lacrosse defeated
Innovation day disney stars speak
Sports
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No. 13 women’s lacrosse unable to keep up with No. 12 Syracuse in tight contest, A10
Children’s Hospital Boston commemorates the city’s superior healthcare, B10
Taylor Kitsch and Andrew Stanton offer their thoughts about new film, B1
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Vol. XCIII, No. 11
Chris and Kudzai win with 51 percent of vote
BC will appeal court’s ruling, protect tapes
42 percent of students turn out to elect UGBC leadership for 2012-2013 year
Appeal will not be heard until June
By David Cote News Editor
Chris Osnato and Kudzai Taziva, both A&S ’13, have won the UGBC presidency for the 2012-2013 academic year. The pair received 50.5 percent of the votes cast. Vanessa Gomez and Jennifer Wanandi, both A&S ’13, received 243 fewer votes than the Osnato-Taziva vote. In total, 3,745 ballots were cast, amounting to 42 percent of the undergraduate student population. Osnato and Taziva campaigned under the slogan “Because YOU Matter,” and have worked hard to emphasize their commitment to including every student at Boston College. They stressed the importance of improving academic advising and creating peer-mentoring relationships. They also recognized poor attendance at athletic events, and hope to encourage better participation by incentivizing attendance. Gomez and Wanandi also recognized the importance of incorporating the typical student into UGBC, and
By Taylour Kumpf Editor-in-Chief
hoped to restructure UGBC to be more transparent. They wanted to increase relationships with administrators and accessiblity for students to their UGBC representatives. “From the beginning, we’ve tried to make this campaign relevant and important to all students on campus,” Osnato and Taziva said in a statement. “We’ve been blessed with the opportunity to make a difference on this campus and we will do our best to carry out the goals and initiatives outlined in our platform. We commend the efforts of the GomezWanandi team and we hope to work with them in the upcoming year. Thank you Boston College!” Voter turnout was down from last year, when 3,918 votes were cast. There were 208 voters who submitted ballots without selecting a presidential candidate, comprising 5.5 percent of the total votes. Senate votes were also tallied and released by the Elections Committee. They
See Elections, A4
woogeon kim / heights editor
SOFC budget runs dry early
By Taylour Kumpf
Asst. News Editor
Editor-in-Chief
See SOFC, A4
See Belfast, A4
UGBC gets green light for concert from administration
By Samantha Costanzo The Student Organization Funding Committee (SOFC) has recently alerted all organizations that receive funds from it that it has exhausted its budget for this year and will not be able to fund additional events or hear appeals for more funding. According to the e-mail sent to each registered student organization (RSO), the SOFC was asked for $1,835,879 this year but only received $476,600. This money comes from the student activity fee each student pays and is split with UGBC, club sports, and Nights on the Heights. Several factors contributed to the depletion of SOFC’s funds this year. According to Karl Bell, assistant director of the Student Programs Office, various accounting errors occurred between the fall and spring semesters. SOFC generally looks at the amount of money clubs have left over from previous semesters, called “carry forward,” when determining new budgets. For example, a club asking for $4,000 for this semester that already has $1,000 left over could only receive a maximum of $3,000. This year was the first year in which SOFC divided its funds between two semesters. “The carry forward [from the previous year] was accounted for in the fall, but there was no carry forward accounted for in the spring,” Bell said. As a result, clubs were overfunded. In addition to this error, the sheer number of RSOs proved difficult to deal with. “The amount of clubs that we’re al-
Boston College filed an appeal on Monday of the federal court ruling issued last month that ordered the University to turn over transcripts and recordings of interviews with seven individuals who took part in the Belfast Project, an oral history project on the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as “The Troubles.” “Boston College today filed an appeal of the District Court’s most recent decision (issued Jan. 20, 2012) requiring the University to turn over all or parts of the interviews of seven individuals who took part in The Belfast Project, an oral history project on the Troubles in Northern Ireland,” University Spokesman Jack Dunn said on Monday. “The University is seeking further review of the court’s order to ensure that the value of the interviews to the underlying criminal investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland outweighs the interests in protecting the confidentiality of academic research materials.”
alex trautwig / heights senior staff
Last year’s Spring Concert featuring J. Cole and Wale (above), resulted in many transports.
UGBC has announced that they have been given the go-ahead by the administration to have a concert this spring. This approval comes with a contingency clause, however, as administrators have said that future concerts are dependent on student behavior this spring. According to Michael Kitlas, UGBC president and A&S ’12, there have been numerous discussions between the administration and UGBC, and the University has finally agreed to allow a
Spring Concert event. “We’ve had a lot of communication with the administration–including proposals and recommendations,” he said. “But we finally got the green light.” Based on the proposals UGBC submitted to the administration, Kitlas said that students will see some changes with the event this spring, including an earlier start time on the Friday of the concert. Kitlas stated that the most important thing is working to create a safer environment at large-scale concerts.
See Concert, A4
Campus parking dilemmas and prices explained by administration By Colleen Donnelly For The Heights
If you ask students, many of them will tell you that one of their least favorite aspects of Boston College is the lack of undergraduate student parking. According to Transportation and Parking Manager Paul Cappadona, resident students share access to about 970 parking spaces between the Main, Brighton, and Newton campuses. There are 9,100 undergraduate students, meaning that about 10 percent of students are able to park on campus each year. Cappadona also stated that graduate students and commuters comprise about 70 percent of the total parking inventory owned by BC. If permits are requested, it is more likely that they will be given to graduate students and commuters rather than full-time resident undergraduates.
In addition to being limited for undergraduate students, parking is also extremely expensive. This can be a source of concern for many who feel that having access to a car on campus is a necessity. For resident undergraduate students, parking costs $518 per semester, while graduate students pay $259 per year. “The prices are developed to support the maintenance and upkeep of the parking facilities,” Cappadona said. On top of insurance, maintenance, and gas prices, the high price for parking is a major deterrent to many students who desire to have access to a car on campus. Not only is parking difficult for students, but it is also a hassle for weekday visitors. Because of faculty and staff parking, visitors are prohibited from using the Commonwealth Garage until after 2 p.m. Visitors must park on lev-
See Parking, A4
annie budnick / for the heights
Parking on campus is limited for undergrads, and fees range as high as $518 per semester.