The Heights March 2, 2017

HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

EST. 1919

WWW.BCHEIGHTS.COM

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW SPORTS As the calendar hits March, The Heights profiles BC baseball, softball, and lacrosse players for the start of spring.

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Gender-neutral bathroom advocacy has received more attention on campus recently after it was included in the platform of Akosua Achampong and Tt King, both MCAS ’18, next year’s Undergraduate Government of Boston College president and executive vice president. Posters were hung on some single bathroom doors last week that read “gender neutral not by institution but by solidarity,” and included the phone numbers of University Counseling Services and Trans Lifeline, a non-profit focused on serving the trans community.

The posters also contained a link to a bias incident reporting form launched in November by Eradicate BC Racism that seeks to collect data on potential incidents on campus. The form’s welcome page says it was launched “In the absence of a userfriendly, trustworthy mechanism to report experiences of discrimination on campus.”

A link to the form appeared on posters in support of gender-neutral bathrooms that were hung on bathroom doors in academic buildings last week.

According to Kevin Ferreira, GLSOE ’19, in 2015, Eradicate and UGBC worked with the Office of the Dean of Students to create an institutionalized form. It was taken down in November 2015 and put under review amid concerns about how it would apply to faculty in the classroom. The institutional form has since been reinstated.

Ferreira said Eradicate’s form was launched in part as a response to hateful rhetoric used during the recent U.S. presidential campaign. Ferreira declined to discuss the specifics of the form for this story.

Dean of Students Thomas Mogan said in an email that he rejects the notion that there is no user-friendly and trustworthy mechanism to report bias incidents on campus. He said students are encouraged

to report any suspected violations to BCPD and Residential Life staff, which are available in addition to the online form.

“It is concerning that a group of students feels that it is appropriate to try to collect this type of information on their own,” Mogan said. “Various laws and regulations require this type of information to be reported to proper authorities.

We work closely with BCPD and other campus partners to fulfill these reporting obligations. No one has forwarded any alleged bias-motivated incidents to our attention so I can only assume that this group of students have not received any reports through their form.”

Gender-neutral bathrooms have been part of an ongoing conversation between LGBTQ+ activists on campus and the University. Dylan Lang, president of the Graduate Pride Alliance and GSSW ’17, said in an email that the GPA would continue to advocate for gender-neutral bathrooms despite indications from the Office of the Dean of Students that they are unlikely to appear on campus. The GPA takes part in a monthly conversation with that office called the LGBTQ+ Roundtable. Lang was not involved in the posters last week.

Lang said the GPA is exploring the possibility of all new buildings being built in the future to include all-gender restrooms. The GPA would also like signs on existing single-stall restrooms on campus to switch their gendered signs to just read “restrooms.”

“Ensuring that Boston College is a safe place for all its students requires that all people feel comfortable using the restroom they choose, regardless of their gender identity,” Lang said.

A gender-neutral bathroom was established in Newton Campus’s law library in 2014. Lang said the GPA is looking into the history of BC Law to understand why its campus has gender-neutral bathrooms while Main Campus does not. Mogan said he is unaware of any campus-wide

See Bathrooms, A3

AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

9cl\ C`^_kj 9ifb\e 8Zifjj :Xdglj Fli jlim\p ]fle[ k_Xk fm\i ), g\iZ\ek n\i\ efk ]lccp nfib`e^% 9P :?I@J ILJJF 8jjfZ% E\nj <[`kfi This week, The Heights surveyed 120 emergency blue light phones across Main Campus, Newton Campus, and Brighton Campus and found 31 that were not in working condition or had blue lights that were not lit.

That total means that over 25 percent of blue light phones were not in fully working order.

Two of these blue lights, often a staple talking point on campus tours but are rarely used in practice, were on Upper Campus, two were on College Road, two were on Middle Campus, and four were on Lower Campus. The Comm.

Ave. Garage had 13 broken lights and Beacon St. Garage had two. There were also four lights not working on Brighton Campus and two on Newton Campus.

All 31 emergency phones had blue lights

that were not lit. Four of the lights had emergency call boxes that were not operational.

“Security technicians and BC network personnel are working on making various repairs to phones,” BCPD Chief John King said in an email.

Police and security officers will routinely file work orders when they learn that an emergency blue light phone needs to be fixed, according to King.

Facilities Management was not able to comment at press time on the number of work orders it has received for blue lights.

The phones are intentionally placed so that students can see at least one more blue light from every phone, especially at night.

From many locations on campus, one can see multiple phones, King said.

In the event of an emergency, a student can press a button on the blue light phone, which will immediately call BCPD. An officer can talk to the student through the interface.

Once the button is pressed, a BCPD vehicle is immediately sent to the location.

Students living at off-campus residence

halls like 2000 Comm. Ave. and Greycliff Hall do not have access to blue lights on the paths back to their dorms. This is also the case for students who live in off-campus houses and apartments. King said that students who feel unsafe can utilize Eagle Escort, a van service operated by BCPD that will transport students to and from locations at any time.

BC’s blue lights are checked by a BCPD staff member every four to six weeks, according to King. A technician is initially responsible for assessing the condition of the phones and will make a repair or cause a work order to be filed if he or she cannot make immediate repairs. But students do not often use the phones, though numbers do not exist regarding the frequency of their use. “[Emergency blue light phones] are not used frequently and we do not keep statistics on how often they are used,” King said. “As part of the University’s campus security system upgrades, we will be replacing some of our aging phones over the next several months.”

See Blue Lights, A3

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Mary Robinson, who served as the first female president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, will speak at a Clough Colloquium series event on March 13. She will speak about human rights, climate change, and

gender equality at her talk, which is titled “Making Human Rights the Compass for All Ethical Globalization.” As the event will fall during Women’s History Month, it is co-sponsored by the Boston College Women’s Collaborative, the Women’s Center, and the Civic Engagement Committee.

The Clough Colloquium is organized by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics in the Carroll School of Management. The center’s mission is to introduce a cross section of diverse people that provide

both national and global perspectives, according to Monetta Edwards, the assistant director of the center. The purpose of the Clough Colloquium is to allow students the opportunity to hear perspectives from prominent world figures.

“We try to focus on relevant issues of the time and bring in people who can talk about those issues,” Edwards said. “It is important for us to bring in people from outside of BC to share their experiences and their world with the BC community.”

Previous speakers have included former

United States Attorney General Eric Holder, who spoke in October, and former Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick.

Edwards wanted this semester’s Clough Colloquium speaker to have a global perspective, and after deciding between a long list of speakers, Robinson was chosen.

Robinson will bring a focus to women in leadership and her work in human rights as the former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. She will also speak on her knowledge of climate change, as she is the founder and president of the Mary Robin-

son Foundation—Climate Justice.

David McCullough, the historian and writer famous for John Adams, Truman, and other nonfiction work, will be the next Clough Colloquium speaker, in September. His keynote address will kick off the Winston Center’s 10-year anniversary in the fall.

“Because of his wealth of knowledge on the U.S. political scene, it will definitely be very interesting to hear him talk about what he feels is going on in our political climate today,” Edwards said.

J\kk`e^ JdXcc >fXcj kf I\XZ_ 9`^ ;i\Xdj 8]k\i Xe `ealip# ]fid\i 9L gcXp\i KiXm`j Ifp cfjk ]\\c`e^ `e _`j 9P D8IPB8K< ;@EFI@:8 =fi K_\ ?\`^_kj On Oct. 20, 1995, 11 seconds into his college hockey career, Travis Roy found himself face down on the ice at Boston University’s Walter Brown Arena, unable to feel his limbs.

On Tuesday, he came to Boston College and

INSIDE

THIS ISSUE

talked about that moment and how he rebuilt his life afterward.

The motivational speaker and founder of the Travis Roy Foundation, invited to campus by the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) and the Undergraduate Government of BC’s Council for Students with Disabilities, hoped to inspire the students that filled the Heights Room to face adversity with a new mindset.

Growing up in Maine, Roy had his heart set on hockey since the first day he grabbed the bag of pucks from the closet next to the kitchen and headed to the local rink with

his father.

He found himself setting small goals to reach one of his biggest dreams, from determining how many goals and assists he was going to get as a freshman in high school to studying how to get above 1000 on his two-part SAT to play hockey at a Division I college.

Roy’s hard work paid off, getting him recruited to play D1 hockey at BU. He played the first game of the season against the University KYLE BOWMAN / HEIGHTS STAFF

See Travis Roy, A3

Travis Roy’s foundation helps individuals with spinal cord injuries and their families.

NEWS: Men for Others

METRO: Vittorio’s Kosher Tradition

Loyola House gives undergrads a taste of the Jesuit experience.................................... A3

With their new kosher grill, the Hassan family legacy lives on in Brookline............................. A4

INDEX Vol. XCVIII, No. 13 © 2017, The Heights, Inc. www.bcheights.com

NEWS.......................... A2 ARTS & REVIEW............B1 METRO......................A4 SPORTS......................C1 OPINIONS................... A6

THE HEIGHTS

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TOP

things to do on campus this week

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On Tuesday, March 14, the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship will invite John Pepper, founder and CEO of Boloco, to speak at its Lunch with an Entrepreneur event series. Pepper is a New England-based casual restaurant serving burritos, salads, and smoothies.

The event will be at 12 p.m. in Cushing 208.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

2

The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy will host an event titled “The Road From the Paris Climate Agreement,” featuring Andrew Light, the director for the Institute of Philosophy & Public Policy at George Mason University. The event will be on Tuesday, March 14 at 6 p.m. in McGuinn 121.

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The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life will host a student town hall. The town hall will discuss the future and how students can talk to each other openly and honestly. The town hall will take place on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. in Cushing 209.

NEWS K`XeXed\e Gifk\jk\i PXe^ KXcbj :_`eXËj GXjk# =lkli\ BRIEFS 9P JP;E<P BF<?C<I For The Heights

9: CXn Gif]% GXjj\j 8nXp On Feb. 25, professor emeritus Peter Donovan, BC Law ’60, a Boston College Law School professor for 36 years, passed away. Donovan was a double Eagle, and became a BC Law professor until he retired in 2002.

“Peter was an authentic. Not a phony facet to him,” Peter del Vecchio, BC Law ’81 and a student of Donovan, said to BC Law Magazine. “He presented a gruff exterior, but had nothing but pure love and respect for his students.

He was also a lot of fun.”

Donovan was a specialist in products liability and antitrust law as well as an important part of building BC Law’s oral advocacy program. He served as faculty advisor for the moot court team, a two-time national champion winning team, and mentored generations of students in competitions.

After graduating from BC Law in 1960, Donovan worked for the antitrust division of the US Department of Justice, earned an LL.M. from Georgetown Law Center, and then another from Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he was a Ford Foundation Fellow.

In 1966, he began teaching at BC Law School.

“I consider myself a teddy bear that people like to hug,” Donovan said to BC Law Magazine in 2001.

“I’d obviously hide that part of my personality because in their first year, I want students to work harder than they’ve ever worked before, and if they’re afraid of you, they tend to work harder. So, maybe I do intimidate them, but we also have a lot of humor in class.”

According to Donovan, there were three reasons to teach: “Students, students, students.”

9: Ef% (* `e G\XZ\ :figj On Tuesday, the Peace Corps announced that Boston College is ranked 13th among “mediumsized” schools in the 2017 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list. With 19 BC alumni volunteering in the Peace Corps, the University has jumped seven spots in the rankings, from No. 20 in 2016.

The Peace Corps is a volunteer program with a mission to help people outside the United States to understand American culture, while helping Americans understand other countries’ cultures through volunteering.

Since the Peace Corps was founded in 1961, there have been 786 alumni from BC that have volunteered around the world.

“At Boston College, the emphasis on ‘men and women for others’ stuck with me, and I saw it play out in the school life, and what students chose to give back to the community,” Gillian Freedman, BC ’13 and Peace Corps volunteer in Peru, said in the Peace Corps press release. “While at BC, I volunteered for the Neighborhood Center, which does tutoring and ESL tutoring for children and adults in the community, and I also worked during my senior year for BC’s Office of Health Promotion, which gave me a stronger interest in public health, and the benefits of health promotion and preventative health for populations.”

Among the medium colleges and universities ranking, Georgetown is No. 6 and Tufts is No. 21.

Former Tiananmen Square protester Yang Jianli, who spent five years in prison in China, talked to a packed room Monday night in an event organized by the Chinese Students Association.

“When I talk about my story, I say it’s bigger than myself,” Yang said while introducing himself to a packed room of students at an event organized by the Chinese Student Association.

Yang decided to leave China shortly after the protests in 1989.

When Yang returned years later, he was caught traveling with fake identification papers and imprisoned for five years.

Yang was born in 1963, three years before the Cultural Revolution, to a Communist Party official and his wife. The Cultural Revolution was started by Mao Zedong to mobilize the general public behind him and against other top party officials that were seeking to usurp power.

Growing up, Yang saw his father beaten, subjected to public humiliation, sent to the countryside, and then brought back without any explanation. When Yang was 7, he came across construction workers singing as they were working. He

recounted how the workers asked who his parents were and when he responded, they immediately turned back to their work and began singing. The song that they were singing was one insulting his father and the policies he helped to implement.

From that moment, when Yang realized his father was involved in the oppression of the people, he became interested in politics and the rights of Chinese citizens.

After Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping took power and reopened universities. Yang entered the Beijing Normal University at the age of 15 in pursuit of a mathematics degree.

While attending university, Yang was recruited by the Party looking for new, younger members.

Thinking that he could challenge the system from the inside, Yang accepted membership to the party but soon found that the party was toxic, and that he couldn’t change anything in this way.

“We did not change the party, the party changed us,” he said.

In response to the toxicity of the party membership, Yang transferred to the University of California, Berkeley to finish his master’s and Ph.D. While working on his mathematics doctorate, the student protests in Tiananmen Square in response to an increasingly control-

ling government began. Yang tried to do what he could to help the movement in America by leading support movements in San Francisco. But what he saw happening in China soon drew him back.

“I remember it was May 13, I watched the TV while eating, I saw for the first time armored police beating students and blood running down their faces,” Yang said. “And I couldn’t take it—I decided in that moment to return to Beijing to participate on the ground.”

While protesting in Beijing, Yang saw over one million people gather in Tiananmen Square at the beginning of a hunger strike, the instillation of martial law, and the violent transition to attacking the protestors.

Early on June 4, 1989, while traveling back to Tiananmen Square with a friend, Yang saw troops march on the protestors and open fire on the students. Yang recounted seeing tanks drive down the streets, running people over and firing on the crowds “The troops opened fire to both sides and each time when we heard a gunshot we would drop down to the ground,” he said. “It was so surreal, we didn’t think that it was real until we saw the blood.”

After witnessing the violent attacks on the protestors, Yang felt that he could be of the most help working

KATE MAHONEY / HEIGHTS STAFF

Yang recounted his five years in prison after he returned to China in 2002. outside of China, and he returned to the U.S. In 2002, he decided to return to China, intending to stay for two weeks. He did not want to travel under his own name and used his friend’s passport, but as he was trying to leave, he was arrested in Kunming airport.

Yang recounted how after being held at the airport, he was transferred to Beijing’s Second Prison for Democratic Work, where he was initially held in solitary confinement for 15 months. He described solitary confinement as extremely mentally taxing, and one of the hardest times of his life. After the 15 months, Yang met with his lawyer and learned that his family and the U.S government

were petitioning for his freedom.

Yang served five years in prison, and with the help of activists petitioning on his behalf after his release, was able to obtain a passport and travel back to the United States.

Since then Yang has been working to expand democracy in China.

