The Heights April 23, 2018

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

SHADY LADY

STRIKEOUT ALS

ARTS

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Shady Lady, BC’s femalemajority band, prepares for its upcoming performance in Arts Fest.

The Eagles may have lost, but BC received its largest crowd ever for the ALS Awareness Game at Fenway Park.

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Political Science Majors Outgrow Faculty Numbers The department has no plans to cap the number of majors.

BY CHARLIE POWER Asst. News Editor This story is the first in a series about hiring and retaining faculty at Boston College.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTIAN SINGH

On Sunday, SASA hosted the annual Holi celebration on Stokes Lawn.

Junior Places 28th in Marathon Kate Mignosa finished 28th for women, in 2:54:24.

BY COLE DADY News Editor Regardless of the downpour on Marathon Monday, one Boston College student who ran the race managed to achieve significant success. Kate Mignosa, CSON ’19, placed 28th for women at this year’s Boston Marathon, running it in 2:54:24.

Mignosa first ran cross country and track in high school, and her passion for running has carried on since. During her sophomore year of college, she was working for the Newton-Wellesley Weston Committee for Community Living, working with seven women with intellectual disabilities, through Pulse. The organization just so happened to be looking for a charity runner, and Mignosa fit the profile perfectly, having run a number of half marathons before and being highly motivated to fundraise.

Last year, she completed the Boston Marathon in a remarkable 3:02:43. This year, she decided to run again and began training in January. She frequently ran with Newton’s Heartbreak Hill Running Company on Saturdays—she said seeing the significant amount of people who joined the store’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF KATE MIGNOSA

community runs, including BC students, was motivating for her. She also did a few 20mile runs, which are generally considered the longest distance that one should run to prepare for a marathon.

Come race day, Mignosa was surprised by the conditions of the race, with horizontal rain and freezing temperatures that made for some of the worst weather in decades.

But that wasn’t enough to keep her from persevering.

“Hearing about the weather was kind of a shock the week before, but I stopped checking because realized there’s nothing I can do,” Mignosa said.

Thankfully, once she got to the starting line, all the runners were in good spirits, which helped her push through.

Political science majors are once again able to take selected courses through the international studies Program that will serve as credit toward their major requirements next semester. This policy was also enacted last semester because many of the nonintroductory political science courses were already filled after upperclassmen finished registering.

Nine hundred twenty-four students are currently majoring in political science, according to Kenji Hayao, the director of undergraduate studies for the department. The major has grown by 280 students since 2013, and the number of political science majors has increased 56 students per year on average. Meanwhile, the faculty size for the department has remained relatively unchanged over this period of time, hovering between 26 and 29 professors.

“We certainly think it is a problem, but not a problem that is insuperable,” said Susan Shell, chair of the political science department. “We are trying to deal with it as best we can.”

The department has attempted to resolve the problem by hiring more

faculty members. But given that it aims to hire the highest-quality faculty and that talent acquisition is a departmental effort, the process is often quite timeconsuming.

“Even though we want to have more faculty members, and certainly we’ve asked for more, it’s not like we could hire five people right away,” Hayao said. “We just would not be able to do it.”

Susan Shell, chair of the political science department, explained that the department is currently looking for one faculty replacement and hopes to begin searching for two additional replacements in the near future. The department does not, however, have a concrete idea of how many faculty members it should hire to meet the current student demand.

“Political science has been a popular major … and we are planning a careful expansion,” Shell said. “I am confident the administration will cooperate with us, given all the other demands on University resources to make that possible.”

“Political science has long been one of our most popular majors, and the quality of the faculty members within the department has been a major reason why,” Dean of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Rev. Greg Kalscheur, S.J., said in an email. “We remain committed to working with Political Science, and all of the departments in the Morrissey College, to manage course offerings in a way that will ensure that

See Poli Sci, A3

UNDERGRADUATE POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT-TO-FACULTY RATIO

Along the course, she received lots of encouragement from her friends and family. When she reached Mile 10, she saw that her family was holding a Fathead of her dog’s face. Upon reaching the climax of the race at Heartbreak Hill, she strode by BC to find that her friends were outside, soaking wet in ponchos, spirited and enthusiastic about supporting her. She said she especially looked forward to this part of the race beforehand.

“The people out there—my friends, family, runners and volunteers—make it such a great experience regardless,” Mignosa said.

She aspires to become a nurse in the long run, hopes to run road races with her family over the summer, and run Boston again next spring. 

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Kerry Cronin Date Assignment Featured in New Documentary ‘The Dating Project’ follows five people’s relationships.

BY JACOB SCHICK Arts Editor Whether it’s on an Admitted Eagles day tour, a discussion with an Orientation leader, or vaguely in passing sometime during freshman year, almost everyone on Boston College’s campus has heard of the legendary “dating assignment.” A select few freshman, placed in Kerry Cronin’s Perspectives class, are given an extra credit assignment: Ask someone out on a date, and follow some guidelines. Adding to this local phenomenon is Cronin’s famous “date talk,” in which students pack a lecture hall to the brim to listen to Cronin speak about hookup culture on campus and about the decreased prevalence of dating as a practice

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

in our culture and society.

Apparently, Cronin’s famous “date assignment” garnered enough attention to warrant a prominent place in a newly released documentary, The Dating Project.

The film had a one-day screening in theaters on Tuesday. Directed by Jonathan Cipiti, The Dating Project presents the stories of regular people and their experiences with relationships—or lack thereof.

The film follows five people. Two of them, Matt Chilton, CSOM ’18, and Shanzi Mahmood, MCAS ’18, were freshmen in Cronin’s Perspectives class at the time of filming three years ago. The others are regular people of varying ages—Cecelia, Rasheeda, and Chris— spread out across the country.

The Dating Project criticizes hookup culture—a society that prioritizes and socially rewards people who engage in short-term encounters based only on physical attraction. While Cronin, Chilton and Mahmood

NEWS: Relay for Life

This year’s Relay for Life event raised a total of $133,768.13 for ACS..................... A2

occupy a large part of this film, their involvement with the overall project is actually fairly minimal. The filmmakers had been working with and filming these three people across the country for almost a year by the time they got to campus, but the filming at BC took a much shorter time.

When the crew of The Dating Project arrived, they found themselves staying longer than they had planned.

“They were supposed to come to campus and film me [for] one day,” Cronin said. “That year was the year of the 100-plus inches of snow, and they got snowed in and so they stayed for three days, so they filmed a lot.”

This also explains Chilton and Mahmood’s involvement with The Dating Project. They asked Cronin whether she had any students who would be willing to be interviewed for the movie. Two students, Chilton and Mahmood, volunteered. While Cronin is pleased with the way The Dating Project turned out, she and her students had very

FEATURES: Edgar Lopez

little oversight on the production itself.

“They filmed us and then they left, that was it,” Cronin said. “We had nothing to do with how it played out. There was no money or anything.”

There’s nothing about the movie that stands out as something Cronin would change, either.

“It was very organic and I think they did a good job editing it, and with the music, and I think it’s beautifully shot,” Cronin said.

Cronin’s date assignment is not intended to change the world in any way, religious or otherwise. Instead, she is “just trying to have good conversations with [her] students about what’s the best way to live.” It seems that students appreciate her candor on the subject, and on her extra credit opportunity with the date assignment.

I think the dating assignment is a great way to push people out of their comfort zones and experience true vulnerability,” Mahmood said in an email. “It’s not a test

Freshman recounts epic journey from Guatemala to the United States...............A4-5

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of romance, but of personal courage and confidence which is often hard to come by in a college environment.”

Throughout The Dating Project, the audience watches over a long period of time as Cecilia, Rasheeda, and Chris struggle with loneliness and dissatisfaction with romantic relationships, while tracking Chilton and Mahmood over a short period of time as they discuss their thoughts and feelings about the dating assignment.

While she is pleased by the end result, Cronin has little desire to turn this into a regular occurence.

“Two other documentary film writers have contacted me since then and I’ve said no,” Cronin said with a laugh. “I’m done with being on the screen.”

The Dating Project has finished its oneday theatrical run, but its website contains a form in which those interested can request information on potential DVD releases, or to request a screening near them. 

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Vol. XCIX, No. 14 FEATURES..................A4 SPORTS......................B1 © 2017, The Heights, Inc. OPINIONS................... A8 ARTS....................... B6 www.bchelghts.com 69

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things to do on campus this week

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Kevin Rudd, Australia’s prime minister from 20072010 and in 2013, will be lecturing on campus today at 3 p.m. in the Heights Room. His talk is entitled “15 years on from Iraq: The ANZUS Alliance in the 21st Century.”

His visit to campus establishes the Australia-USA Inaugural Lecture series. The event is open to all students.

Monday, April 23, 2018

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Professor Peter Krause will be holding a discussion to launch his new book, Coercion: The Power to Hurt in International Politics. The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Devlin, 101. Krause will present his research on insurgencies, alliance politics, and forced migration. There will be time for a Q&A from the audience.

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The department of earth and environmental sciences will be hosting a panel discussion on issues of sustainability in Boston. Participants will include real estate developers, architects, and other professionals in the fields of climate change adaptation. The event will take place on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Cushing, 001.

NEWS Hack the Heights Puts BC Students to the Test BRIEFS

By Catherine Cremens

McMullen Adds New Collection

The McMullen Museum of Art has acquired a large collection of Coptic textiles and volumes from Donald and Barbara Tellalian, art collectors and residents of Newton.

The Tellalian Collection consists of 34 Coptic textiles ranging from the fourth to eighth centuries. One hundred twenty-nine books and folios make up the library donation. These artifacts were produced by the Copts, Egyptian Christians, who lived in the Byzantine Empire.

“We are pleased that the Tellalian Collection and our corresponding library will be housed at the McMullen Museum of Art, so that students, scholars and academics may have access and hold future promise for discovery,” Don Tellalian said to BC News.

“The McMullen Museum is delighted to receive this transformational gift of one of the finest private collections of Late Antique textiles,” Nancy Netzer, the museum’s director and a professor of art history, said to BC News.

“These works of art provide material evidence that complements the research and teaching interests of many Boston College faculty who focus on the transition from paganism to Christianity in the Late Antique world,” she added.

Before being donated to McMullen, the textiles have been displayed at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The museum is currently working to display the collection. Additionally, curators want to digitize the works to make them more accessible to scholars.

“We realized that, under the leadership of Nancy Netzer and her colleagues at the McMullen, the libraries, and the University, the collection of textiles and corresponding library would not just be buried in storage, but would be an integral part of the education at Boston College,” Don Tellalian said to BC News.

‘The Gavel’ to Return to Print The Gavel, which describes itself as “the progressive student voice of Boston College,” announced on Thursday that it will launch a once-a-semester magazine that will be printed this month, according to an editorial written by the publication’s editor-in-chief, Meg Loughman, MCAS ’19.

Tue Tran, BC ’11, founded the publication in 2009. He had previously worked for The Heights for two years as a layout editor. Five years later, the paper discontinued its print edition due to a lack of funding. The Gavel did not respond to a request for comment regarding its current source of funding.

“As a publication founded on the need to ‘re-energize campus dialogue, especially on issues that are not being talked about,’ we are always aiming to amplify the progressive student voices on our campus,” Loughman wrote.

To accommodate the return to print, The Gavel is reshaping its editorial board through the addition of a “Print Editor.” It’s also changed the position of “Online Manager” to “Digital Editor” and recently moved into new office space in McElroy Commons.

“As a publication whose lifespan has seen less than a decade, we’re pretty proud of the strides that we have made over the past few years,” Loughman wrote. “Our immense progress reflects the countless hours of hard worked logged by board and staff— both past and present.”

Asst. Investigative Editor

From 12 p.m. on Saturday to 12 p.m. on Sunday, 10 student teams worked a full 24 hours at Boston College’s second annual Hack the Heights. Sleep-deprived but determined to finish, around 80 students gathered in Carney for the event.

The event, alongside the main hacking competition, featured educational workshops, a screening of The Internship, and a Super Smash Bros. tournament. The BC Computer Science Society (BCCSS) put together the event, which was sponsored

by Google, Amazon, Accenture, Deloitte, and PwC. Hackathons allow participants the unique opportunity to create a project from start to finish within 24 hours.

Students come to work on pre-existing projects they might not have had the time to do before, but ideas can also be formed during the event.

Participants from both BC and other Boston-area universities formed teams, brainstormed ideas, and then worked collaboratively to engineer their ideas into reality. Throughout the hackathon, students worked on producing apps that gave a virtual tour of buildings at BC, created an augmented reality game with monsters, and organized students’ extracurricular involvement on campus.

By the end of the 24 hour time limit, 10 teams had finalized their projects and were ready to present them to the judges.

John Abreu, MCAS ’20, was lead coordinator and one of the judges for Hack the Heights.

“We evaluate people partly on the idea, but a lot of it is in the actual implementa-

tion of the idea, the actual project, the actual coding of it,” Abreu said.

Along with Abreu, two other members of the BCCSS Executive Board, Julian Matos, CSOM ’20, and Andrew Chough, MCAS ’19, judged the event. The 10 teams were competing for six prizes, including Best Beginner’s prize, Best Mobile Hack, best UI or UX, Best Consulting Hack, the Social Good prize, and the grand prize.

The grand prize, consisting of Amazon Echo Spots, was awarded to a group of Boston University students who created a website displaying how much information a computer accesses about its user without their permission. They showed that if a person uses Autofill to input their name, the computer will also receive the person’s location, current battery percentage, social media information, and even the dimness of the room they’re in.

The Best Consulting Hack prize, awarded to the hack with the greatest potential business impact, was given to an app called “Cloud City.” The team of four that created the app, Andre Gomes, MCAS ’18; Gary Knapik, CSOM ’18; Seunghyen Nam, MCAS ’19; and Paewoo Jeung, CSOM ’20, were influenced by the recent push for beacon technology in a lot of industries.

Cloud city alerts users when they pass beacons, which are tiny computers that are often stuck to a wall. Beacons can then track how many visitors there are to a particular place or advertise to people with the app that an event is occuring nearby.

This type of technology would be very useful on a college campus, Gomes explained, because professors could use beacons to take attendance, or students could utilize them to learn about campus events happening near them.

Kaitlin Meeks / heights Editor

80 students competed in the second annual Hack the Heights on Saturday and Sunday.

“You want to be involved on campus, and be engaged with campus, and it’s like the school talks to you while you’re walking around. It adds a lot more layers to the BC experience,” Gomes said.

The Best Beginner prize was presented to the team that created an app called “Eagle Nest.” Intended for the busy students at BC, the app consolidated all of the extracurriculars a student participates in into one place. It also created a platform for students to be in contact with club leaders, without having to utilize technology like listservs. Estevan Feliz, MCAS ’21; Brandon Larouche, MCAS ’19, and Joseph Squillaro, MCAS ’21 were given Amazon Echos for their creation.

Though the majority of participating students were computer science or business majors, organizer Bill Nyarko, MCAS ’20, emphasized that the hackathon is geared for students with any sort of background. He said awareness of such

events is key for getting other students to come.

“It’s a great opportunity to see the innovation that’s happening on campus.

If more people are aware about the tech culture at BC, it’ll be easier to incorporate them into it,” Nyarko said.

Lead organizer John Abreu also hopes to target students in areas such as the humanities or social sciences for future hackathons, which moving forward will happen once per semester.

“BC isn’t a traditional tech school.

The audience that we’re catering to isn’t traditional engineering students, and if we can make a hackathon that not only caters to this engineering culture that isn’t really that present here, we can make a hackathon that caters to all people,” Abreu said. “We can bring in liberal arts BC kids and turn them into creators, innovators, and engineers, and that would be a success.” n

Relay for Life Raises Over $133k for Cancer Research

By Anthony Rein Assoc. News Editor On Friday, Boston College’s Relay for Life raised a total of $133,768.13 for the American Cancer Society (ACS). The 12-hour event, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., is intended to symbolize a cancer patient’s battle. All proceeds go to the ACS’s efforts, which include research grants to discover a cure, patient support programs, treatment, the building of Hope Lodges where patients and their caregivers can stay, and other efforts to fight cancer.

This year at BC, 83 teams, totaling 925 participants, raised money for the event.

The top fundraising team was “Ruby Twosday,” which raised $26,682. Emma Goodwin, a member of the team and LSOE ’18, was the top individual fundraiser, raising $17,680 and setting a new BC record. BC’s Relay is also recognized by the ACS as one of the top collegiate relays in the country, and celebrated its 10th Relay for Life with Friday’s event.

The Opening Ceremony featured Lori Earl and Queenie Santos. Earl founded This Star Won’t Go Out, an organization

that supports families with children fighting cancer, after her own daughter Esther Earl died of cancer. Esther was one of the inspirations for John Green’s novel, The Fault in Our Stars. She spoke about her daughter’s fight with cancer and impact her fight had on the people around her.

“So I know all of you in this room carry your own stories. Some of you have lost someone to cancer, others of you are survivors,” Earl said. “Some of you are facing cancer right now and don’t know what the future holds, or know someone who is.

And so you know that loving and caring for someone with a cancer diagnosis can be hard, but it is also the greatest privilege in the world.”

Queenie Santos spoke next. She is a breast cancer survivor and the director of the Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester.

Her decades-long service to her community earned her the New England Women’s Leadership Award, and she spoke of her own experience with cancer.

“A few years ago, you could not tell me that I would ever be called strong or brave, but then I was diagnosed Stage III bilateral breast cancer. I was shocked, as

it was the thing that most people didn’t want to hear: cancer,” she said. “It was just so unexpected and hard for me. I think that my family took it much harder. They were frozen with fear at first, but then they quickly became my biggest supporter[s] and joined me in the fight.

“The strength instilled in me as a child came into play and I found the power I never knew existed in me. For the first time in my life I couldn’t run away from what I was scared of or terrified of. I had to stand up to face it head on, and to fight.”

Her own struggles have motivated her to carry on the fight for others now facing a cancer diagnosis.

During the event, members of the teams walked around the track in the Plex, with at least one member expected to be walking during the entire event. Several dance groups, such as BC Irish Dance, BC Dance Ensemble, Dance Organization of BC, and Full Swing, and a cappella groups, including the Bostonians and the Acoustics, provided entertainment for all those gathered throughout the night.

The Relay For Life organization began planning the event in July, and the execu-

tive board of the organization manages a team of around a 100 to plan the event.

For each board member, there are events in Relay that make all the work worthwhile. For Leah Nowak, co-president and CSOM ’18, it is the Luminaria Ceremony, held at 10 p.m., where the lights are turned off and the track is lined with lit-up bags bearing the name of someone who is fighting, or has fought, cancer.

For Izzy Demontigny, co-president and CSON ’19, it is the Fight Back Ceremony, which shows that the fight against cancer continues and that those fighting will not give up. Beyond the ceremony, it is also seeing what their work does that inspires them.

“We definitely see everything come together too when we go to the Hope Lodge and serve cancer patients either dinner or breakfast and we talk to them,” said Brittany Hopkins, co-president and CSOM ’18. “And they say how grateful they are for what we’ve done for them, and just kinda without these funds, their being at the Hope Lodge and receiving their life-saving treatment wouldn’t be possible.” n

POLICE BLOTTER: 4/18/18 – 4/19/17 Wednesday, April 18 7:35 a.m. - A report was filed regarding larceny in Stayer.

2:36 p.m. - An officer file a report regarding a medical incident at Boston College Police Headquarters.

7:09 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation at Rubenstein Hall.

7:34 p.m. - A report was fired regarding a suspicious circumstance at Boston College Police Headqurters.

9:38 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Hardey.

Thursday, April 19 12:17 a.m. - A report was filed regarding cruiser repair at Brighton Campus Roadways.

10:16 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a larceny by false pretence over $250 at an off-campus location.

11:50 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious circumstance at an off-campus location.

6:26 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Middle Roadways.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

CORRECTIONS In honor of Earth Day, what’s your favorite place on Earth?

“The Galápagos Islands.

They were unlike anything I had ever encountered.”

—Michael Osaghae, MCAS ’20 “My summer camp in New Hampshire. It’s beautiful.”

—Meg Davies, MCAS ’20

“Jeita Grotto in Lebanon! It was a system of huge interconnected limestone caves.”

—Leenah Mohamed, MCAS ’19

“Maui. The mountains and oceans are so beautiful, and the nature’s just so clean.”

—Carter Spearry, MCAS ’20

In ‘Learning Their Language: Building Trust Through Music,’ Ralf Gawlick’s name was misspelled.

The Heights

Monday, April 23, 2018

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Faculty Struggle to Meet Poli Sci Demand Poli Sci, from A1

Abby Hunt / Heights Editor

all students can best fulfill their major requirements.”

One possible solution to address the problem would be to increase class sizes, but this would contradict the department’s vision for the undergraduate political science experience. Shell said that the department is committed to offering moderately sized courses taught by full-time faculty to devote more attention to students.

But to meet this promise, the department must cap courses at a certain number of students—Shell noted, however, that faculty tend to be flexible in giving students

overrides on an individual basis when warranted.

Another solution would be to introduce a selective application process to becoming a political science major, thereby restricting the number of students who are allowed to take the courses. But the department is unlikely to follow this course, as Shell and Hayao hinted that this track would be a “last resort.”

“In general, I’m not aware of students who aren’t ultimately able to satisfy the requirements of the major, even if there may be some inconveniences in getting the courses that they want,” Shell said. “I don’t mean to deny that there’s a problem with it,

we need more faculty resources.”

Hayao suggested that the challenges that the department is facing in meeting student demand may also be due to a wider generational turnover with faculty at universities across the country. Shell also speculated that BC will add more faculty members not just in political science, but in other major departments across the University.

“This is going to be a problem, because this generation [of faculty] will start to retire in the next five to 10 years, not just in political science but across campus,” Hayao said.

“There’s going to be a turnover in faculty members, and people in the University understand that it is coming up.” n

Valdez Wins the 126th Annual Fulton Prize Debate From Wake Forest, Possible Hints for

By Abby Hunt Copy Editor On Thursday evening, four members of the Fulton Debating Society participated in the 126th Annual Fulton Prize Debate—this year’s topic: whether the United States should establish a system of single-payer health insurance—for the opportunity to have their name calligraphed on “The Great Wall” in Gasson 305 next to the names of each of the debate’s victors since 1890.

The first speaker for the affirmative team, Noah Valdez, MCAS ’21, argued that the current coverage offered by Affordable Care Act is deficient—under it, many either lack access to health insurance or face high copayments and deductibles—and that the

system is unable to control costs.

On the negative side, Nicholas Wong, MCAS ’20, pointed out that large portions of the uninsured population today are made up of young people, who he argued don’t actually need insurance, or poor people who lack insurance because their states refuse to expand Medicaid.

After making their arguments, each debater was given another chance to refute the opposing side, and the group then answered questions from the audience while the judges decided on a victor. In the end, the judges voted in a 2-1 decision for the affirmative team, awarded the second place Gargan Medal to Dewhurst, and gave the first place Fulton Medal—along with the spot on the Fulton Room wall—to Valdez. n

Facilities Plans Summer Campus Improvements

By Jack Goldman Copy Editor With students heading home in a few weeks after exams come to an end, Boston College’s Facilities Management’s work will continue on through the summer. Some of the projects it’s taking on are typical of a summer at BC—The Mods need to be fixed up, and different residence halls across campus need carpeting and painting done to freshen the rooms up. But this summer, Facilities is also continuing to work on some of the longer-term projects around campus, as well as working behind the scenes to make sure every building is at its best.

