The Bowdoin Orient

The dialogue about difference and bias at Bowdoin will continue on Sunday, and students and administrators are hard at work to ensure the conversation is not silenced by the end of the school year. "I Am Bowdoin" leaders have organized a nighttime walk around campus and into town entitled "Belonging in Brunswick," and they are hoping for a strong turnout.

"Consent is Sexy" week, an initiative coordinated by the Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP), wraps up today after highlighting issues surrounding sexual assault this past week.

Last night, the Alcohol Team (A-Team), Athletics Department and Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) announced that Fitness Center hours will be extended through the rest of the semester. In a campus-wide email, the groups indicated that the Buck Fitness Center will remain open until midnight on Thursday and Friday nights, and until 10 p.m. on Saturday nights, as of last night.

On Saturday night, the Entertainment Board (E-Board) received word that Local Natives, an indie band from Los Angeles, would no longer be able to perform at Ivies. Working quickly, the E-Board inquired for and received a contract from Dr. Dog, a Philadelphia-based psychedelic rock band, to serve as a replacement. The band will join the remaining lineup, Mac Miller and Janelle Monáe, at the April 30 concert.

Members of the Class of 2013 recently made decisions that were far from sophomoric. With the March 10 deadline for major declarations having come and gone, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Jim Higginbotham said there were a "couple of interesting trends" in the non-binding choices made by this year's sophomore class.

It's official: the College is getting bigger—259 acres bigger, to be exact. On December 13, the College received final approval from the Department of Education (DOE) to acquire three parcels of land after Naval Air Station Brunswick (NASB) closes this year.

The men's indoor track team will travel to Boston on Saturday morning for the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational at Harvard, where it will compete against post-collegiate athletes as well as their usual peer opponents.

A student's letter to the editor printed in last week's Orient regarding the early termination of an on-campus Halloween party has garnered attention in local media and prompted discussion among students, administrators and residents regarding the relationship between Brunswick and the College. Junior Samir Sheth wrote that Brunswick thrives "financially and culturally" on the presence of Bowdoin, and broadly referenced multiple occasions in which the Brunswick Police Department (BPD) has been involved in shutting down campus parties in reaction to noise complaints made by residents of the town. Sheth suggested that students boycott Brunswick businesses in response.

A sophomore was transported from West Hall to MidCoast Hospital after allegedly consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms last Saturday, according to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols. The student, who reportedly consumed the mushrooms with a friend visiting from out of state, was "not in serious condition" and returned to campus after spending "just a couple of hours" at the hospital, said Nichols.

Bowdoin's first female graduate, Susan Jacobson '71, died October 4 after a long battle with type 1 diabetes and its complications. Her mother, Shirley Jacobson, told the Orient that Susan Jacobson had lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 16 years old. She is survived by her mother, father, siblings and nephew.

The Board of Trustees begins its yearly evaluation of College funds this weekend, beginning with meetings starting today. Aside from its presentation of the Bowdoin Prize to Leon Gorman '56 tonight, the Board's focus this weekend will be primarily fiscal. "It's going to be a pretty routine meeting, there is nothing overwhelmingly important taking place," said Senior Vice President for Planning and Development and Secretary of the College Bill Torrey. Torrey noted that the October meeting is generally a time for the Board to discuss the College's financial standings at the end of the fiscal year and assess how the College fared in terms of budget and financial returns.

Even before Aijalon Gomes set foot back on American soil August 27, Bowdoin was with him. Gomes '01 spent over seven months in a North Korean prison after being arrested in late January for illegally entering the country. The Bowdoin Christian Fellowship (BCF) compiled messages of support and encouragement for Gomes, which BCF adviser Rob Gregory handed off to the State Department to send to North Korea. On Wednesday, Gregory spoke with Gomes, and learned that the letters reached Gomes while he was imprisoned.

After the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) denied funding for the spring WBOR concert—which it had allocated money for in the fall—last week, questions were raised about how the committee distributes money from its discretionary funds.

Data collected Monday verified that Bowdoin students are among the best in the nation—at turning in census forms.

Aijalon Mahli Gomes '01 was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and fined the equivalent of $700,000 on Tuesday for illegally entering North Korea across the Chinese border on January 25, according to the Washington Post.

Lecturer in Art John Bisbee, Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Meggan Gould and A. LeRoy Greason Professor of Art Mark Wethli were recognized as three of "Maine's Most Collectable Artists" by Maine Home + Design magazine.

For many current Bowdoin students, this year's census will be the first they fill out for themselves. Next Wednesday, Residential Life proctors and Residential Advisors (RAs) will distribute the 2010 Census to students living in college housing. The College is participating with the Census on Campus program, and through the Office of Residential Life, is working toward its goal of total participation from students living on campus.

Bowdoin Security and local law enforcement are working around the clock to close the case of thefts that occurred on campus this past Tuesday and Wednesday. The identified suspect is connected to other thefts in the Portland area, and he seems to be targeting Apple laptop computers and is focusing his efforts on college campuses.

