Heights 3-15-10

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919

THE HEIGHTS MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

Vol. XCI, No. 13

www.bcheights.com

Search continues for advising director University searches for new director of the Academic Advising Center, hires firm to assist

BY MICHAEL CAPRIO News Editor

JAMES GU

Heights Editor

KEVIN HOU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Girl Talk show proves a great success for UGBC

BY TAYLOUR KUMPF Asst. News Editor

On Saturday, the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC), hosted popular mash-up artist Girl Talk. The event took place in the Plex and was a precursor to the annual spring concert that will take place at the end of April.

Despite safety concerns prior to the event, the night was incident-free, with Girl Talk performing for longer than the allotted hour.

“Overall, the night went great,” said James D’Ambra, UGBCexecutive director of campus entertainment and A&S ’10, in an e-mail. “We had tremendously positive feedback from the students who were in attendance. We had no major issues with the event, which is also a very important determinant.”

“The event was very successful,” said Sam Lipscomb, UGBC executive director of communications and A&S ’10.

“I thought [the student body] did a good job of maintaining themselves.”

The show began with opening act Big Digits, a Cambridgebased group that provided some of its own music, as well as mixes. “We wanted to have a mid-semester event to gear people up for the spring concert, which is going to be really late this year – probably not until the end of April,” Lipscomb

INSIDE SPORTS

said, referring to the show’s deviance from the usual spring programming schedule.

Lipscomb, whose responsibility is to publicize UGBC events, said, “[Girl Talk] basically publicized itself.” The event sold 1,400 tickets within three and a half hours last Monday morning, leaving some students unsatisfied. “Hopefully people understood the safety concerns that were involved,” she said.

“We knew there was a buzz surrounding Girl Talk,” D’Ambra said. “But we never anticipated that we would sell out so quickly.”

The Plex, while not a conventional music venue, provided more dance room than Conte Forum. “The basic process of set up was similar to that in Conte Forum,” D’Ambra said. “There were some logistical challenges that were confronted in order to keep the Plex in operation while setting up.”

UGBC organizers strived to provide enough space for students while allowing proximity to the stage, Lipscomb said.

“We wanted everyone to be safe, so we didn’t go over capacity limits for the Plex.”

A select group of students were allowed on stage during the event. These students were given wristbands given out by UGBC event staff. “A very specific number of people were

See Girl Talk, A3

Administrators are continuing the search for a new director of the Academic Advising Center to replace Elizabeth Nathans, its current director, who will be retiring this spring.

“The search for a new director of academic advising is proceeding apace,” said Donald Hafner, vice provost for undergraduate affairs, in an e-mail. The University has hired a private hiring firm to assist in finding a new director. The University has not released the name of the firm.

Hafner said he does not expect the job requirements of the new director to change.

However, he said, the new director should be able to work well with individual departments. An important direction for the Academic Advising Center in the future will be to serve as a resource for academic departments as they address the needs of their undergraduate majors,” he said. “This will require a director who enjoys the confidence of faculty, and we are identifying candidates who fit that bill.”

Nathans, who came to the University in 2005 having administrative roles at Duke and Harvard, said she hopes to see the Center promote deeper conversation between students and advisers.

“Advisers carry very heavy loads,” she said. “They are often working with 30 or 40 students in total, and this, by definition, means you can’t have in-depth conversation. There aren’t enough hours in the day.”

One issue to overcome, Nathans said, is cutting the nominal ties between faculty and their students, encouraging more advising relationships based on conversation. “If a student comes to me with a question … I may not be able to give the student a clear-cut answer,” she said. “Sometimes the student will be dissatisfied. One thing that is very hard to accept is ambiguity. To take intellectual risks and to take personal risks is very hard.”

The processes to reach these goals, however, will come as a result of effort.

“They involve advisers making time to work with students around those issues,” she said.

“They involve advisers having the courage to ask the tough questions. They involve students knowing that advisers will not know the answers to every

question.”

Nathans served as dean of freshmen at Harvard for 13 years prior to arriving at BC. Her time at Harvard gave her a different perspective on student formation – a perspective from which, she said, BC could benefit. “Harvard paid very close attention to making sure advisers had information about the whole student,” she said.

“If I found one frustration [at BC], it’s that the structures haven’t caught up with the goals to address the needs of the students. I have rarely worked in an institution that has seen such an extraordinarily sharp division between student and academic affairs.”

But, she said, any institution faces troubles with its advising structure.

“There is no University in the country that I know of that can claim that it’s completely happy with its advising system,” she said. “There are no undergraduates that are completely happy with the advisers they get.”

Al Dea, president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) and CSOM ’10, has made academic advising a central issue of his time as president.

“From UGBC’s end, we hope the new director of the Academic Advising Center will work with UGBC and our initiative to improve academic advising,” Dea said in an e-mail. “Our hope is that students will play a role in the search process for the new director for the center, and, once the new director is in place, that they will continue to work with UGBC as well as other administrators to improve the advising experience here at Boston College.”

The University advising system underwent a systematic change during Nathan’s time as director, changing from a system based on course selection to one based on student development. “The Advising Center is very new to BC,” Nathans said.

“Emphasis had always been on course selection. Even first and second year students had a different adviser for every selection period.”

While students are now assigned faculty advisers, changed only at a student’s request, there are still ways the University can improve its student-faculty relations, Nathans said.

“One of the things that I’ve noticed is that there are fewer public opportunities at BC for both students and faculty to debate issues of mutual concern, whether that is the curriculum or the residential community,” she said. “Again, that grows out of BC’s not so recent past of faculty governance.” 

Hart receives Romero Scholarship

BY REBECCA KAILUS Heights Staff

Men’s basketball ends season with loss to Virgina, B1

THE SCENE

Robsham feels love with performance of Isn’t it Romantic? A10

FEATURES

Students struggle against allure of online gambling, B10 Classifieds, A5 Box office, A8 Editorials, A6 Outside the Lockerroom, B2 iEdit, A9 World Record, B6 Police Blotter, A2 Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down, A7 He Said / She Said, B8 Weather, A2

The Oscar Romero Scholarship Committee selected George Hart, A&S ’11, as this year’s recipient of its annual scholarship at a ceremony held Saturday night in Yawkey Center.

The Romero Scholarship recognizes a Boston College junior whose life demonstrates an understanding of, and a commitment to, the values and ideals inherent in the life of Romero, who served as the archbishop of El Salvador before being assassinated in 1980.

“We look for students with outstanding academic records and that display the values of Romero through service for others,” said Milvia Sanchez, co-chair of the selection committee.

“It is an intense selection process,” she said. “This year, it was very tough to decide among the applicants.”

Each year, the committee selects the recipient of the prestigious scholarship from a pool of applicants. The committee composed of students, faculty, and administrators was formed in 1992 to award a scholarship in memory of Romero. The Jesuit community, with the help of the late Rev. John Dinnenn, S.J., donated the funds for the initial award. Today, the award is supported by the University.

The committee selected Hart, this year’s recipient, as the candidate that most exemplified the ideals Romero fought for in El Salvador. Hart, the current co-president of the Organization for Latin American Affairs (OLAA), is a political science, philosophy, and history major, who said his goal is to become

SANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF

George Hart, Oscar Romero Scholarship recipient and A&S ’11, was honored at a ceremony Saturday night in Yawkey Center’s Murray Room. a politician and shape policy that will better the children of the United States.

“As I watched last year’s ceremony, I thought I would never be able to follow the footsteps of an individual like that, I cannot even believe this now,” Hart said. He thanked his family, the University, the scholarship committee, and the OLAA for their support and recognition. “Despite the doubts and the fears that surround me, the faith in my heart has helped me through it.”

Hart was selected among four

finalists as the recipient of the scholarship. The scholarship selection committee selected Eduardo Dorado, CSOM ’11, Eric J. Lopez, CSOM ’11, and Elizabeth Aleman Rodriguez, A&S ’11, as finalists.

Also during the event, the Rev. John A. Dinneen Hispanic Alumni Community Service Award was presented to recipient Maria Lusia Wilson-Portuondo, BC ’73, whose work in the bilingual special education field has earned her national recognition. “While

there is still a lot of work to be done in the bilingual special education community, it is reassuring to know there is a vibrant community at BC that values equality, justice, and human dignity,” Wilson-Portuondo said. “My parents always told me my inheritance was my education. No one could take that away from me, but at the same time, it was also a gift I could share with others.”

This year’s presentation coincided

See Scholarship, A4

TopFive

Monday, March 15, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

things to do on campus this week

“Tattoos of the Heart” Signing Today Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Faculty Dining Hall Gregor y Boyle, S.J., founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention organization in California, will discuss his new book, Tattoos of the Heart.

1

5th Annual Canisius Lecture

2

Tuesday Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: Fulton 511

Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, Archbishop of the Military Services, U.S.A., will discuss how Jesuit institutions strengthen and challenge faith in young adults.

Science Night at BC

Young Women and Catholicism

Hawthorne String Quartet

Tuesday Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Higgins Atrium Science Night will offer networking opportunities for interested students to speak with BC alumni in science professions.

The event is sponsored by the Career Center.

Wednesday Time: 4 p.m.

Location: Heights Room The event, part of the C21 Women’s Series, will explore the relationship between women and the Catholic Church and the role played by young women in today’s Church.

Wednesday Time: 8 p.m.

Location: Gasson 100

3

FEATURED ON CAMPUS

Journalism still serves role

4

5

The performance will feature the Berlin Suite, composed by Ralf Gawlick of the music department, as well as selections by Haydn, Penderecki, and Gershwin.

IntheNews

FOUR DAY WEATHER FORECAST TODAY

43° Rain / Wind 34°

TUESDAY

49° Partly Cloudy 34°

WEDNESDAY

54° Sunny

University Congressional Democrats propose vast cuts in education spending Congressional Democrats are looking to make sweeping cuts in education spending as they work to assemble a final version of their student-loan legislation, according to a report by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Legislators have proposed cuts to the initial Pell Grants proposal, and may also eliminate proposed spending on community colleges, in addition to possibly cutting the entire Perkins Loan Program, which provides low-interest loans to cash-strapped students.

37°

THURSDAY

56° Partly Cloudy 39°

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

Local News Thousands turn out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day despite weather

TAYLOUR KUMPF / HEIGHTS EDITOR

James Reynolds and Martha Bebinger discussed the relationship between traditional journalism and new media.

BY MORGAN HEALEY

1990s, said that journalism is a “fascinating profession,” and “a front row seat to what On Thursday night, Boston is happening in the world.”

College students interested in An art and semiotics doujournalism gathered to hear ble-major in college, she two professionals in the field discovered her passion for speak of their experiences. reporting well after graduHosted by The Heights, the ation. It wasn’t until she speakers, James Reynolds began experimenting with and Martha Bebinger, are film that she was reminded spending a year as Nieman of her love for storytelling, Fellows at Harvard Univer- she said. sity. The Nieman Foundation Journalism, though it ofawards fellowten involves ships to midserious matcareer jour- “The definition of what ters, is “just n a l i s ts t h a t another form a journalist is allow them to of conveying is always changing. a message to take a year of reflection and One form of specific an audience, study. much like training is not They said television and that journalalways necessary film,” Bebinism is in flux, ger said. to be successful but that the Reynolds, in the field.” essentials of a foreign correporting store s p o n d e n t ries well and for the British —Martha Bebinger, a c c u ra te ly B ro a d c a s t NPR Correspondent remain uning Corporachanged. tion (BBC), “The defie n c o u ra ge d nition of what a journalist students to go out and reis is always changing,” Be- port on stories that they are binger, a correspondent for passionate about, regardless the National Public Radio of whether or not a pay check (NPR), said. “One form of can be expected. specific training is not always Reynolds insisted that necessary to be successful in aspiring journalists travel the field.” and search for stories even Bebinger, who began re- if they are not directly affiliporting for radio in the early ated with a publication or a Heights Staff

broadcast station.

“If you want to be a foreign correspondent, get up and go,” Reynolds said. “You are the ones who create the new industry.”

He recounted his many experiences abroad, explaining that his career began as a self-driven endeavor, with just a plane ticket and a hand-held camcorder. A video-diary he kept while covering the Olympic Torch relay in Tibet was only one example of the many independent reporting projects he has based his career on.

With regard to writing, Reynolds said there is a difference between reporting the facts and interpreting those facts within the context of the story.

“Being a journalist, you often see the way two people can interpret the same facts in entirely different ways,” he said.

Bebinger said the availability of self-publication through online blogs and different Web sites, such as YouTube is important in considering the current state of journalism. She said that newspapers and magazines still appeal to readers, as they provide a “tangible connection” with the material, but that she believes most news will be Internet-based within 10 years. 

Throngs of Irish and would-be Irish supporters were on hand yesterday in South Boston for the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, as the crowds refused to be shut indoors by the day’s wet weather. Nearly 100 organizations took part in this year’s parade, which typically draws between 650,000 and 1.1 million people, according to the Boston Globe. The parade, which featured over 1,000 marchers and more than two-dozen bands, has only been cancelled once in its history, the result of a 1993 blizzard.

On Campus LSOE announces new executive director of Center for Catholic Ed. The Lynch School of Education recently announced that Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill has been appointed executive director of the Center for Catholic Education, according to a release from the Office of Public Affairs.

The Center is devoted to educating students on the challenges facing Catholic grade schools and institutes of higher education. Weitzel-O’Neill, who will begin her work with the Center in July, previously served as superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Washington.

National Obama calls for overhaul of No Child Left Behind education policy ATLANTA (AP) — President Barack Obama is promising parents and their kids that with his administration’s help, they will have better teachers in improved schools so US students can make up for academic ground lost against youngsters in other countries. A plan to overhaul the 2002 education law championed

by President George W. Bush was unveiled by the Obama administration Saturday in hopes of replacing a system that in the last decade has tagged more than a third of schools as failing and created a hodgepodge of sometimes weak academic standards among states.

Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Marketplace Desk (617) 552-3548 Features Desk (617) 552-3548 Arts Desk (617) 552-0515 Photo (617) 552-1022 Fax (617) 552-4823 Business and Operations General Manager (617) 552-0169 Advertising (617) 552-2220 Business and Circulation (617) 552-0547 Classifieds and Collections (617) 552-0364 Fax (617) 552-1753 EDITORIAL RESOURCES News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call 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

Police Blotter 3/9/10 – 3/11/10 Tuesday, March 9 12:15 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an ill party who was transported from Xavier Hall to a medical facility.

8:54 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an ill party who was transported from 21 Campanella Way to a medical facility.

1:43 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious circumstance in 21 Campanella Way. The matter was referred to the Office of the Dean of Student Development for further information.

11:49 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious motor vehicle on Campanella Way. The operator was identified and the matter will be referred to the Brookline Hackney Police Department.

Wednesday, March 10 12:18 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an off-campus motor vehicle accident on Beacon Street in the jurisdiction of the Newton Police Department. NPD was notified and responded.

11:12 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in Voutè Hall. The cause was determined to be from a smoke detector in the laundry room. All was in order.

3:36 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a party who was suffering from an allergic reaction in Lyons Hall. The party was transported to a medical facility.

11:48 p.m. - A report was filed regarding two males who were observed burning pictures on a sidewalk outside Fitzpatrick Hall. The fire was extinguished, and a report will be sent to ODSD for disciplinary action.

Voices from the Dustbowl “What is your favorite rainy day activity?”

“Puddle splashing in high boots.”

—Josh Mastracci, A&S ’13 —Tyler Schenk, CSOM ’12

Thursday, March 11 8:42 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation at the Hovey House.

The alarm was set off accidentally by contractors working in the area.

12:54 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a party observed on campus after previously receiving a trespass warning. The party was given an additional warning and escorted off Boston College property.

7:11 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in the Mods. The alarm was triggered by bad cooking.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

“Watching movies.”

—Nicholas Pelletier, CSOM ’13

“Watching movies and drinking coffee.”

—Chloe Gomez,

A&S ’13

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

A3

The Heights

Thursday, March 15, 2010

MIT program has students teaching students

By Lisa Piccirillo

day, allowing them to take classes in a wide range of subjects. MIT students volunteer to teach classes in any topics they are passionate about, On Saturday, 1,100 students packed the Mas- and the resulting course list is extensive. sachusetts Institute of Technology’s campus, Though the Spark program is only three years where they spent the day rushing from class to old, Splash began in 1980. In addition, the ESP class. These students were all from grades 7 to coordinates AP and SAT prep courses as well as 12, and their professors were MIT undergraduate long term courses on Saturdays and in the sumand graduate students. mer, all for middle and high school students.

Spark is an annual event run by the MIT Boston College may not be able to offer Educational Studies Program (ESP) that con- programming this extensive immediately, but nects area high school students Cheng hopes to host the first with MIT students looking to Splash at BC next fall. “Because of spread their passion for discovery ESP has been in our proximity to MIT and MIT’s and education. A similar program, willingness to help us advertise existence since called Splash, occurs each fall at our program, we can reasonably 1957, but until MIT, typically averaging 2,000 expect 500 students for our first participants and 350 student invery recently it has program,” Cheng said. structors.

“One of the biggest issues that remained the only I see on campus is the huge gap The ESP has been in existence since 1957, but until very recently, program of its kind in between academic life and social it has remained the only program of life,” Cheng said. “I see Splash Boston. its kind in Boston, and one of few as a way of addressing this issue. in the country. Hanyin Cheng, A&S It gives BC students a chance to ’12, hopes to change this. showcase their passions and spe“I got the idea for Splash [at BC] at the be- cial interests in a classroom setting.” ginning of spring semester,” Cheng said. “Two MIT student Stephanie Bachar, class of 2011, weeks ago, I approached the MIT ESP program is a bioengineering major and served as ESP because I wanted to learn how they plan for this chairperson for MIT, last year. She currently enormous undertaking. They were extremely serves as liaison for Harvard ESP, and she mainexcited about the prospect of a sister Splash tains that the ESP is not averse to sharing tips program in Boston.” regarding its programming.

The programs open the campus to middle and “The idea of spreading our programs should high school students from all backgrounds for a never be a bad thing,” Bachar said. “It becomes For The Heights

more difficult [when there are multiple pro- students who become involved. grams] because it requires more collaboration, MIT student and first-year Spark teacher but I think that if you have the communication, Debby Yee, class of 2011, said that the student the fundamental point, which is getting these teachers are responsible for submitting a course classes to students, will happen better.” outline, preparing their material ahead of time, Rather than looking for a monopoly, the and teaching at the event, making it a significant ESP hopes to expand on its past time commitment and a rewardprogress. “The philosophy of ing way to share their passions.

“Because of our ESP is that you should give colShe and a group of friends taught proximity to MIT courses on origami and physics. lege students the ability to teach about anything they are passionate and MIT’s willingness While the primary beneficiaabout, and that passion will break ries are the high school particithrough to middle school and high to help us advertise pants, there are also benefits for school students,” Bachar said. our program, we can the college students involved.

“That is what gives those stuI am interested in reasonably expect “Personally dents the ability to find out what pursuing a career in education, they like and how people actually 500 students for our but I don’t always have the opporpursue it in real life. We tell stutunities to experience firsthand first program.” dents to teach anything they want, what it is like to teach a bunch of and we really mean it.” students,” Yee said. “For me, it The wide variety of subjects can was really helpful to get a feel for — Hanyin Cheng, be seen in the event’s course catahow it could be.”

A&S ’12 logue. Of the 100-plus classes that Siblings Nakiska and Braenaan were offered Saturday, some included: Strategy, Vaughan both participated in Saturday’s proLying and Manipulation; Why is it Wrong to gramming and said “it was lots of fun.”

Cut in Line? (A Philosopher’s Approach); and Though they are in seventh and eighth grades, Quantum Tunneling, Black Holes, and the Weird respectively, the two chose to take courses in Universe. interplanetary warfare, real conspiracies, and Though a Splash program at BC could closely explosive materials. resemble Splash at MIT, it would likely difCommunity feedback for the events has been fer widely in the courses offered, Cheng said. overwhelmingly positive, organizers said. “It’s “The student body’s interests determine the really exciting,” Bachar said. “We have gotten course[s],” Cheng said. As with any university, letters and phone calls from parents saying, ‘You the program would be entirely reliant on the changed my child’s life.’” n

Students crowd Plex for Girl Talk Girl Talk, from A1

allowed on stage to dance by [Girl Talk],” Lipscomb said.

“This controlled the number of people swarming around him and messing with his equipment.”

Girl Talk’s management team limited the number of wristbands distributed to 30.

“This number was based on making sure that Girl Talk would have an energetic environment on stage, while keeping the student body safe at the same time,” D’Ambra said.

“We wanted to make sure that those who were selected to receive wristbands by Girl Talk’s spotters had fun and were not at any safety risk.”

In planning the event and securing Girl Talk as the featured artist, D’Ambra and Maureen Keegan, assistant director of campus entertainment and A&S ’10, did their research. “Students may not realize, but an event such as this takes an incredible amount of planning,” D’Ambra said. “We have been working since June 2009 to secure a space for this event. The process of securing Girl Talk was the same as that which we go through for any other concert that we have. We started negotiations back in the fall and had the event set before winter break.”

Regarding the November 2008 Girl Talk concert at Harvard that was cut short when neither the DJ nor the police could control the disorderly crowd, D’Ambra and Keegan said, “UGBC Campus Entertainment’s primary concern is safety and security. We always balance the enjoyment of the students with their safety and security. As such, working with BCPD and Girl Talk, we did everything necessary to ensure the safety and security of the student body. The fact that we had no major issues is a testament to its successful planning.”

Although the event, overall, went smoothly, Lipscomb said, “There’s always going to be a few students, though, who drink too much and get taken out.”

“Whenever we have a largescale event on campus, we always take alcohol into consideration,” D’Ambra said.

Howeve r, D ’A m b ra a n d Keegan said, “the student body was not out of control by any means. BC students are often not given enough credit for maintaining decorum while enjoying an event. The student body overall was reasonable and respectful, and there were not a significant number of students escorted out of the event.” n

Michael Caprio / Heights Editor

A line for Girl Talk tickets stretched from the Robsham Theater ticket office to Vanderslice Hall early last Monday. Tickets sold out in three and a half hours.

