Latest
What Happened to Digital and Computational Studies?
The Digital and Computational Studies (DCS) program has frequently been clouded by student discontent. Despite being established as an interdisciplinary program in the 2015-16 school year, there has yet to be a creation of a minor or major. In fact, only two courses listed under the program were offered this fall semester. This may come […]
Bates Vaccinates
As every seasoned Batesie knows, with winter months follows the inevitable Bates “plague”. Bates College is especially vulnerable to the spread of disease due to its high community engagement and the overall design of a college campus. The influenza disease is a viral infection that spreads easily, attacking the ear, nose, and throat. According to […]
Bobcat339: Bates Molecule Could Treat Cancer
Built in 1965, Dana Chemistry Hall is one of the older buildings on the Bates College campus. Don’t let the aged exterior deceive you, though: the students and professors working inside Dana are producing cutting edge ideas and scientific creations. One recent exemplar of this pioneering work was the 2017 synthesis of the Bobcat339 molecule. […]
“Problematic Faves” Talk Balances Morality and Hollywood
Recent developments in popular culture have forced us to reckon with the moral failures of once beloved figures such as Woody Allen, Kevin Spacey, and Bill Cosby. On Thursday, Nov. 14, Bates hosted a talk with Erich Hatala Matthes, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wellesley College to discuss the intersections of popular culture and ethics […]
Africans in Academia: A Faculty Discussion
On Friday, Nov. 15 the Bates African Club produced a roundtable discussion entitled “Africans in Academia”, which hosted Professors Patrick Otim and Abraham Asfaw as speakers. The professors discussed their journeys into he academy as East African scholars. Otim, who is an Assistant Professor at Bates and has taught at the college for several years […]
Penobscot Nation Ambassador Speaks to Bates
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, in the basement of Pettengill Hall, members of the Bates community gathered to hear a talk from Maulian Dana, the Penobscot Nation Ambassador. While it was not the first time Dana has visited Bates, (she previously spoke at a decolonizing workshop at the College last year) her talk was well attended. […]
Pete Intrigues Exhausted Voters
With the 2020 Elections right around the corner, the Democratic primary is heating up. Lesser known candidates like Tim Ryan and Seth Moulton have dropped out, while other candidates like Kamala Harris focus their resources on Iowa to keep their campaigns afloat. We’ve seen everything from Medicare For All to mandatory gun buyback programs to […]
Food Waste: Thirty-two thousand, seven hundred and forty-one pounds of it
We produced 32,741 pounds of food waste that was converted into pig food in October. What a staggering number, right? Nonetheless, more waste needs to be examined. There is also the consideration of materials that are composted (food, tea bags and stirrers,) recycled (paper, plastics, tin, glass, and cardboard) and, finally, unconverted trash going to […]
We’re Here, We’re Queer
After years of individuals discriminating against me for identifying as queer, it felt refreshing to hear that in college I would finally be surrounded by individuals who will understand and accept me for who I am. Sadly, after coming to Bates College, I realized that was far from the truth. Instead of being embraced with […]
Problematic Faves
On Thursday Nov. 14, 2019, Professor Erich Hatala Matthes from Wellesley College, Massachusetts, gave a talk at Bates regarding how people should react and interpret art created by morally questionable artists. Professor Matthes is a professor of ethics, politics, and the aesthetics of cultural heritage, art, and the environment at Wellesley and is currently writing […]
Stop Discrediting Bernie Sanders’ Minority Supporters
Ever since the 2016 Democratic primary election cycle that mainly involved Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there has been an unsettling narrative perpetrated by Sanders’ political adversaries within the Democratic Party. This narrative generalized Sanders’ supporters and characterized many of them as overly demanding and unapologetically aggressive. This led to the emergence of the pejorative […]
Why Does This Indigenous Photograph in Commons Not Have a Plaque?
The next time you’re looking for a place to study and all the PGill lounges are full (and you’ve inevitably made uncomfortable eye contact with the person studying in each one), consider heading to the cozy Whelan Balcony Overlook in Commons (above the Fireplace Lounge). As you enter, you may notice a striking photograph hanging […]
Moisturizing in Maine
Last week I was sitting at a table in Commons eating breakfast when a friend walked over with really big news: he had just learned that there was a difference between face and body moisturizer. Learning about face lotion for the first time can be an eye-opening event. A whole new avenue of cosmetics has […]
Bates Entrepreneurship Spotlight: Olivia Cuneo
Bates College is filled to the brim with unique individuals who are excited to share their creative minds with the community. This week I talked to first-year Olivia Cuneo about her small hat business that has historically kept the skiing community of Vermont warm and protected on the cold New England winter days. Cuneo grew […]
St. Martin’s Day, Culturally Enriching and Emotionally Uplifting
As Halloween concludes and we move into November, it seems like American culture immediately plunges into the extravagant and over-the-top Christmas bonanza (even before Thanksgiving, my goodness). Us people in the States may not be aware but there is actually a wonderful European holiday, also ending in ‘-mas,’ that can shift our attention away from […]
Longo’s The Zoo Story Asks For Genuine Connections
How often do you strike up a conversation with a stranger in public? I will occasionally talk to people at airports or at stores, but I definitely don’t tell strangers my life story. However, that doesn’t change the fact that when I am really stressed out in public, I want people to ask if I’m […]
Men’s Basketball Season Preview
Now that the first snowfall has come and gone, winter sports are officially under way and that means it’s time for basketball season. Practices have been taking place for several weeks now, and the first week of games is finally upon us. The men’s basketball team has seen success in recent years, but they struggled […]
Historic Freshman Class Expands Women’s Tennis
Anchored by seasoned returners and energized by the largest freshman class in the program’s history, the Women’s Tennis team is shaping up to hit the court running this spring. The team, which had a 7-10 record last year, has new fire in the form of six new freshman players, who, according to Head Coach Paul […]
New Coach, New Courts, New Season: Bates Squash crushes Vassar, leaves with split results at Bowdoin
The Men’s and Women’s Squash teams opened the 2019-20 season this past week with mixed results; the women won against both Bowdoin (7-2) and Vassar (9-0), however the men lost a tight game at Bowdoin (5-4), dropping their previously held 29-game winning streak against the Polar Bears. The next day, the men’s team came back […]
Men’s Club Hockey at Bates: The Best of Both Worlds
Nowadays, there are countless options for hockey players coming out of high school looking to play in college. Whether it be playing a year or two of junior hockey in order to prepare for college hockey or going straight into NCAA competition, many high school hockey players looking to continue playing can be seemingly overwhelmed […]
It’s an Illness not a Weakness: Mental Health and Athletes
Left untreated mental illnesses can lead to the ending of sports careers and even the end of life. According to a 2015 NCAA study, 30% of athletes self-reported experiencing some form of mental illness. And yet, athletes like Kelly Catlin, a silver-medalist in cycling at the 2016 Olympics, are still found dead in their student-housing […]