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Features

I Said What I Said

Following ‘RISE’: it’s time to change our culture

Over the years, there’s been an overabundance of conversations at Bowdoin around hookup culture. Whether it’s over brunch after a night of partying, under blinking fairy lights at a group of girlfriends’ weekly wine night or onstage at “RISE: Untold Stories of Bowdoin Women.” It’s been the subject of countless Talks of the Quad and columns in the Bowdoin Orient.

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Trivia Tuesdays: questions, camaraderie and craft beer

Produced, edited and filmed by Marcus Ribeiro ’23   The noise level in Moderation Brewing Company oscillated between murmurs and shouts at Tuesday’s trivia night. Bowdoin students, faculty and staff sat alongside Brunswick-area residents as they all huddled around tables to discuss where the seat of the Anglican Bishop of London is.

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Talk of the Quad

Thank you, Bowdoin women

My heart flutters when the door creaks open—the stage is dimly lit, empty. I grip my crinkled note card too hard, and my palms smudge the ink. I step out onto the stage. The clapping slows, my feet wander ahead despite hesitation.

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Door to door, day by day

Saturday, February 1—Rochester, N.H. The calluses first appeared around day 12 in Sioux City, Iowa, says Penny Mack ’22. “You knock like two doors, and the calluses are already coming back,” she says, making a fist with her right hand, her knocking hand.

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Searching for spirituality, religion as radical practice

I identify as religious. My father comes from a long line of Irish-Catholics; he and my mother, who was raised Lutheran, decided to raise my sisters and me in the Catholic Church. In high school, my religious identity became an active choice: even when my parents took breaks from going to church, I would drive myself.

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Hot dog eating contest draws hungry student crowd

Two men, four dogs, one champion. The inaugural Helmreich House Hot Dog Eating Contest ended in a tie Saturday afternoon, forcing an electrifying overtime period from which a winner emerged, much to the delight of dozens of raucous students gathered in the residence’s living room.

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Brunswick restaurant opens with twist on the classics

With its elegant interior, locally-sourced ingredients and a pared-down menu, Maine St. Steak and Oyster strives to create a casual ambience with high-end versions of classic dishes. The restaurant, which opened last Thursday, saw a busy first weekend and looks forward to an exciting future on Brunswick’s Maine Street.

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Where are the women of color in ‘Modern Love’?

The first episode of Amazon Prime’s “Modern Love,” “When the Doorman is Your Main Man,” tells the story of Maggie, a single woman in New York who becomes pregnant. Despite the pregnancy being unplanned and the fact that the father declines involvement in the baby’s life, Maggie chooses to move forward as a single mother with some help from her doorman, who offers her unwavering support and guidance.

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Edwards ’22 to publish book in July

On the evening of November 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected president. The next morning, school was the last place self-described progressive Morgan Edwards ’22 wanted to be. In Frostburg, Md., where Edwards grew up, around 80 percent of residents were Trump supporters.

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Academic department coordinators work to support students and faculty in teaching and learning

“There’s my dream team right there,” History Department Academic Coordinator Rebecca Banks said, smiling and pointing to a picture of two students hanging on the wall in her office. “The students are fabulous. I usually have one or two student workers a semester, and I love them.” Bowdoin’s academic department coordinators take on a wide range of responsibilities, from working directly with students and faculty and managing course materials, to planning events for majors, bringing speakers to campus and helping hire new faculty members.

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Always in bloom, Pretty Flowers changes with the seasons

When you walk into Amy Maloney’s house, it looks like any ordinary house. Magnets, pictures and notes cling to the fridge, art hangs from the wall and light streams in from the windows. There are three cups on the kitchen table, each full of pencils sorted by color, with a large sheet of paper showing Maloney’s latest landscape design laid out beside them.

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Collecting stories, increasing disability awareness

In just over a week, the busy hallways and quiet study nooks of the College will have a new addition: a collection of stories from the Bowdoin community relating to disability hung all across campus. In hopes of increasing visibility on International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPWD) on December 3, the DisAbled Students Association (DASA) is asking faculty, students and staff to contribute submissions expressing their own experiences or those of friends and loved ones.

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Fort Andross luthier Joel Amsden strikes a chord

“We fix catastrophic mistakes,” Joel Amsden said, pulling a replica of a 1959 Gibson Les Paul electric guitar out of its case. The neck was unfinished and barren. The guitar, worth around $5,000 according to Amsden’s off-the-cuff estimate, needed extensive repair.

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Talk of the Quad

To be at home

My family moved to Maine the summer before I started high school. I had spent most of life among the skyscrapers of Chicago, where anonymity was expected in the bustle of city crowds. Yet I felt very connected to my city.

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Talk of the Quad

People are starting to notice

When I see the word “mental illness,” my mind goes straight to the word “illness.” Then a host of other words start to flow through my mind: disease, disability, impaired, bad, inferior, unworthy. The list continues, but the negative connotation of the words remain the same.

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Poke the Bear

Harriet Beecher Stowe: the woman, the myth, the legend

It didn’t take me long to realize that the Bowdoin campus is a goldmine for obscure references to the College’s history. Exhibit A: in the fall of my first year, I was strolling through the quad alongside my upperclassman friend as she told me about compass engravings—yes, you read that right—scattered throughout the landscape of the College as some sort of historical reference.

