The Heights April 3, 2017

HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

EST. 1919

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MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

BC BOP! NOIR

WAH HOO NAH

ARTS

SPORTS

BC bOp! gave attention to the wonderous roar of individual instruments in Noir.

Despite the snow, Boston College lacrosse surged past No. 17 Virginia, 17-10.

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SA Plans Text Hotline A resolution seeking a peer-to-peer service passed Sunday night.

BY HEIDI DONG Asst. News Editor The Undergraduate Government of Boston College’s Student Assembly (SA) unanimously passed a resolution on Sunday night calling for BC to create the mental health resource “Lean On Me,” which is currently used at four other universities.

The resolution was sponsored by Reed Piercey, MCAS ’19, and co-sponsored by Aneeb Sheikh, MCAS ’20.

The resolution notes that there is only one official mental health resource for students at BC—University Counseling

Services (UCS). UCS offers one-onone counseling and psychotherapy for students, but appointments must be scheduled in advance, which often can be delayed due to high demand for UCS counselors.

Lean On Me is a 24/7 non-emergency peer-to-peer text hotline that was developed two years ago at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It has since spread to the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Northeastern University.

The resolution calls for UGBC to establish an independent division called “Lean On Me” within Student Initiatives (SI), to serve as BC’s new chapter of Lean on Me (LOM BC). The proposed executive

See SA Meeting, A3

Eradicate Sanctioned Three more members were sanctioned for unregistered protests.

BY CONNOR MURPHY News Editor Eradicate Boston College Racism announced on Facebook last week that three more members of the group had received sanctions for their involvement in unregistered demonstrations that took place last fall. The first was a “Stand Against Hate” rally on Nov. 14, 2016, and the second demonstration, on Dec. 1, 2016, called for BC to declare itself a sanctuary campus. Four students received sanctions earlier this semester—these three are the

last of the seven who received summons to disciplinary hearings.

According to Gloria McGillen, LGSOE ’17, four members of the group received an administrative warning, and three received disciplinary probation. An administrative warning is “an official warning to the student that subsequent violations of the Code of Student Conduct may result in higher level sanctions,” according to the BC Code of Conduct. Disciplinary probation is the lower level of probation in the conduct process—similar violations of the Code of Conduct could result in University probation, loss of privileges, and/or housing suspension.

In December, Eradicate published

See Eradicate, A3

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Sanders, Warren Headline Rally Sanders called for the restructuring of the Democratic Party.

BY LEO CONFALONE Opinions Editor In an emphatic statement, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont called for a “fundamental restructuring of the Democratic Party.” He believes that Democrats have become too cozy with the country’s liberal elite, and that the party must connect with working-class America once again.

Sanders spoke at the Our Revolution Boston Rally at the Orpheum Theatre on Friday night, in which he and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren rallied support for national and local progressive goals.

Despite the wintry mix of rain and snow that fell over Boston, 1,600 people packed into the ornate theater to show their support for causes in Massachusetts and across the country.

The rally was sponsored by Our Revolution, an organization founded to continue the political movement which finds its roots in Sanders’ presidential campaign.

Our Revolution was paired with several

advocacy organizations—such as Raise UP Massachusetts, and the Jobs Not Jails Coalition—to highlight issues pertaining to the Bay State, such as the establishment of paid sick and medical leave; the fight for a $15 minimum wage; and statewide immigration and prison reform.

Sanders emphasized the necessity of the Democratic Party becoming a “50-state party,” with reach from coast to coast—as well as the states in between. He believes that reaching out to people in typically red states, such as Kentucky where thousands

See Our Revolution, A3

O’Malley to Deliver Keynote at Upcoming CJBC Event The rally will call on BC to divest from fossil fuel holdings.

BY JOSHUA HOLTZ Heights Staff Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will deliver the keynote speech at a rally on Tuesday organized by Climate Justice at Boston College (CJBC).

Titled “Environmental Activism in Standing Rock and Divestment,” the event will begin in O’Neill Plaza at 4:30 p.m. and will call on the University to

divest its endowment from fossil fuel holdings.

“A continued dependence on fossil fuels, as well as a long history of environmental racism, have led to the disastrous situation in Standing Rock,” CJBC members said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, universities and institutions around the globe, including Boston College, continue to invest billions of dollars in the fossil fuel industry.”

Edward Byrne, a member of CJBC and MCAS ’18, who is responsible for communicating with O’Malley’s office in Washington, said that the rally’s themes will link the intersection of climate

change and social justice to BC’s mission of promoting ethical development in students.

“We really want to emphasize the importance of climate change, and divestment, as a way to challenge the university to uphold Jesuit values—particularly cura personalis [care for the entire person],” Byrne said in an email. “If one’s physical environment isn’t cared for, then the whole person will suffer.”

O’Malley was a Democratic candidate for president in 2016, and is currently the Jerome Lyle Rappaport Visiting Professor at BC Law School.

“Meeting the climate challenge

requires a commitment to one simple concept: a full transition to clean, renewable energy and an end to our reliance on fossil fuels,” O’Malley was quoted as saying in a poster released by the rally’s organizers.

Matthew Barad, a representative of CJBC in the environmental caucus of the Undergraduate Government of BC and MCAS ’20, said O’Malley contacted them and offered to speak at Tuesday’s rally.

“O’Malley has been an active force in advancing progressive policy, and even drove [Democratic presidential candidates] Bernie Sanders and Hillary

Clinton to adopt his proposed climate plan during last year’s primaries,” Barad said in an email.

While O’Malley has expressed support for the growing student movement that demands that universities divest, it is unclear if he will call on BC specifically to divest. O’Malley’s communications aide declined a request from The Heights to comment on divestment.

In addition to O’Malley and a number of CJBC student activists, members of Eradicate Boston College Racism are expected to speak, as are Robert Wen-

See CJBC, A3

Bathroom Posters Return The posters point to a site advocating for all-gender restrooms.

BY CHRIS RUSSO AND HEIDI DONG Assoc. and Asst. News Editor

LIZZY BARRETT / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The unauthorized posters were hung inside stalls across campus, including this one in McElroy, which was still up as of Sunday night.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

NEWS: Relay for Life

Over 1,200 participants raised $136,000 at Friday night’s annual event..................A3

Several unapproved posters advocating for all-gender bathroom rights were found in at least one bathroom in Stokes Hall on Friday morning. The posters have since been removed.

The Undergraduate Government of Boston College passed a resolution Sunday night, The Resolution Concerning Single Stall Restrooms, calling for a change in signage for single stall

FEATURES: From Russia With Love BC Law professor David Wirth is teaching and researching in St. Petersburg...............A4

INDEX

bathrooms in academic buildings to be gender neutral. Josh Frazier, MCAS ’19, sponsored the resolution.

Frazier said the resolution would benefit both non-gender conforming students, as well as the general student population.

Currently, there are around 18 single-stall bathrooms scattered among O’Neill Library, Gasson Hall, Cushing Hall, Campion Hall, and Burns Library.

The single-stall bathrooms are currently designated male or female. Frazier noted that not all male designated single-stall bathrooms have urinals, and that the largest cost incurred for

See Bathroom Posters, A8

NEWS.......................... A2 SPORTS......................B1

Vol. XCVIII, No. 19 FEATURES................ A4 ARTS & REVIEW............ B8 © 2017, The Heights, Inc. OPINIONS................... A6 www.bcheights.com

The Heights

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things to do on campus this week

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Alessandro Ferrara, former president of the Italian Association of Political Philosophy, will give a talk titled “Political Liberalism, Indigenous Unreasonability and Post-liberal Democracy” tonight at 5 p.m. in Stokes S195. Ferrara is also a professor of political philosophy at the University of Rome.

Monday, Arpil 3, 2017

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The Undergraduate Government of Boston College will host a talk by Layla Aboukhater, MCAS ’18, who is a Syrian refugee. She will share her experience as a refugee and shed light on the importance of looking for the truth. The talk will be on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Cushing 001.

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The Shea Center for Entrepreneurship will hold a lunch with Jimmy Mackin, co-founder of Curyator, as a part of its “Lunch with an Entrepreneur” series on Wednesday at 12 p.m. in Cushing 208. Curyator is a Boston-based marketing firm that specializes in real estate marketing on social media.

NEWS Russia Will Help Assad Regime, Harvard Prof. Says BRIEFS

By Katie Murphy

Alum Sings on ‘The Voice’

Troy Ramey, BC ’11, is a current contestant on The Voice, NBC’s hit singing competition show. Ramey sang in front of the four judges—Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, and Blake Shelton—auditioning to join their teams. He was the first performance of Season 12 to have a four-chair turn around, in which all the judges ask for him to join their team.

Ramey sang “Wild World” by Cat Stevens, his late father’s favorite song.

“You moved me, and your voice is so tender,” Stefani said. “My instinct tells me you’re supposed to be on my team.”

Ramey picked Stefani as his coach for the season.

“You are a major contender to win this thing,” Levine said.

Ramey, a native of Vermont, grew up believing he wanted to play or coach pro basketball. His father was the coach of his highschool basketball team. When his father passed away during Ramey’s sophomore year of high school, he turned to music as a way to heal.

In an interview with the Vermont Standard, Ramey explained the incredible experience of being on stage.

“It’s hard to explain how amazing that audition was,” Ramey said.

“It was an experience I’ll never forget. All of my years of practice really did lead up to that one moment, as cliché as it sounds.”

Prof. Writes ‘Times’ Op-Ed Last week, Thomas Groome, a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, discussed how Democrats can regain the Catholic vote in a New York Times op-ed. Groome reflected on how he grew up in the Irish Republic and aligned with Republican Party principles like local autonomy and limited government.

His commitment to social justice, however, was more in tune with the Democratic Party’s agenda. He wrote that the Catholic support for the Democratic Party, which was once very solid, has now eroded. And he attributes this shift to how many American Catholic bishops have shifted from emphasizing social issues like peace or the economy to focusing on “culture wars” such as abortion and gay marriage.

Groome wrote that many Catholics view Democrats as “unconditionally supporting abortion.” He then cited polls that show there is a possibility for a middle ground between making all abortions legal or all abortions illegal.

He goes on to suggest that the Democratic Party acknowledges abortion as an issue of moral and religious concern, and works to improve health and social services as a way to decrease abortions.

He writes that the abortion rate dropped 21 percent from 2009 to 2014, a downward trend that would most likely end if the contraception services provided through the Affordable Care Act are slashed.

Groome’s article, tweeted by @nytopinion, received notable attention compared to the other @nytopinion tweets, with 157 shares, 77 retweets, and 140 likes.

Although many other twitter users have tweeted about the article separately, most condemning the use of “Abortion Party” to describe the Democratic Party.

Heights Staff

Governance in the Middle East is hard to talk about broadly because there are so many different countries in a variety of stages of political and economic development, according to Melani Cammett, a professor of government at Harvard University. She believes each country needs to be considered on its own when people talk about its future.

In an event hosted Thursday by the Islamic Civilization and Studies Department and sponsored by Institute for the Liberal Arts and the Islamic Civilization and Societies Program, Cammett and Eva Bellin, a professor of Arab Politics at Brandeis University, spoke about their perspectives on the future of governance in the Middle East.

In addition to being a professor at Brandeis, Bellin was named a Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for 2006 to 2008.

Cammett defined governance as a government’s ability to make and enforce rules and deliver social services regardless of whether that government is democratic.

Syria’s civil war began as a peaceful protest but the movement transitioned into violence that was exacerbated with the rising sectarian tensions, she said. She predicted that the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria will stay in power with the help from Russia,

a transnational militia, and recent collaborations between Turkey, Iraq, and Russia.

Although Cammett thinks Assad will stay in power, she also predicts some degree of decentralization within the government.

In order to do away with arbitrary exercises of power, corruption, and abuse, Bellin said, states need to be able to implement an “institutional toolkit.” The toolkit that she described included an effective judiciary, police force, military, competent bureaucracy, regulatory agencies, and a civil service. These institutions help protect and serve citizens.

Bellin shared four lessons that she has learned during her studies about the formation of good government. First, that it is often achieved inadvertently. Next, structural conditions matter and states must have a decent political and economic foundation to achieve a good government.

Third, states must cultivate support other nations or institutions. Lastly, the state must empower the people.

After explaining the components of what is needed for a government to operate well, Bellin explained her outlook on the future of the Middle East, some negative and some positive. On the negative side, she sees a region full of authoritarian regimes, overwhelmed with security crises and societal fragmentation. These conditions make the short-term future look bleak, but Bellin is hopeful when it comes to the long term.

Kate Mahoney / Heights Staff

Cammett shared her studies’ findings about well-functioning governments on Thursday.

“I do see these socioeconomic and technological trends, which do point in a positive direction in the long term,” she said.

According to Cammett, having a capable state is the foundation of being able to have a stable government. A capable state is one that can enforce laws, collect taxes, provide services to its citizens, and manage social and economic affairs.

The more capable a state is, the brighter future it has.

Some of the Gulf States with rich resources, for example, have significantly better economies than countries lacking in natural resources, so it’s hard to generalize governance across the Middle East.

“Some of the major Arab Uprising countries would fall into this category, that

don’t have much resource wealth and their challenge really is to build more inclusive economies, more competitive economies, and to try to bring economic transformation,” she said.

Cammett described how countries such as Syria and Iraq can’t think about a competitive economy with their current political climate, which will hinder their transition to being a capable state.

She cited a few specific examples of Middle Eastern countries and evaluated their governments. She talked about Egypt and how the state is capable, but there is rising political violence and the state has been receiving a lot of economic help from other countries, and may not be able to sustain its economy on its own. n

Survivor of Disease Discusses Sexism in Medicine

By Clint Keaveny For The Heights Meghan O’Rourke suffered more than pain when she had a chronic illness, facing sexism from her doctors. When consulting doctors about her various, seemingly unrelated symptoms—hives, fatigue, and chronic upper respiratory infection—she was asked on one occasion if she had boyfriend problems.

Speaking as part of the Park Street Corporation Speaker Series, O’Rourke told students her story of chronic illness on Thursday night.

“Most illness stories have a startling beginning,” she said. “But not mine.”

Instead, O’Rourke went through an array of ongoing conditions that seemed unrelated. While doctors treated her individual symptoms, they never addressed the underlying cause of her issues.

Unfortunately, other doctors doubted that she had an illness at all and thought she was part of the “worried well,” or people who aren’t sick but worry an unnecessary amount about their health.

She referred to her chronic rashes as a metaphorical braille and said her mission was to learn its meaning.

Eventually, she learned that she had an autoimmune disease. Autoimmunity, which is when the body’s immune system misidentifies a threat and attacks healthy cells, is poorly understood, and lacks a cure.

O’Rourke’s experience is not out of the ordinary for those with a chronic illness. It takes an average of five years and six doctors for a chronic illness sufferer to find a diagnosis. Throughout that process, many doctors doubt that patients—especially women—have an illness at all.

On many doctor’s appointments, O’Rourke’s physicians asked if she was depressed or suffering from any other mental illness.

“We have an irresistible urge to turn illness into a symptom of other things,” O’Rourke said.

Because of many physician’s skepticism, she felt that she had to earn their trust for them to take her seriously. She underreported the severity of symptoms to make them seem more believable, and would sometimes leave other symptoms out altogether.

“It’s kind of ridiculous that hundreds of thousands of women would simply make up diseases for attention,” she said.

Over 50 million people in the United States have some chronic illness, she explained, and autoimmunity accounts for the majority of chronic illnesses. This accounts for one-sixth of the U.S. population.

Additionally, 75 percent of patients with autoimmune diseases are women.

Despite the multitude of sufferers, the U.S. medical system is ill-prepared to treat them. Surgery and other forms of health care that deal with acute injuries or illnesses

have progressed tremendously, but there is less understanding of chronic illness.

“We don’t have an autoimmune specialist or center like we have cancer centers,” she said.

This lack of centralization makes it especially difficult for those with autoimmune disorders to find adequate care, and people see different specialists and receiving different treatments for each symptom.

According to O’Rourke, the occasional paternalism of physicians stems from standard practices within the medical field.

Doctors prefer to rely on tests rather than subjective self-assessment, but there are few objective tests for things like pain and chronic fatigue.

The sick are ordinarily not the best judge of their own needs, she said, quoting a doctor.

While such an attitude may normally work within the medical field, this compounds the difficulties of those with chronic illness, who rely solely on their subjective experience.

Additionally, autoimmune diseases are on the rise, which makes this problem even more urgent.

“Celiac disease, [an autoimmune response to wheat] has risen four fold since the 1950s,” she said. “Type one diabetes has risen fivefold in the last 40 years and is up 23 percent in the last decade.”

Lupus rates have also increased, and the rate of MS in many European countries has

doubled over the last half century. A myriad of poorly understood and increasingly common autoimmune diseases inflict an enormous cost on an already overburdened health care system. The annual direct cost of autoimmune diseases is a hundred billion dollars a year in the U.S. alone.

The phenomenon of the increasing amount of autoimmune disorders is limited almost exclusively to the West, and may be an effect of environmental pollution as well as the consumption of processed foods.

