The Bowdoin Orient

Ever wanted to know how the Polar Bear statue came to be, or why there are so many sets of memorial gateways on the Bowdoin campus?

The sailing team traveled to Boston this past weekend to compete in its final regatta of the spring season.

The seventh annual SolarFest will offer a variety of energy-conscious activities and solar-powered performances on the Dudley Coe Quad tomorrow from noon to 5 p.m.

Construction is currently underway to make Thorne Dining Hall greener. A solar hot water project intended to reduce the College's fossil fuel emissions is projected to be fully installed on Thorne's roof by the end of the academic year.

In the world of college sailing, the month of April signals an intense consecutive weekend series of New England championship regattas.

It was what Head Coach Frank Pizzo called a "picket fence Sunday" for the sailing team at the New England Dinghy Tournament (NEDT) this past weekend.

For the sixth academic year in a row, Government and Legal Studies and Economics remain the two most popular programs of study for Bowdoin students. The current sophomore Class of 2012 turned in major declarations to the Office of the Registrar at the beginning of March. The Office of Academic Affairs recently tabulated this data and found consistent trends in the popularity of various departments.

On Wednesday, a team of professors received the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Grant to conduct research on global change in the Gulf of Maine. The Bowdoin team was one of 25 to receive the $1.5 million grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). One hundred twelve universities and research institutions applied for the three-year long award.

The to-do list of the members of the incoming Class of 2014: Buy twin-size sheets? Check. Sign up for a pre-Orientation trip? Check. Complete first year summer reading assignment? Not this year.

Head Coach Brad Burnham hoped his swimmers would leave everything in the pool when they competed at the NESCAC Championships.

Between a 1,723-person student body and a smattering of campus wide parties held every weekend, the Bowdoin social scene has its limits for many. Last Saturday, however, these limits were pushed by a queer-friendly party. Held at a College House on campus, the party aimed to welcome LGBTIQ students from across Maine colleges into an alternative environment. "At any NESCAC school, this is going to be the issue," said one female, who was granted anonymity to protect her identity. In a search for a more all-encompassing social scene, a group of LGBTIQ students have made efforts to expand and redefine what is largely heteronormative party culture existing not only at Bowdoin, but also at Bates and Colby. Though there exists a variety of formal campus organizations focused on queer issues, support and community, LGBTIQ students at Bowdoin lament the lack of more informal social opportunities on campus.

The swimming and diving teams cruised their way past a strong Colby squad last Saturday to claim the CBB Championship for the second year in a row.

Grueling, twice-a-day practices in unseasonably cold Florida weather paid off for the swimming and diving teams when they returned from their winter training trip to face the Bates Bobcats on Saturday, January 16.

The competition was stiff at last weekend's MIT Invitational, but the swimming and diving teams held their own, with several impressive first year performances leading the way.

This year's new budget constraints and roster limits haven't stopped Bowdoin Athletics from keeping a "business as usual" mindset.

The sailing team competed in three different regattas on the Charles River this past weekend, posting mixed results in each.

Big breeze, rainy weather and unseasonably cold conditions greeted Bowdoin sailors at four different regattas this past weekend. This weekend, the women's team looks to rebound from its setback last weekend and reestablish its top-10 presence in New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) rankings at the Stu Nelson Trophy, hosted by Connecticut College.

Armed with a handful of digital cameras and boundless enthusiasm, Rosalind Worcester '11 is crossing the globe in the name of art. After spending a summer in Nepal teaching photography to school-aged children, she is bringing the same project home to the Midcoast area. This fall, Worcester will be collaborating with fourth graders at Woodside Elementary in Topsham, Maine to teach a photography curriculum based on community and cultural awareness.

Solid performances at three coed regattas over last weekend enabled the sailing team to rise two spots in college rankings. Previously ranked 20th out of 28 teams in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA), the team now holds the 18th place position and seeks to improve from this level.

Nine members of the coed sailing team traveled to Maine Maritime Academy in Castine this past weekend, where they competed at the Penobscot Bay Open (PBO) and the Harman Cup. Despite a tough weekend of regattas for Bowdoin Sailing, the team gained valuable experience for the upcoming season.

The body of a fisherman was found during a Pre-Orientation trip at the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island in New Brunswick, Canada. The victim, a middle-aged male who remains unidentified, was found near Three Islands Harbor, an intertidal region located on neighboring Hay Island in the Bay of Fundy.

It's almost that time of year again?no, not the holiday season. When sophomores return back to campus from winter break, they will receive cards in their mailboxes instructing them on the major declaration process. Some will pursue double majors, others will elect to complete an interdisciplinary concentration and others will be devising their own path of study.

The Bowdoin Sailing team competed in its final regatta of the fall season last Saturday at the Atlantic Coast Tournament in Cambridge, Mass. Boston University played host to this 16-boat championship intersectional held in FJs on the Charles River. The Polar Bears finished 11th over the course of the two-day event.

As the season nears its end, the Bowdoin Sailing Team braved the cold and wind to enjoy several respectable finishes at recent weekend regattas. Members of the coed team traveled to Newport, where they sailed to a 10th place finish at the Rhode Island State Championships. Salve Regina played host to the 17-boat event held in 420s on Narragansett Bay. Although Saturday racing was canceled due to heavy fog, sailors enjoyed blue skies and big breezes on Sunday.

