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.
arts&review
A10
Monday, February 7, 2011
Hooray for Bollywood
Wicked Cultured
Hometown Tunes
By Darren Ranck
Arts & Review Editor Brightly colored and highly spirited, the South Asian Student Association of Boston College (SASA) presented their 14th annual culture show Dholi Taro Saturday night. SASA organized the production and brought together the efforts of several on-campus groups, including Shaan, the South Asian a capella group, Masti, the official dance troupe of SASA, and dance representatives of every class, to celebrate the culture of South Asia. In a production containing a sonorous a capella performance and a presentation of beautiful, South Asian-inspired fashions, the dance performances earned a heft of the performance time. South Asian dance has evolved from the time of more traditional dances, such as the Kathak, to more modern and stylized dances, such as those popularized by Bollywood films. The SASA Culture Show brought these two
Charlotte Parish There are plenty of songwriters inspired by Boston, from the famous Augustana hit (though right now I question their logic of moving from sunny California out to our Snowpocalypse city) to a personal favorite of mine by Vampire Weekend, subtly titled “Boston,” all the way to the Drop Kick Murphy’s, who seem to have created the largest cache of Bean Town-inspired tunes, including a cover of our very own “For Boston.” Despite this proud heritage of songs, Boston seems to be slacking off recently in its production of truly great musicians. If there are any in hiding, please come out and help Boston reclaim its place in the music world. Obviously Boston will not soon compete with the dominance of Los Angeles or Nashville for magnetic centers of music production, but why can’t we keep up with the quirky, unique aspects of New York, throw our hat in the ring, and produce a new, talented Beantown artist? Take Jesse J’s spontaneous, unaccompanied concert in the New York subway. While the T frustratingly runs only until 1 a.m., there is plenty of time in Boston for an impromptu demonstration of sheer musicality like Jesse’s. Aspiring artists, check out the YouTube video of this outstanding performance for some inspiration. Recently, the only musicians keeping Boston afloat are the college a capella groups. Of course, I’m not opposed to this whatsoever. In fact I’m always blown away by the professionalism of these groups and their recent commercial success. The Dear Abbey’s will always have a special place in my heart because they were the first group I had ever heard live (not to mention that the last five years have featured members form my hometown). However, both the Tuft’s Beelzebubs and Berklee’s Pitch Slapped have stormed the stage of the Sing Off in seasons one and two. The Bubs took second place in season one, and although Pitch Slapped got voted off first this season, they have to get credit for the fantastic group name. Still doubting the dominance of Boston in the acapella world? Watch last night’s Glee episode again (you know you want to anyway) and listen to the voices behind Darren Criss and Chris Colfer – it’s the Beelzebubs. Although they chose not to be the actual actors in the episode, the Bubs have supplied the voices of the Dalton Academy Warblers all season. Perhaps this is Boston’s new niche of music, but I still want to see another group like Boston with mega hits that is completely devoted to our fair city. After all, Boston is the perfect place for a start up band to play, with venues running in size from small bars all the way through the TD Bank North Garden. Take your pick of the first time stages, Boston has plenty of amateur friendly sites with many specialized ones, like Scullers Jazz Club, for groups that already classify themselves in a specific genre. Once you’ve had a bit of success, the Paradise Rock Club is the best venue in Boston to find those groups in the limbo between anonymity and fame. Plus if you venture there as a listener, you get the satisfaction of complaining that all the new fans are posers since you heard them first. Moving on up through the red carpet life, the House of Blues has firmly established itself as a great venue for artists who can’t quite sell out TD Bank North Garden and prefer the high-energy of a packed, enthusiastic crowd. It’s possibly my favorite venue in Boston because it is nearly impossible to have a bad view, I do have a grudge against the House of Blues for playing all its best shows on Tuesday nights. And finally – the shiny goal of every artist who comes to Boston, the pinnacle of performance power, the place everyone wants to end up – the TD Bank North Garden. For proof of the Garden’s lofty position, look at the spring lineup and you will see that our notoriously name changing venue will host the incredible Lady Gaga, ‘nuff said. We’ve got the voices, the history, and the means for all you talented Bostonians to chase musical infamy. Now someone needs to pick up the gauntlet.
Charlotte Parish is the Assistant Arts & Review editor of The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com
See SASA, A9
kevin hou / heights editor
South Asian Student Association of Boston College (SASA) presented a multidimensional show celebrating all the cultures of South Asia with a collaboration of multiple clubs.
Grahame-Smith sinks fangs into ‘Lincoln’ By Dan Seiring Heights Staff
There’s no denying that pop culture has developed a healthy obsession for everything and anything vampire. What was once seen simply as a trite Halloween costume now has found its way into all forms of entertainment. Vampires have even sunk their teeth into every teen rom-dram. Now, with the bluntly titled Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, author Seth Grahame-Smith looks to inject our favorite immortal villains into the history books. Grahame-Smith tightly intertwines both historical fact and gory fiction to produce a heart-pounding history lesson about the secret life of one of the most cherished American figures. Upon opening the first page, the reader is thrown
immediately into the forthcoming adventure with a prologue that explains Grahame-Smith’s motivation for producing such a novel. While working at a monotonous mom-and-pop shop, the author is approached by a mysterious customer that is unusually interested in the Grahame-Smith’s aspirations to be a writer. The next day the shadowy figure delivers a package that contains several historical documents, including the coveted missing journals of Abraham Lincoln. The author is not convinced of the journals’ validity until his benefactor returns bearing his fangs. “Vampires exist,” Grahame-Smith notes, “and Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest vampire hunters of his age.” The book then dives into the life of Abraham Lincoln with
See Lincoln, A9
Hang out in O’Neill By Erin Furlong Heights Staff
A week before the opening of Art Club’s O’Neill gallery installation The Mind Often Wanders, a message was sent out to the entire club urging members to attend a night of creation in Devlin to produce pieces for the show. Attendees were provided with feathers, chunks of mirror, glitter, mesh wiring, and various other materials that allowed students to interpret the show’s theme of art that
alex trautwig / heights staff
Hanging, dream-like art transforms O’Neill.
i nside Arts this issue
inspired dreamlike and airy qualities. The initial gathering produced an excellent turnout and small works of art were created for feature in the show, with excellent titles accompanying them. Pieces included a mixed media sculpture by Art Club officer Jordan Mendoza, A&S ’12, which included a wax bear covered in ink and various other found materials entitled “Winnie I Pooed,” a lovely sculpture of a woman out of paper sitting on a large hanging swing by Meghan Borah, A&S ’12, entitled “Jordan on His Wedding Day,” and a mesh cage sculpture by Deryn Thomas, A&S ’14, which featured a maze of twine throughout the center and small hanging leaves. The art is currently displayed in the first floor gallery of the O’Neill library, a space that many within Art Club feel could also be used to showcase the work of various fine arts classes in the absence of any other designated spaces for fine arts majors and minors to share their work with the student body. The show opened Thursday with a reception that featured ambient music and candy filled mason jars, all in an effort to transform the space that is usually used as a study lounge into a completely separate area than what is typically associated with the library. Corkboards were covered in small
See Art Show, A9
Kristen Stewart attempts to break out
Can Stewart grow beyond the constraints of Twilight typecasting with her new rumoured projects? A8
sara davey / for the heights
Acoustics bring a harmony of voices and song choices in a high energy show.
Singers serenade BC By Courtney Seitz For the Heights
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but an affair of a different sort brought sparks to a packed Devlin 008 last Thursday night, as the Acoustics and the Heightsmen united to perform in “The Stix on the Heights, an a capella Affair.” The classy fellows of the Heightsmen opened the show with a crowdpleasing rendition of Elton John’s “The Circle of Life,” from Disney’s
‘Sanctum’ amazes with cinematography
Director Alister Grierson questions the boundaries of mental endurance with stunning, if underacted, film, A8
The Lion King. As soloists Mike O’Neill, A&S ’12, and Dan Mogelnicki, CSOM ’11, filled the room with pitch perfect notes, the rest of the group multitasked, chorusing along in harmony and re-enacting the beloved crowning of Simba scene from the animated film. The Heightsmen kept the crowd on its toes with their diverse music selection and followed up “The Circle of Life” with “Faded.” This number, originally performed
See Stix, A9
‘The Roomate’...............................A8 Box Office Report........................A8
TopFive
The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
things to do on campus this week
Spring Volunteer Fair
Noam Chomsky Presentation
Today Time: 11 a.m. Location: Fulton Honors Library Stop by the spring semester volunteer fair to find out about what community service opportunities are available through various organizations.
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Tuesday Time: 6 p.m. Location: Robsham
Listen to “the father of modern linguistics” talk at Robsham. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds go to the Pakistan Flood Relief Fund.
Hollywood Audio Talk
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Irish Writers at BC
Mayor Menino Talk
Tuesday Time: 7 p.m. Location: Devlin 026
Learn more about the techniques used to create the audio in movies in a talk by Jay Rose. Sponsored by the Boston Section of the Audio Engineering Society.
featured on campus
Student comedians compete
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Wednesday Time: 6 p.m. Location: Murray Room
Come listen to Mayor Thomas M. Menino speak about Boston’s youth, culture, and diversity in a program sponsored by the Presidential Scholars program.
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Wednesday Time: 7 p.m. Location: Devlin 008
The Irish Studies department is sponsoring a talk by Anne Enright, winner of the 2007 Man Booker Prize for The Gathering.
IntheNews Gainesville State College in Georgia removed an adjunct professor’s painting, “Heritage?” from an art show because it prompted complaints. The painting, a seven-foot-wide depiction of a Klu Klux Klan member and a lynching superimposed over a Confederate flag, was meant to make a point about the different reactions that the painting would provoke, said the artist, Stanley Bermudez. While he said he disagreed with the college’s decision, he understood that their difficult position, he said.
Local News Owners of home destroyed in gas explosion receive help from city A Hyde Park couple, Michael Burns and Bob Houser, whose home was destroyed in November due to a gas explosion, got help from the City of Boston. Jay Walsh, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, said that he had assisted the couple as much as he could but that he is unable to help anymore. The cracked seal on the natural gas line that caused the explosion is not the responsibility of the city, which stressed that it had hired the Deflice Corp. to replace the pipes. No fault has yet been assigned.
Eight student comedians of the Rooftop Comedy Competition Thursday will advance to the regional round March 30. By Anna Patrick Heights Staff
Eight comedians competing at the Rooftop Comedy Competition on Thursday were selected to advance to the regional round of standup to compete against amateur comedians from Emerson on March 30. After each of the 19 contestants performed a threeminute act, the audiences voted on eight winners: John Blakeslee, A&S ’12; Stephen Buckley, A&S ’12; Robert Duggan, A&S ’11; Morgan Fry Pasic, A&S ’13; Kevin Hall, A&S ’12; Brianna LeRose, A&S ’11; Mary Ramsey, A&S ’11; and Donald Chang, A&S ’12. In addition to advancing to the regional competition, the eight winners also secured a spot on the Boston College comedy team. “I feel relieved. It feels like I haven’t been to the bathroom in a long time and I have finally been let in. It feels good,” said Buckley, who joked about how women are related to vending machines
in his act. Lady Gaga. “She’s just too The show, sponsored by the interesting of a figure to not UGBC, is part of the fourth make fun of her at all,” Hall annual National College Comsaid. edy Competition presented Hall also received applause by TBS. Students vote on from the audience for a joke who they would about the like to represent wave. “I think t h e m a ga i n s t “There was a great t h e w o r s t other schools, time to start turnout, a lot and also vote the wave is at to ke e p t h e i r more people than a fundraiser school in the f o r ts u n a m i I expected. The competition, a wa r e n e s s ,” which includes light was a little he said. 32 s c h o o l s i n The audiblinding, but I’d ence included total. The show Comlove to do more Rooftop had one of the edy loyalists largest crowds open-mic nights.” as well as othof any other ers just lookRooftop Coming for a few —Donald Chang, edy show. laughs. Rooftop Comedy “There was “I think a g rea t t u r n - Competition finalist and the show was out, a lot more wonderful, A&S ’12 people than I I’ve never expected,” Chang said. “The been to a stand-up comedy light was a little blinding, but show before,” said Chelsea I’d love to do more open-mic Palumbo, A&S ‘14. “I like the nights.” comedians who incorporate Among the acts there were Boston College jokes into many jokes made about BC their acts, because I’m still dining services, dating, Facefiguring out what’s going on book, starting the wave, and on campus.” n
Today
40° Partly Cloudy 32°
Tuesday
35° Rain/Snow 9°
Wednesday
23° Mostly Sunny
University Professor’s painting removed from art show at Gainesville State College
Anna Patrick / heights Staff
Four Day Weather Forecast
On Campus BC football alumni play for Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV Yesterday, two Boston College Football Alumni were on the field at Super Bowl XLV as the Green Bay Packers took on the Pittsburgh Steelers. B.J. Raji, BC ’09 and and Robert Francois, BC ’09, play for the Packers. Raji, a defensive lineman for the Eagles and playing tackle for the Packers, was selected to play for Green Bay in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Francois, who was a linebacker for the Eagles is also a member of the Packer’s special teams, and was originally signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Vikings before he joined Green Bay earlier this year.
National US Marines step up involvement in Haiti earthquake recovery On Tuesday, American military personnel began arriving at the remains of Haiti’s National Palace, bolstering the international relief operation that has been ongoing since the catastrophic earthquake struck the Haitian capitol of Port-Au-Prince on Jan. 12. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations told reporters that the UN’s food agency has distributed rations for 200,000 people so far, with officials aiming to feed one million people by the end of the week.
12°
thursday
26° Snow Showers 8°
Source: National Weather Service
A Guide to Your Newspaper The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467 Editor-in-Chief (617) 552-2223 Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Marketplace Desk (617) 552-3548 Features Desk (617) 552-3548 Arts Desk (617) 552-0515 Photo (617) 552-1022 Fax (617) 552-4823 Business and Operations General Manager (617) 552-0169 Advertising (617) 552-2220 Business and Circulation (617) 552-0547 Classifieds and Collections (617) 552-0364 Fax (617) 552-1753 EDITORIAL RESOURCES News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call Taylour Kumpf, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or e-mail news@bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk. Sports Scores Want to report the results of a game? Call Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor, at (617) 552-0189, or e-mail sports@bcheights.com. Arts Events The Heights covers a multitude of events both on and off campus – including concerts, movies, theatrical performances, and more. Call Darren Ranck, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or e-mail arts@ bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the Arts Desk. Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights standards and practices, you may contact Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or e-mail editor@ bcheights.com. CUSTOMER SERVICE
Police Blotter 2/02/11 – 2/04/11 Wednesday, Feb. 2
ing utilized.
10:27 a.m. – A report was filed regarding the identification of an operator in a hit -and-run motor vehicle accident that resulted in property damage only. The operator agreed to pay for any and all restitution costs.
1:37 p.m. – A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation. Newton Fire Department officials arrived on scene and determined the alarm was triggered due to bad cooking.
12:31 p.m. – A report was filed regarding an injured party. The party was transported to a medical facility in a police cruiser. 4:49 p.m. – A report was filed regarding damage that occurred inside Walsh Hall during winter break. A report was forwarded to Facilities Management.
Thursday, Feb. 3 5:52 a.m. – A report was filed regarding an intoxicated party of legal age who was unable to care for themself. The party was transported by Armstrong Ambulance to a medical facility. 6:18 a.m. – A report was filed regarding a motor vehicle accident that resulted in property damage only. A report was filed. 6:33 p.m. – A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in the Mods. The alarm was triggered by a hair dryer that was be-
9:15 p.m. – A report was filed regarding an injured party at Conte Forum. The party was treated on scene and was later released.
Voices from the Dustbowl “What is your favorite Super Bowl traditon?” “Watching the commercials.” —Hannah Pingeton, CSON ’13 Natasha Desa, A&S ’13
Friday, Feb. 4 12:42 a.m. – A report was filed regarding an underage intoxicated party. The party was transported to a medical facility in a police cruiser. 12:51 a.m. – A report was filed regarding an underage intoxicated party. The party was transported byArmstrong Ambulance to a medical facility. 2:55 a.m. – A report was filed regarding an intoxicated party of legal age who was unable to care for themself. The party was transported by Armstrong Ambulance to a medical facility.
—Source: The Boston College Police Department
“Betting on the final scores.” —Laura Bracey, CSOM ’13
“Having wings and beers with the guys.” —Fred Barber,
Dustbowl Visitor
Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact Dan Ottaunick, General Manager at (617) 552-0547. Advertising The Heights is one of the most effective ways to reach the BC community. To submit a classified, display, or online advertisement, call our advertising office at (617) 552-2220 Monday through Friday.
The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2011. All rights reserved.
CORRECTIONS Please send corrections to editor@bcheights.com with ‘correction’ in the subject line.
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Heights
A3
BC professors investigate Red Bull
Study finds Red Bull has psychological effects By Daniel Tonkovich
Bull car displayed the characteristics often attributed to the brand, such as speed, Red Bull’s edgy market- power, aggressiveness, and ing efforts sell a heavy dose risk-taking. In some cases, of attitude to consumers in the drivers sped around the addition to an energy boost, game course. In others, their according to a recent paper recklessness caused them by Adam Brasel, a profes- to crash and lose valuable sor in the Carroll School of time. Management (CSOM) and For Brasel and Gipps, the James Gipps, a professor in results of the reseach are both the computer science depart- positive and negative. ment. “In a performance context, In the study, published in what we see is that people the Journal racing the of Consumer Red Bull Psychology, According to the findings, c a r r a c e re s e a rc h faster and ers placed players in control of the m o r e a g subjects at Red Bull car displayed gressively, the consometimes t ro l s o f a the characteristics often recklessly, c a r r a c - attributed to the brand, a n d t h e y ing video either do such as speed, power, game, supve ry, ve ry plying each aggressiveness, and risk- w e l l o r with funct h ey p u s h taking. tionally themselves identical too far and racecars. Each car was deco- crash,” Brasel said in a staterated with a different brand ment. “They tend to do great logo and color scheme. or they tend to do horrible. According to the findings, There’s very little middle players in control of the Red ground.”