Despite this, a majority of Americans cannot even name an autoimmune disease, and many doctors feel inadequately prepared to treat them.

Although more research is necessary to better treat these diseases, O’Rourke claimed that one easily attainable improvement would be more empathetic treatment from physicians. In one study, type one diabetes patients with empathetic doctors performed measurably better than those with unempathetic ones.

She also identified the apathy of family members as a source of difficulty for those with chronic illness. Some of her own family members referred to a relative as someone who “likes to be sick.” After years of suffering, her doctors finally diagnosed her with an autoimmune disorder.

“Pain is always new to the sufferer,” O’Rourke said, quoting Alphonse Daudet, “but it loses its originality to those around them.” n

8:28 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Keyes South.

POLICE BLOTTER: 3/29/17 – 3/31/17 Wednesday, March 29

at an off-campus location.

cious circumstance at Fulton Hall.

10:19 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Stayer Hall.

Thursday, March 30

6:46 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspicious circumstance at Keyes South.

10:19 a.m. - A report was filed regarding miscellaneous police services at the Middle Campus Lots.

5:35 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a miscellaneous police service at 2150 Comm. Ave.

10:52 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a court-issued harassment protection order

3:29 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a suspi-

7:22 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at the Flynn Sports Complex.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

CORRECTIONS If you had to spend the rest of your life in one BC building, which would it be?

“Stokes because the Chocolate Bar is really cozy.”

—Ellen Tschatschula, CSOM ’20

“Probably Stokes because it’s the newest and nicest and quiet.”—Troy Fredericks, CSOM ’20

“I like Fulton because I like the architecture. It’s quite different from the rest of the buildings.”—Adrienne Webster, MCAS ’18 “Lower because I like doing work on the second floor. It’s super low-key and has a good vibe, and I can get food and 10:15 mass in the Heights Room.”

—Connie Lee, MCAS ’19

In the April Fool’s edition of The Heights, an article, “Alt-Right Group Asks to End Language Mandate,” improperly used the name of a student at BC. The Heights apologizes to the student, regrets the oversight, and will commit itself to not using any real person’s name in future satirical editions.

The Heights

Monday, April 3, 2017

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Sanders, Warren Rebuke Trump in Joint Event Our Revolution, from A1

Amelie Trieu / Heights Editor

Relay for Life 2017 Raises $136,000

By Heidi Dong Asst. News Editor Students stood by their blankets and pillows, cheering and clapping for the cancer survivors making their way around the makeshift track in the Flynn Recreation Complex. Some students were brought to tears as caregivers joined for the next lap. Then, hundreds of students joined in taking a few laps to begin their 12-hour long journey at the ninth-annual Boston College Relay for Life.

On Friday, 1,200 participants from 116 teams raised $136,000 for the American Cancer Society at Boston College’s 2017 Relay for Life, $3,000 more than last year. The 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. all-nighter is meant to symbolize a cancer patient’s journey with cancer.

“As people get here, they’re energized, they’re pumped, but throughout the night they start getting tired, like a cancer patient would with chemotherapy,” said Melissa Oliver, a Relay for Life committee member and SSW ’17.

Oliver said that as the night goes on, each team tries to stay up with someone walking the track, as a caregiver would with a cancer patient.

Then, the much-awaited morning symbolizes the sun rising up for a new day.

Throughout the year, teams and individuals raise money for the American Cancer Society and end with this event. Donations, however, are ac-

cepted until the end of August, when the planning period for the next year’s Relay starts. This year, the top team fundraiser was Sigma Phi Epsilon, which raised $9,823, and the top individual fundraiser was Rachel Serko, MCAS ’17, who raised $6,825.

According to Audrey Fleming, one of the four co-presidents of BC Relay for Life and CSOM ’17, BC’s Relay planning committee is made up of eight different subcommittees with a total of about 95 people. At the event alone, about $6,500 was raised.

At this year’s opening ceremony for Relay, Joyce Kulhawik, an arts and entertainment anchor for a Bostonbased CBS affiliate, spoke as a threetime cancer survivor.

“I shouldn’t really even be here. I am here because I am a three-time cancer survivor,” Kulhawik said.

Kulhawik first discovered that she had cancer one week before her wedding, when she decided to get a mole on her leg checked out. “[I told the doctor] I wanted a biopsy. I knew that word,” she began.

The biopsy results showed that it was malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Upon consulting a specialist for a second opinion, she had an immediate surgery to remove the tumor, and was told she would be fine to walk down the aisle for her wedding. Before her honeymoon in Barcelona, her husband was given a staple remover. Kulhawik’s honeymoon included the newlyweds removing 17 stitches from her leg.

Ten years later, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, after being wrongly diagnosed with appendicitis.

After beating both melanoma and ovarian cancer, she faced ovarian cancer again. Now, she is 28 years cancer-free.

“Nobody is a statistic,” she said. “I fell out of the statistical norm every single time, and I am still here.”

Her journey of survival set the tone for the rest of the night.

“You are saving lives. You are saving lives by sitting in this room,” she said. “I feel like I owe you my life.”

The next 11 hours were filled with food, games, performances, contests, and more. The BC Band, Common Tones, Full Swing, and BC Irish Dance were among groups that came to encourage and entertain the participants throughout the night.

One of the most notable events during every BC Relay night is the Luminaria Ceremony. During this Relay, the Luminaria Ceremony featured a six-minute slideshow of loved ones that participants have lost to cancer—an important reminder to participants for why they struggle to stay up all night.

“The Luminaria Ceremony is a time for us to reflect on how the disease has touched each of us personally, and it’s a time for us to look inside ourselves with quiet reflection and find hope,” Fleming said in an email. “Luminaria bags are decorated with the name of someone who has lost their life to cancer or in honor of a survivor.” n

3 More Eradicate Members Sanctioned Sanctions, from A1 a screenshot of an email to the Office of the Dean of Students on its Facebook page in which it requested that all of the charges be dropped. It listed the students who received summons to hearings.

Chad Olle, LGSOE ’17; CedrickMichael Simmons, a sociology Ph.D. candidate; Sriya Bhattacharyya, LGSOE ’16; and Kimberly Ashby, a counseling psychology Ph.D. candidate, all received summons to conduct hearings. Amelie Daigle, GMCAS ’18; Kevin Ferreira, GLSOE ’19; and Raquel Saenz, GSSW ’17, received requests for conversational hearings.

In a statement provided to The Heights, Dean of Students Thomas Mogan said students’ free expression is important to BC, but it can’t disrupt the business of the University.

“The registration process gives us the opportunity to have conversations with students about actions that may disrupt University operations,” Mogan wrote in an email. “Given the highprofile incidents of violence on college campuses, such as the recent protest at the University of California-Berkeley, the safety of the campus community is of paramount concern. I believe it would be irresponsible for adminis-

trators in this day and age not to take appropriate precautions.”

The sanctions have coincided with a push by members of Eradicate to clarify and make some changes to the University’s free speech policy, which requires that demonstrations be registered with the Office of the Dean of Students.

In response to the sanctions, McGillen and Craig Ford, president of the Graduate Student Association and GMCAS ’21, wrote a report on BC’s free expression climate, compiling several recommendations that will be presented to the Graduate Student Senate and Mogan on Thursday.

Mogan wrote in the statement his office took action because “it became obvious that members of EBCR clearly understood the policy and were consistently ignoring it.” McGillen disputed that statement, saying in an interview that Eradicate had not understood the policy until recently. According to her and Ford’s report, only registered student organizations and individual students can register demonstrations, post and disseminate flyers, or table to advertise events and initiatives.

At the beginning of the year, Eradicate asked to be included as a sponsoring organization in a “Silence is Violence” march held in response to a homophobic slur that appeared on

a parking sign in the Mod Lot. The request was denied, which Eradicate later learned was due to its status as an unregistered group, McGillen said.

In a Heights article on the march from Sept. 29, 2016, Mogan confirmed that Eradicate was not included as a sponsor because it is unregistered.

McGillen said the policy was not clarified to them until after the first round of sanctions were released earlier this semester.

The report compiled by Ford and McGillen calls for BC to rescind all the disciplinary actions taken against members of Eradicate. It also recommends that BC organize a campus-wide forum on free expression to be held this semester; create and publish a guide to free expression for BC students; and create a Committee on Free Expression at BC. It also advocates for all students to be able to petition the Office of the Dean of Students to register protests, distribute or hang up flyers, or table to promote events or initiatives, among others. If denied, these petitions would be subject to appeal to the committee.

“We want to get this issue resolved so that we can focus on what we’re actually asking for in the demonstrations, the kinds of policy changes we’ve been trying to organize around,” McGillen said. n

O’Malley Will Speak at Divestment Rally CJBC, from A1 gronowitz, a Ph.D. student in BC’s sociology department, and Chief Wampatuck Wampimeequin of the Mattakeeset Tribe of the Massachusetts Nation.

Wampimeequin has spoken publicly many times at BC, most recently at a rally in December 2016 that denounced efforts to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) on

sacred land in North Dakota, known colloquially as “Standing Rock.”

On Tuesday, Wampimeequin is expected to condemn past crimes against Native Americans while strongly calling for equitable treatment in the future.

“Standing Rock is, sadly, a perfect example of underrepresented communities suffering from our reliance on fossil fuels,” CJBC organizer Dan McCarthy, MCAS ’20, said in an email.

“We may benefit financially—but it comes at an unacceptable human cost.”

During the rally, and on behalf of CJBC, Barad will call for University officials to divest from holdings in fossil fuels, and to engage in “serious and respectful dialogue” with activist student groups.

“We want to hold BC [administrators] accountable for their actions,” Byrne said. n

received health care for the first time because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), promoting a vision that appeals to all people, and remaining united are essential for the success of the Democratic Party.

In her speech, Warren hailed the increased efforts and participation of Americans in politics following the victory of President Donald Trump. She celebrated the recent defeat of the Republican plan in Congress to repeal and replace the ACA, which she called “the biggest assault on health care in this country,” and credited the nationwide public opposition to the plan as the reason for its failure.

Sharing her experiences from rallies and events in Boston, such as the Women’s March, Warren thanked the crowd for their efforts, and implored them to continue working for progress at home.

“The Republicans have the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the number of tools we’ve got down in Washington on our side [is] limited,” Sanders said. “But that means exactly one thing. We aren’t going to be able to do it by ourselves in Washington, it’s going to take all of us to be in this fight.”

Warren then discussed the need for a change in perspective. Recognizing that much of the criticism surrounding the current administration has been on the character of Trump’s cabinet members and other appointments, Warren called for a shift in focus toward the overarching “extremist, right-wing agenda” that she believes Republicans are working toward.

“The real point is not who Donald Trump is, it’s not what kind of person he is, the real point is what Donald Trump and the Republicans in Washington are doing,” Warren said. “We stay focused on what they are doing to American families. These are people who said over and over that they were going to fight for working families, that they were going to fight for those who are left behind, and look what they’ve done since they got to Washington.”

Warren explained that she grew up in a different America, which, although imperfect, provided each child with the opportunity to do better than his or her parents.

She criticized the influence of large corporations that has altered the country’s political landscape, and stripped opportunity away from the average American. Speaking passionately, Warren declared her intent to fight for a country that provides opportunity for everyone, and condemned the high price of education, opposition to making health

care more accessible, and the denial of the existence of climate change.

“I stand here tonight ready to fight, ready to fight for an America that believes in the dignity of every human being,” Warren said.

“An America that believes in opportunity not just for some of our children, but opportunity for all of our children.”

Shortly after Warren declared that “Democracy is not for sale,” Sanders joined her on stage, and an uproar of cheering, applause, and chants of “Ber-nie! Ber-nie!

Ber-nie!” erupted from the crowd.

Sanders called for massive changes to be made to the current political and economic systems in America. Touching on a familiar theme, he condemned the influence and greed of the country’s wealthiest citizens, and explained that Americans are in a war of “monumental proportions.” According to Sanders, the only solution is uniting the rest of the country to stand up to inequality and injustice.

“Despair is not an option,” Sanders said.

“Yeah, they’ve got the money. But we have the people, and our job is to organize the people, and when we do that, we are going to create the nation that all of us know that we can become.”

He painted a critical portrait of the current level of inequality in America, as much of the newly created wealth is funnelled to the rich. Sanders travelled across the country while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, and spoke to many Americans about their struggles. The time for progressive changes—such as raising the national minimum wage to $15, achieving equal pay for women, and decreasing long work weeks and student debt—is now more than ever, he said.

Sanders also touched upon his plans to introduce two pieces of legislation in Congress later this month. The first is the Medicare for All bill, which seeks to provide universal healthcare for Americans.

The second is a proposal that would make public colleges and universities tuition free, funded through a tax on Wall Street speculation, and substantially reduce student debt, honoring one of his promises from the campaign trail.

“While many people may be quick to stereotype Trump supporters, Sanders believes that this is unfair. He stated that it was not Trump who won the 2016 presidential election, but the Democratic Party who lost it.

“Some people think, that the people who voted for Donald Trump are racist, sexist, and homophobes, and just deplorable folks.

I don’t agree” he said. n

SA to Launch Lean on Me SA Meeting, from A1 board leadership includes, at minimum, a chapter president, training coordinator, head of recruitment, and director of publicity and outreach.

According to Theresa Rager, vice president of SI and MCAS ’17, this structural set-up is not the norm for SI, which operates within committees.

Piercey addressed this by proposing that LOM BC’s executive board would be a subsidiary of the mental health committee that exists in SI. LOM BC would establish and maintain an anonymous, supportive, nonemergency text-based hotline for BC’s community, according to the resolution.

LOM BC would also work with existing mental health professionals within the BC community to create the necessary training materials and hotline practices for student volunteers who would staff the hotline.

Student volunteers would undergo four to five hours of in-person training with an actual mental health professional.

Director of UCS Craig Burns has been very receptive to the proposal, Piercey said, and is willing to provide the professionals necessary for training.

The volunteers would also need to complete online training, which would be based on training used by other hotlines, such as Samaritan Hotline, a 24/7 distress hotline. Based on the recommendation of the MIT chapter that Piercey has been in contact with, BC would need 25 student volunteers. According to Piercey, MIT has an average of 10 to 20 users per week.

The training would end with an assessment featuring both multiple choice questions and sample responses. The test would be scored on the criteria of Lean

On Me national, a board of MIT students overseeing Lean On Me’s expansion to universities throughout the United States and Canada.

The resolution also calls for UGBC to allocate a $600 annual budget for LOM BC for purchasing and maintaining a phone number for the hotline.

BC students would be able to text the hotline number whenever needed, and a text would be blasted to all volunteers.

The first volunteer to respond would be given the conversation. If no volunteers answer, the conversation would need to be answered by a member of the executive board, which would essentially function as on-call texters.

Thus far, about six students have expressed interest in becoming involved with LOM BC. Sheikh, who will be the director of publicity and outreach, outlined where he would begin to look for student volunteers.

“I’ll reach out to the mental health committee and other mental health organizations across campus—people who are already interested in working in mental health—to start with,” Sheikh said.

“Then I’ll reach out to the wider student population.”

Tt King, next year’s UGBC executive vice president and MCAS ’18, was present, and asked if the hotline would be private or confidential.

“Private meaning you do have to report to Title IX, if someone were to report a sexual assault, and confidential meaning you would not need to report to Title IX,” she said.

Piercey and Sheikh have not yet decided on how to approach Title IX regulations, but Piercey maintains that any emergency situation will be referred to BCPD, or someone who is professionally trained to address the emergency. n

The Heights

A4

Monday, April 3, 2017

BC Law Professor Studies Sustainability, Economy in Russia

By Cole Dady For The Heights The year was 1974, and David Wirth, a Boston College professor of law, was spending the summer in the Soviet Union. Over a decade before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Wirth found himself in an utterly different culture.

Now, 34 years later, he is back in what is now Russia doing Fulbright research on sustainable development at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow.

Since Wirth was 19, he has developed an interest in Russian culture.

After training to be a chemist as an undergraduate at Princeton University, he began to study Russian to fulfill a foreign language requirement. To his surprise, he developed a fascination with the language, taking it each semester for four years. After graduation, he wanted to supplement his college instruction by experiencing the country for himself.

Wirth enrolled in a summer course sponsored by Dartmouth College in 1976 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). At the time, taking the course merely seemed like a positive way to enhance his overall proficiency in Russian. Nevertheless, he never could have imagined what an impact this experience would have on him.

“I met people in St. Petersburg who had never met a foreigner, let alone an American,” Wirth said.

From that point on, Wirth’s professional and personal life have often converged with Russia. He worked at the State Department after law school, instructs various international-focused courses at BC Law, and specializes in international environmental law.

When his sabbatical approached last year, he saw no better alternative than to explore Russia. It had just so happened that the Fulbright Program partnered with HSE’s Faculty of Law to host a Distinguished Chair in Sustainable Development, and Wirth was a perfect fit.

He was awarded a teaching and research grant for the academic year to encourage a more holistic view of sustainable development.

He currently teaches two courses in the master’s program at HSE, one regarding regional trade agreements and another looking at the intersection of sustainable development and international economic policy and law.

