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BC lacrosse faces Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament today, A10
With just months remaining of his tenure, Mayor Menino put his city before himself in the wake of tragedy, B12
The Scene spotlights eight oncampus artists featured at this year’s Arts Festival, B1
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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Vol. XCIV, No. 22
Irish PM Enda Kenny to be 2013 Commencement speaker BY ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT News Editor
The University announced today that Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will be the Commencement speaker for the Class of 2013. Kenny assumed office as Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland in March of 2011. He is a member of the Irish Fine Gael political party and established a coalition government with the Labour Party at the beginning of his term. Before his election as prime minister, Kenny served as Ireland’s Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997, and has served as a
Teachta Dala—a parliamentary representative—since 1975. Kenny was in the news in relation to BC earlier this year after he issued a public apology to the survivors of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries in February. James Smith, a professor in the English department, worked extensively in order to bring the abuses suffered by women in the workhouse system to light, and contributed heavily to the McAleese Report, which prompted Kenny’s apology on behalf of the state. “Prime Minister Kenny is an internationally respected leader with a well-known reputation for promoting human rights and
causes of social justice, two issues that resonate with the Boston College community,” said University Spokesman Jack Dunn. “It also seems fitting, during our 150th anniversary, to welcome the leader of a nation whose history is intertwined with our own. We look forward to having the Taoiseach address our students on May 20.” University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. will present an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to Kenny at the ceremony. Four other honorary degrees will be awarded at the Commencement ceremony to individuals with strong ties to the University and the Greater Boston community.
Wayne Budd, a former member of the BC Board of Trustees, former adjunct faculty member at the BC Law School, and BC ’63, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the ceremony. Budd served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1989 to 1992, and was the Associate Attorney General of the U.S. during the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Mary Lou DeLong, retired vice president for University relations and former University secretary, will be awarded an
See Commencement, A4
Jones named new VPSA
UGBC picks new cabinet members
BY ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT News Editor Boston College, which has operated without a vice president for student affairs (VPSA) since former VPSA Patrick Rombalski left in November of 2012, announced today that Barbara Jones has been hired to fill that position. Jones will officially begin work at BC on July 1 after she finishes the year at Miami University of Ohio, where she has worked as the vice president of the division of student affairs since 2008. “Barbara Jones stood out as the ideal candidate to lead Boston College’s student affairs division based on her extensive experience and nationally recognized reputation as a leader in the field,” said University Spokesman Jack Dunn. “She is very enthusiastic about joining us at Boston College, and we look forward to her arrival on campus early this summer.” Jones is not the only top-level administrator at BC with ties to Miami University. Director of Athletics Brad Bates, who joined the University last October, served as Miami University’s athletic director from 2002 to 2012. According to a press release from the Office of News and Public Affairs, Jones created an initiative to improve academic success and expand student internship opportunities while at Miami University. “Jones also helped to enhance staff development through a targeted series of professional development programs that focused on student retention, academic success, program assessment and alcohol education, and to foster a culture of assessment by introducing both learning and program outcomes and data-driven decision making,” the release read. Under Jones’ leadership, Miami University hosted its first Multicultural Student Leadership Conference last September. Jones also cochaired the Steering Committee for Retention and Graduation, which aimed to improve areas such as academic advising in order to increase the Uuniversity’s retention and graduation rates. Jones has extensive experience in student affairs. Her previous positions include chancellor for student affairs at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she worked for eight years; associate vice president for student affairs at Ball State University, and director of student activities and organizations at Minnesota State University-Mankato. From 2006 to 2007, she also served as the president of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), an association devoted to the advancement of student affairs administration, implementation, and policy. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Educational Administration and earned both her M.A. and B.A. from Indiana University.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Jones will begin work as BC’s VPSA on July 1.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Kenny, Ireland’s Taoiseach since 2011, will be this year’s Commencement speaker.
BY ANDREW SKARAS Asst. News Editor
GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Four Boston College undergraduates shared their personal experiences with GLBTQ issues at Monday’s BC Ignites on Stokes Green.
‘Ignites’ explores BC’s GLBTQ culture BY MARY ROSE FISSINGER Heights Editor
Three days before the beginning of Arts Fest, the white tent on Stokes Green was packed with students. They weren’t there to take in the visual arts showcase—no paintings would even be hung for another 36 hours—but rather to listen to four of their peers share their experiences with GLBTQ issues on campus. Monday’s BC Ignites was intended to take place in the open greenery of the Stokes Lawn, but after discovering power
issues that precluded the microphones from working properly, creator of the event Conor Sullivan, LSOE ’13, decided to move the second installment of the BC Ignites series he created at the start of this year to promote discussion on various diversity topics at BC into the nearby, then-vacant tent. While the topic and setting of Monday’s event were quite different from September’s BC Ignites, which took place in O’Neill Plaza and centered around race, the format was very similar: performances by student groups followed by a series of speeches.
The Dance Organization of Boston College (DOBC) kicked off Monday’s event, followed by an introduction by Sullivan, who explained his wish to promote conversation on controversial topics. “Embrace the dissonance,” Sullivan said. “Embrace the idea that the way forward in every situation is to listen to other viewpoints.” Next, the a cappella group the Bostonians performed, followed by Claire Geruson, LSOE ‘13, who recited two poems, one
See BC Ignites, A3
On Tuesday night, the UGBC Senate and Selection Committee met to vote on the nominations for the appointed vice-presidencies. Although nominees for the senior-level UGBC positions have been approved by the Senate in the past, this year saw the creation of a Selection Committee for the approval process. “The eight presidents and vice-presidents of UGBC met with Gus Burkett [Director of the Student Programs Office] and together we thought about what the selection committee should look like,” said Vanessa Gomez, president of the Senate and A&S ’13. “Usually it is the Senate-elect that confirms everyone. We thought that process was flawed because new senators do not have the capacity to ask a lot of those hard questions. And don’t really know everything they need to know about UGBC.” As a result of these changes, the Selection Committee was composed of the outgoing Senate and the presidents and vice presidents of ALC, GLC, and UGBC. In addition, a provision was included in the formation of the committee to exclude anyone, such as Molly McCarthy, Senate vice president and A&S ’14, who had applied for one of the vice presidencies from the deliberations and voting on that nominee. “When Matt [Alonsozana, A&S ’14,] won [the election for Executive Vice President], that decision had already been made, so we applied the same thing to Matt,” Gomez said. The slate of candidates nominated by Matt Nacier, UGBC president-elect and A&S
See UGBC Cabinet, A4
Top-paid administrators’ salaries released in report BY ANDREW SKARAS Asst. News Editor Compensation for the highest paid members of the Boston College athletic department rose during the 2011-12 season, according to the University’s Fiscal Year IRS 990, which was released this week. The document accounts for the tax year beginning June 1, 2011, and ending May 31, 2012, and also includes information about the University’s top paid administrators. Head basketball coach Steve Donahue saw a significant increase in compensation, with his total pay, including other benefits and forms of compensation, increasing 36 percent to $1,001,551, from $735,184 the year before. Donahue received a base compensation of $927,541, up from his $687,010 base compensation in 2010-11, his first year with the University. Former head basketball coach Al Skinner received $564,201 of “other reportable compensation” in 2011-12, according to the document.
Skinner’s contract was terminated early when Donahue was hired. Former head football coach Frank Spaziani received a base compensation of $1,030,841 and a total compensation of $1,117,873, according to the document. That total is 2 percent more than Spaziani was compensated during 201011, when he made $1,094,976, according to that year’s 990. Spaziani was fired in late November. Former Director of Athletics Gene DeFilippo earned a base compensation of $529,574 and a total compensation of $631,918. In 2010-11, the 990 reports that DeFilippo earned a total compensation of $591,160. DeFilippo retired last September. Head men’s hockey coach Jerry York’s compensation was not reported in 201011, but the document states that he received a base compensation of $454,075 in 2011-12 and a total compensation of $528,299.
See IRS 990, A4
GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR
BC Dining’s On the Fly mini marts were introduced on Boston College’s campus last fall.
On the Fly closes out first year BY CONNOR FARLEY Heights Editor “As a team of over 200 full-time employees and several hundred more part-time employees,” the Boston College Dining Services (BCDS) website states, “we take our motto of ever to excel in F.A.C.T. (food, attitude, customer service, teamwork) to heart in everything that we prepare for you.” With a multitude of recent developments to campus dining options preceding the 2012-13 academic year, BC Dining continually makes strides toward meeting student satisfaction and financial stability with regards
to nutrition, individual needs, and a leading level of quality services. With change, though, comes hesitation—and often the circulation of misinformation on dining options. Upon BCDS’s unveiling a series of new “On the Fly” mini marts across campus— along with a set of other facelifts to dining locations—students began questioning the general focus of BCDS and its ability to merge student demands with a fiscally sensible budget. Financial matters pertaining to On the Fly mini marts and changes in accepted payment plans at Hillside Cafe were recently addressed by Helen Wechsler, director of BCDS as she
See Mini Marts, A4
TopTHREE
THE HEIGHTS
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
things to do on campus this week
1 2 3 Arts Fest
BCTalks
Today Time: 6:00 p.m. Location: Heights Room
Thursday to Saturday Location: Across Campus
The Boston College Arts Council will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Arts Festival simultaneously with the University’s sesquicentennial. Arts Fest will feature student performances and exhibition venues on the Stokes Lawn, in the Stokes Art Tent, and on O’Neill Plaza.
Marathon Fashion Show
In the spirit of TEDTalks, BCTalks presents a platform for undergraduate students to share their research and academic interests to their peers. BCTalks will feature eight students and topics will range from alternative approaches to education to an introduction to abstract math.
Today Time: 7:00 p.m. Location: The Rat
Her Campus BC, Strong Women Strong Girls at BC, and Rent the Runway Fashion Show will host a Spring fashion show. All proceeds from ticket sales will support The One Fund, a charity created to benefit those most affected by the Boston Marathon.
McGowan shares advice in ‘Last Lecture’ The Americans for Informed Democracy presented the latest installment of its “Last Lecture” series on Tuesday with Rev. Richard McGowan, S.J., an adjunct associate professor of the Carroll School of Management. The talk, based on terminally ill Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture” speech and his subsequent New York Times best-selling work of the same title, poses the question, “What would you like to share with the world if you knew it was your last chance?” McGowan addressed the packed hall about several of the lessons he has learned over his varied career, namely, the importance of risk. “Both the Romans and the Greeks never had a word for risk,” he said. “The Venetians were the first to ever define it. They put two Italian words together, one meaning danger and the other meaning adventure. In our society, we put so much emphasis on the danger of risk, rather than the adventure.” His unexpected career turns have familiarized McGowan with the adventures of risk. The basis of his studies, for instance, resulted from a mistake: as a Georgetown statistics professor preparing to write his dissertation, he found himself lost on Washington St. and, entering a building to borrow a telephone, discovered a store with decades’ worth of records on national tobacco sales.
GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS STAFF
McGowan stressed the importance of risk in the last installment of “Last Lecture” series. Calling his professor, McGowan wondered what work could be done with this data, and changed his dissertation topic. “If someone had told me I was going to write a dissertation on the cigarette industry, and then write eight books on the cigarette, alcohol, and lottery industry, I would never have believed you,” he said. “Things will turn out differently from how you expect them to.” McGowan also used his work in El Salvador as an example. He currently directs a Spring Break trip to El Salvador every year, and he remembered being convinced to undertake the trip for the first time: “I got home that night and said, ‘what did just I do?’” McGowan said.
Once he ventured on the trip, though, he recognized that it was exactly what he had been looking for. “I realized I was getting bored,” McGowan said. “I had just finished my fourth book, I was writing articles, I was teaching.” Experiences such as a magnitude 6.5 earthquake while atop a volcano shook him from his lethargy: “I’ll grant you, when I got off that plane in El Salvador, I was not bored.” “Every time I’ve gone down there, I’ve learned a lot about myself,” he said. “It’s the challenge of getting out of your own comfortable zone. Being a Jesuit at a great school like this, it’s easy to get comfortable. I would say, take the
POLICE BLOTTER Sunday, April 21
12:50 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a BC student needing medical assistance in Walsh Hall. The student was later transported to a medical facility.
12:09 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a BC student needing medical assistance in Campanella Way. The student was later transported to a medical facility.
2:02 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an underage intoxicated BC student in the Mods. The student was later transported to a medical facility.
1:29 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious circumstance in Roncalli Hall.
2:30 a.m. - A report was filed regarding vandalism in Ignacio Hall. 2:30 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an activated fire alarm in Ignacio Hall. 4:21 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a BC student needing medical assistance in the Plex. The student was later transported by cruiser to a medical facility.
2:34 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a protective custody in Upper Dorms Roadways.
BY DEVON SANFORD Assoc. News Editor Thousands paid their respects to slain Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, Sean Collier, on Wednesday afternoon. Police officers from across the country, including officers from BCPD, turned out for the somber public memorial service held at MIT. Collier, 27, was allegedly shot and killed by the Boston Marathon terror bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev, as he sat in his police cruiser on Apr. 18. Collier’s brother, Rob Rogers, remembered his brother’s compassionate heart that drove him to help others, his love for country music, and his natural inclination to be a law man. “He was born to be a police officer and he lived his dreams,” Rogers said. “If there is anything that we can learn from this, it is the morals
9:26 p.m. - A report was filed regarding assistance provided to a police agency in an off-campus location.
Monday, April 23 2:44 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a BC student needing medical assistance in Cushing Hall Clinic. The student was later transported to a medical facility by ambulance.
Monday, April 22
4:46 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a larceny from a non-residence building in McElroy Commons.
11:52 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a minor motor vehical crash in Newton Lots. There were no reported injuries.
10:38 p.m. - A report was filed regarding assistance provided to another police department in an offcampus location.
1:50 p.m. - A report was filed regarding lost property in an off-campus location.
—Source: The Boston College Police Department
College Corner NEWS FROM UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY and beliefs that Sean exemplified during his time in service: respect, support, and caring. He has taught me that a smile to a stranger, a simple hello, an outreached hand, can ultimately change how people treat each other.” L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT, said at the memorial service that Collier had gotten along so well with the school’s student body that he had gone on hiking trips and on swing dance outings with campus groups, according to The New York Times. “In just 15 months, he had built a life with us,” Reif said. “He touched people across our community with his deep kindness.” Vice President Joe R. Biden, whose first wife and young daughter died in a car accident in 1972, also spoke at the ceremony. He told Collier’s parents that he knew from experience how the family was suffering. “We have suffered,” Biden said. “We are grieving. But we are not bending.”
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risk. Make yourself uncomfortable. If you’re never uncomfortable, you’re never going to go anywhere.” A risk he emphasized in particular is that of love. Using the example of a fellow professor, who once filled a bucket with golf balls, and then added pebbles and sand, McGowan explained, “The bucket stands for your life. The golf balls are the people you really love in your life. And the sand and the pebbles are the other things that sometimes get in the way of that.” More personally, he recalled a once-promising student he met years later on the street in Chicago. “He went into investment banking and became head of one of the big firms there,” McGowan said. “Then, unfortunately, he started doing cocaine. He got a divorce. There he was—he couldn’t see his kids anymore. He’d lost everything. I’ll never forget him saying, ‘I used to not have enough time for myself. Now I have too much time and no one.’ “Especially for the seniors here, don’t worry about taking a risk with your friends,” McGowan said. “Don’t ever worry about who owes whom. Your college friends are your best friends. The only thing you should worry about is you don’t keep in contact with them. You’re never going to regret calling them. “Please take the risk to love,” he said. “You will have that chance. You will have that opportunity. Please do it.”
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Saturday, April 20
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VOICES FROM THE DUSTBOWL “If you could only eat at one restaurant for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?” “A small, local diner.” —Matt Flowers, CSOM ’16
“Qdoba, because of the queso sauce.” —Chris Klotsche, CSOM ’16
“Somewhere with really gigantic burgers.” —Kathryn Weston, A&S ’16
Applebee’s. There is so much diversity.” —Ejona Bakalli, A&S ’16
The Heights
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A3
Golf tournament to debut, benefits ALS
Discarding dining dollars
By Henry Hilliard Heights Editor
Matt Palazzolo My roommates and I refer to Boston College dining bucks as Monopoly money. Instead of starting with $1,500 to buy properties and railroads, students receive $2,200 to purchase food, drinks and (for me) an unhealthy amount of F’Real milkshakes. For the first few months of freshman year I assumed that all colleges used this payment plan. However, after visiting my high school friends at other secular, condom-friendly universities, I learned this was not the case. UMass Amherst has a completely different price structure. Instead of purchasing virtual dining bucks, UMass students instead pay for swipes. A person simply swipes his or her college ID at the entrance to any dining hall. It doesn’t matter whether they get a single cookie, or eat a dinner larger than John Belushi’s in Animal House, the price is still the same. Northeastern, a similarly large and godless university, utilizes the same meal plan. Of all the colleges I have visited over the past four years, none organize their dining plans like BC. In defense of BC dining, their meal plan strategy has several advantages. A student at UMass could conceivably bring their homework to the dining hall during breakfast and camp there the entire day. While a BC student has to buy each individual item, the aforementioned UMass student could get three or more meals for the price of one. Additionally, anyone at UMass who only wants a small snack at the dining hall is forced to waste an entire swipe just to enter the building. On the other hand, I could buy a single bag of chips at Lower and only pay a few dining bucks, rather than use a whole swipe. Unfortunately, the disadvantages of BC Dining’s pricing structure far outweigh its benefits. Non-seniors living on campus are forced to pay $2,200 for a meal plan each semester. For some students, this money is gone well before finals. In my freshman year, though, I had the exact opposite problem—in the middle of May I still had over $1,000 left. I hastily adapted to this undesirable wealth by inviting friends, floor mates, and random people on Newton campus to meals so I could pay for them. If I studied at Northeastern or UMass Amherst, I could have bought a cheaper plan with fewer swipes. Why should I be forced to buy $2,200 worth of dining bucks that I clearly will not spend by June? BC Dining’s pricing structure also resembles a casino’s bankroll system. Rather than bet with actual cash, gamblers instead purchase multicolored chips that are only usable in table games like blackjack and craps. The rationale behind this system is simple. It has been statistically proven that players gamble more recklessly with these chips than actual cash, because it is harder to track losses with abstract, colorful chips than with dollar bills. Similarly, I always see people at Lower asking people to pay for their dinner, since they ran out of dining bucks without knowing. Unintentionally or not, BC Dining makes a profit by exploiting the same psychological tendencies that casinos use to prey on gambling addicts. Despite their pricing structure, I hold no ill will toward BC Dining. Everyone I talked to on Friday glowingly praised its work during the stressful lockdown. Moreover, I understand the justification that BC Dining’s pricing system helps combat inflationary food products by making students buy individual meals. However, I still think BC Dining should adopt a swipe system. It is fairer and cheaper overall for the student body. If other universities can make a profit using the swipe system, than BC should have no problem eliminating Monopoly money.
Matt Palazzolo is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at news@bcheights.com.
graham beck / Heights editor
Speakers addressed GLBTQ issues from different vantage points and brought diverse backgrounds to disscussion.
‘Ignites’ brings different views BC Ignites, from A1 about a breakup with a girlfriend and the other a love poem. As the applause died down, Sullivan invited the first speaker of the night, Benjamin Martin, A&S ’13, to the podium. “I am here as a Catholic student,” Martin began. “What that means I hope will emerge in the course of this talk.” He explained that the Catholic Church teaches, first and foremost, to love thy neighbor, and that there is inherent dignity in all individuals. Therefore, he does not believe that there is a conflict between identifying as Catholic and caring for people who identify as GLBTQ. He acknowledged, however, that many people disagree with him. Martin spoke of the Church’s need to clarify its position on sexuality and his belief that the position will not change, but better articulation will allow for more fruitful conversation, which will in turn be the driving force behind an improvement in the relationship between the Catholic Church and the GLBTQ community. He urged dialogue as the key to progress. “I hop e and exp e ct that , through conversations like this one tonight, the LGBTQ community will one day discover a great ally in the Catholic Church and, in turn, the Church will become ever more the Church it is called to be,” he said. Erin Sutton, A&S ’16, spoke
next, chronicling her relationships with two people close to her who identify as gay: her brother and her good friend at BC. She described the latter’s struggles to find a home in the hetero-normative BC community and her own struggle to reconcile her faith with the pain she had seen her friend experience. She recounted her brother’s response when she told him that she was getting confirmed: “Why bother getting confirmed in the Church if I can never get married there?” Like Martin, she stressed that consistent, informed dialogue was the best way to transform BC into a place where members of the GLBTQ community could truly feel at home. Next, Scott Chamberlain, A&S ’15, shared his experience of being gay on BC’s campus, highlighting the stereotypes and misconceptions with which he has been confronted. He stated that he believes the primary source of gay students’ discomfort at BC to be not homophobia but rather an ignorance and unwillingness to engage in conversation. “My sex is not inferior to straight sex, and my love is not inferior to straight love. It is not dirty or lesser, and it is not meant to be a punch line,” he said. He believes that for more individuals to feel comfortable coming out at BC, the students need to foster a student body that openly and frequently acknowledges and engages with the GLBTQ com-
munity at the University. The final speaker was David Riemer, president of Allies and A&S ’14, who sought to communicate that gay individuals are every bit as human as anybody else—an utterly normal group of people not defined by their sexuality. He talked about how although he had been extremely worried about attending a Catholic university, he has tried to use his time at BC increase discussion on the topic. “No matter what stage—national or personal—at its core, the gay movement is just a battle to prove our personhood in the face of persecution,” he said. “And so it is with that mission that I implore everyone … to remember that we are all more than the sum of our parts, and that we are all just people looking for happiness.” The day after the event, Josh Tingley, and president of the GLBTQ Leadership Council and A&S ’13, hosted a follow-up discussion in a classroom in Stokes. Despite the wide popularity of Monday’s event, however, fewer than 10 people came to the discussion. Although Sullivan expressed disappointment at the poor attendance, he is determined to meet with the newly appointed UGBC Vice President of Special Initiatives before the end of the year to ensure that BC Ignites does not end when he graduates. n The full speeches can be accessed at bcheights.com.
