The Heights 02/10/2014 by The Heights

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SPORTS

BC’s winter sports teams bring the Sochi Olympic Games to campus, B10

Students performed the annual show, ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ over the weekend, A10

Jabari Parker and Duke out-class the Eagles down low in secondhalf rout, B1

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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

HEIGHTS

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Monday, February 10, 2014

Vol. XCV, No. 7

Congressman criticizes BC, other schools for unclear FAFSA policies BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor More than 100 U.S. colleges and universities have been accused of misleading students about financial aid application policies, specifically regarding the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Boston College is one of the 111 universities in question. On Monday, Feb. 3, U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who heads the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan claiming that more than half of the 200 schools reviewed in a Congressional study on financial aid application policies have either explicitly required ap-

plicants to submit forms other than the FAFSA or failed to make clear that students only need to submit the FAFSA for federal student aid consideration. “Instead, these institutions appear to be establishing additional requirements for students to complete costly additional forms, including the fee-based PROFILE form developed by the College Board, to be considered for any financial aid,” the letter reads. “Congress banned this practice in 1992 because it creates undue hurdles for students seeking federal student aid.” On Boston College’s official financial aid information page for prospective students, which was updated on Feb. 6, three days after Cummings’ letter, there is currently a para-

graph that explicitly clarifies the purpose of the FAFSA. The University’s statement regarding the FAFSA on its current website for prospective students is as follows: “To apply for federal and/or student aid, you need to complete just the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA),” it reads. “Federal aid includes Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Directs Loans, both subsidized and unsubsidized, Perkins loans, Nursing loans, and Work-Study. State aid varies by state. Once the FAFSA is completed, you may be selected by the Federal Processor for a process called verification, which means you will have to provide your actual tax data on the FAFSA through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.” The site continues, clarifying that the pro-

cess for institutional aid is separate and requires different forms. “Please note that by completing only the FAFSA, Boston College is not able to determine your eligibility for institutional needbased grants,” the webpage reads. “In order to be considered for all institutional need-based aid as well as al federal and state aid, you must complete the FAFSA and the forms listed below, if applicable to your situation.” Prior to Feb. 6, 2014, however, that same webpage did not include those paragraphs. The archived webpage, which was last updated in April of 2013, consisted of only a list of eight forms required from the University without a written explanation as to which forms were necessary for federal aid and how individual documents were used as criteria for University-

based or other institutional aid. To be considered for federal student aid— including federal grants, loans, and work-study programs—prospective college students in the U.S. are only required to submit the FAFSA, which can be done online for free. Cummings identified in an evaluation of 200 universities that 111 of them were in breach of the Higher Education Act by neglecting to make clear that extraneous forms and the fees associated with them are not needed to qualify for federal aid. The Higher Education Act was originally created in 1965 to establish federal student aid programs and is the defining piece of legislature

See FAFSA, A4

CEO of SAP talks innovation at BC Chief Executives’ Club BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor

With its rapidly expanding presence in the startup industry, Boston College is no stranger to “disruptive innovation”—a set of business strategies aimed toward restructuring existing markets or technology, and the topic of SAP—a German software development company—co-CEO Bill McDermott’s talk at BC’s Chief Executives’ Club of Boston luncheon last Thursday, Feb. 6. The event, in association with the Carroll School of Management and hosted by Chairman and CEO of EMC Corporation Joseph Tucci, welcomed nearly 300 Boston-area CEOs to the Boston Harbor Hotel’s Wharf Room, where the BC CEO Club meets between six and eight times per year. Before Tucci—who oversees $21.7 billion in revenues and leads more than 60,000 employees globally at EMC, an American software solutions company, introduced his longtime friend and colleague McDermott, the Chief Excutives’ Club of Boston awarded Nazifa Subah, CSOM ’17, its annual scholarship. The scholarship, which was established in 2002 by Patrick T. Stokes, BC ’64 and former CEO of Anheuser-Busch

Companies, recognizes an outstanding undergraduate within CSOM and is made in honor of corporations and their CEOs whose business leadership lines up with the educational mission of the University. This year’s scholarship was made in honor of McDermott. “The scholarship will provide invaluable financial resources to an undergraduate student throughout her four years at Boston College,” said Warren Zola, executive director of Corporate and Government Affairs and sports law professor at BC. After Tucci concluded his opening remarks, McDermott led the discussion on the concept disruptive innovation by first harkening back to his early, more humble days as a young entrepreneur. McDermott’s road to SAP began when he traded in three jobs he’d been working to buy his own delicatessen business not long after graduating from high school. He made it the forefront of his focus to understand the demands of his consumers and foster personal relationships with the shop’s patrons. It was at this local deli, McDermott claimed, that he cultivated a thorough sense of customer interaction—lessons

See CEO Club, A4

NATHAN MCGUIRE / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Three teams kicked off their campaigns for the UGBC presidency and vice presidency at Sunday’s elections commencement event.

UGBC COMMENCES CAMPAIGNS BY NATHAN MCGUIRE Asst. News Editor

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

After what initially could have been an uncontested election, the Elections Committee (EC) officially commenced the campaign for UGBC president and executive vice president in an invigorated kick-off event in the Cabaret Room on Sunday night. This year’s campaign season will last from today until next Wednesday. With only 10 days to hone their messages, the candidates rallied their supporters and gave a broad overview of their platforms

last night. Attendees supporting Lucas Levine and Vance Vergara, both A&S ’15, donned blue t-shirts, while those supporting Nanci Fiore-Chettiar and Chris Marchese, both A&S ’15, wore red t-shirts. Michael Moazampour and Robert Watt, both A&S ’16—the only sophomore team in the race—had green t-shirts to pass out, but few of their supporters turned out to the event. This year, all t-shirt orders were placed through the EC and the cost was deducted from the teams’ $300 spending limit.

Rachel Fagut and Ross Fishman, both co-chairs and CSOM ’14, hosted the event and introduced the candidates to an audience of about 200 students. Fiore-Chettiar and Marchese, who currently serve as UGBC senators, were first to introduce themselves and their general platform. “We believe that UGBC needs to be an advocate that actually delivers on the promise the candidate makes,” Marchese said. “So, we’ve been disappointed with the organization this year. We’ve been

See UGBC Elections, A4

Co-CEO of SAP Bill McDermott spoke to a group of 300 corporate leaders at the BC CEO Club.

SASA hosts 17th annual culture show ‘Apna Zamana’ in Robsham BY BRIAN THUROW For The Heights Robsham Theatre exhibited an array of vibrant colors last Saturday night as it hosted the South Asian Student Association’s (SASA) 17th Annual culture show, Apna Zamana. Minutes before showtime a SASA alumnus announced to the audience that the venue was officially sold out. Following the announcement, masters of ceremonies Caila Quinn, CSOM ’14, and Wesley Mather, A&S ’14, formally welcomed the audience to the organization’s show. The SASA culture club represents the nations of South Asia, namely India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, and its culture show is the biggest yearly forum at Boston College in which the association is able to foster crosscultural understanding and promote the

uniqueness of South Asian culture. The show commenced with a presentation from the Saheli Charity—an organization dedicated to supporting South Asian women and families in the Greater Boston area—that highlighted statistics regarding domestic abuse in South Asia and among South Asian immigrants. Although the charity’s presentation engaged the audience about pressing socio-political issues rooted in South Asian culture, the night proceeded by welcoming the first dance troupe with enthusiasm. Masti, SASA’s premier dance group, bolstered the performance with its mix of contemporary and classical dance, infusing Bollywood-style grace with groovy disco moves. This musical fusion would prove to be the theme of the night, with every dance and musical performance innovatively combining

the modern with the traditional. A group of freshman SASA members then took the stage to showcase their dance routine. “This dance has made us closer— helped us bond,” said Isra Hussain, A&S ’17, of the dance’s difficulty. The freshmen were followed by four female students who combined dance styles from Northern and Southern India, performing with bells around their ankles. The choreography added a unique flare to the group’s take on the popular Beyonce song “Deja Vu.” After ward, the event shifted its tone from playful to competitive with a dance battle between the all-male dance troupe and the all-female ensemble. The friendly competition generated substantial applause for both teams, but ultimately leaned in favor of the

See SASA, A4

DREW HOO / HEIGHTS STAFF

SASA combined dance, song, and cultural identity in its performance of ‘Apna Zamana.’

TopTHREE

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 10, 2014

A Guide to Your Newspaper

things to do on campus this week

Kerry Cronin Lecture

Tuesday Time: 7 p.m. Location: Murray Function Room

Professor and Associate Director of the Lonergan Institute Kerry Cronin will present “Making the Move: Navigating Dating Transitions” for the Center for Student Formation and Church in the 21st Century Center event.

Chambers Lecture Series

Tuesday Time: 7 p.m. Location: Gasson 100

Former U.S. Senator from Maine Olympia Snowe will be featured. Snowe was named one of the top 10 U.S. Senators by Time in 2006 and built a reputation as one of Congress’ leading moderates as she spearheaded bipartisan efforts on various national issues.

BC bOp! Concert Wednesday Time: 8 p.m. Location: Vandy Cabaret Room

The award-winning vocal and instrumental jazz ensemble BC bOp!, under the direction of conductor Sebastian Bonaiuto, will have a send-off concert ahead of their East Coast tour of Connecticut and New York.

FEATURED STORY

Tommaney details emergency response procedures BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor Last week, Boston College issued a closure of University facilities due to heavy snow forecasts. During such periods, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) takes increased measures to ensure campus safety and immediate snow removal—a set of duties Director of OEM John Tommaney has employed during his time at BC to prepare campus for an extensive range of hazards and emergencies. “Our philosophy is that everyone has a role to play in an emergency and we strive to create a culture of preparedness,” Tommaney said in an email. “When an emergency occurs, we coordinate the University’s response working with the Emergency Management Executive Team (EMET) and other administrators.” The EMET is comprised of senior representatives from BCPD, the Provost’s Office, the Executive Vice President’s Office, the President’s Office, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs (VPSA), Information Technology Services (ITS), Financial Services, Facilities Management, and the Athletics Department, among others. The EMET’s focus is to prioritize and coordinate the response and to restore any potentially impacted facilities. Tommaney noted that when the EMET is not operating in the event of an emergency, the team still meets regularly to develop preventative plans, conduct emergency drill training, and test the plans and procedures it develops.

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Emergency Management Executive Team led efforts to respond to last week’s snowstorm. OEM also continually performs training programs and outreach sessions with its partners, such as BCPD, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, and Eagle EMS to assist in the development of what the office identifies as “Business Continuity Plans”—plans that guide University departments through emergencies and provide insight into how to restore operations immediately. While the main office consists of two full time employees and several workstudy students, the EMET includes 20 senior officials and is supplemented by approximately 20 additional individuals.

The entirety of the University’s emergency workforce, however, encompasses hundreds of individuals when accounting for OEM’s partner departments, including BC Dining Services and Residential Life. When it comes to particularly heavy snow, OEM occasionally works with outside contractors to bring in additional equipment, but it rarely does so given the reach and efficiency of Facilities Management. “We have a great crew between grounds and housekeeping who do yeoman’s work at keeping our campus cleared of snow,” Tommaney said. “Facilities Management

POLICE BLOTTER

2/3/14-2/7/14

Monday, February 3

Wednesday, February 5

7:03 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a traffic accident with no injuries in the Lower lots.

5:37 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student in 90 St. Thomas More Hall. The student was later transported by cruiser to a medical facility.

2:17 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a private contractor in Alumni Stadium. The individual was later transported to a medical facility by cruiser.

6:41 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm action in Stuart Hall.

6:32 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a past assault and battery in the Flynn Recreation Complex.

9:44 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a traffic accident in the Mods.

11:40 p.m. - A report was filed regarding assistance provided to another police agency off campus.

3:30 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student in Cushing Hall. The student was later transported to a medical facility.

College Corner NEWS FROM UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY BY JULIE ORENSTEIN Assoc. News Editor Efforts made by the city of Gainesville, Fla. to improve early voting efficiency for University of Florida students were blocked last week by top state voting officials, according to Thinkprogress.org. The city was seeking approval to use the university’s Reitz Union as an early voting site in order to provide UF students with a convenient place to vote, beginning with March’s special municipal elections. Six-hour voting lines that plagued the city on Election Day in November incited the attempt to find an alternate polling location. Florida’s Division of Elections, however, denied the city’s request, arguing that the Student Union did not qualify as a voting location because it did not fall within any of the specific categories that define proper sites, including “government-owned community center” and “convention center.” In a letter to Florida’s Secretary of State Ken Detzner, Democratic State

does a great job of managing these events and are supported by Dining Services, Police, Parking and Transportation, Emergency Management, and several other offices if needed.” When preparing for an impending storm or severe weather, OEM begins tracking weather as soon as it’s alerted to the forecasted storm, typically from four to seven days in advance. “We maintain a very close working relationship with the National Weather Service and participate in regular conference calls and updates during this lead up time to a storm,” Tommaney said. “Our office sends out regular notices and updates to the EMET, Senior Administrators, and several other offices on campus to keep them updated on the forecast and actions they should be taking to prepare for the storm. If a large storm is forecast, we also coordinate with our Boston area peers and emergency management officials at the local and state levels.” The decision regarding whether BC will close as a result of inclement weather—be it a full closure, early release, or delayed start—rests with Vice President for Human Resources Leo Sullivan. After coordinating with the President’s Office, executive vice president, and provost, Sullivan consults OEM, Facilities Management, and the Office of News and Public Affairs to analyze decisions made by other surrounding institutions. “If after consulting the decision is made to take an action, my office works with News and Public Affairs to get an alert out to the campus community about the decision and where to get more information,” Tommaney said. 

Senator Jeff Clemens wrote, “The Reitz Union is government-owned, as the University of Florida is a public institution founded and funded by the state of Florida. The Reitz Union is also a community center, obviously. There is no ambiguity in the statute, nor is there any in the public nature or purpose of the Reitz Union.” Without a polling location at the Reitz Union, UF students will have to travel over five miles off campus to vote, which raises questions from critics of the state’s ruling about possible intentional suppression of college-age voters. “I just can’t understand why they feel the need to be so restrictive about where people are allowed to vote … this is strategic,” Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards told the Tampa Bay Times. “They’re worried about young people voting.” Just last year, Florida expanded the list of potential early voting sites to include fairgrounds, courthouses, and stadiums, among other locations, to address concerns over long voting lines. 

6:39 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student in Ignacio Hall. The student was later transported to a medical facility.

The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467 Editor-in-Chief (617) 552-2223 Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Metro 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 Connor Farley, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or email news@bcheights. com. For future events, email a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk. Sports Scores Want to report the results of a game? Call Connor Mellas, Sports Editor, at (617) 5520189, or email 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 John Wiley, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or email arts@bcheights.com. For future events, email 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 Eleanor Hildebrandt, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or email eic@bcheights.com. CUSTOMER SERVICE Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact Marc Francis, 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.

Friday, February 7 1:43 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student in Kostka Hall. The student was later transported by cruiser to a medical facility. 2:35 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student on Campanella Way. The student was later transported by cruiser to a medical facility.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

CORRECTIONS This correction is in reference to the issue dated Feb. 6, 2014, Vol. XCV, No. 6. In the article titled, “Addazio signs 30 to first recruiting class,” it was missated that recruit Ty Schwab weighs 280 pounds. Schwab weighs 208 pounds.

VOICES FROM THE DUSTBOWL “What Olympic event would Baldwin be the worst at?”

“Speed skating—there would be feathers everywhere.” —Claire Stauffer, A&S ’16

“Curling.” —Meg Gramza, CSOM ’17

“Bobsledding.” —Adam Clegg, A&S ’15

“Hockey—he is so aggressive that there would be too many ﬁghts.” —Sam Cressman, CSOM ’16

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, Februrary 10, 2014

Education program awarded $2.6 million

Show the real you

BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor

ADRIANA MARIELLA In four days, it will be Valentine’s Day. This means that for the next four days, Facebook will be an endless stream of BuzzFeed lists giving me the “Reasons Why your Best Friend is Actually your Valentine” or “31 Grilled Cheeses that are Better than a Boyfriend,” and statuses from fellow singletons declaring why their Valentine is either themselves, alcohol, or their platonic friend and why that’s astronomically better than the significant other he or she doesn’t have. I’m confident that at least one reference to boy-hating wine consumption will be posted on my wall. I’m also confident that I will secretly read a Thought Catalog post detailing how this Valentine’s Day can be a celebration of how much I love my life as it is. Every year, I decide how I’m going to play it: pretend to hate the holiday and use the excuse that I’ve always thought it was stupid, or celebrate it at a dinner with my girlfriends at which we will bond over hating and loving being single and decide that our dinner was better than any night we would have had with boyfriends. In either situation, I’m being dishonest about how I really feel. If you’re not “wifed up” but want to be, it seems that that dishonesty is standard operating procedure: adopt this cynicism about relationships until you’re in one. At Boston College, it seems that there are two extremes: emotional relationships and detached hookups. While there does exist an in-between of pseudo-relationships and exclusive hook-ups, those inevitably end in one extreme or the other, emotionally invested or emotionally disconnected. If you’re one of the people lucky enough to belong to the former camp, here’s to hoping that you never again have to re-enter the BC dating game of forced emotional distance and trial and error. If you’re in the latter category, read on. We always reference “the hookup culture,” but we never really talk about it. Although we might logically conceive why it’s problematic, it seems to be more problematic in theory than in practice, especially if you’re enjoying your time being single. The problem, for me, is not that we’re forgoing relationships or that too many people are hooking up with each other. Instead, it’s that when we do, the amount of expected emotional connection is devastatingly low, and not necessarily because we always want it to be. Having inhabited that attitude of false cynicism for four years, it seems that the problem is not always a lack of emotions, but a lack of ability to admit that we have them or that we’d like to have more relationships that include them. It seems so elementary, but I knew of more relationships in high school than I do now. Somehow “it’s college” has come to mean “you’re not supposed to have emotions.” While there’s value in avoiding getting tied down too early, there’s also value in being emotionally open. I’m not saying we all need to want long-term relationships, nor am I saying that you have to emotionally invest in a person you just met Saturday night. What I am saying is that we shouldn’t close ourselves off to the possibility of emotional relationships for the sole reason that “it’s college.” This Valentine’s Day, I’m not afraid of admitting that I want something I don’t have and I’m brave enough to stop hiding behind lists that make it seem otherwise. I’ll also be brave enough to be happy as I am. It’s okay to be vulnerable and it’s okay to demand more from others emotionally. The most rewarding moments here are not the ones spent protecting ourselves from others, but the ones spent letting others see who we really are. So I’m going to drop the cynical act and urge my romance-hating friends to do the same. This Valentine’s Day, I’m going to be cynical about being cynical about relationships.

Adriana Mariella is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at news@bcheights.com.

ANDREW SKARAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

A student partitcipates in a class at BC Splash, which has been active at the University for four years.

BC Splash offers students both academic and creative classes BY CAROLYN FREEMAN Heights Staff

Often, the most interesting choice high school students get to make is choosing between Advanced Placement (AP) Biology or AP Chemistry, but hundreds of high school students in the Boston area have a choice twice a year to take classes like Psychology in Pop Culture and PhiLOSTophy. BC Splash is the Boston College chapter of a nationwide group that offers student-taught classes to high school students for one day each semester. The organization, which originated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been active at BC for four years and attracts between 300 and 1,000 high school students. There are between 80 and 120 teachers who teach one or more one- to two-hour classes. Splash is part of Education (ESS) for Students by Students, which also includes BC Talks, BC Soars, and BC Ignites. “We get high school students who are really motivated,” said co-director Annie Meyer, A&S ’14. “It gets them away from the monotony of their regular classes. So it gets them inspired.” Splash started at MIT several years ago. The main differences between the two Boston-area programs are the price—MIT’s Splash cost 40 dollars in 2013— and the types of classes offered. “MIT has a lot more academic classes, whereas ours have a creative twist on them,” said co-director Abby Horgan, A&S ’15. “You probably wouldn’t find

making friendship bracelets and the history behind it at an MIT Splash.” Although the program at BC is still fairly new, it has already grown to be the third largest Splash program in the nation. Meyer credits this success to the dedication of the original editorial board and to BC’s reputation. “We had amazing, dedicated people who started the program here, and they spent a huge amount of time reaching out to every single school possible,” she said. “It’s pretty nice to send your high school kids to a program that’s for everybody, at such a prestigious school because that’s not what schools usually offer.” Members of the BC Splash team are selected every semester. There are multiple ways for BC students to get involved—they can teach a class, lead a small group for tours and lunch, or be a general volunteer. “It’s just a very cool and different idea that anyone can get involved in,” Horgan said. In addition, students can apply to be on the 16-person executive board, which has three branches. One branch deals with community outreach, one with BC students, and one with day-of logistics. Meyer and Horgan direct all of these branches through weekly meetings, emails and phone calls. They are also the point-people on the day of the event. The organization hopes to continue to grow in the future. Meyer stated that one important goal is to keep the number of

students involved steady, because in the past there has been a lot of fluctuation in attendance. In addition, she hopes to strike a better balance between academia and creativity within a single class. A problem they have noticed in the past is that students will gravitate toward more creative classes, like cupcake decorating, and more academic classes will not fill up. “Our goal is to get every class to have a really nice balance of creative and academic,” she said. “We want that balance because that’s what’s most motivating for students.” Through classes that combine creativity and academics, BC Splash inspires both high school students and the college students that teach the classes. Meyer said the program fosters confidence and gives teachers a chance to hone their speaking skills in front of a forgiving audience. High school students will always be appreciative of their college-age teacher, Horgan said. “I think Splash is also really important beyond being a role model,” Horgan said. “Your life could be collapsing around you, you could have failed a test and gotten in a fight with your roommate and everything seems like it’s falling apart. But, there are still people out there in the world who are very appreciative of the gifts and talents you have to share. It’s a nice confidence-booster for BC kids and a nice reminder that even if things aren’t going so great, there are still people out there who can appreciate what you have to offer.” 

