The Heights November 13, 2017 by The Heights

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HEIGHTS The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

EST. 1919

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2017

WOLFPACK WOES

LAUGHING MEDUSA

Football lost a late lead against NC State, falling to the Wolfpack and losing QB Anthony Brown to injury.

The Laughing Medusa’s collaborative approach to publishing creates a vibrant collection of artwork.

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SPORTS

Board of Regents to Guide Leahy, Trustees The 82-member board held its ﬁrst meeting earlier this month. BY COLE DADY Heights Staff

TIGER TAO / HEIGHTS STAFF

Back on the Court

Men’s basketball has stormed to back-to-back 20+ point victories out of the gate for the ﬁrst time since 2010, B1.

Effects of the End of MCAS Honors Students express Admissions says the program’s termination mixed reactions over the program’s end. won’t impact yield. BY ABIGAIL DRUHOT

BY CAROLINE LEE

Heights Staff

For The Heights

Director of Undergraduate Admission John Mahoney said he does not expect the end of the MCAS Honors Program in 2021 to impact yield for the upcoming Class of 2022. “I do not expect the decision to affect yield on our admitted students from the top 5 percent of the applicant pool,” Mahoney said in an email. Mahoney referenced BC’s academic reputation and rankings as reasons students would continue to accept their admittance, as well as merit scholarships. Honors Program students were always among the students guaranteed four years of housing upon admission. Mahoney said the top 15 percent of the applicant pool will still be guaranteed four years, as was practice before. “Those invited into the Honors Program were drawn from the top 5 percent of the applicant pool, so those students will continue to receive four years of campus housing,” Mahoney said in the email. 

Like most college freshmen, Molly Newcomb, MCAS ’18, came to Boston College excited but uneasy at the thought of trying to make a new life for herself in the midst of thousands of other BC students whom she didn’t know. BC had deemed her one of her class’s most promising students, so upon her acceptance to the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, she was also invited to join the Honors Program that awarded her with smaller, academically challenging classes and Honors housing. Through the program, Newcomb made lasting friendships, forged deep relationships with professors, and grew incredibly as an intellectual individual. So when Rev. Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., Dean of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, announced that the Honors Program would end with the Class of 2021, Newcomb, along with some of her fellow Honors classmates,

was deeply saddened. “It’s one of those things that it’s sad for me to see end because it’s a program that I feel like I gained a lot from,” Newcomb said. “I’m sad about it ending, although in talking with my professors about it ending, I understand why it’s happening.” Others had a more positive response to the decision. “I think it’s really great news for BC,” said Angela Han, MCAS ’18. “It means we’re doing really well and so many smart students are coming that we don’t even need an Honors Program anymore. We should be celebrating.” On Oct. 13, Kalscheur sent out an email to MCAS Honors students announcing the planned end of the program. Founded in 1958, the program was originally created in order to lure academically advanced students to attend BC. The Honors Program provided these students with the opportunity to grow intellectually through a rigorous, interdisciplinary education rooted in the study of the great books of the Western intellectual tradition. Since then, BC has developed into a highly competitive uni-

See Honors Reactions, A3

BC Supports MIT in Suicide Case In all, 18 universities signed an amicus brief backing MIT’s defense. BY AIDAN LATONA For The Heights

AND JAEHUN LEE For The Heights Tragedy struck when eight years ago Han Nguyen, a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, jumped off the roof of a campus building to his death. Now, the Nguyen family is suing MIT for negligence, arguing that the University could have helped prevent his death.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Boston College—along with 17 other Massachusetts universities, including Harvard University, Boston University, and Northeastern University—signed an amicus brief in support of MIT’s defense against the allegations in May. The case was heard by the Massachusetts Supreme Court on Tuesday. The brief contends that MIT should not be held responsible because it sets a precedent that university employees, even those without mental health expertise, are responsible for detecting students at risk of taking their own lives. The signees argue that this precedent would lead to faculty overreacting to situations, in addition to distracting them from their other responsibilities, such as teaching

NEWS: Ralph Nader

The political activist spoke in Gasson last week about the age of Trump...A3

or research. The precedent would also “require non-clinician employees to take actions that would be contrary to existing state and federal statutory law,” the brief argues. “Unlike clinicians, non-clinician university employees have no authority under Massachusetts law to restrain or apply for the involuntary hospitalization of students who may commit self-harm.” University Spokesman Jack Dunn said the University had no further comment, saying the brief reflects BC’s position and that of the other universities that signed on. The 18 universities that signed on to

See MIT, A3

METRO: Boston Grainmaker

Chris Freeman was tired of the fast food industry, so Grainmaker was born........ A8

Boston College has formed a Board of Regents to provide guidance and support to University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and the Board of Trustees on strategic priorities and matters essential to the future of the University, according to a BC press release. This announcement comes one week after BC announced that it will name the planned Institute for Integrated Science and Society after Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller, BC ’82, and his wife, Kim Gassett-Schiller. The 82-member board held its first meeting last week and will congregate each November, according to the release. “Members will provide consultation to the Board of Trustees and the University’s senior leadership to strengthen and advance institutional priorities, serve on advisory committees that examine issues of primary importance to the University, and participate in periodic conference calls and off-campus experiences that

enrich their learning and demonstrate the vibrancy of the Boston College community around the world,” according to the release. Regents are expected to experience and model practices of reflection and discernment “that are hallmarks of student formation at Boston College,” Vice President for Development Beth McDermott said to University Communications, and to prioritize philanthropic support of the University’s current needs and significant longerterm commitments. In the first meeting, Regents were split into four separate committees and discussed various topics, such as improving resources for entrepreneurship on campus, continuing formation in relationship with the Jesuit society, and establishing a committee for the Institute of Integrated Science and Society, according to Patricia Brutten, a member of the Board of Regents. “I think that [the Board of Trustees] wants a higher level of insight into how it can move BC into understanding what the world needs in the 21st century,” Brutten said. Brutten went on to say that many members of the Board have a philanthropic bent and genuinely care about the future of the school. She believes that the Regents, who come from

See Board of Regents, A3

GIBRAN CAROLINE BOYCE / HEIGHTS STAFF

Union Calls on BC to Drop NLRB Appeal Sen. Bernie Sanders’ ofﬁce sent a letter per a union request. BY GIBRAN CAROLINE BOYCE Heights Staff Members of the Boston College Graduate Employees Union gathered in O’Neill Plaza Wednesday to call on the University to drop its appeal with the National Labor Relations Board. The union, which voted for collective bargaining rights with BC in September, held a similar rally last month. Wednesday’s rally was organized specifically on the anniversary of the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. Union members at several other universities, including Harvard University, Boston University, and Northeastern University, also held rallies Wednesday. BC has asked for the NLRB to review its decision in granting the union an election.

INDEX

“Prior to the September union election, Boston College filed a Request for Review with the National Labor Relations Board that is still pending,” University Spokesman Jack Dunn said in an email. “Our position remains that our graduate students are best characterized as students—not employees—and that the collegial relationship that exists between our faculty and students would be irreparably altered through graduate student unionization. In addition, as a faith-based institution, we assert that Boston College should be exempt from the jurisdiction of the NLRB in accordance with the 1979 Supreme Court decision NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago.” Union members said they want to start collective bargaining with the University. “We used our democratic voices as grad students to vote yes to the union,” said Bryn Spielvogel, a Ph.D. candidate

See Union Rally, A3

NEWS.........................A2 METRO....................... A8

The Heights

TOP

things to do on campus this week

A panel of professors and scholars will discuss the state of Haiti and Colombia at an event titled “Foundation for Change: Faculty Perspectives on Health & Education in Haiti & Columbia” on Tuesday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Devlin 221. It is sponsored by several organizations, including the BC Language Laboratory Studies Program.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Tom Rinaldi, author of The Red Bandana: A Life, a Choice, a Legacy, will give a presentation about his book on Welles Crowther, BC ’99, on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Murray Function Room. The lecture is hosted by the Woods College Undergraduate Program and is part of the Woods College Manresa Experience.

The Undergraduate Government of Boston College will host Byron Hurt to discuss hyper-masculinity in popular culture and how it normalizes male violence and affects the LGBTQ+ community. Hurt is an activist, writer, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. The event will be on Tuesday from 7:45 to 9:45 p.m. in Cushing 001.

NEWS Love Your Body Week Panel Discusses Social Media BRIEFS By Isabel Faherty

Prof. Portrayed on Netflix Show

Forty years ago, FBI special agents John Douglas and Robert Ressler joined Boston crime victim expert Ann Burgess in a new research project, looking into the ways that law enforcement officials and civilians understand the concept of a serial killer. Ann Burgess is now a professor in Boston College’s Connell School of Nursing, and her research with the FBI ultimately sparked the recent Netflix series, Mindhunter. Dr. Wendy Carr on Mindhunter is inspired by the partnership among Burgess, Douglas, and Ressler. Burgess, Douglas, and Ressler pioneered a model for criminal profiling at the FBI in the 1970s, and the process was documented by Douglas in his 1995 book, Mindhunter. Burgess told The Huffington Post that the team worked together for over a decade and in 1992, published the Crime Classification Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crimes, which featured their findings on violent crimes. Burgess explained that different details from cases the team encountered would be filed into categories such as victimology, crime scenes, and forensics, while some information would be condensed into quantitative figures. The agents would collect information from the profiles they created and would classify the various aspects of the case into different categories. She told HuffPost that although there were very few female agents and researchers at the FBI at the time, Burgess felt like there was an open communication line for sharing information among the team members. Burgess said she understood why people would be interested in a show like Mindhunter, as many viewers are fascinated with true crime. “Part of it is a fascination, but part of it is a fear. There is so much crime. You don’t want to end up as a victim,” she said to HuffPost. “And that’s something that the agents would emphasize in the field—you would learn something about what had happened in the crime and think, ‘Boy, I’m going to try to not do that, if it ever happened to me.’ So it’s crime prevention as well as it is solving the crime.”

Scientists Make Spin Liquid Fazel Tafti, an assistant professor of physics at Boston College, led a team that created a honeycomb-structured material capable of frustrating the magnetic properties within it in order to produce “spin liquid,” a chemical entity. Spin liquid has been theorized as a gateway to the free-flowing properties of quantum computing. The honeycomb structure exists in a new compound, copper iridate metal oxide. The natural magnetic order in the compound can be disrupted during a state of geometric frustration, Tafti reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The electrons of copper iridate are immobilized in the solid, but they can still transport a magnetic moment known as “spin.” The transport of free spins in the copper iridate allows for a flow of quantum information. Two honeycomb lattices had successfully been developed earlier with other metals, but both were unable to achieve an ideal spin liquid due to their magnetic ordering. Tafti and his team decided to use copper due to its ideal atomic size. “Copper is ideally suited to the honeycomb structure,” Tafti said to The Chronicle. “There is almost no distortion in the honeycomb structure.”

For The Heights

As part of Love Your Body Week, held by the Boston College Women’s Center, four students discussed the health impacts social media has on their lives at BC on Wednesday. They talked about the “unwritten rules” of social media, and how race and gender stereotypes must be addressed in this conversation. A panel featuring Djanan Kernizan, MCAS ’19; Sarah Swallow, MCAS ’18; Joon Park, MCAS ’18; and Peter Rodriguez, CSOM ’18, led the discussion “Insta, Finsta and Reality: A Look at BC’s Unwritten Social Rules.” Each student claimed to be very active on social media, most of them naming Instagram as their platform of choice. Kim Chook, a staff member at the Women’s Center and MCAS ’18, moderated the panel. “Do you think the way we post on social media always has to be appearancebased?” Chook asked the panel. Two members of the panel, Swallow and Park, said they use Instagram as a way to express themselves, similar to a personal diary memorializing good times. They focused on ways to balance pleasing yourself versus pleasing other people. “As a non-binary activist, I find Instagram to be an amazing tool to not necessarily preach, but to voice how I’m feeling with current events,” Park said. “It’s more of a dialogue starting tool. As a queer person of color who just didn’t see enough representation out there … I feel a certain responsibility to break ideas about who’s allowed to be confident. I think with Instagram there’s a certain leeway to perform a confidence that you won’t necessarily see in my day to day life.” Kernizan said her platform does not necessarily represent her, and that she is more than what her Instagram feed looks like. Chook then asked the audience to raise their hands if they thought their social me-

dia represented them as a sort of personal diary. Only a few people raised their hands. But when asked if they worried about how other people see their photos, most of the audience members raised their hands. The panel continued to discuss whether their Instagram accounts were for the purpose of pleasing themselves, or pleasing others, and how to find a balance that is healthiest for them. They determined that being on a college campus has a significant effect on what they post on social media. One audience member said that she has overheard plenty of people at BC criticizing other people’s social media posts. She said that you can either let these judgements control what you post, or you can decide to push back against the haters and do what you want instead. Swallow said that it is important not only to post for oneself, but to make sure one does not judge others for what they post. Judging others only feeds back to this dominant discourse in society, and this idea that somehow clothing, for instance, equates to consent, she said. She said there are plenty of haters who will objectify women, but as females, people have to take back their bodies by posting picture not for likes, but rather to spread a message about feminism. While talking about the unwritten rules of social media, the panel discussed whether it is acceptable or not to post a solo picture. Rodriguez said he thinks it is different for guys and girls, and he might find it odd if a guy did this. Swallow, on the other hand, said we need to be wary of these rules we place on ourselves, and that she would respect a guy for posting a picture of just himself. On the topic of stereotypes, the students discussed how these “unwritten rules” can apply to different races. Swallow acknowledged that a white person, for instance, can do things on social media that would be depicted much differently than if they were posted by a person of color. She says this ultimately shows how Instagram is reflective of these dominant discourses

Alexa Foust / heights staff

Four students talked about the rules and consequences of social media at Boston College. society needs to break down. Kernizan said that she would like to post freely on social media, but due to things she has internalized and stereotypes she faces as a black woman, she does not feel that she can post whatever she likes. Rachel DiBella, assistant director of the Women’s Center, asked the members of panel how they measure or are aware of the extent to which these social media platforms are enhancing their lives, and at what point does it started to detract from their lives. Though many of the panel members previously expressed their love for Instagram and social media, they admitted that too much social media is not healthy. From needing validation from the number of likes received, to losing sleep from wasting time on your phone, Rodriguez, Park, and Kernizan spoke about how social media can lead to unhealthy habits. “Social media is a big community, and when you see a community within that community that you’re not apart of, that’s when it becomes sort of a negative,” Rodriguez said. Park said they do a good job of balancing their time, making an effort to not use their phones in intimate settings with their friends. That being said, Rodriguez said

social media is unhealthy to those who cannot find this balance, and mentioned the dangers of Snapchat stories, for instance, on one’s self esteem. “I literally had to log out of my Instagram because I was feeling physically sick,” Kernizan said. “When you start to feel lonely or left out, and when it starts to affect how you view yourself is when that balance needs to come in.” In many of the audience members’ comments, they admitted that they did not realize until now how they feel the need to be validated by the number of likes on their Instagram posts. The panel ultimately spoke to how social media can impact students and their body images in a positive way as long as they post for themselves, and find a healthy balance between social media and reality. “Let’s just face it, we’re in a digital world and we’re not going to be going back,” Swallow said. “I think there’s something a lot more natural now about taking a photo and expressing how you’re feeling, because that’s the world we’re living in. I don’t think it means you’re some superficial person to want people to know how you’re feeling, but I think it’s an amazing message to portray.” n

Committee Legacy Program to Aid UGBC Transitions By Samantha Karl For The Heights

And Sam Browning For The Heights The Student Assembly (SA) of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College passed a Resolution Concerning a “Committee Legacy Program” and debated a Resolution Concerning a UGBC Stance Against Threats and Personal Attacks on Tuesday. Sponsored by Sam Szemerenyi, MCAS ’20, the “Committee Legacy Program” resolution calls for the creation of a document in Google Drive that works in conjunction with OrgSync to facilitate the transition of committee members from year to year.

The SA hopes that this resolution will benefit the goals and direction of its individual committees as school years end and begin. An amendment was added to the resolution about how the executive vice president of UGBC will transfer the Google Doc to OrgSync, a file-storage platform used by the SA, at the end of each semester. This resolution calls for documents to be submitted to the executive vice president for approval to be made available in the “Committee Legacy Program” folder for future use. The resolution then passed unanimously. The resolution was co-sponsored by Andrew Meek, MCAS ’18, Nicholas Stubblefield, MCAS ’20, and Brigid Kel-

ley, MCAS ’19. Also sponsored by Szemerenyi, the “UGBC Stance Against Threats and Personal Attacks,” affirms publicly that UGBC condemns any action that violates the Student Code of Conduct put forth by BC and infringes on the rights of BC students. The resolution also calls to encourage an open dialogue with students and administration to work towards positive and lasting change to BC’s community. Connor Kratz, MCAS ’18, opposed the resolution, on account of his concern regarding the response of the school community. “[The resolution] would create a lot of anger and resentment that would resurface,” Kratz said.

Szemerenyi responded in defense of the Code of Conduct to justify the resolution’s support of rules established by BC’s administration. “We support the rights of every member of our student body,” Szemerenyi said. “Not releasing this statement means we’re leaving certain people to the wayside.” Caroline Monnes, MCAS ’19, said that it is out of the SA’s power to endorse or oppose actions of students that have not been investigated by the administration. SA will continue debate of the resolution at its next meeting. “It is not our responsibility to make statements like this,” Monnes said. “We enter dangerous territory when we speak on this.” n

POLICE BLOTTER: 11/8/17 – 11/10/17 Wednesday, Nov. 8

ing a suspicious circumstance at an off-campus location.

7:46 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in McGuinn Hall.

Thursday, Nov. 9

8:14 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a fire alarm activation in Devlin Hall.

12:17 a.m. - A report was filed regarding disorderly conduct on Campanella Way.

12:38 p.m. - A report was filed regard-

1:30 p.m. - A report was filed regarding

a suspicious circumstance at Walsh Hall.

Friday, Nov. 10

6:16 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Merkert Chemistry Center.

3:17 a.m. - A report was filed regarding found property on Campanella Way.

10:11 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a well-being check at the Modular Apartments,

5:23 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Health Services.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

CORRECTIONS What are your feelings about the temperature drop? “I don’t like it. It’s too cold.” —Elizabeth Benedict, MCAS ’21

“I love the cold.” —Kathleen McNamara, MCAS ’19

“I hate it.”—Abby Schlageter, MCAS ’21

“I wish there was more of a fall.” —Caitlin Delaney, MCAS ’21

In the article “Class of 2021 Most Diverse in BC’s History” last week, it stated that Director of Undergraduate Admission John Mahoney did not respond to an interview request, but that is not true. He did respond, and he said he did not wish to comment.

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

Students Discuss End of MCAS Honors Program Honors Reactions, from A1 versity that has little difficulty attracting superior students. “The pressing needs that led to creation of the Honors Program nearly 60 years ago no longer exists today,” Kalscheur wrote in his letter. Although faculty had been discussing whether the program should end for years, some students were surprised and even dismayed at the perceived suddenness of the decision. “They never gave us any warning,” said Elaina Gray, MCAS ’18. “The first time we found out it was closing was after they already decided it was closing. They didn’t give us an opportunity to say, ‘No, we don’t want that to happen. This is how much it means to us.’ Now, it’s too late.” Chris Constas, a professor in Honors who had also graduated from the program in 1988, did not expect for students to be taken off guard. Constas will take over as director of the Perspectives Program in Fall 2019, and will start as associate director next year. “I find myself surprised that anyone can find it sudden because this has been an open conversation for years about the future of the honors program, and there was always the possibility that it could end,” Constas said. “There has been a long discussion about it. Students have been consulted.” Conversation about ending the Honors Program began over five years ago with Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, the then Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. During that time, Quigley and other faculty established that they could not make any major decisions about the future of the Honors Program until the school had first figured out another project that had been going on at the time: the renewal of the University Core Curriculum. In 2015, BC started offering a newly modified Core, consisting of Complex Problems and Enduring Questions courses. These courses were designed to provide students with a set of interdisciplinary courses that would challenge them to meaningfully connect the material they learned across their various classes—the Honors Program had been offering students a similar type of education. With the renewed Core in place, Kalscheur determined that the Honors Program was no longer necessary. The belief is that the Complex Problems and Enduring Questions sections of the Core, along with BC’s Perspectives program, would expand the broad, interdisciplinary education of the Honors Program to a greater range of

students. “I know that BC’s been reworking the Core,” said Rachel Piccolino, MCAS ’18, who has been in the program since her freshman year. “The reasons for ending it definitely do make sense to me. I just wish they had tried to rework the honors program instead of getting rid of it completely.” Erik Jinsuk Lee, MCAS ’18, also expressed concern. “I’m sad that future generations of BC undergraduates won’t get to experience Professor Newmark’s wonderful insight into the philosophical world of the 20th century, or Breines’s captivating discourse on Dostoyevsky,” Lee said. Other similarly disappointed students may find relief in knowing that the school does indeed plan on keeping the spirit and the education of the Honors Program alive, as well as the professors, well after the program officially ends. “I think what [students] are concerned about is that that kind of education—interdisciplinary, broad-based general education in the humanities—is going to go away,” Constas said. “And it’s not, because it already exists in Perspectives and what we’re going to try to do is make the Perspectives Program serve more students….” In his new role with Perspectives, Constas will be heavily involved in developing the program to bring to it the same components of the Honors Program. Constas will make it a top priority that the small classes and academically challenging atmosphere of the Honors Program continue on into the Perspectives Program. Only now, the program will be reaching many more students. As for professors, Constas explained that from the start, Kalscheur had established that no professors would lose their jobs after the program ended. Instead, professors will go into teaching Perspectives courses, other Core classes, or they will continue teaching within their own departments. Christian Wilson, MCAS ’18, a current honors student is hopeful about the future. “There’s plenty of brilliant people at BC, so allowing people to self-select a Perspectives Program is kind of a smart decision because you might reach people better suited for that kind of learning,” Wilson said. “It’s not the end of that kind of education—it’s just the end of a particular status you would give to incoming students at BC,” Constas said. “We’re not going to have that anymore, but hopefully, we can start serving more students.” n