Heights Editor
Courtesy of the Office of News & Public Affairs
BC researchers received a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation for their microscope research
BC professors earn grant Researchers awarded $1 million in grant money from the W.M. Keck Foundation for the development of new type of microscope By Adriana Mariella
ers or assemble bits of images to create one in its entirety,” according to the statement. It uses nanoscale tubes similar to those cables that are This month, The W.M. Keck Foundation used with TV and Internet. “The nanocoax design awarded researchers at Boston College a $1 mil- will allow the microscope to focus beams of light lion grant. on sub-wavelength-sized matter, such as cells or The research team will use the grant to work on proteins, and then return that light to a camera “developing a new microscope that uses a light- that presents the image.” guiding ‘metamedium’ to Developers said that they create images that reveal were grateful for the support “We’re excited by the micro and macroscopic of their efforts, which they matter with significantly opportunities this grant from believe will have a large imimproved clarity,” accordthe W.M. Keck Foundation pact on scientific investigaing to a recent statement. tion in the future by overcomprovides and grateful for The team includes prining obstacles that traditional cipal investigator Michael their support. We believe our microscopes present. J. Naughton, a professor “We’re excited by the opin the physics department, novel concepts and ideas on portunities this grant from Krzysztof Kempa, also microscopy can lead to the the W.M. Keck Foundation a professor in the physand grateful for their development of the nanoscale provides ics department; Joshua support,” Naughton said in a coaxial optical microscope, statement. “We believe our Rosenberg, manager of the University’s microscopy novel concepts and ideas on which will have a farimaging facility; and Greg microscopy can lead to the McMahon, a researcher reaching impact on scientific development of the nanoscale and nanolithography specoaxial optical microscope, investigation.” cialist in the University’s which will have a far-reaching Clean Room Nanofabricaimpact on scientific investi—Thomas B. Lockerby, tion Facility. gation.” The Keck Foundation, The NCOM microscope Vice President, Development and founded in 1954 by W.M. will hopefully eliminate obCampaign Director Keck, the founder of the stacles faced when trying Superior Oil Company, to view very small matter, seeks to support “pioneering efforts in the areas researchers said. While scientists can use electron of medical research, science and engineering and microscopes to overcome this “diffraction limit,” an undergraduate education.” issue since the 1800s, by using electron waves on a This nanoscale coaxial optical microscope colored sample, the NCOM microscope will allow (NCOM) functions differently from the optical scientists to use visible light, photon waves, to view microscopes that most people are familiar with. samples in their original coloring. The NCOM will According to the press release, this microscope also allow for samples to be alive, whereas electron would be placed into a new category of microscopes, microscopes require samples to be in a vacuum. called “superlenses,” because of their difference in “With super resolution microscopy, we propose function. we can achieve 20 nm resolution, which is a tenfold These microscopes, which are unlike more fa- improvement,” Joshua Rosenberg said in a statemiliar microscopes which use lenses and lights to ment. “That means scientists will be able to see bring an object to focus, use “novel technologies with much finer detail what is going on inside of a to manipulate light, reconstruct it on comput- cell and how the cell works.” n Assoc. News Editor
BC places 9th in Peace Corps service ranking By Daniel Tonkovich
Verde, China, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Boston Collge has been ranked Macedonia, Mali, Mongolia, 9th on the Peace Corps’ 2011 rank- Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaraings of college and universities in gua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, the medium-sized category. Thir- Romania, Senegal, Thailand, ty-eight undergraduate alumni are Togo, Ukraine, and Vanuatu. The currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers are engaged in work in volunteers, two more than in 2010. various sectors, including educaSince the beginning of the Peace tion, youth development, English, Corps in 1961, health, and 718 BC alumni small busihave served as devel“Part of the numbers are ness Corps volunopment. a result of the general teers. Ponsetto “BC stusaid that the motivation of BC students d e n ts h ave Peace Corps an orienta- to serve others and part of is not the only tion towards it is a result of agressive volunteer orservice,” said ga n i za t i o n Daniel Pon- marketing on the part of where BC unsetto, director dergraduate the Peace Corps.” of the Volunalumni have teer and Sera significant —Daniel Ponsetto, vice Learnpresence. ing Center. Last year, 30 Director, Volunteer Service “BC has been former stuLearning Center ranked fairly dents served highly in the through the Peace Corps’ rankings for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC), last couple of years. Part of the making BC the most well repnumbers are a result of the general resented alma mater in JVC in motivation of BC students to serve 2010. others and part of it is a result of “Both of the programs are agressive marketing on the part of great opportunities for service,” the Peace Corps.” Ponsetto said. “The Peace Corps BC alumni currently serve as is an option for those considering Peace Corps volunteers in Alba- service from a non-faith perspecnia, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape tive. The JVC involves more of a Heights Editor
faith perspective, but both are options worth considering.” George Washington University ranked first for the third year in a row in the Peace Corps’ medium school category, with 72 undergraduate alumni serving overseas. The medium school category consists of schools with between 5,001 and 15,000 students. The Peace Corps was established by Former President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Since its creation, more than 200,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps. Currently 8,655 volunteers are working with local communities in 77 host countries. “For the last 50 years, colleges and universities across our country have been an integral part of the Peace Corps family, from developing young leaders, to hosting trainings and teaching the importance of lifelong learning,” said Aaron S. Williams, director of the Peace Corps, in a statement. “In 1961, President Kennedy created the Peace Corps in response to the passion of university students, and today we continue to be inspired by the enthusiasm, dedication, and creativity of the thousands of Americans now serving overseas. Colleges instill a commitment to public service among their students and share our belief that, together, we can work to make the world a better place.” n
The performances took place without the consumers being aware of their own behavior, Brasel said. Both the professors attribute the f indings to non-conscious brand priming in which the personality of a brand can influence a consumer to act in ways consistent with that personality when exposed to brand imagery. The study’s results show that the priming affect can extend beyond how individuals think into areas of actual consumer performance. It shows advertising and marketing programs can push beyond simply making a sale, having a behavioral inf luence that consumers do not expect. “ Th i s h i g h l i g h ts s o m e unintended consequences of ambient advertising and product placement,” Brasel said. “It’s an effect that we as advertisers have not been aware of or have been ignoring. All of these brands that surround us are probably having a greater effect on our behavior than most of us realize.” n
Campaign hits halfway mark in donations goal B y E lise T aylor
its innovators and executors, who have been navigating the campaign throughout the past three years. “Our success is a testament to Boston College has officially reached the the vision of the president and key leaders at halfway point of its six-year Light the World BC, the Board of Trustees, and our campaign campaign, a project geared toward raising leadership,” he said. $1.5 billion for the University through volBC Spokesperson Jack Dunn said he unteer engagement, alumni donor participa- agreed. “Reaching the midpoint of this tion, and legacy giving as of Dec. 31, 2010. ambitious campaign is a testament to … the BC has raised over $750 million toward compelling nature of the campaign prioriits fund-raising efforts. With this money, ties among supporters, and the dedication it hopes to create a larger endowment for of Fr. Leahy, volunteer leadership and our financial aid, improve the campus and its advancement staff,” Dunn said. facilities, and enhance However, BC officials are student life and academic not resting on their laurels excellence. “We feel very fortunate for long. Although they are This midpoint arrival applauding their accomplishis signif icant consider- to have experienced such ments so far, such as the start ing the tough economic incredible generosity of construction on Stokes t i m e s . D e s p i te t h e f i Hall, the formation of the from alumni, parents, Lynch Leadership Academy, n a n c i a l d ow n t u r n , B C reported that parent and and friends, especially and the multi-million dollar a l u m n i g iv i n g h a s ex financial aid expansion, they so given the economic still consistently have Light celled. In fact, according to the Light the World challenges of the past the World campaign’s longnewsletter, the year of term vision in mind. Admistwo years.” 2009-2010 set a record for sions hopes to achieve the parental donations. Also campaign goal of $1.5 billion noted was a significant by 2015. —Thomas B. Lockerby, increase in participation “The key for us going forVice President for from younger alumni, who ward is to re-double our efgenerally are do not give Development and Campaign forts to keep the case for Director large sums. support fresh and engaging “We feel very fortunate for our constituents,” Lockto have experienced such incredible gen- erby said. “There are so many facets of the erosity from alumni, parents, and friends, University that one could focus upon, the key especially so given the economic challenges is finding which area or areas will be most of the past two years,” said Thomas B. Lock- compelling to particular potential donors. erby, vice president for development and We know there is something at Boston Colcampaign director. lege for everyone to latch on to and make Lockerby also said that the success of a difference. Our job is to help make those Light the World should also be contributed to connections.” n Heights Editor
The Heights
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BC among need blind schools
Admissions accepts more students indicating a need for financial aid Need, from A1 to Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994, is composed exclusively of schools that are need-blind. “It’s good company to be in,” Mahoney said. “We want to be aligned with those values in respect to financial aid.” When schools commit to being needblind, while also meeting a student’s full demonstrated need, it is possible to spend more on financial aid than initially anticipated. About 40 percent of students receive need-based grants. Last year, the University budgeted $80 million for financial aid and ended up spending $84 million, Mahoney said. “[Overspending] is absolutely a possibility every year because you’re reading blind to financial circumstances,” Mahoney said. Overspending on financial aid is more likely given the current state of the economy, Mahoney said. Students reapply for aid each year, and even those who have not received it in previous years may qualify if family circumstances have changed. “It’s a distinct possibility you’ll go over budget [with this type of policy], and that’s compounded by the economy right now,” he said. Pekala said that meeting need has been more difficult in recent years. “In the last couple years, we’ve had a strain on our budget,” he said. The Common Application does ask students whether they are planning on applying for financial aid, though this is not used by admissions staff, Mahoney said. Even if a reader sees which box is checked, financial aid forms are kept by the financial aid office.
“If we do glance at it, we don’t have any in- students, and invites them to campus for an sight into what that family’s circumstances extended weekend in which they interview are,” he said. “We have no access to that and participate in mock Honors seminars. data, nor should we. It’s not affecting our Of the students, about 20 to 25 students are evaluation, and it’s certainly not affecting awarded the scholarship in hopes that 15 of our decision.” those will attend BC. The scholarship covers In fact, Pekala said admissions tends to full tuition for all four years. Though room and accept more students that check this box. board is not covered by the scholarship itself, About 58 to 59 percent of applicants check students in this group who are found to be in the box indicating they are need of additional money planning on applying for receive it in the form of BC “We’re actually financial aid, and of the acgrants. No loans are given cepted students, 62 to 64 to the students receiving accepting more percent checked off the box. the scholarship “The pledge students who apply of the Presidential Scholars “We’re actually accepting more students who apply for Program is to meet need with for financial aid.” financial aid,” he said. BC institutional money,” Students applying for Mahoney said. —Bernard Pekala, financial aid fill out forms This does not happen such as the Free Applicaparticularly often, however, Director of Student tion for Federal Student Aid Mahoney said. “[The presiFinancial Strategies (FAFSA) and College Scholdential scholars] are not a arship Service / Financial particularly needy group, Aid Profile (CSS / Profile), which determine but there are some who qualify for need-based the amount of federal and national aid a aid beyond the full tuition scholarship.” student will receive. The University also ofAdmissions visits about 1,000 high schools fers grants with funds that come from various both in the U.S. and internationally, and look sources, such as endowment and donations. to encompass a variety of types of schools to Though there is a formula for determining attract a diverse student population. “In adaid, BC tries to keep special circumstances dition to the top feeder schools, staff members in mind. “We try to treat everybody similar, strive to visit strong inner city schools and but we do treat everybody as an individual,” they work to develop relationships with agenPekala said. cies such as Upward Bound, which identify The only merit-based scholarship the high potential low income students,” Mahoney University offers is the Presidential Schol- said in an e-mail. “We also host a good numarship. Of the Early Action applicant pool, ber of inner city high schools and agencies on admissions identifies the top 1 percent, campus for information sessions, tours, and which is comprised of approximately 60 sometimes a meal if time allows. “ n
Monday, February 7, 2011 “A Boston College education, with its broad core linked to in-depth study in an academic major linked with interdisciplinary minors, can be an excellent foundation for a journalism career.” —Donald Hafner, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs
Courses opened up to all students Journalism courses will no longer be offered within the comm. dept. Journalism, from A1 its broad core linked to in-depth study in an academic major linked with interdisciplinary minors, can be an excellent foundation for a journalism career,” he said. Hafner said that BC has never had any intention of developing the more technical aspects of academic journalism. “Sometimes when people speak of ‘journalism courses,’ what they have in mind are courses on more technical dimensions, such as television studio production or on-air script-writing,” he said. “In-
depth training in these production skills requires significant investments in equipment, space, faculty, and other resources. Boston College has n eve r i n te n d e d to b e c o m e deeply invested in such programs, because of the investment that would be necessary to achieve excellence in this field.” “Nevertheless, many graduates of Boston College have gone on to distinguished careers in journalism and the media industries, building on the excellent liberal arts foundation that Boston College does provide,” he said. n
BCAAUP reviews faculty satisfaction levels Faculty, from A1
secretary, Joyce Pulcini as executive board member, and Judith Wilt as executive board member. goals and initiatives, it was created with the inten- Victoria Crittenden, Hiroshi Nakazato, and Lisa tion of bringing the faculty together in discussion Cuklanz have agreed to place their names on the to address issues of concern. slate for the upcoming election of the expanded “It was decided that the faculty wanted to executive board. form a chapter of the AAUP,” Michalczyk said. This board’s work in support of academic “We are a way of allowing some of the faculty to freedom and shared governance has won national bring up issues of concern. We are not the voice recognition, Michalczyk said. of the faculty, but a voice for the faculty.” “We received the Beatrice Konheim award In the past year, BCAAUP has grown to roughly from the national chapter,” she said. “In a panel 90 members, with typically presentation we were chosen 35 to 55 members in attento speak on shared gover“It was decided that the dance at meetings. nance. We have received a “One year ago we were lot of recognition from the faculty wanted to form a just a handful of members, office. And we are chapter of AAUP. We are a national now we are close to 90, and getting more and more inway of allowing some of the terest.” we have other interested faculty which would make Within the past year, faculty to bring up issues our number around 120 who Michalczyk said that the of concern. We are not the BCAAUP has grown to be are all in touch with us across schools,” Michalczyk said. an effective outlet for all voice of the faculty, but a “We are mostly from Arts faculty members to bring voice for the faculty.” & Sciences, but there are their concerns. faculty members that rep“We’ve begun to be effecresent the Carroll School tive and provided an outlet —Susan Michalczyk, of Management, the Lynch for people to meet together,” President of the BCAAUP School of Education, the she said. “Academic freeConnell School of Nursing, dom and tenure are a major the Graduate School of Social Work, and the Law concern for faculty. There is a sense of solidarSchool. We are a mix between part-time faculty ity between schools, tenured and non-tenured and full-time faculty with tenure. This shows that professors. More and more faculty members are we are not one small group.” coming to us with their concerns and suggesThe BCAAUP executive board is currently tions. This takes away from their alienation and composed of seven individuals, but will soon be isolation.” expanded to 11 members. Currently Michalczyk Last Thursday’s meeting focused on a survey holds the role of president, Michael Clarke serves that the BCAAUP distributed to 300 faculty as executive vice president, Michael Malec as vice members in the fall. The BCAAUP said that the president of membership, Timothy Duket as vice survey included criticisms of the administration, president of communication, Pamela Grace as issues of concern, and some dissatisfaction with
their current situation among the 262 faculty who replied. “The comments [on the survey] were really sad and discouraging,” Michalczyk said. Several new steps for BCAAUP were suggested by its members from the results of the survey at their Thursday meeting. These include publishing a newsletter to announce and publish information while allowing the faculty to know that they can use BCAAUP as an advocacy group. Michalczyk said the next step would be to publish the results in order to give a basis that supports their understanding that there is not a faculty voice. In essence, the survey shows that there is dissatisfaction with the higher levels of the administration but less dissatisfaction at the department level where faculty can have a voice. “As you introduce larger structures into the departments, there is more of a disconnect between faculty,” Michalczyk said. Members at Thursday’s meeting also suggested moving toward discussion in places where the administration and faculty do have a chance to meet and discuss. It was discussed that many faculty who responded to the survey said that they wanted a more comprehensive survey. It was also said that many associate faculty may have been afraid to answer the survey. In the meeting, the group discussed that much of the negative response from the older faculty came as a result of their awareness of the difference between the current BC and the ways of the past. It was suggested that the newer faculty members don’t know anything but the current BC, which the BCAAUP refers to as the “business model” of BC, a model they consider to be less concerned with academic and intellectual integrity, according to a consolidation of comments
from the survey distributed at the meeting. It was said that these faculty members therefore simply accept BC as it is now and hope that these issues will disappear. However, for the older faculty, these are real issues, they said. In addition to the discussion of the survey, the members also discussed a major issue of concern for the BCAAUP: the creation of a faculty senate. Proposed four years ago and blocked by the administration, the faculty senate would provide the University’s professors with a greater voice in the decision-making process. Michalczyk said that nearly every other Jesuit university has a faculty senate. During Thursday’s meeting, the members voted in favor of postponing the idea of asking for a faculty senate until they are able to gain more substantial faculty support and momentum. This issue had deep divides among the faculty members of BCAAUP. “We have waited 150 years for a faculty senate,” Clarke said. Michalczyk said that while a faculty senate is a major issue, BCAAUP has grown to encompass many of the functions of a faculty senate for the time being, and the evolution to such a shared governance body would be a natural process after more faculty support was amassed. “Our faculty are worn out, over worked, and committed to many responsibilities,” she said. “Having an advocacy chapter is for now a way to support the concept of policies on academic freedom and should naturally evolve into a faculty Senate.” The BCAAUP said that they believe that they are taking the first steps toward achieving their goals. “We think we’re doing small things,” Michalczyk said. “We don’t think we’ve solved every problem, but we think it’s a beginning.” n
Fewer hate crimes reported at BC Hate Crimes, from A1
Staff hirings do not affect students Staff Hirings, from A1 to handle additional staff due to changes that have ocurred over the last decade. “It’s not as if nothing has changed in 10 years,” he said. “Some staff came as a result of the move of the Weston School of Theology back to BC,” Keating
said, meaning that these were not technically new hires. Additionally, new staff is hired to create better services for students, Rombalski said. For example, due to the increased demand for Information Technology Services over the past 10 years, BC hired additional staff to handle this demand. n
was going to Hell,” said Maurice Jackson, A&S ’14. He said he has also overheard homophobic slurs around campus. Critics also say other schools in the area do more to encourage students to come forward. Emerson was ranked the most GLBTQ friendly university by The Princeton Review, yet they have the highest per-capita number of hate crimes based on sexual orientation of Boston’s major schools, the documents show. This is likely because Emerson students feel more comfortable reporting such incidents than their BC counterparts, said John McDargh, a professor in the theology department, who is on the steering committee of the Lesbian and Gay Faculty, Staff and Administrators’ Association. “The difference is in the very different public positions our respective institutions have taken and the way I suspect this affects the degree of safety and support that [GLBTQ] students feel and hence their willingness to step forward when they feel they are being targeted in any way,” McDargh said. Administrators at BC, on the other hand, aren’t interested in hearing about harassment, one junior wrote in an anonymous
survey conducted by the Gay, gender-based and sexual orientaLesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, tion crimes. We are not without and Questioning, or GLBTQ, problems in that area.” Leadership Council (QLC). Zachary Paciorek, A&S ’11, “I first believed BC was igno- said, “The gay campus culture is rant of GLBTQ students because definitely not harsh, but to say it’s of their lack of resources,” the completely accepting is definitely junior said. pushing it too “Now I believe far,” Paciorek “The difference is in the said. that BC is not only obliviMcDargh very different public ous, but unsaid he surpositions our respective m i s e s f ro m interested.” t h e f i g u re s institutions have taken At Georgethat if Emand the way I suspect town, by erson has a comparison, higher rethis affects the degree after those 14 ported inof safety and support anti-GLBTQ cidence of incidents that [GLBTQ] students anti-GLBTQ were reportbehavior, “it feel and hence their ed, the unimay mean willingness to step versity made that their more services students feel forward when they feel available to more emstudents. It they are being targeted in powered to opened a rereport such any way.” source cenincidents and te r fo r gay the University —John McDargh, students and has officially hired a fulla lower pubProfessor in the Theology time director lic tolerance Department to run it. for it. While I BC wants know for cerstudents to feel comfortable tain that that the deans [at BC] coming forward, said Richard respond seriously whenever they Jefferson, executive director of are made aware of individual the Office for Institutional Di- cases of harassment, the general versity. But, he said, “We do have perception of many gay and lesissues and concerns regarding bian students surveyed last year
was that there was not a visible, convincing institutional commitment to them and hence they may be much less likely to risk reporting unfriendly or hostile behavior.” “To say you’ve been a victim is also to say, ‘I’m gay,’” said Seth Jacobs, a professor in the history department. Jacobs said it may be true that there was only one hate crime last year against GLBTQ students, athough that “strikes [him] as awfully low.” He said he had no independent evidence to suggest the number was inaccurate, however. A string of suicides nationwide, most notably at Rutgers University, has heightened attention to homophobic bullying. BC has been ranked by The Princeton Review as one of the country’s least GLBTQ-friendly schools. “During the week, everyone’s all business and all nice,” another student, who graduated last year, told the survey. “But then again, when weekends come along and alcohol comes into play, unfortunately, it’s not even like any one isolated incident. It’s like every single weekend. You go into the dining hall and just hear the language thrown around.” n This article was reported by students in Jon Marcus' Advanced Journalism class.
CLASSIFIEDS
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The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
Community Help wanted RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS Females who are currently bulimic, or have recovered, age 18-45, in stable medical health, not taking medications (with the exception of oral contraceptives), BMI between 19-26 kg/m2 [ http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ ] are sought for a study of behavioral ratings and blood hormone levels. Eligible participants will receive up to $100 for a total of two visits at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Contact Sandy Hannon-Engel, PhD(c) RN, CS at 508-274-0671 or CCK@ bc.edu.
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Directions: The Sudoku is played over a 9x9 grid. In each row there are 9 slots, some of which are empty and need to be filled. Each row, column and 3x3 box should contain the numbers 1 to 9. You must follow these rules: · Number can appear only once in each row · Number can appear only once in each column · Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box · The number should appear only once on row, column or area.
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The Heights
Editorials
Statistically Speaking: easing off higer ed
The future of journalism classes
Monday, February 7, 2011
“A study from Harvard finds that the emphasis schools place on college preparation may be hurting students. The study, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that only about 30 percent of American students finish their bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s. Another 10 percent finish their associate’s degree in that time. The report points toward the lack of alternatives to higher education as a reason for the low graduation rate.” Source: “Harvard Study: Too Much Emphasis On College Education?” WMTV, Maine. Feb. 3, 2011
Journalism classes have recently been moved out of the communication dept., a move that leaves many wondering why
Starting next semester, the College nalism classes, they might be less apt to of Arts and Sciences will offer journal- choose the courses listed as University ism classes as university courses rather courses, as they are not connected to than as part of the communication de- any one department. partment. We feel that, while this meaCurrent courses under the unisure may be well-intended, its benefits versity’s jurisdiction include topic remain unclear and that the new mea- seminars such as Capstone, and Corsure could possibly marginalize classes nerstone, among others. Such classes that have thrived in the communication are properly designated as “university department. courses” because University ofthey truly are just f icials have said that—they fulfill that the changes university core reNow that the university has quirements but are will open journalmoved journalism courses ism classes to a not necessarily rewider range of stufrom that environment, that lated to a specific dents. However, few major. Journalism, course of study may have journalism courses on the other hand, been, albeit unintentionally, fits perfectly into have prerequisites and are therefore a communication discouraged. a l rea dy o p e n to major. the general stuMany classes in dent population as the communicaelectives. Another tion department stated reason for the switch is that address how critics and citizens interthe best way to prepare students for pret journalism and the media. It seems a career in journalism is to give them natural to couple journalism courses a broad, liberal arts-based education. with the courses that deal with media But, regardless of a student’s major, criticism. Additionally, journalism is at BC, the mandatory university core an inherently liberal trade—one that provides such an educational founda- can liberate its audience can libertion. So why move the classes? ate through shared information and While the benefits of such a change opinion. Journalism classes are apare unexplained, there are some as- propriate components of any liberal pects of the change that can possibly arts cirriculum. detract from the communication deWhile some students have lamented partment. The journalism classes that the lack of a journalism program at BC, have been moved are traditionally filled University officials have said that they and popular among students. Remov- cannot absorb the necessary costs. ing them as communication classes will Many of these students have opted discourage communication majors from to major in communication with a taking the courses, as they no longer course load dedicated to developing count towards major requirements. At the skills and education required of the same time, moving the classes to a journalist. Now that the University the university section makes them less has moved journalism courses from visible to both current and prospective that environment, that course of study students. When prospective students may have been, albeit unintentionally, search the course list looking for jour- discouraged.