City Connects, a program that supports K-8 students throughout Boston, New York, and Ohio and was founded by Lynch School of Education Kearns Professor of Urban Education Mary Walsh, has recently been awarded grants from six different foundations totaling $2.6 million. Having earned her bachelor’s from Catholic University of America and specializing in out-of-school factors that impact learning among impoverished children, Walsh continues to head City Connects by concentrating on individual student needs. Active in 55 locations spanning three states and encompassing both public and private schools, City Connects addresses issues that children face outside of the classroom and the impact that those factors—particularly those concerning poverty—have on students’ academic abilities. The organization’s mission is to address children’s strengths and needs across four primary platforms: academic, health, family, and social/ emotional. Launched by Walsh in 2001, the program uses an evidence-based model of identifying the strengths and needs of its network of students. Students are then connected with a personalized set of enrichment services to better prepare them for learning. “The statistical evidence of City Connects’ positive benefit reducing the high-school drop-out rate provides an example of a benefit that has substantial social and economic return to students and to society,” Walsh said in statement to the Office of News and Public Affairs. The Boston College-based leadership and research team, City Connects uses full-time School Site Coordinators at each of its member schools to work directly with teachers, counselors, families, and administrators to develop effective classroom interven-

tions and emotionally constructive home-life activities. According to data published on the organization’s website, 100 percent of City Connect principals and assistant principals reported being satisfied with the program and would recommend it to other principals. With a three-year, $1.4 million grant from the Barr Foundation, a private organization that funds Boston-area leaders and networked organizations, City Connects will be able to extend its services to more than 7,800 students in the 18 Boston public schools. The five other grants that City Connects received include: A two-year, $150,000 grant from the GHR Foundation; a 3-year, $530,000 grant from the Better Way Foundation; a $250,000 grant from the New Balance Foundation; $240,000 from the Mathile Family Foundation; and undisclosed funding from the Charles Hayden Foundation. The varied grants will allow City Connects to grow within the Boston area, analyze its financial costs and benefits, evaluate the program’s longterm impact, and extend its support services to more young children. “The New Balance funding continues their support of our work in Allston-Brighton schools with a special emphasis on student health and wellness,” Walsh said in a statement to the Office of News and Public Affairs. “The awards from the Better Way and Mathile Family foundations will allow us to offer a cradle to college continuum for the City Connects system of student support, starting with our youngest learners and then supporting them through high school graduation and on to college.” City Connects is a project of the Center for Optimized Student Support within the Lynch school. The Center focuses on long-term growth for students by closing the achievement gap, reducing dropout rates, and promoting innovative teaching practices. 

BCPD promotes ﬁve ofﬁcers to leadership positions BY JULIE ORENSTEIN Assoc. News Editor

Members of BCPD were recently promoted to higher leadership positions within their respective bureaus of the department, with the promotions taking effect Jan. 1. The five officers, some of whom have served on BCPD for over a decade, were recently honored at a ceremony recognizing their promotions. Boston College Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety John King acknowledged the five members of his police force and their accomplishments. “These promotions will further serve to improve the delivery of services to our community and will strengthen our community policing initiatives,” King said in a statement. “Those being promoted today are being recognized for their contributions to the department’s successes and in these new roles will have a more direct influence on our department’s strategic objectives.” The five promoted officers are Detective Sgt. David Flaherty, Capt. James Hussey, Capt. Peter Keating, Lt. Jeffrey Postell, and Lt. Laurene Spiess. Hussey, a retired Boston Police Department captain who joined BCPD in 2012, was promoted to captain in the Bureau of Patrol Operations. Before his promotion, Hussey served as the

day shifts operations lieutenant for BCPD, working with various components of the department, including day shift sergeants, police and security officers, gate attendants, and medical van operators. In his new role, his involvement with those components will expand over all three shifts. “In my new assignment we will continue to expand on our mission of working in partnership with our community to maintain the safety and security of all our members,” Hussey said in an email. Hussey also noted that the department, beyond just his bureau alone, is focused on establishing connections with the BC community. “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to build rapport with our community,” Hussey said. “Officers are now brainstorming on springtime activities where we can increase our interaction with our community. When we are out of our vehicles and talking with our students, faculty, and staff, that is when I know we are doing our jobs right.” Spiess was promoted to lieutenant within the Administrative and Technical Services Bureau, and she will continue to serve as the department’s accreditation manager, training coordinator, and recruitment officer. Before becoming an officer for BCPD in 1998, Spiess worked as a part-

time escort van driver and fulltime security officer and police dispatcher at BC. In her time at the University, she has become involved with a number of different areas outside the scope of her position’s

“These promotions will further serve to improve the delivery of services to our community and will strengthen our community policing initiatives” - John King BCPD Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety normal duties. These areas include aiding in sexual assault investigations, providing Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) and first responder/CPR instruction, and serving as a liaison with the Women’s Resource Center. She has also overseen the process of BCPD gaining accreditation from the Massachusetts Police

Accreditation Committee. “My new role will enhance my previous responsibilities by bringing together five major components within the Administrative and Technical Service bureau that are directly aligned with the department’s vision to exemplify the best practices and professional standards in our field,” Spiess said in an email. “Each bureau within the department works closely together as a team to serve our community with professional police and public safety services. In my new role, I plan to continue to work with our team for continued department growth and exploration and to expand our staff development and training program as well as our recruitment efforts.” King said that Spiess has specific focuses for BCPD recruitment in the near future. “We have some vacancies, and we’re going to be looking to see if we can improve the AHANA and female representation in the department,” King said. “That’s one of her goals.” Within the Investigative Services Bureau, Flaherty was promoted to the rank of detective sergeant. Flaherty joined BCPD in 1989, became a full-time patrol officer in 1991, and began working as a detective in 2009. As the team leader for the detective unit, Flaherty will oversee and manage detective work in a variety of services, including state and federal crime reporting,

fingerprinting for background checks, evidence control, and court prosecutions. “Managing the ever-increasing volume of work, keeping-up with the changes in technology and the resulting investigative challenges is a non-stop job that is now my responsibility,” Flaherty said in an email. Flaherty said his department is constantly seeking to assess and refine its investigative and support roles. “Moving forward, I’ll be looking to expand our abilities for in-house evidence processing and crime analysis capabilities in support of our crime prevention program,” Flaherty said. “With the well-being of the community in mind and consistent with our vision, I’ll also be looking closely at our processes to see if any room for improvements exist which could lead to preventing more offenses before they occur.” Postell, who was recently recognized for his innovations in community policing for BCPD, was promoted to lieutenant for the Operations and Community Policing Services Bureau. “He will now have more of an ability to have a direct influence on community policing with the patrol staff because now he’s one of the lieutenants in that area,” King said. The final promotion was for Keating, who is now captain in the Administrative and Technical Services Bureau. 

The Heights

Monday, February 10, 2014

Congressional letter finds BC unclear on FAFSA FAFSA, from A1 that governs how federal dollars are allocated to college students. The Act has since been reauthored nine times. When Congress passed amendments to the Act for the seventh time in 1992, it created a single, free form to be completed by students seeking financial aid. “These statutes prohibit higher education institutions from using any forms other than the FAFSA to determine eligibility for federal financial aid,” reads a section of Cummings’ letter on the background of the 1992 reforms to the Higher Education Act. Before revisions were made to the Act’s legislative language in 1992, six different forms could be used to assess student eligibility for federal financial aid, five of which included a fee. In his letter, Cummings references the House Committee on Education as having described the previous legislation as “bewildering complexity.” While renovated policies incorporated in the 1992 legislation established the FAFSA as the sole determinant form of federal student aid, institutions are still able to use other forms, namely the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, to determine eligibility for non-federal aid. Cummings’ letter states that more than 200 institutions currently use the supplemental, fee-inclusive form CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, which was developed by the College Board. “This form asks much more detailed and complicated financial questions than the FAFSA,” the letter reads. To submit the PROFILE, students are

required to pay $25 to the first institution and $16 for each additional institution. While services are available to students for fees to be waived in certain circumstances, Cummings referenced the waiver process as not being clear for applicants. The letter also cited a recent study, which found that 79 percent of college applicants apply to at least three institutions, and 29 percent apply to at least seven, suggesting that nearly a third of the students surveyed could end up paying more than $100 to apply for financial aid from universities requiring the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE. Among the list of institutions identified by Cummings and the Committee are Boston-area schools Harvard College, Boston University, and Northeastern University, along with Jesuit universities Fordham, Georgetown, and Loyola Maryland. Schools like Harvard have been employing language that specifies students must submit numerous forms, including the PROFILE, to be considered for any financial aid at all. Although Cummings’ report concedes that other university materials, including thirdparty websites or other university-published materials on financial aid could make these policies more plain, students may only consult the same materials the Committee did during its investigation—potentially discouraging prospective applicants. University Spokesman Jack Dunn was unavailable for immediate comment, and members of the Dean of Enrollment Management Office could not be reached for a statement before print. n

Three teams officially launch campaigns for UGBC race UGBC Elections, from A1 disappointed in UGBC for awhile.” Fiore-Chettiar and Marchese introduced an ambitious platform that focuses on three main areas: advocacy, “communiversity,” and tangibility. Along those lines, they introduced a number of ideas on which they hope to deliver—such as flexibility with the academic core, addressing mental health problems, and updating the UGBC website. “The bottom line is that UGBC can be better,” Fiore-Chettiar said. Fagut and Fishman next introduced Moazampour and Watt, the youngest team in the race. If elected, Moazampour would be the first sophomore president since Setti Warren, now the mayor of Newton and A&S ’93, was elected in 1991. “We’re not in this race because it’s easy, we are in this race because it’s tough, it’s a challenge,” Moazampour said. Moazampour said that he and his running mate would introduce a series of “dramatic reforms,” including installing water filters in every dorm and pushing for fruit and nut trees to be planted around campus. They also would advocate for instituting double major advising. Currently, students who double major are only assigned a faculty advisor from the department of their first major. “We feel that there is a disconnect between UGBC and the students as a whole,” Watt said. “We seek to bridge that gap. Our impact will extend far beyond simply a Facebook page or emails. Instead, it will feature a personal touch.” If elected, Moazampour and Watt say they would host weekly updates around campus wherein students could voice their concerns and learn about UGBC initiatives. Levine and Vergara were introduced last. Their platform focuses mostly on areas of advocacy. They pledged to work with organizations such as To Write Love on Her Arms, the BC chapter of a national organization that aims to give hope to those struggling with addiction, depression, and self-injury. They also said they would plan a mentalhealth awareness week modeled after the Women’s Resource Center’s (WRC) Love

Your Body Week. “We’re going to work tirelessly with the administration to overcome any hurdles to fostering an inclusive community worthy of the Jesuit name,” Levine said. “We’re going to expand the BC Ignites series to include discussion of diversity issues.” Levine also said his administration would work with the WRC to implement a solution to body image issues among women, and that they would encourage greater female involvement in the student government. Another component of their platform aims to address the everyday needs of students, such as instituting a 24-hour print station on campus. All three teams acknowledged the growing divide between UGBC and the student body—and, in some way, each team committed to greater transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to student concerns. At the conclusion of the event, the EC conducted an informal straw poll to gauge the attendees’ support. Levine and Vergara received 100 votes, Fiore-Chettiar and Marchese came in second with 75 votes, and the Moazampour and Watt ticket received no votes. In an informal setting like the kick-off event, the straw poll results are not necessarily an indication of the final election results. It does show, however, that the Levine-Vergara and Fiore-Chettiar-Marchese tickets were able to turn out strong support at the first official campaign event. Because only three teams are running, the EC will not hold a primary election, as it has in past years. Online voting will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and close on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. According to the EC election code, which was adopted in November to reflect changes in the length of the campaign and the disciplinary infraction system, BC organizations cannot endorse candidates. Individuals associated with an organization, however, are not barred from endorsing candidates, so long as he or she does so independent of the organization. Campaigning on campus will be permitted up until voting closes next Wednesday night. Residence Hall campaigning will be restricted to times set by the EC. n

Nathan Mcguire / heights staff

Candidates Lucas Levine and Vance Vergara led the straw poll for the upcoming election.

emily fahey / heights editor

Chairman and CEO of EMC Corporation Joseph Tucci delivered the opening remarks for the Chief Executives’ Club luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 6.

Boston CEOs gather for BC luncheon CEO Club, from A1 in business relations he carries with him to this day. After eventually growing the local deli to the point of unprecedented success, McDermott sought out a sales position at Xerox in 1983 at the age of 21. By the time he was 37, McDermott was appointed the youngest division president and corporate officer of Xerox in the company’s history. He went on to obtain his MBA from Northwestern University ’s Kellogg School of Management and completed the Executive Director Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, after which McDermott transitioned from Xerox, to Siebel Systems, to SAP—a multinational application software company that helps enterprises manage business operations and customer relations. SAP generates $22.1 billion in annual revenue and currently employs approximately 67,000 employees who serve more than 251,000 customers with reach in over 188 countries. McDermott was named to the SAP Executive Board in 2008, becoming responsible for managing global field operations, and later appointed SAP’s

co-CEO alongside Jim Hagemann Snabe in 2010. The topic of McDermott’s talk on Thursday, much in the vein of his own beginnings in corporate leadership, focused on leveraging the millennial generation in order to renovate and modernize outdated aspects of business. “These millennials, I truly believe, are the next great generation,” he said. “I’d like to comment on that a little bit, and also the idea of disruptive innovation—embracing disruptive innovation. Let’s talk about the millennial generation first … this is an unbelievable time for this next great generation to step up.” McDermott described the future of business development as being crucially dependent on ushering in the next generation of young, eager individuals in order to reduce the complexity business models have taken on in recent years. “I think complexity is the most detracting CEO issue of our time, and I think it’s so important that we make things so simple in these enterprises and we collapse complexity,” he said. “In my business … we know the importance of taking these enterprises and simplifying everything.”

McDermott also acknowledged, though, that SAP’s focus on utilizing youthful talent wasn’t always the company’s top priority, and instead came about as a result of rapidly budding technology and the global need for what McDermott calls a “winning strategy”—for SAP, he said, that entails providing its customers simple and efficient solutions. “In 2010, we kind of had to change everything because we were all about [corporate]-level relationships—making it to the corner office of the top floor,” he said. “But the world had changed with the consumerization of IT, the ubiquity of mobile devices—we really kind of had to rethink things and not rest on our laurels as a software company, and recognize, really, where the world was going.” Among the list of attendees were managing directors from wealth management firms including Barclay’s and Goldman Sachs; chairmen of banking companies such as Century Bank and Santander; and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09. The BC CEO Club will reconvene for its next meeting when it features NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as its keynote speaker later this semester. n

drew hoo / heights staff

Members of SASA gathered in song, dance, and fashion to promote awareness and celebrate their roots in South Asian culture.

SASA performs annual culture show SASA, from A1 all-female ensemble. The evening was punctuated with a message from GlobeMed, a student organization that promotes sustainability and community projects in the developing world. Sahil Angelo and Monica Azmy, both A&S ’14, informed the audience of their ongoing project to improve sanitation and increase Hepatitis B vaccinations in the Siruvani region of India. The lights then came down on the most rocking performance of the evening when three SASA members reanimated a Disney classic with Hindi lyrics. Varsha Ramesh, A&S ’16, and Matt Thomas, A&S ’14, had the crowd swooning during their duet of “A Whole New World” from the movie Aladdin. “It was a good twist on a classic favorite,” said Kelly McGrath, A&S ’15. She felt similarly about the on-campus a cappella group Shaan’s rendition of

Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors,” which wove Hindi and English lyrics throughout the piece. A brief intermission did little to lessen the high energy in Robsham as a fashion show displaying colorful and ornate clothing from around South Asia continued to performance. Theatrics from the student models kept the light-hearted feel of the night alive and set the stage for a soulful tribute to Bollywood films. “There’s a lot more to Bollywood than you might think,” Mather said as he introduced the audience to a re-enactment from the classic Bollywood film Guru. Kiran Mani, A&S ’15, dazzled in her sparkling, jewel-encrusted dress. Next was a celebration of the Punjab, India. Students in radiant orange outfits danced with props that symbolized the tools used by farmers of the region. The music, however, was closer to home— the Indian songs were infused with club beats and dubstep drops.

The battle of the classes resumed as the sophomore members of SASA showed off their acrobatic skills shortly before the junior class displayed a vying dance performance of its own. After a brief moment of calm, a spotlight illuminated Priyasha Chaturvedi, SASA co-president and A&S ’14, as she took her seat behind the piano. “[Chaturvedi] really displays the talent SASA has to offer,” Quinn said. Having participated in eight of the night’s acts, Chaturvedi led one the show’s last performances with a heartfelt ballad from a recent Bollywood film. The show came to a conclusion when the largest dance troupe of the night took the stage—the SASA Class of 2014 went out in style, showcasing a vibrant display of red, blue, silver, and gold. “I’m very happy with how it went,” said Tommy Steichen, a member of the dance group and CSOM ’14. “It was a great experience.” n

CLASSIFIEDS Thursday, February 6, 2014

The Heights The Heights

Monday, February 10, 2014

Community Help wanted $$ SPERM DONORS WANTED $$ Earn up to $1,200/month and give the gift of family through California Cryobank’s donor program. Convenient Cambridge location. Apply online: SPERMBANK.com.

Directions: The Sudoku is played over a 9x9 grid. In each row there are 9 slots, some of which are empty and need to be filled. Each row, column and 3x3 box should contain the numbers 1 to 9. You must follow these rules: · Number can appear only once in each row · Number can appear only once in each column · Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box · The number should appear only once on row, column or area.

That 9 dollar lunch is worth more than you think. Like 19,000 dollars more. Pack your own lunch instead of going out. $6 saved a day x 5 days a week x 10 years x 6% interest = $19,592. That could be money in your pocket. Small changes today. Big bucks tomorrow. Go to feedthepig.org for free savings tips.

A5 A5

The Heights

Ambiguous financial aid info reflects poorly on BC

Monday, February 10, 2014

QUOTE OF THE DAY An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered. -G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), English writer, journalist, and Christian apologist

Previous language of BC financial aid website failed to provide clear, accurate instructions to applicants B oston College up date d the guidelines on its financial aid application information webpage on Thursday, Feb. 6, after the University was named in a Feb. 3 letter from U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as one of several institutes of higher education potentially violating The Higher Education Act. Cummings’ letter claimed that more than 100 colleges and universities reviewed in a Congressional study had either required applicants to submit forms other than the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to be considered for financial aid or failed to make it explicitly clear that only the FAFSA was necessary for students to be considered for federal student aid. BC was one of the 111 schools named in the letter. Three days later, the following paragraph—which was not present on a previous version of the page, according to a web archive—was added: “To apply for federal and/or state aid, you need to complete just the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Federal aid includes Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Direct Loans, both subsidized and unsubsidized, Perkins loans, Nursing loans, and Work-Study. State aid varies by state. Once the FAFSA is completed, you may be selected by the Federal Processor for a process called verification, which means you will have to provide your actual tax data on the FAFSA through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.” Below more information regarding the FAFSA, another paragraph that was not there previously had been added. It reads: “Please note that by completing only the FAFSA, Boston College is not able to determine your eligibility for institutional need-based grants. In order to be considered for all institutional need-based aid as well as all federal and state aid, you must complete the FAFSA and the forms listed below, if applicable to your situation.” The previous absence of these two paragraphs demonstrates the sort of failure that instigated Cummings’ letter. To be considered for federal grants, loans, and work-

study programs, all of which fall under federal aid, students only need to submit the FAFSA, which can be done for free electronically. Universities are forbidden from requiring any documentation in addition to the FAFSA for prospective students to be evaluated for federal aid, according to The Higher Education Opportunity Act, which was passed in 2008 as an amendment to The Higher Education Act of 1965. The other forms listed on BC’s page for prospective students all apply strictly to other forms of aid, and some of them, including the College Board’s PROFILE form, require a fee. Cummings was right to point out the failures of these institutions to explicitly differentiate the requirements for these forms. It is unfair for universities to mislead prospective students into believing that anything beyond the FAFSA is required for them to be considered for federal financial aid opportunities, regardless of whether that misdirection is a result of ignorance, poor wording, or blatant wrongdoing. BC’s failure was not as drastic as that of some other intuitions. American University, George Washington University, and Georgetown University all stated explicitly that prospective students had to fill out forms beyond the FAFSA to be considered for federal aid. That was not the case for BC—instead, the University previously did not include the necessary language to clarify which forms were required for federal aid and which forms were required for University aid. The webpage for prospective students is not the only place from which information for aid applications can be obtained, but it is a popular one. Although it is possible that the financial aid office clarifies this distinction through conversations with prospective families and other avenues, a real risk was still created that students might not apply for federal aid at all because of confusion about the form requirements, particularly those students who are unsure about whether they would be eligible for aid. The University was right to fix this discrepancy as quickly as possible upon the release of Cummings’ letter, but it was a mistake that should not have been made in the first place.

Andrew Craig / Heights Illustration

Letter to the Editor The following letter is in response to “Dean of Students Paul Chebator to step down after 34 years at BC,” an article by Andrew Skaras, originally published on 2/3/14:

BC should look for Chebator’s patience in successor

I read that Dean of Students Paul Chebator will be retiring at the end of the academic year. I hope that the University will give him a proper send off. I had a number of interactions with Dean Chebator during my years as an undergraduate, and despite our initial misunderstandings of one another, I found him to be thoughtful, compassionate, and understanding. But perhaps most importantly, his willingness

to be patient, his willingness to change course when the situation called for it, and his willingness to understand that sometimes there is more to a situation than what initially meets the eye, those are traits that I hope Boston College looks for in his successor.

