4

Bowdoin Orient

BRUNSWICK, MAINE

BOWDOINORIENT.COM

THE NATIONS OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY PUBLISHED COLLEGE WEEKLY

VOLUME 145, NUMBER 5

SINGING A NEW TUNE

1st CLASS
U.S. MAIL
Postage PAID
Bowdoin College

The

OCTOBER 16, 2015

Survey shows
improvement
in bystander
intervention
Students satisfied with Colleges
drug and alcohol policies.
BY MATTHEW GUTSCHENRITTER
AND NICOLE WETSMAN
ORIENT STAFF

JENNY IBSEN , THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

Nikhil Dasgupta 16 sings Vance Joys Georgia with the Meddiebempsters in the student a cappella showcase last Thursday night. The showcase was the first of this weekends inauguration events. The events continue today with tours of
the College, the Inaugural Symposium on The Power of the Liberal Arts, and the Inaugural Concert featuring Guster. President Rose will officially be inaugurated on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., becoming the Colleges 15th president.

Sexual misconduct policy increases role of independent investigator

BY NICOLE WETSMAN
ORIENT STAFF

The update to Bowdoins Sexual

Misconduct and Gender Based Violence Policy for this year includes
changes to the role and responsibilities of the external investigator hired
by the College to conduct independent inquiries into allegations of sexual misconduct, according to Benje
Douglas, director of gender violence
prevention and education.
The policy undergoes review each
year, and changes aim to keep the
policy in line with best practices in
the area. According to Douglas, this
change came following a look at the
policies of peer institutions, the recommendations and guidelines from
the Department of Education and
feedback from students who have

gone through the process.

Now, after the independent investigator completes his or her investigation, he or she is responsible for
determining if the respondentthe
individual accused of sexual misconducthas violated the Sexual Misconduct and Gender Based Violence
policy. The investigator will then pass
along his or her report to the Sexual
Misconduct Panel, which will determine sanctions against the respondent.
Under the previous version of
the policy, the investigator would
only conduct an investigation and
then make a recommendation as to
whether the Sexual Misconduct Panel
should meet. The panel would then
review the investigators report and
determine both responsibility and
sanctions.
According to Kai McGintee, the

attorney at Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer

& Nelson recently hired by Bowdoin
as an independent investigator, Bowdoins updated policy is in line with
best practices recommended by the
Office for Civil Rights for inquiry into
alleged sexual misconduct and is at
the forefront of national trends.
I think Bowdoin is definitely ahead
of the curve, McGintee said. Bowdoin is in line with best practices in
terms of using a single investigator
model and then having a sexual misconduct hearing board determining
sanctions; that definitely is a recognized best practice.
Neither McGintee nor her firm
has any ties to Bowdoin. Prior to this
summer, a member of the law firm
that represents Bowdoin in other legal matters would conduct these investigations into alleged sexual mis-

conduct.
McGintee is a higher education attorney specializing in Title IX compliance, and began working as an independent investigator for institutions
like Bowdoin about two years ago. She
was hired by the College in July.
According to McGintee, its still
common to see institutions conducting sexually misconduct investigations internally.
There isnt this abundance of Title
IX investigators to choose from, McGintee said. Schools have been doing them internally and are still doing
them internally...and this shift to using independent investigators is relatively new.
The new version of the policy also
expands definitions and clarifies
deadlines, according to an email from
Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster.

J-Board annual report shows deans

approved 12 of 13 recommendations
BY JAMES CALLAHAN
ORIENT STAFF

During the 2014-2015 academic year,

the Judicial Board (J-Board) heard 13 cases according to its annual report released
last Wednesday. Of these cases, nine involved allegations of Academic Honor
Code violations, while four involved allegations of Social Code violations. Four
cases involving sexual misconduct were
reported to the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, though none were heard by
the Sexual Misconduct Board.
The annual report, sent to all faculty,
staff and students via email, is available
online but requires a Bowdoin username

and password to access. It lists violations

and punishments, with the names of the
accused kept anonymous.
According to the Colleges website, the
Academic Honor Code covers student
conduct in such activities as classroom
and laboratory assignments, examinations, quizzes, papers, and presentations,
while the Social Code governs non-academic student conduct. The student-run
J-Board hears cases of alleged violations of
both.
Each of the nine academic violations
involved either plagiarism or cheating.
Three of the four Social Code violations

Please see SURVEY, page 4

INAUGURATION 2015
Clayton Rose will be inaugurated as the 15th
President of the College on Saturday at 10:30
a.m. in Farley Field House.
For more information about the weekends events, see the
calendar on page 16.
HY KHONG , THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

Follow the Orients live coverage of the events on Twitter

and Snapchat @bowdoinorient and see the full coverage
online at bowdoinorient.com.

Please see JBOARD, page 4

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: BUILDING FEATURES: STUDENT AND SOLDIER

ACROSS GENERATIONS
Three grads produce documentary about boat Amir Parker 19 balances
builder Dick Pulsifer 62.
Bowdoin and Army ROTC.
Page 9.

The results of the NESCAC Alcohol and Drug Survey show Bowdoin
in line with other peer schools in the
majority of categories, though Bowdoin students are significantly happier with the Colleges alcohol and
drug policies. Bowdoin also had a
noticeable increase in students willingness to intervene when friends
are intoxicated.
The survey was first conducted in
the spring of 2012, and the NESCAC
plans to run it every three years. In
2012, Bowdoin coordinated the survey and analyzed the data; this year,
it was coordinated by Tufts.
For Associate Director of Health
Promotion Whitney Hogan, the
bestand most surprisingstatistics this year were those surrounding bystander intervention.
The biggest surprise, and it was
a pleasant surprise, were the statistics around bystander stuff, she
said. Those were much higher than
I thought they were going to be. I
thought that they were very, very
hopeful. I believe Bowdoin is a place
where students feel compelled to
step up and step in.
The percentages of students who
answered yes to questions about
specific scenarios surrounding a
sense of responsibility to step in
with an intoxicated friend, were
significantly higher than in 2012.
For example, in 2015, 97 percent of

Page 5.

SPORTS: TEN IN A ROW

Volleyball has defeated 10
consecutive opponents and faces
another game this weekend.
Page 10.

OPINION:
EDITORIAL: State of the liberal arts.
Page 13.
ON (THE) EDGE: Embracing natural hair.
Page 14.

news

the bowdoin orient

SECURITY REPORT: 10/1 to 10/14

Thursday, October 1
A fire alarm was activated at Osher
Hall by a housekeeper who was steam
cleaning showers.
A student microwaving mac and
cheese set off a smoke alarm at Osher Hall.
A fire alarm at 52 Harpswell was
apparently caused by a faulty sensor.
Friday, October 2
An officer checked on the wellbeing of an intoxicated student at Coleman Hall.
An intoxicated student forced his
way through a first floor window at
West Hall after getting locked outside.
The student will be billed for the damage to the window.
A black Univega Alpine Uno bicycle was reported stolen from outside
of the Studzinski Recital Hall. The bike
had been left unlocked.
A student slipped on a wet floor at
a Ladd House registered event and received a facial injury.
Brunswick Rescue transported an
intoxicated student from Moore Hall
to Mid Coast Hospital.
Saturday, October 3
A towel dispenser and a bathroom
wall were vandalized at Ladd House.
A sick student was escorted to the
Mid Coast Walk-In Clinic.
A dining employee with a cut
hand was escorted to Mid Coast Hospital.
Three minor students in Quinby
House were cited for possessing of
hard alcohol.
A student was cited for possession of hard alcohol in Stowe Hall.
An intoxicated student was escorted from a Ladd House event to
the students residence hall.
Officers checked on the wellbeing of an intoxicated student at
Moore Hall.
Sunday, October 4
Brunswick Rescue transported an
intoxicated student with a possible
concussion from Appleton Hall to Mid
Coast Hospital.
An intoxicated student vomited on
a rest room floor at Thorne Hall. The
student was billed for the housekeeper
call-in and clean-up.
An officer checked on the condition of an intoxicated student at Apple-

ton Hall.
Brunswick Rescue transported an intoxicated student from Winthrop Hall to
Mid Coast Hospital.
An officer checked on the wellbeing of
an intoxicated student at West Hall.
An officer checked on the wellbeing of
an intoxicated student at Winthrop Hall.
An unlocked black Specialized bike
was reported stolen from outside of the
Hatch Science Library.
Broken wall lights and other damage was reported at Ladd House following Epicuria.
A local resident complained of a
students vehicle speeding on Bowker
Street. A security officer warned the
driver that future traffic violations
would be referred to the police.
A student who accidentally cut a
wrist on a window at Hubbard Stacks
was escorted to Mid Coast Hospital.
Monday, October 5
A fire alarm at Moore Hall was caused
by a students use of a personal vaporizer.
A student reported being stalked by
an ex-boyfriend. The violator was served
with a harassment warning.
Five local youths were issued trespass
warnings after one of the group attempted to steal a bike at Sills Hall.
Tuesday, October 6
A gray and black Trek mountain
bike was reported stolen from Pine
Street Apartments. The bike was
unlocked and not registered.
Students living at an off-campus
house on Union Street reported that
someone may have tried to enter the
home through a back door.
Wednesday, October 7
Students living at an off-campus
rental property on School Street reported that an unknown man was
peering into their windows at 1:00
a.m. BPD responded but the suspect
was not located.
Thursday, October 8
Officers questioned a man at Smith
Union after receiving a report that he
was acting suspiciously.
Friday, October 9
A man who was reported to be
causing a disturbance near the Searles Science Building was escorted off

of campus property.
A report was received of a suspicious man leering at female students
at Smith Union. The man left the
area before he could be identified.
Saturday, October 10
A minor student was found in possession of three fraudulent drivers licenses.
A Colby College rugby player was
injured during a game and transported
to Mid Coast Hospital.
A student tripped on stairs at MacMillan House and received a chin laceration. The student was escorted to
Mid Coast Hospital.
Sunday, October 11
A student reported being followed by a man on Park Row at 1:40
a.m. The man was wearing a gray
hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and
wore glasses. The man fled across
Maine Street when the student pulled
out a cell phone to call for help.
A bicycle that was reported stolen from Mayflower Apartments was
found abandoned nearby.
Monday, October 12
Security officers assisted BPD in
attempting to locate a suspect in an
attempted car break-in on Longfellow Avenue at 4:20 a.m. The suspect
was described as a white male, six
feet tall, and wearing a gray hooded
sweatshirt. The suspect, who was
last seen running toward campus,
was not located.
A red Raleigh bicycle was reported stolen from a bike rack at the
Searles Science Building. The bike
was not locked or registered.
A security officer assisted the
Brunswick Police in responding to
a gathering at 36 Pleasant Street
that generated neighborhood noise
complaints.

friday, october 16, 2015

THEYRE BACK!

These accomplished alumni will be on campus this weekend for President Clayton Roses inauguration. We looked
through the Orient archives to try to understand their humble beginnings.

GEORGE J. MITCHELL 54
Mitchell was also an athlete during his time at Bowdoin, playing on
the mens basketball team. In fact, he has stayed involved with the
sporting world for his whole life. As part of his role as a U.S. Senator, he authored the Mitchell Report, an extensive investigation into
steroid usage in Major League Baseball.

KENNETH I. CHENAULT 73
Chenault was the goalie on the mens soccer team before making
the leap to the CEO and chairman of American Express. His senior
year, he led the team to a 3-2 upset of then-sixth-ranked Tufts,
quelling offensive chances for Tufts at the end of the game.

DEBORAH JENSEN BARKER 80

Now the chair of Bowdoins Board of Trustees, Barker was involved
on campus during her time as a student as well - she served as a
senior interviewer for the admissions office and the secretary of the
senior class, helping to plan a legendary Senior Week.

ANDY SERWER 81

Server served a now extinct role at Bowdoin - the frat star. As the
President of Psi U his junior year, he presided over the fraternitys
weekly cocktail parties, attempting to break even while working
with local businesses to supply the parties. Hes taken his natural
talent for economics to Yahoo Finance, where he is editor-inchief.

SHELLEY HEARNE 83
Hearne was our favorite kind of student on campus - an engaged
reader of the Orient. During her senior year, she wrote a letter to the
editor on an article published resources afforded to womens sports.
Her response centered around the idea that Bowdoin did not consider
inequality of coaching between mens and womens sports.

Wednesday, October 14
A student reported seeing a suspicious man on the main quad. Officers determined that the man was a
contractor working for the College.
An employee reported being
stalked by a local man. The matter
was referred to the BPD.
A student with a foot injury at
Howell House was escorted to Mid
Coast Hospital.

RUTHIE DAVIS 84
Davis is now the president and designer of Ruthie Davis shoes;
her designs often appear on the red carpet. During her time at
Bowdoin, however, she was probably rocking Stan Smiths. Along
with writing for the Orient her senior year, Ruthie Davis was the
captain of the womens tennis team.

ADAM WEINBERG 87
Weinberg is currently the President of Denison University.
At Bowdoin, he played hockey with current Senior Vice President
for Development and Alumni Relations Rick Ganong while
he was here. Ganong says he has stories about Weinberg.

DIANA FURUKAWA

COMPILED BY CALDER MCHUGH

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

STUDENT
SPEAK
What are your plans for Homecoming?

Mariah Reading 16

Paola Maymi 18

Turn up! JK, Im on duty in Maine

Hall.

Watching field hockey dominate

as usual and having no idea whats
going on.

Kama Jones El 17
To hang out with some of the alumni I
met in my stagecraft class freshman year.
They played football and taught me that
the jock stereotype isnt always accurate.

Andrew Roseman 14
Work production for the Guster
show and making bagels.