Yang said that, over the past three to four years, the current Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has been implementing more oppressive policies. He worries that Xi will not name a successor this coming fall, breaking with the government norm.

“China has great, great potential, but we have to change the nature of the political system and it will not come without effort,” he said.

Gif]\jjfi <oXd`e\j I`j\ f] @ek\ieXk`feXc 8[fgk`fe `e L%J% 9P D8IPB8K< ;@EFI@:8 Heights Staff The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life held a luncheon on Wednesday in which Arissa Oh, author of To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption, examined the origins and rise of international adoption in the United States.

Oh, a professor in Boston College’s history department, teaches and researches on migration in U.S. history and its relation to race, gender, and kinship.

Oh started with recent history on the subject, discussing the rise of the Evangelical Adoption Movement and the subsequent creation of the Christian Alliance for Orphans in 2004.

These groups, along with multiple other religious international adoption organizations in America, informed the public of what they called the Global Orphan Crisis. They created an adoption culture and adoption theology, building a desire within Americans to adopt internationally and providing them with grants and loans to make the process easier.

The Christian Alliance for Or-

POLICE BLOTTER

phans felt that even with such high numbers of orphans overseas, if just a fraction of the Christians in America did something, this crisis would be solved.

Oh pointed out, however, that this orphan crisis the adoption movements referenced is not truly the concern they made it out to be.

According to the United Nations, 90 percent of these orphans still have one parent alive, and many of the remaining 10 percent are living with other family members besides their parents.

International adoption was first systematized during a time period that is Oh’s specialty: World War II. As “GI babies,” or children conceived

by Korean women and American servicemen during the war, were born in large numbers and often rejected by internal agencies because of their American heritage, Evangelical Christian Harry Holt took action.

Holt and his wife Bertha adopted eight GI babies, inspired others to do the same, and created their own agency to provide them a method to do so. This method, however, was very missionary-focused on the organizational level—the application for

Tuesday, Feb. 28

11:35 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Stokes Hall.

10:58 a.m. - A report was filed regarding harassing phone calls at Gasson Hall.

4:31 p.m. - A report was filed 3:33 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a property confiscation at regarding an incident of harassment at Vouté Hall Roncalli Hall.

9:13 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious person at Vouté Hall.

component of these international adoptions.

She also pointed out, however, that as international adoption rates rose, the evangelical seed within the process became less present.

This discomfort spread to other aspects of international adoption as well, also contributing to its decline following the international adoption peak in 2004.

Adoption regulations became stricter, a positive sign of government response to fraud and trafficking.

Stories spread of children being adopted who already had parents in their home countries, increasing skepticism about the process. The question of whether it is best to take children out of their cultural context and move them to another country was posed.

Because of this, Oh argued, the Christian Alliance for Orphans today is focusing more on family preservation and improving foster care in these foreign countries.

Oh pointed out that social changes in other countries, as well as a redirection of focus to domestic adoption in America, contributed to this decrease in international adop-

tion as well.

The luncheon ended with a discussion of where the children adopted all those years ago are today.

With international adoptions prior to 2000, the children were not automatically naturalized citizens and many formal papers to complete that process fell through the cracks.

This has created a problem in today’s political climate, especially for those who were adopted long before 2000 and now have families of their own.

Many children of those who have been deported in recent years have ended up in the American foster care system, separated from their families.

Oh observed that America’s current political climate may slow any future increase in international adoptions, especially since the concerns of deportation for people who were adopted so many years ago are rising significantly today.

“Parents are signing agreements with each other, giving power of attorney to friends and relatives, so if they get deported, their friends can take over their kids and access their bank accounts,” Oh said. “So they’re preparing for that contingency.”

2/27/17 - 3/1/17

Monday, Feb. 27

7:41 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation at the Modular Apartments.

adoption asked individuals not much other than their occupation and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Once adoption rates of GI babies soared, Korea used this outlet to send its unwanted children to America, such as those with disabilities, with single mothers, or from poor families.

As Oh described the time period in which this occurred, she made it clear that many Korean parents were unaware of what adoption truly meant. Some families with two working parents were convinced by agencies that sending their children to America would be the best for them, but many incorrectly believed that their children would simply get an education in America and return home to them.

In the 1960s, Korean adoption programs became international adoption programs, and this mindset of adopting from foreign countries grew stronger “People don’t adopt transracially domestically so much, but adopting from Africa overseas shows how the exotic difference of a child overcomes the fact that it’s a black child,” Oh said, emphasizing the interesting racial

9:06 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at 50 Quincy Road.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

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THE HEIGHTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

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Located on 50 Quincy Rd., three undergraduate men who are considering life as a Jesuit have lived in the Loyola House for the past semester.

Equipped with a chapel, a full kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a washer and dryer, and other living accommodations, the Loyola House hopes to attract more graduate or undergraduate men who are considering becoming Jesuits.

According to The Chronicle, the Loyola House is the first of its kind at any Jesuit college or university, and is entering its second year this fall. As a residential program, the Loyola House exists as a place for men who are considering priesthood to come together as a community to explore their faith, friendship, and vocation. Currently, there are three undergraduate men living at the house after one left after the first semester.

“BC has a very strong Jesuit presence, but I think all of us are concerned about fewer and fewer Jesuits,” said Rev. Casey Beaumier, S.J., the director of the Loyola House residential program. “So, at a place like BC, there’s a good spirit for touching points for Jesuits to meet students, but we would love to have some students at BC think

about becoming Jesuits.”

Life at the Loyola House features two dinners that the housemates will cook for one another three times a week, have the chance to meet and speak to Jesuits from around the world, and the opportunity to delve deeper into what becoming a Jesuit means, all while leading the life of a normal student at BC. Beaumier hopes that this program will spread to other universities across the globe.

“Guys who are thinking about becoming Jesuits, there aren’t many, but there are always some, and we want to do whatever we can to provide a good support for them,” Beaumier said. “Knowing that there are a lot of choices today, a lot of different ways people can choose to spend their lives, and we want this to be a viable possibility because it’s a good life, it’s a happy life.”

Next year, Beaumier hopes to attract six students to the Loyola House, which can comfortably accommodate up to eight. Currently, two students may plan to return to the Loyola House—however, the program is not sustainable for only two or three participants, Beaumier said.

“Right now, [the program isn’t] having very many takers, so everything is very fragile,” he said. “So, we need people to want to be a part of

it to help make it grow. But we can’t force that.”

He partially attributes the minimal participation to BC’s housing process.

Having lived on Upper Campus for nine years, Beaumier understands the hardships that many face during the housing selection process, and acknowledges that urging students to jump into this residential program is a big ask, especially for one that is so small. Beaumier encourages any interested students to contact him anytime throughout the housing process.

With a successful first year, Beaumier hopes to expand the program more next year to include social outreach, a house service project, and to be incorporated more with the University.

Students do not need to be completely certain of their interest in becoming a Jesuit upon entering the house. Rather, Beaumier only expects participants to be men of Catholic faith who have thought about entering the priesthood.

“It’s not a seminary, but it’s a house that supports the possibility, and it’s a house of information,” Beaumier said. “We meet people where they are, and then we try to help inform them about the gift of the Jesuits as a possibility for them and the way they spend their lives.”

8Yflk ), G\iZ\ek f] 9cl\ C`^_kj Flk Blue Lights, from A1 The new phones will be equipped with the latest versions of blue light technology and some will feature broadcast capability, King said.

A standard blue light will cost around $5,500 and a wall-mounted one will cost around $3,000, according to Security Product Solutions, a company that produces industrial security products based in Texas.

It is not a requirement or law for universities to have emergency blue light phones, but it is a feature that BC, along with many other universities, offers to keep students safe. In fact, the blue lights have a dedicated section in the handbook for BC tour guides, telling guides to put a heavy emphasis on the fact that there are “over 100 blue light call stations spread across campus [with] always one in line of sight.”

But many of these blue lights were installed over several decades, before the prevalence of smartphone technology. Despite this, many universities believe the technology is necessary, such as the University of Connecticut.

UConn has 273 blue lights on its main campus in Storrs, Conn.

Stephanie Reitz, UConn’s university spokesperson, said emergency blue light phones are useful in cases in which students do not have access to their cell phones, for example, if they were lost or stolen. A blue light phone

nearby would be crucial to their safety in those cases.

UConn performs remote diagnostics on its blue light system on a nightly basis, pinging each phone to see if it is working. The university also does physical checks on the phones four times each year.

During these physical checks, hundreds of staff members are assigned to individually stand in front of blue light phones. Each phone is then activated, and the staff members report back whether or not the phone is working.

Northeastern University has about 100 blue lights on its campus, according to Michael Monaco, an officer of the Northeastern University Police Department. There is no sign of the university removing or replacing the blue lights any time soon, Monaco said.

Monaco believes the emergency blue light phones are important because they are in a fixed position, so the police can track from which location the student calls. Monaco said that in certain cases, mobile phones can be unreliable in terms of tracking position because cell service can potentially be spotty. The blue light phones can be more reliable in certain cases and are good to have in an emergency, he said.

NU maintains its blue light system by sending an officer to check every blue light each month. If a blue light is not working properly, the officer

will report it back to his superior and the light will be fixed as soon as possible.

The University of Colorado Boulder removed its 80 emergency blue light phones in December 2015.

“It simply doesn’t make sense to continue to maintain this outdated technology when we have not received a legitimate emergency call from these phones in several years,” Melissa Zak, chief of police for CU-Boulder, said to colorado.edu. “The ‘blue light’ phones were a great technology 20 years ago, but they have become outdated as mobile technology expands.”

Mobile apps like bSafe or My Force are being used more widely on college campuses to provide safety to students.

BC has its own emergency safety app, Crisis Manager, which students can download for free on the app store. The app’s primary function is to provide information about different emergencies that can happen on campus. The app also features direct dial emergency contacts. Despite the functionality of the app, there is no indication that this app, or any other emergency app, will replace BC’s emergency blue light phone system anytime soon.

“I don’t think cell phones will make the need for these phones obsolete given that our campus has many visitors who may not be aware of how to contact the BCPD in the event of an emergency,” King said.

?fn KiXm`j Ifp :fg\[ 8]k\i @ealip Travis Roy, from A1 of North Dakota.

As Roy went on the ice for his first college game and attempted to check a player on the opposing team, the highly-touted prospect slammed his head against the boards with incredible force.

“As I found myself laying on the ice that day, the truth is I knew almost immediately,” Roy said. “I knew when I saw my warm breath starting to melt a puddle in the ice. I knew when I saw a hockey glove coming toward me and I realized it was mine, that they had moved my arm when the doctor came and I couldn’t feel it.”

He cracked his fourth and fifth vertebra on the ice, leaving his first collegiate hockey game as a quadriplegic.

But even in this moment, Roy had accomplished his ultimate dream. As his father ran down to the ice to check in on his son, Roy told him that from the pain in his neck he could tell his injuries were serious. “But Dad,” Roy said while facedown on the ice, “I made it.”

Confined to a hospital bed for over four months, Roy had nothing to look up to but the white ceiling tiles

of the bare room, filled with nothing but his family’s tears and his own heartbreak upon realization that his life’s dream came to an end only 11 seconds after it began.

He remembered questioning in that moment if this would be the rest of his life.

When his family transferred him to a clinic in Georgia that specialized in spinal injuries, Roy slowly began to make his mental and physical recovery. He began to communicate by methods other than blinking, sat in his first wheelchair, and slowly broke out of his depression.

Roy pointed out that sometimes a change of scenery is just what it takes to achieve a change in perspective, referring to the new ceiling tiles above his head with butterflies painted across them.

Looking at the patients around him who lacked familial support and likely would never get the chance to leave their beds, Roy realized that his situation could have been worse.

Roy emphasized to students that if they think their small action will not make a difference in another’s life, they are wrong. He told those present to be compassionate in their actions with others, especially those

with disabilities, and to inspire kindness in the lives of people around them.

He also shared with the students his belief that you may choose some of the challenges in your life, but other challenges will choose you.

While he chose the challenges hockey provided him with, his injury was the challenge that chose him.

Although the goals Roy set for himself during these two very different stages of his life were not similar on the surface level, the methods he used to achieve them and the fulfillment they brought him are the same.

Roy characterized two motivating factors that are crucial to success: you have to have a strong desire to see how good you can be at whatever it is you choose, and you have to get pride out of achieving it.

The six-week undertaking of building up enough bicep strength to reach a bagel to his mouth was just as challenging, and as fulfilling, as any of the goals Roy pursued on the rink.

“I can’t do the physical things I used to, but I can still laugh, I can still cry. And you tell me, what’s more important than that?” he said.

JAKE CATANIA / HEIGHTS STAFF

=fid\i ?\`i >Xm\ ?`j N\Xck_ 8nXp 9P 89@>8@C ;IL?FK =fi K_\ ?\`^_kj What does Oscar Mayer have to do with wealth inequality in America?

Chuck Collins opened his lecture Tuesday night, focused on his new book Born on Third Base, explaining this question.

Collins was born an heir of the multi-million-dollar meat and coldcut corporation and discussed the steps he has taken in his life that have since separated him from the wealth of the business.

Early in his career, Collins realized the gravity of his wealth and privilege and how ingrained these systems were in American society.

Collins was working with tenants about to lose the land on which their mobile homes sat, and they had a $35,000 dollar gap needed to buy the land and secure their homes. He remembered thinking he could have just written them a check with his trust-fund money and enable their purchase. Instead, what followed stunned Collins, because the people pooled all of their money, covering for people who had nothing to contribute, so that they could collectively buy the land.

Collins was moved by the solidarity of the community and this set the course for his life, which included giving away his inheritance to local, similar causes at age 26. He recounted the moment he knew he needed to make this substantial change.

“It made me think, ‘I want some of what they have,’” he said. “‘What they have is a community that stands

up for each other and that’s all in for each other. That’s the kind of world I want to live in.’”

Collins set out on a life of activism focused on bridging the gap between the top 1 percent and everyone else in American society. He has advocated not only for charitable actions like his own, but also the systematic changes needed in America to heal the wealth divide and stop it from getting any larger.

His life proved a suitable background for this activism, as he described the unique position he was in to be able to witness this problem starting to take off in the ’80s. He was witness to his family’s wealth growing with seemingly no effort, but also witness to the stagnant wages of low-income, hard-working families he was working with in New England.

He then cited statistics that he encouraged the audience to carry with them.

“For the last 50 years, the economy has doubled in size, and yet real wages for the bottom half of households, has pretty much stayed flat,” he said. “The richest 100 households have as much wealth together as the entire AfricanAmerican population in this country, which is 14 million households.”

Collins then discussed the implications of this inequality concerning the 2016 election and the current attitudes that he believes hurt his efforts. He resents the people who argue that all it takes is “hard work” to get rich, which contributes to the social stigmatization of receiving help. He targeted current politicians, namely Donald Trump, when ad-

dressing this issue.

“The guy who’s currently president, who likes to tell us how he’s a successful businessman—well it does help to start with a father who’s worth a $150 million real-estate empire, who brings you in, trains you, and sets you up with all kind of contacts,” he said.

“That’s called a head start.”

Collins then made an intense call to action focused on local initiatives.

“I tell people born on third base … it’s time to come home … Bring your wealth, your full self, to a place, to a community,” he said. “Take it out of the offshore tax havens, out of the global financial casino, take it out of the fossil fuel sector, and move your money into local communities, the real economy of goods and services.”

He also encourages those not in the 1 percent to focus on organizing to make systematic changes in the government because he firmly believes philanthropy alone is not a sufficient substitute for an adequately funded public sector.

