Heights 2-8-10

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919

THE HEIGHTS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Vol. XCI, No. 6

www.bcheights.com

Vandals damage Walsh Hall

BY DANIEL MORRISON For The Heights

Since returning from the winter break, the residents of Walsh Hall have met with the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) to address damages that were incurred in the common areas of Walsh Hall in November, damages that officials have determined to be acts of vandalism. ResLife initiated these meetings between the students and their resident assistants in order to correct the students’ behavior by reinforcing the standards of community living, in addition to collecting feedback from residents in order to prevent future damage to the building.

ResLife reported that the current damage sustained in Walsh was estimated to cost $2,600 including labor-related expenses.

The damages include multiple broken

ceiling tiles and garbage-strewn study lounges with cracked windows and overturned furniture.

Several students have come forward and admitted to causing some of the damage, said Henry Humphreys, director of ResLife. “We’ll deal with those people instead of everybody having to be penalized,” Humphreys said.

Humphreys underscored the importance of students’ recognition of the housing agreement and how it enables BC to charge students for common area damages and damages found in one’s apartment or suite. “By the housing agreement, we have the contractual right to charge students for common area damages, though we rarely do it.

However, if you damage the inside of your apartment or suite, you will be held accountable for that. When it comes to hallways and common areas, we try not

to charge the students unless the cost becomes so high that we have no choice,” Humphreys said.

The recent meetings between students and resident assistants have shed greater light on the difficulty of distinguishing damage caused by vandalism from natural deterioration in Walsh. “We take our direction from the facilities people, and they are really good about being able to determine what is vandalism versus what’s wear-and-tear. It’s usually pretty clear when it happens here – holes in the wall, glass kicked in, and the missing ceiling tiles were acts of vandalism. Although when the facilities staff does its end of the year assessments of the buildings, it would rather say that it’s wear-and-tear and not vandalism,” Humphreys said.

Students living in Walsh have ex-

See Damages, A4

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOER

Walsh Hall experienced $2,600 in vandalism charges last semester, ResLife officials said.

Candidates take on issues in primary debate University

receives high rank for service Peace Corps ranks BC seventh in nation

BY PATRICK GALLAGHER Assoc. News Editor

KEVIN HOU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Candidates answered questions from student groups, audience members, and their opponents in yesterday’s UGBC Presidential debate. Voting will take place on Thursday and Friday.

BY ANA LOPEZ

Special Projects Editor The Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) election season came into full swing yesterday afternoon as candidates from three teams debated topics such as zoning ordinances, sexual health, and GLTBQ and AHANA issues.

While each team had a particular issue about which they were passionate, all said they were dedicated to increasing unity on campus by breaking down barriers in the UGBC hierarchy.

The “No More Than Four” ordinance, which has been with contentious responses from students across Boston who feel the law’s restriction of off-campus housing units to only four students is unreasonable, was addressed early. The Micaela - Pat campaign, who cited this

INSIDE SPORTS

as a pillar of their platform last week, still expressed their desire to fight the ordinance. “The University hasn’t taken a formal stance and we’re not waiting for them to,” Patrick Raab, vice presidential candidate for the Micaela - Pat ticket and A&S ’11, said. “We’re working with other area schools to create a united voice and a task force to combat this ordinance.”

Charlie Witmer, presidential candidate for the Charlie - Courtney ticket and A&S ’11, said that changes regarding “No More Than Four” may take time given the nature of the ordinance. “The UGBC Senate is working on this initiative to work with other schools in Boston, but this goes above and beyond BC because it’s an actual law,” he said. “But we will work with Harvey [Simmons, president of the UGBC Senate and A&S ’11] to make sure this rule changes.”

Kris Munden, presidential candidate for the Kris - Talal ticket and A&S ’11, said his political ties to the College Democrats of Massachusetts would give their team an advantage in battling this legislation. “We are the only team that has the experience to combat this law,” he said.

A question posed early in the debate dealt with the difficulty that many BC students perceive in getting involved with the UGBC. Courtney Dower, vice presidential candidate on the Charlie - Courtney ticket and A&S ’11, said she has the ability to address these issues as someone that was coming into the campaign with little previous UGBC experience. “The strengths of our opponents’ campaigns are their experiences,” she said. “But we have the perspective of students that are passionate about other

experiences as well.”

Raab said that the UGBC suffers from insularity. “The issue with the UGBC is its lack of interaction with the rest of campus,” he said. “We need to be able to ask for help.”

Munden agreed that the structure of the UGBC could stand to be reformed.

“There are great positions in the UGBC that work,” he said. “But there are others that only work on one issue throughout the year. We could combine directorships to make the UGBC smaller, but more efficient.”

The sexual health referendum, which passed last year with 89.47 percent of the student vote, resurfaced during these debates. Each of the candidate teams said it deserved a renewed analysis. “We

See Debate, A3

Student sociology journal celebrates inaugural issue

BY REBECCA KAILUS Heights Staff

Missed 3-pointer derails BC’s comeback bid against Duke, A10

ARTS & REVIEW

The Philippine Society of BC kicks off culture show season, B1

FEATURES

Find out what BC students are afraid of, B10 Classifieds, A5 Crossword, A5 Editorials, A6 Box Office, A8 Outside the Locker Room, B2 Numbers to Know, B2 Police Blotter, A2 Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down, A7 iEdit, A9 Weather, A2

With the click of a button, John Skinner, A&S ’10, and Stafford Oliver, A&S ’10, officially unveiled the new undergraduate sociology journal, SocialEyes, during a reception Friday. This newest undergraduate journal will join the collection of other undergraduate departmental journals in the College of Arts & Sciences at Boston College.

SocialEyes came to be as the result of a meeting of like-minded sociology students last fall. “We wanted a way to bring majors together and share ideas,” said Skinner, co-editor-in-chief of SocialEyes. “And we wanted an opportunity for sociology students to share their research. At BC, there’s so much research being done, but there’s not a platform for undergraduate [sociology] students to share it.”

The staff of the journal said that, through the production of SocialEyes it hopes to create a tighter community among sociology students while allowing their research to be featured on campus. “We wanted to reach out and let students share their research and teach people about sociology at the same time,” said Oliver, also co-editor-in-chief of SocialEyes. “We were also looking for a way to bring sociology majors together.

Hopefully they’ve inspired each other and will be able to help each other out in the future.”

Submissions to SocialEyes are not re-

Boston College recently took a top 10 position in the Peace Corps 2010 volunteer rankings.

Ranking seventh among mediumsized schools producing Peace Corps volunteers, BC currently has 36 alumni serving in the corps. Since the establishment of the Peace Corps in 1961 by the Kennedy administration, 692 BC alumni have volunteered with the organization.

“The culture of service that is so pervasive among Boston College students and alumni manifests itself in many ways, including participation in the Peace Corps, Teach for America, and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, among many worthy entities,” said University Spokesman Jack Dunn in an e-mail.

As the Peace Corps approaches its 50th anniversary, there are currently almost 7,700 volunteers serving in 76 host countries worldwide, with volunteers providing local support in areas such as education, health care, business development, environmental services, and agricultural services.

The Peace Corps received over 15,000 applications in 2009, representing an 18 percent increase over the previous year, according to a recent release by the University. The increase is in line with national trends that show more and more unemployed individuals flocking to volunteer and non-profit organizations, particularly in Massachusetts, where the unemployment rate is at its highest in 33 years.

“We are proud that our students choose to use their education to try to make a difference in their world and in the lives of people in need,” Dunn said. “It is a testament to the formational impact of their Jesuit education and to their own generosity as individuals.”

In 2009, the Boston-CambridgeQuincy area ranked as the sixth highest Peace Corps volunteer-producing metropolitan area in the nation, according to the release.

BC was joined by George Washington University, American University, Cornell University, Miami University, and the College of William and Mary in the ranking. Historically, nearly 200,000 Ameri-

See Ranking, A4

UGBC Election Information BEN KIMMERLE / HEIGHTS STAFF

Students gathered in Vanderslice Hall’s Cabaret Room friday to welcome the new publication.. stricted to sociology majors, however.

The first issue of SocialEyes is composed of seven articles on various sociology topics, from the hookup culture at BC to racial interaction on the campus to marijuana use. A call for submissions was

issued to the student body last year. “Our fear was that we’d have no submissions,” Oliver said. Yet, the seven articles were selected from fifteen submissions.

See Sociology, A4

Primary voting available through Agora Portal Feb. 11-12.

TopFive

Monday, February 8, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

things to do on campus this week

U.S.-Israeli Relations Panel

A Night at the Museum

Beanpot final vs. Boston U.

Obama Panel Discussion

Maureen Foley book signing

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Today Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: Heights Room

A panel of scholars will discuss the past, present, and future relationship between the United States and Israel. The event will last until 6:30 p.m.

Today Time: 7 p.m.

Location: McMullen Museum of Art All are invited as the McMullen Museum celebrates the unveiling of the exhibit, Asian Journeys: Collecting Art in Post-War America.

Today Time: 8 p.m.

Location: TD Garden

The BC men’s ice hockey team takes on rival Boston University in the 2010 Beanpot final. BU leads the season series with BC, two games to one.

FEATURED ON CAMPUS

Gregory takes position at BWH

Wednesday Time: 5:30 p.m.

Location: McGuinn 121

A discussion panel sponsored by the graduate AHANA Student Association will examine the state of the nation since President Obama’s inauguration.

Wednesday Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Bookstore

Author Maureen Foley will discuss and sign her debut novel, The Book of Illumination: A Novel from the Ghost Files. Books will be available for sale at the event.

IntheNews University

FOUR DAY WEATHER FORECAST TODAY

33° Mostly Sunny 17°

TUESDAY

Sunny 24°

WEDNESDAY

34° Snow 25°

THURSDAY

Aggressive lobbying endangers Obama’s student loan overhaul Plans by congressional Democrats and President Obama that call for the end of government subsidies to private lenders are in jeopardy as a result of aggressive lobbying campaigns by the nation’s largest providers of student loans, according to a recent report by the New York Times. Obama predicted that such an overhaul would take billions of dollars from the profits of private lenders and redirect it to students in need of financial assistance.

However, House and Senate aides are now saying the plan faces heightened adversity, according to the Times.

36°

35° Snow 19°

SOURCE: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

A Guide to Your Newspaper The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467 Editor-in-Chief (617) 552-2223

Local News District 14 police to crack down on sale of alcohol to minors

COURTESY OF OFFICE OF NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Katherine Gregory, who studies gastrointestinal health in premature infants, was named first Haley Nurse-Scientist.

BY MICHAEL CAPRIO News Editor

Katherine Gregory, a professor in the Connell School of Nursing (CSON), was recently named the first Haley Nurse-Scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston.

A nurse-scientist is a doctorally-prepared nurse who works on specific areas of research that require the incorporation of both clinical and academic backgrounds.

“It is a great honor to be a Haley Nurse-Scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” Gregory said in a recent statement.

“This collaboration is a wonderful opportunity that brings together the clinical expertise of nurses at the Brigham, and the research expertise of a nurse-scientist,” she said. “The result of the collaboration supported

by Mr. and Mrs. Haley will rapidly advance nursing science and, in turn, improve patient care.”

Gregory, who studies gastrointestinal health and disease in premature infants, will work directly with BWH staff to further their research to advance the practice of nursing.

“The Haley Nurse-Scientist is a crucial next step in developing academic practice

partnerships that help nursing science develop from the bedside and be translated back to the bedside, in a much more time-efficient manner than has been the case in the past,” Dean of CSON Susan Gennaro said in a recent statement.

“Dr. Kate Gregory is a fabulous choice for this honor as she is an NIH funded nurse researcher who is conducting innovative research to improve the health of our smallest and most fragile patients, premature babies.”

Gregory has previously studied the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal disease in premature infants. She has also performed research developing new models of disease prediction for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening gastrointestinal disease.

Three or four Boston College nurse-scientists will go to BWH over the course of the next five years to conduct their own research as a condition of the Haley program.

These nurse-scientists will work with nurses currently conducting research studies and developing evidencebased nursing practices.

Gregory herself has worked over the past two years as a nurse-scientist, helping several BWH nurses develop their own studies, including

a study of tub bathing versus sponge bathing in maintaining temperature control in late, pre-term infants, and measuring the impact of a nurse-led antenatal class on maternal stress.

The Steven and Kathleen Haley Nurse-Scientist Program is funded by a $1 million gift from Steven and Kathleen Haley, creators of the Brain Science Foundation. The gift represents the largest single gift ever awarded to BWH’s department of nursing.

“Our program is complementary and links two great institutions – BWH and Boston College,” Kathleen Haley said in a recent statement.

“These research concerns can result in new best practices in clinical care.”

Mairead Hickey, chief nursing officer and senior vice president of Patient Care Services at BWH, said the new program will increase the magnitude of research performed at the hospital.

“The Haley Nurse-Scientist Program will allow us to push the envelope to generate new knowledge and applications for clinical nurses and nurse scientists locally and nationally,” she said.

“This will help the [BWH] department of nursing ensure our nursing practice is always state-of-the-art and evidence based.” 

A recent report by the Allston-Brighton Tab said that the District 14 detective’s office will be executing increased underage liquor “stings” in order to curb underage drinking and the sale of alcohol to minors. The areas of Brighton that are occupied by BC students living off campus are under the jurisdiction of the District 14 police precinct. According to the Tab, these “stings” have been very successful in the past, resulting in multiple violations being written against establishments that require insufficient identification from individuals looking to purchase alcohol.

Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Marketplace Desk (617) 552-3548 Features Desk (617) 552-3548 Arts Desk (617) 552-0515 Photo (617) 552-1022 Fax (617) 552-4823 Business and Operations General Manager (617) 552-0169 Advertising (617) 552-2220 Business and Circulation (617) 552-0547 Classifieds and Collections (617) 552-0364 Fax (617) 552-1753 EDITORIAL RESOURCES

On Campus Forbes blames Federal Reserve in speech to BC CEO Club In a speech Tuesday to the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club, Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, said that the Federal Reserve should be held responsible for accelerating the economic crisis. “It was the result of a series of mistakes starting with the Federal Reserve, and not a sudden outburst of greed,” Forbes said. By keeping interest rates artificially low, he argued that the Fed caused a sequence of events that came to include the bursting of the housing and commodities bubbles, sending the economy into a steep decline.

National Sarah Palin criticizes Obama at gathering of “Tea Party” movement NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sarah Palin took aim at President Barack Obama and the Democrats, telling a gathering of “tea party” activists that America is ripe for another revolution. Her audience waved flags and erupted in cheers during multiple standing ovations as the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee gave the keynote address Saturday at the first national convention of the “tea party” coalition. It’s an antiestablishment, grass-roots network motivated by anger over the growth of government, budget-busting spending, and Obama’s policies.

News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call Michael Caprio, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or e-mail news@bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk.

Sports Scores Want to report the results of a game? Call Zach Wielgus, Sports Editor, at (617) 552-0189, or e-mail sports@bcheights.com.

Arts Events The Heights covers a multitude of events both on and off campus – including concerts, movies, theatrical performances, and more. Call Kristen House, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or e-mail review@ bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the Arts Desk.

Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights standards and practices, you may contact Matthew DeLuca, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or e-mail editor@ bcheights.com.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Police Blotter

Voices from the Dustbowl

2/3/10 – 2/5/10 Wednesday, Feb. 3

police cruiser.

6:14 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in the Mods. The cause of the alarm was due to bad cooking.

8:23 a.m. - A report was filed regarding vandalism to Fulton Hall. Facilities were notified to repair the damage.

7:35 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a party who became disorderly when attemping to have their towed vehicle released from BCPD headquarters. The party was told why their vehicle was towed, and the vehicle was released without further incident.

9:51 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a vehicle that was towed in the Middle Campus lots due to several parking tickets that went unpaid.

7:46 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious person in O’Neill library.

The party was identified, issued a verbal trespass warning, and escorted off BC property.

3:24 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a party who was observed to be operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol near the O’Connell House. The operator was identified, issued a written trespass warning. and escorted off BC property. A sober adult party later responded to take custody of the motor vehicle.

9:54 p.m. - A report was filed regarding found property in Campion Hall. The owner was identified and notified to respond to BCPD headquarters to retrieve their property.

10:15 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a party who was receiving harassing phone calls. A detective will follow up.

“I’ve been invited to some Facebook groups.”

—Laura Petty, A&S ’12

“I asked about the 10-year plan, and they said it’s beyond UGBC’s domain.”

—Chris Gu, CSOM ’13

5:22 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an intoxicated party of legal age in Ignacio Hall who was unable to care for himself. The party was tranported by ambulance to a medical facility.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

Advertising The Heights is one of the most effective ways to reach the BC community. To submit a classified, display, or online advertisement, call our advertising office at (617) 552-2220 Monday through Friday.

The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2010. All rights reserved.

Friday, Feb. 5

Thursday, Feb. 4 1:12 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an ill party in the Mods. The party was transported to a medical facility in a

“What are your thoughts on the UGBC elections?”

Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact John O’Reilly, General Manager at (617) 552-0547.

“I just know of the people that are campaigning.”

—Jen Cariello,

CSOM ’12

CORRECTIONS Please send corrections to editor@bcheights.com with ‘correction’ in the subject line.

The Heights

Monday, February 8, 2010

A3

A matter of plain courtesy

Sean Talia One of the most frustrating things about sharing anything in common with a large number of people is that, invariably, a few people will take that diffusion of responsibility as an open invitation to act as though personal responsibility is somehow non-existent altogether.

Such is the case with living in Walsh Hall, where a number of residents enjoy treating the place as though no one else lived there and pretending as though the dorm were a municipal city dump.

On a number of occasions, and most recently on Saturday night, people have beautified the hallways, staircases, walls, and elevators with an eclectic variety of filth including beer cans and bottles, the cardboard boxes left over from 30-racks, chicken fingers and fries from late night, condiments, and, of course, vomit.

As someone who has never felt compelled (just as the overwhelming majority of Walsh residents) to redo Walsh’s interior decoration with these wonderful ornaments, it’s quite frustrating when I see other people taking up this duty. It’s frustrating because I, like most people, am not the one that’s acting like a six-year-old and yet might have to deal with the consequences of those who are.

Here is just one glaring example, which I’m sure almost everyone in Walsh remembers from the start of the semester, of what happens in Walsh when people drink more than they can handle. Someone pulled a fire extinguisher out of its holder on the fourth floor hallway of Walsh at some ridiculously early hour, setting off the fire alarm and forcing everyone to evacuate the building for well over an hour, leaving them to stand in what felt like sub-zero temperatures. Since people couldn’t return to their rooms for so long, people had to go to their friends’ rooms in Edmond’s or Vanderslice Hall if they wanted to avoid catching hypothermia.

I don’t want to overdramatize and act as though this sort of behavior is ruining my experience at Boston College, because it certainly isn’t. Walsh Hall is still a great place to live, and I enjoy the fact that people are always coming in and out on the weekends to hang out with their friends.

But, and I’m afraid there’s no gentle way to put it, whoever has been doing the damage to Walsh (or any dorm for that matter) needs to grow up. It might be fun for you to see how many shots of 151 you can down and then chase with a game of Edward Fortyhands but it’s no fun for others to have to deal with your puke, the mess you make, cleaning up after you, and putting you to bed like you were still in pre-school. Not only is it annoying for the people who have to directly deal with you, but also it’s annoying when the cops show up because of you and other people have to worry about dealing with them.

I understand that people obviously act stupidly when they’re drunk, and that’s fine.

But really, it’s not simply a matter of course that someone will rip down ceiling tiles or throw a trash can full of food and beer down a staircase or into an elevator. That also, quite obviously, takes a deliberate effort.

In short, everybody’s lives would be easier if, when drinking, everyone in Walsh would act like a sophomore in college rather than a sophomore in high school. Difficult as it might be for some, it would be much appreciated if you could at least try.

Sean Talia is a columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at news@bcheights.com

Kevin Hou / Heights Staff

UGBC Presidential candidates addressed an audience of students Sunday afternoon in Fulton Hall to take questions on campus issues, such as the closing of Gasson Hall and University relations.

Compensation, sexual health issues of concern Debate, from A1

feel the most important thing on the sexual health referendum is the free STI testing,” Witmer said.

He said that, if elected, he would partner with other universities that have already implemented this free STI testing to research if it has proven effective.

