The Bates Student's Own Version of the Classic College Advice Column with Bob the Bobcat
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The Bates Student THE VOICE OF BATES COLLEGE SINCE 1873 WEDNESDAY September 18, 2013 Vol. 143, Issue. 2 Lewiston, Maine FORUM ARTS & LEISURE SPORTS Blood Drive drama Village Club Series review Success at States Rheingold ’14 explores homopho- Bates College swoons over Garrett Johnson led the men’s bic implications of the FDA’s Blood Darlingside. golf team to 5th place in the Drive screening process. Maine State Championship this weekend in Bangor. Individually, placing 9th out of 55 players. See Page 2 See Page 6 See Page 12 Annual Outing Club Clambake Off-campus residents subject coincides with Yom Kippur to new disciplinary measures for residents after the first offense and ALEX DAUGHERTY the second offense resulted in a fine EDITOR-IN-CHIEF equaling the cost of housing on cam- pus for a semester. That would mean Citing pressure from Lewiston resi- a $1,786 fine for each member of an dents living near off-campus student off-campus house or apartment for the housing, Bates has changed its off-cam- 2013-14 academic year. pus disciplinary policy for the 2013-14 “The new policy is generally easier academic year. to enforce and more fair because the old The Dean of Students Office also options were either to do nothing or placed a moratorium on off-campus punish everyone to a disproportionate parties in the days leading up to the start degree,” says off-campus resident Taylor of classes. This was to ensure that all off- Blackburn ‘15. campus residents could hear about the Not surprisingly, the fine was so policies directly from the Deans and harsh that it was rarely enforced, even Lewiston Police before any discipline against residences that had large parties was implemented. frequently and therefore received mul- “Most residences have adhered tiple noise complaints. to the request very well to our sincere “That old policy, while relying on appreciation,” said Associate Dean of a fine, was unwieldy in its application,” Students James Reese in an email to off- Reese said. campus residents. Essentially, the new policy is a varia- A mandatory meeting was then tion of the current strike system for drug held on September 5th for all students and alcohol violations. The off-campus living off campus. The meeting includ- strike system is completely separate ed an overview of the new policies by from the drug and alcohol strike system; Dean Reese and Dean of Students Tedd students who receive a strike under one Goundie; remarks from Thomas Carey, system will not have that strike counted the head of Bates Security; and remarks in the other system. from the Lewiston Police Department. “Given that it sounds like they The reason for the new policy is to didn’t enforce the old policy, I think have a system where penalties are rea- it’s preferable to have one that’s a little sonable but enforced consistently and clearer so that it can actually be en- to open up lines of communication be- forced in a transparent, consistent way,” tween the Deans and students. says senior Jack Stewart, who lives off When an off-campus party is bro- campus this year. ken up by the Lewiston Police Depart- The Dean of Students office is- in ment, the incident will be referred to sistent that small parties of 30 or fewer the Deans, who will determine if the students should not be a problem in complaint is valid. If the complaint is most cases. determined to be valid, then the Deans Large parties, especially parties that will deliver a first warning to the entire contain 100 or more students, are some off-campus residence. of the biggest nuisances for local resi- If there is a second incident, the dents. Deans’ Office will meet with the stu- “Even if some students think these The BOC Clambake 2013. LILA WILMERDING/THE BATES STUDENT dents again, and if the complaint is [large parties] are a regular part of the deemed valid the residents of the of- which many students were indignant, Bates fabric, they must be eliminated LYDIA O’BRIEN fending house will be required to un- claiming it was supposedly “always” on because the hosting residents cannot MANAGING NEWS EDITOR a different day.” dergo community service. The parents a Sunday. However, according to senior control the behaviors of the large num- Based on conversations she has had of the residents will also be notified. Allie Balter, Vice President of the BOC, bers of students coming from the main For some students, the annual fall with College administrators, Balter says A third incident will result in a the event is really more often held on a campus,” Reese said. Clambake is a day of rest and feasting the administration “regrets that stu- Student Conduct Committee hearing