The Bates Student THE VOICE OF BATES COLLEGE SINCE 1873 WEDNESDAY Septemher 25, 2013 Vol. 143, Issue. 3 Lewiston, Maine FORUM ARTS & LEISURE SPORTS Off-Campus policy is unclear Fall in Maine Cross Country at USM Invitational Furlow ’14 discusses the implica- Pham ‘15 reports on fun to be had tions of the recent changes to the at Auburn’s Wallingford Farm- The Men’s team finishes in second, off-campus housing disciplinary Including apple picking, good the Women’s team finishes in third measures. eats, and goats. See Page 3 See Page 7 See Page 12 Fall brings Pettigrew’s fresh crop makeover of student now in the clubs home stretch SARAH DURGY BARBARA VANDERBURGH CONTRIBUTING WRITER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Each fall, Bates’ new first-year class For first-years still learning the lay- enters the Gray Cage for the annual ac- out of campus, the purpose of the gi- tivities fair and is greeted by crowds of ant brick building across from Parker upperclassmen eager to share informa- might be somewhat puzzling. However, tion about the widely varied student for those of us who spent many nights activities on campus. This year, as al- holed up in the old Pettigrew Mac ways, there were a few new tables spread lab, performing in Schaeffer Theater, amongst the old standards, reflecting chatting up office hours with different the always-evolving interests of the professors, or running practice debate Bates student body. rounds in the Filene Room, the mas- At one table, Sophie Pellegrini ’15 sively damaging flood in Pettigrew Hall was excited to spread the word about last year is still a recent, unfortunate a new club she has started along with memory. Lydia Rubenstein ’15 and Marisa Pala- Many might be wondering what has cio ’14, ’Cats Against Cancer (’CAC). been happening with the alleged project ’CAC will be a venue for interested to renovate the building, and luckily it Batesies to take an active role in the is almost finished. The building will be fight against cancer by spreading aware- fully functioning and arguably much ALYSSA CONNORS/ THE HARWARD CENTER ness and fundraising. The club’s biggest more user-friendly by next semester. event will be Relay for Life, an annual Doug Ginevan, Assistant Vice Pres- walk-a-thon that takes place in the ident for Financial Planning and Analy- spring. Saudi Arabian activist defies gender laws, sis, explained that “phase one of two” is Throughout the year, ’CAC will complete in the Pettigrew renovations. bring speakers and films to campus, After forming a committee of faculty hold Grief Groups for members of the promotes recognition of human rights and staff, the decision was ultimately community affected by cancer, and host In 2011, al-Sharif defied a tradi- “We broke the taboo,” says al-Sharif made, in his own words, to “dream a lit- smaller monthly events to promote edu- ANNE STRAND tional Saudi prohibition against female about that day, which officially initiated tle bit” in renovating the damaged areas. STAFF WRITER AND LAYOUT EDITOR cation on campus. drivers by filming herself driving a car her ongoing Women2Drive campaign. Essentially, this means that instead The group will also be collaborating th and then posting the video onto You- Since al-Sharif’s remarkable story of using solely insurance money to with The Dempsey Center for Cancer On Wednesday, September 18 , the Tube. To her surprise, the video was developed in 2011, her courageous patch up holes and fix tiles, the College Hope and Healing. Many ’CAC mem- Harward Center and the Office of -In trending in Saudi Arabia within the first and peaceful defiance has been recog- is using institutional money allocated bers plan to participate in the upcom- tercultural Education hosted Manal al- day of the upload. nized around the globe. Time Magazine for building renovation to make Petti- ing Dempsey Challenge, and the club’s Sharif, a Saudi Arabian women’s rights Motivated by the success of the vid- named al-Sharif one of the Most Influ- grew feel more like a Hedge (or at least team is open to anyone who wishes to activist, for a talk entitled “Driving for eo and after receiving both support and ential People in 2012, and she received a Hathorn). The overseers wished to register. Pellegrini encourages interested Freedom.” The lecture was part of the protest in response to the video footage, the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dis- modernize some of the less technologi- students to attend the club’s weekly Harward Center’s Civic Forum Series al-Sharif drove again with her brother in sent at the 2012 Oslo Freedom Forum. cally advanced classrooms and open up meetings, Thursdays at 8:00 P.M. in and the OIE Speakers Series. Al-Sharif the car. It was during the second drive Today, al-Sharif