The biggest projects Facilities is working on over the summer are finishing off work on the Harrington Athletic Village on Brighton Campus, finishing the fieldhouse being built on what was formerly known as Shea Field, and making as much progress as possible on the new recreation center.

The baseball and softball fields just need to have their press boxes finished, while the third field—an all-grass one intended for recreational use—will be sodded and ready for use sometime in June.

The fieldhouse is supposed to be done by mid-July—at time of publishing, Facilities is working on the fieldhouse roof and adding a storm detention system. Following the completion of the building, Facilities will turn its attention to the natural grass practice field it plans to build next door.

The recreation center will reach the finish line around summer 2019. At the moment, the priority is getting all of the building’s steel finished so Facilities can go to work on the inside of the building.

On that note, Facilities is bringing natural gas to St. Mary’s, Robsham Theater, and 66 Commonwealth Ave., as well as maintaining dual-temperature lines that go to Vanderslice and 90 St. Thomas More Rd. Conte Forum and Alumni Stadium will be getting upgrades as well, specifically to their lighting systems. Conte will also see

the construction of a press box that will be referred to as “The Eagles Nest.” Larger office space for the ACC Network is also being put together, as well as an expanded control room.

On the academic side, Carney, McElroy Commons, O’Neill Library, and McGuinn will see specific renovations. WZBC, BC’s campus radio station, will have some work done in its studios, while Carney is receiving extra attention this summer because some of the programs currently housed in Cushing will need a new home when Cushing is torn down as a part of the Schiller Institute construction project. McGuinn needs roof repairs done before the beginning of the fall 2018 semester. O’Neill needs work done on the office space on its fifth floor, due to new faculty moving into them this coming semester. The lab spaces in Devlin that earth and environmental sciences use will also be receiving Facilities’ attention over the summer.

Residence halls will be receiving more specific renovations as well. Rubenstein is having 36 of its kitchens and bathrooms redone, Greycliff needs roof repairs, and Voute and 2000 Commonwealth Ave. will have BC-run mail lockers added to their amenities—they will run similar to the way Amazon Lockers are. In addition, the third, seventh, and eighth-floor lounges in Walsh are being redone in time for the start of the fall semester.

Finally, all around campus, masonry repair and landscaping projects will be undertaken to brighten up various areas of campus, including repairs for both the Beacon St. and Comm. Ave. garages.

“We had a good year,” said Dan Bourque, vice president of Facilities Management.

“We’ve had some challenges weather wise with the snow, the winter, and the rain, we’ve had some tough times trying to do the construction activity because of the weather but we’ve continued to push through it.

Everyone’s working together trying to do their best for BC.” n

Developing BC’s Engineering Program

By Jack Goldman Copy Editor

Boston College has one major missing from its arsenal that is common at other universities around the U.S.: engineering.

Among the universities BC tends to compare itself to, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Tufts, Boston University, Michigan, USC, UVA, and the entire Ivy League all have an engineering program.

But BC may not be the exception to the rule for long. In April 2017, The Heights reported on University plans to construct a state-of-the-art Institute for Integrated Sciences and Society. Last November, BC announced that University Trustee and Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller, BC ’82, and his wife, Kim Gassett-Schiller, pledged a $25 million gift to the construction of the Institute, which will be named in their honor.

The Schiller Institute is part of a $300 million investment that BC plans to make in the sciences, including the hiring of 22 new faculty and new courses in applied sciences, data science, and global public health. The institute will facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to the sciences, with the goal of integrating science, entrepreneurship, and other fields to help solve global problems in health, the environment, and energy. The building itself will contain new laboratories, maker spaces—a type of collaboration room that will give students “hands-on experiences in prototyping research” according to BC’s website—and some classrooms.

Thanks to these resources, an engineering program could become a reality. Vice Provost for Research and Academic Planning Thomas Chiles told The Heights last April that the creation of an engineering program was one of the end goals for the institute, but offered no time table on when that program might come into existence.

Boston College’s website Q&A with Chiles explains how the engineering program will be housed within Schiller.

“Housed within the new space will be state-of-the-art laboratories supporting integrated natural and applied science research; the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship; dynamic student maker spaces; classrooms serving students in the Core Curriculum and from across the University’s academic programs; teaching and research space for computer science; and the new engineering programming,” Chiles wrote.

To get a better sense of what it would take to introduce an engineering program to the University, parallels can be drawn between BC and Wake Forest University, which launched its engineering program for the fall 2017 semester under a liberal arts ethos similar to BC’s and may offer some hints as to how BC’s program could take shape.

There are 55 students in the initial class of engineers, and the university retained 90 percent of the class from the fall 2017 semester to the spring 2018 semester. Wake Forest’s program requires 120 credit hours:

45 in engineering classes, a combined 30 between mathematics and science, and the rest in a core curriculum with free elective options.

Olga Pierrakos, founding chair of the engineering program at Wake Forest, believes that one of the best qualities of the college’s program is that its engineering team boasts far more diversity than others do, as 40 percent of the students in the initial class are women and three of the four founding faculty members are female according to Wake’s engineering department website.

Wake Forest’s initiative was a part of a $1 billion capital campaign called “Wake Will Lead,” which targeted improvements such as an enhanced career development program, philosophy based research initiatives, and improving Wake Downtown, the buildings housing the medical center and the new engineering program.

Brett Easton, senior associate vice president of communications and external relations at Wake Forest, explained in an email that donors have given $825 million to the campaign so far, and that it aims to reach $1 billion by 2020.

“Integrating a new engineering program into Wake Forest’s undergraduate college maintains the primacy of our liberal arts tradition, while anchoring the engineering program in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, a hub for research and entrepreneurial development in downtown Winston-Salem, is radically innovative,” Easton said in an email.

According to Katie Neal, executive director of Wake Forest’s news and communications department, Wake Forest’s Innovation Quarter is one of the fastest growing innovation parks in the country.

Winston-Salem, the town where Wake Forest is located, made a transition over the past several decades from tobacco and textiles into a tech and knowledge economy, and had tax credits with an expiration date available to use. Wake Forest took advantage of these factors to create a distinguished STEM-centric campus that could house an engineering program. “[This] created an awesome opportunity for synergy with our faculty, with our students, with our researchers, and others who are on our campus,” Neal said.

Neal said that renovating the building which the engineering program now calls home amounted to $50 million, $24 million of which was covered by state tax credits.

The university also invested $10 million to refashion the building as a science, teaching, and research space.

According to Neal and Pierrakos, creating an engineering program at the university is part of a conversation spanning 20 years. Pierrakos mentioned that multiple departments, the school’s administration, and undergraduates had been pushing for engineering to arrive on campus.

“I think how it finally became real for Wake Forest to get engineering here is they had done studies in the admissions office, and they realized that we’re losing out top

students because they want to come to Wake Forest and do engineering, but engineering is not available to them,” Pierrakos said.

The other issue standing in the way of the university was bringing in a chair for the program who identified with the priorities Wake assigns itself: holding true to the liberal arts values that define it as an institution. As such, Pierrakos, who previously had experience founding an engineering program with a liberal arts emphasis at James Madison University alongside more practical experience during her two-year stint at the National Science Foundation, would be a perfect fit.

At the NSF, Pierrakos worked to create innovation out of the portfolio she managed, and called her work there a transformative experience—she was not looking to leave when Wake came calling with an opportunity she couldn’t pass up: engineering in a liberal arts environment at a research university. Integrating all those pieces at once is Pierrakos’ primary goal.

“What are those pieces that show equal value to both the engineering knowledge that you gain as well as that broader knowledge from humanities, from philosophy, from social science, from economics, from every other field that is critical, and how we’re able to approach it is from the lense of practice,” Pierrakos said. “So we’re building a curriculum that’s project-based and problem-based, and so when you offer authentic, real experiences to students at that learning environment, it’s very easy to connect those dots.”

An emphasis on practice and product alongside balancing the liberal arts education Wake Forest resonated with and worked for the vast majority of the new students.

“We very clearly sent a message to the students in how we do things: You are welcome here, and you belong here,” Pierrakos said.

Pierrakos believes that Wake Forest’s greatest challenge moving forward goes back to the initial sentiment—radical innovation—that fueled the creation of the engineering program. When she looks at other engineering programs, she notices that they can become reliant on curriculums that can become irrelevant quickly due to the rapid pace at which new innovations come out. She doesn’t want Wake to fall victim to that sort of mindset. Instead, she hopes to prioritize an idea she coins “sustaining agility,” which emphasizes staying on top of the most prevalent innovations.

In the end, though, the success of the program is dependent on blending Wake Forest’s liberal arts values within it.

“I truly believe that engineering is the ultimate liberal art,” Pierrakos said. “For engineers to tackle the challenges that they will face and for those solutions to be sustainable and positively impact our societies, they truly have to embrace all facets technical, humanistic, societal, environmental, business, philosophical, ethical, political, cultural, aesthetic considerations to succeed." n

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

El Camin o Two gunshots, a

proximity to violence, and injustice prompted Edgar Lopez’’s exodus from Guatemala/.

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gunshot silenced the music of moving carts—people chattering, dogs barking: a regular workday in Guatemala City. As if some faraway god had pressed pause on his celestial remote, the wind stopped blowing and the witnesses paused. Shock and misunderstanding turned them to statues.

Unpleased by their apparent apathy, another gun vomited a bullet from its steel insides. Then the fickle god hit play: Sandals slapped the ground, and the rubber soles of sneakers flew—this eruption of irregular, cacophonic chaos regulated by moans of pain.

Had the volume been turned up all the way, he would’ve heard the sound of blood seeping from youthful skin and the lonesome tears of sleep-deprived eyes hitting the soft dirt. But all Edgar Lopez, MCAS ’21, heard was his heart pounding.

Hiding in the bathroom from what he had seen, violence obscuring his vision at 15 years old.

The drumming of his heart and the ringing of the gunshots in his head were soon evicted by an internal scream.

Me tengo que salir de aquí. hen Lopez was 14 years old, his father told him he couldn’t go to school anymore. He’d known the day was coming—the elder Lopez had dropped out of school after first grade.

“If your parents can’t provide for you, you work for yourself,” Lopez said. “Just because they didn’t go to school, it’s harder for them to get a job. … We blame them without actually knowing them.”

Edgar grew up in an small agricultural community 5 miles from Guatemala City, the capital of a predominantly poor and corrupt country, peeled away and discarded on the outskirts with no political power and the designation “indigenous.”

For the rich, laws evaporated in the humid, forested air, and the fickleness of law enforcement allowed bribery and money laundering to reign.

At 14, Lopez put down his pencil and set to work harvesting coffee and plantains on a nearby farm in San Marcos.

So the kid with no toys toiled in the field, regularly lifting 70 to 80 pounds. When night finally fell, he and his fellow workers found only the respite of a wooden floor—splinters penetrating their sleep.

Fueled by the gurgling of their empty stomachs, he and his fellow employees engaged in grueling physical labor without much nourishment, as his employers would rarely feed them.

“I didn’t know I was being exploited,” Lopez said. “I thought, ‘Okay, this is fair.

I’m poor—this is what I deserve.’”

Soon enough, he followed job availability and left home at age 15 to work in a grocery store in the capital. He worked from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, managing the place in the absence of its owner—a significant upgrade from the physical labor his body had become accustomed to. But the store wasn’t paradise. He worked long hours, facing discrimination because of his race, as the constant influx of customers from Guatemala City felt superior to him because he was indigenous. In Guatemala, poverty affects 21.8 percent of the indigenous population, as opposed to 7.4 percent of

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KAITLIN MEEKS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

the urban population.

“I wasn’t good enough for the people in the capital,” Lopez said.

Lopez also felt the presence of gang violence, groups of youths who often came to the store to harass, steal from, and threaten him. Given that the bus station was nearby and there were lots of other stores around, Lopez received a lot of this unwanted excitement. He spent his lonely hours at the store wondering if he should join them to avoid their malevolence. They would force people to pay what they called “la renta,” in order to escape their bullets.

“If you don’t pay them money, they would kill you,” Lopez said.

Lopez’s boss was a well-respected businessman, and he assured Lopez he would be protected. For a while, Lopez stood behind his register, soothed by these promises.

His boss’s sons and nephews sat on the steps outside of the store to make sure nothing went wrong. But after the day armed men appeared from out of nowhere and shot two of Lopez’s coworkers, the sons and nephews scattered and never came back. But, trapped by his poverty, Lopez had to stay. He hid in the bathroom for a while and called the ambulance for the victims, and his boss to let him know what had happened. Then, Lopez drank a glass of water and went to his little bed

above the bathroom of the store. Business as usual, he resumed his work the next day with an unshakable sense of reality and his tentative place in it—he looked death in the eyes and only then realized how closely it had been trailing him all of his life.

“I thought ‘What should I do? I might be the next victim,’” Lopez said.“There was fear in me, every single day waking up, you know, ‘Am I going to make it today or not?’”

He began to work with one eye over his shoulder, rarely feeling safe and always feeling desperate. At the tender age of 15, he went to sleep every night praying a gunshot wound was not waiting for him just beyond the protection of his thin sheets.

“There wasn’t really an option for me.

Where am I going to go?” Lopez would ask himself. “If I go back home, I’m not going to have anything.” hough his mind was blank when he hid in the bathroom from the gunshots, every day after, his brain replayed the choreography of the shooters, and it put dancing dreams of America in his head—as he had just been hit with the realization that there was a slim chance he would live much longer if he stayed in Guatemala City.

So he asked around to see who could tell him how to get to the United States.

He found people that knew people, and

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eventually found the “coyotes,” whose hair was gray with the experience of smuggling bodies into the United States for years.

He called his father on the store’s phone to tell him about his plan—his hopeful dream of escaping a constant fear.

Lopez’s desires were brushed off with a generational hopelessness, as he told his son, “Kids don’t work there—they probably go to school. That’s not the case for you.”

If Edgar made it to America, he said, he would be digging up tomatoes.

But the younger Lopez had cousins living in Florida who urged him to immigrate to the United States. He could make something of his life, they said—get a job, buy a house, and give a real chance to his future family, instead of grandfathering them into the unrelenting grip of poverty in Central America.

He set up meetings, nervous about the sacrifice he was flirting with: giving away all of his money for the hardest, most uncertain passage of his life. Though he had nothing to his name, finding a way to pay for his journey was going to be the easy part compared with the marathon of misery he was subjecting himself to. On top of embarking on the harsh, physically demanding journey, he would have to leave his friends, his family, and Guatemala with the assumption that he would never see them again.

Nevertheless, Lopez set a date. He began saving and taking loans from his extended family, with a wildly optimistic promise to return the money plus interest.

In total, he paid 40,000 quetzales (around $5,000 at the time) for the trip, which would take him through Mexico to the States. He also carried extra money to pay off Mexican police, who, instead of jailing those attempting to cross, would play a game of “give me all you have or I’ll put you behind bars.” “L e av ing do e sn’t mean you’re going to be safe,” Lopez said.

He spent two miserable weeks on a train to reach the Mexican border, drenched in sweat from 90-degree days and the other 39 passengers squeezed in the car beside him. But for every mile the train went, the closer he got to America, the freer he felt.

The suffocation of his past eased. When Lopez stepped off the train, it was hard for him not to think that he had made it. ith New Mexico in his sights, Lopez felt the shivers of a primordial manifest destiny. Only the Rio Grande stood between Mexico and the leviathan—where he needed to go.

Lopez and his crew of 25 set out to cross the river by boat. But just as they grew used to the water slapping the bottom of their carriage, they heard the blood-curdling buzz of a helicopter approaching overhead.

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THE HEIGHTS

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Largo Lopez felt himself jump in his seat—but was glued to it by the stories of immigrants before him casting themselves overboard and drowning, having been intoxicated by the singing of Border Patrol nearby.

“They don’t even know how to swim,” Lopez said, bracing himself.

He held his breath as the boat continued across the river. The helicopter was still overhead when they reached the shore of the United States—so Lopez ran and hid under a tree, dirt being his first taste of the American dream.

He pushed himself further and further into the ground, wanting it to open up and take him in—anything to keep him from being seen.

“I just started praying, that was the only thing I could do at the time,” Lopez said.“I thought, ‘I’m done.’”

The helicopter hum waned to a whisper, then stilled to silent. The crouching Lopez stood again and reconvened with his group. The presence of the helicopter meant more security could be nearby, and that meant a higher risk of getting caught. So they did the last thing anyone wanted: They turned around and crossed back to Mexico. opez watched New Mexico fade, becoming only a mirage as he returned to the stifling heat of the old one. But later that day, the crew made another successful crossing—this time without garnering attention. At last, Lopez stood stable on American soil, but the relief that swept through his body was replaced by an icy tremor: He would now have to cross the desert.

“You walk in the desert, you are by yourself,” Lopez said.

He trod sand for three days and three nights. Possibilities of death were everywhere. Would it be the slow chokehold of dehydration or the gnawing groan of hunger? Would the unrelenting elements take him or would it be the prick of a bullet? The only thoughts going through Lopez’s headache-infested mind were “I want to get there,” and “Will I ever see my family again?”

“I was walking through the desert like a zombie,” Lopez said.

In the desert, he explained, you must forget your instincts and abandon your humanness. And to survive, you must reject fight-or-flight responses. Should border patrol show up, the smart thing to do is stay quiet and move slowly—you must give in to counterintuition. Even as Lopez’s brain screamed “RUN,” he had to program his body not to listen. If the border patrol showed up, everyone would move with a partner and meet in predetermined places. Basically, the buddy system with high stakes.

“You better walk slow and not step on any sticks,” Lopez said.

If you scatter in the desert, you end up alone and could die. So the boy who

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had become accustomed to solitude at the age of 14, saying “I’m the type of guy who doesn’t rely on anything, I do my thing,” had to stick his legs in the dust of the desert—willingly and momentarily trapping himself.

“How do you split up in the desert?

Where are you going to go?” Lopez asked.

The trip required precision and cohesion, and eventually things fell apart. A woman in Lopez’s party lost the ability to walk, her legs swelling in protest of the monstrous desert. When she could walk on no more, the group took a break. The leader of the expedition, who was transporting drugs, offered her some, but she declined. He turned back to the group, and asked them if they wanted to leave her alone to her fate, as her fallible body made their futures hazy. She had become a liability, putting all of their heads on the chopping block.

“My mouth is dry—I just imagine water pouring in my mouth,” Lopez had said, his tongue dry as the parched earth—he craved one of the cow troughs they would excitedly drink from—the few sparkling jewels of respite in the tremendous sea of beige.

The 25 thirsting strangers, who only pressed their hearts together at night to keep warm, would not move on without her.

“How can you sleep in the middle of nowhere?” Lopez said.

One man from the group took up the mass of her body upon his shoulders, carrying her until she could walk again, and the group moved on without condemning one of their own to death.

They strode on. They slept by day and walked by night, avoiding the eager shotguns of rogue ranch owners and the damning bracelets of Border Patrol. Salty and worn, they finally made it a mile (as Edgar describes it, the distance from Main Campus to Newton) from the car that would deliver them from the desert. But they were behind schedule, and if they didn’t meet the car precisely at the moment they had arranged, they would never see what they had walked so far to reach, only decisive skid marks on the road.

“RUN!” Lopez’s body was so empty, he could’ve floated into the clouds. But his legs drew on something deep within him as the hot desert wind whipped his face, and he landed in the car.

“I was shaking the whole time,” Lopez said.

Dirt and a smile of disbelief on his face, he rode on.

The elation of safety blurred the long car ride from the middle of New Mexico to Arizona, where he would wait for someone (an American working with the group) to transport him to Houston, then Florida.

Euphoria corrupted the smells of bodies that had been through the scourging and testing of the wilderness. Crammed in

the backseat of a van, face pressed to the window, all Lopez had to do now was tell his family he had made it. “[Guatemalans] know Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee,” Lopez said. “At some point I thought the U.S. was just Florida.” n Florida, Lopez felt his exoskeleton of loneliness melt away in the embrace of his relatives. The initial excitement of the land of the free and the brave wore off quickly though, as Lopez felt a familiar rumble in his stomach and couldn’t find a job. He needed a Social Security number. Without it, no one would hire him. He couldn’t even pick tomatoes like his dad promised him he would.

Lopez had not been in America long, and his ignorance of the country made him stand out. While driving with his cousin, they were pulled over by a cop, and he was asked for something called an ID. “Show me your ID,” the policeman said.

Lopez was confounded. The policeman called an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer.

“Tienes un ID?” “Qué es un ID?” Lopez said.

“You’ll have to come with me,” the ICE officer said.

Lopez was taken into custody. When he didn’t talk, fear leaving him dumb, officials told him he would be back in Guatemala in six hours. So, with everything on the line once again, he recalled the thirst of hours that turned into days without water, and looking across the rushing Rio Grande, and he decided to pour out his story.

“There’s a story portrayed in the news that’s not accurate … it’s incomplete,” Lopez said.

The officials told him that because he was a minor, he could go to court and plead his case for staying, and see if he could get a Green Card (which he received in 2016).

Holding up in a shelter in Miami, there was a 50/50 chance for him to be able to stay, which looked even dimmer given he had no one to sponsor his residence in the states, his cousins being too young and too poor to take on the burden. “[The narratives in the news] hurt my heart,” Lopez said. “I wish they knew how is the process. … Like I said, we blame first without knowing the story. … It’s the only way for people to save themselves.” opez took up a new burden: the blame of a thousand Americans. He was illegal and alien, an illegal alien. He went to court, and thanks to his social workers, America gave him a chance through the Ascentria program. Lopez was set up with a family in western Massachusetts.

At 16 years old, Lopez found that living with this new family was very different than his life in Guatemala. They were originally from Puerto Rico, and they valued education—Lopez credits his foster mom for getting him where he is today. But their culture was completely different, and

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By Joan Kennedy Magazine Editor

Lopez was not used to the charisma and love that dominated his new home. His foster mom would hug him goodnight and kiss him good morning, showing him affection he had never had before.

“I felt uncomfortable—I don’t express how much I love them,” Lopez said.

In school, Lopez, who only spoke his native Spanish, was immediately faced with difficulties. Though it was instinct to blame himself when nobody wanted to do a project with him or he didn’t know what the American Civil War was, he came to realize he couldn’t do that. He needed to rewire his body against itself once again, like he had done in the desert. Once Lopez gave himself a chance, others did too.

At first, though, his inability to communicate with his fellow students was a border more divisive than any physical one. Even if someone was brave enough to approach his lunch table for one, they would have no common tongue to speak in. Lopez was learning English as fast as he could, and even started taking AP classes by his sophomore year, but soon found he would never truly master the language of the American teen.

“When I was 10 years old I was working in the fields, when you were 10 you were playing video games in your room, I can’t relate to you,” Lopez said.

Lopez couldn’t converse about Tom Brady or Call of Duty. Even when he did make friends (and he says he eventually made a lot), he couldn’t spend his downtime with them because he had none. Lopez worked multiple jobs to send money home to his parents so that his sisters could go to school.

“I didn’t want [my sisters] to go through the same thing I went through,” Lopez said.

Despite the odds, Lopez graduated and made it to one of the top universities in the United States: Boston College. Though many miles and oceans of difference lie between them, Lopez still stays in touch with his parents. But the silence of the New Mexican desert taught him the preciousness of words and the insufficiency of time. With his parents, Lopez never wastes a moment on small talk and never speaks of his hell of a journey to safety in citizenship, saying “even if I told them, they would never understand.” He turns every syllable into a lesson.

