Monday, October 5, 2020
Undergrad Positivity Rate Falls in Week 5 Out of 4,991 tests last week, nine undergrads tested positive. By Scott Baker News Editor
MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR
New Policy Limits On-Campus Guests Admin. cited local officials’ concerns over number of cases.
By Isabella Ranieri Heights Staff and Maddie Deye Heights Staff
A new guest policy for Boston College residence halls went into effect Friday. Under the revised policy,
students living in traditional single, double, triple, and quad rooms will be permitted one guest, while students in suites and apartments will be allowed two guests at a time. This is a decrease from the rules outlined in BC’s Housing Addendum, which said students would be allowed one guest for each resident currently in the room. The addendum stipulated, though, that policies and rules may change during the semester. Executive Vice President Michael
Lochhead and Director of University Health Services Doug Comeau announced the change in an email to students on Wednesday. The email said the decision was based on BC’s infection data and a desire to limit the spread of the coronavirus on campus. A follow-up email sent to students Friday said that the decision came after discussions with state and local officials concerned about the number
By Julia Remick
Metro Editor
Newton City Councilor Alicia Bowman has criticized a video of the Boston College football team celebrating after its win on Saturday. In the video, members of the football team are singing in the locker room without masks. In a press conference on Tuesday, head BC football coach Jeff Hafley responded to the criticism the team received for the celebration in the video. “I got caught up in the moment,” Hafley said. “It was an emotional game, and I got back in the locker room, and I should’ve had my mask on, and I should have had the
players have their masks on. As safe as we feel when we just got tested, I’ll learn from it, and I’ll take responsibility for it.” Senior Associate Athletics Director for Communications Jason Baum tweeted Monday that only one BC football student-athlete has tested positive for COVID-19 since the team returned to campus in late June. The football team is currently following ACC guidelines from August, which involves testing players once a week. “It seems that BC is willing to admit they took a break from COVID-19 protocols to celebrate, which does not seem wise,” Bowman said in an email to The Heights. In her tweets, Bowman noted that the NCAA recommends that student-athletes and staff should consider minimizing time spent in crowded environments. “I would also add that it seems like BC football worked hard to not have any
See Testing, A3
See Guests, A3
Maskless Football Celebration Decried
A Newton City Councilor condemned a video of the Eagles.
Last week, Boston College reported its lowest undergraduate positivity rate for COVID-19 since classes began, as of its Friday update of the COVID-19 dashboard. The University reported nine positives out of 4,991 undergraduate tests on Friday, an undergraduate positivity rate of 0.18 percent. The University reported lower rates—.06 percent and .09 percent,
respectively—during the two weeks of entry testing of returning students, faculty, and staff prior to the start of the semester. BC conducted 1,772 fewer tests last week than it did the week prior, with 1,820 fewer tests for undergraduates and 48 more tests of non-undergraduates. Since the University reported a spike in cases during the second week of the semester, with the number of undergraduates testing positive for COVID-19 more than doubling and the undergraduate positivity rate coming in at 3.53 percent, the positivity rate has remained relatively low.
COVID cases,” Bowman tweeted. “Why risk that for a few minutes of celebration that could have been done outside or at least with masks on if they were going to be inside?” Bowman said in her email to The Heights that some people negatively responded to her tweet on social media and by email, saying that the team can celebrate in this way because they had all been tested. Bowman also said that more people responded positively than negatively to her tweet—and that Brighton residents, BC students, and student-athletes were among those who responded positively. “So hopefully my tweet had a positive effect in helping BC see the unnecessary risk they put players in,” Bowman said in the email. “I hope that there are many future celebrations for the Eagles and that they will be done so following COVID protocols for the safety of the players and the safety of the broader community.” n
*Data compiled from BC’s dashboard.
EAMON LAUGHLIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Diversity at BC Lags Behind National Levels In 2019, 4.5 percent of BC’s undergraduate students were Black. By Alexa Sarci Heights Staff
When students gathered outside Lower two weeks ago to join the national protests over the police killing of Breonna Taylor, students of color reflected on their own experiences with racism on Boston College’s campus. Being a student of color on a campus that’s mostly white can be an isolating experience for students like Malaki Hernandez, MCAS ’23.
“I’m tired of being BC’s poster child every single time they want to post something,” Hernandez told The Heights at the protest. Last fall, 4.5 percent of BC’s undergraduate students were Black, a number that has risen by a fifth of a percentage point since 2014, according to BC’s fact books. The percentage of Hispanic and Latino students was 3.2 percent, with a rise of one-tenth of a percentage point occurring in that time. The Census Bureau reports that in 2019, 16 percent of undergraduates nationwide were Black and 19 percent were Hispanic. In 2019, white students made up 65.9 percent of BC’s undergraduate student
See Diversity, A3
Parents Grill BC Dining for Quality, Availability
Parents complained about limited hours and high prices.
By Scott Baker News Editor and Ada Anderson Heights Staff
After weeks of complaints about both the quality and price of the food in Boston College’s dining halls, Dining Services held a Zoom meeting on Wednesday night with a group of parents to address their concerns. Parents expressed their concerns with the nutritional value, costs, and portion sizes of the food served on campus, as well as the lines, limited hours of operation, and the safety precautions for COVID-19. “I think a lot of us have kids at other
well-to-do colleges, and it’s not the same experience,” said Tania Whitton, a parent on the Zoom call. “So maybe it would be worth reaching out to some of the other schools to see what they’re doing. I don’t know.” During the event, BC Dining announced that it will be reopening latenight dining after Columbus Day weekend. BC Dining administrators also said during that meeting that they would like to make the GET Mobile app accessible on weekends, but they don’t have enough staff. Beth Emery, director of BC Dining, told parents that BC Dining is a self-operated service that pays labor and benefit costs, rent, and utilities. BC Dining consistently posts financial losses, Emery said, adding that this year has been more difficult than ever.
Eagles Narrowly Lose to No. 12 Tar Heels
See Dining, A3
“Until the clock hits zero, we’re not going to doubt ourselves,” said Hunter Long.
JESS RIVILIS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
CHEESE THE DAY
LOSS IN LOUISVILLE
MAGAZINE
SPORTS
Columnist Alexandra Morin revamps a fall staple, tomato soup with grilled cheese, in her Quarantine Kitchen series.
Following last year’s record-breaking season, the Eagles faltered in their season opener against Louisville.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
MAGAZINE: Renée Pastel
ARTS: Music Profs. Get Creative
In Pastel’s first semester at BC, she teaches a film theory and criticism course............A4
BC’s music professors find methods to improve the experience of remote instruction..............A9
INDEX
NEWS......................A2 OPINIONS............. A6 Vol. CI, No. 11 © 2020, The Heights, Inc. MAGAZINE................. A4 ARTS...................... A9 METRO........................A5 SPORTS.................. A11 www.bcheights.com
The Heights
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things to do on campus this week
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There will be a chat with Lindsay LoBue, BC ’96 and founder of Greenback Labs, over Zoom. The event, which is sponsored by the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship, will be hosted at 3 p.m. Monday.
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Monday, October 5, 2020
There will be a panel of alumni who work in the U.S. Congress at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The event, titled “From the Heights to the Hill” and hosted by the Career Center, will center around forging a career on Capitol Hill.
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On Thursday at 1:45 p.m. there will be a town hall on Racial Justice via Zoom. Dean Thomas D. Stegman, S.J., of the School of Theology and Ministry will join to provide updates on STM’s racial justice initiatives.
NEWS Schiller Institute Construction on Schedule BRIEFS Former BCPD Officer Dies Former Boston College Police Department officer Joey Marano died on Friday, according to an announcement from BCPD. Marano, who had been battling cancer, worked for BCPD as a fulltime officer for over 22 years. “Officer Marano was a wellknown and beloved member of this community and our department,” the BCPD announcement reads. “He was known to always put people and the community he served first.” While simultaneously working for BCPD, Marano spent 18 years working for Somerville Fire Department as a full-time firefighter and paramedic, and spent two years as a reserve officer for the Foxboro Police Department, according to a post by NBC10 Boston. “Rest In Peace Officer Marano,” BC wrote in a response on Facebook. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.” BC Athletics selected Marano as the hometown hero of this week’s BC Football game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Saturday. Marano is survived by his wife Lori and his two kids, Justin and Amanda. There will be a funeral procession from the George L. Doherty Fu n e r a l H o m e i n S o m e r v i l l e on Wednesday morning at 9:15 a.m. that will be followed by a 10 a.m. Funeral Mass in St. Ignatius Church. Relatives and friends are invited. Back in April, NBC10 Boston reported that family, friends, and colleagues came out to cheer for Marano as he began another round of chemo. In the video, a line of fire trucks passed by Marano blaring their sirens as his family and friends cheered him on. “Had the pleasure of working many of details with Joe at Gillette Stadium and riding in the cruiser with the man,” Tyler McElman wrote. “Stay strong brother!” B eneath the announcement of his passing, one commenter recalled working with Marano at BCPD. “He was always so kind and calm,” Sam Wholley wrote. “When I was working in the Police Department offices in college he would bring us dinner and always had a joke. What a great man - God bless him and his family.” Tina Plotegher, another commenter, had similar kind words to share. “Joey was a wonderful man,” Plotegher wrote. “He always came in to the [BC] Bookstore. He would bring pizza for the workers. Class act. He will be missed.” “Thoughts and prayers with Officer Marano and the entire Marano family,” The BC Veterans Alumni network wrote in a post on Facebook. “Thank you for your service to the community.” Another commenter, B C PD lieutenant Jeff Postell, wrote that Marano was truly one of a kind and that everyone should strive to act more like him. “How often can you say that you’ve been blessed to know someone that NEVER once complained ab out any thing , NEV E R once spoke Ill about someone, NEVER once didn’t have a smile on their face, and NEVER stopped giving everything they had for others?,” Postell wrote. “Well I and many of my friends that knew and worked with Joey have the unique opportunity to say we did. … The world lost a good one when we lost Joey. I think we all could be more like Joey. What a special world that would be.”
By Hannah Murphy Heights Staff
The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society is on schedule for it’s December 2021 opening, said Mary Nardone, associate vice president for Capital Projects Management. Centered on the pillars of the environment, energy, and health, the institute will be housed in a five-story, 156,500-square-foot building and is the cornerstone of the largest single investment in the sciences at Boston College at 300 million dollars. The structural steel process was completed over the summer, Nardone said, and construction is now focused on getting the exterior sealed off from weather. Mechanical and electrical distribution is currently underway in the interior of the building, she said. The next steps for the project will be beginning masonry work on the southern end of the building—near Campion Hall—putting up precast stone and granite up the side of the building, Nardone said in an email to The Heights. Roofers will follow with clay tiles—work that is expected to continue through the summer. “It has be en great to se e the pitched roofs on the building, and with the stone facade and clay tile roof, this building will really start to join the fabric of the Collegiate Gothic architecture of Middle Campus,” Nardone said. Nardone said that the building is on track to achieve LEED Silver certification, an environmental sustainability certification based on a nine-category point system, assigning marks for areas such as energy and water efficiency and indoor environmental quality. Some of the features of the building will include an open-design wet laboratory space for over 20 faculty members. Faculty from the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, earth and environmental sciences, psychology, and neuroscience will be able to use the space collaboratively. Additionally, the building will have other science facilities such as a cleanroom—a hyper-clean room
MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Construction on the building is now focused on sealing off the exterior from weather after erecting steel structure over summmer designed for scientific research—as well as office space for faculty that do not require laboratory equipment for their work. So far the Schiller Institute has hired three new faculty members— two faculty for the engineering program and Laura Steinberg as the Seidner Family executive director of the Schiller Institute. The 22 faculty members that will be hired for the Schiller Institute are expected to be hired gradually over the next three to four years, Steinberg said in the email. The Schiller Institute will house several academic programs, including the global public health and the common good minor, which launched in the spring 2019 semester and will hopefully be offered as a major in the future, said Greg Adelsberger, interim director of finance and operations for the Schiller Institute. “Global public health is very fitting as the first academic program to launch under the Schiller Institute because it is a model of interdisciplinarity,” Adelsberger wrote in an email to The Heights. “Our excellent
group of faculty come from a variety of backgrounds, as do the students enrolled in the minor.” The Schiller Institute has also launched the Global Observatory on Pollution and Health program. The Observatory is already working on several projects related to the impacts of pollution and has received funding from organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Adelsberger said. The Observatory is focused primarily on research and is not an academic program, but undergraduates can still become involved by working with faculty on research. The human-centered engineering program will launch in the fall of 2021 and will occupy the third floor of the building. The computer science department—currently in St. Mary’s Hall— and the Edmund H. Shea Jr. Center for Entrepreneurship—currently in Carney Hall—will be moved to the building, Steinberg said, and the University is looking to create more
programs through the institute. “We are in the midst of a strategic planning process to determine other new programs that Schiller will create or support,” Steinberg wrote in an email to The Heights. “We will be reaching out to the student body later this year to gather thoughts from students about how Schiller can support their academic and professional interests, particularly when those interests intersect with learning and doing for the common good.” An emphasis of the Schiller Institute is taking an interdisciplinary approach to complex global issues. Faculty will be drawn from all of Boston College’s undergraduate schools, the law school, and the School of Social Work, Steinberg said. The institute is currently organizing an environmental racism event with the Forum on Racial Justice, which will take place later this semester, which Steinberg illustrated as a prime example of the kind of interdisciplinary work that the Schiller Institute will engage in. n
BC Settles Lawsuit Over Title IX Policies By Megan Kelly Asst. News Editor The University settled the case with the Boston College student-athlete who sued BC over his suspension for an alleged sexual assault in June of 2019, according to court documents filed on Sept. 23. The parties stipulated that “all claims asserted in this action shall be dismissed with prejudice and without costs,” meaning that the plaintiff cannot refile the suit against the University on the same grounds and that no court fees were awarded to either party. Details of the settlement are not publicly available, and lawyers for the student did not respond to inquiries from The Heights. The University wrote in a statement only that “the case was dismissed by agreement of the parties.” The case entered into discovery, a pre-trial fact-finding phase, in U.S. District Court this past February. In November 2018, another BC student, identified as “Jane Roe” in court documents, reported to Student Affairs Title IX Coordinator Melinda Stoops that Doe had engaged in a non-consensual sexual encounter with Roe while she was intoxicated. The University found Doe responsible for sexual assault and suspended him in June of 2019. The student filed a suit against the University in July of last year alleging that he was deprived of a fair process by BC’s disciplinary proceedings, which at the time utilized a “single investigator model” to investigate sexual assaults. The following month, presiding Judge Douglas P. Woodlock temporarily overturned the suspension of the student, identified as “John Doe” in court documents, allowing him to
