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J-Board heard 9 academic, 7 social code cases last year
On September 19, the Judicial Board (J-Board) released its annual report for the 2013-2014 academic year. The J-Board heard 15 cases from last year, as well as one additional case left over from the 2012-2013 academic year. Of the 16 total cases, nine involved allegations of Academic Honor Code violations and seven involved allegations of Social Code violations.
According to J-Board advisor and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Lesley Levy, there have typically been 10 to 15 cases each year. However, last year's number of cases marks an increase from the seven cases heard in 2012-2013.
"I think [the number of cases] was higher than the year before, but relatively, it was [on par with previous years]," Dean of Students Affairs Tim Foster said. "I certainly can remember years where the board was a good bit busier than it was this past year."
The J-Board, which consists of faculty members and students, is split into two bodies that handle different types of cases. The board that hears cases regarding the Academic Honor Code consists of three students and two faculty members. The board that hears cases regarding the Social Code consists of five students.
Regardless of which code is allegedly violated, the professor or community member who believes that a code has been breached first discusses the case with the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. If that person chooses to bring the case before the board, the board members must decide whether the student is responsible for a violation. If the board decides that a student has violated one of the codes, its decision is final. Typically, the board looks at past cases in order to decide whether an infraction has occurred.
"We acknowledge that each case is unique and there are specific details that change the nature of each case, but we really do rely heavily on precedent and try to stay consistent with our sanctions over time," said J-Board Chair Jacques Larochelle '15.
If the board decides that a student is guilty of a violation, it will then discuss consequences and sanctions. These sanctions are recommended to Foster, or his designee, who can either approve or change them. Foster said he hopes that students read the report and understand how much time and effort is put into the J-Board's decision making.
"I hope that the report provides a level of transparency, while still protecting the anonymity of those students who were involved," said Foster. "It's important that their confidentiality is maintained but that we share information so that members of our community—students and faculty and staff—understand the standards that we hold as a community and how those are upheld."
The J-Board publishes its annual reports with the hope that familiarity with the information contained in the document will lead to a decrease in the number of cases it hears each year.
"[The purpose is] to educate and increase awareness of our community standards," Levy said. "It's really important for students to know what the standards are and what the ramifications are for violating the standards."The J-Board meets with first-year floors during Orientation to discuss the Academic Honor Code and the Social Code and to familiarize first years with the standards set by the College.
Larochelle believes that it is equally important for upperclassmen to reread the codes each year.
"Take time to actually read through the code at the beginning of the year to remind yourself of all the components of it, so you have a complete understanding of what it entails and how to follow it properly," he said.
—Meg Robbins contributed to this report.
- 3 days ago
BSG Elections: Class council election results for the Classes of 2015 and 2018
In previous years, Bowdoin Student Goverment (BSG) has disclosed the number of votes received by each candidate. This year, BSG announced only the names of winning candidates, which are published below.
Class of 2015:
President: Josh Friedman
Vice president: Xanthe Demas
Treasurer: Molly Soloff
Bowdoin Student Government representatives: Ted Romney and Kyle Wolstencraft
Turnout: 66 percent (480 seniors, 316 votes cast)
Class of 2018:
President: Ned Wang
Vice president: Jaime Quirante
Treasurer: Emily Licholai
Bowdoin Student Government representatives: Kevin Hernandez and Wylie Mao
Turnout: 74 percent (500 first years, 371 votes cast)
- 6 days ago
Snapshot: Guitar Hero
- 6 days ago
Endowment returns 19.2 percent, named Endowment of the Year
The College's endowment generated an investment return of 19.2 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2014, again earning Bowdoin a place in the top five percent of returns among peer colleges and universities, according to Cambridge Associates (a firm that tracks educational funds' performances across the nation). The endowment had a market value of $1.216 billion on June 30, up from $1.038 billion at the close of FY 2013.
The return, which is heavily dependent on the health of the economy, was three percentage points higher than it was last year.
The endowment's strong performance earned Bowdoin the "Endowment of the Year" award from Institutional Investor—a global finance magazine—in a category of nominees that included Williams, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Richmond. U-Penn generated a return of 17.5 percent in FY 2014, while Williams and Richmond have yet to release their returns.
"Looking at year-to-year performance and winning [Endowment of the Year] is very exciting," said President Barry Mills. "But the real story is in the three-, five- and ten-year returns, because that tells you with some certainty what you can expect over a long period of time, which allows you to think about how you operate the College. So it's incredibly impressive that we are year-in and year-out in that very highest category, but what's even more impressive is that when the markets fall, we don't lose as much as other people do. That is phenomenal."
Mills also stressed that excellent returns on the endowment still mandate strict financial prudence with regard to strategic planning.
"We're not running an investment fund, we're running an endowment to support the College—you have to match the way the College operates against the strength of the endowment, and that's what we've done," he said. "It's a complicated balance, because in these colleges and universities, everybody wants to spend every nickel they have."
Strong returns on the endowment are more important over the long-run in order to preserve capital and sustain the operations of the College. To cover a proportion of each year's operating expenses, Bowdoin annually withdraws about five percent of its endowment based on a 12-quarter lagging average to compensate for particularly rough years, such as 2009's 16.99 percent decline on investment returns. According to a release published on the Bowdoin Daily Sun, at the close of FY 2014, the endowment's three-, five-and 10-year annualized returns were 12.3 percent, 13.8 percent, and 10.4 percent, respectively.
Now that the weaker returns of the financial crisis have cycled out of the 12-quarter lagging average, funding from the endowment for each year's operating budget will likely increase "over the next to two to five years," according to Mills.
"You could use that money for debt service, if you needed a capital project—I think some of our students might say that our upperclass housing might need some improvement… There's additional academic programing we could enhance, so we could spend the money on that. There are plenty of places to spend the money. My hope would be the first place people would think is to understand what our financial aid commitment ought to be, and continue to grow it," said Mills, acknowledging a commitment throughout his tenure to increasing the affordability of a Bowdoin education.
The endowment's continued strength, thanks to the impressive performance of the College's investment committee, is also central to minimizing increases in tuition and fees each year. Since the 2011-2012 academic year, Bowdoin's comprehensive fee has increased annually by just 3 percent, a rate lower than at most peer institutions. The comprehensive fee for FY 2014-2015 is $59,568, but Mills emphasized that the actual cost of educating a student for a year at Bowdoin is actually closer to $80,000. Financial aid from the endowment is one of the key means of managing that discrepancy.
"The 80 [thousand dollars] I think is going to increase. The question is going to be, 'What are we going to do with the 60?' That's why the endowment is so important, is to close that gap," said Mills. "I think what you're going to see is that at colleges that have very healthy endowments, more and more and more families in higher and higher income brackets are going to be supported, because these colleges are just so expensive… but, you've got to balance your checkbook."
The Bowdoin Daily Sun release also reported $24.1 million in endowment gifts during FY 2014. Approximately 45 percent of the endowment can be used only as financial aid. In his last year as president, Mills is embarking on a final fundraising campaign for endowment gifts dedicated to financial aid with a goal of around $100 million.
"I came to Bowdoin fourteen years ago, when our endowment was less than 400 million dollars," said Mills. "Having an endowment the size that we have today has clearly allowed us to support our students and families in ways that we couldn't in the past on the financial aid front. It's allowed us to grow our academic program, it's allowed us to improve our facility…and so as I've said often, it isn't about the money. But without the money, it's very hard to create a sustainable program for the College."
- 6 days ago
College's digital initiative mixes technology into the liberal arts
Three years after the launch of Bowdoin's Digital and Computational Studies Initiative (DCSI), the program has expanded this semester to offer five courses designed for students from all academic back
Three years after the launch of Bowdoin's Digital and Computational Studies Initiative (DCSI), the program has expanded this semester to offer five courses designed for students from all academic backgrounds.
The College's DCSI initiative came about as a result of conversations amongst faculty members and a retreat with the Trustees in 2011. It seeks to integrate aspects of digital technologies and computational strategies across all disciplines in the College's curriculum.
This semester, two DCSI courses are listed as interdisciplinary, including How to Read 1,000,000 Books, taught by Visiting Assistant Professor in the Digital Humanities Crystal Hall, and The Digital Image of the City, taught by Jen Jack Gieseking, new media and data visualization specialist.
The other three courses are Assistant Professor of English Ann Kibbie's Imagining London in Eighteenth-Century Literature, Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies Allison Cooper's Film Narrative, and Professor of Mathematics Mary Lou Zeeman's Biomathematics. They are listed as an English class, a cinema studies class, and a math and biology class, respectively. These three courses are the first DCSI courses taught at Bowdoin to be incorporated into other curricula and not listed as interdisciplinary classes.
So far, all five DCSI courses have been well received by students."I think that the class is run in such a way that if you have comp sci experience, you can apply that, but if you don't, you won't be at a disadvantage," said Roya Moussapour '17, who is taking Gieseking's Digital Image of the City course.
English Major Callie Ferguson '15, who is taking Assistant Professor of English Ann Kibbie's "Imagining Eighteenth-Century London through Literature" course, feels that DCSI can greatly benefit humanities curricula.
"There's a lot of potential for [DCSI] to actually enrich our discussion," Ferguson said. "But since none of us are used to actually using it, I think we are going to have to try to discover the best way for it to figure into the work that we are doing."
The first DCSI course offered at Bowdoin was Gateway to the Digital Humanities, co-taught last fall by Program Director of Art History and Professor in the Art Department Pamela Fletcher and professor Eric Chown in the computer science department. Last spring, another two DCSI courses were offered: Data Driven Society taught by Director of the Quantitative Reasoning Program Eric Gaze and Gieseking, and The Rhetoric of Big Data taught by Hall.
The initiative is also attractive for recruiting new faculty members to Bowdoin.
"Some recent faculty members are coming out of their graduate schools having been immersed already in digitally and computationally rich approaches to their subject," said Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd. The initiative says to them, according to Judd, that, "Bowdoin will give you a platform where you can develop that, not only in your own research, but as a part of what you do in teaching."
The College hired Gieseking during the summer of 2013 as a part of the initiative. Gieseking has a PhD in environmental psychology and has worked on integrating technology into lesbian and queer studies in New York City before coming to Bowdoin. She described the College as unique in its completely interdisciplinary approach to the integration of DCSI components. According to Gieseking, many other schools have begun technology integration initiatives that focus primarily on the sciences, while Bowdoin is seeking to incorporate DCSI in any and all curricular disciplines.
Bowdoin also hired Hall as a part of the initiative, who has a PhD in Italian literature and previously used digital strategies for the organization of large quantities of text during her work studying Galileo's library while at the University of Kansas.
Both are uniquely equipped to facilitate the integration of DCSI principles in different fields at Bowdoin.
The College is presenting the initiative as an exciting and innovative new curricular pursuit, and President Barry Mills has been keen to incorporate the new initiative in his fundraising efforts. Accordingly, the presidential search committee included information about the initiative in a document drafted for the future president in a part of the section titled "The Academic Core: Bowdoin's Offer." The document suggests that Bowdoin foresees "big data" becoming as integral to the liberal arts as writing or math.
Many students believe the DCSI courses will teach skills applicable to the job market. According to Judd, the program was not conceived specifically for the purpose of making liberal arts more marketable to students concerned about the job market and value of college, though she did acknowledge that it is a positive aspect of the initiative.
The initiative is coordinated by a steering committee comprised of faculty members responsible for determining the progression of the department. The committee focuses on program development, faculty outreach and curricular implementation for the initiative—including the teaching of DCSI courses. Gieseking, Hall, Fletcher, Gaze and Zeeman all sit on the committee, and Zeeman and Fletcher serve as co-directors of the initiative.
In addition to exposing students to digital and computational aspects of scholarship, one of the major goals for DCSI is to prompt questions about how these techniques can and should be used in a classroom setting.
The Digital Humanities course cluster of the initiative focuses on technological integration in classes that have traditionally focused on the humanities. The Digital Humanities course cluster is partially funded by the Mellon Humanities Initiative—a three year grant designed to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.
Renovations to the third floor of the Visual Arts Center (VAC) were also a part of the initiative, creating new spaces for DCSI classes. These rooms are stocked with laptops preloaded with the programs that may be required for DCSI classes, blu-ray and projector capabilities, and movable tables or desks that are designed to be particularly conducive to group work.
DCSI students have responded positively to the new classrooms.
Kelsey Scarlett '17, a student in the Imagining Eighteenth-Century London through Literature course on the third floor of the VAC, said she finds the renovation very conducive to her course.
"A lot of these digital humanities classes are pretty collaborative, so the space itself facilitates that really easily," Scarlett said.
Scarlett, who plans to double major in English and government and legal studies, said she took the DCSI class in hopes of being exposed to a new way to look at literature.
Library and Information Technology staff are also available as resources for professors interested in incorporating DCSI components into their classes, and professors are encouraged to work closely with Hall and Gieseking to establish and execute goals for incorporating such components.
According to Hall, the College plans to offer DCSI courses in chemistry, government and legal studies and other social science based departments in the coming years. Polaris will be updated in the coming years so that students may specifically search for DCSI courses.
Social and Economic Networks, taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Digital and Computational Studies Mohammad Irfan is the only new DCSI course planned for next semester. Gaze and Gieseking plan to offer Data Driven Society and Hall plans to teach The Rhetoric of Big Data again in the spring of 2015.
- 6 days ago
J-Board heard 9 academic, 7 social code cases last year
On September 19, the Judicial Board (J-Board) released its annual report for the 2013-2014 academic year. The J-Board heard 15 cases from last year, as well as one additional case left over from the 2012-2013 academic year. Of the 16 total cases, nine involved allegations of Academic Honor Code violations and seven involved allegations of Social Code violations.
According to J-Board advisor and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Lesley Levy, there have typically been 10 to 15 cases each year. However, last year's number of cases marks an increase from the seven cases heard in 2012-2013.
"I think [the number of cases] was higher than the year before, but relatively, it was [on par with previous years]," Dean of Students Affairs Tim Foster said. "I certainly can remember years where the board was a good bit busier than it was this past year."
The J-Board, which consists of faculty members and students, is split into two bodies that handle different types of cases. The board that hears cases regarding the Academic Honor Code consists of three students and two faculty members. The board that hears cases regarding the Social Code consists of five students.
Regardless of which code is allegedly violated, the professor or community member who believes that a code has been breached first discusses the case with the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. If that person chooses to bring the case before the board, the board members must decide whether the student is responsible for a violation. If the board decides that a student has violated one of the codes, its decision is final. Typically, the board looks at past cases in order to decide whether an infraction has occurred.
"We acknowledge that each case is unique and there are specific details that change the nature of each case, but we really do rely heavily on precedent and try to stay consistent with our sanctions over time," said J-Board Chair Jacques Larochelle '15.
If the board decides that a student is guilty of a violation, it will then discuss consequences and sanctions. These sanctions are recommended to Foster, or his designee, who can either approve or change them. Foster said he hopes that students read the report and understand how much time and effort is put into the J-Board's decision making.
"I hope that the report provides a level of transparency, while still protecting the anonymity of those students who were involved," said Foster. "It's important that their confidentiality is maintained but that we share information so that members of our community—students and faculty and staff—understand the standards that we hold as a community and how those are upheld."
The J-Board publishes its annual reports with the hope that familiarity with the information contained in the document will lead to a decrease in the number of cases it hears each year.
"[The purpose is] to educate and increase awareness of our community standards," Levy said. "It's really important for students to know what the standards are and what the ramifications are for violating the standards."The J-Board meets with first-year floors during Orientation to discuss the Academic Honor Code and the Social Code and to familiarize first years with the standards set by the College.
Larochelle believes that it is equally important for upperclassmen to reread the codes each year.
"Take time to actually read through the code at the beginning of the year to remind yourself of all the components of it, so you have a complete understanding of what it entails and how to follow it properly," he said.
—Meg Robbins contributed to this report.
- 6 days ago
Religion department to move to Kanbar
The religion department will relocate from Ashby House to Kanbar Hall this January. The house, which was built in the 1840s, is no longer suited to hold large quanities of books and files on its upper floors, posing problems for professors with office space in the building.
Dean for Academic Affairs Christle Collins Judd said there is "no structural issue with the building."
While Ashby has been deemed unsuitable for the needs of professors who currently have offices there, it poses no real immediate threat to them. Judd said many of the problems exist because Ashby was originally built as a residence hall.
"It is a residential house and so, structurally, having academic offices with many, many bookcases and many, many files is just not what the building was built for," said Judd. "We recognize that it is not the best place to have lots and lots of bookcases and files on the upper floors."
Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration Katy Longley said that the building may require construction for later use. Whether or not such changes will be made will be decided by the Board of Trustees on October 16 and 17.
"We have to fix it structurally and...think about who will go in there, but it's premature," said Longley. "We're still doing an investigation of how much we need to fix, how much it's going to cost to fix it. We'll have to go to the board for approval."
Judd and Longley were both unable to comment on which professors in Kanbar will be required to move in order to make room for religion professors. It is not yet clear where those moved from Kanbar will be relocated.
After the religion department moves out, Ashby—whether renovated or not—will likely house administrative offices. "We will use it for administrative purposes—that doesn't require all of the books and faculty," said Judd. "[Ashby] was built as a house. It was built as a home. So it is fine for administrative purposes."
Members of the religion department declined to comment on the move. However, Judd said that she feels certain the move will not have a negative impact on the department.
"Obviously, nobody likes to have to pack up your books and move, but the College will take care of that," said Judd. "The department will have a good location as they go forward and access to good academic resources. So I think it's a positive move for the department."
- 6 days ago
35 professors, 11 tenure-track join faculty
Bowdoin welcomed 35 new faculty members this academic year, 11 of whom are in tenure-track positions.