BC, 17 Mass. Schools Back MIT in Suicide Case MIT, from A1 the brief cite on-campus mental health resources that they provide as evidence of their efforts to prevent self-harm. At BC, more than 1,800 students utilize University Counseling Services every year for assistance with a wide range of different issues, according to a letter from the Director of UCS Craig Burns. UCS provides one-on-one counseling and psychotherapy for students. Nguyen had been in contact with his professors about his mental health issues before his death, but his parents allege that MIT is partially responsible for his suicide because they say its faculty did not fulfill its obligation to provide him with the aid necessary to prevent it. As a 2015 Boston.com article states, the family’s attorney pointed to an exchange between Nguyen and one

of his professors, Birger Wernerfelt, shortly before the suicide, in which Wernerfelt “read him the Riot Act,” as he told his colleague Drazen Prelec moments after. MIT argued, however, that faculty had made efforts to help Nguyen. According to The Globe, faculty “gave him extra time [on] … exams and were committed to passing him.” MIT also pointed out that Nguyen had rejected MIT’s counseling services, opting instead to see outside professionals. MIT has struggled with student suicide for years. Despite having one of the most comprehensive college counseling programs in the country, a 2015 Boston Globe analysis of public records found MIT’s suicide rate to be 12.5 per 100,000 people, almost double the national average for universities of 7.5 suicides per 100,000 people. n

Tiger Tao / heights staff

Nader Talks Activism in Age of Trump By Mary Wilkie For The Heights Ralph Nader was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential Americans of the 20th century because of his dedication as a consumer activist. In Gasson 100 Wednesday evening, he stressed the importance of proactive civilian intervention and activism in American democratic government at an Undergraduate Government of Boston College-organized event. Nader made the purpose of civil engagement clear throughout his talk, speaking of it as the basis for all political advancements. “Democracy doesn’t work without civic engagement,” he said. “You can’t start with political engagement, you can’t start with economic institutions, you have to start with citizens.” Nader stressed the small amount of civil unrest that is necessary to elicit a response from the government. To do so only requires 1 percent of the group involved to participate in civil disobedience for public interest, he argued. Civil engagement is not a Republican problem, or a Democrat problem—citizens of both parties ought to be involved in political processes in order to fully exercise their rights, according to Nader. He said that Congress would take advantage of the population less often if civilian members of these opposing parties were to unite. Thus,

the U.S. needs active citizens who summon their representatives to advocate for their needs and truly represent them. “Why don’t we pull together liberals and conservatives who agree on a whole lot of things that you never hear about?” he said. “The divide and rule strategy of the plutocracy and their political allies is to emphasize where the right and left ar eat each others throats.” Taking into account the daily needs of citizens, some of the major issues discussed politically should not create an argument among politicians if there is a consensus among civilians. He explained, however, the four biggest excuses people express to defend their lack of political engagement: no time, unaware of ways to participate, sensitivity to political harshness, and ineffectiveness of their efforts. Nader identified the education system’s inability to provide civic skills in secondary and higher education as an important contribution to the absence of civil participation in governmental processes. To remedy this, Nader said that books must be utilized more in order to inspire young people to act. The fleeting nature of information via technology does not allow lengthy engagement with one particular subject, he said. “[You] have to be booked, otherwise you’re hooked on the internet,” he said. Students, he said, are in a good position

to begin exercising civic duties and activism because of the opportunity to learn from professors who are experts in their fields and free space to congregate and organize active groups. If students learn how to exercise and appreciate them in these formative years, these resources can become available to the entire public. He appealed to the BC students in particular, saying, “We have a vocational system of education—we don’t train for civic advocacy, we don’t train for civic experience we don’t provide students with the skills. How many students at BC know how to use the Freedom of Information Act?” “You are in the top 1 percent of your ability to do it, your idealism to do it, your health, and the fact that you have the constitution at your back,” he said. “But you can’t get started until you make a personal decision called civic motivation.” With this drive, politicians and lawmakers can be more representative of the population as a whole because of their direct interactions with those whom they are representing. By taking control of the opportunities available in the democratic system, citizens can ensure that they are satisfied and appreciative of the state of the U.S. “The opportunity to help people live in a more just society is supreme—I don’t consider it a privilege, he said. “What’s the alternative?” n

Regents to Offer Input on Strategy Board of Regents, from A1 all walks of life, offer the Trustees a unique perspective on the world—possibly one with a more global focus. The Board of Regents is composed of alumni, current and former BC parents, and friends of the University, who are from both the U.S. and abroad, McDermott said. Brutten said that the Regents are well equipped to address challenges faced in the world and

will make valuable contributions to BC. BC originally formed a Board of Regents in 1960 to advise the University on the short- and long-term planning for new facilities and the methods of financing them. However, the University abolished it in 1968. The Board includes two University Trustees: John F. Fish, chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction Company, and Christian W.E. Haub, the Co-CEO of the

Tengelmann Group. Fish is the board’s inaugural chair. “I am thrilled to join a group of accomplished alumni and BC parents from around the globe who have agreed to lend their wisdom and experience in service to Boston College,” Fish said to University Communications. “The Board of Regents will expand our scope of influence and input and will be a critical factor to Boston College achieving its strategic goals.” n

Union Rally Again Calls for Appeal Drop Union Rally, from A1 in the Lynch School of Education. “We want to sit down at the negotiating table, talk to administration and make a positive change.” Also on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont sent several universities, including BC, a letter asking them to support their respective unions. The union reached out to Sanders’s office to request the letter, an organizer said. “As an internationally prestigious institution of higher learning, I hope very much that you will set an example throughout the world by supporting the democratic decision made by graduate students and teaching assistants who voted to form a

union,” Sanders said. “To appeal this decision to an anti-worker, Trump-appointed National Relations Labor Board (sic) is not something that a world class institution of higher learning should do. “To my mind, it would be a huge mistake to attempt to roll back these workers’ rights to organize,” Sanders said. Gage Martin, a graduate student in math, spoke at the rally as well, addressing the issue of sexual harassment and assault in academia. “It feels like every day there is a new story of a man abusing his power and perpetuating sexual assault,” Martin said. “This is not just a problem in Hollywood or Washington D.C. It is endemic to academia as well.” Priya Lal, a history professor, spoke at

the rally about the importance of fighting for the rights of workers. “Now more than ever is the time to appreciate the power for education to create a better world, to materially value the world of teachers and politically recognize their rights,” Lal said. Among all other grievances, many graduate students felt this matter was especially important, due to how much BC labor demands of them on top of schoolwork and other jobs, according to graduate student Michael Bailey. “I cannot be the best TA I can be if I am hungry, if I cannot afford rent, if sexual assault is happening in my environment or affecting people I know or myself,” Bailey said. n

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

After Fighting Cancer, Havens Uses Medicine to Serve Others By Ashley Stauber Heights Staff Everything does not happen for a reason. Lauren Havens, MCAS ’18, has stood behind that belief throughout her time at Boston College. Havens was just 16 years old when she was diagnosed with spitzoid melanoma, a rare form of adolescent cancer. The diagnosis, which ultimately kept her out of school for about two months, was initially devastating. The stressful wave of AP classes, SAT scores, and college decisions looming on the horizon had seemed like the biggest problem in her life, but now she was faced with this new challenge. But she faced it head on, and with treatment the cancer went into remission. Even though some side effects still linger, she believes they remind her of her purpose. While she was accepted to BC and continued on her academic path as she would have before, her life was permanently altered by the experience. Most importantly, it gave her a different perspective and enhanced her understanding of how precious life is. Her doctor’s appointments, including one with an oncologist every six months, remain a constant reminder of how quickly everything can change. “Why not take advantage of all of these opportunities because what do I have to lose?” Havens said. Having gone through treatment, Lauren knows what it means to struggle. Throughout her treatment, she was constantly supported by the doctors and medical professionals who cared for her. She was inspired by their medical expertise and skill, but more so by how they treated her while she was going through that difficult and frightening time. “The experience of my doctors really caring about me as a person gave me direction,” Havens said. Fast forward about six years and countless hours of hard work later, Havens is continuing to take advantage of each opportunity as a senior here at BC. She recently received an American Society of Microbiology Undergraduate Research Fellowship BC grant for $4,000 through one of the largest organizations of microbiology in the United States, the American Society of Microbiology (ASM). This is the latest achievement in her years of pursuing scientific research. Since the beginning of her sophomore year, she has worked

under professor Tim van Opijnen, an associate professor in the biology department. She studies how strep viruses attach to nasal cells. By characterizing around 33 strains of the strep virus, they can identify virulence factors that will allow them to find out how to develop new, stronger antibiotics. Soon, she plans to delve into how the virus affects cells in the lungs. “She has a lot of energy and I have helped her in the experience but I also know that I can count on her to help me,” said Federico Rosconi, a postdoctoral fellow and Havens’s mentor in the lab. As part of the fellowship, she will be attending ASM’s 2018 Microbe Academy for Professional Development from June 7 to 11 in Atlanta, where she will present her research. Getting to this success has been a long, arduous process for Havens. It began the spring semester of her junior year. Her days consisted of poring over research papers and journals in the hope of gathering more information on the nature of the cells coupled with careful scrutiny of their behavior. Carefully using a genetic identification method called transposon sequencing to determine the presence and absence of genes in a genome, she hoped to learn what had made certain strep strains resistant to antibiotics. If she could pinpoint an answer, she’d be one step closer to combatting these resistant strains. Havens and her fellow researchers found themselves frequently frustrated by the intricacies of the process. Just when they thought their efforts were finally paying off, the cells would surprise them and force them to rethink their whole process. “Science is a lot of failure before you get a success,” Havens said. But now, with the new grant money and her success in the research thus far, she is closing in on her goals and continuing to develop new ideas and solutions. Her motivation for this research goes far beyond simple success and achievement. In many ways, it goes back to those doctors who helped her make it through her sickness. She doesn’t just want to research for the sake of researching, she wants to give back. At BC, she’s made every effort to use her medical research interests to serve others. During her sophomore year, she went to Chiapas, Mexico, as a part of the Arrupe Service Immersion program where she had time to interact

Sam Zhai / heights staff

Havens researches antibiotic resistant bacteria to help develop new, more effective treatments for impoverished areas. and listen to locals from the community and hear their stories. “I think that human interaction is so important and a lot of times people are so focused on getting all of those things that you are supposed to be getting that a lot of times the genuine human interaction is really downplayed,” Havens said. Lauren has been an active member of GlobeMed on campus since her freshman year. She’s valued her time leading small groups in discussions on global health issues. GlobeMed has enhanced her interest in advocacy, global health equity, and sustainable development and a previous grant from GlobeMed National was what allowed her to travel to India where she worked with an OBGYN who ran a clinic on Sundays that focused on rural development and health outcomes such as education, poverty levels, and access to clean water. “These experiences were so crucial to communicating information to each other and establishing trust as foreigners,” Havens said. Havens described a particular instance during the trip when she witnessed Mahila Mandal, a gathering in India where respected women in the community are able to share their experiences and influence others in their discussions about hygiene, health, and gender discrimination issues.

Havens, who attended one almost everyday during her trip to India this past summer before her senior year, was able to learn how methods in India are being used to make women agents of their own change. All of these experiences with service have enhanced her understanding of the human element in medicine and affirmed her commitment to helping others through her research. Her summer experience in India showed her which populations she wants to work with in the future. Before traveling, she was told that the antibiotic resistance in India was so severe that she couldn’t take certain antibiotics since they would not have any effect. Lower- to middle-income countries are hit the hardest by antibiotic resistance because they can’t afford the necessary medications until it is already too late to implement them. “This opened my eyes to the excitement of doing scientific research and providing the backbone that doctors rely on,” Havens said. She sees the problem as something that can be fixed, and not just something to be sad about. Combating antibioticresistant diseases and figuring out ways to get the necessary medicine to impoverished areas is an ambitious goal that would affect many lives. Havens dreams of becoming a doctor—she’s especially interested in public

health and sustainability in working with the homeless and refugee populations with a specific focus on women’s health. She’s interested in pursuing clinical research and said that working at Boston Health Care with Homeless patients was particularly influential in this realization. “Women’s health cuts at the intersection of other groups because when you are looking at women’s health you also have to acknowledge the LGBTQ population and how that intersects with access to health and quality care,” Havens said. She has taken this interest to every aspect of her work and continues to bring together her wider-ranging interests in medicine, service, and international aid together. “I was really impressed with her ability to connect the intersections across really all her course work,” said Kristin Heyer, a theology professor who has taught and mentored Havens. It is this authentic desire for change fueled by her own personal life experiences and passion for social justice that distinguishes Havens from others in her highly competitive field. “I’m not in it for the prestige,” Havens said. “Most times community doctors are not paid as highly as other doctors but that’s not really what I’m after anyways so I don’t really care so much.” n

Walker Restarts Students for Soldiers Club to Serve Veterans By Ashley Stauber Heights Staff With one jolt from behind her, Margaret Walker, MCAS ’18, was no longer unbreakable. Still fresh off the high of getting her driver’s license the month before, a 16year-old Walker was driving her sister home from tennis practice when she was rear-ended by a car traveling over 50 miles per hour. She suffered a bulged disc and a fractured spine in the process, but neither of these compared to her fractured sense of identity. Throughout high school she had been known as “the soccer girl,” a persona she held with pride after countless years of playing the sport that she loved since preschool. Walker fought against her injuries to keep up with the part of her personality that was most important. Until the end of her junior year of high school, she continued to play soccer despite her back issues by wearing her hard back brace throughout the day and then taking it off during soccer practice. The pressure of college recruiting season and her love of the sport fueled her to push through the pain. Despite her

toughness, however, at the end of junior year she realized how much she needed to give her back a real chance to heal. After taking some time off, she was forced to accept that she could never pick up the same speed and strength in playing that she had had before her accident. Despite her talent and grit, the caustic turbulence of fate ultimately forced her to give up on her dream of playing soccer at a college level. Coming into her freshman year at Boston College, she struggled to carve a new identity for herself and remained frustrated and upset by her situation until her sophomore year. Watching BC soccer games was an experience too agonizing for her heart to take. Walker is not one to mope around, however. Buoyed by the support of her new friends at BC and her own curious mind, Walker soon enveloped herself in the world of science as a biochemistry major. Her dreams of being a doctor allowed her to find her new identity. She endearingly refers to herself as a science nerd and specifically wants to work in orthopedic spine trauma. She additionally credited the support of her family and especially her best friend,

Sam Zhai / heights staff

After suffering a back injury at 16, Walker wants to help others overcome trauma.

Richard Wilson, MCAS ’18, for helping her realize the reality of her situation and still be hopeful. Wilson, coming from a very religious background, helped her to relocate her sense of purpose. “I told her that there’s always a reason for everything, and even though she can’t play the sport that she loves, as a doctor she can save lives and that will be her impact,” he said. While Walker is not particularly religious herself, Wilson’s words inspired her to seek new possibilities. “Whether or not this happened to me for a reason, I can make a reason out of it and make the most of it and focus on my studies and becoming a doctor to help people in even more traumatic situations,” Walker said. She still has issues with her back and has to be careful to avoid certain exercises and activities so that she doesn’t injure herself further. To keep on strengthening her back she does her own physical therapy exercises, displaying her commitment to her recovery. Despite her strong-willed persona, Walker is caught in a constant state of caution. The constant reminder of her injury motivates her to help others so that they do not have to go through the same emotional and physical experience that she did. Thus, she joined Students for Soldiers due to her passion for helping others through trauma, as well as her patriotism that is embedded in a deep respect for soldiers serving our country. “I don’t have the courage to fight on the front lines, but I think this is the best way that I could help those who do risk losing their lives everyday,” Walker said. Walker is president of Students for Soldiers, which originally started in 2013. The club served as a way for BC students to show their gratitude to veterans by volunteering in the community with veterans, hearing their stories, fundraising to support them, and assembling care packages for them. While the club had been active at the begin-

ning of first semester last year, Walker was puzzled to find out that going into second semester the club had been deactivated due to unfulfilled requirements within the Office of Student Involvement system. Undeterred, she tried to contact the president of the club to no avail before contacting OSI directly. After formally hearing from OSI that the club had been deactivated, Walker gained the office’s permission to restart Students for Soldiers. Walker hopes to reinvent the club with a particular focus on directly meeting with veterans as opposed to fundraising. The club is currently working on how to become involved with an annual charity dinner that takes place for veterans in the Boston area. She’s always had a passion for art, soldiers, and veterans and wanted to find a way to work with them at BC. Her own grandfather was in the International Guard and Walker herself wants to be a military doctor potentially in the army sector after going to medical school. She is confident that the military will always have a role in her life and credits Students for Soldiers for setting her off in the right direction. After graduating from BC, she plans to go to medical school, particularly the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University. If not there, Walker hopes to go to medical school back in her hometown of Chicago and then join the military afterward. The idea of performing service for others as a career is non-negotiable in her mind. Her desire to help those around her extends beyond her studies and even Students for Soldiers. During her freshman year, she went on a medical mission trip to Peru, where she worked with people who did not have access to clean drinking water. While at an orphanage there, she met a little girl who was visibly enchanted by her camera. Walker proceeded to show the girl her camera and they even ended up taking a selfie together. “It hit me that something like a camera, something that was so common to me and

that I hadn’t thought twice about, was so mesmerizing to this little girl who had never seen one before,” Walker said. She volunteered throughout her her junior year at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and this past summer also volunteered at a hospital in Colorado, where she gained experience in an emergency room working with people with traumatic brain injuries. One particular instance that stuck with her involved a newborn baby that kept having seizures and the doctors could not identify a cause. What really moved her about this situation was the fact that she never found out what happened to the baby, which bothered her deeply. Even though doctors never usually see a patient through their ordeal in an emergency room and beyond, she feels prepared to face these sorts of gruesome situations and is not repelled by trauma due to her own history of spinal trauma. Her work with patients with traumatic brain injuries over the summer at the hospital in Colorado through the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center involved her taking them mountain biking and climbing, things they normally could not do from their wheelchairs if the program had not offered them the chance. “I want to be able to help people who have had traumatic situations like that just because I know what it was like and I know how frustrating it was to go through something like that at such a young age,” Walker said. With her time at BC winding down, she has taken advantage of many opportunities to enhance her spiritual growth. She dabbled in the Buddhism club freshman year and now studies it further in a class, which has impacted her. She was a leader for Kairos and loved how the experience emphasized connection with others. While she is a little sad to leave BC, she is excited to start her career in the real world and help others in a bigger way. “I feel like my life would be wasted if I didn’t use the blessings that I have to do good for others,” she said. n

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

At United Nations, Davis Researches Yemeni Civil War By Timmy Facciola Heights Staff

Molly Davis, MCAS ’18, discovered that the best-kept secret at the United Nations lies in the room overlooking Manhattan’s East River. The small room was a place to relax. On lunch breaks, in the lush blue and gold chairs, Davis would often read in preparation for her thesis, and sometimes nap like royalty. The seats were gifted by a Saudi Arabian Prince. These peaceful moments were precious to Davis, moments of respite in the middle of days full of long, complicated work. In her time working at the U.N. in the Department of Political Affairs, Davis ate, breathed, and slept Middle Eastern diplomacy. Davis has been fascinated with other countries since she was a kid. Her aunt and uncle were professors, and when they went on sabbatical to different spots around the world, Davis and her family would go to visit. She has been everywhere, from Japan and Southeast Asia to Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. “Growing up in Chicago in a fairly protected community I was really excited to experience the world outside,” Davis said. “I was interested in what other children were doing and how other children lived.” In high school, Davis’s curiosity about the world became focused on the Middle East when she read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. The novel tells of the struggle of women under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Davis was drawn to the novel because it was her first time reading a female perspective of the Middle East. But she was uneasy because even this telling account of misogyny and oppression was written by a man. She decided she wanted to give more voice to women in such restrictive countries. Davis began fundraising for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in high school and became familiar with the organization, which provides humanitarian relief for children and parents in developing countries. In the summer of 2016, she landed an internship at UNICEF as an assistant to the Community Development Fellow. That

summer, Davis visited schools, camps, and donors’ homes to raise awareness about the organization. While at UNICEF, she was also responsible for promoting Kid Power Bands. Sponsored by Disney and Target, the band looks similar to a FitBit and counts steps taken as points. Points accumulate and earn food packets for kids in-need across the globe. The idea for the band came from two statistics: a quarter of American children are considered inactive and a quarter of children worldwide are malnourished. Much of the Kid Power Band work brought Davis to underprivileged neighborhoods in Chicago. Hers was not a charity mission, as many of the American kids she met were in their own difficult situations. Davis sought to help kids in Chicago understand the concept of global citizenship, and hoped to show kids in need of help that they too could help others. After that summer with UNICEF, Davis was confident it was the organization to which she wanted to dedicate her career. But she felt she needed another perspective on international relations. While abroad in Vietnam in Spring 2017, Davis applied to three internships at the U.N. and received a call to interview for a position in the Middle East and West Asia Desk of the Department of Political Affairs. She was offered the internship, but the human resources department had overlooked the fact that she was an undergrad. The position was intended for graduate students. “Please,” she said. “I’ll work so so so hard.” They took her word for it and assigned her to cover Yemen. Between February and May, she read everything she could about Yemen. On her first day in Manhattan, it was pouring rain. “I hung around the office for a while introducing myself to people and someone came up and said ‘They’re discussing Iraq in the Security Council, do you want to go?’” Davis jumped at the opportunity. She took her seat right behind the semicircle table around which the delegates routinely sit and was only a few yards

Sam ZHai / heights Staff

During her time at the United Nations, Davis sat in on security council meetings with U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley.

away from U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Davis’s boss was not the typical intern overseer and never tasked her with coffee runs. Instead, she was encouraged to sit in on whatever interesting meeting was going on that day. This came with a few limits, as some U.N. meetings require a level of security clearance higher than that which is typically given to interns. But Davis had her own classified information to work with. The conflict in Yemen is particularly complicated because of the lack of on-the-ground media outlets. Davis was responsible for compiling what small amount of information she could get her hands on—mainly cholera statistics and death counts in bombings and shootings—into a report for the Secretary General. The report was then passed on to the media, who used it as a primary source for reporting on the conflicts in Yemen. Despite the fact that Yemen is currently experiencing the world’s largest

civil war and humanitarian crisis, it receives little attention because few Western countries have any interests there. The civil war is being fought between the current government and Houthi rebels, who are allied with Yemen’s former president. Both sides are responsible for human rights abuses, which further complicates the matter. There are no clear good guys. The civil war has made Yemen a difficult place to live. Such conditions might drive other people away from their countries, but in Yemen there is nowhere for refugees to flee. Neighboring Saudi Arabia and Oman want nothing to do with outsiders and would prefer to focus on their lucrative oil operations. Despite the grave danger posed to Yemeni citizens, Davis sometimes worried how easily her job could seem like typical office work. The U.N. requires a graduate degree in order to do ground work. Her fellow interns were all grad students who hailed from Egypt, New Zealand, Russia and South Korea and

logged hours working in peace-adverse countries. Davis found she sometimes lacked the ability to experience how her office’s work was specifically translating into saved lives. “I would read all these horrible statistics and it felt like nothing was getting done,” she said. “I know things are technically happening and I know the U.N. does great things. But it was discouraging to see money spent on something and ask ‘Why isn’t this going to cholera relief?’” Nevertheless, Davis is determined to continue pursuing a career in international aid work. After graduating in May, Davis hopes to pursue a fellowship at UNICEF and then go on to grad school. With a graduate degree, she knows she wants to gain experience working in conflict-ridden countries. “To understand the work you’re doing you need to be with the people,” Davis said. “You have to keep grounding yourself and recognizing your work is important because it’s somebody’s life.” n

