The Heights 02-14-11

Page 1

SEXUAL CHOCOLATE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Vol. XCII, No. 8

JACKSON TAKES CHARGE ROMANTIC COMMUNICATION

arts and review

Sports

FEATURES

Valentine’s Day comes early with Boston College’s hottest step team, A10

The junior forward exploded for 31 points in BC’s 76-72 win over Maryland Saturday, B1

The changing face of 21st century technology is changing relationships, B10

The Heights Monday, February 14, 2011

www.bcheights.com

Committee hopes to add scholarships By Taylour Kumpf News Editor

andrew powell / heights staff

UGBC presidential and vice presidential candidates participated in this year’s primary debate, immediately followed by the ALC-GLC debate.

Election season in full swing

UGBC teams participate in primary and ALC-GLC debates By Daniel Tonkovich Heights Editor

And Adriana Mariella Assoc. News Editor

The UGBC presidential and vice presidential teams gathered for the primary election debate yesterday in Fulton Hall, immediately followed by the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC) and GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC) debate. The candidates responded to ques-

tions submitted by The Heights, The Gavel, UGBC, and those in attendance. Mike Joyce and Justin Portes, both A&S ’12; Nick Domino, A&S ’12 and Katrina Lutfy, CSON ’12; and Mike Kitlas and Jill Long, both A&S ’12 were all present to represent their campaigns. David Lalonde, A&S ’12, and Ryan Tierney, CSOM ’12, were not present at the debate. Questions ranged from their views of the most important issue on campus to personal leadership experience to their

response to negative views of the UGBC outside the organization and related entities. When asked to name the most important issue on campus from the perspective of the student body, the candidates had varied responses. Domino and Lufty said that programming coordination between the over 200 registered student organizations and clubs

See Debate, A4

Tuition increases remain modest By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor

For the past two years, Boston College’s tuition and fees have increased, though increases remain below the national average, and financial aid increases have been significantly higher than the increases in tuition. “While we recognize that any tuition increase set by our Board of Trustees affects the families of our students, over the past decade, BC’s tuition increases have been consistently below the national average of private universities, and on par

with our competitors,” said University Spokesperson Jack Dunn. For the 2010 to 2011 year, tuition was $39,880, a 3.2 percent increase over the previous year. Private universities saw an increase of 4.5 percent, according to the College Board. This increase was the second lowest at the University in the past 35 years. The lowest increase in this period was during the 2009 to 2010 year. Tuition increased by 3 percent at BC, compared with 4.4 percent nationwide. Financial aid for the 2010 to 2011 year increased by 7 percent to $79.3 million, according to a March 30, 2010 letter to the

CSA-KSA show mesmerizes

BC community from University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. “At a minimum, [financial aid is] always budgeting the same amount of increase as the increase in tuition, and for the last several years it’s been significantly more because of the economy,” said Bernard Pekala, director of student financial strategies. “We’re trying to keep awards as reasonable as possible. We don’t want to lose students because of financial aid reasons.” These increases do not encompass more loans, though this coming year workstudy awards will be increasing due to this year’s salary increase. Freshman awards will increase from $2,200 to $2,400, and upperclassmen awards will be increased from $2,400 to $2,500. “This year, we will be adding a little bit more to work study,” Pekala said. “This year everyone got a bump in their salary, but we didn’t increase work-study because we’d already sent [financial aid] awards out.” Sometimes the University makes cuts

