The Bowdoin Orient

At some point between Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday morning, a message on the white board of a dorm room on the 15th floor of Coles Tower was vandalized. The initial message of "I Love Meatless Mondays" was maliciously edited to instead read, "I Love Meatful Mondays! Meatless Mondays Suck!!! F*g N***er."

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held the second installment of its newly instituted "Discussion Series" last night. The conversation focused on chem-free housing at Bowdoin. The discussion, facilitated by the BSG Student Affairs Committee, aimed to spur student debate about the purpose and efficacy of chem-free dormitories.

The Judicial Board's (J-Board) search to fill five open positions concluded recently, as the J-Board released its final selections for the 2011-2012 J-Board to the College on Wednesday. The five successful applicants were notified of their acceptance on February 23.

BSG discussed the controversial "Meatless Monday" event that occurred on February 21 at its weekly Wednesday meeting. The event, which was meant to raise awareness about the health and environmental issues of consuming meat, has stirred up much campus debate among students in recent weeks.

Following the announcement of performers for the 2011 Ivies concert last Friday, student praise and criticism for the Entertainment Board (E-Board) selections began flowing immediately. Janelle Monáe, Mac Miller and Local Natives are the three acts who will perform at the April 30 concert.

In recognition of the transition from February to March—Black History Month to Women's History Month—the Gender and Women's Studies Department will host the one-day symposium "Testify, Witness and Act: Black Women's Resistance" at several campus locations today.

Almost two weeks after "Meatless Monday" on February 21, one might expect the campus debate to have finally run its course. However, Bowdoin's own meat-free event has also gained attention from several national media outlets.

The 145 students who applied for a position on next year's Residental Life (ResLife) staff received final decisions yesterday afternoon in their mailboxes. With only 71 spots available—33 first year proctors, eight house proctors and 30 residential advisers—this year's application process was the most competitive in the history of the College.

The Maine State Legislature plans to soon vote on two bills that together would make it substantially more difficult for college students to participate in Maine elections. The first, LD 199, would require a Maine state ID for voter registration. The second, LD 203, proposes to mandate that all voters must be registered a week prior to filling out their ballots. The former would require that students who wish to vote in Brunswick obtain a form of Maine state identification listing the address of their campus residence.

In late January, as politicians in Washington began work on the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year, battle lines were being drawn in Wisconsin over a similar issue. On one side were the small-government conservatives who recognized the state's growing fiscal trouble—one that would leave the state billions of dollars in debt and demanded a serious cutback on government spending. On the other side were union cronies, big-government leftists and permanent malcontents determined to engage in class warfare.

So long as freedom of assembly remains, people will be free to secure for themselves the benefits of association. The organized labor of yore fought for safety in factories and coal mines; they put a stop to abusive child labor and helped bring humanity to industry, but the same unions also brought endemic corruption and needless waste.

To the Editors: When Orient cartoons criticize or satirize campus and community organizations, they tend to be relevant and articulate, which are both important qualities for a newspaper. It is clear that a cartoon published immediately following an event (such as the Brunswick Police Department's early shutdown of Pinefest) or in response to a seasonally relevant policy (such as ResLife's restrictions on holiday lights) is a criticism of that specific event or policy and not a criticism of the organization as a whole.

To the Editors: In his e-mail to all employees and all students of Bowdoin, Dean of Students Tim Foster, discussing the racially and homophobic biased incident that occurred in Coles Tower this week, said that this type of behavior "hurts people." In his email, Foster was of course referring to the personal feelings of the people directly offended, but I think it needs to be emphasized again and again that things like this don't hurt just those at whom the hate is directed.

We often use this space to discuss the larger issues facing the College: finances, the academic program, and environmental goals among them. Our focus today resides with a smaller—but nonetheless important—facet of the College that is dear to the hearts of students. The Bowdoin Shuttle provides an essential service to the College. We save the dispatch center's number in our cell phones under "Safe Ride," the former name of the nighttime shuttle service. Yet, despite a generally favorable opinion of the Shuttle, students—as well as the Office of Safety and Security—would benefit immensely from the improvement of certain elements.