The Human Aspect: Schneider Helps Abuse Victims in Queens By Brooke Kaiserman Heights Staff Samantha Schneider, MCAS ’18, walked into the Queens District Attorney office. “How’re you doing, Charlie?” she asked. A disgruntled Charlie, who had quit his previous job of 15 years at a private law firm in order to “save his soul,” replied that after leaving work at 3 a.m., he had slept for an hour, showered, kissed his sleeping wife goodbye, and then arrived back at the office before sunrise. Charlie’s experience only begins to encapsulate the demands of working in the domestic violence bureau, as Schneider, who spent last summer as an intern there, would soon discover. After experiencing the welcoming, open environment of Boston College, as well as its quintessential New England campus, Schneider knew she wanted to attend BC. The many opportunities offered, such as the PULSE program, appealed to her and offered a way to interact with the environment around her and connect with people to a degree unmatched by other universities. As a freshman, she was captivated by her psychology courses and the reasoning behind behaviors of the human mind. She decided to commit to a major in psychology, but she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she just couldn’t see herself pursuing a typical psychology-based career path. Luckily, her logical thought processes as well as the way she mediated conflicts with others pointed her toward her true vocation: law. Playing devil’s advocate came naturally to her—she remembers spending her freshman year in a cramped forced triple, arguing with her roommates about seeing the other side of their disagreements. Even if she didn’t associate with the other person’s opinion, her persistent empathy as well as her interest in psychology constantly encouraged her to understand the reasoning behind a particular thought process or course of action. She began to look more closely into the possibilities of going pre-law. Like many budding lawyers and pre-law students, one question haunted her: would she be able to

defend someone she knew was guilty? As she began to have more conversations with her peers and let her natural tendency to think like a lawyer take hold, however, she began to realize the complexities behind such an oversimplified connotation. “I don’t think the term ‘guilty’ is as set in stone as we think it is,” Schneider said. “I think there’s so much more depth to that. There are two sides to every story and it’s so important to hear both sides.” Last summer, Schneider decided to get some real-life experience in the field of law to increase her exposure and perhaps narrow her focus. She applied to a variety of different internships. From working with small businesses or big college organizations to overviewing legal matters in a law office, the opportunities seemed endless. Unexpectedly, Schneider was accepted to an internship concerning an area she was extremely unfamiliar with. She would be working directly with victims of domestic abuse at the district attorney in Queens, N.Y. Even though she applied for the job seeking to challenge herself and dive headfirst into uncharted waters, it wasn’t one of her top choices. In fact, her lack of experience in the area of domestic abuse cases and her apprehension toward the heaviness of the cases almost stopped her from applying altogether. When asked why she pursued this internship specifically, she simply replied, “This one came back.” But that doesn’t mean she had a negative experience in Queens. In fact, it was quite the opposite. As the state side of the law, the Queens DA’s office represents the people. It consists of several smaller sections, including the domestic violence bureau, which specifically covered partner domestic violence. Unlike other offices, the atmosphere when Schneider came in to work bright and early every morning was bustling and full of positive energy. Despite the gravity of the subject matter, the employees and interns made a collective effort to make their workspace a happy environment, which Schneider believes was integral to handling the heavy and emotionally taxing content. On a typical day at the office, Schneider would greet her boss, assistant district attorney Brian Kotowsky, and check in

with him about if he would be in court, his office, or meeting with victims during the day. She would then grab her stack of 20 to 30 blue manila files and peruse them for any missing information regarding the scene of the incident or the backstory of the subject. She would then reach out to the victims over the phone—some would answer, more would not. Her next resort would be meeting directly with police officers to glean as much evidence as possible and fill in any missing evidence. She would always inquire what the first thing that happened when the police arrived on the scene was, listening for any mention of an “excited utterance,” which is a statement made when the victim is in a hysterical state in response to a traumatic incident, which under the rule of law can be used in the court case as part of the police’s statement. After conducting police interviews, which would generally take about three hours, Schneider devoted the rest of her day interviewing victims and hearing their stories. This was the hardest, as well as the most gratifying, part of the job for Schneider. Talking to the victims allowed her to fill in the large gaps of the case at hand, and also put a face to the file that she had been studying and building for days. Connecting with them on a personal level was always one of Schneider’s top priorities. She would always make sure to give the victims her phone number and encourage them to reach out. Some of them began calling daily. Often times, she would see repeat victims who would come back into the office time and time again, each time getting more comfortable around her and revealing pieces of themselves they had kept hidden for so long. “Ironically, the [cases] that ended up being the most complicated usually started as the most simple, or the most far-fetched ones coming in,” she said. These background interviews would often reveal complexities dating back years. Despite often hearing of years and years of emotional and physical abuse, each case only concerned one isolated incident. This was especially hard for Schneider, who had to work to prevent bias from clouding the case at hand. While a case could simply concern the victim

being slapped in the face on the surface level, Schneider would carry around horrifying information, such as the victim being choked on a daily basis or isolated from the world. Her work in Queens was particularly stimulating because of Queens’ demographics—it’s the most ethnically and linguistically diverse county in the nation. There, she learned about languages she’d never known existed, often relying on the help phone translations or even victims’ children. Immigration status wasn’t a contender in the Queens DA’s cases, so many of the victims had recently immigrated to the United States and were unfamiliar with the legal system, which Schneider often had to clarify. With each victim, she made sure to give them the necessary background they needed and explain that she was there to protect them. Although Schneider expected hearing the painful stories of the victims to be hard, something she didn’t predict was how many victims would choose not to proceed with their cases, even if it was clear that there had been a vast history of abuse. It took her a while to process why people would struggle with pressing charges. Now, she has a better understanding of the issue, as she’s chosen to take a psychology course at BC called Interpersonal Violence, taught by Amy Tishelman. The class concerns the psychology behind the actions of domestic abuse victims, as well as the “legal, psychological, and social ramifications of extracting women and children from abusive homes.” But this doesn’t mean it wasn’t still difficult even recalling the tragedy of many of the cases and stories she heard. Schneider cites cases involving pregnant women, children, and medical dependencies on abusive partners as the hardest. Many of the victims would bring the children in with them, often acting as translators or providing emotional support. “Some of [the children] were my age, some of them were my sibling’s age, and some of them were young,” Schneider said. “It really affected me, just seeing the resilience of the kids, or the fear in their eyes, or so many tears as people retold their stories.”

Schneider looks back at her time in Queens fondly. She credits it with being one of her most grounding and fulfilling experiences, and one that has made her eternally grateful for her many blessings and strong support system. Being exposed to the resilience of the victims as well as their steadfast appreciation for life and drive to move forward, despite everything they had been through, was particularly gratifying for Schneider. “Ironically, it brought back a lot of my faith in humanity,” she said. Her most rewarding memory from her internship was the simple action of being thanked by a victim after her case had been completed. Schneider had called her with the results of the case, and the victim was so grateful for the time and attention Schneider had given to her. She’d been through the process before and been rushed through it, but as an intern, Schneider had the time to devote herself fully to the case and see it through to the end. “It made me realize how much the small moments can do, and how meaningful they can be, even if you don’t realize it at the time,” she said. Schneider has also exhibited her tenacity and dedication as a BC student through her involvement with the Vice President of Student Affairs office, the nonprofit service club Charity Water, and the R.E.A.C.T. club, an organization raising awareness for human trafficking. “Sam is one of the most genuine and compassionate people I know—she has the biggest heart which really does show through in her friendships and involvement here at BC,” Rose Foody, CSOM ’18, said. After graduating from BC, Schneider hopes to go directly into law school and get her J.D. While she doesn’t know if she wants to pursue a career in public or private law, she knows that she wants to work with people because of her time in Queens. “I think so much can get lost when you’re just looking at papers all day,” Schneider said. “I definitely don’t want to lose the human aspect, or the light that you see in people’s eyes … or the light you can bring to people’s eyes sometimes.” n

The Heights

Editorials

QUOTE OF THE DAY

MIT Case Could Establish Burdensome Legal Precedent Boston College, along with 17 other Massachusetts colleges and universities, signed onto an amicus brief in support of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology’s defense in a case involving the death of Han Nguyen, a former MIT student who committed suicide eight years ago. Nguyen’s parents are suing MIT for negligence in their son’s death. A decision in the case, which was argued in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday, could set a legal precedent for university employees to take on a much greater responsibility for the mental health of students, including those that are not necessarily trained to address such issues. Professors and other university faculty and staff would be required to pass judgment on the mental health of their students. In the brief, the signees argue that setting such a precedent would require these employees to make judgments they are not qualified to make.

Monday, November 13, 2017

“If this Court imposes the duty Plaintiff seeks to impose, non-clinician employees will be duty-bound to make uninformed, untrained, and unlicensed subjective determinations not only as to whether a student is at risk, but also as to the extent of the risk that the student will harm herself,” the brief says. While it is important for professors to consider the mental health of their students, they should not bear similar responsibility for students’ mental health as trained psychiatric professionals. Professors and other university staff who frequently interact with students, such as Residential Life employees, should be aware of the counseling resources that their school offers in order to refer a student who comes to them with a problem. They should not, however, be expected to pass judgment and assess a student’s mental state as a trained professional would. Setting such a precedent might also

“Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.” - Charles Lindbergh

cause professors and other non-clinical employees to overreact in certain situations, and would also distract them from other responsibilities such as teaching and research. Furthermore, the brief argues that students may be less likely to come forward with mental health issues “if they witness employees erring on the side of caution and taking the most restrictive options available to them.” It is no secret that elite universities such as BC and MIT are high-stress environments. Students, faculty, and other members of university communities must be actively aware of this culture and seek to mitigate its sometimes harmful effects. To hold non-clinical employees legally liable for the mental health of students, however, is to extend their responsibilities beyond their qualifications, and such a precedent could potentially cause more problems than it would solve.

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The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

A Letter to My Freshman Self

Josh Behrens Noise Isolation - I can’t remember if I’ve ever used noise-isolating technology before. But this weekend, I stumbled across a cheap pair of noise-isolating earphones at one of those overpriced shops in an airport terminal, and am I sure glad that I did. I, like any other rational and sane person in this world, am not a fan of the droning sound that an airplane makes as it flies through the sky. It’s bad enough that I have to sit cramped in a tiny and stiff seat for multiple hours, let alone subject my ears to such a headache-inducing auditory environment. My new earphones, however, worked like magic, blocking out this horrid noise and saving my brain the pain. If you’re able, I highly suggest investing in a pair of noise cancelling earphones or headphones. They can work wonders.

Chapped Lips - Wintertime is fast approaching , and along with a drop in temperature, the change in seasons has brought with it an unfortunate phenomenon: chapped lips. Cold air and wind combine to deprive our lips of moisture, creating an uncomfortable feeling that can only be remedied by the ingenious invention of chapstick. Such medical sticks, however, are lost very easily, and tough to fidget with when you’re gloveless and outside in the snow. There’s no snow on the ground yet, but rest assured, someone somewhere will lose their chapstick in a pile of powder after attempting to remedy their sandpaper lips. They’ll watch it slip out of their frostbitten fingers, falling into a white oblivion, never to be found again. They’ll walk home defeated, their lips as dry as the reservoir of their spirit in the frigid air. Headaches on Airplanes - Back to airplanes. Ever had a headache on a flight before? It’s entirely unbearable. Oh, my head is hurting, let me just hurl myself through the air at hundreds of miles per hour and subject myself to dips and drops in air pressure. Right? Seems like a great idea, said no one ever. Alas, sometimes, life puts you in a pickle, and you’re forced to scan your boarding pass and head down the ramp to the door of the plane, head throbbing like a bass drum, stomach aching to boot. You take your seat and you can feel the blood pulsing through your temples, the agony only just beginning. You’re in for a long ride. You just better hope there’s Advil on the other side.

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Dear freshman Josh, Last month, racially charged events rocked Boston College’s campus. “Black Lives Matter” signs were defaced, with someone scrawling “Don’t,” making them read “Black Lives Don’t Matter.” A screenshot of a Snapchat sent by a student surfaced that read “I like my slaves like I like my steak and cheese.” Multiple racist incidents occurred in Gonzaga Hall. Now, I know if this had happened four years ago, you probably would have gone to the march and had a couple “deep” conversations. But that’s where it would end with you. There’s something deeper that you’re missing. What you don’t understand is that you are racist. You don’t have enough self-awareness yet to realize that your white, suburban upbringing shielded you from having to confront the stark reality of racism in American society. You believe that the fact that you voted for Obama immediately disqualifies you from being a racist, that saying “you don’t see color” eliminates your deep-seeded belief in the the racist stereotypes reinforced through thousands of movies, TV shows, and news stories. It doesn’t. Our society is so steeped in institutional racism that your declaration of color blindness, while good intentioned, is a slap in the face to people of color who have to face a world that only sees their skin color while being blind to their humanity. Newsflash: liberals can be racist too, often in even more insidious ways than conservatives. There’s a great quote by MLK about how racist liberals are more dangerous than overt racists. Go look it up. Your immediate reaction to seeing a black man walk toward you on a dark street is to clam up. You don’t want to admit this, but it’s true. Pernicious racial stereotypes have a way of reshaping your reality and becoming imbedded racism. The way to deal with racism isn’t by ignoring it, by claiming “colorblindness”—it is to acknowledge racism’s existence and then work to

dismantle it. You may think I am implicitly claiming to not be racist anymore. This is not the case. In all honesty, I am still racist. Growing up in a racist society, it’s impossible to escape adopting a racist mindset. Your (and my) racism manifests itself in gut reactions and a warped sense of reality. Recognize that. As you’re reading this, I know you’re starting to feel uncomfortable. Lean into this feeling. Robin DiAngelo has a great essay about your fragility. Well, our fragility. Look it up. You’re feeling this way because in your 18 years, you’ve only had to seriously think about race a few times, and even then, you had the privilege to keep going on with your day and forget about the whole affair soon after. I can see you rolling your eyes at the word “privilege.” To you, that word is used to shut you up, invalidate your viewpoint, and attack you. Again, there’s your fragility popping up, and larger than that, the fear that you don’t know everything. You’ve always prided yourself on your intelligence, and when someone tells you that you are too “privileged” to understand something, it is insulting. Privilege isn’t an insult but merely a fact of your existence. A good friend will tell you in about a year and a half that privilege is nothing more than the freedom to not think about something. Here at BC, your insular privilege continues. This is a school where the median family income is nearly $200,000 and only 4 percent of students are black. You’ll never have to face up to the fact that your reality is distorted by your immense privilege because you live in a bubble where a majority of your peers are just like you. The entire BC experience is warped by this fact, so unless you actively challenge that insularity, you will continue living in blissful ignorance. As a white student at BC, you never have to think about what this campus feels like as a black man, a Latina woman, or a disabled non-conforming person. All you know is that you feel comfortable here. That doesn’t mean everyone feels the same or that other perspectives are incorrect. You think you can understand what it means to be black by reading Invisible Man or by listening to Kendrick. You can’t. My (and thus your) narrative about race is less

valuable than a person of color’s because we’ve never experienced racism. Even right now, I am taking up potential space from black narratives and practicing a form of institutionalized racism. This letter is a rip-off of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, carrying on the long tradition of white authors blatantly plagiarizing black authors. I know you haven’t read Coates, though. I know you haven’t read any black authors besides the token few assigned in high school, and those were read with a passive dismissal that often comes when us liberal racists engage with black narratives. I’m writing this despite its problematic aspects because I know you’ll read something about race by a white guy. The fact that you will read a column about racism from a white man and not a person of color is the problem. I understand intimately that it often takes a white ally to point out the racism of their white peers, as white fragility will lash back at a person of color who does the same thing. It certainly took a white ally to convince me of my inherent racism. This year will be the first time in your life that you genuinely realize that the racist society around you may have planted seeds of white supremacy within you. Lean into the discomfort. Sit with this reality. Start by changing your own racist thoughts, beliefs in stereotypes, and imbedded white supremacy. Talk to your friends of color, but be cognizant of the fact that you shouldn’t expect them to put out the emotional labor of explaining racism. Go read MLK, Coates, Baldwin, Malcolm X, Yamahtta Taylor, Davis, Angelou, and too many others to count. Seek out black narratives and genuinely listen. Then go out and weaponize your privilege to change the racist society around you, realizing that discrimination is embedded even on this campus. Always follow the lead of activists of color. Get organized. Fight back. As a white male, being fully cognizant of your privilege is something you will never be able to attain. You should always be striving for it, though, conscious of the fact that you will always come up short. And that’s just the truth.

Josh Behrens is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

Recognizing the Dangers of Football Rachel Loos When students at Boston College complain about football, they’re usually lamenting the team’s typical lack of performance. But there is something far more upsetting about BC football than the team’s subpar record: head injuries. The association between football and head injuries has been a hot topic lately. You may have heard of the term chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease often found in athletes, veterans, and other people who have experienced repetitive trauma to the brain. It can only be diagnosed post mortem, and in July, The New York Times published a summary of a study from Journal of the American Medical Association, which found that 110 out of 111 brains of former NFL players had CTE. The first symptoms of CTE do not appear until years after head injuries occur. These generally include changes in mood and behavior, including impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and paranoia. Dr. Bennet Omalu, who spoke at BC in February 2017, is credited with discovering CTE in the brains of former football players. As a forensic pathologist, he spent years battling the NFL, which only acknowledged the link between concussions and CTE in 2009, years after scientists had found evidence for the connection. It’s almost funny that BC, a school with a culture so tied to football, would invite one of the biggest critics of professional football to speak about the dangers of repeated head injuries. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding about the connection between professional and college sports. I couldn’t find a statistic on the frequency of BC players that go on to

play professionally, but I did find that there are currently 17 BC alumni playing in the NFL. While NFL players likely train more intensely and experience more injuries than college players, I doubt that the injuries suffered are that different from those of college players. Any brain damage is too much brain damage. Turns out some BC players have already suffered. In one example, in 2016, former BC running back from 1974-77, Glen Capriola, filed a lawsuit against both BC and the NCAA. Capriola argued that both entities knew about the link between football and traumatic brain injuries, but did not properly educate the players about these risks or establish measures to protect athletes. Capriola was allegedly knocked unconscious during a game and later put back in the game despite having no memory of what happened. Was our school unaware of the gravity of traumatic brain injuries or was it negligent? I’m not sure, but at least this man’s suffering led to improvements for future players. BC programs now use state-of-the-art guidelines for concussion care. Modern helmets have come a long way, and can reduce concussion risks substantially. Again, any brain damage is too much brain damage, and I believe it’s impossible to protect players completely in an inherently dangerous sport. The larger problem with football at BC lies in the unquestioning loyalty we are expected to offer our school’s team. To ignore football is social suicide. This has prevented many of us from seeing the darker side of the sport. Matt Sienkiewicz, associate professor of communication and international studies at BC, recently wrote an opinion piece highlighting the irony that a university, a place for learning, would celebrate the “systematic destruction of student brain function.” This is not a sports issue, but an ethical one. It is disgusting that an educational institution can promote the repeated brain

damage of its students. Obviously players have the freedom to choose whether to play football in college, and they may do this knowing the risks associated with repeated head injuries. But that choice becomes more difficult when there are scholarships and social benefits awarded for playing at BC. Maybe I’m wrong. I come from a background that rewarded creativity, not competition. My family never watched football, and I still don’t know exactly how the rules work. But I do know that it feels wrong to cheer on students while they butt heads on a field. As intelligent people, both students and faculty at BC have to acknowledge the problems with football and the effect it has on young people’s brains. I am eager to condemn football and call for it to be removed from organizations of learning, but I don’t anticipate that actually happening. I expect to see immense change when a test is developed to diagnose CTE in the living. As Sienkiewicz acknowledged in another article, the revelation that college players receive even a small amount of CTE would be devastating to university programs. Maybe the introduction of a neuroscience major at BC will mean more students are learning about such traumatic brain injuries, and help develop tests these very tests. Sienkiewicz mostly discussed how faculty can change the status quo, but I want to target students. If we each make a few changes, we can stop buying into the problematic football culture at BC. What we can do is stop attending games. When you go to buy your Gold Pass next year, imagine what noise a brain makes when it slams against the skull. The pass includes admission to hockey and basketball games as well, so maybe students could channel their enthusiasm for football into supporting other sports at BC.

Rachel Loos is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

The opinions and commentaries of the op-ed columnists and cartoonists appearing on this page represent the views of the author or artist of that particular piece, and not necessarily the views of The Heights. Any of the columnists and artists for the Opinions section of The Heights can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

All Kinds of Smart Shannon Lyons My mother has always told me that “There are all kinds of smart.” Over the course of my life, in moments of disappointment or doubt, she has resorted back to this expression to remind me that intelligence cannot be reduced to a onedimensional ideal. For many years, I rolled my eyes at this notion, viewing it as her maternal attempt to dismiss any of my academic shortcomings. Only recently have I begun to recognize the true wisdom of her words. As I approach the second semester of my sophomore year, it is becoming increasingly clear that college is a highly subjective experience. No two people share the exact same class schedule, workload, or academic aspirations. We each walk our own unique path, striving for whatever it is that grants us a sense of intellectual fulfillment. For this reason, however, defining intelligence becomes very difficult. What fills one person with passion and purpose may be the pinnacle of boredom to another individual. Although such diversity should be celebrated, emphasis on finding and completing a major can often lead us to develop a narrow and insular understanding of what it means to be “smart.” My brother is one of the smartest people I know, and I do not mean “smart” in in the conventional sense of the word. Diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder and severe Attention Deficit Disorder at a very young age, he has an extremely difficult time paying attention in class, focusing on assigned tasks, and complying with many social norms. In high school, he could not have survived a day in an AP class. When asked to perform on the spot and in a limited amount of time, as with standardized testing, he often succumbs to pure frustration and ends up reaching for his phone. Even to this day, at 21 years old, he struggles to grasp the concepts of time, money, and basic math. There is, however, no one I know who can diffuse an awkward situation better than him. He has a unique ability to make people laugh in the most unexpected moments—to boldly voice that humorous thought that everybody else was too self-conscious to acknowledge. His presence has a way of softening you. He is unimpressed by your appearance, your status, or your GPA. He just wants to see you smile. He does not fret about what tomorrow will bring, for that is outside of his control. Rather, he takes each moment as it comes. Growing up, there were times when I resented his inability to plan ahead and his disinterest in conforming to society’s mold. Today, however, I admire my brother’s aptitude to be himself and to unconditionally embrace people from all walks of life. He knows how to make people feel as though they belong, just as they are, and I don’t believe there is anything more brilliant than that. It can be easy to believe that knowledge takes only one form and that there is a single ideal of intelligence which we must all strive for. Just as beauty cannot be reduced to a single set of characteristics, intelligence cannot possibly be represented by a one dimensional definition. I do not believe it is possible to measure “smartness.” Of course, we can take standardized tests and determine who is most capable of acing an exam in a limited amount of time, but we cannot possibly affirm that one person is smarter than another. How can we make any assumptions about anyone, if we do not know what they’ve seen, felt, and experienced? Objective knowledge may be measurable, but true wisdom is not. I believe that every person we meet presents us with an opportunity to expand. There is a seed of insight to be gained in every human encounter. This is not always easy to remember. Just as we judge books by their covers, we often prematurely dismiss others as unintelligent based on their appearance or our first impressions. By overlooking others in such way, however, we prevent ourselves from reaching our maximum capacity for knowledge.