KEvin Hou / Heights Editor

Girl Talk organizers allowed 30 Boston College students on stage to dance alongside Girl Talk, whose energy prevailed throughout the night on Saturday.

Kevin Hou / Heights Editor

While the UGBC had to restrict the number of attendees for safety concerns, the Plex offered more dance space than the previously-used Conte Forum. Neither the UGBC nor the BC Police Department reported any incidents.

BC ranks high on president’s education honor roll

Students complete an estimated 440,000 hours of service during the academic year with over 50 percent student participation

By Daniel Tonkovich For The Heights

Boston College was recently awarded a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive, for its commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement in 2009.

The honor roll, compiled by the Corporation for National and Community Service, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact, and the American Council on Education, takes such factors as scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service learning courses into consideration when determining the honorees.

“Congratulations to Boston College and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Our nation’s students are a critical part of the

equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges ranging from assisting children to hospice care. The recognition is well we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the deserved for BC students. It represents their impressive talent and value of putting knowledge into practice to help passion for service.”

“It is something about the renew America through service.”

The diverse offering of volunteer programs at BC estimates that over 50 percent of the stu- Jesuit and Catholic identity of BC, including its Appalachia Volunteer Program, dent body engages in some form of volunteering PULSE service-learning program, and Eagle the University that students Volunteer Corp, as well as the University’s overall during the academic year, performing 440,000 total hours of service. Nationally in 2009, 3.16 move from their own concern focus on service learning, contribute to a culture million college students performed more than of volunteerism at BC, Ponsetto said.

300 million hours of service, according to the into the lives of others in a role “Boston College is very pleased to receive Volunteering in America study release by the the honor because it reflects the great culture of of service” Corporation. volunteerism that exists at the University,” said “It is something about the Jesuit and Catholic Kathleen Sullivan, media relations officer for — Daniel Ponsetto, identity of the University that students move from the University. “It is nice to receive recognition their own concern into the lives of others in a role Director, Volunteer and Service for the actions of our students at the national of service,” said Daniel Ponsetto, director of vollevel.”

Learning Center unteer and service learning at BC. “Furthermore, Boston College was one of nearly 700 colleges it is the attraction of pro-engagement and service-minded students and universities to be recognized by the Corporation for National and to BC that creates BC’s service culture of volunteering at institutions Community Service in its 2009 Honor Roll. n

A4

Thursday, March 15, 2010

The Heights

Scholarship awarded in honor of Romero Scholarship, from A1

with the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Romero. The late archbishop wrote and spoke passionately about the need for Christians to work for justice, and he frequently faced threats from those opposed to his ideas. In March of 1980, Romero was shot and killed at the altar by a death squad while celebrating the Eucharist during mass. Speaking of Romero, Rev. Donald MacMillan, S.J., said that winning this scholarship was a heavy burden to the scholarship winners to uphold the tenets of Romero. “Our world is a broken world,” he said. “There is a lot of sin. It’s a heavy burden not just for you, but for all of us.”

The theme of the scholarship event was a reflection on Latino culture and tradition. “We asked the scholarship students to create reflections of Latino culture to honor Romero and to celebrate tradition through music and food,” said Marcela Norton, co-chair of the Romero committee. This theme was reflected in the traditional Hispanic food served at the event and through the various performances by Cofradia de mi Pueblo.

Confradia de mi Pueblo is a group that was formed three years ago and is composed of individuals of different Central American nationalities, although the majority of the participants are Guatemalan. They celebrated their country’s tradition at the event through dances that represented the mixture between Spanish and indigenous

cultures. Dressed in traditional clothing, the men and women of Cofradia de mi Pueblo paraded into the event, weaving their way around the tables to traditional Guatemalan music.

The importance of tradition in remembering one’s culture is an important aspect of the scholarship. Many of the attendees spoke of the importance of the scholarship in furthering the academic possibilities for Latino students. “As a Latino in higher education and who has gone through the college process, an event like this is an opportunity for us to reflect upon all the work there is still left to be done,” said Jose Ramon, assistant director of BC Law admissions.

“A scholarship like this creates role models and inspires others in the Latino community to accomplish more.”

University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. spoke of the continued importance of work in the Latino community and in the world and its connection to Romero. “On March 24, 1980, almost 30 years ago, a major change occurred in his [Romero’s] country and the rest of the world,” he said. “There is still much that remains to be done today. Through the nominees and those who are with them that help them be who they are, I am reminded how much BC can do and needs to do for the Latino community. I hope we realize tonight what has been done in the world, what needs to be done, and what we need to do.” n

Sang Lee / Heights STaff

Candidates were chosen on how they demonstrated the teachings of the Catholic martyr, Bishop Oscar Romero

CSOM places ninth in ‘BusinessWeek’ magazine undergraduate business program rankings Study highlights business school’s high standing among recruiters, but might leave some facets unexplored, administration says

By Michael Caprio

and a dedicated staff. We’re honored to be considered among the best business schools in the U.S. and among the best in the world.”

Much of the study focused on student responses. Approximately The Carroll School of Management (CSOM) ranked in the top 10 88,000 seniors at more than 140 universities received a survey that undergraduate business programs in the United States in a recent questioned the students on myriad topics, such as the quality of the Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranking. teaching and the schools’ facilities.

The school took ninth place in this year’s “[BC students] pass the airplaine Richard Keeley, dean of undergraduate BusinessWeek Top Undergraduate Business programs for CSOM, said he hopes to see some Programs 2010 ranking, an improvement from test.They are friendly, they have improvement in student satisfaction with the last year’s rank of 17 in the same study. The a wide variety of interests, and business programs. CSOM’s freshman Portico rankings were based on student response to seminar, he said, can help to foster a stronger survey questions, post-graduation outcomes, they’re interested in who they’re relationship between CSOM students and their and academic quality. school. talking to ...”

The top three spots were taken by business “My hope is that there will be a rippleprograms at Notre Dame, the University of through effect where each student will come —Richard Keeley, Virginia, and MIT, respectively. out of the first year saying, ‘I want to do this,’” Dean of Undergraduate Programs “The Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranking, as he said. well as other high rankings we’ve received, The responses given by corporate recruiters indicate that the Carroll School is getting stronger and stronger to survey questions were considered in the ranking. Keeley said that each year,” said Dean of CSOM Andy Boynton in a statement. “It’s CSOM’s focus on group organization contributes to BC’s attractiveness a credit to our undergraduate students, the school’s superb faculty, to recruiters. “For us, it’s really second nature,” he said.

News Editor

He also said that the quality of BC’s students is an additional factor. “They pass the airplane test,” he said. “The question is if you want to sit next to a BC student on an airplane. They’re friendly, they have a wide variety of interests, and they’re interested in who they’re talking to.”

CSOM enrolls approximately 2,000 students and offers six degree programs. The school also features eight research centers.

The study should be used with discretion, Keeley said. “Rankings have to be used carefully and cross-checked with personal decisions.”

The ranking does not take into account the strength of specialized programs, like information systems, in each business school – a practice that Keeley said could make the ranking stronger. “They could get more precise if they can get more focused about what they were asking,” he said.

This ranking comes one month after CSOM placed within the top 50 MBA programs internationally in a report by the Financial Times, a study focused on alumni salaries, international outreach, and research.

BusinessWeek did not use faculty research as a factor in its rankings. n

Carr examines rights and powers

By Daniel Tonkovich For The Heights

annie Budnick / Heights STaff

Saskia Sassen, professor at Columbia University, spoke to a group of students about globalization on Wednesday, highlighting the depth of the issue.

Sassen: Globalization a concern for private groups, not nation-states

By Christopher Han For The Heights

On Wednesday, Saskia Sassen, author and Columbia University professor, spoke of the nation-state in relation to the rise of globalization. Sassen’s lecture served as the third and final segment of the sociology department’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar Series.

In her lecture, titled “The World’s Third Spaces: Novel Assemblages of Territory, Authority, Rights,” Sassen emphasized that the nation-state is not a power struggle between the global and national.

She said that the unsettling of the format of the nation state is not a power struggle between the globe and national. She said that, through this phenomenon, a “third space” is created in which the jurisdiction falls out of government hands and instead creates an opportunity for private groups to operate. It is, she said, “a proliferation of partial, often highly specialized, global assemblages of bits of territory, authority, and rights once firmly

ensconced in national institutional frames. These assemblages cut across the national versus global divide – which the usual way of understanding what is really new. It produces a kind of third space for a growing range of operations.”

Sassen’s lecture covered issues such as the current financial crisis, the “boomerang effect” recurrent in past economic depressions, and the major land acquisitions of developing nations by foreign interests.

Sassen also offered words of encouragement to current sociology majors. “Don’t be afraid to face the complexity of reality,” she said. “This is a profoundly sociological era, and there is much to explore.”

The Visiting Scholars program is dedicated to providing unique opportunities for members of the Boston College’s sociology department to hear from leading scholars around the world.

According to the sociology department Web site, “Each scholar delivers a major public lecture, teaches one session of an intensive faculty or graduate student seminar, and is available for informal conversation with students and faculty.” n

On Friday evening, Sarah Sewall, a lecturer in public policy and director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, discussed human rights and the use of force in contemporary society at the Politics of Human Rights Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference.

Friday’s keynote lecture concluded the two-day interdisciplinary graduate student conference. The conference, sponsored by the Graduate Student Association of the political science department, brought together graduate students from multiple institutions, including Boston College, Georgetown University, and Harvard University, as well as leading scholars in human rightsrelated fields who presented research findings and prompted dialogue about pressing contemporary human rights issues.

“Boston College social science courses often focus on theory,” said Elitsa Molles, Ph.D. student in the political science department and one of the coordinators. “This conference was aimed at focusing on the practical application of the theory presented in the classroom so as to advance discussion about pressing issues.”

“Those who argue for progressively increasing strength of regulations limiting the use of force in conflict situations contain, in their argument, seeds for their own destruction,” Sewall said.

“The human rights advocacy community has approached the use of force from a highly idealistic and ethical trend that may not be attainable in an armed conflict environment.”

Sewall supported her argument with the fact that, for those outside of the traditional law-abiding nations and organizations, such as guerrilla liberation movements and terrorist organizations, there lies a huge

enforcement problem. This is made especially so because international law is often resolved through discourse between nations and involved parties, not by a standard judicial system.

New international norms and laws are continuously devised that strive toward limiting the harm inflicted on non-combatants, Sewall said. “As a result, those following the law must do more, but those who ignore the law continue to use outlawed force without prosecution,” she said. “While the international impulse is good, the problem still exists. With the new laws, we are talking to the people who are already trying not to kill people.”

Another issue with international law enforcement concerns the lack of incentives for nations demonstrating good behavior, Sewall said. As a solution, she proposed that diplomats and lawmakers “think strategically about efforts for limiting the use of force, see where force fits, and analyze the tradeoff between laws and more laws.”

Ward Thomas, associate professor of political science at the College of the Holy Cross, agreed with Sewall. “There is a need for the strategic targeting of initiatives in regards to human rights and the use of force,” he said.

Thomas said the application of a “moral but not perfectionist” solution to the use of force in international disputes, and proposed that the optimal solution would involve a partnership between both military and nongovernment organizations calling for peaceful conflict resolution processes.

“Wars are fought because [participating parties] view it as important and they desire to win,” Thomas said.

“What is needed is a new Geneva to redesign laws,” Thomas said. “We are not just talking about regulative norms but the constitutive norms as well, so we need all actors at the table.” n

CLASSIFIEDS

A5

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, March 15, 2010

COMMUNITY HELP WANTED BARTENDERS NEEDED!! No experience necessary. Earn $250 per day.

Contact at 627-849-8074.

BABYSITTER NEEDED. A family residing in Chestnut Hill/BC area is looking for responsible babysitter with a car. We need a babysitter on two afternoons (any 2 days of Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday) to pick up children (6 and 9 years old) from a neighborhood school, drive them home for a snack, and then drive them to after-school activities. 6-7 hours per week. Please send an e-mail to nashideti@yahoo.com.

BABYSITTING JOB. Need fun-loving babysitter. Weekends and/or weekday evenings for our daughter (10) and son (8). We live close to BC’s Shea Field. If interested, call Laurette at (617) 733-3309.

FEMALE VOLUNTEERS: Who are currently anorexic or have recovered from past symptoms of anorexia nervosa in stable medical health are sought for a study of behavioral ratings and blood hormone levels.

Eligible participants will receive up to $550 for a total of four outpatient visits and two overnight stays at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Canter. More info: Michael Mckenery 617-552-2758 mckenery@bc.edu BECOME A JETBLUE CAMPUS REP – HIRING FOR FALL. Run events and create promotions on your campus for JetBlue Airways.

Earn great incentives and gain amazing experience for your résumé! Go to: Repnation.com/JetBlue to apply PARTICIPANTS NEEDED. The Neurodevelopment Center in Cambridge, MA is seeking individuals aged 12-21 with depressive symptoms for a

free drug-free treatment study. Contact http://www.youthmood.com or (401)-351-7779 for more information 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 confidence.

With gratitude, Roseanne and Tim.

REAL ESTATE TOWN ESTATE.10 minute walk from BC. Starts Sept. 1st. NO FEE. Modern 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 parking spots, swimming pool, AC, heated, $2,500 by owner 617-256-3306

“Aren’t Sunday’s fun? They’re like daycare.”

Answers to the Crossword are below the Sudoku

Directions: The Sudoku is played over a 9x9 grid. In each row there are 9 slots, some of which are empty and need to be filled.

Each row, column and 3x3 box should contain the numbers 1 to 9. You must follow these rules: · Number can appear only once in each row · Number can appear only once in each column · Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box · The number should appear only once on row, column or area.

A6

The Heights

Editorials

Quote of the DAY

Placement aids rank

Monday, March 15, 2010

“A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them.”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Carroll School of Management was ranked ninth because of job recruitment; other schools should be aided to achieve the same.

In BusinessWeek’s latest ranking of the top undergraduate business programs in the country, the Carroll School of Management (CSOM) was ranked ninth, rising from its previous rank of 17. This jump should be an enormous source of pride for the CSOM community, and we congratulate all involved in bringing CSOM to a higher level of prestige. With a more renowned business program, Boston College will receive more competitive applicants, which will over time raise the bar for all academics at BC. Although this ranking does much to distinguish CSOM, it will likely do little to improve the ranking of the University as a whole. CSOM’s improvement, while a great source of pride for the school, will have only a marginal impact on improving the University’s position in national rankings.

That CSOM is so highly ranked relative to other BC schools, particularly the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), should motivate University administrators to improve other academic departments.

CSOM has managed to achieve this high ranking, in part, as a result of its top-notch job placement. The BusinessWeek rankings heavily influence the opinions of job recruiters, and CSOM’s job placement rates have played a large role in improving the school’s position. But CSOM’s strength is A&S’ weakness, and students of philosophy and visual art find themselves with far fewer resources then their counterparts who chose to study finance or accounting. Although the career paths for business majors can sometimes be more clearly defined and lend themselves to more perennial internships than those of a liberal arts major, there is still a lot that the Career Center can do to help students in A&S graduate with a job offer.

The communication most underclassmen have with the Career Center consists of the chain e-mails that the Center dis-

tributes. While certainly indicative of effort, these e-mails do little to distinguish themselves from the torrent of inbox messages flooding BC e-mail accounts, and so they are ignored by many underclassmen.

Although some will use these e-mails as motivation to walk into the Center and work with its representatives, many will simply hold off their job search until their junior and senior years, at which point searching for internships and jobs can become an overwhelming process. The Career Center needs to improve its efforts to reach out to A&S students before it is too late for them to find jobs, but A&S students must also be more proactive in their job searches if the Center is to see a rise in success.

One way to improve interaction with students is to educate them on the resources that the Career Center has to offer. The Career Center advertises its databases and highlights a few internship opportunities in each e-mail, but this does little to address the needs of students with more narrow focuses. Since every student receives the same e-mail, students who are not making the effort to work with the Center will not be able to find an internship that matches their specific career plan.

The Career Center could benefit the BC community by increasing its efforts to plan out career paths for individual liberal arts majors. While The Heights understands that improving the Career Center is not as simple as trying harder, we feel that expanding the Center and gearing it toward liberal arts majors, as well as business students, should be a top priority. The Career Center can be more than a resource for students, and should serve as the preeminent destination for career advice so long as individuals can sit down with representatives and work toward finding rewarding and enriching careers.

Advising & formation The changes in the Advising Center create an opportunity for updates in the system to focus more on freshman experience.

With the departure of Elizabeth Nathans, dean of advising, the University has been presented with an opportunity to reevaluate its approach to undergraduate advising. On several past occasions, The Heights has written about the discontent students harbor for the current advising system, and we have tried to propose some alternatives. Most importantly, we have suggested that, outside of whatever formal advising structure the school institutes, it is imperative that students form mentoring relationships with professors with whom they feel comfortable.

With all of that as foreground, and with an appreciation for the long struggle Boston College has had with devising a satisfactory advising program, we suggest that the University first take stock of things as they are. It seems to us that there is an advising program, and then the actual state of student advising. It is our experience that, despite the work that students, faculty, and administrators have put into advising, there is still much left to be desired. Yet, while most students acknowledge the deficiencies of the advising program, there are some who, in one way or another, have devised an ad hoc system that works for each of them individually.

We suggest that the University adopt and adapt that which already exists and has proven its worth among the student body. We have observed that undergraduates who have a sense of direction in their student life have often formed precisely those sorts of mentoring relationships about which we have written before. They have sought out professors or others at the University, be they administrators, Jesuits, or others, who provide them with some perspective and guidance. These figures are needed to ask difficult questions, to prod students when they are in need of motivation, and to allow students to feel that the University is made up of real, present people, not just policies and protocols.

What we suggest is that the University dispose of the advising program for sophomores, juniors, and seniors as it currently

exists, and to create better resources for freshman classes along the model of Courage to Know, freshmen Perspectives, and Portico. As advising and student formation go somewhat hand in hand, these freshman year classes could serve two purposes.

Firstly, they would be an introduction to the campus and to campus life, to how one should approach all of one’s classes while at college, and they could be a student’s initiation into a place of learning and study, in which professors and students work in conjunction. The professors of each of these small sections would then be the appointed advisers for their students. We do not believe it to be of primary importance that these professors have extensive knowledge of all of the possible tracks of study, the many course offerings, or the career value of one course over another. Advisers are not department secretaries. Students will ultimately have to figure out the minutiae of their academic careers for themselves.

Advisers, instead, exist to ask students to think critically about their academics and their lives as students. These are the questions that professors, as people who have dedicated their lives to academia, are peculiarly equipped to ask.

We are not suggesting that students be cut adrift after their freshman year.

Rather, we believe that, after a student has had the kind of close advising relationship we hope each freshman would have under the model we have proposed, he or she would wish to replicate that on his or her own initiative. It is not extraordinary to ask a student to take some responsibility for his or her own advising. Mentors play important roles throughout our lives, and there is no harm in encouraging students to take the initiative to develop these relationships on their own.

As the University takes the selection of a new advising dean under consideration, we hope that, as we have suggested, it will give serious thought to what already works among students and build a program on that basis. If students are given a strong sense of purpose in their freshman year, the rest might just happen on its own.

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: Molly Lapointe, Krysia Wazny, Will Watkins

matthew laud / Heights Illustration

Letters to the Editor Altering doctrine isn’t the cure for loss of faith Having read Charles Mangiardi’s last two articles, I feel it is necessary to object to his statement that, in the Church, almost every contemporary issue is open for debate. The Church, as an institution existing in time, certainly can experience change, but only as something accidental to its being, in areas relating to discipline and pastoral orientation. As the substance of Church teaching, doctrine, even when not solemnly defined, is divinely protected from error. Truths implicit in earlier teaching may be made more explicit and concrete over time, but this is the extent of the Catholic notion of doctrinal development, as many popes such as Pius IX and St. Pius X have emphasized. It is impossible for the Church to adapt to the times, or become something new,

if this would require a negation of its venerable, centuries old teachings.

That being said, I certainly share Charles’ frustration and sadness at seeing the state of Catholicism today. It is indeed disheartening to see so many fellow students rejecting the Faith on account of the scandalous conduct of the Church’s hierarchy. This crisis, though, will be solved not by altering doctrine, but only by acknowledging and justly punishing evil, while emphasizing the beautiful truths of the Catholic Faith which humanity was made to know, love, and embrace.

Philip Micele A&S ’11

Reform in the Church requires thoughtful dialogue Andrzej Jawie I was interested to read more of Charles Mangiardi’s views on reform in the Church (“A New Church,” March 11) as it shows that he is very much in love with the Catholic Church and wants to see it continue to grow and minister to people the world over. However, while it seems Mangiardi has done a lot of thinking, there are certain things that need to be considered a little bit more.

First, Mangiardi says that in the early Church, councils were called every time a major question was raised about doctrine, and that this should be done today, with councils every 20 years or so.

First, it is a little exaggerated to say every doctrinal question was settled by a council. St. Augustine lists over 80 heresies in his work on heresies, and not all of them

were settled by councils.

Second, it’s been 40 years since the last council, and the implementation is still taking place.

(For example, an accurate Mass translation is still forthcoming.)

Would it be possible to have councils every 20 years and implement them before the next one began?

It seems doubtful. The relatively frequent Synod of Bishop meetings seem to be more on scale with what Mangiardi has in mind. It’s not clear whether he is aware of them or what he thinks about them.

Third, Mangiardi suggests that laity should participate in these councils. This is not a bad idea, as already, many laity are in the curial offices. However, would this promote the diversity that Mangiardi is actually seeking? Most likely not, because they would probably hold many of the same views as the bishops coming to the councils. Additionally, since the role of

Andrzej Jawie is a 2006 graduate of Boston College.

The Online buzz Reprinting reader comments from www.bcheights.com, The Online Buzz draws on the online community to contribute to the ongoing discussion.

