The Heights February 12, 2018

HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

EST. 1919

WWW.BCHEIGHTS.COM

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018

UGBC ELECTIONS GUIDE 2018 SEE A10 Candidates Debate Goals, Platforms Voting for UGBC president and EVP will take place on Thursday.

BY CHARLIE POWER Asst. News Editor

KEITH CARROLL / HEIGHTS EDITOR

BC Downs No. 25 Miami In the final seconds of the game, Ky Bowman netted two game-winning free throws.

BC Will Not Change Name of Yawkey Center Dunn cited agreement between foundation and grant recepients.

BY ANTHONY REIN Assoc. News Editor With the Boston Red Sox in talks with the City of Boston to rename Yawkey Way, the street outside Fenway Park, Boston College said it will not change the name of BC’s Yawkey Athletics Center.

Recipients of grants from the Yawkey Foundation, one of the main benefactors that contributed to the building’s construction, are required by agreement with the foundation to bear the Yawkey name, according to University Spokes-

man Jack Dunn.

The street outside Fenway is named after long-time Red Sox owner Thomas “Tom” Yawkey, who owned the team for 44 seasons, but has faced criticism of late because the Red Sox were the last Major League Baseball team to integrate black players.

The Yawkey Athletics Center, which opened in March 2005, was built entirely by private donations, according to a BC Athletics webpage. Those included a $15 million donation from the Yawkey Foundation, for which the building was named. The $27 million building houses the football offices, player lounges, sports medicine offices, equipment

See Yawkey, A3

Eagle Update Launches, Improves EagleScribe The app lets students receive course alerts and view ratings.

BY COLLEEN MARTIN Copy Editor Eagle Update, an app that allows students to browse courses and sign up for alerts while seeing average course ratings, was released last week.

Along with the ratings, users can also see meeting times, professors, and the number of credits for each course listed.

The program was developed by Brandon LaRouche, MCAS ’19, a computer science major who saw the need to improve the EagleScribe app that people often use to view and subscribe to courses during the

drop/add period at the beginning of the semester. He started working on developing his app, a process that he has been familiar with since he began developing apps in middle school.

After working on the app for 250 to 300 hours, LaRouche submitted it to Apple to be reviewed. After Apple confirmed that the app was secure, he shipped it to the App Store for release.

The app is publicly available, free, and does not have any advertisements.

LaRouche didn’t want to add anything that could diminish the quality of the program, and he has been paying for any costs associated with running the app.

To make the app, he developed a database that keeps track of course

See Eagle Update, A3

The two teams running for Undergraduate Government of Boston College president and executive vice president faced off in the final debate of the campaign Sunday night. The two teams are Taraun Frontis, CSOM ’19, and Aneeb Sheikh, MCAS ’20; and Reed Piercey, MCAS ’19, and Ignacio Fletcher, MCAS ’20. Voting will take place on Thursday.

The candidates were asked to respond to a variety of questions, ranging from issues of diversity and inclusion to discussing the challenges they would face in office if elected. One component of both teams’ platforms, the establishment of a student center, was not discussed during the debate.

In elaborating on the ideas his team would present during its first meeting with the Board of Trustees, Frontis stressed a review of the efficacy of DiversityEdu module, which will be implemented next fall. Sheikh plans to hold the University accountable to the letter it released following the Silence is Still Violence march, specifically in regards to a detailed timeline and funding for the various commitments made in the letter.

Piercey mentioned holding the BC

KATHERINE GENIRS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Candidates answered questions about a variety of topics on Sunday night’s debate.

administration responsible for implementing the Student Experience Survey—this would be the first comprehensive collection of data on AHANA and LGBTQ+ students at BC. This data will be used to help bolster UGBC claims for diversity and inclusion. Piercey also discussed his plan for the Eagle Exchange Program, which would operate as a used market in which students buy and sell items, such as books and clothes.

Frontis went on to highlight his team’s proposal for a Red Square, a space where students can have sanctioned demonstrations and not have to worry about obtaining permits from the University. He also explained the role of UGBC in on-campus activism.

“I would say that as UGBC being a student activism board, we should be directly involved in these incidents,”

he said.

Piercey also argued UGBC should play an integral role in activism on campus.

“We think that as much as challenging the administration is an important part of what we do, UGBC also has to challenge the student body to promote not just top-down change from the administration, but bottom-up change as well,” he said.

He also said his team decided not to include the Red Square idea in its platform, due to concerns over accountability in expressing freedom of speech without permitting hate speech.

One question, prefaced by the statement that 16 percent of BC students come from households that earn more

See Debate, A3

Popular BC Hangout Agoro’s Closes The Cleveland Circle pizza bar and grill closed yesterday.

BY ISABEL FENOGLIO Asst. Metro Editor After less than two years in Cleveland Circle, Agoro’s Pizza Bar and Grill closed its doors for good on Sunday.

The news came as a shock to local residents and Boston College students, who have come to love the mouthwatering Greek-style pan pizza and calzones that Agoro’s is famous for.

“Selling a business is a very difficult decision, but we have decided to focus on putting our family first,” said coowner Dimitrios Liakos.

“With another newborn on the way, it’s just too much work and too demanding to give this location our 100 percent,” he added.

Liakos owns Agoro’s with his brother Nicholas, and they inherited the business from their parents in 2010. The brothers plan to focus on their original location in Somerset, Mass., where they grew up, and where they plan to raise their families.

“We have come to realize that the

JOANNA YUELYS / HEIGHTS STAFF

The owner cited wanting to spend more time with his family as the reason for selling. college area isn’t where we need to be,” Liakos said. “We will never return to Cleveland Circle, that’s for sure.”

In addition to speciality pizza sold by the slice, Agoro’s offered a sports grill with a full menu, late night delivery, and a full bar, quickly making it a favorite hangout for BC students.

“We want to thank Boston College and Cleveland Circle for supporting us over the last two years. There have been some great memories,” Liakos said.

He also wanted to pay a special shout out to the BC Class of 2018: “You know who you are. Thank you and good luck!”

In regards to who will take over the space, Liakos said that it’s still confidential, but he did offer a hint. “I can’t say yet, but I can say that it’s not pizza or fast food.”

“We’re not doing anything special these last couple days,” Liakos said, “we’re just offering the same delicious pizza and food we take pride in.” 

The Heights endorses Frontis and Sheikh for UGBC president, EVP, A6.

HEALING ART

ONE MORE

SCENE

Sports

The ‘Holy City’ Exhibit shows strength and unity in the wake of tragedy.

Women’s hockey downed Northeastern on Tuesday night to advance to its sixth straight Beanpot Final.

B4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

B8

See Galit’s, A10

NEWS: Amazon Lockers

The Newton Campus mailroom is testing Amazon lockers......................A3

FEATURES: Lights Up

Scott Clyve brings his technical expertise from the popemobile to BC.......................A8

INDEX

NEWS.......................... A3 FEATURES...................A8

Vol. XCIX, No. 4 UGBC CANDIDATES.....A5 METRO....................... A9 © 2018, The Heights, Inc. OPINIONS................... A6 SPORTS......................B1 www.bchelghts.com

The Heights

A2

TOP

3

things to do on campus this week

1

The Office of Residential Life will host its annual spring housing information session for students who plan to live off-campus next year. The event will take place on Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. in Walsh 131.

Monday, February 12, 2018

2

Nicole Roberts Jones, the CEO of Imani Corporation, a group that mentors African American teenage girls in financial literacy and college prep will be speaking on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in McGuinn 521. Jones is hosted by the School of Social Work as a Black History Month Speaker.

3

On Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Heights Room the Career Center will host a Startup and Entrepreneurship Fair. The event is open to all students who are interested in opportunities in startup companies. The dress code is informal. See BC’s website for the link to register to attend.

NEWS Professors Examine Race in Context of Religion BRIEFS

By Cole Dady

Physicist Given Three Grants

Ilija Zeljkovic, an assistant professor of physics at Boston College, was awarded research grants totalling $1.5 million for his research into superconductors and topological insulators. The grants were awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Army Research Office.

The NSF presented Zeljkovic with a five-year $650,000 CAREER award, which will support his project “Nanoscale Synthesis and Imaging of Novel Topological Phases.” The project combines two advanced atomic-scale techniques to create and define new topological materials.

“I am extremely grateful to the National Science Foundation, DARPA, and the Army Research Office for their support of my lab’s work and to Boston College for providing the necessary internal framework to jumpstart the projects,” Zeljkovic said to The Chronicle.

DARPA gave Zeljkovic a two-year, $500,000 Young Faculty Award for his project “3D Printing of Novel HighTemperature Superconductors.” This grant will support new equipment and two graduate students who will help him with this project.

The Army Research Office awarded Zeljkovic with a three-year $360,000 Young Investigator Award to support his project “Nanoscale Engineering of Superconducting Proximity Effect in Topological Insulator Thin Films.”

“We’re all very proud of Ilija,” Evelyn J. and Robert A. Ferris Professor of Physics Michael Naughton said to The Chronicle. “He is the first faculty member in BC’s history to win three young investigator awards from our federal agencies, and I dare say he’s not done yet.”

Betancourt Joins Faculty Theresa Betancourt, an internationally renowned child trauma and human rights scholar, joined Boston College’s School of Social Work as the inaugural Salem Professor in Global Practice, Gautam Yadama, dean of the School of Social Work, announced on Thursday.

Betancourt spent 11 years as an assistant and associate professor of child health and human rights at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also directed the Research Program on Children and Global Adversity.

“Theresa’s pioneering work in mental health and the design and evaluation of interventions will add a new dimension to the School of Social Work’s focus on improving the lives of children, youth and families around the world and here in refugee and immigrant communities within the Greater Boston region,” Yadama said to The Chronicle. “This combination of robust research and practice innovation will distinguish our social work program, and strengthen our ability to improve vulnerable lives through evidence-based interventions here, at home, and across the globe.”

Betancourt has researched in Rwanda, Uganda, India, Ethiopia, the Russian Federation and Sierra Leone, where she had spent the past 15 years directing the intergenerational study of war-affected youth. According to The Chronicle, her research project has been cited as the most extensive examination of post-war intergenerational relationships since studies of Holocaust survivors.

“Professor Betancourt’s research is truly global in scale, but focused on what matters most: the well-being of children, families and communities, particularly those devastated by the effects of war and conflict,” Yadama said to The Chronicle.

News Editor

At a Friday evening forum entitled “Do Our Lives Matter?,” two professors addressed how social constructs guide people’s attitudes toward issues of race. Hosted by the Asian Christian Fellowship, the event brought Cullen Buie, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Min Song, director of the Asian American Studies Program and professor of English, to discuss the ways in which higher education and faith can address issues of race on a local level at Boston College, and on a broader scale nationwide.

In the past few months, students have called upon higher education to take on a greater responsibility in addressing issues of race. Last October, the University of Florida allowed a student organization to invite Richard Spencer, a well-known white nationalist, to speak on campus, inciting riots and forcing the declaration of a state-of-emergency. Similarly at BC, students rallied against a stream of racist incidents on campus last October.

Buie started off the discussion by explaining one of the most significant challenges facing issues of race today: the fact that there is little dialogue surrounding them. While the United States is no longer defined by slavery and Jim Crow, this “postracial” society, as Buie dubbed the present historical moment, is anything but okay.

“We have a moral imperative not to turn our eyes away when we see injustice, and we have a moral imperative to always do good,” Song said.

Another hurdle is the fact that there is a deeply embedded idea of race as a social construct, which has a real effect on how people lead their lives.

“It’s kind of a banal statement to say race is socially constructed because every aspect of our lives is socially constructed,” Song said. “The question then is what do you do with that social construct?”

He cited a definition of race created

by Ruth Gilmore, a geography professor from the City University of New York, to explain what the term really means. She says race is about taking differentiations that already exist and making determinations about whose lives are worth investing in, and whose are not.

According to Song, there’s still a discrepancy between the two with regard to race.

The two professors believe that this can be remedied thanks to an understanding of the relationship between race and faith. They cited Genesis 1:27, which states that God created men and women in His image, as the basis of their argument that race does not define a person or one’s relationship with other individuals.

Buie said that people struggle to see their shared nature and unity, which allows division based on race to flourish.

COLE DADY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The speakers examined the role of higher education in addressing issues of race.

“Racism and our difficulty in seeing God in one another is an outflow of sin and our imperfection,” Buie said.

Additionally, higher education should play a role in addressing these issues, but it cannot solely solve them.

When Buie would walk home from work in Somerville, Mass., he noticed that people would always cross the street as he approached them. Although he wanted to believe that this was just a coincidence, it seemed to happen too often to be the case. Buie told this story to convey that no level of education can completely solve race issues, even if you have a Ph.D. from Stanford University, like he does.

But both speakers still believe that academics and college students

can play a significant role in issues of social justice.

“I do think we need to hold universities accountable because there is a lot of authority given to you once you get a college degree,” Buie said.

He also discussed the value in seeing the shared connection that all people have. Regardless of what one’s race or faith is, people should look past racial barriers and toward their similarities, Buie said.

“My work won’t last forever and material things won’t, but if people and our souls are eternal, then our interactions can last forever,” Buie said. “This should be our motivation to try to find a common connection and see the value in life.” n

Christianity Relieves Racial Tensions, Says Jennings

By Jaehun Lee Heights Staff Willie Jennings, a theologian and professor at Yale Divinity School, gave Boston College’s annual Candlemas lecture on Thursday evening as part of the Lowell Humanities Series. Jennings focused on using Christianity to relieve racial tensions in America.

Jennings believed that mistakes made in interpreting God’s word is the root of many social rifts, such as poor race relations and border debates. For example, Jennings argued that white settlers first engaged in grouping distinct tribes and clans into reductive categories called “races.” In addition, they introduced the concept of private property—humans possessed land rather than living with the land as the Natives believed.

“It began with theft,” Jennings argued.

“The land was being taken. [The Natives] were forced to isolate their bodies from the land and reduce their identities down to their bodies. Christians forced them to do this because this was how they saw the world—isolated bodies, racialized bodies, and privatized lands.”

According to him, Christians saw themselves as entitled to these actions because

they read the Word of God as primary readers, not as secondary readers who were exposed to the Word by Judaism.

“Christians were from the beginning of our faith second readers,” Jennings explained. “We read after and with the [Jews], learning of God and God’s Word. [Christianity] began with a pedagogy of joining.”

Jennings also said that Christians treated everyone else as if they did not know the Word of God, which allowed them to engage in colonization and racial discrimination without considering the moral or theological implications of doing so. Christians acted as if they were the ones who God reached out to first, rejecting the notion of inclusion that allowed them to become believers in the first place.

“We moved Israel from first readers to second readers, and Christians’ reading practices became inverted so that both the Scriptures and the Word were read from the position of the first reader,” Jennings said.

“First reading became exclusive reading.”

As a result of this mistake in faith, Jennings argued that the white settlers treated the indigenous peoples they encountered as demonically possessed because they viewed Nature as alive and constantly interacting with them. Jennings pointed to the white

settlers’ view of the land as a tool for use and enjoyment—as opposed to the Natives’ view—as a driving factor behind this treatment. In other words, the white settlers were imposing their way of life onto the Natives.

“Christians viewed the world through eyes of possession,” Jennings said. “They saw [the Natives] as demonically possessed, as seen in the way they talked about animals … which would later be called … cultural primitivism … Colonial settlers concluded that the Natives were ignorant, especially with regard to the proper use of land.”

Jennings traced current racial tensions and environmental misuse to this Colonialist influence. He argued that today, we still see the world as a possession, our goal being to realize its full potential. He extended this argument to nationalism, further explaining that it was founded from the concept of being attached to the land by owning it.

People see borders because they see land as possession, rather than a shared resource given by God. To rethink how we view the land, Jennings called for Christians to stop viewing land as a possession. To achieve this, he called for Christians to see what is not preached at the pulpit and to tend to Nature, rather than merely control it. Jennings

noted that Nature served as a backdrop in sermons, something that had to be changed.

“I was not taught to read the stories with the places in mind,” Jennings said. “Animals were always just a backdrop … the noise I was trained to ignore. What I was trained to pay attention to was who got the land.

We must reverse that pedagogy of seeing the land as private property to see what was presented in the Bible: God dancing and living with the land. We need to see God and Jesus joining us together in the dirt … drawing us to tend to Earth.”

This new view on Christian teachings can give us a deeper sense of understanding into our lives, allowing us to live more meaningful lives as Christians. By finding new lines of connection—which transcend class, racial, and property lines—Jennings hopes that we can engage in “gestures of openness” rather than exclusiveness, allowing us to welcome everyone and preach the good news and faith.

“Geography matters for hospitality,” Jennings said. “And geography matters to God. The Spirit who brought all to this place and time seeks to mark this place and all places with divine presence. This is where the Christian doctrine of creation will begin to matter.” n

POLICE BLOTTER: 2/7/18 – 2/8/18 Wednesday, Feb. 7

Thursday, Feb. 8

3:00 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a trespass warning issued at Boston College Police Headquarters.

10:44 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Gasson Hall.

1:48 p.m. - A report was filed regarding trespassing at Robsham Theater.

1:35 p.m. - A report was filed rearding property lost at Brighton Campus Lots.

5:13 p.m. - A report was filed regarding the confiscation of property at Thomas More Apartments.

3:23 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm at Medeiros Hall.

7:09 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious circumstance off campus.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

CORRECTIONS If You Were a BC Building, Which Would You Be? “Higgins, because I’m studying science.”

—Arshdeep Singh, MCAS ’21

“Welch, because I may not be your first choice but I’m better than nothing.”

—Brendan Lawlor, MCAS

“Bapst, because everyone’s working there and I like to work to.”—Vinny Ferucci, CSOM ’20

“None of them, because they’re either super old and falling apart, or way too nice and put together.”

—Sophia Fox, MCAS ’20

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

The Heights

Monday, February 12, 2018

A3

Eagle Update Brings New Features to Eagle Scribe Eagle Update, from A1

KATIE GENIRS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Teams Discuss Goals at Final Debate Debate, from A1 than $600,000, asked about ensuring a level playing field in terms of opportunities for all students.

Frontis believes that expanding Montserrat to include a division in all four schools would be an important step toward more expansive resources for low-income students.

“As a low-income, first-generation student myself, I would like to emphasize our need for increasing resources for departments like Learning to Learn and Montserrat,” he said. “One of the policies we came up with was having a Montserrat department in every school. For example, as a CSOM student, we have a lot of customized books and software … and because of my low-income status, I’m not able to get all those materials.”

Piercey emphasized that it is vital to expand the financial aid resources of Montserrat students to include several charges not typically covered by BC. “A lot of the time they’re not able to afford Boston College’s health insurance program … so we’d like to advocate for the

inclusion of that,” Piercey said. “The second thing is that we also think we should advocate for the inclusion of laundry money, another smaller day-to-day charge.”

In discussing a potential challenge to transitioning to office if elected, Piercey talked about the struggle of the general disorganization of UGBC. “There’s no centralized environment to be updated on the policies and initiatives that the previous administration has taken on, the exact steps, and what’s to be done next,” he said.

Frontis and Sheikh highlighted transparency and student-centered change as priorities of their campaign.

“We have a lot of initiatives we want to work on, a lot of ideas that we want to implement, but how do we prioritize those initiatives?” Sheikh said. “So hopefully there’s a conversation where we work with student representatives in the [Student Assembly], so we are being representative of the issues that the study body cares about.”

Prompted to give minute and a halflong closing statements, Frontis and Sheikh spoke first.

“We are able to make tangible change

because we have the experience to do so,” Frontis said. “We know who to go to, who to contact, because we have already created these relationships … and that’s why [our platform is] 13 pages, because we have specific steps for each process.”

“The reason why we should be your next president and vice president of UGBC is because we have the experience and the relationships to enact tangible change,” Sheikh said.

Fletcher and Piercey expressed a desire to serve the entire student body if elected.

“We have been working hard, but we have not been able to grab everyone’s attention here,” Fletcher said. “We have not been able to make everyone care. That is our goal.”

“We’re running to take on events that serve and benefit everyone, so we can draw more people into our mission,” Piercey said. “So that we can challenge the complacency that allows events like last semester to happen. We want to be that bridge that connects those that already care with those that have the potential to care, and become better allies.” n

Mailroom Becomes More Efficient

By Catherine Cremens Asst. Investigative Editor At a university that distributes hundreds of thousands of packages to students every year, the efficiency of the mailroom is important to ensuring that every package is delivered quickly and accurately. As such, the Boston College mailroom, adjusting to the increased volume of received packages, has transitioned to a new system in hopes of improving productivity for staff and students alike.

The mailroom’s move over the summer from Arrival, the old system, to a cloudbased network called SCLogic has marked a significant change in its operations. With the old system, paper labels were placed on every package that entered the mailroom.

Tracking numbers could be scanned from the paper labels inaccurately, leading to confusion among staff and delayed pickup for students.

Now without paper labels, the new system prevents such inaccuracies by scanning tracking numbers when new packages arrive and then scanning a section of one of the shelves. Mailroom staff can then more efficiently match the package to the student when they are presented with the student’s ID. The system also informs mailroom employees that students have multiple packages ready for pickup by identifying the shelf where a student may have them waiting, without the student having to present more than one email containing a pickup notification.

The emails that students receive have also become more efficient. The layout of the emails produced by the system provides

more clarity to students, generating a faster response once they receive news that they have a package ready for pickup. Though the mailroom continues to handle 20 percent more packages each academic year, storage has not yet been an issue since students are so quick to pick up their items.

“We’ve all been surprised at how much greater the student response has been to the email notifications of the new system,” said Al Travaglini, director of facilities services.

