The Heights, Feb. 20, 2023

John Mahoney to Retire

By olivia Joung

News Editor

Boston College announced

Vice Provost for Enrollment Management John L. Mahoney will retire after working at the University for 39 years on Thursday morning.

“John Mahoney concludes a remarkable career and leaves a lasting mark, not only on Boston College, but on the admission profession itself,” Director of Undergraduate Admission Grant Gosselin said in an email to The Heights . “John is one of the most respected leaders in our field and has taught and mentored generations of admission and school counseling professionals throughout the nation.”

Mahoney graduated from BC with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English in 1979, later returning to his alma mater in 1984 as the assistant director of undergraduate admission, according to a University release.

He then became the director of undergraduate admission at the University in 1990, eventually becoming dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid in 2018 and vice provost later that year.

generation of great admissions and financial aid leaders here at BC.”

During his tenure in the Office of Undergraduate Admission, the University saw a significant uptick in freshman applications, most recently drawing a record-breaking 40,477 applicants for the Class of 2026.

The student body also became increasingly characterized by greater academic achievement and diversity, resulting in BC’s emergence as an elite university, the release said.

Eagles Drop First Game of 2023 Season

“I have enjoyed every single minute of my career at Boston College,” Mahoney said. “It’s been a blessing and a privilege to work here, and it just feels like a good time to pass the baton to the next

“Since joining the team in Devlin Hall nearly 40 years ago, John Mahoney has been an indispensable leader as he and his colleagues have admitted nearly 100,000 young women and men who are today Boston College alumni,” Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley said in the release.

NPD Leader Makes History

By SHrutHi Sriram

Assoc. Newton Editor

Amanda Henrickson distinctly remembers what her background investigator told her when she first entered law enforcement.

“He said, ‘Oh, Amanda, you don’t look like the type of person that would want to become a police officer,’” Henrickson said. “And I just remember always thinking to myself, what’s a cop supposed to

look like? What is that? What does that mean?”

Henrickson, the highest-ranking female officer within the Newton Police Department (NPD), is only the second female officer to ever be promoted to lieutenant in the department’s history, according to Carolyn Curry, a detective with the department and one of Henrickson’s mentors at NPD.

While most bureaus are run by captains, Henrickson’s Community

Services Bureau is the first within NPD to be commanded by a lieutenant, Curry said.

“To be to be completely honest, I didn’t ever see myself here when I first became a police officer,” Henrickson said. “It’s amazing where your life takes you because I never had aspirations to climb up amongst the ranks, you know. I just kind of take life as it goes.”

Through Hotline, Lean on Me Supports Students

By luke evanS Asst. Sports Editor

It took nine games for Boston College lacrosse to record its first loss of the 2022 season.

This year, it took just three games.

“Yeah, I think, you know, limiting eight meters is a major part of our plan and then also finishing on eight meters is usually a big part of our focus,” BC head coach Acacia Walk-

er-Weinstein said. “Unfortunately, we failed to execute on them.”

Late fouls plagued No. 3 BC (2–1) as it dropped its first game of the season to No. 5 Northwestern (2–1) in a heartbreaking 15–14 defeat.

The Wildcats capitalized on their scoring opportunities and recorded seven free position goals in comparison to BC’s one.

Anna Nolin Named NPS Superintendent

By Connor Siemien Newton Editor Henry BlanCHette Heights Staff

The Newton School Committee named Anna Nolin, superintendent of Natick Public Schools, as the next superintendent of Newton Public Schools (NPS) during a school committee meeting on Friday.

Nolin will assume the role on July 1.

“It’s such a complex job where you have to be the educational leader, the managerial leader, and a community leader,” Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, who is also a member of the school committee, said at the meeting. “What [Nolin] talks about with direct experience and a sound theory of the case … outcomes and data, kept surfacing in a very positive way.”

Nolin—as well as Thomas

Anderson, superintendent of New Bedford Public Schools and the other finalist for NPS superintendent—answered questions during a community forum on Wednesday and Thursday. During the forum, Nolin addressed the current fraught political climate surrounding education. Nolin said she intends to take all families’ perspectives into consideration if chosen for the position.

“We’re going to talk with families and constituents regardless of their political views,” she said. “[It] doesn’t mean I agree with everything, but it is my job to listen and to understand how those conditions shape what is happening to schools.”

Nolin said increased racial diversity in staff is important. She said she oversaw a twofold increase in staff members of color within one year as superintendent of Natick Public Schools.

Opinions

Opinions

Absurd and unnecessary challenges provoke columnist Matthew Ablondi. In honor of the Oscars, he decided to watch 31 nominated movies in 13 days. A8

GRAPHIC BY ALYSSA ANDERSON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Columnist Elise Jarvis navigates the politics of the Gonzaga Hall laundry room, learning a thing or two about mature discourse in the

The Boston College Lean on Me chapter allows students to anonymously chat with trained student supporters

The Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Will Leave Boston College After 34 Years at the University

“John Mahoney concludes a remarkable career and leaves a lasting mark, not only on Boston College, but on the admission process itself.”

Vice Provost Mahoney to Step Down This Spring

“John remains one of the most eloquent voices in articulating what makes this a special place among the nation’s best universities.”

Mahoney attributed his accomplishments at BC to the University’s faculty and leadership—crediting University Presidents Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. and Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J., as well as the Board of Trustees.

“What I’ve observed is complacency is not in the lexicon here at Boston College,” Mahoney said. “It just doesn’t exist. I’ve watched the leadership, they’re never satisfied. It’s always forward thinking and thinking about ‘How do we improve. How do we get better?’”

Mahoney said he was especially proud of BC’s recent partnership with QuestBridge, a nonprofit organization that helps low-income students applying for college, which began with the Class of 2025.

“That’s what BC does,” Mahoney said. “The fact that we’re need-blind … means that we can recruit the most

talented students across the country, regardless of the financial circumstances they come from.”

Following his retirement at the end of this academic year, Mahoney said he is confident the division is in good hands.

“I’ve hired some really remarkable people and been able to retain them here at BC, and I think it’s because they love BC in the same way that I do,” Mahoney said. “They love the whole culture of the place, they love the students that they interact with.” n

CSOM Unveils New Minor and Coding Camp

The Carroll School of Management (CSOM) has launched a general business minor as well as an intensive summer coding boot camp geared toward non-busi -

ness majors.

The general business minor, which launched this spring semester, is for Boston College students outside of CSOM who want a broader understanding of management and hope to develop skills in accounting, finance,

marketing, and more, according to its website.

“The minors that we launched in 2018 were all meant to kind of dive a little bit more deeply into a functional area of business,” Ethan Sullivan, senior associate dean of undergraduates at CSOM, said.

“And I think now we just think the timing is right to offer another alternative, a broader approach.”

Students in the program will first take Introduction to Financial Accounting, according to Sullivan, and they will then choose five of the eight courses offered—including Business Law, Principles of Marketing, and Coding for Business, among others—to complete the minor.

“I mean, the fact of the matter is that anybody who’s going to work after graduation is going to work for some sort of organization—for-profit or not-forprofits,” Sullivan said. “You know, whatever it is, they’re going to be working for an organization, and these types of management skills and classes will prepare folks for whatever role they might have.”

Starting this summer, CSOM will also now offer Jumpstart into Coding, a new summer coding bootcamp for non-business students with no prior coding or programming experience, according to its website.

Sullivan said the three-week, four-credit bootcamp will be more intensive and hands-on compared to the introductory computer science courses normally offered throughout BC’s school year.

“Students will basically … learn techniques in the morning, and then they’ll apply them in the afternoon—that’s the design of the course,” Sullivan said. “So it’s not really a memorization course, it’s more of a doing course.”

Students can now declare and apply for the business minor and coding bootcamp on CSOM’s website.

Sullivan said he thinks the programs will complement other disciplines well and hopes they build well-rounded BC students.

“I think, on a bigger level, it just helps people become more of that T shape, you know, that well-roundedness that BC students are so well known for,” Sullivan said. “This gives kind of a practical art to complement the rest of their education." n

Cahill Receives SCE Lifetime Achievement Award

For Lisa Sowle Cahill, the Monan Professor of Theology at Boston College, receiving the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Christian Ethics (SCE) served as a reminder not just of her career successes, but also of everyone who helped her achieve them.

“It gives a person an opportunity to appreciate their limits and their flaws as well as their accomplishments,” Cahill said. “But mostly, it’s gratitude, not just for the award, but for all the colleagues and students who have put me in a place to accomplish whatever I have managed to accomplish.”

The SCE honored Cahill with the award for her contributions to Christian ethics at its annual meeting earlier this month, according to a University release.

“We organized [the conference] with other former students and our colleague, professor Cahill, to honor the way in which she contributed to the field and to reflect together on the changes that happened in the field of theological ethics in the last over 45 years,” said Andrea Vicini, chairperson of BC’s theology department.

According to BC’s press release, Cahill is an expert in several subfields of Christian ethics, having published 10 books and hundreds of articles and book chapters on subjects such as sex and gender, war and peacemaking, bioethics, and Catholic social teaching.

“She is the major Catholic feminist theologian who is interested in reflecting on issues that affect society,” Vicini said.

Vicini said he is grateful for Cahill’s mentorship and her commitment to teaching others using her broad expertise in the subject of theological tradition.

“She tries to be an active contributor to training of, you know, the next generation of colleagues and leaders here at Boston College,” Vicini said.

Cahill said the SCE promotes and facilitates religious and ethical discussions across a variety of Christian denominations.

“It’s been a wonderful space to really engage … theological ethical problems with a community of other scholars who are from different religious traditions,” Cahill said. “[The SCE] was having a community of scholars that shared interests in common that had a maybe a slightly different spin on things than we might have seen in

Catholicism.”

When Cahill first joined the SCE in the ’70s, she said these cross-denominational conversations allowed people to look beyond religious traditions when addressing modern cultural issues.

“You kind of get somewhat narrowly focused on the Catholic moral theological tradition and how that’s moving along,” Cahill said. “And when you’re in conversation with Protestants, at least at that time, it was often larger

cultural questions. So it expanded the resources quite a bit and the conversation quite a bit.”

According to Cahill, these discussions concerning larger cultural issues resulted in a greater effort to include and affirm all gender identities within the church.

“These questions also represent kind of the mission of the Catholic Church and how we sort of face non-traditional developments, and how we find a space

to welcome everyone within the church, and to encourage people who have non-traditional gender identities and affirm those people,” Cahill said.

Cahill said the Lifetime Achievement Award reminded her of her past and future work with the SCE.

“So just to look at that whole community and to appreciate that I’ve been a part of it for so many years, was a wonderful thing,” Cahill said. n

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN MAHONEY

BC announced Mahoney will step down as vice provost for enrollment management at the end of this academic year.

Mahoney, from A1

B y i sa Bel s ullivan Heights Staff

MOLLY BRUNS / HEIGHTS STAFF

CSOM unveiled a new general business minor as well as a three-week intensive summer coding bootcamp.

GRAPHIC BY PAIGE STEIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The SCE honored Cahill with the award for her contributions to the field of Christian ethics at its annual meeting .

“I’ve hired some really remarkable people and been able to retain them here at BC, and I think it’s because they love BC in the same way that I do.”

Keefe-Perry Talks Imagination Within Spirtuality

By luKe Bellaud Heights Staff

Imagination and faith have a history of helping to explain mysterious stories, according to Callid Keefe-Perry, an assistant professor of contextual education and public theology at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry (STM).

“What if what we are imagining is what the weather of the future will be like?” he said. “What immigrants are like? What if we are trying to imagine what the church might become? Or what God is? For all these questions, we may have a personal sense of what might be the case for them, but the fact is that even personal imagining draws on a shared set of socio-cultural images.”

At an event hosted by STM on Thursday night, Keefe-Perry discussed how imagination can be a part of spirituality that engages questions of social justice and inequity among younger students.

“The material of imagination is shaped not only by personal will and by inspiration, but by exposure and experience as well,” Keefe-Perry said. “How others have imagined

society shapes how we imagine ourselves, we make society as we are made by society.”

People participate in religious practices because they can often broaden one’s view of the world and affect one’s sense of belonging, Keefe-Perry said.

