Heights 9-27-10

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919

THE HEIGHTS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

Vol. XC, No. 30

www.bcheights.com

Four apprehended after senior stabbed in Mods Stabbed student hospitalized and in good condition, police pursue fifth assailant

BY MATTHEW DELUCA Editor-in-Chief

Commuter lounge has several uses Lounge serves small demographic

BY MOLLY LAPOINT

A Boston College student was the victim of a stabbing in the Mods early Saturday morning. Police arrested four non-BC individuals in connection with the assault and are currently pursuing a fifth assailant.

The victim, Jeremiah Hegarty, CSOM ’11, underwent surgery at Beth Israel Hospital after having been stabbed in the abdomen, University Spokesman Jack Dunn said.

He remained hospitalized as of Sunday.

One of the four detained students was arrested for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and the other three were arrested as accessories, Dunn said.

BC Police Chief John King said officers received a call at 2:39 a.m.

Saturday regarding a stabbing in the Mods, and arrived on the scene within roughly three minutes.

Jenna Erdle, CSOM ’11, is a

resident of the Mod adjacent to Hegarty’s, and said she saw the altercation that led to the stabbing from her bedroom window. She heard sounds of fighting through her open window.

The fight lasted no more than a couple minutes, she said. “It was like boom, boom, boom.”

The fight, she said, might have involved as many as 30 persons.

“Then someone yelled, ‘Someone has a knife,’” she said.

She said that she then saw two males flee the Mods. She said that a couple of students might have tried to pursue the assailants, but most stayed on the scene.

“They handled it well,” she said.

“These are good guys. We were all shocked when it happened.”

Erdle said she has known Hegarty since freshman year.

Brandon Quinn, A&S ’11, said he was in the Mods and arrived at the

See Stabbing, A5

MICHAEL CAPRIO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Jeremiah Hegarty, CSOM ’11 was stabbed occured outside Mods 14A and 14B early Saturday morning.

Heights Staff

Room 255 in 21 Campanella Way is home to a commuter student lounge that offers commuters a place to spend time during the day and provides a space for clubs to meet in the evenings.

Boston College traditionally has had more commuters than it does now, said Dean for Student Development Sheilah Shaw Horton, in an e-mail.

“When BC had a large commuter population, Murray House was the commuter house,” she said. “As the population changed, the house was converted to graduate student use.”

This change, however, left those who commute to BC without somewhere to go in between their classes except for the dining halls, Horton said.

“The commuter lounge in Campanella Way was created about five years ago in response to several commuter students who brought to our attention the reality that they had no space on campus to relax and regroup between classes,” she said.

In addition, commuters did not

See Commuters, A4

INSIDE HOUSING GUIDE

Finding the best off-campus housing for you, E1

SPORTS

University celebrates Hispanic heritage REBECCA KAILUS Heights Staff

AP FILE PHOTO

According to data from the Office of Residential Life (ResLife), 23 students claimed on their roommate housing surveys that they “wouldn’t mind” living with smokers

ResLife data show decline in campus smoking population

BY TOM KOTLOWSKI AND JI HAE LEE For The Heights

Boston College is a relatively friendly environment for non-smokers, University administrators said.

“Extrapolating from the data that our department has, less than 10 percent of the undergraduates in BC are smokers – and the term ‘smokers’ includes those who

ARTS & REVIEW

Pops on the Heights enchants Conte Forum, B1

FEATURES

See Smokers, A4

Campus hosts parents 1,350 families attend events on campus

BY DAN TONKOVICH

Hokies blank Eagles for first time in 12 years, C1

smoke infrequently,” said Thomas Nary, director of BC Health Services.

This is a small percentage compared to that of the ’80s, when almost a third of BC students smoked, Nary said. He said, however, that was during the time when smoking was permitted in almost all public areas throughout the United States.

For The Heights

An autumn tradition at Boston College as anticipated as tailgating and the changing foliage, Parents Weekend brought over 1,350 families to campus to partake in a variety of programs and events, including presentations from each of BC’s undergraduate school deans, a concert, and for some, a game of corn hole in the Mods.

“From my conversations, parents are enthusiastic this weekend,” said University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. “The parents are delighted to

spend time with their children while gaining a greater understanding of BC, and I am delighted to have the chance to spend time with the families. The weekend allows BC the opportunity to strengthen the bond with families who are members of our great community and who have entrusted their children into our care.”

Scheduled events on Friday included time for parents to visit classes, an opportunity to meet with the deans of BC’s undergraduate schools, an open house showcasing programs and services available on campus, and the annual Pops on the Heights.

Friday also included a welcome address from Leahy, as well as a presentation about the roots and evolution of BC, University facts and figures, and the goals and plans of the University, including an overview of the Institutional Master Plan.

See Parents, A5

This past month marked Boston College’s second annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, a nationwide event that lasts from Sept.

15 until Oct. 15.

While this month has been celebrated nationwide for 22 years, it only began at BC last year through the efforts of Bryan Leyva, BC ’10, and Vice President of Student Affairs Patrick Rombalski, said Eduardo Dorado, co-chair of the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration committee and CSOM ’11.

“Its main goals are to get information to BC students about Hispanic Heritage, to celebrate the different achievements in our history, and the effects of Latinos on American history as a whole,” Dorado said. “Hispanics make up a large part of what America is.”

Hispanic Heritage Month began as a weeklong celebration in 1968, and was expanded to a month in 1988, according to the Library of Congress Web site. The month of September was chosen because a number of Latin American countries celebrate their independence during the month, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala,

and Mexico.

“It gives you the chance to learn about your roots and where you came from,” said Elizabeth Rodriguez, president of the Organization of Latin American Affairs (OLAA) and A&S ’11.

The events for the month are decided upon by the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration committee.

See Heritage, A5

HOKIES TAKE THE DAY

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Boston College lost to the Virginia Tech Hokies 19-0 during Saturday’s game at Alumni Stadium.

Joshua Tree back in business Local bar re-opens door after temporarily losing liquor license for serving minors

Getting to know the Mod’s cutest new resident, D1

BY ROSIE CHANDLER Classifieds, C5 Editorials, A6 Police Blotter, A2 Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down, A7 Weather, A2 Numbers to Know, C2 Box Office, B3 World Record, D4 He Said, She Said, B2 Inside the Locker Room, C2

TAYLOUR KUMPF / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Baldwin donned a sombrero and pancho for the Heritage Month’s kick-off event.

For The Heights

MICHAEL CAPRIO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Students and parents depart from morning mass on Sunday at St. Ignatius Church

On Monday, Sept. 20, Joshua Tree, a sports bar and restaurant in Allston, Mass., resumed business as usual after having its alcohol license temporarily suspended for serving alcohol to minors.

The incident occurred in February, when an investigator for the state’s Alcoholic Beverages and Control Commission (ABCC) discovered four patrons under the age of 21 consuming alcohol on the premises.

When asked to produce a form of iden-

tification, two of the minors presented fake out-of-state driver’s licenses, another presented a fake university identification card, and the last presented an out-of-state driver’s license that did not belong to them, according to the ABCC report.

All four of the minors said that they had been asked to show identification at the door, which is consistent with Joshua Tree policy, according to manager Jeremy Starr.

Although Joshua Tree appealed the

See Joshua Tree, A4

TopFive

Monday, September 27, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

things to do on campus this week

C21 Center Book Series

“Adios Ayacucho”

Tuesday Time: 12 p.m.

Location: O’Neill Library Reserve Room The 10th volume in the C21 / Crossroads series, titled Love One Another: Catholic Reflections on How to Sustain Marriages Today, will be introduced and celebrated at a gathering.

1

Tuesday Time: 8 p.m.

Location: Bonn Studio Theater The Arts and Social Responsibility Project at BC presents Adios Ayacucho, which will be performed by the Peruvian cultural association, Yuyachkani.

2

Preparing for the Journey

Music in the Afternoon

Bigelow CEO Speaks

Wednesday Time: 5:30 p.m.

Location: Murray Room, Yawkey Athletic Center The Council for Women of Boston College presents a panel of young alumnae who will discuss the paths their respective careers took after graduation.

Thursday Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: Gargan Hall, Bapst Library Join the BC music department as it presents a performance of the Schumann Fairy Tales and Bruch Eight Pieces featuring Richard Shaughnessy, Nathaniel Farni, and Sayuri Miyamoto.

Thursday Time: 6 p.m.

Location: Murray Room, Yawkey Athletic Center Cindi Bigelow, BC ’82 and president of Bigelow Tea, will share her advice that she has given CEOs and students on how to develop strong leadership values.

3

4

5

IntheNews

FEATURED ON CAMPUS

Splash to arrive at BC

Gubernatorial agendas feature education issues, report says

Local News State trooper points gun at officer, faces numerous charges

COURTESY OF HANYIN CHENG

A class is taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a part of the Cambridge university’s Splash program.

News Editor

Boston College students are taking the first steps toward hosting a University program that pairs local high school students with college students as teachers.

The program, called Splash, allows local high school students to take “classes” at universities that are taught by college students. These classes can range in subject matter from an explanation of a student’s thesis project to a course in “The Physics of Harry Potter,” or anything in between.

Participating universities have included Northwestern University and, more locally, MIT. Hanyin Cheng, organizer of Splash at BC and A&S ’12, said that he was inspired by MIT’s Splash program and that much of BC’s version will be based on the MIT model.

“I got the idea for Splash [at BC] at the beginning of spring semester,” Cheng said in a previous interview with The Heights. “ Two we e ks a go, I a p proached the MIT Educational Studies Program because I wanted to learn how they plan for this enormous undertaking,” Cheng said. “They were extremely excited about the prospect of a sister Splash

program in Boston.”

The program is scheduled to take place at BC on Nov. 6.

Cheng hopes to get 500 high school students and 120 BC undergraduates to participate.

Cheng, who is conducting this program under the auspices of the Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC), currently has 25 classrooms throughout campus reserved for that date, where the classes will take place.

“Splash is literally going to take over the campus,” Cheng said in an e-mail.

Undergraduates who are interested in participating are asked to attend the information session at 7 p.m. Thursday in Cushing 001, where they will receive more information on how to sign up to teach a class.

Classes taught at MIT’s 2009 Splash program included “Surviving an Apocalypse,” which taught students “what to do with your last hours of freedom if an alien species took over the earth and enslaved the human race.”

Other classes on the 2009 roster include “The Five Cupcakes You’ll Meet in Heaven,” “Introductory Dark Chocolate Tasting,” and “Hardcore College Admissions.”

Classes were organized into the following categories: computer science, humanities, en-

gineering, science, mathematics, arts, and miscellaneous.

Cheng said that this program presents an opportunity for students to find a venue where their academic and social lives intersect.

“Splash helps to bridge the gap between students’ academic and social life because it gives undergraduates a chance to showcase their passions and special interests in a classroom setting,” he said.

“Collectively, the course catalogue will be a reflection of the student body’s diversity of interests as a whole.”

He also praised the program’s ability to aid local high school students.

“Splash is great for local high school students because it provides a rare opportunity for them to be immersed in the college environment for a whole day,” he said.

“They have the chance to explore the campus, connect with the undergraduates, and also take classes in a wide variety of subjects that would never be taught at their high school.”

While MIT’s Splash program required high school students to pay a $30 fee, Cheng said that BC’s program will be free of charge to all high school participants in an effort to attract students and establish the program at BC. 

Police Blotter 9/19/10 – 9/22/10 Sunday, September 19 1:55 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in Corcoran Commons.

The Boston Fire Department responded and the cause of the activation appeared to be a problem with the ventilation system. The system was reset and an electrician will investigate the condition of the fans.

Monday, September 20 3:18 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a student during an athletic event on the Newton Campus.

The subject was transported to a medical facility by ambulance.

Tuesday, September 21 12:28 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided for a BC student. The subject was transported to a medical facility by ambulance.

2:05 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an encounter between an officer and two BC students that occurred off-campus. Contraband was later confiscated and a student was transported to a medical facility in a cruiser due to their level of intoxication.

2:09 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a false form of identifaction confiscated from a BC student at 2000 Commonwealth Ave. 7:48 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a small mulch fire outside of St. Mary’s Hall.

The fire was extinguished without incident or damage.

8:38 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in the Mods. The cause was determined to be burned food on the stove.

The system was reset by a BC electrician.

A Mass. state trooper and Army veteran was arrested early Saturday morning after allegedly driving drunk and crashing his car, pointing a gun at an off-duty Boston police officer, and then running into his house and firing his gun into the ceiling. According to a report by The Boston Globe, Timothy J. Walsh, 41, came running outside and was quickly wrestled to the ground by Boston police officers. Walsh is an 18-year State Police veteran who has done multiple tours in Afghanistan and received the Army Commendation Medal in December 2009.

On Campus Conventional cancer treatment may be harmful, BC study says According to research compiled by Boston College biology professor Thomas Seyfried, whose lab has researched ways to deny energy to cancer cells, the standard treatment for brain cancer – surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy – triggers biological responses that could actually fuel the energy metabolism that supports the disease. Just 3 percent of patients afflicted with the fast-moving brain cancer survive 36 months, the study said. The standard of care for the treatment of the disease has not changed markedly since it was established 50 years ago.

National Florida man drowns attempting to swim across nearby canal DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a South Florida man who bet $50 that he could swim across a canal behind his house drowned while attempting the feat. The Broward County Sheriff ’s Office said in a press release that Timothy Jordan of Dania Beach had been celebrating his birthday when he announced the bet. He would have turned 46 on Tuesday. Deputies say Jordan was drunk when he stripped down to his boxer shorts and jumped into the canal. He made it about halfway across when he started struggling. Divers recovered his body just after 4 a.m.

Voices from the Dustbowl “After the stabbing that occurred over the weekend, do you feel unsafe on campus?”

“There are so many instances of violence today that I am desensitized to such things.”

—Samuel A. Malloy, A&S ’14

Wednesday, September 22 12:12 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an odor of marijuana in Edmond’s Hall. The contraband was confiscated from the room of a BC student.

12:30 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student in Fenwick Hall. The student was transported to the Primary Care Facility by a cruiser and later to a medical facility by ambulance.

“People probably won’t be going to the Mods as much.”

—Meredith Piro, A&S ’14

“I don’t feel any less safe.”

—Halcyon Apy,

A&S ’14

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

TODAY

“Personally, no. I feel like everyone’s exaggerating it.”

—Anne Joseph,

CSOM ’14

65° PM Showers 60°

TUESDAY

75° Rain 64°

WEDNESDAY

76° Showers

University

Thirty-seven states have governors races this fall, and 12 of those states have ballot measures which directly effect colleges, said a report by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Among those who have a stake in the student vote are Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who is running for re-election and has pressed an agenda that calls for colleges to be treated like businesses whose customers are students. New York’s Andrew M. Cuomo, Democratic hopeful for governor and the state’s attorney general, has called for an end to abuses in student-loan practices, according to the report.

BY MICHAEL CAPRIO

FOUR DAY WEATHER FORECAST

59°

THURSDAY

76° Partly Cloudy 57°

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 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 Michael Caprio, 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 Zach Wielgus, 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 Kristen House, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or e-mail review@ 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 Matthew DeLuca, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or e-mail editor@ bcheights.com.

CUSTOMER SERVICE Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact John O’Reilly, 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) 2010. All rights reserved.

CORRECTIONS

In the Sept. 23 article “Concert day presents 47 medical cases,” it was incorrectly reported that 47 students were transported to medical facilities. Rather, 47 were attended to medically.

In the Sept. 9 article “Local arrests reported,” it was incorrectly reported that Travis McCormack was charged for breaking and entering. He was not charged and all proceedings have been dropped.

The Heights

Monday, September 27, 2010

A3

Anyone Caritas threatens to close St. Elizabeth’s got a light?

By Rebecca Kailus

General.

The plan must be approved by the Supreme Judicial Court St. Elizabeth’s Medical Cen- of Massachusetts and the Pubter in Brighton and Carney Hos- lic Health Council. Governor pital in Dorchester may soon be Deval Patrick, and Senators closed, according to a report John Kerry and Scott Brown last week by The Boston Globe. have voiced their support for Caritas Christi Health Care, this plan, and pressed Attorwhich owns St. Elizabeth’s and ney General Martha Coakley Carney along with four other to make recommendations to hospitals, is currently in the the Supreme Judicial Court of middle of negoMassachusetts to tiations to sell approve the sale the non-prof it this fall.

Caritas Christi hospital chain to In July of this Health Care, a Cerberus Capital year, the Office Management, a non-profit Catholic of the Attorney New York forGeneral finished hospital system, prof it equity six hearings firm. currently owns six concerning the Ca r i ta s ex Caritas-Cerecutives told the hospitals including St. berus transacMassachusetts Elizabeth’s Medical t i o n . C o a k l e y Nurses Associaexpected to Center in Brighton. is tion (MNA) last address the Suweek during conpreme Judicial tract talks that Court later this the hospitals may close if the fall. deal with Cerberus fails. Some Caritas Christi Health Care, who attended the contract talks a non-profit Catholic hospital told reporters that the warning system, currently owns six hosof the closures came after MNA pitals including St. Elizabeth’s was pressured to accept pro- Medical Center in Brighton, posed cost cuts by Caritas.

Carney Hospital in Dorchester, MNA declined to comment Norwood Hospital in Norwood, to The Heights.

Good Samaritan Medical CenNegotiations to sell the ter in Brockton, St. Anne’s Caritas hospital chain to Cer- Hospital in Fall River, and Holy berus officially began on May Family Hospital in Methuen.

5, according to the Office of According to the Globe rethe Massachusetts Attorney port, St. Elizabeth’s and CarHeights Staff

Joseph Pasquinelli Smokers at Boston College constitute one of the most detested demographics on campus. They are as hated, if not more hated, than the guys that will not let you into their Mod because you did not bring enough women, or people who can’t hold their liquor.

This hatred is really quite irrational when comparing smokers and the aforementioned hated groups. Smokers do not make a mess of your apartment by spilling beer everywhere.

They are generally a friendly lot and will include you in their activities. And don’t forget that the smell of smoke dissipates much more quickly than the smell of vomit. Why are these other groups more accepted at BC? The smoker at BC who follows the rules is hurting no one but him or herself. When the smoker stands at least 20 feet from the building, anyone that does not want to smell or breathe in smoke has plenty of opportunity to walk around or avoid the smoker. The worst that can happen is a bit of smoke blows into an upstairs apartment window. It is likely that this smoke will blow back out or dissipate by the time the smoker finishes his or her cigarette. If not, the resident of the apartment can simply close the window.

Why are smokers scoffed at and ridiculed? When they smoke, they are subjected to awful treatment. Non-smokers walk as close to them as possible and cough, reminding them how bad it is for them. The non-smoker did not have the natural physiological reaction to smoke; he or she was simply being rude.

Non-smokers also slam their apartment windows when someone is smoking outside. It is not necessary to slam the window.

Gently closing it blocks the smoke smell and does not make the smoker feel as if he is imposing on the non-smoker.

Worst of all is the verbal ridicule. A non-smoker walks outside and remarks to a friend, “It smells like s—t out here,” when the smoker is at least 20 feet away and down wind of the rude person. The ironic part about their ridiculing is that these same people may have a cigarette on the weekends after a few drinks.

Smokers respect the rules and space of the campus and its nonsmokers. Perhaps the non-smokers should respect the choices and feelings of non-smokers.

They are people, after all.

The way we treat smokers can be viewed as an issue of diversity and community. Smokers are a group on campus. They compose less than 10 percent of the student body. As a University, we pride ourselves on being welcoming to those who are from different backgrounds with different interests from the typical BC student. Imagine if we treated other diverse groups on campus as we treat smokers.

BC’s ranking in the diversity and openness categories in the Princeton Review would be even more pathetic than it already is.

We do not need to treat smokers as if they are an essential element of our campus, but we do need to recognize that they are a part of our community and should be treated as such.

A welcoming environment is part of a Catholic campus.

Should not we extend this Christian welcome to all members of our community, smokers and non-smokers alike? If we do, our campus will be a happier (but perhaps not healthier) place, where a person will not be frowned upon for having a cigarette. Next time you are tempted to chastise a smoker, remember that lighting a cigarette will likely not prevent a person from setting the world aflame.

Joseph Pasquinelli is a columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at editor@bcheights.com

Michael Caprio / Heights Editor

St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, along with five other hospitals owned by Caritas Christi, may soon be closed. ney have been the least financially stable of these hospitals due in part to the low-income residents insured by Medicaid, and lack of state programs to completely cover the costs of

medical care.

St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center opened its doors in 1868 to immigrant women, but later expanded its care to the entire community. Today it serves

Brighton and its surrounding communities and supports 1,900 jobs. Many Boston College students are referred to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center by University Health Services. n

Campus hosts documentary screening

Andrew Powell/ Heights Staff

Hundreds turn out for BBQ B y J i H ae L ee For The Heights

The Black Student Forum (BSF) unofficially kicked off its 40th anniversary celebration last Thursday night with a cookout in front of Corcoran Commons.

The event was BSF’s first of the year and was co-sponsored by the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC).

“The purpose of the event was to bring students from various backgrounds together and celebrate diversity,” said Paige Heckathorn, A&S ’11.

The objective of most cultural clubs on campus is to bring diverse people together, she said.

ALC and BSF collaborated on the event once the executive board members of each group discovered that both were planning to hold a unity cookout in front of the Corcoran Commons.

“The ALC has been hosting unity cookouts intermittently,” Heckathorn said. “It has taken place once in a few years. Our goal is to make it an annual event.” The event

resulted in a turnout of about 400-500 people.

Ma ny h a d h e a rd o f t h e event through Facebook invitations, fliers, or from friends.

The students enjoyed meeting others and eating the hot dogs and burgers cooked by chefs from Dining Services.

“There was not a time when the venue was empty,” said Diana Morris, A&S ’11. “Everyone gathered to talk, eat, and take a break from their studies. Some of them stayed the full two hours, from 7 to 9.”

Both Heckathorn and Morris said they were very happy with how the event went.

“People were very respectful,” Morris said. “Hardly anyone left their food trash littered on the ground.”

“Things went quite smoothly,” Heckathorn said. “We had much help from Bureau of Conferences. They helped us contact the BC Dining chefs and provided us with many portable trashcans to use.”

Upcoming events include the ALC Boat Cruise on Oct. 1 and BSF’s first general meeting on Sept. 30. n

Last Tuesday, Boston College played host to the North American premiere of the movie ‘Little Town of Bethlehem.’ The documentary film, which tells the story of three Middle Eastern men and their personal efforts at promoting nonviolence, was shown in the Vanderslice Hall Cabaret Room. The screening was part of BC’s celebration of the International Day of Peace, which also occurred on Tuesday, according to a press release from the Office of News and Public Affairs. The film features first-person accounts by Ahmad Al’Azzah, a Palestinian Muslim; Sami Awad, a Palestinian Christian; and Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli Jew, and their respective approachs to a nonviolent way of life. All three were in the audience at Tuesday’s presentation.

The Heights

A4

Monday, September 27, 2010

Commuter students on the decline, administrators say Commuters, from A1

a commuter for their entire college experience.” have anywhere to store belongings The fact that the University has on campus, an issue that has been few commuter students does not addressed by putting lockers in the negate the need for a commuter basement of Lyons Hall. student lounge, Horton said.

“The life of a commuter at “I think it is vital that we conBC was indeed an invisible and tinue to make efforts to ensure sometimes lonely that all BC students, “It is true that experience,” Horton including commutsaid. ers, have space that Admissions “We made sevtheir academic admits very few suits eral improvements and social needs,” including the com- commuters, often he said. “I would muter lounge, lockcomno more than five encourage ers which are now in muter students to or six each year.” use the space and the lobby of Lyons basement, and commake their presence muter lunches where known.”

— Sheilah Shaw we brought them Recently, the Horton, together to build a University has been community.” facing space conDean, Student Today the Unistraints due to the Development versity is largely resrenovation of Gasidential. “It is true that admissions son Hall, which has caused many admits very few commuters, often organizations to have a difficult no more than five or six each year,” time finding places to hold meetHorton said. ings.

“However, the number shifts In the evenings, the commuter depending upon individual and student lounge is open for club family circumstances and has use. at times gone up to 50 or so on “Because commuters tend to campus at any given time. For only need space during the day, example, a student may choose to we have opened the lounge to commute for a semester or a year clubs and organizations in the due to family or financial circum- evenings for meetings or small stances, or they may choose to be group activities,” Horton said. n

Andrew Powell / Heights staff

Clubs and organizations on campus often use the Commuter Student Lounge in 21 Campanella Way as a workspace during the nighttime hours.

Stopping smoking not a priority for Health Services Smokers, from A1

tries to dissuade students from smoking. “We do annually celeNary said that another reason brate the Great American Smokethe number of smokers has re- out,” Nary said. “We are celebratmained consistently low since the ing it on Nov. 18 this year.” early 2000s is that smoking is not Since BC has strictly prohibso much of a social activity any- ited smoking in its residential more. “Students would often drink areas since 2002, students have when they party because drinking abided by the policy, which is associated with socializing but states that no one may smoke smoking is not,” he said. within 20 feet of a University Henry Hump ro p e rty, Hu m phreys, director of said. “Every “Marijuana and phreys ResLife, said that year, we do have the school asks in- alcohol are much very few students coming freshmen who complain that every year whether more grave issues their roommates or they would mind suitemates smoke than smoking. living with smoker in their dorms, but Smoking is not these complaints roommates. Out of 2,241 students of the much of an issue at are quite infreClass of 2014 who quent,” he said.

BC.” responded to the “Smoking is rarely questionnaire, 1,952 an issue in resireplied that they did dential areas.”

— Brent Ericson, not want to live with This is not to smokers. Only 23 of say that BC is Associate Dean of them answered that Community Standards completely devoid they would not mind of complaints reat all. lated to smoking.

Smoking is hardly a disciplin- Some smokers feel that the ary issue that faces the Office of University is not accommodatthe Dean for Student Develop- ing enough to smokers’ needs. ment (ODSD), said Brent Ericson, Jessica Yoon, A&S ’13, said that associate dean of community there could be more ashtrays at standards. “Marijuana and alco- areas around campus. “There hol are much more grave issues should be one in front of every than smoking,” he said. “Smoking dorm,” she said. is not much of an issue at BC.” Others complained about the Due to the small number of lack of covered areas that are smokers, there is hardly any group designated smoking areas. “If program within the school that it is raining or snowing outside,

it is really inconvenient to stand 20 feet away from the building,” said Luis Sanchez, A&S ’12.