Quick, rush to the polls! Each time there is an election for anything, we are inundated with announcements. Last week, the Entertainment Board had an election. Fantastic, I thought when I first got the e-mails; finally I can really have some input into what musical acts visit the school. Yes, yes, we are given input in the autumn. Being allowed to pick which of seemingly dozens of obscure and almost unknown bands we have a dim recollection of hearing were good from a friend of a friend is nice, but getting to elect the people who make the real decisions is even better.

Three weeks ago, I wrote a column encouraging students to stay on campus rather than go abroad during their junior year. As expected, I took a good deal of flak. Consequently, I was wary last week of writing an article that might further diminish my standing in the eyes of Bowdoin students. In particular, I was hesitant to pen an article touting the virtues of the program known as "Meatless Mondays." Ultimately, I abstained from writing an op-ed altogether in last week's edition of this storied publication. So much for that approach. The general sentiment expressed in Bowdoin's uproarious reaction to last Monday's dinner has confused and humored me.

They say a man is what he eats. I say a man is what he carries. In this day and age where everything has become a fashion statement, guys are lured into the fashion industry just as much as women.

Portland, named "America's Foodiest Small Town", has no shortage of great restaurants to choose from. Still, I rarely stray from the small list of my favorites and find myself recommending the same restaurants. My efforts to branch out landed me at Figa, whose chefs draws inspiration from a number of cuisines—Greek, Brazilian and Indian, especially. Figa's menu manages to be eclectic and harmonious at once.

"I work as a waiter at a restaurant on Maine Street, and in my years of experience I have found that Bowdoin students don't tip. Ethicist, please address proper tipping practice." -Samuel Sabasteanski '13

Slaughterhouse's EP Although hip-hop fans may not be familiar with the group called Slaughterhouse, they will likely recognize the four rappers behind the name. Royce da 5'9", Crooked I, Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz formed Slaughterhouse back in 2008 and recently released their second album entitled "The Slaughterhouse EP."

The Longfellows advanced to the semifinals of the International Collegiate Championship of A Cappella (ICCA), the only tournament of its kind, following a strong showing in quarterfinals last Saturday at Brown University. The all-male Bowdoin a cappella group, along with The Dynamics of University of Massachusetts-Amherst, beat out five other ensembles from the northeast.

Paddling its way around the country, the Reel Paddling Film Festival will make a stop at Bowdoin tonight. Self-described as showing "The Best Paddling Films of the year," the film festival lends out its films to outing clubs, stores and theaters nationwide.

The Bowdoin Chamber Choir and the University of Southern Maine (USM) Chamber Singers, will perform a mixture of contemporary American music, spirituals and classical music this Sunday.

Artist Anna Schuleit returned to campus this week to talk with the community about her latest creative pursuits. Schuleit was last at Bowdoin in early 2008, when she was the Coastal Studies Center artist in residence.

The men's squash team collected a trio of exciting one-point victories to take home the 2011 "C" Division Summers Cup at the College Squash Association Team National Championships last weekend at Harvard University.

The Polar Bears rounded out their cross-country season this past weekend at the Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association (EISA) Championships with their best carnival performance this year.

The women's indoor track team had an impressive performance at the Open New England Indoor Track and Field Championship at Boston University last weekend.

At the Open New England Indoor Championships last weekend, the men's track team ran against 50 colleges and universities, and placed 22nd.

"We didn't know we were any good." Those were the words of curling team captain Carl Spielvogel '13—the head of a 6-1 team that is heading to collegiate nationals in Chicago.

The spring season has arrived early for the men's ultimate team. Amid snow and wintry temperatures, the team will compete in its first tournament of the season this Saturday at the University of New Hampshire (UNH).