The Bowdoin Orient

Four Brunswick males started their evening using the public computers in Smith Union; an hour and a half later they had been ejected from campus by Security and were lying in slush on South Street on the wrong side of a Brunswick Police officer's Taser. Three of the four men have been issued criminal trespass warnings by the Brunswick Police Department (BPD) and will be arrested if they set foot on campus again; the fourth has yet to be issued a warning.

As the presidential candidates smile, spin, and spend their way toward November, some students might feel tempted to be cynical about the nation's electoral process. Perhaps it will hearten them to know that election reform is high on someone's agenda: A special committee headed by Will Hales '08 is currently exploring ways to improve Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) elections.

Following Monday's faculty vote on Credit/D/Fail, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) spent part of its Wednesday meeting discussing the group's effort voicing its opinion on the motion (see story, page 1). Despite the faculty's decision, BSG President Dustin Brooks '08 said that BSG's presence at Monday's vote represents "the biggest student activism to surround a policy issue since 1993," when the faculty decided to abolish fraternities.

Due to the resignations of Class of 2011 Vice President Isa Abney and Community Service Officer Andrew Edwards '09, elections?beginning on Wednesday and ending Thursday?were held to fill the positions. Abney will be succeeded by Grant Easterbrook, who received 71 votes.

Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton will be on campus today, speaking to students and guests at 6 p.m. in a location to be announced. Clinton is campaigning for her mother, Senator Hillary Clinton, who is locked in a battle with Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

The faculty may vote as early as next week on a measure that would forbid students in the Class of 2012 and beyond from using the Credit/D/Fail option in classes taken to fulfill distribution requirements. The Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee (CEP) is expected to submit a motion at Monday's faculty meeting addressing the question and recommending that the body vote in favor of the rule change.

Bowdoin students, along with Maine residents across the state, will soon head to school gyms and town halls to participate in the upcoming Republican and Democratic caucuses. The Republican caucuses last from Friday until Sunday; the Bowdoin Republicans have endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Last week marked the kick-off of Recyclemania, a nationwide recycling competition among colleges. As the magnitude of our future environmental challenges becomes increasingly apparent, we should feel more compelled than ever to make changes. We have the power to make minor adjustments in our daily lives to reduce our impact on the environment.

February can be tough. With cold weather and slushy footpaths, no vacations, and accumulating schoolwork, the month can be a drag for many students. While spirits may not be at their highest this time of year on campus, the Dining Service puts in extra effort this month to keep things interesting. With themed dinners like "Just Like Home" and "Chinese New Year," the staff makes every effort spice things up when everything else seems bland.

Monday's faculty meeting was a frustrating experience. As we sat in Daggett Lounge and watched our professors overwhelmingly vote against the position on Credit/D/Fail that we had so aggressively pursued, we couldn't help but be disappointed.

As those who have been following the presidential race know, John Edwards recently made his exit. In his 2004 campaign, Edwards frequently talked about "two Americas," describing a country where the rich have everything and the poor have nothing.

To the Editors: I wish to thank, on behalf of New York Giants fans nationwide, Chris Adams-Wall, for picking the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XLII. Once more, his remarkably consistent record of predictions held true.

Bowdoin students will have several opportunities to exercise their democratic rights in coming weeks. On Monday, the faculty may vote to forbid students from taking required classes Credit/D/Fail, and Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) is encouraging students to participate in this important curricular question by assembling peaceably outside Daggett Lounge. As the state caucuses approach, students registered in Maine will also have the opportunity to engage with national politics by helping Maine choose its favored presidential candidates.

A few weeks ago, Stanley Fish wrote a blog entry that I spotted on The New York Times website: "Will The Humanities Save Us?" "It is not the business of the humanities to save us," he writes.

To the Editors: I was dismayed to read first John Simko's opinion piece ("Bowdoin students have no right to protest Plum Creek development plan", Nov. 30, 2007) and then Erik Stumpfel's letter ("Bowdoin students should rethink stances on Moosehead plans," Jan. 25, 2008). These letters smack of narrow-minded thinking and the stereotype that people "from away" lack a right to voice their opinions.

To the Editors: I had several different emotions when I heard about Bowdoin's new policy to eliminate student loans. First and foremost it made me proud, albeit a little jealous. As an alumnus I have donated to the school each and every year since graduation almost five years ago.

To the Editors: Last week's letter by J. Michael End ("Medical malpractice suits did not increase for Maine doctors," Jan. 25, 2008) was unfounded. In response to Lockhart's accusation that there has been an increase in medical liability lawsuits ("Health care costs rise with medical liability lawsuits," Dec. 7, 2007), Mr. End simply argues that "in reality, there has been no increase."