“If BC wants students to stand 20 feet from the building, they should have benches farther away from the dorms or designated smoking sections that have some sort of cover.”

Some students disagree, arguing that smokers should have to put up with the weather just like everyone else. “When I’m outside, I have to deal with the rain, too,” said Cat Briggs, A&S ’12.

“If they want to smoke, they should cope with the inconveniences.”

One student, Zane Crute, CSOM ’12, joked, “If it is raining, they can get umbrellas.”

The complaints of coverseeking students have originated from residents of Walsh Hall. “It’s not as bad on weekdays as it is on weekends,” said Vicki Oh, CSOM ’13.

“But on weekends, about 15 to 20 people stand outside of the entrance to Walsh Hall smoking, and you can definitely smell it from the inside.”

Because of Walsh’s new policy that forces students to use only the front entrance, smokers congregate in front of that single entrance, Oh added. “If the other entrance was open, it would lessen the amount of congestion in the front and it would be easier for non-smokers to get inside the building,” she said. n

kevin hou / Heights staff

Preventing marijuana and alcohol consumption are more of an issue than tobacco smoking, ODSD officials said.

Joshua Tree braves 10 days with suspended liquor license Joshua Tree, from A1

weekends of our busiest season].”

As a result of the suspencharges, the ABCC found them guilty and suspended their li- sion, Joshua Tree is attempting quor license for 14 days – 11 of to check identifications more those days are being waived thoroughly at the door. Only on the condition that the bar a valid U.S. driver’s license or passport will be remains violationfree for the next “Don’t do it. Don’t accepted, and all identifications will two years. even bother.” be scanned at the However, Joshdoor now, not just ua Tree still had those belonging to to serve three days — Jeremy Staff, people who appear of suspension, as well as seven other Manager, Joshua Tree to be under the age of 30. days that had been “We have to be a little more held in abeyance from violaon our toes,” Starr said. tions that occurred in 2009.

Chris Rosenmeyer, A&S ’11, The suspension came unexpectedly, according to Starr. said he was surprised by the “We were given about a week’s news. He was aware that Joshua notice before the suspension Tree was a popular place to took place,” he said. “It was consume alcohol among patrons very bad timing [because the under the age of 21, he said, but suspension spanned two full was surprised because “under-

age drinking happens at almost every bar in Boston.”

“Joshua Tree is one of my favorite bars,” Rosenmeyer said. “It’s a good place to meet locals and students from other schools and to get away from the BC scene. Hopefully they will consider the suspension and stay out of trouble.”

The ABCC lifted the suspension on Monday, and alcohol is now being served regularly again.

“We apologize for the inconvenience that this caused, and hope to regain the support of the 21-plus community,” Starr said.

When asked if he had a comment for individuals under the age of 21 seeking to gain entrance into the bar, Starr said, “Don’t do it. Don’t even bother.” n

Sang lee / Heights staff

Joshua Tree on Commonwealth Ave. was known by some students as a popular place for minors to consume alcohol.

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

A5

Parents Weekend offers events for families Parents, from A1

Parents were afforded the opportunity to ask questions of the president, a majority of which were focused on the Master Plan and concerns about scholarship funding and endowment investment performance.

Saturday’s events were arranged around BC’s football game against Virginia Tech with tailgating and other family-oriented activities. The weekend was brought to a close on Sunday at a family liturgy in Conte Forum, followed by a light continental breakfast.

University administrators said

they were satisfied with the orchestration of the events and that parents were pleased with the offerings for the weekend.

“Everything has been running very smoothly, and parents have expressed nothing but positive responses,” said Nicole Huard Daly, associate director of programs and events for the Office

of the Dean for Student Development (ODSD). “Planned since February, the whole event is really a team effort between many departments at BC to make this the best weekend possible.

We could not be more pleased.”

“The climate this weekend is fabulous, creating a feeling of comfort among many,” said Katherine Mac-

Donald, manager of donor relations for ODSD. “Parents are engaged and interested, but that is not surprising as parent engagement with Boston College is exceptional. Parents are largely very supportive of the University and its mission.”

Many parents also expressed satisfaction with the weekend’s events.

“I have had a great time at my first Parents Weekend,” said Vivek Badami, parent of Nanditha Badami, A&S ’11. “I enjoyed the Pops on the Heights concert and the football game, even though the outcome was not what I desired. Overall, I was impressed with the events and had a wonderful time.” 

Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations underway Heritage, from A1

“Members from the different Latin cultural clubs, including the Brazilian Club of BC, CubanAmerican Students Association, Puerto Rican Association, and the International Club of BC … are represented in the committee as well,” Dorado said.

The kick-off event, Latin Soul Arts Fest, took place in O’Neill Plaza on Sept. 15 and offered students Latin foods, as well as dance, art, and poetry exhibitions.

“People had a good time,” said Stephanie Gonzalez, committee co-chair and A&S ’12.

“There were a lot of freshmen who have never been exposed to this before, who enjoyed the event.”

The next event, Conexion Latina, is planned for Tuesday, Sept. 28, and will aim to celebrate Latino professionals.

“Its goal is to connect Hispanic and Latino people who have succeeded in their profession and goals and expand this discussion to the BC community,” Gonzalez said.

Committee members are hoping for people of every ethnicity to share in the celebration. “We are hoping to make the University aware of what it means to be a Hispanic in America,” Gonzalez said. “We want BC to learn about our culture and celebrate

it as a whole. case different student groups “I often get asked the ques- performing Hispanic Latino tion, ‘So you have to be Latino heritage,” she said. “We are atto come?’ We are not trying to tempting to get Latino designers segregate the student popula- to come as well. Self expression tion because we want non-La- is an important theme of this tinos to celebrate with us,” she event. It should be fun. We ensaid. courage everyone to come out.”

Rodriguez said the Hispanic Since last year’s celebraHeritage Month events are de- tion, the events have been well signed to engage attended by the the entire student s t u d e n t b o d y, “Everyone is body in broad quesGonzalez said. tions about race in welcome whether “Last year, we had A m e r i ca . “ Ma ny a really big turnof the people that you are Hispanic, out and that had attend the events African-American, especially to do are Latinos, but with our leader, white, whatever.” Bryan Leyva,” she it’s not just about Latinos,” Rodrisaid. guez said.

“He had pas“Issues that we — Eduardo Dorado, sion and was a viCo-chair, Hispanic sionary. This year, discuss like immigration don’t just Heritage Month and we want to have affect Latinos, but the same response.

CSOM ’11 people of other deWe are still learnscents as well. The ing the ropes, but main goal is just to be making it hope to have just as big of a open to the BC community.” turnout to our events.”

The month will come to a Dorado said that the student close with what Gonzalez and body responded well to this Dorado hope will be the most year’s first event. “I feel like stuattended event, the fashion dents want to learn more, and show. “Last year, the fashion that’s why we do it, so people show was a big thing,” Dorado can celebrate our heritage with said. “We are hoping to have us,” he said. “It is not limited anther big turnout.” to us. We want everyone to celGonzalez encouraged all ebrate Latino culture. Everyone students to come and enjoy the is welcome whether you are Hisevening. panic, African-American, white, “The fashion show will show- whatever.” 

SANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF

The campus celebrated the kickoff of Hispanic Heritage Month two weeks ago with a festival in O’Neill Plaza.

Stabbed student remains hospitalized, in good condition

MICHAEL CAPRIO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The corner of Lake St. and Commonwealth Ave., where BCPD officers arrested four individuals Saturday morning.

Stabbing, from A1 scene several minutes after the stabbing.

Hegarty was still on the scene at the time, Quinn said. “He was like he had been there for a few minutes and people were crowded around him,” Quinn said.

Quinn called the BC Police Department (BCPD) upon realizing that no one else had. He said that the students on the scene seemed confused, and that some had seemingly pursued

Hegarty’s assailants.

“Then there was another kid running around saying, ‘Have you seen the kids who were chasing those kids?’” Quinn said.

King said that the four individuals detained by BCPD were not apprehended in the Mods.

“Four non-students were taken into custody at Lake Street and Commonwealth Ave. No BC students were taken into custody,” he said.

King said that the stabbing did not have any effect on se-

curity for Saturday’s football game against Virginia Tech.

Dunn said this stabbing was not cause for concern about campus security.

“BC is a safe campus and we view this as an anomalous issue,” he said. “Boston College police will heighten patrols this evening [Saturday] just to allay any concerns among students.”  Michael Caprio, News Editor, contributed to this report.

A6

The Heights

Editorials

Etymologies

Student security faces debate

Monday, September 27, 2010

Snoozerfan (snoo•zer•fan) (n) 1: A Superfan who, due to oversleeping or alcohol-related drowsiness, misses the

football game. 2: A Superfan who leaves after the first half to go take a nap.

Example: That guy’s such a Snoozerfan, he’s never even made it to kickoff.

After recent security changes and the violent incident Saturday morning, what is the state of campus security and what can be done?

What happened in the Mods early Saturday morning caused hardly a ripple in the weekend’s agenda of family-oriented events – though one wouldn’t have guessed that from watching the nightly news. The stabbing of Jeremiah Hegarty, CSOM ’11, did not give the Boston College Police Department (BCPD) cause for extra security concern during Saturday’s football game against Virginia Tech, BC Police Chief John King said, despite the large crowds of tailgaters and the fact that Hegarty’s assailant was, and still is, unidentified and at-large. We encourage this community to take the time to consider the facts, and not to react hastily to a perhaps misperceived threat.

We encourage our readers to differentiate between this incidence of campus crime and other violent crimes that have taken place on nearby college campuses over the past several days. Some news coverage of the stabbing has been particularly unhelpful in this regard. NECN ran a piece under the headline “BC students on edge after stabbing” that did not include interviews with anyone identified as a student. The report also repeatedly drew comparisons between the incident on our campus and two stabbings at Regis College in Waltham, before quickly noting that the crimes were completely unrelated. We feel that cable news coverage of this stabbing has been sensationalistic and unconstructive. Students hardly seemed to be “on edge” about the incident, and in fact there was at least one large gathering in the Mods last night that was broken up by BCPD. We, as BC students, know how uncharacteristic this weekend’s events are of this campus. If there is a reason

for students to be concerned about their security on campus, that must be communicated clearly. For now, though, the students we are speaking to seem to know that they are their own best allies. If there’s someone on campus or at a party who seems ready to cause trouble, take notice. We want our campus to remain a place where everyone is both welcome and safe.

Members of the University community will undoubtedly ask over the next several weeks whether there was a failure in campus security, and whether preventative measures need to be taken. The Heights, operating from the current body of facts, feels that there was likely little that could have been done by the University to prevent this unfortunate incident of violence.

More could have been done, however, to communicate the facts of the matter, as they were available on Saturday morning, to students. If this was not an occasion for the implementation of the Emergency Notification System, The Heights is not sure why we have such a system, other than to be able to say so.

A test of the Emergency Notification System is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 29, according to an article published in the Boston College Chronicle. We hope that concurrent with this test will be discussions of when it is proper to implement the Emergency Notification System.

We encourage the University to either reconsider how to utilize this system, or to otherwise develop another system that would more effectively convey important security information to students even when the University does not perceive an immediate threat.

The ordinary means of communication are not sufficient in extraordinary circumstances.

Beat Cancer a goal for all Eagles

This year, there is less emphasis on the successful Beat Cancer campaign. Eagles should continue to support this cause.

As Boston College begins its official ACC season play, there has been no lack of Superfan shirts on campus during, and often long after, game days. Unfortunately, another popular yellow student shirt seems to have fallen out of fashion among the average Superfan. Last year’s Beat Cancer campaign, led by Mark Herzlich after he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in 2009, has slowly fizzled since the end of the 2009 football season.

At last year’s games, students donned the research-supporting shirts and blacked their eyes in solidarity with a teammate and classmate in need. Now that Herzlich is back in the games as well as on campus as a full-time student, why have the Eagles let down their support?

The Beat Cancer campaign, which was a joint effort between the Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC) and BC Athletics, worked to raise awareness for cancer, as well as raise money for Ewing’s sarcoma research through the sale of Beat Cancer eye black and t-shirts. The proceeds were directed to the American Cancer Society. This effort lasted all of last year, but dwindled after Herzlich announced that his cancer was in remission.

Beyond raising awareness and funding, members of the BC community are actively working to create and refine new drugs and treatments for leukemia, lung cancer, and other terminal illnesses. The work done everyday in the Merkert Chemistry Center

laboratories brings us a step closer to finding a cure for these diseases, and many undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers are making key discoveries toward this cause.

There are many outlets for students to support cancer research on campus besides volunteering their time in laboratories. The annual Relay for Life is an event that supports the American Cancer Society and is organized by BC students every year.

It offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer and at BC, the event, which is held in the Plex, attracts hundreds of students each year. A once-a-year event, however, should not be the only event on campus that allows students to support the cause of beating cancer.

The Heights believes that the maxim “men and women for others” should not captivate the attention of the student body only when a specific personality is available as a rallying point. Herzlich’s recovery should not mean the end of Beat Cancer.

Every year, new Superfans arrive on campus, and we feel that supporting this cause should become part of the traditional Superfan indoctrination.

If every student makes a firm commitment to the fight against cancer, be it by volunteering or buying a Beat Cancer t-shirt, we will be that much closer to fulfilling our goal of finding a cure, thereby living up to the standard of service that is the norm on this campus.

The Heights The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Matthew DeLuca, Editor-in-Chief John O’Reilly, General Manager Darren Ranck, Managing Editor

Contributors: Kevin DiCesare, Diana Nearhos, Alex Manta

Samantha Cohen/ Heights Illustration

Letters to the Editor I’ve fallen and I can’t get into my dorm Boston College students have always been talking, both among themselves and to administrators, about changing the way we swipe into dorms. In the past, we have asked administrators to allow students to swipe into more dormitories than just whatever collective part of campus they call home, such as the three College Road dorms. Whether the request was for something like all of Lower Campus or every dorm on both campuses, what we wanted was more access to get inside.

The reason students wanted that was for safety purposes, so students who were being pursued or attacked could find shelter more easily.

How did University administrators respond to that?

By doing the exact opposite of what students wanted and making it even harder to access their own building.

This year, students can only swipe into one “front” door of their accessible group of buildings, with the exception of a few dorms like Gabelli, which have two such doors.

Picture this: A BC student is being pursued by a

strange man at 1 a.m. As you can only swipe into your dorm after midnight, there is literally only one door on the entire campus that she can use her card to swipe into. Even if she is at her building, she might have to run all the way around it to get to it. That is just absurd.

The Office of Residential Life informed us that the purpose of this was so that people who did not belong in the building would only have one access point and therefore make the building safer. However, the obvious result happened: students propping the doors. I rarely even head to the front door since the doors are propped so frequently. Now the people who do not belong do not even have to bother trying to get someone to let them in.

The new policy is a complete misstep by the University. That its true purpose is to ease every building into the “test” program in Walsh is, of course, just my opinion.

Scott Schultz A&S ’11

MFA college night entertainment a success Cassandra Duncanson Within 15 minutes of the Museum of Fine Arts starting its MFA College Night on Sept. 23, tickets were sold out for the surprise concert that was to take place within the next two hours. The only information that was revealed was that the performer was a local, famous artist.

Who could it be? By listening hard enough and talking to the right people, it wasn’t hard to find out – Sammy Adams made his way to the Museum of Fine Arts.

The doors to Calderwood Courtyard opened promptly at 8:30 p.m., but there was no musician on stage for another half hour. The crowd couldn’t contain its excitement.

Though to begin with there were only 50 to 70 people, bodies were shoved next to what was presumed to be the stage – composed of speakers and a turntable for the deejay.

And suddenly it was a flashback to watching Nick Cannon in Drumline. Dressed in his blue and white letterman jacket and white cap turned sideways, G Curtis strutted across the stage after a quick microphone check. He soon opened his

mouth, and the crowd went wild. His clear, lyrical voiced echoed across the courtyard. “Party all night,” he sang, and the sea of hands waved in the air. Fans danced in grass, intending to do as he said. As his voice echoed through the speakers, girls’ hearts were melting, and the entire crowd was smiling and calling out for his music.

“Are you ready for Sammy?” He cried. The crowd screamed in reply and whipped their necks around wildly, looking for him. G Curtis left the stage, and DJ J. Cash went on to scratch his records. The crowd continued searching until 10 minutes later, when they realized the figures briskly walking toward the courtyard weren’t just fans who made their way in. Throats were screamed raw as G Curtis, Ben Wisner (Sammy’s brother), and Sammy Adams himself grabbed a mic and headed on stage.

Sammy slid across stage, reaching for every hand within grasp. The crowd had doubled – they had suddenly realized who was actually performing. “I’m comin’ up, I’m comin’ up on it, running airlines from L.A. to Boston,” he rapped – and that night, you knew he was in Boston.

His stage presence was incred-

Cassandra Duncanson is a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Readers Note: 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.

Business and Operations

Editorial Kaleigh Polimeno, Copy Editor Michael Caprio, News Editor Zach Wielgus, Sports Editor Jacquelyn Herder, Features Editor Kristen House, Arts & Review Editor Daniel Martinez, Marketplace Editor Hilary Chassé, Opinions Editor Ana Lopez, Special Projects Editor Alex Trautwig, Photo Editor Margaret Tseng, Layout Editor

ible – he was just happy to be on stage, doing what he loves. All night he jumped, and smiled, never faltering in his words. Though he may “hate college,” he sang for Boston’s students and they made noise, just as he called out between every song. He wanted them to “knock the vases off” the stands at the museum, and the crowd was intent on doing just that. It isn’t often that you see a performer so happy to be on stage.

The incredibleness of the show put on by Sammy Adams was evident when the sprinkler system of the MFA came on, and the crowd was reluctant to move. Some students basked in the excitement, while others rushed to find a dry section of the crowd. Sammy never stopped singing, and the crowd didn’t leave.

The MFA couldn’t have chosen a performer more wisely; the show Sammy Adams put on was a sight not to be missed out on. And certainly the people who didn’t get tickets but found their way to surrounding windows thought the same.

Michael Saldarriaga, Graphics Editor Christina Quinn, Online Manager Laura Campedelli, Multimedia Coodinator Brooke Schneider, Assoc. Copy Editor DJ Adams, Asst. Copy Editor Patrick Gallagher, Assoc. News Editor Taylour Kumpf, Asst. News Editor Maegan O’Rourke, Assoc. Sports Editor Paul Sulzer, Asst. Sports Editor Kristopher Robinson, Asst. Features Editor

Zachary Jason, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Allison Therrien, Asst. Arts & Review Editor Matt Palazzolo, Asst. Marketplace Editor Kevin Hou, Asst. Photo Editor Lindsay Grossman, Asst. Layout Editor Rachel Gregorio, Asst. Graphics Carrie McMahon, Editorial Assistant Zachary Halpern, Executive Assistant

Joelle Formato, Business Manager David Givler, Advertising Manager Brynne Lee, Outreach Coordinator Brendan Quinn, Systems Manager Madeline Demoulas, Local Sales Manager Daniel Ottaunick, Collections Manager James Gu, Asst. Ads Manager Dara Fang, Business Assistant

The Heights

Monday, September 27, 2010

A7

Opinions

Call the feds, it’s El Pres

Thumbs Up Taking a stand – The Athletics Department made their feelings very clear during the Virginia Tech game this weekend. Not only did Spaz send out a letter, but the marching band refused to even play the traditional first down music. Hopefully our sailors’ mouths will remain squeaky clean in time to welcome our rivals from the Midwest.

“I might” – Perhaps someone should retool the Under Armour advertisement played on the Jumbotron when we’re down 19-0. No, we did not protect this house. We actually left the front door wide open and had our televisions stolen, so we’d appreciate it if you didn’t salt open wounds.

Parental Superfans – The campus was invaded this past weekend by hundreds of Peter Pans because, despite the scores of parents attending the tailgate Saturday, there wasn’t an adult in sight.

Some cringed, some cheered, but all got to see a new side of Dad after his second or third shotgunned Keystone.

Ah, family bonding. It’s a beautiful thing.

Owls – Whoever does their P.R. has been working on overtime. With a new blog, hungoverowls.tumblr.com and a feature film, Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’Hoole (which is, incidentally, the best movie title ever) these adorably odd looking birds are having a real hoot.

Mums – Nothing says fall like these hardy little plants.

The floral BC’s all over campus have signaled the changing of the seasons more accurately than any weatherman, moving from tulips in the spring to impatiens in the summer, and, now that the days are slipping under 70, mums have made their appearance. They’re the New England version of Punxsutawney Phil.

Thumbs Down Scalping – After the Kid Cudi ticket frenzy, students are gearing up to make very profitable swaps on tickets for the slightly important game this weekend. TU/TD is all for the entrepreneurial spirit that is the American way, but sometimes it amounts to little more than plain extortion.

Hump week – It’s not the warm-up classes anymore and not quite time for midterms, but all professors seem to be on the same schedule anyways. Is there a rule that a graded assignment must be due this Friday?

Segways – Those showing parents the beautiful sights of the Back Bay or Faneuil Hall had to be wary of the stampede, or more accurately, pileup of Segways that have overtaken the sidewalks.

Boston is not a city designed for slow motorized vehicles, and if you’re too lazy to take a walking tour, that’s why they invented duck tours.

Katy Perry – This sassy songstress might have pushed limits with her new single “Peacock” (it’s about as subtle as it’s name), but the real nail in her coffin was her censored and scandalous performance on Seasame Street. Really.

CJ Gustafson A 33-year-old man is scouring Facebook for pictures of female, teenage college students. He encourages girls who attend schools in the Boston area to send him semi-nude pictures of themselves in lingerie (thongs are preferable in order to show off what he calls their “cans”), offering cash for whoever is the hottest each week. If they’re interested, he also really wants to take kids on Spring Break this year.

There will be a lot of alcohol and everyone is going to party with him.

But don’t worry, it’s not creepy. It’s just El Pres, or David Portnoy, of Boston’s Barstool Sports.

For years, this Sam Adams bandwagoner / wannabe has gained large popularity throughout New England and the Greater Boston area for his blog, boston.barstoolsports.com.

The site contains countless videos, pictures, and college humor topics, accompanied by his degrading commentary and the discussion of viewers. In terms of demographics, he targets teenagers and college students, as well as Boston sports fans.

Besides the perverted, and almost obsessive, exposure of women and female teenagers from this far-removed from college, married man, he does find time to harp on the negative qualities of others. Hate has the power to unite people. Introducing a focal point for everyone to rally around and collectively detest can bolster many successful movements. El Pres, in this situation, has consistently attempted to tear down Boston College.

After the trolley accident last year on Commonwealth Avenue that involved hockey players being driven by a sober driver, El Pres wrote on June 25, “BC thinks they’re so smart. So far above everybody else.

They just have answers for everythe BC student who is arrogant. It’s thing don’t they huh? ... Well let me just drivel coming from the mouth ask you this? What did the gender of a narcissistic man who never test come back as? Was the driver grew up and begs for others to lismale or female? Female right?” And ten to him. The site is littered with such was his reasoning behind the pictures of himself with his shirt accident: Because the driver hapoff, at a bar with girls, trying out a pened to be female, it was therefore new hairdo, and talking about how her fault. Trying to defend our stugood-looking he thinks he is. But dents, in his mind, demonstrates our El Pres doesn’t realize he shouldn’t call others arrogant when he is just self-believed superiority.

On July 22, El Pres wrote, “Ha, projecting his own insecuritypical BC. All they do is talk ties through demonstrat[expletive] about how classy they ing the same arrogance he are and how they can’t get good accuses BC students of exemplifying. In short, the recruits because of their academic requirements, blah, blah, blah. Hey self-promotion and hypocnewsflash the reason BC can’t get risy on boston.barstoolrecruits is because nobody wants sports is sickening. to play in front of the worst fans in So El Pres, I know that you’re really up on the college football. That’s why kids pick UConn and everywhere college scene, even though else over BC.” Disregarding you should have a real job his unsubstantiated knock by now, so you’ll probat fanhood and utter lack ably run into this column. of grammatical abilities, You’ll also have nothing one would be hardelse to talk about and pressed to find a decide to rip this colsignificant number umn apart. Go ahead. In of students who fact, I encourage you to. chose UConn Because it’s only going to over BC. reinforce your ignorance These are by way of your obscene, only a few half-brained, personalexamples of El ized attacks. But at Pres’ disdain least come up with for our school. something new But it’s diffibefore you tear cult to pinpoint me down because what exactly I go to BC. Yes, has made him so I’m from Boston. angry at us over the Yes, I am a Suyears. Everything perfan. Yes, I go to he finds that menbusiness school. Yes, tions BC, in any I own a few articles capacity, whether of J. Crew clothing. it be a club video So as Eminem said in attempting to atthe critically acclaimed tract freshmen to movie 8 Mile, “Now tell join or a chant at these people something a football game, they don’t already know Rachel Gregorio / Heights Illustration he blows it out of about me.” proportion, picking apart each detail to expose or CJ Gustafson is a staff columnist for fabricate some flaw in BC and its The Heights. He welcomes comments at students. opinions@bcheights.com.

But at the end of the day, it’s not

Show and tell, the college edition

Jocelyn Rousey It started out a bit like show and tell. Our theology professor brought a suitcase to class full of various objects (mostly clothing) that she had acquired throughout her travels in the Middle East. Diligently, she went through each item, familiarizing the class with the traditional dress of cultures that, for most students, exist only in faraway countries or sensational media stories.

She started with caps and headscarves, proceeding to veils and long loose robes. She put each item on and modeled it a bit before taking it off and passing it around. It was elementary school show and tell all over again. Except, being intelligent college students in a comparative religion class, we could guess what was at the bottom of the suitcase. She didn’t have to tell us, though she did remark on the rising tension in the room.

When she put the burqa on, the blue fabric clashed with the blackboard behind her, not just because of the color, but also because a classroom is sort of the last place you expect to see that particular item.

A few students shifted in their seats, visibly uncomfortable. Like a mother reassuring a child about what’s in the shadows under the bed, our professor joked grimly that no, she hadn’t become a terrorist.

Perhaps more deserving of that grim humor is the fact that she even felt the need to make such an obvious statement, that there was enough apprehension in

Party Time

BY BEN VADNAL

the air that she had to dispel it. Sure, it’s natural to be wary of the unfamiliar, but as students at a prominent university, we’re better than that, aren’t we?

Let me back up a bit and explain where I’m coming from.

