The Bowdoin Orient

After opening with last night's Racer X concert, Ivies Weekend 2011 is officially underway. From the Entertainment Board (E-Board) to the Dining Service, students and administrators have been hard at work preparing for the College's annual weekend of campus-wide celebrations, concerts and general revelry.

Beginning last week, members of the Young Alumni Leadership Program (YALP) began tabling in Smith Union on behalf of the Senior Pledge Initiative (SPI), a program which aims to spread awareness among the senior class regarding how they can give back to the College in the years following graduation.

As finals loom and the relaxation enjoyed during Spring Break becomes a distant memory, the skepticism surrounding AddSeven.com—which was launched soon after students returned from vacation in March—has also faded away. The website is the brainchild of seniors Yoni Ackerman and Noah Isaacson, and in the month since the site launched, 717 Bowdoin students registered. Now, Ackerman and Isaacson have expanded to include networks for Bates, Colby and Middlebury.

As far as fellowships are concerned, Bowdoin has struck gold. This year, Bowdoin students have been honored with a number of prestigious awards, including two Udall Scholarships, a Beinecke Scholarship, a Goldwater Scholarship, six National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships and various Fulbright Scholarships.

With the final polls for Bowdoin Student Government's (BSG) spring elections closing this past Sunday, the final BSG positions for the 2011-2012 academic year have been determined.

Last Wednesday, Joseph Taylor dove to the depths of American history in a talk on his work surveying the continent's marine landscape. Marine environmental history aims "to historicize the nature of oceans and put that in conversation with human history," said Taylor, associate professor of history and geography at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Despite a brief shift in furnishing this weekend, all has returned to normal in the "dark room" of the dining hall at Moulton Union. Students were surprised to find the dining room tables in a different arrangement than normal when they arrived for a meal. Instead of being arranged in identical rows, the tables had been rotated about 45 degrees and sat in rows of varying length.

Summer just is not what it used to be. The relaxing days at the beach are, for many of us, traded in for khakis and a water cooler. Though we are still weeks away from temperatures above 70 degrees, the scramble for a summer job, internship or activity is underway in full force.

In "A Golf Story," which appeared recently in the Claremont Review of Books, I questioned whether President Barry Mills is serious about wanting more intellectual diversity at Bowdoin. The essay generated mostly smoke, but amid the smoke there lie important questions.

How intellectually diverse is Bowdoin today? Not very, if political party affiliation is any indication. Only Professor of Social Sciences Jean Yarbrough in her April 22 op-ed "Bowdoin should examine its lack of diversity" challenged my claim that no more than 4 percent of the Bowdoin faculty is Republican. She thinks my figure is probably too high.

But perhaps there is no need to count Republican noses, for, as a number of my critics pointed out, party affiliation may not be the best measure of what I am calling "intellectual diversity." OK. So what then do we mean by the term and how might it be measured?

While election season seems far off, possible Republican challengers to President Barack Obama have already begun posturing for the 2012 election. President Obama's term in office has been disastrous for the economy. His administration has not effectively lowered unemployment and has contributed to the explosion of the national deficit. The stimulus bill and Obamacare have both been tremendous failures, costing far too much and distancing America from its core free market principles. At this point, I have found it essentially impossible to disagree with the Republicans on these points. It's indisputable; Obama needs to go.

To the Editors: How does Professor of Social Sciences Jean Yarbrough conclude that the college lacks "intellectual and political" diversity ("Bowdoin should examine its lack of diversity," April 22, 2011)?

As the summer approaches and edges closer to next year's presidential campaign, the opportunity to charter a new course for the party has arisen. Thus far, polls consistently show Republicans thoroughly unhappy, unimpressed and unengaged with the list of likely, and even far-fetched, candidates for the party's nomination. Each of them has been trying to lay claim to the Reagan-mantle of conservatism, one that embraces social, fiscal and foreign policy conservatism.

In the days leading up to Ivies, some of my less party-oriented friends have started to grumble about the perceived waste of resources that is Ivies. The complaints usually go something like: "Why should we be paying for these bands to come, and why should Bowdoin allow students to use their land and money so they can blackout all weekend?"

Today marks the end of the annual "Consent is Sexy" week, which united students who advocate for racial, sexual, and gender diversity at the College. There have been numerous student panels and awareness events. This week is one of just many events that occur on campus to promote sexual health and discussion at Bowdoin: others include Anything But Straight in Athletics and Out Week. In general, the effects of such initiatives are fairly widespread—they are often topics of conversation in the dining halls and the actual programs are reasonably well attended.

Each year during Ivies, this space is used to remind our campus of the dangers that often accompany our yearly debauchery. And though the meteorological forecast may be wavering between grim and so-so, we can trust that the student body is capable of making choices that will ensure a safe time is had by all, no matter the weather.

This fall will mark my 23rd year of teaching political philosophy and American political thought at Bowdoin. I dearly love this college and want to do everything that I can to see Bowdoin be the best that it can be. But love requires honesty, and Thomas Klingenstein's essay provides us with the opportunity to examine one area where we are notably deficient: intellectual and political diversity.