Todd Berzon, having finished his postdoctoral work on late antique heresiologies at Columbia University in 2013, is the only new tenure-track professor in the Department of Religion. He is currently exploring representations of the tongue in ancient Judaic and Christian traditions. He said he is looking forward to the balanced environment between teaching and conducting research.
"I want to be at a school that values both teaching and researching, where neither seems to be the exclusion of the other," said Berzon.
The economics department received three tenure-track professors this year, including Gonca Senel, who is teaching two sections of Principles of Macroeconomics this semester. Having earned her doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Senel said she is thrilled to be in a smaller liberal arts environment where she can develop closer relationships with her students as well as colleagues across different disciplines.
"At UCLA, every department is a small, self-sufficient island," said Senel. "The inter-departmental link that we have here is something really special that cannot be found in bigger universities."
Zachary Rothschild, a professor at Carleton College, joined the Department of Psychology. As a social psychologist, his research focuses on the effects of existential concerns on people's attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. He is currently teaching Data Analysis and will be teaching a 2000-level Social Psychology course and an advanced Existential Social Psychology seminar in the spring.
Also joining the psychology department is Hannah Reese, who came to Bowdoin with a desire to return to teaching after spending time serving as a staff psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and doing research at Harvard Medical School.
"I really love the people I worked with and the research I had done, but I also really want to get back to teaching and working with the students," Reese said.
Her postdoctoral work focused on body dysmorphic disorder, and she is currently investigating the nature and treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders.
Dana Byrd was a postdoctoral fellow at Bowdoin for the past two years before being hired to a tenure-track position in the art history department this fall. Her research focuses on American art and material culture. Byrd is planning to write a book on the physical artifacts of life on plantations from the Civil War era through the end of Reconstruction. "I'm really interested in how slavery and the end of slavery were portrayed and discussed in art, as well as the way people experienced it during and after the Civil War era," Byrd said.
Even after spending two years at Bowdoin, Byrd said that she still appreciates the level of engagement her students exhibit inside and outside of the classroom, as well as the intellectually stimulating conversations she has with her colleagues and the academic resources the College offers.
"I was convinced to stay here because it is a really wonderful place," said Byrd.
- 6 days ago
463 participate in Common Good Day
Four hundred and eight Bowdoin students, 20 prospective students and 35 faculty, staff, alumni and family members participated in the College's 16th annual Common Good Day last Saturday.
Participants worked on 50 community service projects around midcoast Maine, including coastal cleanup, trail work, painting and indoor cleaning, among others.Registration was smoother this year than in the past, though the trips filled up just as quickly as ever.
"Groups take up the majority of the spots, and there are usually enough spots for individuals," said Andrew Lardie, associate director for service and leadership at the McKeen Center for the Common Good.
For the past few years, Common Good Day and Explore Bowdoin—an overnight program for prospective students—have coincided, and this year 20 prospective students took part in the Bowdoin tradition.
"[Associate Dean of Admissions] Claudia Marroquin has been really good about informing prospies about the project possibilities and then matching them up," said Lardie.
Feedback from Common Good Day participants has been largely positive. Eighty-six percent of participants found their experience either "very positive" or "positive."
Tory Rusch '15, a member of the softball team, worked on a project at a local Brunswick retirement home with her teammates. Saturday marked Rusch's third time participating in Common Good Day.
"We all get together, have some team bonding and help out the community at the same time," said Rusch.The project entailed building a bocce court and painting doors and walls inside the retirement home.
"[It was especially rewarding] going to the retirement home and getting to interact with the residents that actually live there," said Rusch. "We'd paint their doors and sit and chat—it was nice to get to see who you were helping."
Simon Close '17 also spoke highly of his Common Good Day experience. Close and five fellow residents of Quinby House went to the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, where they created a pathway on a muddy area of a hiking trail."It was really cool to see the finished product of what our service had done, and it was a good workout too," said Close. "It was great to see that we made a difference and helped out."
Like Rusch, Close said he found his Common Good Day project to be rewarding.
"I'm really proud to be a Bowdoin student if this is something that Bowdoin presents itself as doing," he said.The McKeen Center hopes that Common Good Day will inspire students to make long-term service commitments, "either with the same organization they worked with on Common Good Day or something related or unrelated," said Lardie.
"When we talk with students who are in some of our more specific programs, Alternative [Spring] Break for instance, many of their first experiences with community service were with Common Good Day, so we know that sometimes it is a gateway," he said.
- 6 days ago
Dehumidifier installed to combat mold in Burnett
After battling mold growth in the basement of Burnett House last spring, Facilities Management is taking steps to ensure that the mold will not return. After sealing the room and repainting the walls did not stop the mold from regrowing, Facilities is installing a dehumidifier system to keep moisture at bay.
The commercial grade dehumidifier arrived on campus September 23 and will be installed before the end of the week, according to Associate Director of Facilities Operations Jeff Tuttle.
Mold grows in moist conditions and in addition to its bad smell, it can be hazardous to living conditions.
"Some people can have a reaction to mold," Tuttle said. "[But] the issue [in Burnett] is very, very minor and the amount of mold in the basement is very minimal."
When Facilities was informed of the issue, several employees went to Burnett House, cleaned and sealed the area and painted over the wall they thought was the source of the moisture.
"When [Facilities] is made aware of areas where mold, or anything that may be of harm to students is present, we always respond very quickly and do what is needed for the safety of the students," said Tuttle.
Tuttle said he went to Burnett last week and saw no further evidence of mold. As a precaution, though, Facilities decided to install the dehumidifier and to pipe air into the space to keep moisture levels to a minimum.
Initially, there were rumors that a boarded-up section of Burnett's basement was linked to the mold, but that is not the case.
Facilities had blocked off a section of the basement for the safety of the residents. In the section behind the boards there is a mechanical area that includes sprinkler systems and other tools that, according to Tuttle, are unsafe for students to access.
Burnett's laundry room is located right next to the boarded-up area. Facilities changed the entrance to the laundry room and put up a wall to keep students out of the mechanical area.
"The building of the boards to restrict mechanical supplies and the minimal problem of the mold are completely different issues," said Tuttle.
- 6 days ago
Building a Minyan: a look at Hillel's Rosh Hashanah
As Rosh Hashanah approaches, many Jewish students realize how far they are from their families, but they are able to celebrate the Jewish New Year with a figurative family here at the College. On September 24 and 25, Hillel, Bowdoin's Jewish student organization, hosted its annual Rosh Hashanah service and dinner.
Over 60 students of different faiths participated in Hillel's Rosh Hashanah events last year. A comparable number of students attended the service and dinner this year.
According to Leah Kahn '15, the president of Hillel, around 10 percent of the Bowdoin student body identifies as Jewish. About 160 students are involved in Hillel.
"We really work to get the Jewish community on campus," said Kahn. "It's the first time for many people to be away from family. And these holidays are really family-centric. We want to make it accessible for students to experience their High Holiday services in a similar way to how they did at home."
Rosh Hashanah starts at sunset and lasts two days. Hillel observes it with services, a dinner and a luncheon for students, faculty and local residents.
"We have special foods that are traditional for the Rosh Hashanah meal," said Rachel Connelly, an economics professor. "There are apples and honey, pomegranates and traditional bread."
"Bowdoin does a pretty good job," said Jared Feldman '16, who identifies as Jewish and spent the holiday with his family before coming to Bowdoin. "People all come out for this event. This is the closest I can get to a family."
As the only Jewish community in Brunswick, Hillel frequently hosts Shabbat services on Friday nights. It also sponsors High Holidays celebrations and lectures by distinguished speakers.
"One thing I think is great about the Jewish community at Bowdoin and Hillel as an organization is that people who are Jewish and who are non-Jewish are coming together," said Emily Weinberger '15. "So it's a nice way to share cultures and traditions."
Many faculty members and administrators attend Rosh Hashanah services and other events hosted by Hillel, including President Barry Mills, math professor Jennifer Taback in the mathematics department and Marilyn Reizbaum, a professor in both the English and gay and lesbian studies departments.
Though this is Hillel's first major service and dinner of the year, the group already celebrated a big milestone earlier in September when a second Torah was dedicated to Bowdoin's Jewish community.
"It is a big year for Bowdoin Hillel," said Kahn. "The Torah is a holy handwritten manuscript of the Bible in Hebrew. It is very holy, very sacred. We are not even a synagogue. Now we have two Torahs. It's special because we can have one [open to] the end [of the text] and one starting from the beginning. Within the Jewish community it's something we boast: how many Torahs do you have?"
- 3 days ago
Editorial: Creative computing
Three years into the rollout of its Digital and Computational Studies Initiative (DCSI), Bowdoin is delving deeper into an experiment that integrates digital tools with the liberal arts. Classes under the DCSI umbrella have challenged students to study conventional material from contemporary angles, by, for example, using mapping soft ware to better understand the urban spaces described in eighteenth century literature. Trending concepts such as "smart cities" and "big data" have become buzzwords in popular discourse, but the College is turning them into areas of critical study. Bowdoin is right to acknowledge the growing relevance of technology in academia and to promote computational literacy, which is an increasingly important skill. More importantly, Bowdoin is taking a worthwhile risk by enabling talented new faculty members to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum. At a time when the value of the liberal arts is being questioned, DCSI can preserve the ethos of a Bowdoin education while bringing it to bear on a new set of questions about the world around us.
The first courses offered through the initiative have been well received. In this week's front-page article on the DCSI, students expressed their enthusiasm for the new courses and for the opportunity to incorporate a host of digital tools into traditional academic settings. The intersection of computing and Bowdoin's humanities offers a chance to engage critically with information in digital form—enriching discussion and enabling a progressive approach to learning. DCSI programs are accessible to students with or without backgrounds in computer science, and they have opened up positions for new faculty members who have used technology to invigorate their research in exciting ways.
Administrators and faculty must remember that these technologies are tools that depend on their users, not magical keys to a better learning experience. The College should avoid fetishizing technology and adopting what is simply in vogue. After all, many students know by now that tools such as Blackboard and iPad apps can become tedious stand-ins for effective instruction. It is also important to maximize the value of class time. Courses in which students require extensive technical instruction should make use of lab sections. And if professors do not have a sound understanding of a technology or software, its purpose in a class, and the pedagogic strategies necessary for using it, it will not benefit their classes. Above all, the "humanities" aspect of the digital humanities should remain paramount.
Bowdoin's DCSI has the potential to enrich a wide range of intellectual projects as long as faculty are able to take advantage of its resources. Its most promising components are those directed by the postdoctoral fellows who have immersed themselves in the digital humanities as both subject and practice. If the initiative is expanded with a critical eye for continual improvement, Bowdoin will have made an investment in developing a curriculum relevant to quickly changing times.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient's editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Natalie Kass-Kaufman, Sam Miller, Leo Shaw, and Kate Witteman.
- 6 days ago
Q&A with 2015 and 2018 class council presidential candidates
- 6 days ago
Why we need a Men's Resource Center
Being in the Middle East, where gender norms are more outwardly evident than the U.S., has us thinking more about gender and gender inequalities. In addition to my [Alex's] opinions on gender norms here in Qatar, we have been thinking a lot about Bowdoin and what could be improved on our campus. We came to this conclusion: Bowdoin needs a Men's Resource Center. Yes. A Men's Resource Center.
Before you start burning copies of the Orient and telling us about our privilege—"everything is your resource" one friend told us already—give us a chance to explain ourselves. A comfy house somewhere on or near College Street with a kitchen, living rooms and an awesome staff would be ideal, but we don't need that to accomplish our goal, which is to more effectively engage Bowdoin men in discussions regarding gender and sexuality.
The Bowdoin of today is a very different place than the Bowdoin of the 1970s, when women first enrolled at the College. The challenges we face are novel, and addressing them requires different institutional approaches.
We are growing up in the age of Tinder, Snapchat and Facebook. There are more women attending American universities than men. Pop culture and ads extol the values of drinking, crazy sex and not thinking about the next morning. We aren't here to sound like an NBC news reel—we admit to loving Snapchat, drinking, and occasionally not thinking about consequences, but we are here to point out that we today face pressures our parents' generation did not.
The Women's Resource Center organizes amazing programming regarding sexuality and gender, but right off the bat the name alienates around half of the population of the College. Providing programming and support for only half of the population allows us to confront only half of the problem.
If we as aim to fully address issues of sexual violence, gender norms, and gender-based discrimination on campus, we must do a better job of engaging the entire student body. That's why organizations such as BMASV are so important in our community: they bring sexual violence education to the population that sadly needs to hear it the most. It's also why Emma Watson's speech at the United Nations advocating for the HeForShe campaign. HeForShe is a campaign that aims to involve men in the women's rights movement.
If men better understood the forces that shaped their conception of masculinity and how masculinity affects their relationships, our society would be a better place. Men deserve the chance to define their masculinity outside of the constraints of patriarchy.
Having an annual luncheon and panel with a number of male faculty and staff is not nearly enough to begin tackling this issue. Talking about these questions with friends is good and talking about them with a female professional is better, but it is necessary that young men who are defining their masculinity can speak to a professional who is a man—to say otherwise is simply ridiculous. In these discussions we seek a friend, a mentor, or a role model—in other words, someone who has personally dealt with the issues we now face.
Bowdoin has a plethora of extremely intelligent women who are well versed in feminist theory and counsel their peers on issues of gender at a moment's notice.
However, if a man has a problem regarding gender, say social pressure to have sex or a body image issue, he will be unable to easily find another man from whom he can receive counseling. For men, these conversations are especially difficult because common conceptions about masculinity bar us from questioning our identity or addressing our emotions in a meaningful way.
For many straight men, these challenges are especially evident when it comes to expressing feelings openly or around women.
For non-straight men, the challenge of defining one's sexuality is inherently entwined with perceptions of masculinity.
We are calling for the establishment of a Men's Resource Center, so that all men on this campus have the support they need to address issues of masculinity, and a forum in which they can openly advocate for solutions to the gender-based challenges that face our campus and society.
- 6 days ago
Signifying Nothing: Exploring the modern language of sex
What does it mean to have sex? How about "participate in sexual activity" or "engage in sexual intercourse"? These phrases carry meanings that you might not expect. "Having" sex suggests possession. When people physically pleasure each other, are they handling an object? Well, maybe, if that thing is a phallus. But if "sex" is in the penis, can two women not do it? If you're "having sex," must there always be a man?
What if a man says he "had sex with a woman"? In the construction of this sentence, sex is something the man does by himself, alongside a female. His partner might as well be a Fleshlight. It seems sex is not something you do but something you have. People can have sex with each other, but the "sex" is their own—our gender and sexuality exists regardless of who's around.
Maybe sex is a feeling. But if sex isn't action, how does it start and end? Maybe we don't understand it. "Having" is static but we use "sex" to signify motion. "To have sex" is intransitive, but it insists on possession.
Objectifying sex makes it a tool, and tools exist for specific purposes. The noun "sex" suggests that we use "sex" for something. Sex can produce pleasure, power or babies. But couldn't it exist for itself? Fixating on ends removes us from the present. Even if we get what we want, the intricacy of sexuality in real life differs from the ideal.
Sexual behavior becomes a treasure hunt, with "sex" as a prize. In our society, the practice and symbols of patriarchy insist that men earn this prize and women keep it. Sex as a gendered transaction is dangerous. Because they find self-worth in possessing the sex object, many men have abused and commodified women. Language is one of many factors that cause sexual violence. Diction influences action.
In both speaking and writing, "to have sex" feels wrong or inadequate. Sometimes, it's the most acceptable phrase. But "having sex" makes awkward writing. Sometimes, only "fucking" works.
"Fuck" is a beautiful word. It's mildly shocking and taboo, but still comforting and familiar. "Fuck," like what it signifies, is universal, even if it doesn't belong in polite conversation. "Sex" ends on an "x." The word constricts its speakers, cuts short. "Fuck" is an expression. It can be the sudden outburst of a stumbling pedestrian or the drawn-out sigh of a student remembering an assignment. According to Woody Allen, "Sex releases tension; love causes it." Let's revise that: "sex" makes you inhale; "fuck" lets you exhale.
Linguistic and semantic details may seem insignificant, but words structure our societies and define our identities. The most common words often hit the hardest. When writing, I struggle with third-person pronouns. "He," "she," "s/he" or "they" can affect an entire paper. Language is identity. Words let us find and express ourselves. No intercourse is isolated—language and sexuality are related processes of self-discovery—social context creates meaning, and words create context.
"Fuck" is egalitarian. "He" can fuck "her," "she" can fuck "her" or "we" can just fuck. Even if we can't define "sex," we intuitively understand "fucking." It's the label that we need, and it defines itself. So forget about having sex. Control the language that controls you. Relish the verb, not the noun, the action, not the object and the fucking, not the sex. In the words of Afroman: "Fuck on the bed, fuck on the floor. Fuck so long you grow a fucking Afro."
- 6 days ago
Doing it wrong: Learning to ignore practicality in a liberal arts education
As students living in a time of relative crisis regarding the economy and employment, we are constantly reminded of how hopeless our post-college lives are bound to be. In fact, one of my professors basically told my classmates and me that we were better off taking online classes.
Those of us who don't major in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects are even further ridiculed for our "foolish" attitude regarding education. "You need to be more practical!" online blogs and our parents shout simultaneously. And sometimes, it's hard to explain or even justify our majors when they don't seem to lead to a specific career path.
We need to question what we even mean by practical. Is majoring in economics practical because it might lead to a lucrative career in finance, or because you will be able to learn from and question economic processes? Is a major in computer science practical because you want to list coding skills on your resumé, or because you want to learn a new way of understanding and organizing information? To value practicality in the first way is to take a liberal arts education for granted.
