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Bowdoin Orient

BRUNSWICK, MAINE

BOWDOINORIENT.COM

THE NATIONS OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY PUBLISHED COLLEGE WEEKLY

VOLUME 145, NUMBER 6

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

The

OCTOBER 23, 2015

Jefferson Davis Award


Inauguration celebrates liberal arts, discontinued by College
Rose urges uncomfortable discourse A new government and legal studies department
THE INAUGURATION OF CLAYTON ROSE

award will honor Richard Morgan 59


BY EMMA PETERS
ORIENT STAFF

VALERIE CHANG , THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

PASSING THE TORCH: Chair of the Board of Trustees Debbie Barker 80 (right) hands President Rose (left) the College Charter
before officially pronouncing him the 15th President of the College. Former presidents Barry Mills (center) and Bob Edwards were
among the guests, alumni, faculty, staff and students who attended the Installation Ceremony last Saturday in Farley Field House.

The government and legal studies


department will no longer give out
the Jefferson Davis Award, named
for the president of the Confederacy
who was also awarded an honorary
degree from Bowdoin in 1858. The
change was President Clayton Roses
idea and was approved by the Board
of Trustees last weekend.
It is inappropriate for Bowdoin
College to bestow an annual award
that continues to honor a man whose
mission was to preserve and institutionalize slavery, said Rose in a press
release provided to the Orient.
The Jefferson Davis Award was a
cash prize presented to a government
and legal studies student excelling in
the study of constitutional law. The
United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), an association of female
descendants of Confederate soldiers,
endowed the Jefferson Davis Award
in 1972. Bowdoins Board of Trustees voted at its meeting last weekend
to return the entire value of the endowed fund to the UDC.

BY RACHAEL ALLEN

Honoring Richard Morgan

In his inaugural speech as Bowdoins


15th president, Clayton Rose spoke to
the necessity of full-throated intellectual
discovery and discourse to an audience
of former presidents, guests, alumni,
faculty, staff and students in Farley Field
House Saturday morning. His speech,
Why We Are Here, echoed the Inaugural Weekends overall tone in praising the
liberal arts and expressing a continued
need for dialogue.
[Bowdoin] is a place where we are
sheltered from much of the angst and
struggle of the real world, Rose said.
And this is as it should be: it should
be comfortable and safe enough to allow us to engage in our core mission of
full-throated intellectual discovery and
discoursewhich is most decidedly uncomfortable and unsafe.
Echoing his convocation speech and
his address to first-years, Rose stressed
the need to be intellectually courageous and maintain faith in the value of
the liberal arts despite efforts to reduce
the value of this education to salaries.
Chair of the Board of Trustees Debbie
Barker 80 thought Roses remarks predicted his role at the College.
His commitment to the liberal arts is
steadfast and, at a time when the value
of this form of education is being questioned, he will be a great spokesperson
and supporter, Barker said in an email
to the Orient. Finding ones passion and
listening and engaging in dialogue with
othersespecially if people disagree
are hallmarks of the liberal arts tradition.
Ethan Barkalow 18, who attended
the Installation Ceremony, found Roses

Though the Jefferson Davis Award

ORIENT STAFF

has been discontinued, a new award


honoring the late professor Richard
E. Morgan 59 will ostensibly take
its place by recognizing the same
accomplishment in constitutional
lawMorgans specialty.
You wouldnt want toin any
way, shape or formassociate the
remarkable accomplishments of
Professor Morgan as a scholar and
teacher at Bowdoin and all the
things that he stood for and his
values, with Jefferson Davis. Thats
wholly inappropriate, said Rose in
a phone interview with the Orient.
Morgan taught at Bowdoin, his
alma mater, for 45 years before passing away suddenly last November.
He was a renowned constitutional
law scholar.
He could see a major case coming well before it was ever picked
up in the press, said James Stoner, a
constitutional law professor at Louisiana State University and a friend
of Morgans, in an interview with
the Orient last November. He knew
constitutional law so well that he
had a whole feel for what the Court
was doing and, mind you, thats not
because he thought the Court was
doing the right things, but he still

Please see AWARD, page 3

Comprehensive fee over


$60,000 for the first time
The roots of increasing costs

BY JOHN BRANCH AND VERA FENG


ORIENT STAFF

TESSA EPSTEIN , THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

THE FIRST COUPLE: Rose (left) and his wife Julianne (right) jumped right into the
community in the days following Inauguration, participating last night in How(w)ell
Do You Know Me, a spinoff on the Newlywed Game, hosted by Howell House.
speech good, but too general.
I think, if anything, I wouldve wished
I got a little more specific information for
what he was going to view his presidency, he said.
Though only 125 of the approximately
1,100 attendees of the ceremony and following luncheon were students, some
partook in the weekends other events
or watched the Installation Ceremony
online.
It was a big event and Ive talked to
President Rose a couple times in passing
on the quad, said Jenna Scott 19, who
watched the ceremony on live stream.
As a first year too, I feel for him a bit.
Regardless of their level of participation over the weekend, students expressed their hope that Rose would use

his role to preserve the good of Bowdoins past while creating a new, even
better future.
Tyrone Li 16 said he hopes that Rose
will continue former president Barry
Mills legacy of improving financial aid
as well as mirroring his constant presence around campus.
Bowdoin has a different history than
the one we live in, Bill De La Rosa 16
said. There is a divide between the old
Bowdoin and the new Bowdoin.
De La Rosa, who spoke at the Installation on the importance of being global
citizens before anything else, emphasized his hopes for Rose to increase diversity on campus and help students

It costs $61,354 to attend Bowdoin


this year. As the comprehensive fee
crosses $60,000 for the first time, the
milestone is an opportunity to explore
the long-term questions the College faces about affordability for students and its
own financial sustainability.
Without adjusting for inflation, the
fee has more than doubled in the last
20 years: the comprehensive fee charged
for the 1995-1996 academic year was
$26,500. In 2015 dollars, that is equal
to $43,637; the increase to $61,354
amounts to a 41 percent fee increase after adjusting for inflation.
The basics of Bowdoins story are
common, both among its private liberal
arts peers and colleges and universities
more generally: tuition and administrative fees have increased dramatically at
institutions across the country. However,
certain factors make the rising costs of
a Bowdoin education and the Colleges
response unique.

Unlike many larger universities,


whose budget increases are often due
in large part to increasing costs of research, the vast majority of Bowdoins
annual budget is devoted to the salaries
and benefits of the Colleges faculty and
staffthose figures account for 63 percent of this years budget.
Thus, as the College adds new positions and the costs of benefits such as
health care increase, many see few ways
to prevent rising costs.
This is a really people-driven product, Director of Student Aid Michael
Bartini said of what Bowdoin offers.
Unless the product changes, somehow
weve got to be able to manage this.
Financial aid, another area where
spending has increased dramatically
in recent years, accounts for another
23 percent of spending. The remaining
15 percent is dedicated to a variety of
expenses like utilities, equipment and
travel costs.
With 85 percent of ones cost structure

Please see FEE, page 5

Please see ROSE, page 4

FEATURES: SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: BELOW THE LINE

Students showcase
summer research in
annual symposium.
Page 6.

New York set designer Bill Wiggins


discussed his work and networked
with students.
Page 11.

SPORTS: OFF-CAMPUS CARE


Orthopedic Associates in
Brunswick works with the
athletic trainer to treat
Bowdoin athletes..
Page 12.

OPINION:
EDITORIAL: Commit to memory.
Page 14.
Great books, great questions.
Page 15.

news

the bowdoin orient

DIANA FURUKAWA

ITS ONLY A FLESH WOUND: On Sunday, a student who cut a finger on a door latch at Moulton Union was escorted to the Mid Coast Primary Care & Walk-In Clinic.

SECURITY REPORT: 10/15 to 10/22


Thursday, October 15
A man was seen acting suspiciously on Sills Drive near the Outdoor Leadership Center. An officer
monitored the mans activity until he
left the area.
A broken window was reported in
the stairwell of Brunswick Apartment U.
A student filed a late report of
a stolen bicycle from Pine Street
Apartments. The bike was a dark
gray Ranger Jams mountain bike.
A neighborhood noise complaint
resulted in an unregistered event being
dispersed at Pine Street Apartments.
Friday, October 16
An apartment door was damaged
at 8-10 School Street.
Students reported that four male
teens entered Hyde Hall at 9:30 p.m.
and were acting suspiciously. A short
while later security officers found the
group near Searles Hall. One member
of the group was recently trespassed
from campus for an attempted bike
theft and was in violation of the trespass order. BPD charged the juvenile
with criminal trespass.
A minor student was observed in
possession of a handle of hard alcohol
on the Quad near Banister chapel.
Saturday, October 17
Brunswick Rescue transported
an intoxicated student from Hyde
Hall to Mid Coast Hospital.
Officers checked on the wellbeing of an intoxicated student in
Winthrop Hall.
An officer checked on the wellbeing of an intoxicated student at
Moore Hall.
A silver-blue Schwinn bicycle
was reported stolen from a bike rack
at the Visual Arts Center.
A spectator fell and injured a
hip at the football game at Whittier
Field. Brunswick Rescue transport-

ed the man to Mid Coast Hospital.


A woman spectator attending the
cross country meet fell and injured
a knee in the parking lot near Lubin Squash Courts. Brunswick Rescue transported the woman to Mid
Coast Hospital.
The Yellow Bike Mozart was
reported stolen from the bike racks
at Coleman Hall.
A Coffin Street resident reported
numerous students walking down
the street in possession of alcohol.
Several students were subsequently
warned for possession of alcohol.
A loud unregistered event was
dispersed at Harpswell Apartments
and four residents were held responsible for the violation.
A student was warned for excessively loud music that was disturbing residents of Chamberlain Hall.
Sunday, October 18
Officers checked on the wellbeing
of an intoxicated student at Thorne Hall
and later at Pine Street Apartments.
A student who cut a finger on a
door latch at Moulton Union was escorted to the Mid Coast Primary Care
& Walk-In Clinic.
A black Nishiki mountain bike
was stolen from a bike rack at Howell
House. The bike was left unlocked and
was not registered.
A mountain bike that was stolen
from Stowe House Inn was recovered
by Security and returned to the owner.
A white and silver Gary Fisher
Advance mountain bike was stolen
from the bike rack near Hyde Plaza.
The bike had been left unlocked.
Brunswick Rescue transported
a student with severe head pain to
Mid Coast Hospital.
Monday, October 19
A leaking ice machine caused
water damage in two Druckenmiller

Hall laboratories.
A parent requested a wellbeing
check on a student.
A man and woman were reported to be having an argument on the
Main Quad. Officers checked the
area thoroughly, but the people were
not located.
Tuesday, October 20
A student reported a suspicious
man in the area of McLellan Street
and Harpswell Road. The matter was
referred to the BPD.
A student with a severe migraine
was escorted to Mid Coast Hospital.
Security assisted the BPD with
their investigation of a missing
woman in Brunswick.
A student reported seeing two
suspicious men who appeared to
be interested in a laptop and other
belongings left unattended on a students desk at Hawthorne-Longfellow Library.
Wednesday, October 21
At 6:15 a.m., an employee reported seeing an intoxicated woman
(not a student) talking to herself
near Admissions.
The Yellow Bike Einstein was
reported stolen from a bike rack at
Coleman Hall. The bike had been
left unlocked.
Thursday, October 22
Security officers located one of the
suspects from Tuesdays incident at
Hawthorne-Longfellow Library back
at the library. The suspect had been
previously trespassed from College
property for suspicious activity, but
that order expired in 2013. BPD was
called to reissue a trespass warning
barring the suspect from all campus
property. The second suspect was also
identified and he will be issued a trespass warning as soon as he is located.

friday, october 23, 2015

SNAPS FOR BOWDOIN STUDENTS: Mimi Paz 17, Olivia Atwood 17 and Evan Schweikert 18 were
featured this week on the NESCAC Snapchat Live Story.

Were Live: Snapchat


story comes to NESCAC
BY OLIVIA ATWOOD
ORIENT STAFF

Theres a new way to rise to fame


on campus. Is it by parachuting from
the topmost peak of Hubbard? Perhaps its by creating an original rap
mixtape to Raise Songs to Bowdoin?
No, not quite. But if you capture
those things on camera and post
them to Snapchat, it might well be.
This week, the newest Snapchat filter and story option, NESCAC, Our
Campus Story, burst onto the scene.
The Snap Story compilation includes
Snaps from schools across the NESCAC trying to capture their schools
unique NESCAC-ian magic.
But for these small liberal arts
schoolsisolated in the wilderness,
frigid in the early autumn and populated with far fewer students than
monster universitiesmaking the
Snap Story is the equivalent of extreme fame.
Its a ticket to glory on campus.
On a small campus, being the chosen
one, being featured in the minuscule
video clip that the big wigs at Snapchat headquarters decided to run, is
the equivalent of being Zac Efron and
getting cast as Troy Bolton.
Students are becoming overnight
sensations. Campus is wild. Its anyones game out in the Maine woods.
Brunswick has become a mini Los
Angeles where an anybody can become a somebody in mere seconds,
sans the implants and the drugs.
When asked what her newfound
fame means, Mimi Paz 17, the first
Bowdoin student to break into the

elite NESCAC Snap world, said, I


feel like when Im walking to class,
people look at me differently. I feel
like my daily life is disrupted.
Paz rocketed to stardom by simultaneously riding a hot pink bicycle
built for one with her roommate.
Paz is definitely considering new
career moves based on her success as
of late.
I want to take it to the next level, she said, noting she might next
try a two-person unicycle ride to
further secure her status as a Snap
celebrity.
Emily Serwer 16 was not one of
the lucky ones.
I probably sent in, oh, I dont
know, 20-plus videos. Its been consuming my life for the past couple of
days.
Serwer has committed herself fully
to the pursuit of this ultimate goal,
unyielding in her quest for fame, glory and the full five seconds of the undivided attention of the entire school
league.
I feel like its one of those things
you work up to, Serwer said, Ive
been here for four years, and I feel
this would be my crowning accomplishment.
Serwer has no intentions to give
up in the hunt for the kind of fame
only the high-level NESCAC story
can provide. Other students are just
as vigilant in their hunt for this fantastic and all-encompassing fame.
The NESCAC was unavailable for
comment as to whether or not they
will officially change their name to
the NESNAP.