I partied in the rain at Pine Fest and weathered freezing temperatures on Halloween night in a bathrobe. I have trudged in the snow from Stowe Inn to Crackhouse at 1 a.m. just to see what was going on there. According to many of my peers, I have earned the title of an official party connoisseur at Bowdoin due to my dogged dedication to high fun levels and my keen acumen for predicting how a weekend will turn out here.

The Fashion Week frenzy is back, following last month's presentations of Men's Autumn/Winter 2008/09 collections in Paris and Milan, as well as the Haute Couture Spring 2008 collections, also in Paris.

Nervous about your first time donating blood? Don't worry?so is Katherine Gribble '09.

After a less than stellar response to the last campus-wide concert, the Bowdoin Campus Activities Board has responded by bringing a more exciting artist to Bowdoin this week. Tonight at 7 p.m., the doors of Pickard Theater will open and folksy rock act Ben Kweller will take the stage.

"Cloverfield," directed by Matt Reeves and produced by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias), is an 85 minute, sensory roller-coaster ride worth experiencing. Filmed from the perspective of a hand-held video recorder, this sci-fi movie reels the audience into the pandemonium of a modern day Godzilla rampage through realistic camera angles and appropriate "HEEELP, everyone is going to die" auditory effects.

In 2007, a new hierarchy established itself in the video game industry. The Nintendo Wii remained a national phenomenon that was one of the must-have impulse buys of the year. The Xbox 360 consistently churned out hits and maintained the highest software attachment rate of any of the modern consoles despite falling behind the Wii in hardware sales. The Playstation 3 proved itself attractive to those types of people who do not like to have many games worth playing.

Death is expected in Irish narratives. Families in the double digits and a range of plights and despairs are familiar themes. Politics, religion and complicated sex are somehow fundamental fixtures. Anne Enright's fourth novel and 2007's winner of the Man Booker prize, "The Gathering," has these attributes imbued with an additional tone of subdued frenzy.

Top five desert island albums? RW, AT, AS: Beach Boys's "Pet Sounds," the "Rent" soundtrack, the "Wicked" soundtrack, the "Les Miserables" soundtrack, Dave Matthews Band's "Under the Table and Dreaming." Theme song on a Monday morning? RW: "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles. AT: "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" from the "Oklahoma!" soundtrack. AS: "My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music."

Loss is the most deeply entrenched theme that winds itself through Nadine Gordimer's most recent collection of short stories. The departures that occur in this collection are caused by death, circumstance, and the frequent, strange twists of life. "Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black and Other Stories" is representative of the South African author's firm grasp on the pulse of the post-Apartheid nation and the strains on identity and love that have come into currency due to the shrunken scale of the modern world.

Pianist Anastasia Antonacos has quite a resume. A solo and group performer, a teacher, and an advocate for the arts, Antonacos is a musician in the finest sense of the word. Antonacos returns to Maine and will perform at a Bowdoin Tea Time Concert, having already performed around the world.

The men's basketball team defeated non-conference foe, Babson College, 71-57 on Wednesday night. With the victory, the Bears finished a five-game stretch of away contests at a successful 4-1. The only blemish on the record came against the No.1-ranked Amherst College Jeffs last Saturday night. Senior Andrew Hippert led all scorers on Wednesday with 19 points. As a team, the Polar Bears lit up Staake Gymnasium, shooting an impressive 65.9 percent from the floor.

After an eight-week hiatus from competition, the Bowdoin men's and women's swim and dive teams returned to action in a tri-meet at Wesleyan last Saturday. The women, undefeated so far this season, swept the competition by defeating both Wesleyan 164-132 and Trinity 225-72. The men's team split the meet with a victory over Trinity 194-85 and a loss to Wesleyan 80-212.

Bowdoin squash swept through the second-ever NESCAC championship tournament last weekend, with the women finishing in fifth place and the men in their highest finish yet, fourth place. The women improved on their seed ranking by two spots, moving from No. 7 up to fifth over the course of the weekend, while the men held onto their No. 4 seed.

The men's soccer team finished a strong and successful season months ago, but some notable seniors have followed their soccer dreams into the world of professional leagues. Senior Nick Figueiredo finished the season as Bowdoin's most decorated soccer star. Figueiredo set the Bowdoin points record (88) and goal record (35), and was named NESCAC Player of the Year, First Team All-NESCAC for the third straight year, as well as First Team All-New England. Most notably, Figueiredo was a First Team All-American, only the fifth Bowdoin athlete to be named to the team.

The women's ice hockey team defeated Williams on Saturday, yet was unable to pull off a win against the No. 1-ranked Middlebury Panthers on Sunday. The Polar Bears topped Williams 6-3, and met their season record for the highest number of goals scored in a single game. Sophomore Shana Natelson was a strong contributor, scoring two goals for the Bears, including the eventual game-winner.