that are conveniently accessible on our computers.

Smith Union is a great place. Structurally, it's one of the reasons I chose to attend Bowdoin, and I know an array of students who would say the same. Something about the space allows you to feel the intent?maybe it's the combination of grandiosity (the largest single piece of linoleum in the universe) and good feng shui.

The Judicial Board (J-Board) plays an essential role in the governance of the College. Charged with considering violations of the Social and Honor codes and making recommendations for appropriate punishments to the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, which takes its recommendations very seriously, the J-Board is perhaps the most powerful and important student-run body on campus.

Open relationships. When I asked my mom if they were around when she was in college in the 70s, she answered, "You mean promiscuity?" That's one way of putting it.

Who said that punk is dead, baby? Truth to be told, to some extent it is, because what would be considered punk today is pigeonholed as "alternative music" and that does it no justice at all (or, alas, into "fake punk" like Good Charlotte and other ridiculous bands I am not a fan of). Since forming in 1994, The Ataris has always been one of the most heartfelt and mature alternative rock groups around. Its last album, released on February 20 and titled "Welcome to the Night," is a knockout.

"Unclassy" Beer?Sold cheap. Everywhere. Ever since blindly stumbling upon the "Beer Fever with Weaver" crown at the beginning of the year, my life has changed in a number of significant ways: some good, some not so much. To begin?though admittedly flattering?it is a little hard to get my beauty sleep while throngs of autograph-seeking high school girls camp outside my room at night and take turns reciting their names with "Weaver" longingly attached to the end. Similarly annoying, around campus it seems that my name is slowly morphing into simply "Beer Fever"?as opposed to "Weaver" or (gasp!) "Alex."

The first thing I noticed upon entering the Barn Door Café in Topsham was its conspicuous lack of decent beverages. As I pondered the soup and sandwich offerings, I wondered what food I could possibly order to accompany the selection of strawberry milk, chocolate milk, Gatorade, diet Snapple, Sierra Mist, and bottled water. Was a can of Coke, a bottle of Orangina, or something from Nantucket Nectars too much to ask? Apparently. I decided on a large bottle of ginger ale accompanied by the Crunchy Thai Vegi sandwich, while my friend stuck with water and the Sicilian sandwich?chicken, pesto, and tomatoes on French bread.

N. S. K?enings brings the fictional East African city of Vunjamguu and its inhabitants to life in her first novel, "Blue Taxi." The air is heavy, the scenery is rich, and her characters' lives are filled to the brim with inconsequence. The heroine's journey barely goes from Point A to Point B, but along the way there are business-savvy ice cream men and prophetic needle pointers with whom she needs to deal.

The Oscars are coming Sunday at 8 p.m. As your film critic, here are my predictions for the Academy's winners and my personal ballot for the year. Winners are marked with an asterisk.

Not even below-freezing temperatures in Vermont could cool off the Bowdoin Men's Ice Hockey Team. Both Norwich and St. Michael's did their best over the weekend to keep the Polar Bears from obtaining a first-place finish in the NESCAC, but Bowdoin was equal to the task and was able to cross the Vermont border with the regular season conference trophy for the first time in school history.

The Bowdoin's Men's Basketball Team was knocked out of the NESCAC playoffs this weekend as Trinity defeated Bowdoin 77-67, ending the Polar Bears' season.

The women's squash team took third place in the Kurtz Cup division of the College Squash Association's National Championship Tournament at Yale, one spot behind rival Bates, which toppled Bowdoin 8-1 in the weekend contest.

The Bowdoin Women's Track Team held its own against powerhouses Williams, Tufts, and Amherst on Saturday, placing fourth overall with 72.5 points in the New England Division III Championship at the University of Southern Maine.

It's here. After flocking for hundreds upon hundreds of miles from the far north, wild west, and eventful east to the warm tropics of the south, Major League Baseball has finally made its much anticipated return, with all 30 teams now officially in full swing entering Spring Training with an infinite number of intriguing storylines: Who will be this year's Cardinals? Will A-Rod finally gel in the Big Apple? Will Barry Bonds surpass Hank Aaron? Will Tom Glavine win his 300th?

Coming off a win against Bates that sealed its seventh seed in the NESCAC playoffs, the men's basketball team squared off against the St. Joseph Monks in its final regular season contest on Monday night.