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
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