STUDENT
SPEAK
Where is your favorite place on campus?

Skye Aresty 16

My favorite place on campus is my


bed. I didnt leave it until 11 this
morning.

Isaac Merson 17
The Quad because when its late at
night and the stars are out, you can
sing and nobody will hear you.

Pamela Zabala 17

Smith Union. You could spend a whole


day in here and not have to leave. Theres
food, bathrooms, comfy couchestheres
always a lot going on.

June Lei 18

Brewster Taylor 18

I appreciate the mirrors in Moulton Union


because theyre very spacious. You can
spend a lot of time there without anyone
judging you.

Right here. Right now. With you.

COMPILED BY HY KHONG

friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

news

Pearson 17 voices concern in BSG meeting Public health initiative to


over constitutionality of internal election combine medicine and
humanities next semester
BY HARRY RUBE
ORIENT STAFF

Justin Pearson 17 questioned


the constitutionality of an internal
election that would allow the current Bowdoin Student Government
(BSG) Interim Vice President for
Student Organizations Emily Serwer
16 to remain in her post as a full
member for the rest of the year. He
voiced this concern during public
comment time at Wednesdays BSG
assembly meeting. Serwer was appointed to the position following the
transfer of former Vice President for
Student Organizations Wylie Mao
18, but Pearson maintained that
she was not an elected student and
therefore could not participate in
the vacancy election, which is constitutionally restricted to members
of the Assembly.
Disagreeing, BSG President Danny Mejia-Cruz 16 and Vice President for Student Government Affairs Michelle Kruk 16 maintained
that Serwers interim appointment
effectively made her a member,
and therefore was eligible to run.
In response, Pearson accused the
Executive Committee of setting a
dangerous precedent of extra-constitutionally creating rules in order
to give the chance for Serwer to stay
in the position though unelected by
the student body.
BSGs constitutional provisions
on a vacancy are not extensivein

AWARD
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
had a real sense of what direction
they were heading in.
Current mayor of San Francisco
Ed Lee 74 and former Bowdoin
President Barry Mills 72 are among
Morgans former students.
While I did not have the privilege of knowing Professor Morgan,
his national reputation as a scholar
of the institutions and principles
central to American government
and society make it wholly appropriate that we honor him and his
lifelong accomplishments with this
annual award, said Rose.
Confronting the past
The discontinuation of the Jefferson Davis Award comes amidst
reconsideration of the use of Confederate symbols across the country,
including at the South Carolina state
house, Yale University and the University of Texas-Austin.
Professor of History Patrick Rael
wrote an essay about the change titled The past keeps changing.
The changing memory of the past
has always been a potent reflection
of Americans shifting values. Since
the Founding, our national story
has never been unitary or static.
It has always moved to reflect new
commitments, and acknowledge (at
last) old realities. This can make us
uncomfortable, particularly when it

The timing of Maos resignation from the College left the Executive Committee in a bind, leading them to appoint Serwer to the
position in order to have the post filled before the fall. MejiaCruz acknowledged that it was a constitutional gray area.

the case of a vacancy, the Assembly votes to elect one of its current
members to fill the spot. According to Mejia-Cruz, the timing of
Maos resignation from the College
left the Executive Committee in a
bind, leading them to appoint Serwer to the position in order to have
the post filled before the fall. He
acknowledged that it was a constitutional gray area.
Serwer has previously served as
BSGs non-elected Director of Programming, and ran unsuccessfully
for the position of BSGs Vice President of Student Government Affairs
last spring.
A number of voting members of
the assembly eligible to run for the
vacancy against Serwersuch as
several At-Large Representatives
are also appointed by the BSGs
executives and not elected by the
whole student body.
After the meeting, Pearson said
that his objections tied into broader
concerns about the BSGs operations, arguing that in uncertain situationssuch as this one, or during
the confusion over the server crash,

which stalled last Aprils BSG electionsdecisions devolve to the president or BSGs executives in a way that
is neither transparent nor fair.
Mejia-Cruz noted that his decision to ask Serwer to fill the post
was only taken after getting the support of the BSGs Vice Presidents,
and having talked out all of his options with several Deans.
Should Mejia-Cruzs motion be
passed at a BSG meeting two weeks
from now, an election amongst the
Assembly will be held to choose between Serwer and any other voting
BSG members should they choose
to oppose her. When the motion was
opened up to the rest of the Assembly
members for questions or concerns
on the subject, none were raised.
After the meeting, Serwer seemed
largely unfazed.
I understand where Danny was
coming from, she said. I understand the need to now have an election to officially fill this position,
and I dont object to public comment
about the constitution. Its nice to
actually hear that the student body
has some interest in it.

We have a historical connection with [Davis], and that is a fact


of history that is undeniable. One of the things that I think is
important for institutions like ours is to be transparent and clear
and to acknowledge our history, and then for each of us to take
lessons from that history.
PRESIDENT CLAYTON ROSE

challenges what we think we know,


or what we want to think, about our
past. But as we change, our history
changes, wrote Rael.
Davis was awarded an honorary
degree from Bowdoin in 1858, three
years before the outbreak of the civil
war. Davis, then a U.S Senator representing Mississippi, found himself in Maine for health reasons and
decided to attend Bowdoin commencement on a whim (he was a
close friend of Franklin Pierce and
had served in Pierces cabinet as Secretary of War).
Even then, the Board of Trustees
decision to recognize Davis was
contentious given that he was an ardent proponent of slavery.
[Daviss] principles were diametrically opposed to those of the
majority of the people of Maine;
but when a man of his ability and
prominence, from a distant state,
was present at Commencement, it
would have been almost a personal
insult not to give him a degree,
wrote Louis Hatch in The History
of Bowdoin College.

Some fear the unintended effects of


discontinuing the Jefferson Davis Award.
I worry that this change is a
means of erasing that history that is
still so important, said Kate Berkley 18. She explained that history is
often written by the winners of conflicts, and as a loser in the Civil War,
its important to preserve Davis and
his legacy in some capacity.
The College will recognize Davis
relationship to Bowdoin with a panel
in Memorial Hall, placed next to the
pre-existing plaques containing the
names of Bowdoin alumni who fought
in the civil warboth for the Union
and the Confederacy.
We clearly do not and will not
honor [Davis] in any contemporary way going forward. We have
a historical connection with him,
and that is a fact of history that is
undeniable, said President Rose.
One of the things that I think is
important for institutions like ours
is to be transparent and clear and to
acknowledge our history, and then
for each of us to take lessons from
that history.

BY MATTHEW GUTSCHENRITTER
AND MARINA AFFO
ORIENT STAFF

The College is planning a new initiative in public health to combine


medicine and the humanities and
better prepare students for changing
medical professions. The program is
intended to appeal to students who
are interested in any health profession, whether they intend to go to
medical school or not.
We have a lot of faculty and students who have interests in public
health, but we dont have a curriculum about it, said Assistant Professor of History David Hecht.
According to Dean for Academic
Affairs Jen Scanlon, the liberal arts are
good preparation for medical school
and other medical professions.
We take great pride in preparing
students for health professions and
in doing so not just in one particular
way, Scanlon said.
Scanlon approached Hecht about
the concept, and he will spend the
next few months working with other
faculty interested in the medical humanities to determine what form the
initiative will take.
Hecht and Scanlon said the initiative will likely start next semester

and possibly include course clusters,


lecture series or symposia.
[The initiative will look at] medicine from a science, social science
and humanities perspective and
bring students together to think
across disciplines and across these
kinds of boundaries, Scanlon said.
Its really a lot about the kind of
boundary crossing that were able to
do in a liberal arts environment.
Part of the impetus for the initiative is the change in both medical
schools and the medical profession.
Medical schools are changing
in terms of what they think constitutes a good prospective medical school student and also what
constitutes a good physician, said
Scanlon. [We want to] think and
talk about preparing our students
for health professions careers and
the compatibility of that with the
liberal arts more broadly.
Hecht believes that the courses
will appeal to both humanities students interested in public health
and medicine as well as pre-med
students hoping to study some of
the social implications of their chosen profession.
This semester, Hecht plans to
talk to faculty, staff and students to
gauge interest in the program.

news

the bowdoin orient

friday, october 23, 2015

Inauguration Panelist Q&A


ANDY SERWER 81

SHELLEY HEARNE 83

ADAM WEINBERG 87

Whats the most valuable lesson you


learned at Bowdoin?

Whats the most valuable lesson you


learned at Bowdoin?

Whats the most valuable lesson you


learned at Bowdoin?

I really learned to think independently for the first time. I learned to


think about thinking.

That knowing is not the same as


thinking.

Probably persistence, in all honesty. I was an ice hockey player here, I


was a pretty serious student involved
in lots of things, but what I learned
at Bowdoin was what it meant to really work hard and to persevere, and
to sometimes work through failure
to find creative ways to problemsolve, and a passion for succeeding.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Bowdoin today?
I think its very clear. How do you
go from good to great? And where do
you go from here? I mean the place is in
good shape, great shape, and so how do
you make it even better? And in a way,
its almost easier if you come in, like if
Clayton was coming in in a turnaround
situation, its like oh this place stinks
and fire everyone, do this, and theres
like five logical things to do. Its harder
because the place is in such great shape.

What is the one thing you think every


Bowdoin student should do before they
graduate?
Im going to say climb Mount Katahdin. Im going to say something besides
that, but I really believe, climb Mount
Katahdin. I really do. Because I really
like doing that. Thats super cool. Its
just a little bit hard, but you should do
it. I think Im just going to leave it at
that. Some people say have dinner at a
professors house, but Id rather climb
Mount Katahdin.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Bowdoin today?
In a day and age where theres so
much pressure to follow the trends
and the fads, how do you keep your
eye on really producing real leaders?
Versus whats the latest correct or current thing versus what really is going to
matter... Dont get sidetracked by all the
latest. Its really sticking to core values.

What is the one thing you think every


Bowdoin student should do before they
graduate?
Well, I would say something like
swim naked off of Baileys Island, but...
it is really important before you leave
this campus to do something that gives
back to the community. Not to the
Bowdoin community, but to the community surrounding Bowdoin... That
kind of being in touch I think is absolutely critical for every student to have
that. Weve got to share this grace.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Bowdoin today?
I think the challenge for all of the
liberal arts colleges is how to make
sure we stay relevant in a rapidly
changing world. Look, Bowdoin is
in a fortunate place: large endowment, beautiful facilities, phenomenal students, incredibly talented
and engaged faculty, but the worlds
changing rapidly on us, and the
question is how do we continue to
make sure that the education were
giving you is going to prepare you to
be as successful in the world (however you define that) as my generation was.

What is the one thing you think every


Bowdoin student should do before
they graduate?
Make great friends. My Bowdoin
friends remain some of my closest
friends in the world.

TESSA EPSTEIN , THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

GEORGE MITCHELL 54

WHY WE ARE HERE: At its core a liberal arts education is about understanding, said
President Rose in his inaugural address on Saturday.

ROSE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
of different backgrounds transition to
Bowdoin.
De La Rosa has already been pleasantly surprised with Roses tone these past
few months.
He was definitely part of the norm of
previous presidents. Besides the fact that
he was a white male, he was also largely
from that corporate side, De La Rosa
said. But these few months [through
his attendance at lectures, his emails, his
first address to the College about race,
his welcoming of social justice events on
campus] have...for me personally, really
said...that he is well aware of everything
that affects students in our contemporary
society.
The Inauguration Ceremony was preceded by an Inaugural Procession across
the Quad featuring delegates from a
plethora of other institutions of higher
education. The ceremony concluded
when Mills handed the keys to the College over to Rose.
Its interesting that Bowdoin is this
unifying concept that everyone can
get behind even though the school has
changed drastically, said Emma Maggie
Solberg, assistant professor of English.
Solberg was impressed by not only the
stateliness of the ceremony, but also the
collective praise of the liberal arts, especially considering she does not have a
liberal arts background.

Im still shocked by the liberal arts. Its


such an amazingly different pedagogical
system from anything Ive ever come up
against before, she said. So it was very
interesting for me to see the alumni coming back and pay their respects to Bowdoin because they love Bowdoin...Im
just so curious about that kind of love felt
by an alum for Bowdoin decades later.
Chuck Dinsmore 69 was one of these
alumni who returned for Inauguration.
Every person on the dais was a spectacular representation of a liberal arts
education. Each bringing their own personal experiences to the floor...examining the past, enjoying the present, looking to the future, welcoming Clayton
Rose is just a very Bowdoin experience,
said Dinsmore. [These are] things that
those of us who went to college here have
come to appreciate more each year following our graduation.
Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster
echoed Dinsmores phrasing, calling the
events part of a great Bowdoin weekend.
[It was a great celebration] to see so
many people come back, to see such energyto have Clayton welcomed in that
way, Foster said. To see three of our
presidents together was powerful. Its
really quite remarkable to think its only
happened 15 times in the history of the
College.
James Callahan, Matt Shen, Lucy
Ryan, Max Larson, Gideon Moore, Harry
DiPrinzio, Calder McHugh, and Matthew
Gutschenritter, contributed to this report.

RUTHIE DAVIS 84
Whats the most valuable lesson you
learned at Bowdoin?
To follow your passion, to try different things, and really figure out what
youre passionate about. By the time
you graduate youre pretty clear on the
areas that are your favorite, because
youve sampled many things.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Bowdoin today?
I feel like Bowdoin is doing great,
and I feel like I just want to make sure
that it continues its unique flavor that
is very down-to-earth. The people
here, as much as theyre really talented,
smart, its getting harder and harder to
get into, Id like to think that they stay
well-rounded, nice people, down-toearth people, not elitist, just cool, you
know?

What is the one thing you think every


Bowdoin student should do before they
graduate?
Ive definitely gone across the campus in boxer shorts many timesthat
would be a fun thing to do. Thats kind
of like a joke answer, but I would always
encourage people to, in your college career at some point, do something that
no ones ever done before. Whatever it
is. It could be in any areado something that no ones ever done before.

