The Bowdoin Orient

"If you ask for an athlete's reaction after winning a race, he'll be happy, but he won't be surprised," said Willy Oppenheim III '09. "It's not a random thing that happens to you. You make it happen." Oppenheim was one of 32 Americans awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, chosen this year from a group of 805 U.S. applicants.

Yesterday, students traded coats for cut-offs as the temperature rose to a record-breaking, balmy 68 degrees, beating out the date's previous all-time high: 55 degrees.

Two weeks ago, we applauded the professors who elected to partake in the College’s Ongoing Leaning Evaluation (OLE) program and encouraged students who were OLE participants to provide thoughtful feedback. Few of us have had the opportunity to take part in an OLE this semester, but all of us will fill out end-of-semester course evaluation forms.

The wall between church and state, once a peaceful and tolerant place, has become a battle zone. On one side the proponents of secular government fight for a secular public sphere. On the other side religious conservatives struggle to preserve remnants of this nation's undeniable Christian history. When Thomas Jefferson first described the wall between church and state it was in the context of a very Christian, very masculine nation.

The most recent issue of the Orient had two pieces about the prospect of an upperclassmen gender-neutral housing policy. At the moment, only students of the same gender are allowed to share a bedroom; gender-neutral housing at Bowdoin would change this. I am glad that the College is beginning to discuss this possible shift in housing policy, for our rooming situations have a significant influence on our time at Bowdoin.

By encouraging Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) to refrain from taking Communion, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence, has placed himself at a unique position in the current debate on the separation between church and state. After publicly criticizing the Catholic Church for threatening to oppose the current health care proposal unless it expressly prohibited government-funded abortions, Kennedy apparently received a letter from the bishop asking the representative to abstain from taking Communion.

A few weeks ago I went on a date. Yes, friends, a real date. In a brief and rare moment of clarity and courage, I approached a guy I barely knew and eventually we went to town for sushi and gelato. Although the evening itself was surprisingly easygoing and fun, circumstances surrounding the night have forced me to rethink what dating means at Bowdoin and why it is perceived as being so difficult and terrifying.

Date Week is here. Some people will ignore it, some will use it as an excuse to take a risk and go on a date. A few couples might even get together. But Date Week also reminds us that, as a whole, Bowdoin isn't happy with its dating scene.

Last spring, I and the other sophomores planning on going abroad during spring semester were told to think hard about our choice. To help us think, we all had to attend a meeting in Cleveland 151, which to my knowledge is reserved for scary mandatory meetings and the class "Death." There, Residential Life, the Off-Campus Study Office and assorted others made a convincing case for switching semesters.

Gender-neutral housing at Bowdoin is a necessary step to create a more just, equal and free environment for all students. The present system relies upon and upholds assumptions of a heteronormative gender binary, and in the process marginalizes students who do not fit into this limited mold while restricting the freedom of all students. Why not have gender-neutral housing? The recent arguments against gender-neutral housing presented in these pages have been both intellectually untenable and alarmingly narrow in their understanding of the Bowdoin student population.

Lately there has been a lot of discussion about gender-neutral housing. A common question is why, if there exists an exception clause, has this initiative been put forth? Residential Life's exception clause provides students an opportunity to explain their exceptional circumstances in order to gain consideration in the lottery. However, this exception clause presents two issues.

In the November 20 issue, Craig Hardt wrote in his article ("A gender neutral housing policy is unnecessary and problematic"), "If living with members of an opposite sex is as important to Bowdoin students as some seem to make it out to be, I want to know how many students would actually want to do so...I'm all ears, Bowdoin."

Oh, the orgasm, a happy state of transcendental bliss, somewhere between a sunrise and a volcanic eruption. The orgasm is a complicated thing, engaging all the systems of the body in a grand symphony of sensation, leaving you feeling relaxed, fulfilled and exhausted. Having an orgasm can be a very personal experience, or an incredible, shared moment. Hopefully your share it with just your partner, rather than your entire floor who heard you moaning last Saturday night.

Not many schools have an academic calendar like the one Bowdoin has. The school allocates a long four weeks for Winter Break and two weeks for Spring Break, but only a mere five days off for Thanksgiving, including the weekend. While the calendar may seem odd to some students, the administration has the layout of the academic calendar down to a science.

A new set of kids is on the scene. The music scene, that is.

Dr. McDreamy isn't the only Bowdoin graduate in the television and film industry. On Thursday, Allen Baldwin '99 premiered his film "Up Up Down Down" at The Nickelodeon in Portland.

It's that time of year again: finals are around the corner, Winter Break is in the near future, and Hawthorne- Longfellow Library is packed full with students who are only awake because of Red Bull and 30-minute naps. That's right, 2009 is slowly coming to an end.

When a captivating premise and a star-studded cast do not save a film, one must stand back and wonder what has gone horribly, horribly wrong. "The Men Who Stare at Goats" is like the unformulated subconscious of a rich artistic hippie who couldn't be bothered with newspapers, who awoke one morning and decided today was the day he should do his patriotic duty and bash the government. So he makes a film.

While most people dread the winter, beer enthusiasts embrace the colder months with open arms, aware of the delicious elixirs breweries save for this special time of year. Hats, boots and multiple layers are superfluous once you understand that the best cold-weather protection comes in liquid form.

Like many artistic alumni, Theo Salter '07 came to Bowdoin with an interest in developing his passion for theater and taking advantage of the academic diversity that Bowdoin has to offer.

The women's basketball team bested the Huskies at the University of Southern Maine Tuesday by a score of 60-47. The win marks the team's first victory over rival USM since December 2003.

This year's new budget constraints and roster limits haven't stopped Bowdoin Athletics from keeping a "business as usual" mindset.

The men's ice hockey team is preparing for a homestand this weekend, during which they will face two conference opponents. The Polar Bears will take the ice against Skidmore on Saturday evening, looking to avenge last year's loss to the Thoroughbreds, and will face off against Castleton on Sunday.

The men's and women's squash teams began their season at Harvard on November 21 with strong showings. The men defeated Connecticut College 6-3, Hamilton College 9-0, and MIT 9-0. The women defeated Connecticut College 6-3 and Wellesley 9-0 before faltering at the hands of the Hamilton Continentals 9-0.

It's the worst thing tied to our nation's third state since Zach Braff's painfully abortive efforts to produce a unique romantic comedy with Natalie Portman, and now, it's official: the New Jersey Nets have started the 2009-10 season at 0-18.