Working to find work study Some students who have been awarded Federal Work Study trying to secure jobs on campus, limiting a source of vital financial aid In the article titled “Student jobs students a priority so that those stuunaffected by staff” members of the ad- dents are able to set up corresponding ministration said that the availability of work and study schedules without student jobs on campus has not been af- the added difficulty of spending large fected by the increase in University staff amounts of time trying to secure their workers hired over the last decade. employment. While this may be true, acquiring The fact that some students who are a student job on campus remains dif- eligible for work-study jobs remain jobficult for some students, even for those less should be a cause for concern for who have received a administrators. Federal Work-Study The University’s grant. While some record of having administrators have 50 percent of its Acquiring a student job on said that a student’s campus remains difficult for students receiving failure to attain a job financial assisis oftentimes attrib- some students, even for those tance and using a uted to a failure of the who have received a Federal need-blind policy student to properly in its admissions Work-Study grant. complete the appliprocess are both cation process, we marks that BC believe that is not can be proud of. always the case. But the University would not be doing its Slightly more than 50 percent of BC students or itself a service by fostering undergraduates receive financial as- an environment in which students find sistance, including those students who it difficult to find the employment that receive Federal Work-Study allotments. they rely on for aid. However, if a work-study student who is BC’s response to this issue could be dependent on a job for their financial as- as simple as sending another e-mail to sistance cannot find a job, the student is work-study students about navigating not receiving financial aid and could be the campus job application process. The left in a difficult predicament. Unfortu- goal is to have students be able to confinately, there are work-study students on dently navigate the application process campus who are facing this dilemma. so that no student will forego employWe feel that the University should ment because he or she was discouraged make employment of work-study with the process.
The Heights The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ottaunick, General Manager Hilary Chasse, Managing Editor
Adrianna Mariella / Heights Illustration
Letters to the Editor A vote for democracy, a vote for the people of Egypt This letter is in response to the articles covering the civil unrest occurring in Egypt. As a citizen of and believer in democracy, I applaud the efforts of theEgyptian people. Their efforts are similar to what happened following the election in Iran and the most recent revolution in Tunisia. Believe it or not, one thing that trumps capitalism and political correctness in the United States is the right to have one’s voice heard. This is the foundation of which our democracy is built on. The Egyptian people should continue to defy President Hosni Mubarak’s powerful security forces so that Egyptian democracy can begin to thrive. It is unfortunate that the United States compromised on one of its most fundamental values in order to protect its economic interests in the Middle East; something that happens all too often domestically as well. It is not the Egyptian people that are attempting to seize power but rather it is those currently in power who have engaged in intimidation to prevent the will of the people from being heard. Why else would they stoop to such underhanded tactics to block various means of communication among the
citizens of Egypt? Why is the government in power utilizing such political strong-arm tactics as the use of violence? President Mubarak, you have had 30 years to lead Egypt and have failedthem by your own choosing. The days of the puppet regime are finally coming to an end as it appears the desire for freedom will continue to sweep among the Arab nations. Accordingly, let the call go forth among all citizens of Egypt that your brothers and sisters of democracy from all over the world are with you during every trial and tribulation you may encounter during this crisis. To the people of Egypt, the trumpet of freedom beckons you to rise in protest and ensure your voice to preserve your sacred heritage, promote your children’s future and obtain the blessings of liberty we all cherish. As was spoken to an Egyptian Pharaoh many years ago (by another enslaved people): Let my people go!
Joe Bialek Cleveland, OH
Not half bad as a news source I had never really read The Heights before. I overlooked it for the more acclaimed Beacon or Times if only to steal the crosswords and leave the rest. I nevertheless was given the homework to write a letter to your paper as a requirement for passing my topic seminar and thought it wise to read at least one article. So, I picked up your latest issues and began to read. Before I knew it, I had read way more than just one article. To my surprise, what I read was both interesting and well written. I suppose my low standards are reflective of my old high school paper which was, putting it kindly, not that great. It was almost so humorously bad at times that it because a game to page through the sections seeing who could find the most grammatical errors and spelling mistakes (the best of which were printed with the jagged Microsoft word underline still citing the error). In any event, I must say, I found The Heights unexpectedly interesting and en-
joyable to read. I think your “Top Five” section is a great way to let students know what?s happening on campus and I found your “Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down” section quite amusing. One of my favorite articles of your latest issue was the how-to on giving proper hugs. This piece was a wonderfully lighthearted one that puts things in perspective and reminds the reader that it’s the small things that count. It also had just enough humor to make it amusing without being over the top. So I guess I would just like to thank you for putting out such a well written paper and you can be sure I will definitely pick up more issues to read in the future.
The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 200 words and column submissions that do not exceed 700 words for its op/ed pages. The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces
submitted to the newspaper. Submissions must be signed and should include the author’s connection to Boston College, address, and phone number. Letters and columns can be submitted online at www.bcheights.com, by email to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.
Nina Parrott A&S ‘14
Business and Operations
Editorial Clara Kim, Copy Editor Taylour Kumpf, News Editor Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor Kristopher Robinson, Features Editor Darren Ranck, Arts & Review Editor David Cote, Marketplace Editor Ana Lopez, Opinions Editor Dan Tonkovich, Special Projects Editor Alex Trautwig, Photo Editor Lindsay Grossman, Layout Editor
Mollie Kolosky, Graphics Editor Dara Fang, Online Editor David Riemer, Asst. Online Editor Therese Tully, Assoc. Copy Editor Christopher Marino, Asst. Copy Editor Adrianna Mariella, Assoc. News Editor Molly Lapoint, Asst. News Editor D.J. Adams, Assoc. Sports Editor Greg Joyce, Asst. Sports Editor Brooke Schneider, Asst. Features Editor
Brennan Carley, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Charlotte Parish, Asst. Arts & Review Editor Matt Palazzolo, Asst. Marketplace Editor Kevin Hou, Asst. Photo Editor Woogeon Kim, Asst. Layout Editor Alex Manta, Asst. Graphics Elise Taylor, Editorial Assistant Katie Mcclurg, Executive Assistant
Margaret Tseng, Business Manager Christina Quinn, Advertising Manager Zac Halpern, Outreach Coordinator Cecilia Provvedini, Systems Manager James Gu, Local Sales Manager Jamie Ciocon, Collections Manager Amy Hachigian, Asst. Ads Manager Seth Fitchelberg, Business Assistant
The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
A7
Opinions
Thumbs Up Snow – This natural wonder has secured its spot in the lower parts of this column for the past few weeks, but in the pursuit of fair and balanced reporting, TU/TD has to say something to balance our opinion of snow. Part the reason the unemployment rate is as low as it is—a 9 percent drop just last month—is because of this powdery nuisance. Several thousand of the 36K new jobs out there had to do with snow removal and management. Almost makes you wish it was a year-round occurrence … almost. Sea Breezes – So we’re getting a little weather heavy in this columnn, but thus is life when you’re existing in Boston in January. Sea Breezes— those cool, refreshing waves of wind blowing off from the Atlantic blue into the coastal region—are responsible for the warmer temperatures around these parts, lately. Unlike the unfortunate landlocked states, who only have the mercy of the sun to rely upon, our coastal standing brings a little bit of springtime early. Santa Snake – For those of us that find ourselves a bit squirmy around things that slither and slink, great news has come in the form of the Santa Snake, also known as Penelope, being returned to its owner. After spending a month snaking around the Red Line, the beloved boa constrictor was spotted by an MBTA rider. Technically, this could count as TD, as well, as Penelope’s rather inconsiderate owner said she plans to continue to traverse Boston on public transportation with her runaway-prone reptile. Packers – As joy sweeps over the state of Wisconsin for their home state heroes taking Super Bowl XLV, we must remember that, as Eagles, we can take personal pride in the Packers win, as well. Former BC football player B.J. Raji joined the Midwestern team in 2009 and had a good performance in the game, as well. More power to those rocking the green and gold today!
Thumbs Down Super Bowl Halftime Show – What just happened? Bo sto n – So m e h ow t h e City of Boston has wrangled enough city workers to troll the streets of Brighton to issue tickets to properties that cannot get their snow removed quickly enough after the six snow storms of the past month. They must have had to mine their stores of workers in charge of snow and ice removal on public sidewalks and side streets as a thick, rather dangerous slab of ice is all that encapsulates the walkways along Commonwealth Ave. Tackling winter weather is a game of give-and-take, Boston. Checking Accounts – Back in high school, a tradition in building financial maturity was heading to the local bank with one’s parents and opening a free checking account. Well, this tradition may be no longer as many banks, in an effort to boost revenues, are going to start charging fess over $100 per year to maintain these accounts. This is particularly rough for the large number of college students who barely triumph $100 in their accounts to begin with.
Eagles on the pursuit of love
Dineen Boyle After completing transfer student orientation this summer, I left feeling as though I could be sure of several things about Boston College: 1. Come September, the Million Dollar Stairs would be an inflicting cruel, cruel, pain upon my legs 2. Cookies were served every three hours 3. The Dustbowl would be a great place to hang out and get some reading done 4. BC students were all dating each other. Clearly, some of these initial perceptions have proven truer than others. Upon attending BC, the misconception by which I am most surprised of is that so few BC students are actually in relationships with one another. (Not to be confused with the misconception I was most disappointed by—See number two). In the closing hour of orientation, sitting in Robsham Theater after being handed my first Superfan shirt, I was instructed to look at the people on either side of me. We were told, “You are surrounded by the people who will become your lifelong friends. In fact, your future husband or wife may be sitting right next to you.” As I was sitting next to my roommate, Caitlin, and a freshman boy who looked utterly terrified to be entering college, I had difficulty imagining either as my future spouse. Yet I could not help but to be struck by what we were next informed—“You know, 70 percent of BC alums marry other BC alums.”
After cracking a joke about how the school must frown upon intercollegiate relationships, I began to panic. “But I’m not sure if I want to marry a BC alum,” I thought. “Is there only a 30 percent chance that I can escape it? Will I be subliminally brainwashed over time into thinking that it is my duty to procreate with Eagles and only Eagles?” I quickly pulled myself together, began to think rationally, and decided to investigate for myself. Although my research regarding the credibility of this statistic has proven inconclusive, I find it difficult to believe, considering the fact that only a fairly small percentage of BC students appear to currently be dating each other. More likely than not, the 70 percent figure, if it was once true, is more reflective of previous generations of BC students. There are many reasons why this shift may have occurred. For starters, we are busy people. With such a gloomy job market, students must fight to distinguish themselves while in college. This necessitates the delicate balancing of classes, extra curricular activities, and internships, therefore, leaving little time for serious dating. Another possibility is the fact that people are settling down later in life, and subsequently, may view serious dating in one’s early twenties to be premature and even unnecessary. While our parents’ generation viewed dating in college to be a precursor to marriage, our generation (which is most likely to marry in our late twenties), may perceive such efforts to be pointless and rushed. Could it be that the notion of college sweethearts has become archaic and will replaced by the less phonetically pleasing phrase “early-career sweethearts?” Other reasons that may have caused this dating decline can be attributed to popular media and BC’s geographical
Mollie Kolosky / Heights Illustration
location. With dozens of schools in the Boston area, perhaps more students are exploring their relationship options with people outside of Chestnut Hill. I once witnessed a young woman sporting a BU hockey jersey kiss a BC student in front of the entire Superfan section at the Beanpot. This action was swiftly followed by a very loud (and very deserved) “TRAITOR” chant directed at said Superfan. For this reason, while I do not discourage dating people from other Boston schools, I do not recommend obvious displays of it within settings of athletic rivalry. In addition to exploring other potential partner options, it is also possible that constant exposure to today’s media has entirely turned young people off from dating. One need look no further than to shows like Teen Mom and the Jersey Shore for examples of young relationships gone terribly awry. Tuning into Teen Mom, one can witness domestic violence and perpetually on-again off-again relationships. Tune into Jersey Shore, the most watched show on television, and one will witness profoundly unhealthy, destructive relationship behavior. The aforementioned examples, in addition to seemingly never ending revelations of celebrity infidelity, work together to imprint negatively the concept of relationships on our psyches. One is left contemplating what it was that seemed appealing about dating to begin with. But before becoming overly discouraged, we must remind ourselves that it is possible to build and sustain meaningful romantic relationships while in college. With Valentine’s Day just one week away, the topic of relationships is bound to enter our minds. More than at any other point throughout the year, the holiday offers the perfect opportunity to take a chance on finding love— perhaps even love on the Heights. And why not consider dating other Eagles? They are understanding of the academic and social pressures that you face at BC. They can commiserate with you over the utterly unjust lack of snow days. They are conveniently located. You need not fear being taunted by thousands of screaming fans for kissing publicly. And let’s face it, 85 percent of BC students are ridiculously, ridiculously good-looking. It’s a statistic. I heard it somewhere. Dineen Boyle is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
Our reevaluation moment
Janine Hanrahan Whatever one thinks of President Barack Obama, one must admit he can orate from the teleprompter like no one else. So as his rhetoric soared to its highest levels celebrating the “big things” Americans accomplish, it was hard not to feel optimistic about the future of the United States. How could a citizen not feel a swell of patriotism as Obama highlighted the compelling personal stories of Vice President Joe Biden, Speaker John Boehner, and himself? Why wouldn’t we be optimistic hearing about innovative Americans such as Brandon Fisher, whose special drilling technology helped to save the Chilean minors? Despite economic turmoil and war, success is still abundant. Yet as soon as one opens a newspaper, the optimism and hopefulness is tampered by the reality that government seems to have its priorities backwards. For instance, New York and California are tackling a profound and urgent issue: distracted pedestrians. As it turns out, an iPod can be so distracting that a music / exercise enthusiast may run out into a busy street and get hit by a car. One might think that adults have the ability to look both ways even if they are in the process of using modern technology, but legislators think otherwise. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House
Party Time
BY BEN VADNAL
of Representatives are busy trying to repeal the new health care law, but just in case it sticks around, they are also introducing legislation to limit federal funding for abortion. Of course there are exemptions for extreme scenarios, such as cases of “forcible rape.” Exactly how “forcible rape” differs from “rape” was unclear to the rest of the country, so that language was dropped. In any event, it is interesting that the same people who want women to have their babies are also the same people who do not want to provide them with health care, day care, or any of the other things child rearing requires. As Alanis Morissette might ask, “Isn’t it ironic?” In a harebrained scheme to promote environmentalism and prop up General Motors, the federal government is offering a $7,500 tax break to individuals who purchase electric cars such as the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. Though this policy went into effect in 2008, the number of breaks given out has risen from the first 250,000 cars manufactured, to 200,000 per manufacturer under the stimulus bill, and if the Levin brothers (one a senator and the other a representative, both from Michigan) get their way, it will increase to 500,000 per manufacturer. And why is it that an incentive must be provided for people to buy these cars? Perhaps it is because for the cost of the $41,000 Volt, a consumer could also purchase a BMW 3 series, a Lexus IS or ES, or an Audi A4. Oh, and just in case you are working on your nutrition, the government has announced new dietary guidelines with the stunning admonition to eat less. With nearly 34 percent of Americans considered obese, this is a truly mind blowing directive.
While the government is busy trying to regulate everything from what its citizens eat to what kind of cars they drive, Egypt has fallen into chaos, the deficit continues to skyrocket, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be fought. This is not to say that the government is not doing anything to address these and other important problems, but where is the sense of urgency? Where are the leaders willing to make tough choices? Frankly, it seems the government is filled with nannies rather than leaders. Government officials have no problem spoon-feeding the populace platitudes and solutions for their own stupidity, but when it comes to unpopular solutions … well, there’s always the next president and session of Congress to deal with those Obama may think this is our “Sputnik moment” (which is also ironic considering he cut NASA’s Constellation Program, whose mission was to send a man back to the moon), but it should be our reevaluation moment, because before we know it, the mania of the 2012 election will be upon us. Rather than let the media dictate the way we think, we need to take a good, hard look at the candidates and maybe even do some research into their positions. At a time when America is at a cross roads, it is unacceptable to vote for someone simply because we like him or because of the letter next to her name. Sometimes leaders are not so likeable, nor are they always from the party we usually support. Americans do big things, but we need a leader, not a nanny, to bring them to fruition. Janine Hanrahan is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
Women and the right
Tim O’Connor Two years ago, Sarah Palin presented a unique opportunity to the GOP—a chance to capture female voters. There were certainly notable women on the right before Palin, Condoleeza Rice for example played a key role in the Bush presidency. But before Palin the only other woman to ever even appear on a major party ticket in history was Geradline Ferraro, who ran alongside Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984. Had the McCain camp fielded a more universal or qualified candidate, the demographic shifts could have been astounding. Instead, women’s rights groups decried Palin for her stances on the issues, and 56 percent of women supported Barack Obama. The pipe dream of claiming a traditionally left-leaning demographic fell apart almost as suddenly as it had appeared. Now that the Republicans have taken control of the House, they’ve shown little interest in taking the opportunity to broaden their appeal to women. Last week, the right came under fire for H.R. 3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.” The bill, introduced by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) would redefine the circumstances under which an abortion is permitted in the case of rape. Specifically, the language of the bill allowed federal funding to help sponsor an abortion only in cases of “forcible” rape. Wait … what? There’s such a thing as “non-forcible” rape? I suppose technically that slipping a date-rape drug into an unsuspecting victim’s drink would lead to less physical resistance, but the very implication that there are “more legitimate” types of rape that this legislation suggests are nothing but a not-soclever retooling of the old “blame it on the victim” strategy. It says, “Someone who gets jumped in an alley is deserving of our sympathy and support, but the woman who is assaulted with the aid of drugs or heavy coercion ‘was asking for it.’” In a rare display of lucidity, the language of the bill was dropped on Feb. 3rd in response to strong public outcry. On the same day, the media began asking questions about another bill, H.R. 358, or the “Protect Life Act.” Sponsored by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), the bill would modify the existing provisions that require a hospital to perform an abortion if it is necessary to save a victim’s life—doctors would now have the option to refuse care. I can’t imagine the impossible choice some women are forced to face, choosing between a lifesaving procedure and the life of their unborn child. What I can say is that if someone I loved found herself in this situation, I would want her to make the decision herself, with the support of her family and friends. I would not want a doctor or a legislator to decide which life is worth saving. H.R. 358 is currently in committee for debate. Both of these provisions are thinlyveiled attempts to appeal to the antiabortion crowd, and the authors of these bills seem to have given little thought to the implications the laws will have on the lives of millions of women. No one is pretending that the issue of abortion is an easy one to discuss and resolve, but these bills do nothing to further the ongoing dialogue. Instead, they impose undue hardship on victims and patients and throw away important social protections that women’s rights activists have already earned. All of this intended to score some political credit with the fundamentalist right. If the right wants to reclaim the mantle of “small government,” it needs to seriously refocus its efforts toward producing sound policy, rather than mucking around in the House like it’s still election season. The bills introduced by Smith and Pitts are more akin to token legislation that you float to get a few votes close to an election season, but both pieces were introduced in the first month of a new session of Congress. The provisions put forth represent what someone wants the law to do. The right wants to prevent raped women from receiving an abortion. They want doctors to have the power to choose for a woman whose life is in jeopardy. I can only imagine that this constitutes a “anti-abortion” position in the twisted, convoluted logic. This makes sense in a world only defined by talking points and buzz words. Party of family values and individual liberties, indeed.
