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News

Election 2017

Maine issues: the Orient’s guide to 2017 ballot measures

Q1: Should the Maine Gambling Control Board allow to operation of slot machines or a casino in York County, Maine? If passed, Question 1 would allow for the creation of a gaming and entertainment venue in York County, the most southwestern county in Maine, which includes the towns of Saco, Kennebunk and Old Orchard Beach, among others.

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Academic

German department nationally recognized for excellence

Bowdoin’s Department of German will be honored on November 18 as a Center of Excellence by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG). Birgit Tautz, George Taylor Files professor of modern languages, was notified of the department’s designation last month, after submitting an application on behalf of the department to AATG for this honor earlier this year, which included visits by faculty from other institutions to review the department.

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Storm

Storm tests College’s emergency plan

Following a storm early Monday morning that left nearly 500,000 homes and businesses in Maine without electricity, Bowdoin was plunged into the state’s worst ever power outage that, for some, lasted over two days. Students, faculty and staff flocked to Thorne Dining Hall for hot food, heat, electricity and Wi-Fi, while Security and Facilities worked to assess and repair the aftermath.

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Storm

Powered down: how Bowdoin handled the blackout

Even in the chaos of the storm, many students didn’t feel much of a reprieve from their typical day-to-day academic pressures. Tables in Thorne throughout the day could be seen covered in laptops and notebooks as students tried to keep up with their coursework. A photographic look at how Bowdoin reacted to the worst power outage Maine has seen in decades.

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Former student leads identified hate group

As white nationalism has gained prominence across the United States, former Bowdoin student Evan McLaren holds a leading role at one of the movement’s most prominent organizations, the National Policy Institute (NPI). McLaren, who attended Bowdoin for three semesters between 2003 and 2006, became Executive Director of NPI in July.

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Students rally for natural disaster relief

In September, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other Caribbean islands, as well as southern U.S. states, such as Texas and Florida. In the same month, Mexico was hit with three earthquakes, including the strongest one the country has experienced in over a century.

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OUTtober

Yellow Shirt Day continues tradition of recognition

On Tuesday, hundreds of students, faculty and staff donned yellow shirts that read “Respect. All genders. All sexualities,” for Bowdoin Queer-Straight Alliance’s (BQSA) seventh Yellow Shirt Day. A part of programming for OUTtober, the event is hosted annually near National Coming Out Day in order to show solidarity for the LGBTQ+ community at the College.

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‘Our Bodies, Our Bowdoin’ promotes body positivity, inclusion

Last Friday, “Our Bodies, Our Bowdoin,” sponsored by Peer Health and the Women of Color Coalition, brought together women of color to discuss beauty standards on campus through reflecting on their own experiences. “I just wanted to create a space where women of color could gather because I [not only] feel it is really important to build solidarity and community, but [also] I wanted to be able to have a space [to celebrate] women bodies,” said Elly Veloria ’20, a member of Peer Health and the Women of Color Coalition who helped to plan the event.

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Academic

More than posters: symposium engages humanities and STEM

Today, at the second annual President’s Research Symposium, over 100 students will present research across the fields of STEM, the humanities and social sciences. Last year’s symposium was the first to include research beyond STEM fields, and about 40 percent of this year’s research projects are non-STEM, according to Professor of Chemistry Michael Danahy, the coordinator for the event.

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Socioeconomic Class

‘Class Confess’ Facebook page offers new anonymous platform

Created by an unidentified group of Bowdoin students, the Bowdoin-Class Confess Facebook page has sparked online discussion in the past few weeks around issues such as class, race, gender, sexuality and mental health. With over 1,000 friends and numerous followers including students, alumni and staff members, the page allows students to anonymously post “confessions” and respond to posts.

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Administration

Delong reflects on campus achievements

As Allen Delong, associate dean of student affairs, wraps up the final days of his 12-year Bowdoin career, he reflects with pride as well as nostalgia on the many strides the College has made. During his tenure Delong played a critical role in launching student spaces on campus that promote diversity and inclusivity.

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Panel highlights College’s carbon neutral plan

Students and environmental professionals gathered in Quinby House on Monday night for an intimate panel discussion on Bowdoin’s use of renewable energy sources. During the discussion, hosted by the Bowdoin Organic Garden, panelists also considered the past, present and future of the College’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2020.

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OUTtober

Local Queer/Trans Conference expands sense of community

As part of OUTtober, Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance (BQSA) sent 13 students to Bates College’s first Maine Youth Summit and Queer/ Trans Conference last Saturday. Open to both college students and community members such as LGBTQIA+ youth, parents and college faculty and staff, the conference allowed Bowdoin students to immerse themselves in a large, diverse group of queer and trans people.