“People engage in practices because of some relationship between those practices and the ways they influence that person’s behavior, sense of belonging, and expression of belief,” Keefe-Perry said. “Bound up, inside, and throughout those practices are connections to community and broader visions that shape how we act and see the rest of our lives as well.”

Keefe-Perry said imagination and faith can contribute to changing modern religious education by exploring all aspects of faith and reflecting on the future of the church.

According to Keefe-Perry, religious communities must draw meaning from the Christian tradition while also meeting the demands of living in the modern world.

“More than simply transmitting a static body of teachings and

Keefe-Perry discussed how imagination can be a part of deepening spirituality at a STM event on Thursday night.

sacred texts, religious communities must invite transformation in the very way people make meaning of faith,” Keefe-Perry said, citing Patrick Manning, an assistant professor and chair of pastoral theology at Seton Hall.

Because the church’s community is ever-changing, Keefe-Perry said it is the responsibility of the church to stay engaging and relevant in the 21st century.

“It is because the community is a transforming one that it has continuity—without change it first

ceases to be vibrant, and then it ceases to be at all,” Keefe-Perry said.

“Change must be oriented towards the promise of the kingdom of God or some sense of liberation and justice.”

Keefe-Perry said it is thus crucial to involve modern-day context in theological education.

“To some degree, this is an issue of integrity, privilege, and hypocrisy, and that I will not deny,” Keefe-Perry said. “But it is also, I think, even worse because resistance with content is easier than

resistance with form because it is sometimes easier to change what we do than how we do it.”

Theological education ultimately needs to adapt to the modern world through imagining new ways to practice faith, according to Keefe-Perry.

“This is all about how we can imagine new faithful practices of Jesus,” Keefe-Perry said. “New ways might bring some measure of rest, speaking new words to open hearts, so that they may see a future not yet but that might yet be.” n

Faculty and Alum Examine Impact of Eating Disorders

By lydia Boer Heights Staff

Yvonne Castañeda, a part-time faculty member in the Boston College School of Social Work (SSW), said she grew up influenced by media that equated being pretty with being skinny.

“Back then I wasn’t reading books about my culture,” Castañeda said. “I was reading about the white experience and also watching movies about the white experience and it was ‘be a skinny pretty cheerleader with the boyfriend with a convertible car and

you’re in and that’s it,’ and that’s what I thought.”

Castañeda and Kate Balch O’Neill, BC Alumni Association Board Member and BC ’08, shared their personal struggles with disordered eating and discussed the prevalence of eating disorders in Latinx communities at an event hosted by SSW on Thursday night.

“I know in the Latinx community specifically, the two eating disorders that are most prevalent are actually bulimia and binge eating disorder,” Castañeda said. “And I think binge

eating disorders for people in our culture may not necessarily be considered something that is a disorder.”

Castañeda said she felt guilty purging the food her mother made for her growing up, as her mother came from a less fortunate family and often did not know where her next meal would come from.

“I remember hearing my mom telling me stories about it,” Castañeda said. “And so for me to then look at her knowing everything that she suffered and to tell her that I was actually consuming the food that she worked so hard to provide and then purging it felt so odd.”

The feeling of being ungrateful often stems from what Castañeda calls “first generation trauma” and the pressure to succeed that comes with it, she said.

“That first generation responsibility [leaves] no space for ‘I’m actually feeling a lot of anxiety,’ or ‘Maybe I’m in a depression and I don’t want to get out of bed’ and that’s just the way that lands on us,” Castañeda said. “It’s very difficult to deal with that and then know that you can’t really talk to your

and O’Neill shared their struggles with eating disorders on Thursday.

family about it at all.”

According to Castañeda, she first noticed a trend of Latinx mothers keeping feelings bottled in while she worked at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

“These moms would come for individual support and talk about how they were worried about their daughter or their son,” Castañeda said. “And of course, we would talk about ‘What is your process? How are you with your emotions? What do you need,’ and it was always very difficult for them to talk about what they needed.”

O’Neill explained how eating disorders are not just about food but also an internal struggle for control and self-worth, citing Castañeda’s book, Pork Belly Tacos with a Side of Anxiety.

“Pretending to be a happy bubbly on top of the world cheerleader made me feel like an imposter,” O’Neill read from the book. “And my inability to accept my dissatisfaction provoked an endless stream of negative thoughts directed at no one but myself. What’s wrong with you? Isn’t this what you wanted? Why can’t you be happy?”

Castañeda said to cope with

feeling inadequate and overweight, she often purged, which would leave her feeling thinner and more content with her body image. She said although purging made her feel in control of her anxiety about living up to her parent’s expectations, it was an unhealthy coping mechanism.

“The thing is, although initially it was something that I did to lose weight and get really thinner, or so I thought, really what it turned into was ‘this is a really bad coping mechanism,’” Castañeda said. “‘Is that what my life feels like? It’s spiraling out of control. And I don’t feel like I’m in any kind of control because I’m so anxious about the future.’”

If society continues “shaming fat and celebrating skinny,” the prevalence of eating disorders will continue to grow, O’Neill said.

“I think the most profound way of showing why eating disorders are so prevalent is because we’re celebrating skinny,” O’Neill said. “... I’m wondering why we still shame fat and we still celebrate skinny and why we haven’t learned that this is unfair and unrealistic.” n

Hirota Discusses Stigma Around U.S. Immigrants

By Karyl Clifford Editorial Assistant

The difference between the terms “legal immigrant” and “illegal alien” lies in racial prejudice, according to Hidetaka Hirota, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

“It’s simply racist, in essence, because the native has associated a figure of the ‘illegal alien’ with non-white immigrants, especially Mexicans in particular, you know, by willingly [overlooking] the simple fact that the undocumented immigrants do include Europeans,” Hirota said.

Boston College’s Irish studies and history departments welcomed Hirota on Wednesday night to speak on the origins of the term “illegal alien,” specifically when referring to Irish, Japanese, and Mexican immigrant populations in the 19th century.

According to Hirota, historians have identified two legal origins for the term—one of them being the Chinese Restriction Act of 1882 that banned Chinese laborers from entering the United States.

“[It] … created the category of

unlawful Chinese who entered the United States in violation of this law,” Hirota said. “So the Chinese Restriction Act did create the very category of illegal Chinese, like unlawful Chinese.”

The other legal origin of the term is the Immigration Act of 1924, according to Hirota. This act not only eliminated immigration from Japan, but it also only granted immigration visas to 2 percent of each nationality living in the U.S., further hindering undocumented immigrants from gaining employment.

“The history of both laws is relatively well known among historians of the United States,” Hirota said. “It is no doubt that the modern concept of illegal alien[s] originated from these laws.”

Hirota then pivoted toward discussing the history of the Foran Act of 1855, which he said resulted from fears of immigrant workers threatening standard wage and employment rates in the U.S.

“This act penalized individuals or companies for importing contract workers, foreigners and foreign workers under contract, and the law was eventually, in the following years, amended to ban the admis-

sion of foreign workers who were imported under labor contract by the employers,” Hirota said.

This act soon became known as the Alien Contract Labor Law, and Hirota said it divided immigrants in America by punishing and isolating those who migrated to America under a working contract.

“[There] was this idea that those who came to the United States with pre-arranged labor contracts or assistance from a third party, such as employers, were degraded and undesirable,” Hirota said.

Hirota said the British government, for example, financed the migration of the Irish to America. As a result, some Americans at the time believed they would also eventually have to financially support Irish immigrants through their tax payments, according to Hirota.

“So that’s the kind of perception that Americans got, and our civil immigration left some tangible impact on immigration law,” Hirota said.

Hirota said Japanese immigrants were similarly criticized for working in America under contracts, leading to the racial stereotype that all Japanese immigrants were contract workers.

Hirota spoke on the stigma surrounding undocumented immigrants on Wednesday.

“The point is that those Japanese were sort of, you know, categorically thought [of] as contract workers, you know, degraded unfree contract workers coming to the United States with systems from third parties,” Hirota said. “And as such, they weren’t going to be great people. So it’s not just about labor competition.”

Many Mexican immigrants also worked as contract laborers for the large number of employers and companies in the border towns of Texas and Arizona, according to Hirota.

“Those companies routinely sent recruiters or agents into the interior of Mexico, where they kind of disseminated information about employment in [the] U.S. among the local Mexicans,” Hirota said.

Hirota concluded that the origins of the term “illegal alien” come from legal acts put in place in the 19th century, as well as ideological conditions such as racial prejudice.

“This distinction really [laid] some of the crucial foundations for the modern-day distinction between the ‘illegal alien’ and ‘illegal immigrant’,” Hirota said. n

BEN SCHULTZ / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES Castañeda

VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS EDITOR

NEWTON

Superintendent, from A1

“We’ve gone from 35 staff of color … to 68 within a year,” she said. “We really made a pointed effort to recruit differently, to train our hiring committees on anti-bias hiring strategies.

Ultimately, Nolin said she is up for the challenge of taking on the job of NPS’ superintendent.

“I’ve come to know a lot of the teachers and the resources,” she said. “I would be excited to be the next person to hear the stories, hear the values, hear the politics, to understand what your financial needs are, and to try to make this district the next best version of itself.”

The process of finding another NPS superintendent began last April, when former NPS superintendent David Fleishman announced that he would step down from his position at the end of the

2021–22 school year.

After serving as the NPS superintendent for 12 years, Fleishman became the president and chief executive officer of Jewish Vocational Service Boston, a non-profit that provides services in career development and adult education in New England.

In June 2022, shortly after Fleishman officially resigned, the school committee voted to approve Kathleen Smith, former superintendent of Brockton Public Schools, as interim superintendent of NPS, according to a memo from the NPS’ interim superintendent search team.

The school committee formed a search committee in October 2022 to seek out candidates for the superintendent position, which included a group of volunteers ranging from NPS administrators, educators, families, students, and members of the wider Newton

community. The school committee, the group of volunteers, and the consulting firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates spent the last few months compiling candidates.

“I wanna thank everyone who has—from our faculty and our staff, just looking around this room—you’ve all touched various points of this process,” Tamika Olszewski, chair of the school

committee and Ward 4 school committee representative, said. “You’ve all been deeply assisting this school committee to make this decision we just made, and we appreciate you.” n

Teachers Rally in Favor of Proposed Override

By shruThi sriram Assoc. Newton Editor

School buses and cars blared their horns down Elm Rd. as teachers, parents, and neighbors cheered outside Newton North High School Tuesday morning, mobilized in favor of an override vote in Newton’s special election on March 14.

“I’m out here because if this override does not pass, we’re looking at some really painful and devastating cuts to the school system,” Mike Schlegelmilch, an English teacher at Newton North and a member of the Newton Teachers Association (NTA), said.

The NTA—in collaboration with Yes for Newton, a ballot question committee that urges Newton residents to vote “yes” in March’s election—organized 21 community standouts in support of the override across several public schools in Newton on Feb. 14 and 15, according to Schlegelmilch.

If residents vote in favor of the

override questions, some money from the $15 million tax increase would be directed toward the reconstruction of Countryside Elementary School and Franklin Elementary School, as well as staffing and operating costs across Newton Public Schools (NPS). These funds are crucial, both to promote student well-being and provide adequate staffing to schools, Schlegelmilch said.

“We would be losing staff, for sure, which would mean higher class sizes,” he said. “That would also mean higher caseloads for our counselors. And this is at a time when student mental health is really in crisis in a lot of ways. So I’m out here really to fight for our students and also to fight for my colleagues.”

There is also concern among supporters of the override that class and extracurricular offerings would be cut should the vote fail, according to Patty Eagan, co-president of the Newton North Parent Teacher Student Organization.

“Schools will be decimated if the overrides don’t pass,” Eagan said.

“My son does a lot of theatre and, you know, they’re talking about having to cut beyond just the academics. One of the amazing things about Newton

North is how many class offerings we have, and class offerings would have to go down.”

The goal of the standouts was to educate community members who were unfamiliar with the importance of the override, according to Amy Winston, vice principal of Newton North.

“I’m trying to get the word out to the community,” Winston said.