In response to “Ross: ‘We Disagree on This Issue’” by Michael Caprio: “I disagree strongly with this legislation. I believe, as do many students and families of area universities that it is discriminatory. However, coucilman Ross is correct that had the students, and their parents, been more supportive of the community in which they live, it is unlikely that this situation would have come up in the first place.

The long term solution is involvement by the students, affected in their respective communities. Together, they not only represent a large consumer group, they represent a large voting block.”

J. Kevin Michel. Ed ’75 In response to “Potential Harms Outweigh Benefits”

by Michael Sanders: “First off, I would like to say that medical marijuana has several uses, marijuana is proven to lower your heart rate and

pulse. My mother has very high blood pressure and has never done a drug or smoked a cigarette a day in her life. But, if she were allowed to smoke marijuana for her blood pressure, she would be able to lower it naturally and not let it get to the point where she needs to go to the hospital. Secondly, it relaxes you. People with certain medical conditions can use marijuana to cope with the symptoms of what they have experienced earlier in life. They could use it in place of other medications like vicidon. Seeing that vicidon is a very popular drug to be trafficking on the ‘streets’, why is marijuana any different? If people worry about teenagers getting some ‘pot’ then it is the exact same as in the 60s, 70s, and so forth.

By allowing our youth to be exposed to it they will be able to make a better informed decision about it. They will be able to know from experience, not just the traditional “Just Say No” catch phrase. I agree with the prior comment about, “Society is an Experiment, so lets Experiment!”

Elizabeth Smith

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 Karolina Cyburt, Layout Editor

teacher given by the Holy Spirit in the Church properly belongs to the episcopacy, the laity would merely be proposing ideas, not deciding.

In general, it seems that Mangiardi has a limited view of what is still “up for debate.” While he admits he agrees with ex cathedra papal and conciliar infallibility, there is more to Church teaching authority than just those two.

For example, when he writes, “Almost every contemporary issue is thus open for debate,” that just isn’t the case. The maleonly priesthood was settled in a binding matter, although not ex cathedra, in “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.” In this case, what are the contemporary issues of which he is thinking? It seems Mangiardi has some more questions that need answering.

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 Patricia Harris, Asst. Marketplace Editor Kevin Hou, Asst. Photo Editor Margaret Tseng, 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, March 15, 2010

A7

Opinions

Thumbs Up bOp! – Looking for a little swank? A little sophisticated entertainment on the weekend? Those in attendance at the bOp!arazzi show were treated to an evening of great jazz and fairly entertaining skits. These music men (and ladies) will be performing again during Arts Fest, so do yourself a favor and check them out.

Semis – Hockey swept away UMass this weekend and will be taking on the UVM Catamounts in the semifinals. Unfortunately, BU advanced to take on Maine, as well. Will it be a Comm.

Ave final? Make it happen, boys.

Hipsters – Those who were lucky enough to get Girl Talk tickets or pack in tight enough to see the stage witnessed BC’s hipsters in their tight pants-clad, neon-colored element Saturday night.

That’s right, the rare species was out in full force for Saturday’s night’s rager, and the party was all the better for it. A hint for tracking down this flighty creature?

Anyone offended by the term “hipster” is a sure bet.

Brackets – Rejoice, fans of basketball and losing money! The NCAA brackets were announced today (BC basketball didn’t make the cut, shockingly) and those who only pretend to follow basketball will soon be called out (freshman girls, looking your way). Go with your gut, mine’s telling me Wofford for final four.

“Telephone” – As some movie villain once said, “The only difference between insanity and genius is success.” For proof, look no further than the new Lady Gaga 10 minute epic video, featuring cigarette glasses, poisoned diner food, and an interesting getaway vehicle. What mass homicide has to do with cell phone service in clubs, however, is still unclear.

Thumbs Down Media Center – O’Neill Library advertises that it has over 20,000 flicks available to rent. What they don’t advertise is that about 16,321 of those films are “faculty loan only,” meaning unless you steal a professor’s ID you have to watch the film with Mickey Mouse headphones in the library.

Haters – Oh really? You didn’t like Avatar? It had a similar story to Pocahontas? and Dances with Wolves? and Fern Gully? What interesting and unique criticisms you’re making! No, it couldn’t possibly be just an entertaining and exciting blockbuster.

And even though you’ve never seen The Hurt Locker, cheering on Avatar’s downfall was totally reasonable.

I like your logic, general populace.

Deluge – Is this the rainy season in the jungle or suburban Boston? Of course this monsoon is part of the cycle of the seasons, reviving the vegetation and creatures of the earth, like the earth worms that are at this moment squiggling up toward the air, toward a new spring, only to be trampled ‘neath the foot of hundreds of students. It’s the circle of life!

The ethics of what’s for dinner

Of cars and men

Janine Hanrahan Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Just a little over a year ago, Toyota Motor Corporation surpassed General Motors to become the world’s largest automaker, following a record 2008. The newly redesigned Camry ruled the roads.

There was dependability, and then there was “Corolla dependability.” Toyota was conquering all.

Then auto sales plunged as a result of the financial crisis, and Toyota ended the year $4.8 billion in the red, representing the company’s largest loss ever, and its first annual net loss since 1950.

Although Toyota posted gains in late 2009, the trouble had just begun. The company has recalled 8 million vehicles globally, and these days, it’s impossible to turn on the news without hearing the words “unintended acceleration.”

Having been nicknamed “G&D (Gloom and Doom)” by my fourth grade teacher, it was only natural that my initial thoughts on the recalls were (1) How long will it take for someone to make a bogus claim? and (2) Doesn’t the U.S. government have a conflict -of- interest in investigating this matter?

Before I go on, I must admit that I am sympathetic to Toyota’s troubles.

My father has been an employee of the company for over five years and sales of these vehicles indirectly pay for the exorbitant cost of an education at Boston College (a column for another day).

In any event, James Sikes of California quickly provided an answer to my first question. Sikes was driving his 2008 Prius down Interstate 8 in San Diego when suddenly, it accelerated out of control, reaching speeds of 94 miles per hour. After a 911 call and the help of a police officer, Sikes was able to stop the car. However, a Congressional memo states that his account “does not appear to be feasibly possible,” and it has further been revealed that Sikes declared

Suzannah Lutz

Michael SaldarriagA / Heights Illustration

bankruptcy in 2008, having been over $700,000 in debt. Sikes’ wife says they have no intention to sue Toyota, but something tells me that if the story were playing out differently in the media, that may not be the case.

The second question is perhaps the most important to ponder. Congress, the Department of Transportation, and other government agencies have been rigorously investigating Toyota, as they well should. Yet, I find it extremely difficult to believe that this is all about safety concerns when the government is the majority owner of GM. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s clumsy statement that owners of the recalled vehicles should “stop driving” their cars (which he retracted hours later), did little to instill confidence.

However, as congressional inquiries began, the New York Times ran an article detailing the close ties that many members of Congress have to the automaker, which employs 172,000 Americans and spent $25 million on lobbying, last year.

Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, chairman of the Senate commerce committee (which is conducting hearings on the matter), helped Toyota establish a plant in his home state and said of the

company, “We boast of the 1,500 jobs and more than $1 billion in investment they’ve brought us.” Furthermore, Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky, which is also home to a manufacturing plant, sent a letter to Congress, signed by three other governors, that criticized Toyota for placing profits ahead of safety, but he in turn said, “At the same time, they have not laid off a single employee, despite the impact these concerns have had on sales.

All of these actions are representative of the valuable friend we have in Toyota.”

This is truly a very sad state of affairs. On the one hand, we cannot trust the government to do its job because of its vested interest in General Motors, and on the other, it cannot be trusted due to lobbying ties and the interests of politicians with Toyota manufacturing plants in their state. To top it all off, one has to wonder if claims made of runaway vehicles are actually legitimate, or if a dishonest individual is looking to score big with a lawsuit.

It’s yet another feel good story of capitalism, government, and humanity.

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

Service and individualism

William Mooney Sloneker Perhaps one of the commonest stereotypes associated with college students is the naïveté that the energetic, puppy-faced graduate shall promptly proceed to forever change the world. Many students will cling to this prospect until the brutality of post-graduation adulthood convinces them that not everyone grows up to be Mahatma Gandhi or Jonas Salk. Really, this alarming epiphany does not emerge out of ignorance as it does optimism – a positivity that asks “Why not me?” when speculating who will make a lasting difference to the human race.

I recently fell into this mindset during my Appalachia trip to Dublin, Virginia. Prior to departure, I envisioned a fantasy trip in which my group and I worked long hours on a picturesque Main Street lined with adorable Momand-Pop stores. By the end of the week, we would have practically revolutionized the downtown area, eliminated all superficial indictors of poverty, and ushered in a Renaissance of sorts.

My idealization was shot to pieces after about one day of work, and was replaced by an acceptance for the humble work performed by every Appalachia group. Building a Habitat for Humanity house or painting the walls of a parish youth center might mean the world to the locals who shall bear witness to the work with each passing day, but the work does not reconcile the overarching root causes that per-

petuate their poverty.

I do not mean that Appalachia trips are worthless, but that the contributions are modest in comparison to the big picture. These trips offer moral support, temporary free labor, community building, and a network in which students might tune into the struggles of a disparate region. Unfortunately, the extent of poverty outweighs the totality of community service performed annually.

An undiversified economy, lacking infrastructure, unhealthy living conditions, and ravaged natural resources all illuminate why Jesuits implore our humility on such service trips – the problems are numerous and systematically induced.

With this in mind, service seems to generally entail a sense of futility. One can lend his heart and time to a cause, but he might be availed in realizing any substantial change. An ironic champion of volunteerism in modern society is President Obama. Mr. Hope and Change openly encourages a practice that frequently seems fruitless. In multiple addresses and essays, Obama has urged a weary American public to strap on their work boots and lend themselves to their communities and fellow citizens. It might be a rhetorical strategy, channeling Kennedy’s inaugural address to score approval points. He might be weaving a safety net for his economic policies.

Whatever the motivation, Obama’s promotion of volunteerism draws on our American sense of civic duty.

Yet, as I questioned how one breaks the cycle of poverty in Dublin, it dawned on me that the widely despised Herbert Hoover had a point when he espoused the virtue of rugged individualism. Service is a two-way street between helping and consenting to be helped. When somebody lends a hand, it helps most if the other soul takes the initiative to reach back.

FROM HERE TO RESERVOIR

BY SAL CIPRIANO

On our first day in Dublin, our group met a composed and mature young lady named Deidre. She had become pregnant at age 15, giving birth to the child right before her junior year of high school. In spite of this dramatic life event, however, Deidre declared that she would not be held down in any respect. She stayed in school, on a track that will allow her to graduate a year early and start college close to home this fall. She has continued to raise her son and plans on visiting regularly. She has made the necessary sacrifices and attained greater custody rights than the decidedly immature father. Still, Deidre never hesitated to thank the family and friends who have aided her through this whole process. Her personal ingenuity, coupled with her close-knit support system, enabled her to best all the conditions pitted against her.

In February, the unemployment held at 9.7 percent. In the current economy, college graduates entering the job market can expect to earn 10 percent less than those who entered during a boom (or $100,000 less over a lifetime). As the Class of 2010 prepares to enter the unforgiving “real world,” an inclination to look after oneself will prevail more strongly than ever. Graduates may earn less and struggle more, but self-reliance and fiscal responsibility will not be enough. They ought to imbue themselves with the humility to look after each other and seek helpif necessary.

A widespread blend of service and individualism can help extract America from the muck, and our collective action in this effort may even serve the change the world – unless that’s my naivete talking.

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

I once saw two sparrows tearing apart a long lost chicken tender in front of Lower, and I thought, “Do they realize what they are eating?

That’s revolting.” At that time, it did not occur to me how much that sentiment would relate to the rest of our country, me included.

Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals covers a lot about the U.S. factory farming industry, which produces more than 90 percent of the meat available in U.S. supermarkets.

Many passages stick with me, such as a particularly disturbing one describing the USDA chicken inspectors as they examine over 25,000 birds a day: “Every week, millions of chickens leaking yellow pus, stained by green feces, contaminated by harmful bacteria, or marred by lung and heart infections, cancerous tumors, or skin conditions are shipped for sale to consumers.”

It doesn’t end there. He goes on to talk about the thousands of chickens pumped with hormones aimed to make a chicken grow so big, so quickly that the chicken’s legs cannot even support its own body weight. Pigs sport broken bones because their hormonally induced weight crushes their underdeveloped skeletons. Cows stay cramped in barns most of their short lives so machines can harvest milk. The Thanksgiving turkey on your table was genetically altered to a point where it was not able to reproduce on its own.

A lot of the biologically induced changes to the farming industry have to do with the demand for meat. Our collective demand for meat, in particular, is exhausting the earth. Foer writes, “Americans choose to eat less than .25 percent of the known edible food on the planet” and “nearly one-third of the land surface of this planet is dedicated to livestock.” The population of the country is a less important cause for the demand for meat than the individual’s choices about what they eat.

Unless you read Foer’s book or actively seek information about your food, you would not know some of the details of the farming industry. The general public would not buy the product if they knew how it was made. The author himself spent months researching farms, and wrote this book because he wanted to make ethical food choices for his newborn child and share this knowledge with others. What the average consumer knows is less than that, unless they aggressively seek the answers, and while the fault lies with us, a great part of that blame also has to do with how corporations market their product.

The problem for consumers is that food corporations distance the final product from the process so much that it eludes us. So much effort on the company’s part is spent creating a fast, cheap, efficient product, and as long as the business is making money, the work and value of the product is shortchanged. And so is the consumer.

With “BC is Green” week promoting sustainability and a better understanding about the way we relate to the world (what we eat, how we eat, and where our food comes from), I hope you will take advantage of some of the related events. If you want to know more about the farming industry, check out the showing of Food Inc. tonight at 7 p.m. in Higgins 310. This movie preceded Foer’s book and talks about how corporations put profit before the consumer’s health, the lives of farmers, worker safety, and sustainability.

In our case, we have the ability to make educated choices about the food we eat. Individuals have buying power to choose to buy from local markets and decrease the need for exports. Individuals also have the power to eat less meat, buy from local farms, and decrease the demand that necessitates such ridiculous production of living creatures.

The issue to tackle is the ethical gap between the public and the food corporations because in reality, no one would eat factory farmed meat if they knew where it came from and how it was actually produced. Whether we choose to eat meat separate from a system that hurts animals, farmers, workers, and consumers is the final responsibility of an aware public and its proactive buying power.

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

A8

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, March 15, 2010

We’ll remember you for all the wrong reasons

BY BRENNAN CARLEY For The Heights

Sometimes a movie come along that hit you right in the heart, serving up the perfect blend of great acting, directing, and screenwriting. Other times, movies like Remember Me come along and punch you in the face, simultaneously wasting your time and insulting your intelligence.

REMEMBER ME The new Robert PatAllen Coulter tinson project (beSummit Ent. cause really, there’s no other reason that people are going to this movie) disappoints in so many ways. Saddled with weak acting and a clichéd screenplay, Remember Me trudges along, wallowing in its own despair.

The story begins in Queens, N.Y., with a shocking display of violence against a woman (Martha Plimpton, the movie’s most convincing actor) as witnessed by her young daughter, Alyssa. The movie jumps forward 10 years to Manhattan, where Tyler Hawkins (Pattinson) is found chain smoking and brooding, a depressingly recurring scene (seriously, the cigarette budget must have been astronomical). After mouthing off to a cop (how rogue of him!), Tyler finds himself in both a physi-

cal and emotional jail. An NYU student, he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. Instead of seeing a guidance counselor, he continues to smoke and sulk until he begins to date a now 21-year-old Alyssa.

Tyler’s best friend and roommate, Aidan (Tate Ellington), who was arrested with him, sees Alyssa embracing the cop who arrested them (Chris Cooper) outside of NYU. Realizing that he is her father, he convinces Tyler to date the girl so he can get back at the cop. In most movies, these plans fall through. Boy winds up falling for girl, girl finds out his plan, puts on a wounded “how could you do that to me” face, and storms out. Because the writers of Remember Me subscribe to the “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” theory, that’s exactly what happens.

The audience shouldn’t expect anything less from this uncomfortably trite mess.

The rest of the movie focuses on three relationships: Tyler and Alyssa, Tyler and his sister Caroline, and Tyler and his father. For the most part, Pattinson and de Ravin have no chemistry. Pattinson plays essentially the same character he has uncomfortably played in all his movies save for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Since that film, it’s like someone has sucked out his soul, because he

spends all his time on screen about to burst into tears. He needs to lighten up a little, because he drags everyone down with him.

Sadly, de Ravin isn’t much better. Here, she plays a more wooden version of her character Claire from television’s Lost, albeit with a horrible American accent. Alyssa is written as one big stock character, from her aspirations of becoming a social worker after her mom’s murder to her rebellious behavior towards her understandably overprotective father. She doesn’t bring much to the role.

Whenever Tyler shares the screen with his sister Caroline (played by the charming Ruby Jerins), the movie finally comes to life. These two have amazing chemistry.

Whenever they’re together, Pattinson lets loose and actually becomes likeable and relatable. Jerins is a wonderful revelation with whom the viewer connects to emotionally more than anyone else in the movie. Bullied at school, her Caroline is a delightful moppet who reveres her big brother; he is the escape from her grammar school hell. It must also be noted that, at least on screen, she is a far better artist than Tyler. She paints heartbreaking pictures of her brother and preoccupied father (played by Pierce Brosnan,

Bedlam breaks open in Israel

BY ZAK JASON

Assoc. Arts Editor On an otherwise sleepy village street, a motorcycle putts into the frame. In the corner of the frame, a man jacks his rickety sedan to fix a flat. The motorcycle whirs by, and the driver blasts four rounds into the man and his tire. In a moment, the man’s family runs out of the house and decries God AJAMI because the motorCopti & Shani cyclist had killed Inosan Production the wrong man; he had mistaken him for the drugdealing brother. So begins Ajami, a hard-boiled, multiple narrative saga set in the crime-laden and dirtsmeared neighborhoods of Jaffa, Israel.

Ajami marks the third year in a row an Israeli film has earned a Best Foreign Film nomination at the Oscars (Ajami lost to Argentina’s El secreto de sus ojos last week). Christian Arab director Scandar Copti and Jewish director Yaron Shani teamed up to weave together a series of five stories in the same neighborhood of Ajami, the neighborhood where both directors grew up. Opting to use non-

professional actors and screen the entire film without a score (except when music emerges at a night club), Copti and Shani craft a stark, dry, and rugged world, devoid of compassion and rife with crime.

For the most part, the technique works, piercing the audience’s core with its relentlessly realistic storytelling. At times, however, the film becomes so arid the audience will gasp for a gulp of any liquid.

For one, the film captures the chaos of modern Israel in a way CNN and BBC dream of attaining, with its moments of obscenity treated as commonplace. In one scene, a man shouts to Malek – one of the film’s drug-dealing protagonists – that the police will soon raid the place in search for him. Malek, played by Ibrahim Frege, hides in a house only to discover a surprise party for his 16th birthday, where the hosts screen a video from Malek’s mother, who has been hospitalized and unable to see Malek for months. Without a score to guide our emotions, we can only endure the painstaking realism of the scene. Throughout the five stories, Copti and Shani craft similar scenes of raw heartbreak – a man digging through rubble in silence as he searches for the remnants of his son, a family shriek-

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

Ally Craig (de Ravin) and Tyler Hawkins (Pattinson) shmooze somberly throughout the movie. who commands every scene he’s in).

The screenplay, by Will Fetters, attempts to be charmingly foppish, like the far superior 500 Days of Summer, but frequently ends up falling flat. Lines like, “I used to be a falconer,” a random aside that’s intended to garner laughs, but instead produces uncomfortable silence, pervade the film. It is a wholly unbelievable script.

Where in New York City is there room for an entire carnival? What human being with

Title

ing at security guards as they reveal the body has been identified as their child, a boy examining his friend’s body after he was shot in a parking garage.

Beyond the unflinching violence, Ajami also assuages us with flashes of tenderness. The brother who the motorcyclist intended to kill, Nasri, played by Fouad Habash, finds his one solace with a local waitress. In one scene, the camera zooms in so their hands fill the entire frame; for a second, their two pinkies intertwine.

Other than embraces when a family discovers a dead body, this marks the only moment of intimacy of the entire film.

At times throughout the film, though, the lack of inflection in the nonprofessional actors and the absence of atmosphere without a score feel more empty than effective. Some of the movie’s most violent scenes lull by with a missing passion in the actors; though this enhances the documentary feel of the film, it ironically thrusts us out of our suspension of disbelief.

A rough-edged Crash set in the drugaddled villages of Israel, Ajami is a stirring portrait of a modern war state. Had Copti and Shani selected professional actors, they could have sculpted a classic, but they would have lost the realism in the process. 

manners chooses to disclose the details of her mother’s murder within five minutes of meeting her boyfriend’s father? The most jarring part of the film is the ending, which is extremely upsetting because it is so manipulative. It doesn’t make sense or fit with the rest of the film, but rather, it comes across as exploitative and wrong. “I feel like I’ve seen this a hundred times,” de Ravin exclaims at one point in the film. She could easily be speaking for the whole audience. 

Box Office Report Weekend Gross

Weeks in release

62

2

14.5

1

3. She’s Out of My League 9.6

1

4. Remember Me

8.3

1

5. Shutter Island

8.1

4

6. Our Family Wedding

7.6

1

7. Last Airbender

6.6

13

8. Brooklyn’s Finest

4.3

2

9. Cop Out

4.2

3

10. Crazies

3.7

1. Alice in Wonderland 2. Green Zone

3 *WEEKEND GROSS FIGURES IN MILLIONS

Bestsellers of Hardcover Fiction 1. House Rules, Jodi Picoult 2. The Help, Kathryn Stockett 3. Fantasy in Death, J.D. Robb 4. Lincoln: Vamp. Hunter, S. G. Smith 5. Worst Case, James Patterson 6. Big Girl, Danielle Steele 7. Black Magic Sanction, Kim Harrison 8. Split Image, Robert B. Parker 9. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

Israeli directors Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani earned a nomination for best foreign film at this year’s Oscars for the unyieldingly violent Ajami.

ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORK TIMES

Pushing past the confines of sophomoric flicks

BY DARREN RANCK Heights Editor

Anyone with a libido knows the “rating system,” the system by which society rates the attractiveness of an individual.

It was only a matter of time before the Apatowian generaSHE’S OUT OF MY tion exploited the LEAGUE concept into a full Jim Field Smith blown film about DreamWorks losers in love, She’s Out of My League.

Somewhere along the way, though, the film becomes a charming tale of new beginnings despite what sounds like a lame plot.

The film charts the life of ambitious but ill-equipped everyman Kirk (Jay Baruchel), an employee for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Despite his girlfriend breaking up with him and his family’s petulant teasing, Kirk seems satisfied with life. Not until luminous Molly (Alice Eve) undergoes a security check does his life turn around.

Molly and Kirk begin a courtship, but Kirk’s TSA buds (led by T.J. Miller) continually try to prove to him that he’s

tricking the universe by overcoming the rating system. As the rule goes, one can only “skip” two rating points. While Molly’s a “hard 10,” Kirk is a slovenly five (“A five on looks, a half-point for being nice, a half-point for being funny, and a minus one for a crappy car.”). Kirk finds himself questioning throughout the rest of the movie whether he’s good enough for Molly, especially after meeting her testosterone laden ex-boyfriend (Geoff Stults, with a jaw square enough to be a brick).

The story itself is relatively predictable, but a certain charm keeps it from being too cliche. Director Jim Field Smith brings an essence of Apatow to the proceedings, but is smart enough not to go for a carbon copy directing style. Sure, there are the typical comically disgusting scenes (one with a dog offers plenty of discomfort to go around), but it’s all done with a light touch, as though the movie doesn’t try to take itself too seriously. The script, by Sean Anders and John Morris, also is nothing extraordinary, but it offers nice laughs despite a slow beginning.

The film may be a bit misogynistic, but its heart is in the right place and inspires a nice moral morsel by film’s end.

Baruchel is not a typical leading man,

obviously. With an incredibly skinny frame and shrewish features, he’s a typical guy.

While he should be the movie’s strength, he somehow ends up missing the mark and turning in a disjointed performance. While all those around him praise his charm and wit, the attributes Molly likes most about him, the audience doesn’t catch those quailites, as Baruchel plays him as bitter and disbelieving. His best moments are those with Eve, who brings the best out of her co-stars. Eve’s “dream 10” is essentially too good to be true, but the camera captures an infallible beauty and charm reminiscent of early Nicole Kidman. She wins the audience over just as she does the men around her. Miller and Krysten Ritter bring bite to their roles as the unsupportive best friends, in their attempts to outdo one another in the nastiness department and steal the movie in their comedic moments.

The film isn’t trying to be revolutionary, and in that down-to-earth fashion, it somehow charms. While the film ends with some plot holes, it goes unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. I’d give it a solid five with a half-point for humor and a half-point for charm. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM

Kirk (Baruchel) attempts to woo Molly (Eve) in the pleasantly suprising winner League.

Monday, March 15, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

iEdit Copy

Now playing on Brooke Schneider’s iPod Ireland – Legally Blonde the Musical You Make My Dreams Come True – Hall & Oates I Run To You – Lady Antebellum Faithfully - Journey Already Home - Jay-Z Could You Be Loved – Bob Marley 3000 Miles - Valencia For the Longest Time - Sherwood Swag Surfin’ – Lil Wayne Break Your Heart – Taio Cruz ft.

Ludacris

A9

The Music Behind the Woman Brooke Schneider is “very rude to her coworkers,” according to D.J. Adams, assistant copy editor. For a girl who never utters profanities, this seems confounding. How did she get to this point? Schneider grew up in central Jersey, traversing through a series of bizarre stages, first sporting belly-button revealing dresses as a toddler, then wearing Vans and Hot Topic bracelets in middle school, until “I realized I wasn’t cool ... or I matured.” As a result, she gave up Trapt, Simple Plan, and skater boys for Jay-Z, Lady Antebellum, and t-shirts with collars. Schneider sees herself as a mixture of Reese Witherspoon and Jay-Z, “down to earth but with swagger.” Despite D.J.’s remark, other editors seem to enjoy Schneider. Taylour Kumpf says, “She may look innocent on the outside, but she’s really a gangster.” – ZAK JASON

‘Romantic’ cast examines life’s crossroads Romantic, from A10

older, married man. The girls realize that they, together, are a family and have each had a great impact upon each other’s lives. Yet, the pressure that their parents put upon them impact upon each other’s lives. Yet, the pressure that their parents put upon them continues, and they must face their fears. The audience is struck afresh by the inherent differences between the two, and how one person’s opportunity can just as easily be another person’s impediment.

The story is an excellent one that holds meaning for a wide variety of people, but this particular show was made even more enthralling by the talent of the actors. Every member of the cast played his or her role convincingly and without falter. It became difficult to distinguish the character from the actor, and to remember that these people are, in fact, BC students whom we see everyday. This “sophomore-heavy cast,” as Maria Alejandra Rivas, director and A&S ’12, called it, was truly a delight and bodes well for the future of theater at BC. Rivas was one of two juniors chosen from the theatre department’s directing class to select and direct a play during the regular Robsham season in their senior year. She described the year-anda-half long process that was necessary to

SANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF

Janie (Juliana Forsberg-Lary) and Harriet (Elise Hudson) sit on the couch considering their lives in the musical Isn’t It Romantic. make this performance a reality, beginning with the selection of the play. Her choice was influenced by her own situation as a soon-to-be graduating senior

in college. “It represents what women are dealing with,” she said. “Both characters are trying to have it all, but to obtain that perfect world, you have to know who you

are first.” She hoped audiences would be able to take this meaning from the work, and they certainly did.

The fluxuation of gender roles in

a new generation is one of the larger themes present in this work. It seems that a young woman must choose between herself and her family, but both young women are indeed trying to have it all. To claim the right to both a family and a career is a huge risk on both their parts, though the situations differ for both characters. Janie doesn’t want to be forced to find meaning in a domestic setting, while Harriet hopes to incorporate that domestic aspect smoothly into her business life. In addition, they are constantly being defined by their “beauty” or “sweetness.”

It is implied that to succeed in the business world, a woman must be like a man and give up her maternal instincts, or her only other option is to be confined to her home and family. To achieve a balance, both women must defy their comfort zones and choose whether to be alone, forever.

Isn’t It Romantic possessed everything that a great play should include.

It had originality, comedy, depth, and even a token Russian. The actors told a wonderful story that was made even more believable by their skillful performances. The audience was never bored and walked away with an issue to contemplate. Regardless of what the future holds, Isn’t It Romantic left audiences with the conviction that they are not alone. 

Mash-up artist Girl Talk delivers at sold out concert Girl Talk, from A10

reveling in the anonymity such a mass of people brings, as the dancing (and other dance floor activities) got progressively less inhibited as the night progressed.

Musicianship might not be the right word, but Girl Talk is indubitably skilled at doing what he does in the studio in front of a live audience. There were never awkward breaks in the music, and the entire concert had a steady, fast tempo, allowing dancing to go on unencumbered. Girl Talk’s mashups are always eclectic and pull from unanticipated sources, but that does seem to be a slight pattern he follows when selecting tracks. To give the audience something to sing along with, Girl Talk had a commercial rap or pop song playing at all times, ranging from Kelly Clarkson to Dr. Dre. To keep the audience on their toes, though, he loved to balance out the current hit songs with backing instrumentals from older bands. Case in point: Ludacris’ “Move B—h” was combined with Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” and

Girl Talk frequently relied on the likes of Journey, Van Halen, and Elton John to provide musical backdrops for his mixes. The one shortfall of the performance was that the lackluster sound quality didn’t always allow the complexity of the two or more samples being used to fully emerge, but the crowd was singing so loudly anyway that this probably did not make much of a difference.

The Undergraduate Government of BC made a very smart decision to host the concert in the Plex as opposed to the Rat or Conte Forum. Especially in the context of the Akon debacle last fall, the large, open space of the Plex basketball courts was the perfect location. Sure, the sound was terrible (the strangely shaped roof probably doesn’t help), but what else is new for a concert at BC? Girl Talk put on a powerful show and gave students a great night of fun.

His energy and ability to create a party that everyone felt comfortable going wild at are a testament to his skills as a performer, and the flawlessness of his mash-ups always impresses. 

KEVIN HOU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Girl Talk was far from a one-man act, as he invited students on the stage and off to get in on his act at the Plex on Saturday night.

bOp! plays elegant tunes bOp!, from A10

made popular by the likes of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, are the foundation for groups like bOp! to expand upon. What sets bOp! apart from other run of the mill jazz ensembles is their ability to not only master these old standards, but also to think outside of the box, with songs like the rhythm-heavy “Stoned Soul Picnic,” or the more modern and harmonically complex “Songbird.”

Not only does bOp! showcase the talents of the ensemble, but it also allows for individual performers to shine through during solos and other features of songs. Bass, lead trumpet, had four impressively improvised solos during the course of the evening and arranged one of the ensemble pieces, and Jeanette Hall, lead vocalist, was featured with backing piano and percussion for a haunting version of Tom Waits’ “The Briar and

the Rose.” The ensemble leaders should be allowed to have the spotlight at least once during a show, and bOp! does well to recognize their individual achievements. The mix of solos and ensemble work also created a diversity that kept up the steady momentum of the show.

The outstanding solo performance of the night came from baritone Brendan -Quinn, A&S ’11, whose performance of “Fever” displayed a mature, yet subtle and controlled voice and an undeniable stage presence. This vocal tour de force would’ve given the likes of Michael Buble and Harry Connick, Jr. a run for their money. The individual talent in this group is astounding.

The bOp! ensemble should be a source of pride for the bands’ department, the music department, and the University in general.

The individual and colSANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF lective talent that thrives under the guidance of veteran conductor Sebastian Bonaiuto and vocal director JoJo David continues to earn the group national recognition and bring great music to BC. 

ARTS&REVIEW

A10

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Wanting to live wildly

Romantics converge in Robsham

BY KRYSIA WAZNY Heights Staff

ALLISON THERRIEN I’ve been trying to figure out what it is that makes MTV’s relatively new reality series, The Buried Life, so appealing to me. The concept definitely speaks to me, not necessarily because it’s original, but because it’s just plain good. Four 20-something-year-old guys – Ben, Dave, Duncan, and Jonnie – go around the country and the world so that they may slowly check off the 100 things they want to do most in life, all the while helping strangers they meet do the same. It’s funny, as are most shows I end up loving with the exception of Lost, which does leave me laughing on occasion, but in that cynical way that usually accommodates lots of profanity and the question, “What on earth just happened?”

I might like The Buried Life because it, in many ways, resonates with that part of me that would love to live wildly, form a rock band, and wake up in a bunk bed on a tour bus every morning. It could also be that I am vicariously living through the show.

In fact, I know that’s a part of it. I haven’t composed my own bucket list yet, but I know that mine will have at least a few in common with The Buried Life list. I want to throw the party of the century. I want to sky dive. I want to dance with Ellen Degeneres.

When I think about the life that Ben, Dave, Duncan, and Jonnie live – seeing the world, connecting with people on the street, causing mayhem – I feel something that isn’t just envy.

It’s envy of the experiences they get to have, mixed with confusion at how any four people could be so daring as to drop out of college to, quite simply, live. As they tell it, they were feeling misguided, doing odd jobs, living their college years without any real sense of purpose. But do any of us really have a sense of purpose? Are any of us really changing the world?

It would seem that not just anyone could live the life these four boys lead.

They seem to know that, too. Yes, they do like to remind us as often as possible that they are not receiving much help from MTV. When they agreed to help a rising Julliard freshman fly to see her mother’s grave for the first time, the four guys waited tables for a full day and night shift at a restaurant to raise the cash. But all four boys accompany her on that emotional trip, and we never learn how their plane tickets were financed.

This part is central – this issue of continuing to seem like four ordinary guys, all the while evolving MTV star status. Apparently, though, The Buried Life cast was offered the gig by MTV a few years back, and they declined out of fear of losing creative control of the project. Up until very recently, they were living off sponsors they had quite simply found in the phone book.

“That’s one of the cornerstones of The Buried Life,” said Ben in an interview.

“You never really realize how many people are willing to help until you put it out there.” In other words, yes, cash does flow in from outside sources, but it comes because they simply picked up the phone and asked for help, something any of us could do.

I think that The Buried Life sparks my interest because, unlike most shows – especially ones on MTV – it seems almost entirely real. These boys keep their self-hired film crew, edit the film, choose the music, and executive-produce the show. They are not made out to be heroes, and sometimes they utterly fail in their attempts. That’s not really the point, though. They take the leap, and hope that others will do the same. They make sure to ask you the same question they’ve been asking themselves: “What do you want to do before you die?”

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

SANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF

Janie (Hudson) pursues her quest for romance and professional fulfillment in Romantic.

Most Boston College students are going to have to face reality, eventually. The idyllic days of pacing the Dustbowl and holing up in Eagle’s Nest cannot last forever, and one day, all of us will have some decisions to make. Isn’t It Romantic tells the story of two young women attempting to cope with this very reality, trying to make life decisions after the completion of their education. This weekend’s performance was refreshing, funny, and poignant. The actors presented the story with ease, stepping into roles that are both extremely familiar and unfamiliar to college students. The result was a startlingly relevant tale, which drew the audience in and kept them asking for more.

The doors of the Bonn Studio Theater opened to this student-directed production on Thursday night. The stage was set with two clearly delineated rooms, one obviously in transition, with boxes and papers strewn about, and the other, much more settled and orderly. A large diary page stood propped behind the couch. On the other side, a large bed suggested a sort of permanence that could never be evoked by its opposite. These two rooms quickly became a personification of the lives of the main characters.

Isn’t It Romantic tells the stories of Janie (Juliana Forsberg-Lary, A&S ’12) and Harriet (Elise Hudson, LSOE ’12).

The two grew up together and, having received their college degrees, find themselves moving back to New York City. This situation presents them with many new challenges. First among them is the proximity of their parents. Janie’s mother and father are constantly stopping by unannounced, bearing gifts and an abundance of advice sprinkled liberally with Yiddish. Harriet’s parental figure takes quite a different form.

Her mother is a cold and distant career woman whose musings are taken from the logical workings of the business world.

Both sets of parents evidently want their daughters to follow paths similar to those that they took, but most of all, they want them to be happy.

As Janie and Harriet begin their quests for professional and romantic fulfillment, they soon realize that their upbringings have influenced them more than they had previously believed. They are both deeply afraid of following in the footsteps of their parents, and so they try to discern how to separate themselves from the dictates of society. Janie begins seeing a Jewish kidney doctor, while Harriet attempts to justify her affair with an

See Romantic, A9

Girl Talk gives the Plex a workout

BY WILL WATKINS Heights Staff

The long hidden inner-hipster of the Boston College student body came out Saturday night when mash-up artist Girl Talk, Greg Gillis, performed at the Plex.

Known for his electric performances, the concert was a much anticipated event, as evident by the infamously long lines at the box office the morning tickets went on sale. The crowd arrived decked out in ’80s fashion and ready to party, and almost all of the people in attendance were crammed on a single basketball court, making for a rowdy but energetic atmosphere.

Gillis has said that he chose his stage name Girl Talk because it was the least serious and most commercial sounding thing he could come up with that would allow him to stand out from his sometimes geeky and pretentious peers in electronic music. It was a fitting choice, because his live show is oddly commercial and rife with mass appeal. From the moment he took the stage, he never included a song in his mash-ups that the crowd did not know, keeping things going with such a fast, fluid pace that the dance party never stopped.

Being a mash-up artist, Girl Talk’s primary instrument is a laptop computer, but that did not bring down his stage presence at all. In fact, it was this lack of an obvious thing to do on stage that forced Girl Talk to be so inventive and keep his performance action-packed.

For one thing, he moved around the stage with a tenacious energy that immediately flowed into the crowd.

He opened the show by running onto the stage, jumping on the table where his laptops were set up, and yelling at the crowd to get into the performance. Rolls of toilet paper were then shot into the crowd, building the wild, no-rules atmosphere that made the night a sucess. Had Girl Talk been on the stage alone, there would have been too much empty space and not nearly enough of a spectacle to suit his tastes. So, he smartly chose to

simultaneously build an aura of elitism and access by bringing audience members on stage to dance with him, but only those that were allowed to pass by bouncers on both sides of the stage, who controlled the flow of would-be dancers.

In truth, the on-stage party was equal parts performance and example, as the same thing happened on stage as in the crowd, except for the fact that the people dancing on stage actually had room to breath.

For those who dared to venture into the middle of the

pit, it was a sweaty, raunchy, and overly compact dance party. Everyone moved with the beat and sang along with the words they knew in Girl Talk’s mixes, building a very communal feel. The sense of community in the crowd was impossible to escape, as most people in the middle of the main section were pressed up against four or five different people at any given moment. Many in the pit seemed to enjoy getting lost in the crowd and

See Girl Talk, A9

KEVIN HOU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The uproarious crowd danced to the perfect synthesis of all their favorite songs by artists from Journey to Kelly Clarkson.

bOp! gives Robsham crowd high ‘Fever’

BY HILARY CHASSE Heights Editor

Anyone who was part of the crowd at the bOp!arazzi show Saturday night was reminded of the incredible talent and passion for music that exists among the elite group of students that make up the BC bOp! jazz ensemble. From the glossy and clever programs to the sound and video recording system, this group is thoroughly professional and polished.

The variety of styles, including both vocal and instrumental jazz, kept the energy level high throughout the entire set and demonstrated the groups’ prowess with many different techniques.

What everyone initially expects from a bOp! concert are great instrumental jazz classics, and the group certainly delivered on that front. Starting off the show with a bang was “Sing Sang Sung” which featured the first of many fantastic trumpet solos by Steve Bass, A&S ’11, and a clarinet interlude by Rachel Schmit, A&S ’12.

Other rousing, big band style selections, including “Have You Met Miss Jones” and “Better Git It In Your Soul,” were interspersed throughout the show.

The solo breaks and ensemble performances in these instrumental sections contain the many surprises and twists that set the bOp! musicians apart. Only through true mastery of their instrument are the quirks of individual players able

I NSIDE ARTS THIS ISSUE

to come through and add another layer to the performance. The brass section players are not the only ones who have an opportunity for solos in bOp! as the backbone instrumentalists in guitar, bass, drums, and piano bring excitement to the stage through their own solos as well, which is an often underused feature of jazz ensembles. The bass intro in “Better Git It In Your Soul” is the perfect example of how bOp! creatively used all the talent within the group.

The vocal performances, whether combined with the band or a cappella, brought even more range of style to the show. Beginning with the Bassa Nova “Desafinado,” the vocalists demonstrated how well they could blend with each other and the band, which could have easily overpowered the five voices. The balance of the vocalists was put to the test in the seasonal selection of an a cappella rendition of “Danny Boy.” Featuring Jennifer Yoo, A&S ’12, as the soprano soloist, this heartfelt and moving Irish ballad was definitely one of the highlights of the evening, as a piece that was both beautiful and impressively complex for the vocalists.

Other, more traditional jazz pieces included “I Could Write a Book” and “Around the World,” which were returns to form for both the vocalists and instrumentalists. These crowd favorites, originally

SANG LEE / HEIGHTS STAFF

See bOp!, A9

Remember Me doesn’t make an impression

Rob Pattison, Pierce Brosnan, and Chris Cooper star in a cheesy tale of failed parentood. A8

bOp! instrumentalists, with director Sebastion Bonaiuto, performed a phenomenal set.

Directors make Israeli version of Crash

Israel’s nomination for best foreign film at the Oscars depicts a drug-addled, crime-ridden village. A8

iEdit.............................................A9 Box Office Report........................A8

SPORTS THE HEIGHTS

Monday, March 15, 2010

Section

B

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

Physical play pushes hockey over UMass

Hustle plays drive BC into semifinals

Heights Staff

Sports Editor

BY JAKE BURG

For two periods in game two of Saturday night’s Hockey East quarterfinal match-up Boston College 5 between No. 2 UMass 4 Boston College and the University of Massachusetts, the Minutemen countered every punch that the Eagles threw their way. So instead of trying to deliver the knock-out punch in one fell swoop, BC was content with delivering punishing body shots, in the form of tremendous defense, for the entire third period.

The Eagles remarkably allowed only

three shots on net in the final frame.

That great defensive effort served as the catalyst for a three-goal third period effort, which sealed the hardnosed 5-2 win for BC, sending them to the Hockey East semifinals.

“That’s as physical a game as we’ve been in all year,” said BC head coach Jerry York. “There were good solid hits.

Everyone was playing the body and finishing checks.”

The physicality was evident from the outset, particularly from junior Joe Whitney, who seemed to connect on at least one solid hit every time his

See Physical, B3

BY ZACH WIELGUS

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Brian Dumoulin takes it to UMass goal-scorer James Marcou, one of the many hits in Saturday’s match-up.

Never give up on a play. Clearly, Boston College head coach Jerry York got this through to his No. 4 Eagles, who took care of Massachusetts, 5-2, Saturday night in game two of a bestof-three series, behind two plays created by the hustle and individual drive of three separate players.

Just over two minutes into the third period with the score knotted at two goals apiece, assistant captain Matt Lombardi illustrated why he has an “A” sewed to his jersey. All-American UMass defenseman Justin Braun

gathered a rebound as the rest of the Boston College offense retreated down the ice to prepare for UMass’ counterattack. Braun looked to his left and lazily sent a pass across the ice to his fellow defenseman, but Lombardi read it the entire way. The senior alertly picked off the pass a few feet in front of Minuteman goaltender Paul Dainton, faked a backhand shot, and then stuffed a forehand five-hole to put the Eagles up 3-2.