In addition to the new electronic system, the mailroom has also doubled the size of its site in Walsh Hall by moving a resident director’s apartment to a different part of the building. They also created a new entrance specifically for the mailroom. Packages either sorted on Newton Campus or directly delivered by UPS on site were being entered into the mailroom less efficiently because of the shared entrance with other BC staff.

“We now have our own separate, singular entry point, so it’s helped out immeasurably,” Travaglini said.

Though the SCLogic system was just implemented this academic year, the mailroom continues to look to the future by considering an even newer, more efficient way of delivery: lockers. Currently, the mailroom has partnered with Amazon to have an Amazon locker on the Newton campus at Kenny Cottle Library.

The locker system makes picking up packages much more convenient for students. Instead of a package from Amazon being delivered to the mailroom, where it must be sorted and then picked up at the mailroom itself, students have the option of having their package delivered to the lockers on Newton. The lockers have

been operational on Newton for three months, with about 200 deliveries there each month.

“It takes those 200 packages out of my waystream, meaning my employees don’t have to handle them, and it gives the recipient of that package greater flexibility in terms of the number of hours they can access the package,” Travaglini said.

Inspired by Amazon’s accessibility and success, Travaglini and his staff are looking at a similar system for the entire BC mailroom. With the locker system, staff would still have to sort which on-campus location the package is delivered to, and then again sort packages into their respective lockers. The capacity of the system would present another challenge, as approximately 2,000 people are served by each mailroom at Vouté, Walsh, McElroy Commons, and Newton Campus.

“We’d like to take it to the next step and see if we can’t at least experiment with an installation of our own locker system,” he said. “The caveat is, those lockers are a benefit to the students, but they’re not necessarily a benefit to the staff.”

The lockers may come to BC sometime down the road, since the most recent cloud-based system was initiated during the summer of 2017. With both the number of received packages and efficiency increasing, the BC mailroom hopes to continue its efforts of running its processes as smoothly as possible.

“Given the number of packages that we handle, and the number of staff with which we do it, I think we do an incredible job,” Travaglini said. n

openings and closings. In order to begin the database, LaRouche originally had to manually input every course offered, in every school at Boston College. The server for the app runs constantly to check for course updates, and it sends a notification to every user’s device as soon as a course they are signed up for becomes available. Right now, the notification is sent to everyone at the same time, but LaRouche is interested in the possibility of developing the program so that it can send notifications in order of seniority or class requirements.

The app is also capable of automatically registering students for classes, something that LaRouche would like to work with BC to implement in the

future. To access the course ratings, LaRouche used the information that is publicly available online. To use the data from the UIS, he had to figure out how to “make calls” from his server to the website, something he was successful in doing.

He is open to hearing any suggestions that people have for the app—he realizes that he can only come up with so many ideas on his own. He’s also interested in working with an Android developer, since his app is currently only for Apple products. He drafted a 50-page document outlining how he developed it, and he would be willing to give it to anyone who wanted to work with him to develop a new and useful app for the student body as he did.

“I think it’s useful so I want other people to be able to use it,” he said. n

Citing Agreement, BC Will Keep Yawkey Center Name Yawkey, from A1 rooms, a gym, and the Murray Family Function Room.

“The ongoing discussion by current Red Sox ownership to rename a public street, which was named after former owner Tom Yawkey, does not involve the recipients of Yawkey Foundation grants, who are required by agreement to bear the Yawkey name,” Dunn said in a statement to The Heights. “The University remains grateful to the Yawkey Foundation for their generosity in support of Boston College.”

Yawkey purchased the Red Sox in 1933, and owned the team until his death in 1976, after which it was owned by a trust in his wife, Jean Yawkey’s name until 2002.

During this time, the Red Sox were the last to integrate, with infielder Pumpsie Green signed 12 years after Jackie Robinson played his first season for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The Boston Herald reported in August that John Henry, the current owner of the team, was “haunted” by this history and wants the name of Yawkey Way changed.

According to a Boston Herald article from Jan. 19, the Red Sox have begun the process of changing the name and have been in contact with the City Council and the Mayor’s office.

“We’re talking to our neighbors and city council members, we have to have a sponsor of our petition so we’re engaged in those discussions right now and would anticipate a petition being filed,” Sam Kennedy, the president of the Red Sox, said to the Herald..

The Yawkey Foundation II was established by Jean Yawkey in 1982, and has donated more than $450 million to charities, according to the foundation’s website. The sale of the Red Sox to an ownership group led by Henry in 2002 enabled the significant expansion of Yawkey Foundation II’s philanthropic activity. Beneficiaries other than BC include Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, and Catholic Charities. The Yawkey Foundation’s website also includes a refutation of the claims of racism made against Yawkey, citing attempts at signing several black players and prospects, and the signing of black players to the organization’s minor league teams.

The foundation has addressed the concerns over Yawkey and Yawkey Way, and it released a statement on Aug. 17 when the Red Sox first proposed the name change. n

Regular Admissions Pool Sees 9 Percent Growth

By Charlie Power Asst. News Editor The Boston College Office of Admission reported that applications for the Class of 2022 totaled 31,098, according to BC News.

This figure is a 9 percent increase in applications from last year, but is short from the all-time high number of 34,061 for the Class of 2016. The figure mirrors the increase of Early Action applications, which increased by 15 percent.

The increase in application numbers is a rebound from drops in 2013 and 2014.

Applications fell to 24,538 and 23,223, respectively, after BC added a supplementary essay as a required component for students applying through the Common Application.

“This points to BC’s continued strength among college-age students. If they decide to do the essay, it suggests a level of seriousness about wanting to go here.”

BC continues to draw large number of

applicants from the Northeast, including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, but it was notable that applicants from more far flung states increased—California was up 9.71 percent, Texas 8.35 percent, and Florida 8.46 percent. AHANA+ students made up 33 percent of the overall applicant pool. International students made up 12.4 percent of the pool.

“Even just hearing the names of some of the new pilot courses really gets students’ attention,” Mahoney said. “They’re very impressed and intrigued with the way BC is revitalizing the study of liberal arts.”

Although construction on the Schiller Center will not begin until next spring, Mahoney says it is already drawing attention.

“The Schiller Institute is a great manifestation of Jesuit education in the 21st century: using strengths in the sciences and humanities to address world problems,” he said. “It looks and sounds very cutting-edge to this generation of college students." n

The Heights

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Monday, February 12, 2018

The Consciences Behind the Candidates: Reed Piercey and Ignacio Fletcher From overseas to BC, Piercey and Fletcher seek out pressure to produce growth.

By Joan Kennedy Magazine Editor The first diamonds were found in India before Christ walked the earth.

They adorned the country’s wealthy elite, then traveled to Venice’s market, where they were perused and acquired for Europe’s most eligible.

A diamond is hard thing to make.

Two miles deep in the bowels of the earth, coal is formed from carbon dioxide. A hundred miles deep, in the Earth’s mantle—the feverish bulk of compressed rock—is where diamonds are made. That carbon dioxide gets battered and bruised, pummeled and punched. It’s heated hotter than Dante’s seventh ring, boiling above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s heated, then subjected to 725,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. It’s this massive amount of impending, unrelenting pressure that restructures coal into karats, and carbon into diamonds.

Reed Piercey, MCAS ’19, and Ignacio Fletcher, MCAS ’20, candidates for president and vice president, respectively, of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College, actively seek out this same kind of pressure—cognizant of its alchemical effects.

“I want to be a leader in the future,” Fletcher said.

Piercey’s feet hit the steamy asphalt in a quick one- two b e at pattern—acting as the percussion for the victorious song he was tr ying to write by running the Boston Marathon last April. His body moved in harmony, with each step radiating deeper and deeper into his knees.

Every stride brought him closer to the finish line, and closer to raising money for the Samaritans suicide hotline.

All of his ligaments being played, his muscles repeatedly contracting and relaxing, pushing and pulling to keep his body in motion. His breath was the constant against the fickle screams of spectators. It was 80 degrees, and he wasn’t hydrated. His body gave out despite the powerful push of his will, and he passed out at Mile 21. When

he woke up, the finish line no longer in his vision, he wiped his eyes and focused on the IVs pumping saline into him.

“I’m going to finish this year and beat my pace from last,” Piercey said in an interview last week.

“He will never leave a job undone,” said close friend Michaela Chipman, MCAS ’19.

Fletcher sat in the library. The youngest of four kids—he’s on a mission. His parents’ dream is for all of their children to be educated in the United States, and here he was in cold, cold Boston, far from Puerto Rico and the sunny sand he used to walk on and the waves that used to play tag with his toes. His parents want him to stay in Boston, and persevere, make a life of his own.

“Everything is a part of movement … Always look to the future,” Fletcher said.

Piercey is from California, but doesn’t think that encompasses all he is. He’s got blonde hair, but it’s not cut in the typical surfer style. He smiles as he tells you he spent his childhood in France. He claims to be conversational in Chinese, but I didn’t feel like testing him as he talked about his experience in the communist country where expression is limited and politics (his favorite) are never discussed.

“I love learning other languages.

I think it’s crucial to building a more inclusive community and world in general,” Piercey said.

Rejected from 4Boston his freshman year, Piercey still rode the T alone to Government Center, and got off for a short walk to the Samaritans suicide hotline—the placement he was rejected from. No stranger to Piercey are days spent on phone lines with lives on the line. He didn’t have anyone to talk through it with—no small group reflection, only quiet moments in dark spaces until sophomore year when he was admitted to 4Boston.

“Our own discomfort isn’t what

[Piercey] is the perfect example of someone I want to learn from … He’s growing and molding into something greater—I’m excited to learn alot from him.

-Ignacio Fletcher, MCAS ‘20

matters,” Piercey said.

Piercey denies himself comfort in his service, and he denies himself the impulse to give advice when a friend is in need. He recognizes that problem-solving is not always what is necessary—it usually just takes some listening.

“It’s hard to be heard,” Piercey said.

Through his loneliness in service, he has learned to move past discomfort, allowing himself to be susceptible to it in order to alleviate that of others, and recognizing that the suffering of others is greater than his.

He puts himself in hard and heated situations and does not back away from pressure. Hounded by questions without answers coming from voices in desperation, then haunted by the lack of help and services available for mental health, Piercey decided to make a change of his own. He was instrumental in the creation of BC’s chapter of Lean on Me, an anonymous , 24-hour text-based mental health support line students can call to speak to other students about whatever they need. A member of the opposition team, Aneeb Sheikh, MCAS ’20, also co-founded the service. Piercey pushed through the strains of his service to create something especially helpful for BC’s high-pressure environment, where help-seeking is often difficult.

Piercey’s running mate, Fletcher, grew up in Puerto Rico as part of a Colombian family. His father’s failed business is what ignited his dreams of sending his children to study in the United States, something that has made Fletcher realize from failure can stem something beautiful.

“They started from zero, and we moved from house to house,” Fletcher said.

He speaks Spanish with a distinct Colombian accent, which forced him to see Puerto Rico as half a home and himself as having a dual identity. He was forced to navigate between his two cultures and called out for being different, which was hard as even at home he sometimes didn’t feel completely at home.

Fletcher hasn’t been home in a year because his parents have pushed him to live in discomfort away from home, in Boston, because they know

that often, growth happens where tension lies. Fletcher hasn’t seen his family in a while, but when asked what story he would tell his family as the cornerstone of his BC experience, he didn’t reply with an anecdote about a fun night out or one about the things he’s done for UGBC. “I would tell the stories of the many different people I’ve met at BC … Everybody has a different story to tell,” Fletcher said.

Piercey similarly works to put the focus back on others in all aspects of his life, especially given that compassion is the most important value to him and that he takes pride in being a student ally.

“I learned that being an effective agent for change is not about monopolizing the conversation,” he said.

Fletcher and Piercey met about running together in January, after Piercey came back from a semester abroad in China, and they both knew it was the right fit. The two stars crashed, and the rest was fireworks. “[Fletcher] is full of passion and voice, even when we first met about the idea of running together, he had already started to lay out his vision and initiatives … I was struck by how confidently and passionately he expresses himself,” Piercey said. “[Piercey] is the perfect example of someone I want to learn from … He’s growing and molding into something greater—I’m excited to learn alot from him,” Fletcher said.

When you meet them, it seems they’ve known each other for much longer. Fletcher even refers to Piercey as his older brother, and the two’s different lives seem intrinsically connected—Piercey’s favorite book, A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, is of Colombian origin, a fact that makes Fletcher smile from ear to ear.

They both see leadership as a team effort, with Fletcher’s theory being colored by Puerto Rican leaders’ poor response to the recent disasters in Puerto Rico. Fletcher presents leadership as being someone on the soccer field who passes the ball, who makes

other people shine. He’s focused on forming relationships with the people around him. He makes friends quickly and keeps them for a long time. Most retreat-built friendships last for the extent of the retreat (we’ve all been on 48Hours), but Fletcher met one of his best friends, Pablo Cardenal, LSOE ’20, on an Ignite retreat.

“He wants change and realizes the privilege of him being here,” Cardenal said.

Having grown up with the example of his parent hard work, Fletcher juggles messiness with ease.

Likewise, Piercey is known by friends, not just for his finesse at developing relationships—he was that guy freshman year that got everyone together to play Cards Against Humanity—but for his drive and constant desire for advancement.

He started Writers’ Circle, an organization where aspiring writers can get their work critiqued, because he thought BC was lacking this sort of space.

“One of the most inspiring things about Reed is he’s a high achieving guy … and instead of just settling where he was he’s always pushed himself for more,” said Chipman. “He’s not a settler— he will never settle at anything.”

A hundred miles deep in the earth, above the churning of magma, carbon is being pressed and pressed, one day to be pushed out of the earth, cut, and turned into the most valuable rock in the world—given on one knee from loved one to loved one, or put on the finger of a champion in a glorious rain of confetti. Right on BC’s green grass, Piercey and Fletcher put pressure on themselves, whether it be finishing 26.2 miles, or creating a life thousands of miles from home. They push themselves to go beyond their studies, making the consistent decision to live beyond their comfort zones, because they believe it will make them better people and leaders.

“Within my path I’m completely exploring and challenging myself, taking advantage of the opportunity,” Fletcher said, as Piercey nodded in agreement. n

Everything is a part of movement … Always look to the future.

-Ignacio Fletcher, MCAS ‘20

katie genirs / Heights editor

The Heights

Monday, February 12, 2018

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The Consciences Behind the Candidates: Taraun Frontis and Aneeb Sheikh After racial tensions flared last semester, Frontis and Sheikh run on promises of inclusion for all.

By Timmy Facciola

lege, Sheikh knew he wanted a school that would position him for a career in public service. He read about BC’s elite After 200-plus minutes of class bepolitical science department, and after fore our interview on Thursday, Taraun learning John Kerry attended BC Law Frontis, a candidate for Undergraduate School, he was sold.

Government of Boston College presiSheikh arrived in the United States dent and CSOM ’19, was finally able in Sep 2016. Then-candidate Donald to relax. In a desolate Chocolate Bar, Trump had promised a temporary halt he sat back with his shoulders at attenon travel from a number of Muslimtion, digging into a steak sandwich after majority countries until vetting procetelling me about his busy schedule of dures could be improved, and although six classes and 15 hours of work, plus Sheikh was coming from Saudi Arabia, his extracurriculars. So while Frontis which has not been on any of the prochewed and recuperated, I let Aneeb posed bans, he sympathized with his Sheikh, his running mate for UGBC brothers and sisters from Iraq, Iran, executive vice president and MCAS Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia. ’20, go first.

“I had never been civically engaged in the sense of voting, because in Dubai My screen saver is [Malcolm I can’t vote. It’s not a X]. He was very unapologetic and democracy, no one can unapologetically Muslim and vote,” Sheikh said. “But reading him led me to Muham- in the U.S. I was bemad Ali, who was also unapolo- coming more engaged getically Muslim. civically, and the election of Trump really let - Aneeb Sheikh, MCAS ‘20 me down because that meant there were 65 million people in this country, Born in Pakistan, Sheikh moved to that I was calling home, who thought I Dubai with his family when he was 6 shouldn’t be here, who wanted to kick and enrolled in a British school, where me out.” he was educated in the tradition of the After growing up in an Islamic theRoyal Empire. ocracy, the first difficult lesson Sheikh “In those eight hours [in school] it had to learn as an American was how was like I was in Britain,” Sheikh said. beautifully free, yet menacing the na“And also, I’m a Muslim, that’s pretty ture of the First Amendment can be. important.”

Sheikh continued to toil with this In high school, Sheikh read inceslesson as his freshman year progressed. santly. He credits The Autobiography He found students to generally be quite of Malcolm X, a favorite of his to this welcoming and friendly. day, for introducing him to political “I saw myself as me being here resistance. is educating them about Islam and “My screen saver is [Malcolm X],” hopefully me being here will make he said. “He was very unapologetic and them think differently about Muslims unapologetically Muslim and reading in general. But then Trump issued the him led me to Muhammad Ali, who was Muslim Ban.” also unapologetically Muslim.”

Sheikh was on a Freshman League Sheikh thought the struggles of retreat last January and remembers these great men were akin to the seeing on the news that people were identity crisis he was undergoing as being held up in airports. He called a half-Indian, half-Pakistani, born in his parents and told them to go to the Pakistan and the living in Dubai while airport to be with his brothers and also holding American citizenship and sisters. attending a British school.

“I remember wishing I could go to “In Pakistan when I would see my the airport because my community was cousins, they [would] have a bond to under attack,” Sheikh said. the country, whereas I didn’t feel as atSheikh observed that everyone was tached to it,” Sheikh said. “Once I was talking about Muslims in policy talks held at gunpoint in Pakistan and so I but nobody was talking to Muslims. had lot of problems with [answering] He believed that if there were more ‘where do I call home?’”

Muslims in politics, through more When it came time to pick a colrepresentation there would be less Asst. Magazine Editor

dehumanization. schools, and attended Democracy Prep That same semester, Sheikh was enon 120th St. and Frederick Douglass rolled in an Islamic civilization course.

Blvd. for high school.

The class was scheduled for Monday, “The most diversity was two VietWednesday, Friday, from 12:00-12:50, namese kids,” Frontis said. in the middle of Friday prayer. Sheikh Many of his teachers were Teach For was able to receive religious exemption America volunteers, so he did not see for his absence every Friday. But the the same teachers for all four years. As fact that a class on Islam was scheduled he grew up, Frontis watched the genduring Friday prayer, Sheikh thought, trification process—the dilapidated lots exemplified a Eurocentric mindset. of his childhood neighborhood were “[The professor] was coming and renovated and sold, unrecognizable to talking with the mindset that Islam the eyes of any who grew up there. is more backward and less developed “There’s a Whole Foods on 125th than the West,” Sheikh said. “[The proStreet,” Frontis said. fessor] would quote the Quran out of When it came time to go through context and make basic factual errors, the college process, Frontis was privisomething I’ve noticed so much.” leged with a top-notch college counAccording to Sheikh, the professor selor who went to Brown. Frontis claimed the Quran was ordered from narrowed it down to Occidental Collongest book to shortest, and one of lege on the West Coast and BC on the the last classes concluded that ISIS was East Coast. indeed very Islamic.

“When I was still on the fence about “It wasn’t blatantly Islamophobic, it going to BC, my college counselor was more insidious, like ‘Islam is just linked me to other black professionals not as developed, look at these barbaric and they just convinced me to come to practices,’” Sheikh said.

BC,” Frontis said. “A district attorney Sheikh did not allow one academic’s from the Bronx called me [and] told opinion to influence his relationship me to go to BC, and I was convinced with his faith. He endured and enrolled in Islam in American Society and PolI saw a big presence of like a itics. In this class, Sheikh family for the AHANA+ commusaid, he sensed even more nity. It was easy for me to reach Islamophobia than in his out to upperclassmen, to reach freshman year class. out to my peers.

He took to Facebook to vocalize his concerns.

- Taraun Frontis, CSOM ‘19 He posted: “I’m kinda in a state of shock right from there.” now. I just came out of a class where Frontis is a first-generation colthe professor made some deeply dislege student and was invited to Keith turbing comments about Muslims and A. Francis AHANA Weekend, where many of the students agreed. He said he met upperclassmen in ALC, some that if ‘someone I know died in 9/11, of whom, including Akosua Achamthen I am justified in being suspicious pong, the current UGBC president about Muslims.’ Other comments made and MCAS ’18, would eventually in the class were along the lines of: become his mentors once he arrived ‘Muslims are undermining American on campus. values’ ‘Muslims don’t have the right “I saw a big presence of like a family to first amendment if they don’t do for the AHANA+ community,” Frontis their part’....” said. “It was easy for me to reach out As chair of AHANA+ Leadership to upperclassmen, to reach out to my Council, Frontis reached out and said peers.” he would make a statement.

When Frontis arrived on campus, ALC issued a statement in conhe was part of the Multicultural Living junction with the Muslim Student Experience (MLE).

Association, and it was the beginning “It’s catered for people who wanted of a poignant political alliance between to be more aware of their identities on Frontis and Sheik. campus and engage in a dialogue based Frontis grew up in central Harlem, a dialogue on that,” he said. on 129th and Lenox, near the famous Shortly after arriving on campus, soul food spot Sylvia’s Restaurant. He Frontis was chosen to be a freshman was educated exclusively in charter rep for United Front.

“We’d have potlucks and talk about certain issues,” he said. “Whether it be based around hip-hop or food or culture of the black community.”

It was Frontis’s first time serving on an executive board and he loved it.

He befriended some sophomores, and when it came time to figure out housing, he received permission to live with his upperclassman friends in Vandy.

He formed a tight connection with the other seven guys, and the dorm came to be a safe space for him to retreat from the rest of the world.

As a sophomore, he was a Bowman advocate for Campus of Difference. As a fellow, he went to Cheverus and Medeiros halls to conduct uncomfortable conversations on race and identity.