We are not lacking in intelligence or work ethic here at Bowdoin. What we lack is a sense of curiosity, enthusiasm and openness. You shouldn't come to Bowdoin with a fixed idea of what you want to study. Arguably, the reason schools like Bowdoin exist is to offer alternatives to a rigid approach to education.
We are lucky enough to have mobility in our studies. In my two and a half years here, I've taken classes in subjects ranging from oceanography to museum studies. While my parents seemed concerned that I didn't have a major until recently, I learned to revel in the confusion of seeing the world in different ways.
We have four years here to explore anything that piques our interest, and we are privileged enough to have amazing professors, facilities and peers to help us do just that. We shouldn't treat our education as just a means to a job or as just another section on our LinkedIn profile.
What makes us human are our abilities to consciously create and to think independently. When we prioritize doing what is expected of us and qualifying for a certain position, we aren't using our full potential at all.
Working hard and memorizing facts won't help us explore our intellectual capacities or think deeply.
On a different note, while students should feel encouraged to explore their options, educational institutions should be more accepting of those who don't fit the well-rounded mold. To expect someone to be a committed athlete, an excellent student, a musician and biology expert is asking too much. Perhaps some students fit this mold, but what about people who are just passionate about one thing? Why is it that schools want so badly for their students to be everything?
Once again, I must stress how unique our situation is at Bowdoin. Think of how few people in the world get to go to college, and out of them, how few go to liberal arts schools.
If you came to college to learn a skill and leave with a job offer, you came to the wrong school. There are plenty of technical schools that will do that for you for a lot less money.
If I'm not mistaken, we're here for something beyond that, which Bowdoin kindly outlines for us in the "Offer of the College:" "To be at home in all lands and all ages". That is an offer that means a lot, and you won't take advantage of it by sticking to a comfort zone of practicality and stressing out over a B+.
- 6 days ago
Home In All Lands: Improving the viability of the Amtrak Downeaster by expanding services
If you sit on the Quad around six on a cool evening, you'll hear the languid horn of the Amtrak Downeaster announcing its southbound departure. After half a century without rail service between midcoast Maine and Boston, passenger trains returned to Brunswick two years ago.Ridership on the Downeaster has increased steadily, exceeding Amtrak's expectations of 100 daily passengers from Freeport and Brunswick. However, I do not expect these figures to increase much until Amtrak expands its schedule as planned.
The Downeaster operates a limited schedule from Brunswick: the southbound train leaves early (7 a.m.) or late (6 p.m.). Northbound trains leave Boston at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The first departure south and the last departure north allow you to spend a full day in Boston, but the current schedule limits the possibility of an evening in the city.
The schedule hasn't changed over the last two years because of agreements between the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA), which operates the Downeaster on Amtrak's behalf, and Pan Am Railways, the company that owns the tracks. According to the NNEPRA, these agreements cap the number of daily trips at six, forcing the company run an empty trainbetween Portland and Brunswick twice per day.
These trips burn 45,000 gallons of fuel every year and leave a train idling near Union Street five hours every day. To mitigate the waste, the NNEPRA has proposed building a layover facility—essentially, a train garage—on tracks between Church and Stanwood Street in west Brunswick.
Trains stored in the facility would be switched off, eliminating the noise and air pollution caused by idling engines. Constructing the garage would also let Amtrak expand its daily service to Boston, thereby improving the Downeaster's viability.
Though the project seems simple enough, the layover facility plans are embroiled in a complicated dispute that involves local residents, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the NNEPRA and Governor Paul LePage. Some local residents, including Professor of History Patrick Rael, claim that the environmental impact of the layover facility was not properly assessed.
In a letter published in the Times-Record on 28 August, Rael criticized people who "wish the facility to be built regardless of whom it impacts, and how." But Rael isn't opposed to the train service itself. He supports Amtrak as "an alternative to carbon-heavy transportation modes such as cars." While I sympathize with Rael's muted pro-train attitude, he stands opposed to a project that is essential to preserving Amtrak service to Brunswick.
By contrast, Bob Morrison, the chairman of the Brunswick West Neighborhood Coalition, demonstrates open contempt for the train line. In an article published on seacoastonline.com, he attacked the Freeport-to-Brunswick segment of the Downeaster line and suggested that further investment in the service would be a waste of money because of low ridership. This is mistaken.
For one thing, the numbers aren't low. In an article in the Portland Press Herald on Monday, Tom Bell reported that Brunswick is the fourth-most popular station on the Downeaster route. An increase in services from Brunswick to Boston should increase ridership.
Emotions in west Brunswick have not gone unnoticed. In March, Governor LePage intervened, calling on the Federal Rail Administration to require the NNEPRA to undertake further environmental assessments.
The governor's interventions reveal how LePage sees this as a political opportunity above all. He is using this local disagreement to portray himself as a defender of "the little man" against big government, all while using the tools of big government to hurt local businesses.
His actions have alarmed businesses in Freeport and Brunswick, where the train has proven important to local economic health.
"It is vital to our community that Amtrak be able to continue providing our only public transportation service," said Kelly Edwards, the executive director of Freeport USA, an organization that represents over 155 Freeport businesses. "The Downeaster service is an asset to [Freeport] and important to the future growth of our community."
In a letter sent to Governor LePage last month, the Brunswick Downtown Association (which represents nearly 300 businesses and individuals) wrote, "that further delay and disruption in improvements to NNEPRA services is harmful to local businesses, the Town of Brunswick and the region."
The issues raised by the facility's opponents shouldn't be sidestepped, but it's galling to see how the governor and some of the residents ignore the economic benefits that come with an increase in Amtrak services. With an increase in investment and improvements in infrastructure—such as the construction of the layover facility—can help build the future of railway travel in America.
- September 19
Editorial: Figuring economic diversity
Last week the New York Times' data-driven blog, The Upshot, published an index of "The Most Economically Diverse Top Colleges" in which Bowdoin performed only slightly above average. The index was based on two statistics for each school—the percentage of students who receive federal Pell grants and the net price paid by students whose households earn between $30,000 and $48,000 per year.
According to the index, 13 percent of Bowdoin students recieved Pell grants betweeen 2012-2014. Since students who come from households that make less than $60,000 a year usually qualify for the Federal Pell Grant Program, examining the percentage of students who are Pell recipients helps measure the number of low- and lower-middle class students that colleges enroll. Despite having the 17th highest endowment-to-student ratio of schools in the index, Bowdoin is tied for the 66th highest percentage of students who are Pell grant recipients. The Upshot index, however, ignored the distinction between colleges like Bowdoin, which meet 100 percent of demonstrated need without loans for all students, and schools that include loans in their financial aid packages. David Leonhardt, a creator of the index, acknowledged that giving so much weight to Pell grants minimizes the impact of middle incomes on economic diversity. Bowdoin is more attractive to middle class students than most other schools in the country, since it provides financial aid to a wider spectrum of students.
Since 2009 Bowdoin has not included any loans in the financial aid packages it awards to the approximately 48 percent of students who receive aid. This means that while the College may not enroll as many Pell grant recipients as say, Susquehanna University, it makes a Bowdoin education affordable for students from households that earn too much money to qualify for Pell grants, and too little to pay full tuition. Susquehanna scores in the top-10 of the index despite billing low-income students (as defined by The Upshot) $9,100 more per year than Bowdoin does. The index shows that dozens of schools enrolls more students who qualify for Pell grants than Bowdoin. However, it obscures Bowdoin's commitment to making college affordable for students at all income levels.
The Upshot points out that applicants from the lowest-income households are not making their way into Bowdoin's student body. This is largely a problem of outreach. Talented students from low-income communities often do not realize that elite schools can be affordable, or that places like Bowdoin exist at all.
The College made a brave decision to do away with loans in the depths of a recession and has continued to prioritize aid in difficult economic circumstances. The Presidential Search Committee recently reiterated that Bowdoin "believes firmly that it must offer opportunity to talented students across the entire economic spectrum, including first-generation college students." Many talented students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, never receive that opportunity—and often it is simply because they do not know to apply. We commend the College for making Bowdoin tuition more affordable for students across the economic spectrum, but ask that it expands its efforts to recruit applicants from that spectrum's lowest end.
- September 19
Left of lipstick: Removing the stigma around abortion
My friend Jillian is passionate about sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. Around our third or fourth glass of wine something set her off. "Anyone who is at risk should get tested. I don't care if you think you're OK. I don't care if you think you're probably fine because you used a condom with that rando. I don't care if you've only ever slept with one person. Get tested."
I sipped in shame, trying to remember if I had ever been tested. Maybe I got tested the last time I went to the doctor? Maybe I'm telling myself that so I feel less guilty when I see the health center's "get yourself tested" signs?
I made an appointment for a few days later. I pulled into the parking lot of Planned Parenthood and hesitated. Maybe I should have just waited to get back to Bowdoin where everyone else in the waiting room would be 18-22 and well-educated and nobody would give me a once-over trying to guess if I was there to have an abortion. But I could hear Jillian in my head ("Just get tested!") and I wanted to get it out of the way over the summer—so into the real world I went.
The thing about the Planned Parenthood waiting room is that you can make no assumptions. I looked around trying to guess who was there for the Big Day and who was there for routine maintenance.
My list of criteria: Is the woman alone with or with a partner? What's her apparent age? Does she look nervous?
But as I thought about all the scenarios in which a woman would get an abortion, my criteria seemed inappropriate.
I probably fit one mold. I'm young, career-bound and unmarried. Were the other people in the waiting room looking around and sizing me up? My palms began to sweat and a moment later the bottoms of my feet joined the party.
Judging by their body language, most people in the room were not there for abortions—unless you have a loud conversation about who's going to pick up the kids from day care before you have an abortion. Or maybe that's exactly what you would do. Like I said, you can't make assumptions—it's a lesson I wish my congressman, Representative Andy Barr, would learn.
Earlier in the summer he publicly denounced Planned Parenthood as an "abortion factory."
The minutes trickled by in the waiting room. My back got sore; I scrolled through Twitter. I guess they were understaffed.
Finally the nurse called my name. After a moment of confusion with a woman named Juleighah, which sounds an awful lot like Julia to the untrained ear, I followed the nurse into a small, windowless room.
"How many partners have you had in the last year?"
"Uhhhh," I counted on my fingers. "I know it shouldn't be this hard...X!"
"Have you had unprotected sex?"
"...yes." (It's OK—I have an IUD!)
"Have you ever had unprotected oral sex?"
"...yes." (Who uses condoms for oral sex anyways? Maybe I would know to do that if I had ever had an actual sex education class.)
Text to Katherine: "Nothing like talking about your sex life with a health care professional to make you feel like a slut."
The nurse and I finished in the windowless room, and she promised to call me if the results were positive: no news was good news.
I left the clinic, exhaled and felt my shoulders slide back down from up by my ears. My thoughts raced as I drove home.
The stigma around abortion is part of a general stigma around sexual health and can prevent people from seeking any care at all. Many people just don't know that clinics offer a wide spectrum of health services and serve everyone, regardless of age, gender or sexuality.
Additionally, abortion is a medical procedure and should be treated as such. The decision to end a pregnancy is a complicated and difficult one, but it should not be looked upon differently than any other medical decision.
My relatively mundane experience was almost prohibitively stressful, and I experienced the milder end of abortion-suspicion stigma.
The anxiety would have been hugely magnified had there been protesters. A friend who worked at a Planned Parenthood this summer told me that the staff there is trained to mitigate the trauma inflicted by protesters before addressing patients' needs.
The work of removing the stigma from abortion goes beyond identifying as pro-choice. We need to have conversations with each other and with our mothers and with their friends.
One in three American women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Not only does the taboo surrounding abortion isolate and silence these women, but it also creates a barrier to accessing sexual health services.
I got home and shoved a pamphlet on healthy sexual relationships into my purse as I walked up the back steps.
"Hi honey, you're home late— where were you?" my dad asked.
"Oh, I was just out running some errands." Like hell I was going to tell my dad I had been at Planned Parenthood—what would he think?
- September 19
Letter to the editor: Vote yes on Question 1
To the editors:
I've never seen myself as a political person. When I heard that our state is the very last one to still allow bear trapping, hounding and baiting, I felt a lot of embarrassment—this is not "the way life should be."
These practices are unnecessary and cruel. I'm speaking up to support a "Yes" vote on Question 1 and to tell my fellow Mainers how much I want to see cruelty banned and fair chase restored.
Last year, my friends and I began volunteering for this cause, gathering signatures for the ballot. It was a really energizing and rewarding experience! Now that Question 1 is on the ballot, there's even more to do to get ready for Election Day. If you haven't, I encourage you to visit www.YesOnQuestion1.com/Volunteer and sign up to volunteer today. Please vote YES on Question 1.
Thank you,Susan Baker-Kaplan
- September 19
Doing it wrong: Crises in cultural identity reflect past and present injustices
One of the three essay topics in Bowdoin's supplement to the Common Application has to do with the applicant's connection to a place. I have always felt connected to the city I grew up in, but being a person of color who is constantly asked "where I'm from" (whatever that means), I always felt as though I was supposed to be connected to somewhere else.
This summer, I took a trip with my parents to Puerto Rico, where my paternal ancestry supposedly lies. I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with my great-grandmother, stay in the house her late husband built, and look through photos of my older family members in their youthful prime. I met so many people who told me fantastical tales of my family that I felt like I was in a Gabriel García Márquez novel.
Yet I have felt uneasy with the idea that I am "from" this place. Looking at the different shades of my family members, I have wondered how far back I would have to go in our lineage to figure out if we were related to the colonists or the colonized, the enslaved or the slave owners? It probably wasn't just one or the other.
As a child growing up in a racist society, I wanted to hinder my color. I wanted to seem as white as possible. I used to rationalize to myself that because I was a relatively "lighter" person of color, I was probably more related to Spaniards than African slaves or Taino Indians. And that made me feel better about my identity. I obviously now realize how backwards and screwed up this mentality was. But this state of mind still exists in many communities, and its remnants within me are troubling.
As I've matured, I have come to accept and embrace my identity as a person of color and mixed ethnicity to the point that I resent the colonial history of the places I am from. It disturbs me that the name of my great-grandfather's hometown in is a Spanish name, that I have to speak the language of conquistadors, and that my mother follows a Christian religion which was violently imposed on her ancestors. These circumstances are not just facts of history, they are also incidents of trauma. And the trauma did not end after Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America gained their "independence."
I don't know the facts and figures of the Puerto Rican economy. I've heard that it's relatively "high income." But it is still a place with poor masses—men selling mangoes on every block, beggars outside of Walgreens, and people working odd jobs to make ends meet. People exoticize this tiny island; tourists fly in and stay at resorts and never really understand the reality of the place. It is important to realize that other countries are not your playground nor your charity case—they deserve the freedom to be autonomous entities.
Things in Puerto Rico are not cheap. Gas is expensive and fresh produce is especially pricey. Fast food is everywhere and people readily support those establishments.
The Westernization of the island is especially disturbing because of how easily it is accepted. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth and, the way I see it, it is practically as colonized as it was when the Spaniards were in control. The people of Puerto Rico are used as a vehicle for Western interests. I couldn't feel the strong connection to this island that I always yearned for when I visited because I was born in a place that profits from and actively contributes to its poverty and idleness.
What is necessary in places like Puerto Rico is recognition of how the people have been wronged throughout history. So many countries cannot sustain themselves in this world economy because none of what they produce is for themselves. Puerto Ricans are made to feel grateful that they can freely enter the U.S., but don't realize that they sacrifice so much freedom in their own country.
The processes of exploitation, racism and colonialism do not go away with time. We don't live in a post-racial or post-colonial society. We still live in a society that is designed to make the historically underprivileged fail. Those issues will become undone with honesty and dialogue, with a realization that things must change with thoughtful action.
- 6 days ago
DeRay McKesson '07 participates in 'principled protesting' in Ferguson
Just after midnight on August 16, DeRay McKesson '07 was at home in Minneapolis, watching TV coverage of the protests in Ferguson, Mo., when he decided he needed to be part of them. McKesson rented a car the next morning and made the nine-hour trip to Ferguson. He planned on protesting for two days, but ended up taking a full week off from work and staying for nine days.
The protests began on August 9 when police officer Darren Wilson, who is white, shot and killed Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man who was unarmed at the time. Police claim that Brown assaulted Wilson, but numerous witnesses offer conflicting accounts. Several witnesses describe seeing Brown raise his hands above his head just before Wilson fired the shots that proved fatal, an image that inspired one of the protestors' mantras: "Hands up, don't shoot."
McKesson, who works for the Minneapolis public school system, said that as someone who works in education, he was immediately struck by one stark reality of Brown's death.
"There are a lot of great things we can do for kids around opportunity, especially kids from low-income communities," he said. "But you have to be alive to learn."
The protests focused on racial inequality and police discrimination against black Americans."It is centrally about the idea that black lives matter and that Michael Brown's blackness is not enough for him to be perceived as a deadly threat," said McKesson, who is black. "Ferguson is a case study in systemic, structural racism."
McKesson said that a wide range of people took part in the protests. He heard children there asking their parents why Brown was killed and whether or not they should be afraid of the police.
"It was an experience to see parents have to remind their kids that they are worthy members [of society]," McKesson said.
According to McKesson, young adults at the protests thought that they could find themselves in Brown's position.
"At night in a hoodie, I'm another Trayvon Martin. I am not a Bowdoin grad—I'm a black guy in a hoodie," he said. "I understand that my blackness is how people experience me first sometimes, for better or for worse, and that's real."