In light of the current political atmosphere in America, Collins ended his lecture recounting a recent rally he attended with people filing off buses and marching for a tax on financial transactions on Wall Street. He was amazed at the amount of people coming from the busses, and especially the passions and stories from these people. He encouraged the audience to keep this spirit alive.

“The good news is, there are a lot more people getting on those buses right now,” he said.

>\e[\i$E\lkiXc 8[mfZXZp G`Zbj Lg Bathrooms, from A1 standard in how single- use bathrooms are designated by gender.

The graduate student who made the posters, who is trans* and requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic that could have negative repercussions for their health, said they had not contacted the Office of the Dean of Students to talk about the possibility of designating some bathrooms as gender neutral.

They said they thought that the presence of gender-neutral

bathrooms on campus would create a safer environment for trans members of the BC community.

“BC has been very unresponsive to intra-institutional changes,” the student said. “Personally I found it much easier to bring the power back to the people and just make the right things happen by ourselves.”

The student said that when they present as a woman on campus and have to use the restroom, they experience a constant fear because of instances of violence against trans* women in

particular. The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, reported that in 2015, 21 transgender people died due to fatal violence, and 22 in 2016. The student said their concern is less about political correctness and more about “basic survival.”

“I think having gender-neutral bathrooms is just one of the very, very basic steps to creating that environment where we don’t have to worry about survival, and we can actually concentrate on bettering our lives through education,” the student said.

THE HEIGHTS

A4

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

>JJ8 Jpdgfj`ld kf :fee\Zk Jkl[\ekj# D\[`ZXc Gif]\jj`feXcj 9P J@DI8E 98I ?\`^_kj JkX]] Leading surgeons from all over the Boston area from the field of global surgery will gather in Cambridge on March 4 to speak in front of over 200 medical and undergraduate students at the Boston Global Surgery Symposium.

And this number does not include the thousands of students who will be in attendance via live-streaming from all over the country.

As she entered her first year at Harvard Medical School, Parisa Fallah, a student at Harvard Medical School, knew two things: She wanted to pursue the field of global surgery, and connect students around the country—and the world for that matter—who had a similar passion. Thus, the Global Surgery Student Alliance (GSSA) was born.

Fallah, along with 14 other members from Harvard Medical School, Boston University Medical, and Harvard School of Public Health, comprise the team that is pulling the conference off all on their own, while juggling medical school simultaneously.

“As much work as it is, I think that the power of students and youth has something special to it, that can make these things come together,” Fallah said.

As the day of the symposium nears, Fallah gave some insight into what the day’s events will hold. The conference, which begins at 8 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m., will kickoff with keynote speaker Dr. John Meara, co-chair on the Lancet

Commission on Global Surgery, and will feature two different panel-session times, each with four different panel topics to attend during a designated period.

For those who are nervous about missing panel topics that run simultaneously, the leadership team is already one step ahead, and arranged for each panel to be recorded. This feature will allow students, whether they are in physical attendance or live-streaming, to go back and watch anything they missed.

The majority of the speakers at the symposium are leaders in the field from around the Boston area who have agreed to speak probono. Word of the symposium, however, has quickly spread, even reaching the ears of a doctor in North Carolina who will speak.

Fallah and the rest of her team hope that the symposium will help connect students within the field of global surgery and will make them aware of all the opportunities that are within their reach. All students need to do is simply take action.

“Our main goal is to make students more aware of global surger y as a whole,” Fallah said. “But if we could get students interested enough to start similar programs at their schools, that would be an added benefit because I truly believe that the best way for us as students to learn is through collaboration.”

One of the biggest challenges that the leadership team has faced in putting together the conference is the lack of

funding. As a new organization, having different departments donate money to a group whose success is unpredictable was one of the hardest aspects of pulling off the Symposium.

After reaching out to about 30 different departments, the group was able to raise enough to lock down a space for the conference and really began to pull it all together. While ticket sales are another source of funding, the team wanted to make sure that the conference was still affordable and accessible to the majority of students, by keeping ticket prices at $15 per person. Fallah hopes that the success of this year’s Symposium will ease funding difficulties in the following years.

While putting together the conference itself has been the main focus of GSSA in the past few weeks, national outreach is also a large focus of the group’s philosophy. So far, the leaders have already arranged to have a livestreaming event of the conference with 15 other schools. After the Symposium, one of the main goals of the group will be to gather materials that will aid other schools in organizing their own group in the proper manner.

“We want to make sure than anyone who has an interest, can be involved in our program and that it is all inclusive and not just limited to those students in Boston due to location,” Fallah said.

In continuing the work of the GSSA, Fallah explained that in the time in between their conference next year, the group’s leaders hope to expand awareness of global surgery by organizing

PHOTO COURTESY OF GSSA

The Harvard-based conference expects a crowd of 200 undergraduates to attend in person. workshops, putting together research presentations, and linking students to practicing doctors to work on casestudies.

Another exciting opportunity stems from a potential collaboration with the international equivalent of GSSA. Whereas the United States group’s leadership is entirely located within Boston, the international team includes students from all across the world, presenting an exciting opportunity for

further collaboration. Fallah was particularly excited about this opportunity because it would be the first time that global students could be on the same page with regards to the available knowledge in the surgical field.

For students with an interest in the field of global surgery or the medical field in general, Fallah hopes that the symposium this weekend will unite passionate students from around the Boston area and beyond.

MICHAEL BRUE / HEIGHTS STAFF

@e I\mXdg\[ 9iffbc`e\ >i`cc# M`kkfi`fËj :fek`el\j Bfj_\i C\^XZp 9P D@:?8<C 9IL< =fi K_\ ?\`^_kj

Located at 1398 Beacon St. in Brookline, Vittorio’s Grill has restarted its restaurant journey that began in the same building a decade ago.

Max Hassan, chef and owner of Vittorio’s Grill, re-opened the restaurant four months ago, intent on maintaining and expanding the grounds that his father, Vittorio Hassan, established. The concept Hassan aimed to preserve was simple: homemade food and a family-oriented atmosphere. With everything made in house, deliveries flying out the door, and a growing number of regulars stopping by, it is safe to say that Hassan has been successful in his mission.

Vittorio’s runs with the help of just four staff members—all friends and family. With a group this small, customers can be assured that their food will stay true to the cultural roots that run through the entirety of the staff, and that each item will be crafted with meticulous care “We just do what we know to do I guess, it’s

like a natural thing to us,” Hassan said. “That’s all there is to it.”

Hassan spent part of his life in Israel, and even served in the army before coming back to Boston. All the while, his father was proprietor of the family’s original restaurant, Vittorio’s Kosher Pizzeria, which closed its doors in 2003. This legacy inspired and motivated Hassan to open a restaurant when he returned to the U.S., and sure enough, he took over the exact same property.

The restaurant itself has not changed much since the space housed the pizzeria that Hassan’s father owned, a fact that Hassan takes pride in. Hassan explained that Vittorio’s still upholds certain aspects of his father’s menu, and that the staff focuses on treating their customers like family. While some additions have been made to the menu, the restaurant still continues to serve classic American dishes with Israeli flare, while also still maintaining Kosher regulations.

The Kosher aspect of the menu is what sets Vittorio’s apart from other restaurants in the area, and Hassan hopes that Bostonians will gain a stronger understanding of what that

term really means.

“Kosher meat is not only for Jewish people, it’s clean meat,” Hassan said. “Deeming something as Kosher means that it has to be of good quality.”

The beef that Vittorio’s uses for its dishes is grass-fed, which comes from cows that have been certified as humanely treated. This certainty in where one’s food is coming ensures not only a happier eating experience, Hassan said, but a tastier one as well. And just as diners can be certain that the food coming from Vittorio’s kitchen is fresh, they can also rest assured that meal options are full of variety, for Vittorio’s boasts an extensive menu that is sure to please any crowd.

With its burger options, Vittorio’s is revamping typical American fare. It offers everything from the double-beef Kebaburger topped with tahini and seasoned with Middle Eastern spices to portobello burgers which also feature caramelized onions and spicy chili. But this grill goes beyond innovative burgers, and also offers customers chicken and beef sandwiches that include more traditional Israeli ingredients like spicy shug

and hummus.To top it all off, customers can choose from 16 different dressings to top any of their meals, all made in-house.

Although Hassan believes the food should be the focal point of any good restaurants, he notes that the environment is almost as important. With a compact seating arrangement, Vittorio’s creates an intimate setting for customers. Hassan noted that this is the atmosphere his father curated, and it has always been a pleasure to come into work because of it.

“People come in and have a good time,” Hassan said. “When you come to eat, you don’t only come for the food—even if the food is good, you still need the atmosphere, the environment.”

Having lived in Boston for most of his life, Hassan knows what Bostonians look for in their culinary lives, and what is missing.

With this knowledge, he was able to create Vittorio’s open atmosphere which customers have found so appealing thus far. Although Hassan faced a few minor challenges, such as the strict requirements on how many seats the restaurant could have, he easily adapted,

and has put Vittorio’s on the road to greater growth and success. Of course, Hassan pays homage to his father, as he feels that his father’s role is still integral to the restaurant.

“I always have my father here to help me, God bless him,” said Hassan. “He makes the bread fresh every day, everything is made with love and care.”

Vittorio’s is on a path of seemingly unstoppable growth. Hassan and his entire family have put their efforts into making sure that this restaurant matches up to the respected establishment founded by Vittorio. With such a focus on sharing Israeli and Kosher cuisine, one can easily forget the importance of a genuine atmosphere, and how it can better one’s dining experience as a whole.

But Hassan ensures that customers feel at home in the restaurant, a feature that plays a big role in bringing them back and making them regulars.

“When it comes down to it, customers come to a restaurant looking for three things: good food, good service, and good conversation,” Hassan said. “And so that’s what we try to give them every time.”

THE HEIGHTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

A5

E\n D=8 <o_`Y`k <ogcfi\j @ejg`iXk`fej Gifm`[\[ Yp k_\ GXjk 9P D@I8E;8 D:;FE8C;$JK8?C <[`kfi`Xc 8jj`jkXek Fitting for an exhibit that focuses so much on time, the posters for Past is Present: Revival Jewelry at the Museum of Fine Arts are some of the first that greet visitors to the museum and the last they pass before they leave. Follow the signs across from the coat check, and double doorways lead into the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Gallery. The square space is dimly lit except for the illuminated cases along the back wall and in the center of the room. The cases draw the viewer in, and the rich gold and minute-colored stones glow against this background.

Each of the necklaces, bracelets, or earrings showcased in this exhibit tells a story of the communication between past and present.

Even before visitors enter the actual gallery, two pieces in the entryway create this juxtaposition: a carved winged scarab beetle from ancient Egypt, and an almost identical brooch by the French jewelry house Cartier made in 1924. There are differences: the Cartier piece is more simplified and geometric, evoking the Art Deco period of the 1920s. Its deep turquoise wings appear more delicate, and graphic bands of sparkling diamonds are offset by thick black outlines. The similarities between the two that were created thousands of years apart, however, are more striking.

This pairing,which shows the reinterpretation of ancient influences, raises questions about history, culture, and the role of jewelry that define the rest of the exhibit. Egyptian revival pieces, inspired by breakthroughs such as the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922, make up one of its four main themes. The other three—Archaeological, Renaissance, and Classical Revival—are highlighted in the central case.

“It was hard to decide what to choose because we have a lot of strength in that area,” Emily Stoehrer, the Rita J. and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry at the MFA, said.

“In the end I was thinking about the gallery and how it would lay out and working with the designers and the design team.”

Stoehrer decided to focus the exhibit on just four “revival themes” to showcase the “design elements and techniques” unique to each theme. In the center of a Renaissance revival necklace, pearls and intricate pink, green, and blue floral patterns drip from a long chain. The piece was created in 1900 but appears timeless.

“The idea was born from wanting to showcase the museum’s 19th century collection,” Stoehrer said. “If you go around and look at the dates on some of the pieces, you realize … they were very contemporary pieces when they came in, so that was very exciting.”

Many of these 19th century pieces served as physical memories of the past for wearers. Individuals who traveled Europe on the “Grand Tour” collected jewelry that showed the distinct style of each city they visited.

Italian works often included tiny painted or carved mythological scenes to echo the roots of that culture.

From the center, the exhibit fans out in a series of cases. Although the cases “loosely” grouped around the themes of memory, technology, and design, Stoehrer notes that the organization is not explicit in the exhibit.

Instead, each case has a different, more specific theme.

“That became a way for the visitor to approach each case and understand the topic that was being outlined,” Stoehrer said. “Each case has its own story.”

The arc of the cases along the back wall encourages the audience to move through

MIRANDA MCDONALD-STAHL / HEIGHTS EDITOR

With one of its newest exhibits, the MFA focuses on antique items of jewelry that draw on the beauty of past cultures and styles. the exhibit, to see transitions, and circulate between them. Organizing each case by theme rather than a specific time period or medium invites the viewer to consider the commonalities and communication across cultures.

A case on money and currency shows these connections. The Italian jeweler Castellani created pendants in the 1870s and 1880s with ancient coins from Corinth and Syracuse. Another necklace from Bulgari includes coins with images of Hercules, but was made a century later in 1980. These pieces are presented alongside Kathy Buszkiewicz’s Savior bracelet from 1996, made from paper bills. The familiar green and white colors of money are transformed into a new pattern,

raising questions of the idea of value and the transformation of a society over time.

“I want to show that the revival movement wasn’t something that was just in the 19th century,” Stoehrer said. “This is something that predates the 19th century and also continues. Because of the depth of our collection, I was looking to make those comparisons.”

In addition to directly incorporating ancient images, revival artists also showed a renewed interest in techniques such as enamel and granulation. One of Stoehrer’s favorite pieces, a series of small gold dove and cupid figures, shows these tactile qualities.

“It’s so small but so exquisite,” Stoehrer said. “If you look at the hair on each of the cherubs, each curl is one individual granule.

The craftsmanship is really unmatched.”

Stoehrer also selected certain paintings for the gallery that invite the viewer to reflect on how these pieces would have been worn in daily life and “continuing the narrative and setting the tone for the time.” In “Tibullus at Delia’s House” by Sir Lawrence AlmaTadema, for example, the amphora and snake forms in Delia’s jewelry show the styles of both ancient and 19th century art, repeating the idea of timelessness and the beauty of the past.

“I hope that people will visit and see that these are really timeless themes,” Stoehrer said. “In the ebb and flow of different moments there is this continuous thread throughout jewelry’s history.”

N`k_ @jcXd`Z JfZ`\kp# NXcj_ 8[[i\jj\j @dd`^iXk`fe :feZ\iej 9P D8IP<C@Q89<K? DFFE<P ?\`^_kj JkX]] The first in a series of community conversations about refugees and immigration issues hosted by the Boston Mayor’s Office began on Friday night. In this event, hosted in conjunction with the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC), Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09 addressed the actions—and inactions—that President Donald Trump’s administration has taken in the past month regarding immigrants and religious groups, and gave clarification regarding how his team will tackle the growing concerns of the Boston community.

The Immigrant and Refugee Community Forum began with a reading from the Qu’ran in both Arabic and English which expressed that, in part, those who strive are valued above those who stay at home. This concept of active participation and activism was a common theme of the night.

Shaykh Yasir Fahmy, the senior imam at the ISBCC, spoke first. He related the common theme of refugees seeking safety and a better life in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,

to the current refugee situation in the world.

Though Fahmy believes the current situation in the United States is very far from ideal, he explained that it might be “a blessing in disguise” as it pushes people in the community to come together, and fosters the belief that people really can come to the U.S. to have better lives.