“We don’t talk like ‘hey how are you doing today,’ we talk like ‘this is what I’m learning today,’” Lopez said.

Lopez, who tentatively plans to major in applied psychology and human development, teaches his family what he has learned about human rights. He says in his Guatemala—where there is no access to opportunity for the poor—sexism, violence, and classism are ingrained due to lack of access to knowledge.

“I tell my parents ... don’t hit my sister,” Lopez said. “When we hit a child we don’t think about the consequences.”

Lopez has to explain to his parents why

hitting his sister is wrong, why she should go to school, and, that though they fight everyday just to put food on their plates, they have rights.

Though grateful for the opportunities he has in America, Lopez finds himself a round peg in a square hole in both America and Guatemala—he fits, but not completely. He went home over Spring Break and walked around town wearing Abercrombie and Fitch with his sisters who were dressed in traditional, indigenous clothing, and he found that he couldn’t hang out with his friends, because they were all married with kids of their own.

“I’m trying to find my place here, but when I went home I didn’t really fit in either,” Lopez said.

But Lopez was happy to return to his family and the food of his motherland. He was glad to be reminded of his identity, as being indigenous is important to him, and something he prides himself on, especially given the discrimination he faced working in the capital.

Upon returning home, Lopez felt like he had proved everyone who ever doubted him wrong—especially those in the capital who thought he was not good enough.

He felt overwhelmed by his own journey, and the vast amount of luck it took him to succeed.

“I felt like someone when I went back home,” Lopez said.

Lopez’s old grocery store in Guatemala City was five minutes away from the airport. Back then, he would look up, hearing the roaring of a plane piercing the sky, and think “One day I would love to be in one of those.”

Now, he can proudly explain to tell his family and friends what it feels like to hurdle through the atmosphere at hundreds of miles an hour, above the clouds that shade the fields they work in, and near the sun that regulates their days. espite the pride and accomplishment that Lopez feels when he returns home, he is disheartened by the conversation surrounding immigration in the United States. Living a contradiction, Lopez doesn’t know quite how to correct what he calls incomplete stories about immigrants in the news.

“I think about, ‘How am I going to tell all these people that it’s not true?’”

Lopez said.

He doesn’t know how to make people understand his story when it’s so hard to imagine. Lopez points out that no one walking past him on the Quad would ever be able to guess what he walked through just to get a chance.

“Some people even think that I’m rich, and I’m just like …” Lopez said, his sentence cut off by his own laughter. “Back at home for 16 years I only had two pairs of jeans. … Here you go to my dorm and there’s a bunch of sneakers I never wear, and that’s wealth to me.” 

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*Lopez’s approximate route

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Monday, April 23, 2018

Kyra Luck Advocates for Africa With the ONE Campaign

By Shannon Lyons For The Heights Many students on the brink of the adult world—if they were speaking honestly—would argue that they simply do not have the time to fret over poverty or the spread of diseases in sub-saharan Africa. The pressure to find jobs and support themselves leaves little motivation to consider these seemingly faraway affairs. In contrast , Kyra Luck , MC A S ’18, believes considering this plight is crucial—everyone has the ability to make a difference in some way.

Luck has many qualities, such as her compassion and open-mindedness, that will well-equip her as a graduating senior preparing to enter the workforce and the adult world.

While she is excited for the next chapter of her personal life, she continues to look beyond her individual needs.

There are some dire issues within the world which Luck believes urgently need to be addressed—specifically, she’s focused on advocating for legislation that address prevalent plights in sub-Saharan Africa.

That’s why she joined ONE, an organization that campaigns to ease the steadily-increasing poverty rate and the rapid spread of diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis within the region.

Luck first learned about the ONE campaign and its mission the summer after her sophomore year. She was at a function making small talk with her father’s college roommate, Tom Hart, about The Challenge of Justice, a class she had taken for her international studies major.

Luck’s final paper explored how the United States subsidizes American farmers to grow rice and then ship it down to Haiti, undercutting the salary of Haitian farmers and forcing thousands of locals out of business.

“It just seemed to me like there was this whole oversight,” she said.

As the North American Executive Director of the ONE campaign, Hart expressed a similar sentiment.

Previously, he had actively mobilized ONE to lobby for the Agricultural Act of 2014, also known as the “Farm Bill.” Passed in Feb. 2014, the legislation gave USAID more freedom in funding the Food for Peace program, which fulfills the need for nutrition in the world’s most impoverished communities.

“I thought it was absolutely amazing to hear how his organization had did that,” said Luck. “I started thinking about how I could do the same on campus.”

Though she did not know it at the time, that spontaneous conversation with Hart was the spark which would come to blaze a path, and open many doors, for Luck down the road.

During her time abroad in Switzerland in the fall of her junior year, Luck worked at the ONE campaign, completing paperwork and familiarizing herself with the organization’s mission.

Upon her return to BC, she quickly got involved with ONE campus, a subsection of the ONE campaign that encourages students to take action against extreme poverty.

Though the group is not recognized as an official club on BC’s campus, many students are working to change this.

While Luck acknowledged that the existing international outreach clubs on campus do amazing work, she argued that students can and should be doing more in order to bring about lasting results.

“Instead of fixing the wound they are just putting patches on it,” she said.

“I was disappointed that we cannot be recognized as an official club, but administration doesn’t want anything

associated with lobbying.”

Mary Shriver, MCAS ’20, who interned with Luck at the ONE campaign last summer, strongly believes B C students would benefit from ONE’s status as a club on BC’s campus. To her, the ONE organization is not so much a lobbying campaign, but rather a group who seeks to inspire and educate people.

“It’s a civil duty to inform your representatives what you want to see in a budget or of what bills you would like to be passed,” said Shriver.

Though the BC administration has already rejected the group’s request for recognition as a club twice, Shriver and Luck remain determined.

Their unwavering dedication has not gone unnoticed. This past February, Luck was invited to attend an exclusive summit in Washington D.C., where she discussed anti-poverty policies with her state’s elected leaders, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey and Massachusetts representative Joe Kennedy.

Though she only knew a handful of people attending the ONE summit, Luck was ecstatic about the opportunity and quickly booked her flight to Capitol Hill.

Upon arriving, she encountered approximately 200 new faces—they were either fellow students from all over the country or congressional representatives.

During a meeting with Warren and Markey’s staff, Luck advocated to increase the nation’s budget for foreign aid. The BUILD Act, currently a bill in the beginning stages of the legislative process, was proposed in order to both help American businesses expand overseas and to strengthen foreign economies. During Luck’s time on the Hill, it emerged as a central topic of conversation.

While Luck said many people at the summit supported and spoke on

this act, it was Republican congressman Ted Yoho’s voice that stood out to her. Having originally been a strong opponent of the foreign aid budget, Yoho’s policy has changed radically since his involvement with the ONE campaign.

It’s that quality of open-mindedness—the idea of expanding one’s own horizon and looking beyond one’s self—that Luck relates to and deeply embodies.

“People don’t realize that our foreign affairs budget is less than 1 percent of our total budget,” she said. “From that, about two-thirds is spent on security aid that we give to Afghanistan, which is good but it has nothing to do with the programs that ONE is interested in and that I think make such a difference in building up communities.”

Upon recognizing this, Yoho became one of ONE’s biggest advocates and has committed himself to creating legislation that will spur positive, impactful change.

In addition to the BUILD Act, Luck is passionate about the READ Act. Introduced by senator Marco Rubio in 2017, the bill aims to increase girls’ opportunities for education on a global scale.

Rather than flying teachers out from the United States, the ONE campaign focuses on sustainability and the training of local educators.

The organization’s priority is on building up the communities from within and providing them with the skills and knowledge that will help them prosper.

Beyond that, Luck said the act will provide these African communities with increased infrastructure, so that, for example, young girls can focus on their education rather than walking five miles to retrieve water for their families.

“It’s not that there aren’t enough

schools,” she said. “The boys can go to school. It’s more that the girls cannot because they are required to help their families. Part of the READ program that I really liked is the focus on building up infrastructure for running water and toilets, so that young girls have more time to focus on education and not just living.”

As students at BC, it’s easy to forget that somewhere in the world, a little girl is walking 5 miles, barefoot, for a bucket of water to quench her family’s thirst.

We forget that an old man is fighting through AIDS alone, with no access to medical treatment. We forget that a young mother is ignoring the gnawing hunger pains in her stomach so that her child can eat a meal that day.

While most people are not consciously turning their back on such instances of human suffering, it is this act of forgetting, or this lack of social awareness, that Luck considers our greatest problem.

To Luck, it’s the fact that people are overly-concerned with their own immediate needs and oblivious to the more urgent needs of people around the world.

“It’s so evident that policy makers respond to what their constituents want or would like,” she said. “I’m sure if we asked them to do more they would respond but because everyone is so interested in protecting their own interests, that’s what the policymakers are focused on and as a result, these issues get pushed to the side.”

As Luck prepares to receive her diploma and to begin a new chapter of her life, she leaves the BC community with a simple, yet utterly important message and that is that everyone—no matter who you are or where you come from in the world—has the power to make a difference and join the ONE campaign’s journey. n

Madeleine Albright Unveils Personal Report on Fascism

By Jenna Rosenthal For The Heights

The auditorium was swarming as supporters swiftly filled in the rows, anxiously awaiting to hear her speak. It was a rainy Thursday night in Back Bay, but that did not discourage Albright’s eager admirers.

On April 12, Harvard Book Store sponsored and hosted Albright’s most recent book release: Fascism: A Warning, a personal account of the history and resurgence of fascism today, and the danger it imposes on international freedom and peace.

The evening began with an introduction of the abundant accomplishments Albright has achieved during her years in public service. Albright is a professor, author, diplomat, and businesswoman.

She was the 64th Secretary of State, the first woman to ever serve in the position, and, at the time, the highestranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.

She is a professor of diplomacy at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (SFS), serves on numerous foundation boards, and leads business ventures.

In 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Albright is the author of five previous New York Times’ best sellers. Fascism: A Warning argues that although the

fight against fascism was the defining struggle of the 20th century, we remain in danger of falling under its sway.

In a recent opinions piece in the New York Times, Albright writes “we may be encouraged that most people in most countries still want to live freely and in peace, but there is no ignoring the storm clouds that have gathered.”

Meeting in the Back Bay Events Center in Downtown Boston was particularly special for Albright: It was her first week on tour since turning 80 years old and she was just a few miles away from Wellesley College, from which she graduated in 1959.

“I wanted to spend a lot of time on tour in bookstores, and with bookstores, because the purpose of my book is to warn against fascism and there’s no better place to begin a campaign against fascism then in a bookstore,” Albright said.

“This is where we all come to celebrate the free expression of ideas and nothing makes dictators more uncomfortable.”

Abright was inspired to write this book for reasons beyond her experience as a politician.

“For me, fascism isn’t just an academic theory,” Albright said. “It had a major affect and impact in my life.”

Born in 1937 in pre-World War II Czechoslovakia, she was forced by

Jenna Rosenthal / For the heights

Madeleine Albright’s most recent book, Fascism: A Warning, is a personal account of the resurgence of fascism.

the Nazis to flee with her family to London.

After the war, the communists drove her and her family out of Czechoslovakia again—they moved to the United States in 1948.

As chairman of the National Democratic Institute, she is constantly involved with the struggle and tension between democracy and dictatorship.

“I lived it and I know what the stakes

are,” Albright said.

Fascism: A Warning is a product of Albright’s personal experiences as a child growing up in Czechoslovakia and as an active politician engaged with these matters on a day to day basis.

Yet, although those childhood memories may serve as the backdrop for the book, Albright isn’t letting her recent birthday prevent her from participating as much as she can in international

discourses she is one of the foremost experts in.

Rather, her late entry into government fuels her desire as involved as she can be in all of her business and policy interests—despite her age.

“Because I didn’t enter public service on a high level until I was 55 years old, it took me quite some time to find my voice—and I’m not going to be quiet now,” Albright said. n

Newton Mayor Delivers 2019 Fiscal Year Budget Address

By Isabel Fenoglio Asst. Metro Editor and

Chloe McAllaster

Assoc. Metro Editor Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller delivered the budget address last Tuesday for the 2019 fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2018. In her speech, Fuller stressed the goal of creating a budget that improves the lives of all Newton community members.

“Our mission is to build a greater, better, and more beautiful Newton to transmit to our children and grandchildren—grounded in our sense of civic duty, inspired by our shared vision, and fueled by our tradition of working together,” Fuller said.

The proposed budget is comprised of $412 million in the operating bud-

get, $62 million in enterprise funds, and $3.5 million in community preservation funds.

Within the budget there are 12 overarching goals aimed at improving Newton, which echo Fuller’s campaign promises. Achieving many of these goals will require cooperation within governmental departments.

The goals include promoting educational equity, increasing security within neighborhoods, focusing on seniors, improving public infrastructure, preserving Webster Woods, increasing affordable housing, promoting vibrant village centers, increasing sustainability, fostering culture, and providing responsive city services.

One of Fuller’s primary concerns is ensuring the financial sustainability of Newton. She emphasized the neces-

sity of fulfilling obligations made by former mayors and city councils, preserving Newton’s financial strength and flexibility, and setting forwardlooking and prudent goals.

In order to meet these objectives, the proposal raises the budget by 4.35 percent over that of the 2018 fiscal year.

The budget also includes a 2.5 percent increase in the tax levy and a projected 1.3 percent increase in property taxes driven by new growth and redevelopment. Other revenue sources will grow by $2.2 million for a collective $17.2 million increase over the 2018 fiscal year budget.

“We are financially strong. But maintaining and indeed improving our city’s fiscal position and capabilities is critical,” she said. Rooted in

Fuller’s goals is her desire to secure the city’s future.

The budget invests particularly in education, seniors, public safety, and employees, who Fuller called “our most valuable asset.”

“It’s in our DNA here in Newton that we care deeply about our children and invest heavily in education,” she said.

The budget allocates a 3.8 percent increase in funding to Newton public schools, which will result in 15.5 new positions and investments in building maintenance and technology.

Additionally, the budget aims to protect the most vulnerable community members.To do so, Newton will add a social worker and summer food program for families who receive meals during the school year. A tax

deferral program for seniors will be reviewed in City Council soon.

Fuller identified several areas in which the budget contains severe lack of funding. There is currently $330 million in unfunded pension benefits, and another $638 million in unfunded retiree health insurance.

The future budget will have to account for these gaps in funding in addition to the goals proposed, while also making sure to save room for unexpected costs, like snow removal.

Moving forward, Fuller hopes to maintain a constant dialogue with community members to find ways to improve Newton.

“Our City’s greatest strength is our community. Drawing on the strength of our community is essential,” Fuller said. n

The Heights

Monday, April 23, 2018

TOP

3

things to do in Boston this week

1

On Wednesday, admission to the Museum of Fine Arts is by voluntary contribution after 4 p.m. Visitors can sketch from live models and gallery objects as part of the Drawing in the Galleries program. A drawing instructor will provide guidance for all experience levels

A7

2

On Friday night, the Museum of Science will open its Planetarium for “The Rihanna Experience.”

The event will fuse the artist’s most popular songs with colorful lights and visuals projected onto the Planetarium’s dome. Tickets can be purchased on the museum’s website.

3

From Friday to Sunday, the Musem of Fine Arts will hold its annual Art in Bloom festival.

The festival pairs art with floral arrangements, which will be on display next to their corresponding works. Additional events will be featured all weekend long.

Women Address Importance of Political Action METRO BRIEFS

By Isabel Fenoglio Asst. Metro Editor

Boston residents gathered in a lecture hall at Harvard Law School Saturday afternoon to discuss voting rights and civic engagement.

Organized by YWCA, the event was part of the organization’s annual “Stand Up Against Racism” campaign and sought to address the need for women and women of color to become more involved in politics.

Outside the lecture hall, next to a table of snacks, representatives from Emerge America, an organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting Democratic women to run for political office, handed out information.

In between bites of fruit and cheese, participants registered to vote, signed up to participate in Emerge training programs, and networked with local representatives and government officials.

The main goal of the program was to provide women with what governmen too often lacks: community. Par-

ticipants heard from a panel of women of color currently serving in office who described their experiences running, the importance of voting, and how to get involved.

The first speaker to take the podium was Diana Hwang, the founder and executive director of the AsianAmerican Women’s Political Initiative (AAWPI) and a former candidate for State Senate, who shared her story and stressed that there is a deep need for diversity in public office.

Hwang’s first job out of college was working at Boston City Hall, followed by a stint at the State House.

“In both of these buildings, buildings of incredible power, I was always one of the only Asian American woman,” Hwang said. “This was 2007 by the way.”

While she quickly rose through the ranks, Hwang said she couldn’t help but feel invisible at times.

“When government doesn’t look like you, the message is really that you don’t belong,” she said.

In response, Hwang decided to found AAWPI in 2009, an organiza-

tion that works to fill the missing political clout in the Asian American community by creating a pipeline to recruit and train the next generation of Asian American women leaders in politics. So far, Hwang has graduated over 60 young women from the program and said that the girls she worked with inspired her to run for senate in 2016.

“On election day, I was standing at a poll in Chinatown, and a mother and her 7-year-old daughter came up to me,” Hwang said. “The mother said to me, ‘I came to vote for you because she told me to.’ It was so powerful, because I was that little girl.”

Hwang went on to introduce the main panel of speakers, which featured MA State Representative Juana Matias, Cambridge School Committee Member Manikka Bowman, and Cambridge City Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui. Denise Simmons, a former mayor of Cambridge and current city councillor, served as the moderator.

First, the panel discussed what brought them to public office. Matias immigrated to the U.S. with her fam-

Isabel fenoglio / heights editor

The program discussed the importance of registering to vote and the need for female and minority representation in public office.

ily at the age of 5 from the Dominican Republic.

Before running for office, she worked as a legal aid attorney and represented unaccompanied minors in deportation procedures.

“It was being in the court system and watching the way people were treated differently based on their race and socio-economic standing that pushed me to get involved,” she said.

Siddiqui said she was motivated to run for office after identifying the lack of diversity in the Cambridge city council.

“The underrepresentation of female elected officials, particularly women of color, is a missed opportunity for the empowerment of underserved communities,” she said. “You can’t be what you don’t see.”

Bowman echoed Siddiqui and urged the audience to get involved in the political process.

“I cannot tell you how important it is that our legislative bodies actually look like the communities they represent,” she said. “Our perspective is so important, there are so many things that go on unaddressed because our voices are not part of the conversation.”

Matias concluded by saying that no matter what, you can’t be afraid to get involved—that everyone is worthy to run for public office.

“There have been times when I have been in the chamber of the State House, and officers have come up to me and said ‘Excuse me you’re an aide, you can’t be in here,’” Matias said. “And I look them right in the face and say no, I’m not an aide, I’m a state representative.

“You are going to find that even after you hold a position, people question your ability when you walk into a room. I don’t let it get to me, and neither should you. I am breaking barriers. Help break them with me.” n

BU Professor Paints Picture of Human Behavior

By Alessandro Zenati Metro Editor

As the sun set over the towering Boston skyline, people of all ages filed into the cavernous entrance of the Boston University Photonics Center to attend an event unlike any other. Outside, Mother Nature continued to paint the skies with a distinct color palette of red, orange, pink, and purple.

There was a certain artist’s touch to the mid-April light that was slowly fading in the distance.

Yet, the attendees were treated to more of the same as they each took their seats in the auditorium. Art was at the core of the night’s conversation, but academic theories would help to explain what it all meant to.

The lecture event titled “How We See Art & How Artists Make It: Stephen Grossberg,” hosted by the BU Arts Initiative, took place on April 19 in an auditorium of the BU College of Engineering.

The overarching purpose of this initiative, one in which science and art have been placed in close contact with one another, is to make art a more pronounced and enriching component of academic life.

In many ways, this can be a challenging but nonetheless beneficial endeavour in an innovation context where interdisciplinary approaches are the best equipped to succeed.

Students, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, finished up night classes and assignments throughout the building as people filed in to hear from an esteemed professor at the university.

Stephen Grossberg is the both the Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems as well as a professor of mathematics & statistics, psychological & brain sciences, and biomedical engineering at BU. He has contributed extensively to the research literature on brain models, particularly in regards to the brain

organizations that give rise to vision and visual object recognition, cognitive information processing and social cognition, and reinforcement learning, among other areas of inquiry.

Grossberg cycles between many different hats as a cognitive scientist, theoretical and computation psychologist, mathematician, and biomedical engineer. His work has been accepted and held in the highest regard by researchers in multiple academic circles.

Perhaps Grossberg’s work that best connected to the theme of the talk—the intersection between art and brain processes—was a 2017 paper he wrote alongside Lauren Zajac, a student of his at the time, entitled “How Humans Consciously See Paintings and Paintings Illuminate How Humans See” published in the journal Art & Perception.

The paper explained how artistic decisions in paintings had a direct impact on the viewer’s conscious perception of the piece. According to the abstract, “paintings of different artists may activate different combinations of brain processes to achieve their artist’s aesthetic goals.”

This scientific breakdown of conscious perception can be leveraged to achieve a desired response both bottom-up from the painter’s creative process as well as top-down from our expectations of what the painting “looks” like.

From a very young age growing up in Queens, N.Y., Grossberg had a profound appreciation for painting and artistic expression more generally.

He loved to draw and paint, so much so that he won a number of citywide prizes that allowed him to take courses at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan—a quick 15-minute train ride from his home.

Therefore, his later research regarding the science behind why he and generations of others found the work of artists such as Matisse, Monet, and Frank Stella so captivating was rooted in a passion of his.

Police Face Payroll Scandal The Boston Globe reported back in March that Massachusetts State Police Troop E members had repeatedly been paid for overtime shifts they had not shown up for and that the earnings for members of Troop F, which had not been reported to the state comptroller since 2010, were found to be much higher than previously thought.

State officials have now released new pay data that reveals Troop F members have been able to earn up to an additional $13,000 a year—just for driving their own cars to work.

According to the Globe, the State Police policy that requires troopers to commute to work in their police cruisers so long as the vehicle is available does not apply to Troop F—whose members do not get take-home cruisers, save for command staff and troopers on special assignments.

To make up for this fact, Troop F members have been able to earn $40 per diems for commuting in their own vehicles. Records show that between 2014 and 2017, about 100 troopers took advantage of these payouts each year.

In addition to the releasing of these figures, the Globe has also reported that the director of payroll for the State Police, Denise Ezekiel, is now facing criminal charges.

Ezekiel allegedly stole nearly $24,000 in public money from the agency—attempting to disguise the funds she transferred into her personal bank account as reimbursements for travel and training.

When questioned by State Police investigators, Ezekiel admitted to the crime.

State Police spokesman David Procopio said that on Thursday that, upon further investigation, no money has been found to have been taken by anyone else in the unit and that Ezekiel’s case has “no connection” to the other payroll scandals. Ezekiel has been on unpaid administrative leave since Nov. 1.

Harvard Union Wins Election

alessandro zenati / heights editor

BU professor Stephen Grossberg discussed the impact of art on visual perception.

“As I began to better understand how we see, I began getting a bit of sense of the kind of artistic struggles other painters and artists went through in order to create the images or other works of art for which we now know them,” said Grossberg.

“I would have my own belief about what they must have been trying to do, and then I would read what they said they were trying to do.”