His activism work led him to run for the role of United Front liaison. In his time on ALC, Frontis developed a close friendship with Achampong. She has served as an encouraging voice for Frontis and Sheikh.

“I’ve always been, like, under her,” Frontis said. “She’s always been that positive energy, that positive mentor.

She’ll advise me to do this, encourage me to do that and always gives me critical feedback of how to navigate in this school.”

Then, when Achampong became UGBC president, it was uncertain who would run ALC, an office she once ran.

“For students of color and Muslim students to see that there are people in office who reflect many identities that intersect with marginal students on campus ... allows people who identify with them to think ‘that’s something I can do,’” Achampong said.

“I was like ‘Who’s gonna run ALC now that you’re not there?’ And she was like ‘You.’ [Michael Osaghae and I] decided to run together, and we won,” Frontis said.

In the least diverse place both candidates have ever been, they have found unity in talking about difference. The AHANA+ community has provided a chance to discuss identity issues, even ones that may not personally impact them.

“White students need to understand that they need to be in spaces where issues regarding students of color are being discussed, but they’re not necessarily speaking,” said Sheikh.

Frontis and Sheikh say they want to speak for the forgotten students on this campus.

“If marginalized students win, we all win,” Sheikh said. n

katie genirs / Heights editor

The Heights

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EDITORIALS

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Frontis and Sheikh for UGBC President, EVP There are two candidate teams for the upcoming Undergraduate Government of Boston College election for president and executive vice president: Taraun Frontis, CSOM ’19, and Aneeb Sheikh, MCAS ’20; and Reed Piercey, MCAS ’19, and Ignacio Fletcher, MCAS ’20. Last semester, incidents of racial bias sparked significant student activism and left the campus environment in a sensitive state as we entered 2018.

The candidates succeeding current president and Akosua Achampong and vice president Tt King, both MCAS ’18, must recognize the disconnect between the student body and UGBC’s activism, and propose concrete initiatives that address this divide and growing student concerns. Right now, the student body needs a strong advocate voice, especially for the minority populations on campus, to prioritize building a student experience that will allow every student to be able to take full advantage of their college career.

Considering the actions that BC needs for the coming year, Frontis and Sheikh have proven themselves to be qualified advocates for all students.

In advocating for students of color, Frontis helped initiate the oncoming adoption of DiversityEDU last semester when he took part in a small meeting with many of BC’s vice presidents. Along with previous interactions with the administration, Frontis has worked toward improvements for the student body, including the implementation of the Bias Investigation Report Team (BIRT). Frontis and Sheikh have shown the student body that they are able and eager to engage the administration in difficult conversations regarding the needs of the student body. Both Frontis and Sheikh have developed productive working relationships with key members of the administration because of their involvement in previous UGBC proposals.

Sheikh is the most qualified to serve as executive vice president.

During his time as a senator in the Student Assembly (SA), he has sponsored and cosponsored resolutions on topics ranging from UGBC’s transparency to addressing student needs during the uncertainty of the Trump administration’s travel ban last winter. After proposing the travel ban resolution and speaking at the demonstration, Sheikh worked with Associate Vice President for Student Affairs George Arey to designate housing on campus for students who could have been affected by the ban. Furthermore, as the chair of the Intersections Committee and a senator for the Class of 2020 in the SA, he works with the AHANA+ Leadership Council, the GLBTQ+ Leadership Council (GLC), and the Council for Students with Disabilities. Sheikh has worked with administration members to ensure

that resolutions he has passed receive the attention necessary to enact change.

The pair’s platform puts an emphasis on alerting the administration to inequalities within the student body and working to address them. Due to their communication with the administration in past resolutions aimed at improving the experiences of marginalized students at BC, Frontis and Sheikh are very familiar with the facts supporting their initiatives. By prioritizing programs like DiversityEDU and BIRT, they address the University’s current shortcomings in those areas. The candidates have indicated that they have received anecdotal feedback regarding students feeling underrepresented by the GLC. Although they have not collected any concrete data regarding marginalized groups, they want to ensure that every student has a positive experience. To do this, they will investigate aspects of the University and promote action based on student testimonials.

Frontis and Sheikh are following in the footsteps of Achampong’s initiatives, specifically in regards to making people of color feel more welcome at BC. The candidates are looking to continue increasing the number of AHANA+ faculty members and students of color on campus. Sheikh recently met with Dean for Students Thomas Mogan to discuss this year’s increased proportion of AHANA+ faculty hires, and the team’s response has been to encourage the continuation of the hiring practices so that African and African Diaspora Studies can become an independent department within two to three years. They will also urge the administration to implement the Campus Climate Survey proposed by students last semester in order to collect data that shows how minority students feel on campus. They plan to continue encouraging the administration to divest from fossil fuels and private prisons through pressure from all associated with the University, specifically citing student petitions and alumni requests.

In their platform, Frontis and Sheikh also encourage expediting the establishment of a student center so that they can designate an LGBTQ+ resource center in spite of the perceived conflict between the school’s Catholic values and the needs of a constantly diversifying student body. However, there is a significant disconnect between their stated goals and the logistical feasibility of such a project.

The University has said a number of times that it intends to eventually create a student center. BC has tried to build a student center three times since 1995, but has run into obstacles with the city of Newton.

Yet, it is clear that a student center is a priority for the University.

Due to the 2008 financial crisis,

The views expressed in the above editorials represent the official position of The Heights, as discussed and written by the

The

Heights Established 1919

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

Connor Murphy, Editor-in-Chief Michael Rosmarin, General Manager Donavan Recny, Managing Editor

Monday, February 12, 2018

“But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

- Ernest Hemingway

however, other projects originally slated to finish earlier—like the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society and athletic improvements—are only now being completed. The team must be willing to work with the University through its process of erecting new buildings, and understand that the University is in agreement with UGBC and students on the center’s creation. Spending a significant amount of time and effort in this initiative, therefore, should not dominate Frontis and Sheikh’s platform and their activities as executives if they win.

Piercey and Fletcher have demonstrated dedication and passion for their initiatives, but lack the diligence that Frontis and Sheikh give to marginalized students’ current need for action. Through no fault of his own, Piercey was abroad during the formative events of last semester and lacks the experience Frontis and Sheikh gained during those months. Piercey and Fletcher’s platform is more general, appealing to the broader student body, but is not as explicit as Frontis and Sheikh’s. For instance, when we asked Piercey and Fletcher about the installation of an LGBTQ+ center on campus, they noted that the center should exist, suggesting a room in Carney Hall as its potential temporary home. When Frontis and Sheikh were asked the same question, they explained that although they believed the University absolutely should have a LGBTQ+ center on campus, there are more steps to take before reaching the point of making a more permanent home for a center. They believe that UGBC needs to work on improving the effectiveness of organizations like GLC before addressing the broader issue of a center. In the current social climate surrounding BC, we feel that Frontis and Sheikh can deliver on minority student demands at a different level, while also serving the greater student body with just as much effectiveness as their opponents could. As students of color, their voices are vital and unique in a way that can further facilitate the ongoing conversations the administration and student government body need to have over sensitive on-campus issues like race and sexuality.

As president and executive vice president of UGBC, next year’s officers first and foremost must advocate for the student body. Frontis and Sheikh propose deliberate steps to improve the experience of marginalized students at BC with plans to hear the voices of those whose issues are most pressing, while pressuring administrators to appropriately address them. Showing their concern for the most urgent needs of the student body, their inclusive initiatives prove them to be the most qualified candidates in this year’s election.

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The Heights

Monday, February 12, 2018

A7

Mattress Firm: Officially Not a Pun Tired of Austin Bodetti

warm socks - Male or female, socks that are impervious to the precipitation and winds that bombard us daily here on the frozen tundra we call Boston College are the most vital part of my existence. You think a scarf is warm? Wear some comfy, fluffy socks and discover what it’s like to not be walking on ice cubes for the first time in your life. You think wearing boots is all you’ve got to do? I disagree, a warm pair of socks brightens any day, no matter how miserable Boston weather can be. I feel more confident because I’m literally defeating Mother Nature with every step I take. What’s the only way to gain a superpower?

I’d argue warm socks. Our feet are one of the most underrated extremities, and when we take care of them, we’re setting a warmer precedent for the rest of our body to follow. When my feet are cold, for whatever reason it’s that much harder for me to convince the rest of my body to warm up. The point is buy warmer socks—you can afford the extra two dollars—I promise it’s an investment worth making.

sickness - So it turns out every single person in this forsaken wasteland we call Boston College is sick now. Classes I used to enjoy listening to lectures in are now just a cacophony of coughs, sniffles, and sneezes. Does anybody go here and not get sick within a month of starting the spring semester? I’ve never seen a campus go from being so beautiful—Hogwarts and new grass and whatnot—to so gross and disgusting—people are throwing up in Bapst! That place is like a museum!—so suddenly. Take some medicine people—it can’t hurt.

Maybe stay in for like one Friday night and sleep in Saturday morning. If you show up to a party sick as a dog where 2,000 people are packed into one room in a Mod, all 2,000,000,000,000 of us are going to get sick and die from the flu.

Oh, you think the flu can’t kill you?

Guess what, it’s 2018, ANYTHING can kill you. I heard one girl got the sniffles from her boyfriend and wasn’t seen for 15 years. Don’t be the person that disappears for 15 years because you didn’t wash your hands after your significant other asked you to pass them a mozzarella stick.

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Some students procrastinate on their homework by going to parties.

Others play video games. A few—the nerds—even actually do their assignments. As much as I’d like to translate that Farsi article on Azerbaijan’s national carpet museum that’s been sitting in my backpack for two weeks, I have bigger priorities: my investigation of whether Mattress Firm’s name is a pun.

As detailed in my poorly titled last column, I have been contacting Mattress Firm employees to ascertain the truth. To clarify, Mattress Firm’s name would be a pun if “firm” referred both to the type of business (e.g. a law firm) and the type of mattress (e.g. a firm mattress, as opposed to the mattresses people actually sleep on).

My initial investigation proved less successful than I had hoped. I dealt with a revolving door of customer-service representatives who tried to sell me mattresses instead of answering my questions. “No thank you,” I told them. “I’m entirely content with the brick-like mattress that came with my room at Boston College. It doesn’t get any firmer than that.”

I decided I’d have to go corporate if I wanted to live up to the legacy of Velma Dinkley, AKA “Scooby-Doo bae,” and reach the executives at BEDquarters—the name of Mattress Firm’s villainous lair in Texas, the most evil state in the remnants of the Confederacy. In other words, I started adding random Mattress Firm employees on LinkedIn. One such employee, who shall remain unnamed to protect the identities of my sources and legal concerns and whatnot, actually responded to my desperate requests to be connected to a Mattress Firm spokesperson. She told me she had read my first column and referred me to “G’Nai Blakemore,” the senior manager of public relations. Once I Googled the so-called “Blakemore,” I discovered Mattress Firm had in fact had a list of its press contacts online the entire

time.

I had somehow missed this list the first time around. Scooby-Doo bae would have been disappointed in me.

That night, I cried under the gaze of my Velma poster as I changed into my Justin Trudeau pajamas. At least Justin always has my back.

I messaged this so-called “Blakemore” as well as Senior Vice President of Customer Experience “Sunni Goodman” and every other email address I could find on that page before waiting a week for a response. A few weird things happened in the interim: Mattress Firm’s customer-service email address, which had informed me in an auto-reply that it would take 24 hours to respond, replied a week late.

I went with my co-conspirator Katie “Katherine” Lamirato to the Mattress Firm franchise closest to BC, where I had to explain to the manager the definition of the word “pun”.

Two obscure Mattress Firm employees added me on Facebook to inform me they had read my first column, indicating word of my investigation was spreading. One told me she didn’t think the company’s name was a pun, echoing the claims of every other employee. She added that my column was making the rounds in Mattress Firm’s internal emails, sparking hashtags such as #punsarelife and #peopleaskingforfirmmattressesatmattressfirmwhichsellsfirmmattresses.

All the while, I still hadn’t heard back from the So-Called “Blakemore,” the only Mattress Firm employee who could tell me whether her employer’s name was a pun. I had interviewed elite Iraqi generals and alleged ringleaders of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula before, but the Mattress Firm investigation was proving to be my most difficult and important journalistic endeavor yet.

Then, the So-Called “Blakemore” responded to my email.

“Much to the surprise of the public, Mattress Firm’s name is not a pun,” she told me. “Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the term firm under the following classification: ‘the name or title under which a company transacts business.’ In the way we intended, firm aligns with the above definition. Not to be confused with

the adjective of the same pronunciation and spelling firm, meaning having a solid, almost unyielding surface or structure. That’s not to say we don’t sell firm beds; we offer a variety of comfort levels, from extra firm to ultra-plush. We can assure you, fine friend, the only thing unyielding about us is our low prices.”

“In the bed-ginning [pun one],” continued the most condescending email I had ever received, “our founders started the ‘mattress store that could’ in the ‘city that could’ [Houston, the city that couldn’t]. Our story is one of hard work and big dreams of better sleep [pun two?]—a tale so tall that, of course, it had to happen in Texas [ew]. More than 30 years ago, Mattress Firm was created with one goal: provide sleep savings to the masses [communist]. And not much has changed today—except, of course, our size. We have grown from a single Mattress Firm store to more than 3,000 stores in 49 states and 10,000 employees. Also, the name has a certain ring to it [dubious]. It got your attention, didn’t it?”

I don’t know whether it bothered me more that she had used a dictionary against me, her “fine friend;” that she had turned part of the response into a marketing opportunity; or that she used the pun “bed-ginning”—mediocre at best—after spending an entire paragraph telling me that Mattress Firm wasn’t a pun.

“That’s not how human beings talk to other human beings,” my friend and occasional dance partner Mark “Nascar” Nasca told me.

Indeed.

In any case, I learned Mattress Firm’s name is officially not a pun, and a website, a guy on Reddit, and a bunch of people on Twitter are wrong.

In other news, my entire life is a lie, but Velma would be proud nonetheless.

Someone please tell BuzzFeed about my investigation. I deserve recognition for my work.

My next investigations will follow the stories of the 2,000 plates missing from Lower and the Russian math school in Newton.

Austin Bodetti is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

Celebrating Diverse Body Types Kelly Christ On one busy Wednesday morning, I sat amid the chaos of the daily lunch rush at Eagle’s Nest. I overheard a conversation between two friends about dieting and exercise at school. One of them turned to the other and asked, “Do you think everyone came here with these gym habits, or did they all start here?” This question struck me, as it was one I found myself wondering when I embarked on my first anxiety-inducing trip to the gym on Newton. It seemed that here every student spends just as much time perfecting their figures at the Plex as they do studying endlessly at O’Neill. This apparent paradox haunted me as I struggled to balance a healthy lifestyle and academic success. But as it often turns out, I’m not alone.

Before entering college, many of us had heard about the dreaded “freshman 15,” referring to the amount of weight typically gained among United States college students when they first begin school. Without any restrictions from their parents about what to eat, it’s easy to understand how freshmen can forget to eat healthy. From the gluttonous multitude of options at Late Night to stress-eating your second package of Pop-Tarts from the library vending machine the night before an exam, there are many ways to fall into this trap. It isn’t just meals either—heavy alcohol consumption can contribute as well. But, as I’m sure many other students notice, not many students seem to be in line with this statistic. Despite the many temptations of food or partying, it seems that the pressure to rival their peers’ workout habits keeps just as many students

on the treadmill as in the lines at Late Night.

As it turns out, the “freshman 15” really is closer to fiction than fact. A study at The Ohio State University demonstrated that college students on average don’t gain more than about three pounds. However, this isn’t to say that college doesn’t cause students to rethink their lifestyles. Students may struggle to adapt to their new options and maintain a healthy diet at the same time. The stress that academics puts on students can lead them to seek out comfort food that usually isn’t the healthiest. (That being said, after spending hours in the library, as many of us do, go ahead and enjoy that cookie.)

While diet is obviously a strong contributor to overall health, exercise is what really sticks out to me as the most noticeable difference in college. I don’t remember ever discussing it with any of my high school friends, but sure enough, once everyone settled in to school, their many “at the gym” Snapchats proved they, too, had turned over a new leaf. Personally, I played sports throughout high school and hoped to find the time to exercise in college. But the sudden obsession with the gym that seemed to have taken over college freshmen fascinated me. Is it a way to avoid the “freshman 15” myth? Or is it simply a case of peer pressure?

Perhaps it isn’t either. It’s undeniable that the desired body type seen in the media has shifted greatly in past years. Today’s idealized models are often far from the dangerously skinny models of the 1990s and early 2000s. Call it the “Kardashian effect” if you will, but curvy is the new skinny. Most girls today look up to celebrities and models with the curvy yet fit body. While of course many of these models aren’t showing a realistic body image, it might not be the worst thing that being extremely thin is no longer essential to “beauty.” Sure, the famous examples of the Kardashian-Jenner clan may not seem to be helping young girls with their body im-

ages. But they have undeniably ushered in a new era that celebrates a more diverse range of body types, and shows that natural curves are not something to hate. In one interview, singer Demi Lovato, who once struggled with eating disorders, described how seeing the rise of Kim Kardashian’s popularity made her appreciate her curves. While we shouldn’t all be trying to recreate the Kardashian figures, the family that redefined the ideal body type introduces the idea that you don’t have to be a size zero to feel confident.

Could this new trend be related to the popularity of the gym? In many ways, these new desired body images cause those who want to attain it to try workouts that build their curves instead of eating less and less for a stick-like figure. While college students are very susceptible to this pressure from the media, they’re also extremely susceptible to pressure from their peers. Coming into college, your social life can feel like the whole world. With everyone constantly comparing themselves to each other, it’s easy to see how the workout habits could be influenced by this. Seeing all of your peers working out will surely motivate you to do the same.

Peer pressure is unavoidable in college.

Everyone can be moved by it. While the fitness craze surely results from many different factors, it can certainly be considered a good thing. The gym can be the perfect way to release all the tension from the anxieties of school. At the end of the day, however, you just have to do what is best for you and your well-being, whether that means going to the gym or eating that cookie while you study for an exam. Work out when you want to, and do your best to eat well, but don’t stress about slipping up every once in a while—no one’s perfect.

Kelly Christ is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

The opinions and commentaries of the op-ed 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.

Going Out

Rachel Loos

When I was a freshman, I used to go to parties every chance that I could. Just like in high school, I got this nasty feeling that I was missing out whenever I knew other people were having fun without me.

Being away from my parents was new and refreshing! I had no curfew and few rules to follow. I didn’t go crazy, but I definitely took advantage of my newfound freedom.

It seems that first-year students, because they tend to have less experience with alcohol, don’t really know their limits. Personally, I never drank to the point of needing medical assistance, but I remember the ambulances, tasked with transporting intoxicated freshmen to St. Elizabeth’s, parked outside of freshman dorms almost every night during Welcome Week and the first few months of school.

It seems to me that first-year students party harder—or at least more enthusiastically—than upperclassmen. Although there is little data on party trends between under and upperclassmen, I found an 11year-old study from New York University indicating that first-year students spend more time both studying and socializing compared to upperclassmen, who spend more of their time on internships and jobs. The study found that first-year students socialize an average of 18 hours a week, while upperclassmen socialize only about 15 hours a week.

One reason for this could be that us juniors and seniors don’t socialize in the same ways that we used to. Back on Upper Campus I was stuffed in a dorm with communal bathrooms, forced to interact with people all the time, whether I wanted to or not. It may also be that freshmen are more desperate to make friends and prove themselves. Coming from high school, they may feel more pressure to study and find that perfect clique of friends.

Lately for me, going out feels less fun than it used to be, and I have been having a harder time finding enjoyment in the things I used to like. This wasn’t always the case.

When I was a freshman, I would get excited just to get dressed up—I didn’t really care where I went. I almost always had a good time, even though I probably just wandered around campus trying to get into parties before giving up and getting late night in Mac. Now I think I have gotten tired of following the same routine every weekend.

Instead of getting excited, I tend to see it as a chore. Lately, as my time left at Boston College gets shorter and shorter, I find it more rewarding to hang out with small groups of people that I really like rather than a group of 200 people I barely know.

I was thinking about this the other weekend when my Mod hosted a party.

I was hoping I would be able to feel that excitement again, but I ended up just feeling old and jaded. Most of the underclassmen who attended ended up staying for a really long time. They knocked back tons of shots and danced their little butts off!

I felt like their mother. I spent a lot of the time just cleaning up after people, and I felt upset with myself that I couldn’t seem to relax and enjoy the party.

I noticed that any seniors who showed up only stayed for a few minutes before leaving to go out to bars, which I think is overrated. I can barely afford the Uber ride there and back, much less the expensive drinks I have once I’ve waited through the mile-long line in the freezing cold. I don’t think I have always felt this way: When I first turned 21, I was happy to spend my time and money drinking at bars. I have heard some other BC students complain that the bars in Boston close so early, but I honestly find it a relief. I don’t understand how some people can stay out until 4 a.m. I tend to get tired pretty early and have a hard time recovering the next day.

Every once in a while I get excited to go out again, except now it’s usually for concerts or comedy shows. I have always loved attending these kinds of events. In fact, I recently got tickets to the shows of two musicians that I saw my freshman year. It seems like a nice way to end my time in college, and hopefully I can recapture that feeling of enthusiasm again.

Rachel Loos is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

The Heights

A8

Monday, February 12, 2018

While Off Broadway, Scott Clyve Sets Scene for Thespians

By Jack Goldman

Copy Editor

Scott Clyve, one of this year’s Rev. J. Donald Monan Professors in Theatre Arts at Boston College, has over 30 years of experience in the field of production design. He’s worked for Pope Francis, former President Barack Obama, Nicki Minaj, Coldplay, Jason Aldean, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. He’s worked on Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, The Nutcracker, The Urban Nutcracker, operas, and tours both regionally and nationally, and he most notably was asked to consult on lighting the popemobile, the only car that has ever actually mattered.