The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 400 words and column submissions that do not exceed 700 words for its op/ed pages. The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted

to the newspaper. Submissions must be signed and should include the author’s connection to Boston College, address, and phone number. Letters and columns can be submitted online at www.bcheights.com, by email to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

Joseph Burgess BC ’09

BC effectively ensured safety during storm Planning of EMET prepared campus for efficient snow removal, provision of necessities When severe weather threatens to affect the Boston area, the Boston College administration faces many decisions about what actions to take in response. The University must consider a wide array of factors and consult with senior officials from no fewer than 10 offices in order to respond quickly and effectively. During last Wednesday’s snowstorm, the Emergency Management Executive Team (EMET), which is coordinated by the Office of Emergency Management, reacted admirably to keep the campus safe and the essentials functioning for all community members. The EMET’s detailed snow removal plans were implemented successfully, and it appears that the team’s regular emergency drills and exercises that test emergency procedures have been effective. Beyond the immediate members of the EMET, the hundreds of additional personnel working in departments such as BC Dining Services, University Health Services, and the Office of Residential Life, among others, worked efficiently to maintain as much nor-

malcy as possible on campus. Before last year’s Hurricane Sandy and Winter Storm Nemo, and the two snowstorms thus far this semester, BC had earned the reputation for not closing frequently due to weather. This precedent makes it even more impressive that the EMET has been able to respond so capably during emergency weather situations, seeing as it is not called into action very often. Further, the University—specifically, Vice President for Human Resources Leo Sullivan—rightly consulted local weather authorities and took note of decisions made by other Boston-area institutions to announce the Wednesday closure on Tuesday night. Throughout Wednesday, communications containing information about the status of various University services such as the Plex, shuttles buses, and libraries were relayed promptly and clearly. The combined efforts of the entire EMET and University community made for a safe snow day, and these efforts will hopefully be maintained in the event of another weather emergency.

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Kayla Famolare, Copy Editor Connor Farley, News Editor Connor Mellas, Sports Editor Kendra Kumor, Features Editor John Wiley, Arts & Review Editor Ryan Towey, Metro Editor Andrew Skaras, Opinions Editor Mary Rose Fissinger, Special Projects Editor Emily Fahey, Photo Editor Maggie Powers, Layout Editor

Jordan Pentaleri, Graphics Editor Ariana Igneri, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Nicole Suozzo, Blog Editor Michelle Tomassi, Asst. Arts & Review Editor Austin Tedesco, Online Manager Bennet Johnson, Asst. Metro Editor Corinne Duffy, Assoc. Copy Editor Emily Sadeghian, Asst. Photo Editor Evan D. Gatti, Asst. Copy Editor JT Mindlin, Asst. Layout Editor Julie Orenstein, Assoc. News Editor Breck Wills, Asst. Graphics Editor Nathan McGuire, Asst. News Editor Arielle Cedeno, Editorial Assistant Marly Morgus, Assoc. Sports Editor Sarah Moore, Executive Assistant Alex Fairchild, Asst. Sports Editor Samantha Costanzo, Asst. Features Editor

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The Heights

Monday, February 10, 2014

‘Please check one’

Tiffany Ashtoncourt The Olympics - Regardless of how well (or poorly, as the case may be) Russia is handling the gargantuan undertaking that is hosting the Olympics, it is still a Thumbs Up-worthy event. There’s internationalism, sporting, some patriotism, and a dash of intrigue all rolled up in two weeks of fun and games. It gives people the opportunity to gain exposure to sports that they might otherwise not see (bobsleigh, for example) or even know about (What exactly is Nordic combined? We aren’t really sure). There’s the beauty of figure skating, the speed of the luge, the intensity of ice hockey, and the flourish of the half-pipe. Plus, there are some Eagles, both current and alumni, representing us over in Sochi. The Mediterranean Platter - When it comes to the premade platters offered by BC Dining Services to students looking for a quick bite on the go, there are only two options. Hungry students must choose between the cheese platter and the Mediterranean platter. Although some sort of a case can be made for both platters, we firmly believe that the Mediterranean platter is by far the superior option. Let’s just take a look at what it has to offer—olives, hummus, dolmathes, tabouli, pita bread, and kalamata olives. All of these work together to make a delicious snack. In the cheese platter, there are some crackers, a variety of cheeses, and a poor showing of grapes. All in all uninspiring.

America has come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement 50 years ago. During that time, black Americans were believed not to have the same capacity of feeling and level of intelligence as white Americans, they were not allowed to attend the same places of learning or eat at the same table, and could even get beaten for simply looking a white person in the eye. The prejudice and hatred which predated the inception of this nation was practically eradicated in a matter of years thanks to the efforts of the real-life angels involved in the movement, and I am proud to be part of a generation that is not only fair in legislation, but also socially accepts and celebrates interracial and multicultural families to the point that we have a black commander-in-chief of mixed race heritage. That being said, we are still trying to get past the negative repercussions centuries of oppression have had in the form of residual ignorance and a lack of diversity in highly ranked private universities and certain sectors of the job market. For this reason, the diversity form, the race/ethnicity survey included in most every standardized test, census survey, college and job application, has taken a position of prominence in the effort against a lack of diversity. In my opinion, though, diversity forms in the 21st century are ineffective, losing relevancy, and could possibly be undermining the advances we have made with regard to race in America. First, race/ethnicity surveys are often noncompulsory, anonymous, and simply used for statistical purposes such as to assess the diversity within an organization. In the application process, it is also at times used to identify minority students and has been purportedly used as a “tie-breaker” in some instances in order to boost campus diversity. However, regardless of any perceived “advantage” diversity forms give minorities, one of the main issues with

Waking Up Too Early - Do you ever do this? Long before your alarm goes off, your brain kicks into gear and, all of a sudden, you’re awake and there is nothing you can do about it? This is really frustrating and we hate it. In this day and age of over-commitment, overextension, and overbooking of one’s time, those days when you have that rare opportunity to sleep in and recharge are invaluable. So it really gets to us when, on one of those infrequent days, we wake up at 7 a.m. and cannot fall back asleep. It is like being cursed by the universe and we personally do not believe that we deserve that. The Fifth Ring - Yeah, speaking of intrigue, the Opening Ceremonies for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics was a little embarrassing for Russia. In what looked like it was going to be a theatrical display of the Olympic Rings, there was a technical or communications error somewhere along the line, when the fifth of the rings did not open like it was clearly supposed to open. We’re sure that Putin, who looked tense for most of the ceremony anyway, is probably going to ensure that the responsible party is fired for that one. Or, more likely, have him sent to the fifth circle of hell.

Like Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down? Follow us @BCTUTD

applicants in predominantly white sectors, like finance. In those instances, people will blame diversity forms, whether it’s true or not, due to the selectivity in these forms. Then, we have the flip side, where the achievements of minorities are overshadowed by the allegations that affirmative action is solely responsible for them obtaining the job, scholarship, or college acceptance letter. In many instances, I believe that these individuals would have received the same accolades and achievements if they had checked “white” or even scribbled “Martian” on the form, but because it was disclosed, this gives people the excuse to belittle achievements and even go to the extent of crying discrimination such as in the highly-publicized Fisher v. University of Texas case, in which a white woman claimed that she was denied a spot at UT because affirmative action policies discriminated against her race. It seems that whether you believe it screensout or “screens-in” minorities, diversity forms have the adverse effect of perpetuating negative emotions and stereotypes, along with creating an image of an ethnically illiterate America. All of which undermines the true spirit and great progress made. Some may scoff at the idea that a form can cause all of these issues, let alone cause someone to feel uncomfortable, but it’s true. So, being a little mutt—a Mediterranean mix with a Hispanic and European background—I don’t check “white,” I check the ambiguous but true “other,” which is probably what the vast majority of Americans should check because it is the most accurate and honest answer, even though it is difficult to put a face on. I think that the biggest indication of how far our nation has evolved is when we no longer feel the need to have diversity forms, because we will be so truly integrated that the divisions will be arbitrary, uncomfortable, and make no sense, as they are already becoming. So, ironically, because of how many feel uncomfortable with this “please check one” question, I think we’re heading in the right direction.

Tiffany Ashtoncourt is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

It’s a small world after all

Jaclyn Susskind

Empty Net Sieve Chants - You know what really grinds our gears? People shouting the sieve chant at an empty net. What sense does this make? There is no goalie, so how can you call the goalie a sieve? Who are you talking to, student body? Who? We are all in favor of the sieve chant—don’t get us wrong. We just believe in the tactful deployment of said chant—like, you know, when there is actually a sieve in front of the goal.

these surveys is that in an age in which interracial and multicultural families are normal and steadily increasing, how many people do you think can—or, in the future, will be able to—answer “Which racial/ethnic group do you identify with? Please check one,” without labeling themselves or alienating part of their heritage? This very issue was highlighted by Lenny Kravitz in an interview for Oprah Winfrey’s Master Class, which was reiterated in a Huffington Post article last May. In the interview, Kravitz detailed his experience as a multiracial child where he recalled “feeling stumped when filling out the ‘race’ section on school forms. My great-grandmother’s Cherokee Indian. My father’s a Russian Jew. My mom’s Bahamian, [I thought], ‘What the hell do I put on this thing?’ ... The teachers came over and [said], ‘Black. That’s what you are.’ And so, so many parts of your heritage are just squashed. ‘That’s it. You’re that.’ I didn’t like that.” So, can you summarize your heritage into one category? The answer is that what makes up our heritage, like ethnicity and culture, is not tidy and cannot be reduced to just one check mark on a form. Even individuals who believe that they have a “boring” and homogeneous background probably have an exciting array of ethnicities—so, why limit race/ethnicity forms to only a handful of categories and even go to the extent of further refining the white category to “White (not including Hispanics)”? Heritage cannot become a single check mark ... but the color of your skin can, and this is perhaps the uglier conclusion we can get from oversimplified diversity forms. I understand that job recruiters and admissions officers turn to these forms to create a more diverse community and that providing tidy categories like “white,” “black,” “Asian,” and “Hispanic” may be done for the sake of simplicity, but the fact is that when a form explicitly states “please check one” and even creates a special niche for a particular race, it sounds as if administrators are trying to employ a process of elimination. We cannot, as a society, continue to move forward if we perpetuate an image of racism, exclusion and “cherry-picking,” especially when there are accounts of well-qualified minority job applicants losing out to white

Standing on the corner of a street, the rustle of New York comes alive as I observe the people who pass. I listen to the noises around me—the garbage trucks loading and lifting trash, people chatting, and the nearby food vendor’s radio playing some sort of tribal music. Suddenly, my ears become flooded with the music that emanates from a stranger’s earphones—Sinatra—and then vanishes, replaced with tribal music. Girls giggle nearby, as they bow their heads, eyes focused on the cellphone screen within their delicate hands. So much in the world to see and hear, but do we really experience life in a simple way at all anymore? Has the rise of technology forever trampled the possibility of living a simplistic life in our society? I envy the childhood my parents had and the world in which they lived. I believe that when they were children, they had much more courage than kids nowadays. When they wanted to go play with their friends or get a bite to eat in town, they didn’t grab their cellphones— they lacked the reassurance that a friend would be waiting for them at the place and time indicated. Instead, they went out and ventured and explored. No matter whom we talk to, a text or email takes seconds to send—then, letters took weeks to arrive. Anticipation built within them as they desperately waited for the next letter to arrive. When it did, a new note would be sent out, and the anticipation would settle again. Romance letters were real, friends were missed so much more, and distance seemed so much farther. The world seemed so much larger. I wish my childhood resembled the environment in which my parents lived.

Bird Flew

While I didn’t have a phone until I was around 13, my teenage years were greatly dictated by social media. We were all so connected, and we were always talking— about what, I still can’t really say. In our society, it is common for a young adult to own both a computer and cellphone, and life seems to be made so much easier. But is it? Can we confidently say we are happier now? News organizations have started to become clouded with reports on Facebook’s 10th birthday, taking place this coming week. It seems odd to me that Facebook has only been in existence for a decade. I know I cannot be the only one who desperately tries to imagine the world in which our parents or grandparents lived. Taking a step back, it is almost eerie to think how connected we are to each other—all the time. Facebook has taken over the social world, for good and for bad. But does the bad outweigh the good? I am not an addict of Facebook, and I rarely ever use the site seriously. Yet, there are those days when I log on countless times. To be honest, I can’t even really tell you what I do when I am on Facebook. Let’s just call it a typical way to procrastinate and waste a ton of time. Facebook has been a gift to the social media world in numerous ways. Staying connected to those who are distant from us is made so much easier. We can be up-to-date on people we aren’t even very close to, and acquaintances have become much easier to maintain. Since coming to Boston College, I have recognized how small the world can seem, at least in our society. When meeting new people, learning where they are from or what school they previously went to, I commonly ask whether they know a certain person. In fact, it has become a joke among my friends, as I frequently discover that many people share acquaintances with me. I attribute to Facebook the world’s increasing smallness. In only a decade, the famous social site has garnered 1.3 billion users. In fact, in order to feel like we remain connected to those we care about, words

don’t even need to be exchanged anymore. One can look at a friend’s Facebook page and be updated on what he or she has been doing recently. In this way, language has been lost. Yet, the power of language and words has been dissolving over time in another manner. As we come to use our voices less and less, our words are translated virtually—we do not read the expression of the person to whom we speak, and thus, we cannot know the power or impact of our language. Studies have shown that Facebook can actually sadden its viewers, for it presents an unrealistic life for all of us. Our saddest, worst moments are not shown on Facebook, only our best. Facebook is there for us to flaunt, to tell all of our “friends” the latest news—the colleges or jobs to which people are accepted or the places to which they travel. We all seem so happy, but this is not real life at all. I am grateful in many ways for the innumerable gifts technology has brought, alleviating my separation anxiety from friends and family and making research papers a little less grueling. It is truly revolutionary that we are capable of seeing the faces of loved ones through a computer screen, no matter how many miles separate us. But I come to question whether technological advancements and the rise of social media have changed humankind for the worse. I feel that many, including me, have almost become weaker in a sense. With every tear that falls from our eyes or bad day that passes, we can easily reach out to loved ones for help. While, of course, this provides much comfort, our parents coped with these difficulties themselves. We have been persuaded to believe that technology and media bring us closer together, but does that mean we are now far more interdependent, as well? The landscape of our world has changed, and so have the people in it. I guess time can only tell what will come of it all.

Jaclyn Susskind is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

BY DOLAN BORTNER

The opinions and commentaries of the staff columnists and cartoonists appearing on this page represent the views of the author or artist of that particular piece, and not necessarily the views of The Heights. Any of the columnists and artists for the Opinions section of The Heights can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

We watch for the ads Ben Olcott A week has passed since the Super Bowl. In all matters concerning the game, its players, and the sport in general, it was pretty lame and uneventful. One team dominated impressively. Peyton Manning’s legacy is basically intact. Richard Sherman was badly smashed in some way or another and didn’t finish the game and talk. There hasn’t been much made about the sport in the media aside from ESPN’s almost obligatory sentimental season-in-review montages, the live interviews with these poor players answering horrifyingly vague questions like, “How does it feel to be Super Bowl champs?” Good? Even the sporting world has moved on from the lackluster sporting. For everyone else, viewers looking for spectacle, the sport committed the original televisual sin of being boring, and as if attentions weren’t pulled enough from the actual point of this all already, production value for everything else was extraordinarily high. Sports had no chance. So we all pretended to watch boring football while actually, all excitement for spectacle was transferred to the everything else, the gaudy in-stadium fireworks, Bruno Mars, and, predominately, commercials. I’m not naive or an idealist. I know Super Bowl commercials are a thing and people have discussed them like the main event for the past few years and this is nothing new, but this was the first time in this hypermedia era that the game was actually bad, borderline unwatchable. And we all still watched. We knew it already, but this latest Super Bowl experience proved definitively that everything else is far more important than the sport. Even when the sport derails, the Super Bowl thunders on. Obviously, the players didn’t choose to have it this way—companies that realized the advertorial potential did. And it is so clear now that advertisement is the true raison d’etre of the Super Bowl. Advertisement as spectacle with a pinch of football is what we watched. So what did they look like? Anheuser-Busch had us watch Lieutenant Chuck Nadd come home to a “hero’s welcome.” We watch, at a distance that suggests candidness, as Chuck, decked in his army digs, runs into the arms of his wife-fiancee-girlfriend person. We get a shot of the back of a truck heading toward his home with Chuck’s quiet, nervous voice playing over saying, “It feels good to be home.” Then he’s out of the truck, sheepishly saluting to what looks like the entire town gathering to welcome him, and then he’s driving down the central road of his town on a horse-drawn carriage (the director of the commercial makes it a point to obscure the “Budweiser” painted large and white on the side, and then, in a brilliantly subliminal way, gives us a distant shot of the crowd the carriage crosses in front of just briefly enough to show us “Bud”—and then it cuts) to see his mom. It’s a weepy affair, rice and confetti is thrown, and the commercial wraps up with the Budweiser red and bowtie and #Saluteahero. Coca-Cola had us watch a montage of racially diverse Americans do what I guess is diverse American stuff like ride a white stallion through a majestic forest/mountain scene, blow a gum bubble, blow sand into the air just to watch it happen, surf at daybreak, and break dance at night, all while “America the Beautiful” is sung in different languages. A few Coke bottles are subtly spread throughout, but it isn’t until one of the final, brief shots (in which a family plays a classic game of pick-Coca-Colabottle-caps-off-the-bottom-of-your-pool) that we see clearly a Coke product. They don’t call it a commercial (they call it a tradition), but Fox ran a commercial for their Super Bowl coverage called: Watch people you might recognize as American heroes for one reason or another read the Declaration of Independence. These commercials, and they are some of the most memorable, have one crucial thing in common: they appropriate patriotism for profit. Do not forget that these three powerful commercials would not exist unless it was a surefire way to make money. And with 114 million people watching, many who love football, who consider their participation in game day the best expression of their American-ness, such commercials are better than surefire. So this is what we watched the Super Bowl to see. This is the spectacle. We watched companies flatter us, convince us that, by watching football, we celebrate freedom; by buying Coke, we become more tolerant; by drinking Budweiser, we become respectful of those who have died for us. See the verbs? Watch, buy, drink. Consume, consume, consume. By consuming, we become patriotic, better Americans. Of course, nothing could be less true. By consuming, we feed a system that wants nothing but our money, and will commodify the Declaration of Independence and pride, and sell us our American souls to get it. It’s deeply perverse. And what does it say about our country that we all sat down and consumed? It tells us who and what dictates our country. It’s not patriots or patriotism.

Ben Olcott is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@ bcheights.com.

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 10, 2014

‘Vampire Academy’ earns high honors in class of teen drama BY LUIZA JUSTUS For The Heights

Step one: forget the fact that the movie is named Vampire Academy. Step two: turn off your brain and be entertained. While not a groundbreaking film by any means, Vampire Academy—the newest supernatural teen drama to hit theaters— VAMPIRE ACADEMY is surprisMark Waters ingly solid. Although the last thing the world needed was yet another vampire movie, this one portrays a strong and funny main character, unlike the reed in the wind that is Bella Swan from Twilight. Vampire Academy has a Hogwarts-like atmosphere with a modern touch. The film is directed by Mark Waters, the director of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday—as far as high school dramas go, the man knows what he’s doing. The story follows the lives of best friends Rose Hathaway (Zoey Deutch) and Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry), both

students of St. Vladimir’s Academy. This supernatural boarding school is home to two types of students: the Moroi, like Lissa, who are peaceful and mortal vampires with extraordinary abilities—and the Dhampir, like Rose, half human and half vampire, whose destiny is to protect the Moroi from a more dangerous species, the immortal and ruthless Strigoi vampires. As Rose trains to be her best friend’s guardian and protector, things start escalating when Lissa begins receiving some anonymous death threats. Meanwhile, Rose starts developing feelings for her mysterious Russian trainer and Lissa starts getting close to an odd yet attractive outcast at school. As these events develop, the film continues into a steady mix of high school drama and life-threatening tension among supernatural races. This is not a particularly meaningful film, nor does it require much brainpower to enjoy it. It has a very particular target audience, and should be taken for what it is. With that in mind, the story was fast-paced, the actors did a good job, and the humor was self-referential and surprisingly on point. It was refreshing

to see that the main character was not the “chosen one,” or the center of attention, or the underdog, or the target of affection of any mysterious creature. She was a cool, confident girl who had no problem being the sidekick. Watching the story unfold from the perspective of a character who normally would have been the supporting role was unusual and fun, and for that matter, quite a relief. This movie had all the elements of a cheesy, face-palming cliche, but in spite of its low-minded appeal, Vampire Academy accomplished its goals with impressive quality. Unlike its precedents, Vampire Academy didn’t focus on romantic conquests. Of course, as a teen movie, the hormones were omnipresent and the drama ubiquitous. But who doesn’t love seeing a bunch of attractive teenagers bicker at each other? And this one comes with the whole vampiresabout-to-kill-each-other bonus. Complete with well-chosen actors to deliver its sarcastic lines, the movie knows how to make fun of itself. It knows that it’s a vampire movie in the age of vampire movies, and that is why it works.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANGRY FILMS

‘Vampire Academy,’ the latest from ‘Mean Girls’ director Mark Waters, is clever and amusing. From a cinematic position, Vampire Academy doesn’t really do too much. It’s a mistake to try to analyze it from a critical standpoint. If taken for exactly what it is, however—a piece of pure, insubstantial entertainment—the movie is impressively enjoyable. The story is easy to follow, flows at an appropriate pace, and has very few cringe-worthy lines—which, for a vampire movie, is saying a lot. Waters has built his career on lighthearted com-

edies, and this is a very decent addition to his body of work. The film is not quite as quotable as Mean Girls, but then again, is there such a thing? Overall, Vampire Academy is worth a trip for those wanting to get away from the real world for a couple of hours. As far as guilty pleasures go, this is on the low end of the guilt spectrum, so feel free to invite friends—I guarantee they will enjoy it just as much as you will. 

