OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Bowdoin’s athletic facilities opened this week after the College maintained a “yellow” campus level for over a week-and-a-half. However, the facilities’ hours are scaled back, and the athletic department has implemented many safety precautions. For example, the facilities will only be open while the College’s status is “yellow,” and they can only be used by students, faculty and staff who are included in the College’s testing program. Because the athletic facilities are indoors, masks are required at all times except when swimming in Greason Pool. Equipment can be reserved for 45 minutes at a time, and there will be a 15-minute period of sanitation between uses.

VOTE!

With the election just over one month away, Bowdoin has joined forces with its other NESCACs to participate in the NESCAC Votes Initiative. The initiative was started by Bowdoin and Middlebury staff members and grew out of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge in the summer of 2018. Under the agreement, all athletic activities on November 3, 2020 have been cancelled to allow students in the NESCAC to head to the polls and vote. The initiative is nonpartisan and aims to increase voter turnout across the NESCAC by 11 percent and to educate students at the schools on how to vote and be engaged in civics.

ON TO PLAYOFFS

Major League Baseball (MLB) wraps up its 2020 season this weekend. As of Thursday night, 43 games had been postponed this season due to players or staff members of teams testing positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This year, the playoffs look a little different. Because of the shortened season, the MLB and the MLB Players Association decided earlier this summer to expand the playoff bracket. Eight teams from each league will make the playoffs: the first two teams from each division and two wild card teams. For the first round, teams will play a best of three series at the top seed’s home field. For all subsequent rounds, games will be played at neutral stadiums. The neutral stadium concept will be similar to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs, as the players will enter a bubble and play all games in one stadium.