The Bowdoin Orient

Several groups of Bowdoin students are investigating uses for land that the College acquired in 2013 at the former Naval Air Station Brunswick. Ideas for how to use the land include running and skiing trails, expanding the Bowdoin Organic Garden and creating space for art installations. The Bowdoin Consulting Club sent out a survey last week to gather more opinions from the student body. 

The College currently owns about 275 total acres and is working to acquire 143 additional acres, according to Government Relations and Land Use Specialist Catherine Ferdinand. The plot of land is located between the campus and the former naval air station, south of Pine Street apartments and parallel to Harpswell Road. Plans to develop it are still relatively far away from fruition.

“In terms of starting to have our plans implemented, I think that we’ll start development in 2020, and that’s a requirement with our agreement with the [U.S. Department of Education] at this time. Those plans are somewhat fluid,” Ferdinand said.

Bowdoin acquired the land as part of a process known as public benefit conveyance, by which the federal government transfers land to localities or nonprofits for public benefit use. Because of the public benefit use requirement, the College’s ultimate plans with the land are subject to approval by the Department of Education, according to Ferdinand. 

The Bowdoin Consulting Club asked to assist with the project last fall. 

“Knowledge is power, and any information that we get about this property is going to be helpful down the road. Particularly from the user base, faculty members and students,” Ferdinand said.  

To assess interest in the land, one team, headed by Phillip Wang ’18, focused on qualitative data, gathering interviews from students, professors and coaches who might be interested in using the land. 

“Based off of our interviews, it seems like everyone is interested in the land and everyone is interested kind of in their own respective right,” he said. 

Suggested uses have varied widely. Wang said an art history professor that he interviewed is interested in introducing sculpture installations on the land, while a nordic ski coach saw potential for future ski trails.

The Consulting Club also sought to collect quantitative data, in the form of a survey sent to students last week. Wendy Dong ’18, who led the team, said they received hundreds of responses and many suggestions as to how the land should be used. 

“Hopefully our results will prove to be significant and the administrators will actually take into consideration our data, I think they definitely will because we’ve collected some important data,” Dong said. 

A group of students from Assistant Professor of Biology Vladimir Douhovnikoff’s Forest Ecology and Conservation class have also been studying the land.  

“It’s a really weird and interesting piece of property. All semester we’ve been taking an inventory of the natural things that are there,” said Lenior Kelley ’19, one of the students working on the land for Douhovnikoff’s class.  “The different kinds of groups of trees, vernal pools, wetlands, stuff like that. We’ve also been thinking about different buildings and trails that would be appropriate for the site. There’s so many different things that we proposed …  It’s exciting that it’s real world stuff.”

The group’s presentation suggested an extension of the Bowdoin Organic Garden, a greenhouse, an orchard, a public park and trails for both nordic skiing and jogging. 

“Nobody really has any idea about what’s going on about the property besides us, so I think that they really care about what we have to say,” Kelley said. 

While the College’s plans for the land are still undecided, student input can help provide inspiration. 

“All of the student initiatives have merit and add to the ideas and information we have gathered to date as to the opportunities and constraints associated with the future development of this property,” Ferdinand wrote in an email to the Orient.

Controversial art exhibits have been installed around campus as part of Professor of Art Michael Kolster’s Large Format Photography class. One of these installations—which prompted a response from the administration—involved photos of Donald Trump taped over photos of students in David Saul Smith Union.

In order for students to explore the concept of installation, Professor Kolster asked students to curate an installation anywhere on Bowdoin’s campus. Throughout the assignment, Kolster emphasized nontraditional space, encouraging his students to place photographs in areas where members of the community don’t normally encounter artwork. 

Large Format Photography is a 2000-level class in which students harness the large format camera to continue developing skills and themes explored in Photo 1. The camera’s bulk, heft and myriad adjustments result in a totally different photographic experience than that of smaller cameras. Students shoot one negative at a time, slowing down the photographic process.

Students could choose to use their own photographs or the photographs of others for their installations. According to Professor Koster, the goal of the project was for the message and themes of the photographs to take precedence over authorship. He encouraged students to think about the interaction between the space, the audience and the installation.

This assignment resulted in nine different installments around campus. Victoria Pitaktong ’17 attempted to reduce the stigma around women’s periods by hanging images of her friends’ bloody pads in the stalls of the men’s bathroom in David Saul Smith Union. 

