The Bowdoin Orient

The Student Web Advisory Team (SWAT) has spent the past year working on two coordinated projects; redesigning the campus digest and the student gateway. The Bowdoin community will soon see at least one portion of the team's extensive labor come to fruition; pending the finalized technical details, SWAT will start testing the new digest at the beginning of next week.

Tour guides often say that a good wireless Internet connection is available everywhere on campus, even in the Bowdoin Pines. Yet over the past few weeks, students have been forced to endure faulty connections, long loading times and inaccessible websites, no matter the location.

In the latest issue of the Claremont Review of Books, President Barry Mills receives something of a tongue lashing for his September convocation address dealing with intellectual diversity at the College. A little background: Mills, who has a fondness for telling golf stories, described in his address an interaction which occurred during a golf match this summer.

As Mills told the story, an opponent said to him mid-swing, "I would never support Bowdoin—you are a ridiculous liberal school that brings all the wrong students to campus for all the wrong reasons." Mills added that his interlocutor aggressively opined that he would support neither Bowdoin nor his own alma mater "because of all your misplaced and misguided diversity efforts."

This anecdote launched the larger theme of Mills' address, which posed the question of whether the College's generally liberal persuasion detracts from intellectual diversity on campus. The speech was well-received, and the school year proceeded.

In light of the earthquake that devastated Sendai, Japan and many other areas of the country on March 11, the Asian Students Association (ASA) decided to reorganize its annual week of cultural events as a fundraiser for the Japanese Red Cross.

The arrival of the weekend and warm spring weather will not be the only thing celebrated on campus today, as the second annual "Proud of My Whole Self" Day will honor connections between identity and expression.

With the last of the massive snow drifts finally disappearing from campus, numerous students will take advantage of the spring weather to get outdoors and participate in tomorrow's 10th annual Eco Service Day.

Last night, the Alcohol Team (A-Team), Athletics Department and Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) announced that Fitness Center hours will be extended through the rest of the semester. In a campus-wide email, the groups indicated that the Buck Fitness Center will remain open until midnight on Thursday and Friday nights, and until 10 p.m. on Saturday nights, as of last night.

The clock is ticking—we've got until Sunday night at 8 p.m. to vote in the 2011 Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) election, and who we pick could lead to an improvement in the quality of student governance and student life at Bowdoin. We are often skeptical of the proposition that student government can achieve so much. But BSG has real potential, and so do this year's candidates. Derek Brooks '12 is the right choice to lead BSG next year.

In the months following New Jersey governor Chris Christie's election, a debate swept across the state over the best way for New Jersey to make its budget for the upcoming year. A large budget gap following years of irresponsible spending on the part of the state legislature is forcing the newly elected governor to find a way to make the state's ends meet. He essentially had two options: the first being to reign in spending and reduce the bloated government bureaucracy or, raise taxes.

Earlier this week, we were all introduced to the course catalogue for the upcoming fall semester. Typical reactions ranged from euphoria to apathy to disappointment to murderous rage. Essentially, the usual. For many of us, course registration is a pretty stressful time. It is one of those few, distillable, landmark moments where we actually have to contemplate and direct the appropriate subsequent steps in our education. Nearly all of us are concerned with choosing classes that will assist in the completion or unearthing of prospective majors. Some of us are struggling to remember why we chose a certain major to begin with; others are preparing to mutiny against the departments in which they are currently housed; and still others, somehow, are struggling to fulfill the tiny number of unobtrusive distribution requirements that Bowdoin mandates.

To the Editors: We are grateful to Associate Professor of English Peter Coviello and others in the Bowdoin community who were our hosts on campus last week during "Writing for Money," a series of conversations with students about the various ways they can build careers in the media.

To the Editors: I am afraid I must express discontent with an image displayed in one of your recent articles. Accompanying the April 1 article, "'I am Bowdoin' promotes diversity awareness," was a rather misleading image. As a representative group on campus, "I am Bowdoin" strives to bridge the boundaries between race, sexuality, socio-economic class, religion, gender and other sources of difference among Bowdoin students so to create a more cohesive, unified campus environment.

To the Editors: In Charles Cubeta's April 8 article "Pepper flipping tradition has raised the stakes since 2004," I feel I must for posterity's sake reveal the true origins of this campus phenomenon.

Dear prospective members of the Class of 2015, This space is not normally reserved for you. Today, however, is an exception. After years of jumping through hoops, you've been accepted to Bowdoin. Congratulations! Yet maybe you have offers to matriculate at Williams or Dartmouth, and the ball, for the first time, is in your court. When Williamstown and Hanover beckon, why come to Brunswick?

We have all been shocked at the terrible destruction wrought by the triple-crisis of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in Sendai, Japan last month. Almost a month after the disasters struck, over 12,000 people are dead and another 15,000 still missing. The story no longer dominates the front pages, but the emotional and physical suffering of hundreds of thousands of survivors continues.

Though his book won the Society of Africanist Archaeologists Book Prize, Professor of Anthropology Scott MacEachern did not return from the ceremony in Dakar with a gold statuette commemorating the achievement. "I think I got a beer out of it," he said, smiling. But though the prize itself may have been slight, the book's impact is sure to be less modest.