Whats the most valuable lesson you


learned at Bowdoin?
I think here I felt part of a community, and for the first time in my life,
had faint stirrings of self-esteem and
confidence in my ability to deal with
people and issues. So for me, the small
size, the warmth of the atmosphere, the
welcoming attitude were the most important things.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Bowdoin today?
I think its a challenge that faces not
only Bowdoin, but every institution of
higher learning, indeed, educational facility. Its that the rapid change through
which the world is going, what we call
the information or technological communications transformation, will, I
think, be seen by future historians as
impactful on human history as was the
industrial revolution. And keeping pace
with that, making sense of the tremendously difficult issues confronting our
country and the world, preparing people to be able to deal with those challenges, which cant be foreseen.

What is the one thing you think every


Bowdoin student should do before they
graduate?
Oh gosh, I graduated so long ago
that I cant remember. I guess my answer would be to make sure you do
graduate. That you study hard enough
and get the grades so that you actually
do make it out the door.

KEN CHENNAULT 73
Whats the most valuable lesson you
learned at Bowdoin?
To be intellectually curious and to
make a difference in the community.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Bowdoin today?
I think the biggest challenge facing Bowdoin is [that] you have this
great liberal arts college, and the
world is transforming at an incredible pace, and how does Bowdoin
figure out its role in a fast changing
world?

What is the one thing you think every


Bowdoin student should do before they
graduate?
Try to meet five people that they
have no relationship with, and in
their last year, really try to develop
a relationship, because one of the
things that I find is that even at a
place like Bowdoin and in any community you can be too insular and
its always good to get out of your
comfort zone.
Compiled by Nicole Wetsman and
Matthew Gutschenritter.
Photos courtesy of Bowdoin Communications

friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

news

Health insurance now covers


gender confirmation surgery
STAFF WRITER

As of August 15, Bowdoin health


insurance now covers gender confirmation surgery and services, which
cost up to $25,000. The College also
provides coverage for hormones for
transgender students.
Bowdoins health insurance policies are regularly updated by a student
health insurance benefits committee.
It was this groups unanimous decision that Bowdoin should join other
peer colleges and universities in providing this coverage, said Student
Health Insurance Coordinator Cathy
Hayes in an email to the Orient.
It has become more common for
colleges and universities to offer services for transgender students.
Within the NESCAC, Amherst,
Connecticut College, Trinity and
Tufts cover hormones and gender
confirmation surgeries as part of their
student health insurance packages.
According to Hayes, students
had expressed a desire for insurance for transgender students to the
Deans Office, Counseling Services
and the Resource Center for Sexual

FEE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
being embedded in people and financial
aid, its a real challenge to figure out, said
President Clayton Rose. Its very hard to
dramatically impact the increase in cost
or the absolute cost by fiddling around
with [the other] 15 percent.
Determining the comprehensive fee
As with most colleges, Bowdoins endowment subsidizes every student to an
extent. For the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the
Colleges budget worked out to about
$81,000 per student, or about $20,000
more than what students without financial aid paid.
Schools have some discretion in choosing how much they ask students to pay
because of this subsidy from their endowment. Some schools charge one fee for
all of their students. Bates, for example,
simply charges one fee of $62,540, without
publicizing the individual costs for things
such as room and board. Bowdoin, on
the other hand, does not have an official
comprehensive fee. Instead, the figure can
be disaggregated into several individual
costs: tuition ($47,744), fees ($468), room
($6,142) and board ($7,000).
Despite this, Bowdoin does pay significant attention to the total comprehensive fee.
The discussion of the comprehensive
fee is very sensitive. We take it really seriously, said Senior Vice President for
Finance and Administration & Treasurer Katy Longley. We spend a lot of time
on trying to strike that balance between
whats the right amount to charge and
whats affordable.
Over the past 20 years, the fee has
increased by an average of about 4.3
percent annually; for the past five years,
the College has held that figure steady at
three percent. This is a slower rate than
the growth of the Colleges overall budget and the financial aid budget (which
grew four percent and six percent from
FY 2015 to FY 2016, respectively).
The result is that the proportion of the
budget covered by endowment returns
is increasing slightly. With the endowment returning 14 percent this year, this

and Gender Diversity. This student


interest combined with the precedents established at other NESCAC
schools made it apparent that there
needed to be a change in the health
insurance policy regarding transgender student needs.
Director of the Resource Center
for Sexual and Gender Diversity
Kate Stern sees many benefits of
this policy change, even for students
who will never take advantage of it.
Its a really wonderful supportive
option that the College is including
in our health insurance, but its by no
means something that all trans students will take advantage of, Stern
said. Even for trans* students that
wont take advantage of it, its quite the
show of support that they have that
choice.
Stern believes transgender students are not the only ones who benefit from this change.
One thing Ive learned about our
queer community is that they are
quite the trans* allies and advocates,
Stern said. When the College does
things that support our trans* students, it means a lot to our queer students in pretty powerful ways.
appears to be a viable strategy, but the
long-term implications are less clear.
Longley emphasized that the College
works year-by-year to determine the fee.
Theres no ten-year plan of what the
comprehensive fee should be. There are
certain assumptions in the budget, and
well model those out, but theres no
magic number, said Longley.
The process of choosing how much
to charge is, in part, an evaluation of
the Colleges costs and families ability
to pay; however, peer schools also play
a key role. Antitrust law prevents colleges from communicating about their
current fees or salaries, but comparisons
from past years are a factor in determining the comprehensive fee.
We do look at what other colleges
have chargednot that it necessarily influences us, but we are mindful of what
others are doing, said Longley.
In a group that the College uses to
evaluate its fees including the rest of
the NESCAC (except for Tufts) and
other peer schools such as Oberlin and
Swarthmore, Bowdoins comprehensive
fee ranked third-lowest of 19 for FY
2015-2016. Its percentage increase for
the same year tied for fourth.
Whats more, Bowdoins comprehensive fee is growing comparatively cheaper: in FY 2011-2012 it ranked eighth,
while the percentage increase ranked
second.
Comprehensive fee as a symbol
Of course, with financial aid, Bowdoin
students pay a wide variety of amounts
to attend. Financial aid expansion has
been a top priority at Bowdoin in recent
years. In 2008, Bowdoin announced
the elimination of all student loans, replacing them with grants. Today, about
46 percent of Bowdoins endowment is
dedicated to financial aid. With financial
aid spending increasing at a faster rate
than the ever-rising comprehensive fee,
Bowdoin is prioritizing accessibility to
all students.
In spite of affordability in practice, a
continually increasing comprehensive
fee can be an intimidating message. It is
difficult to quantify how many students
are discouraged by the sticker price, but
without a clear understanding of Bowdoins financial aid, some prospective

TESSA EPSTEIN , THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

GOLD MEDAL: Associate Dean of Students for Diversity and Inclusion Leana Amaez (left) and Associate Professor of Africana
Studies and History Brian Purnell (right) share a laugh while participating in How(w)ell Do You Know Me last night. They came in
first place.

200%

PERCENT CHANGE FOR KEY FIGURES FROM 2001-2014

150%
PERCENT CHANGE

BY DAKOTA GRIFFIN

100%

50%

0%

Comprehensive
fee

Operating
expenses per
student

Total aid
per student

This graph shows the amount that three financial figures have grown from 2001 to 2014: Bowdoins comprehensive fee (the fee charged to
students without financial aid), the Colleges operating budget, and the size of the Colleges financial aid budget. This time period reflects a
growth in the comprehensive fee that the College has taken steps to shrink; recently, the budgets growth has outpaced the comprehensive
fees. Financial aid remains the area with the highest growth.
students are likely turned off from the
idea of attending Bowdoin.
We know from our experience that
we are meeting a significant number of
students who are worried about the cost,
said Dean of Admissions and Financial
Aid Scott Meiklejohn. When you can
actually meet with those people and
speak with them, you can accomplish
something and tell them about Bowdoin
financial aid. If they never get as far as
meeting us or asking the questions, you
dont have that same opportunity.
As a result, promoting the idea that
Bowdoin is affordable and need-blind
has been a major goal for the Admissions office.
I dont see difficulty in Bowdoin affording the financial aid expense for the
students enrolled, said Meiklejohn. I
think the bigger challenge is communicating the strength of financial aid pro-

gram to students and parents who may


be considering.
Financial Sustainability
Making Bowdoin affordable has continued to be an important issue in face of
rising costs.
I think the big thing right now for us
to think about is how we slow the rate
of growth [of the comprehensive fee],
said Rose. People need raises every year,
healthcare costs are going up every year,
we need to be sensitive to the needs of
our staff and our faculty. But what can we
do to slow the rate of growth down?
With 85 percent of the budget devoted to financial aid and faculty payroll,
the short-term options are limited. This
year the budget for financial aid will be
around $34.4 million, about six percent
up from last year, according to the Col-

leges operating budget for FY 2015-2016.


Approximately 44.5 percent of the
student body is on financial aid, which
is funded by the endowment fund and
alumni giving. The College draws a significant amount from the endowment for
financial aid every year, and financial aid
tops the list of categories of alumni gifts.
With all these various factors coming
into play, it is uncertain how much the
comprehensive fee will increase in the
future.
Were going to be really digging into
this in the months and years ahead here,
said Rose. Its a really important issue.
A middle class family that is doing just
finetwo parents that are working good
jobs, if theyve got one child or two children in collegethose tuition bills, that
becomes untenable, even at a very good
middle class living. So thats an interesting social question.

friday, october 23, 2015

FEATURES

the bowdoin orient

Presidents annual
science symposium to
promote student work
BY MARTIN SHOTT
ORIENT STAFF

JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

GIRLS WHO CODE: Cory Alini 18, a member of Bowdoin Women in Computer Science (BWICS) codes in Searles Science Building.

Women in computer science take Texas


BY NICOLE VON WILCZUR
STAFF WRITER

Last week, ten members of Bowdoin Women in Computer Science


(BWICS) participated in the worlds
largest gathering of women technologists at the Grace Hooper Celebration
in Houston, Texas. Twelve thousand
attendees took part in three days
filled with tech talks, workshops,
networking events and career fairs
while surrounded by some of the best
minds in computing.
All student attendees were given
the opportunity to participate in
many of the undergraduate geared
activities throughout the conference. Spaces like the Student Opportunity Lab gave groups of people
time to talk to mentors about topics
such as applying to graduate school,
succeeding in tech-interviews, or
navigating the technology internship scene.
Other spaces gave students oneon-one face time with recruiters
from all over the country who were
looking to give on-the-spot interviews to female students and future
leaders in the tech industry.
Computer Science major and
Bowdoin Women in Computer Sci-

ence leader Bella Tumaneng 17 was


one of the ten female students who
attended the conference this year.
She said that the conference provided not only opportunities to look
for internships, but also to learn
from other women in the field.
I found it very empowering to be
around such a large number of people with whom I had something very
important in common with, she
said. Speakers were sharing their
experiences and talking about things
they do at work and in school.
Tumaneng said that she found
strong support from other participants in workshops.
Tumaneng believes that the lack
of female support networks is the
number one reason people are dropping out of technology fields.
Senior Computer Science major
and BWICS member Gina Stalica 16
said she struggled in her early days
of taking Computer Science classes.
There was a period of time where
I was really intimidated by it. I was
intimidated to ask guys in my class
for help, she said.
Because of the daunting gender
disparity in technology, BWICS
aims to build on campus networks
of encouragement.

As an upperclassman student I
look up to seniors for advice and
support, but I also try to support
sophomores and freshman, Tumaneng said.
The group hosts study sessions
and workshops for its members
throughout the year, and they encourage women outside the club
who show an interest in tech to explore taking classes.
According to Tumaneng, lack of
early tech exposure also contributes
to the gender gap. One of the new
aims of BWICS this year is also to
broaden the scope of their support
networks to the greater Brunswick
community by bringing tech exposure to younger girls in middle
school and high school.
Tumaneng believes that women
in the field need the simple reassurance that what you want to do
is perfectly valid and as a result,
BWICS overarching objective is to
show you that you can actually do all
of it.
As the field of technology continues to augment its level of female
representation, the prominence of
BWICS on campus is as necessary as
ever to empower women through its
many outlets of support.

When your heroes arent human


BY BEN YORK

AN AUTISTICS
GUIDE TO AUTISM

It is a common trope in science fiction to make alien or robotic characters unable to understand or use the
nuances of verbal communication.
Often portrayed as either emotionless or infrequent in their emotional
displays, they stumble through social interaction, misunderstanding
the use of sarcasm and humor constantly. At times they provide comic
relief: the perfect companion straight
man-woman-alien-robot-thing
to
any character. At other times they are
moral centers, certain and unfettered

by emotion in their beliefs of right


and wrong and of the common good.
Spock and Data, the Vulcan and android of Star Trek fame, immediately
come to mind as prime examples of
such characters.
As a child, I loved them. Their
logical thinking and scientific minds
helped to inspire my own love of the
sciences, and their unwavering certainty in doing what was rightno
matter the personal costinspired the
strict morality that I still adhere to.
They were my role models, my heroes,
and not just because I thought their
uniforms were super cool.
As a young autistic child, these
characters were also often the only

people I could relate to. Like many


autistic individualsand like my
idolsI had difficulty understanding
and making sense of the nuances of
social interaction. What was and was
not appropriate to say and do in different social situations was challenging, and often impossible, for me to
grasp. Sarcasm and innuendo were
my nemeses, my ability to communicate limited to the most literal of
speech. During a time in my life when
the world around me was confusing,
these paragons of reason were people
I could understand. But, like any other
form of hero worship, this conception