Clyve got the bug for production design when he was 15 years old, and shadowed a lighting designer at a play his mother was producing in Bangor, Maine. The designer got in a fight with the director, and it didn’t end well, as those things tend to not end well. Since the designer was the only designer in Bangor-- not a city known for having plenty of lighting designers—Clyve stepped into the void.

“They looked at me and said, ‘Did you pick anything up? Do you want to try it?’ And the rest from there is history,” Clyve said. “The reviews in the paper were ‘Some of the best lighting Bangor had seen,’ I was hooked, and from then on this is what I’ve been doing.”

Clyve specializes in lighting design, but has extensive experience with set design, production management, and production design as well. He credits his diverse skill set as the reason he’s still so passionate about everything he does.

“What’s great is I don’t just do the-

atre. I do TV, I do events,” Clyve said. “I’m called to do things every day that are just completely off the wall and you’d be like, ‘Really?

You really want me to come do that?

Okay, sure.’”

No two jobs for the show business veteran are the same. Clyve does admit that there was one moment where that wasn’t the case.

“There was a time, I do remember, about five years ago, I was in a ‘Okay, I feel like I’ve hit a plateau, what’s next,’ …

And then the Pope came along. It was actually Nicki Minaj came first, and then the Pope came directly after that. It took me down a different road,” Clyve said.

He explained that the different jobs he has each provide a different sense of satisfaction. When he’s in charge of lighting, the audience is wowed over the course of the show, realizing the impact Clyve has had by the time the curtain falls. When he’s the set designer, he can get that reaction when the audience walks through the doors, but he doesn’t find it quite as impactful. When it comes to production design, that’s all behind the scenes work that serves as a means to an end. Clyve does it, and he is good at it, but the audience reaction is what he works for, which he can only get from his other two capacities.

Clyde’s life philosophy came from his two children, who have made him realize the importance of relationships and value every person he encounters.

Clyde looks at the world’s population as a pastiche of stories.

“I love to listen to people’s stories, I love to listen to what they went through, and I meet about 800 people a year,” he said. “Do I hear all their stories? No, but

I do hear a lot of them, and I feel like you get connections that way.”

Clyve tries to take a lesson or memory away from every conversation. If he never stops learning, he can never fall behind—he learns from stories.

While he was in college, a professor told him that back in the day, people who tried to get into the design union had to go through a test where they had to hang lights with members of the union.

“They’d go into the theater, hang it with a union crew, and the union crew would tell the judges if they thought you’d failed or not. That was usually done by banging the genie [a type of lift].”

On his first broadway production at age 26, Clyve began hanging lights with a union crew, and one of the union members banged the genie—Clyve describes himself as looking like a green 12 year-old with no clue what he was doing.

He turned to the union guys and asked them, “Do I pass or do I fail?”

From then on, they gave him all the respect in the world.

Eight years ago, BC brought Clyve in to light Metamorphosis, and the relationships the designer forged kept him coming back. A few years ago, he taught his first class, subbing in for a professor’s computer aided drafting class, and it gave him a teaching bug he hasn’t been able to get rid of since.

Clyve has spoken and taught master classes at multiple universities and sat in on meetings to help productions out with his extensive backlog of experience providing the background for all of his advice.

“I wanted to see if this would be something I’m good at,” he said. “Helping to spread the knowledge of what I’ve

Photo Courtesy of Scott Clyve

Scott Clyve’s students have ranged from class presidents to actual Presidents and encompassed everyone in-between.

done—and just how the hierarchy of the business works—passing that down is a good feeling.”

He became one of the Rev. Monan professors—visiting positions donated in honor of Monan, a former University president and chancellor, beginning in 2007—at the start of this academic year.

This semester, he is teaching a couple of classes: the computer aided drafting and design class that originally got him into the classroom and an entirely unique course called Event Design and Organization.

“The class isn’t just about the theatre world,” Clyve said. “It’s about the organization part of production management.

The students know theatre. In theatre, at events, there’s sometimes ‘found spaces.’

What this class is going to do is teach them how to go into a space, and first of all learn about the space—learn about where it comes from, why it’s there—and then build a show inside it from the bottom up. How to do budgets, how to design a set, how to work with unions, all of those pieces.”

Clyve explained that he’s never heard of or seen another class like it.

It isn’t taught out of a textbook, and it shouldn’t be—no native space is the same, no problem that needs to be solved identical within a space. It’s the perfect experience-based look at how to improvise in order to improve or fix an event. He believes improvisation is a big deal—thinking on your feet can’t be taught out of a book.

“One of the big things I teach is the what-if game,” Clyve said. “The first question I asked was what if you’re a stage manager and somebody has a heart attack during your show, what do you do? Are you going to think about that beforehand or are you going to think of that on the spot?”

He went on to disclose that when people are hiring in show business, what makes candidates stand out is how well their shows have done. Being a part of a show that tanked, even if it isn’t necessarily a candidate’s fault, can really follow members of the show business community around. Learning the skills Clyve has honed over his career helps students and professionals alike avoid those pitfalls.

His teaching philosophy is unique as well. Due to his schedule, the classes he teaches are once a week—one is two hours, the other two and a half. That can lead even the most passionate of students to some moments of boredom.

Clyve identifies this as one of his tougher challenges to deal with as a professor.

“As you can tell, I love to tell stories, so if I get to a certain point and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m starting to lose people,’ I’ll tell

a good story—maybe it’s related maybe it’s not—but it gets the juices flowing again and then back onto the lesson,” he said.

Being passionate about something doesn’t mean it’s awesome 100 percent of the time. Clyve’s mission is to encourage that passion, not dampen it because there’s a lot of information he needs to teach his students. He even has a backup plan for if he misses class.

Typically, students would probably prefer to see class canceled, but in a two-hour class, time in the classroom is especially vital to getting the most out of the course. Clyve always has a backup plan: If he has to go to an event, he has a Skype system set up and ready to go—that way when class-time rolls around, he can Skype in and show his class the intricacies of an event set up.

It’s as close to on-the-job training as a student can get in a classroom.

What’s Clyve’s favorite part of teaching at BC? When he was asked, he leaned into the microphone carefully and said, loudly and clearly, “THE STUDENTS.” Despite his ironic-delivery, he means it.

He loves seeing the passion in his students, and loves watching them be astounded by the learning process.

Clyde gets to watch minds grow.

Clyve isn’t short on general advice either. When he was first starting out in New York, he had essentially zero connections to the business, and any paycheck he was cashing couldn’t possibly cover the rent for his apartment. So for a year, he asked every director he worked for to tell 10 people about Clyve’s work in addition to the $300 check the designer would get for the week.

By the end of the year, his name was associated with great work, and his career began to take off.

“80% of what you’ve done and what your resume is gets you the job. 80% of who you are is what keeps that job time after time after time,” he said. “It’s why they call you back. So yes, you have to be good at your work—you have to say to somebody, ‘Yes, I can do it’—but you also have to be, like, ‘I’m somebody who you’re going to want to work with.’”

In show business, selling yourself is being yourself, according to Clyve.

When he was asked which of his incredible experiences stood out the most to him, he starts with the reaffirmation that working for the Pope, and on his popemobile, stands out above the rest.

But he also notes that his experience with Obama is something he’ll always remember.

“Doing the president of the United States for his Frontier Conference was pretty damn—pretty darn cool.” n

From Cornfields to Campus: Brett Ingram Teaches With Style

By Ashley Trotter For The Heights Early Monday afternoon, while relaxing in a comfortable chair on the fourth floor of St. Mary’s South, communication professor Brett Ingram admitted that there are much worse fates to have.

Earning a doctorate is not an easy task, and the list of career options is limited.

Nevertheless, Ingram went for it.

Ingram grew up in rural Pennsylvania, in a modest community of blue-collar Americans, and was surrounded by influences of education from an early age—his father taught in the physiology department at Pennsylvania State University.

Ingram spent his summers running through cornfields with his BB gun in hand, keeping out a watchful eye for any circling hawks who might be preying on his little dachshund, Emily.

“That was a bleak way to spend a summer,” he said.

In elementary school, Ingram was a scrupulous researcher, letting his unique passions not only consume him, but drive him. “I would become obsessed with things—just to name a few—like crustaceans, or submarines, or, you know, architecture,” he said. “Ancient Greek architecture. And my mom would take me to the library and let me go.”

He was also a voracious reader, which supplemented as well as spearheaded many of these interests—it was his love of books, rather than travel, which served as his initial introduction to the East Coast. Ingram poured over his parents’ paperbacks on the Kennedy family, and was especially intrigued by glossy, vivid images of Massachusetts.

Ingram remembers saying to himself,

“You know, someday, my life’s going to look like that. I’m going to move to New England and wear khakis and penny loafers without socks, and tweed jackets, and strut around, and go out on my friends’ boats. And it’s weird...that was when I was eight and all of that has come true somehow.”

Now a professor in Boston College’s communication department, Ingram takes pride in his traditionalist approach to teaching—he doesn’t use PowerPoint or Canvas. Instead, he wants to have conversations in the classroom. Much like his own adolescence and youth, he longs for the days when students took the time to simply sit down—whether it be on their mattress-padded twin in Medeiros or at a two-person table in Mac, and read.

He longs for the days when students took the time to sit and read. “In the ’90s, I found that even your average [student], even if they weren’t English majors or oriented towards literature, most people had five to 10 novels in their dorm rooms,” Ingram said.

Ingram remembers a time when students devoured full articles of The New York Times, and after, spent hours talking about the world. Ingram recognizes the rarity of that archetype in today’s technological age, and because of that, he tries to incorporate the here and now—the happenings of the world—into his classroom. “The theories I’m teaching now aren’t confined to academia—this is a map for everyday living. My classes are very grounded and personal,” said Ingram.

For Ingram’s dissertation, he investigated the impact of rhetorical influences before people became aware of the command of language. His studies were inspired by questions that had concerned

him from a young age—questions like: How do people get stuck in their ways?

Why? Studies in the humanities tend to suggest that the answer to this question points to the imagination, but the majority of studies abruptly end there. “I wanted to know where the imagination lives...and it lives in flesh,” said Ingram.

Upon this epiphany, Ingram engaged in a new dissertation in the field of neuroscience.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and he admits that BC is very different. Of course, there are the obvious, explicit distinctions—UMass is a public, secular university with an undergraduate enrollment twice as big as the private, Jesuit BC—but that wasn’t exactly what Ingram was getting at.

Five years into his teaching career here, Ingram feels confident in attesting to the good character of BC’s students.

He can tell that the majority of the University’s students aren’t attending just on principle. They aren’t simply seeking to make money or to mechanically put on a white button-down shirt with Monday’s traditional red-and-blue-striped tie.

Students come to “ask the big questions,” and to be made more acutely aware of present issues and current events. “The students at heart have a sense of goodwill,” Ingram said.

One either endearing or irritating practice of BC’s students—depending on how you look at it—noted by Ingram is their unfailing inclination to hold open doors for their fellow Eagles. “The tradition—it’s an annoying tradition, but they mean well—where someone holds the door for you and you’re 40 feet away …

I noticed it happened for everybody, all

Photo By Kaitlin Meeks / Heights Editor

Ingram brings the power of persuasion to his course on rhetorical tradition. the time,” he said.

The righteous characteristics that lay behind those gestures—no matter how trivial they may sometimes seem—contribute most directly to Ingram’s sound faith in the courteous and curious student body.

The fact that everyday, BC students continue to choose kindness, embodied in gestures which may seem small but resonate in a big way—that makes all the difference.

“He teaches about the art of persuasion, all the while persuading his students about their own reality,” said Chris Ferrari, MCAS ‘20.

Ingram still fears, however, that the future of the world is heading for a slow demise, as it is passed to the hands of the comparatively indifferent youth who will soon be the ones running it. Ingram compared the future state of the union to boiling a toad alive. One can keep increasing the heat of the water the toad is in as long as the temperature is increased very slowly. Believe it or not, the toad will

just sit there, stationary, and allow itself to be boiled to death.

“I kinda think this might be happening to America right now,” he said.

“What I fear is the surprising lack of engagement with the larger political world among young people these days,” Ingram said, emphasizing that the millennial generation “is living through the most intense and pivotal moment in American history since 1968 right now … maybe more so.”

Being aware of this fact is key, and because the country as a whole is taking in 30-second chunks of information, “We are operating according to team loyalty and emotion,” Ingram noted. He largely disagrees with this method of living, as doing this is upsetting and even dangerous.

Ingram fears that the downsizing of politics to entertainment in this way is an easy gateway to authoritarianism.

Whether we want to admit it or not, it’s happening, and “we should all be restling to get to sleep at night.” n

The Heights

Monday, February 12, 2018

A9

Uber for Labor: Start-Up Facilitates On-Demand Employment

By Joanna Yuelys Heights Staff

“It’s like an Uber for labor.”

This is how Woody Klemmer described Laborocity, a start-up he cofounded with his business partner, Joe Barba. Laborocity is a venture that seeks to connect people with varying degrees of skilled labor to businesses and individuals who need short-term workers.

Laborocity vets potential “Doers,” those who provide the labor, and once they are approved, they are eligible for jobs in fields like construction, events, hospitality, general labor, and consulting. Doers apply for a specific job via Laborocity’s online interface and are matched by the staff to employment opportunities.Laborocity targets mainly unskilled labor, but has begun to venture into highly skilled verticals such as consulting and health care to expand its breadth of competency.

Barba is a Philadelphia-based entrepreneur who, prior to Laborocity, had been in charge of his own company, L aborOnDemand. Klemmer had previously been the founder and CEO of Boston-based GladlyDo, which operated in the same space as LaborOnDemand, but focused primarily on the Boston area.

Laborocity as it exists today was founded in 2017 when Klemmer and Barba decided to integrate their two businesses into LaborOnDemand and rename it.

Both Klemmer and Barba had long been of the entrepreneurial mindset. Both men had started ventures in high school and college with similar visions and competencies around the unskilled labor market. As Klemmer puts it, “parallel to my story in Boston, Barba had an almost

identical story in Philadelphia.”

Surprisingly, they had never run into each other despite operating in the same field. Barba read about Klemmer’s venture in an article and called him to learn more.

Klemmer ended up pitching to Barba and his partner in Philadelphia, and it appeared to be a natural collaboration from the outset.

“Everything I needed they had, and everything they needed I had, so immediately it was a match made in heaven,” Klemmer said.

L aborocity started with four employees at inception and has since expanded to 18 with focuses in sales, technology, operations, and management.

They currently have a 100 percent retention rate for businesses utilizing their service.

Laborocity currently is available in Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, and areas of New Jersey and Delaware. Since Barba and Klemmer’s individual businesses had strong bases in Philadelphia and Boston, respectively, their next step was to begin to expand geographically.

“Our recruiting team is very good— they can spin up a new location within a couple of days typically,” Klemmer said.

This process begins with the recruiters finding a supply of workers either generally or for a specific customer and then building up a workforce in the region.

“We can grow horizontally without actually having to touch down and put an office in that particular area,” Klemmer said, describing the advantages associated with having this recruiting system.Doers must go through an interview and thirdparty background check, and the required

photo courtesy of LABOROCITY

Start-up Laborocity features an app connecting employers with Doers, facilitating on-demand employment at the click of the button. qualifications are stringent. Fewer than 5 percent of applicants become Doers, and “we are very adamant on only supplying the best of the best,” Klemmer said.

Laborocity also provides both workers compensation and general liability insurance to Doers in the event that there is an issue on a job, which is an important incentive for high-in-demand Doers. Laborocity has also had to field a large influx of Doers due to its quick expansion.

“Ninety-nine percent of our workers are between the ages of 21 and 29,” Klemmer said, indicating that the target workforce is generally Millennial and unskilled. Initially, the business had targeted college students as Doers, but expanded into non-college students when it moved toward a more business-

to-business model due to issues with scheduling.

“We described our college kids as our Uber Black car, and when we got to a certain level of demand where we had to fill the jobs, we opened up our UberX,” Klemmer said.He qualified this by noting that there are still important qualities necessary to be a Doer.

“I need people that can show up and are responsive, receptive, and trainable,” Klemmer said.

Doers are typically paid by the hour, and there is a double confirmation system for wages to ensure that all parties are adequately compensated. Laborocity uses Stripe’s services for secure payment, which Klemmer said has been largely successful.

“We haven’t had many issues at all

with fudging hours or anything similar to that, it’s more confusion over issues such as whether or not to count lunch in their hours,” he said. Since Laborocity is moving into both the consulting and healthcare verticals, it has to make adjustments to its processes.

“We do all the screening upfront, we just adjust the questions,” Klemmer said, describing the recruiting strategy behind bringing in these Doers. These fields will also require stricter vetting from Laborocity in terms of qualifications. The move is a change from current practice, but will provide the start-up opportunities for growth and increased reliability.

“Our plan is to build an amazing, profitable business, and if we can accomplish that goal, we will have many options,” he said. n

After 62 Years, Public Library Branch Returns to Chinatown

By Isabel Fenoglio Asst. Metro Editor Natural light poured into the first floor of the China Trade Center, illuminating the bold block text that climbed up the side of the stairs, reading “Boston Public Library Chinatown” in English and Mandarin.

There was already that quiet library hum, fueled by the occasional whisper and the crackle of turning pages. Kids sat sprawled out on the bright green

benches lining the walls, adults typed away at computers, and students studied for their first exams at the tables scattered throughout the room.

A little boy traced his fingers across the colorful spines in the children’s section with his eyebrows furrowed, focused on the task at hand. He paused first over Captain Underpants, but ended up with a classic, Curious George.

“Good choice,” said his mom. “This is one of my favorites.”

Last Monday, Boston Public Library

photos courtesy oF Nicolaus czarnecki

Chinatown branch’s services include books in English and Mandarin and ESL classes.

opened the doors to its first physical branch in Chinatown since 1956, following a $1 million investment in library services.

After decades of campaigning, Chinatown’s residents finally have a location, although this one’s only temporary. Plans for long-term library services are still in development, and a permanent location is expected in three to five years.

Until then, the China Trade Center, a city-owned building, will serve as the branch’s headquarters. The center is home to several non-profits that will work in partnership with Boston Public Library, including the International Institute of New England and Urban College of Boston.

“It’s really important to work in collaboration with the community organizations we are so close to,” said Priscilla Foley, director of neighborhood services for the Boston Public Library.

“We have already had classes come in from Urban College and are planning events for the end of the month with Chinatown Mainstreet and the Chinese Historical Society of New England,” she added.

The opening of the branch fulfilled a promise made by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, BC ’09, to the residents of Chinatown, first

in his 2013 campaign and again last year in his State of the City Address.

“The opening of this space marks our commitment to ensur ing all neighborhoods have the resources and support they need. I look forward to residents benefitting from this space and services,” Walsh said at the official ribbon cutting ceremony.

Chinatown residents played an active role in the planning and preparation of the branch.

“We worked with them every step of the way from public meetings, focus groups, individual discussions, area tours, survey questionnaires,” Foley said.

“Their input was vital and will continue to be even after a permanent location is opened.”

The benefit of more localized services to Chinatown is undeniable. Chinatown is one of Boston’s most densely populated districts, and it lacks a communal meeting space for residents to gather and hold events.

Over the years the neighborhood has been under pressure due to the development of high-rise buildings and gentrification. This has caused an influx of new non-Asian and short-term residents, along with a reduction in affordable housing.

Asian residents no longer comprise

the majority within Chinatown, and a feasibility study conducted by Boston Public Library and the City of Boston found that many residents feel as if they have little or no connection to the existing community.

The creation of a public space will reinforce ties within the community and help preserve the cultural identity and history of Chinatown.

The branch will also provide services uniquely directed to needs of the community, including a bilingual staff, books in English and Mandarin, information on immigration and citizenship, and ESL classes, among others.

“Community response has been really positive so far,” Foley said. “We have had people that live nearby coming in, lots of kids, along with members of the greater Chinese American community here in Boston.”

In addition to residents of Chinatown, the branch is projected to attract visitors from Bay Village, the Leather District, Downtown Crossing, and the north portion of the South End, which is made up of a significant Asian population.

“We have seen some great impact so far.Every neighborhood should have access to library services—it is vital for the maintenance of the community,” she said. n

Greenovate Boston Open Forum Talks City Climate Action Plan

By Alessandro Zenati Metro Editor

Climate change is a divisive topic of discussion, one that puts scientific evidence and public sentiment under the microscope.

With the impressive influx of entrepreneurial, academic, and public office talent into Boston, it’s hard to imagine what the city would do without the energy resources it currently uses.

Ye t f o r a j o i n t t e a m o f researchers from Boston University, MIT, Northeastern, and various city government departments, the proposed Carbon Free Boston project is an attempt to envision what that future might look like after a transition to clean, renewable energy.

Gusts of gelid air swished through the revolving doors opening into the main atrium of Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, where city officials and the public mingled prior to entering the lecture hall where the discussion would take place.

This open forum entitled Let’s Talk Carbon Neutrality was hosted by

Greeenovate Boston, an initiative put forth by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, BC ’09, to encourage all Bostonians to become active members in the mitigation of the effects of pollution.

The goal is to see a new way forward for Boston, one that is healthy and can ensure the city’s longevity and productivity.

In accordance with the City’s Climate Action Plan, Greenovate Boston aims to use civic engagement events to build a symbiotic relationship between city officials and the people they serve.