Shannon Lyons is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

With Grainmaker, Southeast Asian Cuisine Bursts Into Boston By Hannah Young For The Heights Brightly colored metal pots containing a variety of dishes ranging from volcano rice to Asian greens released an aroma of amalgamating spices into the air. This experience, unique to the streets of Vietnam and Thailand, has reached Boston despite being 8,000 miles away, thanks to entrepreneur Chris Freeman. Opened on Oct. 2 in Downtown Crossing, Grainmaker brings new Southeast Asian fare to New England in the form of rice bowls, salads, and sandwiches. Before opening Grainmaker, Freeman worked in management at Burger King for over four years. His reasoning behind leaving the company lies in “the food quality.” “I just couldn’t stand behind the product,” Freeman said. “It wasn’t something I believed in that matched with our values and morals of eating better as humans and knowing exactly how much to eat.” After venturing on a six-week long trip to Southeast Asia, Freeman was inspired to open a restaurant that would provide the Boston community with Southeast Asian street food. The naturally healthy component of the food and its large demand in the world influenced the creation of the restaurant. Freeman’s primary motivation, however, lies behind helping the growth of local businesses. “Our primary aim is in fostering local Boston,” Freeman said. “It’s all about staying away from corporate America and growing Boston as a whole.” While most restaurants take pride

in working with small farms to obtain fresh produce, Grainmaker goes above and beyond this. For Freeman, partnering with small farms is crucial, as is working with local companies for products other than produce. “You’ll never see Coca-Cola in here,” Freeman said. “You’ll never see those big coke machines. You’ll never see Sriracha bottles that people put on top [of ] their food. We make our own in house and if we don’t make it in house, we’ll work with local partners.” In adhering to this principle, Grainmaker partners with Somerville Bread Company—a small local business—to supply baguettes for its sandwiches. The ceramic bowls used at Grainmaker were hand-crafted by Tyler Gulden, a local ceramics artist. The restaurant also offers customers house-made beverages, such as mango ginger smoothies, thai basil limeade, and locally sourced beer. Since its opening, customers have responded positively to both the food and the service. Many favor the menu’s emphasis on customization. Grainmaker offers pre-set dishes and the customer is able to personalize the meal by choosing the protein and a variety of sauces. Additionally, Grainmaker’s partnership with antibiotic-free local farms , in addition to its unique menu items, such as the cauliflower rice—which is simply minced cauliflower—and volcano rice—rice grown in volcanic soil—has caught the eyes of many. The healthy aspect of Grainmaker attracts a multitude of customers, and Freeman took this into account when

Hannah young / For the Heights

Jaded by his past in the fast food industry, Chris Freeman has focused Grainmaker with fresh flavors and quick service. deciding where to establish and build his business. The restaurant is most accessible to millennials and Generation Xers with the large number of colleges close by and the young professionals who work in the area. This was Freeman’s target demographic as they typically demonstrate a greater inclination towards healthier eating. As with any new business that’s in its first month, changes and adjustments were made as the restaurant

Heights Staff A Venetian love, an enduring friendship, and a passion for artistic endeavors characterized the relationship between artistic connoisseur Isabella Stewart Gardner and American expatriate writer Henry James. Since Oct. 19, works by American artists John La Farge, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler have been exhibited at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The exhibit, Henry James and American Painting, offers an insight into the deep and caring relationship shared between the artists and Gardner, a patron to the arts. This exhibition of love and friendship commenced at the Morgan Library and Museum, but at the Gardner Museum, the exhibition was geared specifically to Gardner and James relationship. “We were really trying to demonstrate how these artists, writers, and patrons of the art had such a wonderful and sharing relationship, and they had such an inspirational power upon each other.” said Kathy Sharpless, the director of marketing and communications for the museum. “This theme still exists today, as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum hosts ‘neighborhood luminaries’ who want to share and inspire others with the essence of their work.” The exhibit is a collection of over 50 rich oil paintings, drawings, deep watercolors, antiquated photographs, and affectionate letters, and it is fashioned after the grand salons of many artists of the time, offering an insight into their work environment. Upon entrance into the exhibit, an ornate oil painting by Sargent depicts Gardner in a manner not typical of the

While Grainmaker only opened a month ago, Freeman sees great potential for the restaurant. Referring to his restaurant as the “flagship,” he wishes to open ten new locations in the greater Boston area within the next few years. “We want to grow just in Boston to really provide for even more people in the community and build that network of small businesses in the area,” Freeman said." n

At MIT, Seconds to Win By Alessandro Zenati For The Heights

Max Calleo / Heights Staff

Gardner Exhibit Examines Friendship By Max Calleo

began receiving feedback from the customers. At first, customers said they were served too much food, which they did not want to waste. In addition to donating the remaining food at the end of the night to Boston Rescue Mission, Freeman solved the issue by working with the “employees on serving the right portions that will leave you filled for lunch, but won’t leave you overly full or wasting food.”

time, accentuating her waistline by draping a shawl and necklaces around this part of her body. Hidden from the public for the majority of its existence, the painting was a controversial and risqué piece for its time. Resting on the wall directly across the room from the painting of Isabella, another Sargent work details her eloquently posed friend, Henry James. In this space, James’s letters to Isabella are also displayed. James’s ornate handwriting fills up the pages completely, even the margins, lending the letters an artistic appearance. As time progressed, these letters grew largely more loving, as Isabella and Henry James’s friendship deepened. One letter from James begins: “My dear Mrs. Gardner … so indelible is the image which you imprint upon the consciousness of your fellow men.” Often, James would take composites of people that he was close to and familiar settings and include them in his novels. The Palazzo Barbaro—the place where the Gardner and her family would sojourn in Venice with the Curtis family, a Boston expatriate couple—was the framework for the palace in his work, The Wings of the Dove. The palace was also the focus of Sargent’s painting entitled An Interior in Venice, which hangs just across the wall, allowing viewers to pair James’s description with Sargent’s image. Two more brilliant Sargent paintings are displayed next to An Interior in Venice that, in the words of Sharpless, display “the underbelly of Venetian society.” These works, titled, Venetian Interior and Venetian Women in the Palazzo Rezzonico, portray the impoverished side of Venice, a topic not typically explored. The exhibit also features Sargent’s watercolor paintings, a complement to to

the heavier oil paintings. Sargent’s Santa Maria della Salute, The Bridge of Sighs, and San Giuseppe di Castello, Venice, offer bursts of color depicting boats on Venetian waters while adding feelings of lightness and joviality to the exhibition. A talented artist and friend to James, La Farge depicted both James and his brother, William, in their younger years. These life-capturing portraits, each detailing the men in profile, hang beside each other, revealing that both the James brothers had a love for the arts. The reality of everyday life for Gardner and James also appears in this exhibit as photo albums compiled by Gardner. These photographs portray the life of a gracious art patron from a first-hand account, as she chronicled many of her respites to Venetia where her love for European culture flourished. According to Sharpless, the public “reacted very positively to the exhibit.” Not only have the works of Sargent and Whistler and the salon-like ambiance of the exhibit enchanted visitors, the subject matter of the exhibit itself has struck a chord. “The theme of human and personal relations between Gardner and her friends has resonated positively with museumgoers,” Sharpless said. The salon atmosphere in combination with excerpts from Henry James’s literary feats as wall text, bring life to James’s novels, creating a further connection between the visual and written arts. As James writes in his work,The Art of Fiction, “The analogy between the art of the painter and the art of the novelist is, so far as I am able to see, complete ... They may learn from each other, they may explain and sustain. Their cause is the same, and the honour of one is the honour of another.” n

The auditorium beneath the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s iconic dome provided a haven amid Boston’s rainy weather, sheltering the attendees of the MIT 100K competition. To the left, students tried their hand at formal attire and wore blazers two sizes too large and faded T-shirts—one could be heard saying, “I thought this would be acceptable. I’m definitely not used to dressing up.” The common denominator among all attendees was an unequivocal desire to learn. Among the attendees existed a genuine curiosity to hear from entrepreneurs claiming to have novel solutions to pressing issues. Tuesday’s event didn’t concern itself with stale formalities and pompous presentations. Rather, the organizers emphasized that this was an opportunity to embrace failure as a natural component of any business’s lifecycle. While only one lucky startup would leave the competition with $5,000 in seedfunding, the other 19 would carry home something equal in value: the freedom to continue dreaming beyond the constraints of investor-driven agendas. Before inviting the first team onto the stage, Dip Patel, an entrepreneur in residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, co-founder of Ecovent, and the master of ceremonies, dispensed a morsel of inspiration. “You’re all here because you dared to tackle some of humanity’s most daunting humanitarian and societal issues,” Patel said. “Don’t let failure tonight dilute your drive to solve them.” The MIT 100K competition is a threepart startup growth program for MIT undergraduates and alumni looking to commercialize their research or extracurricular activities. The first step was Tuesday’s “Pitch” competition, where 20 founders condensed their businesses into a 90-second pitch with the hopes of piquing the interest of a panel of experienced professionals. The pace was frenetic, with wide-eyed representatives from each startup racing against the clock, striking a delicate balance between time spent explaining the catalytic “a-ha” moments and more concrete explanations of how money was actually made. The spotlight focused the audience’s attention on each presenter, as they stole brief glances at the stopwatch placed beneath the first row of seats. For the entirety of the event, the four judges listened quietly and silently tapped away at their computers. From afar, it appeared that their role was not necessarily to dismantle or discourage this cohort of 20-year-olds from building something

from the ground. Rather, the judges served as advisers, challenging them to dig deeper, climb higher, and dream bigger with their ideas. The ideas ranged from an irrigation management software that leverages sensors to collect important data from farm soil to a new microgrid energy system designed to power marginalized communities. Others adopted a more humanitarian scope, supporting underserved populations with entrepreneurial resources and bringing affordable emergency devices to impoverished areas using pre-existing materials. The event had a relaxed undercurrent to it, as some audience members formed unofficial cheer squads in support of their classmates and friends under the spotlight. After about an hour and a half, the crowd was invited to cast their votes for who would win $2,000 as part of the audience choice award. Phone screens lit up and a symphony of taps erupted with everyone imagining that they were investors. Ultimately, aam was the winner with its app-enable technology that provides scheduled daily reminders for women taking birth control pills. Founder Aagya Mathur, an MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management, believes that her company can reverse the trend in the number of unintended pregnancies per year in the U.S. “We’re doing something about it,” Mathur said. “We are MBAs, engineers, and designers and we are patenting the first ever high-tech smart sleeve for the birth control pill pack.” Tense moments preceded the unveiling of the overall victor of the night’s competition. Presented with a massive check—perhaps more so in size than in monetary value—and a photo opportunity with the MIT 100K organizing board, the founders of tactile wore expressions of pure delight as they approached the stage. They created the first portable device that converts text into braille in real-time, combining their own research around text-processing methods to aid visually impaired individuals. Building tactile out of their dorm rooms at MIT, this group of determined female engineers aims to promote information equality at a time when less than 1 percent of all printed text have braille translations. Chandhani Doshi, a founding member of tactile, hopes that their work can have positive externalities on the entrepreneurial community at large. “Not only do we hope our invention can make an impact for visually impaired individuals, but we hope we can also inspire young girls everywhere to get into engineering and science,” Doshi said. n

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

International Antiquarian Book Fair Features Frost, Thoreau By Keely Dickes For The Heights The 2017 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair is as much an intellectual gathering place as it is a destination for book collectors. Held at the Hynes Convention Center from Nov. 10 to 12, the fair consists of stands for vendors with everything from old maps that take up a large portion of the wall to descriptive diaries by an unknown woman. A poetry section boasts multiple books by Robert Frost, such as A Boy’s Will—one of only 350 copies of Frost’s first commercially published book signed and still in its original binding. Kuenzig Books, a vendor with a focus on science, technology, and engineering works, has a framed Prang’s Prismatic Spectrum atop a glass case filled with books such as Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica—one book Volumes I and II, and the other Volumes III and IV, with a brown, red, and black spine with ornate golden writing. Kuenzig Books interacts with customers through fairs like these, but also operates primarily by appointment through the phone and internet. “It’s a way to get around people of like mind. Everybody here’s enthusiastic about books at some level,” said owner John F. Kuenzig. “You’re bringing people

that are interested in contact with the material.” In a sense, being at the fair is like taking part in an arena of active thought, spurred by the many works around you. Though the people who wrote these books are dead, the atmospheres they created are alive and well. Especially in an age of social media and online communication, just being at the event is an invaluable experience. “The book fair is non-internet, it’s face-to-face, but it’s also how do you look for something that you didn’t know ever existed? I walk around here and see things that I didn’t know existed. I couldn’t look in the internet because I didn’t know,” Kuenzig said. “The other reason people come to book fairs is that this is like the Smithsonian only you can take it home.” Some of the stands are not selling works directly, but rather are set up as an information center or a place to raise awareness of books sold at a distance. One of these is the Concord Museum’s This Ever New Self: Thoreau and His Journal, which celebrates the bicentennial of Henry David Thoreau’s birth. The Concord Museum owns Thoreau’s personal artifacts, like his desk, and currently has a joint exhibit coupled with some of his original journals on loan from the Morgan Library.

Keely Dickes / For the Heights

Over the weekend, vendors including John Kuenzig filled Hynes Convention Center to sell antique books and old maps. “This is a once in a lifetime thing,” said Janet Scudder, a teacher in the museum’s education department. “This is the first time the journals have been back in Concord since his death.” Thoreau’s multitudinous journals, in fact, are a too often forgotten element of his life: they are rich, expansive, and have more success now once sorted and

published after his death than his two published books during his lifetime— one of which utterly failed. He was a writer ahead of his time, at the heart of the intersection between science and art while all at once meticulously recording accurate scientific data in his own notation—information such as when the ice breaks up at Walden Pond, when

the birds come back, and when certain plants bloom—precursors for modern studies of climate change. “It’s kind of amazing the range of books that are used, from old first edition publishing to manuscripts and watercoloring and stuff,” said Kristen Connolly, a shop assistant for the Concord Museum shop. n

EChO Improves Children’s Health by Exposing Hidden Sugars By Rebecca Krupatkin For The Heights Even in the modern, health-conscious world, sugar still slips through the cracks. Foods deemed healthy, such as protein bars, can contain over five teaspoons of sugar—almost the entirety of a person’s recommended intake. And it doesn’t stop with protein bars, everyday snacks, refershing drinks from the soda fountian, and even prepared meals enjoyed on a busy day can contain shocking amounts of added sugars. Laurent Adamowicz was appalled by this too—this frustration, combined with his desire to universalize nutrition education and encourage healthy eating, inspired him to create EChO (Eradicating Childhood Obesity). According to Adamowicz, this not-for-profit charitable foundation focuses on using research, technology, and health education to “change people’s lives for the better by teaching them how to properly eat, and showing how this can have an impact on not just their well-being, but also the planet.” Adamowicz was born and raised in

Paris, and became interested in food at a young age, constantly cooking with his mother and grandmother. He explored the culinary world throughout his childhood, encountering the dozens of food vendors and bakeries dispersed through his block, selling everything from fresh vegetables to delicious éclairs. This exposure sparked his interest in food, and since then he has worked perhaps every imaginable job in the food industry, as a barista, waiter, restaurant owner, flight attendant, foodcritic, executive of a major American food processing company, and then as a founder and CEO of Bon’App, the predecessor of EChO. Bon’App, a mobile app to help with healthy eating, was created as a for-profit social enterprise just a couple of years before EChO during Adamowicz’s fellowship at Harvard University. Following the publication of a Harvard Business Review case study, “Laurent Adamowicz and Bon’App,” however, he realized that he could make a greater social impact by creating a charitable organization, EChO, to promote this cause. EChO now works on a number of projects throughout the Boston area.

One of the organization’s most recent successes is the creation of mobile application SugarPoke, which allows users to scan their camera over a certain product and automatically see how many teaspoons of added sugar there are by using augmented reality technology. The inspiration for the application comes from Adamowicz’s frustration with the misleading labels on foods that purposely break up added sugar into numerous types of sugars to make them appear less prevalent, and as a result fall to the bottom of the ingredients list, which is written in descending order. A box of Honey Nut Cheerios, for instance, lists nine different sugars on the label, misleading consumers to assume the breakfast they’re eating is delicious and nutritious, and free of any great number of added sugars. Another major EChO project is a research venture right here at Boston College in collaboration with the school’s Public Health Association. A group of 19 volunteers is working to assemble data on the added sugars in “healthy” foods in dining halls, such as yogurt and granola, as well as the added sugars in the drinks available in the vending machines.

They hope to use this data to create a vending machine version of Sugarpoke, so students can put their phone cameras to a vending machine and see how many teaspoons of sugar are in each drink, so they can make informed decisions on which beverage to choose based on its contents. Adamowicz hopes that this project will eventually lead to completely replacing the sugar-heavy drinks in the vending machines with sugarfree options such as plain water and naturally flavored water. EChO is also working on creating a “food opera,” which will expose children to music and simultaneously educate them on proper nutrition. The organization has created the Eureka ensemble, which consists of 42 musicians, and has found a librettist and composer to develop this production. The premier will be next year at the Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester. Why? The childhood obesity rate in Boston is 40 percent, a staggering statistic, especially given that the national rate is 10 points less, at about 30 percent. As for EChO’s plans for the future, Universal Cooking and Nutrition

Education (U-CANE) is its biggest upcoming project, which will work to require cooking and nutrition education in every public school in the country, starting from kindergarten and lasting throughout college. Adamowicz, who volunteers his time to teach cooking and nutrition at the Harvard Medical School, also believes that every medical school should have nutrition as a major part of their curriculum—71 percent of medical schools, however, don’t require any classes at all in this field. Although EChO has been largely successful thus far, Adamowicz explained that raising money, staying sustainable, and funding projects is the startup’s biggest challenge. Besides the private and public grants that EChO has received, the organization needs further donations to continue its work. “We are always looking for new foundations to approach for donations,” Adamowicz said. EChO is making great strides towards bringing the resources and education needed to make society healthier and certainly happier. “The most impactful startups of the century have been created out of frustration,” Adamowicz said. n

At Greenbuild, Clinton Calls for More Environmental Action By Max Calleo Heights Staff Former U.S. President Bill Clinton does not want future generations fighting an endless battle against climate change. Instead, as he explained in speech given on Thursday at 2017 Greenbuild Plenary, he wants each citizen of the world to try. In fact, he wants them to go further, and go “all in.” In terms of conservation, preservation, and environmental practice, “all in” is what the world needs right now, according to Greenbuild 2017, an annual expo that is dedicated to the efforts of green building.

This past week, Clinton led a variety of activists—architects, builders, politicians, and developers—to discuss building a better future in this environmental expo. The crowd of environmentally driven participants emptied from the bustling and expansive expo hall, exhibiting brands from Kohler to LG, and entered into the grand ballroom for Thursday’s 2017 Greenbuild Plenary. Three leaves in a circular pattern, the Greenbuild logo, hung on the back wall of the stage, as a reminder of the purpose of this conference—caring for the planet that provides so much for mankind.