Amidst the upheaval that marked his days in Ferguson, McKesson said he was surprised and happy that his time in Ferguson was, as he put it, "a Bowdoin moment." He spent his first nights in the area on the couch of Ivy Blackmore '07. He bumped into Priya Sridhar '07, who was covering the protests for the Associated Press, Will Donahoe '08, who was protesting, and Kristina Goodwin '10, who was providing legal aid.
Ferguson schools were closed for a few days during the protests, so volunteers taught children at the local library. McKesson was among them, as was Ross Jacobs '10.
"It was powerful to see the College's commitment to the social good play out in such a natural way," McKesson said.
McKesson began to document the protests via Twitter because he was frustrated that the media—distracted by the shocking optics of the police response—had forgotten the purpose of the demonstrations, which he referred to as "principled protesting."
Local authorities policed the protests using armored vehicles, hundreds of officers in riot gear, tear gas and rubber bullets. McKesson said the enormity of the police presence was incredible, and that the situation was often terrifying. He once found himself caught between two tear gas canisters. On another night he hid from law enforcement by crawling beneath the steering wheel of his car.
"I never thought in America that I would run and hop fences because I thought police were going to shoot me when I didn't do anything wrong," he said.
Despite his fear, McKesson said he always remained committed to the cause.
"You continue to protest because you believe," he said. "You believe that what's right outweighs the fear for your own safety."
McKesson said that the scale of the police response speaks to the protesters' concerns with racial inequality and structural racism.
"What the police presence does in Ferguson is immediately criminalize blackness," he said. "The assembly of black people is immediately a criminal moment that requires every police officer in the area."
The media's attention has drifted away from Ferguson, but McKesson's has not. He has returned several times and helps write a daily newsletter about the protest movement at hashtagferguson.org
McKesson said that his experiences in Ferguson have not made him more cynical, but that they have made him more vigilant.
"It was a reminder of the obligation to defend and protect democracy—the concept and reality of democracy—on all fronts," he said. "There are more Fergusons in America."
- 6 days ago
Behind the Name tag: Bringing ideas to reality in Searles
From Learning Glass—a high tech demonstration tool used for online videos—for the economics department, to a revolving chair for the art department, days in Searles room 20 are anything but ordinary with mechanics Robert Stevens and Benjamin King. When members of the Bowdoin community go to them with their blueprints, Kind and Stevens build them into reality—and then some.
"[We] always try to find something that will do a little bit better than [what] they ask for," said Stevens.
Born in Massachusetts and raised in Woolwich, Maine, King grew up loving mechanics. "I've always had kind of an interest in this sort of thing," said King, "My father was a physicist, and was a very hands-on kind of guy. He was at MIT, and I used to go hang out at his lab and that's where I started making stuff. I enjoyed the work."
He has been working at Bowdoin for five years and currently resides in Bath. Stevens held a number of different jobs before coming to Bowdoin.
After graduating from Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute into 1972, he was drafted into the Navy. After his tour of duty, he worked at Bath Iron Works for six months before being laid off, and from there he went to the Pejepscot Paper Mill as a mechanic. When he heard about an opportunity at Bowdoin he applied and got the job.
"It was the right place for me because I like the idea of being able to develop designs of my own making, and this place allows me to do that." said Stevens.
Stevens has been working at Bowdoin since 1978 and currently lives in Harpswell, Maine. Stevens and King take their jobs very seriously. Every project must be thought out precisely so that Bowdoin is not held liable.
"If somebody comes in here I have to be careful," said Stevens, "With the revolving chair, I saw liabilities mixed in. There are some things you may say, 'I don't feel comfortable doing [this].'"
King and Stevens have many other interests beyond the campus as well. Stevens enjoys going on five-mile walks to get rid of stress and is currently building a house. One of his favorite things to do is to spend time with his grandchildren and find innovative, if not old-school, ways to bond with them.
"They can at least hammer nails and do something that isn't working with digital stuff."King loves to engage in outdoor activities like paddling and hiking, and has a great love for motorcycles. He credits his dad for this passion and collects antique motorcycles. In his free time he loves to read short fiction stories, and his newest adventure is mountain biking.
"I just recently got back into [mountain biking] to find that it's totally changed. The bikes are now ludicrously expensive and have all sorts of fantastic features."
Throughout their years of working on campus, Stevens and King have greatly appreciated their work, the people they have met, and the atmosphere of the College itself."I don't know quite how I lucked into arriving here," said King.
- 6 days ago
Mind the gap: First-years in fashion, farming and France
Not all students come to Bowdoin immediately after being admitted. Some take time between high school and college—often referred to as a gap year—to advance their education or gain experiences outside of traditional schooling. This is the first in a series of columns that will profile these students and their experiences between high school and arriving at Bowdoin.
Half French and half Chinese-American, Alessandra Laurent moved to Taiwan after living in Los Angeles during middle school. Having lived and studied in both the United States and Taiwan, Laurent decided to spend her gap year experiencing life in France and connecting to that part of her family's heritage.
"The idea was to live in that context for a year and understand that part of my identity," Laurent said.
Laurent chose to study in a pre-college prep program with other secondary school graduates studying to pass exams allowing them entrance into France's top universities. While she was fluent in French prior to studying in Paris, Laurent found the tasks of writing analytical papers and reading literature in French difficult.
"The whole educational philosophy was really different and foreign to me" said Laurent. "In writing essays, the whole format of the way you construct an argument is different—the way they think about arguing anything is different."
After assimilating to the French educational system, Laurent has found the transition back to American academics challenging.
"I just had to write my first paper [at Bowdoin] recently and I was like, 'wait, how do I go about this?'" said Laurent. "I've gotten used to defining every single term and analyzing every single notion and organizing it more in the French way."
Elena Mersereau '18 also took a gap year, but unlike Laurent, she was not entirely sure of where she would go or what she would do. Originally from Brunswick, Maine, Mersereau decided she needed to see more of the world before starting college.
"I probably wouldn't have ended up at Bowdoin if I hadn't taken a gap year. I think it was really necessary for me to get out of Brunswick before I came back for four years," she said.Mersereau began her gap year in New York City, working as a fashion design intern in the Garment District and later on the Upper East Side.
"I've always been interested in art and fashion and that whole world," said Mersereau, "It sounds very glamorous to be a fashion design intern."
After a few months, however, Mersereau realized her work in the industry wasn't as fulfilling as she had hoped.
"At the end of the day, I realized I didn't feel very good about what I was doing," she said. "I need to [have] a career that I feel good about and that I can see is reaching people in positive ways."
So Mersereau changed her course. Leaving the bright lights of the New York fashion world, she spent four months traveling through New Zealand working as an organic farmer.
Mersereau first learned about World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) at the Bowdoin 2017 Admitted Students Weekend. She met a current student who told her about WWOOF. Although she can't remember his name, she does remember that he wore Vibram FiveFingers Shoes.
Mersereau has never spoken to this student since, but she would like him to know that he changed her life.
After backpacking through New Zealand working on dairy farms and picking hazelnuts, Mersereau has become interested in organic living. She hopes to continue this pursuit in the Bowdoin Organic Garden.
While Mersereau was nervous starting her first year at Bowdoin—worried she wouldn't remember how to do school work—she thinks that her experiences have aided her transition into college life.
"I feel like I have things to offer to people and I have a story to tell, more so than I would have if I had come right out of high school," she said.
Laurent also believes her gap year helped to prepare her for living at Bowdoin, a small residential community.
"It gave me a year to learn how to be independent before I came to college," she said.However, Laurent says that her gap year experience has given her a different perspective from those of her peers in the Class of 2018.
Mersereau has noticed that her experience during her gap year has set her apart from her fellow classmates.
"It's been harder to find people who I connect with because people straight out of high school have a different perspective and a different expectation for college than I do," she said.Overall though, both students were happy with their experiences, and glad that they made the decision to take a gap year.
"I feel a lot more confident now," said Mersereau, "More ready for the college experience."
- 6 days ago
Flipflop: a budget-conscious bottle
This week while shopping for our wine, we decided to go for cash instead of class. Completely avoiding the limited reserve section, we instead went straight for the cheapest Pinot Grigio we could find. And what a Pinot it was.
Our selection, a 2013 California Pinot Grigio, immediately caught our eye. Being the cheapest thing on the shelf, it wasn't surprising that the label looked like something you could have printed off Kid Pix in your free time if you still had your Mac from the early 90's on hand. It helpfully notes that the wine would pair well with bruschetta, spaghetti carbonara, or eggplant parmesan.
Also, it had a screw top. Given our past experience with corks, it was like manna from heaven when we didn't have to whip out our roommate's rabbit bottle opener.
The first thing that struck us was the nose. It was light, fruity and altogether pleasing, with delicious notes of peach and pear. In Brandon's view it was the best feature of the wine. While Brandon could waft this all day, Bryce was much more keen to drink it.
The taste itself really hit the palate as bright, crisp, and slightly effervescent. We noted that it had a nice balance between dryness and sweetness and could serve well as "champagne" for people who aren't willing to commit to the full bubbly. It also had a good mouthfeel—overall silky and a little weighty.
Pinot Grigio itself is actually an Italian clone of the Pinot Gris grape, which originated in Burgundy, France. The Pinot Grigio variety of the grape is typically harvested early in order to maintain some of the bright acidity so the wine isn't too overpowered by fruity notes. It is worthwhile to note that our wine is actually from California, but the variation in meaning is only slight. Pinot Gris from the Golden State is regularly called Pinot Grigio due to similarities to the Italian variety of grape.
Tart would be a word to describe this wine. Bryce enjoyed the acidity overall and thought it added a refreshing crispness. Any less and the sweetness may have been cloying. On the other hand, Brandon felt that it was a little too acidic and the grapes could have done a bit less the next time.
Flipflop is a good housewife wine. If you got hit hard by the recession, this is the wine for you. It's cheap, but still good enough to fill up your to-go mug several times over before dropping the kids off at soccer practice.
Also important to note is that this bottle is a Wine Enthusiast magazine Best Buy of 2011. Since our vintage is a 2013, we were a little skeptical, but nonetheless we thought we should look up the official review. Ranking it at a respectable 87/100 the "expert reviewer" noted many of the same characteristics that we found. We are not official sommeliers, but we enjoyed it too so everyone should just refer to us for our opinion on everything now.
Overall, Flipflop Pinot Grigio is not too sweet, not too dry, and very "fresh" in taste, but the acidity may off put some drinkers who are more partial to red.
When it comes down to it, however, this wine is a great deal for the price.
Additional NotesBrandon: "I'd rather sniff this wine all day than drink it. It's like inhaling a pear."Bryce: "Fruity. A wine you could get away with drinking before five." Nose: 4.5/5Body: 3/5Mouthfeel: 3/5Taste: 3/5 Get your hands, or feet, on some flipflop Pinot Grigio at Hannafords: $6
- 6 days ago
The joy of oysters at Glidden Point
Telling people you go to college in Maine is almost universally met with a stock set of responses. There is, of course, the crustacean-crazed relative who can only assume that Bowdoin Dining doles out lobster for not one, but every single meal. There is probably that friend from home who imagines your life as a rustic adventure among cottage classrooms and log-cabin dorms.
These friends and loved ones are unfortunately misinformed, and I do not doubt that many of you, like me, realized the faults of your inaccurate expectations after first arriving on campus. I would like to assure you, however, that those dreams are alive and well, hiding in plain sight. Where can one find this Maine of myth? So glad you asked!
All the excitement of Vacationland lies just off the highways and byways surrounding our beloved campus; you just have to venture out of the bubble. With the spirit of adventure and an empty stomach fueling my journeys, I will be a devoted guinea pig for any and all culinary quests that the area has to offer.
Whether you're reading a menu, perusing the grocery store, or shopping for outerwear, everyone knows that Maine is synonymous with quality. Though lobster, blueberries and L.L. Bean are usually the Maine exports that spring to mind, the state we all call home has another trick up its flannelled sleeve: oysters.
The Damariscotta River, just east of Brunswick, is home to a particularly sought-after variety of oyster, known for its distinctive briny flavor and full body. Now, if this description is already unappealing, then you're clearly not an oyster person.
Unlike most foods, which I would argue one can develop a taste for, there is a chance you may simply never feel mollusk mania, and that's okay. For those who either haven't tried oysters or already love the blessed bivalves, this oyster farm is the place to get the freshest oysters you'll ever taste. Their littleneck clams aren't too shabby either.
Located in the town of Edgecomb, the Glidden Point Oyster Farm is just that; a legitimate oyster harvesting operation that ships to numerous fancy raw bars across the country every day.
The property itself consists of three modest sheds near the Damariscotta River where oysters, clams and lobsters are stored and sold at wholesale prices.
In addition to a selection of shellfish, Glidden Point also sells the necessary tools for shucking your own mollusks—knives and protective gloves (strongly recommended)—as well as some branded merchandise to instantly enhance your Mainer credibility. If they're not too busy packaging orders for shipping, the oyster farmers themselves will even take the time to teach you the art of shucking, which is really not as difficult as people tend to believe.
After a short tutorial, you can shuck to your heart's content and throw back oysters and clams at an outdoor picnic table. From eating on the coastline to the owners' thick Maine accents, the atmosphere at Glidden Point is a lot like the no-frills, all-quality lobster roll experience that we Polar Bears know and love at Libby's Market.
If Maine living is "the way life should be," then Glidden Point is the way oysters should be eaten. After you try it, you'll understand that raw bars are just overpriced imitations of the ultimate oyster experience available in Midcoast Maine.
If you're lucky enough to have a car, oyster heaven-on-earth is just a 40-minute drive away (east on Route 1). For vehicle-deprived students like myself, recruiting a ride shouldn't be too difficult when the driver's compensation comes fresh on the half-shell.
On Sunday, September 28 the town of Damariscotta is hosting the Pemaquid Oyster Festival from noon to dusk, featuring live music, river cruises and every preparation of oysters imaginable. Should you choose to attend this Sunday, keep an eye out for me. I'll be the guy sitting by a mound of empty shells with a goofy grin on his face.
- September 19
A Bowdoin groundskeeper finds support in his fight with ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—a disease that gained worldwide attention this summer thanks to a viral fundraising campaign—has garnered particular attention in Brunswick and at Bowdoin. Grounds Coordinator Kirk Favreau is living with the disease.
In recent months, ALS has received attention thanks to the "Ice Bucket Challenge," which has raised over $100 million for the ALS Association. ALS is characterized by the degeneration of motor neurons which can cause difficulty moving, speaking, breathing and swallowing.
Thirty-thousand Americans have ALS, including Favreau, who was diagnosed with ALS in April of last year. The first symptom he experienced was foot drop (difficulty lifting the front part of his foot), and it eventually progressed to the point where ha could no longer heel walk. He visited the emergency room where they checked for a tumor on his spine—results were negative. It was after a visit to a neurologist that ALS was considered a possibility.
Favreau said of his conversation with the neurologist, "Without knowing anything about it, I was like, 'Oh, Ok, how do we take care of it?' And she just started shaking her head."
After multiple second opinions, blood tests, a spinal tap and treatment for another possible disease, the diagnosis was confirmed. It was definitely ALS. Favreau's legs are now very weak, and he must walk with the aid of crutches or by holding onto things around him—"furniture walking," he calls it. Favreau is working on outfitting his home with bars and other features to help him. He says Bowdoin has been very helpful by remodeling bathrooms so that he can access them, and moving his office downstairs for easier access.
Friends of Favreau's have also stepped up to help him. It was during one of their poker nights that Brenda Hale, her brother George, who works with Favreau, Kimberly Garlick and other friends first discussed fundraising options.
"Brenda was going to do it to help me out—being a friend,"
Favreau's supporters have now planned multiple projects to raise money for his healthcare expenses, most notably a partnership with Buck's Naked Barbecue's bike night charity events and a wristband campaign.
In early September at the Walk to Defeat ALS, in Portland, Hale and Garlick approached Todd Sanders, a bike night organizer and an old friend of Hale's, about doing an event for Favreau. It is now scheduled for October 15.
Hale expects significant proceeds from the raffles and auctions at Buck's Naked Barbeque, and says the wristbands have also been popular.
They initially ordered 800 of the bracelets and Hale said that if they run out, they are ready to buy more. The blue and white tie-dyed wristbands read, "Kirk Favreau's Fight Against ALS." They cost three dollars and many customers have paid more than asking price to support Favreau.
Donations to big organizations often go toward helping fund operational costs instead of toward research. While some are hesitant to donate at first, once they realize all proceeds are going directly to Favreau, they are more inclined to help.
Various vendors in the area are already selling wristbands, including Libby's Market, a favorite among Bowdoin students and Brunswick residents.
Dan and Tina Libby, the owners of the deli, have been close friends with Favreau, whom they inexplicably call "Belvedere," for over two years. He comes in every morning at 5:40a.m. for what the Libbys call his "daily shot of oatmeal," and has since become a beloved fixture of the market—he even has his own table there.
"He's got one of those sincere belly laughs that's contagious," said Tina Libby.
Libby's started selling the wristbands in early September. Their sales raised over $800 in a matter of days.
The Libbys have been able to personally observe the rapid progression of Favreau's ALS. According to the couple, it is now evident that he has trouble walking and must plan out each step he takes.
Dan Libby feels as though he has known Favreau since they were children. Witnessing his friend's illness has changed his perspective on many things.
Recently, when Favreau asked Libby to help him fix his roof, Libby took care of it. However, in hindsight Libby wishes he would have handled the situation differently.
"Looking down, I knew I had made a mistake," he said, "[I] should have helped him onto the roof. It would have been the last time he could have done it."
Along with raising money for Favreau, the Libbys aim to use their presence in Brunswick to increase awareness for ALS.
