Bowdoin Project Puts Major Focus on Majority Leader

The Bowdoin College Library has inaugurated a three-year oral history project to document the life and career of U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell, a member of the Bowdoin College Class of 1954. Mitchell, former majority leader of the U.S. Senate and architect of the Northern Ireland Good Friday peace agreement, is currently chairman of the Global Board of DLA Piper, one of the world's largest law firms.

A 'Green' Wind Bodes Well for Bowdoin

Bowdoin College has reached a three-year agreement to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the owner of the Mars Hill Wind project in northern Maine. The use of renewable energy sources brings Bowdoin's total "green" electrical supply to 100 percent of state standards.

A Different Kind of Party Animal

The Wall Street Journal recently featured Bowdoin Colledge senior Meredith Segal in an article about a new type of "party animals" - students who skips spring break in a vacation locale in favor of volunteering with presidential campaigns. Segal is national director of Students for Barack Obama.

Did Welfare Reform Work?

We know that the welfare case load fell and that work increased following the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996. But how did this affect children, family structure, and incomes of recipients? Bowdoin College economist John Fitzgerald's demographic studies of government welfare and anti-poverty programs showed little, if any, decline in single motherhood as a result of reforms partially aimed at reducing the number of unwed mothers.

Shedding Light on "Dark Matter"

Deep under an Italian mountain, scientists are attempting to prove the existence of "dark matter," particles so plentiful they are believed to account for 90 percent of the universe's mass, but so elusive that they remain undetectable. Deep in the basement of Bowdoin College's Searles Science Building, Jimmy Lindsay is trying to help them find it.

Museum Reopens Its Treasures

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art reopens its doors Oct. 14 after an extensive renovation and expansion. Its more than 15,000 objects span the world of the ancient Assyrians through the 21st century.

Researching Interracial Romance Novels

Romance novels typically have been written by white women, featuring white protagonists. But since the 1980s, women of color have begun writing romances, with black-white lovers featuring prominently. Bowdoin College English professor Guy Mark Foster says the genre is uniquely suited for an examination of race, culture and sexuality—with its recurring themes of forbidden love overcoming great obstacles.

It's About Time

Once you get beyond the "Gee whiz!" factor of using Google Earth™ to find a satellite image of your old pick-up truck parked in your driveway, it requires the power of a super-computer to meaningfully store, manipulate or analyze that much data. Most of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) used to plot maps are not up to the task. But with help from some Bowdoin College student researchers, Assistant Professor of Computer Science Laura Toma and her colleagues from other universities have been creating algorithms that manage geographic data to reduce computation time, essentially giving a desktop the power of a supercomputer.