‘Monuments Men’ has heart, lacks art

1 PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE REPORT TITLE

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES

Clooney’s ‘The Monuments Men’ makes light of both history and art, focusing on comedy rather than the significance of the story it tries to tell. BY MAGDALENA LACHOWICZ For The Heights

Given how little attention often is paid to art history and those who preserve it, undertaking the story of World War II’s Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the U.S. military (known as The Monuments Men) through film is a courageous task in concept alone. Directing his fifth film, George Clooney THE MONUMENTS MEN attempts George Clooney to tackle the world’s greatest treasure hunt with a star-studded cast (which includes him) in the aptly named The Monuments Men. Unfortunately, weak characterization and a focus on comedy rather than on the story leave the audience with a film that possesses a lot of heart and very little else. Based on a book by Robert Edsel, the movie retells a tale of seven men, most of whom are rather too old for war, who were drafted into a section of the military in order to prevent historic monuments and works of art from being destroyed forever by the Nazi regime. Over the last year and a half or so of the war, they discover that the Nazis have been stealing thousands upon thousands of great works (including Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child) for Hitler, while burning anything they considered degenerate (Picasso, Matisse, and so on). Determined

to find where these works are being hoarded, the Monuments Men take on the task of finding the art and returning it to its rightful owners. This is where the movie falls flat: while it is dealing with a significant part of art history (and the war, for that matter), the movie never seems to take it seriously. Despite the stellar cast, which includes Bill Murray, John Goodman, and Matt Damon, the actors all seem to play 1940s versions of themselves. Although the chemistry between the men is there, it was as if they all just donned soldier uniforms and decided to make a film instead of truly looking into who these people were. Historically speaking, their characters are accurate portrayals of art historians and curators from prominent museums, yet there never seems to be a sense that these people truly are who they claim to be. Of course, there are some entertaining scenes in the film entailing how the men’s basic training shows that they were unfit for war, but how does that serve to characterize them as men who take art seriously? This brings up another issue of the film: there is too much focus upon making a lighthearted comedy. There is no lack of scenes just meant for giggles, and although these moments illustrate the relationship between the men, they fail to register as anything else. Tension and danger, though spoken of with wild abandon, are fairly non-existent, and the film just feels like a jolly stroll down World War II memory lane. The movie was

almost … cute. Further, although there were touching moments that made the war actually seem present in the movie, most scenes involving the possibility of a foe were defused quickly, giving no weight to the fearsomeness of the supposed enemy, of which the audience only gets a handful of glimpses, including one shot of what could possibly be Hitler’s back. Terrifying. Most unfortunately, for a movie about art, there is very little art. Although the characters mention multitudes of works, the viewer is gifted with a good look at only a few: the Madonna and Child and a Rembrandt, among a few others. Despite the quantity of the works found in the salt mines or, in one pivotal scene, a castle, there is never the feeling of grandeur that one might expect from discovering such treasure troves. The camera often just pans across the collections in a lackadaisical fashion, giving more import to Damon’s astonishment than to the actual pieces themselves, which ends up being one of the bigger failures of the film. Instead of telling the tale of these works of art, of their significance, some dialogue is just thrown in about preserving a people’s culture in order to furnish the idea, and then it is not mentioned again. Instead, the focus is on Clooney and his pals having a comical run through war, foregoing poignancy for more laughs. In the end, The Monuments Men ends up botching its own message and leaving behind the focus of the history of the art and the people who created it. 

WEEKEND GROSS

WEEKS IN RELEASE

1. THE LEGO MOVIE

69.1

2. THE MONUMENTS MEN

22.7

3. RIDE ALONG

9.3

4. FROZEN

6.9

5. THAT AWKWARD MOMENT

5.5

6. LONE SURVIVOR

5.2

7. VAMPIRE ACADEMY

4.1

8. THE NUT JOB

3.8

9. JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

3.6

10. LABOR DAY

3.2

2 PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES

3 PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

BESTSELLERS OF HARDCOVER FICTION 1. THE INVENTION OF WINGS Sue Monk Kidd 2. THE GOLDFINCH Donna Tartt 3. STILL LIFE WITH BREADCRUMBS Anna Quindlen 4. FIRST LOVE James Patterson & Emily Raymond 5. SYCAMORE ROW John Grisham

6. THE FIRST PHONE CALL FROM HEAVEN Mitch Albom 7. GONE GIRL Gillian Flynn 8. AN OFFICER AND A SPY Robert Harris 9. COMMAND AUTHORITY Tom Clancy & Mark Greany SOURCE: New York Times

Building on franchise’s creative spirit, ‘Lego’ entertains BY ANNE DONNELLY For The Heights

There’s a lot to like in The Lego Movie: it’s a funny, good-looking animated film with surprisingly touching scenes. The initial draw of the film is in the concept of making a movie based on the Lego franchise. The popular building blocks have long given the consumer a chance to be a builder and creator, the possibilities limited only by the number of THE LEGO MOVIE blocks. Phil Lord That spirit of creativity is very much present in the film—a warm, true-tosource sentiment that is notably absent in other toy movies (Real Steel, Transformers, Battleship) and is a major component of its success. The Lego Movie follows ordinary, rulefollowing Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt of Parks and Recreation. Emmet’s life, introduced by the catchy opening song “Everything is Awesome,” is one of uniformity—he follows “The Instructions,” a set of

rules on how to live life passed down by the totalitarian President Business (Will Ferrell). Emmet’s sheltered life is interrupted by the discovery that he is “The Special,” and that he accordingly must join the Master Builders. He pairs up with Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), Batman (Will Arnett), and a host of others to save the world from the devious President Business and his super weapon. The plot sounds like the bright, actionpacked fluff that draws younger kids, but the truth is that The Lego Movie has humor, dialogue and subtext that will speak more directly to adults. An example is Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), the chief of President Business’ henchmen, who struggles between his two sides, “Nice Cop” and “Bad Cop.” To a kid, it’s funny to see his head spinning around and hear the change of voice. To an older crowd, it’s a more resonant struggle, especially at one point when his parents are threatened and his two sides are at war with each other in terms of how to respond. The cast is impressive and does excellent voice acting. Pratt shows Emmet’s struggle to rise above his ordinary origins and fulfill

the expectations set upon him well, and Banks is a great foil to cautious Emmet with her energetic punk-ish style. Freeman is funny as the doddering Vitruvius, and Arnett is a great raspy-voiced Batman. The one person who doesn’t shine, surprisingly, is Ferrell. Forced to closely follow the script in this movie, he stumbles. Ferrell struggled similarly with Megamind, another of his animated films. The animation of the film deserves an ovation. The super-fast building of the Master Builders is a pleasure to watch as they manipulate the Legos around them to create whatever they can imagine. Another neat trick was the animation of fire, smoke and water, which almost looked like stopmotion, the flow of these moving elements smooth but made up of many little Legos. The film features a rather impressive ocean scene, in which the viewer is treated to a sight of the undulating waves. There is an instance of a water reserve tank breaking—seeing the water break over the Lego objects is pure cinematic eye candy. Another praiseworthy part of the film is the budding relationship between Emmet

PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Funny, sentimental, and action-packed, ‘The Lego Movie’ will appeal to viewers young and old. and Wyldstyle. Usually in these movies, the girl and guy just fall in love with little explanation or apparent connection. Instead, Emmet gets to know Wyldstyle and understands her insecurities, offering support and kind words. Their relationship, which ends inevitably in love, at least has more substance and caring in it than many others in movies of this genre.

A final note is not related directly but is instead about the trailers for the movie. The movie was excellent for all the reasons outlined above, yet few surprises were left in the film for those who watched it trailers, which were long and gave away the funniest dialogue and details of the movie. So a word of advice to viewers: skip the trailers, and stick around for the show. 

The Heights

Monday, February 10, 2014

‘Vagina Monologues’ script kept fresh by courageous, passionate cast ‘Vagina Monologues,’ from A10

Daniel Lee / Heights Senior Staff

For the 11th year, an all-female cast took on the mix of comedic and solemn stories that make up Eve Ensler’s ‘The Vagina Monologues.’

laughter and feminist reflection. Without elaborate costumes, props, lighting, or sets, the actresses were very much on their own. The attention was focused entirely on their engaging performances, and the cast seemed thoroughly comfortable with acting out these complex yet sensitive scenes of The Vagina Monologues. The interpretation “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy” by Danielle Wehner, A&S ’16, was one of the show’s most remarkable acts. The performance was unreserved, and there was no doubt that Wehner was in complete command of her acting prowess. Looking around the room, however, it was difficult to gauge reactions—the audience appeared intrigued, yet detached. The play’s content drew mixed reactions, and in this particular moment, it wasn’t quite clear if the crowd was amused by the myriad moans or genuinely grasping the serious messages which are the crux of the play. Wehner’s performance was so captivating it brought to question how solemn the play’s central theme truly was. The stereotyping of moans of women of different racial backgrounds felt like an unnecessary piece of the writing, hopefully no longer resonating with today’s audience. Despite its debut in the 1990s, the play is, in many ways, before its time and behind at the same time. It is a challenging task to strike a balance

between entertainment and raising awareness, especially for a show like The Vagina Monologues. There’s a great threat of the play’s intensity getting lost somewhere in its various routines—it’s a task similar trying for many standup comedians who rely on foul language to make their points. Fortunately, the directors of the BC’s production preserved their message with the line-up. By bringing to life a series of candid monologues made by women from all backgrounds, the cast helped bring its audience to the realization that the vagina has been metamorphosed. It has evolved from a mere sex organ into a metaphor for the outcry against sexual violence. The play ultimately rejects the exploitation of women’s bodies and manifests the liberation of female sexuality. In acknowledging and questioning the ignorance about and reluctance toward the subject of the vagina, women are empowered to reclaim sovereignty of their bodies. This particular student production of The Vagina Monologues—sponsored by the BC Women and Gender Studies program—was quite an experience. In spite of the minor flaws in the original script, the passion of these students was admirable. The courage of the performers and their endeavors to put forward the play that truly made the content touching and empowering. “We were worried about our vaginas,” states one girl at the show’s beginning. “We were even more worried that we don’t think about them.” n

Allegations of Woody Allen’s sexual assault call his legacy to question Ryan Dowd Woody Allen will go down as one of film’s great artists. He won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1978 for Annie Hall and has won Best Original Screenplay three separate times, most recently in 2011 for Midnight in Paris. In January at the Golden Globes, Allen received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Allen’s Blue Jasmine is nominated again at the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, and its star Cate Blanchett is the favorite to win Best Actress. But Allen won’t be at Oscars. He wasn’t at the Golden Globes, either, where his longtime muse Diane Keaton gave him a glowing tribute. Allen has skipped the awards circuit for most of his career, which spans over 50 years. And this year, the sad saga that has festered around Allen for the past 20 years has resurfaced in the public statements

of Allen’s 29-year-old adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow. Farrow posted an open letter on The New York Times website claiming that Allen sexually assaulted her when she was seven years old. In particular, she calls out many of the Hollywood figures that have supported Allen throughout the years, saying, “You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?” This isn’t really news. This is a twisted, confusing, but mostly sad story that has been playing out for the better part of 20 years—one that Farrow’s vindictive mother Mia has continually pushed and Allen has continually denied. Mia did so in a Vanity Fair profile last year, and Allen in a New York Times op-ed this past Sunday. Those on Dylan’s side point to Allen’s questionable, inappropriate relationship with Dylan before the alleged molestation, and the oddity of his relationship with wife Soon-Yi Previn, which began when Previn was

19 and Allen 56. Those on Allen’s side point to his lack of predatory activities before and after the alleged incident, as well as Moses Farrow’s—Dylan’s older brother, who was 14 at the time of the alleged abuse—decisive statements on the matter saying that Allen did not molest his sister and that their mother keeps pushing the story to drag Allen’s name through the dirt. This isn’t as clear-cut as the R. Kelly case. We don’t have a video. We have “he said, she said.” The only people who know what happened here are Dylan Farrow and Woody Allen. So those who have celebrated and enjoyed Allen’s work over the years are left unsettled— that a man of great wit, who writes great roles for women, may have molested his 7-year-old adopted daughter and has gone on to lie about it for more than 20 years. We know Allen is a great artist, and we’re afraid that he’s also a wicked monster. The question brew-

ing in our guts isn’t as straightforward as “how do we judge a monster’s art?” We have to reconcile with the possibility, not the assurance that Allen is a monster. We have to reconcile movies we may love with a monster we might hate. I don’t know where the truth ultimately lies. I don’t think Farrow is lying. I think if you’re repeatedly told something happened to you at the age of 7, you’ll eventually believe it. So we’re left with a cascade of great films and Dylan Farrow’s tortured soul. Midnight in Paris was my favorite movie of 2011 (admittedly a weak year for movies). It’s a perfectly paced, whimsical adventure where the viewer meets Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald—as well as Rachel McAdams. It’s about the never-ending, divisive cycle of nostalgia. It’s about living in the now, and it may in fact come from the mind of a predator. Does that

taint the film itself? I don’t think so. If you can find truth within a film, then that’s your truth—a truth you may share with the director, but ultimately your truth. So we can celebrate Allen’s movies for what they mean to us, what they have meant, but that doesn’t mean we have to celebrate the man. At the end of the day, the real story isn’t that we can’t view Allen’s films in a clear lens or that Allen’s reputation has been tarnished. The real story is, whether she was or not, Dylan Farrow has lived her adult life believing she was molested by her father. There was a life she should have lived, and it was taken from her by either her mother Mia or father Allen. It’s our responsibility not to punish Allen—at least not just yet—but to remember Dylan.

Ryan Dowd is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

Duggan discusses his high concept, low budget ‘Inverse’ ‘Inverse,’ from A10 to gain access to the safeguarded truth of his mind. Duggan’s career as a director began parallel to the rise of viral outlets like YouTube and Vimeo. Soon after graduating from Boston College in 1996 as a double major in English and communication, Duggan moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting, while writing on the side. While living professionally as a film and commercial actor, Duggan began searching for ways to build a career around writing and discovered short film. “It was much more artistically satisfying and exciting for me to be writing my material and directing it,” Duggan said. He joined the Annex Film Group, a collective of artists working out of the Sanford Meisner Center for the Arts in Los Angeles, which gave Duggan an opportunity to have his work produced. Duggan’s career as a director picked up traction with the success of his “Man Vs.” web series, which he started in 2006. In 2008, it appeared Duggan would be able to begin production of his first feature length project, with the groundwork in place and some initial funding for the film. With the financial collapse, however, investors grew nervous, and it grew increasingly difficult for small-scale directors to find funding for projects. Duggan headed back to the drawing board. Soon after buying a home with his wife, Duggan began imagining the possibility of shooting a film in it. The script for Inverse was written around the idea that Duggan could shoot the majority of the film in his Los Angeles house—it was spun off a short story Duggan wrote in October 2010. Producers Stephanie Bell and Trevor Boelter agreed to get behind Duggan’s concept in the beginning of 2011 and bring it to fruition as an ultra low budget film. “A couple of the key pieces for ultra low budget—for it to be successful, in my

opinion—are having a really high concept script with characters that are dramatic and engaging enough so the audience doesn’t feel claustrophobic or confined to being in one location,” Duggan said. Having control of the main location, his house, Duggan was able to execute on the small capital put behind the film. Dealing with realities of literally living with his project, however, came with its own set of difficulties. The film’s 30person production crews had to coexist in the house with a German shepherd and an ornery Maine Coon cat. “The cat was scatting everyone and the dog would bark during shoots,” Duggan said. “It was very entertaining—definitely examples of what the ultra low budget world is like, but we made it work.” Inverse was shot in two-to-five-day phases, with production continuing only with the stream of funds, which was hardly constant during the process. The story of Inverse takes place over 76 hours, and given that, production of the film became a process of confounding time. Shot over the span of two years, Inverse’s believability rode on the continuity of the details—the actors’ hair and weight, even the appearance of Duggan’s house. On a normal day of production, Duggan’s front door would open around 6:30 a.m., and around 30 grips, actors, and crew members would come pouring into the house. As he prepared his shot list in his office, strangers would be making coffee in the kitchen, setting up cameras, and moving furniture around the house “It was heaven on earth, because you’re basically living entirely inside a film world—and this is my passion and what I love,” Duggan said. “For as chaotic and crazy as it was, I also couldn’t have been happier.” Duggan’s ultimate goal is to get a distributor for Inverse. In the months to come, the completed film will be traveling through the industry’s gestative layers, festival to festival. For now, as always, it’s one day at a time for Duggan and his team. n

John Wiley / Heights Editor

Kentridge’s exhibit at the ICA uses five projectors and turns to South African imagery to narrate history’s struggle with time and mortality.

Kentridge show investigates time, mortality ‘Refusal of Time,’ from A10 met with darkness. There is one spotlight, aimed at the very center of the space. Bathed in its light is a “breathing machine” called an “elephant.” Silently, the automaton’s arms move up and down, and nestled within it is a pumping bellows. Scattered about are pairs of chairs for the audience, with four large, silver megaphones set up on tripods looming over them. The video, which runs at just over 30 minutes, is projected on the walls in five separate channels, each depicting its own version of the scenes within the piece. The video opens with a metronome, the first of the five projections starting at a steady walking tempo. Each subsequent metronome then joins in with a different pace, with instruments then collaborating with the fray of tick-tocks jumping from one metronome’s tempo to another. This begins Kentridge’s examination of time, with the ticking continuing on as a motif for each progression of human understanding of time—from early, celestial-based knowledge, to Newtonian theories, to Einstein’s own findings, finally ending in black hole

theory. Each section is accompanied by a combination of music or song, live action footage, and animation—Kentridge is most celebrated for the latter. Amid the rather chaotic feel of the imagery in the installation is a calculated understanding of human interaction with time. Repetition is littered throughout scenes and, more often than not, is the focal point. Moments are reversed and then played again, usually in groups of three, while others are endless loops of one repeated action. Each of the five channels also plays its own version of the video, each telling a slightly different narrative, though the repetition never fails to make an appearance. Voiced over these are explanations of the different theories, providing a context and cohesion to each segment. While knowledge of time theories is not necessary in understanding the work as a whole, an awareness of Kentridge’s South African background and the history of the country’s past tainted by apartheid are crucial prior to viewing. The culture of South Africa is a constant presence in the actors, some of the music, and the dancing por-

trayed throughout the piece. Also necessary is the knowledge of what Kentridge means by the “refusal” here: he means to examine humanity’s resistance to the pressure of the inevitability of death. This is not to mean escaping mortality—it is the escape of its implications, of the restraints it applies to humans, bound to limited time. Unsettling and self-reflective, The Refusal of Time as a whole engulfs the viewer in the world of time. Although the scenes are obviously split into their own respective theories, standing alone they would not be as poignant in getting Kentridge’s message across. Especially effective is the black hole theory sequence, one of the last in the video. The white streaks falling down a black background are almost ominous in the context of black hole theory, with what they may be depicting being left to the viewer. With the final parade sequence bound to echo within the viewer’s mind long after leaving the Institute of Contemporary Art, Kentridge’s attention to detail as well as expertise in video and animation pull together into an installation that is equally as thought-provoking as it is discomforting. n

A10

ARTS&REVIEW THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 3, 2014

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

THE FINER THINGS

The invention of the modern fan

ARIANA IGNERI When The Beatles landed in America 50 years ago this weekend, they created a monster: the modern fan. Five thousand people—frantic followers, journalists, and photographers—mobbed together outside of New York’s JFK airport, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Pan Am Flight 101. Girls held up hand-painted signs and madly waved their hands. They shouted, jumped up and down, and hopped on top of their friends’ shoulders just to catch a glimpse of the Liverpool boys with their black and white suits and moptop bowl cuts. Police tried to contain the lunacy. On Feb. 9, a few days later, the band’s performance on CBS’s The Ed Sullivan Show aired, influencing not only the history of music, but also the future of fandom. About 74 million people—38 percent of the country’s population—tuned in to see the Brit poprockers play “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You,” among other songs. Since the concert was televised, the craze extended from the live audience in front of the stage to those at home on their couches. The fanaticism was contagious. The Beatles altered the way people interacted with—and obsessed over—musicians. They were the first to really take advantage of improvements in technology that brought fans closer to the stars they loved, fueling their hysterical devotion. This sort of fervor was both unique and significant because of the innovative way that it spread, but it wasn’t the first instance of fandom. The first-known fan frenzy sparked in Berlin in 1884. Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, renowned and admired for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. His concerts threw crowds into a musical ecstasy. Female admirers would swoon at his sight and swarm him, fighting over his handkerchiefs and gloves. They’d wear his portrait on brooches and cameos, they’d save locks of his hair, and they’d even try to get ahold of his broken piano strings to wear as bracelets. To describe these ridiculous reactions, writer Heinrich Heine coined the term “Lisztomania,” which doesn’t sound much different from Beatlemania or even Bieber Fever. Although Liszt and his fans lived over two centuries ago, it’s obvious that the concept of fandom has persisted and, actually, evolved. What was once considered a 19th-century mental illness has today become a central part of America’s entertainment culture. It’s embedded itself in, and defined an aspect of, the country’s history. It was Sinatra in the ’40s, Elvis in the ’50s, and The Beatles in the ’60s. The list goes on—through the ’90s with boy bands like ’N Sync and Backstreet Boys, the ’00s with the Jonas Brothers, and today with One Direction. One Direction’s wild rise to fame in the U.S. has been compared to that of The Beatles during the British Invasion—and while they may be similar to some degree, the growth of social media has made the One Direction obsession much worse. The group markets itself well, inundating followers with updates on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The Beatles couldn’t do that, obviously, and neither could other artists throughout the years. But things have inevitably changed with progress. Modern fandom began when The Beatles traveled from across the pond to the screens in America’s living rooms. Their success had a lot to do with their talent and charisma, but it also had to do with the developing relationship between music and technology. The radio, the TV, and the Internet have connected an ever-expanding community of fans with an ever-expanding pool of artists and bands. And while this is all good, the closer these two groups are drawn together, the more extreme the fandom seems to become. How extreme is too extreme, though? And how close is too close? The whole relationship is getting out of hand—to the point where it’s no longer about an innocent, sweet admiration of artistic talent, but rather, an outrageous and uncontrollable madness, defined by fainting, stalking, and other irrational behaviors that society has learned to laugh at and make light of. But maybe this is wrong, and the 19th century was right with Listzomania. Maybe fandom really is an illness. The Beatles said “all you need is love” 50 years ago, but they probably never considered the monstrous love of the modern fan—never thought there could be such a thing as too much love.