At the February 1 faculty meeting, the Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee (CEP) proposed a policy that would allow students to participate in unpaid internships that require that students receive academic credit as compensation. Under the current policy, students may only participate in such internships if they coordinate an independent study that ties in with their internship work, to undertake on campus after the internship. If the new policy gains approval at the next faculty meeting on March 1, students who secure such internships would need to request approval from the Career Planning Center (CPC). If approved, the CPC would send a letter to the firm, non-governmental organization (NGO), or organization to establish that the student would receive transcript notation upon their completion of the internship. If the internship sponsor were to disagree to the terms outlined by the College, the student would not be allowed to take part in the internship.

As the national media's coverage of the damages wrought by the January 12 earthquake in Haiti begins to wane, Bowdoin students and community members are continuing efforts to streamline campus fundraising operations in addition to spreading awareness of the Caribbean nation's rich culture and complicated history.

The occasional series "How it feels" last ran in the 2005-2006 volume of the Orient. In this 2010 revival, Bowdoin students tell the Orient about their experiences—good, bad, or just extreme. Here are their stories.

Students worried by the prospect of losing beloved study space on the third floor of Hatch Science Library can breathe easy today. Yesterday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) denied the College's application for a grant to secure funding to convert part of Hatch into laboratory space.

On Tuesday afternoon, 12 students joined Director of Residential Life Mary Pat McMahon and Associate Director of Housing Operations Lisa Rendall to discuss the possibility of adopting a gender-neutral housing policy at Bowdoin. The students engaged McMahon and Rendall in conversation for the full hour of the meeting, held in the Baxter House common room, discussing the desire and need for a gender-neutral housing policy and the potential consequences such a policy might have on the campus.

The Peter Buck Center for Health and Fitness will open its doors at 6:30 a.m. next Tuesday, bringing 44,659 square feet of space dedicated to the wellness of the Bowdoin community to the center of campus. The Buck Center will allow "an opportunity for members of the community to pursue their health and fitness ambitions," said Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster. The fitness center will occupy the ground level and first floor of the building, the second floor will house the athletic department offices and a multipurpose space capable of seating 40 people, and Student Health Services and flexible multipurpose spaces will be located on the third floor.

After an exhaustive search that spanned nearly the entire academic year, the College announced last Friday that Kevin Salatino will become the director of the Museum of Art in August. Salatino, who currently serves as the head of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), will bring years of experience of working in museums—as well as a background in academia—to campus next fall.

Monday's power outage was not the only unexpected setback for Off-Camus Study (OCS) this week. The office also had to attempt to realign the numbers of study abroad applications from the Class of 2011, since many more sophomores have indicated a desire to study abroad in the spring than in the fall.

Though most headed to class on the first day of the spring semester, a handful of Bowdoin students were in Washington, D.C. at the beginning of the week. On Tuesday they headed to the National Mall for a different kind of first day: the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG), in conjunction with the Dean's office and Dudley Coe Health Center, has decided to conduct a second poll to measure student opinion about the health care provided on campus. BSG President Sophia Seifert '09 and Vice President of Student Affairs Carly Berman '11 conducted the original survey, composed of questions compiled by the BSG Assembly.

For writer and publicist Sloane Crosley, as one door closed when she locked herself out of her apartment, another one opened: the world of published writing. Crosley, who will deliver today's Common Hour lecture, published her first book, a collection of humor essays titled "I Was Told There'd Be Cake," in April. HBO recently acquired the rights to turn the essays into a television series. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Salon, the Village Voice, and many other noted publications.

In addition to candidates for local, state, and national seats, this year's Maine ballot will feature referenda questions about drinking and gambling. The first question, "The People's Veto," asks, "Do you want to reject the parts of a new law that change the method of funding Maine's Dirigo Health Program through charging health insurance companies a fixed fee on paid claims and adding taxes to malt liquor, wine and soft drinks?" Question 2, entitled "Citizen Initiative," reads, "Do you want to allow a certain Maine company to have the only casino in Maine, to be located in Oxford County, if part of the revenue is used to fund specific state programs?"

Former Bowdoin basketball standout Jordan Fliegel '08 signed a contract with Hapoel Jerusalem, an Israeli Premier Division professional basketball team, on September 24. Last spring, Fliegel found himself in the same boat as many of his classmates: figuring out what to do once he received his diploma.

Last month, two members of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) paid an unnanounced visit to Bowdoin and cited the College for three minor violations.

Meadow Davis started this semester with not one, but two new positions: Special Assistant to the Dean of Student Affairs and Advisor to the Student Sexual Assault and Misconduct Board (SSAMB).

This fall, there are 46 new faculty members, several of whom hold newly created leadership positions. Recently added positions include a director of the Africana Studies Program, a director of the Environmental Studies Program, and a full-time director of the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island. There is also a lecturer in Arabic for the first time and a new chair for the Theater and Dance Department.

The sight of elementary school-aged children playing in the dirt is not uncommon. But if said dirt was excavated in the style of an archaeology dig, complete with rope marking the edges of the area, you might take a second look.

Chamberlain Hall residents awoke to an unexpected alarm at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning: the paralyzing sound of a fire alarm. When the motor starter in the elevator machine room overheated and began to produce smoke, the building?s smoke detectors were activated and its fire alarms were set off.

With a rallying cry of "One Year to Victory!" the fourth annual Maine College Democrats Convention will be held this Saturday at Bowdoin.