“Probably the most important goal of the year came from Matty,” York said of Lombardi’s quick thinking and

A Lost Cause

The best waste of my time

See Hustle, B3

ZACH WIELGUS Don’t tell me championship week is a waste, that it’s the blemish on the pristine face of college basketball.

I know it renders an entire 30-game season essentially obsolete for over a dozen small conferences, shouting “Screw you!” to the team who proved to be the best over the course of four months if it can’t win three games in three days.

But how can a performance like Montana’s Anthony Johnson’s 42 points, including the final 21 for the Grizzlies in the Big Sky championship, not be considered one of the most unbelievable of the year? He rallied his team from a 22-point deficit, scored a downright ridiculous 34 second-half points, and hit the game-winning shot with 10 seconds left to send Montana, which finished fourth in the Big Sky, to the Big Dance.

Montana in, regular-season champ Weber State (six hours before brackets were printed, I made the bold prediction) out. That never happens without the advent of the conference tournament.

I know it’s a huge marketing ploy for ESPN, CBS, and ABC to suck budding bracketologists and overeager office pool participants in to worshipping their television an entire week before March Madness even begins. Maybe, just maybe, if I watch every mid-major’s championship game (starting with the Atlantic Sun’s on March 6 … clutch win by East Tennessee State, by the way! Go Buccaneers!), I’ll have a shot at competing with the receptionist who fills out her bracket based on uniform color schemes.

Sure, it’s annoying to comprehend that you physically can’t tear yourself away from your couch during championship week, but it’s the most entertaining and suspenseful annoyance I’ve ever experienced. Besides, I’ve always been a sucker for marketing ploys (proud owner of the ShamWow).

And I know conference tournaments do nothing but tire out good teams that are already in the NCAA tournament, and do nothing but potentially improve

See Champ Week, B4

DAVID GIVLER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Experienced Eagles end year with first-round exit

BY ZACH WIELGUS Sports Editor

DAVID GIVLER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

A frustrated Al Skinner found no way to correct BC’s inconsistency.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Seconds rapidly ticked away on the scoreboard in Greensboro Coliseum as the Boston College men’s basketball team huddled around head coach Al Skin68 Virginia ner. Devising a strategy to Boston College 62 contain sharpshooter Sammy Zeglinski (16 first-half points) and jumpstart a sluggish offense (four points in the final 10:19), Skinner was drowned out by a rousing rendition of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by the BC pep band, just as the second half was set to begin. The Eagles had no reason to accept Virginia’s seven-point lead.

They could easily swing the game back in their favor, Skinner might have said.

Instead, the Eagles took it. Persistently missed assignments and eight combined points from Joe Trapani and Corey Raji both contributed to a 68-62 loss to the Cavaliers and the first-ever opening-round exit from the ACC tournament. A disappointing end to a frustrating season prompted Skinner to use the dreaded P-word following the loss.

“Potential is a terrible word for coaches,” he said, “and I think this team has potential.”

What’s remarkable is that the underclassmanheavy Eagles were just as likely to lose to Virginia,

which had dropped nine straight games, as they were to make a run and win the entire ACC tournament.

At times, BC played as a unit and delivered performances reminiscent of last year’s NCAA tournament team. A 75-69 win over Clemson. An 80-60 thrashing of Virginia Tech. Even the winnable, 66-63 loss to Duke. But, lurking nearby, was BC’s alternative persona, which failed to score 60 points seven different times and lacked the motivation to dig itself out of early holes.

“At times, we played great basketball, but we didn’t always sustain it,” Skinner said. “If we learn nothing else, we need to develop more mental toughness to sustain it throughout the season. It has to happen game to game, and we were not able to maintain that.

“We had it at times, but, for whatever reason, we were not able to maintain it. I thought we understood that, we knew that. But, it didn’t happen.”

This season’s two games against the Cavaliers showed both the best and worst of the Eagles. On March 3 in Conte Forum, BC’s three leading juniors – Rakim Sanders, Raji, and Trapani – combined for 43 of the Eagles’ 68 points in their convincing 6855 win. The team held Virginia to two 3-pointers,

See Lost Cause, B4

Pitching staff shelled as BC drops two in Miami

BY ROBERT T. BALINT For The Heights

Last season, the Boston College baseball team opened ACC play by stunning the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles down in Tallahassee, stealing two wins in the best-of-three weekend series. Looking to replicate a strong start in conference 11 Miami play, the Eagles traveled to Boston College 4 Coral Gables where the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes (10-4, 2-1 ACC) hosted them in a three-game series. This year, however, the Eagles dropped two out of three games to the hosts, dropping their record to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in ACC play.

The series stood at 1-1 entering Sunday afternoon’s game at Alex Rodriguez Park. BC shot ahead

to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, with a pair of sacrifice flies from first baseman Anthony Melchionda and shortstop Brad Zapenas driving in a run apiece.

Freshman designated hitter Matt Watson singled in a run to finish out the first inning.

The Hurricanes were quick to respond in the bottom half of the frame, though, with a four-run rally.

Miami drew an unearned run from a fielding error

by Melchionda, followed by an RBI single by Harold Martinez, and a two-run triple by Frankie Ratcliff.

From then on, it was all Miami, as the home team continued to add insurance runs throughout the rest of the game, ringing up BC starting pitcher Mike Dennhardt for four earned runs and 11 hits through five innings. The Eagles scored a lone run in the fifth inning off a single by Melchondia. The

I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE

first baseman finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs, but it was not enough to stop an 11-4 final score in favor of the Hurricanes.

Junior Kevin Moran took the mound for the Eagles as the starter for Saturday evening’s game.

Moran has moved from the starting closer role to the third starting pitcher position. “The issue is going to be commanding the strike zone and making good quality pitches,” said head coach Mik Aoki of Moran before game two.

Moran managed to hold the Miami lineup to two runs through the first four frames, but the Hurricanes had a breakout fifth inning. Ratcliff homered on a 3-1 count, a two-run shot that increased his team’s lead to 4-1. The Hurricanes scored two more runs off a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly by Zeke DeVoss

Club hockey rises to prominence

In just its fourth year, the club hockey team is poised to make a run at nationals.............B3

to close out the inning, leading 6-1. Broad’s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth brought the final score to 7-1.

BC’s lone run came in the top of the first, when Melchionda singled to drive in outfielder Robbie Anston, who hit 2 for 3 on the night. After this brief burst of offense, Miami starter Jason Santana silenced BC’s bats for the rest of the night, finishing with eight strikeouts and holding the Eagles to five total hits through six innings.

The first game of the series was clearly BC’s best outing. Led by starting pitcher Pat Dean, the Eagles started the series off right on Friday night. The junior left-hander struck out nine batters, a season high,

Tennant, McLaughlin headline Pro Day

The former co-captains work out for pro scouts to raise their stock before the NFL Draft......................B5

See Baseball, B5

A Thousand Words........................B2 Numbers to Know.......................B2

B2

Monday, March 15, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

The best reason to care about baseball Lacrosse team

continues best start in history

JOSEPH DEMAIO

Spring training is fully underway, and that means that the start of the baseball season will soon be upon us. While you might expect me to express my joy and anticipation for the new season, I’m going to be honest: I really don’t care about the start of America’s pastime.

For me, Major League Baseball has lost its luster. The season is too long, I live too far away to truly be able to follow my favorite team (the Houston Astros, long story), and I don’t care enough about statistics and players to get worked up about a player failing six and a half times out of 10, instead of seven. Not to mention that the games take too long and, more often than not, are unwatchably boring unless one has a rooting interest in one of the teams.

Am I happy that I no longer care about one of the major American sports? Of course not.

I’m a sports junky. I want to spend the entire summer wasting time trying to figure out who the best players and teams are, arguing about balls and strikes, and, in the process, destroying any chance I have at being able to carry out an engaging conversation with the fairer sex. If I can immerse myself in sports the rest of the year, why not summer as well? To achieve that aim, I’ve joined a fantasy baseball league.

At face value, it should be able to provide me incentive to begin to love everything that has driven me out of the sport.

Who needs a vested rooting interest in a team when points are on the line every time Albert Pujols, Evan Longoria, and Ryan Howard come up to bat (gotta love having the No. 1 pick)? Who needs wins and losses when they only matter for my pitchers?

Statistics are where it’s at.

You can keep the rest of the five-hour epics that constitute most baseball games. Gimme my batting averages, home runs,

BY NICK LOURY For The Heights

CHARLIE RIEDEL / AP PHOTO

The great irony of baseball is that the games get in the way of what fans truly want to see: individual accomplishments. steals, strikeouts, and RBIs – things I can find out by looking at the box score for three seconds.

And that is the flaw in the MLB. Listen to a 50-something year-old guy trying to explain his lifelong love of baseball, and what does he say? Rarely does he mention full seasons or teams; instead, it’s all about players. He’ll tell you he saw Hank Aaron in person, and that Mickey Mantle was the greatest all-around player he’s ever seen.

Teams are only brought into the conversation in rare instances, reserved for truly special groups like the ’86 Mets.

People care about the players, statistics, and playoffs, not the 162-game marathon that is the season. Look at the big deal that was made about the Colts

and the Saints chasing NFL perfection. Can you even name the team with the most wins in a season in MLB? Do you care?

But if I ask who has the most home runs, longest hit streak, most consecutive games played, I’ll bet you can tell me instantly.

The great irony of baseball is that the games get in the way of what we truly want to see: individual accomplishments.

Sure, come playoff time, things change, but in the mindless slog that is the regular season, games don’t matter. We don’t even bring records into the conversation – it’s only how many games a team is behind a wild card spot. By ignoring the games themselves, I am, in fact, coming closer to the true heart of the game of baseball.

Admittedly, there are a few

flaws in my theory, the largest being that I have no idea how the fantasy baseball scoring system works (hoping that bigger equals better … and yes, I had to try to work in a steroids joke at some point, and this was the best spot). I know the biggest (literally) names in baseball, but I have no idea who the little guys are, the ones who will give me 50 steals and a decent batting average, but play in a small market and thus have no national hype.

Am I worried that both of these things will destroy any chance I have to win my league?

A little. But I finally have a reason to care about baseball again, and that’s all I need.

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

Persistent rain could not stop the Boston College women’s lacrosse team from getting off to its best start in the history of the program. The Eagles are now 5-0 after beating Virginia Tech at Newton Campus Field, 14-9, on Saturday.

The win matches the Eagles’ longest winning streak since 2003. They have been dominant over this five-game stretch, outscoring their opponents 86-29.

BC got off to a quick start on Saturday, jumping to a 4-0 advantage behind goals from Lauren Costello, Mary Stinson, Brooke Blue, and Sam Taylor.

Shannon Bone scored a goal for the Hokies before the Eagles answered with goals by Costello and Kate Collins to take a 6-1 lead.

Virginia Tech scored three goals midway through the first half to cut BC’s lead to 6-4. Blue answered for the Eagles, though, scoring two goals in one minute to help BC go into halftime with an 8-5 lead.

Costello opened the half with two goals in 40 seconds to put BC up 10-5. Emile Hunter scored for Virginia Tech, but the Hokies were never able to cut into the lead as BC answered each of their goals. Kristin Igoe scored two goals, and Costello and Blue each recorded another tally.

BC goalie Sheila Serafino made three saves to record the win, as the Eagles held a slight three-goal advantage in shots.

This season, they have outshot their opponents, 151-78, with Serafino saving 25 of the attempts

on goal.

Costello’s f ive goals give her 128 for her career, moving her within two goals of former teammate Jenna McCabe for fifth on the all-time scoring list. Costello also recorded an assist, which put her closer to overtaking Courtney Legath for second on that list. The senior attack, who has 60 career assists, is five away from catching Legath.

Costello has been a driving force for the Eagles all season, leading the team in points with 16 goals and 15 assists. Against Jacksonville, she led the team’s offense with four goals and six assists. Costello continued her all-around excellent play against Siena, scoring three goals and dishing out four assists. Taylor and Blue added four goals each to help BC win convincingly, 20-5, over the Saints.

Blue has had a strong start to her freshman year, leading the team in goals with 21 in total, while also handing out five assists. In the first game of her career, against Bryant, she scored five goals to lead the team. In the next game, against Canisius, she scored six goals and the team scored 13 straight in the second half.

The Eagles have been successful, in large part, due to their scoring depth and a wellrounded offense, with goals from 11 different players. They will look to continue their winning streak with away games against Holy Cross and Maryland this week. BC will take on the 2-4 Crusaders on Wednesday, followed by a match-up against the No. 2 Terrapins Saturday. 

A THOUSAND WORDS

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

SPORTS in SHORT

Goaltender Parker Milner and Will Ortiz wait for the puck during the Eagles’ 6-5 win over the Minutemen Friday. BC, which beat UMass in all five of their meetings, advanced to the Hockey East semifinals with a win the next night.

Outside the Locker Room Chris Walsh Sophomore, Diving

What are your goals?

I wanted to break 200 points once, which I did in one meet.

What kind of workouts do you do in the offseason?

We work out on our own. I’ll do weights twice a week and cardio 2-3 times a week. We might have a spring workout with our coach in April.

What’s your favorite meal on campus?

Steak and cheese in Lower. It’s worth the wait.

The Heights caught up with sophomore diver Chris Walsh to discuss offseason workouts, food on campus, and Connect Four.

When did you start diving?

The summer before freshman year of high school. The summer league needed divers. I’d always played around on boards.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Ireland. It’s nice seeing my family over there, and if I could see them more often, that would be great.

Who’s your favorite athlete?

Rajon Rondo. My friend played Connect Four with him once.

Numbers to Know

14-2

Game to Watch Men’s Hockey

The record of the hockey team in Kelley Rink this season after defeating UMass twice this weekend in the Hockey East tournament.

2

Points scored by Joe Trapani in BC’s loss in the ACC tournament. Trapani, the Eagles’ leading scorer, shot zero for seven from the field.

2.79

Earned run average for Pat Dean of the baseball team. The junior has allowed nine runs in 29 innings this year.

Vermont vs.

Boston College

The Catamounts shocked New Hampshire in Durham two nights in a row, earning consecutive 1-0 victories over the first-place Wildcats to advance to the Hockey East semifinals.

Waiting for them are the No. 4 Eagles, who dismantled UMass behind 11 goals in two games.

Vermont may prove a tougher challenge, as the Catamounts defeated the Eagles twice in three meetings this season.

Friday, 8 p.m.

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, March 15, 2010

B3

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

Dominant club team makes a name for itself

BY MAEGAN O’ROURKE Assoc. Sports Editor

Boston College is known across the country for its dominant hockey program.

Consistently nationally ranked, BC is a powerhouse out of the Hockey East and has a long tradition of competing for a national title every year.

But what some people on campus might not realize is that BC is actually home to two championship caliber men’s hockey teams.

The BC men’s club hockey team, which was formed just four years ago, is headed to the ACHA National Championship in Simsbury, Conn., this week as the No. 2 seed in the Northeast region. The team finished the regular season 26-2-3 and went undefeated in its NECHA league play, winning the league and receiving an automatic bid to Nationals.

Even though the team is now one of the best club teams in the country, it was not always that way for BC, as the team is only in its second year of eligibility for Nationals. Michael Greeley, the team’s assistant coach and BC ’08, started the team along with Andrew Baird during their time at BC. Greeley has seen the incredible rise of the team in a relatively short amount of time, thanks in large part to the 12 seniors on this year’s team.

“We’re very proud of our guys, especially the class of 2010, who were fresh out of high school hockey when we were starting the team several years ago,” Greeley said. “We had mismatched uniforms and no practices then, and they loved hockey and believed in the team so much that they bought into it and stuck with it.”

“Freshman year was pretty much the MVPs of intramurals,” said senior captain Derek Summerlin. “Now we actually have tryouts. It’s probably the biggest change I’ve ever been a part of. We definitely owe a lot of thanks to the kids that started it, one of our assistant coaches now, Mike Greeley, and Andrew Baird.”

Greeley is also joined on the team by his father, Steve, the team’s head coach, and his brother Tommy, a senior. Steve coaches the team on a volunteer basis and dedicates a significant amount of time to the job. “[Steve] hasn’t missed a single game,” Summerlin said. “He travels with us to each game, whether 10 minutes away or four hours. He also makes it to morning practices at 7 a.m. He’s definitely at the heart of this team along with the founders, Mike and Andrew Baird.”

The team, which shares ice time at Conte Forum with BC’s varsity team and plays its games at the Dexter Prep School in Brookline, takes pride in playing for a respected hockey school like BC. “BC’s reputation as a great hockey school has certainly helped our program along the way,” Greeley said. “It helped give us legitimacy when we first started to schedule games against reputable programs a few years ago.”

When the team first started to schedule games, some of its opponents didn’t realize the club team wasn’t BC’s varsity.

“Sophomore year we went out to Texas Tech and they actually thought we were the real team, and they thought our coach was Jerry York,” said senior captain Chris McNamara. “Some of the teams don’t understand that we are the club team, so in that way it’s kind of funny.”

Even if there is sometimes confusion for opponents, the club and varsity teams share the same goal of winning and have mutual respect for one another.

“They have respect for us in what we do because they know we know there’s such a huge gap, and there’s no rivalry obviously,” Summerlin said. “It’s just two completely different things, and they actually support what we’re doing as we would support them.”

“I was talking to [men’s hockey captain] Matt Price the other day, and he said he was going to try to get a bus to bring fans to one of our games at Nationals,” McNamara said. “So, definitely, we’re friendly with those guys and vice versa.”

As the team prepares for Nationals, an important part of the team’s success this season has been its low goals-against average. BC led the country in fewest goals allowed, and attributes this to its dominant goalie tandem of seniors Alex Kramer and Derek Missert. Kramer, who started on the club team his freshman year but also spent two years on varsity, has a chance to win national championships at both the varsity and club levels.

“All year, they’ve been our backbone.

The reason we’ve done so well all year is because we have a very low goals-against average and our team defense,” McNamara said. “They give us a chance to be in every single game.”

The team, which finished No. 6 overall in the country after going 2-1 at last year’s Nationals, is setting its sights high for this year’s tournament. BC will play three games in pool play on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and the team with the best record in pool play will move on to the semifinals.

Standing in the way of the semifinals for the Eagles is Davenport University of Michigan, the defending national champions for three straight years. BC saw Davenport play at a showcase earlier in the year, in which Davenport lost to two teams the Eagles defeated, Siena

COURTESY OF MICHAEL GREELEY

The club hockey team’s rapid rise to success has given BC another renowned hockey team. and Florida Gulf Coast. BC will play Davenport in their third game of pool play, which could determine whether the Eagles advance to the semifinals.

“Granted each game is very important, but for us seniors, Davenport is our biggest game no matter what because it’s either our final game or the game that gets us to the semifinals,” Summerlin said.

For BC’s seniors and the rest of the

club hockey team, Nationals will be a chance for their hard work to be rewarded. The team understands they have a chance to bring a championship title back to Chestnut Hill.

“It comes down to who wants it more,” Summerlin said. “Skill wise, I think all the teams at Nationals are the same level, so it just comes down to who wants it.” 

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

“Being able to see where he was looking and see where his outlet pass was, I was just in the right place in the right time,” Lombardi said. “I was able to read where he was going with it, jump the play a little bit, and was lucky enough he just threw it there. I tried to make a quick move on the goalie and get [the puck] on net.”

UMass head coach Don Cahoon also recognized the importance of Lombardi’s go-ahead goal. Not only did it surprise the team that Braun made such a grave mistake, but the Minutemen’s inability

to quickly respond to Lombardi’s hustle left them down and, eventually, out.

Paul Carey fired a rebound off a Steven Whitney shot seven minutes later to grab a 4-2 edge for the Eagles, which held until Barry Almeida’s empty-net goal with 23 seconds remaining sealed BC’s 5-2 victory.

“Ironically, after we did a great job killing a penalty, we had my All-American defenseman create a turnover that was really unfortunate,” Cahoon said.

“That was the difference in the game, our inability to respond to their third goal.”

Earlier in the game, BC received its second goal to break a 1-1 tie on great hustle and determination from Jimmy Hayes and Carl Sneep. With Brian Dumoulin in the penalty box for an interference penalty, the Eagles’ vaunted penalty kill (best in the Hockey East, 10th in the NCAA) got to work. However, 12:42 into the second period, the unit did much more than stave off a UMass power-play goal.

Hayes relentlessly pestered his man at mid-ice, suddenly stealing the puck and speeding down the boards toward Dainton. Watching the play unfold, Sneep raced parallel with Hayes but to the goaltender’s opposite side. As he approached the crease, Sneep started rapidly banging his stick on the ice, calling for the puck; Hayes obliged, sending the puck across the ice to an open Sneep, who rifled a shot past a sprawling Dainton for the 2-1 lead.

“Shorthanded goals are not our objective, but when a chance does arise, I thought it was an excellent play twoon-one,” York said. “Jimmy made a good pass, and Carl held it and snapped it up top. That’s a real bonus.”

The willingness to force the pace of play can dictate the outcome of the game. Thanks to the hustle of Lombardi, Sneep, and Hayes, BC is back in the Hockey East semifinals. 

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

For more photos from the BC-UMass series, visit www.bcheights.com/sports

BC gets physical Physical, from B1

skates touched the ice. But some checks got finished a little bit more than others, including a charging penalty that Whitney drew almost nine minutes into the game.

The three penalties whistled in the first period were merely a sign of things to come. A total of 13 penalties were assessed, eight of which were whistled in a hectic second period that saw bodies fly through the air, hits after the whistle, and a slash against BC goaltender John Muse.

“We came in here with the idea that, with their great puck movement and their super skill, that we were going to have to try and out-will them and create a game where there’s some physicality,” said UMass head coach Don Cahoon.

UMass certainly did that, holding an uncalculated but visible edge in checks and hits against the boards through the first two periods. After the first period ended in a 1-1 tie, the Eagles dug themselves into a hole early, trying to match the Minutemen hit for hit.

The result was three straight penalties in a span of four minutes.

The first penalty was called on freshman Brian Dumoulin for interference, which UMass turned into a power-play goal to even the game back up at two goals apiece.