Before introducing a few members of the community as speakers, Fahmy closed with an anecdote to which the first place Muslims migrated was a Christian kingdom in modernday Ethiopia, because the Prophet Muhammad believed that it was the safest place to send them. There was no fear, at that time, that the religious differences would divide them, and Fahmy expressed his hope that this idea of harmony would help guide the actions of the Boston community.

The first member of the ISBCC community to offer testimony was Nour Tabidi, a daughter of two Sudanese immigrants who is married to a Sudanese national. Tabidi was in Sudan with her husband when Trump’s executive order banning immigrants from 7 majority-Muslim countries went into effect. Tabidi described the feeling of horror that came over her when

her husband, a green card holder, was not allowed to get on the plane they were boarding to return to the U.S. The extensive undertaking that ensued consisted of multiple fruitless trips to the airport, but was eventually resolved when her husband was finally permitted to pass through security at Logan International Airport in Boston after a court issued a seven-day stay on Trump’s ban.

Rahmatullah Aka also shared his story, which offered a different perspective, at the forum. He was born in Afghanistan and worked for the US embassy there for many years. In 2015, Aka moved to the U.S., and now works as a case manager for refugees.

The recent travel bans, Aka said, have caused a lot of stress for the people he works with because their current situation and status in the U.S. is unclear.

The stress and worry over the future is not just limited to the people with whom Aka works. Many Bostonians attending the community forum expressed similar themes in the questions and comments that they voiced to Walsh later in the night.

Walsh sought to assuage those fears, and

echoed Fahmy’s sentiment regarding religious harmony. The mayor spoke about a trip he took to Israel and how, in Jerusalem, if one visits a certain place early in the morning, they can hear Jewish, Christian, and Muslim prayer services all taking place simultaneously. Three groups of people, all doing the same thing, just expressing it in a different way. This event had an obvious, lasting impact on him.

As he continued to speak and answer questions, Walsh frequently revisited the idea that his parents were immigrants—both came from Ireland—and the “unfair and discriminatory actions coming out of Washington, D.C.” affected him on a personal level as well.

Boston is, according to Walsh, 28 percent foreign born and 43 percent first-generation American citizens. It is a city composed of and built by immigrants.

“In 2014, I was elected to represent all of Boston, including immigrants,” said Mayor Walsh. “In Boston, we are going to stick by our values.”

When multiple questions came up about immigration enforcement, Walsh stressed that the Boston Police Department (BPD) is not U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

(ICE). The BPD exists to protect all members of the Boston community. Additionally, Walsh emphasized that Friday’s meeting was the first of many forums that would be happening in the community going forward.

All present were urged to go out and get to know their neighbors and to fight back with love, a parallel to the selection from the Qu’ran read at the beginning of the forum.

Walsh called for Boston to continue to be the “diverse, great city” that it is, and said that if anyone took issue with the Trump administration’s actions,“ there is an election in November.”

Walsh spoke for close to two hours, making sure to answer every single question in the audience. He addressed many specific issues about policy and Washington that were brought up, but his focus remained one of reassurance for the city he grew up in. Toward the end of the time he spent speaking, he offered words of encouragement to those gathered at the Islamic Society.

“All I can speak for is Boston, and all I can say is tonight you don’t have to be scared and tonight, in Boston, I hope you will not be scared,” Walsh said.

Fe\ :Xdglj Xk X K`d\# :fcc\^\M`e\ <Xj\j 8ggc`ZXk`fe GifZ\jj 9P >8F C@L ?\`^_kj JkX]] The average public high school student receives less than 38 minutes of college assistance from their guidance counselor across four years—less time spent preparing for one of life’s most crucial decisions than it takes to watch an episode of TV. Johan Zhang, cofounder of CollegeVine, an ed-tech startup based in Cambridge that offers a new take on college admissions guidance, wants to give students more than just what amounts to 10 minutes in a given school year for this

preparation process.

CollegeVine hires what its founders consider to be the finest consultants available in the market to guide high school students: other students who have just previously been in the same position, otherwise referred to as “near-peer mentors.” In a bio on the CollegeVine website, Zhang explains that throughout high school, he was lucky enough to learn from many “incredible” teachers. But when he reflected on the people that made the largest impact on his life during those high school years, it was his friends who were a year or two older than him.

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLLEGEVINE

CollegeVine connects college applicants with the most skilled mentors: undergraduates.

Hailing from Montgomery (N.J.) High School, Zhang felt first-hand the need for reform in the public school system. As he sees it, private school students have a tremendous head start, usually paired with their own college counselor who guides them through the entire college process. That same level of tutelage is a daydream for most public schools, in which the average guidance counselor to student ratio is 1:472. Zhang believes that students acquire all this knowledge, but it typically goes to waste.

“What we do is connect these successful college students and provide formal training so that they can impart what they’ve learned,” Zhang said.

High school students sign up, choose the desired service, and fill out a profile that determines what type of mentor they’ll receive.

Upon matching, clients and consultants meet up online where the admissions magic happens.CollegeVine’s team currently consists of 300 undergraduate consultants on over 20 college campuses. One perk of hiring exclusively college students is that costs stay low.

Zhang noted that competitors charge between $4,000 and $6,000 on average for their services, whereas CollegeVine’s full programs are priced at a third of that.

On the startup’s website, the founders state that CollegeVine’s mission is “to level the playing field of college admissions, regardless of socioeconomic status.” As such, the business operates a “pro-bono program, where [they] provide services to students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds for free.” This year, 21 selected pro-bono students were

accepted into schools such as Princeton University, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan.

In the game of college applications, however, universities constantly try to one up each other in selectivity. This leads students from all backgrounds of education to feel an urgency to add formal undergraduate education to their repertoire. The founders of CollegeVine, which is now in its third year of operation, have fine-tuned their mentorship model, and subsequently seen business take off. What initially began as a few friends mentoring on the side has now turned into a multi-million-dollar business that attracts students from around the world. The founders now have impressive numbers to show for their work.

For the team behind CollegeVine, acceptance to name-brand colleges—perhaps even prestige—seems to be the key metric of success. According to its website, 78 percent of clients are accepted to an ivy league school and 88 percent are accepted to a top-20 university.

On top of that, the average client receives $120,000 in scholarships—a fact prominently displayed on the CollegeVine website. “We don’t just help you get into school. We also help make it more affordable,” reads a line underneath the statistic.

The business, reminiscent of the many others born on Harvard’s campus, started in a dorm room. Zhang, along with co-founders Zack Perkins and Vinay Bhaskara, attended public high school and migrated together to prestigious universities—Zhang and Perkins went to Harvard, Bhaskara to the University of Chicago.

Zhang made his first moves after graduating from high school in 2013, picking up customers and eventually turning his work into a part-time gig while studying economics on the side.

“After our first year of students began receiving acceptances to top-tier schools, we knew we had a system that worked,” Zhang said.

Following the success in year one, Zhang hired other mentors and “results were even better.” But CollegeVine’s exponential success came with an equally exponential amount of work, and the founders were faced with the fact that they could no longer balance their school lives with the needs of their blossoming business. So the team was left with the choice: would they take the plunge and pursue their business? Zhang and company decided to risk it, dropping out of school to build their business full-time starting, what would have been, their junior year.Since then, the company has seen considerable success. In 2015, the number of CollegeVine clients rose by 300 percent and last year, CollegeVine completed a $3.1 million Series A funding round led by Morningside Ventures.

It’s easy to forget that not long ago, Zhang was also a student, with eyes set on attending a prestigious university. This spring, Zhang would have graduated from Harvard. His decision to leave school for CollegeVine is filled with equal portions of inspiration and irony.

“On some level it was challenging, doing something different from [what we’d done before]is always complicated,” Zhang said.

“But when a wave comes, you gotta ride it.”

THE HEIGHTS

A6

EDITORIALS

QUOTE OF THE DAY

9:G; Dljk 8[[i\jj 9ifb\e 9cl\ C`^_kj fe :Xdglj There are about 140 emergency blue lights scattered across Boston College’s campus, according to BCPD Chief John King. The blue lights contain panic buttons that connect students directly with BCPD in an emergency. The idea behind this crisis-prevention system is that at least one blue light should be visible to a student or visitor at all times and locations, giving the campus widespread protection. This is currently not the case, however, as a Heights investigation revealed that 31 of 120 surveyed blue lights—a little over 25 percent—are not working in varying capacities—some have broken call panels and others have burnt-out lights.

This study reveals an obvious concern for public safety. Although the blue lights are not a frequently-used system, they are still a resource that should be readily available to students should an emergency occur. It is particularly alarming that 13 of the broken blue lights are located inside the Comm. Ave. garage, as blue lights are generally most useful in places where there are fewer people at night.

It would be a tragedy if a student were to need a blue light in a crisis situation and could not find one—or worse, to find that it was broken. The blue lights are also a preventative measure that help deter criminal activity and make students feel safer on campus. They fail to provide these positive benefits if they are not functioning correctly, or at all. The blue lights represent a significant financial investment, and if the University is going to spend the money to have them in place, it should also spend the time and money necessary to fix them.

One of the primary problems with the blue lights is that many of the actual blue lightbulbs on the towers are either out or failing to light up. The visibility of the towers is a key part of the effectiveness of the blue light system. In the dark, the beacon of a working blue light is hard to miss. But if the lights are out, someone in need of immediate assistance would probably have significant trouble locating a tower to call for help. Therefore, it is important that the University and BCPD take the necessary steps to repair or replace the broken

lights that sit atop the emergency phones.

BCPD is currently in charge of managing the blue light system at BC. According to BCPD, the emergency blue light phones are surveyed every four to six weeks. It is concerning that some of the towers have been out of order for many months now. One blue light has been out since at least December.

Similarly, King has stated that BCPD does not keep a running record of which blue lights are used and when. This information could potentially be used in tracking crime on campus and identifying ways to improve public safety. Even if the records are not made public, BCPD should keep track of the uses of the blue light system for its own informational purposes.

There is a section of the BC tour guide handbook that emphasizes campus safety at the University by highlighting the blue light system.

If tour guides are telling visitors and prospective students that they should be able to see another blue light when standing at one, then the blue lights should all be fully functioning. If the towers are broken, then the blue light system is effectively useless, and does not make BC’s campus a safer place for the student body or anyone else.

While some universities have made the decision to get rid of the blue lights on their campuses, removing the blue light system all together is not an adequate solution. Many universities have sought to replace their blue light systems with safety applications for smartphones. This is counterintuitive, however, as a blue light would most likely be needed in an emergency in which a person cannot immediately access their phone.

While BCPD does have an app for students that contains safety information, it is not designed to put students directly in contact with campus police, and it certainly cannot replace the blue light system in its current capacity—such as a situation where someone’s phone may be out of battery or lost. Therefore, BCPD and the University should seek to more actively assess the functionality of the blue lights across the campus and should promptly repair the ones that are currently broken to avert a potential tragedy.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

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“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.”

- Mark Twain

LETTER TO THE EDITOR A Response to “Socialism is the Solution” “Citizen service is the very American idea that we meet our challenges not as isolated individuals but as members of a true community, with all of us working together. Our mission is nothing less than to spark a renewed sense of obligation, a new sense of duty, a new season of service.” – President Bill Clinton When the United States was created, it was created with a new form of government, a democratic-republic, where the people have a great deal of power but not the final say. As one should remember from the last election, that those with the most popular support do not always win. While in this case, the majority people’s opinion was right, one easily could create a case in theory where the popular opinion is wrong and should not be supported by the government.

In the article, it is stated that it would best for corporations to be owned and operated by employees, where the employees would all have an equal final say, “one voice, one vote.” But this is not true even in the USA’s democratic-republic, so to work towards that goal is unreasonable. What the article is arguing is that workers, executives, and customers need to be more connected to each other and be willing to assist each other so that the economy acts in a more just way. This lack of connectedness is not just present in the workplace but in the society as whole as well.

The specific suggestion that cooperatives are the best way in which to create a more democratic economy is misguided because it provides a solution that is too simple and inapplicable. Co-ops could certainly work in many conditions, but the

better overall solution is to use the current options available to increase the connectedness among the executives, employees, and customers. This could be achieved for example through strengthening labor unions, or through forcing corporations to have more local governing structures or through breaking up larger corporations. Co-ops are not the only way.

In Dr. Putnam’s book Bowling Alone, one sees that a current problem in society as whole is that people are increasingly focused on themselves and less on others and groups. The American system was never supposed to work under these circumstances where employees and employers are completely disconnected and do not care about each other’s well-being. The answer is not more government involvement but more community involvement.

Government involvement can certainly be useful especially for those in the middle and lower classes, but it will not fix the problems that exist in society. If the government takes more of a role in caring for others without the society first gaining increased connectedness and compassion, then the government will only make the problem worse. For example, people will not see how their taxes are benefiting others and then question why are they paying taxes at all for people who they do not know. When people know about and care for each other’s life more, then the economy can work for all people, and one can create a system that is more democratic.

B<EE<K? >F<KQ# D:8J Ë)'

A Response to “A Pair of Confusing Candidates” After reading a column in The Heights by Rachel Loos, I need to respond to this opinionated article.

Rachel does not know Ray or me; we do not know Rachel. Writing for an independent school newspaper, Loos lambasts our character and reputation without providing clear evidence and justifiable statements.

To begin the article, Loos emphasizes that she had a difficult time selecting what to write about for her third Heights article. She claims that Ray and I have cognitive dissonance by us “adjusting our attitudes and our behaviors.” However, Ray and I have stood true to our values and policies during this entire process. It is one thing to critique the policies of others, which our campaign was unjustly penalized for; it is another to attack character, especially in a school newspaper.

Loos, who has individually endorsed cyber hate against us by liking Facebook comments, refers to my LTE as “strange.” She supports Edward Byrne’s discriminatory “jokes” on Facebook, which no one involved or who liked them has condemned.

Moreover, she inaccurately states that my LTE was a pro-Israel message. When defending my commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, I referred to an experience from this past summer, while I was interning for Deloitte in Israel, about attending a Pride Parade. While this is not the only LGBTQ+ event I have attended, it was the most powerful. In addition, I have several friends who identity as a part of this community, to whom I have provided confidential support and encouragement.

Loos does not only attack my foreign policy stances, which have very little to do with her flawed claim of cognitive dissonance, but also criticizes a student organization on campus. Expressing her “distaste” for Eagles for Israel, a cultural and non-religious club on campus, Rachel censures students’ commitment to promoting and experiencing a culture on campus, which is antithetical to the mission of diversity and inclusion (DIP). Loos accuses me of promoting a pro-Israel agenda while I was clearly defending my character and commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.

In her struggle to choose a topic to write about, Loos picked-on students who were trying to make a positive contribution to the Boston College community by running for UGBC. There are other topics Loos could have chosen, such as the ALC Ball’s significant decrease in attendance or how UGBC is not giving money to Relay for Life this year. Ray and I criticized the way DIP allocates its money due to instances like these. However, Loos wrote an article attacking my character and foreign policy stances.

Instead of learning from this election as an example of cognitive dissonance, we should all focus on condemning the cyber hate from this election based on race, gender, and sexuality. It has never been appropriate for BC students to personally attack the co-curricular aspirations and character of other students, and Rachel’s article steps beyond the boundaries of appropriate journalism.

The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted to the newspaper.

Letters and columns can be submitted online at www. bcheights.com, by e-mail to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

Matt Batsinelas, CSOM ’19

:LJKFD<I J<IM@:< Clarifications / Corrections

Advertising

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The views expressed in the above editorials represent the official position of The Heights, as discussed and written by the Editorial Board. A list of the mem-

bers of the Editorial Board can be found at bcheights. com/opinions.

