The Heights March 30, 2017

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HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

EST. 1919

WWW.BCHEIGHTS.COM

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

NEW FREQUENCIES

CATCHING UP

Sing it to the Heights winner Tonye Ikoni talks his process and future.

The Heights sought out two former BC athletes, Jamie Silva and Andrew Orpik.

SPORTS

SCENE

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Visa Rule Changes Could Impact Hiring, International Students The fast-tracking of H-1B visas will be suspended April 3. BY CONNOR MURPHY News Editor Two recent changes to federal rules on granting visas could impact international students and faculty at Boston College, two administrators said Wednesday. Earlier this month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would suspend fast-track processing of H-1B visas starting April 3. The government said the

suspension could be in place for up to six months. H-1B visas are provided to foreign workers in specialty fields, which at BC usually applies to tenure-track faculty and sometimes to administrators, according to Adrienne Nussbaum, the director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. Fast-track—also called premium-processed—H-1B applications are normally processed within a matter of weeks, Nussbaum said, but starting next week, the process could take months. The suspension affects BC’s hiring plans, potentially making it difficult for the University to bring in a

foreign national hired at the last minute who it would like to start soon. Some schools, like Harvard University, process the applications in-house, but BC uses a third-party law firm. BC processes J-1 visas, designed for shorter-term stays, internally. This year, BC had 62 international faculty or research scholars in the country on H-1B visas. Nussbaum was not sure how many of those went through premium processing rather than the months-long process. A department looking to hire a new faculty member for fall 2017 would still have time to apply for and obtain a normal H-1B. Vice Provost for Faculties Billy Soo said

BC has been putting new hires on premiumprocessing applications, which he needs to sign and get in the pipeline before the new rule goes into effect next week. BC plans to hire 55 faculty this year, and eight are international faculty who have been affected by the premium-processing change. Further changes to the visa process could also be problematic. “If that goes away, so that either they take it away or it introduces an element of uncertainty—because if there are fewer visas, the next question is how do they determine who gets those visas—we could potentially lose those eight people,” Soo said. In that case, it would be difficult to

schedule classes for these hires due to the uncertainty surrounding their status. Another new regulation that requires visa applications to be made in person could impact the 700 new international students BC brings in each year, Nussbaum said. Visitors could previously apply online or through a third party, but now the concern is that in-person interviews might create a backlog at U.S. consulates that could stretch into the summer. Some continuing students also have to renew their visas when they travel. “They probably spend only four minutes

See Visas, B3

‘Delta’ Advances ITS BY ALEC GREANEY A1 Editor This is the second part in a three-part series about technology at Boston College, in part following up on a 2005 story on the evolution of course registration titled ‘Getting into your classes’ and a 2006 series titled ‘BC gets wired: technology through the decades.’

AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Three of nearly 20 monitors that sit in the control room of the Brighton computer center, which resides in a renovated chapel.

In the winter of 1999, Boston College was amid an internal battle. The administration was three years into implementing ‘Project Delta,’ a radical effort intended to make the University more efficient, both in providing better services for students and cutting costs to curb a rising tuition. In the words of former Executive Vice President Frank Campanella in 1996, who helped save BC from bankruptcy in the 1970s and initiated this effort in his second term as EVP, “Project Delta is an effort on the part of the University to dramatically change many of the ways that we do business.” Not everyone approved of such a change—or even in thinking of BC as a busi-

ness. There was a rising rift between those calling for greater financial efficiency to slow the soaring tuition, which had spiked over $30,000, and those supporting the Jesuit university’s mission to protect jobs. Campanella and the team faced harsh blowback from some ideas suggested along the way, including having departments hypothesize 40 percent cuts and suggesting that restructuring “might come to layoffs.” As one 1996 letter to the editor by Michael Eversman, GSSW ’97, read in reaction to the latter statement, “Though no one will disagree that higher education costs must be reeled in … heed the warning that slashing jobs in the name of profits is endemic to society and - sadly - all too common!” Campanella admitted along the way that it was a harder project to carry out than he had expected, but the team trudged forward, determined to make it work. One main aspect involved creating Student Services, and forming it into the model of “one-stop shopping” it is today, rather than the medley of offices scattered around campus at