The Minutemen also had their fair share of men put into the penalty box in the second period.

Five minutes in, UMass captain Justin Braun slashed Muse after he made a save.

Whitney, already with one penalty to his name, took exception to Braun’s slash.

The two pushed and shoved until the referees broke it up, and both Whitney and Braun were given two minutes for roughing.

The second period then ended the same as the first, with players battered and bruised, and the game still tied.

“In order to be physical, you have

to be able to skate,” Cahoon said. “And we skated well enough to be able to be physical, and I thought through the first two periods we were able to execute that pretty well.”

Heading into the third period, with both teams stuck in a physical deadlock, something had to give.

While the physicality was certainly maintained by both clubs, it was the Eagles’ defense that asserted itself in the third period, limiting the Minutemen to only three shots on net.

“When the game was on the line, that was a really good defensive way for us to establish ourselves in the third period,” York said.

UMass simply couldn’t keep up with the Eagles in the final frame, despite doing its best to maintain a physical style of play. BC’s defense effectively took the puck away from the Minutemen’s sticks, leaving them with very few opportunities down the final 20-minute stretch.

After assistant captain Matt Lombardi turned his timely steal into an unassisted goal that gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead early in the third period, UMass was left with plenty of time to respond. But the Eagles ratcheted things up defensively and ensured that UMass would be the team to go home for the season.

“We were a goal down and we had 18 and a half minutes to play,” Cahoon said. “So we [had to] respond, and we didn’t. And that was the difference in the game.”

Even when UMass pulled Dainton with just under two minutes to go, the Eagle defense handled the 6-on-5 with ready poise. A final empty net goal by Alemeida capped off the physical battle.

Despite the wide margin of victory, the tilt certainly wasn’t an easy one to win by any means.

“You know, we’ve got a lot of bumps and bruises from the game,” York said.

A trip to the Hockey East semifinals should help to ease the Eagles’ pain. 

Matt Lombardi’s awareness and quick thinking led to the game-winner against UMass.

Lombardi ambushes UMass, nets winner Hustle, from B1

eventual game-winning goal. “It was a great effort. He was well rewarded for his effort there.

“Matt Lombardi has been a real hard-nosed player for us. You never know where the goals are going to come from.”

Few would have thought it would come off the stick of Lombardi, who entered the game with just two goals on the season and six goals in his BC career.

Instead of turning his back to the puck, Lombardi watched Braun and jumped at the chance to kill the Minutemen’s momentum and put the Eagles back on top.

To put it succinctly, he succeeded.

B4

Monday, March 15, 2010

THE HEIGHTS

Eagles fall for final time, finish season 15-16 Lost Cause, from B1

forced 12 turnovers, and held two starting Cavaliers scoreless.

Jump to the ACC tournament nearly a week later, and it was practically the opposite. Outside of Sanders’ dominant performance (22 points), Raji and Trapani were practically invisible, both playing only 22 minutes. Raji saw the court for only eight minutes in the second half, presumably because of a nagging shoulder injury, while Trapani was a startling zero for seven from the field, making it the first time he was held without a field goal all year.

The Cavaliers also shot a lights-out six of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half to keep BC at an arm’s length, and they committed a mere five turnovers, their lowest total since Dec. 31, 2003.

“We came in, we prepared for them, but they just outworked us today,” said lone senior Tyler Roche. “They built an early lead in the second half, and we couldn’t catch them.”

BC nearly did, drawing within three points with just under nine minutes remaining, thanks to an 8-0 run. The Eagles, however, would get no closer, unable to reach that next level and deliver a knockout blow, a trend in most of their 16 losses.

Last year’s team, though, likely would have caught them. Returning every player

except Tyrese Rice to a squad that earned a seven-seed in the NCAA tournament, the Eagles were supposed to draw on two years worth of chemistry and, at the very least, return to March Madness. Yet, after 31 games, they never found their way en route to a bewildering 15-16 record.

“I’m a little disappointed in this year’s club, and there’s a number of different reasons for it,” Skinner said. “Some injuries, some lineup changes, and a lot of inconsistencies throughout the year.

We couldn’t bring out any consistency in our club.”

Roche, who competed in two NCAA tournaments and two losing seasons, couldn’t put a finger on what prevented an experienced team from being successful.

“We just didn’t click as a team,” Roche said. “We had the same personnel, except Tyrese, as last year, but we didn’t click.

We never worked together. But, hopefully these guys remember this feeling we have now and come back this summer and work their tails off.”

If they don’t, the Eagles will once again be nothing but a great deal of under-utilized potential. 

For more photos from BC’s game against UVA, visit www.bcheights.com/sports

DAVID GIVLER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Rakim Sanders and Tyler Roche help up Dallas Elmore in BC’s loss to Virginia. Knocked down too many times, the Eagles couldn’t get back up.

Atkinson hat trick builds insurmountable lead

BY JAKE BURG Heights Staff

On a night when many of the skaters on the ice struggled, Boston College’s Cam Atkinson showed yet again why he is one of the Eagles’ best players.

Despite multiple momentum shifts in Friday night’s contest that threw other players’ Boston College 6 games off bal5 UMass ance, Atkinson maintained a steady hand for a full 60-minute effort in the first tilt of BC’s Hockey East quarterfinal series against the University of Massachusetts. The Eagles certainly needed every ounce of his effort in order to squeak by Friday night with a 6-5 victory.

From the first drop of the puck to the last dwindling second, Atkinson made his presence known.

“Cam was outstanding tonight,” said BC head coach Jerry York. “He was our leader.”

Only 36 seconds into the game, Atkinson fired a shot that ricocheted around before winding up in the net, apparently giving the Eagles a very early 1-0 lead. The goal was then overturned upon review.

That didn’t faze Atkinson at all, though. It was merely a sign of things to come.

A few minutes later, the sophomore struck again. He took a great pass from junior Joe Whitney, who tallied three assists on the night, and drilled a shot to the top right corner of the net, past UMass goaltender Paul Dainton’s glove.

“Tonight, [Steven Whitney and Joe Whitney] just put it right in my wheelhouse,” Atkinson said. “Since they made the perfect passes, it made my job a lot easier.”

Momentum then rapidly shifted in the Minutemen’s direction, as they took advantage of a 5-on-3 advantage and knotted the game at one. Once again, though, Atkinson was the man who put the Eagles back on top.

With a power play of their own five minutes later, the Eagles set up their offense and worked the puck around the UMass zone, trying to find any soft spots in the Minutemen’s defense. Eventually, Steven Whitney took a pass from as-

sistant captain Ben Smith and fired a slapshot that rebounded back toward the center of the ice. Atkinson then hustled for the loose puck and put it home to give his team the lead.

“Just watching [Atkinson] all year, he’s been a very, very good player for us,” York said. “So this isn’t unusual for him.”

UMass evened up the score in the opening minutes of the second period, but then BC exploded for a three-goal run, culminating in the completion of Atkinson’s hat trick.

With yet another power-play opportunity, the familiar line of Joe Whitney, Brian Gibbons, and Atkinson was on the ice. The trio had already capitalized on its first chance, and sought to do so a second time to extend the team’s lead to 5-2.

Joe Whitney gathered up the puck and passed it over to Steven Whitney, who then faked a shot and shifted the puck over to Atkinson, who found the soft spot and was wide open slightly below the blue line. Atkinson then torched a slapshot, giving himself the hat trick and his team the 5-2 lead with 12 minutes left to play in the second period.

“The second power-play goal was an absolute missed assignment,” said UMass head coach Don Cahoon. “Clearly it’s a play [the defenseman] has to make.”

“I tried to find the soft spots,” Atkinson said. “We’ve been working on that in practice a lot, and we watched a little bit of video of the last time we played them, and we realized that there are soft spots open. I was fortunate enough to find them.”

UMass would not go quietly, however, and in the final minutes of the second period, Casey Wellman scored his 21st goal of the season to close the gap to 5-3.

Atkinson, of course, had something to say about that.

Only a minute and 40 seconds after UMass notched its third goal of the night, Atkinson recorded his fourth point in the game, with an assist to Steven Whitney.

Atkinson passed the puck across the ice, pinpointing the wide open passing lane, then Steven Whitney proceeded to chip the puck in past Dainton’s glove to stretch the Eagles’ lead to 6-3.

“We’re moving the puck around really well from tape to tape, and that just makes it a lot easier,” Atkinson said.

Despite the 6-3 lead, Atkinson’s assist and Steven Whitney’s goal proved to

be a game-changing one. UMass scored two goals in the first minute of the third period – only 20 seconds apart – to draw within one goal. The Eagles held off the UMass charge, though, riding the offensive cushion provided almost exclusively

by Atkinson.

After the game, despite tallying a hat trick and four points on the night, including an assist on the game-winner, Atkinson pointed to his teammates for the reason for his success.

“The team has been working really hard, day in and day out,” he said. “That’s been helping me a lot.” 

For more photos from the BC-UMass series, visit www.bcheights.com/sports

ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Locked in an offensive battle, BC looked to Cam Atkinson, its leading goal-scorer, to set the Eagles’ pace. The sophomore obliged, netting three goals and assisting on the game-winner.

Championship week dishes out nothing but excitement Champ Week, from B1

their seeding by one ranking when the Selection Committee finally has a say.

Strategically, it makes no sense for Ohio State to keep fighting Illinois into two overtimes just so the Buckeyes can grab a seven-point win and advance to the Big Ten tournament final. Likewise, West Virginia left everything it had in Madison Square Garden to hold off a late charge from Georgetown, both of which are unquestionably headed to some obscure city in a few days for the first round.

Smart head coaches, like the maniacal Jim Boeheim, would tell their team to lay a Carrier Dome-sized egg in the first game of the conference tournament to save energy. After all, Syracuse is guaranteed a top seed in March Madness anyway, so what’s the difference?

The difference could be seen on Hoya Chris Wright’s face, as he lay on the ground in exhausted agony after his sprinting layup couldn’t find the bottom of the net. It could be seen in the sheer euphoria that every Mountaineer player and fan displayed as the buzzer sounded, giving West Virginia its first-ever Big East tournament title.

The difference is that championship week brings

back one element to the end of the college basketball season that’s lost among the vast majority of teams when the final game or two arrives in early March: belief.

Sure, Boston College didn’t believe they could beat anyone (and convincingly proved it), but 10 other teams did. Ten mid-major conference tournaments were won by a team that did not finish atop the standings when the regular season ended. And for those 10 squads that were best in the regular season but won’t be in the 65-team field, it’s a very tough pill to swallow.

But it’s the seventh-seeded Houston Cougars, running around the court in joyous disbelief after they took down top-seed UTEP to earn a berth into the NCAA tournament, that makes the week before March Madness arguably better than the Tournament itself. It’s the bubble teams like Minnesota, which stunned two ranked teams on its way to the Big Ten final, buying itself a pair of dancing shoes, that remind you of what could be next year if your team was on the outside looking in this year.

Don’t tell me championship week is a waste.

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

The Heights

Monday, March 15, 2010

B5

Tennant ready for center stage in the NFL

By Greg Joyce For The Heights

CAMBRIDGE — Young children often have farfetched ideas about their future occupation. Some want to be astronauts. Others are convinced they will be firefighters.

Ever since kindergarten, Boston College center Matt Tennant knew he wanted to play in the National Football League.

“I had always aspired to try and play NFL football,” Tennant says. “I started playing when I was 5 years old and haven’t stopped since.”

With the NFL draft five weeks away, that dream is beginning to become a reality for one of the top centers in this year’s draft class.

In the months following BC’s Emerald Bowl loss to USC, it has been all football for the 2009 offensive cocaptain. Tennant had a few weeks “off” after that game, before being invited to and playing in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 30. Since then, Tennant has not stopped working.

“Football is now my job, and whenever you start a new job, you have to work hard to prove yourself,” he says.

“So that’s what I am doing.”

The next stop on the road to the pros for Tennant was the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, which was held from Feb. 24 to March 2. There, the Rimington Trophy finalist had his skills tested in the company of NFL scouts and other top prospects. The NFL Combine is usually considered a place where players can slide or rise on draft boards, but Tennant said all of the workouts (such as the 40yard dash and bench press) weren’t as important as being fit, medically.

“I think the most important thing about the Combine is definitely the medical part, just finding out what the bumps and bruises are, because we’re definitely an investment for most of these teams,” Tennant says.

“The position work, I say, would be the second most important, and then probably like the 40 and those things.

If you’re invited to the Combine, they know you can play football, so they’ve

probably seen the tape. And then, it’s just checking you out after that.”

Although downplaying the importance of the workout drills at the Combine, Tennant said he was happy with his overall performance at Lucas Oil Stadium. Finishing in the top 10 in the 40-yard dash (5.16), three-cone drill (5.60), and 20-yard shuttle (4.62), Tennant clearly proved he has some of the best athleticism and quickness of any college prospect. This will translate well at the pro level in his ability to shed blocks and use his agility to get to the second level and block linebackers. Not considered to be the ideal size for an interior offensive lineman, measuring in at 6-5 and 300 pounds, he recorded a solid 27 reps at the bench press.

“I felt I performed very well at the Combine,” he says. “I had a strong lift and run. I really wanted to go out there and prove to everyone that I am one of the faster offensive linemen eligible for the draft this year, and I feel I did that.

Some people believe that with that speed, I could possibly lose strength, so it was also equally important to show that I am just as strong as I am fast. All in all, I did my best and I was very happy with my performance.”

After his performance at the NFL Combine, Tennant’s next opportunity to show off his skills to NFL scouts came Thursday at BC’s Pro Day, held at Harvard University’s indoor practice facility, as the Bubble over Alumni Stadium suffered damage, closing the stadium for another week. At Pro Day, more than 30 athletes from BC and other schools around New England worked out for scouts from various teams, such as Green Bay, Cleveland, New England, and New Orleans.

Tennant said that Pro Day was a nice opportunity for him to have as an addition to his performance at the Combine, as he was more relaxed being around his teammates.

“I was very fortunate that I had two opportunities to do things,” Tennant says. “If I messed up on the bench press [at the Combine], I could come here and do it [at Pro Day]. It was nice to be here and not have to run the 40-yard dash or

Alex Trautwig / heights editor

After starting for three years at BC, Matt Tennant (65) will look to make an impact at the center position at the professional level, as well. do any of the drills. It was great to be just here and cheer on my teammates.”

What’s next for the BC senior is anyone’s guess. He continues to receive more calls from NFL teams, already having heard from “a lot” of them.

“I’m just trying to take meetings up at BC, show them that I’m a great football player, and just meet with them off the field, too.”

Speaking of BC, Tennant said that playing for the Eagles over the past four years – starting for three of them – has definitely helped him get where he is today. “[BC] made me a tough player,” he said. “Going through three head coaching changes, you deal with adversity and you’re able to adjust, and you go from there.”

Multiple mock drafts have the center

being selected in the range of second to third round. Tennant says, however, that he tries not to pay attention to the mock drafts.

“Not only is there nothing that I can really do about it, but coming from BC generally means you will never be highly rated in any of those things, so I just try to take them with a grain of salt.”

For this reason, Tennant is not taking anything for granted.

“I never thought I would have the potential to be getting drafted so high, and to tell you the truth, you never know if you will be drafted at all until the phone call comes in.”

When asked about any team in particular that he would love to play for, Tennant sided with his hometown team.

“Since I was born in Kansas City, I

have always dreamed of playing for the Chiefs, but playing for any team in the NFL would be an honor.”

Just as he’s continued to work since the college football season, his draft day plans will not shift from his normal routine. Tennant said he will go home to Cincinnati to be with his family, but instead of watching, he’ll be working out in the yard with his dad.

After all his hard work and dedication to football, Tennant only has to wait another month to fulfill his childhood dream and receive that life-changing call from an NFL team.

“This is something I have been working for my whole life, and I finally have reached the point where I feel like I have one foot in the door,” Tennant said. “Now I just have to step all the way through.” n

McLaughlin shows versatility

By Greg Joyce For The Heights

CAMBRIDGE — After being a standout linebacker for the Boston College Eagles over the past four years, twotime defensive captain Mike McLaughlin might have a promising future in the NFL. It just might not be at the same position.

Since his appearance at the NFL Combine last month, McLaughlin has been working out as a long-snapper and a fullback, in addition to his regular spot at linebacker.

“The more I can do, the better,” McLaughlin, the senior from Woburn, Mass., says.

Like his teammate Matt Tennant, McLaughlin has not stopped playing football since the Eagles’ Emerald Bowl game in January. First, he earned a spot in the annual East-West Shrine Game, where he also found himself long snapping. Then, at the NFL Combine, McLaughlin continued to work out as a long-snapper, fullback, and linebacker.

“Between the East-West Shrine Game and then getting invited to the Combine, I thought it worked out pretty well there,” he says. “[I] Showed them what I can do and showed them my athletic ability.”

At BC’s Pro Day on Thursday, McLaughlin continued to demonstrate his versatility to roughly 20 NFL scouts, while working out beside 12 other BC teammates, past and present. He said that while the Combine was a great experience, he was definitely more comfortable being around his teammates, while proving his worth to the scouts.

“I was as tight as can be at the Combine,” McLaughlin says. “I was really

nervous going in there. There’s such great competition, just like today.

“There’s a bunch of great football players, and I think today was a little bit calmer, a little bit more relaxed. You’re in your comfort zone with your teammates. I’m going through drills with my buddy Brian Toal [former BC linebacker] … we had a good time and showed these guys what we can do.”

McLaughlin’s versatility has increased his value as a prospect, and it shows with the amount of attention he has been receiving from NFL teams.

“I’ve heard from probably 15 to 16 teams,” McLaughlin says. “At the Combine, you get some real good exposure.

I talked to a bunch of special teams coaches and a bunch of linebacker coaches. Some of them have followed up already in the past week or so, and I saw some today.”

Although he played linebacker all four years as an Eagle, McLaughlin is not new to the fullback spot. At Woburn High School, McLaughlin was a standout fullback, accounting for 49 touchdowns and rushing for over 2,500 yards.

“If they want you to do it, you do it,” McLaughlin says. “The more things you can do, you make yourself very valuable.

So [in addition to] long snapping, I can play fullback, running back, [and] of course I played linebacker my whole career at BC.” When asked if he could learn to despise linebackers if a fullback position was in his future, McLaughlin just laughed.

McLaughlin is not completely new to long snapping, either. On top of his workouts at the Combine and Pro Day at the position, as well as his play as a long-snapper in the East-West Shrine Game, McLaughlin was also the backup

long-snapper during some of his time at BC. Teams also have to be impressed with the linebacker’s willpower. After tearing his Achilles’ during spring practice, McLaughlin battled back to start nine games and shore up a young linebacker corps that was already missing Mark Herzlich. McLaughlin registered 56 tackles, the third best on the team, in his abbreviated season.

Many draft experts currently project the BC star being selected in the sixth round of the NFL draft. Yet, this projection could improve based on his recent workouts as a multitalented athlete, especially as a valuable special teams player.

At 6-1 and 242 pounds, McLaughlin is now a little more than a month away from finding out the next step in his football career. It’s been his willingness to be flexible and his all-around talent that has helped his dream to reach the NFL appear to be a realistic goal.

“There’s always a dream, that’s for sure,” McLaughlin says. “It was always definitely something that, as a kid, I thought about every day, and this is really what I want to do, this is what I’ve always wanted to do. To be sitting here, getting invited to [the Combine] … I grew up watching the NFL Combine, thinking, ‘What an honor it would be to get invited to that,’ and a week out, it’s pretty cool looking back.”

Regardless of what position he will be playing in the future, McLaughlin just wants to get to the NFL, and as he has showed over the past few months, he’ll do whatever it takes to punch his ticket to the pros.

“The more versatile you are, the better chance you have to get on the 53-man roster, which is the ultimate goal." n

Steven stuts / miami hurricane

Junior Pat Dean shut out Miami in the first game of the weekend’s series, striking out nine.

Eagles’ offense slowed by ’Canes Baseball, from B1

Else AMENDOLA / AP PHOTO

BC linebacker Mike McLaughlin hopes to impress NFL teams with his versitility by also working out at the fullback and long-snapper positions.

over eight innings, shutting out a Miami team that averaged 9.9 runs per game before Friday.

“By and large, that was the story of the night,” Aoki said.

Miami’s starting pitcher, Chris Hernandez, nearly had a night as successful as Dean’s, holding BC’s lineup to five hits while his own team managed six off Dean.

Watson provided the offensive firepower for the Eagles, smacking two doubles. The first came in the second inning, when the freshman hit a shot to center field, which allowed sophomore Zapenas to score from second base. Later, in the fourth inning, Watson’s second double of the night brought home Melchionda and Zapenas, who earned his second run of

the night. Matt Brazis relieved Dean in the ninth inning and put the Hurricanes away scoreless, earning his second save of the season.

“We’re looking for a little bit more offensive output,” Aoki said. “But this is the ACC, and Hernandez is an outstanding pitcher. For us to go out there, we knew it was going to be a low scoring game with two of the better pitchers of the ACC.” The Eagles had trouble mustering runs all series, getting outscored 18-8 and out-hit, 29-18, over the series. Still, Dean’s stellar performance on Friday is something the Eagles can look to for success against one of the nation’s elite teams.

“Pat was really on his game, and when’s he’s on his game, there’s nobody out there in college baseball that he can’t compete against,” Aoki said. n

B6

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Heights

By Diana C. Nearhos Heights Senior Staff

Head left from the Spanish Steps, bear right at the Statue of Immaculate Conception, pass the gelateria with the little figurines, follow the winding of the road for a few blocks, take a right at the little side street, follow that, and just when it looks like you are headed nowhere, stop and take in the Trevi Fountain. Somewhere between the bends of said street, my friend visiting from the States looks at me and says, “Wow, I cannot believe how well you know your way around here.”

My only response was, “Well, I guess I have just been around a bunch.” Then I started thinking about it. I guess I do walk around Rome largely with the same confidence as I do around Boston, Chestnut Hill, and maybe even Medfield. Sure, there are areas I do not know as well as others, but for the most part, I wander around Rome with a good knowledge of where I am going.

