The Bowdoin Orient

While vodka-Redbull and coffee brandy have been staples of the Bowdoin drinking scene for years, a more potent upper-downer beverage has made its way to Maine. Four Loko, a caffeinated, 24-ounce drink that contains 12 percent alcohol by volume, is stirring up controversy on college campuses nationwide.

Red with anger at Democratic incumbents, Maine voters joined the tide of Americans allying themselves with the GOP. On Tuesday, Republicans took the majority in both of Maine's legislative houses and the governor's office, ousting Democrats after an eight-year stronghold in Augusta.

With the creation of anonymous online gossip forums, old-fashioned bathroom wall graffiti—joking, well intentioned, or derogatory—is effectively transmitted to virtual stall doors worldwide. College ACB is the newest college gossip site, which came to the formal attention of the Office of Residential Life and the Office of Student Affairs late last week when a student who was discussed on the site reported it. The increase in student posts over the past two months has triggered student backlash.

With the start of spring 2011 course registration one week away, Information Technology (IT) has changed the information system Bearings to provide more stable service to students and faculty.

This semester has already brought several overhauls in Bowdoin's technology infrastructure, the latest of which include a redesign of the Student Gateway. The Student Web Advisory Team (SWAT) is in the research and development phase of redesigning the Student Gateway Web page and the Student Digest.

Pat Meehan '78 was elected to represent the Seventh Congressional District of Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, soundly beating his Democratic opponent, Bryan Lentz, 55 percent to 44 percent, according to Politics Daily.

The new business of the night at Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) was a discussion of the first year book program's elimination. Last year, the faculty decided to remove the first year book program due to lack of interest.

With less than a week until the polls open, Maine voters are looking at a three-horse race for governor. Different polls have shown a considerable amount of variety. The most recent, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday, had Republican Paul LePage ahead with 40 percent of the vote, followed by Democrat Libby Mitchell and Independent Eliot Cutler tied at 26 percent. Cutler has made significant gains in recent weeks.

A sophomore was transported from West Hall to MidCoast Hospital after allegedly consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms last Saturday, according to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols. The student, who reportedly consumed the mushrooms with a friend visiting from out of state, was "not in serious condition" and returned to campus after spending "just a couple of hours" at the hospital, said Nichols.

There is a new Juicy Campus in town. College Anonymous Confession Board (ACB) is an independent website that serves as an open forum for students, and is organized into different pages for various colleges and universities, Bowdoin included. Almost all of the posts are anonymous and end up containing nothing more than rumors and defamation—gossip.

Throughout society, transparency abounds. That Facebook post you made about wanting to do terrible things to Paul LePage can be seen by hundreds of your nearest and dearest friends—not to mention hundreds, even thousands, of others if your privacy settings are too loose. And seeing as nothing on Google or Facebook is—as far as we know—really ever deleted, that crude snippet of text could be there for years to come.

A little over a year ago, Time Magazine ran a cover with the image of a giant GOP elephant under the title "Endangered Species." The substance of the accompanying story was difficult to misinterpret: The Republican Party was in political disarray, having lost both Congress and the White House. The party lacked popular support and a strong, visible leader who could articulate its message.

You know what's awesome about Brunswick? Bowdoin College. Without Bowdoin, what is Brunswick? The recently closed Naval Air Station? No. Maybe a home to Mainers that have lived here for decades? I can't really argue that. However, the point is Brunswick thrives on the presence of Bowdoin College, both financially and culturally. And the most important part of Bowdoin College is its college students, with all their noise, rowdiness, alcohol and general vitality.

In "A new mentality to end animal testing at Bowdoin" (October 29), Anthony Colabella suggested that Bowdoin end harmful animal research unless it "expresses a willingness to perform these same experiments on humans whose mental capacities roughly compare to those of the animals tested." My intent in writing this letter is not to refute Colabella's argument, but to highlight a popular misconception about human cognition versus "lower-order" animal cognition.