Tim O’ Connor is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
The Heights
A8
Monday, February 7, 2011
‘The Roommate’ scares for the wrong reasons By Darren Ranck
Arts & Review Editor Freshman worries range from the typical to the particularly neurotic, but chief among them is the fear of receiving a subpar roommate. All fears should be cleared up – or possibly elevated – with Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly’s new the roomate: movie The Christian R oommate. Christiansen It is typiScreen Gems cal femme stalker faire, a la Single White Female or Poison Ivy. Sara Matthews (Kelly) moves from Des Moines, Iowa, to Los Angeles to attend the fictional University of Los Angeles. In the course of 10 minutes, she decorates her room with fashion photos, finds a job, makes immediate friends, goes to a frat party, meets a guy, and experiences her first night of drunken debauchery. Who needs exposition when the successes of a beautiful girl will suffice? The tide slowly turns though, with the introduction of Rebecca (Leighton Meester),
C-
Sara’s roommate. From the very start, it becomes readily apparent that Rebecca is not completely with it. Her clinginess, her strange anti-social behavior, it all adds up to a decidedly strange companion. Strangeness aside, Rebecca instantly takes to Sara, and the two quickly bond. All the while, though, Sara recognizes Rebecca’s weirdness, but she refuses to heed the warnings of her party girl comrade (Aly Michalka) and boyfriend (Cam Gigandet). Little does Sara know, her circle at University of Los Angeles is jeopardized by Rebecca’s goal to have Sara all to herself. Let’s be clear. This is a ridiculous film. The screenplay by Sonny Mallhi, his first, really fails the rest of the film. There’s nothing interesting or new about this revitalized version of an old story. The dialogue does little to develop the characters. It’s all very simple – Rebecca is terminally crazy to all except for Sara, Sara is perfection personified, if rather unassuming, and everyone else is a classic archetype without any depth. If Rebecca had been
given any unique or redeeming qualities, the story could have been more than just a retread of older films. Director Christian E. Christiansen does not do the film any favors either. While the previews try to shape it as a horror movie, Christiansen’s vision lacks the necessary tension for a horror film. The film does not build at all, and Christiansen appears to be more concerned with painting a glamorous photo of the Los Angeles’ art scene than crafting a thriller. Furthermore, the unbelievability factor is off the charts. The dorm room seems furnished by Ikea with black wood paneling and mood lighting, the entire cast looks prepared to celebrate a collective 30th birthday, and it’s never made clear how crazy Rebecca even got into the school. Meester, the highlight on Gossip Girl, fails to bring any mystery or sensuality to Rebecca. She cannot properly draw the audience in to her character. Rather, she repels them through what becomes construed as whiny awkwardness. Kelly fares slightly better. She is
Travel to a dark world in ‘Sanctum’
courtesy of allmoviephoto.com
Meester and Kelly disappoint with a formulatic, familiar plot and little inspiration in dialougue. appropriately likable and someone the audience can root for, but she, too, fails to emphasize the more cunning aspects of Sara. Gigandet does a serviceable job in a thankless part and exceeds expectations. Michalka takes a onenote character and plays her as such, but she’s not laughable like Billy Zane, as Sara’s fashion design professor. His
performance simply plays on some of the most laughable acting choices made in recent memory. Despite the negativity, the campiness of the film does add to its entertainment value. It’s not a horror film, which will disappoint some viewers, but it’s entertainment, albeit for all the wrong reasons. n
Box Office Report title
weekend gross
weeks in release
2 photos courtesy of allmoviephoto.com
1. the roomate
15.6
1
2. sanctum
9.2
1
3. No strings attached
8.4
3
Courtesy of Allmoviephoto.com
With the power of James Cameron, the mastermind behind ‘Avatar,’ ‘Sanctum’ offers something beyond the typical natural disaster flick. By Joe Allen Heights Staff
What happens to a group of friendly people when thrust into an isolated place with limited lighting, food, water, oxygen, and, most importantly, time to get out? Sanctum poses that exact question. The sanctum: survival film, based on the Alister Grierson t r u e sto ry Sanctum Australia of co-writer A n d rew Wight’s near-death experience during a cave-diving expedition, features a group of desperate adventurers losing sight of what is moral as growing darkness threatens to entomb them in an unknown cave system. Aside from its stunning cinematography, this movie succeeds by telling a lively story that demonstrates how people depend upon each other to survive, especially in horrific circumstances. Before disaster strikes, however, Sanctum introduces the main players and shows how they generally interact in non-life threatening situations. Frank (Richard Roxburgh) is a carefree adventurer who drags his complaining teenage son, Josh (Rhys Wakefield), on his trips. Carl (Ioan Gruffudd), a fellow cave-lover, has financed Frank’s current New Guinea expedition in the hopes of finding a path to the ocean through the world’s last unknown under-
B+
water cave system. Rounding out the bunch is Carl’s impulsive girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson) and Frank’s physically weak coworker, George (Dan Wyllie). Except for Josh’s volatile relationship with his father, this group gets along well. Anything besides a wild storm that blocks off the cave’s only known exit, that is. With this unfortunate turn of events, the five explorers must complete their mission early and find the ocean before their supplies run out. As the group races through underwater passages and small caverns, director Alister Grierson and cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin wow the audience through their use of lighting and camera placement. The vastness of the caves overwhelms viewers. O’Loughlin is able to bathe the cavern walls in different colors as the plot progresses, since dwindling supplies causes the similarly dwindling adventurers to resort to watch lights, fire, and even glow sticks to see. Grierson’s often understated direction further enhances the lighting effects. These creative touches, along with incredible sound effects and a well-used score, transport the audience into the immense, yet claustrophobic, caves right alongside the endangered spelunkers. Aside from all the great technical work, Sanctum tells the poignant story of a distant father connecting with his son. Before the shut-in, these two characters constantly butt heads. As they search for
another exit while the people around them begin to lose their sanity, the two begin to uncover a deeper bond between them that neither knew existed. Admittedly, this story isn’t new, but Sanctum tells it so effectively by letting the audience in on these characters’ emotions in several key scenes. Paying close attention during the film’s first 30 minutes is rewarded in the third act, as some seemingly unimportant Frank-Josh character elements pay off big time later on. Sanctum’s main flaw, apart from occasionally cheesy dialogue, is that its cast never completely delivers on the wide range of emotions that should be taking place in this dire situation. No one comes close to the acting greatness of James Franco in the survival film 127 Hours. In particular, Parkinson and Gruffudd do not measure up as much as they should have. For the most part, however, the performances are serviceable. In truth, this film can get away with lessthan-Oscar-worthy acting with its beautiful cinematography and powerful story. By admirably balancing its central emotional storyline with suspenseful action scenes, Sanctum becomes a dramatic adventure movie well worth seeing. It keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. Contrary to what the trailers imply, this film isn’t mere spectacle. For all those non-cave divers out there (almost everyone), Sanctum provides a two-hour escape into a far-off world with different rules. n
7
9
4. the king’s speech
8.3
11
5. the green hornet
6.1
4
6. the rite
5.6
2
7. the mechanic
5.4
2
8. true grit
4.8
7
9. the Dilemma
3.5
4
10. black swan
3.4
10
bestsellers of hardcover fiction 1. shadowfever Karen Marie Moning 2. strategic moves Stuart Woods 3. The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest Stieg Larsson 4. The inner cirlce Brad Meltzer 5. the sentry Robert Crais
6. Call me irresistible Susan Elizabeth Phillips 7. dead or alive Tim Clancey 8. the help Kathryn Stockett 9. what the night knows Dean Koonrz
With ‘Twilight’ behind her, Stewart needs to make moves By Dan Siering
The life of 20-year-old Kristen Stewart is indeed a wacky and wild one. After being chosen to head one of the most popular movie franchises of the decade, the virtually unknown daughter of a Hollywood television producer and script supervisor became the center of the universe for every literate teenage girl and paparazzi camera. The entertainment media also brought it upon themselves to discover the mysteries of Stewart’s relationship with Twilight costar Robert Pattinson, a topic that both stars consistently avoid discussing. And while an entire news channel could easily be dedicated to buzz surrounding “KStew” and “RPatz,” the topic of conversation lately has seemed to switch to the future of Stewart’s acting career after the Twilight rollercoaster ends next summer. This week in particular, produced a flurry of casting rumors that tags the young actress to some giant upcoming productions. The week of rumor frenzy began with news that Stewart was on the top of Universal Studio’s list to play the title character in Snow White and the Huntsman. Now before you begin to gawk at
the dissimilarities between Stewart and your beloved childhood cartoon character, reports are that the remake will develop Snow White into a much more edgy character. The early outline of the story has Snow White as a quasiapprentice to the Huntsman, rumored to be played by Viggo Mortensen, as the two seek revenge on the Evil Queen. A day after the Snow White news, whispers from comic book insiders claimed that Stewart had read for Lois Lane in the upcoming Superman reboot. This rumor was denied by Stewart’s people quickly after it surfaced, but KStew’s camp was noticeably silent about the Snow White news. The speculation around Stewart playing the princess has grown some legs over the past couple days, with many websites reposting that the two sides are negotiating a contract. The majority of the public has ranted that Stewart is unfit for the role, but the actress might be a good fit if the film does indeed take on a darker undertone. Having not even asked her to audition, Universal must be casting Stewart for the irritable and independent persona that makes her distinct. If the studio had been looking to create a straight-up remake, there are plenty of cheery princess-types in
Hollywood to choose from. The outpour of Kristen Stewart news this week came to a conclusion with the release of the first pictures from the On the Road set. The much anticipated film adaptation, which has finished filming and is slated to be released at the end of this year, has Stewart playing Marylou, the young and eccentric first wife of Dean Moriarty. Set photos show Stewart showing off her beatnik dance moves and gearing up for a road trip with Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley, who play Moriarty and Sal Paradise. The pictures show Stewart smiling and jubilant, which starkly contrasts her usual morose expressions. Directed by the artful Walter Salles and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Stewart will need every bit of her all-star cast to help carry the massive expectations for this film. In order to continue with a successful and respectable acting career, Stewart must undergo the grueling chore of becoming more than simply “the Twilight girl.” It seems that the majority of the public’s distaste for Stewart comes from her exposure as the relatively lifeless tip of the supernatural love triangle. To sway the opinion of the crowd, the young actress must burst out
her comfort zone and show that she has some acting range. Aside from Twilight, Stewart was fantastic in the grossly underrated Adventureland as the rebellious carney crush of Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds. She was solid as rock queen Joan Jett in The Runaways, and her act as the tough-as-nails stripper stole the show in Welcome to the Rileys. While all good performances, these roles are eerily similar. The last
thing a young actress wants is the tag of artistically immobile. But fear not Kristen, you’re still young, and emulating a beatnik sex symbol and serving up justice with Viggo sound like a good launching pad to escape the clutches of Edward Cullen.
Dan Siering is a Heights columnist. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
photo courtesy of allmoviephoto.com
Kristen Stewart is running out of chances to break the ‘Twilight’ curse as she gets roles.
The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
A9
Lincoln’s ‘journal’ reveals vampire hunting past Lincoln, from A10 humble beginnings. The author discusses Lincoln’s birth and his childhood as a farm boy on the Western frontier. Just when the reader begins to the think that the novel is just another stale history book, Grahame-Smith begins to deliberately reveal unusual and peculiar happenings. Odd events occur around the untimely death of his mother. Lincoln’s father gives a drunken account of the day his own father was attacked by a crazed beast. The underworld of vampires gradually becomes apparent to both the reader and the future President. Pre-teen Lincoln is out for blood once he discovers that his mother’s death was a result of a bad business deal his father made with a vampire.
However, once he repays his mother’s history and Lincoln’s own life becomes killer with a swift swipe of his axe, increasing complex. Yet as the plot Lincoln is not fully satisfied. This thickens, Grahame-Smith does a brilmarks the start of Lincoln’s full-scale liant job in keeping the presence of hunting expedition that consumes vampires far enough under the radar the majority of that the story the president’s does not exyounger years. “Grahame-Smith’s ability to blur plode into fullWith the help the line between actual historical b l o w n f o l l y. of Henry SturThe account is fact and original fiction in ges, a powerful, just outlandish yet diplomatic ‘Vampire Hunter’ is the engine enough to be va m p i r e w h o believable. that keeps the story compelling.” looks to coexG ra h a m e ist with humans, Smith’s ability Lincoln sets out to blur the line to eliminate the between actual menacing immortals that prey on the historical fact and original fiction in young and weak. Vampire Hunter is the engine that keeps As Lincoln ages and moves up the the story compelling. Almost the entire political ranks, the relationship be- skeleton of the story is biographical, tween vampires and both American including the places Lincoln visited
and the countless deaths of his family members. With the backbone in place, the author begins to sprinkle in runins with the immortal underworld and transitional episodes that link major events in Lincoln’s life to his hunting activities. Grahame-Smith also likes to toy with major historical events to make his tale even more realistic. For you history buffs, Grahame-Smith has an interesting take on the infamous abandoned colony on Roanoke Island. The writing style in Vampire Hunter is another tool used by GrahameSmith to give the book an aura of authenticity. The story jumps from the author’s secondary description to “actual” excerpts from Lincoln’s lost journals. The diction in the supposed first-hand accounts is crafted with an elegance that is befitting a master
of prose such as Lincoln. GrahameSmith uses his writing talents to gaze into the mind of the president as the journal entries lament on everything from the tragic death of his sons to bloody run-ins with his immortal foes. While it is fictitious in nature, you feel a rare intimacy with the celebrated American hero when Grahame-Smith takes the voice of Lincoln. Benjamin Walker will star as the title character in the upcoming film adaptation of the novel, and rumor has it that the production studio wants Joaquin Phoenix for the role of Lincoln’s mentor, Henry Sturges. With Grahame-Smith personally writing the screenplay, let’s hope that the author can emulate his own dynamic storytelling skills. After all, it’s high time that the true story of Lincoln be brought to the masses. n
Color, energy pervade show SASA, from A10
sara davey / for the heights
The Heightsmen performance coupled singing with theatrics as the group re-enacted the opening scene from ‘The Lion King’ in a song.
Heightsmen and Acoustics join forces in Devlin concert Stix, from A10
by ’90s boy-band Soul Decision, was quite fitting for BC’s very own singing band of boys; with his smooth vocals and impressive range, Sean Reardon, A&S ’11, made an excellent lead for this selection. The Heightsmen ‘reeled in’ their first set with “Reelin’ in the Years” and Bob Williams, A&S ’14, as lead – the rich tone of his voice (think a more modern version of Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble), made Williams quite the suitable soloist for Steely Dan’s ’70s hit. The Acoustics (a.k.a. “the Stix”) took to the stage next, kicking off their first set with Toby Lightman’s “Holding Me Down.” With her strong and soulful voice, Brianna Kincart, A&S ’11, took the lead in stride, and her sound nicely complemented the rocking harmonies created by the rest of the Stix. To a random passerby, it might have sounded like Jason Mraz was present in the building on Thursday night. But it was Max McGuire, A&S ’12, who dominated the mike as the group performed Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” Next on the set list for the Stix
was “Trouble,” originally performed by Bonnie McKee. Contrary to the song title, the group had no trouble recreating this number, especially with Frances Early, LSOE ’11, as soloist. Not only were her vocals spot on, but she had the confident stage presence of a seasoned performer. After a brief intermission, the Heightsmen treated the audience to Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight,” and proceeded to change things up with the Frank Sinatra classic, “Come Fly With Me.” The men closed out their set in traditional Heightsmen fashion with the group’s signature song, “Good Ole,” with Music Director Dan Mogelnicki as soloist. For their second set, the Stix wowed the audience with a preview of the songs that they would be performing for their area a capella competition on Saturday, starting with Jordin Sparks’ chart-topper “Battlefield” where Ashley Griswold, A&S ’11, carried the tune. Sticking to the pop genre, the group made a smooth transition into “The Walk” with Emily Parzybok, A&S ’11, playing
Imogen Heap’s part. The Stix ended their last set with a bang as Da bin Moon, A&S ’13, enthusiastically lead the group in singing “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and the singers were very unstoppable. The Stix electrified the crowd with this last number, rocking out to Queen’s catchy lyrics while performing creative choreography that charmed the audience. Both groups were an absolute hit. What better way to spend a snowy Thursday evening than watching two talented groups do what they love? From pop to rock to Disney tunes, there was a song for everyone. Such a diverse song selection by both the Heightsmen and the Acoustics not only captivated the audience’s attention, but it also highlighted the impressive vocals of the singers; to cover such a wide range of genres and to do so skillfully was notable. Make sure to catch the Heightsmen back in Devlin 008 on March 19 for the 21st annual Heightsmen Alumni Show, because, after all, who can resist that “Heightsmen harmony?” Also, mark your calendars for March 26 for the Acoustics’ Spring Cafe. n
styles and every one in between to life. The competitive entry in AHANA Leadership Council’s annual Showdown, Masti’s performance was an expected highlight, and the troupe of 14 delivered in spades. With a special appearance by Sexual Chocolate, Masti took the dramatic, languid choreography of Kishan Bhakta, A&S ’13, Ariel Durgana, LSOE ’12, Shikha Sharma, CSOM ’11, and Sonika Verma, CSOM ’11, and performed each move with a sharp precision that kept a thrilling and energetic tension throughout the performance. Similarly, the Garba-Raas dance offered a lively and riveting tension through the use of props. A dance associated with the festival of Navaratri, the dancers used dandiya, or sticks, to emphasize the rhythmic importance of the dance and offer a wonderfully crisp, quick pep to the performance. The beginning of the dance may have been the most playful moment of the night, though, as the dancers began in the dark with only multi-colored glow sticks signifying their place on stage. The neon collage of color was a mystifying sight. Perhaps the best dance of the night though, was the Bhangra Dance, a dance that incorporates walking sticks, known as khunde, to imitate the motions of laborers. The orchestration included the dhol, a strong drum whose beat celebrates the joys of life, and by coupling the beat of the dhol with the powerful use of the khunde produced a wholly sensory experience that left Robsham Theater reverberating with power. The dance also happened to include the best partnerwork as choreographed by Umang Gupta, CSOM ’13, Nida Javed, A&S ’12, and Sarina Sadana, A&S ’12. Each male-female pair stayed in time with one another and executed the moves with grace and strength.
The partner work in other dances was not as successful, as the show proved to be a moment for the women of SASA. A handful performed one of the most beautiful dances, the Kathak. Dressed in gorgeous blue saris, the woman moved effortlessly, forming intricate geometric shapes with their bodies and bringing a softness unique in comparison to the other dances. All the girls joined in for a fiery, wild Bollywood dance and brought spice and attitude. The guys could not follow the women up with as much ease. In most of the partner dances, particularly the opening sophomore-junior dance, the men often scrambled to correct their off steps. The all guys dance, however, proved to be a success as the choreography by Bhakta and Gupta utilized the athleticism of its members. While surely goofy, the men were just charming enough to offer a highly enjoyable number. With all the energized dance numbers, it would be easy to forget the other moments, but Shaan’s excellent performance was certainly memorable. Anchored by the beatboxing of Sean Talia, A&S ’12, the members of Shaan harmonized beautifully in a mesmerizing performance. A group that does not earn much ink, Shaan’s voices are easily among the most beautiful in BC a capella. The filler interstitials between each performance proved to be the only issue with the production. A love story between a BC college student (Courtney Dower, A&S ’11) and the South Asian man who helped her fix her computer (Chirag Zaveri, CSOM ’13) received mostly forced laughs. The uncomfortable length of the filler forced the participants to stretch their material. Dower and Zaveri were particularly good sports, though. Overall, the production brought to life the beautiful culture of South Asia with stunning fashion and great energy. n
Kevin Hou / Heights editor
Traditional dance and attire complement each other in creating an authentic show.
Dangling mobiles bring art to library Art Show, from A10
ensuring a different experience for each visitor. One particularly enjoyable (although not lights and confetti while other wall spaces had entirely safety conscious) perspective in which large reams of white paper with long heartbeat to view the show was from a tall chair used with monitor drawings. the higher study tables. When you become level The majority of the art was hung from the with the show’s works and can look throughout ceiling in the center of the room while confetti the hanging sculptures it feels more like a forest filled balloons encircled than an art exhibition, and I the pieces and separate highly recommend examin“When you become level with works were scattered ing the center space of the the show’s works and can throughout the addigallery from that angle, as tional wall space. Walklong as the librarians don’t look throughout the hanging ing through the show notice. This show served as sculptures, it feels more like a guests were forced to a great exercise of Art Club’s look upward and lose forest than an art exhibition, and vast potential in the creativthemselves in the piecity of its members in that all I highly recommend [it].” es, finding new perspecof the art was created within tives on each work as one night and hung the next they crossed through week, leaving the show with the room and letting their imagination get the a sense of wild impetuousness and frivolity. It best of them. Many of the pieces were intertwined wasn’t a show that was painstakingly curated with large sections of iridescent cellophane, which for weeks such as the major shows put on by the reflected into different colors on the ceiling as you club for their fall and spring student shows, this changed your orientation in the room, and certain was an exhibition to show the lighter side of art, pieces featured different art on different sides, literally and figuratively. n
SPORTS The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
Section
B
Monday, February 7, 2011
Reversing the Trend
The men’s basketball team snaps out of a funk to beat Virginia Tech on Saturday By DJ Adams
Assoc. Sports Editor Coming into Saturday’s game with Virginia Tech, the Boston College men’s basketball team had lost four of Boston College 58 its past five contests, Virginia Tech 56 the most recent being an ugly 32-point defeat against North Carolina. With a revamped defensive approach and clutch shooting down the stretch, though, the Eagles ended their funk and beat the Hokies in a close game, 58-56, to keep BC among the top of the ACC standings. “[This win] does a lot for us,” head coach Steve Donahue said. “You are going to question a little bit what’s going on when you play three really good teams, and get shellacked in the last one. I sensed the guys really wanted to get back on the court. They really wanted to see what they could do better to try to mend what happened, and I thought that’s what you saw. I think we really had purpose for 40 minutes tonight and that’s going to help your confidence.” Playing man-to-man for most of the match-up, the Eagles figured out their defensive woes and attacked the perimeter, holding Virginia Tech to 34.5 percent shooting overall and just three of 14 from beyond the arc. BC made sure that Hokies marksman Malcolm Delaney, who came into the game shooting 41.4 percent from deep, had tough looks all day. He missed his first four attempts from three-point range. “I thought the first half we really made sure that they had hard looks,” Donahue sai. “I mean Delaney’s three 3-pointers came on his last three looks, I believe. I thought the guys were engaged on the defensive end,
understanding what purpose we needed. We really set our defense. We worried about our floor balance a little more. I didn’t change defenses as much. I thought that we could just focus in on one thing and let this group do that, and I thought we did a good job.” Despite their dominance in defending the outside shot, the Eagles had difficulties containing Virginia Tech’s Jeff Allen in the low post. The senior had a monster game, carrying his team with a strong effort of 25 points and 19 rebounds. Eight of his boards were on the offensive glass, which led to 21 second-chance points for the Hokies that kept them in the game despite their shooting struggles. “That kid Allen is just a beast,” Donahue said. “I think he is as good [as anyone] in the country that I’ve seen at just really getting his shot and following it, and just being relentless on the boards.” BC had its share of issues on the offensive side of the ball, as Reggie Jackson’s shooting slump continued. The Eagles’ leading scorer, at just over 18 points per game, didn’t register a field goal until there was 11:08 left in the second half. He finished with 10 points on four-of-13 shooting. “I felt like I was taking some tough shots,” Jackson said. “We’ve known that not just this game, but the last couple, I’ve been kind of in the slums. I’m going to have to get to the basket earlier in the game, I get a few layups and that gets me going. I have to take easier shots earlier on and hopefully go forward.” Late in the game, though, Jackson finally got some of those looks underneath, making a key jumper in the paint that put BC up 58-54
See Back On Track, B3
Paul Sulzer
Alex trautwig / heights editor
Josh Southern drove to the hoop for a rare reverse layup in the second half.