The inaugural ALS Charity golf tournament will be held this Saturday at the Newton Commonwealth Golf Course. The event, which is open to all Boston College students, is being organized through BC2Boston in collaboration with the athletic department, with all proceeds benefiting the ALS Foundation for two members of the athletic department who are currently battling Lou Gehrig’s disease. Participants register to play in the tournament in groups of three, and will be joined by a BC athlete to complete the foursome. The cost is $150 per team and includes a round of golf beginning at 11 a.m., raffle tickets, and a reception for all participants to be held at Cityside at 4 p.m. Director of Athletics Brad Bates will host the reception. Students can register to play or buy raffle tickets through Friday, Apr. 26 at the UGBC offices. The event was originally conceived as simply providing a golf subsidy for students through BC2Boston’s programming. As the project progressed, however, event organizers Kendall Stemper, A&S ’15, John Delsignore, CSOM ’15, and Sean McBride, A&S ’15, wanted to enlarge the event’s scope by potentially adding a charitable component. “We wanted to do something through UGBC that benefited the community and bringing in a charitable element is a way we can illustrate that commitment to the community,” said Tim Koch, overseer of the event for BC2Boston and A&S ’14. Stemper, Delsignore, and McBride found the tournament’s charitable avenue through discussions with the athletic department. They found that two athletic department officials were simultaneously battling Lou Gehrig’s disease, and concluded that all proceeds for the golf tournament should benefit ALS research. “We were looking to add a charity component to this idea of a golf tournament and once we got in touch with the athletic department we quickly came up with the idea of it benefiting the ALS Foundation,” Stemper said. The group began brainstorming last October and after settling on Newton Commonwealth Golf Course began community outreach
in November to seek sponsors. Over 50 businesses, mainly clothing companies and restaurants, were contacted. The athletic department has also provided additional financial support and raffle items. BC2Boston has set $3,000 as the fundraising goal for the event to be raised primarily through participation fees and the raffle. Much of the donations will be featured in a raffle on Saturday afternoon. Items such as Red Sox tickets, Vineyard Vines gear, restaurant gift cards, a hockey stick signed by the men’s hockey team, and field passes to the Florida State football game next fall will be raffled off during the reception at Cityside. Raffle tickets are $5 and can be purchased through Friday in the UGBC office. Participants receive six lottery tickets with their $150 ticket, but students do not have to participate in the golf tournament to buy raffle tickets. Student-athletes were solicited by the organizers early in the spring semester to participate in the tournament. The group met with Bates, who helped secure participation, and has received several donations from athletic department staffers. “Brad Bates, Jamie DiLoretto, and the entire athletic department team have been incredibly helpful throughout the organizational process and in choosing this charity,” Stemper said. As this Saturday’s event approaches, BC2Boston is already exploring ways to expand the tournament to future years. “With events that you do for the first time it is very much trial and error, but this is absolutely something BC2Boston wants to continue to pursue in the future,” Koch said. The organizers have cited increased marketing efforts and continued involvement with the athletic department as two specific mechanisms to improve the event for future years. “We are hoping in future years to develop the BC celeb idea by getting bigger names like (men’s hockey head coach) Jerry York and (men’s basketball head coach) Steve Donahue to complete the participants’ foursome. We also definitely want to increase campus awareness by developing marketing more and reaching a bigger audience through our raffle,” Stemper said. n
Professors reflect on aftermath of Boston bombings By Julie Orenstein Heights Editor In the 10 days since the bombings at the Boston Marathon, our city has had time to think, question, and reflect on what transpired in an effort to “make sense of a senseless act,” according to history professor Julian Bourg. Wednesday night, B ourg , along with professors Benjamin Braude and Peter Krause, led a discussion on the bombings, their aftermath, and the definition of terrorism in general. Following a moment of silence in honor of the victims to begin the evening, Bourg opened his discussion by retracing the events that occurred since last Monday, a day full of innocent and joyful celebration that was quickly replaced by uncertainty, rumors, and fear. Bourg suggested that we might never know why the attack happened, and that it may not even matter. The motive behind the act
lies with the perpetrators, but “for the rest of us, the meaning of the event comes from how we react and respond.” An important theme Bourg pointed to in the wake of the bombings is how the events and the corresponding loss of innocence will change our use of public spaces as places for community gathering in ways 9/11 did not. He closed by praising the Boston College students who proposed the “Last 5” walk in the context of his final point on public spaces. “They’re our streets, it’s our marathon, and this is our city,” Bourg said. Braude followed with a talk that included a “plea against the vocabulary of terror and terrorism.” These words, he argued, are emotionally charged and prejudge the nature of violent acts. Although he said defining terrorism is difficult, Braude noted the simple prevailing notion that “violence against me is terrorism. Violence against you is legitimate
self-defense.” He went on to speculate on reasons behind the attack, which included elements within family and psychological, regional and ethnic, and global contexts. Krause entered the discussion by pointing to the five elements in the social science view of terrorism, including the use or threat of violence, a non-state perpetrator, a non-combatant target, the intent to inspire fear, and a political motive. He also discussed the unique challenged posed by “lone wolf ” individuals who plot violence independent of organizations and the levels of effectiveness with regard to terrorist acts. Actually exploding a bomb as intended is one thing we know the Tsarnaev brothers seem to have succeeded in, Krause said, however it is still unclear whether they were effective from an organizational standpoint in gaining support for their cause or strategically by precipitating change in how we live our lives.
When the focus of the discussion shifted to the audience, many questions were raised on the media coverage of the attacks, anti-Islamic sentiment, and the overwhelming sense of national identity that became apparent in the wake of the bombings. “The media is a drug like speed is a drug,” Bourg said, reflecting our obsession with following the news coverage of the ongoing events. Krause warned that we must be discerning in our world in which social media is a large resource that commits dangerous abuses as well, such as when information is supported by zero confirmed sources. The “Islamophobia” that has developed within many American youths, growing up in the shadow of 9/11, is a “global conspiracy” according to Bourg, who argued that 9/11 gave us a new enemy in Muslims. As theology professor Stephen Pope suggested from the audience, engaging in curious dialogue with those of other reli-
gions and national origins could be key to eliminating a fear of the unknown. In response to comments on the overwhelming expressions of national pride associated with suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s capture—in light of the fact that Tsarnaev is an American citizen—Bourg said that he is troubled because of the clear difference between menacing nationalism and patriotism, and that it is “easier to hate your enemy than love the Constitution.” Krause added that he prefers to think about patriotism over nationalism and the positive things about our nation in addition to reflecting on the mistakes we’ve made. “I would chant U-S-A, U-S-A if we take this guy that I have almost no respect for and we give him a trial and he’s found guilty,” he said. “To me, that’s us rising above anything that this guy has ever done … a lot of societies wouldn’t give him that kind of respect. That’s something I see as good about our country.” n
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
New vice presidents and senators for UGBC chosen UGBC Cabinet, from A1 ’14, and Alonsozana consisted of people both from within UGBC and outside of it. Working with Natali Soto, vice president of diversity and inclusion and CSOM ’14, who was nominated and confirmed last week in order to assist in the selection process, Nacier and Alonsozana interviewed the candidates before coming up with their final selection to give to the committee. After giving their nominations to the committee, they also gave the backgrounds of the nominees. For co-directors of the new leadership program, the UGBC Leadership Academy (ULA), they nominated Matthew Quinn, CSOM ’14, and Jenna Persico, A&S ’14. Quinn’s background includes participating in UGBC’s old leadership program, the Mentoring Leadership Program (MLP), as a freshman, and serving as a coordinator his sophomore year. In addition, he currently serves as a Resident Assistant for Vanderslice Hall and works with Charity Water. Persico worked in UGBC, primarily in ULA. For Vice President of Programming, Denise Pyfrom, A&S ’14, was nominated. Her experience came from running the programming division of ALC, which included the ALC Boat Cruise, the ALC Ball, and the ALC Showdown. Nacier cited her work in programming as an example of how they wanted UGBC programming to look going forward, also mentioning her success in reducing alcohol transports at events. For Vice President of Student Initiatives, Nacier and Alonsozana nominated Emily Kaiser, CSOM ’14. Kaiser works as an academic advisor within CSOM, is in her second year as an RA, and has been an advocate for women’s issues. Nacier mentioned her familiarity with women’s issues as very important in being suited to deal with the issue of female self-esteem on campus. For Vice President of Financial Affairs, Nacier and Alonsozana nominated Thomas Steichen, CSOM ’14. For Vice President of Student Organizations, Nacier and Alonsozana nominated Ricky Knapp, A&S ’14. Knapp has served on the executive boards of several student organizations and has experience working with SPO. For Press Secretary, Nacier and Alonsozana nominated Shruthi Balasuryan, CSOM ’14. After Nacier and Alonsozana introduced the candidates, Gomez opened the floor up to questions from the committee members present, with 10 minutes devoted to each individual, beginning with Quinn. Quinn was questioned on his experience in mentoring and working with freshmen, how he would incorporate the mission statements, and his experiences as an RA. Kaiser was asked about her experience working with women’s issues, her vision for the department, and what specifically she wanted to do next year to promote a
better culture for women on campus. She was also questioned on her relationship with administrators and what her policy experience was. Turning to Pyfrom, the Selection Committee asked her about the events that she has worked on, how she would shift form putting on a few, big events to organizing many events, and what steps she took to reduce the presence of alcohol at the events. There were no questions for Balasuryan, so the committee moved on to Knapp. Nacier and Alonsozana were questioned on why the first email that was sent to the committee had nominated Steichen for the position and Alonsozana explained that there had been some miscommunication and that they were primarily concerned with having people to fill every position, as there had not been applicants for every position. After the questioning session ended, the committee went into executive session and Nacier and Alonsozana were required to leave the room. Before his departure, Alonsozana questioned the legitimacy of his removal, given his current position as a senator, but did leave the room. “I think we need to ensure greater transparency in the process,” said Alonsozana, while he was waiting in the hall. “I think the fact that we won’t know what the process was like, what the deliberation was, what concerns the Senate had in regard to these candidates, while we were there to prevent us from advocating for people whom you saw were the most diverse slate of executives in the history of Boston College. This was a new development, which was done without our knowledge or really our even implicit consent. I had no idea what the rules were moving into this process.” The final results of the process were that all of the vice presidents nominated were confirmed. For the co-directorship of ULA, Persico was confirmed, while Quinn was not. The committee then moved on to the nominations to fill the Student Assembly seats for which no one ran. All of the students nominated were confirmed, except the nominee for the periodicals cohort, who was determined ineligible. For the Class of 2015, Stephanie Ng, CSOM ’15, was approved. For the Class of 2014, Grace Lee and Joseph Manning, A&S ’14, were approved. For the A&S cohort, John Wang, A&S ’14, and Nanci Fiore-Chettiar, A&S ’15, were approved. For the LSOE cohort, Molly Neul ’16, was approved. For the Campus Ministry cohort, Isaac Akers, A&S ’16, and Steven Jefferson, A&S ’14, was approved. For the Club Sports cohort, Ryan Polischuk, A&S ’15, and Amanda Loewy, A&S ’15, were approved. For the Academic/Pre-professional cohort, Narintohn Luangrath, A&S ’14, was approved. For the service cohort, Octavio Brindis, LSOE ‘14, was approved. Due to the lack of nominations, no one was nominated for the honors societies cohort. n
Burns applies expertise to modern foreign policy By Parisa Oviedo Heights Editor
Introduced as “BC’s man in the State Department and in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government at Harvard,” Nick Burns, BC ’78, Hon ’02, has an extensive list of credentials. Primarily known as a United States ambassador and as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2008, Burns is also a proud Boston College alumnus. Last Wednesday evening, Burns spoke to an audience of students, faculty, and alumni in an a network event hosted by the BC Undergraduate Hellenic Society. Burns focused his talk on three topics before opening the floor to questions and welcoming conversation with the audience. Although Burns noted that most of the topics were too complex to condense into a one-hour period of time, he shared his reflections on the recent tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings, Greece and its financial crisis, and the challenges that the U.S. Congress faces today. Burns believed it important to talk about last week’s tragedies in Boston first and formost. “What an incredible tragedy,” he said. “It was the first terrorist attack in the history of Boston.” Burns talked about his own experience hearing the sirens and living in close proximity as a resident of Cambridge, and then discussed the concept of “heroism.” While many focus on the actual happenings of the event, Burns thought it significant to reflect on the aftermath. “Our government worked, and our leaders worked effectively.” He noted the unison within the Boston, Cambridge, and Watertown police departments, the FBI, and U.S. citizens. The take-away message, Burns said, is that sometimes “people think that our leaders fail us, but last week’s events demonstrated otherwise.” Democracy and power are difficult to balance, he said, but there is no need to choose between the two: the government demonstrated in last
week’s events reflect its ability to preserve democratic values. Given that the event was hosted by the Hellenic Society, Burns talked next of Greece and its fiscal crisis. With a “50 percent youth unempoyment rate, all the hope from the 1970s is being reversed.” People are leaving the country, and the economy is so bad that it “felt for a long time that Greece might be kicked out of the EU.” As a former ambassador living and serving in Greece, Burns saw the loss of self-confidence in Greece’s people firsthand. “Economic self-confidence is so important for a country’s success,” Burns said. Burns has hopes, however, that Greece can recover from its damaged fiscal system. A solution can be achieved through a developed private sector, people paying their taxes, and the shrinkage of the role of government in Greece. As his expertise is in international affairs, Burns finished his talk by discussing the U.S foreign policy under the Bush and Obama administrations. Given his 27 years of service in the U.S. government, Burns shared what he thought were the factors that made our current society the “most fast and complex environment in the history of the American people.” These factors include the global recession and our responsibility to help other countries, the two wars that President Barack Obama inherited, Iran and North Korea in terms of nuclear weapons, the Euro recession, and the Arab Spring turned into Arab Winter. “But there is still some hope,” Burns said. American hope is embodied in many current events, he said, from the technological and biological revolution to a capitalist India and China, allowing for “the greatest number of people lifted from poverty.” Noting that it was the 19th and 20th centuries that witnessed the most horrific wars, Burns emphasized how hopeful our own future looks, calling our time one of great power and peace. “Lincoln said we were the last great hope of man kind,” Burns said. “I think we still are.” n
BCDS looks at mini marts Mini Marts, from A1
photos courtesy of the office of news and public affairs
The four individuals who will receive honorary degrees along with Kenny are, clockwise from top left, Cornelia Kelly; Rev. James A. Woods, S.J.; Mary Lou DeLong; and Wayne Budd.
Kenny, four others will receive honorary BC degrees in May Commencement, from A1 honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree. While at BC, DeLong served in a number of roles, including chairing the Sesquicentennial Steering Committee, overseeing the “Ever to Excel” fundraising campaign— which concluded in 2003 after raising $441 million—and acting as senior liaison to the Council for Women of Boston College. Cornelia Kelley, headmaster emerita of Boston Latin School, the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States, will also receive an honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree at the ceremony. Kelley, who was Boston Latin’s first female headmaster, is an alumna of Newton College
of the Sacred Heart and currently serves on both the Commission on American and Independent Schools and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Rev. James Woods, S.J., the founding dean and namesake of the Woods College of Advancing Studies (WCAS), will also receive an honorary Doctor of Human Letters at the Commencement ceremony. Woods, who served as dean of WCAS for 44 years before stepping down last year, is a native of Dorchester and an alumnus of Boston College High School, BC, Weston College, and Boston University. The Commencement ceremony will be held in Alumni Stadium at 10 a.m. on May 20. n
Salaries of admins released IRS 990, from A1 Form 990 also shows an increase in the salaries of the top paid administrators. University Provost and Dean of Faculties, Cutberto Garza, received a base compensation of $447,468 and a total compensation of $515,911. This total is a 2.2 percent increase from his 2010-11 compensation of $504,591. Patrick Keating, executive vice president, earned a base compensation of $417,570 and a total compensation of $491,041. This total is a 4.5 percent increase from his 2010-11 compensation of $469,813. Peter McKenzie, financial vice president and treasurer, was paid a base compensation of $416,982 and a total compensation of $489,063. This total is 2.4 percent higher than his 2010-11 total compensation of $477,519. The only faculty member to make the list was Hassan Tehranian, Griffith family millennium chair, chairman of the Finance Department, and executive director of the center for asset management, who received a base compensation of $409,494 and a total compensation of $460,184. His compensation was not reported for the 2010-11 fiscal year. In addition to reporting their compensation, the Form 990 also shows other benefits received by administrators at the University. Schedule L, which lists “Transactions with Interested Persons,”
shows mortgages and other loans from the University to administrators. Garza received an $880,000 mortgage, James Husson, senior vice president for university advancement, received a $500,000 mortgage, Donahue received a $600,000 mortgage, and Skinner received a $660,000 mortgage. All of these mortgages have the entire original principal amount listed as the balance due. The University also paid $4,604,221 in compensation and benefits to the BC Jesuit community for instructional, institutional, and administrative services by administrators and faculty such as, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., University Chancellor Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J., Rev. William B. Neenan, S.J., Vice President and Special Assistant to the President, and Rev. Jack Butler, S.J., Vice President of Mission and Ministry. In addition to the compensation figures, Form 990 also lists the total assets, liabilities, and revenue. The total revenue for the 2011-12 fiscal year was $888,689,401, an increase from 2010-11 revenue of $870,306,090. The total assets were $3,394,745,931 at the end of the fiscal year, a decrease from the assets at the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year of $3,487,314,630. The liabilities at the end of the fiscal year were $995,896,310, a decrease from the liabilities at the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year of $1,012,010,967. n Heights Editor Austin Tedesco contributed to this report.
revealed how these implementations have seen success, and detailed the efforts BCDS exerts to satisfy its customers. “Well, they’ve helped because they’ve really allowed us to expand our offerings to students,” Wechsler said about the impact of the newly installed mini marts on campus. “They’ve created a new revenue stream for us, and our feedback has been generally very positive among students.” Wechsler said On the Fly has generated new foot traffic and has meshed well with the interests of both students and BCDS: “We always love to have more students—to have more traffic in those mini marts. They can definitely take more traffic … Beyond that, they performed well, and they have a low impact on [BCDS] in terms of cost … they’re not a financial strain on us.” The mini marts, Wechsler said, have also resonated well with students, and have provided a means to respond to student demands for variety. “The majority of feedback we receive from students is that they like [the mini marts], and when they are requesting things it’s mostly about product change,” she said. “So we really try to react and get things in that students were looking for that perhaps we didn’t carry right away.” BCDS’ response to student interests, however, did not end with supplemental convenience store-like foods. Confusion surrounding the recent decision to take Hillside Cafe off the mandatory meal plan prompted disapproval and tension among some of its customers, but the alteration of payment acceptance was an exercise in “quality control,” Wechsler said. “There was a huge outcry initially because students were somehow misinformed that they could only use cash or Eagle Bucks there,” she said. “When students finally realized—when we kept communicating that they could use Dining Bucks, Flex Plans, Eagle Bucks, that everything was accepted there, even a portion of the residential dining plan, that even first-year students could use their $175 there if they chose to—people sort of went ‘Oh.’ Change is always hard for students … But I think the outcome was exactly what we hoped it would be.” Hillside Cafe customer counts dropped from 4,000 per day to about 3,000 per day, which allowed BCDS to improve its attention to service and safety. “[The shift] was a way for [BCDS] to control the number of people who could go to Hillside,” she said. “Hillside had just grown beyond its capacity and nobody was well-served.” When asked if BCDS earned less revenue as a result of Hillside Cafe’s removal from the mandatory meal plan, Wechsler said that the ordeal did not decrease Dining Services’ income: “That revenue shifts—students shifted and they just spread out to different locations, so each of our locations on campus that are open got a little more business from those 1,000 students who didn’t go to Hillside,” she said. “So it was a neutral impact on [BCDS] financially.” One location that revenue might have shifted to is the relocated Chocolate Bar, which has also been met with satisfaction from students. “It’s been very nice,” Wechsler said. “We’ve gotten exceptionally good feedback from students.” Despite the occasional uncertainty and resistance students hold toward changes in dining, BCDS maintains a consistent financial operation and puts customer wellbeing at the forefront of its focus, Wechsler said. “Financially, we’re very attuned to our need to meet a break-even budget, and that’s what we strive for,” she said. “Additionally, customer satisfaction is really something we pay a lot of attention to through our interaction with students on a weekly basis from various groups … we really try to stay in touch and adjust as necessary to student demands and needs. We’re always trying to stay on trend—we’re always trying to make sure our customers are well-served.” n
Profs consider payment for student athletes By Austin Tedesco Heights Editor
When it comes to paying college athletes, Warren Zola, assistant dean in CSOM, says that the wrong question is being asked. The question is not about whether or not the payment should happen, but instead who is going to decide what that payment is. “In my opinion, change is coming to college athletics,” Zola said. “The question is, are we going to allow the court—whether it’s the O’Bannon case or a lot of other legal claims being made out there, or the legislature, or congress, or the bill that’s going through the California system—to dictate college athletics, or are leaders in higher education going to actively come to the table, engage in dialogue, and shape this industry that so many of us care so much about?” Zola and Allen Sack, a professor at the University of New Haven and the director of its Institute for Sports Management, discussed this issue on Tuesday night at a talk called “Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Sack has been a strong advocate for multiyear scholarships for student-athletes. He is a member of the Drake Group, which pushed for the reform in college athletics that took place in February 2012. Previously, student-athletes were
only allowed one year, renewable scholarships, and Sack says it allowed athletic departments to get rid of student-athletes for the benefit of on-field success. Now, schools have the option to offer scholarships with multiple years guaranteed. “I think you have to let these students know that we want you—when you come to Georgetown or when you come to Boston College or anywhere else—we want you to be a student and an alumnus, and 20 years from now we want you to be proud of having graduated from this school,” Sack said. “Not from some other school, but from this school. I feel strongly about that.” Zola had a few main recommendations for reform. The first is to increase the scholarship value to account for the full cost of attendance, which studies have shown is about $3,000 more than what is currently offered. He also thinks that student-athletes should have a right to their own likeness and image, especially after graduation. If student-athletes are given the right to their likeness and image while in college, Zola says he is in favor of putting that money in a trust fund that the athlete can receive upon graduation. Zola also addressed some of the arguments against his reforms. “The first response that the NCAA always
has is that you’re amateurs, you shouldn’t be paid,” Zola said. “Well, the reason that you’re not being paid is because the NCAA has defined you as amateurs. You’re amateurs, so you shouldn’t be paid. You shouldn’t be paid, to retain your amateur status. It’s a cyclical argument that has no bearing.” He also made a real world comparison in response to Big 10 commissioner Jim Delaney’s claim that if college athletes start receiving more compensation beyond the current scholarship value, the conference will have to switch to the Division III. “I don’t buy it,” Zola said. “If schools can come up with the amount of money that they’re paying to have athletic departments and to pay salaries, there’s got to be enough money to come up with $3,000 per student to close that gap. “Their argument is the following,” Zola said. “We own a whole bunch of restaurants in Boston, and we all come together to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to make more money if we don’t pay our executive chefs more than $12,000,’ and when they sue us and say that they want to be paid market rate, our response is, well if we have to pay you, some of our restaurants might have to close. That’s the real world. So maybe not everyone can compete at that top level. Some of you may have to go to Division III. That’s alright.” n
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The Heights The Heights
Thursday, January 17, 2013
A5 A5
Thursday, April 25, 2013
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Directions: The Sudoku is played over a 9x9 grid. In each row there are 9 slots, some of which are empty and need to be filled. Each row, column and 3x3 box should contain the numbers 1 to 9. You must follow these rules: · Number can appear only once in each row · Number can appear only once in each column · Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box · The number should appear only once on row, column or area.
Takeout can eat up your savings. Pack your own lunch instead of going out. $6 saved a day x 5 days a week x 10 years x 6% interest = $19,592. That could be money in your pocket. Small changes today. Big bucks tomorrow. Go to feedthepig.org for free savings tips.