Please see HEROES, page 7

Science students will bring their


hard work out of the lab and into
the public eye this Friday afternoon,
filling Morrell Gymnasium with
presentations depicting their science research.
This event is part of the Presidents Science Symposium, an annual celebration of the research
conducted on and off campus by
Bowdoin students.
Three students are selected by the
faculty to present their work at the
symposium in front of their peers,
and an outside keynote speaker is
invited to share their work and note
how it applies in life.
Lecturer in Chemistry Michael
Danahy has helped coordinate the
event for the past several years.
The symposium is really meant
to highlight the research thats happening on campus, said Danahy.
Theres always posters in Druck
and in Searles about stuff that goes
on here, but there isnt always a time
to see in one place and at one time
everything thats going on around
campus.
This years keynote speaker is
Professor Chad Mirkin, director
of the International Institute for
Nanotechnology at Northwestern
University. Mirkins talk is titled
Nanotechnology: A Small World
with Big Potential. The speech aims
to address the various biological,
chemical and medical applications
of nanotechnology and how they relate to the outside world.
After Mirkins talk, the facultynominated speakers will present their
research. This years student speakers
are Julia Maine 16 of the Earth and
Oceanographic Science Department,
Cody Woods 16 of the Biology Department and James Sullivan 16 of
the Chemistry Department.
They are nominated by their departments as students who are doing
good research, and also being able to
convey that research to others, said
Danahy.
Maine is excited to present.Its a
really fun challenge to make things

that are pretty complicated more


understandable to people, she said.
Hopefully I achieved that. I really
hate jargony talks where only experts can understand them. Thats
the wrong way to do things.
Maines research at the Bigelow
Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in
East Boothbay focused on the effects
of ocean acidification on a type of
phytoplankton, Emiliania huxleyi,
and how these effects could influence the broader ocean ecosystem.
Basically, what I want to do
with my life is help fishermen and
the fishing industry in the Gulf of
Maine respond and adapt to climate
change. Im really interested in how
the biology of the Gulf of Maine will
respond, said Maine.
Maines research is just one example of the roughly 200 student research projects conducted each year
at Bowdoin across nearly every department. In addition to preparing
students for graduate school and beyond, this research can supplement
class work and lectures to give students a more complete perspective
on science.
You really get to see what science
is like when you actually do it, said
Danahy.
You go off read the literature,
find a way to do it, and it ends up
working. Youve solved a problem
that maybe no one else has ever
done before. Thats something thats
kind of cool at a place like Bowdoin
where its undergraduates who are
running all the labs here.
Student research at small liberal
arts schools like Bowdoin is becoming increasingly popular among
incoming students. The beauty of
research at Bowdoin, according to
Danahy, is the independence thats
associated with small, undergraduate-only labs.
I know from my own experience
that when you go to graduate school,
coming out of a place like Bowdoin,
youve got a leg up on a lot of students who might not have the independence of thought that you have,
because youre the one whos driving
that research project forward, he
said.

features

the bowdoin orient

friday, october 23, 2015

On battling disillusionment
KATHERINE CHURCHILL

KATHERINE GIVES ADVICE

Hello precious readers! Last week, I


received this question (one of 112, in
fact) in my google form:

Dear Katherine,
I am very over college. Tips for drinking the
Kool-Aid once again?
Sincerely,
SWUW (Senior Washed Up Woman) in
Searles
Dear SWUW in Searles,
Collegiate disillusionment is a burden that affects all of us at one point
or another. Well actually, I have no
idea whether it affects all of us. Who
knows what you guys do. But it has
certainly affected me.
My own disenchantment struck
junior fall. Woe is me! I thought,
I am so disillusioned. I spent four
months holed up in Chambo, writing about myself on the Internet and
getting Snapea Crisp dust on my
sheets. I began to identify with vitriolic Huffington Post commenters
and trolls who hide under bridges
and attack goats.
When Chambo felt claustrophobic (which is to say, almost always), I
would escape to Portland to sit in coffee shops. There, I would eavesdrop
on presumably equally disillusioned
middle-aged people as they talked to
friends or random passers-by about
their STDs. I had become a little feral.
I was having A Hard Time.
Disillusionment can be paralyzing. And while I may belittle my
own angst, it was a symptom of
real anxiety produced by a series of
personal heartbreaks. All this goes
to say that I understand long-term
disengagement to be a poor attempt
at self-carethat by not investing
yourself in anything, you are somehow being self-protective.Turns out,
this is stupid.
Often when I think about self-care,

I think of it as an excuse to watch


five consecutive episodes of Sex in
the City with my housemates while
eating several pounds of Sour Patch
Kids from the deli down the street.
Shockingly, that is actually not what
self-care is. Self-care is identifying
better ways to live in order to be
healthier and happierand sometimes, unfortunately, means discipline instead of indulgence.
If you are disillusioned, self-care is
probably not marathons of 90s TV
in your bed. Here are my two suggestions to you:
1. Stop referring to enjoying college as drinking the Kool-Aid.
Thats like, maybe an exaggeration.
Also, we dont even have Kool-Aid
in the dining hall. Also, I wish we
did, because Kool-Aid is fucking delicious.
2. Get dressed. But I am dressed!
you may say, as you look down at the
sweatpants that you dont even like,
which you have been wearing for
three days. To which I respond: that
is not dressed.
Get dressed with intention. Dont
just wear the sweater you slept in
last night. Stop bending down to
grab those stained cords off the
floor. When you make meaningful
choices about the clothes you make
at the beginning of the day, youre
setting yourself up for a day rooted
in other meaningful choices (which
is to say, un-disillusionment).

DIANA FURUKAWA

Wear clothes that allow you to


engage with other people. For example, for me this year, that meant
overcoming my oppressive laziness
to wear a toga to Epicuria so that
I could partake in the ritual togamaking process.
Wear clothes that make you feel
fucking fabulous. Choose to be visible because you deserve to be visible.* If you dont own clothes like
that, go get some from Freeport or
the Internet or Salvo or your best
friends closet or sew/knit/crochet
them with your own hands.
Wear a Big bird suit around campus, sport Google Glass at graduation, dye your hair chartreuse. Getting dressed means different things
for everyonea favorite pair of running shorts, the sunglasses that you
found abroad, a suit for your Deloitte
interview**, your hoverboard, because who cares what the haters say
on Yik Yak. Live your weird little
truth. But do it with intention, without laziness, with care.
Also, please submit a comment
card about the Kool-Aid.
Out,
Katherine
*this line may or may not have
been plagiarized from a fortune
cookie.
**which you will inevitably wear
for much longer than necessary.

DIANA FURUKAWA

HEROES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
had consequences.
Characters like Spock and Data are
portrayed the way they are because they
are based on a fundamental assumption
throughout science fiction, an unspoken
truth that permeates our society and our
concept of ourselves: that to be emotionless is to be inhuman, alien, other. As an
autistic person, I do not experience emotion in the same way other people do,
and so to others I can seem at times emotionless. So when looking on these inhuman characters, who were more like me
than my parents or teachers or friends, I
too felt inhuman.
When aliens and robots are more like
you than your family is, you start to question some things. In my childlike innocence, I did just that. Why is my family
so different from me? Why am I so different from everyone I know? Do I really
belong? Am I even human?
I would continue to doubt myself well
into adolescence, and it would not be until
years later that I put my questions to rest,

and accepted that even though I was different, that did not mean I did not belong.
A big part of this acceptance came
from meeting other autistic people.
Many autistic people say that growing up,
they felt as though they were from a different world, and had been born on the
wrong planet. However, knowing that
we are not alone in our experiences of
the world has led an entire community of
autistic people to spring up, both online
and in real life. This sense of belonging
was something that I experienced far too
late, and so I try to share it with as many
young autistic children as I can. What I
now wish I had had, in retrospect, was
a role model who was also autistic. Not
a character that was like someone with
autism, but someone that was openly
autistic, who lived the life of an autistic
person, who struggled with the same
things I struggled with, but who could
overcome their difficulties. While I still
love my childhood android and Vulcan
(I cried when Leonard Nimoy passed
away) and still enjoy our similarities, I
try to remember that they are characters
written to convey a story, and not real
people living their lives one day at a time.

Kloberdan pays tribute to grandfather with camera repair shop


ELLICE LUEDERS

ABOUT TOWN

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELLE LUEDERS

CAMERA MAN: David Kloberdans began to repair cameras as a hobby to relieve stress from work
after his daughter passed away. He owns Sheps Camera Repairs in Woolwich, ME.

David Kloberdans runs his camera


repair business out of his home. Sandwiched between a store filled with
found items called Eds Stuff and a
residential area, 16 Hall Road looks
like any other house, large and painted white. What lies inside, a collected
life, is far from ordinary.
A little more than 30 years ago,
Kloberdans settled here with his wife,
a Bath native, after their daughter
passed away in his native Colorado.
It was really, really hard for my
wife to stay [in Colorado], so she
wanted to go back home.
A former undercover police officer,
Kloberdans began repairing cameras
after a doctor recommended he take
up a hobby to relieve stress from work.
The trade came naturally to him.
As a child, he spent afternoons after
school with his grandfather, a clockmaker named Shep (the namesake
of his shop), who let him fiddle with

the extra clocks he had lying around.


Kloberdans finds the inside of a camera to be similar.
See, a clock, that clock up there,
times out the hands on it, and the
chimes, thats what it times out, he explained. A camera times out shutter
speeds... but its still the mechanism.
I first met Kloberdans as the tough
and consummately competent camera repairman. My photography professor, Mike Kolster, recommended
him when I needed to replace a small
and relatively obscure piece of my
camera.
When I knocked on Kloberdans
door, I had low expectations. He introduced me to his garage, and I left
with not only the piece I was missing,
but also a filter that he found and fitted to my lens free of charge.
I opened up a shop. I started going around to different camera shops,
telling them who I was, and what I
did, gave them my card. That stuff
just started trickling in, he said of
his large collection of camera parts.
After a while, you just collect them.
His camera parts collection domi-

nates his garage, though he manages


to store other eclectic objects there
as well. The collections companions
include a Seth Thomas banjo clock,
some motorcycles (his Harley has
an engine designed by Ferrari), two
retro slot machines that entertain his
grandchildren, and stacks of bagged
wood pellets that fuel the wood burning stove in his basement. The clutter
floods into a workshop and his living
room, mingling with his living space.
This stuff is valuable, he says.
Over the years, Kloberdans has
developed a large network of friends
through his business. More than
two decades ago, he fixed the camera of Claude Montgomery, a local
artist known for his landscapes and
presidential portraits. As a favor,
Montgomery offered to commission a nude portrait of Kloberdans
wife at a wholesale price of $4,000.
The couple politely declined. Today,
both Montgomery and Kloberdans
wife are deceased.
Once theyre gone, you realize
what you shouldve done, Kloberdans said.

friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

features

JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

DRESSED TO THE NINES: Assistant Dean of Upperclass Students Brandon Royce Diop (left), Evan Montilla 16 (top), and Paige Gill 19 (bottom)
star in the Career Planning Centers Dos and Donts Fashion Show on Thursday night. Montilla, sporting a suit and dress shoes and Gill wearing
a dress and low heels demonstrate fashion dos. Diop, with his too-short tie and untucked shirt display a fashion dont. The annual event aims
to educate students on appropriate (and inappropriate) attire for job interviews and professional settings. This years show, produced by Arianna
Cameron 16 and Haleigh Collins 17 featured students of all class years modeling sartorial dos and College faculty and staff wearing donts. The
show was kicked off with a performance by student band The Circus and concluded with a raffle for gift cards to local clothing retailers.
JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

Searching for home: Tonckens finds community on campus

FINDING A HOME: Nick Tonckens 16 was born in France but has also lived in England, Connecticut and now Maine.
BY CHAMBLEE SHUFFLEBARGER
CONTRIBUTOR

Four years. Nearly all of us have


four years to construct a major, an
identity and a home in this little
academic bubble in the middle of
Brunswick, Maine. Nick Tonckens
16 is master of sessions in the Peucinian Society (the person who organizes the debates). He is also the
editor in chief of the Globalist, a position very grounded in his life experience in different countries. Furthermore, Nick is a self-proclaimed

policy dork (Frankly, Im a nerd


and I love big picture policy issues
and I always have, he said). But in
all of these activities, Nick has, over
his four years here, created an identity and a place for himself in the
Bowdoin community.
For people who have grown up in
one place, four years is a short period
of time to create a sense of belonging and an entire community to always have. Nick never had any sort of
standardized or consistent definition
of home and therefore never had too
strong of an attachment to one place.

JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

People always ask, Oh, where


are you from? Its a standard get-toknow-you question. So I have this
set of rote answers; Im from Maine
but also kind of from France, Nick
said. The long answer is that I was
born in France, lived in England,
then Connecticut and now sort of
Maine, sort of France. But, Im also
a Dutch-American dual citizen.
Those are the facts of it.
Going to college, in a way, acts
like changing the place of home. The
entirety of your life, short of family and high school friends, are in a

completely different place. No matter the distance, the distinction between the childhood home and the
college home and any future hopes
or aspirations towards a different
place tend to muddle any clear cut
definition of home.
Home is where family and social
life and your personal investments
all align. I dont see that ever happening in one place. Home is where
your friends, your social connections and your personal destiny all
intertwine, Nick said.
I dont think that there will ever
be one place that accomplishes all
three of those things for me. Just
because I hope to have a career that
takes me to all sorts of different
places. And Ill have friends scattered across all sorts of places, as I
always have.
So what is life like in a world
where we have more than one place
we could call home?
Nick has experienced that since
he has lived not only in different
places, but different countries. One
time in particular is when he moved
to America as a kid.
I didnt feel American for a long
time. It took me a long time to really accept the fact that Ive been
primarily shaped by this country,
Nick said.
I felt fundamentally like I did not
have roots in this place. But I also
couldnt say that I was English. I
wasnt really Dutch either. I wasnt
French. It made me feel a little bit
like I had been robbed. I had roots.
They were all just shallow.
Is that the road each Bowdoin student is heading on? Or each person
that moves away for college and then

into their adult life? In a world that


is increasingly small with the easy
use of transportation and global
communication, are we all set on
a track of shallower and shallower
roots?
For Nick, at least, that may be the
case. Its doubtful that I would stay
in one city for the rest of my life. I
just simply dont see that happening.
I have led a life that is too open to
ever see myself being comfortable
just living in one place. I would go
absolutely nuts.
I think more of the population
in the 21st century is going to be
like me, people with shallow roots.
I think traditional ways of life and
identifying to your community are
going to be gradually stripped away.
Yet in the wake of Homecoming
Weekend, is there still a sense of attachment after we finally move the
tassel across our graduation caps? So
many graduates came back this year,
be it people from the Class of 2015
or people from the Class of 1959.
Perhaps Bowdoin, in its tiny, closeknit hamlet, has done the impossible
in the age of transience and created
a community with a sense of home
that has a little more permanence.
When everyones at Bowdoin and
has been there from their first year
all the way through, everyone has
an equal claim to being from Bowdoin to a certain extent, in that we
all have an equal stake in this place,
said Nick.
No one is more Bowdoin than
anyone else. Theres kind of an
equality there that I really love. Because were all at Bowdoin and were
all equally from Bowdoin and thats
really affirming to me.

friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Earth matters: Art Museum exhibits African art in new collection

JENNY IBSEN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

MATERIAL EARTH: The


Bowdoin College Museum of Arts new
exhibit on loan from the Smithsonian
examines Earth both as a medium for
creating art and the theme for asking
difficult questions of political geography
and climate change.

