The Bowdoin Orient

After three and a half years of women's rugby at Bowdoin, senior Becky Stevens is looking to claim a spot on the under-23 New England Rugby team.

Facing a budget deficit of $3.9 million, Superintendent of the Brunswick School District Paul Perzanoski announced a proposal last week to close Jordan Acres School. In addition to closing the school, which is located at 75 Jordan Avenue in Brunswick and enrolls kindergarten through second-grade students, Perzanoski's plan calls for laying off 32 employees. According to Perzanoski, closing the school would save the district more than $1 million.

Next Wednesday, 10 local non profits and the committees of the Common Good Grant will gather together under one roof for a night of education, checks and Bowdoin Logs. Two student-run committees oversee the application process for the Common Good Grant. The grant committee comprises 12 students who review applications from local non profits and choose proposals to approve, while the extension committee is responsible for locating donors to enlarge the program.

The American Cancer Society will come to the College as part of the 6th annual Relay for Life fundraiser. A sea of purple-clad students, staff and faculty from the College are expected to gather for 12 hours to raise money for cancer research. The overnight event, which begins at 6 p.m. and will continue through the night and early morning, anticipates more than 463 participants. As of press time, the organizers had raised more than $26,000.

Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster joined Bowdoin Student Government's (BSG) weekly meeting on Wednesday to field questions on a wide range of issues currently facing Bowdoin students. The discussion included topics such as the effectiveness and evolution of the College House System, as well as the misuse of alcohol and the surge in alcohol-related transports.

As the spring season gears up, the women's and men's crew teams embarked on a 24-hour ergathon to raise funds for their Spring Break training.

Every year, February brings snowy days, long winter nights and the inevitable onslaught of work as students emerge from the lethargy of Winter Break. This year, however, students have the option of seriously pursuing fitness and wellness as part of the second-annual February Fit program.

After two weeks of intense pre-training that spawned a series of injuries, the women's track team excelled at last week's Greater Boston Track Club Invitational held at Harvard University.

The men's track team competed well with several outstanding performances last Sunday at the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational held at Harvard University.

Starting this year, JSTOR will begin offering more multimedia services and expand its current journal content to include smaller publications. With a mission rooted in preserving and archiving journals electronically, JSTOR is seeking to expand its services and offer students more access to academic journals. The new JSTOR features are part of its Current Scholarship Program and will include audio files, video and e-mail alerts. Instead of only archiving back issues of select journals, JSTOR will add 19 new publishers and more than 174 up-to-date journals.

At its last meeting of the semester, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) voted in favor of a proposal to extend Thanksgiving Break. The revised proposal includes multiple versions of the new break, intended to accommodate the demands of administration, faculty and students. Additionally, BSG unanimously voted to pass a proposal allocating $400 to fund a Health Service event that will bring massage therapists to campus during the upcoming reading period. A student proposal to recruit military veterans to the College through the Yellow Ribbon Program passed as well.

Wednesday's meeting of Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) was focused on a student proposal advocating that the admissions office actively recruit veterans currently enrolled in community colleges. Nick Daniels '12, Amanda Gartside '12 and George Aumoithe '11 all spoke in favor of recruiting students through the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program). The program was established in 2008 to support returning veterans in their pursuit of higher education at private colleges and universities.

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) did not meet this week, but that did not mean the group was not busy. On Tuesday, BSG introduced a new way for students to browse course syllabi and last night, BSG organized transportation to the long-awaited Harry Potter movie release.

The new business of the night at Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) was a discussion of the first year book program's elimination. Last year, the faculty decided to remove the first year book program due to lack of interest.

Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols made a guest appearance at this week's Bowdoin Student government (BSG) meeting. The discussion developed into a follow-up on the two current issues, the apparent surge of alcohol-related transports and the investigation of the recent assault.

At last week's meeting, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) convened to address the new controversial printing policy implemented this year. BSG addressed the general concerns associated with the new printing policy which has sparked student anger and misconceptions.

Bowdoin will award its highest honor, the Bowdoin Prize, to Leon Gorman '56, L.L. Bean Chairman and Trustee Emeritus of the College today. In 1960, Gorman joined his grandfather's mail-order business in a time of unforeseen decline and considerable challenges. Gorman's grandfather, Leon Leonwood Bean, founder of L.L. Bean revolutionized outdoorswear by creating The Maine Hunting Shoe, a boot with a rubber sole and stitched leather that protected hunters from the dampness of the Maine woods.

For Samantha Farrell '05, an aspiring musician with golden hair and a soulful, jazzy voice, it is an amazing honor to be nominated among the first round of nominations for "Best Pop Album of the Year."

Each year Bowdoin welcomes several language teaching fellows from across the globe to teach at the College and take classes. This year the College is playing host to two teaching fellows from France, one from Germany and one from Spain.

Andy Serwer, managing editor of Fortune Magazine, is scheduled to speak at Friday's Common Hour in Kresge Auditorium. He will be discussing "Money, Markets and Mayhem." Andy Serwer transcends the conventional notions of the business man. He carries a certain magnetism and astuteness that translates business journalism across a spectrum of media.