Last week, Thomas Klingenstein published an article in the Claremont Review of Books discussing President Barry Mills and Bowdoin College. In his article, which was covered in the April 15 edition of the Orient, Klingenstein charges that Bowdoin is "antiseptically" liberal and that President Mills endorses this bias. Though the article is meant to criticize the widespread "liberal tilt" which he sees as plaguing all of higher education, Mr. Klingenstein makes his case through a personal attack on President Mills and Bowdoin College. We found his comments about Bowdoin to be both condescending and factually incorrect.

The question, "when are you free?" never seems to have a quick and easy answer. Seniors Ben Johnson, Nathan Merritt and Houston Kraft may have found a solution to this problem, however, with their new iPhone app, Free Time. "It basically looks at your calendar from a new perspective," said Kraft. "It imports the calendar from your phone, and shows the blocks of free time when you are available, and you can quickly share those with people."

In my last installment of the year, I'm going to talk about something I am sure none of you were expecting: Ivies. Surprised? I think not. But there may be a bit of health confusion on the topic. We are all receiving mixed messages about our health, safety and school rules at this time. Ivies can be a lot of fun, but it can also end up not being that fun if you are having trouble navigating the surreal quality of the event and walking the line of how much is too much.

While Bowdoin students celebrate Ivies on the football field, alums in San Francisco will be having a party of their own. Nalgenes, Bowdoin logs, and the "spirit of Ivies" will appear on the West Coast this Saturday for the first ever San Francisco Ivies, an event organized by alumni from the Class of 2008. "We're extremely fortunate to have a really huge Bowdoin community out here," said Kate Ambush '08, who helped plan the event. "We were kind of hanging out and we thought, 'Hey, Ivies is coming soon...wouldn't it be great if we could hold the same kind of event here in San Francisco?'"

We all have our days of feeling under slept, under-nourished and simply under the weather. Amid the crankiness, canker sores and chapped lips (note my last column for a few tips on that one), it seems nearly impossible to feel good sometimes. I am a firm believer in the healing powers of delightfully quick ways to look and ultimately feel rejuvenated. The following tips are some practical measures you can take to proactively establish the direction of your day before it even begins.

When I enter a dining hall, I hang my coat on a hanger and leave my bag next to it. I proceed to prepare my meal then find a seat. Am I going out of order? My real question: Is it proper to reserve a seat before you sit down? In episode #415 of Seinfeld, Kramer and Elaine arrive early to a showing of the since-forgotten film, "Checkmate." Kramer asks Elaine to save him a seat, but Elaine protests: "Don't put me through that! I once had the fleece just ripped out of my winter coat in a seat-saving incident." In proper cyclical Seinfeld fashion, Elaine is soon driven to hysterics in a similar seat-saving fiasco.

"The name has to do with the fusion of sounds we bring together," said Justin Foster '11. The band Call It The Truth is scheduled to open the Ivies concert tomorrow. "I also think it has to do with your persona, Justin," added Mikel McCavana '12. "You just tell it how it is."

Sara Gruen's 2006 novel "Water for Elephants," which I happen to have read for a Bowdoin English class, beckons like a book that comes ready-made for the transition from page to screen.

Yesterday, Eda Cufer's lecture "Art Between Globalism & Communism: Reimagining the State" examined how artistic movements in Eastern Europe reacted to the fall of the communist regime between 1989 and 1992.

Students got an opportunity to learn about 3000-year-old archaeological marvels from the film "Song of the Drum: The Petroglyphs of Maine," which was screened in Smith Auditorium in Sills Hall on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Dennis Looney, professor of Italian and classics at the University of Pittsburgh, spoke about the relationship between Dante and African-American culture.

Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens explored how to expresss love through art on Monday in their talk titled "Assuming the Ecosexual Position: Adventures of the Love Art Lab."

On Tuesday, the Peter Buck Center was the greenest part of campus after hosting Atayne's CEO and founder Jeremy Litchfield '99.

Men's tennis coach Colin Joyner '03 is the only male to be openly gay as a collegiate athletics coach—ever.

After reaching 20 wins earlier this week with a sweep over UNE, the softball team dropped two games to Husson on Wednesday night.

The women's tennis team finished its most difficult road trip of the season last weekend with a 2-1 record, improving its overall season record to 11-5 and the NESCAC conference record to 4-4.

The women's track team ran away with first place out of a field of six last Saturday at the annual Aloha Relays, which took place at Magee-Samuelson Track and marked the team's only home meet of the season.

The men's track team traveled to Lewiston amid a downpour over the weekend to compete in the Maine State Meet. The Polar Bears amassed 175 points and were runner-up to Bates, who scored 251 points.

The women's rugby team will host a clinic and then scrimmage next Thursday afternoon against the Portland U-19 team comprised of local high school players.

Tempestuous weather and a temperamental breeze throughout New England challenged the sailing team on the last major competition weekend of the year, but the Polar Bears stepped up with a solid performance nevertheless.