Ben Geyman 16
Ill be installing my new Germ Guardian
4825 AC Air Filter. Turns out Im allergic
to my bed.
COMPILED BY HY KHONG

friday, october 16, 2015

the bowdoin orient

news

Number of sex offenses grows,

likely due to increased reporting
BY NICOLE WETSMAN
ORIENT STAFF

JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

THE BIRTH OF UNCLE TOMS

CABIN: Bowdoin completed renovations on the Harriet
Beecher Stowe House, thanks to
a 2012 bond that allowed the
College to acquire funds for the
$1.3 million renovation.
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote
Uncle Toms Cabin in the house
in the 1850s. The house currently
serves as offices for faculty on
leave or recently retired. I
continue to hope that the College
will try to revitalize some of its
intellectual history in that space
by perhaps making it into a
center for faculty, students and
even staff to have conversations,
Associate Professor of Africana
Studies and English Tess
Chakkalakal said.

JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

Renovations restore historic Stowe House

BY MATT SHEN

ORIENT STAFF

The College has completed a renovation of the Harriet Beecher Stowe

House, where the author lived in the
1850s while writing Uncle Toms
Cabin. The house now provides office
space for faculty on leave.
Bowdoin purchased the house,
known as the Stowe House, in 2001.
Since then, it has suffered from disrepair and neglect. A series of proposals
in 2005 might have allowed the College
to restore the house, but the suggested
renovations were postponed because of
a lack of funding.
Constructed in 1806, the Stowe
House is known best for being the
home of Calvin and Harriet Beecher
Stowe, the latter of whom published
Uncle Toms Cabin in 1852 while her
husband taught religion at Bowdoin.
The Stowe House has also accommodated a number of other historically
important figures, such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Joshua Chamberlain, both of whom are Bowdoin
alumni. However, despite this historical
and regional significance, by 2001 the
house had fallen victim to structural
damages and the presence of asbestos.
[The house] was basically falling
down, said Associate Professor of Africana Studies and English Tess Chakkalakal. They found quite a lot of asbestos
and remnants of a fire, and that made
it really dangerous for that house to be
even standing.
After a series of reviews, the College
decided that a modest renovation was

the best path forward. Although the

disposition, or giving up, of the Stowe
House was considered, a 2012 bond issue allowed the College to acquire the
funds necessary for the $1.3 million
renovations.
We were at a crossroads, trying to
figure out the best thing to do with
it, said Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Katy Longley. We thought about
disposition, and we decided that the
most responsible thing would be to
do a modest renovation. The renovation cost would be about $1.3 million.
I think the College has struggled since
it acquired it in 2001 to figure out what
to do with it.
The renovations addressed the
questionable structural integrity of
multiple parts of the house, as well as
the ongoing asbestos problem. In addition to repairing damaged sites, the
repairs also restored the house to its
1850s appearance.
The renovations have been done
to get rid of the most structurally unsound parts of the building and return it to its 1855 condition, which is
the historic period thats closest to the
Stowe residency, said Katherine Randall 16, who completed a digital timeline of the Stowe House in 2015. Its
been about making [the house] more
structurally sound, as well as restoring
some of the architectural integrity and
returning it to that beautiful neoclassical building that it was in the 1850s.
Harriet Beecher Stowe lived there
from 1850 to 1852, while she wrote
Uncle Toms Cabin, and there was a

major renovation right after she left

in the 1854 timeframe, said Director of Finance and Campus Services
Delwin Wilson. It took a very simple house and made it much more
Greek revival, much more ornate. So
thats more the time period that the
interior is reflecting currently.
Now that the restoration has been
completed, one of the next questions
to be addressed involves how the Stowe
House will be used by both the College
and the town of Brunswick. Although
the newly renovated building has been
used primarily for office space, a single
room is being set aside to celebrate the
intellectual and historical legacy of the
Stowe House.
Right now, there are offices in there,
and those offices are occupied by faculty on leave, for their sabbaticals [and
for] emerita faculty. It has turned into a
nice place for faculty who are on leave
or recently retired to think and work,
said Chakkalakal. But I continue to
hope that the College will try to revitalize some of its intellectual history in
that space by perhaps making it into
a center for faculty, students and even
staff to have conversations.
Additionally, the room not used as
office space is intended to be open to
the public, where people from all over
can come and experience the storied
history offered by the Stowe House.
We want it to be a space that can
be used equally by people who visit
Brunswick or the College, by people
who have no affiliation with the College, to come and understand Stowes
legacy, said Randall.

Twenty sex offenses occurred at Bowdoin in 2014, according to the Annual

Clery Campus Crime Report for the 2014
calendar year released on October 1 by the
Office of Safety and Security.
The 20 reported sex offenses is a jump
up from the six reported in 2013 and the
four reported in 2012. Peer schools reported similar jumps in numbers for sex
offenses in 2014Bates and Amherst
each reported 12, Williams reported 20
and Wesleyan reported 41 sex offenses.
According to Director of Safety and
Security Randy Nichols, the increase in
reported sex offenses is a positive sign,
considering that such crimes are notoriously underreported.
Were very pleased that more students
are reporting, he said. I think that has a
lot to do with the fact that as students become more educated with the reporting
process, they understand that they are in
control of what happens.
Its very important that even if the victim does not want to pursue it...that we
know that the incident occurred for statistical purposes. As we all know, sexual
assaults are notoriously underreported,
so even though our numbers this year increased substantially...it still really is the tip
of the iceberg.
Director of Gender Violence Prevention and Education Benje Douglas credited increased reporting to the work of
student leaders on campus.
I think its a variety of things...but if I
had to boil it down, Id say student leaders
probably getting more information...out
to other students about what it means to
report, he said.

JBOARD
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

pertained to two separate incidents

of assault, while the fourth involved a
purse theft.
Deans review each J-Board punishment recommendation, and this year they
accepted all but one of them. In the one
exception, the J-Board recommended that
a student who had plagiarized three sentences for a short extra-credit assignment
receive an F in the course and be suspended for a semester with the opportunity to
transfer one credit during the suspension.
Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs
Kim Pacelli declined to accept the suspension due to concerns about the proportionality of the punishment.
The J-Board itself consists of 13 members who are chosen to serve on cases at
random. Panels hearing academic cases
consist of three students and two faculty
members, while the panels hearing social
cases consist of five students.
J-Board Chair Maggie Acosta 16
expressed confidence in the board.
The process of coming to a consensus [for each case] has certainly been extremely thoughtful, Acosta said.
In ruling, the J-Board considers the

Nichols said that many of the cases in

the Clery report were reported anonymously. When reports of a sex offense
are brought to security, all Nichols needs
to know is that an incident occurred and
where it occurred for it to be counted in
the Clery statistics.
Certain people on campus are required
to report any sex offense that they are
made aware of to security, anonymously
or otherwise. Mandated reporters include
Deans, Residential Life staff and Douglas.
However, Counseling Services, Safe
Space members, Director of Religious
and Spiritual Life Bob Ives, Director of the
Womens Resource Center Melissa Quinby, Director of the Resource Center for
Sexual and Gender Diversity Kate Stern
and Health Services are fully confidential
resources. Therefore, any sex offenses discussed exclusively with them would not
be represented in the report.
Any sex offenses that occurred off
campus are also not included in the Clery
report.
Changes were made to the system for
the report of sex offenses for the 2014
report. In previous years, sex offenses
had been noted only as Forcible Sex Offenses. However, following the Violence
Against Women Reauthorization Act of
2013 signed in March of 2013, colleges
were required to phase in a new method
of reporting statistics: now, sex offenses
must be broken down into Rape and
Fondling.
Bowdoin also reported that five burglaries, 143 liquor law violations and
43 drug law violations took place on or
directly adjacent to campus in 2014. According to Nichols, those numbers are
consistent with previous years and are not
surprising.
facts and context of the situation as well
as the precedent from relevant past cases, according to the report.
For the upcoming school year, Acosta
explained that, while respecting precedent, she personally would like to consider the specifics of a new case more closely.
Im certainly interested in seeing specifics and individuality being taken into
account with a greater degree than I feel
theyve been taken into account in the
past, Acosta said. The details that play
into a persons decision-making skills
when they arrive here at Bowdoin, as they
navigate their time here at Bowdoin are
things worth considering.
Of the four sexual assault cases, the
Colleges Investigator under the Student
Sexual Misconduct and Gender Based
Violence Policy determined there was an
insufficient basis for board reviews in
two cases, while two others were resolved
via student resignations prior to the Colleges investigation.
Though separate from the J-Board, the
Sexual Misconduct Board chooses two
members of the J-Board to serve on it.
Acosta noted that, as a result of a recent
change, these two members will now be
able to participate as active members,
whereas previously they had served as
observers.

news

SURVEY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
students said they would intervene
with a friend who is about to drive
a car as compared with 87 percent
in 2012.
Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster pointed to the bystander intervention statistics as a high point in
the survey.
One of the things youll see
screaming through the data is the
changes between 2012 and 2015
where students are intervening when
theyre concerned about someone
else, and that is just so very important, said Foster.
The highlight of my fall has been
the bystander statistics, Hogan said.
Hogan credits the trends in those
numbers in part to changes in programming that came following the
2012 survey.
Since 2012, every upperclassman
leader every single year has gone
through active bystander training
where the message is that Bowdoin
is a place students look out for one
another, she said. I think thats
clearly shown in the statistics.
Foster also highlighted data showing that Bowdoin students tend to be
happier with administrative policies
than students at other schools. For
example, 96 percent of survey respondents agreed that administration encourages responsible drinking, compared to 81 percent at peer schools.

the bowdoin orient

People seem to feel that the
policies and the general college approach to dealing with alcohol is
right-minded, he said. I feel good
about that. I think the key thing for
me is...that we have found a good
balancing point between focusing
on student health and safety.
Though Hogan will not be distributing the full results of the survey,
some results will inform continued
programing of both Peer Health and
the Alcohol Team (A-Team).
According to Hogan, student
leaders in those groups will use the
statistics in one-on-one conversations with students, during the
yearly alcohol summit, alcohol use
screenings and on posters throughout campus.
Sometimes people may be surprised by these statistics and sometimes they may just be what people
were expecting, said Jillian Burk
16, a student leader on Peer Health
and member of the A-Team. But its
just something to have in the back
of your mindwhat the culture and
the social life is like here at Bowdoinand whether or not there are
areas for improvement.
Student responses to the statistics
will drive changes in Peer Health
and the A-Team going forward.
Through students responses to
the data, that often shifts what we
want to do in the future, said Hogan. Therell probably be some
changes to programs in the spring
but even more next fall.

GET YOUR NEWS THE MILLENNIAL WAY.

LIKE US @ FACEBOOK.COM/BOWDOINORIENT
TWEET US @ BOWDOINORIENT
SNAP US @ BOWDOINORIENT

friday, october 16, 2015

Bowdoin students are significantly happier with their

administrators than students are at other schools.
other

BOWDOIN

NESCACs
81%

of respondents agree that schools alcohol

policy encourages calling for help.

81%

of respondents agree that the administration

encourages responsible drinking.

79%

vs.

59%

of respondents agree that alcohol policies

and consequences are about right.

74%

vs.

61%

of respondents agree that disciplinary

sanctions are about right.

90%

vs.

96%

vs.

COMPILED BY HARRY DIPRINZIO

BY THE NUMBERS: According to the recent NESCAC Alcohol and Drug Survey, Bowdoin falls in line with peer schools in the majority of categories. However, Bowdoin students
are significantly happier with the Colleges drug and alcohol policies. People seem to feel that the policies and the general college approach to dealing with alcohol
is right-minded, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster said. I think the key thing for me is...that we have found a good balancing point between focusing on
student health and safety. The survey also revealed bystander interventions have increased roughly 10 percentage points since the survey in 2012.

Logan Taylor indicted on one

charge of gross sexual assault
BY MATTHEW GUTSCHENRITTER
AND NICOLE WETSMAN
ORIENT STAFF

Logan Taylor, a former Bowdoin student who resigned from the College this
summer, was indicted on a single count
of gross sexual assault, a Class A felony
with a maximum of 30 years in prison, by
a Cumberland County grand jury according to the Bangor Daily News.
At a dispositional conference on August 13 at the Cumberland County Courthouse, the original complaint against
Taylor was dismissed without prejudice.
According to the Bangor Daily News, the
complaint was dismissed without prejudice because prosecutors did not present
to a grand jury within three sessions of
Taylors initial appearance.
Assistant District Attorney Michael
Madigan told the Bangor Daily News this
was due to several outstanding matters.
Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the District Attorneys office was able
to continue to pursue the charges.
When Taylor resigned from Bowdoin
this summer, the College halted its own
investigation into the alleged sexual as-

sault. Director of Gender Violence Prevention and Education Benje Douglas

said that the College will continue to provide resources to the alleged victim.
The alleged assault was first brought
to the attention of the Brunswick Police
Department (BPD) after a female student
called Bowdoin Safety and Security for a
ride from the area of the Swinging Bridge
on Mill St. in Brunswick in the early morning on Sunday, May 24. The security officer called BPD at 2:34 a.m.
After speaking with the female student,
the officers learned of the allegation of
sexual assault which allegedly took place
earlier that night in Coleman Hall.
The female student was taken to the
hospital and officers while the BPD began a search for Taylor. He was located in
Topsham around 5 a.m. by the Topsham
Police Department, who turned him over
to the BPD. After talking to BPD, Taylor
was officially arrested Sunday morning at
10 a.m. and sent to Cumberland County
Jail. Taylor was issued a criminal trespass
order and was barred from all College
property, according to a campus-wide
Safety and Security Alert sent by Director
of Safety and Security Randy Nichols.