I guess that is what happens when you live in a city – you get to know it pretty well. I thought about my last two months in Rome, and I realized that I am not just living here – this has become my home.

I do not know exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way, Rome stopped being a vacation (with a few classes) and became so much more.

A couple weeks ago, I took a weekend trip to Ireland. The trip was a lot of fun; I met up with a friend who took me around Cork and Dublin. However, when

I returned to Rome, my first thought was something along the lines of that old cliche, “home sweet home.”

The more I think about it, the more it fits. I have achieved what I wanted to in coming to Rome. In addition to seeing the sites and experiencing the history, I wanted to learn the language and assimilate into the culture. My friends who do not do the same, never seem to be doing themselves any favors.

What is the point of living in a foreign country if you do not experience it to the fullest?

The three people who work in the pizzeria a few doors down from me only speak to me in Italian because they know I am trying to learn. They also yell out “Ciao!” from inside, every time I pass. The man who works the morning shift at the cafe my friends and I frequent smiles as we walk in and has our orders ready.

My favorite is probably the traditional Italian restaurant near my school.

It is the stereotypical Italian restaurant with a cute parental figure owner who knows all the regulars and shares free treats. When I walk in, he welcomes me and tells me to wait just a minute for a table (granted, I am not the only one he does that for). He brings some focaccia over for us, and after dinner, another waiter puts a dessert on the table, “from my boss.” When we leave, Tony turns to me, “mi amore,” and kisses me on both cheeks in typical Italian fashion.

That’s right, I am a regular … almost even a local.

photos courtesy of Diana C Nearhos

I take pride in the fact that people stop me on the street and ask directions. And when people no longer immediately address me in English, I can typically carry on most, if not all, of the conversation in Italian (even haggling for my friend’s new leather jacket). Only when I stumble and cannot really express what I am trying to say (“Is the wifi encrypted?” has not really been covered in my class yet) is my language preference questioned. But even then, if I say I am studying Italian, we continue in Italian.

There is something to be said for experiencing Italy as the Italians do: speaking their language, following their customs, eating their food. I could get along well enough speaking only English (many people here do), and I could go to American bars and restaurants, but then I would feel like a displaced American, a wandering foreigner in an unknown place. I might still know my way around, but it would not feel like home.

Only because I spend my class-free afternoons and mornings wandering the city, do I really know my way around

Rome. I find my bars and restaurants by roaming through the streets with friends. I have my favorite places, I speak the language, I try to live my life like an Italian, all of which have made this city I am living in my own.

Two months ago, I arrived in Rome and, in retrospect, I can admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by the unknowns. I thought I could speak the language pretty well, until someone tried to speak to me and it just sounded like gibberish.

The route thwat the van took from school to my apartment seemed confusing, and not something I would be able to determine, by myself.

So much has changed since then. Gradually, I came to feel better about where I was, and, somewhere along the way, it became home. I walk around Rome and just smile at how much I love this city. For the next two months, I plan on traveling most weekends. Though Greece, Turkey, Vienna, etc. will be incredible, I am disappointed to be spending so much time away from Rome. At least I know each time I will return back to my new home.

By Alex Hirs

Israel

AP nael /

Photo

Michael Keati ng / AP Photo

Israel na

el / AP

Photo

For The Heights “¿Tienes ampollas en tus areas genitales?”

As I sat in the examination room of the Cancun hospital, I realized that six years of studying Spanish had gone out the window, since I had overlooked the chapter on medical terms.

I turned to my friend Maria, who was sitting next to me and serving as a translator for the dermatologist. After hesitating for a second, Maria said, “She asked if you have the rash on your genitals.” Turning red, I quickly shook my head and replied, “No, no. The rash is only above my waist, all over my stomach, and back, and arms, and face.”

Unfortunately, my answer was not satisfactory to the doctor, and Maria excused herself as the dermatologist examined the red marks all over my body, checked my throat, and reviewed the notes that the nurse had taken just minutes earlier.

Maria came back in the room just as the doctor was explaining that I had “varicela.” The chickenpox.

“Chickenpox? No, that’s impossible. I had the chickenpox when I was four years old.” But the doctor was steadfast in her diagnosis, and she immediately began telling me that I would have to spend the remainder of the week in the hospital so as not to risk infecting my roommates. I sat back on the examination table, realizing that my spring break was not

going to be the trip I had anticipated.

Two days earlier, I was boarding a plane in Logan Airport bound for Cancun, Mexico. I was one of 16 Boston College upperclassmen in our group. Like most college students, I was pumped for a week of absolute relaxation, with zero mention of school work.

Shortly after checking into the hotel and debating whether or not we would face the wrath of Montezuma’s Revenge, we dove head first into the all inclusive bar and ordered rounds of piña coladas, daiquiris, and every other mixed drink the menu offered. The rest of that day consisted of beach volleyball, lying out at the pool, and gazing at the ocean. It was the perfect first day of spring break, and I was thrilled for the week ahead.

I woke up the next day feeling a little off. After lying at the beach for a bit, I started getting chills in spite of the 80 degree weather. I went back to the hotel room and noticed a few blisters on my face and chest.

I rationalized that I must have spent too much time in the sun and was just having a bad reaction. I napped for the remainder of the day and stayed in to avoid exacerbating whatever was happening to my body.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt a strange discomfort all over. As I walked towards the bathroom mirror, I gaped at the image staring back at me. My face and body were swollen and covered with

small red marks. Moreover, I could feel that I still had a fever and had a haunting suspicion that the rash was somehow connected. I ran over to Maria and prodded her to wake up, explaining what was going on and asking her to come with me to visit the doctor on call in the hotel. The doctor gave me a quick examination and checked the inside of my throat. He explained in semi-fluent English that the rash was spreading through my body causing an intense fever, and there was little he could do on location. I would have to go to the nearby hospital and have my blood taken to determine what the illness was.

Maria and I filed into a cab and headed over to the hospital. I texted my mom as soon as we started to drive and I began thinking about the reality of the situation. I had some unknown illness in a foreign country with no international insurance, limited communication with my family, and 100 US dollars.

I remember feeling intensely afraid.

I ended up staying in the hospital for 78 miserable hours.

That first night, four of my roommates visited, more than a little buzzed, bringing some books, clothes, two beers and an ad for a nude adult bar.

Despite their visit and wellintentioned gifts, I could barely muster a smile. I was relieved to have a diagnosis, but the anger and frustration of realizing that I would spend the remainder of my spring break in a hospital

made me a less than gracious host.

I passed those four days in the hospital reading Gregory Maguire’s Wicked and watching a disgusting amount of television. I can’t say I actually enjoyed the majority of the programming, but it passed the time and helped me forget that I had herpes all over my body.

I got discharged from the hospital on the Thursday of spring break. I returned to my hotel room that night to a group of gracious and supportive BC students.

I can’t sit here and try to say that getting chickenpox in Cancun was a blessing in disguise, or that the lessons I learned were worth the cost.

Being in the hospital for a week in Mexico during spring break sucked.But being the eternal optimist, I’ve tried to look at the positive side of things. I have an awesome ice breaker for any interviews or mixers that I may attend in the coming months, and I have not been shy about telling everyone I know about my story. I have a newfound appreciation for the way I look, and despite every Facebook picture I’ve ever detagged, I understand that they could have looked a lot worse.

Perhaps most importantly, I realized that even though being in a hospital will never be an enjoyable experience, having friends who are willing to visit with a beer and a nudey bar ad can make all the difference in the recovery process.

Heights Graphic / Michael Saldarraiga

I Got Chickenpox in Cancun

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Heights

B7

B8

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Heights

Outside the Bubble

HUMOR

Once an Eagle, always an Eagle, but maybe a Hoya, too

Bring on the sun

Lisa de Gray

Trish Daly

Last month, a classmate asked me if I was going to the Duke game. I paused for a moment, confused. After all, we had already played Duke the week before, and our next match-up was not for a few weeks. I then realized, however, that she was actually talking about the Georgetown-Duke basketball game.

While I have religiously followed my Eagles in the big three sports, I had not previously made any effort to follow the Hoyas. I knew enough to know that they were having a good season, but unlike with Boston College sports, I had not taken the time to print out their schedule and hang it on my wall, marking each game with an L or a W. I could not really figure out where my apathy for the Hoyas was coming from.

True, I have always been more of a hockey fan than a basketball fan, but BC’s school spirit was one of the main reasons I had chosen to go there. It would only seem to make sense for me to embrace my new school’s athletic program.

Therein may have been the problem.

Despite the fact that I had immediately purchased my Georgetown sweatshirts upon deciding that that would be where I would spend the next three years of my life, and the fact that I had already spent a semester there, Georgetown still did not feel like my school. I had come to terms with the fact that I was no longer a BC student, so it was not as though I was stubbornly refusing to acknowledge my graduation.

Yet, part of me felt that rooting for another school – albeit one in a different conference, thankfully – was to in some way betray my alma mater.

That weekend, I decided to watch the Georgetown-Duke game. I had a career fair earlier in the day, so I figured that watching the game would be a good way to unwind afterward. I got back to my apartment around halftime and turned on the television to find President Obama acting as a guest commentator. Vice President Biden was also in attendance. Okay, I thought to myself, that is pretty cool.

Still, it was not enough to get me to start following the Hoyas. I caught the end of the Georgetown-Villanova game by accident. It was on before the second BC-Duke game and had run-over.

Although Georgetown beat the higher

ranked Villanova, I was more annoyed than proud. The run-over on ESPN had made me miss the first few minutes of the BC game.

Remembering that I had been sold on BC sports after experiencing my first football game, I decided that all it would take to convert me to the Hoyas would be to attend a game.

So, one Thursday morning, I spent five hours in line waiting for tickets to the Georgetown-Syracuse game. The law school sets aside a certain number of tickets for us for each game. Because tickets to the Duke game sold out so quickly, my friends and I decided to wake up at 5 a.m. to wait outside the Office of Student Life. Tickets went on sale at 9 a.m. and, since we were dealing with law students who have a reputation for having no lives outside of school, we thought that the 5 a.m. wake-up was a safe bet. We were wrong.

By the time we got into the building, it was clear that we would not be getting tickets to the Syracuse game. Memories of college – where I just barely missed out on basketball tickets freshman year and homecoming tickets senior year – flashed before my eyes.

We decided to wait in line anyway, since the ticket office was selling tickets to several other games as well. As it

turned out, we were lucky enough to get the last tickets to the Georgetown-Notre Dame game the following weekend.

In a way, this worked out perfectly.

What better way, I thought, to become a true Hoya fan than to cheer on the school against a common enemy. Unfortunately, just like in last semester’s Holy War, Georgetown suffered a painful defeat.

The game, however, was not a total loss. By the time the clock ran out, I had become a fan. I may not bleed blue and gray the way I do maroon and gold just yet, and, to be honest, I probably never will, but the season’s remaining games went up on my wall, right next to the BC hockey and basketball schedules.

Maybe it was Jack – the real-life Hoya – running across the court at halftime that won me over, or maybe it was the fact that the Verizon Center has about five different vendors on each floor. Regardless of whatever it was, I realized that I could make room in my heart for two teams. BC will always be my first love, but there is enough space for Georgetown to occupy a not too distant second.

Lisa de Gray is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at features@bcheights.com

“I always go out on St. Patrick’s Day, but this year I have a test in my class that night. I definitely want to go out and celebrate, but I know that the teacher won’t let me make up the test. What should I do?”

—Out of Irish Luck

Dave Says:

Meghan Responds:

St. Paddy’s Day is a sacred holiday that comes but once a year. All those who I guess the solution to this predicament depends on the severity of the test. If are tangentially related to Ireland – or wish they had a great-great-grandmother this test will destroy your grade for the class, we’re going to take the serious route. If the test is a mere speed bump on the way to graduation, we’ll have a little more fun. from there – don green and drink copious amounts of alcohol. On what other day Serious route: Drink the day before and claim that you are truly Irish by celebratof the year can you celebrate a saint by listening to Dropkick Murphys? It is your ing the old Irish date of St. Patrick’s Day, March 16th. (Note: March 16th was never right, nay, your duty to observe this rare and wonderful occasion. the date of St. Patrick’s day. Don’t dig yourself too big a hole.) If you prefer to study I’m not saying you shouldn’t go to your test. You also have a duty to your the day before, might I suggest a level of consistent but controllable drunkenness classes. There are, however, numerous ways to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day while still the day of the test? You’ll be able to drink with your roomies, but also be able to complying with your professor’s rules. get a little studying in on the side. The only drawback of this plan is that when your Try to get out of the test. St. Patrick’s Day is, after all, a religious holiday. St. friends are going for that fourth car bomb of the hour, you will need to sit on the Patrick taught the Irish about the Trinity using a three-leafed clover and chased sidelines. Both of these plans mix fun and the snakes out of Ireland. Explain that, accord“Fill your favorite BC canteen with some Guinness or Bailey’s before ing to your religious beliefs, you have to observe practicality. But what if we didn’t need the practicality? the test. Every time your law midterm uses the word ‘amendment,’ the day through drinking, dancing, and fake Irish Fun route: Depending on your budget and take a sip and think of Ireland.” brogues. Threaten religious discrimination and the willingness of the professor to lose his – Meghan, on doing what must be done take it to the Supreme Court. tenure, buying your entire class a Guinness Turn the test into a drinking game. Fill your could be a nice way to weather the exam. I think it would be a fun and festive way to favorite BC canteen with some Guinness or Bailey’s before the test. Every time your bond with your peers in a moment of misery. Also, everyone leaving for the restroom law midterm uses the word “amendment,” take a sip and think of Ireland. in the middle of the period would prove laughable. The next plan will depend on the Attend a pre-test pre-game. Invite your entire class to come over to “study” for availability of a bagpiper. Oh, and also it will require you to know the bagpiper. I’m the test. Invite the Irish Dance Club to perform and have an Irish car bomb or two. going to assume you know a bagpiper and their respective schedule. What you would If you and your classmates are all in the same state before the test, you just might want to do is hire the piper to play traditional Celtic hymns for the duration of your benefit from a steeper curve later. exam, right outside your classroom. Bagpipes are loud and rather intrusive. The proDrink after the test. Assuming this professor holds normal BC hours, your night fessor would be criticized for ignoring the needs of his students if he allowed the test class should get out in time for you to make it to trivia on a typical Wednesday. You to continue. Ideally, he would cancel the exam completely and yell “Sláinte!” as you should have plenty of time to celebrate until the wee hours of the morning. walked out the door, destined to rendezvous with your pals at the local pub.

Happy St. Paddy’s Day – Erin Go Bragh!

Good luck, friend.

Dave Givler is an editor for The Heights. He welcomes comments at features@bcheights. com.

Meghan Michael 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.

Professor Profile

Caswell-McCarron brings broadcast experience to department Emily Maley

When Professor Christine Caswell-McCarron in the communication department is not enjoying steamers and lobster on a crisp, New England day, she is hard at work at one of her three jobs. A Holliston, Mass. native, Caswell-McCarron has been teaching at BC for 10 years now. “Boston College is my alma mater,” says Caswell-McCarron.

“I am a product of the department for which I now teach. I deeply value the Jesuit education I received here, and am grateful I am now contributing to the education of our future communicators.” She teaches broadcast writing, feature writing, and entertainment media in the Woods College of Advancing Studies. “I am continuously pleased to witness the caliber of students in my classrooms and thoroughly enjoy their engaging conversations and thirst for knowledge. It pleases me to see them work hard to clarify and strengthen their writing.”

In addition to her job here at BC, Caswell-McCarron is the mother of two boys and a “semi-retired” news reporter. Her boys, ages 11 and 5, keep her extremely busy and refer to her frequently as “the bestest Mommy evah.” She also needs to keep up with their active yellow lab rescue dog named Grayson. Caswell-McCarron considers herself to be a stage mom. “I am pretty rabid when it comes to cheering them on at swim meets, t-ball games, and stage performances,” she says. Her youngest son attends pre-school at the BC Children’s Center. “It is remarkable and rewarding

to have him right on campus, in such an enriching environment,” says CaswellMcCarron. “I am so appreciative of the benefit this campus provides.” CaswellMcCarron also enjoys sports teams, such as the BC Eagles, the Boston Red Sox, and the Dedham Clippers. “My 5-year-old son was born the day we beat the curse and won the World Series in 2004. We call him our little curse breaker. What fun for a little boy from Boston to grow up with that kind of start to his life!”

Having been so productive in the industry as a cable news television anchor and reporter for NECN, Caswell-McCarron has a lot to offer her students.

“My experience allows me to show communication majors that what they are learning in theory in the classrooms can absolutely be applied in the industry,” she says. Although she now focuses more on motherhood and her career as a teacher at BC, Caswell-McCarron does fill in at radio news, and this summer she will be working with Catholic TV network. “I am a passionate storyteller,” she says. “I care deeply about the people I meet, and I care about telling their story to inform, enlighten, advise, and perhaps create awareness. The challenging aspects are when I have to cover stories of great sadness or tragedy. As a mother, they really hit home and sometimes I am left with profound sadness, yet appreciation for having encountered people who have changed my life, and have left imprints on my heart.”

According to Caswell-McCarron, the BC network is invariably present even after

graduation. “Boston College has a massive global network of alumni who hold great affinity to this campus,” she says. “You cannot go too far without running into someone who is a BC alumnus, and when you do, invariably an enthusiastic conversation then takes place. Boston College alumni help ‘their own.’ As an undergrad, when I was first seeking internships, the BC name carried a lot of clout.”

Currently, the communication industry is going through a large boom of change: the Internet, the loss of many newspapers, and the new social-networking sites. Caswell-McCarron has seen this first-hand, as a 1989 graduate of the communication department, in her experience in the field, and as a current professor. “There will always be a need for good storytelling and communication,” says Caswell-McCarron. “The Internet provides information at the touch of a key.

Tomorrow’s communicators will need to be versatile and relay their stories among a number of new media platforms. I am part of the dinosaur age in the industry.

I still like a good newspaper in my hand.”

Here at BC the department has seen big changes over the past 10 years, according to Caswell-McCarron. “The department of communication enjoys a media lab, which is a vast improvement over our old space and equipment. We have also been able to enhance our support of faculty research through improved equipment and software in the research lab.”

Caswell-McCarron experiences great pride when it comes to her students, especially when they do not give excuses

for missed and late assignments. “I love compiling a list of very creative excuses for assignments being missed or turned in late,’ she says. While her students are productive, “I am thrilled to watch a number of my former students thrive and succeed in their fields today,” she says. “One of my former students, who took my broadcast writing course, has indeed followed in my footsteps. She is now reporting for one of the stations I previously worked for in Boston.” The job market right now, as we all know, is very difficult and stressful for graduating college students. “Communication majors often get very nervous this time of year, as their peers in CSOM seem to have jobs lined up, since that industry has a more predictable hiring cycle,” she says. As far as guidance for seniors, Caswell-McCarron suggests, “Be tenacious and creative. Compile a list of companies and businesses you are interested in, and determine how your communication degree can assist the mission at that company. Market yourself, and sell yourself well. Use your communication skills to really sell yourself when you do land that interview. The students of today are so used to using electronic communication that often they don’t have much experience in face-to-face contact with people.

Get yourself out there and actually hold conversations with people.”

As far as freshmen are concerned, Caswell-McCarron advises, “Get involved. Meet with your professors, your advisers. Get out of your dorm rooms, and visit your department. Take charge of your education.”

The heady atmosphere on campus this week has been markedly different from the elevated tension of the days preceding spring break. All of a sudden, there’s a light at the end of the long, treacherous wind tunnel of the Boston winter. As the temperature climbs past 40 degrees, the stubborn islands of grungy snow grow smaller. It stays light outside past noon, and people seem to be losing the pained look on their faces when forced to spend five minutes outdoors.

With students fresh off a relaxing or rewarding spring break, anticipation is swiftly building for the joys of St. Patrick’s Day and Skirt Day. On the horizon is a glorious spring of Mod tailgates and frisbee games in the Dustbowl, turning Boston College into the campus we all thought we would be living on when we caught our first glimpse of it in the admission brochures.

There’s only one thing that can bring us down now, when life suddenly seems so promising again: schoolwork. Seniors are beginning to bend under the weight of their theses while figuring out post-graduation plans, and freshmen and sophomores, young enough to still care about their grades, juggle problem sets and papers, as they discuss the newest housing rumors about how many of them will be forced to live in Fitzaga. The work hasn’t lessened, but coming off spring break, all that most of us want is more free time to spend with friends and play outside.

The struggle to meet deadlines when the sun is shining takes its toll, and extreme measures must be taken to achieve any sort of concentration. Even finding a place to study poses a challenge. When temperatures surpass 50 degrees, the ever-cranky population of mole people living in Bapst Library becomes even more hostile to outsiders and obsessed with complete silence. Enter their territory with caution. O’Neill Library’s prison-like exterior looks more ominous than usual, and if you want to study in close proximity to gourmet coffee and delicious sandwiches by camping out at a Hillside table, you must be prepared to throw some ’bows and fight to the death to seize a table and hold onto it. As much as one might want to avoid these caves and study outside, we’re forced to come to terms with the fact that it’s simply impossible to see anything on a laptop screen while soaking up the sun in the Dustbowl.

I have yet to find the padlocked, 4x4 cell with padded walls that I need in order to focus my attention on the various papers I’m supposed to be writing. As a habitual procrastinator, this time of year is nothing short of a danger to my health, especially as a second-semester senior. Though I diligently make checklists in my assignment pad, highlighting important tasks and even making careful note of goals like “read” and “sleep,” there seems to be a disconnect between my checklists and my activities. “Start paper” becomes “catch up on The Office,” and “read entire book” becomes “look at pictures from this time last year and succumb to nostalgia.” Even a responsible decision to forgo the bars on a Thursday night only results in lolling on the couch with my assigned reading and falling asleep within three minutes. Trying to start this column, I suffered a setback of several hours because BC Movie Channel is playing Couples Retreat, a movie that I was very confident I would never see – until now.