“This forum was really to serve as a meet and greet with [officials involved in] a very technical project,” said Lauren Zingarelli, director of communications and community engagement at the City of Boston’s Office of Environment, Energy, and Open Space.

“ It ’s i m p o r t a n t t h a t t h e s e conversations are happening on a one-to-one basis.”

The discussion began with brief introductions from some of the leaders spearheading the Carbon Free Boston project, such as Austin Blackmon,

chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space for the City of Boston, and Cutler Cleveland, a professor of earth & environment at BU.

While the ensuing Q&A session took place in a lecture hall, the tone was conversational rather than pedagogical, colloquial instead of overly formal.

This atmosphere allowed for audience members to have the freedom to ask questions about the pace of progress and challenge city officials to relate their goals to the best interests of Bostonians.

“I think it’s important to humanize [climate change] in this way,” Zingarelli said.

“Climate change is such a core part of everybody’s well-being. That’s why we wanted to bring this down to a more conversational level.”

Some attendants were supportive, a few were discouraged, but many were concerned in regards to the feasibility of the initiatives given the current plans in place.

There was a sense of shak y optimism that pervaded the lecture hall, as climate change activists and

lobbyists worried about the equity of the City of Boston’s ambitions in reaching carbon neutrality.

As sea levels continue to rise and create power outages, underserved and less fortunate communities are disproportionately impacted.

In this context, the team behind the Carbon Free Boston project have placed a clear emphasis on the policy areas where equity and environmental justice intertwine and interact.

The hope is that its work will give all residents and businesses a platform upon which they have an equal opportunity to thrive.

Ultimately, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 and ideally become carbon neutral by 2050.

His future looks very bright for Boston, inasmuch as there are plans to illuminate it in a way that leaves both the environment as well as future generations better off.

According to Blackmon, approximately 70 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to the heating of buildings and

transit terminals.

Consequently, the Carbon Free Boston is an ambitious plan. For this reason, Blackmon clarified the concept of carbon neutrality to the audience by explaining that it will likely mean a reduction in the city’s dependence on, rather than a complete elimination of oil and gas energy sources.

In reaching this goal, the research team plans to implement appropriate infrastructure and programs, all the while analyzing the likely effectiveness, costs, and benefits of various strategies in a quantitative manner.

Individual models from different sectors will ideally be pieced together to construct the most advantageous for the city’s growth.

This will include compiling forecasts about what might happen to the GDP and population, contrasting “business as usual” scenarios with new policy proposals.

“There’s never a surplus of really great ideas for what we can be doing,” said Zingarelli. “That type of creative thinking is exactly what we want to be hearing.” n

The Heights

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Monday, February 12, 2018

UGBC 2018 ELECTIONS GUIDE

“

Student Center

“

TARAUN & ANEEB

STUDENT-CENTERED CHANGE.

Frontis and Sheikh will place heavy emphasis on advancing the construction of a Student Center, which can serve the campus in three ways: work as a study space for students that can also function as a meeting space for clubs and organizations, add “talking space” to campus that does not currently exist, and serve as a convenient location for AHANA+ and LGBTQ+ resource groups.

Diversity and Inclusion Frontis and Sheikh will address prejudice, discrimination, and racism on campus through lobbying and advocacy efforts. They plan to do this through implementing educational resources on issues of race and racism though the AHANA+ Leadership Council and DiversityEDU, a module similar to AlcoholEDU to be completed by incoming students.

They will place a focus on working with the Council for Students with Disabilities to expand services that are already in place while demanding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and increasing awareness on behalf of disabled students.

“I would say that as UGBC being a student activism board, we should be directly involved in these incidents. We are working on being more transparent and making it clear to everyone about the issues [regarding diversity and inclusion] that are going on,” Frontis said.

Frontis and Sheikh also plan to work closely with department chairs to continue the positive trend of increased faculty hires from AHANA+ backgrounds, while pushing for the establishment of the African and African Diaspora Studies Department.

Frontis and Sheikh plan to support policies that increase mental health resources, while also calling for a diversification of mental health counseling staff. They additionally plan to increase pressure on the administration to continue providing counselling for survivors of sexual violence. In this, they will work with Residential Life to ensure Resident Assistants are equipped with the skills to assist survivors of sexual violence.

Campus Improvements Frontis and Sheikh plan to pressure the administration to divest from “morally questionable” financial investments, including fossil fuels and private prisons, both common institutions in which universities often invest.

Frontis and Sheikh will work with BC Dining and ResLife to increase composting and recycling efforts on campus, in conjunction with Climate Justice of Boston College, to increase the environmental sustainability of the University.

Frontis and Sheikh plan to advocate for Charlie Card distribution to Nursing and Lynch students so they are better able to reach their clinical and practicum placements.

Advocacy

“

Piercey and Fletcher would collaborate with anti-racist student organizations as well as work with the AHANA+ Leadership Caucus to effectively advocate for minority groups on campus. They would additionally work with the administration to continue the positive trend in AHANA+ faculty and student admissions.

“

REED & IGNACIO

ADVOCACY, RELIABILITY, ENGAGEMENT.

Piercey and Fletcher would expand the Eagle Escort system to better serve differently abled students on campus, while also streamlining the process of registering differently abled students for tutoring and housing concerns.

Piercey and Fletcher would advocate for a specific LGBTQ+ Resource Center in the immediate term, while working with the administration to hire faculty versed in LGBTQ+ specific issues. They recognize that the implementation of an LGBTQ+ resource center does not hinge specifically on the construction of a dedicated Student Center, but rather they will work with the University to use existing spaces instead.

Piercey and Fletcher would continue expanding the Lean On Me hotline service, while also working with administrators to evaluate how University Counseling Services can better serve students’ mental health needs.

In terms of sexual health on campus, Piercey and Fletcher plan to continue the advocacy of Students for Sexual Health, while reviewing University Health Services’ process for reviewing students’ sexual health needs.

Piercey and Fletcher also plan to expand on initiatives set forth by the Boston College Women’s Center while committing to more communication between the Women’s Center and UGBC.

Reliability & Student Experience Piercey and Fletcher plan to increase UGBC transparency and awareness on campus, citing decreased voting numbers in past years. They also set forth initiatives for campus improvement and accountability measures, which include better documentation of UGBC resolutions and implementation of the Student Experience Survey.

Basing their work on student input, Piercey and Fletcher will place significant weight in freshman input and international students to ensure these groups are included in UGBC operations.

“Given what happened last semester with regard to the racist incidents on campus, effective and challenging advocacy is more crucial now than ever.

There are countless living experiences in this room that I do not know and I cannot know. This means that … I would challenge myself every minute of every day to be an ally,” Piercey said.

SPORTS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018

B1

@HEIGHTSSPORTS

Spotlight Overdue

MEN’S BASKETBALL

ANDY BACKSTROM

the Hurricanes were following the blueprint that various opponents have implemented against BC this season—one that exposes the Eagles’ thin defense. The only problem? Miami couldn’t buy a stop.

The first half mirrored that of a track meet: back-and-forth the two teams went, exchanging baskets. Right after Nik Popovic threw down a two-handed dunk off the pick and roll, and Bowman turned in a layup, Hurricanes guard D.J. Vasiljevic found his rhythm. In the span of about two minutes, the sophomore matched his season scoring average, netting three of Miami’s next four shots—all of which were from 3-point land.

Bowman retaliated, scoring or assisting on BC’s next 12 points.

Inside and out, the sophomore was having his way with Lykes, who stands at just 5-foot-7. Midway through the period, Jordan

Boston College men’s basketball combo guard Jerome Robinson is the secondleading scorer in the ACC and the first in the conference to eclipse the 500-point mark this year. His partner-in-crime isn’t too far behind: Ky Bowman is averaging 16.9 points, 7.2 boards, and 5.0 dimes per game—a statline that no other NCAA player has posted this season, let alone any season since 1996-97. The two account for 49.1 percent of BC’s total scoring output and have transformed the Eagles, an ACC bottomfeeder each of the past five years, into a perennial threat.

The best part is, the average fan outside of the New England area has no idea who they are. And why would they? Try finding their names on a 2018 NBA Draft Big Board. They’re not there.

Out of all of the prospect rankings and mock drafts that I pooled, only one mentioned either of the guards. Arian Smith of nbadraft.net listed Bowman as the 87th-best player in the potential 2018 draft class. Robinson didn’t even crack the top 100.

Meanwhile, you’ll see plenty of guys on those charts who are looking up at the two Eagles in pretty much every statistical category. In fact, you don’t even have to leave the conference to find an assortment of prospects who have caught scouts’ eyes—players that are supposed to be far and beyond the level of Robinson and Bowman.

Nine ACC players made CBS Sports’ most recent prospect rankings. Not one of the four guards—Trevon Duval (Duke), Gary Trent Jr. (Duke), Grayson Allen (Duke), and Bruce Brown (Miami)—on the board are averaging more points than either of BC’s duo. Trent Jr. comes closest with 15.1 points per game, a full 5.3 ticks below Robinson’s scoring mark. Aside from scoring, Duval is the only one that has Bowman beat in one of the three major statistical categories. Yet, even though the freshman is averaging 0.9 more assists, he’s six rebounds short of Bowman.

There’s one thing that the four have in common: They were all ESPN 100 recruits—not only that, but they were all rated as top-30 players in the country coming out of high school. Robinson

See MBB vs. Miami, B3

See Spotlight Overdue, B2

KEITH CARROLL / HEIGHTS EDITOR

No. 25 Miami led by six points with less than four minutes to go, only to see men’s basketball go on an 8-0 run and record its second win over a ranked team this year.

BY ANDY BACKSTROM Sports Editor On Tuesday night at Notre Dame, everything was about Jerome Robinson. The junior matched his career Miami 70 high with Boston College 72 eight minutes left to play in the second half and ended up logging 46 points—three shy of the Eagles’ program record and more than any other ACC player had scored this season. Just like he has for the greater portion of conference play, Robinson cast a shadow over his partner-in-crime, Ky Bowman, in South Bend, outscoring the sophomore point guard for the fifthstraight game, once again getting the nod down the stretch.

But with B C ’s postseason hopes on the line and a ranked opponent in the house, Bowman upped the ante, as he’s wont to do, on Saturday afternoon. Recording his fifth double-double of the season, the sophomore racked

up 24 points, including 18 in the first half alone, 12 rebounds, six assists, and three forced turnovers—none bigger than his steal with under four seconds to play.

Following three-straight Miami misses, Bowman brought the ball up the court with the game tied at 70 and only 25.6 seconds left on the clock. Head coach Jim Christian called a timeout and, expectedly, drew up a play for Robinson, the ACC’s second-leading scorer. With seven seconds remaining, the junior jacked up a 3-pointer, but his shot was the off the mark. The ball hovered in the air, as Bowman fought for positioning underneath the basket. After being temporarily outmuscled by a pair of Hurricanes, the 6-foot-1 guard intercepted Anthony Lawrence II’s pass in the paint and went up for a shot, drawing a foul in the process.

“When the ball is in a scrum situation, I’d put him over anyone in the country to come out of it— that’s what he does,” Christian

told reporters after the game.

Calm, cool, and collected, Bowman knocked down both shots at the charity stripe, leaving Miami with nothing more than a desperation heave at the buzzer, effectively securing a 72-70 victory, the Eagles’ second over a ranked opponent this season.

The No. 25 Hurricanes (18-6, 7-5 Atlantic Coast) didn’t convert a single field goal attempt in the final seven minutes and 13 seconds of regulation—a complete 180 degree turn, in regard to their offensive production.

Miami opened the game shooting 57 percent from the floor, drilling eight of its 16 shots from beyond the arc. Running their offense through the speedy Chris Lykes, the Hurricanes routinely attacked the paint, attracting a host of BC (15-10, 5-7) defenders. The dribble-drive penetration opened up shooters on the perimeter, creating more than enough space for Miami to fire away from downtown. Essentially, WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Victory Over Pittsburgh Snaps Eagles’ Nine-Game Skid

BY BEN THOMAS Asst. Sports Editor For what felt like the first time all season, the crowd at Conte Forum was shaking the building for Boston College women’s basketball. Georgia Pittsburgh 61 Pineau had just Boston College 72 hit a layup for her 10th point in under three minutes, and it looked like BC was primed to snap its nine-game losing streak.

From there, hustle plays allowed the Eagles to coast to victory over Pittsburgh.

After a 3-pointer from Taylor Ortlepp spun out on the the offensive end, Katie Quandt was able to snatch the rebound and score an easy putback layup. On the other side of the court, Andie Anastos intercepted a Panthers pass, leading to a foul and two free throw attempts to ice the game. It was a team effort from the Eagles throughout the game, as BC used double-digit scoring from four of its starters to pick up a 72-61 win, its first in over a month.

The game was a low-scoring affair early on and featured lots of scrappy play down low. The Eagles (7-18, 2-10 Atlantic Coast)

didn’t record their first field goal until Pineau put in an off-balance layup with just over six minutes left in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh (10-15, 2-10) looked to run its offense with pace, but Anastos was able to take advantage of the Panthers’ aggressiveness, taking two critical charges. BC may have gotten its fair share of offensive fouls as the Panthers drove to the basket, but the first nine committed by the Eagles all came in the paint. And although she was able to slow down the Pittsburgh attack, Anastos had trouble keeping possession of the ball, turning it over twice in the span of a minute

and a half.

In the blink of an eye, Yacine Diop increased the Panther lead to six in the first quarter, knocking down a contested 3-pointer from just outside the arc. The orange-mohawked junior came into the game as the team’s leading scorer and finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, even though she committed five turnovers along the way.

Despite its success early on, Pittsburgh’s discipline proved to be costly. The Panthers picked up their fourth team foul with 3:37 remaining in the first quarter, and although

they managed to keep BC off the free throw line, by the fourth quarter they had four players with at least four fouls, forcing them to abandon their hostile game plan. Meanwhile, the Eagles committed lots of their own mistakes in the defensive key. Almost every time the Panthers got an open look in the paint, a BC defender would try and compensate with counterproductive play on defense that more often than not resulted in an and-one opportunity.

Things looked bleak for the Eagles until

See WBB vs. Pitt, B3

MEN’S HOCKEY

Hutsko, Woll Propel BC to Overtime Win Against River Hawks

BY BRADLEY SMART Assoc. Sports Editor Last year, Boston College men’s hockey forward Logan Hutsko played in just nine games with the U.S. National Team DevelopUMass Lowell 2 ment Program Boston College 3 before suffering a season-ending injury. Hutsko joined the Eagles looking to get back into the groove he had while setting records at ShattuckSaint Mary’s in high school.

It’s clear he’s found that groove.

Hutsko scored twice on Friday night against Massachusetts Lowell, tallying

INSIDE SPORTS

the game-winner with 6.8 seconds to go in overtime to down the River Hawks (16-13, 10-9 Hockey East), 3-2, and snap a two-game BC losing streak.

Backed by an impressive effort from goaltender Joseph Woll, the No. 18 Eagles (14-12-3, 14-6) gained valuable points in the Hockey East standings. Entering Friday night’s play, just seven points separated the first seven teams in the standings.

Woll had 31 saves in the win, out-dueling Lowell’s Chris Hernberg. Hernberg finished with 35 saves, denying the first four shots in overtime before Hutsko broke through.

David Cotton gathered a puck behind the net as the clock ticked down, then fed it into the low-slot where Hutsko was waiting. The freshman buried it, sparking a jubilant scene for a BC team that had suffered setbacks against Connecticut and Northeastern in the week prior.

“There’s such a fine line between winning and losing,” head coach Jerry York added. “I think tonight, the win could of been because Joe Woll made some unbelievable saves, and it could’ve been because of the heads-up play by Dave Cotton there with six seconds left.”

See MHOK vs. Lowell, B3

BRADLEY SMART / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Eagles swarm Logan Hutsko after he scored the game-winner in overtime on Friday.

LAX: Eagles Hold off Rally in South Bend WHOK: UNH Hands BC Third Loss of Year

SPORTS IN SHORT................................... B2

Notre Dame tallied four of the game’s final five goals on New Hampshire kept the Eagles in check on Friday afternoon, LACROSSE.............................................. B3 Saturday, but the scoring spurt wasn’t enough to best BC......B3 allowing just one goal in the upset...................................B2 BEANPOT............................................... B4

The Heights

B2

Monday, February 12, 2018

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Boutilier, New Hampshire Trip up Eagles in Surprising Home Loss

By Andy Backstrom Sports Editor

Down one goal with just over a minute and a half left in the third period on Thursday afternoon, Boston College women’s hockNew Hampshire 2 ey head coach Boston College 1 Katie Crowley pulled Katie Burt. In full desperation mode, Caitrin Lonergan, Daryl Watts, Makenna Newkirk, Toni Ann Miano, and Kenzie Kent—the Eagles’ five-best offensive weapons, four of whom fall somewhere inside the top 15 of the national scoring ranks—whipped up a flurry of shots, nine to be exact.

Two were off the mark, another pair were blocked, and New Hampshire goaltender Ava Boutilier stopped the remaining five.

Immediately after the horn sounded, Wildcats defenseman Julia Fedeski turned around, lifted her arms in the air, and embraced Boutilier. Within seconds, the freshman was surrounded by her entire team. She had just pulled off the grittiest performance of her young career, and maybe even her life.

Recording 34 saves , the most Boutilier had logged in a game since mid-January, the freshman became just the second netminder this season to hold BC, the second-rated offense in the country, to a single goal. More importantly, she willed her team to a 2-1 victory—one that snapped the Eagles’ seven-game win streak.

In the teams’ previous two meetings this season, No. 3 BC (25-3-3, 17-2-3 Hockey East) stormed out of the gates, lighting the lamp within the opening 10 minutes of play. That wasn’t the case on Thursday. In fact, the Eagles didn’t even get on the board in the first period. Right from the getgo, UNH (14-11-7, 9-7-5) looked like the aggressor.

The Wildcats tallied the game’s first four shots, challenging Burt with a few open wristers on the break. Meanwhile, BC struggled to control the puck, frequently turning it over in the neutral zone. Fortunately for Crowley and Co., it wouldn’t be long before the Eagles were on the power play. Yet, even with a one-man advantage, BC was largely ineffective. Time and time again, the UNH defense created traffic around the crease, deflecting shots and redirecting set passes.

Close to nine minutes later, the Eagles were gifted another special teams opportunity, thanks to a blatant tripping penalty. Just like its first power play, this one went to waste—only this time, there was nothing BC could do about it. During the two-minute span, the Eagles racked up a total of six shot attempts: Not one got by Boutilier.

Due to the fact that BC practically made a home for itself in UNH territory while on the power play, Burt was left all alone on the other side of the ice. She hadn’t seen a shot in over three and a half minutes when Meghara McManus wristed the puck her way

with just 35 seconds left in the opening frame—perhaps partially why the shot slid through Burt’s five-hole.

Following an Eagles turnover, Abby Chapman pushed the puck up the ice, infiltrating BC’s zone. Then, before reaching the goal line, the sophomore sent it back to McManus at the top of the left circle. The rest was history: The Milton, Mass. native flung the puck toward the cage, splitting Burt’s pads for the Wildcats’ first goal of the game and second against the Eagles this season.

But, a bit more than four minutes into the second period, the tables appeared to turn. Lonergan sped down the left side of the ice, acting as if she was going to wrap around the net. Instead, she delivered a pass across the rink to Watts, who was posted up at the top of the right circle. The freshman seamlessly flicked the puck past a pair of Wildcat defenders and in between the sliver of space dividing Boutilier’s glove and leg pad. All of a sudden, the game was tied, and there was a feeling that BC—a team that had outscored UNH a combined 11-1 coming into Thursday—was minutes away from breaking the contest open.

Except that never happened. Instead, the Eagles found themselves with another one-goal deficit in a matter of minutes.

After streaking down the side of the boards, Carlee Toews swung around the net, pivoted, and dished a backhanded pass to a cutting Carlee

BRADLEY SMART / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Eagles unleashed a flurry of shots at the end of the game, but came up empty.

Turner. BC’s Caroline Ross didn’t see her coming, and the Scottsdale, Ariz. native caught Burt, who had shifted to the right because of the potential wraparound, out of position. One touch, and the Wildcats were back in the lead.

The Eagles had 20 minutes to pull everything together and orchestrate their fifth third-period comeback of the season. Without a doubt, BC, now with a sense of urgency, upped its game. The only problem was, Boutilier was just that much better.

Throughout the final frame, the Eagles came within inches of equalizing. Three minutes in, Kent centered a pass for Newkirk, only to see the junior get stuffed at the net. Shortly after, Kent launched a shot of her own, but it bounced harmlessly off the right pipe.

Watts had her fair share of chances to

play hero, yet Boutilier was all over the nation’s top scorer, even gloving a topshelf-seeking shot from just outside the crease. No matter what Crowley tried, including yanking Burt at the 1:34 mark, BC came up empty.

Although the 10th-year coach was disappointed with the game’s outcome, she wasn’t entirely surprised.

“This is also a little bit of a trap game—when you play in between Beanpots you’re kind of looking ahead to that trophy, and you’re trying not to overlook the game, but it’s hard not to.”

Now, there’s nothing standing in between the Eagles’ way and Tuesday night’s Beanpot Final. But if BC comes out flat against Boston University, then there may be more truth to Thursday’s game than originally thought. n

It’s About Time Robinson and Bowman Crack an NBA ‘Big Board’ Spotlight Overdue, from B1 and Bowman, on the other hand, were afterthoughts. If you search for the pairing in ESPN’s recruiting database, you’ll end up with a half-filled graphic, simply stating that both Robinson and Bowman were recruited by and committed to BC. Neither received a scout grade, a positional, state, or regional ranking.

ESPN didn’t even deem them worthy of a comprehensive overview outlining their college selections—perhaps simply because no big-time Division I programs targeted the two North Carolina natives.