“It’s clear that not everyone in the community knows what’s going on and knows what the potential impact on the schools will be if the override doesn’t pass, and so we’re doing our best to get out and be visible so that the community knows the importance of the vote on March 14.”

It is also important to show that the override is something that affects all Newton residents, not just educators, according to Schlegelmilch.

“Well, today we’re out here not just with educators—we also have community members,” he said. “And so we’re really making a stand together to show that, you know, this

isn’t just about teachers and educators. This is something where the community at large is really united in supporting our schools and keeping them well funded.”

Eagan said she hopes that the standouts encouraged individuals who saw the group to think about why voters should support the override.

“I hope that people driving by who maybe are thinking they don’t want their taxes to go up will wonder why everybody’s standing out here and supportive,” Eagan said. “The schools are a big reason why people move to Newton.”

It was reassuring to see the community support educators in the standout, according to Al Calderone, a retired biology teacher at Newton North. “We’ve gotten a lot of support from the community,” Calderone said. “Teachers have always appreciated the way the community rallies with and around us, and we’re here asking them for their support moving forward.” n

Historic Newton Recounts Black Migration to the City

By ella song

Asst. Newton Editor

Several Black Virginians settled in Newton following the Civil War, including three families that formed a community known as the Village, which centered around the historically Black Myrtle Baptist Church, Clara Silverstein said during a webinar titled “Moving North,” hosted by Historic Newton on Thursday.

“Newly freed citizens left Richmond to look for better opportunities after the end of slavery,” Silverstein, community engagement manager at Historic Newton, said. “They had to give up close ties to their extended families, as well as a familiar place with a kinder climate.”

The talk focused on the experiences of the Lomax, Pryor, and Bland

families as well as the personal journey of Josephine Braxton, all of whom were African American migrants from Virginia who settled in the Village.

“What these residents first found when they moved was marshy land next to the Boston and Albany railroad tracks,” Silverstein said. “With the church as a focal point, this neighborhood became one of the largest suburban African American communities in greater Boston by the early 1900s. It must be noted, however, that Black settlers ended up in the Village because they were not allowed to own homes in other areas.”

Silverstein first recounted the history of the Lomax family, who migrated to West Newton in the 1870s, she said. The Lomax’s eventually sent their descendant, Hazelle Lomax, to Howard University in the 1930s. She

married Casper Ferguson, who was the first African American graduate of Boston College.

“Casper struggled to find work as a chemist, which is a subject he had studied at Boston College,” Silverstein said. “He ended up working for the U.S. Postal Service … before landing a job at the U.S. Army labs in Natick. This frustration suggests a pattern with Black unemployment in the Boston area, where a college graduate had more opportunity with federal than with local employers.”

There are still Lomax’s living in the Boston area today, according to Silverstein. This type of familial legacy also is relevant to the story of the Bland family, who moved to Newton in 1880, she said.

The Bland family moved to Newton with four children, and from there,

branched out through marriages and children, becoming a large presence in the community, Silverstein said. Similar to the Lomax’s, however, the early generations of Bland’s found it challenging to break into professional opportunities, according to Silverstein.

“[They] found work typical for that time period … one was a driver, and another was a butler, a waiter, a gardener,” said Silverstein.

She also spoke of the Pryor’s, who were also active community members. She highlighted the time when J. Holman Pryor led a protest against the screening of the film The Birth of a Nation—which has widely been called racist—at a Newton movie theater. Members of the Pryor family also participated in several Memorial Day parades in Newton, according to

Silverstein.

There does not seem to be any descendants of the Pryor family remaining in Newton, Silverstein said.

Braxton, the final person Silverstein spoke about, also does not have descendants in Newton. She moved to the area sometime before 1880.

Braxton became a child’s nurse for Harold Perrin, who later became a Massachusetts state senator, after the death of his mother. Silverstein speculated as to the possibility of a romantic relationship between Braxton and Marshall Perrin, Harold’s father and a professor at Boston University, and pointed out the potential obstacles to an affair of that nature.

CONNOR SIEMIEN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

SHRUTHI SRIRAM / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Newton Teachers Association organized 21 standouts across the city on Tuesday and Wednesday.

SHRUTHI SRIRAM / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The protestors said they participated in the standout to show support for the upcoming override vote on March 14.

Anna Nolin, superintendent of Natick Public Schools, will become the NPS superintendent on July 1.

Henrickson Named Second Female NPD Lieutenant

Henrickson graduated with an undergraduate degree in sociology and psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2008, she said.

She considered going into social work or law school after graduation, but she hadn’t yet found a specific career that she was passionate about.

“I knew I wanted to help people and have a type of career where I felt that I was giving back to humanity and community in some way,” Henrickson said. “So for me, I wanted to have a career where I felt that I had some type of purpose, but I didn’t really know exactly what that career looked like.”

Henrickson’s older brother and some of her friends inspired her to consider law enforcement as a line of work.

“I remember having conversations with him, and friends who had become police officers, and they said, have you really seriously considered doing that type of work where, you know, I’d be active, I’d be hands on, I could help people in various types of capacity,” she said.

After a lot of reflection, Henrickson decided to take the civil service exam, an oral and written test required to enter work in the public sector.

In the summer of 2008, she and her brother joined the Worcester Police Academy, where Henrickson was one of two women, she said.

Before they could graduate, however, Henrickson’s entire academy class was laid off by the City of Worcester in 2009.

“I ended up on the civil service layoff list and started applying for jobs in other municipalities

across Massachusetts that were hiring in 2009,” she said. “And at the time, Newton was hiring and that’s how I came to work for the city of Newton.”

When starting her new job at NPD as a day officer, Henrickson was surprised by what she thought at the time was a strong presence of female officers.

“For the size agency that we were, at the time I looked, it seemed like they had a really good group of strong female officers that were working in patrol,” she said.

Among the 140 officers at the NPD, there are only around 20 women, according to Curry.

“There are not a lot of women in policing, and I have always tried to reach out to different females that come on the job to help them feel comfortable here,” Curry said.

“It can be a tough job for women. There’s not a lot of us. So I think it’s important for us to stick together and support each other.”

Henrickson said it’s valuable to have female mentors within her profession.

“There are a lot of unique circumstances that happen to women in this job,” she said. “It happens to any woman that’s working in a job that’s predominantly male, that you have to kind of overcome, and it’s nice when you have strong women in leadership roles.”

Having more gender diversity in law enforcement leadership fundamentally changes the way crime and punishment are perceived, according to Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Students for the Lynch School of Education and Human Development

Julia DeVoy, who is a researcher of social work and the impacts of elevating women in the workplace, said.

“Whether it’s food scarcity,

whether it’s housing, shelter and housing, whether it’s domestic violence, I think the more gender diversity we have in these positions, the healthier our approach to offenses will be going forward,” DeVoy said. “And I see that as an intervention in the pipeline into the incarceration system.”

Henrickson said that she explored several positions at NPD, most recently as a police prosecutor.

This job had stable hours, something Henrickson valued as a mother of two children, according to Curry.

Many mothers do not take promotional exams, civil service tests applicants can take to advance positions, because it is hard to sacrifice a stable schedule, according to Curry.

“They don’t necessarily take exams, because you end up going back nights, you know, working the last and the first, and that’s difficult for mothers,” Curry said. “It’s you know, it’s not conducive to family life.”

Henrickson made that sacrifice, deciding to leave her job as

a police prosecutor to study and receive a leadership position in the department, according to Curry. Henrickson said it would not have been possible for her to balance this without the support of her family and peers.

“It is not easy to be a working mom, and I’m sure my colleagues will say it comes with a lot of challenges,” she said. “And then depending on where your journey takes you, working nights, it’s a lot. It’s a difficult balance, but it can be done and it can be done with support by your peers and by your family. But it’s definitely not easy.”

NPD has around the same number of women working now as they did when Henrickson first started, she said. She hopes to support her colleagues in any way she can.

“If there’s things that I can do for other female employees here, to talk with them, to support them, to lift them up, motivate them and just know that sometimes it’s important for us here to just keep like motivating each other and letting people know that they have support,” Henrickson said.

Only 2 to 3 percent of national leadership in law enforcement are women, allowing Newton to set an example of where the country should go moving forward, according to DeVoy.

“Newton is a progressive community,” DeVoy said. “So imagine how much harder it is in other communities that probably are a little bit more stifled by gender norms, the structural isms? This is a big step. I think Newton can be a model in this space. I feel like [Henrickson] is a trailblazer. And being a mother of two children, I think she’s not just a role model to women, she’s a role model to professional women that are also raising children and their families.”

Curry said she would not be surprised if Henrickson became the first female chief of NPD.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Lieutenant Henrickson ends up becoming a chief,” Curry said. “She’s driven. She’s focused. I’m sure she’ll take another promotional exam. She’s smart, she makes good decisions. And I see her going places here.” n

New Owners to Take Over Newton Ice Cream Shop

By Brendan O’Friel Heights Staff

Cabot’s Ice Cream and Restaurant is a time capsule.

The restaurant’s diner-esque interior hasn’t changed since the ice cream shop opened in 1969, providing a sense of nostalgia for customers as they walk through the door.

“That’s why we purposely keep everything the same—just keeping the memory alive,” Joe Prestejohn, current owner of Cabot’s, said.

Now, for the first time since it opened 55 years ago, Cabot’s will have new ownership.

Kay and Kevin Masterson will take over as the owners of Cabot’s starting March 6.

The couple owns Johnny’s Luncheonette in Newton Centre—a diner with a retro vibe similar to Cabot’s—and has worked in the restaurant industry for over 20 years.

Prestejohn commended the Masterson’s for the success of Johnny’s Luncheonette and said he feels confident that the couple will be successful in operating Cabot’s.

“They’ve got a great reputation,” he said. “They’re very dedicated, hard working people. Their beliefs are very similar to mine. They believe in their employees, the community that serves them, and their customers. And they put out a great product, a consistent product, and that’s exactly what we do here.”

Prestejohn began working at Cabot’s when his parents opened the shop in 1969.

Having overseen operations since his early 20s, Prestejohn, now 65, is retiring as owner.

“I always enjoyed working

here,” Prestejohn said. “I started working when I was 11 years old.”

Prestejohn has strived to create a welcoming environment for his customers.

“We’re all about creating ice cream smiles here,” he said.

It is hard to miss Prestejohn’s strong work ethic and commitment to Cabot’s, according to Bruce Apotheker, a former lieutenant at the Newton Police Department.

“It’s not uncommon to see Joe there working, you know, morning, noon, and night,” Apotheker said. Apotheker has been coming to Cabot’s since the early ’70s and has made countless memories there over the years.

“My parents would be at home and I would love to go in there and get my father a sundae and get my mother a milkshake and surprise them with it,” Apotheker said.

Prestejohn said it is rewarding to see customers consistently come back to Cabot’s year after year.

“I’ve enjoyed just watching some young people grow up in here and they’ve become parents themselves,” he said. “Now they get to bring their kids. To me, that’s … an awesome thing.”

Prestejohn said many BC students have visited the shop over the years.

“They’ve got some great memories that they’ve created here,” he said. “And sure enough, when they stop back into Boston— could be two, three, four, five, 10 years later—they’ll come up to us and say ‘I went to BC. I used to come in here all the time. We had such a great time here.’”

Prestejohn said he committed himself to supporting the Newton community throughout his time at Cabot’s.

“We put a lot of what would be advertising dollars into donations to different groups of nonprofits in the city,” he said.

While Apotheker said many people in the community are sad to see Prestejohn sell his business, he’s happy Prestejohn can retire. Prestejohn does not, however, plan on saying goodbye to Cabot’s completely.

“My plan is to stay on, get these folks situated, comfortable running the place, and I’m just gonna take a few weeks off just to let them get their footing,” he said. “And then I’m gonna come back and help them as much as I can, whenever I can.”

Kay feels most excited about getting to know the regulars at Cabot’s, as she has developed strong connections with patrons at Johnny’s Luncheonette.

“There’s people [at Johnny’s Luncheonette] that let us know when they’re traveling because they know we’ll be concerned about them,” she said. “It really matters to have places that someone knows that ‘oh, I need to tell, I need to tell somebody at Johnny’s I’m not going to be in next week, so they won’t wonder about me.’”