friday, october 16, 2015

FEATURES

the bowdoin orient

Parker 19 balances Bowdoin and ROTC

BY JESSICA PIPER
STAFF WRITER

Managing academics, athletics,

social life and the transition to college can be difficult for any first year
student. For Amir Parker 19, juggling all of this is only half the battle.
Parker is also enrolled in the
Army Reserve Officers Training
Corps (ROTC) program at the University of Southern Maine (USM),
the only Bowdoin student to do so.
Ive known for a while that I
wanted to join the military, Parker
said. His family has a long history of
military servicehis older brother
is currently enlisted in the Coast
Guard, and his father is a retired
Army veteran.
Though ROTC programs exist at
over 1,000 colleges, Bowdoin does not
have such a program.
Although Parker considered attending college and then enrolling in
Officer Candidate School afterward,
he ultimately chose the ROTC program so that he could enroll in college
and train for the military at the same
time. Upon graduation, he will be
commissioned as an officer and have a
four year obligation to the U.S. Army.
To Parker, enrolling at Bowdoin
and completing ROTC at USM was a
simple choice. But many of his friends
and advisors initially thought he
might be overcommitting himself.
They were a bit skeptical and worried because they felt like it was a lot,
Parker said.
His schedule is certainly busy. On
Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, he drives to the USM campus in
Portland for physical training.
Workouts include running, situps, push-ups and a practice known
as rucking, in which Parker and his

When I wake up, I dont have to worry about where Im going to

sleep or what Im going to eat, so I dont really think of it as being
hard. Thats the mindset I attack it with.
fellow cadets run with backpacks full
of military gear that often weigh up
to 50 pounds. While such exercises
would be demanding at any hour of
the day, Parker and his fellow ROTC
cadets deal with the added difficulty
of operating on little sleep.
I have to get up at 3:30 usually,
and if we ruck, I have to get up at
3:00, Parker said.
His ROTC training goes beyond
just physical exercise. He attends
weekly leadership training every
Wednesday and engages in tactical
training and field exercises on Friday
afternoons.
When the military requirements
and the demands of being a Bowdoin student seem overwhelming,
Parker makes sure to keep his challenges in perspective.
I really dont think its hard at all because the way I look at it is that there
are people who actually have hard lives,
Parker said. I dont think its hard. I just
think its a good opportunity. Its a challenging opportunity. Its an opportunity
for me to embrace a challenge. When
I wake up, I dont have to worry about
where Im going to sleep or what Im going to eat, so I dont really think of it as
being hard. Thats the mindset I attack
it with.
Such a mindset helps Parker mentally
deal with his demanding schedule. On a
practical level, he employs a strategy of
rigorous time management.
Pretty much every minute of my day
is planned out. I dont have much time
to waste, Parker said.

While military service always seemed

natural to Parker, his path to Bowdoin
wasnt as clear. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Parker had never
heard of Bowdoin until a college advisor at his high school suggested he apply. He submitted an application despite
knowing fairly little about the College,
but decided to attend Bowdoin after a
campus visit last April.
Parker shares the Colleges commitment to the Common Good. In his
hometown of Baltimore, he worked to
mentor inner city youth through football.
Just in case schoolwork and military
training werent enough to keep him
busy, he is a member of Bowdoins varsity
football team, too.
Unsurprisingly, Parker doesnt
have much time to attend campus
events or parties.
The first time I actually even got
to go to a party was Epicuria, Parker
said. That was the first time since
Ive been at Bowdoin that I went out.
And I had a good time.
Although he rarely goes out on weekends and spends significant time off campus, Parker has nonetheless found it fairly
easy to make connections at Bowdoin.
I still have good friends on the football team. I have good friends on my
floor. I have good friends that arent associated with my floor or the football
team, Parker said. So its not that my
social life sucks, necessarily.
He has also found a good support
system within the Bowdoin community, including a group of friends and
advisors who help ensure his work-

HY KHONG, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

STUDENT AND SOLDIER: In addition to being a full-time Bowdoin student, Parker is enrolled in the University of Southern Maines ROTC program where he travels three times a week before sunrise to train.
load remains under control.
They have been supportive.
Theyve had my back, said Parker.
Theyve been checking in with me
periodically just to make sure things
are running smoothly, and theyve
been great about that.
Parker will continue to rely on such

friendships moving forward. He is

committed to the ROTC program
for all four years. At Bowdoin, he
plans to study physics with the goal
of someday doing engineering work
in the Army.
I do want to make a career out of
the military, Parker said.

Top of the barrel: Kickstarter makes Bertani Amarone dreams come true
BOTTOM OF
THE BARREL
WILL DANFORTH AND MARTIN KRZYWY
Despite Bernie Sanders best efforts, casino capitalism still reigns
supreme in the world of collegiate
wine criticism. Thanks to the generous soft money donations to our
Kickstarter (Super PAC), we found
ourselves saddled with the troublesome burden of spending $135 on
one bottle of wine. Freed from the
tyranny of the powers that be on the
Orient editorial staff, we embarked
upon a glorious odyssey.
Hannaford, with its plebeian
$29.35 cap on wine prices, could
not service our prodigious need. We
looked instead to the West, traveling to the distant environs of Freeports Bow Street Market. Unfortunately, our journey eerily paralleled
the opening pages of Stephen Kings
The Mist.
Conor Tillinghast, our normally
capable chauffeur, decided to take
the back route to Freeportinadvertently plunging us into a haze
reminiscent of an Epicurial milieu.
With great courage, your esteemed
critics ventured forth.
After a perilous 10-minute jour-

ney, we were rewarded with the Bow

Street Markets expertly curated
back-room liquor department. We
inspected the wares andafter much
searchingchanced upon Bertanis
2009 Amarone della Valpolicella
priced at a paltry $114. Emboldened
by the stores gracious cashier, we
returned to Brunswick on the more
orthodox freeway.
Comfortably settled in Yellow
House, our first order of business
was to let the wine breathe. CNNs
pre-debate coverage helped pass the
half hour before we could finally imbibe our ill-gotten gains. As Lincoln
Chafee confusedly ambled upon the
stage, we too ventured into a realm to
which we were not sure we belonged.
A hearty pour into our trusty
mason jars presented a rich velvety
color heretofore obscured by Bertanis dark-horse of a bottle. Wills
quick swish revealed the finest legs
your humble critics have yet to observe. Sturdy, thick and robust, they
provided the perfect support for the
full-body that greeted us upon our
first taste.
What can you say about a wine that
has it all? Like a 7-layered dip, each
quaff imparted a multitude of distinct,
yet well-blended flavors. A sweet
fruity greeting gave way to a smoky,
almost spicy undertone as the wine

ADDITIONAL NOTES

sojourned through our oral

cavities. To put it bluntly, we
felt the Bern. Maybe even
a little Chafee. Despite the
Amarones overwhelming
dryness, we couldnt help
TONIGHTS Anderson Coopers dulcet
but reach for more after evSOUNDTRACK tones and asinine questions
ery delectable sip.
At this point, Martin decided to update his MacWILL This is great. Lets launch
Book to OS X 10.11 El
Kickstarters every week ad
Capitan so as to remove any
nauseam.
and all technological distractions. Even with this imMARTIN I feel like Moses entering
pediment to our note-taking
abilities, the complexities of
the Promised Land. But just
Bertanis offering were perlike him, I know I wont be
manently imprinted upon
here next week.
both of our consciousnesses.
Long after we finished, this
wine ignited within us a linNOSE 5/5
gering warmththe kind
BODY 5/5
of warmth that only money
can buy. We felt like a proMOUTHFEEL 5/5
verbial Scrooge McDuck,
LEGS 5/5
diving into a proverbial pile
5/5
TASTE
of gold coins.
Readers have corked up
our mailbox, clamoring to
know the answer to one
simple question: was it worth it? In a we would have a hard time saying
word, yes. In more words, if we asked no. We would like to thank our wonto spend $114 dollars of other peo- derful Kickstarter supporters and we
ples money at Bow Street Market for look forward to delivering your rea Tuesday night debate companion, wards soon.

DIANA FURUKAWA

features

the bowdoin orient

Baked acorn squash

and Maine food politics

MIRANDA HALL

BY ELIZA HUBERWEISS
COLUMNIST

This will be your standard Welcome to Fall Foods and Flavors

recipe. I love fall; I buy tiny gourds
to decorate my room, and I take
pictures of leaves changing because
they are pretty. Equally important
to the practice of fall rituals in my
book is the baking of acorn squash.
The hardest part of acorn squash
is getting it cut open, which requires
either a really sharp knife, or a pretty crummy dull one and a lot of determination, which is how I did it.
A mix of sawing, poking and stabbing eventually leaves you with two
halves of a delicious squash ready to
be doused in butter and sugar.
This rather simple recipe leaves
me space to talk about an issue that
is near and dear to my heart, but I
have found difficult to crack into
(similarly, you might say, to an
acorn squash). I want to talk about
food politics, especially in Maine.
Ready for stats? According to the
USDA, between one and 16 percent
of people in Maine are food insecure, or they lack access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Along with Vermont
and Rhode Island, Maine has one of
the highest levels in the Northeast.
The adult obesity rate in Maine is
much higher than any other state
in New England, and most of the

highest rates happen in northern

Maine. This makes sense, to some
degree, because northern Maine
also has more fast food restaurants
per person, less access to grocery
stores and fewer farmers markets.
What doesnt make sense is that the
northern counties are also the ones
with more acreage used for farming
by a huge degree. Food is produced
and shipped away, with the profit
going mostly to large distribution
companies and not to the farmers.
Meanwhile, cheap, unhealthy food
is brought in to feed the people who
grow fresh food for a living. Food
from the ground has stopped being
thought of as food, and so people
living in farming communities are
finding it hard to eat. It doesnt
make sense.
I would love to have the authority to insert a suggestion on what
we can do to fix this. I have some
partial fixes: buy local foods, study
where your foods come from, pay
the extra money for local and organic, knowing that it is helping
farmers get what they deserve. But
the issue is more complex than that,
and will require policy changes, and
discussions where the health of rural, agricultural communities is of
top importance. It will require some
sawing, poking and stabbing with a
crummy dull knife to crack this one
open (hit-you-over-the-head metaphor, but Im pretty proud of it).

INGREDIENTS
1. Acorn squashes, however many you
want to feed you and your *clique*
(Hannafords sources them from local
farms! Spears Farm, Waldoboro, ME)
2. Butter (I like to buy Kates, which is based
out of Saco, Maine, and uses all New England

milk to make slow churned, yummy butter).

3. Honey or Maple Syrup (I used honey
from Fairwinds Farm in Topsham)
4. Salt
5. Pepper
6. Nutmeg and/or cinnamon if desired

INSTRUCTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Preheat oven to 450.

Saw, poke, and stab open your squashes, or cut them if you have an appropriate knife.
Scoop out the seeds (these roasted with some olive oil and salt are really yummy!)
Place the squashes open-face up on a baking sheet covered in tinfoil.
Place pats of butter in the hollow of the squash, and drizzle with selected sugary item.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the flesh is tender.
Eat.

friday, october 16, 2015

friday, october 16, 2015

the bowdoin orient

features

TALK OF THE QUAD

DISABILITY
I was called a cripple for the first
time during Field Day in fourth
grade. I fell during a game of kickball
and overheard a group of boys in my
class laughing about when Daisy the
cripple lost our class the big game.
Not fully understanding the word that
these budding kickball professionals
had just used, I returned home and
Googled the definition. It didnt take
long to find: One who is disabled. A
social crippleor, socially deficient.
I was born 11 weeks premature, and
due to brain trauma I have a developmental disorder called Cerebral Palsy.
Im a spastic triplegicuse of my legs
and left arm is limited because of stiffness and atrophy, and I have poor
balance. If youve seen me walking
around campus, youve probably noticed my affected walking pattern,
which makes carrying a cup full of hot
coffee a grueling experience. Shoutout
to travel mugs and other lidded drink
receptacles.
On that day in fourth grade I had
just turned 10, and I had never thought
of myself as deficient in any way; by
that age I had already endured multiple
muscle-lengthening, bone-rotating orthopedic surgeries, and I actually had
quite a rockin self esteem. Being faced
with my apparent social deficiency was
a blow to my fragile prepubescent sense
of self. I became increasingly introverted and anxious in unfamiliar social situations. When new people asked why
I limp, Id avert their gaze and mumble
about a sprained ankle. I faked sick a
lot and laughed along when my friends

INAUGURATIONS
OVER THE YEARS
Tomorrow, President Clayton Rose
will speak at the Colleges 15th inauguration. For this weeks edition of
Talk of the Quad, the Orient looked to
Bowdoins past inauguration speeches.
Rose enters a lineage of presidents
who have taken the opportunity to
explore what Bowdoin represents and
how the College defines itself. Below,
weve included a selection of quotes
illustrating previous presidents views
of Bowdoins past and their hopes and
concerns about the future.
Joseph McKeen | September 2, 1802
The organization of a literary
institution in the district of Maine,
which is rapidly increasing in population, is an interesting event, and
will form an important epoch in
its history. The disadvantages with
which the district has contended
from the days of its early settlement,
have been numerous and discouraging. The scattered inhabitants were
long in a weak and defenceless state:
for more than a century the sword of
the wilderness was a terror to them;
and they were frequently constrained