Robinson and Bowman were doomed from the start. Year after year, high schoolers lining ESPN’s prospect rankings have consistently cluttered the draft board, especially in the first round. Last June, 12 of the first 15 players selected were former ESPN 100 recruits. Granted the majority of them proved their worth at the collegiate level, but there’s also something to be said about the brand the media, namely ESPN, created for them.

Thanks to mixtapes, highlight reels, scouting reports, and other forms of promotion, these guys are stars before they even step foot on their respective campuses, automatically catapulting them in front of the rest of the country’s prospective NBA players. Just look at Zion Williamson: The 6-foot-6 high school senior out of Spartanburg Day School, who recently committed to Duke, has over one million followers on Instagram and is infinitely more popular than say, NBA All-Star Goran Dragic. Leading up to Williamson’s decision, ESPN followed his commitment as if he was a professional feeling out teams during free agency. Like

LaMelo Ball, Williamson is a sports icon, who’s probably still ordering a cap and gown for his upcoming graduation.

As long as the heralded recruits aren’t complete busts, the buzz often follows them to the next level. This summer, Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr., the topranked recruit in all of college basketball, was proclaimed to not only be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, but the next big thing. About two minutes into the Tigers’ season opener against Iowa State, he was sidelined with a back injury—one that required surgery, effectively ending his season. His draft stock fell, but only by the smallest of margins. To this day, despite recording all of two points in his brief collegiate career, Porter Jr. is pegged as the sixth player to come off the board in this year’s draft, according to 247Sports.

For the most part, this kind of hype mainly pertains to the upper quartile of NBA Big Boards, but that’s not to say the rest of the players don’t have something going for them. The majority of the prospects that are projected to hear their names called are playing into March. Just last year, 37 of the 50 players that were taken in the draft were coming off NCAA Tournament appearances.

It’s not uncommon for players to get on a roll amid a deep tournament run and see their draft stocks rise in a matter of weeks. In 2014, Shabazz Napier guided a seventh-seeded Connecticut team to its fourth national championship, averaging 21.7 points in the process. The performance earned him a spot on the NCAA’s All-Tournament team and, more importantly, pushed him into the first round of the upcoming NBA Draft. One year later, Sam Dekker, who was overshadowed by

fellow NBA prospect Frank Kaminsky III before the tournament, skyrocketed up the draft board, posting 19.2 points per game on Wisconsin’s journey to the title game.

These players had the opportunity to suit up on the national stage in front of 30-some thousand people, with millions more watching at home—a postseason experience that gave them a leg up over guys like Robinson and Bowman.

Still, there are exceptions to the rule.

Both of the last two No. 1 overall picks, Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons, never made it to the dance, and there are several more that fill out the second round of the draft. At the end of the day, a program’s success, especially if it’s in the Power Five, shouldn’t dictate the future of the players at hand. It hasn’t always in the past, even at BC. Just three years ago, former Eagles guard Olivier Hanlan, who averaged 19.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game in his final season on the Heights—numbers that are comparable, if not worse than Robinson and Bowman’s—was plucked by the Utah Jazz in the second round of the draft. Then, of course, back in 2011, the Oklahoma City Thunder nabbed another BC guard, Reggie Jackson.

It’s important to note that neither Hanlan nor Jackson led BC to an NCAA Tournament. They showed scouts, general managers, and NBA Executives that they could play with the best in the ACC, which is typically synonymous with the best in the nation. Robinson and Bowman are doing the same today—they’re just not getting any credit for their accomplishments.

Earlier this week, Robinson dropped a

career-high 46 points in South Bend, Ind., just hours after being left off the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Watch List for the 2018 Jerry West Award, an annual honor given to the country’s best shooting guard. The junior’s 40-piece was the first of any ACC player this season and three shy of BC’s program record.

On 12 separate occasions, Robinson has logged 20 or more points this season, including nine times against conference opponents. The bigger the game, the better he plays. As far as conference-only stats are concerned, the junior comes in at first in scoring (recording 3.8 more points per game than potential No. 1 overall pick Marvin Bagley III), fourth in field goal percentage, and first in 3-point percentage.

His side-kick, Bowman is hot off a season-saving performance, in which the scrappy guard picked off a Miami pass in the paint with under four seconds remaining, went up for a shot, drew the foul, and knocked down the ensuing free throws to secure a much-needed top-25, ACC win. The sequence encapsulated who the sophomore is: a do-it-all point guard with more upside than just about anyone in the country.

Robinson and Bowman aren’t the only ones to get the cold shoulder. Just last year, Pittsburgh’s Jamel Artis and Michael Young—two of the ACC’s top-five scorers—hardly got any love from draft analysts. Like Robinson and Bowman, the two were stuck on a team near the bottom of the conference without a strong supporting cast. The ignorance isn’t any more justifiable this time around.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying BC’s backcourt is perfect by any

means. After all, it has its fair share of off days. Way back in November, Robinson shot 1-of-14 from the field against an inferior Sacred Heart team, mustering just four points. Bowman is even more streaky, fluctuating in production levels from half to half. Above all else, the two struggle with ball security, a big reason why the Eagles have the third-worst turnover margin in the ACC. But even when weighing the negatives, scouts have to take the guards’ playing situation into consideration. They man the 33rd-least experienced team in the nation and put BC on its back, night in and night out. Per KenPom.com, Robinson and Bowman play 87.9 and 93 percent of their team’s minutes, respectively, leading what is the second-thinnest squad in the country. A few extra turnovers here and there are forgivable, especially when you are single-handedly fueling an offense.

It appears as if Robinson’s 46-point game has turned a couple of heads—Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge was one of 21 executives at Conte Forum for the Eagles’ upset win over No. 25 Miami on Sunday. But the fact of the matter is that Robinson and Bowman have merited that kind of attention for over a year now. The spotlight is long overdue.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the guards are NBA-ready, first-round talents—not yet, at least—but there aren’t 60 guys in the country that deserve a spot over either of them on an NBA Big Board, that’s for sure.

Andy Backstrom is the sports editor for The Heights. He can be reached on Twitter @AndyHeights

SPORTS in SHORT ACC MEn’s basketball Virginia Clemson Duke North Carolina Louisville Miami Virginia Tech Syracuse N.C. State Florida State Boston College Notre Dame Georgia Tech Wake Forest Pittsburgh

Numbers to know

Conference

overall

12-1 9-3 8-4 8-5 8-5 7-5 7-5 6-6 6-6 6-7 5-7 5-7 4-8 2-11 0-13

23-2 20-4 20-5 19-7 18-8 18-6 18-7 17-8 16-9 17-8 15-10 15-10 11-14 9-16 8-18

2

Number of wins over ranked opponents for men’s basketball, a mark it hadn’t reached in a single season since 2008-09.

8

Number of women’s lacrosse players who registered a point in Saturday’s season opening win over Notre Dame.

6.8

Number of seconds left on the clock in overtime when Logan Hutsko scored the game winner against Massachusetts Lowell on Friday.

QUote of the week

“It was just one of the will to win games. We had a great will today.”

— Jim Christian on men’s

basketball’s resilience after it rallied from nine down.

The Heights

Monday, February 12, 2018

B3

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Pineau Scores Career-Best 23 Points, Fishes BC out of Cellar WBB vs. Pitt, from B1 Milan Bolden-Morris jumpstarted the BC offense by making her team’s first triple and, on the very next possession, Anastos drilled a jumper from the elbow to bring the Eagles within five. An over-the-back call on Diop led to free throws for Sydney Lowery, who netted both to tie the game up at 26. On BC’s next possession Taylor Ortlepp nailed a 20-foot baseline jumper to give the Eagles their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. During the 11-2 run, Pittsburgh was unable to convert on eight-straight field goal attempts over the course of four and a half minutes. Still, back-to-back 3pointers from Kauai Bradley—including a buzzer-beater—put the Panthers up, 34-30, at halftime.

The two teams traded buckets in the

second half, with BC retaking the lead at one point early on, but an and-one for Kalista Walters extended the Panthers’ lead to six with just over five minutes to play.

Breaking the scoring drought for the Eagles was Pineau, who beat the shot clock with a rare 3-pointer—her fourth of the season—cutting the Pittsburgh lead to just one. From there, it was Pineau and Ortlepp taking control of the BC offense. On its next possession, Ortlepp found an over-pursued Pineau in the paint, and fed her a beautiful lob pass for an easy two. Soon after, Pineau drove to the paint and returned the favor with a baseline pass to Ortlepp, who connected on a 15-footer.

Bolden-Morris closed out an impressive third quarter for the Eagles with a hesitation move leading to an open shot at the top of the key, but, again, the Panthers were able

to hit a last second trey, this time from Kyla Nelson, who tied the game at 49 going into the final period.

Right on cue, Bolden-Morris revived the Eagles’ offense in the fourth quarter, knocking down a triple from the top of the arc and giving the team legitimate momentum for the first time all game. On BC’s next possession, Pineau converted an and-one to give the Eagles a six-point lead. Pineau continued her dominance in the paint with another 3-point play just a minute later and with just over six minutes left, things looked grim for the Panthers. They tried to implement a full-court press, but time and again BC was able to break it with heads up passing down the floor.

Pineau finished with a career-high 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half. After the game, coach Erik Johnson

credited his star forward’s heads up play as a key reason why she was able to take over the game in the fourth quarter.

“She was able to get her defender in foul trouble early, and I thought that made a difference,” said the sixth-year coach. “It really softened up their interior defense.”

Free throw shooting was key for the Eagles, who came into the game shooting just 68 percent from the line. In the first half, BC went a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and finished with a season high 25 made free throws. The team’s 72 points were the most for the Eagles since their last win that came against North Carolina on Jan. 5.

It was also clear that Johnson emphasized the importance of ball security at halftime. After giving the ball away 35 times in the team’s most recent loss to Georgia Tech last Thursday and 10 times in the first half

against the Panthers, BC only coughed up the rock three times in the second half.

Still, it wasn’t a completely flawless performance.The Eagles weren’t able to protect the defensive glass for the entirety of the contest. At one point in the second half, Pittsburgh had as many offensive rebounds as it did defensive. Over the course of the game, the Panthers scored 15 second-chance points on as many offensive boards.

Nonetheless, BC leapt out of the cellar of the ACC standings and now sits atop Clemson. The long-awaited win also allowed Johnson to express the pride he’s had in his team over the entire season.

“I can’t take any credit from a coaching standpoint,” he said. “Players have to go make plays and I’m so proud of them for going out there today and doing it.” n

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Eagles Buckle Down in Final Minutes to Knock Off No. 25 Miami MBB vs. Miami, from B1 Chatman scooped up a loose ball and lofted a pass down the court to a streaking Bowman. Slow to get back on the other end of the court, Miami watched as the red-headed phenom sprinted to the basket, elevated, cocked back, and laid down an emphatic dunk.

All the while, the Hurricanes continued to chuck up the long ball with quite a bit of success. It didn’t matter who it was—Lykes, Vasilijevic, Anthony Lawrence II, or even Sam Waardenburg—in all likelihood, a Miami trey was falling.

The two teams were dead even, perfectly exemplified by the four-straight possessions in which Waardenburg and Bowman swapped a pair of 3pointers.

Neither side could get a shot to go in the final minute and a half of the period—perhaps a sign of what was to come—but a Lawrence II free throw put Miami up, 44-43, before the break.

Immediately, the pace of play dipped in the second half, in large part because of turnovers. After only coughing up the ball five times in the

entire first period, the Eagles committed six turnovers, three of which were at the hands of Popovic, in the first six minutes of the half. The Hurricanes weren’t much better.

When all was said and done, the opponents combined for 19 turnovers in the period.

Ball security aside, both offenses looked out of sorts. All of a sudden, the air raid was no more.

In fact, after shooting 14-of-21 from long range in the first half, the two teams were a putrid 3-of-21 from downtown over the course of the final 20 minutes.

Without the outside shot, Miami and BC took to the lane, frequently earning trips to the line.

Four-consecutive shots at the stripe down the stretch and a defensive stand awarded the Hurricanes a six-point lead with just under four minutes to go.

That’s when BC’s backcourt took the game into its own hands. Robinson recorded two contested baskets, the second requiring him to fling the ball over his shoulder, while being clobbered by a pair of Hurricanes, mid-air.

He didn’t get the call, but—fortunately for the Eagles—he got the roll. BC

didn’t make another field goal, and it didn’t need to.

Approaching the 1:30 mark, Steffon Mitchell trailed behind Lonnie Walker IV on the guard’s way to the rack. As the Reading, Pa. native went up for the layup, Mitchell came soaring in to block his shot off the backboard, sending the Eagles the other way in transition.

Bowman pushed the tempo and delivered a pass to Robinson, who was promptly fouled on the ensuing shot attempt. Now the the sixth-best free throw shooter in the ACC, the junior netted both at the line to tie the game.

A couple more Hurricanes misses and Bowman’s highlight-reel hustle play were all BC needed to seal the deal.

For the first time since the 201213 season, the Eagles are a 15-plus win team with five or more ACC victories. But Christian isn’t pulling out the calendar or record book anytime soon—the past is the least of his concerns.

“The goal for us is to be a hot team in February—that’s the goal. We’re 21 in February, that’s all we really care about.” n

Keith Carroll / Heights Editor

Ky Bowman (above) and Jerome Robinson (below) combined for 53 points in the win.

LACROSSE

Led by Hart, Eagles Outlast No. 15 Notre Dame in Opener

By Jack Goldman Copy Editor Kaileen Hart kicked off her senior season in style.

The captain of Boston College lacrosse scored four goals Boston College 13 and added an asNotre Dame 11 sist in the season opener, lifting the Eagles over Notre Dame, 13-11. Two tallies on either side of halftime from the attacker were the difference, while Dempsey Arsenault added a hat trick of her own and returning 80-goal scorer Sam Apuzzo chipped in two goals and two assists to seal the victory.

That’s not to say that the result was never in doubt.

In fact, No. 15 Notre Dame (0-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) scored the first two goals of the game and held No. 6 BC (1-0, 1-0) off the scoreboard for the first 11 minutes.

The Fighting Irish’s Maddie Howe and Nikki Ortega, both of whom would finish the game with hat tricks of their own, found

the back of the net twice within the span of a minute to give them an early lead. Assisting on both goals was Savannah Buchanan, who scored on both of her shots for a total of four points.

For the first 10 minutes, the Irish won every race to every ground ball and every draw-control, controlling the vast majority of possessions. The Eagles looked far from the team that had been in the National Championship the previous season.

A BC fan would’ve expected to see either Apuzzo or Hart step up and swing the momentum in the Eagles direction—Apuzzo was coming off a dynamic offensive season, and Hart had a breakout junior year—but instead of following the script, it was sophomore Sheila Rietano who sparked the offense.

The sophomore slashed to the front of the net and snapped the first goal of her career past Giacolone, putting BC on the board for the first time with an excellent individual effort.

A minute later, it was time for Hart to put on a show, notching an unassisted goal of

her own. Starting from behind the cage, she sped past a defender and ripped a shot past Giacolone to tie the game at two.

This minute of excellent lacrosse revealed the potential Eagles have this year. After a slow start where it couldn’t have looked less like it did a year ago, BC nabbed two goals on four shots in a lone minute. The Eagles’ explosive offense—ninth in the country last season—had quickly found its footing.

On the other hand, Notre Dame was far from done. The two teams began to trade goals back and forth with 17 minutes to go in the first half. Ortega and Apuzzo scored back-to-back,the latter grabbing her first with some beautiful dodges through two defenders to open up the sliver of space she needed.

The Irish’s Molly Cobb answered with a free position chance, while Arsenault, Buchanan and Tess Chandler all found the back of the net for the first time. Finally, Katherine Enrietto put Notre Dame up a goal with 6:21 to go in the frame. Ten minutes, seven goals: a 6-5 score.

The breathless first period started to

turn in BC’s favor when Arsenault sprinted past her defender and squeezed the ball past Giacolone for her second goal of the game, which came with just over five minutes remaining. A minute later, Hart grabbed her second tally to put the Eagles out front for the first time all game. The Eagles wouldn’t trail for the rest of the contest, and entered halftime up, 7-6.

The Irish opened the second half scoring, as Jessi Masinko found twine right away. But the game was not tied for long. A bit more than a minute later, Apuzzo scored her second, deking out a defender and whipping a shot low and in.

Hart then took control, scoring with just over 19 minutes remaining to seal a hat trick and then assisting on Arsenault’s hat trick effort just over a minute later later. Apuzzo’s passing also created goals for Emma Schurr and Ally Mayle, building a comfortable five-goal lead that essentially guaranteed the final result.

Notre Dame went on somewhat of a run, scoring four times before time expired,

including goals from Buchanan, Howe, and Ortega, but Hart logged her fourth to keep the game out of reach.

All in all, BC has to be happy with the way it started the season. Holding the Irish without a goal for eight minutes while the Eagles notched five tallies of their own showed the defensive potential this team has, an important supplement to its offense.

This wasn’t a standout performance for their goaltender, Lauren Daly, though, as she let in 11 goals and only made six saves. If Daly improves her play as the season rolls on, BC is in a great position on both ends of the field to pick up right where it left off last year.

No matter what, it looks like the Eagles’ high-powered offense is back, and Kenzie Kent hasn’t even returned to the team yet since the women’s hockey season is still ongoing. A promising start is all head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein could have asked for on the road to start 2018, and although there are still areas for the Eagles to improve upon, they’ve certainly laid the groundwork for a successful spring season. n

MEN’S HOCKEY

With Dramatic Win, BC Clinches Season Series Against Lowell

31

saves by goaltender Joseph Woll

2

goals scored by Logan Hutsko

10

faceoff wins by Julius Mattila

MHOK vs. Lowell, from B1 The first period was a back-and-forth affair, with the play constantly shifting from one end of the ice to the other.

Both teams managed double-digit shot totals, but neither could find the back of the cage. That’s not to say that they didn’t have quality chances.

BC’s Julius Matilla nearly scored on the penalty kill after Graham McPhee went to the box for cross-checking, and the forward scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone and flung a shot on net.

Later, River Hawks forward Nick Marin slipped behind the Eagles’ defense and had a wide-open breakaway, but Woll stood tall for the stop.

Lowell came out firing in the second period, taking five of the first eight shots.

It was also the more physical team. River Hawks forward Nick Master lined up an entering Hutsko and leveled him, just to the left of his bench. The hit left Hutsko

prone on the ground, and a minor scrum ensued amidst loud boos from the Kelley Rink crowd. Master was ejected from the game, which lifted the Eagles.

The ensuing five-minute power play set up the game’s first goal, as Connor Moore’s shot from the right point made its way through traffic and was knocked in by Aapeli Räsänen, who shielded Hernberg.

BC struggled to keep its foot on the gas, however, and the River Hawks made it pay. Ryan Dmowski had the answer, taking a pass from Marin and striding down the right side, unleashing a wrister that went up and over Woll’s right shoulder.

Under two minutes later, a hooking penalty on Moore gave Lowell the lead back. Tommy Panico was left open on the doorstep of the goal when the River Hawks had the one-man advantage, and Charlie Levesque slid a puck right through the low slot where he easily converted.

Cotton and Hutsko had an answer at the start of the third, though. The freshman finished off Cotton’s pass from behind the end line following a turnover, just under two minutes into the period.

The final 18 minutes were tension-filled, but neither team really had a legitimate scoring chance—both finished with single-digits in shots for the first time.

In what York described as the “homeice advantage,” the Eagles came out firing in overtime and clearly had all of the momentum. Hernberg held strong, but Hutsko eventually broke through. The win was crucial for BC in the standings, as—paired with a Northeastern loss—it now has a two-point edge on Providence and three points on the Huskies. With a Beanpot date against Harvard on the other side of the weekend and just four games left afterward, the Eagles are looking to take the momentum of an overtime thriller and ride into a 16th Hockey East regular season championship. n

The Heights

B4

Monday, February 12, 2018

WOMENS HOCKEY

BC Advances to Beanpot Title Game for Sixth Year in a Row

By Michael Sullivan Heights Senior Staff Katie Crowley preaches a familiar message to Boston College women’s hockey: It’s all about the team. What coach doesn’t?

But early on in the 2017-18 season, the focus has been on the accomplishments of individuals. With her most recent victory on the road against Providence, Katie Burt became the NCAA’s all-time leader in wins by a goaltender. Caitrin Lonergan has capitalized on her experience from last season by more than doubling her point total, putting her at second-most in the nation. That’d be the story for the Eagles, if they didn’t also have No. 1 Daryl Watts, the freshman from Toronto who has been, wire-to-wire, the nation’s leading goal scorer.

Though it’s nice setting and chasing records, at this point in the season, the Eagles have their sights set on something larger: a clean sweep of Trophy Season. Having those three superstars—and a veteran leader with plenty of Trophy Season experience—makes another run at a to-date unachievable feat for the Eagles a lot easier.

On Tuesday night, the team took that first step. Despite being outshot 38-28, No. 3 BC defeated crosstown rival Northeastern

at Kelley Rink in the opening game of the 40th Women’s Beanpot Tournament, 5-2.

The Eagles were led by two goals from Watts and a hat trick from team captain Makenna Newkirk, her fourth three-point game in five Beanpot appearances. BC now advances to play Boston University next Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m., the program’s sixth-consecutive Beanpot Final game.

“We came out with the younger kids on fire in the beginning, and then our older players stepped it up in the end,” Crowley said after the game. “Overall a great team effort, I thought our team played well, and we got ourselves in a final so that’s always something to be really proud of, and we’re giving ourselves a chance to win another trophy.”