return to the University and enroll in classes in the fall. The University appealed Woodlock’s decision on Aug . 28, 2019, placing the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals at the First Circuit, which overturned Woodlock’s decision and reinstated the suspension. K.C. Johnson, a professor at Brooklyn College who chronicles Title IX litigation, said that the settlement of the case prevented the Massachusetts courts from addressing the question of whether the University must allow cross-examination to ensure “fundamental fairness,” or meeting the standards of due process. It is against the norm for any college with the previous favorable opinion to settle at this stage in the case, Johnson said, referencing the First Circuit’s reinstatement of the student’s suspension. “For BC to settle under those circumstances, you kind of wonder what was in the material that would have come out in the looming motions in this case,” Johnson said. The model, which was University policy between the fall of 2014 and the August of 2019, did not include any real-time cross-examination in the investigation. Woodlock said that BC’s single investigator model deprived Doe of fundamental fairness, as it lacked real-time cross-examination or an equivalent process. The “single investigator model” employs the use of one or two investigators—in this case, Assistant Dean of Students Kristen O’Driscoll and external investigator Jennifer Davis. The investigators interview the accused student, the complainant, and any witnesses before sending a report and finding to the Student Title IX coordinator and what was then the Dean of
Students Office. Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore reorganized The Dean of Students Office into the Division of Student Affairs in 2019. The Office of Student Conduct is now responsible for Title IX investigations. Woodlock referenced the requirement of public universities to ensure constitutional due process by including some form of real-time cross-examination, as found in Haidak v. University of Massachusetts Amherst, suggesting that the responsibilities of public and private universities are “more or less the same thing.” Woodlock wrote that it was likely that Doe would succeed on his claims that he was deprived of fair process. “The balance of hardships … would decidedly weigh more heavily upon John Doe if the within introductory relief is not granted as compared with the significantly less weighty hardship that would be experienced by Jane Roe or by Boston College,” Woodlock wrote in the decision. In the First Circuit decision, Judge Sandra L. Lynch referenced two rulings from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts—Schaer v. Brandeis University and Coveney v. President and Trustees of the College of the Holy Cross—which found that private universities are not bound by the due process clause of the Constitution, but rather fundamental fairness and basic fairness. The settlement comes in the wake of the Department of Education’s release of new Title IX regulations in May. Included in the new rules are mandated live cross-examination, a more narrow definition of sexual harassment, and the ability for schools to use a higher standard of evidence in their sexual
misconduct investigations. Stoops declined a request for comment from The Heights about whether the settlement will have any impact on BC’s Title IX policies. The University still had to institute a cross-examination policy, though, to comply with the new Title IX rules. According to BC’s Student Sexual Misconduct Policy for the 2020-2021 academic year, a sexual misconduct hearing will consist of an administrative hearing board panel or a hearing officer, all of whom will be trained on investigating sexual misconduct complaints. Johnson argued that the Department of Education’s changes to Title IX policy under Secretary Betsy DeVos have made the system more equitable for students accused of sexual assault. “The basic premise of the DeVos rules, stripped from a lot of the rhetoric, is this idea that schools weren't handling these cases fairly enough for accused students,” Johnson said. “And what the DeVos rules particularly targeted was this concept of the single investigator model. … If the allegation is wrongful, or just unclear, it creates a system that is biased against the accused.” American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Louise Melling said that the new Title IX rules, though they promote fair process, do not adequately protect students’ access to education. “Title IX was adopted to ensure that no student, whether in grade school, high school, or university, would be denied or limited educational opportunities because of sex,” Melling said. “... The Trump administration is doing exactly what Title IX prohibits—discriminating on the basis of sex.” n
The Heights
Monday, October 5, 2020
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Parents Get into Food Fight with BC Dining, from A1
Local Concern Leads to Guest Policy Change Guests, from A1 of cases at BC and other Boston area colleges this semester, along with the recent rise in cases in Boston and Massachusetts. “The policy also aligns us more closely with area colleges and universities, most of which have had ‘no guest’ policies in their residence halls since the start of the semester,” said the email, which was signed by Associate Vice President of Residential Life George Arey and Dean of Student Conduct Corey Kelly. Arey and Kelly said that they hope they can revisit the guest policy when COVID-19 numbers improve in the region. “We understand that you want to be able to have your friends over whenever you want, and that some may be frustrated by the decision,” their email said. The University had p erforme d 2,303 undergraduate tests with five positives last week at the time of the announcement. Since the announcement, the University has reported four more undergraduate cases out of 2,688 undergraduate tests , putting the undergraduate positivity rate for the week at .18 percent, the lowest rate the University has reported since classes began. There were 43 undergraduates in isolation as of Friday—with 17 in isolation housing and 26 recovering at home—and 131 undergraduates had recovered. Both emails requested that students wear masks in their common rooms and that students not travel during the upcoming Columbus Day weekend, reminding students to follow the Massachusetts state travel guidelines if they must travel unexpectedly. A petition urging BC to exempt seniors from the new guest policy has garnered more than 2,000 signatures
at the time of publication. The petition argues that the change i s u n f a i r b e c a u s e s e n i o r s h av e been abiding by social distancing restrictions, and it represents a change from the housing addendum students signed prior to the semester. “Our senior year is already ruined with the strict rules instated by BC, and now that we have finally adjusted we are blindsided with this new policy,” the petition reads. “... Unless the policy reverts back to its already strict state, seniors will move off campus in mass exodus next semester so that we can socialize in adherence with state laws.” The email f rom Lo chhe ad and Comeau noted that no seniors were currently in isolation at the time, which the petition cited as evidence that the Class of 2021 has be en responsible with social distancing. The email did not say how many of the undergraduates who had recovered from COVID-19 were seniors. Two students also began an email campaign to administrators arguing that the restrictions are too stringent given current infection data and accusing the University of acting without sympathy. The campaign i s a d d re s s e d to w a rd L o ch h e a d , Associate Vice President of University Communications Jack Dunn, and the Office of Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “ We find the ne w guest polic y stating that suites/apartments are only allowed two guests at a time to be unfair and callous,” the email that the students are encouraged to send to administrators reads. “If there was a severe uptick in the positivity rate, we would be more understanding of these new guidelines. While the main goal is to keep Boston College students safe, it does not make sense to simply change the guest policy without also increasing testing or moving more classes online.” n
Positivity Rate Lowest Since Classes Began Testing, from A1 BC reported that 43 undergraduates were in isolation as of Friday—with 17 in isolation housing and 26 isolating at home—and that 131 undergraduates had recovered. The University reported that it had conducted 44,687 total tests, with 177 positive cases , through Thursday. These numbers include 30,323 undergraduate tests, with 174 undergraduate cases. BC also adjusted its guest policy this week, restricting the number of allowed guests to one in traditionalstyle rooms and two in apartments and suites. Previously, students could have one guest for each resident currently in the room, which could reach up to 18 students at a time in nine-person suites.
The University said in the initial announcement of the policy that it was based on infection data. Associate Vice President of Residential Life George Arey and Dean of Student Conduct Corey Kelly said in a follow-up email to students Friday that the decision came after discussions with state and local officials concerned about the number of cases at BC and other Boston area colleges this semester, along with the recent rise in cases in Boston and Massachusetts. “The policy also aligns us more closely with area colleges and universities, most of which have had ‘no guest’ policies in their residence halls since the start of the semester,” the email reads. “Given the evolving nature of the pandemic, we hope that we can revisit this policy when the numbers improve throughout the region.” n
“Not a single year has been as challenging as the past six months with the pandemic,” she said. The notion that Dining Services fails to make a profit caught some parents by surprise, as many lamented what they saw as overpriced food. “I don’t think we’re looking for you guys to miraculously change to a different type of thing tomorrow,” Rich Cutler, a parent, said. “We’re just looking for the quality of the food to be better at more reasonable prices.” In response to complaints about the limited hours of operation, Frank Bailey, associate director of food and beverage, explained that BC Dining needs to shut down the dining halls between meals for an hour in order to deep clean work and dining stations. Even in normal times, though, the hours of operation are restricted. Michelle Lucier, BC’s dietician, recommended that students use the dining halls like a grocery store. Students, Lucier said, should purchase several “grab-and-go” meals to avoid long lines and ensure that they have food to eat if they can’t make it to the dining halls when they are open. One parent, Maureen Menton, asked Dining Services to change the model, arguing that BC Dining’s pay-as-you-go model with limited hours isn’t meeting students’ needs. If BC Dining doesn’t make sufficient changes, Menton said, she and other parents would continue fighting with the administration. “I know you guys are working hard and everything, but as times change, needs change, and maybe it’s looking at, is this model that you’re using working?” Menton asked. “It’s not working for
MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Students eat in McElroy Commons, which has been reconfigured for social distancing the customers. It might be working for you all, but it’s not working for the customers.” Megan O’Neill, associate director of restaurant operations, responded to Menton by saying that Dining staff hate the current model, arguing that the problem this year is COVID-19. “Actually our staff hate it, I’ll be honest. They don’t like this model, they don’t like to not be able to interact with the students,” O’Neill said. “They don’t get to have fun with the menu, they don’t get to bring their ideas to the table and change it up and get to interact with the customizable dishes. So honestly, I don’t think anybody likes this COVID time.” “Well it’s not COVID, I’m just saying that the model in general,” Menton started to respond before Emery cut her off. “I just invite you to revisit it and I hope that this effects some change,” Menton eventually continued after regaining control of the conversation. One parent said that the biggest
problem is low-quality food. “I really don’t feel like we would have a problem with the program if the food quality was just better,” said Lan Rosser, another parent. “I mean, my daughter has had several meals where she said the chicken is raw, it’s visibly pink. … She’s not a picky person, and so for her to basically say, ‘It’s just not good. It’s just not good, I don’t wanna go there to eat.” “I have to say, it is not just freshmen,” said Catherine Chriss, a parent. “It is all people on the campus. They are hungry, the food quality is bad, and they are hungry. That’s what I have to tell you. They are not eating because the food is bad, the hours don’t work well, and there are not enough options. But it is not just freshmen and it is not just athletes, I promise you.” “Well we appreciate ever yone’s feedback and we hope you all have a good night and hope we get to visit again,” Emery responded, ending the call as the hour came to an end. n
STATISTICS FROM 2019
MEEGAN MINAHAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Some BIPOC Report Frustration Diversity, from A1 body, while they comprised 54 percent of undergraduates nationwide. Asian students made up 12.1 percent of the student body, while they comprised 9 percent of the country’s undergraduate population, and 14.2 percent of students were two or more races. This is in comparison to the 44 percent of college students in the nation who are two or more races according to the National Center for Education in 2018. Jack McDevitt, director of Northeastern University ’s Institute on Race and Justice, said that one of the biggest reasons that colleges tend to lack diversity in their student bodies is that many students of color come from under-resourced school systems that make it difficult for students to achieve their full potential. “Some students of color come from urban school systems that aren’t the best … and that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be successful and contribute to the community,” he said. Students from urban schools with high levels of poverty don’t have the same access to resources and have significantly less funding, the National Center for Education and Statistics reports. Another obstacle for students of color, McDevitt said, is that many students of color come from low-income backgrounds and require higher levels of financial aid for expensive, top-tier colleges and universities. Grant Gosselin, director of Undergraduate Admissions told The Heights that the “University does an
extraordinary amount to support our students of color.” One such program is Options Through Education, a summer community-building program for incoming freshmen that continues to offer them support throughout their time at BC. Another program, which the University partnered with last spring, is QuestBridge, a nonprofit organization that helps low-income students apply to colleges and universities. Though the program will begin with the Class of 2025, Mahoney said that BC is proud of the Class of 2024, in which over a third of students are AHANA. “We’re extremely pleased with the size, diversity, and quality of the applicant pool for BC’s Class of 2024,” Mahoney said. McDevitt said that another reason that colleges such as BC have low levels of diversity are the daily challenges students of color face on campus. “You’re going to be a lone voice on campus, there’s going to be not that many people who look like you,” McDevitt said. “And that’s a lot to ask someone to put up with.” Ali Soumahoro, MCAS ’22, said that Black students at BC are often singled out in discussions about Black culture and racial justice. Being asked to represent their entire race, Soumahoro said, can put an intense amount of pressure on Black students like himself. “People tend to give us an eye, especially if I am the only Black person in the class,” Soumahoro said. “People have this expectation for
you to always speak out, which is kind of weird and uncomfortable at the same time. … Everyone’s looking at you and low-key trying to pressure you.” McDevitt said that faculty members often will look to students of color to give the perspective of their group. “The pressure and the burden of that is enough to make students want to go to a place where there are more people like them,” he said. Prince Lucas, a Black singer-songwriter and MCAS ’22, said that the low levels of diversity in higher education make students of color unfairly feel like they must serve as a representative of their race. “It’s not my job to feel like I always have to represent everybody—it puts pressure on my actions though as well,” Lucas said. Lucas opened the Campus Activities Board’s Boston City Limits concert last year. He described low turnout at the event as just one example of the lack of diversity on campus. “Usually CAB will be bringing in a ton of people,” Lucas said. “Once they changed the artist and made it more R&B rather than EDM the previous year, the turnout was much less.” McDevitt argued that schools must look beyond past performance and toward indicators of future performance to recruit more students of color from historically disadvantaged communities. “Schools have to take a chance— they have to look more closely at potential rather than grades,” McDevitt said. “And if they did that, they would bring more students of color in.” n
The Heights
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Monday, October 5, 2020
Renée Pastel Brings a New Light to BC’s Film Classes
By Celia Mathay Heights Staff
Masked students swiftly make their way across campus, side stepping to avoid coming into contact with one another. In classrooms, tape on the floors mark out where chairs are placed and sanitizing stations are positioned in corners. Professors are blocked by imaginary lines they cannot cross and wear masks that limit their facial expressions. These are the realities of teaching in a pandemic. Combine them with a cross-country move, and professor Renée Pastel is taking on a daunting task. Pastel, who is teaching film theory and criticism this semester, faces the typical challenges of a new job in a different city, which are also exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the beginning of 2020, as Pastel was approaching the completion of her doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, she was offered a job in the communication department at Boston College. “Before the world fell apart,” she said. Pastel grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., before she moved to Newton, Mass., where she attended Newton South High School. From day one, Pastel was curious about all things artistic. She was always an actress, she said, beginning her career at age 4 and a half as Tiny Tim in a production of A Christmas Carol. As she grew up, Pastel continued to act and started to direct high school productions as well. “My parents took an approach where they introduced me to everything and let me decide what I was interested in,” Pastel said. “And I was interested, initially, in all of the arts.” Pastel stayed close to Newton during her undergraduate years. When she began her studies at Harvard University, Pastel, like many other new students, had no idea what she wanted her major to be. Throughout her college application process, she had expressed a unique set of interests—humanities and neuroscience and neurobiology, having studied the latter two at Newton South.