"It's not until something strikes someone you know that your awareness goes up," said Tina Libby. "[Kirk] just has such a way of touching people to their core, and he really makes you think."
Dan and Tina Libby are cherishing the opportunity to make more memories with their friend. Due to this summer's activism, Favreau's diagnosis comes at a significant moment in the history of the ALS community.
"It's very strange for it to be so public right now, now that they diagnosed me with it," said Favreau. "But I think it's great—there's people who go to bed trying to work on a solution every day, and they wake up thinking about it. At one o'clock today someone could say, 'Oh wow, there's a cure!'"
Favreau, for his part, is continuing to work and enjoying and the energy of the students around him.
"I've been here nineteen years and the students never get any older," he said, "I think I've discovered the fountain of youth."
- September 19
INFOGRAPHIC: Heat to be turned on next week, a look at the statistics
- September 19
INFOGRAPHIC: Percentage of students with Pell Grants 2012-2014
- September 19
Local farm offers students a perspective on rural life
Most people on campus know Mike Woodruff as the director of the Bowdoin Outing Club. What some people may not know is that he and his wife, Lucretia Woodruff, also own and operate the local Milkweed Farm.
The couple originally lived in Phippsburg, Maine, but hoped to find a piece of land closer to Brunswick where they could work more closely with the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities.
"We really liked it out there, but we wanted to do more farming, grow more food," said Mike Woodruff. "So we found this beautiful piece of land, and we decided we would buy that."
Milkweed Farm, which occupies ten acres of land, has been in operation since 2005. The farm is supported through the sale of community-supported agriculture (CSA) shares. At the beginning of each season, the Woodruffs sell about 75 of these shares to local residents, who then recieve produce once a week for 18 weeks.
Lucretia Woodruff is the lead farmer at Milkweed, where she handles day-to-day operations like vegetable production and animal care, and oversees all apprentices.
Around a dozen individuals from Brunswick work between two to four hours a week to pay for part of their shares. The Woodruffs have also hired multiple Bowdoin students over the past few years, including Adam Berliner '13 and Clare Stansberry '14.
"I worked the summer after my sophomore year," said Berliner. "I knew that Mike had a farm and I was looking for something to do over the summer, so I called Lucretia."
As an apprentice, Berliner lived in a tent on the farm and worked a multitude of tasks."The job was everything from planting to weeding to harvesting to watering. They also had a bunch of animals. So we fed and watered those, and then processed them," Berliner said.Stansberry, who worked at the farm during the summer after her sophomore and senior years, said her opportunity to work at the farm came at the perfect time.
"After my sophomore year at Bowdoin I was kind of in that classic position where you really have no idea what you want, but you've been told to get an internship," said Stansberry. "I went to Adam and he suggested, 'Oh you should talk to Mike.'"
Stansberry took a year off from farm work after her initial summer, but returned when the Woodruffs asked her to expand upon what she had started.
"I was talking to Lucretia because I had a CSA share from her. She asked, 'How would you feel about coming back next year and taking a bigger role in the farm?' I ended up going back to the farm this summer doing more independent work," said Stansberry.
Stansberry feels that one of the most unique aspects of Milkweed Farm and other local farms is the sense of community and awareness that they foster.
"I think it's important that people care about the food they're eating and the people they're getting it from," said Stansberry. "It's really easy for us to be blind to how hard it is to grow things."
Likewise, Berliner says he gained much more than job experience from his time at Milkweed."The whole process of starting something in the springtime as a little seed in the ground and then actually eating it a few months later is pretty awesome," Berliner said.
As Milkweed functions as a full farm with both vegetables and livestock, it continues to grow into a respected feature of the Brunswick community.
According to Mike Woodruff, the farm grows "every vegetable known to man that grows in the northeast." The farm's website lists over 70 vegetables, many of which have more that one variety.
He added, "We raise hogs. We raise turkeys for Thanksgiving. We have chickens for eggs, and some beef as well. And we have a milk cow, but that's for personal consumption."
Stansberry recalled her acute awareness to the presence of the cows on the farm. She remembers starting her work at 5:50 a.m. with "the cow screaming—not like mooing, like an elephant trumpeting."
As autum and winter approach, Milkweed will adapt; adding operations such as making and selling pies.
"We have an offseason for the vegetables," said Lucretia "But we still work on the farm every day."
The Woodruffs and their children will continue to live on the farm year-round, growing sustainable, community-supported products.
- September 19
Oxbow brewery: The hidden gem of coastal Maine
About 45 minutes up the coast, in bucolic Newcastle, Maine, sits Oxbow Brewery. Nestled off a wooded road with only a sign bearing the Oxbow logo—an owl encircled in an oblong "O"—to signify that anything lies beyond the dense trees, you're likely to pass by the brewery's entrance.
You almost have to know what you're looking for. You can plug the address into your GPS, drive up the coast, and park your car in the lot (well, in packed-dirt spaces beside a woodshed), but the uncertainty as to whether or not the place really exists only really dissipates when you approach the bar and see that, yes, there's beer being sold.
Perhaps this is why Oxbow brands itself as making "loud beer from a quiet place." You might not expect that a small, unassuming old farmhouse like Oxbow is in the habit of making funky, innovative and wild creations. And yet they totally are.
Scoring a wopping 98/100 on BeerAdvocate.com Oxbow makes world class farmhouse ales that showcase a range of flavor and complexity, and demonstrate the American spirit of invention and creativity.
Oxbow refers to itself as an "American Farmhouse Brewery". While this is ostensibly a nod to the fact that the brewery is literally situated in an old, retrofitted farmhouse, it really refers to the style of beer it brews.
Farmhouse beers are most closely associated with Belgian-style beers—also known as "Saisons,"—which are currently benifiting from a major revival among beer-makers and drinkers.
After nearly going extinct, the Belgian brewery Brasserie Dupont almost singlehandedly revived the style with its internationally coveted "Saison Dupont." (Definitely buy it if you find it on a shelf somewhere. It's worth the extra few dollars and you get a big fancy bottle.)As its near extinction would suggest, Saison is an old timey, traditional style of beer. Farmhouse beers originated when farmers began brewing them in the winter months so that they'd have some sudsy libations available during the summer months.
In terms of character, Farmhouse ales are mighty beers with a lot of body and flavor, designed to last through the winter and still be refreshing when opened.
While most Saisons exhibit yeasty and spicy qualities and a smooth, medium bodied mouth-feel, they also have a traditionally loose style, often taking on a range of characteristics. They can accommodate lots of intentional variations on the part of the brewers, which makes them well-suited to experimentation and creativity.
Perhaps this is why American brewers like Oxbow have taken advantage of the style. This kind of stylistic flexibility that aligns itself perfectly with the very American propensity to innovate within traditional parameters, with a penchant for big, ambitious beers. Or, to use Oxbow's language, loud beers.
Oxbow makes one flagship beer year-round—The Farmhouse Pale Ale— and luckily, it's relatively easy to find on tap in the mid-coast region. Farmhouse Pale Ale is of the breweries tastiest offerings and probably one of its more conservative ales (its flavor is closest to that of a traditional Saison). The beer pours a cloudy beeswax color, with a yeasty, earthy nose. Take a big sip, and it's toast with marmalade: big bready flavors with a cutting, citrusy tartness. Sure, have it for breakfast.
Oxbow also has two perennial rockstars available right now: Loretta and Grizacca. Loretta is a subtly earthy, mildly citric, lighter drinking beer.
But my favorite is definitely Grizacca. Tongue-squeezingly tart, this beer showcases big amounts of grapefruit, lemon and floral notes on top of a solid caramel malt base. You can definitely taste the American hoppiness in this one, although it doesn't compromise its Belgian roots. Belgian IPA lovers will go crazy for it.
Oxbow also does a series of one-offs. They call it the "Freestyle Series". When I visited the brewery, I had the piney and grapefruit-y East Coast IPA ('Freestyle No. 26') which had some distinctive mandarin orange notes that set it apart from its peers.
Also available right now are two barrel aged beers, available for purchase at the brewery: Oxtoberfest and the Barrel Aged Farmhouse Pale Ale. These beers have been aged in barrels with brettanomyces, a wild yeast strain that lends a pleasant, mellow tartness. Now isn't the time to wander into wild beer territory, so just take my word for it: these two beers are awesome.
As I said, we are fortunate that the Farmhouse Pale Ale is pretty common around these parts. Frontier has it on tap, as well as a rotating tap dedicated other Oxbow seasonals. But for some of the others, I suggest you make your way up to Oxbow and explore for yourself.
Midway through your pint, you might find yourself having a conversation with the girlfriend of the person who brewed the beer you're drinking, like I did. Or, you might overhear a conversation between an older couple and the bartender about how they track Grizacca all over the state, and drove forty miles to finally visit the brewery itself.
At the risk of sounding sentimental, these intimate, spontaneous moments are very much a part of the promise that local craft beer makes. It is the promise of good beer, but more generally, the promise of an experience.
Arts & Entertainment
- 6 days ago
New exhibitions at Museum explore mythical lovers Cupid and Psyche
The Bowdoin College Museum of Art will debut three new exhibitions at the end of September. "Hendrick Goltzius: Mythology and Truth" and "Weaving the Myth of Psyche: Baroque Tapestries from the Wadsworth Atheneum" open on September 27, and "Alison de Vere: Psyche and Eros" opens on September 30. The shows, which encompass a range of mediums and time periods, all relate to the ancient myth of Psyche and Cupid, the story of a relationship between a princess and a god."[It is] one of the most beautiful love stories ever written," said the Curator of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art Joachim Homann. "It has always been recognized as such.""Hendrick Goltzius: Mythology and Truth" serves as an antechamber to the other two shows. Prints and a painting by the Dutch printmaker, publisher and painter line the walls. Goltzius, an active artist from the1580s to 1610s, used his art with varying levels of subtlety to comment on the political climate in Holland. At the time, the Dutch were fighting for independence from Spanish Habsburg rule in the Eighty Years War."His lines are what everybody's raving about, his ways of creating depth," said Homann. "People who care about printmaking recognize Goltzius as a master, who has achieved things that other people would not have attempted," said Homann.Goltzius' work is intricate and dense, but with a closer look, one can see the simple details that create the overall effect."It's also equally amazing to just look into the details and understand how they were created just with black lines and white paper," said Homann.The idea for the show came in large part from a 2009 donation made (posthumously) by Charles Pendexter, whose collection included many Goltzius prints. These, in addition to pieces loaned from the Princeton Museum of Art in New Jersey and the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire, come together to form a compelling exhibition.At the Museum, the smaller room of Goltzius prints transitions into a large space with high ceilings and salmon-colored walls that display "Weaving the Myth of Psyche: Baroque Tapestries from the Wadsworth Atheneum." These five French tapestries by the Flemish painter and designer Pieter Coecke van Aelst are incredibly rare and extremely valuable."I would imagine that it's the first time in Maine anybody has exhibited a tapestry cycle of that significance," said Homann. "It is really an opportunity to learn about a medium of art making that has never been featured in a show like this here."These works, based on Rafael's tapestries, which were destroyed during the French Revolution for their provocative—and even pornographic—nature, were the ultimate sign of wealth. Some even include gold and silver thread."In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the most important or most expensive furnishings were actually not paintings but tapestries," said Homann. "We often forget that because they are so rare."Van Aelst's tapestries have not just made an impact at Bowdoin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is featuring his work as well, and Homann is excited to learn from the Met's show and to add to the understanding of the tapestries at Bowdoin. The curator of the show at the Met, Elizabeth Cleland, will also come to speak at Bowdoin on October 22.The final new exhibit, "Alison de Vere: Psyche and Eros," will provide a visual aspect to the story of Cupid and Psyche and help further complement the tapestries in the previous room. The 26-minute animated film from 1994—closely related to "The Golden Ass" by the Roman author Apuleius—was made by de Vere. She is also well-known for helping design the Yellow Submarine film for the Beatles in 1967.These shows will allow Homann to share some of the Museum's incredible holdings with the Bowdoin community and beyond. Some smaller pieces from Bowdoin's permanent collection, including small vases, fragments, and figurines displaying Cupid and Psyche, will also be exhibited."Learning about [European art from the 16th and 17th centuries], I find that in the wintertime in Maine to contemplate and unravel the art of Goltzius and to immerse yourself in the tapestries is just one of the best ways of getting through winter," said Homann.Homann also believes that these shows may interest local textile artists. They also have particular relevance for art history courses and a new Mediterranean studies cluster funded by the Mellon Foundation."I really feel strongly that the Bowdoin community in particular needs to know about the collection and the Goltzius prints and the other donations by Charles Pendexter," said Homann. "[They] are an amazing resource for all of us to discover and enjoy, so I want people to take advantage of that.""Hendrick Goltzius: Mythology and Truth" and "Weaving the Myth of Psyche: Baroque Tapestries from the Wadsworth Atheneum" will be shown until early March, and "Alison de Vere: Psyche and Eros" until January 4.The two main exhibitions will be previewed at the Student Night at the Museum program on Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m.
- 6 days ago
Master printer Greg Burnet speaks about process, collaboration with Tuttle
On Tuesday night, master printer Greg Burnet talked about his experiences collaborating with printmaker Richard Tuttle to a receptive audience of students, faculty and community members. The prints that Burnet worked on are currently on display at the Bowdoin Museum of Art as part of a larger exhibition, "Richard Tuttle: A Print Retrospective." As a part of the Gallery Conversations hosted by the Bowdoin Museum of Art, Burnet spoke about his past as both an artist and a master printer, and how he came to work with Tuttle.As a master printer, Burnet is responsible for printing the physical images created by printmakers such as Tuttle. The individual printmaker comes up with the ideas and helps with small details, but the majority of the actual printing process is the work of a master printer like Burnet. This job requires him to "jump through a lot of hoops and be able to be technically 100 percent proficient," Burnet said. "But [it also helps to] have a good idea of what the artist is about within a couple days of working with the artist.""[Tuttle] really pushes the envelope of prints to look deceptively simple," said Burnet. Burnet also went into detail about the various methods used in making some of the pieces. He and Tuttle used material ranging from sandpaper and Tarleton—a mesh-like material—to acid and plastic barbed wire to create many of the more intricate designs. Tuttle and Burnet primarily use a printmaking technique called a la poupee, meaning "of the doll" in French. The technique involves applying different colored inks directly onto the etched surface of a copper plate before running it through a printing press. During his lecture, Burnet elaborated on the procedure behind specific prints and was able to pass around the original copper plates he and Tuttle used.Before becoming a master printer, Burnet, a native of Australia, was an aspiring painter. After art school he moved to London where he started looking for work. While in London, he was able to get a job reprinting Australian botanical flowers, a project he worked on for four years. He moved to New York City in 1991, he met Tuttle, and their collaboration began.Burnet and Tuttle have worked together on five of Tuttle's pieces: Line, Edge, Edges, Gold and Cloth, all of which are currently on display at the Bowdoin Museum of Art. Line, Edge, Edges and Gold each took a year to create, and Cloth took four years. Each is a series of prints that range from 13 to 16 individual pieces.Burnet currently owns his own studio in New York and has worked with various printmakers from Robert Mangold and Inka Essenhigh to Kiki Smith and Carroll Dunham. Burnet says he is always working with at least two or three artists at a time. Many of their prints can be viewed on his website burneteditions.com. Many students attending Tuesday's lecture were taking Printmaking I. Garreth Helm '18, a student in Printmaking I, said the lecture was interesting and thought-provoking and noted how much work goes into printmaking.Lizzy Takyi '17, who is also in Printmaking I, said "what he was saying, I could almost picture happening because we have been talking about using some of these materials,"Associate Professor of Art Michael Kolster also attended the lecture. "I didn't know what to expect before I came, so it was nice to see a master printer talk about process and have some insight as to how the pieces were made," said Kolster.Kolster said he also found the relationship between a printmaker and a master printer to be very intriguing."Tuttle is working in a way that is very gestural and also very inspired in the moment by what he discovers," he said. "Then the master printer has to, in essence, respond to that and be able to create a series of that spontaneity," Kolster said.The Richard Tuttle: A Print Retrospective exhibition will be on display in the Museum until October 19.