“I think there’s a lot of taboo around the period—that it’s nasty, people just don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “I find it difficult to hear when men say that women are just whining about their periods when they’re going through pain. You can’t even look at these things directly, how can you say women are weak?” 

Nick Benson ’17 produced an equally provocative installment, in which he covered the pictures of students in the hallway of Smith Union with large pictures of Donald Trump’s face. 

“I hate looking at his face; it really grosses me out. I think I dislike looking at his face so much because I associate it with his voice and I associate his voice with idiocy,” said Benson. “I was trying to set up an installation for people like me who hate looking at his face but woke up on Wednesday morning knowing that we have to get used to the realization of seeing it.” 

According to Benson, the installment was met with mixed reviews: only twenty minutes after he installed it, college administrators moved the pictures to the other side of the hallway. After Benson repositioned them in their original spot, a student ripped up the pictures and threw them in the recycling bin in a matter of minutes. However, this strong reaction didn’t discourage Benson.

“I think the visceral reaction of the viewer is something I was really going for, because we’re going to have to get used to it,” said Benson, “I mean, seeing his pictures in the Union for five minutes is way less painful than having him as our president for four years.”

Despite the varied reactions to the installments across campus, Kolster said he was proud of how the projects turned out. 

“There were varying degrees of provocation and varying degrees of things that they were trying to say, varying degrees of social or aesthetic engagement that the installations worked with,” he added. “All of us as image makers seek on some level to have them be seen, to make a contribution to the larger conversation.”​

Many students, faculty and professors find themselves lost when having to deal with hefty legal documents, especially students who would usually request the help of parents at home. Many students find themselves in need of a notary, or a public official that serves as an impartial witness, whose signature is often necessary for the authorization of official documents. Little to the knowledge of most students, there are many notaries dispersed throughout the Bowdoin campus. 

The majority of notaries are staff members who work in the Treasurer’s Office such as Legal Compliance Officer Meg Hart. 

Because of the frequency with which the Treasurer’s Office deals with official documents, the College recommends that staff within the Office become notaries. 

Hart came to Bowdoin straight from law school, and upon receiving the job, the College requested that she take the notary test. Under Maine law, Hart’s status as an attorney meant that she could notarize documents. However, to become an official notary or to gain the ability to notarize documents in other states, Hart was required to take a test, which she did upon arrival to Bowdoin.

Next door, Sharon King, office supervisor of facilities management, took a different path to becoming a notary. 

“I became a notary because a friend of mine was one, and I thought it was interesting to watch her do what she does,” she said.

King explained that the process of becoming a notary is relatively easy. For the state of Maine, anyone interested must take an open book exam, pay a $50 fee and be sworn in by a Dedimus Justice.

All the way across campus, in the basement of Gibson Hall, Concert, Budget and Equipment Manager Delmar Small is unique in that he is a notary within the music department. Small became notarized during his time working for a bank before coming to work at Bowdoin. Small explained that this bank paid for him to become a notary as a service to its customers.  

After Small started at Bowdoin, however, he found that he needed notary services one day, and it seemed like all of the notaries were in the Treasurer's Office or the Controller's Office. Because of his office’s close vicinity to campus, Small believed it would be convenient for students and faculty if he added his name to the list of notaries here at Bowdoin and to make himself available.

The variety in the way that these three members of Bowdoin faculty became notaries is also reflected in how they apply their position on campus.

“I am a notary for college business, first and foremost,” Hart said. “I’ve used it for official documents, whether it’s banking documents or things to do with real estate if we’ve had a real estate closing.” 

In contrast, King’s work as a notary is usually off of campus, such as performing wedding ceremonies. The majority of requests are favors for Bowdoin staff members as opposed to official Bowdoin College business. 

King believes that she has helped more faculty and staff than students because of her location off campus in Rhodes Hall which is generally only visited by students for security concerns. Small’s location has had the opposite effect, as he often works with students who have legal business that they would normally take to City Hall or the Department of Motor Vehicles but are unable to because they are away from home. Small said he often helps with driver’s license renewals or helping students get out of jury duty. 

Both Small and Hart have also worked extensively with the study abroad programs. Hart explains that notarization is helpful, as many students request to work with countries or programs that don’t necessarily know Maine law or even U.S. law.