HEIGHTS

THE

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THE HEIGHTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

A7

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IP8E ;L==P FANTASTIC IMITATION - Sometimes, being a copycat is okay. This is especially true when it means Mac decides to make actual edible food for a change. Eataly Night at Mac was a definite success. Conversations between students raving about the quality of their Italian dinners could be heard throughout the dining hall and Upper Campus alike. Perhaps one of the best indications of the culinary experiment’s achievement was the relatively even spread of students between the multiple food lines.

On any other given night, a single food station tends to be designated as the “best” option, and thus its line grows considerably longer than any other. Some nights, students abandon the variable food options all together, opting for a dry chicken breast and rice for the third time that week. Saving students the trip on the T to the Prudential Center by bringing Eataly to campus was a great idea, and I hope that Mac will continue to present students with new and exciting food choices.

BEING ALMOST THERE - The days are winding down. The discussion of travel plans dominates everyday conversation. The libraries are filled to capacity with students studying for the plethora of exams that professors confusingly decided to schedule right before break, when motivation is at an all-time low. Soon, dorms will be emptied, packed trains will depart, and captains will turn on the fasten-seat-belt sign for take-off.

Hang in there.

RUNNIN‘ ON - I am here to show you that, despite what you may already believe, it is easy to write an excessively long sentence that is, in more ways than one, completely indisputably and without a doubt, absolutely grammatically correct and relatively easy to comprehend despite the multitude of clauses, adjectives, and unnecessary words that make up the majority of its body, included because the purpose of this part of the section is to demonstrate to you that such a feat as is currently being carried out before your very eyes is undeniably possible.

WEIRD ACRONYMS - The acronym “GOAT,” meaning “greatest of all time,” has become widely used, both in conversation and on social media in emoji form. The reappropriation of this term, however, as “WOAT,” is a concerning trend. The goat, a popular, doublehorned domesticated mammal, is obviously a tangible organism that walks the earth, making the first acronym funny. A “woat,” however, is evidently an awkward pairing of syllables that represents no actual existence of anything. Not all acronyms have to spell real words, but ones worth using all the time in verbal communication probably should.

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Pope Francis—the leader of a faith with about 1.2 billion adherents—has undoubtedly taken the Catholic Church in a decisively new direction. Catholicism, a bastion of conservatism and traditionalism, and the role of chief pontiff, which has been held by 265 other men, are not exactly among the most malleable institutions and positions in the world.

Since he stepped up in 2013, Francis’ actions have been widely praised and criticized.

Francis is a pope of many firsts. He is the first pope from the Americas and the Global South, and the first from the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. Perhaps this explains his populist tendencies, extreme sense of humility, and emphatic willingness to forcefully speak up for the world’s poorest and forgotten. Regardless of how you view this native Argentinean, it is undeniable that he has brought the Vatican into the 21st century and made it more attuned to the realities around us.

At a time of increasing secularization, raging church-state debates, weaponizing of faith, and growing differences and hostilities among members of the world’s religions, Francis should be a welcomed voice on the global stage. Extremists have misappropriated the tenants and texts of their religious persuasions to advocate violence and provoke conflict. In turn, many Western leaders and pundits have condemned Islam—the secondlargest religion in the world—as an ideology of hate. French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, and Steve Bannon—top adviser to President Donald Trump—are among many power-brokers who espouse patently anti-Muslim beliefs. Divisive political debates around the role of church and state permeate political discourse in the United State and beyond.

Francis is an emerging voice of conscience on the international scene that desperately needs a morality check. “A society that excludes [is] not worthy of mankind,” he said last week, a statement coming on the heels of another big one that came just days before. In a homily discussing hypocrisy and “scandal”

among Catholics, he said: “A totally double life: ‘I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this association and that one; but my life is not Christian, I don’t pay my workers a just wage, I exploit people, I am dirty in my business, I launder money … ’ A double life. And so many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others.”

“To be a Catholic like this, it’s better to be an atheist,” Francis opined, which may have been surprising, unsettling, and off-putting to many of his followers. But this is why we need Francis—to speak up against structures of injustice and to condemn the rigid, institutional status quo that permits them. He is saying that we must own up to issues that may make us uncomfortable in the West, such as fair wages, economic equality, and environmental stewardship, to name just a few.

There are socioeconomic and structural disparities in the world that are too vast to continue unnoticed. We live in a world where the equator marks this hemispheric inequality. The Global North is comprised of industrialized, developed, and well-off countries in North America and Europe that own the lion’s share of wealth and enjoy the highest GDP per capita and living standards.

Then there is the Global South, which has three quarters of the world’s population, only one-fifth of world income, and lacks adequate infrastructure, health services, and education systems.

This is compounded by the oft-discussed 1 percent factor—a tiny sliver of the population has more wealth than the rest of the world combined. Global economic inequality rivals—and perhaps surpasses—that of the robber baron era in America.

The Global South is also disproportionately impacted by conflict, illicit trade, and cross-border flows of pollution. In fact, climate change may be the greatest indicator and example of the unfairness and injustice of vast inequality. Though it does and will affect us all, those least responsible are most at risk. Low-lying island states, poor coastal countries, and the least developed “would be first in the line of fire,” according to the United Nations. Despite having next to no carbon emissions per capita, these nations and populations are anticipating the worst in the looming climate catastrophe.

Francis hasn’t shied away from taking on climate change. Laudato Si’: On Care For Our

Common Home, his papal encyclical about environmental stewardship, featured some emotionally charged commentary on the ethical and social dimensions of climate change.

It was a measured indictment against the “throwaway culture” and rampant consumerism of the developed world, as well as a poignant call for the responsible and capable to do what they can to mitigate the growing problem of climate change.

When Trump was elected, Pope Francis congratulated him, along with a warning that ultimately, the “global stature of the United States will be measured by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need,” in no small way hinting at the current global refugee crisis.

This is all occurring in the midst of a rise in nationalism. The most developed countries are walking back on the cosmopolitanism and multilateralism celebrated in the ObamaMerkel-Cameron era, and instead embracing selective populism. Not the kind that Francis would endorse either, but a chauvinistic, parochial type where the protection and support a state will offer starts and stops at its borders.

Trump may be onto something when he prioritizes the economic well-being of “Americans first,” and questions other countries’ financial commitment to NATO or willingness to uphold their end of trade deals. But it seems misguided to pursue policy that puts our interests first at the expense of others, such as banning refugees, deporting undocumented immigrants en masse, cutting off legal immigration, or drawing down funding for international institutions. To put it in economic jargon, if absolute gains can be had instead of just relative gains, then we should seek them out. At a certain point, America über alles becomes an America against the world.

This isn’t to say that we are Satan incarnate, and I presume Francis does not believe that either. Rather, his advocacy and outspokenness serves as a reminder of the inequality and unfairness that we might like to turn a blind eye to. Unfortunately, complacency means complicity, and the decisions of those in the West (and North!) carry consequences for everyone, whether we like it or not.

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B8I<E :?F@ In the dark space underneath my bed are hiking shoes, a sleeping bag, and a bulky purple duffel bag, all waiting patiently for me to unearth them upon the arrival of spring break. To say that I am excited to drag myself out of bed at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning, cram my belongings and myself onto a coach bus with fifty other sleepy college students, and tackle a 14-hour drive to North Carolina would be an overstatement.

Yet, to say that I didn’t know what I signed up for would be false.

The Appalachia Volunteers Program focuses on intention while preparing its members to go to its various service destinations. As hundreds of students flood into Eagle’s Nest each Sunday night, they engage in reflections and lectures about the intersection of service and humility. Appa’s motto—“Love, Learn, Serve”—is drilled into the heads of its members, with particular emphasis on the notion of loving and learning. In the year and a half that I have participated in Appa, this foundational aspect has been unwavering, and its repetition is necessary.

Thus, I signed up for Appa again this year, not because I wanted to Spring Break somewhere warm or because I thought that subjecting myself to physical exertion and long bus rides would build character. I signed up because the core of Appa’s mission resonated with me: self-improvement comes from immersing oneself in the experience and engaging with the lives and stories of those whom one would not have come in contact with otherwise.

When I went to Tennessee during my freshman year, intentionality was a major theme. Every night, we would gather for reflection, challenging ourselves to understand the root of our service. We

were not there to fix people for which we fixed houses. We were there to engage deeply with the people we worked with on the construction sites and the townspeople. We were there to challenge the preconceived notions we possessed.

We were there to enter into the lives and stories of strangers with backgrounds different from our own. Our reflections were the driving engines that kept us focused throughout the week, and the forces that kept our trip from turning into another example of voluntourism.

After our long trip back and final reflection on campus, my group members and I slipped back into our old lives. The Appa meetings stopped. I incessantly talked about how Appa changed me until my friends were finally sickened by the inside jokes they didn’t understand.

Even though I discussed it constantly, I could never exactly pinpoint the reason why my trip had such a profound affect on me. During the final weeks of the semester, I found myself mumbling polite “How are you doing’s?” to my group members as their names began to slowly fade, along with the memories and emotions of the trip itself.

What Appa is less successful at accomplishing is effectively unpacking the trip. When students return to campus, the memories they made and the lessons they learned while serving stuck with them, but for only a bit, and eventually they are stashed away like hiking boots and sleeping bags underneath their beds, until they are needed for a quick anecdote. Some groups are luckier than others, and the members stay in touch for longer than usual, making cameos at a leader’s Mod party or getting meals together every so often. Even for the groups that don’t stay in touch, the jokes and the crazy stories are still there underneath the silence.

Inevitably, time dulls that intensity of experiences. I remember the broiling heat in Tennessee and the arduous processes of stuccoing and erecting staircases, yet the conversations I had with the townspeople and the people who oversaw the construction are blur-

rier. Granted, constructing a staircase and smearing stucco onto a foundation are relatively easy tasks, but changing a mindset is not. This mindset is one that lacks the ability of application. It is easy to go to a town ravaged by poverty and exercise the mission of humility and service that is central to Appa. But retaining those lessons and instilling them into our lives at Boston College is a much harder, but necessary feat.

The silly pictures of one’s group at a worksite and the numerous inside jokes stick with us. Yet this is not the true story and mission of Appa. Appa should be about what happens after, inspiring the individual to take their lessons beyond the scope of a five-day trip. An Appa volunteer cannot depend on their trip leaders or group members to continually reinforce the lessons they learned on the trip. Rather, they must be the reason why the memory of a service trip still persists in their life and actions long after the return to campus.

In a way, I guess it’s good that I’m slightly bothered by the fact that this mindset of humility and intentionality only lasts for a brief five days. Thus, I urge everyone who has been on an Appa trip or is going for the first time this Spring Break to not return self-satisfied.

Be bothered. Be frustrated by the fact that you are not reflecting on your dayto-day actions with the same intensity with which you are challenged during the trip reflections. Hold onto this feeling and let it be the driving force that urges you to seek more meaningful ways to interact and help others in the BC community.

As I am about to leave for North Carolina this break, I will pack, along with my hiking boots, the frustration that I have felt in the months following my return from Tennessee. Hopefully, my experience in Tennessee will shape the way North Carolina will persist in my life after the trip.

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It had only been a few minutes since I left my building, but I had already begun to regret my decision to spend the afternoon in the city. The gray sky had given way to drizzly rain and my mind was pondering everything else I could be gett ing done if I were holed up in my room with the short fiction of Edgar Allen Poe or studying in Bapst Library. But it was too late to back out now. My friend and I were already on the Commonwealth Ave. bus, heading to the train for some shopping in the city.

By the time we reached Newbury Street, the sky was already clearing up and the area was abuzz with tourists toting cameras and maps, girls with shopping bags, couples walking young kids in strollers, and dogs of every breed. Saxophone music floated through the air, and before we knew it, the sky was bright blue.

We walked in the sunlight, ate gelato scooped into the shapes of flowers, tried on prom dresses tongue in cheek, window-shopped, and stayed until past dark. By the end of our day, Newbury was aglow with string and lantern light. Hungry from a day of walking, my friends and I discovered the Dirty Water Pizza Co., where we ate thin crust pizza by the slice right in front of a bay window overlooking the street.

We chatted and people-watched. It was my cheapest Newbury Street dinner ever, but it was also one of my best. By the end of the day, my feet were sore and my belly was full. I had found a dress I liked for $3. It was a good day.

By now, you may be wondering why I am telling you this and why you should care about my day at all. Like most of us, I have been to Newbury Street many times before. I did not discover a new Boston neighborhood or see any brand new sites. This was not a trip about getting something I needed or accomplishing anything useful, but as we jumped on the B Line heading home, I still couldn’t help but think, “Why don’t I do this every week?”

Life at Boston College is often so busy that it can be easy to stay on campus each afternoon and weekend, stuck in a repeating cycle of time spent in the library, at the gym, or watching Netflix. Even if one is presented with a free afternoon or a sunny Saturday, opting to stay on campus for a break often seems easier and more relaxing than a trip into the city, and at times it probably can be. But the same old routine keeps us well within the invisible confines of the so-called “BC bubble.”

The bubble can be a nice place, but within it, we often forget to stop and breathe, especially during midterm season. Taking a break right on campus is not much of an escape when all your books, your laptop, and next week’s essay prompt are within reach on your desk.

For the sake of our sanity, especially on a suburban campus like ours, college students need to change it up: to eat something different, walk somewhere different, see different people, and hear different sounds. Away from the chiming of the Gasson bell tower, my mind felt more relaxed and restful than it had in weeks. Outside of campus, the temptation to go through my flashcards again was gone and my mind was left free to just look around, take it all in, and truly enjoy the present. We owe it to ourselves to, at least every once in awhile, separate ourselves from the everyday routines and demands of a college student.

So next time you have a little free time, don’t force yourself to get ahead on work or go to the gym. Instead, get some real fresh air—the kind that comes from somewhere a little different. Get off campus and do something you don’t do every day in a place you don’t go often. For those few hours, know that work can wait, and give your mind a well-deserved rest. You can expect it to be good for your soul and worth the trip.

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THE HEIGHTS

A8

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

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9P N@CC@8D 98K:?<CFI 8jjk% D\kif <[`kfi Sneakerheads flooded the Tobin Community Center on Saturday afternoon with hopes of getting their hands on the most exclusive shoes in streetwear. Rap music played in the background as the young crowd of sneaker buffs maneuvered through the sea of people packed into the community center’s gymnasium.

The Boston Got Sole sneaker convention brought together sneaker enthusiasts from all across New England looking to buy, sell, and trade high-end footwear and apparel. An estimated 1,000 attendees circulated through the event space with many carrying shoe boxes while negotiating prices and making deals on the hottest sneakers.

The stylish crowd dressed in the latest streetwear fashions, with many donning apparel from Supreme and pricey-retailer Off-White. The convention gave shoe lovers access to purchase sought-after sneakers like Adidas Yeezy Boosts, NMDs, and Air Jordan’s in exclusive colorways which are virtually impossible to buy in stores.

Boston Got Sole was founded by high school senior Jonathan DiModica and his older brother Joseph. DiModica’s passion for sneakers came about through tragic circumstances. Over five years ago, his family lost everything in a devastating house fire.

In the aftermath of the incident, DiModica turned to high-end sneakers and apparel.

DiModica’s entrepreneurial mindset was apparent even at an early age when he started a small business, called J and N Restorations, with his best friend. The duo cleaned sneakers for short change, but DiModica was unsatisfied with the money coming in.