I spent the summer in New York learning the ins and outs of the 24hour news cycle. One of the first things I learned is that the media is not an industry concerned with educating the public about complex issues or with helping to reconcile opposing parties or cultures. Rather, the industry’s obsession with ratings and online traffic leads to overt simplifications and shallow analysis. Whole issues are reduced to sound-bytes and catchy headlines, and it is these, more than any other factors, that determine whether you win or lose the game of modern media.

Needless to say, it wasn’t long before I was fed up with the whole business.

More specifically, I felt the black and white dichotomies applied so readily in the media, often along partisan lines, were a mark of irresponsibility on the part of the people whose job it was to guide and shape national debate.

Dichotomies are a dangerous, ill-fitting model by which to explain the complexities of a rapidly globalizing world where we are increasingly likely to come into contact with other cultures and worldviews, sometimes violently so. Moreover, those simplifications are too easily corrupted into an “us” vs. “them” mindset, the sort of thinking that inspires people to fly planes into buildings, burn holy books, or even simply to obstruct legislation on partisan grounds.

By the end of the summer, I was more than ready to get back to college classes, where people cite textbooks instead of the blogosphere and where professors will call students out for unsupported claims. I readily traded in 24-hour news style analy-

sis for the 3-credit, hour type of analysis.

I admit with a certain amount of wry humor that embracing the BC curriculum thus is a bit ironic on my part.

My very first column for The Heights, written way back when I was just a little sophomore, critiqued the fact that many of BC’s core classes were steeped in a Western, Christian bias and that there weren’t enough options for students who wanted to explore beyond that.

While I still maintain that it’s easy to spend four years at BC without branching out beyond that tradition, I recognize now that there is a fair amount of personal responsibility involved. There are plenty of classes at BC asking important questions and tackling complex issues; the trick is gearing yourself up to take them, to be enthusiastic about them, and to not shy away from them. Props, then, to professors willing to put a burqa on in class or to drop loaded questions about, say, the feasibility of reconciling vastly different cultural traditions to find common ethical standards on which the world can agree. These are the sorts of experiences I was after as a sophomore, though I didn’t quite know how to adequately articulate that desire at the time. They’re also what I’ve come to realize are sorely lacking in the national media and debate.

The optimist in me hopes that despite this, we students can at least take it upon ourselves to confront the complex and the unfamiliar and to not get jumpy at the site of a bit of fabric. Because in the end, what’s more discomforting than a professor donning a burqa is the realization that we were so uncomfortable with the idea in the first place.

Jocelyn Rousey is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.

All bets are off

William Mooney Sloneker On Sept. 11, Pete Rose appeared on the field of a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium for just the second time since his banishment from the sport 21 years ago due to evidence showing he bet on baseball. Commissioner Bud Selig temporarily stayed the ban so that the Cincinnati Reds, Rose’s primary team, could honor him on the 25th anniversary of his recordbreaking 4,192nd hit – a feat which seems practically untouchable.

An irony followed the celebration, however, for Rose did not stay for the entire game. Where did he go? Twenty-three miles down the Ohio River, to a Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, for a roast in his honor.

Rose commenced his decadence with arrogant denials of the substantiated attacks on his sportsmanship until 2004, when he released an autobiography offering his concession to the truth. He has since undergone psychiatric therapy for his gambling addiction and appeared at various venues signing memorabilia with the words, “I’m sorry I bet on baseball.”

As Rose sunk ever lower with each passing year, the gaming industry that has marred his reputation continued to flourish. From the dawn of Indian and riverboat casinos to the blossoming Internet gambling scene, legalized gaming has realized more success today than ever before. In 2007, the American Gaming Association estimated the industry’s total revenue to be $92.27 billion that year.

Gambling has also become more pervasive and accessible than ever. All but two states (Utah and Hawaii) permit some form of gaming, and online gaming outlets put the next bet just a click away.

Besides growth and expansion in the past, the industry has benefited from a change in public perception. What the American people once denounced as a sin they now largely view as just another form of recreation. Additionally, the media has taken to glorifying and glamorizing it, from The World Series of Poker broadcast to feature films such as 21 and Ocean’s 11.

Oddly enough, the financial strength and tacit embracement of gambling does not necessarily correlate with a complete change in attitudes. According to a 2008 Pew survey, while only a minority of Americans view gambling as “morally wrong,” approval of legalized gambling has declined since 1989. Additionally, 70 percent of people said that legalized gambling encourages people to gamble more than they can afford.

The public has grown to tolerate gambling, but not enough to approve of it. These same mixed feelings have couched the gaming industry in a complex web of policies. States generously “allow” gambling while eagerly reaping the benefits of hundreds of millions of tax dollars (some argue that states are even addicted to gambling). States most frequently use the tax dollars for education, an investment that would seemingly undermine local gaming institutions. Casinos and racetracks create hundreds of thousands of jobs across America, yet every employee’s paycheck is more or less financed by the losses of his neighbors.

While acknowledged as a legitimate form of entertainment, Americans imbue gambling with a moral complexity distinctly different from the other “sins” – such as tobacco or prostitution – that are painted in Manichean terms. Gambling seems risky and irresponsible in practice, but it affords us more jobs and greater tax receipts. It has become a sort of necessary evil, and that still evokes some unease.

Rose typifies this ambivalent relationship with legalized gaming. Two weeks ago, when he took the mic at his roast, Rose delivered a heartfelt apology to his former teammates and then broke drown crying. Nobody can doubt that he has changed dramatically, but does redemption seem likely for him? Not any time soon, if ever.

But how will society address these infractions in the future, in a future informed by the tacit acceptance of gambling? The nation has undergone a drastic transformation in the past half century, to the satisfaction of gaming magnates, but the collective conscience has been slow to evolve.

We lack a clear and consistent outlook on gambling. The issue definitely has its complexities and its nuances, but the current public message remains in disarray. Whether we ultimately embrace or demonize legalized gaming, a disgraced Rose waits – with all his successes, failures and newfound candor – for some ever tentative forgiveness.

Willaim Mooney Sloneker is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.

A8

The Heights

Monday, September 27, 2010

ARTS&REVIEW THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

Section

B

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Call me desperate ALLISON THERRIEN Whoever decided to put Joan Rivers on E!’s Fashion Police was an evil genius.

I mean let’s be honest – the only person on that judging panel with fashion credentials is Jay Manuel, but no one really cares about Rivers’ qualifications because she bears a striking resemblance to the Joker and says things like, “I don’t exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.”

Rivers won me over recently by shamelessly bashing one of my least favorite celebrities: Paris Hilton. She was participating in a grand overview of Hilton’s worst fashion faux-pas. I imagine the hardest part of the segment was narrowing it down to just 30 key outfits, especially when she has been photographed in the likes of floorlength, layered denim skirts, disco ball leggings, and, once, a sequined gown with a peacock-feather train.

Lack of taste is never enough to put a celebrity on the most-hated list, though (a list that, according to numerous surveys, Hilton nearly tops). The fact that I still love Christian Siriano after his decision to don a gold metallic blouse with frills at the neckline seems sufficient proof of this. The general consensus seems to be that people roll their eyes at the Paris Hiltons of the world because they simply don’t deserve to be where they are in life. They are irritating to us not necessarily because of what they do, but because of the simple fact that they don’t do anything at all.

It’s ironic, though, that while we roll our eyes at people like Paris – whose mountain of Jimmy Choos can probably be seen via satellite – we seem just as averse to the overeager, desperate actress types who are constantly trying to think up new ways to remain in the public eye.

Kristen Bell comes to mind, especially recently, since she is wielding all of the tweeting power she possesses to generate support for a Veronica Mars movie. While we’re on the subject, can we just get a hand count – will anyone who still cares about Veronica Mars raise their hand? No one? How about anyone who ever cared about Veronica Mars?

Yep, that’s what I thought.

Not only has Bell both conceptualized the movie’s plot and urged her fans to write letters to Warner Brothers, but, having been told by Mars producer Joel Silver that the movie wouldn’t make money, she has offered to pay for the film herself. Bell has always been both candid and proud about the fact that she had to work hard for her success, and in her Cosmopolitan cover interview last year she admitted that she wasn’t simply given her role as Gossip Girl’s coy narrator.

“I’m very proactive with my career,” she said. “And when I heard about Gossip Girl, I called someone at the network and asked if I could do something on it. At that time, I didn’t have a job, and I’m not some idiot who just wants to hang out in L.A. – I want to work.”

Still, the consensus seems to be that Bell’s attempts at reclaiming her glory days aren’t as proactive as they are pathetic, and looking at her recent projects – the abysmal When in Rome, and You Again, which The Boston Globe generously awarded a half-star – it’s a wonder that she doesn’t simply retire and live off the combination of her Veronica Mars money and whatever Parenthood is bringing in for her husband, Dax Shephard.

Why risk being called desperate when you could be Miss Aloof Heiress Paris Hilton, who realized after “Stars Are Blind” and House of Wax that people would really rather she just stick to shopping and making random appearances at hip L.A. parties. Why let the public see you break a sweat?

An even better question: Since when is being a little desperate worse than sitting around on a great big pile of cash? Aren’t we all a little desperate sometimes?

RHAPSODY AT THE POPS

RACHEL GREGORIO / HEIGHTS PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

I

BY A L L I E B R OAS | F O R T H E H E I G H TS

t was a night filled with memories, love songs, and excellent “light” music as Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart celebrated both the 18th annual Pops on the Heights Scholarship Gala and the 125th anniversary of the Boston Pops. The concert, held on Friday night in an overheated Conte Forum, also featured outstanding performances by pianist Michael Chertock, multi-talented soloist Ann Hampton Callaway, and Boston College’s University Chorale.

At first, the night was all about the heat; as Lockhart informed the crowd, it was the warmest evening the audience would likely ever spend in an ice hockey rink. After rolling up their pant legs and crafting set programs into fans, however, the audience settled in to enjoy the evening. Opening the festivities was the Boston Pops’ rousing rendition of the “Grand March” from Aida (performed with the University Chorale).

Members of the Chorale were eager to work again with Lockhart. “It is not every day that someone has the privilege to work with such a great, professional conductor,” said Anna Bujalski, Chorale member and LSOE ’13. “And of course the Boston Pops are so

wonderful to sing with, [singing with them] brings the songs to a whole new level.”

After firing up the audience with the best of the American standards, Lockhart redirected the audience to the task at hand – announcing that the University had already raised nearly $2 million in scholarship money. Lockhart then treated the audience to the Leroy Anderson classics: “Bugler’s Holiday” and “The Typewriter.” The latter, a song using percussion to perfectly mimic the sound of a typewriter, was played while a montage of video clips and images of Arthur Feidler, legendary Boston Pops conductor from 1930 to 1980, played on the Jumbotron.

Lockhart then introduced Chertock, the pianist featured in the Pops performance of the Gershwin classic “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Mesmerized by Chertock’s virtuoso performance, the crowd frequently erupted into catcalls and shouted requests for favorite Pop standards. Highlighting the evening were Pops laureate composer John Williams’ most famous compositions, such as the “Raider’s March,” a stunning performance

See Pops, B2 DAVE GIVLER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Gaping at China’s gifts

Allison Therrien is the Assistant Arts & Review editor of The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

I NSIDE ARTS THIS ISSUE

New Chinese imperial art exhibit at Peabody-Essex

BY HILARY CHASSE Heights Editor

Past the cliche shops stuffed with witch hunter memorabilia and ghost tour guides decked out in their Oct. 31 finest lies a veritable treasure trove. In the center of historic downtown Salem, Mass., the Peabody Essex Museum is exhibiting artifacts from the Qianlong Garden in the Forbidden City. The Emperor’s Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City offers, for the first and likely last time, the international audience a chance to access some of China’s most precious pieces of imperial art and architecture.

The exhibition, which opened Sept. 14 and will run until Jan. 9, 2011, features 90 objects ranging from traditional Chinese furniture and calligraphy to European style clocks.

This world class exhibition allows visitors to PHOTO COURTESY OF PEADOBDY-ESSEX MUSEUM

‘Money Never Sleeps’

A fresh look at Hemingway ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ is reread through a modern lens

BY KRYSIA WAZNY Heights Staff

F

or Whom the Bell Tolls is, first and foremost, a war story, so don’t get your hopes up for too much warm and fuzzy stuff. That being said, it is also a deeply passionate love story. If you can accustom yourself to Hemingway’s concise and simultaneously detailed style, there’s plenty that today’s intellectual student of literature, party girl, or lax bro can glean from this classic novel.

See Bell Tolls, B2

See Exhibit, B2

Sure, the economy is in shambles, but at least Shia LaBoeuf is getting paid. Will he survive on ‘Wall Street’? B3

‘The Owls of Ga’hoole’

Will this owl-tastic fantasy epic prove to be all visuals and no concept? B3

Movie Trailer Reviews...................B4 Box Office Report........................B3

B2

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Heights

Phantogram enchants at Paradise Club

By Brennan Carley

For the Heights

In the world of indie music, 2010 seems to be ripe with boy-girl duos. As Spin Magazine called them, these “She and Hims” include the electro-metal Sleigh Bells, the soothing and delightful Beach House, and the headliners at the Paradise Rock Club last Wednesday night, Phantogram. Still relatively unknown, the band experienced a wave of exposure with its song “Mouthful of Diamonds,” which melds moody guitar riffs, lilting vocals, and grubby beats and blips. Wednesday’s show was the first on the band’s fall tour, and the crowd was eager to soak up every minute of the music, which truly transcends conventional genres.

The opener, Railbird, strode on stage half an hour late to a very antsy crowd, but quickly won the audience over with its intriguing lyrics and passion. Lead singer Sarah Pedinotti is like a combination of Bjork and Bob Marley. Her voice was wispy and childlike, but altogether enrapturing. The duo’s first couple of songs fell flat with the small but restless crowd, but after tearing through a cover of Micachu and the Shapes’ “Golden Phone,” it was clear that the rest of their set would be chockfull of excitement.

Fresh off their stint opening for Ra Ra Riot, guitarist Josh Carter and keyboardist Sarah Barthel strode onto the stage to a truly overwhelming reception.

Armed for the first time with a touring drummer, Phantogram seemed altogeth-

photo courtesy of flickr user ardber

Keyboardist Sarah Barthel makes up half of the band Phantogram, which performed with opener Railbird at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. er taken aback, and rewarded the club by playing “As Far As I Can See,” at which point the crowd began to sway as if hypnotized. Barthel’s fingers flew furiously across her keyboard and her synthesizer, creating an entrancing cacophony of lush sounds. When she grabbed the

microphone with one hand and began to sing, new meaning was brought to the word multitasking. It was a treat to hear Carter play his multitude of guitars. Other than Barthel’s keyboard, the guitar is the most prominent instrument in Phantogram’s self-described “street

beat, psych pop” sound.

One of the most fascinating things about Phantogram’s show was trying to figure out what genre, if any, the band could be pigeonholed into. Hearing their hooks accumulate and crash over the course of their songs, one picks up

on clear hints of hip-hop and hushed psychedelic beats. The band says it falls stylistically somewhere between Missy Elliott and The Cure. Barthel’s meditative but powerful voice brings to mind the yelping howls of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O. And at times, her vocals mirror those of 2009 buzz band The xx’s Romy Croft, but it’s difficult to envision any other group recording something as simultaneously chilling and goofy as Phantogram’s “Running From the Cops.”

Touring for the first time with a third member, Phantogram definitely had a case of the first-night blues. After their synthesizer shut down several songs in, Barthel took control of the concert and sang the beautiful “10,000 Claps” with one hand manning her keyboard. Once all seemed well, the band proceeded to bring the house down, playing crowdpleasers “Mouthful of Diamonds” and “Turn It Off” back to back. Sadly, their synthesizer shut down for good before their last song. To compensate, Carter quickly improvised and plugged his guitar into a stray amp, leading the band through the “first ever acoustic version” of their song “When I’m Small.” As the audience howled its approval, Barthel smiled giddily and danced her way across the stage as she and Carter delivered a stellar final song. As the last notes emanated from his guitar, Carter promised, “We’ll be back soon and when we come, we’re gonna blow your minds, Boston.”

Perhaps Phantogram was unaware that our minds had already been blown. n

Pops on the Heights raises $2 million Pops, from B1

of the Gershwin classic “Rhapsody in Blue.” Mesmerized by Chertock’s virtuoso performance, the crowd frequently erupted into catcalls and shouted requests for favorite Pop standards. Highlighting the evening were Pops laureate composer John Williams’ most famous compositions, including the “Raider’s March” and a stunning performance of “Dry Your Tears, Afrika” from the film Amistad (featuring the University Chorale). Rounding out the first half of the evening was the well-known “Harry’s Wondrous World,” the theme song from Harry Potter.

After intermission, the Pops redirected its attention to the Heights itself, featuring segments from a “Tribute to Boston College,” accompanied by the “Call of the Champions” by Williams. Revisiting the

glory days of yesteryear, a video tribute arranged by Susan Dangel reminded the audience of the school spirit for which BC is so widely known. Various clips from football games were shown, culminating with the famously ubiquitous Flutie pass that prompted a roar from the audience.

Other teams shown were the basketball team, the sailing team, and the BC hockey team, featured in a clip from their NCAA Championship win.

“It was so great to see the generations of this school come together to celebrate our Eagle spirit,” said Michelle Golden, CSON ’13. “It was a great way to start off this weekend and remind us all of why we love and support this school.”

After the tribute, Lockhart introduced the featured soloist for the evening. Ann Hampton Callaway,showcased her extensive list of talents as a lyricist, singer, Broadway star, and actress. Best known

as the writer / singer of the theme song for the popular TV show The Nanny, Callaway left no doubt as to the variety and depth of her Tony-nominated skills, entertaining the audience with pieces as far-ranging as selections from Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers to Barbara Streisand’s “Don’t Rain on my Parade” from Funny Girl. Callaway showed her chops as a comedic actress as she provided pitch-perfect imitations of the singing styles of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn, and – arguably the most entertaining part of the night – creating a love song for Boston. Although the concept of “Mary Ann’s” was lost in translation as the audience called up words for Callaway to use in the song, the audience roared with laughter every time she mentioned the beloved bar.

Lockhart capped the evening with an endearing sing-along to some of the most

popular Beatles songs, including “Twist and Shout” and “Yellow Submarine.” By the end of “Yellow Submarine,” audience members were waving glow sticks in the air. The BC Fight Song roused the entire crowd to their feet with the reminder of the upcoming football game versus rival Virginia Tech. The Pops ended with the “1812 Overture,” a regular song performed at their annual Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, which culminated in hundreds of maroon and gold balloons falling from the ceiling onto the audience below. As the popping of these balloons became a game for many, it seemed that, for the audience, the heat was a distant memory. The 18th Pops on the Heights proved to be a success, for it not only provided an evening filled with excellent music, but also gave every parent and grandparent an excuse to twist and shout in public. n

dave givler / Heights Editor

Keith Lockhart conducted the Boston Pops at Parents’ Weekend’s annual Pops on the Heights. This year also marks the 125th anniversary of the Boston Pops, the city’s premiere orchestra.

Take a look at the ‘Bell’ through a brand new lens Bell Tolls, from B1

THE STORY

The novel opens as Roberto Jordan, an Americans Spanish professor turned guerilla warrior, enters the Band of Pablo in war-torn Spain. He immediately sets his sites upon the beautiful Maria, whose horrifying experiences have made her spiritually strong, but vulnerable to Roberto’s charms. She is attracted by his confidence and self-possession, undeniably alluring traits in an explosives specialist.

All of the action leads up to a single event – the blowing of the bridge. If the bridge in question is blown at exactly the right moment, the Republicans will have a distinct advantage over the Fascists.

During the four days in which the “Ingles” (Jordan) is camped with this close-knit group of banderos, they all face profound practical and emotional struggles. Rela-

tionships blossom and fade as the moment of truth comes ever closer.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ IT TODAY Hemingway is a complete B.A. – one of the originals. After all, how many people have managed to shoot themselves with their toe? Plus, he had about a million cats. Only real men can own a cluster of cats and still maintain their masculinity.

His style is a unique combination of excess and eloquence that somehow manages to get the point across perfectly.

Furthermore, his stories come from his own experiences in the Spanish Civil War. Thus he has a profound insight into the mechanics of war and the emotions of those involved.

Still not convinced? This novel is sexy, and I don’t mean that it likes to dress up

in satin lingerie. Roberto and Maria spend their three nights of conjugal bliss in one sleeping bag, and Hemingway, as usual, does not shirk on the details. Possibly the best part of this romance, however, is the depth and purity of their love. Unlike other Hemingway works, the characters don’t have to show much restraint during their time together, but rather are able to love each other truly and deeply. Even better, Hemingway actually gets into their heads and shares the intensity of their emotion with us.

Finally, For Whom the Bell Tolls is extremely readable. Don’t be discouraged by his attempts to force English to decline like Spanish. You will get used to it.

Otherwise, Hemingway’s style provides an entertaining read even 70 years after its publication. Hemingway has, at points, been criticized for not appealing to the fairer sex. Ladies, I am about to

give you the key to reading Hemingway: Skim through the battle scenes. If you want every detail about how El Sordo found himself entrenched atop a hill, read every word. Otherwise, I assure you, the story will still make perfect sense if you skip through a bit.

From this great American classic we can learn plenty that applies to our everyday lives today. First, keep a level head and a positive attitude in battle, whether against an army or that pesky term paper. Second, let go and love someone without fear of the consequences. It might not work out perfectly, but who knows? Maybe it will.

And most importantly, you can mix absinthe with water and drink it like wine.

Only Hemingway could share such valuable knowledge. Hemingway is timeless, so pick up a copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls and settle in for an exciting and moving adventure. n

photo courtesy of amazon.com

The Heights

Monday, September 27, 2010

B3

Scandal is golden in ‘Wall Street’ sequel

By Enrique Saldivar For the Heights

“It’s not about the money, it’s about the game,” expounds Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), in Oliver Stone’s sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Stone’s sequel is a parody of what happened during the weeks in the late summer and early fall Wall street: money of 2008, with never sleeps the collapse of Oliver Stone Lehman Broth20th Century Fox ers and Bear Stearns and everything else that troubled the economy.

The film begins with Gekko’s release from prison in 2001 after being there for eight years. The true story, however, does not take place until seven years later, when Gekko reclaims the general public’s attention with the release of his new book. Among one of his fans is Jake Moore, played by Shia LaBeouf. He is a young investment banker working for Keller Zabel, the film’s fictional fusion of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.

When Gekko speaks to a group of college students about his new book he tells them, “You are all f—ed. You are the ninja generation. No investments, no income, and no assets.” After Gekko’s

presentations, Moore approaches Gekko and tells him that he is going to marry his daughter, Winnie, who has not spoken to him in years. Will the father-daughter bond be reconciled? Will Moore fall into Gekko’s old path? Has Gekko changed his mindset? The parodies and ironies that are presented in the film are what make it relatable and realistic.

“A fisherman always sees another fisherman from afar,” Gekko tells Moore.

Since Gekko has been in prison all these years, another seductive villain has taken his place: Bretton James, as played by Josh Brolin. After the death of Moore’s mentor, Louis Zabel, he begins to think that his hedgefund manager, James, has something to do with it. Moore seeks revenge with help from Gekko, but for all who have seen the first film, Gekko is too smart to do anything without something in return. He asks for Moore to help him reconcile his relationship with his daughter. This is the basis for their relationship. Is Gekko getting a little sentimental? Have those eight years inspired a change in him?

Moore is the central character in the film. Though he portrays the typical investment banker, his character remains likeable. He seems driven by some personal morality despite the fact

that he is clearly in it for the money.

Moore endures challenge after challenge over the course of the film, some money-related, and some more personal.

Zabel, whom he looked upon as a father, dies. Moore must constantly fight back against Bretton James, the so-called antagonist of the film.

James is more corrupt and ruthless than Gekko was in the first Wall Street.

James shares Gekko’s ostentation; he shows off his Goya painting and his Ducati motorcycle to illustrate the benefits of wealth. Gekko even charmed Bud Fox, as played by Charlie Sheen, with money, women, and a comfortable lifestyle in the debut film. One can’t help but wonder if Stone is trying to make a statement about the Wall Street life.

Moore realizes how corrupt James is after only a couple of days, when James makes a Japanese firm invest in a company that he knows will fail in order to reap a profit. Seeing this only gives Moore greater incentive to take James down.

The twists and turns that are presented in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, are very real. Stone personifies the events that occurred during the beginning of the financial crisis in the film. The subplots, relationships, and

Families feuding in ‘You Again’

By Blake McLaughlin For The Heights

With her teeth in braces, dorky glasses, bad hair, and awful acne, Marni (Kristen Bell) is the epitome of a high school loser in You you again Again. She has no Andy Fickman friends to sit with Touchstone Pic. at lunch, is made fun of by ruthless cheerleaders, goes completely unnoticed by her crush, and is the mascot of the men’s basketball team.

But after her hellish high school years end, Marni revamps her gruesome geeky look and becomes VP of a competitive public relations agency. But just when she thought she had left her high school horrors behind, she discovers her older brother Will (James Wolk) is engaged to her teenage archenemy Joanna (Odette Yustman). Upon Marni’s return home for her brother’s wedding, she is horrified to learn that her family has emotionally replaced her with Joanna. Joanna’s newfound commitment to community service and nursing sick children has enchanted Marni’s family. She cannot believe that of all the women in the world, her brother has chosen her high school tormenter as his bride to be. The worst part of all is that no one can remember how evil Joanna was in high school except for Marni.

Family tension escalates when Joanna’s aunt, Ramona (Sigourney Weaver), arrives for the wedding. The audience realizes that Marni’s mother, Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), and Ramona share a rocky high school history of their own. From here, the movie revolves around the women’s desire for revenge. They go to ridiculous lengths to outdo one another, embarrassing themselves along the way.

The competition reaches its height in a hilarious dance lesson and a disastrous rehearsal dinner. The plot culminates when Marni feels she needs to expose Joanna’s evil past to her brother Will once and for all, before he makes the mistake of his life.

Although the “revenge of the nerd” plot told in You Again can be very familiar to the audience, it is difficult to relate to because of Kristen Bell’s all-around poor performance. Bell’s over the top and silly portrayal of a high school geek is not funny or believable. She relies solely on the stark difference of her physical appearance during and after high school. Bell uses slapstick humor as a crutch throughout You Again, unsuccessfully. Humor happens to her in the movie; whether she is kicked in the face during cheerleading try-outs or falling in a bed of ants and nearly bitten to death, Bell is not creating the humor.

She relies on her circumstances to do the hard work for her.

