The Bowdoin Orient

Despite grappling with a national economic crisis and an endowment that earned minimal returns this fiscal year, Bowdoin administrators said they do not predict a tuition hike larger than normal for the 2009-2010 academic year. "We're hoping that Bowdoin isn't in that league of having to increase tuition [more than usual], and that we can stay in the 4 to 5 percent range," Senior Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Katy Longley said.

In the October 23 episode of the popular medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," observant viewers might have noticed that Dr. Shepard?played by Lewiston native Patrick Dempsey?was shown wearing a grey Bowdoin T-shirt in the opening scene for exactly two seconds.

In addition to candidates for local, state, and national seats, this year's Maine ballot will feature referenda questions about drinking and gambling. The first question, "The People's Veto," asks, "Do you want to reject the parts of a new law that change the method of funding Maine's Dirigo Health Program through charging health insurance companies a fixed fee on paid claims and adding taxes to malt liquor, wine and soft drinks?" Question 2, entitled "Citizen Initiative," reads, "Do you want to allow a certain Maine company to have the only casino in Maine, to be located in Oxford County, if part of the revenue is used to fund specific state programs?"

Beginning January 1, employees who have been juggling rising food and fuel costs alongside medical bills may rest a little easier. In the 2009 Benefits Announcement released this week, the College announced that in the upcoming year, it will cover more health care costs for employees earning a salary under $40,000 per year. According to Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Katy Longley, employees eligible for the increased benefits will not experience any increase in their annual health care contribution. Employees who fall above the $40,000 mark will have to pay a slight increase, due to increased health care costs in the area.

Remarkable efficiency kept Bowdoin Student Government's (BSG) meeting moving this week as the body spoke with Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd. President Sofia Seifert '09 opened the meeting by welcoming Judd, who promptly launched into a description of her office's range.

The Brunswick Police Department issued a summons to a Bowdoin junior for furnishing alcohol to a minor last Friday. According to Lieutenant Mark Waltz of the Brunswick Police, officers periodically visit Hannaford to specifically watch for alcohol violations. On Friday night, Waltz and another officer became suspicious after they observed the 21-year-old student and a male sophomore enter the supermarket and exchange money.

Over the summer, the cost of one year at Bowdoin surpassed the median household income in the United States. This staggering statistic makes apparent what many of us already understand: sending a child to college is a huge sacrifice. Yet here we are, and most of us have our families to thank.

There are a number of ways to understand where our tuition goes. Although the $50,920 average cost of attendance is made up of a number of different components, most of us don't think in such fragmented terms. Instead, we tend to understand tuition as the cost of an entire experience.On one end, people understand tuition as the price tag of a Bowdoin diploma—something that will grant access to opportunities in the future. At the other end, Bowdoin's tuition can be thought to fund four years of a rich learning and growing experience. No matter where students and their parents fall on this spectrum, one thing is clear: These years at Bowdoin will change us forever.

I want to make a prediction. Barack Obama is going to win the presidency next Tuesday. Hardly earth-shattering, of course, but I'd like to make a very precise forecast on the number of Electoral Votes Obama will win. I'll say more on that below.

On February 10, 2007, Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president. On April 25th of the same year, John McCain followed suit. It has now been 20 and 18 months, respectively, since these announcements were made, and next Tuesday, America will make a decision.

According to a recent Opinion piece in the Orient ("Economic crisis rooted in liberal legislation," October 24), blame for the current fiscal crisis can be laid at the feet of Democrats, who by loosening Fannie and Freddie's lending standards "forced banks to make decisions against their own best interests."

What is this? Another Bowdoin student writing a pro-Obama piece in the hallowed op-ed pages of the Orient? Before you groan and go back to reading the security report, there are a few things you might want to consider before voting next Tuesday.

The election of a president is an unusual decision in an American's life. Most important decisions are made regarding certain interests in the hopes of achieving some certain path?who we date, what career path we take, etc. And, further, we make these decisions as an individual with a great deal of autonomy. A presidential election is different.

I still remember the first time I ever told someone I was thinking about writing a column for the Opinions section of the Orient. I proposed the idea over brunch in January of my sophomore year, and my friend said in a distinguished tone, "Ah, yes?perhaps an exposé on the state of the war in Iraq?" The first column was about coming back to campus early for preseason. The following about comment cards in the dining hall.

In the October 21 issue of the Orient, the Bowdoin community was asked to respond to the question, "Should out-of-state students register to vote in Maine instead of their home state?" The following replies were submitted.