The teaching opportunity is perfect for him, because he not only gets to teach about the environment and its connection to other issues, but also to interact with an impressive group of 30 students who are Russian nationals. They perform simulated negotiations and draft multilateral agreements, all of which they impressively take on in a second language.

Wirth also coached a team working in a simulated course experience on international investments and supervises research papers.

He is also collaborating with a Russian colleague on research on the Paris Agreement. Particularly, he is examining how to incorporate the social cost of carbon into the price of goods and offset that at the border if, for example, a state of export has policies that aren’t consistent with international minimum standards.

From a policy point of view, it is currently a thrilling time to be in Russia. While President Donald Trump is considering withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, there is a flurry of

Photo Courtesy of David Wirth

In the ’70s, David Wirth spent a summer abroad in what was then Leningrad, and has now returned to Russia on a Fulbright award. domestic debates with Russia over whether or not the country should ratify the agreement. On top of this, working with a Russian colleague and experiencing the research firsthand at HSE is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“In every sense, it’s like being a faculty member at Boston College, but in an entirely different cultural, institutional, and professional setting,” Wirth said.

He thinks that an experience like this is worthwhile because of the personal and professional enrichment that one gains from it. As a faculty member, he has the terrific opportunity of viewing himself as a work in progress, so this is a chance for him to move to the next level in terms of expertise.

He thinks that everyone in his line

of work should have language facilities and a regional focus. Working at the State Department, for instance, one looks at the world from a bird’s eye view. But it similarly helps to be able to look at the world from the point of view of a different culture.

The Fulbright program is designed to enable the types of interactions he has had and give him a refined understanding of a different culture.

In a time in which the bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia are a controversial topic, the program provides individuals, scholars, and researchers with a way to perform citizen diplomacy.

“The governments may have differences, but that does not mean that the people of those countries cannot interact in a positive, professional way that provides a baseline standard

for future cooperation to keep things going during difficult periods,” Wirth said.

Through his experience in Russia, Wirth has noticed that the Russian people are commonly misunderstood.

One day when he was getting on a long-distance train from Moscow to St. Petersburg, a book happened to fall out of his briefcase onto the tracks.

Within minutes, the official working for the train company came out with his book in hand, concerned because there were a few smudges on it.

Wirth’s experience has taught him that one has to visit a country before making a definitive judgment of it.

“It’s very heartwarming as a foreigner to be accepted to such a hospitable, welcoming climate, regardless of the state of bilateral relations between the governments,” Wirth said. n

Sophomore Class Council Hosts Inaugural Halfway Formal

By Bernadette Darcy Heights Staff Regardless of how you write onehalf—two-fourths , four-eighths , six-twelfths—the fraction and its equivalents indicate a perfect middle mark between beginning and end.

Members of the Boston College Class of 2019, who will soon complete year two of four on the Heights, are nearly halfway finished with their undergraduate careers.

On Friday night, the BC 2019 Class Council hosted the first annual Halfway to Graduation Formal in Gasson Hall. Adorned with white string lights, the walls of Gasson 100 were aglow while music thumped and classmates danced across the floor.

Tall tables draped in purple fabric provided formal-goers with a place to rest and chat. Occupied throughout the night, a photo booth featuring silver 2019 balloons gave students the chance to commemorate year two with a smile.

Before Friday night’s formal, the 2019 Class Council hosted two events that commemorated the half way mark. On Wednesday morning, 2019 Class Council members set up white boards on O’Neill plaza for its “Goals to Graduation” event. As students strolled across the plaza, they were invited to write their goals on the board, filling up blank space with hopes and expectations. Students wrote phrases like “sur vive and thrive,” “find groomsmen,” and “make lifelong friends.”

“During our Goals to Graduation event, a bunch of juniors told us they wished there were events like this sophomore year,” said Maddie Kane, a member of 2019 Class Council and CSOM ’19. “Everyone lives in the day to day, so it can be hard to look ahead, long-term.”

On Friday afternoon, the 2019 Class Council hosted another event that carried a sentiment of change, called Dear Future Me. Held in the Vanderslice Cabaret Room, the event

gave students the chance to write a letter to their senior selves, which would be delivered to them during their final year on the Heights. Students wrote about who they hoped to be in two years, what they want their future selves to know, and how they feel about their BC experience thus far.

“The purpose of class council is to promote class unity, start new traditions, and give students the support they need,” Kane said. “We wanted our classmates to reflect on their time here so far, and set goals for the next two years.”

These reflection-centered events primed students for Friday night’s formal, which gave sophomores the chance to get dressed up and dance the night away in one of BC’s most beloved buildings.

Kane and her fellow class council members hope the Halfway to Graduation Formal becomes an annual tradition. Members of BC’s 2020 Class Council helped set up Gasson

100 and worked with BC’s 2019 Class Council to learn more about planning such an event.

“Our supervisor told us to enjoy the event while we could because three hours would go by fast,” Kane said. “In a way, that comment really represented the event itself. It made me realize that the next two years would go by fast, too.”

Planning for the formal began in the fall of 2016. The idea for the formal stemmed from two concerns.

First, many students had mentioned to council members that at times, they felt like they were missing out on the formal affairs put on by other universities. Second, the final weeks of sophomore year indicate one of the last times classmates will be on campus together before senior year—during junior year, classmates are split between on- and off-campus living, and many students go abroad for at least one semester.

“We’re on the threshold of the next stage in our lives,” Kane said.

There are nearly 2,300 members of BC’s Class of 2019. Two summers ago, these students flooded to BC’s campus for Welcome Week. They unpacked clothes, books, and toiletries, and settled into dormitories they would call home for the next nine months. Soon, rivalries between Ne w ton and Upp er kids b egan.

Marked by football games, club applications, and Kerry Cronin-style dates, the fall semester came and went. By the end of spring semester, the members of the class of 2019 had survived their first housing lottery, rallied for Marathon Monday, and finished a year on the Heights.

After two more semesters, sophomore year is coming to a close for members of the Class of 2019.

Sophomores have 777 days until graduation.

“We’re taught to be present in the moment, but it’s important to plan ahead too,” Kane said. “It’s a little scary, but it’ll be interesting to see what comes next.” n

Switching IDs: The Mysterious Ways of a Quiet Columnist Archer Parquette When I arrive at Boston College after a break, I always slide my Wisconsin state ID out from behind the plastic sheath in my wallet and slip it behind my BC ID. The picture of me uncomfortably smiling into a DMV camera is replaced by a picture of me standing up against my kitchen door uncomfortably glaring.

Those two pictures pretty much sum up me at home versus me at BC: both uncomfortable, one smiling, one glaring.

For most of my time here, if you happened to pass me strolling around our fine campus, I have probably looked sad, angry, constipated, or dead inside. And if I happened to know you, I may have tried to duck out of the way to avoid smiling, saying hello, or sweet Lord forbid, starting a conversation.

I have cut from O’Neill Library to Commonwealth Ave. and circled

the entire Middle Campus because I thought I saw a casual acquaintance leaving Gasson.

When I eventually find myself in a situation requiring verbalization, I am well known for keeping my word-speak down to a minimum.

If there are more than three people involved in a conversation, I will usually remain silent until a fitting opportunity allows me to slowly back away, disorient my companions with my ventriloquist skills, and then slip back into the darkness from whence I came.

I bathe in awkwardness and uncomfortable silence like fine mineral waters. Above all, I try not to laugh audibly or noticeably. I’m not sure when I started doing that, but while I am on this fine campus, I refrain from laughter. At this point, whenever I feel an uncontrollable urge to laugh, I twist my mouth sideways, press my knuckles against my lips, and hold my breath. Occasionally, I hold my laughter in to the point of snot nearly shooting from my nose through a misdirected bodily need to expel air.

These are my ways.

This could not be more different

from my intermittent guest appearances in Wisconsin. During these much-lauded homecoming tours of my birth state, I usually spend time at home and with various chums, associates, accomplices, and dastardly calumniators, who I impress with unnecessarily fanciful and flowery vocabulary words that I found on Thesaurus.com.

I can’t pretend that I turn into a cheerful sack of sunshine and unicorn farts while I’m at home—far from it—but I’m definitely not the same as I am at BC. Like that horrible DMV photo, I’m still uncomfortable, but at least I’m sorta smiling.

At home, I often make bizarre high-pitched noises, sing Russian folk songs, and speak in a pseudo-British, unnecessarily loud accent for long stretches of time. When I sit quietly reading in my living room, suddenly bellow “Freeeedoooooommmmmm,” and then return to quietly reading, none of my family members bat an eyelash.

I usually tone this down to about 0 percent when I’m out in public, in order to maintain politeness and general decency, but not to the

degree I do at BC. One time I particularly noticed the difference was during one of these triumphant “Midwesternerreturns-from-East-Coast-collegewith-fancy-pants-sensibilities-andsophistication” trips to The ’Scon.

I arranged to eat lunch with some people I’ve known for about 15 years (75 percent of my life, FYI). Two of us arrived early, and while we waited for the third, we fell back into old conversations, and I quickly felt the uncontrollable urge to laugh at something that many people would refer to as funny. My initial instinct was to clench my muscles and bite my tongue, but instead I laughed.

A real laugh, not a snot-inducing, stifled monstrosity.

It was a part of my personality I had whittled down to nothing at BC, just like the block of balsa wood I whittle down to nothing in my spare time. And like that block of balsa wood, I find that it shows up now and again in the oddest places.

Maybe to remind me that I’m not just the person I project during the day.

(The laughing reminds me, not the balsa wood.)

So what’s the point of this compact lesson I’ve presented in column format? Be your most authentic self? Nah, that’s probably a bad idea.

Good way to annoy people. Also, that’s a cliché lesson, and we here at AP Columns, Inc. are all about brutally murdering clichés and burying them out in the desert.

Realistically, we all have to conform to things. It’s nice to think that we don’t, but how many people do you think will talk to me if I start loudly singing Russian folk songs and screaming “Freeeedoooooommmmmm,” all the time? I’m still going to be quiet, and I’m still going to be gloomy. If I have to take another picture for a stupid ID, I’ll probably glare into the camera again. That is the way I am, and I don’t intend to change. You, my beloved reader, will still be whatever you’ve become through your interactions with the world, and you probably won’t be able to change that much.

But I guess laughing out loud every once in a while isn’t a bad idea.

Archer Parquette is the features editor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com

The Heights

Monday, April 3, 2017

A5

At Boisi, Owens Unites Religion, Public Life in Diverse Society Now in his 10th year at BC, Erik Owens strives to spur intellectual thought and encourage debate at the Boisi Center.

By Ashley Stauber For The Heights In an inviting brick house on Quincy road, away from the bustle of main campus, the Boisi Center (pronounced bwa-ZEE) is the perfect place to draw academics in for good food and conversation.

Named after Jeffrey Boisi, BC ’69, who donated to the University 17 years ago, the center is a place for research on religion and public life.

Erik Owens, the associate director of the Boisi Center, worked at the center for 10 years after moving up from assistant director. He considers his position at the center and as a professor in the theology and international studies departments to be his first real jobs.

As of this July, a new director, Rev. Mark Massa, S.J., former dean of the School of Theology and Ministry, will be filling the role. Owens stressed how eager he is to get to work with Massa, especially since they have been talking about a strategic vision to bolster the center’s future for the last six months.

Throughout the year, the Boisi Center has a lot of public programs and events like conferences, lectures, panel discussions, and a lunch colloquium series that includes lunch and an informal presentation on a topic of interest. The center brings in speakers from all over the world. Earlier this fall it organized three big conferences, including two of Boston College’s sesquicentennial conferences.

“It’s an attempt for us to highlight terrific scholarship at the University and have a space where people can come and be stimulated or challenged,” Owens said.

The center avoids political polarization. Instead, it brings rigorous thinkers who are passionate about discussing issues that matter and aims to foster respect. It works toward understanding a conception of the common good on a civic and religious basis. Additionally, Owens stresses that the center is not driven by a partisan background and always tries to bring in diverse opinions.

“Everyone doesn’t leave agreeing, but you leave with a better understanding of the complexity of issues,” he said.

The center also hosts a Visiting Scholars Program toward the end of

April. It has brought scholars from 13 different countries over the past 15 years who have stayed with them to work on research projects.

Along with its other programs, the center also holds seminars typically for graduate students centered on a non-curricular theme. Next year, it plans to do a faculty seminar series on Religious Resources for Citizenship.

After completing his undergraduate studies at Duke University, Owens went on to earn his masters in theological studies at Harvard. He traveled to the Midwest for his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, and he finished his dissertation while spending a year at the Center for Religion and Democracy at the University of Virginia.

The previous director, Alan Wolfe, an acclaimed sociologist and political scientist, did work on the ethics of school choice. His work was a crucial aid for Owens while he was doing his dissertation on religious and civic education.

Owens grew up in the United Methodist Church in Nashville and studied religious studies at Duke University but never expected to be a theology professor especially since his parents before him worked in business. Although he had spent a lot of time in youth group and church growing up, he had never considered such a future. After taking a few religion classes in college, however, he became fascinated by studies that he felt combined something intellectually challenging but also personally meaningful.

After taking Stanley Hauerwas’ class at Duke, Owens decided to pursue graduate school. “[Hauerwas] made me so mad that I decided that I needed to keep going to school to figure out why he was both so compelling but also why his particular theological method was not my own,” Owens said.

Along with Hauer was, O wens cited his first grad school advisor, Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, as a great mentor for him early on in his career. Hehir, one of the world’s leading authorities on peace and conflict, advised Cardinal Sean O’Malley and continues to run the Archdiocese social services. He spent a lot of time engaged in public life, consulted with the State Department, and currently sits on the board of advisors for the Boisi Center.

“Father Hehir represented a model

Courtesy of Erik Owens | Archer Parquette / Heights Editor

Aside from his work at the Boisi Center, Owens has taught several interdisciplinary courses in theology and IS. of excellence in multiple spheres,” Owens said.

Along with Hehir, Owens also praised his dissertation advisor at the University of Chicago, Jean Bethke Elshtain, for being a path-breaker as the first woman to become an endowed professor at Vanderbilt. First trained in political theory, she later became a theologian and radiated a passion in all of her exploits. Owens

wrote papers and organized conferences with her, and through her help got to visualize what life would be like as a professional in the world.

Although she passed away three years ago, they were actively in touch until the very end of her life and he is profoundly grateful to her.

“She represented a model of energetic public discourse while also being a scholar,” Owens said.

He commends BC for being a place where people have a wide range of views and different religious traditions but each of these views are always taken seriously as something meaningful and a rich area for conversation.

“I love teaching and the students here are terrific,” Owens said. “I love the convening aspect of my job because I’m learning all the time and it’s not a cloistered life.” n

The Mursday Effect Chapter 9: Saved by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Joanna Oxford “The Mursday Effect” is a humor piece created pseudonymously by two authors, with each devoting him or herself to an alternating chapter each week. The newest installment in the serial will appear in each Monday issue of The Heights. It can also be found online with the previous chapters.

The whipping Nova Scotia wind surrounded the gang, forming mini tornadoes around each of their bodies.

“It’s freezing. I hate this,” Bridget said, shivering under her Canada Goose jacket, which now felt more appropriate.

“What else is new,” Retrograde said, pushing past crowds of wellmeaning Canadians.

“Sorry!” they said as they were jostled out of the way. “So sorry.”

They all continued past, except for George, the Minnesotan of the group, who apologized back. Just ahead of them was a red-colored storefront with a gold awning: WellVaried Tiaras. The windows looked dusty, and the paint had chipped away at its intricate designs on the glass.

“This looks just about right for a secret hideout,” Retrograde said, clapping his hands with delight.

“Let’s go!”

“Just once, I would like to see a mysterious headquarters that doesn’t look completely unsavory,” George said.

“But then, like, would it be mysterious? Like, what would that even

be like?” Darren said. It was a really good question to consider—how we got it ingrained in our heads that these things are mysterious in the first place—but it was just not the time.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that was a really good question,” Bridget said. “But now is just not the time.”

Outside Well-Varied Tiaras stood an older man with a Halifax Highlanders jersey on. As the crew approached, he moved himself in front of the door.

“I can’t let you in,” he said.

“Sorry.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” George said, as Retrograde pulled a knife out of his pocket.

“Oh you don’t have to do that,” the man said, motioning to Retrograde. He hurriedly forced it back into his coat. “Really, just come on through. Sorry about that. Have a good day, yaknow?”

“I was certainly expecting something a little tougher than that,” Bridget said.

“I wasn’t,” George said, smiling. *** Not far away, my associate Rutherford and I had landed at Prince Edward Island. Time was running short, but not short enough for a potential visit to the Anne of Green Gables Museum.

“Who even gives a damn about Anne of Green Gables?” Rutherford said, his hands shaking with tremors of an unknown origin.

“It’s one of the best book series for young girls! You can be out-

spoken and do whatever you want, no matter your circumstances!” I yelled back at him as I picked off the seaweed from my colonial-style plaid nightgown, which was not suited for the occasion. Our jetskis had failed by the coast, and we had to swim the rest of the way in.

