The Heights 04-07-11

SENIORS SIGN DEALS

MOVIE MASH-UP

BUDGET CUTS

THE SCENE

marketplace

SPORTS

Movie genres mix in classic and upcoming films for interesting cinematic hybrids, B10

United States government could shut down if budget is not passed, B10

Two Boston College hockey players agreed to pro contracts earlier this week, B1

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Vol. XCII, No. 20

Road to Arts Fest explored

News Feature

Woods, now 80, reflects on life work

Campus artists paired with professionals

By Matthew DeLuca Heights Senior Staff

By Michael Caprio

Editor’s Note: This article is the third and final piece of a three-part investigation into support for the arts at BC.

Editor-in-Chief

There’s little that’s new about the Woods College. The administrative office is 16-years-old. Fake hibiscus trees and green carpeting decorate its lounge in the 43-year-old McGuinn Hall. One recently retired staff member had racked up 57 years at the University – she now has a scholarship in her name.

Its dean is no exception. Rev. James Woods, S.J., for whom the school is named, became an octogenarian exactly three weeks ago – making him BC’s oldest dean in the University’s fourth-oldest college. This does not stop him, however, from rising every morning, saying mass before his fellow Jesuits in St. Mary’s Hall at 8 a.m., and walking over to his office in McGuinn Hall. He sometimes doesn’t leave until the police lock down the building after 10 p.m.

“When you’re my age, you get good at those kinds of things,” he says about his day-to-day routine.

Woods’ resume lists his current job as “Dean, Boston Colkevin hou / heights editor

See Woods College, A4

Rev. James Woods, S.J., discusses his tenure as one of BC’s oldest deans.

“You’re Oprah.”

“You’re jealous.”

“You just had three cups of coffee.”

They switch rapidly from one expression, phrase, persona to another as the participants yell out emotions for them to take on, changing from Father Leahy to a bomb defuser to a bro to a teacher’s pet in the space of a few breaths. They’re five slam poets, four female and one male, and under the tutelage of Kathie Chang, CSOM ’11, they’re preparing for their performances in Slam Fashionation, a fashion show and slam poetry event that will take the stage at Arts Fest April 29.

Chang was not scheduled to be instructing that night, but when Susan Roberts, senior lecturer in the English depart-

ment and slam poet, had to back out for personal reasons, Chang, who developed Slam Fashionation her sophomore year in partnership with Lauren Gomez, A&S ’11, stepped into the breach.

This year, for the 13th year of the Arts Festival, which will take place April 28-30, some student performance groups will receive professional mentorship in their art forms through a program called “Road to the Festival.” The program, organized by the Arts Festival Programming Subcommittee, has paired dancers, singers, choreographers, and models with professionals in their fields for master classes and workshops.

“We’re trying to do these things to create a road to the festival that gives them all many opportunities to grow in their art form,” said Cathi Ianno, program administrator for the Arts Council. Ianno and her assistants bear the primary logistical burden for organizing Arts Fest.

See Arts Fest, A4

Joe Biden speaks on sexual assaults

Two seniors hit by drunk driver outside Mary Ann’s

By Katherine McClurg

Students injured, driver to face criminal proceedings

Heights Editor

On Monday, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H., to discuss the issue of sexual assault at our nation’s schools and colleges.

Biden and Duncan’s goal was to call attention to the high rates of sexual assault and violence on campuses across the country, and to offer new guidance to help universities understand their civil obligations to better prevent and respond to sexual assault.

“I’m not talking about those divisive social issues, which divide us based on ideology,” Biden said to students at UNH’s Memorial Union Building. “I’m talking about what we state to be a collective national value, and that is to fight the abuse of power, no matter where it comes from.”

“Every school would like to believe it is immune from sexual violence, but the facts suggest otherwise,” Duncan said during the address. “Our first goal is prevention through education. Information is always the best way to combat sexual violence.

Our larger goal is to raise awareness to an issue that should have no place in society and especially in our schools.”

Since 1994, as the author of the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Biden has been committed to fighting violence against women. VAWA uncovered high rates of sexual assault and domestic violence, as well as altered the way they are handled through law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

Additionally, Biden helped establish

See Biden, A4

By Elise Taylor Heights Editor

Sang lee / Heights Staff

A member of the Class of 2013 enjoys an exhibit at the Museum of Science, where the sophomore class celebrated BC’s 150th anniversary.

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM The sophomore class celebrates BC’s upcoming anniversary

By Anna Patrick Heights Staff

And Taylour Kumpf News Editor

In celebration of Boston College’s 150th anniversary, the Sesquicentennial Sophomore Class Committee, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs (VPSA), and the Student Programs Office (SPO) hosted “A Night at the Museum of Science” for members of the sophomore class.

The sold-out event featured din-

ner and dessert from Wolfgang Puck Catering, access to the Green and Blue wings of the museum, live music, and two shows at the Theater of Electricity and the 3-D theater.

Patrick Rombalski, vice president for Student Affairs, gave a welcoming note before Liz O’Day, the keynote speaker and BC ’06, stepped up to the microphone.

“I am both thrilled and humbled to be here to speak before you tonight,” O’Day said. “I am thrilled because you are the sesquicentennial class, a class

150 years in the making, a class poised for greatness. I am quite sure sitting before me are the characters that will change the word and I am thrilled to meet you all.

“I am humbled to be here. As a 2006 alum, it wasn’t too long ago I was a sophomore at BC, and was where you are, trying to figure out who I am, who I want to be, and what I want to do.

The process of self-discovery can seem daunting, but with a change in perspec-

See Sesquicentennial, A4

In the early morning hours last Friday, two Boston College seniors were hit by a drunk driver outside the popular student bar Mary Ann’s.

Michael Burke, CSOM’11, and Bridget Burns, A&S ’11, were struck by a 2008 Nissan Sentra while in a crosswalk on Beacon Street at 1:45 a.m. with a group of their friends. Both parties were injured and sent to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Burns was released earlier this week, while Burke still remains for additional treatment.

The driver was 24-year-old salesman, Brendan Dempsey, from New Hampshire.

According to University Spokesman Jack Dunn, the driver had no connection to BC. After the incident, Dempsey was promptly arrested for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and cited for failure to yield to pedestrians in a marked crosswalk. He will be tried at Brighton District Court at a later date.

“Boston Police have arrested the driver and he faces criminal proceedings in a Brighton district court,” Dunn said.

“We are fortunate that our two injured students who were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk were not more seriously injured.” n

Final Senior Week events to go up in price Steeper prices for seniors due to deficit from the 100 Days Dance

By Nanditha Badami For The Heights

And Jennifer Hartin For The Heights

mollie kolosky / heights editor

Initially unreported deficit from 100 Days will lead to increased prices for remaining events.

Seniors will face steeper prices than planned for the rest of this year’s Senior Week events due to a huge, previously unreported deficit left over from February’s widely-criticized 100 Days Dance at the Cyclorama, a University administrator has acknowledged.

He also said the fiasco could mean the end of the annual event.

The sold-out dance, which students complained was poorly run with bland

food and long lines for buses, drinks, and bathrooms, took in $27,060. But organizers spent $34,566, leaving a deficit of $7,506, according to budget documents.

Tickets to the other Senior Week functions this year would have been lower than last year’s, said Mark Miceli, associate director of the Student Programs Office (SPO). Now, he said, to make up for the 28 percent overrun from the 100 Days Dance, seniors will pay more for the Dance Through the Decades and Commencement Ball next month than they would have otherwise.

“We had actually hoped to cut the price earlier in the year, but as a result of

the higher expenses with 100 Days, we were required to hold the ticket price,” Miceli said.

The disclosure comes on top of previous widespread unhappiness about a chaotic series of problems, which drew so many complaints about the highly-anticipated 100 Days Dance that the Senior Week Committee was forced to respond on its Facebook page.

“We recognize that for many of you, this event may not have met your expectations,” the committee wrote. “As a volunteer student organization which receives

See 100 Days, A4

TopFive

The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

things to do on campus this week

“Crossing Borders” Screening

1

Today Time: 5 p.m.

Location: Cushing 001

Director Arnd Wachter will be present at the screening of this feature documentary about four American and four Moroccan college students as they travel through Morocco.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2

Today Time: 6 p.m.

Location: Devlin 008

Come hear the Igbo/ Nigerian novelist discuss The Danger of a Single Story in a lecture sponsored by the African and African Diaspora Studies department.

Jewish-Christian Dialogue

3

Friday Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: Corcoran Commons

Stop by the annual meeting of the Christian Scholars Group.

The public forum is sponsored by the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning.

featured on campus

Haley House celebrates 45 years

Symphony Orchestra Concert

4

Sunday Time: 3 p.m.

Location: Trinity Chapel

Come listen to the BC Symphony Orchestra play in their annual Spring Concert on Newton Campus. The concert will be conducted by John Finney.

Safety Day at BC

5

Monday Time: 8 a.m.

Location: Edmond’s Lot

Stop by Community Information Safety Day, where various law enforcement agencies will be conducting demonstrations and informational sessions.

The event is open to the public.

IntheNews

Four Day Weather Forecast Today

53° Sunny 35°

Friday

55° Mostly Sunny 37°

Saturday

57° Partly Cloudy

University Former employee accused of stealing $1.9 million from Vassar College A New York couple is accused of stealing $1.9 million from Vassar College, according to LoHud.com. Arthur and Jennifer Fisher were arrested Friday. Arthur Fisher was employed as a construction project manager at the college for several years, during which time the school claims that he stole the money. On Monday, police were presented with evidence regarding irregularities in records that Fisher had overseen. The police say other charges will most likely be filed against the couple.

41°

Sunday

59° Mostly Cloudy 50°

Source: National Weather Service

A Guide to Your Newspaper The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467 Editor-in-Chief (617) 552-2223

Local News Cecilia Provvedini/ Heights Editor

Kathe McKenna, executive director of Haley House, spoke about the company over its 45 years of Boston service.

By Elise Taylor Heights Editor

Last night, Kathe McKenna, executive director of Haley House, and Daniel Cordon, director of Wholesale Transitional Employment, spoke to a crowded Murray Function Room about their unique experience in business.

Haley House, located on Dartmouth Street in Boston, is a multifaceted non-profit organization with the goal of addressing a variety of social problems plaguing Boston.

Based on the idea of physical and emotional healthy living, Haley House focuses on issues such as homelessness, job stagnation for ex-convicts, and the lack of healthy dietary conditions for the poor.

McKenna began the talk by describing the founding of Haley House in 1966. Appalled by the social injustice surrounding them, McKenna and her husband, John, rented a small apartment in hopes of creating a temporary house for the needy. They would wander Tremont Street looking for the homeless and invite them in for a good night’s sleep and a hot meal in the morning. At first, people were hesitant and suspicious of their good will.

However, after bringing in one homeless man who had passed out in a snow bank , word spread and the McKenna’s soon had no problems getting people to accept their hospitality.

“The most important thing in those early years was keeping people safe and how to treat

people with dignity,” McKenna said.

From that moment on, Haley House tranformed into one of the top social programs in Boston. McKenna said that although helping individuals was incredibly satisfying, she soon wanted to increase the range of Haley House’s impact.

“People in this neighborhood knew they were getting the short end of the stick,” McKenna said. “The health discrepancies became independent.”

McKenna then described the House’s 45-year evolution, including a resident house for those down on their luck, the addition of the Elder Meal, a meal solely for senior citizens, the Noonday Farm, a farm that provides organic produce for Haley House meals and poor families, and the addition of the Haley House Bakery, which hires ex-convicts or people aiming to overcome homelessness as employees. McKenna said that she has benefited just as much as those who participated in these programs.

“What we’re learning from each other is how not to be only present as a guest, but as a person in our actually community,” McKenna said.

After McKenna, Cordon spoke about Haley House’s Transitional Employment program. Designed by Cordon for ex-convicts who have been struggling into the workforce, the Transitional Employment Program gives them a job making cookies, pizza dough, and bread loaves for sale in the cafe

or elsewhere. By doing so, the formerly incarcerated can generate a steady source of income and have a safe haven to talk about their problems, hopefully avoiding re-admittance to jail. For many ex-cons, the continuous cycle of returning to jail is an inevitable reality, as jobs and general trust are hard-pressed to find in a postjail life.

“We wanted to devise a program that would create opportunities on a real life scale where we could take men, bring them in, hold them up, and give them the opportunity to transfer back in the world,” Cordon said. “To be able to have the opportunity to go back in your life after jail is overwhelming. My concept was let’s hold them long enough, so we can begin to transition, build those bonds, and connect with love ones that don’t trust us and don’t believe a word we say.”

As many students have noticed, the aforementioned cookies Cordon described are featured in BC’s dining halls.

Cordon urged students to support his program by purchasing these cookies. Although the problem of ex-cons not being able to stay clean may seem distant to the general BC public, Cordon said it is much more personable than one thinks. “You can say that’s not our problem, but your taxes are paying for it, your communities will not be safe,” he said. “You make a difference.

By buying a pack of cookies, you make a difference.” n

Corrections officer found to be in violation of inmate’s civil rights Yesterday, a federal jury found a former state corrections officer to be in violation of a former female inmate’s civil rights by using his position to have sex with her while she was imprisoned at a correctional center in Framingham. The jury awarded Christina Chao $73,700 in damages. The corrections officer with whom Chao said she felt forced to have sex, had been charged five years ago with routinely having a sexual relationship with inmates, which is in direct violation of state law prohibiting relations between inmates and officers.

On Campus Performance celebrates music professor’s 20th year at Boston College On March 31, Thomas Oboe Lee, a professor in the music department, performed three of his compositions in Bapst Library’s Gargan Hall as a celebration of his 20th year at BC. Lee, whose credits span more than 135 works, including seven symphonies, 12 string quartets, and a 100-minute two-act chamber opera, composed the “Vincent Millay Cycle,” based on the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. The piece will be performed by his former student, Mary Hubbell, BC ’97, tomorrow in Gargan Hall.

National Shooting at college in Alabama leaves one dead, others hurt OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — Officials say one person is dead and as many as three others are hurt in a shooting at Southern Union Community College in Opelika, Ala.City spokeswoman Jan Gunter says it appears a domestic dispute led to the violence Wednesday afternoon at the campus in east Alabama. Authorities are still sorting out details. Witnesses report seeing a Toyota minivan with three windows shot out outside a building. Gunter says police have a suspect, but it’s unclear whether the man is in custody. The school has closed campus for the rest of the day.

Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Marketplace Desk (617) 552-3548 Features Desk (617) 552-3548 Arts Desk (617) 552-0515 Photo (617) 552-1022 Fax (617) 552-4823 Business and Operations General Manager (617) 552-0169 Advertising (617) 552-2220 Business and Circulation (617) 552-0547 Classifieds and Collections (617) 552-0364 Fax (617) 552-1753 EDITORIAL RESOURCES News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call Taylour Kumpf, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or e-mail news@bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk.

Sports Scores Want to report the results of a game? Call Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor, at (617) 552-0189, or e-mail sports@bcheights.com.

Arts Events The Heights covers a multitude of events both on and off campus – including concerts, movies, theatrical performances, and more. Call Darren Ranck, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or e-mail arts@ bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the Arts Desk.

Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights standards and practices, you may contact Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or e-mail editor@ bcheights.com.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Police Blotter 4/01/11 – 4/03/11 Friday, April 1

Sunday, April 3

12:49 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a large amount of glass that shattered on Campanella Way after it fell off a delivery truck. The roadway was closed while cleanup was performed and was later reopened.

12:10 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a past physical altercation in The Gate. The subjects were identified, issued written trespass warnings, and escorted off Boston College property.

Saturday, April 2 1:45 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a motor vehicle stop that was conducted off campus. It was determined that the operator was driving under the influence of alcohol. Newton Police took over the investigation.

1:48 a.m. - A report was filed regarding vandalism to several motor vehicles. There were no suspects in the area.

1:48 a.m. - A report was filed regarding the odor of a controlled substance in Edmond’s Hall. Contraband was confiscated from several subjects. A report will be forwarded to ODSD for review.

2:48 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a subject who went into cardiac arrest off campus. BCPD officers performed CPR and the subject was transported to a medi cal facility by ambulance.

2:23 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a noise complaint off campus. One Boston College student was arrested by Boston Police for being a minor in possession of alcohol. Another student was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor by furnishing alcohol. One minor was taken into protective custody.

3:59 p.m. - A report was filed regarding harassment and threats to commit a crime.

Investigation is underway by BCPD and Pennsylvania law enforcement authorities.

9:00 p.m. - A report was filed report regarding a suspicious motor vehicle. After an investigation, a quantity of a controlled substance was confiscated. The operator was identified, issued a written trespass warning, and escorted off Boston College property.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

Voices from the Dustbowl “What class are you most looking forward to taking next semester?”

“Arabic.”

—Abdullah Rashed, A&S ’14

“Filmmaking II.” —Brianna Magliozzi, A&S ’14

“None of them.”

—Mike Sutton,

A&S ’14

Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact Dan Ottaunick, General Manager at (617) 552-0547.

Advertising The Heights is one of the most effective ways to reach the BC community. To submit a classified, display, or online advertisement, call our advertising office at (617) 552-2220 Monday through Friday.

The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2011. All rights reserved.

CORRECTIONS Please send corrections to editor@bcheights.com with ‘correction’ in the subject line.

The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Love in Action campaign seeks to spark dialogue on campus

By Adriana Mariella Assoc. News Editor

This week, the Messina Ignatian Leadership Program (MILP) sponsored the “Love in Action” campaign, which organizers said seeks to bring students into discussion on the topic of love.

The group’s name has its origins in the town of Messina, Italy, where the Jesuit order built its first school for lay students, said Tim Muldoon, program director for the MILP and assistant to the vice president for University Mission and Ministry.

“They were building these schools out of love,” he said.

“They were serving both God and people. [This week], we invite people to think about the ways that they show love to people and see how it’s rooted in the same type of love that those Jesuits had.”

The idea for the week, however, was not Muldoon’s, but the brainchild of the group’s members, he said.

“This wasn’t my idea,” he said. “It was something that the students landed on—asking the question of what we mean when we say love and how we show it and how we do it. They have the experience of the spiritual exercises of Ignatius, which invite people to experience God directly. They’ve given time to prayer and they decided that they wanted to do something for the BC campus.”

That something, Muldoon said, is helping students to understand how their non-religious interests can still have a deeper

connection to spirituality. He said that part of what it means to be at a Jesuit Catholic university is finding out how one’s work can still have meaning.

“Everything is rooted in love,” he said.

Muldoon said that the hope of the event is that students will begin to engage in these types of discussions. “We’re breaking new ground,” he said. “We want students to talk about it to get involved. We’re handing out cards that point to Ignatian ideas and Jesuit education and we hope that people will take those back and discuss them

“We hope that students will ask, ‘What does this mean for me? Am I engaged in a work of love?’”

-Tim Muldoon, Program Director for the MILP with their roommates.

“We hope that students will ask, ‘What does this mean for me? Am I engaged in a work of love?’” he said. “It’s meant to be thought pro voking.”

The week featured an Agape Latte speaker, a professor reflection panel discussion held last night, as well as a “Love in Action” mass to take place to-

morrow, among other events.

The professor ref lection panel that took place last night in Devlin 008 was conducted similar to a Halftime retreat. It was meant to be informal and a chance for students to interact with other students on a more personal level, Muldoon said.