Aside from this shortcoming, Bell is truly gorgeous and fun to watch on the big screen. She comes off sweet and charming. Her character traits are likeable and easy to believe. However, Bell was great in Forgetting Sarah Marshall with Jason Segel, so it’s possible that she is better suited in a supporting role than as a lead.

As far as personal performances go, Betty White and Jamie Lee Curtis steal the show. White’s portrayal of Grandma Bunny was hysterical. She plays a cougar-grandma who is always on the prowl.

Jamie Lee Curtis (in the best shape of her life) plays the mother of the groom and makes the audience roar with laughter.

Curtis relives her high school glory days through cheer routines and banter with her ex-best friend, played by Sigourney Weaver. In addition, James Wolk, who plays the groom, is someone to watch out for during the next film season. His character is both a lawyer and a family man, is both athletic and handsome, and, on top of that, drives a Jeep Wrangler. Wolk was so convincing that he is sure to land many upcoming movie roles.

In the end, You Again is 27 Dresses meets Mean Girls.

The movie satirizes the trials of getting married and the high school experience, but unfortunately it fails to portray either of them memorably. n

of allmoviephoto.com LaBoeuf, Brosnan and Sheen star in ‘Money Never Sleeps,’ a sequel tocourtesy the 1980s original.

characters are extremely realistic. That’s unsurprising, since Stone reportedly had both LaBeouf and Michael Douglas spend several weeks with investment

bankers, firm managers, and brokers who went to prison for insider trading before filming, for inspiration. It seems to have worked. n

Box Office Report title

weekend gross

weeks in release

3 photos courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

1. Wall Street: Money NEver Sleeps

19.0

1

2. Legend of the Guardians

16.3

1

3. The Town

16.0

2

6

8

4. Easy A

10.7

2

5. You Again

8.3

1

6. Devil

6.5

2

7. Resident Evil: Afterlife

4.9

3

8. Alpha and Omega

4.7

2

9. Takers

1.6

5

10. Inception

1.2

11

bestsellers of hardcover fiction

photo courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristen Bell, and Betty White star in ‘You Again,’ a tale about how pesky (not to mention tangled) our past can be.

1. Freedom Jonathan Franzen 2. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Stieg Larsson 3. No mercy Sherrilyn Kenyon 4. Getting to happy Terry McMillan 5. the help Kathryn Stockett

6. the postcard killers J. Patterson & L. Marklund 7. lost empire Clive Cussler 8. ape house Sara Gruen 9. Dark peril Christine Feehan SOURCE: Publisher’s Weekly

‘Legend of the Guardians’ adaptation is far from a hoot

By Alexander Bernstein For The Heights

Many recent films have abandoned quality writing, character development, and engaging plots in favor of stunning visuals.

Zack Snyder’s Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is nothing more than confirmation of Legend of the this tendency. Like guardians: the George Lucas’ Star owls of ga’hoole Wars: Revenge of Zack Snyder the Sith or James Warner Bros.

Cameron’s Avatar, Snyder’s most recent film is filled with pretty computer generated images of breathtaking scenery and fast-paced action sequences, but fails to deliver in other essential ways.

The story follows the adventures of Soren (Jim Sturgess), a young, idealistic owl. While growing up, his father told him and his brother, Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) stories of a legendary race of owls called the Guardians of Ga’Hoole. Soren is enthralled by the stories while Kludd spurns the fan-

tastic tales. One day, Soren and Kludd are captured by a group of evil owls, called the Pure Ones, who want to conquer the whole owl kingdom. After a daring escape from the fortress of the Pure Ones and leaving his brother behind, Soren must seek out the help of the mythical Owls of Ga’Hoole to rescue the owl kingdom.

Snyder’s Legend of the Guardians does have some positive aspects. The movie has an all-star cast of voice actors, including Sturgess as Soren, Kwanten as Kludd, Hugo Weaving as Noctus (Soren’s father), and others, including Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, and Sam Neill. The movie is based on a series of young-adult novels by Kathryn Lasky, which Snyder manages to condense into one cohesive film.

Legend of the Guardians is also fairly entertaining to watch. Though the story and characters are lacking, the screen always displays Snyder’s signature visual displays.

The lighting is dramatic. The action sequences are violent, intense, and difficult to follow. The background is seemingly airbrushed behind the characters on the

screen. The film’s crew also does a good job of making dozens of owl characters look somehow distinguishable from one another.

Despite myriad bird faces, one can usually tell which owl is which. The cinematography is impressive, as well. There are gripping shots of swooping owls in flight and remarkable panoramas of fantasy landscapes.

Overall, the movie is beautiful to look at.

However, Legend of the Guardians has little else to offer. Though it has minor entertainment value, the movie has no genuine originality. First, the entire movie is populated by one-dimensional stock characters. Soren is the brazen idealist who can achieve anything if he believes in himself. His brother, Kludd, is the underappreciated, slightly miffed sibling. The villains of the movie, the Pure Ones, are evil and destructive just because they are, with no further explanation. Conversely, the Guardians of Ga’Hoole are altruistic sworn protectors, without any supporting explanation. In addition to the main characters, there is a host of minor owl characters, none of them characteristi-

photo courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

‘Legend of the Guardians’ may be full of all-star voices, but the film is convoluted at best. cally distinct or adding much to the story.

Besides stale comic relief and providing an unnecessary love interest for Soren, the secondary characters of the story do not contribute to the movie at all.

The plot also has little to offer. The message “you can achieve anything if you believe in it,” is trite and overused in the movie. Good and idealism win out in the end over greed and cynicism. Soren’s journey is pretty uneventful, and the troupe of

owl friends that follow him to find the Owls of Ga’Hoole become quickly tiresome.

Legend of the Guardians is not worth seeing. The movie is too dark and violent for children, yet too nebulous and uninteresting for adults. Snyder makes a decent attempt to turn Lasky’s series of books into a feature film, but it seems he was unsure of what he wanted to achieve. The result is a movie that submits to a mass of fantasy film cliches. n

B4

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Heights

A season of schlock fall horror preview

D

K ris R obinson | H eights E ditor

Judging movies by their trailers Z ak Jason | Assoc. arts E ditor

eck the halls with boughs of horror. As the scariest time of the year draws nearer, movie producers are suiting up viewers for Halloween with an onslaught of films created just to send chills down your spine. From psychological, supernatural thrillers to the slasher flicks that never cease to get old, this fall’s horror movie lineup boasts quite the potential to send audiences home with images that are sure to keep them awake at night, or at least terrorize their sleep as nightmares take the place of the fantastical dreams. Powerhouse franchises return with second – or in one case, seventh – installments that people are just dying to see, while other films debut alongside remakes of classics that may or may not need a 21st-century twist to make your heart stop. Looking to get spooked? Check out these upcoming movies that are guaranteed to give you the fright you’re looking for.

Case 39 – Oct. 1 The first of three horror movies to be released on the first day of October, Case 39 stars Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper in a tale that features a plot device moviegoers are surely familiar with by now: a little girl who is not quite what she seems to be to the naked eye. Lilith (Jodelle Ferland), the adolescent gone wrong, wreaks havoc on the lives of her temporary foster mother Emily (Zellweger), and everyone else in the film while revealing a side of her that nobody’s seen before.

Chain Letter – Oct. 1 High school teenage angst combined with a terrifying killer always seems to yield entertaining results.

Twilight’s Nikki Reed is featured in this movie that brings a whole new fear to the innocent, yet arguably annoying, technological fad of chain letters. Friendships are tested in Chain Letter, pitting teen against teen as they struggle to survive a maniacal antagonist’s murderous intentions.

With a tagline claiming “If you don’t forward it, you die,” how can this film not deliver the goods?

Hatchet II – Oct. 1 Not to be confused with a potential follow-up to Gary Paulsen’s comparably innocent account of a boy stranded in the woods, Hatchet II is a gory gore-filled gore-fest that picks up where the 2006 Hatchet left off. Marybeth (Danielle Harris) takes a trip back to the swamps, where killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) dwells, looking for revenge against the sadistic psychopath who killed her family.

After just one glimpse of the trailer, it’s clear that perhaps leaving the nachos at the refreshment stand is a smart idea for this one.

I Spit On Your Grave – Oct. 8 As if the title isn’t enough to pique your interest. A remake of the 1978 film of the same name, I Spit On Your Grave tells the story of Jennifer (Sarah Butler), an author who seeks peace, calm, and refuge to work on a novel.

When she gets the opposite, due to some less than gentlemanly company

courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard star in Clint Eastwood’s supernatural epic ‘Hereafter.’

courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

An ominous shot from the eerie sequel to ‘Paranormal Activity,’ coming in October. near her site of serenity, writing a book suddenly isn’t as appealing, and the men in question get more than they bargained for – a lot more.

While the film may not turn out to be as controversial as the original, it certainly doesn’t appear to lack any of the violence featured in its predecessor.

My Soul to Take – Oct. 8 It sucks to be a teenager in the horror genre. Slasher-thriller mastermind Wes Craven is the director of My Soul to Take, and if his past films (most notably, the Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street series) provide any indication of what this will be like, audiences are in for quite the treat. The film follows seven teenagers, each seemingly doomed from the day they were born, as they share a birthday with a scornfilled psychopath who, according to legend, swore to take revenge on all of them.

Paranormal Activity 2 – Oct. 22 If you didn’t experience enough Paranormal Activity last year, here’s your chance to get a taste of a little more, if you can take it. Apparently,

several theaters in Texas pulled the trailer for Paranormal Activity 2 from their previews after some people complained that it was too frightening, believe it or not. One of the most anticipated sequels of 2010, the film, as dictated by one of the posters advertising it, vows to bring back your “sleepless nights.”

It’s probably best not to watch this one alone, or with somebody whom you don’t want to hear your most high-pitched shriek.

Saw VII – Oct. 29 The seventh and final installment in the Saw series will shred its way into theaters two days before Halloween. Known for its mindblowingly gruesome fatalities and tests of human morality, Saw brings something new for its last hurrah – it’s in 3D. Though you’ll probably be tempted to wipe the blood off your shirt (though one of the film’s stars, Sean Patrick Flannery, insists this won’t be the case), take solace in the fact that you’re really not getting hit with anything. Originally rated NC-17, Saw VII promises to go out with a bang and leave fans feeling guilty. n

Waiting For Superman Few documentaries have rippled out more than An Inconvenient Truth. Now, in the same manner in which he unveiled global warming, director David Guggenheim hopes to capture the grotesque underbelly of American education. Some of the trailer looks like a sappy infomercial for Teach for America – the piano ballad, the cartoon charts of the country’s abysmal global rankings, and the interviews with children expressing their dreams. But for the most part, Waiting for Superman should open eyes with intimate portraits of those suffering from the current system, and stirring interviews with the likes of Bill Gates and education reformer Michelle Rhee. It might not be the most fair and balanced documentary, but it should galvanize the country for a start in the right direction. In theaters Oct. 8.

Cash Crop More so than Pineapple Express, Dazed and Confused, and The Wire, this documentary may be the most pro-marijuana flick ever made. Cash Crop focuses on marijuana growth in Northern California, maybe the pot capital of the United States. Not a single interviewee speaks against legalizing marijuana in the trailer – farmers, clients, uninvolved citizens, even a cop who claims he wishes his son dealt weed instead of working at a movie theater. It probably won’t present the complete debate over the issue, but with in-depth interviews with those most affected by and involved in the marijuana market, it should definitely enhance the conversation.

And with an acoustic soundtrack and gorgeous footage of the California countryside, Cash Crop seems to present its argument with ease. In theaters Oct. 1.

Carlos For the two minutes of the trailer, Edgar Ramirez’s portrayal of infamous terrorist Oscar the Jackal calls to mind Brando in The Godfather and Pacino in Scarface. Whether he can carry that diabolical charm for two hours is another thing. But Carlos, a biopic

of the international terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, looks slick, sexy, and explosive.

Following the man so closely, delving into his lavish lifestyle and seizing the thrill of his operations, and with new wave playing in the background, Carlos almost paints terrorism in an alluring light – kind of how Spielberg and Eric Bana did in Munich. Based on the reviews in the trailer, Carlos will reign as the all-time champion of crime thrillers. But that’s the problem with in-trailer review quotes – they can make films like Gnomeo and Juliet look like the frontrunner for Best Picture.

Gnomeo & Juliet Just like Snakes on a Plane, the title of this film tells you everything you need to know.

Instead of the Capulets vs. the Montagues in Verona, it’s the blue gnomes vs. the red gnomes in the backyard. Instead of the balcony scene, it’s the scene through the slats of the picket fence. Instead of knives, it’s garden hoes and shovels. Kooky madness! Not since Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? have we seen such an inspired adaptation of a play. As the trailer’s narrator reasons, “If you believe in destiny, then get thee to a 3D theater.” But if you can suspend the absurdity of the concept, you may be entertained, as Gnomeo and Juliet seems filled with cultural spoofs in the style of Shrek. In theaters Feb. 11, 2011.

Hereafter Clint Eastwood spent the last decade grappling with war (Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers), crime (Mystic River), and politics (Invictus, Changeling). With Hereafter, Eastwood dives into the supernatural.

Matt Damon plays a retired psychic (how did Eastwood decide to cast him for that?). Cecile de France plays a French journalist who has narrowly escaped a tsunami. George McLaren plays a Londoner who has just lost the person closest to him. Death and their connection to it thread these three storylines. With a forlorn piano ditty that morphs into an epic swell of violins, the trailer makes Hereafter look equally somber and exhilarating. In theaters Oct. 22.

courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

Wes Craven’s ‘My Soul to Take’ follows a group of doomed adolescents through their terror-stricken lives, coming in October.

courtesy of allmoviephoto.com

David Guggenheim, director of ‘An Inconveinent Truth,’ takes on education in ‘Waiting for Superman.’

Digging up China’s imperial gifts Exhibit, from B1

not only see the furniture, artwork, and decorations that adorned the royal garden, but also educate themselves on the cultural norms and traditions that created the world in which the emperor lived.

The exhibition hall begins with a two-sided 16-panel lacquered screen covered with images of enlightened Buddhist disciples on one side and intricate floral scenery on the other.

The dualism of this piece, showing both of the emperors’ deep Buddhist faith and his love of natural beauty, was the perfect introduction to the theme of Qianlong’s garden, which showed all facets of this great ruler. He was a man of extensive learning, who led the largest empire in the world for the longest time in Chinese history. He was not only the leader of his country’s government

but also the leader of the cultural and spiritual atmosphere, in the imperial city as well as the nation.

The exhibition represented these distinct sections of the garden by creating a space that mirrored buildings that existed within the actual garden, each incorporating a different aspect of the emperor’s leisure pursuits. Objects from the Studio of Self-Restraint show the emperor’s passion for calligraphy, writing, and the other treasures of the study revered by Chinese scholars. Sculptures and rock formations from the Pavilion of Soaring Beauty reveal the emperor’s desire to incorporate art, architecture, and natural elements to create the ideal balance for his personal retreat.

The influence of the West was beginning to be felt in Asian art and architecture at this time, as the cross-cultural exchange from trade and missionaries

entered the country and the imperial city at an ever increasing rate. Several pieces, such as an ornate European clock, were clearly imported directly from Western European craftsmen, whereas others displayed more subtle influences from the West. The use of the trompe l’oeil, which utilized tricks of perspective to create heightened illusions of real space on a flat surface, was employed by native Chinese artisans for the first time in several mural paintings in the garden. The emperor’s fascination had with the palaces of Europe, particularly the recently completed Versailles, was mirrored by the European craze for Asian-style pagodas and Zen gardens.

Beyond the art and artifact displays, the museum also incorporated multimedia displays to supplement the information provided for the pieces. Too often, media in an exhibition can seem cursory,

a vain attempt to modernize a subject that is distinctly antiquated. At the PEM, though, the use of technology enhances the viewers’ enjoyment of the pieces by increasing their knowledge of the subject, as few who visit are likely to be Qing Dynasty China experts. Two videos were shown, one detailing the process of restoring the garden that was allowed to fall into disrepair over a century of neglect, and the other offering viewers the ability to take a virtual tour of the garden as it would have appeared during the emperor’s reign. Another computer display allowed visitors to virtually practice their calligraphy, after having viewed pieces of the emperor’s own handwriting and poetry.

These extra elements created an educational environment that left museum visitors with a more complete picture of the life and times of the most powerful monarch of the 18th century. n

SPORTS THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

Section

C

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

Women’s soccer topples No. 1 UNC

BY MATT ROSSMAN For The Heights

Rankings never determine the outcome of a game. After all, that’s why they play the Boston College 3 game. The No. North Carolina 2 4 Boston College women’s soccer team (8-0-1, 1-0-0 ACC) proved why when it defeated the No. 1 University of North Carolina Tar Heels (8-1-1, 0-1-0 ACC), 3-2, in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Thursday night.

Entering the game, the Eagles had never defeated the Tar Heels in 11 tries, including two controversial, one-goal

losses last year, making the victory even sweeter.

“To come out and dominate UNC in the second half, scoring three goals on the road, is definitely a confidence booster,” said head coach Alison Foley.

“It really showed the girls’ mental toughness.”

Indeed, the Eagles needed to be tough, as UNC erased a 0-0 tie 10 minutes into the second half. UNC’s Courtney Jones sent a strong cross toward the net, which was flicked by Meghan Klingenberg and driven home by Crys-

See Historic Win, C4

Shinskie stripped of his starting job

BY PAUL SULZER

Asst. Sports Editor

JAMES CARRAS / THE DAILY TAR HEEL

Midfielder Kristie Mewis scored the Eagles’ first goal of the match, her eighth straight game recording a point.

Dave Shinskie has lost his job as starting quarterback of the Boston College football team.

Chase Rettig and Mike Marscovetra will compete for the starting spot heading into Saturday’s game with Notre Dame, said head coach Frank Spaziani at a press conference yesterday.

Shinskie started against Virginia Tech on Saturday in a 19-0 loss, which was the first scoreless performance for the team in 12 years. The sophomore finished the day with 11-of-25 passing

for 130 yards. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.

Following his second interception midway through the third quarter, Shinskie was replaced by fellow sophomore Marscovetra, who completed fiveof-seven passes for 50 yards but was sacked four times and fumbled twice (both recovered by BC).

Rettig, a highly recruited freshman who chose BC over Tennessee, has yet to take a collegiate snap. The coaching staff had him take warm-up snaps in the fourth quarter of the last two contests. In the spring, he enrolled early and competed in the Spring Game. 

Making a historic statement ZACH WIELGUS It started as a job, and eventually evolved into a tempered interest. Then, a year ago this time, it became a point of pride.

Which is why the No. 4 women’s soccer team’s 3-2 win over the No. 1 UNC Tar Heels Thursday night ranks near the top of my all-time highs.

During a 2009 fall season that offered an overachieving yet still bland football team, Boston College athletics weren’t arousing my obsessive genes.

The same ones that – out of my own control – cause me to talk to myself during games, yell at the TV, and break remotes within arm’s reach, were dormant.

I was calm and tranquil last fall, and I hated it. A couple of games on the sidelines as an Operations ball retriever, however, and I had soon found what I was missing.

The women’s soccer team ran as a well-oiled machine, combining lightning-fast forwards with disciplined midfielders and stout defenders. Jillian Mastroianni let one goal past her in 10 matches, and the offense pummeled the opposition with 37 goals in that stretch.

Head coach Alison Foley was a joy to watch work the sidelines – and later, interview – confidently allowing the team she assembled to go to work. And, perhaps most of all, few had picked up on the team’s success, and even fewer realized their limitless potential.

The women’s soccer team became my team, and it felt like only my team.

I caught myself watching the game a bit too closely on the sidelines, nearly forgetting that I was supposed to be working and not enjoying an all-access pass. The Eagles were 10-0-0, and it appeared as if I had stumbled upon something special.

Eager to watch without having to worry about work, I reserved a spot in the press box for the biggest home match-up of the season: My No. 6 Eagles were welcoming the No. 1 Tar Heels, and I wasn’t going to be distracted during this one.

See Statement Game, C4

Eagles lay a goose egg

ANDREW POWELL / HEIGHTS STAFF

Dismal quarterback play keeps scoreboard empty

BY TIM JABLONSKI For The Heights

Boston College’s offense failed to finish drives in the first half against Virginia Tech on Saturday. Then, in the second half, it failed to do anything. Behind a stagnant offensive attack, Virginia Tech 19 the Eagles football team Boston College 0 (2-1, 0-1 ACC) stumbled to a 19-0 defeat to the Hokies (2-2, 1-0 ACC), its first shutout loss since 1998.

The first half was highlighted by several long drives deep into Tech territory, but the offense was unable to seal the deal and put any points on the board.

After moving 64 yards down the field, BC’s second drive of the game ended abruptly when quarterback Dave Shinskie tossed a pass into double coverage, where Tech cornerback Jayron Hosley easily intercepted it. A missed 47-yard field goal by kicker Nate Freese in the second quarter added to the offensive miscues.

“We moved the ball all the first half both passing and running,” Shinskie said after the game. “Drives don’t mean anything if you don’t get any points on the board, and that was our downfall today as an ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR offense.”

The crucial play of the game came right before All the team could do was hang its head after being shut out at home.

the end of the first half. A Darren Evans rushing touchdown had given Tech the lead at the beginning of the second quarter, but BC was poised to respond.

A 12-play drive, aided by several Hokies penalties, left the Eagles with a first-and-goal opportunity from the Virginia Tech 11-yard line. With 15 seconds left and no timeouts, Shinskie dropped back to pass and rushed for the left corner of the end zone. He ended up short by an excruciatingly small distance, perhaps a third of a yard, and the Eagles went into the locker room trailing, 7-0.

“I saw a hole, and I probably should have thrown it away, but I saw the end zone and I tried my damndest to get it in,” Shinskie, who finished the day with 11-of-25 passing, said.

The play was a microcosm of the offense’s first half: close, but no cigar.

Head coach Frank Spaziani said the finish to the half did not affect the team’s game plan.

“It didn’t affect my psyche other than I was disappointed that we didn’t get it,” Spaziani said.

“It’s a football game; sometimes good things happen, sometimes bad things happen, you have to keep playing.”

It sure didn’t look like the Eagles got that message from their coach at halftime, though. The

See Shut Out, C3

Eight athletes cut from women’s cross country team

BY ZACH WIELGUS Sports Editor

The Boston College women’s cross country team was forced to cut eight athletes at the beginning of this season, due to what head coach Randy Thomas called “budgetary reasons and coaching constraints.”

Senior Monica Chase, junior Casey Harrison, and sophomore Madeline Christian were listed on the active roster in 2009, but were among the eight runners cut before the start of the fall cross country season. One of the runners was on a partial scholarship, but the other seven had received no athletic scholarship from BC. “What they told me was that they needed to cut

back on the roster because there was not enough money for everyone to get equal amount of equipment,” said one of the runners who was cut, who asked to maintain her anonymity to avoid damaging her relationship with the team. “That was their biggest argument with me. There wasn’t enough money to equally distribute everything, like running sneakers, so they had a number to get to, and I unfortunately was one who got cut.”

The team has 14 fewer runners than last year. Between recruiting far fewer than he lost to graduation and cutting eight other girls, Thomas confirmed that financial difficulties played a large part in shrinking his roster.

“At the end of last year, it got to a point where we had more people on the roster than we had lockers

I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE

Men’s soccer takes first loss

in the locker room,” Thomas said. “My roster was simply too big to accommodate my operating budget.

It became a matter of cutting the numbers down.”

Thomas maintains that it was purely his decision to decrease the size of his team, and not the athletic department’s. Judy Mooradian, senior associate athletic director and head administrator for the cross country program, expressed doubt that the budget diminished from the 2009 season to the current one.

“I don’t know the budget figures, but I doubt that it’s smaller,” Mooradian said.

A growing strain on the coaching staff also pushed Thomas to cuts. Thomas has only one full-time assistant, Erin O’Neill, and two part-time assistants.

Thomas said that such a small coaching staff could

The soccer programs are no longer undefeated after the men’s loss to Duke.....................C7

not adequately handle a roster that exceeded 40 athletes last year.

“It’s a decision that I made,” Thomas said. “I loved them all and their attitude, but the numbers dictated it. We were spreading our energies pretty thin. Boston College is an elite Division I program, so I made this decision to make it more manageable.”

In addition to a tight budget and coaching challenges, performance also played a role.

“Coach Thomas sent out an e-mail that if you didn’t hit a time back in February, you would be cut,” the former cross country athlete said. “People who had been injured a lot and couldn’t perform were likely to be cut.

“It was a mass e-mail. It wasn’t the best way. It could have been a bit more personal.” 

Field hockey drops two in overtime

Taking two top-five teams to overtime, the Eagles were unable to emerge victorious in either contest..........C8

Game to Watch........................C2 Numbers to Know.......................C2

C2

Monday, September 27, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

Putting an end to BC’s most contentious chant ALEX MANTA

And so the battle has finally come to an end. When the dust settled and the field grew quiet once again, the winner was clear: the band kids.

All the talk and controversy and Facebook groups have been silenced by those with the real power. Without the “Eagles, first down” music, the “Eagles, first down, b—h” chant was attempted only one time at the beginning of the game. Then it was over.

Of course, even though it was outsmarted by the Screamin’ Eagles, the student body remains fixated on the chant. Before it actually disappears, there is one thing I’d like to clear up: the origins of this modified chant. In doing this, I myself have a confession to make. I was a part of the original “Eagles, first down, b—h” chant.

A friend of mine was the one who told us about it at one of the games toward the beginning of the season last year. He took the b—h line from his longtime favorite team, the Michigan State Spartans. Their version of the cheer is “1, 2, 3 … first down, b—h!”

(YouTube it if you don’t believe me).

As freshmen last year, we decided to give it a try here at Boston College, and now can’t help but laugh when we see the Facebook groups and the story on Barstool Sports.

We yelled it out a couple times last year, and soon noticed that it was catching on with the rest of the crowd.

This year, none of us say it, and the Michigan State creator said he doesn’t care one bit about the chant that some seem to want to spill blood over.

We came back as sophomores this year thinking maybe people would’ve forgotten about it and the chant would return to its original form. We were wrong. At the games against Weber State and Kent State, the “Eagles, first down, b—h” chant started with the opening kickoff.

But this week, the band put its foot down and didn’t play the music, and the chant was cut from the game. I’ve heard all the arguments on both sides, but at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that it’s just simply a stupid chant. It’s not funny, or creative, or unique, so why people care so much about it and start demanding their freedom of speech and throwing out words like tradition is beyond me.

