o’neilL art show
The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Vol. XCII, No.6
reversing the trend
ENDLESS SNOW DAY
Arts and review
SPORTS
fEATURES
Suspend disbelief and raise expecation for art show The Mind Often Wanders, A10
The men’s basketball team snaps out of a funk to beat Virginia Tech on Saturday, B1
Snow affects university life, pyschological well-being of students, B10
The Heights Monday, February 7, 2011
www.bcheights.com
BC measures up in meeting full need By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
John Mahoney, director of undergraduate admissions, and Bernard Pekala, director of student financial strategies, have compiled a list of 21 schools they believe to be need-blind and meet full demonstrated need. Of this list, BC is the lowest ranked and has the second smallest endowment after Georgetown University. The schools, pulled from the National Universities category of the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” rankings, are known to not weigh financial need of students in the admissions process. There are schools that meet need but are need-conscious, and schools that do not meet need, and therefore are not concerned with an applicant’s financial situation. “It’s not common to be need-
blind and meet need,” Pekala said. “The fine line is trying to do both, and we’re doing it with the blessing of upper-level administrators who are working really hard [to meet all students’ demonstrated need] because they feel it’s part of our mission.” A little over 50 percent of BC students receive some form of need-based aid, including subsidized loans and work study. This is typical of the universities in this group, which likely give between 45 and 55 percent of students need-based aid of some kind, Mahoney said. “If you benchmarked us against that group, you’d see very similar numbers.” BC is part of the 568 Group, a group of colleges and universities that discusses tuition and financial aid levels. The group, created in 1998 in response
See Need, A4
alex trautwig / heights editor
Susan Michalczyk, president of the BCAAUP, discussed a survey measuring the level of faculty satisfaction with fellow faculty members.
Faculty voices on campus unite BCAAUP seeks to gain momentum and form faculty senate By Rebecca Kailus Heights Staff
Last Thursday, the Boston College chapter of the American Association of University Professors (BCAAUP) met to discuss the results of a survey conducted this year regarding the levels of faculty satisfaction with various issues regarding compensation, participation in decision-making, and overall voice of the faculty on campus. The BC chapter of the AAUP was founded one year ago with goals that include supporting the policies of the national AAUP, defending academic freedom at BC and throughout academe, and promoting increased faculty governance at BC. The chapter also aims at facilitating the cooperation of teachers
mollie kolosky / Heights staff
Relatively fewer hate crimes reported at BC
By Angela Caputo-Papastamos, Sarah King, Sang Lee, Sean Peick, Cameron Sperance, and Douglas Wilson
Despite its persistent ranking as one of the least GLBTQ-friendly universities in America, Boston College has recorded fewer hate crimes based on sexual orientation per capita, than schools considered the most GLBTQ-friendly, according to documents required by the federal law. According to University records, in the last academic year, BC reported one “bias-motivated offense” based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This is among one of the lowest rates per capita in the Boston area. Emerson College disclosed eight offenses, Northeastern University 11, and Harvard University, none. (Boston University had no reported offenses in 2008,
the last year for which it could provide the figures.) “I don’t think the stereotyping of [GLBTQ students] is any worse than derogatory speech you hear to any other group on campus, be it based on ethnicity, gender or otherwise,” said Pat Mulkern, A&S ’11, who is gay. Among other Jesuit Catholic universities, Georgetown University disclosed 14 hate crimes based on sexual orientation last year, up from four the year before. GLBTQ students and their supporters said the numbers at BC are low because the harassment here is largely not physical, which federal law requires universities to disclose. They say there are plenty of assaults, but most of them are verbal. “When a group found out that I was [GLBTQ], I was told it was a sin and I
See Hate Crimes, A4
and research scholars in universities and colleges, and in professional schools of similar grade, to promote the interests of higher education and research, and to increase the usefulness and advance the standards, ideals, and welfare of the profession, according to the official website of the BCAAUP. “We are an advocacy chapter of concerned faculty who come together with the hope of increasing communication dealing with issues and concerns of the faculty,” said Susan Michalczyk, BCAAUP president. “We are a resource for collecting and presenting information so people have the facts. Over the years people have said there seemed to be a fragmentation in communication and there was a need to meet together as faculty.”
