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Features

A conversation with DeRay Mckesson ’07

Harry DiPrinzio: You currently produce a podcast each week, but you’re also a full-time organizer and activist——How do you manage the work of communicating with all these people, preparing for podcasts, getting guests to come on, educating yourself about what’s going on and educating others like celebrities and other activists? 

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Seasonal Affective Disorder rises as temperatures fall

December on Bowdoin’s campus means shorter days, colder nights and the potential onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) for some members of the Bowdoin community. “SAD is a phenomenon that arises for certain people related to diminished light which typically occurs in Maine from the end of October and continues to into Mid-February,” wrote Director of the counseling service and wellness programs Bernie Hershberger in an email to the Orient.

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War hero Andrew Haldane ’41 to be featured in biography

On May 18, 1940, Andrew Haldane ’41 received a wooden spoon from his classmates, the award given to the student voted the most popular member of the senior class. Haldane—football captain, baseball player, president of the student council and class secretary—would later find himself called into service for the U.S.

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Talk of the Quad

A year of grief at Bowdoin

There are three fish that live in a tank in the waiting room of the Counseling Center on College Street and every week I get to spend a few minutes just staring at them. One is fat and large, it swims slowly and only turns just as it reaches the glass wall.

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Students partner with alternative learning school

Throughout the semester, Bowdoin students in Education 1101, Contemporary American Education, have been exploring topics that arise in educational systems throughout the United States. Issues ranged from discrimination and privatization to charter schools and special education.

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Between the lines with Marieke Van Der Steenhoven

Bowdoin’s foundation is its history. For centuries the institution was mostly wealthy, mostly white and all male. These students fought on both sides of the Civil War, influenced federal policy, founded colleges—and invested innumerable resources back into their alma mater. 

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Heading north with the Arctic Studies program

Each year, there are on average only eight students who focus their studies on the Arctic. Spearheaded by Susan Kaplan, professor of anthropology and director of the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center, the Arctic Studies program is an informal concentration in the earth and oceanographic studies, anthropology and sociology departments that began in 1985.

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Talk of the Quad

Leaving an (awkward) mark

Relationships between the administration and student body are an integral part of a high functioning college or university. Humanizing our institutional superiors provides us a sense of companionship and support rather than discomfort and condescension as we persist in our academic, extracurricular and social endeavors.

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Professor Wheelwright’s “the Naturalist’s Notebook” takes flight

On October 17 Professor Nathaniel Wheelwright published “the Naturalist’s Notebook,” with co-author Bernd Heinrich, an esteemed natural history writer. This Wednesday evening, Wheelwright spoke about the book at Curtis Memorial Library. He explained his inspiration to write the 200-page book, which is part nature guide, part five-year calendar journal for use by the reader.

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Honk for peace: local group advocates for unity

At the corner of Pleasant and Maine streets, a group of elderly Brunswick locals stand on Friday afternoons with signs condemning all acts of war—cars drive by and honk showing support for the group’s message. This passionate, albeit small, congregation represents part of a larger organization known as PeaceWorks, a national organization whose mission is to educate its members and the community about all issues important to citizens of a democracy and encourage non-violent solutions to conflict.

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Talk of the Quad

Social media, me and #metoo

Recently, many of my friends and peers have posted the hashtag “MeToo” on their Facebook pages. This hashtag makes a pretty compelling statement: sexual harassment and assault are still a long, long way from being preventable on Bowdoin’s campus or any place in general.

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Talk of the Quad

The alum who stole Hitler’s books

In May of 1945, Joseph H. Johnson Jr. ’44 found himself shimmying down a rope into Adolf Hitler’s library. Once ornate with handmade bookshelves of wood and glass, the library had been moved from the second floor to underground, thereby protected by the body of the mountain when British troops bombed Hitler’s Berghof home five days before his death.

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Language Learning

Chair of the Russian Department Alyssa Gillespie spends much of her time in the basement of Sills Hall. Thin rays of natural light peek through the bottoms of windows, illuminating her office and its many Russian knick-knacks.