Throughout the talk, Grossberg mentioned that artists, although many of them did not have a background knowledge of the brain, knew what they were trying to get at.

Each stroke of the brush against the canvas is analyzed and interpreted by the brain, and Grossberg revealed many of the informational voids that we unconsciously fill in to perceive the works in relation to what we already know about the natural world.

For example, he used the Mona

Lisa as an example of how we imagine a continuation of the background that sits behind the infamous female visage.

Even though her frame disrupts the the horizon, we envision an invisible web of boundaries that lets us understand that, paradoxically, the landscape behind her exists in its inexistence.

Without this unconscious inference on behalf our brains, da Vinci’s painting would arguably lose some of its artistic depth.

Everyone in the audience sat in as students for the hour-long presentation, but it felt like an exploration rather than a lecture.

Although Grossberg was not averse to introducing theories of the mind and scientific jargon, the general sentiment in the room was that his words were revealing something quite important about how we interact with the world around us: Sometimes seeing truly is believing. n

Joining a movement of private college teaching and research assistants throughout the country, graduate students at Har vard University have voted to join the United Auto Workers—the results of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-sanctioned election held this past Wednesday and Thursday were 1,931 to 1,523.

According to The Harvard Crimson, students in favor of the union have stated that they are looking for better health care, an improved grievance-resolving process, stability in their wages, and most importantly, bargaining power.

This election marks the second attempt by Harvard graduate students to unionize: The results of a first unsuccessful vote in November 2016 were scrapped when the NLRB ruled that the students had failed to follow the requirements for providing correct voter lists.

While the union has said the university will bargain on a contract, Harvard has indicated that it has not yet decided if it will do so.

The Heights

A8

EDITORIAL

Monday, April 23, 2018

QUOTE OF THE DAY

A Possible Political Science Solution

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

- Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

The number of undergradu- intro courses were not restrict- ments. If the department were to ates studying political science at ed, they could quickly fill with designate introductory courses Boston College has been steadily students not studying political as prerequisites for upper-level growing over the years. Current- science but fulfilling their social political science classes, they ly, the department has a total of science core. The department could ensure that the students 924 undergraduates that have also typically caps courses to who want to take the upper-level declared political science as their ensure that students are taught classes are genuinely interested major, an increase in the last five in a more personal setting. Still, in and dedicated to learning years of 280 students. The num- as the number of students rises, about the topic—it would filter ber of faculty members in the while faculty size remains rela- out the students that want to take department, however, has only elective courses and not experienced the growth open up upper-level classes necessary for this influx in to majors who might get “A possible, temporary students—it has fluctuated late class registration pick solution would be to adjust times . This would also between 26 and 29 professors. Kenji Hayao, the prevent students from takcourse requirements.” director of undergraduate ing electives before introstudies for the department, ductory level courses, for said that they have attemptwhich they might be more ed to hire more faculty members, tively stagnant, the political sci- prepared. While this solution but it has proven difficult to ence department appears to face could have negative unintended secure professors with optimum a dilemma: It does not want to consequences—like discouragcredentials given that the process increase class sizes, and hiring ing non-political science majors takes much time and work from new professors is often a com- with broad interests from taking the department collectively. plicated, time-intensive process. these classes, being complicated The introductor y political As a consequence, some political to implement, and affecting upscience courses are restricted to science majors find themselves per-level course enrollment—we political science majors, which is locked out of upper-level courses, are curious to see whether esnecessary because these students while non-major peers with good tablishing introductory courses need to learn the basics of the pick times are able to register for as prerequisites would improve subject, but many higher-level these classes. upper-level course availability for electives are not, such as Politics A possible, temporary solution political science majors. and Comedy, or Modern Iran. If would be to adjust course require-

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The Heights

Monday, April 23, 2018

A9

The Danger of Keeping Secrets Examining 69

69

Kelly Christ

Peet’s Coffee - Underrated. It’s a chain, sure, but not as widespread as Starbucks: It only has locations in eight states (and D.C.). Plus, it makes really good coffee. Not that I’m an expert in any way—I know that Chocolate Bar > Rat coffee > normal dining hall coffee—but the baristas at Peet’s in Newton Center have a God-given talent. And—I’m going to preface this statement by saying that a lot of the playlists I follow on Spotify are titled something about coffee shops, so read it with an extra grain of salt compared to how you usually read these—they play really good music. Good coffee, good music—what more could you need?

Spotify and hulu, together Speaking of Spotify, it’s partnered with Hulu for a glorious opportunity for the world. Student accounts already are discounted—$4.99 instead of $9.99—which is wonderful, but now, it’s giving us poor, financially challenged humans an amazing opportunity procrastinate even more by adding Hulu to this subscription for the same price!

Good luck trying to get anything done now, but, hey, save money, live better, right?

69

Almost of all of us have things that we choose to keep entirely hidden from those around us. Sometimes we hide things for fear of being judged. Sometimes we keep the things we cherish most to ourselves.

Or, we may keep secrets to protect those we care about. Despite our intentions— whether they’re good or bad—secrets often cause more harm than good. So, what makes us willing to keep things hidden when they often hurt us more than they help us?

Think about things that you keep hidden about yourself. Often, we have many small quirks we prefer to keep to ourselves rather than share with everyone around us.

Maybe it’s a secret “guilty pleasure,” like reality television or bad pop music, or maybe we have hide our plans to avoid hurting the feelings of someone who wasn’t invited.

Or, we may even hide something we fear we’ll be judged for, such as being LGBTQ+ in a society that is not accepting of that community. In many circumstances, we justify keeping secrets because we believe it will cause less pain. We hope to protect the feelings of others and to protect ourselves from becoming too vulnerable.

In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researchers found that the average person is keeping 13 secrets right now—primarily about romantic desires, lies, and sexual behavior. Again, these secrets are often kept to protect the feelings of another person—in these cases a romantic partner. Of course, secrets are often things one thinks will end a relationship if they were exposed.

But, the very act of keeping a secret could be a contributing factor.

Keeping a secret is a solitary act. If it truly is a secret, no one else knows the

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judgement about things that we already feel guilty about and ashamed of. In the same way, the act of hiding secrets is an act of repression: By not allowing others to know these things, we eliminate any possibility of having to talk about it with others. And so, we convince ourselves that we will not have to think about it either. When we decide to keep something a secret, psychologist Cathy Eck explains that we “made a decision to accept the discomfort of hiding the secret over the possible pain of judgement.”

Not everyone has a massive secret they are hiding from the world, but we are all selective with what parts of ourselves we choose to show certain people. What we keep hidden may say more about us than what we choose to show. This is perhaps most apparent when you meet someone for the first time. We are more conscious of how others person perceive us based on first impressions.

This vulnerability leads us to want to hide the things we worry others might not like. In doing this, we discredit our own personality. We conceal things that make us different in attempt to come across as more likeable to the other person. We assimilate ourselves to who we think they would prefer us to be, even though we are often unaware that we do so. It is only when we begin to develop a deeper relationship with the person and trust them not to judge us that we allow them to see more of ourselves.

As the psychology studies proved, keeping secrets is a burden. We often think that by shielding parts of ourselves from judgement, we are doing a good thing for ourselves, yet, in doing so, we also close the door on the chance to be appreciated for who we really are. Of course, lies often hide the actions we know would hurt others.

But if we can’t accept our own flaws and mistakes, there’s no way that anyone else will be able to either.

Kelly Christ is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

Noticing Problems With the Lottery Robert Walmsley

The soup options at the rat - It always has three-bean chili and chicken noodle soup, alternates between corn chowder and clam chowder, and rotates the other one or two soups. The rotatings soups, though, don’t offer much variety. It tends to filter through the same few soups: beef & barley, Thai red curry chicken, tomato basil, tomato feta (wow, such variety!), vegan chipotle sweet potato. Don’t get me wrong, I like these soups—most of them, at least (don’t get me started on the importance of texture in soup: soup is supposed to have things in a broth for me to chew, please don’t serve me a soup that I can drink with a straw). I don’t think I could justifiably complain about this very important issue in the community if BC Dining Services didn’t have so many other soups that they serve at the other dining halls. There’s chicken tortilla, quinoa and sweet potato chili, turkey gumbo, chicken and dumpling, among so many others. All I want is to escape the uniformity of soup options at BC’s most beloved lunch spot.

things we intend to hide from others. Still, it often becomes a stressful task. When hiding something, our minds can be consumed by the paranoia of thinking that everyone knows your secret already.

In another study performed by Michael Slepian, a professor of management at Columbia Business School, researchers found that the act of keeping a secret can be physically demanding, noting that participants appeared as though the secret they carried was a physical burden. This struggle could be the very factor that contributes to the exposure of a secret. When battling with this burden, we tend to not act like our normal selves. This in turn leads others to become suspicious of our new behavior.

Often, we are hyper-aware of how we are acting when we are hiding something.

We constantly overanalyze our actions to ensure they seem as normal as possible.

But trying not to think about our secrets only leads us to be further consumed by it. Slepian notes that keeping a secret is a goal that “you can never fully accomplish.”

The near-constant anxiety and paranoia is a large part of what makes keeping a secret so burdensome.

The famous Bible verse from John 8:32 writes that “the truth will set you free.”

For the person who kept the secret, that burden is lifted from them when he or she reveals it. They no longer have to be consumed with worries of others finding out the truth. Of course, the immediate reaction to the truth can cause more pain than feelings of freedom: in keeping a secret about infidelity in a relationship, it can seem like a burden for the partner who discovers the secret. But, with time, it’s always better to know the truth about the people and circumstances around us as it allows us to make more informed decisions and to protect ourselves.

No matter how many times we hear about how much better it is to tell the truth and be upfront with others, we continue to keep secrets. In some ways, keeping secrets can act as a defense mechanism: We protect ourselves from becoming exposed to

The 7-Eleven in Andrew Square is an interesting little ecosystem. It seems to be the only place worth gathering on the busy intersection of two roads that people use to pass through this area of Southie rather than travel to it. After I cross the street coming from the Andrew T station and through the crack-filled parking lot, I enter the old chain for a Snickers bar. Instantly I’m met by the smells of microwaved hot dogs and lingering second-hand smoke. The place is packed to the brim with a random assortment of gas station delicacies, and it seems like a Tasmanian devil may have taken a few passes through. The most fascinating aspect of this place, however, isn’t any of these small idiosyncrasies: It resides with the dozens of patrons occupying the high top tables, eyes moving from their red slips of paper to the screen above displaying four rows of mesmerizing numbers.

I always assumed it was some sort of lottery game, but I wasn’t sure. There was an amalgam of people packed into the corner of the 7-Eleven on the day I stopped to watch for a moment: One man was dressed business casual with Ray Bans, the latino man across from him donned a few face tattoos, the scraggly, wiry man to his right had a dirty tattered sweatshirt, and a woman next to him looked like she just dropped her kids off at soccer practice. There was one spot left at the table, and I looked at the clock. It was 11:45 a.m.—I still had 15 minutes until I had to be at PULSE, so I took a seat. The Snickers could wait.

I watched for a moment as a new set of numbers popped up on the screen, after which a collective grunt let out—no winners, it seemed. I turned to the soccer mom and asked, ignorantly, how to play the game.

She looked at me puzzled for a moment, but answered, “It’s KENO. Twenty numbers pop up on that screen every four minutes, then you compare them to yours. Slips are here, fill it out, give it to the cashier.” She was

surprisingly blunt and business-like, immediately focusing back on the screen.

To give you a better understanding if you’re foreign to the game—like I was—it’s an automated game run by the Mass State Lottery where 20 numbers from a field of 1-80 are drawn every four minutes. The player fills out a form, and can bet $1, $2, $5, $10, or $20 on each game, and can play up to thirty games in a row before submitting another slip. You can pick how many numbers you’re aiming to “hit” from 1-12—the higher the number, the lower the odds. Twelve hits gives you 1-in-500 million odds, but a shot at $2 million.

“...but the state does nothing for them except provide false hope.”

I decided to bet $2 on one game, and submitted my slip just in time. I shuffled over to get a look at the screen, scanning vigorously over the white numbers that popped with the sky blue canvas. My heart started to jump a little—I needed 4 hits for $100. I got one, which earned me a whopping zero bucks. “Damn,” I thought with a smirk. It was fun, but it was also time for me to go.

Before I left, I saw the faces of everyone else: there were no smirks—they were already ready for the next game. I checked the clock once again, hoping I wouldn’t have to speed walk, but I had time—it was only 11:52.

11:52, in the morning, it dawned on me, on a Friday, and all these people were glued to the screen.

It’s no secret the lottery and many forms of gambling are extremely addictive, but this one in particular seems to magnify the issue.

There are scratch ticket frequenters at every local gas station, constantly scratching away with their dull quarter. But, that is at least limited by the manual action of the process.

With KENO, the rapid fire, automated nature could cause someone to lose $600 in two hours. In Massachusetts, while overall lottery sales dipped last year, KENO sales increased even further, helping profits for the state increase to an astounding $1 billion.

Even though there was one wealthier

looking man playing, the majority I saw bore a greater resemblance to the man whose sweatshirt hung on his thin frame. The poor are more desperate both economically and psychologically. According to a study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University, which analyzed the correlation of feeling poor and buying a lottery ticket, those that felt poor were twice as likely to buy lottery tickets.

With the growing gentrification in Southie, the proximity to the financial district, and slowing wage growth, the local 7-Eleven may need to add more stools.

Gambling and betting games have proved to be extremely dangerous, yet they’re actively championed by states instead of condemned. The main argument against this point—which is justified—is that this is just a negative externality of an otherwise great program that leads to the funding of other programs, like educational ones. But, in most states, much of this revenue doesn’t go back to the state but is filtered back into the system as prize money, further incentivizing addicts to sneak back into their local convenience stores. In Massachusetts in particular, about 20 percent of profits go back to the Commonwealth in local aid, which is helpful. But aren’t there other ways of raising funds without counterproductively hurting those in the present that you’re trying to protect in the future?

These Bostonians serve to benefit the state’s bottom line, but the state does nothing for them except provide false hope. Not all the profit is from those addicted to the game, of course, but the lottery system is still a detriment to those who play it, which, in my opinion, outweighs the supposed benefits.

On the way back from my placement four hours after my trial run at KENO, I walked back into the 7-Eleven to grab a snack for the T. When I was at the register, I looked back over at those blue, buzzing screens. I’m not sure if she had left and come back, or stayed for some other reason, but there she was. The woman I had talked to earlier, eagerly looking for the numbers that might be her illusory ticket out.

Robert Walmsley is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

The opinions and commentaries of the op-ed columnists appearing on this page represent the views of the author or artist of that particular piece, and not necessarily the views of The Heights. Any of the columnists for the Opinions section of The Heights can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

Rubinoff

Austin Bodetti

In my column two weeks ago, I told you that I would dedicate more time to my investigations as soon as I finished my thesis. I had forgotten, however, about a far more pressing problem: my search for employment, which continues to this day because I chose to major in Islamic studies. My hope that Mattress Firm would employ me as a spokesman after my two-part investigation of whether its name is a pun, meanwhile, has yet to come to fruition. I have thus taken the drastic step of outsourcing this week’s investigation: where does Rubinoff vodka come from?

To be fair, I didn’t come up with the idea. That honor belongs to Mysterious Friend A (MFA)—of no relation to the other MFA, the Museum of Fine Arts, which I actually count as Mysterious Friend B—who pondered why Rubinoff, or “Rubi” as it’s colloquially known, is only a phenomenon in Massachusetts. If, God forbid, you have friends outside New England, they’ll never have heard of this brand of vodka and will likely assume that you’re talking about David Rubinoff, the Belarusian violinist. It is unclear whether Rubinoff ever drank Rubinoff.

“How much Rubi is sold?” MFA texted me. “Where is it distilled? Any new potential flavors? What’s the most popular flavor?”

Most of these remain unanswered.

She did discover, however, Rubi’s opaque ownership—a question that should consume us all, much as the stench of Rubi consumes Boston College on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings.

As MFA would learn from some extensive Googling—the same way I had solved another Russian conspiracy, the Russian math schools—two alcohol-hawking businesses sell products under the name Rubinoff: Luxco, which has facilities in Missouri (ew) and Ohio, and M. S. Walker, which owns properties in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island.

On its head, this mystery would appear to have a pretty simple solution: M. S. Walker, unlike Luxco, operates in New England, so it likely distributes Rubi, the alcohol whose taste is hated but whose affordability is loved. Both companies, however, have copyrighted the name Rubinoff: Luxco says so with that stupid little ® symbol right on its website, M. S. Walker did the same in this very confusing legal website claiming that, apparently, Luxco already owned the trademark, but both companies can use it “concurrently.”

Interestly, M. S. Walker promises not to sell Rubi in Missouri.

But there’s more! According to M. S. Walker’s website, the purveyor of alcohol sources its Rubi from “the Midwest,” Luxco’s home turf.

The M. S. Walker description then proceeds to list many, many flavors: “watermelon, coconut, blueberry, cream soda, blue raspberry, cake, salted caramel, root beer float, whoopie pie, key lime, pink lemonade, lemonade, whipped cream, grape, cherry, mango, peach, raspberry, orange, vanilla, green apple and citrus [sidenote: second-worst flavor] and of course, our traditional 80 Proof.” It omits the worst flavor of all—cucumber Rubi—before concluding, “Everyone has a flavor.” True.

Anyway, here’s my theory of what goes down before Rubi ends up in one of your desk drawers (where you hide it from your RA). First, out in the Midwest, Luxco does whatever has to happen to make that repugnant vodka exist. Maybe it harvests the creatures of the swamps or something—I don’t know. Then, as M. S. Walker states, “the spirits are shipped to the Northeast where they are further refined and blended with water from the Quabbin Reservoir—noted nationally as one of the cleanest and pure watersheds in the continental United States.”

I emailed Luxco but never received a response. I didn’t even bother with M. S. Walker because some people are good investigative journalists and some are college students, but none are both.

Does this solve the mystery of where Rubi comes from? Not entirely, but mostly.

Could I actually solve the mystery? Probably. Will I? No.

Austin Bodetti is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

The Heights

A10

Monday, April 23, 2018

Finding Truth: Sajdi’s Journey From Avoiding to Preserving History She stayed away from history in her undergrad years, but pursued it after realizing curriculums can deviate from the truth.

By Catherine McLaughlin For The Heights Born in Nablus, part of the West Bank, Dana Sajdi’s first childhood memory is of her mother packing an onion in her backpack to go to elementary school, because it was believed to be an antidote to tear gas. Peculiar to outsiders, this practice was regarded as normal, as tear gas from public protests against the Israeli army were regular.

But Sajdi, a Boston College history professor, takes pride in how she has reconciled the experience of her upbringing.

“My first accomplishment is that I managed to go through all these contexts of political instability and almost danger, and come out of it unscathed,” she said. “I live a normal life, I don’t carry that with me to class, and I am able to make a safe environment for my students.”

As an undergraduate, Sajdi studied sociology and theatre at American University at Cairo.

“I did cartwheels to avoid the history requirements,” Sajdi said.

Based on her experience with it in high school, Sajdi thought history was strictly the memorization of names, dates, and battles.

She graduated without a single history credit. But her aversion to history would do a cartwheel of its own.

One day toward the end of her time as an undergrad, Sajdi passed a student demonstration on the way to class. They held signs that said “Saladin, the liberator of Jerusalem: Kurdish and Palestinian students unite!”

The protesters’ signs were referring to An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, known as Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria from 1174 until his death in 1193, who led the Muslim military campaign against Crusaders and, in 1187, took back control of Palestine, including Jerusalem.

Saladin was a Sunni Muslim of Kurdish ethnicity. His legacy was somewhat forgotten as the Middle Ages progressed but in 1825, Sir Walter Scott published The Talisman, a historical novel set at the end of the Third Crusade that portrays Saladin as a 19th-century liberal European against whom the Crusaders respectfully toil.

This westernized image was adopted by modern day Arab nationalists, and Saladin’s strife against the Crusaders is considered by some Arabs to be analogous to their current struggle against Zionism. As a result, Saladin is frequently thought of as exclusively Arab and his Kurdish ethnicity is often overlooked.

She was upset to realize that the history she had learned in school was appropriating Saladin for Arab nationalism and Arab-ness.

“It was then that I decided I must do history because I wanted to discover the truth,” Sajdi said.

Unlike her peers, when Sajdi entered graduate school, she did so as a student of history in earnest for the first time. In a moment that would come to characterize her brand as a historian, one thread of her study presented an unexpected challenge.

Sajdi wanted to do a project on a nonelite, everyday figure in the early Islamic period. She found no such people covered in any of her sources, leaving her dejected and disappointed. But one day, a footnote led Sajdi to an Ottoman barber who wrote a history book, a figure she never expected to encounter in formalized history.

Outside her coursework, she taught herself Ottoman history and studied Turkish. She ended up writing her dissertation on commoners in 18th-century Islamic history.

It was through an accident of history itself that Sajdi discovered and pursued her field of expertise.

kaitlin meeks / heights Editor

She is a self-described “podcast junkie,” and used a podcast as a textbook for a class.

Sajdi’s journey to BC has been wayfaring as well. Her first job after graduate school was at Concordia University in Montreal.

Sajdi admired Concordia because the diversity in her students’ age, culture, and socioeconomic class excited and challenged her. “[I] struggled even to pronounce all the names,” she said.

Sajdi then received fellowships at Princeton and in Berlin. She also “did little stints” in Malaysia and Islamabad, traveling both for work and personal reasons.

She received the job at BC while living in Islamabad in 2007. Her visa was held up because she had visited and studied in Syria so many times and she resorted teaching from Pakistan, as a graduate student coordinated class and she communicated directly with students via email, until she could get stateside.

Sajdi’s intellectual endeavor seeks the human change that surrounds the emergence of new media and literary genres. Her major works take these emergences and use them as doorways to the social, economic, and political changes that influence them.

“I am not interested in a new genre merely because it is beautiful. I am interested because of the emergence of the new group of people who are speaking in this medium.

Who are they? How are they using this to register themselves in the social space and put themselves out there?”

Her first publication as a graduate student was about a female poet in the 18th century who was composing in the male form. Her aim in this work was to find the background that stimulated the uniqueness of the artist and allowed her personal genius the opportunity to flourish.

Her first book, The Barber of Damascus, posed a similar question about the historical changes— social, economic, and political—that encouraged an 18th-century barber to write a book about history.

Sajdi is “always looking for new medias and new forms of expression to see a much bigger phenomenon around it,” a practice that she carries into her classroom.

Last spring she taught a course in which a podcast, “The Ottoman History Podcast,” acted as the textbook. The podcast interviews historians about their works as the means through which it presents the material. Sajdi’s goal in using this alternative text was to show students the importance and value of how ideas are researched and formulated as compared to merely how they are organized and condensed in a traditional textbook. Its producers even came to campus and did an episode on the students of the class.

Sajdi feels that podcasting could be the new media of today, reflecting the larger historical phenomena of our present. She is a self-described “podcast junkie” (talk to her about “Serial” or “99% Invisible”), and is fascinated with the diversity of podcast offerings. She loves the convenience that makes podcasts intertwined with our sen-

sory experience: Because they can be selected and listened to anywhere, anytime, the sounds of the podcast become part of the everyday occurring around us.

She also foresees herself making her next work digital, most likely in the form of a podcast. After all her study on new historical medias, she finds herself “craving to experiment” with one herself. In the pre-modern Islamic world, communication, a vocal embodiment of ideas, was a core principle of education. She feels this same principle in the idea of educational podcasting.