This notion of exclusivity carried over into debates over issues of diversity on campus. Raab expressed his desire to see AHANA and GLBTQ issues discussed not as a separate entity, but within the context of the University as

a whole. “This is something that ticket and CSOM ’11, said. everyone on campus should be Munden and Rojas said they worried and conwant to expand the cerned about,” he definition of disaid. on campus During the debate, versity Ma b i d a a n d to include sociothe topic of the Raab supported economic disparthe idea of creatity. They said they $12,000 stipend, ing a GLBTQ rewould institute awarded to the source center to office hours with compliment the winning team, was top administrators existing Women’s regularly to speak discussed.

Resource Center. about these issues. “ Th ey d e s e rve “Even Fr. Leahy,” a space of their Munden said. own,” Micaela Mabida, presidenWitmer said he believed intial candidate for the Micaela - Pat creased interaction in the semi-

autonomous relationship between the UGBC, the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC), and the GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC) would alleviate tensions between the groups. “The semi-autonomous nature of the ALC and the UGBC is important,” he said. “I would like to see more interaction outside of business issues, more social events, because I believe that people work better when they are friends.”

During the debate, the topic of the $6,000 stipends received by the president and vice president, was discussed. While each

of the teams said they agreed that the stipend was excessive, the Witmer-Dower team and the Munden-Rojas team made specific commitments to cut back the stipend. “We’re looking into the possibility of giving part of it away to give more money to other student groups and organizations,” Dower said.

Munden calculated that he and Rojas felt they deserved only $3,700 each. “We worked it out that this would equate the salary of a student worker who worked 15 hours a week at $9 an hour,” Munden said. n

Boisi offers his perspective on financial crisis

By Tracy Lu

The system breaks down.”

Boisi drew historical parallels, explaining the current fiLast Thursday, Geoffrey nancial situation by analyzing Boisi, CEO of Roundtable the Great Depression economy Investment Partners, pre- and the formation of the Fedsented his views on the current eral National Mortgage Assoeconomic crisis to a crowd of ciation (Fannie Mae) and the students, faculty, and business Federal Mortgage Home Asprofessionals in Cushing Hall. sociation (Freddie Mac).

Boisi, who has previously Boisi said that the formation worked with such organizations of these two entities preas JP Morgan and Goldman- sented issues the government still dealing Sachs, serves as “When that balance is with. “Freddie a trustee to Bosis broken, there is a n d Fa n n i e ’s ton College and is the namesake of uncertainty. When origins as private companies the Boisi Center there is significant under governfor Religion and m e n t c o n t ro l American Pubuncertainty, and led to conf lict lic Life. During when trust breaks of interests.” his lecture, BoiWhile much si spoke on the down, every has been done current situation of the f inancial component works for to alleviate the markets, which, its own interests, and c u r r e n t e c o nomic crisis, h e s a i d , “ h ave fear settles in.” there is still faced the largmuch more to est decline since do. “We’re not 1925.”

— Geoffrey Boisi, out of the woods One issue he CEO, Roundtable ye t , t h o u g h I highlighted in his Investment Partners think the imaddress was the mediate threat issue of trust in financial markets. Boisi said of another crash may be allevithat the financial industry is ated,” Boisi said.

Students attending the lec“fundamentally based on trust and relationships” between ture said they enjoyed Boisi’s constituents of business, such speech, and that his corporate as clients, managers, regula- background was apparent in tors, employees, and investors. his talking points. “I think his “It is important that there overall point was very good,” is a balance between those said Catherine Lynch, CSOM constituents,” he said. “When ’10. “The different dynamthat balance is broken, there ics involved from his point of is uncertainty. When there is view was also interesting. As a significant uncertainty, and head of corporate America, it’s when trust breaks down, every understandable why he would component works for its own like less government interferinterests, and fear settles in. ence.” n For The Heights

julianne Wojno / Heights Staff

Geoffrey Boisi (top). CEO of Roundtable Investment Partners, spoke to a crowd of students and business leaders last week.

University center produces finance study

By Taylour Kumpf Asst. News Editor

A study released by Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy (CWP) investigated New Jersey’s wealth from 2004 to 2008 and noted a $70 billion decline, as well as a $1.13 billion deficit in the state’s philanthropic activity.

Authorized by the Community Foundation of New Jersey and the Enterprise Trust at the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, the study focused on the migration of household wealth in the state over a decade.

Because wealthy households tend to be the most charitable, the study concentrated on wealth as opposed to income.

In the four year’s before those outlined in the study, New Jersey saw an increase in wealth of $98 billion and, in a similar time frame, philanthropic activity increased by $881 million. This trend

was completely reversed from across the state, especially 2004 through 2009. The total on the nonprofit community loss amounted to around $2 which relies on these families billion. to f u n d t h e i r “This study c r i t i c a l p ro “This has major is important begramming.” consequences for cause it is the first The migratime we have cap- communities across tion of wealth tured the moveout of New Jerthe state.” ment of household sey took place wealth from one af ter a series part of the couno f ta x st r u c — Hans Dekker, try to another,” President, Community t u re c h a n ge s John Havens, asthat made the Foundation of New sociate director state’s chariJersey of CWP, said in table families a recent release. less competi“The migration of wealth out tive in comparison to other of New Jersey is substantial area states. The level of New and significant.”

Jersey’s state income taxes “What we are seeing here now exceed New York, Pennis that wealth, and those who sylvania, and Connecticut, and hold it, are not only leaving taxes for charitable giving have New Jersey, but they are also not been reduced. not being replaced at the same CWP is an interdisciplinary rate,” Hans Dekker, President research center that specialof the Community Foundation izes in the study of spiritualof New Jersey, said. ity, wealth, philanthropy, and “This has major conse- other elements of affluent life. q u e n c e s f o r c o m m u n i t i e s CWP, which began in 1970, is

a distinguished authority on the relationship between philanthropy and the economy, the motivations for charitable involvement, and the deeper meaning of care.

The Community Foundation of New Jersey is composed of families, businesses, and foundations with the stated goal of making an impact on lives and communities.

Their objective is to act as the go-between for donors to charity organizations and issues, and to provide continual leadership and support to their partners and communities. In this way, the families, businesses, and foundations can contribute assets into funds set up with the Community Foundation.

Depending on the type of fund, donors can recommend different grants, designate a specific beneficiary, or allow the Community Foundation to determine the best use of the fund. n

Alma mater matters

JOSEPH PASQUINELLI The “Boston College Alma Mater” is one of the oldest traditions here at Boston College. It even predates our fight song, “For Boston.” Win or lose, the band plays it at the conclusion of every home athletic event. The melody makes athletes and spectators alike feel a part of the great tradition that is BC and BC athletics. The lyrics cause the listeners’ hearts to swell with pride in their institution to remind them that the Heights is the “guide of our youth” and that, “Thy tow’rs are raised for the Right.”

Staying, standing, and singing the “Alma Mater” shows a respect and love for the University and her tradition.

Why should one not love and respect BC? After all, hasn’t BC been good to its students and student athletes?

I imagine that is what the marching band would like to ask the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The football and hockey teams stay on the field and rink while the band plays the “Alma Mater.” Why can’t the basketball teams?

They stay for the fight song, so it must not be a need to get to the locker room for the post game review of their performances.

Even if this was the case, the hockey and football teams find the time to pay respect to the University and its tradition; the basketball teams should as well.

Not remaining on the court for a song might not seem like a big deal, but there are two major problems with this, and these problems might actually signal a much larger issue. On a very superficial level, not remaining on the court is disrespectful to the band.

The band members spend many long hours during the week practicing so they can entertain the spectators and support their student athletes. It is strange that the basketball teams, who, like the band, spend many hours practicing, just leave in the middle of what could be considered the pinnacle of the band’s performance. This is like if all the Superfans were to leave Conte Forum during the final minute of a tie game.

Perhaps it is speculative to assert this, but the basketball teams would not like this. They would feel disrespected and devalued by the fans. The sentiment among the members of the marching band is that they feel disrespected and devalued by the student athletes that they prepare all week to support.

On a deeper level, leaving the court after the fight song shows disrespect to the University and its traditions. Disrespecting a BC tradition is almost ironic because athletics is one of our great traditions. Does leaving the court before the “Alma Mater” demonstrate a disdain for BC? Not overtly. But this subtle slight to BC, its traditions, and its marching band may be a sign of a larger problem.

Do the basketball teams feel slighted by the University?

Do they not feel as if they are respected by the Superfans and other spectators? If they do feel slighted and disrespected, what can BC and the student body do to change this? If the teams do not feel slighted and disrespected, they should stay on the court and show respect for the marching band, BC, and one of the great traditions of our institution.

Joseph Pasquinelli is a columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at editor@bcheights.com

Monday, February 8, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

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Sociology journal looks toward second issue Sociology, from A1

The name of the journal was selected after a contest Oliver and Skinner established last spring. The name SocialEyes was proposed by Eddy Hernandez-Perez, A&S ’10. “I became involved with SocialEyes when I saw a poster outside of the CTRC advertising the new journal and asking for name suggestions, Hernandez-Perez said. “SocialEyes was just the first thing that came to mind. After giving it some thought, the name just seemed to encompass what the new journal, and sociology in general, seek to accomplish, which is to provide a new way of seeing and explaining society.”

At the ceremony on Friday, Debra Piatelli, a professor in the sociology department and the faculty advisor for the journal, spoke of the long hours and hard work Skinner and Oliver contributed to make SocialEyes possible.

“I’m so happy to be able to work with these students,” Piatelli said. “They worked tirelessly during the year and the breaks.

It was a long process learning how to edit and to help the authors reconstruct their papers. I really liked working with them,” she said.

Th e s ta f f o f S o c i a l E y e s thanked the sociology depart-

ment and Dean of A&S David Quigley for their support in the endeavor. “It has been a long process for me and Stafford.

We could not have done it without the support of the sociology department,” Skinner said.

“We’d also like to thank Arts & Sciences Dean Quigley for his support and financial contributions,” Piatelli said.

The first issue of SocialEyes can be viewed online on a link through the sociology department’s Web page. The second issue is set to be published at the end of this semester, with submissions accepted at the end of March. “The next issue will come out at the end of the semester. We’re also looking for new members for SocialEyes to keep it going,” Oliver said.

Regarding submissions, Skinner said that they are looking to explore new types of media to present sociology in the next issue. “We’re looking for new submissions. Many of the submissions before were classroom articles. They don’t necessarily have to be academic articles, but we’re looking to include a collection of different media. We’re looking for research on sociology, which is such a broad subject.

Submissions can be based on anything that represents sociology in your mind,” he said. 

BEN KIMMERLE / HEIGHTS STAFF

The journal’s editors said SocialEyes accepts submissions from not just sociology majors, but all BC undergraduates.

Students not to pay for damages from 2009 Damages, from A1

pressed their disappointment in the approach taken to remedy issues of vandalism. “I think that the main thing was the lack of communication between Reslife and the residents,” said Tiara Alston, CSON ’12.

The meeting between Walsh residents and their resident assistants on Jan. 21 was scheduled after the ResLife tallied the total damage and presented the facts to the residential director, Humphreys said.

“Over the winter break, all of the collective damages came

together, so it really got to be seen it might seem like it’s a delayed rein its entirety, whereas during the action, but it’s really the full scope course of the fall semester it was of what happened that came into incident by at the “A resident who has a guest play incident end of the w i t h ea c h visiting them is financially semester.”

RA adThese and legally responsible dressing it,” incidents for everything they do on Humphreys of vandalsaid. “What ism are not campus.” happened consistent two weeks with the ago was the overall level — Henry Humphreys, RAs saying, Director, Office of Residential Life of student ‘Okay, we’ve respect tobeen given a summary of what ward BC property, Humphreys happened for the fall semester, said. “Vandalism in the resiand this is where we are.’ Initially, dence halls is not very com-

Corps ranks BC in the top ten Ranking, from A1

cans have served with the Peace Corps in 139 host countries.

“For nearly 50 years, enthusiastic college alumni have contributed to the success of Peace Corps programs and our mission to promote world peace and friendship in host communities around the world,” Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams said in a statement.

Over 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States are currently represented within the corps.

Last year, the majority of volunteers served in Africa and

Latin America, with 37 percent and 24 percent respectively, according to the Peace Corps Web site. The typical length of service for volunteers includes three months of in-country training, followed by a minimum of two years of service.

When the organization first originated, the goals of the Peace Corps were to meet the need for trained volunteers abroad, to promote a better understanding of other cultures for Americans, and to promote a better understanding of Americans for those of other cultures and nationalities. 

mon, thankfully, especially in comparison to a lot of other colleges.”

This sentiment is supported by many students who have partly attributed cases of vandalism to individuals visiting friends at BC. “Most of the damage is probably not even caused by Walsh residents. It’s caused by people coming to visit Walsh,” said Matthew Cullen, A&S ’12.

Humphreys agreed with this possibility but emphasized the responsibility that BC students must take when hosting visitors.

“A resident who has a guest visiting them is financially and le-

gally responsible for everything they do on campus.”

Walsh residents and Humphreys have said that the Sophomore Leadership Council (SLC) has room to play a greater role in facilitating communication between residents and ResLife to help minimize the threat of future vandalism. “They can better educate or help reduce damages,” Humphreys said. “To be fair, BC students are fairly respectful of their environment, but when there are streaks of vandalism, maybe that is another group to involve and help curb some of that.” 

CLASSIFIEDS

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THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 8, 2010

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MISCELLANEOUS Want to see your classified here?

Contact the Heights at heights.classifieds@gmail.com or by phone at (617) 552-0364

Coming soon to a theater near you – I, Robot starring Shristen Shrouse.

Answers to the Crossword are below the Sudoku

Directions: The Sudoku is played over a 9x9 grid. In each row there are 9 slots, some of which are empty and need to be filled.

Each row, column and 3x3 box should contain the numbers 1 to 9. You must follow these rules: · Number can appear only once in each row · Number can appear only once in each column · Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box · The number should appear only once on row, column or area.

Answers below Answers to Crossword and Sudoku

A6

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Heights

Editorials

Gasson closure

Student groups should prepare to deal with the loss of event space when Gasson closes for renovation.

Last week, the University released news of a plan to finish restoring Gasson Hall. This second and final phase, slated to begin in June, is estimated to take 14 to 18 months, and will render Gasson unusable for at least the duration of the 2010-2011 academic year and possibly beyond. Tentative plans have been made to move academic offices and relocate class space to other buildings.

However, there has been no mention by the University of a plan to help student groups cope with the loss of space. The Heights believes an effort that solely assists academia during the renovations fails to respect student life, a major facet of the University.

Many current students will be saddened by the news of the closure. For the class of 2011, it means a senior year closed off from the crown jewel of the University’s architecture. The Heights understands that these renovations are necessary and timely, given the approaching events of the sesquicentennial. While administrators can look forward to a shiny, revamped Gasson in a few years, upperclassmen know that they will only experience Gasson 2.0 during future reunions on campus.

The University needs to respect the remaining time of the students who are here now. Looking to the future is irrelevant if you ignore the present.

Myriad student groups hold meetings, events, and practices in Gasson.

The students who utilize this space choose it for a reason. Gasson offers a unique and spacious aesthetic that cannot be replicated elsewhere on campus.

The Fulton Debate Room and the Irish Room are two spaces that are in con-

stant demand. How will the University cater to the needs of groups who have used these spaces for years? The answer may be as simple as moving the meeting spaces to other buildings, but if the University is trying to minimize interruption of student life, it would be comforting to have a contingency plan in place for this disruption.

A plan implemented by the administration concerning a decrease in meeting space would be appreciated, but The Heights also believes that students should be proactive in dealing with the impending closure. The University has set a course, and though it has failed to address a major concern of the student population, it will not reverse its decision. A smart course of action for groups that frequent Gasson would be to discuss potential meeting places for next year with University officials. The new space will likely lack the ambiance and familiarity of current rooms, but sacrifices will have to be made at a University-wide level, and planning ahead will minimize future inconveniences.

The Heights does not question the motives of the University in planning the renovations of Gasson for next year. The administration has the right to make these decisions, but also has the responsibility to respect and foster healthy student life. This project will prove stressful on multiple aspects of the University community. The University must attend to the needs of everyone in this time of transition.

With cooperation and preplanning, the closing of Gasson can prove to be a productive moment for the University and its community.

Culture shows

Students who attend culture shows are not only entertained and informed, but also lend support to diversity on campus For Boston College students, the weekends in February are highlighted by more than just the Superbowl and Valentine’s Day. Culture club shows are taking over Robsham for the next couple of weeks, starting this past weekend with the Philippine Society of BC (PSBC), and continuing next weekend with several others, including the South Asian Students Association (SASA), Chinese Students Association (CSA) / Korean Students Association (KSA), and the Organization of Latin American Affairs (OLAA). These shows combine dance, music, and skits to entertain and inform the audience about various cultures.

Attendees will not only walk away humming tunes from China or chuckling over jokes from the Philippines, but they will also have gained a new insight into some of the classical and modern aspects of cultures from all over the world. This is especially valuable in our increasingly globalized society, as it becomes increasingly inexcusable to be ignorant of foreign cultures, especially those that surround us every day.

The Heights encourage students to make every effort to attend these shows. There are many lectures, panels, and other academic events during the course of the year that will inform curious students about certain regions’ cultural traditions, but these culture shows are more interactive and engaging than the average lecture. As the campus celebrates black history this month, we should keep in mind how we can support the variety of cultural histories represented on our campus. An easy way to not only educate ourselves but also support the diversity on campus

would be to attend these shows and to persuade friends to go as well.

We would also advise cultural groups to continue this tradition and concentrate on hosting more events like these at different times during the year. Although the importance of lectures and panels on issues facing AHANA students on campus cannot be denied, if these groups wish to spread awareness and encourage appreciation among larger portions of the campus, they should continue putting on successful and entertaining shows.

These events will also attract a more diverse audience if they are kept to a moderate length and the message is kept light. There is a time and a place to spread awareness of more serious issues affecting AHANA students in America and at BC, but an event advertised as a lighthearted culture show may not be the appropriate venue.

Focusing on the dance, music, and comedy that constitutes a culture can be a good first step in raising interest, and then, after that, more students may be inclined to attend other more serious and informative events. A balance between fun and education should ideally be embraced by cultural groups in approaching the planning of these culture shows.

Overall, the culture shows are an important part of the AHANA tradition on campus, and the more students attend, the more BC may begin to move toward becoming a more cohesive campus.

There is a responsibility on both ends, for the performers and the audience, to make an effort to meet in the middle and find common ground in celebrating the diversity surrounding us.

Readers Note:

and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted to the newspaper.

Submissions must be signed and should include the author’s connection to Boston College, address, and phone number. Letters and columns can be submitted online at www.bcheights.com, by e-mail to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 200 words and column submissions that do not exceed 700 words for its op/ed pages.

The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines

The Heights The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Matthew DeLuca, Editor-in-Chief John O’Reilly, General Manager Darren Ranck, Managing Editor

Robin Miller / Heights Illustration

Letters to the Editor Students taking an Interest Towards Creative Heights To the Heights Editors, Meg, and all other closet knitters,

In response to the cry for a knitting club in “Voices in the Dustbowl,” I tell everyone to look no further than the Voute 2nd floor lounge on Monday nights from 7:30-8:30! There you’ll find all sorts of crafters gathered together for an hour of relaxation and fun. Formed about five years ago, we call ourselves STITCH, which stands for Students Taking an Interest Towards Creative Heights, and provide an opportunity for those who enjoy knitting and sewing to indulge in their hobby with others who have a similar passion. Ranging from novice to expert, our members do not need prior knitting or sewing experience to join. Throughout the year, we hold

workshops teaching the technical aspects of the craft, as well as other various crafts including jewelry making, beading, and candlemaking. We sell the bulk of what we make at tables in McElroy and at ArtsFest in the spring.

Traditionally, all the proceeds go to support Boston Public Schools’ after-school arts programs. However, our latest table will go to support Haiti. In fact, check out our table in Mac next Wednesday, Feb. 10, where we’ll be selling our goodies. Moreover, join us at our next meeting Monday night. If you’d like more information or wish to be added to the listserv, email fischiet@bc.edu.