George Bandy, the vice president of sustainability for Mohawk, a flooring solutions company, opened the plenary by reminding listeners of the common ties linking them together. “We are a family. We are bound by a common interest in using the built environment to shape a more sustainable future for everyone,” Bandy said. “Just like any family, we are stronger, health[ier], and more balanced when we take the time to listen to each other and try to better understand each other. We are all in.” Bandy said that the leaders who would take the stage for the rest of the night “understand the importance of

Max Calleo / Heights Staff

Featuring education session and lectures, Greenbuild 2017 preached environmental consciousness and care for the planet.

innovation and the power of personal connections.” Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, took the stage next, explaining that this kind of environmental movement is built by millions, not a select few, over decades. In movements like these, “ordinary people,” such as educators, business owners, and everyone between, are the “heroes” of the movement, even if they aren’t the ones that you “see on the nightly news or in your Twitter feed.” Ramanujam introduced the concept of vertical forests to the discussion. Stefano Boeri, an Italian architect, pioneered an ecosystem created by hundreds of trees growing on a building. This environment has the capability to remove carbon dioxide and pollutants from the air. This setup could be employed in countries like China, to clean the air of the most polluted country in the world. Ramanujam also highlighted Lava Mae as an example, a groundbreaking program established to provide showers to homeless people, in an effort to improve hygiene. “It is important to focus all of our energy not fighting the old but on building the new,” Ramanujam said. “I know that we can do that, and I am all in. So I have only one more question, are you?” Rick Fedrizzi, the chairman and CEO of International Well-Building Institute, talked about his mission trip to Haiti, sponsored by the Clinton Foundation. After an earth-shattering earthquake, Haiti required immense aid to rebuild,

eliciting a response from other nations. Fedrizzi and others jumped into action as well, building an orphanage in Portau-Prince that meet LEED’s platinum standard. “We would as an organization for the very first time stop talking about what was possible and actually get our hands dirty, use our brain, and our brawn, and our hearts,” Fedrizzi said. To conclude the opening plenary, Bill Clinton delivered a riveting keynote speech. Clinton acknowledged the inspirational nature of Haiti’s children’s center, and the “aspiration” to have a world “totally powered by the sun and the wind and other natural sources.” But to Clinton, having aspirations like this are essential, as they allow individuals to “put [their] bricks on the right path” during “a fleeting life.” “I do not want to bet my grandchildren’s future on our winning an endless dogfight of different trial,” Clinton said. “We have got to keep trying to build a future of shared responsibility and of shared opportunities and of shared prosperity.” According to Clinton, the most important lesson that his daughter Chelsea claims she was taught as a child is that it is always important to get caught trying. “You, with the lives you have chosen the live represent the apotheosis of social choice and personal freedom and with that comes great responsibility. Most of all, the responsibility to get caught trying,” Clinton said. n

The Heights

A10

Monday, November 13, 2017

A Decade of Penning and Posting BC’s Best Satire

The ‘New England Classic,’ the self-acclaimed No. 1 fake news source at BC, is eclectic, but its ability to adapt has kept readers LOLing. By Archer Parquette Features Editor An hour after leaving the New England Classic’s weekly editorial meeting, I received a seemingly innocuous email from its managing editor thanking me for writing about the unofficial campus satirical newspaper’s 10th anniversary. At the bottom of the email, tucked under the signature, a link to a folder titled “Incriminating NEC files (do not open!)” drew my attention. I clicked on the link. What secrets could wait on the other side? Was the New England Classic actually a front for an illicit dorm room candle-smuggling ring? Or maybe it was secretly run by a band of rogue Jesuits, out to mock Boston College. These files might hold the key. Th e p a g e l o a d e d . I s c r o l l e d through. The folder contained 16 pictures of abacuses. As I scrolled back and forth, I started clicking on the different pictures. Abacus. Abacus. Multi-colored abacus. No documents. No meeting minutes. This was just a folder with 16 pictures of medieval adding tools. I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. Someone had bothered to put to-

roughly a dozen applicants. They have weekly meetings to organize headlines, brainstorm jokes, and plan future issues and projects. Artman tries to decipher the wacky machinations behind Facebook’s algorithm, which determines if a post is at the top of a person’s newsfeed or buried under a pile of memes and vacation photos. They’ve published video projects and are expanding their Instagram presence. Just a few weeks ago, they had an official merchandise sale. That’s a far stretch from the New England Classic this year’s seniors saw when they first came to BC. Four years ago, the Classic was still primarily a print publication with little online presence. “We started as a print paper and printed 1,000 copies of our first issue,” said Katie Curley, who founded the Classic in 2007, in an email. Curley and her roommates had decided to start the paper in the style of The Harvard Lampoon and convinced friends to hand it out around campus. Students enjoyed the satire, and the new operation started to recruit a small team of writers, getting up to about 15. For the paper’s first seven years, they remained in that same print-focused position.

amelie trieu / heights editor

The Classic has a staff of around 40 writers who meet weekly to brainstorm satire. gether this folder of abacuses (abaci?), titled it “Incriminating NEC files (do not open!),” and sent it to me. Did the Classic staff keep this folder handy to send to anyone it might apply to? Or was it just a joke they put together to mess with me? If so, who came up with the ‘let’s send this kid 16 pictures of abacuses’ idea? I still have no idea, but I know it was weird, and unique, and really funny. It was a small, personal version of the weird, unique, really funny stuff the New England Classic has been doing for 10 years now. The team at the satirical paper has a significant cultural impact with their joke headlines and widely shared articles—from “Tragic: Hundreds of Boston College Students Are From New Jersey” to “Old Dude in Rat Really Going In On Hot Dog.” The day I received that email was the day I got the chance to step behind the scenes of the Classic and see what’s kept this satire machine running smoothly since 2007. *** “Watch out, there was a mouse that ran over there maybe 10 minutes ago,” said Josh Artman, MCAS ’19. We were in a musty Carney classroom on a Wednesday night, the chairs arranged in a lumpy circle. A half hour before the Classic’s weekly editorial meeting, Artman was preparing to lead the group of 30 or so students who would soon show up. Artman is the “managing editor” of the New England Classic. The title is in quotes, because the Classic doesn’t have an official masthead. Its articles are anonymous, and since it isn’t a registered student organization, it doesn’t need to bother with too much procedure. Despite lacking the University-recognized, student services-stamped, officially-sanctioned club status, Artman, as managing editor, is experiencing “the real club phenomenon.” “We used to just be a small group of people,” Artman said. “You could kind of just join if you sent an email to right person or Facebook messaged the right person.” This year, the Classic accepted applications. They took on between 30 and 40 people and had to reject

One day in the fall of 2014, two students walked up and down the tables in Bapst library, dropping single white pages on each table. They then stopped at the back of the library, under the confused, watchful eyes of the studying masses, and hugged each other in a theatrical end-of-the-world sort of way, before fleeing the library. The sheets they left behind were that fall’s print issue of the Classic. That Classic staff would go around the entire campus dropping off sheets like this, full of gag headlines and short, satirical articles. That day in 2014 was one of the last times that the Classic’s readership was primarily students thumbing through black and white print editions. That’s because, around that time, the Classic began to change. Anthony Perasso, BC ’17, whose time at the University has been extensively covered by The Heights—including by me—had been rejected from three comedy groups his freshman year and chose the Classic, one place he wouldn’t be rejected, for his comedic outlet. Along with the rest of the Classic team, many of whom are currently running the paper, Perasso expanded the Classic’s Facebook reach and helped turn it from a loosely connected Google Drive of funny ideas into a moderately-organized-but-stillfun organization. The results are clear from the numbers. Four years ago, the Classic had a Tumblr page and a barely existent Facebook. Now they have 3,208 likes and growing. *** Artman talked about this history as we waited for the meeting to start. With about 20 minutes left, the door opened again and Rachel Loos, MCAS ’18, walked in the room. Loos is the editor-in-chief of the Classic and is responsible for some of their most notable content. “I know you,” Loos said. “You do an opinions column also.” And with that quote, she perfectly took care of the full disclosure part of this article, in which we have to mention that in addition to running the Classic, Loos is also an opinions columnist for The Heights. Loos has been a major part of the

Classic’s transition to online and “real club” status. “We’re trying to figure out how big we can be while still being productive, and also how disorganized and casual we can be while still being productive,” she said. For this reason, Loos and Artman have shied away from strict two-articles-a-week type requirements and try to maintain the spirit of the club without sacrificing the quality of the content. A major part of this effort has been trying to find freshman to refill the ranks, which has proven to be harder than most clubs, since the Classic is not a registered student organization. “We applied for club status and were denied,” Curley said. “I had several professors who liked and supported the paper, but the administration overall didn’t have the same sense of humor that we did. Now, I think the paper operates best outside of club status.” This renegade status is how the Classic staff found themselves sandwiched between the condom-wielding folks of Students for Sexual Health and the brewski-cracking fellows of the underground frat on the corner of College Road and Hammond, recruiting on the small swatch of campus BC can’t control. When the off-campus recruiting attempts didn’t yield the best results, the Classic went rogue and tried infiltrating the involvement fair. And by infiltrating, I mean talking to freshmen and giving out information along with every other club, which ended up being quite the problem. “We tried to set up just to pass out fliers and this one same lady kept coming back,” Loos said. Whenever they were shut down, they would disappear and then reappear later somewhere else, like whack-a-mole. And every time, the same woman would find them and smack them over the head with the rubber hammer of administrative disapproval. “She was like, ‘Really guys?’” Artman said, crossing his arms. But the recruiting, however inconvenient, still worked. Years ago, Loos and Artman both got their spots on the Classic through Facebook messages, and now they’re reading through applications and setting up a formal-ish staff. As the Classic grows, it’s understandable that the administration wouldn’t be ecstatic about their unofficial recruiting efforts. The Classic has posted a number of stories that criticize and satirize the administration, most recently a story in response to the racist vandalization of several Black Lives Matter signs. Shortly after the story broke, they posted on Facebook—“Anonymous Scumbag Selflessly Brings Attention to Campus Race Issues.” A few hours after the story broke, Loos wrote a draft of the article, they re-worked it twice over to make sure it accomplished everything it needed to—punching up, making a point, being funny—and published it. “It makes it easy to digest, when it’s a humor paper,” Loos said. In between goofy posts, what Loos and Artman call “stuff we find funny,” easy-to-digest posts that drive likes and traffic, and the occasional theme

amelie trieu / heights editor

As editor-in-chief of the Classic, Loos helped build the paper’s social media presence. week (such as The Spook England Classic), the Classic releases stories such as the “Scumbag” one, which take a critical look at shortcomings of campus culture and administrative response. “We definitely do have a responsibility to do that,” Loos said. Other such posts include “BC Installs Oil Rig as Symbol of Dedication to Fossil Fuel Investment,” “Boston College Administrators Apparently Under Impression That Wheelchairs Have Jetpacks,” and “Leahy Prays To Top Donors, Trustees For Guidance On Gender-Neutral Bathrooms.” These posts almost always receive significant traction on social media. “There’s definitely people who might not read The Heights that read this,” Loos said. As we wrapped our discussion of satire and social responsibility, all the while keeping an eye out for that malicious mouse, the room started to fill with the Classic’s staff. Within a few minutes, there were about 30 students jammed into the circle. After opening the meeting, Artman pointed to a list he had chalked onto the board titled “Good Jorb.” It listed some of the best posts of the week and gave credit to each writer/Photoshop aficionado who had contributed. “Can we have a bad job column?” a staffer quickly responded. The room broke out into a quick series of jokes spinning off of that. This rapid-fire humor barrage continued for the next part of the meeting, in which the staff talked about ideas for the future. Jokes were thrown out for Love Your Body Week, then Thanksgiving and Movember ideas were shouted out at random clips. “Something about pubes?” “Comm. Ave. bus breaks down under added weight of Movember pubes?” After that gem, one of the writers pointed at me and said “write that down,” something that continued throughout the night. And I did write it down. Eventually, they broke into two smaller groups to go over a Google doc full of potential headlines for the weeks ahead. After the two small groups split up into different classrooms, one erupted into raucous laughter while the other was still quietly reading through the document. “I feel like we’re the sad group,” Artman said, listening to the laughter

echoing down the hall. “Everyone start laughing,” a staffer said. “3 … 2 … 1.” A scream-laugh to end all screamlaughs rose from the small group, combatting the joy coming down the hall. *** Putting together stories, Loos and Artman keep in mind Facebook and building up a following, while also keeping the site an outlet for each writer’s humor. That means if Artman wants to write about Steve Addazio working as a ghoul at fright fest, then he will, even if the likes aren’t quite up to the heights of “Ivy League Who? We Ranked The Top Colleges In America And Put BC First!” which accomplished one of the Classic’s favorite feats. “The best is when articles break into old people Facebook,” Artman said. The outer limits of the Classic’s satirical reach extend to slightly bewildered elderly people and slightly oblivious alumni, who, on the Classic’s most-seen articles, will comment about knowing plenty of nice people from New Jersey or cheer the Classic on for putting BC first, screw those Ivy League snobs! In a weird way, that shows how far the Classic has come in the past decade. When once the only people reading it were BC students who got their hands on a print copy, now random old people with tangential BC connections are stumbling on the Classic’s special brand of campus satire. For the first time in their history, the Classic went to the The Princeton Tiger’s National Intercollegiate Comedy Conference at Princeton University, where they interacted with other satirical college papers from across the country. Once again, they’re experiencing the “real club phenomenon,” as they plan a second visit to the conference in December. After that, they plan to put out more video projects, expand their Instagram offerings, and keep pushing quality content through Facebook and Twitter. And they still put out a print issue at the end of every semester, a call back to days before print died its slow, grisly death. But these big advances don’t change the day to day for the Classic. In the end it’s still about a group of friends sitting in a Carney classroom figuring out what they think is funny—maybe sending a Heights reporter a folder full of abacuses. n

amelie trieu / heights editor

Artman, MCAS ’19 and managing editor of the Classic, opens the weekly meeting with a look at the “Good Jorb” list.

SPORTS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2017

@HEIGHTSSPORTS

BEHIND

Basketball Looks Bright

FOOTBALL

THE

PACK

ANNABEL STEELE Lately, I’ve been thinking about my tenure as assistant and associate sports editor of The Heights. This will be my final column as an editor—next week is our final print edition, and then a new board of editors will come in, and I’ll be abroad in Ireland next semester. It took me a very long time to come up with an idea for this column. What is there to say after two years of giving my opinions on what’s going on with the Eagles? Actually, I’ve written some hot takes over the past two years. To be honest, it’s been easy to have strong opinions about what’s been going on at Boston College during that time. Some administrators haven’t put in an effort to be supportive of the Eagles, some teams have struggled, some teams have done exceptionally well, some coaches have made unpopular decisions, some coaches have led their teams to some pretty sweet hardware. Victories are sweet, but national championships are even sweeter, and the Eagles have barely cleared the final hurdle in the past two years. Erika and Sophia Reineke have claimed national titles for sailing, as has Scott Rasmussen—but BC’s team sports have failed to claim that elusive national championship. That’s not for lack of trying, though—women’s hockey and lacrosse have come just about as close as you can get, and given it their all, but fallen just short. As a result, BC fans have become pretty pessimistic. Now, as a diehard D.C. sports fan, I understand pessimism. Right, so it’s natural to feel pessimism. Only now, I feel like there’s

CELINE LIM / HEIGHTS STAFF | KEITH CARROLL / HEIGHTS STAFF

After an injury to quarterback Anthony Brown, BC’s offensive struggles opened the door for Nyheim Hines (7) and the No. 23 Wolfpack to escape with a win. BY RILEY OVEREND Sports Editor In a game characterized by kicking woes, it was only natural that it came down to a field goal. But a bad snap, a bad play call, and an even worse attempt at a game-winning drive sealed Boston College football’s fate against No. 23 North Carolina State on Saturday, spoiling another impressive defensive performance in a 17-14 loss. In the first quarter, both teams traded mistakes, but each were bailed out by their respective defenses. After forcing a three-and-out on the first

drive of the game, the Eagles marched down the field behind chunk runs from A.J. Dillon and Anthony Brown. In the red zone, though, BC went to the air, where a pass intended for Kobay White was intercepted in the end zone. Ryan Finley responded with some clutch throws on third down that brought NC State into field goal range. But following back-to-back penalties,

BY ANDY BACKSTROM Asst. Sports Editor With running back Jonathan Hilliman at his hip, Boston College football quarterback Anthony Brown snapped the ball out of the shotgun, just two minutes into the second quarter of Saturday’s game against North Carolina State. The redshirt freshman surveyed the field, but soon after, made the split-second decision to tuck the ball and run. Brown

17 BOSTON COLLEGE | 14 NC STATE |

See BC vs. Wolfpack, B3

sprinted out of the pocket, bee-lining for the first-down marker. All he had to do was make one guy miss—something he’s done with relative ease the back half of this season. But before he could even juke, the play, and probably his season, were over. Approaching the 20-yard line, Brown planted his right foot in the ground, attempting to misdirect NC State linebacker Germaine Pratt. Right then and there, Brown’s knee buckled, and he tumbled to the ground. The redshirt freshman squirmed in pain, as team doctors rushed onto the

See FB Notebook, B3

See BBall Optimism, B3 MEN’S BASKETBALL

Mitchell’s Career Day Powers Eagles Past South Carolina St. The 39-point win was the largest under Jim Christian. BY ANDY BACKSTROM Asst. Sports Editor Boston College men’s basketball forward Steffon Mitchell was everywhere but the box score in his collegiate debut against Maine SCSU 52 on Friday night. Boston College 91 The freshman was aggressive on the glass, especially on the offensive end of the floor, and passed the ball like a point guard. Following the game, head coach Jim Christian described Mitchell as “more of an energy guy,” and said that he wasn’t expecting him, or anyone really, to come off the bench and light

up the scoreboard. But on Sunday, Mitchell did just that. The 6-foot-8 Shakopee, Minn. native racked up a game-high 21 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field. Mitchell attacked the paint, drawing four fouls, but he also took his fair share of perimeter shots. In fact, the freshman hit all three of his 3-point attempts. And last, but not least, Mitchell made it his priority to bring down offensive rebounds. “I think the more second chance shots we have, the better chance we have to win the game,” he said. “That’s more 3-pointers, more putbacks … just easier to play basketball that way.” It certainly was easier. As a team, the Eagles recorded 18 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points, more than enough to rout South Carolina State, 9152—the largest victory in the Christian

era, and BC’s biggest win since it defeated Wake Forest, 112-73, on Jan. 12, 2008. The Eagles (2-0) never really found a rhythm from 3-point land in their win over Maine. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. BC knocked down six of its first seven outside shots, and entered the break with seven—just as many as the Bulldogs (0-2) had field goals in the entire first half. Ky Bowman, Jerome Robinson, Jordan Chatman, Teddy Hawkins, and Mitchell all got in on the air raid. The Eagles pulled away early, thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Robinson and Chatman, and an additional Robinson jumper. But BC wasn’t just outshooting SC State—it was also bodying the Bulldogs, whose tallest player was listed at 6-foot-9, on the interior. For the second-straight contest, Hawkins and

See MBB vs. SCSU, B2

TIGER TAO / HEIGHTS STAFF

Freshman Steffon Mitchell led the team with 21 points against the Bulldogs on Sunday.

HOCKEY

Burt Earns 100th Career Win; Grando Lifts BC Over UVM Only four goalies have reached the century mark. BY MIKE MALLEY For The Heights Boston College women’s hockey bounced back on Saturday with a resounding 6-3 victory over St. Lawrence, giving senior Boston College 6 goaltender St. Lawrence 3 Katie Burt her 100th career victory. With the win, Burt became only fourth goalie in women’s Division 1 hockey history to reach the century mark, which puts her in a tie for second place all-time—only 14 more

INSIDE SPORTS

The Eagles have now won ﬁvestraight games.

victories short of the all-time record. Coming off of a 2-1 loss in the first game of the series, the No. 2 Eagles (91-1) were looking for revenge against No. 8 St. Lawrence (6-4-2). The game saw a lot of early action as BC outscored the Saints, 3-1, in the first period. The Eagles got on the board early. Three minutes into the game Serena Sommerfield got a clean look at the net, prompting a good save from Saints goalie Grace Harrison. But the puck deflected directly into the path of Caitrin Lonergan, who neatly placed the puck into an open net. BC doubled its lead seven minutes later when senior forward Kenzie Kent sent a beautiful pass into the path of

See WHOK vs. SLU, B4

BY PATRICK CONWAY Heights Staff

AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Katie Burt is now second all-time in wins.

Christopher Grando flew out of offensive zone like he was shot out of a cannon, pushing the puck ahead of him with one hand Boston College 5 as he skated Vermont 1 down the right wing. The freshman out-skated the Vermont defenders, leaving only the Catamount goalie to beat. His first shot was unsuccessful and bounced off the goalie’s pads, but Grando positioned

WBB: Big Green Hand Eagles First Loss VOLLEYBALL: Seminoles Sweep Visiting BC

himself to pick up his own rebound and banged home a shorthanded goal to pick up his first point in a tremendous performance. Grando’s pure speed gave him the opportunity to make a play, but his hustle and extra effort were what allowed him to score and give Boston College men’s hockey its first lead of the night. The Eagles never lost that lead, defeating Vermont, 5-1, in a dominant performance on Saturday at The Gut. For BC (6-5-1, 6-1-0 Hockey East), the victory completed a sweep of Vermont in Burlington after Friday’s gutsy 4-3 win, and the Eagles continued to play to their potential against Hockey East

See MHOK vs. Vermont, B4

SPORTS IN SHORT................................ B2

Dartmouth withstood a late run by BC, beating its regional Florida State dealt the Eagles their 20th loss, continuing MEN’S BASKETBALL.............................. B2 rival, 68-57, on Sunday afternoon.........................................B2 their struggles away from Power Gym........................... B4 MEN’S HOCKEY....................................... B4

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Against Bulldogs, BC Records Largest Victory of Christian Era MBB vs. SCSU, from B1

Celine Lim / Heights Staff

In just 24 minutes of play, Ky Bowman totaled 10 points, six assists, and four rebounds.