“There is something physical about podcasts, an intimacy in the voice, accent, and intonation that I find would add to scholarly communication,” Sajdi said.

She is still formulating this idea, but finds a seamless transition, an inevitability, in her exploration of it. She asserts that scholarship has always been vocal. Her study on the importance of new medias has led her to active legitimization of our contemporary ones.

“My aim with the project, besides the story I will tell with it, is to convince my colleagues that podcasting is a worthwhile scholarly project,” she said.

Sajdi’s ability to seek unique routes extends to her approach to teaching. She tries to get her students to reevaluate what a historical fact even is, and how that often depends on who gets to explain history and why. She wants her students to understand our ever present and active role in shaping our own history.

“It’s not as though history is just waiting for us to capture it,” Sajdi said. “History doesn’t happen: we make it. We make it by what we choose the facts to be and how we give significance to things.”

Her approach seems to be working: Siobhan Green, MCAS ’21, is taking Sajdi’s freshman core course, Religious Diversity in a Muslim and Secular World, and says that because the course commenced with questions like “What is religion?” that shook and broadened her understanding of the most basic and deeply rooted cultural concepts. “I am often am amazed at the breadth of information I have learned just simply from contributing to the discussion,” she said.

Victoria Mulkern, MCAS ’18, has taken more than one of Sajdi’s courses and finds that Sajdi’s infusion of culture into each historical topic broadened her perspective beyond the names-and-dates approach to history that Sajdi herself disliked growing up.

Sajdi’s special place as an creative part of the BC community is not overlooked by her colleagues. A BC professor of medieval history who once mentored Sajdi, Robin Fleming stressed how important it is for Sajdi’s students to see a historian that is both innovative and successful. She is both someone who thinks outside the box of her field and is “a big deal” within it.

Sajdi’s active take on history mirrors her view on the situation in Syria. Sajdi knows Damascus very well because of the time she spent there researching her dissertation on the aforementioned Barber. She also has family in Jordan and Damascus, and summered there in the ’90s. Before the war, Damascus and Aleppo were her favorite places to take people, because their beauty and richness are underrated.

The breakout of war in Syria was unexpected for Sajdi. Having grown up and always lived among political turmoil, she never thought that conflict would keep her away from anywhere, and is upset that she has been unable to return since 2011.

A major tragedy of the civil war for Sajdi is the destruction of heritage. Places like Aleppo and Damascus are special because of their age. Some of the oldest settled cities in the world, they possess what Sajdi calls “accumulated civilization.”

Islamic history is only the top layer of a vastly interconnected history that exists simultaneously there.

Before the war, downtown Aleppo was dotted with historical merchants’ hotels and markets, and was home to one of the largest and most important covered bazaars in the world. It was also the location of the world’s first coffee shop. Much of that is now destroyed, as combat and heavy bombing took root in the heart of the city.

Among this conflict, Sajdi feels that it is her duty to preserve Syria’s richness in the remembrance of young people.

“People of your generation only know Syria as a warzone—they only know it from documentaries or news reports. It becomes image of only war, destruction, and cruelty, and a battle between the regime and the rebels and ISIS,” Sajdi said. “For me these images are very recent. They don’t constitute my understanding of Syria.”

Sajdi feels that it is her obligation to educate people about the true Syria in every way that she can, in and out of the classroom. The final project for students in her freshman core class, called their “reconstructive project,” is to use records to write a history of a now-destroyed building in Aleppo with a focus on its non-Muslim background.

Sajdi feels she must write her next book on Damascus. Accentuating the long-term history of the city, it will target a reader beyond the professionally academic audience so as to expose Syria’s layers of accumulated culture, plurality, and diversity that are being physically and mentally erased by the current war.

In seeking to preserve a whole image of Syria, rather than the momentary, if jarring, ones of today, Sajdi reminds us of our active role in forming historical remembrance and of the importance of keeping history alive even when it is quite literally under attack. n

Mangolia Bakery, As Seen on ‘Sex in the City,’ Opens Doors in Boston As of March 29, Mangolia’s banana pudding, pies, cheesecakes, cakes, and other desserts have expanded to Faneuil Hall.

By Chloe McAllaster Asst. Metro Editor Upon opening the doors to Faneuil Hall Marketplace, it’s easy to believe the plenitude of restaurants the building hosts. Amid the aroma of pizza, enchiladas, gyros, and barbeque, one sweet scent stands out from the rest. Look to the left, and the source becomes immediately apparent: Magnolia Bakery.

Magnolia Bakery opened its first store in 1996 in the West Village of New York City. Since then, the company has expanded to include 25 bakeries worldwide, but it was not until this spring that Boston came to be included on that list.

Made famous by an appearance on Sex and the City, Magnolia is revered for its cupcakes and bestselling banana pudding. Also on the menu are pies, mini cheesecakes, cakes, cookies, icebox desserts, brownies, and bars of all different flavors.

According to Bobbie Lloyd, chief baking officer, all six of the New York City locations are neighborhood bakeries. As such, all products are baked fresh on site daily.

In the United States, Magnolia has bakeries in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and now Boston. Lloyd said the convenience of Boston being on the Eastern seaboard was one key factor in deciding to open a location in the city.

“It’s easiest for us to get from New York to Boston to Washington, D.C.,”

she said.

Boston has personal significance for Lloyd, whose career launched there.

“For me personally it’s sort of a homecoming in that I lived in Boston for a number of years,” she said. “I went to culinary school in Boston. I opened my first restaurant in the Boston area.”

The Faneuil Hall Marketplace location is made unique by its historical significance. Designers worked with the physical characteristics of the existing space to create a look that both honors Faneuil Hall and remains consistent with the atmosphere that defines all Magnolia Bakery locations.

“I think we sort of hit that beautifully by our light fixtures, our tiles, our color palette. You walk in and you know it’s Magnolia Bakery,” Lloyd said.

The Faneuil Hall Marketplace location opened on March 29, with all of the classic baked treats filling the displays.

“We always launch any store opening with all of our beloved, classic Magnolia Baker y items from our vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet cupcakes to our famed banana pudding,” Lloyd said.

Exclusively for the Boston location, Magnolia created the Boston cream pie banana pudding. The dessert is comprised of layers of pudding, bananas, vanilla wafers, and chocolate fudge.

“It’s really fun and it really does taste like the best version of a Boston cream pie you’ve ever had,” Lloyd said. “It’s quite delicious.”

Chloe McAllaster / Heights Editor

Mangolia Bakery has expanded to 25 bakeries worldwide, with bakeries in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and now Boston.

The new location has been extremely well received by the public, according to Lloyd. The opening day had long lines for hours on end, and many attended a private event on April 17 to celebrate the opening. Entitled “A Taste of Magnolia Bakery,” the event featured samples of many treats, including the Boston cream pie banana pudding, and an opportunity to meet Bobbie Lloyd.

The new Boston cream pie banana

pudding has been particularly popular, with Magnolia patrons taking to social media to share their love for the dessert.

“From all the comments I’ve seen on social media people are loving the Boston cream pie banana pudding,” Lloyd said. “The response to it has been pretty phenomenal—people are loving it.”

Magnolia doesn’t plan to stop at Faneuil Hall Marketplace with its Bos-

ton expansion. According to Lloyd, the company has a long term goal for one or two other metro Boston locations.

While she did not specify where these bakeries will be, Lloyd has lived in Brookline, Cambridge, and Back Bay and expressed a particular appreciation for those communities.

“The outpouring of love for Magnolia has been pretty spectacular,” Lloyd said. “I don’t want to say I didn’t expect it, but I was still surprised.” n

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

SPORTS

B1

@HEIGHTSSPORTS

17-0

ANDY BACKSTROM / HEIGHTS EDITOR

With Sam Apuzzo’s last-second game-winner, BC pulled out a thrilling victory over Syracuse, locked up the first undefeated season in program history, and secured the No. 1 seed in the ACC Touranament.

BY JACK GOLDMAN Copy Editor A frigid night on Newton Campus couldn’t slow down one of the best lacrosse teams in the country Thursday night, but a scorching hot goaltending performance came extremely close.

Syracuse 12 A last-second goal from Sam Boston College 13 Apuzzo, her 68th of the season and fifth of the game, lifted Boston College lacrosse over Syracuse, officially crowning the Eagles undefeated ACC regular season champions for the first time in program history. The goal, which hit the back of the net with just 1.7 seconds remaining, sealed BC’s 13-12 victory.

Ironically, on a day when No. 2 BC (17-0, 7-0 Atlantic Coast) was coronated, the star of the game could be found on the opposing team. No. 16 Syracuse (8-8, 0-6) goalie Asa Goldstock was out of her mind, notching 12 saves—including nine in the second half alone—to keep the Orange alive.

Apuzzo’s performance wasn’t too far behind Goldstock’s, though. She added three assists to her impressive performance, wrapping up a 99-point regular season. She was responsible for BC’s final three scoring plays of the game and assisted two of the three previous goals as well.

“This year has just been such a whirlwind,” Apuzzo said postgame. “Going into Syracuse, we obviously knew they were going to be a tough team—they’re always a really big

competitor. Everyone played their butts off, especially that last five minutes. I’m so excited I can’t even really express what I’m feeling.”

Those last five minutes were the first time all game that the Eagles found themselves losing, although they weren’t in the hole for very long. With 5:19 remaining, Syracuse’s Vanessa Constantino found Sam Swart, who scored her 32nd goal of the season and her second of the game to give the Orange a 12-11 lead.

BC soon recovered: Two minutes later Dempsey Arsenault skipped a pass by Tess Chandler, but the fifth-year senior tracked the ground ball just before it slipped out of

See Lax vs. Syracuse, B3

Without a Doubt, BC Lacrosse Deserves No. 1 Ranking

ANDY BACKSTROM Sam Apuzzo made history on Thursday night, and she did it while falling on her back. With the clock winding down in Boston College lacrosse’s regular season finale against Syracuse, the junior received a pass from Taylor Walker, immediately turned, faked out both Ella Simkins and Orange goaltender Asa Goldstock, and whipped an off-balanced shot into the left-corner of the net. After hitting the ground, Apuzzo flipped over onto her stomach, and slapped her hand against

INSIDE SPORTS

the ground in jubilation before being swarmed by her teammates.

The split-second goal—scored with just 1.7 ticks remaining in the game— broke a 12-12 tie, all but guaranteeing the Eagles a perfect 17-0 record and the outright ACC regular season title.

Not only that, but it gave Apuzzo her 15 seconds of fame the next day on SportsCenter’s Top 10.

For the first time in program history, BC is entering the ACC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Dating back to 2017, head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein’s team has won 21 of its last 22 games and is currently looking down at the rest of the country in the NCAA’s RPI rankings. Still, it appears as if it hasn’t earned everyone’s respect: As of Sunday, BC has yet to overtake Stony Brook as the top team in the Inside Lacrosse Poll—the sport’s equivalent to football

and basketball’s AP Poll—despite terrorizing the best conference in college lacrosse. Although the Seawolves—the only other undefeated team in the nation—have the Eagles beat on paper, it’s time for the voters to hand over the keys to a team that truly deserves the No. 1 ranking.

Ever since reigning national champion Maryland lost to North Carolina in overtime back on Feb. 24, Stony Brook has made a home for itself atop the weekly poll. To the casual sports fan, it might look a little odd to see a team from the American East holding down the fort, day in and day out, but it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

The Seawolves are five-time defending conference champions and have booked a trip to each of the past five NCAA Tournaments. Not to mention

that in every one of those seasons, they have won 17 or more games. Last year, Stony Brook eclipsed the 20-win mark for the first time in program history, prior to falling to the eventual national champions in the Elite Eight by one goal. But this year, head coach Joe Spallina’s team has taken its game to another level.

Unlike BC, Stony Brook has yet to complete its regular season, but has already compiled seven victories over top-25 opponents—that said, only three of them have been ranked 15th or better. Still, the reason why the Seawolves turned heads in the winter was largely due to the fact that they knocked off four-straight ranked teams to kick of the 2018 campaign. And they did so in dominant fashion: Stony Brook outscored the likes of Southern California, Stanford, Denver, and Northwestern,

BASEBALL: BC Falls to FSU at Fenway SOFTBALL: Eagles Drop Opener to Irish

60-32. The crazy thing is, the American East representative was on the road for three of those four games.

As far as numbers go, the Seawolves’ season has been just as remarkable since then. Stony Brook is posting 17.29 goals per game—second among all Division I teams—and only allowing 6.07 on the other side of the field, 1.64 less than every other team in the country. Additionally, the Seawolves lead the nation in shot percentage, fewest turnovers, points per game, and scoring margin—winning games by an average of 11.21 goals, Stony Brook has found the back of the net 20 or more times in a single contest on six separate occasions this season. Individually, the Seawolves are equally dominant.

See Cream of the Crop, B3

SPORTS IN SHORT................................... B2

The Eagles three-game win streak in the ALS Awareness Game Notre Dame scored four runs in the first inning on Friday ALS AWARENESS GAME.......................... B3 came to a screeching halt against the No. 17 Seminoles..........B3 evening and never looked back, eventually winning, 8-4.......B4 SOFTBALL........................................... B4

The Heights

B2

Monday, April 23, 2018

BASEBALL

After Closing Seven-Run Gap, BC Falls to No. 17 FSU in Extras

By Andy Backstrom Sports Editor

Down one, with two men on, Gian Martellini stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 11th inning of Friday night’s series opener against Florida State 13 Florida State Boston College 12 with a chance to record his first walk-off hit of his collegiate career—one that would not only cap a monumental come-from-behind effort, but secure Boston College baseball’s sixth win over the Seminoles in program history.

The junior worked a full count before slicing the sixth pitch of the at-bat to right field. Everyone’s eyes were on FSU right fielder Steven Wells as he tracked the fly ball, and reasonably so. Up to that point, the Seminoles had committed six errors, a handful of which were a byproduct of bloopers to right field. This time, though, Wells got under the ball for the putout, wrapping up the four hour and 50-minute slugfest—a game that could have very well been over hours earlier had it not been for a persistent Eagles comeback. BC closed a seven-run gap, scoring at least one run in six of the final seven frames, only to drop its fifth extra-inning affair of the season, 13-12.

Two days removed from a five-run win over Dartmouth, BC (13-24, 5-14

Atlantic Coast) hit the ground running.

Jacob Stevens, who was making his 40th career start—the most in program history—pitched a no-hit first inning, recording the first of his three strikeouts on the night. Then, during the bottom half of the inning, Jack Cunningham and Martellini drew a pair of two-out walks, ultimately setting Jake Goodreau up for an RBI double down the right field line. Just like that, the Eagles were leading No. 17 FSU (27-12, 9-9).

Soon enough, Seminoles starting pitcher Drew Parrish settled in, allowing just one hit over the course of the next three innings of play. But Jackson Lueck stole the spotlight.

In the top of the third, the Orlando, Fla. native blasted a two-run homer, easily clearing the right field fence. Minutes later—after FSU tacked on one more run—he made up for a few early-game fielding blunders with a web-gem in shallow left field.

Meanwhile, Stevens was falling apart.

Seven walks over four innings didn’t bode well for the junior, and after the Seminoles loaded the bases to start the fifth inning, BC head coach Mike Gambino decided to pull the plug. In relief, Zach Stromberg didn’t make much of a difference, though—in fact, right off the bat, he walked in the Seminoles’ fourth run of the game. Stromberg wasn’t getting out of the jam anytime soon. After

misplaying a bunt attempt from the next batter, a bad throw from the reliever led to two more Seminole runs.

Trailing, 8-1, the game was already slipping away from BC. Gambino and Co. needed to retaliate—and, in a way, they did.

A throwing error from Salvatore trying to turn two resulted in a second run for the Eagles, and with the bullpen rolling in the sixth, Joe Suozzi sparked the offense with a solo shot to center field. The sophomore sprinted around the bases, as his teammates rose to their feet.

“These guys love Joe Suozzi,” Gambino said. “Everything he does jumpstarts us, but especially [tonight, because] that ball was annihilated.”

Both teams scored a pair of runs in the seventh, stalling the Seminole lead at five. On Galland’s opposite-field fly ball to shallow right field, Wells, Albert, and Bournigal all called each other off, and the ball harmlessly dropped in front of the trio of FSU fielders. Cunningham, who recorded three hits and four RBIs on the night, then rocketed a single up the middle, sending both Palomaki and Galland home, chasing Parrish in the process.

Back within five, BC used a trio of singles, a hit-by-pitch, a sac fly, and a couple of FSU errors to polish off a three-run eighth inning. The Seminoles’ fielding struggles

reached an all-time high when Martellini hit a ground ball to shortstop. Once again, FSU went for the double play, and the ambition backfired, as Bournigal’s throw to first rolled past the bag. Naturally, Martellini—with his eyes set on second—rounded the base as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Cunningham trotted to third, and Galland crossed the plate to make it a 10-8 game.

With two runners on in the ninth, Anthony Maselli, who entered the game with a mere three hits all season, smashed a double off the left-center wall, bringing in the equalizing runs. The remaining two batters struck out swinging, but Maselli’s two-bagger was enough to extend the game.

Lane tossed a scoreless 10th, but ran into serious trouble in the 11th. The junior walked three of the first four batters he faced in the inning, handing FSU an easy run. Then, in his fourth career at-bat, Cobi Johnson ripped an RBI single through the right side. An off-balance Palomaki got the force at home on the very next play, but Lueck soon lofted up a deep sacrifice fly to center field to plate the Seminoles’ third and final run of the frame.

BC found itself in another hole and in dire need of offense. Weathering a brutal mid-season slump, Alu didn’t let his teammates down, launching a double

into the right-center gap. The ball bounced off the wall, and as soon as Wells tried to relay it to his cut-off man, it fell out of his throwing hand. The error gave Alu a chance to stroll into third. Suozzi drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the corners, and Maselli made the most of the opportunity.

The senior infielder roped a single through the right side, scoring Alu. Palomaki proceeded to tee up a sacrifice bunt, pushing both runners into scoring position. After a Galland punchout, Cunningham buckled down and hit a single right back to the pitcher. Because the ball bounced off Clayton Kwiatkowski’s glove, Suozzi had no trouble running home. The rally ended there, though. Martellini flew out, falling one hit short of a remarkable finish.

Like any coach, Gambino is never happy to see his team lose. But the eighth-year skipper was pleased with the way his guys fought, hustling on the basepaths, forcing errors, and—most importantly—digging themselves out of their own grave.

“No matter what’s going on, you know these guys are going to play really hard and fight and compete,” he said. That’s why people like rooting for ’em. I thought we lost that for a little while—today we got it back.” n

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Bernabei-McNamee Hires Former Albany Assistants Griffith, Cohen

By Andy Backstrom Sports Editor Boston College head women’s basketball coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee has been under contract for all of nine days, and she’s already making herself feel right at home. On Thursday, she announced the hiring of assistant coaches Yolanda Griffith and A.J. Cohen—both of whom worked for Bernabei-McNamee during her two-year tenure at Albany.

“I am extremely excited that Yolanda and A.J. will be joining me on the Heights,” Bernabei-McNamee told BCEagles.com.

“They are both passionate coaches who

understand the winning culture that we want to instill in our current and incoming players.”

Before serving as an assistant in upstate New York, Griffith climbed her way up the coaching ranks following an 11-year WNBA career. After wrapping up her time in the pros with 4,238 points, 2,444 rebounds, 529 steals, 453 assists, and 323 blocks, Griffith was hired as an assistant at Dartmouth in 2011. She spent two years in Hanover, N.H., but ultimately left the Ivy League for Lafayette in 2013. Her days with the Leopards were severely limited, though. Perhaps using the Patriot League school as a pit stop, Griffith then moved

to Massachusetts for another two years, prior to catching Bernabei-McNamee’s attention.

The seven-time All-Star and 1999 WNBA MVP was voted as one of the top15 best players in league history back in 2011, and for good reason. Not only did she shoot 50.6 percent from the floor for her career, but she also has a championship pedigree: Griffith led the Sacramento Monarchs to the 2005 WNBA title and is a two-time (2000, 2004) Olympic gold medalist. To top it all off, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 in her first year of eligibility.

Cohen didn’t have nearly the same

success on the hardwood, but his ties with Bernabei-McNamee stretch further than his counterpart’s. The 26-year-old coach served as a graduate assistant under Bernabei-McNamee at Pikeville for two years.

While in the NAIA, the two teamed up to record 63 wins, en route to back-to-back National Tournament berths and a Final Four appearance in 2016.

The assistant gig at Pikeville was one of Cohen’s first jobs coming out of college. A 2013 Louisville graduate, the Pittsburgh, Pa. native worked for the Cardinals’ women’s basketball team as an undergraduate, assisting with video coordination, opponent scoring breakdowns, and even

practice itself.

“Coach A.J. has a tireless work ethic and an amazing amount of energy,” McNamee said. “He has an infectious personality that makes it easy for him to connect with recruits and develop players.”

At Albany, Griffith and Cohen helped Bernabei-McNamee lead a Great Danes team to a combined 45-20 record and back-to-back postseason appearances, including a spot in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. But before they can even think about reaching similar heights in Chestnut Hill, they’ll have to figure out how to

rebuild BC—a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2010-11. n

An ACC Title and Perfect Regular Season Merit the No. 1 Ranking Cream of the Crop, from B1 Kylie Ohlmiller, the country’s leading scorer, has tallied 111 points this year—12 more than Apuzzo, even though she’s played two games less than the Eagles attacker. Her sister, Taryn Ohlmiller, isn’t too far behind either—the sophomore has racked up 76 points this season, sneaking her way into the nation’s top-15 scoring ranks.

Overall, Stony Brook has three top-15 scorers and another that’s on pace to log at least 40 goals by the year’s end.

Since the first week of March, Stony Brook has simply been riding the wave, rolling through conference play for the seventh year in a row. The Seawolves haven’t lost an American East game in five years and are 39-2 against conference opponents since 2012. As mind boggling as that statistic might be, it’s even more telling of Stony Brook’s tainted resume.

In terms of RPI, the Seawolves drop all the way No. 8 in the nation. That’s staggering in itself, but what’s even more shocking is the fact that they are only ones in the conference that rank inside the top 50. To put that in perspective, no ACC teams can be

found outside the top 50—in fact, four have cracked the top 20, more than any conference in the sport. Just to be clear, RPI stands for rating percentage index—it’s a calculated measure that weighs a team’s winning percentage, its opponents’ winning percentage, and the winning percentage of those opponents’ own opponents. Essentially, the metric system factors in strength of schedule when sorting the top teams in the country.

In a way, Stony Brook’s hands are tied. It can’t do anything about the American East’s lack of talent or prestige. But the Seawolves’ performance in the NCAA Tournament just goes to show that their regular season domination hasn’t translated to the Big Dance.

In its five tournament appearances, Stony Brook has posted a .500 record and only reached the Elite Eight once, despite entering the field with a seed two of the past three years.

As expected, the Seawolves have had no trouble downing teams like Towson and Bryant. But when it comes to the big boys, Stony Brook has barely anything to brag about. Of its five NCAA Tournament wins, three have come against non-Power Five oppo-

nents. Even worse, it’s a combined 1-4 versus ACC/Big Ten teams. Interestingly enough, the Seawolves’ lone victory was against BC back in 2016—it’s worth noting, though, that the Eagles were in the midst of their worst season in the Walker-Weinstein era.