“Pfft, like I care,” Rutherford said, though he had told me how much he loved Gilbert Blythe’s character development one time.

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry, Oxfordorino.”

“Can we at least go there to get new clothes?” I asked, hoping to replace my colonial nightgown with Victorian peasantwear.

“I guess that’s okay,” Rutherford said. “But I thought of it so it’s all my doing.”

I rolled my eyes as we set off.

We exchanged our ocean-smelling garments with early 20th-century clothes, complete with a musty smell.

“That’s the scent we make specially for the museum,” the guide, a 17-year-old with a clear penchant for fluffy romance novels, said.

“It’s rosewater with just a touch of mothballs and consumption.”

“You know, it doesn’t smell all that bad,” Rutherford whispered to me, as my nose wrinkled at the bizarre perfume.

“That smells actually awful,” I said through a smile to the young associate. “But what a great commitment to the stories. I really appreciate that.”

“We also have authentic cherry cordial soda and timeshares with

1900s amenities,” she said. “They are really quite beautiful.”

“God, when will it end,” I muttered under my breath as Rutherford asked for more information.

“Are there payment installments available?” he asked.

“I’m gonna find a way to get to Nova Scotia,” I said as I left him in the museum he didn’t even want to go to. *** Inside Well-Varied Tiaras, George and Bridget tinkered with its contents. There were tiaras everywhere, with different gemstones and metals, some even made of glass.

“One of these things has to be a secret portal to where we need to go,” Retrograde said, turning them all over and pressing rubies and sapphires.

“Or, like, there’s not a portal at all and this is the whole thing,” Darren said, lazing in an overstuffed armchair in a dusty corner of the room.

“Yeah, I feel like this is all there is,” George said. “Doesn’t seem like anything else is hidden here.”

“That’s what they’d want you to think, though,” Bridget said.

Retrograde pointed at her and raised his eyebrows with an encouraging smile.

“See, this girl’s thinking,” he said.

“Well, well, well,” said a figure coming from a glaring hole in the wall, which was overlooked by all of the gang.

“Who are you?” Retrograde said, motioning for the students to hide behind his back.

“I’m Regina,” she said. “I’m who

you’ve been looking for.” *** I dragged Rutherford from the front porch. He was still clutching his money as I pulled him out the front door, the 17-year-old museum employee holding onto his hand in an attempt to secure the timeshare.

“IT’S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY!!!” she shouted, tears in her eyes.

“We have to get going, but I’m sure he’ll be back,” I said to the forlorn teen. “He lives for this stuff.”

Rutherford stared off toward the quaint house, stuffing his cash back into his pockets.

“I can’t believe you made us leave,” he said, sniffling.

“You didn’t even want to come here in the first place!” I said as I started up the car. “We have to get to Nova Scotia.”

“But—” “No buts,” I said. “Anne can wait.”

The old-style vehicle screeched as we took a turn toward the shore.

“Where are we going?” Rutherford asked, his face flushed with fear.

“Oh, did I mention? I picked this car up from the prop shop,” I said, practically feeling the glint in my eye form. “It’s a complete replica of the car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Except it actually works.”

“What do you mean?”

The car expanded its side sails, building momentum as it started moving up at an angle. Within seconds, we were flying.

“Oh,” he said. “That.”

The Heights

A6

Monday, April 3, 2017

Editorials

Lean On Me BC Could Potentially Offer Valuable Resource The Student Assembly met on Sunday night to consider a resolution that would establish a non-emergency mental health text hotline for students. The proposition, titled Lean On Me, would create a division within Student Initiatives (SI) with 25 student volunteers and an executive board of four students.

Known as Lean on Me BC (LOM BC), members would undergo in-person and online mental health training in order to effectively facilitate anonymous conversations with students about their problems. Originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the program is being used by other schools such as the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Northeastern University.

LOM BC would serve as an alternative to the currently overbooked University Counseling Ser vices (UCS) appointment system. It is no secret that BC is shorthanded when it comes to mental health resources for students. Therefore, the introduction of any new initiatives to deal with issues of mental health on campus is beneficial to the University.

LOM BC shows promise for

several reasons. Because the program will employ members of the student body, volunteers will be able to draw from their shared experiences as BC students to help counsel their peers. This is invaluable, as the struggles of those who choose to utilize the service will be better understood by fellow students, and may even be issues that a volunteer themselves has dealt with before and can offer specific advice for.

“It is no secret that BC is shorthanded when it comes to mental health resources.”

Furthermore, the plan for establishing LOM BC includes training and vetting that will help to ensure the program’s success. Director of UCS Craig Burns has said that he is willing to provide the necessary mental health professionals to help train students. Volunteers will also be required to complete training used by other hotlines such as Samaritan Hotline, a 24/7 distress service. After students successfully complete this train-

ing, they will be required to pass a written test in order to ensure their ability to effectively handle conversations with students.

While LOM BC could prove to be a valuable resource for the BC community, it is imperative that it establish a specific and effective system for reporting emergenc y situations to the necessary personnel. The developing program should work directly with BCPD to create a system that can directly link a student in a crisis to their headquarters and officers.

Although the service is intended to consist of anonymous conversations, the sharing of sensitive information pertaining to self-harm or sexual assault should be reported promptly to the appropriate officials. It is similarly essential that LOM BC market itself clearly as a non-emergency hotline, and not a service for students in more serious conditions.

LOM BC is a step in the right direction in terms of increasing the amount of mental health resources available for students on campus, but the organizers must ensure that they create a plan for addressing the potential arising of an emergency situation within the service.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”

- Arnold H. Glasow

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The Heights

Monday, April 3, 2017

A7

Why I Won’t Donate to Boston College Crisis in Rachel Loos A Blue House - In the shadow of Fenway Park, there is a venue that offers an escape from the rest of the world. Young people can take refuge from their busy college lives and enter a chamber of carefree spirit and fantastic acoustics. Balconies full of semi-intoxicated teenagers overlook a sea of similarly semiintoxicated teenagers , and the entire mess is a beautiful spectacle of energy and a love for music. Or just a love for a good time. Either way, for a little while, everyone can come together and share in the liberation.

A Convenient Seat - The freshman trudged into O’Neill Library, his unne cessarily heav y backpack weighing him down, as he was determined to finish all of his work for the next three semesters in one night. He arrived at an empty table far in the back, and took his perch that he planned to keep for the next seven hours. He opened up his backpack, removed a mountain of textbooks, and then proceeded to set out his laptop. His fingers were ready to type away, trying to save his GPA one keystroke at a time. But his focus is interrupted.

His computer is on 3 percent. He gasps, and reaches quickly to his bag to get his charger. But then he remembers. Outlets in O’Neill are a rare commodity, and many are often forced to awkwardly move seats to find a power source. Was the fate of his study mode sealed?

He looked despairingly to his right, and then his spirits were raised.

There lay an empty power strip, ready to power his computer and his sanity. He plugged in his laptop triumphantly and set out to work.

At least one thing was good about his Saturday night.

At the end of each spring semester, Boston College alumni of all ages flock to campus for Reunion Weekend. Some tote diaper bags and push strollers full of toddlers, while others teeter slowly, hunched over walkers. Ironically, the most nostalgic might be the attendees of the Fifth Anniversary Party, who return to the Mods for one last school-sanctioned party. Last June, after the bulk of BC students had left campus, I was lucky enough to work as a student employee for Reunion Weekend and the weeks preceding.

It was a pretty sweet gig. During preparation, I worked with a group of students a few days a week at the Cadigan Alumni Center on Brighton Campus where we got free lunch (you know how I feel about free food), and an air-conditioned refuge from the summer heat. At Reunion Weekend, I handed out glow sticks at the Fifth Anniversary Party.

The job was great, but it gave me insight into the huge amount of money BC dedicates to pleasing alumni and celebrating its image. For one thing, most of my jobs seemed to be pointless busy work: alphabetizing and re-alphabetizing nametags, separating paper wristbands into stacks of 25, distributing these wristbands to the members of the Class of 2006 at their barbeque, only to find the wristbands trampled on the ground a few minutes later. There’s a certain carefree element in knowing that your job is completely unnecessary, and everything would function perfectly without you.

If working Reunion Weekend convinced me of anything, it’s that I will never donate to BC. I remember people getting excited a few years ago when the BC endowment surpassed $2 billion (it is now $2.2 billion). For comparison, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Liberia was worth around $2 billion in 2015.

I don’t know that much about finance or investing, but the internet has allowed

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no amount of money that will ever be enough.

Some have pointed out that the way money is made suggests an incompatibility with Jesuit values. Specifically, the BC administration has invested in fossil fuel energy, which, in January, Climate Justice at BC rallied to protest. BC administrators have claimed that divesting from fossil fuels would mean “getting political” with the endowment, which could create tensions with the University’s largest donors.

This demonstrates the problem in acquiring such large donations, the donors can restrict how schools spend and invest money. BC isn’t shy about promoting this, noting on the Support BC website that it aspires to “align University priorities with regional, national, and international donor interest.”

I understand that a university of this size needs money to operate and continue providing resources to students. According to BC, the endowment “provides support to University programs and activities including financial aid, faculty chairs and research funds, and student formation programs.” By using the money this way, BC will educate future leaders and innovators who will influence change in the world. And if BC is truly successful, it will mean that alumni donate their money to better causes.

I will not donate to BC. Ever. While it is possible for the donor to choose where specifically their money will go (e.g. financial aid, athletics, campus beautification), I cannot understand why anyone would donate money to a university that already has $2.2 billion.

Of course I am grateful to be able to study at a world-class institution, but I think donations would make a much bigger impact at an organization that truly needs the money. If BC stands by any of the values it teaches to students, it should not ask soonto-be graduates to donate a single penny to this institution. I would encourage any alumni or graduating seniors thinking of donating to BC to instead give to their favorite volunteer organization in Boston.

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

The Real Meaning of Sanctuary Joseph Staruski

Getting Older - Birthdays are a funny thing. Our minds grow all year, yet we only decide to recognize and commemorate this development on one single day. In reality, our lives are moving forward all the time, making these individual increments totally arbitrary. You could be 19, but in your life, you may have only grown to the age of 13. You could be 15, and your experiences could have caused you to become 24. The real essence of growing older shouldn’t be measured by 365-day periods, but rather the leaps and bounds that we make in our perspectives all the time. Assuming that a person grows equally each day until they reach yearly milestones is unfounded from a critical perspective. Sometimes, people, especially early on in their lives, have experiences that propel them beyond their literal counting age. And likewise, others have had such limited experiences that they reflect a mind younger than that of their literal age. Sure, age is just a number, but the mind is certainly not bound by these standards, and people develop at sometimes rapid and sometimes slow paces over the course of their lives. It all depends.

me to gain a rough understanding of how university endowments work. An endowment, the money donated to the University, is invested, yielding an inflation-adjusted principal amount, along with additional income to use for more investments. Ba sically, a set percentage of the endowment is set aside for spending, and the rest, depending on how it is invested, keeps growing and growing and growing.

I got interested in the topic of university endowments after listening to “My Little Hundred Million,” an episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast “Revisionist History.” I highly recommend this series.

In short, Gladwell questions why the largest donations to higher education go to institutions that already have massive endowments, instead of to schools that are struggling to provide basic resources to students. He specifically mentions Harvard and MIT, which have endowments of $37.6 billion and $13.2 billion, respectively.

Based on endowments, BC isn’t quite on par with Harvard and MIT. But the University’s endowment is quickly growing, as is the size of the donations it receives. Peter Lynch, BC ’65 and vice chairman of Fidelity Management and Research Company, donated $20 million to BC in 2010, in addition to the $10 million he donated in 1999. Patrick Cadigan, BC ’57 and a realty investor, gave $15 million in 2012.

And we can’t forget Robert J. Morrissey, BC ’60, who in 2015 became the largest benefactor in BC’s history (BC has neither disclosed the amount donated nor the terms of the gift). Morrissey also chaired the Committee on Investment and Endowment since 1981, and is credited with helping grow the endowment from just $18 million in 1980 to over $2 billion today.

Beyond the fact that it is incredibly pompous to want to have a building or school named after oneself, I find it disturbing that gaining money is seen as the ultimate triumph for BC, a university founded on Jesuit values. Sure, BC has come a long way since 1972, when it was $30 million in debt. But since reaching financial stability, it seems there is

Newton is now a sanctuary city (or “Welcoming City”) thanks to a recent vote by its city council. The city, however, is not alone. In fact, being a “sanctuary” something seems to be the norm in the Boston area. Sanctuary cities include Boston, Cambridge, Lawrence, and Somerville. The mayor of Salem is also pushing for her city to join the pack.

But what does it mean for a city to become a “sanctuary?” In the case of Newton, it meant simply not helping the federal government to deport immigrants. The problem is, they were never deporting immigrants in the first place. The title of “sanctuary city” in Massachusetts is completely meaningless.

The city of Lowell was considering a bill that would designate it a “sanctuary city,” and it was not passed because the police force already had a policy of not assisting in immigration enforcement. City Councilor Corey Belanger said, “We’re already, essentially, a sanctuary city.”

For me, the biggest question surrounding the problem of immigration is this: Why are there supposedly so many good, hardworking people in the United States, who have been in the country for perhaps decades, who have not been able to achieve a legal immigration status? It seems that, in order for this to occur, there must be significant financial, legal, and cultural barriers that are preventing good people from having a legal immigration status.

As it turns out, there are many different ways of coming into the U.S. You could marry someone who is a citizen, get a job in the U.S., be accepted as a refugee, get in through a

lottery system that awards green cards for permanent residence, come as a temporary immigrant on a work or education visa, or visit as a tourist for a very short period of time.

There may be a lot of different ways to get into the country, but if I was any normal individual living in a foreign country, then coming to live in the U.S. would be nearly impossible.

I would have to take my chances with the lottery system that only admits a maximum of 50,000 people annually and is under attack by the current presidential administration.

Adrienne Nussbaum, the director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, spoke to me about the difficulties that many international students at Boston College face. The U.S. policy on immigration is egregious. It is extremely difficult, she says, for outsiders to come into the country legally.

If someone wants to come on a work visa then they need to have exceptional characteristics and prove that an American citizen cannot do the same job. There are often students at the University who go to her office and try to figure out a way to stay in the country after they graduate and their work visa expires. She says that often, there is nothing she can do for them. They are not allowed to stay.

I spoke with Hans de Wit, the director of the Center for International Higher Education at BC. He explained that immigration has almost never been about individual freedoms, or the right to live wherever you like.

The right to move to a different country has almost never been recognized.

The vast majority of immigration, at least in modern times, has been about the type of labor a country requires for its economy.

In the past, when America was called a “melting pot” and immigration laws were lenient, this was only because there was a high demand for unskilled labor. Therefore, the government allowed lots of people to

enter the borders for the benefit of the economy, not because individuals have a right to live freely and peacefully anywhere they desire.

Today, that demand for unskilled labor has dropped. If you have an education, however, many countries will allow you to come and search for a job for a few years and, if you can find one, you can stay for as long as you are employed. This is the practice in Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, and many others.

Canada currently has the most lenient immigration policy. Its latest policy has been an online job-matching website where immigrants have to find a job before being granted immigration status. Its aim is to reduce frictional unemployment among new immigrants. Canada, even with its reputation for open immigration, still proves that immigration is mostly not about personal liberty, but about money.

Therefore, these cities that want to call themselves “sanctuaries” and “welcoming,” have a considerable feat to accomplish. If they want to really help their immigrant populations, they ought to make the case not just about what immigrants can give America or America’s economy—they need to make the case for freedom.

They ought not to say: “We must allow immigration because it helps the economy,” because that only magnifies a materialist value system as opposed to one which recognizes the humanity of all people.

Machiavelli states in The Prince, “Men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their inheritance.” Sanctuary cities should promote the opposite.

Humanity is not an enterprise, and human beings deserve the right to pursue happiness wherever they might find it.

Joseph Staruski is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He 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.

Venezuela

Rebecca Moretti With its political system and economy near collapse, Venezuela is close to becoming a failed state. Since the death of the pseudo-authoritarian President Hugo Chavez, the country has been facing a serious socioeconomic crisis under President Nicolas Maduro. Inflation is rampant, violence is unchecked, and strict price controls and falling oil prices have created a shortage of basic goods like food and medicine. Approximately 75 percent of Venezuelans were living below the poverty line in 2016. Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, has the highest homicide rate of any city not in a warzone. Maduro has become a semi-authoritarian ruler, consolidating power over all three branches of government. But does anybody care enough about Venezuela to actually do something?

An important factor behind Venezuela’s failing economy is the dramatic drop in oil prices in the last year. This is partly because of the United States’ increased reliance on its own resources through fracking and growing global investment in alternative energy sources. The Venezuelan people are feeling the full brunt of this drop due to the country’s heavy dependence on revenue from its oil industry, which discouraged it from developing other sectors of its economy. Furthermore, serious economic mismanagement and government blunderings were significantly hurting the Venezuelan economy even before oil prices fell.