Two Eagles win Super Bowl with Packers By Greg Joyce
Asst. Sports Editor
courtesy of packers.com
B.J. Raji (left) and Robert Francois became the latest Eagles to win football’s biggest game.
Finding the right rotation
Two Boston College alumni were key members of the Green Bay Packers when they won Super Bowl XLV last night in Dallas. Nose tackle B.J. Raji and linebacker Robert Francois will be the newest Eagles in the NFL to wear Super Bowl rings, after a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday. Raji was a major reason for the Packers’ trip to Dallas, as he returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown in the NFC Championship, concluding the pick-six with a dance that is now a YouTube sensation. Drafted ninth overall by Green Bay in 2009, Raji backed up his standout rookie year with an impressive sophomore season. He started all 16 games of the regular season, in which he piled up numbers on the stat sheet, recording 39 total tackles and 6.5 sacks. The 337-pounder also made five tackles and one sack in the Packers’ playoff run.
While Francois served as a valuable special teams member throughout the season, he also recorded his first professional start on Dec. 26 against the New York Giants. He played in eight games in the regular season, ending up with three tackles. But Francois turned it on in the playoffs, making five total tackles, including three solo tackles in the NFC Championship. Although Francois and Raji were in the same graduating class at BC, Francois didn’t make his pro debut until this season. Out of college, Francois originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings. After being released, Francois was eventually signed to the Green Bay practice squad, and worked his way up to the 53-man roster. Both Raji and Francois were seniors on the 9-5 2008 BC football team that won an ACC Atlantic Division title. Raji’s younger brother Corey was not able to attend the Super Bowl because he will be flying out with the rest of the basketball team to Clemson today for their game Tuesday night. This past week, Corey had predicted a 21-17 Packers win for his big brother. n
There is a formula for winning in college basketball. Go to your best player in crunch time. Keep everyone else happy by getting them the ball for the first 38 minutes. Settle on an eight-man rotation as soon as you know who your best players are. That last one is often overlooked when we talk about what it takes to win. It may seem obvious, playing your best players the most. But coaches can easily get caught up in trying to play six guys 30-plus minutes each or 10 guys 20 minutes apiece. Neither is a long-term strategy for success. During the win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, Steve Donahue finally found the eight men who give Boston College the best chance to win: Reggie Jackson, Biko Paris, Gabe Moton, Dallas Elmore, Danny Rubin, Corey Raji, Joe Trapani, and Josh Southern. They played 195 of the team’s 200 minutes against the Hokies. They give the Eagles their best chance to win every game. These eight aren’t perfect, but they give Donahue a variety of lineups with which to challenge opponents. There’s the traditional five (Jackson-ParisRaji-Trapani-Southern), who give BC size across the board, a true center, and balance between inside and outside scoring. Or Donahue can spread the floor with shooters (Jackson-Paris-Rubin-Raji-Trapani). Perhaps the best five, though, is the unit Donahue went with late in the game Saturday: Moton-Paris-JacksonRaji-Trapani. This is a very small lineup at all five positions, but it gives the Eagles a blend of offense and defense they don’t get with the other combinations. It starts with Moton, who makes up for not measuring up to his listed height (6-foot-2, which is at least four inches too tall) with in-your-shirt defense. Donahue called him the team’s best on-ball defender, and it’s tough to argue after he shut down the ACC’s leading scorer, Malcolm Delaney, in the first half. Moton teamed with Jackson to hold Delaney to two first-half points even though the junior guard played all 20 minutes. Delaney has a quick first step and can hit shots with a hand in his face, but Moton was all over him. The Hokies star finished six of 17 from the
See Rotation, B3
Eagles crush Minutemen in Superfans prepare to descend upon Garden final tune-up before Beanpot Beanpot preview
By Sean Hyatt
By Robert T. Balint Heights Staff
Tonight, gold-shirted hooligans will crowd the Green Line of Boston’s public transportation system, and head downtown to the TD Garden. They will pass through the Boston University campus, blocking Terrier fans from entering the cars, offering candid critique of the BU program all the while. Widespread pandemonium is inevitable. University students in London protest austerity measures. Undergraduates in Cairo march against an authoritarian regime. Tonight, the college students of Boston will riot for hockey. At 8 p.m., the Boston College Eagles will face off against the BU
Tonight, 8 p.m. Get the updates: twitter.com/heightssports
Terriers in the first round of the 59th annual Beanpot tournament, in which the city’s four prominent hockey programs have been clashed since 1952. More than just bragging rights are at stake. The last three Beanpot champions went on to win the Frozen Four in April, as the Eagles won it all in 2008 and 2010, and the Terriers were crowned national champs in 2009. BU holds the most Beanpot titles, with 29 overall. The Eagles follow with 15, trailed by Harvard’s 10 and Northeastern’s four. Boston College is 12-27 overall against the Terriers in the tournament, but this year’s team will be gunning for its third title in the last four years. The Eagles are coming into the tournament with momentum, having won 11 of their past 12 games. With the 5-0 shutout of UMass, the team is currently 8-0 against teams from Massachusetts. The Eagles have swept the Terriers in regular season competition, the first time they have done so since the 2003-04 season. Head coach Jerry York has led the Eagles to four titles as a coach, and also played on the 1965 Beanpot
See Beanpot, B5
i nside S ports this issue
For The Heights
Back-to-back goals from sophomore Philip Samuelsson, his second and third of the season, Boston College 5 helped Boston 0 UMass College soundly defeat UMass by a score of 5-0 on Friday night at Conte Forum. The win was the Eagles’ 11th over the past 12 games and continues their momentum rolling into the 57th annual Beanpot tournament, which starts tonight. “We’ve been pretty good about that the last few years, trying to really focus on the next opponent,’’ head coach Jerry York said. “It’s easy to say, but it’s very difficult to do because the Beanpot, to our players, is certainly a very memorable night. But we never talked about the Beanpot. We never really discussed it. We want to win a championship in our league and that’s been difficult for us the last five or six years.” Despite the looming opening game of the Beanpot against No. 15 Boston University, BC (19-6-0, 15-5-0 Hockey East) kept it’s focus on the Minutemen (6-14-4, 5-9-4), dominating in all three periods of play with at least twice UMass’ total of shots on goal throughout the game. The goals came from Joe
Perimeter defense limits Tech
Gabe Moton and Reggie Jackson teamed to hold Malcolm Delaney in check..........B3
Whitney, Samuelsson (who scored two), Paul Carey, and Cam Atkinson. BC played smothering defense in the first period, allowing only 11 total shots, six of which were on target. At 8:49 in the first period both sophomore Steven Whitney and Tommy Cross received penalties, forcing the Eagles into a twoman disadvantage. Despite being down two players, the Eagles allowed just a single shot on goal, which bounced off
the upper right corner of the post, before the conclusion of power play. “We did a good job killing that five minute major, that was a big turning point,” Carey said. “That’s where we got our energy from tonight. That was a big part of our success.’’ Shortly after the power play, at 15:33, Joe Whitney put away the first goal of
See BC-UMass, B4
alex trautwig / heights editor
The Eagles were celebrating early and often in their 5-0 rout of the UMass Minutemen Friday.
Spring brings success
The men’s hockey team has a habit of playing its best late in the season......................B5
Numbers to Know.......................B2 Quote of the Week........................B2
The Heights
B2
Monday, February 7, 2011
Welch’s four goals lead BC to an undefeated weekend
By Raychel Kruper Heights Staff
The Boston College women’s hockey team traveled to Rhode Island yesterday afternoon to take Boston College 4 on Providence. 2 Providence The Eagles beat them a week ago in Chestnut Hill, and they continued their success against the Friars, defeating them 4-2 on their home ice. As BC head coach Katie King had said beforehand that the team’s goal moving forward was to be more focused early in the game and to not wait for the opposition to strike first. The Eagles made it a point to score the first goal of the game. Danielle Welch scored 5:09 into the first period on a power-play goal to give the Eagles an early lead. She notched her second goal within the same period at 18:12 to give BC a comfortable lead at the end of the first frame. Providence did not crumble, however, and returned with a power-play goal late in the second period and an early goal in the third, both scored by forward Laura Veharanta. The game was tied at two for just under five minutes before Welch scored her third goal of the game, and recorded her first hat trick this season, on an assist from Kelli Stack. Melissa Bizzari slid a security goal past Friars goaltender Genevieve Lacasse at 17:25 to lock up the Eagles’ 4-2 victory. The Friars outshot the Eagles 31-24 and Molly Schaus recorded 29 saves on the game.
ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Danielle Welch recorded a hat trick in Sunday’s win at Providence, and also scored the winning goal in overtime in Friday’s win over UConn. On Friday night, the Eagles took on the UConn Huskies (12-15-1) for the third time this season, improving their series record against the Huskies to 2-0-1 by skating to a 3-2 overtime victory. They had to come back from a two-goal deficit. “They’re a very, very good team, and they came to play,” head coach Katie King said. “They played pretty well. I think our kids were in a little bit of a lull in the beginning and we were lucky to pull it out in the end.”
The Huskies put their first point on the board in the remaining three minutes of the first period on an unassisted goal by Brittany Murphy. Jocelyn Slattery doubled the Huskies’ lead by putting a second puck past the Eagles’ Molly Schaus at 2:11 in the second period. The Eagles struggled through the first two frames, and got caught in a trap of penalties at the end of the second period. With a streak of three consecutive and overlapping penalties starting at 4:04
Hot-shooting Swords helps end losing skid
Eagles claw past Tigers
Senior center sinks all 11 field goals in win
By Raychel Kruper Heights Staff
SPORTS in SHORT
The Boston College Eagles (17-7) used a collective team effort Sunday afternoon to easBoston College 78 ily handle the 49 Clemson Clemson Tigers (10-14) in Conte Forum, 78-49. “I thought our team played well together as a unit,” head coach Sylvia Crawley said. “We were looking for each other and we weren’t playing selfish. We were sharing the ball and we had a lot of assists.” From first glance, the Tigers presented themselves as an incredibly athletic and aggressive team with a toughto-break press. They drain 3-pointers and crash the boards well. Because of these dangerous aspects of Clemson’s game, Crawley devised a game plan to combat their advantages and ultimately render the Tigers defenseless against the Eagles’ play. “Our goal was to run the boards, to contain them in transition, and contest the three-point shooters because every last one of their guards can shoot the three, and even one of their post players,” Crawley said. “I was happy that our players were able to defend well, box out, get the rebound and execute on offense.” The Tigers trailed the Eagles from the tip, though they were able to hang on for the first half, 31-23, before being completely blown away by an 18-3 BC run in the second. The Eagles jumped out to an early 12-2 start, with five of these points coming on a jump shot and a 3-pointer scored by Jaclyn Thoman. With a few BC turnovers and missed opportunities, however, the Tigers closed the gap throughout the half. But the Eagles were able to maintain the nine-point advantage going into the locker room at the half. Following halftime, the Eagles rallied back and began to grab more defensive and, even more importantly, offensive rebounds, allowing them to score 21 points in the second half of the game on put-backs. The Eagles recovered 25
By Alex Manta Heights Editor
The women’s basketball team got a much needed 76-71 win on Thursday night against Boston College 76 the Virginia Virginia Tech 71 Tech Hokies
Nick Rellas / HEIGHTS Staff
Senior guard Jaclyn Thoman scored 14 points, helping guide BC to its second consecutive win. offensive rebounds, which is not a usual strength for the team. BC outrebounded the Tigers, 52-33. “Normally that’s something that happens to us,” Crawley said about dominating the boards. “We’re not boxing out and the other team gets the offensive rebound and they put it back in. That’s a problem we have to deal with. I was very happy to see it the other way around. We’re definitely going to build on our ability to offensive rebound and get put-backs.” This was the first game of the season in which every player got on the court. The Eagles’ bench contributed with 30 points and, in her ACC debut, Marissa Mello drained a 3-pointer with just seconds remaining on the clock, recording her first career points. Katie Zenevitch was a point away
Conference
New Hampshire Boston College Merrimack Boston University Maine Northeastern UMass Vermont Providence UMass-Lowell
15-2-2 15-5-0 11-5-3 10-5-5 8-7-4 7-8-5 5-10-4 4-11-4 3-11-5 3-17-0
from a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds on the day, while Korina Chapman recorded 12 rebounds and five points of her own. Point guard Jaclyn Thoman led the team in points with 14, as Carolyn Swords followed close behind, adding 12. Kerri Shields paced the team with four assists and hit a deep 3-pointer during the Eagles’ second-half run. “I thought everyone contributed,” Crawley said. “Every single person on our team played a huge roll in this win. I was very proud of the way they stuck to the game plan. They executed the game plan to perfection and were able to come out with a big win. I think we can walk away saying that we want to be able to continue to handle the pressure and get offensive rebounds and put-backs.” n
at Conte Forum. Despite being down by as much as seven in the second half, the Eagles fought back to earn a victory and snap their three-game losing streak. Carolyn Swords had a team-high 28 points, going a perfect 11-for-11 from the field. She grabbed 11 rebounds in 35 minutes for her 40th career doubledouble. Stefanie Murphy chipped in with 13 points and four rebounds, and Jaclyn Thoman led the team with six assists and scored 10 points. Even though Virginia Tech came into the game on an eight-game losing streak, Boston College head coach Sylvia Crawley made sure that her team took its opponent seriously and didn’t come in with the mindset that it was going to be an easy win. “This is a team that works incredibly hard, and the minute someone does not show up to play for 40 minutes, they will get a win,” Crawley said. “We just wanted to make sure that team was not us.” For the Hokies, Shanel Harrison finished with 27 points and two blocks to lead the team, while Alyssa Fenyn contributed 16 points and 4 assists. Although Virginia Tech shot slightly better than BC and committed fewer turnovers, the Eagles were better in the paint, winning the rebounding battle, 35-26. The game started out as a back and forth battle, with neither team getting out to more than a three-point lead in the first 10 minutes of action. BC was able to jump out to its largest lead of the game with 8:52 left, up 21-15. Virginia Tech continued to battle, though, and led by one at the half, 38-37. Despite being down at halftime, Crawley liked where her team was and made adjustments that would turn out to be critical down the stretch.
Numbers to Know
Hockey East Standings Team
left in the period, BC’s defense was under great pressure. But the Eagles managed to successfully kill the penalties. “Our kids have been doing a great job this year with killing penalties, and some games we’re in the penalty box a little more,” King said. “That was a fiveon-three for quite a while and I thought they did a great job blocking shots, and a great job taking away passing lanes. We’re honestly at our best on the penalty kill and that’s a great way to be.”
The Eagles came out in the third frame with energy and the mentality that, no matter what, they would leave the ice victorious. BC’s momentum began to build, and about half way through the period, Mary Restuccia skated past multiple UConn defenders and dished the puck to Kelli Stack, who was positioned at the back post to slide the puck home. With time ticking down, the Eagles pounced again when Restuccia, on a pass intended for a teammate just outside the crease, sent a shot that deflected through UConn goaltender Alexandra Garcia’s legs to tie the game 2-2 with 1:36 on the clock, forcing an overtime period. “I think [Restuccia] really picked it up in the third period, and we switched lines around so her and [Stack] and [Welch] were playing together,” King said. “I thought they did a good job. It looked, to me, that Mary was really playing with a purpose in the last period and a half or so, and that’s great to see from her as a junior and a leader on our team.” One minute and 38 seconds was all the Eagles needed to light the lamp in the overtime period and send the Huskies packing to with a 3-2 loss. Restuccia picked up her second assist of the night when she played the puck to Danielle Welch on the right side of the ice to record the winning goal. “I was really pleased with how well we starting playing in the third period and in the overtime,” King said. “You could tell that there was a lot of energy on our bench and with our team.” n
Overall 17-5-4 19-6-0 17-5-4 13-7-7 11-9-6 8-11-6 6-15-4 6-15-5 7-13-6 4-21-2
16 Games in a row that the men’s basketball team had allowed 65 points or more. The streak was broken on Saturday.
0
Points in the first half from Reggie Jackson on Saturday. He has averaged just nine points in his last four games.
10
Different members of the men’s hockey team who registered points in Friday’s 5-0 win over UMass.
“We took better care of the ball early on to put ourselves in position to stay in the game and pull it out in the end,” she said. “We saw that [Swords] was perfect from the floor at halftime, so we talked about getting the ball in her hand, as well as [Swords] getting good position where they could hit her on the hand.” Out of the gate in the second half, Virginia Tech slowly began to build a lead and went up 49-42 with 16:35 left to go. But the Eagles maintained their composure and fought through it as a team. “When they made their push we had a timeout, and we talked about keeping our composure and being tough at that moment,” Crawley said. “I thought our players buckled down and they were poised late in the game.” The timeout talk did just what Crawley wanted. The Eagles started chipping away at the Virginia Tech lead with defensive stops and efficient offensive possessions. Swords described the offensive and defensive keys by saying, “I thought we did a great job of boxing out, and our zone defense at the end was really solid. We were also talking a lot. [Offensively], I tried to do a better job of holding my defender off of my guards, and they did a great job of finding me when I was open.” With 7:55 left, Swords put the Eagles up by two after making layups on back-to-back possessions, and they maintained the lead for the majority of the final seven minutes of the game. They also made all of their free throws down the stretch to secure the victory, their third in the ACC. “We did a better job of putting everything together,” Crawley said. “Lately, it’s been [problems with] offensive rebounds, then it was turnovers, then it was finishing. I thought tonight we played solid.” With six more games, all against ACC opponents, the Eagles continue to improve as a team on what Crawley says “is still a work in progress.” The Eagles hope for a strong finish to give them momentum when the ACC tournament begins in March. n
Quote of the Week “He’s thinking too much about jump shots. The thing he does best is attack the rim. He’s gotten away from that for a couple reasons. One, he’s making a lot of threes, so he was confident. Now he’s gotten away from what he does best, and that’s attacking the basket. We should get him some post-ups. We should get him some drives to the rim.”
— Head Coach Steve Donahue, on Reggie Jackson
The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
B3
Perimeter defense limits potent Tech guards By Greg Joyce
Asst. Sports Editor After giving up 106 points to North Carolina, the Boston College men’s basketball team had some work to do in practice if it wanted any chance of getting its season back on track. Four days and two hard practices later, the Eagles held Virginia Tech to just 56 points on 34.5 percent shooting, snapping their threegame losing streak. The most important defensive stand came on the last Virginia Tech possession of the game. Malcolm Delaney missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Jeff Allen brought down the rebound for the Hokies. Allen quickly dished it to a cutting Delaney, but he was rejected at the rim by Joe Trapani. Once again, Tech came down with the rebound, but then took the ball back out to the top of the key with just over 20 seconds remaining. BC’s perimeter defense forced the ball into the hands of Erick Green (0-for-8 shooting in the game) with four seconds left. He put up a three that banked off the back of the rim. “It started with us not boxing out and rebounding,” Trapani said of the last sequence of plays. “That was our board, and we weren’t able to box out. I take responsibility for that personally. But we were able to block, try not to foul, make it hard on them, and they luckily missed, and we were able to get the ball back. We were fortunate, but also we played hard D,
so I think we deserved this one too.” Reggie Jackson, faced with the challenge of guarding Delaney, made sure Virginia Tech’s star wasn’t able to get off a shot in the last 20 seconds. “Last possession, I really took it as a challenge to try to get over every screen,” Jackson said. “I wanted to go man versus man, and match up on him. Joe helped me out, and we played the best we could.” The one part of the game that nearly killed the Eagles was rebounding. Much of that was attributed to Allen, who finished with 25 points and 19 boards, eight of which were on the offensive glass. “I thought we did a terrific job for most of the game on the defensive end, with the exception of the offensive rebounds,” head coach Steve Donahue said. “A lot of those are, the kid Allen’s just a beast and has a terrific motor. That kid just does a terrific job of going after his own misses.” Delaney was held without a field goal in the first half, something Jackson said he took personally in guarding Delaney. “We tried to contain him as long as we could,” Jackson said. “We could score as a team, he could score as one man. We took it personal.” When Jackson was on the bench, Donahue put freshman Gabe Moton on the Hokies’ leading scorer. “My honest opinion is I think he’s the best on-ball defender,” Donahue said of Moton. “I think Gabe does a very good job. That’s something he’s really watching in practice. He’s pretty good in terms
of understanding what guys are trying to do. He doesn’t leave his feet very often. He moves laterally very well. “And the other thing is he’s more fresh than the other guys. He’s not playing 35 minutes a game whereas Reggie and Biko [Paris] would be. I think Gabe does a very good job.” Jackson made another key defensive play with two minutes and 20 seconds left. Coming out of a Virginia Tech timeout and the score 56-51, the ball was lobbed down to the post to Allen. Expecting the pass, Jackson came around from the backside to force the ball loose from Allen, enabling the Eagles to run down 30 seconds on the clock. “I thought that play at the end with Allen posting up and him coming from the side was probably our best defensive alertness play of the year,” Donahue said. Before Saturday’s game, the Hokies had only scored 56 points or less three times. The Eagles were able to limit the scoring, by allowing just 12 points to Virginia Tech players not named Allen or Delaney. “We had a couple good days in practice, focusing mainly on defense,” Donahue said. “That was our focus coming in – make them shoot tough shots, then go after the glass. That’s what they do, that’s their mentality, but that was ours too. We’re obviously lucky to come out with this win, but it’s definitely a tribute to our defense.” n
alex trautwig / heights editor
Freshman Gabe Moton, who coach Steve Donahue calls his best defender, is finding his voice.