This Tuesday, many Bowdoin students will head to the polls to help Maine elect a new governor. The latest independent poll suggests that what had been a two-person battle between Democrat Libby Mitchell and Republican Paul LePage is now a bona fide three-way race, with Independent Eliot Cutler making significant late gains. This competition is far from decided, which makes our votes all the more important.

Tuesday, November 2 is Election Day. Pundits all over the country—and all over this campus—have been speculating and forecasting. Will the election be a referendum on President Obama? Is the Tea Party movement for real? Americans are angry. Again. They're mad at unemployment and deficits and, most of all, they are really, really mad at politicians. What are Americans going to do?

I would like to echo The Humane Society and its Director of Program Management for Animal Research Issues Kathleen Conlee's call to end all testing on animals in Bowdoin classes. But unlike Conlee, I am asking Bowdoin to justify its actions by meeting the challenge I pose here. My challenge is an appeal to ethical consistency that cannot be ignored by a college that professes to champion the Common Good. Before an institution like Bowdoin can make such a claim, it must somehow justify excluding some creatures from the Common Good.

On May 5, 1970, members of the Bowdoin College community voted 727 to 207 in favor of conducting a school-wide strike that would last the rest of the school year.

Recently, I was having some trouble choosing a restaurant for a dinner out in Portland and, after a few days of brainstorming, was forced to use my phone-a-friend option.

Currently, 43 students at Bowdoin are able to spend their four years here free of charge. These students are recipients of the Joshua L. Chamberlain Scholarship, created in 2000 to address the observed lack of diversity on campus and offered to a similar number of students each year. The award covers students' tuition, book expenses, and travel costs, in addition to providing a $3,000 stipend for other educational opportunities.

Achromatic combinations are in. Tones like beige, apricot and off-white might appear drab and lifeless, but a little black dress coupled with a pair of neutral-toned shoes, be they flats or heels, will never fail to make your legs look longer.

Brunswick - Brunswick, Maine. Approximate pop.: 23,000. But that number needs revising if we consider those whose bodies dwell in Brunswick but can't be said to live here. It's (why not?) a rainy night. You're puddle hopping Maine Street in a mad dash to reach Gelato Fiasco before 11 p.m.

The Polar Bears will not meet the White Panda after all.

Imagine you're in the middle of a desert at two in the morning. All around you is miles and miles of void. Only the moonlight and cloud shadows color the ground; nothing but a few cacti and animal carcasses lay scattered across the desert floor.

'The Kilpatrick Band,' a recurring student favorite

While it may be less conspicuous than the expansive chair exhibition, "Something Completely Different: Raymond Pettibon's Repeater Pencil" packs a punch. The 14-minute video installation is composed of Pettibon's drawings and watercolors—animated and set to audio narration.

Bowdoin students can look forward to a little California sunshine next month when WBOR brings the Morning Benders to campus on November 13.

The new Clint Eastwood film "Hereafter" is distinctly an Eastwood film for many reasons. Though it is ultimately not among his best, it is his distinctive touch that prevents the film from falling victim to the artificiality that plagues most afterlife-related films.

USA women's hockey squares off at Watson

Though the women's soccer team's season may be lost, its causes are not. Off the field, the team works together on a number of charity projects that benefit the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities, as well as those well beyond Cumberland County's limits.

A win over Bates tomorrow afternoon to kick off the annual CBB competition would certainly go a long way towards brightening Bowdoin's 2010 season.

Coming off an exciting win in its Senior Day doubleheader last Saturday, the volleyball team will face off against Williams tonight in the NESCAC quarterfinals at Amherst.

The women's soccer season came to an end in the NESCAC quarterfinals, when they lost a hard-fought battle to second-seeded Amherst. The team ends its season with an overall record of 6-7-2, as Amherst moves on to host the semifinals against Bates.

In any long run, there are occasional bumps in the road, and the men's cross country team discovered just such a bump last Saturday at the NESCAC Championship at Hamilton College.

With dropping temperatures, diminishing daylight and disappointing results last weekend, the sailing team is preparing for a final push to improve its ranking before the season ends.