Nik Popovic controlled the glass. Popovic corralled five offensive rebounds—a couple of which led to easy putbacks. And Hawkins recorded nine boards in the first 20 minutes, at one point matching SC State’s team total. Instead of scoring, Bowman and Robinson were creating. Twice, Bowman found an open Popovic on the pick-and-roll. Later in the half, Robinson dialed up a perfect pass to a cutting Mitchell for the lay-in at the hoop. SC State was inaccurate from downtown and, although the Bulldogs got to the line quite often, their inside presence was virtually non-existent. They only scored 19 first-half points—nine of which came off of 3-pointers or free throws. BC, on the other hand, exploded for 47. The Eagles didn’t take their foot off the gas in the second period of play. Not only

did they continue to fire away offensively, but they also ramped up their defensive intensity. By stretching out the shot clock, and contesting shots, both inside and out, BC limited the Bulldogs to a mere three points in the first six minutes of the second half. After intermission, Bowman, Robinson, and Chatman made a few shots to get things going, but it wasn’t long before Christian subbed them out. Already up more than 30 points, the fourth-year man decided that it was best to rest his premier scorers. From that point forward, the bench—primarily composed of freshmen—took over. Mitchell kept on adding to his career day, and guys like Vin Baker Jr., Luka Kraljevic, and Avery Wilson got some valuable minutes. Wilson, in particular, made the most of the opportunity. The freshman guard converted both of his 3-point attempts and finished with seven points. Leading by nearly 40 points, Christian

checked in all of his walk-ons. Gordon Gehan, a junior who hadn’t scored since the 2015-16 season, logged five points in the final minutes. No matter who was on the floor for BC, one thing remained constant: ball movement. “There’s just a really good feel for where guys were and guys seeing and making plays,” Christian said. “Eighteen assists could have easily been 25 or 26, but we missed a couple shots. But what’s behind it, is that we’re playing the right way, and that’s what really matters.” Ten different Eagles played 10 or more minutes in the blowout win. Out of all the stats, that one could very well be the most important, considering that BC has to play its third game in five days on Tuesday against Sacred Heart. The season spans upwards of five months. Guys like Bowman and Robinson need all the rest they can get. n

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Shooting Woes Plague Eagles in Double-Digit Loss to Dartmouth By Caroline Claar For The Heights

Boston College women’s basketball fell short to Dartmouth on Sunday, losing 68-57. The Eagles cut down the Big Green’s 17point lead to just Dartmouth 68 nine with 2:54 Boston College 57 left to play, but it was not enough as they picked up their first loss of the season and snapped their perfect 10-0 record against Dartmouth in matchup history. BC (1-1) took the road today and traveled to Hanover to take on Dartmouth (2-0) at Leede Arena for its second game of the year. The Eagles were coming off of their season-opener win against Bryant

on Friday, in which sophomore Georgia Pineau led the way with 15 points. BC was looking to depend on Pineau again for its matchup against Dartmouth, but she was held scoreless in the first half. Her 10 points in the second half assisted a great comeback effort for the Eagles but ended up falling just short. BC got off to a slow start, going down early in the first quarter. Dartmouth took its first time out of the game up 13-4, allowing the Eagles to regroup. But that didn’t stop Dartmouth from going on another run. BC had trouble stopping Dartmouth’s 3-point game as it hit 3-of-5 from long range in the first quarter, giving the Big Green a 16-8 lead at the end of the first, with sophomore Taylor Ortlepp scoring four of the Eagles

eight points. The 3-pointers did not stop with the first quarter for Dartmouth. The Big Green went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc and grew its lead to 27-14. The first half finished up with the Eagles down 32-19, shooting just 25.7 percent from the floor and 0-for-13 from long range. Ortlepp persisted, leading her team with 11 points at the end of the first. Not taking any players off the bench, BC started the second half with the same starting five that took the court in the first half. The starting lineup could not stop an early 10-4 Dartmouth run at the opening of the third quarter, led by freshman Islays Quinones. The Eagles, held scoreless by the Big Green defense for over four minutes, continued to struggle offensively. Right be-

fore the buzzer, senior guard Kate Letkewicz hit a long three to give Dartmouth a 51-30 led at the end of the third. Freshman Milan Bolden-Morris exploded at the opening of the fourth quarter, making three-consecutive 3-pointers to get the Eagles back into the contest. This was the first BC three of the day, with the Eagles previously going 0-for-17 from beyond the arc. The triple sparked a 13-7 run, giving the Eagles some much-needed confidence. BC further cut into the Dartmouth lead with about six minutes left to play, but Dartmouth’s Olivia Smith hit a jumper with 4:44 on the clock to put a stop to the Eagle’s run. A three from Andie Anastos and a layup made by Bolden-Morris cut the lead to

single digits with under three minutes left to play, but time was running out for the Eagles. Their offensive intensity came too late in the game, with the clock expiring after Letkewicz went to the line and drained both freebies in the final 30 seconds. The combined efforts of a solid 3-point shooting day for Dartmouth and a lack of offensive urgency in the first three quarters left the Eagles in a large hole to overcome entering the fourth. BC became more aggressive with the ball in the final minutes with Anastos picking up two steals and five points, but in the end the BC comeback fell short with the clock expiring and Dartmouth taking advantage of the fouls that they had left to give to send the Eagles to the line, putting a frustrating end to the BC run. n

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Behind Hawkins’ Big Day, BC Defeats Maine in Season Opener By Andy Backstrom Asst. Sports Editor This offseason, buzz surrounded Boston College men’s basketball’s leading scorers and potential NBA prospects, Ky Bowman and Jerome RobMaine 65 Boston College 85 inson. Together, the underclassmen duo averaged 33 points during the 2015-16 season and, in ACC play, rounded out the top-five highest scoring backcourts in the country. According to fans and analysts, BC’s fate rests in Bowman and Robinson’s hands. But in the first half of the Eagles’ season opener against Maine on Friday night, they were an afterthought. It was the guys inside, who stole the show. Nik Popovic and graduate transfer Teddy Hawkins teamed up to score 16 points—five more than Bowman and Robinson. Popovic looked significantly stronger in the paint than he did a year ago, and Hawkins showcased the ability to stretch to the floor, hitting multiple jump shots, including one from the top of the key. Not to mention that the two racked up 13 rebounds, just four shy of the Black Bears’ first-half mark. Thanks to Popovic and Hawkins, BC could afford to miss outside shots. Despite only shooting 44 percent from the field and just 25 percent from deep, the Eagles went into the break with a seven-point lead. As soon as Bowman and Robinson found their rhythm in the latter portion of the game, BC pulled away. The Eagles outscored Maine 50-37 in the second half, en route to an

85-65 victory. Right from the get-go, it was clear that the Black Bears were going to try to outrun and outshoot BC. Maine jacked up 10 triples in just as many minutes. At first, they were falling. Aaron Calixte, Danny Evans, and Trae Bryant all drilled shots from the perimeter to give the Black Bears a 12-6 lead, four minutes into the game. That’s as good as it was going to get for Maine. Soon after, Popovic blocked two shots— one of which led to a jumper on the opposite end of the court—and Hawkins logged seven-consecutive points. Robinson wasn’t shooting the ball well from the outside, but had a lot of success driving to the rim. Evans and Ilija Stojiljkovic knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to bring the Black Bears within one, but BC responded with a 10-4 run to close out the half. Maine went cold from 3-point land, Bowman scored his first bucket in over 10 minutes, and Hawkins put back a missed perimeter shot before the buzzer to give the Eagles a 35-28 advantage at the half. Bowman only scored four points in the first 20 minutes of play. It only took the former All-ACC Freshman one minute and 58 seconds to nearly triple that mark. First, he took the ball to the hole for a lay-in. On the next possession, he penetrated the defense again. This time, he drew contact and sunk both of his free throws. The seven-point stretch culminated in a 3-pointer from the right side of the arc. Bowman was back, and so was his partner-in-crime, Robinson. The junior, who head coach Jim Christian said played

Kaitlin Meeks / Heights Staff

Teddy Hawkins, BC’s graduate transfer power forward from Illinois State, logged 13 points and 15 rebounds in Friday’s win. “a little too cute” in the first half, amped up the physicality in the second. Time and time again, Robinson embraced contact, as he attacked the hoop, notching his second old-fashioned 3-point play of the game. Both guards finished as the night’s leading scorers with 18 points apiece. Reluctant to take the ball inside, the Black Bears continued to shoot from downtown. They had a bit more luck than they did in the first, hitting 6-of-14 3-pointers, but, without an interior presence, they were helpless. By the game’s end, Maine had more 3-pointers than it did 2-point field goals. Down low, Hawkins and Popovic terrorized the Black Bears on the glass, even

more so than they did in the first half. Hawkins had 10-plus rebounds before the halfway point of the second period, and a double-double by the seven-minute mark. Foul trouble cut Popovic’s playing time short, but his backup, Johncarlos Reyes, did more than enough to fill in his shoes. Reyes, a third-year player who averaged a mere 1.6 points per game last season, poured on a career-high 12 points. He capped off his breakout performance with an emphatic dunk that put an exclamation mark on the Eagles’ blowout victory. With the game out of hand, Christian checked in a host of freshmen, including a couple 17-year-olds: Vin Baker Jr. and Avery Wilson. Garbage time was a luxury that

Christian didn’t have in last year’s season opener—a six-point loss to Nicholls State. As far as the fourth-year head coach was concerned, it was pretty obvious why his team won the way it did. “If you can hold a team to 35 percent shooting and outrebound them, you’re going to have some success,” Christian said. Numbers aside, BC looked like a muchimproved team. For once, Bowman and Robinson didn’t have to shoulder the scoring burden. With an action-packed non-conference slate on tap, the backcourt is inevitably going to have its off games. On Friday night, Hawkins, Popovic, and Reyes proved that they too can carry the team when need be. n

SPORTS in SHORT Men’s Hockey East Standings Conference

overall

6-1-0

6-5-1

Boston College

Northeastern

4-1-0

6-3-1

New Hampshire

3-2-1

6-3-1

Boston University

3-3-1

5-6-1

Providence

3-3-0

6-4-0

UMass Lowell

3-5-0

6-6-0

UConn

2-4-1

3-8-2

Maine

2-2-0

3-5-0

Massachusetts

2-3-0

5-6-0

Vermont

1-3-1

3-7-1

Merrimack

1-3-0

2-6-2

Numbers to know

Number of rebounds graduate transfer Teddy Hawkins totaled in men’s basketball’s first two games of the season.

Number of conference games men’s hockey has won in a row.

Number of games backup quarterback Darius Wade has replaced Anthony Brown this season.

QUote of the week

“There were three options ... and I obviously chose the wrong one.” — Steve Addazio,

on decision to go for it on fourth down in field goal range.

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

FOOTBALL

Brown Injured, BC Squanders Late Lead Against NC State BC vs. Wolfpack, from B1 Kyle Bambard’s 54-yard attempt fell a few yards short of the uprights. On the ensuing drive, the Eagles ran a wild double reverse flea flicker that found Travis Levy for an 18-yard gain. With a mix of trick plays and designed runs for Dillon, the offense was humming—until Brown tried to scramble for a first down and appeared to injure his knee as he made a cut. The redshirt freshman headed to the locker room on crutches and did not return. On the next play, a 4th-and-1 in the red zone, head coach Steve Addazio called a Jonathan Hilliman jump pass play, akin to Tim Tebow, that couldn’t connect with Chris Garrison in triple coverage, and BC came up empty again. “It’s feast or famine,” Addazio said of his decision to go for it. “The safety didn’t take the cheese, and it is what it is. That’s directly on me.” Midway through the second quarter, Dillon finally broke the scoreless tie with an electric 66-yard touchdown run, in the process becoming the program’s all-time freshman rushing leader. He scampered to the end zone untouched, a testament to the hole created by the offensive line, an injury-ridden unit that has improved every week this season. NC State answered with an 11-play, 87yard drive, capped off by a Jaylen Samuels

touchdown run, to even the score. For the first time all day, the Eagles’ vaunted frontseven looked vulnerable. When BC tried to respond before halftime, it shot itself in the foot. Wade held the ball for too long in the pocket and Bradley Chubb made him pay. The projected first-round draft pick forced a fumble that gave NC State fantastic field position. The Eagles nearly got away with it, too, when Ty Schwab picked off Finley. But Mike Knoll’s punt was blocked three plays later. The sequence set up a 41-yard field goal and gave the Wolfpack a 10-7 lead entering the locker room. Two consecutive lengthy drives ate up most of the third quarter, with neither team getting any points to show for them. Dillon continued his ground assault and Wade found some rhythm, too, completing passes to Jeff Smith and Tommy Sweeney. But as soon as they crossed midfield, the drive stalled and NC State’s defense forced a Mike Knoll punt. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, relied on Finley to carry them down to BC’s 20-yard line, where BC’s defense finally forced a big stop. Then, Bambard missed another field goal, this time from 37 yards out. It was NC State’s 17th missed or blocked field goal in the past two years, most in FBS. After a three-and-out for the Eagles, another Wolfpack miscue gave them life. A failed trick play resulted in a fumbled lateral

Keith Carroll / Heights STaff

Thadd Smith dives to the pylon to cap off a jet-sweep touchdown run that gave BC the lead, briefly, on Saturday afternoon. that Kevin Bletzer scooped up and returned deep into NC State territory. Four plays later, Thadd Smith ran his signature jet sweep into the corner of the end zone and reclaimed a 14-10 lead for BC. But the Wolfpack went back on top midway through the fourth quarter thanks to a dazzling 50-yard touchdown run by Nyheim Hines. That lead looked to be in jeopardy on the next possession, when Wade found Sweeney for a 20-yard gain and Dil-

lon rumbled his way into field goal range. The game-tying field goal would never be attempted, though, as a bad snap caused a turnover on downs. With three minutes remaining, the stage was set for a potentially game-winning drive, the likes of which haven’t been seen in Chestnut Hill for years. But the climactic finish never came, as Wade tossed four-straight incompletions and the offense—without Dillon on the field, oddly, for the biggest

series of the game—turned the ball over on downs. With zero timeouts remaining, the game was effectively over. The 17-14 loss denies the Eagles the chance for four-consecutive wins for the first time since 2010, and even the potential opportunity to be ranked. With Brown and Kam Moore injured in the defeat and Landry still questionable, they’ll head into next week’s matchup with lowly UConn hobbled and hopeful. n

Lackluster Offense Spoils Big Day From Dillon, Defense FB Notebook, from B1 field. A few minutes later, he was helped off the field, and backup Darius Wade entered the game—his sixth of the season. Just four weeks prior, Wade led the Eagles to a comeback victory over Louisville. Executing the play-fake to near perfection, he orchestrated four-consecutive touchdown drives. But on Saturday, the graduate student couldn’t do anything of the sort. Wade completed just eight of his 15 pass attempts for a mere 82 yards. Quite simply, the offense reverted back to its old, predictable self. The Eagles averaged 4.6 yards per play—close to 1.4 yards less than they did in the previous three wins, and could no longer score at will. Missed field goals and turnovers kept BC in the game, but, in the end, even that wasn’t enough to make up for Wade and the offense’s lack of production. The 17-14 loss not only slides the Eagles back to .500, but it also puts a fork in their three-game ACC win streak—one that started and ended with Wade behind center.

1) A.J. Dillon No. 23 NC State (7-3, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) entered the game with the 26th-ranked rushing defense in the country. BC (5-5, 3-4) running back A.J. Dillon couldn’t have cared less. The true freshman racked up 196 yards on the ground, surpassing the 1,000yard mark on the year. Per usual, Dillon was quite effective pushing the pile and running through the tackles. But he also bounced off the edge more than he has in the past, and it paid off. Dillon ripped off a handful of chunk runs, none more electric than his 66-yard touchdown run down the left sideline to break the scoreless tie. Thanks to Sam Schmal and Aaron Monteiro, the true freshman had all the room in the world to run. The only time he was touched was when Thadd Smith dapped him up in the end zone. Dillon had significantly less success in the second half, only rushing for 58 yards in the latter portion of play. Regardless, he is now the Eagles’ all-time freshman rushing leader. Even more impressive, over the past five

weeks, Dillon is the third-leading rusher in the Power Five. 2) Pass Defense Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley is arguably the most improved quarterback in the ACC this season. Coming into Saturday, the junior was the most accurate starting signal caller in the conference. Not to mention that he was putting up close to 280 yards per game. But for the second-consecutive year, BC got inside his head. Finley struggled to connect with his receivers, especially on first and second down. He only completed 40.6 percent of his passes, and recorded just 146 yards through the air—both of which were season-lows. The Eagles were also the first team this year to hold Finley without a touchdown pass. Despite cornerback Kamrin Moore being sidelined for most of the game, BC’s secondary played one of its best games of the season. Often, the Eagles’ defensive backs forced the Wolfpack receivers outside, essentially making Finley throw a bunch of back-shoulder passes near the sideline. The linebackers got their fair share of

glory too. Ty Schwab picked off a screen pass—his second interception in as many weeks—and Kevin Bletzer scooped up Jaylen Samuels’ backward lateral pass for a big return. 3) Poor Play-Calling Addazio’s recruiting and leadership skills have never been doubted. His in-game decision-making, on the other hand, has always been in question—as it was on Saturday. Immediately after Brown went down in the second quarter, the Eagles faced a 4th-and-1. Instead of kicking the field goal to take the lead, Addazio elected to go for it. He didn’t call for a run up the gut, nor did he run a play-action pass play. The fifth-year man dialed up the ol’ halfback jump pass. Out of the I-formation, Wade snapped the ball and handed it off to Hilliman. The redshirt junior took a couple steps forward, side-stepped to the right, leapt, and then tossed the ball to Chris Garrison. The pass bounced off the tight end’s hands, as he was smothered by a pair of Wolfpack defenders, and NC State took over on downs. From the snap to the whistle, the Wolf-

pack was all over the trick play. After all, it saw BC practically run the same one just a year ago. “That call is my call,” Addazio said. “The three options were mine. Obviously I made the wrong one.” Even though Addazio insisted that he stuck to the gameplan after Brown’s injury, it was apparent that he was reluctant to call the same kind of passing plays with Wade in at quarterback. Not once did the graduate student throw the ball more than 25 yards downfield. And rather than having him roll out of the pocket—where he plays his best football—Addazio and Loeffler tied him down, in between the tackles. Wade was set up for failure. He was sacked five times and never found a rhythm. To cap it all off, Addazio called four-consecutive pass plays on the Eagles’ potential game-winning drive—one that started at their own 29-yard line with a tad more than three minutes remaining on the clock. Dillon, BC’s most valuable player, was on the sideline for all four plays, each of which ended in an incompletion. n

40.6

Ryan Finley’s completion %

111

total passing yards for BC

196

A.J. Dillon’s total yards

Celine Lim / Heights Staff

After entering for the injured Anthony Brown, backup quarterback Darius Wade fumbles the ball after he’s hit during his release.

For BC Basketball, Young Talent Offers Reason for Optimism BBall Optimism, from B1 something to be genuinely excited about—men’s and women’s basketball. South Carolina State came to town this weekend to play men’s basketball and brought a nice gift along—the biggest margin of victory in Jim Christian’s tenure as head coach of the Eagles. BC put up 91 points against the Bulldogs, with 12 different Eagles recording points in the game. And on Friday night, in the season opener, the Eagles beat Maine by 20 points at home. Yeah, maybe it was Maine and South Carolina State and not, say, Duke and North Carolina, but the win still says good things about BC’s chances this year. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, if you’re a BC sports fan you know that Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman

are the real deal. This year, Robinson and Bowman are just one piece of the talent on the team, rather than the significant piece. You’ve got freshman Steffon Mitchell, who was the leading scorer against South Carolina State after dropping 21 points. You’ve also got Jordan Chatman—this weekend, Chatman scored 24 over the course of two games, looking a little shaky from beyond the arc but perfect from the free throw line. Nik Popovic has settled into his role as starting center nicely—he’s played well, but more importantly, he’s looked more confident in the paint. Last, but certainly not least, Teddy Hawkins has played a major part in BC’s success over the weekend, including grabbing an astounding 26 boards over two games. Mitchell, Chatman, Hawkins, and Popovic have all demonstrated that they

can be central pieces to BC’s success this year in addition to the already-elite combination of Robinson and Bowman. Christian’s squad isn’t the only team to get excited about, though—Erik Johnson’s women’s basketball team also has a lot to look forward to over the next few years. After losing Mariella Fasoula and Kelly Hughes, BC might’ve found itself in quite a predicament, but new members of the team have stepped up to fill in the gaps alongside returners Georgia Pineau and Taylor Ortlepp. Freshman Milan Bolden-Morris, a natural guard and one of the best three-point shooters on the team, has learned to play a completely new position—forward. She opened the season with 11 points and nine rebounds against Bryant, and continued her hot streak with 13 fourth-quarter points

in Sunday’s loss to Dartmouth. Sydney Lowery, meanwhile, contributed 13 points and six rebounds against Bryant. The Eagles are 1-1 on the season, but even the loss to Dartmouth held some positives—they trailed by more than 20 points entering the fourth quarter, and managed to cut into the lead with a comeback attempt that lasted into the final minute of play. It would have been easy for this young Eagles squad to roll over and let Dartmouth blow them out, but they fought back and took it until the very end. Kind of like Robinson and Bowman, Lowery and Bolden-Morris offer a hopeful future for the Eagles. In fact, both teams have a lot of young talent, proving that fans can be optimistic about the squads for the next couple of years. Robinson and Chatman are

juniors, but Bowman and Popovic are sophomores, and Mitchell is only a freshman. Meanwhile, Bolden-Morris and Lowery are freshmen and Pineau and Ortlepp are sophomores. With several years ahead to progress, mature, and develop together, the teams can only improve from here. Sure, it may have been rocky going for the past couple of years with BC athletics—but after the opening weekend of the basketball season, I’m confident in both teams. As my time as a sports editor comes to an end, this is no hot take: there’s plenty to be optimistic about with BC men’s and women’s basketball.

Annabel Steele is the associate sports editor for The Heights. She can be reached on Twitter @Steele_Heights.

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

VOLLEYBALL

Florida State Sweep Marks Eagles’ Fourth-Consecutive Loss By Madi Brooke For The Heights

Boston College volleyball retreated from the court after handing over a third and final game point to Florida State on an error. Prior to this, a service miscue by McKenna Goss spotted the Seminoles a critical 22nd point and gave them a ninepoint lead. FSU then used its last coach’s challenge on a net foul and through this moved onto the match point. Goss fired out of bounds and the Eagles left the court after being swept three sets to none on FSU’s Senior Day match. It seemed as if BC (6-20, 3-13 Atlantic

Coast) could not catch a break on Sunday. Errors combined with a fair amount of tough luck led to the team’s fourth loss in a row. The Eagles continued their awaygame losing streak as well, as they have not won a single game away from Power Gym this fall. BC struggled to keep up with a strong FSU offensive and defensive performance and especially with its three senior starters, whose last home ACC game fueled their efforts against the Eagles. It was difficult to play in such a setting, especially when FSU senior standout Milica Kubura was playing her last conference home game ever. The Eagles were determined to come

out strong in this match, just as in the last against FSU, where they won the first set, followed by three loses. This was not the case, as the game was quickly underway and the Eagles were finding themselves falling further and further behind a relentless effort by the Seminoles. Kubaru took ahold of the set from the start, however, BC sophomore Cat Balido and Goss led the team in pursuit of the Seminoles and the game remained relatively close. FSU maintained its lead through a series of runs which led to a final score of 25-20. Balido and Goss led the team in kills with 12 and 11 respectively. BC’s persistence and determination fell

short in the final two sets, as its struggle to keep up with the FSU offense increased and the Seminoles pulled away further. Despite getting on the board early in the second set, FSU stormed ahead and took a 14-8 lead that remained through the end, leaving the Eagles drained and down by two sets. After some signs of hope early in the third from BC’s Lynn Braakhuis and Sophia West, any sort of comeback was crushed and FSU rolled through the end of its third set with ease, producing a 6-0 run and utilising errors to their advantage. BC fell in its second and third sets 25-17 and 25-13 respectively.