Kay plans to run Cabot’s in Prestejohn’s footsteps by building connections with customers and

making people feel welcome. She said she feels optimistic about running both Johnny’s and Cabot’s.

“We have a really good team, we have a managing partner,” she said. “We really have a model that is very much about sharing the load, and having and really empowering, you know, a group of people to feel, to share the responsibility of the restaurant.”

Kay looks forward to running Cabot’s alongside her husband and feels honored to take over such a beloved business.

“It’s a successful business,” Kay said. “I’m very happy to be continuing that on in Newton.” n

Henrickson, from A1

ALYSSA ANDERSON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Henrickson, who joined the NPD in 2009, recently began her job as commander of the Community Services Bureau.

M AGAZINE

Lean on Me Supports Students Through Hotline

By Kate nuechterlein Heights Staff

It was a long day. You got a subpar grade on your finite exam, and your roommate loudly took a 90-minute phone call when you really just needed to take a nap.

Or maybe it was a rainy day, and bad weather always drags down your mood. Maybe you just do not feel great and want to talk to someone, but no one will listen.

Do not worry—Lean on Me has your back.

The Boston College chapter of the national organization Lean on Me allows students to anonymously chat with trained student supporters. Without spending a dime, students can text the Lean on Me hotline number with any issue not requiring immediate crisis assistance and receive a response in as fast as a few minutes.

“It’s just a peer-to-peer, non-crisis hotline for students on our campus,” Julia Pintar, head of training for the BC chapter and MCAS ’24 said.

Composed of 22 members, the Lean on Me team is dedicated to prioritizing students’ confidentiality and helping them grapple with everyday mental health issues, according to Ainsley Kohler, BC’s chapter coordinator and MCAS ’23.

“It’s supposed to be just a conversation kind of between friends, even if it’s anonymous and you don’t know each other,” Kohler said.

Since 2019, the chapter has led over 400 conversations with BC students.

When someone texts the hotline number, the Lean on Me algorithm reconfigures any user’s number to a random word code, ensuring total anonymity.

Anna Laytham, the head supporter of BC’s Lean on Me chapter and MCAS ’24, said that every supporter receives a user’s introductory message, and then one supporter will pick up the conversation and continue it privately. If someone begins a conversation but eventually needs to put their phone away for class or another commitment, they must communicate that with the user, she said.

“Everyone just responds when they have time,” Laytham said. “We know that everyone, all the supporters, have really busy schedules, so it’s totally fine if they pick up a conversation and then they have to, like, go do something.”

The user then has the option to either wait a couple of hours until their original supporter is available again or transfer to a different supporter, Laytham said.

While the number remains completely anonymous and confidential,

Laytham said the organization does keep track of each user’s past conversation data to ensure they are receiving satisfactory support.

As head of training, Pintar leads monthly meetings called “refreshers” and organizes presentations to remind supporters how to handle different types of discussions. Common conversation topics include relationship issues, academic or career struggles, general stress and loneliness, and issues relating to COVID-19 and family, she said.

“I think that sometimes people text in because they feel like they’ve brought up an issue to their friends or their family a bunch and they feel like they’re a burden,” Kohler said. “Or, they don’t want to tell the people around them because they just don’t want to, like, add to their plates.”

To tackle these wide varieties of conversation topics, Kohler said the Lean on Me executive board has focused on gathering a diverse group of supporters with different backgrounds and perspectives.

“We try to, as much as we can, diversify the population just in case a user does want to speak to someone that has a similar identity to them,” Kohler said.

According to Laytham, these supporters aim to simply listen rather than intervene.

“It’s a lot more like, question and listening than advice-oriented, and that’s something we’re really trained on—to try to not give advice or not give too many suggestions, and just really be there to talk about people’s feelings,” she said. “When you support people, a lot of the time you want to just give advice, but it’s so much harder to actually listen.”

Kohler echoed this sentiment and said that most people who text Lean on Me often just want their problems to be heard, not solved.

“Not every user wants advice,” she said. “They just want to tell you what’s going on. Like, if you came to someone for support, and then they immediately start trying to give you advice, it can feel like they’re turning you away—like, ‘Oh, just go do that.’”

To ensure that the conversations are running smoothly, Lean on Me has a built-in feedback system where both the user and the supporter can rate the conversation after its conclusion.

As head supporter, Laytham said she occasionally checks the ratings to examine what the supporters are excelling at and where they can improve.

“People can write comments about how they felt like the conversation went, and so we can just see to make sure that everything’s going

okay,” she said.

Both Kohler and Pintar emphasized that supporters are not professionals and thus are not equipped to engage in any crisis conversations.

“It is a non-crisis text line, but we do train them on how to deal with crisis situations, but always with the intent that like, if a crisis situation happens—like suicidal intent or ideation—you transfer them onto Samaritans, which is a suicide hotline,” Pintar said.

All levels of mental health care have become even more crucial in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kohler said.

“Right off the bat, we’re not ever going to be a replacement for counseling or therapy, nor are our supporters professionals,” Kohler said. “There’s a lot of value in seeking clinical care, and I think people should, but I think that … there’s a big gap between like, ‘Okay, I’m doing really well mentally, I have my own support system in place,’ and ‘I need to seek professional help.’”

Lean on Me thus serves as a great median for people who just want to chat with an impartial third party, but who are not interested in therapy, Kohler said.

There are also advantages of

speaking to a fellow BC student about these smaller, yet still crucial, issues, Kohler said.

“If you’re having problems on campus, chances are they know how the extracurricular system works and they know it’s difficult, like they know how academics work,” Kohler said. “It just helps to create that more immediate environment of familiarity and just fosters more support without the person having to constantly explain themselves.”

When Kohler first joined Lean on Me during her freshman year at BC, she saw it as an opportunity to both improve her own mental health and help others

“I saw this flier, like on the staircase down from Mac, and it was like, ‘Are you interested in supporting your peers?’” she said. “And I was like, ‘One, yes. But also, I feel like I need support, because it’s hard to be a freshman.’”

Pintar and Laytham also noted the mental and emotional impact of being a Lean on Me member.

“I would say it affects my emotions,” Laytham said. “I don’t know if I would say it affects my mental health. I think, initially, it was more heavy. But then, it didn’t get less heavy or less impactful, I just think

I figured out how to, like, deal with hearing these stories and really care for myself.”

Pintar added that engaging in these conversations with BC students has helped to put her own struggles into perspective.

“It’s kind of eye-opening,” Pintar said. “I think it paints, like, a more real picture. It makes me feel less individualistic because it’s so easy to like, get involved with my problems … it almost makes my problems seem very normal.”

Kohler, Pintar, and Laytham all encourage students who are struggling with mental health to text the hotline or seek help in general.

“I’m a big fan of just, like, doing it,” Pintar said. “I think the only way to really grow is getting yourself out of your comfort zone.”

The typical fear of judgment is much less grave when there is not a face attached to the conversation, Pintar said. To any student who is hesitating to reach out, Kohler and Laytham stressed that confidentiality is the supporters’ top priority.

“You will be in a safe space, with the e-board team and even the other supporters,” Laytham said. “That’s what we really try to create—a safe space.” n

Homemade on the Heights: Egg Fried Rice

Heights Staff

If there’s one dish that defines my childhood, it’s fried rice. It’s the first dish I ever learned to

make and what made me fall in love with cooking.

It reminds me of the time I spent in the kitchen with my grandma growing up, where I acted as her sous chef—though in

reality, I was probably more of a nuisance than a help. Regardless, fried rice has been a staple in my life ever since those childhood moments.

Although I can’t exactly recreate the “fried” part of fried rice in my dorm kitchenette, there’s no doubt that when there’s a will, there’s a way.

With a few key ingredients and a microwave, I have learned to make the best fried rice a dorm can offer. On days when I need a quick and filling meal, or I feel homesick and need something reminiscent of home, this fried rice comes in handy.

Fried rice is a simple dish consisting of rice, protein, and vegetables. There are a lot of ways to customize your fried rice to make it your own, but I have always stuck to a simple egg fried rice that delivers every single time.

Dish: Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked rice, preferably refrigerated

1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables

1 egg

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a microwave safe bowl, microwave frozen vegetables on high for two minutes. In a separate bowl, microwave rice on high for one minute or until slightly warm. Mix rice and vegetables together. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Crack egg into rice mixture and stir until well combined. Microwave on high for two minutes or until the egg is cooked through. n

Through the Boston College chapter of Lean on Me, students can anonymously chat with trained student supporters.

ALYSSA ANDERSON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF AINSLEY KOHLER

Boston Date Ideas for You and Your BC Boo

By Morgan sanTaguida Heights Staff

You know what time of year it is. February, the month of love, is here. You and your date want to do something special, but you need some last-minute ideas. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Continue reading for some fun and affordable Boston date ideas for you and your Boston College boo.

Puttshack

This indoor mini golf course in Seaport is a great date idea if you and your partner love competition. This newly opened, modern mini golf course doubles as a bar if you are over 21.

But, if you are under 21, you are still free to play before 8 p.m. There are also live DJs on the weekend, which will be sure to add to your February fun!

Charles Hayden Planetarium

Go gaze at the stars in the Charles Hayden Planetarium with its themed planetarium shows! The shows cater to all audiences, but my personal recommendations are The Coldplay Experience or The Rihanna Experience. Each of these shows is choreographed to the respective artist’s music, and you can find the other artists featured on the Museum of Science’s website.

These awesome shows are a great way to spend a date under the stars.

Ice Skating on Frog Pond

There’s nothing more picturesque than ice skating in the Boston winter with your partner. Ice skating on the Boston Commons Frog Pond is a romantic way to celebrate your love for your date.

Skate rentals are only $15 and tickets are only $8, which makes this date cheap and worth all the fun. Make sure to check the Frog Pond hours so you don’t accidentally plan your date during a time when it’s closed for private events.

Boston Symphony Orches -

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Check out some breathtaking music with a trip to the Boston Symphony.

There are many shows and dates to choose from among the Symphony Hall, the Boston Pops, and Tanglewood. You can buy season passes and have fun all semester long. Enjoy a sophisticated night out with your date and feel high class this February.

Harvard Square

Taking a walk around Harvard Square and exploring Cambridge is the perfect way to enjoy the outdoors in the increasingly frequent nice weather.

There are a bunch of cute shops, theaters, museums, and restaurants for you and your date to enjoy, or you can just walk around and take in the scenery. Either way, it’s a great place to take a romantic stroll.

Ristorante Saraceno

If you are looking for a romantic, dimly lit Italian restaurant, look no further than Ristorante Saraceno.

Located in the North End, this restaurant has a wonderful staff and even better food. This place is popular and fills up fast, so make sure to book a reservation as soon as possible!

New England Aquarium

Who wouldn’t want to see penguins or sea lions on a date? Check out the New England

Aquarium’s giant fish tanks filled with sea turtles and starfish. Even better, you can pick up your free student ticket through the Robsham Box Office!

Isabella Stewart Gardner Musuem

What could be more romantic than the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s courtyard? This art museum is located just a short T ride away in Boston. With different picturesque rooms, gardens, and art collections, Isabella Stewart Gardner is the

ALYSSA ANDERSON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

perfect place for couples looking for a night out.

Boston Public Library’s Map Room Tea Lounge

Located inside the Boston Public Library, the Map Room Tea Lounge is the perfect brunch spot. Its cozy and chic atmosphere welcomes everyone to dine in and enjoy the ambiance and menu. While the Map Room may be a little more pricey, this modern-day salon’s price is worth its charming feel for a special date. n

How To Make the Most of Your “Rat-tastic” Experience

By riley davis Heights Staff

I’m a “Rat” girl at heart. It’s my first stop on campus in the morning when I pick up hot water for my green tea everyday. I love sitting at a window table to scroll through my email or skim a reading for class. I engage in and overhear campus gossip, club promotions, and phone calls to family and friends at home. I frequently scan the room to get a feel for new outfit trends, and my mood is always boosted when an unexpected hello with a friend turns into a 20-minute conversation.