John Cawthorne, associate dean for Undergraduate Student Services of the Lynch School of Education; Betty Bagnani, a professor in the Carroll School of Management; Colleen Simonelli, a clinical professor in the Connell School of Nursing; and Mark O’Connor, director of the A&S Honors Program, reflected on the theme of careers of love in action for an audience comprised mostly of undergraduates.

In the future, the group hopes that it will become a resource for other groups on campus.

“Part of the conversation that we’ve had over the year has been about finding other ways that we can reach out,” Muldoon said.

“We’ve already reached out to other groups that have a foundation in Ignatian ideas, like Salt and Light, but down the road we’d love to see the students in Messina be guides for students in other groups in figuring out how their interests connect with Ignatian spirituality. We want them to see Messina as a resource.”

Additionally, the group could be a catalyst and guide for conversations on campus, he said.

“We hope to shape some conversations on campus, even on controversial and political issues,” he said. n

Alex trautwig / Photo Editor

Professors reflected on their personal experiences with careers of love in action at a panel last night.

A3

The Heights

A4

Thursday, April 7, 2011

100 Days Dance may not continue 100 Days, from A1 no University funding, we ask for your understanding.”

But when questioned repeatedly about the budget, committee members including co-chairs Joelle Formato, CSOM ’11, and Ebram Megally, A&S ’11, first did not reply, then said they were unable talk about it.

“The Senior Week Committee has a policy of not discussing specific budget figures and dollar amounts,” the organizers responded in an e-mail.

Documents obtained from SPO, however, show that the event cost $12,125 to rent the Cyclorama, $6,864 for buses, $7,157 for rental furniture and decorations, $5,000 for food and the bar staff and coat-check attendant, $2,000 for the BCPD to provide additional security, $800 for a DJ, $100 for insurance, $100 for BC staff parking,

and $420 for posters and signage.

Students, who paid $30 a ticket, said the lines were endless and unruly, the bartenders were overwhelmed, the food was mediocre – “microwavable,” as Jon Casey, A&S ’11, described it – the coatcheck attendant fled, and people’s possessions were lost.

“I didn’t realize I waited in line to pay $30 to wait in line for drink tickets to wait in line for drinks to wait in line for a refund for my drink tickets, which I never got,” said Holly Orme, CSOM ’11.

“I went to the bathroom, waited in line. Went to the coat check, waited in line,” said Alexis D’Angelo, LSOE ’11. “Went to get a drink, realized I had to get in an additional line to get a ticket to get a drink, and then finally waited in the drink line – I mean stampede.”

Kristin Shallcross , CSON ’11, said the dance was “poorly

planned, poorly executed, from the ticket sales all the way through the coat check at the end. It was just a mess.”

Saying she was speaking for herself and not the UGBC, Micaela Mabida, president of the UGBC and CSOM ’11, said she was “highly disappointed in the organization and turnout of the event.”

Michael Kitlas, president-elect of the UGBC and A&S ’12, called for better communication between the UGBC and the Senior Week Committee to prevent similar problems from happening again.

Miceli said that one potential change would be to hold back buses to off-campus events to control lines. But he also said there may not be another 100 Days Dance.

“I’m not sure if it will continue at all,” Miceli said. n This story was written for Advanced Journalism CO23301.

sang lee / heights staff

Sophomores enjoy science museum Groups hone respective art forms Sesquicentennial, from A1

tive it can be quite exciting. It’s a chance to find some truth and truth, I’d argue, with ourselves and with each other is what we’re all looking for.”

O’Day shared some life lessons with the sophomore class, relating them all to popular songs.

Referring to Coldplay’s “The Scientist,” O’Day said, “My first piece of advice to you tonight is to assemble your dream team.

I urge you to surround yourself with people that believe in you, people that want to see you succeed. There are good people in this world, BC is full of them.

“But as I look out in the audience to you tonight, I want you to know that you don’t have to have everything figured out,” she said. “Maybe you do, maybe you thought you knew and now you’re not sure, or maybe you have no idea whatsoever. That’s fine.

That’s what college is for and you could not be in a better place to conduct this experiment.”

Students said they enjoyed O’Day’s speech and the event

overall. “She was good,” Kishan Bhakta, A&S ’13, said. “I liked the way she used all the pop culture references in the songs to relate to us.”

“I love that BC’s doing this for its students,” Chris Osnato, A&S ’13, said. “I feel as though the administration is taking a real initiative in getting the student body together for events that don’t necessarily have to do with drinking.

They’re taking the initiative to actually make fun events that are cheap and easy to attend.”

“Although I was primarily enticed by the prospects of a catered dinner, I really enjoyed getting off campus and interacting with my class in such an enriching environment,” Lisa Menechino, A&S ’13, said.

“I would have to say that other than my second portion of tiramisu, my favorite part of the night was walking through the exhibits with my friends,” Menechino said.

“Going to the Museum of Science on a weekday night is not an outing I would have necessarily planned myself, but the night turned out to be a blast. I like be-

ing a part of the sesquicentennial class. It sounds special.”

“I think it’s really fun,” Shelby Garber, A&S ’13, said. “I really like being here with the sophomore class, bringing us all together. But I have to admit, I think maybe the food has been my favorite part so far.”

Concluding her speech, O’Day referenced the BC mantra, ‘We are BC.’ “It’s our anthem, uniting the BC collective,” she said. “Boston College is an amazing place, but what makes BC so special is the people. As you go off in your lives, I have no doubt that you will follow St. Ignatius and go set the world aflame. This is your moment, your moment for life, assemble your dream team, ignite your passion, always remember laugh your face off, hold your ground, and be all the above.”

“We are BC, you are BC. You are the Boston College Class of 2013, the Sesquicentennial Class, and as I said before, I am thrilled to meet you all.” n Brooke Schneider, Heights Editor, contributed to this report.

Arts Fest, from A1 Over the course of eight different workshops scheduled between February 15 and April 20, groups including improv comedy troupe My Mother’s Fleabag, a capella group the B.E.A.T.S, and the Madrigal Singers met with professionals to hone their respective art forms.

Kayleigh Dudevoir, A&S ’11 and president and founder of vocal group the Madrigal Singers, said that her group has met with Scott Metcalfe, director of the Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, four times over the past year. The Blue Heron Choir, who were featured in The New Yorker in January, are the music department’s artists-in-residence this year.

Dudevoir said that her group would usually loosely prepare a song before rehearsing with Metcalfe. “We’ll usually sing it through once or twice for him, and then he’ll begin taking it apart with us,” she said. “So he pretty much handcrafted and perfected the piece for us. He’ll provide suggestions for different things. We’re learning, we’re not just singing and being told we’re doing it wrong, so there is a give and a take.”

Not all singers enter the group with the same base of knowledge.

Dudevoir said that she once asked a bass singer to join the group after hearing him sing a song from Aladdin at a party.

What they do have is enthusiasm, she said, and a willingness to learn. “ We have p e ople who do come in with a ton of experience in this kind of vocal music, four- to-eight- part harmony, medieval Renaissance kind of thing,” Dudevoir said. “The one thing I would say that’s true of everybody in the group is they all really, really want to be there.”

Metcalfe taught the Madrigal Singers about how to properly tune, how to hold themselves, how to approach a piece of music, Dudevoir said. “I think that the work with Scott has been absolutely fantastic,” she said. “His group is really well known in our weird little Renaissance music world, he’s a big star to us.”

Chris Battaglia, music director for the Dynamics and A&S ’11, said his group had a similar experience when they met with a cappella group Five O’Clock Shadow in March. “At first I didn’t know what to expect,” Battaglia said, “but when we were in there they were so helpful in both critiquing us and showing us new facets of the art of a cappella.”

Five O’Clock Shadow shared

their years of experience as a professional a cappella act with his group, Battaglia said. “They helped us realize our potential and how good we can really sound,” he said. “They’ve been doing this for so long that they know all the ins and outs of vocal technique. For me specifically, it helped me figure out how to conduct the group in a better way. “ This past Tuesday, the slam poets did not benefit from Roberts’ instruction, but they found other ways to practice. As part of their act at Slam Fashionation, the poets will participate in a group slam, a spoken piece with multiple voices. None of the students had participated in a group slam before.

Chang found videos for them to watch online of professional slam poets, and recommended the documentary SlamNation, which follows the 1996 National Poetry Slam.

“There are lots of different styles, different formations, feel free to be theatrical for your group slams,” Chang said. She went over the stage layout, use of music, and some performance effects she wanted to discourage them from employing. “Last year, someone had a moment of silence. I beg you not to do that again.” n

Woods celebrates long BC career Woods College, from A1

sang lee / heights staff

Efforts form to end sexual violence Biden, from A1 shelters and services for victims.

His passion to combat violence against women was clear throughout his message.

“No matter how much she’s had to drink, it’s never, never, never, never, never OK to touch her without her consent,” Biden said. “This doesn’t make you a man, it makes you a coward. A flat-out coward.”

Women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rates of sexual assault and rape.

Additionally one in five women will be a victim of sexual assault during college. This prevalence during young adulthood and college, in addition to the schools’ ability to prevent and respond to sexual assault is why Biden and Duncan directed their message to students and universities.

There are no new laws being introduced, instead this is a national awareness campaign and an explanation of requirements under Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities. Discrimination encompasses sexual coercion, sexual battery, sexual assault, and sexual violence, such as rape.

Schools and universities will

now be better informed of their responsibilities under Title IX to create a climate where sexual violence is not tolerated, and to protect victims of sexual assault.

“Rape is rape is rape, and the sooner universities make that clear, the sooner we’ll begin to make progress on campuses.”

-Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States The guidance made clear the legal obligations facing any school, college, or university receiving funds from the government to respond extensively and promptly.

“Rape is rape is rape, and the sooner universities make that clear, the sooner we’ll begin to make progress on campuses,” Biden said.

Between 2006 and 2009, there were 44 cases of sexual assault reported by Boston College under the Clery Act, a number that does not coincide with statistics from

the Education Department. Nearly 20 percent of young women will be the victims of attempted or actual sexual assault in college.

This discrepancy between reported and perpetrated assaults could be caused by a number of factors, including victims being blamed and choosing not to report assault because of the perceived threats their actions would have, Biden said. This understanding led Biden to emphasize the school’s responsibility in providing a safe environment.

“Today we are strengthening our response to sexual assault in schools and on college campuses,” Biden said. “Students across the country deserve the safest possible environment in which to learn. That’s why we’re taking new steps to help our nation’s schools, universities, and colleges end the cycle of sexual violence on campus.”

In addition to promoting action and change, the address highlighted the administrations dedication to raising awareness and taking preventative measures against sexual violence.

“No means no, if you’re drunk or you’re sober,” Biden said. “No means no if you’re in bed in a dorm or on the street, no means no even if you said yes at first and you changed your mind.” n

lege, Woods College of Advancing Studies.” His accompanying description is three lines long.

But he has some other roles as well. The dean of admission for the Woods College? “That’s me,” he says. The college counselor?

“Me, too.” The academic advising department? “You’re looking at him.”

Woods didn’t ask for all this, though. When asked about his vocation with the school, he’ll say that was “posted,” which, in his words, is “a lot like getting drafted in the military.”

But, he has no complaints. “I’m easy to please,” he says. “I’m grateful to my superiors for having the privilege of working here.”

After getting a master’s degree in teaching for math and a bachelor’s in sacred theology, he was posted to the dean’s position at the Evening College. The college would later be renamed the Woods School in 2002.

To say Woods is hands-on might just be just short of an understatement. During the year, he meets with each of his college’s 779 undergraduate students to speak about their career plans, their academic schedules, and their life situations.

“Students who are at the Woods College are students who have come to complete something that they had begun and were interrupted from completing,” Woods says.

Some of those interruptions include personal issues. Some include work-related obligations, forcing students to adjust their class schedules or take fewer classes each semester – too few to stay in a day school, but enough to remain a BC student.

The College currently has 625 undergraduate students and 154 graduate students. Working with a staff of seven full-time workers in a space approximately twice the size of the Cheverus Hall student lounge, the Woods College processes paperwork, advises

students, and makes graduation arrangements.

The College even has a cafeteria – a snackbar near the front desk where “customers” (mostly students and staff ) can pay 90 cents for a candy bar or soda can.

The proceeds benefit the College’s scholarship fund.

They also do some of their own alumni outreach, Woods says.

On April 20, the College will be holding an alumni reception in Boston, at which it will honor two of its graduates - Velia DiCesare, BC ’63, who is in her 75th year as chief architect and fraud investigator of the Commonwealth’s Office of Unemployment, and Mary Jane Mitchell, BC ’91, who works managing the U.S. Air Force’s $10 billion budget.

“How’s that for a story?” Woods says with a smile.

After entering the Society of Jesus in 1948, Woods joined the University in 1958, becoming University Registrar in 1972 and serving in that role until 1975.

During his time in the Registrar’s Office, he served as the secretary for the Jesuit New England Province from 1962-1968 and served outside BC in Fall River, helping to found Bishop Connolly High School in 1965.

“If there’s one biggest problem I’ve come across during my career, it’s that I was never able to start a football team at Bishop Connolly,” Woods says. “The locals really wanted it, but I was told not to have it.”

At about 6-feet tall, Woods is built like a football player, towering over the furniture in his first-floor McGuinn office. He walks through the College’s main lobby. Two staff members, Linda Englert and Sarah Piepgrass, glance up at him.

When Woods came to the University, the majority of the women on campus attended the education and nursing programs. But, Woods says, he recalls a mixed-sex environment.

“You hardly knew there weren’t women in A&S,” he says. “They took classes with us, they took

everything through Arts and Sciences.”

During the next 50 years, Woods would witness the University changing to the point where he works with an almost all-female staff, most of whom have or are pursuing degrees in the Woods College.

“People tend to stick around here, like at most BC departments,” Pieipgrass says, who has worked in the office for six years. She is standing over the front desk in the College’s main office. She stops to provide a student with change to buy a Snickers bar.

The daytime is quiet, she says.

The metallic clinks of typewriters and the humm of the soda refrigerator near the door dominate the office.

“Sometimes it’ll pick up,” Piepgreass says. “People come in at night for class – people who work hard. It’s not easy dragging your butt here for class, eating peanut butter crackers for dinner.”

She looks back toward Woods’ office. “I don’t know if there’s anyone more active on campus than that man.” n

CLASSIFIEDS

A5

The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

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PROGRAMMER WANTED for small business project. Must have experience with C/C++. Call (617)655-8196 if interested. Salary negotiable.

HELP WANTED JOB OPENING : RELIABLE AND EFFICIENT CUSTOMER SERVICE REP NEEDED TO WORK FOR OUR COMPANY. MUST HAVE GOOD COMPUTER SKILLS, SPEAK ENGLISH OR FRENCH FLUENTLY, AND MUST BE ACCURATE. NO JOB EXPERIENCE IS NEEDED AS ANY JOB EXPERIENCE MAY APPLY. YOU WILL EARN $2,950 MONTHLY. E-mail davidj85@live.com if interested.

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I enjoy a good horn section.

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: 路 Number can appear only once in each row 路 Number can appear only once in each column 路 Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box 路 The number should appear only once on row, column or area.

The Heights

A6

Thursday, April 7, 2011

and universities to be a safe environment for all students. He reminded university administrators that regardless of the result of criminal investigations of a sexual assault case, universities should initiate their own independent investigation. Biden’s speech runs parallel to the message promoted by C.A.R.E. Week. The Heights commends

Extend the event to all, create a tradition The sesquicentennial class night at the museum is a great opportunity that should be carried on for all The University’s decision to host a reception for the sophomore sesquicentennial class at the Museum of Science is one that The Heights commends. To organize events such as this for students—events that promote

To have an event that seeks to bring together all members of a given class during their middle, and often times, most formative years at BC, could be highly beneficial. class bonding, get students into a seldom visited area, and offer a unique opportunity to dress up and interact in a different setting—is fantastic. Its popularity with the student population is also evidenced by all of the tickets to the event are sold out. The only detraction to this event is the fact that it’s only

open to one of the four classes currently enrolled at Boston College. Events such as this such would prove to be formative and beneficial for every class—not only those who happen to end up in the class of 2013.

Moreover, the fact that more events that encourage class bonding do not exist is unfortunate. When students enter as freshmen, they are invited to attend Welcome Week events as a group in preparation for their shared journey over the next four years. They do not convene again in an organized setting until Senior Week, in preparation for commencement and beginning our journeys apart for the rest of our lives.

To have an event that seeks to bring together all members of a given class during their middle—and often most formative—years at BC could be highly beneficial. This would offer a chance for students to touch base with those in the sea of 2,000 they may have lost track of over the course of their semesters.

We are delighted that the sophomore class enjoyed themselves last night and we believe that the experience is one that could—and should—be felt by every BC student.

Quote of the Week Be mild with the mild, shrewd with the crafty, confiding to the honest, rough to the ruffian, and a thunderbolt to the liar. But in all this, never be unmindful of your own dignity.

— John Brown

The Heights The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ottaunick, General Manager Hilary Chasse, Managing Editor

Editorial

Clara Kim, Copy Editor Taylour Kumpf, News Editor Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor Kristopher Robinson, Features Editor Darren Ranck, Arts & Review Editor David Cote, Marketplace Editor Ana Lopez, Opinions Editor Dan Tonkovich, Special Projects Editor Alex Trautwig, Photo Editor Lindsay Grossman, Layout Editor Mollie Kolosky, Graphics Editor

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It is important that awareness about sexual assault is not just confined to a week or even a month. Our awareness needs to be constant in order to ensure a safe community for everyone at Boston College.

the Women’s Resource Center on the excellent job it did by coordinating events to promote awareness of sexual assault on campus.

The Heights urges students to conceptualize rape not only as an act done by a stranger to assert his sexual dominance over a woman, but as an act of nonconsensual sex committed sometimes by a person the victim knows and even trusts. Excessive physical force may not even be used. According to a 2005 U.S. Department of Justice study approximately two-thirds of rapes are committed by a person that the victim knows personally. Rape is not always committed by the unfamiliar. It can be committed by those closest to victims.

If both parties involved do not feel safe and secure, sex is never advisable.

Although this message has been repeated time and time again, it is one worthy of repetition. It is important that awareness about sexual assault is not just confined to a week or even a month. The campus’ awareness needs to be constant in order to ensure a safe community for everyone at Boston College. Both men and women need to be sexually mature if they choose to engage in sexual activity and it is their responsibility to do so in a safe, respectful, and secure manner. Moreover, a continual awareness will help BC be a community that can serve as a safe model for other universities across the nation.

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April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and as a part of this effort to raise awareness, Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the University of New Hampshire on Tuesday. The vice president emphasized the need for colleges

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Last week’s message of leading a respectful, self-preserving life is worthy of reiteration

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Continuing the caring beyond April

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Editorials

Mary Kate Mcadams / Heights Illustration

Letters to the Editor Take care while covering campus events Throughout the year, this newspaper has continuously misquoted and misrepresented various campus organizations, events, and individuals, a trend that was further highlighted with the unauthorized and premature announcement of the annual Spring Concert. In light of this most recent misrepresentation and in an effort to mitigate further mistakes, we felt that a response was necessary.

As a publication that “serves the students, faculty, and staff of the Boston College community as well as our neighbors in Allston-Brighton,” [1] it is imperative that you publish accurate information. This includes, but is in no way limited to, using correct spelling and grammar, citing the correct sources, and checking all facts before they are printed. Furthermore, when a person or organization is credited with an achievement or event, it is highly suggested that you contact them to get their thoughts. Not only will it ensure an accurate article, it will also let those being discussed know that they are more than just words on a page.