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‘The Heights’ welcomes new VPSA Barbara Jones
Thursday, April 25, 2013
QUOTE OF THE DAY It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. -Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German theoretical physicist
VPSA should enter the job informed on recent student initiatives, such as efforts to reform the alcohol policy The Heights welcomes Barbara Jones, Boston College’s newest vice president for student affairs (VPSA), as she enters her new role this coming July. Jones has extensive experience in student affairs, serving as VPSA at Miami University of Ohio since 2008, and in other administrative roles at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Ball State University, and Minnesota State University-Mankato. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Educational Administration. She will become one of two female vice presidents at BC. Drawing on her previous administrative experience in student affairs, Jones has the opportunity to make her mark at BC, and it will be exciting to see where she takes her division. The VPSA oversees several large and important departments—the Office of Residential Life, the Dean of Students Office, the Student Programs Office, and the Offices of Counseling Services and Health Promotion—and is arguably the administrator with the most direct influence over student life. As such, Jones must be ready to tune into the needs of the
student body quickly. Over the past semester, student advocacy has centered largely on the alcohol policy and conduct system, areas in which the VPSA essentially has final say. The recently passed referendum on alcohol policy and the recently conducted Administrative Program Review of the student conduct process will both prove crucial to progress in these areas in the coming months. Jones must familiarize herself with both aspects of student life as soon as possible so that recent progress will not be stalled unnecessarily. During his time at BC, former VPSA Patrick Rombalski hosted weekly dinners with student groups and held office hours during the week. These efforts established him as an accessible figure and a friendly face on campus, helping him to stay in touch with the needs of the student body as a whole. With any luck, Jones will take a similar approach to the job, while at the same time establishing her own style and system. The BC student body is engaged and ambitious, and is dedicated to improving student life on campus. Hopefully they will gain another ally come July.
BC Ignites must not end with Sullivan’s graduation
The diversity-focused event series should re-think follow-up discussion to draw larger crowds On Monday night, the second installment of BC Ignites brought the Boston College community to the Stokes Green for a discussion of GLBTQ issues on BC’s campus. The speakers series, which aims to increase student dialogue on issues of diversity, featured four student speakers who relayed their personal experiences and opinions on GLBTQ issues at BC. Conor Sullivan, BC Ignites founder, special initiatives director of the UGBC community relations department, and LSOE ’13, brought together quality speakers who had meaningful and diverse reflections on the topic at hand. The courage they showed by speaking in front of an audience of their peers on an issue that can be both controversial and uncomfortable is admirable. Both this semester and last semester, Sullivan arranged for a follow up discussion to the event, where students who were interested in exploring the issue further could do so. In both cases, the event was poorly attended, attracting only students already significantly engaged in the particular conversation. While it is encouraging that many students attended the BC Ignites event itself, the follow up discussion is an opportunity for students to express themselves that is not taken advantage of as much as it could be. A possible way to improve attendance at the discussion event in future semesters
would be to host it immediately after the conclusion of the speakers, when students would likely be talking about the issues anyway. Both semesters, many students attended BC Ignites primarily in support of their friends. While this is certainly a legitimate reason to attend the event, Scott Chamberlain, A&S ’15, made a good point in his speech, when he said, “It is difficult to start a dialogue about tough issues like this one if the only students that show up to events like this are already in GLC or friends of the presenters.” While not every student who attended the event was friends with a presenter or a member of GLC or Allies, greater attendance in the future can only help further the goals of BC Ignites. In order to promote true dialogue on issues of diversity, those with unpopular or unique views should be encouraged to attend as much as possible, and should feel welcome to participate. Sullivan will graduate this May, leaving behind him the start of a meaningful tradition at BC. It would be a shame to see that tradition die out once he leaves, and it is crucial that a leader steps up to continue the event he has created. BC is a university that often struggles with issues of diversity, in all of the areas that word applies. BC Ignites is a brilliant way to address these issues.
Arts Fest’s 15th birthday marks most inclusive yet This year’s Arts Fest takes an important step by showcasing a variety of less traditional art forms Today marks the beginning of BC’s 15th Annual Arts Festival, a three-day event bringing together the University’s artistic community in a series of student performances and showcases. Headlining the event is the Boston College Theatre Department’s production of the contemporary musical Avenue Q (playing in Robsham Theater Wednesday through Sunday) and a screening on Thursday of Chasing Ice, a documentary on changing glacial landscapes by James Balog, BC ’74. The featured guest of this year’s Arts Fest is Robert Polito, BC ’73—he will be honored Friday with the 2013 Arts Council Alumni Award for Artistic Achievement for his work as a poet, critic, and author. These main events, as well as the rest of
the Arts Fest lineup, present an excellent opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the arts. In recent years, Arts Fest has expanded its offerings to include the work of underrepresented artists on campus. BC Underground, a new event featuring hip hop, spoken word, EDM, and break dancing, is set to take place at 9 p.m. on Friday in O’Neill Plaza. This event is just one example of the evolution of Arts Fest and a broadening of the festival’s aims—a welcome development. By continuing to reaching out to student groups and meet the growing interests of BC’s artistic community, the Arts Council is establishing Arts Fest as an accessible and inclusive student experience.
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Letters to the Editor The following letter is in response to “Group raises HIV/AIDS awareness” by Kelly Coleman, originally published on 4/18/13:
HIV does not make you a victim I was thrilled to see your coverage of Boston University’s Condom Couture fashion show yesterday. The event, hosted by BU’s FACE AIDS chapter, raised $2,315 to train 60 community health workers for Partners in Health Rwanda. PIH’s community health worker programs help patients overcome obstacles to health care by providing a preferential option for the poor. These BU students turned a professed commitment to social justice into action by fundraising to support these vital programs. Elated though I was, some of the language in the article troubled me. Describing the beneficiaries of this event as “victims” reinforces hurtful and untrue stereotypes of people living with HIV/ AIDS. Victims are perceived as passive, helpless, and entirely incapable of agency. This depiction of Rwandans as victims unknowingly perpetu-
ates a stereotype that could not be further from the truth. Rwanda has made incredible strides in the fight against HIV. Ninety-six percent of Rwandans have health insurance. Access to antiretrovirals, the drugs used to suppress HIV, is universal. In fact, Rwanda is the only country in the region on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals related to health by 2015. These accomplishments are hardly the work of helpless victims. The language of victimhood obscures the immense progress made in Rwanda against HIV. As we work toward an AIDS-free generation we must engage all partners on an equal playing field leveled by thoughtful, deliberate language. Austin Carroll Keeley Recruitment and Partnerships Director, FACE AIDS
The following letter is in response to “Gunning for control” by Ryan Giannotto, originally published on 4/11/13:
‘Gunning for Control’ badly misfires I have now accepted the fact that, twice each month, I open The Heights to the Opinion page and, rather than seeing three interesting and insightful columns, I find two interesting and insightful columns and one incoherent diatribe written by Ryan Giannotto. The factual and logical flaws with his latest piece should be apparent to a reasonable reader, so I won’t comment other than to say, how very unfortunate that he should publicly declare gun control efforts to be dead the day after Senators Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin, longtime allies of the NRA, announced a groundbreaking, bipartisan compromise
on expansion of background checks. Toomey has previously voted to prevent gun manufacturers from being sued for gun misuse (unlike bar owners, who can be liable for the drunken actions of their patrons; seems our “alcohol control” is actually quite a bit stronger than our gun control), but even he has begun to see reason and has supported these commonsense reforms. Breaking news: Giannotto has no idea what he’s talking about. Evan Goldstein A&S ’16
It’s time for BC to go 100 percent cage-free As a Boston College graduate student in environmental sociology, I’ve been impressed by BC’s commitment and dedication to environmental justice and social change. Working with student groups such as Real Food and EcoPledge, Dining Services has made many important strides toward a more sustainable BC, from the locally sourced Addie’s Loft, to a 50 percent reduction in water usage, to the switch to fair trade coffee. But there is one important issue where our school now lags behind its peers: the majority of eggs purchased by BC come from battery-caged hens. More than 350 colleges nationwide, including BU, Harvard, MIT, and Northeastern, have moved away from battery cage eggs. BC is now the only school in the greater Boston area that has not gone 100 percent cage-free. In battery cage operations, six to 10 hens live in a wire cage the size of a microwave oven—the cages are stacked several levels high and packed side-by-side the length of a warehouse. For their entire lives, the hens have less space than the size of a sheet of paper, unable to even fully extend their wings. Broken bones and open wounds are common, and it is standard practice to sear off the tips of the birds’ beaks. Apart from inflicting this suffering, battery cages carry serious environmental and human health risks. Factory farming, of which battery cages are a large component, is the largest single contributor to
greenhouse gases and the No. 1 polluter of air and No. 2 polluter of water in the United States. Battery cages put student health at risk, too; the odds of contracting salmonella from a caged egg are twice as high as from a cage-free egg. Will it cost more to switch? Maybe. At other Boston area schools, meal plans went up two to three cents per egg ($7 to $10 per semester). But since BC sells food a la carte, increases may be seen only for certain items. And in the long run, switching to cage-free eggs is a sound investment—in the environment, in student health, in our reputation as a top university, and in our Jesuit mission and values. About battery cages Pope Benedict XVI said, “Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that … hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible.” Let’s urge BC Dining to seize this opportunity to be a leader among Jesuit universities, to keep apace with our academic peers, and to affirm our commitment to be a force for good in the world. Please sign our online petition to show your support at thehumaneleague.com/cagefreebc.
The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 400 words and column submissions that do not exceed 700 words for its op/ed pages. The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted
to the newspaper. Submissions must be signed and should include the author’s connection to Boston College, address, and phone number. Letters and columns can be submitted online at www.bcheights.com, by email to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.
Elizabeth Tov GA&S ’16
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The Heights
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A7
Redefining ‘American’
Eleanor Sciannella Stokes Is A Portal To The Future! - Have you been in Stokes S195? It’s like the auditorium of the future. When you need to sit in a chair, they appear. When you stand up, they fold up into small little rectangles of velvet and sleek metal that take up basically no space at all. It sort of reminds us of Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Now all we need is the bright pink body suit that we can pair with our plastic blue vest and mini skirt… Why does space have such an idiotic dress code? Almost there - I know we have kind of been harping on this, but classes end in one week. Yep, seven days from now, we will have only finals and maybe a paper or two in between us and the beauty of summer. Also, Macklemore will be here to celebrate with us. As of today, the weather forecast predicts a pleasant temperature nestled in the middle of the 60s and accompanied with a “partly cloudy” sky. So, don’t be surprised if it snows. Lyrical Genius - We recently happened upon a Buzzfeed article entitled “27 Of The Most Mind-Bogglingly Stupid Song Lyrics Of All Time.” It is a fascinating read, so we encourage that you all look it up and scratch your head in wonder at the knowledge that listening to these songs once made you feel cool. Van Halen’s “Only time will tell if we stand the test of time” is truly insightful, and is second only to 2 Chainz informing us about one of his female acquaintances, “She got a big booty so I call her Big Booty.” The list inspired us to think of some of our own favorites that didn’t quite make the list. For one, whenever we are implored to be a “bedroom gangsta.” Our favorite, however, might have to be Lil Wayne’s philosophical utterance, “Two bottles of goose—that’s geese.” New England Supports Love - Gawker.com informed us that Rhode Island’s state senate has voted to allow same sex marriage, making New England officially “America’s gayest place.” We couldn’t think of anything funnier to say about that, so we decided just to quote Gawker. We are, for the record, not ashamed that this website serves as our primary news source.
tHAT cRAZY sORORITY cHICK - Speaking of Gawker, we’re sure most of you have either read the crazy sorority letter by now or, even better, watched Michael Shannon’s dramatic reading of it on funnyordie.com. This is a Thumbs Down for obvious reasons, but we think BC deserves a Thumbs Up for having no Greek life. We don’t know about you, but we’re pretty happy we’ll never receive an email like that from someone who is supposed to be our “sister.” We’d honestly love to reference the email here in some witty fashion to make clear how truly insane it is, but we can barely seem to find a sentence appropriate enough to include in our esteemed newspaper. Here’s one of two expletive-free sentences we were able to locate: “That’s not a rhetorical question, I LITERALLY want you to email me back telling me if you’re mentally slow so I can make sure you don’t go to anymore night time events.” One thing we can say for her? Even in her intense anger, she managed to spell pretty much every word correctly. Girl knows how to use spell check.
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Nothing made Boston feel more like home than witnessing the coming together of Boston-area residents after the explosions of Monday and the gunshots of Friday. The solidarity exhibited by Bostonians and the victims of bombing violence around the world was inspiring. But I was taken aback way by the way people were inspired to display pride in America because of the events of the past week. I loved how the country rallied around Boston, but I got the overwhelming sense that finding the suspects of the bombing was a ‘victory’ of some sorts for America and that rubbed me the wrong way. I was first struck with how one of the high school friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger brother, described him as “just as American as I am.” It was established that he arrived here legally, went to high school in Cambridge, was an athlete, got good grades, and was considered a “good kid” by everyone who knew him. Why does the fact that he exhibits all of these “good kid” qualities make him “American”? And why does the fact that he is “American” (a term defined by those in power in order to justify the exclusion and dehumanization of those that don’t qualify) move us to look for other reasons why he could have done this? Being American doesn’t mean we are not capable of violence. But it’s easier to blame and punish those who are not like us. The media played a key role in perpetuating fear and confusion related to the “American-ness” of the suspects. They first
mistakenly described the two suspects as Russian, when they were in fact Chechnyan. The only thing worse for their public image than being from another country is to be from a country that we have never heard of. Americans have a great distrust of the unknown. Our minds whizzed into action. Do they like us? Do they have a history of violence? Of terrorism? The news channels kept their viewers glued to TV screens by scrambling frantically to get any news of the investigation, playing up the sense of urgency and drama and inciting even more fear than we already felt. They used language like “man-hunt” instead of “chase” or “investigation” and “terrorist” instead of “suspect”—language reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks and the search for Osama bin Laden. This leads us to rely on prejudices and misconceptions associated with those terms to help us jump to conclusions about the brothers and potential connections with Islamic radicals. Then they chased down anyone connected with the brothers to get perspective on who the younger brother is (paying no attention to the older one—his newsworthiness must have vanished with his death), only to find out that he was just as “American” as we are. The extensive coverage of Tsarnaev’s “good kid” persona motivated the newscasters and their viewers to investigate what could have caused him to commit the crimes he is accused of committing. They speculated that he must have been convinced to act this way by his older brother, or that he became a part of a terrorist organization. We think that if he is “American” by our standards, then he must be the exception, or that there is some strange circumstance that would prevent him from continuing to live his good, “American” life, when in fact his American-ness is an important part of what drove him to this tragedy. Everyone looked for something to blame
in Tsarnaev, something to explain what happened when what we need to do is examine ourselves. So consumed were we with his background that we missed crucial contributing factors to the event. Which American values or aspects of our culture created an environment in which this sort of action is possible? We preach politics of liberty, equality, and rights for all, yet the “protection” of those values prompts us to create violence worse than the marathon bombing in other countries every day. We allow violence in our own cities to continue and instead of fixing the cycle of poverty that drives that violence, we blame and punish the victims of the system. Violence over the drug trade continues to run rampant in Central America because we refuse to legalize marijuana. This is why I cringed a little inside every time I saw an American flag, or heard people in outbreaks of the national anthem after Friday night. Because this was not an America success story—this was a tragedy that exemplifies the results of a number of faulty societal systems. We gave ourselves a good pat on the back after arresting Tsarnaev. And in many ways it was for a good reason. I am proud of the law enforcement officers for keeping this city safe. I am proud of the people willing to give up their homes to stranded marathoners. I am proud of the medical staff that worked to heal the victims of the bombing. I am proud of the people who showed support to those affected here and around the world. But I am not proud of the misguided notion that “American” means “innocent” nor the system this country maintains that perpetuates violence here and internationally.
Eleanor Sciannella is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.
Hubris and crisis Benjamin Olcott The Marathon Bombing and the shocking events of last Friday have instigated a massive outpouring of astute commentary on social media’s good-bad position throughout the ordeals, eloquent exhortations to solidarity and pride, genuine promises to rebound stronger than ever, support for those who have been injured etc., etc. etc.,—the list, as those who have been following this business know well, goes on. Indeed, it seems as if some underground vein of goodwill was discovered this weekend and has been, ever since, open for public mining. There truly are many inspiring stories in circulation, and hallelujah for that—we could all use some more community benevolence in our lives. The outpouring is well-deserved and appropriate, but I still can’t help but feel that the bonhomie is glossing over darker, certainly more serious, and potentially more important parts of this whole matter. Why, for example, aren’t we talking about the Justice Department’s decision to delay Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Miranda rights reading (this next paragraph will be difficult if you don’t have some history, so please excuse this hideously long, grammatically dubious parenthetical: in Miranda v. Arizona the Supreme Court ruled that statements made by a defendant are absolutely only admissible in court if it can be proved the defendant knew his/her right to an attorney etc.; in New York v. Quarles, the SC ruled Miranda rights actually can be yielded in situations where public safety takes precedence over literal interpretation—in other words, crucial information concerning public safety given by a suspect during the public safety crisis before a Miranda warning is admissible in court)? The public safety exception in Miranda (see?) states that Miranda recitation can only be suspended during a public safety crisis. It initially seems, then, like what the Justice Department did was not
Imbroglio
wrong—clearly, the Tsarnaev situation was a public safety crisis—and it seems correct to say that any information he might have given while being pulled from that boat (location of other IED’s, accomplices, weapons) was crucially important to maintaining public safety, and should be admissible in court. The issue is, when Dzhokhar was arrested, the police declared the public safety threat over, and only after this declaration did the Justice Department decide to suspend his Miranda rights. The public safety exception was invoked after the public safety threat was over, which is not how the exception was described in NY v. Quarles. Therefore, his Miranda rights were improperly given, and there is a real chance that a federal court will rule none of Dzhokhar’s statements, even those made after he was read his rights, admissible in court. Which is frightening, yes, but not nearly as frightening as the power this could potentially give the Justice Department to determine what is a public safety crisis and what isn’t, or who is specifically a public safety threat, and who is not. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, or a radical, but if courts rule Dzhokhar’s statements are admissible, it would be as if the courts were saying, “even after a public safety crisis is determined over, police may restrict rights in an effort to assuage the public safety crisis.” If that is true, and it is okay for the Justice Department to restrict rights before or after a “public safety crisis” then what’s the difference between a public safety crisis, and not a public safety crisis? The police determine whether a situation is a “public safety crisis;” it is not self-evident: so when can the police not restrict my rights? Would it not grant police the right to restrict rights indefinitely? Or is there some sort of echo of crisis, which, while it can be heard (by whom?), justifies rights restriction? There is another faction of politicians, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who are demanding that Tsarnaev be tried as an enemy combatant. This would mean a military court would hear his case, and not U.S. civilian court. As far as I understand it, Miranda strictly pertains only to the latter court, and thus, this seems a way around the above-stated predicament. The issue, however, is U.S. citizens
cannot be tried in military court, and enemy combatants may only be caught on a foreign battlefield. In the last few days, the White House has said specifically he is not an enemy combatant, and will be tried in civilian court. The fact that some politicians were so quick to label him, implicitly or not, a foreigner, is, to me, extremely disconcerting. We cannot forget that this was done by a 19-year-old, who lives in the United States and is a first-hand witness to our conventions and lifestyles. Dzhokhar is, without question, a U.S. citizen. Whatever hatred or vehement discontent he might have felt, it was in some way colored by our country, those conventions, and our lifestyle. Let’s not pretend that the American system is perfect, and make the same mistake our Senators made in thinking that if it was violent, and senseless, it must have come from somewhere else. The United States is more than capable of breeding destruction. This takes us to my last uncomfortable question about this whole business, which is, the levying of “terrorist” on Tsarnaev. I cannot help but think that this, too, is a way of distancing America from the attacks. It makes the Tsarnaev brothers primarily fundamental islamists born in some region near the MiddleEast, and only incidentally, Americans. Which in turn allows us to move comfortably into our whole set of post-9/11 assumptions about Islamic fundamentalist men from the Middle-East. It allows us to never think twice about why we consider them terrorists, but not James Holmes or Adam Lanza. We assumed Holmes and Lanza were “insane,” or “bullied,” and we never went to their religious institutions asking for their forgiveness, or talked about the people who might have “radicalized” them. Yes, Tamerlan posted YouTube videos about Al Qaeda, but this is a new development. People were calling the Tsarnaev brothers terrorists on Friday without any substantial evidence of it. And who is to say the brothers were not “insane” or “bullied?” Where are the psychologists? Where I wish were standards, I only see hubris.
Benjamin Olcott is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.
BY KALEB KEATON
The opinions and commentaries of the staff columnists and cartoonists appearing on this page represent the views of the author or artist of that particular piece, and not necessarily the views of The Heights. Any of the columnists and artists for the Opinions section of The Heights can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.
Living the Libra life Suzie Scordino I have three different horoscope apps on my phone … don’t judge me. I’m not actually convinced of what it all says (look up the Barnum Effect, totally learned about it in Personality Theories) and I certainly don’t splurge on the 11th because the stars are aligning on the 12th to make me financially fortunate. I do, however, really enjoy reading things that are supposed to describe me so I can be all “whoa, that is so me” or “mmm nope try again!” I am a proud Taurus, but there is one zodiac whose symbol conjures a twinkle in my eye as I am subtly reminded of the important things: Libra. Why, you ask? Well, Libra’s symbol is the scales, and the Libra nature constitutes everything that I want to be. Libras are harmonious people and aim to create a balance between themselves and their relationships, responsibilities, and recreational activities. Through embodying the Libran spirit, we can attempt to find this balance of our many scales so that we can be happy … and sane. At BC, home of the Eagles, Sperrywearers, and the overinvolved, we are faced with the fun task of juggling class, friends, clubs, hobbies, work, and family at home. There are some astounding jugglers at BC who appear to have prioritized their lives in perfect balance so they have time to truly enjoy college, all while working, being super involved in clubs, getting straight A’s, and having a million friends (in all realness, we know there’s a tabby cat slinking around campus who’s really the animagus of Professor McGonagall and she’s giving out time turners to exceptionally busy students, like Hermione, so that they can have it all). I find these Librans are an inspiration to embrace balance and to reject the pervasive procrastination that runs throughout this campus, ruining people’s academic and/or social lives. It kills me to see good friends struggle in the balance as the scales frantically move back and forth, upset by pressures from parents, professors, and responsibilities on and off campus. Best friends become just friends and then they become people who spend all their time in Bapst library and you see them and think of how you used to spill your guts to them and how they are super powerful in holding all of your embarrassing information and you smile and wave but don’t really say anything beyond small talk and secretly hope that they never approach any large media outlet with all of your strangeness. Ugh, but really don’t let the books reel you into a black hole of all-nighters and Five Hour Energy’s because you may find your 4.0 GPA not worth much when you don’t have anyone to pop champagne with at graduation. I suppose I am not only taking a stance against procrastination, but also on being more relaxed, in general, about schoolwork. When you look back on college, you probably won’t smile reminiscently as you remember those lonely nights in the dorm lounge with only your Econ textbook and a bag of pretzels for company. You will want to laugh as you remember playing Frisbee golf at midnight, going to Applebee’s on a random Monday night, sneaking up to the roof of Gasson, and going into Boston with the besties. Plainly, these four years are too short to be consumed by Cell Biology or Financial Accounting. Now, don’t forgo all your schoolwork. Future interviewers might not chuckle understandingly as you tell them that your 2.0 GPA was totally worth blowing off class and studying because you had a blast with your friends. But do forgo those three extra episodes of Entourage that you don’t need to watch and close out your Tobi online shopping cart of $300 that you are never going to purchase. Make an outline for your paper and start your problem set. Find your balance. Embrace the essence of a Libra so that you can take advantage of all that college and BC has to offer with no regrets. Think about what you want to have flashbacks of years from now. Is it an excerpt from Plato’s The Republic? Or is it a spontaneous trip to Fenway for a Red Sox game? Be productive so that you can be available to catch whatever BC, Boston, or your friends throw at you. Live the Libra life and you will find, years from now, that the laugh lines on your face are far more fitting than the worry lines would be.