- 6 days ago
Snark Week: America: land of the privileged, home of the petulant
This summer, I spent a week in Ghana watching Mexican telenovas that had been re-dubbed in English in the film studios of Accra.My favorite soap was "Forever Yours," which played nightly at seven. Terrible things happened to the characters. There were miscarriages and disappearances and kidnappings and death. Often, when a child went missing or a woman contemplated suicide, my host grandma would sigh loudly, bemoaning the losses for these characters on the screen. Other times, she and her daughter Michelle would laugh loudly at the acting, glancing at me to let me in on the joke. During commercial breaks, we watched news coverage of the Ebola epidemic, or six minute animated PSAs detailing the spread of cholera through a rural area outside Accra, Ghana's capital city. In these ads, a man saved his village with clean water and salt.Once, we watched "Basketball Wives." Another time, I walked into their house to find an episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" playing on their small TV. I settled into my spot on the leopard print couch. Michelle handed me a tray with plantains and rice.On the TV, one of the contractors borrowed the family's surfboards and went down to the beach. He looked like a kid in his khakis and cap.I mushed the plantains on my plate, wondering what it was like to watch a Floridian McMansion be rebuilt by grown-ups pretending to be kids, while living behind a large gate on a potholed dusty street in the capital of a country where millions reside in shacks.I looked at the TV. "This is the worst of America," I said, while simultaneously WhatsApping my buddy from my new Android (purchased in a shack) and texting my mom from my iPhone. "Why's that?" said Michelle."They're going to have a surf room," I said. "For their surfboards. A room. Just for that."Michelle stared at me, then at TV (where the fat Floridians were gleefully jumping up and down in their too-small, too-colorful bathing suits), then back to me on her couch. "You play on your phones a lot," she said finally. "Are you done with your food?" In Ghana, I read "The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born," a Ghanaian novel about an unnamed railroad clerk too stubborn to take bribes. Now back at Bowdoin, I am reading "Jane Eyre," "The Great Gatsby" and "My Antonia." I'm surprised by the seriousness with which Mr. Rochester and the railroad clerk conduct themselves. In contrast, Jim Burden, Jay Gatsby, and Nick Carraway seem like kids sneaking up to the grown-up table. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott recently suggested that adulthood is dead. "It seems that, in doing away with patriarchal authority, we have also, perhaps unwittingly, killed off all the grown-ups," he wrote in the September 11 issue of New York Times Magazine.I think Scott has a point. But, if American adulthood is dead, maybe it always has been. Henderson, Ishmael, Humbert and Holden are childish, angsty, and scared. They're American in the best sense, bumbling and naïve and self-centered. Even Thoreau's 'deliberate living' resembles my little brother's plan to take a semester off from Williams to "be in the woods."Now, as I sit in my king size bed in Chambo, cradling a box of Lucky Charms and re-watching "The Mindy Project," I wonder why American adulthood appears to be dead, while Ghanaian adulthood seemed firmly intact. Sure, people in Ghana watched "Basketball Wives." But there seemed to be a seriousness with which they did it.My first day in Ghana, the program director stood before me in slacks and a bright linen shirt. "If you have allergies in Africa," he said, "you are dead by eleven."Maybe this has something to do with it.In Chambo, Mindy's theme song jingles. I root around in the cereal box, mining for rainbow marshmallows and turning all this over in my head. Maybe, I think, we as Americans are so comfortable that we've begun to resist safety—through wrecking balls and bad jokes and anacondas and rap; while Ghanaians—less safe—are forced to cling to the safety they do have, forcing them into the "adulthood" many of us have left behind.My phone rings. "You racked up a $400 phone bill during your one week abroad," my mom says."Childhood is a privilege," I tell her."Call Verizon," she says.
- 6 days ago
Hipster drivel: Perfume Genius' 'Too Bright' is unapologetically raw
"No family is safe when I sashay," announced Mike Hadreas, under the moniker Perfume Genius, this summer with the release of his brilliant, scintillating single "Queen." Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your hard-cover copies of the NAS report—because on his latest album "Too Bright," Hadreas emerges from his bedroom to prance saucily down the catwalk. His previous efforts, 2010's intimate "Learning" and 2012's intense "Put Your Back N 2 It," felt cloistered and claustrophobic, but "Too Bright" shines with a defiant radiance. In the past, voice cracking and spirit shaking, Hadreas sang about having an affair in high school with a teacher who then threw himself off a building. Now, still haunted, he offers no apology."I Decline," the record's opener, sets this tone with its lyrics of modest refusal. He describes an angel hovering overhead, arms extended in a welcoming embrace, warm smile plastered on its face. It's a nice image, but Hadreas is in no mood for otherworldly support. He considers the offer for a moment over spare piano chords, and finally murmurs, "that's all right. I decline." From this Majical Cloudz-like moment, Hadreas does an about face and channels his inner Freddie Mercury on "Queen." The power-chord thrust, tingling synths, and hip-shaking gutturals certainly recall Queen the band, but "Queen" the song retains Hadreas' trademark discomfiting lyrics. "Don't you know your queen?" he asks, no coincidence that it sounds very much like "don't you know you're queer?" Decay features prominently in "Too Bright." Internalized shame becomes corrosive, as Hadreas' damaged soul eats away at its cage. On "No Good," Hadreas wonders if he is "meant to fray to the end" as his body unravels, leaving no place to hang his heart. Not one to give in so easily, he turns the decay into a dare: "I wear my body like a rotted peach / You can have it if you can handle the stink." The spooky, spidery lurch of "My Body" makes it one of the best dance songs on the album, all the more when it explodes halfway through into the best synth pulse Depeche Mode never wrote.The true centerpiece of "Too Bright," however, is the soul-swinging, thumb-snapping ode to love-induced idiocy, "Fool." Hadreas croons to an anonymous lover about picking out a dress for the night, before flitting out of the room to dance. The song fades almost to silence before the synth grows stronger, and Hadreas lets out a swelling gasp of ecstasy, like a fool in love who can't believe his luck. He sounds more assured for the rest of the song, helped along by the sexy sputter of a sax, when he "does a little move...like a buffoon." At once self-deprecating and self-accepting, "Fool" showcases all of Perfume Genius' strengths: his evocative lyrics, impeccable arrangement, and tight sequencing. Most of all, it highlights just how powerful of a singer Hadreas is, his voice shimmering and glimmering, as much Jónsi as Antony. "Fool" is not only fluttery and precise, but also firm and proud, a balance Hadreas maintains perfectly throughout the album.On "Too Bright," Perfume Genius proves he is deserving of the eponym. He is able to distance himself from the camp of disco music while drawing on the aesthetic of othered musicians who turned the marginal mainstream. But Hadreas does not write gay anthems in the vein of the Village People. The introversion of being raised as the ugly duckling of chillwave's final brood still shows on "Too Bright." Like Youth Lagoon before him, Hadreas takes bedroom experiences and blows them up into arena-sized stories. If there's a manifesto for what "humanity" means in 2014, it's the message of this record—we're all a little hurt and a little beautiful. Hadreas claims he is "Too Bright," but we can't look away.
- 6 days ago
Portrait of an artist: Nikhil Dasgupta '16
There's more to Nikhil Dasgupta '16 than blazers, khaki pants and barber shop tunes. A member of Bowdoin's oldest a cappella group, the Meddiebempsters, Dasgupta has recently released an extended play (EP) recording."It might be a little precocious to call it that," said Dasgupta.Instead, he called the recording "more [of] just a collection of thoughts over the past years, so it's not like anything specific. It's more like what's been going on in my head."This summer Dasgupta and his roommate Zach Albert '16 decided to get into the studio together and record an alternative folk EP, which they plan to share with people who are interested in their music. Albert played the drums and Dasgupta played all the other instruments for the recordings.The Circus, Dasgupta's band at Bowdoin, mostly covers other bands, but also writes and performs some of its own original songs. The band consists of Dasgupta and Albert, as well as juniors Harry Rube, Chris MacDonald, Simon Moushabeck, and Shan Nagar.It all started two years ago with a group of friends who lived in same first-year dorm. "We got together and started playing," said Dasgupta.The band likes "doing [its] own interpretation of songs…like old rock [and] songs that are upbeat and would work at a party," said Dasgupta.Dasgupta has lived in many different places and went to high school at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India, but now calls Dover, Mass. his home.Currently a mathematics major, he plays guitar and has played piano since age eight.He decided to continue his musical journey all the way into college, and auditioned for the Meddiebempsters as a first year. Dasgupta said he likes the different approach the Meddiebempsters take to collegiate a cappella, which tends to be very pop-oriented. The Meddiebempsters instead incorporate old-fashioned barbershop arrangements, and Dasgupta said he enjoys getting to take a break from the music he hears elsewhere every day.His participation in the Meddiebempsters has defined his Bowdoin experience. All of his closest friends are from the Meddies, and Dasgupta finds it "musically very fulfilling as well."In the future, Dasgupta hopes to continue with music by working as a sound engineer or by working for a record label."I always wanted to go somewhere with it, [but] that probably doesn't mean playing in a band on stage," he said.Dasgupta said he loves the feeling he gets when performing on stage with his band."It's easy to feed off the audience getting really excited," he said."Some of the most fun I've had at Bowdoin has been on stage." Dasgupta says that performing with the Meddiebempsters is different because of the dynamic of the large group. "We are all sort of supporting each other in a sense," he said."It's like we are just hanging out and making jokes with ourselves and singing."Although Dasgupta's schedule can be hectic—with mathematics and computer science courses taking up much of his time—he enjoys keeping busy."It's dangerous for me to not have something to do," he said.
- September 19
Landscape painting class explores fall in Maine
This fall Bowdoin is offering a landscape painting course, in which students will have the opportunity to work in the open air at various locations. One of just a few courses at Bowdoin that takes students outdoors, it is taught by professional landscape painter James Mullen. The fall course is offered every two to three years.
"The weather in Maine is never more beautiful than in September and early October," said Mullen.
Although there are other visual arts classes that spend time outside, Landscape Painting focuses specifically on the unique setting of autumn in Maine.
In fact, that was the main reason Mariah Reading '16 took the course.
"I've grown up in Maine my whole life and fall is my favorite season," she said. "I thought, 'how cool would it be to go outside and paint.' It sounded like a dream."
Tess Hamilton '16, an Earth and Oceanographic Science major, is also looking forward to the course.
"Being able to communicate [the outdoors during this time] through a different form is really cool for me," she said.
A visual arts background and the Painting I class were prerequisites for the course.
Mullen says that students will be going outside for the first few weeks. After that they have the option to continue to paint outside or move their work inside. If they move inside, they will have the opportunity to work from photographs they take, images from their imagination or smaller landscape pieces they will create in the first few weeks.
"We'll talk about a range of things and my hope is that everybody has got that thing that they respond to," he said.
Mullen hopes to have each student complete six projects during the semester. The first project was to take a famous piece of landscape art and recreate it themselves. These pieces can be seen on the walls of the Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance.
Next week they will be going to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art to view famous works of landscape art as inspiration.
Another project will have students heading to Bowdoin's Coastal Studies Center on Orr's Island. Students will be hiking the trails and creating landscape paintings from what they view.Hamilton expressed her excitement about the "nuances that you wouldn't think of" when working outdoors.
All of the students' landscapes will be on display during the open house in the Edwards Center at the end of the semester.
- September 19
Many singing hopefuls audition for campus a cappella groups
Whether ringing throughout the Chapel or a College House living room, the voices of Bowdoin a cappella are a pervasive force in the community.
Earlier this week, prospective singers competed for coveted spots in Bowdoin's six a cappella groups—the Longfellows, the Meddiebempsters, BOKA, Ursus Verses, Miscellania and Bellamafia.
The nearly 80 students involved in a cappella make up a sizeable portion of Bowdoin's student population. Students and community members flock to concerts, which often have a line out the door. The groups—two all-male, two all-female and two co-ed—span a range of sounds, styles and personalities.
"My gut feeling is that there are a lot more kids auditioning this year than there were last year," said Max Middleton '16, member of the Meddiebempsters and president of the A Cappella Council.
Though the A Cappella Council has no involvement in the decision-making process, Middleton acts as a mediator for discussion between the groups, coordinating various a cappella events as well as the audition process.Auditions took place on Monday and Tuesday evenings, while callbacks took place on Wednesday. The six groups captured the attention of first years and other students during their recruitment concert last Friday, caroling through first-year bricks and placing posters around campus.
This marketing got many students excited about the prospect of being a part of Bowdoin's a cappella culture.
"I love the group that comes along with [a capella]; it seems so exciting and awesome here," said Hannah Berman '18, who added that the a cappella community would offer an opportunity to meet new people and find a niche on campus. There are few spots available for the nearly 50 singers who audition for each group. The audition process was consistent across groups. Singers were asked to perform both a short solo piece and various exercises to test range, musicality and musical technique.
Even for the most experienced performers, singing in front of a small group of classmates and peers can be terrifying. Many groups made it a high priority to create a welcoming or even silly ambiance to quell such anxieties.
"You walk in and they're all cheering you on and so excited you're there," said Berman.
The non-musical component of the auditions varied across groups.
Those auditioning for BOKA, one of Bowdoin's co-ed groups, were asked to prepare a pickup line to deliver to a current member of their choice."We try to let that break the ice and make people less nervous when they start singing," said Caroline Montag '17, a member of BOKA and Bellamafia.
BOKA and other groups try to engage the auditioning singers in conversation to create a more familiar environment.
One of the all-male groups, the Meddiebempsters employed a "jokingly intimidating" style that made it the most fun group to audition for, according to several singers. Singers were required to tell a joke to members, bringing levity to the audition and helping gauge the group for a personality fit.
"We're looking for people who will blend into the group, both personality-wise and vocally," said Meddiebempster Simon Close '17.
While musical ability was the chief criterion in the decision-making process, personality and group chemistry also played an important role."You spend upwards of four or five hours together a week during rehearsals, so it's really important that everyone in the group gets along as well," said Montag.
Most groups were looking to replace seniors who graduated last May and encouraged prospective members to audition for multiple groups who may be looking to fill different parts.
In the event that multiple groups want the same singer, singer decides which group to join.
With two days of auditions, then callbacks and deliberations into the "wee hours of the night," this week has taken a toll on both current members and auditioning students.
According to Middleton, each auditioning student is evaluated in terms of "how his sound is going to affect the group and what he's going to bring to the table."
But for current a cappella members, this hectic time is still quite enjoyable.
"It's like the most fun thing in the world," said Middleton.
- September 19
A preview of the best films to be released this season
Autumn is starting to bring its golden hues to Brunswick. It's the time of year to stroll around the Quad. Lie on the grass. Be outdoors. But as the temperature begins to descend, the charm of a warm movie theater starts becomes more and more appealing.
Hailing from Los Angeles, I am quick to realize the limited opportunities we Bowdoin students have to catch something on the big screen here in mid-coast Maine. And even when something is playing, we are often too busy to take advantage. Taking the time to research and go see a quality film often seems daunting.
My hope is that when you are thinking of what to do during those few free hours on Saturday, over vacation or when the parties are too much and you need a night to decompress, you'll consider the following new films. "Inherent Vice"Paul Thomas AndersonI'm tempted to just write, "enough said."
The cast is unbelievable. Most notably, Anderson once again pairs up with Joaquin Phoenix (whose work in 2012's "The Master" should have gotten him an Oscar). Phoenix plays a drugged-out private detective in 1970s Los Angeles investigating the disappearance of a former lover.It not only has Anderson's characteristic cinematic brilliance, but also an entertaining dichotomy between a criminal suspense plot and a lead character who embodies 1970s West Coast ease. It is adapted by Anderson from Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel, with music composed by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.
It will premiere at The New York Film Festival in just a few weeks.
Limited Release: December 12, 2014. Wide Release: January 9, 2015
"20,000 Days on Earth"Iain Forsyth & Jane PollardAs Jonathan Romney writes on Film Comment, "It's a portrait on Nick Cave, rather than a conventional documentary about him—and certainly not a history of his career." New to directing, British artists Forysth and Pollard boldly and beautifully examine a fictitious 20,000th day of the musician and cultural icon's life.
While exploring the depths of Cave's character—which is revealed most deeply in a long session with a psychoanalyst—Forysth and Pollard never lose sight of his aloof, yet grounded, nature. That maintained awareness, coupled with stunning cinematography, makes this feel less like a documentary of a rock-star and more like a unique collaboration between an aging, wise icon and two up-and-coming artists.
It premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, winning both the Directing Award and Editing Award for World Cinema Documentary.
Limited Release: September 17, 2014. "Foxcatcher"Bennett MillerMiller has already established himself as a brilliant director of earnest, but never indulgent, dramas, with "Capote" (starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in an Oscar-winning performance) and "Moneyball."
His films have compelling plots, and this one might have the most alluring storyline of them all. But they are also character examinations—Miller gets something deep and unexpected out of his actors, often to the surprise of the audience (Jonah Hill in "Moneyball," for instance). So when it was announced that Steve Carell and Channing Tatum would be starring in a dark and psychologically disturbing Olympic wrestling drama with him at the helm, the reception was of great intrigue and excitement rather than doubt.
Carell and Tatum have already received immense critical acclaim for their performances. Unlike many spectacular portrayals seen solely at festivals, these performances will be seen around the country and world. It is a tremendous opportunity for both Carell and Tatum to change the direction of their careers, and it all lies in Miller's tactful hands, which now also hold the prestigious Best Director Award from this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Wide Release: November 14, 2014. "The Look of Silence"Joshua OppenheimerDespite Werner Herzog's involvement as an executive producer, I can't say I was a fan of 2012's "The Act of Killing," to which this movie is a sequel.
There is a fine line between compelling avant-garde cinema and indulgent posturing, and I saw the latter in Oppenheimer's breakthrough documentary.
Too often we celebrate something for taking a different approach, without necessarily considering its merit, or the lack thereof. That's how I felt about "The Act of Killing."
Then I began to question my judgment as critics began to not just praise, but also adore the film's artistic exploration of the psychology of executioners during the Indonesian genocidal killings of 1965. I plan to re-watch it soon, and I genuinely look forward to seeing Oppenheimer's sequel, which focuses on victims' families rather than their killers. I will watch with open eyes, knowing I was in the minority before and that this new documentary has already been well received.
Unannounced release.
"Gone Girl"David FincherI haven't read the 2012 bestseller by Gillian Flynn on which this movie is based, but I do enjoy Fincher's films (most recently "The Social Network" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"). They often explore dark, cerebral themes with spellbindingly clean shots, and feature main characters with dubious moral values. "Gone Girl" will be no exception. The film follows a man (played by Ben Affleck) leaving a high-profile search for his missing wife, who eventually becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance.
The film is filled with shiftsfrom Affleck's perspective to that of his missing wife, played by Rosamund Pike. It will be interesting to see how it is received, especially by ardent fans of the book.
Like "Inherent Vice," the film will premiere at The New York Film Festival in just a few weeks.
Wide Release: October 3, 2014.