MIRANDA HALL

called things retarded. I spent a lot of

time playing the Sims by myself and
mentally playing out absurd scenarios
where someone found a cure for Cerebral Palsy and I could be normal. Being labeled a cripple that day triggered
a pretty significant period of my life
marked by feelings of incompetence
and confusion.
One word created a huge shift in
my understanding of myself and the
world around me. Maybe Im conflating typical preteen angst with this one
momentbut even today it is a word
that stings to hear. Now at age 20, Im
a very different person than I was at 10
or 11. Im comfortable with my body
and understand my strengths and limitations. I look people in the eye when
explaining why I walk the way I do. I

happily advocate for myself and my

needs and dont mind asking for help.
At any given time Im stressing about
700 other things before Im stressing
about my disability; like any other
Bowdoin student, Im preoccupied
with papers, meetings and regretful
nights in Baxter basement. One of my
favorite comedians/activists Maysoon
Zayid said it best in her TedTalk: Ive
got 99 problemspalsy is just one.
That being said, there are inherent
frustrations to being disabled on this
campus. I never use the quad-facing
stairway to leave Searles because
there is no railing and I stress about
getting knocked over when herds of
people are trying to get in and out. I
get nervous walking alone in the winter in case I fall on ice when no one is

around. The idea of navigating Bowdoin with less mobility than I have now
is dauntingwere minimally wheelchair accessible.
Here at Bowdoin, we dont talk
about disability. As a community, were
engaging in lots of thoughtful dialogue
around issues of diversity and inclusion; however, disability issues are continually left out of the conversation.
There are fantastic spaces here for students of color, queer students or students of different religious and socioeconomic backgrounds to discuss and
share their experiences. Bowdoin lacks
this space for students with disabilities,
and as a result, moments of ableism go
largely unaddressed.
Ive heard friends call one another
cripples after an injury. Ive heard

to lay aside the peaceful instruments

of the husbandman, and to seize the
weapons of defence. Planted in detached settlements along an extensive
coast, and depending on precarious
supplies of subsistence from abroad,
it was long before they could enjoy
the means of education with which
some other parts of New England
were early favored. Add to this, that
deep and strong prejudices prevailed
against the soil and climate, by which
immigrations were discouraged, and
the population of the district long retarded. These mistakes have yielded
to the correcting hand of time; and
Maine is rapidly advancing to that
state of maturity, in which, without
being forcibly plucked, she will drop
from her parent stock.

upon a proposed end. Let us say that

discipline is the chief thing in education. The question is now clear
whether there is only that one course
prescribed in an age and society far
different from ours, to which every
man shall be brought who aspires to
liberal culture and disciplined powers...These earnest young men who
seek the new course do not seek to
avoid discipline or toil. They want
their studies to face outward toward
action, as well as inward towards
life. They want to acquire discipline
through studies which take hold on
present activities, and whose results
abide and can be turned to use. They
do not wish to practice with masks
and foils that must be thrown away in
the field of action, but with the edge
and point with which they are to win
their way.

tion concern is itself primary with

the individual. It strives to make
him not only more useful, but a
happier, more tolerant man. A person who in his formative years becomes acquainted even somewhat
distantly, with the best in literature
and science and art, who has had
some training in philosophical and
religious thought, and in the historical point of view has within himself
resources that will grow only more
potent and more delightful with age.
These are all truisms but they need
constant repetition.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain | 1872

Neither men nor things are what
they were, and the question for us
is, whether there may not be other
courses that might also be worthy
of something better than scorn. Let
us take no unfair ground. Let us say
education is for the man and not the
workman. Very well, and by education we mean that training of the man
by which he will be enabled to summon and concentrate all his energies

Kenneth C.M. Sills | June 20, 1918

In college we deal with the spirits of men, not with their fortune,
wrote once a distinguished teacher.
Our aim is not vocational; our goal is
not efficiency. We hold that the real
object of education is to make men
free intellectually and spiritually, to
develop the resourceful mind in a
strong Christian character. Educa-

James S. Coles | October 13, 1952

More and more often on our
campuses today will a student, in introducing a visiting speaker whose
ideas may not be common with conservative thought in the country,
explain that the ideas of the speaker
are not shared by the student introducing him, but that the organization the student represents feels
that the speaker should have a right
to be heard on campus. I mention
these incidents only to indicate part
of the background for my own fear
that there is developing on our campuses, an atmosphere which does
not permit the free expression and

cripple used in 24 College, which I

consider my space of comfort, safety
and support on this campus. Ive heard
variations of the word retarded get
thrown around without hesitation.
When people dont speak up, the damage of words goes unacknowledged,
and ableism ultimately prevails.
As a community, we have progress
to make when it comes to acknowledging and supporting the experiences
of students with disabilitieswhether cognitive, physical, emotional or
learning-related. Ive noticed a fear or
hesitancy in people when it comes to
talking about disability. With so many
questions and uncertainties related to
whats right, wrong or offensive, just
starting the conversation can feel like
a challenge. If we open ourselves up to
asking the tricky clarifying questions
(Is it okay to ask someone about their
disability? Is retarded the right word to
use to describe someone with a mental disability? What qualifies as a disability?), we can learn about the issues
together in a way that validates and
prioritizes the experience of students
with disabilities, while still educating
others as to why, say, calling someone
a cripple isnt cool.
We need to talk about the power
of words, we need to think about language, and we need to be open to asking the tricky questions that make useful conversations happen. Sometimes
the best way to communicate something is just by saying it. So as I finish
this piece, feeling a vulnerable power
in having shared this part of my life, I
hope we start talking about it.
Daisy Wislar is a member of the Class
of 2018.

exchange of ideas.
Barry Mills | October 27, 2001
Now, the fact is that the terrorist
attacks on New York and Washington and their aftermath have forced
many of us to reassess our lives and
our priorities. Things that appeared
so vital and important only two
months ago can now seem trivial. I
have sensed this ongoing reassessment as I travel around the country on behalf of the College. I hear
it from parents who tell me how
relieved they are to have their sons
and daughters studying in the relative safety of Brunswick, Maine.
This sort of reexamination is valuable because to some extent, I believe
the excesses of the recent past have
led us away from what is truly important in our lives and in our society.
And as we recalibrate our priorities,
I believe that the value of education
will be reaffirmed as central to a rational future.
The question, though, is where
our particular form of education the residential liberal arts college,
fits in any reaffirmation of the value
of education.
Compiled by the Orients
editorial board.

friday, october 16, 2015

the bowdoin orient

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Masque & Gown mixes comedy, dark issues in Crimes of the Heart
BY AMANDA NEWMAN
STAFF WRITER

Mental illness, depression, abuse

and suicide arent what most would
consider light-hearted themes.
However, Masque and Gown wants
to blur the lines between serious and
comedic with its fall production of
Crimes of the Heart.
Crimes of the Heart is the tale
of three sisters, Lenny, Meg and
Babe. The play opens with the three
meeting in their childhood home
in Mississippi for the first time in
many years. Lenny has grown tired
and depressed from the weight of
familial responsibilities that she has
inherited as the oldest sister. Meanwhile, Megs attempted career in the
country music industry has fallen
apart. Lastly, the youngest sister,
Babe, has just shot her husband under mysterious circumstances.
Director Axis Fuksman-Kumpa
17 explained that it can be tough
for her and her actors to immerse
themselves in such a complicated
play.
Sometimes we have to kind of pull
back when were rehearsing, Fuksman-Kumpa said. We need to take a
step back and really process that because it affects you as an actor.
Fuksman-Kumpa hopes the performance will prompt discussion
about more difficult issues, especially at Bowdoin, where most students
have extremely busy schedules.
Theres always an idea that you
should be strong enough to handle
it on your own, Fuksman-Kumpa
said. She hopes that when viewers see
how the members of the family rely
on each other to get through difficult
times, they will understand that it is
OK to seek help when necessary.
I hope that by bringing some of
this to light, itll make it a little bit
easier for other people to reflect on
that in their own lives, FuksmanKumpa said.
While the play does touch on dark

TESSA EPSTEIN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

BEHIND THE SCENES: (LEFT TO RIGHT) Austin Goldsmith 18, Sarah Guilbault 18 and Erin McKissick 16 rehearse for Masque and Gowns fall production,Crimes of the Heart,which uses comedy to follow three sisters dealing with mental illness.
and heavy themes, Fuksman-Kumpa
hopes that the comedic aspect present throughout the play will lighten
the mood.
It deals with these really intense
and very genuine things...that are
very emotionally traumatic, but it
brings them to light in a way that has
kind of a joy and a humility about
them, Fuksman-Kumpa said.
Set designer Conor Walsh 18 also
attempted to create a more positive
atmosphere for the production with
an open, airy stage design.
To bring it more into the realm
of comedy and to lighten up some of
the dark themes, the sets very light,

Walsh said.
He and the crew also worked to
make the set feel more lived-in, with
details like slightly scratched-up walls.
The walls werent painted yesterday, you know? They were, but
theyre not supposed to look like it,
Walsh said.
The lighthearted mood was present in rehearsals as well, according
to cast member Austin Goldsmith
18, who plays Meg.
Our better rehearsals come out
of those where we have a little bit of
time to goof around beforehand, so
we connect better, Goldsmith said.
The cast is also trying to find hu-

mor in chaosdue to the timing

of this weekends Inauguration, the
members have not yet been able to
rehearse in Pickard.
The rehearsal process is different
from usual because Ive never been so
late getting into the space. [This week]
was the first time we ran through the
entire show, said Goldsmith.
In order to direct a play through
Masque and Gown, one must submit a
detailed proposal to be reviewed by the
club. Masque and Gown President Madeleine Livingston 16 explained that Fuksman-Kumpas proposal for Crimes of the
Heart stood out for a variety of reasons.
[It] is not a play that very many people

know but is really interesting and deals

with some tough issues about families,
Livingston said.
The show will be performed on
October 22, 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m. in
Pickard Theater.
Im most excited to see it come
together, said Livingston. I think
its always nice to have been part of
a show from the conception to performance.
I just really encourage people to
come see the show, said FuksmanKumpa. I think its something that is
at some points challenging to watch
but the kind of experience where, at
the end, youll be glad you saw it.

French dance company critiques Eurocentric beauty ideals in Paris

BY SURYA MILNER
STAFF WRITER

Chantal Loal, director of the

French dance company Dife Kako,
choreographed Chateau Rouge to
tackle the uncomfortable realities
presented by Eurocentric ideals of
beauty in the Parisian neighborhood
Chateau Rouge. A station of the
Paris Mtro, Chateau Rouge is notorious for its multicultural shops,
many of which cater to women of
African descent. However, several of
the products sold in the shops pose
lethal health concerns, as they often
use poisonous chemicals to whiten
skin or straighten hair.
Dife Kako was invited to campus as a part of the Colleges Studies in Beauty Initiative, which seeks
to discuss the issues of beauty and
aesthetics across various disciplines.
Chateau Rouge, which features
traditional African and Caribbean
dances set to multicultural melodies,
intends to illuminate the unconscious whitenization of black women in the predominantly African and
Caribbean neighborhood of Paris
through the use of historical context.

According to Loal, the bonds of

slavery that once linked Africa, the
Caribbean and Europe have developed into a new and more subtle
form of slavery that still exists today.
It is true that colonization and
slavery had aftermaths, and one of
the many aftermaths is precisely
this one: identity distortion, said
Hanetha Vete-Congolo, associate
professor of romance languages and
literatures and one of the faculty coordinators of the event.
Chateau Rouge features a multicultural composition of performance
elements. Because the neighborhood itself has a diverse population,
Loal wanted to integrate global influences into the performance. Some
performances incorporate foundational African and Caribbean dance
steps with heavy influence from the
French regions of Martinique and
Guadeloupe, while others integrate
European words and text with a diverse array of music. Loal also incorporates many different sounds,
ranging from African music out of
Nigeria and Cape Verde, Central Africa drum music and Islamic, Pakistani and Indian songs and rhythms.

I hope the audience will see that although Chateau Rouge is located in
France, you can find such towns in virtually all countries. Because we are
here in a college, people are very intellectually curious and I hope that
the show will be meaningful in that sense.

DIRECTOR OF DIFE KAKO, CHANTAL LOAL

Loal weaves humor throughout the performance to alleviate its

emotional and tragic content. Humor provides the audience with a
lens through which to consider and
discuss significant issues.
The show is about the common
identityan identity that is international, because Chateau Rouge is
international, Loal said. I hope
the audience will see that although
Chateau Rouge is located in France,
you can find such towns in virtually
all countries. Because we are here in
a college, people are very intellectually curious and I hope that the show
will be meaningful in that sense.
According
to
Vete-Congolo,
Chateau Rouge is a timely performance, since Bowdoin is becoming
more multi-ethnic and multicultural
than in the past. She called for the
Bowdoin community to ponder new

questions about identity.