Suzie Scordino is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.
The Heights
A8
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Progress starts up front for Eagles O-Line, from A10 Chestnut Hill, and that balance can’t happen unless the offensive line can create rushing opportunities on first and second down to open up the play action. “We’re more of a gap-scheme team now, which means we’re going to rock off the ball, double-team you, build a wall and knock you off the ball,” Addazio said. “We’re not a sideways kind of outfit.” With spring practice over, Addazio and Frye both like the progress the offensive line has made so far. “ These g uys are talente d g uys ,” Addazio said. “If I don’t know anything, I know something about that spot. Those guys did a great job. They came a long way. They’ve got a long way to go to, but I like where we’re headed.” “The biggest thing coming out [of spring practice] was that we found an identity of being a downhill, power run football team,” Frye said. “We know we can do that now. You can see it on the film now. So now we’ve got to hang our hat on that and everything that we’re doing from here on out is to add to that.” Frye has worked with Addazio for most of his career, playing under him at Indiana
and then serving as an assistant at Florida and Temple. With the Gators, Frye had the opportunity to work with NFL prospects like Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, Marcus Gilbert, and Maurice Hurt. “We had a lot of good football players down there,” Frye said. “Being able to see first round talent and draftable guys at such a young stage in my career was really beneficial to me. Now there’s a benchmark set. This is how these guys perform on and off the field. It’s a really good judge now that we’re recruiting guys and comparing them to people, I have the opportunity to say that this is the bar, and see where are they at now and how close can we get them.” He’s using that experience with the Eagles now, and the tough mentality is starting to spread. “We’ve got to continue to build the structure, and it’s just a mindset,” Frye said. “Now when guys we recruit come in, they’ve got to come in and say, ‘Oh wow, I’ve got to get on board with this, because this is the way. This is the unit. This is how they work and this is what they demand and I’ve got to get on board with that.’” And the goal is that this toughness will carry into the fall when the real
games start up. “Teams are going to leave saying, ‘Damn, we were just in a fight right there.’ Win or lose they’re going to walk off the field saying that those guys came after us for four quarters.” During spring practice, Frye would give his players two or three things to focus on each day, and then to add competition he’d give them a challenge. “What’s the number?” Frye said. “How many guys are on the ground today?” Frye calls them plus-blocks, or knockdowns , and he’ll be tracking them throughout the year. He doesn’t have any gimmicky rewards set up for those counts, though. “I’m not into all that,” Frye said. “I like to win. Sundays are really good when you’ve come in and you’ve won, versus busting your hump and putting in all the work and getting on the bus or the plane and leaving knowing that you didn’t come away with a win. That’s the ultimate prize is feeling really good about yourself when you leave and going to hang with your friends or your family after the game knowing you just won a college football game, because they’re hard to win. They’re really, really hard to win.” n
Graham beck / Heights Editor
Offensive line coach Justin Frye says improving the unit has started with building the right identity and mentality on the field.
Graham beck / Heights Editor
Addazio had more time to interact with his players, their families, and recruits on Saturday.
BC enjoys relaxed Saturday Football, from A10 Addazio said. When nearby Watertown was placed on lockdown on Friday as police chased down Suspect No. 2, the Eagles’ spring game, scheduled for Saturday, was put in jeopardy. It was decided around 4 p.m. to cancel the game, and not reschedule. “With the amount of tragedy and the amount of heartbreak and the amount of things that were going on in Boston, to think that this game had some major significance next to that, I just don’t see that,” Addazio said. The team would have needed law enforcement to sweep the perimeter around Alumni Stadium before hosting the game, without knowing if the school would even be open on that day. The loss of the spring game actually had some positive impacts for Addazio, though. He didn’t think that his players lost much from a purerly football perspective. “You know how the spring games are now,” Addazio said. “You’re not really going to show much anyways. They’re going to be televised, you’re not going
to do all of this stuff you’re really going to do. It’s so vanilla anyways.” Addazio said recruiting didn’t take a hit either, since most of the recruits had already attended practices earlier in the spring. “There’s really not a lot of time at spring games to meet with those guys anyways,” Addazio said. “I have not always felt that that’s the very best weekend for recruiting.” When the campus reopened late on Friday, it gave Addazio the opportunity to enjoy a more relaxed Saturday with his players’ families and with recruits. He was going to be completely booked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. if the game was played, but now he had more time to spend with everyone. “There was a lot of personal time on Saturday, which was really kind of cool,” Addazio said. “That was really nice, as opposed to when you are rushed on spring game days. “We had a really great sense of community on Saturday,” Addazio said. “Twenty-five plays on the football field would not have brought you what we were able to get done on Saturday. It just wouldn’t have. That would’ve been overrated in comparison.” n
York reaches out to marathon victims York, from A10 leave from their spots very often for the rest of the day. “I was riveted to the TV,” York said. “Meals, snacks, in front of the TV. It was a live drama. It was right there in our midst. We were really locked in and making phone calls to people in the area also. There was nobody on the street.” The only people on the streets all day were all of the law enforcement agencies, and the second suspect who had fled on foot. At times during the day, York would look outside through his windows at the scene, but remained vigilant. “We were cautious of looking out the window because there was always the ‘white hat’ as we called him walking around somewhere,” York said. “He was elusive, nobody could find him. The whole neighborhood was on alert for sure.” York lives next door to a Watertown policeman, a reassuring presence throughout the day. While the town was on lockdown, the police set up a 20-block perimeter, and began a search through every house within their border. York was just outside of the perimeter, so his house was not searched. His brother Bill, though, lives closer to where the action was ongoing, and was texting York pictures from outside his house. At one point, there was a picture of six state policemen going through Bill’s garage. Later, they found his bulkhead door open and went into the cellar, but the search was clear. “The pictures were almost like the
TV show 24 or Homeland,” York said. “It reminded me of those activities.” When the police finally called off the lockdown at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night, York went outside into his backyard. Immediately, he heard sirens wailing. “We knew something was going down in a hurry,” York said. “It was much closer this time.” It was just a quarter of a mile away from York’s house that gunfire broke out again, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was eventually found hiding in a boat in a resident’s backyard. About two hours later, Tsarnaev was taken into custody and brought to Beth Israel Hospital, ending the day of horror in Watertown. “It was a great sigh of relief when they caught the fellow in the boat,” York said. York said that the capturing of the second suspect put him at ease, while still remembering all of the victims of the past week. “It kind of just relaxed the state of your mind,” York said. “We were so happy they caught him, but you also think about the result of his actions—killing people and maiming people. It’s hard to understand.” While he never suspected anything like this would enter into his dear Watertown, York said that it’s a new age now where you always have to remain wary. “You never really think about it,” he said. “Now, we live with it every day. We’re always trying to be vigilant on airplanes, at sporting events. It’s always in the back of your mind. So different than the ’80s and ’90s. Now, after 9/11, we’re all kind of at least thinking about it.” The aftermath in Watertown is one of mixed emotions for York.
“I don’t know what normal is anymore,” York said.“[There is] also that sorrow that lingers, because of the people still in hospitals who have a long, long rehab in front of them. The funerals and wakes have been going on all around us in Medford and Somerville and Dorchester. It’s sobering.” At the same time, York is proud of how his town handled the scary situation, and believes that Watertown will be stronger for it. “I have a very positive feel for the police force and the residents,” he said. “I know they’re very, very proud of the efforts that the police department in Watertown made. It’s a good town. It’s very diversified, blue-collar, a lot of different nationalities. This’ll make it an even better place to live, I think.” As the coming weeks and months lend themselves to the mental and physical healing of hundreds, York is already reaching out to the victims, and hopes to do more of it with his team in the near future. A 2005 graduate of B C , Patrick Downes, and his wife Jessica Kensky were both injured in the bombings at the finish line on Monday, both losing limbs in the explosion. York has learned that Patrick was a big hockey fan, so he sent a video to him and his wife in the hospital. Soon, he hopes to meet them in person. “We’ve asked ‘when you feel ready, we’d love to come down and visit you,’” York said. “Hopefully I’ll bring some players with me, and we’ll go down. We’ll make every effort to make that happen, especially when we get the OK from Patrick and Jessica.” n
Graham beck / Heights Editor
Head men’s hockey coach Jerry York was on lockdown in his house in Watertown on Friday.
People are brought together by sports Column, from A10
Graham beck / Heights Editor
Regardless of wins and losses, BC sports like football can unify an entire student body.
Yet little did we realize the impact that a simple game had on our lives. During those afternoons, a group of childhood buddies held no grudges or let any disagreement get in the way of a backyard ritual. Each inning, a fraternal bond grew closer. With every base hit, strikeout, and curveball, a group of friends became the brothers I never had. After all those summers, I’ve come to accept a hypothetical phenomenon as fact: sports have an uncanny ability to bring people together. It’s a power that has exposed itself time and time again, as a game’s meaning becomes much more than hits or touchdowns or goals. New Yorkers might not remember how many runs the Mets beat Atlanta by on Sept. 21, 2001, but they can recall how Mike Piazza helped a reeling community share a moment of adulation with a game-winning home run
in the city’s first professional sporting event after 9/11. Just last week, a Bruins game in TD Garden meant more than slapshots and hits against the boards—it catalyzed a 20,000-person performance of a heartfelt national anthem no Boston sports fan will soon forget. And this city’s most legendary race vows to come back next year bigger and better than ever as an embodiment of human resiliency. Think of it—hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets to cheer at the top of their lungs for strangers they might never meet but whose determination they admire. Maybe the unifying gravitas of once-in-a-lifetime athletic events such as these—ones through which the human spirit manifests itself—aren’t frequently felt at routine athletic events on college campuses such as ours, but think about it. Where else would thousands of students place their trust in a legendary head coach named “Jerry” above all other than at a Boston
College hockey game in Conte Forum? Regardless of how many losses have been suffered on the field at Alumni Stadium over the last couple of years, can you think of any other event that brings nearly an entire student body together at one place and one time? Don’t let the sentimental rhetoric fool you—no athlete likes to lose, and no diehard fan has an easy time rooting for a struggling team. Maybe it’s true that there’s “no substitute for victory” as American Gen. Douglas MacArthur once said, but sports can be much more than just wins and losses. Numbers alone don’t bring a city or a campus together. People and the experience they share do. Have a great summer, and thanks for a great semester. For now, you can find me on the wiffleball field.
Chris Grimaldi is the Assoc. Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.
THE HEIGHTS
EDITORS’ EDITORS’PICKS PICKS
Thursday, April 25, 2013 The Week Ahead
Standings
Women’s tennis faces NC State tomorrow at the ACC Championships. Lacrosse is at its own championship tournament this weekend. Softball hosts NC State in a series this weekend. On Monday, baseball takes on Harvard in the Beanpot at Fenway Park. The Celtics and the Knicks are playing in the NBA playoffs.
Marly Morgus
32-23
Heights Staff
32-23
Austin Tedesco
32--23
Chris Grimaldi
30-25
A9
Recap from Last Week
Game of the Week
Wake Forest swept BC in baseball. Softball lost to cross town rival Boston University. The women’s lacrosse team extended their winning streak with a 12-10 win over Canisius. Men’s tennis struggled at Duke in a 7-0 loss. The Red Sox won their first game against the Royals, but dropped the next two.
Baseball
Guest Editor: Eleanor Hildebrandt
Miami
News Editor
“If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?”
This Week’s Games
Marly Morgus Asst. Sports Editor
Eleanor Hildebrandt News Editor
Austin Tedesco Sports Editor
Chris Grimaldi Assoc. Sports Editor
BC
BC
Harvard
Harvard
Baseball: BC vs. Harvard Softball: BC vs. No. 40 NC State (series)
NC State
BC
NC State
NC State
Women’s Tennis: BC vs. NC State
BC
NC State
NC State
BC
How many games will lacrosse win at ACC Champs?
1
3
2
2
Yes
Yes
No
No
Will the Celtics get swept by the Knicks?
Boston College
On Friday, the BC baseball team will honor members of the Boston College Police Department by exchanging hats with members of the department during a ceremony before the game. This game against Miami kicks off a three-game series. BC has only three ACC series remaining and has yet to win one. With a record of only 6-34, the Eagles will have their work cut out for them. Miami comes into the game with a more successful record than BC at 27-15, and have won three of their seven series so far, including their last two against Clemson and the University of Maryland. The Hurricanes are currently ranked 12th in the NCAA.
Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Eagles cruise to victory
Rally sends St. Johns past Eagles
BY CHRIS GRIMALDI Assoc. Sports Editor
BY MARLY MORGUS Asst. Sports Editor
After a day off provided by a rain cancellation on Tuesday, the Eagles were back in action on the baseball diamond on Wednesday against St. John’s. Despite a solid start in which Boston College hung with the Red Storm through five innings, an offensive flurry in the sixth gave St. John’s a lead that it would hold on to through the end of the game. The game started on the right foot for the Eagles with two runs scored in the top of the fifth off of hits from Matt Pare and John Hennessy and a pair of walks. The defense and starting pitcher Eric Stone were unable to hold on to the lead, however, when three hits resulted in the Red Storm’s own pair of runs. A similar pattern ensued in the second inning with BC getting on the board twice, this time with Blake Butera earning both RBIs off of a triple. In the bottom of the inning, St. John’s mirrored BC’s performance when a double from Zach Lauricella brought in two more runs tying the score at four. In the third inning, BC took an outright lead that it would maintain through the bottom of the sixth when a Travis Ferrick groundout brought Stephen Sauter home. For the first time, the Eagles’ defense held strong through the bottom of the inning in order to
vs.
ALLIE MANNING / FOR THE HEIGHTS
BC held a share of the lead through the fifth inning, but fell to the Red Storm in the sixth. maintain the lead. The fourth, fifth, and top of the sixth innings went scoreless for both teams, with only three hits putting runners on base during the span. Yet things turned downward for the Eagles in the bottom of the sixth when Matt Alvarez allowed three hits and walked one. One runner reached the base on an error, and the Red Storm counted four runs during the inning, giving them a three-run lead. The Eagles were given a chance to respond with two walks in the top of the seventh, but they failed to capitalize when Butera was caught stealing, Pare flied out, and Sauter struck out swinging, leaving one runner on base.
In a final blow, St. John’s posted one more run in the bottom of the seventh, sealing their margin of four runs for the eventual 9-5 win. Sauter was the top hitter for BC in the loss with three hits and contributed two RBI’s, but only one other player, Gabriel Hernandez, posted multiple hits for the Eagles. On the other side, three different players had multiple hits for the Red Storm. This was the ninth consecutive loss for a struggling BC team that is heading into its final two weeks of play with only six wins. The Eagles’ next appearance is in a home series against the University of Miami this weekend.
Following a turbulent weekend of highs and lows at Maryland, the Boston College softball team returned to sunny skies at Chestnut Hill yesterday afternoon to deliver one of its most complete performances of 2013. Thanks to six brilliant innings from pitcher Stephanie Lord and catcher Tory Speer’s prolific day at the plate, the Eagles cruised to a commanding 10-2 victory over Hartford. BC wasted no time putting a crooked number up on the scoreboard, chipping away at Hartford starter Kaitlyn Meade in the bottom of the first inning. Run-scoring doubles into centerfield from Alana Dimaso and Maria Pandolfo gave the Eagles a 2-0 advantage right out of the gates. After junior Ronnie Mae Ayers launched a solo shot over the leftfield fence during the second frame, the Eagles were primed for an offensive onslaught in their third at-bat. Speer stepped to the plate with two runners on and sparked her five-RBI day with a power stroke. The junior catcher belted a Meade offering over the wall in dead center, stretching BC’s lead to six runs. Before the Eagle hitting frenzy came to a close, Ayers and outfielder Megan Cooley added run-scoring base knocks to tack on added insurance. Five runs and six hits later, BC was up 8-0 heading into the fourth and threatening to end the afternoon early with the mercy rule. While the Eagles’ lineup executed all day long, Lord took care of business from the mound. The rookie southpaw didn’t record a strikeout in her complete-game performance and first win of the year, but pitched to contact and let BC’s defense take care of the rest. Finding a steady rhythm and pounding the strike zone, Lord didn’t surrender a single walk. Two runs on four hits were all Hartford
could muster against the freshman in six turns to the plate. Following a perfect inning from Lord in the top of the sixth, the Eagles were poised to win the game in abridged fashion during their half of the frame. Rookie infielder Jessie Daulton sent a double into the right-centerfield gap to spark the offense, but couldn’t advance to third after a Dimaso grounded out to the left side. Yet Speer sent the final dagger into Hartford’s hope of staying in contention, picking up right where she left off in the batter’s box. The junior delivered her opponent a bit of deja vu and blasted her second homerun of the game beyond the centerfield wall, sending BC home in walk-off fashion with a mercy rule win. The Eagles head into home-field action later this afternoon against Harvard with a 2-1 record in their last three games.
EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS STAFF
BC forced an early mercy rule win yesterday.
Mannelly has made an immediate impact with a surging program Mannelly, from A10 squad noted Mannelly’s dynamic abilities on the field and on the court as an all-state, two-sport athlete and drew a fateful conclusion—her freshman friend needed to add lacrosse to a growing varsity repertoire. Young Mannelly was not so keen on the idea, however, and hesitated at the thought of trying out for a sport she had never before considered, let alone played. Her reluctance lasted until the very last minute when she took a leap of faith, borrowed a stick and goggles from her friend, and let fate decide the rest. Ultimately, the feelings of trepidation Mannelly had felt before trying out were swept away when the ninth-grade novice made the lacrosse squad and found that her familiarity with another sport well within her comfort zone would make the adjustment easier than she could’ve ever imagined. “It was pretty similar to basketball,” Mannelly said. “So having it so similar to that made a difference in me learning it so quickly.” Although Mannelly’s high school coach and friends on the team continuously encouraged her to keep cradling, she remained attached to the hardwood and still held on to a childhood hope of playing NCAA basketball. Yet the numbers she put up on the lacrosse field were too impressive to ignore. En route
to numerous school records, nearly 90 career goals, and back-to-back AllAmerican honors, Mannelly began to reconsider her plans as college quickly approached. “I realized that I could keep improving and getting better at lacrosse, and that I really did love the game,” she said, “so I wanted to continue with it.” A future in collegiate lacrosse was inevitable, but now the Connecticut phenom needed to decide on a Division I program that could foster her poten-
heading into uncharted territory in more ways than one, however. Not only was Mannelly about to take a giant leap in the level of competition, but also commit herself to a program in transition under a first-year head coach. Yet it turned out that a combination of Mannelly’s raw ability, a group of veteran Eagles, and the energetic style of head coach Acacia Walker had the realizable potential to create havoc in a competitive ACC. BC has tallied 11 wins in 17 games,
EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS STAFF
As one of the team’s leading goal-scorers, Mannelly has added life to a BC squad on a historic win streak heading into the ACC Tournament. Softball
scoreboard
tial. Unlike Mannelly’s decision to heed her friend’s advice and show up for high school lacrosse tryouts, this call was a relatively easy one to make. She chose a school whose roots run in her blood, a place that both of her parents and two siblings attended—BC. “I visited a lot, and I just always loved the campus and everything about it,” Mannelly explained. “I knew coming into it I wanted to come to school here and play.” The soon-to-be college athlete was
BC MD
College Park, MD 4/20
0 6
College Park, MD 4/20
Softball
BC MD
daulton 1h BC Schwartz 3h MD
8 6
1 10
Baseball
pandolfo 2h 2r BC Bustillos 2h 1r Wake
Winston-Salem, nc 4/20
College Park, MD 4/21 Baseball
Softball
Ayers 1h 1rbi BC Bustillos 3h 2rbi Wake
1 5
Winston-Salem, nc 4/20 Baseball
2 9
gordon 3so 2bb BC Van Grouw 5so 5bb Wake
pare 3h Blair 4h Winston-Salem, nc 4/21
9 10
showcasing an ability to win close games and compete for all 60 minutes during a program record seven-game win streak. Along their path, the Eagles have managed to take down college lacrosse goliaths such as Virginia and Duke. As much as her individual triumphs have contributed to BC’s ascendance, Mannelly recognizes that a team’s uninhibited progress is no solo act. “I think the team just really works well together,” she said, “and the coaches do a good job of preparing us and getting us fired up for all the games. We just come out to play really well each game, and it’s led us to having some big wins over some big teams.” Mannelly’s time on the lacrosse field has been defined by immediate success, whether against local rivals back home in Connecticut or ACC powerhouses that come to duel at BC. Yet the freshman refuses to take anything for granted, as the high aspirations she has for both herself and her squad cannot be won on the shoulders of complacency. If there’s one element of the Eagles’ game plan Mannelly hopes to see down the stretch, it’s persistence. “Our goal is to do the best we can— make it to the ACC championship, the national championship. The coaches just want us to focus on one game at a time … we want to keep moving forward and improving each day.”
Women’s Tennis
Chestnut Hiill,MaMA11/11 4/22 Boston,
0 4
0 wins 6 wins
Men’s Tennis
Newton, MANC 11/09 Chapel hill, 4/21
BC UNC
hennessey 3h 3rbi bc Conway 1h 3rbi UNC
0 7
0 wins 9 wins
SPORTS THE HEIGHTS
A8
A10
Thursday, April 25, 2013
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
Offensive line builds a foundation BY AUSTIN TEDESCO Sports Editor
Every house needs a solid foundation. As the Boston College football programs starts to rebuild its house, that foundation will be formed on the offensive line. Head coach Steve Addazio has spent his whole career specializing in the position, and along with offensive line coach Justin Frye, the two are working toward reestablishing a unit that has slipped in recent years. That process starts not with tech-
nique, but with a mindset. “We’re going to be a tough-ass, physical team, and that’s where we start,” Frye said. “We’re going to be able to run off the ball, we’re going to hit people, we’re going to knock people back, we’re going to protect the quarterback really well, and the focus for us is that it all runs through us. We can command the offense, drive the offense, when things are going downhill we can put our feet in the ground and respond and kind of put the team on our back.” That wasn’t the case last season, when
the offensive line struggled to protect quarterback Chase Rettig and create gaps for the running backs. The Eagles finished 10th in total offense among 12 ACC teams, and last in rushing offense with 90 yards per game. BC was one of only eight schools in Division I to average fewer than 100 yards rushing per game. The unit up front also allowed 36 sacks on Rettig, which ranked 10th in the conference. Addazio has preached the importance of a balanced attack since he arrived in GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR
See O-Line, A8
Addazio and Frye are working on reestablishing “O-Line U” at Boston College this year.
