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.