In regards to this year’s Spring Concert, you have done a poor job of describing the event. Rather than remarking on the large-scale collaboration between Black Student Forum (BSF) and the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC), which we would like to add is the first of its kind, you chose to use out-of-context remarks that were made at an informal information session organized under false pretenses. Contrary to serving as just another Spring Concert, this year’s event strives to be more inclusive of the entire Boston College community while highlighting the annual Black Family Weekend, a Boston College tradition that will be celebrating its 39th year on this campus. We appreciate the editorial commending UGBC’s thoughtfulness in planning such a large-scale event, but would hope to find these same values reflected in current and future relationships between The Heights and student organizations. Therefore, Black Student Forum should have

also been commended for their collaborative work to share a longstanding tradition with the entire BC community.

Articles such as the one in question hinder the community building that UGBC and other organizations, namely culture clubs, work hard to foster and encourage across campus. As the current administration strives to make UGBC more inclusive and representative of the entire BC community, you have continuously framed their efforts in a way that makes it seem as though they want to take credit for the hard work and innovation of others. If you seek to serve the BC community, then please do so consistently and completely.

We challenge you to print this letter in its entirety, with nothing deleted or changed. We want to emphasize that the concerns we have outlined far surpass the Spring Concert, as this is just one example of frequent misrepresentations of student organizations and individuals found within The Heights.

To the readers of this newspaper: If you see something printed that is inaccurate, whether it is an incorrect location or a misquotation, please let it be known. As the public that The Heights serves, it is our job to hold them responsible. They write for us.

Let’s hold them accountable to doing it well.

D iana M orris President, Black Student Forum M icaela M abida President, Undergraduate Government of Boston College

The positive side of Meatless Mondays In response to your article “Dining Hosts Meatless Mondays” (21 Mar. 2011), I would like to compliment Jacob Bajada for discussing the exciting campaign that is introducing thousands of students to vegetarian cuisine. Demand for meatless options on college campuses is growing every day, and students across the country are adopting Meatless Mondays as a result. A recent study by ARAMARK, a leading food-service provider, concluded that one in four college students are actively seeking out vegan options when they sit down to eat.

The United Nations’ scientists have determined that raising chickens, pigs, and other animals for slaughter generates about 40 percent more greenhouse gasses than all the cars, SUVs, trucks, and planes in the world combined. Most students are also horrified to discover that chickens have their beaks cut off when they’re only days old, male piglets are castrated, and cows are branded and de-horned, all without any painkillers.

These terrified animals are often skinned and dismembered while still conscious as well. If these kinds of

abuses were inflicted upon cats or dogs, it would result in felony cruelty-to-animals charges. Yet these practices are standard in an industry that refuses to make even the most basic improvements in the way animals are treated.

Luckily, not only is going vegetarian the single greatest action you can take for animals and the environment, it’s also the best choice that you can make for your health. Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the American Dietetic Association have endorsed vegetarian diets. In addition, with the launch of the school’s Meatless Monday program, going vegan at Boston College has never been easier!

The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 200 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 e-mail to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

Amelia Jensen College Campaigns Assistant

Business and Operations David Riemer, Online Manager Therese Tully, Assoc. Copy Editor Chris Marino, Asst. Copy Editor Adriana Mariella, Assoc. News Editor Molly LaPoint, Asst. News Editor DJ Adams, Assoc. Sports Editor Greg Joyce, Asst. Sports Editor Brooke Schneider, Asst. Features Editor Brennan Carley, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Charlotte Parish, Asst. Arts & Review Editor Matt Palazzolo, Asst. Marketplace Editor

Kevin Hou, Asst. Photo Editor Woogeon Kim, Asst. Layout Editor Alex Manta, Asst. Graphics Editor Dara Fang, Asst. Online Manager Elise Taylor, Editorial Assistant Katherine McClurg, Executive Assistant

Margaret Tseng, Business Manager Christina Quinn, Advertising Manager Zachary Halpern, Outreach Coordinator Cecilia Provvedini, Systems Manager James Gu, Local Sales Manager Jamie Ciocon, Collections Manager Amy Hachigian, Asst. Ads Manager Seth Fichtelberg, Business Assistant

The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Opinions

Bottled water has no place on campus

Thumbs Up Katya Rucker Pandora – Not the planet, but the genius online radio that allows you to pinpoint your new favorite song, is being subpoenaed to hand over the extensive personal information they hold on their users—including age, gender, ZIP code, and profile material—much like many Android and iPhone application developers. Though the federal court system is all in a tizzy about this alleged invasion of privacy, TU/TD isn’t too concerned that any serious boundaries have been crossed. We figure if Pandora developers were really inside our heads, they’d know how ticked off we were that their smartphone application keeps crashing and get that annoyance fixed.

Lisa Fish – Happy 1st birthday to the goldfish who just won’t stop.

Thumbs Down School Work, Gruel Work – “Hello Muddah, hello Faddah: Here I am at camp [O’Neill].

Camp is very entertaining.

And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.” Ok, so our lives may not be as wretched as Allan Sherman’s at Camp Grenada, but being stuck day in and day out in the library with what seems to be an inordinate amount of school work—and knowing the rainy outside world is just as soul-crushing—isn’t conducive to enjoying our last month of school. As Sherman would plead, “Oh please don’t make me stay, I’ve been here one whole day.”

Pothead Prom – The honest attempt of a group of Massachusetts high school students to mix their two favorite things—pot and prom—ended up in an epic fail … as most “genius” high school endeavors seem to. After a few of the teens who ingested the pot brownies became “violently ill,” the dance was cut short and tragically, no one could spend after-prom blazed out of their mind at a Dave&Buster’s.

You hate to see that.

The Hangover 2 – Let’s just all agree the trailer makes it look horrid. Actually, the trailer doesn’t reveal anything other than the fact that the same premise that brought the first one so much fame and acclaim is being recycled—in Thailand. I suppose we can bank on some cultural stereotypes being played upon, some great scenery shots—but come on, this isn’t a Discovery Channel special, we’re looking to laugh our pants off with some cutting edge humor.

Let’s hope a bald Galafinakis can save what seems as of now to be a franchise that already peaked.

Sleepless Elite – If you were feeling a bit inferior compared to your suitemate who stays up until 4 a.m. studying in a focused, productive manner and then rises at 8 a.m. to tackle the Reservoir for a morning workout, you’re on the right track. You should feel inferior, genetically inferior, in fact. Though most of us lowly, standard-issue humans require seven to nine hours of sleep each night to function, a new study has pinpointed that 1 to 3 percent of the population are members of what they deem as the “sleepless elite”—Homo sapiens who look and smell like you and me, but who can function just as well on half the sleep.

Not. Fair.

Follow TU/TD daily on Twitter! @BCTUTD

A7

Bottled water has no reason to exist on the Boston College campus. But just because it does beckon from various strategically placed Dasani vending machines or dining-hall racks of Smartwater doesn’t mean you should buy it. Whether you live in a dorm, Mod, or off-campus house or apartment, the tap water is drinkable. In each dining hall on campus, filtered water is available, but even basic tap water is better quality than what you’ll be drinking out of a plastic bottle. As a matter of fact, bottled water companies don’t have to meet the same standards as local water treatment plants. Tap water in the United States is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which holds water quality to very high standards, including frequent testing and the complete prohibition of bacteria such as E. Coli. Bottled water quality is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency that allows for the existence of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), synthetic growth hormones, artificial colors, and large doses of antibiotics in the food they approve for sale to us. The FDA’s bottled water rules “allow for some contamination by E. Coli or fecal coliform…contrary to tap water rules, which prohibit any confirmed contamination with these bacteria” (NRDC’s 1999 Bottled Water Report).

Since fresh water is available in fountains, dining halls, and anywhere there is a faucet, buying a bottle of water is almost like buying the right to breath the air in a particular room that is specially ventilated

by Coca-Cola. Coke can’t even claim to be bottling its water at a natural spring. Dasani is “purified” water, which is another name for municipal tap water that they have distilled, filtered, and poured into a blue-tinted plastic bottle. And that blue chemical, in high enough quantities, can contaminate a

recycling plant. So Dasani bottles aren’t really welcome in either landfills or recycling facilities. Almost half of all bottled water in the United States, including the brands Aquafina and Pure Life, are comprised of water that comes from municipal tap sources. Even Smartwater originated as tap water. It may have been “vapor-distilled,” as the sleek bottle advertises, but it was magically turned into vapor only after being poured out of a municipal tap, not pumped from a pristine Alaskan aquifer. So companies that bottle and sell “purified” water are really just selling us tap water for about 2,000 times what it costs to fill up a reusable bottle at a fountain (or, as locals would call it, a bubbler).

What is more problematic for the environment, however, is that the purchase of any bottled water is inextricably linked with high inputs of fossil fuels. Oil is needed to extract or process the PET resin to make the bottles. More oil is burned in the form of gasoline used to transport the Petroleum Ether (PET) to a factory that creates the empty bottles, then again to transport the empty bottles to the water-bottling site, and finally to transport the heavy finished product (a 16 oz. bottle of water weighs just over one pound) to the hands of consumers. PET is the type of plastic that has a “1” in the little triangle of arrows that indicates whether a product is recyclable. The plastic that encases the water is derived from petroleum, which is usually freshly extracted, and not in significant part post-consumer material. So when you think about it, oil is an integral part of the process of shipping bottled, purified water from a tap somewhere far away to our Chestnut Hill abodes.

Oil is even used to cart discarded plastic bottles off to recycling plants.

An extreme example of high amounts of fossil fuels needed to transport bottled water is the Fiji brand, which is shipped all around the world after being bottled at the source, in the middle of the South Pacific.

Another environmental problem that may catch up to us down the road is that the Fiji water consumed here in Boston isn’t going to end up back in Fiji. Transporting mass quantities of water from an original source that presumably has water abundance disrupts the hydrological cycle by extracting

water faster than it can be replaced.

Here’s the fundamental difference between oil and water, though: If we deplete oil to the point that we can’t use it for energy anymore, we can still survive as a species.

We can develop and harness other forms of energy. If we continue to use water at unsustainable rates using unsustainable practices, we will soon be facing some serious problems - problems that are already occurring across regions in the Middle East, Africa, and Southwest Asia.

Being part of the solution is as simple as cutting the plastic water bottle out of day-to-day purchases.

That is, of course, as long as we don’t have to start showering in Chestnut Hill Reservoir water again anytime soon.

The bottom line on bottles Pooja Shah What do you do when it’s 11:58 p.m. on a Wednesday night, Lower Dining Hall is closing in two minutes, and the last of half a dozen cases of your Poland Spring bottles have finished? Idealistically, in an effort to rehydrate, you would run to the nearest vending machine and wait for a Dasani water bottle to vend. However, if Lady Luck is not on your side tonight, and the vending machine reads “SOLD OUT” in a red neon light, you might just have to look for another option. In the long-battled debate over what’s the better option, tap water or bottled water, recent studies reveal that tap water might finally be victorious.

In contemporary times, bottled water has replaced the free, ubiquitous source of water that was readily available. Classrooms, stores, homes, offices, and restaurants only seem to carry Dasani, Aquafina, Fiji, Poland Spring, and similar brand name bottles.

Consumers believe that the calorie-free products are significantly healthier, and therefore, safer to drink. But labels are misleading and often don’t acknowledge the fact that some companies draw their water from local sources (with the exception of Dasani, who explicitly state this fact on their website). But this health issue was resolved by a study conducted in New York City, which took samples of five bottles of national brand water and compared it to a sample of tap water from a fountain. Conclusions from this experimentation showed that there was no presence of E. Coli or other germs and therefore, no differences according to their evaluations.

So what actually compels people to invest their pocket change in drinking “quality” water over the public water source available to them above their kitchen sink?

Given, the thought of luxuriously sipping on crisp, natural water from a spring is lot more tempting than drinking water from a $30 filter bought from Home Depot, is the extravagance worth your bills? A single bottle

Party Time

BY BEN VADNAL

of water costs about $1.50, which is approximately 2,000 times that of tap water. This calculation implies that the average United States citizen spends about $400 a year on bottled water. Wow, I’d have to be overly thirsty to buy that. To continue throwing statistics at you, people buy more than half a million bottles a week, an amount that can actually circulate the globe about five times!

To continue listing the disadvantages of bottled water, why support the consumption of a less sustainable product in our growing material economy? If water is free, how are companies luring people into buying these products? With an increasing manufacture demand, companies are advertising the health and safety benefits of drinking “purified” water. Once again this proposition is opposed by the fact that bottled water has its health detriments. An industrial chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA) is present in many hard plastic bottles and metal-based food and beverages; a toxin that is leached from bottles due to the high temperatures and heat in trucks and warehouses where bottles are transported to and from. These damages also extend to the environment because 86 percent of plastic ends up as garbage. To give you a better scope of this number, that’s an approximate 1,500 bottles per second.

The bottom line is that more and more people are questioning whether bottled water is worth the money and the taste against its environmental impacts. The public spends a ridiculous amount of $100 billion annually. In my opinion, probably not the most sensible decision. Although I have had my share of bottled purchases, I do believe that buying bottled water under the misconception that it is healthier than tap water is unjustified because as tests prove, there is no evidence that supports that argument. Yet, if it’s for the purposes of buying fancy brands for the better taste and overall enjoyment, than one might take into consideration whether the expediency is worth fruitlessly spending money on the hype. Investing in a water filter or a refillable water bottle is not only an environmentally friendly way to go, but also a less pricey option (fortunately, bottled company sales are gradually decreasing as sales of refillable water bottles are increasing). One last thought, next time you’re strolling through one of the dining Katya Rucker and Pooja Shah are staff halls on BC campus, ask yourself this question: columnists for The Heights. They welcome Is it really smart to buy Smartwater? comments at opinions@bcheights.com.

War or Hypocrisy?

Janine Hanrahan The New Oxford American Dictionary defines war as a “state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation state.” According to this definition, sustained bombing of a foreign country is quite obviously a war, but what appears to be obvious to most people is much more complex for those in Washington, D.C. Instead of being at war with Libya, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the United States is involved in “kinetic military action.” The difference between war and kinetic military action seems to be that war is an open-ended land invasion and kinetic military action is a short, well-defined mission. Fair enough.

So, what is the U.S.’ mission in Libya?

In a speech delivered March 28, President Barack Obama said that the U.S. accomplished the following objectives: securing an international mandate to protect civilians, preventing a massacre, establishing a no-fly zone, mobilizing a broad coalition, and stopping an advancing army. All great things, especially since they took only a month to accomplish. What an astonishing work of kinetic military action!

Of course, the actual goal of the kinetic military action is to drive Muammar Gaddafi from power, but while Gaddafi bides his time, rebel leadership is fracturing. The New York Times reports a “screaming match” broke out between supporters of Khalia Heftar, a former general who appointed himself the rebel field commander, and supporters of Abdul Fattah Younes, a former interior minister and friend of Gadaffi’s who was chosen to lead the rebel army. An observer of the argument offered this confidence boosting assessment: “At least they’re not shooting each other.”

If the goal is get Gaddafi out of power, why is it that the U.S. and NATO are content to pour their resources into a stalemate?

The answer can be summed up in one word: Iraq. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, it was the U.S.’ responsibility to put Iraq back together. That process has been fraught with expense, death, and political headaches, so it is unsurprising that no nation wants to see it replicated in Libya. Instead, the U.S. and its allies have turned the campaign over to NATO and the rebels.

Unfortunately, the situation is complicated by the fact that it is unclear who exactly these rebels are. On Monday, senior security sources in Algeria reported that Al Qaeda is using the conflict in Libya to acquire weapons, including surface-to-air missiles.

Reports like these make it extremely difficult for the U.S. to arm the rebels because in the process we may be arming terrorists. As a result, Obama’s administration has been wringing its hands, leaving some members of Congress clamoring for answers and others clamoring for action.

Furthermore, rebel leaders have criticized NATO for being slow to respond to the situation on the ground. Ali al-Essawi, the foreign policy director of the National Transitional Council, told The New York Times that as a result of NATO, “many civilians have died” and the battle will become long and drawn out.

Yet whatever happens in Libya, President Obama’s actions have been beyond hypocritical. Obama rode into office on a mythical white horse named “Change,” due in large part to his early opposition to the Iraq War. In a much acclaimed speech to anti-war protesters in 2002, Obama called the war with Iraq “dumb” and “rash” because Hussein posed “no imminent and direct threat to the United States … and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the war of all petty dictators, he falls way into the dustbin of history.” Why doesn’t this logic apply to Gaddafi? Gaddafi may be killing his own citizens, but that wasn’t enough for Obama (or the current NATO allies) to support war with Iraq.

Furthermore, Obama’s decision to use military force in Libya without congressional approval is completely at odds with prior statements. In 2007, Obama said, “The president does not have the power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” Apparently this logic only applies to Former President George W. Bush, because Congress was left in the dark about Libya.

The question that remains is why is this kinetic military action justified? The answer seems to be that it is justified because it makes absolutely no sense. Gaddafi poses virtually no threat to U.S. interests, yet here we are trying to get him out of power even though we have no idea who will replace him. But really, it should come as no surprise that a president who has gone around the world apologizing for the U.S. now presides over a schizophrenic, inexplicable policy that has little bearing on the nation’s strategic interests.

Janine Hanrahan is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.

The Heights

A8

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Speer’s grand slam leads comeback

By Chris Marino Heights Editor

alex trautwig / heights editor

Amidon has a knack for getting behind defenses, using his 4.5 40-yard dash speed to average 21.1 yards per catch.

Receiver outruns the competition Amidon, from A10 the Eagles with a 21.1 yards per catch average, and has earned a spot as one of the primary targets of the receiver corps.

Amidon was born in London, England, to a British mother and an American father. He lived there for 10 years until he moved to the States.

The receiver doesn’t remember much of his city of birth, but it was there, across the pond, where he began his athletic career, with a very different kind of football.

“I played cricket, soccer, and rugby,” Amidon said.

Due to the notable lack of cricket facilities in New England, however, Amidon had to switch gears when he moved into his new home. He first started running cross-country in middle school and picked up football (American, this time) in ninth grade at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. Amidon’s speed, one of his most dangerous weapons as a receiver, came out to shine in an unusual offense.

“We had one receiver, a tight end on the right side, and a wide out,” Amidon said.

Besides receiving, he took snaps at quarterback, played cornerback on defense, and spent some time on the kick return team. He served as captain for two years, helped the team to a collective 17-2 record over his junior and senior years, and won MVP honors after his final season.

Amidon also made some noise on the track team, winning races in the 100, 200, and 400-meter events. He even set a NEPSTA Division 1 meet record for the 200, clocking in at an impressive 21.90 seconds.

Amidon’s 4.5 40-yard dash time, reliable hands, and prep school accolades turned some heads at the

collegiate level, and he committed to BC, reporting for summer practice in 2010. Due to a pulled hamstring, however, the receiver was shelved for the entire preseason.

“It started out rough,” Amidon said. “You get down on yourself when you’re out.”

As he recovered, he grew accustomed to the rigors of the life of the college athlete.

“There was so much stuff to learn,” Amidon said. “Practices are much more intense than in high school, the learning curve is much steeper.”

Early morning lift sessions, thick playbooks, and starting at the bottom rung of the team ladder took some getting used to. Amidon threw himself into preparations, however, and soon became just another player on the team.

“The older guys are accepting, but there’s seniority on the team,” he said. “There’s a mentality that you have to be tough, you can’t get injured. Once they realize you’re out there, though, you’re just part of the team.”