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Career Day offers interview opportunities

Today, a group of approximately 30 Bowdoin seniors will trade their backpacks for briefcases as they travel to Boston to interview with prospective employers. Eastern College Career Day (ECCD) brings together students from includes six schools—Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Skidmore, St.

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Celebrating women in computing

Over fall break, 13 students and three advisors attended the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) in Orlando, Florida as an educational and advantageous career opportunity. The conference, held from October 4-6, is attended by 18,000 women who are either involved in or interested in the field of computer science.

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OUTtober

OUTtober starts

This month is the College’s first annual OUTtober, a month of programming by Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance (BQSA) celebrating various sexuality and gender identities. In the past, BQSA has organized events during the week of National Coming Out Day on October 11 and has hosted a month of programming in February, known as “Februqueery.” OUTtober will replace “Februqueery” as BQSA’s month-long series of events, although BQSA will continue to recognize Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31.

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Judicial Board

Annual reports on student misconduct released

ACADEMIC HONOR CODE & SOCIAL CODE The 2016-2017 Annual Report from the Judicial Board (J-Board) revealed 16 Academic Honor Code violations and one Social Code violation. This year, the largest case of collaboration involved three students, a significant decrease from the 2015-2016 year report when 11 cases were brought before the J-Board from a single course in the Department of Computer Science.

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News in Brief

Dean Delong takes new job at Bates college

Allen Delong, associate dean of student affairs, will depart from Bowdoin on November 10 to serve in the newly created position of senior associate dean at Bates College. Drawing from his experience developing student spaces at Bowdoin that better reflect the College’s changing demography, Delong will head the Purposeful Work program and Career Development Center at Bates, an office designed to help students prepare for lives of work and social contribution that align with the liberal arts values.

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Petition demands accessibility changes

Last Friday was the first meeting of the Accessibility Task Force—a group of administrators, faculty members and students intended to look holistically at accessibility on campus. The task force coordinates the College’s efforts to be accessible and accommodating to all people in all capacities as well as to be in legal compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The move to reconvene the committee comes after a group of students circulated a petition last spring calling on the College to increase support and commitment to students with disabilities.

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Admissions

EXPLORE Bowdoin welcomes prospective students

This past weekend, around 50 high school seniors arrived on campus for EXPLORE Bowdoin. A three-day immersive program, EXPLORE, run through the Office of Admissions, offers an opportunity for prospective students to visit the College, meet students and faculty and experience academic and social life.

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‘Dark Money’ author discusses book, investigation of billionaire Kochs

New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer shared these intricacies and perils of writing her latest book, “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right” at a discussion in Pickard Theater Saturday afternoon. Prompted with questions by Bill Nemitz, a columnist for the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, Mayer spoke about the pervasive power of the Koch brothers’ money in regards to her own privacy and American politics.

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New group supports minority STEM students

Pursuing Our Purpose (P.O.P.) is a new student group formed by Rebeca Perez ’20 and Eskedar Girmash ’20 to foster diversity and provide a supportive community for underrepresented students interested in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

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Admissions

Netflix CEO funds student success program

In an email on Monday to the campus community, President Clayton Rose announced a $5 million donation from Reed Hastings ’83, co-founder and CEO of Netflix, towards a new program that will support low-income students, first-generation students and students traditionally underrepresented on college campuses.

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Student Government

2021 class council election results

In an email to the Orient Sunday night, Vice President for Bowdoin Student Government Affairs, Ben Painter ’19 announced the results of the class council elections for the first year class. Three hundred and eighteen first years participated in the vote—approximately 63 percent of the class.

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Financial Aid

Does living off campus impact financial aid packages?

For most students, it doesn’t. For some, they save money. Students receiving financial aid see no change to their packages if they opt to live off campus, regardless of the cost of the off-campus house. “We do financial aid the same way because irrespective of where you live, you’re going to pay,” said Michael Bartini, the director of student aid.

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Judicial Board

New methods to supplement judicial process

The College has begun to implement more broadly tools associated with Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the Office of Student Affairs. These tools will supplement, and in some cases replace, Bowdoin’s official disciplinary process with the goal of adding an educational element to a traditionally penal system.

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Bowdoin community members respond to Maine’s opioid crisis

As Maine and the country experiences an epidemic that is driving down national life expectancy, some at Bowdoin are responding. Drug overdoses in the U.S. have increased by 533 percent over the last 14 years—from 2,089 overdoses in 2002 to 13,219 in 2016—according to data released in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

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News in Brief

Brunswick town rezoning

The Town of Brunswick recently concluded a three-and-a-half year project to renovate the town’s zoning ordinance to reflect changes in local policy over the past 22 years. The ordinance focused on reducing the number of total districts, catching up with Maine laws regarding signage and shorelands and rectifying the issues brought about by the 21-year-old ordinance’s failure to account for technological advances.