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Af/Am/50

Celebrating Af/Am/50

This weekend, alumni, students and guests will gather to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Africana Studies program (formerly known as Afro-American Studies), the Black Students Union (BSU, formerly known as the African American Society) and the John Brown Russwurm African American Center.

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Af/Am/50

Alumni to discuss under-representation as Black artists

Black Arts will take center stage at a panel on Saturday morning as two Bowdoin alumni discuss their careers in film and music and the role of activism in their work. The event, titled “Black Arts: A Canvas for Social Activism,” will feature singer-songwriter Coretta King ’12 and film actor, writer and producer George Ellzey Jr.

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Af/Am/50

Tamara Nikuradse: Africana Studies after Bowdoin

Tamara Nikuradse ’84, P’21 carefully organizes the library in her fifth grade classroom at Dana Hall, an all girls school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. “I feel that my one of my responsibilities, especially as a woman of color, is to expose the students to other cultures and histories of other people.

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Af/Am/50

Black student perspectives

Since its founding in 1969, the Black Student Union (BSU, formerly the African American Society), has played a prominent role in campus life. From organizing the annual Ebony Ball to inviting speakers to campus, including Amiri Baraka and Maya Angelou, BSU members actively contribute to intellectual and social life at Bowdoin.

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Af/Am/50

Students to collect oral histories from Af/Am alumni

This weekend, as alumni from the past five decades gather on campus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Africana Studies program, the Russwurm African American Center and the African American Society, four students—Aisha Rickford ’20, Nate DeMoranville ’20, Marcus Williams ’21 and Marina Henke ’19—will be seeking to document their stories.

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Talk of the Quad

New adventures in Hi-Ed: my time with R.E.M.

I recall my Bowdoin experience through excessive cultural consumption. It sounds like Nick Hornby “High Fidelity”—like mumbo jumbo, but it’s a great cataloging method. Fall 2016: I over-played Frank Ocean’s “Blonde.” Fall 2017: I discovered Pavement, and logically started to think I grew up in the 90s.

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Talk of the Quad

Happy, with a little help from my friend

Once daily, I swallow a tiny pill that contains 100 mg of the drug Sertraline, more commonly known by its brand name, Zoloft. Sertraline has many side effects, including, but not limited to, worsening depression, dizziness, drowsiness, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased sex drive, impotence or difficulty having an orgasm.

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Monthly book club gathers to discuss feminist texts, films

On the fourth Sunday of every month, a small group gathers in the hole-in-the-wall space above Moderation Brewing to sip beer, chat and reflect on feminist texts. Open to people of all genders, the Brunswick Feminist Book Club met for the first time last November when Kira Bennett Hamilton brought a couple of friends together from the Brunswick area.

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Intergroup dialogue sparks conversation on campus

Every Monday night for the past five weeks, 16 members of the Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) on race gathered at 30 College Street. Through dialogue, rather than debate, participants aim for honest understanding across racial identities. Facilitated by Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Eduardo Pazos and Associate Dean of Student Affairs for Inclusion and Diversity and Director of the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center Kate Stern, the program is designed to allow students of various racial backgrounds to come together to discuss issues of race on campus and in society at large.

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New peer advisor program expands CXD’s accessibility

Career Exploration and Development (CXD) is introducing a new peer advisor program this semester in an effort to provide students with more opportunities to learn about the office and receive career support. The three peer advisors—Elly Veloria ’20, Mike McAlarney ’21 and Amanda Rickman ’20—offer regular drop-in hours in the CXD and David Saul Smith Union to help students with basic career tasks like crafting a resume or drafting a cover letter.

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Talk of the Quad

The descent into the abyss

These self-portraits were made by William Utermohlen, a 20th century contemporary artist. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1995. At the onset of his Alzheimer’s, he decided to sketch a portrait of himself once a year until 2000—he died in 2007.

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NASA

‘A political existence’: Native culture on campus

Maine celebrated its first Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday. For many Bowdoin students, their awareness of Native Americans comes only from history books or environmental justice readings. Native students are very much present on campus, and Indigenous people have been present in the Brunswick area since well before Bowdoin’s founding.

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Turning the page: Twice-Told Tales travels to Maine Street

After roughly four years on Pleasant Street, Twice-Told Tales is turning the corner. The used book store is making its highly anticipated move from the current location on Pleasant Street to Maine Street. Twice-Told Tales is a volunteer-run used book store that serves as a part of the Friends of the Curtis Memorial Library Program, a due-based organization that raises funds for the local library by selling donated books that are in good condition.

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Poke the Bear

The haunting of Bowdoin: ghosts and beyond

When I was younger, I would go to my friend Clara’s house around Halloween to bake pumpkin pie, watch TV and tell scary stories with our friends. I remember huddling in a circle under a tent we’d made from sheets, taking turns narrating the eeriest, most haunting tales we could imagine.

