The Bowdoin Orient

As hard times grow harder, Bowdoin is tightening its belt. While the current economic crisis has severely limited the expansion of facilities, faculty, and other college programs, President Barry Mills said that the College is economically "secure." "The message is that all of our staff positions are secure, all of our faculty positions are secure," Mills told the Orient. "Our financial aid support is secure, and that fundamentally, everything that we're doing, everything that comprises the core strength at Bowdoin is secure."

Students living in off-campus housing in Brunswick may think twice before cranking up the bass at the next party they host. On Monday, the Brunswick Town Council passed the Disorderly House Ordinance at its bi-weekly meeting. Though the ordinance fines landlords?not residents?of houses that repeatedly engage in disorderly conduct, it has implications for Bowdoin students living in off-campus housing.

Though Nobel Laureate Robert Solow will vote for Barack Obama on Election Day, he disagrees with the Senator's support for imposing higher international environmental standards on poor countries.

Students living in the apartments at 10 Cleaveland Street were informed in an e-mail Thursday afternoon that they should limit the number of visitors to their apartments because the building may not be structurally safe for large gatherings. In the e-mail, Director of Residential Life Mary Pat McMahon wrote, "Each apartment in Cleaveland Street should limit visitors to no more than three or four guests at any given time. The structure is quite safe as a residence, but it should not be used for large gatherings."

In the first of this year's Board of Trustees meetings, all eyes focused on the sorry state of the economy and its impact on Bowdoin. "This meeting was dominated by discussion of what's happening in the financial market and what impact it may have on the College and its finances," said Senior Vice President for Planning & Development and Secretary of the College Bill Torrey. "Nearly all of it was talking about how we're going to prepare ourselves."

With annual reports from the Student Judicial Board and the Sexual Assault and Misconduct Board, a discussion about the pending Health Center investigation, and a contentious vote to extend the mandatory adjournment time, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) representatives had their hands full at Wednesday's meeting.

For the third time in a month, the Office of Safety and Security has issued an alert for a man identified for following a female student. Brunswick resident Michael C. Barry, 19, was issued a criminal trespass warning on Thursday after trailing a female Bowdoin student in his red 1995 Cadillac El Dorado late Wednesday night.

With less than two weeks until November 4, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are both fiercely campaigning in an effort to sway undecided voters. As college students living in uncertain times, we feel certain that Obama is the best candidate for the presidency. Senator Obama, in addition to possessing the courage and intelligence needed to lead the country, has laid out policies that will benefit college students in the years to come.

Today, from the highest levels of business to the smallest local enterprises, there is concern about the future of the economy. People are afraid for their homes and employment, and are yearning for a leader who will take affirmative steps to address the crisis. That leader is Senator Barack Obama.

So last Friday I went to see Tom Allen in Smith Union. Afterwards I waited in line to shake his hand and meet him. Just as I began to speak to him, a woman shouted to Mr. Allen, "No, don't talk to him. He is a Republican!" Then Tom walked off without a word to me. Now I don't know whether she was an employee of the college, a Campaign staffer or merely a deluded transient woman, but I was shocked by her display of partisanship.

Re-reading George Orwell's classic 1946 essay "Politics and the English Language" with my Global Media seminar, I was struck by how closely his argument about the mutually corrupting relationship of language and politics fits the often incoherent sloganeering of the Republican campaign trail. Euphemistic jargon is still used to hide uncomfortable truth, as when torture is disguised as "enhanced interrogation techniques," and perfectly respectable words are still rendered meaningless by repeated misuse.

Barack Obama announced this week that his campaign raised $150 million in September. Imagine the money rolling in: $5 million a day; $208,000 an hour; $3,470 a minute; $58 every second of the day. And keep in mind the context: Obama opted out of the public funding system, which would have given him $85 million after his convention and limited him to spending that much for all of September and October. By contrast, McCain opted into the system, and cannot raise (with some exceptions) any money in the final eight weeks of the election. The imbalance in funds begs an important question: If Obama wins, could we say he "bought" the election?

In the October 17 issue of the Orient, the Bowdoin community was asked to respond to the question, "Are you satisfied with Bowdoin's social scene?" The following replies were submitted.

In last week's editorial ("Financial Fitness," October 17) the Orient's editorial board infers that Bowdoin College's commitment to a new Fitness, Health, and Wellness Center with facilities for yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, acupuncture, and massage is a luxury. I disagree.

I didn't feel as though the op-ed about the Mansion party last week ("In defense of the 'Mansion,'" October 17) addressed the way that Ladd house promoted their party. It's all well and good that Ladd was attempting to "celebrate the Mansion and not the contemporary magazine," but I am curious as to how that message was supposed to reach the campus when posters with the Playboy bunny on them were plastered all over the union.

Your editorial on voter registration was spot on ("Voter registration," September 26). Remember the long lines in February? Please reregister.

Your October 3 editorial correctly notes that "the endowment plays an important role at Bowdoin, both now and in the future." Where it errs is in inferring from this that students ought to become more involved with, and informed about, how the endowment works.

Elders DeGomez and Gammell stand out from the other patrons of the Brunswick Public Library. Dressed in nearly identical black pants, collared shirts, and plain ties, the two young men sit politely on a bench while the more casually-dressed duck into the library to hide from the rain. Their nametags confirm that they are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon church. Both are from "away," Arizona and Utah respectively, and are making a stop in Brunswick on their two-year mission.