“I just tried a bunch of different classes,” Pastel said. In her first semester at Harvard, Pastel took a history of film course, focused on the silent film period. The course piqued Pastel’s interest in film, and she credited it for her love of theatre. Continuing her studies, Pastel came to realize how deeply her newfound adoration for film was also connected to neuroscience. “I was interested, from the beginning, in how and why people gather together for theatre and cinema, to sit in a darkened room with strangers and experience strong emotions … to put it like an alien would,” Pastel said. Pastel graduated from Harvard with a major in film studies, a minor in neuroscience, and a citation in French, a program at Harvard that consists of four courses that go beyond the first-year level of difficulty. After graduating from Harvard, Pastel went on to receive her master’s and doctorate from UC Berkeley, where she taught film courses and wrote her dissertation on images as a medium and how they played into the perception of the War on Terror. The War on Terror was a campaign launched under the Bush administration after the Sept. 11 attacks. With it, Bush called on other world leaders to join the United States in its response, saying that “The United States of America will use all our resources to conquer this enemy.” She studied the way in which different images were reaching different audiences in the country, and how they affected people’s opinions of the War on Terror. “The main interest of my dissertation was [media] circulation, and how audiences are shaped and formed by the images that they tune into,” Pastel said. “Up until 2013, there was a false sense of unified national identity being portrayed through narrative figures of soldiers and veterans.” Pastel said that different images of these soldiers and veterans reaching different audiences laid the groundwork for the fractured political landscape that exists in the United States today. The fracturing was happening before people even realized it. After spending some time on the West
Coast, Pastel found herself saying goodbye to the Bay Area. In the summer of 2020, she packed her bags and headed back to a familiar place—Newton. She cited a number of reasons for her decision to join BC’s communication department. “The job posting was specifically looking for someone who could teach film theory and criticism, which was the cornerstone of my undergraduate understanding of film,” she said. “A theory gives systematic organization to the world. It’s that step back, thinking about things from one step away. Film theory, for me, is really a set of lenses from which to think about film.” Beyond that, Pastel noted an appreciation for BC’s values and ideals. “The Jesuit mission of Boston College, and the interest in forming students as whole people, who go into the world wanting to have a positive effect, is really wonderful,” she said. Pastel moved into her new apartment on Sept. 1, the same day she started teaching classes. Juggling a new milestone in her career and a moving process at the same time was difficult, she recalled. Mentioning her blank apartment walls, Pastel acknowledged that interior decoration has taken a backseat to the pandemic this semester. “I didn’t bring a lot of furniture from California, so I am teaching the class and simultaneously trying to get my home together.” Pastel said. “The pandemic has just slowed everything down.” Pastel is teaching two Tuesday/Thursday sections of Film Theory and Criticism this semester, one at 9 a.m. and one at noon, both of which are hybrid. Due to social distancing rules at BC, she can only meet with half of the class at a time. Instead of requiring the other half of the class to Zoom in on the day they are not in person, Pastel has set up modules on Canvas for students to follow. “I’m really glad and grateful that I’m teaching a hybrid course, and that I get to see students, even if we’re all wearing masks,” she said. “It makes this feel a little less free-floating.” Despite the strange circumstances and unique class format, Pastel has only one
PHOTO COURTESY OF RENÉE PASTEL
Renée Pastel arrived at BC after getting a master’s and doctorate from UC Berkeley. complaint about her ongoing adjustment to Boston College. “It’s much sweatier to teach in a mask than I would’ve expected,” she said. Emily West, a friend and former colleague of Pastel at UC Berkeley, noted Pastel’s tremendous work ethic, describing her dedicated nature. “When California went into quarantine this spring, Renée was finishing research and writing her dissertation, and teaching online courses, and planning her transcontinental move, all at the same time,” West said. “Rather than just parking herself in front of the television, Renée worked harder and longer hours.” West noted the drive with which Pastel finished her dissertation, as well as the level of classroom engagement that she maintained, even online. She underlined the innovative teaching practices that Pastel brought to Zoom classrooms in the spring, which she now offers to Boston College students. Each week, Pastel posts a new module for her BC students that has miniature pre-recorded lectures, readings, and a screening that exemplifies the theories
her students read about that week. “She’s just so incredibly devoted to what she does,” West said. Pastel said that she’s thankful for her supportive colleagues and the kindness of her students. She knows that now is not the time to judge herself or those around her too much, and she acknowledged the difficulty of running a university during a pandemic. “I’m just taking things as they come. … I came here with no expectations because this is so unprecedented,” she said. Just four weeks in, Pastel is already looking forward to teaching future courses and getting to know students better at Boston College. She’s eager to bring more film theory to BC and bridge the gap between the film studies program and communication department, she explained, highlighting her interest in media studies. Overall, Pastel drove home her enthusiasm for being at BC right now. “It really seems like students are working really hard, and are really invested,” she said. “And that’s just more fun to teach, when people are interested and engaged, and are willing to engage with you.” n
The Do’s and Don’ts of Navigating Boston College
By Nathan Lee Heights Staff
Congratulations! You’ve successfully finished federally funded education and now you are one step closer to becoming fully responsible for yourself. If you thought high school was intimidating, then meet high school’s bigger and more intimidating older brother: college. Some of you might be extremely optimistic about this opportunity, and some of you might just view it as a way to appease your parent’s desire to vicariously live through you. Whatever reason it might be, we all need to face this next step in our lives. So wipe your tears and close your high school yearbook—here are five unconventional tips that you need to know before entering your first, second, or even third year at Boston College. 1. If you can, do not take 8 a.m. classes. You can not handle them. Yes, I know. You just finished a high school career where you had a 7 a.m. class every day for four years. As tough as you think you might be, college is a whole different ball game. Although taking an 8 a.m.
class doesn’t seem too difficult on a regular night where you can go to bed at 10 p.m., it does get difficult when you find yourself studying the night before for two midterms that are worth half your grade because you were overwhelmed by club involvement activities and internship searches. College isn’t about whether or not you can keep up with your schedule. College is about letting your schedule fit around what times of the day you are most productive and available. If you have to give yourself a motivational pep talk everyday to get to your 8 a.m., then chances are you are not cut out to take that course. Also, don’t force yourself to take an 8 a.m. just to fulfill a particular academic requirement. I promise all you overachievers that four years is more than enough time to fulfill the credit requirements for your double major and minor. 2. Test out of the language requirement. It will save you a bottle of Tylenol and unnecessary stress. BC is a college that is centered around the idea of a liberal arts education. We want all of our students to be well-rounded in
every facet of life, even if that means learning a foreign language they will most likely never use in their day-to-day lives. Don’t go into an intermediate language course thinking that you “got this.” Remember, you’re in college. College language courses are not just you spending 50 minutes watching a Spanish telenovela with English subtitles (I have learned, much to my surprise). They’re intensive courses where the professor actually expects you to learn the language. If learning the past subjunctive tense of the verb “tener” doesn’t interest you, then test out of language and use that time to take a course that actually interests you. 3. Stop crying because you don’t have friends. A lot of freshmen struggle with being in a new community. It’s not just you. While many take the beginning of their freshmen year to try to find a community, they sometimes forget the real reason why they are at college. It’s not like high school, where you feel like the friends you make there will be your friends forever. Friendships come and go—people in college base friendships more upon their preferences and who fits them.
Stop trying to fit the standard and mold of everybody around you. Try to figure out what you want out of your college career first, then surround yourself with people who have like-minded goals and aspirations. This will save you from the late night talks you have with your ceiling about whether or not you think that one kid down the hall is a true friend. 4. You’re not Superman. You can’t be everywhere at once. You have a newfound love for learning. You’re excited, energetic, and proud to be an Eagle. You want to do everything. You want to take classes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then, you want to attend as many club meetings as possible, while planning time to go to an 8 p.m. lecture about the dying art of Zen gardens. You want to, you want to, you want to—but you can’t. You are human. Remember that and pace yourself. College is a four-year marathon, not a four-day sprint. You are going to realize that the novelty of college will die very quickly. It’s great that you are enthusiastic, but you want to make college an interesting and engaging experience for four years. Don’t get tied down to
club commitments or major choices. Feel free to explore the different options that college has to offer at a reasonable pace. Once you find your community and the things you enjoy, then invest time into these areas of your life. 5. Finally, take college for what it is. Remember that college is not the be-all and end-all of life. There is life after these four years, and that life ahead of you is way bigger than this 373-acre University. People sometimes get so enveloped into their lives within these gold and maroon walls and focus too much on what the University does and doesn’t do right. College isn’t meant to be perfect. College, like any path in your life, will carry both its triumphs and disappointments. But how you decide to contextualize and learn from these experiences will directly affect how beneficial college is to you. Some of you might be paying your way to college, and some of you might be going to college due to the good graces of your parents. Whatever your circumstance may be, remember that college is an investment of money, time, and effort that you can never get back. Enjoy college for what it is, not for what you expected, wished, or hoped it would be. n ALLYSON MOZELIAK / GRAPHICS EDITOR
Getting Back Into the Groove of Time Management
By Karolina Bertulis Heights Staff
Remember in high school when you were able to balance a seven-hour work day, after-school sports, and clubs? Once you got to college, having two classes in a day seemed like a drag, right? And now in an ongoing pandemic, doesn’t it feel like every day is a new schedule, between asynchronous and hybrid classes? If you can relate to any of this, you are not alone. Here are some tips and tricks to get yourself back on track, and to find your “new normal” here at Boston College. Get a daily planner. Some people love them. Others hate them. Whether you like a digital planner or a physical one you can pencil in, planners serve as a great visual to plan out your day-to-day activities. The most ideal planners are ones where you can have space to write in assignments for each of your classes on a daily basis, as
well as spaces for jobs and other extracurricular activities. My personal favorite is from Plum Paper, where you can customize the most nitty gritty details of your planner, from the cover to inserting your class names. Some other great companies for paper planners include Anthropologie, Agendio, and Golden Coil (a bit on the pricier side). If you prefer to have your day planned out on your laptop, MyStudyL ife and Google Calendar are great tools. Other stellar applications you can download on your smartphone include Things 3, Awesome Calendar, and ZenDay. Find your “happy place” study spot for the season (or a few!) You can only do work in your room for so long before it feels like the walls are caving in. It’s important to switch
up your study surroundings—it allows for a fresh mind and potentially some inspiration. For the past couple of weeks, which have been filled with phenomenal weather, students have flocked to outdoor settings such as Lower, Hillside, outside of O’Neill, and general lawns a c ro s s c a mp u s . Some benefits to studying outside—while we still can—include fresh air, sunlight, a n d b e i n g s u rrounded by others (with masks on, of course). When it gets a bit chillier out, some neat places include your residence hall’s lounge, the bridge on the second floor of Stokes, and the Rat. Make sure you allot time for all three meals. As the adage goes, “breakfast is the
most important meal of the day”—but for a stressed college student, lunch and dinner are equally as important. If you have back-to-back classes in the afternoon that occupy what would usually be your lunch time, make sure to prepare some snacks to quickly chow down in those 15 minutes between classes. Some fan favorites around campus are Nature Valley granola bars, Think bars, fresh fruit, yogurt and granola, and more—the options are endless. Just a friendly reminder, coming from someone who has missed breakfast due to the new hours, the dining hall hours of operation have changed drastically. For Lower, Mac, and Stuart, the hours go as follows: 7:30 to 10:00 a.m. for breakfast, 11:00 to 3:30 p.m. for lunch, and 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. for dinner. If you really plan your day ahead, you can also use the GET Mobile app to order food and drinks and pick them up at either Addie’s or Eagle’s Nest. Make time for the things you love to do.
