The Bowdoin Orient

College looks to gain funds allocated by stimulus plan

By NICK DAY, ORIENT STAFF

Bowdoin can now be added to the list of institutions pursuing funds from the $787 billion economic stimulus package signed on February 17 by President Barack Obama. The College sent a letter to Maine Governor John Baldacci's office, looking to receive state funds for "shovel-ready" construction projects in Brunswick and "green initiatives" around campus, according to Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Katy Longley.

OCS receives 269 apps to study away

By PIPER GROSSWENDT, ORIENT STAFF

Monday's power outage was not the only unexpected setback for Off-Camus Study (OCS) this week. The office also had to attempt to realign the numbers of study abroad applications from the Class of 2011, since many more sophomores have indicated a desire to study abroad in the spring than in the fall.

Record numbers apply to College Houses

By ANYA COHEN, ORIENT STAFF

Residential Life received a record-breaking number of applications for College Houses on Tuesday. Three hundred students will vie for 197 available spots in the eight houses, compared to 218 students who competed for those spots last year. The applicant pool for 2009-2010 comprises 272 rising sophomores and 28 rising juniors and seniors. College Houses contain a total of 205 beds, eight of which are reserved for house proctors.

Professors debate merits of latkes, hamantash

By WILL JACOB, ORIENT STAFF

A dispute as heated as a fresh latke, content as rich as the fruit filling of a hamantash, and conflict as old as Judaism itself. Eager crowds filled the standing-room-only Lancaster Lounge on Wednesday night to listen in on a debate asking the question: Which Jewish delicacy reigns supreme? Calling upon metaphysics, environmental ethics, literary analysis, and puns galore for support, Professor of English Marilyn Reizbaum and Associate Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies Larry Simon squared off, pitting the triangular hamantash pastry against the circular potato latke.

MARGOT D. MILLER, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: Students from Anna Hepler's Printmaking II class carve into the floor of a classroom at the old Brunswick High School for a woodcut project. The building, which stopped serving as the high school in 1995, will be demolished in May. The class will show their prints at a Portland gallery later in the semester.

FEATURES

Africana Studies "reconceived for the 21st century"

By CAMERON WELLER, ORIENT STAFF

Growing up in southwestern Nigeria, Director of Africana Studies Olufemi Vaughan experienced first hand the "range of problems and issues developing out of Africa politically, socially, and culturally." Vaughan, who came to Bowdoin in the fall with a Ph.D. in politics from Oxford and experience teaching at Stony Brook University, is prepared to develop an Africana Studies Department that fully addresses the complexities of the African diaspora and African-American experience.

OPINION

EDITORIAL

Study abroad?

Of this year's sophomore class, more than half have applied to study off campus next year. With so many Bowdoin students choosing to study away each year, one could hardly call us insular. We boast a wide range of off-campus study options, including destinations from Great Britain to Sri Lanka. Those who go abroad will inevitably be exposed to new cultures and challenges. However, as studying abroad becomes increasingly popular, we should be increasingly wary of considering it the best choice for all students.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Seniors reinvigorate classics "Miss Julie" and "Of Mice and Men"

By MAXIME BILLICK, STAFF WRITER

Two seniors, Mo Zhou '09 and Jason Finkelstein '09, are putting new spins on two classic plays as they respectively direct "Miss Julie" and "Of Mice and Men" this weekend and next week. Written by August Strindberg in 1888, "Miss Julie" is the story of a strong-willed woman of high status and the daughter of a count. She flirts with Jean, the count's servant, who is engaged to Kristin, a cook. Miss Julie is self-loathing as well as gender- and class-confused. "She hates men, but she can't help flirting with them," Zhou said.

SPORTS

Speed-enhancing LZR suits rip through pool at NESCACs

By SETH WALDER, ORIENT STAFF

Amid the constant cheers and splashing of water, murmurs surrounding controversial swimsuits could be heard all around the Women's NESCAC Swimming and Diving Championship Meet last weekend at Bowdoin. The two suits, the LZR made by Speedo and the Nero Comp made by Blueseventy, are thick and increase the buoyancy of the swimmer, thus making it easier for them to cut through the water.