BY SARAH BONANNO
ORIENT STAFF

At the Bowdoin College Museum


of Art, a video plays on a loop of
South African artist Berni Searles
bare feet walking across surf, stone
and salt in the Canary Islands. At
the end of the film, we see the artist meld into the Earth itself. The
video serves as the opening to the
Museums new exhibit, Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor
in the Arts of Africa, and shows
how humans use feet to connect and
form a relationship to the Earth.
Last week, the Museum welcomed
both its and the state of Maines
first major collection of African art,
which explores the Earth as a connective thread between the medium
of artwork and important themes
of political geography and climate
change in contemporary and traditional African art.
The exhibit is on loan from the
National Museum of African Art
at the Smithsonian in Washington,
D.C. The collections curator, Karen
Milbourne, started to assemble the
collection in 2009 when she began
to ask questions about how contemporary artists approach issues of climate change and politics using new
mediums. Rather than commissioning artwork for the collection, Milbourne used both the Smithsonians

permanent collection of African


art and reached out contemporary
artists. She explained her role as
gathering different viewpoints from
African artists to answer universal
questions about belonging to the
Earth.
The collection represents 17 different countries across the African
continent and houses about 50 pieces of varying, multimedia artwork.
Since the collections inception, it
has been on display at the National
Museum of African Art in 2013 and
the Fowler Museum at the University of California Los Angeles in 2014.
The work in the exhibit dates to
circa 1800 in conjunction with the
first Europeans entering central Africa in search of natural resources
to fuel the industrial revolution,
Thomas Jefferson and the British
House of Lords abolishing international slave trade and increased personal travel.
All those things are happening at
this time period, and it changed how
people saw here and there, mine and
yours, and the ancestorsyou see it
in the arts, Milbourne said.
To help realize the exhibits complicated themes, Milbourne divided
the exhibit into five distinct sections: the Material Earth, the Power
of the Earth, Imagining the Underground, Strategies of the Surface and
Art as Environmental Action.

In the Material Earth and the


Power of the Earth, the artists use
earth as their medium to question
notions of identity and define not
only what Earth means, but how
people choose to connect to it.
Depending on who you ask
youre going to get a lot of different
answers, said Milbourne. You ask
some artists and [Earth] may be a
particular earthen material, so it really lays out what are the materials
that every one of us consider to be
the earth. Would it be mud?
The exhibit then moves to Imaging the Underground, which examines the space and location of the
Earth, the divine and political geography.
If you think about the underground, its something you can dig,
dig, dig and dig, but youre never going to get to the bottom of it, Milbourne said. Earth is something
you can feel it, you can see it, you can
touch it, but you cannot see through
it and you cannot fully understand
whats at the bottom of it, much like
the divine. Youll find that for many
cultures that the underground earth
is a way of concretely or materially
expressing the relationship things
that are bigger than ourselves.
In this section, the Museum installed a video by the South African
artist William Kentridge in the excavated, lower level of the Museum. In

the animation, a wealthy businessman presses on French press coffee


maker, which turns into a tunnel
with skulls, bones and traditional
African art objects. The mineshaft
then opens up into the floor plan of
the Brookes slave ship, which, according to Milbourne, calls in question all that has been excavated from
the African continent and global entanglement.
Thats one playful way weve tried
to literalize some of the thinking
about surface and penetrating down,
and connecting with the themes of
the exhibition, Co-Director of the
Museum Anne Collins Goodyear
said.
In the final section, Art as Environmental Action, the artists examine climate change as a contemporary issue and challenge viewers to
be mindful.
Its intended to draw attention
to the fact that artists are not decorators and artists are not passively
documenting the world around
them, but are the very individuals
whocreate works of art to draw
attention to sustainable practices,
Milbourne said.

Collins Goodyear and her husband


Co-Director Frank Goodyear both believe that the themes of the exhibit not
only appeal to the academic interests of
Bowdoin students, but also the greater
Brunswick and Maine community, given the increase of African immigrants in
Midcoast Maine over the last 20 years.
Sometimes we like to think about
Bowdoin as this small college in Maine,
but of course despite the fact that we
may occupy a relatively small piece of
territory, we know that intellectually
the shadow that this place casts is tremendous, Collins Goodyear said. We
have an opportunity with the nature
of our collections to juxtapose the historic with the contemporary and to look
across the globe at what art means today
and what it has meant historically.
According to Goodyear, the exhibit
also relates to the Museums goal of posing challenging and thought-provoking
questions.
The exhibition asks this universal
question: what is ones relationship to
the land, what are our connections to
this place, how do we feel a sense of
belonging to this place, what does it
mean when groups are either forced
and volunteer to leave one area and go
someplace else, Goodyear said. Its really the mission of this museum to pose
challenging questions and to develop
exhibition that allow artists to have a response to some of those questions.

Student grant recipients celebrate, present artwork from summer


BY SURYA MILNER
STAFF WRITER

McKee Photography and Kaempfer Art Grant recipients presented


their summer projects at the visual art departments first annual
PechaKucha night, an event designed for the artists to display their
work to the Bowdoin community.
Developed in Tokyo as an avenue for
designers to meet and discuss their
work, PechaKucha nights have now
been held in over 800 cities around
the world.
The artists presentations were
constrained to 400 seconds in total-

ity, consisting of 20 slides with 20


seconds to speak about each.
Its practical and kind of pedagogical; practical in the sense that
we do have a number of them to get
through, but at the same time its a
really useful format to think about
how to talk about your work, Associate Professor of Art and Chair of
the Art Department Michael Kolster
said.
Compiled over the summer, the
projects allowed students to focus
on a subject and approach it individually. Grant recipients said that
they faced the most difficulty in just
that: working independently and

without the cushion of the Bowdoin


community.
Visual arts major Hy Khong 16,
whose photographic work explores
Asian American identity, notes that
it was this struggle that prompted
the greatest learning experience.
The biggest thing I learned was
that if I looked at something and my
initial response was that I like it, that
I should just stick with it, Khong
said. I shouldnt second-guess myself but trust that what I like is what
I like and thats a genuine depiction
of myself. And thats what I want for
my art. I want people to be able to
see it and see that this is a part of

me.
The question of identity was a
common thread throughout the
projects, prompting students to look
both internally and outwardly to explore their art.
I couldnt just take pictures of
pretty things anymore, Khong said.
I had to look at things through this
lens of what it means to me personallyhow do I represent these feelings and this confliction of an Asian
identity and an American identity,
and how do I represent that visually?
Rachel Zheng 16, a Kaempfer
Grant recipient, explored issues of

both gender and racial identity in


her installation art inspired by the
California Light and Space movement, using material and immaterial
mediums to create an almost meditative experience for the viewer.
This movement particularly was
thinking about technology and what
it could do to harm the human existence, Zheng said. These artists
are mostly white men, and being an
aspiring artist and being a woman
of color, I thought a lot about how
I could incorporate my identity into
the work and how that could relate
to a wider audience, and even if that
is possible in this minimalist mode

Please see PHOTO, page 10

10

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friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

PHOTO
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
of art making.
For others, the opportunity to
create art over the summer induced
more technical and stylistic artistic
growth. McKee Grant recipient Nevan Swanson 18 spent a portion of
his summer assisting photographer
Abelardo Morell 71 in his studio
in Paris, France before venturing to
Baja, California to complete the remainder of his project.
Centered on the idea of the familiar, Swansons work utilized both
film and digital photography to explore locations around Baja.
I have one photograph of two
people in a grocery store at 9:50 at
night and its very intimate, Swanson said. But its that intimacy that
lends to ambiguity in that it could
be anywhere. Its just a normal picturenot so much created overtly
but rather exploring the familiar.
I think I learned most importantly
about finding the fascination in the
normal moments that in one respect
could be thought of as benign but
are intrinsically powerful.
Established in 2003 in honor of
former Bowdoin photography professor John McKee, the McKee Fund
for Photography aims to augment the
photography offerings of the visual
arts department beyond the budgetary expense restrictions. The McKee
Fund awarded eight students grants
this summer, while the Kaempfer
Fund gave four. Initially endowed for
the purpose of providing art supplies
to students of demonstrated financial
need, the Kaempfer Fund was able to
support independent summer projects this year that werent necessarily
photographic.
Students submitted proposals for
their projects in April, articulating
the kinds of work and questions
they wanted to explore and how
they planned to do so. Applicants
submitted a proposal as well as examples of previous work and a faculty recommendation.
The time and space to share
and discuss one anothers work at
PechaKucha night provided a valuable outlet for the grant recipients
to formally conclude their projects,
and also served as potential fodder
for future artistic endeavors.
The opportunity to talk about it
and give it a story or narrative can
be really illuminating, not just to
anyone who might be listening to it,
but actually to the person trying to
put together the talk, Kolster said.
We start to understand and learn
more about our relationship to and
our ideas about them. And, more

PECHAKUCHA
NIGHT: On Thursday
night, McKee Photography and
Kaempfer recipients presented
thier work in a forum developed
by Japenese artists to meet
and discuss their work. (left)
Liz Snowdon 17 work explores
biological forms through collage
and pen ink. (below) Elena
Gleed 18 juxtaposes feelings of
helplessness of her family during
the Nepal earthquake and her
Bowdoin activities.
HY KHONG, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

and more ideas for further work can


be generated out of that process as
a result.
Grant recipients also enjoyed the
ability to connect with the audience
and their peers through their work.
Its important for artists to talk
about their work because it gives it
some sort of purpose, Zheng said.
Art is very personal sometimes
and if you cant relate it to issues of
identity or social, environmental or
cultural, or anything we need to talk
about as a society, there is no purpose. It creates a disconnect between
the artist and the viewer, and art is
supposed to bridge that disconnect.
Hy Khong 16 is the photo editor
for the Orient.

Guest director collaborates with students in theater dept. musical


BY OLIVIA ATWOOD
ORIENT STAFF

If you peek into a Sondheim on


Sondheim rehearsal, you will find students singing, others dancing and music
playingin other words, a typical Bowdoin evening rehearsal, but with one key
difference. The man observing, guiding
and giving pointers is not a member of
Bowdoins Department of Theater and
Dance. Instead, this show is directed by
Edward Reichert, a guest director from
the University of Southern Maine.
Reichert received his Bachelor of
Music degree from the Aaron Copland
School of Music, and his resume includes many Off Broadway plays and
musicals. He has also worked professionally at Maine State Music Theatre
and many others.

Davis Robinson, a professor of theater, was instrumental in bringing


Reichert to campus.
I have watched him work with students, and I like his rapport, said Robinson. He was very encouraging, even
in auditions, helping [students] find
notes, helping them work.
Robinson and Reichert struck up
a conversation through going to see
shows at each others schools and transformed that conversation into a working relationship.
Robinson and Reichert began planning this show last fall. The departments show, Sondheim on Sondheim,
worked on many levels.
I wasnt really interested in doing a
big, splashy, old-fashioned traditional
book musical, said Reichert. Because
[Robinson] knows Im quite a Sond-

heim fanI was a guest for when Sondheim came to Bowdoin two or three
years agohe pretty much had me
hooked. Its been a very enlightening
and positive rehearsal process so far.
The show, according to Reichert, is
great for the college campus because it
is educational.
It really tells you how Sondheim
thinks, creatively, said Reichert. Its
not just a chronological show; its really
about how you create a piece of musical
theater and why you write a song and
how it changes over time. Its thrilling to
teach [students] and expose them to so
much of this amazing history.
Coming from a background other
than Bowdoin, Reicherts directing experience has been surprising for him
at times.
Its a nice opportunity for [Reichert]

to work with students who are a little


different because theyre not musical
theater majors, so they come at it from a
slightly different perspective, said Robinson.
The students benefit from working
with someone who really knows the
musical theater world.
Its a great experience for students to
work with someone who has done tons
of musicals and whose life is musicals,
said Robinson. Hes worked with so
many people that he knows how to help
someone find their strong voice and sell
a song.
That being said, scheduling has been
one major challenge. In a typical musical theater program, rehearsals are part
of the major itself, and people often
show up for rehearsal four or five nights
a week. At Bowdoin, students go to re-

hearsals on top of their schedules.


Theres so many multi-tasking commitments, its complicated, said Robinson, A lot of these students are squeezing [the musical] in around every other
extracurricular activity.
That being said, Reichert finds the
varied interests of the students to be a
wonderful component to the show.
I love the students. Their interests
and their courses of study are so varied, it makes them more interesting
performers, said Reichert, I am so
impressed with how talented and how
bright and how smart these eleven performers are. Its one thing just to have
a fair amount of talent or ability to do
something, but when youre nice and
youre bright...it just helps everything.
Its refreshing...theyre producing a nice
environment for art.

friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

a&e

11

Hecht publishes Oppenheimer history

HY KHONG, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Set designer Bill Wiggins, who has worked on the sets
of films likeMidnight in Paris, spoke to students interested in film at MacMillan House on Monday.