As cliché as it sounds, it is so important to make time for the things that make you happy, and make it a point to implement them as a staple in your schedule. Budgeting time may feel wildly overwhelming, but it is extremely beneficial to set aside an hour or two to give your mind a break. Even if it is as simple as getting dinner at El Pelón Taqueria, or squeezing in some last-minute runs around the Reservoir before it gets too cold, there are many perks to having activities in your schedule that you are excited about. Not only will they enhance your overall college experience—there’s more to college than academics—they will also motivate you to get your work done in a timely manner. Some other things I love to do include working out with the Workout for Women app, meditating with the Headspace app, making friendship bracelets, and sending them all around the world, and even just tidying up my room. n ALLYSON MOZELIAK / GRAPHICS EDITOR
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Monday, October 5, 2020
Newtonians Consider Renaming Columbus Day By Isabella Thorpe Heights Staff Newton residents will discuss changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day at a public hearing on Oct. 8, after the City Council concluded on Sept. 21 that the community should have a chance to weigh in. Ward 6 Councilor-at-Large Victoria Danberg and Ward 2 Councilor Emily Norton first brought this issue to the table in 2019. Motivated by the anti-racism movements in the past decade, Danberg and Norton said they proposed this issue to bring more awareness to the historical injustices and unfair treatment Indigenous peoples have had to face. Norton said that councilors and the public voiced both support and backlash, both when the issue was first brought up and now. Last year, Danberg and Norton introduced the proposal on the ordinance change in the Programs and
Services Committee. They were the only co-sponsors on the resolution to change the name, but eight additional council members decided to co-sponsor this year. As an environmental advocate and Massachusetts director for the Sierra Club, Norton met members of the Massachusetts Indigenous community at the Standing Rock protests in 2017. She learned that issues of changing state seals, team mascots, and the cause of celebration for Columbus Day were important to Newton’s Indigenous community. “Especially in a time when there is greater attention, overdue nevertheless, to issues of racial equity and writing historical wrongs, I think it makes sense to put an end to honoring the man who played a leading role in enslavement and genocide,” Norton said. At the Programs and Services Committee meeting Sept. 16, the item passed 7-0-1: seven in favor, none opposed, and one abstention. From the committee vote, the proposal for the ordinance
change went to Council. There was an amendment to put off the vote until a public hearing was held. Ward 5 Councilor Bill Humphrey is a new co-sponsor of the act who spoke at the committee meeting condemning Christopher Columbus and advocating for the Indigenous community. “I believe having an annual holiday, while symbolic, will keep us honest and remind us each year what remains to be done substantively to advance justice for Indigenous peoples,” Humprehy said. Norton said that many residents have reached out to weigh their opinion, including many young people and students, who have made their opinions known through emailing and calling the City Council. The ordinance change does not come without backlash. According to Norton, the biggest pushback is from Italian-Americans in Newton. “It’s figuring out a way to take away from someone who is a very terrible, terrible historical figure who never deserved
the honor in the first place, and find another way to honor our Italian-American residents as well as honor the people whose land this was that we are living and working on,” Norton said. Ward 1 Councilor Maria Scibelli Greenberg is a first-generation Italian-American herself who grew up in in Springfield, Mass. As a young girl, she participated in the Columbus Day parade, as it was a source of pride for what Italian-Americans have accomplished in America. When the item was brought to the table, she found the main issue to be with the proposal. “I personally agree that he should not have a holiday,” Greenberg said. “I do not have an issue with renaming Columbus Day. The issue I had was the way the whole discussion to change the day had total disregard for the feelings of Italian-Americans.” Greenberg said that she suggested that Columbus Day be renamed “Italian-American Heritage Day” and another
day could be chosen to honor Indigenous peoples, which was not enthusiastically received by the City Council. Greenberg said she now believes that Italian-Americans in Newton should choose another day to celebrate Italian-American Heritage Day and make Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day, as several other states and cities have done so as well. Greenberg said some villages in Newton where there is a large Italian-American population do not want Columbus Day to be changed. There is a general sentiment among Italian-Americans for Indigenous’ people to be honored on a different day. “It’s unfortunate that it has come to pitting two cultures against each other,” Greenberg said. “I think we can work together to come up with a comfortable compromise, so two sides are not battling. Hopefully, we can reach some sort of agreement where both sides can be happy with the result.” n
Bouncing Through Boston
By Christina Lim Heights Staff
The leaves are starting to change color, and fall has finally arrived. With the start of sweater weather, midterm season has also approached most of us here at Boston College. But how can you resist going out with friends to enjoy the beginning of the fall season? Although COVID-19 has created limitations, there are still ways to enjoy our much-loved fall festivities. Take a break this weekend and escape campus for some delicious treats and apple picking. Harvard Square Cambridge Chocolate Tour Are you an avid chocolate lover and want an excuse to eat chocolate
all day? The Harvard Square Cambridge Chocolate Tour is a great way to get a taste of all different types of chocolate. This chocolate tour will take you through the historic Harvard Square, where you can hear interesting stories about the area and fun facts about chocolate, all the while munching on the best chocolate treats in town. For $40, you can taste delicious local ice cream with unique flavors, sip cacao juice and other delicious chocolate drinks, and sample a variety of chocolate desserts (brownies, donuts, and cookies). Reservations for spots on the tour are available online. Apple Picking at Lookout Farm Apple picking is a must for the fall season. Lookout Farm in South Natick
is still providing a way for everyone to get their share of fall fun (with new regulations to ensure everyone’s safety). Lookout Farm is one of the oldest working farms in the country but; once inside, you’ll be amazed at its modern and organized apple picking operation. Usually, trains are used to escort guests to and from the peach trees, apple trees, and pumpkin patches. Due to new COVID-19 regulations, all guests must now walk to their destinations. While the play area and barnyard are closed, the Lookout Farm outdoor restaurant is still open and taking reservations. If you’re of legal age, you might want to head to the taproom on the grounds and sample some of Lookout’s hard ciders. Reservations are required for U-pick apples this year, so be sure to make a res-
ervation on the Lookout Farm website. Each person must pay an admission fee and an additional cost for apple picking. Chill on Park Chill on Park serves some of the best ice cream and coffee in Dorchester, with most of its sources locally produced. The ice cream is from Puritan Ice Cream in Roslindale, the baked goods are from Haley House in Roxbury, and the coffee is roasted at Karma in Sudbury. Chill on Park has a selection of 32 locally made ice cream flavors, including fun flavors such as Almond Joy, Extreme Chocolate, and Graham Central Station. Visit Chill on Park for some freshly roasted coffee or a taste of your favorite ice cream flavor in a hot fudge sundae, a banana split, or an extra thick frappe. Chill on Park also offers take-out and
delivery if you place an order through Grubhub. Christina’s Homemade Ice Cream Located in Inman Square at an equal distance from both Harvard and MIT, Christina’s Homemade Ice Cream is one of the best places you can go for homemade ice cream. Christina’s is special because, in addition to offering classic flavors—such as chocolate chip and cookie dough—it is also known for its more innovative offerings, such as cinnamon rice pudding and herbal chai. Christina’s has been recognized as a landmark for culinary enthusiasts by The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, Boston Herald, Phantom Gourmet, and many more. Christina’s offers over 50 flavors, including seasonal ones such as pumpkin, apple pie, and eggnog. n
Newton Begins to Evaluate Image on City Seal By Julia Remick Metro Editor
The City Seal Working Group began meeting last week to evaluate if the Newton City Seal, depicting Rev. John Eliot speaking to a group of Native Americans, should continue to represent Newton. Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced on Aug. 5 that the Newton City Seal would be re-evaluated. Fuller said that a working group would be evaluated by a working group. Applications for the Cit y Seal Working Group were accepted by the Director of Historic Newton, Lisa Dady. The group began meeting last week. The Newton City Seal, which also appears on the New ton f lag, was created 155 years ago. Dady said that they have access to the minutes from the meeting in 1865 when the seal was approved. Dady explained that the scene depicted on the seal is known to have occurred on Nonantum Hill, which is now Newton Corner. In the scene,
Rev. John Eliot is speaking to a group of Native Americans in 1646. Dady said that part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter was the mission to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Dady said that the most prominent man pictured on the seal is likely Waban, who was the leader of the Massachusett people in the area. “Certainly Native Americans and a lot of non-Native Americans have made it clear that in some ways the seal celebrates the invasion of the colonists, and it points to a time when the Native Americans were being persecuted and they were being killed,” Dady said. “And is that something that should be representing Newton in the 21st century?” Dady ex pla i ned t hat some of the Native Americans converted to Christanity because of the religion, others went through the motions of conversion, and others converted as a strategic move. As the Europeans continued to move onto the Native Americans’ lands, they also decimated entire communities because of disease.
“We actually know from our research what was going through Waban’s mind was like, ‘How do I protect my people?’ and ‘Will an alliance with someone like Rev. John Eliot and the colonists help me protect my people?,’” Dady said. The words on the seal are “liberty” and “unity.” Dady said that they have not found records of why those words were chosen. Since this seal was designed during the Civil War, Dady said that unity was likely on people’s minds. The Cit y Seal Working Group will begin meeting every other week. Fuller said that the group will report back to her with recommendations about whether to change the seal. If the group recommends changing the seal, they will suggest designs. The City Council will vote on any recommended changes. “We’ll be looking first at everyone being sort of coming to a deep and accurate understanding of what’s being depicted,” Dady said. “We will be talking a little bit about the 19th
century and why they were choosing Native Americans to be on their official seals and their flags.” There were 40 applicants to the City Seal Working Group, according to Fuller and Dady. “They range from a high school student to older residents,” Fuller said
in a statement on Thursday. “Their backgrounds include design, history of Newton, art, education, religion, equity for Indigenous communities, and more.” Dady said that the working group will aim to have a final report by early 2021. n
ANEESA WERMERS / HEIGHTS STAFF
The Newton city seal can be found engraved into the floor of Newton City Hall.
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Monday, October 5, 2020
EDITORIAL
What We’d Be Thankful For : Knowing BC’s Plans for After Thanksgiving After Boston College announced it would proceed with an in-person fall semester at the end of August, the administration told students in July that it would make a decision about Thanksgiving Break sometime in late October. It said that it was impossible to predict the conditions of the pandemic, being 20 weeks out, and that it would consider the possibility of sending students home at Thanksgiving to complete the rest of the semester online. Some universities, such as the University of Notre Dame and Creighton University, started their fall semesters early so courses would end before Thanksgiving Break. Others such as Providence College, the University of South Carolina, and Regis University will have all-remote learning and exams following the break. Gonzaga University told students they can choose to stay at school for Thanksgiving Break and finish out the semester on campus,
or finish the semester online if they leave Spokane County, where the university is. If students leave, they won’t be allowed to return for the rest of the semester, but they will be reimbursed for the rest of fall 2020’s room and board, with that credit going toward expenses for students’ spring 2021 semester. Gonzaga’s plan is sufficient for a variety of reasons. It helps ensure that students won’t leave and bring the virus back to campus with them right before the end of the semester. To make sure that those who say they will leave actually stay away from campus after Thanksgiving, students are incentivized by the room and board reimbursement to follow guidelines. Further, it ensures that students who are low-income or have unstable home lives aren’t forced out of the residence halls on short notice, and will still have access to the dining halls during December. Having students go back home for the holiday and then return, from all corners of
the country, is not feasible amid a pandemic. There’s the risk of students bringing the virus back upon their return to campus. Until they could get tested, a substantial number of students would need to quarantine upon return, per Massachusetts law. When students moved into residence halls in August, containing the spread of COVID-19 was a large and coordinated effort on the part of the University that was spread over the course of more than a week. With less than two weeks of classes after Thanksgiving, it would not make sense to attempt to match this effort until the spring semester. Though we encourage the University to make a plan akin to Gonzaga University’s, no matter what BC decides, it needs to announce its plan soon. Students and their families need the ability to start planning now, whether it be to book a flight home or to find housing in Boston if returning home is impossible.
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QUOTES FROM SERENA WILLIAMS “Think of all the girls who could become top athletes but quit sports because they’re afraid of having too many defined muscles and being made fun of or called unattractive.” “Am I the greatest? I don’t know. I’m the greatest that I can be.” “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.” “As a Black tennis player, I looked different. I sounded different. I dressed differently. I served differently. But when I stepped onto the court, I could compete with anyone.” “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.” “The cycles of poverty, discrimination, and sexism are much, much harder to break than the record for Grand Slam titles.” - Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam singles title winner
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Monday, October 5, 2020
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BC and the No Good, Very Bad Year near campus are tantalizingly close to our friends and colleagues, but they might as well be on the other side of the planet for how much we really get to see them. We can all be forgiven if, at times, it seems that the clouds that loom over our collective consciousness seem to lack any silver linings, and instead form a monolith of stormy gloom. For my part, I have battled with some of the most profound bouts of anxiety and depression 69
Doug Girardot
that I’ve experienced in my almost four years at Boston
In an address, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II described the year 1992 as an annus horribilis—a
College. In their reopening rhetoric, BC officials did every-
horrible year. The Wikipedia entry for the phrase nicely
thing in their effort to downplay these realities, and to
summarizes the Queen’s misgivings with that particular
sound the note that this year will be just like any other,
journey around the sun: a yearlong extravaganza of royal
with only a few inconvenient adjustments. The flurry
divorce, the publication of a tell-all book, nude paparazzi
of summer emails students received in their inboxes
photographs, and a palace fire.
and the maroon and gold technocratic signage littered
Nearly 30 years on, 2020 has unfolded into some-
throughout campus have suggested a conditional prom-
thing that my Latin minor allows me to confidently
ise of normalcy: If you do all these things, then we can
term an annus horribilissimus—a year so horrible that it
have school just like usual.
makes a regular bad year look like a backyard barbeque.
But this is a dangerously fantastical apodosis.
Nothing about this school year is normal, and it’s
Administrators have submitted blind credence to the
worth remembering that as we all trudge forward
false notion that anything could ever make college in
through this simulacrum of a semester. Within the
a pandemic normal, and our emotional and mental
minds of students and instructors, there is no single ele-
well-being has been the worse off for it. The criteria for
phant in the room. Rather, a Hannibalic army of them is
physical safety by means of distancing, mask-wearing,
actively crushing our morales with its immense weight.
and isolation—which, to be clear, I support from a public
There is the virus. But there is also the politicization
health perspective wholeheartedly—have been anything
of public health. And the election. And the imminent
but conducive to psychological well-being.
Supreme Court confirmation. And the screen fatigue.
In preparing for the semester, it was clear that the
And the lack of exercise. And the economy. And any
administration had its hands tied. After all, an entirely
number of quotidian obstacles that make our lives just
virtual semester would have received backlash from
that much harder.
students and donors alike (although some firmness of
Even our conceptions of how we dress ourselves
resolve should have been enough to assuage the adminis-
and interact with other people—such fundamental
tration’s fears). A completely digital BC would have made
aspects of our humanity—have been indelibly altered.
many students brace themselves for ever-worsening
Just a little over six months ago, almost none of us even
cabin fever at home, or even fear for their physical safety
considered wearing face coverings; now masks of cotton
if their home environments are unhealthy.
and nylon have been woven into the very fabric of our
There have been no shortage of suggestions for ways
lives. Nor had any of us heard of Zoom until the early
in which this could be done. Perhaps the most doable
spring; now its ubiquity has lent it the same verbal force
is that which was urged by this paper’s editorial board
that “Google” earned in the early 2000s.
a few weeks ago: Test every student regularly. Multiple
Yet despite these experiences, which are by this point
other universities in the Boston area are doing so, and
common to us all, a profound sense of disconnectedness
the fact that BC hasn’t followed suit is a devastating
has manifested itself ever more clearly as the months
deviation from the University’s normal habit of copying
have dragged on. Those of us who are living on or
whatever Harvard does.