Michalczyk said the chapter’s affiliation with the national AAUP organization has proven to be beneficial. “The advantage to being a chapter of the AAUP is we are affiliated with the national office,” she said. “We have resources that offer years of experience and resources. So it’s not a group of disenfranchised faculty. We are a committed group of faculty who uphold the principles of the faculty at the university. Our aim is to represent the goals of the articles. Our connection with the national office gives us the opportunity to utilize policies, present them to the other faculty members, and work together as faculty.” While the BCAAUP defines many
See Faculty, A4
Comm. cuts journalism classes By Taylour Kumpf News Editor
Effective fall 2011, all journalism courses, including news writing, feature writing, news ethics, and advanced journalism, will be moved out of the communication department and offered as general university courses. “After extensive strategic deliberations, the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has decided to offer journalism courses as University courses beginning in 2011-2012,” said Lisa Cuklanz, chair of the communication department, in an e-mail. “The decision was made because the pattern of recent student interest in journalism classes has shown that there is significant interest in journalism courses on the part of students outside the communication department. Moving these courses outside the department will open them to more students who are not communication majors.” “The courses should be more available to interested students rather than less,” she said. This semester, the communication department is offering two news writing
courses, three feature writing courses, an advanced journalism course, and a news ethics course. All but the advanced journalism course, taught by Jon Marcus, a former editor of Boston Magazine, are full. “The intention is to better serve BC students from other majors who have wanted to take journalism classes but who were not able to because of departmental restrictions,” said University Spokesman Jack Dunn in an e-mail. Donald Hafner, vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs, said in an e-mail, “When professional
journalists, the kind who win Pulitzer prizes, offer their recommendations about how aspiring students should prepare themselves for a journalism career, the advice almost invariably is to get a broad liberal arts education. This is the only way to build understanding and expertise across a broad variety of issue areas, and importantly, to acquire insight into the ways in which events in one realm of life are connected to other realms.” “A Boston College education, with
See Journalism, A4
SASA spices up robsham
Student jobs unaffected by hirings By Amanda Egan For The Heights
Since 2000, the number of staff workers at Boston College has risen by 248 employees, according to the Office of Executive Vice President Patrick Keating. Patrick Rombalski, vice president of student affairs, said that these new hirings do not affect student jobs. “There are more student jobs on campus than there are students looking for jobs,” he said. He said that the most probable reason for a student to have trouble acquiring a job is that the hours required for the job don’t line up with their schedule. He said that the hours students can work are also limited because “their main position here
is to have time to study and also have leisure time.” While new staff positions do not take jobs away from students, he said that when students are hired, it is with the knowledge that they will not continue that work for more than four years. So, for certain jobs, the University will hire a full time staff member who will be able to work 40 hours a week. Louise Lonabocker, executive director of student services, said that work schedules usually have something to do with a student’s difficulty finding work placement, especially in the dining hall. Another issue that typically hinders students from finding a job arises when students have their heart set on a particular job, making them less open to searching for another
option, or failing to follow up on a resume request, she said “There are almost always jobs available,” she said. “Off-campus jobs that you can find on the Student Services website are also an option,” she said. There are certain places on campus that are almost entirely student run, Rombalski said “There is one full-time person in the Women’s Resource Center, everyone else is a graduate or undergraduate student,” he said. “In the Volunteer and Service Learning Center, or the VSLC, there are two full time employees and everyone else is a student.” Rombalski said that BC was required
See Staff Hirings, A4
kevin hou / heights editor
The South Asian Student Association (SASA) put on a cultural performance on Saturday. The show hosted dance groups and an a capella group. For more, see page A10.