The Batmobiles mechanic


talks about film industry
BY BRIDGET WENT

BY LOUISA MOORE

ORIENT STAFF

ORIENT STAFF

David Hecht, an assistant professor of


history, has connected his teaching interests and personal research in the publication of Storytelling and Science: Rewriting Oppenheimer in the Nuclear Age.
Released this past spring, his book uses
physicist Robert Oppenheimer as a way
to explore public perceptions of science,
a common theme throughout many of
his courses at Bowdoin.
Hecht discussed his book on Tuesday
during a book release event for students
and faculty.
Oppenheimer was famous during
World War II for his work on the atomic
bomb. While claims that he was a member of the Communist party affected
his position in the U.S. government, his
popular public image did not seem to be
tarnished by these allegations.
While he uses this information to
build a story on Oppenheimer, Hecht
stresses that his book is not a biography
of the physicist.
The book isnt really about him...the
book is about his cultural image, said
Hecht. Im interested in public images
of science, so the question is what can we
learn about public attitude through science by looking at the life and career of
this one guy.
Hecht has always been interested in
the physicists of the Nuclear Agehe is
currently teaching a course titled The
Nuclear Age. After accumulating general knowledge about this time period,
Hecht spent around two years researching and writing his book.
Over the course of his research, Hecht
discovered new aspects of Oppenheimer
that surprised him, particularly about his
personality.
I started out admiring him in some
way, said Hecht. I wouldnt say that Ive
gone all the way to the other side, but
you learn about the less savory aspects of
peoples careers.
These less savory aspects include
Oppenheimers arrogant and sometimes
caustic behavior towards his peers. These

VICTORIA YU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

STORY TIME: Assistant Professor David Hecht (top), Bowdoins resident historian of science,
answers questions Tuesday on his new book about the life of physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Associate Professor of History and Environmental Studies Matthew Klingle moderated the event (bottom).
traits were perhaps covered up by his
somewhat mythical public image.
Similarly, many Oppenheimer supporters say that the accusations of him
being a Communist were unfounded,
but Hechts research seems to indicate
otherwise.
During the course of the research, I
found a couple of scholars and people
at the time who were making an argument that he very well may have been [a
member of the party], said Hecht. That
is a more compelling argument than I
thought it was going to be.
This semester, Hecht has been able to
apply his book research to his Nuclear
Age class. This research allowed him to
further his understanding of some of the
nuances of Oppenheimers story.
What I would say [before writing the
book] wasnt exactly wrong, but there
are some really interesting subtleties and
connections that I can now make in class
that I wouldnt have been able to make
before, said Hecht.
Dallas Denery, chair of the history
department, finds that this combination

of teaching and research is important


for maintaining the Bowdoin history departments high standards. However, he
feels the research aspect of teaching often
goes unnoticed by students.
I think its important for the students
to see both sides of the faculty and to see
how important the research is even for
the teaching side, said Denery.
Hechts book allows students a
view into professors out-of-class
work. While Bowdoin students will
most likely not be reading Storytelling and Science in their classes,
many are still excited by Hechts
work.
When you think about [World
War II], [the atomic bomb] is one of
the more contentious topics that still
has immediate relevance to what we
are dealing with today, said Conner Lovett 19, a student in Hechts
Nuclear Age class.
Storytelling and Science: Rewriting Oppenheimer in the Nuclear
Age is on sale in the Bowdoin
Bookstore.

Behind the glitz and glamour of


the film industry, there are countless details that go into bringing
any production from page to screen.
Bill Wiggins, a set dresser who has
worked in the film and television
industry in New York since 1985,
shared his insights on what goes on
behind the scenes of these productions in MacMillan House on Monday evening.
Cinema Studies Professor Tricia
Welsch led the discussion with Wiggins, guided by a list of questions
generated by residents of the house.
The talk was sponsored by Lectures
and Concerts, the Kurtz Fund and
the Cinema Studies program.
In his 32 years of experience,
Wiggins has worked with all-star
directors and filmmakers including
Woody Allen, Spike Lee and Martin
Scorsese and has contributed to nearly every motion picture set in New
York, including Midnight in Paris,
Batman and Spider-Man 3, as well
as many major TV productions such
as 30 Rock and Gotham. He currently works on the popular TV drama The Affair, picking up various
other projects in between. In addition to spending 60 hours on set per
week, Wiggins is the owner of Black
Elk Images, in which he sells rental
images for film and television.
The job of a set dresser consists of
assembling physical components of
sets down to the smallest detail. For
a Cheerios commercial, for example,
this might entail sorting through a
box to pick out the most perfect pieces. To give the students a concrete
taste of what goes into a single day
on set, Wiggins passed around call
sheetsa piece of paper delivered to
the cast and crew the night before a
day of shooting, specifying the minute details of every scene.
I think the students were surprised to learn how many people

it takes to put together every single


shot, said Welsch.
For Wiggins, a career in the film industry was anything but preplanned.
An anthropology major, Wiggins was
partway through his dissertation on
Ottoman historiography when he decided to move back to New York to
seek work in TV production. After
placing numerous phone calls to production companies, Wiggins landed
his first job as a production assistant,
and soon after joined the union. He
built a network of contacts in the industry, and has since spent his time
lining up one gig after another.
Its like waiting for the bus. When
one bus drops you off, you wait for
the next bus, then you get on that
bus, Wiggins explained to students.
According to Wiggins, the industry is a highly collaborative endeavor.
Being cooperative and outgoing is
crucial in getting along with other
people on set.
[The film industry] attracts a very
creative, highly intelligent, very interesting bunch of people with great
stories and great backstories, he said.
In addition, the freelance nature of
this type of work requires him to be
flexible in a variety of situations.
One day youre in a roach-infested
apartment and the next day youre in
some $25 million loft in Soho, said Wiggins.
Wiggins has worked on sets ranging
from Donald Trumps apartment (which,
by the way, has a gold-plated front door)
to a cruise ship in the Caribbean, and has
been on the top of nearly every building
in New York.
To student attendees, Wiggins offered
a concrete take-away: his phone number.
Emphasizing the importance of networking, Wiggins was sincere in extending an
offer to help students aspiring to enter the
film industry.
[Wiggins] gave the inspiration
that if theres something you want to
go for, to continue to pursue it and
reach out to people because there are
people that are willing to help you,
said Katherine Gracey 16.

12

the bowdoin orient

SPORTS

FIRST IN THE NATION

The Polar Bears are the only undefeated D-III team in the country

Orthopedic Associates
provides care, rehab for
injured Bowdoin athletes
BY ANJULEE BHALLA
ORIENT STAFF

(top) Kimmy Ganong 17


surveys the field during Bowdoins 4-0 win over Husson
(6-8) this past Wednesday.
Ganong had two goals in the
second half, to put the game
out of the Eagles reach. On
Monday, Ganong was named
NESCAC Player of the Week.
(right) Meredith Tibbals 18
dribbles up the field past
defenders during Bowdoins
Wednesday night win over
Husson.

SAVANNAH SIMMONS-GROVER, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT (TOP AND BOTTOM)

Sailing motivated after busy weekend


BY COURTNEY GALLAGHER
ORIENT STAFF

Competing against top-ranked


teams in three different events at
Dartmouth, Yale and Salve Regina,
Bowdoins sailing team had a busy
and tough weekend.
At Dartmouth on Saturday, the
Bears competed in the Captain Hurst
Bowl, a co-ed interconference regatta. Julia Rew 16, Matt Lyons 17,
Jade Willey 17, Nora Cullen 18, Alex
Vasiliou 18, Jake Griffin 18, Matt
Kaplan 19, and Jack Fullerton 19
competed in the event, while alumni
coach Peter Edmunds 14 stepped
in and coached the team. The Polar
Bears were challenged by the cold and
windy conditions but were still able to
finish in 12th place out of 18 teams.
On Saturday, the temperature was
in the 50s and there was a breeze
from 5 to 15 knots. On Sunday, the
conditions worsened, with temperatures falling below freezing and snow
falling throughout the day. Despite
the conditions, Bowdoin kept focus.
There were long, oscillating
shifts, and all of our teams were
working on staying disciplined on
the starting line and staying in phase
[on the favored tack to the mark]
throughout the race, Rew said.
While not finishing in one of the
top slots, the Bears were satisfied
with their performance in such a

competitive intersectional race. The


Bears also left Dartmouth with a
better understanding of where they
stood and where they wanted to go.
There were a lot of learning opportunities sailing against such a
competitive fleet, Rew said. We
were able to really work on our
starting and making smart tactical
decisions.
The Yale Womens Trophy, also this
weekend, featured all of the top-tier
teams in the country. Representing
the Polar Bears were Erin Mullins 16
and Olivia Diserio 16 in the A Division and Mimi Paz 17, Martie Ogle
18 and Emily Salitan 16 in the B Division. Despite the wavy and windy
conditions and the high level of competition, the Bears finished strong.
Mullins and Diserio finished 8th in
their division, and in the B division,
Paz, Ogle and Salitan finished 14th.
Overall, the team placed thirteenth
out of the eighteen competing teams.
For their third event, the Polar
Bears traveled to Salve Regina in
Newport, Rhode Island, to compete
in the New England Sloop Championships in match racing. This is the
first time the Bears have qualified
for this championship since 2004.
Despite the windy conditions, which
seemed to be a consistent obstacle
throughout all three events, and stiff
competition, the Bears came out
strong and finished in fourth place.

This was the first time that we


have qualified for the Sloop New
Englands sailed at Salve, and we
ended up 4th which was an amazing
score in a highly competitive event,
Rew said.
Although Bowdoin had a rough
beginning on Saturday, where they
went 1-6 in their events, on Sunday going into the knockout round
against the top seeded team, Brown,
the Bears were able to overcome obstacles such as losing the first race
and having a crewmember fall overboard in the second. In the third
race, the Polar Bears were able to
draw a penalty against Brown in the
pre-start, and then again in the final
run, which led to Bowdoins victory
and a spot in the semifinals. Despite losing to Dartmouth 2-0 in the
semifinals and then again to Yale 2-1
in the Petit Finals, the Power Bears
nevertheless solidified their image
as a tough team to be reckoned with
among high-ranking competitors.
These regattas gave us motivation to work even harder during
practice and really push towards the
end of the season, Rew said. We
have been really focusing on the process and improving every practice,
and I think that will pay off as we
head into the championship season.
The Polar Bears are back on the
water this weekend, with races at
Harvard, MIT and Boston College.

friday, october 23, 2015

You try your best to prevent all


the injuries, thats part of our job,
said Head Athletic Trainer Dan Davies. But you can never fully, 100
percent prevent somebody from
getting injured.
When an injury does present itself, the athletes are in the hands
of the Colleges athletic training
staff. Each team has an athletic
trainer that works with their program specifically, yet with so much
risk involved, the National College
Athletic Association (NCAA) mandates that colleges must be associated with team physicians as well.
For Bowdoin, Orthopedic Associates (OA) in downtown Brunswick
provides the team doctor and additional physical therapists.
Dr. Michael Pleacher has worked
as a sports medicine physician for
10 years and has been in the Brunswick office of OA since 2011. In addition to serving as the team doctor
for the College, he also works with
the Brunswick-area high schools
and the U.S. Cross Country Ski
Team.
The overarching goal of the care
I provide for Bowdoin students is
number one, to look out for their
safety, provide them high quality
care, take care of the injury, said
Pleacher. Were here to help people
get back on the field. Sometimes
that means they need to be out for
a few weeks, but when its feasible,
when its reasonable and safe, we
try to allow the athletes to return
quickly. I think because we have
a collaborative team approach we
routinely achieve that.
In order to provide the best care
for the athletes, OA works closely
with the athletic training staff and
Health Center on campus. The
physical therapy staff at OA and the
athletic training staff at the College
meet on a weekly basis to discuss
the state of currently injured athletes and coordinate recovery plans.
Theres a lot of behind-thescenes that maybe the athletes
and students arent aware of, said
Pleacher. We are really trying to
make this a very smooth process for
the injured athletes so they can concentrate on getting better and staying up with their academics.
Each season poses new challenges
for the sports medicine staff. Due to
the competitive and physical nature
of each sport, theres no exact science to predicting and preventing
injuries.
Each sport has their own niche
of injuries but every year, thats
what I like about this job, you never
know whats going to happen, said
Davies.
However, there are some trends
due to the inherent makeup of the
sports. The repetitive overhead motion involved in volleyball, baseball,
softball, tennis and squash lead
to more upper extremity injuries,
while track or cross country athletes
see more lower extremity injuries.
You just think of the different
activities involved in each sport,

theyre going to strain different


body parts in different ways, said
Pleacher.
Injuries also vary based on timing
within the season.
In general, we see a fair number
of overuse or wear-and-tear injuries
as a particular season gets along,
said Pleacher. At the beginning
of each season we see some more
strains and sprains. People who
have just gotten off of their summer conditioning program and just
gotten into their sportthose first
couple of days are the other period
of time where we see a fair number
of injuries.
The NCAA Injury Surveillance
Program (ISP) collects data on collegiate athletics and injuries in order to facilitate better injury prevention programs nationwide. Their
data shows that football tends to
have the highest injury rate nationwide, with the highest rate during
preseason as opposed to in-season
and postseason play.
Trey Brown 16 knows his way
around knee injuries as hes torn his
right ACL twice and his left ACL
once over the course of the past four
years, while playing football both
for Bowdoin and Phillips Andover Academy. After taking a break
from play during his junior year,
he returned his senior year only to
tear his meniscus during preseason,
about two weeks before the teams
first game.
I kind of feel like the ACL guru
because I tore mine so many times,
said Brown. Ive seen plenty of patients go in and out of there with
ACL tears, and theyre always asking
me questions.
The OA office becomes its own
community through conversations
among patients and therapists.
Therapy varies depending on the
injurys severity, but usually starts
out with three sessions per week.
After spending so much time together, athletes have developed
close bonds with the therapists and
other patients.
There were a couple Bowdoin
students who would be there at the
same time every week, a couple of
people who lived in town, said
Maddie Lemal-Brown 18, a member of the womens rugby team.
Thats actually how a relationship
formed, kind of bonding over the
same injury and helping each other
through the recovery.
While injuries can be devastating
to many student athletes, for Bowdoin students, OA provides a positive aspect of a negative situation.
Its an interesting way to break
the Bowdoin bubble, said LemalBrown. Its a very regular thing
that gets you more incorporated
in Brunswick and you learn more
about people outside of your class
who arent your age and arent in
college. Ive appreciated getting out
and being away from campus just
for a couple of hours every week and
I think other people whove been
to OA can attest to that fact. Its a
small different experience that you
wouldnt have had if you werent in
that situation.

friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

13

sports

SCOREBOARD
WOMENS VOLLEYBALL
134
OCTOBER 16, 2015 AMHERST

Bowdoin
Amherst

0
0

OCTOBER 17, 2015 WILLIAMS

Bowdoin
Williams

3
2

FIELD HOCKEY
130
OCTOBER 17, 2015 VS. HAMILTON

Bowdoin
Hamilton
Rachel Kennedy
Liz Znamierowski
Liz Znamierowski
Kimmy Ganong

DAVID ANDERSON, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

COMING TO PLAY: Quarterback Noah Nelson 19 made the most of his first Bowdoin start, completing 28 of 43 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns en route to a 30-20 Homecoming victory over
Hamilton (0-4). It was Bowdoins first win of the season (1-3).