Another investment that BC should have made before the semester started, but still has time to address, is a dramatic expansion of University Counseling Services, which right now has its resources stretched as thin as the single-ply toilet paper in freshman dorm bathrooms. UCS employs 25 staff members who work with BC students, which is inadequate for the size of the school’s overall student body. The relatively small number of therapists and psychiatrists means that some students are unable to access long-term counseling there. I can attest that I myself have had to go off campus to find therapy for this very reason. Caring for our community’s mental health has never been more crucial. One survey conducted by the Healthy Minds Network and the American College Health Association found that between March and May of this year, there was an increase in rates of depression among college students, and higher levels of students reported that their mental health impaired their academic performance than did in the fall. And those numbers were high to begin with. One last action step is to revive last semester’s pass/fail option for all classes, regardless of whether a course is an elective or a requirement. As a chronic perfectionist, I can promise the academic deans that I did not use the P/Fs last semester as an excuse to slack off by any means. But declaring some of my classes as pass/fail did help keep things in perspective and let me achieve at least a somewhat healthier balance between my studies and my sanity. Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, Directory of University Health Services Doug Comeau, and the endless angelic ranks of BC’s academic bureaucracy have announced loud and clear that these times are “unusual” and “unprecedented.” Now, it’s time for this Jesuit, Catholic institution to take its words to heart by allocating a commensurately unprecedented amount of its resources to care for its students.
Doug Girardot is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at doug.girardot@ bcheights.com.
Registering to Vote The deadline to register to vote in Massachusetts for the upcoming presidentaial election is Oct. 24. You can register online at https:// www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr/. See last week’s editorial for further details.
Starbucks Iced Matchas With Soy and Light Ice Is buying it a smart financial choice? No. Could I probably make it at home if I actually tried? Yes. Does it give me a little bit of joy amid a pandemic? Yes. Should you try this order and name it “the Maddie”? Sure.
BC Isn’t a Good School—but It Can Be
Grace Christenson As high school seniors across the country scroll through college websites, skim College Confidential forums, and write mostly cliché personal statements, they’re also asking an important question—one I think we should all be asking ourselves right now: Is Boston College a good school? Well, that depends on what you mean by good. Is BC academically rigorous? Absolutely. The University employs professors who devote themselves to challenging their students and who use their expertise to make important academic and social contributions in their respective fields. Does BC have a nice campus? It’s better than nice— it’s gorgeous. The grass is idyllically green, gargoyles crouch on the corners of grand gothic-style buildings, and nearly floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows cast colorful shadows on students studying in the library. Is BC prestigious? It consistently ranks among the top 40 universities in the country. Perhaps more importantly, it certainly feels prestigious walking around on that green grass listening to the Gasson bell ring. But is Boston College good? Is it a morally upright institution? If we use the coronavirus response as our measuring stick, the answer is no. I’ll leave the never-ending debate of what exactly the good-and-moral is to the Perspectives classes, but I propose that a moral approach to this pandemic necessitates the minimization of harm and death. Boston College, thankfully, has not yet faced the demise of a member of our campus community as a result of contracting COVID-19 here. But if we continue down our current path I worry that someone will die—and there will be blame to share.
Currently, campus exists in pandemonium. We’ve lost any sense of social cohesion, with the administration and students growing ever-distant from one another. University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. feels like an abstract idea rather than a real man responsible for this place we call home. Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore and Director of University Health Services Douglas Comeau seem to be spearheading every important aspect of interacting with the student body and trying to hold our community together. Even then, their lengthy emails often feel patronizing and targeted. They’ve minimized student concerns about past spikes in cases and suggested that students are entirely responsible for them. With an intensity I’ve never seen, students have turned to third parties such as The Boston Globe in a last-ditch effort to have their voices heard. Everyone knows things are not going well, and yet no one agrees on how to proceed. Administrators think the main issue is students recklessly socializing without masks. (I’ve passed a disappointing number of groups bound for The Circle or Cityside discussing “maybe hooking up with Foster St. Chad or Abby AirForceOnes tonight, Miss Rona be damned.” I’ve also watched an appalling number of maskless, socially proximate Instagram stories. That said, I’m in no position to hand down judgments. I haven’t followed COVID protocol perfectly since I’ve been here—I’ve hugged when I probably shouldn’t have hugged, pulled at my mask while talking, and stood too close to people. I’m not exempt from blame.) Students, for the most part, feel as though administrators are more concerned with meeting some bottom line than with our safety and see our lives as expendable. (I’ve been horrified by the stories students have shared about their experiences in isolation and navigating the exposure process, and I myself went weeks between receiving COVID-19 tests.) No matter what side you’re on, clearly we have room to improve. At the center of all of this rests a deeper problem—a problem that could outlast COVID: We have
forgotten that, fundamentally, an institution is just the name we give to a community of people. The problems we talk about as concerning Boston College? These are not the problems of tuition-paying numbers filling seats in classrooms nor are they the problems of some ambiguous Big Brother of an “administration.” These are our problems—yours and mine. The solutions, necessarily, must be our solutions. Underlying all of the anger and blame-shifting is the dissonant reality that we at BC purport to want to be good. We claim “ever to excel” as our motto. According to the website, these words echo “the Ignatian principle of striving for the ‘greater’ good” and “should color all that we do in a Jesuit university.” The pursuit of this “greater good,” the website continues, requires that we “judge [our] studies and [our] goals by the highest standards [we] can imagine.” The highest standards we can imagine. This is the bar we—students, faculty, staff, and administrators—must set for ourselves and for Boston College. Right now, we fall far short of this goal. Right now, I do not think that BC is good. So, I am asking it—I am asking us—to be better. I’m asking for more transparency from the administration and more understanding from the students. I’m asking for fewer false promises, for less finger-pointing, for more accountability. I’m also asking for less hitting the bars and more wearing masks. I’m asking for more tests and attention to student concerns. I’m asking that we wholeheartedly commit to protecting one another and our larger community. I’m asking for us to look past the bottom line and consider the lives at stake. Ultimately, I’m asking for BC to excel. Because if we excel, maybe one day we can look back and say that, in our time here, Boston College was a good school. And it was good because of us.
Grace Christenson is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at grace. christenson@bcheights.com.
The opinions and commentaries appearing on this page represent the views of the authors of those particular pieces, and not necessarily the views of The Heights.
Not Knowing Where to Go After Thanksgiving Peep the editorial on A6 (next to this page). It’d be kinda nice to know, you know, for flight and planing reasons. If you’d like to know what the University is planning to do with students after the break, definitely don’t repeatedly call Student Services at 617-552-3300 to ask.
Tuesday’s Presidential Debate - “A hot mess inside of a dumpster fire inside of a train wreck.”- Jake Tapper - “A shitshow” - Dana Bash - Rick Santorum added that asking the president to denonunce right-wing extremeists is “unfair” because they’re his base.
The Heights
A8
Monday, October 5, 2020
Quarantine Kitchen: Week II
By Alexandra Morin Heights Staff
I woke up yesterday to the exciting realization that soup season is no longer approaching—it has finally arrived. On my
this homemade “cup of goodness” is well worth the little extra effort. With colder months approaching and school/work schedules ramping up, I bring to you my take on a classic comfort sure to satisfy the child within.
ALEXANDRA MORIN / HEIGHTS STAFF
This cool-weather comfor t staple is sure to satisfy the child within.
morning run, the 49-degree chill biting at my shoulders had me flipping through my list of favorite bisques, broths, and chowders. While I debated detailing the ins and outs of a sophisticated white bean chili or a fall squash and black pepper purée, there is truly nothing more comforting than a bowl of thick and hearty tomato soup. Top it with crusty cheese-filled croutons accompanied by a sprig of thyme and you have an elevated childhood dream. While it might be tempting to tip a tin of canned tomato glop into a pot and simply reheat,
DISH: Rustic Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese “Croutons” INGREDIENTS: For the soup: 1 ½ medium yellow onions 3 peeled cloves of garlic 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Plenty of cracked black pepper 2 cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes 4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock) 2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 sprigs thyme ½ cup coconut cream (optional; creates more of a creamy bisque texture) *Finely grated parmesan cheese, chopped basil, or a diced sprig of thyme for garnish For the grilled cheese “croutons”: 1 loaf of your favorite bread (I typically use a crusty baguette or a thick country loaf) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 clove peeled garlic Plenty of grated cheese (Cheddar, Gruyere or Havarti are my favorites for melting) *Want to make it more grown-up? Truffle cheese or a small splattering of white truffle oil elevates these croutons to a new level. RECIPE: Note: I always like to start out by chopping up and laying out all my ingredients when making any soup. I think it helps me to stay organized, and then it becomes a simple game of just throwing everything into the pot. For the soup: Finely dice 1 ½ medium yellow onions and three peeled cloves of garlic. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic to cook for around 7-9 minutes, making sure to stir frequently. You want the onions to be translucent and slightly golden on their edges. Add tomato paste and a tablespoon of brown sugar straight to the pot. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add in chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and thyme (you will pull out the sprigs later) and bring the ingredients to a simmer. Cover the pot and let it simmer for approx-
imately 45-50 minutes. Taste periodically and season with more salt and pepper. Once the flavors have fully melded, blend the soup in a Vitamix or blender. Tip the mixture back into the pot. Stir in the ½ cup of coconut cream. This step is optional but adds another level of flavor and creaminess. You can also use heavy cream instead of coconut if you prefer. Let the finished soup sit covered with the heat off while you begin making your grilled cheese croutons. *To serve: Ladle the soup into a bowl and garnish with diced thyme, parmesan cheese gratings, and cracked black pepper.
For the grilled cheese “croutons”: Heat a griddled skillet. Brush both sides of the bread with your reserved olive oil. Rub a clove of garlic onto the bread to infuse flavor. Add your choice of grated or sliced cheese to the unoiled sides of the bread and close the sandwich. Flip until both sides are golden brown. Remove from the heat. *To serve: Cut the sandwiches cleanly with a sharp knife into small pieces and drop them in the served soup for beautiful floating grilled cheese croutons. n
ALEXANDRA MORIN / HEIGHTS STAFF
Cheese-filled croutons are an essential element of this dish.
Cupcake Mojo Pop-up Shop Opens in the Seaport By Maggie Leahy
For The Heights
In the dynamic Seaport District in downtown Boston, there is always something new and interesting in the works. One enclave of the neighborhood plays host to four small spaces for p op- up shops , and a re cent attraction has been the opening of Cupcake Mojo. The local business, run by Maureen Fitzgerald and her daughter, Christina Nalband, originated in Weymouth, Mass. Nalband, a Seaport resident, was curious about the response the business would receive in downtown Boston after seeing a pop-up vacancy. “[They] figured it would just be a good thing to test out, see how it
goes,” Kim Ellis, an employee at the Seaport location, said. Cupcake Mojo’s innovative flavors led to a feature on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and garnered the business a social media following. “[The signature flavor is] called the Nana’s Whoopee Pie,” Ellis said. “That’s the classic. That’s one Maureen created herself, so that’s our big flavor. It’s basically if you think of whoopie pie, like the sandwich, translated into a cupcake.” So far, the shop has received a positive response from customers, Ellis said. “There’s been a lot of people that have come in saying that friends and family have told them to come in, or they’ve seen us on Instagram, or featured on boston blogs and stuff,”
MAGGIE LEAHY / FOR THE HEIGHTS
The cupcake Mojo pop -up shop in the Seaport is located on Northern Avenue .
Ellis said. The pop-up should be in Seaport through Januar y, according to Fitzgerald, and cupcakes can be ordered in advance or simply bought in person. Social media has played a role in the pop-up’s popularity, and people are excited about the shop. “[The cupcakes are] very cute, and I love that it’s a local business,” customer Denise Amaya said. Residents of the neighborhood are also interested in the constant changes within the pop-up venue. “I’m always interested in what they do with these because they’re so tiny, and they get very creative with space,” Christina Crowley, who lives across the street from the pop up shop said. “They’re constantly changing, so it’s cool to see what they do, and this looks like it’s working.” Following its opening on Sept. 19, the Cupcake Mojo pop-up sold out. “Saturday and Sunday we sold out, both days, and then [business was] a little bit slower during the weekdays, but that’s to be expected,” Ellis said. Regarding any business adaptations for the pandemic, Ellis said the shop is taking the necessar y precautions. “You have to limit the number of people—there’s a lot more wiping down and sanitizing, and just being mindful,” Ellis said. “From my point of view, that’s how things have changed.” At the main location in Weymouth, customers are able to select each individual flavor, Ellis said. Currently, the pop-up shop sells
MAGGIE LEAHY / FOR THE HEIGHTS
Pre-packaged mini cupcakes are available at the pop-up shop in a variety of flavors.
