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News

Housing

Park Row subcontractor accused of illegal labor practices

Nearly a month before Bowdoin proudly unveiled the four new state-of-the-art apartment buildings on Park Row, the College found itself under fire due to the practices of one of its subcontractors, Timberland Drywall, Inc. Approximately 15 protestors, half of them from the New England Regional Council of Carpenters (NERCC), held signs outside the construction site accusing Timberland Drywall of tax fraud via the misclassification of their workers.

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Student Government

BSG Candidacy Statements

Lucas Johnson ’22 Hey everyone! My name is Lucas, and I hope the beginning of the year is going well for you all. This year, we have the opportunity to make progress on the numerous issues our campus is facing, from increasing the mental health resources available to students, to strengthening our relations with the Town of Brunswick, to decreasing our carbon footprint by expanding our renewable energy portfolio.

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Brunswick

College House members express BPD concerns

Since five students were issued court summonses at a Helmreich House party by Brunswick Police Department (BPD) last April, Bowdoin students expressed concerns about hosting parties. Concern grew into confusion after College House students met with BPD and Bowdoin Security officers during College House orientation.

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News in Brief

Details revealed regarding Harpswell reconstruction

With one construction project complete, the College is moving forward with its plan to revamp housing for upper class students. Construction began in May on the new Harpswell Apartments, which will house 132 students in three buildings of four-, six- and eight- person apartments, and virtual renderings of the apartments are now available online.

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IT Department Implements Accessible TechHub

This fall, Information Technology (IT) has introduced a second student-run help desk called TechHub. This help desk is intended to serve as a resource for those in need of assistance with common technology issues such as connecting to Wi-Fi, installing PolarPrint drivers, account access and two-step authentication with Duo Security.

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Online protest of Bank of America calls out Rose

Editor’s Note, 6/26/19, 7:44 p.m.: Bank of America announced on Wednesday afternoon that it would cease lending to private prison corporations. President Clayton Rose issued a statement in support of this decision on Wednesday evening. On Monday morning, President Clayton Rose became the first subject of an online campaign to protest Bank of America, the only major bank still financing private prison corporations that operate migrant detention centers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Bowdoin celebrates Tim Foster’s legacy before retirement

Most current Bowdoin students had not yet been born when Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster came to Bowdoin in the fall of 1996. Today from 4:30 to 8 p.m. in Thorne Hall, students, faculty, staff and guests will celebrate the myriad contributions that Foster has made to the Bowdoin community during his 23 years at the College.

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Beloved Professor of History Allen Wells retires after 31 years

On Allen Wells’ final day of teaching last spring, students and colleagues packed into his classroom in Kanbar Hall, surprising the Roger Howell, Jr. Professor of History with flowers and teary goodbyes. “What was very funny and very Allen is, he was not quite done teaching, and he was quite visibly like, ‘Okay wait, but we were in the middle of something important here,’” said Meghan Roberts, associate professor of history, with a laugh.

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THRIVE to expand after successful inaugural year

When she was deciding which college she would attend, a Bowdoin program called Geoffrey Canada Scholars caught the eye of Lynn Nguyen ’22. The program, which began this year under a new initiative called THRIVE, offered 15 incoming first-year students, who identified as first-generation, low-income or students of color, the opportunity to live on campus and participate in summer classes for six weeks before orientation began.

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College Republicans bring Democrat Tom Allen ’67 to campus

With no campaigns to canvas for and no debates to watch, conversations about politics at Bowdoin are continuing in smaller settings. In this civic spirit, the College Republicans will welcome former U.S. Representative Tom Allen ’67 this Saturday for an informal dinner conversation about political polarization and public service.

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Multiple bias incidents tar conclusion of spring semester

Last weekend, a Muslim student received threatening phone calls from a blocked number, and two Asian students had their identities mocked in two separate incidents. These incidents were likely perpetrated by Bowdoin students. In addition, late Tuesday night, the N-word and other racial epithets were hurled at a black student from a driver and a passenger in a passing car, neither of whom are affiliated with the College.