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Student group manages Bowdoin’s social media presence

From sunsets on the Quad to scenic nature adventures and students abroad, Bowdoin’s official Instagram account has become an important element of the college’s communication strategy. Aware of the more than 10,000 students, parents, prospective students and alumni following the account, the Student Digital Media Team (SDMT)—a group of eight students comprised of sophomores, juniors and seniors employed by the Digital and Social Media team—works to make this portrait as genuine and encompassing as possible.

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Seniors design delivery app PolarEats

Recognizing a lack of late night food options for students, seniors Sawyer Billings and Joe Gentile developed PolarEats, an app that creates a digital marketplace for local restaurants to make late-night deliveries accessible to anyone in the Brunswick-Topsham area.

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Talk of the Quad

“My dear, noble, but mistaken brother”

When Arthur McArthur Jr. graduated from Bowdoin in 1850, there was no Office of Career Planning to point him to jobs at Deloitte and L.L. Bean. His first decade after college was a whirlwind comedy of errors: he sailed off to the Gold Rush in California but almost starved in Panama, he joined a filibustering expedition to conquer Central America but washed up on a coral reef in the Caribbean, and he served as a major in the Civil War but was shot dead by a sniper in an orchard outside of Richmond, VA.

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Talk of the Quad

Behind the caption in Glasgow

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that the photos captioned #bowdoinabroad on Instagram don’t tell the full story. Instagram never does; there’s no way that a filtered square can capture an entire semester. And yet I spent this past spring posting photo after photo, scrolling through cleverly captioned snapshots and trying to define and tell my own story without the context of everything I knew.

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Community welcomes women STEM professors

Three new female STEM professors, Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sarah Harmon, Assistant Professor of Biology Patricia Jones and Assistant Professor of Mathematics Naomi Tanabe, have joined Bowdoin faculty this year and are eager to engage with the liberal arts community.

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Rudalevige popularizes political science in WaPo blog

Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government Andrew Rudalevige is determined to use his expertise in American government to better civic engagement both at and outside of Bowdoin. Rudalevige is an expert on the American presidency for “The Monkey Cage,” a blog founded in November of 2003 by John Sides.

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Kent Island isolates and inspires

Each summer, Bowdoin offers several fellowships in biology and the humanities that enable students to conduct research or practice various arts on Kent Island. Located off the coast of Maine in New Brunswick, Canada, the 200-acre island has been home to the Bowdoin Scientific Station (BSS), since 1935.

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Taking up space while queer and disabled

I am a queer person and a disabled person, and every day I am trying to figure out what that means. I decided to write this piece to reflect on those identities—what it means to navigate them and how these identities operate in the world both at Bowdoin and beyond.

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Polar Eyes

Taking the heat

As students write papers in the wee hours of the morning, snooze their alarm for an 8 a.m. class, labor over crossword puzzles at lunch, go for an afternoon run, or dance the night away in a dimly lit basement, the Bowdoin Heating Plant’s six engineers work tirelessly to keep the College running.

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Talk of the Quad

From city to sea

New Yorkers like to brag about how good our drinking water is, straight from the tap. And, okay, New Yorkers like to brag about a lot of things—but the drinking water really is excellent. When I left the city for Maine, though, I went straight to the salt water.

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Talk of the Quad

Haven’t we all encountered the softboy?

“The Fuckboy, in his current form, aims for the night, aims for the break, goals to ghost. The Softboy strings you along under loftier auspices. He is Nice yet Complicated; this isn’t just a hookup. It’s a series of such,” wrote Alan Hanson in his article “Have You Encountered the Softboy?” Lillian Eckstein ’18 read this piece aloud to me a couple of months ago with the premise, “HOW HAVE YOU NOT READ THIS?” I cannot help but assume she was implicitly commenting on my softboy past.

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Moonlighting Production brings light, color and fun to Bowdoin

Although most students on campus have long been familiar with the Ivies headliners A$AP Ferg, Vanic and Smallpools, only some students have heard the name Moonlighting Production Services, LLC. This production company has been working with Bowdoin to provide light fixtures and sound services for the yearly Ivies concerts and many other Bowdoin events for over 20 years.