On the BC side, sophomore Jane DeJarld recorded yet another double-double, with 27 assists and 11 digs. It marked her ninth of the season, most on the team. The Eagles dominated in aces, served by Braakhuis and sophomore Jill Strockis, that gave the team the temporary momentum it lacked throughout the rest of the match. The few moments of energy in the BC offense were not enough to combat a determined FSU starting lineup, and the Eagles remained in pursuit throughout all three sets. Their inability to lead and defend or replicate their opponents runs led to yet another loss away from Chestnut Hill. n

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

With SLU Victory, Burt Now Tied for Second on NCAA Wins List WHOK vs. SLU, from B1 Makenna Newkirk, who thundered the puck past Harrison. This lead was not safe for long however, as St. Lawrence responded with a goal of its own just 15 seconds later. A BC clearance pass was stolen by St. Lawrence junior Kayla Nielsen, which she passed to teammate Justine Reyes, who beat a defender and lifted a shot over Burt, giving the Saints hope, but not for long. The Eagles responded five minutes later with a goal to restore the two-

goal advantage. Freshman forward Winslow Corson cleaned up after a scrum in front of goal, triggered by a shot from Toni Ann Miano to give the Eagles more breathing room. The rest of the period was uneventful, leaving BC a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission. About halfway through the second period, BC found themselves in a good place, after earning a power play. The Saints, however, caught the Eagles off guard and managed to score a shorthanded goal, bringing them

back within a goal. Directly off of a faceoff, forward Nadine Edney collected the puck and skated through the BC defense and found herself in a oneon-one with Burt. Edney managed to put the puck past the BC netminder, bringing the score to 3-2 in favor of the visiting Eagles. The rest of the period was dominated by BC, with Corson and Miano each increasing their respective goal tallies. The No. 2 team in the land went into the final period firmly in the driver’s seat with a 5-2 lead. Both teams managed to find the

back of the net in the third period. St. Lawrence struck first, as Burt made a tremendous play to stop a one-on-one with a perfectly timed poke check , but the puck landed directly in the path of first-year Skylar Podvey, who snuck it past Burt for her first goal of the game. The Eagles responded well and firmly shut the door on the Saints with four minutes left to play. On a 5-on-3, the Eagles showcased their tremendous passing skill when freshman forward Daryl Watts played a great cross-ice pass onto the stick of

Kenzie Kent, who redirected it into the path of Makenna Newkirk, who doubled her tally to end the scoring and put BC up 6-3. The Eagles had a fantastic team game, with four players picking up goals in Miano, Lonergan, Newkirk, and Corson. Watts also starred, showing her eye for picking out an open teammate, adding four assists. But the standout was Burt, who made 36 saves in what will undoubtedly be a game to remember in the career of one of the greatest goaltenders in women’s college hockey history. n

MEN’S HOCKEY

Grando’s Three Points Fuel Eagles’ Dominant Win Over Catamounts MHOK vs. Vermont, from B1 opponents, extending their conference winning streak to five games. The first period was relatively even, with both teams playing solid two-way hockey. The Catamounts (3-7-1, 1-3-1) found the back of net first, as Ross Colton snuck a shot past goalie Ryan Edquist to capitalize on a Vermont power play. Neither team could stay out of the penalty box, and both teams finished the night with seven penalties each. After the first period, the Catamounts hung onto a one-goal lead and led the game in shots, but they had not separated themselves much from the Eagles. The second period was a whole different story for BC. After an uneventful first few minutes, the floodgates soon opened up for the Eagles when Graham McPhee potted a goal to tie the game at one about halfway through the game. Less than a minute and a half later, Grando added

his short-hander to double BC’s score and extinguish all Catamount momentum. He was not finished after that goal, and a little later Grando slid a beautiful goalmouth pass to Jacob Tortora, who buried the puck in the twine to extend the BC lead to two goals. Thankfully for the Eagles, this momentum continued, and the third period was closer to an extension of the second than it was to a lackluster duplicate of the first. Vermont had a couple big chances to cut the BC lead, but the Eagles were too sound defensively, and Edquist shut down any opportunity that got close. Christopher Brown joined in and nipped a goal in the top right corner off passes from McPhee and Casey Fitzgerald. Grando scored his second of the night, and the last goal of the game to give BC a four-goal lead and cemented the final score 5-1. Multi-point games and strong play

from Grando, McPhee, Brown, and JD Dudek led the supercharged BC attack, and solid defense and a tremendous job in net by Edquist (and an assist on Grando’s first goal) locked in the Eagles’ win. While head coach Jerry York woud like his squad to be more disciplined and to avoid the seven penalties that jeopardized the game, the Catamounts only capitalized on one power play. Although BC left itself vulnerable multiple times by playing a man down, its offensive dominance allowed them some breathing room so that Vermont could not gather enough momentum to get close once the Eagles took the lead. Even so, the first half or so of the game was slow for the Eagles, and for BC to win some more convincing games like this, its scoring outbreaks need to either come earlier or more frequently. Even though BC didn’t start off its season the way it hoped, the team is starting to hit its form as of late. n

Lizzy Barrett / Heights Editor

Freshman Christopher Grando recorded two goals and one assist in the victory.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Newkirk’s Third-Period Goal Not Enough at No. 8 St. Lawrence By Erin Walsh Heights Staff

When Boston College women’s hockey faced Saint Lawrence University in the 2017 NCAA Quarterfinals last season, Boston College 1 the team took St. Lawrence 2 home a solid six-goal victory, leaving the Saints in the dust. The Saints had clearly not forgotten about this devastating loss, as they upset the Eagles Friday night with a nail-biting 2-1 victory. The No. 2 Eagles (8-1-1) dominated possession in the opening minutes of the first period, and the game seemed promising. With shot after shot on

goal, the Eagles seemed to have control of the game in their hands. In the eighth minute, however, BC sophomore Delaney Belinskas was hit with a penalty for hooking. Nine minutes into the first period, No. 8 Saint Lawrence’s (6-3-2) Hannah Miller took full advantage of this power play. Miller skated up the rink at speed with the puck into BC’s defensive zone, ripping a shot from the side at an odd angle. The puck deflected off an Eagle player and found itself in the back of the net coming off a weird bounce. The Saints rushed to join Miller in celebration, overcome with both glee and surprise as their payback for the previous year’s dismantling began. As

the first period progressed, BC started to formulate a more promising offense, forcing SLU goalkeeper Sonjia Shelly to make save after save. With the first period coming to an end, a penalty called against the Saints resulted in a confusing misperception for the Eagles. Having thought that the penalty was already called and expecting a power play, BC pulled its goalkeeper and sent another player on the ice. This process began too early, however, and the Eagles were given a penalty for having too many players on the ice. As a result, both teams played down for the remainder of the power plays. Despite out-shooting the Saints by

four goals in the first period, the Eagles were unable to equalize. Entering the second period, BC had a hard time maintaining possession of the puck. In the fifth minute, they almost converted, creating a goal-scoring opportunity saved by Shelly. SLU responded with a fierce counterattack as Kennedy Marchment scored her fifth goal of the season after receiving an assist from Jaimee Cooke. Marchment sent a wrist shot to the net’s top corner, zipping past BC goalkeeper Katie Burt. Although the Eagles had three power-play opportunities to score, the Saints managed to kill each of them. Despite out-shooting SLU through the second period by 12 shots, the Eagles

simply could not convert. BC finally found offensive success early in the third period through junior Makenna Newkirk. Receiving an assist from Erin Connolly and Bridget McCarthy, Newkirk scored her fourth goal of the season and gave the Eagles a ray of hope. The Saints, however, responded with hard offensive pressure, asserting their hunger for one final goal. With just one minute to go, BC tried desperately to reclaim the game, pulling Burt out of the goal to have six skaters on the rink. The Eagles kept possession of the puck in the Saints’ defensive zone, but were unable to convert. n

MEN’S HOCKEY

Freshmen Rasanen, Hutsko Lead BC to Tight Victory at UVM By Bradley Smart Heights Staff

Throughout the first month of Boston College men’s hockey’s season, the prevailing story has been one of growth. With Boston College 4 a roster that Vermont 3 features just six upperclassmen, early losses have been chalked up to inexperience and a team still looking to gel. On Friday night against the University of Vermont, the Eagles (5-5-1, 5-1-0 Hockey East) showed signs of what head coach Jerry York has teased for weeks. The second line—composed of freshmen Logan Hutsko, Christopher Grando, and Aapeli Räsänen—broke out for four goals, leading BC to a 5-3 comeback win over the host Catamounts (3-6-1, 1-2-1). Hutsko and Räsänen each scored twice,

contributing to part of a seven-point night for the trio. Räsänen, who had yet to score a goal this season, netted the game-winner with just over three minutes to go. The Eagles, who hadn’t played at Gutterson Fieldhouse since February 2016, were greeted by a raucous home crowd featuring countless students brandishing yellow thunder sticks. With just four players on the current roster that made the last trip, the youthful BC team faced an uphill battle. It was no surprise, then, that Vermont came out firing. The Catamounts needed just under six minutes to take the 1-0 lead, with Max Kaufman scoring a long-range wrister. Coming just seconds after a Vermont power play expired, Kaufman beat Eagles goaltender Joe Woll to the left side, catching the sophomore off guard.

Six minutes later, Vermont went back on the power play—and again converted shortly after the fifth Eagles skater returned. The Catamounts capitalized on early holes in the middle of BC’s defense, with Kaufman feeding Anthony Petruzzeli in the slot from across the ice. Petruzzeli buried the wide-open backhander, just minutes after teammates Derek Lodermeier and Owen Grant couldn’t convert in similar situations. The Eagles, however, showed plenty of resilience. The freshman-dominated second line combined for three goals, earning the high praise York has placed on them in recent games. With eight minutes left in the opening period, Hutsko attempted to set up teammate Connor Moore for a slapshot. Moore missed, though, so Hutsko fought to regain possession and took it upon himself to score. The junior got assists from Räsänen and

Grando, unleashing a wrister to cut the lead in half. Six minutes later, Hutsko and Grando set up Räsänen for the equalizer. A costly Vermont turnover in its own defensive third led to an open shot for Räsänen, who converted after the Catamounts defenders were late in responding. With the momentum completely flipped in the Eagles favor, it didn’t take long for them to tally again. After pinning Vermont back in their own third for much of the start of the second period, Hutsko broke through at the nine-minute mark. He coasted into the right slot after beating three defenders and scored, finishing past sprawled-out goaltender Stefanos Lekkas. Lekkas turned in a phenomenal effort throughout, almost single-handedly keeping the Catamounts in the game. The sophomore keeper faced

more than twice the number of shots as his Eagles counterpart, piling up 41 saves—including several highlight reel stops. BC set a new season-high for shots, but faced a brick wall in Lekkas, who came out and even made a few aggressive, “make yourself big” saves in the third. But he couldn’t come up with a save on Räsänen’s game-winner. The Catamounts ended the game on a power play and a 6-on-4 advantage, but couldn’t get a clean look and time expired. Sitting atop the Hockey East standings with a near-spotless 5-1 conference record, the Eagles have a potent second line of freshmen that are just coming into their own. It bodes well moving forward, especially entering the heart of their conference schedule. Back at .500, BC has proved it can hang in the tough, nail-biter games. n

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Swift Forgoes Convention, Care in ‘Reputation’ BY EMILY HIMES For The Heights

Taylor Swift is one of America’s favorite pastimes. Who she is dating, the current state of her famous gang of supermodel friends, and her long-lived feuds with Hollywood cohorts Kanye West and Katy Perry have been a topic of conversation and criticism for nearly a decade. But clearly America cares more than she does. Swift’s new album, Reputation, is her story of being knocked down by critics, rising back up to defeat them, and flipping them off while she’s at it. It’s a twisted version of the Japanese proverb “fall seven times, stand up eight,” with a touch of “screw you” for embellishment. Reputation closely resembles the at-

titude of ’80s rock song “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett, with the famous catchline “I don’t give a damn ‘bout my reputation.” Love her or hate her, the underlying message of Swift’s new album is ridiculously clever. Whether you like it or not, she doesn’t seem to care. That’s where the beauty lies: Reputation as a whole is completely unemotional (contrary to previous Swift albums), and isn’t the slightest bit concerned with its reception. Swift knows she’s winning—now it’s all about retaliation. When Swift released the album’s lead single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” in August, it was evident Reputation would be following a darker, weirder, and more mature path than her previous records. However, not every track is as bombastic as “LWYMMD.” “Delicate,” one of the

MUSIC

REPUTATION TAYLOR SWIFT DISTRIBUTED BY BIG MACHINE RELEASE NOV. 10, 2017 OUR RATING

BIG MACHINE RECORDS

album’s more personal tracks, sheds a new light on the crazy and overwhelming lead single. “Delicate’s” smooth thought process shows the doubts that everyone has, as opposed to the confident and selfreliant assertions made in the latter, with lyrics like “Is it cool that I said all that / Is it chill that you’re in my head?” One of the most noticeable aspects of Reputation is new, risque material, by Swift standards. Even though she is 27, this is Swift’s first album that contains profanity—“If a man talks shit, I owe him nothing,” in “I Did Something Bad,” or any references to alcohol (of which there are multiple). Swift also shows a rather promiscuous side, which most her previous music was almost completely devoid of. Instead of telling long, detailed stories, Swift, dominating the vernacular, now resorts to quick, funny comebacks. The “old Taylor” may be dead, but the new Taylor is witty and sharp—and makes fun of herself so that nobody else can. She pokes fun at herself, singing “I’ve been breaking hearts a long time,” in response to the media’s obsession with her love life. This is a common theme that threads Reputation together; “Call it What You Want” is basically an invitation for critics to put a label on her relationship. Reputation is undoubtedly Swift’s most self-aware album, exemplified on almost every song, but especially on “End Game,” a witty, sarcastic, and humorous rap (or attempt at rap, although she pulls it off ) featuring Ed Sheeran and Future. This unlikely trio contains snappy lines and funny rhymes galore, and is the closest thing on

this album to 1989’s “Bad Blood.” Another downside to Reputation is its reliance on a synthetic beat. Most songs on the record are synth-pop heavy, and although it suits most of them, it is overbearing in others such as in “King of My Heart” and “I Did Something Bad.” The one acoustic track on the record, “New Year’s Day,” is perhaps the sweetest. It is the closest glimpse at the “old Taylor” we can get on Reputation. The touching lyrics describe cleaning up after New Year’s Eve with someone, and although the fancy aspects of the party have faded, their love is enduring. The song gives Reputation an optimistic end, with “Hold on to the memories/ they will hold on to you” repeating endlessly, giving both closure and a memorable perpetuality to an emotional and dramatic 15-track story. The world Swift creates in Reputation is a hostile one. It does not ignore her adversaries—frequent jabs at them are commonplace throughout the record, but often in a humorous light. But as the album marches on, its pace softens, and its cadence weakens. The harsh and biting tones of “Ready for It” and “End Game” fade out to sweeter love songs such as “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” (perhaps a subtle reference to ex-boyfriend John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”) and “New Year’s Day.” This is precisely what Swift does best: mixing the strong with the touching, the dramatic with the level-headed, creating a limitless balance of emotions. Retribution, retaliation, requiem— whatever you choose to call it, Reputation is definitely one for the books. 

‘Orient Express’ Never Quite Leaves the Station BY SHANNON KELLY Asst. Features Editor

There’s plenty of facial hair in the newest rendition of Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express—famous detective Hercule Poirot’s signature upturned mustache returns to the big screen on the face of Kenneth Branagh. It’s in good company, too. Its co-stars include the tamer styles framing the upper lips of Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Leslie Odom, Jr. But even with the commitment to good grooming and better casting choices, Murder on the Orient Express fails to live up to its source material. Poirot comes to the audience as a wearied older man who just wants a break from solving cases. He’s particular about everything, down to measuring his breakfast to see if the height of his eggs are exact. While he is on his vacation, he is called back to London for a case, but can only make it back via a trip on the Orient Express. When one of the passengers in his first-class coach, Samuel Ratchett (Depp), turns up dead in his room and an avalanche causes the train to get stuck on the tracks, Poirot is back to business. Since the murder occurred at night when the car is locked, suspects are limited to the 13 other passengers. From there, Poirot grills each to solve the murder before the train arrives to its stop in Yugoslavia. Despite the exciting prospect of a murder, the film does little to make it seem like there’s any reason to solve the case right away. There’s a line that says the Yugoslavian police will assume one of the characters of color did it and arrest them, but neither of those characters act like there’s too much heat on them, and Poirot does not seem terribly interested in their fate,. In fact, the movie plays with the

races of its characters in a way that seems a bit unnecessary, Cyrus Hardman (Willem Dafoe), one of Ratchett’s bodyguards in the books, masquerades as an Austrian engineer named Gerhard who spouts Nazi rhetoric about other passengers being of an inferior race. The only new addition Branagh adds to the source material is the benefit of hindsight, which highlights potential prejudices against characters, but does nothing to encourage a conversation about them in the film. The movie also leaves out some of the critical evidence that makes Christie’s novel a page-turner—one small clue Poirot finds at the beginning proves integral to the rest of the plot, but too little time is spent on it for the audience to digest. Instead, it has to be explained by Poirot, which makes it feel like a bigger logical jump than expected from a mystery movie. Other clues that would reconcile the ending with the previous scenes are left out for some reason, though it didn’t feel like they would have given anything away. Despite the flaws of the movie, there are stellar performances all around. It’s a who’s-who of Hollywood new and old, featuring the timeless Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff to newcomers Odom, Jr. and Star Wars phenom Daisy Ridley. After going on a Disney kick for his past few movies, Gad turns in a quality performance in a serious role. Michelle Pfeiffer gives a strong performance as husband-hunting Caroline Hubbard, but the biggest crime in this murder mystery is how little attention is paid to any of the supporting actors. Branagh is front and center as Poirot, which makes it difficult to find much of anything out about the other characters. Instead of focusing on a few short introspective scenes in which Poirot ponders the impossibility of such a murder, more time could have been given to developing the characters

and their interactions with each other. One character, Countess Elena Andrenyi (Lucy Boynton), gets shoved into the plot at the last minute, and by then her association with the murder is confusing at best. Unlike Branagh’s other directorial efforts—entire high schools have been put to sleep by his four-hour rendition of Hamlet—Murder runs too short, though it drags on. At one hour and 54 minutes, it feels like the audience barely gets to know the characters, but at the same time there’s no edge-of-your-seat tension. This slow drip of a movie could have benefited from a better explanation of why the case needs to be solved right now, or at least a raising of the stakes later on in the film. Aside from Branagh’s unconvincing Belgian accent, the actor/director gives little development to the main character. When it does happen, it comes too late and does not resolve cleanly. For someone who seems so grizzled and troubled by the

many cases he’s seen, it’s a little surprising that Poirot seems to have never run into any kind of moral quandary, which, once he solves the mystery—and he does solve the mystery, no spoilers here—becomes apparent. For those unfamiliar with the book, the film will come together in a satisfying way. Some heavy-handed imagery toward the end may point you to it, but the last 10 or so minutes of the movie are probably the most engrossing, which is a shame. It might give you a shudder, which is par for the course for Christie’s work, but it won’t give the same feeling that reading the book would. Some things are better in their original form, and maybe Christie’s novels should be respected that way, though it’s doubtful they will. Toward the end of the film, a throwaway line indicates that there could be more adventures with Poirot coming to movie screens in the future. That’s a train I won’t be mad to miss. 

For The Heights

Metro Boomin, Offset, and 21 Savage (21, 21) lit the hip-hop world on fire when they released their album, Without Warning, on Halloween. Dropped without warning, the record contains 10 songs running for only 33 minutes. While it may be formally titled as an album, the project has much more of a mixtape feel, mostly due to its short length, surprise release, and artistic collaboration (a la D.J Esco’s “Project E.T. – Esco Terrestrial”). Metro B o omin is the hottest producer in trap music. After rising to prominence with Future’s smash hits “Karate Chop,” “Honest,” and “Mask Off,” Migos’ “Bad and Boujee,” Post Malone’s “Congratulations,” and iLoveMakonnen’s “Tuesday,” the 24-

year-old Morehouse College dropout is undoubtedly at the top of the rap game. Metro’s production has been everywhere, from fast-paced trap bangers to slow, introspective tracks with swelling melodies. This project is different. The nightmare theme runs prevalent in this project, as its release date may have suggested, featuring maniacal laughs, screams, and wolf howls. The production is centered around the trap staple of liturgical bells, but still hits hard with firm 808s, swift kicks, and sharp hi-hats paired with snares. This creates a dystopian feel, with a vibe akin to if the soundtrack of Blade Runner went to a Gospel church with a street bucket drummer. Offset and 21 Savage are the two main rappers on the record, which includes only two features, Travis Scott

MUSIC WITHOUT WARNING METRO BOOMIN, 21 SAVAGE, & OFFSET PRODUCED BY CAPITOL RECORDS RELEASE OCT. 31, 2017 OUR RATING

CAPITOL RECORDS

JACOB SCHICK

‘AMOR, AMOR, AMOR’ JENNIFER LOPEZ

This dual effort by Jennifer Lopez and Wisin marks another upbeat, high-tempo Spanish song released to U.S. audiences in hopes of reaching “Despacito” popularity. “Amor, Amor, Amor” follows on the heels of Jennifer Lopez’s last single, “Ni Tú Ni Yo.” On that song, Lopez was joined by the Cuban reggaeton duo, Gente de Zona. Notably, “Amor, Amor, Amor” is the second song that Jennifer Lopez has released with a featured artist who has roots in the reggaeton genre. These two singles were released in preparation for Lopez’s upcoming album, Por Primera Vez. The song conjures images of fast dances and celebratory festivals. It begins with Lopez erotically and explicilty singing about the intimate passion she shares with her lover. Yet, this is no different from “Despacito,” in which monolingual listeners can enjoy and ignore the actual meaning of the song, in favor of the desire to dance that “Amor, Amor, Amor” imparts. Wisin joins throughout the song for faster lyrics approaching a singrap. His lyrics represent the other side of the sexual desire that Jennifer Lopez has been describing. The sexually explicit meaning does not detract from the song in any way, as “Amor, Amor, Amor” remains a fun song to sing along and dance to, even if you don’t know what you’re saying. 

MUSIC VIDEO KAYLIE RAMIREZ

FILM ‘KIWI’ HARRY STYLES MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS KENNETH BRANAGH DISTRIBUTED BY 20TH CENTURY FOX RELEASE NOV. 10, 2017 OUR RATING

20TH CENTURY FOX

Spooky Rap Collaboration Subverts Trap Genre BY MAX PAPILE

SINGLE REVIEW

and Quavo. Offset, of Migos, utilizes the group’s now infamous rapid triplet rap-style (“Ver-sa-ce-Ver-sa-ce”), and makes sure to fit an ad-lib after every line of verse. 21 Savage, who has the lyrical speed of the Screaming Eagle line, sets up an interesting dilemma for the project: How can Offset and 21 Savage work together, despite their drastically different styles? Well, if Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg ’s cooking show has proved anything, it’s that any collaboration is possible, provided that the setting is primed for success. Metro Boomin has produced a decent amount for Offset and extensively for 21 Savage before Without Warning, meaning that he has the ability and experience to facilitate an instrumental environment that caters to two different styles. The slow church bells fit 21 Savage’s flow perfectly, while the fastpaced trap drums fit Offset’s just as well. In the songs where the two are featured at the same time, you actually focus on the parts of the instrumental that cater to each rapper’s style—you’ll hear the bells primarily and then the drums in the background with 21 Savage’s verses and the reverse for Offset’s. The two rappers ultimately mesh well. That being said, no project is perfect, and Without Warning certainly has some minor flaws. First, this project needs more features. There are no awards in the trap world for doing something on

your own. The trap game thrives on collaboration among producers, artists, and labels to constantly create new content in high volume. While a joint effort among three superstars is certainly a great manifestation of that ideology, much of this project consists of just one rapper spitting over a Metro Boomin beat. In fact, there are only six songs where both 21 Savage and Offset jump on the track together. On what is supposed to be a collaborative effort, this is simply not enough. Furthermore, the lack of guest features is very disappointing. If another rapper were invited to get on this project in any capacity, they would not have declined because of the star power alone, and it seems like a waste to only have features from Travis Scott and Quavo. The rap community can only imagine if trap kingpins like Future or Gucci Mane had joined up, even for just one song, on this record. Nevertheless, the record certainly provides a new avenue for a trap album—that is, sticking to a centralized theme that is not related to Bandos, Magic City, or Heisenberg-grade lean. While these are undoubtedly sprinkled throughout the record, it is interesting to see the Halloween theme take such a large presence in this project. The listener can now confidently imagine what a trappedout Scooby Doo episode would look like, and while listeners may not have wanted to picture that before listening, they will not regret discovering what it would be like. 