INSTANT SENSATION Freshman Sarah Mannelly has proven herself as a rising star in the ACC
In wiffleball and sports, all are one
CHRIS GRIMALDI BY CHRIS GRIMALDI
During the summer before eighth grade, my friends and I transformed my backyard into a wiffleball field. We gathered some bags of sand, spray paint, and an old pitchback to turn the property behind my family home into a sanctuary of its own. Sleeves were rolled up to carve out an infield, dollar bills were pitched in to buy a case of pristine new wiffleballs, and what had once been a typical yard now bore the semblance of a miniature Fenway—that is, if Fenway was built by the hands of some bright-eyed middleschoolers. Before Mom could protest, Dad (who funded our bold “operation”) convinced her that it’d be a nice way of getting the boys all together for some innocent summer fun, and that both of them would miss these days not so long in the future when all of us would be off on our separate ways for college. So we played that whole summer, and then six summers after that, crushing homeruns onto my deck—renamed the Pink Monster—and emulating the defensive gems of our major league heroes during extra-inning classics on hot afternoons. Gut-wrenching losses and hitless games were always made better by Mom’s baked goodies. We found solace by getting lost in the moment over nine innings. When the final out was recorded and we had to return to reality and the challenges that “growing up” presented, we could confront them together. No matter what we were up to or how many hours we were each working at our summer jobs, my friends and I found time to meet up at our field of dreams and play.
Assoc. Sports Editor
When the dust finally cleared after a duel with the Boston College women’s lacrosse team in February, Holy Cross had been blindsided by an attention-grabbing debut performance. The BC rookie midfielder wearing number six put on an offensive clinic over 60 minutes that featured four goals and four assists, leading the Eagles to a commanding nine-point victory. Whenever it looked as if the Crusaders were about to crawl back in the game, the freshman would inevitably spark a run. Only a few hours earlier, she had been preparing for her first collegiate game and the realization of a dream. Now BC’s Sarah Mannelly was a force to be reckoned with. “I was pretty confident going into the game because everyone on the team works well with each other and the coaches give everyone a lot of confidence, so we were all just ready to come out and play hard,” Mannelly said, recalling her poise prior to an eight-point debut. “Everyone was working well and everyone was able to set everyone up in that game.” Entering ACC tournament play with 31 goals on the year— good enough for third most on the entire Eagle squad—the New Canaan, Conn. native has been a driving force behind BC’s run in 2013. Mannelly has done anything but ease her way into the collegiate spotlight. Barely over a month into her rookie campaign, she had already tallied four games of three goals or more and garnered WomensLax.com Rookie of the Week honors. A lacrosse resume that included Connecticut Player of the Year accolades and a state title during Mannelly’s high school years was lengthening at a growing rate. Yet Mannelly, BC’s leading freshman goal-scorer and potential ACC rookie of the year candidate, might have never played lacrosse if not for the encouragement of a friend. In fact, the standout midfielder entered high school without ever picking up a lacrosse stick in an organized game. Mannelly’s first love was basketball, a game she had excelled at for most of her life and dreamed of one day playing at the collegiate level. Despite a desire to pursue hoops during high school and beyond, everything changed during her freshman year of high school. An upperclassman teammate on the high school soccer
See Mannelly, A9
BIO Hometown: New Canaan, Conn. Position: Midfield
STATS Goals:
30
Assists:
9
Caused turnovers:
9
Game winning goals:
5
See Column, A8
BC moves past lost spring game
York has trying day at home in Watertown BY GREG JOYCE
Heights Senior Staff
BY AUSTIN TEDESCO Sports Editor
It had been more than 10 years since Steve Addazio had the feeling that hit him last Monday. The head football coach for Boston College remembers exactly where he was on 9/11, sitting in a visiting locker room at Notre Dame. Then an assistant coach for the Irish, Addazio was with the rest of the staff in makeshift offices set up to get away from the craziness and focus on gameplanning. They got a call from the secretary, flipped on the TV, and watched the planes come crashing in. Addazio scrambled to call everyone he knew back in the northeast, including his brother who worked on Wall Street. Then, sitting in another staff meeting last week, offensive coordinator Ryan Day saw the news of the Marathon bombings on his phone and Addazio
GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Steve Addazio doesn’t think the loss of the spring football game will set his team back. had the same feeling. “I hadn’t felt that since then,” Addazio said. “Here I was in my chair, and I was just like, ‘Wow,’ as I was taking it all in.” Any of his players could have been down at the finish line. Since it was Patriots’ Day, the team got up early at 7 a.m. for practice and was done by 11. “When this happened in the afternoon,” Addazio said, “I was like, ‘Oh my god, everyone immediately text your players. Find out where everybody is. If you can’t reach them, call them. Email them. I want to know where every
I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE
player is.’” His son, Louie Addazio, joined the team this semester and Addazio rushed to make sure that he was safe as well. After about 30 minutes, every player was safe and accounted for. He eventually got back to work as the week went on, but the aftermath of the attack engulfed the BC coach. “I found myself just being completely glued to everything that was going down from the minute the bombings happened right through that whole week,”
See Football, A8
BC dominates Hartford at home
The softball team enjoyed success in the batter’s box and the pitcher’s mound in a 10-2 win...A8
Watertown has always been close to Jerry York’s heart. On Friday, it became close to the heart of millions more around the world. At 2:00 a.m. on Friday morning, York and his wife Bobbie were sound asleep in their home in Watertown when their phone rang, waking them up. It was the town notifying its residents to stay inside. There was heavy police activity outside, and everyone was told not to leave his or her house. “That wakes you up at two in the morning, you sit up in bed and go ‘Woah, what’s going on?’” York said. “You start thinking about ‘it’s for sure the terrorists.’” Just a mile away from his house, there was a horrific police chase that culminated in a massive gunfight between the two suspected marathon bombers and the Watertown police. York couldn’t hear the gun shots going on outside, but noticed all of the police activity on his street York would later find out that the car
Game Of The Week: Miami at BC
The ‘Canes face the Eagles at Shea Field in a baseball game honoring BCPD......A9
chase from Cambridge had led into his hometown, bringing two dangerous and armed men into Watertown. “Once they got in the stolen car, Memorial Drive leads right to Watertown,” York said. “I don’t know if they were trying to get to the Mass. Pike or what they were trying to do. Fate brought them right into our neighborhood.” Before going back to sleep, York looked at his nightstand, where his cell phone had a text message from Tim Clark, the men’s hockey sports information director at Boston College. Clark’s message told York not to go outside for anything in the morning, because Watertown was on lockdown. “You can get up in the morning, and if you don’t turn the TV or radio on, just go out, which I customarily do at about 6:00 a.m,” York said. After going back to bed temporarily, York and his wife woke up again around 5:00 a.m. “There was just a feel,” York said. They turned on the TV, and didn’t
See York, A8
Editors’ Picks........................A9 BC Notes...............................A9
A2Column
Fashion Forward
picking the perfect dress for commencement, page B4 Scene and heard
illegally blonde
reese witherspoon gets in trouble with the law, page B4
The Heights
Thursday, January 17, 2013
album review
‘To be loved’
michael buble stays in his comfort zone as he re-interprets old favorites, b5
NOTES FROM
D N U O R G R UNDE Every spring, the Arts Festival reveals a world of talent behind the BC students we pass by every day: actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and artists. This year, a new collaborative event is showcasing the talents of less celebrated student artists working in more modern forms. Featuring an array of slam poets, rappers, DJs, break dancers, and electronic music artists, BC Underground is set to hit O’Neill Plaza on Friday at 9 p.m. This week, The Scene profiles eight of the featured artists, unearthing answers about what inspires their artistic passions. See BC Underground, B3 MAGGIE BURDGE / Heights GRAPHIC
THE HEIGHTS
B2
WILEY’S FOLLIES
Unmasking a culture of violence
Thursday, April 25, 2013
SCENE AND HEARD
BY: RYAN DOWD
JOHN WILEY Alone at separate tables, two strangers sit in a crowded cafe. Neither can begin to imagine why the other is there, and neither especially tries to care—all they know is they sit apart. And perhaps if they were to meet, they have nothing worthwhile there to say, but to wonder is too much. They’re paralyzed by their apartness, distant even in their stare. How does a conversation begin between two strangers? Can it even? Near everyday they could sit in the same cafe, and still effectively live a world apart. Most talk of violence in America is stifled by a conversation that never happened. More specifically, it’s a conversation we imagine happening someplace else—perhaps in Washington or Hollywood, perhaps in churches or neighbor’s homes, perhaps on the side of the left or the side of the right, but certainly not here, not where its so comfortable looking elsewhere. It’s never the problem here. It’s always the problem there. Following the Boston Marathon bombings, I hope for some genuine response from the artistic community—not just a benefit album, or a series of loosely constructed public statements, urging some sort of political action—but rather a serious investigation into how violence is portrayed, how it is glorified or rebuked with the arts. The brunt of the blame should fall on artists, when in many cases, art seems to be what pulls us from a state of violence. Yet following similarly tragic events of the past—the attacks on 9/11, the shooting in Aurora, the shooting in Newtown—I would have expected at least an increased sensitivity to violence, or an attempt to grapple a better understanding of it. Yet it seems the only response is a broad expansion of violence in film and television. When the violence in the cinema met violence in the cinema at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises last summer, an air of suspicion captured the nation. While most were quick to point to the killer, many others took time to point to the screen. And so comes about this great anomaly, that with certain qualification, we are comfortable with violence and even gratified by it. Yet under the same roof, violence can be a source of sheer horror and incredulity. The entire nation was disquieted by the happenings in Aurora, Col. Rightfully so, we felt nothing but contempt for the man who took pleasure in killing 12 people that night—but then, in a strange way, don’t we take pleasure in killing everyday? David Fincher’s Seven tracks the story of a strange serial killer who makes art of the act of murder itself, modeling the execution of his seven victims after the seven deadly sins. The film depicts a world in which a killer can be an artist, and although absurd in its telling, Seven captures an essential piece of the truth. We’ve made fetish of violence and gospel of these stories of killings, to the point that it’s become one of the most persistent aims at art. Perhaps our gratification in certain violent films and incredulity toward certain violent killing are simple manifestations of the same fascination. When portraits of violence can be accessible as a personal god, perhaps we feel just as entitled to them. Violence has become an institution, from which we derive an ad hoc moral code. To argue we need stricter gun control is jarring as any talk violent cinema should be barred—a clear consensus on either issue is as easily settled upon as a state religion, when so much of the American identity is contingent on our portraits of violence. And while we’ve been broadly desensitized to violence in the cinema, we grow ever sensitive to factual killing. How does a conversation begin between two strangers? Can it even? There’s comfort in apartness, sitting alone at a table, believing any wrongness in the world exists someplace else. But until we meet the stranger across the room, we can’t meet the stranger inside us. Until we can defrock the subject of violence, until we can address killing as killing—properly aligning the act with the art—we’re surrendered to be the strangers to even ourselves, staring at these portraits of violence, but effectively living a world apart from them.
John Wiley is the Asst. Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
2. THIS JUST-IN...
1. ILLEGALLY BLONDE
According to reports, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are at it again. The couple apparently met up over the weekend between shows over in cozy Norway, at the Thief Hotel. Maybe this means they have reconciled and are ready to give their generation-defining romance a second chance. Or maybe Gomez is only comforting Bieber over the loss of his pet monkey, Mally, which remains in Munich customs after Bieber could not provide proper documentation upon arrival four weeks ago.
Academy Award winning actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested last Friday after interfering with the arrest of her husband, Hollywood agent James Toth. Toth was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and reportedly blew a .139. Witherspoon now infamously said to the arresting officer, “Do you know my name?” Yes Reese, we know who you are. You happen to be fairly famous. The 37-year-old actress canceled her appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and has apologized profusely.
4. DODGEBALL SEQUEL You can dodge a ball (or a wrench) all you want, but you can never truly dodge a sequel. Fox has nabbed the somewhat obscure screenwriter Clay Tarver (Joyride) to pen a sequel to Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. It joins Anchorman as the second comedic, and ever so quotable classic of the 2000s to finally earn sequel status. Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller will reportedly join forces this time around.
3. THOR RETURNS
5. KEEPING MICHAEL AT BAY
The Marvel master plan is, well, proceeding just as planned. The first trailer for Thor: The Dark World was released last Tuesday and looks modestly entertaining. Thor, directed by Shakespearian auteur Kenneth Branagh and staring Chris Hemsworth, made $181 million back in 2011, a year before the The Avengers spectacle. The new trailer features a new (darker) villain; a lion-maned, hammer-brandishing Hemsworth; a danzled and distressed Natalie Portman; and finally (thankfully) a smirking, still scheming Loki.
Michael Bay is sorry for apologizing. Bay, in a statement to The Miami Herald, lamented that he had only 16 weeks of post-production on Armageddon, the 1998 asteroid blockbuster, and had to do all of the special effects on his lonesome. Keep calm Bayians, however, for Bay later issued a statement saying he only wished he had more time to finish the film and is still very proud of the film. Can’t a guy just film some cool explosions?
THE CRITICAL CURMUDGEON
@REALDONALDTRUMP (DONALD TRUMP, BUSINESSMAN)
PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOGLE
“AS EVERYBODY KNOWS, BUT THE HATERS & LOSERS REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE, ‘I DO NOT WEAR A WIG.’ MY HAIR MAY NOT BE PERFECT, BUT IT’S MINE.”
Storm Thorgeson, who passed away this week, was a renowned graphic artist, lauded for his album designs for Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
Judging books, and CD’s, by their covers MATT MAZZARI They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. That’s great when you take it to mean that people shouldn’t label others prematurely, but what about in the literal sense? When you look at a book, you can’t just ignore its cover. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have any idea what was going on inside of it until you started reading! Helpful covers are why I don’t walk into a library looking for Johnny Tremain and accidentally come out with a Playboy magazine. At least, not all the time. “Ah, dammit, another one full of naked women! I could have sworn this was going to be Shiloh!” Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because, in honor of Storm Thorgeson, the topic I’d like to discuss this week is album artwork, the dos-and-don’ts and oh-alright-just-this-onces of LP covers. Thorgeson, who just died of cancer this week at 69, was one of the most renowned graphic artists for album artwork that ever lived. He’s often associated with Pink Floyd because of the extensive work he did for them—including The Dark Side of the Moon, one of the most iconic album designs ever made—but over the course of his immensely prolific career he also designed covers for Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Dream Theater, Genesis, and many more. An intensely imaginative and talented artist, he left behind a legacy of artwork ranging from poignantly simple to mind-bendingly bizarre. My
personal favorite of his work is the cover he made for Wish You Were Here, which also happens to be my favorite Pink Floyd album by far. Coincidence? Well, perhaps. I’d like to say that an attractive, engaging album cover is a sure-fire sign of good music and vice-versa, but it’s obviously a bit more complicated than that. Still, a well-made cover of any album is doing a great deal of work: it has to draw you in, earn your continued attention, all while setting the tone for the music contained. A good album cover can do wonders for sales and even become a historic image if the music inside is worth a damn. Think of Nevermind, Born to Run, or literally any album by the Beatles after Help! Hundreds of creative people have come up with gimmicks to catch eyes in the music store, some of them even going as far as including actual illusions, hidden messages, and puzzles. The Led Zeppelin III vinyl release had a wheel embedded beneath the first layer of the cover that you can spin to reveal new pictures of the band members. Many groups have since used that idea, including the contemporary Portland band Menomena for their album Friend and Foe. Sometimes famous mainstream artists even get involved, like Andy Warhol did for the Velvet Underground and Nico by making a banana sticker that you could peel off to reveal the skinless banana underneath, hence the alternate title Peel Back and See. There are outstanding possibilities for inventive photography and art with every album cover that gets released.
The medium is crucial to the commercial aspect of the industry, not to mention it’s the first impression an album makes before the headphones even go in. That’s why I’m always so frustrated with Top 40 artists who crank out album after album with just an action shot of their photoshopped mug on it. Sure, a lot of great bands are guilty of slapping goofy, grinning photo-shoots on their debut LPs, but nowadays it’s like there’s a formulaic approach to it. Taylor Swift, is this picture of you swinging your hair around really all you want representing your songs? Chris Brown, is this picture of you wearing a suit and not looking at the camera actually illustrative of your entire discography? Here’s a chance to leave a mark on people’s brains, why not take it? It stands to reason that when you’re more famous for your look than for your musicality, you’re going to tend for a selfportrait on your album cover so everyone knows, “Hey, look over here! Buy this album ‘cuz I’ve got sex-appeal!” Of course, many great contemporary artists like Jack White, Beck, Santigold, the Flaming Lips, etc. are releasing extraordinary stylized artwork all the time, so the medium isn’t dead. Still, I wonder, 50 years from now, what will be the next iconic covers that everybody from the ’00s and ’10s remembers seeing? R.I.P. Thorgeson, you will be sorely missed.
Matt Mazzari is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
@GAYCINEPHILE (SHIT GAY CINEPHILES SAY, HUMOR)
“OKAY, SO I HEARD THE LANA DEL REY SONG FOR GATSBY, AND I KEPT SEEING THE WORDS ‘ACADEMY AWARD WINNER LANA DEL REY’ FLASH ACROSS MY MIND. HELP.” @PRODIGALSAM (SAMMY RHODES, HUMOR)
“CAN WE GO BACK TO WHEN ‘DON’T STOP BELIEVING’ WAS JUST A RANDOM ’80S SONG INSTEAD OF THE ANTHEM FOR WHITE PEOPLE?” @DEMANDACTION (DEMAND ACTION, ADVOCACY)
“@SNOOPLION TO CONGRESS ON GUNS: ‘GET OFF YOUR A**’ #DEMANDACTION”
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THE HEIGHTS
Thursday, April 25, 2013
B3
Vanessa Menchaca
Alex Lam
Emcee/Comedian
A&S ’13 Los Angeles, CA
“Everything bothers me in this world, and that’s why I speak so aggressively about it.” Vanessa Menchaca will be emcee for BC Underground on Friday night, a role she plans to extend into standup. “I actually started standup when I was 11,” she said. “Yeah, I was like an awful kid to raise.” Around that age, her work in standup comedy began with a successful run in the Original Oratory category of debate. She was approached to host BC Underground after her work at the OLAA showcase. Her comedy is something she describes as a product of her anxieties. “I have really severe anxiety. I had a panic attack during Easter Sunday Mass at St. Ignatius, so my perceptions of the world are really skewed.” Concerns like finding a job or a significant other, and similar everyday anxieties becomes the musings of Menchaca’s comedy. And while she describes her experiences as limited—she has no idea what a 401k is and has never paid a bill in her life—her life certainly has been graced by a few extraordinary occurrences. “I’ve almost been kidnapped in India. I was definitely almost kidnapped in Morocco. People tried to sell me for two cows there. It’s just been a really great life experience.” Menchaca keeps her comedy predominantly clean, and takes inspiration from artists like Maria Bamford. Her specialties include an impersonation of “BC girl,” and while no one can be quite sure what to expect from her Friday night, perhaps some talk of Chobani and the Plex is in order.
Johnny Pham
Break Dancer
A&S ’15 Lynn, MA
A Massachusetts native, Johnny Pham, A&S ’15, is a self-taught break-dancer. He began practicing when he was just a sophomore in high school, not only through clubs, but also outside of extracurricular commitments, getting together weekly with friends and simply having fun. Although this style of dance doesn’t have an apparently visible presence on campus, once at BC, Pham found an outlet for his art through Conspiracy Theory, a group that focuses mostly on street dancing—popping, locking, and breaking included. “A lot of dance groups here,” Pham said, “are all about doing choreography, but for us, we really want to emphasize individuality, expressing what we feel when we hear the music.” Pham’s style, thus, is dependent not on strictly memorized routines, but rather, on immediate, sharp, and emotive reactions—it’s this sense of urgency and improvisation that makes it so captivating. Obviously, unique creativity and raw talent are important to breakdancing, but it takes more than that: “It requires a lot of discipline,” Pham said honestly. It takes practice and dedication, and, more than that, it takes a sincere love for the art, a love that Pham definitely has, “I’m just really passionate about what I do,” he said.
DJ
CSOM ’13 Lochaneta, CA
When Alex Lam talks about electronic music, it’s clear he knows his stuff. He can tell anecdotes about legendary DJ prodigy A-Trak, explain how electronic music evolved from a “weird nebulous art form” to its present ubiquity in pop music, and chat about Daft Punk’s comeback and deep house DJ Maceo Plex. Yet Lam understands that the heart of electronic music lies not in deep musical knowledge but in the moment, in an intuitive understanding of audience dynamics. “The main thing about it is when you’re looking out at the crowd, what’s getting them to react,” Lam said, “what is the thing that’s building and releasing tension.” Lam doesn’t seek a constant series of build-ups and drops—instead, he said that the best electronic music is all “about building that energy and giving that one big euphoric release at the end.” Lam has been able to hone his skills since freshman year, when he first started DJing on vinyl and founded Electronic State of Mind (ESM), with his friend Rodaan Rabang, A&S ’13. The club soon became a community for electronic music devotees on campus, a place to trade ideas and learn the ropes of music production. Lam said that electronic music has largely been overlooked as an art form, even stigmatized, and that he’s hoping to raise awareness and appreciation of it. This year’s Arts Festival offers perhaps his biggest opportunity yet, and Lam said he’ll be prepping a set for the occasion, and “figuring out how I’m going to essentially tell a story with the music.”
jay thomas
DJ
A&S ’15 Hillsborough, NJ
“My biggest inspiration right now is definitely Dillon Francis, because he’s self-made. Literally, he went into a room for 365 days and built his career right there, and now he’s doing big things. I’d love to do that if I could.” Jay Thomas, A&S ’15, attended his first DJ workshop with Electronic State of Mind (ESM) the October of his freshman year—a moment that peaked his interest in the EDM genre. He began performing at events around campus during the spring of last year through EDM, a line of work involving mostly collaborations, mixing for courses held at the Plex, and working at parties. His craft is designedly a manipulation of the crowd. With recent developments in technologies, most of a DJ’s work is reserved to a computer and controller that rout directly to music libraries. Aside from a basic knowledge of beat matching, Thomas characterizes his work with EDM as a reading of the crowd. “You’ve got to read the crowd. You’ve got to figure out what they want to listen to, what they want to dance to—if they want to grind for a while, if they want to rage for a while—it’s whatever.”
notes from bc underground BY SEAN KEELEY, ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR | ARIANA IGNERI, ASSOC. ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR | JOHN WILEY, ASST. ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR
Alex Li
Spoken Word Artist
William bolton
Electronic Dance Musician
A&S ’14 Cambridge, MA
“I just write when I feel something,” said Alex Li when asked what inspires his poetry. “I always say, I can only write when my muse visits me, but I can’t decide when my muse visits.” Hailing from Cambridge, Mass. Li first got interested in spoken word art during high school, watching countless videos of slam poets like Josh Bennett, Daniel Beady, and Sarah Kay. Li’s come a long way since then, even sharing a stage with Bennett when he visited BC a few weeks ago. “It was like performing with Jesus,” he laughed. Li’s talent hasn’t gone unnoticed, as he frequently receives invitations to perform his poetry or even craft a themed poem for particular occasions. But he said he can’t do that—his poetry has to come about organically, arising from his own personal experience. As a result, Li said that many of his poems remain unfinished, drafts resulting from a sudden burst of inspiration whose time has passed. Thanks to feedback from fellow poets on campus, Li has learned to fight the impulse to write when the spirit doesn’t move him. It’s part of his artistic credo, because he prizes authenticity above all. Li takes his art very seriously, but he’s not afraid to break rules, and he clearly has no interest in reducing spoken word art to a simplistic definition. “That’s the beauty of spoken word, it’s so dynamic,” he said, “you can do whatever you want with it.”
luis torres
Spoken Word Artist A&S ’16 The Bronx, NY
Before he came to BC from the Bronx, spoken word poetry was hardly on Luis Torres’s radar. In high school he had some interest in writing, but he entered BC undecided—until an influential advisor convinced him to do English with a creative writing concentration. What really started Torres’s creative juices flowing, though, was a chance invitation from a friend to join a spoken word poetry team. Though a relative novice, Torres has garnered significant attention from his work, especially a standout performance at an OLAA culture show this year. For Torres, the key word in the phrase “spoken word poetry” is the first one. The voice and the delivery are just as important, if not more so, than the words. “When I write something, just reading it off a paper, I never feel that it’s good until I get down how I’m supposed to perform something,” he said. Torres’s poetry is deeply personal, reflecting his own life experiences and focusing on themes of cultural diversity. “I’m from the inner city, so most of the time when I’m back home I’m surrounded by Latinos and blacks,” Torres said, “so when I came here it was important to preach cultural diversity because it’s something that’s now affecting me.” Torres will get to preach to his biggest audience yet when he performs in the lineup at BC Underground on Friday night.