The frame began with back-and-forth play by both offenses. The Eagles (25-2-3, 17-1-3 Hockey East) kept some early attempts by the Huskies (13-14-3, 9-10-2) at bay with solid defensive play by Kenzie Kent out in front of Burt. On the other end, Northeastern goaltender Brittany Bugalski handily stopped an early give-and-go by Delaney Belinskas.

But halfway through the period, Watts, Lonergan, and Toni Ann Miano began to show off why the Eagles are the deadliest

scoring team in the nation. Miano found a hole, in which Watts got behind the defense. With only Bugalski to beat, Watts put together a couple of nifty moves to get BC on the board first.

After spending two minutes in the box for hooking, Watts and Lonergan put together one of their best goals of the season. On a 4-on-4, Lonergan reeled in the puck from behind, following a shot by Northeastern’s Lauren Kelly. She undressed Kelly along the boards, then skated down the ice alongside Watts with only Codie Cross to beat. Lonergan, a sophomore from Roslindale, Mass., held the puck long enough in front of Bugalski to force Cross to lunge toward her. At the last moment, she passed it to Watts, who sold her forehand and forced Bugalski out of position. Watts tapped it in easily for her 36th goal of the season, extending her nation-leading point total to 71.

“Caitrin made an awesome pass to me, and the goalie kind of—she slid all the way to the left, so it was an easy deke for me to make,” Watts said.

But in the second period, the Eagles came out flat. Throughout the frame, the Huskies forced BC to play on its heels— Northeastern outshot the Eagles, 18-8,

which could’ve been even more had it not been for some strong plays by Miano and Grace Bizal to poke the puck away from the crease. Then, the defensive mistakes began to hinder Burt’s ability to see the puck—and it showed on the scoreboard.

The first miscue came four minutes through the frame. Andrea Renner heaved a desperation shot at Burt, likely hoping for a deflection or a centered pass. But Serena Sommerfield deflected it off her stick, which caused Burt to lift up the wrong leg and let the puck trickle through the five hole.

Six minutes later, the Eagles’ defense broke down in front of Burt again. Taytum Clairmont attempted to center a pass to team captain Shelby Herrington. The puck bounced off Ryan Little, but fortunately for the Huskies, it caromed right to Kasidy Anderson. Because Bizal played tight on Clairmont, she missed her assignment to get back on Herrington, who pushed it past Burt for the goal.

What stunted BC even more was that Northeastern shut down Watts and Lonergan. But, from there, Newkirk took over.

Newkirk and her fellow captain Kent combined for a give-and-go goal three minutes after Herrington’s equalizer—Kent forced a turnover at the blue line that allowed

Newkirk to slot it past Bugalski’s right shoulder to put BC back on top. Northeastern almost got one back in the second, but the review showed Brooke Hobson interfering with Burt, maintaining BC’s lead into the third. Still, Crowley was not pleased with the second-period performance, laughing with Newkirk to allude to the fact that there wasn’t a lot she could say on camera without an FCC warning.

“I thought we withstood the storm in the second period, and I told them that,” Crowley said. “That team over there, they’re a very good team. I know their record doesn’t necessarily show it, but they’re a very good hockey team. And in the third, we wanted to keep it simple.”

They did just that. With five minutes to go in the frame, Kent made an excellent read off the boards behind Bugalski to send a back pass toward Newkirk. The junior from Scottsdale, Ariz. went top shelf and into a celebration after giving BC some much needed insurance. Then, on an empty-net 6-on-4, she got the final goal she’d need to put the Eagles in front comfortably.

“It’s huge for our team, it’s the first trophy of the season,” Newkirk said. “So I think that we’re trying to gear up for UNH on Friday, but it’s easy to get up for Tuesday.” n

Celine lim / Heights stafF

Looking for its third consecutive Beanpot championship, Boston College women’s hockey used an impressive game from Makenna Newkirk (three goals) to take the first step, beating Northeastern.

H 2 0 1 8 B E A N P OT

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF And Celine lim / Heights staff

On Monday night, the Eagles lost their third-straight Beanpot game, the second in a row against Northeastern, as the Huskies rolled to a 3-0 win in pursuit of their first championship since 1980.

MENS HOCKEY

Northeastern Shuts Out Eagles in First Round of Beanpot

By Bradley Smart Assoc. Sports Editor With five minutes left in the second period, and Boston College men’s hockey down by one, goaltender Joseph Woll denied a wrister from the blue line from Northeastern’s Dylan Sikura. The puck bounced off in front, right to the stick of Huskies forward Nolan Stevens, who had plenty of room around him to bury the easy one-timer.

Once again, the Eagles’ defense had lost track of a Northeastern player—and Woll couldn’t bail them out.

Despite piling up 28 saves, including several during 1-on-1 situations, Woll was left with a 3-0 shutout loss in the team’s Beanpot opener as No. 18 BC (13-12-3, 13-7-0 Hockey East) struggled on special teams and turned the puck over time and time again. It was the third-straight loss for the Eagles in the tournament, dating

back to last year’s winless outing, and their second to the Huskies (16-7-5, 11-5-3) in as many games.

Adam Gaudette buried another rebound with just under five minutes left—the icing on the cake for a Northeastern squad that is looking for its first Beanpot championship in 30 years.

“We just didn’t box out,” BC head coach Jerry York said after. “Joe [Woll] makes the save and there’s no box out in front. That’s something we have to address there.”

The Eagles may have outshot Northeastern, 37-32, but it was clear which team was generating better looks. That said, after killing its first penalty of the game, BC controlled the puck in the Huskies’ zone and appeared to be filled with newfound energy.

The Eagles unleashed a flurry of shots on Northeastern freshman goaltender Cayden Primeau, who needed a glove save to deny a Christopher Brown one-timer, and a misfire from J.D. Dudek at the point.

Then, a second BC penalty reversed the script. Dudek chased down Biagio Lerario and dove into him, picking up a two-minute penalty for tripping. The Huskies entered with the best power-play success rate among Hockey East teams, and it showed. Sikura, who scored the eventual game-winner in last year’s Beanpot consolation game against BC, flicked a wrister from the right circle. The puck nicked Casey Fitzgerald’s stick and Woll couldn’t make the adjustment, with the puck squeezing through the gap between his glove and torso.

Any momentum the Eagles had dissipated. Northeastern’s Matt Filipe nearly scored on a breakaway just seconds after puck drop following Sikura’s goal, but Woll wasn’t fooled by the sophomore’s deke to his left. BC’s defense was embarrassed later in the period, though, as Zach Solow made BC’s Connor Moore look helpless with an impressive move—but Filipe, once receiving a near-side feed, wasn’t able to push the

puck past Woll.

Woll kept the Eagles in it, denying a onetimer from Brandon Hawkins—who snuck behind Moore and was left unguarded at the doorstep of BC’s net. The Eagles managed to keep up with Northeastern in terms of shots, but there wasn’t any question which team was in command. If not for the superb early play from Woll, BC could’ve been staring at a two or three-goal deficit at the end of the first.

The Eagles came out stronger in the second, putting pressure on Primeau for the first time in a while. Julius Matilla had a wrister saved from the left circle, and Fitzgerald followed with three-consecutive shots on net after BC went on its first power play.

Despite leading in shots however, it never really seemed that the Eagles were going to break through.

They managed to create their biggest chance of the night on a third-period power play when David Cotton got a shot off in

front of the net, but he flicked it high off the crossbar. A few seconds earlier, Mattila couldn’t put the finishing touches on a setup feed, while cutting in from the left side.

BC went back on the power play, but it couldn’t capitalize when Primeau was out of position, or when it had a clean look to the left of the net. The Eagles finished 0-of-4 on the power play and were held scoreless down the stretch. Northeastern was without Gaudette on the first power play and Sikura on the second—the Huskies’ two best players—but BC still wasn’t able to get on the board.

Gaudette capped the scoring with five minutes left—insurance that Northeastern wouldn’t need. After he finished off the rebound, he landed on his knees and pumped his fists in the air. It was a stark reminder that although the Eagles entered the day leading the Huskies in the Hockey East standings by a point, Northeastern was clearly the better team. n

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‘Fifty Shades Freed,’ Cruel and Unusual Punishment

BY TRISTAN ST. GERMAIN Heights Staff

Grey is connoted with a variety of concepts—lifelessness, indifference, dead bodies, moody weather. Unfortunately, that vague and deliberately meddling color is now interwoven inextricably with the multimillion-dollar erotic thriller based upon a middle-aged mom’s Twilight fanfiction—Fifty Shades of Grey. The new and final installation in the trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed provides closure to the sadomasochistic relationship between a wealthy business magistrate Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and his sub-in-training Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson). Attacking the tenets of human relationships by commodifying romanticism, turning it into an object that can be monopolized and dominated, Fifty Shades Freed provides the most lackluster

erotica known to civilization.

Having just been married, Anna faces a distressing debilitation of femininity that is rooted in her reluctance to conform to a domestic lifestyle. She does not want to give up her maiden name for Grey’s, does not want to manage the affairs of the kitchen and multiple secretaries. But in a sense, neither is Anna. Both are figments of a vapid upperclass culture bordering on the extinction of anything romantic or appealing. Whereas Christian feigns a tortured complexity, Anna plays the part of a vapid secretary easily seduced by cable-veined men. Both are self-absorbed on a level that is literally repulsing. So in a way, they make the perfect couple—resolving any emotional conflict through gaudy displays of wealth, stringing together the impersonal fragments of their marriage through raunchy sex acts overlain with Billboard Hot 100 singles (in one par-

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ticular instance, they bone in a car passenger seat—though one wonders if it is Mr. Grey’s impeccable pecs that gets Anna’s engines revving, or perhaps the leather interior of the Porsche he just bought for her).

This ridiculous fetishization of material luxury—a catalogue of private jumbo jets, villas in exotic locations, high-rise apartments, and a staff of personal caterers—reflects not only the profound emptiness of the Greys and their associates, but the pleasure that inevitably arises through subjugation. The takeaway is simple: Being dominated by wealth is sexy. Wealth suspends those political attitudes which would otherwise lead some to leap on Christian’s character for being misogynistic, out of sync with contemporary standards of conduct.

Whether he is vocalizing his fear of other men taking interest in her, or expressing his anger when she talks to other men for business matters, Christian sociopathically attempts to control every minute aspect of Anna’s life. His paranoia reaches ludicrous and fantastical proportions when he hires multiple security guards to watch her every movement. But the biggest offender is no doubt the downright convoluted and nonsensical subplot involving Anna’s exboss and perpetual stalker, Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), whose angst is dramatized to the point of parody. His story emerges jarringly at forced and inopportune moments, as if to remind the audience that the film indeed has a narrative. What are we to learn here, from Hyde and Christian sharing an impoverished background? Circumstance determines nothing—we’re either born with

an innate tendency to acquire wealth or not to? If anything, the moral is that power transcends mere money: Power’s the capacity to reserve one’s feelings, to make a farce of the sadomasochistic tendencies to which our protagonists are no doubt susceptible.

Fifty Shades’ absolutely hollow depiction of human relationships is no more evident than in the cast’s inert and tactless acting, wherein not a single psychological detail isn’t played for farce or style. Even the sex scenes are cruelly conducted: Johnson and Dornan are like thickly glossed slabs of meat rubbing against each other. Going back to the significance of the color grey in this series, one can only infer that it embodies the steely and austere impersonality of money, business suits and corporations, everything which we find “attractive” despite the impersonal and morbid aesthetic.

If anything, sex is just another tool for acquiring a chauvinistic, warriorbred sense of recognition that runs against the wall of dull and insipid contemporary existence—wherein kinky sex is the last frontier of boundary-pushing excitement. Yet Fifty Shades Freed repeatedly commends this attitude. Not only does it fail to entertain, but it undermines the legitimacy of moviemaking, of art in general.

Like an Ayn Rand erotica supplanting The Fountainhead for a phallus, Fifty Shades Freed traps the viewer in a cacophony of toxic smugness without a single redeeming character or quality. 

‘Little Dark Age’ Launches MGMT’s Stellar Return

BY KAYLIE RAMIREZ Assoc. Arts Editor After a five year hiatus, MGMT returned on Feb. 9 with a journey through space in a synth-pop rocket ship on Little Dark Age. On the 10-track album, MGMT cements its eternal status as a pop powerhouse with unique flare and charisma.

A woman’s voice ushers in the album with a chipper “Get ready to have some fun! / Alright here we go!” on the opening track, “She Works Out Too Much.” Vocalist Andrew VanWyngarden complains that he’s “Sick of liking your selfies” to a conceited love interest, while the woman’s robotic voice retorts “The only reason we never worked out was / He didn’t work out.” The sarcastic song stays true to MGMT’s irreverence while the synthetic beat establishes the interstellar sound of Little Dark Age. The tortured title track “Little Dark Age” was released just in time for Halloween last October and proved a solid comeback single for the band. MGMT walks listeners through a vivid nightmare with lyrics like “The feelings start to rot” and “The image of the dead / Dead ends in my mind.” A synthesizer mimics an organ to add to the mystifying horror of the song.

“Me and Michael” is the foil for “Little Dark Age,” instead utilizing a beat that sounds transplanted straight from the credits of a John Hughes flick. Cosmic twinkling

flourishes, melodic “woah”s and synthetic horns team up to complement the dreamy nostalgia of the lyrics.

The techno tones of “Days That Got Away” fade out to reveal a calming saunter through a virtual world full of eccentric sounds and the faint suggestion of a voice in the distance. A mix of synthetic noises that could have been pulled straight from an ’80s space video game is punctuated by the repeating title line. On the nearly five-minute track, MGMT provides a momentary day-dream that dissolves the hours into “days that got away.”

“One Thing Left to Try” is upbeat, as VanWyngarden’s voice takes on an ’80s pop character while he sings about leaving suicidal thoughts behind. The lyrics are genuinely encouraging—MGMT asks listeners “Do you want to keep us alive? / Do you want to feel alive?” The beat incorporates fun cowbell and vibrant glam rock guitar riffs before it fades to a mix of otherworldly techno sounds.

The indie group takes a turn and heads for calmer skies on “When You’re Small,” a mostly stripped song that discusses the tumultuous range of emotions experienced during life. MGMT rejects the normal structure of songwriting by leaving the song without a chorus but it still manages to connect with listeners. MGMT addresses man’s place in the universe with the final line that proclaims “When you’re small / No you’re

not very big at all.”

“When You Die” and “Hand It Over” are antithetical in tone and sound and capture the versatility of the band’s latest endeavor.

The former employs the irreverent insincerity of MGMT’s earlier work with blunt lyrics like “Go f—k yourself / I’m mean, not nice.” The beat adheres to the spacey sound of Little Dark Age but distinguishes itself with a whimsical flute, sinister laughter, and eccentric claps punctuating the psychedelic breakdown of the bridge.

“Hand It Over” is ethereal and authentic both in sound and lyrics, an unusual approach for MGMT. A distant choir of voices

repeats “hand it over” after every line of the romantic chorus that muses “In the dark / What’s yours is mine.” The dreamy ballad maintains the starry theme of the album in spite of its starkly different sound—the song is sucked into a black hole, morphing the waves of sound as it fades.

Little Dark Age is serious, yet not too serious, stylish yet mainstream, and genuine yet irreverent. MGMT journeys through the cosmos with spacey beats and universal questions to explain life on earth—it’s scary, it’s monotonous, it’s painful, it’s happy, and it’s laughable at times, but ultimately it’s

Heights Staff

Sometimes it’s hard to look beyond ourselves. We often get caught up juggling problems of our own, and we can forget to look around. At the same time, we watch movies to escape all that—many films take us to exciting worlds, while some invite us into the lives of others. Both are forms of escapism, but films about people like us don’t entirely distract us from the outside world, but instead ask us to reconsider it.

Roger Ebert once famously spoke about this very thing, calling movies “a machine that generates empathy,” and A Fantastic Woman—a Chilean film nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language

Film—certainly fits the bill. Directed by Sebastian Lelio, A Fantastic Woman takes us deep into the life of Marina Vidal (Daniela Vega), a transgender woman doing her best to make it as a singer. She’s also in a loving relationship with an older man named Orlando (Francisco Reyes Morandé), who suddenly suffers an aneurysm one night and dies (it’s not a spoiler, it happens in the first 10 minutes). This death comes as a surprise not only to Marina, but also to Orlando’s family who struggle to accept Marina’s place in his life. This gives way to suspicion and outright hatefulness towards our protagonist simply because of her gender identity.

This bigoted suspicion and distrust soon begin to interrupt Marina’s grieving, and we follow her closely through the tumult

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LITTLE DARK AGE MGMT DISTRIBUTED BY COLUMBIA RECORDS RELEASE FEB. 9, 2018 OUR RATING

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and melodrama of the days following this unfortunate tragedy.

Almost immediately after Orlando’s death, Marina begins to receive phone calls from members of Orlando’s family including his son from a former marriage and his ex-wife. Marina meets with his family members in order to determine what’s to be done with his possessions and the apartment they shared, and some of these interactions are difficult to watch. In one scene, Marina brings Orlando’s car to his ex-wife, who struggles to keep it together.

She seems friendly enough at first, until she verbally attacks Marina and calls her life “a perversion.” She goes on, lamenting the “normal life” she once had with Orlando, all while Marina tries to stand tall, respectfully taking in these insults. Evidently, the family is grieving not only Orlando’s death, but also his decision to be with a trans woman. On a very basic level, experiencing this kind of hatred and discrimination towards Marina helps us identify with her struggle. She is, as the title suggests, a fantastic woman who’s burdened by the discomfort of others. We see her suffer and cry, but we also see her sing, dance, and laugh. The film’s score reflects this fluctuating mood, often shifting between very ominous jazz pianos to an orchestral score with fluttering strings that seems to suggest some kind of hope.

A Fantastic Woman also flirts with the surreal, featuring a few memorable sequences that represent a much-needed break from

AUSTIN HORD

‘SUBTLE THING’ MARIAN HILL

Sometimes less is more, and electronic pop duo Marian Hill knows this all too well. Its latest single, “Subtle Thing,” was released under Republic Records on Friday, and it’s more of what it does so well. Jeremy Lloyd’s electronic beats are straightforward yet powerful and precise—they start out with simple finger snaps on the two and the four and build up from there to strong kicks and fast hi-hats. He also knows when and how to use silence, which is a testament to his talent as a producer. Samantha Gongol’s vocals are smooth and sensual as always—yet she seems to be holding back somewhat in this song. The song’s lyrics, title, and overall feel all emphasize subtlety. Though the song never really seems to hit much of a dynamic climax, that seems to be intentional, considering the song’s feel. Gongol expresses her feelings towards her love interest, singing, “When you look at me / It’s a subtle thing / Such a subtle thing.” They do a good job of occupying space by saturating parts of the instrumentals with reverb while still making sure Gongol’s vocals sound present, close, and crisp.

“Subtle Thing” is yet another minimalistic electronic hit from Marian Hill, which its upcoming sophomore album is bound to bring us more of. 

MUSIC VIDEO EMILY HIMES

‘SAY SOMETHING’ JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

authentically human. 

‘A Fantastic Woman’ Champions Compassion

BY PETER GAVARIS

SINGLE REVIEW

reality.

Of course, at the center of this movie is Vega’s wonderful performance as Marina.

As an actual trans woman, Vega imbues her character with a rich humanity and emotion of somebody who has probably faced a similar sort of discrimination. The family’s prejudice and hatred is seen outright, but we also witness more subtle forms of intolerance—like when a doctor refuses to call her Marina, opting instead for the name on her government ID. Some of Vega’s best work is done within scenes where she stars on her own. One that comes to mind is a rather long take of her in the hospital as Orlando is being carted into the ER. Standing alone and resolute, she looks at her dying partner with a love and concern that feels wholly authentic.

Her acting in these moments allows us to fully realize the extent of her pain, which informs much of what happens in the rest of the film.The film isn’t without problems, though. Some of the movie’s attempts at surrealism feel a bit silly, while other moments feel a little too on the nose or obvious—like when Marina cheers herself up by singing Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”—but these complaints certainly aren’t detrimental to the film’s success as a delicate character study that exudes and encourages empathy.

A Fantastic Woman is an excellent example of film that allows us to look inside ourselves and to those beyond. 

It’s not ver y often that music videos are shot in one take. With today’s technology, why would they be? Justin Timberlake’s new song “Say Something,” featuring Chris Stapleton, was made in one take at the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles (if it looks familiar, that’s because it was part of the Maze Runner set).

The audio was recorded live in one take, with the help of two vocalists, 17 instrumentalists, and a choir.

The video starts off with Timberlake making a beat and then walking through a hallway while playing an acoustic guitar. The camera eventually pans to Stapleton, standing on a balcony—in the context of this video, his mysterious and rustic demeanor becomes sophisticated and smooth.

Compared to Timberlake’s quick movements, Stapleton’s are slow and steady. His hat is majestically propped on his head, hanging over his face while the camera zooms in on Timberlake’s expressions. They are the perfect combination—the pair’s intrinsic differences make the collaboration extremely intriguing.

Another juxtaposition is that of the location and the type of song— “Say Something” is stripped-down and rustic (at least on Timberlake’s standards), yet the video takes place in an ethereal, intricate, and dark building. It gives the lighthearted, repetitive song a deeper meaning.

While the song itself is comprised of the same few lines repeated over and over, the camera is always moving in the video. Timberlake and Stapleton walk up and down intricate staircases, ride in old-fashioned elevators, and turn corners in dimly lit hallways, all giving flow to a song that can sound like a stuck record. Timberlake knows that this song, and the way the music video was filmed, is special: At the end of the video, Stapleton laughs while he mumbles, “Holy shit, that’s one way to get a response.”

The video itself has no plot, but its simplicity forces the viewer to fully listen to the excellent music—two musical legends playing acoustic guitars and recorded live is an event that only comes around once in a blue moon. 