There’s no question that Stony Brook is one of the best teams in the sport, but its strength of schedule and continued struggles in May should serve as a cause for concern. Even when simply considering the season at hand—what media voters do on a weekly basis—it’s still pretty clear that the Eagles are the frontrunners. Just look at who they’ve been up against.

Over the course of the past 35 years that the NCAA has crowned a national champion in women’s lacrosse, the ACC has claimed 14 titles, more than any other league in the country. Granted, Maryland—now in the Big Ten—won 11 of those, but it still speaks to the conference’s heavyweight standing. At the moment, six of the eight ACC teams are ranked somewhere inside the top 20, and Duke is listed in the receiving votes section of the poll. Syracuse alone is a perfect exemplification of the conference: The

Orange is a mediocre 8-8 and a meager 0-6 in league play, but still finds itself as the No. 19 team in the country—one that nearly upset BC this past week.

Game by game, the Eagles have plowed through the conference, picking off opponents, one by one. Defeating ACC foes—including UNC for the first time since 2015—by an average of 4.71 goals per game, BC quickly rose to the top of the conference standings.

The Eagles, who hadn’t finished the season with a winning ACC record in four years, set a new program mark with seven conference victories.

Outside the ACC, BC lived up to its reputation, beating four ranked opponents, notably USC and Navy—teams that the Eagles eliminated last year en route to the National Championship.

All in all, the Eagles’ 10 victories over ranked opponents, three more than Stony Brook, are more than enough to the tip scale. It’s not like BC is terribly far behind the Seawolves statistically either.

Apuzzo’s accomplishments are well documented. The selfless junior leads the team with 99 points, including 31 assists. Dempsey Arsenault and Kaileen Hart—who come in at 12th

and 27th, respectively, on the nation’s scoring chart, round out a three-headed monster that rivals the best scoring attacks in the country. Throw in Tess Chandler, Emma Schurr, and Walker, and you have six players on the roster with 15 or more goals, two more than the Seawolves. Even without Kenzie Kent, who is redshirting her senior season to play a full 2019 campaign, the Eagles’ offense is as versatile, if not more so, than it was a year ago.

As a whole, BC’s 17 wins are five more than every other team in the league and two more than anyone else in the country. Without skipping a beat, Walker-Weinstein has transformed a playoff run into long lasting success. In just two seasons, the sixthyear coach has rebranded the program.

Who knows, maybe the Eagles will meet Stony Brook in the title game.

Yet, for now, BC—last year’s Cinderella—is undoubtedly the best team, not only in college lacrosse’s most distinguished conference, but the entire nation.

Andy Backstrom is the sports editor for The Heights. He can be reached on Twitter @AndyHeights.

SPORTS in SHORT Numbers to know

ACc SOFTBALL Standings Atlantic Florida State Boston College Notre Dame Louisville Syracuse NC State Coastal Pittsburgh North Carolina Georgia Tech Duke Virginia Tech Virginia

Conference

overall

15-2 11-6 12-8 7-9 8-11 5-15

38-8 24-18 29-16 27-17 25-18 22-25

13

Combined runs allowed in the fifth inning alone in baseball’s three-game series against No. 17 Florida State, all losses.

99

Points for Sam Apuzzo in the regular season, the second-highest total in the country.

14-6 14-7 10-8 10-11 6-14 3-18

26-16-1 27-23 25-21 26-23 20-27 12-34

4

Triples this year for Lexi DiEmmanuele after a 3-for-4 performance against Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon.

QUote of the week

“Honestly, in the moment, it was like in slow motion” — Acacia Walker-Weinstein,

after Sam Apuzzo’s gamewinning goal with 1.7 seconds remaining against Syracuse.

The Heights

Monday, April 23, 2018

B3

SOFTBALL

Martinez Leads Eagles to First Series Win Over Irish Since 1998

By Bradley Smart Assoc. Sports Editor With two Notre Dame runners on base and the tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh inning, Boston College softball right-hander Allyson Frei found herself, yet again, in a pivotal moment. The redshirt junior struggled mightily on Friday, bounced back on Saturday, and was now aiming to finish off an Irish team that, historically, had the Eagles’ number.

She beared down, striking out M.K. Bonamy, and then, in a moment comparable to her complete game shutout of Florida State the week prior, got Alexis Holloway to fly out to end the game and secure a huge 9-6 win for their fourth conference series win of the year.

Emme Martinez paved the way for BC (25-18, 11-6 Atlantic Coast), piling up three hits and driving in five runs—three coming via the long ball—out of the fivespot in the lineup. The freshman easily set a career-high in runs driven in, accounting

for over half of the Eagles’ scoring in the win. The lineup enjoyed a productive day overall, as all but two batters recorded hits, consistently crowding the basepaths.

Frei took over for Jessica Dreswick, who had an uncharacteristically poor start, and went four and two-thirds innings to get the win and even her record. After failing to make it out of the first inning in the series opener against the Irish (29-18, 12-8), Frei has responded emphatically—she didn’t allow a run and scattered a pair of hits in the extended relief outing. Since Friday, Frei turned in 10 and two-thirds innings of work against Notre Dame and allowed just two earned runs while striking out six.

Dreswick, in a outing similar to Frei’s aforementioned Friday start, was charged with six runs, five earned, in just two and a third innings. The senior had arguably her worst outing in quite a few appearances, as the last time she gave up six runs was March 23 against Virginia. Like that game, though, she was backed up by a steady offensive effort.

Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of a sacrifice fly from Katie Marino, but the Eagles quickly responded in kind. The Irish started Holloway, who had impressed in Friday’s win with seven strikeouts, but she couldn’t find the same success the second time around.

The first three BC batters reached, as Lexi DiEmmanuele singled, Chloe Sharabba walked, and Annie Murphy followed with an RBI single up the middle to even the score.

Sharabba would then score after an error on Irish catcher Madison Heide before Martinez drove in her first run, punching a single through the left side. Handed a tworun lead, Dreswick returned to the mound and immediately gave it back. She walked Cait Brooks to open the second then gave up a double to Melissa Rochford to put the pair in scoring position. After two quick outs, she seemed poised to escape the inning, but instead coughed up a two-run, game-tying single to Alexis Bazos.

Then, the same scenario played out

again. Dreswick was given a one-run lead heading into the third after Murphy hit an RBI double into right-center, but she soon ran into trouble—issues with control cost the ace. With one out, Dreswick loaded the bases via a pair of singles and walk.

The Irish were seeing the ball exceptionally well, as another single—a two-run hit to right-center—from Bonamy gave them the lead.

BC head coach Ashley Obrest then opted for Frei, and she was greeted rudely as a perfectly executed double steal saw Rochford race home. Still, it was the last run Notre Dame would manage, as the Irish quickly found themselves overmatched

by Dreswick’s replacement and the entire Eagles lineup.

While Holloway needed just 15 pitches to get through the third, BC made things difficult in the fourth. After Olivia Markopoulous and Murphy both reached via walks with two outs, a run came in after an error in left—a costly one that prevented Holloway from escaping the inning with

the lead. The error was then magnified when Martinez stepped to the plate and launched a three-run shot to right-center, bringing in three and handing the Eagles the lead and ultimately, the game.

Martinez added an insurance run with a single in the seventh, capping the ninerun outburst that secured BC a series win against an opponent that has been nothing short of dominant against the Eagles in the past—the Irish had won 11 of the last 12 meetings and were 27-8 overall in the Holy War, prior to the weekend. It was even more impressive, though, when considering the context of the ACC standings. After taking one of three against Atlantic Divison leading FSU, the Eagles found themselves in similar position as Notre Dame in a fight for the second spot. For the moment, at least, they’ve taken it—and have the potential to distance themselves from their South Bend rival this upcoming weekend, as they take on a weaker Louisville team while the Irish host the Seminoles, winners of four straight. n

BASEBALL

Despite Record Crowd, BC Drops Annual ALS Awareness Game

By Ben Thomas Asst. Sports Editor With 94 total pitches, five earned runs, and six walks by the end of the fourth, Boston College baseball starter Dan Metzdorf’s day was surely over—at least that’s what everyone thought. The junior stepped back on the mound for the fifth in a tie game, head coach Mike Gambino trusting the junior to redeem himself. A first pitch single to left suggested otherwise, yet Metzdorf persisted.

“I realize I kept him in too long today,” Gambino said. “That one’s on me.”

Only after he issued his seventh walk of the game to the next batter was he finally pulled for Joey Walsh, who immediately allowed a Nick Derr RBI double to the right center gap. Walsh wasn’t able to get out of the jam in the same way Metzdorf had an inning prior. Three more runs came in for Florida State, and the four-run lead eventually carried the Seminoles to a 13-7

win, BC’s first loss in the ALS Awareness game in four years.

At the start of the game, the Eagles (13-25, 5-15 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t wait to get the offense going in front of a packed crowd of over 5,400 at Fenway Park—nearly 2,000 more fans than BC has ever had in the annual contest honoring Pete Frates, BC ’07. Taking advantage of three early walks by FSU (28-12, 10-9) starter C.J. Van Eyk, the Eagles loaded the bases for Dante Baldelli. The sophomore roped a ball past the right of the shortstop, scoring Jake Palomaki and Chris Galland for an early 2-0 lead.

In the top of the second, BC was the one issuing free bases. Cal Raleigh and Drew Mendoza both reached on walks, and the next batter, Steven Wells, was then able to take advantage of Fenway Park’s unique field dimensions. A shallow bloop hit along the right field line took an FSU bounce up and into the stands for a ground rule double, scoring Raleigh. The

Seminoles would score again on back-toback grounders to Palomaki at shortstop, who decided to concede two runs instead of forcing the ball home, getting much needed outs.

Anthony Maselli crushed the first solid hit of the game in the third, sending Wells running backwards in right field for a sliding double. Palomaki followed with a single to right and stole second to put two runners in scoring position for the red-hot Galland, but the freshman would end up using his feet to make a scoring play for the Eagles. Following a walk, Dante Baldelli sent a grounder toward first base with the bases loaded. Galland appeared to shield first baseman Rhett Aplin from fielding the ball, allowing it to get through to right field. Maselli then scored, and Palomaki beat the throw to the plate as the ball got away from Raleigh at the last second. Galland attempted to score all the way from first—FSU was unable to locate the ball. The risk paid off for Galland, just

beating the throw from the backstop to the plate and retaking a two-run lead for the Eagles.

Just when things starting looking good for BC, the tide turned again. A walk and an RBI double from Aplin brought the Seminoles within one, and Metzdorf proceeded to load the bases by hitting one batter and walking another. A strikeout and groundout later, though, and the Eagles were able to preserve their lead.

FSU started the third with reliever Tyler Ahearn after Van Eyk allowed five runs and five walks through just two innings.

The move was just what the Seminoles needed, with Ahearn not allowing a hit to 10 consecutive Eagles. BC may have wished it used the same strategy. Metzdorf began the fourth with a walk, a double just a hair shy of the top of the Green Monster, a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and another walk. His disastrous fifth inning essentially put the game away, and FSU was able to ride Ahearn through the sixth inning.

After Metzdorf’s disastrous fifth inning, the Seminoles tacked on three more insurance runs in the sixth to push their lead to seven. A triple to the right field corner by Codi Johnson brought in Mendoza and Wells—who crossed the plate for the third time in three at bats.

Ahearn let up a bit in the sixth. A wild pitch scored Joe Suozzi, who had led off with a single up the middle, but the next two Eagles went down swinging to extinguish any comeback bid BC had in mind.

From there, things ended quietly.

With shade beginning to traverse the entirety of the stadium and game excitement dwindling, fans began to trickle out of the gates. BC and FSU crossed the plate just once each in the last three innings of play. A groundout to third brought Suozzi home in the eighth for BC, but the run was meaningless outside the score card.

The Eagles are now left wondering how to mend their defense with Metzdorf falling to 0-6 on the season. n

Sam Zhai / HeightS Staff

The Eagles scored five runs in the first two innings, but, soon after that, Dan Metzdorf lost the lead—from there, Florida State exploded for eight additional runs to put the second game of the series out of reach.

LACROSSE

Apuzzo’s Game-Winner Caps Undefeated Regular Season Lax vs. Syracuse, from B1 bounds. Chandler located Kaileen Hart—who played give-and-go with Arsenault—and upon receiving the return pass fired it back to Arsenault.

All along, Apuzzo worked at getting open. By the time Arsenault received the ball during the back half of the exchange, Apuzzo had just managed to streak into a tight space—she then hauled in one last pass from Arsenault and ripped twine to tie the score at 12.

The final three minutes were an exercise in torture for both sides.

Swart tapped a shot toward BC goalkeeper Lauren Daly that the junior barely pushed wide, and Arsenault got two golden chances, including a free-position attempt that rang off the crossbar, to push the Eagles ahead.

In that stretch, BC called timeout twice, while Syracuse stopped play once itself.

A stick check with 50 seconds remaining further delayed the final outcome, and what happened after that checkup decided the game.

Goldstock started with the ball in her own third. The sophomore goalie is adept enough both with her feet and her stick that she quarterbacks the Orange’s breakouts—she’d done

so throughout the game. This time, though, with so little time on the clock, Apuzzo and Arsenault put as much pressure on Goldstock as possible and forced her to the sideline around midfield into a flurry of white uniforms. Just as Goldstock seemed to have thrown a pass to escape disaster, the lacrosse gods let her down. She barely stepped out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Eagles with 21 seconds remaining.

After the final BC timeout, Arsenault controlled play from midfield.

The junior faked a pass back to her defense, instead taking off toward goal and completely befuddling the two Syracuse defenders who had bitten on her move. She found Emma Schurr, who quickly returned the ball to Arsenault. From there, the junior flicked a pass to Taylor Walker.

O n ce a g a i n , t h e b a l l s i mp l y bounced the Eagles’ way: Even though Walker couldn’t secure the pass and the ball fell to the ground, instead of ricocheting away, it dropped in place, essentially handing Walker a ground ball.

The junior midfielder, who scored her 15th of the year earlier in the half, scooped it up and desperately flung a pass to a cutting Apuzzo.

The junior then showcased why she’s second in the NCAA in goals

scored for 2018.

With multiple defenders on her, Apuzzo managed to rip a shot as she was falling down just over Goldstock’s shoulder in the final second into the far corner of the net to finish off the undefeated season.

“I looked at the clock, I knew if it was going to come down—overtime is always not the best thing in the world, so I thought I might as well take a risk,” Apuzzo said.

Her risk paid off.

“Honestly, in the moment, it was like in slow motion,” head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “There was only, what, 16 seconds on the clock at that point, but I always love Sam off-ball, so anytime she’s offball I think it’s awesome. But Taylor was huge, came up with the ground ball—it was amazing.”

To put the 2018 campaign in perspective: BC beat the No. 15, 19, 11, 12, 5, 7, 15 (again), 17, 13, and now 16 teams in the country on its way to a historic regular season finish.

“I just said to the team, I can’t believe how far we’ve come,” WalkerWeinstein said. I can’t believe we’re in position to be staring at a 17-0 season. I’m overwhelmed honestly.

I’m overwhelmed for these guys, they deserve it, but I’m ready—I’m already thinking about ACCs.” n

AnDy Backstrom / Heights Editor

Sam Apuzzo (above) and Tess Chandler (below) combined to score eight goals.

The Heights

B4

Monday, April 23, 2018

BASEBALL

BC Leaves 12 Runners on Base, Suffers Series Sweep by Seminoles

By Marc Occhipinti Heights Staff Brian Rapp came set, ready to deliver a pivotal fifth-inning pitch to Florida State’s Nick Derr with a pair of Seminole 6 Florida State runners lurkBoston College 1 ing in scoring position, aiming to preserve a 1-1 tie for Boston College baseball. The Eagles were seeking to prevent a sweep after having seen a furious comeback fall heartbreakingly short in 11 innings on Friday and blowing an early lead, en route to a six-run defeat in Saturday’s Seventh Annual ALS Awareness Game at Fenway Park.

As Rapp began his windup, an impressive crowd anxiously awaited the result of the pitch. Instead, they heard “that’s a balk!” exclaimed by second-base umpire A.J. Lostaglio. Fans and players alike were shocked as the go-ahead, eventual game-winning run crossed the plate on the illegal deception call. Head coach Mike Gambino trotted out to talk to Lostaglio, but later acknowledged that it was the right call.

“I agreed with the fact that it was a balk,” Gambino said after the game.

“I thought it was an awkward time to call a balk. He had said something [to Brian] a couple pitches before … so I think the call was right.”

The balk was the first in a chain of miscues that spelled disaster for the Eagles, as FSU completed the sweep with a 6-1 win, despite managing just five hits.

Although he was the Sunday starter, Rapp sported the lowest earned-run average of the Eagles’ (13-26, 5-16 Atlantic Coast) rotation coming into this game, and he was impressive early. The senior retired the first nine FSU (29-12, 11-9) batters on just 21

pitches, striking out three. Rapp was effectively working the corners with his fastball, especially up in the zone, with FSU hitters harmlessly popping the ball up.

The Seminoles’ Andre w Karp matched Rapp early on, though. Jake Palomaki led off with a bloop hit that turned into a double, thanks to a high turf bounce. Soon after, Chris Galland walked, but Karp quickly settled in, retiring the next seven. FSU made six errors on Friday, and three more on Saturday, but the Seminoles’ Reese Albert flashed the leather in the second, laying out in deep right center to take away an extra-base hit from Jake Alu. The Eagles broke through in the third, plating a run after three-consecutive singles from Palomaki, Galland, and Brian Dempsey. Karp limited the damage with a subsequent strikeout and weak groundout. Despite taking the lead, the Eagles were left grappling with missed opportunities as they left four runners in scoring position in the first three innings.

It was the same story in the fourth, as the Eagles used a walk and two singles to load the bases, but once again, Karp pitched out of trouble.

The junior, who multiple scouts had their radar guns on all afternoon, was making big pitches in big spots, but not without cost—he nearly surpassed 70 pitches through four innings.

Rapp surrendered his first hit in the fourth, and a leadoff walk, followed by a single in the fifth, proved to spell disaster for the Eagles. The Seminoles notched just two hits in the frame, but scored four on the strength of three walks, the balk, and 34 pitches from Rapp—just five shy of his combined total of the previous four innings. After stealing the spotlight with his glove early on, Albert came through with an RBI single.

The balk appeared to play into Rapp’s psyche for the rest of the inning. He walked two of the next three batters, and a risk-or-reward throw to the plate on a Mike Salvatore safety squeeze went against the Eagles, as Albert crossed the plate when Rapp fired home. Catcher Jake Goodreau, trying to catch and tag in the same motion, could not corral the throw, as the ball trickled behind home plate.

Meanwhile, Karp was hitting his stride in the middle innings. After stranding six Eagles in scoring position in the first four frames, BC could not get a runner to second in the fifth and sixth. Dempsey tried, but was caught stealing for the fifth time in eight attempts this season. Karp exited in line for the win after six innings of one-run ball, scattering six hits and three walks alongside seven strikeouts.

Rapp rebounded in the sixth, despite struggling to locate his fastball.

He relied more on his slider to post a scoreless frame. With 95 pitches, Gambino sent Rapp out to start the seventh, presumably due to an exhausted bullpen that received just eight combined innings out of starters Jacob Stevens and Dan Metzdorf the previous two days. Rapp was chased after surrendering a leadoff double to Derr, who came around to score after a passed ball and a sacrifice fly to push FSU’s lead to four.

The Eagles threatened in the bottom of the seventh, drawing threeconsecutive full counts and a 32-pitch effort from Seminoles reliever Jonah Scolaro, but had nothing to show for it. BC stranded its ninth and 10th runners on second and third as Scolaro fanned late entrant Mitch Bigras and Goodreau to get out of trouble. Scolaro stayed on for the eighth where he struck out a demoralized Eagles lineup in order.

KEith carroll / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Eagles were dealt a second consecutive weekend series sweep in ACC play.

Derr tacked on an insurance run in the ninth, doubling off the left field wall to plate Albert for his second run of the afternoon. Thomas Lane worked two and a third strong relief innings before departing for lefty Zach Stromberg, who retired the two batters he faced.

Scolaro recorded the save by completing his third inning of work in the ninth, retiring eight of the final 10 batters he faced—a more than impressive

outing from the freshman southpaw.

With the sweep, the Eagles remain last in the ACC Atlantic Division and will have to quickly turn it around in their final three conference series to earn a bid in the conference tournament.

“We had a chance to win three baseball games,” Gambino said. “We all know we gotta clean some things up.

We’ll just keep working and keep getting better, and that’s our focus." n

SOFTBALL

Frei, DiEmmanuele Help Eagles Even Series With Notre Dame

By Jack Goldman Copy Editor To Boston College softball fans, it perhaps occurred to them that there was some danger in throwing Allyson Frei back into Notre Dame 4 the circle to Boston College 6 pitch against Notre Dame less than 24 hours after the Fighting Irish had tagged her for four runs in less than a full inning of work, leading Eagles head coach Ashley Obrest to yank her just two outs into the game.

Obrest wasn’t the least bit concerned about putting Frei right back into the spotlight Saturday afternoon.

“We didn’t really make a big deal of it yesterday because we know she’s a good pitcher, so we didn’t expect or think that she was going to come out and have the performance she did yesterday—pretty uncharacteristic of her but no need to press the panic button,” Obrest said. “I think every great pitcher has a bump in the road, and I think that was hers.

“It was nice to see her come back and respond today—I thought she did great.”

Frei pitched six-plus innings of six-hit baseball, surrendering just two earned runs on 94 pitches. She had occasional control struggles—she walked four batters and hit three—but

still managed to record three strikeouts on her way to a 6-4 win over the Irish (29-17, 12-7 Atlantic Coast).

The other star of the show was Lexi DiEmmanuele, who logged three hits in four at-bats, scoring twice and driving in a run as well from the leadoff spot.

“She hasn’t been in the leadoff spot in a while either—it’s a change we had to make today because Emme [Martinez] is out sick so we kind of had to mix the lineup around a little bit,” Obrest said. “It worked out well. … I was glad we were able to put her in that spot today. I thought she did awesome.”

By no means was this a win that was in the bag from pitch number one, though. Frei had to work out of a bases loaded, two-out jam in the top of the first, getting the Irish’s Melissa Rochford to pop out to end the inning. After DiEmmanuele was caught stealing for the first of two times on the afternoon, Frei returned to the mound and promptly gave up a home run to deep left field off the bat of M.K. Bonamy to spot Notre Dame an early one-run lead.

Frei then walked Madison Heide, before finally settling in. A grounder, Frei’s first strikeout , and a liner straight at left fielder Annie Murphy put an end to the inning. The Eagles’ (24-18, 10-6) ace faced just four batters in the third, surrendering one

walk before heading back to the dugout with the score still 1-0 in the Irish’s favor.

That’s when BC’s bats came to life.

Katie Beriont started the game for Notre Dame, and she initially had little trouble working through the Eagles’ lineup. In the bottom of the third, though, she lost control of the game.

Allyson Moore led off the inning with a walk, Olivia Markopoulos sacrificed to move Moore to second, and then DiEmmanuele came to the plate on a mission.

She laced a liner into the right center gap, and the ball one-hopped to the wall as Moore scampered home.

DiEmmanuele’s speed didn’t let her down, as she raced over to third base, sliding in safe well before Abby Sweet’s throw arrived for the Irish, tying the game.