This point in the semester is always the hardest. We have about two weeks until Ivies, and professors are giving work reminiscent of the portions of stuffing your Uncle Sal ate at Thanksgiving. For those of you fortunate enough not to have a Sal across the table, that's a lot. Over the course of the entire academic year, this stretch is one of the toughest we face. I am going to try to answer your stress questions and also take the chance to talk about some mental health questions you all may have.

Peculiar events are commonplace in Bowdoin dining halls, but sightings of a student army crawling across the ground, singing a Miley Cyrus song, or serving as waitstaff does not warrant a second look due to the campus-wide craze of pepper-flipping. "Getting pepper flipped" is a common experience for Bowdoin students, but one sure to raise eyebrows from outsiders. Pepper flipping is a game that has turned into a unique social phenomenon at Bowdoin. The current version runs as follows: a student makes a challenge or bet to another student, such as "If I land this pepper flip, you have to serve me dessert." If, and only if, the chosen student consents to this task, the first student will pick up the closest pepper shaker and attempt to flip it in the air. If the tossed pepper shaker completes at least a single rotation and lands upright, then the bet must be fulfilled. There are two golden rules essential to the game. The first is that there must be only one flip per meal.

While some alumni return to campus for reunions and others make the trip for homecoming weekend, there is one unique reason for former students to come back to campus—weddings. Although the chapel stands in a central location on campus and serves as the backdrop for a variety of student activities, hosting weddings is one of its many functions that goes relatively unnoticed. The chapel is available for weddings all year, though summer weddings are generally more popular, and restrictions are applied around this time to ensure that members of the Bowdoin community have first priority when selecting dates. "May through October we give preference to people that have a Bowdoin connection," said Director of Events

Ever since being diagnosed with a wheat allergy, I have been searching high and wide for a gluten-free option to satiate my thirst for delicious beer. At first, I was fairly optimistic. Because wheat allergy and celiac disease diagnoses have been on the rise, there are a decent amount of companies putting out gluten-free brews and it appeared there was even a good amount of variety to delve into. After sampling the relatively well-known brand Bard's, I convinced myself that perhaps this whole

I bought a pair of Bean Boots last winter. When I dug them out of the closet a few months ago, they looked old and torn. Because I know that L.L.Bean will exchange my boots for a new pair, no questions asked, I'm tempted to drive to Freeport and redeem a new pair of boots. What constitutes an abuse of L.L.Bean's return policy?

Whether you are a guy or a girl, into fashion or not, you are probably unaware of one accessory that you always have in tow: your lip balm. It is nearly impossible to argue against lip balm and its utilitarian function. Regardless of age, everyone has a use and need for these small, slender tubes that moisturize and nourish your lips. Lip balm's omnipresence is proven by the ease of getting your hands on a tube. I've seen people fish lip balm out of back pockets, ID cases, backpacks, purses and even eye glass cases. Though we often use the terms "lip balm" and "chapstick" interchangeably, ChapStick was actually the first brand of lip balm. However, with the emergence of many different imitations and variations, the word "chapstick" has now become synonymous with "lip balm." The popularity of chapstick has even been manifested online. The YouTube video "Where's the chapstick?" has incited countless responses and remixes. The original, with nearly 14 million views, captures an overly enthusiastic girl who sings a celebratory song in honor of finding her chapstick.

OK, OK, I know. Pitchfork rated it an 8.2. They sound like Belle and Sebastian. They're from Brooklyn. They were one of the "best breakout bands of 2009." I still can't stand The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and their painfully toolish name is only a small fraction of the reason why.

Dr. N. Bruce Duthu, professor & chair of Native American studies at Dartmouth College, was invited to campus to speak today about tribal sovereignty.

Though we are months away from July 4, Bowdoin is celebrating American heritage ahead of schedule.

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) will present the final piece in its three-part series on campus this Sunday.

In celebration of Cuba Week, the Bowdoin community will be presented with the unique opportunity to explore and participate in an engaging Afro-Cuban drumming workshop this weekend.

"Diva," a riveting French film by director Jean-Jacques Beineix, will bring the vibrant streets of Paris to the Visual Arts Center on Sunday evening. The film is being shown for Intermediate French II with Professor William VanderWolk but is open to the entire Bowdoin community.

Last night, a full audience in Wish Theater was presented again, again and again by the stark themes of loopdriver.

They say comedy is an antidote to the times; if so, the performance of comedian Hari Kondabolu '04 was a fitting end to the fundraising efforts of Asian Week.

The University of Southern Maine softball team has provided opponents with wins all season, and that continued last night as Bowdoin beat the Huskies 7-1 and 5-2 in a doubleheader yesterday. USM is now 2-24.

The Polar Bears had strong results in both coed and women's events last weekend, an encouraging performance as the team looks to continue to improve in the coming weeks.

After three and a half years of women's rugby at Bowdoin, senior Becky Stevens is looking to claim a spot on the under-23 New England Rugby team.

The men's tennis team posted a late comeback in its two final singles matches to topple 20th-ranked MIT last Friday. The Bears, ranked 14th in the nation, improved to 7-2.

The women's tennis team came out on top with an 8-1 victory in its match against Colby yesterday afternoon. With this win, the Polar Bears improved their record to 8-3 (2-3 NESCAC).

Last weekend, the men's track team bussed to Springfield College to compete in a tri-meet with the hosts and with Middlebury. The meet started off with a dynamite performance by James Boeding '14 in the 3000-meter steeplechase.