There is always a reason to hold
an activity like this one because it
concerns society, and if it concerns
society then it concerns people, Vete-Congolo said.
She believes that, in this new age
of technology, society is exposed to
more discourse about identity and
identity unease. These new conversations can sometimes create a
[belief ] that where you stand, and
what you are, are not necessarily
where you should stand and what
you should be. That creates anxiety,
which in turn creates action and reaction, said Vete-Congolo.
For students in the audience,
Chateau Rouge shed light on the
issues of Eurocentric beauty ideals
in ways they had not previously considered.
Emiley Charley 17 said that de-

spite previous exposure to the topic, the performance helped to contextualize the issue and illuminate
its prevalence globally.
My mom is from Ghana and
my dad is from Sierra Leone [and]
Im also an Africana Studies major so Ive learned a lot about skin
bleaching, Charley said. Its really
interesting to see how this concept
transcends borders and continents
and how its a real issue. It isnt really
thought about often.
Preston Thomas 17 noted that
the racial diversity of the dancers in
Dife Kako, which consists of dancers of African, European and Asian
descent, was surprising and added
depth to the show.
Theyre all of French nationality but of different ethnic groups. I
typically deem French people to be
white, not necessarily having darker
skin, Thomas said.
That was one of the key parts for
methat they actually used color
to their advantage, Charley agreed.
If the whole company and all the
dancers were just one skin color, the
same message would not have been
portrayed.

friday, october 16, 2015

the bowdoin orient

a&e

Documentary brings together three generations of Bowdoin alums

BY BRIDGET WENT
ORIENT STAFF

Though it may seem antiquated,

the craft of wooden boatbuilding
is timeless enough to unite three
separate generations of Bowdoin
students. For wooden boatbuilder
Dick Pulsifer 62, this technical art
provides both a link to the past and
and a way to connect with the current Bowdoin community.
Hull 111, a documentary produced by recent Bowdoin graduates
Rita Liao 15, Lucy Green 15 and
Eric Levenson 15, follows the story
of Pulsifer in his quest to build his
111th Pulsifer Hampton boat. The
film aired on MPBN on October 8
and 10.
Fascinated by the renaissance of
the wooden boatbuilding craft, Pulsifer built his first Hampton boat
in 1973 shortly after graduating
from Bowdoin. Since then, he has
completed 111 Pulsifer Hampton
boats in his Mere Point Road shop
in Brunswick, continually adding
details and improvements to his
model.
The main skill you learn is the
ability to see whats beyond where
you are, said Pulsifer.
Pulsifer values maintaining a connection with the Bowdoin community through his craft, often mentoring Bowdoin students at his outpost.
Its a real experience with physical accomplishment, Pulsifer said.
For Pulsifer, the value of manual
learning is a complement to the
learning that takes place in a Bowdoin classroom.
Liao and Green were first introduced to documentary filmmaking
last fall in Seashore Digital Diaries,
a course taught by award-winning
documentary filmmaker and 201415 Coastal Studies Scholar David Conover 83. Inspired by the
power of documentary film, Liao
and Green approached Levenson, a

then-apprentice to Pulsifer, with the

idea of documenting Pulsifers craft
as an independent project. Conover
served as the project advisor and encouraged the three students to learn
from each others skillsets.
Digital production is often a
very collaborative endeavor, said
Conover.
Initially, the group set out to create a profile of Puslifer and the process of his boatbuilding. With no
clear narrative, the film was fragmented for the first several weeks.
It was very messy in the beginning, said Liao.
Conover encouraged the students
to allow the story to unfold naturally, using the camera as a tool of
inquiry.
For my part, it involved asking
questions at certain times, more as a
way for them to get clarity here and
there, and also [encouraging them]
to figure out how their perspective
fit into the story, said Conover.
He pushed the students to keep
a diary to consider why each was
drawn to the craft of wooden boatbuilding. In this sense, each student
became part of the films narrative,
according to Conover.
I always look at filmmaking as a
process where you spend some time
out on the dance floor and some
other time on a balcony looking
down on the dance floor, Conover
said.
For Conover, shifting between
these two perspectives is an essential
component in documentary production and was crucial in telling Pulsifers story.
The three recent alums each
brought their own interests and
questions to the project. For Green,
a visual arts major, the step-by-step
process of building a boat was analogous to the meticulous process of
painting. Levenson was curious as to
young peoples involvement in boatbuilding in the digital age. Liao, pas-

JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

SET SAIL: This past year, wooden boatbuilder Dick Pulsifer 62 built his 111th Pulsifer Hampton Boat, which was the subject of a documentary produced by three 2015 Bowdoin graduates.
sionate about meditation, was captivated by the connection between
spirituality and boat-building.
In the end, it turned out to be a
self-reflection, Liao said.
While initially averse to being on
the other side of the camera, Liao
began to view her relationship to
Pulsifers story as a significant aspect of the film.
Its inevitable to have the film-

makers point of view because whenever you choose to show something,

youre choosing what to tell, said
Liao.
With three generations of Bowdoin students involved in creating
the documentary, the project provided a unique opportunity for reciprocal learning.
The effect of having the [multiple generations] and multiple con-

nections with the College community I think was huge, said Conover.
In addition, Pulsifer was not only
an excellent craftsman and boatbuilder, but a remarkable teacher as
well, according to Conover.
The
learning
environment
[Pulsifer] has at his shop is a great
complement to the College community learning environment, said
Conover.

Leaving the Bowdoin bubble: Fall Break, baths and different space
THE ARTISTS
ARE PRESENT

CARLY BERLIN AND TESSA WESTFALL

The beginning of the year is always
saturated. Like us, you may have become illiterate over the summer, and
reading is hard. Maybe your friendships are in transition, or maybe this
is your first time living away from
home. Fall Break is a time set aside for
some undefined purpose (shoutout to
Tim Fosterwere not complaining),
but however you spend it, this break is
a marker in time.
In our column, we typically focus
on inhabiting and challenging spaces
at Bowdoin. For a special Fall Break
edition, we neither inhabited Bowdoin spaces nor challenged much of
anything. Instead, we took advantage
of time away to reflect on how weve
grown since last Fall Break and how
Bowdoin has influenced that growth.
In retrospect, the first five weeks of
our Bowdoin experiences were spent
largely in tears. Our friendship began
on a Friday night spent drinking tea
and watching 30 Rock on the first
floor of Winthrop, hesitantly confessing to each other how weird college
felt. Fall Break was the first milestone we were running towards. We
were floating in the Bowdoin bubble,
rather than grounded in it; we felt entirely blinded to the world outside by

a space where we
didnt feel settled
yet.
When
Fall
Break hit, emergency getaways
were effective immediately. Tessa,
reeling from bicoastal culture
shock,
needed
to see a family
member before
she
spontaneously combusted.
The trek home to
Los Angeles was
just not doable.
Luckily, a family friend swooped in
with a ticket to Toronto, where Tessa
spent the break with her brother. It
was reassuring to see someone with
whom Tessa had more than a month
of context and who also understood
how foreign Sperrys look.
Carly had given her plans more
forethought. She and her high school
boyfriend had set aside this time as
their first reunion after leaving for
college. Full disclosure: there is something supremely romantic about riding a bus through New England fall. A
short stop in Boston was jarring. Carly was surprised at how unaccustomed
she felt to city noises and strangers.
She was elated to see her boyfriend,
but the two soon realized the new

DIANA FURUKAWA

challenge at hand. A relationship that

had always been rooted at home had
now become mobile, and Carly and
her boyfriend had to reconcile their
disparate spaces.
Wed like to think Fall Break last
year was clarifying, but we cant remember if it was. We needed that
time away, but it probably felt too
short; it was probably hard to come
back to Bowdoin. Regardless, Fall
Break became a timestamp that broke
up our developing routines. Were
lucky to say that things went up from
there. A big leap outside the bubble
reminded us that we dont stop existing off campus.
We dont find ourselves needing
that reminder anymore, at least not in

the same way.

Going away used to help us confirm who we were. Now, being outside
of Bowdoin makes us grateful for the
directions in which weve grown here.
A year has stretched us, has pushed
us, has shown us we can feel empty at
some times and overflowing at others.
And thats OK.
This year for fall break, we indulged
in our Bowdoin relationships. In the
spirit of our favorite Onion article, we,
with a group of our female friends,
spent a raucous night validating the
living shit out of each other. A log cabin in northern Maine saw many heartto-hearts, collective dinner-making
and multiple stress-relieving baths.
What struck us about this time was

our lack of urgency to get away from

not just Bowdoin, but Bowdoin people. Our outside lives and our Bowdoin lives have swirled together, and
now being away from campus doesnt
feel groundbreaking. We have taken
root at Bowdoin, but weve realized
that the layers of our lives can be fixed
to multiple places at once. Some might
say we are at home in all lands.
At Bowdoin, were empowering
ourselves to have complex identities. You can be the squirrel with the
messed-up tail and you can be Connie.
Part of growing is letting seemingly
contradictory aspects of ourselves exist at the same time. Weve found that
Bowdoinand the relationships that
we have heregive us that space.

friday, october 16, 2015

SPORTS

TESSA EPSTEIN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT (ABOVE AND RIGHT)

the bowdoin orient

10

ON A ROLL: (ABOVE) Quincy Leech 17 prepares to hit a serve while Michelle Albright 18 prepares for play and teammates look on.
(LEFT) Sydney Salle 19 spikes the ball over the net against Worcester State in a 3-0 win over the Lancers. It was the teams third win in a row, a streak they
have now extended to ten consecutive wins. The streak saw Katie Doherty 17 reach 1,000 digs, becoming only the sixth player in Bowdoin history to do so.
In addition, Christy Jewett 16 is on pace to break the all-time kills record for Bowdoin volleyball before the end of the year. The team now has a 12-3 overall
record and is 6-0 in NESCAC play. However, the team will face its toughest test this weekend with matches against Williams and Amherst, the second and third
ranked teams in the NESCAC, respectively.

Volleyball elongates winning streak to 10 in a row

BY ANJULEE BHALLA
STAFF WRITER

The volleyball team extended

its winning streak to 10 games last
weekend with a sweep of Trinity
and Wesleyan. Undefeated in the
NESCAC, the squad has dominated
throughout its matches, losing only
two sets out of the last 32.
A number of individual achievements have accompanied the teams
continued success. Two weeks
ago, captain Christy Jewett 16 was
named the NESCAC Volleyball
Player of the Week as she achieved
1,161 career kills, the second highest
number in Bowdoin history. Jewett
saw the conference accolade as more
of a team accomplishment than an
individual one.
Obviously it feels great to be
honored, but one thing that Ive really become aware of is that nobody
ever wins Player of the Week without a really strong team backing
her, said Jewett.

Jewett is on pace to break the sixyear-old Bowdoin career record of

1,227 kills held by Gillian Page 10
by the end of the season. Last year,
Jewett set the single-season school
records for most kills and attacks
with 445 and 1158, respectively.
Katie Doherty 17 also entered
the record book this season, as she
became the sixth player in Bowdoin
history to reach 1,000 career digs.
If our team werent as strong
as it is, I dont think that wouldve
been possible to accomplish, said
Doherty.
With a full season of Bowdoin
volleyball left, Doherty has plenty
of opportunities to move up through
the all-time rankings, yet the statistics are not what keep her motivated.
For Doherty, the effect her accomplishments had on the rest of the
team impacted her more than the
number itself.
[Reaching 1,000 digs] was one
of the most amazing moments of
my life, simply because of the atmo-

sphere and how amazing my team

is, said Doherty. I was just so inspired by how excited everyone else
was. It was amazing not because I
valued it but because of how much
everyone else valued it.
The team has accomplished a lot
already, but its season is far from
over. The volleyball program heads
into a high stakes Homecoming
Weekend facing fellow NESCAC
competitors Amherst and Williams.
Everyones really excited for this
weekend, said Doherty. This is the
moment that will really define us as
a team. Well see if we can cement
our first place in the NESCAC.
With this excitement comes extra
focus and determination as the program prepares for its biggest challenge and the largest threat to its
streak so far.
Its really confidence boosting
to have a streak like that but were
going to be really challenged this
weekend, said Jewett. Our winning
streak is a good measure of success

but this weekend will be an even better measure of what we can do.
Williams and Amherst are ranked
number two and three respectively
in the NESCAC, and the team has
to take down Williams on Saturday
at 2 p.m. in order to host the NESCAC tournament at the end of the
seasonan advantage keenly sought
after by the team.
We emphasize how were in the
drivers seat right now, said Head
Coach Erin Cady, We have the
power to control our own destiny
and look at it like its a power or
an opportunity instead of pressure
to perform.
While this weekend may be
daunting to some, the squad is eager
to rise to the challenge.
The easy part will be the team
[being] mentally motivated and
ready and physically motivated to go
out and perform against Williams,
said Cady. I definitely can tell you
our players are ready and motivated
for that match.

The team remains focused on

continuous improvement and leaning into the discomfort of learning
new skills.
Something that [Cady] does really well thats helped our team is to
keep us uncomfortable in practice
by challenging us to do new things
every time weve successfully done
something, said Doherty. That just
allows us to keep raising our play no
matter who were playing.
Were consistently working,
said Jewett. Once we fix something, [Cady] will scout us like she
will scout a different team. Weve
been working on finding ways that
they would exploit us so that we can
fix it before they have a chance to
find those.
Luckily the team hasnt had any
serious injuries and with everyone ready and available to do their
best, the team continues on their
fast track to the NESCAC tournament with high expectations for
their performance.

After season of streaky play, mens golf hopeful for future

BY ELI LUSTBADER
ORIENT STAFF

The Bowdoin Mens Golf team

placed fifth of 12 at the Husson Invitational in late September, then came
back the next week and tied for last
place out of ten teams at the NESCAC
Fall Qualifier. This inconsistent play
characterized the teams season.
I would say this year we probably
didnt perform as well as expected,
captain Thomas Spagnola 17 said.
Part of that is our inexperience,
were a very young team. Not a lot of
our players had seen the courses that
we played on.
Six of the 11 golfers are either first

years or sophomores.
In some ways [the teams youth]
was a weakness, but it was also a
strength as well, Spagnola said.
The young players definitely improved a lot over the course of the
season, and I see them improving a
lot in the future.
I think right away the four first
years bought into our system, both
on and off the course. We really got
along well as a team. Even though we
are graduating three players this year,
our first years will be able to step into
those roles, he added.
The week after the NESCAC Qualifier, Bowdoin finished second of three
teams at the CBB Championship, los-

ing to Bates by six strokes and defeating Colby by 16. Bowdoin had
defeated both teams at the Husson
Invitational, but had finished behind
Bates and tied for last with Colby at
the NESCAC Qualifier. At the USM
Invitational, the teams final tournament of the year, Bowdoin finished
sixth out of eight.
I think despite our poor performance at NESCACs, we rebounded and played well in our
last couple tournaments of the
year, Spagnola said.
One area where the team improved
throughout the season was in course
managementunderstanding how to
play a round given the features of a

particular coursean important part

of tournament golf.
Its about knowing when you
can take a risk, and knowing when
to play it safe, Spagnola said.
Thats something that our coaches
really emphasized. When youre
out there, one mistake can lead to
another, so we just worked hard on
course management and minimizing those mistakes.
Another good aspect of the teams
play was ball-striking ability, though
the short game was a real struggle
throughout the year.
I would say we are very good
drivers of the ball and have strong
iron play, but we are notoriously bad

putters, so that is something that we

definitely need to work on in the offseason, Spagnola said.
However, Maine winters make
practicing golf in the off-season a difficult proposition, as cold and windy
conditions quickly take over.
I think we would improve more if
we got better conditions for longer,
but thats just kind of the nature of
New England golf and New England
winters, Spagnola said.
Despite the uneven season, Spagnola has high hopes for next year.
Even though our results didnt
show it, we had a solid year. And we
have a bright futurenext year were
hoping to make some noise.