Ariana Igneri is the Assoc. Arts & Review editor of The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

L R I G K L A T

DANIEL LEE / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

‘The Vagina Monologues’ continues discussion of the ‘v-word’ for 11th year at BC BY NOREEN WONG For The Heights Lily Allen’s feminist pop tune “Hard Out Here” played as the predominantly female crowd walked into Boston College’s 11th staging of The Vagina Monologues. The play, attempting to transform what society thinks of the v-word, opened with a scene challenging women’s ignorance toward their vaginas. The act emulated the vibes of Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango,” setting the tone for the unconventional dra-

matic journey to come. The Vagina Monologues is comprised of a set of speeches that retell a variety of feminine experiences, including menstruation, sex, orgasm, birthing, female genital mutilation, and rape. Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues, interviewed more than 200 women from all over the world while writing the play, and enquired about their vaginas. She asked questions like, “If your vagina got dressed, what would it wear?” or “If your vagina could talk, what would it say?” The answers received were put together to become the episodic play

that has been running at BC for the past 10 years. The show is a mix of amusing and heart-wrenching anecdotes about women and their vaginas. There are monologues that touch upon sexually forward or abusive experiences, while others pertain to more lighthearted encounters. This BC rendition of the play involved the addition of BC-specific references to give it a touch of home and comic relief, like relating the vagina to Eagles’ Nest. The result was an hour and a half of

See ‘Vagina Monologues,’ A9

BC grad Matt Duggan premieres ﬁlm ‘Inverse’ at Boston Sci-Fi Festival BY JOHN WILEY Arts & Review Editor It was the first day on set. Everything that it took to get there—the four-month writing process, the struggle for funds, the three-day casting call—disappeared into the monitor as screenwriter-director Matt Duggan, BC ’96, called the beginning take of his first feature length film. “There was so much anxiety, stress, and running around, putting pieces together,” Duggan said. “And all of the sudden, you’re on the set and you have top-notch talent in every department. All of these forces coming together, and suddenly, you’re looking at a monitor and you see what you have envisioned in your mind, written down on paper so long ago.” After two years in production and

five phases of filming, Duggan’s cerebral sci-fi thriller Inverse premiered at the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival this weekend. The film features Josh Wingate (World War Z, Priest) in the role of Max, a man at odds with his identity, awaking at the film’s start with no memory of his life. Max is confronted with the dangers of his past, as he puzzles through the physical world and wild hallucinations to redevelop his sense of self. The world Max constructs, however, is shaken completely with the arrival of a stranger named Batter (played by veteran LA stage actor Morlan Higgins), who claims Duggan is a visitor from a parallel universe. This alleged identity becomes the fascination of a government physicist (Chris Pauley), who’s willing to torture Max

See ‘Inverse,’ A9

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATT DUGGAN

‘Inverse’ tells the story of a man (Josh Wingate) who has lost all memory of his life and identity.

‘Your Date of Birth’

JOHN WILEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

‘The Refusal of Time’ mixes concepts of art and science to challenge popular notions of time.

William Kentridge’s ‘Refusal of Time’ installation opens at ICA BY MAGDALENA LACHOWICZ For The Heights

The concept of time has been developing since the dawn of reason. Through various ways of attempting to measure, control, and understand it, theories have come and gone, from the first sundials to modern string theory. In a video installation titled The Refusal of Time, South African artist William Kentridge examines humanity’s encounters with time, influenced by his conversations with Peter

I NSIDE ARTS THIS ISSUE

Galison, professor of history of science at Harvard University. Interweaving his South African roots with the history of time theory, the installation serves as a poignant reflection on how human contemplation of time has led to its refusal. The installation runs through May 4 at the Institute of Contemporary Art, with an exhibit of Kentridge’s various drawings being shown in the room preceding the video. Upon entering the room, the viewer is

See ‘Refusal of Time,’ A9

The Woody Allen controversy

Allen’s adopted daughter’s accusations force fans to reconcile the artist with a potential monster, A9

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The work of Karl Baden’s Arts & Digital Technology class in O’Neill Library’s first floor gallery, featuring manipulations of Baden’s face from the dates of the students’ births.

‘Monuments Men’

Director George Clooney honors neither the art referenced or the heroes depicted in latest ﬁlm, A8

Bestsellers...............................A8 Box Office Report........................A8

SPORTS THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 10, 2014

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

Finding the opportunity in mistakes

ONE

CONNOR MELLAS In most sports, making a small mistake—while possibly detrimental to personal or team success—is not the end of the world or a cause of great personal harm. A strikeout in baseball could strand runners and marginally lower a batting average, but very few players end up injured because of a swing and a miss—otherwise, Max Scherzer would be one of the most dangerous men in the United States. Similarly, in soccer, screw-ups generally don’t maim or kill. Mistakes might come very close to killing your career if you happen to be English goalkeeper Rob Green, but even the butterfingers king has recovered from letting that ball slip through his hands and legs and into the Three Lions’ net during the 2010 World Cup. The vast majority of times, mistakes are deflating, frustrating, and annoying, but they are rarely disastrous in the greater scheme of things. There are some sports, though, in which the most miniscule of errors could inflict serious injury or even fatalities, and a little over two weeks ago, Canadian snowboarding wunderkind Mark McMorris made such a mistake. McMorris—who is, in short, a wildly talented 20-year-old snowboarder—was heading into his final Slopestyle run in the cluster of GoPro advertisements, legions of energydrink gulping snow bros, and terrible announcers that was the Aspen X Games. His score was just short of gold medal territory, and McMorris needed a perfect performance to leapfrog his countryman Max Parrot. Leg one of the run was a success as McMorris nailed a sliding 360 over a treacherous-looking box rail. Then, on the second feature, it went terribly wrong. As planned, McMorris flew off the jump toward the serpentine, arching rail, but as he turned his board across his body to start the grind, his toeside edge clipped the front of the neon pipe, launching him into a disaster. The Canadian was flung like a sack of bricks from a catapult—his flailing arms useless in stopping his torso from careening into the metal rail. Momentum flipped him to the end of the pipe, where he remarkably landed not on his head, but on his feet facing the rail with his board on the snow. Sliding a few feet down the slope, McMorris collapsed in a pathetic heap—his rib had broken on impact and his Sochi chances were murky. McMorris’ crash occurred on Jan. 25. On Feb. 8, after two weeks of travelling and training filled with acupuncture sessions, massages, pool workouts, and brutally painful qualifying runs, he glided to the bottom of the slopestyle course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park in Sochi, his performance good enough for a bronze medal. McMorris’ mistake could have ended his Sochi trip, but he fought through the pain to win Canada’s first medal of the 2014 Olympics. While it’s not dealing with any problems of the rib-breaking specificity, the No. 7 Boston College women’s hockey team is now faced with a situation in which it needs to grind through the pain of a mistake. This past Saturday, Hockey Eastleading BC suffered a crash of its own in Storrs, Conn. Up until Saturday, the Eagles were playing dominant hockey, most recently crushing Boston University 4-1 in the Beanpot semifinal. Sophomore Haley Skarupa has been lethal, leading the Eagles with 18 goals and 12 assists for 30 points. Andie Anastos, a freshman forward, is right behind her with 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points. Again and again, the team has turned opposing goalies into target practice, scoring 96 goals in 28 games as seven players have put up 20 points or more. Before traveling to Connecticut, head coach Katie King Crowley’s Eagles were 20-5-3, riding an 11-game

ABOVE THE REST

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Parker dominates the paint in Duke’s commanding victory

JABARI PARKER POINTS

BY ALEX FAIRCHILD Asst. Sports Editor He is versatile and efficient. People say he is an athlete, though they think Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle—the two freshmen that the Duke forward is often measured against— have a bit more to offer. Another thing the experts said was that Jabari Parker doesn’t have that extra step. He doesn’t have that something that the great players have. Well, he does. Jabari Parker is explosive. Against Boston College, Parker blew up, not only by lighting up his box score, but also through his play on the floor. The way he got his 29 points and 16 rebounds was impressive. He didn’t hit one three the whole night, getting all of his points the old-fashioned way in Duke’s 89-68 victory. A matchup against BC was the perfect storm for the superstar. BC is a team crippled by weakness down low. While Parker is a player who can hit shots from everywhere, his ability to attack the basket showed up at Conte Forum. In the first half, he had five buckets—each from within inches of the rim. Just moments into the game after a block by Alex Dragicevich sought to build the Eagles’ confidence against a Duke team that isn’t the biggest, Parker got the ball in the lane on the next

FIELD GOAL PERCENT

70.6

OFFENSIVE BOARDS

BLOCKS

DUNKS

See Parker, B3

Hanlan’s hot start outpaced by dominant Blue Devil offense BY AUSTIN TEDESCO Heights Editor

Olivier Hanlan’s eyes grew wider impatiently. Ryan Anderson wasn’t getting the message. Boston College’s sophomore point guard, holding the ball on his preferred left side of the court, wanted his big man to come set a screen to free up a path to the rim. Hanlan tucked the ball against his side with his left hand and started waving his right hand in quick circles at Anderson, who still didn’t comply. The forward got tangled up in the lane, forcing Hanlan to drive at Duke’s Jabari Parker, drawing a foul. “Ryan,” Hanlan asked with his hands up after the play, “What are you doing?” It was a quick moment of frustration for Hanlan, who otherwise kept himself composed all night. He then shrugged it off, gave his teammate some quick daps, and moved on to convert a ridiculous over-the-head, Eurostep reverse lay-up the next time down. One minute later, Duke caught fire and the game was over. The Blue Devils had just kicked off the second half on a 12-4 run, taking a 51-39 lead on the Eagles from which BC never recovered. Another chance at a marquee win for this program under Steve Donahue was lost in

See Hanlan, B3

See Column, B4

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Beanpot:

Northeastern

Preview

The Eagles will take on the Northeastern Huskies tonight in the Beanpot final...............B5

Men’s hockey: BC vs. Merrimack Bill Arnold’s three goals blew open the Warriors in a 6-1 win..............................B5

Roundup...................................B2 Sports in Short.........................B5

The Heights

Johnson’s ‘playas’ triumph at Virginia

Monday, February 10, 2014

Roundup

By Austin Tedesco Heights Editor

Erik Johnson wanted to know where the playas were. As his team wasted away yet another possession deep into the shot clock while trailing Virginia by 15 points midway through the second half Thursday night, the Boston College women’s basketball head coach pressed his hands helplessly against his cheeks. He looked aimlessly at the floor before Katie Zenevitch had even lifted the ball into the air for yet another brick. The Eagles looked doomed for a sixth straight loss—the Cavalier 2-3 zone giving BC horrid fits—but then the playas showed up. “I wanna see where the playas are,” Johnson joked to his team in the locker room before the game. “Where’s the playas?” Eventually, they showed up for the Eagles. Sparked by hot shooting from guards Kelly Hughes and Nicole Boudreau, BC rattled off a ridiculous 24-4 run over the course of six and a half minutes to take a 62-57 advantage late. The Eagles wouldn’t relinquish the lead for the game’s final two minutes, killing their losing streak with a 69-65 victory. The turnaround started with the BC players finding a way to quell Johnson’s frustration on the sidelines. The Eagles hadn’t needed to play much zone offense all year. Most other teams have been too afraid of BC’s soft touch from behind the arc—which stands at fifth in percentage in the ACC and second in makes—to try the 2-3. Virginia didn’t care, though. The Cavaliers usually run the zone, so that’s what they stuck with, and it almost destroyed the BC offense. The Eagles put up 25 points in the first half, coughing the ball up a dozen times and allowing 13 second-chance points. “There’s no excuse for our 12 turnovers at halftime,” Johnson said. Virginia jumped passing lanes in the zone, but that aggressive play meant someone was open. Johnson saw it, and halfway through the second half, his players finally started to see it, too.

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

BC found success at the UConn Open, with the men and women winning individual events.

Kelly, DiStefano make a big splash for the BC swim team By Rob Sheehan For The Heights Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

Freshman guard Kelly Hughes led all scorers with 23 points against Virginia on Thursday. Johnson doesn’t have the flashiest definition for playas on his squad. They jump stop, they find the open scorer, they don’t freak out against traps, they pivot, and they get deflections. They, essentially, do all the little things right. For the first 30 minutes of the game, the BC bench and pockets of vocal Eagles fans got a monotonous lesson in counting down from 10, as the home team hopelessly worked the ball around the perimeter deep into the shot clock with little success. And then, they finally started to ball fake. Hughes sank an open three, Boudreau drilled another, and suddenly, the Cavalier zone was in trouble. Virginia made the game about concept basketball, and BC was finally cracking the code. Defenders rushed out to BC’s shooters, creating wide-open looks off short corner and high post feeds for Lauren Engeln and Zenevitch. “Once we got that open you saw the energy in our players,” Johnson said. The BC bench started erupting dur-

ing the scoring run. The Eagle zone, which had been torn apart inside by the Cavaliers for most of the night and was seriously missing the injured Kristen Doherty, finally started rotating properly. Kat Cooper and Zenevitch made up for mistakes with smart contests and timely blocks. There wasn’t much for Virginia to do. Ataira Franklin did her best to pull the Cavaliers within reach and make the game interesting at the end, but a few clutch foul shots and a key rebound from Cooper sealed the victory. Hughes, a freshman, led the way for BC with 23 points, but Johnson pointed to all of his playas as the key to success. “Guys, where’s the playas?” Johnson asked when he reached the locker room after the game. The Eagles had watched second half leads slip away and turn into losses for three games in a row. Finally, they were the ones making big plays and forcing the other team into costly errors. “Coach, we’re right here,” they said. “We’re right here.” n

For the men’s swimming and diving team, Dan Kelly won the men’s 50-yard freestyle at the UConn Open. In the backstroke, Brett Bonzell won the 200, while Richard McDonnell won the 100. On the women’s side, Abigail Kordell won the 200yard breaststroke, while Kelly DiStefano won the 100-yard breaststroke, coming just ahead of teammate Caitlin Marks. Over the weekend, the men’s track team competed at the BU Valentine Invitational. The 4x400m relay team led the way for the men, finishing fifth with a time of 3:16.73, which stands as the second best mark in program history. That time is also good for an IC4A qualifier. Connor O’Neill ran the anchor leg in 48.6 seconds. Tim Ferris and Ryan Cooney set personal records and ran IC4A qualifiers in the 800m. Ferris clocked in at 1:53.38, and Cooney at 1:54.39. Two Eagles also grabbed personal best times in the 400m. Darren James ran his fastest time of the season for BC in 49.27, and O’Neill also set a personal record of 49.41. The women’s team competed at both BU and the New Balance Collegiate meet at the Armory in New York City. Molly O’Dea, Carly Daniel, Christina Zelenoy

and Robin Gross’ 4x400m relay team ran an ECAC qualifying time of 3:51.55, which was the fastest BC time in two years. O’Dea also set an indoor personal record of 25.16 in the 200m. In the 5000m at BU, Alanna Poretta qualified for the ACC meet with a time of 17:26. Cross country All-American Liv Westphal finished seventh overall in the 3000m in 9:16.72 on Friday at BU. The men’s and women’s fencing teams both enjoyed a successful meet at UNH this weekend. Both teams swept UNH, UMass, and BU while dropping matches to Sacred Heart. The men also swept Tufts and the women did the same to Wellesley College. Senior Devin Midgley of the men’s saber squad, had an outstanding meet, finishing with an 11-3 record. Men’s foil member sophomore Hanmin Lee also compiled a strong record by going 9-1 for the meet. On the women’s side, sophomores Olivia Adragna (epee) and Marney Krupat (sabre) shined by racking up 17 combined wins and only one loss for the meet. Both teams will be back in action Wednesday for the Fencing Beanpot at MIT. The men’s tennis team was defeated 6-1 by Princeton on Sunday. Sophomore Alexandre Thirouin was the only Eagle to pick up a victory in his singles match. n

BC struggles with consistency in games against Duke and Virginia By Scott Hill For The Heights

SPORTSininSHORT SHORT SPORTS

With 15:05 left in the second half of Wednesday’s game and his team down big against the surging Virginia Cavaliers, Olivier Hanlan blew past his defender and knifed his way to the rim, only to pass up the layup and find Patrick Heckmann in the corner for a missed 3-point shot. This play just about summed up Hanlan’s night—despite his status as the Eagles’ top scoring option, he has been remarkably reluctant to shoot as of late. Four days after attempting a mere five field goals against Notre Dame, Hanlan shot just twice in the first half against the Cavaliers before finishing with 14 points on four of 10 shooting. The sophomore guard was a nonfactor during the competitive portion of Wednesday’s game, electing to wait until the final minutes of the second half to assert himself offensively. While the Cavaliers’ defense conceded nothing easy to Hanlan, his low shooting totals were more of a reflection of his desire to get his teammates involved. Hanlan’s selflessness shows that Boston College needs its best player to shoot the basketball if it is going to win. Lonnie Jackson continues to provide the team with efficient offense at the shooting guard position, but against Duke he failed to perform. The junior guard registered 12 points on 4-6 shooting in 27 minutes against the ’Hoos, which included several big 3-pointers when the game was still competitive. For most of the road game, Jackson played smart, efficient offensive basketball, before growing silent once the game got out of hand in the second half. His shooting from behind the arc is an integral part of BC’s offense. “They shoot, 46 percent of their shots are threes, and you always have to be ready, because they spread you with four guards,” said Virginia head coach Tony Bennett. “They

run a ball screen, and they usually slip the ball screen and roll down the lane with a quality player in Anderson, so you’ve got to be able help with a guard on the roll and get to those shooters quick.” Ryan Anderson led the team in scoring, registering 20 points on eight of 11 shooting to go along with seven boards against Virginia, but against Duke, the junior forward/center was held to 12 points. Anderson was the Eagles’ only rebounding presence as the Cavaliers went under, over, and around the Eagles en route to outrebounding them 40-27. Anderson’s productive and efficient offensive performance was mildly tempered by a bad night at the free throw line, finishing by hitting four of nine. Freshman forward Garland Owens saw more playing time Wednesday and Saturday than he had seen in the recent past. He registered six points and four boards against the Cavaliers, but his presence was felt less against Duke, as he put in a quieter performance against the Blue Devils. Prior to the Virginia game, Owens had not played more than 10 minutes in a game since Jan. 4. against Clemson, at which point he was averaging roughly 15 to 20 minutes a game. Owens played hard defense and hit a few timely threes while spelling Eddie Odio and Alex Dragicevich. Odio has failed to give his team the energy boost he provided last year. While a thunderous block and deep three highlighted his performance against the ’Hoos, the forward only mustered one basket and a free throw against Duke. Neither Owens nor Odio were able to assist BC on the boards, especially on the offensive glass. Virginia and Duke combined to outrebound BC 77-50. “They’re gonna play four guards,” Bennett said. “They space the floor so well, so they’re not on the offensive glass as much. That’s part of their design.” n

Men’s Hockey East Standings Hockey East Standings

Team Conference Overall Team College Conference Overall Boston 13-1-1 21-4-3 Boston College UMass-Lowell New Hampshire Northeastern

11-6-1 9-4-2 10-5-1 8-6-1

Boston University 10-6-1 Maine 7-5-2 8-6-3 Providence New Hampshire 8-8-0 8-6-2 UMass Lowell Providence 7-6-1 Merrimack Vermont Massachusetts Notre Dame

8-6-2 7-7-0 6-9-1 5-9-1

4-9-4 Vermont Massachusetts 4-9-3 Northeastern Boston University 4-10-3 3-8-3 3-9-4 Maine Merrimack 2-10-2

14-7-2 19-7-3 15-6-2 16-9-3

13-9-1 13-10-3 10-10-4 16-15-1 14-7-2 15-7-5 10-10-5 15-9-3

9-12-2 16-12-1 7-13-4 8-17-4

7-12-3 8-15-4 7-14-4 7-16-3

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

With three straight losses on the books, the Eagles will need to be consistent in their roles on the court in order to find future success.

Numbers to Know Numbers to Know

+50 4

Boston College men’s hockey’s collective plus-minus games. The number ofrating lossesthrough that the28men’s hockey team has since the start of January.

0 5.6

The number of times the Eagles have beat Dukefinal under Steve Donahue. The average deficit that the The teams have met six times. men’s basketball team has suffered in ACC play. Before Saturday, that number was 3.5.

182

The numbergames of goals scored by former BC The number that the women’s players in the U.S. women’s hockey ice hockey team went unbeaten beforeteam’s Olympic debut, a 3-1 over Finland. losing to Mercyhurst onwin January 19.

Quote of the Week Quote of the Week

“He has an extra “Thank to our 235 pop. It’syou 6-foot-8, fans who supported [pounds], but it’susan this weekend. Truly the extra quickness that most loyal in the counyou don’t see, even in try. We still believe in this league” our team and so should — BC’s Pat Mullane (via you” twitter) in reaction to a tough — Steve Donahue on

weekend for the men’’s hockJabari Parker

The Heights

Monday, February 10, 2014

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

key stats

quote of the Game

second half field goal 69.2 Duke’s percentage of second-chance 22 Number points Duke scored The Eagles’ free throw 65 shooting percentage

“This is really the first game that I’ve seen him [Parker] where he’s playing so well and he played through it tired. It’s something that a really good player has to learn to do. You have to be able to keep performing when you’re tired.”

- Mike Krzyzewski Duke men’s basketball head coach on Jabari Parker

Standouts

Memorable Play

Rasheed Sulaimon’s no-look, behind-theback dish to Parker ended with the freshman sensation splitting a defeated Joe Rahon and Lonnie Jackson for a thunderous flush.

Prime Performance Olivier hanlan

jabari parker Emily Fahey/ Heights Editor

Hanlan’s 25 points gave the Eagles a chance to beat No. 11 Duke, but Parker’s powerful display proved too much for Donahue’s team to handle.

Parker carries Blue Devils past Eagles

Hanlan’s 25 not enough for BC Hanlan, from B1

Parker, from B1 possession. With his back to the basket and Dragicevich lurking behind him, Parker spun to his left and leaped through the transfer and Ryan Anderson for a dunk. It was too easy and quite frightening, according Olivier Hanlan, who experienced Parker’s skills when guarding him in the first half. “Whenever he gets it going, it can be scary,” Hanlan said after the game. When Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski got his best attacker isolated against a defender like Dragicevich, two points were guaranteed. His ability to beat an opponent 1-on-1 and annihilate BC’s help defense—as he did when Anderson went to assist Dragicevich—showed the forward at his best. Parker got hot in the second half, even though the Eagles threw many defensive looks at the freshman. Steve Donahue showed a bit of zone and some man defense against the Blue Devils to throw Parker & Co. off their game. Most Eagles who saw playing time got to guard Parker, and that rarely bode well for Donahue, who had nobody to matchup against the game’s leading scorer. Dragicevich, Hanlan, and Joe Rahon guarded Parker in the game’s first 10 minutes, while Anderson served as their primary source of help in the paint. “Our concepts are always help-side defense, playing defense as a unit, whether it’s Jabari Parker or whoever it is that has the ball,” Anderson said. “We try to never have a 1-on-1 matchup. It’s always guys helping each other.” BC is not an example of a good defense, though, as it allows an ACC-worst average of

Parker dropped numerous alley-oops and dunks to devastate the Eagles’ defense. The Blue Devils forward finished with career highs in scoring and rebounds, putting up 29 points and 16 boards on BC.

