A Losing Battle?

Sweeping changes are needed in government anti-drug policies, beginning with pilot programs to test the effectiveness of decriminalization of some drugs, an influential federal court judge told a Colby audience last spring.
Juan Torruella, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, said that the "war on drugs" waged since the early 1970s has been expensive and largely ineffective and may have contributed to a growing criminal subculture sustained by extraordinary profits. "The more you restrict supply [of a product] the higher the price goes," Torruella said. Attracted by profit margins of 20,000 percent, drug dealers are engaged in "the best business in America," he said.

The Reel Pocahontas
Pocahontas may have been wonderful family entertainment, but the Disney film had very little resemblance to the historical figure whose name it appropriated. That was the consensus at a discussion about Hollywood's depiction of Pocahontas and of Native American culture in general conducted by visiting Instructor of Religious Studies Laurel Schneider.

Grades for Free
Effective July 1, Colby no longer requires students and alumni to pay for transcripts, Registrar George Coleman says.

Is Affirmative Action Needed? Yes and No.
An outspoken critic of affirmative action told a Spotlight Event audience in early May that the program has outlived its usefulness and has created a state-sanctioned form of discrimination, but an advocate of the program said it remains an important step toward leveling the playing field for minority citizens.

Building Up Downtown
National media outlets from Boston to Los Angeles covered the announcement in May by Warnaco CEO Linda Wachner that the Hathaway shirt factory in Waterville would close before the end of the year. (A group of investors led by former Maine Governor John McKernan is working to save the plant.) Levine's, an anchor for the downtown business district, has closed. Avian Farms, an internationally recognized poultry breeding and research firm, has delayed expansion plans because of a national downturn in demand. And, aside from the revival of the Harris Baking Company, which is emerging from bankruptcy, local industry is flat.