11

sports

the bowdoin orient

friday, october 16, 2015

Womens golf team

shows improvement
over course of season
BY ELI LUSTBADER
ORIENT STAFF

The womens golf team played in

five tournaments this year, beginning with three tournaments in
which they finished behind rival
Bates. However, the Polar Bears progressed in the final two tournaments
and finished ahead of Bates in both.
One of our goals is to always beat
Bates, captain Maddy Fulton 16
said. Were always pretty even in
play, so it was a good accomplishment for us to be able to beat them
in the last two.
Captain Meredith Sullivan 16
noted that one of the strengths of the
team was that players were able to adjust their game between the first day
and the second day of a tournament.
A lot of our players were dropping shots at every course, Sullivan
said. We were able to take what we
saw from the first day and use it to
score better on the second.
One example of this came when
Diya Chopra 18, shot an 80 in the
second round of the Middlebury Invitational on October 4 after shooting an 89 in the first round.
Dropping nine strokes from the
first to the second day is unbelievable, Sullivan said. The girls from
Williams were shooting like 77-78
so that was an unbelievable score
and was really great to see.
Williams finished first in the
tournament, with an overall twoday score of 642, while Bowdoin finished ninth of 12 teams with a score
of 778. However, Chopras nine-shot
drop proved to be essential, as Bowdoin finished ahead of Bates by only
seven strokes.
According to Sullivan, hitting a
greater percentage of fairways on
the drive also contributed to the
teams late-season improvement.
We definitely got a lot more con-

sistent off the tees, Sullivan said.

During the beginning of the year, it
was kind of a toss-up on tee shots,
but towards the end, I know all of us
were able to consistently hit a first
shot that put us in a position to play
a much stronger hole.
One of the teams weaknesses was
its lack of experience, as two of six
members had not yet seen the courses where the team played its tournaments. The team consisted of four
sophomores, Sullivan and Fulton.
Chopra and Karen Chan 18 were
new to the team this season.
Still, Fulton and Sullivan see the
Polar Bears improving next year after having at least this year of experience under their belts.
Were going to be an upward
trending team in the future, Fulton said. We were pretty young
this year and were hopefully getting
some good new first years as well.
Next year, more of us will be familiar with the courses where we play
tournaments, Sullivan said. These
are really hard courses, so it will be
a huge advantage next year to have a
bunch of veterans coming back.
Bowdoins final tournament of the
year was the NESCAC Championship, the first ever in NESCAC womens golf history. The tournament
took place this past Sunday. Bowdoin shot a 384 the first day, which
was good for fifth of sixth and eight
strokes ahead of Bates. The next day,
the Polar Bears and the Wildcats
both shot a 380, giving Bowdoin the
finish ahead of its rival.
We beat Bates but lost to everyone else. Hopefully in the future as
the team grows, we will be able to
climb up the rankings, Fulton said.
I had a great time this season. Im
sad to be leaving after this year. I
learned a lot and had some great
coaches and great teammates. It was
a good year.

NEVAN SWANSON, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

ON THE BRINK OF A BREAKTHROUGH: Nick Destefano 18 tries to maintain possession while a Middlebury player gives chase on September 26. The teams tied, 0-0. It was
Bowdoins second consecutive scoreless tie.

Mens soccer confident facing crucial stretch

BY MADDIE JODKA
ORIENT STAFF

Bowdoin mens soccer (5-3-2, 1-32 NESCAC)the reigning NESCAC

championsface four crucial conference games that will determine the teams
chances of qualifying for this years NESCAC tournament. Currently, the team
sits at tenth in the conference standings
and are not qualified for the tournament,
a position that both Head Coach Scott
Wiercinski and captain Andrew Jones 16
believe is not illustrative of the teams skill.
Only the top eight teams in the conference
qualify for the post-season tournament.
The Polar Bears will play Hamilton this
Saturday, followed by Colby, Connecticut
College and Tufts in the coming weeks.
Despite a lower than-anticipated ranking, the team has consistently exhibited
good playing this season.
Other than a few blips on the screen,
weve been playing consistently well to
very well, said Wiercinski. I think this is
what fuels the optimism for the year and
for the games remaining.
We are confident in what we have
been doing this season, Jones said. Al-

though we havent been getting the results,

we have been playing at a good standard
of soccer. Moving forward, its going to
come together.
Jones notes that the teams strength is
in being well-balanced and versatile. The
team possesses size, speed and good technical players who are tactically smart and
able to adapt to different styles of play. In
addition, the defense has been a strength
for the team, only giving up six goals in
total. Before this weekend, it had never
given up two in one game. However, the
team has struggled to create chances in
the offense and to follow through to score.
According to Jones, it only takes a few seconds for something to change the whole
game.
It comes down to those moments in a
game, said Jones. Putting in a 90-minute
performance every game and bringing
the same energy, playing to a standard, is
something we can improve on.
This energy was demonstrated during
the teams recent win against Babson on
Monday. While the team got off to a slow
start, the Polar Bears scored four goals in
the second half.
Starting at halftime, our energy

was fantastic, said Wiercinski. We

thought a lot less and just played
with our legs and with our hearts. As
a result of that, things started to feel
more natural and more instinctual.
According to Wiercinski, during these
goals, the team did the right thing at the
right moment. Wiercinski hopes the energy, goal-scoring and overall level of play
the team during this half of the Babson
game can be replicated in the future.
In order to compete against these four
teams, the team will take it game-by-game
and continue the basic strategy they have
been using: passing the ball, playing aggressive defense and trying to create
chances. According to Jones, two of the
most competitive teams, Connecticut
College and Tufts, both have strong midfields, meaning that Bowdoin will have to
up its defensive strategy.
[Connecticut College and Tufts] actually like to play soccer, not just kick and
run, Jones said.
In some ways, we feel like the
season is just getting started, said
Wiercinski. Were learning a lot
about ourselves, and were ready to
extend our season significantly.

friday, october 16, 2015

the bowdoin orient

sports

12

SCOREBOARD

DAVID ANDERSON, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

JUST DO IT: Sarah Kinney 19 (LEFT) and Martha Boben 19 (CENTER) helped contribute to Bowdoins first place finish at
the Bowdoin Invitational on September 26. Bowdoin finished first out of ten teams at the meet.

WOMENS SOCCER
541

WOMENS VOLLEYBALL
123

OCTOBER 7, 2015 BATES

OCTOBER 2, 2015 VS. CONN. COLLEGE

Bowdoin
Bates
#7 Julia Patterson

1 Bowdoin
0 Connecticut College
79:11

3
0

Bowdoin
Tufts

3
1

OCTOBER 3, 2015 VS. TUFTS

OCTOBER 10, 2015 TRINITY

ABBY MOTYCKA, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

WINNING THE BATTLE: Julia Patterson 19 jostles a Middlebury defender for possession during their game on September 26. Bowdoin won, 1-0, for its second conference win of the
year. The team currently sits at 5-4-1 with five games left to play.

Trinity
Bowdoin

1
0

Bowdoin
Keene State

OCTOBER 11, 2015 BABSON

MENS SOCCER
532

MENS GOLF

OCTOBER 4, 2015 VS. ELMS

OCTOBER 34, 2015

TEN SCHOOLS COMPETING

Bowdoin
Elms
#18 Cedric Charlier
#4 Hunter Miller
#28 Levi Morant
#16 Wilson MacMillan
#20 Jai Kawale

5
0
1:17
8:16
26:39
62:26
88:04

Middlebury
Trinity
Hamilton
Amherst
Williams
Bowdoin (Tied for 9th)

Thomas Spagnola 23RD

38TH
Kevin Perron
OCTOBER 6, 2015 VS. SOUTHERN MAINE Martin Bernard
41ST
46TH
Bowdoin
4 Tyler Chonoles
50TH
Southern Maine
0 Isaiah West
#4 Hunter Miller
10:25
#14 Jake Stenquist
63:37
#6 Colton Hall
78:34
#15 Moctor Niang
85:19
OCTOBER 10, 2015

WOMENS CROSS COUNTRY

605
617
628
628
630
690
161
172
175
182
187

OCTOBER 10, 2015 TRINITY

Trinity
Bowdoin
#8 Nabil Odulate

2
1
Thomas Spagnola
89:47 Kevin Perron
Eric Giesler
Martin Bernard
Kevin Zmozynski
OCTOBER 12, 2015 VS. BABSON

Bowdoin
Babson
#4 Hunter Miller
#10 Connor Keefe
#15 Moctar Niang
#10 Connor Keefe

Boston College
Quinnipiac
Yale
Stonehill
MIT
Bowdoin (23rd)

197
372
317
509
538
1065

MENS CROSS COUNTRY

OCTOBER 10, 2015
NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP
THIRTYEIGHT SCHOOLS COMPETING

CBB CHAMPIONSHIP

Bates
Bowdoin
Colby

OCTOBER 10, 2015

NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP
TWENTYEIGHT SCHOOLS COMPETING

414
420
426
77
82
82
84
95

Boston University
Amherst
Maine
Dartmouth
UMass Amherst
Bowdoin (21st)

143
176
199
207
211
551

Babson
Bowdoin
#8 Lauren McLaughlin
#19 Taylor Haist

3
2
OCTOBER 9, 2015 VS. TRINITY
33:24 Bowdoin
62:27 Trinity

Amherst
4
Bowdoin
1
WOMENS RUGBY
54:39
30
OCTOBER 10, 2015 TUFTS
62:12
OCTOBER 10, 2015 VS. AMHERST
Tufts
66:52
Bowdoin
28 Bowdoin
85:29
Amherst
0

3
0
3
0

OCTOBER 10, 2015 VS. WESLEYAN

Bowdoin
Wesleyan

FIELD HOCKEY
100
OCTOBER 6, 2015 VS. ME.FARMINGTON

Bowdoin
Me.-Farmington
#18 Rachel Kennedy
#22 Kimmy Ganong
#22 Kimmy Ganong
#7 Liz Znamierowski

4
0
3:17
8:15
43:33
47:00

OCTOBER 10, 2015 TRINITY

Bowdoin
Trinity
#6 Juliana Fiore
#7 Liz Znamierowski
#9 Mettler Growney

3
2
6:55
36:58
74:01

OCTOBER 13, 2015 VS. SOUTHERN MAINE

37 Bowdoin
6 Southern Maine
#12 Kelsey Mullaney
#22 Kimmy Ganong
43 #18 Rachel Kennedy
24 #22 Kimmy Ganong
#2 Alexa Baumgartner

5
0
19:27
20:31
37:06
45:17
64:12

3
0

WOMENS GOLF
OCTOBER 34, 2015
TWELVE SCHOOLS COMPETING

Williams
Amherst
Middlebury
St. Lawrence University
SUNY at Cortland
Bowdoin (9th)

642
656
668
678
693
778

Diya Chopra
Haley Friesch
Meredith Sullivan
Karen Chan

169
188
193
228

OCTOBER 1011, 2015

SIX SCHOOLS COMPETING

FOOTBALL
03
OCTOBER 3. 2015 AMHERST

OCTOBER 3, 2015 VS. KEENE STATE

Williams
Middlebury
Amherst
Hamilton
Bowdoin

617
663
672
703
764

Diya Chopra
Haley Friesch
Meredith Sullivan
Karen Chan

179
182
187
216

friday, october 16, 2015

OPINION

State of the liberal arts

or only the fifteenth time in the Colleges 221-year history, Bowdoin

will inaugurate a new president this weekend. Clayton Rose will be
officially welcomed with a variety of events, including a symposium
of prominent alumni that promises to explore the power of the liberal
arts. The Inauguration coincides with Homecoming as well as the Board
of Trustees fall meeting, so campus will be packed with alumni. Whats
more, Clayton Rose will have a significant and unique platform to speak
to the College community during his inaugural addressa chance to shed
light on his goals for his tenure here.
This weekend marks a rare occasion in which many prominent alums
from a diverse array of professions will gather to discuss topics of interest to the Bowdoin community. They will address the lasting relevance of
the liberal artsa theme featured in the inaugural ceremonies of many
previous Bowdoin presidents. Take former president William Allen, who
said in 1820, The arts and sciences, besides conducing in a high degree
to individual happiness, exert an important influence on the general state
of society. Or Rev. Edwin B. Webb, who, at the inauguration of former
president William Hyde in 1885, said, It is a foundation laid upon the bed
rock, and a superstructure patiently raised in due proportions and symmetry that we covet. Let the specialty come after the curriculum has gone.
Many previous presidents have also addressed more timely concerns
facing the Bowdoin community at their inaugural events, and this weekend gives us an opportunity to hear from President Rose. Until now, Rose
has made a point of hearing the voices of others at the College. In April,
he told the Orient he was in a listening and learning mode, and in July
said that the broad theme for a while is going to be listening and meeting
as many people as I can. This is a commendable strategy for a newcomer
seeking to understand a complex environment like Bowdoin. However, the
time has finally come for Rose to speak and for us to listen.
So far, he has given us little insight about the directions in which he
plans to steer the College. For instance, Rose is highly qualified to address
the lack of faculty diversityan issue the College has grappled with for
decadeshaving studied issues of racial diversity from an academic perspective. As the College experiments with different ways to complement
its liberal arts program with business education, Rose, a president with
years of experience in both the financial sector and academia, has clear
expertise to contribute. We hope to hear his thoughts on these and other
pressing issues facing the College this weekend.
The Inauguration is more than just pomp and circumstance. It is a
chance for the College to come together to reaffirm our commitment to
the liberal arts and focus on the work that Bowdoin needs to do under
President Roses leadership.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orients editorial
board, which is comprised of John Branch, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter,
Emma Peters and Nicole Wetsman.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:
On October 1, faculty, staff and students from across the campus
came together for an extraordinary day of learning and dialogue. It
wouldnt have happened without a tremendous amount of work from
many, many people. You set up chairs, tables and microphones, organized equipment, reserved rooms and printed posters. You moderated
panels, gave presentations, tabled at the expo and taught classes. You rescheduled team practices and adjusted syllabi. Most importantly, many,
many of you attended some part of the day, encouraged others to attend,
learned from each other and engaged in thoughtful and challenging
conversations.
As members of the group that has worked since last November to
make the teach-in happen, weve always known that broad participation
was essential. The widespread engagement of the campus was gratifying
and gave us hope for ways forward. To all who lent their energy, time
and intellect for the day, and to those who accepted this event even if
you didnt feel it was the best way to proceed: Thank you!
Sincerely,
Amina Ben Ismail, Brianna Cardwell, Carl Boisrond, Caroline Martinez, Catalina Gallagher, Diamond Walker, Dillon Sandhu, Hadley
Horch, Heather Witzel Lakin, Kelsey Freeman, Madeleine Msall, Maria
Kennedy, Mark Battle, Mary Hunter, Nadia Celis and Roy Partridge