Kelly Fischietto A&S ’11

Changes are necessary for campus radio station Joseph Pasquinelli, I just wanted to comment on your article in The Heights (2/4) about the due rebirth of radio that is needed for BC. I’m not sure where you got most of your information, either from the general interest meeting on the 1st and 2nd of this month or if you are a sports broadcaster with WVBC / WZBC, but you hit the problem with WVBC / WZBC right on the head. Although, yours is just one aspect as to why either the station as a whole needs to be revamped or a whole new station must be made that offers music that students will love and sports coverage they will want.

I’ve been fighting with WZBC now for two years over these very issues, and I always hit a wall because they claim that WVBC is necessary as a training ground for WZBC. Therefore, VBC goes without its own programming and never has a chance to get any on-campus recognition, in either music or sports broadcasting.

I’m sure this is ideal for WZBC because if VBC were to become its own station, it would mean ZBC no longer serves the BC students, which might mean losing their funding from the Board of Trustees. This is, of course, speculation, but there is a dire need for music and sports broadcasting on campus, and WZBC isn’t filling that need.

These are the needs of the student body, as I see them, that can be achieved by a new station and that, as of today, are not provided by the WZBC / WVBC paradigm: • They need a station that can serve the majority, rather than the minority, of students on campus in sports and music, with programming that is based on their interests.

• They need a station that is easily accessible (whether through radio broadcast, Internet streaming, mobile phone apps that carry the stream) and on-air personalities that engage them and promote BC camaraderie and spirit.

• They need a station that they can support and patronize and, in return, be supported with their favorite music, and with the station’s expected growth in notoriety in the #4 Arbitron rated Boston radio market, attract larger names in music to concerts.

• They need a station that can, for those students

who wish to enter professional radio broadcasting, provide job experience in sports writing, sports broadcasting, DJ work, music market research, format / program development, industry standard equipment, and station management.

Conversely, this is what the student body does not need which the WZBC / WVBC paradigm currently provides: • They do not need a station that intentionally promotes music that few have heard, even fewer wish to hear again, and station rules that punish DJs for playing popular music.

• They do not need a station that resents its sports department, only allowing them inopportune time slots, not giving them independent facilities for sports writing, or advancing equipment to provide listeners clearer feeds of sporting events.

• They do not need a station that attracts hundreds of students at General Interest meetings who wish to DJ, then, after alienating the ones with mainstream interests, allows only those with WZBC interests to become WZBC directors and DJs. • They do not need a station with a directorship that ignores the concerns of mainstream WVBC DJs, provides them with only baseline and broken equipment (i.e. hand-me-downs from ZBC), and discourages them from creating more advanced programming by restricting the use of advanced equipment to those DJs with WZBC shows.

My concerns are for students who had a genuine interest in radio and were cast to the wayside because their interests didn’t align with those of WZBC. Many of them I still know. The difference between them and me is that I stuck around and kept fighting for what I know many people want to see change. My attempts have often stopped short of going to someone who had the authority to enact real change at WZBC because I didn’t know who to go to. However, with The Heights’ help, the Boston College community may finally be able to have a piece of their campus back – not as “what radio station?,” not as “that radio station,” but as “our radio station!”

Baron Cannon A&S ’11 DJ for WZBC and WVBC

Business and Operations

Editorial Kaleigh Polimeno, Copy Editor Michael Caprio, News Editor Zach Wielgus, Sports Editor Jacquelyn Herder, Features Editor Kristen House, Arts & Review Editor Daniel Martinez, Marketplace Editor Hilary Chassé, Opinions Editor Ana Lopez, Special Projects Editor Alex Trautwig, Photo Editor Karolina Cyburt, Layout Editor

Contributors: Shikha Sharma, Aidan Doherty, Molly LaPoint, Morgan Healey, Rebecca Kailus

Michael Saldarriaga, Graphics Editor Christina Quinn, Online Manager Laura Campedelli, Multimedia Coodinator Brooke Schneider, Assoc. Copy Editor DJ Adams, Asst. Copy Editor Patrick Gallagher, Assoc. News Editor Taylour Kumpf, Asst. News Editor Maegan O’Rourke, Assoc. Sports Editor Paul Sulzer, Asst. Sports Editor Kristopher Robinson, Asst. Features Editor

Zachary Jason, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Allison Therrien, Asst. Arts & Review Editor Olena Savytska, Asst. Marketplace Editor Kevin Hou, Asst. Photo Editor Margaret Tseng, Asst. Layout Editor Rachel Gregorio, Asst. Graphics Carrie McMahon, Editorial Assistant Zachary Halpern, Executive Assistant

Joelle Formato, Business Manager David Givler, Advertising Manager Brynne Lee, Outreach Coordinator Brendan Quinn, Systems Manager Madeline Demoulas, Local Sales Manager Daniel Ottaunick, Collections Manager James Gu, Asst. Ads Manager Dara Fang, Business Assistant

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 8, 2010

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OPINIONS

Thumbs Up Asian Journeys – The new McMullen Museum exhibit, which showcases works from all over Asia, opens this Monday. Featuring a series of lectures on art collection during wartime, the exhibit combines lessons on the ethics of art trading with beautiful pieces, You listening, Swedish bankers?

Super Bowl – The XLIV game pits the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. TU / TD will attempt to look at the situation fairly and not comment on how badly the beleaguered Big Easy needs this win to boost morale.

Nope, the country is clearly not choosing one city over another based on completely understandable sympathy.

May the best man win!

SNL – The sketch show, which has been getting heat in past years for lackluster talent and writing, is finally seeing an upswing in popularity thanks to the recent success of hosts Justin Timberlake and Jon Hamm.

Students might even begin staying in during primetime Saturday nights 11:30 to 1 just to catch the hip and edgy show! (Unlikely)

Thumbs Down Party Theft – The winter months have seen an increase in petty crime in the Mods and other partyheavy areas. For reasons unknown, certain revelers have recently seen it fit to swipe coats, alcohol-related paraphernalia, and other less than valuable objects.

Until the larcenous madness ceases, hide all your favorite shot glasses!

Duke – Saturday’s game that pitted the Devils vs.

BC’s angels (kinda) ended tragically when the Eagles weren’t able to grab back the three points necessary to win in the last few seconds. Oh well, the campus probably couldn’t have handled the kind of euphoria that it experienced after last year’s triumph over the team. Thanks for looking out for us on that one, Skinner!

AI – Simon Cowell’s imminent departure from the show at the end of this season has prompted endless rumors about who will replace the callous Brit as the “snarky host.” The Idol producers answer? Howard Stern. Of course! The entertainment industry has been replacing British wit with American crudity for years.

Why mess with success?

“Walking Man” – The big (read: only) news from the art world this week is the Sotheby’s auction of a Giacometti bronze sculpture which sold for $104.3 million, which is also, incidentally, the GNP of Papua New Guinea. This broke both the previous record of highest sale ever Sotheby’s by $200,000 and any modicum of thriftiness enforced on art enthusiasts by the recession.

Overzealous – Certain UGBC campaigners have thought that a winning strategy is based solely upon who can be louder and more annoying. Here’s a helpful hint: it’s not.

All about alcohol amnesty

The usual suspects of V-day

TYLER HUGHES Alcohol abuse is considered to be one of the biggest issues at Boston College. It is the source of a lot of strain between the students and the administration, and it obviously presents significant risks to the student body.

Each semester, many students go to the infirmary for alcohol poisoning. But the danger is far more pressing for the students who refuse to go or are not helped to the infirmary when they need medical attention.

One of the most talked about solutions to avoiding a potential catastrophe is an “amnesty policy,” which would give students who go to the infirmary for alcohol poisoning and those who brought them there immunity from disciplinary action. The reasoning is that many more people will be willing to help if they are not threatened with the prospect of punishment.

In a debate where safety is the most important thing to consider, this amnesty policy is the most obvious choice. Currently, the administration’s best tool to combat alcohol poisoning is education. There are signs in dorm rooms with basic advice on how to help someone with alcohol poisoning. While ignorance is a problem, the much larger problem is a conscious refusal to help someone because of the repercussions.

A single disciplinary mark on a record can drastically alter a student’s future if he plans on going to medical school, law school, or any other graduate school. I firmly believe that many people, out of fear of spoiling their records, would be averse to getting medical help even in the most extreme situations. BC students have all heard stories that prove this and many have been in similar situations.

The fact that someone would be forced to contemplate getting help in a situation like this is worrisome. If time could mean life or death, then it is unacceptable that the administration has a policy that would allow even a minute to be wasted because a student had to weigh the consequences of

HAYLEY TRAHAN-LIPTAK

MICHAEL SALDARRIAGA/ HEIGHTS ILLUSTRATION

helping a friend.

In a recent Heights article, Brent Ericson, the Office of the Dean for Student Developement (ODSD) associate dean of community standards, was reported as saying that no sanction could ever be worse than the death of a student, and that students should always seek help for friends and peers. While the logic of this is sound, many students are willing to take the risk of caring for someone without the help of the infirmary. And Ericson’s logic may not appeal to a student who is drunk. It is likely that a slightly inebriated bystander would not consider the possibility of death, only the pressing issue of getting in trouble with the school.

While there are noble students out there who are willing to risk punishment, and potentially their future, to help a friend, this dilemma should be nonexistent. The administration should foster an immediate reaction to emergencies, which includes calling BC Police Department (BCPD) without wasting any time.

The argument against an amnesty policy that it is “unfair” that someone who is in need of medical attention, and the people who help him get it, would receive a “free pass” is ridiculous. Yes, people are written up often for just “being in the presence of alcohol” or for having one or two beers and being

unlucky, but these are problems with the administration’s stance on alcohol, not arguments against an amnesty policy. The main argument for the amnesty policy – that it could save a BC student’s life – transcends such a petty problem, anyway.

For most readers, I am preaching to the choir with this column. That is because BC students have seen people in serious danger, or been in serious danger themselves, when others were wary of helping them. It is horrifying to think that this weekend, a student could be in that situation with just a little too much alcohol to recover on his own, while the people around him cannot afford to gamble with dealing with the administration. It is horrifying, but certainly not impossible. A situation where a student died because BC refused to implement an amnesty policy would be a stain on the administration and a horrible testament to it’s refusal to act quickly enough. When alcohol poisoning emergencies happen, there are usually people around to help and recovery can be simple. BC’s administration has the power to decide whether a student on the brink of death is given the help he or she needs or is left to tough it out.

Tyler Hughes is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at thughes@bcheights.com.

The art of the text message CJ GUSTAFSON For all you guys out there – when a girl texts you “Ok.” versus “Kayyy!” you should be aware that these messages are not synonymous. In fact, after talking with my buddy, we’ve come to the conclusion that they are complete opposites. Let’s take a look at an all too common situation. You are outside the Mods, looking for your friend “Becca,” who has been invited to a party (she’s a freshman girl). You know where she is, and you tell her you will be there in a few minutes because she told you earlier in the night to meet up.

If she says, “Kayyy!” it roughly translates to “I’m so excited you are coming!

I’ve been waiting to dance with you and ‘TiK ToK’ is on, hurry!” However, if you are unfortunate enough to receive the text, “Ok.” find a hole to crawl into.

What Becca is trying to say is, “Situation: I’m at a Jersey Shore party and I already have my Ronnie, and he’s a senior and like 10 times stronger than you. Don’t show up.”

The truth can be depressing. So, let’s examine the “laughing” anomaly.

“Haha” and “lol” do not mean the same thing as “Hahaha,” and surely never equate to “ROFL” or “LMFAO.” “Haha” and “lol” can easily be tacked onto any textual response to ease the tension. Example: “Sally, my pants

ripped! Now I have to play Xbox in my boxers!” She replies with “lol.” But she’s not actually laughing; she’s making a half-hearted attempt to kill her battery so she doesn’t have to talk to you anymore. However, if you say, “Sally, my friend was dancing on a table with your roommate when it spontaneously combusted and they both ate it!” (True story, check out “Panda takes a table tumble” on Youtube, filmed by yours truly) she might respond with “LMFAO.” She’s interested!

Let’s take a look at this from a slightly different perspective. My good friend brought this situation to me. This time, you are supposed to call Becca to hang out. However, it is your buddy’s birthday that night. For some inexplicable reason, perhaps the punch you are drinking straight from the ladle, you forget to contact her. Remorsefully, you text her the next morning, “Hey, I’m really sorry I forgot to call you.” All she says is, “It’s fine.” She is currently stabbing a voodoo representation of your body with every tack, paper clip, and staple within reach in her dorm room.

“It’s fine” never actually means that everything is cool between you two. In fact, you better hope you don’t run into her at the Plex. She might push you off the treadmill.

I have to get something off my chest. If you ever text me “…” or “ummm” there is no potential for future friendship. In fact, I will slash every tire on the bike rack. These are the most serious fouls in the game of text messaging. I’m giving you a textual foul. Get it? ROFL. You text Becca, “Hey, I’m done with class wanna hang

FROM HERE TO RESERVOIR

BY SAL CIPRIANO

out?” She responds, “Ummm … I have work to do …” Your phone should have a built-in command to instantly delete her contact. “Ummm” and “…” not only imply disinterest, but are freshlybaked loser pies to the face.

So what’s the point of all this banter? Perhaps I’m just venting. But maybe this is built up frustration from more than half a decade of attempting to decrypt hieroglyphic messages from girls. Since I got my first cell phone, I have quickly discovered that what people text does not exactly translate into their true emotions. In fact, texting has opened an opportunity for men and women to communicate in a manner that disguises their insecurities, masking them in a cloak of social conformity. That’s probably why my best friend always breaks up with his girlfriends via text messages. He’s too afraid to do so in person, let alone on the phone. I do not condone his actions, but I can see where he is coming from. Men, but mostly women, put on a facade behind the empty letters of a text message. A plethora of times, instead of allowing people to grow closer and overcome the obstacles of awkwardly talking face to face without any friend as a mediator, texts create an obstacle to actually getting to know someone. So, if you want to talk, call me. I’m the one with the voicemail that says, “Hey, leave me a message, or don’t, but do me a favor: Don’t text me, it’s lame.”

CJ Gustafson is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at cgustafson@bcheights.com.

The most ironically celebrated holiday will be here in less than a week.

Its purpose: to commemorate love and romance. The way we celebrate: disdain and bitterness. A lack of purpose or meaning may be fine for some holidays (think Patriots’ Day or Columbus Day), for those holidays are accompanied by external benefits, like no classes or all-day parties. But Cupid doesn’t bring such perks. Directly in the middle of a bleak February, Valentine’s Day’s potential oasis has become just another February fault.

Whether they are avoiding the holiday or trying to make the most of February’s last lingering hope for redemption, most people’s attitudes about Valentines’s Day fall into three different categories.

The biggest and most prolific category: the bitter. These single or uncertain individuals go out of their way to make sure Feb. 14 is “Single Awareness Week.” These people try to pull off the “I don’t care about Cupid” remarks, but one longing gaze at a friend’s red rose and their cover is blown. Don’t count on these individuals to patronize “Singles Day” every year, for one prospective significant other is bound to carry them off their feet and plant them in a checkout line at the local CVS, armed with a pink valentine and a box of chocolates.

The second group on your Valentine’s Day watch list is the anti-commercialists. Ever seen the reaction of a kid in a candy store? You won’t if you watch this group, because when they walk past the candy-laden aisles at the local store or see the boxes of princess and Star Wars valentines, their eyes don’t even pick up the glimmer of a childhood candy rush. No, these stalwart types frown at the idea that money, on at least one day of the year, can buy you love. But the sign of a genuine anti-commercialist? Their sentiment can’t be limited to scorn of how love is best represented in an expected delivery of red roses. It must be shared for every holiday, from the exploitation of Christmas with toys, Easter with eggs, and the Fourth of July with fireworks.

The third category consists of those who are head over heels in what they proclaim to be love. Whether or not their relationship was spearheaded by the rapidly approaching middle of February or if it’s genuine, this group tries to follow all the rules. Romantic dinner at a restaurant? Check. A red rose, or a dozen if they can still be found? Check.

Candy in a heart-shaped box? Check.

To these people, love on Valentine’s Day is somehow different and more valuable than on any other day of the year.

Sure, there are rare species that don’t fit into these groups. Either these individuals have forgotten about the holiday by avoiding all stores since VDay paraphernalia was put on shelves in mid-December, or they somehow remember that the religious origin of the holiday has nothing to do with candy hearts or chocolate. Actually, the original meaning of the holiday isn’t even romantic.

The St. Valentine we refer to actually represents three Catholic martyrs from the early Church, and the feast day didn’t acquire romantic implications until the Middle Ages. So if you buy a lacy card and profess your undying devotion, you really won’t be following the traditional meaning of the day at all. But if you chose to glare at pairs of lovers in the Quad, turn up your nose at the candy grams in McElroy, or buy half-off candy February 15th, you’re doing more to protect the original intent of Valentine’s Day than you may know.

Hayley Trahan-Liptak is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.

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Contact us at editor@bcheights.com

A8

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 8, 2010

Dear John ... your movie is all beauty, no brains

BY KRISTIN CANFIELD For The Heights

David Bowie sings of “Modern Love” with the iconic lyric, “I’m lying in the rain, but I never wave bye-bye.” Directed by Lasse Hallstrom and based on the novel of the same name by DEAR JOHN Nicholas Sparks, Lasse Hallstrom Dear John attempts Relativity to capture this idea of modern love.

Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) and John (Channing Tatum) meet in the spring of 2001. With the pre-lapsarian, pre-Sept. 11 scheme in the beginning of the film, summer romance is deceptively simple. John’s rescue of Savannah’s purse sparks their entire relationship. At this point, the problem with the film is not the plausibility of the characters’ love, but that they are so thinly drawn that their love seems childish and inconsequential. Even with the Sept. 11 attacks close at hand, and the possibility that John, who is in the Army, will be sent to the war, the audience does not feel a substantive emotional connection to the characters.

This may be because the background nar-

rative is all too formulaic — the boy with a past falls for the good girl who changes his life. Perhaps it is just because their relationship has no development. They meet, they date, they have fights that don’t resolve anything, but neither of them seem better for the experience. Unlike Sparks’ former glory, The Notebook, the audience does not get enough evidence as to why they should care about Savannah and John as a couple.

Sure, the audience does not want John to die, but one does not really care if the relationship survives the strain of the war.

One of the major problems with Hallstrom’s movie is that he does not know how to treat Sept. 11 and the ensuing wars.

At times, the characters’ treatment of the material would imply that they temporarily forgot that much of this story actually happened. There are people in the theatre who have been faced with the same choices as John and Savannah. The film assumes a sense of morality about their decisions that is inappropriate for the context.

Moreover, the war in the movie is still ongoing. In some ways, the story is stuck in the perfect tense. The tensions that it explores have not been resolved because,

for some, they are still a part of everyday life. I do not mean to suggest that movies should not be made if the events that inspire them are in recent memory. It is just that Sept. 11 and the subsequent wars still possess a rawness that is intrinsic in the nature of their narrative currency.

As far as romance goes, the best scene in the entire movie is when John and Savannah get caught in the rain. Despite the fact that getting caught in the rain has become a bit of a Sparks trope (think Allie and Noah), it still manages to elicit some genuine feeling from the otherwise emotionally-stilted, post-Sept. 11 generation. The only question here is, what is it about these South Carolina rainstorms that make them elicit such magical romantic moments? Not that there should be a mass immigration to South Carolina, but perhaps someone could bottle whatever the essence of these storms is. After this, even the obligatory sex scene falls short. Both John and Savannah are attractive enough people, but together there does not seem to be any palpable chemistry. If that was not painful enough, the circumstances appear contrived, almost forced, and the

‘Embraces’ has a broken plot

BY ANA LOPEZ Heights Editor

The only thing fast-moving about Broken Embraces is the breakneck pace at which critics are rushing from all corners to offer their praises of this, frankly, odd film. As one might surmise after watching the traile, it is hard to pinpoint the actual meaning of Broken Embraces until the final scene. The placement of this BROKEN EMBRACES belated climax does not make the Pedro Almodovar two-hour build El Deseo S.A. up suspenseful or intriguing, but rather, leaves the viewer confused, and the dragging, claustrophobic pace overshadows the glory of individual scenes.

Told in a series of flashbacks stemming from a conversation with the main character, Mateo (later known as Harry Caine), and his menteeturned-son, Diego, we are introduced to a series of characters and predictable plots in an untimely fashion. The aesthetic of f lashbacks is one that, admittedly, is hard to execute, but if Lost can handle it on a weekly basis, then Pedro Almodovar should be able to perfect it in a two-hour time span.