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Center for Multicultural Life says racist and sexist jokes could not have been anticipated

Last week, students objected to a comedy set by guest Fumi Abe, deeming several of his jokes racist and sexist. While Abe’s visit was sponsored by the Asian Students Alliance (ASA) and the Student Center for Multicultural Life, ASA quickly condemned Abe’s act, and Director of the Student Center for Multicultural Life Benjamin Harris said that the College had no reason to anticipate any of the offensive comments from the performance.

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Lecturer explores ‘What Russia Wants’

Russia, according to a popular refrain that Julia Ioffe quoted at Bowdoin on Monday, cannot be understood with the mind alone. Her lecture, titled “What Russia Wants and What it Means for America,” focused on the 21st century geopolitical history of Russia and its relationships with the West, in particular with the United States.

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Sexual Assault Awareness Month: April and Beyond

For the first time since Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) became nationally recognized in 2001, several student groups collaborated on programming this April. While the month provided students with the opportunity to learn about supporting survivors of sexual assault and align themselves with national movements, organizers say that outreach continues to pose a challenge.

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All SAFC money allocated for this year

As the academic year approaches its end, so, too, does funding for student activities. The Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC)—responsible for allocating funds to student organizations throughout the year—spent the last of its $700,000 budget on April 1.

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Mishra ’20 outlines goals for BSG presidency

Born in London and having completed middle and high school in Nepal, Ural Mishra ’20 made the decision to attend a college in the United States. Now, he will be its president, after winning the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) election for the 2019-20 academic year, the results of which were announced Sunday night.

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What John Kasich did (and didn’t) say at Bowdoin

John Kasich wouldn’t say whether he’ll run for president in 2020. However, the former Ohio governor did speak about his disagreements with the Republican Party and fielded what were, at times, confrontational questions from students during an hour-long discussion in Pickard Theater on Monday night.

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Vigil honors victims of Christchurch massacre

At 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening, 50 candles illuminated the steps of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, each representing a victim of the terror attacks at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15.

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Oxfam America leader talks poverty and inequality

In a talk aptly named “Inequality and the Injustice of Poverty” on Tuesday night, President and CEO of Oxfam America Abigail Maxman challenged her audience of around three dozen students and professors in Kresge Auditorium to consider the challenge that these two forces pose today.

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Janet Lohmann to become Dean of Student Affairs in July

In an email to the Bowdoin community on Monday morning, President Clayton Rose announced that current Dean of Students Janet Lohmann will serve as Bowdoin’s new Dean of Student Affairs, effective July 1, 2019. Lohmann will replace current Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster when he steps down at the end of the academic year Rose noted that the College conducted a national search to replace Foster, ultimately interviewing four finalists.

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Countdown to BSG elections: unopposed candidates dominate

On Wednesday, students filled the chairs of Jack Magee’s Pub and Grill to watch the annual Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) election debates. Moderated by the Orient’s editors-in-chief Calder McHugh ’19 and Jessica Piper ’19, the debates gave students the opportunity to get to know the candidates for next year’s BSG executive team and hear their proposed platforms.

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Executive order links free speech to federal funds

On March 21, President Trump signed an executive order which mandated that colleges receiving federal funds must uphold the principles of free speech. While the order has the potential to increase anxieties around what has been a hot-button topic for years, Bowdoin is not concerned.

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Inaugural lecture probes model minority myth

Imagine walking into a bookstore and seeing a bookshelf labeled “Asian History” that includes volumes on Chinese history alongside volumes on Asian-American history. Now imagine a bookshelf labeled “African History” that includes volumes on the history of Nigeria alongside volumes on African Americans in the United States.

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College House verdicts released for Class of 2022

On Monday evening, College House decisions came out. Two hundred sixty students applied to live in the College Houses, an increase from 247 applications for the 2018-2019 academic year. The most popular houses were Quinby House and Boody-Johnson House, which is new this year.

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College plans on new minors in Arabic, Middle East Studies

After years of discussion, faculty and administration are taking final steps to approve the creation of two new minors at the College: Arabic and Middle East and North African Studies. Bowdoin began to permanently offer Arabic courses in 2008 under Lecturer in Arabic Russell Hopley, who remained the single instructor of the language before leaving the College last year.