Where I used to compensate for wasted time by running my body into the ground with frequent all-nighters, I’m now having trouble accessing the reserves of adrenaline, necessary for those old tricks. Last night, staring blankly at my computer screen with a paper due a few hours later, unable to focus, I had to draw on a last resort. I grabbed a knock-off version of a 5-hour energy shot.

The front said, “INCREASES CONCENTRATION!” The back said, “Not FDA approved.” A quick scan of the ingredients revealed that the elixir contained 2000 percent of the daily-recommended dose of some chemical I didn’t recognize. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I downed it. When I didn’t pass out on the spot, I knew I now had the energy to cobble together eight pages. The paper was finished, regardless of any possible long-term health effects.

Great willpower and diligence will be required of all of us to remember in the coming months that being a student is actually one of our more important responsibilities. Whether you sequester yourself in a library with a survival kit in your backpack or just occupy your bedroom, snapping at any roommate that dares to disturb, the work will get done. I’ve come to accept the fact that the last minute is in fact the best time to get the creative juices flowing, and that my tendency to trip over power cords and whisper in Bapst makes me unwelcome – it’s too late to teach an old dog new tricks.

However, if you’re like me, take comfort in the knowledge that you’re not alone. There’s something in the air these days, wafting through the windows of dorms across campus. It makes us forget about the things we have to do and daydream about the things we want to do, and very soon, the distractions will multiply in the form of warm weather. Don’t let the work bring you down.

Spend your Saturday in Boston, lose yourself in a zombie apocalypse movie, or justify an hour spent talking to your friends as “life chats.” There’s always the night before and the aids of strong coffee, Red Bull, and nonFDA-approved energy shots.

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

How to: have a pen pal

By Ana Lopez Heights Editor

I realize that the notion of the “pen pal” is just about as outdated as the notion of taking a converted VW bus cross-country – it works for decidedly indie people and your dad, but, let’s be real, it could never fit into your smartphone, 50-e-mailsa-minute lifestyle. You are so far beyond the act of putting pen to paper, you forgot what it feels like to form your fingers around a writing utensil.

And why should you? With the glory that is modern technology, we have been enabled to avoid that tiresome, pointless task that is writing at basically every turn – even our signatures, the most personal of expressions in handwriting, are increasingly electronic. So why in your wildest dreams would you purposely invest in something ridiculous like stationary, stamps, and a (gasp!) pen, not with the intention of giving them as a safe birthday gift to your great-aunt Susan (the only person you know who still remembers how to write), but actually using them yourself? Why, to secure what you will find to be one of the most rewarding and delightful relationships in your life: a pen pal. Now, you must be aware that pen pal friendship (“penpalship,” if you will) is not something that can just be jumped into like a tub of Jell-O. It takes time to perfect this art and to establish these bonds. Here’s some tips to get you started on your way.

1.) Choose the pal. This, of course, is the most critical decision you will make in this entire process – right after your decision to reinvigorate the muscles in your hand responsible for writing and cut ties with G-Chat, that is. Obviously, you want to pick someone who you wouldn’t mind reading about his or her life for months on end and who you don’t mind telling, chapter and verse, about yours. Particularly suspicious friends and people that have distant ties to the CIA are not good choices.

Not only do they read between the lines too heavily, but, in my experience, these are not funny people. You need someone who is either exceptionally hilarious or poetic as a pen pal, so that their sweet, sweet verses or downright knee-slappers burn themselves in your mind and carry you through to the next installment of your correspondence. You also don’t want someone you know too much about already – like a roommate or a family member. “Oh, you’re going on vacation to the Bahamas in two weeks, Mom? Me too! I wonder if I’ll see you there. Most likely I will since we’re going together.” Boring.

Or, “Hey Julie, that stinks that your roommates kicked you out of housing next year. Maybe if you would have cleaned your spam encrusted dishes more than once a semester those broads would have taken you back. See you later!” Obviously, both of these situations are incredibly awkward and can lead to nothing but tumultuous real life consequences.

B9

The Heights

Monday, March 15, 2010

Yet another reason why it is good to have someone who lives hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.

2.) Choose the time of year. Cold, dreary months in which nothing of importance is going on are not the time to forge your first letter. For example, don’t think that you can start your correspondence in the middle of March and expect it to be good.

You won’t get a response, or, at best you’ll get, “It’s March and you wrote me a letter about your life and signed it with a smiley face. Are you kidding me?” June is a much better bet. The copious amounts of sun will delude them into loving you and mask how boring your writing is by the third paragraph.

3.) Choose the topic of conversation.

Specificity is key. Everyone has a dog, and everyone’s dogs roll around on the floor, and it’s overwhelmingly adorable. We get it. Boring. Not everyone has a boss that resembles Danny McBride that you made seriously explicit and inappropriate drawings out of that he discovered.

That is something worth filling a page.

4.) Spice it up. I don’t mean season your letters with paprika, though you totally could if you wanted to, but you may run the risk of having them intercepted by the USPS police and get thrown in jail for sending potentially harmful substances through the mail or, more likely, your pen pal could be deathly allergic to paprika – in which case, you’re out a pen pal, and now you have to deal with the fact that your DNA is all over that letter. No, I don’t mean literally spice it up. Rather, I mean go beyond the written word and offer a little something more – like a mix tape of all the songs you are currently listening to, a book that you stole from your roommate’s summer library, the swag that your mother picked up for you at the community health fair, that portrait of your boss, or Polaroids from all of the really cool things you are up to (a.k.a. incredibly boring things that only look mildly intriguing because you captured them on Polaroid film.

It’s all about presentation). Speaking of presentation, you have to make sure you have superb stationary. So you’re a poor college student and all you can afford is lined paper and the envelopes you steal from your work-study. Stop it with the excuses.

Go to Papyrus as soon as possible and invest. Lovely stationary is like a lovely woman – not only is it nice to touch, but it makes you more attractive by association.

I hope that these introductory tips help you to get off the ground with your first pen pal correspondence. Admittedly, it can be hard at first, but the simple pleasure derived from opening your mailbox and finding a sweet, sometimes scented letter addressed to you (that isn’t from your grandma or bill collectors) is literally one of the best things on planet Earth, right up there with snagging the last vanilla Chobani in Corcoran Commons. n

Lure of gambling proves hard to resist for some students

www.wakefieldwildcats.co.uk

The emergence of new ways to gamble produce opportunities for young students looking to try their luck at one of mankind’s oldest vices.

Gambling, from B10 knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.” Like with any other law, people have found loopholes to continue their online gambling. The ambiguity of the clause “in the business of betting” has allowed betters, bookies, and casual players to play the card that only people that actually own gambling businesses are to be held accountable under the Federal Wire Act. The U.S. Department of Justice, however, has interpreted the law to mean that all forms of online gambling are illegal, while some U.S. courts have ruled to the contrary. Others even scrutinize the law so thoroughly that they believe the law only covers sports betting, and not other types of gambling such as online poker.

Although the law may be up for interpretation from state to state, in no way is gambling of any kind legal on the BC campus.

Whether it is playing poker with a group of friends or placing bets on the Super Bowl, gambling is against the rules at BC. In reality, gambling exists, and there is no way to truly prevent its occurrence. Many people enjoy the thrill of winning. Others just like to place friendly wagers in the

spirit of competition. Either way, people are gambling in person and online, on campus and off.

JP Perez, A&S ’12, began playing poker online between one and two years ago after seeing a commercial for the World Series of Poker.

When playing poker online, Perez uses sites such as www.pokerstars. com and www.absolutepoker.com.

Perez then forced himself to quit online poker after losing $700 in one night. “You tend to forget that you’re using real money that can go to better use,” Perez explains.

“It feels like you’re playing with fake money since you just register a credit card and never think about it after that.” After losing so much money in one night, Perez realized the potential danger of online gambling and that, yes, it is very possible to consistently win and do well, but sometimes luck does not deal the right hand.

Even at his best, Perez admits to only winning $80, at most. “Online gambling is extremely addictive.

The only reason it was easy for me to give up playing poker online was because I literally couldn’t withdraw any more money. But, it was a really good learning experience for me,” Perez confessed.

Unlike Perez, an anonymous student in the class of 2010 participates in all different types of online gambling such as poker and sports betting, and even dabbles in casino games. His true passion, however, is sports betting. “Sports betting is fun because when you don’t have a preference for either

team, your wager gives you a team to cheer for, and after betting for a while, you start to get the hang of it and know which teams to bet on,” he explains. This student began his gambling career in high school, saying that, “everyone was doing it.” All gambling sites require that gamblers be at least 18 years old, but because many rely solely on a simple registration system, cheating the system is fairly easy and most people can gain access regardless of age. Like Perez, this student had a similar downfall in his gambling career. “Sports betting can be really exciting, but also really tough,” he says. “There was a time when I lost $3,000 in one month, but luckily, a lot of online players are dumb, so it’s easy to win some of it back.” However, this loss has not discouraged him from continuing to gamble. In fact, this student now works for a bookie, helping collect bets from anyone willing to place them, adding to his exposure of both online and real-life gambling.

The dangers of gambling are very clear, as is reflected by both Perez and the anonymous student’s stories, but that does not eliminate the thrill that so many people crave. People all over the world take part in gambling every day, even if it is just a casual game of poker with friends. Regardless of the legality issue, people will continue to gamble, both online and in person, to hopefully win and have a lot of fun. n

The absence of a meal plan yields desserts and disaster

By Emily Maley For The Heights

For juniors, adjusting to life off

campus can be a major lifestyle change, but it can also prove to be a lot of fun.

Finally being able to have a single bedroom, maybe a car, and a kitchen … but what to do with a kitchen? During freshman and sophomore year, walking to any of the dining halls on campus is a cinch, but it’s not quite as convenient while living off campus.

Enter the invention of the Flex Plan, less costly than the mandatory full meal plan, but still quite pricey. Seriously, are undergraduate college students miraculously expected to know how to cook? According to several students who have experienced off campus life, it’s not the simplest task to learn. Many turn to the Flex Plan or Eagle Bucks, the latter of which can be used at any location on campus, including vending machines, printing stations, and dining halls. They are even accepted at some off campus attractions, such as Roggies and Campus Convenience.

Flex Plans can be used only for on-campus dining hall locations. They offer two options, the $800 plan with a $120 bonus, or the $1200 plan with a $300 bonus, according to BC Dining Services. Keep in mind, these plans are only available to students without

a mandatory dining plan. Therefore, they are available to seniors living in residence halls with full kitchens. Very convenient for BC students, there is a Grocery Shuttle that leaves from Conte Forum every Sunday on the half hour from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. It also makes additional stops between 2000 and 2012 Commonwealth Ave, and South Street for off-campus students.

This shuttle provides transportation to the Star Market on Beacon Street.

The last BC shuttle bus leaves Star Market at 5:10 (on Sundays), so don’t miss it! Star Market also takes Shaw’s cards (which are free) and gives great discounts and coupons every time you shop. For those who are 21, look into shopping at Trader Joe’s, further down on Beacon Street in Brookline, which sells wines for under $5, as well as many other healthy, reasonably priced foods and produce.

Although Jason Feldman, A&S’ 11, does have a Flex Plan, he also makes frequent attempts at cooking creatively. “Just last night I made my canned chicken noodle soup,” he says.

“I turned the oven on, warmed up the soup, and poured it into a bowl. I was feeling a little adventurous, so I took a small bag of pretzels that a girl with a meal plan had bought me, and I broke the pretzels up and sprinkled them in the chicken noodle soup. It was a

Jason Feldman original. Delicious.” In regards to the freshman 15, “I eat way less off-campus than I did while living on-campus,” he says. “The freshman 15 is gone! I shop for convenience. I don’t really grocery shop because I wouldn’t know what to buy, so I just stick with Campus Convenience and use my Eagle Bucks. I will also shop anywhere that accepts Eagle Bucks.”

Nick Lellenberg, BC ’09, lived offcampus his spring semester junior year and, daringly, without a Flex Plan. “I grocery shopped at the Star Market on Beacon Street, but the grocery shuttle bus didn’t exist during my junior year, although I used it last year in Edmonds all the time,” he says. “I never really used a Shaw’s card, but the cashiers would kindly swipe them for me. When I got home, I would make pasta, chicken, rice, and even make pizzas from scratch, and now I have even progressed to salmon and steak, among other things.” As a graduate student, Nick feels that it is easier to cook because of the practice he had during junior year. “My current roommate, Annabelle, makes legitimate gourmet meals. She goes to the Whole Foods market on Washington Street and cooks organic, organic, and more organic. As far as bad cooking experiences go, one kid I lived with my junior year put a pizza box in the oven, hoping

to keep it warm, and he left it in there.

When the next kid turned on the oven to preheat, the whole thing caught fire.

That didn’t go over so well!”

Like Lellenberg’s roommates, beginner cooks always have their horror stories. Ally Patarino, A&S ’11, had a disastrous confrontation with a toaster oven earlier this year. “When the roommates are away, the mice will play,” says Patarino in an e-mail. “Last semester, while my roommates were at the Notre Dame game, I was left alone at the apartment for the weekend. Five minutes after they left, I put an English muffin in the toaster oven and went into my room to blow dry my hair. When I came back, there was a massive fire coming out of the toaster oven. In order to extinguish the flames, I dumped our Brita filter all over our toaster. The toaster sparked, my English muffin was ruined, and I felt like an epic failure for putting water on a plugged-in appliance.”

Sarah Beck, A&S ’11, shares her offcampus eating habits. “I eat cereal for breakfast, lunch on campus at Hillside or Lower by adding Eagle Bucks, and then eat those leftovers from lunch for dinner,” she says. “I wouldn’t say I’ve lost or gained weight because of eating habits; it fluctuates mostly because of my gym habits.”

“It is definitely harder getting to

the RecPlex while living off-campus.

Cooking is a strength of mine, so I don’t have any fun horror stories, but lots of successes! Although as far as grocery store prices, the sky-high Campus Convenience prices do bother me. Why pay $10 for a cup of soup and a drink?”

Eating out is a major vice for some students while living off campus. “Depending on what time of year it is (i.e. exam time), I order out,” says Beck.

“Otherwise, I try not to in order to save the big bucks. I’d have to say worst choices are frozen foods. They’re easy when I’m studying, but otherwise I try to eat lots of salads and chicken.”

If living off-campus is an option for you, take some time to think about the food options. Everyone needs to eat!

Can you make it to the grocery store every week on top of academics, sports, going out, and laundry? Will you be sacrificing your morning Hillside coffee every day before that 9 a.m.? Do you really have time to make your dinners and truly learn to make recipes? Or will you be cooking at home most of the time and wasting that Flex Plan money on water bottles at the end of the semester? From the above horror stories one can see that learning to cook can be challenging, but as Lellenberg said, it is quite rewarding when your cooking skills finally come around after some hard practice. n

B4

FEATURES THE HEIGHTS

Monday, March 15, 2010

B10

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

Cure for the housing blues

By Francesca Bacardi Heights Staff

JACQUELYN HERDER

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

Oftentimes, when people imagine bookies taking bets or card players throwing in chips to increase their winnings, they picture dark, dismal basements with dim, fluorescent lighting.

Movies depict betting circles as sketchy, disreputable places where someone always ends up getting hurt, but there is always, on the other hand, the thrill of gambling in places such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and other casino-oriented cities. These flashy cities, however, are not the only locations where high-stake bets are made. Online gambling is becoming increasingly more popular with every generation, as Internet encryptions make online funds nearly untraceable, allowing gamblers to oftentimes take greater risks.

In 1961, the United States enacted the Interstate Wire Act, more commonly known as the Federal Wire Act, which decreed all gambling, across any wire communication, illegal. It stated, “Whoever, being engaged in the business of betting or wagering,

See Gambling, B9

HEIGHTS GRAPHIC / RACHEL GREGORIO

It’s here again. And you know what I’m talking about. The once a year event that causes mass hysteria, girls (and some guys ... we know who you are) crying in the bathroom, freshmen struggling to understand that the glow of freshman year is coming to an end, and a whole new appreciation for the saying “every man for himself.” It gets your heart racing, your palms sweating, and makes you as jumpy as a caffeinated pre-med before an orgo test. That’s right - housing selection is here once again. Let the games begin.

Figuring out where you are going to live for the next year is, without a doubt, one of the most stressful events of the year, and one that is looked forward to with equal amounts of anticipation and fear. For freshmen, this is a whole new experience, and one that either will end in triumph – an eight-man in 90 or Vanderslice – or despair at being relegated to the infamous Co Ro. Ok, guys, here’s a secret: You. Will. Be. Fine. Seriously!

Look at the silver lining. If you are back on Upper, you are only a hop, skip, and a jump away from classes and McElroy for late night fro-yo runs. Not to mention that you have two bus stops placed very conveniently right outside your door. Your social life will not be negatively impacted, and you will still have a fulfilling year. The agonizing extra few minutes of walking back to Upper in the winter disappear, making it more bearable to visit your friends who scored a spot on Lower Campus.

And, hey, you won’t have to sign people in, which is a definite newfound plus.

Freshmen who end up in Walsh – yes, you probably got an eight-man, but you still have to deal with the innate Walshiness that comes along with it.

As a former resident of this illustrious building, I know that you are in for an … interesting year. You will have great memories, the wonderful option of being able to find at least a couple of parties without ever having to leave your building on a freezing night, and an enviable position when it comes to being a Strip-Mod spectator, but you will also have to deal with the threat of no hot water in January, the occasional crisis of lacking heat, and, if you live below the third floor, the possibility of critters and other furry visitors taking refuge within your walls during the winter months. Those of you who end up in 90 or Vandy … we know where you live, and we will probably be frequent visitors.

Sophomores, you will live off campus, and you will have a great time.

Learning to cook for yourself and pay bills is, for many, their first foray into the adult world, and it always makes for good stories and a good experience.

Enjoy!

For juniors, we are just looking for a convenient place to crash for our senior years (wait a second … how are we seniors?) and to have the absolute best experience we can. Personally, I would like to thank my Mod-bound friends who will be making a splash on the newly named “Bro-Row”; thanks to your fortuitous selections, you will all be making my Mod-hopping so much easier. Future Ruby, Iggy, Voute, and Gabelli residents – life is good. I know many of you wanted Mods, but, a sixman is a six-man, no matter where you are, and you get air conditioning. To those in Edmond’s (or the Emods), ok, so it’s not the most ideal of residences, but on the bright side, you are super close to the Mods. But when you get right down to it, it’s your senior year, and no matter where you are, you are with your friends. Embrace it, and have your best year yet.

We all know that housing is probably one of the most stupid things to get worked up over, and yet we’ll all do it anyways. We do it every year, despite telling ourselves that we won’t. We all know that things will work out in the end. Let’s be honest, even if it’s not your first choice, you are going to end up with a roof over your head, and you will have an incredible year.

I guarantee it.

Eagle Dates: Rainy Days This week’s Eagle Daters were Liz Haney, A&S ’11, and Derek Boone, CSOM ’11. They went to the Sunset Bar and Grille.

By Chantal Cabrera

wet, sorry,” “how long have you been waiting here …’ She told me she had gotten there 20 minutes earlier.

Heights Staff

Liz: I was miserable on the way to the date [it was pouring outside]. I was soaking wet in a nasty, yellow raincoat. I was just standing on South Street with cars splashing me. The T drove by. It was just miserable.

Derek: I was thinking ‘I’m going to be soaked when I get there.’ I was just happy to get inside. I didn’t know if she’d be there or not. I was ready to grab a table, but she was waiting there for me.

Liz: I got there really early, and I was just standing in the corner waiting. He walked up, and I recognized him through a friend of a friend. So, I went up to him and was like, “Derek?” The maître d’ was very interested in what was going on, so she knew what was happening.

Derek: I went up to the host and said I was waiting for somebody and asked for a table for two, and she was actually standing right next to me, and she was like “Oh Derek.” I just asked if she got a table, did the whole it was “nice to meet you,” “my hands are

I NSIDE FEATUR E S THIS ISSUE

Liz: It was fine, we just chatted and stuff … we had a lot of stuff to talk about. They had like 100 beers on tap so that was pretty cool. And then we were just talking about how we sort of knew each other through mutual friends.

Derek: We got there, and it was the biggest beer place I’ve ever seen! For the first 10 minutes, we just looked at the beer menus, picking out the weirdest beers we could find. She got mead, which I thought was what Harry Potter drinks, and we got our drinks. We ordered dinner, and then we talked about friends and stuff that we knew. It ends up that we know a lot of the same people. We talked about our mutual friends and the people that we know. She’s from Wachusett, which is where one of our mutual friends goes skiing.

Liz: We talked about lots of things. We have mutual friends, so we were talking about people we know. We’re both juniors, so we had a lot to talk about. We talked

The World Record

about some crazy party on Chestnut Hill Ave, where there were apparently two strippers. We talked about where we lived freshman year and who we knew in each other’s freshmen’s floor. We also talked about BC’s figure skating team and how they get the most money out of all the club sports in BC. Derek: We forgot to take a picture, and we were going to get some guy on the streets to take a picture, but Liz’s camera died so we used her cell phone. We were outside standing in the rain taking a picture. I got on the T, and I only had $20 so I had to put the entire $20 in. When the T came to the Foster stop we hugged and she got off.

Liz: We ended up walking back in the hurricane, and we got on the T. I got off on

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

B6

South Street, and he stayed on to get off on Manet, where he lives. We hugged goodbye, and then I went into the storm.

Derek: I would rate the match a 3. I mean, there was never any awkward silences or anything. We laughed a lot, and we had a fun date, but I mean, I don’t think I could see it going any further than just friends.

Liz: I would give the match a 3 and the actual date a 5. I’m friends with his friends, so it’d be cool to hang out.

Derek: I would give the date a 4. We had a lot of fun. We stayed for almost two and a half hours - we had a lot to talk about. We ended up seeing a few of our other friends having dinner there too, so we talked to them for a while as well.

Humor Column.................................B8 True Life....................................B6