Last week's editorial ("President Obama," October 24) was ineffective because the reasons listed why we should vote for Obama are relatively minor considerations on the national agenda.

As a retired couple who has chosen to live in Brunswick, we are pleased that Bowdoin College students are taking a thoughtful look at candidates for town offices. We refer to your editorial ("Voter registration," September 26) where you say that "it is important to recognize that our votes will impact Maine's lifelong voters."

Bowdoin students and faculty predict the winner of the 2008 presidential election.

It's a sentiment that I've heard expressed throughout my three years at Bowdoin College. The academics are wonderful, the campus is beautiful, the people are friendly ?but the dating scene sucks. Why is this? In movies and sitcoms, dates don't seem too scary. I know for a fact that my parents used to do it and I think that I am at least as brave as they are. Yet here we are, surrounded by interesting, intelligent, and passionate people, and we leave Bowdoin without ever getting to know them outside of class, Moulton, or the basement of a college house.

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.

People are never exactly alike and there are a number of qualities that might set them apart from birth?that's what makes things interesting. Someone might have a knack for languages, a feel for the piano, or an easy comprehension and love of quantum physics. Others have an aptitude for art, or compassion, or problem-solving. Wealth can be viewed as another of these gifts. This is a tricky attribute to possess as a birthright; it is not a talent, but sometimes it is an attribute that people inherit. The protagonist of David Guterson's "The Other," John William Barry, spends his brief life fleeing the implications of his inheritance. His struggle prompts a question: Does one have a duty to make the best of one's gift, no matter what form it takes?

A community crowd created a lively scene in the Bowdoin Chapel on Saturday when Brunswick residents, Bowdoin faculty, and students took leave from a breezy, beautiful fall day to indulge in an afternoon of music. As the Blue Heron Renaissance Choir took the stage there were no doubts that the chapel was an appropriate habitation for 11 virtuosi, energetic and poised for performance in a semicircle around the pulpit. The program consisted of sacred and secular English song from the early 16th century. Elaborate polyphony thrived in the English Catholic tradition, but written masses and Magnificats were destroyed in droves during the Protestant Reformation. This is why, according to the choir's director, Scott Metcalfe, sacred music from early Tudor period England is so rare and special.

A month after Edward Albee graced Memorial Hall with his common hour lecture, his work will take the stage in Wish Theater as Masque and Gown presents his Pulitzer Prize-nominated "The Play About the Baby" tonight and Saturday. The play was written and first performed in England in 1998 and it premiered off-Broadway in the United States in 2001. It will have its Bowdoin premiere under the direction of Caitlin Hylan '09.

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.

Students and parents alike, clear your schedule this weekend. After all the turmoil in the 2008 men's soccer season, the team could have home field advantage in the NESCAC playoffs. Maybe. The Polar Bears are in a critical situation. If they manage to beat Tufts this afternoon here in Brunswick, fourth place or better and home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs will fall into their hands.

Molly Duffy '11 led a scoring frenzy as the women's soccer team came out strong last Saturday, crushing NESCAC rival Colby 4-0. With this win, the Polar Bears improved their record to 7-3-3 on the season, 4-2-2 in the NESCAC. Bowdoin is currently ranked No. 4 in the NESCAC.

Buoyed by the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week and three forced turnovers by its defensive unit, the Bowdoin Football Team won its second game of the season at Wesleyan on the road. The 17-10 victory put the Polar Bears (2-4) in a position to finish .500 and gives the team momentum heading into two tough games against rivals Bates and Colby that will decide the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) Championship. Junior Oliver Kell was superb at quarterback for the Polar Bears, amassing 342 of the team's 392 yards of total offense and winning Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career.

After coming in seventh with mixed results at last weekend's Hall of Fame Tournament, women's volleyball came back on Wednesday to sweep Endicott after having lost to the Gulls twice earlier in the season. On Wednesday, hopes were high as Bowdoin worked toward turning the table on Endicott at long last. More than mere vindication seemed to rest on the outcome of the game.

Bowdoin sailors faced some big breezes and waves this weekend, but resulting top-10 finishes in three different regattas proved that they were up to the challenge. Headlining the weekend performances was Alex Takata '12, who won the C-division at the Rudolph Oberg Trophy at the MIT Sailing Pavilion.

I'm not much of a crier, but the tears certainly have been flowing lately. There comes a time in every athlete's life when he (or she, because admittedly 99 percent of the female athletes at this school are more athletic than me and could beat me in a fight) realizes that it's over and that his life will never, ever be the same again.

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.