HAVE SOMETHING
TO SAY?
SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
orientopinion@bowdoin.edu

Letters must be under 200 words, signed and received by Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

the bowdoin orient

13

Embracing natural hair and learning to love myself

DIANA FURUKAWA

ADIRA POLITE
ON THE EDGE
Yes, you can touch my hair. If you ask.
But, before you put your hands on my
head, understand that my hair has a history. My first trip to the infamous black
hair salon was at the age of four. I remember hair stylists raising my chair to
its highest level because I was too short
for them to reach my head. Hours were
spent in the hair salon once a week and,
from age four to 14, the routine never
changedshampoo, blow dry, straighten. At least two hours were spent under
the mercy of the torture device known
as the hot comb. Trips to the hair salon
were so regular that my natural hair was
essentially a stranger. The only time I
spent with that familiar stranger was the
half hour period between shampoo and
straighten. On every Saturday afternoon,
I willingly allowed my naturally wild and
poofy curls and coils to be transformed
into the flat monotony of someone else.
In the eighth grade, the desire for
straight hair was so fervid that I convinced my mom to let me get a perm. A
perm, in the world of black hair, chemically straightens your hairpermanently. The hair stylist essentially massages
chemicals onto your hair, waits 20 minutes, then washes it out. I left the salon
after my first treatment more confident
and prideful than I had ever been; no
longer would a humid Tennessee day
return my hair to its natural state. The
texture of my hair was forever changed.
I finally had the long, silky, tangle-free
hair that I considered beautiful.
The excitement of these new treatments came to a screeching halt a few
weeks later, when my touch-up stylist left
the chemicals on my scalp for too long.
With tears running down my face, I told
the stylist that it felt as if my head was
on fire. After numerous wash-outs and
no decrease in pain level, it became clear
that the damage was done. Upon inspection, I found my scalp, ears and hairline

covered in chemical burns. I had to chop

my hair off and begin anew. Despite my
new short do, I was still determined to
have straight hair; so, I returned to my
old wash, blow dry, straighten routine.
The summer before I left Tennessee
for Maine, one of my best friends convinced me to get a weave. She praised
the ease that weaves allow and noted
that I would no longer have to put effort into straightening my hair. I got a
weave about a week before leaving home
and hated it within a few weeks. For
one, it was heavy. Its weight heightened
the artificiality of its presence, making me constantly feel as if I was trying
to be someone that I was not. I consistently received compliments; however,
I always felt as if I couldnt take pride
in something that was not really mine.
The turning point came around early
November of that first semester, mostly
due to readings assigned in my first year
seminar, Racism. The more I learned
about systemic racism and the media
issues that were never discussed in my
high schoolthe more I began to question why I so badly desired straight hair.
Its certainly not rocket science. America
is stuck on a Eurocentric standard of
beauty and my Southern, mostly white,
all-girls preparatory school was no exception to that.
I had the weave removed over
Thanksgiving Break but continued to
straighten until the next spring. While
home for Spring Break, I cut off my
heat-damaged ends and finally began
to love my natural hair. For me, natural
hair is not only an expression of selfacceptance, but also one of black pride.
Black people, especially women, have
been labeled subhuman, ugly and undesirable for centuries. Black womens
bodies were considered the property of
white men when contact between the
races first occurredunfortunately,
not much has changed since. In finally
accepting my hair and all of its blackness, I am giving the middle finger to
the notion that beauty means whiteness. I am not saying that wearing a

weave equals self-hate or a lack of selfacceptance; many of the most socially

aware and self-loving people I know
wear weaves and I fully respect that
choice. Personally, however, my weave
made me recognize how damaged the
relationship between myself and my
hair was, and that the cause of that
damage was largely due to the warped
beauty standards of my environment.
I understand that, especially on an
elite college campus in Maine, my hair
is out of the ordinary. Its fluffy, coily and
soft to the touch. Its black hair. I understand the desire to touch my hair. But I
am not your pet. I am not your property.
People seem shocked when I slap their
hands away from my head, but I cant
understand why. Would you randomly
stroke the hair of a random blonde girl
that you dont know? I doubt it. Do you
think that its socially acceptable to touch
me without permission simply because
my hair is different than yours, or because its exotic enough that I must
understand? I once asked a boy why he
thought he could touch me without my
permission and he replied matter-offactly, It looks cool. I figured you were
used to it. I already know that Im in the
minority, and Im well aware of the fact
that Im different. When I feel someones
hands on my head without permission
and hear the reactive coos and woahs, I
quickly remember why I used to subject
myself to the pain of heat and chemicals
in order to achieve anonymity. Touching
my hair without permission, no matter
how well-intentioned, is othering. Ive
had countless discussions with other
black women about how objectifying
and alienating these experiences can be.
Contrary to my current tone, I am not
a spiteful person. If you ask to touch my
hair, I will most likely say yes. Lets be
real, having your hair stroked feels even
better than drinking seven Lime-a-Ritas.
However, if you touch me without asking, dont be shocked or offended when
I slap your hand away. Its not personal,
but what youre doing certainly is.

14

opinion

the bowdoin orient

friday, october 16, 2015

Learning the importance of slowing down during my senior year

MAYA REYES
VULNERABLE DISCOURSE
Im at the point in my college career where everything seems to move
much faster than I can keep up with.
Some of my lucky peers have job offers, Ive started to think about my
last semester of classes, and my personal life has gone through a mesmerizing collection of shifts. Each
day is filled up with activity from
the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep, leaving no room
to think about anything. No room to
just sit and process.
Unsurprisingly, I couldnt wait for
Fall Break. I would finally have a
few days to just contemplate the big
questions, like what the hell Im supposed to do when I get out of here.
(By the way, I still dont have a clue.)
Somehow, I found myself meeting
up with five different friends in four
days. When I wasnt with friends, I
was with my parents. The only alone
time I had was a couple of subway
rides and weird existential experiences with my bathroom mirror. Besides the usual senior year anxiety, I
had two serious personal issues occur during my time at home. Yet I
barely had a minute to just feel them
out. I found myself forcing friendly
conversations and trying to act like
my usual self, but it was extremely
hard to act like my usual self when so
many things about my usual self were
shifting. What resulted was just a lot
of pent-up surplus anxiety.
The debilitating speed and frenzy
of life is something I think a lot of
my peers struggle with. Our culture
encourages us to be constantly occupied and productive because that
is how we gain and exhibit success.
However, I believe this constant activity has conditioned us into a state
of mental laziness. This state has
made us afraid of our own thoughts
and realities.
This summer, I started meditating
on a daily basis. It has been a really
life-changing experience for meit
has encouraged me to carry mindfulness and calmness into my daily
life. Naturally, I wanted to encourage

HY KHONG

everyone I cared about to try it out. I

believe everyone has the capacity to
benefit from some form of meditation. But I was met with two sorts of
responses from most of the people I
introduced the idea to. Either people
didnt want to be alone with their
thoughts, or they couldnt imagine a
scenario when they werent actively
thinking. These responses represent two extreme mindsets that we
should avoid.
In my experience, meditation
does not involve the absence of
thought; it is the process of acknowledging thoughts and letting
them pass, without judgment. This
is not something that comes naturally to most of us. What usually hap-

pens is we think about something

and let it spiral into something far
away from the original thought. We
create a completely different reality
in our thoughts. Therefore, when
we meditate, we let our thoughts occupy our mind in a lighter way. We
are not thoughtless, and neither are
we drained by our thoughts.
There are many reasons why someone might be afraid of confronting their
thoughts, but the importance of this confrontation trumps the comfort of avoidance. When we confront our thoughts, we
are making an active effort to understand
our reality and to come to terms with that
reality. If we live in constant activity, confronting our thoughts is a luxury we dont
often have. There is nothing inherently

wrong with having or wanting a busy lifestyle, but we should always leave room for
thoughtfulness. If we are not thoughtful
about our activity, how will we ever understand or appreciate it?
On the other hand, there is something
to be said for letting your thoughts go. I often find that when I dwell on something,
I end up stressing myself out with the
same circular thought process: somehow
I always end up where I started. Instead
of running through different possibilities in my head and fixating on the past,
sometimes it is better to relax and focus
on your present state. If you are sad about
something, slow down and let yourself be
sad. If you are nervous, slow down and
acknowledge your nerves. If you are surprised by something, slow down and let

the surprise settle in. Instead of dwelling

on the why of every situation and emotion, allow yourself to feel it. And then allow yourself to move on. Do both things
without judgment.
Take this as a friendly reminder:
slow down. Be kind to yourself and
confront your situation in a thoughtful way. Even taking ten minutes to
do this each day can change the way
you approach everything else in
your life. If you dont have ten minutes, shift things around and give
yourself ten minutes of non-activity
to be alone with yourself. Maybe
you will find the answer youve been
looking for, or maybe you will realize that there is no one answer, and
you will learn to be okay with that.

What printers tell us about physical and digital space

JESSE ORTIZ
SIGNIFYING NOTHING
Printers never cooperate. More often than not, at
least one of the printers in Smith is flashing red, signaling its disobedience. I know a thing or two about
printers. As the 2013-2014 Reed House Printer Coordinator, I was paid $43.75 per week to stock our house
printer with paper and ignore the disgruntled emails
from housemates trying to print late at night. Basically, it was a good gig.
As Printer Coordinator, I learned to be patient with
machines. To work effectively with printers, you have
to be calm and understanding, but firma printer
whisperer. Because printers are in a precarious position. These machines bridge the gap between the
physical and the digital. They are portals that translate data into images and textthings you can carry
around that are disconnected from digital networks.
The portals to the portable.
Printers shouldnt really do what they do.
They connect two disparate worlds, like a shaky
wooden bridge in a B-level adventure film. And
like those swinging bridges, they always fall apart,
only for the hero (in this case, your valiant Printer
Coordinator) to scramble up the bridge and preserve life and limb.
As the sphincter of digital space, printers
DIANA FURUKAWA

make us uneasy. Ive often gone to great lengths to

avoid printing, to retain the data within the system.
Think about track changes on Microsoft Word. The
neat formalization of digital annotation allows us to
avoid marking up our precious documents with our
imperfect physical hands.
The frustration of printing reminds us that digital
and physical space are not identical. There does not
exist a function mapping every point in the physical
world to a point in digital space. For now, the two
worlds are only connected through usthe consumersand excretory printers.
So far in this article, Ive been riffing on a silly conceit. But while thinking about printers as the broken
connection between two disparate worlds, I recalled
an online experience that really affected me. On July
8, 2015, I (@sgnfyngnthng) tweeted a screenshot of
a Facebook module, which said, CREATE NEW
GROUP/The easiest way to share photos and share
things with your parents and juxtaposed my profile
picture with that of my two parents.
My parents have been split up for as long as Ive
used Facebook. Since my parents marital status has
not always been the easiest part of my life, I wasnt enthused with Facebooks suggestion. But, as we know,
Facebook has little room for unpleasantness. Facebook structures your news feed to reveal content that
you dont want to see, to keep you in a feedback loop
of positivity that advertisers can exploit.
By suggesting that I start a group with my di-

vorced parents, Facebook shows its own hand. This

glitch in the matrix reveals that there is a matrix.
Digital representations are not natural, but rather
carefully constructed. While doing Spanish homework last week, I stumbled upon the word matriz,
which means both matrix and womb. The English
word matrix comes from the Latin mater, meaning mother. The digital matrix may be the mother,
womb, outline of our online experience, but as users
we are responsible for input.
Although theres only so much we can do within a
social network, recent history has shown how certain
platforms lend themselves to IRL disruption. Twitters structure permits #blacklivesmatter and other activist movements to take hold. In contrast, Facebooks
system of groups can only permit the most self-referential aesthetic, producing communities that amuse
themselves but fail to penetrate the mainstream. By
imitating real-life interaction but minimizing user
vulnerability, Tinder has shifted online dating away
from its association with eHarmony tackiness, and
made itself a fixture among young people looking to
meet.
Form is intrinsically limited, defined by its boundaries. The structure of social media is no exception. Social networking often tries to model our lives. Though
no models are perfect, some models are useful. In their
imperfection, models are constantly susceptible to revision. Social media will duplicate life when the Smith
Union printers work smoothly forever.

friday, october 16, 2015

the bowdoin orient

opinion

15

Finding Judaism in my passion for environmental activism

BY JONAH WATT

OPED CONTRIBUTOR

Every Sunday morning for 10 years, I

sat in my Hebrew school classroom, passing around a small tin tzedakah box and
emptying my pockets full of loose change
into it. At the end of the year, we dumped
out the contents and counted the money
inside. In an exercise of early childhood
democracy, we would vote as a class
where to donate
the tzedakah, and
then our teacher
would send a
check to the animal shelter or local food pantry of
our choosing.
I grew up in
a Jewish family
and a vibrant
Jewish
community, raised
on the values
of tzedakah (justice), tikkun olam
(repairing the world) and ldor vdor
(from generation to generation). I
was taught how to promote justice,
how to engage in acts of repairing
the world and how it was my responsibility to care for the planet
and to ensure that it was left in the
same condition, if not better, for

my children and future generations.