Saturday. Some of the biggest issues for resi- on--yes, clams--but also as many burg- dents, and especially clubs, are not sent where consequences could include ex- Balter explains, “With the excep- dents living near students off-campus ers and lobsters as the Outing Club can the same list of holidays that faculty re- pulsion, probations, and suspensions. tion of last year, Clambake has always are trash and debris on sidewalks, prop- muster before our extension of summer ceives at the beginning of the year.” The penalties from the Dean of been on the Saturday of the 80s Dance. erty damage, uninvited entrances into really ends. For Jewish students, the For junior Shoshana Foster, who Students Office are in addition to any The Vice President of the BOC last homes by intoxicated students, repeated Clambake this year was instead a day regularly fasts on Yom Kippur, the date police penalties, such as court summons year made the reservations too late and shouting of profanities, bodily elimina- of fasting, as it fell on the day of Yom did not offend her as much as it did oth- for underage drinking or fines. Saturday had already been taken at Po- tions on their property, verbal harass- Kippur. pham. Scheduling clambake on that ers. The old policy, which was in place Yom Kippur is the Day of Atone- Sunday received a negative response, as “I’m used to not being able to go to for over a decade, resulted in a warning See OFF-CAMPUS, PAGE 5 ment in Judaism and as such is the ho- people didn’t want to go to Clambake events that I’d like to because of [Jew- liest day in the Jewish year, along with after 80s dance. The event was sched- ish] holidays,” she says. “So I wasn’t Rosh Hashanah, explains junior Eliza uled according to BOC tradition, not shocked that another school event was Kaplan. She describes it as a time for by random selection.” scheduled for the same day as Yom Kip- people to reflect on mistakes from the It was therefore not the change of pur services.” past year in their lives, and fasting is a day but the coincidence of the event Kaplan similarly notes, “Bates is ob- ritual that represents this repentance. with Yom Kippur that sparked various viously very secular, and there have been Kaplan is Co-President of Hillel, the reactions among Jewish students ob- school or club events on religious holi- Jewish student organization on campus, serving the holiday, whether fasting or days in the past, such as Mount David which currently holds around forty ac- not. Summit on Good Friday last year. This tive members. Kaplan says, “I was disappointed. I makes it less surprising that the Clam- About forty people, that is, who am fasting and I think many members bake was on Yom Kippur, but I do think couldn’t have eaten at the Clambake of Hillel do fast, but it is a personal de- it was very unfortunate.” even if they chose to go. cision, so I expect not everyone does.” Foster concedes, “What shocked me The fall Clambake is a beloved Kaplan also notes that she heard com- more--though it was a good surprise- beginning-of-the-year tradition that plaints about the change in date from “a -was the reaction of my non-Jewish celebrates being back at Bates as much decent amount of members” in Hillel. friends, since it wasn’t directly affecting as it welcomes new students into our Balter and the executive board them.” world here. Earlier last week, the Bates of the BOC were “not aware that the Junior Julia Eyman, who is not Outing Club announced that the Clam- Clambake fell on Yom Kippur, and had The Lewiston Police Department plans on stepping up underage drinking enforce- bake would be held on Saturday, about we been we would have certainly picked See CLAMBAKE, PAGE 5 ment at off-campus parties. LOGAN GREENBLATT/THE BATES STUDENT First-years by the numbers: Class of 2017 breaks through typical admissions trends race, ethnicity or first-generation to col- agrees that being part of the class of unique in its gender ratio: 54% are ty and excellence, “attracting and enroll- JULIA MONGEAU lege, to name a few. 2017 “means that I will meet people male, and 46% are female. ing the very best students from a broad STAFF WRITER Weisenburger says that this goal with different backgrounds and ideas, Early Decision I and II applications range of backgrounds.” goes back to the College’s founding. people I would have never met before if also increased significantly this year. The Weisenburger and the Admissions Tired of hearing, “I’m from just She also reasons that, “our students I were not here.” number of Early Decision applicants staff look to meet this goal as they begin outside Boston?” Well, you might hear and faculty will continue to learn and In the Class of 2017 profile, com- has steadily increased over the years, but selecting the next class to enter Bates.