Fellow receiver Colin Larmond, Jr., who was out for the season due to injury, and Ifeanyi Momah helped show Amidon the ropes.

“Momah’s been a leader for us,” Amidon said of the team’s oldest receiver.

This past season was a rough one for the Eagles’ receiver corps.

Larmond’s injury, coupled with the loss of star Rich Gunnell, who graduated in 2010 and holds the record for BC career receiving yards, meant that the younger players would have to step up and pull some weight.

“I knew we didn’t have that many receivers, but we had lots of older guys who were going to be ahead on the depth chart,” Amidon said. “I just

wanted to get some playing time.”

He turned in some much-needed yardage with the playing time he got, racking up 338 yards, secondhighest on the team, on 16 receptions over 11 games. Amidon put up 102 receiving yards, along with a touchdown, in the Eagles’ loss to NC State, becoming the second true freshman in program history to break 100 yards in a game. Amidon solidified his position as a deep threat on the outside, while fellow freshman Bobby Swiggert lined up in the slot. The two are lifting partners, and “push each other to get better,” Amidon said.

With his freshman campaign behind him, the receiver is now in the midst of the offseason, already working for next fall.

“Route running was my biggest problem last year,” Amidon said. “[At first], you don’t realize how important routes are. I try to use speed to get open, and it doesn’t work as well.

You’ve got to work a lot to get the timing down.”

As the intrasquad Spring Game draws closer, the receiver is optimistic about the offense’s progress.

“I want the offense to easily move the ball,” Amidon said.

He contributed significantly in last week’s scrimmage, making four catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. The new coordinator, Kevin Rogers, “has put in some new stuff, so the offense is clicking very well.”

The rising sophomore has certainly come a long way from that first trip and fall against Virginia Tech, and, with this new experience, has taken a cooler approach.

“By the time it comes to game day, there’s not much left up to you to do, after practicing so much,” Amidon said. “It’s nothing. You just play.” n

The Boston College women’s softball team’s bats were silenced last night at the University of Connecticut’s Burrill Field for the Boston College 9 early portion of yesterday’s 6 Connecticut game. Only recording one hit through the first four innings, the Eagles (10-19) were looking at a 4-0 deficit heading into the fifth. Then, with a strong offensive output, the visiting team put up seven runs to take a lead they would not lose for the rest of the night, ultimately winning 9-6.

The Eagles’ fifth inning began with an infield single by second baseman Ronnie Mae Ayers. She moved over to second on a bunt single by Maria Pandolfo, and then went to third when third baseman Lizzy Ploen walked. With the bases loaded, Carolyn Jones brought in two runs with a single to centerfield.

Then, after another walk loaded the bases, freshman Tory Speer hit a two-out grand slam to put her team ahead 7-4.

“We got a runner on, then we played a little bit of small ball with a couple of bunt hits, and then our girls just made their adjustments at the plate,” head coach Jennifer Finley said of her team’s fifth inning rally. “That was their third time coming up to see the pitcher and the lineup just started getting things done.

We just capitalized on it when they made a pitching change with the bases loaded and we got to Tory. And she hit a bomb. It was probably one of the longest hits I’ve ever seen go out of that field.”

Speer, who has played in all 28 contests and was batting .325 with five home runs and 18 RBIs entering yesterday’s game, finished two-for-four with one home run, two runs scored, and four RBIs. “She has been working really hard offensively and she’s been getting comfortable,” Finley said of her freshman leftfielder. “I think that, since ACC play has started, she has been getting very comfortable

at the plate.”

The Huskies slowly tried to diminish the lead, scoring one run in both the fifth and sixth innings.

BC, however, got the insurance it needed in the final frame, scoring two runs to bring the score to 9-6. The Eagles scored their first run of the inning when pinch runner Nicole Koszowski advanced to second on a single up the middle for Speer. She was followed by Gemma Ypparila, who hit an infield single to second base. Ayers hit a sacrifice fly deep to left to bring Koszowski. Both remaining runners advanced.

Speer scored the second run when Pandolfo hit a single to left field. Ypparila tried to extend the lead by scoring from second base, but she was thrown out at the plate, leaving the lead at three.

On the hill, the Eagles starter Amanda Horowitz pitched well. Despite giving up four runs, the freshman only allowed one earned run in four innings of work. She matched her career-high of four strikeouts against a tough Huskies squad.

“She pitched very well,” Finley said of her starter.

“She gave up a tough couple of hits, but only one earned run. We made a couple of mistakes defensively but she pitched very well, and she came in and she did a great job.”

Pitching in relief of Horowitz was senior Allison Gage, who gave up two earned runs on five hits. She also had four strikeouts and received the save for the contest.

Despite several defensive mistakes and the inability to string together any hits early in the matchup, the Eagles were able to pull out a victory behind timely power and pitching. One important note is BC’s power this season, as the team has already accumulated 37 home runs in only 29 games. This is good for third most home runs in Eagles softball history, with 21 regular season matchups still remaining. The team’s ability to continue this streak of power through the remainder of the season will be necessary to make an impact in the ACC. n

alex trautwig / heights editor

After taking a 7-4 lead in the fifith inning, the Eagles dug their heels in the dirt and held UConn to two more runs.

The Heights

Editors’ Picks

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Week Ahead

Standings

Baseball travels to Duke for an ACC series, while softball will also head south to Maryland for three games. Women’s Lacrosse takes on Duke at home, and women’s tennis takes on Comm. Ave. rival BU. The Yankees come to Fenway for a three-game series.

A9

Recap from Last

Paul Sulzer

35-15

Greg Joyce

33-17

DJ Adams

32-18

Heights staff

29-21

Game of the Week

Baseball dropped a two-game series against Miami. Softball earned its second ACC sweep of the year against NC State. Women’s lacrosse upset No. 7 Virginia. Men’s tennis fell to Clemson. The Braves defeated the Nationals on opening day.

Women’s Lacrosse

Guest Editor:

Duke

Adriana Mariella Assoc. News Editor “Triple rock, that’s risky. #rookiemistake”

Paul Sulzer Sports Editor

This Week’s Games Baseball: Boston College at Duke (series)

DJ Adams Assoc. Sports Editor

Greg Joyce Asst. Sports Editor

Adriana Mariella

Assoc. News Editor

Duke

BC

BC

Duke

Softball: Boston College at Maryland (series)

Maryland

Maryland

Maryland

Maryland

Women’s Lacrosse: Boston College vs. Duke

Duke

Duke

Duke

BC

BC

BC

BC

BC

Yankees

Yankees

Red Sox

Yankees

Women’s Tennis: Boston College vs. BU MLB: Yankees at Red Sox (series)

vs.

Boston College

The No. 14/16 women’s lacrosse team, coming off a huge win over No. 7 Virginia, will take on another ACC foe this weekend. The No. 3/4 Duke Blue Devils are coming to the Newton Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon. Boston College will be looking to pull off another upset in their impressive year, with just three games remaining in the regular season. The Eagles’ defense will be anchored by the ACC defensive player of the week Jessie Coffield.

Brooke Blue, the Inside Lacrosse Nike player of the week, will lead the offense after tallying three goals on three shots last weekend.

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Gibbons quietly rises to the top, takes critical step toward the NHL Andrew Klokiw In the aftermath of the men’s hockey team’s loss to Colorado College in the first round of the 2011 NCAA tournament, the discussion among the media and the fans has centered upon who’s leaving for the supposedly greener pastures of the NHL. The Heights, Boston-area newspapers, and hockey blogs around the nation have all weighed in on the professional prospects of juniors Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes, who both recently signed NHL contracts.

They’ve also written about the less certain futures of goaltender John Muse and rising junior Chris Kreider.

There is one former Eagle, however, who has not received any of this attention, despite being one of the most successful players in the history of Boston College hockey.

He was not the captain, the first-round pick, or the star goaltender. But he was my favorite player. Alternate captain Brian Gibbons will follow the path of former teammate Nathan Gerbe to the pros. Gibbons took a big first step on that path by inking a two-year, entry level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

alex trautwig / heights editor

Brian Gibbons left his mark at BC with his physical play despite his meager 5-foot-8 frame.

Scouts, however, have long questioned his size. There will always be a place for players with Jimmy Hayes’ height at the next level. Standing 6-foot-5 with a nose for finding the back of the net or putting someone on their backside is the surest route to the NHL (see: Brian Boyle).

But, if you’re small, they will come after

you. Coaches, writers, and opponents alike will automatically question every facet of your game, as they have with Gibbons.

Even the columns highlighting his speed, pinpoint passing abilities, and toughness seemed to throw in a little jab at Gibbons’ 5-foot-8 stature.

These detractors forget the circuitous

route that the former Hobey Baker finalist Gerbe took to finally reach the NHL, where he currently plies his trade for the Buffalo Sabres. Gerbe is even smaller than Gibbons at 5-foot-5. The two of them put up similar numbers and played with tenacity you would not expect from such diminutive skaters.

When you fall short of the six-foot mark, it pays to play as if you stand way above it . That toughness is exemplified in the styles of both players. In his final two years on the Heights, Gerbe amassed 141 penalty minutes, while Gibbons notched 155 in his junior and senior seasons. This may not seem substantial, but both skaters placed in the top three in minutes spent in the penalty box for the Eagles in each of those seasons.

This quality cannot be overstated. Finding players with a combination of dynamic speed, scoring prowess, and willingness to stand up for their teammates is rare and carried the Eagles to two national championships in the past four seasons. At every level of hockey, teams need guys like Gerbe and Gibbons to kill penalties, match up against other teams’ most talented skaters, and instigate the occasional scuffle.

Both put up prolific point rates, too, as

Gerbe left BC with 104 points in his final two seasons, while Gibbons tallied 101.

Each finished in or just outside the top 10 nationally and seemed to warrant at least a shot at the NHL. Gerbe has seized that chance this season, his first full year with the Sabres. He has put up a highly respectable 29 points and earned himself a spot on Buffalo’s powerplay unit.

As the proverbial “energy guy,” the Eagles legend has made himself an integral part of a Sabres squad that currently sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Gibbons would be the smallest player on the Penguins and would be asked to play a similar role, but his numerous other attributes are more than enough to see him fulfill the promise that Gerbe’s mold provides.

I am confident that within five years, Brian Gibbons will be representing BC well by skating alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as a Pittsburgh Penguin in the place that he belongs, the NHL.

Andrew Klokiw is a guest columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.

Two seniors ink deals to continue their hockey careers at the next level Seniors Sign, from A10 fits for him before he came to a decision on Pittsburgh.

“After I talked to all the teams, I kind of gathered all the information and talked to my parents, my family, and came to a decision to sign with Pittsburgh,” Gibbons said. “It was a place that I’d been before, I got a brief glimpse of, and I felt comfortable with. I was happy with my decision.

“It was my dream to play in the NHL one day, and this gets me one step closer to that.”

The Braintree, Mass. native said he will complete his final semester at BC and plans on graduating this May, which is something “very important to [him].”

Gibbons became familiar with the Penguins’ organization when he attended their player development camp in the summer of 2010.

“I kind of got to know some of the people in the organization and got to see how they run things over there,” Gibbons said. “I really felt like it was a good fit and I felt comfortable there.”

The senior was also in touch with former BC defenseman Carl Sneep, who is currently playing for Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

“Carl’s been texting me ever since the year ended,

just telling me different things about the Penguin organization,” Gibbons said. “He’s told me different things about their team and facilities and how they do things. He was excited when I told him I’d be playing with him next year. I’ll be excited to see that animal next year.”

Gibbons finished his four seasons at BC with 56 goals and 108 assists, placing him 19th on the all-time points list with 164 career points. His highest point total in a season came this year, as the senior assistant captain racked up 51 points over 39 games.

In his career on the Heights, Gibbons collected two national championships, three Beanpot titles, and three Hockey East championships.

Though he is small in stature, measuring in at just 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, Gibbons made up for what he lacked in size with his lightning speed and artistic playmaking.

“I’m sure it turned some teams off, but the good thing about the teams that I talked to like Pittsburgh is that they’ve seen me play plenty of times, they know the player I am, they know how big I am, and they were still interested and still wanted me,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons and Muse join Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes on the list of the members of the 2010-2011 men’s hockey team now in the pros. n

BC bats finally get going in eighth inning, break five-game losing streak Baseball, from A10 baseman’s head to allow the tying run to score.

Hamlet was followed by centerfielder Tom Bourdon, who also dropped a sacrifice bunt single.

This brought home Perdios in a close play at the plate, giving the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish.

Right fielder Matt McGovern continued the rally with a single that brought home two more runs, to give the Eagles an 8-5 lead. Bulldogs pitcher Andrews was unable to record an out in the inning, and was pulled after facing McGovern in favor of senior pitcher Matt Griswold.

Gambino was delighted to see his team push a few runs across after his offense sputtered during the losing streak.

“I hate giving up outs, but you get in certain points in the game where you have to do it to get a run,” he said about this eighth inning surge. “We had a chance to bunt the tying run to third base and the winning run to second, and Hamlet did a really

good job getting the bunt down and making them make a play, which they couldn’t make. After that, it started to open up.”

The Eagles would tack on five more runs off Griswold, before shortstop Brad Zapenas hit his first home run of the season to stretch the lead to 16-5 and cap off the 12-run inning.

In pitching the scoreless inning before the offensive explosion, Prohovich earned his first win of the season, and Andrews of Bryant took the loss to fall to 3-2.

As he has done all season, Gambino pitched eight players today from his bullpen in order to keep his short-staffed rotation fresh for the upcoming weekend’s games at Duke.

After the week at home, the Eagles will return to ACC play this Friday evening at 6 p.m. at Duke, which Gambino says his team can now look forward to following such an impressive performance.

“We needed one of these,” he said. “We needed one where we could open something up and get a feeling going into the weekend. n

SPORTS The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

A10

Thursday, April 7, 2011

A sign of relief

alex trautwig / heights editor

Despite being passed over on draft day, Gibbons (left) and Muse (right) each signed a professional deal, earning them both an opportunity at a roster spot in the NHL someday. The two seniors still plan on graduating with the entire Class of 2011.

Undrafted seniors Gibbons and Muse ink deals that let them keep playing

By Paul Sulzer Sports Editor and

Greg Joyce

Asst. Sports Editor Two senior hockey players who didn’t know what their professional future would hold a week ago now have a decidedly clearer outlook.

Goaltender John Muse signed an amateur tryout (ATO) agreement with

the Portland Pirates of the AHL on Tuesday. A day earlier, Brian Gibbons signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

An ATO only guarantees Muse a tryout with the Buffalo Sabres’ minor league affiliate until Monday. After that point, the organization will decide whether to keep or release him.

“There’s been interest in me from other teams before this,” Muse said. “But

this is the most interest I’ve received yet. This is a good opportunity for me and I’m excited for the chance to keep playing.”

Muse had his first practice with the team yesterday and did not dress for their game against the Manchester Monarchs. He said he hopes he gets the chance to play this weekend. The Pirates face the Providence Bruins on Friday, the Albany Devils on Saturday, and the

Springfield Falcons on Sunday.

Former teammate Cam Atkinson signed with the Falcons a week and a half ago and scored a game-winning goal in his debut on Friday.

“I haven’t seen Cam since he left,” Muse said. “It would be fun to get to play against him.”

Muse said the tryout will not affect his ability to graduate with the senior class.

He leaves Boston College as one of the most decorated goaltenders in pro-

gram history. The owner of the school record for most career saves (3,674), he went 89-38-16 with a 2.36 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

He was named first-team All-Hockey East this year. He is the only goaltender in school history to win two national titles.

Meanwhile, Brian Gibbons had given serious thought and time to “about five teams” that he thought would be good

See Seniors Sign, A9

April showers aside, baseball deserves more fans

Greg Joyce

alex trautwig / heights editor

After a superb end to 2010, Amidon looks to build on his role within the Eagles offense next year.

Amidon catching on in 2011 Editor’s note: This is the second in a four-part series highlighting football players to watch heading into Boston College’s Spring Game on April 16.

By Robert T. Balint Heights Staff

Everyone has made that first impression that just didn’t go right. What’s worse, the gaffe always seems to happen at an important time.

Forgetting the names of your girlfriend’s friends, messing up the handshake at a job interview—sometimes things just don’t quite go as planned. Just ask Alex Amidon about the first snap he took as a Boston College receiver.

“The first game I played was against Vir-

ginia Tech,” the rising sophomore said with a laugh. Such was his enthusiasm that “On my first route, I tripped a little bit,” he said.

Going head over heels, without contact, on your first collegiate play in front of a near-sellout crowd at Alumni Stadium? That trumps having a piece of food in your teeth when you head to your professor’s office hours.

Amidon shook off the slip-up, however, and followed it up with a 35-yard reception, his first as an Eagle.

“The first catch was a relief,” the receiver said. “I thought, ‘Ok, I can do this.’”

By the end of the 2010 season, Amidon had acclimated himself to college turf, led

See Amidon, A8

The greatest time of the year is finally here: It’s baseball season. After a depressing winter of sports for Boston College (aside from a few moral victories that the athletics department will try to reap on), all I can say is, it’s about time. I am beyond ready to repeatedly watch nine innings of baseball seven times a week, at the very least. All I want to do is watch a game at Shea Field (the new campus green if you haven’t heard) or my beloved Fenway Park (T-minus eight days and counting). No winter jackets, no boots, no problem.

Oh wait … I forgot we live in New England. And it’s April. In the past two weeks, the BC baseball team has had its “home-opener” moved to Rhode Island, two games postponed, one cancelled, and one game stopped after five innings because they were trying to play two games in six hours because of, you guessed it, rain.

Two problems arise from this awful Boston weather. First, it can’t be helping the Eagles’ morale at all. Just when they were ready to finally come home, the team has been displaced, and unable to play a true series at their own field. They have had to battle through adversity all season, and head coach Mike Gambino has said multiple times that they pride themselves on this, but come on, they need a break at some point. It has to be tough to try to gain any momentum in your season when you wake up every game day not knowing if you’re going to be playing at your home field, or even playing at all.

Of course, there are plans to build a new

baseball complex on the Brighton Campus that might solve this problem, but who knows when that will ever take place. I think the basketball team might win the ACC before that ever happens.

The second reason why the beginning of the season is miserable is from the fans perspective. There have been just three home games through the team’s first 26 games. The Eagles basically spent the first month of their season in Florida, waiting to come home and play in front of people who don’t actually take baseball for granted. OK, so maybe not all Floridians take baseball for granted, but they go to watch college games in “baseball cathedrals.” They don’t know what it’s like to play in the Birdcage (props to Gambino for the analogy and his nickname of Shea Field).

I’m sure all the ramp-goers are avidly waiting to break out their shorts, boat shoes, and shades, but it’s tough to do that when

BC baseball games affected by weather this season March 16 – at Bryant – postponed due to inclement weather March 25-27 – vs. Virginia Tech – moved to Rhode Island due to field conditions April 1 – vs. Miami – cancelled April 2 – vs. Miami – postponed due to inclement weather, played as part of abbreviated doubleheader April 5 – vs. Rhode Island – postponed due to inclement weather

it’s 40 degrees or a monsoon outside. I know the ramp was pretty full for Sunday’s doubleheader, but I’m afraid the combination of the Hurricane bats and winds (pun intended) may have driven away any bandwagon fans.

I promise you though, if you avoid the wind and the shade, it’s really not that bad. You might even run into half of the hockey team and Jerry York, who show up to nearly every game on the ramp. Or you could simply get some fresh air and make pretend that all is good in the baseball world and your MLB team isn’t tanking it five games into the season.