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

Garland Owens could only pull down two rebounds and score three points against Duke. 74 points per game. The team’s biggest weakness all season has been in the paint, and that is where Parker lived on Saturday evening. Krzyzewski’s Duke was able to get the ball in to Parker, who did the dirty work in the lane. “They really worked it into him, and that’s a handful,” Donahue said. Even more devastating was Parker’s ability to beat down the Eagles on the boards. He used his leap to beat Anderson, BC’s leading rebounder, in the paint. Offensively and around the rim, Parker is everything BC does not have. The Eagles are very much reliant on shooting from long range, and their only weapon on the inside is Anderson, who has been stuck at the five most of the season, as opposed to being at the four, which he favors. While Krzyzewski complimented Anderson’s all-around ability the last time the Blue Devils visited Conte Forum, there is one thing that Anderson and this team lacks—athleticism. Garland Owens is the closest piece the Eagles have to a Parker-esque specimen. Owens was BC’s most-hyped recruit coming into Donahue’s fourth season at the Heights and has seen limited playing time. While injuries can explain that to an extent, the freshman has not been preferred to Patrick Heckmann and Dragicevich at times during the season. Owens

can get to the rack, and he played his part in BC’s early successes against No. 11 Duke. His leap over Amile Jefferson after a missed shot by Rasheed Sulaimon led to a Hanlan and-1 that pulled the Eagles within one. Donahue’s freshman forward was able to get in the way of Jefferson on a few occasions, and his baseline drive from the left side midway through the second half highlighted his quickness. The problem is that in Owens’ 22 minutes against Duke, he was only able to produce those exciting moments. He is a game-breaker, but not necessarily a go-to man for the Eagles. Parker is the guy that Duke will go to when it is in need of a bucket. The future NBA lottery pick is versatile, as he can attack in many ways, and he is efficient as well, shooting 12 of 17 against the Eagles in Conte Forum. “Jabari was a monster today,” Krzyzewski said. “With the amount of rebounds and points. He wasn’t rewarded, sometimes, on his aggressiveness on the offensive boards with the finishes.” The bottom line is that the world of college basketball was exposed to Parker’s snap, according to Donahue. “He has an extra pop,” Donahue said. “It’s 6-foot-8, 235 [pounds], but it’s an extra quickness that you don’t see, even in this league.” n

the second half, as Duke strolled late to an 89-68 victory. “We were unbelievably concerned about this game,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. This was the third straight time this group of BC players, or at least some iteration of it, had given the Blue Devils a scare. Two years ago, the Eagles hung around until late in the first half. Last year, a missed Hanlan jumper at the buzzer was all that saved then No. 4 Duke. This year, Hanlan was the early engine yet again. “Hanlan’s a terrific player,” Krzyzewski said. “No matter what you do, he gets by you, it seems like.” That was the case in the first half, as Hanlan lit up the Blue Devils for 14 points. He took eight field goals and went to the line six times. When he wasn’t finishing at the rim, he was drawing in defenders and kicking the ball out to open shooters, although those shots weren’t consistently falling. It was an entirely different story from most first halves this season. Against Notre Dame two games ago, Hanlan went 2-6 in the first frame, putting up four points and finishing the game with five. Last time out at Virginia, Hanlan went silent after missing two threes in the first five minutes. At halftime he was 0-2 with no points. “I know whenever I’m aggressive good things happen,” Hanlan said. “If I’m aggressive and I score the ball, I score the ball. If they all collapse on me I try to find the open guy.” Opposing teams know that Hanlan’s driving ability is the most dangerous part of BC’s offense. If it gets going, open threes will eventually be there for the other players, even if the defense starts

to deny Hanlan at the rim—which is a difficult task. He’s no longer an underthe-radar surprise like he was last year when he won ACC Rookie of the Year. Now, defenses know what’s coming, and the adjustment period has been a difficult one. “I’m just trying to do everything perfectly, and probably overthinking too much,” Hanlan said. “But today I was just trying to be aggressive.” Duke started switching every screen and used a help defender to open up on Hanlan, essentially guarding him with a man and a half. At that point the game was taken out of his hands, and his teammates couldn’t deliver. Hanlan finished with 25 points, four rebounds, four assists, and one steal, but Duke shot better than 52 percent from beyond the arc with 11 makes, while BC’s percentage fell to 37. “We didn’t come out ready,” Hanlan said of BC’s second-half defense. BC ’s defensive rotations became lackadaisical after Duke got hot and started its run, and it took too long for the BC offense to adjust to Duke’s switching to keep up. “Our Achilles heel is that if we get in a rut offensively, we don’t do a good enough job on that other side of the ball,” Donahue said. There weren’t enough open looks for the Eagles, and when the shots were open, they didn’t fall. The BC defense was helpless against Parker, Rodney Hood, and Duke’s shooters. And Hanlan couldn’t make up for all of that, as he was facing quasi-double-teams on most drives. “Teams do an incredible job, early on, on him typically, and he tries to make the right play,” Donahue said. “For the most part we’ve run good offense even when he doesn’t score, so I think he’s trying to fit in.” n

The Heights

Monday, February 10, 2014

Hughes paces BC as Eagles fail to make a comeback at Florida State By Tom DeVoto For The Heights

The shot clock was about to expire. Even this early in the game, any points the Boston College women’s basketball team could come up with would be important. The ball swung around the court, finding freshman Kelly Hughes at the point with the buzzer about to sound. Despite being about five feet behind the 3-point line, she let it fly. Swish. That shot would be the only stroke of luck the Eagles had on Sunday. The Florida State Seminoles were able to force turnovers, grab rebounds, and shut down the Eagles, running a clinic en route to a 72-55 win. After snapping their five-game losing streak last Thursday against the University of Virginia, the Eagles were looking for their first conference road win against the Seminoles, who recently fell from the Top 25. B C would b e without its leading scorer and senior leader Kristen Doherty, who did not travel with the team due to concussion-like symptoms. Hughes took her place in the starting lineup after finishing with 23 points last game against Virginia. Early in the game, the Eagles’ 2-3 zone stifled the Seminole offensive attack, holding them to one for six shooting to start the match. Senior Katie Zenevitch had two quick blocks to keep FSU off the board. Florida State, clad in its all-pink uniforms for “Paint It Pink Day,” wouldn’t go down so easily. Seminole senior Natasha Howard kept her team competitive on both ends of the floor, coming up with big blocks on defense and converting her shots on the other end. The Eagles found themselves cool-

ing off after their hot start, watching the Seminoles go on a 14-0 run to take a commanding lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Junior Lauren Engeln, who made a layup and drew a foul to convert the 3-point play, finally broke the streak. Despite being beaten in most facets of the game, the Eagles only found themselves trailing by five at that point. Florida State answered right back, however, and dominated its way to a 35-20 lead at the half. The Seminoles scored 32 of their 35 points in the paint, while eight of the Eagles’ points came in the key. FSU came out to start the second half driven, beating the lackadaisical Eagles to loose balls and capitalizing on second and third chances. Howard crushed BC down low, scoring 26 points with 11 rebounds—both game highs. Hughes was the lone bright spot for the Eagles, keeping the game reasonably close with her lights-out shooting. She finished with 23 points on sevenof-nine shooting, a perfect five of five from downtown. After cutting the lead to 14, Seminole guards Brittany Brown and Cheetah Delgado scored quick buckets to extend the lead to 18 with four minutes remaining. Delgado had a record-breaking performance for Florida State, surpassing the single-game assists mark set in 1976 with 15. In the end, FSU was just too much for the overwhelmed BC squad, which dropped to 12-13 overall and 3-8 in the ACC. Florida State dominated the glass, outrebounding the Eagles 46-22. BC also lost the offensive rebounding battle by 16. The Eagles’ next matchup is Thursday against No. 2 Notre Dame, who handed them a 95-53 loss in early January. n

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

Kelly Hughes tallied 23 points against the Seminoles on Sunday afternoon, but the Eagles still fell with a final score of 72-55.

Huskies bust Eagles’ undefeated streak By Stefan Todorovic For The Heights

After taking down the Terriers of Boston University last Tuesday night during the semifinal match up of the Beanpot, the Boston College women’s hockey team traveled to the University of Connecticut to take on the Huskies in a heated conference matchup. Coming into the match, the Eagles ranked No. 7 in the nation, sitting contentedly at first place in Women’s Hockey East (WHEA) conference standings. On the other hand, the Huskies of UConn have struggled to find wins this season despite their talented squad—they came into the match with a 719-2 season record. From the opening face off, both teams were able to produce multiple opportunities within the first few minutes of the first period. BC was able to acquire a power play with several shots on net, but UConn sophomore goalkeeper Elaine Chuli kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for the remainder of the period. On the other end of the rink, BC goaltender and captain Corinne Boyles came up with a total of eight saves to make sure no mistakes were made. Chuli ended the period with 12 saves. Both Boyles and Chuli earned WHEA Co-Goalkeeper of the Month, based on competative played in January. The Eagles started the second period with three quick shots on net, but the first goal of the game came from the Huskies’ very own Kayla Campero, who was able to get one past Boyles during the sixth minute of the second period. Shortly after the goal, the Huskies’ attack continued as junior forward Sarah MacDonnell came extremely close to adding one more on the scoreboard as her shot directed off of the pipe to keep the lead at one. BC was able to obtain yet another power play during the 10th minute of the second period, but after three saves from Chuli, the Huskies

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

Corinne Boyles had 35 saves against UConn, but allowed two goals as the Eagles failed to light up the scoreboard in a 2-0 shutout loss to end their seven-game win streak. kept their lead at one and another power play for the Eagles was killed. Eight minutes later, the Eagles were granted their third power play, but once again the Huskies, led by Chuli, were able to hold onto their lead and enter the third period with confidence. Chuli ended the period with 21 saves while Boyles tallied 10 for the Eagles. Heading into the third period, regardless of the low score, many players were able to get chances on net for the Eagles, including sophomore forward Haley Skarupa and freshman forward Andie Anastos. For the Huskies,

Kayla Campero was able to create seven shots on goal. With three killed power plays posing no results, the Eagles needed to step up their game in order to secure the win and protect their seat as first in the conference. Another opportunity was given to the Eagles in the sixth minute of the third period when they were granted their fourth power play. The Huskies were able to hold off the Eagles’ attack and kill this one as well, for they contained the puck for the majority of the power play, getting off three shots on net while the Eagles’ three attempted shots were

blocked yet again by Chuli. The Huskies’ attack only continued throughout the third period as UConn senior left winger Stephanie Raithby extended the lead to two with a goal in the 10th minute. Seven minutes later, high tension from the Eagles’ defense resulted in a penalty on senior forward Melissa Bizzari, who was leading the team in shots on goal for the game. Bizzari finished the game with seven shots on goal. With another power play issued for BC in the 19th minute, some hope was still alive for the Eagles, but it seemed to be just

a bit too little too late as BC fell 2-0 to the Huskies. Boyles finished the game with 35 saves and a loss, while Chuli tallied 45 saves, earning her second shutout on the season and ending the Eagles’ 11-game unbeaten streak and seven-game win streak. The Eagles face off against Northeastern University in the 36th annual Beanpot Championship on Tuesday Feb. 11 at Kelley Rink in Conte Forum, with a scheduled puck drop at 8 p.m. as the team seeks revenge from last year’s championship game. n

While mistakes are painful at first, moving past them is essential Column, from B1

David J. Phillip / Ap photo

Mark McMorris, right, fought through the pain of breaking a rib two weeks before the Sochi Olympic Games and won the bronze in slopestyle.

unbeaten streak, and had failed to score a goal in only one game. On Saturday, though, that streak came to a screeching halt when the UConn Huskies stonewalled BC. The Eagles lost 2-0 to a team that—talent-wise—it should beat handily any day of the week, right before the Beanpot final. Try as they might, the Eagles couldn’t find the back of the net and were beaten at even strength twice. Sophomore goaltender Elaine Chuli stood on her head for UConn, making 45 saves and turning away anything and everything BC could throw at her. At this point of the season, dropping a game to an opponent that should—on paper at least—be a breeze of a victory is a poor result for a team bent on returning to the Frozen Four. When attempting to win anything truly worth winning, though, there will be roadblocks, and this mistake could end

up benefiting the Eagles. It’s easy to become complacent when you’re on top—sometimes a reality check can help in the long run. Just this weekend in the world of NCAA men’s hockey, Minnesota lost twice. You’d be a fool to count them out of anything, though—the Gophers will learn from their errors and come back more dangerous. From broken ribs to unsettling loses, mistakes create various degrees of suffering, but also the opportunity to watch the tape and figure out what went wrong—before it’s too late. For a team like Crowley’s, winning everything without losing something is feasible, but very difficult. Making mistakes never seems ideal at the time, but down the road, the lessons learned may make winning possible.

Connor Mellas is the Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.

The Heights

Monday, February 10, 2014

Eagles prepare for Beanpot final against talented Northeastern team By Marly Morgus Assoc. Sports Editor

The freshman looked unstoppable. As if three goals against Boston University weren’t enough, he put up another two in the Beanpot final, netting the MVP award for himself. That season, he continued on to score 34 points, leading his team. No, he wasn’t Johnny Gaudreau. He was Northeastern’s Kevin Roy. Roy made a strong impression during last year’s Beanpot, becoming only the fifth player in Beanpot history to receive the individual accolade while being a member of a losing team. With five goals in two games, though, it would have been hard to argue against him. Tonight’s Beanpot final could tell a similar story. Northeastern advanced through the first round last Monday with a dominant 6-0 win over Harvard in which Roy had two points, one goal and an assist. While it’s not the same caliber

of a performance as last year’s, Roy has not disappointed so far this year. After 28 games played, he is just one point shy of his total from last season, tallying 15 goals and 18 assists. “We’ve just got to be aware of him when he’s on the ice, you know,” said Boston College head coach Jerry York. “Four on fours, big ice situations … but we’re facing players like him during the course of the year. When 15’s on the ice, we’ll be very aware of that fact.” Roy is not the only force to be reckoned with on the Huskies’ roster, though. Redshirt junior goalie Clay Witt stopped 27 Harvard shots on the way to his fourth shutout of the year in Monday’s semifinal. The impressive performance went right along with the trend of his season. The starter currently has a record of 14-7-2 to go along with a save percentage of .946, the best in Division I men’s hockey. This is not the first time that the Eagles and the Huskies will meet this season. Back

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

The line of Gaudreau, Arnold, and Hayes has been putting up big numbers for the Eagles.

in the beginning of November, the teams played a home and home, the Eagles coming out of both games victorious, but not nearly by their average margin of victory. When the Eagles have been winning, they have been winning big, with an average margin of 3.57 goals over their opponents in 21 wins so far this season. The games against Northeastern, however, were not the norm, the first going the Eagles’ way by a score of 4-2, and the second coming to an end in overtime with BC scraping through with a 4-3 win. In the first matchup, on Nov. 1, Witt was a big contributor to the narrow goal margin. While the Huskies only fired off 22 shots at BC goalie Thatcher Demko, who let two of them in, the Eagles’ shot 50 percent more, a total of 33, with Witt letting in only three. The Eagles fourth goal came after Witt left the ice for an extra attacker. In the even closer game the next evening, it was Brian Billett in net for BC who let in three goals with 31 saves, while Witt had 36 saves and allowed four goals. “I think we’ve got two very good goaltenders going against each other,” York said. “But our league has very good goaltenders. He’s [Witt] one of the premier ones in our league.” During those two games in November, the line of Gaudreau, Bill Arnold, and Kevin Hayes had yet to come together, but on their respective lines, the now top-performing trio had four goals and five assists. Since coming together, the line has terrorized goaltenders around Hockey East with 56, 47, and 41 points, respectively, Gaudreau, Hayes, and Arnold currently hold three of the top four spots on the list of the NCAA’s point leaders. “I think earlier in the season, we needed more balance, but now all four lines are contributing, and that enables us to put that line together,” York said. While the line is currently not starting BC’s games, it is easily identifiable as the Eagles’ top offensive weapon, even as Michael Sit, Quinn Smith, and Brendan Silk started last Monday’s semi-final. “I just think that I like the way Michael Sit’s line starts, so we’ve kept that,” York said. “I like the momentum they give us right off the bat.” While the Sit line may give the Eagles a solid start, it is the high-powered Gaudreau line that is lighting up the scoreboard for the Eagles. Against the Terriers, the line was responsible for two of the Eagles’ three goals, the first a perfect triumvirate with assists from Arnold and Gaudreau on a Hayes goal, and the second being scored on an empty net by Gaudreau with assists

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

Demko will go face to face with another one of Hockey East’s elite goalies tonight. from Arnold and, something that isn’t seen every day, Demko. To go along with his second career point as an Eagle, Demko put up a performance in the semifinal round that rivaled Witt’s for Northeastern. With his spot as starter solidified after starting the season on an alternating schedule with Billet, Demko came through for the Eagles with 27 saves and allowed just one goal from the Terriers, carrying the Eagles through much of the game when they struggled to build a gap on the scoreboard. “I think he’s improving every week,” York said. “We’re lucky we’ve got two really good goaltenders in Brian Billett and Thatcher.” Demko will be back tonight to start his first Beanpot final. Notably absent, however, will be freshman defender Ian McCoshen, who is still out with a concus-

sion. Fellow first year Steve Santini will maintain his place in the first defensive pair. Tonight’s final will feature two teams that have made significant progress since their first meetings. With the GaudreauArnold-Hayes line established as one of college hockey’s best and Demko’s solidified place as the Eagles’ starter, BC has grown into some of its most powerful weapons since November. The same can be said, however, for Northeastern. “I think, you know, they’re remarkably improved, the Huskies,” York said. “We’ve watched them on tape and they’ve got an outstanding goal tender in Clay Witt, their defenseman Manson is one of the best in the league, and surely they’ve got a special player in Roy. It’s not hard to explaining their success this year, they’ve got some really good players, so we feel we have really difficult opponent.” n

Men’s hockey Notebook

Young Eagles excel on ice By Jeanette Barone For The Heights

It’s that time of year again: the coldest month of the season and the time when the Boston College men’s hockey team needs to keep its game hot if it plans on making a postseason run. Thus far, the team’s had an impressive run with a 13-1-1 record in Hockey East play. With an overall 21-4-3 record, the Eagles are currently second in the USCHO Division I Men’s Poll and challenging for the number one spot because Minnesota lost twice this past weekend to Wisconsin. In order to win the NCAA title, they need to maintain their energy, focus, and dedication, and they need the continued support and talent of the 10 freshmen who have been physically and mentally devoted to the team’s triumph since they first laced up their skates back in September. This up-and-coming class has had to prove itself, and it is now a fundamental piece of the maroon and gold pie. Last night was no exception to the solid play of these newcomers. While steamrolling over Merrimack College with a 6-1 victory, the defensemen, Scott Savage and Steve Santini, consistently executed plays that kept the Warriors away from freshman goalie Thatcher Demko. Savage also aided the Eagles during the third period on the power play by shooting a missile from the blue line that freshman Adam Gilmour was able to redirect past Merrimack goaltender Rasmus Tirronen. During the third period, Santini made an outstanding play with a bruising body-check on a breakaway Warrior, who was trying to encroach the slot in front of Demko. The crowd roared its approval. The faith that head coach Jerry York has in Santini is apparent, as he was on the ice during several penalty kills, including a 5-on-3 with assistant captains Isaac MacLeod and Bill Arnold at his side. The immense contributions of the freshman class do not stop with the defense. Ryan Fitzgerald and Austin Cangelosi made their presence felt by helping tally a goal. The two players are on the same line, and for good reason. During the first period, they deftly cycled the puck, which led to many shot opportunities for their teammates. That puck movement paid off eventu-

ally in the second period, as each of the freshmen earned an assist on captain Patrick Brown’s goal. Cangelosi sent the puck to Fitzgerald who dished a perfect pass that Brown finished, sliding it behind Tirronen. Freshman forward Chris Calnan also had a big presence on the ice, playing several shifts, settling the puck in the neutral zone on multiple occasions, and walking into Merrimack’s zone to start the BC offensive attack. Demko allowed only one goal out of 24 shots on net. He was recently named National Rookie of the Month and has a .932 save percentage after last night’s game. He’s supported by an exceptional defense that kept Merrimack out of the slot the entire first period. BC defenders consistently clogged Merrimack’s diagonal and centering passing lanes. Several Eagles endured sacrificial shots to the body to keep the puck from going anywhere near the white netting. The Eagles cleaned out the front of the net throughout the entire game without screening Demko. The crushing physical play of the older players, such as Michael Matheson, Isaac MacLeod, and the ever-grinding Quinn Smith, seems to have rubbed off on Santini, Savage, and Ian McCoshen. McCoshen was unable to dress for the home game, as he was out with an injury. He has benefitted the BC defense this season and has scored a total of four goals and seven career assists. Also notable are Matt Gaudreau and Evan Richardson, who have both capitalized during their playing opportunities by scoring one and two goals, respectively. “They’ve come along, they’ve really grown,” said associate head coach Greg Brown on the players in the class of 2017. “Pretty much each month you can see that they’re better than they were the month before. They’ve been a huge part of our team, they give us much more depth than we had. The first part of the season we really relied on the older guys, and now we have four pretty good lines.” BC hasn’t lost to Merrimack at Conte Forum in nearly 17 years, and the freshmen helped keep that streak intact. During their first year at BC, they have not shown any rookie jitters and look ready to continue to flourish during the rest of the season and beyond, when they will no longer be the youngest Eagles in the convocation. n

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

Bill Arnold scored three goals against Merrimack on Friday night, earning his first career hat trick on the way to the Eagles’ 6-1 win.