CSOM ’16 Detroit, MI
In class, he’s William Bolton, but on stage, he’s Times New Roman. Either way, the CSOM freshman has made quite the name for himself with his idiosyncratic musical style while at BC. Competing in this year’s Battle of the Bands, Bolton astounded the audience with his unique sound—best described as a blend of vintage, Motown soul, and modern indie electronica. “I’m … not a rapper,” he said, “But basically, what I do is produce hip hop beats with electronic influences, and instead of rapping, I sing over them with a Motown-soul feel.” Growing up in Detroit, Mich. Bolton started playing guitar in the sixth grade. He began to develop his own personal style throughout high school, using his brother’s recording equipment to lay down tracks. Confident and distinctive, his sound blends both old and new elements. He finds inspiration for his music in a number of different places—so whether on Pandora, on Spotify, or in a record store, Bolton said that he’s “always searching for something to sample.” Bolton, who will be performing this weekend for Arts Fest, explained that he’ll “probably start venturing out into Boston pretty soon” to reach a wider audience. As he’s entirely self-promoted, he understands how difficult it can be to make it in the music world, but he said, “It’s definitely doable. You just have to come up with the right strategy.”
sha-lee f lavius
Rapper
CSOM ’14 Roxbury, MA
Rapper Sha-Lee Flavius (Mr. WakeUpp) became interested in music as many do—from a very young age, he performed shows with his cousins at family events and at friends’ birthday parties. It wasn’t PHOTOS BY GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR until Flavius came to BC, however, that he began to take his passion for rapping seriously. His freshman year, he actually released a couple of mixtapes, and he even made the difficult decision to take a year off from school to promote his music, working with several different producers down in Atlanta. The Roxbury, Mass. junior, though, is now back at school, pursuing a marketing degree in addition to his rapping career. Flavius, inspired by both Bob Marley and Michael Jackson, bases much of his style and many of his methods on those of artists that he admires. Describing his creative process, he said, “For me it differs, sometimes I lay it out like a story—bang, bang, bang. And sometimes, I just tell one of my friends, and he starts playing a guitar … and next thing you know we’re making a whole song … and then we just lay it down.” No matter how Flavius comes up with his songs though, he explains that when it comes to music and to rapping, you just know what’s right—“You just feel it.”
THE HEIGHTS
B4
Thursday, April 25, 2013
KEELEY’S CORNER
NETFLIX NEXUS BY LUIZA JUSTUS
Canceled, now beloved sci-fi Western ‘Firefly’ lives on TITLE: Firefly YEAR: 2002 CREATED BY: Joss Whedon STARRING: Nathan Fillion WHY: This witty space Western, canceled after just one season, fits right into the era of binge consumption. Addicts be warned.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES
Every once in a great while, networks release a new television show that is simply so unique and intriguing that some cannot remember what life was like without it. Some of these shows form a solid but narrow fan base, and then the unthinkable happens: the show gets canceled. When the ratings are subpar, series get canceled so quickly that the devoted followers grieve for a little bit, but then move on with their lives. This was not the case when Firefly got taken off the air. This critically acclaimed series, starring Nathan Fillion, is an adventure-filled sci-fi Western—an incredibly well-written and entertaining space opera. This is not a surprise, since it was created by the one and only Joss Whedon, also responsible for The Avengers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Absolutely riveting and at times hilarious, the single season of this show will satisfy viewers who are looking for something to get addicted to. When Fox canceled the show, there was such an upheaval from fans that a follow-up movie, 2005’s Serenity, was made to conclude the story. Both are now available on Netflix, so that the Firefly fandom can live on.
FASHION FORWARD
Navigating the online dress jungle With Commencement approaching, pick the right dress a month left of school, I decided to attack this situation head on and purchase my dresses way ahead of time. If you’re a normal person and have looked at a calendar recently, you’re probably comfortable with the twenty-something days you have to choose a dress. Here is some helpful advice I can offer in pursuit of the perfect dress for both highly anticipated and dreaded events to come.
TAYLOR CAVALLO Dresses, dresses, dresses. My friends can attest to the fact that I have been talking about dresses non-stop for the past two weeks. Not just because the weather is slowly getting warmer and they’re becoming more and more acceptable to wear as the days go on, but for two major events that are coming up: Commencement Ball and graduation. As I’m sure has been true for many of my class of 2013 female peers, I have been putting a lot of time and effort into my big dress decisions. After all, Commencement seems to be the prom of Boston College, and who doesn’t want to go to prom again … I would willingly go with almost any high school aged boy I know just to get dressed up once more (sad, I know). I finally got the whole predicament settled yesterday when I ordered my final dress off Nordstrom’s website, much to the great pleasure of my friends, boyfriend, and parents who have been unfortunately forced to listen to me go on and on about something seemingly so shallow. I am here to insist, however, that it is an important decision. It’s our final fancy hoorah at BC, and we want to go out with a bang, snag some great photos at the Common (it better not rain), and have a killer dress to expose after we rip off the overwhelmingly polyester cap and gown. I am a person who enjoys dressing up—any occasion that demands a fancy dress, heels, and accent jewelry is one that I am sure to enjoy, and I’m, of course, not alone in this sentiment. While I hate to make this a gendered column, girls tend to get more excited about these things than men, the reason being (probably along with some sort of biological discrepancy that perhaps programs girls to be more drawn to peplum and lace) that there are simply so many choices for daytime, cocktail, and evening dresses. As an avid online shopper, I thought that I could handle this swiftly and responsibly. It wouldn’t take me, a constant peruser of online fashion, a long time to pick a dress. I knew where to look. Upon starting the process, I freaked out, and became overwhelmed with all of the options. Not fully realizing that I had
Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Saks You simply can’t go wrong with these three sites, and they should be your first option, if only to get the first big selection out of the way. Their variety is unmatched and they have search options that can help you narrow down your seemingly infinite search by desired color, dress length, and size, so you don’t fall in love with something only to be disappointed it doesn’t come in your size (which happened to me many times). While the dresses are priced as expected for these three high-end department stores, there are certainly reasonable options there as well. All it takes is a little searching. Shopbop This online store tends to be a bit more expensive, but has unique dresses and brands that might not be offered on the three aforementioned sites. If you want to invest a bit more into a statement piece that could last you a long time, Shopbop is your goto. Don’t be intimated by the thousand-dollar Herve Leger dresses (I wasn’t, I was drooling over them instead), there are more affordable options as well. No shame in searching through the sale dresses! Threadflip Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets of online shopping, Threadflip is sort of like the thrift store experience meets eBay of vintage shopping. Most cocktail dresses on the site are ridiculously cheap, but also extremely cute. The problem with the site, however, like vintage shopping, is that the selection is usually limited: only one item in a specific size. If a particular dress doesn’t come in your size, you’re out of luck, but the potential hidden treasures here are worth the risk. The dresses here are unique and from all over, so you reduce the chance of the stereotypical “every girl’s worst nightmare” situation of showing up in the same dress as someone else. The most important thing to remember is that no matter what, you will find a dress for both occasions, you’ll be absolutely beautiful, and you’ll have a fantastic time. A great dress never hurt anyone, though.
Taylor Cavallo is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES
Commencement offers one final chance for BC girls to dazzle with the perfectly chosen dress. Online shoppers should head to Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Saks, Shopbop, and Threadflip to explore their diverse catalogs.
THIS WEEKEND in arts
BY: ARIANA IGNERI | ASSOC. ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR
Thursday
Friday
1. AVENUE Q (THURSDAY 4/25, 7:30PM)
3. BC UNDERGROUND (FRIDAY, 4/26 7:00PM)
Avenue Q is an amusing, contemporary coming-ofage story presented in the form of puppetry theater. The show is directed by BC Professor Stuart J. Hecht with the assistance of professional puppeteers. It will be running each night through the weekend in Robsham, with an additional matinee performance on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Student tickets are $10.
The first event of its kind, BC Underground is a collaborative effort to bring the underrepresented artists of campus into the spotlight. Electronic musicians, DJs, rappers, spoken word poets, breakdancers, and hip-hop dancers will all come together to perform and compete in this exciting event in O’Neill Plaza.
Saturday
4. UNFORGETTABLE: LETTERS FROM KOREA (SATURDAY 4/27, 2:00PM) Written and developed by BC professor Susan Thompson, Unforgettable is a touching and intimate play based on the actual, archival Korean War love letters of 2nd Lt. Dwight S. Thompson and Cleora B. Barnes. The play will be in the Bonn Studio Theater, and admission is free.
2. CHASING ICE (THURSDAY, 4/25 7:00PM)
5. DANCING WITH BOP! (SATURDAY 4/27, 8:00PM)
An award-winning documentary, Chasing Ice is a visually astounding film that uses time-lapse cameras to documents changes in the glacial landscape of the Arctic. The event will be in Devlin Hall, and it will include a book signing with James Balog, who launched the project, a screening of the film, and a discussion.
An evening filled with the big-band jazz of BC bOp!, Dancing with bOp! will showcase original student choreography by campus groups including BCDE, Fuego, Phaymus, and Swing Kids, amongst others. The event will take place in O’Neill Plaza, and for students, admission is free.
PHOTO BY ZACK LANE, COURTESY OF BC ARTS COUNCIL
The sweet sounds of movie music
SEAN KEELEY This week, the ever-polarizing Lana Del Rey returned to pop music consciousness with the release of her new song “Young and Beautiful,” taken from the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Well, of course. It’s almost too obvious of a match. Lana Del Rey: that sultry, eccentric, sad, Americanaobsessed enigma of a singer, whose music is alternately hypnotic and nauseating. Baz Luhrmann: the director of such glitzy but overthe-top spectacles as Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet, now turning Fitzgerald’s classic novel into a 3-D blockbuster extravaganza. Love them or hate them, Del Rey and Luhrmann seem to be made for each other. Both seem curiously out of their time, consciously channeling the artistic influences of earlier periods—’50s and ’60s pop Americana for Del Rey, classic Hollywood epics and musicals for Luhrmann—even while recasting them in strange new molds. And both Lana Del Rey and Baz Luhrmann, it must be said, usually take their stylistic eccentricities way too far, to the point of absurdity and excess. I have no idea if The Great Gatsby will be a good movie or not, but I will undoubtedly go to the theater to find out with everyone else, watching intently to see if it’s a train wreck or some kind of strange masterpiece. (For some reason I can’t imagine it falling anywhere in the middle.) No matter how the movie turns out, though, I do think Luhrmann knows what he’s doing with the soundtrack. I would never have thought to commission tracks by Jay-Z and Jack White for a movie set in the Roaring Twenties, but I admire the boldness behind such a move. Luhrmann is clearly making the soundtrack an integral part of the film, and he seems intent on breaking boundaries of what constitutes acceptable film scoring. Movie soundtracks are a funny thing. For every iconic movie score—Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Godfather, The Lord of the Rings—there are hundreds more that will remain forgotten, never listened to except in the context of the film itself and even then buried under layers of dialogue and sound effects. Some filmmakers would say that’s fine, since soundtracks are meant to subtly underscore a film’s action without overpowering it. But some of my favorite movie soundtracks do something different, by consciously meshing pop music and film in provocative and counterintuitive ways. This whole trend began as an accident. When doing the first round of edits on his classic 1967 comedy The Graduate, director Mike Nichols threw a few Simon & Garfunkel tracks on the soundtrack as placeholders, and soon realized that the movie couldn’t do without them. Now it’s hard to imagine The Graduate without hearing “Mrs. Robinson,” and hard to conceive that the movie’s ending would have the same emotional kick without “The Sounds of Silence.” The idealistic and wistful tone of those songs, combined with their generational significance, made them the perfect backdrop for the story of Benjamin Braddock. Nichols started a trend that couldn’t be undone, as directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola jazzed up movies like Mean Streets and Apocalypse Now with the sounds of ’70s rock. For textbook examples of how pop music can bring on-screen action to a new kind of life, watch the hallucinatory opening montage of Apocalypse Now set to The Doors’ “The End,” or the Goodfellas dead body montage set to the piano outro of “Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes. Both scenes depict ugly sights of murder and atrocity, yet the music elevates them to a level beyond the grisly details and into strangely sublime territory. I like when movie music does that—when it breaks beyond the realm of innocuous background noise and jolts us with its capacity to change the intonation of a scene. That’s what Harmony Korine does in Spring Breakers with Britney Spears’s “Everytime,” turning the pop princess’s self-pitying anthem into the unlikely backdrop for a crime spree, in a scene that is at once hilarious and horrifying. Quentin Tarantino pulls off a similar feat in all his movies, but especially in Django Unchained. Lately I can’t stop listening to “Unchained” from the movie’s soundtrack, a track that seamlessly meshes Tupac, James Brown, and classic Western soundtrack stylings in a tight threeminute package. In the context of the movie, it provides the perfect cathartic kick during a bloody shootout while perfectly encapsulating all of the stylistic influences Tarantino is playing with. It remains to be seen whether Luhrmann can pull off such a dynamic score with the new Gatsby movie. But I have to admit that the soundtrack for the movie makes me more excited than any of the footage I’ve seen, and certainly more so than the dubious casting. I don’t think a good soundtrack can compensate for a mediocre movie, but perhaps Luhrmann will be able to integrate the music and his images into a coherent vision. I suppose we’ll have to wait till May 10 to find out.
Sean Keeley is the Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
THE HEIGHTS
Thursday, April 25, 2013
B5
Buble maintains classic sound with ‘To Be Loved’
CHART TOPPERS TOP SINGLES
BY ARIANA IGNERI Assoc. Arts & Review Editor He’s no Frank Sinatra, but Michael Buble sure is the closest thing to Ol’ Blue Eyes that this generation’s got. With his crooning vocals, classic style, and swinging tunes, Buble represents a kind of contemporary nostalgia—though vintage and retro, he’s still radio-friendly. Paying tribute to such traditional, big-band influences like Sinatra, the Canadian pop singer’s eighth and latest album release, To Be Loved, features a number of long-time favorites as well as few co-written originals—the most, in fact, ever included on a Buble record. Despite four new songs, To Be Loved finds Buble very much in his comfort zone, amid trumpeting horns, lightly dancing keys, and walking bass lines—a sound unmistakably reminiscent of dusty record players and old jukeboxes. His album, as a whole, is essentially formulaic, consisting of creative reinterpretations that apply modern, pop elements to conventional, jazz foundations. And really, there’s not too much here that sets this release apart from his seven other previous ones, including the chart toppers Crazy Love and Christmas. This record’s predictability, however, is not quite enough to deny it any sense of substantiality, because, actually it’s an incredibly enjoyable listen. One of the best songs on To Be
Loved is the first one: a remake of the wedding song staple, “You Make Me Feel So Young.” With its bright brass section and skipping piano melody, Buble’s track comes quite close to Sinatra’s highly popularized version of the 1940s favorite. Several other times throughout the length of the album’s track list, Buble steps into Sinatra’s shoes, including on the songs like “Come Dance With Me,” a suave, salsa-eque track, and “Something Stupid,” a song that Buble recorded with the actress Reese Witherspoon. Though she’s definitely an unexpected duet partner, her delicate, vulnerable voice seems truly authentic, and it complements Buble’s decently. Witherspoon isn’t the only guest artist that Buble enlists, however—on tracks like “Have I Told You Lately” and “Nevertheless (I’m In Love With You)” he sings alongside Naturally 7 and The Puppini Sisters, respectively. The most striking duet, though, is on the original song “After All,” showcasing a performance from rocker Bryan Adams. Among the other tracks, this one seems inconsistent. Interestingly juxtaposing the sounds of its two vocalists, “After All” is both fast paced and loud, and though it’s not one of the strongest songs on To Be Loved, it is one of the most blatantly suited for air play. Other originals on the record include “Close Your Eyes,” “I Got It Easy,” and “It’s A Beautiful Day.” The first two of the aforementioned
1 Just Give Me A Reason Pink feat. Nate Reuss 2 Thrift Shop Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz 3 When I Was Your Man Bruno Mars 4 Stay Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko 5 Can’t Hold Us Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton 6 Suit & Tie Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z 7 Mirrors Justin Timberlake
TO BE LOVED MICHAEL BUBLE PRODUCED BY REPRISE RECORDS RELEASED APR. 23, 2013 OUR RATING B
PHOTO COURTESY OF REPRISE RECORDS
Comprised predominately of remakes, Michael Buble’s seventh release is solidly consistent, but predicatble. songs are tender and sweet ballads, testaments of love that will most assuredly please. The latter song, “It’s A Beautiful Day,” is the lead single off To Be Loved, and while it is patently catchy, it’s also practically identical to Buble’s other hit, “Haven’t Met You Yet.” Basic, peppy, piano chords characterize the intros of both songs, making it almost impossible to tell the two apart. Still, its optimistic tone and sunny horns will secure its radio success.
The album’s most fun and surprising song, though, is Buble’s cover of the beloved track, “You’ve Got A Friend In Me,” which was penned by Randy Newman for Disney’s animated film Toy Story. As Buble sings the cherished lyrics, the orchestra swings and hops, playfully bouncing around before jumping into a bold and exciting romp. The song exhibits Buble at his finest, creatively and musically. Buble absolutely has some shining
moments on this album, but it’s not a record of innovation—it’s one of rendition. And since he’s an artist known, and, actually, loved for his ability to reinterpret and rerecord classics, is it honestly fair to expect anything more from him? Ultimately, Buble does what he sets out to do, novelty aside. The classics, after all, are classics for a reason, and Buble remains true to that fact on To Be Loved, as he has always done throughout the whole of his career.
TOP ALBUMS
1 Paramore Paramore 2 Wheelhouse Brad Paisely 3 The 20/20 Experience Justin Timberlake 4 Based On A True Story Blake Shelton Source: Billboard.com
Snoop Lion’s ‘Reincarnated’ reminiscent of Marley’s reggae style BY JOHN WILEY Asst. Arts & Review Editor Music takes itself too seriously. Snoop Lion, the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg, gets at just that with his reggae album Reincarnated. And while it’s entirely possible
that Snoop Lion was too ridiculously high in the studio to even realize he was recording this album, were he to remember its happening, he’d likely recognize Reincarnated as a culmination of his career, and that all his prior work with weed rap was a simply different facet of the same job— re-
claiming the soul of Bob Marley. Snoop is an iconic artist without an iconic album, and though no one seems entirely sure who he is or what he’s done, we find ourselves enamored with his persona. While Reincarnated may fall short of iconic, it certainly is memorable, and surprisingly enjoy-
REINCARNATED SNOOP LION PRODUCED BY MAD DECENT RECORDS RELEASED APR. 23, 2013 OUR RATING A-
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAD DECENT RECORDS
The iconic artist Snoop Dog reinvents himself as Snoop Lion on his latest psychadelic rap album, ‘Reincarnated.’
able. With tracks like “Lighters Up” and “Smoke the Weed,” for the first time in the history of psychedelic rap, drug culture isn’t merely alluded to or suggested—it’s imperative (“Smoke the weed, everyday / Don’t smoke the seeds, no way / Smoke the weed, hey / Smoke the weed”). In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Gus Portokalos abides by the sweeping suggestion that “every ailment from psoriasis to poison ivy can be cured with Windex.” So it seems Snoop Lion holds weed similarly central to his worldview. The great maladies of civilized society—running the gamut from gun violence to oppression—can be easily remedied by a daily dose of marijuana as far as Snoop Lion is concerned. And though it’s strikingly absurd, Snoop Lion’s message in Reincarnated is the closest any popular artist has come to a model for world peace (“Sound off in that Paris / Roll call in Lebanon / Many leros in Mexico / Can you hear me, the whole kingdom”). What if I told you Snoop Lion recorded a song titled “Ashtrays and Heartbreaks” with Miley Cyrus? What if I told you he recorded a song
called “Remedy” with Busta Rhymes and Chris Brown? If I told you it was horrifying, you’d likely believe me, but what if it was only horrifying because it worked? What if it was only horrifying because it’s something unknowingly I’ve been waiting my life to hear? What if I told you after 10 tracks or so, I began to accept the transformation of Snoop Dogg into Snoop Lion as less of a gimmick, and more of a universal truth? What if I told you I could properly qualify his new sound as distinctly lion, and much less dog, and that this qualification felt so genuine that any claim he’s still Snoop Dogg would simply strike me as wrong? Would you continue reading this review or would you begin planning an intervention of a sort? I don’t want to say Reincarnated is brilliant. I don’t want to tell you “No Guns Allowed” features one of Drake’s best verses. I don’t want to acknowledge trap music and reggae find cohesiveness in Snoop Lion’s compilations with Major Lazer. I don’t want to claim Snoop Lion makes a clear pass at profundity. And yet, I struggle finding the
words to tell you otherwise. I’ll be damned to tell you Marley has been reincarnated in a 41-year-old rapper from Long Beach, California, and yet somewhere deeply rooted in my imagination, this stands as a distinct possibility. To preserve what remains of my composure, let me simply tell you that Snoop Lion sounds deeply inspired on this album, and reserve the rest to speculation. Reincarnated does not succeed in the way a good album ought to succeed. Technically speaking, the sound is disjointed and carelessly produced at points. Transitions between songs are sloppy, almost as if the producer was too high to figure out how to properly end each song. The album doesn’t quite read like an artistic vision, but rather acts as a lucid string of sounds, likely ending when everyone got too hungry to keep recording. And yet, Snoop Lion manages to sell it. While most won’t believe the album to mark the reincarnation of Marley, it does seem music is quite capable of reincarnating itself, and the voice of Marley does especially resonate with our time.