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News in Brief

Trespasser Terry Elwell

On Monday, Randy Nichols, director of safety security, sent out a campus alert warning people of Terry Elwell’s return to Brunswick. Elwell has a long history of convictions in Brunswick and has been involved with multiple incidents at Bowdoin.

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Administration

Volent’s pay jumps $930k

Chief Investment Officer Paula Volent earned a salary of $2,244,678 in the 2015 calendar year, an increase of $934,754 since 2014, when she made $1,309,924, according to Bowdoin’s Form 990, the public tax filing which reports compensation of the College’s highest paid employees.

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Students speak out at DACA rally

Bowdoin’s community came together at Portland City Hall last Friday to protest President Trump’s rescindment of Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, an Obama administration executive order which extended rights such as higher education and tax obligation to undocumented youth.

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Off Campus Housing

More limits for off-campus housing recommended

A working group for improving housing policies recommended limiting the students who can live off campus to 25 percent of the senior class, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster announced in a school-wide email Thursday. Formed last winter, the working group was created following the dramatic increase in the percentage of students living off-campus in the last year.

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McKeen Center

Initiative encourages pursuit of careers in public service

The Bowdoin Public Service Initiative (BPS), a new program housed in the McKeen Center for the Common Good, aims to encourage students to pursue careers in public policy through education, networking and funded internships. Inspired by conversations between President Clayton Rose and Thomas Pickering ’53, H’84, the initiative comes at a time of widespread distrust of the goals and values of governmental institutions.

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Administration

College progresses with reaccreditation

This summer, Bowdoin made progress on its efforts toward reaccreditation by producing a 113-page self-study evaluating the College’s performance and setting projections for improvement within the next 10 years. The report was submitted to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), a reaccreditation body, for approval.

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LASO

LASO begins month of cultural celebration

Trivia, salsa dancing and informational lectures all exemplify the myriad of ways in which the Bowdoin community, specifically the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), plans to celebrate during Latinx Heritage Month. LASO’s Kickoff Celebration Cookout, which will take place on Friday, September 15,  signifies the beginning of a month of festivities meant to honor the rich history of Latinx Americans and build awareness of issues that affect the Latinx American community.

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Students unite after campus bias incident

Early Tuesday morning, August 28, a member of the housekeeping staff discovered that whiteboards in the student study space on the third floor of the Visual Arts Center (VAC) had been defaced with numerous graphic and inappropriate images, including two drawing of male genitalia, a swastika, the letters “FUKKK,” the names of two individuals and homophobic language.

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College community reacts to DACA termination

President Clayton Rose reaffirmed the College’s support for undocumented students in light of President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In response to the decision, a large group of students will travel from the College to attend a rally in Portland on Friday.

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Environmental Studies

Schillers donate $10 million toward Coastal Studies Center

On Wednesday, the College announced plans to construct a new dry laboratory and convening center, complete with housing and dining services, at the newly renamed Schiller Coastal Studies Center (SCSC). This marks the College’s second major investment in the study of the environment in recent years, with the Roux Center for the Environment expected to open in September 2018.

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Brunswick

Bus service expands to Brunswick

On August 24, the Metro BREEZ bus began regular commuter service between Brunswick and Portland. With $3 one-way tickets and a stop on Bath Road next to Pickard Theater, Bowdoin faculty and staff are already taking advantage of the new extended service.

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Campus

Library renovated, Whittier and Roux make progress

This summer, contractors carried out major renovation projects around campus in preparation for the new academic year. Major projects include the creation of two new collaborative spaces in Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L), updates to Magee-Samuelson Track and Whittier Field and initial work on the Roux Center for the Environment.

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College transforms ASAP, programs uncertain

Next year, the Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP) will no longer serve as a campus-wide programming organization, a change introduced by the Office of Gender Violence Prevention and Education. The eecision received pushback from the leaders of ASAP—who were not consulted—for several reasons, but primarily because the change ends ASAP’s role in sexual assault prevention programming and it is unclear which groups will sponsor the ongoing events ASAP developed.

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College Houses

ResLife restructures College House roles

The Office of Residential Life (ResLife) revamped College House officer positions for the 2017-2018 academic year in response to feedback from students, who said that work was distributed unequally among the five officer positions. The new House leadership structure eliminates the old positions (president, vice president, treasurer, communications director and programming director) and replaces them with two house chairs and two programming chairs.

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News in Brief

Two transports, no police issues during Ivies

During this year’s Ivies Weekend, two first-year students were transported to Mid Coast Hospital for overconsumption of alcohol—one on Thursday night and one on Saturday night. Two minor injuries and two instances of theft occurred, but only one Security-related record was broken: the number of photos taken with Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols and other officers on duty.