The beloved “Rat,” formally labeled the Welch Dining Room, is nestled in the basement of Lyons Hall, and its name derives from the German term for a restaurant in a basement, “Rathskeller.” The Rat is a lively space of community, leisure, and eats. I’ve reflected on my

countless hours in this treasured campus hub to give you some tips on how to make the most of a spare 30 minutes in the Rat.

Choose Your Seat Wisely While the tables are all fairly similar—not including the few rare hightops at the front of the dining room—their different locations impact your experience. My go-to seat is a table by the windows. I adore the gorgeous architecture, natural lighting, and view toward Stokes Lawn. A piece of advice though: it’s difficult to do computer work here in the morning as the intense glare from sunlight makes it blinding to view your screen!

If your computer or phone is running low on battery, I advise grabbing a seat in the middle rows next to the pillars, which are lined with outlets. The middle rows are also prime spots for people

watching, and if you’re hoping to run into a friend, chances are someone will see you in this central location. The far back side of the Rat is cozy and lined with images of Boston College’s campus and community. I enjoy sitting here on a cloudy day while I eat a bowl of soup, and I’ve found it is the quietest spot in the Rat as it is tucked away from the liveliness of the doorway.

Wait Five Minutes To Buy Food I always dread the line that forms between class periods. The swarm of students packing the dining hall can be overwhelming.

I frantically navigate the rush as I contemplate whether I’m in the mood for a soup, salad, sandwich, or all three. I’ve had way too many moments when I panic and start scooping a fruit and yogurt bowl without remembering I had

something similar for breakfast! These moments have taught me it’s worth waiting five minutes to head to the line.

It requires a dash of patience, but I take the time to find a seat, fill up my water bottle, and settle into the space. Sure enough, others will settle into seats or continue onward in just a few minutes. The dining room will feel 10 times more spacious, and you will have the luxury of choosing your food without the pressure of quickly hopping in a growing line at the register.

Take a Shopping Spree

Whether you’re an underclassman with extra meal plan money or an off-campus junior unsure when you will make your next grocery run, the Rat has a number of grab-and-go snacks, produce, and meals that are perfect for stocking up your mini fridge and cupboards.

Check out the fridges for sandwiches, salads, and small bites like hummus and cream cheese. My personal favorites are the southwest quinoa salad and tomato mozzarella sandwich—I recommend panini pressing it if you’re eating on-site! Grab some mayo and ketchup packets for your burger at dinner, stock your backpack with some disposable silverware, or pick up a bag of chips so you’ll have a snack on hand.

Work Smarter, not Harder

The Rat is lively and active with students coming and going, chairs screeching, and voices echoing laughter and conversation. If you’re in the mood for some light noise as you work, the Rat is the perfect spot to knock out that discussion post or skim a Perusall reading.

But, I find the noise and dynamism of the Rat to be a distraction when writing an essay or studying for a midterm, so I save those

assignments for the 5th floor of O’Neill. The Rat also works well for group project meetings. Its central location is convenient to meet in between classes, and if you need to schedule an in-person chat at night, the music and snacks at “Late Night” will give you a boost of energy and get your creative juices flowing!

Zoom Casually

The Rat is a great place to take a call on chilly winter days. I took many of my online classes during freshman year in the Rat— it was quiet enough that I could hear my professor speaking in my earbuds, yet loud enough that I didn’t feel awkward when speaking in my breakout room.

The Rat is still the perfect environment for when I have a webinar or FaceTime with a friend from home. Remember though, the Rat has lots of background distractions, and I wouldn’t recommend doing an interview or formal call here.

Befriend an Employee

The employees of the Rat are dedicated, kind, and want to leave students with a memorable and “Rat-tastic” experience. As a Rat regular, I began to recognize employees when checking out with my breakfast, and I was flattered when an employee took notice of my routine and acknowledged that I often come by the Rat in the morning to fill up my cup of tea. I couldn’t help but feel sincere gratitude for the care, thoughtfulness, and hardwork the employees contribute to the BC community.

The employees provide me with a smile when I am anxious about an exam. The words “have a great day” have gone a long way. As I remind myself to reciprocate this gratitude back by simultaneously asking others how their day is going, I challenge you to share your kindness and compliments with the employees! n

31 Movies in 13 Days

my Italian homework, I started to realize that some of these movies would require emotional investment, and I wouldn’t have any lighthearted breaks. Luckily enough, Causeway was not a good enough movie to emotionally manipulate me. Causeway was also the first movie I watched that had a weird, droning violin motif that strangely carried on through several of the other heavier films.

Absurd and unnecessary challenges compel me, especially, it seems, as they become more and more useless or self-destructive. On Jan. 24 at 8:30 a.m., I decided to attempt to watch 31 movies in 13 days.

And if there’s anything I’ve learned from this, it’s that you should never, ever believe in yourself.

Why 31 movies? Well, on the aforementioned date, the Oscars committee announced the 54 films that were nominated for Academy Awards. Once you subtract the short films, the documentaries, and the movies that were only nominated for Best Original Song, that leaves a mere 32 pictures. Unfortunately, the only way I could watch the Polish film EO (nominated for best international feature film) would be at a theater in Salem, Mass. at 7:30 p.m. on a Friday, so I decided to strike it from the list. This left me a nice, prime 31. If you flip those digits around, you get ANOTHER prime number, so I arbitrarily decided to give myself 13 days to finish my challenge.

The first movies on my docket were the animated features. Last year, I was let down by this category as the judges decided to pick Encanto as the best animated feature instead of my favorite movie from the bunch, The Mitchells vs the Machines. Since 2007, only two of the movies that have won the category have been made by non-Pixar animators, and it looks like this year we might be getting the third. Over the first few of my 13 days, I watched the five films nominated for Best Animated Feature. The Disney-produced Turning Red definitely felt like the weakest link of the batch. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was my favorite, followed by Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Day three marked the first appearance of a non-animated movie in my queue. The Quiet Girl is an international film from Ireland—and I liked it so much it encouraged me to watch two more movies that day. It was at this point that I began to regret watching all of the lighthearted animated films first. After a latenight Causeway viewing in the dark as I did

All my plans were derailed on Jan. 27, 2023. I started the day, not with a movie, but with Arrested Development season 2 episode 12. It’s a good episode, but it was not nominated for an Oscar. I then let the following two days pass without watching a single minute of one of the movies because my hubris-riddled brain believed it could somehow fit the remaining 24 films into a single week. When I did the math, I realized that this would require watching 3.4 movies per day, and my heart was crushed. Who would’ve guessed that watching this many movies in such a short span of time while balancing work, school, and my social life would be so difficult? Not me.

Nevertheless, I decided to continue my journey, and on the following Monday I watched Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris and Aftersun. Disappointment overwhelmed me when watching Mrs. Harris because, despite being nominated for Best Costume Design, the featured dresses were nothing spectacular. Aftersun was a very uncomfortable movie to watch, and I believe that was intentional. To me, the most interesting aspect of the film is that the camera spends a lot of time pointed at objects while characters occupy the background—the inverse of a typical cinematic move. It also was the second installment of that weird violin drone sound, making me feel haunted by my lack of movie watching during the previous week. Although Aftersun was well made, it did not inspire me to attempt to watch any more movies that night. In fact, the opposite was true, and I immediately went to bed.

Of all the movies nominated for best picture, the only one I had never heard of was Triangle of Sadness. That Tuesday, I had several club meetings, so I was only able to watch one film, and it definitely did a good job of fulfilling my cinematic appetite. The following day it all started to catch up to me. The first film of the night, Women Talking, also had the weird violin drone sound, and each time it was introduced, the phantoms of my past movie-watching mistakes flickered in the shadows on the wall.

After I finished Women Talking, I walked

out into my dorm’s common room and found my roommates watching the Will Ferrell movie Old School, which, according to some sources, “is a classic comedy.” Afraid of falling further behind on my now impossible goal, I made the choice to watch a movie on my laptop as I watched Old School with my roommates. Luckily, neither Old School or my movie of choice, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, were particularly hard to follow. I went into Glass Onion expecting very little because I did not like the last movie in the series, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the first 90 minutes rather enjoyable. But after Old School ended, my enjoyment of Glass Onion also began to falter—the final 30 minutes disappointed me so much that I felt justified for not devoting my full attention to the film.

I started to watch Tár the following day, but I turned it off to do some homework and never turned it back on. The next day, while my roommates attended a social function, I locked myself up in my room and finished the two and a half hour behemoth before plunging into a deep sleep plagued with dreams about my inability to complete even the most straightforward of pointless self-challenges.

On Saturday, I decided to have a double-feature of the only two nominated movies that I had seen prior to the start of this challenge. The two films, The Batman and Everything Everywhere All at Once, both excelled in the movie theater format and the pitiful setup in my dorm did not do them justice. Nevertheless, Everything Everywhere All at Once was definitely the best 2022 movie that I’ve seen.

I ended the weekend by watching Reservoir Dogs and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World with my roommates. Neither of these movies were nominated for awards this year. Neither of these movies were even released this year. But I had a good time watching them, and I don’t regret a thing.

The title of this article was a lie.

In the end, I watched 18 movies and one episode of Arrested Development. If my self-imposed movie watching challenge was a race, I most certainly lost. But as I am learning, winning is not everything. I had fun, and as the saying goes, it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.

Of course, this may tarnish my legacy, but I will gladly accept my “participant” ribbon so I can hang it above my bed to always remind me that I could not overcome my herculean trial.

Laundry Politics

been done for two seconds or two hours.

We were a friend group divided.

But we hadn’t yet considered the political environment of the laundry room. Those who remove others’ laundry are high-volume “polluters.” They dirty the laundry room by discarding wet piles of fabric and forgotten single socks onto its questionable surfaces.

remove the gray fuzz from the lint catcher like a good citizen, or do you abandon it? These “political” questions determine our laundry affinities—our place on the laundry political spectrum.

Soul Mates? Marriage Pact Is Back!

With Valentine’s Day having come and gone, students were scared the infamous Boston College Marriage Pact may have become a thing of the past. Their fears were eased, however, when the Pact returned with full force over the last weekend. With questions ranging from eating habits to possible wedding scenarios, the algorithm does its best to find your perfect BC match. Love is in the air on the Heights, as over 1,700 Eagles have submitted responses. Who knows? Your soul mate could be just around the corner. So, head over to bc.marriagepact.com and put your name in the hat before it’s too late!

Rihanna

After her incredible Super Bowl performance last weekend, Rihanna is living in our hearts and stuck in our heads. Iconic as ever, her songs have been infiltrating BC’s dorm rooms for the last week. From Super Smash Bros. memes to students’ AirPods blasting “Famous” as they walk to class, Eagles can’t seem to get her off their minds. And there’s nothing wrong with this at all—if nothing else, we could all use the reminder to “shine bright like a diamond” every once in a while.

On a weekend night that should’ve featured chaotic decisions, my friends and I instead gathered for a debate. Under the fluorescent lights of Gonzaga Hall, we discussed a critical subject: the politics of the laundry room.

“The person whose laundry it is should be there before or as soon as the timer runs out,” I argued.

“Well, what if they’ve had a tough day and laundry slips their mind? We should give them the benefit of the doubt,” my friend passively replied, using a guise of generosity.

Now I look like the a—hole.

A third friend responded, “No, I’m with Elise on this one. If I respect their time, they need to respect mine.”

Others stood silently, nodding along or scrunching their foreheads as they thought through their laundry room stances. One tried to offer a happy medium, saying you should wait about 10 minutes before taking out someone’s clothes.

This logic, however, is flawed. It is possible that you arrive at the laundry room long after a stranger’s laundry has finished washing— there is no telling whether the laundry has

I hate to admit it, but I am guilty of adding to this corner of overlooked items. Once, I removed a whole comforter from the dryer. That blanket sat in the corner for the entire fall semester. I dumped it out, expecting someone to reclaim it the same day. Instead, I contaminated the room’s atmosphere. The gathering of sopping, wrinkled clothes continues to head toward the point of no return.

The liberals of the laundry room want to give time and charity to their fellow laundry-doers. They seek to keep the room clean and don’t remove others’ clothes even when all the washers or dryers are full. They are patient progressives. The conservatives, on the other hand, feel their time is wasted by the laziness of others and quickly dump any waiting laundry. They are self-concerned individualists.