Only a decade ago, Venezuela was rich and powerful enough to aspire to counterbalance U.S. influence in the region. Now, Venezuela owes almost $140 billion in foreign debt, and is in danger of defaulting. Last month, the United Nations rescinded Venezuela’s right to vote in the General Assembly because of the tens of millions of dollars it owes in dues. Many Venezuelans are going hungry in a food shortage, and others are dying of treatable diseases due to a lack of medicine.

In late 2015, amid the economic crisis that caused Maduro’s popularity to plummet, the Venezuelan opposition won a majority in the National Assembly. On March 29, 2017, the Supreme Court of Venezuela, filled with Maduro supporters, took over legislative power by dissolving the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Luis Almagro, the head of the 35member Organization of American States, accused Maduro’s “regime” of carrying out a “coup” which dealt the final blows to Venezuela’s fragile democracy.

There is some concern that instability in Venezuela will spread to neighboring countries. In February of this year, after meeting with the presidents of three South American countries regarding the crisis in Venezuela, President Donald Trump called on Maduro to release political prisoners.

Still, it does not seem like any country cares enough about Venezuela to effectively do something about the crisis. If anyone should act, it’s the Organization of American States, but at a meeting last week, they considered kicking Venezuela out of the organization. The U.S. Department of State’s policy in the Western Hemisphere is to promote democracy, safety, and socioeconomic development, all things which are currently under threat in Venezuela. Realistically, however, Venezuela’s political and economic instability is not currently a serious national security threat to the U.S., and interfering in Venezuelan politics may cause more harm than good.

The international community should persuade Maduro’s government to accept humanitarian aid for the Venezuelan people, and pressure it to hold new elections and release political prisoners. Still, if the international community has not yet effectively committed to solving more serious crises in places like Syria and Sudan, it is unlikely that there will be a real effort to remedy the situation in Venezuela.

Widespread protests, however, provide hope that Venezuelans are willing to stand up to fix their own country. Sometimes reform is most effective when it comes from within, and perhaps the Venezuelan opposition will succeed in redirecting the country’s messy politics and economy.

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

TAKING The Heights

A8

Unapproved Posters Call for Equality

StAND

A

Bathroom Posters, from A1

Monday, April 3, 2017

the University would potentially be the addition of dispensers for feminine hygiene products in the current male-designated restrooms. The only proposed cost, however, is the change of signage.

Meredith McCaffrey, executive vice president of UGBC and MCAS ’17, said that not all women’s restrooms currently have these, and so the University may not invest in them for gender-neutral bathrooms.

Frazier noted that signage is something that the administration takes very seriously, and must be approved by various offices. He also said that administration has been very receptive to this proposal.

“But also, just from an accessibility point of view, I know coming out of classes on Gasson third floor, seeing a line of women down the hallways, when there isn’t a single person outside of the men’s room,” Frazier said. “And the same might be for the men’s room on other floors. It just makes sense.”

Following a short debate period, Drew Boland, CSOM ’17, moved to a blind vote. The resolution passed 16-2.

“The issue of dropping the gender designation of single-use bathrooms was discussed recently in meetings I had with UGBC and with students representing the LGBTQ community,” Dean of Students Thomas Mogan said in an email. “At this point, no decisions have been made.”

The poster in the first-floor Stokes bathroom was attributed to “BC Bathroom Access,” and has a link to the group’s website. The group will release fliers each week in April, according to the website.

“Given the lack of safe, non-gendered bathrooms at Boston College, trans and non-binary folks are put at risk,” the website says.

The poster featured a quote from transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox. “These bills are not about bathrooms,” the poster said. “They’re about whether trans people have the right to exist in public space.”

The poster also included a stamp that said “Approved by Freedom of Speech.” The design of this stamp is similar to the stamp that the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) places on posters it approves.

OSI has a specific posting policy which states that posters should not only be approved by OSI, but should also not “contain any material that is inconsistent with the community standards” of BC. The policy outlines areas in which fliers can be posted, which includes the O’Neill Library stairwell, the McElroy Commons stairwell, and bulletin boards in academic buildings. It states that posters are not allowed to be put up in any bathrooms on campus. The group that posted the fliers acknowledged it is against University policy to do so, but they will continue to do it to raise awareness and create change.

The posters represent another event in an ongoing campaign for gender-neutral bathrooms at BC. In late February, posters with the words “Gender Neutral Not By Institution But By Solidarity,” were found on single bathroom doors on campus.

The graduate student who created that poster, who is trans* and requested anonymity to discuss an issue that could have negative repercussions for their health, said they were not involved with this new campaign.

The Graduate Pride Alliance (GSA), although not affiliated with the posting of the fliers, has been a strong advocate for all-gender bathrooms.

“With BC Law School and the McMullen Museum having all-gender restrooms in their buildings, it is time that the main campus and Brighton campus get on the right side of history,” Dylan Lang, president of GSA and SSW ’17, said in an email. “BC undergraduates and graduates are extremely passionate about these poster campaigns [and these posters] are more evidence that BC students will continue to speak out against injustices and demand all-gender restrooms.” n

A sexual assault on Emerson’s campus broke Erin Doolin’s ‘artsy little oasis’—it stuck with her.

As a graduate student, she now runs BC’s Bystander Intervention Program, Stand Up BC.

By Meghan Dougherty For The Heights For Erin Doolin, a graduate assistant in the Boston College Women’s Center, sexual assault became an immediate reality during her undergraduate years at Emerson College. An issue that she had always seen as distant, something that “happens at Big Ten schools, with football teams and stadiums,” not “this artsy little school that didn’t even have a campus, where our best team was our Quidditch team,” suddenly became close, and very real.

Doolin’s brother, also an Emerson student, was the sole witness in a sexual assault case at the college, which significantly affected his life, and Doolin’s as well. Now, Emerson, her “artsy little oasis,” became yet another school where sexual assault was a far from uncommon crime. If it happened at Emerson, it could happen anywhere.

This experience stuck with Doolin long after she left Emerson. After graduating with a major in studio television production, a minor in creative writing, and experience producing student television and editing the school magazine, she followed her interest in entertainment to Los Angeles. She worked in reality television for a couple of years before realizing that wasn’t for her.

“I just knew that I loved stories, I loved storytelling, and I loved making people feel heard,” she said. “I loved the idea of helping people. I loved Emerson

and the mentoring relationships I had with younger students–that was where I got the most joy in my college experience, helping people feel like they could reach their full potential.”

With this realization in mind, Doolin said farewell to show business, and began her move toward higher education.

She took a job at a Los Angeles community college in its fundraising office,

stories as a form of activism.

“Their coming-out story doesn’t have to be the only story about them,” she said. “[Members realized] that they are whole people outside of their coming-out stories.

So it was kind of a storytelling workshop, which was perfect, because the thing that I loved about my TV degree was the storytelling.”

Doolin decided to switch her career

“Their coming-out story doesn’t have to be the only story about them.”

- Erin Doolin, on encouraging members of high school GSA clubs to tell their stories helping students apply for scholarships.

Many of these were first-generation college students or students whose second language was English, and never thought that college would work for them. She worked to show them that a college degree was a real possibility.

While in Los Angeles, she volunteered at the LGBT Center. There, she helped high school gay-straight alliances grow and develop and ran a storytelling workshop to help members of these clubs tell their

path, realizing that social justice work was really what she was interested in. She realized that “the thing that had always brought [her] joy was the community on campus,” so she applied to graduate school, was accepted to BC, and took an overnight flight back to Boston to interview for a position at the Women’s Center. The only thing she wasn’t prepared for was the return to the bad weather.

“It was the worst winter,” she said. “I didn’t have a winter coat, I was just so sleep

deprived, and I changed into my interview clothes in the bathroom of Logan Airport.

I just thought, ‘Who the heck is going to hire me now?’”

Nevertheless, Doolin was offered a different position from the one she had interviewed for, one for sexual assault prevention. After leaving, she realized that she had appreciated talking to the women at the Women’s Center, and though she hadn’t been expecting this job, she took it, even without fully understanding what it was at the time.

Now, Doolin runs BC’s Bystander Program, Stand Up BC: Bystander Intervention, and is involved in running Concerned About Rape Education (CARE) Week.

CARE Week, which ran from March 27 to 31 this year, honors survivors of sexual violence and acknowledges that sexual assault is a reality on BC’s campus. Doolin’s job is to help survivors find support on campus and to prevent sexual violence through promoting bystander intervention. Besides Stand Up BC, she co-facilitates HEAL, a confidential support group for survivors of sexual violence, and is a SANet advocate, working for the SANet hotline. In Doolin’s words, she’s “living CARE Week all year round.”

At Emerson, Erin Doolin “didn’t know anything about feminism,” but her experiences through her brother and with social justice in Los Angeles have led her to the Women’s Center, where she continues to help prevent sexual violence and make BC a safer place. n

Bringing Strong Women, Strong Girls to Peru Bridget Gorham is heading to Peru to study gender parity.

By DJ Recny Executive Assistant After studying abroad for a semester at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Quito, Ecuador, Bridget Gorham, MCAS ’17, will be traveling to Cusco, Peru, on a mission to empower young women and girls in the region. She is currently a political science major and is a key member in Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG) at Boston College. Her project is centered around the lack of gender parity in Peruvian education. She will be working with an international pilot of SWSG, which is present on BC’s campus. SWSG is already located in two U.S. cities, Pittsburgh and Boston, but they have greater visions than simply young women in America.

Aptly named Mujeres Fuertes Niñas Fuertes, Gorham’s goal in Peru will be to empower young girls through education,

and to encourage them to stay in school as long as their male counterparts.

Gorham noted that when she was volunteering at an elementary-level school in Ecuador, she saw the gender disparities firsthand, and noticed that it was even worse in the poor regions of the South American nation. She noted illiteracy, pregnancy, a need for help working, and societal barriers as keeping these girls from going to school. Sometimes, she said, they would just stop showing up for seemingly no reason. At times, the school did not seem to care. That is one thing that Mujeres Fuertes Niñas Fuertes wishes to change.

“You know, you see stuff like that and you just want to help,” Gorham said.

Gorham will also be working with Peruvian Hearts, a locally based charity that provides financial and social support for young women who wish to continue their education. Peruvian Hearts currently works with girls aged 13 to 23, but Gorham hopes to expand that vision by opening up to girls as young as six.

“It sounds really hopeful that Peruvian Hearts can help us out,” Gorham said.

“They have a lot of volunteers and staff that

would be crucial.”

Gorham will mostly be performing this venture on her own, however. She will be the only college-aged volunteer working to spearhead Mujeres Fuertes Niñas Fuertes, and she will also be teaching English through Centhro Tinku in order to help pay for expenses. The nerves didn’t seem to shake her, but she did emphasize that her isolation and lack of potential support could be a daunting task.

“That’s definitely the part that’s the most nerve wracking,” Gorham said. “I’m really spearheading this on my own. It’s just me, and I’m excited but nervous, too.”

Despite the nerves, Gorham has not been shaken from her goal. She has already drummed up plans to help the girls get the nutrition they need after school, something she said can be a challenge for Peruvians who eat a lot of potatoes, rice, and other starches without eating as many vegetables, fruits, or proteins. Peru has a wealth of delicious fruits, yet locals (especially women and children) often do not take advantage of the plethora of natural treats.

“I talked to a nutritionist because I

saw that for lunch they get just a cup of mush,” she said. “He definitely said that [getting the girls to eat] fruit would be a great thing.”

This foresight is the type of planning that Gorham has had to undertake in order for her two-and-a-half month service trip to be a success. But this trip isn’t just about nutrition, it’s about empowering young girls to get as good of an education as young men. Almost 15 million girls around the world have never set foot in a classroom, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and about two thirds of adults lacking in basic literacy skills are women.

This is something that needs to change, and Gorham wants to be a pioneer in the effort in Peru. Channeling BC’s mantra—men and women for others—Gorham hopes that her efforts can begin a more sustainable and effective movement.

“I think empowering girls to see the importance of their education should absolutely be on our agenda,” she said.

“Ensuring they are excited and able to go to school is immensely important.” n

Photo Courtesy of Bridget Gorham

Gorham studied abroad at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Quito, Ecuador (pictured above). She will be heading to Cusco for her upcoming mission.

SPORTS

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

B1

@HEIGHTSSPORTS

SOFTBALL

Against Syracuse, Dreswick Notches Two Wins in Doubleheader

BY ANNABEL STEELE Assoc. Sports Editor Twice on Sunday afternoon, Boston College softball found itself staring at a one-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Twice, hitters stepped up to make clutch plays and force extra innings. And twice, the Eagles managed to top Syracuse University with walk-off victories, extending their win streak to three games in a row and sweeping the Orange in the two-game series after Saturday’s game was snowed out.

BC (20-12, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) struggled offensively against Syracuse (17-11, 3-5) pitcher Alexa Romero for much of the second game in the doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, but still managed to top the Orange for a 2-1 victory.

Both teams played tough defense, but the Eagles surrendered a run in the second

inning. Jordan Weed started the inning by walking Bryce Holmgren on four straight pitches. Holmgren advanced to second on a Faith Cain single, then took third on a passed ball. Kelsey Johnson singled to left field, driving Holmgren home and giving the Orange an early 1-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Romero almost completely stifled BC through the first six innings of the game. The Eagles didn’t record a hit until the bottom of the fourth, struggling to connect with Romero’s pitches in the early innings until Annie Murphy finally singled in the fourth. Murphy reached second on a groundout from Jordan Chimento and then took third as Tatiana Cortez reached first thanks to an error. With a runner in scoring position and just one out, it looked as though BC would tie the game up—but it was not to be. Cortez was thrown out at second while attempting to steal, and then Allyson Moore

grounded out to end the inning.

Romero only conceded one more hit over the next two innings. Lexi DiEmmaneuele singled in the bottom of the fifth, but Syracuse managed to get out of the inning without any real damage. Romero’s luck ran out, however, in the seventh, as the Eagles tied up the game and forced extra innings.

Chloe Sharabba was the first batter for the Eagles in the seventh. She watched two pitches sail by her—both of them balls. But she liked the third pitch, and connected well.

Sharabba drove the ball to center field for a homer, tying the game up at one apiece. BC failed to score again in the inning, sending the game into extras.

For a few minutes in the eighth, things looked dicey for the Eagles. Dreswick, who replaced Weed on the mound earlier in the

SHAAN BIJWADIA / HEIGHTS STAFF

See SB vs. Syracuse, B2

Freshman first baseman Jules Trevino starts her swing during a win last week.

Hold Applause for the NCAA WHERE ARE THEY NOW? RILEY OVEREND Last week, on the first anniversary of North Carolina’s HB2 law, the controversial “bathroom bill” that eliminated legal protections for the state’s LGBTQ+ community, the NCAA issued an ultimatum: Repeal the legislation or lose championship events until 2022.

North Carolina had weathered a storm of criticism and protests up to that point. Musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, and Nick Jonas cancelled performances in the state. PayPal put the brakes on business expansion in Charlotte that would have brought 400 jobs to the area. The NBA moved the 2017 All-Star Game to New Orleans from Charlotte, the NCAA pulled its postseason tournaments from the state, and the ACC followed suit soon after. In total, North Carolina lost about $250 million, but it wasn’t enough to force a repeal of HB2.

Until the NCAA’s most recent threat, that is. Lawmakers came together on Thursday to repeal the bathroom bill and replace it with HB142, a so-called compromise that leaves the NCAA in a tricky situation. On one hand, the new bill exempts schools from state bathroom regulations, like the one in HB2 that prevented from transgender people from using public restrooms corresponding with their gender identity. On the other hand, it prohibits local government entities from passing nondiscrimination laws until 2020.

NCAA President Mark Emmert told reporters at the Final Four that he, along with the board of presidents, will decide this week whether the new bill warrants a return of championship events to North Carolina. ACC president John Swofford also said he would review the league policy in response to the new legislation.

Yes, the NCAA deserves praise for using institutional pressure to achieve political change. But HB142, dubbed by critics as HB2.0, does not constitute political progress. Now, it’s flat-out illegal for cities to protect any LGBTQ+ rights with nondiscrimination ordinances.

What’s worse, state and local government agencies can’t create transgenderfriendly bathrooms and locker rooms policies because they won’t be permitted to regulate them. The NAACP called the law “an insult to civil rights.” The ACLU called it “more insidious in its targeting of LGBTQ people.”

If the NCAA is serious about equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community, it won’t back down from its boycott against North Carolina. The idea of the NCAA as a moral authority does seem puzzling (don’t get me started on amateurism…).

But, boy, does the organization have power.

Not only did the NCAA’s boycott affect North Carolina’s economy, but it also damaged the chances of its beloved

See NCAA vs. HB2.0, B3

INSIDE SPORTS

BY MICHAEL SULLIVAN Editor-in-Chief

S

kates, check. Helmet, check. The maroon and gold? She can’t leave without it.

It’s Sunday night, and there’s no doubt where Laura Traynham Hannon is headed.

She’s on her way to the local rink to meet her friends for their weekly hockey league.

Made up of former Division I and Division III hockey players, this group of 40-somethings relives their glory days every week from September to April. Many of them have been playing against each other since their youth—this week’s game just happened to have a matchup between the women on her childhood team, the Chelmsford Lions, and her old opponents.