Subsequently, DiModica established a sneaker consignment business called We Got Sole. Customers pre-ordered sneakers ahead of hyped footwear releases and

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WILLIAM BATCHELOR / HEIGHTS EDITOR

An estimated 1,000 attendees bartered and negotiated for the latest in high-end footwear, including Kanye West’s Adidas Yeezy Boosts.

DiModica would track down the shoes, waiting in lines overnight to guarantee his clients a pair. The business began to make a profit of $60 to $70 per pair of shoes sold at a higher resale price.

DiModica faced yet another setback when sneaker stores put an end to overnight campouts and instead, sold sneakers though a raffle where everyone had equal shots. While in theory this was good business-wise, it appeared to be the end for We Got Sole.

“This was horrible for my business,” DiModica said. “There was no longer a way for me to guarantee my customers a product.”

Fortunately that same day, the brothers went to their local mall to attend a sneaker convention. DiModica recalled

WILLIAM BATCHELOR / HEIGHTS EDITOR

that he looked around the convention space and was immediately inspired to take the sneaker show concept and make it his own.

When one business ended, another one began. In 2013, when he was just 14 years old, the ambitious young entrepreneur launched Boston Got Sole. DiModica’s mission was to create an event with more than just buying, selling, and trading sneakers. He wanted the convention to have a vibrant atmosphere with performers, giveaways, and raffles to add onto the overall experience.

The preparation for the convention began with the announcement of the date to the public. The company utilized its social media presence to advertise the event on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

DiModica went to lengths traveling across New England, distributing fliers and posters in footwear stores to spread the word within the sneaker community.

DiModica described those who attend his events as businessmen, collectors, and enthusiasts.

According to him, the businessmen buy a lot of sneakers and look for a profit.

The collectors aim to expand their shoe collections with the latest colorways, while the enthusiasts are just interested in the sneaker culture and attend for the experience.

Billy Saxton, one of the conventions largest vendors, described his aspirations to build a business around his love of exclusive footwear.

“A lot of my shoes I bought to sell,” Sax-

ton said. “Hopefully one day I can take this passion and open my own sneaker store.”

The convention reinforces the fact that the most sought after sneakers right now are Kanye West’s Adidas Yeezy Boosts.

Adidas now produces the Yeezys in more styles and larger quantities with everyone wanting to get their hands on a pair. DiModica believes West deserves the credit for elevating Adidas to the forefront of streetwear fashion.

DiModica explained that he thinks people are tired of wearing the same ordinary sneakers that can be found at every Foot Locker in the country, whereas footwear sold only at flagship stores in New York and Los Angeles are more desired.

“There is a certain status that comes with owning a rare pair of shoes that no one else has,” DiModica said.

DiModica made reference to Pharrell Williams, another prominent figure in fashion and music for a recent collaboration he did with Adidas. He praises Williams for designing a unique sneaker silhouette in bold colorways called the Human Race collection. He insists that sneakerheads are always looking for something out there and different which will set them apart.

DiModica is set to begin his studies at Bentley University in the fall, and he and his brother plan on hosting their next sneaker convention in April.

“What makes a sneaker special is definitely the hype,” DiModica said. “What will create that hype almost every single time is quantity.”

Gfg$Lg DXb\ip :cXjj\j 9i`[^\ :i\Xk`m`kp Xe[ =Xj_`fe DXiZ_ nfibj_fgj `eZcl[\ ZXcc`^iXg_p# k\iiXi`ld$Yl`c[`e^% 9P J?<IIP ?J@8F ?\`^_kj JkX]] Perfumed air filled the boutique-like space of The Pop-Up Makery this past Thursday as six of Boston’s most creative brands gathered to celebrate the launch of a month-long schedule of interactive classes and workshops.

These classes will take place in The Pop-Up Makery, the newest pop-up concept to arrive in The Street at Chestnut Hill. The month’s classes will showcase Boston’s artistic leaders such as Alice’s Table, The Paint Bar, The Third Piece, Sip & Script, Niche, and Artists for Humanity.

The space itself dons a Tiffany blue and white color scheme, hanging globe-pendant lights, and a marble counter. The tall mirrors and glass doors expand around the space, and complete the modern, chic décor. On the “Meet the Makers” wall, four rows of wall shelves are filled with the tools and final products to showcase the creative process. The minimalistic white-wall shelves are brought to life by items including miniature easels, bulky knitting yarn, and floral scissors.

Located on 49 Boylston St. at The Street, The Pop-Up Makery is part of the shopping destination’s effort to bridge creativity and fashion. Annie Lagasse, marketing coordinator of The Street, said that The Street is “a place of discovery.” ”Whether in fashion, food, or culture, there are so many interesting and beautiful things to find throughout the property,” Lagasse said.

The Street is one of the stops on Boston College’s Chestnut Hill Mall and grocery

shuttle route, which runs every weekend from Thursday to Sunday. The shopping area includes brands popular among many BC students, such as Lululemon Athletica and The Container Store. The Street also offers a variety of restaurants, including Legal Seafoods, as well as Massachusetts’ first Shake Shack, Juice Press, and Showcase SuperLux. The Pop-Up Makery will host a collection of workshops from Feb. 24 to March 26, with a possibility of extension. In addition to The Paint Bar. which is popular among BC students, the creative space will provide an opportunity to learn floral arrangement with Alice’s Table, calligraphy with Sip & Script, knitting with The Third Piece, cartoon-drawing with Artists for Humanity, and terrarium-building with Niche. Most classes are offered in the evening or on weekends, and visitors must purchase a ticket in order to attend a class.

At the launch party, Lagasse explained that the concept of The Pop-Up Makery was inspired by a desire to bring creative, local brands together. The Pop-Up Makery provides a shared space for some of these brands that do not have a permanent, dedicated space to call their own.

“It’s kind of like their own residence,” Lagasse said. “This is their space as much as it is ours.”

Even for brands that already have physical locations, such as The Paint Bar found in Newton and on Newbury St., The Pop-Up Makery offers a valuable opportunity. Jill Kerner Schon, co-founder and co-owner of The Paint Bar, explained that the workshop at The Pop-Up Makery offers a more intimate experience with fewer students.

On Feb. 24, the month of events kicked off with a knitting workshop with The Third Piece. The Third Piece is a luxury accessory company that specializes in hand-knit state-

SHERRY HSIAO / HEIGHTS STAFF

The Pop-Up Makery’s interior is brought to life by miniature easels and bulky knitting yarn. ment pieces. Its name comes from a style philosophy, “Never leave home without three pieces,” which emphasizes the importance of an accessory—the third piece—that completes the outfit. The workshop provided large 12-mm knitting needles and one ball of the company’s signature Funky Chunky supersoft, 100-percent merino-wool yarn. It took nearly four years to perfect the Funky Chunky, which is a super chunky, single-ply yarn that still manages to be light and breathable.

The setup of the launch party spoke to the pop-up concept’s dedication toward creativity, art, and fashion. In a corner of the space, a Polaroid camera allowed guests to add their photo to a black polka-dotted background.

The Paint Bar brought elegant watercolor artwork in white photo frames for guests to take home. The Third Piece displayed their knit headpieces, along with a plate of pompom key chains as souvenirs. Owners of Sip & Script painted the name of guests onto agate

slice place cards using calligraphy pens. The Street also created a customized tote bag for the campaign.

The Pop-Up Makery also engages with its neighbors—the retail stores and restaurants. A gray, patterned armchair from the home décor company Jonathan Adler was on display in the room, decorated with a knit pillow from The Third Piece. Davio’s, a northern-Italian steakhouse, provided snacks for the evening.

The evening saw representatives from each brand exchanging ideas and learning about each other’s businesses. For both business owners and workshop students, The Pop-Up Makery is a space where new and old friends meet. It provides members of the community with an opportunity to explore the creative sides of themselves in a beautifully-decorated boutique-like setting, and is a testament to the innovation of Boston’s vibrant start-up community.”

The world of our likes and dislikes is like a small, gleaming bubble. We live encapsulated in our own bubbles, but we can see through the clear, soapy walls enough to understand that everyone has a bubble of their own. Inside your respective bubble lies the web of your favorite restaurants, your ideal study areas, the places where you might go to relax when you get a fleeting moment, a carefully curated list that you build and edit over time. If you feel particularly adventurous, or if you have a friend who encourages you to try something new, leaving your bubble behind for a time is quite possible—even beneficial. And—from the way that I understand it—leaving your own habits behind and appreciating those of another person is just how you build any relationship.

But when you look at the situation in reverse—having to explain your web of favorites to others and effectively draw them into your bubble—the experience can seem a little more frightening. You get so used to seeing the world through your eyes, that remembering that others see it completely differently, through the walls of a different bubble, can come as an surprise at times.

Even the most self-assured and secure among us must feel their palms starting to sweat at the thought of excitedly stuttering through a description of your favorite restaurant, which is a tricky feat in and of itself because you have to sell the place without building it up too much—just in case they end up hating it. Especially if the person that you’re aiming to draw in is someone that you hope to impress, and someone that you love.

For some, this nervousness might surface exclusively when they find themselves embarking on a potential romance or friendship, or even when trying to impress someone in their professional field. The nervousness might even emerge around family members, especially if you hope to impress your parents of one of the parental figures in your life. Even if you are quite comfortable around them, there is probably a small part of you that yearns for the approval that comes with someone loving a restaurant just as much as your do and trusting you as an arbiter of good taste and advice.

But when my younger brother came up to visit Boston last weekend, voyaging into the city on a Model Congress trip, I was shocked to find the nervous-palm-sweaty feeling arise when I began thinking of places where we could meet for dinner. The feeling was subtle, but it was there, and it was shocking to realize that my own brother was making me nervous. And of course, realizing that I was nervous made me even more nervous.

This makes sense in a way. No matter if they are older and younger, for the most part we want our siblings to like us, to think we are cool. If they are older, we might want to be included in their secret, grown-up world, and if they are younger we eventually want to be the ones they turn to for advice.

So, in a desperate rush for sibling approval, I ran through the web of restaurants in my bubble of likes, crossing them off one by one. This one was too far—we had to stay close to his downtown hotel so that he could get back in time for his evening ‘briefing’— and this one would be much too crowded on a Friday night. But what about Dig In? Was it too trendy? Would he think I was excessively lame if I brought him to a restaurant that mainly serves fancy vegetables?

Even Eataly, a place that I had previously seen as sure to dazzle anyone who walked through the doors, was no longer safe after someone told me that they hated it after a recent visit.

The week flew by and Friday was here before I even realized that Wednesday and Thursday had happened. More excited than nervous at this point, I rushed to the lobby of a downtown hotel come dinner time, and stood in the lobby among a crowd of lanky high schoolers who, for the most part, looked as awkward in their formalwear as I felt standing among them in jeans. I dragged him to Dig In for dinner and Eataly for dessert, figuring that if he hated one, I would have the other one to redeem me so that I would only be kind of lame, not fully lame.

But guess what? He liked both.

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REVIEW

‘TAKEN’

THE ORIGIN STORY OF BRYAN MILLS HITS THE SMALL SCREEN, PAGE B2

COLUMN

CONCERTED EFFORTS

REVIEW

‘Table 19’

A LOOK INTO THE FORGOTTEN ETIQUETTE OF CONCERTGOING AND MANNERS, PAGE B5 A NEW COMEDY STARRING ANNA KENDRICK GOES FOR FUNNY, BUT FALLS FLAT, Page B2

THURSDAY | MARCH 2, 2017

THE

1st Annual Greatie Awards

Recognizing the forgotten _j]Ylk ^jge l`ak q]Yj k ^adek

Heights Editors

See B6 MEG DOLAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR | ZOE FANNING / HEIGHTS EDITOR

THE HEIGHTS

B2

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

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Table 19 is a cruel experiment about something we do not really understand—six unique individuals that meet in a table during a wedding. They do not know each other, but they soon understand why they are sitting together. The melancholy ensemble is relegated to table 19 as outsiders and rejects.

Eloise, played by the goddess of nonchalance, Anna Kendrick, is the bride’s oldest friend, yet she has recently broken up with Teddy (Wyatt Russell), the bride’s brother—leading her to drop out

as a maid of honor. Next to her sits Walter (Stephen Merchant), a weird relative of the bride who was not assigned a place in the family tables. Then there is Jerry and Bina, (Craig Robinson and Lisa Kudrow), family friends that are going through a rough patch in their marriage. The other two guests are Enzo (Tony Revolori), an awkward high school student with problems approaching girls, and Jo (June Squibb), the bride’s childhood nanny.

Written and directed by Jeffrey Blitz, best known for his Oscar-nominated documentary Spellbound and his Sundance win-

ning comedy Rocket Science, the director enters the comedic realm well versed, but new to the bigger box office.

Blitz’s scarce experience with mainstream comedy—his only foray into the genre is a few episodes of The Office—probably explains why the script is extremely uneven. At moments, it looks like the movie is a smart comedy that promises to be an interesting turn on wedding flicks. At others, it is just extremely cringe worthy, with not-too-believable characters in unlikely situations.

The character who seems to best circumvent this is Eloise

FILM

TABLE 19 JEFFERY BLITZ DISTRIBUTED BY FOX SEARCHLIGHT RELEASE MAR. 3, 2017 OUR RATING

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

through a respectable performance on Kendrick’s part. But she seems to play the same character quite often. Since Twilight, Kendrick seems to be the perfect model of the “cool girl,” and, despite her impeccable execution, it does not really add merit to her performances. Hopefully, Table 19 can be the feather that breaks the camel and that convinces the industry that audiences are ready to see Kendrick in more challenging roles. Despite Kendrick’s acting, the script does not give enough depth to her character, a good example of under-used talent.

The parts of the married couple, Jerry and Bina, are well-written.

Merchant and Kudrow, whose chemistry in the screen is surprising, delivered solid performances.

They represent a believable couple that, despite having some complicity, has lost all its passion.

The movie makes a strange attempt at fitting a quite sad story into a comedy. It oscillates from extremely devastating moments to small gags, which come out as a poor attempt at breaking a tension it puts an important effort in building. Throughout the movie, Table 19 makes it clear it is convinced it can make you laugh with an easy joke after an extremely depressing scene of a couple fighting about their marital issues. The dramatic

scenes, however out of place, are well performed, especially by Kudrow, who even in an awkward context proves she can excel at both drama and comedy.

The rest of the characters are best described as mediocre clichés—the horny high school student, the crazy guy, the coolyet-wise old lady. Even if they bring about some laughs, the performances do not really exceed their limited characters, whose intrigue is pretty much dead by the first twenty minutes of the film. The only notable exception could be Wyatt Russell, who plays surfer dude Teddy, and honors the character’s emotion and development.

The plot, overall, is uninteresting and predictable. The storyline of five very different people who end up together in a strange situation and end up being very good friends isn’t impressive if it isn’t well delivered, and adding chunks of drama does not really achieve that. Even the feel-good ending, feels a bit dishonest in the overall context of the film, despite the movie being a comedy. Wedding rom-coms are not a tough genre, yet Blitz succeeds at complicating them. The result is Table 19, an awkward feature that cannot be rescued even by decent performances.

K`i\[cp Ki`k\#ÊKXb\eË CXZbj @ek\ej`kp# G\iZ\gk`m\ <dfk`fe 9P @J89<CC8 ;FN ?\`^_kj JkX]] Those who have seen the Taken movie trilogy might remember the vaguely intriguing premise of a former government intelligence operative, Bryan Mills, returning to a life of danger and criminal pursuit after his daughter is taken by human traffickers while traveling through Europe. Given the dismal critical response that Taken 2 and Taken 3 received from critics and audiences alike, it might come as little surprise that a television show inspired by the franchise left viewers sufficiently underwhelmed and mildly confused.