Which faction do you subscribe to?

Did you do your own laundry at home, or is college your first experience with doing laundry? Do you use Tide Pods, or do you know how laundry detergent works? Do you separate your whites and darks, or roll the dice? Do you believe that $3.50 is too much for two separate loads? Do you take a chance on the scorching dryers from hell, or use a drying rack and risk a lake formation in your cramped double? If you use the dryers, do you

Laundry divides us. My group and I did not lose any friendships in the Great Laundry Debate of Gonzaga’s second floor, but we formed new alliances. The hall’s backdrop of flickering lights, unfulfilled work orders, and an anonymous stench all perfectly complemented our childish curiosity about laundry politics. By using a simple debate about laundry, we prepared ourselves for harder, more mature disagreements.

If we could agree upon an answer to laundry’s greatest mysteries, find common ground within its politics, or discern for ourselves what we believed on this futile topic—maybe, just maybe, politicking about laundry could prepare us for the complexities of adulthood.

The Great Laundry Debate ended with an understanding from all of us, whether a liberal, conservative, or laundry moderate, that you cannot please all. There is no one set of laundry etiquette truths. Although we could not find definitive common ground, my friends and I went to bed satisfied with our debate.

We were united in our separation. Our divulgence of laundry-related revelations provided a deeper bond for our friendship. It offered a look into our future adult selves, and it provided us a glimpse of maturity—beyond just washed clothes.

Midterms Week, Part One of 100

At BC, a 15-week semester features about 10 weeks of so-called “midterms.” If they haven’t started for you yet, these next two weeks are sure to bring a surge of papers, exams, projects, and presentations. And while many professors kindly try to give us a “chill” Spring Break, March 3 has become a dumping ground for about a million of these stressful tests. No matter how overwhelming it can be, remember that you have done it before and you can do it again! So, let’s take a deep breath and know we are doing the best we can.

Presidents Day

Despite Presidents Day being a national holiday, Massachusetts is one of few states that still holds class. Federal offices, courts, and post offices are closed, but schools across the state are open for business. Unlike some of our friends at college in other states, BC students have to pull themselves out of bed for their 9 a.m. classes on this holiday. An occasional three-day weekend works wonders for the sleep schedules and to-do lists of college students. So yes, we are a bit grumpy about the lack of a day off school.

Matthew ablondi

elise Jarvis

opinions and commentaries of the op-ed columnists appearing on this page represent the views of the authors of those particular pieces and not necessarily the views of The Heights

GRAPHICS BY ALYSSA ANDERSON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Matthew Ablondi is a columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at matthew.ablondi@bc.edu

My alarm goes off. I shower, pull on my Tims, walk to class, and sit down in the chair I have designated as mine since the first week of classes. I look over to see my friend Aidan sitting next to me, nose-deep in his phone. And it is in this image that I finally realize the antagonist to my goal of branching out more this semester.

Lights. Camera. Action. Let’s talk about the “BC Script.”

See, I could ask Aidan how his weekend went or how he’s doing, but I don’t. I know that I will just get the quick and simple “good.” With that, he will reciprocate the question and I’ll mimic his response with a “yeah … good” of my own. How creative, right?

The truth is, I’m not good. A million thoughts are swirling around in my head, and it’s driving me crazy. Why? Well, I’ll answer my question with another: What happens when you take the smartest and privileged kids from around the world and put them under one roof? World peace? No, actually it’s almost exactly the opposite—you get competition.

I could be feeling the worst I have ever felt in my entire life, and I will still tell Aidan, “I’m good.” He said he was good, so therefore I have to be good, right? Otherwise, I would look like I don’t have my act together, like I

let my guard down. I would reveal that I can’t find the perfect internship. That I can’t find the perfect off-campus house with the perfect set of roommates. That I don’t have the perfect life.

And even if Aidan were to ask me how I was doing first, my answer would not change.

I am always going to turn toward the “Script,” toward the words “I’m good.” This way, I will appear like I have my act together—a quality I see in Aidan simply because he is a student at the prestigious institution that is Boston College.

As we all know, BC is a reputable school, so what sets BC apart from other schools of the same caliber? Well, to be honest, at the end of the day we all have a very similar college experience. Northeastern, Boston University, Harvard, BC, no difference—we are all just students trying to get a sense of the world. We all want to have the sole gold star.

So I return to my original question and once again ask: What happens when you take the smartest and most privileged kids from around the world with similar backgrounds and put them under one roof?

In my perception of ancient Greece, only one thing distinguished an aristocrat from a commoner. An aristocrat had the mindset that he was the best—he thought he was born to govern. Aristocrat literally means “rule of the best.” When he encountered other aristocrats, he was likely challenged for the title of “best” and had to prove himself as such. I imagine him talking about politics, finance, international policy—whatever he could think of—until he finally shut the other guy up. He probably didn’t even care about what the oth-

er aristocrat had to say. As long as he got his point across and appeared more put together than anybody else, he was fine. Oh, the joys of competition.

At its core, BC is a collection of the biggest, most creative brains and the seemingly most put-together people all competing under one roof.

And BC students have the tendency to seem fine. It is taboo for us to talk about housing issues, but it isn’t taboo for us to talk about how much all of our roommates get along. It feels wrong for us to talk about the fact that we didn’t get an internship this summer, yet it is totally acceptable for us to talk about the one we did get. It is almost like we are the ancient Greek aristocrats, constantly trying to prove to others that we are worthy of their attention and thriving off competing against each other. We do this by telling people what they want to hear instead of what we want to say. And I

have decided to coin the phenomenon the “BC Script.” So, how can we solve this?

The answer is simple: We can stop pretending like we are on top of the world. Perhaps we are some of the best students, but that doesn’t mean that we are perfect. No one is. We still have a long path ahead of us—a lot left to learn and a lot left to prove.

Our competitive nature is a great tool for us as we choose our next steps in life, but it also hinders our ability to be honest with each other. We hide behind facades to seem better than everybody else. I think that by simply acknowledging this double-edged sword, we can start to make BC’s campus feel less stressful.

Next time I speak to Aidan, maybe, just maybe, I will tell him what’s going on in my life without feeling the urge to follow the “Script.”

PaTrick connell

Left to right: Terrence Floyd highlights advocacy in a UGBC event that sold out Robsham Theater on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. Graduate student Christian O’Neill leads BC men’s hockey off the ice after its 7–3 win against UMass Amherst on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. BC women’s basketball guard Andrea Daley drives to the basket in the Eagles’ battle against Louisville in their home finale at Conte Forum on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023.

ALINA CHEN / HEIGHTS STAFF

goaltender Hope Walinski deflects a shot from BC women’s hockey forward Hannah Bilka in BC’s 3–0 loss to Providence on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

KELLEN DAVIS / HEIGHTS STAFF

Hidetaka Hirota, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, discusses historical stigma around illegal immigrants on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

KENNETH CHEN / HEIGHTS STAFF

‘You’ Season Four Lacks Variety, New Plotlines

Part one of the fourth and final season of Netflix’s original show You revived Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a moody hopeless romantic with a penchant for murder, on Feb. 9. You is the perfect Valentine’s Day watch, so our antihero protagonist Joe would hope.

Having killed his equally murderous wife, Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), and set his suburban California home aflame in a staged murder-suicide in season three, Joe finds himself on the other side of the pond in London, chasing yet another unattainable damsel in distress at the start of season four. Originally arriving in Paris, Joe is determined to find Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), an artist and former coworker of his at the Madre Linda Public Library, and

who he believes is the love of his life.

His search for Marienne is cut short when a hitman sent by his late wife’s affluent father reveals that Joe’s former father-in-law has discovered the truth about and will stop at no end to avenge his daughter’s death. Fortunately for Joe, the hitman in question offers him another chance with all of the proper documents needed to reenter life as a Columbia-graduated English professor at a British university.

Despite having none of the proper education to pursue such a field, Joe takes a liking to life as a professor, falling into a crowd of Soho’s elite. That is until Joe discovers that he is being stalked by a stranger and once again tied to a series of murders, which leads him back into a life of secrecy, foul play, and manipulation.

Throughout Joe’s life on the

screen, viewers have gotten to know the Brooklyn native as a deluded man-child with serious childhood trauma and an intense savior complex.

Paired with his license to kill any and all who get in between him and his plans—which more often than not includes preying on any woman Joe deems different from the rest—Joe has somehow landed a spot in the hearts of the Netflix masses.

Upon its initial release in 2018, You quickly skyrocketed to popularity among Netflix viewers. Harping on a cultural obsession with serial killers and true crime, Badgley as Joe represents an antihero archetype—a protagonist who is convinced that he is good while simultaneously enacting destruction wherever he goes.

Joe’s small redeeming qualities and good deeds prevent the character from total derision from the show’s viewers.

Despite this, Joe continues to throw himself at whatever unexpecting woman he can get his hands on, only to later victimize himself when she turns out to be human rather than the romanticized image he forced upon her. Joe’s antics have grown rather repetitive since the show’s release in 2018, in addition to the blatant laziness that has plagued the You writing room for too long.

Each of the show’s season’s individual plots reveals itself to be purely aesthetic, changing the setting and side characters rather than the central conflict, which continues to be Joe’s search for a soulmate and his past that attempts to get in the way.

Looking back on each season, Joe, a working-class white man, seems to be constantly finding himself among affluency. Whether New York socialite Peach Salinger, Madre Linda “mom-fluencer” Sherry Conrad, or this season’s London gallery director Kate Galvin, Joe somehow only befriends the wealthiest and most stuck-up individuals, to which he claims to rise above, embellishing his persona as a wellread humble orphan looking for his soulmate.

With each passing season—and lover—Joe’s position as a multi-layered and complex character has grown weaker and weaker.

The constant redirection of Joe’s setting and background characters only adds to the lack of connection between the audience and plot, as new victims and chess pieces to Joe’s idiotic whims are added and discarded every season.

While easily adapted through the first three seasons, the loss of the equally sociopathic yet fanadored Love has caused a rift among viewers, as Joe disregards their marriage as a fatal mistake and sets

off after the mousy Marienne, who carries little to no substance as a character.

Joe’s constant inner retaliation against his identity as a murderer has too become repetitive and substanceless.

For someone who has killed as many people as Joe, one would think he could at the very least admit his own faults rather than place the blame on his conquest for whatever woman he seems to believe is incapable of taking care of herself without him.

After several seasons, his moves have become predictable and boring, as he pines after any woman who gives him the slightest bit of affection and then proceeds to murder someone because of it. This season is no different.

As for the reversal of Joe’s position from stalker to stalkee, it is hardly worth mentioning as a major plot point, as the mysterious stalker messages on his British phone added little to no excitement to an already monotonous season.

Having been one of Netflix’s most critically acclaimed shows in recent years, one would expect more from Joe as he enters his final hurrah in the final season of You

Nonetheless, it seems Joe has flown too close to the sun. Hopefully by the end of the season, his facade will come crashing down. n

‘TRUSTFALL’ Addresses Value of Trust and Love

By Parker Leaf Heights Staff

P!nk’s ninth album, TRUSTFALL , consists of 13 tracks that reflect the value of finding trust and love in life.

TRUSTFALL was released on Feb. 17, but P!nk released two singles from the album before the release date. The title track, “TRUSTFALL” was released at the end of January, and it contains the familiar pop-genre sound signature to P!nk. The song begins with a metronome beat that sets a steady tempo for the entire song and high-pitched echoes of the lyrics repeating. The song connects to the album’s overarching theme of being able to leave behind the mess of life and have love and trust to fall back on.

“Close your eyes and leave it all behind / Go where love is on our side / It’s a trust fall, baby / It’s a trust fall, baby,” P!nk sings.

Three days before the release of the album, P!nk released an -

other single, “When I Get There.”

This emotive track is a tribute to her father who passed away in August 2021.

“Sometimes love leaves us too soon,” P!nk wrote on Instagram on Feb. 14. “On Valentine’s Day- I cherish the love I have that I can touch- and the love I have in my heart for those who have gone on to the next adventure. This one’s for you, Daddy Sir.”