If I were Judge Father Leahy (what, you didn’t know he had a law degree?)

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

For all the discussion of BC’s most contentious chant heading into the game Saturday, the band solved the issue quickly and quietly by remaining silent after the Eagles moved the chains. looking at this case, I couldn’t help but notice the holes in each side’s arguments. It isn’t tradition if we take it from another school, and it is in no way unique to BC. You could say it at any college football game, and it would still work. Also, hold off on the freedom of speech claims, because I doubt you felt your civil rights were violated this Saturday.

On the other hand, I don’t buy the “it makes BC look bad and classless” argument. It’s college. It’s a football game. It’s not Sunday. People aren’t going to walk away from Alumni thinking less of BC because some students used the word “b—h” in a chant. I’d hope they’d look to more important aspects

of the school to base their judgment.

Let’s also keep in mind that this is a college sporting event. Kids are going to be drinking, partying, and swearing.

Whenever parents take kids to pro or college sporting events, it comes with the assumed risk that some parts of the experience may not be age-appropriate.

Go to a couple pro games of any sport, and I promise you’ll hear a couple curses here and there. If you don’t want to hear it at all, then don’t go. It’s that simple.

On top of all this, this chant is nothing compared to some other ones you hear around college football. There are plenty of schools out there with profanity or other inappropriate material

in their chants and cheers that aren’t suitable for kids. Ole Miss has one chant containing the phrase “damn in hell,” Michigan State has already been discussed, and the best (or worst) of all is at the University of WisconsinMadison. The two halves of the student section do a chant much like our “We are! BC!” chant, except they say “F—k you! Eat s—t!” They top that off at the end of the game with a “Let’s get wasted” chant.

Even with those, the Badgers still appear on national TV much more frequently than we do, so I’m sure our attempt at some stadium-wide obscenities wouldn’t hurt our chances.

Perhaps all this will come to a rest.

Bottom line, it’s a stupid chant. I don’t see how one could feel passionately either way about it. So instead of worrying about that, how about we redirect our attention toward something important, like scoring some points, or getting the ball past the 50-yard line in the second half, or not turning the ball over?

“Eagles, first down, b—h” isn’t going to get us in the end zone, so forget about it. Let’s earn some class and respect with a win over Notre Dame on national TV next week.

Alex Manta is a guest columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com.

Eagles drop two matches on North Carolina road trip

BY SHANE MCNICHOL For The Heights

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

SPORTS in SHORT

Outside hitter Brennan Clark moved into fifth place on BC’s all-time digs list during the Eagles’ loss to NC State Friday.

ACC Football Standings Atlantic

NC State Florida State Wake Forest Maryland Clemson Boston College

Coastal

Virginia Tech Georgia Tech Miami Virginia North Carolina Duke

Conference 1-0 1-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-1

1-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1

Overall 4-0 3-1 2-2 3-1 2-1 2-1

2-2 2-2 2-1 2-1 1-2 1-3

The Boston College volleyball team returned empty-handed from its southern road trip this weekend. The Eagles lost to North Carolina 3 North Carolina State Friday Boston College 0 night and again to North Carolina on Saturday evening, both in three-set shutouts, moving the Eagles’ record to 8-8 overall and 0-3 in ACC play this season.

“The overall level of play in the ACC is a jump up from what we’ve seen so far,” said head coach Chris Campbell.

Just prior to ACC play, BC swept all three of its matches at the Brown University tournament before losing to Maryland last week. Campbell, who is in his first year with the Eagles, was disappointed, yet optimistic about his team’s potential.

“Every time they lose is an opportunity to see why they lost and improve weaknesses,” he said.”

On Saturday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina jumped out to an early 14-5 lead in the first set and never looked back, defeating the Eagles 25-15, 25-20, 25-22. The Tar Heels were paced by Heather Henry, who led the early charge with six kills in the first set. She finished with 12 kills for the match, while teammate Suzanne Haydel added 10 of her own.

The Eagles began to recover in the second set, led by setter Krissy Mussenden’s seven assists and two blocks. The Tar Heels took control, as the Eagles were unable to overcome eight attack errors.

In the third set, BC outside hitter Tsvetelina Dureva recorded six kills and Mussenden added two of her own. The Eagles’ errors came back to hurt

Numbers to Know

148

them again, though. They committed four service errors and four additional attack errors in the third set. As the sets got progressively more competitive, Campbell liked his team’s determination.

“The team responded well at trying to improve during the match,” Campbell said.

Dureva led BC with 12 kills and libero Kristen Baader added 14 digs in the loss.

Friday was no better for the Eagles, as they lost to North Carolina State 25-14, 25-20, 25-11 at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack came out very strong with 18 kills in the first set, led by Margaret Salata’s six. BC battled back in the second set, staying within five points the entire match and even leading by as many as two before falling short.

Following such a disappointing set can be difficult, and it showed as NC State rolled to a dominating 14-point win in the third set.

“Volleyball is one of those unique team sports where the score resets to zero, so mentally you need to reset as well,” Campbell said.

Outside hitter Brennan Clark provided a bright spot for BC in the loss, recording nine digs, which moved her into fifth place on the BC all-time career digs list with 1,013.

Campbell recognizes some areas that need improvement, and said he and his staff will incorporate into practice this week.

“Some things are a shorter fix and other things are long term,” he said. “There’s no quick fix to developing skills. It’s getting in the gym and getting repetitions.”

Those repetitions can only help the Eagles improve on a disappointing weekend roadtrip. 

Game to Watch Football

Consecutive games in which the football team had scored before Saturday’s 19-0 loss to Virginia Tech. The Eagles were last shut out in 1998, also by the Hokies, 17-0.

1

Wins over the top-ranked team in the history of the women’s soccer program. BC defeated No. 1 UNC, 3-2, Thursday, the first win in 12 all-time meetings.

423

Minutes of the men’s soccer team’s defensive scoreless streak, which came to an end in the 83rd minute of a 1-0 loss at Duke on Friday.

Notre Dame

vs.

Boston College

The Fighting Irish (1-3) were crushed by Stanford Saturday, so they have just as much to prove in this game as the Eagles (2-1) do. BC has the added incentive of avenging last year’s 20-16 loss at Notre Dame Stadium. QB play will be key for both teams, of course. Look for the Eagles to key on running back Armando Allen and wide receiver Michael Floyd.

Saturday, 8 p.m.

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

C3

FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Linebackers keep running game grounded

BY IAN BOYNTON For The Heights

The Eagles offense may have performed below expectations on Saturday, but the defense certainly did not.

After giving up 48 points to the Hokies last season, the defense was able to hold Tech’s offense to just two touchdowns and three field goals. Typically not a performance to praise, Boston College’s defense was handicapped by three turnovers, two deep in Eagles territory, as well as consistently good starting position for the Hokies offense.

Leading the way was linebacker Luke Kuechly, who had 16 tackles on the day.

Kuechly played a large role in keeping fleet-footed Hokies quarterback Tyrod Taylor to only 10 yards rushing on nine attempts, and the entire Tech rushing attack to only 2.7 yards per carry.

The Eagles did fall victim to Taylor’s ability to create big plays on several costly occasions, though, as he completed passes of 59 and 30 yards.

“There are some things we did well today, but at the same time, when it came down to it on third down, we let them get big play,” said linebacker Mark Herzlich, who finished the day with seven tackles and an interception. “If the offense isn’t producing, then we have got to make stops on third down.”

On a day without too many positives, Eagles fans can rest assured that the defense performed better than the box score indicates, and was not the reason that BC opened its ACC slate with a disappointing loss.

A New Sheriff In Town Asked how long he will take to announce the starting quarterback for next week’s match-up against Notre Dame, head coach Frank Spaziani chuckled and responded coyly, “What if I know now?”

The reporters laughed, but one could not help but feel that behind Spaziani’s humorous remark lay some truth. The Eagles were fresh off a loss in which they were shut out for the first time in 148 games, and while not all the blame lay on the shoulders of sophomore quarterback Dave Shinskie, his performance, particularly in the second half, was erratic to say the least.

Spaziani made his decision yesterday, announcing that Shinskie would no longer be in the running for the starting quarterback job.

Following his second interception of the game – a throw that came immediately after a near-interception that would have surely been returned for a touchdown – Spaziani had no choice but to put in backup quarterback Mike Marscovetra.

Marscovetra, however, did not fare much better. On his first snap of the game, the sophomore fumbled the snap from the shotgun formation. Put into a difficult situation, Marscovetra’s play was inconsistent, and he was undoubtedly rattled by the Hokies’ persistent pass rush.

Marscovetra finished the game five for seven with 50 yards. With neither quarterback distinguishing himself, Spaziani is in a familiar position.

“Going into this game [the quarterback position] was a point of contention, and it still is,” Spaziani said.

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Linebackers Luke Kuechly (left) and Mark Herzlich (right) limited Tyrod Taylor and the Hokies running attack to a measly 2.7 yards a carry.

It may be a familiar position for Spaziani, but this week, it may be a different choice. Anyone attending the game may have noticed true freshman quarterback Chase Rettig warming up late in the fourth quarter.

“There was a situation there that we felt, depending what the time was, [we would put him in].”

By having Rettig warm up against the Hokies, he sent a message that he is not comfortable starting Shinskie, and maybe not Marscovetra.

With BC’s first conference game complete, and games against Florida State and Clemson growing ever closer, Spaziani understands that he cannot afford to allow

the quarterback position to be “by committee” much longer.

“The quarterback is the field general, he is the leader, and you have to have confidence,” Spaziani said. “It’s our job to figure out who the best guy is in their physical makeup, emotional makeup, and leadership makeup.”

Quick Notes The Eagles had not been shut out in

148 games, dating back to October of 1998. The last time BC failed to score in a contest was also against Virginia Tech at home.

Freshman receiver Alexander Amidon made his first appearance as an Eagle, finishing with one catch for 35 yards.

After gaining 111 yards on the ground on Saturday, Montel Harris passed L.V. Whitworth for seventh on BC’s all-time rushing list with 2,663 total yards. 

For video of the postgame press conference, visit www.bcheights.com/sports

For more photos from the Virginia Tech game, visit www.bcheights.com/sports

Offense fails to do its job Shut Out, from C1

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The BC offense was tripped up time and time again by Virginia Tech, failing to score for the first time in 12 years.

team’s first two drives of the second half lasted three plays each, and both ended with turnovers that set the Hokies up with great field position, leading to two field goals by Tech kicker Chris Hazley, who was three for three in the quarter and four of four for the game.

After Shinskie’s third turnover of the day, backup quarterback Mike Marscovetra was inserted into the game, seemingly to provide a spark into the BC offense. But he was unable to do so, as the offense finished with one first down over the course of its final four drives. Marscovetra finished five for seven on the day, but got sacked five times and fumbled once, finishing up an anemic day for the Eagles offense.

One of the lone bright spots for the offense was running back Montel Harris. With 111 yards on 19 carries, Harris went over the century mark for the seventh time in his last eight games.

“There were a lot of holes to run through this game,” Harris said. “The offensive line was giving us a good push. We just weren’t able to finish drives and put points on the board.”

The offensive issues overshadowed a very solid effort by the Eagles defense, a group that once again looked like one of the top units in the ACC.

The Eagles gave up 343 yards, but kept the game within reach in the second half, limiting the Hokies to field goals on both drives that started well into BC territory.

Linebacker Mark Herzlich had his first interception since a 2008 victory over Maryland, and the rest of the Eagles linebackers had great performances, as well. Luke Kuechly and Kevin Pierre-Louis led the team with 16 and 11 tackles, respectively, helping BC stifle the run and limit Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s scrambling ability.

“When the offense is struggling, we need to do a good job controlling field position,” Kuechly said.

Controlling field position today was not the only issue for the Eagles. The offense came out extremely flat in the second half. Offensive line woes plagued the team for most of the second stanza, as both Shinskie and Marscovetra were unable to get into any kind of a rhythm.

Regardless, BC’s quarterbacks were unable to make the plays when needed on Saturday afternoon.

Now, heading into a primetime game against rival Notre Dame with a quarterback controversy on their hands, the pressure on the offense to perform will be at an even higher level. How they perform will be largely in the hands of their field general, whoever that may be. 

Point / Counterpoint: Who should start against Notre Dame?

Rettig brings excitement factor to huddle

Live snaps make Marscovetra best choice

Heights Staff

Heights Senior Staff

BY GREG JOYCE

This is the perfect time to introduce Chase Rettig to college football: a night home game against Boston College’s biggest rival, Notre Dame. It will be the start of a new era in BC football, and it will help to erase the bitter memories of Saturday’s shutout to Virginia Tech. The Eagles have a chance to start fresh, and by starting Rettig, they will have a highly recruited freshman starting what many predict to be a promising career.

Rettig will undoubtedly receive huge support from the home fans, especially the student section, which will rejoice when it sees a starting quarterback who actually looks like he belongs in college, not a 26-year-old who stares down his receiver for five minutes before he throws up a prayer for his wide receivers to catch (note, not “to them,” because Shinskie’s passes often have trouble actually getting to the wideouts).

The California native, who also considered Tennessee, USC, and Notre Dame (gasp), was a three-star recruit coming out of high school and clearly wants to be playing in big games. Well, the stage doesn’t get much bigger than this. Fans have been teased the last two games when Rettig has taken snaps on the sideline, but he has yet to take a snap on the field. His only game action has come from the 2010 Spring Game, where he showed flashes of a strong, accurate arm in limited playing time. While being recruited, he was recognized most for his size and arm strength, which would be put to good use in deep bombs to Johnathan Coleman and Clyde Lee. The other option, Marscovetra, didn’t look too impressive against Virginia Tech on Saturday. He finally got a decent amount of snaps, but couldn’t put up any points on the board. He was sacked four times and fumbled twice, although both were recovered by BC. He didn’t throw any interceptions, but he didn’t do anything to earn the starting spot, either.

We shouldn’t wait any longer to start Rettig. It would be awful to start Marscovetra and find out later that we should have started Rettig and have

him play in a few meaningless games at the end of the season. That would be a complete waste of a season that Rettig could have redshirted. So, if Rettig starts, he could still salvage the season before it’s too late.

Rettig’s play could rejuvenate a BC offense that looked dead on Saturday. Anything would be better than a QB who stands in the pocket for too long and gets sacked. By default, he has to be more mobile than Shinskie, and he seems to be quicker on his feet than Marscovetra, as well. He is a natural athlete, and has the ability to move around the pocket well, which is something the offense desperately needs.

The BC offense needs a spark, and starting Chase Rettig is the best option. He will create excitement, not only on the field, but in the student section as well. Rettig has the potential to win a huge game that could get the Eagles going, and put them back in contention for an ACC Atlantic Division title. 

BY DIANA C. NEARHOS

Dave Shinskie’s reign as starting quarterback at Boston College has ended.

Fans may have hoped as much when Mike Marscovetra entered the game late in the third quarter against Virginia Tech on Saturday. That hope surfaced when Chase Rettig began warming up with just over three minutes in the game.

Yesterday, it became official, when Spaziani told reporters that he would no longer be starting Shinskie.

After the initial sigh of relief, fans were left to wonder who might start in his stead. The contest is now between Marscovetra and Rettig. The former has never started, but the latter has never played.

Ma rs c ove t ra h a s p l a ye d a t l e a s t a handful of plays in every game this season. His biggest opportunity came last year

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR AND MIKE SALDARRIAGA / HEIGHTS PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

against Virginia Tech. When the Shinskie-led offense stalled, Marscovetra entered the game in the second quarter. He then completed 10-of-16 passes for two touchdowns.

This season, Marscovetra is eight of 13 with one interception and one touchdown. He has only been granted irregular playing time and has yet to have an opportunity to manage a game.

When Marscovetra entered the game in the end of the third quarter, he was facing his first tough opponent of the season and joining a game in which in the tone had been set. Despite this, he still managed to complete five of his seven pass attempts.

Marscovetra’s biggest problem in the game was getting sacked. He was taken down behind the line of scrimmage four times for a total loss of 35 yards.

Though that was painful for fans to watch – many left the stadium early, not wanting to see another offensive possession – it may not have been as bad of a sign for Marscovetra as it seemed.

The Hokies spent a decent amount of time behind the line of scrimmage; they recorded 11 tackles for a loss. Marscovetra was not the only Eagle to be hit early in a route. When he first entered the game, he seemed to freeze when seeing the defense run at him. He protected the ball, for the most part, but almost ducked in anticipation.

As the game went on, Marscovetra started to scramble more. He ran away from the defenders, so the loss was less than the earlier sacks. The fault lies with the coaches for not adequately preparing Marscovetra for the game.

Now, they have a week to prepare a new starter.

That starter should be someone who has had some, though limited, experience in real game situations.

Rettig may have played well in the Spring Game, but that was five months ago and was not a real game. He is completely untested, and to throw him into the national spotlight and into the storied Holy War rivalry for his first ever college snap might not be very successful.

Marscovetra has at least had the chance for live action. It isn’t time to throw in the towel with Rettig. 

C4

Monday, September 27, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

DiMartino’s goal gives Eagles edge Historic Win, from C1

tal Dunn. The deficit stung a little more than usual, as Hannah Cerrone’s penalty kick in the 51st minute was stopped by UNC goalkeeper Anna Sieloff.

The Eagles countered immediately following Dunn’s goal, however, scoring just over a minute later. Amy Caldwell sent a pass to sophomore Victoria DiMartino, allowing her some freedom to operate down the right side. DiMartino, who led the team with three shots, sent a nice crossover to midfielder Kristen Mewis, who promptly headed the ball into the net to tie the game at one.

UNC refused to sit back and kept the pressure on, which gave Crystal Dunn her second goal of the match. Five minutes after Mewis’ equalizer, Dunn booted a deflected ball in the box past BC goalkeeper Jillian Mastroianni to put the Tar Heels up, 2-1.

Once again, BC had an answer. Defender Alaina Beyar, known more for her lockdown defense than her scoring abilities, sent a rocket at the net and blew it by Sieloff. Beyar picked up a loose ball, bolted past two UNC defenders, and ripped a shot high off the left top post

and into the net for her first goal of the season.

In a back-and-forth affair, it seemed only a matter of time before UNC would take the lead once again. DiMartino, however, scored out of turn. The forward’s hard, low shot deflected off UNC defenseman Meg Morris and found the back of the net in the 75th minute, putting BC up, 3-2.

The Eagles spent the rest of the game defending their lead and keeping the Tar Heels from generating their patented attack, which tested Mastroianni throughout.

The junior keeper saved eight shots during the match, including a penalty kick in the 21st minute, and kept the Eagles in it long enough to grab the elusive lead.

“She came up big when she needed to,” Foley said.

While the second half was explosive for both teams, the first half was anything but dull. Both sides had plenty of chances, with defender Hannah Cerrone setting up the Eagles’ best scoring chances. A corner kick and a free kick set up BC shots, but neither found the back of the net.

Making a statement Statement Game, from C1

ALLISON RUSSELL / THE DAILY TAR HEEL

Jillian Mastroianni recorded eight saves, including a penalty kick, to keep BC in the match.

Despite being outshot, 16-11, the Eagles made the most of their opportunities against Sieloff, a true freshman, who entered in the second half.

It was a monumental win that will propel the Eagles even higher in the national rankings, but Foley was not concerned

with dwelling on finally capturing a victory over UNC. “Obviously it was a great win, but we are going to try to put the game behind us and take it game by game,” Foley said.

“We have the rest of the season to think about.” 

Though ‘a step off,’ BC handles Wolfpack

BY GREG JOYCE Heights Staff

Kristie Mewis scored her second goal in as many games, and it was all the offense the No. 4 Boston College 1 women’s soccer 0 NC State team (9-0-1, 20-0 ACC) needed to stay undefeated.

The win was Boston College’s second in four days in the state of North Carolina, this time beating NC State (7-4, 1-1-0 ACC) in a 1-0 decision on Sunday afternoon.

Mewis’ sixth goal of the season came in the 24th minute of play, off a long through ball from forward Victoria DiMartino. It was DiMartino’s sixth assist of the season. Mewis now has a point in eight straight games.

“Kristie is playing so consistent right now on both sides of the ball,” said head coach Alison Foley. “She is creating and running with people, and her passing and combination play is excellent. She

is getting to the box and finishing with on Thursday. great goals. As impressive as that is, The Eagles were able to keep their she is getting back defensively. For her energy up enough to win the game, even to go both ways tenaciously on defense just three days after an emotional win and creatively on the attack is pretty against top-ranked North Carolina. impressive.”

“It’s a sign of resilThe sophomore duo led iency,” Foley said. “Ob“We focused on BC’s offensive attack, comviously we wanted the completing the bining for half of the team’s girls to enjoy the UNC shots. DiMartino had five weekend and getting win, but it was such a shots, Mewis had two, and turnaround until two wins. I’m very quick Amy Caldwell and Brooke NC State. We focused on Knowlton also added two proud and pleased completing the weekend shots apiece. that they were able and getting two wins. I’m BC outshot NC State, very proud and pleased to do that.”

14-4, in the game, and had that they were able to six corner kicks to the Wolfdo that.” pack’s three.

Foley said that al-Alison Foley Goalkeeper Jill Masthough they got the win, Head Coach troianni recorded her fifth there were a lot of breakshutout of the season, and away situations and balls only had to make one save in the win. that were crossed into the box that just Mastroianni has allowed just four goals missed throughout the game. so far this season in 10 games, half of “The girls are human,” Foley said. which came against the No. 1 Tar Heels “We were just a step off today. But we

still played well and created so many chances, but we were just a little off. NC State had a great goalkeeper, so credit to her. Those things are going to happen, but one went in, and we got the win, and that’s what we set out to do – to get on the plane and have a victory.”

Foley especially credited the seniors on the team for staying focused and coming out of Raleigh with the win.

“It wasn’t just the tiredness of the match, but the heat had an effect,” Foley said. “We had exceptional senior leadership, and that can pull you through.

It was a mentally tough game, but they helped get the rest of the kids through it.

They certainly rose to the occasion.”

The Eagles will now have a week off to rest up before they travel south again to play No. 11 Virginia. The rest will be well deserved however, after their 2-0 performance in North Carolina over the weekend.

The wins are what matters, and BC kept the loss column empty. 

If only I could’ve been.

A referee who must have had ties to Tobacco Road gave the Heels two penalty kicks in the final 16 minutes, turning a 1-0 BC lead into a 2-1 loss. I was stunned, and livid. If I had a remote, I would have thrown it. (But remember, kids, there is no cheering in the press box.) Foley, who would have torn the head off the referee if she hadn’t been held back by assistants, had reigned in her anger to deliver a heartbreakingly political reaction.

“I’ve never seen it happen, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it happening,” she said. “It’s unfortunate because I think our girls did everything they could control, and everything that we asked them to do I thought that they did.”

A look of incredulousness came across her face when her team faced the Heels again in the ACC tournament, as UNC escaped with a 1-0 overtime win after a cross deflected off the back of Alaina Beyar and into the net. The Eagles couldn’t catch a break. Something cosmic was acting against them, and they were going to have to overcome that the next time the girls in baby blue shared the pitch.

Thursday was that time. For every goal UNC mustered, BC had an answer.

Kristen Mewis quickly erased a 1-0 hole, tying the match a minute later.

Beyar got some revenge with an equalizer of her own in the 70th minute, her first goal of the season. And less than six minutes later, the Eagles stopped waiting on the Tar Heels and showed why they deserve to be the most-feared team in the ACC, as Victoria DiMartino netted her ninth goal of the year to push BC ahead for good.

For the first time in school history, the Eagles finally got to walk off the pitch with their heads held high, the incomparable adrenaline rush of a huge victory pumping through their blood stream. Finally, they had done it.

Foley called the win “a historic moment for the program.” I call it a statement. The women’s soccer team – my team – is the best in the country, and no one can argue otherwise.

Zach Wielgus is the Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com.

ALLISON RUSSELL / THE DAILY TAR HEEL AND MIKE SALDARRIAGA AND ALEX MANTA / HEIGHTS PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

CLASSIFIEDS

C5

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

COMMUNITY HELP WANTED Have you thought about adoption? Loving and devoted married couple hoping to adopt. We hope you will consider us in your options. To learn more, please call us toll-free at 1-877-841-3748, or visit our Web site www.roseanneandtim. com. Please be assured all conversations are held in strict conďŹ dence.

With gratitude, Roseanne and Tim. Need mature and responsible older student or grad student to pick up two great girls, ages 15 and 11, from school, drive to activities and home (near football stadium), make easy dinner. Must be excellent driver (SUV provided). Hours approx. 2:00/2:30 until approx. 7:00 Mon-Thurs (hours vary). Some help

with groceries, laundry, errands ideal, if possible and if/as time permits. Girls are responsible and sweet. Golden retriever at home. Email nfbaskin@ baskinfamlaw.com.

Sunday school teacher / assistant for Episcopal church in Newton Centre, within walking distance from campus. Hours are 9:30 to 11:30 on Sunday on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. Please send a summary of teaching and / or childcare experience and a brief note to Ashley Duggan, dugganas@bc.edu.

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE: Perfect location. Across from BC, steps to T and shops, garage. in-unit laundry, storage, 2yrs new, 1br. Chestnut Hill. $339k. Pauline 508-525-5415.

NEED HOUSING FOR SPRING 2011 SEMESTER? Available 9/1.

Brighton. Walk to BC. Modern, 2bed, hardwood, balcony, parking, swimming pool, dishwasher/dispenser, new bath, laundry, heat included, NO FEE, by owner $1,550.

(617)-256-3306.

OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING. Available 9/1. Brighton, Cleveland Circle.

Best value. Modern, large, 3-bed, eat-in kitchen, dishwasher/dispenser, new bathroom, hardwood, laundry, heat included. NO FEE, by owner $2,100. (617)-256-3306.

MISCELLANEOUS Interested in blogging for The Heights? Contact Dara Fang at fangda@bc.edu for more information or to submit a tip.

LOOKING FOR WORKERS? TRYING TO SELL SOMETHING? PLACE A CLASSIFIED IN THE HEIGHTS

The onset of eye disease may not be as visible as the appearance of new wrinkles. An eye doctor can spot the early warning signs of vision problems like glaucoma and macular degeneration, as well as other serious health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Early detection is key.

For men and women over 40, it might be wise to look into your eyes. For more information, visit checkyearly.com. A public service message from Vision Council of America and AARP.

6#! "7 .EWS - X INDD

0-

C6

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

C7

Blue Devils blank Eagles in ACC match-up

BY GREG JOYCE Heights Staff

Different game, same story.