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Storyteller shares experience growing up Deaf and Jewish

On Tuesday, storyteller Roxanne Baker, an educator and activist, told a crowded room in Moulton Union’s Lancaster Lounge a story from her childhood about coming to terms with both her deafness and her Jewish identity. Baker was born in Portland to a hearing family and until she was eight, attempted to get by with reading lips with the help of intense speech therapy.

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Second dorm fire in five weeks

At around 2:15 a.m. on Monday morning, a lit candle ignited a jacket and a bedspread, activating the smoke alarm in Baxter House. A student in the room extinguished the fire, resulting in a minor hand injury.

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Events

‘Under Fire’ in a ‘more perfect union’: April Ryan talks White House reporting

When she took to the stage in Kresge Auditorium on Tuesday night, April Ryan faced a nicer crowd than she’s encountered at the White House lately. In front of a packed audience of students and community members in Kresge Auditorium, Ryan spoke about her experience covering the White House and the long quest for a “more perfect union.” The event, sponsored by the African-American Society, was the the final program of Black History Month and Beyond and the first of Herstory, a celebration of Women’s History Month.

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BSG votes to adopt student-created voting software

On Wednesday, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) representatives deliberated and voted on a new voting system. Out of the three choices—a student-created, computer-based system, paper ballots and software purchased from an external provider—the majority voted for buying student-created software.

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Bowdoin women of color collaborate on annual photoshoot and gallery

Last night, the exhibition “Beauty in Color” opened in the Lamarche Gallery in David Saul Smith Union. It featured photos that were taken on February 3 during Bowdoin’s second annual Women of Color Photoshoot, where 40 Bowdoin women of color (WOC), three organizers and general photographers gathered in room 601 of Memorial Hall.

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Bowdoin alum talks ‘hacking literature’

Weaving together literature, biotechnology, philosophy and political theory, Eileen Hunt Botting ’93 took to the podium in the Searles Science Building on Monday evening to deliver her lecture “Shelley, Hawthorne, and the Ethics of Genetic Engineering.” Addressing Bowdoin students, professors and community members in a packed lecture hall, Botting explored the ethical and political implications of advancements in biotechnology through a discussion of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birth-Mark” and other works she calls “hacker literature” in a talk sponsored by the Peucinian Society.

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BCA thinks big picture with Sunrise alliance

For its next foray into climate activism, Bowdoin Climate Action (BCA)  is connecting with the Sunrise Movement, a national organization that advocates for political action on climate change. Sunrise has mostly recently been linked to activism surrounding the Green New Deal—not divestment campaigns, for which BCA had long been known.

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Brock Clarke delivers Greason inaugural lecture

Last night, Bowdoin students, faculty and community members huddled together in Kresge Auditorium to listen to Professor of English Brock Clarke’s inaugural lecture as the A. Leroy Greason Professor of English. Clarke’s talk, titled “What the Cold Can Teach Us,” focused less on inclement weather itself but instead on Clarke’s own experiences and obsessions and their influence on him as a writer.

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BSG votes to buy condoms and dental dams for upperclass residences

In an almost-unanimous vote, Bowdoin Student Government’s (BSG) General Assembly voted to purchase $500 worth of condoms and dental dams for upperclassmen housing. The initiative, which was introduced for the second year in a row, was proposed by Tessa DeFranco ’21 to address a lack of access to contraceptives and sexual protection in many residential areas.

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Fire causes more than $10,000 in damage

Students were evacuated from Quinby House Monday morning after a fire broke out in a student bedroom. Tristan Young ’21, the resident of the room, was taken to the Maine Medical Center for treatment for second- and third-degree burns on his right hand, but has since been released.

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Career Planning refocuses on practical skills, internships

Helping students develop practical skills is the focus of the newest initiative from the Career Planning Center (CPC). The renewed push comes on the heels of a report released by President Clayton Rose last fall, which found that students felt they lacked important professional skills such as personal finance and public speaking.

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Oren Cass addresses the future of the economy

What if the dominant paradigm of economic thinking in the United States is wrong? On Tuesday evening, in his talk titled “The Once and Future Worker: How Consumerist Consensus Led America Astray and How to Recover,” Oren Cass, senior fellow for policy research at the Manhattan Institute, outlined his vision for an economy that would take into account the interests of workers.