We are introduced to Cruz in an early flashback first as the frazzled, yet compassionate secretary, Lena (short for Magdalena) whose main concern is

the fate of her frail father, who is battling cancer in what appears to be a state run hospital. When her benevolent boss, Ernesto Martel, swoops in to save the family from destitution and death (and Lena from forced prostitution), the two supposedly fall madly in love.

Cut immediately to a scene of Cruz draped neck to waist in thick ropes of gold and jewels in Martel’s bedroom, her entire demeanor changed to reflect that of a stereotypical spoiled mistress, catering to the needs of her elderly sugar daddy so that she can get anything she desires. Though Martel blindly believes that the two have found mutual adoration in one another, he is tragically mistaken.

When Lena announces her decision to make her debut in film, he is cautious, but again assumes that, in micromanaging the entire situation, he will be able to control and contain his precious muse.

In a plot progression that fans of the Anna Nicole Smith Show could predict, Lena falls madly in love with the ultra-masculine, yet soothingly sensitive director of the film in which she stars, Chicas y Maletas. Meant to be a groundbreaking comedy starring Lena as an Audrey Hepburn look-alike, caught in the crossfire of jaded ex-lovers and fat friends inclined toward indiscriminate sex, the film serves instead as a means for Martel to get back at Lena after she inevitably leaves him for Mateo,

the director. Martel sabotages the film just as Johnson sabotaged the climatic buildup at the end of his film by using one character’s cathartic release in the middle of a desolate Spanish café to explain all of the film’s unresolved tension. Needless to say, the ending felt forced and the necessity of subtitles only exacerbated the lack of emotion in the most critical five minutes of an otherwise potently emotional film.

Though on the whole the film is an undeniable tragedy, there are several points of comic relief. Ernesto Jr., the creepy, Robin-Williams-in-One-Hour Photo-esque son of Martel, whose original job is to document the entirety of Lena’s movie-making experience and report it back to Martel, comes across as a strange lost puppy with insecurity issues and the same need for affirmations from powerful men as his libidinous pseudostepmother. But the fact that he also looks like a slightly off-version of a young John Ritter makes him simply hilarious.

Almodovar should be commended for his technique of telling a story in images – using close-up shots of particular objects as foreshadowing and segues. For example, in a scene directly proceeding Lena being dispassionately pushed down a flight of stairs by Martel, the camera focuses on her bossy red pumps and the commanding clacks of Martel’s leather loafers, searching for her anxiously. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

Channing Tatum stars in the fizzling adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ romantic novel Dear John. sex has no effect on the rest of the movie.

It seems that Dear John repeatedly attempts to define love in the post-Sept. 11 world, but it also repeatedly fails to grasp the complexity of the characters’ situations or even that of the characters themselves.

The plot twists and complications that do appear in the film rarely enhance the gravity, or even credibility, of the narrative. Instead, they seem absurd, even convoluted.

Title

It is not that no one realized that complex subject matter requires equally complex characters. It just seems there was uncertainty over how to signify these complications without employing another overused narrative. Did Dear John really capture “Modern Love” the way it intended? My answer is no, but if the man behind the film has any comeback at all, he would do well to draw from Bowie as well: “But I try, I try.” 

Box Office Report Weekend Gross

Weeks in Release

1. Dear John

32.4

1

2. Avatar

23.6

8

3. From Paris with Love

8.1

1

4. Edge of Darkness

7.0

2

5. Tooth Fairy

6.5

3

6. When in Rome

5.5

2

7. The Book of Eli

4.8

4

8. Crazy Heart

3.6

8

9. Legion

3.4

3

10. Sherlock Holmes

2.6

7 *WEEKEND GROSS FIGURES IN MILLIONS

Bestsellers of Hardcover Fiction 1. The Help, Kathryn Stockett 2. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown 3. Kisser, Stuart Woods 4. Blood Ties, Kay Hooper 5. The First Rule, Robert Crais 6. I, Alex Cross, James Patterson 7. The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova 8. The Girl who Played, Stieg Larsson

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

Pedro Almodovar’s muse Penelope Cruz returns as a maid-turned-rich-mistress in Broken Embraces, a lushly filmed but ultimately flimsy movie.

9. The Last Song, Nicholas Sparks

ACCORDING TO PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY

ROVING READER WITH ZAK JASON

They will drink scotch and eat omelettes at the apocalypse

BY ZAK JASON

Assoc. Arts & Review Editor If you read all of Point Omega in one sitting, you may feel like you swallowed an entire steak laced with the opposite of an anti-depressant. And at just over 100 pages at an unflinching pace, it’s deceptively easy to consume literary dark wizard Don DeLillo’s 15th novel in the time it takes to, say, watch an episode of Lost. Since his classic White Noise, DeLillo has painted a world lurking with pervasive shadows, airborne toxic events, terrorist attacks, media-sponsored doom, and so on. In Point Omega, he smears thick, black strokes across the entire canvas, leaving us mesmerized but ultimately searching for a glimmer of light.

Most of the novel centers around a compound in the middle of the desert outside of San Diego, in the land of Richard Elster.

Seventy-three-years-old and somber, Elster has just retired from his job as a defense intellectual, an outsider called into the American war room to reshape policy.

The government commissioned the aging academic to “freshen the dialogue, broaden

the viewpoint” on war in the aftermath of Afghanistan. Like many protagonists of DeLillo’s novels, Elster is a man wrought with contradictions and gifted with the ability to shape language. He hates violence (“I fear the thought of it”), yet speaks passionately of a “haiku war” (“I want a war in three lines. This is the soul of haiku.

Bare everything to plain sight”). The job, clearly, has withered him. He embodies an American who has caught “the nausea of News and Traffic.” So in the last days of his life he lives in the desert, drinking scotch, cooking omelettes every night, walking with an unnecessary cane, and sporting a wavy ponytail. He is a man devoid of all desires, except, of course, that his daughter see a bighorn sheep before he dies.

Such an enigmatic persona lures in documentarian Jimmy Finley, a New Yorker who opts to live with Elster for an indeterminate period and film his life uncut. At first, Elster evades Jimmy’s inquiries. When he asked who he met in the war room, Elster responds, “Whoever was there. That’s who was there.” Whenever Jimmy tries to pry for information about

his life, he delivers absurd yet spot-on DeLillo truisms like, “It’s what no one knows about you that allows you to know yourself.” But the two soon hit it off, and wind up drinking on the balcony long into the night, allowing DeLillo to get away with extended bursts of philosophizing dialogue.

Just before the book fizzles into a thinly-veiled tirade on the demise of man ( with lines like, “Ask yourself this question. Do we have to be human forever?

Consciousness is exhausted.”), Elster’s daughter Jessie, shows up and turns the screw loose. A fellow New Yorker who saunters around the compound in oversized t-shirts and underwear, Jessie quickly wins her father’s warmth and Jimmy’s (often erotic) intrigue. As the three trot along aimless arid paths and gorge themselves on omelettes while discussing war, perception, and medicine cabinets, Jimmy begins considering the trio a family of “f— ups.”

But just before the bighorn sheep journey, something swift and tumultuous tears the family apart, spinning the plot out of control. And pretty soon after, the book ends.

Most of DeLillo’s works don’t allow

reviews to capture the entire plot. They’re too thick, too layered, too whimsically horrifying to illustrate in full. But Underworld was 800 pages. Point Omega only reaches a couple chapters of that. While judging the weight of a book based on its literal weight is profoundly flawed, for a reader of DeLillo, this feels like a skeleton of a book. It has the unmistakable frame of a DeLillo novel – the saber sharp one-liners, the characters with traumatic childhoods (Jessie “wasn’t a child who needed imaginary friends. She was imaginary to herself”), the obsession with death.

But the writer stops there, not fleshing out his characters enough for us to really care for them, and completely stripping the book of his signature biting humor.

Maybe that’s the point. Maybe DeLillo thinks we need to see a skeleton for once. Maybe he thinks we deserve to see life as it is today (or at least how he sees it): raw, jagged, decaying. As he writes of one character, “Jessie was trying to read science fiction but nothing she’d read so far could begin to match ordinary life on this planet, for sheer unimaginableness.” 

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM

Monday, February 8, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

iEdit Biz

Now playing on Dara Fang’s iPod Run Away - Darin All or Nothing - Jay Sean Won’t Go Home Without You - Maroon 5 Moth’s Wings - Passion Pit Hot Air Balloon - Owl City Tidal Wave - Owl City Sweet Disposition - Temper Trap Starry Eyed Surprise - Shifty feat. Paul Oakenfeld TGIF - The Secret Handshake Ceremony - New Order

A9

The Music Behind the Woman Whenever Dara Fang enters the newsroom she gets a rash. As she plugs away as business assistant of The Heights, her hands and arms break out (science is yet to prove whether this is a testament to her character or a reaction to the mold enveloping the office desks). If she could have the life of any artist, she would take either Michael Jackson or Taylor Swift, admiring both for their relentless passion and originality. A Shrewsbury native, Dara was raised on a diet of Top 40, but now exhibits a much more “defined” taste in music. – ZAK JASON

Trio evokes poignancy with Tchaikovsky’s piece Trio, from A10

then builds in intensity. One might imagine it to be a reflection on the life of Rubenstein. The peaks and valleys written into the composition could easily represent the highs and lows in any life. Even when the melody sank to a mood of absolute desolation in the lower registers, it would eventually pick up again, becoming sprightly and light. At times the music rose to extreme heights of pomp and excitement, perhaps reflecting a particularly invigorating time in life, only to slow back into a funereal dirge.

The second movement began with 11 variations on the theme. Throughout these variations, many elements were utilized to evoke different emotions and highlight specific parts of the work as a whole. At times, the piano would play alone; at others, the violin or cello. The artists performed excellently and never faltered. The variations achieved delicacy with pizzicato interludes by the string instruments and a lovely ringing melody on piano that was reminiscent of bells.

Leading up to the finale, the piece begins to slip into mourning again, becoming progressively darker and less lively.

A finale and coda end the composition. The finale begins with the same darkness evoked by the final variations.

The theme is more recognizable in this section and draws one back to the original meaning of the piece. There is again a sense of the life of this “great artist.”

The coda is a steady decline from an air of robust enthusiasm to one of sorrowful despair. The final notes of the

piece sound exactly like those of a death march, and its conclusion is undeniably somber. Tchaikovsky’s reflection on the life of his mentor is complete.

Though it is a lovely piece through and through, Edward Hanslick may have been somewhat justified when he said, in 1899, “Tchaikovsky’s ‘Piano Trio in A Minor’ was played in Vienna for the first time; the faces of the listeners almost expressed the wish that it should be also the last time … It belongs to the category of suicidal compositions, which kill themselves by their merciless length.”

The faces in Gasson 100 seemed far from pained. However, it is difficult to judge whether the little old man next to you is closing his eyes to better experience the music or to take a quick snooze. The work is long, and during the variations in particular, it is easy to lose one’s concentration. Nevertheless, it is a gripping piece overall.

The event was well-attended by students, faculty, and interested parties from outside the BC community. The vast majority of seats in Gasson 100 were filled. Resounding applause rung out at the conclusion of the performance, affirming that everyone was pleased with the experience. Robin Phillips, LSOE ’12, said, “It was a lovely way to spend an evening.” Another member of the audience, Kate Harrison, A&S ’12, remarked, “It was a beautiful piece that evoked images of Russia.” She went on to say that she could visualize the artist happily eating a piece of fish at points, and in the end she imagined a desolate, snowy Siberian plain. In fact, according to fuguemasters.com, the folk song-like

NICOLE CHOINSKI / HEIGHTS STAFF

Violinist Kristina Nilsson performs in the “Music in the Afternoon,” which consisted of Tchaikovsky variations, in Gasson on Thursday. theme for the variations was inspired by a happy day that Rubenstein and Tchaikovsky spent in the country being entertained by peasants.

This presentation of the work of one Russian composer drew lovers of Tchai-

kovsky and classical music together for an afternoon of quality entertainment.

BC’s musical department will give several more performances throughout the semester, including the BC Symphony Orchestra and University Chorale. However,

this event was particularly enjoyable given its small scale and wonderfully appropriate setting. Tchaikovsky’s trio was a relaxing break from the pressures of the day, and simultaneously provided an excellent cultural experience. 

PSBC captivates Robsham with its tale of growth PSBC, from A10

SANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF

Members of the Philippine Society of Boston College stormed the Robsham stage with palpable energy and a set of eclectic acts.

dances. Again, using the bamboo sticks to add flair and force, the dancers hop, jump, and pounce with pure verve and vitality. During the dance called the “Tinikling,” which is the national dance of the Philippines, it was very noticeable that the dancers were proud of their culture and that they were celebrating it with the audience.

The final dance served as a grand finale, since it concludes the performance with a fusion of the past and present of the Filipino and American cultures, by mixing it with modern hip-hop. This powerful final scene harnessed all of the previous dances and cultures and blended them into a spectacular performance.

With bamboo sticks, Spanish dress, and hip-hop rhythm, this closing segment celebrated the Filipino culture, in all its

expansive glory and rich tradition.

The entire show was run through with the story of a debutante, an eighteen-year-old girl who stood in for the history of the PSBC culture show itself.

Throughout the various dances and other performances, there were additional skits that tell the story of a girl preparing for her debut. This theme of a “coming out” and celebration is very fitting for this cultural show.

On its 18th anniversary of the show, the PSBC created a performance that had all the features of a debutant – her confidence, sexiness, and desire to be revealed to the world. Between the tribal warrior scenes, the booming drums, the authentic instruments, the vibrant costumes, the infusion of Muslim and Spanish cultures, and the enigmatic dances, the entire PSBC performance beamed with “beauty and richness.” Well done, PSBC. The hard work certainly paid off. 

Tournee Film Festival celebrates French films Festival, from A10 festival, which is presented by La Maison Francaise à Boston College and sponsored by the Presidential Scholars Program, the Jewish studies minor program, BC Hillel, Pi Delta Phi, and the department of romance languages, is returning from a few years’ hiatus. The festival will include at least four more showings of contemporary French films, including Indigenes, Roman de gare, and Entre les murs, which will serve as the finale of the festival on Feb. 21.

Friday’s screening of Il y a longtempts que je t’aime was a poignant way to begin the festival. The movie, written and directed by Philippe Claudel, follows the trials and tribulations of the Fontaine sisters. The word “fontaine,” which is French for “fountain,” actually serves as a lovely metaphor for the movie. Juliette Fontaine (Kristin Scott Thomas) has just been released from a 15-year prison sentence (for murder), which has summarily estranged her from her family.

Her younger sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) takes her in, which forces Léa’s husband and two (adorable) daughters to adjust

to the presence of this mysterious guest.

Like a fountain, the family’s love is an ever-flowing spring of water, covering even the deepest knick in the foundation. The ebullient Scott Thomas’ eyes hold the depth of the oft-mentioned Orinoco River with one glance. Juliette embodies an unknowable pain and isolation that engages one’s sympathy throughout the film.

Furthermore, the storyline is deftly woven, as the details of Juliette’s life reveal themselves slowly, over an extremely delicate path of winding French roads and café scenes. Zylberstein is absolutely luminescent in her struggle to reconnect with a sister that was forced from her childhood by her embarrassed parents. The two have all the unspoken chemistry of veritably tormented siblings. On top of the careful character development, the film is completely in French, which (at least for my only partial comprehension of the French language) only enhanced the beauty of many scenes (albeit in a dark, slightly morbid sense). The camera work in the film was also elegant, yet unique. The beginning, for example, makes use of a violently shaking camera that follows

Léa, running into the airport, to see her sister for the first time in 15 years.

On the whole, the film has a sense of unbridled passion – whether it is the undying strength of familial love or the tragedy of time lost between siblings, lovers, and friends.

From Il y a longtemps, the festival will move onto Indigenes, a World War II epic; Roman de gare, which is about a novelist working to find new material; and Entre les murs, which focuses on a group of poverty stricken Parisian students, to name just a few. By the last showing, the festival will have covered a wide range of subjects and genres. Film critics, those looking to step outside their comfortable genre niche, or those merely intrigued by scenes of the French countryside, will find tremendous entertainment in any of these screenings.

The film festival is free, held in the immaculate Higgins 300 lecture hall, adequately subtitled for all those not fluent in French out there, and, most of all, is a lovely way to spend a free block of time. Ca c’est magnifique. Visit the University event calendar online to find out more about upcoming screening times. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein depicted the tragic bond between estranged siblings.

ARTS&REVIEW

A10

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2009

NOTES ON A SCANDAL

This feels so real

Philippine Society comes of age

ALLISON THERRIEN On one of my daily PerezHilton. com perusals this week, I encountered something truly striking, something I can’t help but share. The title of the post itself was enough to make me shriek at my confused roommates, who are used to my verbal reporting of all things Perez.

It read: “Abortion: The Reality Show??”

The thing is, this particular bit of news is not one that would fall under that segment of E! News where Guiliana What’sHer-Face falsifies some silly rumor. This one is about 95 percent true.

The show is an interactive web series called Bump+, and yes, that plus sign is a reference to a standard pregnancy test.

If you’ve heard of it, then you must be a pop-culture Web geek like me, because this show has hardly been publicized. It follows three pregnant women: one whose husband has been deployed to Iraq, one whose husband abuses her, and one who simply wants to be on television.

But the key is not simply that all three women are between six and nine weeks pregnant. It is that each of their pregnancies is unplanned and not without emotional complications. Should Katie have the baby that will serve as proof of her unfaithfulness to her military husband? Should Denise bring another child into the dangers of her abuse-ridden family? Should Hailey, who “gets pregnant so easily,” have yet another abortion? The three women are chosen out of a pool of pregnant women who wanted to be on Bump+, a show meant to document several weeks in the lives of these women, during which each will decide whether or not to keep her baby.

Freaking out yet? Well, here’s where that five percent comes into play — it’s not actually a reality show. Though constructed and filmed as a reality show, Bump+ is a fictional series meant to bring the issue of abortion to life by using actors to portray real-life scenarios. As explained on the show’s website, Bump+ “is an attempt to determine whether story can succeed where nearly four decades of angry rhetoric and political posturing have failed.” The producers have explained that the show was inspired by a piece of President Obama’s 2009 commencement speech to Notre Dame graduates, in which he implored the students to communicate openly on both sides of the abortion debate and to discuss “workable solutions to the problem of unintended pregnancies.”

This focus on discussion is key, and it is one of the many things that makes Bump+ unique — the show is meant to be interactive. The Web site features a blog,on which viewers are intended to both respond to the ongoing events of the show and post their own stories.

I was, at first, skeptical that the show would find viewers so ready to divulge their life stories – especially where abortion was concerned – but I was wrong.

Already, a number of viewers have shared their stories with the world – some merely sad, and some with cautionary tones of regret. But the blog doesn’t merely serve as a platform for discussion. The producers have revealed that the final episodes will be created based on the content of these discussions. In other words, the viewers decide how the story ends.

Fox is calling Bump+ an “abortion game show.” I’m calling it an enigma. I’ve watched the first three mini-episodes of the series, and, at this point, I’m doubtful that it will make strides in the antiabortion / abortion rights saga. The acting isn’t convincing enough to be emotionally stimulating, and unless the show amasses a significant number of viewers, it will turn out to be yet another show about pregnant women, an older Juno, a less bubbly Teen Mom, a less dramatized Pregnancy Pact, a Secret Life without the draw of model-faced baby daddies. It’s a great idea in theory, but it’s hinging on a lot. More than anything, it’s hinging on a group of viewers who must be willing to participate in a metaphorical decision that feels uncannily real.

Allison Therrien is the Assistant Arts & Review editor of The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com

SANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF

In one of many performances in Saturday night’s Philippine Society of Boston College culture show, students brought the rich culture of the Philippines to the BC stage.

BY BRENDAN FITZGIBBONS For The Heights

Boston College’s longest running culture show exploded onto the Robsham stage with more strength and spirit than you could ever hope for from a campus culture club. The Philippine Society of BC (PSBC) marked its 18th annual show Saturday, celebrating, as its mission statement proclaims, “the beauty and richness of the Filipino culture.” And the show certainly did not fall short of its intention – with exotic and wide-ranging dances, music, and visuals, the PSBC’s performance successfully captured the diverse, vibrant, and venerable Filipino cultural tradition.

