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Monday, February 10, 2020
Steinberg Appointed First Director of Schiller Institute Laura Steinberg will leave Syracuse to start her role at BC in May. By Scott Baker News Editor Boston College named Laura Steinberg the first director of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society on Thursday morning, according to a University release. Steinberg, who will begin her role in May, is currently serving as the interim executive director of the Syracuse Center of Excellence for Environmental and Energy Systems at Syracuse University. Steinberg is also the founding director of Syracuse’s Infrastructure Institute. “I am delighted to join Boston College as
the founding Seidner Executive Director of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society,” Steinberg said in the release. “With a new state-of-the-art building, funding for 22 new faculty members, and the enthusiastic support of the University community, the Institute offers the perfect opportunity for faculty and students across all of BC’s schools and colleges to collaborate in addressing complex global challenges.” With the hiring of Steinberg, four of the last five non-athletics senior administrators hired by BC have been women, according to a conversation with another administrator. In July, Karen Muncaster began her role as dean of the Woods College of Advancing Studies and then-interim Vice President of Student Affairs Joy Moore permanently
See Schiller, A3
OIP Releases Class of ’22 Study Abroad Decisions 72 percent of applicants were placed in their first-choice programs. By Madeleine Romance Assoc. News Editor The Office of International Programs (OIP) released its study abroad placements to students on Tuesday morning on the Agora Portal. Seventy-two percent of students received their top-choice program in both location and semester—a slight increase from last year’s rate of 70 percent—according to Nick Gozik, director of OIP. Of the 945 students who applied to study abroad, 85 percent received one of their six choices, Gozik said in an email to The Heights. All applicants who fulfilled the eligibility requirements were assigned a program. For those students not placed in their six initial choices, OIP placed them in a program of their choice during the fall semester. Nearly all students were admitted to a program they requested, if not their semester of choice. An imbalance in the number of students going abroad in the fall and spring semesters prompted the University to introduce limits on the number of students who could study abroad each semester in 2018. The year prior, 72 percent of students applying for study abroad requested the spring semester, while 28 percent requested the fall.
On account of the limits, last year, OIP required students to list three programs on their applications and rank them in order of their preference—rather than simply apply for one program, as was done in years prior. Students also had to include at least one fall-semester program among the three on their applications. Before the limits were applied, students only applied to one study abroad program at a time, reapplying if they were not accepted. In response to the feedback OIP received from last year’s process, students this year were allowed to apply to six programs. Students were also not required to list the fall as an option during the application process. “We wanted students to have the maximum ability to give us an indication of their preferences,” Gozik said in the email. “At the same time, we were honest about the need to balance our numbers and encouraged students to consider the fall semester.” In early fall 2019, all sophomores were notified of these changes, which were communicated through mandatory Study Abroad 101 sessions, online updates on the OIP website, and in advising sessions. Students must decide whether to accept their placement by Feb. 25. This year, OIP is also giving students the opportunity to be placed on a waitlist for various spring programs after Feb. 25. “We are cautioning students that the availability of spring programs is very slim, especially if they have been placed in the fall,” Gozik said. n
MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Teams Face Off in Final UGBC Debate The event exposed sharp divisions between candidates’ campaigns. By Jack Miller Heights Senior Staff and
Megan Kelly
Asst. News Editor The four teams competing for the Undergraduate Government of Boston College presidency and vice presidency met for the final debate on Sunday night. Unlike last week’s Diversity and Inclusion Debate—where candidates largely agreed on their ultimate goals—the meeting featured head-on criticism of both platforms and opponents.
In their opening statement, Christian Guma, CSOM ’21, and Kevork Atinizian, CSOM ’22, promoted their slogan, “Making the Heights Home,” arguing that the University hasn’t lived up to expectations. “This past year, BC received 5,000 overall less applicants for the Class of 2024, simply showing how even prospective students are falling by the day and BC needs to keep up,” Atinizian said. The Class of 2024 is the first group to apply since the University moved to an Early Decision policy, which requires early applicants to commit to attending BC should they be accepted. The University has said that the number of applications fell within its expected range, given the new policy.