“When I Get There” is a slow and captivating song which fits P!nk’s strong raspy voice, as she reminisces about her father. The whole song is written in the second person, creating a sense of intimacy as the listener gets to feel like they are listening to a private conversation between P!nk and her late father.

“Is there a place you go / To watch the sunset and oh / Is there a song you just can’t wait to share?

/ Yeah I know you’ll tell me when I get there,” P!nk sings.

A theme throughout the album is P!nk’s incorporation of

questions into her lyrics. In her 11th track on the album, “Feel Something,” P!nk sings about wanting to and being able to give and receive love.

In the chorus, the tempo builds up in the first half of each line as the lyrics express her effort, but quickly the tempo falls again by the end as P!nk acknowledges that she got nothing out of it.

“My feet are gettin’ sore, but I keep runnin’ / I do it again and again and again, but I found nothin’ / I gave my heart to the wolves and they tore it open,” P!nk sings.

TRUSTFALL has three credited guests: The Lumineers on “Long Way to Go,” First Aid Kit on “Kids in Love,” and Chris Stapleton on “Just Say I’m Sorry.” The Lumineers sing as an echo to P!nk on the song. Folk duo, First Aid Kit, harmonizes beautifully with P!nk in “Kids in Love.”

The song dips into the country genre, a style which complements P!nk’s voice. “Just Say I’m Sorry”

is an emotive duet that combines P!nk and Stapleton’s powerful raspy voices. The song relates to the themes of the rest of P!nk’s album and dives into the complexity of love.

“Just say, ‘I’m sorry’ / It’s not the hardest thing to do / Just say you’re wrong sometimes / And I’ll believe you ‘cause I love you / Just say, ‘I’m sorry,’” P!nk and Stapleton sing.

P!nk’s other tracks, “Turbulence,” “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” “Runaway,” “Last Call,” “Hate Me,” “Lost Cause,” and “Our

Song” all continue to play with the themes of finding sources of trust and love.

“‘Cause I know that you noticed I hate kissing you with my eyes closed / Keep ‘em open and stare at your face making sure that your eyes close / ‘Cause I was never taught to trust somebody, nobody” P!nk sings on “Lost Cause.”

TRUSTFALL has something for every member of P!nk’s audience of different ages and backgrounds as it dives into the universally relatable layers of love and the emotional trustfall that life is. n

‘This Is Why’ Disappoints With Flat, Boring Melodies

By CharLey Conroy Heights Staff

Pop-punk band Paramore returned with its first album in six years with This Is Why on Feb. 10. Despite a powerful and upbeat start, This Is Why mellows out in the second half, making the album an overall disappointing experience in comparison to the high-energy music Paramore produced in the past.

This Is Why feels like an album of two sounds. Paramore could have capitalized on the contrast between the quiet and loud songs on the album, but as it stands, This Is Why feels like an album that occasionally reaches the explosive highs of Paramore’s discography but fails to impress in the softer moments.

This Is Why instantly draws listeners in with the best song on

the album—the title track, “This Is Why.”

“If you have an opinion maybe you shove it,” lead singer Hayley Williams softly sings before bursting into an explosive chorus.

The chorus exclaims that the pressure of being the face of Paramore and the expectations thrust upon her by critics is why Williams doesn’t leave the house.

The song is bold and energetic

while simultaneously addressing Williams’ struggles. The next three songs on the album maintain the exciting sound set up by the title track. “The News,” “Running Out of Time,” and “C’est Comme Ça” are the types of songs that will stick around on playlists for a long time.

But by the fifth track “Big Man, Little Dignity,” this upbeat energy is entirely abandoned. The entire song feels lethargic and even

when it tries to liven things up in the chorus, it doesn’t come close to Paramore’s past pop-punk anthems.

Williams can be so powerful and commanding in her music, but in the quieter moments on the album, it feels like she’s holding back. These songs don’t hit their emotional highs in the way they have the potential to. Instead, they just leave a little to be desired.

Meanwhile, the entire time you’re hoping for another “This Is Why” to show up out of nowhere.

While Paramore’s comeback album was boring, it showed that a quieter and more chill sound is clearly the direction the band wants to move toward in the future. Listeners on Spotify were greeted with a video message from the band talking about the album.

It’s unfortunate then that the part of the album that is most en -

joyable is the part that references Paramore’s original sound. The first four tracks feel like old Paramore, and it’s genuinely some of the band’s best material. This Is Why would have been more suited as a fourtrack EP, as the presence of the slow tracks at the end of the album ruins its pacing.

From “Misery Business” to “Still Into You,” the music of Paramore provided fun anthems to sing along to. Songs like “This Is Why” and “The News” satisfy listeners’ itch on This Is Why, but the rest of the album fails to provide anything exciting.

With This Is Why, it seems like Paramore is growing up. While this effort didn’t strike the same chord as its old music, or as something new, it lays the groundwork for a much more subdued Paramore to come n

SPORTS

No. 3 Eagles Downed by No. 5 Northwestern

Lacrosse, from A1

Belle Smith notched BC’s first goal of the game 3:56 into the first quarter off an assist by Jenn Medjid, who missed the previous game with a leg injury.

Less than 30 seconds later, Smith tallied her second goal on the Eagles’ second possession of the game, handing BC an early 2–0 lead. Northwestern, however, found the back of the net just over two minutes later, sending the ball past Rachel Hall to make it 2–1. But BC responded with four goals and conceded just one to the Wildcats, and it entered the second quarter up 5–2.

The second quarter featured a constant exchange of goals.

After three goals were scored in the first 3:07 of the second quarter, Smith found Medjid in front of Northwestern’s net, and Medjid made her return to the scorer’s circle with a behind-theback, no-look goal, putting the Eagles up 7–4. Northwestern got the best of Hall two more times, but the Eagles got one back.

In the final minute of the second quarter, Kayla Martello potted two last-minute goals with 55 and 15 seconds left, respectively, to extend BC’s lead to 10–6 going into the second half.

BC outshot Northwestern

15–12 in the first half, and Hall recorded a .500 save percentage

compared to Molly Laliberty’s .333 save percentage in the first half.

Northwestern flipped the script to start the third quarter, however, as the Wildcats netted three goals to bring the score to 10–9.

BC stopped the bleeding with 5:39 left to play in the quarter, as Weeks scored and Martello extended the Eagles’ lead back to three a minute later. But Northwestern’s 10th goal of the game prompted Walker-Weinstein to replace Hall with freshman goalie Shea Dolce.

“Rachel and Shea are excellent goalies and I think they allow us to have kind of a dual threat,” Walker-Weinstein said. “And so we just needed a different look.”

Dolce conceded a goal just 2:33 after she entered the game, but the Eagles entered the fourth quarter up 12–11.

“Northwestern was shooting really well and we just needed a different look and shape that provides, you know, the same type of stability that Rachel does and the two of them are awesome,” Walker-Weinstein said. “So you know, it’s just a little bit of a proactive switch to kind of change up what you know, Northwestern was shooting at.”

With 9:02 left to play in the fourth quarter, Sydney Scales picked up a foul call, and Izzy Scane took advantage of the free position attempt to bring Northwestern within one goal. Less than

two minutes later, Northwestern knotted the game at 13 apiece.

The Wildcats tallied yet another goal from a free-position attempt and gained the lead for the first time in the game with 6:23 left to play.

A BC turnover with just under four minutes remaining allowed Northwestern to march down the field at the 3:19 mark and extend its lead to two goals. Despite a late Medjid goal that cut BC’s deficit to one, Northwestern finished the game and downed the Eagles 15–14.

“No, I don’t think the road has anything to do with it,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We just have to execute better on gameday.” n KENNETH CHEN / HEIGHTS STAFF

BC Drops First Game to Waves

By Graham Dietz Sports Editor

NICOLE

Eagles Fall to Louisville 62 – 52

By Nick Petralia Heights Staff

Amid Boston College women’s basketball’s five-game losing streak, freshman Taina Mair has shone, averaging 13.2 points and five assists a game. Mair led the Eagles on Sunday, tallying 20 points and seven assists against Louisville in a game full of runs, but it was not enough as BC (14–16, 4–13 Atlantic Coast) fell to the Cardinals (20–9, 11–5) 62–52 at Conte Forum for its sixth consecutive loss. Louisville’s Preseason All-American Hailey Van Lith dropped 17 points in the 60-minute defensive battle.

Both teams struggled shooting in the first quarter, as BC shot 28.6 percent from the floor while the Cardinals shot 30 percent. Defense took the forefront, and the only two players with any offensive consistency were Mair and Van Lith. And while the Eagles managed to keep the ball out of Van Lith’s hands for the game’s first four minutes, Louisville eventually found her for open looks, and she nailed back-to-back 3-pointers, finishing the quarter with eight points.

“The first quarter we went under one or two screens, and she scored six on us,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. “I wish we hadn’t done that for the most part.”

The Cardinals ended the period with a 14–10 lead.

BC started the second quarter with much-needed energy that began with back-to-back layups from Andrea Daley and Ally VanTimmeren. The Eagles even took an 18–16 lead at the 7:21 mark when JoJo Lacey notched a layup. But the Cardinals’ zone defense resulted in offensive struggles from BC and a subsequent 12–0 Louisville run.

Mair, however, refused to let the Eagles fall further behind, as she responded with a 3-pointer. She led all players with 13 first-half points.

“I thought she controlled the tempo for the most part when the ball was in her hands,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “She’s been really fun to watch.”

The half closed with a scuffle between both teams after Louisville’s Chrislyn Carr and BC’s T’Yana Todd

Pitching was at the root of Boston College baseball’s struggles in the 2022 season. But up until the fourth inning of the Eagles’ opening-day contest against Pepperdine, it didn’t look like much of the same could be said. With the sun beaming against a backdrop of palm trees and calm California skies, right-handed pitcher Henry Leake looked at ease in his first start of the year, tossing an array of pitches with poise.

Leake—who registered a 6.27 ERA and totaled 54 strikeouts last season—tossed three scoreless innings before earning four runs in the fourth inning and a fifth run in the fifth inning. What started initially as a lights-out performance soon transitioned into a bloodbath—an all-too-common theme for the Eagles in 2022.

And despite recording eight strikeouts in five innings, the bats of Pepperdine’s Ryan Johnson and Connor Bradshaw alone outperformed BC’s entire roster. Johnson and Bradshaw tallied seven hits while the Eagles registered only three.

Behind a lackluster offense and inconsistent relief pitching, BC (0–1) dropped its first game of the season to the Waves (1–0) by a final score of 9–0.

“Look, you’re not going to go 56–0, as much as we would like to,” BC Head Coach Mike Gambino said of what he told the team after the game. “But we played well defensively. … I didn’t like how the eighth

played out, but it came down really to a couple of pitches in the fourth and we all think Henry’s gonna be all fine and will be great for us.”

The new 20-second pitch clock rule—which was instituted this season in conjunction with Major League Baseball’s new rules— played a factor in creating the swift pace of the game. But lockdown starts by both starting pitchers simultaneously accelerated the pace of play.

Pepperdine’s Shane Telfer— who struck out 50 batters in 2022 with a 2.45 ERA—retired the Eagles quickly in the first and didn’t show signs of slowing down until the fifth inning.

Cameron Leary notched BC’s first hit of the game in the top of the second inning with a double to right field, but Daniel Baruch failed to advance Leary to second, and Peter Burns—who hit next—stranded the runner on base with a ground out.

Telfer surrendered just one more hit—a Vince Cimini chopper over Pepperdine shortstop John Peck’s head in the third—in six innings pitched.

“That’s not how we want to play but that’s not taking anything away from Telfer,” Gambino said. “He threw it well, left hander that can let it mix, he did really well.”

Leake, on the other hand, racked up strikeout after strikeout—six total through three innings—until his massive fallout in the fourth, when Greg Mehlhaff catapulted the Waves into the front seat.

Mehlhaff’s single to center field was just the beginning of a seven-hitter rally in which Pepperdine’s Devon Walczykowski,

Quintt Landis, and Charles Masino scored a combined four runners and left a frustrated look on Leake’s once-confident demeanor.