The show featured depictions of Filipino history, progressing from ancient tribal rituals to the modern hip hop phenomenon, with virtuosic talent and considerable flexibility. With every new act, the audience

was treated to a variety of rich cultural dance, music, and dynamic costumes.

The first half of the performance showcased the ancient and energetic dances of the Filipino tribes and the influence of Muslim culture on the islands through dance and music. Ranging from the tantalizing “Kadal Tahaw,” which coupled masculine strength and warrior-like bravery with feminine grace and beauty, to the sensual slave dance “Asik,” passionately performed by Jillian Burdziak, A&S ’10, the tribal dances were lavishly presented amid the bold backdrop of the Philippine jungle.

Accompanied by piping flutes and tropical drums, the energy incessantly picked up, slowed down, and continually teased the audience’s expectations.

Certainly the most spectacular dance of the first act, or perhaps of the entire show, was the impressive tribal dance “Singkil.”

This dance recounts the epic legend of

Princess Gandingan and was elegantly performed by Melissa Flores, A&S ’10, as she wanders through a forest of fallen bamboo trees. Opulently dressed in gorgeous jewels and royal garments, Flores displayed considerable coordination as she hopped between the bamboo branches, which tapped the ground to the beat of the music. “Singkil” involved the entire troupe of dancers, and with its playful stomping and impressive maneuverings, revealed the dedication and hard work that the students put into the show.

After a brief intermission, the performers returned with some Spanish flair. The cultural consequences of Spanish involvement in the Philippines came through in the many European elements in this dance. The swooshy white dresses, guitars and basses, and formal attire worn by the men were a stark contrast to the tribal dress and music.

Yet, these differences are not condemned,

but rather celebrated, as they add even more texture and richness to the Filipino culture and tradition. The Filipinos embrace the Spanish culture and beautifully display it to its fullest.

In addition to the Spanish dance, the audience was treated to a guest appearance from the IP Rondalla, a local non-profit organization founded by local parents to help their their children to learn about their Filipino heritage. The IP Rondella arrived with a group of musicians that spanned multiple generations and played multiple musical instruments. Cute little kids skipped around the stage as their distinguished elders strummed their Spanish guitars, all of which enhanced the show’s authenticity.

The next stage of the show revealed the rich tradition of the rural and peasant

See PSBC, A9

France, je t’adore NICOLE CHOINSKI / HEIGHTS STAFF

Cellist Jan Pfeiffer contributed to a dazzling rendition of Tchaicovsky variations.

Tchaikovsky trio warms afternoon

BY KRYSIA WAZNY Heights Staff

BY KRISTEN HOUSE

Arts & Review Editor It’s becoming more and more of a hassle everyday to go to the movie theater. Not only is the price of admission skyrocketing left and right (yes, Avatar, I’m talking about you), but there has been a recent drought of smart films – unless When In Rome or Valentine’s Day suffice to float your cerebral boat.

Therefore, entering the kick-off of

“The Tournées Festival: New French Film” on campus in Higgins 300 on Feb. 5 was downright refreshing in comparison.

A table of free fresh fruit, nuts, and seltzer water was elegantly set up for everyone who chose to start off their weekend with a showing of Il y a longtemps que je t’aime, directed by Philippe Claudel. The

See Festival, A9

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALL MOVIEPHOTO.COM

The atmosphere couldn’t have been more perfect for the first concert of the semester, “Music in the Afternoon,” presented by the Boston College Music Department. On a frosty Thursday, with the sun setting outside Gasson Hall, the music of Russia’s preeminent composer, Tchaikovsky, filled the air.

“Piano Trio in A Minor” was performed by Kristina Nilsson (violin), Jan Pfeiffer (cello), and James Chubet (piano), all prominent musicians in the Boston area. They came together to recreate a fine work for the Boston College community.

The piece is subtitled, “In memory of a great artist.” This refers to the cir-

cumstances surrounding the composition, as Tchaikovsky wrote it shortly after the death of his mentor and friend, Nikolai Rubenstein. Nikolai and his brother Anton taught the younger composer in his early years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and helped him to develop throughout his career.

Nikolai in particular served as a critic for the budding artist. Tchaikovsky is generally believed to be an emotional composer, and thus it is fitting that he wrote this beautiful piece to commemorate the life of his longtime friend.

“Piano Trio in A Minor” consists of two movements. The first is the theme, which begins slowly and mournfully

See Trio, A9

Juliette (Scott Thomas) tries to uncover a lost sense of family in Il y a longtemps que je t’aime.

I NSIDE ARTS THIS ISSUE

Dear John, please stop writing me

The newest Sparks love-story-made-Blockbuster asks: “Why does love always feel like a battlefield?” A8

Don DeLillo paints apocalypse, again

The prose master crafts a barren nightmare in his 15th and shortest novel yet, Point Omega. A8

iEdit.............................................A9 Box Office Report........................A8

SPORTS THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 8, 2010

Section

B

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Split Personality Duke holds off Eagles’ near comeback bid

BY DANIEL POPKO Heights Staff

Sports fans are all too familiar with the term “it.”

66 Duke For those who Boston College 63 have listened to years of television analysis, “it” is more than just a catch-all pronoun.

“It” is that ability to rise to the occasion when your team needs it the most.

“It” lies in the little moments of the game.

“It” was one of the biggest differences between Duke and Boston College on Saturday.

When Reggie Jackson dished to an open Joe Trapani for a would-be-gametying 3-pointer, the shot glanced harmlessly off the rim, and a sellout Conte

See BC Falls Short, B3

Women beat Duke for first time since joining ACC

BY MAEGAN O’ROURKE Assoc. Sports Editor

The players on the court may have been different, but, for the second straight year, Boston College 61 a Boston Col57 Duke lege basketball team upset Duke.

The BC women’s basketball team (13-10, 4-4 ACC) knocked off No. 6

Duke, 61-57, Thursday night at Conte Forum. In a game during which the lead changed 12 times, BC shot 95.2 percent from the free-throw line as a team and forced the Blue Devils (18-4, 6-1 ACC) into 20 turnovers.

Junior center Carolyn Swords led BC with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Swords, who scored 12 of her 14 points

See Duke Goes Down, B4 ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

It was a tale of two Boston College basketball teams against Duke in the last four days. The women upset the No. 6 Blue Devils, 61-57, Thursday night, while the men could not catch No. 10 Duke, falling 66-63 on Saturday afternoon.

Eagles peak heading into Beanpot final The upset

BY JAKE BURG Heights Staff

It’s not just about getting even; it’s about winning a trophy. That is the ultimate goal of the Boston College men’s hockey team when it goes to the TD Garden tonight to face off against its biggest rival, the Boston University Terriers, in the championship game of the 58th Annual Beanpot tournament.

“Whenever you can play for a trophy, it’s certainly a big game,” said head coach Jerry York. “Considering the fact that it’s the next game and it’s for a trophy, we consider it a huge game for us.”

The last time the two teams played one another in the Beanpot championship was back in 2007, when the four leading seniors for the Eagles – Matt Lombardi, Matt Price, Ben Smith, and Carl Sneep – were all freshmen. The game was a typical BU-BC nail-biter, and the Terriers came out on top that night with a 2-1 overtime victory.

This year, especially after two straight losses to the Terriers, the Eagles are more focused than ever on the task at hand.

Not only does a win even the season series, but it also rewards BC with a 15th Beanpot trophy and a solid resume credential come NCAA tournament time.

None of this is lost on any of the players donning the Eagles’ maroon and gold.

“The temperature of our locker room is excellent,” York said. “The kids are

that no one witnessed

pulling together, and they’re working real hard.”

The game will mark the squads’ fourth meeting of the year, and, interestingly enough, it will be played in the fourth different venue (the first was in BU’s Agganis Arena, the second in Fenway Park, and the third in Conte Forum).

The Terriers hold the season series lead, but this BC team is different than the one that BU took down in overtime on Jan. 22. Since that overtime loss and a loss to UMass Lowell the very next day, the Eagles have reeled off three straight victories. More impressively, they have done so in blowout fashion, outscoring Providence, Harvard, and UMass, 18-3.

While the offense is clearly clicking, with forwards Joe Whitney, Cam Atkinson, and Brian Gibbons providing the biggest output, York is most impressed with the way the defense is playing. Despite the absence of sophomore Tommy Cross and freshman Patrick Wey, the defensemen have kept it together, allowing just one late, meaningless goal over their past two games.

“If we can keep [opponents] to one goal, then you’re going to win 99 percent of your games,” York said. “So that’s the most important part of this run we’re on.”

Cross returns to the lineup after three and a half weeks of rehab on an injured knee. The Eagles’ defense will be

ZACH WIELGUS

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

See Beanpot Preview, B5

I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE

Brian Gibbons has teamed with Cam Atkinson and Joe Whitney to form BC’s most potent line.

BC set for consolation game

The women’s hockey team prepares to face Boston University Tuesday night......B4

Track competes in Battle of Beantown

Tra c k a n d f i e l d ’s ve rs i o n o f t h e B e a n p o t was held over the weekend......................B2

Not a soul on campus was oblivious to Saturday’s rematch against the visiting Duke Blue Devils. Many were shelling out $70 for a chance to see Al Skinner and the boys shock the eternally smug and confusingly weird-looking (Kyle Singler, I’m talking to you) Blue Devils for the second straight season inside Conte.

Two days before, unknown to almost all Boston College students, another Duke game took place, and the result may have unintentionally become the best-kept secret of BC athletics. As small packs of pregaming 21-year-olds gathered around campus, while others meandered into An Tua Nua or Cityside, one of the biggest up-

See Unknown Upset, B3

Outside the Locker Room..............B2 Numbers to Know.....................B2

B2

Monday, February 8, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

Track team impresses in Battle of Beantown

BY ROBERT T. BALINT For The Heights

A few T stops down from the TD Garden, home of the Beanpot, another battle was fought between four of the city’s major schools. On Saturday, the Boston College men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the third annual Battle of Beantown at Harvard’s Gordon Indoor Track in Cambridge.

Both the men and women of the Harvard Crimson took first place overall with scores of 166 and 137, respectively. Boston University’s men’s team took second place with 119, just barely edging out the Eagles’ 117 points. Northeastern finished last with

102 points.

BC senior Timothy Ritchie won the men’s mile run with a blistering 4:10.10, in addition to taking third place in the 800-meter with a time of 1:54.78.

Freshman Louis Serafini and juniors Andrew MacIsaac and Ian Thomas were the top three finishers of the 1000-meter run, with respective times of 2:26.73, 2:27.28, and 2:27.60. Ritchie, Thomas, and Serafini each recorded IC4A qualifying onemile runs at the Boston University Invitational the previous week.

The men’s relay teams capped the day with second place finishes in both the 440-yard and 880-yard relays, with respective times of 3:27.12 and 7:47.26.

Tri-captain Mark Domaracki finished third in both the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 48.72 seconds, and the 200-meter, with a time of 22.46.

These two top-three finishes come off a standout performance at last week’s Boston University Invitational, where the junior broke BC’s 500-meter dash record with a first place finish of 1:03.54. The previous record, 1:03.55 seconds, was set in 2001

by Jeff Normant.

BC’s women’s team, the two-time defending champions of the Battle of Beantown, could not manage to keep up with Harvard this year, coming only six points shy with an overall score of 131. The Huskies took home a third-place finish with 121 points, and the Terriers brought up the rear with 118.

Eagles’ sophomore Anna Cioffredi posted a time of 56.69 seconds to take first place in the 400-meter dash. Fellow sophomore Kelsey Huckins cracked the top three in two events. She took second place in the weight throw, with a hurl of 16.46 meters, and third place in the shot put with a 12.88-meter throw.

Senior Mallory Champa led the Eagles’ sweep of the mile run with a first-place time of 4:47.18. Freshmen Jillian King and Elizabeth Hynes followed close behind with times of 4:52.60 and 4:55.78, respectively. BC picked up another individual event win in the 4x880-yard relay with a 9:06.04 finish.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will get another crack at the Crimson at next weekend’s Valentine’s Invitational in Boston. 

Overexpansion is slowly killing a perfect sports tradition DANIEL POPKO

SPORTS in SHORT

Bigger is better in America. It’s landed Tony Siragusa a sideline gig. It made Darko Milicic a higher pick than Carmelo Anthony. It even made everyone consider Barry Bonds’ size-15 head a good thing.

So when it became widely reported that March Madness would be expanding to 96 teams, how could it be a bad thing? Coaches loved it. Networks loved it. Yet it caused most fans to react as if they found Tiger Woods’ number in their girlfriend’s cell phone.

Sports fans are willing to concede a lot of things, so long as the sanctity of the game they love isn’t compromised. Do not touch our yearly bracket pool.

I consider there to be three purely perfect sporting events left: the World Cup, the NHL playoffs, and March Madness. You can argue anything else – the Olympics, the Super Bowl, whatever – and I will say no. Any time a spectacle like the opening ceremony or the commercials draw nearly as many viewers as the actual sport, you have already lost perfection.

March Madness is the pinnacle of what should be untouched. More classes have been cut by yours truly in honor of the first two rounds of the tournament than I am willing to divulge. (Sorry to any professors of mine that happen to read this.)

I even dropped a class second semester last year partly because there was a “can’t miss class” during the first round of games.

I’ve gone as far as riding in a broken down 1980s Volvo through a blizzard to avoid missing a second of UNLV-Georgia Tech.

Normally you might think that an extra 32 teams (well, 31 I guess. Thanks play-in game!) would give one-and-a-half times the fun. Wrong.

Sure, a few more mid-majors would get a chance, and the Pac-10 would stand a chance at multiple bids, but who would get the majority of those bids? Middling power conference teams. If you really want to watch Auburn vs. Oregon for the right to lose to Kansas by 40, well, you can just watch the NIT. Of course, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Co., stands less of a chance against the big boys, but that’s what makes the tournament so great.

I still remember Hampton upsetting a dominant Iowa State team, and Bryce Drew sinking a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for Valparaiso.

A great game between two heavyweights is a beautiful thing for sure, but it’s the minnows attempting to flip everything on its head that bring out the sucker in everybody.

Oftentimes, the final bubble slots are a struggle to decide between which team is more wholly mediocre. A field of 96 means no longer are you looking for the mediocre – you are trying to decide which team sucks the least.

Imagine the selection committee deciding between a 18-13 Northwestern team that went 612 in the Big Ten and a 16-14 South Carolina team that went 7-9 in the SEC? John Shurna! Sam Muldrow! This is March Madness!

By expanding to let in teams that floundered throughout the regular season, you open the door for teams like, well, Boston College into the big dance.

Look, I love BC basketball. To see Al Skinner’s team scrape into the tournament with something like a 6-10 ACC record and those resume-boosting losses to Maine and Saint Joseph’s would just make my day, and I assure you some “illness” will overtake me that Thursday. But it just isn’t right.

The Eagles aren’t dead in the water for the 65team field yet. It would take some sort of miracle run from now till the end of the season. Rakim Sanders would have to enter some never-beforeseen “eff-you, I’m scoring 30 tonight, and I dare you to try and stop me” mode, Reggie Jackson would have to tighten his handle, and Josh Southern would have to find both a secondary post

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Will Superfans be this excited if their team qualifies for the College Basketball Invitational in March? The CBI marks a growing trend of marginal postseason basketball tournaments. move and a pulse.

Since that’s about as likely as a steep drop in the school’s cost of tuition, the NIT or, gulp, the CBI awaits.

Note: If Rakim really does decide to take that step (he showed flashes against FSU and Duke), I will eat my words as happily as I would a Steve’s Sizzling Steak – trust me when I say very happily.

Speaking of the NIT and the CBI, could you imagine what those tournaments would look like?

We’d get first-rate ESPN2 coverage of Jay Bilas analyzing the length of Deilvez Yearby and the IPFW Mastodons against Prairie View A&M in the CBI championship. On the plus side, that would allow Digger Phelps to rock a killer Prairie View A&M purple shirt and marker combo. It’s the little things that will keep me watching when CBS and the NCAA cash in on an extra week of pseudomadness.

In addition to the billion-dollar contracts that are thrown about in return for the broadcast rights and advertising, it’s the millions that coaches stand to make from their tournament appearances that will eventually push the scales toward expansion.

Outside the Locker Room Corinne Boyles Goaltender, Hockey

What’s it like to start as a freshman?

I don’t think of it that way, but I guess I’m pretty lucky to have the opportunity.

What’s your favorite song right now?

“Hey, Soul Sister” by Train.

The Heights caught up with freshman goaltender Corinne Boyles of the women’s hockey team to talk about the Beanpot, reality TV, and role models.

What was it like to have a career-high 46 saves against Harvard?

It was nice, but at the same time, it was still a 5-0 loss.

What’s your favorite reality TV show?

Jersey Shore is over, so now it’s The Real World.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Chicago, where I’m from.

Who is your favorite athlete?

Tim Thomas.

Even “old-school” coaches like Mike Krzyzewski endorse the expansion. Why? Because coaches are often judged by their ability to get the team to the main event in March. The more teams in, the more secure everyone’s job will be, right?

Considering that it would set a new standard for which coaches would be judged, the advantage would be negated within a few years. Throw in the always prevalent economic downturn, and the only way a coach will get fired is if he takes up a Rod Marinelli level of losing or if some kind of abuse allegation from a player surfaces.

You can understand Coach K standing up for his brethren and maybe even trying to help his own chances in the tournament by watering down the field and hoping teams like VCU get knocked out before they can get to the Blue Devils, but it’s an idea that is panned by everyone outside the decision-making process.

It’s like the decision makers are sitting in a late ’90s Enron board meeting. The CEO (schools), CFO (NCAA), and accounting department (networks) have decided it would be a great idea to cook the books.

Well, at this point, the employees would like

Numbers to Know

148

Minutes played by the Duke starters against the men’s basketball team Saturday. The Eagle starters played 24 fewer minutes. The BC starters also played significantly fewer minutes (113) than the Florida State starters in last week’s loss.

38

Points scored by the men’s hockey line consisting of Joe Whitney, Brian Gibbons, and Cam Atkinson in its last seven games. The trio has combined for 14 goals and 24 assists over that stretch.

to disagree. You can continually water down the regular season, but don’t you dare touch our tournament. Internally, it may seem like a win-win, but it’ll be the viewers who come out on the losing end.

I want to care about Southeast Missouri State, Stony Brook, and Maryland Eastern Shore playing against the powers. You give the top 32 teams a bye and, what, maybe a half dozen Cinderella stories make it through?

You lessen the number of potential upsets, and suddenly you could end up with virtually none. No TJ Sorrentine drilling a 32-footer in Syracuse’s face.

No Clifton Lee (and his outrageous afro) on Northwestern State there to bust my Final Four sleeper of Iowa. It might be hard to believe it now, but maybe no Davidson, no Gonzaga, no George Mason.

Suddenly the only “I could be that guy!” story you have to rally behind is Tennessee’s Skylar McBee, and you really couldn’t be him because, let’s face it, his name is just better than yours.

Without McBee we’d be left with nothing, and frankly that’s not something I’m willing to accept.

Daniel Popko is a staff writer for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.

Game to Watch Men’s Hockey

Boston Boston vs.

College University For the fourth time this season, BC and BU will take to the ice – this time to determine the best of Boston in the Beanpot. The last two Beanpot champions have gone on to win the national title, so BC will be looking to overcome a pesky BU team that has given the Eagles fits, even in what supposedly is a down year for the Terriers. BC can even the season series with a win after losing to BU at Fenway and Kelley Rink last month.

Tonight, 8 p.m.

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 8, 2010

B3

Close loss looks all too familiar to Eagles

BY BRAD ZAK Heights Staff

As Joe Trapani’s desperation 3-point attempt grazed off the front rim, the Boston College men’s basketball team’s last chance at completing their comeback ended in a 66-63 defeat to the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils.

It was an all-too-familiar scenario. This is the third time in four games that BC has lost by four points or fewer to a conference opponent.

Moreover, this is the third time in four games that the Eagles have had a chance to win with less than a minute remaining and have failed to come out on top.

The rollercoaster ride of a game served as a microcosm of the Eagles’ season so far, as they had to claw themselves back into the game only to fall short. Every time it seemed as if BC could put the Blue Devils on the ropes, it was turned away or ended up making questionable decisions.