The Charles River can either be a sailor's best friend or his worst nightmare: Its shifting, fickle winds create tough conditions that are sometimes rewarding, but nearly always challenging. Bowdoin sailing grappled with light and shifty weather on the Charles at MIT and Harvard this past weekend, ultimately finishing mid-fleet at both regattas.

Bowdoin sailors faced some big breezes and waves this weekend, but resulting top-10 finishes in three different regattas proved that they were up to the challenge. Headlining the weekend performances was Alex Takata '12, who won the C-division at the Rudolph Oberg Trophy at the MIT Sailing Pavilion.

Although the weather is cooling down, competition is heating up for the Bowdoin Sailing Team. The team continued its mid-season momentum with a string of solid performances at four different regattas last weekend.

The Bowdoin Sailing Team competed at a familiar venue last weekend as they played host to 12 teams from all over New England for the Nicholas Barnett Trophy held at Bethel Point. The annual event, known in previous years as the Casco Bay Open, was renamed for the late Bowdoin sailor Nicholas Barnett '11, who was killed in a car accident over Thanksgiving Break in 2007.

With light winds and still waters plaguing competition, the Bowdoin Sailing Team was unable to compete in two of the three regattas scheduled last weekend.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings '85 is not the only Bowdoin alumnus who has made a career in the DVD business. A little closer to campus is Bart D'Alauro '95, the co-owner of Bart & Greg's DVD Explosion in the Tontine Mall in downtown Brunswick.

Despite shifty conditions, the Bowdoin A-division team of Viktor Bolmgren '11 and Coco Sprague '11 finished 10th out of 18 at the Hatch Brown Trophy Intersectional. The performance by Sprague and Bolmgren at their regatta, held at MIT, was the highlight of the weekend, during which Bowdoin Sailing competed in four different regattas, taking place in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts.

The sailing team, under a new coach this year, opened its season participating in six different regattas. Viktor Bolmgren '11, Coco Sprague '11, Pete Wadden '09, and Meredith Steck '09 competed in 420s at the Harry Anderson Trophy Intersectional at Yale University on Saturday and Sunday. Due to prevailing light conditions, a full rotation of races could not be finished. At the end of the five completed races, the A team of Bolmgren and Sprague came in 16th place out of 20, while the B team finished 18th out of 20.

Scully '09 had no idea that a student digest post could change her life. Sandwiched between posts about lost ID cards and student activities was information about applying to the Japan America Student Conference (JASC), a prestigious cultural exchange program.

Joseph McKeen, Bowdoin's first President, who was famous for his inaugural address about the Common Good, would be proud if he heard about the $15,050 in grants recently awarded to non-profit organizations in the Midcoast area.

The women's swimming and diving team held its own in a field of tough competition at the NESCAC championships last weekend at Wesleyan University. In what Head Coach Brad Burnham described as "one of the best meets I have ever been a part of," the Bowdoin women broke two school records over the course of the three-day competition. With a total of 737.5 points, the women placed seventh out of 11 teams.

Last Saturday, the Bowdoin Swimming and Diving Team traveled to Waterville to face the Colby Mules for its last dual meet of the season. Both the men and women's teams fell to a strong Colby squad, 162-126 and 163-99, respectively. Head Coach Brad Burnham, however, was not discouraged. "[The meet was] a great test just before heading into conference meets," he said.

After an eight-week hiatus from competition, the Bowdoin men's and women's swim and dive teams returned to action in a tri-meet at Wesleyan last Saturday. The women, undefeated so far this season, swept the competition by defeating both Wesleyan 164-132 and Trinity 225-72. The men's team split the meet with a victory over Trinity 194-85 and a loss to Wesleyan 80-212.

While students studying off-campus this spring have just begun their adjustment, students who spent their fall semester away are making the opposite transition back to life at Bowdoin. These students' stories are just a few of this fall's off-campus study experiences.

Upsurges in work and cabin fever are not the only signs that winter break is on the horizon. Posts begin to sprinkle the Student Digest several weeks in advance, politely inquiring about rides to the Portland Jetport, Boston, New York, and other destinations.

This semester, 13 art history students got up-close and personal with pieces of the permanent collection at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Under the guidance of Associate Professor Linda Docherty and curatorial intern Diana Tuite, the students of the appropriately termed "Art and Life" course will present 28 prints and photographs in an upcoming exhibition at the museum.

Several weeks ago, students' e-mail inboxes began to fill with information about signing up to volunteer for Saturday's Common Good Day, but event director and Common Good Day fellow Jessica Horstkotte '08 has been looking forward to the event since the end of the previous school year.

While the recent turn to inclement weather may have had most students running indoors for cover, the sailing team has taken to the seas for its spring season. With three weekends of competition and one spring training trip already under its belt, the team looks to launch into the most intense part of the season yet in preparation for a series of New England championship regattas at the end of April.

While the recent turn to inclement weather may have had most students running indoors for cover, the sailing team has taken to the seas for its spring season. With three weekends of competition and one spring training trip already under its belt, the team looks to launch into the most intense part of the season yet in preparation for a series of New England championship regattas at the end of April.