- September 19
DJ of the Week: Ashley Bomboka '16 and Lara Adoumie '16
When did you first get involved with WBOR and why?AB: We got involved first semester sophomore year because Lara really wanted to do a show. Lara really loves indie music and I really love hip-hop and R&B, so we decided to play both and have definitely introduced each other to artists from both genres.LA: She's picked up on indie music more than I thought she would and I've picked up on a lot of hip-hop. She always surprises me with songs she's found.
Why is the show called "Sweater Weather?" AB: We called it "Sweater Weather" because we both appreciated that song. Also, Maine is really always sweater weather. When are we here when it's warm outside?LA: I tease her because I'm from Los Angeles and she's from Minnesota and I'm always walking around bundled up while she's barely wearing anything. Who makes up your target audience?AB: Anyone who loves a variety of music. In between hip-hop and indie is the pop spectrum. We don't stay in one particular area.
What is your goal for the show?AB: The goal is to have fun with it! We like to laugh! It's great that it is local and reaches out to the wider community.LA: It's de-stressing for us and hopefully it is for anyone who chooses to listen. Ashley, you recently stepped into the role of Programming Manager at WBOR. What does that entail?AB: My responsibility is to make sure everyone has a radio station time and make sure people are treating the equipment well and aren't swearing. What is your favorite music?AB: I love R&B the most. Drake is one of my favorites. I tried to go to his concert in Philadelphia, but he ended up canceling it. I also love Bon Iver.LA: Drake, too and Jhené Aiko. I will always have a spot in my heart for The Fray. Do you have any musical experience?AB: I used to sing in middle and high school, in addition to playing the viola. Singing is my shower hobby.LA: I used to sing in the chorus here at Bowdoin and play the violin.
What else are you involved in at Bowdoin?AB: I am part of the African American Society and I love to sit in on slam poetry readings. I am also an intern for [Associate Dean of Multicultural Programs Leana Amaez].LA: I'm in the international relations club, I work at the C-Store and with Safe Space.
What is the best music to study to?AB: Jazz with hip-hop influences—low-key melodies that allow me to focus.LA: Slower Beyoncé and Drake are my go-to. What has been your favorite concert experience? AB: This summer I went to the Summer Set music festival in Wisconsin and I saw Schoolboy Q, Wu Tang Clan and Big Gigantic. I've always liked Schoolboy Q, he has his own spot in hip hop. He's establishing himself well. Wu Tang clan is the beginning of hip-hop. Big Gigantic free styled, which was awesome. LA: I went to Of Monsters and Men in New York. It was a small venue and really amazing to hear them live. What do you think people are doing while they listen to your show?AB: I don't think it's the best show to study to. We talk a lot as well as playing music, so hopefully you're just chilling and it is background noise.LA: Yeah, doing things around the room. What song never gets old for you?AB: "Houstalantavegas" by Drake and "Suga Suga" by Baby Bash.LA: "Furthest Thing" by Drake. Who is your musical inspiration?AB: Bob Marley. I grew up with him as a kid and his words spoke a lot to the African diaspora and the idea of struggle. His music was being used to get the world aware of social issues and help his people.LA: Sia, because she really has a variety of talents and different genres of music. Is there anything else you'd like to tell your audience about your show?AB: Nothing's really planned so be prepared for anything and keep an open mind.LA: Ashley brings the fun and spice! Tune in whenever you're feeling stressed.
- September 12
Hipster drivel: Anti-poptimist picks for autumn
Maybe it's the lack of a ubiquitous crotch-affirming anthem a la "Get Lucky" this summer, but hasn't the music released in the past few months felt a little, you know...flaccid? Such is the neutering toll of poptimism, the inevitable pushback against driveling hipsters, which has turned Coldplay from a bunch of saccharine try-hards into a band of inveterate everymen.
I'll be the first to defend Ariana Grande, but when Questlove (a member of The Roots, a record collector and a tastemaker) acknowledges the supremacy of Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" as the song of the summer, we need to take a cultural step backward. "Fancy" is not the best song of the summer. It's not even the best song this summer to feature no-fucks given whilst chandelier-swin-ing—that honor would go to Sia's high-flying single, "Chandelier."
At its best, the hegemony of poptimism leads to a torpid summer of forgettable music, epitomized by Calvin Harris' unforgivably unimaginative "Summer." At its worst, poptimism becomes a vehicle for whitewashing the Billboard charts, under the cynical aegis of "if you can't beat 'em, appropriate 'em." We need only look so far as poptimism's main beneficiary, Taylor Swift, and the god-awful four minutes she tries to pass off as a song in "Shake It Off." Turn down for racially insensitive stereotypes.
In the words of a rubbery legged Future Islands frontman, however, "seasons change." With the chill of September, we leave behind this summer's musical dysfunction (but hold onto that Spoon album) and throw ourselves into another semester at Bowdoin. Let us turn our flannel collars against autumnal winds and poptimist entreaties alike, with thoughts of Weird Al for #Ivies150 to keep us warm. Here are songs to soundtrack the introspection that a Maine fall brings.
"War on the East Coast" by The New Pornographers
Chugging power chords and a euphoric chorus are good indicators for a song vying for the summer title—except this is the New Pornographers, meaning Dan Bejar drawls about total war, sea level rise flooding British Columbia and "wild gypsy shit." His impenetrable lyrics yield to the sort of hermeneutics you learn at small liberal arts colleges, so dust off those Lacan compendiums. My theory? It's about the hopelessness of facing down the apocalypse. As for "blondes, brunettes, paper jets?" You try writing a better hook.
"Ultraviolence" by Lana Del Rey
The singer of the decade's finest song proves she's no one-hit wonder. Drawing on "Clockwork" and the Crystals, Lana pushes her is-it-satire schtick into the realm of physical abuse. It's a dangerous game, but she pulls it off beautifully, turning from victim to menace with the swell of the violins. Lana flourishes on the fringe of camp where there is no black and white—only (fifty) shades of grey.
"Chambers" by Cymbals Eat Guitars
If ever a song is to get you to shout "baby's got cataracts!" in the middle of HL, it's this one. The bass line and sputtering guitar is enough to drive the song into your memory, but Joseph D'Agostino's snotty narrative of drug withdrawal keeps it there. Getting high might not be what it used to be, but you wouldn't believe it from his falsetto.
"You Know Me Well" by Sharon Van Etten
Much how Victoria Legrand stepped into her own with Beach House's "Teen Dream" four (!) years ago, here Sharon Van Etten embraces her heart and her voice. The result is one of the year's most devastating couplets, "you know me well / you show me hell," made all the more poignant with the added sting of, "when I'm looking." The song is full of such clever but affecting lines, as she implores her lover to "cut me to the chase," or bellows the title, daring herself to believe it.
"Ancient Ways" by Interpol
Interpol's Paul Banks remains the king of insufferably dense lyrics on the obviously titled new album "El Pintor." But that just gives us more fodder for intellectual appraisal. Banks exhorts us to "fuck the ancient ways," though of which ancient ways he disapproves remains up for debate. Certainly Intrepid's well-cultivated angular guitar slash, atmospheric production and Joy Division aesthetic don't need to go on the ancient burn pile.
- 6 days ago
Men's soccer stays even for the season
The men's soccer team coasted to a 2-0 victory over University of New England Tuesday evening, bouncing back from a 2-0 loss against Middlebury this past weekend. With the win, the Polar Bears improved to 3-3-0.
After controlling play for most of the first half, Nick DiStefano '18 scored his first career goal off of a rebound of a shot from Matt Dias-Costa '17. Just two minutes later a Nor'easter defender accidentally deflected a cross from Dias-Costa into his own net, giving the Polar Bears an insurance goal that ended up sealing the game.
The Polar Bears continued to outplay the Nor'easters throughout the second half. Although they could not put together another goal, they still cruised to a 2-0 victory.
Last weekend, the Polar Bears dropped a crucial conference game to Middlebury 2-0, lowering their NESCAC record to 1-3. The Bowdoin loss also marked the fourth straight shutout victory for the Panthers.
The Polar Bears had many chances early on in the game, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. In the 22nd minute, the Panthers took advantage of a corner kick as Middlebury's Tom Bean's header escaped Bowdoin keeper Noah Safian '17.
The Panthers added to their lead only six minutes later when Middlebury's Adam Glaser chipped a ball over Safian for his league-leading fifth goal of the season.
"They had three shots and two goals," Andrew Jones '16 said. "Still, they were two crucial mistakes and we made them."
The team has been practicing stiffening up defensivley to limit mistakes under pressure and play a more complete game.
"We are working on fixing our mistakes in practice so they don't happen again," said senior captain Eric Goitia '15. "So that's a positive coming out of this."
Bowdoin had numerous chances down the stretch and outshot Middlebury 9-3 for the game, but the Polar Bears could not capitalize on any of their chances.
Dias-Costa ripped an open look over the net in the 77th minute, and the Panther defense was able to hold onto the lead for the rest of the game.
The Polar Bear offense was plagued with the same problems around the net they have suffered all season: scoring goals.
"The other thing is composure and finishing around the net—we need to be more efficient with our chances," said Jones.
"In our league, every team is known for being strong and tough on defense," Goitia said. "So taking advantage of the opportunities you get is so important."
The Polar Bears will have to bounce back from a disappointing 1-3 start in the NESCAC if they want to be one of the eight teams that reach the playoffs. They will have plenty of time to work on their play, with nine days off until their next game, which will be against Husson.
Both Goitia and Jones emphasized the importance of playing a more complete game, and said the team will have to make minor adjustments to its overall system.
"We need to continue to focus on getting everything right over 90 minutes—not 89 minutes—with that one minute being when they score," said Jones.
"We just have to be more fluid going from defense to attack," Goitia said. "In transition a lot of times we can get caught and we need to focus on that."
Both said that if the team makes these small changes it could be dangerous team.
"We feel confident that our ability is good enough to beat every team in our league," Jones said. "If we continue to improve, we can beat the rest of the teams we play."
- 6 days ago
Field hockey gets revenge in final minute comeback
Last Saturday, the field hockey team handed Middlebury its first loss of the season in a tense 2-1 match. With the win, the team defended its No. 1 ranking and improved its perfect record to 4-0.
This win was hardfought for the Polar Bears. The Panthers scored within the first five minutes, setting a tone for the first half.
"We started off pretty flat," captain Colleen Finnerty '15 said. "They scored and that kind of put us back on our heels for a little bit and I think we came out a bit scared."
The team regrouped, making changes throughout the first half.
"We made a few more adjustments at the halftime and then in the second half, we played a lot better," said Head Coach Nicky Pearson.
The team fended off the Panthers' offense for the remainder of the game, holding them to only six shots and six penalty corners in the rest of regulation. Goalkeeper Hannah Gartner '15 stayed composed after the early goal to keep Bowdoin in the game.
With just three minutes left on the clock and still down by one goal, it looked as if the Panthers were going to make the Polar Bears relive their defeat in last year's NESCAC championship game in which Bowdoin fell to Middlebury in overtime.
However, three minutes proved to be just enough time. Liz Znamierowski '16 broke free on a breakaway and went for an open shot on the net before being pummeled by a defender, leading to a penalty shot. Bowdoin's top goal scorer Rachel Kennedy '16 stepped up to take it and scored to tie the game.
"I give the team a lot of credit, because [at that time] a lot of teams would have sat back and been happy with a tie and then regrouped for overtime," Pearson said. "But we didn't."The team maintained their offensive pressure and with only a minute left in the game Kim Kahnweiler '16 fired the ball into the right corner of the Panther's net for the game-winning goal on her second shot of the season.
Still, Middlebury did not let up, gaining a penalty corner, but the Bowdoin defense shut down the attack.
"We responded really well with no time left on the clock," Pearson said. "They brought their whole team back [on our side] and our defense unit held them."
Middlebury, ranked No. 4 in the nation before the game, is a frequent rival for the Polar Bears in field hockey.
"We always battle tough with Middlebury," Finnerty said. "It's one of those really respected rivalries with us, where we like to play them because it's always a good, fast-paced game."Despite losing to Middlebury in the championship last year, Bowdoin also beat the Panthers during the regular season.
"[The regular season game last year] was kind of a similar game," Finnerty said. "I scored on a penalty shot, then someone else had another goal. Then we played them again in the NESCAC championship game and it was just back and forth again."
As much as this victory seems like payback for last year's NESCAC title game, the team refused to get caught up in past defeats.
"It's a new year," Pearson said. "We try not to use losses as our whole motivation and try to focus on what the strengths are of the team this year."
But Finnerty still attests that it can feel good to beat a rival on their field.
"Having that taste in our mouths during the five-hour bus drive to Middlebury, it just feels so much better on the ride back when you come back with a win," Finnerty said.
Playing both Middlebury and Amherst, which is now ranked No. seven in the first three weeks of the season, at first seemed daunting.
"You look at the schedule and go, 'Wow are we really going to be ready for that?'" Finnerty said. "But the fact that we came out and played both those teams fairly well and for us to know that we can still improve feels pretty good."
Last night the team shut out the University of Maine Farmington 4-0. Adrienne O'Donnell '15 scored in the third minute and Emily Simonton '15 added two goals of her own 10 minutes later to give the Polar Bears a comfortable 3-0 lead only 14 minutes into the game.
The team has the weekend off and is preparing to play Wellesley College next Wednesday at home before it gets back into conference play. Bowdoin will also host Trinity next Saturday.
"In practice our big emphasis is on being better in our next game than the previous one," Finnerty said. "That's always the idea of how we work our season. We just build from each game. The big hope is to just keep going up from here."
- 6 days ago
Volleyball enters NESCAC play with mixed results
The women's volleyball team emerged victorious at home on Saturday afternoon, pulling out an impressive 3-0 win over Tufts. The win eased the team's stress after the Polar Bears suffered their first home defeat in two years against Connecticut College last week.
The Polar Bears gained an early lead against the Jumbos in all three sets, ensuring a quick victory. Captains Christy Jewett '16 and Hailey Wahl '16 helped lead the team, posting seven and six kills respectively. The win on Saturday improved the team's record to 9-2 for the season and 1-1 in the NESCAC.
"It was really nice to see our team bounce back on Saturday," said Head Coach Karen Corey. "They really put Friday night's match away and focused on the game right in front of them."The Polar Bears posted set scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 25-12 against the Jumbos to give them their straight set victory.
"We're taking our strengths and putting them on the court," said Corey. "[We are] looking at the strengths of all our players and making the system fit [them]."
Everyone on the team contributed to secure the win, including some first-year players. "I think Michelle Albright '18 did a really nice job on being more vocal and intentional in her game," said Corey. "She really contributed a lot in the backcourt for our team."
However, Corey said she thought the entire team deserved commendations for the win.
"Offensively we spread it around, so a lot of the girls did a nice job on attacking," said Corey.The Polar Bears entered Saturday night's game with caution, making sure to stay concentrated throughout all three sets.
"We went into the game not wanting to underestimate the other team, knowing that they had a very strong outside hitter and we would have to be strong with our blocking," said Wahl. "We really played as a unit and we were talking a lot and definitely communicating very well." Going into the second set, the Polar Bears finally entered the mindset they needed to pick up their play.
"Quincy Leech '17 went on a really great serving run at the beginning of the second game which made it easy for us to keep up the intensity and push through that game and take that energy into the third game to win in three," said Wahl.
"We had a lot of energy going through. We were loud and communicating very well but I think that we won because of a team effort and I think that's what the difference was in this game."
For the third and final set, the Polar Bears maintained the same intensity they had shown throughout the rest of the match against Tufts in order to hold on to their winning streak.
"Katie [Doherty] went on another seven or eight point run with her serves so again we had a big lead at the start of the game," said Albright. "We worked really hard to maintain that lead and because of our ability to maintain our intensity throughout the match we were able to win pretty quickly."
Looking ahead to today's game, The Polar Bears are intent on maintaining the solid play they showed against Tufts and making sure to continue working as a team.
"For this week's game we want to make sure we play every point like it's a championship point no matter who the opponent is," said Wahl. "We're not going to underestimate them."
The Polar Bears return to their home court tonight at 7 p.m to take on Colby. The team will then travel to Keen State to play Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday at 2 p.m. ans Keen State at 4 p.m.
- 6 days ago
Williams runs over football 36-0
A disappointing loss to Williams College last Saturday has left the football team searching for answers. The 36-0 loss in the season opener was the first shutout Bowdoin has suffered since the 2012 season.
Williams opened the game with a touchdown off their second drive on a pass to wide receiver Darrias Sime. The Polar Bears threw a pick shortly after, which Williams ran back for a touchdown. After missing the extra point, the Ephs still led 13-0. Before the end of the first half The Ephs managed to score again, bringing their lead to 19-0. Again, they failed to get the extra point at the conversion.
"At half-time we were still in the game. Going in we just knew we needed to do better than the first half," said offensive lineman Jonathan Macat '16. "Anything that happened in the first half didn't matter."
Bowdoin did not improve in the second half. The Ephs continued to show success driving the ball and scored two touchdowns of over 30 yards.
Overall, Bowdoin's offense finished with 80 yards rushing and quarterback Mac Caputi '15 went 19-36 (53%) for 132 yards, with one interception. Running back Tyler Grant '17 rushed for 58 yards. Daniel Barone '16 had six receptions for 45 yards and an additional 70 return yards. The Polar Bears also had three turnovers.
Defensive back Jibrail Coy '16 and defensive lineman Jake Prince '15 lead the Polar Bear's defense with six and five tackles respectivley.
Saturday's defeat came as a surprise after a successful preseason so the team is not completely let down after the defeat.
"When they play like they can—like the way I know these guys can play—we have a breakout team, not just breakout players," said Macat.
It is the Polar Bears' fifteenth year with Head Coach Dave Caputi, and they are starting with a much healthier team this year. Last season, several players, including Matt Perlow '15 and Coy were benched with injuries. This year, there are 13 returning starters along with first years who have proven to be both diligent and talented.