BC was moving the ball up the floor well and getting good looks near the basket, while its physical guard play helped keep the Duke offense at bay. Late in the first half, however, the Eagle attack started to slow down, and Duke was able to force BC into jump shots near the end of the shot clock. After Rakim Sanders had cut the Duke lead to one with five minutes left in the first half, the Blue Devils responded with a 13-4 run.

“The plays at the end of the first half were the difference in the ball game,” said head coach Al Skinner. “Our execution was poor at the end of the half, and they were able to go on a bit of a run.

In the first half, Reggie turned over the ball a little too much, and we didn’t get into our offenses as quickly as we needed to.”

During the second half, the Eagles fought their way back into

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

With time ticking down, Joe Trapani launches a 3-pointer to tie the game (top), but it clanged off the front of the rim, producing anguish among the Eagles. the game on multiple occasions, but repeatedly fell short of taking the lead. They were getting close, but still lacked a spark to ignite the crowd and put the Eagles on top.

That spark is something the Eagles have been looking for all season, as every time it seems they are starting to get their

season on track (the ProvidenceMichigan-Miami winning streak), they take two steps backwards (the losses to Harvard and Rhode Island that followed that winning streak).

Last year, the Eagles had that spark in the middle of ACC play. Answering every comeback attempt in last year’s Duke

match-up, Tyrese Rice and the Eagles shocked the No. 6 Blue Devils. Before that, it was Sanders’ ability to rise above a sea of defenders and tip in a Rice miss that beat Virginia Tech as time expired.

As a team still searching for a leader, BC’s inconsistency is often evident and makes it dif-

ficult for the team to overcome its weaknesses.

With about six minutes left, lone senior Tyler Roche caught a pass in transition and fired what seemed to be one of his patented momentum-swinging 3-pointers.

Yet, just as it seems to have all season, the shot rolled off the

front rim and Duke’s Jon Scheyer put a damper on things by hitting two free throws to extend the lead to nine.

Two possessions later, Sanders sprinted the length of the court and blocked a Nolan Smith layup in midair to set up a layup for Corey Raji at the other end.

Sanders looked as if the pain from his ankle was finally wearing off, as he elevated to the point where his head was nearly above the rim. He had 13 points, but more importantly, he was able to get to the basket and shot at a much better percentage (six of 12 from the field) than he had been recently.

“The pain in my foot is slowly but surely starting to go away,” Sanders said. “I’m starting to get in game shape, and I’m feeling better on the court.”

Spotty free-throw shooting by the Blue Devils left the door open for the Eagles, but they could never get that big play to push them over the hump. Reggie Jackson did his best to try and provide the heroics by hitting a three with 16 seconds left that cut the lead to one.

But, with the game on the line, he tried to do too much the next time down, hesitating with the ball as time wound down.

The pass finally hit Trapani for a decent look with two seconds left, but the rushed shot fell short.

This sequence showed that BC has players who want to take the shot but aren’t fully aware of how to execute it.

“He should have known that Joe was going to be open,” Skinner said. “He held it just a little too long to get the ball to Joe in time to get a comfortable look.”

As they have all season, the Eagles showed moments of exceptional basketball, but couldn’t put the entire package together.

The Eagles are getting close, but after their sixth home loss, they showed there is still much work to be done. 

BC lacks necessary ‘it’ factor against No. 10 Blue Devils BC Falls Short, From B1

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Point guard Jaclyn Thoman helped orchestrate Boston College’s stunning upset of Duke, running the Eagle offense and scoring nine points.

Women prove Duke can be downed Unknown Upset, from B1

sets in Eagle history was taking place.

And nobody knew about it.

The 12-10 women’s basketball team welcomed No. 6 Duke, a practically untouchable 18-3 on the year, into a virtually empty Conte Forum. Only the media, family friends, and a handful of true Superfans witnessed the improbable 61-57 upset of the Blue Devils.

Only those select few watched the entire bench empty and storm the center of the court, an immeasurable sense of euphoria shared among the dozen girls who pulled off what no one thought they could.

If I were a truly devoted BC sports fan with nothing but time, I would have been there, but it would be a lie to say that I was. The closest I came to seeing Duke go down for the second year in a row (and we all knew the men didn’t stand a chance, didn’t we?) was tuning into online updates after a committee meeting ended.

Downright stunned that the Eagles were keeping it close, I checked my email and caught up on what was going on in the sports world. Yet what was

going on in the sports world was a 10minute walk from the all-too-familiar confines of McElroy.

With only a few minutes left, my eyes stayed peeled to the Gametracker window. Duke would pull within a basket, but the Eagles always had an answer. The veteran Blue Devils knew their best chance to win was to put the Eagles on the line and count on a miss here or there. BC, however, did not oblige, sinking a sublime 20 of 21 free throws, including a perfect 10-of-10 shooting night from Carolyn Swords.

Miraculously, Mickel Picco sank a pair from the free-throw line with three seconds left to go up by four and seal the victory. Pandemonium ensued, yet it was limited to the 2,673 in attendance – and only really included the hundred or so with a passionate connection to the women’s basketball team.

When they had to make baskets, the Eagles did. Clearly, there is a reason Duke entered the game as the sixthbest team in the nation and undefeated in the ACC, and it had nothing to do with having a player with quite

possibly the coolest name in college basketball (Karima Christmas – come on, how can that not earn you some brownie points in the AP poll?). The Blue Devils grind out close wins with their fundamental style of play and ability to press the opposing team into making mistakes. That’s been their game for years, and those have been the reasons that BC was previously unable to take down Duke since joining the conference.

That finally changed Thursday night. The Eagles finally conquered their Everest, captured their unicorn, courted their Summer Finn. The team finally bought into head coach Sylvia Crawley’s idea of possessing that killer instinct, something they lacked when they fell to last-place Clemson two games earlier. It was a coming-of-age tale that the late JD Salinger would have been proud to write.

All that was missing was a flood of students rushing the court to join the team in celebration.

Zach Wielgus is the sports editor of The Heights. He can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com.

Forum crowd was instantly deflated and headed for the exits.

“He just held it too long,” coach Al Skinner said of Jackson’s role on the play.

“Because Duke is going to switch everything, it’s tough to tell where the ball is going to end up. You just have to make a basketball play.”

BC had made most of the plays it needed to and valiantly came back from a double-digit deficit in the final 4:55, but just could not land the final blow. It was something that had been brewing since late in the first half when Duke turned a one-point lead into a 10-point one in the blink of an eye.

One of the most rewarding parts of attending live sporting events is that you can not only hear the roar of the crowd – you can actually feel anticipation when the crowd is ready and willing to blow the roof off the building. When you can push your own fans over that edge or pull opposing crowds back from that brink, that’s when you have “it.”

Great teams and players will take that anticipation and push it past the previously understood extreme. Likewise, when on the road, they will feel it ready to boil over and quickly attack it like a rabid dog.

They aim not just to delay the outburst, but to stomp it out once and for all.

For all the energy the crowd brought, the Eagles were only able to capitalize on it once. Forty minutes of game time, one legitimate crowd explosion.

The Eagles’ inability to force the matter is just as much to blame as Duke’s ability to stop them before they could.

Rakim Sanders had the building percolating with a highlight-reel transition block on Nolan Smith that led to a BC layup. Jon Scheyer came back the other way for the Blue Devils and hit a handin-the-face, cold-blooded 3-pointer to quiet the crowd.

The fans in Conte Forum were down, but they weren’t finished off yet. On the next possession, Duke nearly squeezed any chance of life out of BC when Mason Plumlee and Brian Zoubek gave Duke four chances. They grabbed anything and everything in the air before Kyle Singler finally got fouled after the Blue Devils had killed off 56 seconds from the game clock.

Tyler Roche ensured that people wouldn’t be heading for the exits early with four consecutive points, bringing BC

back within four.

Then the Eagles finally hit the perfect combination to set off Conte. Corey Raji put on an offensive rebounding display of his own, grabbing a two-in-one possession before draining two free throws to prime the crowd. Smith coolly sunk his free throws on the other end, but Raji’s effort resonated, and the BC faithful were ready to will the team the rest of the way back.

That’s when Jackson came down the court and drilled an off-balance three that caused utter insanity. As he wandered up to the student section with a death stare and a chest pound, the crowd only got louder. It wasn’t a matter of whether BC would complete the comeback, it was what Reggie would do to make it happen.

“He likes to take the big shot,” Raji said of his sophomore teammate. “He wants to be the hero. We trust him to take that shot.”

Jackson had the chance to confirm the suspicions that Eagles fans have had since early in his freshman year, that he really did have “it.” He may have held the ball too long because he really wanted the shot. But Trapani had the open look, and you know he wanted it, too. Sanders was eagerly calling for the ball on the right wing. Even Raji looked like he wanted the shot.

“Anyone who has the ball wants that last shot,” Raji said.

Jackson may have held on to the ball too long, but Trapani was zero for three from 3-point land on the night before his game-ending miss.

Players who have “it” may want the last shot, and Jackson certainly did. Even if he didn’t take the shot, the game was always riding on his shoulders.

“The ball’s in his hands, only he can determine who takes the last shot,” Raji said.

“We’re not upset [with his decision], but when teams double-team him, that’s when he needs to look for the open man.”

The game may have come down to one play, but the tone had been set earlier with Duke’s resistance. The message had been sent: If you don’t have “it,” you’re just not winning the game.

Duke may have limped across the finish line, but for just enough of the game’s 40 minutes, they had what the Eagles didn’t. 

Visit www.bcheights.com/sports for more photos.

B4

Monday, February 8, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

Women take down Duke

Drama in England

TOM HEVEZI / AP PHOTO

Chelsea center back John Terry (left) was relieved of his England national soccer team captainship after allegations surfaced that he had an affair with the ex-girlfriend of teammate Wayne Bridge. Manchester United center back Rio Ferdinand will supplant him as captain. For more information on Terry’s fall from grace and other European soccer news, visit www.bcheights.com/sports.

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Senior Mickel Picco sank two 3-pointers to help the Eagles take down the Blue Devils for the first time since they joined the ACC in 2005.

Duke Goes Down, from B1 in the second half, completed 10 of 10 foul shots down the stretch to help seal the win for the Eagles. BC also outrebounded the Blue Devils, 47-33.

“I thought Carolyn’s rebounds at the end of the game were huge, and she was just holding on for dear life, and they’re hitting her arms and she was able to make some tough free throws at the end,” said BC head coach Sylvia Crawley. “She goes

up and down on her free throws, but today I thought she had that killer instinct. She made the big play, the big shot when it counted.”

The Eagles opened the game with a 7-0 run that was fueled by baskets from Swords, senior guard Brittanny Johnson, and junior forward Stefanie Murphy. The Blue Devils did not score their first basket of the game until a 3-pointer by Karima Christmas at 15:01. BC continued to build on its early advantage, with its largest lead of the half coming on an Ayla Brown

layup with 9:30 remaining, bringing the score to 17-9.

Duke bounced back over the next four minutes, though, and eventually took its first lead of the game when a 3pointer from sophomore Kathleen Scheer brought the score to 21-20. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, and Jasmine Thomas hit a 3-point shot with 22 seconds left to give Duke a two-point advantage. Junior guard Jaclyn Thoman then answered with a 3-pointer of her own to send the teams into the

Eagles look to end long winless drought

BY ZACH WIELGUS

Although King doesn’t believe the Terriers are as fast from top to bottom as the Crimson, she recognizes that what BU lacks in speed, it makes up for in Motivation for a consolation game is usually willpower.

“Harvard was really fast, and they have a lot of hard to generate, especially when the team won the tournament the previous year. But for the Boston speedy, quick players,” King said. “You definitely see College women’s hockey team, tomorrow night’s that with BU, but not as many of the fast players. BU Beanpot consolation game provides yet another op- is a team that plays on a lot of adrenaline. They go portunity to halt a seven-game losing streak and 12 hard and compete, and that’s something we’re going to have to do as well. They are one of those scrappy games without a win.

While playing for third place against Boston teams, and they’re gonna scratch and claw to win, and University is not exactly ideal, the Eagles will take we’re going to have to match that.”

In order to match BU’s adrenaline, BC will have any win they can get. And finally starting a winning streak against a bitter rival would have an extra sweet to turn around what has become a sluggish offense, netting only nine goals in the last seven games. Most taste.

“Any time you’re playing against BU, it’s going to of those scores have come off the stick of Allie Thunstrom, who leads the team fuel some fire for our kids, and I with 17 goals, 10 more than think that’s kind of what we’re “Any time you’re playing the next Eagle. looking for,” said head coach against BU, it’s going to In order to increase the Katie King. “It’s always tough amount of goals scored, King to play in the consolation game, fuel some fire for our kids, has constantly reiterated to but especially with the rut we’re and I think that’s kind of her players that they must be in, we want to get out of that what we’re looking for. It’s more aggressive and put more and fight hard to get out of that. pucks on net. BC managed That’s what we’re looking for on always tough to play in just 15 shots against HarTuesday.” the consolation game, but vard, but rebounded nicely Getting back on track starts with BC’s defense and goaltenespecially with the rut we’re with 25 shots on goal against UConn. ding, which, despite some lopin, we want to get out of that “We are always looking for sided losses, has been perform[more shots] and to put more ing well, King said. Freshman and fight hard to get out pressure on the other team,” goalie Corinne Boyles has turned of that. That’s what we’re King said. “We need to put in remarkable performances pressure on their goaltenders recently, registering 46 saves in looking for on Tuesday.” and gets pucks to the net the opening round loss to No. 6 and get people to the net.

Harvard, and stopping another -Katie King We’ve tried to focus on that 28 in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Women’s Hockey Head Coach all year.”

No. 8 Connecticut.

Receiving contributions Against the Crimson, the from forwards Ashley MothEagles held Harvard’s potent offense to just one goal in the first two periods, yet erwell and Mary Restuccia will be especially imporcrumbled in the final frame in the 5-0 loss. If the de- tant for the Eagles, as opponents have started to key fense could hold firm for 60 minutes, BC could limit on Thunstrom and force other players to score. Thus far, those other players have not proven to be able to BU’s scoring opportunities.

“I think we need to carry over how we played consistently light the lamp.

Even though King understands it has been a difagainst Harvard,” King said. “I thought we played pretty well considering the pressure they put on us, ficult stretch, she expects her team to play with a especially in the first two periods. If we can play con- competitive fire.

“I think being able to compete every shift is the sistent and work extremely hard, we should be fine.”

The Eagles are also attempting to absorb the focus for that game [against BU],” King said. “We absence of starting defender Blake Bolden, who has need to be angry and have a little bit of emotion about missed the last two games with mononucleosis, and it. In the consolation game, it can be difficult to have that, but it’s something we need to do.” will be out for another two weeks.

It has been over two months since BC has expeThey will have a true test in containing three BU forwards with double-digit goal totals this season. rienced the joy of a victory. Although a consolation Led by Melissa Anderson (15 goals, 15 assists) and prize is not the most sought-after accomplishment, Jill Cardella (11 goals, eight assists), the Terriers the Eagles are plenty motivated to recapture the have scored a league-high 85 goals in 29 contests suddenly elusive feeling of satisfaction after a job well done.  this season.

Sports Editor

locker room tied at 30.

By halftime, all BC players that entered the game had scored, and the Eagles held a 20-12 rebounding advantage. Johnson led the way with six points, while both Thoman and Picco added five.

Both teams continued to trade the lead during the second half, but BC eventually took back control. Murphy hit a jumper from the free-throw line at 8:00 to bring the score to 44-43, and Duke did not lead for the rest of the game.

Duke tied the game with 58.5 seconds remaining on a jumper from the top of the key by Thomas, but the Blue Devils then proceeded to miss their next five shots. Facing pressure from Duke’s fullcourt press, BC held onto the ball and controlled the clock for the remainder of the game. The Eagles then made six of six free throws over the last 51 seconds to close out the upset.

“We’ve had games in the past where we’ve been up and down, and the game hasn’t always gone our way and we just kept telling ourselves, ‘Be positive, one game we’re going to close the deal,’” Thoman said. “I think we all just had

a feeling, you could tell our energy was coming, we all just felt really well. And, like coach always says, we just put the nail in the coffin.”

Thoman finished the game with nine points and three assists, while Picco added 12 points. Thomas, Duke’s leading scorer, finished with a game-high 19 points.

Duke, which has spent 200 straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 25, was handed its first ACC loss of the season.

The last time BC defeated a team ranked in the Top 10 was against then-No. 2 Ohio State on March 21, 2006.

“It only takes one game like this to turn our team around in terms of our confidence level,” Crawley said. “I think this is the first time this team has upset one of the top teams in the ACC, and so until that happens, you’re always intimidated by those teams. This is huge for this team.

They have the confidence now; they feel like they belong in every game. I’ve seen a mentality shift in this team from just hoping that the top teams didn’t just beat us by 30 to tonight. I saw a difference in their focus before the game.” 

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 8, 2010

B5

Minutemen massacred by surging Eagles

BY PAUL SULZER

Asst. Sports Editor If the real Minutemen were as bad as the University of Massachusetts men’s hockey team was on Friday night, we would all be enjoying tea and crumpets while watchBoston College 7 ing the BBC every day.

1 UMass The Boston College Eagles massacred the UMass Minutemen, 7-1, before a sellout crowd of 8,389 at the Mullins Center. The Eagles have now won three straight by a combined score of 18-3 heading into tonight’s Beanpot title game showdown with Boston University at 8 p.m. in the TD Garden.

Joe Whitney scored twice for BC (15-8-2, 116-2 Hockey East), pulling the Eagles within three points of New Hampshire for first place in the league with a game in hand. They also defeated the Minutemen (16-11-0, 11-9-0), 3-1, in December and will wrap up their season series on Feb. 26 at Kelley Rink.

Brian Gibbons, who has now secured a point in 10 straight games, added four assists, while Cam Atkinson and Steven Whitney each scored a goal and had two assists. The line of Joe Whitney, Gibbons, and Atkinson totaled nine points on three goals and six assists. Over their last seven games, the three have combined for 38 points on 14 goals and 24 assists.

John Muse recorded 16 saves in two periods of action before he was relieved by Parker Milner, who conceded the lone Minutemen goal. Muse moved into a tie for fifth place on the school’s all-time wins list with his 53rd victory in 99 career games.

The Eagles scored four times in the first period and three times in the second, decimating the UMass crowd in the process. Joe Whitney, who had the second two-goal game of his career, opened the scoring from the slot on a crisp pass from Gibbons at 4:52. Paul Carey extended the lead nine minutes later before Joe Whitney buried UMass at 14:38 on a rebound from a Gibbons strike. Jimmy Hayes capped the first period, scoring at 16:56 when he stole the puck at the UMass blue line and flipped in a backhanded shot for the lone unassisted goal of the game.

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Goalie John Muse played two shutout periods in the 7-1 win over UMass, recording 16 saves. The Eagles now look to the Beanpot championship, where they will take on BU. The Eagles abused Minuteman goaltender Paul Dainton so badly that he was yanked after the first 20 minutes for backup Dan Meyers. Meyers didn’t fare much better than Dainton, though, conceding three goals in his first 20 minutes of action. Both goalies saved 12 shots, though Meyers did so over two periods as opposed to one for Dainton.

The Eagle defense repeatedly denied the Minutemen opportunities, despite committing seven penalties. BC held the UMass power play, which is ranked fourth in the nation, scoreless on

six attempts.

Atkinson scored his team-leading 17th goal of the year, and the only power-play goal of the evening, with 0.2 left in the second period. Steven Whitney broke the game open when he got on the board at 14:39 before Chris Kreider scored his fourth goal in as many games just three minutes later.

James Marcou broke the shutout with his ninth goal and 41st point of the season at 14:23 in the third period. He came into the game leading the nation in points, but now ranks second after Cory

Conacher of Canisius. Marcou’s consolation goal was much too little much too late for the Minutemen.

Eagle captain Matt Price left the game in the first period with an apparent upper body injury. His status for the Beanpot game tonight is unknown.

Tommy Cross returned from a sprained MCL he suffered three weeks ago to add some depth to the thin BC blue line. Fellow defenseman Patrick Wey, who broke his wrist six weeks ago, could return for Friday’s game at UMass Lowell. 