Eagles back on track after victory Back On Track, from B1
with just 1:10 to play. Delaney quickly answered with an impressive make on a contested jumper as the shot clock ran down to pull the Hokies within two entering the final possessions. After Jackson failed to convert a layup, Delaney was fouled while coming up with a rebound. Since the Hokies were in the bonus, the guard went to the charity stripe for a one-and-one with the chance to easily tie the game. Instead, what ensued was utter chaos. Delaney missed the first shot, but Allen
grabbed another offensive rebound and fed the ball back to a wide-open Delaney. Then Joe Trapani, who carried the Eagles offensively for most of the game with his 14 points, made his best play of the night on the defensive end. Rotating to the open man perfectly, Trapani rejected Delaney’s jumper cleanly. “It started with us not boxing out rebounding, and I take responsibility for that personally,” Trapani said. “But we were able to block and try not to foul, making it hard on them and luckily they missed.” Even after Trapani’s stellar efforts,
the ball found its way back around the perimeter where Virginia Tech’s Erick Green had a good look from deep to send the Hokies out on top. He missed though, completing his dismal 0-foreight performance and giving the Eagles a 58-56 victory. “All of us were praying, saying, ‘Please don’t let this be the only three you make tonight,’” Jackson said. “Luckily he missed it. They out-battled us, and they had a few looks. We’ve got to get better on the rebounding end, and we got better defensively today. Now we just have to put it all together.” n
alex trautwig / heights editor
Playing Raji at the four gives BC an advantage because he can beat defenders in a variety of ways.
The winning formula Rotation, from B1
field, well below his season average. Jackson is another important component to this quintet because he’s a dynamic enough athlete to cover three positions – the one, the two, and the three. Screens are less effective when he’s guarding the ball-handler because he can match up with a bigger player on the switch. The mismatches Raji and Trapanicause at the four and the five are one final benefit of playing this lineup. They draw traditional bigs out of the paint because they can both shoot the three. This opens up lanes to the basket for Jackson and Moton, who showed he can beat his man off the dribble several times against Virginia Tech. Raji is also quick and strong enough to guard most power forwards. He was the only one that could contain Jeff Allen (25 points, 19 rebounds) Saturday. Allen abused mismatches whenever he could, but Raji defended him
well on one of the biggest plays of the game – Jackson’s steal with 2:20 left. That was a huge momentum swing for BC, which was able to run another 30 seconds off the clock before the Hokies got it back. This lineup should give the Eagles an extra edge over teams that rely on traditional post players, like Maryland and Miami, in the coming weeks. There are two teams in particular that could give BC’s best unit trouble: Duke and North Carolina. The Blue Devils have mobile bigs who can spread the floor as well as the Eagles can, while the Tar Heels have so much length defensively in Tyler Zeller and John Henson that they limit what BC’s sharpshooters can do. Donahue’s ability to adjust the lineup to exploit the weaknesses of the ACC’s best come tournament time will determine the fate of the Eagles’ season.
Paul Sulzer is the Sports Editor of The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.
alex trautwig / heights editor
The match-up of Jackson (right) and Delaney (left) failed to live up to its billing in the first half before both players turned it on down the stretch.
ACC Roundup
Miami beats Virginia in overtime for second straight win By Tim Jablonski Heights Staff
Virginia (12-11, 3-6 ACC) hasn’t had many opportunities for wins in league play this season. The Cavaliers squandered another one on Saturday against the Hurricanes (14-9, 3-6). Up five with 38 seconds to play, Cavalier senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan fouled Malcolm Grant on a three-point attempt. Grant sunk all three, making the score 53-50. Farrakhan redeemed himself by burying two foul shots on the next possession, but then it all fell apart for the Cavs. Rion Brown hit a deep three for Miami with 28 seconds left, and the Hurricanes got the ball back down three after the
Cavaliers missed a free throw Virginia shot just 9-22 from the line. Brown was fouled shooting another three with 13 seconds left, and the freshman calmly buried all three, pushing the game to overtime. After a back and forth overtime period, the Cavaliers found themselves down two with the ball. Joe Harris got trapped and forced up a miserable shot, but got bailed out with a foul call. Harris continued Virginia’s struggles from the line, missing the first one, which forced him to intentionally miss the second. There was a scramble for the ensuing rebound, but the ball slipped out of bounds, ending the game.
lost six ACC games by 20 or more points. Their seventh loss was by 19. Saturday was pretty typical for a team that clearly isn’t prepared to compete with ACC-level talent any time soon. Maryland star Jordan Williams ended up with 27 points and 15 rebounds, controlling the paint all afternoon. CJ Harris poured in 17 for Wake, but also contributed four turnovers to his team’s final total of 18, compared to Maryland’s seven. Factor in 16 offensive rebounds for the Terrapins, and Gary Williams’s squad had 19 more shot attempts than Wake, more than enough of a difference to put away the ACC’s worst team.
Maryland 91, Wake Forest 70 The Demon Deacons (8-15, 1-7) have
Clemson 65, Georgia Tech 56 Seniors Demontez Stitt and Jerai
Grant combined for 36 points to help the Tigers (16-7, 5-4) push past a struggling Yellow Jacket squad (1012, 3-6) that has lost four of five. Clemson outscored Tech 22-0 over a six-minute span near the end of the first half, turning an 18-9 deficit into a 30-19 lead. Tech guards Iman Shumpert (17 points) and Glen Rice, Jr. (10), though, helped the Jackets take the lead briefly in the second half. The Tigers then went on another run, this time 10-1, to take the lead for good. Duke 76, North Carolina State 52 Duke (21-2, 8-1) is clearly the best team in the conference, and is most likely the ACC’s only true national title
contender. NC State (12-11, 2-7) has lost seven of eight and is plummeting to the bottom of the conference standings. The huge gap between the two teams manifested itself on Saturday in the form of a beatdown that was worse than the final score indicated. The Blue Devils, led by 18 first-half points from Nolan Smith, raced out to a 53-24 advantage by halftime. Mason Plumlee had 16 points and 12 boards in just 25 minutes, and Duke made nearly as many field goals in the first half (20) as the Wolfpack attempted (25). Despite shooting just 19 percent in the second half, the Devils never let Sidney Lowe’s disappointing squad get within 20 points. n
The Heights
B4
Monday, February 7, 2011
BC plays complete game in defeating UMass By Alex Dripchak For The Heights
Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. You’ve heard it 1,000 times before. But what if you don’t have to choose between the two? Such was the case for Boston College Friday night against UMass, as the Eagles showed both offensive and defensive strength in a 5-0 rout against the Minutemen. The name Minutemen seemed fitting, since BC limited their good play to a total of about a minute. The key to victory in Friday’s game was penalty killing. The Minutemen were unable to convert on any of their three power plays thanks to some formidable Eagles defense. The real testament to the strength of BC’s special teams was the fact that they allowed a mere two shots on goal over the course of the three power plays, one of which was a two-man disadvantage. This kind of performance was more than a penalty kill. It was a penalty obliteration. “I thought we did a very good job of blocking shots, and that’s hard to do,” head coach Jerry York said. “We had great positioning.” The two-man disadvantage came at 8:49 in the first period when Steven Whitney was penalized two minutes for tripping, and defenseman Tommy Cross was given a five-minute major for elbowing and game misconduct. The Eagles gave up just one shot during this five-on-three and did a great job clearing the puck. The penalty kill began with sophomore defenseman Patrick Wey clearing the puck early on in the five-on-three, allowing the Eagles to make the necessary line changes. Junior forward Barry Almeida cleared the puck on the two-man disadvantage and was even able to get off a shot. From here, the line of Patch Alber, Brian Dumoulin, and Jimmy Hayes did a noteable job positioning themselves to eliminate any big scoring opportunities for the Minutemen. A penalty on UMass’ Michael Pereira for hooking at
alex trautwig / heights editor
The Minutemen couldn’t solve the Eagles’ penalty kill, which thwarted three separate UMass advantages, including a five-on-three. The visitors registered just 16 shots to 43 for BC. 10:37 helped alleviate the pressure on the Eagles defense, as much of the remaining 3:12 of Cross’ penalty was played at even strength While down a man, the Eagles outshot the Minutemen, 4-0. With one minute left on the power play, BC was able to clear the puck twice, taking the wind out of the sails of the Minutemen and putting it at their own backs. “We generated a lot of energy and enthusiasm from killing that five-on-
three,” York said. That enthusiasm and energy was on full display when BC scored just two minutes after returning to even strength. Whitney ran to daylight, taking the puck from inside the Eagles’ blue line to the net and scoring their second goal. Following these two big moments of the game, they went on to score three more goals in the second and third periods, outshooting the Minutemen 23-10 in these two periods. Overall, the Eagles outshot the
Minutemen 43-16, with 36 of BC’s shots taking place during and after the fiveminute penalty. “It was a turning point of the game,” said junior forward Paul Carey, who added his own goal at 14:18 in the third period. While the offensive performance was admirable, the defensive stops helped create the five goals. After killing the two-man disadvantage, the Eagles killed another Minuteman power play, conced-
ing zero shots on goal. Not only were the Eagles successful in giving Muse some respite, but they barely allowed UMass entrance onto their side of center ice. Since the Eagles only gave up 16 shots on goal (five of which came in the final five minutes), it’s apparent that they not only played well during UMass’ power plays, but throughout. All in all, it was a very promising night on both sides of the puck as the Eagles prepare for play in the Beanpot. n
hockey East Roundup
Wildcats beat Black Bears in OT thriller, remain in 1st By Robert T. Balint Heights Staff
New Hampshire edged past Maine 5-4 on Saturday night. Forward Paul Thompson scored the game-winning goal with just 15.3 seconds left. Teammate Matt Campanale took possession of the puck in the closing seconds of the third period and sent a pass to Thompson, who skated up the left side, rushed the left post, and forced a shot past goaltender Shawn Sirman for the win. With the victory, the Wildcats improved to 17-5-4 overall and 15-2-2 in the Hockey East, further solidifying their first-place standing in the conference. (The Eagles currently stand in second place with a 15-5-0 conference record.) The loss is Maine’s latest in a five-game losing streak, and pulls the Black Bears down to fourth place with a 8-7-4 mark in conference play. The visiting team had a chance to put the game away just 30 seconds before Thompson’s goal, when Maine right wing Gustav Nyquist had a clear shot on an open New Hampshire net. Just before he fired, Nyquist lost his footing, and the puck glanced off the near post. It was a golden opportunity wasted, as seconds later Thompson struck to win the game. Merrimack 11, UMass 2 Merrimack won its ninth game out of the last 10 in convincing fashion on Saturday night, pounding the UMass Minutemen in Andover, 11-2. The last time Merrimack scored that many goals was on Feb. 15, 1997, in an 11-5 win over Boston College. With a five-point effort from Chris Barton and a career-high three-point game from Adam Ross, the Warriors (17-5-4, 11-5-3) moved into a tie for third place in the Hockey East with Boston University.
Merrimack led 3-1 after the first period, and never let UMass gain any sort of footing. In the second period, the Merrimack offense struck four times in 10 minutes, then added four more goals in the third period. Boston University 3, UMass-Lowell 1 Lowell’s troubles continued on Friday night, as the visiting River Hawks lost 3-1 to BU. The Terriers’ win keeps them tied for third place in the Hockey East, while Lowell is just 3-17-0 in conference play, and 4-21-2 overall. Neither team managed to score in the first period, but then sophomore Max Nicastro scored midway through the second, putting the Terriers up 1-0. Teammate Garrett Noonan sent a crossing pass from Corey Trivino into the net four minutes later, followed by a goal from Adam Clendening to put the Terriers safely up 3-0. BU goalie Kieran Millan made 30 saves in the game, letting in a lone goal to River Hawks forward David Vallorani late in the third. Providence 7, Vermont 1 On the strength of a three-goal second period, Vermont dominated the visiting Providence Friars by a score of 7-1 on Friday night. The Catamounts got the action started early when Brett Leonard fired a pass to teammate Ben Albertson, who sent the puck in to grab an early 1-0 lead. Altough the Friars countered with a goal just 25 seconds later, Providence could not stop Vermont’s attack at any point throughout the game, allowing points from no fewer than 13 Catamounts. Vermont (6-15-5, 4-11-4) gains the upper hand on Providence with the win, maintaining 8th place while the Friars (7-13-6, 3-11-5) are stuck in ninth. n
courtesy of hockey east online
New Hampshire’s Paul Thompson scored the game-winner with just 15.3 seconds left in overtime against Maine.
alex trautwig / heights editor
Philip Samuelsson (right) had his best game of the season, scoring two goals and playing solid defense in a 5-0 win.
Eagles win Beanpot tune-up BC-UMass, from B1
the game. He drove in from the left of the goal and backhanded the puck in past UMass’ Paul Dainton, who had 35 saves. “That was a big part of the game because we’ve seen Dainton over his four years and he’s capable of shutting down an offense,” York said. In the second period, BC’s defense sagged below its own high standards, although still maintaining a shutout. The statistics reveal no clear weakness, but BC’s momentum notably decreased as the team’s play came with occasional miatakes. At 11:04, an uncontested pass bounced off Samuelsson’s skate, allowing UMass an open scoring opportunity, which led to a blocked shot at the goal. Although the Eagle’s defense wasn’t as strong in the second, its offense maintained its steady
flow of opportunities with 17 shots on goal. At 17:57, Samuelsson scored his second goal of the season after an excellent display of passing from Atkinson to Almeida to Samuelsson for the topcorner goal. Unlike the period before, the Eagles returned to solid play during the third. Scoring three goals throughout and limiting the Minutemen to a game-low nine shots, they closed the game in a dominating manner. At 3:56 in the third, Samuelsson effectively ended UMass’ chances with a long-distance slap shot from just in front of the blue line. Shortly afterward, both Carey and Atkinson added on to the surplus of goals to easily justify BC’s newfound No. 1 ranking. With the score at 5-0, York removed John Muse to put in Chris Venti, who successfully completed the shut out. n
alex trautwig / heights editor
Joe Whitney got the Eagles on the board at 15:33 in the first when he beat Paul Dainton with a backhanded shot.
The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
B5
Spring brings success for our perennial contenders Alex Dripchak
alex Manta / Heights graphic
Boston College is 7-1 in its last eight games and has just become the new No. 1 team in the country with Yale’s recent losses to Union and Rensselaer. Despite how things may seem, the hockey team has been skating by. The Eagles have not looked like the reigning national champs and certainly not the No. 1 team in the nation. Wins over Providence and UMass-Lowell were certainly nothing to write home about, and the loss to Maine was disastrous. In the past two years, it may have been the single worst game I have seen. BC was down 4-0 halfway through the second period. A win over rival Boston University is always nice for fans and players alike, as it gives us another quality win. And there’s something about winning against BU that makes each “Sucks to BU” chant just that much sweeter. Even in the last BU game, a 3-2 win, we beat a young team by one goal in a game in which we were penalized throughout. Other wins during our hot streak included Mercyhurst and Colgate. With a combined 18 wins between the two opponents, it is safe to say these two teams are not exactly the cream of the crop. Sorry to lump in the Lakers
faithful with a five-win Colgate team. The hockey team has been playing sloppy and has been heavily penalized in a few of these games, but there is no reason to worry. For all of you skeptics out there that have seen the sloppy play, it helps to remember how revitalizing spring really is every year for head coach Jerry York’s team. Over the past four seasons, BC’s winning percentage in the months from Febrruary to April has been significantly higher than the year as a whole. During those three months in the last four years, the Eagles have a winning percentage of 75 percent. The February magic seems to have already begun to grace the Eagles, as they trounced UMass 5-0 Friday night Considering the history of BC’s much-improved performance during these months, expect the Eagles to adopt Marshawn Lynch’s credo and shift into “beast mode.” Unlike Lynch, though, their beast mode does not consist of three random games during the year. Last season, during the final three months of the season, the Eagles went an astounding 16-2-1 and ran away with the national championship. In other recent Frozen Four seasons, the Eagles played with a fire that would make St. Ignatius proud, setting the rink aflame with exemplary records in February, March, and April (such as 13-5-1 and 15-3). As the Eagles soared past their opponents offensively last season, it is interesting to note that in their three
national championship seasons in the past decade (and in 2007 when they lost to Michigan State in the title game), they allowed significantly fewer goals during the final three months than the season as a whole. Most notably, in 2007, goaltender Cory Schneider and Co., allowed just 1.94 goals per game down the stretch, in comparison to a season-long average of 2.22 goals per game. Maybe you need some proof of offensive firepower? How about the fact that in five of the past six seasons, BC scored more goals per game during the final three months than the year as a whole? Whether it is on offense, defense, or in the win column, BC steps up its performance down the stretch. Still not sold on BC’s beast-like performance? One final note that never ceases to amaze me is that, last season, the Eagles won their final 13 games. Over those 13 games (720 minutes) the Eagles trailed for all of 55 seconds. No offense to Marshawn Lynch, but someone should really notify him that the proper terminology is “Eagle Mode.” The country of origin is the United States – more specifically, Chestnut Hill, Mass. Used in a sentence? Boston College will turn into “Eagle Mode” with its performance in February, March, and April in the quest for more hardware. Alex Dripchak is a guest columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com.
Boston gathers for yearly hockey tradition Beanpot, from B1
championship team. “It’s a memorable tournament for all of us, especially growing up in the area,” York said. “Some of our kids really look forward to it from high school, like I did.” Another member of the BC staff, goaltenders’ coach Jim Logue, has earned his place as a legend of the tournament. Logue helped the Eagles win two titles in 1959 and 1961, and was named the Most Valuable Player in ’59 after leading his team to a 7-4 final win against BU. He was inducted to the Beanpot Hall of Fame in 2004. The three seniors of this year’s squad – Joe Whitney, Brian Gibbons, and John Muse – are in the process of making history themselves, entering this year’s tournament with a 5-1 Beanpot record. Gibbons, a forward, was named the MVP in 2008 when he scored two goals and earned two assists in the win over BU. In 2010, Muse nabbed the MVP award in addition to the Eberly Trophy, which is given to the goalie with the best save percentage of the tournament. The East Falmouth, Mass., native made 33
alex trautwig / heights editor
Pat Mullane and the Eagles will look to win their second straight Beanpot, a feat BC hasn’t accomplished since the mid-’60s.
Weekend roundup
Baseball schedule includes three ranked teams at home By DJ Adams
Assoc. Sports Editor The Boston College baseball team’s 2011 schedule was released yesterday. The squad’s 56-game season begins with the Caravelle Resort Tournament, starting with the opener against Coastal Carolina on Feb. 18. Before ACC play begins, the Eagles will make their usual tour of the South, stopping in Gainesville for a three-game set with No. 1 Florida (as well as the team’s annual scrimmage against the Boston Red Sox). ACC play opens on March 11 in Tallahassee with a three-game set against Florida State. Following two more weeks of travel, the Eagles finally host their first opponent at home on March 25 when Virginia Tech comes to town. BC hosts series against three preseason ranked opponents – No. 18 Miami (April 1-3), No. 4 Clemson (April 15-17) and No. 14 Virginia (April 29-May 1) – and also travels to play No. 19 Georgia Tech (April 22-24). BC opens Beanpot play on Apr. 20 against Northeastern and, with a win, will play on April 26 at the home of the Red Sox, Fenway Park, in the championship game. Overall, the Eagles are set to play 30 conference games this spring, with the season finale coming on May 21 at home against NC State before beginning play in the ACC tournament four days
later on May 25.