The Heights

Monday, February 12, 2018

Cao Jun’s ‘Hymns of Nature’ Sings With Artistry ‘Avengers’ Anxiety

By Stephanie Liu For The Heights

In McMullen Museum of Art’s newest exhibit, Chinese artist Cao Jun modernizes traditional Chinese painting with his first exhibit in the United States: Hymns of Nature. Working with ink and watercolor, Jun pays homage to his predecessors in Chinese art as well as the natural environment. As a modern romantic, nature is indispensable in Jun’s art and stands as the centerfold in his collection. In this thematically arranged exhibit, Jun explores the past and the present of Chinese painting, and brings new inspirations to an ancient art.

The gallery begins with The Spirit of Animality, a series of paintings cre-

ated before and during his stay in New Zealand. The Spirit of Animality consists of lions and tigers in various poses. The paintings are all on rice paper, which Jun makes himself and which contribute to his signature painting style. The beautiful natural landscape of New Zealand inspired many of the environments in this set of paintings. Jun believed that his exodus from China was not an abandonment of Chinese art, but rather a new perspective.

The Poetics of Water is a set of five paintings all centered on the theme of water. This collection seems unrelated in style except for its common theme, but Jun believed that the viewer should look for the unity within his paintings. In addition, Jun maintained that Chinese paintings are not just copies of what

taylor perison / Heights staff

Cao Jun weaves an aristic melody in his Hymns of Nature exhibit in McMullen.

we see. Although the collection seems disunited, all of the paintings have a whimsical ambiance credited to Jun’s signature irregular ink splashes.

The exhibition then opens up into a larger room housing a series of landscape and botanical paintings. Traditional Chinese landscape paintings are called “shan-shui” paintings, or “mountains and waters,” as they literally contain mountains and waters. Jun believes that Chinese painting is not only about the scenery. The artist’s understanding of the natural environment and man’s role in nature is also centered around the interpretative “shan-shui” painting. Jun’s “shan-shui” paintings are very much inspired by famous pioneers such as Li Cheng and Zhang Daqian. Jun uses ink splashes to create the distinct shapes of the landscape and convey the expression he aims to portray on the paper.

Jun’s Reflections of Autumn centers on autumnal themes: Using techniques such as gold splashing and gold sprinkling, Jun adds another dynamic to his vivid landscapes and casts a golden, autumnal hue over them. Jun’s Botanicals also centers on ink splashes, some brightly colored and others in black and white, accompanied by lines of Chinese poetry. Text plays a great role in Cao Jun’s painting, as many of his paintings have lines of text. Sometimes the text is ancient Chinese poetry and other times the artist’s own musings.

Calligraphy plays an important part

in Jun’s paintings as well. Jun treats the art form, an important part of traditional Chinese culture, as importantly as painting itself. Jun’s porcelain pieces are also on display, colored in the traditional white and blue style.

The collection ends with his most modern installation, inspired by his recent journey to Alaska and the polar regions. He blends the traditional Chinese techniques and tools to create a whimsical, yet very modern abstract representation of the natural environment. Through splashes of color, Jun expresses the beauty and emotion of nature. The artist fuses traditional Chinese art with modern western abstraction, skillfully blending the evocative emotion within both art forms to create his own style of painting. With his solid technique and vibrant expression, Jun forges a path in new Chinese painting, bringing forth a perfect marriage of the old and the new.

Jun’s exhibit brings the viewer through different landscapes and images. Taking inspiration from both his homeland and his travels, the artist creates a vivid and refreshing picture of the natural world. His blend of traditional and modern stands at the forefront of Chinese painting, giving the ancient art form new life. Capricious at times and at others serene, Jun’s paintings guide the viewer through different places and emotions, expressing the beauty of each one. n

Sexual Chocolate Gives Intimate Performance

By Miriam George For The Heights

Anticipation was high for this year’s Sexual Chocolate Big Show.

Tickets sold out in a record 100 minutes—it was all Boston College students could talk about as Valentine’s Day approached.

So it was fitting that on Thursday night, Robsham Theater was packed with spectators excitedly awaiting an amazing show. They were not disappointed.

Before Sexual Chocolate (SC) took the stage, Fuego Del Corazon—BC’s Latin Dance Team—performed a fiery set to get the evening started. It included a spectacular all-girls dance with a feminist theme. The dancers exhibited extreme poise and talent throughout the entire performance.

A Sexual Chocolate intro video was then played to introduce the crowd to the members of the step team and to give everyone a behindthe-scenes look at SC’s preparations for the show.

It was clear from the video that SC had put months of hard work and extensive practice into the show.

Eventually, the long-awaited moment arrived.

The stage backdrop turned to a brilliant blue, and the members of SC ran onto the stage and began prancing in a circle, holding hands.

This seemingly strange act was soon clarified for the audience when one SC member announced the group as citizens of Buttercup County, a county focused on making sure that all of its members experienced true love and happiness.

In fact, the steppers were not just any ordinary citizens, but rather, town leaders and workers at the local Love Factory who were responsible for producing love potions for the people.

Unfortunately, the machine that made the love potions was malfunctioning, resulting in the production of faulty potions that imbued the people who took them with a false sense of love and romance.

In keeping with their Valentine’s Day theme, the SC steppers spent the show attempting to fix the malfunction so that real love could be produced once again.

The members of SC seamlessly melded step into their show without straying from the show’s plot.

The whole group performed step at several points during the show, even incorporating members of the Dance Organization of Boston College into their routine at one point towards the end. SC’s stepping was powerful, meticulous, and perfectly in sync despite the immense complexity of their moves and rhythm.

The steppers were natural performers, confident and at-ease on

Amelie Trieu / Heights Senior staff

Sexual Chocolate uses step dance to bring emotion and adoration to audiences. stage, unfazed by the enormity of the crowd. In fact, they actually engaged with the crowd, a rare occurrence for a dance group.

Toward the end of their show, they marched offstage and into the audience with chairs in hand, set them down, and requested a handful of girls from the audience to sit in them. They proceeded to perform an incredibly sexual (in keeping with their name) lap dance on the girls, progressively ripping their own clothes off and flinging them into the crowd in the process.

The show ended with all of the members back on stage, flashing their six packs and stepping their final routine to the great satisfaction of all the screaming girls in the audience.

Perhaps even more impressive than their stepping—if that’s possible—was the dancers remarkable acting ability. They performed like seasoned veterans, evoking thunderous applause, laughs, and whistles too many times to count.

Their dialogue was witty and hilarious, but also surprisingly profound. They were truly able to capture the essence of love in their 90-minute show, a love they described as “compassionate,” “self-sacrificing,” and “unconditional.”

They critiqued all other forms of love—like those produced by the faulty potions—as superficial and unsatisfying, encouraging their fellow townspeople to give and receive real love. n

Dance and Dostana Shine in SASA Culture Show

By Emily Himes Assoc. Arts Editor

At the 21st annual Culture Show, the South Asian Student Association (SASA) focused heavily on inclusion and Dostana (the Hindi word for friendship).

In this day and age, it is easy to look at our differences, but instead, the audience was urged by the various performances put on that night in Robsham Theater to turn to our similarities.

SASA represents five countries— India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The culture show started off with a performance of the Indian national anthem, sung by Simi Siddalingaiah, MCAS ’19, during which the audience was asked to stand to pay respect to one of the five countries represented by SASA. Much of the audience was composed of family members of performers (some of whom came from around the world to attend). In addition to the family of those on stage, there were also many BC students who had come out to support their friends in the performance. This skillful show resonated with everyone in attendance.

Next up was Masti, Boston College’s South Asian dance team. The

team of dancers was both skilled and dynamic—it was obvious that each participant was experienced and extremely talented.

Its performance blended traditional South Asian dance styles with modernized ones. Masti’s dance was energetic and vibrant, and was certainly an unforgettable experience for the audience.

After Masti, the culture show turned to a slightly more serious set.

The classical dance has three categories: fast-paced, expressive, and team dance.

Classical dance is widely known for using hand signals to illustrate a story through dance. Originally performed in temples to entertain the gods, classical dance was given a modern flare at the culture show. The group of five dancers provided an excellent execution of the number, and were clearly experienced in this style of performance.

To counteract the serious, traditional atmosphere of the classical dance, the freshman dance was lighthearted and funny.

It was the first time onstage for most of those students, but their number was surprisingly held together well.

Their performance was to a fu-

sion of Bollywood and westernized music, which was upbeat and almost dizzying.

After a short interlude about types of friendship, SASA performed the popular Bhangra-style dance. A celebratory folk dance, Bhangra is well known for its fast-paced rhythm and energetic sound.

The dancers were dressed in bright yellow and green, and the music and dancing was vibrant and fun.

After another video about inclusion and friendship, SASA broke out into a dance battle between guys and girls. Then, well-choreographed sections between both groups, the girls took the prize as the audience erupted in cheers and applause after their set, which mixed Bollywood, classical, and hip-hop styles of dance.

The fashion show was next up after the intermission. Members of SASA walked the runway sporting modern South Asian attire.

Soon after, freshman Sireesh Vinnakota, MCAS ’21, performed an individual performance that mixed South Asian styles with break dance.

His energetic performance had much of the audience on the edge of their seats, as an unexpected move was always around the corner. The second-to-last dance was in the Garba

style, which utilizes sticks to create an interesting rhythm during a traditional form of dance. The large group of dancers dazzled in vibrant colors while performing the perfectly synchronized set. The bright clothes worn by the dancers served to create a stunning visual effe At the end of the show, Pranav Parikh, MCAS ’20, presented a charity video about the Smile Foundation. All the proceeds from the SASA Culture Show go to this organization, which benefits over 600,000 children in India.

Smile Foundation provides welfare, education, and healthcare in nearly 1,000 villages in India.

The show closed with the senior dance, which was exciting yet emotional for the performers, as many of them had performed with SASA since their freshman year.

The celebration of Dostana was especially evident among the graduating class—the bonds formed over the past few years were clear, even to the audience.

The senior dance was the perfect way to close out the show. Its colorful and contagious energy was invigorating, and the emotional aspect was reflective of the overall theme of the show. n

B7

Jacob Schick Black Panther is coming out next week, and it looks fantastic. I am extremely confident that the movie is going to be one of Marvel’s best yet, and one of the better movies to come out so far this year.

But seeing trailers and advertisements for the first superhero movie of 2018 brought with it the ambivalence (no, not indifference) that I feel about superhero movies, most especially Avengers: Infinity War. This movie has gotten a few important trailer spots, and already people are losing their damn minds about it. Yet I cannot bring myself to care in any way other than being annoyed. Today, audiences are assaulted with the same generic garbage superhero movies over and over (there are exceptions of course, but tell me that you liked some of the absolute trash that has been released by any superhero studio in the past couple of years). Marvel and DC share this problem. Most of the movies for each studio have the same trite feel, with the same trite stories and visual effects and tie-ins to a larger universe.

It’s tiring. I challenge you to rewatch The Avengers and tell me the first hour isn’t boring. I challenge all of those misguided supporters of Batman v. Superman or Suicide Squad to watch those movies again.

They are terrible. I challenge the die-hard Marvel fans to rewatch Captain America: Civil War or Thor: The Dark World or Iron Man 2 or Iron Man 3 or Avengers: Age of Ultron and tell me they aren’t bored to tears. These movies are not good. The bright spots that felt good in theaters are far overshadowed by the glaring sameness of it all. Marvel movies all have the same dumb jokes, the same references to other Marvel movies, the same goddamn Stan Lee cameos. DC movies have the same grittiness, the same grayscale color palette, the same Zack Snyder bullshit.

And there seems to be no end in sight.

This year, Avengers: Infinity War and Aquaman are both coming out. I don’t see a way that Avengers is going to be good. There are way too many characters.

Remember that “awesome” shot in The Avengers where the camera pans around and it’s all of the heroes standing back-toback preparing for the fight? Imagine Infinity War’s version of that shot. We’ve got Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Spiderman, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, War Machine, Star Lord, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Gamora, Nebula, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Mantis, Wong, Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier), Loki, Heimdall, Captain Marvel, and probably a few other people who will be expanded on in Black Panther. This pan-around shot would take hours. This is not to mention the millions of other characters who have been featured in these 17 movies. What about that doctor that Stellan Skarsgard plays in Thor? What about Happy Hogan from Iron Man? How many characters can we actually pay any meaningful attention to in this one movie without making it seven hours long?

There are also no stakes. Everyone and their mother is worshipping at the feet of this movie because the contracts of these actors are up. Gasp! They are finally going to kill someone! Oh boy! After 17 movies, someone important is finally going to die.

All this means is that Marvel gets to pat themselves on the back for having the guts to finally kill off an important character, and all of the fans get to cite the incredible emotional impact this will inevitably have on them in their defense of this ridiculous expanded universe. Sigh. Marvel has lost all emotional credit they might have accrued by refusing to provide any stakes in any previous movie. Death can’t be suddenly introduced without feeling fake.

Let me be clear. I want this movie to be good. I want every movie to be good. But I’ve seen enough movies to make a fairly educated guess at a lot of the obstacles this movie has set in front of itself. I’m going to see it, because seeing movies is my only defining character trait. But I miss the excitement that these movies used to provide. I want to be as excited as I was for The Dark Knight or for Deadpool or for The Avengers. Right now, I care about the buildup to this movie about as much as I care about Peter Rabbit.

Jacob Schick is the arts editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@ bcheights.com.

ARTS

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018

@BCHEIGHTSARTS

Holy City: The Healing Power of Art The Theology and Ministry Library exhibit provides strength, faith, and community in the wake of the Charleston church massacre.

BY JACOB SCHICK Arts Editor Nestled in the heart of the Theology and Ministry Library on Boston College’s Brighton Campus is a new and profoundly moving exhibit called Holy City: Art of Love, Unity & Resurrection. Anyone who has spent time in the library knows that this gallery is almost cradled by the surrounding walls and stories of gray brick. This situation allows for quiet reflection on the art, uninterrupted by the comings and goings of the upper floors.

Quiet reflection is exactly what is necessary for this highly expressive and emotional exhibit, which is an artistic response to the horrible tragedy of the Charleston church shooting (or the Charleston church massacre).

whose work was featured alongside the other 12 pieces hung on the walls of the library.

Lamkin was quick to thank everyone gathered around for coming to this exhibit and sharing in this experience of artistic expression with her.

She also directed some of the credit to her co-curator, Torreah “Cookie” Washington.

“This is to pay tribute to those killed,” Lamkin said of Holy City.

She then recounted her experience on the day of the massacre. She was in Charleston—the artist grew up in Chelsea, in New York, before coming to BC—watching the news coverage of the massacre when she received a call from her daughter, whose friends in New York had been asking her if her Charleston family were all right.

After hanging up the phone to await

the affecting tendrils reach far beyond the immediate vicinity of the church.

In the wake of this terrible event, she and her friend Washington, a friend of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who died in the shooting, began calling for art.

The resulting collection became the basis for Holy City.

The artwork itself is mostly composed of ornate and expressive quilts, depicting religious scenes or messages of faithful support in the wake of the shooting.

Each work of art is incredibly impactful, and fits well within the rest of the gallery.

Sweet Hour of Prayer: Praying for Peace is Lamkin’s own quilt. The quilt is mostly comprised of a deep purple cloth with gold accents—the colors for Charleston’s Episcopal church, and the colors used to honor the victims at the funeral service. On

society, Jacqueline Johnson created Blessed Are the Peacemakers. African American figures stand united with uplifted arms in front a white church building. These figures stand for peace against violence and as a united front in the wake of the tragedy.

Johnson questions the nature of life as a “peacemaker” in the face of a society that begets violence against the black community. In Your Light Shines Through, Carole Staples has joined nine patterned crosses—each containing the name and a piece of their character (as described by relatives)—in a grid. Behind these crosses is a dark brown stitching.

Staples cite d the over whelming sadness and anger that she felt when she heard the news. The wall text to the side of the quilt explains that Staples felt compelled to create this piece to combat the destruction.

them enemies, extending forgiveness to those who have sunk so low as to attack them. The Safest Place is a piece by Evelyn Oliver Knight, and is the second work in the exhibit that is based on a royal purple cloth, just like Lamkin’s. The quilt was made for a world filled with doubt and anxiety about the sanctity and safety of the places of God. Knight’s writing explains that acts like these are cause for concern.

“One would think the safest place is a place of worship,” Knight wrote.

“The only place of safety is in God, the true refuge in times of trouble.”

Even when places of worship no longer promise safety from hatred and violence, the community that was affected by this injustice can find safety and strength in God. A Window To My Father’s House by Kimberly Love Radcliffe depicts the figure of

SAM ZHAI / HEIGHTS STAFF

This event was a mass shooting perpetrated by Dylann Roof, a d o m e s ti c te r ro r i s t a n d w h i te supremacist, in June 2015. Roof had entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in time for Bible study and prayer. After participating in the Bible study, Roof pulled out a gun and killed nine members of this historically black church—which has been known as a community organization site for civil rights and a source of faith and strength for the predominantly black community.

The victims are usually collectively referred to as “The Emanuel Nine.”

The exhibit was opened on Feb. 8 by Catherine Lamkin, BC ’77, one of the co-curators of the collection,

more information, Lamkin’s daughter called her again. The artist’s voice grew heavy with the memory of her daughter’s words—words that she remembers exactly to this day.

“Mommy, they killed Najee’s grandmother and Gracyn’s mother,” her daughter told her.

Lamkin was also adamant that those present remember and recognize that there were more than nine victims of the massacre. Nine people were murdered, but there were a further three members of the church who hid while the shooting happened and must now live with the trauma for the rest of their lives.

There are also the countless friends and family members of the victims, as

it, the nine names of the victims are stitched in white thread, while a pair of black hands are clasped in prayer toward the sky.

Grace for Charleston, by Sylvia Hernadez, is a quilt inspired by both the effort to honor the victims and

by President Obama’s rendition of “Amazing Grace” in the wake of this tragedy. Nine patterned triangles extend toward a cross as a dove flies overhead. Along the right side of the quilt are the famous lyrics of the Christian hymn.

Questioning the continued racial backlash against African Americans, especially with regard to police brutality and killings and the criminalization of black youth by

NICOLE CHAN / GRAPHICS EDITOR

INSIDE SCENE

SASA Culture Show

“Spirit put it on my heart to make a prayer flag quilt block for each,” Staples writes in the wall text.

Each and every peace sheds a different light on the story, but they are all united by one thing: the role of art as a healing medium. The pouring of emotion into a creative act is cathartic for many of the artists, especially those who were personally affected. The art as a representation and remembrance is also instrumental in healing the community. The families and friends of the victims, along with everyone who felt attacked by this hate crime and others, have another testament to the unity and love these members of the community have for them. Lamkin herself had a similar and succinct message of creative expression in the face of violence for anyone who comes to see the exhibit.

“Art heals,” Lamkin said.

Walking around the galler y, almost every piece’s accompanying text mentions the intent to heal, to unite, and to strengthen. Each piece does this in a different but equally effective way. This aspect of the gallery is what warrants discussion of so many of the individual works of art.

The only way to understand the true outpouring of emotion and support that the exhibit carries with it as it makes its way across the country is to view every piece as individual and as one part of a whole.

Artist Irene Wiley’s Storm to Unification was created in an effort to “reach higher with [Wiley’s] art.” The mostly blue quilt is marked with tiny flecks of thread, signifying pouring rain. A dove flies over nine pieces of golden cloth, representing the victims, while a figure clad in white is sewn to the right. The figure holds a Confederate flag while covered in blood. Above the figure is a cross surrounded by figures with the words “We forGive you.” This piece shows that even in the darkest metaphorical storms, the power of unity and faith allows this community to rise above those who would strike them down in hatred and violence. The text to the side explains that the community must be better than those who would call

Sexual Chocolate ‘Big Show’

The South Asian Student Association used dance and song to Sexual Chocolate employed their unique and intimate brand showcase Dostana, the Hindi word for friendship..............B7 of dance to give audiences a message about love..................B7

Jesus raising the Emanuel church above him. This scene is surrounded by the frame of window, which is in turn circled by tumultuous red cloth.

The work of art, as described by the artist, is meant to show that even in these dark and violent times, the light of faith shines through and lifts up.

Roof, after his arrest, explained that he murdered these people with the intention of starting a race war against black people. We Are Precious speaks out against this idea. Angele C. Ferguson, the artist, created this piece in order to affirm the idea that the black community is precious, and that the black community matters, just like everyone else. She takes this feeling of love and intention from her faith.

“This quilt represents the face that we are all precious,” Ferguson wrote. “We were all created and loved by the greatest creator of all.”

The quilt itself is made of a mottled green fabric, with large letters restating the title. Above is a recreation of Earth, surrounded by four doves carrying olive branches— one black, one red, one yellow, and one white. When Aisha Lumumba heard of the Emanuel church massacre, she was so saddened by the idea of people in prayer being gunned down she thought that the angels must be crying. Inspired to share this feeling, she created And The Angels Cried. The quilt depicts three black angels, heads bowed in sadness, sitting together.

Tiny tears are stitched, pouring down their faces.

By no means is this article a complete explanation and showcase of all the pieces shown in the exhibit.

The true experience and appreciation for this art must be found in person, on the first floor of the Theology and Ministry Library.

Words cannot do the whole of this gallery justice. The beauty of art that is rooted in a vile and disgusting act by one person against so many innocent victims is striking.

Yet there is great beauty here, along with strength, affirmation, unity, and love. The Holy City is, in the truest sense, a whole greater than the sum of its parts. 

‘Fifty Shades Freed’.......................................... B6 ‘Little Dark Age’.............................................. B6 ‘A Fantastic Woman’................................... B6