Eagles’ struggles continue

BY JOSEPH BILOTTO For The Heights

Despite holding the red-hot, No. 8 Connecticut Huskies scoreless through t h e f i rs t 2 0 3 UConn minutes of play Boston College 1 Saturday afternoon, the Boston College women’s hockey team (5-15-9, 4-9-4 Hockey East) was not able to escape Freitas Ice Forum with the victory. UConn (18-6-5, 9-3-4 Hockey East) came into the game having won its eight previous contests and was playing extremely well against conference opponents. The Huskies erupted for three goals in just under eight minutes in the middle frame to defeat the Eagles, 3-1, in the Hockey East match-up.

The two teams played a relatively even first period, as solid goaltending from both sides prevented either team from scoring the first goal. Sophomore Monique Weber opened the scoring

for the Huskies, though, with her tally at 6:23 of the second period off a feed from Michelle Binning. The Huskies would strike again six minutes later as junior Brittany Murphy doubled the Huskies’ advantage to 2-0. Jennifer Chaisson would make it a three-goal period for UConn a little less than two minutes later with a power-play goal.

The Huskies controlled much of the play throughout the contest and were able to suppress any hopes of a comeback by the Eagles.

A shutout for the Huskies was not to be, however, as BC sophomore Mary Restuccia broke the Eagles’ scoreless spell with her goal at 14:46 of the final period. Restuccia’s goal came on the power play off passes from Caitlin Walsh and Kristina Brown, but was not enough to turn the tide or momentum of the game. The Eagles received a strong effort in net from freshman goalie Corinne Boyles, who stopped 31 shots in a game where the Huskies outshot the Eagles

by nine, 34-25.

The loss to the Huskies continues an already long and frustrating streak for the Eagles, who dropped their seventh consecutive game and have not won since defeating Northeastern in early December. The Huskies, meanwhile, capped off their ninth straight win with their victory over the Eagles.

BC’s five overall victories are now the fewest by any team in Hockey East, and only Maine has fewer Hockey East victories than the Eagles. Even still, the Eagles sit in sixth place in the eightteam conference, five points ahead of Vermont, thanks to four ties and four shootout wins.

The loss to UConn comes on the heels of a 5-0 defeat to No. 6 Harvard, which beat the Eagles in the opening round of the women’s Beanpot tournament Tuesday night. The Eagles are next slated to play against Boston University in the consolation game of the Beanpot tomorrow night. 

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Sophomore forward Cam Atkinson recorded an assist in BC’s first-round Beanpot victory.

BC looks forward to Beanpot final Beanpot Preview, from B1

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Sophomore Mary Restuccia scored BC’s lone goal in the 3-1 loss at UConn. The Eagles dropped to 4-9-4 in Hockey East play with the loss.

provided extra rest, and that little rest, particularly against BU, could mean all the difference late in the game when fatigue begins to set in for both squads.

As for Sneep and his fellow defensemen, they will need all of the rest they can get in order to maintain the type of impressive pressure that they have against the likes of BU’s Nick Bonino, who won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award last year. Bonino leads the Terriers in points with 23 on the season.

The main test for the Eagles, however, will be combating a core group of great BU defensemen, as well as solid goaltender Kieran Millan.

“Their personnel from the blue line back is probably the key to their game,” York said. “We’re going to have to try to keep them off of their offensive games, because they can produce a lot of points for them from the blue line.”

Aside from being good defenders, the Terriers’ blue-liners pack a potent offensive punch. Captain Kevin Shattenkirk is tied for a team-leading 17 assists, and Colby Cohen leads all BU players with 10 goals.

The Eagles are not without their own offensively potent defensemen. Sneep is tied for second on the team in assists, and fourth in overall points this season.

Together with the speed and power of forwards Smith, Price, Atkinson, Gibbons, and Whitney, the Eagles have plenty of weapons to turn to in order to try and generate opportunities with the puck.

The game marks the fourth time in eight years that BC and BU have played one another in the championship game of

the Beanpot. All four of those championship games were decided by just one goal, and York sees no reason why this year will be any different.

“It’s going to be decided by either one big stop in the game or one big offensive thrust,” he said. “Despite BU’s record (11-11-3), they’re playing very, very solid now. I don’t think there’s any real decided advantage. I think it’s a pretty good toss up.”

The significance of a win goes beyond just evening the season series up at two games apiece and coming home with a Beanpot trophy. The past two years, the winner of the Beanpot went on to win the National Championship.

“I think if you can win a Beanpot trophy in February, it gives you an awful lot of confidence as you go through the bigger stages,” York said.

In order to once again reach the level of success that his team did in 2008, York is looking to the seniors, who experienced defeat firsthand against the Terriers in the Beanpot championship three years ago.

“The play of Lombardi, Price, Smith, and Sneep has really been a source of great motivation for all of us,” York said.

Their dedication and focus goes beyond just when they put their skates to the ice.

“I see it in the weight room, and I see it in the dressing room,” York said.

If the Eagles hope to skate out of the Garden with a trophy in hand, they’ll certainly need to maintain their focus for a full 60-minute effort. If they can do that, recent history says their next stop just might be the Frozen Four in Detroit. 

B6

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Heights

By Diana C. Nearhos Heights Senior Staff

If you’ve ever ventured down the green or orange lines into the North End, you know that the food you find there surpasses that which you might find at the big “Italian” chains. Most of us have seen the line outside of Mike’s Pastries and enjoyed one or two of Mike’s delicious cannolis. Well, if you like that, just imagine how good the food is in Italy.

Everywhere you turn, there’s either a pizzeria or a gelateria. Students flock to the bars between classes (don’t get too excited – the word bar also refers to some cafe-like places where you can grab a caffe, panino, or perhaps a chocolate treat). On one hand, the calories piling up around me tend to be a bit scary, but, on the other hand, I’ll only live in Italy once, so how could I not take advantage?

Plus, walking a couple miles a day to get to class and explore the city helps.

Back home, I am not really a fan of pizza – I eat it when someone else suggests it, but it is never my first choice.

Here, I cannot help but be tempted by the pizza place two doors down from me.

Like most of the pizzerias here, Mary Pizza serves by the slice. Not the typical American slice of a circular pie, but a piece of a large rectangular pizza with

a size that the costumer dictates. You pay by the kilogram, so you can choose exactly how much you want to eat. The pizza is made with ingredients so fresh that you have to stop and grab a slice, especially when considering how conveniently they wrap it so you can “take away” and eat on the walk to class.

After class, the gelataria between the two buildings of John Cabot University calls my name. If I manage to ignore that particular shop, one of the other four on my walk home just might grab my attention. I love ice cream and frozen yogurt back home (the real stuff, not the softserve you get at late night). Gelato sits so far above that. I wish I knew exactly what makes it so creamy, yet almost fluffy.

Though I have yet to find a mint flavor to replace my mint chocolate chip, I have thoroughly enjoyed the limone, especially when coupled with nutella gelato.

Hearing about two such seemingly unhealthy foods, one might wonder how the Italians avoid obesity (and if someone might have to roll me off the airplane come May). However, eating pizza, gelato, pasta, sandwiches, and all the other delicious treats here does a small portion of the damage that eating the American equivalents would do.

For one, the portions are smaller here.

Most people presented with an entire

pizza pick at it until nothing remains.

When you can simply point out how big of a piece you want and walk away, you cannot pick up the extra slice you did not really want anyway. The biggest contributing factor to the quality of the food is the fresh ingredients.

As a society, Italians pretty much only eat fresh food. The refrigerators hold much less food than those in the States, and I cannot find a Ziploc bag anywhere.

Italians do not need to preserve as much food because they buy the ingredients fresh and use them quickly. Small markets, indoor and open air, dot the city.

Italians stop and grab the food they need for the next few days, planning to return before the week ends.

When I walk into the little market by my apartment, I can see the actual leg from which my prosciutto crudo is cut.

The deli does not even put the sliced meat into a plastic bag, but wraps it in paper because the man behind the counter expects me to use it while it is fresh. Even the pasta is fresh. You can grab a box of Barilla like at home, or you can grab the plastic package of fresh pasta – and you will in fact taste the difference. Italians will only eat the freshest of produce. For example, I could not find a jar of minced garlic anywhere, and the man working at the grocery store did not understand what I was asking for. So I grabbed a fresh head – I’ll just take the extra time to chop it myself. A little background: The fresher a head of garlic is, the tighter the cloves will be and the harder to separate. I had to pull out a knife and peel back almost all of the skin before I managed to get a clove. (My hands still smell of garlic from the work.)

After finding fresh ingredients in both the restaurants and my own kitchen, I understand the movement for local ingredients in the States. Fruits and vegetables begin to lose nutrients as soon as they are picked, and meat does not take long to start deteriorating. The taste of the food here really reflects both of those facts. I may just get spoiled and have a problem adjusting back to American food. There is no way that reheated pasta in Lower is going to make the cut after this.

You might not be able to make it over to Italy, but at least do yourself a favor and skip the chains. Bertucci’s in Brookline may be close, but I am not sure that I really believe that it trains its chefs in Italy. The North End definitely serves as the next best thing to the Italian food in Italy. photos courtesy of Diana C Nearhos

Bob D’Am

ico / AP

Photo

ABC, Mario Per

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ABC, Mar

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By Kathy Breen For The Heights

4. 8. 15. 16. 23. 42. If reading these numbers makes you want to push a button every 108 minutes, go and buy a lottery ticket, or even hop on a doomed plane flying from Sydney to Los Angeles – it’s okay. You are not alone.

I am obsessed with Lost. Ever since the show debuted in 2004, Lost has been the only show on television that I actually make an effort to sit down on the couch and focus on, which is not an easy thing for me to do. When I talked about my plans for Wednesday nights, every conversation pretty much ended in, “Sorry I can’t, Lost is on,” or , “Not tonight, Lost is on.” Even a simple, “No, Lost takes priority over everything,” sufficed.

It is virtually impossible for me to explain Lost to a “non-Lostie,” but for all those unfortunate souls out there, I’ll give it a shot. There was a plane that crashed into the ocean, and the survivors wound up on an island that has magical powers. While on the island, they encounter a group of people called the Others, led by Ben. Ben is really bad. People die. Every 108 minutes, an Australian man (who’s very attractive) named Desmond has to press a button, or the entire island will explode. People try to escape on a freighter, which blows up, and then they get on a helicopter, which crashes, and finally they are rescued by a boat.

However, there are still some people left on the island, and, strangely enough, the island has moved. Not only has it moved, but now the characters have begun to travel in time, so half of the survivors are

in the year 1970, and half are in the present. Some mind blowing stuff, right?

In my senior year of high school, my friends and I had a Lost party for the premiere. We all got dressed up, so that in one living room, there was a pregnant Claire, a fat Hurley, a moustached Charlie, and countless other characters crammed together, anxiously awaiting the premiere. I know this makes me sound like a freak, but I promise you I’m not. The point of the story is that, if you are obsessed with Lost, you are not alone.

Just ask the 12 million people who tuned in for Tuesday’s premiere on ABC, or the one million people who are fans of Lost on Facebook.

Sure, there are some with obsessions that shock even me, but I still applaud those who are obsessed for their commitment. On the other end of the spectrum, there are tons of Lost fans who have dropped off the bandwagon.

Some of the theories and plots can be a bit convoluted, sure, but the thing that makes Lost so amazing is that it demands your dedication. If you miss one episode of some shows, such as Family Guy or The Office, you can just watch next week and everything will still make sense. If you miss one episode of Lost, however, you’re pretty much out of luck. The show presents questions to begin with, and now you have even more to ponder over.

You should have made time for it like I did, sucker.

The other great thing about Lost is that it raises so many questions. Some people find them confusing and not worth their time. Some people find them ridiculous – granted, the smoke monster is kind of strange, but I love it anyway.

Some people say, “Oh, Lost just makes

me lost.” Honestly, we’re all probably just as confused as you are, but, like a true Lost fan, I see the value of my confusion. All of these questions stimulate the mind, people! I have had countless conversations with my friends about what I think about this and what they think about that. Know that when these questions are finally answered (and trust me, they will all be answered), it’ll be like how Hurley would feel in a Mr. Cluck’s chicken restaurant – amazing.

People always tell me that they wished they could get into Lost, but it’s too late now to get started. To these people I say that if there is a will, there’s a way.

Once you start watching, you will not be able to stop. The glory days of the first season are considered to be some of the best hours of television ever produced.

Within the first five minutes of the season six premiere, I was already on the edge of my seat. My heart was racing, and my attention was completely focused. I was in the zone.

After nine tortuous months of waiting and wondering, the night had arrived.

I was finally reunited with the amazing show that is Lost.

To everyone who has read this and now thinks I am some psychopath, I assure you that Lost is the most riveting television show out there right now. Lost transcends your typical television program, and it is truly one of a kind. I will gladly admit any day that I am obsessed with Lost, especially because it’s a lot less embarrassing than being obsessed with any of the other shows on TV right now.

Now that the final season is upon us, I’m urging all of you non-believers to take a chance and watch Lost. You will not regret it!

Heights Graphic / Michael Saldarraiga

I’m Obsessed with Lost

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Heights

B7

B8

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Heights

Outside the Bubble

Changes become apparent through nostalgic reflection Blair Thill My favorite professor freshman year was a graduate student, and the end of my first year at Boston College marked the end of his Masters program. While I was preparing to be a sophomore, he was off to Michigan State for a doctoral program. We continued to keep in touch (and still do every so often), and during one of our email exchanges I asked if he was planning a visit. He never gave me a definite date, but he did say something that I still remember today: “When I do come back, you can show me around campus and point out all the things that have changed.” As a sophomore for only a mere two or three weeks, I laughed at this comment. Everything that’s changed?

What could have possibly changed since May? What could possibly change in one year, let alone just a few months?

I smiled to myself and thought, “Older people get so nostalgic over everything.” I didn’t understand this

phenomenon. When I left middle school, I was ready to move on. I was excited for real teenagedom.

Then, high school actually happened.

Let’s just say the excitement waned throughout those four years. I was more than ready to graduate and leap into the great unknown that was college. I never looked back in either case. Maybe it was because I was a live-in-the-moment kind of teen, or maybe it was because I hadn’t found anything meaningful to hold on to.

BC was a horse of a different color. There were so many intangible things that I wanted to hold tight to, whether they were the fundamentals of true friendship and independence, the security of being a student, or the swell of pure joy that came with being in the student section of a sporting event. These were all feelings I knew I’d carry with me for a long time.

These were all feelings I wasn’t ready to let go of.

When I first returned to BC in October, I had a packed schedule of events, including a football game and all that entails. I tailgated in the Mods. My alumni friends and I started the game in the regular seats, but switched into the student section in the second half. I went to Roggie’s and CitySide. I stayed on campus with my friend Michelle, and her

room hosted a party one of the nights I was there. It felt like just another weekend in the life of a student, albeit with a slightly stronger hangover given the lowered tolerance that comes with less frequent drinking. It was like I had never left. I didn’t even have the chance to be nostalgic.

My second trip back to BC occurred last weekend, and despite a few similarities to the fall trip, everything seemed … different. It was like the three months in between visits cemented my status as an alumnus – as someone who just didn’t go to BC anymore. I went to a hockey game, and by the time we got there, there were no more seats in the student section, so we were relegated to the awkward side section where no one dons a Superfan shirt.

There were suddenly new cheers I had never heard before, and no one seemed to remember that the chant “[Insert goalie name here] sucks!” is supposed to end with, “At life and goaltending!”

I helped my old roommate give her family friend a tour of the campus on Saturday, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the stats and facts from my time as a tour guide are forever etched in my brain. Along the way, my roommate and I found even more surprises. There were

changes in almost every building we entered. Mostly Macs instead of Dells in the CTRC? A flat screen and newly renovated rental office in the Plex? A door leading to the library from the Campanella entrance to O’Neill? Is BC trying to send me into depression?

For anyone still attending BC, these are probably just minor changes that simply make life easier, but to any alumnus, they are earth shattering. Once I heard myself telling this prospective student, “I’m sorry, but this wasn’t here before,” or, “Why didn’t they change that before we left,” I realized that in three years, I had learned exactly what my professor meant when he asked me to show him all the things that had changed.

And so, nine months after graduation, my transition into a nostalgic adult is finally complete. It was, after all, inevitable. Last week’s visit was necessary to the growing process, as well as to the learned lesson that things must change. Progress demands it. If BC is going to build new doors to open, the least I can do is walk through them into my own future.

Blair Thill is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com

“I’ve recently become a vegetarian, but my friends just don’t get it, and they always make food I can’t eat when we get together for dinner, or go to restaurants that do not have a lot of non-meat options.

How can I make them respect my decision?”

—Veggie Lover

Dave Says:

Meghan Responds:

To be truthful, I have always struggled to understand why individuals would willingRespect your decision? It sounds like you’re just being a pain in the neck. When ly refrain from enjoying juicy steaks, sizzling bacon, or a nice hamburger off the grill. you decided to become a vegetarian you didn’t do it because it was easy, did you?

Sure, some may cite health concerns or be swayed by the cute faces of our four-legged Guess what? People don’t cater to the chosen needs of others. If you were allergic friends, but does eating tofu and sprouts bring the same joy as consuming a slab of to a hamburger it would be rude of your friends to have a cookout every night, but meat? I’m not sure, as I bypass the Hillside Veggie Panini, but to each his or her own. you’re not allergic to burgers. Eating a cow wouldn’t be the end of you. It would be It’s quite possible your friends don’t factor your dietary concerns into their plans the end of the cow. If I decided that I only want to eat kosher from now on, I would because they simply don’t remember to do so. It’s not a willful act to spite you and not expect every dinner party to be void of pork. The point is, if you want people tempt you to the dark side. You may need to gently remind them that their dinner to respect your decision, then prove to them that you are actually committed. Now, plans are excluding you.

I can help you prove you’re truly making this Conversely, they may very well respect your “If you were allergic to a hamburger it would be rude of your friends commitment. decision, but view it as your decision. It’s not an The first thing you have to do is find a farm. to have a cookout every night, but you’re not allergic to burgers. allergy and you are not abstaining for religious Farms are nothing like the fairytale fallacies found Eating a cow wouldn’t be the end of you. It would be the end of the reasons (I assume), so they don’t feel obligated in children’s books. I suggest doing this at night. cow. “ to change their dinner menu just because you Remaining covert is critical to this mission. Now, – Dave, on the circle of life don’t want to eat their lamb chops. find the cows. Release the cows into the freedom If this is the case, then your best option is of the night. No, you’re not done yet. You still subversion and conversion. Bring them to a restaurant specializing in vegetarian-fare have the ducks, chickens, goats, and sheep to set free. Haven’t you ever sung “Old and don’t tell them it’s actually a tofu burger until after they’ve swallowed their first McDonald”? Oh, this is too much work for you? Well, maybe you can just drown your confusing bite. Send cute animal videos spliced with images from a slaughterhouse. sorrows in a Whopper! I’m sorry. That was rude. But maybe you’re not up to the tasks Play the movie Charlotte’s Web on repeat. of an actual vegetarian. I have one more thing you can try.

Or, for a more subtle approach, try hosting the dinners at your humble abode and Stop complaining about what your friends cook, and cook yourself. They can’t offering to cook, or bring a dish you know you will eat. Instead of expecting them to complain if you do the cooking. You might get some weird looks if you try serving accommodate you, be more proactive in ensuring that the restaurants you attend offer couscous three nights in a row. But seriously, if you know that they are having meat non-meat dishes. It’s fine if you want to be a vegetarian, but you either have to accept for dinner, bring something for yourself or don’t go. Just don’t complain about the eating wilting lettuce at a questionable salad bar or be more assertive concerning your tasty animals. dietary needs.

Dave Givler is an editor for The Heights. He welcomes comments at features@bcheights. com.

Meghan Michael is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com.

“He Said/She Said” welcomes questions for future columns as well as comments about this week’s responses.

All printed questions remain anonymous. Send any comments to the editor at features@bcheights.com.

College Connections

The right way to go Michelle Kaczmarek I’ve decided that, as a senior, thinking about things is more of a problem than a solution. Whoever decided to make us conscious beings, well, they should have thought again.

My goal for the first semester of my senior year at Boston College was to reinforce that the path I was choosing after college was, indeed, the perfect path for me. Meaning, everything I would do could only reinforce the fact that I was going to be making the right decision. Included in all of this was enforced ignorance of the alternatives and the perpetuation of convincing myself, roughly translating into repetition.

