The Bowdoin Orient

March 9, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 19

Nor'easters and New England

by CARLY SMITH - CONTRIBUTOR

   "What's a 'nor'easter'?" one of my friends asked at dinner the other night. Some people at the table thought it seemed like a silly question. "It's a big storm that forms over the ocean…obviously…duh!" they replied.
   Why did this seem like common knowledge to most of the people at the table? Oh yeah, most of the people at the table-indeed most of the people at Bowdoin-are from the northeast. It's not like that's news. I mean we've all heard the running joke that 50 percent of Bowdoin's student population lives within 20 minutes of Boston.
   I wonder sometimes if all of the Massachusites (is that what they're called? the only word I know is Mass-#$%*s) know about their covert jargon. Seriously, there is a lot of lingo-"nor'easter" included-that many of us who live west of Northhampton simply haven't ever heard. I can figure it out when you call a pop a "soda;" process of elimination tells me that "the cape" means Cape Cod. But I sure don't know the difference between-or even the location of- Hotchkiss, or Andover, or Exeter. (And the only way I know those names is from all of the high school sweatshirts I see at the fitness center.)
   But back to the nor'easter-apparently something everyone should know about. So let me fill you in, that is, if "the news" hasn't bombarded you already.
   I'll admit, my news sources are random. I don't watch the nightly news or read the New York Times every day. But I do make an attempt to stay at least somewhat informed of what's going on outside the Bowdoin Bubble. In fact, my default homepage is the Netscape News Channel...AND my alarm is tuned to a radio station that reads the news.
   Regardless of the fact that my news sources may be somewhat incomprehensive, throughout the past couple days the only news I've gotten-from Netscape, the radio, and mostly word of mouth-has been "nor'easter...blizzard...snow…cancellations… closings…commerce shut down…BUY YOUR MILK NOW!"
   It seems silly that this was breaking, important news…before the snow had even fallen. Maybe the significance of the news of this storm had to do with weather forecasters' new, accurate prediction technology; the weather is such big news because we know so much about it. Or maybe meteorologists have become progressively more dramatic; they sensationalize the weather because it excites them. Possibly with Clinton out of the White House, there just simply isn't much news, so weather makes the headlines-now that our president is no longer a sensational, controversial figure who riles up East Coast politics, media has filled this void by playing up…the weather(?)
   So anyhow, I checked out a real news source, thenewyorktimes.com, to see if in fact this was the only news going on in the northeast or, ahem, the world. Nope. Two students were shot dead in a high school near San Diego; Dick Cheney underwent angioplasty; (and weather delayed travel). Indeed, there were other considerable, more justifiably dramatic news events occurring while all we were thinking about was the big "storm of the century."
   All of this leads me to a couple of suppositions. First of all, if I want to be informed, I can't rely on word of mouth. Professors and students talked about the storm relative to the possibility of cancelled classes. My dad called to give me "the news"…but my dad's favorite channel is The Weather Channel. I guess I should read the New York Times every day.
   Secondly, reporters' priorities seem odd. Do journalists choose to report news that only directly affects their audience? And are people only interested in news that directly affects them - does news not matter until it means your flight or class is cancelled? I sure hope not.
   This brings me back to what I was saying about the New Englander lingo. It seems that people care most about their own part of the world. Consequently, at Bowdoin, most folks are very centered on the New England way of life. Don't get me wrong; I am just as guilty of focusing on my own place of origin. I'm from the Midwest-ask me about a bubbler, or where-or what-Sheboygan is. I'll be ready and willing to tell you as much about vacationing in Minocqua, Wisconsin as you are willing to tell me about "summering" in Newport, Rhode Island. Come visit my home turf-I'll show you the difference between sharp and mild cheddar cheese and have you taste a brat (pronounced "braht"). One thing's fer sherr: if you ever do visit the Midwest, there won't be any "nor'easters."