The Bowdoin Orient

On Tuesday afternoon, 12 students joined Director of Residential Life Mary Pat McMahon and Associate Director of Housing Operations Lisa Rendall to discuss the possibility of adopting a gender-neutral housing policy at Bowdoin. The students engaged McMahon and Rendall in conversation for the full hour of the meeting, held in the Baxter House common room, discussing the desire and need for a gender-neutral housing policy and the potential consequences such a policy might have on the campus.

Forty-five more students were planning to study abroad in the spring than the fall this year. All but ten of those students, however, have changed their minds. The Office of Residential Life did not expect these students to be on campus next semester and is adjusting its plans accordingly.

While finals loom on the horizon, students are not the only ones undergoing evaluation this semester. In fact, at least 10 professors this term opted to participate in an Ongoing Learning Evaluation (OLE) this semester. OLEs, which can occur at any point during a semester at the request of professors who want the critique, allow professors to hear candidly and from their students about how the course is going.

As students navigated course selection this week in anticipation of the deadline at 5 p.m. yesterday, they were faced with a question: what is the best way to fill out a registration card to get first choice courses? Theories abound, according to Registrar Christine Cote, and students typically attempt a number of techniques they believe will ensure as many first-choices as possible.

After receiving over 300 preliminary study abroad applications, the Office of Off-Campus Study (OCS) said that the sophomores wishing to study away during the 2010-2011 school year are equally distributed between the fall and spring semesters.

Bowdoin's many "A"s in sustainability continue to be plagued by a failing grade in endowment transparency, according to the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card. The College earned an overall "B." Following the report's release some administrators have suggested that the report is an inaccurate measure of Bowdoin's financial policies. Senior Vice President for Investments Paula Volent spoke about the unique way that Bowdoin invests its endowment money and the inaccurate reflection of those policies in the Sustainability Report Card, released annually by the Sustainable Endowments Institute.

The shelves of Hatch Science Library's third floor may be filled with test tubes rather than textbooks in years to come. "We applied in August for an NSF—National Science Foundation—Grant to renovate some space in Hatch for neuroscience and earth science," said Senior Vice President for Planning & Development and Secretary of the College Bill Torrey. The plans, however, are "very much up in the air," according to President Barry Mills,

This week, the Orient investigated the little-known process of Ongoing Learning Evaluations (OLEs), during which professors invite honest student conversation about a particularly difficult topic: themselves. During an OLE, a peer professor attends the teaching professor's class to facilitate student discussion about the effectiveness of the professor's teaching so far.

If we have so many diplomatic problems with the Middle East, why do we send them millions of dollars a day by purchasing their oil? Everyone across the political spectrum agrees that we have to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, but the similarities usually end there. The left, seeing an imminent problem with global warming and its connection to our oil and fossil fuel use, hail our energy problem as an opportunity to lower our dependence on oil and save the planet through an expanse of renewable energy.

With the recent release of the Bowdoin Blueprint for Carbon Neutrality, sustainability is again a buzzword on campus—or at least on posters and in the Student Digest. The College's plan is effective, but the methods it uses highlight a problem with many current modes of environmental thought: it is impossible for every institution and household in the U.S. to reach carbon neutrality using the same methods that Bowdoin plans to use.

The issue of gender-neutral housing, once a chief concern for our Bowdoin Student Government leaders, has manifested itself in a grassroots movement for change. Seeking to bypass the internal debate and bureaucratic hold ups of attempting a top-down reformation of our housing system, a group of frustrated students has decided to take matters into their own hands.

The House of Representatives recently passed their own bill aimed at overhauling the health care system in this country, including a robust public option. The ball now moves over to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid has spent the past few months crafting a bill he hopes will be able to navigate both the conflicting interests and the procedural hurdles of the Senate. It won't be easy, and it's not going to be pretty.

Last week, Robby Bitting '11 ate a Z-pack, slept diligently, and drained at least a keg of water. This week, he's quarantined in Brunswick Apartments with both H1N1 and a sinus infection. Despite the waves of vaccines rolling through campus and his best efforts to ward off sickness, the Swine didn't seem to care, and carried him off without a hesitation. Who knows when we'll see him again?

In light of the spate of recent articles in the Orient, it is clear that many students do not trust the Entertainment Board (E-Board). When considering the importance of live entertainment for the college experience of students and the great cost of events, it is understandable that students want a voice in the decisions being made. It is also understandable that students have felt unheard in recent years.

Over the past few years I have attended demonstrations and vigils, rung doorbells and signed petitions against the death penalty. In all that time I don't believe I've ever read as compelling an indictment of capital punishment as that provided by Caitlin Hurwit in the November 13 op-ed, "The execution of convicts is inappropriate, cruel and irreversible." Bravo!

We write to inform your readers of a disturbing incident of bias that took place near campus during Parents Weekend, and to ask members of our community to report any similar incidents to Campus Security.