When asked, “What are your plans after college?,” it became all the more important to have an answer, to avoid looking like an idiot and / or a lost soul. Therefore, I memorized this quick response, “I will hopefully be working in PR. I have specifically been looking at international agencies, I am going to apply to jobs in Los Angeles as well as Boston and New York.”

Depending on the interest of the questioner, I would then go into my proof that I actually knew what I was talking about, tying in my internship experience and explaining the job market for public relations, and thus explaining why I don’t actually have any physical evidence to back up my plan, yet. Depending on how well this person actually knew me, I would also be explaining why I would not be pursuing a career in writing / journalism. The answer most assuredly would go into the most logical of answers – economics : no one will ever argue with that. If this person was listening closely to my answer and caught the one hint of indecision (the one part of my rehearsal in which I was a) remaining true to myself and admitting defeat, b) attempting to give the rehearsed lines a little believability by making it comfortably fallible, and c) not directly dashing the dreams of whoever I was talking to in cementing the fact that I would be a coast away, de facto, which also is closely tied to my last stipulation d) in that I would not completely be making my decision of four years prior seem completely pointless by admitting I might just be moving back home, therein undermining the necessity and practicality of spending the last four years thousands of miles away from home), I would also be explaining the location conundrum.

The key to the answer was logic and reason. The more it made sense, the more I was able to move along the conversation and avoid any awkward pauses, which might enable either party to think. The formula is all too familiar to anyone like me, who applied to more than a dozen colleges out of denial and overeagerness. This kind of action, which at the time seemed like the easiest route away from the difficult decision-making process, soon devolves into just what it always was – an indecisive stalemate. For the most part, however, other people were making the decisions for you. “Sorry, your application has been denied from Berkeley.” There goes option one. It only started to get a bit tougher when the acceptance letters started rolling in. But the path to successful decisiveness is what leads us to our present predicament: logic. Which is why when rehearsing my list of reasons for BC, I came up against much more opposition than I am now facing (explaining the reversal of “Manifest Destiny” isn’t an easy sell).

However, senior year part two is a different story. Reason may save you, but, then again, it could all just be pretense. And that is where thinking comes in. It is that stranger who, in the night, takes away the stilts holding up all certainty within our lives. Creeping in when never wanted, suddenly questions like, “Where is this going?, “What is the purpose of these last four years?,” and, “Why am I not helping the lepers in Ghana?” seem to undermine the simplest of post-college plans. Without warning, all those rehearsed lines become ghosts in the night, and one is left to think again.

Thinking, however, is not the same as reasoning your way to the most logical conclusion. It shouldn’t matter what our plans are. Loans aside, having a concrete life plan at the age of 22 is a little much to ask, and asking that this plan also make sense within the context of the past 22 years of our life is a vacuous imposition.

For those who still subscribe to the remains of the “American Dream,” I have my lines rehearsed.

Michelle Kaczmarek is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@ bcheights.com.

B9

The Heights

Monday, February 8, 2010

Culture clubs on campus showcase their identity to BC

By Lauren Viola For The Heights

Boston College isn’t just a J.Crew magazine – a mass of Irish Catholic boys in polos and girls in khaki skirts, wandering through the hallways of Gasson. And with the 30-year anniversary of the AHANA acronym, a phrase coined right here at BC, being celebrated this year, this fact should be more evident than ever. Though founded out of a need for Irish Catholic boys to be admitted into a university at a time when other universities looked down on these immigrant scholars, BC now opens its doors to students of any race, religion, and cultural background who show interest in our school. And with over 30 different cultural clubs and organizations present on campus, our students have spoken. BC has a place for everyone.

Yvette Ramirez, director of public relations for the Organization of Latin American Affairs (OLAA) and A&S ’12, joined the organization in her freshmen year in order to share her Hispanic culture with students at BC. “I went to their first general meeting and liked the atmosphere,” Ramirez said. “It felt like a home away from home.”

Many students of varying cultural backgrounds have found the same sort of belonging in clubs representing their respective heritages. Jackie Do, culture chair of the Vietnamese Students’ Association (VSA) and A&S ’12, shares this mentality. “Initially it wasn’t my intent to actually become involved and connected through a culture club [at BC]. However, I’m so glad I am able to be a part of VSA because they make me feel like I have a second family up here, since I’m so far away from home,” she said.

Beyond creating bonds with other members of the BC community, students have found ways to express their culture and share important aspects of that background with the rest of the University through culture organizations. “I am able to share my appreciation for Vietnamese

culture and express my ethnicity to others,” Do said. “I am so in love with my culture that I have attempted to share my appreciation with students at BC.” Members of these organizations not only attempt to share their passion for their cultures, but to educate other students and faculty members about these passions and ideals. “I feel proud to be part of a culture club because I am able to educate the students of Boston College about many cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean,” says Ramirez. “Especially since OLAA represents every Latin American country, I feel as if it is our duty to educate students that within every Latin American culture they are all different, from the food they eat to the way they speak.”

“At the same time,” Ramirez continues, “what ties every Latin American country [together] is the importance of family, unity, and progression.”

One unique way in which BC’s various culture organizations attempt to teach the community about different cultures is through performances put on throughout the year. From competitive troupes to no-experience-necessary get togethers, the culture clubs on campus look to share their passion for music, dancing, and performance with those who are unfamiliar with the traditions of these different ethnicities.

“We simply have members of the Hawaii club who participate in learning Hawaiian dances (hula & Tahitian) with no audition or previous dance experience necessary,” says Lauren Weiss, Hawaii Club lau coordinator and A&S ‘12.

Some groups, however, take a more intense approach to the performance aspect of their organization, practicing multiple hours per day in order to participate in some of BC’s biggest performance competitions of the year. “Ever since I returned to campus from Christmas break, I have been dancing at least six to seven hours a day for practices and choreographing,” said Ariel Durgana, show co-coordinator for the South Asian Students Association

Heights Photo / Kevin Hou

Culture clubs, such as the Philippine Society of Boston College, put on shows throughout the year that celebrate their culture and educate BC. (SASA) and LSOE ‘12.

“Teaching the dances so far has been extraordinarily fun because we got so many people that aren’t normally in SASA participating in the dances. It’s really refreshing to see that the BC community doesn’t just think that the SASA culture show is just for South Asians, because it certainly isn’t.” Durgana continued, pointing out a key feature in the goals and feelings of many other groups as well.

Mary Brinkopf, co-culture chair of the Japan Club and A&S ‘11, realized early on

that culture clubs are not restrictive to students with backgrounds of the cultures that they celebrate. “I am not Asian at all,” says Brinkopf.“But I was intrigued by Japanese culture and language. At BC, I have taken two years of Japanese.”

Brinkopf is a perfect example of these organizations’ main goals of educating the community and bringing people of all backgrounds together through the celebration of every individual’s culture.

“Through our events and meetings, we wish to create a tighter bond with the Asian community here at BC in order

to promote the goals of Asian Caucus and the Asian American community,” Brinkopf said.

With numerous individual culture shows in the works for the spring, as well as many culture performance groups’ participation in campus-wide events’, such as the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC) Showdown on March 27 and the 12th Annual Boston College Arts Festival from April 29-May 1, there are numerous opportunities to catch a glimpse of the different cultures represented here at BC. n

Students respond to the call of the slopes

By Paul McCabe For The Heights

Students at Boston College lead busy lives. They challenge themselves academically, participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities, and readily donate their time to help the less fortunate. Therefore, when the weekend rolls around with its promise of rest and relaxation, one is hard pressed to find a satisfying answer as to why any student would be willing to wake up at the crack of dawn on Saturday in the middle of the bleak New England winter, pack themselves into a crowded SUV, and then make the three hour trek to the nearest mountain.

For the members of the skiing and snowboarding community at BC, however, there is no place in the world they would rather be on a Saturday morning than at the top of a white peak, surrounded by spotless powder, with the prospect of an exhilarating day of skiing and snowboarding spread out below them.

Many students at BC enjoy skiing and snowboarding as fun and leisurely winter pastimes, but also ones which, due to the price constraints of lift tickets and the logistics of traveling and lodging, can only be enjoyed once or twice a year. While there is nothing wrong with this perception of skiing and snowboarding as simple recreations, there is a small but passionate group of students at BC who think of skiing and snowboarding as a way of life. During the winter months, these students wake up at 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings nearly every weekend to get together with their friends and make the two or three hour drive to the sur-

rounding slopes of New England. After a long day and night spent on the mountain, they then find the cheapest room available for a few hours of sleep, only to wake up the next morning and make the same three hour drive back to Chestnut Hill.

You might ask, “Why would anyone be willing to get up so early and drive so far for only a single day of skiing or snowboarding?” While opinions vary, most skiers and boarders agree that what compels them to go to such great lengths to get out on the slopes is their desire to share in the sport they love with the people they care about. Whether it means saving money in order to pay for lift tickets or not going out on Friday night so that the Saturday morning alarm is just slightly more bearable, these students are willing to sacrifice in any way necessary to enjoy that one Saturday a week of skiing or boarding. When others are complaining about the snow and cold, these skiers and boarders are thinking to themselves about how great conditions on the mountain will be with six more inches of powder.

Nevertheless, despite their passion, there are still some instances where it is simply impossible to get to the slopes, in which case skiers and boarders are more than happy to make due by building jumps on Newton Campus to waste away the weekend afternoons.

However, these distractions are only slightly effective, and it is not long before the allure of the mountain takes hold again and any excuses, such as homework or a lack of money, which formerly might have been standing in the way of a day of skiing or boarding, are swiftly swept aside.

Mike Groll/Ap Photo

Students aspire to the skill level of their favorite X Games and Olympic skiers and boarders.

“[Skiing’s] a big release, when you’re out on the mountain not thinking about anything anymore,” says Christina Vaganos, A&S ’11. Vaganos, an avid skier who tries to get out on the mountain at least 15 times a season, explains that for her and her closest friends, skiing provides a respite from the stresses and pressures of college life that cannot be found anywhere else.

“It’s the one thing in my life I’m the most passionate about … I can go skiing and there’s nothing else in the world that matters,” says Mary Kate Costello, A&S ’11. No matter what type of week it has been on Chestnut Hill, skiing and snowboarding are there every Saturday, ready to clear one’s mind and leave one refreshed for the week to come.

A lot of skiers and snowboarders, however, are not just looking to enjoy themselves out on the mountains, but instead to push and challenge themselves in order to improve. When you are skiing with people who get out on the slopes 15 or 20 times a season, people take pride in their ability to carve down the face of a mountain.

There is no greater feeling in the world than expertly navigating down the face of a mountain, and then being able to say ‘you owned it,’ says Costello.

For these skiers and boarders, a day on the mountain is just as much about selfimprovement and challenging oneself as it is about simply enjoying the relaxation and tranquility of being outdoors.

“When you’re skiing, it’s the closest you are to the earth,” says Costello. “Out in nature, it’s serene.”

Beyond challenging oneself to improve, most skiers and snowboarders agree that the single aspect of their pastime that they value the most is simply having the opportunity to enjoy being outside with friends. “There’s a whole atmosphere surrounding it [skiing],” says Dan Ianno, A&S ’11.

“I wouldn’t have some of the great friends I have now if it wasn’t for skiing,” says Costello.

Beyond the recreational opportunities and athletic challenges provided by skiing and snowboarding, the single greatest reason these students are willing to deal with the large expenses, long distances, and early hours characteristic of their sport is because of their desire to spend quality time with close friends.

With such overwhelmingly enthusiastic responses to skiing and snowboarding events, such as those sponsored by the Ski and Snowboard Club and SnowJam, it seems clear that when given the opportunity, the students at BC are avid and eager skiers and boarders who like nothing more than a day on the mountain.

More remarkable, however, is the dedication and passion shown by students such as Ianno, Costello, Vaganos, and their friends, who, week in and week out during the winter months at BC somehow find the means to enjoy the New England winter to its fullest, even if it is only one Saturday at a time. n

Eric Risberg / AP Photo

Fear of high places is one of the most common phobias, at BC as at any other place.

Phobias not uncommon Phobias from B10

Learned phobias are also formed through modeling. When a person obare a union between genetics and serves another individual with a speenvironment. As Tecce says, “It’s not cific phobia, then indirectly they, too, nature versus nurture. It’s nature and may develop that particular phobia. nurture.”

“My dad is afraid of heights, and The environmental factors con- that may have rubbed off on me,” says tributing to phobias that surface in Hearne. Hearne’s fear of heights is people can result from direct experi- likely a result of her father’s similar ence or through what is called model- fear. As she grew up she observed ing. Tecce has personal that he was phobic of “Phobias are a experience with a direct heights, and therefore encounter that led to his mimicked his behavior. subcategory of aviophobia. As a young “Phobias are a subanxiety disorders category of anxiety disman in the service, during his first time flying, which are the most orders which are the his helicopter almost most common psychicommon psychiatric atric disorder,” says crashed.

“My first time in the Tecce. They vary from disorder.” air and I almost died,” case to case and are the says Tecce. result of human experi— Joseph Tecce, Tecce explains how ence. Phobias are a huhis is, like most pho- Professor of Psychology man shield against what bias, a learned phobia. is sensed as dangerous.

The phobia was result of an incident Tecce describes them as “unreasonand he learned to fear flying because of able, but a protection mechanism.” the threat associated with his experi- People use phobias as defense against ence. In order to get rid of the phobia often illogical threats. These people it must be unlearned. are also allowing the phobias to con“I forced myself to fly,” he says. trol them. By avoiding whatever it is In order to fly without encounter- they fear, they are reinforcing their ing symptoms of his phobia, he had safe environment. Until they experito associate pleasure with f lying to ence safety while in the presence of counter-act his previous negative their fear, they will continue their experience. This is called “counter phobic tendencies. conditioning.” After enjoying a glass Phobias consume anxious minds of wine and with the support of a of celebrities, leaders, and even BC stewardess, Tecce’s first flight after students. The real solution to conhis nightmare was tolerable. Ever since quering phobias is to walk right into then, he has had positive flying expe- them, but instead of walking in with riences which have slowly diminished negative emotions, march in with posithe phobia. tive ones. n

B4

FEATURES THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 8, 2010

B10

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

KRIS ROBINSON I’ll be the first to admit it – I’m a scaredy cat. No, really, I mean it. I’m afraid of a lot of things, tangible and intangible. Take, for instance, zombies, a fear which I think stems from bad childhood experiences, namely the video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Once, when I was kid, I ran out of my own birthday party at McDonald’s (tell me I’m not the only one who’s had one there – come on, there weren’t any Chuck E. Cheeses by my house) because they started playing “Thriller” … the song. Not even the video. Yeah, it was that bad. I like to think that I’m slowly but surely overcoming my fear of zombies. After all, I’ve come to like the “Thriller” video and I thoroughly enjoyed Dawn of the Dead.

But looking at it in retrospect, it could just be wishful thinking. Chills still run down my spine when Vincent Price’s voice comes on, and the version of Dawn of the Dead that I saw was the 2004 remake, not the original, which is supposed to be ten times scarier.

And then there’s other stuff, too. I’m deathly afraid of the dark, I shudder at the thought of demonic possession, and I run from any insect that can potentially sting me.

I fear death (not in consideration of my life as so much in the consideration of loved ones I’d be leaving behind), I shrink in the presence of large audiences, and at risk of sounding even less “manly” than I might already, I’m scared that I might not ever fall in love. Believe me, I’m cutting this list short for the sake of this column, but I think I’ve made my point.

But, so what? What exactly is wrong with being afraid of something? It’s a shame that fearlessness has become something of a valued trait in our society, because, in a way, the things that we’re afraid of are part of what makes us different from one another.

One could make the argument that phobias place a debilitating limit on one’s life and are, as a result, a bad thing, and I don’t disagree.

However, what I’m more concerned with is the bad rap that phobias get, because the only “bad thing” about phobias is the way people deal with them. When you let phobias rule your life, that’s when they become something negative.

Same thing goes for fear. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being scared. I mean, it’s a natural human emotion. Animals rely on their instinctual fear for survival. So do we.

So why has a seeming lack of fear become a point of bragging rights in day-to-day conversation, especially among males? Gentlemen (and select ladies), let’s be real. You’re really not fooling anyone but yourselves. If you’re even doing that. Which you’re probably not.

We Boston College students are a courageous bunch for a number of reasons. We’ve chosen to brave the cold of the Northeast instead of basking in the sun that some other southern-dwelling college students enjoy. We chose to challenge ourselves with a rigorous academic curriculum instead of perhaps settling for an education a bit less strenuous. A number of us even take on numerous responsibilities outside of the classroom, whether it be working in University offices, performing in culture shows, or representing the student body as the Undegraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) president.

Is this to say we are without any kind of fear? Of course not. But we do these things anyway, because, to put it somewhat simply, we care. We want better things for ourselves, our friends, our families, perhaps even our school, and we won’t let being afraid of something, whether it’s failure, rejection, or pain, get in our way. Fear may be an important part of us, but it does not define us. And we shouldn’t let it. But, at the same time, we shouldn’t ignore it either. You wouldn’t ignore the sound of your stomach growling, now, would you?

In his first inaugural address, Franklin Delano Roosevelt told Americans that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Well, I’m gonna go ahead and say, in my first editor’s column, that the only thing we have to fear is a lack of fear itself. Because when we stop being afraid, we stop caring and we lose the ability to experience one of the most beautiful parts of life – overcoming something that challenges us. Because that’s all that fear is – one big challenge. And as anyone can tell you, there’s nothing quite like the feeling you get after you’ve climbed the proverbial mountain.

In an ideal world, nobody would have to be afraid of anything. But we don’t live in an ideal world, so I guess we’ve got no choice but to embrace it. All we can do is fear on.

What are you afraid of?

BY MELISSA DOBERMEIER For The Heights

All of a sudden, your heart is racing, your stomach is churning, and each palm is salted with sweat. Narrow-minded, outrageous thoughts consume every moment. Sight becomes a lens, zoomed in on the object of your fear. Panic sets in, and relief seems a distant solution that will never come.

An isolated street, the sound of a gunshot, or an unfamiliar character can alarm any individual. Fear is a human coping mechanism, and it is healthy and often useful as a safeguard for life. To be afraid is one of the most natural human emotions. However, when does fear cross the line to phobia?

“A phobia is an excessive irrational continuing fear of something and it gets in the way of living,” says Joseph Tecce, professor of psychology. “The difference between fear and phobia is that one is debilitating and the other is good.”

Tecce provided insight on the two different forms of phobia.

Though there are non-specific phobias, those that are most commonly heard of are the specific ones. Specific phobias deal with an object, a place, a thing, or a smell, such as acrophobia, which is a fear of heights, says Tecce.

Although women have a greater phobic tendency than men, all different types of people are affected by phobias. Brad Pitt is afraid of sharks, and Whoopi Goldberg struggles with aviophobia, the fear

of flying. The Beckham household is extremely organized because of David Beckham’s ataxophobia, or fear of disorder.

Phobias are as diverse as the people who possess them. Besides the common fear of “commitment,” the BC community has voiced struggles with phobias such as “bridges,” “germs,” “heights,” “spiders,” and countless others.

“I have a fear of heights,” says Elise Hearne, LSOE ’13, “I get very nervous, my stomach hurts, I have to close my eyes, and my hearts beats faster.”

Phobias impact the everyday rituals people practice. When asked how her phobia affected her life, Hearne responded, “I don’t like sitting up high at sporting events. That’s one issue.”

“I wash my hands a lot. If I touched a computer, it grossed me out and I had to go wash my hands” says Liz Carulo, A&S ’13, who has a fear of germs.

Phobias interfere with the practices of everyday life. It is an interesting concept to ponder all the possible fears that classmates, professors, and staff can face while completing their daily routines.

Like many aspects of development, a person’s phobias fall under the age old nature vs. nurture debate. “Because phobias are a type of anxiety disorder, and a type of mental illness, their creation probably stems from a combination of factors, including genetic predisposition and environmental triggers,” says Elizabeth Kensigner, professor of psychology.

Both Tecce and Kensigner support the view that phobias

See Phobias, B9

Kris Robinson is the Assistant Features Editor for The Heights. He welcomes comments at robinsk@bcheights.com.

I NSIDE FEATUR E S THIS ISSUE

The World Record

Learn from fellow students studying abroad. This week read about experiences in Rome, Italy........................................................................................................................... B7

He Said/She Said...............................B8 College Connections.........................B8