The Bowdoin Orient

Aijalon Mahli Gomes '01 was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and fined the equivalent of $700,000 on Tuesday for illegally entering North Korea across the Chinese border on January 25, according to the Washington Post.

What's in a name? According to the students and faculty within the newly unveiled Department of Earth and Oceanographic Science—formerly the geology department—quite a bit.

And they're off! Several students kicked off the race for Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) positions with a debate at Jack Magee's Pub on Monday night.

A group of approximately 30 Bowdoin students and community members braved the waters of Popham Beach to raise money for Camp Sunshine last Saturday. The dip was Bowdoin's first official Polar Plunge fundraiser.

The Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) spent its Wendesday night meeting discussing how to improve Bowdoin's distribution requirements and what could be done to help first year students make their schedules. No proposals were voted on.

On Wednesday, a team of professors received the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Grant to conduct research on global change in the Gulf of Maine. The Bowdoin team was one of 25 to receive the $1.5 million grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). One hundred twelve universities and research institutions applied for the three-year long award.

Despite the sweeping changes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will bring to health insurance policies in the United States, the effect it will have on Bowdoin remain unclear.

Purple-clad people will join the posters and balloons on campus today in promoting awareness for Bowdoin's Relay for Life.

Students voting in the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) elections this week will have one easy decision to make: John Connolly '11 for BSG President. While his experience qualifies him for the position, it's unfortunate that Connolly's presidency will be secured merely by a lack of opposition, rather than a show of voter confidence in an atmosphere of competition.

I'm not a scientist. As much as I pride myself on interpreting and understanding the news, stories about science and scientific claims often leave me baffled and unsure as to whom I should believe. I don't mean that I'm so confused as to think intelligent design is credible or that evolution isn't fact, but confused enough to be skeptical of the latest scientific study.

This week, I attended a lecture by Writer-in-Residence Jane Brox on imagining place. She discussed the delicate interplay of time, space and memory that goes on in our minds as we develop a sense of place. Brox's topic seemed poignant to me in light of the juncture we find ourselves at. As spring returns to Maine, we rediscover our feeling of space as we reinhabit the campus and the town.

The Princeton Review currently ranks Bowdoin's food second in the nation, and I'm pretty sure that all Bowdoin students feel that ranking is accurate. Yet, while students are exposed daily to dining hall food, few are aware of the meticulous process that the Dining Service undergoes in deciding where Bowdoin's food comes from.

The nonpartisan Rasmussen polling company shows Republicans leading Democrats by significant margins on every major political issue: the economy, national security, Iraq, education, immigration, Social Security, taxes and, not surprisingly, health care. With seven months to go before the midterm election some Democrats feel they have time to change the national mood.

Are students upset with the current stepped-up presence of Brunswick police during weekend parties, or with the long-standing ban on hard alcohol consumption? How have these policies affected their behavior? How do Bowdoin students feel about President Barack Obama, and how closely do students follow politics in the news?

Your February 26 editorial "Alcohol Action," lauded the extension of Saturday grill hours, at the behest of the Alcohol Team, as clear "action," which signals "how seriously we take" the problem of alcohol abuse.

For many Bowdoin students—particularly older and wiser upperclassmen—warm weather and spring on campus can only mean one thing: Ivies Weekend. It's just around the corner, and with it will come the most energetic showing of campus spirit at the College all year, from the robust attendance on the (hopefully) sun-soaked Quad for Saturday's Spring Concert to the mass exoduses to Harpswell and Pine Street on Friday and Saturday nights. These outdoor events, open to all, are the ones that leave us smiling through the grind of finals and graduation goodbyes.

Any celebratory moments for the Congressional Democratic leadership following the passage of the historic health care bill on March 21 were quickly staunched as death threats and harassing phone calls began pouring into the offices of senators and members of Congress who had voted for the bill.

As part of a nationwide pledge signed by Mills to eventually eliminate the College's carbon emissions, a College committee began meeting in the fall of 2007 to determine how the campus could achieve carbon neutrality, the Orient reported. The committee, which consisted of the faculty, staff and one student on the College's Environmental Action Committee, was charged with establishing a process for fulfilling the pledge's five steps, as designated by the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.

Record-breaking numbers of applicants over the years went hand-in-hand with increased competition among applicants. In April of 2007, then-Dean of Admissions Shain said the acceptance rate for the Class of 2011, which stood at 18.5 percent overall with only 16 percent admitted in the regular round, was "brutal." In addition to a 10-percent increase in the number of applicants for 2011, the College admitted fewer students in order to keep the size of the first year class small, and to leave space for applicants on the wait list, according to Shain.

The College announced in April 2007 that a Center for the Common Good was scheduled to open by the fall of 2008, and would serve as a central campus resource for supporting, teaching, and researching activities "grounded in community engagement and public service," the Orient reported.