pre-packaged mini cupcakes in a variety of flavors, and customers are free to choose which pre-packaged combinations they would like. The cleverly named prepackaged selections cater to a variety of tastes. “There was a Nestle Tollhouse cupcake, so I’m very excited,” Amaya said when asked about their selection of the New England six-pack. The Seasonal, a 12-pack, consists of pumpkin spice, dulce apple pie, chocolate mousse, and s’mores fla-
vored cupcakes. For those that want the full cupcake taste-testing experience, the shop offers a mini cupcake 24-pack of every flavor offered. Though the cupcakes are small, customers were pleased with their purchases, many commenting on how “cute” their selections looked. For those in the Boston area looking to try something new and craving something sweet, the Cupcake Mojo is a fun and delicious adventure. n
The Heights
Monday, October 5, 2020
A9
Music Professors Explore New Teaching Methods By Grace Mayer Assoc. Arts Editor Music is a disciplined craft that requires precision and attuned listening—two skills that are challenged by online platforms and modified in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing turns many musical performances into solo acts, and masks muffle voices during in-person classes. For courses that are shifted online, audio is stifled, network speeds slow things down, and students can only participate in rhythm, vocals, dance, and instrumentals behind Zoom screens. Barbara Gawlick, who is teaching Fundamentals of Music this fall, is simulating the in-person classroom environment to the best of Zoom’s abilities. But she said the audio over Zoom makes it difficult for her students to create and experience live music, a change impacting many virtually-converted programs in BC’s music department. “Music is about community and hearing each other, but here it’s just them in their own space,” Gawlick said. In the past, she would begin lessons by encouraging students to perform musical pieces for the class. Now that her classes meet virtually, she said her students cannot create music as a group—whether it’s singing, clapping out rhythms, or playing
instruments. The disparities between audio levels and network connections fail to synchronously pick up real-time class performances. But Gawlick has found a way to maintain live music as a fundamental component of her course. Accompanied by her personal piano and percussion instruments, Gawlick plays succinct melodies and demonstrates rhythms and meters for her virtual classes. Although her students can no longer sing together over Zoom, she demonstrates musical concepts to the class by singing melody lines. Presenting live music is still essential for her students to experience. “It exists in a given moment of performance, and then it’s gone,” Gawlick said about music. “For students, it’s a fascinating exercise in dealing with a very different medium.” In the music department, students enter class with a variety of musical backgrounds. For novice music students, Gawlick said it’s hard enough to start with no musical experience— teaching online adds another layer of difficulty for beginners. Even if sound quality translates, students can’t see the notes Gawlick plays on the piano, and the audio may not translate perfectly to match the specifics of her performance. Peter Watchorn, who is teaching Music of the Baroque on Zoom, faces a similar issue. As a professional harpsichordist, he usually demonstrates how
to tune and play the multi-keyboarded instrument, a predecessor to the piano, for his students. He hasn’t attempted to incorporate the instrument into his course yet because of the sound quality over Zoom. “To really promote that sort of extra-level of understanding I’m looking for, there’s really no substitute for just being in the room,” Watchorn said. In place of live music, he’s resorted to playing high-quality YouTube videos. To ensure students receive the best sound feedback, he sends his students the video links during class so they can listen to them individually before returning to Zoom to discuss the musical materials. Although Watchorn has found this method to be effective in his online course, he says listening separately creates a sense of detachment between him and his students. He can no longer observe his students’ immediate reactions to the music, which helped him to guide his students through the pieces. “When you’re actually in the room with them there’s a particular energy, a particular sort of spirit that just doesn’t exist when you’re sitting in different rooms,” Watchorn said. Although some music classes are being taught virtually, some are still meeting in-person. Ann Lucas is conducting her Introduction to Musics of the World and
Music and Culture in the Middle East courses in-person this semester. Still, her classes cannot participate in music the way they used to due to social distancing and mask wearing. Lucas is modifying the way she and her students engage with music in class. She often incorporates group song and dance, but since these activities can increase the risk of transmitting the virus, she is focusing more attention on rhythm and percussion in her class. Her Introduction to Musics of the World class recently explored West African music, and her students successfully replicated the African rhythm by clapping in sync—and from a safe distance. She’s even modifying the traditional dances she teaches in her courses. To abide by social distancing, she re-choreographed a Lebanese line dance—one that traditionally involves dancing shoulder-to-shoulder and holding hands. Instead, she instructed her students to shuffle back and forth at their desks, focusing on the dance’s intricate footwork. Later in the semester, she’s looking forward to teaching belly dancing, which requires limited space and individual choreography. “I don’t think there’s a better way to kind of get music into your body than dancing,” Lucas said. In the past, Lucas would play her Nai wind instrument, a Middle Eastern flute made from a river reed, but playing the
instrument in class would require her to remove her mask. The instrument could also spread droplets into the air, potentially reaching students. She has, however, resorted to singing behind her mask. To amplify her voice, she wears a headset with a microphone. For all the technical difficulties the music department may face, Nizar Ballout, the music director for the Middle Eastern ensemble Astaza, is working as the music department’s technology adviser. Ballout has been musically training students virtually for the past five years, so he is well-versed in teaching music over online platforms. He’s tasked with assisting faculty with the transition to online classes, rehearsals, and performances. “Technology is still limited when it comes to bringing the real live experience of it,” Ballout said of teaching online. “But I can’t remember something that we couldn’t do.” Although the music department is facing new challenges, Ballout is optimistic about continuing to create and engage with music during this time. His Middle Eastern ensemble is still preparing for a fully online performance in December. In the meantime, they plan to practice in a hybrid format with many instrumentalists playing over Zoom—including Lucas, who will be playing her Nai wind instrument. “I think at this moment we should be more engaged,” Ballout said, “Everyone should be more engaged with music, with listening, with playing, with jamming online. You need it. We all need it.” n
A24 Intern Plans to Hold Film Events on Campus By Jillian Ran Arts Editor
Boston College might not be the first place to come to mind as a filmmaking hotspot. Although there are a few dedicated clubs on campus, students looking to start careers in the entertainment industry won’t find as many resources as pre-law or business students, said Leyla Hotamisligil, MCAS ’22. Hotamisligil is looking to change that. She is BC’s first-ever campus representative for A24, the indie movie studio responsible for cult favorites such as Lady Bird, Hereditary, and Uncut Gems. A24’s campus representative program recruits college students to organize events around the studio’s new releases. When Hotamisligil began discussing the prospect of starting a program at BC with A24, she argued that BC would be the perfect candidate because of the lack of support for artists on campus. “I don’t think there’s a lot of artistic spaces for people to just kind of exist in and find community,” Hotamisligil said. Students are evidently excited about the project. The Facebook page that Hotamisligil created on Monday
already has 146 followers and counting. “In the era of COVID, people are just craving community too, so being able to rally behind a common love, I think that’s really exciting,” Hotamisligil said. Hotamisligil’s first project is setting up an online screening of Boys State for
conservative political clubs, tying the message of the movie in with a campaign to encourage voting. In the future, Hotamisligil hopes to transition to hybrid events that take place on campus. In line with her goal of creating more spaces for budding artists at BC, she also plans on inviting
as well as screenwriting competitions and other events throughout the year. “I think that experience kind of lends itself really well to this internship too, because it’s about creating a group of people who just like movies and conversations around that,” Hotamisligil said.
BC students. The documentary, which follows four teenagers as they participate in a mock government exercise in Texas, lends itself well to discussions about the state of American politics. Hotamisligil plans to recruit clubs on campus to get involved with the screening, including College Democrats, the film department, the political science department, Film Society, and
A24 directors to speak to students. Hotamisligil considers herself an avid cinemophile. Besides her internship, she’s also president of the Film Society at BC. In the past, the club’s main activity has been organizing film screenings, but Hotamisligil is hoping to branch out this year. She’s planning an arts festival in the spring where students can present their own works,
Hotamisligil initially approached A24 about becoming a campus representative last semester. The studio agreed to let her do a trial run where she would promote its upcoming film Saint Maud by organizing a three-film A24 horror marathon for BC students. The final event would be an early screening of Saint Maud. But after campus shut down in
March, A24 had to rethink how—and if—it could continue the campus representative program. Over the summer, Hotamisligil engaged in discussions with the studio about how to adapt to new circumstances, and how the film industry as a whole would have to change. The studio ultimately decided to continue the program. Hotamisligil sees the goal of the internship as greater than just promoting a company. “I think the reason people love A24 so much is because each piece relates to a story that this generation is really in touch with,” Hotamisligil said. “So I think the idea for this kind of project is you take those stories that this young demographic is so attached to and find a way to really have those connect with the entire campus in a very holistic way.” When asked about an A24 film that stands out to her, Hotamisligil mentions The Farewell. The 2019 dramedy starring Awkwafina was directed by BC alumna Lulu Wang. “If we’re talking about a film being able to accurately convey human experience—that’s why people love A24—I think that movie is a great example of that,” Hotamisligil said. n PHOTOS COURTESY OF A24
Subjects of ‘Boys State’ Speak About Experience By Shaun Taxali Heights Staff
Now more than ever, the idea that young people are unaware and unconcerned about politics seems to be false. The documentar y Boys State, produced by A24 and distributed by Apple TV+, seeks to directly demolish this stigma.
Over the course of a hot July week in Austin, directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss give audience members a glimpse into a political exercise for youth, the Texas Boys State. Every year, states across the nation bring together hundreds of 17-year-olds to engage in a political simulation. As the boys form parties to run for office in Texas, the film is an uncanny
reflection of both the current state of politics in the United States and the hopefully bright future that lies ahead. Coinciding with National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 22, A24 scheduled several virtual screenings of the film across several college campuses, with one expected at Boston College in the coming weeks. I sat with the film’s directors and three of its subjects—Ben Feinstein,
Rob MacDougall, and Stephen Garza—to hear what meaning could be gleaned from their experience at Boys State. When describing what he thought of his experience filming the Boys State, director Jesse Moss said he wanted to emphasize the impact his film could have. “What we hoped is, this little microcosm of Texas Boys State, which you might be tempted to dismiss, actually contains these powerful forces that we are wrestling with as a country,” Moss said. As the film progresses, clear trends found in actual American politics take shape within the Boys State. Some boys try to start a smear campaign against a political competitor, albeit in Boys State they do it over Instagram. Other participants lie about their personal beliefs on topics such as abortion and gun control to avoid backlash. But alongside the lies and political naughtiness, some direct positive takeaways can also be found. Rob MacDougall, who acted like a typical macho cool guy in the film, spoke about the hope he has for America’s political future after
watching himself relive his Boys State experience. “In the end, I truly do think, and I think I saw, [the] vast majority of people want the same thing,” MacDougall said. “They want what’s best for their state, their city, their country. They want what’s best, it’s just how they want to get there that’s so different.” Stephen Garza, who serves as the underdog hero of the film, put his desire for future change in his own words. “I think that all too often, our politicians are super disconnected from the people whom they affect,” Garza said. “If they took the time to meet those people and talk to them and listen to them, we could have a much better system. A system that replaces this kind of old indifference of modern politics with true, genuine empathy and genuine care.” With much political uncertainty ahead, the directors and subjects all agree that there is a lot to learn from their experience. Even if it’s only fueled by naive, teenage idealism, Boys State offers important lessons about the future of American politics.” n SCREENSHOT BY JILLIAN RAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR
The Heights
A10
Monday, October 5, 2020
LANY Explores Southern Roots on New Album By Julia Landwehr Heights Staff Alt-pop band LANY’s name is an acronym paying homage to Los Angeles and New York, and its slick sound might easily dupe listeners into thinking the band hails from one of the two cities. On its newest album mama’s boy, though, LANY explores its distinct Southern roots. The trio—frontman Paul Klein, drummer Jake Goss, and guitarist Les Priest— released mama’s boy, its third studio album, on Friday. It features 14 tracks and promises a type of homebody’s introspection that’s often missing from the glitz of the L.A. music scene. The concept is solid, great even. The
album art—a neon cowboy sign with a beautiful desert sunset background—is equal parts beautiful and intriguing, and the album’s theme is clear: How do you reconcile growing up in a new city and staying true to the values of the hometown you left behind? The question is emotionally heavy and not easily answerable. Unfortunately, LANY’s dive into its members’ pasts isn’t entirely successful. mama’s boy is fairly monotonous, and its tracks mostly consist of vague lyrics and storylines and simple melodies that don’t do much to drive the album forward. The second track on mama’s boy, “cowboy in LA,” is a perfect example. Klein croons, “I’ll hold your hand, I’ll
MUSIC
MAMA’S BOY LANY DISTRIBUTED BY POLYDOR RECORDS RELEASE OCT. 2, 2020 OUR RATING
POLYDOR RECORDS
hold the door / ‘Cause that’s how I was raised / Yeah, all the other boys in town / All look and talk the same / But I got a different kind of heart / I’m a cowboy / A cowboy in L.A.” The lines get muddled in a plucking guitar melody, and they don’t really look into the contradiction between the Southern cowboy and L.A. resident. Instead, listeners are fed this empty image of two people “square dancin’ under the moon,” giving the impression that the band feels an overwhelming sense of superiority by being different from other L.A. guys. LANY isn’t wrong—the contradiction is there. In cities like Los Angeles, New York, even Boston, there are throngs of young people trying to find themselves in a place that’s so different from where they came from. And yet, the band isn’t able to articulate the beauty in that paradox, as hard as it’s trying. Though “good guys” leans a bit more pop and features a couple more interesting melodies than “cowboy in LA,” the overall effect is the same. The lyricism that LANY presents in these tracks and others smacks of a contrived country-pop aesthetic. Colloquially speaking, LANY seems to suffer from a “not like other girls” mentality—it presents its struggles and musings as something that elevates it from the masses. There’s a missing sense of connection to the broader world.
Besides the overly sentimental and self-important storylines in some of the tracks, LANY’s attempt to blend country and pop also falls short. Many of the tracks on mama’s boy end up sounding like a bland guitar-heavy pop rock that can only be described as Christian-rock-esque. All that being said, mama’s boy isn’t a complete wash. The few scattered tracks where the band gets a bit more experimental stand out on the album. The opening track, “you!,” features corny lyrics, but the addition of a children’s choir over an expansive electronic sound gives it an exceptionally sincere aura. The closing track, “nobody else,” is a simple one with acoustic guitar that builds to a piano and horn chorus. The song feels the most country on mama’s boy, and it doesn’t have the feeling of confused identity that many of the other tracks do. Klein softly asks, “Would you lend a hand to me if I needed help? / Would you keep me company when I’m by myself? It’s simple, sincere, and strangely comforting. If mama’s boy communicates anything, it’s that growing, aging, and losing that sense of childhood is all at once strange, painful, and beautiful. Though LANY struggles to find a sonically unique and sincere conclusion to its musings on the past, there’s something to be said for its posing the idea in the first place. n
‘Song Exploder’ Takes Second Look at Hits By Katherine Canniff For The Heights Song Exploder, a short docu-series that just arrived on Netflix, dissects the hit songs of popular musicians, tracing the path from first demo to chart-topping success. The four-episode show was adapted from the popular podcast of the same title. Hrishikesh Hirway, the host of the podcast and show, sits with his laptop open, playing various demos as he guides the artists through their own songs. The show was created by documentarians Morgan Neville and Caitrin Rogers, and features Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, R.E.M., and Ty Dolla $ign. Interviews with their various collaborators reveal how artists combine their talents and tastes to create one cohesive piece. The show offers an episode for every kind of music fan by stretching across several genres, including pop, broadway musical, rock, and hip-hop. Hirway immediately reveals his intention to explore the emotional experiences of artists by beginning the first episode by asking Alicia Keys about the day before she began writing her recent release, “3 Hour Drive.” Reflecting on what led her to the studio, Keys explains that her son was just born and she was immersing herself in the writing process during a trip to London. The episode also gives the audience a peek into the collaboration process. Footage from the initial recording sessions shows Keys and her
two collaborators, Jimmy Napes and Sampha, jamming in a small candle-lit studio. Hirway’s unsurprisingly smooth podcast voice probes Keys about how she approaches writing. He begins to break down the illusion of the unfailingly brilliant and inspired artist as Keys opens up about the anxiety that drives her in the studio knowing that “there’s a pretty likely chance that I’m not going to find the right words. I’m not going to find the right melody.” Recordings of raw vocals and the simple chords that get lost in the layers of each finished song allow the artists to revisit their creative processes and show the audience the evolution of their work. In the second episode, Lin-Manuel Miranda traces the creation of his song “Wait For It” from his acclaimed musical Hamilton over the seven years he took to write the show. Miranda and his writing partner, Alex Lacamoire, talk Hirway through how they turned scattered iPod recordings done on the subway into full songs, and then adapted them to be performed onstage with an ensemble. In the third episode, R.E.M. breaks down its career-changing hit “Losing My Religion.” During one light moment, Hirway plays a demo and reminds drummer Bill Berry of a hand-clapping track that was mixed in with the percussion. Berry’s face lights up as he reflects on the band’s fearlessly experimental approach to making the song more than 30 years ago. Song Exploder is full of little gems like this: the first versions of lyrics, lost dem-
os, and clever production tricks. Hirway doesn’t act as a ruthless interrogator trying to tease out industry secrets or controversy. He’s an avid fan, and a musician himself. In one contemplative moment, Michael Stipe describes the life of the fabricated character that “Losing My Religion” follows, and then admits that the song echoes some of his own experiences at the time. Primarily avoiding technical language about recording and sound-mixing, the show highlights the emotional arc of the songs and how they can come together in a second or after hours of spitballing random lyrics. For the final episode, Hirway interviews Ty Dolla $ign and analyzes the song “LA” from the rapper’s 2015 album Free TC.