The theme of missed opportunities won’t leave the No. 10 Boston College m e n ’s s o c c e r 1 Duke team (4-1-2, 0Boston College 0 1-1 ACC), as they were again unable to convert on various scoring chances Friday night.

While the Eagles were able to overcome it and win their last time out, this time it cost them, dropping a 1-0 decision to No. 11 Duke (4-1-2, 1-1-1 ACC).

The Eagles and Blue Devils played in hot, humid conditions for nearly 83 minutes before Christopher Tweed-Kent scored a goal to put the home team up for good.

Charlie Rugg led BC’s offense with four shots, nearly scoring on half of them. One was saved by Duke’s goalie, and the other bounced off the post.

“The keeper came out and smothered Charlie’s attack; they did a good job on that,” said head coach Ed Kelly. “Then Charlie had another header that looked like it could have been a goal, but it hit the post.

“We had quality chances.”

The Eagles outshot Duke, 5-4, in the first half, but couldn’t put anything in the net. Both of Rugg’s chances came in the first half, and another shot off the post came from teammate Kyle Bekker in the ninth minute.

The second half was a different story, though, as Duke outshot BC, 12-6, including the strike that proved to be the game-winning goal. Kelly said that the home team “came out with a lot more” in the second half.

“Their goal was a goal that got hit across just in a hazard,” Kelly said.

“Chris Ager sliced to block it, and it pops up in the air and goes to another kid.

The game is full of mistakes, and that’s what happens.

“A lot of the goals are just bad mistakes, unfortunate things.”

Playing in just his second collegiate start, freshman Chris Ager received high praise from his coach after the game.

“We got a very good performance out of Chris Ager, just starting off for us, and he did very well,” Kelly said.

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Although sophomore forward Charlie Rugg led BC with four shots against No. 11 Duke, the Eagles could not find the back of the net, losing 1-0 to the Blue Devils. BC is now 0-1-1 in the ACC. Kelly also said that the weather, a humid 90 degrees, may have played a factor in the game, although he said he did not consider it an excuse for the loss.

BC goalkeeper Justin Luthy made six saves in the game, but his shutout streak of 423 minutes came to an end on Tweed-Kent’s goal. Kelly said that Luthy played well, although he wasn’t really tested much. The one time he was

beat, however, proved to be the slight edge necessary in a tight match.

“All in all it was a good game, it was an even game,” Kelly said. “[We] did all the right things, it just hits the post, it’s a game of inches. We did enough, but they don’t always go in.”

Sacir Hot and Colin Murphy both received yellow cards for BC. The road ahead doesn’t get any easier

for the Eagles, as their next game will be at No. 6 Connecticut tomorrow night.

“That’s a huge game, so huge games are easy enough to get motivated for,” Kelly said.

The Eagles will look to get back on their feet with a full team effort, now that they are fully healthy.

“We’re playing well, a lot of the kids are back that were out,” Kelly said. “So

we still need a little bit of time to get what is our best performance.”

With a bit of luck and fewer missed opportunities, the Eagles could soon be right back where they need to be, with the pack of highly-talented teams atop the ACC. BC next takes on Connecticut on Tuesday before resuming ACC play against NC State on Friday in Chestnut Hill. 

Cross country sprints by three ranked teams

BY JAKE BURG

Hope Krause and Allison Stasiuk, who finished 37th and 76th overall, respectively.

“Our runners one through four are very solid,” No national ranking? That’s no problem for the Thomas said.

Boston College women’s cross-country team. RacBut it was Stasiuk, finishing fifth on the team, ing against the nation’s top collegiate squads, the who proved to be the difference. Stasiuk’s 76thEagles managed to best three ranked teams, while overall finish helped to ensure the Eagles’ sixthfinishing sixth overall out of a field of 29 schools place result. in the Roy Griak Invitational “Allison saved us [Saturday] Meet in Falcon Heights, Minn., “We’re a very young team, as our No. 5 runner,” Thomas on Saturday.

“You’re only as good as but I told them before the said.

The Eagles averaged a time your fifth runner, and she was meet, ‘This is a chance of 21:51 for the 6K course, really good.” which was enough to put them While BC did top three nato get back to the upper past No. 27 Penn State, No. tionally ranked teams, it also echelon of cross country.’ competed well against three 29 Rice, and the home squad, No. 28 Minnesota. Ranked They took that and really more powerhouse schools. With ninth overall in the Northeast a cumulative score of 165, the gave it everything they Region, the Eagles managed Eagles were not too far off to outrace a total of 11 teams the paces set by No. 14 Provihad.” also ranked in their respective dence, No. 7 Duke, and No. 15 regions.

Iowa State, which finished fifth, — Randy Thomas, Despite BC’s youth (15 of fourth, and third respectively. In Head Coach the team’s 26 runners are unfact, BC’s average time of 21:51 derclassmen), the team proved was only eight seconds behind that experience and national rankings aren’t ev- the mark set by Providence. erything. Three of the team’s top five placers were While her younger sister finished first on the sophomores, and their top finisher, placing ninth team, Caroline King was also a major engine beoverall out of 300 runners, was Jillian King. hind the Eagles’ success. The senior runner won “We’re a very young team, but I told them be- the Boston College Invitational on Sept. 11, with fore the meet, ‘This is a chance to get back to the a personal best of 17:14, and then continued that upper echelon of cross country,’” said head coach success on Saturday.

Randy Thomas. “They took that and really gave it “Caroline ran her best cross-country meet ever,” everything they had.”

Thomas said. “She has always been a great track King crossed the finish line with a time of 21:22. runner, but she is finally realizing she can be a great She was promptly followed by a swarm of runners, cross-country runner as well.” including three fellow Eagles. Her older sister, With the upcoming New England ChampionCaroline, came in second on the team and 18th ships on Oct. 9 in Boston, Mass., the Eagles will overall, with a time of 21:33. Next was Elizabeth continue to look to the King sibling powerhouse Hynes, finishing 27th overall at 21:44, followed by to help lead the way.  Heights Staff

THE HEIGHTS

C8

Monday, September 27, 2010

Cavaliers nip comeback effort

BY ROBERT T. BALINT Heights Staff

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Emily Kozniuk’s fifth goal of the season put the Eagles up first in the 30th minute yesterday.

Two overtimes too much again for BC

BY ROBERT T. BALINT Heights Staff

After a dreamlike 5-0 start to the 2010 season, the field hockey team has woken up to a cold real2 Connecticut ity. The No. 12 Boston College 1 Eagles (6-4-0) lost to No. 5 Connecticut, 2-1, in double overtime yesterday afternoon. The loss is the second of the weekend for the squad, and the fourth in the last five games.

BC’s offense managed to score first in Sunday’s contest, after almost 30 minutes of scoreless play. Midfielder Emily Kozniuk wove through Connecticut’s defenders and aired a shot past goaltender Sarah Mansfield. Mansfield, who had four saves in the game, could not reach the ball in time, and the Eagles had their first lead in two games.

The goal was Kozniuk’s fifth of the season, and, along with teammate Janna Anctil, leads the team in goals this season.

The Huskies (8-1-0) caught up midway through the second half. On a Connecticut penalty corner, Allison Angulo passed to Jestine Angelini, whose shot rebounded toward Cara Silverman. Silverman shot and scored from the right side to draw

The Boston College field hockey team stood toe to toe with the No. 3 program in the 3 Virginia country, drawing Boston College 1 overtime after midfielder Paige Norris rifled a shot into the back of the net as time expired, but ultimately could not pull away. The No. 12 Eagles (6-3, 0-2 ACC) lost to the visiting Virginia Cavaliers, 3-2, on Friday evening.

With seven minutes remaining, head coach Ainslee Lamb pulled goalkeeper Kristine Stigas and sent in Carla Tamer in what is known as a kicking back – Tamer had the ability to move around the field as a regular player, but had goaltending privileges within the circle.

At one point, Tamer knocked away what would have been a game-winning shot for the Cavaliers with a swing of her stick.

“That’s just pure desire to win the game,” Lamb said of Tamer’s play. “We don’t practice that.”

As the clock ticked down, the Eagles attacked aggressively, finally earning a penalty corner with just 30 seconds to go after a foul was called on Virginia on the near side. The ensuing shot was blocked, but Norris picked up the rebound just

outside of the circle.

She dribbled inside, aimed, and launched a high, arching shot that Virginia goaltender Kim Kastuk could not reach. The goal came just as regular time expired, and Norris was mobbed by her teammates in the ensuing celebration.

Heading into overtime, Lamb told her team to “stay poised, play for position, and not to panic.” Indeed, the Eagles played much like they had during the second half – with aggression and poise.

Cavalier Paige Selenski, however, put down any sort of fairytale ending for the Eagles in the fourth minute of overtime.

After receiving a pass from downfield, she broke toward the goal, beat out Stigas, and scored the game-winning goal at 3:49 of the extra period. In a flash, it was all over.

“I can’t applaud a loss because that’s not what defines us, but the character this team showed I am so proud of,” Lamb said. “That ability to come back from 2-0 against the No. 3 team in the country just demonstrates that we have the ability to play at that level.”

The Eagles fell into the two-goal hole in the first half. A quick three minutes into the game, on the first penalty corner awarded, Cavalier Rachel Jennings gave a quick pass to Haley Carpenter at the top of the circle, which Carpenter drilled in for the first goal of the game.

Eighteen minutes later, Jennings orchestrated another successful penalty corner, picking up the assist as Virginia midfielder Michelle Vittese took the pass, maneuvered close with some finesse, and put the Cavaliers up 2-0 going into halftime.

The main advantage that Virginia had over the Eagles was the successful playing of penalty corners. While the Cavaliers converted two of the four they took in the first half, the Eagles did not manage to capitalize on any of their three. Possession was balanced for most of the first half, with the Cavaliers holding the slight advantage, but the Eagles actually led in shots, 4-3.

Down by two with 45 minutes left to play, the team worked hard in the second half to catch up. The offense was far more active, taking nine shots, which more than doubled the first-half count, and goaltender Stigas made all four of her saves in the second half.

With this new sense of urgency, the Eagles managed to get on the board during the 58th minute. Jacqui Moorfield, who led the team with seven shots, scored her third goal of the season off a penalty corner, assisted by Emily Kozniuk and Tilly Brampton.

BC stayed on the attack for the final 12 minutes to nearly steal a come-frombehind victory, but ran out of gas. 

her team even with the Eagles for the remainder of regular time.

Neither team could manufacture the game-winning goal in the first 15-minute overtime period. Finally, 10 minutes into the second overtime, Huskies forward Ryell Heistand scored on a penalty stroke awarded to her, giving Connecticut the 2-1 victory.

Connecticut recorded 29 shots in the game, far outpacing the BC offensive output of seven. Two Huskies, Angelini and Melissa Gonzalez, both outshot the entire BC offense by one shot.

With so many shots, the Huskies put Eagles goaltender Katherine Stigas to work. Stigas made a season-high 13 saves during the game, and Carla Tamer made another defensive save, making good for two on the weekend.

All four of the Eagles’ losses have come against ranked opponents, while all six of their wins have been against unranked teams. 

For more photos from the BC-UConn game, visit www.bcheights.com/sports

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Taylor Turchi (left) and Jenny Raftery (right) couldn’t hold back their emotion after UConn buried its game-winning goal in double overtime.

B4

FEATURES THE HEIGHTS

Monday, September 27, 2010

D1

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

’Rents take it to the Heights

JACQUELYN HERDER There was a change here on campus Friday afternoon. Students were dressed smartly, the campus was in tip-top shape, and Father Leahy was in plain view. Welcome to Parents’ Weekend 2010.

Parents’ Weekend is, whether or not your family is visiting, a special time of the year. For some students, it is a time of reunion for alumni who are coming to celebrate a school that binds them together. For others, it is a time to enjoy being pampered for a few days – just enough to ease the pain of independence after a summer at home, just enough to get us through until Thanksgiving break.

For still more students, it is simply a time for families to come together, and for us to become better acquainted with our friends and our friends’ families.

Over the past four years, I have found that the dynamics of Parents’ Weekend have changed as we have gotten older.

When we were freshmen, it was a joy to simply see our parents. For many of us, freshman year of college was the first time we’d been away from home, living by ourselves, and being totally responsible for our own lives. Having our parents back in the picture, even for a brief time, was nothing short of a relief. We loved showing Mom and Dad around, pointing out our favorite lunch spots, introducing them to our newfound friends, and showing them where our favorite class was.

Sophomore year was a little different.

Rather than introducing our parents to the friends we made during the first week of school and having dinner solo, elaborate dinner plans were made with our eight-man roommates, and the friendships began to expand among the parents. Junior year saw us sliding into the easy habit of the previous years – we had developed a comfortable repertoire with not just our parents, but also the families of our friends. The weekend was less new, and more of a routine, which was actually nice. Now, we could slow down, and enjoy the time with our families on the campus without feeling like we needed to stay on the BC-approved schedule of receptions and lectures.

Senior year Parents’ Weekend was, in my opinion, by far the best. We have finally reached the point where we are considered (gulp) real people, but in the best possible way. Friday night’s Pops became social hour with cocktails, and the conversation was peppered with questions like “What are you doing after this year?” and stories of our parents’ senior years that they finally feel we are mature enough to hear. By the way, BC, that night was another winner. Everyone loves a great Beatles sing-along, and the inadvertent shout-out to the one and only Mary Ann’s will probably go down in history among students and alumni. Saturday’s game saw us not in the Plex for the tailgate barbecue, but in the Mods – where parents set up bloody mary stations, brought good wine, and showed the kids how to really tailgate.

Saturday night brought us together again, and group dinners fell away to more intimate gatherings where good food, fine wine, and great company were the order of the day.

The past four years have given us more than just a great education. They provided us with the opportunity to create life-long friendships, and to form bonds with people who have enriched our lives, as we hope we have enriched theirs. I truly believe that our experiences as BC students have helped to finish the job our parents began, and have turned us into responsible, socially conscious, and hardworking people of whom they can be proud. The differences between the Parents’ Weekend of four years ago and the Parents’ Weekend of today is representative of how we’ve grown into ourselves. We have gone from unsure children, taking steps toward our future, to self-assured and confident young adults who have a firm grasp on who they are and what they want, and who are grateful for the experiences they have created here at BC. So, BC parents, a collective thank you for all that you have given us, and we hope that we have given you, in return, the pleasure of seeing us succeed and grow.

Defying Gravity

BY FRANCESCA BACARDI Heights Staff

Spiderman is not the only one who can scale buildings. In fact, there is a whole team of people that are able to do similar tricks, but without any of the special effects that movies rely on.

As many students have probably noticed, the Boston College parkour team has taken campus by storm, jumping, flipping, and practically flying around anywhere they can land their feet. Most notably, the team can be seen around Devlin Hall, using the short wall to their advantage.

Last week, however, BC and the parkour team had the privilege of hosting world-renowned free runner Ryan Doyle, who hails all the way from Liverpool.

Doyle, a world champion free runner spon-

sored by Red Bull, looks at parkour far differently than one may expect. When asked how long he had been involved with parkour, his immediate response was, “The real question to ask is, ‘When did you stop doing parkour?’” As a free runner, Doyle feels it is his responsibility to teach others the parkour way of life; a life without the fear that society has instilled in everyone. “We have to let kids be creative and try new things on their own … we need more leaders than followers,” says Doyle.

At the Red Bull Art of Motion competition that took place in Boston’s own Government Center, nothing was made clearer than the leadership role that Doyle takes on while free running. While all of the competitors were warming up, doing flips off cranes and jumping off a truck, Doyle not only showed off his talent, but he also helped other competitors with their own tricks, giving

advice that he thought might help.

Because parkour is not considered a sport, the idea of a parkour “competition” is counterintuitive to someone like Doyle. In fact, most, if not all, of the free runners agree that Art of Motion is an “exhibition of one’s life through movements,” as both Doyle and the twin Milano brothers, the founders of BC’s very own parkour team, defined it. Greg Milano, A&S ’11, and Matt Milano, LSOE ’11, began BC’s parkour team in the fall of 2008. With very different athletic abilties, they realized they both knew enough about the parkour movement and had very strong interests of their own. That fall, they set up a table at Student Activities Day and looked for anyone to sign up and join their team, includ-

See Parkour, D2

Jacquelyn Herder is the Features Editor for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com.

I NSIDE FEATUR E S THIS ISSUE

The World Record

Learn from fellow students studying abroad. This week, read about experiences in China. .................................................................................................................... D4

Humor Column.................................D2 College Connections.........................D2

The Heights

D2

Monday, September 27, 2010

Parkour becoming more mainstream, popular

Francesca Bacardi/Heights Staff

Parkour is a growing activity on both Boston College’s campus and the world. Events such as Red Bull’s Art of Motion showcase the various skills, tricks, and works of showmanship that are ever increasing in popularity as well as

Parkour from B1 ing females. “Girls come and try it out for awhile, but eventually they fizzle out for different reasons,” says Greg Milano, “but we do have one steady female member.” Even though there is a drastic difference in membership in terms of gender, that does not imply that there is an odd man (or woman) out. BC’s parkour team roots itself in the very idea of the word “team.” As an art, parkour enables each free runner to compete against himself, not against others. It is an opportunity for each person to express himself on the course in a variety of ways, which is the most important idea behind parkour. “Each course is completely different and affects each competitor in a different way. The important thing is that each person adapts to the course, meaning that there is no ‘best’ free runner that can do it all. Every time there will be a new winner at every course,” Milano says.

One of the main characteristics of parkour is the different backgrounds that each free runner comes from. With an interest in martial arts, Doyle entered the world of Parkour when he was 18, adding his very own twist to a different kind of art. The Milano brothers also added their own style to parkour with each of their different backgrounds. Spending his high school years as a diver and track runner, Matt Milano learned how to flip, jump, and perform other difficult tricks. Greg Milano, on the other hand, ran track and field, where he focused on sprinting and jumping. Each of their previous athletic careers inspires what and how they do on each parkour course. Interestingly enough, there is different terminology in parkour, Greg explains. “As a precision jumper, I go from point to point expressing myself in different ways. I climb walls, and do all of that, but without the flips.”

After suffering from a concussion,

Greg Milano cannot do flips in his art without getting dizzy, but that does not affect his performance in the slightest. “I’m not a free runner, I do parkour, which is basically the idea of efficient movement; getting from point A to point B without any wasted movement, but

ficiency. The differences, however, do not positively or negatively affect each competitor, but are merely personal choices in one’s own style that get reflected on each course.

Now, after realizing that parkour cannot be the safest activity,

“As a precision jumper, I go from point to point expressing myself in different ways. I climb walls, and do all of that, but without the flips. I’m not a free runner, I do parkour, which is basically the idea of efficient movement; getting from point A to point B without any wasted movement.”

-Greg Milano, A&S ’11 Ryan [Doyle] would say it’s all the same,” he says. Free running, Greg says, is getting from point A to point B more creatively. It involves more personal expression than ef-

one must wonder how each free runner can overcome the natural fear that people feel about heights, edges, etc. “Fear,” Doyle says, “is a socially constructed concept that

controls so many people’s lives.

We only become afraid of things because from youth, we are drilled into believing that everything is ‘dangerous,’ and as a result we forget what the human body is capable of.” After facing countless injuries and surgeries, Doyle has not allowed himself to give up his passion for parkour. Instead, he travels around the world competing and teaching others about the world he loves so much, but he is careful when he does so – not because he is afraid of hurting himself, but because he does not want people to learn from his individual style. Back in Liverpool, Doyle teaches people to learn from him and not from his style, because copying, he feels, has no aspect of creative input whatsoever. As a result, he enjoys teaching people to think and discover their own personal styles, while giving advice to those who ask for it along the way.

Parkour is not simply an art

– it is a lifestyle. It is a way to express oneself through movement, without any added pressure of doing better than any other person, because it is an activity that one does for personal gain and satisfaction. As a form of art, parkour always has room for new styles, moves, and personalities, which cause the criteria on how it is judged to constantly change.

Because it is about one’s own performance, however, the criteria changes with each individual free runner, allowing every competitor to improve and take advantage of each course. Doyle even described Red Bull’s Art of Motion as “man vs. course,” not “man vs. man.”

Even if the moves, styles, and tricks all seem impossible or terrifying to perform, one should always remember Doyle’s explanation of fear and the personal mantra that he teaches to all who come to him for help – “Don’t confuse the impossible with what hasn’t been done yet.”n

Restuccia brings passion to English department

By Carrie McMahon Heights Editor

Change is the key to keeping Frances Restuccia’s passion for her subject matter alive. In the English department, she teaches contemporary literature and cultural theory in a variety of classes including Contemporary International Novels, as well as Film and Film Theory. After 25 years as a professor, Restuccia continues to consistently adjust the material in her courses, bringing in an assortment of works from fundamental theorists such as Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, as well as recently published works from the likes of Julia Kristeva or Giorgio Agamben. Her goal is for the courses to evolve with the material being produced in the outside world of psychoanalysis, so both Restuccia and her students can discover and discuss the most popular topics of the moment. “Something has to be born,” Restuccia says of her classes, as she strives to create, alongside her students, new ideas within the structure of the theories she studies.

It is never about reiterating what’s in the text, but instead taking what has been written and working with it to form new and original thoughts.

Originally from New Jersey, Restuccia received her B.A. and M.A. at Occidental College and her Ph.D. in English at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally a student of literature, her interest turned to contemporary theory when a professor at Berkeley presented her with Roland Barthe’s The Pleasure of the

Courtesy of Frances Restuccia

Frances Restuccia’s main aim in the classroom is to inspire her students to create, saying that “something must be born” in each class.

Text. Her thesis eventually utilized such a theory with a focus on James Joyce and the modern European novel, which she used in writing her first book, James Joyce and the Law of the Father. She followed up this initial work with Melancholics in Love: Representations of Women’s Depression and Domestic Abuse. The topic of the

publication was the result of a year spent working as a counselor for women who were victims of domestic abuse, as well as helping them file restraining orders against their attackers through a police department in Vermont. Her third work was Amorous Acts: Lacanian Ethics in Modernism, Film, and Queer Theory, and

her latest book is currently in progress and is titled The Blue Box: Essays on Film and Psychoanalysis. It is centered on film theories originally presented by Kristeva.

Restuccia has spent most of her teaching career at Boston College, but has also spent short periods of time ev-

Eagle Dates: Take a chance, and see what happens Kelly McCartney There are basically two ways that you can go on an actual, traditional dinner date at Boston College. The first starts like this; You meet a boy or girl and you are interested, but you don’t want to seem overeager or desperate, so, barring the presence of some liquid courage, you don’t make a move.

Luckily, you have a convenient schedule where you casually run into this person at least three times a week. After about three weeks of constant casual run-ins, one of you makes the bold move to actually get the other person’s number and start to arrange informal lunches or homework dates in Lower. Eventually, you end up at the same party if you have

intersecting groups of friends and you hook up. Finally, five weeks to a couple of months after the initial interest, someone works up the courage to ask the person out to dinner, post-hook up.

As many a BC student has noticed, the above equation doesn’t lead to a whole lot of dating on campus. Somewhere along the line, a date became something that you didn’t do until your relationship was “official,” after the awkward but seemingly necessary “talking” or “seeing each other” or just “hanging out” stage has passed. As anyone who has been regaled with stories of our parents’ youth is aware, this has not always been the case.

Dates used to be something you did to get to know someone better, to decide if you wanted

to go through all of that other stuff that would eventually lead to dating.

Your other option is to skip all of the above and to go on an Eagle Date. All you have to do is submit an application online and The Heights will set you up with someone based upon your interests and answers. The two of you select a restaurant and a time and hang out for an hour or two. After the date, a Heights reporter will ask you a few questions about how it went, giving you complete control over how much (or how little) you share. Best part? The Heights will pick up the tab for your meal.

Obviously, there are two very different encounters involved in each of the above situations. The first is the result of a relationship and the

second involves two people who have probably never even met before. And while I do harbor a farfetched dream involving an Eagle Dates wedding, establishing relationships isn’t even the real goal of the Eagle Dates project. Rather, it is an attempt to bring back the casual, no-strings-attached date.

More than a year after the first Eagle Date, we have yet to witness any complete disasters.

Most likely scenario? You meet someone new who you have at least a few things in common with and you get a free dinner. Worst case scenario? You spend two slightly awkward hours and you get a free dinner.

So, as always, why not give Eagle Dates a chance? Check our new Facebook group by searching “Eagle Dates Redux.”

erywhere from Williams College to Venice International University, where she was in the fall of 2008. She is well traveled as academic conferences often lead her to various locations where, after work, she is free to, and thoroughly enjoys, exploring her surroundings. Her time spent in Italy as a professor is one of her most treasured abroad experiences, she says, and she has returned to the country multiple times. Although Restuccia has experienced many other schools around the world, she feels she belongs at BC and appreciates the ability to be flexible with the content of her courses here. She has taught an abundance of classes, both for undergraduates and graduates, some focusing on specific psychoanalytical authors, and others encompassing broader themes within contemporary theory.

Restuccia teaches material that is entirely new to most people, so, at times, the content of her courses can be rather challenging. However, these classes seem to constantly engage her students, as she says most tend to be remarkably receptive to the subject matter. Although Restuccia claims this is because the theories presented can apply to each and every student’s life and how they view the world, there is also another clear reason. The passion with which Restuccia teaches is contagious. As a student, it is impossible not to be excited when she speaks with such fascination about an array of ideas and authors. Her obvious enthusiasm with everything she presents has the undeniable ability to similarly exhilarate anyone in the room. n

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Heights

D3

How-To

Humor

Waste time, or not waste time, among the library stacks

Like a hawk on the rooftop

Allie Bowman It’s Wednesday afternoon. The weekend is approaching and you’re planning on celebrating your best friend’s 21st birthday. Between now and Friday, you have to write two papers and prepare a presentation. Your plan of attack is as follows. Step one: Go to the library. Step two: Do work. It’s plain and simple.

You enter O’Neill Library, march up the stairs to the fifth floor, choose the perfect desk that has a spectacular view of the Boston skyline, get your game face on, and you’re ready to go.

All is going exactly according to plan.

That is, except for one small detail: You lack any sense of motivation. You can try all you want to be productive, but it is almost guaranteed that you will get nothing done. Any little thing seems a million times more worthwhile than the work you have to do. It’s called procrastination. Hundreds of books and essays have been written giving tips to help overcome it. However, this column is going to do just the opposite.

With these steps, you will learn how to not only be an effective procrastinator, but also be the best one in the entire library.