Men’s tennis falls to Dartmouth The Eagles’ men’s tennis team was crushed on the road, 6-1, by the Dartmouth Big Green on Saturday at the Boss Tennis Center. The loss ended BC’s two-year winning streak against its Ivy League opponent. The lone player to earn a point for BC was junior Alex Skinner, who defeated Xander Centenari in the No. 2 singles slot, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8). The other five Eagles participating in singles slots fared much worse, as none of them reached even three sets with their Big Green opponents. Most notably, BC junior Akash Muppidi, who last year finished at No. 84 in the ITA individual rankings, was upset by Michael Laser, 6-4, 6-3. The doubles point was earned in a similar dominating fashion for Dartmouth, as all three of its slots won. The BC duo of Alex Davison and Erik Kreutzer came close, though, as they sent their match into tiebreaks until finally falling 9-8 (5). The squad will resume play next weekend at home against Sacred Heart and Bryant University. Battle of Beantown meet results Senior Caroline King broke a 13-year-old 1,000-meter BC women’s track and field record, while simultaneously shattering the Battle of Beantown meet mark
with a time of 2:44.60 on Friday evening at the Gordon Indoor Track & Tennis Center in Cambridge, Mass. “I knew the splits I wanted to hit,” King said about her run. “Unfortunately, after the first lap the clock wasn’t working and no one was yelling the splits so I was clueless going into the last lap. At that point I said to myself, ‘Well hopefully I’m running fast.’ I had no idea what my time was until they announced it a few minutes later. I just wanted to PR today, so I’m happy I ran well and got the school record.” BC wrapped up the meet with exceptional performances in the 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays. The 3,200-meter team of Alanna Poretta, Bridget Dahlberg, Sarah Lord, and Madeline Wallace won by more than 10 seconds in 9:09.50 while the grouping of Siobhan Breagy, Erin McKenna, Sara Missert, and King took second in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:57.21. The Battle of Beantown is an annual track meet that pits four Boston-area schools (Boston University, BC, Harvard, and Northeastern) against each other. This year the Eagles’ women finished in third, totalling 104 points over the day-long event, behind first-place Harvard’s total of 191 and rival BU’s 116. Northeastern brought in the rear with a cumulative 95 points. n
saves against Harvard in the first round, and then 31 in a 3-2 win in the finals against the Terriers. A strong performance by Muse is one of the main keys to success for the Eagles. John Muse is 8-4-2 in his career against BU, and made 30 saves against the Terriers in their last meeting on Jan. 21. “Our keys are skating at a high tempo, goaltending, and special teams,” York said before practice on Sunday. “When you get onto the big stage like this, you have to keep your poise, and cut down on any obvious mistakes.” Harvard and Northeastern, the other half of the Beanpot bracket, are scheduled to play at 5 p.m., with the winner going on to the finals to face the winner of the BC-BU game. The Crimson and the Huskies have had a rough time at the tournament lately, as the last Beanpot banner won by either team came in 1993, when Harvard took first place. Since then, the Eagles and the Terriers have split the last 17 trophies. “It’s a unique tournament,” York said. “Four local schools, two successive Mondays, and a lot of history, a lot of tradition.” Commonwealth Ave., brace for impact. n
B6
The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
B7
Scramble to secure summer internships begins By Lauren Ruvo Heights Staff
At the start of the first snowfall, students begin to talk about what they will be doing in the summer. Many talk about lying on the beach and traveling. Others talk about getting jobs or internships. Those who talk about getting internships know that the market is competitive and that they will have to start applying for them right after winter break. Internships have always been important staples in helping young college students get jobs, and now, more than ever, students are realizing their importance and have started to apply for them early on in their college careers. Russ Ventura, assistant director of internships and career counseling at the Career Center at Boston College says, “Internships are important not just because they have the ability to help students get a job, but they are also a great way for them to figure out whether or not they really want to pursue a career in that field.” Nathan Somolensky, CSOM ’11, used his internship in such a way to test out a potential career path. “I’ve been familiar with someone who worked for a company called One Market Data,” he says. “I got an internship the past two summers from the company directly, meaning I didn’t have to go through BC. After I graduate, I will be seeking a career in marketing. I knew that I wanted to be in this industry, however
the internship solidified this.” In today’s competitive job market it is about both what you know and who you know. Securing a college internship helps students gain the experience, the knowledge, and the personal connections that they need in order to become successful when they begin applying for jobs. Internships gain much of their appeal in that they grant students the opportunity to network. Networking allows students to establish relationships with people who will give valuable feedback and who can potentially help when it is time for apply for jobs in the real world. Internships also allow students to get the practical experience they need when applying for a job. For example, students are able to go through the application process, create a resume, and eventually undergo interviews. Since all of these skills are necessary when applying for a real job, it makes it much less intimidating if the student has already gone through the process beforehand with an internship. Internships can greatly impact students’ success in looking for full-time employment post graduation. Once a student lands an internship, they are more likely to be considered for a full-time position, if the company has positions available. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ 2008 Experiential Education Survey, employers claimed to extend job offers
to nearly 70 percent of their interns, marking a substantial increase from earlier years. “More and more companies have started to use internships to screen new job applicants,” Ventura says. “For example, if a job knows that they have a few job openings but wants to see how dedicated a person truly is they will hire a few interns and if they work out at the end of the internship they will be offered a full-time job.” Despite the fact that getting a job in this economy has seemingly become close to impossible, when it comes to internships there has not been a noticeable difference. Ventura explains that the economy has not noticeably affected the number of internships that companies are offering. There are two manners in which BC students can learn about internships, the first being when companies ask BC to post information about their internship and then students who are interested contact the company and then travel to the worksite for interviews. The other type is known as on-campus recruiting when companies come to BC and then interview students. Though the number of companies coming to interview students on campus has decreased a bit, it is not necessarily because of the economy. In the past, students would start to think about applying for internships in their junior year, however, more companies have started hiring freshmen and sophomores because more
and more underclassmen have started thinking about applying for internships and so there is a greater demand. Although it is more difficult for freshmen and sophomores to land an internship when competing with older, more experienced applicants, it is by no means impossible. Just as there is no specific time for applying for internships, there is also no right amount of internships that students should apply for. “The advice I give when it comes to applying for internships really depends on the student,” Ventura says. “If the student’s personality is such that they feel comfortable applying to hundreds of internships, then they should. However, if another person feels like they would rather manages five to 10 different applications and then follow up with them, then that’s what they should do. As long as the student is truly interested in the position that they are applying for, then it really doesn’t matter how many they apply to so long as they convey their passion in their application.” Although internships are important, they are not the end-all to one’s success. There are plenty of alternative ways for students to figure out what field they want to go into once they graduate. Counselors, along with many other resources, are available to aid students in their selection of a major and ultimately a job. Some students are unable to get internships due to their financial situations or because they just choose not
to.
The best alternative is to maintain a strong GPA and consider doing informational interviews, Ventura says. An informational interview is when a person sits down and talks with different companies for about an hour and learns about the field in which they are interested in pursuing a career. During the informational interview, students can obtain a lot of valuable information about the industry and they can also gain interview experience, which will prove helpful when it comes time to apply for a job. Another alternative is the workstudy approach that is offered to many students when they are first accepted to college. The purpose of this funding is to act as an incentive for universities to hire students for university positions by covering a certain percentage of that student’s wages. Work-study allows students to gain experience in different areas, which is always a great addition to a resume. All in all, having an internship is a great experience. They are able to help students gain important insights into different fields and into themselves as individuals, however, there are plenty of times when internships fall short of what they promise. The best thing to do when this happens, Ventura says, is for students to remember that they are still learning important skills, even if the internship does not relate to their academic major. n
Campus Spotlight
Nutrition office strives to promote healthy living By Alexandra Schaeffer Heights Staff
Photo Courtesy of allhealthcare.monster.com
Photo Courtesy of natureshelpermedical.com
It’s that door right before Carney’s. Everyone has seen it or mentioned it once. The plaque “Dietician” is positioned on the hardwood door to the right, across from the Chocolate Bar, and just before the bombardment of students shouting, “Donate to our service trip!” With this distraction, as well as the grumbling of students’ stomachs, the dietician is quickly forgotten and students continue on with their lives. “You can just walk right in,” says Sheila Tucker, whose office lies behind the door. Tucker is the executive dietician of Boston College and a part-time faculty member of Auxiliary Services. Though she studied biochemistry at Framingham State College and is continuing her graduate education there as well, Tucker now spends her time at BC. “Following graduate school, I worked at a teaching hospital in Boston,” Tucker says. “I worked at the ICU in a more scientific position. It involved feeding tubes. After that, I decided I wanted to work with a well population.” Twenty-two years later, Tucker can still be found here, helping to better the nutrition of the BC community from a variety of angles. Her work encompasses everything from collaborating with University Health Services, University Counseling Services, and the athletic department to commenting on the food offered at the dining halls. “I actually started out writing the menus, but now I’m in the role of clinician,” she says. “I see everybody related to BC who needs me, including walk-in students, referrals, faculty, professors, and athletes.” Tucker can be found in her office, 302 McElroy, every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “I try to keep my door open, if I’m not in an appointment, so that students can just walk right in. It’s nice because there’s no waiting room, so there’s less of a chance that students will feel that they’re on display.” These students come from a diverse array of backgrounds so that there is no typical patient. Fortunately, Tucker is trained to help with all types of dietary concerns, including gaining and losing weight, dealing with allergies and medical conditions, transitioning to a vegetarian diet, athletic diets, and overall healthy eating and living. Appointments typically last for one hour, and can be scheduled or made on a walk-in basis. The first appointment is mostly an assessment of the patient’s current
diet, followed by collaboration between the patient and Tucker to make the necessary changes. Oftentimes that single appointment is all that is required for the patient, though about half of her daily seven or eight appointments are return visits. “Some patients only come once, others have standing weekly appointments,” she says. “It really varies case to case. I mean sometimes, students just come in here wanting a ‘tune-up,’ just to know how to make their diet a little bit healthier. I really have such a varied clientele that every appointment is different.” Students who are curious about how to improve their diets need not worry about a fee of any sort, as Tucker’s services are covered by the health insurance plans that students are already required to have. Tucker does not merely sit in her office all day waiting for patients, though. She has more than enough on her plate to occupy her time. A professor in the Connell School of Nursing, Tucker can also add teaching to her resume. Additionally, in the realm of academia, she recently published a book, Nutrition and Diet Therapy for Nurses. Tucker can also be seen presenting programs to the BC community on nutrition-related topics. Next on her docket is a presentation to the Campus School Volunteers Marathon Team on Tuesday, where she will be detailing the proper diet for those training to run the Marathon. Tucker practices what she preaches, as she too makes her best effort to maintain a healthy lifestyle. “I’ve always considered myself a fairly healthy eater,” she says. “In fact, I always knew I wanted to go into nutrition. It was my love of biochemistry applied to pathophysiology that led me to this profession.” Although Tucker refuses to offer blanket diet tips under any circumstances, she will gladly share some nutritional basics. “It’s best to follow the rule of 80/20,” she says. “This means that as long as you’re eating healthy about 80 percent of the time, you can splurge on the other 20 percent. It’s really all about balance.” In reference to the most common dietary misconceptions she says, “Not all foods you eat need to be completely healthy. A healthy diet is a balanced diet, and that doesn’t mean only eating health foods. “Also, there’s no truth to the myth that eating past a certain time makes your body produce more fat. Some of the healthiest countries in the world don’t eat dinner until very late. Your body is not a clock, and it doesn’t really matter when you eat.” It remains unclear whether that includes late-nite. n
Professor Profile
Hauser-Cram embraces the surprises of her work
By Charlotte Parish Heights Editor
Every incoming freshman has dreams of grandeur for their college experience, wanting a triple major, a semester abroad, a variety of extracurricular activities, and a great internship. Sometimes it is the responsibility of an academic adviser to rein this enthusiasm into a more realistic level. But imagine being told pointblank by your adviser that he never had, nor ever would, recommend that a female pursue a biology major in the premed track. Certainly this is something that would stop anyone in their tracks. But for Penny Hauser-Cram, a professor in the developmental and educational psychology department, it was the unfortunate beginning of her self-described accidental and circuitous path to “exactly the work that I want to be doing.” Originally aiming for pediatrics with her medical degree, Hauser-Cram changed paths and took up physiological psychology as her major. Immediately, she felt that she had hit upon a subject she loved, even if some of the assignments were strange, such as taking care of a pigeon for a semester while performing tests on it in the classroom. But it was just after college that HauserCram found her greatest passions – teaching and aiding those with disabilities. Before and after attending Tufts’ Eliot Pearson Children’s School
for her masters in Child Development, HauserCram began teaching elementary school, a move that she did not expect to inspire her as much as it did. One of these classrooms was for children with disabilities. “In pediatrics, you see a kid every 15 minutes,” Hauser-Cram reflects. With teaching she realized that it was so much better to interact with and learn from students rather than patients. Diving into this passion, Hauser-Cram helped establish the Brookline Early Education Program (BEEP), a program for students with severe mental disabilities in Harvard, Mass. This was, and is, a very unique endeavor as it is not restricted to students of low-income, recognizing that all parents sometimes need help and support raising children with special needs. During Hauser-Cram’s time with BEEP, she taught in the preschool section of the program and helped run the research focused on how to ameliorate the learning process of the disabled children within the program, including intensive therapy and interventions. All of this was very new ideology at the time, and Hauser-Cram says she was so captivated by her research that after receiving a doctorate from Harvard, which she only took time to do at the insistence of her father, she returned to BEEP. The characteristics of this program, Hauser-Cram says, that really fueled her interest were the intersection of the fields of health and development.
However, her life took another unexpected turn as Hauser-Cram was offered a post teaching statistics at the Harvard Kennedy School. She was hesitant because while she loved teaching, her past experiences had always been with younger children. Taking the job with a leap of faith, Hauser-Cram found that she truly loved it. “I like teaching statistics to people who don’t like statistics,” Hauser-Cram laughs, enjoying the challenge of convincing someone that a subject they profess to dislike is worthwhile. From there, she took a series of jobs at universities, first at Wellesley, where she concurrently received a doctorate in psychology, then back to her alma matter of Tufts’ Eliot Pearson to run the program, before finally settling into her tenure at Boston College. Hauser-Cram explains that one of the biggest draws to the Lynch School of Education (LSOE) was its innovative Campus School program for children with disabilities, which is still running and flourishing today. However, Hauser-Cram explains she does not describe herself as an expert in special education. “My study is broader than school,” she clarifies, as her research in the past two years particularly have focused on the relationships between disabilities, poverty, and parenting. Parenting is of a particular interest to Hauser-Cram, who describes the field as very polarized by parents’ opinions. Also it has an unusual role as the only
truly “marketable” part of child development (take Baby Einstein for instance), which makes it more controversial. With this dynamic study, Hauser-Cram finds the most rewarding part of her work to be the surprises she encounters since “you never quite know what will enter and be interesting.” Bringing students into her passion for the unknowns of the field, Hauser-Cram says that her time spent researching is indistinguishable from her time teaching. “Part of my role [in the research] is to mentor the students helping me … it’s simply a different form of teaching,” she says. Even students without the good luck of participating in her research feel Hauser-Cram’s enthusiasm. “Professor Hauser-Cram is an incredible teacher,” says Jessica Shapiro, LSOE ’14. “I am always very excited to go to her class because I know I will learn something fascinating about child development with a smile on my face.” With what she defines as a “zigzagging” course in life, Hauser-Cram truly feels happy with the outcome of her unplanned career plan shift as an undergraduate at Denison University. And to those who are receiving a similar, though hopefully less harsh, reality check, Hauser-Cram offers the condolence that no life course is ever set from freshman year as long as you keep yourself open to possibilities, advice which Hauser-Cram herself demonstrates can lead you to amazing places. n
The Heights
B8
How-To
Monday, February 7, 2011
Humor
Live like a Here’s to you men, an ode to the male species nomad Hilary Chasse
Jim Kaberna
It is so easy and, understandably, very much desired to forget the frustration, terror, and tears shed over the room selection process that closes that turbulent freshman year. For a few weeks that seem like centuries and, all other commitments – academic, athletic, and all else – are forgotten. The campus descends into madness. Friend groups boil down to nine, eight, six, four, and … well if you aren’t living in a suite on Lower Campus, who really cares? But with all of the turmoil and rearranging of social circles and “best friends,” it isn’t very difficult to conceive students falling through the cracks. I offer those who have fallen into the cracks – the maddened souls who stood to face ResLife alone – an option: just bum around. So you were thrown to the wayside on College Road? So what? The college experience is more about the discovery of individual freedom than anything else. Feel empowered! Roam! It can get pretty lonely out there (so I am told). And so now my second offering to you, dear reader: how to live nomadically at Boston College. The lifestyle described below is not for the faint of heart (or for the more disagreeable BC student). As a prerequisite, it is encouraged that the nomad maintains an exceptionally pleasant demeanor. The art of enamoring close friends – and I hesitate to say “close” since you are already wandering on your own – and subsequently convincing them to squeeze you into their eight-man is not one easily mastered or possibly described here. I can be sure of this: It is vital that the close friend has very few or no doubts about your interest in him or her. Respond frequently, listen often, and nod when at a loss. Do not allow your friends with desirable on-campus real estate to question their friendship with you. Okay, let us now dive right in. Leave society’s conventions of hygiene – or at least until you have become comfortable enough with the residents of the suite you are at the moment hijacking to ask to share a bathroom on the most intimate level. There are certain bare minimums, however. Carry around a stick of deodorant and a toothbrush in your book bag. Caution: Choose a side pocket to house your mobile bathroom, unless you want your classmates to suspect you’re homeless. As far as clothes are concerned, do not spread yourself too thin. You will most assuredly lose clothes, heirlooms, and so much floss. (Despite my best efforts, I have touched upon floss. Please, floss. Gingivitis is so unattractive. Sorry for the interjection.) Organization is essential. Select one or two corners in the rooms of good friends and stick to those. Common rooms do not make the best closets – students are constantly cycling in and out, and will assume your stuff is theirs. (Quick tip: Most suites in Walsh Hall come with a “bonus room” perfect for storage or maybe even a futon. These convenient corridors offer the ideal refuge for the “ninth man” for the most part out of the other eight’s sight.) In addition, buy a good set of headphones and know where the bigger study lounges are. If you are still uncomfortable spending excessive chunks of time in your friends’ common rooms, these larger lounges are easy to blend into and can be a valuable resource. Mapping the locations of lounges, laundry rooms, and the general schematics of BC residential buildings is a crucial foundational part of the nomad’s experience. Now, I will turn to the less practical musts of the nomadic lifestyle. When dealing with such suspicion and queriesarries into your living situation, just lie. Really, people just do not care. Tell them you live in Walsh. It is very likely you will be spending most nights there anyhow. Add a floor number, perhaps, if you are feeling especially risky (many sophomores live on the seventh floor), smile, and carry on with your business. Be friendly with residential assistants. (In general, you should be smiling a whole lot.) If you are in fact feeling Walsh, meet the men who man the desk, introduce yourself, be friendly. Watch 30 Rock or another show of the same nature that will afford you more witty one-liners. A particularly knowledgeable and experienced nomad tells me of his routine interactions with the RA on the floor that he now calls home. Beside friendly greetings they have exchanged closing information, floor program details, and quiet hours reminders. She actually thinks he lives there. “The key to my success is speaking broadly, staying away from details, and smiling,” says this veterantop nomad. The take-home message here is this: Be sure you are indeed living the college life. Wander. And explore!
Jim Kaberna is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
It’s that magical time of year again: The ground is frozen, the trees are bare, and, inexplicably, love is in the air. With all these pink antacid hearts and teddy bears of questionable origin springing up in the dining hall, I’ve been reminded that the Feast of St. Valentine is fast approaching and, yet again, I am woefully unprepared to offer the traditional homage to the saints in order to be bestowed with their blessing for the coming season. However, clever creature that I am, I have found a last minute goat-substitute in the form of this column which I shall dedicate to a (mostly) thorough song of praise, a psalm if you will, dedicated to the other 50 percent of the population. As a heterosexual female, an inordinate amount of my time, energy, and mental capacity of the past two decades, has been dedicated to the male sex, both
in general and to specific members. This constant fixation, bordering on obsession, on the part of every female on the face of the planet is constantly being expressed in either a mind-numbingly cliche way (See: any issue of Cosmo) or in an indie “Real life” love way (See: any indie kid’s pirated home movie collection). Rarely are the real reasons that you are all truly valued and intriguing to us written down. So here’s my best attempt: Every man has one particularly hideous item of clothing buried deep inside his closet that he loves unconditionally. It could be an alpaca sweater, a way too short pair of shorts, or a hat that really just does not work in any way, particularly not backwards. But your devotion and loyalty to this awkward item will melt our hearts any day, your gleefulness at defying our strange fashion laws is palpable. Every man, even the macho ones who spend 15 hours a day in the Plex, will
turn into a five-year-old child when he encounters any baby animal, particularly puppies. They may try to hide their desire to cuddle with any four-legged creature on the sidewalk, visible through a certain quivering of the lip to a widening of the eyes. Eventually, they’ll give in and engulf the dog (which has been named “Buddy” for convenience) in a bear hug. Every man has a group of friends that include his male Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda. Despite the fact that I find male friendships foreign and unnerving, the groups of men on campus, from the frantic freshman clusters to the tooclose-for-comfort Mod families, have a bond much deeper than most will admit (while sober at least … think Superbad). From the tentative invitation to room together, punctuated with as many “bros” and “dudes” as is grammatically possible, to the eventual best man responsibilities, the unsaid love within this brotherhood is a beautiful sight to
behold. Every man on the planet has his signature dance move, his go to jig, if you will, and all of these forms of dance, for want of better words, are uniquely horrible. Be it the robot, the sprinkler, or the dreaded dougie, when men break these out you know that he means serious dancing business. A related attractive trait is how every man will have one sugar sweet pop song that will send him into ecstasies. Katy Perry and any Backstreet Boys song seem consistently popular. So watch for the faces on the men around you at the next party when “Teenage Dream” starts blaring. All of these, and a million tiny other things (smell ranked highly among ladies polled) make you all worth every minute of our trouble. So keep it up, gents.
Hilary Chasse is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com
Campus chronicles
On the inequalities of safety regulations Stephen Habetz
When I got the mass e-mail addressed to all English majors saying “columnists wanted for Opinions section,” I shot back an immediate response. “Reading The Heights, I get the feeling that you guys are kind of a bunch of tight wads … however, I could always use a wider forum for my opinions.” Notice how I softened it with the “kind of.” I was applying for the job after all. Needless to say, I wasn’t selected. However, to my surprise I received another e-mail, this time for a columnist position for “Campus Chronicles,” part of the Features section. Moreover, it was a position in which I would not just give opinions on random events, but on student life at Boston College as I saw it. Restraining myself this time, I applied and apparently got the job. Now
I’m writing this drivel a couple hours after the deadline … yeah, my editors are going to love me. Now that I’ve introduced myself, what shall I cover in my first column? I was originally going to write about how an enterprising future member of AA (guess who) found his way into a flock of teetotaling prohibitionists Sunday Jan. 30 in Fulton Hall, but that flew out the window when my mattress encountered room inspections. To give you some background, my mattress was amazing. Everyone who has ever sat on my bed said it was the softest, most comfortable surface they have ever had the pleasure of sitting on. It got to the point where I had to occasionally threaten physical violence just to get people off it. Sometimes this was a problem, but when I went to sleep that night, it was all worth it. Friday morning I got up at my usual time, 15 minutes before class, and left
my bed disheveled as I normally do. How was I supposed to know some nosy neighbor was going to poke through my stuff later that day? Well, long story short, I got an e-mail saying that I failed room inspection and would have to get rid of my amazing, beautiful mattress pad. Which brings us to the question of why mattress pads are not allowed in dorm rooms. They say it’s because mattress pads are a fire hazard, but that is absolutely ridiculous. Pads are completely covered by not one, but at least two sheets and a big blanket on top. That’s called insulation. Like insulation around electric wires, it prevents outside heat from lighting the mattress. What you should worry about is the proximity of flammable cotton sheets to things such as heaters and electric sockets. Then comes the next big argument: “Well Stephen, when foam mattress
pads catch on fire, they release carcinogens that could kill you.” My response: When a building is on fire, who sits around inhaling smoke? Furthermore, I don’t know what the story is in other dorms, but I highly suspect that the building materials in Walsh Hall contain more carcinogens than my mattress. And if Walsh did burst into flames, the one thing I’d save would, of course, be my mattress pad. Ergo – no carcinogens released. So on behalf of all the kids who have ever had their student lives sullied by unfair rules or limitations, or even those unfortunate enough to live on College Rd., I ask you, BC, to, clean up your act. As your disgruntled yet still grudgingly enamored admirer, I know you can do better.
