The Bowdoin Orient

In response to negative assessments of its academic advising program, Bowdoin officials are aiming to make advisers more than just signatories on students' course registration forms. "The student response in the vast majority is 'advising sucks,'" said Associate Dean for Curriculum Steven Cornish, who previously worked to reform advising at Brown University, and before that, oversaw Dartmouth College's peer advising system.

Though the College's belief in the importance of need-blind admissions appears firm, maintaining this practice continues to be a balancing act. But while Bowdoin has taken steps to increase financial aid funding, including a $76 million capital campaign allocation, the College's official aid policy remains non-committal, particularly towards international students.

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its Wednesday meeting this week in Smith Union's Morrell Lounge in an attempt to promote transparency and engage the student body. Over the din of ping-pong balls, espresso machines, and student chatter, BSG managed to careen through a Common Good Day budget proposal and discuss study abroad language requirements. This meeting was the first time BSG has convened in Smith Union, according to BSG President Dustin Brooks '08.

Educator and author Gregory Michie is trying to change common perceptions of urban schooling. In his lecture on Thursday, Michie aimed to debunk the myths surrounding students and the role of teachers in inner-city schools. "We have a very particular sort of image about urban education, what public schools in the cities are about...Michie gives voice to students and young people who are often portrayed pretty one-dimensionally in the media," said Assistant Professor of Education Doris Santoro Gomez.

On Saturday at 4 p.m., a plaque will be mounted in Maine Hall to commemorate Nathaniel Hawthorne's tenure as a member of Bowdoin's Class of 1825. The ceremony will include a welcome speech by Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster and a brief reading by Professor of English William Watterson.

Business leader and philanthropist Frank Lowy will receive the Henni Friedlander Award for the Common Good on Tuesday, October 2. The Friedlander Award was created in 2005 in honor of Henni Friedlander, the mother of Bowdoin alumnus Martin Friedlander '71. The recipient of the award is chosen by a committee that includes the chair of the Board of Trustees and the dean of Students Affairs.

By 2009, students may be able to visit a nurse, an acupuncturist, and an athletic trainer all in the same building. The College has merged plans for a new fitness center, a health center renovation, and a wellness center proposed by the Counseling Service into a single project.

A Bowdoin education is priceless. Unfortunately, it is also pricey. This year's tuition and fees total $46,260. Last year, the median American household made $48,201, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Needless to say, in order to send their kids to Bowdoin, most families need assistance.

Students have consistently given poor marks to academic advising at Bowdoin, and with last fall's reaccreditation report finally mirroring the sentiments of disappointed advisees, the College has taken steps toward reforming its academic advising program. With the appointment of advising czar Steven Cornish as the associate dean for curriculum, the administration is looking to replace a hit-or-miss system with one that could offer overwhelmed first years better guidance. This change has been a long time coming.

"Common Good Day!"?In the union, in the dining halls, in every classroom and on every door, I am reminded that the common good is promoted for no more than one day in the entire year. What does this make the other 364 days?

I am a devout Christian who, for all intents and purposes, is a political moderate, who votes Republican based on my pro-life stance. Think about that for a second. Do you hate my guts and think that I am just another misguided conservative? If so, you should continue reading.

Picture this?a big oak tree outside a high school usually used only by white students during breaks. A black student decides to sit under the tree one day, and the next day three nooses are found hanging from the tree. The students responsible get punished not with expulsion, as the principal recommended, but rather the school board confines them to the school for two weeks in an in-school suspension.

To the Editors: John Cunningham makes several interesting points in "Look to our lessons through history to deal with situation in Iraq" (September 21, 2007). Of the factors he cites as important in fighting a war of insurgency and counterinsurgency, the most significant is surely the one he labels "political support." It is indeed true that "without political support, neither side?insurgent nor counterinsurgent?can hope to win a guerilla war."

To the Editors: I read with bemusement the article about painting dormitory rooms. When I arrived in the fall of 1985 to Hyde Hall, my dormmates and I were told we could head over to the paint shop and use whatever leftovers were there to paint Hyde 31 whatever we wanted. Those of my classmates who were more artistically inclined took the opportunity to heart. The three of us in room 31 kept it more simple.