On the ice, she still plays the same way she did during her four-year career at Boston College: not quite so tough, but with a special brand of speed. It has been a long time since she wore that jersey to play for the Eagles.

She—or any of her friends—really just can’t get away.

“We do it for the love of the game,” Traynham Hannon said. “It’s not a sport you can

half-like.”

But for Traynham Hannon, a former captain and now the Director of Communications at Comcast SportsNet New England, hockey is more than just a game. It’s been the catalyst for everything in her life. t’s not easy to grow up in the 1970s trying to play hockey. But the ice just came calling.

Traynham Hannon first traversed onto a rink at 3 years old, yet her parents, Bill and Gilda, put her on figure skates. After two years, she couldn’t help but notice how much fun her older brother had playing hockey.

Initially, it was a blow to her mom—she had always wanted a “girly-girl,” Traynham Hannon said—but she remained supportive, and her dad, of course, was thrilled.

Because of the lack of girls’ teams in the area, Traynham Hannon had to play with boys from ages 7 to 10. She made every team for which she tried out, sometimes while hiding her identity. On her first tryout, she put her hair up in her helmet so the coaches wouldn’t know she was a girl. Traynham Hannon wanted her hockey skills to speak for themselves, not her gender. Sure enough, it worked.

“They picked me for the team, and I think the coach was surprised, maybe a little disappointed, when my ponytail fell out at the end of practice,” Traynham Hannon said.

At age 11, she moved onto the Chelmsford Lions. Funnily enough, Traynham Hannon can’t recall a single person from Chelmsford on the team. The Billerica, Mass. native re-

I

members girls coming from all over to play in one of the only girls travel teams in New England. One of those girls came all the way from Salem, N.H.: current women’s hockey head coach, Katie Crowley. Traynham Hannon said that the Lions played the same three teams in a cyclical fashion. Instead of getting bored with her competition, she relished the opportunity to create such a tight-knit community.

But that experience led her to fear joining one at school she considered big at the time: BC. As with most 18-year-old recruits, though, Traynham Hannon fell for the spires of Gasson and the beauty of the (constantly) new grass. It didn’t take much for Tom O’Malley, then the head coach, to convince her to join the program.

In her first season, 1993, the Eagles did not yet hold club status, something the team had been fighting for since the 1980s. Yet her freshman year still had plenty of memorable experiences. She remembers taking a trip up to Maine in late November, the same weekend that No. 17 BC football took on No. 1 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. While all of her friends were crowded around televisions in dorm rooms or in McElroy Commons, she was on the ice. Because of that, she missed arguably the greatest non-Flutie game in BC history: David Gordon’s game-winning kick to help the Eagles beat the Fighting Irish,

See Traynham Hannon, B3

BASEBALL

Hokies Walk Off on Sunday to Complete Sweep

BY ANDY BACKSTROM Asst. Sports Editor Boston College baseball was one out away from winning its first ACC game in over three weeks on Sunday.

The Eagles battled back from a tworun deficit against Virginia Tech to tie the game in the eighth inning. In the next frame, Donovan Casey singled, scoring Jack Cunningham.

Casey walked out to the mound, attempting to tack on his second win of the season. And it looked like he would do so. After getting ahead in

the count, the junior forced Garrett Hudson to groundout. Although Joe Freiday, Jr. reached first on a single, Casey quickly responded. He jammed Rahiem Cooper into a popout, tallying the second out of the inning.

But soon after, a Jack Owens single and a Ryan Tufts double scored the tying run for VT. Casey struck out Sam Fragale to end the inning and take the Eagles into extras, but the momentum had shifted.

Just as Casey gave BC the lead in the ninth, he’d be the one responsible for giving it back in the 10th. After

hitting Mac Caples, Casey was pulled by head coach Mike Gambino. John Witkowski came in to diffuse the situation. Instead, he conceded a single to Owens, which scored Caples, and the Hokies walked off with a 4-3 victory and sweep over the Eagles.

Like the other two games in the series, Virginia Tech (17-13, 6-6 Atlantic Coast) jumped out to an early lead.

Except this time around, the Hokies played small ball. Fragale flied out to center field in the first, allowing Owens to tag up and score from third.

One inning later, VT notched another

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: UNC or Zags? LACROSSE: BC Tops UVA in the Snow Will Gonzaga win its first national championship? Or will North Carolina get redemption?.................................B2

Sam Apuzzo scored six goals against the Cavaliers as the Eagles earned their second ACC win................................B4

sacrifice fly. This time, Cooper was the source of production, scoring Caples.

For the next portion of the game, BC’s (8-17, 1-11) Brian Rapp and Hokies’ Kit Scheetz traded scoreless frames. Finally, scoring resumed in the fourth. To lead off the inning, Michael Strem doubled down the line. Shortly after, Mitch Bigras drew a walk.

With two men on, Jake Alu doubled—the Eagles’ second extra-base hit of the inning—sending Strem

See Birdball at VT, B3

TU/TD............................................. B2 SPORTS IN SHORT................................ B2 SOFTBALL............................................ B4

THE HEIGHTS

B2

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

POINT

THUMBS UP

COUNTERPOINT

WHO WILL WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TONIGHT? REDEMPTION FOR THE HEELS ZAGS WILL SILENCE HATERS

BY CHRIS NOYES Heights Staff

OPENING DAY - Baseball is back. The 151-day hiatus came to an end, as six teams took the field on Sunday. The day consisted of three divisional rivalries, starting with the Rays and Yankees, and ending with the world champion Cubs and the Cardinals. On Monday, the remaining 24 clubs will make their debut.

SHOT HEARD ’ROUND THE WORLD - Not all sports fans follow women’s basketball, but everyone knows about Connecticut’s winning streak. Well, knew. Just before overtime expired in the Huskies’ Final Four matchup against Mississippi State, Morgan William nailed a 15-foot jumper, sending the Bulldogs to their first national championship and ending UConn’s 111-game unbeaten streak.

OSCAR BOUND - Russell Westbrook is two triple-doubles away from matching Oscar Robertson’s 1961-62 mark.

According to ESPN.com, Westbrook is projected to surpass the Hall of Famer sometime in the next seven games.

After his 57 point, 11 assist, and 13 rebound performance on Wednesday, the milestone is looking more and more conceivable.

THUMBS DOWN WHAT THE DUCK - A bid to the national title game was on the line. Literally.

Twice, Oregon, which trailed by one, sent North Carolina to the charity stripe. The Tar Heels missed all four free throws, but each time, the Ducks failed to box out. It was both a painful and anticlimactic ending to one of the better national semifinals in recent memory.

DIRTY DRAYMOND - At this point, Draymond Green’s reputation is irreparable.

It looks like he could care less. On Friday night, the Golden State power forward punched James Harden’s sore left wrist.

Later, Green even admitted to it, justifying that the punch served as retaliation for Harden’s apparent pinching. If that isn’t childish, I don’t know what is.

MASTER NO MORE - Tiger Woods pulled out of the Masters on Friday for the third time in the last four years. Less than 10 years ago, analysts and fans debated whether Woods or the field would win in Augusta. Now, people would scoff at such a discussion.

Like Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down?

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As North Carolina returns to the championship game this season, it’ll feel a sense of déjà vu peering across the court at its opponents. Much like Villanova, the Gonzaga Bulldogs enter the tournament’s final contest looking to smash their public image as a good team from an inferior conference that is ultimately unfit for March basketball. But unlike last season, the Tar Heels won’t have the luxury of entering the contest with the numbers pointing to them as the favorite.

While Gonzaga may be projected to win, the Tar Heels are a team of destiny. After all, three juniors and three seniors comprise the top of the rotation. Though an unfamiliar description when applied to a traditional basketball powerhouse, the moniker feels accurate. And unlike most “teams of destiny,” the Tar Heels have the physicality, size, talent, and coaching to convincingly pull off the upset.

Defensively, UNC has the proper personnel to handle Gonzaga’s loaded offense.

In Tony Bradley, Kennedy Meeks, and Isaiah Hicks, head coach Roy Williams has three players that stand at least 6-foot-9 and weight at least 240 pounds at his disposal.

Meeks will likely get the early matchup against Przemek Karnowski, relishing the opportunity to put his 260 pound frame to work in a battle reminiscent of 1980s college basketball.

Though occasional double teams might be required, for the most part, Meeks should be able to play Karnowski straight up, negating the Polish big man’s passing acumen and forcing him to use his post touches for scoring purposes. While he will certainly score a few times, Meeks’ bulk should make those buckets difficult enough that Few decides playing through Karnowski in the post isn’t the most effective strategy. Hicks and Bradley should be able to match up well with Collins, although the freshman can work from more spots on the floor than Karnowski, as he possesses a quality midrange jumper and an explosive face-up game.

Justin Jackson—the reigning ACC player of the year—and Theo Pinson have emerged as lethal defensive stoppers during this tour-

nament. On Monday, Nigel Williams-Goss will likely be hounded all over the court by the duo, with Pinson figuring to get the bulk of the assignment. The Zags’ star guard will likely find driving to the rim very difficult and settle for more pull-up jumpers than he would ideally prefer to shoot.

Though the Tar Heels block surprisingly few shots for a team so large and allow opponents to shoot 63.2 percent on shots at the rim—276th nationally per hoop-math. com—their tough post defense and perimeter stoppers should keep Gonzaga out of the paint and prevent them from taking advantage of that weakness.

Offensively, UNC will present Gonzaga with the same dilemma that faced nearly every ACC opponent this season. Standing 6-foot-8 with a newly developed 3-point shot, Jackson is a matchup nightmare for any team. And since none of Gonzaga’s top-four perimeter players stand taller than 6-foot-4, they are faced with an unappealing choice.

Either they can try playing three frontcourt players, putting the mobile 6-foot-9 Johnathan Williams on Jackson and dealing with the cluttered spacing caused by three big men on offense, or they can put a smaller defender on Jackson and concede that the gangly junior small forward will probably score around 20 points with relative ease.

Additionally, dumping the ball inside would allow the Tar Heels to take advantage of their best skill. This season, UNC rebounded a whopping 41.7 percent of its own misses, easily the best in the nation.

Offensive rebounding is the lifeblood of its offense—Meeks has had at least five offensive rebounds 12 times this season—and despite the fact that teams know UNC will crash the glass, they frequently struggle to stop it.

If they can use Pinson to shut down Williams-Goss, get a dominant performance from Jackson, run Karnowski off the floor and attack the paint repeatedly with Collins manning the middle, UNC should have a blueprint for victory.

When the final buzzer sounds this year, the Tar Heels will feel an entirely new emotion: elation. There will be no more tears, no more endless loop of Jenkins’ heartbreaker. 

BY PATRICK CONWAY For The Heights Mark Few, Gonzaga’s head coach since 1999, has finally made his first Final Four. After years of criticism that he could not take any of his talented teams past the Elite Eight, Few not only made the Final Four, but he’s on his way to leading his team to the school’s first national championship. Many members of the media have already cut Few some slack, saying that he finally got the monkey off his back by making it to the Final Four, and it’s clear that he’s ready to stop.

One of the main reasons that Gonzaga has been so outstanding this year has been the transfers that have decided to bring their talents to Spokane, Wash. Jordan Matthews, the transfer from Berkeley and former Teletubbies baller has been a lights-out shooter at times this tournament. His signature play will go down in Gonzaga folklore: the gamewinner he cashed to beat West Virginia in the Sweet 16. Averaging 10.8 points this season, the transfer has been a key contributor and his ability to heat up behind the arc will be important to watch in the game on Monday night.

The star of this Gonzaga squad, point guard Nigel Williams-Goss, is also a transfer student who came from the University of Washington after two seasons. WilliamsGoss has been phenomenal, averaging 16.9 points with nearly six rebounds and five assists this year. And he’s only gotten better on the big stage: in the Elite Eight and Final Four matchups against Xavier and South Carolina, Williams-Goss dropped 23 points in each. He is also a very efficient player, and did not turn the ball over once against Xavier.

His defensive ability cannot go overlooked as Williams-Goss is quite a talented defender, as well. At the end of the West Virginia game, it was Williams-Goss who took the burden of locking up Carter’s body.

He is the engine of this Gonzaga squad, and if he continues to play at an elite level, North Carolina will have its hands full.

The way that North Carolina has beaten its opponents so far has been by outsizing, out-rebounding, and overpowering them in the paint. With Justin Jackson at 6-foot-

8, Isaiah Hicks at 6-foot-9, and Kennedy Meeks at 6-foot-10, the Tar Heels have some beasts that can make an impact with their size. Gonzaga, however, has the pieces to match up with North Carolina in the paint with two 7-footers who see time.

Arguably this year’s most recognizable face in NCAA men’s basketball, Przemek Karnowski has led the Bulldogs’ frontcourt to domination at times. The 7-foot-1, 300pounder from Poland looks more like a lumberjack than a basketball player, but he has been impressively athletic for someone as big as he is. With footwork that belongs to a guard and not a center, Karnowski has averaged 12.3 points this year, shooting nearly 60 percent, but can explode for 20-plus points when matchups give him the opportunity.

The redshirt senior can also rebound, and it will be fun to watch him duel with either Hicks or Meeks on the boards.

The other 7-footer, Zach Collins, is the most interesting player on Gonzaga as he calls to mind memories of former Zag, Domantas Sabonis. Collins is a freshman who can control the boards, block shots, score, and even stretch the floor with his 3point shooting. Although he comes off the bench, Collins averaged 10 points and 1.7 blocks this season. Scouts are already saying that Collins could be a lottery pick next year, but this year he has already made waves with Gonzaga and contributed heavily. UNC may be big, but nobody is bigger than Gonzaga and the Tar Heels will have their hands full with the frontcourt of the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs match up well against the Tar Heels, and should give them plenty of trouble on Monday night. With exceptional team defense, talented guards, and a gargantuan frontcourt, Gonzaga is in as good a position as any to take home its first title.

The Bulldogs also may be the deepest team in the tournament, as anyone off their bench can score or contribute. If Williams-Goss and Karnowski play well and are supported

by Matthews, Collins and other players like Josh Perkins and Johnathon Williams, they are nearly unstoppable and should prevail.

Few and Gonzaga have waited a long time for a championship, and if all goes according to plan, the drought will be over on Monday night. 

Dreswick Pitches 12 Innings in Syracuse Doubleheader SOFTBALL

SB vs. Syracuse, from B1 game, started by hitting Alicia Hansen with a pitch, giving the Orange a baserunner right away. Up next, Sydney O’Hara singled and Hansen advanced to second. Holmgren popped out and the runners remained stationary, but then Cain grounded out and Hansen and O’Hara advanced to third and second, respectively, putting two runners in scoring position.

Dreswick escaped the jam, however, with a strikeout, leaving two runners stranded on base and preserving the tie as the Eagles took their turn at the plate.

Dani Thomas laid down a bunt and reached first, starting out the bottom of the eighth on a high note for BC. Taylor Coroneos grounded out, but Thomas advanced to second, then stole third. A

passed ball offered the perfect opportunity to advance home for the game-winning run, and Thomas wasted no time in doing just that. With the run, she gave BC its second victory of the day.

Earlier on Sunday, the Eagles also rallied from behind to earn a 2-1 walk-off victory. Dreswick pitched the entire eight innings for BC in the first game, while Syracuse put O’Hara and Anna Marie Gatti on the mound.

Unlike in the second game, the Eagles recorded hits early. Just like the second game, however, they couldn’t capitalize on anything until late in play. Coroneos and Murphy set the tone with two singles in a row, but their teammates failed to send them home, stranding the two on base heading into the second.

The Orange took the lead in the third thanks to a couple of errors. Dreswick walked Hannah Dossett to put

a runner on base. Chimento, playing catcher, made an error that allowed Olivia Martinez to reach first and Dossett to advance all the way to third. Next up at the plate, Toni Martin hit into a fielder’s choice—Martinez was caught out at second, but Dossett safely reached home, and another error from Chimento allowed Martin to advance to second on the play.

Syracuse held onto its 1-0 lead for the next three and a half innings. During that span, the Eagles stranded four runners on base, but also played tough defense, denying the Orange any more runs. The scoreless streak would come to an end in the bottom of the seventh, as more lategame heroics sent it into extras.

With one out, Brenna Griesser poked the ball through a defense gap to her left, reaching base on a single. Thomas laid down a sacrifice bunt, allowing Griesser

to advance safely to second. With two outs, Griesser stood on second and Coroneos stepped up to the plate. Coroneos doubled to center, driving Griesser home and tying the score at 1-1.

The bottom of the eighth was rough at times, but ultimately resulted in the Eagles’ first walk-off victory over the day.

Chimento, first up, worked a full count, but ultimately popped out to third.

Cortez then walked, putting a runner on base for the Eagles. Sharabba doubled, but Cortez attempted to round third and reach home safely. She was thrown out at home, giving the Eagles two outs. Sharabba took third as the Orange gunned for Cortez at home.

In the end, Cortez being thrown out didn’t matter. Moore took a leaf out of Sharabba’s book, doubling to center field and driving Sharabba home, giving the Eagles a 2-1 victory over the Orange. 

