The Bowdoin Orient
Volume CXXXVIII, Number 1
September 12, 2008
OPINION
The Amethyst Initiative
Since it was drafted in July, more than 120 college and university presidents have signed the Amethyst Initiative, a statement that calls for a public discussion about the 21-year-old drinking age. College presidents who have signed the statement are not asking for a specific change in policy; instead, they hope to stimulate "an informed and dispassionate debate over the effects of the 21-year-old drinking age." The signatories represent schools ranging from Ohio State University to Hamilton College?but Bowdoin is absent from the list.
What?s wrong with Palin?s nomination
By ASPEN GAVENUS, CONTRIBUTOR"What do you think about Sarah Palin?" I first heard this question a week and a half ago after returning from a pre-orientation backpacking trip. Having missed John McCain's announcement of Sarah Palin as his running mate, I was utterly baffled as to why anyone would care about my governor.
A Sojourn in Civilized Life: My last first column of my last first semester
By ANNIE MONJAR, COLUMNISTA couple weeks ago, I pressed my nose up against the small square of Plexiglas next to my seat as JetBlue Flight 606 hovered over Portland. I've made the same descent countless times during my time at Bowdoin, but I still can't help feeling a little awe-inspired by the scattered lakes and bewildering forests of Maine's landscape. Born and raised in the Midwest, New England still has an exotic draw for me; the curious charm of lobster boats, in fact, eliminated any need I ever felt to study overseas. Land's End would suffice.
College presidents should support the Amethyst Initiative
By JOSE CESPEDES, CONTRIBUTORShortly after Kansas became the first state in the union to outlaw alcoholic beverages in 1881, a woman by the name of Carrie Nation set about personally enforcing the new state law. Considering herself "a bulldog running along at the feet of Jesus, barking at what He doesn't like," Nation quickly became well known for storming into bars and saloons, reprimanding the patrons for their actions, and smashing any bottles of liquor with a hatchet.
Cast your ballot for national and local change on November 4
By MAX CONOVER AND CLAIRE COOPER, CONTRIBUTORSAfter one full week of classes and over two weeks to settle into Bowdoin this fall, many of us may already feel our absorption into the Bowdoin bubble. And while our inboxes are flooded with reminders of meetings and parties, we are possibly forgetting to consider what is easily one of the largest events of this fall worldwide: the election taking place on November 4.