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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Monday, April 4, 2016
Vol. XCVII, No. 17
UGBC Elections <<<
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JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Russell Simons and Meredith McCaffrey won the election with 1,137 votes, 442 more than the second place campaign team.
9P K8PCFI JK% ><ID8@E 8jjk% E\nj <[`kfi The Elections Committee announced Friday evening that Russell Simons, MCAS ’17, and Meredith McCaffrey, MCAS ’17, will be the 2016-17 Undergraduate Government of Boston College president and executive vice president. Simons and McCaffrey received 1137 votes, 442 votes above Matthew Ulrich, MCAS ’17, and John Miotti’s, MCAS ’17, team. Nikita Patel, CSOM ’17, and Joseph Arquillo’s, LSOE ’17, team came in third place with 668 total votes. Patel and Arquillo’s team was docked 70 votes because of unsolicited Facebook messages concerning the election, Adam Rosenbloom, co-chair of the Elections Committee and MCAS ’16, said. “I think the students got a good opportunity to hear a bunch of different ideas and really good ideas from very different teams,” Simons said. Both Simons and McCaffrey have been a part of UGBC in the past. Simons currently serves as vice president of student organizations in UGBC, while McCaffrey is a member of the Senate. Simons and McCaffrey, whose cam-
paign slogan was “Strength in Unity,” focused their campaign on three goals: quality, inclusivity, and accessibility. Simons and McCaffrey hope to focus on day-to-day improvements for BC student life, while also continuing their support for diversity and inclusion programs on campus. The duo also hopes to increase the transparency of UGBC in the coming year. “Going forward, we hope to engage the other candidates in greater conversation about how to accomplish our respective goals for next year, since we hope this will allow students to be more informed in their voting,” Simons said in an email. “We believe in our mission of ‘Strength in Unity,’ and are excited to continue sharing our ideas with the entire student body.” Ulrich and Miotti’s campaign would have worked to increase school spirit through different programming events, and they also wanted to increase conversation about mental health on campus. Patel and Arquillo’s team wanted to focus on financial aid reform, support for diversity programs, and create a campus
See UGBC, A3
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AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
9P C<@>? :?8EE<CC ?\`^_kj <[`kfi The Undergraduate Government of Boston College passed a resolution to encourage the administration to become more sex-positive, in part by allowing student groups to use funds to distribute sexual education materials or contraceptives. The Student Assembly (SA) debated the issue in its Sunday night meeting. The revised proposal that passed in the SA has two parts: first, the University ought to more publicly disseminate materials regarding sexual assault, and second, student groups should be able to use their own funds to provide contraceptives or materials on sexual education. While its proposal provided no concrete changes for the future of UGBC, Collin Pratt, class of 2017 senator, director of policy for the GLBTQ Leadership Council, and MCAS ’17, said the SA hopes to set a formal state for the institution that provides direction and stance for the future of the advocacy body. The debate opened with a statement from Pratt explaining the mission of the resolution and introducing its operative text. In his formal written proposal,
Pratt stressed that “a large community, if not a majority of the student body” is sexually active and therefore in need of sexual resources, ranging from educational resources, safe spaces for dialogue, and contraception. Following Pratt’s initial presentation of its mission, the proposal’s co-sponsors delivered a statement on the proposal. Both co-sponsors, Meredith McCaffrey, MCAS ’17, and Connor Kratz, MCAS ’18, stressed that this motion did not conflict with the University’s Jesuit ideals. “This is not a debate about whether students should or should not have premarital sex,” Kratz said. “It’s an acknowledgement that it is happening at BC, and that we need to care about those student’s safety.” McCaffrey, the executive vice president-elect, echoed his sentiment, stating that a large part of the Jesuit identity is caring for the whole person. “For a lot of people, that includes sexuality and being able to talk about sexual health,” McCaffrey said. In the me eting , senator Hagop Toghramadijan, MCAS ’17, proposed an amendment to the original resolu-
See Sexual Health, A3