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Affinity groups band together for Blind Date Dinner

Last night, African American Society (AfAm), Latin American Student Organization (LASO) and Asian Student Alliance (ASA) joined together to put on the third annual Valentine’s Day Blind Date Dinner. The central goal of the program was to bring as many people together—breaking outside of their own Bowdoin bubbles—as possible, said Louis Mendez ’19, president of LASO.

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Inaugural lecture discusses steadying institutions through times of turmoil

Bowdoin students and community members gathered in Kresge on Monday for Professor Allen Springer’s inaugural lecture as the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Constitutional and International Law and Government. Speaking to a rapt audience, Springer stressed the importance of valuing international laws and institutions in his lecture, titled “Institutional Resilience in Turbulent Times.” “The question of how international institutions evolve, even survive in a changing world seems particularly relevant today,” Springer said in the opening of his lecture.

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Bowdoin among top Fulbright producers, again

Bowdoin was again lauded as one of the top Fulbright-producing institutions for the 2018-2019 academic year, with 19 students receiving Fulbright Student grants. Among Bachelor’s institutions, only Williams had more awardees, with 22. Thirty-seven Bowdoin students had applied for Fulbright awards, yielding a 51 percent success rate.

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Annual winter flu outbreak sweeps across Bowdoin’s campus

Over the last few weeks, providers at Health Services have treated hundreds of students with flu-like symptoms. This noticeable uptick in flu cases would be unusual at most other points in the academic year, but according to Jeffrey Maher, director of health services, an increase in flu cases immediately after Winter Break is an annual occurrence.

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First-gen alumnus elected trustee chair

Robert F. White ’77 P’15 has been elected unanimously to serve as the chair of Bowdoin’s Board of Trustees. His term will begin on July 1, 2019. White succeeds Michele G. Cyr ’76 P’12 who served as chair for three years and will continue to serve on the Board.

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Women’s stories take center stage

Stories of friendship, trauma and political activism share the stage this weekend at the third annual production of “RISE: Untold Stories of Bowdoin Women.” This year’s show, true to its roots, represents diverse experiences of Bowdoin women, even when they may be difficult to hear.

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Five decades of the environment at Bowdoin

In April of last year, the College announced its achievement of carbon neutrality, two years ahead of schedule. The notice came after a decade of infrastructural overhauls—a cogenerations turbine, oil to natural gas conversion, the installation of thousands of LED lights and, finally, the purchase of renewable energy credits.

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Lecturer analyzes premodern reproductive health

On Monday afternoon, Leslie Tuttle, associate professor of history from Louisiana State University, began a talk to a packed audience in the Beam Classroom by describing the “suspicious death” of Mademoiselle de Guerchy, a tabloid star of Louis XIV’s Paris.

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Disparities exist in CPC programming

The Orient’s midyear approval ratings showed that the senior class is overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the Career Planning Center (CPC)—but further investigation has shown that approval varies widely by industry, with students looking to enter consulting and technology generally expressing positive sentiments while students in arts and communications are the least happy.

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Political donations from faculty and staff increase, stay left in midterm cycle

Political donations by Bowdoin faculty and staff surged during the 2018 midterm cycle and universally supported liberal causes, according to an Orient analysis of data from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Donations made by members of the College’s Board of Trustees were varied between Democratic and Republican groups and candidates, but donations to liberal causes far outnumbered donations to conservative causes.

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Bowdoin kicks off Black History Month and Beyond

A Pulitzer Prize winning author and a White House correspondent will be among the guests on campus for Black History Month and Beyond this year. The celebration, led by several affinity groups, will officially commence today during the Kick-Off Reception in Russwurm African American Center from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

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BSG seeks input on double minors, exam policy

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) sent out a survey to gauge student opinion of two widely-contested academic policies last week with the hopes of garnering momentum to convince faculty to change the policies. The first of these policies, known as the “bunching rule,” states that students with three final exams in a 48-hour period can reschedule one to a more convenient time; the second policy prevents students from declaring two minors.

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