"I think it's a mature group and a hard-working group." said Coach Caputi.Despite the loss, the team is recharged and ready to take on Amherst at home on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
"All we can do is play one game at a time, and all we can do is play one play at a time at every game. There were some simple plays we could have made on Saturday that we just didn't make." said Coach Caputi. "It's just a matter of going back and instilling a little bit of confidence and coaching up some small things to make our game better."
"I think we know what we pretty much need to do; it just comes down to doing it and executing it," said Mac Caputi.
The team hopes to play more like it did in the pre-season and put last week's disappointing performance behind it.
"It's nothing that we can't and haven't done in the past few weeks. In no way is it a foreshadow of the rest of our year," said Grant.
The refrain from the team and coaches is that the players have shown they are more than capable of having a succesful season.
The weekend's loss against the Ephs is not in the past for the Polar Bears who are looking ahead to their home opener against Amherst tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. on Whittier Field.
- 6 days ago
Women's soccer gets leg up on competition
The women's soccer team brought its win streak up to six games this past week, which is the program's best start to a season since 2003.
On Sunday, the Polar Bears beat the University of Maine, Farmington (UMF) 4-0 to earn their third shutout of the season. Captain Kiersten Turner '16 scored the Polar Bears first goal in the seventh minute mark off an assist from Brigit Bergin '17. Senior Amanda Kinneston scored Bowdoin's second goal a mere 1:10 later.
Sophomore Julia Bottone netted Bowdoin's third goal with 17:30 remaining in the half, and first year Jill Rathke's 42nd minute goal rounded out the scoring for the Polar Bears.
"I was really proud of the overall team effort on Sunday," said Head Coach Brianne Weaver. "We had to bounce back and play Sunday after a very long trip to Middlebury the day before and everyone was able to contribute to the win."
Bridget McCarthy '16 started the game in goal, playing 31 minutes before Rachel Stout '18 came in to replace her. Neither goalkeeper saw much action as Bowdoin outshot UMF 22-0.The previous day, Bowdoin was locked in a tight match against Middlebury that remained scoreless at halftime. It was not until the 59th minute that the Polar Bears broke the scoring seal with a goal from Kinneston.
Middlebury tied the game 10 minutes later, but Bowdoin quickly regained the lead with a goal from Turner. The Panthers outshot the Bears 15-13 but McCarthy made four key saves to keep Middlebury from getting back into the game.
"Going against Middlebury is always a challenge," said Weaver. "[They are] always very organized and it takes a lot on our part to make sure we play a good game against them. I'm very proud of how the team rose to the occasion and settled down and played our game."
On Wednesday the Polar Bears coasted to a 4-1 win against the University of New England (UNE). The team controlled the pace for the majority of the game, managing to take three times as many shots on goal as the Nor'easters.
The Polar Bears did not score until Kinneston fired a shot into the back of the net in the 28th minute, but then Abby Einwag '15, Jamie Hofstetter '16, and Abby Hammerl '17 eached knocked a goal to give them a comfortable 4-0 lead. The shutout was not ruined until a UNE goal with six minutes remaining.
The team stays out of conference this week with games at Brandeis tomorrow and the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday.
- 6 days ago
Athlete of the Week: Kiersten Turner '16
Kiersten Turner '16 has been an integral part of the women's soccer team's best start in over a decade. She has scored three goals in just five games, and all of them have been game-winners. Two of her goals, one against Bates and another versus Middlebury, decided one-goal contests. Turner also recorded an assist in the Polar Bears' win over Middlebury. Her performance won her the NESCAC Player of the Week recognition.
Turner has earned her a strong reputation as a goal scorer. She scored 12 goals last season and has retained her position at the top of the offensive formation. This year, as the team speeds forward, Turner spends most of her time daring defenders to chase her across the field. She purposefully runs to stretch the defense and can chase and hold the ball in her team's end of the pitch, giving her teammates time to switch into the proper offensive formation and join her upfield.
Head Coach Brianne Weaver said that teams have started to focus their attention in Turner's direction this season, marking her aggressively when she does not have the ball and swarming her when she tries to take a touch. As a player who enjoys winning individual matchups, Turner admits it has been more difficult to dominate in the way she has in the past.
"It's been more mentally challenging for me—figuring out how to get around defenders," she said. "I wasn't thinking so much last year about how I was performing."
"She sets a high standard for herself," Weaver said. "With all the accolades that she earned last year and all the success that she had, I know that she wants to see that success again."
It was not until the team's third game this season that Turner earned a point. Teammate Jamie Hofstetter '16 noted that Turner has been frustrated at times.
"During the first half of [the Middlebury game] she struggled," she said. "They didn't give her any time or space to move with the ball. You have to be dynamic moving off the ball so you're always an option. The more stagnant you are the easier it is to close you down."
"But she's a nuisance," Hofstetter continued. "She has really quick bursts of speed and she's really good at getting a touch on the ball. It happens really easily sometimes."
Turner said she takes a bit of solace in knowing that her presence opens the field up for her new partner, Amanda Kinneston '15, who has absorbed most of the time Hofstetter had seen as the other forward over the last two years. Hofstetter has moved to playing center midfield but in certain formations still plays forward with Kinneston and Turner, or in place of Kinneston.
This helps both players stay rested by not having to play in the center midfield position for the full 90 minutes. While Kinneston labels herself as more of a goal-scorer—her stats are identical to Turner's so far this season—she bears more similarities to Hofstetter than Turner. Both have excellent technical skills, work as facilitators and are often praised for their skill holding the ball.
"I think we're similarly-minded players," Kinneston said. "We like to have the ball and play from our feet. Kiersten is good at running to the ball and using space."
Still, it is not rare to see all three of them putting pressure on the opposing defenses, particularly as they try to clear the ball out of their own end. Weaver has emphasized an aggressive team defense that starts with the forwards and Kinneston has said it makes it easier for the midfielders and defenders to read where balls go. In this scenario, Turner often remains alone when facing the defensive line.
The team started its season with four straight conference wins in a row, all of which were decided by one goal, including a double win against Wesleyan and wins against Amherst and Middlebury. Turner's teammates expect her to her hit stride as the season wears on. The Polar Bears will play two non-conference games before finishing their conference schedule.
"I think Kiersten does better as the season goes on," Hofstetter said. "Once she scores a goal, her confidence goes up. Every game makes her more comfortable."
- 6 days ago
May all the Patriots fans please stand up
As a blizzard raged on a Sunday afternoon in December 2003, the roaring cheers of the Patriots faithful rocked Gillette Stadium. A dedicated cohort of fans dug their seats out from a foot of snow to watch the hardy Patriots grind out a win against the Miami Dolphins.
When Tedy Bruschi sealed the game with a pick-six, the freezing crowd ecstatically filled the Foxboro air with snowballs. Such is the passion of a true football fan— a true Patriots fan.Over the course of the past 11 years though, the passion has dwindled in New England. Sure, the Patriots still sell out every home game, and in 2014 Pats fans still placed fourth on a Forbes list ranking the best NFL fanbases.
But in the opinion of this lifelong Pats fan—who was fortunate enough to attend that Dolphins game and a few others since—the atmosphere at Gillette has noticeably changed.On Sunday, the Pats played their first home game of the season, and with all the pent-up anticipation and excitement, the fans should have been louder than the muskets fired by the minuteman impersonators at the game.
Holding just a one-touchdown lead with only two minutes remaining, the Patriots defense needed to fend off a Raiders drive to seal the win. This is the time for real fans to get loud and pump up the defense. With teams penalized for lapses in communication, football, more so than any other sport, feeds off crowd noise, making home-field advantage a true phenomenon. And yet, if it weren't for the foghorn sound from the stadium PA system, the noise level at Gillette would have been minimal. Even more inexcusable: the stadium was already 1/3 empty during the final drive of a close game.
Since when did Patriots fans become so complacent? Granted, a September game against the lowly Raiders doesn't have quite the excitement of a December matchup against the rival Dolphins. But every win counts in the 16 game NFL season, and fans only get a chance to see their team play at home eight times. Why wouldn't Pats fans relish every moment?
The answer lies in these incredible statistics: 11 division titles, five conference titles, and three Super Bowl championships in 13 seasons. Pats fans have become so spoiled with success, so accustomed to playoff games in January, that they are no longer interested in an ordinary regular season game.
A couple of years ago, I attended a late December game after the Pats had already clinched a playoff berth. At halftime, a sea of season ticket holders bolted for their tailgates. I wasn't there in 2001, the year of the Pats' first championship, but I can't imagine that those fans would have left the old Foxboro Stadium early. Success is fleeting in the hypercompetitive NFL, and every moment of greatness is worth embracing.
Pats fans have lost sight of this in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era, as we have been privileged with an unprecedented streak of greatness. And yet, time is running out on the Patriot reign. Brady is 37, Belichick is 62, and neither will likely be around five years from now. Furthermore, the Patriots have benefited from an unusual level of quarterback mediocrity in the rest of their division, allowing them an easy annual ride to the playoffs. Sooner or later, the next Jim Kelly or Dan Marino will arrive to dethrone the Pats.
So I say to you, fair weather Patriots fans that left early on Sunday: wake up and smell the entitlement before it's too late. Rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo may be a solid player one day, but we have limited time left with Brady, one of the greatest of all time. Let's bring the fire of that snowy Dolphins game back to Gillette, and appreciate how fortunate we are to be watching brilliance in action.
- September 19
Coach Pearson inducted into Hall of Fame as field hockey stays undefeated
Seven-time Coach of the Year and four-time National Champion Nicky Pearson named to National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame
This past August, Nicky Pearson was selected to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Hall of Fame.
Pearson is one of three coaches selected this year. She will be inducted at the 2015 NFHCA Annual Convention in January.
For Pearson, the honor has less to do her own achievements and more to do with the success of the entire program.
"I see this award as collective recognition," Pearson said. "When I had a couple moments just to reflect on what an honor it was, I automatically thought about the players I've coached and the assistant coaches that I've had. This award is really acknowledging what we've achieved together. I will accept it but on behalf of an awful lot of people."
In her 18 years as coach of the Polar Bears, Pearson has led the team to four DIII NCAA championships in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013.
Pearson credits the school with much of the success the field hockey team has had over the last two decades.
"At Bowdoin, I'm at a school that's committed to supporting female student athletes. I believe that if we work hard, we can attract some very talented field hockey players," Pearson said.Team camaraderie has also played an important role in the squad's success.
"We focus a lot on leadership and creating a positive team culture where everyone feels that they can be who they are and be respected," Pearson said. "That's really important. We have a group that is incredibly passionate about the sport and believes that if they work hard every day, they can be successful."
Pearson was introduced to field hockey at the age of ten. She played for her home town team of Hereford, England, before playing for St. Mary's College. After graduation, Pearson took a year off to travel around the world, eventually finding herself in the United States.
Anne Parmenter, then Head Coach of the Connecticut College field hockey team, offered Pearson an assistant coaching job, which she accepted. After one season, Pearson had to choose whether or not she wanted to continue coaching.
"I had to make a decision if I wanted to stay in this country and continue to coach or if I wanted to go back to England," Pearson said. "I really enjoyed the profession, and it was something I wanted to do, so I made the decision to stay in the U.S."
When the coaching job at Bowdoin opened up Pearson, who also coached at Amherst College for a time, applied and the rest was history.
Since then, Pearson's team has never failed to make the postseason tournament, owning a 24-7 record in NCAA tournament play. But she doesn't believe that those numbers are the most important part of coaching.
"I think it's more about having a positive impact on the women that go through my program," Pearson said. "If I have had a positive impact on them and helped them and been a resource for navigating their four years at Bowdoin, then that is what I consider to be an accomplishment."
This season, Pearson's team has started with a 3-0 record. While many of the players have already reached milestones of success in their collegiate careers, Pearson believes there is still plenty of motivation on the team.
"Every year, we start fresh. For this group of players, we're all going to be together only once," Pearson said. "We try to live in the present and reach our potential this year. We don't look forward and don't look back but take every season and make it unique and special and try to reach our potential."
- September 19
Top-ranked field hockey remains unbeaten after three games
Top-ranked women's field hockey (3-0 NESCAC, 3-0 overall) continued its undefeated start to the regular season this week, beating Amherst 2-1 on Saturday and shutting out Bates 2-0 on Wednesday evening. Both games were played at home.
Rachel Kennedy '16 was named NESCAC Field Hockey Player of the Week after notching both of the team's goals against Amherst. She continued in fine form on Wednesday evening, again scoring both of the Polar Bears' goals. Kennedy has now scored five out of her team's seven total goals scored this season.
Bowdoin outshot Amherst during the first half on Saturday, but was unable to find the breakthrough goal until shortly before halftime, when Kennedy sped past two defenders in transition and slotted the ball into the left corner of the goal.
Just 36 seconds into the second half, Kennedy struck again. Her long-range shot was deflected to the right side, where Adrienne O'Donnell '15 recovered the rebound and directed it back to Kennedy, who then bounced the ball into the net.
Amherst caused some anxiety for the Polar Bears in the game's dying minutes, scoring a penalty shot with fewer than five minutes left in regulation. The Lady Jeffs came close to scoring the tying goal, but goalie Hannah Gartner '15 made two saves to preserve Bowdoin's lead.
Head Coach Nicky Pearson said the team was happy with the result, but disappointed to have surrendered a late goal.
"They got one back, and we were disappointed that we had that breakdown," said Pearson. "That made the end of the game a little too exciting, really."
Bowdoin's performance against Bates on Wednesday night was more dominant, with Bates managing only one shot and the Polar Bears racking up 31 shots, 13 of them on goal. Pearson gave credit to Bates' circle defense, which prevented the Polar Bears' attack from capitalizing on its abundance of opportunities.
"Looking back on the game, we probably should have scored more," she said. "There were times when we played into their strengths by going down the middle. In hindsight, we should have gone wider and tried to get in behind them."
Early in the first half, Colleen Finnerty '16 used some nifty stick work to wiggle past a defender before finding Kennedy with a pass. From the left side of the circle, Kennedy rolled the ball across the face of goal and into the net.
The second goal came when a free hit found O'Donnell on the end line. O'Donnell passed to Kennedy, who spun away from a defender and fired a no-look reverse shot past Bates' goalie.
The Polar Bears are travelling to Vermont this weekend to take on No. 4 Middlebury, whom they have been defeated by in back-to-back NESCAC championship games—once in overtime and once on penalty strokes.
"We're excited," said Pearson. "They're an incredibly talented team—they are year in and year out. They're going to challenge us all over the field, in every aspect of our game, so we're going to have to rise to the occasion."
- September 19
Women's soccer kicking down rivals
The women's soccer team remained victorious after their first two home games of the season, beating Amherst last Saturday and Bates on Wednesday.
The team had not beaten Amherst in the regular season since 2005, and this game marked the Lady Jeffs first defeat of the season.
"This has been nine years in the making," said captain Kaley Nelson '15. "We were expecting a tough game. They always give us a tough game because they're traditionally ranked as one of the best teams in the country, and definitely in the NESCAC."
Bowdoin stayed strong throughout the game, retaining possession the majority of the time. At the end of the first half, the match was still scoreless. It wasn't until the last 20 minutes that Jamie Hofstetter '16 scored Bowdoin's only goal on a penalty kick.
"Kiersten [Turner '16] cut into the middle, just like we ask our attackers to do, and drew the foul for the PK," head coach Brianne Weaver said. "Then Jamie did a great job finishing that. She's very calm under pressure."
Turner also praised the team's defensive showing, describing it as "stellar." Goalie Bridget McCarthy '16 saved all eight of Amherst's attempts at scoring, and the team cleared the ball away from the net in the last few minutes of the game.
"There was a scramble in front of our net with just a few minutes left and we were able to clear the ball off the line, so that saved the game for us in many ways," Weaver said. "The whole back line played exceptionally well as a unit, probably the best I've seen."
Practices this week improved the team's cohesiveness, especially considering that this was the first full week of practice after the hectic rush of first-year tryouts.
"So much of [what we worked on in practice] was chemistry related and understanding how people work and trying to get the team on the same page," Weaver said. "But the team did an amazing job of working very hard in the practices leading up to the game. It was just nice to see it pay off."
Even after one player got sick and was unable to play, each member of the team retained her cool.
"We were shifting things around in the warm up prior to the game and that can be disconcerting and cause some anxiety. The team never let that show," Weaver said. "They were just very calm and collected and said, OK, this is what we have to do, so we'll do it."
And they did it well, controlling the defense, maintaining possession and taking more shots on goal than Amherst did.
"Evan Fencik '17 played a beautiful ball, chipped it over the goalie's head. But it hit the post and that would have made it two-nothing. But that's definitely a play that stands out in my mind," Nelson said.
On Wednesday the team squared off against Bates, beating the Bobcats 1-0.Kiersten Turner '16 knocked in the eventual game-wining goal in the 27th minute off of an assist from Abby Einwag '15.
Although Bates had a couple of chances to even the score in the final 10 minutes of the game, the Polar Bears dominated possession and had opportunities throughout both halves to extend their lead.
The Polar Bears dominated possesion and had oppurtunities to extend its lead in both halves. They never scored a second goal however, leaving the door open for the Bobcats who had a couple of chances to even the score in the final 10 minutes.
"Every single game that we go into we obviously want to win and we're not expecting necessarily to get the win easily," Nelson said. "We'll be working a lot, again, on working as a unit, on defense, on offense, on just maintaining possession and controlling the game as much as we can."
The team hopes to extend its winning streak tomorrow when it travels to Middlebury.