Volume CXXXIII, Number 10 November 16, 2001 f

Librarian responds to security issues

To the Bowdoin Community:

I am writing to respond to the letter (Nov. 9) "Tighter security needed at the library" and to clarify details related to the theft of a student's laptop computer, in the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, on November 2nd. Library staff are trained to refer to a handbook of written procedures during emergency situations. The students on duty correctly followed procedures: they called Security. Security repeatedly has instructed staff never to try to apprehend the perpetrators of a crime, but instead to call Security. Subsequently, due to the information provided by library staff and the students involved, two individuals were apprehended and the laptop was recovered. The library is a very public building, and we urge all students never to leave laptops or any valuables unattended in the library or any other public location, even when they vacate a carrel just for a few moments to get a drink of water or to consult the catalog. We also have had telephones installed on each level of the Hubbard stacks. If you are in Hubbard and feel Security needs to be contacted, use the phone and call Security; do not take the time to walk back to the Circulation Desk on the main level of H-L. We welcome suggestions for how we may increase security. Please be assured that maintaining security and safety in the library is a chief concern of every library staff member.

Thanks again for your concerns.

Sherrie S. Bergman Librarian

Questioning the slander of Bowdoin atheletes

As students at Bowdoin we are all a part of a special and unique community that will never again be duplicated for the rest of our lives. We all have our own individual reasons for coming to Brunswick, but each one of us-intentionally or not-have become Polar Bears. The community that each one of us has worked to establish revolves around mutual support, academic integrity, and social honor.

As students here, we have a common respect and admiration for each other, and for each individual accomplishment that our peers have made, whether it is on the playing field, in the classroom, in the theater, through music, or in student government.

In a school that brags about having more that two-thirds of its student body playing a varsity sport, we feel that sports should not be something that is frowned upon. Athletic teams and athletes do not serve to divide the student body: rather they unite us. Sporting events are a great medium for showing school spirit. It is in few places that school spirit is as deep or as evident as it is at a big game versus one of our distinguished rivals. For years this has been the trend at Bowdoin. Ted Maloney, an orient staff writer, from three years ago, wrote: "What makes the student section of home hockey games great is that for a couple of hours, a diverse cross section of the Bowdoin community actually comes together for one common cause".

As members of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, we felt that publishing an article in the Orient on Parent's Weekend (the most widely circulated issue that the Orient puts out) claiming that athletes at Bowdoin are far below the acceptable lines of admission and that they do not perform up to the academic standards of the college was not only a slap in the face to the hundreds of student-athletes at Bowdoin, but also a smear against the institution and community that we all value as Polar Bears.

While we do not endorse the idea of greatly lowering standards to admit athletes, we feel that athletic contributions should be very important in the admissions arena because athletics are the strongest unifying force that our school has. Bowdoin College is a school that prides itself on a well-rounded student body. It is a school that wants students to feel its "resources behind them in whatever task" they undertake; "to make hosts of friends who are leaders in all walks of life." We believe that Bowdoin should strive for perfection in every task that it undertakes, including sports.

As athletes, we would be happy to know that, as a school, we have the privilege to have the number one pianist in the country. Our admissions office should look for a well-rounded student body; we should have talented athletes, great actors, exemplary leaders and good physicists alike. Raising the standards for an already extremely difficult admissions process for student-athletes would only prevent us from reaching the standards of national excellence that we already have achieved in the academic arena, thereby stripping our community of the most powerful unifying force that Bowdoin has to offer - successful sports teams.

Our opinion as a committee is simple. Be happy that your squash team is going to be competing for the national championship every year, smile knowing that we have one of the best theater departments in the country, and celebrate over the fact that the leaders of tomorrow are working hard in our student government. If Bowdoin is lacking in other areas of student interest, such as the music department, let's work hard to improve the resources and participation in that department, but not at the expense of the time-honored athletic department. We must unite together, not divide, as students, artists, faculty, and athletes alike to promote the greatest well being of the college.

Written by Marshall Mclean and Michael Taylor, class of 2002, on behalf of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee is lead by a group of seven senior captains. The Committee is in charge of promoting the well being of student athletes at Bowdoin through Spirit, Wellness and Community Service. The committee has representatives from each class and every sport.