Before anything, pat yourself on the back. Although no academic progress has been made, just by stepping foot

within a decent radius of the library is a feat in and of itself. Step one: check.

When choosing a seat, look for the least conspicuous one possible. As far as Boston College libraries go, this means to look for areas that are more conducive to solitude. Cubbies are always a plus, but those go fast, so try to find a spot where your computer screen can be seen by as few people as possible (that means avoid the top floor of Bapst). Trust me, you don’t want to be the kid caught playing Farmville during finals week.

Once situated, pull out your books and arrange them in a productive looking manner. Open as many as will fit on the desk at once and spread them out so it looks like you’re exerting a lot of brainpower on this assignment.

Then, pull out your computer. First, go through the normal duties: Read e-mails, check Facebook, and update Twitter. After that, it’s time to get down to business.

A great place to start is Sporcle.

Since it began in 2007, this site has helped to revolutionize the way people waste time by making memorizing fun.

It would be by no means accurate to call Sporcle educational, By playing it, however, you just may learn something.

Sure, that something may be a list of the entire Beatles song collection, but it could also be something more useful, like the map of the United States. It

may not help you on an econ problem set, but it will help to facilitate the transition into procrastination mode by disguising something fun with something on the more educational side.

Now it’s time to look for new music.

Justify this by calling it a pursuit for better “study music.” Then, spend the next few hours perusing the Internet for new material. Look through Mojo, YouTube, blogs, or any other resource to find something that will spice up your iTunes library a bit. Playlists get old after a while, so it’s always good to rejuvenate them every now and then.

And what better place to do so than at the library?

Miss last night’s episode of Glee?

Well, this is the perfect time and place to catch up! Make yourself comfortable in a cubby – get some snacks, and pile up sweatshirts to make the chair more couch-like – and watch all the TV shows you missed in the last week. If you choose a good enough location, no one should suspect a thing. But in the event that someone calls you out on it, just tell him or her that you’re a communications major. They’ll understand.

When in doubt, stumble. Stumbleupon.com has become one of the best ways to surf the Internet since Google.

Just check off boxes that correspond to your personal interests and in seconds you are thrust right into the tangle of the World Wide Web. It is extremely

easy to waste hours upon hours viewing sites that show incredible architectural feats or some really cool photography.

The sites you stumble upon are ones you would have never otherwise found, and they expose you to the hidden gems of the online world.

Now that you have effectively wasted hours procrastinating, it is time for the final step. You must bring everyone else down with you. If you’re not doing work, then no one else should either. Bring a friend to the library with you. It is impossible to get as much work done with your friends there anyway, so snag an unclaimed study room and take over. Bring a deck of cards, or coloring books and music and just have a blast!

Unfortunately though, the fun can’t last forever. At some point or another, you are going to have to start to do work. Getting back into the swing of things – especially at the beginning of the year – can be extremely difficult.

We can tell ourselves that we work better under pressure and, while that may be true for some, it only leads to more stress in the end. Plan ahead and use your time well so that later on you can take these “procrastination” tips and turn them into “study breaks.”

Allie Bowman is a columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com

“My parents really don’t like my boyfriend and have been pushing me to break up with him almost ever since we got together. When they came to visit this weekend and we all went out for dinner, it only made it worse. I can see why they don’t like him, but I just can’t seem to stay away from him. I really think I’m in love, but I don’t want to my disappoint my parents. Help!”

- Parents Just Don’t Understand

Alex Says:

Julia Responds:

There are some pretty important words in this question, but I’d like to highlight My gut reaction is that you should listen to the people who’ve raised you for two of them: “love” and “parents.” Your parents are obviously an important part the past 20-something years. But also keep in mind that parents don’t always of your life, and therefore have an influence on a lot of the decisions you’ll make. have it right – especially when it comes to their kids’ college romances. Their Unfortunately, they’re not the ones dating your opinions are still worth considering, though, “If you’re happy, stay together. If you’re not, move on to boyfriend. The best course of action would be to even if you don’t agree at all. Ask yoursomeone who does make you happy (or just enjoy the fabulous self why they don’t like your boyfriend and find out exactly why your parents don’t care for him, suggest another meeting to “get to know him whether you take issue with any of the same single life).” better,” and see what happens. In preparation, things. Is he a “BC Bro” to the extreme? Does – Julia, on what to do after reflecting on a relationship take what your parents tell you about not liking he give your parents sketchy answers about him and see if you can understand what they have his campus job because he has to keep his Baldwin identity a secret? Whatever their concerns, hear them out. to say. If it was something that maybe you agree with, have a conversation with your boyfriend about it. Since you’re in love, these types of conversations should be healthy and open. If, however, you don’t agree with anything they say or understand it, you That being said, I’m not advising you to let your parents walk all over you on could be fighting an uphill battle. They’ve made up their minds and there’s not much this one. else you can do about it except try and make them realize why you feel so strongly If you really do love this guy, it’s worth it to see where it goes. Even if your about him. If this is the case, and you can’t get them to budge, just live your life with parents end up being right about him (and yes, we all hate it when that hapyour boyfriend separate from the life you have with your parents. pens), you’ll at least have learned what you don’t want in a relationship. It might To me, it’s important to please your parents, but it’s also important to be happy, be that your parents are just overreacting. Introducing your parents to a new and if the guy you’re dating makes you happy, I’d continue to be with him and see boyfriend can be an awkward affair anyway. Plan a time for them to meet again. what happens. The school year is young, so there is time for you two to be together Instead of dinner downtown, what about the more casual atmosphere of a Mod tailgate? For now, don’t worry and just see where the relationship takes you. If before the summer when you might have to deal with visits and other events that you’re happy, stay together. If you’re not, move on to someone who does make might involve your parents. For the time being, I truly believe the key is to get your parents to understand why you’re in love, and hopefully they’ll come around. you happy (or just enjoy the fabulous single life). Your happiness should be your top priority. As long as you’re true to yourself, you’re doing the right thing.

Alex Trautwig is an editor for The Heights. He welcomes comments at features@ bcheights.com.

Julia Wilson is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com.

“He Said/She Said” welcomes questions for future columns as well as comments about this week’s responses. All printed questions remain anonymous. Send any comments to the editor at features@bcheights.com.

College Connections

Using a crutch as a crutch on a campus where crutches are clutch

Taylor Ross All I’ve heard about the past few years is how tough Boston College is to navigate if you are injured and on crutches. Surely the sore armpits are a pain, but not as frustrating as having to retell the story of how you slipped (ahem) to every acquaintance you encounter in the Dustbowl. As miserable as these experiences are, I’ve come up with a few fun tactics to make my time on crutches more worthwhile.

First, making up a story of how you got injured is always a fun time. I’ve made good use of my improv techniques, and try to craft a new, unique story for each person I’ve run into. The excitement I get from seeing the expression on a girl’s face after explaining to her that my ankle was punctured by a girl’s stiletto while holding the door open for her is priceless. Almost as precious as when someone actually believes that I broke my ankle while kicking a soccer ball my friends had filled with sand.

Walking around with crutches has the work – they come to you. opened my eyes to a new horizon of “Oh my God! Are you okay? What privileges foreign to me during my first happened? Do you want me to get a three years at BC. My mother raised me drink for you?” to always open the door for a lady – “It “Yes, Yes. I would very much apmakes them feel important and makes preciate that,” I would respond. The you look like a gentleman,” she would whole time I’m thinking, I could live preach to me. I’ve never had someone like this forever. open the door for Even at the Kid “Crutches are the perfect me in my life, but Cudi concert, I got it has happened a the sympathy card conversation starter, and the multitude of times pulled on me without best part is you don’t have to in the past few days. even trying. Appardo any of the work - they come ently, an UnderEveryone has felt to you.” obligated to open gradute Government the door for me, of Boston College -Taylor, on the value of whether it be girls, (UGBC) employee felt crutches teachers, priests, so bad for my condielderly women, or the same bros who tion that he slipped me the glorified threatened me at my front door last year green wristband, granting me access if I did not let them inside to my party to the floor seats. I finagled my way (gotcha bros!). to the very front row, where I found I have to say my mother was right two friends who had been waiting to – the feeling of walking effortlessly get those seats since 3:30 p.m. that through a door has enhanced my self day. The cops guarding the gate were esteem, which was badly damaged looking at me suspiciously, but none by the knowledge of how I actually of them had the courage to tell the sprained my ankle this weekend. cripple he couldn’t stand there.As Aside from getting special treatCudi took the stage for his first song, a ment while walking around campus, sense of euphoria overtook me – causeveryone takes an extra interest in your ing me to pump my crutch in the air to situation at soirees. Crutches are the the beat of the bass (which soon blew perfect conversation starter, and the out). The whole time I was thinking, “I best part is you don’t have to do any of could live like this forever.”

When the masses of students on the floor rushed to the front of the stage, I was pinned between hundreds of rowdy undergraduates and the BCPD officer who had given me trouble since my freshman year. He glared at me with a recognizable glance and shouted, “You, move back now!” To which I responded, “Sir, can you not see I’m on a crutch?”

A look of terror spread across his face and he said, “I am SO sorry, I didn’t see.” He then orchestrated a group of officers to clear out the rambunctious crowd around me. I felt like President Obama, and the BCPD was my Secret Service.

For all of the benefits that crutches have granted me, my foot still looks like I have a softball inside of it. I am still the laughing stock of my group of my friends. The event which caused my injury was only seen by a select group of people, who have deemed it as one of the funniest things they have ever seen. The story may be embarrassing, and certainly will be once it gets back to my mother, but I see my injury as a blessing in disguise – I could live like this forever.

Taylor Ross is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com

David Givler My interest in raptors, large birds of prey, is like the tide. It comes in.

It goes out. Today, the tide is high.

Background: It’s March of last spring. I have successfully assembled the five other members of the group with whom I would enter the six-man housing lottery. Fingers crossed, we waded into the lottery praying the gods of the Mods would shine on us that day. The Mod gods shined on others that day, our libations unappreciated. We did, however, receive a decent pick time and knew that we would have the prime choice of housing in Ignacio or Rubenstein. When our time approached, the team surveyed the remaining options. Second floor Ignacio. First floor Ignacio. Anywhere in Rubenstein. To this day, no one knows why Ignacio is so much more popular than Rubenstein, but mysteries aside, the boys and I decided on the Ruby Penthouse.

Specifically, my roommate and I would inhabit the room that jutted out to its own corner. Our bedroom has two large windows that afford spectacular views of campus. We are very spoiled.

Back to birds. Birds of prey are cool. It’s undeniable. They are quick, strong, fierce, and generally scary. Stoically, they glide over their territory, searching for the prey that is rightly theirs. They are winged inspiration. We need not look further than Boston College’s own mascot, Baldwin the Eagle, for evidence of the prowess these creatures maintain. This past week, my interest has been peaked by these animals because there is a hawk that often roosts on the roof above my bedroom. I have secretly named him Arthur.

Arthur is a red-tailed hawk.

Arthur is pretty big for a hawk; at least that’s what the knowledge I’ve gleaned from Wikipedia has told me. Arthur often screams when I’m trying to do my finance homework.

Sometimes, I shut the window when Arthur’s around. Sometimes, Arthur frightens me by swooping really close to my window before landing on the roof. I forgive Arthur for these things because Arthur, like me, and I suspect many other seniors, share a very similar situation.

Arthur and I both perch high above this campus, often looking down at what is ours. After three years here, the senior class is the group of students most invested in the University. We run the student groups on campus. We maintain the relationships with faculty and administrators. We are the most committed Superfans. There is nothing on this campus that we don’t take ownership over. It’s our turf. It’s our territory. And we have every right to look down from our brick towers and survey our 175-acre kingdom. We sit at the top, but often the view from the top is not what it seems.

We are seniors. We own the power. We have the Mods, the parties and 95 percent of the fun on this campus. But like Arthur the hawk, life at the top can be isolating. I am no longer always on the campus beat. I don’t know the new-fangled things the kids are doing these days.

To be honest, I don’t really want to know. Younger students are making this University theirs. It’s a little sad. And I apologize for getting serious in the middle of a humor column, so I’ll wrap up with some awesome / cheesy hawk imagery inspired by Arthur.

As seniors, we soar high above campus looking down at all that which is ours. The winds of opportunity keep our dreams aloft.

Our feathers are ruffled from the multitude of experiences we’ve had here at BC. With our fantastic hawk vision we see our friends in the distance accomplishing great things, and our little hawk hearts are warmed by the thought. After finishing our hawk business from the week, we meet up with all our hawk friends at the hawk Mods and shotgun our hawk beer. Life as a hawk is good, liberating, and oddly sobering.

So ascend, my raptorial brethren, to the heights which have never been known by the hawks before. This is the year to live like the predators of the sky we are.

Fly fast and take no prisoners.

David Givler is an editor for The Heights. He welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com

The Heights

D4

By Hilary Chasse Heights Editor

I’ve just jabbed the first floor button and am waiting patiently for the elevator to start its descent, contemplating nothing but the iced green tea that I’m about to consume. A sudden drop – the car shudders and the lights flicker off. Now, if this scenario happened in 21 Campanella Way, I might have panicked. But since I’m hovering 10 stories above the cold hard concrete of Beijing, China, panic doesn’t even begin to cover it. The apartment building I spent the majority of the summer in was not a fan of wasting any electricity whatsoever, so their solution was to switch off the power, with no warning, at odd and inconvenient hours. I had no phone, no way of calling my roommates, no way of even reading the “survival Mandarin” guide I had stashed in my back pocket. As I grope the side of the elevator car for the emergency phone, it dawns on me that I have forgotten the words for “elevator,” “broken,” and “help.”

Oh, dear.

It seems odd to me that when I look back on the little over two months I spent in China’s capital that these two hours trapped in a tiny elevator are what stick out most. Surely, the hours of touring museums, days of wandering through historical sites, and weeks of classes in the overwhelming Peking University should be the memories my mind would want to hang on to. The brain is a fickle organ.

Maybe it was because it caught me so off guard, I thought I had it all down. At this point, almost six weeks into my stay, I was chattering in Mandarin with street vendors, I had found the bars with the cheapest beer and the restaurants with the most trustworthy baozi, I had figured out exactly what time I needed to get to the bus stop to catch the 731, and how to transfer lines in the maze of subway stations. I was on top of the smoggy, sweaty world. But suddenly, with one faulty elevator, I felt like I had just walked off the plane, completely helpless.

I heard the familiar intonations over the phone from the repairman and it sounded

Hilary Chasse / Heights editor

like the same jumbled mess I had tried to decipher for months in class back at BC. Hadn’t I come so far? After I tried to string together a sentence explaining my predicament, I heard a supercilious little chuckle coming from the other end of the line. Apparently not.

Being a fish out of water, a tiny fish in a gargantuan pond, is all part of the magic of Beijing. Reveling in the strangeness of it all while getting lost in the palpable flow of the city is the only way to truly make the most of your time. If you expect to blend in, to not make a complete fool of yourself during 90 percent of your interactions, and to master this incredibly complex and multifaceted city after a few weeks (really, even after years), then you’re going to need to readjust that theory (as I did).

But why China, so many people ask me. Or they say, “Oh, I wouldn’t be brave enough to go there.” And I admit, maybe that was part of the attraction for me, to go somewhere so foreign, to shun that typical Europe abroad experience by getting as far away from the western bubble as I could, to really take a risk. But I realized quickly after arriving in Beijing that spending the summer in the capital of the largest country in the world was not exactly the same as backpacking through the uncharted jungles of Tanzania or caravanning across mountain ranges in Uzbekistan.

This is an extremely modern and cosmopolitan city that provides almost all the amenities and comforts of New York or Tokyo. I could run out at 11 p.m. and find Oreos and Diet Coke (truly the hallmark of a high class, first world society) in two minutes. If I wanted to see priceless works of art, hear world class concerts, and waste my money on clubs, then I could do that easily, as well. When I first got off the plane, I wasn’t in culture shock (except for the smell, which is really something that needs to be experienced to be understood), but rather more in shock of how little culture shock there was (if that makes any sense). The area I lived in, in the Northwest quadrant of the city (which is actually larger than the state of Rhode Island, but, then again, what isn’t?) contained several McDonald’s, Subways, and more KFC’s than you could shake a dead chicken at. Bootleg shops full of American DVDs were on every corner, and every bus was advertising American NBA stars (not just Yao Ming). I could escape into that Western world if I wanted to, but that wasn’t why I was there.

As time wore on in Beijing, I stopped

Monday, September 27, 2010

looking for the familiar, the comforting reminder that I was indeed still on the same planet as my hometown in Maine, and began noticing how the people of Beijing, although friendlier and more welcoming than I could have hoped, were deeply unlike Americans. But I don’t mean in the stereotypical, surface way that might immediately come to mind. We are products of our surroundings, and in a world that’s changing as fast as Beijing, where high rises seem to spring up overnight, it’s unsurprising that the population seems to be making fast and furious adjustments to their new positions in the world. No one in Beijing could remain static for long: It’s a world

of evolution or extinction.

If it isn’t clear, I’m still bewildered by Beijing, and I know I always will be, no matter how many times I visit. But that was the beauty of it – when I was forced that far outside of my comfort zone, I realized I was capable of things I never thought I could do, like play chess with a group of old men or eat pig intestine. After sitting in the dark for so long, I was taken aback when the lights miraculously flickered on and the gears of my elevator prison grinded back into action. I peeled myself off the floor and shook off the stiffness, wondering what was next in my personal Lost in Translation summer. I was as ready as I’ll ever be.

Puppy love in the Mods takes a Valiant turn for the cuter

By Ana Lopez Heights Editor

For most students, it takes a good nine months to pack on the Freshman 15, and even then, mothers will scoff and push vegetables at their corpulent coeds upon their return home for the holidays. However, for one brand new member of the Boston College community, his “parent” has been nothing but delighted at the fact that he is growing by leaps and bounds (and several pounds) on a weekly basis.

Valiant (affectionately known about campus as “Vallie”), a 12-week-old yellow lab who calls Mod 16A home, is being raised by current occupant Brittany Baker, A&S ’11, to eventually become a seeing eye dog for the blind. In his one short month

at BC, Vallie has not only grown significantly in size, but made more friends and attracted more notoriety than most students can ever dream to attain during four full years at BC. His reputation as the mysterious “Mod Puppy” precedes him, as the majority of students wonder how Baker and her friends were able to secure such an adorable, envy-inspiring roommate.

For Baker, it was no easy task.

Inspired by one of her friends at a different college who had participated in a similar program, Baker searched the Boston area for programs until she found Guiding Eyes. “It’s on a completely

Alex Trautwig / Heights editor

volunteer basis,” she said, wrestling a squeaky toy from Vallie’s mouth. “I had to take classes with them this summer to learn their method of training and then they placed me with a dog.”

Though establishing a relationship with Guiding Eyes required just an online application, getting Vallie’s presence on campus approved became its own process of meeting with the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) and convincing them that the program would be beneficial to the University. “At first they were very reluctant because they’ve never had it done before so I had to go meet with a bunch of people. The main person I worked with was George Arey,” she said.

“Arey had to get it checked by every department here, including the legal department, as they all had to look at it from their own angle of liability.”

The agreement currently stands as a “test run,” with Baker required to meet with ResLife once a month. “At the end of the year, I’ll be working with all the deans in ResLife to see if we can make it an actual policy,” Baker said. “We haven’t gotten into details yet, but they’re trying to make it an institutional policy so that people can do more things like this.”

“Vallie also has to wear a little bandana when he’s walking around campus so people know he’s in training,” Baker said. “And I am supposed to do things with BC to educate everyone about the program and offer general information about service dogs.”

To make sure that Vallie develops the skills he will need to lead a blind person one day, Baker takes him to class in Needham every other week. “We practice obedience, house training and manners at class. And then he is tested on how well he is paying attention to the handler versus the outside world,” she said. “On

Alex Trautwig / Heights editor

A puppy named Valiant is being raised by a student in the Mods by special arrangement with the University. the weeks that I don’t go to class, they send a representative to see how he’s doing and acclimating to this lifestyle.”

As these Guiding Eyes trainers remain closely involved in Vallie’s rearing throughout his time with Baker, it is virtually guaranteed that he will meet the requirements to eventually be sent to “puppy college” and become a seeing eye dog.

As a resident of the Mods, Vallie is at no loss for opportunities to build his social skills. The issue lies in how he socializes, which is where Baker’s training is critical. “He needs to be socialized in every circumstance, so he’s confident in any situation that he might be in with a blind person, but he also has to be very observant and not distracted,” Baker said. “There’s general house rules — like he can’t sit on the furniture — because when he’s with a blind person, they’ll have to leave him in a certain place and be sure he’ll stay until they come back.”

Baker said that most people

are good at asking before they pet him when they walk around campus, which she appreciates.

But, due to her specialized training, she can only let certain people care for Vallie when she’s unable to. “The organization has a whole group of sitters, and he can only be sat for by someone that is trained,” she said.

On the weekends, Vallie gets an extra dose of social training, as the Mods fill with Superfans and tailgating. “He’s great with loud noises, so he’s fine on the weekends,” Baker said. “On game days, it’s a little difficult because he has to be taken out every few hours. When I do take him out, people will literally run out of Mods saying, ‘I was waiting for you to come out!’”

The highly social environment offered by living on a college campus is part of what made Baker a perfect candidate for raising Vallie. And in terms of making friends and meeting new people, he’s been incredibly successful. “It’s funny because everyone knows his name and

we will be walking around and people will say, ‘Hi Vallie!’ and they don’t even know me,” Baker said.

Baker’s time with Vallie will span a year and a half, after which he will return to the kennel and be trained in the skills necessary for the day-to-day life of leading a blind person. “With all of the training and effort this organization puts into him, he’ll be worth $45,000,” Baker said.

But for now, he’s just a puppy, learning right from wrong, what to bite, and when to bark. “He’s obviously bred for intelligence and confidence, but he’s still just a puppy and just knows, ‘My teeth hurt and I’m going to bite you.’ And that’s the point of my training, to teach him self-control,” she said.

Baker, like the majority of the campus, hopes that after this year spent training the Mods’ most popular housemate, the program will be deemed a success and the opportunity will be available for students in years to come. n

THE HEIGHTS HOUSING GUIDE 2010

THE HEIGHTS’ GUIDE TO YOUR

OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING SEARCH MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

the key people and places: taking the hassle out of off-campus Living what’s the best address for your study style and social life?

A brief guide to off-campus housing With proper planning, it’s not as scary as you think

By Hilary Chasse Heights Editor

Although current sophomores are just settling into their housing, be it on College Road or Lower Campus, about half of the Class of 2013 is already looking down Comm Ave. to find their perfect apartment or house for next year. Beyond scouting the location, sophomores with only three years of housing have to find roommates, a trustworthy realtor, and negotiate an affordable rent.

The pressure to end the suspense and lock in a living situation begins mounting after the extremely proactive have already secured lodgings within the first few weeks of being on campus.

Before entering into a lease agreement, however, be sure to explore the ample resources that Boston College provides.

Take your Time

“A lot of realty companies want you to find a place and sign a lease all in one day, that day being as close to September 1st as possible,” said Thomas Tatum, Undergraduate Government of Boston College director of offcampus affairs and A&S ’11. BC students are sometimes pressured to sign a lease much earlier than would might be expected, due to anxious students and opportunistic realtors. Tatum suggests waiting to be sure that the unit will fit your lifestyle, price range, and roommate arrangements.

Do your Research

BC offers students making the move into the surrounding neighborhoods many outlets for information, including the Office for the Dean of Student Development (ODSD) and the UGBC. The Off-Campus Housing department of the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) has a staff well-equipped to handle any questions students have while beginning their search for off-campus housing. Marianne Carrabba has 38 years of experience in ResLife working with off-campus students, and is an important source of information and support. ODSD puts on sev-

E2 the heights housing guide

Heights File Photo

Students should view multiple residences and consider location, price, amenities, and neighbors, as well as personal preferences and lifestyle, before signing a lease. eral housing fairs and information sessions during the course of the semester, and information is readily available both on its Web site and in the office.

The UGBC is also working on several new programs that would allow students to easily access information on houses, landlords, and rents. The Realty Evaluation Program (REPs) was a system available in past years for students to evaluate their rental property as well as their landlords. “The system was never maintained and is no longer available,” Tatum said. “We are working to redesign the program so that it will be available either second semester or for students looking to rent next fall.” He hopes that the redesign will allow students to evaluate their living conditions, find houses that fit their needs, and avoid problem houses or landlords.

Furthermore, Tatum recommends that students have an attorney review the lease to be sure they are not held financially responsible for routine mainte-

nance for which landlords should be responsible. Students should be wary of signing any papers that they do not completely understand to avoid dire consequences months down the road.

Scout the neighborhoods

Newton or Brighton? Cleveland Circle or Chestnut Hill Ave? The neighborhood is almost as important as the house itself. If you know that you’re the type to crave SlimJims at 3 a.m., then look at Orkney Road, Sutherland Road, or Beacon Street. If you had your fill of buses after a year on Newton, look at Crosby Road or Manet Road. Personal preference and living habits should direct roommates to particular areas adjacent to BC. Peter Kwiatek, the off-campus student life graduate assistant for ODSD, works to educate students living off-campus on keeping safe and being respectful neighbors.

“I work with the Eagle Ambassadors to create programming opportunities, such as the Breakfast Club, that allow off-campus

students to give back to their neighborhoods through community service,” Kwiatek said.

Steve Montgomery, the offcampus community liaison, is another resource who can help students learn about the history and neighborhood of a particular residence. Students beginning to think of living off-campus must be aware of how their actions as neighbors will reflect on the BC community.

See it yourself

Before even thinking of signing anything, no matter how inexpensive the rent or how perfectly located the residence is, students should always personally inspect the properties. When viewing a house or apartment, make sure to look for any structural damage or obvious signs of disrepair. Check the wires and pipes in the basement, which are often used as indicators as to how well-maintained the building is. Compare and contrast other properties and voice any concerns to your realtor early in the process.

Students also have the opportunity to visit some properties through open house tours, which are held in the fall and spring, with Carrabba. Students who view properties by arrangement with a real estate agent should first check Carrabba’s “do not rent” list, which lists landlords and rentals with which students have had problems in the past.

Make important decisions early

Students who were dealt three years of housing most likely began mentally planning their move into the city as soon as they chose BC, but now is the time to turn those thoughts into actions.