Pepperdine fired off another rally that heated up when Luke Pemberton’s single snuck through the Eagles’ infield.

“I thought, offensively, it was kind of a touch of feeling poor instead of just letting everything go,” Gambino said. “It was a couple of bad swings early … we were just a touch on our heels and that’s not how we want to play.”

Pemberton stole second base, and Johnson, who nailed a deep shot to center field, rounded him home on a 1–2 count after being fooled by the prior pitch—a Leake slider.

Leake stayed the course and remained on the mound through the end of the inning but right-hander Eric Schroeder replaced him in the sixth.

The Eagles’ relief system only further cemented Pepperdine’s offensive choke hold, however, as BC’s next four pitchers—Charlie Coon, Brian McMonagle, Bobby Chicoine, and Travis Lane—earned four combined runs and conceded five hits, although Chicoine didn’t allow a single hit.

Nonetheless, a pair of home runs from Bradshaw and Peck in the bottom of the eighth inning dug the Eagles’ grave. With a ninerun deficit, Joe Vetrano and Parker Landwehr recorded the final two outs for BC in its blowout loss.

“Curveball, curveball, slider, fastball, it was just a good mix, a lot of soft, soft, soft, but he kept us off balance and did a good job,” Gambino said of Pepperdine’s relief pitcher Brandon Llewellyn. n

Eagles Grind Out Win Against UMass

By Nick Pulice Heights Staff

After breaking out and recording its second-highest scoring game of the season on Friday night against UMass Amherst, Boston College men’s hockey found itself back in a close, low-scoring affair Saturday night against the Minutemen on the road.

Despite being down one goal after the opening period, the Eagles (12–12–6, 7–8–5 Hockey East) rallied back to score three unanswered goals en route to a victory in Amherst, defeating UMass (10–15–5, 4–13–3) by a score of 3–1.

BC couldn’t replicate its five-goal first period from Friday, as the Eagles failed to get a shot past UMass goaltender Cole Brady, who started his first game since Nov. 12. Brady denied all eight of the Eagles’ shots he faced in the period, including many grade-A chances from BC’s top tier forwards.

UMass scored the opening goal of the game at the 8:33 mark when a point shot by Kenny Connors got through traffic, but Michael Cameron redirected the shot into the back of the BC goal. Cameron’s ninth goal of the season put UMass ahead 1–0, and the Minutemen remained up by one heading into the second period.

“You’re not going to get a start like that all the time,” BC coach Greg Brown said about Saturday’s start compared to Friday’s. “We were moving as well offensively, but not getting to the inside. It looked like some good hockey, but it was not dangerous hockey.”

The Eagles struggled to generate much offense to start the second period, with the Minutemen controlling most of the period’s scoring opportunities. Marshall Warren drew a tripping penalty with 5:09 to play in the period, but BC’s power play failed to capitalize. Trevor Kuntar received a chance after picking up a loose puck on a UMass turnover near the goal, but Brady stopped him.

BC faced another man advantage in the final minute of the second pe-

riod, and this time, the Eagles made the most of their chance. Kuntar redirected a Cutter Gauthier shotpass over the shoulder of Brady and into the back of the net to tie the game at one with 21 seconds left in the second.

The Eagles didn’t stop there, as they managed to take the lead with 13:25 to go in the game on Kuntar’s second goal of the night. Kuntar carried the puck down the right wing, skated around UMass defenseman Scott Morrow, made a slick net front move, and slotted the puck past Brady to put BC up 2–1.

“Trevor plays with a lot of heart and soul,” Brown said. “He leads in the room and by example. You are always happy when you see him rewarded because he’s such a big part of our team.”

Kuntar has shined since his move up to the top line alongside Gauthier and Andre Gasseau, scoring five goals in his last six games.

“Trevor plays with a lot of heart and soul,” Brown said. “He leads in the room and by example. You are always happy when you see him rewarded because he’s such a big part of our team.”

And exactly three minutes later, the Eagles doubled their lead. The puck bounced favorably off the endboards right onto the stick of Connor Joyce, who fired a shot into the net before Brady could react.

It had appeared that Kuntar completed the hat trick on the power play with 4:57 to go, but officials ruled him offside after a UMass challenge.

“I was very pleased with the way we responded in the third when it was a tie game,” Brown said. “It was a good finish for us.”

BC netminder Mitch Benson stood tall in the third period, stopping 14 shots in the period and 24 shots throughout the entire game.

“He’s had a great presence the whole year,” Brown said of Benson. “He is an older, experienced guy. We relied on him not only for great goaltending but also, he sets the tone back there. He’s never rattled. He’s never throwing his body side to side. He’s always in control and our team feeds off that.” n

BC Drops Final Regular Season Game to Friars 3 – 0

By maTThew caPaldi Heights Staff

Before checking into Friday’s matchup against No. 15 Boston College women’s hockey at the start of the second period, No. 13 Providence goaltender Hope Walinski had never played a minute of college hockey.

One day later on Saturday afternoon at Kelley Rink, Providence head coach Matt Kelly called upon his sophomore netminder to make her first collegiate start. Backed by Walinski’s 33-save shutout, Providence (20–10–4, 15–8–4 Hockey East) downed BC (19–14–1, 16–11–0) by a score of 3–0. The Friars netted a goal in the second period, followed by a pair in the third period en route to the dominant victory.

“Overall, I’m happy with the way we played—I know that’s weird to say with a 3–0 game—but I thought we played well,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said.

The Eagles had plenty of chances to level the game at one late in the second period, but Walinski stood tall, thwarting every BC scoring opportunity. A back-breaking goal from Sara Hjalmarsson 51 seconds into the third frame put the Friars in control for good.

“Sometimes you run into a hot goalie,” Crowley said. “Like I said, I thought we played really, really well.”

In what was an evenly matched

first period, the Friars outshot BC 10–8. Both teams traded power-play opportunities, but neither could find the back of the net.

Perhaps BC’s most dangerous scoring chance came with about four minutes remaining in the period.

Hannah Bilka found an open Caroline Goffredo near the left circle, and Goffredo ripped a wrist shot that Walinski snagged for a glove save.

The Friars created their share of chances as well, highlighted by a Lindsay Bochna breakaway at the 14:16 mark. The junior was one-on-one against BC goaltender Abigail Levy but her shot missed the net.

Bochna, however, redeemed herself 2:48 into the second period.

Hjalmarsson poked the puck past BC defenseman Deirdre Mullowney into the offensive zone where Noemi Neubauerova and Bochna were all alone. Neubauerova dished the puck to Bochna who calmly slid the puck under Levy’s pad to make it a 1–0 game.

“I think we had some bad changes in our neutral zone,” Crowley said of the play leading up to the goal. “We didn’t get the puck deep and had a few bad changes there and gave them an oddman rush.”

The Eagles had plenty of opportunities to respond after the goal, including a 5-on-3 advantage at the 7:27 mark, but Walinski remained a brick wall in net. The sophomore made saves on shots from Gaby Roy and Kate Ham to keep the Friars ahead.

“I think they’re moving pucks pretty well,” Crowley said of BC’s

McGlockton, Eagles Beat Florida State

By Jack BergamiNi Assoc. Sports Editor

In a game that featured Quinten Post scoring 21 points and going five of five from behind the arc, it wasn’t the 7-footer who led Boston College men’s basketball to a victory down the stretch.

Devin McGlockton—BC’s secondary big man—willed the Eagles (13–15, 7–10 Atlantic Coast) to a 75–69 victory with 16 points, seven rebounds, and perfect 10-of-10 free throw shooting. BC earned its first win in Tallahassee since 2007 and its second-ever win against the Seminoles (8–19, 6–10) on their home court.

“I thought Devin was unbelievable,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “He really did a good job of showing great poise.”

From the 6:33 mark to the 4:58

mark of the second half, McGlockton converted two separate and-1 chances, finishing through contact on both layups to extend BC’s four-point lead to seven points on both occasions. McGlockton scored 10 of BC’s 12 points up until there was 1:32 left to play in the game, putting BC ahead 62–55, which gave the Eagles just enough of a cushion. Post, meanwhile, fouled out at the 3:31 mark.

“Devin is a winner,” Post said. “He does all the little things. He’ll run through a brick wall for you.”

The Eagles managed to hit 15 of their final 16 free throws in the last 1:32 of the game—courtesy of McGlockton, Jaeden Zackery, Mason Madsen, and Prince Aligbe—to close out the win.

In a game that showcased 69 total free throws attempted between both teams, BC shot 82 percent from the line, just above its season average of 72 percent.

“I think it really disrupted the

rhythm of the game, and kind of our flow, especially in the second half,” Post said of the constant stoppages for free throws.

Makai Ashton-Langford also fouled out in the second half, forcing Zackery and Madsen to carry the load along with McGlockton. Zackery scored all eight of his points in the second half, and Madsen’s step-back jumper at the 4:03 mark gave BC a 58–51 lead, as well as its first field goal in over three minutes.

DeMarr Langford Jr. returned to the floor for the first time since injuring his knee against Virginia on Jan. 28, scoring only three points in 20 minutes.

While the Eagles struggled to defend without fouling in the second half—Florida State went 18 of 22 from the line in the second half and were in the bonus just seven minutes into the frame—BC held the Seminoles to 30.5 percent shooting from the field, using any means necessary to protect its lead that it held all game.

“It shows our character,” Post said. “The guys that were in the game stuck with it. It was just a grind.”

With leading scorer Matthew Cleveland out with a back injury, Florida State’s Caleb Mills fought all game to keep the Seminoles within reach offensively. Mills registered 27 points and shot 17 of 21 from the foul line.

But Post kept BC’s offense flowing in the first half. Post notched 17 first-half points on perfect 5-of-5 3-point shooting, and his fifth and

final 3-pointer from the mouth of the Seminole logo at halfcourt extended BC’s lead to 36–17. It also showcased renowned Charlotte Hornets play-byplay announcer Eric Collins on the call.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for BC, as its 21 turnovers—a season high—helped erase its comfortable 38–27 halftime lead. The Seminoles had 15 total points off BC’s turnovers and 11 in the second half.

“They do a really good job of denying and you know, switching a lot of things,” Grant said. “I knew coming in that was an area that they really had a lot of strength in.”

The Seminoles doubled Post down low from the opening tip, forcing the center to step out to the arc—something he has proven he is more than comfortable doing.

“He opened the game up with his ability to play outside,” Grant said of Post. “You know, most big guys can’t do that, don’t give you that element. So I thought the way he shot the ball in the first half gave us some cushion.”

Saturday marked Post’s sixth game of scoring at least 20 or more points in a conference game this season. And with Saturday’s win, the Eagles have already matched their 2021–22 win total and surpassed their conference win total.

“We’ve got a group that has been working hard to try to move our program in the right direction,” Grant said. “Guys are playing hard, really competing. So I’m just happy for the players.” n

power-play unit. “Obviously we’d like to bury more on there, but we’re getting the scoring opportunities.”

BC continued to swarm the Providence net, but couldn’t convert on any chances. Despite a 17–8 advantage in shots on goal, the second period ended with the Eagles in a one-goal deficit.

The Friars put an end to any BC momentum when they doubled their lead 51 seconds into the final frame. Lily Martinson controlled the puck near the end boards before delivering a no-look, through-the-legs pass to Hjalmarsson, who jammed the puck through Levy’s pads for her teamleading 23rd goal of the season.

“I thought we were coming on strong there,” Crowley said. “Obviously, you don’t want to give one up in the first shift of the third period.”

BC failed to generate much offensive momentum after Hjalmarsson’s goal and failed to mount a comeback attempt. The Eagles were forced to kill a penalty with 7:24 remaining in the period and couldn’t find the Friars’ net.

“I still thought we were gonna break through there and score,” Crowley said. “[The Hjalmarsson goal] was early enough where we still had time to get scoring opportunities after that.”

Bochna tacked on an empty-net goal with just over two minutes left in regulation to make it 3–0. Walinski stopped the Eagles’ final shots in the final minutes, putting the finishing touches on her shutout. n

Devin McGlockton (left) scored

KENNETH CHEN / HEIGHTS STAFF