To the Editors: In last week's issue, Steve O'Connell of Orono, Maine, addressed the need for Bowdoin students to discover the opinions of Greenville residents before choosing sides in the debate over the proposed development plans for Moosehead Lake. In taking on this issue, one of our greatest concerns has been that we do not dismiss the views of Greenville residents. Though we are planning a trip up to the Moosehead region, since schoolwork and transportation barriers limit our first-hand knowledge, we rely on nonprofit advocacy groups such as the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NCRM) for information and guidance.

To the Editors: In last week's Orient, John Cunningham '10 claimed that "at least four" Republican posters were torn down due to liberal intolerance. The next time Mr. Cunningham decides to throw around accusations, I would encourage him to consider alternate causes and gather some real proof. If you walk into the Tower on almost any day you will find posters advertising theater events, language tables, liberal and conservative events alike strewn on the floor.

To the Editors: I would remind John Cunningham?who asserted here last week that his Republican posters were torn down because of a liberal bias on campus?of his poster's message. I find it ironic that he decided to make this unsubstantiated claim when his message on the poster implicates liberals of being crybabies. Which side is crying now?

Several weeks ago, students' e-mail inboxes began to fill with information about signing up to volunteer for Saturday's Common Good Day, but event director and Common Good Day fellow Jessica Horstkotte '08 has been looking forward to the event since the end of the previous school year.

Lunch at Bowdoin can be like a middle school dance: professors sit at the booths in the back of Thorne or in the faculty dinning room at Moulton, and students sit among themselves. This does not have to be the case.

As the majority of Spring/Summer 2008 Fashion Weeks conclude their span of the globe, with Milano and Paris this and next week, respectively, garmentos and fashionistas are left with exciting new methods that, before long, will revamp sleepy wardrobes.

What's one surefire way to reveal that you're hiding an illegal pet lizard in your dorm room? Order boxes of live silk worms to your Smith Union mail box, of course.

For many students, the decision to attend Bowdoin is much more than a four-year commitment. Instead, for these students, graduation brings on a new type of commitment to their Bowdoin education as they begin the process of paying off their student loans.

When Muhtasabbib Matin '10 first arrived at Bowdoin from Bangladesh, he did not know any other Muslim students. It was not until Ramadan that he met other students who shared his faith.

Prominent South African writer Zakes Mda will read from his latest novel on October 10. Mda's sixth novel, "Cion," is his first book located in America instead of South Africa. However, like several of his older novels, it contains a fusion of past and present, an integrated story that takes place in modern-day Ohio and 1830s-era Virginia.

Sometimes the lives of Ian McEwan's protagonists are ruined by grandiose catastrophe, but more often he articulates the small misunderstandings as the cause for the derailment of life's expectations. "On Chesil Beach" is McEwan's latest novel dealing with the difficulties and nuances of human relationships.

The time for Brunswick S-Hummer's Tuesday night beer tasting extravaganza is upon us again, and troop morale is dangerously low. One of my previous tasters, "Dr. P," tells me he may show up, but only for a bit. Despite leaving numerous, desperate voicemail messages, I can't track down my second taster, "the Gumster."

Unconventionality largely defines the music of SYOTOS, New York City's premier Latin jazz group. Its unique sound is a combination of salsa, dissonance, big band-style jazz, and up-tempo Afro-Latin beats.

With less than a mile to go, out of the woods emerged the pack of Bowdoin, Bates, and Tufts runners, jockeying for position in a race that was still anyone's to win. With 1200 meters left, Thompson Ogilvie '10, competing at a course 15 minutes from his home, burst forth from the others and held on to finish first of nearly 50 athletes.

The Bowdoin Women's Cross-Country Team continued its strong start to the season with a win in its second meet.

The men's and women's tennis teams both achieved great strides for the fall season by producing outstanding tournament results.

Following a successful opening at Beantown Tournament, the women's rugby team commanded a 36-0 victory at University of Maine-Farmington (UMF) to begin its regular season and heading strong into its upcoming Colby match.

Following this past weekend's MIT Invitational tournament with an even 2-2 performance, the Bowdoin Women's Volleyball Team this Wednesday led a 3-0 sweep over Bates College.

Two weekends ago at the Maine State Tournament, sponsored by Natanis Golf Club, one Polar Bear ended up at the top of the food chain. Ryan Blossom '10 won the entire tournament, carding an impressive two-day score of 151.