While students shouldn’t feel pressured to sign a lease right away, it can be helpful to get organized early. Find friends who are also moving off campus and begin to discuss locations, rent, and other personal preferences soon in the semester. After all, the ResLife maxim that “who you live with is more important than where you live” is true even outside the limits of campus. n monday, september 27, 2010

PROFILE: STEVE MONTGOMERY

A conversation with the offcampus community liaison

BY TAYLOUR KUMPF Heights Editor

For over a decade, Steve Montgomery has dedicated his Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings to ensuring offcampus student safety, breaking up the occasional 2 a.m. party, and addressing the complaints of community members in the Allston-Brighton, Newton, and Brookline neighborhoods.

“My job is to be out on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights into the morning hours dealing with safety issues, such as students walking around with alcoholic beverages and not using indoor plumbing, complaints from neighbors, and other quality of life issues,” said Montgomery, Boston College’s off-campus student community liaison.

While many students living off campus dread late night encounters with Montgomery, better known as the “off-campus RA,” with over 10 years of experience dealing with community issues he can be an invaluable resource for students living off campus currently and for those who plan to do so next year.

Before his employment at BC, Montgomery worked in the Boston mayor’s office; where his job was to address behavioral complaints throughout the city.

“I was the first contact people would call on Monday morning about behavior issues on weekends, therefore, I knew where most of the complaints were coming from,” he said.

Montgomery is actively on-call during the weekend evenings, and he is also available on Mondays and Tuesdays during office hours to talk with students about any questions they might have, especially in terms of securing off-cam-

pus housing for next year. “Understand that I can be a resource, and I’m more than happy to talk,” he said.

Montgomery’s primary suggestion for students seeking off-campus housing is, “Don’t rush. Slow down and follow through, really do the research.

“Ask current tenants, see if there’s an issue with the realtor or the landlord,” he said. “It’s an important financial decision, and it’s complicated because now you’re making it as a group. It’s going to be appealing to a realtor to say, ‘this is something you want to jump on.’”

An important aspect of living off campus that students don’t always consider is who their neighbors will be.

“Make sure the first time you meet the neighbors isn’t after you sign the lease or on Sept. 1,” Montgomery said. Particular addresses may have had some past issues with neighbors that could impact future residents, he said. Students are encouraged to “ask about issues with the neighborhood. Try to find a house that serves many purposes, in an area that is fitting.”

Fostering relations with one’s neighbor and understanding what’s appropriate and acceptable is important. “You need to police yourself,” Montgomery said. “Keep that which you want to keep private, private, and not out there for the neighbors to see. It’s not good to be out there attracting attention.”

Noise, which, in the past, has been one of the primary reasons Montgomery is dispatched to a location, has been less of an issue this year, he said. “I don’t know if it’s a new trend, but music has stopped being a constant companion at parties.” Lack of knowledge about when buses would arrive also used to cause problems. “[TransLoc] has been a terrific tool for avoiding large groups of

people at the bus stop,” he said.

Regarding the state of residents off campus this year, Montgomery said, “We’re only as good as our last weekend. I think most of the issues right now happen when students are traveling to and from parties, and congregating outside of a house creating a bevy of activity.

“There’s always the message of zero tolerance. We’ve been consistent in terms of what we’re doing and how we approach things.”

Montgomery has a positive working relationship with the BC Police Department (BCPD). “Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is when I interact with [BCPD],” he said. “Neighbors communicate with me through the BCPD, who call me on a walkie-talkie if there is a complaint. There’s a lot of communication on the weekends.

“If there are undercover cops, they’re not from BC. It could be as simple as whoever coming in that night is in plain clothes or that the only car available is a dark blue sedan. It’s not the norm, but it is something they will come out and do. They will have their badges prominently displayed, though.”

He does have some advice for students to consider that may help them to avoid an unplanned run-in with Montgomery at 1 a.m. “Conduct yourselves in a manner that is favorable with the University, especially when interacting with neighbors,” he said. “Keep your eyes and ears open, and encourage fellow students to be men and women for others.

“One of the functions I have, which is my least favorite, is to knock on people’s doors if their friends or roommates were injured or hospitalized. Let’s try to avoid that this year.” 

ARE YOU A STUDENT LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT APARTMENT? ARE YOU A REALTOR LOOKING TO RENT A PROPERTY? WE’RE HERE TO HELP! TO SEARCH THROUGH CURRENT LISTINGS AND TO POST AVAILABLE APARTMENTS, VISIT BCHEIGHTS.COM/APARTMENTS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

PEOPLE TO KNOW RESIDENTIAL LIFE OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING SERVICE

Marianne Carrabba, the off-campus housing director, has 38 years of experience in ResLife working with off-campus students. In addition to a mandatory meeting for all sophomores intending to live off campus junior year, many students interact with her throughout the off-campus housing process.

She offers open house tours in the fall and spring semesters to help students find housing and has a “do not rent” list in her office to help students avoid landlords and rentals with which students have had problems in the past. Students just starting the housing process can access more information at www.bc.edu/offcampus, a Web site featuring sublet listings, a list of rental terms, and lease information. Carrabba’s work continues even after students have moved into their off-campus residences, as she assists students with landlordtenant and housing issues. Students can call 617552-3075 or e-mail offcampus@bc.edu with any additional questions.

OFF-CAMPUS COMMUNITY LIAISON

Steve Montgomery, the off-campus community liaison, or “off-campus RA,” mediates interactions between students and neighborhood residents and ensures student safety off campus on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. While some students are familiar with Montgomery as someone who regulates their parties, he offers numerous resources to students as well. Students beginning their off-campus housing search can visit Montgomery to discuss specific residences and past relations with neighbors there, particularly if there have been problems in the past that might impact future residents. Montgomery is also available during the week to assist students with problems concerning their landlords or to answer questions about city citations. He can be reached at 617-552-4787 or by e-mail at stephen.montgomery.1@bc.edu.

EAGLE AMBASSADORS

Now in its second year, Eagle Ambassadors (formerly known as the Off-Campus Council) acts as an advocacy group for students living off campus to the administration and the off-campus community.

Severo Nieves, A&S ‘11, is currently the director of the Eagle Ambassadors. The group works with Iris Tavarez, program administrator for off-campus students, to connect off-campus students with each other and with the administration. The council also works to help foster student relations with their neighbors through programs such as the Breakfast Club, a group of students who do community service on Sunday mornings and eat breakfast with the Council on campus.

UGBC OFF-CAMPUS DIRECTORS

Thomas Tatum, A&S ’11, is this year’s off-campus director of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC). Through UGBC.org, students can view an off-campus comments page and a “Guide to Your Rights” document detailing alcohol laws and landlord-tenant relations. The UGBC has also worked to build a sense of off-campus community through such programs in the past such as a Taste of Off Campus, a pumpkin carving contest, and a Christmas lighting competition.

THE HEIGHTS HOUSING GUIDE E3

HOUSING TO FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE

A block off the beaten path

Radnor rd., South st., Kirkwood rd., Foster st., Gerald rd.

Much like 2000, these streets have the luxury of being close to the bus and T stops but unlike 2000, which only abuts the buzzing hub of off-campus culture, these streets are smack in the middle of it. If you choose to live here, be prepared for a great time, but know that living here will ensure that you have no peace and quiet Thursday through Saturday. Because the neighborhood is residential, living on one of these streets could mean that you’ll be more likely to have run-ins with neighbors, Steve Montgomery, and that little rule known as “No More Than Four” (please refer to the Herald article from this summer about the now infamous house at 45 Radnor). However, the people who have called one of these four streets home have nothing but wonderful things to say … and even better memories.

PROXIMITY TO BC 3.5/5 FOOD/DRINK 3.5/5 SOCIAL SCENE 5/5 HOUSING QUALITY 2.5/5

By Jackie Herder Heights Editor

t.

monday, september 27, 2010

monday, september 27, 2010

rd.

sut her lan d

beac

. on s t

a t h more r

d.

Cleveland Circle

le g col

ha

c o n s t.

st.

t.

be a

ds

beacon

rd. ney k or

er

d. oo dr sw on d

on

mm

mm

E4 the heights housing guide

ha

The homes closer to Upper Campus are decidedly beautiful, spacious, and much more quiet than their Lower Campus counterparts.

However, the most obvious drawback to living up here is that the bus, T, or even Main Campus itself is not easily accessible. The neighborhood is a great option for those looking for a more peaceful experience while still living in a house and dealing with a landlord, but be prepared to make the trek

toward the rest of the off-campus crowd on

the weekends, and be aware that the day-to activities of going to class, the library, or day the grocery store take a little more energy.

PROXIMITY TO BC 5/5 FOOD/DRINK 1/5 SOCIAL SCENE 2/5 HOUSING QUALITY 3.5/5

d.

Manet rd., Hammondswood rd., Hammond st., Crosby rd.

wall in

ter fos

ld r d. ger a

Co m

manet rd .

rd.

cro

sby

d. et r man

photos by david givler / heights editor

d.

str

.

2000 Commonwealth ave.

For the student looking for an alternative to the animal house mentality, who doesn’t want the hassle of a landlord, or just wants convenient bus and T stops, then 2000 is one of the best options.

Yes, it’s quite a bit more expensive than the other options, but the amenities and the added benefit of a doorman (and the peace of mind that comes with extra security), you get more bang for your buck. The in-house gym is very useful in those winter months, or even for a quick late-night turn on the elliptical if you don’t have time to make the grand trek all the way to the Plex. Additionally, as it is now property of Boston College, you will only have fellow BC students as neighbors. With 2000 conveniently located halfway between campus and Cleveland Circle, and in close proximity to the hub of off-campus life, it is definitely one of the best places to call home.

PROXIMITY TO BC 4/5 FOOD/DRINK 3/5

SOCIAL SCENE 5/5 HOUSING QUALITY 5/5

e av

isw ick r

ll

ch

t.

hi

hs sout

ut

Upper

r a d n o r r d.

With the bus stop just a few steps away, this is another location that seems much farther away from campus than it is. Wallingford, Chiswick, and even the homes right along Comm Ave. are great places to live during your junior year.

The neighborhood is a bit down Comm Ave. but TransLoc makes catching the bus a breeze, and you don’t even need to depend on it outside of school-related activities. For the people who choose to live in this neck of the woods, they are in walking distance of Bluestone Bistro (duh), Moogy’s (just walk a few blocks down Chiswick), and no more than a five-minute walk right to the heart of Cleveland Circle.

For those who enjoy outdoor activity, the Chestnut Hill Reservoir is nice and close, and perfect for a quick run without venturing too far from home. Added bonus? The B Line stops right outside your front door, providing another option for transportation to school for classes or toward Boston for a night out on the town.

PROXIMITY TO BC 1/5 FOOD/DRINK 3/5 SOCIAL SCENE 4/5 HOUSING QUALITY 3.5/5

. ave h t al we

tn

Commonwealth Ave., Chiswick rd., Wallingford rd.

co mm on

lak es

kirk wo od r d.

es

Bluestone Bistro

ch

nw mo

ve. a th eal

gfor d

rd.

Lake Street This is easily one of the most popular off-campus housing locations. Other than that it will take about two minutes to walk from your house to Lower, Lake Street provides its inhabitants with easy access to the underused Brighton Center, a mecca of restaurants, sports bars, and home to one of the closest Starbucks to the BC campus. It is also conveniently close to Brighton Campus, which houses the little-appreciated Theology Library. Use it, off-campusers, and enjoy not having to fight for a place in Bapst because you couldn’t get onto the crowded bus, or had to wait for the T to barrel down the street before you could cross.

A downside? It is a one-way street, so if you have a car, be prepared to drive around in circles when you really just want to pick up your friend at 2000.

PROXIMITY TO BC 4/5 FOOD/DRINK 4/5 SOCIAL SCENE 4/5 HOUSING QUALITY 4/5

st.

It’s your junior year, and you finally have the chance to join the legions of BC students who have marched off-campus in the quest for independence, the ability throw a party without it being broken up at midnight, and for a taste of the real world without venturing far from BC’s academic cocoon. The problem? Deciding just where to live. To help you sort through the overwhelming options, we have compiled the best and worst of some of the places that BC students call home.

Sutherland rd., Strathmore rd., Orkney rd., Ayr rd.

Although these streets seem to be unbelievably far from campus, the BC bus stop is actually much closer and convenient than it initially seems. With a bus stop right next to Chill (perfect for a mid-morning or late night fro-yo run), getting to the library, running to your 9 a.m., or turning your final in on time is as easy as it ever was. The advantage to being in close proximity to Cleveland Circle’s bars, restaurants, and convenience stores makes running out for a quick bite or to pick something up from CVS that much easier. And for those of you entering the world of legal imbibing, your inaugural MA’s trip will be just around the corner. Downside? Inclement weather can be a major deterrent when it comes to leaving your nice, warm house and making the journey to campus, so if you decide to live out here, bring with you a strong committement to your scholarly ways.

PROXIMITY TO BC 2/5 FOOD/DRINK 5/5 SOCIAL SCENE 4/5 HOUSING QUALITY 3/5 n

the heights housing guide E5

Making the most of it Even off campus, students fall under Matrix guidelines Off-campus housing – the final frontier. This vast landscape stretches over boroughs of Boston, from Newton to Brookline, and its mysteries are numerous.

Upon obtaining residence “out there,” a new era of life will begin.

Darren Ranck Gone are the days of romantically nicknamed residences like Vandy or The Gate. Now, it’s only studied names like 30 Foster Street. Gone are the nights of purchasing a midnight snack in Corcoran Commons with just the swipe of a card. Now it’s paying cash for Peanut Butter M&Ms in the 7-Eleven and getting a fist bump from the friendly homeless men outside. Gone are the mornings of rolling out of bed, brushing your teeth, and walking to class. Now it’s waking up, making your bed, checking to be sure you have everything because you won’t be coming back, using TransLoc to find the bus, realizing you have some time, making breakfast to fill the time, realizing you missed the bus, finally catching a bus, and then sprinting up the million dollar stairs to make it to your 10 a.m. class.

Off-campus living is an adjustment, let’s be clear. In my month of exploring this New World, I think I have gained some insight into how to deal with the change, so I offer, in no certain order, my top five tips for obtaining and keeping a successful off-campus housing unit. While these tips may not lead to the best year of your life, they will nonetheless make your off-campus sojourn a happy year.

1. Do not settle If there’s anything to learn from our mothers, it’s to never settle on a spouse. As they say, we’re much too special for that. With an apartment or house, it’s the same way. The pressure to immediately sign a lease can be very strong, but be sure the location covers all the necessary bases. Are there multiple exits? Are there apparent signs of mold?

Are all the smoke alarms in working condition? When the realtor guides you through, take notes on the pros and cons of each location. Furthermore, I urge you to look at multiple locations. The first place may seem unbeatable, but never discount the second or the third or even the eighth. To quote the Supremes, “You can’t hurry love.” Nor can you hurry suitable living.

2. Strike the right chord with your landlord Landlords can make wonderful things happen, but only if you play your cards right. Endear yourself to him or her, and they’ll rush over at the sight of a mouse or the breakdown of a heater.

3. Pick your roommates wisely Roommates are a staple of collegiate life. Up to this point, it didn’t necessarily matter how responsibly they acted. To freshmen and sophomores, a good roommate is someone who shares your “raging range” and can keep up with your partying while offering classic quotes to post on Facebook. Now roommates mean business. Be sure you’re living with responsible individuals who can pay rent in a timely fashion, chip in with help around the living area, and contribute positively to the off-campus experience. This is the closest you can get to a truly adult situation, so be sure everyone can step up to the challenge. It’s also nice if you can find people who are good cooks or nice decorators.

4. Be strategic in your home life This sounds mysterious, but it’s really quite simple. Always be on the lookout for a deal. Nice couches and chairs will not be on your doorstep but can be in your parents’ living room, in the homes of Craigslist users, and even on the side of Commonwealth Ave. Never pass up a good deal.

Similarly, food shopping doesn’t have to be an expensive ordeal if you keep tabs on inventory and get a Star Market card.

5. Buy good walking shoes You will need them. Happy travels, off-campus journeymen.

Darren Ranck is the Managing Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at darren.ranck@gmail.com.

E6 the heights housing guide

Off-campus discipline still brings fines for drinking and disruption

By Patrick Gallagher Heights Editor

Students looking to escape the mandatory meal plan, the cramped dormitories, and the Walsh Hall check-in desk, look no further than the surrounding communities of Boston and Brookline.

Just don’t expect to escape disciplinary oversight, law enforcement officials and campus administrators say.

The majority of the estimated 1,200 Boston College students who are currently living off-campus fall under the jurisdiction of the Boston Police Department as well as the BC Police Department, said BC Police Chief John King. Students living in Newton or Brookline would answer to the Newton Police or the Brookline Police, respectively.

“It’s when you go off campus that both departments have jurisdiction, but Boston PD has primary jurisdiction,” King said.

“Boston PD has their own mandate and that is a no-tolerance policy. Off campus, the rules are far more restrictive and students should be aware of that.”

Students who host disruptive parties may be subject to civil fines ranging from a $100 penalty for carrying an open container of alcohol to a $300 penalty for hosting a disruptive party, there is also a fine of up to $2,000 and possible imprisonment for up to a year for students found to be serving alcohol to minors, according to the Boston Police District 14 community affairs officers.

“If the music’s not blaring, then we won’t have a problem with that, but once it gets to disturbing other people’s livelihoods and their wellbeing, that’s when we get involved,” said Amy McKenna, an officer in the Boston Police District 14 community affairs division.

She said that police try to crack down on student rowdiness early in the semester. “Usually in the beginning of September we try to set the tone early,” McKenna said, adding that additional cars are hired for Thursday,

Friday, and Saturday nights in September. “We hire more cars and they’re called the party cars … because we have a ton of 911 calls,” she said.

In addition to the increased patrols, there are joint patrols between the Boston Police and the BCPD on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, King said.

“They are intended to proactively problem solve,” he said, adding that “other times we may be patrolling areas contiguous to campus.”

numbers to know A run-down of the maximum disciplinary fines that you will be subject to when you break the law.

$100

Carrying an open container of alcohol

$300

hosting a disruptive party

1,200

students living off-campus

$2,000

Serving alcohol to minors

King said that on the BC campus, where BCPD has primary jurisdiction, police and University officials have the option of handing down alternate punishments for student behavior. However, he said, students who are apprehended off-campus by the Boston Police may be subject to University sanctions in addition to any civil or criminal penalties.

When a BC student or students are involved in an incident that occurs in the primary jurisdiction of the Boston Police, BCPD is “routinely” made aware, King said. “We’re going to be notified,” he said. From there, all reports are automatically forwarded to the Office of the Dean for Student Development, which handles disciplinary procedures stemming from incidents that occur off-campus.

According to the ODSD Matrix policy, students living off-campus can be fined between $100 and $400 depending on the size and circumstances of the gatherings that are in question. Penalties can also include disciplinary probation, University probation, and University suspension, again depending on police reports of a given incident.

King said that this so-called double jeopardy policy is practiced at many other Boston-area universities.

“I don’t think it’s excessive and I also don’t think it’s unusual,” he said. King said that from the opposing point of view, if a student commits a crime on campus, they will be held accountable by both the BCPD and the ODSD. “The same is true for off-campus, that you have to answer to two different entities for your behavior,” he said.

Representatives from ODSD have been meeting with neighbors throughout the fall in an attempt to bridge relations between them and the University.

“The neighbors are there year after year,” said Iris Tavares, program administrator for offcampus students. “They’ve said it’s rough in the beginning.”

She said that ODSD has been working with student members of the Eagle Ambassadors – previously called the Off-Campus Council – to lessen misunderstandings and conflicts between students living off-campus and their neighbors, many of whom have young children or wake up early for work each morning.

“When students live off-campus the misconception is they’re not a part of the BC community,” Tavares said. “You have to remember you’re living in the greater Boston community [as well].” n monday, september 27, 2010

The future of BC housing Construction on Brighton a step toward 100 percent housing

By Michael Caprio Heights Editor

courtesy of the office of news and public affairs

In coming years, Boston College hopes to house 100 percent of its student body in University-owned properties, many of which will be built as a part of the Institutional Master Plan. BC’s expansion into the Brighton neighborhood has been an issue of contention for some. monday, september 27, 2010

Boston College, in its Institutional Master Plan (IMP), aims to house 100 percent of students on University property – an issue for some neighbors who feel that students are encroaching on their neighborhood.

While the plan was approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and signed by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, not all residents have expressed approval.

In 2008, a group of neighbors named Brighton Neighbors United formed with the mission of limiting institutional expansion of local universities into the Brighton community as well as maximizing local green space.

In a letter to the Allston-Brighton Community Task Force, the Brighton Neighbors United expressed their disproval of a request by BC to change the zoning restrictions of one of its properties on 2000 Commonwealth Ave. “The only action that may produce progress is to definitively reject BC’s zoning change requests and require BC to develop a plan for dormitories within the Chestnut Hill campus,” the letter read.

“Granting Boston College the zoning changes it has requested will make a mockery of the zoning variance process and will set a dangerous precedent of taking away the only protection, namely zoning restrictions, that residential neighborhoods rely on to maintain their character and quality of life.”

While little data exists on the change the new IMP buildings will have on the community, some groups have presented data showing trends that point to decreased owner-occupancy rates in the surrounding neighborhood.

In a 2004 letter to Thomas Keady, associate vice president for governmental and community affairs, the Allston-Brighton Community Task Force outline the concerns of some local residents.

“The high costs of housing, both in terms of home prices and rental housing, makes it difficult for working and middle class people to reside in Allston-Brighton,” the letter read.

At the turn of the century, only 19.3 percent of housing units in Allston-Brighton were owner-occupied, according to U.S. Census data.

Census data also showed that family households accounted for 32.7 percent of local residences in 2004. The city-wide average was 48.1 percent.

Coinciding with the commencement of construction on Stokes Academic Building, to take place on Middle Campus next week, the University will move to raze More Hall and replace it with a dormitory building.

The building will be the result of a negotiation between the University and the city that the first project under the IMP be the construction of a dormitory building, University Spokesman Jack Dunn said in a previous interview.

“I want them to build on the campus they have right now, not buy property and turn it into a dormitory,” Menino told reporters in July 2008. “I think they can find the room and come up with a plan that will have the least impact on the neighborhood.” n the heights housing guide E7

A little something about subletting

Studying abroad means you will be able to live in another country and experience another culture.

But for many DIANA C. NEARHOS Boston College sophomores, it also means they will have to find just one semester of housing.

The search for off-campus housing is difficult enough, no matter what your circumstances may be. You need to find roommates, visit apartments, decide on locations, consider rent costs, and finally pick a place. Add on the need to find a subletter for one of the two semesters, and the final product can seem overwhelming.

Calm down, take a deep breath – you can figure it out.

Sometimes a landlord will let you sign a lease for only one semester. Mike Arcudi, CSOM ’11, reached this agreement with his landlords. “[Archstone] had people who were there first semester and were leaving to go abroad, and we were able to just take their spot,” he said. “So it basically was them subletting for us.”

One thing that made Arcudi’s situation a bit easier than others’ was the fact that everyone in his group was studying abroad in the fall. Many people live with a mix of those studying abroad and staying at BC, so they need to find sub-letters who will mesh will with their own roommates.

Arcudi and his friends did not have that difficulty and went into their talks with Archstone knowing that they were only looking for a single semester. They were also helped by the fact that Archstone does not operate through a realty agency and thus Arcudi was talking directly with the landlords.

Though not everyone’s situation is as easy as Arcudi’s, there are other ways that the search for a semester of off-campus housing can work out well. The key to easing the stress is to start early and organize your group.

Many students apply for a fourth year of on-campus housing in order to make their lives easier. But there are also students who have four years and instead go off campus for a variety of reasons. Some want to stay with friends and others see value in taking responsibility for the expenses.

Christina Vega, A&S ’11, was granted four years of on-campus housing along with her acceptance into the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program.

But when the time came to decide what she wanted to do for her junior year, she decided to leave campus.

“That was where I had a spot,” Vega said. “If I had stayed on campus, I probably would have lived with randoms because my friends did not have on-campus housing.”

She studied abroad for the fall semester, and then moved into a house on South St. with her roommates from sophomore year. She was able to take the spot of another friend so that the total number of roommates stayed the same.

A few resources exist to help students form a

group, by working around who is studying where and when. The official means of finding a roommate is The Office of Residential Life’s (ResLife) roommate finder. They provide an off-campus search database in addition to the on-campus one. The easiest and best of the options is your friends, and just living with your friends – they might also know someone else who fits what you are looking for.

When he was deciding where to live junior year, Dan Brown, CSOM ’11, took the friend route. He applied for on-campus housing, thinking it might be easier, but the group of roommates fell through.

“So it was kind of a scramble in March of my sophomore year to try to find a group of people who were looking for a roommate,” Brown said.

He then decided to live with the group of guys who lived across from him sophomore year. This group was planning to live off campus, so Brown did not need the extra year he had been awarded on campus. “It was always a priority for me to get into the abroad program,” Brown said. “Housing was an afterthought; even getting a subletter was an afterthought.”

While an afterthought, the need for a subletter was a pertinent one. No one wants to be stuck paying for an apartment they are not living in. Brown got very lucky in this respect. “[The group] had two kids that they had previously lived with that were going abroad in the fall semester,” Brown said. “So, all I had to really do was find one of them that was willing to live in the house and swap positions when I went abroad in the spring.”

In these examples, everything went rather smoothly and subletters were found easily. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. I, for one, did not have as much luck.

I did not have any friends studying abroad in the fall or looking for housing in the spring. Sophomore year, I found a girl to live with in the fall and we found an apartment we liked. I immediately posted on the off-campus roommate finder and on Facebook, hoping that someone would contact me.

Finally, in the middle of the fall semester, I received e-mails from a few people who were interested in the apartment. I took a few up to the room, telling them that two people could easily share it if they wanted. I then heard from a few students who were coming to BC to study abroad and needed off-campus housing. Since they could not come visit, I e-mailed photos.

Each time I followed up with someone, I received a negative response, if anything at all. In the end, though, I got lucky. One of my friends decided to take a semester off in order to participate in an internship and needed off-campus housing. That decision was made within the final weeks of the fall semester.

I do not recommend anyone else waiting that long to find a sub-letter. Talk among your friends and post on roommate finder simultaneously during the search for an apartment. In the end, it is worth the hassle of putting together a group and finding a place to experience both living offcampus and living in another country.

Diana C. Nearhos is a Heights senior staff columnist.

She can be reached at editor@bcheights.com.

RACHEL GREGORIO / HEIGHTS ILLUSTRATION

E8 THE HEIGHTS HOUSING GUIDE

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010