See Tuition, A4

Last Thursday, the UGBC Senate voted unanimously in favor of moving forward with an initiative to commission a select committee to explore options to expand merit scholarship aid to undergraduate students. Nick Domino, A&S ’12 and Lizzie Jekanowski, A&S ’13, who co-sponsored the proposal, said the intent behind this initiative is to be able to reward students for exceptional work done while at Boston College. “Currently, BC offers no merit scholarships [during your time at BC],” Domino said. “We want to organize a committee to ask the University to look into merit-based scholarships in the hope that this will motivate each class of around 2,500. This will encourage more

and more students to do better during their time at BC. It’s an incentive to work harder.” “The Senate recognizes the opportunity to explore additional and/or alternative means of extending merit scholarship aid to undergraduate students at BC, thereby promoting strong incentives for exceptional academic achievement and easing the financial burden currently incurred by many BC students,” states the Senate resolution. “All we want to do is expand the Presidential Scholars Program to students who are already here,” Jekanowski said. “This will reward students for the hard work they have done.” The chair of this scholarship committee will be appointed by the Senate president and its membership will be

See Scholarship, A4

‘Vagina Monologues’ performed on campus By Elise Taylor Heights Editor

First performed in 1996, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues has enjoyed much controversial success across the globe. Covering topics such as first-time sexual experiences, profanity, rape, and violence, The Vagina Monologues has been both praised and criticized for its brash and open demeanor. Last weekend, the show was performed on campus, co-directed by Allison Russell, CSOM ’12 and Margaux Labaudiniere, A&S ’12, and enjoyed a three-night run in a packed McGuinn 121. Under the direction of Russell and Labaudiniere, the show mixed some of the more comical monologues such as “My Angry Vagina,” with poignant ones concerning violence against women such as “Crooked Braid” and “My Vagina Was My Village.” This is the show’s eighth year at Boston College. As the serious nature of some parts of the performance denotes, The Vagina Monologues has largely meant to expand beyond pure entertainment to raise awareness of abuses against women. The Vagina Monologues has long promoted action towards improving treatment of women, with an apparent larger social context embedded into many of the monologues, said Sharlene Hesse-Biber, program director of the Women and Gender Studies Program. “The Vagina Monologues is more then just a

kevin hou / heights editor

Eve Ensler’s controversial show seeks to raise awareness of abuses against women. play. The things mentioned happen in real life, the dialoguing around these monologues are real experiences,” she said. Responding to the controversy that has surrounded the Monologues, HesseBiber said that it is important to take the monologues for what they are. “We can’t cherrypick them,” she said. “Life’s messy. There’s violence and there’s evil. It says this is the way the world can be, and we

See Monologues, A4

CEO Club hosts DuPont executive By Ana Lopez Heights Editor

kevin hou / heights editor

This year’s CSA-KSA culture show featured a variety of dances. For more, see page A10.

Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont, addressed the members of the Chief Executives’ Club of Boston last Thursday, underscoring the necessity to bolster global food production. Kullman said that, as the world’s population reaches nearly nine billion in 2050, the percentage of persons without food, which currently stands at 14 percent, will only rise exponentially. To curb this issue, Kullman said DuPont is investing in research of new seed technologies. “We’re looking to pioneer hybrid technology,” she said. “Food productivity goes beyond agriculture.” These hybrid seeds will aide farmers

in increasing overall output and growing more crops per acre, which is necessary to feed a world that is becoming ever more industrialized and wealthy. “The rising middle class puts a burden on the food supply,” she said. “With diet shifts, more protein is consumed and the majority of animal protein consumes grain as fuel, so famers must produce more grain.” Currently, Kullman said, farmers worldwide are failing to produce up to their capacity because of inaccessibility to the proper technologies. On average, U.S. farmers produce about 150 bushels of corn per acre. “We should easily be able to get this country to 200 bushels per acre easily with these seed technologies,” she said. “That 200 plus per acre is conceiv-

able within my lifetime.” Kullman mentioned that her time spent abroad in developing nations, such as India, gave her insight into the agricultural demands abroad. “Sixty percent of the population [in India] is reliant on agriculture for their livelihood,” she said. Most of these people would leave the agriculture business if they could because they are only subsistence farmers. “They need to be able to make it into a business.” Right now, nearly half of DuPont’s research budget in this area is going toward championing sustainable agriculture practices in these nations, so their populace can not only eat, but be

See CEO Club, A4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.