Nelson 19 leads football


to win in 1st career start
BY MADDIE JODKA
ORIENT STAFF

Noah Nelson 19 played an outstanding first college career game


during Homecoming Weekend this
Saturday, leading the team to its first
victory of the season against Hamilton (0-4). The Polar Bears won the
contest 30-20 . During this single
game, he threw four touchdowns on
28-43 passing and threw 328 yards
totalthe record high for any Bowdoin first year. This game was the
first time in Bowdoin football history that a first year quarterback has
passed the ball over a distance of 300
yards. The victory improves Bowdoins season record to 1-3.
Nelson came to Bowdoin this
fall after attending Falmouth High
School in Falmouth, Maine, where
he competed on the football team.
Nelson has been playing football
since fifth grade and has played quarterback since sixth grade. In high
school, his team progressed each season, collectively improving each year.
Since coming to Bowdoin, Nelson
has been the back-up quarterback.
The game against Hamilton was Nelsons first opportunity to step up and
demonstrate his abilities. According
to Head Coach JB Wells, Nelson exceeded expectations.
Im seeing what I saw from Noah
as a high school player, said Wells.
He plays like hes been there before,
and thats always good to have as a
young player.
Wells said that going into the game
and the season in general, everyone
had high expectations for Nelson. He
performed impressively and had a
strong preseason.
When Tim Drakeley 17 was injured during a game against Tufts,
Nelson stepped up to the position of
starting quarterback and performed
well in that capacity. During this
time, Wells noted that he was very

efficient, moved the ball and was accurate in his passing.


I felt confident out there. I felt
comfortable, said Nelson. The seniors played really well, and the offensive line played really well, so I feel like
all that working together contributed
to the good teamwork and results.
In last Saturdays game, Wells pinpoints one play in particular as a
standout, when Nelson made an impressive pass under pressure to Andrew Tichy 19.
That play right there was under
pressure; they had good defense
against it, said Wells. They had us
outnumbered, and Noah still was
able to pull it off and make a play
out of it.
While one might expect nerves to
play a factor for a first year quarterback, Nelson didnt find this game
very nerve-wracking, despite it being
the first game of his college career.
I actually didnt feel that much
pressure, Nelson said. Mostly because I felt we had nothing to lose.
Stepping in as a first year, I just
thought, Ill give it my best shot,
whatever happens, happens.
According to Wells, Nelsons stable
and controlled nature is one of his
major strength that defines him as a
player. Wells also noted Nelsons great
leadership, a quality that is crucial to
have in the position of quarterback.
His biggest attribute is that hes
calm under fire, and he exudes that
to the rest of the offense, said Wells.
After Noahs performance this
weekend, he will now start as quarterback. Looking forward, Bowdoin
will play at Trinity this weekend,
a team that has always been at the
top of the conference and is strong
defensively. Wells expects to see the
Bantams come after Nelson and to
pressure, challenge and blitz him.
Nevertheless, Nelson will focus on
maintaining the grace under pressure
that he exhibited this past weekend.

4
1
13:36
23:05
43:20
46:55

OCTOBER 18, 2015 VS. COLBY

Bowdoin
Colby
Rachel Kennedy
Rachel Kennedy
Kimmy Ganong
Kimmy Ganong
Kimmy Ganong

5
1
18:29
20:16
29:06
30:07
58:58

MENS CROSS COUNTRY

WOMENS CROSS COUNTRY

OCTOBER 17, 2015


MAINE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
ELEVEN SCHOOLS COMPETING

OCTOBER 17, 2015


MAINE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
ELEVEN SCHOOLS COMPETING

24
45
55
132
150

Colby
Bowdoin
Bates
U. of New England
Southern Maine

25:27.7
25:56.9
25:58.9
26:03.8
26:34.7

Sarah Kelley
Lucy Skinner
Ally Fulton
Meghan Bellerose
Megan Dustin

Bates
Colby
Bowdoin
Southern Maine
U. of New England
Bridger Tomlin
Nicholas Walker
Ben Torda
Calvin Henry
Alec Ferguson-Hull

3rd
10th
11th
12th
22nd

2nd
7th
10th
17th
19th

18:24.7
18:40.0
18:57.0
19:12.8
19:15.0

WOMENS SOCCER
841

MENS SOCCER
633
OCTOBER 17, 2015 VS. HAMILTON

Bowdoin
Hamilton

2
0

Andrew Jones
Nick DiStefano

37
55
55
77
151

23:51
42:30

OCTOBER 17, 2015 VS. HAMILTON

Bowdoin
Hamilton

2
1

Jamie Hofstetter
Julia Patterson

10:06
94:00

OCTOBER 20, 2015 VS. COLBY

Bowdoin
Colby

0
0
FOOTBALL
13

OCTOBER 18, 2015 ME.FARMINGTON

Bowdoin
Me.-Farmington
Maggie Godley

1
0
18:41

OCTOBER 17, 2015 VS. HAMILTON


OCTOBER 21, 2015 VS. HUSSON

Bowdoin
Husson
Rachel Kennedy
Rachel Kennedy
Kimmy Ganong
Kimmy Ganong

4
0
8:15
13:09
42:04
45:37

Bowdoin
Hamilton

30
20

Bowdoin
Colby

WOMENS RUGBY
40
OCTOBER 18, 2015 VS. COLBY

Bowdoin
Colby

OCTOBER 21, 2015 VS. COLBY

65
5

3
0

Maggie Godley
Jill Rathke
Taylor Haist

9:43
75:15
83:04

TESSA EPSTEIN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS: Juniors Erika Sklaver (left) and Quincy Leech play defense against Worcester State during the teams 3-0 win in September. The
Polar Bears are first in the NESCAC with seven games left in the season. The team will play Clark University and Roger Williams in Boston tonight.

14

the bowdoin orient

OPINION

Commit to memory

ast weekend, the Board of Trustees approved President Clayton


Roses proposal to terminate the Jefferson Davis Awardan academic honor given to a student excelling in the study of constitutional
law. In President Roses words, It is inappropriate for Bowdoin College to
bestow an annual award that continues to honor a man whose mission was to
preserve and institutionalize slavery. This change was a necessary one, perhaps even overdue. The Jefferson Davis Award had been given out annually
since 1973, and those who saw it awarded year after year may have assumed
its inevitability. In President Roses motion to discontinue the award, we
saw for the first time the benefit of bringing in a president with no previous
ties to the College. Armed with a fresh set of eyes, he saw the award as the
outdated relic that it was.
Last month, columnist Maya Reyes 16 wrote an Op-Ed for the Orient
titled Franklin Pierces legacy deserves more recognition and discussion,
in which she called on the Bowdoin community to have more conversations about the actions and products of Bowdoin that we arent so proud of.
Piercewho graduated from Bowdoin in 1824was a President guided by a
troubling ideology. He ardently enforced the Fugitive Slave Act and opposed
the abolitionist movement. Likewise, in a column this week about the Jefferson Davis Award, columnist Adira Polite 18 writes, America desperately
needs to address its dark past and present in order to achieve progress. This
is true in the context of Bowdoin as well. Both Reyes and Polite are correct:
the College must confront the parts of its history we might prefer to forget.
In 1858, Jefferson Davis was visiting southern Maine when the College
awarded him an honorary degree at commencement. He was the lone southerner at the ceremonies, and another honorary degree recipient that afternoon
was prominent Maine abolitionist William Pitt Fessenden. Every element of
the event was fraught with contention. Bowdoin appeared to feel obligated to
give an honorary degree to a man of Davis stature, but many students and local media outlets were at odds with his pro-slavery politics. And though Davis
was certainly out of place on campus, he was not without a Bowdoin connection: he had served as Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce.
These are rich histories, compelling simply as narratives, but they also
contain lessons. We arent necessarily proud of our historical associations
with these men, and their stories are all the more worth telling for that fact.
Seeing how representatives of Bowdoin have fallen on the wrong side of
moral issues in years past helps us avoid assuming our own infallibility as an
institution. Advocates for the removal of the Confederate flag at the South
Carolina State Capitol this past summer argued that the flag did not belong
at a government site but rather in a museum. It is in a similar way that Bowdoin should treat the memories of men like Davis and Pierce. They may not
deserve to be honored, but they certainly need to be remembered.
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


Dear Editor,
Regarding the September 30 opinion piece entitled Crisis Pregnancy Centers are not a Legitimate Alternative to Abortion Clinics, by Julia Mead 16.
Care Net of Mid-Coast Maine is not a clinic. Upon registration and
completing pregnancy tests, clients sign paperwork indicating that they
understand we are not a medical facility.
We address each clients unique situation with care and sensitivity. If
she chooses abortion, we offer information and post-care. If she chooses
adoption, we give referrals. If she chooses parenting, we offer classes and
material needs.
I got pregnant at 19 and had a choice to make. My mother insisted that
I choose abortion. The local pregnancy center tried to coerce me into
choosing adoption. Nobody cared about what I wanted. Years later, I decided to work with women facing unplanned pregnanciesto give them a
safe place to process their OWN feelings and decisions, without coercion
or judgment. Care Net fits that billif it didnt, I wouldnt work here.
We invite Bowdoin students to visit Care Net. Our hope is that people
on all sides of the political, religious and ideological aisles will begin to
build bridges, figure out where we DO agree and go from there.
Best wishes,
Paulla Estes
Director of Communications, Care Net of Mid-Coast Maine

WANT TO CONTRIBUTE
TO THE ORIENT?

OR

SUBMIT AN OP-ED, LETTER TO


THE EDITOR OR TALK OF THE QUAD
BECOME A REPORTER OR PHOTOGRAPHER
Email us at orient@bowdoin.edu

friday, october 23, 2015

Remembering history, adjusting values


ADIRA POLITE
ON THE EDGE
As many now know, the Board of
Trustees voted last weekend to discontinue the government and legal
studies departments Jefferson Davis
Award. As stated in an Orient article released earlier this week, the
discontinuation of the award was
prompted by newly-inaugurated
President Rose. This award, granted
annually by the government department, served to honor a student
who demonstrated proficiency in
the study of constitutional law. The
award was created in 1972, when it
was endowed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization founded by and for female
descendants of Confederate soldiers.
Not only did this organization
endow this award, but it was also
named in honor of the man who
served as the President of the Confederate States of America during the
American Civil War. Davis worked
as a cabinet member under Franklin Piercefourteenth president of
the United States, anti-abolitionist
and member of the Bowdoin Class
of 1824and received an honorary
degree from the College in 1848.
Davis connection to Bowdoin
cannot be denied but honoring this
man does more harm than good. I
found out about the discontinuation
of the award while walking back to

There is an inexhaustible disparity between discussing a


man whose actions and values do not align with the contemporary values of the College and giving out an award.
my room after lab. My otherwise
monotonous afternoon was immediately filled with emotion. As a black
student, I felt as if this administrative decision had been made in my
defense. I shared the news with my
mom, discussed it with a few friends
from home, then forgot about it for
the night.
The next day, I made the mistake
of checking Yik Yak. I read a number of comments that frustrated me,
but one stood out among the rest. I
dont dig the whitewashing of our
history, the anonymous comment
reads. We should own our relationship to the USAs darker past and use
it as a cause to reflect on our relationship to the imperfect present.
This comment is legitimate in numerous ways: America desperately
needs to address its dark past and
present in order to achieve progress. This is true in the context of
Bowdoin as well, whether it involves
something that we want to celebrate
or something thats difficult to discuss. In fact, the connections that
are difficult to face are the ones on
which we should focus. Political correctness is a hot topic today; a significant amount of friction persists
regarding where the line between

political correctness and censorship


lies. Though I am a firm believer
in safe spaces and do believe that
sensitivity to the emotions of others
is what makes Bowdoin what it is, I
also desperately want people to begin discussing the undiscussed.
However, what the writer of the Yak
failed to recognize is the grave difference between addressing the dark
past and idling in it. There is an inexhaustible disparity between discussing a man whose actions and values
do not align with the contemporary
values of the College and giving out
an award in his honor. The discontinuation of the Jefferson Davis Award
is not an affront on history nor is it
a means of sweeping Bowdoins dirty
secrets under the rug. I knew little
of this award, or the history of Davis connection to Bowdoin, before
this week. Its existence did nothing
to foster discussion; however, its removal has. How honoring a man who
once referred to enslaved Africans as
our inferior, fitted expressly for servitude could serve as anything other
than a slap in the face to students of
color is beyond me. I firmly believe
that, in discontinuing this award,
Bowdoin addressed its dark past in
the most direct way possible.