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International

At home in all lands

International students face unique difficulties at Bowdoin, which enrolls the fewest non US citizens in the NESCAC, such as navigating career opportunities, advisors and campus resources that don’t fully understand their experiences and a foreign social culture.

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Talk of the Quad

Art lessons

I have a cheap Richard Prince print on my dorm-room wall from his Untitled (Fashion) series. I downloaded the image from the internet and turned it into a poster. (I figured this would be within bounds based on Prince’s own relationship with appropriating others’ work.) I like the image because it’s simple and suggests our own complicity in consumer culture by appropriating what was originally a magazine ad.

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Tapped Out

Our pick: the best beer for your Ivies 2K17

As Ivies quickly approaches, dear Reader, a budget beer was very much in the cards for this week’s issue of Tapped Out. And in the end, the choice was obvious. Our beer is regularly available in the town of Brunswick and comes in at less than a dollar per can; yet, it is rarely (if ever) spotted at our campus parties and in our dorm rooms.

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Polar Eyes

Truck Stop

Taco the Town is officially back from its winter hiatus. This food truck, run by Chef Tai Choo and his crew, is a unique addition to Brunswick’s culinary scene. Choo grew up eating from San Francisco taco trucks and brought his tastebuds to Maine, serving up tacos, burritos and quesadillas for his community.

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Talk of the Quad

Interview lessons

I have the voice recordings from every interview I have conducted as an Orient reporter. At last count, I had 105, an average of slightly more than two interviews per week. They occupy a non-negligible portion of my phone’s memory space.

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Spindleworks fosters connections through art

At Spindleworks, a staff of seven professional “artist mentors” helps participants develop their artistic skills in a variety of media including writing, painting, drawing, pottery, sculpture, animation, filmmaking and musical theater. The center also provides artists with the opportunity to display and sell their work in local shows. Several Bowdoin students volunteer each year.

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Bottom of the Barrel

Eppa SupraFruta white Sangria is a one-way ticket to swell times

Trusted music blog Wikipedia defines Tropical House, also known as “trop house,” as a subgenre of deep house. “It possesses typical house music characteristics, including synthesizer instrumentation, and a 4/4 kick drum pattern. Tropical house differentiates itself from deep house, which can often have a very dark sound, whereas tropical house can be described as having a more uplifting and relaxing sound.

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Talk of the Quad

Caught in a haze

Recently, my friends have stopped asking me if I’m going to drink this weekend. I can’t tell if I like it. On the one hand, I now no longer have to explain, “no, I still can’t drink—yeah I’m still feeling the symptoms of my concussion—yeah it has been about 10 months now.” On the other hand, the fact that they have stopped asking also suggests that they, like me, see no time in the near future when I might be fully recovered.

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Talk of the Quad

Growing up mixed

Every now and then someone will ask me where I am from and I’ll tell them that I’m from Baltimore. One of two reactions follow. Either my questioner will hesitantly accept the answer and walk away or they’ll try again.

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Tapped Out

An immense amount of fate, and beer, bring us down to earth

21st Amendment Brewery’s Down To Earth is true to its description as a smashable beer. An IPA will never go down like a watery American lager, granted, but this brew can go the distance. It’s refreshing, it’s delicious and it’s not too complex to enjoy multiple cans. Even before you open this beer up, the art—a strangely-happy-spacesuit-clad monkey chilling in a hammock by the ocean—is worth a brief marvel. And once it’s cracked, it only gets better.

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Socioeconomic Class

What money means

An in-depth look into the dynamics of class and wealth among Bowdoin's student body, especially exploring the perspectives of the wealthy majority on campus. Confronting class differences throughout a diverse student body can be uncomfortable and difficult to navigate; this article asks students to face this discomfort and talk about their experiences anew.

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Hot take, cold dish: tofu at Bowdoin

From Honolulu tofu to tofu stir fry to the small cubes available at the salad bars, the tofu in the dining halls is ever present. Produced by Heiwa Soy Beanery, the tofu has been a staple of Bowdoin Dining Service’s repertoire for two years.

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