A few changes

Editorial: What goes around

To the chagrin of many seniors, graduation approaches with haste. For many of us, this is a bittersweet time—we are eagerly looking to the future while also reflecting on the four years we have spent here. Bowdoin has been our home, and it is hard to part ways.

Editorial: Building our campus

Over the summer, the College made several upgrades to campus facilities that greeted us upon returning to school. Kresge Auditorium and the Beam classroom were revamped, there were renovations to the Convenience Store, and new computers were installed in Smith Union. Along with these visible additions, the College also invested millions of dollars in developments that a casual stroll through campus won't reveal.

Editorial

This piece represents the opinion of The Bowdoin Orient editorial board.

September 9, 2011

The publication of this volume of the Orient marks the newspaper's 140th anniversary. We intend to mark this milestone with a number of changes to the paper that we believe will invigorate its pages. But first, we wish to acknowledge some of the criticism that has been levied at the paper in recent years.

Fair or not, the content of the Orient has at times been called inaccurate and uninteresting, and the paper's staff has been labeled insular and close-minded. Over the last few months we have talked with students and alumni, professors and current staffers, to develop a series of new initiatives which we hope will address the concerns of our many constituencies.

To address complaints of misquotation and misrepresentation, we will be instituting two new measures. First, all staff members will be required to record their interviews so that accuracy can be more easily maintained. Additionally, our website is being redesigned to enable interviewees and readers to note how accurately they were represented in our coverage.

It is our priority to ensure that the content of the paper reflects the many dimensions of the Bowdoin community, especially those groups or topics that may have been historically underrepresented in our pages. We believe this will make the paper more appealing, and will allow us to ensure that every issue captures the voice of the student body. In the process of pursuing these new goals, a funny thing happened: the staff more than doubled in size. Almost 70 students are now involved in the Orient.

An expanded staff means expanded capabilities. As you flip through this week's edition, you will notice some changes. Our Talk of the Quad section is designed to provide a forum for creative student writing. With apologies to The New Yorker, we are excited to feature a wide range of anecdotal and humorous pieces in this section, and we encourage students who have not previously written for the Orient to submit their stories. In order to showcase the varied talents of the student body and to enliven our pages, we plan to include more student artwork in the paper than ever before. Additionally, we plan to print several special sections over the course of the year that will highlight issues of interest to the College.

These measures will move us closer to our primary goal: producing a paper that is relevant, engaging and fair. Our commitment is to serve this campus and the Town of Brunswick, and so we are happy to hear from our readers as we implement these new intiatives. We look forward to hearing from you as we celebrate this newspaper's longstanding relationship with the Bowdoin community.

The editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient's editorial board, which comprises Nick Daniels, Linda Kinstler, Zoë Lescaze, and Elizabeth Maybank.

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