Eagles blow open win over Merrimack By Mike Hoff For The Heights

Hockey games are not played on paper, but sometimes it would be more efficient if they were. Friday night, Boston College and Merrimack skated for 60 minutes at Kelley Rink to get an unsurprising result. BC won 6-1, powered by three Johnny Gaudreau assists on three Bill Arnold goals. With the win and Minnesota’s losses on Thursday and Friday, the Eagles will likely move up to the country’s top ranking, while the Warriors are headed back to North Andover further entrenched as Hockey East’s bottom feeder. BC forward Michael Sit took a penalty 47 seconds into the game, and it provided a platform that showcased the skill discrepancy at hand and foreshadowed how the rest of the night would transpire. About half a minute into the Warrior power play, BC defenseman Mike Matheson hit Gaudreau at the BC blue line with a breakout pass that sent Gaudreau and Arnold on a rare shorthanded 2-on-1 scoring chance. Arnold didn’t have any issue potting the eventual sitter created by Gaudreau, and the senior put BC on the board 1:18 into the game. Gaudreau’s Division I-leading 54th point of the season extended his scoring streak to 23 games. “What you can’t do against a team like that is—we had some brain farts earlier in the game,” said Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy after his team’s loss. “We’re on the power play and we have a guy cheat down with two guys going by him, and we got a forward back there, hasn’t played there

very long. You know, bad decision. We gave up a 2-on-1 to Arnold and Gaudreau. That’s not great.” Later in the period, Arnold added his and BC’s second score of the game on another 2-on-1 off a feed from his left winger again, even if Arnold had to work a little harder this time. Merrimack was oh-so-close to breaking out of its zone against the Eagles’ top line, but the puck stayed in Warriors’ zone. Gaudreau gained possession and drew the defense by going to a bad-angle area for a shot, but hit Arnold on his tape who waited out Merrimack net-minder Rasmus Tirronen and elevated the puck over the sprawling Finn. Arnold has been on the opposite end of this connection more than several times this season, but he was happy to be on the receiving side Friday. Heading into his final Beanpot appearance on Monday, the alternate Captain now has 11 goals and 41 points on the season while centering college hockey’s top scoring trio. “Especially this year, they haven’t really been coming easy, but I got Kevin [Hayes] and Johnny on my line and they made it easy for me tonight, some backdoor goals, always nice,” Arnold said. “Certainly our first line is doing a special job right now,” said BC associate head coach Greg Brown. “It was great to see Billy get the goals tonight because sometimes he does all the little work that goes unnoticed, so it was nice to see him find the back of the net.” Merrimack’s chances in the second period were of higher quality than the first, but Dennehy’s team didn’t come close to

capitalizing because its shots didn’t come close to the net. Forward Mike Collins hit a post, but aside from that, BC goalie Thatcher Demko didn’t have to react often, making 23 saves. Demko’s frame undoubtedly makes shooters pickier, but Merrimack’s woes probably have more to do with its 6.5 shooting percentage coming into Friday night. For comparison, BC stands at 13.3. The only suspense of the game did come in that second frame, when BC captain Patrick Brown’s goal at 6:22 was reviewed for a kicking motion. The goal stood, as did assists for freshman wingers Ryan Fitzgerald and Austin Cangelosi. In the third, Merrimack took four penalties and BC capitalized on three, with the power plays highlighted by Arnold hammering in a loose puck after Gaudreau tried to stickhandle through the Merrimack defense but lost the puck near the edge of the crease. Arnold, trailing his linemate from the left wall, took advantage of Tirronen’s over-positioning due to the threat of Gaudreau and capped his hat trick. Arnold’s goal was sandwiched by redirected scores off the sticks of Adam Gilmour and Brendan Silk. Merrimack’s Chris LeBlanc put in a rebound off of Demko with less than five minutes to avoid the shutout. “It’s definitely a really hard game to play in because the Beanpot final is on Monday, so I guess you could call it your typical trap game,” Arnold said. “But I thought the guys and the coaches did a great job of staying focused, and now we can look forward to Monday night.” n

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 10, 2014

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 10, 2014

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Manila serves as a wake up call

Love on the Heights

Chris Burke and Rebecca LaPlante Burke

Survival Ross and Anna Abrahamian

ROBERTO MARTINEZ “You can leave your country without ever leaving America.” These words, spoken by Rev. Mark Ravizza, S.J. of the Casa Bayanihan program, fully describe the reason I opted out from the more traditional European study abroad experience and instead booked my flight to Manila, in the Philippines. Students of Casa Bayanihan choose to live in a simple community as well as engage with local disadvantaged communities twice a week as an act of solidarity. This means that the lack of wifi and warm water for showers in my home serve as ways to gain a greater world perspective and bond with the community members in each praxis site. To describe Casa Bayanihan using BC terminology, it’s what happens when PULSE meets an international immersion trip, and is expanded over four months, and even then it is so much more. To date, I’ve only been in Manila for two weeks, but I’ve already experienced so much. My Facebook feed of my trip so far almost exclusively includes pictures of our group playing with children in rural communities, but Casa incorporates much more than the “perfect profile picture.” In between the joyous moments, I’ve heard shocking stories from mothers and fathers of countless years as overseas workers. This group of laborers migrates to other countries particularly major Middle Eastern cities, without their families solely to support their families. On the first visit to one particular woman, she shared her story of being deported from Israel. These moments define the Casa experience and quickly become the main focus of the trip. The welcoming people at my own praxis site, Kapit Bisig or “Arm in arm,” continuously show a true love that has been built with all the previous Casa students, and now a part of my own experience. The weekend, though, leaves us free to explore wonderful city of Manila and the rest of the Philippines. Restaurants serve all different foods that combine ingredients from many southeast Asian countries, as well as plentiful fresh ingredients. The intramuros section of Manila stands as a walled off part of the city that historically grew as the epicenter of Spanish colonial life. The entire country also offers various outdoor adventures from beaches to volcanoes—this past weekend we went snorkeling at an ocean reef off a private island in the Batangas region (almost like a dream come true). Through all this, the community of Casa brings together students from different Jesuit universities across the United States, including four students from a Jesuit university here in the Philippines. It is this group that makes this immersion into the Philippines an authentic and real experience. Some of these moments have been extremely difficult, but ultimately they have distinguished my study abroad semester from other polished abroad trips. Casa Bayanihan continues to refine what I want to call a “real and engaging” worldwide perspective.

Roberto Martinez is a contributor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS BURKE

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA ABRAHAMIAN

HOW THEY MET: Football fans Chris and Rebecca met through a mutual friend after they graduated.

HOW THEY MET: Survival and Anna bumped into each other in Corcoran Commons during the fall of her junior year.

Brendan Lang and Kaitilin Dunn Lang

Teddy Pierce and Michelle St. Martin Pierce

PHOTO COURTESY OF KAITLIN LANG

HOW THEY MET: Brendan and Kaitlin’s relationship started thanks to pickup basketball games at the Plex. Couples, from B10 ball,” Kaitlin said. “We started dating spring semester of our freshman year.” The Langs were both CSOM students, so they often took classes together throughout their college years. “We both say we were instrumental in passing BC together because he was so smart and I worked really hard,” Kaitlin said. BC continues to play an important role in their lives. The couple took a photo with all of their BC friends at their October 2012 wedding, and Kaitlin said that the group could hardly fit into the frame because it was so large. Rebecca LaPlante Burke and Chris Burke, both BC ’07, also consider sports an important part of their relationship, but didn’t meet until after they had both

graduated from BC. “We were the crazy people that showed up hours before football games,” Burke said. “She was in one group of friends that did that and I was in another…we spent a lot of hours probably within 50 feet of each other, but never really met.” After graduation, Chris worked at a local consulting firm while Rebecca volunteered in the St. Francis Corps for a year. When she returned in 2009, Chris’s roommate Ror y Murphy, who had been friends with Rebecca in college, invited her over to hang out with them and other friends during the weekends. From then on, sports continued to mark milestones in their relationship. “Our third date was a BC hockey game,” Burke said. “The first time that

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE PIERCE

HOW THEY MET: Teddy dropped by Michelle’s roommate’s birthday party in Walsh during their sophomore year. she showed that it was kind of a long term relationship, that she kind of saw going somewhere, was in April of 2010 when BC football tickets went on sale and she wanted to order tickets together.” The y got marrie d in Reb e cca’s hometown of Spokane, Wash. in 2012 and now live in Berkeley, Calif. Chris is working toward his MBA at University of California Berkeley, and Rebecca works at GAP Corporate in inventory management. “I converted her,” Chris joked, since Rebecca majored in philosophy while at BC. Even though some have flown far away from the Heights, BC’s influence remains strong for many alumni couples. Abrahamian and Ross will have BC’s a cappella group The Acoustics

perform at their wedding. The Langs have a bloodhound named Byron who proudly wears a BC shirt at tailgates throughout the year. The Pierces were married at St. Ignatius Church, and the Burkes, like many others, had their engagement photos taken on campus. What, exactly, draws so many BC grads together like this? Perhaps it’s because smart, motivated people are simply drawn to each other, or because Eagles share a special kind of bond from the beginning. One thing that’s certain is that despite the prevalence of the hookup culture that many students and faculty associate with BC, college dating and romance aren’t totally dead—over 7,000 BC marriages can happily prove that statistic wrong. 

CLUB SERIES

FEATURING BC’S UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

BC Fossil Free works toward an environmentally-friendly campus BY SARAH MOORE Heights Editor

One club on campus is working to educate and initiate the Boston College community on a globally important yet controversial topic. BC Fossil Free is a part of a network of more than 320 universities and 39 cities, including Cambridge, Mass., that are urging fossil fuel divestment. From letter writing campaigns to participating in a Cambridge banner-drop with other local universities, this group of students is working continuously on and off campus to spread awareness of the concerns that continued dependence on fossil fuels is likely to bring. Founded in early 2013, BC Fossil Free is rooted in efforts for increased on-campus sustainability. Club member and cofounder TJ Buckley, A&S ’16, explained that though the University has

both many eco-centered groups and has recently made stronger moves toward becoming greener, BC Fossil Free “recognizes the need for more to be done on BC’s campus.” BC Fossil Free views divestment as an answer, and aims to have the University both stop all new investments in the top 200 fossil fuel companies as well as divest from current stocks held in them throughout the next five years. Since last winter, BC Fossil Free has worked on both making the Boston College community aware of the topic of divestment, as well as getting people involved with a push for BC to divest. One of their most successful campaigns has been “Class Raps” which are brief, two to five minute announcements members make at the beginning of classes in order to introduce the concept of divestment and the ways which BC factors in to the subject. “We want to be the first major Jesuit institu-

tion to divest from fossil fuels,” said Buckley, who recognizes the significance of a major institution divesting from the use of fossil fuels. In addition to spreading awareness, BC Fossil Free urges involvement in their goal of University divestment through encouraging interested students, alumna, and faculty to sign a petition asking for BC to divest. “We understand the issue of climate change as an issue of justice and moral obligation,” said Cofounder Bobby Wengronowitz, GA&S ’19. “We are inheriting this climate and instability. This issue is falling on us to change.” The group of now over 20 students, and growing, has been working with other BC organizations with environmental goals such as Ecopledge to make sustainability a more approachable and accessible topic on-campus. The groups are planning to host a divestment panel, to take place during Green Week,

that would combine local financial, climate, and political experts speaking on the benefits of divestment. In addition, BC Fossil Free is working on their “Save the Mods” campaign that centers on increased global rainfall and the continual flooding of Boston College’s favorite housing option, creating a link between a common BC concept and the potential harm climate change, due to increased use of fossil fuels, could bring to it. “For this issue to catch on it needs to hit home a little more for BC,” Buckley said. Although they have outgrown their previous meeting space, BC Fossil Free currently holds general, biweekly meetings on Thursdays at 7 p.m. and encourages anyone interested in their mission to attend and participate. “We want people to know that we can take a stand, be leaders, and make a statement,” Buckley said. 

THE HEIGHTS

AN OPEN LETTER

BC boys had better shape up CAROLYN FREEMAN Hey boys: First, the freshmen. I know, I know. It sucks to be a freshman boy. It sucks at most schools, but especially here, where there are no frats, just ultra-exclusive Mods. It sucks to get turned away from said Mods while you watch your girl friends file in after a word or two with the senior guarding the door. It sucks to admit defeat. It sucks to have to trudge back up to Upper or hop on the Newton bus at 12:30 a.m. after prowling around the Mods and sending out texts to everyone and anyone you know. It really sucks to stay in and watch the Friday and Saturday nights pass by as you play game after game of pong in that one quad on your floor. Water pong, of course. But soon enough, the tables will turn. Soon, you’ll be the boy stationed at the doors of the Mods with your arms crossed. Soon, you’ll get to dictate how the weekends go. Which brings me to the notorious senior boys. I feel like a lot of you have a huge superiority complex stemming from when you were freshmen. You remember when you weren’t allowed in a lot of the Mods and you remember spending way too many nights in. So, now that you hold the power, you want to make the current freshmen suffer like you did. But guys, can’t you see? It’s an endless, vicious cycle. It’s a cycle that’s only really fun for the senior boys who guard the Mods and refuse to let in most freshmen boys. It’s a cycle you can end, though. You have the ability to make the typical freshman boy experience a little less difficult by letting more and more of them into your parties. If you make the party scene just a little bit better for a few freshman boys, maybe they will make it better for the next generation, and so on. You can start the revolution. But this letter is about more than just the issues with the Boston College party scene. It has to be—there’s no way I could write 800 words telling upperclassmen boys to let my friends into their parties. So, let’s move on. The stereotypical BC bro has been touched upon in the past, but as a relative newcomer to the school I’m still sometimes shocked by the preponderance of pastel and button-downs in the everyday student’s wardrobe. I’m from a relatively unpreppy suburb of D.C.—I’d never seen a guy wear Bean Boots or Chubbies shorts until I came here. Every day, I’m surprised when I see you guys wearing anything other than t-shirts to class or even to the aforementioned Mods. So why do you guys do it? Is it just part of your ingrained New England preppiness? Is it something you picked up at Andover or Choate? I don’t hate it, though. It’s a great change from my high school, where the boys wore sweats on sweats. It’s just a little baffling that so many of you guys look so much more put together than I do on a regular basis. Or maybe it’s the result of a cycle, just like the party scene we discussed earlier. Maybe it’s that you were a little unsure when you arrived here and so you wore what everyone else wore. On the chilly days, you throw on a button-down and maybe a crewneck wool sweater underneath the ubiquitous, puff y black North Face. Now it’s second semester and it seems like you guys have this getting-dressed thing down to a science. The majority of you look great most days—and exactly the same. Even in the Mods (on the off chance you get into a party), it’s just a mass of identical Bean Boots and pastels. On that note, my friends and I like to say that you can tell a guy’s personality from whether he wears Beans or Timberlands. This may or may not be true. Anyway, I have a few parting words to all you boys out there reading this. Seniors, be nice (or just nicer) to the freshman boys. Remember what it was like to be shivering outside the Mods, wandering around looking for somewhere to go. Take pity on what could be the past version of yourselves. And to all of you, as much as I love the classic Beans/jeans/buttondown/Patagonia outfit, it’s okay to mix it up. As philosopher and scholar Dr. Dre once said, “Express yourself!”

Carolyn Freeman is a contributor for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com.

Monday, February 10, 2014

BC winter sport athletes bring Sochi to campus Olympics, from B10 Cutting said. Cutting will be cheering on one of her favorite athletes in the 2014 games. “Mikaela Shiffrin is only 18 years old, but she is an amazing alpine skier,” Cutting said. “She was actually a former roommate of one of the freshmen on our team and she knows my younger sister, so we will definitely be rooting for her.” As for finding time to watch the remainder of the 2014 Games, Cutting and the rest of BC’s ski team will be resting up for a busy month of carnivals and individual races culminating in the NCAA Skiing Championships in Park City, Utah in early March. Women’s Hockey Team With the BC women’s ice hockey team just coming off their own big victory against Boston University to gain them a spot in the championship game of the Women’s Beanpot, teammates Emily Field A&S ’15 and Taylor Wasylk A&S ’14 offered their own perspective on the biggest event in women’s hockey this year: the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. As there is no women’s NHL league, the ultimate dream for many women who play hockey is the Winter Olympics. “I think every girl thinks about playing Olympic hockey because there is no NHL for us to aspire to,” Wasylk said. “The Olympics is what every girl looks to beyond college. It is what every girl

wants to do.” The 2014 U.S. women’s Olympic ice hockey team roster not only includes one current Eagle, forward Alex Carpenter ’15, but also two alumnae: goaltender Molly Schaus and forward Kelli Stack, both BC ’11. “We both know everyone on the team pretty well, so we are definitely big fan favorites of all of them,” Field said. For both Stack and Schaus, this will be their second Olympics as members of Team USA. “Kelli Stack and Molly Schaus were here my freshman year, so I actually got to play with them for a whole year,” Wasylk said. “Molly and Kelli are great, and I just really want to see them do well.” Many women collegiate hockey players appear on the rosters of countries’ Olympic teams. “A lot of schools have at least one current or former player on an Olympic team,” Wasylk said. “You can see it with the top schools. They all have four or five players on a team.” Wasylk offered her own opinion in regard to what to expect for women’s hockey in Sochi once games begin. “In terms of the most competitive teams, it is almost always USA and Canada with Finland and Sweden right behind them,” she said. Team USA has difficult preliminary round games, playing both Canada and Finland. “They have a really good team this year,

so I think they can pull it off,” Field said. As the Eagles enter the last part of the season, the team is encouraged by the progress they have made. “Recently we have come together, and we are starting to place nicely as a team, which is good timing,” Field said. Figure Skating Club Coming off the last competition of the season this past weekend, Becky Card, captain of the BC Synchronized Skating Club Team and A&S ’14, shared her insight into the Olympic figure skating events. Like many little girls growing up skating, Card always looked forward to the Olympics. “Skating has always been a huge part of my life, so watching the Olympics was one of the best parts of the year,” she said. “Although it was unrealistic and I knew I probably wouldn’t be one of those people going to the Olympics, it would always be something that you would fantasize about.” There is one skater in particular who Card is especially looking forward to seeing skate in this year’s Olympics: 2014 U.S. National Champion Gracie Gold. “I am really excited to watch Gracie Gold,” Card said. “I think that she is a beautiful skater. I don’t know why CoverGirl hasn’t snatched her up as a spokesmodel yet because she is really cute and really athletic. She has the classical skating look—so just watching her is wonderful.”

In terms of which events to watch, Card says she is especially partial to the ladies event. “I would say that women are definitely my favorite,” she said. “I love seeing what they are wearing. It is kind of like watching the Grammys or the Oscars. It is about their dress as well.” But don’t count out the men for some good entertainment, as they perform some of the most difficult routines in figure skating. “Men’s is also very interesting because their level of difficulty is mush higher than the women.” Finally, one of the big shake-ups in the figure skating world this year is the addition of the “Team Event” for the Olympics. It will work much like Team Gymnastics in the Summer Olympics and will end with one country claiming the figure skating throne. “I think the ‘Team Event’ will be interesting,” Card said. “I am intrigued to see what will happen. I think this year will be a test round for future Olympics to come.” This “Team event” is a big change for figure skating, which is thought of as a very individualized sport. “It is a very different concept for figure skating. You think of figure skating and you think of it as very individual,” Card said. Regardless, this year’s figure skating events will be sure to feature triumphs, spins, jumps, and falls marking it an exciting and nerve-wracking competition for all to watch. 

PROFESSOR PROFILE

Gallagher explores crossroads of religious, secular history BY CORINNE DUFFY

WHO: Rev. Charles Gallagher, S.J.

Heights Editor Housing over 51,000 volumes of factual information, 150 series titles, and a plethora of electronic journals and journal databases pertaining to art, museum studies, photography, and architecture, Boston College’s Bapst Art Library has existed as a crucial asset for research and teaching purposes since 1925. Among this vast compilation and inside the first edition of Sub Turri—the official yearbook of BC—is a photograph of the late Rev. Peter F. Cusick, S.J., a professor within the chemistry and earth and environmental sciences departments who taught at BC from 1909 until 1913. A little more than a century later, Rev. Charles Gallagher, S.J. followed in his great, great uncle’s footsteps to the Heights—completely unaware of this coincidental familial connection. Born in Binghamton, N.Y., Gallagher and his three siblings spent time in both New York and Nantucket, Mass. while growing up. After childhood, he initially attended Saint Anslem College in Manchester, N.H. in hopes of becoming a Benedictine monk. In addition to the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience that men pursuing the priesthood have to make, however, the Order of Saint Benedict requires a vow of stability—an oath under which candidates must remain within the same monastery throughout their lives—and eventually Gallagher resolved to reexamine his vocation elsewhere. “I couldn’t come to terms with the vow of stability,” he said. Therefore, Gallagher transferred to Marquette University to complete his undergraduate studies. Upon meeting Jesuits in the classroom, he developed an interest in the priesthood after realizing that an intellectual vocation could exist simultaneously alongside a religious calling. “At first, I didn’t have enough confidence to become a Jesuit—I considered them to

TEACHES: Spies, Spying, and the Presidency EXPERIENCE: Recieved his Ph.D. from Marquette University

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEE PELLEGRINI

be the ‘intellectual elite,’ and I didn’t think I was intellectually gifted enough to enter,” Gallagher said. He earned a B.A. in history from MU in 1988, and following graduation, decided to enter graduate school at Binghamton University. Well known for its Judaic studies program, Binghamton inspired Gallagher: many of his Jewish peers were enthusiastic with regard to learning about their faith, and Gallagher therefore cultivated greater interest in becoming enriched in the tradition of his own and moving into a community of religious scholars. Consequently, Gallagher pursued a master’s in history with a concentration on U.S. religious history—which he attained in 1991—and began, once again, to consider religious and intellectual vocations. His mentor throughout his studies at Binghamton was a rabbi, however, and he advised Gallagher to seek mentorship from someone more “well grounded” in aspects of the Catholic faith, Gallagher said. “I knew a Jesuit in the history department at Marquette, and my instinct was to go back there to get my doctorate,” he said. In

addition to obtaining his Ph.D. in history in 1998, Gallagher entered the Jesuits in 2000 and was ordained a priest in 2010. “The Jesuit vocation … St. Ignatius’ vision was a perfect fit: go out to meet people, to serve, to be present to people,” he said. “That is an integral part of how God wants me to live out His will.” While at Marquette, Gallagher found writing his dissertation, “Patriot Bishop: The Diplomatic and Episcopal Career of Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley, 1937-1967,” to be a particularly enriching experience, and he later published it as a book—Vatican Secret Diplomacy—with Yale University Press in 2008 and received the American Catholic Historical Association’s John Gilmary Shea Prize for the work. Currently, he is working on his second book, Swastika in South Boston, which, similar to the first, uses declassified OSS intelligence records to tell a narrative about Nazi propaganda and the Christian Front—an American anti-Semitic political organization—in Boston that was active from 1938 until Pearl Harbor. From 2004 until 2006, Gallagher taught

FUN FACT: His greatgreat uncle taught at BC 101 years ago. at the College of the Holy Cross within the history department. There, he gave 20th century surveys on American history, instructed religious studies, and created a course on terrorism in America. In 2010, after receiving an invitation to apply, Gallagher came to BC, where—unbeknownst to him until last year—his greatgreat uncle had taught 101 years before him. “I was very grateful—it is a great opportunity to advance as a junior scholar given the profile of the department,” he said. “I always want to challenge myself in my academic work, and there is a high level of academic professionalism in this department that is known nationwide.” At the University, Gallagher specializes in papal diplomacy, American Catholicism, and the Holocaust, and he teaches Terror and the American Century and Spies, Spying, and the Presidency. “I have great support here—the liberty you have as a scholar is very attractive, to design and teach new courses, it’s more than I could’ve dreamed for ... a truly wonderful opportunity,” he said. 