Musically generic and lyrically weak, will.i.am’s latest lacks power BY BERNADETTE DERON Heights Staff There are so many problems with will.i.am’s fourth studio album, starting with the title: “#willpower.” Let’s stop with the hash tags, people. Having one track with a hashtag in its title is enough (“#thatPOWER” feat. Justin Bieber). There is no reason to have two hashtags, or any hashtags for that matter, in any setting that is not on Twitter. Then there is the album artwork: a closeup portrait of will.i.am sporting some “cutting-edge” haircut, trying to look tough and hard. Will.i.am can’t possibly think that his face plastered all over a CD will help him sell records. Then there are the tracks. After releasing the first two major singles from this album, “Scream and Shout” feat. Britney Spears and “#thatPOWER” feat. Justin Bieber, it was clear that there was nothing huge to anticipate, because those two singles sounded identical. You could take the vocals of Britney and put it over the beat of the other single, and it would sound exactly
the same. Unfortunately, the rest of will.i.am’s record sounds pretty much the same as well. Will.i.am recruited a ton of guest artists for his record, including Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Eva Simmons, Juicy J, and big time producer/DJ Afrojack, just to name a few. But even these superstars can’t salvage the atrocity of this record. “Hello” feat. Afrojack starts off promisingly, but will.i.am overcasts the nicely-produced progressive beat with his annoying auto-tuned voice and tasteless, vapid lyrics. Since when is the phrase, “All of my friends” repeated eight times a legitimate chorus? This is the case for all the tracks on this record: they start off okay, sound like they could be good, but then will.i.am comes in and ruins everything. He attempts to go into a few different genres of EDM, such as traditional progressive house, trap style, deep house, and dub step. But it just doesn’t work—at all. The song “Freshy” feat. Juicy J is beyond ridiculous, with lyrics such as “This car right here I
made, I made / I am, I am, I stay paid / You didn’t know? Now you do / Motherf—r like me stay cool.” The track “Geekin’” claims that will. i.am makes “Google money,” and he compares himself to Mark Zuckerberg. He also uses the phrase “hashtag” on this song, as in, “Cause they just want my dope #extortion.” Another hashtag, really? Not to discredit will.i.am, some lyrics actually do hold meaning. But there is always something there that negates anything positive about the track. On “Ghetto Ghetto” feat. Baby Kaely, which is the only un-auto-tuned track, will.i.am is actually rapping about serious struggles that are felt in low-income neighborhoods, but the extremely childish chorus by Baby Kaely sounds misplaced and unprofessional. A good concept in theory, but it just doesn’t work here. The best song on the record next to the summer 2012 hit “This Is Love” feat. Eva Simmons, is “Love Bullets,” probably because will.i.am is barely singing on the track, and it’s mostly just the lovely Skylar Grey.
It’s a miracle that will.i.am even had the means to release another record after his last disaster of a single “T.H.E (The Hardest Ever). Will.i.am tries to come off as cutting-edge and innovative, but his album is as generic as dance-pop can get. There’s nothing wrong with liking generic music—music
is music at the end of the day, and everyone has their own opinion. But will.i.am blatantly ripped off the beats of other DJs and used them on his record without permission, namely on the track “Let’s Go” feat. Chris Brown. Arty and Mat Zo’s trance hit “Rebound” was used without ever consulting with their
record label, and will.i.am finally admitted to ripping off the beat on Tuesday on Kiss FM. He claims that they are “solving the issue,” but admitting to using someone else’s sound doesn’t give you much credibility as an artist. Seriously, how does this guy keep getting paid to make music?
#WILLPOWER WILL.I.AM PRODUCED BY INTERSCOPE RECORDS RELEASED APR. 19, 2013 OUR RATING D
PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERSCOPE RECORDS
Even with the extensive range of guest artists featured on the album, ‘#willpower’ proves incredibly disappointing.
SINGLE REVIEWS BY MAGDALENA LACHOWICZ Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky” Arguably one of the most anticipated releases of the year, Daft Punk’s latest single release delivers, featuring the band’s signature funk alongside Williams’ chill vocals. Though still as groovy as you’d expect, the sound is grown-up and smooth, solidifying “Get Lucky” as proof that Daft Punk still has it.
Fall Out Boy “Young Volcanoes”
Laidback Luke & Hardwell “Dynamo” Danceable in that rock song way, Fall Out Boy serves up a sing-along tune from their latest album. Patrick Stump’s crisp voice belts, “We are wild / We are like young volcanoes” over a toe-tapping drum beat and folksy acoustic guitar, giving the song a more mature feel than its catchiness lets on.
Two of EDM’s big names have collaborated on what is bound to be a staple track in summer DJ sets. Though not necessarily anthemic, it provides just the right balance between throbbing bass and catchy chord progression to be a perfect filler track that could please mainstream and underground palettes alike.
B6
The Heights
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The Heights
B7
B8
The Heights
Thursday, April 25, 2013
It’s easy to spot new wrinkles. Not so easy to see the onset of eye disease. An eye doctor can spot the early warning signs of vision problems like glaucoma and serious health conditions like diabetes. For men and women over 40, it might be wise to look into your eyes. Visit checkyearly.com. A message from Vision Council of America and AARP.
6#! C -AG - X INDD
THE HEIGHTS
Thursday, April 25, 2013
B9
THIS WEEK IN... BY TRICIA TIEDT | METRO EDITOR
BUSINESS
POP CULTURE
D u e to a n o v e rwhelming outpouring of generosity, the One Fund has raised over $20 million. The One Fund was a collaboration fostered by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in order to aid victims of the Marathon bombings that took place last Monday. The announcement came Tuesday afternoon as the two leading men named attorney Ken Feinberg as the official administrator of the funds. Previously, Feinberg was appointed Special Master of the U.S. government’s 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. A Brockton, Mass. native, Feinberg will design and carr y out the plan pro bono. A timeline has been outlined for the victims in order to qualify for aid, which will begin to be administered in early May.
Today, Har vard will honor one of its most notar y dropouts. Harvard President Drew Faust will present Matt Damon with the 2013 Harvard Arts Medal in the Sanders Theatre at 4 p.m. to kick off Arts First, Harvard’s annual “festival showcasing student creativity in the arts” on campus (according to The Har vard Gazette). The ceremony, hosted by fellow actor and Harvard grad John Lithgow, will also contain a discussion with Damon on his life and career in the arts. Damon, who attended Harvard from 1988-92, but did not graduate, wrote the Academy Award winning screenplay for Good Will Hunting while attending the university. Past recipients include cellist Yo Yo Ma and actors Jack Lemmon and Tommy Lee Jones.
WORLD MUSIC TWITTER After months of debate, protests , a n d s e v e r e co n f lic t , France ha s approved same sex marriage. The country will become the 14th nation in the world, one of three in the past two weeks, to pass same sex marriage. According to The New York Times, “The legislation is expected to be approved by the Constitutional Council and signed into law by President Francois Hollande in time to allow the country’s first same sex weddings this summer.” Those in opposition to the new law have focused their argument upon the adoption of children by same sex couples, arguing the tainting of French traditional values concerning the family. The vote passed 331-225 in the National Assembly, the lower tier of France’s parliamentar y system.
In a surprise that only added to last weekend’s citywide celebration, singer/ songwriter Neil Diamond made an appearance at Fenway Park to sing his famous “Sweet Caroline.” The song long ago became the adopted anthem of Fenway, and has recently been a sign of support nationwide in the aftermath of the bombings. The Red Sox game on Saturday was the first sports game played in Boston since Monday, as all sporting events were canceled throughout the week. Now, Diamond has revealed to Rolling Stone that he is penning a song in the wake of the tragedy: “I’m writing now and obviously affected by this situation in Boston, so I’m writing about it just to express myself.” While the song has no set release date, Diamond had planned on finishing the recording as early as last weekend.
The old idiom holds true: you can’t believe everything you read. The Twitter account of the esteemed news source the Associated Press (AP) was hacked on Tuesday afternoon, causing a frenzy in the stock market. Around 1 p.m., a fake tweet was posted to the feeds of AP’s more than 1.9 million followers: “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The AP quickly announced that the account had b e en hacke d, and its Twitter account was taken down. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted more than 120 points within seconds of the fake tweet’s posting—but recovered just as quickly when the falsification was announced. The Syrian Electronic Army has claimed responsibility for the hacking.
RESTAURANT REVIEW
A ‘Regal’ brunch experience
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE REGAL BEAGLE
BY PARISA OVIEDO Heights Editor
HOUSE AD
Only a few stops over on the C line is a hub of restaurants and cafes. Coolidge Corner houses an eclectic variety of dining options to satisfy anyone’s taste: Indian, Thai, American, French, Israeli, and more. There, on Harvard St., just beyond the movie theatre, is its greatest gem: the Regal Beagle. Immediately upon walking in, the ambiance is both welcoming and chic. With one wall draped in velvet, high-top round tables by the windows, and a bar tucked neatly in the back, the handsome restaurant exudes both sophistication and comfort, without being overwhelming. The welcoming staff live up to the restaurant’s title and ensure that all customers receive the “Regal Treatment.” After replacing former Beagle Chef Laura Henry-Zoubir, Chef Michael Navarrete adds a new touch to the traditional American comfort food typically offered by the Regal Beagle. Blending flavors from his Mexican heritage and the skills he developed from being Sous Chef for five years in Hamersley’s Bistro, Navarrete’s cooking revolutionizes local recipes. Focusing on “technique, creativity, and consistancy,” Navarrete has managed to maintain the Regal Beagle’s reputation “at the forefront of the local culinary scene.” Navarrete’s exotic Latin roots and appreciation of ethnic foods are woven throughout the entrees and appetizers on his menu. Dinner appetizers alone range from rock shrimp ceviche, a Peruvian dish, to Korean fried chicken and grilled quail. Meanwhile, dinner entrees range from a gourmet mac and cheese baked in truffle oil and rolled in sea salt crust and Ritz cracker, to the lamb shank broiled in chili crema, black bean sauce, sweet potato, and pumpkin seeds. Of course, customers dining at the Regal Beagle for dinner typically complete their “Regal Rendevouz” by ordering one of the many options from the bar in the back of the restaurant. From a large selection of beers, red and white whines, and “Regal Cocktails,” customers can complete their meals with drinks with names that reveal the simplicity of the restaurant, such as “The Origin Story.”
Cocktail hour at the Regal Beagle, however, starts far before 5 p.m. Classic cocktails and Brunch cocktails such as the “Old Cuban,” a mixture of “Ron Zacapa, 23 year aged Rum, Velvet Falernum, mint and sparkling wine” and the “Spanish Sunset,” a mixture of “fresh blood orange puree, orange liquer and Castellar Cava Brut,” can accompany any brunch for $10. Popular brunch menu items, which are available everyday until 3 p.m., include classic American breakfast options such as brioche French toast to the Beagle Benedict. Like with his dinner entrees, Navarrete has at least one brunch option whose recipe is derived from Latin roots:
LOCATION: 308 HARVARD ST CUISINE: American SIGNATURE DISH: Kale & Goat Cheese Omelet ATMOSPHERE: 8/10 AVERAGE DISH: $10-20 OVERALL EXPERIENCE: A
Huevos Rancheros and Kale and Goat Cheese Omelete. Brunch portions often are accompanied with home fries and toast of choice, but can be substituted with fresh fruit or other available sides. Portion sizes were filling but just right, and customers often leave their table well-satiated and content. Although Reagle Beagle is named after the ’70s and ’80s pub from Three’s Company, its ambiance is a conjunction of modern New York restaurant meets classic ’80s neighborhood joint. Staying true to its dual representation, it likewise offers foods and beverages that are both classic and modern. The Regal Beagle is unique in that it excels in brunch, lunch, and dinner, and in that customers can feel welcomed there whether on a casual brunch with a friend or a formal dinner date—with this in mind, it’s no wonder that it was awarded Best Brookline Restaurant by Boston Magazine in 2010.
THE HEIGHTS
B10
Thursday, April 25, 2013
BOOKISH BOSTONIAN
A city seen ‘THE STREET’ EXPANDS, SQUARE TO OPEN through all LULULEMON SPORTS SHOWCASE BERNARD’S PINKBERRY ATHLETICA CLUB / LA of its layers SUPER CITY SPORTS
RYAN TOWEY I had not been in Boston since the bombings. It was a nice day this past Sunday, and so I decided to trek into Boston to see if I could get a glimpse of Copley Square. Until now, everything I had known about the Marathon tragedy had been delivered to me over television screens watched anxiously in my dorm room. Since the Boston Marathon, I had not set foot beyond Mile 21 at Boston College. Any delusions I had about a quick walk through Copley Square, a glance at the debris, and maybe a prayer in Trinity Church for those who had died were quickly torn asunder when I saw that I had no hope of going anywhere near Copley Square. Still a crime scene, the area surrounding the finish line of the Boston Marathon remained closed to the public. Bostonians and tourists alike pushed up close to the barricades, struggling to come as close as they could to the tangible evidence that the terrible act had happened. They would not believe until they saw. I cannot say that I was not among them, but I soon saw how unsatisfying it was. No emotion was drawn from me as I looked down Boylston St. at men in white coverings scrounging for evidence. Maybe if take a photo, I thought. Other people were doing that. Capture a photo of the crime scene, look at it on your phone later and then maybe you will believe that it happened, that some things really do fall apart sometimes. Maybe if I look at the photo later I will believe that the Boston Public Library actually was swathed in smoke while the screams of the people it claims to enlighten ran in fear beneath its shade. But that will not make me believe it. I turned away from the barricades and worked my way down the Commonwealth Mall. My family and I had walked this way through the snow when they drove to visit me in February. Now it was bright with spring, trees blooming in front of the brownstones. How was it warm? How were people outside with their children? How had I run outside with my fellow BC students when news of a suspect’s capture reached our ears? How did I understand? Wasn’t I just a seven-year-old boy yesterday, huddling close to mom and dad after the Twin Towers came down? I wanted to see people doing what they do, free from fear. So I went to the Public Garden. Was it not only yesterday that my father patted my shoulder in this place, cold biting our hands? “This is a great town,” he had said. Someone had placed small posters into the ground of the Garden, written words of people declaring their love for this city. One read: “I’m from Newton, and I love Boston.” I’m from Newton, too, I thought, and was reminded of the power of written words. Whoever wrote those words reminded me that you cannot abandon a city—you have to keep going back, have to keep trying. That is why people flooded Boylston and Copley Square when it reopened—otherwise, those who would inflict terror win. Then I saw a woman painting in the Garden, as she has probably done many times before now. She painted the foot bridge, with those swan boats passing underneath, those quirky little boats that, despite my best efforts, I will never understand. But people from Boston like them, and so I do, too. I hoped it was not rude for me to watch her, but I do not think she noticed. I just enjoyed the sight of paint applied to canvas, of layers over the footbridge, of layers over Boston. She did it well. In my first column for The Heights, I said that a city cannot escape its literary reputation, cannot escape its layers. And so I sat on a bench beside the water, near the painting woman, and tried to write down my own layer. Watching the woman paint, watching my words hit paper, the tragedy became real. But Boston became more so.
Ryan Towey is the Asst. Metro Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.
Chestnut Hill, From B12 ous experience including, a full-service restaurant featuring Davio’s Cucina, premium reserved seating and upscale, in-theatre, at-your-seat dining throughout the entire complex.” The Sports Club/LA is a fitness center. Both it and the Showcase Super Lux stand above a lower level of retail stores that include Pottery Barn and City Sports. The Street made significant waves in the Boston area earlier this year, when Shake Shack opened its first Massachusetts location there. Shake Shacks were originally established in New York and have proven to be massively popular. The new Shake Shack at The Street incorporates plenty of outdoor seating for the fast-approaching warmer months. The Street also incorporates other casual and fine dining experiences. There is a Legal Seafoods near the Shake Shack as well as Bernard’s (previously located in the Chestnut Hill Mall on Route 9), which features gourmet Asian cuisine. The Cot-
TREAT CUPCAKES
tage serves American cuisine in a warm, comfortable environment. While the part of The Street nearer to Hammond St. has less recently undergone revamping, this part of the complex also has plenty to offer. This part of The Street is dominated by the Star Market, a sleek, well-organized supermarket for shoppers. In terms of eateries, this part of The Street includes places such as LA Rotisserie, which serves savory foods such as chicken, ribs, and hot dogs. Aquitaine, meanwhile, offers diners the experience of a French bistro that serves both lunch and dinner. The menu includes many seafood options as well as steaks and pastas. Rosie’s Bakery shows how visitors to the complex can make a day of the affair. After dinner at a place like Aquitaine or LA Rotisserie, diners could enjoy an assortment of baked goods at Rosie’s in the bakery’s comfortable, colorful environment. Urban Grape, a wine and liquor store, is also located on The Street, and was placed on Boston Magazine’s Best of
LUX
THE CONTAINER STORE
SHAKE SHACK
Boston list in both 2011 and 2012. Urban Grape is offering free tastings today and Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. as well as Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. According to The Street’s website, the complex will continue to grow as construction will soon “begin on a further phase of redevelopment, which will include a new, three-story building located adjacent to Legal Sea Foods.” Just across Route 9 from The Street, are other developments at the Chestnut Hill Square. The new development will include the opening of a new 70,000 square-foot Wegmans grocery store which developers hope to have open between October and November of this year, according to wickedlocal.com. Similarly to The Street, the overall development will be, according to the Chestnut Hill Square website, “a remarkable shopping and dining destination featuring 160,000 square feet of exciting shops and restaurants.” Shops at Chestnut Hill Square will include an Anthropologie retail store. Echoing The Street’s Sports Club, Chestnut
Hill Square will incorporate an Equinox Fitness Club. Eateries will include Seasons 52, a grill and wine bar, that will feature “live music nightly” as well as Brio Tuscan Grille, which serves steaks and homemade pastas, including plenty of outdoor seating to rival that folded into the experience at The Street. Unlike The Street, Chestnut Hill Square will include a medical office building. Developments may not be without their road bumps, however. Chestnut Hill Square’s Wegmans is in close proximity to a Shaw’s supermarket at the corner of Boylston and Brookline, a market that will almost certainly appear dated in comparison to the streamlined Wegmans. There will also no doubt be intense competition between Wegmans and Whole Foods to become the Boston region’s choice supermarket, all while Wegmans strives to open a new location near Fenway, just a short way from a new Whole Foods store which, according to The Boston Globe, may be placed on Beacon St. in Brookline.
Suspect charged with use of WMD at marathon Marathon Bombings, From B12 finally put to rest this weekend. Tamerlan, 26, died in the shootout in a residential neighborhood in Watertown early Friday morning, while his younger brother Dzhokhar was found in a boat in the backyard of Watertown resident David Henneberry quickly after the citywide lockdown was lifted Friday night. During Dzhokhar’s apprehension, police also arrested three other individuals, reported to be UMass Dartmouth students, who allegedly had knowledge of the attacks. In preliminary interviews, Dzhokhar has claimed vaguely that U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq motivated him and his brother to carry out the attacks. After much debate, Dzhokhar was read his Miranda Rights and cooperated with investigators, telling them that he and his brother were self-radicalized on the Internet. Dzhokhar also claimed that his brother Tamerlan was the “driving force” behind the execution and the planning of the attacks.
The brothers left the former Soviet Union 10 years ago and sought asylum in the U.S. while their father stayed in Chechnya, placing Tamerlan in the role of a father figure. Tamerlan took up boxing when he reached the U.S. and started a campaign in Boston University’s student magazine called “Will Box for Passport” in an effort to gain American citizenship. He told the magazine that he had fled Chechnya to escape the conflict between the Russian army and the separatists. His younger brother Dzhokhar became a citizen on Sept. 11, 2011 and attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, followed by college at UMass Dartmouth. According to Tsarnaev’s father, Tamerlan had become interested in religion around five years ago and began practicing Islam. Their father was very worried after the bombings at the marathon and called his sons, to which Tamerlan responded, “We are fine, we didn’t go there.” Tamerlan’s father said that his older son had never mentioned any interest in jihad and that he thought he was settled
nicely with American culture with his American wife and child. Yet, Tamerlan expressed otherwise when he said, “I don’t have a single American friend. I don’t understand them.” Tamerlan spent seven months in Russia last year, returning with increased suspicious activity on his YouTube account, including a category of videos titled “terrorism.” Tamerlan’s younger brother, Dzhokhar graduated high school in 2011 and was considered “quiet, but normal” by his classmates. He was on the wrestling team and received a scholarship from the city of Cambridge upon graduation. He then attended UMass Dartmouth, where he was currently enrolled at the time of the bombings. Sources say he even attended class and was on campus last Tuesday, the day after the Marathon. The boys’ mother, who currently resides in Canada, claimed that her sons were “set up” and could not see how they were suspects in this case. Yet in his analysis of video footage from the marathon, Governor Deval Patrick stated, “It does seem to be pretty clear that this suspect
took the backpack off, put it down, did not react when the first explosion went off, and then moved away from the backpack in time for the second explosion. It is pretty clear, and it is pretty chilling.” Refuting their mother’s claim, the brothers admitted to being responsible for the marathon bombings during a carjacking in Cambridge Thursday night. After killing MIT police officer Sean Collier, the brothers headed to Watertown, the eventual location of Dzhokhar’s capture. David Henneberry, a Watertown resident, stepped outside his home after the lockdown was lifted Friday night to fi nd the tarp over his boat out of place and showing traces of blood. Shaken, Henneberry immediately called the police, who carefully extracted Dzhokhar from the boat, after cautiously using a robot to search the area for explosives. Dzhokhar had gun wounds to his neck, head, and leg. It is still unclear whether these wounds were from the preceding shootout early Friday morning, or if he had tried to shoot himself while he was hiding.