Regardless of your reason for attending a baseball game, what matters is that you go.

We should make the best of what we have.

Yeah, it might be rainy out some days, so you have an excuse when that’s the case. But the next home game (next weekend’s series against Clemson), head out to Shea Field.

Even Gambino wants you there.

I asked the energetic, young head coach what his pitch to students would be for getting more support at games.

“Don’t let the students underestimate how important this crowd is here, and how intimidating they can be,” he said. “I’ve been around this league, and people talk about when this place is full, how intimidating it is and how tough of a place it is to play when it’s full. When the weather’s nice, it’s a great time out here.”

Like it or not, we live in New England. But it’s baseball season. It only lasts for so long, and there are only two true home series left.

Make the most of them. Tailgate, barbecue, have a good time with your friends on the ramp while you take in the game. Make the Birdcage a true home field advantage.

Greg Joyce is the Assistant Sports Editor of The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.

baseball

Eagles explode for 12 runs in the eighth

By Andrew Klokiw For the Heighrs

alex trautwig / heights editor

Bourdon and the rest of BC’s offense finally found its groove against Bryant, scoring 16 runs.

i nside S ports this issue

Since taking the first two games of a series with Virginia Tech two weekends ago, the Boston Boston College 16 College baseball 5 Bryant team (11-15, 4-7 ACC) had lost five straight games coming into Wednesday afternoon’s contest against the visiting Bryant Bulldogs (10-13, 3-5 NEC) at Shea Field.

Thanks in large part to a 12-run eighth inning, the Eagles snapped their

Softball continues winning ways

Af ter facing an early def icit, Eagles mount comeback against UConn......A8

losing streak and put up their highest run total of the season in a come-frombehind 16-5 victory.

“The big thing is getting the bats going, getting this offense going,” head coach Mike Gambino said. “Sometimes you just need that one big inning to just get you going and we got that. The important thing for me is now to carry this over, keep this going.”

Coming into the eighth inning the Eagles trailed Bryant 5-4. Having not registered a run since the fourth inning, it looked as if the team might be headed

Gibbons quietly goes about his business

While other teammates drew extensive NHL hype, the senior took his own path...............A9

for its sixth consecutive loss.

Junior Kyle Prohovich led off the inning with a single into left field to get BC started. The Eagles would not look back from there.

Left fielder Marc Perdios followed with a four-pitch walk, and second baseman Matt Hamlet laid a bunt down the first-base line to advance the runners. The perfectly executed bunt was picked up by Bryant pitcher Mark Andrews, who threw the ball over his first

See Baseball, A9

Editors’ Picks..............................A9 Game of the Week..................A9

scene and heard

snooki smackdown

reality star’s big debut on ‘wwe raw’ page b4

editor’s column

‘hunger games’

album review

the kills best?

why you need to start what’s the buzz on the new album? page b5 this series page b2

thursday, April 7, 2011

two for the price of one mixing and pairing movie genres By c h a r l o t t e pa r i s h | as st. A rts & R ev i ew E d i t o r a n d j o e a l l e n | h e i g h ts sta f f In today’s media-saturated society, the average film-goer has seen it all.

He knows that virtually every romantic comedy ends with a happily-ever-after kiss. She can see a contrived plot twist coming from a mile away. He has seen every horror sequel, prequel, spin-off, and rehash. How can modern-day filmmakers and film studios impress an audience that has seen every film genre played out 100 different ways? By mixing up the genres, of course! Genre mash-ups combine two genres and toy with the conventions of each in the hopes of inventing something original. Often the best film genre mixings stem from the most far-fetched combinations (an R-rated musical comedy starring four crudely animated kids? Yes, please!). With the stoner comedy-fantasy mix, Your Highness, coming out this weekend, let’s take a look at some classic and upcoming genre mash-ups to see how filmmakers have experimented with typical film genres.

See Genres, B3

mollie kolosky / heights photo illustration

The Heights

B2

Thursday, April 7, 2011

+Editor’s Corner

‘Hunger’ pains on the rise

Radio singles by Katie Lee

Death Cab for Cutie “you are a tourist”

Darren Ranck Once again, I find myself completely under the hypnotic spell of a good book. With schoolwork and responsibilities filling the week, it’s not always easy to find the time for leisurely reading. We’re all too busy reading Foucault and The Brothers Karamazov and the latest textbook reading about stock options. (I assume that’s what they read in the economics department, right?).

These past two weeks, I put my responsibilities to the side and got lost in a good book series – Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

Without giving away too much, here’s a “back-of-the-book” summary.

Feisty, refreshingly honest Katniss Everdeen lives in a futuristic region called Panem, composed of 12 impoverished districts and ruled by an aristocratic dictatorship known as the Capitol. Every year, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games, a competition that pits 12 boys and 12 girls, one from each district, in a fight to the death to prevent rebellion.

Katniss finds herself entered into the Games with baker’s son Peeta Mellark, a near stranger, while leaving behind her family and best friend Gale. With her departure, though, Katniss’ life, as well as the lives of every member of Panem is destined to change forever (ominous, I know).

OK, I concede that this sounds like Twilight meets Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire meets Saw. Not since Stieg Larsson’s Millenium series, though, have I been so consumed by a book. Teen lit often gets a reputation for being badly written and rather vapid. Considering the Gossip Girl series falls into this genre, I generally agree, but Collins uses expert pacing in plotting The Hunger Games. It almost reads like a beautifully intricate action movie. Every element, every heart pounding moment, raises my blood pressure and has me flipping pages at a feverish speed.

With characters like Katniss and Peeta, though, it can’t be too much of a mystery. First of all, ignore the fact that the latter’s name sounds like a Danish stew and that the name “Katniss” is particularly treacherous for anyone with a speech impediment (really, though, it’s almost cruel). These two characters jump off the page with such strong and unique characterization.

At the age of 16, Katniss possesses the hardened worldview of a 60-year-old man. In the novel’s opening pages, Katniss illegally hunts for game while a lynx skulks nearby. While this lynx would probably become her friend and supporter in any other teen series, Katniss wastes no time in killing the creature. She may like his company, but he’ll get in the way. She has an intangible take-no-prisoners attitude, reason, courage, and, most interestingly, a hint of vulnerability at the right moments.

These moments usually come at the affability of Peeta. Peeta’s great, plain, and simple. I may have a bias because I identify with Peeta. He’s personable, self-affacing, and completely out of his element. Katniss, in her cynical way, assumes he must have ulterior motives, but what if he truly is just that good?

(People often wonder the same about me!). This complexity fuels the relationship between the two, leading them down paths of confusion, sidelined by bursts of affection. Even with the attractive and doomed Gale in the back of Katniss’ mind (every teen series has a Jacob, right?), the palpable tension between Katniss and Peeta makes it a romance worth spending some time on.

I chose to begin this series after reading a feature on it in the pop culture Bible, Entertainment Weekly.

The sci-fi style is not my thing, but I took a chance based on buzz. Now little else occupies my thoughts. I am not ashamed to admit I forgot how fun reading a book can be, and I mean reading to get caught up in the story and the adventure, not to get bogged down in the motivation and meaning.

The anxiety is slowly setting in, though. I have completed the first two books of the trilogy. I only have one left. As fulfilling as it might be, life will probably feel a little less exciting without my new favorite series. Even after reading the final book, I know I’ll be hungry for more.

Darren Ranck is the Arts & Review editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bc.edu.

an independent frame of mind

Death Cab for Cutie is one of the most beloved alternative music groups. Ever since the Seattle group released yet another successful album, Narrow Stairs, in 2008, fans have been anxiously waiting for new material. “You are a Tourist” is the first glimpse of Death Cab’s highly anticipated new project. Codes and Keys is expected to be finally released on May 31, a surefire summer hit.

Rediscovering Pooh Bear

The Weeknd “The knowing”

Jennifer Lopez “I’m Into You”

Childish Gambino “Break”

A 20-year-old singer/ songwriter, known publicly as The Weeknd, is on the forefront of a distinctive new cut of R&B. Since the release of his mixtape House of Balloons in March, he has gained press and popularity and is considered to be an upcoming artist to watch for. “The Knowing” is only one of the noteworthy tracks from House of Balloons that echoes influences from other popular R&B artists such as Aaliyah and Drake.

It is always interesting to see an artist like J-Lo reappear in the music scene. “I’m Into You” follows the pop blueprint closely, layering synths over sharply-bouncing, tinged percussion and a familiar-sounding dance floor bass line. It will be interesting to see the way in which popular music fans receive this single along with her upcoming album dropping May 3.

Childish Gambino is one of the most talked about upcoming artists due to his array of talents.

Not only is he a talented musical artist, he is also the well-known Donald Glover of the sleeper hit show Community.

“Break” is a song that recaptures Kanye’s “All of the Lights” while seamlessly putting together hilarious punch lines along with introspective, selfrevealing lyrics. photos courtesy of amazon.com and google

THis week on tv by Kelsey Damassa

Variety rules the airwaves once again

‘ saturday night live

‘dancing with the stars’

‘modern family’

As the season is winding down, SNL has had some big names, including last week’s host Elton John. This Saturday, Academy Award winner Helen Mirren will be making her hosting debut while promoting her upcoming film, Arthur.

Most known for her dramatically challenging roles, it will be entertaining to see her in a more comical and carefree setting. Foo Fighters will also grace the SNL stage for their sixth time to promote their album Wasting Light.

After witnessing Kirstie Alley’s shocking tumble during week three, all of America will be watching. Between the elaborate (and often ridiculous) costumes, the heart-wrenching personal stories, and the always unexpected drama, this is a reality show that definitely cannot be missed.

Even though the entertainingly untalented Wendy Williams is no longer on the show, don’t worry – there are still plenty of opportunities to witness the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Returning from a four week hiatus that seemed to last forever, Modern Family is back with more hilariously uncomfortable family drama and witty commentary on suburban life. Cameron decides to take control of the spring musical at Luke and Manny’s school. Meanwhile, Phil desperately tries to encourage his family to be in his new real estate advertisement, doing whatever it takes, no matter how ridiculous, to try and convince them. photos courtesy of Google

Fashion Forward

photo courtesy of google

Not a usual fashion misstep seen on campus, Britney and Timberlake’s jean-on-jean look was nevertheless a very distressing fashion faux-pas.

Fashion forecast cloudy amid rainy faux-pas Therese Tully Is it ever going to stop raining? I don’t think so. With the terrible weather has come some terrible fashion. The sight of shorts and rainboots sends chills down my spine. Baggy, oversized coats, soaking wet hair, and even Ed Hardy rainboots led me to start thinking about all of my fashion pet peeves.

Though most believe Boston College students are very fashion-forward, the student body has plenty of fashion transgressions for which they must ask forgiveness.

Men and women alike are guilty of numerous sins.

To begin, the Uggs and shorts combo falls in the same category as shorts and rainboots. If it is cold enough for Uggs, there is no reason anyone should be pairing them with shorts. Think of your poor legs! Hypothermia is not cute. Additionally, shorts and rainboots are just not a flattering look. The boots cut off your legs, making them appear stumpier than they actually are, and the short shorts really don’t help the situation.

Men of BC, you have your own unique set of fashion faux pas. If your pants are short enough that I can see your ankles, or even more horrifying, your white athletic socks, they are too short. A nice new pair of pants that reach the ground should be in

your immediate future. Speaking of white athletic socks, not playing a sport? Then you shouldn’t be wearing them. Invest in some nice alternatives. Anything from a solid neutral grey or navy to a bold argyle will do.

Ask your female friends how long they spend getting ready, not just on a Saturday night, but any old day. You will most likely be appalled at the amount of time devoted to planning and executing a look that can span anywhere from half an hour to two to three hours. When I see a guy walking around campus every day in sweatpants, I am seriously just unimpressed. I put in a lot of effort to get dressed most mornings, have the courtesy to do the same, please.

This will not only make you a more fashionable male at BC, something you will be applauded for, but will most likely attract way more female attention. Side note, there is never any reason to tuck sweatpants into a sock. Transgressors, you know who you are.

The sweatpants comment pertains to the women of BC, as well. You never know who you are going to run into, a professor, a perspective employer, or the future love of your life, so ditch the sweatpants and ponytail. Or maybe limit it to once a week, Fridays perhaps. College fashion is not about how hard you try, comfort is a factor, but it is definitely about making an impression. Like it or not, the first thing

people notice about you is your appearance. And your mother was right, though you will never admit it. First impressions are everything.

Another trend that is running rampant among the women here is workout attire to class. Yoga pants, sneakers, and a T-shirt are not the way to make said impression.

Note: the wearing of yoga pants (a casual bottom) with a nice top (any sort of blouse or attractive shirt) is a confusing combination. Don’t get lazy, dress your whole body.

My final fashion qualm with the student body would have to be an overload of designer labels. We all appreciate a fine fashion house that knows how to produce wonderful garments of fine quality. But, the problem arises when people purchase designer brands simply for notoriety not simply for fashion. Just because your favorite designer is selling something doesn’t mean it is flattering on you, or a good addition to your wardrobe. Any overload of designer labels is also an off-putting effect. Head to toe Burberry, or whatever it may be, makes you look like a sham, since every fashionable person knows the art of mixing and matching (high end with cheap, vintage with designer, masculine with feminine).

Vow to spring clean your style this season.

Therese Tully is a columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@ bcheights.com.

Brennan Carley When I was younger, I distinctly remember playing Poohsticks with my dad on a bridge in our local park.

The aim of the game was for each player to drop a branch in the water on one side of the bridge. Whichever one came out first on the other side was the winner. I bring this up because earlier this week, Disney unveiled new clips for its upcoming Winnie the Pooh. It is a return to hand-drawn animation for a company whose main focus has been on computer animated features recently (save for The Princess and the Frog, of course).

It goes without mentioning at this point that I am an avid Disney fan – heck, this column might as well be renamed “A Disney Frame of Mind” at this rate, but I just couldn’t ignore one of my favorite character’s return to the screen.

I have loved Winnie the Pooh ever since I was a child, when my parents read all of A.A. Milne’s original books to me. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was one of my favorite movies as a child, and I devoured every new episode of the television show based on the film that I could get my tiny hands on. When I was seven, I cried during the straight-to-video release Pooh’s Grand Adventure. (Hey, even back then I was pretty in touch with my emotions).

I was such a fan of the big yellow Pooh Bear, in fact, that I had my parents name my younger brother after the only human to ever grace the Hundred Acre Woods, Christopher Robin. While they refused to add Robin as a middle name (“He’ll get teased!” they hissed at me while I sulked disappointedly in the corner), Christopher is a living, breathing reminder of my Winnie-phase.

I remember going to London when I was in seventh grade, and apart from all of the typical touristy attractions that we tackled, I begged to be taken to the Hundred Acre Woods. Yes, they do in fact exist, as a guidebook that I’m sure my parents then regretted buying so vividly informed me. Five Hundred Acre Wood, as it is actually called, is located in East Sussex, which was quite a trek from London without a rental car, so sadly we passed on the opportunity.

When I was 14, my family took a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida, where we rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in the park’s Fantasyland. It was surprising to me how much I still enjoyed the attraction, as well as how much I was still put off by the brief Heffalumps and Woozles section. Those things haunted my nightmares for as long as I can remember, only to be replaced by Animal from The Muppets (come on, he’s just creepy).

While taking a Chinese Philosophy class in senior year of high school, my teacher recommended that we read the brilliant Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet, both of which cleverly dealt with the explanation of Taoism. I couldn’t have been more pleased.

So why, then, am I so thrilled at the prospect of a new movie featuring Winnie, Kanga, Tigger, and all of the rest of the wonderful cast of characters? Perhaps it is the simple whimsy that the trailer so briefly shows. Plot points seem to include finding a new tail for Eeyore and Pooh’s journey to a land rich with honey. Additionally, Zooey Deschanel supplies much of the film’s soundtrack. It would be impossible for me to describe, in what space I have remaining, my love for Deschanel – her acting is always flawless and her beautiful voice always brings warmth to my days. It was charming to watch Tigger bounce up on down on the piano keys as Deschanel plinked and plunked away at them.

Judging by the trailer alone, there really is no chance that Disney could do any wrong to this storied series – not even by replacing the voice of Owl with Craig Ferguson (who I love, but I don’t like recognizing his voice). Here’s to the hopes that another generation gets the chance to fall in love with the roly-poly bear that won my heart not so very long ago.

Brennan Carley is the Assoc. Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

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The Heights

Thursday, April7, 2011

putting movies on the map: a cartesian mapping of movie genres

Want a recap of the first Piranha movie?

Gratuitous nudity and ridiculous, bloody deaths. That’s it. The first movie was a great example of how much fun a campy horror film could be. So, what can be expected from the sequel coming this fall? Expect a water park setting, more Ving Rhames, and a different Playboy model/victim. If this sequel is half as awesome as its predecessor, audiences will see a great blend of horror and comedy.

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Who knew that former President Abraham Lincoln secretly slayed vampires in his off-time after his mother was killed by the blood-suckers? This movie’s ludicrous premise sets audience expectations high. If this movie fails to be anything less than a history-altering, revenge-filled blood bath (think Kill Bill crossed with Inglourious Basterds), it will be a disappointment. Will Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter be a Tarantino-inspired masterwork, a fun camp-fest, or an absolute mess? Learn the answer in the summer of 2012.

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By joe allen height s s taff a n d ch a r l o t t e p a r i s h A s s t, a r t s & R e v i e w E d i t o r

Although its title suggests a campy film, the Cowboys and Aliens trailer promises a more serious approach from director Jon Favreau. This film will begin as a Western, with Daniel Craig as the wanted protagonist and Harrison Ford as the sheriff. Once the aliens invade, expect the film to take a dark turn into science-fiction. The film’s writers have described the 2011 summer film as “watching Unforgiven and then aliens land.” Only time will tell if that grandiose statement is justifiable.

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Next week, expect Ghostface to crash onto the big screen for the fourth time.

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to her hometown of Woodsboro when (gasp) Ghostface decides to make another appearance. After a 10-year break from the well-received Scream trilogy, director Wes Craven will lampoon the genre conventions of 21st century horror films using Scream’s self-referential humor.

Hopefully Scream 4 will live up to its predecessors by delivering scares and laughs throughout.

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After more than 10 years, the Muppets are back on the big screen this fall thanks to Forgetting Sarah Marshall team Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller. The plot has the Muppets coming together to save Muppet Studios from an oil tycoon. The reunion, which also stars Segel, Amy Adams, and Chris Cooper, will surely contain adult humor (courtesy of Segel and Stoller) and serve as a nice introduction to younger audiences who are new to the phenomenon that is the Muppets.

In a dramatic telling of suburban life, Brad Pitt plays the father of Jack who grows up to be Sean Penn, a man forever changed by some dark occurrence in his childhood.

Thus far, the actual plot of Tree of Life is a mystery. However, the cinematography in the commercials have focused on stunning shots that create ominous artwork from real life, such as the spiral of stain glass in a church and flames leaping out of a trash can.

Containing some of the hottest names in the business – including Natile Portman, James Franco, and Zooey Deschanel – Your Highness is days away from release and looks to be a mess of a stoner comedy from Franco’s Pineapple Express mixed in the typical medieval action adventure. Hopefully, the directors decided to throw a few Middle English phrases and swords into an Austin Powers-esque film, mash it all together and create Your Highness.

With David Gordon Green at the helm, it can hardly go wrong.

Paul Bettany is familiar with playing religious extremists, having taken on the self-flagellant Silas in The Da Vinci Code.

