The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919
THE HEIGHTS MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2010
Vol. XC, No. 32
THE LUCK OF THE IRISH
www.bcheights.com
Boat Cruise draws 600 students Event organizers report few conduct issues this year BY DANIEL TONKOVICH For The Heights
ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR
The Eagles lost to Notre Dame 31-13 on Sat. night. For more on the game, see page B1.
More than 600 students donned semiformal attire on Friday for the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC) Boat Cruise on Boston Harbor. Student organizers and those in attendance expressed satisfaction with the annual boat cruise, which accounts for $18,000 of the ALC budget for the academic year and is one of its three signature events. “When planning the event, we wanted to create a comfortable and safe environment in which all could have fun and share in diverse company,” said Wintanna Abai, ALC programming co-director and A&S ’11. “Judging from the sellout crowd and positive student responses, I believe we accomplished what we desired to do,” she said. Student disc jockey MacCalvin Romain, CSOM ’11, along with a boatprovided disc jockey, entertained the crowd for more than three hours on the multi-level ship. “Having two levels, each with distinct selections of music, including student suggested songs, allowed for a diverse
Fewer alums holding full-time jobs, data show For The Heights
Boston College graduates are feeling the effects of the still unstable job market, according to a survey recently released by the Career Center. Data compiled by the Office of Institutional Research for the BC graduating class of 2009 exposed a prominent drop in the number of students working fulltime after being out of school for six months. Of the 50 percent of 2009 grads who responded to the survey, only 58.7 percent identified themselves as working full-time for pay, indicating a 5.8 percent drop from the Class of 2008 and a full 8.3 percent drop from 2007 graduates. Theresa Harrigan, director of the Career Center, pointed to the effects of
INSIDE SPORTS
the 2008 recession as the primary factor for many graduates’ inability to secure employment. “It was very challenging for 2009 grads to find work,” Harrigan said. “Jobs that were available a year before were not a year later. If there was a job available [in 2009], students had to be ready and much more strategic about how they approached it.” While the number of graduates working full-time saw a visible drop from the Class of 2008, the number of students engaged in full-time activity, such as those working full-time, attending graduate school, volunteering full-time, and those engaged in post-graduate internships remained relatively static, hovering right around 94 percent. Students were forced to consider alternatives to full-time employment,
ARTS & REVIEW
Actor Chris O’Donnell talks family, acting and his CSOM degree, A10
FEATURES
News Editor
Kevin Porter, CSOM ’11, lies in a circle with a group of friends at the edge of the Dustbowl early Monday morning. It is approaching 1 a.m., and the exterior lights shining from McGuinn Hall are the only source of illumination – allowing Porter and his friends to wrestle playfully on a sliver of green. “Order and progress, my friend,” Porter said. “Order and progress.” In less than 24 hours, the Dustbowl on which Porter and his friends frolic will be enclosed by a chain link fence that won’t
Harrigan said, such as volunteering or post-graduate internships, as many were unable to immediately find jobs heading into the unstable 2009 job market after graduation. Among BC’s individual schools, graduates from the Carroll School of Management (CSOM) and the Connell
See Employment, A4
be taken down until the spring of 2012, leaving a fraction of an area that has served as field space for the University since it moved the Chustnut Hill. Other students gathered late Sunday night to commemorate the closing of the Dustbowl. For juniors and seniors, it’s a farewell. For freshmen and sophomores, it’s a “see-you-soon.” “It’s not so much a celebration,” Porter said. “It’s more of a mourning.” The construction project for which the fence will be built is for Stokes Hall, the first major construction performed under
See Dustbowl, A3
Read about keeping the BC spirit all in the family, B10 Classifieds, A5 Editorials, A6 Police Blotter, A2 Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down, A7 Weather, A2 Numbers to Know, B2 Box Office, A8 World Record, B7 He Said, She Said, B8 Inside the Locker Room, A2
See Boat Cruise, A4
KEVIN HOU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Students celebrate last night in the Dustbowl BY MICHAEL CAPRIO
Government of Boston College (UGBC) Web site, a free photo booth, and a number of complimentary tickets available to those unable to afford the cost of attending the event. “The additions are part of a continuous effort to improve events in order to ensure the best possible student experi-
The Career Center (above) collects annual data on BC alumni employment statuses.
Construction site fences to go up today Notre Dame ambushes BC, takes Holy War, 31-13, B1
selection of music that hopefully satisfied all in attendance,” Abai said. “We were especially fortunate to have student DJ MacCalvin Romain of Swag Media Entertainment to entertain the crowd throughout the night with his music selections.” Several new features were added to the cruise this year, including an event commercial featured on the Undergraduate
Two attempted robberies reported in the Mods
Many volunteers in post-grad internships BY LUCAS HARTY
CECILIA PAVVORINI / HEIGHTS STAFF
Hundreds of BC students attended the ALC Boat Cruise on Boston Harbor Friday night.
MICHAEL CAPRIO / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Students gathered early this morning to honor the Dustbowl, which will be closing later today.
MICHAEL CAPRIO / HEIGHTS EDITOR
A stabbing that occurred last weekend outside Mods 14 A and B led to increased security in the area. Two attempted break-ins were reported by the BCPD in the week following the stabbing.
Security increased in response to recent incidents BY DANIEL MORRISON For The Heights
The Boston College Police Department (BCPD) continues its investigation of two attempted break-ins that occurred in the Mods on Friday, Sept. 24. A resident in the living room of one of the Mods called police around 4 a.m. after hearing someone trying to open the sliding glass door. Police arrived within minutes of being called and set up a visual perimeter around the Mods, said Captain Margaret
Connolly. No one was found fleeing the immediate area and there are no current suspects in the investigation. Lawn furniture strewn about in the backyard of a Mod abutting the one that placed the call led police to what they believe was the second attempted break-in, Connolly said. “Someone thought they heard someone jiggling the slider. But they didn’t really pay that much attention to it,” Connolly said. Police determined that the attempted break-ins did not involve the use of specific tools. “There was no evidence of any kind of burglarious tools whatsoever,” Connolly said.
See Break-ins, A4
Actor returns to speak
BY JENNIFER SCHIAVO AND LEAH HUANG For The Heights
Chris O’Donnell, known for his role in a number of movies and television shows and BC ’92, returned to Boston College on Friday to speak with students about how his time at BC as an undergraduate shaped his values and personal development. The speech, presented to an eager crowd of students in the Heights Room and sponsored by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics, touched upon lessons in O’Donnell’s life that helped to build his career. After graduating, O’Donnell starred in multiple roles in both the movies, including two Batman films, and in television shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy. Currently, O’Donnell is featured in the series NCIS: Los Angeles, a television show on CBS. In his speech, O’Donnell stressed three main points that led to his current success: learning from one’s mistakes,
ANDREW POWELL / HEIGHTS STAFF
preparing for success, and living a “life in balance.” Throughout his presentation, he told students how his experiences at BC contributed to his core values. “I have such great memories from BC, it has been such a huge part of my life,”
See O’Donnell, A4