PERSON TO WATCH By: Danielle Dalton | For The Heights
It is no secret that Boston and Boston College itself are home to many startup companies. The combination of world class institutions and a plethora of young students and professionals fosters the perfect environment for turning ideas into the next venture that impacts society. Good-Benefits, founded by Ryan Selkis, BC ’08, is one example of a Boston startup taking flight. Billing itself as the “first 401k for charities,” GoodBenefits is a platform that connects with companies to provide an online solution that enables employees to donate money to charities or foundations of their choosing through their payroll accounts. By providing WHO: Ryan Selkis, BC ’08 WHAT: Selkis founded Good-Benefits, a Boston startup dedicated to helping people more easily give help to charities. WHERE: Boston WHY IT MATTERS: Selkis’s work espouses the ideas of education at BC, which includes striving to help those in need. an innovative tool to help employees, Good-Benefits produces employee-participation in giving programs by 50 percent and increases individual employee giving by 30 percent, according to the company’s own data. Good-Benefits discovered that 70 percent of adults give charitably, but only 10 percent do so through their payroll. Many employers frequently struggle to offer easy and cost-effective solutions to donate money. Donations to organizations made from payroll accounts are deducted from employees’ accounts before they receive the money and can be
tax-deductible. Good-Benefits hopes to help increase growth in the $300 billion charitable giving industry by providing employers with an online platform that not only helps employees easily donate money to their favorite causes, but also furnishes information on charities and foundations. Good-Benefits will launch in early May for individual beta users and will launch on the full-scale with partnering employers in June and July. Startups differ from established companies in a variety of ways and thus also face a different set of hurdles to overcome. “The biggest challenge for any start up is gaining traction, users, and credibility,” said Dennis Huang, CSOM ’15, an intern at GoodBenefits. Taking an idea and transforming it into a successful, sustainable company is not an easy feat. This, however, is exactly what Good-Benefits has done. One of five finalists in the international Dell Social Innovation Challenge (DSIC), Good-Benefits is achieving initial success. DSIC aims to support entrepreneurs who strive to solve some of society’s most imperative problems. Of the five remaining finalists, Good-Benefits is the only one from the U.S. The finals will take place May 11 to 16 in Austin, Tex. Good-Benefits is also one of four finalists in the Harvard Business School New Venture Competition. The Social Enterprise Track, the category under which Good-Benefits is competing, works to provide resources to students establishing ventures that strive to create value for society. Winners for the Social Enterprise Track of the New Venture Competition will be directly after the finals on May 30. While Good-Benefits is a social enterprise that aims to better the non-profit sector, it is a for-profit venture. “People can do well and do good at the same time,” Selkis said. In fact, he learned this first hand his senior year at BC while involved in the CSOM Honors Program. He, along with many other BC students and
faculty, helped work with Haley House, a nonprofit organization in Boston’s South End, to bring cookies to BC Dining Halls. A portion of the proceeds from the cookies, which are baked by individuals at the Haley House, goes back to the organization, providing it with both a unique source of revenue and also a channel for underemployed individuals to gain skills training and economic development opportunities. Because startups are inherently more free-flowing than decades-old, hierarchical companies, the roles within them are much more fluid. “You don’t have a defined role that you’re pigeonholed to,” Huang said. “Everyone pulls their own weight, completing assortment of tasks. You take on all kinds of challenges and turn into a jack of all trades. That is really exciting.” Concentrating in Finance and Information Systems, Huang, who has always been interested in technology and startups, became involved with Good-Benefits after responding to an email he received through the CSOM Honors Program, showing the importance of fielding opportunities that come one’s way. For students looking to get involved in not only a startup, but also any type of work, he advised, “Keep your eyes open. You never know what will fall into your lap, like a simple email. Know in general what you want and be proactive about it.” It is clear through the initial success of GoodBenefits and the dozens of other student and alumni start-ups that BC is truly an entrepreneurship powerhouse that provides all its graduates with the tools to transform ideas into ventures that create a lasting social impact, in true “men and women for others” form. For additional information about Good-Benefits, visit good-benefits.com. Good-Benefits is currently giving a $25 enrollment bonus, which can be donated to a charity of choice, to any individual who enrolls in their program.
The Heights
Thursday, April 25, 2013
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Parking app in the works, fiscal budget released Final Plans, From B12 In response to the attacks, Menino and Patrick formed the One Fund Boston to aid victims and their families. In the first 24 hours, the fund garnered $7 million in donations, and has raised $20 million thus far, including $1 million commitments from corporate sponsors such as AT&T, New Balance, and principal Marathon sponsor John Hancock. “Within an hour, I had calls from business leaders and local philanthropists who, like me, were heartbroken by the impact this hideous tragedy has had on individuals, their families, and friends,” Menino said in his announcement of the fund’s creation. “And they want to do everything they can to help these people physically and psychologically in the future,” Menino said in his announcement of the fund’s creation. “We are one Boston. We are one community. As always, we will come together to help those most in
need. And in the end, we will all be better for it.” Beyond providing for the victims, Menino was charged with reopening the area surrounding the Marathon finish line where the bombs went off. A statement from the mayor’s office indicated that the FBI handed Boylston St. back over to the city of Boston around 5 p.m. on Monday after finishing collecting evidence from the large-scale crime scene at Copley Square. City officials also had to assess the safety of buildings and utilities, remove debris, and decontaminate the explosion site before allowing any reentry. Beginning Tuesday, business owners and residents were allowed to return to affected areas of Boylston St., following a staggered schedule that brought people back to their respective sites, escorted by city staff, in one-hour increments throughout the day, according to the City of Boston’s website. Tuesday night, the Boston Police
Department announced that, as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, Boylston St. would be reopened, with parking still not permitted in and around impacted areas. In light of the recent crisis in the city, Menino has several initiatives to see through before his term as mayor concludes, among them the $2.6 billion budget he has proposed for fiscal year 2014.The budget, which embodies a 5.6 percent increase from the current year and $139 million in new spending, includes many technological upgrades and increased funding for Boston schools. Specifically, according to The Boston Globe, Menino’s budget calls for an iPad e-reading program for public libraries, a bicycle helmet vending machine, and the expansion of the current online school program to create Boston’s first all-digital school, meant to help students fulfill their final remaining credits in order to graduate. A highlight of Menino’s final spending
plans is the creation of a parking app for smartphones that would allow Boston drivers to see the location of the nearest available parking spot. Sensors under the asphalt would connect to an app to relay this information, which will help decrease the percentage of vehicles looking for spots or double parked illegally while waiting for spots. Spending increases are also allocated for vital city departments—police, fire, and emergency services. It is unknown whether any more money will be assigned to these areas in response to the Marathon attacks. In presenting his budget to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau in March, Menino expressed high hopes for the city’s future beyond his tenure as mayor. “I have never been more confident about Boston. Look around and you see that Boston’s many successes are only half the story. It’s the pace of our progress that sets us apart.” n
Henry Hilliard is an editor for The Heights. He can be reached at metro@ bcheights.com.
Jacqueline Parisi is a staff writer for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@ bcheights.com.
Scholarship commemorates BU graduate Lingzi statistics next year. In an interview with the LA Times, Director of the Program in Statistics at BU and Lingzi’s advisor Eric Kolaczyk remembers Lingzi as “a very sweet kid,” recalling how “she had a way of smiling that was half-smiling, half-serious at the same time, and it was very charming.” Lingzi was ambitious and determined, as well as quite experienced in her aspired career after completing three internships at financial services firms in China, reported Kolaczyk. Before making it to BU, Lingzi had attended the Beijing Institute of Technology where she studied economics, and then spent another part of her college career at University of California, Riverside.
to travel to Boston this week from Shenyang, released a statement to BU in which they described their daughter as “the joy of our lives. She was a bright and wonderful child. We were thrilled to watch her grow into an intelligent and beautiful young woman. She was a positive role model for many others.” Lingzi’s parents explain how her daughter fell in love with Boston and its people, and loved her new friends and professors. Like Kolaczyk, they reinforced how hard Lu had been studying to achieve her goal of playing a future role in international business. “While her dream has not been realized,” Lingzi’s family stated, “we want to encourage others who have Lingzi’s ambition and dreams and want to make the world a better place.” n
photo courtesy of shanghai evening news
THE ISSUE:
With Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, otherwise known as Suspect No. 2, in custody after the bombing of the Boston Marathon and a manhunt by law enforcement in Watertown, Mass., the question still remains of what is to be done with him. The White House has decided that he will be tried in U.S. courts, but, if Tsarnaev is found guilty, should he receive the death penalty?
Death penalty is unjust Penalty can be justified Brenna Cass In the case of the Boston Marathon Bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, or Suspect No. 2 as he has been referred to as in the media, should not receive the death penalty if he is found guilty. Although there is still a significant amount of evidence that has yet to be shared with the public about the case, there are a few readily apparent reasons that should preclude him from the death penalty. The first and seemingly most obvious is that he did not act alone. Most of the media and public outrage has been directed solely at Tsarnaev because he is the only surviving brother. It seems that the public has forgotten about the second brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who also played a major role in the bombings on Monday, Apr. 15. Early investigations into the personalities of the two brothers suggest that Tamerlan was the more radical of the two, and likely the one who had a bigger role in planning the bombing. This evidence will likely be brought more to the light with a further investigation and court case. The death of one of the suspects of the Boston Marathon bombings also leaves significant holes in the evidence against the surviving suspect. Without
an actual insight into the mind of the second suspect in the bombing, it will be too difficult to determine if the level of involvement that Tsarnaev had in the bombing is enough to warrant the death penalty for him. The pain and suffering that Tsarnaev helped bring to the city of Boston, regardless of his level of involvement, is certainly enough to condemn him to life in prison. However, the lack of evidence from Tsarnaev’s partner in this crime is significant enough to exempt him from the death penalty. Finally, sentencing such a young person to the death penalty is unlikely to do any good. At 19, Tsarnaev is only one year older than the age that the courts deem to be an “adult.” It is unlikely that, if he is given the death penalty, he will ever understand the error of his ways, and will probably die thinking he is in the right. As Cardinal O’Malley said to the people of Boston in his homily at a healing mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Apr. 21, “There are other ways of punishing people, and protecting society, without killing them.”
Brenna Cass is a staff writer for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.
Henry Hilliard The Justice Department and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are justified in prosecuting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old accused of helping orchestrate the Marathon Monday bombings that killed three people and left over 200 injured, to the fullest extent of the law, which may include the death penalty. Firstly, it is essential to note that there is no guarantee Tsarnaev will even face the death penalty. He is facing federal charges of use of a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death. Under the law, the maximum penalty for such crimes is the death penalty. After Tsarnaev is formally indicted, the Justice Department, under Attorney General Eric Holder, will decide whether or not to pursue the death penalty as punishment. Given the circumstances, Holder and the Justice Department are certainly justified in pursuing the maximum penalty for Tsarnaev, which in the United States is death. It would be both irresponsible and disrespectful to the victims, their families, the city of Boston, and the U.S. for Tsarnaev not to face the maximum penalty for his crimes. Such heinous acts of terrorism cannot be tolerated and our
Jacqueline Parisi
civil servants have an obligation to prosecute such terrorists to the fullest extent of the law. Capital punishment is a hotly contested subject in contemporary America, and with good reason. Critics cite the fact that over 95 countries have banned the death penalty or that it is significantly more costly to execute rather than incarcerate a criminal. Groups like the Innocence Projects have exonerated 18 wrongly convicted death row inmates using DNA evidence. Dozens of organizations, including the Catholic Church, are adamantly opposed to the death penalty. The death penalty should be used sparingly. If there is any semblance of doubt, as the efforts of the Innocence Project illustrate, the death penalty should not be pursued. In cases of particularly barbaric crime, however, the death penalty is an appropriate means of punishment. Prosecutors in Colorado announced this week that James Holmes, who killed 12 people in the movie theater shootings in Aurora last summer, will face the death penalty if convicted. In extreme cases like those of Tsarnaev and Holmes, where there is little doubt of their guilt, our criminal justice system rightly calls for death. Justice, regardless of how costly or inconvenient it may be, must be served.
photo courtesy of the mayor’s office
Lingzi was a curious and exceptional student in numerous ways. She made a request to take part in BU’s research, for example, a rare course of action for a masters’ student. She was eager to take a class in the history of mathematics, which was not even a required course for her program. Lingzi additionally was taking piano lessons during the current semester. On top of all of this, she had to face the challenges of studying in the U.S. as a Chinese student, adjusting to a new language and culture 6,555 miles away from her home in Shenyang. Yet she rose to the occasion, acclimating well and making friends along the way. “It’s a testament to her determination that she succeeded as well as she did,” Kolaczyk said. Lingzi’s family, who is expected
Education in history is imperative
Among increasing speculation that the MCAS will soon be history in the state of Massachusetts, many have raised questions regarding the value of the education standards that will be required for graduation, or lack thereof. According to The Boston Herald, a history requirement for graduation was postponed in 2009 and was expected to take effect again for the class of 2012. Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester claimed that recession-related budget cuts were to blame, as the administration could not fork over the $2.4 million that it would cost to administer the test on an annual basis. Furthermore, according to The Herald News, Chester places an increased emphasis on soft skills such as “systems thinking” and “cross-cultural competence.” Currently, Sen. Richard T. Moore is pushing back against this change in the curriculum and has filed a bill to require the implementation of a U.S. history and civic exam to be administered as a requirement to graduate from high school. According to Moore’s official website, “This legislation, simply put, requires that graduating seniors from our public schools exhibit a competency in United States history. Currently, students must show competency in math, English language arts, and science.” The Board of Elementary & Secondary Education continues to ignore implementing the inclusion of United States history on the state’s MCAS test, despite the fact that it was supposed to be a graduation requirement for the class of 2012.” After reading about the negative reaction to the 2009 education changes, I was very surprised to learn that Chester is a member of a small group of educators (referred to as “cage-busting leadership” by Frederick Hess) in charge of designing the new assessments in the Commonwealth, post MCAS. Ideally, a valuable education will make students the leaders of the next generation. However, students cannot be the pioneers of the future unless they are well-rounded individuals, which include understanding the past. In fact, the past will keep on repeating itself unless people start listening. “Producing bright scholars is paramount to preserving our prosperity,” Moore said, “but is unattainable without generating active and engaged citizens who grasp history.” This is ironic above all because if the state of Massachusetts wants to look to the future and pave the way for a more prosperous state of education, they have to look to the past as well. When looking back at Chester’s leadership, it is impossible not to notice that he used to hold a position as the deputy education commissioner in Connecticut. According to The Herald News, in that capacity, he adopted a more hands on, soft-skills approach (as he is now doing in Massachusetts). As a result, the state of Connecticut, which had slightly higher reading scores than Massachusetts did in 1998, experienced one of the sharpest drops in these scores in 2005. In the meantime, Massachusetts, which opted for “clearly articulated academic goals and objective tests” at that time, surpassed Connecticut. As Marcus Garvey most eloquently put it, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.” Taking this into consideration, it is clear that a thorough understanding of history is imperative both for the students in the state of Massachusetts and for the leaders in education.
In a press conference on Monday, Mayor Menino announced the overwhelming success of the One Fund, which has already raised $20 million within a week of the tragedy.
BU Scholarship, From B12
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Breaking Boundaries
I’m not over it
Menino’s Final Plans The mayor responds to tragedy with an eye on future initiatives for Boston By Julie Orenstein Heights Editor
Tricia Tiedt It’s been 10 days since the explosions that shook our city to its core. Two bombs at the finish line. Three dead within 24 hours. The unprompted shooting of a police officer in cold blood. Multiple explosions in Watertown. The death of Suspect No. 1. A lockdown that silenced the entire city and surrounding areas. The manhunt. The capture of Suspect No. 2. Each of these events took place mere hours or mere days after Marathon Monday began, when the City of Boston, at approximately 2:50 p.m., changed forever. They say it takes about 15 or 20 years of living in this city to feel like a true Bostonian—or those past five days. But now, as 10 days have passed, we have removed ourselves. Back into the BC Bubble we go: we have resumed classes, resumed papers, resumed tests. The signature Marathon Monday pictures have finally reached Facebook: bro tanks, homemade signs, solo cups, and all. We have attempted to create normalcy in a city still suffering from attack and chaos. And although we must move on, we also must be mindful of what hit so close to home. As the danger subsided on Friday, the celebrations began. People flooded the streets after the lockdown was lifted in every city, neighborhood, and campus in Boston affected by the bombings. But I don’t have to tell you that. You were there. Someone did have to tell me. I was not on campus Friday night when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Suspect No. 2, was found. As the Instagrams, Twitter feeds, and text messages came pouring in, I got a grasp of just how excited Boston College students were to be free of their dorm rooms. To be free of the fear. To be free of the lingering, unspoken question: would it happen again? The culprit had been found and taken into custody, alive. It was over. It was time to celebrate. And now it is time for the unabashed honesty that comes with the column territory: I am so glad not to have been a part of the revelries here on Friday night. The more I saw, the less I wanted to. From the pictures, the tweets, the texts, the stories: it looked like a rager of a night on a college campus. One big America-themed party. Bro tanks, flags, solo cups, and all. Tell me—where’s the tangible difference between Friday night’s campus-wide party and the morning celebrations on Marathon Monday? Two men attacked our city with the intent to kill. The number of injuries resulting from that attack has reached almost 300. Four people died. An entire city was shut down for an entire day. Sometimes, it’s not about “MURICA.” Sometimes, it’s not about “Back to Back World War Champs.” Sometimes it is. But this time, this past week, it was about Boston. It was about the first responders of the Boston Marathon Association who ran into the explosions. It was about the runners who finished just in the knick of time. It was about the Campus School Volunteers who worked tirelessly to account for their students. It was about the victims and their families. It was about the entire Boston Police force that kept us safe from harm’s way, and continues to keep us safe in the aftermath. The loose ends are being tied. Runners are gathering their lost belongings, victims will begin to receive aid, Suspect No. 2 is responsive, all data and evidence is being collected. We will soon have answers. The city will move on. Boston will keep running in every way it knows how. My request is this: as the healing process continues—or for some, just now begins—be mindful of the tragedy that occurred. Respect the gravity of the situation, even in the midst of finals and summer soon approaching and, yes, victory after the attack. Never miss an opportunity to thank an officer who kept you out of harm’s way. We owe it to them. We owe it to Boston.
Tricia Tiedt is the Metro Editor for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.
Rising from a wheelchair pushed by his son—a Boston police detective—Mayor Thomas M. Menino stood on a broken and casted leg to address his city and his nation last Thursday from the altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. “Nothing can defeat the heart of this city. Nothing. Nothing will take us down, because we take care of one another,” Menino said. “This is Boston, a city with the courage, compassion, and strength that knows no bounds.” The mayor’s remarks came as he joined Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and President Barack Obama in a nationally televised prayer service held in the wake of last week’s bombings at the Boston Marathon. With just months remaining of a tenure that, at its conclusion in January, will have lasted two decades, Menino has been dealt the task of guiding Boston through what are perhaps the most difficult circumstances it has ever encountered. Displaying the same resiliency that has characterized all of Boston over the past 10 days, Menino has put his city before himself. Upon first learning of the explosions, the 70-yearold Menino checked himself out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he had been recovering from a broken leg, against doctor’s orders, to deal with the crisis. He was physically unable to reach the command center, so he listened diligently to the police scanner to keep up with the ongoing emergency efforts before appearing in a wheelchair at several press conferences. When bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was finally captured Friday night, bringing to an end a massive manhunt and daylong lockdown of nearly one million Boston-area residents, Menino, according to The New York Daily News, took to the police to tell, “The people of Boston are proud of you. Especially the mayor of Boston. I’m very proud of what you’ve done.” “We did it for you, boss,” one officer replied.
See Final Plans, B11
Photo Courtesy of the Mayor’s Office
Mayor Menino bows his head during a moment of silence for the victims at the Boston Marathon.
BU establishes scholarship fund to honor victim B y L auren T otino Heights Staff The tragic loss of Boston University graduate student Lu Lingzi, 23, in the Marathon bombings last Monday has left the university community mourning and remembering the life of the talented young woman from China whose dream was to study in the U.S. News of Lingzi’s death has spawned thousands of offers of help from BU alumni, f r iend s , and others f rom around the world. On Wednesday, the university established a scholarship fund in her honor.
Kenneth Feld, chair of the Campaign for Boston University, proposed the idea of a memorial scholarship fund Wednesday at a meeting for a school f undraising c amp aig n. The s e ven members of the executive committee in attendance committed $560,000 within 10 minutes following Feld’s idea pitch, according to BU officials. Aware of the outpouring of offers to help from the larger community, Feld realized that there was no central place for donations, which led him to the idea of a scholarship fund. “We asked ourselves, ‘What could we do to honor her memory, today and tomorrow?’” he
told BU Today. “A scholarship fund in her name will be there forever—people can contribute to something that is ongoing,” he said, adding that it is a fitting tribute and “the right thing to do.” The donation page for the Lu Lingzi Scholarship Fund on the Campaign for Boston University’s website describes Lingzi as a beloved member of the BU community and an optimist with a powerful work ethic, having just passed the first part of the master’s comprehensive exam in statistics, an accomplishment that gave her great satisfaction. The page details the university’s invitation of all members of the extended Boston
University family to contribute to the scholarship fund, with contributions in any amount being gratefully accepted. The scholarship fund is additionally representative of “BU’s profound connection to the people of China, which is sending a growing number of students to the University,” according to a report to BU Today. There are currently 2,065 Chinese students studying at BU, while the U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke, is an alum of the school. Lingzi was on track to graduate with a master’s degree in mathematics and
See BU Scholarship, B11
Tsarnaev faces charges after capture By Shannon Inglesby Heights Staff
Annie Budnick / heights staff
Developments to The Street (above), have paved the way for the Chestnut Hill Square to improve the town’s retail, dining, and entertainment.
Developments revamp Chestnut Hill scene By Ryan Towey Asst. Metro Editor While Boston College students associate the city of Boston most directly with dining and shopping opportunities, such experiences can also be found in BC’s own Chestnut Hill. The Street, the name for a strip of stores and eateries on Route 9, is just a short walk down Hammond Street from Upper Campus. While The Street has been around for many years, it has been undergoing redevelopments since March 2012. Developments across Route 9 at the Chestnut Hill Square will also add to the region’s utility.
i nside Metro this issue
Formerly the Chestnut Hill Shopping Mall, the location was redubbed The Street in order to reflect the shopping strips walkability and role as an all-encompassing entertainment complex. The restructuring of the complex is being overseen by WS Development. “Chestnut Hill Shopping Center was part of a then-revolutionary wave of retail projects opening around the country just after World War II,” David Fleming, corporate marketing director for WS Development, told boston.com. “Today, however, the project has a new, powerful, cutting-edge, configuration and group of specialty shops, dining establishments, and entertainment. Rebranding it as ‘The
On the Flip Side
Street’ more accurately reflects the sophisticated offerings and urban experience our customers can find here.” The redevelopment began with the destruction of the Macy’s building that used to sit there, creating enough space to increase the shopping center’s area to 406,000 square feet. Construction on the site began in May of 2012. The old Macy’s building is replaced by Showcase Super Lux and The Sports Club/LA. The adjoining establishments are in a 115,000 square-foot building. According to The Street’s website, the Showcase Super Lux “will offer a luxuri-
In light of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s capture, should he face the death penalty if guilty?.............................................B11
See Chestnut Hill, B10
Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was formally charged Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction and the malicious destruction of property resulting in death at the Boston Marathon. The court appearance was conducted in Tsarnaev’s hospital room due to his critical condition. Although he is only capable of limited communication, Tsarnaev told investigators Tuesday that neither he nor his brother had any affiliations with terrorist organizations. The citywide manhunt for the 19-year-old ended last Friday after the suspect had eluded Boston Police for almost 24 hours. The Greater Boston community rejoiced over the weekend for the capture of the bombing suspect as well as the triumph of Boston law enforcement, yet few answers have come to light about the motives of the individuals behind the attack. After what some are calling “a week from hell,” the chaos caused by brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev was
See Marathon Bombing, B10
Restaurant Review: The Regal Beagle..........................................................B9 Person to Watch: Ryan Selkis, Good Benefits............................................B10