Instead of working to improve student life, this week, the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) spent another meeting deliberating over the finer points of its own internal affairs and policies. Following up on an incident that happened nine weeks ago, the organization waffled over the possibility of allowing class council and BSG candidates to campaign on the Student Digest. This far into the semester, it's a shame that BSG hasn't moved on to tackling issues that affect a greater share of the student body.

At the judge's table: At the far left: Tom Colicchio a.k.a. Dorothy Pei '11, a restauranteur, whose palette is not compromised by his love of eating, will be reviewing Thorne. At the far right: Gail Simmons a.k.a. Alicia Satterly '10, a Food and Wine editor whose culinary skills have given her a refined palette, will be reviewing Moulton. The challenge: One of Bowdoin's most notorious rivalries, Thorne versus Moulton. Let the games begin.

Place: Spindleworks, 7 Lincoln Street, Brunswick, ME. Distance from campus: Seven-minute walk. Date: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Necessary gear: A smock or old t-shirt and a creative spirit. Cost: Free. From Gelato Fiasco to Big Top to The Little Dog Cafe, Maine Street offers an enjoyable break from campus. But venture further, and you will realize that there are lively nooks to be discovered around the corner. Just off of Maine Street, in a large blue house, there is a non-profit art center that specializes in helping adults with disabilities express themselves through a variety of mediums.

Last spring, Alison Bennie, the editor of Bowdoin Magazine, was faced with the task of creating a graphic symbol to represent the successful Bowdoin Campaign. Her final vision, photographs of Bowdoin students positioning their bodies into shapes of the cardinal numbers, embodies the idea that the $293 million raised by the five-year long fundraiser goes toward bettering the experience of the student body, according to Bennie. The student number photographs appear on the homepage of the Bowdoin Web site, broadcasting various statistics from the Bowdoin Campaign.

Nonexistent. When asked to describe the Bowdoin dating scene, most students we interviewed laughed and chose this word. Yet, as published in last week's edition of the Orient, 43 percent of respondents to the sex survey stated they were in monogamous, sexually active relationships. So while relationships and sex don't always coincide, for nearly half of Bowdoin students, they do. These contradictory results point to cognitive dissonance in the collective Bowdoin psyche: nearly half of us currently engage in relationships, but still we deny the reality of a dating scene.

The star of Bowdoin's newest show could trample you. Masque and Gown, in collaboration with the Department of Theater and Dance, opened its fall show, "Rhinoceros," last night. The most celebrated of French and Romanian dramatist Eugene Ionesco's plays, "Rhinoceros" confronts issues of conformity and identity in the wake of World War II.

Even in Brunswick, Maine, home of courteous drivers and friendly shop owners, kids need to get loud sometimes. Tomorrow night Teratoma, Bowdoin's only metal band, will perform new songs on campus for the first time this year. Newly-formed student band Mango Floss will open the show.

Visual art and music will unite on Sunday when The Bowdoin College Concert Band presents a multimedia experience. The musical selections to be performed examine the relationship between the often-related artforms.

Brunswick, Maine, may not show up on the fashion radars, but for fashion designer Ruthie Davis '84, the Bowdoin campus and community provided a blank canvas for her early experimentation with fashion.

In certain circles, asking where you were when you found out James Yancey—better known as Jay Dee or J Dilla—died is like asking the same question about JFK's assassination to people of a different generation. This is not an exaggeration. J Dilla was that important. His presence was huge and the void created by his absence is enormous.

When most people think of Germany and beer, they think of one thing: Oktoberfest. It's a great party, but there is typically only one type of beer served.

After racing against New England teams for the entire fall season, Bowdoin's top runners—Colman Hatton '10 and Thompson Ogilvie '10—will have the chance to show the rest of the nation what they can do when they compete in the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday.

The Polar Bears rounded out their season with a strong performance in at the University of Southern Maine in the New England Division III Championships last Saturday. Strategy helped push the women through the rainy weather and secure a solid finish on the Twin Brook Recreation Center course.

Tenacious, tough, team-oriented: Tyler Tennant '10 is one of those rare football players that coaches are dying to have, teammates want to play next to, and opponents dread lining up against.

There is no shame in losing to the Indianapolis Colts. After all, the undefeated boys in blue have had their way with nine different teams this year—four of which are over .500—and when Peyton Manning is calling the shots under center, the vast majority of the league doesn't stand a chance.

The Bowdoin field hockey team suffered its first NESCAC Tournament loss since 2004 on Saturday following late-game heroics from the Trinity College Bantams. The 2-1 semifinals loss put an end to the postseason for the Polar Bears and kept them out of the NCAA tournament for the first time in the past four seasons.

The sailing team competed in its final events of the fall season last weekend. The Polar Bears put up solid finishes and brought their season to a close on a promising note. After qualifying at the Nickerson Trophy last weekend, the team of Jimmy Rohman '13, Zac Fox '13, Katie Doble '13, and Isabel Low '13 headed back to Boston University for the Freshman Intersectional.