But in the upcoming flick Priests, he will be part of a crew that morphs the action genre into an apocalyptic thriller as well.

Trailers hint at a futuristic setting, with high-tech motorcycles and skyscrapers, that sometimes fades into a Western with rolling landscapes and cowboys.

There is even a bit of The Matrix thrown in as Bettany kills the undead in slow motion, whirling ninja star-like weapons.

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drama kill bill

samurai / western

silence of the lambs

psychological thriller / horror

4 tree of life

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drama / thriller

abraham lincoln: vampire hunter Period Piece /Zombie flick

PRiest

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2

little miss sunshine drama / comedy

sweeney todd

cowboys and aliens

horror / musical

Sci-Fi / Western

thriller

fantasy

apocalyptic / western

scott pilgrim vs. the world

comedy / action

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scream 4

sherlock holmes

Horror / Comedy

comedy / action

your highness

medieval tale / comedy

Piranha 3DD

ocean Horror / Comedy

the muppets

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1

Comedy / Puppets

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stoner comedy / action

animation / film noir

PINEapple express

who framed roger rabbit

Comedy genre mash-ups we would like to see - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As history has shown, there are no two genres that Hollywood won’t combine in an effort to make something new and profitable. With so many combinations that have yet to be explored to their fullest potential, why don’t studios make more of these often great mash-ups and less of the endless string of remakes and sequels? Perhaps studio executives are trying to play it safe, taking the guaranteed money maker over a somewhat riskier endeavor. Risky or not, however, the genre mash-ups often feel fun and new. Placing more focus on broadening film genre lines could result in some great movies that Hollywood has yet to make.

First step: bring back the musical. This genre has declined from a film staple, to virtual nonexistence since the Hollywood golden age. On the one hand, one can understand how a 1940s-style musical would not strike a chord with modern day audiences. The sheer levels of optimism and melodrama in these early musicals feel fake to many people in the 21st century.

In the past 15 years, however, the success of new-age musical films such as the South Park movie and Sweeney Todd points to the rising popularity of a new type of musical: the mash-up musical. South Park and Sweeney Todd combining typical musical numbers with R-rated profanity, gore, and humor showed that the musical genre didn’t need to contain dangerous levels of happiness to succeed. Why not make a zombie horror film in which characters perform ridiculous, bloody songand-dance numbers? How about retrying High School Musical with a dose of reality and a possible McLovin cameo/solo? There are plenty of over-the-top musicals just waiting to be made.

Next: for every proposed horror film retread (Saw XIII anyone?), make a “dramedy” instead! These films may fail to generate huge box office receipts, but they often achieve greatness by achieving near reality.

Outside of the movie theater, the lives of filmgoers can shift from laugh-out-loud moments to moments of

despair in a split second. Dramedies, with their often quirky, yet fully-realized characters, effectively blur the line between over-the-top comedies and moody dramas. A movie like Juno works so well because it can shift from lines of intensely funny dialogue (“Paulie Bleeker? ... I didn’t think he had it in him,”) to heartbreaking scenes while still feeling like a whole, unified movie. Hopefully, dramadies will appear more often on the film scene in the future. A film about the Boston College housing lottery (however unlikely) would be ideal.

Lastly (and most importantly): romantic comedies do not have to be synonymous with derivative chick flicks. Once upon a time, films in this subgenre of comedy were made for both men and women and actually contained three-dimensional characters and witty dialogue. Now, to pinpoint the often terrible quality of current romantic comedies, all one has to do is watch Katherine Heigl’s latest film. Most new

romantic comedies contain a desperate female lead, a lifeless male actor, and a parade of plot contrivances to unite the two. To see just how derivative these films can be, watch the previews for No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits back-to-back. While No Strings was funny, the premises of these two films are exactly the same. So, how can the lazy rom-com be fixed? One solution is to make films that will appeal to both men and women, such as the upcoming raunchy Bridesmaids. Another possibility is … wait for it … genre mash-ups! Virtually any genre can mix well with romantic comedy conventions. Let’s see a vampire rom-com called Guess Who’s Dying at Dinner, not starring Robert Pattinson, in the next year!

While these genre mash-ups don’t reinvent the wheel, they would add some variety to the movie calendar. If the studios combined genres together more often, bored film goers may find more reasons to make the trip to the movie theater each week. - JA

The Heights

scene and heard

B4

Thursday, April 7, 2011

By Christine Zhao

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Spears Body Double

Britney Spears, in an attempted comeback, seems to have missed that you actually have to do it yourself. It was recently revealed that she had a body double in her video, “Till the World Ends.” Sleuths looking into it suspect that there were multiple stand-ins, including assistant choreographer for the video Tiana Brown. Additional rumors surround Britney’s health, and some speculate that drugs are to blame. Regardless, Femme Fatale still managed to debut at No. 1.

For The Heights

Michael Buble Wedding

When celebrities get married, a little excitement is to be expected. For Michael Buble and his new bride, more than pictures were taken — their house was burglarized during the wedding, which followed a civil ceremony from the night before. The singer and Luisana Lopilato were celebrating their wedding ceremony in Argentina when the news came that their home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, had been broken into. The thieves had apparently covered the surveillance cameras and cut the wires of the alarm system. Nevertheless, Lopilato was determined that nothing could mar her fairytale nuptials.

Sarah Silverman

Known to be a bit on the kooky side, the comedienne’s latest antics involve a duet with a unicorn (Ke$ha isn’t the only one after all). It’s not just any unicorn, either — Juicy Fruit’s Serenading Unicorn (who has also collaborated with Chicago’s YouTube star Keenan Cahill) is featured in the video with Silverman. The song, which is a little under four minutes, tells a sweet tale about joy, heartbreak, and the challenges of being in an interspecies relationship.

Even better, it’s set to Aerosmith’s “Angel,” which contains some pretty impressive guitar riffs.

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Snooki in ‘WWE Raw’

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Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, of Jersey Shore shame, is known for being a tad bit wild. It’s only natural that she’d bring her crazy into the wrestling ring. When she agreed to be on WWE Raw, we knew she wouldn’t disappoint. Snooki, whose appearance at Wrestlemania caused quite a stir, wasn’t afraid to throw some punches. She slapped a shirtless male wrestler twice her size right across the face before the showdown with Michelle McCool. After a series of f l i p s , sh e h a d Mc C o o l pinne d. “Sno okimania’s’ opponent didn’t have a chance against her impressive acrobatics — something she usually saves for the dance floor.

Heidi Montag

No matter how much we might cringe, reality TV just keeps churning out the trash. The latest hot item is Heidi Montag’s new show. The reality star from The Hills, who once had 10 plastic surgery procedures done on the same day, will be starring in a new show that Montag tweeted would be like if “Chekhov and Tolstoy wrote for reality TV.” However, they would never be able to write the atrocious things that are her life. It gets better though — her co-stars are Ashley Dupre, of Spitzer fame, and Danielle Straub, a member of the crazy Real

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Food for thought: My Favorite Things

My last column was admittedly angry. Sometimes, the world of food is rough. What with the inedible school lunches packed with artificial ingredients, and the glaring lack of access to fresh produce in many neighborhoods, can you blame me for sometimes being cynical? Of Kristin Canfield course, there are lots of great things about food right now and I’d like to give you five of them: 1. It’s finally spring: Yes, folks, believe it or not, and notwithstanding the very upsetting and frankly uncalled for snow last week, spring is upon us at last. How do I know this?

Sure, had I come up for post-midterm air anytime since spring break I may have thought to look at a calendar, but alas, I am forced to look elsewhere for my reasoning. You don’t even have to leave the library to notice that the campus has been flooded with prospective Eagles. Even better though, new and exciting seasonal produce is on its way to a grocery store (and hopefully dining hall) near you.

Before you know it, farmers markets will be sprouting up all over town and tomatoes will begin to taste like food again.

2. Food is fun: despite the recent and not so surprising study that revealed that the most frequent wine drinkers do not imbibe whilst eating, food has a remarkable way of bringing people together, no wine needed (although certainly recommended). Imagine the first time your buddy let you dip a chip into his herb cream cheese at Hillside Cafe or when you realize that cheese and crackers in the Rat just don’t taste the same when your beloved designated plastic knife wielding friend is in South Africa for the semester. Food is social.

You can build a community around it.

3. You can make mediocre food taste great with very little effort: something lacking in the dish you just made or carried back to your room from McElroy? Fresh ground pepper will do a world of good. Not into pepper? Try a splash of acid to brighten the flavors. Lemon juice or zest is my favorite for this, but vinegar or another citrus works in a pinch. Does your coffee taste more like watered down acid than coffee? Has it been so long since you’ve had a truly delicious cup of coffee that you are not sure you would recognize it if it hit you in the face? Add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg. Still not satisfied? Dousing whatever it is in hot sauce should do the trick. Now, I’m not suggesting that you carry these things with you in your backpack so they are readily available. I mean, I may or may not carry a personal supply of cinnamon just in case I feel compelled to get a latte at Hillside where the cinnamon is conspicuously absent. Just a thought.

4. Food fads are luckily only fads: remember when people scoffed at hamburgers with buns or only consumed coffee in the form of a frappuccino? Fortunately, those days are over and bread is no longer a four-letter word.

All I’m saying is if you, like many, think the cupcake thing has gotten out of control and is now just a tired, often overly sweet, and poorly leavened excuse for a dessert, it will soon go the way of Oreo-Os (too many vowels!) or French onion dip from a can. Plus, the next great thing might be just around the corner.

I’m voting for the gentrification of the handpie if anyone is interested and willing to invest.

5. Cheese: it exists.

So there you have it. Five great things about food right now. Until next time….

Kristin Canfield is a Heights columnist. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

B5

NEW RELEASES

+Music

The Kills return to growling rock roots with ‘Pressures’

By Brennan Carley

Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Rock’n’roll, as a cultural movement, has taken a dormant backseat in the past 20 years. Pop now drives the car of musical dominance in America, led by Katy Perry and her legion of likeminded “musicians.”

Likewise, what little is left to be found of rock music today lacks the feminine edge lent to the style by icons like Janis Joplin and Joan Jett. It is no wonder, then, that today’s top rockers have clamored to snatch up one of the only women deserving of the praise heaped on her predecessors. While Allison Mosshart may have gained recognition as the voice of Jack White’s bluesy and back to basics Dead Weather, she was first and foremost one-half of The Kills, a tried and true rock band if there ever was one.

On Blood Pressures, The Kills’ newest and most sonically successful album to date, the band focuses all of its energy into simply crafting one of the lustiest and most memorable albums of the year.

It is difficult to describe the sound of The Kills to an outsider, of which there are a tragic many. On the band’s last effort, Midnight Boom, the duo blended metallic effects (the dialing of a phone, the banging of a trash can, and a drum machine to name just a few) with howling, pitch perfect vocals (courtesy of Mosshart), and the meanest guitar playing this side of the Mississippi, served up dirty style by Jamie Hince.

The Kills are the closest experience the ’90s babies can have to the CBGB’s ones of years past. Simply put, Hince

Foo Fighters Wasting light

Blood Pressures The Kills

Jessie J Who You are

produced by Dominio released April 5, 2011 Our rating a

Chart Toppers Singles courtesy of creativecommons.org

Allison Mosshart returns to The Kills for their most impressive album yet, surging beyond musical convention once again with innovative, inspiring songwriting. and Mosshart are rock’s most reckless trailblazers, both live and on record. Only a group with some serious swagger has the pluck to turn in a record like Blood Pressures to its record label with no caveats or explanations attached.

Mosshart herself inhibits the nonchalance of Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and the chic but cutting voice of PJ Harvey.

Hince and Mosshart channel the Rolling Stones with fantastic effect on “Baby Says,” the closest thing to a love song on Pressures. The track shows off an uncharacteristically subdued Mosshart as she softly hums, “Baby says she’s dying to meet you / Take you off and make your blood hum” as Hince’s guitar murmurs in

faint recognition of the Stones’ great “Gimme Shelter.” It is melancholic but never sappy, reigned in by the band’s effortless melodies.

Paying tribute to another rock icon, Hince channels fellow Brit John Lennon on “Wild Charms,” a short track that seamlessly leads into one of Pressures’ best songs, “D.N.A.” Mosshart treats the track with the ferocity of a beast viciously emerging from a swamp, but also brings a sense of confrontational-cool to the chorus that cleverly balances out the dynamic of the song.

Mosshart’s raw sounding vocals are simply unbeatable in terms of sheer power and pounce, showcased to best effect on “The Last Goodbye.”

Almost cabaret in style, the song serves as a vehicle for the smoky-voiced songbird to show off how wonderfully her voice has matured and grown during her three year stint as White’s singer/apprentice. She imbues “Goodbye” with nostalgia and lament, emotions not found on the typical Kills’ song.

Nothing, however, quite reaches the brilliance of the throbbing number that jumpstarts Blood Pressures with a rousing snarl. On “Future Starts Slow,” both band members share singing duties while an unforgettable guitar coils and prowls in the not too distant background. The chorus serves as an unapologetic decree of almost animalistic love.

It is easy to envision Mosshart

dragging on her cigarette as she harmoniously yelps, “you can holler, you can wail / you can blow what’s left of my right mind / … (I don’t mind).”

The Kills join The Strokes in that pantheon of “cool” rock music, a genre that makes you wonder just how much effort the musicians actually put in, or, for that matter, how much they care. Whereas The Strokes genuinely don’t seem to care about the music they produce, Mosshart and Hince clearly labored on Blood Pressures for quite some time, and it pays off splendidly. Departing from the indie dancefloor of albums past, The Kills have injected the life into a dying breed of sound that it so desperately needed. n

1 E.T. Katy Perry 2 Just Can’t Get Enough The Black Eyed Peas 3 S&M Rihanna 4 On the Floor Jennifer Lopez 5 Look At Me Now Chris Brown Top Albums

1 Femme Fatale Britney Spears 2 Rolling Papers Wiz Khalifa 3 21 Adele 4 F.A.M.E. Chris Brown 5 Songs for Japan Various Artists Source: Billboard.com

Despite promising musicality, Raveonettes disappoint on ‘Raven’

By Matt Mazzari For the Heights

The newest album from the largely unsung Raveonettes, Raven in the Grave, can only be described as strange. For the larger part of the album, the instruments seem to be having an out-of-body experience: the guitars don’t sound like guitars,

the bass doesn’t sound like a bass, and even the vocals hardly sound human. The album begins on an alternative note, with a pounding drum beat and nearpunkish riff, and then proceeds to add an insanely distorted overdubbing to which one can hardly help but cringe. This trend is so prevalent across the album that it almost seems to

have malicious intent. However, the biggest issue at hand isn’t the sound itself but the message of self-diagnosed inadequacy it conveys. The Raveonettes have the potential to make interesting music, but apart from certain pieces of distant lyricism (which are often all but completely drowned out) there seems to be practically no emotion invested

Raven In the Grave Raveonnettes produced by vice Records released April 5, 2011 Our rating B-

courtesy of creativecommons.org

Repetitive hooks and a lack of growth on their newest album prevents the Raveonnettes from ascending to quality music.

in the songs. In other words, the Raveonnettes have a voice, but apparently not much to say.

The trouble really starts at the second song “War in Heaven.” This is a song with a legitimately interesting chord progression. It’s heavy, and its heaviness intrigues. The problem is, practically nothing is done with it. The vocals aren’t in the least bit striking, and the promising title yields almost nothing in terms of a story or a palpable emotion. The listener’s fists clench, waiting tensely for a return to the riff that originally draws one in. Then – as if it weren’t enough just to not capitalize – the Raveonettes choose to sabotage everything that was good about the track by “enhancing” the music with what any listener who is still sane recognizes as glorified static. The disappointment resounds.

Another major problem with the Raveonettes’ style is their sheer, unrelenting repetitiveness. I’m not even just referring to the sedated and watery sound of the album as a whole but to the majority of the individual songs. Once the Raveonettes find a noise they like, there’s practically no stopping them.

Their stubborn refusal to add bridges to their songs is practically alarming. It usually takes about a minute into the piece for the Raveonettes to form a cyclical loop of melodic chanting backed by quivering guitar strums, but soon after, the listener realizes he’s been uninterruptedly hearing the same dragging music repeated for far too long and desperately wants it to stop. This may not be so much a problem with the Raveonettes as it is a fundamental misunderstanding among New Wave bands: clarity and depth in songwriting is not equivalent to repetition. In fact, most people would argue that repeating a phrase or playing a strumming pattern again and again reduces the impact of the words and music alike.

The Raveonettes don’t exactly lack talent – the problem appears to be more along the lines of a lack of self-esteem. Sure, the music itself is supposedly new and edgy, what with its cutting-edge played-back-throughspeakers distortion (wait, hasn’t that been a recording technique since the days of Jimi Hendrix?).

However, underneath all the hip, ear-assaulting pizzazz is a

frightened child who just wants to be held. The Raveonettes are so heavily produced that the music itself feels fragile and delicate, like a glass vase or a house of cards. Just so, they may achieve a certain degree of prettiness, but the inorganic symmetry of their sound quickly loses its novelty. Certainly, the Raveonettes do land some impressive lyrical moments, and it is refreshing to listen to modern musicians who can actually play. Still, there’s something to be said for an album that is unafraid to be raw, unafraid to abandon the computer keyboard, and just pour its soul into the art it loves.

The Raveonettes shoot for artsy and come off as manufactured. The truth of the matter continues to stare modern musicians directly in the face: no synthesized noise can ever capture the passion and unadulterated beauty of musical honesty.

Despite Rolling Stone magazine’s inexplicably rave reviews, the Raveonettes will never ascend past the mires of mediocrity if they persist in neglecting the very heart and soul of typically relatable music: the human touch. n

Music Nook

Even today, Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ proves a musical wonder Susan Skakel With a bunch of new albums coming and already out (think Wiz Khalifa and Fleet Foxes) I thought that I’d take it back a notch and review a golden oldie. My, dare I say it, favorite album thus far in my life is without a doubt Graceland by Paul Simon. Graceland was released in August 1986, a whopping five years before my birth, and revived Simon’s career after the disappointing Hearts and Bones. Simon’s career obviously speaks for himself. His songs as a solo artist as well as collaborations with Art Garfunkel are almost all classics and deserve a round of applause. His live performances are almost, almost, on par with Mick Jagger and he’s considered a classic rock icon.

Graceland combines a capella and rock with traditional rural South African Zulu music. The South African influence on the

album is unmistakable in songs like “Homeless,” where Simon uses isicathamiya singing style from the South African Zulu tribe. The almost tribal opening of “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” exposes a pleasant a capella that could accompany any sunny day.

The album is almost impossible to not smile to during its sixteen beat drum rhythm as well as instruments like the steel drum, saxophone, and electric guitar. It helped jumpstart international career of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

The album was recorded almost entirely in South Africa and the catchy beats and combination of steel drum and pop sounds make perfect songs to sing along with. In the year of its release, the album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and in 1987 the track “Graceland” won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. It hit number one on the United Kingdom Album Chart

as well as number three on the United States Billboard 200.

Simon’s voice flatters each of the plucky South African Zulu sounds and instruments. He moves from fast to slow in “Crazy Love, Vol. II” as he accompanies the experimental sound. As if Simon needed help, Graceland put him on the map in an even greater way. He is, as always, simple and understated in his lyrics and voice. Although the words are not overtly political, in 1986 it was a big political statement to collaborate with black South African musicians.