Hirway breaks down all the forms that come together in the song, including spoken word poetry, electronic voice manipulators, and a string orchestra. As they move through the song, Ty Dolla $ign explains that the track tells a story about Los Angeles and his older brother TC, who has been in prison for 11 years. In every episode, the show comes back to the idea that for all the artists, the music they make reveals or provides some kind of direction in their life. For music buffs looking for insight into the creative processes of successful musicians, or simply those who admire the artists and want to hear them discuss their personal struggles and triumphs, Song Exploder offers a fascinating new look at familiar songs. n
Heights Staff With his newly released album Keep ’Em on They Toes, Brent Cobb showcases his knack for pairing timely, thoughtful songwriting with pared-down acoustic guitars, violins, and harmonicas, and provides a rather unique take on modern country music. While Cobb’s solo projects are not well known by the average country music fan, he is no stranger to success, having been awarded a Grammy nomination for his 2016 album Shine on Rainy Day. He has also written for country music superstars Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, and Kenny Chesney. But in his new record, Cobb takes a radically different approach from his peers. Rather than anthem-ready choruses and driving beats, Cobb opts for songs formed around reflective lyrics and acoustic guitars.
In the title track, Brent Cobb establishes his sound for the rest of the album. The song features effortlessly strummed acoustic guitars and minimal bass and encourages the listener to march to the beat of their own drum, although, ironically, there is next to no percussion in the song. In the chorus, Cobb croons, “Make ‘em gotta know what they wouldn’t understand / The best thing you can do when the ignorance shows / Is walk on to your own beat / And keep ‘em on they toes.” Cobb will come back to this idea of staying true to oneself regardless of what others say a few times throughout the project. The second song of the album, “Shut up and Sing,” finds Cobb responding to critics who say that artists shouldn’t weigh in on politics and social issues. Cobb’s answer is short and sweet, and he concludes the chorus with: “Let’s take these blinders off our eyes and pull the
MUSIC
KEEP ’EM ON THEY TOES BRENT COBB DISTRIBUTED BY OL’ BUDDY RECORDS RELEASE OCT. 2, 2020 OUR RATING
OL’ BUDDY RECORDS
JILLIAN RAN
‘LEVITATING’ DUA LIPA, DABABY
Pop queen Dua Lipa’s latest album Future Nostalgia, true to its name, is characterized by ’80s- and ’90s-inspired sounds brought up to speed with slick, 21st century production. Since the album’s release in late March, Lipa has graced listeners with a remix album, Club Future Nostalgia, in which she invited a host of producers to add their own spins to the project. It seems the artist isn’t done fiddling with Future Nostalgia. On Friday, she released a version of one of the lead singles off the album, “Levitating,” that features a verse from rising-star rapper DaBaby. DaBaby is a wise choice for a collaboration. His quick, witty verses feel right at home when they appear in pop tracks. Just ask Camila Cabello, whose single “My Oh My” wouldn’t be the same without the rapper, who happily plays the bad boy to Cabello’s not-so-innocent ingenue. In “Levitating,” DaBaby matches the upbeat energy of the song, cheekily rapping, “I’m still levitating, I’m heavily medicated.” Lipa released a music video to accompany the single on Friday, a ’70s disco-inspired extravaganza that rivals Lipa’s other over-the-top videos. Future Nostalgia is the gift that just keeps on giving. n
MUSIC MUSIC VIDEO ORLINKA KEREERE
‘DAYDREAM’ SHOW
TELEVISION
MARIAH CAREY
SONG EXPLODER HRISHIKESH HIRWAY DISTRIBUTED BY NETFLIX RELEASE OCT. 2, 2020 OUR RATING
NETFLIX
‘Keep ’Em on They Toes’ Boasts Strong Lyrics By Kieran Wilson
SINGLE REVIEW
cotton from our ears / Until somebody says somethin’ that means somethin’, I’ll shut up and sing.” Cobb makes it clear that he’ll continue to write and sing about anything and everything, especially the events that shape not only his life, but also the world at large. He accompanies these skillfully delivered lyrics with honest, finger-picked and strummed acoustic guitars, an airy bassline, and two rollicking harmonica solos. “Good Times and Good Love,” which Cobb co-wrote with Luke Bryan, is a quintessential country ode to love that also deals with the inescapable passage of time. Cobb, with his soothing vocals, declares “Darlin’, good times and good love don’t last forever / That’s too bad because those are two things I really like.” But the simple acoustic guitar and classic country-sounding violin and piano convey the sense that Cobb has come to terms with the fact that not everything lasts forever, but he is still determined to make the most of what he has because “when a girl like you shows up, a man settles down.” The message of the seventh song on the record, “Soapbox,” is in the same vein as both “Keep ’Em on They Toes” and “Shut up and Sing,” as Cobb sings in the chorus, “You might wear out my nerves, but you ain’t changing my mind / By, good God, let’s hop off the soapbox and get along.” An old-timey piano riff, a bright-sounding tuba, and acoustic guitar accompany Cobb’s syrupy vocals to create a breezy and chipper track that gives way to three slower songs that complete the album.
The second-to-last song from the album, titled “The World is Ending,” has Cobb contemplating the state of his world, and while he doesn’t explicitly name any person or event, it’s not hard to understand the political subtext, especially in 2020. To help convey his message, Cobb again turns to the sincere acoustic guitars and piano that have served him so well throughout the project. The conclusion to Brent Cobb’s new album, “Little Stuff,” contains more archetypal country music lyrics, again accompanied by a mellow acoustic guitar and violin. In the first verse, Cobb says he “Found some peace in paradise beneath the pines / Caught some bream and largemouth jumpin’ / I saw heaven in the clouds.” For much of this record, Cobb has been searching for answers to pressing questions, but in his final song, he seems to find his answer in the “Little Stuff.” He concludes the album neatly as he sings “Let the rain go, chase the rainbow / There’s a lot of truth in all that little stuff / Ain’t that enough?” Brent Cobb, on his newest album Keep ’Em on They Toes, boasts his tremendous songwriting ability while keeping the instrumentation as minimal and understated as possible. While he flirts with Americana music, Cobb sticks mostly with unembellished acoustic guitars, piano, and violins. Although some of his lines may sound enigmatic, Cobb gives ample time and space for the listeners to fully immerse themself in the record and discover his message. n
At almost an hour and a half long, the latest addition to Mariah Carey’s YouTube channel isn’t your average music video— rather, it’s a livestream recording of her 1996 Daydream concert in Tokyo. The livestream coincided with the release of Carey’s compilation album, The Rarities, which debuted on the same day. Like the superstar she is, Carey began the concert by arriving on stage in an elevator-like contraption, and without skipping a beat, she dove right into her 1991 hit “Emotions,” and yes, she did hit all five octaves. After a brief pause to change into an all-white outfit, she sang her dance-pop, R&B hit “Fantasy,” which made the live audience go crazy and of course, the YouTube audience as well. Comments dashed across the screen, with many lambs—the name for Carey’s biggest fans—proclaiming their undying love for the star. The Billboard chart-topping singer went on to raise the energy in the Tokyo Dome when she sang “Always Be My Baby,” one of her very best pieces. Boyz II Men made a surprise appearance when they were projected on a screen to sing their duet “One Sweet Day.” The harmonizing of Boyz II Men and Carey’s five-octave voice is a showstopping combination. Mimi went on to sing her rendition of Harry Nilsson’s “Without You,” delivered with so much passion that it silenced the audience for the duration of the song. She then brought out a choir to sing backup to the bouncy and uplifting hit “Make It Happen” from her 1991 album Emotions. Then, just when it seemed like there were no more surprises, Carey performed a powerful version of The S.O.S Band’s 1983 hit “Just Be Good to Me.” Continuing to prove that she is the queen of outfit changes, Carey donned a black dress to sing “Vision of Love,” her elegance matching her unwavering falsetto voice, before singing “Hero” from 1993’s Music Box. Of course, Carey could not end her performance without singing her holiday favorite, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” before her grand exit. Only Carey could get people in the Christmas spirit before celebrating Halloween. n
The Heights
Monday, October 5, 2020
A11
Tempers Flare in Physical, Down-to-the-Wire UNC Battle Tempers from A12 Aaron Boumerhi, the star of last week’s win over Texas State, notched three field goals for BC. His first kick—a 35 yarder just minutes after Brown’s touchdown—kept BC competitive near the end of the first quarter. But as the first frame drew to a close, UNC expanded its lead. The Tar Heels drove 58 yards on six plays to take a 14-3 lead just before halftime. B C ’s defense struggled to get stops on third down for the entire game. UNC converted on seven of its 12 third downs, largely thanks to quarterback scrambles from Howell. Two third down conversions in the middle of the first quarter—including one on third-and-18—set up Brown’s 24-yard touchdown reception to open the scoring. Howell also rushed for a 20-yard gain on third-and-8 to set up UNC’s second touchdown of the night later in the quarter. From start to finish, BC played physically. Hafley said that going into the game, his goal was to play aggressively, and that was the case for both teams. Midway through the first
quarter, Hunter Long took a hit as he reeled in a catch, and UNC’s sideline erupted in cheers. Hafley vocalized his frustration to the referees, but he said after the game that the Tar Heels’ reaction just made the Eagles fight harder. “The one thing I promise my team is that I’ll have their back no matter what,” Hafley said about his frustration with UNC’s reaction. “We take that personally,” Brandon Barlow said after the game. “If one of our guys goes down, and the other team is cheering, that’s just fuel to the fire. ... We see stuff like that, and we stick up together as a team.” The second quarter told a very different scoring story, as the Eagles outscored UNC 13-7. Boumerhi hit his second field goal of the night, and the kickoff bounced as UNC’s returner called for a fair catch. Confusion among the referees meant UNC began its drive at its own four-yard line. On the Tar Heels’ second play of that drive, Jahmin Muse hit Howell’s hand as he threw, allowing Brandon Sebastian to go up for the interception. The corner—a position for which an interception is rare—returned the
ball for five yards, and BC had firstand-goal at the five-yard line. David Bailey added another touchdown to his resume, but this time, it came in the form of his first career receiving score. Bailey now has at least one rushing, one passing, and one receiving touchdown in his career. UNC scored seven more points before the half on a 41-yard reception for Javonte Williams. On the scoring play, officials deliberated over whether or not Howell was past the line of scrimmage when he threw, but eventually the call stood. What they missed, however, was an illegal receiver downfield as one Tar Heel lineman nearly negated the score. For the second straight week, Jurkovec showed off his accuracy when BC needed it most. Down 21-13 with one minute on the clock, the Eagles took over on their own 25-yard line. BC charged down the field on the heels of Jurkovec’s six completions, including five straight to put BC on the 13-yard line. That drive set up Boumerhi to end the half with a 30-yard field goal and send BC to the locker room down by less than one score. To open the second half, UNC came out swinging. The Tar Heels looked as though they were in scoring position
before Max Roberts strip sacked Howell for a 14-yard loss, and UNC had to punt from BC’s 49-yard line. UNC came away from the third quarter with just three points, and the Tar Heels held BC’s offense to none. But BC gave UNC plenty of opportunities to score more in the third quarter. In three straight plays, BC’s defense was flagged for 15-yard penalties: Isaiah McDuffie for pass interference, then McDuffie again for unsportsmanlike conduct, and finally Roberts for unnecessary roughness. The final quarter saw BC fight for every opportunity, but ultimately, the goal-line interception on the twopoint conversion sealed BC’s first loss of the year. Even with a tick in the L column, BC players still have plenty of optimism. “There’s never any doubt,” Long said after the game. “Until the clock hits zero, we’re not going to doubt ourselves. I love all of these guys, and I have faith in every single one of them.” “We can play with anybody in this conference,” Jurkovec said. “I’m very excited for our future. I love the way that we fought. We will never stop fighting.” n
Revamped BC Football Falls Just Short FB vs. UNC from A12 BC’s final touchdown of the game. With the game on the line, however, Jurkovec threw his first interception of the game as the Eagles attempted a 2-point conversion, and the Tar Heels walked away with a victory. Even Lockdown Defense Isn’t Enough BC’s defense gave the ranked Tar Heels a run for their money, tallying an interception and four sacks. The highlight play from the defensive side of the ball came as Jahmin Muse deflected UNC powerhouse quarterback Sam Howell’s pass in the air, allowing corner Brandon Sebastian to intercept it at the 5-yard line and set up a quick BC touchdown. The play, set up by a collapsing pocket around Howell, was a testament to the strength of BC’s veteran defensive line. Last year, the Eagles’ defensive unit ranked 125th nationally in total defense and, already this year, it has jumped to No. 25 in the country.