SPORTS in SHORT ACC ATLANTIC SOFTBALL

NUMBERS TO KNOW

CONFERENCE

OVERALL

Florida State

15-0

35-1-1

North Carolina

9-3

29-9

Louisville

4-2

20-10

NC State

6-3

12-23

Boston College

5-3

19-13

Notre Dame

6-5

19-13

Syracuse

4-5

18-11

Virginia Tech

5-10

15-19

Georgia Tech

4-8

11-25

Virginia

3-12

12-24

Pittsburgh

1-11

17-16

12

Number of points lacrosse’s Sam Apuzzo recorded in the Eagles’ past two games.

7

Number of home runs baseball gave up to Virginia Tech over the weekend.

5

Number of three-set matches in women’s tennis’ 5-2 loss to Florida State.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The only thing we can do is bulldoze forward and try to compete with the ACC games that we have left.”

— Acacia Walker,

on BC’s season, following its victory over Virginia

The Heights

Monday, April 3, 2017

B3

BASEBALL

Virginia Tech Offense Explodes in Series Sweep of Birdball Birdball at VT, from B1 home.

Rapp continued to make up for his early woes, striking out five in his next four innings of work. Still, the junior lacked run support. Eventually, the Eagles provided some offense, but it came in the most unconventional of ways.

Gian Martellini singled to start off the eighth inning. And when Bigras grounded out to first, the sophomore scampered into scoring position.

Dominic Hardaway was called to pinch run for Martellini, and it would pay off.

Scheetz’s fifth-inning replacement, Packy Naughton, walked Alu, who then advanced to second on an interference call. When facing his next batter, Naughton misfired, and the ball got by Freiday Jr., giving Hardaway enough time to make it to home plate.

With the game tied at two in the ninth, Casey hit a single, and Cunningham rounded third for the potential game-winning run. But Casey still had to close it out on the mound.

And he would have done so if it wasn’t for the top of VT’s lineup. A Tufts double forced extras, and eventually an Owens single in the 10th sealed the deal for the Hokies.

Saturday’s game didn’t take 10 innings. In fact, it was all but decided after six.

Nick Anderson shut down BC in the first inning. Dan Metzdorf couldn’t have said the same. Right off the bat, Metzdorf walked Owens.

Moments later, he gave up a double to Tufts. Then, Tom Stoffel flied out to center, scoring Owens and advancing Tufts to third. To make matters worse for the Eagles, the Hokies’ slugger would take advantage of an infield throwing error and score on the following play.

Cooper hit a solo shot, adding to VT’s total, before BC got its offense going in the third. Cunningham ignited the surge with a single to left field.

Brian Dempsey hit a grounder, but after a sequence of throwing errors, Dempsey and Cunningham moved to second and third base, respectively.

The Hokies continued to shoot themselves in the foot. Anderson

threw a wild pitch and Cunningham scored. Johnny Adams proceeded to pick up an RBI, driving home Dempsey, despite grounding out.

Both sides tacked on a run in the following innings. But the complexion of the game changed in the fifth. Stoffel doubled down the right-field line.

And immediately after that, Fragale knocked one out—VT’s second homer of the day, extending the Hokie’s lead to three.

BC responded with two runs of its own. Casey singled off of Andrew McDonald, scoring Dante Baldelli. Next, Adams bunted, giving Cunningham just enough time to score from third, making it 6-5. But the Eagles’ small ball was no match for VT’s power. The home run barrage only continued.

Witkoswki took the rubber to start the sixth, but it was more of the same for VT. Freiday Jr. took Witkowski’s first pitch to left-center. A pair of Hokies singles crowded the bases, and Stoffel brought them all home with a bomb to center. Suddenly, what once was a one-run lead, was a five-run advantage.

Stoffel backed up his three-RBI in-

ning on the mound. He punched out two batters in two innings of pitching, limiting the Eagles to just two hits.

BC couldn’t muster any runs until the final frame. Martellini put on his best Stoffel impression, homering to center, but the solo shot was all the Eagles would get, as BC fell 10-6.

Similar to Saturday, VT relied on its power to best the Eagles in the series opener. J.D. Mundy kicked off the scoring with a home run to center in the second inning.

But the E agles didn’t g ive in that early. Anthony Maselli singled through the right side in the third inning. Casey’s patience at the plate forced a full count and consequential walk. Adams capitalized on the situation, doubling to left field and scoring Maselli. And, to take the lead, Strem hit a groundball to second, allowing Casey to score BC’s second run of the game.

Before long, VT fired back. An Owens single and a Fragale sacrifice fly scored two runs, and the Hokies retook the lead. But in the fourth, Martellini doubled to right field, Casey scored, and the Eagles tied the

game for the second time of the day.

It would also be the last time.

The Hokie s rattle d of f nineconsecutive runs in the next two frames—six of which were batted in by different players. Down 12-3 in the seventh, BC was desperate for any kind of offense.

While it didn’t really snap back into a rhythm, the Eagles did tally a run, following a string of four walks.

They would have put up more if Dempsey didn’t fly out. Three men were stranded on base.

The last of VT’s scoring came in the eighth. Three of the Hokies’ four runs in the inning came off a Fragale dinger. For Fragale, it was his second homer and fourth, fifth, and sixth RBIs of the game. The junior’s performance foreshadowed what was to come in the final two games of the series.

BC’s current start in the ACC is its worst since the 2014 season. Inconsistencies all around have plagued the Eagles to this point. If the team wants to flip the script, its offense is going to have to pick up its play.

Pitching can only do so much, especially in this conference. n

Traynham Hannon Stays Close to Sports at CSN New England Traynham Hannon, from B1 41-39.

“When I came back to campus, my non-hockey friends said, ‘This is exactly what we expected college to be like!’” Traynham Hannon said. “And I replied, ‘Oh, I was up in Maine, with a 10 o’clock curfew.’”

But that game was worth missing for just an average weekend with her teammates. And after the first season, O’Malley and the Eagles finally won their fight to earn varsity funding.

Never known as a strong player— something she claims her dad would echo—Traynham Hannon’s skill came from her speed and unselfishness. She never dangled around players because it was always about moving the puck up as soon as possible. Once Erin Magee, BC ’99 and one of the Eagles’ all-time best players, joined the program in the fall of 1994, Traynham Hannon got the perfect partner on the same line.

“I didn’t care if they were my points,” Traynham Hannon said. “It’s all about the team’s points.”

Even if she didn’t care about her own points, Traynham Hannon got plenty of them. She graduated BC as the program’s all-time leader in points (125) and goals (56) in just three official seasons. Her 125 points still have her 11th on BC’s all-time list, sandwiched between Jennifer Buckley, BC ’01, and current junior Megan Keller. Her goal total is still good for 10th on the list, tied with Meghan Fardelmann, BC ’09.

And others began to notice her hockey accomplishments, too. The team voted for Traynham Hannon

as captain in her senior year. BC inducted her into its Varsity Hall of Fame in 2011. But her most proud feat came when she was chosen for the Women’s Beanpot Hall of Fame in 2009, the second Eagle behind Magee to earn the honor.

She re c alle d g re at crowds at Nor thea stern’s Matthe ws Arena playing in the tournament. In the preNCAA Tournament days, the Beanpot provided the women with the unique opportunity to feel like a kid again, to earn a trophy. And for her kids to see her receive that honor meant the world to her.

“It was nice to look back and see how hockey still makes an impact on my life,” Traynham Hannon said. ut for Traynham Hannon, training for the United State s National Te ams wasn’t the path—as long as she could still work in sports. She got her opportunity when O’Malley put her in touch with someone from the NHL at a social gathering. The two of them talked for quite some time, as Traynham Hannon exemplified her experience within the sport. With the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics approaching—the first games in which NHL players would play and the first one in which women’s hockey was an officially sanctioned sport—the NHL needed an expert in the field. Sure enough, just three months out of BC, the NHL helped push Cohn & Wolfe to hire her as a publicist and account executive on a temporary basis.

“If that guy was in the bathroom, I don’t know where I would’ve ended up,” Traynham Hannon said.

Over the next four years, Trayn-

B

NCAA Must Hold Firm NCAA vs. HB2.0, from B1 teams in March Madness. No. 2 Duke was scheduled to play its second-round game against No. 7 South Carolina in Greensboro, N.C., but HB2 threw a wrench in those plans. Instead, the matchup was moved to South Carolina, less than 100 miles away from the Gamecocks’ campus. With the arena packed full of South Carolina and UNC fans, who had watched their team play earlier that day and were rooting against their in-state rivals, the Blue Devils suffered a season-ending upset in a hostile environment.

With the repeal of HB2, North Carolina wants to pave the way for a future free of these types of interventions. The state submitted 133 bids for NCAA events between 2018 and 2022, worth a combined $250 million to the state economy. And a study by the Associated Press revealed North Carolina would lose at least $3.76 billion over a dozen years if HB2 remained in effect.

At first glance, HB142 may seem like a step in the right direction. But that, precisely, is what makes it so dangerous. The movement against LGBTQ+ discrimination in North Carolina is now at risk of

losing steam after building national momentum in the wake of HB2’s passage. If the perception of this new “compromise” is that the state is making progress, then the protests will stop. Business boycotts will fade and entertainers will return to stages while discrimination will persist in North Carolina.

Now, Emmert and the NCAA have more power than ever. They can shatter this flawed perception of HB142 and force lawmakers to address the bathroom issue without throwing LGBTQ+ rights under the bus. If they take a stand, others might follow. A campaign against hate, over a year in the making, might succeed.

Discrimination has consequences.

HB2.0 doesn’t just leave room for more discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals, it explicitly outlaws efforts to fight against it. The decision for the NCAA should be simple: Maintain the boycott until the state addresses the problem with a meaningful, inclusive bill—not some fool’s gold piece of legislation that further embeds a marginalized population in a legal web of prejudice.

Riley Overend is the sports editor for The Heights. He can be reached on Twitter @RileyHeights.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Traynham Hannon

Traynham Hannon, pictured above with her three children, left Chestnut Hill as the all-time points leader for BC women’s hockey. ham Hannon worked between Cohn & Wolfe and Edelman Worldwide on various accounts ranging from MLB, the LPGA Tour, and the Jamaican Bobsled Team. Soon after, the one league she didn’t know much about came calling: the NBA. But, through 11 years as a manager of corporate communications and director of marketing, Traynham Hannon helped the Association thrive—though she doesn’t take credit, the league’s popularity boomed during this time, highlighted by their successful “Where Amazing Happens” campaign in

2007.

Now, she thrives at CSN New England as a Director of Communications. Her current project is Tomboy, a multi-platform documentary that aims to “elevate the conversation about gender in sports,” according to its official media advisory. Some of the program’s interviews include Olympic gold medalist skiier Lindsey Vonn and Little League World Series pitcher Mo’ne Davis. She couldn’t avoid inserting her hockey roots—Traynham Hannon invited her old friend, Crowley, to speak at the Tomboy Symposium this March

at Suffolk University.

In fact, there’s really nowhere for hockey to hide in Traynham Hannon’s universe. Her hockey experience led to her education and her career. Because of hockey, she met her husband, Tim, in a street hockey league in Manhattan. Their 9- and 7-year-olds already play hockey, and their 3-year-old has a stick in his hand, too. No matter what she does, it all comes back to the ice and to the Eagles.

“Every aspect of my life has come back to touch my hockey world,” she said. “And I owe a lot of it to BC.” n

The Heights

B4

Monday, April 3, 2017

LACROSSE

Despite Heavy Snow, Weeks Nets 50th Goal in Win Over UVA

By Drew Rasor For The Heights Boston College lacrosse has had a very solid season this year, but prior to Saturday, only had one win in the ACC. The Virginia 10 No. 18 Eagles Boston College 17 came into the game against the No. 17 Cavaliers looking to get another crucial conference win late in the season.

It was snowing hard on Newton at the start of the game, but that did not slow down the Eagles’ offense as they tallied an impressive offensive performance in a 17-10 win against UVA. BC (10-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) was the first team on the board, with Kayla O’Connor putting the ball in from a sharp angle for her 31st goal of the year.

But UVA (7-5, 2-3) would not let up early, setting up several prime scoring opportunities. Eagles were given a prime opportunity of their own when Kaileen Hart was awarded a free- position shot , but Rachel Vander Kolk made the save for UVA. The Cavaliers rushed the ball into the Eagles’ zone and tied the game on a goal from Avery Shoemaker.

The tie would not stand for long.

Soon after the draw, Kenzie Kent

fired the ball past Vander Kolk to once again put the Eagles up. Just like that, BC took all the momentum.

After some back and forth play, the Eagles had a long streak of extended time in the zone.

The offense paid off eventually, with Laura Frankenfield scoring another goal. Shortly after the faceoff, the Eagles again were awarded a freeposition shot. This time, Sam Apuzzo fired it over Vander Kolk to give BC its second goal in 24 seconds, and a 4-1 lead.

UVA then called a timeout, and the game settle d dow n. D espite some solid chances for UVA, though, the score remained the same. The scoreless period was broken when Elizabeth Miller picked up a loose ball at midfield and ran it up before passing it to Katie Weeks. The senior attacker sent it up front to Kent, who placed it past Vander Kolk to extend the lead.

Kent finished the game with three goals and five assists. The game was only her second of the season—and her first start—because she is also a member of BC women’s hockey, and has just returned to lacrosse now that the hockey season is over.

“She’s an amazing player, incredibly self less ,” head coach Acacia Walker said of Kent after the game. “I

give a lot of credit to her teammates who love having her back, and they accept her, and they know that she makes us better.”

UVA scored soon after when Lilly DiNardo ran the ball down field and fired it over Ochoa’s left shoulder and into the net.

The Cavaliers continued to pressure BC, but they failed to get anything past Ochoa for several minutes.

Then, the entire tide of the half changed in a short span of time. It started when Kasey Behr shot one clean past Ochoa to bring UVA back to within two goals.

Almost right off the draw, Besser Dyson got the ball in close and shot it into the net. On the next faceoff, Dyson again quickly got the ball and scored. In 25 seconds, it had gone from a three-goal BC lead to a tie game.

Apuzzo notched another goal to put BC up with a little over five minutes in the half, but UVA answered back soon after with a goal from Maggie Jackson. Jackson scored again with less than two minutes left to give UVA its first lead of the game. The Eagles risked facing a deficit at the half after leading by four goals to start.

But BC was not ready to lay off the gas. After the draw, Apuzzo managed a clean stick check that knocked the

stick out of a defender’s hand. The Eagles recovered the ball and quickly got it down field where Apuzzo put it past Vander Kolk from the side of the net. The goal gave Apuzzo her seventh hat trick of the season, but more importantly it gave BC a chance to reclaim the lead before the half.

“You always want to go up at half time just to send a message for going into the next half,” Apuzzo said. “We saw the opportunity and we took it.”

The Eagles did take advantage of that opportunity, as Emma Schurr scored another goal with only 11.4 seconds left, giving BC an 8-7 lead at halftime.

The snow slowed down as the second half started, but BC’s offense would not let up. Three minutes in, Apuzzo scored another goal to expand the lead, but UVA scored off the ensuing draw.

Less than two minutes later, Apuzzo scored her fifth of the game to again expand BC’s lead. The back and forth would continue, with Behr scoring her second goal to again bring UVA to within one. The Eagles then scored two goals in 10 seconds to pull further away from UVA. The game would go scoreless for the next eight minutes, until Apuzzo found the back of the net for the sixth time, giving BC a 13-9 lead.

“I think every game there’s some person that steps up and is just feeling it. Today I was fortunate enough for it to be my day,” Apuzzo said. “But I wouldn’t be able to do it without the girls that were working with me.”

Apuzzo entered the game only one point behind Penn State’s Steph Lazo for most points in the nation this season. Her six-point game today moves her into a tie for first—Lazo scored five points in her own game on Saturday, a 16-12 win over Ohio State.

UVA scored again, but BC would respond right back, adding four goals before the end of the game—including the 50th goal of the season for Kate Weeks—to finish with a muchneeded 17-10 win.

The victory was only the third all-time for the Eagles against the Cavaliers, and the first since March 30, 2013.

More important is that it gives the Eagles a second conference win toward the end of the season.

“It’s huge,” said Walker. “It’s the most important thing we have to do here. We had a couple of losses in the beginning of the year that we can never get back, so the only thing we can do is bulldoze forward and try to compete with the ACC games that we have left.” n

SOFTBALL

Dreswick, Friedt Combine to Silence Lowell Bats in Home Opener

By DJ Recny Executive Assistant After a dominant performance from junior right-handed pitcher Jessica Dreswick, Boston College softball defeate d the UMass Lowell 1 University of Boston College 3 Massachusetts Lowell at home, 3-1, on Thursday afternoon. Dreswick picked up the win, but it was Kendra Friedt who closed out the Eagles’ (18-12, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) victory in their first home game of the season. The sophomore struck out three of the eight batters she faced.