Stephen Habetz is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
he said, she said I really want to ask this guy out that I’ve liked for a while, but my friends have been advising me against it and I kind of agree with them. He and I are on the same intramural basketball team, where I’m the only girl, and I’m worried that if things don’t work out, it can ruin our team dynamic. At the same time, there’s an attraction between us I can’t deny. Should I go for it? Decisions, decisions. This is obviously something that has crossed the minds of many females because our society has placed this stigma on males to be solely responsible for doing the asking when it comes to a date or something romantic. It’s really tough to go against something that has been so accepted for so long, so I can also understand your trepidation. The guy in question has most likely not been Alex Trautwig approached like that by a girl, and your fear of him ending up with someone else is legitimate. This being said, I think it is a fairly bold move. I’m not saying that it’s a bad choice at all, but I think you should try and get a good feel of the situation before you do anything. If you’re afraid it could be a little too bold and that you might scare him away, you can go about doing so in a way that makes it seem like a mutual decision. Try casually bringing up plans for the weekend and say something along the lines of, “Maybe we could do something this weekend,” which tells him you are interested but at the same time isn’t as overwhelming as, “Would you like to go to dinner and a movie with me Friday night?” I agree with Julia completely that you should go for it, because if you really like this guy, as she said, what is there to lose? However, I would recommend a more low-key approach because although it’s impossible to tell whether he would be freaked out by your forwardness, why risk it? You can still get your point across in another way. I truthfully don’t know how I would feel or react if a girl asked me out but if we had talked about it more casually beforehand I think I would feel better about the situation overall.
Alex Trautwig is an editor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
Is that really a question? Absolutely you should go for it. Although I am disappointed by the serious lack of female initiative when it comes to asking out members of the opposite sex, I appreciate you writing to us here at He Said, She Said and bringing this issue to our attention. Why is it that so many females at Boston College are hesitant to just ask a guy out on a date? I understand that your perceived dilemma is unfortunately representative of the Julia Wilson larger issue of sexism in our society, but we are all capable and intelligent women. You can do this (and it’s really not that hard either). Why would you wait for him to ask you out if there’s an attraction between you two that you can’t deny? You have absolutely nothing to lose in this situation. If he says yes, great. If he says no, who cares anyway? Potential awkwardness between you two or your teammates should really be the last thing on your mind. I’d understand if you were unsure about whether you really liked him or not, but dating – especially during these four years of college – should primarily be about meeting new people and trying new things. The bottom line here is that this issue comes down to gender, and that’s really unfortunate. The only thing holding you back is the fact that you think that being a girl and asking a guy out will make you look too forward or aggressive. Neither is a bad thing. It’s about time girls started to take the initiative in the dating arena. Unless this guy’s a total sociopath (yes, they are among us here at BC), I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t at least give it a try. So tune out those friends who think
otherwise and go for it already.
Julia Wilson is a senior staff writer for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com
the Real World
Boldly learning where the wild things are Karl Lockhart Vegetarians Beware: How to kill a chicken. That must have been it. That must have been what my high school teacher talked about that day I decided to sleep in class because I had stayed up too late the night before going to the midnight showing of James Bond. I’m sure that if I had stayed awake, I would have known what to do when I was assigned cooking duty with my friend Richie that late afternoon in an unmapped Tanzanian village inhabited by members of the Maasai Tribe. It was getting close to dinnertime. I think the dialogue went something like this: Me: “What are we making for dinner? Richie: “Kuku. Chicken.” Chicken: “Squawk Squawk.” Me: “Uhhh?” Richie: “You want to do it?”
Me: “Yeah, I want to try.” Richie: “You sure?” Chicken: “Squawk Squawk.” Me: “Hamna shida. No problem.” No problem. Yeah, right. Richie hands me the knife and shows me how to hold the chicken down. I begin sawing at the chicken’s neck, at which point I realize that it was fairly dull and I was going to have to listen to the undesirable noises that a chicken makes in its death throes for a long time. I continue cutting until the noises stop. “Okay?” I ask Richie. “Okay.” Not okay. The chicken is not dead, and as soon as I release my grip on it, it begins to run around. Being unfamiliar with what to do in this situation, I stand in shock as my jeans continue to be splattered with chicken blood. On the other hand, Richie, a Tanzanian, knows exactly what to do: catch the chicken and finish the job, which he does with ease.
This anecdote proves three points. First, I grossly overestimate my own abilities. Second, I’m pretty good at making a fool of myself. Third, some of the most important things in life cannot be learned in the classroom. Killing a chicken may not be the most applicable example, but other things, such as how to tie a tie, ride a bike, or drive a car, can only be learned through experience. Only by getting out and exploring can we learn what the world is actually like and what part we want to play in it. It is impossible to learn truly new things if we never leave our city, state, or country and expose ourselves to different peoples, cultures, and ideas. In fact, the ability to quickly grasp new concepts may be the most important skill of all. Think about all the people who graduated from college only 10 years ago. Who could have predicted Sept. 11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a global economic recession? How
many graduates could have known that designing applications for the yet-to-becreated iPhone would be a way to make a living? What kind of abilities will we need to survive in the real world 10 or 20 years from today? It is impossible to know for sure. All that we can do is learn as much as we can, not only by engaging in the classroom but also by humbly venturing into unfamiliar territory and taking our best shot at understanding the newness that surrounds us. This can only be done through asking questions and keeping an open mind to the vastness that is our wonderful planet. You may never have to slaughter a chicken for dinner, but you can never know for sure what life has in store for you.
Karl Lockhart is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Heights
B9
Snow can have some unexpected mental effects Snowstorm, from B10
from BC Emergency Services declaring a delayed opening at 5 a.m. When the text does arrive, however, a new debate arises as the delayed opening time often falls in the middle of a class period. Megan Perez, A&S ’11, has a 10:30 a.m. class on Tuesday and Thursday, which leaves her unsure whether she has to go to class if the delayed opening is in effect until 11 a.m. “The first week school was delayed, I didn’t go to the second half because I thought it would be canceled completely, and I didn’t check my e-mail again so I missed half of class,” she says. “So that aspect is a little stressful.” Amy Hutton, a professor in the accounting department, teaches a class at 10:30 a.m. and thus has a problem similar to that of Perez. “I wrote to my students that we would start class at 11 a.m. and have the time that we had remaining, 45 minutes I think, to get into the chapter and that I would love it if they could be there by 11 a.m., but not to endanger themselves or others,” she says. “I think almost all of them made it to class and one person who didn’t came
to my class at 3 p.m.” Hutton emphasizes the need to be creative and improvise in dealing with the snow and the stress it can generate in order to avoid canceling class altogether. By improvising, Hutton means encouraging students to come to a later class if their earlier one is cancelled and for her, it means scrambling to find a babysitter for her son in between classes. All things psychological aside, the physical effects of snow and cold weather cannot be ignored. In the past week, a walk to class has often involved a firsthand look at someone slipping or falling on the icy walkways. However, these slips have not resulted in substantially increased visits to Health Services for serious injuries, says Thomas Nary, director of Health Services. “There certainly haven’t been a lot of fractures, but [there has been] a lot of bruises. That’s what we call contusions, bruises and strains and those kinds of things,” Nary says. Though a greater number of students will not be walking around campus on crutches due to serious injuries, more students have been diagnosed with illnesses that typically accompany low temperatures.
“We’ve certainly had an increase since the Christmas break in flu-like symptoms, viruses, the things that usually go around,” Nary said. To strengthen students in the battle against the cold weather and its viruses, Nary emphasizes the importance of washing one’s hands and social distancing. “There is no magic, but the most important thing is social distancing, meaning you don’t stay very close to people that are sneezing, or if your roommate’s sick, you keep your distance.” Equally important to protecting one’s physical health in the winter months is caring for one’s psychological wellbeing. The best way to fight seasonal affective disorder and the possibility of an increase in stress levels is to prepare, Tecce says. “Preparation is the best thing to deal with stress because preparation gives you some predictability,” he says. At first glance, it can seem as though there is not much students can do to prepare for something in the hands of nature and the BC Emergency Services team. Students cannot shovel themselves out of their dorms, plow the entire stretch of Campanella Way, or call off their classes. “Get a good night’s sleep, make sure the galoshes are all lined up,” he advises. “Use your time productively while you’re
trapped in your room to deal with the snow. Call the dentist and tell him you can’t come. Watch for the professors’ online signals that classes are cancelled. And pray,” he laughs. John Lee, A&S ’13, who is originally from Georgia and enjoys the newness and excitement of snow, prepares for braving this element by putting on his warmest winter gear. “It’s really not that bad because I got a new pair of boots, and so I just put on my boots and a lot of warm clothes and then go to class,” he says. Tecce also draws attention to the importance of talking with peers to alleviate any stress brought upon by the snow. “Talk to another student about what they’re doing and lo and behold they might have an idea that you didn’t think of,” he says. “When you talk to somebody else, you, in a sense, are preparing because you’re trading off ideas and they’re going to tell you whether your ideas are good and what their ideas are.” Heeding Tecce’s advice should not prove difficult because as long as the ground is still painted white, icicles still hang from the Mods, and the entrance to Corcoran Commons and nearly every pathway is coated in ice, students will continue to have something to talk about. n
Making a bigger splash the second time around
Last semester, over 300 New England high school students were taught by around 150 BC undergraduates. There will be an information session for the second Splash event tonight at 7 p.m. in Cushing 001 and all are welcome to attend. Features Editor
When most students matriculate, they enter college with the mindset that they’re there to learn and not necessarily to teach. Rarely is the prospect of switching places with their professors ever considered. Even students in the Lynch School of Education (LSOE), most of whom are preparing for careers as teachers, don’t ever expect to teach a class on something they enjoy in their spare time, such as watching reality television or fantasizing about surviving a zombie apocalypse. Last semester, Boston College got their umbrellas out when over 400 students made a splash on campus, offering a new and exciting take on education unlike anything Chestnut Hill has seen. This semester, Splash is ready to do it again. From Lady Gaga and Socrates to salsa dancing and game theory, the course catalog for high school students to choose from is as diverse as the backgrounds of the undergraduates who teach the classes found in them. A one-day program that sees high school students come from all over New England to BC’s campus to be taught by willing Eagles, Splash has a catalog that Conor Sullivan, LSOE ’13 and one of the program’s organizers, says is one of the key aspects of the program. “Because we have such a wide course catalog, it shows the passion that not only high school students have, but also the breadth that BC undergrads have,” says Sullivan. Getting the catalog of classes to reflect student interests required reaching out to different groups of people all across
campus. Hanyin Cheng, A&S ’12, and the pioneer of BC’s Splash program, says he extended the invitation to teach to a variety of clubs in order to make sure a lot of clubs were represented. “Splash is a great opportunity for clubs to come together under an umbrella and show what their clubs are all about,” says Cheng. “For example, the physics club teaches classes about visualizing electricity and magnetism. The course catalog we put together is a reflection of what the student body is interested in.” For the second time around, there are several things that the Splash directors want to improve on, with the most important being the number of total students participating. “Our goal is 1,000 high school students for 300 undergraduate teachers,” says Lisa Piccirillo, A&S ’13, another Splash director. “We hope to get teachers from a lot of different places on campus so hopefully, we can have a bunch of different types of classes that all students can relate to,” Sullivan says. Based on feedback from the event last semester, their desire to increase the size of the program, Cheng says, came as a result of the teachers wanting bigger classes. “Even though undergrads enjoyed the intimate classes they had with fewer students, they would have liked to have a bigger class,” Cheng says. “Increasing the size is definitely our priority.” “Another one of our goals is to be able to offer anything a student would want to teach,” Piccirillo says. “In the fall we had some limitations with outdoor space. If they want to teach something like water polo, we want to try to make that work.” While the organizers are looking to change some
aspects of the program, they seek to hold onto others that make Splash the program that it is. With a motto of “education for students by students,” the Splash program seeks to benefit both parties inside of the classroom. “It’s important that they understand that we’re learning too and that we love to learn,” Sullivan says. “For high school students, it’s a rare opportunity to be immersed in a college environment in a way they normally wouldn’t get to on something like an admissions tour,” Cheng says. “It’s also a great opportunity for undergraduates to share something they love, a passion they have that they normally wouldn’t get to share in a classroom setting.” It’s this passion, Sullivan says, that will overshadow any lack of teaching experience an interested BC student might have. “Anyone can teach—you don’t need to be in the Lynch School. If you have a passion for something, you’re going to get students in your class that want to listen to you.” And the students do listen. “Even just from a one hour class, we saw a lot of relationships develop between the undergraduate professors and the high school students,” Piccirillo says. After talking with one student, Cheng says he encountered a positive, but unintended result of the program. “I talked to one high school student and he told me he wanted to come to BC after Splash,” Cheng says. “That’s not the purpose of Splash, but it is an opportunity for them to get a real glimpse at what BC’s all about and interact with real BC students.” Though it’s only its second event, the organizers are already planning for Splash’s future. “We
definitely see it growing,” Piccirillo says. “We are beginning to structure an organization called ESS, which stands for Education For Students By Students, and this overarching organization will run a series of programs all along the same idea of Splash, where its about taking education back to sharing ideas between people who love academic topics.” Other prospective programs include a longer Splash course, such as four Sundays out of a month instead of just one, Splash for undergraduates to teach other undergraduates, and a “Splash On Wheels” program, where volunteers would go teach at high schools on the high schools’ students time. These programs would only further establish BC Splash’s identity as distinguished from other universities’, such as MIT’s, something that the course offerings of the two different Splash programs already do. “When you see MIT’s course catalog, it’s really impressive, but it’s really focused on science, math, and computer science,” Piccirillo says. “When you look at ours, it’s so broad and that’s really cool.” “I’m really glad we’re creating our own DNA, our own identity,” Cheng says. Whether it’s on the BC campus or in the halls of a New England high school, lasting for a day, a month, or an entire year, the Splash organizers plan to keep working towards making education fun and available. “As students sometimes, we lose sight of why we’re in school. We take all these classes and do all this homework and sometimes, we don’t learn for the sake of learning or the excitement of learning,” Cheng says. “We’re here to help make that possible.” n
Mollie Kolosky / Heights Graphic
By Kris Robinson
Features
B10
Monday, February 7, 2011
Asst. Features Editor
Snow is more than solid white precipitation piled at the corners of parking lots, more than grandiose igloos constructed in the Mods, and more than the resulting slush soaking through students’ rain boots. The recent string of snowstorms has affected University life beyond the physical realm that necessitates leaving for class 10 minutes earlier and perpetually looking down while walking around campus to avoid being tickled by snowflakes. The beauty that is fresh snow has the ability to affect people psychologically and increase stress levels, especially those of students. Seasonal affective disorder is a common byproduct of the darker, colder winter months. “In the winter in New England, students and non-students alike are exposed to a diminished amount of sunlight,” says Joseph Tecce, a professor in the psychology department. “Diminished sunlight produces in the body what’s called the Dracula Hormone, less dramatically it’s called melatonin. And melatonin helps create bad moods, and the lack of sunlight helps create bad moods so we have seasonal affective disorder, which means depression comes seasonally because of the lack of sunlight.” Varying degrees of the drudgery brought upon by the increased amount of darkness manifests itself in students verbally longing for the summer months, planning their Spring Break getaways to tropical locations, and daydreaming about days spent lounging poolside. However, Tecce thinks there is more to seasonal affective
disorder than the lack of sunlight, particularly the stress brought on by the disruption of people’s daily routines due to changes in weather. Snowstorms involve both unpredictability and a loss of control, two factors that result in stress, says Tecce, who was recently interviewed by NBC to discuss the psychological effects of winter weather. “Snowstorms create stress because when they come, they disrupt our routine, they stop us from doing what we usually do, and they create unpredictability,” he says. Though all people are capable of feeling these effects of snow, Tecce says the stress is exacerbated for students, who begin college life with a loss of control and are already stressed by their academic and extracurricular commitments. “The students have so much on their mind in the way of studying and exams that energy is lost on dealing with the snow that could go into more productive things like writing a term paper or preparing for a midterm exam,” he says. One worry among Boston College students reaches its peak the evening before a predicted snowstorm, when students are unsure whether they will have class and are less tempted to do their assigned reading or homework. “In the excitement of the possibility of classes getting cancelled, people push back doing their homework, and it’s frustrating to not know whether it’s going to be due,” says Tori McClemens, A&S ’13. The debate thus follows whether students should do their readings and set their alarms for 8 a.m. rather than wishfully await the text
See Snowstorm, B9
The Not So perfect storm A letter to the snow from a troubled and affected student
Way back when, meaning last year, my pining for spring wasn’t necessarily fueled by my desire for warm weather or sightly sunlight. Being a fall baby, I’ve always been somewhat comfortable in cooler temperatures, with the prospect of even the slightest perspiKris Robinson ration enough to make me anxious. I looked forward to spring for different reasons, mainly because it signified the slow dawning of the end of school for four months, a break that seems to become more and more necessary with each passing year of my education. Well now that’s changed and the evil cousin of rain is the one to blame. That’s right, I’m talking about you snow. Snow, like Christmas, your novelty has worn off on me. As a tot, I used to eagerly await your coming, associating you with guaranteed hours of pleasure, fun, and adventure. Hopping around, in, and over the mounds of your white residue on the ground brought a crooked smile to my braces-infected face. There were so many things you could do for me. You had the power to start wars between my classmates and I, supplying us with am-
munition and a battlefield to settle our premature scores. You had the power to create a new form of transportation – no longer would I be relegated to rolling down hills, dirtying up my attire. Instead, the brown and green spots of earth were replaced with pure white specks of beauty that didn’t require a washing machine to be removed. You had the power to cancel school, making snow days a blissful reality rather than a dream deferred. But no more. I don’t know what happened to you, my soft crunchy friend. It seems you’ve lost your gifts. Now, the only wars you start are between the students and the University, as we hopelessly protest on Facebook and Twitter, unleashing bitter remarks describing our expeditions to class or our stubborn resolutions to stay in bed. Now, you don’t create transportation – you inhibit it. You can’t even cancel school anymore. Snow, you simply delay it. You are a shell of your former self. A fallen angel. A superhero who’s lost his super and his hero. You’re no Superman. You’re not even Clark Kent. And yet, you won’t go away. You’re like the psychotic ex who refuses to move on. Your lingering presence is quickly becoming a nuisance and frankly, it’d be better if you just packed your things and melted already.
i nside FE ATURES this issue
BC Splash
Really, for the both of us. You’re why I’m actually really looking forward to spring for the first time in my life. I guess you still do have a little something left, after all. You’ve successfully diminished my nonchalance to the onset of the spring season. That counts for something, right? Don’t give yourself too much credit, though. Any gratitude I may carry toward your current existence is overshadowed by the fact that I have to maneuver through puddles that come up to my ankles (and at 6-foot-3, that is no easy feat) and praise the heavens above that my boot-protected socks somehow managed not to get wet. Before you brush off my antagonistic confession, you should know that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Truly, I wish you could look on Facebook and see for yourself. The fact that you don’t have a fan page is proof enough that really, not too many people like you right about now. If you had a Twitter, you wouldn’t have any followers. You’d honestly be better off on Myspace, because no one goes on that anymore and you’d be away from civilization, where you really should be. I wish I could put it in terms you’d understand but as we both know, you can’t really understand anything because, well, you’re an inanimate object. Once you’re done falling, you don’t move.
That’s part of the reason why you’re terribly annoying: you don’t move. You’re in everyone’s way and because you’re in everyone’s way, people get hurt. Is that what you want snow? Do you want people to get hurt? Slip and slide? More like slip and cry. I’m not making this stuff up. Did you know that you promote stress because of your unpredictability? There are people suffering because of you. I know you’ve got an icebox where your heart never was, but that’s got to make you feel—never mind. I’m really not an unreasonable guy. I understand that it’s winter and you just come with the territory. Really, I get that. If it seems like I’m being a little unfair to you, I want to apologize in advance but I just want to let you know how I feel. I think that’s essential for co-existence. After all, we’ve got to share this world. As long as I dwell in the New England area, I’m going to have to get used to you. It doesn’t mean I’m going to like you, and I’ve made it clear that I don’t, but I am going to deal with you until the day that you go away. The very happy day when you finally go away.
Kris Robinson is the Features Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights. com
BC’s premier volunteer teaching program is back and gearing up for another event of the semester.....................................................................................................................B9
Humor Column.................................B8 Campus Chronicles.........................B8
Mollie Kolosky / Heights Graphic
By Brooke Schneider