Max Richardson and Isaiah McDuffie led the charge for the Eagles as well, combining for 25 total tackles. McDuffie showed an adept ability to penetrate the offensive line into the backfield, notching two quarterback hurries and a sack. Brandon Barlow, Marcus Valdez, and Maximillian Roberts all notched sacks as well. BC’s hard-hitting defense showed that it can stand up against even the biggest, toughest offenses, as UNC is ranked No. 30 in total offense nationally. Emotions Run High, and Penalties Follow In the Eagles’ postgame press conference, both Hafley and many of his players said that they went into this game expecting a battle of wills. It was an aggressive, physical fight from start to finish and as a result, both teams’ tempers flared, often for the worst. The Eagles first showed their emotions when, after Long took a huge hit from Trey Morrison, UNC’s sideline began to cheer. Long sat motionless in
the middle of the field, visibly shaken up as UNC celebrated, and Hafley loudly made his frustration known to the referees. After the game, Barlow described the Tar Heels’ reaction as “fuel to the fire.” Then, with tension at its peak in the third quarter, BC’s defense suffered two back-to-back personal foul penalties for unnecessary roughness well after the whistle was blown. Add onto that an undisciplined pass interference call on McDuffie that nullified a BC interception, and UNC marched its way effortlessly downfield for a 45-yard gain without ever completing a pass. The penalties gave the Tar Heels the chance to hit a late-game field goal to put them up 24-16. Without that field goal, BC would have gotten the ball back with plenty of time on the clock, all three timeouts, and would not have had to go for a 2-point conversion to tie. The Hafley Effect One stark difference between BC’s new coaching regime and its predeces-
sor is the aggression and energy that it’s brought to the program. Before the fourth quarter of every game, BC’s entire sideline now gathers around the coaches to pump each other up. Even without fans, the sideline is constantly “juiced”—or full of energy—as Hafley described it. Against UNC, the energy was no different. With 1:09 left in the first half, Hafley’s meticulous play calling resulted in a quick field goal that brought the Eagles within one point heading into the locker room. Over his first three games, fans have seen him time and time again animated on the sidelines, constantly in the ears of all his players. If Hafley can get his team to take the game down to the wire against the No. 12 team in the nation, Eagles fans have plenty to look forward to under this new coaching staff. Long said after the game that, thanks to the Eagles’ newfound spirit, they never had any doubt that they could compete with a top-tier team until the final second. n
MEEGAN MINAHAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Eagles Avoid Straight-Set Sweep, Still Fall to Cardinals By Olivia Charbonneau Assoc. Sports Editor After No. 11 Louisville clinched the second set against Boston College volleyball (0-2) by a decisive margin, it looked as if Boston College 1 the Cardinals Louisville 3 would not only sweep the match, but also sweep the weekend series against the Eagles. The first set was a battle between the two schools , with Louisville (2-1) ultimately coming out on top. BC started out strong in the match, holding the Cardinals close as the two passed the lead back and forth before the Eagles took a small 16-13 lead. The hot start was quickly negated by a 6-0 run from the Cardinals, a series of events that triggered a timeout call from head coach Jason Kennedy. But as would happen time and time again during this game, the attempt by BC to kill Louisville’s momentum was for naught with the Cardinals securing the first point off the break. Senior Clare Naughton fought to keep up with the Cardinals, securing a solo block against Louisville sophomore Amaya Tillman to kill her opponent’s momentum. But despite this strong effort by Naughton and the Eagles, the Cardinals took the first set, 25-21. In Friday night’s game, Kennedy cited the source of the Eagles’ struggles as not having enough stamina to maintain their hot start against the Cardinals. The same could be said during the first half of this match. While the Eagles fought hard to compete in the first set, the team’s inexperience began to show as the Eagles cracked under the pressure of a ranked opponent. The visiting Cardinals fought back, negating BC’s lead and going on a
six-point tear to take and hold the lead against the home team for the remainder of the set. Despite the close score of the first set, the second set wasn’t as favorable for the Eagles. After two back-to-back bad breaks to start the set, Kennedy called a timeout to put a stop to Louisville’s early momentum. And yet, the break gave no such halt to Louisville’s run, with the Cardinals securing the first two points following BC’s timeout. Sophomore Gabby McCaa made the kill to stop Louisville’s run and put the Eagles on the board in the second set. But while Izzy Clavenna scored the second-straight point for BC to cut the Cardinals’ lead in half, Louisville responded with another run to increase its lead. As with the first set, once the Cardinals regained the lead from the Eagles, they kept it. In a set including an 11-3 run for Louisville, BC was limited to 14 points against its opposition. And as the Eagles were shut down once more by the Cardinals, it looked as though they would be swept for the second straight game. Kennedy gave the white shirt to Anna Murphy in the third set, giving the freshman libero a shot against one of the hottest teams in the ACC. And Murphy didn’t disappoint. After the Eagles’ discouraging display in the second set, the freshman put in the work to prevent BC from getting swept for the second straight match. Murphy led BC with 11 digs in the game, extending the length of rallies in the Eagles’ favor. With Murphy at libero, the Eagles were able to neutralize the Cardinals long enough to put up a fight. Similar to the first set, the two teams went back and forth with points. Naughton shined in the third set, making kill
PHOTO COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS
Silvia Ianeselli blasts a spike over Louisville’s Rachael DeMarcus in the Eagles’ second loss of the 2020 season.
after kill against Louisville to keep the Eagles within reaching distance of their ranked opponent. Naughton made six kills against the Cardinals in the third set, and led BC with 16 overall kills in the match. An attempted kill by Louisville late in the set went wide, and after a brief review by the officials, the call on the court was point BC, giving the Eagles their first set win of the season. But before BC could celebrate, Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly signaled a challenge on the play, claiming the ball was tipped out by BC blockers. The challenge succeeded, giving the point to the Cardinals, tying the game at 24-24. The Eagles continued to fight for a set win, exchanging points and extending the set. Multiple service errors made by the Cardinals gave BC easy points to re-
main in the game, but kills by Louisville freshman Anna DeBeer prevented the Eagles from capitalizing on these errors. And yet, a service error by Cardinals’ freshman Ceci Rush and an attack error forced by Amaka Chukwujekwu secured the set for the Eagles holding off a weekend sweep by Louisville. But the third set comeback wasn’t enough to push BC to an underdog victory. The Eagles got an early run against the Cardinals, going on a 5-1 run to take an early lead. And similarly to the second set, Louisville shut down the Eagles midway through the fourth set, preventing the home team from scoring crucial points. The Cardinals quickly responded to BC, going on an 11-2 run of their own and taking a decisive 13-7 lead.
After that, the game was over for the Eagles. While BC went on a 7-1 run to tie up the game at 14, the small victory was short-lived. The Cardinals put the final nail in the coffin, scoring 11 points to close out the game, only giving up points from a kill by Alayna Crabtree and a service error to boost the final score to 25-16. The Eagles’ schedule for the remainder of this modified season won’t be getting any easier. As of Saturday night’s game, BC was the only team in its pod to not be nationally ranked—in addition to Louisville, Pitt is no. 10, Syracuse is ranked at no. 5, and Notre Dame is no. 6. But if they can continue to fight tooth and nail like they did in the third set, the Eagles have a solid chance to win against these tough competitors. n
Monday, October 5, 2020
SPORTS NORTH CAROLINA 26
A12
@HeightsSports
BOSTON COLLEGE 22
ACHILLES’ HEELS
JESS RIVILIS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
BC spent the whole game within one score of the No. 12 Tar Heels, but a last-second pick-two sealed the victory for North Carolina. BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec passed for 313 yards, but penalties plagued BC in the loss. By Emma Healy Sports Editor
With under a minute to go in the game, Josh DeBerry headed toward Boston College football’s sideline visibly upset, and North Carolina 26 h e s l a m m e d Boston College 22 his helmet on the ground. It appeared that he thought BC had recovered the onside kick, giving the Eagles a chance to beat their first AP-Top 25 team since taking down Southern California in 2014. But the referees determined that North Carolina’s Elijah Green had jumped on the ball, so DeBerry and his teammates were understandably rattled. Down the stretch, BC (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) had a chance to topple AP No. 12 UNC (2-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast), but a few missteps near the end handed BC its first loss of the year, 26-22. With 45 seconds on the clock, BC’s final drive resulted in a fade to the hands of CJ Lewis in the front corner of the end zone. Down by two, BC had no choice but to try for the tie. As Phil Jurkovec dropped back to pass, UNC’s
By Emma Healy
Trey Morrison found his way in front of the ball, and he returned it 100 yards for a two-point gain. Then came the onside kick that gave DeBerry such frustration. Though the game ended up four points in UNC’s favor, the Eagles showed remarkable resolve against a ranked team. UNC had a Heisman contender for a quarterback, a nationally heralded defensive line, and two weeks of rest on their side entering Saturday’s contest. Even so, BC put up the best fight the Tar Heels have seen so far this year. “It doesn’t matter where we play, who it’s in front of,” head coach Jeff Hafley said in his postgame interview. “Whoever lines up against us, we’re going to go as hard as we can, and we’re not going to back down.” UNC drew first blood midway through the first quarter as quarterback Sam Howell threw a dart to Khafre Brown from 24 yards out. From there, the Eagles played catch-up the entire game, but they struggled to find their way into the end zone.
See Tempers, A11
Sports Editor
And Jeremy Khangi Heights Staff
JESS RIVILIS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Three more yards is all Boston College football needed to tie up a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire ball game against No. 12 North Carolina, but a goal-line interception sealed the Eagles’ first loss of the year. After last week’s game-winning field goal against Texas State, the Eagles were looking to start their 2020 campaign with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2018. Here are a few key takeaways from the Eagles’ 26-22 loss: BC is Becoming an Air-Raid Team Phil Jurkovec has been opening things up on the offensive side of the ball for BC all season, and it was no different against UNC. Nine different Eagles found themselves on the receiving end of his 37 completions. Jurkovec threw the ball a whopping 58 times on Saturday, which goes to show just how much trust head coach Jeff Hafley has in his young quarterback.
Jurkovec’s favorite target, tight end Hunter Long, was the star of night for the Eagles— Jurkovec targeted Long 17 times, and the tight end came down with 96 receiving yards, nearly a third of the entire offense’s total passing yards. Out of BC’s 353 yards of offense, 313 were through the air. It’s a stark contrast to the Eagles of years past, who often relied heavily on the ground game behind AJ Dillon. With the hole that Dillon’s departure left in BC’s offense—the Eagles gained just 40 yards on the ground this week—it has become clear that the Eagles will only go as far as Jurkovec is able to take them. Jurkovec showed poise with the game on the line as well, registering a 15 play, 69 yard drive to bring the Eagles within two points at the end of the fourth quarter. The final drive felt eerily reminiscent of Jurkovec’s fourth-quarter push against Texas State last week that gave BC the chance for a go-ahead field goal. This week, he completed 10 passes in that game-ending drive— including five straight—en route to
See FB vs. UNC, A11
Offense Stalls, Eagles Drop Season Opener to Louisville By Nick Pulice Heights Staff When Boston College field hockey arrived in Louisville, it had been 328 days since the Eagles last took the field. For the first time since their heartbreaking loss in the Final Four of the National TourBoston College 1 nament against Louisville 2 North Carolina, the Eagles (0-1) finally returned to the competition pitch on Sunday. After a record-breaking season in which they made it to the ACC Tournament title game and the National Tournament semifinal, head coach Kelly Doton and her team had high expectations. But even with a tournament run in the rearview mirror, the 2020 season did not start off as planned for the Eagles, who suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Louisville (4-0). The Eagles’ rust from nearly a year of not playing showed, as their usually prolific attack was only able to generate one goal and only one other shot on target. Louisville, on the other hand, was
sharp the whole match. The Cardinals have now earned their fourth win of the season after beating Duke twice, followed by wins over ACC powerhouses North Carolina and BC to get off to an undefeated start. One reason for BC’s lackluster season-opener was its late return to the field due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the ACC teams had a nearly normal preseason—including summer workouts and training camp starting in June—while BC only started practicing in late August. To further complicate the season, other teams in the ACC had already been competing for three weeks before BC’s first game on Sunday. The Cardinals came out strong in the first period, firing shot after shot on BC netminder Jonna Kennedy. After peppering Kennedy with chances, Louisville finally broke through on a corner just over 12 minutes into the game. The ball found the stick of Meghan Schneider, who fired it past Kennedy for her first goal of the season. Midfielder Mercedes Pastor earned credit for the assist. Even though the Eagles generated a scoring chance late in the frame—one of just two in the half—
they found themselves down by one at the end of the first period. Even though the Eagles return to Chestnut Hill with a loss, Kennedy was a bright spot for the team. In her first game as the new starting goalie after the graduation of last season’s starter, Sarah Dwyer, Kennedy looked extremely comfortable in the net. Her efforts in goal kept her team competitive in a game where they were outshot 19-4. Kennedy came away from the game with nine saves, and Louisville goaltender Hollyn Barr recorded just one. BC’s offense began to ramp up at the start of the second period, and the Eagles leveled the score with two minutes to go in the first half. After a Louisville defender deflected a cross into the box, the ball found BC forward Elizabeth Warner, who made a nice spin move in front of the net before slotting it into the goal to make the score 1-1. The Eagles remarkably found themselves tied at the break despite being outshot 10-2. The Cardinals regained the momentum in the third period, and they had several chances to score. They retook the lead—this time, for good—while playing
JONATHAN YE / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
Charlotte Von Huelsen battles a defender in last year’s matchup with Louisville.
with a one-man advantage following a yellow card on BC defender Sky Caron. With one minute to go in the period, Charlie van Oirschot blasted a shot past Kennedy for her second goal of the season to give Louisville the 2-1 lead. The final period was much less lopsided than the first three, and each team generated plenty of chances but couldn’t capitalize on any of them. Late in the final frame, BC players thought they had tied it up with a score off a penalty corner, but officials disallowed the goal due to a dangerous play. As a result, the score remained 2-1 as time expired, giving Louisville the home victory.
Despite the loss, the Eagles have lots to look back on in a positive light. Even though the team played catch up the whole game, the Eagles’ late start didn’t hinder them on the defensive side of the ball. Their offense did not create as many chances as the prolific unit is used to, but the Kennedy-led defense kept the Eagles alive, holding a strong Louisville team to only two goals. One early loss isn’t a deterrent for BC, as last year, the Eagles lost three of their first four and still made an historic postseason run. This is only the beginning. n