Coked-up nights in New York City and sexy fleeting rendezvous are the images that come to mind upon hearing Harry Styles’ “Kiwi,” a gritty guitar-driven single off his debut solo album. But in his newly released music video, the former One Direction heartthrob opts for the exact opposite direction. Prior to the music video, the statement, “No children or animals were harmed during the making of this film,” was displayed against a black screen. The video opens with a young girl who looks remarkably like Styles with dark, curly hair and a blue floral suit bursting through the doors of a dim school hallway. During the first chorus that repeatedly screams “I’m having your baby, it’s none of your business,” tensions build among the well-dressed school children in the dessert-filled room. The camera pans to the intense facial expressions of children of all different races, a nod to the singer’s emphasis on diversity and equality. In the center of the room is a giant pile of beautifully decorated cakes and pastries. The suited girl remains the focus of the video, however, and is the first to throw a single blue cupcake across the room, thus commencing an innocently intense food fight. The audience does not see Styles himself until just over two minutes into the video, when he enters the room with an army of puppies who charge into the frosted room to devour the remnants of the desserts upon Styles’ instruction. Styles is often regarded as one of the better-dressed men in music, and his current tour attire is littered with custom Gucci suits of rock star artistry. His fashion choices in “Kiwi” are no exception. Toward the end, a small red-haired boy holds another, who appears to be “dying” with red cake crumbs spread over his stomach to create the image of a soldier dying in war. The final scene of the video is a shot of Styles and the children lined up in class picture fashion inside a cluttered classroom. The camera zooms in on Styles, who stands in the center of the cluster of messy children. In the last seconds of the shot, Styles delivers his famous cheeky smirk that has been known to win over the hearts of many fans in the past. 

The Heights

Monday, November 13, 2017

Burns Exhibit Recalls Boston Desegregation By Cannon Few Heights Staff Even for those of us who were born after the fact, it can be eye-opening to realize how recent the events of the Civil Rights Movement actually were. For example, 1974 court decision of Morgan v. Hennigan, which finally mandated Boston school redistricting and busing to promote greater racial balances, was established just 10 years before the first Mac computer. To shed light on this not-so-distant time in our history, Digital Scholarship Group members Sarah Melton and Anna Kijas, along with Eric Weiskott, an assistant professor of English, have curated a new exhibit on the desegregation of Boston Public Schools, on display at the John J. Burns Library. It will be in place until February 2018. The exhibit draws from materials in the Burns Library collections to retrospectively analyze the controversies and crises that ensued during the process of desegregation in America, specifically in Boston. On display are memos, court documents, brochures and fact sheets, all from the turbulent times of desegregation. Amid the displays are definitions and explanations of key concepts and ideas pertaining to the documents. Frequently mentioned is the practice of “de facto segregation,” which was the status of segregation in schools that resulted from racial concentration across neighborhoods, instead of actual legislation. It was this condition that led to the Racial Imbalance Law of 1965, making Massachusetts the first state to legally prohibit racially imbalanced schools. After de facto segregation persisted, Morgan v. Hennigan mandated Boston school redistricting and busing to create racial balance. With resistance to desegregation in the community, this landmark decision spurred both activism and riots in the

1970s and 1980s. To manage the controversy and further improve the overall quality of education, the courts developed a plan to partner the nine Boston school districts with local colleges, universities, and business to work together for stronger curriculum development. Included in the Burns exhibit is a brochure detailing the partnership between Boston College and District III schools in the area, linking the histories of BC and the greater Boston area. Rev. Robert F. Drinan, S.J., the Dean of BC Law from 1956-1970 who later became a member of the House of Representatives, was quoted addressing the House with regard to the busing legislation. “In the matter of human equality, our society has survived—very narrowly—the devastating injuries inflicted by the malignant slogans of the past … like ‘no colored need apply,’ ‘separate but equal,’ and ‘freedom of choice,’” Drinan said in the transcript. “Today we are confronted with a new slogan, a new excuse for inaction in the area of equal opportunity—the word ‘busing.’” Burns Library’s new exhibit and the variety of documents, personalized and official, serve to simultaneously inform us on the facts of the events and to bridge the gap between the people during those times and those of us looking back. It is an altogether different experience to read a textbook citing court cases and protests that occurred and to see the original brochure of a Boston woman running for the School Committee because her $100 a week couldn’t afford to send her children to “some fancy private school.” As we continue to strive for social justice and equal opportunity in the present-day world climate, it’s always important to reflect on the moments in history that led us to where we are now. Being informed and willing to search for answers to the tough questions relating to equality is important—visiting this exhibit is a good start. n

Catherine Mahoney / Heights Staff

Asinine Riffs on Cat Cafes, Walmart Asinine, from B8 wouldn’t want to get for your birthday?” A fifth group member would randomly say “pan left” or “pan right” to rotate the square, so the audience could see four unique scenes. With the presence of parents in the audience, the show did not include anything too vulgar or inappropriate, yet it did not shy away from swears or crude material. The jokes appealed to both students and parents, cracking up everybody in the audience. While there may have been some references only students would understand, the parents all clearly enjoyed the show with

smiles on their faces. The show was well structured, as it alternated between skits and improv games so the audience was always getting something different. There was never a stale moment in the show and even when the transitions took a bit longer, the music played in between segments kept the energy up. The playlist, which was one of the best elements of the show, aside from the creativity and comedy, had audience members dancing and singing along. From High School Musical sing alongs, to the Drake and Josh theme, to classic guilty pleasure tunes, the music fit perfectly with the mood of the show.

In a skit, Asinine members are desparately determined to make the boy scouts cool.

Some other highlights of the show include a skit about three nerdy boy scouts that are assigned a new scout leader, Axel, who is determined to make boy scouts “cool”. He hands out badges for “cool” things like smoking too close to a school, swearing, and hanging up on your mother. In another skit, “Cat Café,” the definition of a crazy cat lady owns a café with cats roaming around, some of them feral. When two customers get attacked by two rabid cats, the owner of the café is too blinded by her love of the cats to care or offer them desperately needed medical attention. Other improv games, like “Death Game” had the audience roaring. In “Death Game,” group members were given the difficult task of creating a scene located in a Walmart, where the group must incorporate four deaths caused by drowning in spaghetti, being impaled by a tiki torch, climbing a tree, and shame (all audience suggestions). Somehow, the group connected everything into a hilarious and convincing scene. The skits had clearly been a product of time and thoughtfulness, and the improv games flowed so naturally that they could have been mistaken as rehearsed scenes rather than improv. The tightness of the group, the quick-thinking, and the creativity were all apparent in Asinine’s impressive and hilarious fall show. n

Twiddle Vibes With Audience Energy By Danny Schantz For The Heights Vermont-based jam band Twiddle started its three-night residency on Thursday at the Paradise Rock Club with a fiery, high energy show. The members of the band are Mihali Savoulidis (guitar, vocals), Ryan Dempsey (keyboards, vocals), Zdenek Gubb (bass, vocals), and Brook Jordan (drums, percussion, vocals). Twiddle kept the audience members on their feet as the band traversed through different musical styles, masterfully playing funk, reggae, jazz, and everything in between. Fans of the band are correct in saying that Twiddle’s studio recording pale in comparison to their live performances, which involves mesmerizing improvisation and creation. Broccoli Samurai, a quartet from Ohio, performed an experimental-sounding opening set. Among the highlights was a spacey rendition of the Rick and Morty theme song, to which the crowd reacted with overwhelming enthusiasm. Drummer Cameron Binkley held the band down and allowed them to explore musically, and occasionally dove into ferocious solos of his own. st Savoulidis and Dempsey sat in during the opening set, giving the audience a taste of what was to come. When Twiddle took the stage around 10 p.m., the club was full to the brim. Both the floor and the mezzanine levels were packed, but it didn’t stop the eclectic crowd from moving to the music. College kids, 30-something year olds, and older

hippies joined together in the name of good music. “Syncopated Beauty” was the highlight of the first set. The song went well beyond 10 minutes, alternating between Savoulidis’ vocals and the band’s inventive jams. The lyrics of the chorus, “Relax and dream one day at a time / Let the beauty of the music start to heal your life,” accurately described the general sentiment of the crowd. The audience watched with amazement as beautiful jams unfolded on stage between the bandmates. Throughout the night, especially during “Syncopated Beauty,” the playing of the band mates merged into one. Savoulidis’ fingers sprinted across the fretboard as he strung together incredibly long solos. Dempsey’s keyboard playing accentuated the solos by sprinkling in high notes that complemented Savoulidis’ angelic guitar tone. Gubb wove in bouncy bass lines that maintained the integrity of the groove, and Jordan propelled the band forward on the drums. The moments leading up to the climax of the jam sent the crowd into a frenzy, and everyone rejoiced as the band reached the peak of the mountainous jam. The jam felt cathartic, as if the beauty of the music really had a healing effect. The second set ended with fan favorite, “Jamflowman.” The song is fun and upbeat, and tells a story about the fictional Jamflowman, a prodigal guitarist who has the ability to make the crowd go wild. The band’s cohesion was on full display as they simultaneously broke into jazz grooves mere seconds after jamming in a reggae

style. The audience mirrored these musical pivots, launching themselves into frenetic dancing as dictated by the tempo and style of the music. The song had many euphoric moments of its own, and the audience reacted with appropriate pandemonium. Savoulidis wowed the audience with his guitar speed, which sounded great in combination with Gubb’s complex bass riffs. Gubb shined during this song, slapping the bass with fervor. The crowd loved his stage presence, cheering him on as he sauntered around the stage in bare feet, connecting with audience members in the midst of the jam. When the song finally ended, many, many minutes after it started, the crowd loudly thanked the band. Twiddle returned to the stage for an encore, covering the Grateful Dead classic, “Eyes of the World.” The audience loved the song selection, as the Dead were the pioneers of the jam-band musical style that Twiddle has adopted. In this final song, the band let loose and improvised more than they had at any other point in the show. While earlier jams were impressively tight and coordinated, the spontaneous creation was apparent in the final jam of “Eyes of the World.” The band experimented and worked off of each other, which resulted in a transcendent sonic peak that was the cherry on top of the musical sundae that the audience happily devoured all night long. The show ended around 1 a.m., but the band infused the audience with enough energy to last all night. n

Delaney Vorwick / Heights Staff

Songs like ‘Syncopated Beauty’ merged the band into one, as fingers danced along fretboards accompanied by sparkling lyrics.

Kaitlin Meeks / Heights Staff

Henley’s ‘Walden’ Film Captured With Taste Walden, from B8 oxymoron. This prompted Henley to thrust himself out of his comfort zone as a “rock star,” a name he jokes he will punch you in the face for giving him, and into the world of activism and conservationism. The documentary alludes to the application of Thoreau’s philosophy to modern life and encourages viewers to find their own Walden, a place to return to for reflection in daily life. In light of a new era of unrest and protest in America, the documentary touched on Henry David Thoreau’s teachings about activism and advocacy, which he believed started with an evaluation of how the individual lives his everyday life. Perhaps fittingly, the premiere event was held on Nov. 8, the oneyear anniversary of the day East Coast inhabitants learned the result of the 2016 presidential election, which has since ushered in discomfort on both sides of the aisle. Thoreau is best known for his advocacy through his 1849 Civil Disobedience, which was praised in the latter section of the documentary for its ability to inspire world leaders such a s Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The audience, which was an older crowd full of prominent scholars, took the opportunity to ask the panel, which was mediated by CNN Presidential Historian D ougla s Brinkle y and included directors Christopher and Erik Ewers, Burns, and Henley, about

how to approach modern issues such as climate change and racial inequality in the context of Thoreau’s philosophy. The panel echoed the documentary, which explains Thoreau’s teaching that the reformation of society starts with the reformation of self, a reiteration of the importance of self reflection. The panel also discussed the actual production of the documentary, which was challenging in that the abstract message of Thoreau’s Walden is nearly impossible to comprehensively encompass in such a short film. Further, the Ewers brothers noted that they wanted to portray the life of Thoreau “tastefully,” and took the approach of focusing on the cabin and objects in the cabin rather than assigning a character to play Thoreau. Objects of focus included a small bucket of ripe red apples and the reflection of light filtering in through the paneled window on the wall, making for striking cinematography. These objects embody the elements of nature and the impressive extent to which Thoreau lived off the land in the Walden Woods. Walden, the documentary, will be on display at the visitor center at Walden Woods, a location more than half a million people visit annually to learn about the life and legacy of Henry David Thoreau and transcendentalist philosophy as a whole. While the short documentary is effectively inaccessible to larger audiences, Henley teased he may be open to a larger preservation project in the years to come. n

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2017

@BCHEIGHTSARTS

Breaking the Stone Gaze Through Art and Literature ‘The Laughing Medusa’ disarms negative perceptions of women’s writing by sharing their voices. BY ISABELLA DOW Asst. Scene Editor While society often regards women’s perspectives and feminism as threatening or disagreeable, The Laughing Medusa, Boston College’s women’s literature and arts journal, is trying to change that. Its editorin-chief, Bailey Flynn, MCAS ’18, has worked to expand the magazine’s campus presence to help give women at BC a platform to share their voice and make an impact on the attitudes of the greater campus community. The magazine’s name relates to a quote by French feminist writer Hélène Cixous, which seeks to disarm the fears that surround women’s writing. “ You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she’s not deadly. She’s beautiful and she’s laughing,” Cixous wrote in The Laugh of the Medusa. Flynn describes the mission of The Laughing Medusa as establishing a positive, safe space for women at BC to share their perspectives, a space that isn’t always as present for women as it should be. She joine d the magaz ine a s a sophomore, searching for a support system in a group of like-minded women, and combining that end with her interests in publishing. Now as the editor-in-chief, she leads the organization to continue its mission of sharing diverse perspectives and giving readers the opportunity to relate to the viewpoints of women. The magazine accepts numerous types of artwork, including poetry, short stories, studio art, photography, plays, and virtually anything that speaks to the female experience of BC women. The submissions embody the female perspective in all of its forms, and tackle topics that can be difficult to engage with in other settings. From

issues of gender and sexuality, to assault or pervasive inequality, Flynn and the council are dedicated to welcoming anything they review. Their openminded approach to selection results in an annual magazine with over 100 diverse artworks created and published by women, the only journal of its kind on campus. The Laughing Medusa embraces and concentrates on the raw experience of its submitters, which helps set it apart from the other literature and arts journals on campus. “You’ll find the perspective of an incoming freshman adjusting to BC from an all-girls high school, or a senior CSOM student’s experience with gender inequity in business classes,” Flynn said. The broad scope of experience embodied in The Laughing Medusa’s submissions re ceives a thorough treatment in the selection process. The council meets on a weekly basis to review the submissions they receive on a rolling basis. They read the anonymized

works aloud to the group, discuss everyone’s opinions on the pieces, and hold a group vote on whether to accept the work for publishing. The magazine does not make edits to the pieces, accepting the submissions as they appear in order to preserve the artistic vision of the work, and allow the magazine to stay on schedule for publishing. “ The magaz ine is a colle ctive embodiment of female experience that you can hold in your hands,” Flynn said. “It works the women that submitted art and the women that put it together into a long-standing, collaborative tradition.” The magazine has no sp e cific positions beyond the editor-in-chief, which provides a welcoming space for the council members’ feedback and viewpoints. Everyone’s votes count equally, and no one has the power to veto a submission on their own. The personal preferences of its council members makes selecting submissions a lively process, as everyone provides

their subjective take and engages in back and forth discussion. “There’s a healthy debate that occurs,” Flynn said. “We tell council members when they first join that they shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for a piece if they really love it. Some of our best submissions are when one person votes yes when everyone else votes no. After they share and convince us of what they saw in the piece, the group might look at the piece differently.” Flynn has made it a priority to enhance T he L aughing Me du sa’s presence on campus beyond the physical copies of the magazine. The council plans roughly four events per year for the women of The Laughing Medusa to come out of the pages and into the campus community in-person. The group often holds coffee-shop readings, which feature open-mic performances, and previous Medusa contributors that read from their past works, or share new poems with the group. The Medusa council members themselves can perform at these readings as well,

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LAUGHING MEDUSA

Inspired by a collaborative tradition of feminist literature, the council’s personal viewpoints enhance the selection of artworks.

which allows them to step out of their usual managerial roles and share their creative talents with the community. The magazine has hosted events at Hillside and Fuel, a local coffee shop, and collaborated with other campus journals and music groups to develop a vibrant collection of performances. Flynn notes that coffee shops are also effective for attracting attention from visitors that might not otherwise have known about the events. She hopes the readings and performances gently challenge the viewpoints of event attendees. “Especially at an off-campus venue like Fuel, we want to present a positive view of the magazine and encourage people to look into our work,” Flynn said. “We want them to hear new ideas about feminism and life as a woman, and give them a look into experiences that they may not have had to grapple with before.” Flynn aims to build from the ground up a presence that stretches beyond its current, devoted readership base. The council has recently developed a full online presence for the magazine, creating their own website and posting back issues of the journal to continue the tradition of sharing women’s literature and art in a digital era. The magazine has benefitted from the talents of some of its web design-inclined members, and the group effort has resulted in a site that expands access to and awareness of the journal. The magazine also has a visible presence at BC’s Arts Fest, where submitters read their creative works and gain a greater audience for their experiences. “We make the performers a card, welcome them to the Medusa family, and hand them a flower,” Flynn said. “They really appreciate having the whole council excited to see them, and have their work paid attention to.” 

‘Walden’ Analyzed By Henley, Burns BY KAYLIE RAMIREZ Heights Staff

CATHERINE MAHONEY / HEIGHTS STAFF

Asinine Elicits Laughter With Scenes of Nonsense

BY ISABELLE WALKEY

For The Heights

Upbeat, feel-good music blasts through the speakers of Fulton 511. Rowdy groups of students, smaller groups of parents, and even a few professors fill the seats. Written in funky letters on the chalkboard at the front of the room is: “Asinine Presents: Parentz Bop!” The improv comedy group started off its show with a video skit that got everybody in the laughing mood. It followed several, hilarious pairs of people that all sent in their audition tapes for The Amazing Race. From a pair of passionate dancers with some interesting moves, to a girl slowly becoming a sheep, and many more, there couldn’t have been a more creative, ridiculous group of characters. It ended with the racers running through different parts of campus, finally ending up right outside. As the video ended, the Asininers ran into the room, dressed in the costumes of the video. The first skit of the night followed a passionate sports commentator, who was hired to follow a man’s personal life. The commentator soon proves to a little too good at his job. It is shortly revealed that the man’s wife is cheating on him when some of the commentator’s assistants

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observe his wife at her co-worker’s house. He’s miserable and the commentator enthusiastically continues on with his work and says, “Well folks, you really hate to see that happen!” The group then presented the second skit, featuring two philosophical potheads and two equally philosophical birds. With overexaggerated stoner voices, the two people discuss what the birds could possibly be saying. Though they imagined the birds to be discussing such things as the “bird to seed ratio” in the world, the birds were involved in an intense conversation about outer space and life’s big questions like “Why can’t plastic be microwaved?” Next, the Asininers wore their team shirts to signify that it was time for the first improv game of the night, called “Pan left, pan right.” In the game, there were four group members standing in a square formation. Each person would come up with their own scene, and the two people at the front of the square would enter into whatever scene the person had just introduced. The only rule for the scenes was that they must be inspired by the word “parasite”, which came from the audience after being asked: “What is something you

A reflective tranquility pervaded the room as the lights of Boston College’s Robsham Theater dimmed fo r th e p re m i e re o f Wal d e n , a brief documentary about the deep connection between the Walden Woods of Concord, Mass. and Henry David Thoreau. The opening shot of the documentary film panned to the scenic Walden Pond and was accompanied by the serene sounds of the now-preserved land, which inspired Thoreau’s most acclaimed book. “Walden is not a book about life in the woods—it is a book about life in the world,” Ken Burns, the producer of and familiar voice behind the film, proclaims. Footage of the expansive land surrounding the pond and the humble house where Thoreau lived at the time portrayed the simplistic beauty of Thoreau’s philosophy, which advocates for simple and mindful living. The

documentary provided a brief history of Thoreau’s life, who was born on a small farm in Concord in 1817 and later studied under lauded American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson at Harvard University. The preservation of Thoreau’s dwelling and the fruition of the subse quent do cumentar y would not be possible, however, without the conser vationist efforts of an unlikely figure, classic rock legend and founding member of the Eagles’ Don Henley. Henley is the founder of The Walden Woods Project, a nonprofit organization with the purpose of preserving “the land, literature, and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility,” according to the foundation’s website. During the Q&A session that followed the premiere of the 20-minute documentary, Henley attributed his passion for the project to the deep sense of comfort and contemplation Thoreau’s Walden provided him with during the “summer of ’69,” a classic

rock pun which he did pair with a nod to his friend Bryan Adams. While Adams’s “Summer of ’69” was a carefree time of self-discovery, blossoming love, and “the best days of [his] life,” Henley struggled with the illness of his father, which caused him to spend much of his time clearing his mind at his own Walden, Caddo Lake in his home state of Texas. Henley also credits the works of Thoreau with impacting how he approaches songwriting. His account provides listeners with a paradoxical view of the Eagles’ music. The band in their later stage was recognized for electrifying hits like “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Heartache Tonight” and gained notoriety for the tumultuous relationships between members, but the music itself is the product of calm contemplation. In the early 1990s, Henley saw that the land surrounding Walden Pond was in jeopardy of being used to house an “office park,” Henley’s favorite

See Walden, B7

KAITLIN MEEKS / HEIGHTS STAFF

See Asinine, B7

Twiddle’s Heady Concert

The panel discussion spanned topics ranging from Walden’s current state to the insprirations continuing to emanate from the pond.

A phenominal setlist and unassailable performative energy allowed Twiddle to dominate the Paradise Rock Club..........B7

Desegregating Boston Exhibit

The exhibits attempts to bridge the gap between past and present with personal documents and accounts................B7

‘Murder on the Orient Express’.......................... B6 ‘Reputation’.................................................... B6 ‘Without Warning’............................................B6