HE SAID, SHE SAID My best friend and I have both just started new relationships. Because it has not grown into something serious yet, we don’t want to make Valentine’s Day into such a huge ordeal. To solve this problem, we want to go on a double date, but aren’t sure if that will sit well with our partners. Is a double date too informal for Valentine’s Day? From your question, I gather that you have not developed strong feelings for your partner yet, which is completely fine—if your partner feels strongly about you, however, he or she may take offense to a double date suggestion. Double dates are inherently risky if everyone does not know each other. Despite my personal feelings for Valentine’s Day, I believe that most people consider it to MARC FRANCIS be an intimate holiday. If your significant other has been planning something special for you, you may not want to ruin it by suggesting a double date. In many cases, Valentine’s Day is only important for the first couple of years of a relationship—from my experience, it tends to play an even larger role when the relationship is not in a serious stage. Afterward, you two will hopefully get past the cliche holiday meant to highlight your undying love for one another, but for now, do not take a chance for the sake of your psychological comfort. If you are truly hung up on not taking a formal approach to celebrating the holiday, talk with your partner about it. Suggest a double date and gauge his or her response. Maybe he or she also does not want to take the holiday too seriously and will wholly accept the idea of a double date. My advice, however, is to use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to predict the seriousness and longevity of the relationship. Observe how your partner reacts to a day of intimacy and affection—maybe even buy a gift to thank him or her for your time spent together thus far. It’s best to play it safe during the early stages of a relationship.

A double date is by no means too informal for Valentine’s Day. Going out with other couples can be a great way to mix things up or keep things fresh in a relationship. It’s also a great way to get to know how your partner interacts in a group setting: I’ve found that most people are very different one on one. In a relationship, it’s important to like who the person is in all situations—be it with just you, hanging out with TRICIA TIEDT your best friend, in a casual group setting, or at a Mod party. Plus, a double date can help cross that tricky, ever-present boundary of integrating one another into your daily lives on campus (if that’s what you’re trying to do). All that being said, when it comes to being in a new relationship on Valentine’s Day, I think you’re asking the wrong question. You’ve just found someone new you’re crazy about, right? Why would you want to share the holiday with another couple? Whether you make a big event of the day or gloss over it like just another Friday night, make it yours. Valentine’s is such a Hallmark holiday—make of it what you will, and forget all the hype and hoopla. Also, don’t forget that you’re only one half of this new relationship—what if your partner has other ideas or potential plans for the two of you? Make sure to talk to him/her about how the two of you want to handle the day, together. No matter what you decide, decide together. In a new relationship, communication is key.

Marc Francis is an editor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com.

Tricia Tiedt is an editor for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com.

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, February 10, 2014

Song choice, enthusiam key for Pep Band

EAGLE DATES

MEET THE DATERS:

EDITOR’S COLUMN

Disney princesses remain role models despite criticisms

Pep Band, from B10 time between periods and halves so the band has enough time to play the whole song without interuption. The band welcomes feedback from the athletes, cooaches, and non-student fans as well. “Another thing that we recently learned is that the women’s hockey team loves when we play “Timber,” which is one of our newest arrangements,” Burkett said. “We love getting feedback like that so we knows what songs get our teams pumped up.” Other songs, such as “Just a Friend” and “Can’t Hold Us,” will always get a good crowd reaction, as fans love to sing and dance along. Before every hockey and basketball game, the members assigned to play will arrive an hour before the game begins. They rehearse in the band room before going to the stands. Fif te en minutes b efore ho cke y games star t , the y do the “March Around”: the Pep Band sets up in a block and marches around the concourse while playing “For Boston.” “All of the Superfans will join in as we march past them,” Burkett said. “It is a great tradition that we do to get everyone excited for the game.” Besides playing at the hockey and basketball games, the Pep Band will occasionally play the National Anthem at other sports events. They don’t travel to the away games but will play at most post-season tournaments, including the Beanpot, Frozen Four and National Championship, Hockey East Tournament, basketball ACC Tournaments, and basketball NCAA Tournaments. “Everyone who is a member will get an opportunity to travel to at least one of these tournaments,” Burkett said. Burkett’s favorite event to perform at during hockey season is the Beanpot, because, according to her, “It is always a very exciting atmosphere.” She also enjoys play ing at the women’s basketball games. “We have a great relationship with the team, and they are very receptive when we cheer and play ‘For Boston’ at the end of the game,” she said. Burkett also mentioned how exciting the energy is at all hockey games in general. “The games are really face paced,” she said. “The games are fast paced, which means that the band always has to be ready to play at any second,” she said. “We have to start playing right after the ref blows the whistle, and then we have to stop when he drops the puck. It can be a challenge, but it keeps everyone on their toes.” Being a member of the BC Pep Band requires high energy, enthusiasm, and a dedication to all aspects of BC sports. “The entire band is a very enthusiastic group and we love cheering on all of our student-athletes,” Burkett said. Perks of being in the Pep Band include the ability to travel to post-season tournaments that many students usually would not get an opportunity to travel to and attending the hockey and basketball games with friends while playing music. “The best feeling for me is when we see the fans dancing or singing along to the songs that we play,” Burkett said. “That is how we know we are doing our job.” 

NAME: Dana Sarni YEAR: 2016 MAJOR: Communication FAVORITE HILLSIDE SANDWICH: Tuna Melt FAVORITE MOVIE: ‘Titanic’

NAME: Katie Bu YEAR: 2015 MAJOR: International Studies FAVORITE HILLSIDE SANDWICH: Back Bay FAVORITE MOVIE: ‘Inglorious Basterds’

So for the single people out there, make the night your own in whichever way you feel comfortable. If you prefer the pity party cry-yourself-to-sleep-variety, then The Notebook is a fool-proof way to go through a box of Kleenex in no time at all. However, there are much less self-defeating ways to spend the day, such as going to one of many parties filled with untaken gems that will be happening at the Mods in spite of the bouquets of roses and PDA. Take advantage of enjoying the day with your closest friends and celebrate yourself as a happy, independent BC student. So whether you’re off to the North End to gorge yourself on a healthy helping of pasta and Mike’s Pastry sweets, crying yourself to sleep, or ignoring the nauseating love fest that has taken over your stable lifestyle by partying, do whatever makes you happy.

Since when is being a rincess a bad thing? As a kid, Aladdin was one of those movies that my mom always must have had sitting by the VHS player so she could entertain me at a moment’s notice. I probably watched the movie hundreds of times, as I started to call Princess Jasmine my friend. Although my parents never took me to Disney World as a child, I finally had the opportunity to go this past summer—I had just turned 20 years old. When I finally tracked down Jasmine (or the poor girl who was being paid minimum wage to dress like Jasmine), I teared up—and by teared up I mean you can see mascara running down my face in the pictures. Needless to say, when I read my first article about the detrimental effects Disney movies have had on my generation, I was outraged. The article stated that most Disney princesses are put in movies to be dependent on men and that their main goals are to be married off to handsome, rich princes. It said that Belle was encouraging abusive relationships and Jasmine was an overly sexualized exotic princess. The critics even said that in general, the Disney princesses were encouraging dependency on men to be happy. I was angry at first, and then I was sad. I felt used, and I knew I had completely fallen into a trap a media conglomerate was using to make money off of me. Then I started to do some research. I read dozens of articles that these critics had written, and in my mind I disproved each claim they made about my friend, Jasmine. For instance, Jasmine is often brought up in these articles as using her body to get what she wants. As viewers will recall, Jasmine is captured by the evil Jafar and imprisoned in a room because he wants to marry her so he can become Sultan. As part of her plan to escape, she bats her eyelashes and strokes his arm in order to distract him. Some even go so far as to say she was prostituting herself. In my mind, though, Jasmine was always using her tricks to outsmart Jafar. She had gotten one up on the villain who was foolish enough to fall for her tricks. She was clever and strong, and she beat him out in the end, and I think as my 4-year-old self, that’s why I wanted to be like her—because she got exactly what she wanted. Since I read those articles, I have re-watched Aladdin many times. My 20year-old self wants to be like Jasmine for different reasons— but I still very much want to be like her. Jasmine is one of the only princesses to buck the social norms that her family imposed on her. She gets so mad at the Sultan for forcing marriage upon her before her next birthday that she runs away. She is extremely independent and refuses to rely on a man for help, until she meets the “street rat,” Aladdin. She eventually sees him as her equal, showing that she has no prejudice against social class. In the end, Aladdin essentially has more power than she does as he becomes sultan, but they still treat each other as equals—the way a husband and wife should treat each other. Additionally, if you were an avid Aladdin fan like me, you would have watched the next two movie installments and you would’ve seen Aladdin and Jasmine’s relationship grow into not just a friendship, but into a marriage wherein Jasmine ends up saving Aladdin from many perilous situations, also. I think we all should strive to be someone who stands up for his or her beliefs even if it does go against societal norms, someone who doesn’t judge based on socioeconomic status, and someone who protects whom he or she loves. And if this is what being a princess entails, then I ask again, what is so bad about it? I will be the first to admit that Disney heavily influenced me throughout my childhood and still does today. It sucked me into the princess mentality, and it spit me back out as a 20-year-old princess Jasmine wannabe—but I think I’m okay with that.

Alison Takahashi is a contributor for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com.

Kendra Kumor is the Features Editor for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com.

NAME: Troy Johnson YEAR: 2014 MAJOR: Economics FAVORITE HILLSIDE SANDWICH: Eggplant Parmesan FAVORITE MOVIE: ‘Star Wars’

Two students hit the town for a hotpot dinner adventure HEIGHTS: How did you prepare for your date?

HEIGHTS: How did you prepare for your date?

KATIE: I read some of the old Eagle Date articles to see what I was getting myself into, and picked the restaurant.

TROY: Same way as I do every day. I took a shower and made sure my shoes were tied.

HEIGHTS: How did your date begin? KATIE: We met at the Res T stop and took the D-line into Fenway and ate at a Japanese restaurant called Swish Shabu. HEIGHTS: What was it like when you first encountered your date? KATIE: Nerve-wracking and slightly awkward. I didn’t know if we were supposed to go for the handshake or the hug. He stuck his hand out for a handshake but my hands were cold because I’d been waiting outside, so it was an awkward finger shake. HEIGHTS: What did you talk about? How did the conversation flow? KATIE: We talked about the basics, like what you study, what year you are, siblings, where you’re from. The conversation flowed pretty well. We talked a lot about movies. HEIGHTS: Were there any awkward moments? KATIE: The hostess told us to follow her when our table was ready, but then she went behind her desk and we started to follow her—we took that a little too literally.

HEIGHTS: How did your date begin? TROY: We decided to meet at the Res, since she was off campus and I’m on campus. The bus was running like 20 minutes late so I was late, too. Then we just said hi and took the T. We went to Swish Shabu—it’s a Japanese hotpot place. I had never heard of it. It was her recommendation. HEIGHTS: What was it like when you first encountered your date? TROY: It wasn’t awkward at all. She said she was wearing an orange coat so I just looked for the girl in the orange coat and said hi. HEIGHTS: What did you talk about? TROY: We talked a lot about movies and internship job sort of things that were going on. I got these noodles and they were impossible to pick up with chopsticks so half of my concentration was on that instead. It made the conversation more interesting. HEIGHTS: Were there any awkward moments? TROY: It wasn’t awkward at all. She was very easy to talk to and had a lot of interesting points. It was kind of constant the whole time. HEIGHTS: What does the future hold for you two?

HEIGHTS: How did you end the night?

TROY: Coin toss.

KATIE: We took the BC shuttle back, and I got off at South Street since I live off-campus. We just said bye and gave a hug.

HEIGHTS: Is there anything you would have done differently?

HEIGHTS: What does the future hold for you two? KATIE: I’ll say hi and won’t give him the BC lookaway. We’ll see. HEIGHTS: Is there anything you would have done differently? KATIE: I would have warned him not to order udon noodles because they’re really slippery and hard to use with chopsticks.

TROY: Ordered rice instead of noodles!

RATE YOUR DATES NAME: Katie Bu

NAME: Troy Johnson

RATE THE DATE ON A SCALE OF 1-5 (5 BEING BEST)

4.5

CAMPUS QUIRKS

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with conﬁdence on campus ALISON TAKAHASHI Valentine’s Day, like New Year’s Eve, gets an incredible amount of hype. It seems that one cannot walk into a Corcoran Commons to grab a snack without being confronted by the overwhelming quantity of fluffy teddy bears, chocolate boxes, lovey-dovey cards, and whatever else the market has made desirable. Feb. 14 never feels like “just another day” to most because aspects of everyday life suddenly seem to be an unexpectedly personal affront. On the other hand, couples are faced with additional dilemmas of their own. For a new couple, Valentine’s Day can seem equivalent to asking a friend you like to UGBC Homecoming or introducing your overly protective father to your high school prom date. There’s no measurement scale to calculate just how much tension or anxiety is in the air, but rest assured that couples don’t necessarily have it easy either.

For one, there’s the sheer expense of the holiday, which more often than not, falls into the hands of the guy. Couples may choose to celebrate the occasion to the fullest with wining or dining, while others may choose a more laid-back date in with Crazy Dough’s pizza. There’s also the gift-giving element, which has an equal potential to break the bank, depending on how generous or stingy each of you chooses to be. The two above-mentioned costs vary from the third and final one, which is emotional rather than financial. New or long-distance couples may experience anxiety and stress with the approaching holiday, unsure if the date will meet all the expectations they’ve crafted in their heads thanks to cheesy romantic comedies and sappy Nicholas Sparks books. For those who are new to the game, your best bet is to approach the day with an open mind and lower expectations in an effort to guarantee the night will be a huge success. For those who’ve been dating long-term, the holiday

is most likely a pleasant one that allows each partner to appreciate the other for the time they’ve spent together thus far. Couples appear to be the stars of the show on Feb. 14, but where does that leave the majority of people, especially those in college, who have no serious relationship on their hands? Those who are single have three options on this day: you can be an emotional train wreck and blame yourself for your non-existent significant other by taking out your feelings on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream; own the day as a chance to celebrate your decision to be without a relationship because you feel comfortable in your own skin and are satisfied with your life; or you can have absolutely no feelings toward Valentine’s Day. Those of you who identify with the second category are fortunate in a number of ways, but in reality, all ways of dealing with this love-infatuated holiday are perfectly rational because Valentine’s Day is a holiday that evokes countless emotions.

KENDRA KUMOR

FEATURES THE HEIGHTS

B10

Monday, February 10, 2014

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

BC 2 SOCHI BY CAITLIN SLOTTER Heights Staff

AND KENDRA KUMOR Features Editor

With the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics this past Friday come a convergence of skiers and skaters from across the globe culminating in one competition in Sochi, Russia and watched by millions of viewers worldwide. What many students may not know, though, is that the Olympics may be closer to campus than they appear. Boston College’s ski team, figure skating club, and women’s hockey team bring the winter games to BC, sharing their opinions on what it’s like to compete in these wintery Games. Ski Team Being a member of BC’s ski team takes more than just a North-

face and some thick socks. “My alarm goes off at about 5 a.m., and we leave campus around 6—drive two hours, train two hours, then drive two hours back,” said Katie Cutting, CSON ’14. “We start practicing the first week of school, so it’s pretty much all year round.” In addition to their normal training in the Northeast, the ski team takes an annual Thanksgiving break trip out to Colorado to fit in extra training hours in prime conditions. Cutting began skiing when she was just 2 years old and began racing when she was 8, coached by her father who was also a lifelong skier, and was set to compete on the University of Vermont’s ski team before a serious injury. Her two younger sisters also joined in on the family sport. “My favorite part about skiing is when you get a 30-degree day, sunny, blue skies, and everything just feels right—there is no other way to describe it,” Cutting said. “We had one of those days in Colorado this year—it was just perfect.”

JORDAN PENTALERI / HEIGHTS GRAPHIC

BC’s ski team consists of 20 students who dedicate their mornings and weekends to training and “carnivals,” another word for the competitions that consist of local ski teams. “There are about six carnivals in our season,” Cutting said. “But then we have other individual races that add up to 25 to 30 races throughout the year.” Although Cutting herself does not have Olympic ambitions, her competitors and former teammates have very real Olympic goals. “It’s just not as easy in the U.S. as it is in other countries to get on the Olympic team—you either go to college or go to the [Olympic] team,” Cutting said. “No one really goes from college.” As far as the competition goes, Cutting has raced against many athletes competing in this year’s games. “Two girls that I race against normally are going this year: one is from Australia, another from Canada, and I think there may be another from Japan,”

See Olympics, B8

BC Pep Band livens up hockey, basketball games Band playlists serve as fuel for both fans and student-athletes BY CAITLIN SLOTTER Heights Staff

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA ABRAHAMIAN

Survival Ross, BC ’06, used a pickup line to strike up a converastion with his now-fiancee Anna Abrahamian, BC ’06, in Lower one day.

Alumni recount tales of campus romance BY SAMANTHA COSTANZO Asst. Features Editor

One might call the Boston College campus cozy. With just over 9,000 undergraduate students enrolled at the beginning of this year, it would seem that students have plenty of options when it comes to finding friends—but not so many options that they become overwhelmed. It’s easy enough, then, to find a niche and a core group of friends, and so it’s not too far fetched to think that one can find a husband or wife on campus as well. In fact, according to the BC Alumni Association, over 7,000 alumni marriages have taken place over the years.

They began with chance encounters, introductions by mutual friends, and in some cases, a bold move or two. Survival Ross, BC ’06, spotted his future fiancee, Anna Abrahamian, BC ’06, in Corcoran Commons in the fall of his senior year. “You know, your natural beauty is astounding,” he said to her. “It’s corny!” Abrahamian said in an email. “But it got us talking, and the rest is history.” The couple will be married in just a few weeks, on Feb. 22. Michelle St. Martin Pierce and her husband, Teddy Pierce, both BC ’09, met in what one might consider more typical for BC students—a party in Walsh Hall.

I NSIDE FEATUR E S THIS ISSUE

“First week of sophomore year, my roommates and I had a birthday party in our suite in Walsh for one of our roommates and invited a group of guy friends,” St. Martin Pierce said in an email. “Teddy was one of their suite mates and came down to the party.” The two have been married since June 2013 and now live in North Carolina, where they brew their own beer and compete in local tastings. A combination of mutual friends and a love of basketball led Kaitlin Dunn Lang and Brendan Lang, both BC ’08, to each other. “We kind of had some mutual friends but we met at the Plex playing basket-

See Couples, B7

The Boston College Pep Band is an intrinsic part of men’s and women’s hockey and basketball games. Students all know it by the songs it performs between plays and during rest periods. It energizes both the fans and the players, and hockey and basketball games certainly wouldn’t be the same without it. Behind their energizing songs and essential presence is hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm on the part of the Pep Band members. Many students aren’t aware that the Pep Band is different from the Screaming Eagles Marching Band that plays at football games, although many students choose to play in both ensembles. The Pep Band season begins in late fall when the hockey and basketball seasons commence. “We accept anyone who has musical experience and who enjoys cheering on the Eagles,” said Julia Burkett, a member of the Pep Band executive board and A&S ’14, in an email. In total there are around 140 members in the Pep Band, although about 29 members play at each game. At the beginning of each season, the executive board assigns each member to perform at a certain amount of hockey and basketball

Eagle Date Two BC students go on a blind date to a hot pot resturant in Boston in the hopes of meeting a new friend in a unique way............................................. B9

games and tries to base those assignations on their members’ preferences. The Pep Band practices once a month to go over new songs (as opposed to the football marching band, which practices several times a week). “This is because there are many more hockey and basketball games than there are football games, so we have many more chances to go over music before each game,” Burkett said. Another difference between the marching band and the Pep Band is the selections of songs it plays. The Pep Band has a catalogue of songs that it can choose from to play at each game. Each year, the Pep Band adds contemporary songs to its repertoire, while also keeping some staple favorites, such as “Carry On my Wayward Son” by Kansas and “Impression That I Get” by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The director and conductors choose which songs will be played during each break to maintain a variety at each sporting event. “Some of the songs always are played only at certain times,” Burkett said. “For example, we play ‘Seven Nation Army’ when we are trying to kill a power play in hockey. This is to get the Superfans chanting along with the music so that we can bring energy to the team.” Other, longer songs, such as “Carry On my Wayward Son” and “The Impression That I Get,” are saved for the

See Pep Band, B9 Foreign Affairs.........................B7 He Said/She Said.........................B8