(Finding a Jewish spouse and producing these future generations was
another value imparted on me from
an early age.)
When I came to Bowdoin, I attended Hillel candle lighting for the
first few weeks, and then less and
less, much to my mothers chagrin.
Instead, I spent more and more time
at Bowdoin Climate Action (BCA)
meetings,
an
initially daunting community
filled with what
I perceived to
be radical ecoterrorists.
For a while,
it seemed that
my Judaism had
been put on the
backburner, replaced by a newfound love for
climate action. That is, until a few
weeks ago, when I was asked to be
on a panel for the teach-in. In preparation for this event, I dug down
and found my Jewish identity and
values deeply sedimented in my climate activism.
The panelists were asked to find
texts from our religions that shape

Though I had not realized it

until I was asked to find direct
relations between my faith and
my stance on climate change,
my Jewish values had been
informing my quest for climate
justice since the beginning.

our relationship with nature and

climate change. I struggled to find
excerpts from our torah on how to
avoid disastrous floods (besides
ushering two of every animal species
into an ark) or how to combat the
fossil fuel industrys stranglehold on
not only our climate but our political and economic structures as well.
After reflecting on all of my Hebrew school torah study, I came to
realize that there were no explicit
teachings or stories that informed
my stance on climate change; rather,
the values that I had grown up with
had become internalized and, unknowingly, drove my advocacy for
climate justice.
In my work with BCA, I find examples of tzedakah, tikkun olam and
ldor vdor. Fighting for a more sustainable, fossil-free world, we advocate for
climate and racial justice and act to ensure that we can pass on an inheritable
world to our children. Though I had
not realized it until I was asked to find
direct relations between my faith and
my stance on climate change, my Jewish
values had been informing my quest for
climate justice since the beginning.
As I campaign for fossil fuel divestment, I think back to my days in
Hebrew school, passing around the
tzedakah box and donating loose

change to worthy causes. Though

the contents of a tzedakah box and
the contents of our endowment are
vastly different pools of money, I
firmly believe that they should be
regulated by the same guiding
principles with which I was raised.
And though I may not be the one
voting on where our endowments
tzedakah money is invested, I sure
as hell wont stand idly by as they
go towards industries antithetical to my values.
Just as I know
that
five-yearold me would
not have voted
to donate our
tzedakah
money
to
Shell, Exxon
or any other
corporation
that
profits from the
destruction
of our planet
and our people, I know with
equal conviction
that current-day me
would not support
such investments in
injustice, either.

MIRANDA HALL

Volunteer work is more effective than ideological activism

BY ELLERY MAYAALTSHULER
OPED CONTRIBUTOR

Many Bowdoin students who are

trying to make a difference in the
world are doing so inefficiently. While
it matters that we talk about important
issues, its much more important for
each of us to figure out what we can
really do to help make the world a better place. Unfortunately, it seems like
many students wishing to make a positive impact spend their time in futile
campaigns regarding thorny political
issues rather than getting their hands
dirty and actually making an impact.
Students miss great opportunities to
do good work; instead, they spend
time and resources trying to convince
others to think like themselves.
At the root of all this is a general
preference for activism over action.
Although many great volunteer opportunities exist at the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good,
most clubs struggle to find members.
Meanwhile, the power of the U.S. dollar means that we can make important,
life-changing impacts around the world
by raising money for any of the the numerous organizations that work to help
alleviate poverty. With big hearts but
limited free time, Bowdoin students
should use their time efficiently.
At Bowdoin, it seems like students

have recently spent more time discussing divestment and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than any other cause. I dont
mean to pick on these two causes, but
they seem to embody the futile advocacy that we often choose instead of actually making a tangible difference.
Lets start with the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), whose presence
was everywhere on campus last semester. Regardless of your stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, people should
understand that our efforts towards a
boycott are unlikely to alleviate any suffering in the West Bank. SJP advocated
a boycott that failed a referendum.
Whether or not the referendum passed,
however, it would not have made an
impact on the conflict. There is absolutely no way that Bowdoin Colleges
decision to boycott Israeli products
would have any effect whatsoever in
this ageless struggle. Raising awareness
for this issue will perhaps have a very
slight impact, but will distract us from
issues that we might be able to actually
help. There may be some small merits
to raising awareness for these issues
(more responsible voting is an obvious
one, learning from past mistakes is another), but theres no way that it will do
as much good as spending an afternoon
volunteering or raising money and
awareness for causes we can actually
affect. I respect a lot of the people who

Meanwhile, the power of the U.S. dollar means that we can make important, life-changing impacts
around the world by raising money for any of the the numerous organizations that work to help alleviate
poverty. With big hearts but limited free time, Bowdoin students should use their time efficiently.
have spent time working on this issue,
several of whom are my friends, and I
know what an important contribution
they could make if they did something
that could make a bigger difference.
The same can be said for the divestment movement. Even if you thought
that divestment would not merely be
a symbolic act, the benefits of advocating for divestment are miniscule.
Those who make financial decisions at
this school have made up their mind
against divestment. President Mills was
against it, and so is President Rose. Activists who sat in President Mills office
in hopes of convincing him to divest
were praised for their activism. But
surely, given his refusal to divest, their
time would have been better spent volunteering or advocating an issue that
might actually change. In their quest to
do good, they chose to try to engender
pointless discussions rather than go
volunteer for a cause that could actually
help people.
The argument that the mere act
of advocacy is good because it raises
awareness about important topics
is also flawed. While global climate

change is a tremendously important issue that deserves our attention, getting

us to be even more divided on tactics
will hardly serve the cause. Why not
devote our efforts to putting up solar
panels or not eating meat? Furthermore, divestment is not something that
we can really learn from. How many
of us will be managing lots of money
in the future? I can say with absolute
confidence that I wont. This criticism
is not meant to put down those people
who have advocated for divestment;
I respect their efforts to do what they
believe is right. However, their impressive tenacity and organizational capacity leads me to believe that they could
be doing a whole lot more good if they
focused their efforts elsewhere.
At Bowdoin, were all about raising awareness for topics and starting
important discussions, but we arent
about action. This disparity needs
to change. Starting conversations
shouldnt be seen as a victory but as
a means to action. The next time we
feel like we want to make a difference,
we should think carefully about how
we can make the biggest impact. The

Bowdoin Orient
The

Matthew Gutschenritter
Editor in Chief

ESTABLISHED 1871

The Bowdoin Orient is a student-run weekly publication dedicated to providing

news and information relevant to the Bowdoin community. Editorially independent
of the College and its administrators, the Orient pursues such content freely and
thoroughly, following professional journalistic standards in writing and reporting.
The Orient is committed to serving as an open forum for thoughtful and diverse
discussion and debate on issues of interest to the College community.

bowdoinorient.com
orient@bowdoin.edu

6200 College Station

Brunswick, ME 04011

thing to do, in most cases, is not to go

tabling in the Union, but to go over to
the McKeen Center instead.
Fortunately, we can make the world
a better place by simply focusing our attention on the right areas. There are international causes begging for attention
and action. There are tons of fantastic
clubs doing phenomenal work that
desperately need more volunteers. We
have the capacity to actually improve
peoples lives. From College Guild to
the Portland Housing Authority and
many others (the list goes on and on),
there are avenues for making real, positive impacts in the lives of others.
We have a great student body with
amazing potential. If we could take an
approach that prioritized maximizing
our positive impact rather than trying
to convince others we are right on an
issue that we cant change, we could be
doing a lot more good. Its important
that we speak up about what we think is
right, but its even more important for
each of us to figure out what we can really do that matters to make the world a
better place. Lets stop the bickering and
get to work.

John Branch
Managing Editor
Associate Editor
Associate Editor
Associate Editor
Senior Photo Editor
Photo Editor
Business Manager
Business Manager

Elana Vlodaver
Katie Miklus
Olivia Atwood
Hy Khong
Jenny Ibsen
Evan Bulman
Maggie Coster

Layout Editor
Layout Assistant
News Editor
Sports Editor
Features Editor
A&E Editor
Opinion Editor

Alex Mayer
Phoebe Bumsted
Rachael Allen
Eli Lustbader
Sarah Drumm
Sarah Bonanno
Nicholas Mitch

Sam Chase
Managing Editor

Nicole Wetsman
Editor in Chief
Emma Peters
Managing Editor

Harry DiPrinzio
Web Editor
Julia ORourke
Calendar Editor
Calder McHugh
Page Two Editor
Gaby Papper
Social Media Editor
Allison Wei
Copy Editor
Louisa Moore
Copy Editor
Diana Furukawa
Illustrator

The material contained herein is the property of The Bowdoin Orient and appears at the sole discretion of the editors. The editors reserve the right to edit all material. Other than in regard to the above editorial, the opinions expressed in the Orient do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors.

16

the bowdoin orient

friday, october 16, 2015

OCTOBER

INAUGURATION
AND HOMECOMING
WEEKEND

FRIDAY 16
Inaugural Symposium: "The Power of the
Liberal Arts"

The keynote address will be given by Hanna Holborn Gray,

president emerita at the University of Chicago.
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall. 2 p.m.
Panel 1: Yes, It Still Matters: Why and How We Teach the
Liberal Arts
Jennifer Scanlon, professor of the humanities in gender, sexuality and women's studies and interim dean for academic
affairs, will moderate this panel. Panelists include faculty
from other liberal arts institutions as well as Bowdoin's Mary
Lou Zeeman, professor of mathematics.
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall. 2:30 p.m.
Panel 2: Making a Living and Making a LIfe: The Liberal
Arts in Commerce and Citizenship
Andy Serwer '81, journalist and editor-in-chief of Yahoo
Finance, will moderate this panel made up of prominent
alumni: Kenneth Chenault '73, Ruthie Davis '84, Shelley
Hearne '83 and George J. Mitchell '54.
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall.
ORIENT
PICK OF THE WEEK
3:45 p.m.

Book Release Celebration with Brock

Clarke: "The Happiest People in the World"
Brock Clarke, Bowdoin professor of English, will read from
his new novel, "The Happiest People in the World." Clarke
is the author of six books including the bestselling "An
Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England."
Faculty Room, Massachusetts Hall. 4:30 p.m.

Guster will perform for the Bowdoin community again.

This leading alternative/indie band was formed at Tufts in
1992 and has released seven albums in 20 years, of which
"Evermotion" is their newest. Bowdoin ID will be required
for students. Faculty, staff, relatives
ORIENT
and alumni must pick up tickets at
PICK OF THE WEEK
Moulton Union.
Morrell Gym. 8:30 p.m.

Clayton Rose will be inaugurated as Bowdoin's 15th president. A luncheon will follow the ceremony. Registration is
required to attend.
Farley Field House. 10:30 a.m.

Crimes of the
Heart

Students are encouraged to wear a shirt stating Respect. All

Genders. All Sexualities. Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance
sponsors Yellow Shirt Day as part of the annual OUT Week
and will be selling shirts.
Campus-wide. All-day event.

WEDNESDAY 21

Author and professor Leah Wright Rigueur will speak

about her work on the interaction between AfricanAmericans and the Republican Party. Her first book, The
Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics
and the Pursuit of Power, discusses this topic throughout
the past four decades. After working as a professor at
Wesleyan University, Wright Rigueur became an assistant
professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School
of Government.
Main Lounge, Moulton Union. 6 p.m.

LECTURE

Sustainable Food-Healthy, Green, Fair,

Affordable: Can We Have It All and Scale
It Up?"

Michael Rozyne 78 will discuss his experience growing

two social venture food businessesEqual Exchange and
Red Tomato. Rozyne will talk about the sustainable food
movement in the U.S.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts
ORIENT
PICK OF THE WEEK
Center. 7:30 p.m.

Below the Line: Designing for Movies

and Television

There will be live music, snacks, lawn games and beer

tasting at this celebration. Children's activities include a
bouncy house and face painting. Registration is encouraged,
although walk-ins are welcome. IDs are required.
Dudley Coe Quad Tent. 4 p.m.

Crimes of the
Heart

Yellow Shirt Day

EVENT

Homecoming Harvestfest: A Celebration

of Autumn in Maine

PERFORMANCE

EVENT

"Between Ben Carson and Barack

Obama: Black Politics in 2016"

Installation Ceremony

24

TUESDAY 20

LECTURE

SATURDAY 17

PERFORMANCE

MONDAY 19
LECTURE

Inaugural Concert: Guster

23

HY KHONG , THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

FALLIN' FOR YOU: Students bike through the leaves in the center of the quad after returning from Fall Break. Autumn has arrived on campus just in time for
Homecoming and Inauguration Weekend.

25

Bill Wiggins, a set designer and prop master, will share

his experiences creating the worlds of popular movies. He
has worked on many major films including Blue Jasmine,
Midnight in Paris,Batman and Spiderman 3, in
addition to television shows such as 30 Rock and Law
and Order.
ORIENT
MacMillan House. 7:30 p.m.
PICK OF THE WEEK

26

27

THURSDAY 22
LECTURE

"Earth Matters: Land as Material and

Metaphor in the Arts of Africa"

Karen E. Milbourne, Smithsonian Curator, will discuss

humans relationship to the land in African art since 1800.
RSVPs are requested.
Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center. 4:30 p.m.

28

LECTURE

"Naturalism,
Relativism,
and Nihilism"

29