Despite variations in the path to becoming a notary, all three staff members agree that it is an easy status to obtain that has proven extremely useful here on campus.

“I just make my services available for free for Bowdoin faculty staff and students. I see it as a public service,” said King.

A full list of notaries can be found on the Bowdoin Administrative Services website. 

While many Bowdoin students work with professors in laboratories or as teaching assistants, some find themselves doing a different kind of work: babysitting for a professor’s children. Babysitting isn’t listed on the student employment website, but students and professors nonetheless find various ways to connect.

Genevieve de Kervor ’18 found a babysitting opportunity with Chair of English Department Aaron Kitch and Assistant Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Cinema Studies Allison Cooper.

“During my first year I was having a hard time and needed to be part of a family,” she said. “So [Dean of First Year Students] Janet Lohmann said ‘I have a perfect idea,’ so she contacted Allison Cooper.”

Recommendations from faculty members are one way that Bowdoin students begin babysitting.

“It’s a pretty small world, a pretty small campus,” Kitch said. “Colleagues have had students they recommend to us, and we try to get a hold of them. Good babysitters are a valuable commodity.”

Laura Henry, John F. and Dorothy H. Magee associate professor of government, says she occasionally picks babysitters from her crop of former students.

“If I’ve had a student who seems really sympathetic and energetic in a class, then the next semester I might just send a note and say, ‘Are you ever interested in babysitting?’” she said.Henry has also found babysitters through the Bowdoin Children’s Center, where some psychology students work.

“Sometimes it would be clear that my children were really happily engaging with a particular student, and then we might follow up to see if the student was interested in babysitting,” she said.

Aviva Briefel, professor of English and cinema studies, said she doesn’t worry about mixing academic and personal relationships with her student babysitters.

“Whereas I initially made it a personal rule not to ask someone whom I was currently teaching, I don’t worry about that as much now,” she said in an email to the Orient. “I feel that both I and the student are able to keep our classroom and babysitting relationship separate.”

Sarah Frankl ’16, a biology major and an English minor, sometimes babysits for Briefel’s kids. Although she took several classes with Briefel, who was her pre-major advisor, she likewise finds it easy to keep academics and babysitting independent of one another.

“I have her phone number, but I’m not going to text her and be like, ‘Are you late to office hours?’” she said.

A pre-established academic relationship also means that professors understand their students’ workloads.

“I would never ask a student to babysit if they had a paper due in my class the next day,” Briefel said.

The academic relationship also makes it easy for professors to trust student babysitters with their children.

“I have never had a bad experience with a Bowdoin babysitter,” said Briefel. “I feel that the time that my kids have spent with their sitters will be some of their best childhood memories. They are always thrilled to hang out with Bowdoin students.”

In addition, the opportunity to connect with a professor’s family is a welcome break for Bowdoin babysitters. Frankl said she enjoys the opportunity to spend time with people who aren’t college students.

“It’s really frustrating to only be with one age group all the time,” she said. “It’s nice to have a conversation that’s completely off-the-wall random because kids will say the cutest things.” For some students, babysitting can create a bond that extends beyond childcare duties. 

“I feel like they’re my second family,” de Kervor said. “I walk their dog when I have the chance... I always go to their birthday parties and family events, and whenever I need anything I go to Allison and Aaron.”

This connection isn’t limited to a student’s time at Bowdoin.

“We had a student—she must have graduated in either 2010 or 2011—who babysat for us when my younger son was an infant and a toddler,” Henry said. “I didn’t have any academic relationship with her, but she was just amazing and we keep up with her and see her if she comes to Maine.”

While graduation poses one obstacle for professors using student babysitters, another problem is that Bowdoin students aren’t on campus year round. 

“The one problem with Bowdoin babysitters is they go away,” Henry said. “Not only do they graduate, they’re not here during the holidays, they’re not here during Spring Break, they’re not here over the summer.”

Even during the school year, scheduling can be difficult for many students and professors.“[Students] are busy,” said Henry. “So you might have someone babysit once and they’re lovely, but if just turns out scheduling-wise it’s challenging to ever have them again.”

But when babysitting does work out, both students and faculty enjoy the benefits.

“It’s a great perk of living so close to Bowdoin,” Kitch said.