lives with her son and the previously windy, endless hallway Pettengill G10. also entertained a smaller crowd for a that al-Sharif and her brother were de- Brazilian husband in between Dubai, where the Mac lab and loaner pool are question and answer session on Thurs- Last spring, Tara Patel ’15 and Mi- th tained by Saudi authorities and charged United Arab Emirates and her home- located in the basement. (The water’s all chael Arsnow ’14 were instrumental in day, September 19 , for which she trav- with “disturbing public order.” They town of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. gone, too.) jumpstarting the Bates Public Health eled from Saudi Arabia. were detained despite the driver’s license At Bates, al-Sharif addressed factors “Phase one” involved moving all the Initiative (PHI) with the goal of build- One may not readily associate the that al-Sharif had acquired during her that make for successful, non-violent re- Pettigrew-housed faculty back into their ing up public health awareness on term “women’s rights activist” with Sau- year spent in the United States, and that bellion by emphasizing the influence of old offices, putting in new carpeting, campus and working with community di Arabia, a country sometimes known there is no law that forbids women from social media; major sites such as Face- giving the classrooms more user-friendly partners to address public health issues for its traditionalist customs, laws gov- operating automobiles. book and Twitter played a critical role technology and equipment, and making in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Last year, erned by the basic tenants of Islam, and While in prison, al-Sharif received in the uprisings of the “Arab Spring” the basement classrooms more attractive Bates students got involved at the Free the absolute rule of the monarchy. numerous threats against her safety and demonstrations that began in 2012, as and available for use. Clinic at the Trinity Jubilee Center, im- Indeed, al-Sharif asked the Bates even her life, but the threats did nothing she reminded the audience. Al-Sharif The project has also updated the plemented the Zero Sugary Drinks Pro- audience to offer what comes to mind to weaken her convictions. After being believes that the shift of power from building’s lighting and the drinking gram at the Somali Bantu Youth Center, when one thinks of Saudi Arabia, and released from jail nine days after her de- the absolute authorities to the hands of fountain situation, which will no doubt and took part in a Smoking Cessation not surprisingly, one audience member tainment, al-Sharif organized a peaceful the people is represented in social me- spark a unilaterally positive response; Program and a dental health program. spoke up with “oppression of wom- protest against the ban on female drivers dia outlets; she presented a graph that fixed the theaters and the Filene Room; The Bates community has respond- en.” However, al-Sharif maintains that by assembling Saudi women to all drive showed how the usage of smart phones and added a new Rhetoric Lounge. By ed enthusiastically to the club’s mission, Saudi Arabia, like many other parts of on the same day in June 2013. is highest in the world in the United the beginning of next semester, the ILS and Patel notes that PHI is attempting the Middle East, is experiencing a time The protest turned out to be a tre- Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where- (Information and Library Services) ar- to get “as many programs together as we of revolution and change, a change in mendous success: None of the one hun- as the United States does not rank in the ea--in the hallway on the second floor which al-Sharif played a critical role by dred participating women drivers was top five countries. on the way to Schaeffer--basement sta- simply getting behind the wheel of a car arrested. See NEW CLUBS, PAGE 5 two years ago. See ACTIVIST, PAGE 5 See PETTIGREW, PAGE 6 Short Term may bring in non-professors to teach JAKE VILLARREAL Under Professor Kane’s direction, CONTRIBUTING WRITER the two new categories of Short Term classes, currently under debate, are Short Term is know as the term of “Practitioner-taught courses” and “Ped- possibilities. It offers ample opportuni- agogical Innovation courses.” Both sects ties to step away from the confines of reflect the College’s goal to rethink what a major, to go abroad, or to spend five Short Term is capable of and to experi- weeks studying something you love; ment with new styles of education. however, it is more commonly a com- “Practitioner-taught courses” would bination of these. While Short Term is bring practitioners from various areas of a fixed and stable aspect of the Bates expertise to teach classes in their field.