Guma and Atinizian also reiterated their pledge to not accept the stipends offered to UGBC president and vice president, which total $7,500 each year. Along with the other executive officers, who Guma and Atinizian have said in the past will forego the stipends, the funds would total $19,500. Czar Sepe, MCAS ’21, deferred his opening statement to his running mate, Jack Bracher, MCAS ’22, who compared serving the student body to playing hockey—as both endeavors require commitment and communication between every person involved. Dennis Wieboldt, MCAS ’23, anchored his opening statement in his status as a freshman, which he said
See UGBC, A3
Black History Month Mass Celebrated Rev. Davidson, S.J. led the Mass in St. Ignatius Church Sunday night. By Nadine Akkawi Editorial Assistant Boston College Campus Ministry held a Mass at St. Ignatius Church in honor of Black History Month on Sunday night. The Mass, which was celebrated by Rev. Michael Davidson, S.J., was centered around overcoming the cycle of racism, valuing all humans equally, and commemorating black history. Davidson began and ended his homily with the lyrics of “Imagine” by John Lennon. He asked his audience to imagine a world of peace, where race was no longer a determining factor in friendships, relationships, and day-to-day interactions. Davidson’s homily included references to the gospel readings, in which Jesus urged his disciples to be the “salt and light of the earth.” He related the message of the gospel
KAITLIN DEVIR / HEIGHTS STAFF
to the struggles of black history, explaining that the words of Jesus apply to the treatment of others, regardless of race. “We are called to be brother and sister. We are called to be salt and light,” Davidson said. Davidson emphasized the primary purpose of the Mass, that in memory of the hatred and oppression black people have endured, love must be celebrated.
“Tonight we are celebrating hope, tonight we are celebrating love, tonight we are celebrating reconciliation,” said Davidson. Delving further into the symbol of salt, Davidson described his time in Zimbabwe, where he witnessed people without access to proper refrigeration use salt to preserve their meat, similar to the mechanism used
See Mass, A3
Datamatch Pairs Eagles With Valentines ‘The New England Classic’ brought the service to BC in 2019. By Kaylie Ramirez Heights Senior Staff BRADLEY SMART / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
Lacrosse Falls to UMass 15-11 in Season Opener
BC hadn’t lost a regular season game since 2017.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
FEATURES: Gale Straub
Straub highlights women in the wilderness in her new book ‘She Explores’....................A4
In today’s dating climate, there’s no shortage of companies who claim they will help you find your next date. Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge allow you to swipe through an endless list of candidates until you settle on a slightly different iteration of the same econ-major “Mike” or “Matt” you exchanged
ARTS: Liturgy Arts Group
small-talk DMs with last week. Datamatch, on the other hand, affords you no such agency. Created by the Harvard Computer Society (HCS) in 1994, Datamatch will deliver 10 potential matches to your email inbox if you give the algorithm-powered matchmaker 20 minutes of your time. After dating for a few weeks this fall, one Boston College couple realized the Datamatch algorithm predicted their relationship months in advance. The two had matched on Datamatch in February 2019, the first year the platform was available to BC students. After realizing they had a missed connection, the couple emailed Datamatch
The on-campus musical ensemble engages worshippers through song................................. A9
INDEX
to request their original survey responses and praise the HCS team for its accuracy. Unfortunately, the enthusiastic emailer is no longer with his Datamatch and declined to be interviewed for this piece. But The New England Classic, BC’s resident satirical newspaper and the organizer behind the BC branch of Datamatch, doesn’t view a relationship as the end goal of using Datamatch in the first place. “The way we presented it last year, we had no intention of running it like you’re going to meet your husband or wife,” said
See Datamatch, A3
NEWS.........................A2 OPINIONS................. A6
Vol. CI, No. 4 MAGAZINE..................A4 ARTS........................ A9 © 2020, The Heights, Inc. METRO........................ A5 SPORTS.................... A12 www.bcheights.com