Monday night saw the series premiere of NBC’s Taken, and with it, the presentation of the first installment of a mostly clichéd and incoherent television show.

The episode opens on a sunny train ride filled with light-hearted banter between Mills (Clive Standen) and his younger sister, Cali (Celeste Desjardins). When Mills realizes a suspicious person on the train is actually a terrorist, a chaotic scene, complete with flickering overhead lights and spastic gunfire, follows while Mills takes the man down.

When the dust settles, it turns out that Cali has been killed, which sends Mills on a frenzied trip down the war path to bring to justice whoever is responsible for his loss. The viewer is

thus dragged along for the ride while a haphazard flurry of scenes shows Mills attending the funeral, having flashbacks to an out-of-context war trauma, and angrily traipsing around a parking garage with a sellout DEA agent in an attempt to track down his sister’s killers. The muddled nature of the episode is only exacerbated by a seemingly unrelated, covert government team spying on Mills throughout the entirety of his exploits, which only begins to make sense when the team’s leader, Christina Hart (Jennifer Beals), goes to recruit Mills at the end of the episode.

The show had the potential to create a lot of emotional drama with the series of unfortunate events that unfolded. But the episode insisted on breezing through all of its plot in a disorganized and careless manner, thus ripping the viewer away from characters and events before they’ve had a chance to bond with them.

Every crisis and betrayal seems hollow and inconsequential, bound to be whisked away without a second thought as the underdeveloped scenes keep flying at the viewer. Take, for instance, Cali’s funeral. Besides the fact that the sister was on-screen just long enough for the viewer to size her up as a plot device and not an important character, her funeral and her family’s reaction to it came off as almost indifferent. Three seconds of grieving parents, a trite line by Cali’s

best friend, and constant distractions of Mills’ sensing danger and inevitably spotting a suspicious van outside the window all detract from anything resembling actual emotion with regard to Cali.

The action-show genre is rife with car chases, foreign drug cartels, predictable foreshadowing through clichéd dialogue, and enough gunfire and torture to disturbingly numb the viewer to it as the show progresses. In moderation, any of these conventions could conceivably work to create a compelling show, but Taken uses every trick in the book in a stale manner

that bores the viewer, occasionally to the point of disbelieving laughter. By the time Mills gets to haunting a littlefrequented MOTEL (yes, that was the actual name on the sign), and yelling at his adversaries in a random subway tunnel, the viewer comes to understand the show as little more than a less compelling version of the source material from which it draws.

In fact, in this prequel, Bryan Mills lacks the intensity that Liam Neeson’s character commanded in the Taken movies. Standen’s Bryan Mills appears to be constantly reeling from the events of the episode, which

is worsened by the character’s tired, melodramatic moments that disappoint the viewer. The episode’s fast pace created a mostly disorienting, emotionally-detached perspective on the show’s events, and as the checklist of every tired action genre trope was fulfilled throughout the episode, the viewer was left debating whether to just turn the television off altogether.

But if they had done that, they might have missed a character earnestly respond to one of Mills’ text messages with, “K,” where Mills’ dramatic flipout in response to that constituted the highlight of the episode.

8jjk% 8ikj I\m`\n <[`kfi At first glance, Flying Microtonal Banana is one of the more oddlynamed albums that have dropped in recent days. What might be an odder, albeit fun to say, name is the band who created it. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is a psychedelic rock group from Australia formed at the beginning of the decade. The name came from an amalgamation of sug-

gested and desired names. Frontman Stu Mackenzie (vocals, flute, and guitar) chose “Gizzard Gizzard” as his preferred name. Other members however, wanted to name the band after The Doors lead singer Jim Morrison’s “Lizard King.” From this, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard was born.

Flying Microtonal Banana is the band’s ninth album, following awardwinning Nonagon Infinity. What makes Flying Microtonal Banana

TOP SINGLES

1 Shape Of You Ed Sheeran 2 Bad and Bouhee Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert 3 Don’t Wanna Live Zayn / Taylor Swift 4 That’s What I Like Bruno Mars 5 Closer The Chainsmokers 6 Paris The Chainsmokers 7 Love On The Brain Rihanna 8 Chained To Rhythm Katy Perry ft. Marley

TOP ALBUMS

1 FUTURE Future 2 24K Magic Bruno Mars 3 Fifty Shades Darker Soundtrack 4 Starboy The Weeknd 5 Culture Migos Source: Billboard.com

MUSIC VIDEO BARRETTE JANNEY

“CHAINED TO THE RHYTHM” KATY PERRY

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TAKEN ALEX GRAVES PRODUCED BY UNIVERSAL TELEVISION RELEASE FEB. 27, 2017 OUR RATING

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stand out is the inclusion of microtonal tuning of their instruments.

Microtonal tuning is the tuning of an instrument in intervals smaller than a semitone. This type of tuning originated in the Near East and other parts of Asia, and as such, the album sounds slightly Middle Eastern to an American listener. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard realized that if they were going to use this guitar in their next album, they needed to have accompanying microtonal instru-

MUSIC

FLYING MICROTONAL BANANA KING GIZZARD PRODUCED BY ATO RECORDS RELEASE FEB. 24, 2017 OUR RATING

ATO RECORDS

ments as well. As such, almost every instrument audible throughout the tracklist is microtonally tuned.

Flying Microtonal Banana begins its first song, “Rattlesnake” with the sound of wind. A fuzzed-out voice sings the word “rattlesnake” over and over to the sound of fast picking on an electric guitar and accompanying drums. This song is one of the longest in the album at almost eight minutes, and the length definitely begins to wear down the listener.

The instrumentals are very good, and with different singing might make a more enjoyable song. But the vocals begin to sound like they were being sung by a 60-year-old chainsmoker.

The inclusion of Turkish horns also pulls down the song. These annoying bagpipe-like sounds are a common theme throughout the rest of Flying Microtonal Banana.

“Melting,” the second song, again begins with the sound of wind. The song contains more of the monotone vocals, this time singing things like “the Earth is melting down” and other environmental concerns. These messages, however, are lost on the listener for two reasons. First, the lyrics border on the unintelligible, forcing the listener to strain to hear what is

being sung. The second reason is that the song is not very enjoyable. There are good things to be found in Flying Microtonal Banana. Track four and five, “Sleep Drifter” and “Billabong Valley” are both much better than the rest of the album. “Sleep Drifter” describes that wonderful feeling of drifting in and out of sleep. The lyrics hit home for most college students singing, “Please no one wake me when I’m sleep drifting.” The fifth song on the album, “Billabong Valley” is about murdering outlaws on the run. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard sing specifically about Mad Dog Morgan, a character from Mad Dog Morgan, an Australian movie made in 1976.

Aside from these two songs, Flying Microtonal Banana is not much fun to listen to, at least not more than once. The novelty of the monotone vocals and the bagpipe-like Turkish horns wears off almost immediately.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard goes for what seems like an “artistic” album, but at the end of the day, it’s not enjoyable music. While the name of the band may be a lot of fun to say, they aren’t much fun to listen to, at least not in Flying Microtonal Banana.

A pastel-hued amusement park abounding with equally cheerful patrons and twirling rides has all the makings for a picture-perfect music video—perhaps a little too perfect.

Such elements are captured in Katy Perry’s newest music video for “Chained to the Rhythm.” Released by Capitol Records on Feb. 10, the song features the talents of Skip Marley and Sia. The video opens on the entrance of a theme park named Oblivia. Much like its title, the visitors of this park are oblivious to the real world surrounding them. They all dress in similarly vibrant attire and bear identical expressions of robotically-empty jubilation. The various structures and monuments of the park entrance them, and Perry seems to be the only participant who deviates from the utterly dystopian fiasco.

Her ultimate diversion ripens when Skip Marley emerges from a black-and-white showing of the stereotypical mass-audience film The Nuclear Family. He expresses the need for humanity to “break down the wall to connect, inspire.” But her revelation soon evaporates into syncing back with the crowd and dancing mindlessly to the bubblegum tune.

The mini film closes with a simple yet pungent close-up on Perry, whose eyes convey nothing short of horror.

The “read between the rides” perspective offers a sharp dichotomy between the elation of the visual effects and the calamitous meaning behind them. Perry sings that we are “living our lives through a lens” and “chained” not only to the rhythm but also to conformity.

While the aesthetic of Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm” will charm your eyes and bop in your head, its message will leave you concerned of our current state of blind acceptance—and perhaps have you questioning your last trip to Disney World.

SINGLE REVIEWS BY CAROLINE MCCORMACK JOHN MAYER “Still Feel Like Your Man”

ZEDD AND ALESSIA CARA “Stay” John Mayer showcases his sweet, soothing voice in his latest single, “Still Feel You’re Your Man.” This track about an old relationship will lead to speculation from fans over which longlost love Mayer is still hung up on. The song and the lyrics have a timeless feel that will still feel relevant 10 or 20 years down the line.

Alessia Cara is becoming quite the star. With hits like, “How Far I’ll Go” and “Scars to Your Beautiful,” the singer has been doing very well as of late. Her latest single “Stay” with Zedd showcases her excellent voice and Zedd’s talents as a DJ. Cara’s voice is infectious, and make listeners want to sing along.

KELLY CLARKSON AND ALOE BLACC “Love Goes On” The track “Love Goes On” is featured in the upcoming movie, The Shack, set to be released this Friday. The story is about love, loss, and life, and this song will fit nicely into the sentimental film. The two artists with powerhouse vocals will impress fans and new listeners.

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As a preamble to his performance in Gabriel Fauré’s “Piano Quartet in C minor, op. 15” pianist Alexander Aylward, MCAS ’17, painted a vivid image of the dawn—symbolic of the many critical moments in the world as it turned to the 20th century.

Just as dawn installed a circadian rhythm into the consciousness of primordial man, this dawn, at the turn of the century, installed a different kind of mental scaffolding into the mind of modern man. Finding a more abstract and complex beauty, breaking from the constraints of an ordered nature, Aylward explained these concepts before attesting to them musically moments later.

“It is the very fabric of time that begins to disappear in this dawn,” he said.

The Turn of the Century France: Chamber Music and Chansons performance in Gasson 100 saw singers and instrumentalists alike bring French works from the turn of the 20th century a just amount of reverence through compelling performances and renditions. The important musical contributions of this age certainly lent themselves markedly to the overall sense of progress and enrichment within France and around the world.

The night began with six soulful renditions of poems in their original French. For many of the singers, this was their first performance using the language, but, as director and parttime faculty member in the music

department, Lindsay Albert was keen on noting, their abilities were more than enough to tackle the intricate syllabic and articulative challenges demanded by French poetry.

Julianne Mason, MCAS ’17, performed Claude Debussy’s “L’âme evaporée et souffrant” (The evanescent and suffering soul), which saw sharp articulations, powerful articulations at the end of verses and smooth, flowing transitions to the next. This gave the song a sense of billowing and expansion on the latter half of phrases and throughout the piece as a whole.

Giving the only baritone performance of the evening, Andrew Hammond, MCAS ’18, sang a portion of “Lydia” by Fauré. Adopting a swelling nature at the end of several verses brought an intelligibility to the ardor of Fauré’s words, whether one comprehends the language or not.

The final stanza slows, bringing this idea of painful yet enticing love to a bittersweet end: Mon âme en baisers m’est ravie! / O Lydia, rends-moi la vie / Que je puisse mourir toujours! (Your kisses ravish my soul! / O Lydia, give me back my life / That I may die again and again!”)

One particularly compelling performance came from the singing of French surrealist and poet Louis Aragon’s ‘C.’ Sarah Niermann, MCAS ’19, brought immediate attention to the piece through a rousing high note at the start of the final verse of the first stanza. Niermann’s powerful voice, along with Albert on piano, created a stunning piece in its entirety.

The piano progression, particularly

around the transition between stanzas embellished these spaces, and seemed to lift Niermann back into frame as she began the next verse—only to fall elegantly back into the supporting role.

Other performances by Kylie Fletcher, MCAS ’18, Catherine Backer, MCAS ’19, and Phoebe Lyons, MCAS ’19, added countless other elements to attest to the variety and nuances contained in French poetry and song.

The night concluded with a multiprogression taste of Fauré’s “Piano Quartet” with pianist Aylward, violinist Annie Kim, MCAS ’18, violist Haesoo Yoon, MCAS ’17, and cellist Monica Grady, MCAS ’17.

Opening within an already degraded tempo and rhythm, disorder reigned in sound and spirit. As order and structure gradually took root, the form of the piece became clearer.

The four movements saw the piece progress from a state of dreaminess to a rousing from sleep.

The piece surges to a regal level of power. The technical skill on part of all the instrumentalists was astounding as each exercised a mastery over their respective instruments.

The night was a testament to the dawn of a new world, complete with a cultural shift leading to some of the most prolific pieces of French artistry. Though the event highlighted on the contributions of the French, one can be sure that the reach of such high forms of art expands exponentially outward from Europe to the far corners of our world.

COLUMBIA RECORDS

The Chamber Music Society gave prolific renditions of influential French songs from the turn of the century.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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M<IFE@:8 >FI;F The lights dim to their lowest setting. You sit back in your cushioned seat. The sounds of popcorn rustling in thin paper bags and slurps of soda surround you. The overarching score comes in through the speakers. The title screen spans large and wide in front of you.

You smile to yourself as the movie begins—ready for the adventure of a new narrative. But you feel a tug on your sleeve, slight at first but now urgent and strong.

“Who is that?” your friend to your left asks. “Oh, wait, what’s going on? What did he say?” asks your friend to your right. Then one of them takes out his phone and takes a selfie, the other begins texting. Mini atomic bombs go off in your eyes as you realize that your friends plan on talking and acting up throughout the entire movie. They’ll talk through all the best parts and be distracted by their phones or simply their opposable thumbs during the key character and plot-building moments so that they have to ask you what’s happening. You let out a huge sigh as you resist the urge to pull at your hair and ask them why they even came with you to the movies at all.

I’m not sure if this is your biggest pet peeve, but it sure as hell is mine.

There is nothing more frustrating and mind-boggling to me than when people spend around $12 for a movie ticket, $20 or so for popcorn, candy, and a soda, yet proceed to ignore the entire purpose for why they

left their living room. Theaters have even prided themselves on crafting creative advertisements that play between the trailers and the feature film that explicitly ask people to shut up. AMC Theatres even coined the phrase “Silence is Golden.” But apparently gold isn’t good enough.

I understand the need for discussion and analyzation during a film.

My mom and I have a running game of spotting film typos and seeing who can catch the most movie mistakes. But those aha! moments are reserved for the living room or the den. I’m sure that while watching Angels & Demons no one would have appreciated my celebratory dance of victory after correctly guessing that (spoiler alert) the benevolent priest turned out to be the mastermind killer. My own mother barely appreciated how much I gloated after that.

But there seems to be a lack of appreciation for what a movie theater provides. When you watch a film at home, you have the luxury of pausing it, replaying certain moments, and, ultimately, disturbing the film’s overall setting to fit your schedule or desire to discuss. In a movie theater, the lights are turned off, the screen is so gigantic, and the speakers are so loud that you are motivated to suspend your sense of reality and rational belief. It is very rare that you can attain such a magical experience while simultaneously recognizing that everything you’re watching is fake—staged, acted, and shot from predetermined and choreographed angles. When someone talks or their phone rings the sanctity of this falsehood is broken.