BOWDOIN STUDENT GOVERNMENT UPDATE


To the Student Body,
This year, the BSG got off to an early start by holding Class Council elections in September. The General Assembly was convened for the first time in early October. We believe this early start has given us the chance to
efficiently examine more opportunities for programming, engage in meaningful conversations, and allowed us
to participate more fully in the events that take place early in the year. We hope to remain fully involved and
look forward to committing ourselves to serving the student body. To that end, we hope to contribute regularly
to the Bowdoin Orient in an attempt to communicate our current progress and illustrate our future endeavors.
The BSG will be conducting its regular services and programs throughout this year. Among these is the running of shuttles in the surrounding area, free bowling on Thursdays, Polarflix, and Turbovote election services.
Other programs will include No Hate November, Winter Weekend, and the Spring Gala.
More importantly, we plan to produce impactful and meaningful policy proposals and submit them to the
administration. Each of the functional areas of the BSG (Academic Affairs, Facilities & Sustainability, Student
Affairs, Student Organizations and the Student Activities Funding Committee) will play a role in this process.
The members of the BSG will lobby the student body, faculty, staff and the administration to ensure the success
of these initiatives.
These projects include but are not limited to: the extension of Thanksgiving break, the return of an adequate
number of parking spaces for students on campus, the creation of a comprehensive Bowdoin app, exploring textbook options, and ensuring that our campus dedicates itself to addressing issues of diversity in significant ways.
To do all of this effectively, we will be inviting faculty, staff, and administrative officials to our meetings to discuss what must be changed. More importantly, however, we require the help and support of the student body as
we undertake to improve our Bowdoin community. The Public Comment Time during meetings of the General
Assembly has typically not been utilized in the pastwe are glad to see that is changing this year.
We encourage members of the student body to make use of Public Comment Time to voice their concerns
and to take part in policy debates. We welcome any and all critiquesto fulfill our role as representatives, it is
imperative that we thoughtfully engage with the student body. We intend to be deliberate in processing feedback. Moreover, we will work to incorporate solutions to concerns that we hear into our proceedings so that we
may better respond to the needs of the student body. As is stated in our Constitutions Preamble, The Bowdoin
Student Government exists to empower students. We believe that participation in Public Comment Time is one
way that the student body can push and challenge us to live up to and embody that mission.
Meetings of the BSG General Assembly occur every Wednesday evening at 8:30 p.m. in Daggett Lounge,
Thorne. We would like this letter to serve as an open invitation to any and all studentsour work cannot proceed without you.
Sincerely,
Daniel Mejia-Cruz 16, President
Michelle Kruk 16, Vice President for Student Government Affairs
David Levine 16, Vice President for the Treasury
Luke von Maur 16, Vice President for Student Affairs
Andrew Millar 16, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Emily Serwer 16, Interim Vice President for Student Organizations
Kevin Hernandez 18, Vice President for Facilities and Sustainability

friday, october 23, 2015

the bowdoin orient

opinion

15

My IUD and me: birth control option that is out of sight gives peace of mind
JULIA MEAD

LEFT OF LIPSTICK
The best decision I made my first year
of college was getting a piece of plastic
shoved up my vagina.
I was the first person I knew to get
an intrauterine device (IUD), a form
of long-acting reversible contraception. I had been on the pill since I was
16, and I was terrible at it. For those
of you who have never been on the
pill, the tricky thing is that with most
kinds, you have to take it at the same
time every day for it to be effective,
and effectiveness really matters.
I tried all the tricks. I set an alarm
on my phone to remind me to take it. I
carried my little cardboard pack around
in my backpack. I tried taking it in the
morning, and I tried at night, but my
schedule was so constantly variable that
I regularly slipped up and took it too late
or skipped days all together. Sometimes
Id forget to call in my prescription refill
to Hannaford until it was too late.
I flipped out. I took Plan B. I tried to
find a place to buy a pregnancy test in
the middle of the night in Brunswick so
I could quiet my baby-anxious mind and
sleep (there are none).
I was the poster child for user error.
Going home for spring break was eyeopening. I remembered that I had not always lived a hectic life where some days I
wake up at 7 a.m. and some days I wake
up at noon. My user error wasnt because
I was a bad, irresponsible person; it was
because I was a college student.
I needed to change my method of
birth control, not my habits.

I started by scouring the Planned Parenthood website, where there is a helpful


overview of all the types of contraceptives available. My criteria were simple.
I needed something easy and effective.
I was curious about IUDs because they
seemed to fit my criteria more closely
than any other method; they have a tiny
failure rate and are effective for five years
with no maintenance.
But getting an IUD also involved
going to a doctor to get a small piece
of plastic stuck up my vaginal canal,
wiggled through my dilated cervix
and inserted into my uterus. And that
didnt sound fun.
So I turned to Physician Assistant Julie Gray of the Health Center to get the
guidance of a medical professional. Will
it hurt? I asked her. How will I know if it
comes out? Isnt it just for women who
have already had children? Will it wreck
my uterus so I cant have children in 10
years? Her answers: no, trust me you
will, no and no.
Convinced and heartened, I called
the Planned Parenthood in Topsham to
make an appointment. The whole ordeal
was quick and professional. Then I went
home, put on sweatpants, took an ibuprofen and went to bed early. There was
some intense cramping that night, but it
went away the next day.
Friends often ask me questions:
Q: Can you feel it?
A: Nope, not even a little bit.
Q: What about the strings? Can
you feel those? (There are fishing
wire-like strings that extend down to
aid removal.)
A: When I first got it I could more
easily. Now the ends of them have
curled up, and Ive really got to go dig-

ging to feel them.


Q: What about your partners? Can
they feel the IUD?
A: No, god bless the cervix. I had one
partner who one time said he could feel
the strings during intercourse. This was
soon after I had it put in.
Q: Did it hurt to get it put in?
A: It was a little uncomfortable.
Q: Do you still have periods?
A: No and its great.
Q: If you dont have periods, how will
you know if youre pregnant?
A: IUDs are damn near 100% effective. Im not worried about it.
Q: How much did it cost?
A: I have Bowdoin health insurance, which covered the full cost. It
was free for me.
Notably, everybody is different, and
contraceptive needs vary wildly. Do
your research, talk to your doctor. Im
not telling you all to go out and get IUDs
tomorrow, but I am suggesting you think
about it as a serious option.
Controlling fertility is hard. People
have come up with some wackadoodle
stuff to keep from having babies in the
past (tying weasel testicles to their legs,
shoving crocodile poop up their vaginas prior to intercourse, taking shots of
mercury after intercourse). Unpleasant
and ineffective! We twenty-first century,
insured, American college students have
the good fortune to have an array of ever
easier, and ever more effective options,
at our disposal.
By getting an IUD, I was finally
able to control my fertility, and the
less energy I spend controlling my
fertility, the more time I have for
other things, like writing columns
about controlling fertility.

DIANA FURUKAWA

Preserving the liberal arts through great books and great questions
DAVID JIMENEZ
MINDLESS PONTIFICATING
In early 2015, Governor Scott Walkers
administration pushed for a dramatic
shift in the University of Wisconsins
mission statement. Gone was flowery
talk about public service and the
search of truth; such goals must bow to
the imperative to meet the states workforce needs. Students of ancient Greek
philosophy and their apparently hopeless
job prospects have been a punchline in
Senator Marco Rubios stump speeches.
Such attitudes show a disregard for the
conservative imperative to pass on a cultural inheritance, but they also speak to a
larger shift, the rise of a technocratic and
utilitarian approach to education that
alarms conservative, Marxist and liberal
writers alike.
Liberal arts education is frequently defended by appealing to its contribution to
critical thinking, social progress and the
common good. These are undoubtedly
valid ends. However, set by themselves,

we risk losing confidence in the oldest aim of the liberal arts education: to
cultivate personal character through an
engagement with the great books, the
best of what has been said and thought,
in the words of Matthew Arnold. This is
hardly a pining for nostalgia. Numerous
American colleges like Columbia University and University of Chicago still
have required great books seminars asking students to take great literature and
philosophy seriously.
Admittedly, a 21st century great books
program will look different from an Oxford or Cambridge curriculum in the
1800s. In a time when more students major in the physical and social sciences or
want to enjoy a range of electives, a great
books class will have to be made concise.
Whats more, calls for a greater diversity
of voices should not be dismissed as political correctnessit would be inconceivable for a study of the human condition to not include Eastern or Islamic
philosophical traditions. No curriculum
today would be complete without drawing from voices like Wright, Mrquez,
Morrison or OConnor.

There must be a balance between


necessary adjustment and preservation,
however. Certain Western writings, such
as Plato, Kant or Marx in philosophy or
Greek dramas and prose, the Hebrew
Bible or Shakespeare in literature, dramatically shaped the entire history of
ideas and the nature of our own culture,
in both its virtues and weaknesses. To
keep alive these texts in core seminars is
not Eurocentric but an act of humility.
A great books program today need
not be a systematic reading list universal for everyone on campus. Rather each
professor would choose certain works for
seminars clustered around great questions. What is the good life and ideal
community? What do we mean by social justice and freedom? How does one
understand both religious and secular
views of the world? How do we make
sense of and live through evil and suffering? These are the questions a liberal arts
education needs to take seriously.
This proposal might come across as
too ivory tower. Should we not direct
more core requirements into learning as
much as we can about pressing political

and social problems? Does all this talk


about great books and great questions
come from an extinct time when privileged colleges lay far too isolated and
aloof from the worlds crises? Perhaps
but Tolstoy grasped a profound truth
when he wrote that everybody thinks
about changing humanity, but nobody
thinks of changing himself. Individual
transformation of leaders precedes their
contribution to lasting social change.
Just look at history. Movements like
American abolitionism and the Civil
Rights Movement brought lasting change
because their members immersed themselves in older, deep wells of moral
thought and right living. Conversely,
those who lacked any appreciation for
the past or concern for the interior life
often saw their idealism descend into
destructive ideologies. The French guillotine and the Russian gulag need only
remind one of this final point.
A great error is to assume that such
literary or philosophical texts would
impose a particular ideology upon students. Irving Howe points out in a fabulous New Republic essay why a course

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

on social thought including Nietzsche,


Plato, Machiavelli, Jefferson or Dewey
would be a source of a variety of opinions, often clashing with one another,
sometimes elusive and surprisingly, always richly complex. These are some of
the thinkers with whom to begin, if only
later to deviate from. The goal is not
treat past authors as infallible oracles but
to use their writings to wrestle with important contemporary ideas.
It is critical for more colleges to restore
towering past works of world literature
and philosophy into an essential, if inevitably more limited, part of todays curriculums. Those works save us from the
tyranny of the present, assuming that
the end of history directs to those who
think and act like ourselves. They show
how our assumptions about liberty, justice or human nature are not obvious but
lie atop a rich, contentious history. Their
wisdom can teach us how to order our
emotions and values as we enter a real
world of tragedy and moral complexity.
Ill end with Roger Scrutons words: We
have inherited collectively good things
that we must strive to keep.

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 23, 2015

OCTOBER
FRIDAY 23

EVENT

President's Science Symposium and


Student Presentations

Keynote speaker Dr. Chad Mirkin will give a talk about


the impact of nanotechnology in science and medicine
entitled, "Nanotechnology: A Small World with Big
Potential. This will be shortly followed by three student
presentations by Julia E. Maine '16, James K. Sullivan '16
and Cody P. Woods '16. Student poster presentations will
be in Morrell Gym at 3 p.m.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center. 12:30 p.m.
ALEKSIA SILVERMAN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN: Guster performed last Friday night for the Bowdoin community as part of the Inauguration celebration. Many students, alumni and faculty attended to watch the alternative rock band play in Morrell Gym.

EVENT

Studies in Beauty Initiative: "Beauty and


Ethics Symposium"

MONDAY 26

A faculty seminar will be held regarding the Studies in


Beauty Initiative in order to foster discussion about the
topic of beauty with a group of professors from a wide
range of disciplines. The panelists include Jean-Godefroy
Bidima (Tulane University), Dana E. Byrd (Bowdoin College), Sarah Conly (Bowdoin College), Alexandre DaugeRoth (Bates College), Lydia Moland (Colby College) and
Lawrence Simon (Bowdoin College). The seminar will be
followed by a reception.
Torrey Barn, Cram Alumni House. 2 p.m.

LECTURE

PERFORMANCE

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Les Sorciers Perdus, a contemporary chamber ensemble,


will perform to accompany a screening of the 1919 silent
film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This will feature a new
score by Mark Tipton, executive director of the Portland
Conservatory of Music and trumpet instructor at Bowdoin.
Kanbar Auditorium, Studzinski Recital Hall. 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY 24

TUESDAY 27

EVENT

Coastal Humane Club Clynk and Craft


Party

LECTURE

Gallery Conversation: Earth Matters

The Bowdoin Coastal Humane Society club will be hosting


a Clynk and Craft party to make supplies such as Clynk
returnables bags and dog toys for the Coastal Humane
Society animals. There will be bunnies to play with at the
event along with food and refreshments.
Sail Room, Sargent Gymnasium. 12 p.m.

Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Scott MacEachern


will give an anthropological perspective on the art in the
new exhibition Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa.
Museum of Art. 12 p.m.

LECTURE

Senator Angus King

WEDNESDAY 28

Bowdoins Model UN Club and the Maine chapter of the


United Nations Associations will present this talk to
celebrate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts
ORIENT
PICK OF THE WEEK
Center. 7 p.m.

EVENT

Take Back the Night

V-Day chapters worldwide hold an annual event as part of


the movement to end violence and sexual assault in our
community. There will be speeches and music as well as a
campus walk where the group will reclaim unsafe spaces.
The entire community is welcome to attend.
Museum of Art Steps. 8 p.m.
ORIENT

PERFORMANCE

Improvabilities Show

The Improvabilities, one of Bowdoins improvisational


comedy groups, will perform. The troupe will introduce its
three new members.
ORIENT
PICK OF THE WEEK
Ladd House. 8:30 p.m.

30

EVENT

Family
Weekend

31

EVENT

Family
Weekend

THURSDAY 29
Economics Seminar: Child Abuse, Sexual
Assault, Community Violence and High
School Graduation

Timothy Diette, professor of economics at Washington


and Lee University, will give his paper, Child Abuse,
Sexual Assault, Community Violence and High School
Graduation. Diette teaches in Economics of Education and
Health Economics.
Thomas F. Shannon Room (Room 208), Hubbard Hall.
4 p.m.
EVENT

Meeting for Prospective Government


Majors and Minors

Chair of Government and Legal Studies Department


Michael Franz will review requirements, course offerings,
advising, off-campus study, honors projects and other
related topics.
Pickard Room (Hubbard 213), 4 p.m.
EVENT

Panel Discussion: "Changing Climate and


Dynamic Cultures: Survival in the Arctic"
In a panel presentation, four scholars will discuss the
challenges that Arctic indigenous peoples have overcome
in adapting to climate change. The panelists are Genevieve LeMoine, Susan Crate, Jane Knox and Susan Kaplan.
Laura Henry will moderate. The event will be followed by
a reception at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum.
Lancaster Lounge, Moulton Union. 7 p.m.
EVENT

#gratitudeThursday

Students will have the opportunity to write and send


letters to loved ones and friends. Stamps, envelopes and
cards will be supplied.
Lamarche Gallery, David Saul Smith Union. 4 p.m.

PICK OF THE WEEK

PERFORMANCE

Bowdoin
College
Concert Band

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