Amtrak adds third train to Boston

News in brief: Roux Center plan moves forward

Last week the Brunswick Planning Board unanimously approved an initial sketch plan for the College’s new Roux Center for the Environment. The sketch includes a footprint of the site and the floor plans for the buildings Vice President and Interim Head of Finance and Administration Matthew Orlando hopes that the final design done by early April so the College can begin the bidding process.
“[The architect] Tim Mansfield has been in hundreds of planning boards all over the place, and our [Director of Capital Projects] Don Borkowski does a great job putting together the full package, so [the board] was very impressed with the organization and the comprehensiveness of it,” Orlando said.
Earlier this year, the Programming Committee—led by Interim Dean for Academic Affairs Jen Scanlon—met with the architects on a monthly basis to go over updated designs and make suggestions on the initial sketch plan. According to Orlando, President Clayton Rose set the goal to make the building not limited to the scientific study of the environment, but rather a space for interdisciplinary exploration.
“The idea is to have the classroom space in there flexible enough so it can accommodate all sorts of disciplines and not just be focused on scientific research,” Orlando said.
Orlando also hopes that the building will be able to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest level of sustainability certification awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“That is a challenge to achieve any time you’re talking about laboratories and scientific research being conducted in the building, so we’re still hopeful that we can hit the platinum goal, but it will be a challenge,” he said.
The College will go back to the planning board in February to share any variations from the sketch plan, which will also be subject to the board’s review.
“There will inevitably be a little bit of shifting here and there. We’re still in the design phase of the building, so we have not approved a final design yet so things could certainly be shifted,” Orlando said.

News in brief: Kristof and Riley to talk free speech

Manhattan Institute fellow and Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof will speak at an event titled “Up for Discussion: Free Speech and Political Correctness on College Campuses” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in Pickard Theater. The discussion will be moderated by Associate Professor of History and Environmental Studies Connie Chiang.
Registration for the event opened online on November 18 and students obtained tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. A limited number of students also registered to join the speakers for a “dessert reception” in Thorne Hall after the event to debrief the talk and discuss the issues raised. Tickets for both the event and the reception are no longer available.
In a November 2015 column, Kristof addressed the issue of race and free speech on campuses, writing, “What’s unfolding at universities is not just about free expression but also about a safe and nurturing environment.”
Riley expressed dismay last May after he was disinvited to speak at Virginia Tech due to concerns that his “writings on race in The Wall Street Journal would spark protests.”
Both speakers were selected by a working group of students, faculty and staff, chaired by President Clayton Rose. The choice of speakers was influenced by a survey last December gauging student interest for speakers, in which the theme of free speech and political correctness on college campuses garnered the most support.

News in brief

Amtrak adds third train to Boston

November 18, 2016

Beginning November 21, the Amtrak Downeaster line will run a third daily train between Brunswick and Boston. The new line will leave Brunswick Visitor Station at 11 a.m.

Amtrak is also adding a third train from Boston to Brunswick, which will leave North Station at 6:15 p.m. every day. This later train was made possible by the construction of a new layover facility in Brunswick, which opened in October and allows trains to spend the night in Brunswick, rather than having to return to Portland each night, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Currently, the Downeaster line runs trains from Brunswick to Boston at 7:25 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. and from Boston to Brunswick at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. The train ride takes about three and a half hours.

Concord Coach Lines also runs a bus service between Brunswick and Boston, which leaves from Brunswick Visitor Station at 10:25 a.m. and 1:45 p.m., and leaves Boston for Brunswick at 11:35 a.m. and 5:35 p.m. The bus ride takes about three hours.

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