The Challenge: Moulton's Angel Food Cake versus Thorne's Strawberry Shortcake

As I hurried into the cozy Wine Bar in downtown Portland, already 35 minutes late and discombobulated after a week with three midterms and an orgo quiz, I felt relieved that I was finally meeting up with one of my closest friends for a relaxing night. I was excited to reminisce with someone who feels like a sister to me after several months of not seeing each other. But alas, as with many of my close girlfriends, her sex questions poured in immediately. "So what should I do about this god damn dry spell, girl?," she said, between sips of pinot noir. To be perfectly honest, I really didn't have a good answer, at least not immediately. For one, I am not a senior, and therefore, I can't totally relate. I also happen to be happily satisfied with the relationship that I'm in, and it's hard for me to imagine single life right now. "I'll get back to you," I told her, rather hesitantly. Since then, I've given this "dry spell" some serious thought, and here's what I've come up with.

Following months of debate, the faculty voted 45 to 29 to add pluses and minuses to Bowdoin's grading system, beginning in the 2002-2003 academic year. According to a January 25, 2002 Orient article, changes to the system of grading had not occurred since 1954, when Bowdoin adopted a plus/minus system in place of an "ABCDF" system. In 1967, Bowdoin revised the system again, and instituted a grading scale with the distinctions of High Honors, Honors, Pass, or Fail.

Over the decade, Bowdoin students, staff and faculty have committed a significant amount of time and resources to expanding the diversity—based on race, sexuality, gender and economic status—of the campus community.

For the second night of renowned jazz performance this semester, Bowdoin welcomes acclaimed artist Cedar Walton tonight.

While stages on Bowdoin's campus are consistently filled with impressive productions, there are certainly times that students crave some off-campus theater. For those of you who find yourself in this situation, Portland Stage Company in down-town Portland should definitely be on your radar.

Do you instantly recognize the slogans "Just Do It" and "Got Milk?" Did you choose an Apple laptop because it looked a certain way? Do you leave the font in Microsoft Word as size 12 Times New Roman or do you change it immediately?

People that have gone through a Bowdoin winter are funny: the moment the thermometer reaches 50 degrees, it's flip flops and T-shirts for the rest of the school year. This year the transition from winter to spring felt especially abrupt; the sun, warm weather and reappearance of life on campus was a shock to my senses. To make things even better, I had recently found the perfect album to go along with the warmth of spring.

Before Spring Break we sunk more than a few hours (and dollars) into the Belgian Beer Fest at Lion's Pride. It was awesome! We experienced some pretty rare stuff, from hard to find Belgian beers from brewers like Smisje and De Dolle to Allagash's first ever "Cool Ship" batch of spontaneously fermented beer. Unfortunately, we didn't really coordinate our efforts well enough to turn the Beer Fest into a column unto itself.

CHRIS OMACHI '12 AND LON NUNLEY '12

Following a year-long search for a sculpture and architecture professor, the visual arts department announced yesterday that artist Alicia Eggert will join the visual arts faculty next semester as an assistant professor.

Starting in Washington, D.C. and making their way down to South Carolina, the Bowdoin College Meddiebempsters charmed audiences as they toured the South this past Spring Break. In the recent past, the group has toured in the Mid-Atlantic, New England and Southern California.

The torch has been passed. Baseball travelled to Hartford this past weekend to face the Trinity College team that had not lost a NESCAC series since 2007 and was ranked No. 4 in the country. Bowdoin won two out of three and dethroned Trinity from its long-held perch atop the NESCAC.

The No. 18-ranked women's lacrosse team bested ninth-ranked Colby 14-7 in Waterville on Wednesday evening. Wednesday's win improved the Polar Bears' record to 4-1 in the conference and 6-3 overall for the season.

Over the past six years, Bowdoin's athletic medical services have risen from the bottom of its conference to the top of Division III, according to Athletic Director Jeff Ward.

Coming off three straight victories over M.I.T., Connecticut College and Tufts this past weekend, the men's tennis team improved their record to 8-2. The No. 13-ranked Polar Bears will look to continue their winning streak this weekend as they head into difficult NESCAC competition.

After scoring two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead, the Bowdoin softball team defeated Tufts on Friday for the first time since 2004. During the back-and-forth nail biter, neither team ever led by more than one run.

On Saturday, the men's track team will be competing in the New Hampshire Invitational at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). In addition to UNH and Bowdoin, the University of Southern Maine, Quinnipiac and Colby-Sawyer will also be competing.

In the very first fencing tournament of his life, P.J. Lariviere '13 took first place in the foil division at the Vacationland Open at Monmouth Academy last weekend. After going 4-1 in the opening pool, Lariviere went 4-0 in the direct elimination bracket to clinch the victory