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News in Brief

Warehouse fire causes shortage at Hannaford

A fire at a Hannaford warehouse in South Portland left a number of the supermarket chain’s Maine locations—including the store in Brunswick—short on refrigerated products this past weekend. The Portland Press Herald reported on April 27 that the fire started in a truck’s refrigerator pump and then spread to the warehouse.

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Ivies

What does it take to put on Ivies?

While Ivies officially kicked off with last night’s concert, planning began months ago. The Student Activities Office, Facilities Management and the Office of Safety and Security have been discussing Ivies for months—and staff will be working around the clock this weekend to make sure students have a safe and enjoyable experience.

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Student Government

BSG Candidacy Statements

Irfan Alam – President Candidate Hi! My name is Irfan Alam and I am running for BSG President alongside Ben Painter as my VP. I currently serve as the Chair of the Treasury on the executive committee, and have previously served as an At-Large Representative to the SAFC and a member of the SOOC.

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Administration

College wins right to buy house at 28 College St., appeal looms

On April 12, the Cumberland County Superior Court ruled that Bowdoin has the right to purchase the property at 28 College Street, the last remaining property on College Street that Bowdoin does not own. The decision comes after a months-long legal battle over a 1996 agreement between the College and the property’s owner that granted Bowdoin the right to buy the home before any other buyer could place an offer, should the home be placed on the market.

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Socioeconomic Class

Talk, discussion address class at Bowdoin

Jordan Richmond ’16 returned to campus on Monday to present the results of a study conducted by the team he works with at the Equality of Opportunity Project. The study, which has been covered in The New York Times, the Orient and many other outlets, analyzes colleges’ roles in intergenerational income and mobility using tax data from students born between 1978-1991.

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Faculty, students to participate in March for Science

With support from 14 academic departments and the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good, many Bowdoin students and faculty will pile into buses tomorrow to attend the March for Science. The protest is part of a nationwide Earth Day event calling on elected officials to base their policies on scientific research and evidence.

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News in Brief

Experience program shorter than past years

The Bowdoin Experience program is one day shorter this year and overlaps completely with the College’s Open House for all admitted students. The program aims to bring admitted students from low-income backgrounds or otherwise traditionally underrepresented in higher education to campus.

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Student Life

Club to host financial literacy day Monday

This Monday, the Bowdoin Financial Literacy Club (BFLC) will hold a financial literacy day in order to educate the Bowdoin community about money management. A series of workshops targeting those already in the workforce and students interested in investing will run throughout the afternoon and address a variety of subjects related to personal finance.

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News in Brief

Aircraft manufacturer coming to Brunswick

Brunswick Landing—the site of the former naval base, located approximately 10 minutes from the College—will become the site of a production facility for amphibious sport aircraft, the Times Record reported on April 4. Atol Avion, a Finnish company, partnered with an American investor group to form Atol USA, and plans to have its North American headquarters at Brunswick Landing, according to the Portland Press Herald.

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News in Brief

Faludi named Pulitzer Prize finalist for memoir

Susan Faludi, research associate in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies (GSWS), was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the autobiography category for her memoir, “In the Darkroom,” (Metropolitan Books). The book explored her relationship with her father, a Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivor who underwent gender reassignment surgery at age 76.

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Student Life

From Plan B to Plan A: Health Center’s evolving guidance on contraception

The Health Center has seen an increased demand for longer-term contraceptives among students concerned about insurance coverage of birth control, according to Director of Health Services Jeffrey Maher. This increase in demand for long-acting reversible birth control coincides with the Health Center’s current emphasis on education about more proactive, effective forms of preventing pregnancy Under the Affordable Care Act, private health insurance plans have begun reducing or eliminating co-pays and deductibles on contraceptives.

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College stands by trustee Jes Staley amid Barclays woes

Jes Staley ’79, a member of the Board of Trustees and CEO of Barclays, received a significant cut to his 2016 bonus pay after an internal company investigation revealed that he sought to unmask the identity of a whistleblower who had expressed concern about one of the bank’s executives, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

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BASE program hopes to continue success

Despite a high number of faculty eligible for sabbatical next year, the Bowdoin Advising Program to Support Academic Excellence (BASE) program will likely maintain its expanded size for at least two years, according to Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Liaison for Advising Sara Dickey.

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Student Life

College removes several housing options for ’17-’18

The Housing Lottery opened on Monday with several changes in housing options for the 2017-2018 academic year. Cleaveland Street Apartments will no longer be offered as student housing; one-bedroom triples in Brunswick Apartments will revert back to doubles and the fifth floors of Osher and West Halls will no longer be available to upperclassmen in order to eliminate quints in the first-year bricks.

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