Up next, Chloe Sharabba squeezed a perfect bunt that scored DiEmmanuele, all while reaching base safely herself.

BC’s third run of the inning was a little more strange. Murphy came to the plate and nailed a liner right off Beriont—the ball ricocheted slowly to shortstop Katie Marino, but Sharabba rounded second to go to third when she shouldn’t have, ending up in a pickle. The senior played it perfectly, eventually sliding back into second safely, but Murphy was already there

and had to try to run back to first—she never got there. But with two outs, C.C. Cook stepped to the plate and knocked a single to left that brought Sharabba home to give the Eagles and Frei a 3-1 lead heading into the fourth inning.

The edge was short-lived. Frei surrendered a single to Bonamy and struck out Heide, and then disaster struck. Notre Dame’s Alexis Bazos squared to bunt, dribbling the ball down the third base line. Carly Severini arrived quickly and tried to throw out Bonamy at second, but her delivery was just wide of Markopoulos’ glove and squirted past the center fielder DiEmmanuele, allowing Bonamy to score and Bazos to advance to third on the error. Frei then hit Sweet, who stole second uncontested, and the Irish’s Ali Wester hit a single into right field to bring Bazos home to tie the game up.

Cait Brooks was up next and lined out to left, but the damage was done—the teams were tied at three.

That wouldn’t last long either: Beriont was promptly replaced by Brooks in the circle in the bottom of the fourth, and the junior promptly gave the lead right back to BC. She started off well, striking out Jordan Chimento, but surrendered backto-back singles to Cami Sellers and Moore. Markopoulos sacrificed again to move the runners to second and third. With two outs, DiEmmanuele

clinked the ball back to Brooks, but the pitcher botched the putout, allowing both runners to score and DiEmmanuele to speed into third base again. Sharabba walked, and Murphy ran out an infield single, pushing DiEmmanuele across for BC’s sixth run of the day.

This time, the Eagles’ lead lasted through the final out: The Irish threatened in the sixth, but Frei stranded two on base, and although Notre Dame chased the starter after Morgan Reed knocked a pitch in on her hands into the outfield for a single, Jessica Dreswick came through in relief. After hitting two batters and walking one to bring in a run, the senior forced Sweet to ground out to Severini with the bases loaded to send the Eagles faithful home happy.

The importance of this game in the long run comes down to Frei’s effectiveness: After her worst performance potentially of the season, it was vital to BC’s continued success that she bounce back as soon as possible. By no means was this her best performance of the year, but rebounding to pick up a victory so soon after having the plug pulled on her last outing less than an inning in—against the same opponent no less—should restore her confidence. With two more ACC series to play, the Eagles need their ace at her best to improve their record down the stretch of the season. n

Pitching Staff Can’t Silence Irish Bats in Series Opener

By Bradley Smart Assoc. Sports Editor Two starts removed from hurling a complete game shutout against Florida State, Boston College softball’s A l l y s o n Fre i Notre Dame 8 couldn’t even Boston College 4 make it out of the first inning against Notre Dame.

The redshirt junior gave up four runs, three earned, recording just two outs as the Irish took an early lead they’d never relinquish, winning, 8-4.

Notre Dame (29-14, 12-6 Atlantic Coast) chased the Eagles (22-18, 9-6) ace after just seven batters faced, and eventually got to Frei’s replacement, Jessica Dreswick, as well. Combined, the BC duo gave up 10 hits and walked six batters—additionally failing to re-

cord a strikeout for the first time since March 28 against Boston University.

The uncharacteristic start from Frei additionally handed BC head coach Ashley Obrest her 12th loss in 13 tries against the Irish during her tenure.

Frei hit Abby Sweet with her second pitch of the ballgame, an ominous sign to start the day. After a sacrifice bunt, further command struggles saw Katie Marino reach on a four-pitch walk, then a wild pitch moved both of the runners over. After a sacrifice fly from Cait Brooks, the Irish lineup began to tee off.

Morgan Reed doubled in a run down the left field line, and Melissa Rochford followed with an RBI triple in the same direction. After a passed ball brought in a run and Frei issued yet another four-

pitch walk, Eagles head coach Ashley Obrest had seen enough. She made the call to the bullpen, marking Frei’s shortest outing of the season.

Irish freshman Alexis Holloway, meanwhile, had an up-and-down outing.

After escaping trouble in the first, she coughed up a run in the second. Lexi DiEmmanuele singled, stole second and third, and came home on a sacrifice fly from Jordan Chimento. That was all the Eagles would get until late, though, as Holloway started to cruise.

She struck out C.C. Cook to end the third, starting a run of six BC batters retired in a row. Then, even when Holloway ran into trouble, she methodically worked out of it—a single and a walk in the fifth was erased by a pivotal strikeout.

Dreswick, meanwhile, locked it

down for four scoreless innings before running into trouble. In the sixth, with the Eagles within three, she was greeted rudely—Holloway doubled to right-center. A single from Alexis Bazos and an error moved two into scoring position, and the wheels came off.

Ali Wester brought in a run with a sacrifice fly to left, Marino doubled in another, and Brooks capped the sixth inning by lacing a single up the middle— pushing Notre Dame up by six. The Irish offense consistently got good swings off of BC’s vaunted duo, and with the lineup silent for much of the game—it managed seven hits but stranded six—it was set to be a long day at the office.

Holloway coughed up two runs in the bottom of the sixth, as Emme Martinez had an RBI double and Chimento singled in a run, but Notre

Dame was ready with a response. With BC down four, Dreswick issued a walk, gave up a single, and let in another run on a Bazos groundout. In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles rallied to push across a run via a Murphy double, but stranded two and went down quietly.

It was a disappointing opening to the series for the Eagles, who are testing their mettle against the teams ahead of them in the Atlantic Division. BC has proven its talent with the recent lengthy winning streak and taking one of three against the conference-leading Seminoles, but it’ll need to turn it around during the rest of the weekend to mark its place within the conference. That’ll have to start with better pitching and less missed chances on the basepaths. n

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

J. Cole’s ‘KOD’ Illustrates Effects of Drug Use

BY CANNON FEW Heights Staff On April 16, J. Cole tweeted out a “first come first serve” invitation to the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan for a mysterious event with “no phones, no cameras, no bags, no press list, no guest list.” It turned out to be an exclusive listening party for the debut of his latest album, KOD, that dropped commercially on April 20. It was a fitting rollout for the North Carolina native: sudden and shrouded in mystery.

The album’s acronym, we’ve come to learn, stands for “Kids on Drugs,” “King Overdosed,” and “Kill Our Demons.” Cole’s fifth studio album delivers as a purposeful

but conflicted meditation on the issue of addiction and the various sociopolitical factors weaved into it. The cover art depicts kids popping pills, smoking weed, sipping lean, and snorting cocaine underneath Cole as a hollow-eyed king in a way that muddles whether he’s merely revealing their actions, harboring their actions, or working to save them. The disclaimer above the image that “This album is in no way intended to glorify addiction” suggests the latter and the album itself confirms it. For an artist who had “no role models to speak of” two albums back on 2014 Forest Hills Drive, KOD is Cole’s best attempt at being one himself.

In what it sets out to achieve, KOD lands somewhere in-between the shock-therapy

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KOD J. COLE PRODUCED BY DREAMVILLE RECORDS RELEASE APR. 20, 2018 OUR RATING

DREAMVILLE RECORDS

value of the sort of melodrama on the cover art and a didactic condescension of a “just say no” sentiment towards addiction. Cole dramatizes various characters throughout the album to address dependency to drugs, sex, money, and even social media, as well as the societal foundations that perpetuate these issues. On “The Cut Off ” and “FRIENDS,” Cole depicts the drug abuse of his alter ego “kiLL edward” (credited for features on the track list but really just pitched down vocals from Cole himself) while genuinely musing on the root of the issue. On “Kevin’s Heart,” Cole appears to dramatize comedian Kevin Hart, who admitted to marital infidelity and depicts temptation to sex addiction while trying to understand the cheater’s side of the story. On “ATM” he warns of materialistic temptation and obsession with money while admitting that although you can’t take it with you when you die, “you can’t live without it.” Produced by Cole himself, KOD has some interesting sonic elements and some drive behind its beats that wasn’t as prominent on his previous album, 4 Your Eyez Only. In what has been the most well received track so far (as in, breaking the U.S. Spotify record for most streams on opening day with 4.2 million), the titular “KOD” features Cole’s primary flex on a bouncing, bass-heavy beat. It has a simple yet effective hook with razor sharp verses detailing his dominance over competition and how “if practice made perfect [he’s] practice’s baby.”

In another music-to-content parallel, the beat on “ATM” ticks and hums robotically like a cash machine to reflect the song’s title and theme. “1985” is Cole’s part diss track, part caring lesson to the new wave of young artists billed as “mumble rappers.”

Cole mixes advice with admissions that he “loves to see a black man get paid,” despite calling out amateurs saying “in five years you gon’ be on Love & Hip Hop”. What Cole has been trying to undertake with his social activism since 2014 Forest Hills Drive is an enormous task. He’s branding himself as the contemplative rapper monk who wants to change the world but doesn’t need features on his songs to do it. Musically, this ultimately backfires. The “no features” trend is starting to just become a gimmick. It’s no secret that KOD could more effectively serve as a guide for the meditation Cole purports with some more flavor from session singers on the melodies or some different production from the various, incredibly innovative producers out right now (look at the numerous producers on Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. And it just won the Pulitzer Prize.)

The issues Cole addresses are immensely complex, and KOD understands that.

Though it can have its moments, it’s not a lecture. It’s a discussion. The album calls for us to sit with it and reflect, though if Cole was able to “create a classic” here, as he said he knew he could do at the listening party, remains to be seen. 

‘Mercury 13’ Keeps Stories of Mercury Women Alive

BY MAEVE RUSSO Heights Staff

The plight of women in America has never been more immediately and personally prevalent than how it was represented in Mercury 13. The common assumptions of many women in the 21st century are that if you can present logical arguments and clear facts to a man, he will not hold on to his bigotry.

Mercury 13 shatters those assumptions when they are applied to the 1960s and ’70s. This movie showed and explained that discrimination was deliberate and unfounded. The heroes of that age were either misrepresented or altogether edited out.

Starting Mercury 13, one might expect to come away from the movie with a greater sense of its documentary style and with more questions about the intense focus on these women—especially considering that the program never really took off. Instead, Mercury 13 leaves the viewer feeling as though this story should have been told earlier—that the stories of these women mean something to feminine history. Although shaky in the beginning and imprecise in introduction of topics, the movie has the unique ability to light a fire in your heart. Mercury 13 can, and likely will, leave audiences in anger and sadness.

The movie opens with voice overs from the remaining Mercury women and scenes from famous NASA events.

Soon after, the voices get put to faces and

the viewer meets the Mercury women.

Mercury 13 introduces these people and events with typical documentary cards. The women are pilots, and the first 15 minutes are spent explaining their aviation careers, leaving viewers wondering if they are really watching a movie about NASA. Soon after, though, Mercury 13 delves into the story of each of these women’s invitation to the female astronaut testing program.

At this point, viewers might begin to question this story’s depth and prevalence. Almost no one has learned about women in space in any history books or classes. The movie details the women’s trials—both the physical and emotional ones.

Mercury 13 heightens the suspense, showing examples of men intentionally throwing wrenches into the program.

Interviews of John Glenn are shown, as he laughs at the idea of a woman who might be qualified to be trained to go into space. Later in the film, another astronaut laughs at the idea of Russia putting women into space, saying, “We could have put a woman up … and used her instead of the chimpanzee.”

At this and other points in the movie, it becomes difficult not to feel emotional: Mercury 13 does what it is designed to do. It is even more deeply affecting to watch someone—far in the past to be sure—speak about women as the equivalent of an animal. Women have been subject to discrimination constantly, and this ranks among the most egregious

type. The movie is effective, well done, and evokes the exactly right kinds of emotions.

The value in Mercury 13, and in using historical fact and video, is that audiences can see the specific and deliberate actions men performed to keep women from doing something they wanted to do.

These figures really existed as pictured and recorded. They knew exactly what they were doing and were presented with evidence that women could do what men could do—women could even do it better.

Although Mercury 13 succeeded in showcasing factual data that many people have never seen or heard of, there are points of critique. First, the movie assumes too much prior knowledge. Sadly,

this was not so long ago, but the information was not taught widely to anyone in younger generations. The Mercury 13 are anonymous to most young people and it’s admirable that Netflix has created this movie to keep their story alive.

It should have been much clearer as to who and what they are to this country.

Second and lastly, the story was bit muddled at times.

The entry into the women’s aviation careers was confusing and misleading, even if it only lasted for 15 minutes. Also, the introduction of characters may have been better if all of the Mercury 13’s names were listed at the beginning in some way. These are minor complaints though—the experience of watching Mercury 13 is more than worth it. 

Asst. Arts Editor

To top Brothers Osborne’s 2016 album, Pawn Shop, would be an onerous venture— and with the release of their new album Port Saint Joe, they didn’t. Pawn Shop’s success was due to the upbeat, yet simple music, playfully reminiscent lyrics, and all-around high-quality sound exhibited on hit singles such as “Stay A Little Longer,” “Rum,” and “21 Summer.” None of the songs on Port Saint Joe has that spark of promise—no song on the record, at face value, is destined to be No. 1 on the charts. It’s pretty disappointing, actually.

You might be wondering why the album even earned three stars if it was such a

disappointment. Port Saint Joe might not be anywhere near the level of Pawn Shop, however, one thing is constant: TJ and John Osborne are still extremely skilled guitarists, and flaunt it on nearly every track.

The album starts of with “Slow Your Roll,” which is one of the better songs on the record. It begins and ends with interesting guitar pieces—even though the chorus is somewhat drawn out, the duo’s mastery of the instrument makes it worth a listen. This goes for nearly all the songs on Port Saint Joe—named for the laid-back Florida town where it was recorded. Without the skillful guitar riffs and solos, they wouldn’t be worth the listen either. “Shoot Me Straight,” the lead single off the album, is a fast-paced rock song that has some essence of “Stay a

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PORT SAINT JOE BROTHERS OSBORNE PRODUCED BY CAPITOL RECORDS NASHVILLE RELEASE APR. 20, 2018

CAPITOL RECORDS NASHVILLE

LUIS FIALHO

‘420 FREESTYLE’ WIZ KHALIFA

In honor of the day that he so publicly celebrates, “420 Freestyle” is exactly what the track title says it is: Wiz Khalifa freestyling about his life and his love of the green. Originally an a cappella video released a few weeks ago, Khalifa took that crude flow and re-released it as a full track.

As a freestyle, there is no chorus or hook, or other standard component of a song, just continuous flow—something Khalifa pulls off perfectly. Simultaneously wellproduced and raw, this polished up freestyle is impressive to say the least.

The beat and production are flawless, with a sample that is both eerie yet energetic—Khalifa is balanced perfectly over the bass and hihat. Khalifa’s original raw freestyle is nonetheless left intact—he easily freestyles at an incredible pace for the entire track. His rhymes aren’t perfect—he says it himself: “my style ain’t polished”—but the errors only serve to support the track’s appeal.

With rumors of a new album flying, many fans have been waiting for some sort of track to come out.

While not part of any album and purposely released on 4/20 to match the title, this track is clearly a gift for his fans—and a great one at that. 

MUSIC VIDEO KAYLIE RAMIREZ

‘ATM’

J. COLE

FILM

MERCURY 13 DAVID SINGTON DISTRIBUTED BY NETFLIX RELEASE APRIL 20, 2018 OUR RATING

NETFLIX

‘Port Saint Joe’ Doesn’t Compare to Stellar Debut

BY EMILY HIMES

SINGLE REVIEW

Little Longer” in the guitar parts, which are extended and well done. The song is an ode to whiskey (like much of the album), and basically begs for trouble and a dire hangover. “I’ve got some friends who’d love to go raise some hell / A couple old flames to help me bid you farewell / There’s plenty of time and alcohol / From happy hour to last call,” sings TJ, a clear lyrical change in direction from previous hit “Stay a Little Longer,” but catchy nonetheless. “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You)” is one of the slower songs on Port Saint Joe. The lyrics are a step up from those on the rest of the album, as they are packed with clever lines and reminiscent sentiments—what the duo does best. Following “I Don’t Remember Me” is “Weed, Whiskey, and Willie,” which is quite possibly the dumbest song I’ve heard since “Red Solo Cup.” “I’ve got bottles and vinyl stacked to the ceiling / I get stoned for a living, it helps with the healing,” is the line the song revolves around. This song is the only one in which the great instrumentals don’t at all make up for the dumb lyrics. They really tried with that alliteration in the title, but it’s time to get a new songwriter.

One of the better tracks on the album, “A Couple Wrongs Makin’ It Alright” is fun and upbeat. It is packed with juxtapositions—in fact, witty contradictions make up the entire song. Cute lyrics such as “You’re mid-July and I’m late October / I’m drunk as hell, you’re stone-cold sober” resonate through the entire fast-paced tune.

“Drank Like Hank” is another song with a great beat but lyrics so imbecile it hurts— even the name of the song is cringe-worthy.

The fact that a line in the chorus reads, “We partied like The Possum and we drank like Hank” goes to show how ridiculous the track is. Having said this, “The Possum” is not referring to the furry marsupial but to George Jones, but it still sounds absurd.

Port Saint Joe closes on a somewhat higher note. The lyrics improve without compromising John Osborne’s fantastic guitar riffs. “A Little Bit of Trouble” not only has a solid beat and good lyrics, but it also features interesting vocal effects during the chorus that add some oomph to the song.

There are some captivating guitar parts at the end, which contains unique variations and stepdowns. Interestingly enough, the slow beat and unique cadence makes “A Little Bit of Trouble” sound a lot like Blake Shelton’s “Come A Little Closer.”

The last song on the record, called “While You Still Can” actually contains excellent lyrics. They are uplifting, sweet, and a little bit sad because they are so painfully retrospective. The song is somewhat corny and cliche, but it is still a solid track—especially compared to the rest of Port Saint Joe. Port Saint Joe is a solid album only because it features plenty of the duo’s masterful guitar playing. But if you’re looking for a moving album, or one with lyrics good enough to bother listening to, look elsewhere—or even look to the band’s previous record. 

J. Cole finds himself trapped in a surrealist world in the clouds in his video for “ATM,” a track off his recently released album KOD. The video opens with children flying through the purple-blue clouds atop sled-sized pill bottles while reaching for a dollar baited on a fishing line held by Cole, who floats on a throne with a regal, gold crown placed on his head just feet away. Descending into the madness of a world that looks like it was imagined by Salvador Dalí himself, Cole shuffles through stacks of money in a red walled room and struggles in a black leather straight jacket in a room covered in bills from floor to ceiling. In a visually striking scene, the rapper is chased down a black and white checkerboard floor by the children.

The rapper fixates on the seduction of riches in a scene that portrays Cole losing all his money in a casino.

The video silently pans to people on the ground, watching with their dollar sign eyes fixed on Cole in the clouds before finally lifting off the ground to reach for the wealth hidden in those clouds. ATM noises and a countdown in Spanish by the kingly version of Cole reintroduce the music when the video finds the rapper at a car lot. In order to purchase a classic red car to transport him and his female sidekick, the rapper detaches his plastic mannequin-like arm and gives it to the salesman, also played by Cole, who gladly accepts it.

Cole uses the red chariot to drive fast through a rocky desert in the hopes of reaching the clouds once again. Cole defies gravity and the car lifts off like a jet to rocket back into the sky, where he joins the children in the chase for the dollar bill. When the car runs out of fuel, however, it nosedives to the ground. The final shot is of Cole’s lifeless one-armed body with his glazed eyes fixed on the heavens above.

Cole and director Scott Lazer pay attention to details throughout the video to create the perfect abstract setting for the short film. Colorful misshapen doors and windows and massive ATM machines create a fitting background for the rapper to convey his criticism of the disillusionment of the pursuit of wealth. 

The Heights

Monday, April 23, 2018

B7

‘Addams Family’ Mixes Musical and the Macabre Boujee and Bohemian

By Tristan St. Germain Heights Staff

Teenage love comes in all sorts of unsightly spectacles. Broken hearts, suicide vows, and painful longings are just some of the go-tos for hormonal adolescents.

But rarely does a love story set forth such romantic morbidity as the Dramatics Society’s most recent production, The Addams Family. Adapted from a 2009 musical, this ghoulish giggle draws in the viewer with perhaps familiar characters (for many, the Addams are on par with the Simpsons and Kennedys), and puts a Gothic, but modern spin on the inciendary forces that draw apart and bring together families of all kinds—even the dead ones.

With that said, “dead” is the last word to describe the Addams musical. As if struck by a bolt of lightning (which is

mimed hilariously by the supposedly mute Frankenstein Lurch (Hal Knowlton, MCAS ’21) while reenacting his origin story and the crazed events that follow it), it comes to life with extravagantly personal performances and immersive choreography. The actors ooze a wealth of subtle emotions, switching in instants from sympathy to scurvyness, all informed by a confrontational sincerity that gnaws at the heart of the audience. The musical jingles don’t hurt either—hip-shaking salsa and epicly symphonic operas carry the narrative through the twists and turns of an everyday middle-class household that stands six feet under.

Indeed, the Addams home is like an inverted archetype of bourgeoise suburbia: The opening song, “When You’re an Addams,” extravagantly parodies the death and mundanity that is central

kaitlin Meeks / Heights editor

The Dramatics Society recreated the classic show in musical form for ‘Addams Family.’

to their functioning as a nuclear family. It is thus quite poignantly hilarious when Wednesday (Sophia Chryssofos, MCAS ’21), Gomez’s daughter, finds herself soon-to-be engaged with a boy of “normal” upbringing. Wednesday confides in her father under the promise that he will not tell her mother, Morticia (Jessie Shaw, MCAS ’19). Cue the moral dilemma: Gomez (Jeremy Harris, MCAS ’21) has promised to never lie to either woman. The perilous marriage is reflected in the parents of Lucas Beineke (Grant Whitney, MCAS ’21), the boy to whom Wednesday is engaged. When the three come over to the Addams’ residence for dinner, other family squabbles cause things to take an unfortunate turn, despite the honest efforts of Wednesday to retain an illusion of normalcy.

While many collegiate actors may find the family dynamic difficult to pull off—there are, after all, two parents, a balding Igor-like uncle, a small ten year old child, and even a half-dead hippy grandma—the cast of Addams smoothly fall into their relationships, as if raising children (or, conversely, raising tantrums) was second nature. Harris shines first and foremost as Gomez, a swathe yet sensitive father who seeks the best for his daughter while never foregoing the mercurial temperament that makes his character full of surprises. Alice Beineke (Lauren Strauss, MCAS ’18), Lucas’ mother, develops from a giddy housewife with a penchant for poetry into the convincing portrait of a woman confronting the realities of her marriage.

Her dialogue with Morticia is some of the richest in the play, and reveals the ironic duplicity of the Addams’ fascination with the macabre: It is not an authentic morbidity, but a means to conceal their unrealistically idealistic connubial vows. To counter the drama of these halfdead suburbanites is Gomez’s “bald, fat, and sexually ambiguous” brother, Fester (Tommy Boyce, CSOM ’21), who acts as a sort of meta-narrator in dialogue with the audience. He supports Wednesday’s endeavors toward love, even when he is ridiculed for his unrelenting (yet never foolhardy) optimism.