Famously known as one of Simon’s greatest albums, it is no surprise that Graceland speaks for itself. In an age of simply buying a single song from iTunes, it breaks all the rules and begs to be listened to as an album, from “The Boy in the Bubble” all the way to “All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints.” Each song offers a new Zulu a capella

courtesy of creativecommons.org of google.com

A classic album, ‘Graceland’ is a wonderful compilation of styles ranging from a capella to tinny steel drums. opportunity or steel drum beat. It is a masterpiece fit of nothing less than an entire day of listening.

Although I’m a big personal fan of buying songs individually, I suggest each and every one of you

go out and buy the entire Graceland album. Paul Simon is music’s original king of swagger. All of the album’s lyrics are more than worthy of being revered and dissected for hours on end. On the whole,

Graceland is certainly nothing short of a pleasure to listen to.

Susan Skakel is a columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

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The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Cell radiation may be dangerous Cell Phones, from B10 find it in the fine print of a user manual can be frustrating. The FCC maintains in reports that SAR values “do not provide sufficient information” to reliably compare cell phone radiation emissions because certain phones might rarely operate at maximum power. Even so, the Environmental Working Group provides a comprehensive list of SAR values on its website.

The site lists the Apple iPhone 4 at 1.17 watts per kilogram, the Motorola Droid at 1.5, and the LG Quantum at 0.35.

But more important than looking for a low-SAR phone is being careful with how one uses the phone. Many cell phones emit the most radiation when they establish contact with a cell tower. To reduce exposure to this radiation, one can wait until after a call has been connected to put the cell phone next to his or her ear.

Furthermore, cell phones emit

less radiation when stationary, because when the connection is moving rapidly, for instance in a car, it must repeatedly issue bursts of radiation to join with different towers as it moves in and out of range.

Any situation where a cell phone has a weak signal indicates it has to work harder and must emit more radiation. “Fewer bars means more radiation,” said Om Gandhi, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Study results also warn parents against exposing young children to cell phones, because children’s developing brains and tissues are thought to be the most vulnerable to such radiation. Health authorities in Britain, France, Germany, and Russia have all issued warnings against allowing small children to use cell phones for extended periods, if at all.

There are attachments that claim to shield users from ra-

B7

The World in Ink

By Adriana Mariella, Heights Editor

diation, but most are “hoaxes,” Gandhi told reporters. Pong research offers a cell phone case for iPhones and BlackBerrys that says it reduces radiation by more than 60 percent. However, some electrical engineering experts question whether the case may have the opposite effect at orientations where one’s head is in the way of the cell tower because the phone may have to upsurge its transmission strength somewhat to compensate for the redirected signal. Nevertheless, the net effect of using the device throughout the course of the day may be a decrease in exposure.

While texting is usually surrounded by negative media attention, “The whole trend toward texting instead of talking on cell phones is probably a good thing,” Slesin at Microwave News told reporters. That is, as long as it is not being done while driving and the phone is not resting directly on the body. n

A negative foreign view BP causes controversy one year after oil spill Intervention, from B10 assassinations, annexations, and installation of nefarious dictators has been to advance America’s capitalistic agenda and protect the economic interests of the American people. In other words, using the war machine to protect the “profit machine.” This is a prevalent, if not dominant view in many other nations, where our foreign interventionism is viewed in less than altruistic terms.

With that in mind, we can examine President Barack Obama’s seemingly dilatory response to the conflict in Libya. Though I believe he should have voiced an opinion sooner, his perceived “lack” of action was an action in and of itself—that is, he cautioned against an impulsive and over-reaching reaction and felt the need to carefully examine the independent development of the situation rather than intervene and immediately influence the course of events.

There are other, more sober-

ing reasons as well. As evidenced by the WikiLeaks documents, America supports tyrants and oppressive regimes in the Middle East because the alternative is to allow these countries to be taken over by the likes of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, whose intentions are very clear. Unfortunately, our leverage in this region is tenuous because of our dependence upon the region’s oil. We single-handedly import $28 billion in oil from Saudi Arabia, precluding our ability to request more humane government policies. What our nation needs to realize is that in geopolitics, our domestic behavior is directly correlated to our international scope, and an addiction to Middle Eastern oil (not to mention Chinese credit) is slowly but surely diminishing our international influence.

Ameet Padte is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at marketplace@ bcheights.com

BP, from B10 Inc., a company in which BP has a minority stake. Last month, Royal Dutch Shell PLC became the first company to be allowed a permit after the disastrous spill, allowing the company to drill within 250 miles from southeast Houston. The most recent permit was granted to the Italian energy firm, ENI S.p.A., last Thursday.

Other companies granted permits include Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., and the Australian multi-national, BHP Billiton Ltd. These developments are certain to trigger a fierce upheaval not only from environmentalists but also from those business owners who have taken a financial hit as a result of the oil spill. BP has currently spent approximately $41 billion dollars on the clean up, but the true repercussions of this major blunder are still perhaps yet to come. Last week, U.S. prosecutors were reported to be

pursuing manslaughter charges against BP managers and are even examining statements made by certain bosses, including those of former chief executive Tony Hayward at a congressional hearing last year.

“We don’t think that BP has shown it has changed its corporate culture to earn the right to return to the Gulf ” -Athan Manuel Sierra Club offshore expert All of this comes within weeks of the one-year anniversary of the horrific explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig for an exploration well, called the Macondo Prospect, leased by BP. It was the

beginning of a three-month ordeal, in which approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude oil gushed out of the well.

BP has been swift to praise the new safety criterion and promises additional transparency measures in the midst of their renewed Gulf venture, most notably a 24-hour access to all drilling operations.

But this has seemingly done little to curb the uproar from the ecological world. Senior climate adviser at Greenpeace U.K., Charlie Kronick, duly noted, “It’s hard to see how such monitoring will adequately mitigate the dangers of deepwater drilling.” He referred to BP’s return to the Gulf “premature.” Athan Manuel, a Sierra Club offshore expert even added in a Washington Post issue, “We don’t think that BP has shown it has changed its corporate culture to earn the right to return to the Gulf of Mexico.”

As the fourth largest company in revenue and the Gulf ’s biggest oil fish, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is

one of, if not the most important geographical locations for BP, as it has 20 oilfields there. The company has tried to expand into other areas but to no avail.

In January of this year BP made a multi-billion dollar deal with the Russian oil company, OAO Rosneft, which would’ve paved the way for the company to begin Arctic explorations. However, it was blocked last month by other BP Russian partners, TNK-BP Ltd, who argued that the Arctic exploration deal violated their shareholder agreement.

Thus, while an approval by the Bureau would certainly infuriate those of the ecological community, it would greatly ease the immense pressure on Hayward’s successor, Bob Dudley, after his failed Arctic venture. The events of the coming days will be telling, especially as a BP grant appears imminent. But more importantly, the potential backlash of this decision could prove too hot for BP and perhaps the Bureau to handle. n

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The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

THE ISSUE:

Last year, in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations can spend unlimited funds on independent political broadcasts during elections. Critics have argued that the ruling will allow corporations to have too much influence on elections. Supporters argue that, as the ruling stated, corporations should be treated as people, and therefore have First Amendment rights that cannot be infringed. Did the Supreme Court make the correct decision?

Business support is necessary Jim Havel For too long, the United States has had career politicians. Members of Congress who enjoy the benefits of incumbency and campaign finance laws that increase their chances of staying put. This has bred a culture in Congress that many Americans have come to despise. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that businesses, both for profit and non-profit, could broadcast “electioneering communications” that had previously been banned by the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002 which set up strict rules for financing campaigns. This type of communication under the 2002 act barred mentioning a candidate in an ad 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary election. The court upheld, however, that disclaimers and disclosures by sponsors of the ads still had to be displayed.

Justice Kennedy, delivering the majority opinion in the 5-4 case, wrote, “If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.” He also contended that McCain-Feingold’s prohibition of all independent expenditures by corporations and unions was invalid. On top of that, he argued there was no way to distinguish between media and other corporations, since these restrictions would allow lawmakers to suppress political speech in newspapers, books, television, and blogs.

This was obviously an affront to certain incumbents and the statist left. If businesses could now fund campaigns, they would choose to donate only to those candidates who represent their interests (presumably mostly Republicans). President Barack Obama said the law would give special interests more power than they already have in Washington.

Several leftists in Congress had similar sentiments. Supporters of the decision said it would make campaigns more competitive and transparent.

They could not be more correct. In 2010, 93 freshmen were elected to the House of Representatives, 87 of whom were Republicans. This was not just one of the most historic midterm elections in history, it very well may have been one of the most historic elections in the recent history of the country. The GOP picked up 63 seats on the Democrats while holding on to almost all of the districts they had occupied in 2008. In the Senate, the results were a gain of six seats for the GOP. While it is standard practice for the party of the president in office to lose seats in Congress during his first midterm elections, these results far surpassed the usual trend. These results were undoubtedly affected by not only

the extreme unpopularity of the president and his party, but also the Citizens United decision.

Many democratic incumbents lost their cushy congressional jobs because of the increased monetary competition challengers posed to them.

Arlen Specter, former moderate Republican Senator, who turned Democrat to serve his own interests to get reelected in 2010, is a perfect example of why Citizens United was an excellent decision. The 30-year senator had long since lost the will to serve the people he was elected to serve, and instead served himself.

When a capable conservative stepped up to challenge him in the Republican primary, and

Business has and always will have a voice in this country.

They absolutely have the right to donate Specter saw that he might lose the GOP primary, the Senator went into survival mode and became a democrat. He even admitted it was for reelection purposes.

Not only is this despicable, even democrats were uncomfortable with his reasoning and made sure he was defeated in the primary by Joe Sestak. Too often, we are content with re-electing politicians who only represent themselves.

Citizens United has now made politicians accountable. Corporate donations to Democrats in the 2010 elections totaled $11 million as compared with to $9 million in favor of Republicans.

This $20 million was equivalent to roughly 40 percent of the outside money donated during the midterm elections.

Incumbents, like Specter, lost or retired in droves in 2010

and nothing better could have happened for the country as a whole. Fresh ideas are now at the forefront, and the people they represent once again are holding politicians accountable. While most of the losses came at the Democrats expense (likely why they are so opposed to the ruling), some Republicans, like former Utah Senator Bob Bennett, were defeated in primaries by conservative challengers who were able to raise enough money to make a competitive race.

Business has and always will have a voice in this country.

They absolutely have the right to donate to any candidate they choose, just as an individual does.

While a corporation cannot vote, candidates and their policies affect the way they do business, and therefore they should be allowed to protect their interests.

Labor unions and other leftists groups also doled out substantial amounts of money to their statist friends in Congress and to democratic primary challengers like Sestak (defeated by Senator Pat Toomey in the general election) who defeated Specter. Politics is a sacrifice, not a luxurious position.

Our government has recently gotten away from its true purpose.

The Democrats will blame the money these corporations and special interest groups gave to Republicans for their absolute shellacking in 2010. This could not be further from the truth. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee out raised their GOP’s counterparts. Perhaps the Democrats should start representing the people who elected them, instead of representing their own interests and those of a leftist president, and maybe they would keep their jobs.

Jim Havel is a guest columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at marketplace@ bcheights.com

Photo Courtesy of google

In 2008, Citizens United aired an independent ad on TV that criticized Hillary Clinton, sparking a Supreme Court case.

Corporations undercut democracy Matt Palazzolo In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives and nearly seized control of the Senate. Lisa Murkowski, Republican senator from Alaska, easily won reelection. However, she was defeated in the Republican primary

by Tea Party darling Joe Miller, and was forced to campaign as an independent write-in candidate in the general election. How could an incumbent senator, well-liked by her constituents, lose the GOP primary and then win reelection months later? The answer highlights the tragic flaws of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision.

The Supreme Court, in a narrow and contentious 5-4 vote, used dubious logic to justify its decision.

The case involved Citizens United, a private for-profit corporation, which aired an independent ad on TV criticizing then presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In the majority opinion, the Court explained that corporations should be treated as people under the law.

Using this logic, corporate money represents political speech, and thus limiting campaign contributions infringes on a corporations First Amendment rights. This logic is fallacious on multiple levels. First, citizens are restricted by a $2,400 cap in contributions to individual candidates. So, if corporations are people, then their campaign contributions should be restricted just like normal American citizens. Second, equating corporations with people is a terrible analogy. A person has a single voice and opinion. A corporation consists of a complex combination of board members, executives, stockholders, and low-level employees. Equating a corporation to a person with a unified opinion is like saying University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. and the Boston College Board of Trustees speaks for the entire BC community. The majority opinion’s convoluted logic undermines the

legitimacy of its decision.

Citizens United does place certain restrictions on corporate contributions. Foreign companies’ contributions are severely restricted, so that foreign actors aren’t able to influence United States elections. Also, corporations are only allowed to spend unlimited funds on independent ads, not in direct contributions to candidates. These restrictions, while a step in the right direction, are only Band-Aids for the stream of corporate cash that will flood political elections in the future.

In addition to the flawed logic of the Supreme Court’s decision, Citizens United will also have a profoundly negative effect on future elections. The Alaskan sena-

Citizens United will also have a profoundly negative effect on future elections. torial election from 2010 is a fitting example. Joe Miller, a no-name ultra conservative Republican before election season, received boatloads of cash from the Tea Party in the run-up to the GOP primary. Alaskan airwaves were saturated with ads that viciously skewered Lisa Murkowski for being too moderate. This out-of-state money propelled Miller to victory in the GOP primary. Murkowski’s victory in the general election on the other hand, clearly showed that the Alaskan people did not approve of the ultra-conservative Miller. If Murkowski hadn’t courageously decided to run as a writein candidate, then the Tea Party would have succeeded in buying a Senate seat against the wishes of the Alaskan people.

Citizens United’s aftershocks will increase exponentially in the next election cycle. Television advertising space is a zero-sum game. While there are many more individual stations available

due to the growth in on demand television, most Americans still only watch a select few stations.

Wealthy corporations could easily buy huge chunks of advertising time and not only heavily endorse their own preferred candidate, but also completely shut out rival ones too. Citizens United won’t increase the free speech rights of corporations, it will suffocate the free speech of candidates who don’t have sufficient funding to buy advertisements.

The most alarming effect of the Citizens United decision will be in local elections. Corporate funding in presidential campaigns is somewhat acceptable, due to the president’s broad effects of all aspects of the American economy, and the huge amount of overall money in the campaign dilutes the influence of an individual company. However, corporations can have a massive influence in local elections. Scott Brown’s stunning upset in the Massachusetts senatorial election was due in large part to out-of-state donations from Tea Party organizations. These corporations had one overarching goal in running pro-Brown ads: killing President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Brown represented the potential bill killing and filibuster enabling 41st vote. The Tea Party didn’t care about local Massachusetts issues, like the casino or wind farm construction controversies.

Brown was simply a means to an end, a hired gun to kill Obamacare.

Using this model, large corporations could propel candidates to victory based on a single platform position, like gun or abortion rights. Local politics will become meaningless, and the voice of the individual American citizen on issues that directly affect him will be completely drowned out. By ruling in favor of corporations, the Supreme Court has irreparably damaged American elections for many years to come.

Matt Palazzolo is Asst. Marketplace Editor for The Heights. He welcomes comments at marketplace@ bcheights.com

Green Piece

Boston College students show lack of enthusiasm in environmental efforts Meg Lister Most of us don’t really care about the environment.

We don’t care about climate change. We don’t care about the long-term future.

At first read, you may try to refute this. “But, I carry a reusable water bottle!” or, “But, I recycle my beer cans every Sunday morning!” or even, “But, I use the double-sided printing in O’Neill now!” The truth is, if everyone was a fully informed environmental consumer, we probably wouldn’t be buying bottles, cans, or printing in the first place. The average American lifestyle has an ecological footprint of four Earths—that is, we are constantly living and consuming in a manner what would require

four Earths to absorb, negate, and regenerate the destruction we wreak on our environment.

This is bound to catch up with us sooner rather than later. Our children, according to some dire economists, are predicted to be the first generation that does not have the opportunity to improve the quality of the lives they are born in to. Some major United States cities could be under water and virtually unlivable in the next 100 years. Starvation and extreme water shortages, even according to conservative estimates, are expected to rise dramatically. These statements are, to be sure, a collection of possibilities that may not happen in exactly this mode. The mere possibility of extreme disaster, however, is usually enough to spur citizens into action. Or is it?

Last week marked the hundredth anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This tragedy killed 146

workers, mostly female immigrants. Their complaints and the complaints of their peers and activists about dangerous working conditions went unnoticed by government officials for many years. On March 25, 1911, a fire ignited in the shoddily constructed New York City building as a result of mismanagement and poor oversight. Workers burned alive or jumped out of eighth story windows, as managers had locked all entrances and stairways. Shortly afterwards, the federal government passed groundbreaking legislation that regulated working conditions in factories. Factories remain imperfect, but there has never again been a disaster of this scale.

In the 1960s, Love Canal comprised 36 blocks of family homes and a grade school in the Niagara Falls region of New York. Ten years later, inhabitants began developing staggeringly high rates of thyroid can-

cer, leukemia, and lymphoma.

Mothers reported miscarriages and infants recorded up to a dozen birth defects. Residents discovered murky substances seeping through the cracks in their basements and bubbling through playground surfaces.

The formerly idyllic community had been built on a toxic waste dumping site, which was later sold to land developers for a whopping $1. A decadelong investigation ensued, and many residents had to be relocated. Citizens dealt with health problems for years, and government compensation was a poor substitute for a ruined life and community. Superfund legislation was passed as a reaction to Love Canal, and there have been significant improvements in the tracking, disposal, and management of toxic wastes since the 1970s.

In 2011, we hit a measurement of 391 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We have begun to

feel the effects, though not to their full extent. When mass quantities of American lives are immediately in danger, one can feel certain that we will start to care. Panicked citizens are a certain harbinger of effective legislation. The government will pass long-anticipated restrictions on carbon emissions, as well as fossil fuel and nonrenewable resource consumption. When that day arrives, will it already be too late? The 146 workers who perished in the Triangle Factory fire probably saved the lives of thousands of other workers.

The city of Love Canal may have saved countless individual lives and other similar communities. When atmospheric carbon dioxide hits 450 ppm, 550 ppm, or 700 ppm, will we be able to save ourselves?

History demonstrates that humans are not adept at dealing with futurities or possibilities. Lately, we’ve invented all kinds of excuses. “I’m not

sure this will really happen” or “This is the same stuff cows have been farting for a thousand years” or the worst of them all, “Snow in April?

Bring on the global warming!”

Right now, we don’t really care.

Really caring, when 99 percent of scientists believe in climate change, when we’ve surpassed the safe atmospheric limit of 350 ppm, requires collective action and fundamental restructuring. I don’t have any concrete answers, and I don’t think any of us do. I wish I could end this story on a high note, or at least with direction for the future, but I’m not sure I can. Here’s the best I can do: we have adapted and survived thus far. Boston College is home to a bunch of intelligent people. Genuine dialogue goes a long way.

Meg Lister is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at marketplace@ bcheights.com

The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

B9

David Cote

Matt Palazzolo

Dan Tonkovich

Tomas Castella

Kristoffer Munden President, College Democrats

Where should the Sept. 11 conspirators be tried: New York or Guantanamo?

As long as they end up in jail for the rest of their lives, who cares?

Trial by battle. The U.S. could make a profit selling both sides weapons.

New York.

The real risks and costs of a NYC trial are far too high.

Guantanamo. New York has been through enough already.

Who should be blamed if the government shuts down this Friday?