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PACE-ing herself: Collin Roesler explores the deep sea

Even in her 10th year at Bowdoin, Professor of Earth and Oceanographic Science Collin Roesler’s eyes light up as she discusses her research in oceanography. For the past three years, Roesler has been studying how phytoplankton in the ocean capture and export carbon dioxide into deeper areas and remove the gas from the atmosphere as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) mission.

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Wildflours bakery blossoms in Brunswick

Produced, edited and filmed by Zoe Stilphen ’22   At Wildflours, Maine’s first entirely gluten-free market and bakery, customers who would usually be limited by dietary restrictions can enjoy sweets, breads and savory treats worry-free. The bakery, located at 54 Cumberland Street, has grown since its opening in 2008.

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One name at a time, Kristina Bethea Odejimi finds her groove at the College

Last Tuesday, newly-appointed Dean of Students Kristina Bethea Odejimi led a morning spin class while the regular instructor was on vacation. Why? Because there was a problem to be solved, because Odejimi really likes to cycle and because the class gave her the chance to do what she enjoys most: meet the individuals who make up the community she has been hired to serve, while getting in a tough workout.

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Students dive into Bowdoin Marine Science Semester

Every weekday morning this semester, nine Bowdoin students pile into minivans to travel to their classroom: the Schiller Coastal Studies Center. Swapping laptops for test tubes and sneakers for rubber boots, students in Bowdoin Marine Science Semester (BMSS) explore coastal environments through a hands-on, intimate semester-long experience.

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Talk of the Quad

Stepping into plain sight

My freshman fall, I was still reeling from two breakups I’d gone through my last year of high school. One was with a friend, and one was with a boyfriend. At 17 years old, the loss of those relationships wreaked total havoc on my sense of self.

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Forking Around

Campus coffee comparison

I’ve always held that the coffee from Bowdoin’s Cafe is superior to the brew in the dining halls. Even though both locations carry the same types of coffee made by the same company, the Seacoast Coffee Company, I thought I could taste a difference.

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Little Dog, big changes: Brunswick staple gets a makeover

Many Bowdoin students flock to The Little Dog Coffee Shop, a Brunswick fixture located on Maine Street, but as students return to campus for a new year, they will return to a new version of The Little Dog, complete with changes in decor, an expanded menu and extended hours on Thursdays and Fridays for “Lit Nights” and live music.

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Poke the Bear

When did Bowdoin really begin?

My mom drinks from her Bowdoin coffee mug every morning. And she’s got the whole process down to a science. Grab mug, choose coffee flavor, shove mug into Keurig, wait. Pick mug up, walk over to comfy corner table, do crossword of the day and drink coffee.

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Tao Yuan opens aquaponics greenhouse in Brunswick

Since opening in 2012, Tao Yuan—Pleasant Street’s Asian fusion restaurant—has been in the business of serving the delightfully unexpected. With dishes like “duck confit fried rice” and “Maine Jonah crab wide noodles,” chef and co-owner Cara Stadler deftly crafts a cuisine that is both delicious and surprising.

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New exhibit honors 50th anniversary of Africana studies

At 3 p.m. today, students, faculty and staff will gather around five exhibit cases on the second floor gallery of Hawthorne-Longfellow (H-L) Library for the opening of “Tension/Tenacity: Africana Studies at 50,” an exhibition that explores the five-decade history of Bowdoin’s Africana studies program, the John Brown Russwurm African American Center and the Black Student Union (formerly the African American Society).

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Talk of the Quad

Broad City: in memoriam

On March 28, 2019 there was a significant passing in my world. The series “Broad City” aired its final episode after a wildly successful five season run. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Broad City is a raunchy buddy comedy starring two millennial women living and working in New York City.

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Talk of the Quad

Between sundown and sunrise

There should be a Schoolhouse Rock episode about how the Orient’s production night works. Without the help of a nifty jingle, I will not attempt to describe the full process, but rather set down here that it involves six rounds of edits, various photo and design checks and a weekly $50 snack budget.

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Cyber Chase

Virtual reality: to the classroom and beyond

This Monday, I traveled to space. While my corporeal body remained in the familiar comfort of the first floor of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, my perception was responding to a different world altogether—the unwieldiness of zero-gravity movement and a limitless expanse of black, punctuated by hazy starlight.

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Escaping reality through class simulation games

Isabella Angel ’22 is too nervous to eat dinner, drinking ginger ale instead in hopes of calming her anxiety. In 10 minutes, she will no longer be a Bowdoin College student but Fulvius Nobilior, a Roman general and esteemed member of the Senate, where she will face her rival in a court case over stolen goods.

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Cyber Chase

Legislature, algorithms and the politics of data

This past Monday, over 400 students, Stanley Druckenmiller and I packed into Pickard Theater to listen to John Kasich. The talk was very informative. For instance, I learned that Ohio had dealt with race, that presidential power is overrated and that the Nixon White House tapes probably include a recording of an 18-year-old Kasich.

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Russian department booms, hires new lecturer

When Alyssa Gillespie, now the chair of the department and associate professor of Russian, came to Bowdoin in the fall of 2016, only one student was majoring in Russian. Since then, Gillespie has worked tirelessly to expand the department, which now has 15 majors and two minors.

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