Heartfelt confessions mix with the most unexpected metaphors and references in the play’s many musical numbers. Wednesday expresses her confliction toward love in the song “Pulled,” where she sings of her repulsion in-principle toward cute things like puppy-dogs, unicorns, and Disney-world, despite finding herself suddenly attracted to the gooshiness of romance. The paradoxes continue in the song “Morticia,” in which Gomez pines for his wife and all the deathly parts of her that make him feel alive. “The Moon and Me” opens with Fester playing the ukulele as he pines for his one true love, the moon. It is symbolic of the larger conflict between embracing love and danger and retreating from life’s impulsivity: a thematic struggle resolved in the last song, “Move Toward the Darkness,” a resounding and operatic finale that best embodies a statement sung by Gomez: “At the moment we start weeping, that’s when we should smile.” n

BC Fashion Club Dresses Up for the Catwalk

By Claire Madden For The Heights

On Friday, the Fashion Club of Boston College hosted its annual spring fashion show. Before the show, guests were welcomed into the warmly lit foyer of the McMullen Museum of Art for refreshments, information about the featured designers, and a raffle for an exquisite Daniel Wellington watch. The museum buzzed with excitement and chatter before the show, with techno music thrumming just behind closed doors.

The show took place in the Daley Family Gallery, framed by the bright and colorful landscape paintings of Cao Jun’s Hymn to Nature exhibition. The crowd, a mix of students and family members, was arranged in two rows, forming a runway.

There was an enormous turnout for the event, with all seats being filled and students even standing at the back during the show.

There was clearly a huge amount of excitement for the work put in by the Fashion Club, the models, and the brands. Works of art, including a large and ornate vase, sat atop the columns dividing the rows of chairs, which made for a gorgeous backdrop for the show.

The fashion show featured collections by three brands: LF Stores, Barbour, and Taest Collective. These brands differed greatly in the types of pieces they showcased, but not in

the quality and sophistication of their work.

Fifteen models, all BC students, showcased a diverse range of pieces from the brands. DJ Svrge—Sergio Farina, MCAS ’20—provided music for the event, so that models strutted to upbeat music like Miguel’s “Pineapple Skies” and The Weeknd.

LF Stores, described as “cutting-edge” and “innovative” by the Fashion Club’s president, Anastasia Greer, MCAS ’20, was the first brand seen by the audience. The pieces ranged from all-camouflage—a favorite of Greer, who explained that masculine cuts are very “in” this spring/summer season—to pastel and beach-ready looks.

There were two of each look, and models walked first individually and then in tandem.

Each model exuded confidence walking down the runway, greeted with applause and snapping cameras as they showed off the pieces.

The next set of looks shifted the show from cutting-edge to classic, as the Fashion Club exhibited looks from British brand Barbour.

Barbour creates products for men, women, and children, but the looks showcased at the fashion show were just men’s. Seven male models, greeted with whistles and cheers, showed off the famous Barbour wax cotton jacket. The quilted heritage jacket, coming in earthy green, brown, and black, was styled with khakis and jeans, showing the brand’s both classic and functional ap-

Tiger Tao / Heights STAFF

Student models showcased various outfits representative of contemporary fashion. peal. One could definitely see these coats fitting seamlessly into quintessential BC style, and the audience could tell.

The final collection was by the Taest Collective, a brand specialized in formal dress.

The Taest Collective is wholly unique in its approach to shopping for formal wear—it does not include retail markup in its sales, so its gowns are comparatively more inexpensive. Not only that, but the Taest Collective also donates one dress to a disadvantaged person—usually a high-schooler for whom a prom dress is slightly over-budget—for every 10 dresses sold. The models showcased eight stunning dresses, ranging from traditionally feminine to vintage-inspired to more geometric pieces.

At the end of the show, all 15 models made a final walk up and down the runway.

The difference between the types of pieces was on full display—the Fashion Club’s goal of showcasing dynamic and stunning pieces for all occasions was a clear success.

The members of the Fashion Club each made a short speech at the end, thanking the dedication shown by both the brands and the models, as well as the audience and DJ Svrge.

Greer was excited about the show and its growth, explaining how when they started, they had one to two brands, and now they are up to three. With every passing year, she hopes, the Fashion Club “will be building the show more and more.” n

Fleabag Scratches Comedy Itch for Audiences

By Kaylie Ramirez Assoc. Arts Editor

Students, parents, and friends filed into a packed Vanderslice Cabaret Room on Saturday to the sounds of Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” and Lil Mama’s “Lip Gloss” for My Mother’s Fleabag’s Spring Big Show.

The hilarious improv troupe entertained the energetic crowd with jokes about Boston College, Roman cavalries, belt murders, and more.

Fleabag opened with a skit featuring the group’s co-directors, Caitrin Assaf, MCAS ’18, and Sara Elzeini, MCAS ’18, brainstorming ideas for the Spring Big Show. The skit featured the other members of the group as manifestations of the ideas of the two funny females. Nick Edel, MCAS ’19, portrayed the emotion of anger by delivering a very convincing tantrum and Michael Bamford, MCAS ’20, offered comforting thoughts for sensitive incoming freshmen while acting as an orientation leader stereotype. The group referenced its most famous alum, Amy Poehler, BC ’93, and closed the skit with an SNL-style group chorus of “It’s My Mother’s Fleabag.”

“Freeze” was the first game of the night, in which members of the comedy troupe can freeze other members during the skit and replace them with two other Fleabaggers, who then have to pick up in the same

position. The skit started off with Brendan McGinty, MCAS ’20, stretched out on the stage next to Sam Harmon, MCAS ’21, who was on his knees with his arms stretched above his head. McGinty took control of the skit by convincing Harmon it was no longer necessary to worship the sun like a deist, earning loud laughter from the crowd as Harmon bowed to the sun. Later in the game, Elzeini acted out a babysitting role reversal as a 9-year-old tasked with making a sandwich.

Edel introduced “Radio DJ” and asked the crowd for suggestions of radio stations and a topic of discussion before assigning the Fleabaggers their roles. Tom Mier, MCAS ’19, quickly adapted to his role as a Broadway radio host by performing “Singin’ In the Rain” and replacing rain with a different type of weather each time. Assigned Book of the Month Club radio emcee, Bamford related to the crowd of students, admitting he only read the Spark Notes and opting to speak about the weather with listeners instead.

The group stepped away from the stage during a movie trailer video for a film titled Belt Mike, which detailed Bamford’s tenure as a murderer whose choice of weapon is a black leather belt.

Hilariously incompetent detectives Harmon and Ari Malliaros, CSOM ’19, trail the odd criminal across BC’s campus

while other members of Fleabag team up to catch the culprit who murdered their friend, Maggie Cetrullo, MCAS ’21. Cetrullo cries to her frenzied friends, “He didn’t kill me,” but the group mistakes her for a ghost.

Throughout the video, members of the group contemplate the “dangerous man’s” odd choice of weapon.

The improv troupe turned to a game where members have to pull from broad categories to construct their “85 blanks walk into a bar” joke.

During the cocktail-themed round, Maya Rao, MCAS ’21, filled the imaginary bar with pencils before using a clever play on the word crayon for her joke about a vodka cran.

Fleabag followed with a game in which every comedian has to die during an improv skit based on the audience’s suggestions of a Roman cavalry and New Orleans. Anna Livaccari, MCAS ’20, was first to die when run over by McGinty, a Roman cavalier, while partying on the city’s famous Bourbon Street.

The group then constructed a skit based on Assaf’s brother Brendan’s recollection of his day, which included a gentle awakening from his parents, a family static shock war, dancing like cowboys, and boys’ day with his dad. The interesting skit was followed by a game in which four comedians form a square on stage and perform different

scenes about tires as Malliaros panned left and panned right. Highlights included Mier acting as a factory manager who is “tired” of running the factory and goes rouge, introducing a Hunger Games-style competition to his employees, who he and Edel armed with woefully inaccurate flintlock pistols.

Mier also acted out a scene with Claire Wilson, MCAS ’20, where the two were attempting to start a tire fire, but Mier kept popping the tires.

The last game of the night was called “5 Things, 4 Minutes,” a game in which Assaf had to guess the phrases “twisting floss with Santa in Russia,” “wrestling turtles with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in The Mods,” “tightrope walking legos with Beyoncé in Miami,” “jumping giraffes with Melania Trump at Disney World,” and “stretching pencil sharpeners with George Washington” based on the acting of Edel and Malliaros.

The night ended with an a cappella performance featuring songs by single ladies.

Fleabag remixed Kesha’s “Tik Tok” with a Marathon Monday theme and sang “Hello from the Salad Line” during an alternate version of Adele’s “Hello” about eating healthier at BC. Senior co-directors Elzeini and Assaf put a senior year spin on “Four, Five Seconds” with the lyrics “four weeks till graduation” and “just trying to make it back home by 5 a.m.” for their final Spring Big Show. n

Emily Himes When you think “bohemian,” what comes to mind? Maybe it’s some girl wearing a flower crown at Coachella, or it could be an entire fashion trend composed entirely of Free People sundresses and John Lennon-esque sunglasses. But the real, pure definition of “bohemian” has a much deeper meaning—it’s typically a person who lives her life unconventionally in communion with others.

A few months ago, a teacher of mine mentioned that every generation seemed to have a bohemian culture attached to it.

Whether it’s the obvious hippie culture of the early ’70s or the grunge rock movement in the ’90s, each decade seems to have a group of people that branch off into a different way of life. But we’re in 2018 now, and everything is mainstream. We no longer have a group of American bohemians, we don’t have a society of offbeats or misfits or anyone in between. Who are they, and where did they go?

First of all, there is no longer a location suited for wandering artists. Places like California are completely mainstream, as are Southern musical meccas such as Nashville and Austin. These two cities have undergone an upper class purification, a sort of artistic gentrification, that has left them a little more corporate than before. Even neighborhoods such as Brooklyn have been revitalized before our very eyes. Brooklyn is now incredibly expensive and has an upscale-hipster atmosphere. It is the pinnacle of a major revitalization, but I’m not sure what will happen to the artist community that originally settled there now that rent has skyrocketed and painters are competing for publicity.

In addition to the lack of a location to secure an artist community, it seems that just about anything can become mainstream overnight nowadays, thanks to social media. It is hard to believe that any community of people would be separated from society. In a time and culture where self-expression is the norm and individuality reigns king, a societal separation seems rather unthinkable. On top of that, a “bohemian” way of life (in the modern sense, not the traditional one) is in vogue—think Coachella—but it is quite obviously the opposite of true unconventionality.

Coachella is today’s version of Woodstock, but the two are so astronomically different in everything but fashion that they are truly incomparable. Woodstock was the beginning of a vastly significant countercultural movement that entailed both political and social changes. It was a free festival attracting true bohemians.

Coachella, on the other hand, costs a hefty $400 for basic tickets. That is on top of the hundreds of dollars spent on an airplane ticket if you’re not from the west coast.

It takes a certain type of person to spend that kind of money for a music festival— and what for? To get a picture in front of the big ferris wheel and say you went?

Sure, there are some parallels between the two massive festivals such as big name musicians, and of course, drug usage.

Both festivals have seen no shortage of psychedelic drugs, and they seem like a requirement for both.

Many people go to Coachella for the love of music, and I not here to bash them at all. But it’s not the cultural phenomenon it’s made out to be. It’s expensive to get in—if you’re there, you are in no way the nonconformist free spirit you make yourself out to be. The crowd at Coachella is predominantly white and middle to upper class. Bohemian fashion popularized in Woodstock is mainstream there—flower crowns, flowing dresses, and peasant skirts are readily available at Urban Outfitters in preparation for festival season. In many ways, this goes to show how purely unoriginal and absolutely predictable this gathering of millennial “hippies” truly is.

So it seems that the prospect of having a bohemian group for our generation is diminishing quickly. Maybe what’s left of one will settle in an industrial city—one that hasn’t become gentrified yet—in hopes of creating a long overdue artistic revitalization. Maybe it’ll be Detroit, or perhaps Pittsburgh, but soon enough those will be more notches in the mainstream hipster belt.

Emily Himes is the asst. arts editor for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

ARTS

B8

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

@BCHEIGHTSARTS

Singing Out of the Shadows Shady Lady brings a feminine touch to the Boston College band scene.

BY KAYLIE RAMIREZ Assoc. Arts Editor If you walk down the halls of Carney on a Tuesday night, you might hear the sound of folkish guitar riffs and chipper tambourine bouncing off the brick walls. The downtrodden academic building is the practice spot of one of Boston College’s newest bands: Shady Lady.

Composed of pianist and backup vocalist Katie Kelleher, CSOM ’18; rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist Caroline Rooney, MCAS ’19; lead guitarist Rachel Moon, MCAS ’19; bassist and backup vocalist Alex Moran, MCAS ’19; lead singer and harmonica and tambourine player N i co l e R o d g e r, M C A S ’ 1 9 ; a n d drummer Alex Eichler, MCAS ’20, the friends bonded over their love for music as members of Music Guild’s executive board. The group’s bond was obvious during the short inter view in a closet-sized room in Carney—Kelleher sat perched on Moran’s lap and the members completed each other’s thoughts throughout.

“We’ve always all jammed, but then we decided let’s make a band solely kinda for Battle of the Bands but now it’s actually really fun,” Moran said.

Shady Lady formed fairly recently, just in time for the six to compete in Battle of the Bands on March 15, and make it to the second round to compete for a chance to open at Modstock. Because many of the mu s i c a l m e m b e r s w e re a l re a d y committed to other bands on campus, it wasn’t always clear if they would get the opportunity to play together.

Moon is in Unit One, with whom she is currently working on an LP, and

she played guitar for Funky Giant at Battle of the Bands. Eichler is the drummer for Little Saturday, last year’s winner of Battle of the Bands, and he joined PHEW, a band of sophomores, this year. Kelleher is a member of Small Talk, and although all of the band’s other members have graduated from BC already she still performs with them around Boston and the Northeast.

Although not members of any formal bands other than Shady Lady on campus, Rodger and Moran first performed together at their first Music Guild open mic during their freshman year.

The two met because they both had singles in Fitzgerald on Upper and feared they would find trouble making friends as a result. Both have also competed in Sing It to the Heights and performed the national anthem at a BC basketball game together.

Rooney, who the other members endearingly call “Caro,” has a solo EP on Bandcamp and Soundcloud and has been dubbed the “resident folk master” by her bandmates.

As busy members of the BC music community, the group members feel that their coming together is much bigger than themselves: Shady Lady is currently the only majority female band on campus. “ Th e r e ’s n e v e r b e e n a n a l l girl band,” Kelleher said, Eichler interrupting to clarify that there still isn’t. “But we are a majority girl band, and the original thought was to be a girl band.”

Eichler finds enjoyment in being surrounded by such talented women.

Dubbed “resident Shady Matey” by his female friends, Eichler fits right in with the attitude and style of the

band. After Moon joked he may wear an eyepatch for their upcoming performances a chorus of laughter ensued and there was talk of having the sole male member don a pink bob wig for his shows with the majority female band.

“I’m very down with it because these are all some pretty cool shady ladies I’m playing with,” Eichler said.

“I like it, I like our sound, I like our vibe—I like the girl band vibe.”

“That’s what girl power is all about, men and women coming together,” Rooney added.

The girl-and-one-boy band wanted the name to reflect its style. The members flirted with a few names, some of which included expletives, before deciding against them. One standout competitor was The Kitchen, a subtle jab at traditional patriarchal gender roles. The band finally found the one when watching Mamma Mia. “Friends were over at my house watching Mamma Mi a, and the Mamma Mia trio, they are the ‘Shady Ladies,’” Rooney said. “But one of my roommates was like, ‘Y’all should be ‘The Shady Ladies,’ but we cut it down to just ‘Shady Lady.’”

To complement its name, the band has already picked a phrase to perfectly encapsulate its unique sound: “Indie folk-rock girl band.”

The band does pull inspiration from many genres: blues, folk, funk, pop, and rock. The bandmates cited rock as the genre that pulls them all together, the screw in the glasses of Shady Lady. When asked about individual artists they look to for inspiration, the members offered an eclectic mix of musicians.

Kelleher cited The Staves , an

KAITLIN MEEKS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Shady Lady, Boston College’s only majority female band, prepares for their upcoming perfomance in Arts Fest 2018.

English folk rock sister trio, as one of her favorites. Rodger mentioned the Los Angeles based Lucius, an indie pop band. Snail Mail was another band the members could agree on.

“I wouldn’t mind being quoted in The Heights for the second time saying that I’m a big Coldplay fan,” Eichler added.

The task of writing the band’s pieces is shared among the members.

A collaborative effort, Moon stated that the process is often initiated by someone coming up with “bones, like a skeleton song” that allows everyone to add and contribute. Moon often finds herself writing about personal growth, while other members turn to “heartbreak, sadness, and boys.” The bandmates laughed at their choice in subject matter.

“Rachel Moon is a heartbreaker,” Kelleher said. “Heartbreak slash heartbreaking.”

The band suspects people may have been surprised at how quickly it found its groove. Only in existence for one month before its impressive performance at Battle of the Bands, the group worked hard to define its sound before the live performance.

Hard work paid off for Shady Lady.

“I thought [Battle of the Bands] was really fun—it was really high energy,” Moran said. “We knew a lot of people in the crowd so we really fed off of that energy, and I think it was actually cool that we got to start off because I don’t think people expected us to sound as professional as we did. We spent a lot of hours putting in work to throw it all together, and then it came together really nicely on stage.”

Because the bandmates are all entangled in other commitments on campus, they have to make practice a priority to be successful on the competitive BC music scene. Their hard work takes place on Tuesday nights, the one time where everyone is free during the week.

To put in extra hours, the band breaks off and does a lot of pair work throughout the week as well. The group starts each practice by “goofing off for an inordinate amount of time,” according to Moon, highlighting the light-hearted attitude of the band. Impromptu practices are also a common occurrence for the girl group, however.

“We are also kinda just friends,” Rooney said. “The other day we were just hanging out in Rachel’s room.”

While these hangouts sometimes turn into jam sessions, the band makes sure to put time aside to just be friends. When the bondedbandmates of Shady L ady aren’t learning new chords or harmonizing, they like to watch The Unbreakable

Kimmy Schmidt and make homemade applesauce.

When Shady Lady gets down to business, it focuses on the details of each song: chord progression, harmonies, how the drums should fe el. The band memb ers like to record their practice sessions on their phones and listen to the recordings throughout the day—this clever trick allows each member to learn and nitpick each detail of a song.

Joining together to make music has been strenuous on some bands in the past—Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles both lost and gained several band members due to tiffs over the years, while The White Stripes ended in divorce for guitarist Jack White and drummer Meg White. Shady Lady, however, doesn’t see disagreement as a problem for the band.

“It’s important [to be open] on both ends, whoever is saying a critique and whoever is receiving it,” Moon said.

The band relies on its love and friendship to carry it through long practices and the occasional critique.

The openness of their relationships allows the bandmates to push each other to be the best and most creative they can be. At the end of the day, the six students share a love of music and a love for each other that is much more important than any song they could write.

The future for Shady Lady looks bright. Getting its second major live performance under their belt on April 21 at Break the Bubble, a Music Guild sponsored open mic in front of Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, the band appears prepped and ready to give its best at BC’s Best at Arts Fest on Thursday, April 26.

Despite Kelleher ’s impending graduation, the band plans to stay together in the coming years—Kelleher is staying in the Boston area and hopes to record and perform with the band after college. Shady Lady is currently trying to grow its repertoire before seeking off campus spaces to perform in to try to expand its fanbase beyond the BC community. For now, the focus remains on finishing off Battle of the Bands at BC’s Best.

“I’ve been in Battle of the Bands before [and] didn’t win,” Kelleher said.

“Being able to clench that title my senior year would be really great. I don’t think BC has ever had a majority girl band in Battle of the Bands or win Battle of the Bands, that would be huge.”

Moon echoed this sentiment.

“Music Guild made BC feel like an actual home, so to win [Battle of the Bands] in this community would just mean a lot,” she said. 

BC Sharps Sends Off Seniors With Sonorific ’70s Show

BY AUSTIN HORD

Heights Staff

“Yes!” shouted one random guy, much to the rest of the audience’s amusement, as the Sharps of Boston College, BC’s all-women a cappella group, announced they would be singing “All Time Low” as their next song in the show. The Jon Bellion hit was

just one of the many crowd favorites that the a cappella group performed in its final show of the year Friday night.

They decided on a ’70s-themed show, which they carried out with disco lights, John Lennon-style sunglasses, vintage jumpsuits, bootleg pants, and copious amounts of floral.

They even put on a comical disco-

KATIE GENIRS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Boston College Sharps hosted a throwback show full of hit songs from the ’70s.

INSIDE SCENE

‘The Addams Family’

style dance routine to “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees.

Among the other popular hits on the Sharps’ setlist were Dua Lipa’s “New Rules,” a slowed-down version of Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love,” Zedd’s “The Middle,” and Alessia Cara’s “Scars To Your Beautiful.”

Charlotte Whalen, MCAS ’18, showed the group’s creativity when she performed a mashup of “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse and “Here”

by Alessia Cara. The arrangement was seamless, and the harmonic minor chord progression was executed perfectly by the ensemble.

Other highlights of the night included performances from the freshmen of the group, who made it clear that the Sharps have plenty of young talent. The four freshmen performed “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron for their Freshmen Project, and it was somber and beautiful.

They have deep and full voices, which isn’t a common characteristic of members of an all-female a cappella

The BC Dramatics Society hosted a musical version of the famous macabre family comedy, ‘The Addams Family’......B7

group. Maggie Chipman’s, MCAS ’21, rendition of “Lay Me Down” by Sam Smith was particularly mellow and elegant, and Caitlin Mahon, MCAS ’21, concluded the setlist with an extremely memorable performance of “River” by Bishop Briggs, in which she showed off her soulful, sassy, and powerful voice.

The Sharps brought in special guests A Completely Different Note, UCONN’s oldest all-male a cappella group, to perform a few of its own arrangements, too. The group performed tight harmonies and impressive solos in “Sweater Weather” by the Neighbourhood, “Kiss From A Rose”

by Seal, and “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars.

Obviously, this was the final Sharps show ever for the seniors of the group—Faith Rapley, MCAS ’18; Prianka Bedi, MCAS ’18; Sherri Cheng, CSOM ’18; May Bennett, MCAS ’18; Zoe Bosenberg, CSON ’18; and Whalen—so toward the end of the show, they came together for

My Mother’s Fleabag ‘Spring Big Show’ BC’s improv troupe, My Mother’s Fleabag, entertained audiences with two nights of fun and funny jokes..............B7

a heartfelt farewell performance of “These Days” by Macklemore that articulated just how much they will miss their time as Sharps members.

“I think this was our best show yet,” said Sam Padilla, MCAS ’20, the strong soloist for both “The Middle” and “Scars To Your Beautiful.” “We filled up Cushing 001 and had people standing in the back…. I’m really happy with how the concert went overall!”

The spring show provided the a cappella group with a great chance to end the year on a high note and set the group up to start the next semester with lots of energy and excitement.

It was also a great opportunity for audience members unfamiliar with the group to get a taste of what the Sharps singers are capable of.

Though the Sharps could have benefitted from a separate beatbox microphone and some reverb added onto the soloist mic, they put on an amazing and fun show that the departing seniors should be proud of. 

‘KOD’................................................ B6 ‘Mercury 13’.......................................... B6 ‘Port Saint Joe’................................................. B6