Everyone. Repbulicans, Democrats and the people, equally.

The American people, for not fulfilling their patriotic duty of paying enough taxes.

With a debt over $14 trillion dollars, the government is going to shut down unless both parties become more fiscally responsible.

It seems to be a lose-lose for both parties.

The Republicans. Their completely uncompromising attitude is debilitating to any productive discussion.

Can Obama raise $1 billion for his 2012 reelection campaign?

Hopefully not. If he does, he should put it towards the federal debt ... that might get him reelected.

No, Rod Blagojevich ran out of Senate seats to sell for campaign funds.

Considering the best he could do for his first reelection video ad is a group of indifferent supporters, no.

He should be focused on the trillions of debt, not a billion in his warchest.

Perhaps Trump should be the chair of his finance committee.

Should state employees have collective bargaining rights?

To an extent, but classical unions are inefficient and outdated.

No, only quarterbacks being oppressed by draconian owners deserve collective bargaining rights.

Yes, but government employment is service, not a means of personal profit.

Have the right to choose whether or not to join a union and pay dues? Dems think no.

Is Obama a Democrat?

Marketplace Editor

Asst. Marketplace Editor

Special Projects Editor

President, College Republicans

Geneva Connection

Ivory Coast in turmoil, rebel leader Outtara gaining support of the citizens Danny Martinez Although not in the same manner as the countries in the “Arab Spring,” La Cote D’Ivoire is expected to experience a regime change this week. The Ivory Coast has been mired in some sort of political or military conflict within its borders since 2002, all centered on its controversial acting president (as of Wednesday), Laurence Gbabgo.

The former professor-turned politician ascended to the presidency in 2000, buoyed by support in the southern part of the country.

The Ivory Coast has been in a state of political disarray since 2002, which marked the beginning of an internal civil war that has claimed thousands of lives. Gbabgo’s government forces had a grip on the southern part of the country, while the rebels controlled most of the northern region. France and the United Nations intervened to stem the violence, but were ineffective.

The fighting formally ended in 2007, when Gbabgo agreed to hold

elections – only to postpone them six times, until UN-monitored elections were held in October and November of 2010.

Unfortunately, the all-too-familiar story of nascent democracies in Africa was played out again.

Despite a nine point margin of victory for his opponent by one certified count, Gbabgo rejected this, and had his own Constitutional Council determine that the president was victorious.

The man opposing Gbabgo is no common rebel. Meet Alassane Ouattara, a Wharton-educated, IMF economist who held the position of prime minister in the early ’90s until he was ousted in a power struggle. Now the leader of the opposition party, Rally of the Republicans (RDR), he holds its base in the northern part of the country.

Currently, Ouattara is the almost unanimously and internationally recognized president of the Ivory Coast, although the reality of the situation dictates otherwise.

Considering the recent history of the Ivory Coast, the events that have followed the November election were all-too-predictable. After agreeing to hold the first free election in 10 years, tensions mounted when Gbabgo refused to accept the results. The rebel forces reorga-

nized under the Republican Forces of the Cote D’Ivoire (RFCI), with determination to retake a country that, by all indications, seems to be their own.

By the end of March, the RFCI had reached the capital, Abidjan.

Tuesday, Laurence Gbabgo began negotiating the terms of his surrender when the capture of the presidential palace seemed only to be a matter of time. Considering his past history in gauging when to submit to international pressure, this seems to be following the same thought process.

Despite the country being deeply divided, Gbabgo, even up until the election, seemed confident of an electoral victory. However, when this did not materialize, he turned to the one strategy that he had specifically denounced in his 2000 election campaign: hold on to power, even if this was against the clear will of the people.

As of mid-day Wednesday, Gbabgo remained defiant. Although reportedly in talks to step down, his less-than-clear stance has prompted RFCI rebels to close in on the bunker, according to a BBC report.

An issue of importance in this renewed conflict in the Ivory Coast is the role of France, the former

colonizer of the West African nation, as well as the UN, as interveners. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in an abrupt departure from his previous foreign policy action pre-Libya, intervened, and now French forces are playing an integral role in pressuring Gbabgo to hand over power to Ouattara. What their role will be once Gbabgo is captured in the “new” Ivory Coast government remains to be seen.

Whatever the result of this conflict is, the victors will hardly be able to rest on their laurels.

Even though the invading rebels – whose main aim was to capture Gbabgo – assured Abidjan citizens of their safety, Ivorians were not convinced. The refugees fled the capital city, adding another dimension to the problem in the form of internally-displaced persons.

In all this chaos, however, there seems to be hope. First of all, the RFCI does not intend to kill Gbabgo. Rather, according to a BBC report, the rebels would like to see Gbabgo tried before the International Criminal Court, in the same vein as other dictators such as Charles Taylor of Liberia.

This, in my opinion, would be a landmark in international human rights as well as a step in the right

direction towards a constitutional democracy in the Ivory Coast.

What will happen after Gbabgo is captured? Hopefully, he will face trial at the ICC. More importantly, Ouattara must take the reins for Ivory Coast. It is crucial that in the days, weeks, and months that follow the events of this week that the international community provide humanitarian assistance to Ivorians and attempt to create a measure of stability. While UN

Peacekeepers and French armed forces provide a buffer for violence, their stay will not, and cannot be temporary, and it is thus imperative that Ouattara be given as many of the necessary tools that can be given to him by other nations to operate a country ravaged by war and ethnic conflict.

Danny Martinez is Heights senior staff. He welcomes comments at marketplace@bcheights.com

rebecca blackwell / ap photo

Ivory Coast rebels assemble during the war against the current dictator, Gbabgo.

From the Golden State

In-car cameras improve safety Clara Kim I always get a good laugh out of those commercials where the father is leaning outside of the car with the car keys dangling in this hand, telling his daughter to do this and to do that. “Remember to slow down at a yellow light. Don’t go over the speed limit. Don’t play your music too loudly when you drive. Don’t text and drive. Call me when you get there.” Every time I see one of those commercials, I always think of my dad as he watches me back out of the driveway with those big eyes that scream either that he can’t believe I’m driving or a more dramatic version, “I hope she doesn’t get hurt.” And Dad probably thinks, “The first stage of letting go.”

Well, that’s the thing about driving. Sometimes it’s not your fault.

You learn in driving school how to make those smooth right and left turns, to look over your shoulder, to obey the traffic rules, and to remember to be alert. And you can do all of these things, but sometimes be slightly distracted when life may decide at that moment to throw you a curveball. You can be in your car blasting Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” with your best friend, making doughnuts (for the record, I’ve never tried it: I live in California), or acting as the designated driver for the night when

another car comes out of nowhere.

So, the question is: Would you still take a chance and do these things if you had a camera in your car?

Daniel V. McGehee, director of the human factors and vehicle safety research division at the public policy center of the University of Iowa told The Wall Street Journal that “teens are notorious for rationalizing their behavior.” And having a camera in the car may serve as that reminder teen drivers need time to time. According to new research, “The worst teenage drivers have 88 percent fewer safety events when they have a camera in the car.” These small video cameras that are about the size of a deck of cards, can be attached to the rear view mirror to record the driver’s actions, including how sharply they turn the corner or document what really happened behind the driver’s wheel before an accident. They’re always watching….

It makes sense, we give them reason to worry. We’re often distracted while driving. My best friend from home always feels the urge to point out the cute little squirrel that darts across the street.

I’ve seen others use their phones while driving, whether it be texting or making a phone call. With friends in the car, it’s harder to stay concentrated when they’ve all been present during the initiation of a new inside joke.

Also, parents may like the idea of installing a camera for $495, plus an installation fee of $50, in addition to a fee of $30 a month for analysis if it means that it will keep their teen drivers on their toes. It

works in a sneaky sort of way. If the driver suddenly swerves, gets into an accident, abruptly stops, or significantly accelerates, a video clip is sent to a website that can be accessed by parents. However, “the footage is only saved when the driver has a safety event,” The Wall Street Journal reports. The theory is that if they start out early with educating teen drivers about safe and “always alert” driving, it’ll carry over to their driving practices throughout the rest of their lives.

So, although teens are ‘notorious’ for ‘rationalizing,’ with a camera in the car, “they can’t argue with what the video is showing,” McGehee said.

These clever adults. Just when we figured out how to avoid weekly electronic academic report cards from being sent home to Mom’s real e-mail address, turning the door knob so it doesn’t creak when we’re home past curfew, and explaining who we were out with last night, they come up with this.

Although, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. It’s cute, actually. Our parents obviously care about us. And if that means going out of their way to cough up what would almost be equivalent to purchasing a one-credit class at Boston College to keep us alert and safe when we drive, hey, I’m all in.

Goodbye, freedom in exchange for hello, safety? I can live with that. Daddy, step aside. The camera will take over.

Clara Kim is a Heights editor. She welcomes comments at marketplace@bcheights.com

J. Scott applewhite / ap photo

Rep. Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, discusses the proposed cuts with other Republican leaders.

Budget crisis reaches a peak Budget, from B10 debt cannot be maintained forever.

Ryan commented that ambitious and outdated government programs like Social Security and Medicare will need restructuring if the U.S. is going to have a strong financial future, but also clarified the Republican plan.

Commenting on Medicaid, Ryan said that the new plan would not be a voucher system, an idea heavily criticized by the Democrats, but would rather provide, “more for the poor, more for

people who get sick, and we don’t give as much money to people who are wealthy.” The new plan will require wealthy people to cover more of their Medicare costs than the poor.

“We want real spending cuts,” Boehner told The New York Times on Friday. “We’re dealing with the discretionary part of the budget.”

Notably, the discretionary budget does not include military or defense spending.

“If you just cut from domestic discretionary, you’ll have to cut things like helping students go

to college. You’ll have to cut scientific research, including cancer research,” Mr. Schumer recently told reporters. He warned that such cuts might be counterproductive to assisting the recovering economy. “These things have created millions of jobs through the years.”

Despite current disagreements, most lawmakers agree a final budget will be proposed before a government shutdown occurs. “I think we’ll get together,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), said on Sunday. n

marketplace The Heights

Thursday, April 7, 2011

B10

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Politics

Market Report

Attorney General Eric Holder announced that alleged Sept. 11 conspirators will be tried at Guantanamo Bay. Holder previously had planned to stage the trial in a civilian court in New York.

American international intervention ambiguous

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis) unveiled a new 2012 budget proposal. The plan cuts $6.2 trillion in spending over the next 10 years and restructures Medicare.

former President Bill Clinton was fully aware of a “final solution” in Rwanda that planned to (and eventually did) kill close to a million people. However, the administration intentionally “buried” the information, as the U.S. did not have any strategic interest in the region.

Many critics also point to America’s endorsement (both tacit and overt) of warlords and dictators. With U.S. backing, Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006 to oust the Islamic movement, which the U.S. believed had ties to Al-Qaeda. We then installed a “transitional government” which used the fight against terrorism to attack business and political rivals, as well as innocent civilians. Somalia remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with more than a million people displaced. It appears that America simultaneously advocates for and prevents democracy.

In March of 2002 former President George Bush spoke at the White House. “The United States has got a close and meaningful relationship with Egypt. The relationship is a cornerstone for our policy in the Middle East,” he told reporters. Standing directly to his right was Hosni Mubarak, who Bush described as a “friend,” the same Mubarak who used militias to keep supporters of political opponents from voting on election days and was recently ousted. We provided Egypt with more than $2 billion a year in weapons and aid, facilitating that oppression.

A digression: last summer, when discussing the War in Iraq with a student from Italy, he asked, “You know that was all about oil, right?” This troubled me. Though I kind of “knew” it, my patriotic tendencies pushed it to the back corners of my mind. It suggests that the primary motivation for innumerable invasions, coups,

Ameet Padte

Rod Blagojevich’s legal team is asking for summaries of the 2008 FBI interview with then President-elect Barack Obama. Obama has not been accused of wrongdoing in the ongoing trial.

Economics Sbarro filed for bankruptcy this Monday. The founding family of the food corporation sold the company to MidOcean Partners in 2007 shortly before the economic collapse.

Nasdaq announced plans to reconfigure the weight of technology stocks in its index. Apple’s percentage in the index will drop from 20 percent to 14 percent, while Microsoft’s will rise.

Caterpillar machinery construction company decided to remain based in the state of Illinois. CEO Douglas Oberhelman had suggested the company might move out of Illinois to avoid state taxes.

Science & technology A Texas judge struck down a $625 million copyright infringement award against Apple. A Texas jury last year found Apple guilty of violating three Mirror Worlds patents in the construction of laptops.

Google agreed to purchase all of Nortel Networks approximately 6,000 patents.

Google has agreed to pay $900 million for the patent portfolio. Other companies are allowed to bid.

The House of Representatives passed a bill that would overturn newly enacted net neutrality rules by the FCC. Obama has vowed to veto the bill if it also passes in the Senate.

in numbers

6 protestors killed in recent antigovernment demonstrations in Yemen.

$45,000 given by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to GOP election committees.

1,000 new Israeli settlements approved for construction on disputed West Bank territory.

in quotes

“

He’s in effect trying to create a Chicago style machine for the whole country with a billion dollars.

– Newt Gingrich on Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign plans.

”

“

I am extremely sorry to say this, but NATO truly disappointed us.

”

– Libyan opposition General Abdul Fatah Youni describing NATO interventions in Libya

Carolyn Kaster / ap photo

Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Majority Leader, defends the Republicans proposed budget during a news conference.

GOP hopes to cut $4 trillion Possible government shutdown if budget is not passed

By David Cote

Marketplace Editor Republicans proposed a budget this week that would cut more than $4 trillion in government spending over the next 10 years.

Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, spearheaded the effort to reshape long standing federal programs like Medicare in order to cut the United States’ debt.

“We are going to put out a plan that gets our debt on a downward trajectory and gets us to a point of giving our next generation a debtfree nation,” Ryan told reporters after releasing the budget.

Much controversy has come

from the proposal, as a budget plan is necessary by Friday in order to keep the government running. The current budget ends Saturday, effectively ending financing for the government if a new budget is not passed.

President Barack Obama met with House Speaker John Boehner yesterday in order to avoid a government shutdown. The president and many Democrats argue that the Republicans are using a time of budget crisis to force a social agenda which cuts spending to programs which Republicans have been attempting to defund for many years, like Planned Parenthood.

The Republican plans are being

criticized for supporting rich tax payers and wealthy corporations.

Spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Jesse Ferguson told The New York Times, “Paul Ryan made clear that the Republican budget will protect big oil companies’ subsidies over seniors’ health care.” He continued, commenting that, “It’s already becoming clear who will be the priority in the House Republican budget — special interests, not middleclass families.”

On the other side of the coin, Republicans argue that the current trend of massive government

See Budget, B9

Last week, on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, one of the correspondents, John Oliver, elucidated in comical fashion America’s inconsistency when responding to international conflicts as different “freedom packages.” For instance, though the people of Sudan suffer horrific atrocities, the nation is of no strategic importance and lacks natural resources, winning them the “ambivalence package,” consisting of “no committed verbal, financial, or physical support from the U.S. government” and “periodic interest in your plight.” On the other hand, a nation such as Iraq, which sits upon a “veritable ocean of oil,” qualifies for the “platinum package,” a full-scale invasion.

Is this cynical view of American foreign policy appropriate?

After all, every American president has at some point espoused our defense of “freedom and liberty.” Let’s discuss.

Henry Kissinger once said, “Americans like the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone … into the town, the village, with his horse and nothing else … he doesn’t shoot. He acts … by being in the right place at the right time.” This encapsulates the perception many Americans share regarding our foreign policy initiatives. We simply insert ourselves into conflicts, and the sheer presence and power of the United States is sufficient to quell our adversaries.

Unfortunately, as Stewart’s show aptly conveyed, there were, and continue to be, many situations in which intervention was desperately needed, but not provided. Sudan is just one example. According to intelligence reports officially released in 2004,

See Intervention, B7

Cell phones could alter brain function

By Michela Gacioch Heights Staff

A study published last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association indicated that cradling one’s cell phone next to his or her head can alter brain activity. The report said it was unclear whether the changes in the brain, such as an increase in glucose metabolism after using the phone for less than an hour, had any negative health or behavioral effects. However, it has left many of the over three million cell phone users in the United States with many concerned expressions and questions.

“Cell phones are fantastic and have done much to increase productivity,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, the lead investigator of the study and director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, to reporters.

“I’d never tell people to stop using them entirely.”

In light of her findings, Volkow suggests that users keep cell phones at a distance by putting them on speaker mode or using a wired headset when possible. A wireless Bluetooth headset or earpiece emits radiation at far lower levels.

Holding one’s phone just slightly away from his or her ear can also make a substantial difference, because the intensity of radiation diminishes sharply with distance.

“Every millimeter counts,” said Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, an online newsletter covering health and safety issues related to exposure to electromagnetic radiation, to reporters.

According to the study, cell phones should be oriented away

from the body as often as possible.

They should not be placed in pockets, because that puts them right up against the body. Rather, a purse or briefcase should be utilized.

Some studies have suggested a link between cell phone use and cancer, lower bone density, and infertility in men. However, other studies have revealed no effect at all. Such mixed messages prompted continuing researcher, Robert Kenny, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spokesman, to send an e-mail to The New York Times saying, “As always, we will continue to study this issue and coordinate with our federal partners.”

The phone used in Volkow’s study was a Samsung Knack, model SCH-U310, a small flip phone that was in wide use when she began planning her experiments two and a half years ago.

Today’s omnipresent smartphones emit even more radiation as they transmit more complex data.

One can get an idea of the relative amounts of radiation various cell phone models emit by looking at their specific absorption rate (SAR). This number indicates how much radiation is absorbed by the body when using the handset at maximum power. A cell phone cannot be sold in the U.S. unless an FCC approved laboratory says its SAR is below 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe, the maximum is even greater at two watts per kilogram.

The SAR number is not displayed when one is browsing through the available phones at a local wireless store, and trying to

See Cell Phones, B7

i nside Marke tp l a c e

this issue

gerald herbert / ap photo

In this file photo from April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon Rig engulfs in fire after the horrific explosion that killed 11.

BP to restart Gulf drilling Oil giant awaits federal ruling to permit Gulf operations

By Gerard Farara Heights Staff

Barely a year after the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 workers and sparked one of the worst oil spills in United States’ history, British Petroleum (BP) is now currently pursuing permits to resume drilling in the Gulf as early as July of this year.

BP’s return would entail the reopening of 10 pre-existing deep-water wells in an effort to increase production. Activity was originally stalled by President Barack Obama’s moratorium

On the flip side

on deepwater drilling, but as of October of last year, BP’s ban has been lifted. Reportedly, the company has already received an informal approval from U.S. regulators to resume drilling, but nevertheless must await the final signatures to get the green light. Although the Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, the federal agency that issues permits in the Gulf, came out with a public statement earlier this week denying that it had given BP any permits to start drilling, both sides (the Bureau and BP) have been quite stringent in releasing

This week on the flip side will explore both sides of the issue of corporations donating to political campaigns........................................................ B8

any details of the bid. The Bureau has denied any form of preliminary agreement and has stressed the rigidity of not only their acceptance process, but also of the new safety measures, in which all companies must abide by. BP, on the other hand, has remained quite silent.

But this rigidity has apparently allowed quite a few oil companies to begin drilling once again in the Gulf. Since Feb. 17, the Bureau has granted as many as eight different oil companies the right to drill. They include Noble Energy,

See BP, B7

From the Golden State....................................B9 Geneva Connection.....................................B9