About this time three years ago, I lay on my back, listlessly staring up at the stained and dingy ceiling of the Coleman basement. Both of my roommates had long since drifted off into calm and rejuvenating slumber, leaving me awake and alone in that moonlit dungeon I'd begun to call home. I couldn't sleep, you see, because my mind was alive and raging in dire abandon?recalling dark and sweaty encounters in Chilean discotecas, frivolous lawn romps at graduation parties, steamy hot tub indulgences, and nostalgic tributes to auld lang syne in the back seats of cars. I couldn't sleep because I'd never been tested for sexually transmitted infections.

"No one in their right mind would want to go through OCS again," says Jack Dingess '09, who has spent 12 weeks training to become an officer in the United States Marine Corps. But the rewards of being a Marine officer are worth it to four Bowdoin students. "It's awful right now, but it's so worth the price you're paying," says Mike Dooley '10.

It was a chilly autumn day?one where you could see your breath?but nevertheless, five senior girls marched out to the center of the field, dressed in the most decadent skimpy dresses (the kind that end above the knee) their wardrobes would allow. In that group stood four popular girls, and it was assumed that one of those four would win the crown of Homecoming Queen. But something magical happened that day on the halftime field. The band quieted, and the names of each young lady blared across the stadium. Each of the four popular girls stood in anticipation of her crown. Then, shock: As announcer named the Homecoming Queen, the four popular girls dropped their jaws in horror, and the girl at the end?the girl that everyone forgot about, the nice one, the kind one?stepped forward and received her crown. The popular girls were livid. On that Homecoming Day of parades and floats, of football and heaping doses of school spirit, it was this Cinderella-story of the girl that everyone wrote off prevailing over the four popular, evil stepsisters. Some force broke the typical high school social constructs and allowed a special moment for an unsuspecting girl: magic for one night. In a word, special. This was my highschool homecoming.

To open this week's column, which is written in honor of Coming Out Week last week, I'd like to start with a quote from one of my favorite movies, "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Dessert." A bit of context: the movie follows three drag queens as they drive to the center of Australia for a show. Along the way, they discuss everything from outfits to dance numbers to homophobia. Here's a choice conversation about sexual orientation:

Normally, when students think of Farley Field House, they might be reminded of cut-off football jerseys, eye black, and pre-orientation sleepovers. This Saturday night, however, Bowdoin's athletic facility will be transformed when Bowdoin's radio station, WBOR, presents the Canadian indie rock band Broken Social Scene.

We are in the presence of genius. As with all staggering geniuses, they have beards. Just like Randy Nichols's security report, it is my duty to make you all aware of these beards. These beards go by the name Foxes.

As the recent events of the 2008 presidential race become popular fodder for late night comedy and sketch routines, the bumbles of the current administration seem to be slowly fading from memory. But Saturday Night Live has nothing on Oliver Stone. Famous for his leftist cinematic controversies, Stone has delivered to the American public "W.," a satirical journey through the life of the 43rd U.S. president, beginning with his Yale fraternity days and concluding with his first term in office and the present war in Iraq.

Scholars often question the authenticity of William Shakespeare's prolific and impressive canon, but in Jess Winfield's "My Name is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs, and Shakespeare," one aspect of his life is certain?it was a party. Winfield leaves many questions unanswered: Is it really plausible that the son of a tanner from Stratford-Upon-Avon could be the master of the theater? He had only a limited formal education, so how does one explain his immense vocabulary? But while Winfield does not try to prove or debunk the real identity of Shakespeare, he offers an engaging spin on the playwright's life in his debut novel.

The Bowdoin Polar Bears defended their Maine State Men's Cross Country Title at Twin Brooks last Saturday, topping Bates and Colby amid a field of 10. The key to the victory was team strength, said Coach Peter Slovenski.

Not many have noticed it, but the women's rugby team is undefeated. The team beat University of Maine?Orono 22-5 to add to its perfect season record. This is its first undefeated season since 1995. The Bears have outscored their opponents 186-27 on the season.

Former Bowdoin basketball standout Jordan Fliegel '08 signed a contract with Hapoel Jerusalem, an Israeli Premier Division professional basketball team, on September 24. Last spring, Fliegel found himself in the same boat as many of his classmates: figuring out what to do once he received his diploma.

With cross country alumni cheering, a course they had run on countless times before, and the state title they earned last year, the women's cross country squad felt right at home at the Maine State Championships this past Homecoming weekend.

Sarah D'Elia '09 of the women's tennis team was honored with the Lindsay Morehouse award last weekend, closing the fall season with a bang after the Polar Bears fought hard in the New England Women's Invitational Tennis Tournament (NEWITT) at Amherst. D'Elia and Brett Davis '10 played together in the A-Flight bracket and reached the quarterfinals, where Amherst defeated them.

The triumph of women's volleyball over Trinity last Saturday provided an uplifting contrast to Bowdoin's other face-offs with the Bantams that day. While football, women's soccer, and field hockey each met defeat against Trinity, Bowdoin Women's Volleyball crushed the Bantams with a 3-0 sweep.

After an upsetting Homecoming loss, 2-0 to Trinity, the Bowdoin Women's Soccer Team fought to return to a winning track, topping Husson on Sunday but falling to Brandeis on Thursday. The Polar Bears traveled down to Brandeis for a late non-conference game on Thursday. Action would not take long to develop as the Judges scored within the first two minutes of the game.