This concept resonates with the “shusher,” not the “shushed.” The “shushed” walks into the theater and attracts all eyes. They laugh boister-

ously, send Snapchats throughout the film, and periodically ask who is who and what is what. They are oblivious to their actions and feel as though this is the true movie going experience. The “shusher,” feeling uncomfortable and perturbed, faces the daunting task of having to enlighten this individual without coming across as rude or pretentious— hoping that they will understand the solemnity of the movie theater.

It is this strained dynamic that often leaves the “shusher” staying quiet while he hears the “shushed” typing away on his or her cell phone.

This unspoken law of movie theater ethics is also dependent on the film. While watching Secret Life of Pets, I’m expecting laughter, quick commentary, and the sounds of children in the audience. You know what you’re in for. If I am trying to follow the plot of a serious thriller like The Girl on The Train and catch each mumbled syllable, I’m praying to God that no one disrupts the suspense.

This is not an easy battle to fight.

Day in and day out average citizens come face to face with people who disregard the holiness of the movie theater and treat it like it’s their living room. These brave souls are usually too shy to shush and just shake their heads in irritation.

Maybe these individuals will see the error of their ways and, if not, there will always be a good number of people willing to bite the bullet and tell them to quiet down so we can settle back into our plushy seats and enjoy the film.

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A8:F9 J:?@:B One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the other by the end of this column?

Guitars shredding, the lead singer dancing across the stage, good music, and VIDEO-TAPING THE ENTIRE CONCERT ON A GIANT IPAD. Did you guess which thing was not like the others? Did you guess which thing just doesn’t belong? If you guessed that the last one is not like the others, then you’re absolutely right.

It seems that at any age, Elmo

and his friends on their agricultural boulevard have words of wisdom they may impart to us. It is these words, in song form, that I would like to sing to a few key people who seem to attend every concert I’ve been to.

Last weekend, I went to the House of Blues to see George Clinton and his two sister bands, Parliament and Funkadelic. They are both funk bands from the ’70s and I rather enjoy their music. I figured I should see them before the literal kilos of cocaine that Clinton has snorted finally caught up with him.

My friend and I arrived at the venue and got in, no problem.

We watched the opening act, The Nephrok! Allstars, who were actually really good. No problem. When Clinton and his fellow band members came on, everyone was very excited.

Let me take a moment to describe the crowd. This was a band from the ’70s, so there were a lot of people who had clearly been big P-Funk fans for the last 40 years. But surprisingly, there were also a substantial number of young people. I thought to myself, “Wow, look at all of these different groups of people coming together to enjoy good music.” What I soon realized was that not everyone was there to enjoy the music, and in fact they were going to try their darnedest to prevent me from enjoying it too.

Back to the concert. The band began to jam, and it was quite funky indeed. As this was a funky band with funky fans, people began to enjoy the medicinal herbs of their choice.

Fine. You do you, I don’t really care. It’s a concert, everyone

knows what they’re getting into.

What I do have a problem with is people being inconsiderate.

While my friend and I were jamming out, along with the people around, two guys squeezed in front of us. Again, fine. People move around in general admission. What pulled my friend and I, along with others behind these two guys, out of the concert was when these two people pulled out the largest size of iPhone available. I understand that you want to take pictures of the concert, maybe to better remember it by. That’s okay. What is not okay is proceeding to Snapchat, record, and photograph the entirety of the concert. I don’t want to watch the concert through the screen of your iPhone, but when you’re standing in front of me holding the device up with two hands, I don’t have many other

options.

While in this same spot, I was engaged in conversation by a lady standing next to me. Now I don’t mind if people talk during a concert. I talk during concerts.

What I don’t do is try to maintain an ongoing and meaningful discussion with the person next to me during the best parts of a song. If you want to talk between songs, go ahead. If you and the people you came with want to talk during songs, I don’t understand you, but go ahead.

But don’t talk to or distract someone you don’t know during the middle of a song. My friend missed an amazing guitar solo by one of the Nephrok! Allstars because someone was trying to talk to him. It’s infuriating. What’s worse is that in order to be heard in the middle of a song, you have to yell directly into someone’s

ear. This is both annoying and uncomfortable. The hot, steamy breath of an intoxicated person blowing directly into my ear makes me cringe even now.

This may seem like I’m just on my soapbox complaining, and I am. But what I am also doing is writing a direct address to any of you concert goers who are guilty of these things. Most people go to concerts to listen to the music and watch the performance.

Some don’t, and that’s fine. But before you block someone’s view with the largest smartphone or engage someone you don’t know in conversation, consider the feelings and desires of those around you. It’s also illegal.

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CALEB GRIEGO

VERONICA GORDO

JACOB SCHICK

Arts & Review Editor

Assoc. Arts & Review Editor

Asst. Arts & Review Editor

Every good thing must come to an end. Hugh Jackman embarks on his final foray into the character of the Wolverine in Logan. In 2029, Logan begins to feel his healing factor wither and his body decay. Upon hearing about a girl in danger, who is very much like him, Logan must spring back into action. This is a must see for fans of the X-Men franchise. Though it might be the final chapter for Hugh Jackman in his tenure as the Wolverine (barring a Deadpool cross-over), it pens an appropriate and fulfilling end to a character who has graced the big screen for over a decade.

Boston’s EDM and dubstep fans can rejoice because Canadian DJ and music producer, Excision, is in town. Thurs., March 2, He will be appearing at the House of Blues in Boston at 7:00 pm. Known for hits such as “Drowning” and “With You,” Excision is sure to showcase his trademark chaotic yet masterful sound. His last album, Codename X (2015), explored his unique persona while also collaborating with fellow artists such as Downlink, Space Laces, and The Frim. Considering no new album is being promoted, concertgoers are sure to experience a wide variety of his hits.

This pick is a little far in advance, but on March 6, Kong: Skull Island comes out. This movie looks like it is going to be awesome. King Kong looks enormous and really cool.

Apparently this movie is set in the same universe as Godzilla (2014). This means that inevitably there will be a movie where King Kong and Godzilla fight and if that doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what will. A lot of people are against the choice of John C. Reilly because he is traditionally a comic actor. I think any comedy he brings to the movie will be good, but he is a talented actor and no matter his role, he will be a good addition to the movie.

THIS WEEKEND IN ARTS: EDITORS’ PICKS

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THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017

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Most disabled characters 9P M<IFE@:8 >FI;F 8jjfZ% 8ikj I\m`\n <[`kfi No one is perfect. The animated film Finding Dory is founded upon this fact. Thus, the subaquatic tale reprising the starring roles of clown fish Nemo and Marlin as well as blue tang Dory, is the winner of the Greatie Award “Film with Most Disabled Characters.”

The oceanic travel narrative hands out symptoms to the sea creatures in droves. Dory suffers from short-term memory loss. Nemo has an underdeveloped and unproportionately-small fin.

Hank, the sarcastically-witty octopus, suffers from depression. He fears and avoids social situations, prefers to sit alone, and dreams of living in solitude, sadness, and negativity.

Destiny, the whale shark deals with far-sightedness. Bailey, the beluga whale suffers from anxiety—claiming to have lost his echolocation and refusing to be put on the spot.

Gerald, the sea lion, has synophrys (a “unibrow”), an overbite, and somewhat misaligned eyes. He has an obsessive, emotional attachment to a child’s pail, and clearly reads as having an intellectual and social handicap.

It is shocking that in one cinematic universe—albeit animated and undersea—can feature so many strangers and friends who mostly suffer from handicaps, all of which are either celebrated or underplayed. Finding Dory excellently manages to cram a multitude of infirmities, thus taking home the shiny award, but fails to capture the true struggle of dealing with a disability.

Nonetheless, these characters have managed to thrive despite their ailments and take home the gold.

With the loss of acclaimed and beloved pop star Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, better known as George Michael, this award is presented annually to the movie that honored the more famous member of English musical duo Wham! the most times. The Greatie Award for “Most Uses of George Michael” goes to Keanu.

Keanu featured the man behind such timeless classics like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Last Christmas” as an almost-central character in the film. George Michael did not appear on screen per se, but his music played a pivotal role in the plot. Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) plays the songs to his fellow gang members, introducing them to singer-songwriter George Michael. This opens the gangsters’, as well as the audience’s, eyes to the utter majesty of philanthropically-inclined artist George Michael. His songs were used countless times (four) throughout Keanu. The only real competition faced in this prestigious category is Deadpool, with its narrow-minded tunnel-like focus on the beginning of this legend’s career. In spite of this mere facade of George Michael appreciation, Keanu won the day because it gave the two-time winner of Best British Male the respect he deserved. And used him the most times of course.

Keanu enters these hallowed halls alongside movies like Hot Tub Time Machine, Hot Rod, and the receiver of the George Michael Lifetime Achievement Award: Arrested Development.

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We have experienced a breathtaking year when it comes to movies involving a group of seven or more men. Who can forget the nine Secret Service agents in Jackie, or the 19 stormtroopers in Rogue One? Yes, these movies did indeed involve groups, and those groups clearly involved seven or more men, but the real question in this tight field of contenders was “Which of these groups could be accurately referred to as magnificent?”

That eternal question is why, against all the odds, the dark horse, indie flick The Magnificent Seven managed to snatch up this coveted honor. Not only did it have a group of seven or more men, but that group of seven or more men fulfilled a shocking number of requirements on the patented Most Magnificent Group of Seven or More Men Magnificence Test, including: 7. The group must be either ‘rag-tag’ or ‘unlikely’ and must be made up of ‘outsiders,’ ‘troublemakers,’ and/or ‘reluctant heroes’.’

12. Each member of the group must have at least one line of dialogue.

This requirement can be fulfilled with a manly grunt, a manly nasal exhale, or a manly sigh of girlish delight.

23. The line “What we lost in the fire, we found in the ashes,” must be said stoically, preferably by an actor with dignity and presence comparable to that of Denzel Washington.

42. One group member must, we repeat must, be portrayed by a heavilybearded Vincent D’Onofrio, wearing the skin of a bear.

After last year’s extremely controversial upset win by The Hateful Eight, it is good to see this coveted prize go to a film that is truly … magnificent.

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Best Untold Story 9P D@:?8<C JLCC@M8E <[`kfi$@e$:_`\] The best movies are the ones that remind us of the important historical events that get pushed to the wayside by larger, “more important” things like World War II, every time someone remakes 300 or Braveheart, or the time that cow kicked a lamp and burned down Chicago. For example, Argo, the unexpected tale of Canadians saving Americans during the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis, is arguably the greatest movie ever created.

Everyone loves a good ol’ fashioned dramatic retelling of an obscure historical occurrence, but sometimes, those stories are so obscure that those La La Land big shots gloss over them. Thus, I must stop this injustice by giving The Greatie Award for “Best Untold Story” to Sully, the untold story of the Miracle on the Hudson.

Sully opens on Tom Hanks, who stars as Tom Hanks playing Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, and First Officer Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) preparing to take off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. Three minutes into their flight for US Airways Flight 1549, a flock of birds strikes and disables both engines. Ignoring the pleas of air traffic controllers to detour to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, Sully decides in a split second to land the plane in the Hudson River.

But that’s the told story. The untold story is that the water landing forced an investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Based on preliminary data of the engines, the NTSB believed that Sully actually had enough time to get to Teterboro.

Instead of making the sensible, albeit disgusting, decision to fly out to Jersey—and by sensible, the financial decision to save US Airways from buying a new Airbus A320—the board accused Sully of trying to be a hero.

With Sully, we are told the truth of the untold story of the Miracle on the Hudson. And thus, a hero and legend grows even larger.

This year’s Greatie Award for “Film with Most Marthas” goes to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Last year’s winner, Mr. Right had but one measly Martha, while Batman v Superman had a whopping two whole Marthas. Most films settle for one Martha, casting theirs in the lot for this prestigious award, but Batman v Superman dared to go bigger. One: Martha Kent. Two: Martha Wayne. The one-uppage can only be characterized as stunning and wholly impressive. Additionally, the importance of the name cannot be understated in the context of the film. Homicidal tendencies? No matter. Vitriolic ideological dissent? Move along. Terrible intellectual faultiness? Not today. Drop the glowing-green spear and pick up your alien friend. His mother’s name is the same as yours and that means he is your ally.

The statistical importance of such a name is just as daring as its execution in the film. Assuming that both Martha’s were around the same age, we run into a bit of a compelling argument. According to babycenter.com, in 1965 (birth year of Diane Lane who played Martha Kent), there were 2,152 per million.

The population of the United States at that time was 194.3 million, meaning that there were 417,488 Marthas for that year. The chances that two of these Marthas raise boys destined for greatness—unlikely. The notion that they find each other—improbable. The idea that their arbitrarily-shared name saves the day—I’d say impossible, but Batman v Superman dared to dream bigger.

Hell Yeah for Keep Doing Your Thing 9P J?8EEFE B<CCP 8jjk% =\Xkli\j <[`kfi The Lego Batman Movie is the most electric film of the year, but that’s for another awards show (Best Picture 2018, where ya at?). I’m talking about the characters in The Lego Batman Movie, which were played by some of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters, and also a woman who doesn’t know how to live in the real world (Mariah Carey, as the mayor of Gotham). Ralph Fiennes overcame the temptation of playing Voldemort again to take on Alfred the butler. There’s a commercial from my childhood about taco shells from Old El Paso. Some family members want hard shells, others want soft. A little girl with a Dora-like bowl cut says “Porque no los dos?” and everyone lifts her up in celebration. Porque no los dos, Ralph Fiennes? It would have been so funny.

Anyway, the “Hell Yeah for Keep Doing Your Thing” Greatie Award goes to Michael Cera, because he really keeps doing his thing. Robin is just George Michael from Arrested Development but animated. Will Arnett even plays Batman in this movie. Besides This is the End, has he ever played someone who wasn’t lanky and uncomfortable? I didn’t think so. Keep bopping around on movie sets and speaking in that high voice of yours, Michael Cera. What a fun, sexy time for you.

Most Pathetic Attempt to Make Meryl Streep Look Bad 9P ?8EE8? D:C8L>?C@E JfZ`Xc D\[`X ;`i\Zkfi

When Stephen Frears casted Meryl Streep as spacey Florence Foster Jenkins in the unconventional biographical-comedy-drama-romance film of the same name, it seemed likely that the director may have had a vendetta of sorts against the revered Hollywood Hall of Famer.

Her character is ditzy and awkward—a bumbling older woman whose mental state is delusional at best and utterly unstable at worst. She is stubborn yet clueless. Jenkins’ singing voice sounds like the high-pitched cries of a million tortured beanie babies, boasting the kind of earsplitting noise powerful enough to melt precious skin layers one by one as if standing too close to the unforgiving sun. She also wears ugly hats.

Educated guesses at the likely reason for Frear’s alleged malice are still up for debate. Perhaps he glows green with envy over Streep’s stint in Mamma Mia as a romantic interest to both Britain’s Token Teddy Bear, Colin Firth, and Ireland’s resident Hot Dad, Pierce Brosnan. Maybe she rejected his hand in marriage one rainy Paris morning over a breakfast of croissants and boysenberry preserves. If rumors are true-mors (official Academy lingo, don’t worry about it), casting Streep came as a result of some malicious, envy-infused sentiment.

Frears wanted to see Streep’s confidence crumble when faced with the tough task of playing a whimsical woman whose prevailing personality trait is, well, incredibly annoying. You heard it here first folk, Stephen Frears is obviously jealous of Meryl Streep. Reports say he also hates puppies.

Any other actor would rather die a thousand social deaths by PricewaterhouseCoopers envelope snaffu than take on such a daunting role. Streep’s performance, charming and captivating as ever, is a testament to Frears’ grand success in executing the most pathetically failed scheme to allegedly tarnish Streep’s street cred.