Since April 1, students looking to study on weekend nights have a whole library at their disposal. The Office of Student Affairs and O’Neill Library have begun a pilot program that allows for O’Neill to remain open all night on Fridays and Saturdays. In conjunction with UGBC leadership, this initiative will allow students to study on the first floor of O’Neill over the next three weekends, until the library begins its end-of-semester exam hours. The 24-hour, seven-days-a-week initiative will differ operationally from regular hours. Jim Kreinbring, director
9P 9I@>@; B<CCP =fi k_\ ?\`^_kj Free expression, weight loss, and education for African immigrants were all highlighted at this semester’s BC Talks. Modeled after TED Talks, the event was held Sunday night and featured eight Boston College students who were each given 20 minutes and an open platform to discuss issues that were important to them. Monica Coscia, MCAS ’17, started her talk, “The Deafening Silence: Repression of Free Expression at Universities,” with an introductory quote that set the tone for her speech. “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” Coscia said, quoting Evelyn Beatrice Hall. Coscia discussed the presence of free speech on BC’s campus. She referred to the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines, and highlighted the constitutional rights of
of administrative services in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, said that because only the first floor of O’Neill will be accessible during the pilot weekends, students must enter through the Maloney Hall side of the library in order to gain access. According to Kreinbring , while printers will be available and operational on the library’s first floor, other library services—such as course reserves and headphones—will not. Also, to placate concerns for the safety of students, the study area will be staffed by a security officer between the hours of 10 p.m. and 9 a.m. “The goal is to provide more latenight study space for students on weekend nights—a suggestion that came from UGBC,” Kreinbring said. Caroline Monnes, Senator on the Campus Improvements Committee and MCAS ’19, noted that UGBC began working on this initiative after reading a column published in November in The
Heights, “A Call for Increased Weekend Study Hours and Locations at BC.” The author of the column, Magdalen Sullivan, argues that exams and papers are a weekly occurrence, and so students should have the option to study rather than be forced to deal with noisy dorms. “Right now, the library hours represent a surrender of the University to the social life on campus—an acceptance of bad student habits as opposed to striving to fix it,” Sullivan wrote. “It’s not about active campaigning against drinking on the weekend—it’s about simply giving students the opportunity to opt-out.” Much like Kreinbring, Monnes’ goals with the pilot program focus on keeping students’ best interests in mind. Monnes said that this pilot will give students a quiet space on the weekends away from the noise of dorm rooms
students in public schools to free speech. “Free speech is seen the same as violence, to suppress and fear it,” Coscia said. She challenged the audience to break the silence on issues at BC like the Demonstration Policy and Posting Policy, and to look at the movements UGBC is pushing to change these issues. “There is a certain mode in society that you have to fit in,” Toluwase Oladapo, MCAS ’16, said to start her talk, “The Outer Body Experience: A Talk on Embracing Your Right NOW.” Then, Oladapo spoke about her journey to lose 70 pounds the summer before coming to BC and her mindset and reasoning while losing the weight. She gave three reasons that she originally tried to lose the weight: to be desirable, to stop being bullied, and to satisfy others. Once she came back to BC she gained back more than what she lost. Oladapo realized that her reasoning for losing the weight was
superficial. She kept referring to her “destination happiness.” Now, Oladapo focuses on ignoring society’s mold for women. “If you don’t start in the now, you can never hate yourself to love yourself,” she said. Shalin Mehta, CSOM ’16, began his talk, “Your Network is your Net Worth: Cultivating Relationships and Discerning Your Passion,” by focusing on how everything revolves around relationships. He outlined four major takeaways that he has discovered in developing networks. First, your network is your net worth. Money, grades, and status come and go while relationships are constant. Second, it is never too early to begin making connections, and it will take time. Third, people should ask for help when it comes to relationships. By breaking down the walls of being too proud or too shy, one can develop their strongest self through
See Library, A3
See BC Talks, A10