See ITS, B8

Mass. Dems Chair Reflects on Election Gus Bickford remains hopeful for his party after 2016 election. BY SOPHIA FOX Heights Staff In a way, Gus Bickford, chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, is happy about the 2016 election. He spoke in Gasson Hall on Wednesday night in an event hosted by the College Democrats of Boston College as part of their “Politics Outside of the BC Bubble” series. Bickford, a Brown University graduate who has worked on the presidential campaigns of John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, became chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party this fall, though his career in politics has been both extensive and unexpected. After bussing tables for a few months, Bickford’s father put him in touch with a candidate for city council in a Massachusetts town. Although his focus in college was mostly on computer science, Bickford agreed to manage the campaign and fell in love with politics. “I sat in that chair and had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and it worked out,” he said. Bickford has worked on a variety of

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

campaigns from local to national levels. Eventually he was able to merge his computer knowledge with his political career during the recount in the 2000 Bush-Gore election. Bickford rebuilt the entire voter file in Florida in order to accurately re-tally votes and later advocated for the construction of a national voter file. His efforts resulted in Votebuilder, a program that he helped design, which has been used by both the Clinton and Obama campaigns. In addition to building the database for the national voter file, Bickford worked specifically on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s 2012 campaign as a vote targeter. In his opinion, the best candidate is the one who can most connect with the voters. A majority of Bickford’s talk focused not on his political career, but rather on the 2016 presidential election and the resulting improvements needed within the Democratic Party. “I really wouldn’t want to be in any other place,” Bickford said. “[The presidential election] has given me a reason to watch the news, a reason to resist, a reason to fight back, a reason to keep doing what I love to do, which is spread the fairness doctrine.” Bickford is a harsh critic of President Donald Trump and believes that Trump will not remain in office long enough to run in the 2020 election.

NEWS: Hookup Culture

Author Peggy Orenstein advises students to use the pizza metaphor......................B2

Likening the Trump administration’s connections to Russia to the Watergate scandal, Bickford expressed his hope that there will be a strong investigation conducted by the Senate. Bickford believes that the Democratic Party used wrong strategies to nominate Clinton. “We ran a campaign to elect a black man, and we needed to run a campaign to elect a white woman,” he said. Having previously worked with several members of the Clinton team, Bickford recognized its overreliance on a minority turnout at the poles that ultimately did not deliver in favor of the Democrats. The narrow margin of the campaign confused Democratic efforts late in the game, but the overall strategy used proved much more effective for Obama than Clinton. “Women do not fall in line behind a female candidate,” he said. “You can’t rely on women’s vote so you have to find some other way to put it together … it is always amazing to me how tough women can be on each other.” Bickford cited two further concerns he had about the overall results of the election: losing Michigan and underplaying the animosity against Clinton. He explained that, based on the

See Bickford, B3

METRO: Hear the Sound of Art

KAITLIN MEEKS / HEIGHTS STAFF

Advocates Gather to Hear Experiences of Survivors The event provided a safe space for people to tell their stories. BY BERNADETTE DARCY Heights Staff Taking a stand against sexual assault and violence, survivors, students, and faculty gathered in solidarity Wednesday night on O’Neill Plaza during the Boston College Women’s Center’s annual “Take Back the Night” event. The event was the centerpiece of Concerned About Rape Education (CARE) Week, an awareness and advocacy campaign held by the

The ISG Museum’s newest exhibit integrates artwork with an auditory experience..............B5

INDEX

Women’s Center each year. The event created a safe space for survivors to reclaim their experiences while surrounded by people exhibiting solidarity. Four survivors told four very different stories, underscoring that no two sexual assaults or acts of violence are the same. Lisa Edouard, the graduate assistant for the Sexual Assault Network (SANet) at the Women’s Center, opened the event. She described Take Back the Night as an opportunity “to reflect, heal, and advocate for change.” Edouard spoke about the history and

See Take Back the Night, B3

NEWS.......................... B2 ARTS & REVIEW............ C1

Vol. XCVIII, No. 18 METRO......................B4 SPORTS......................C8 © 2017, The Heights, Inc. OPINIONS................... B6 www.bcheights.com


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