It all began with a series of quick innings—a byproduct of good pitching from both Dreswick and Lowell

(7-13) sophomore Kaysee Talcik, who threw all six frames. Dreswick held the River Hawks to two hits through three innings of play. But that didn’t translate to instant offense. Talcik held the Eagles hitless up until the fourth inning.

That’s when everything changed.

All four runs of the game were scored in the fourth inning, which saw classic small-ball play from the River Hawks. On the other hand, the Eagles took advantage of their speed and baserunning ability to force errors, and in effect, tack on runs.

Dreswick forced two outs to start the top of the fourth inning, but Sydney Barker singled down the left field line on an 0-2 count to keep the inning

alive. Dreswick then plunked Vanessa Cooper on the first pitch, advancing Barker to second base. Madison Alcorn laced a timely single down the left-field line, seeing Barker fly the 120 feet to the plate. Dreswick was able to salvage the inning, punching out junior catcher Kate Mims.

BC’s offense backed up Dreswick’s pitching in the bottom half of the inning. Taylor Coroneos started the inning off by smacking the ball toward the shortstop on an 0-2 count, legging out the throw to safely reach first base.

She stole second moments later, and advanced to third as junior lefty Annie Murphy grounded out to second.

Jordan Chimento singled in Coroneos, tying the game. Chimento was

pulled in favor of pinch-runner Brenna Griesser, who proceeded to steal second base.

When junior middle-infielder Chloe Sharabba slapped a single to right-center, the speedy Griesser set her eyes on home plate. With Griesser barreling down the third-base line, River Hawks catcher Mims made an error on the throw, allowing the run to score.

Sharabba advanced all the way to third on the play. Soon after, she was able to score on a wild pitch, giving the Eagles their third run.

In Dreswick’s fifth and final inning, she limited the River Hawks to just one hit and returned to the dugout after four batters. She would be replaced

by Friedt the next inning, who would

finish the matinee affair.

Although BC could not muster any more offense against the fatiguing Talcik, three would prove to be more than enough. Friedt entered the sixth inning with a vengeance, sitting the River Hawks down, one-two-three.

Lowell threatened with two singles in the seventh, but Friedt quickly quelled any sort of comeback, sealing the win.

The Eagles, who have been riding a wave of good offense and even better pitching, will soon be thrown back into conference play. The ACC is one of the best college softball conferences in the nation. BC will have to continue pitching well and scoring timely runs to take down the country’s powerhouses. n

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THE HEIGHTS

B6

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

‘The Discovery’ Uncovers Crisis in Suicidal Quest for Afterlife

BY PETER GAVARIS For The Heights

Early in The Discovery, Will (Jason Segel) finds himself standing pensively on a bluff, overlooking a long shoreline.

The gloomy, distinctly grayscale color palette helps create an air of unease and foreboding. Peering out, he notices a woman, knees in the sand, carefully placing heavy weights into a backpack before standing up, strapping on the backpack, and marching towards the sea to commit suicide. Will knows this woman, Isla (Rooney Mara), and rushes to save her.

Isla enters the water slowly, oblivious to Will’s screaming, as her clothes angelically float on the surface of the water. Isla forces herself underwater as Will dives in, frantically swimming toward her before pulling her back up to the surface. In Will’s arms, Isla struggles as she is carried back to the world she hoped to leave.

The “discovery” alluded to in the title is inarguably the cause for Isla’s

attempted suicide. A year prior to the events of the film, Dr. Thomas Harbor (Robert Redford) scientifically proved the existence of an afterlife—explaining that, “Once the body dies, some part of our consciousness leaves us and travels to a new plane.” This groundbreaking, reality-shattering discovery, however, prompted millions of suicides in the year since the public was made aware of the scientific evidence of the afterlife. For many, it seemed pressing a reset button was worth it, even without knowing what the afterlife had in store for them.

The dystopian world depicted in the film will certainly have audiences pondering some very sad truths. In many ways, this premise serves as a commentary on the inherent incompleteness and eternal suffering felt by humans. How dismal, it seems, are our lives that the knowledge of an afterlife would have so many end their life early?

The film begins with an encounter between Will and Isla on a empty ferry

en route to an unnamed island, as the two strangers strike up a lively conversation before parting, only to meet again when Will rescues Isla. Will, we learn, is visiting the island to see his father, Thomas, to urge him to say something to dissuade people from killing themselves.

His brother, Toby (Jesse Plemons), picks him up from the ferry drop-off and chauffeurs him to the mansion where his father, along with a merry band of formerly suicidal cohorts, carries out more experiments regarding the afterlife. During the car ride, the film also hints at the smaller implications of the discovery, as Toby frequently lets go of the wheel to light his cigarette. Fearful for his life, Will grabs ahold of the wheel from the passenger side every time Toby relinquishes control—the assurance of a second life has offered Toby (and many others) the chance to live more carelessly.

Much of the film, hereafter, involves Will and Isla working alongside Thomas

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NETFLIX

and Toby as he now attempts to determine what the afterlife is. Upon hearing this, Isla logically explains that, “You don’t go on vacation without looking at the brochure first.”

The Discovery, while often thoughtful and insightful, is a very sad movie dealing with deeply felt themes of loss and regret which are enforced by the muted color

palette. Co-writer and director Charlie McDowell has crafted a film indebted to the work of Kaufman. Besides sharing a first name, both filmmakers’ films deal with heady sci-fi premises that hope to explore and reveal very human truths, even if Kaufman’s films—like Eternal Sunshine—seem to contain more humor than The Discovery. 

Jamiroquai’s Futuristic ‘Automaton’ Fuses Fresh Sounds With Funk, Fun

BY CALEB GRIEGO

Arts & Review Editor

Listeners embark on a journey into the future of sound, with Jamiroquai at the helm. With its release of Automaton, Jamiroquai proves it is still whole-heartedly crafting its brand of acid jazz-funk fusion. The album brims with memorable moments and mustisten tracks that are sure to fill up the dance floor and tickle the fancies of more timid listeners lining the walls.

As if straight out of a moment of Tron, the album’s title track represents a crazy slew of synth and distortions.

The heavy use of synth, keyboard, and vocal distortions make this one of Automaton’s most busy and full songs. Though there is much going on in this song with regard to instrumental content, Jay Kay’s voice is always clear even when distorted. This song represents a full-on technical display of Jamiroquai’s abilities and song craftsmen.

The single “Cloud 9” is super dance friendly and one of the most entranc-

ing track on the album. It is fantastic, funky, and big. Every inch of this song oozes a certain dance-floor grooviness.

The sharp baseline cuts into the song powerfully and ramps up to its catchy chorus. Some of the most memorable moments come during the transition from the bridge to chorus. The first beckons an ethereal transition into chorus that feels like one is entering a trance. Coupled with the lyrics, “Only a fool could walk away from me this time,” listeners arrive on the titular “Cloud Nine.” This song is like a perfectly crafted cake. It contains enough frosting in every bite without overshadowing the elegance of the cake itself.

One of the most fun songs of the album, “Summer Girl,” feels like a funky stroll down the boardwalk, complete with dreamy thoughts of the sun shining in one’s eyes. The simple track documents the brief love of a passing girl in a passing season. The sharp gyrating baseline rests in the forefront of the song, giving it direction. The warm, waning violins make the images

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AUTOMATON JAMIROQUAI PRODUCED BY VIRGIN RECORDS RELEASE MAR. 31, 2017 OUR RATING

VIRGIN RECORDS

of the summer girl come to life. The song is made all the more ornate with embellishments by trumps and synth, which fill the images of a balmy beach day to a tee.

Changing directions a bit, “Dr. Buzz” embraces soothing quality. The loose and wispy lyrics help hone the guitar usurpations as it jumps in and brings gravity to the lyrics. The guitar truly conveys ideas of lost disorientation. In a beautiful, saucy falsetto, singer Jay Kay implores Dr. Buzz to aid him in his internal and external fears with lines like: “Caught up in catastrophe / Tell me why it hurts so much.”

Embellished by fresh keyboard and sax licks, “Dr. Buzz” feels like tackling the streets with a fresh pair of kicks.

Like a walk through a foggy streetcorner, “We Can Do It” changes the style again opting for a mysterious, seductive tone. As Jay Kay delivers the lyrics in a ‘Da-da da-da’ style the titular lines “We-can do-it” becomes all the more enticing and staccato. As the guitar kicks in amid later chorus lines, the sense of mystery is brought to a head.

“Vitamin” is invigorated by a hastened beat that allows the song to go is multiple directions. Its funky use of keyboard and synth creates the allure in the most audible way that Jamiroquai has been ushering in throughout the album. Lyrically, the song is poetic and as quick as its baseline. As if pushing lost thoughts aside, in one of its most impressive lines, Jay Kay rattles off the line: “I’ve got telepathic, insomatic views of you that I’ve been keeping.”

Jamiroquai is a true pioneer in all of its dealings as it pushes the boundaries in the growing eclectic music market.

It is consistent in creating new kinds of sounds and putting out albums that are distinct from its previous catalogues, but also interiorly within an album.

There is a sound, a moment, or a line in this album for everyone. As in “Cloud 9,” only a fool could walk away from this album. 

1 20TH CENTURY FOX

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE REPORT TITLE

WEEKEND GROSS

WEEKS IN RELEASE

1. THE BOSS BABY

49.0

1

2. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

47.5

3

3. GHOST IN THE SHELL

19.0

1

4. POWER RANGERS

14.5

2

5. KONG: SKULL ISLAND

8.8

4

TRENDS IN MOVIE MONEY

You did it. You, intrepid box office reader/moviegoer. You have finally done it this time. For the first time in far too long, a quality, at least semi-original film has reached no. 1 on the box office charts. The Boss Baby, a fantastically humorous and emotionally impactful movie, premiered this weekend. And you made it number one. Our applause to you. Moving on, the past weekend grossed $170 million. God, that’s so much money.

But it is not as much money as $252 million. If you compared $170 million and $252 million, you would need one of those little alligator math signs with the mouth open toward $252 million. That’s how much money this same weekend last year made in the box office. This is because the awful/terrible/shitty, greyscale two-and-a-half hour behemoth Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came out, and for some reason this grotesque monstrosity, this rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouching toward Bethlehem to be born, is the recipient of $166 million, skyrocketing its opening weekend to the heights of a quarter billion dollars. We know that got a little poetic, but W. B. Yeats really encapsulates the eschatological view that our writers hold regarding the weekly progression of box office sales. Anyway, some other movies came out this weekend.

Ghost In The Shell. Yep. Moving on to the weekly exaltation of Get Out, which came in at No. 7 on the report, even though, yet again, it deserves all of the money. Director Jordan Peele deserves all of the currency leftover from your excess finances.

2 DISNEY

3

3 PARAMOUNT PICTURES

‘Smurfs: Lost Village’ Examines Roles of Femininity, Self-Worth

BY BARRETTE JANNEY Executive Assistant

Smurfs: The Lost Village joins a long line of Smurf media that began in 1958 with their creator, Belgian cartoonist Peyo.

The phenomenon continues to persist even today because of the iconic blue creatures’ break into the modern box office, acquiring massive success with The Smurfs in 2011 and The Smurfs 2 in 2013.

The newest Smurfs installment opens with an overview of Smurf Village and the unique individuals who inhabit it. But while Clumsy (Jack McBrayer) is destined to stumble through life, Baker (Gordon Ramsay) is destined to prepare tasty treats, and Grouchy (Jake Johnson) is destined to, well, grouch, Smurfette (Demi Lovato) can’t seem to pinpoint her purpose. Her name only determines that she is a girl—in fact, the only girl in the village—and doesn’t provide much else about her personal prospects, invigorating her feelings of isolation.

As Smurfette begins to experiment with

her identity, the blatantly nefarious wizard/ scientist Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) is on the rise once again. Gargamel originally created Smurfette as his weapon of destruction against the Smurfs.

During a typical Smurf-boarding outing, Smurfette accidentally hang glides into the Forbidden Forest and briefly encounters a pair of foreign Smurf eyes lurking in the bushes. The interaction is abridged, however, by the net of Gargamel, who captures Smurfette in his efforts to glean the location of her friends. Instead, what she offers unwittingly is her discovery that there are more Smurfs that exist, inciting in Gargamel a new goal to uncover this mysterious hub.

After the sneaky rescue of Smurfette by Clumsy, Brainy (Danny Pudi), and Hefty (Joe Manganiello), Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin), the Santa-like caretaker of their village, grounds the troop for even trekking into the Forbidden Forest in the first place.

Emboldened by her newfound interest to establish her purpose and investigate the existence of other Smurfs, she sneaks out

of the village in the night. Clumsy, Brainy, and Hefty all follow her and thus inaugurate the eclectic caravan that will strive to inhibit Gargamel and unveil the alleged “lost village.” As Smurfs: The Lost Village is a film catering to a young audience, it is bound to cultivate its plot and characters around clichés. However, this particular film manages to capture the heart of a thematic cliché with the modern push for social progress.

The core of the conflict surrounds Smurfette’s battle with the age-old questions “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose?” questions. But Smurfs layers these inquiries with the issue of female marginalization. Smurfette is told she is “Not a real Smurf” and only bears a name that delineates her gender rather than any quality she contributes to her community.

This seems to be a pattern in the way media operates, where the female character is simply “the girl” of the group while others, the males, are categorized by their skills or characteristics.

Fulfilling Smurfette’s purpose as a no-

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SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

tably strong female who “can’t be defined” and establishing several more female characters exemplifies the Smurfs brand correcting their past mistakes insofar as female misrepresentation.

The colorful animation of Smurfs: The Lost Village enlivens each of these themes and ties together the fundamental purity of the Smurf species. No matter the cur-

rent debacle, the landscape of their mystical world showcases A push toward elevating females combined with a thematically ignited plot and playful animation means Smurfs: The Lost Village will be the perfect treat for all ages on its release on April 7—and perhaps the rationale behind your new desire to be blue. 

THE HEIGHTS

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

B7

As Boss Baby, Baldwin Delivers Humorous Quality Performance

BY JACOB SCHICK Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Alec Baldwin’s ability to completely embody a role never ceases to amaze.

Within the space of a handful of years, the man has shaped the entirety of shows and movies. From Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock, to Dennis in The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, to perhaps one of his best, and most unfortunately necessary performances, the recurring role of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, Baldwin has played a variety of roles while always remaining quite familiar. Speaking of familiarity, the handful of viewers familiar with Baldwin’s work who are also watching The Boss Baby might recognize an earlier role as the spoof/inspiration for his current character.

Baldwin basically channels his role as Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross in the newest animated children’s movie, The Boss Baby.

Fortunately for The Boss Baby, the PG version of his Glengarry Glen Ross character is the hysterically perfect fit for this movie.

The Boss Baby follows Storks as the second children’s movie within the year to focus on the mysterious origins of babies.

The movie opens on a giant baby production

line in the sky, as the audience follows one blonde infant who doesn’t behave the same way as his fellow newborns on the conveyor belt. When he reaches the end of the line, instead of being selected for “Family” like all of the other giggling neonates, he is marked for “Management.” This demarcation means that he will receive a magic formula that will keep him a baby forever while also allowing for his intelligent thought and language. This infant, who the audience later finds out is Boss Baby (Baldwin), joins his fellow management babies in a giant cubicle jungle.

Meanwhile, Tim (Miles Bakshi), a 7-year-old boy, is enjoying his life as his parents’ only child. He uses his wild imagination to create exciting worlds and games to play with Mom (Lisa Kudrow) and Dad (Jimmy Kimmel). Every night, after a few stories and hugs, his parents play him his special song, The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” which Tim, in perfect childlike wonder, believes Mom and Dad wrote just for him.

When Mom and Dad bring Boss Baby home, Tim finds himself pushed to the side. His parents spend their time running around in the middle of the night, trying to get Boss Baby to stop crying and go

to sleep. Tim soon discovers Boss Baby’s ability to talk intelligently, and of course, hijinks ensue.

The Boss Baby is a great children’s movie.

There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments composed of slapstick humor, as well as many adorable animated characters doing adorable animated actions. But this kids’ movie is also a great family movie.

There are a lot of nudge-nudge jokes toward the origins of infants, as well Boss Baby’s constant jokes about management.

The Boss Baby also adds an extra layer of potential enjoyment for the adults who have seen lots of other movies. There is direct reference to the cup of water scene in Jurassic Park, as well as references to Paranormal Activity and of course, Glengarry Glen Ross.

The children’s comedy is also quite smart. The Boss Baby brings a relevant and impactful message about how children can feel unwanted or unloved by their parents when a baby is in the house. There is also the dichotomy between Tim, a kid with an amazing and funny imagination, and Boss Baby, a by-the-books, goal-oriented “business” type. Of course, they learn to work together, but this is an important

FILM

THE BOSS BABY TOM MCGRATH DISTRIBUTED BY 20TH CENTURY FOX RELEASE MAR. 31, 2017 OUR RATING

20TH CENTURY FOX

message about how different personality types might have trouble meshing. The amount of heart and feeling that The Boss Baby imparts to the viewers is shocking.

Members of the audience, of all ages, could be heard stifling their tears at some of the sadder or sweeter moments in the movie.

The MacGuffin of The Boss Baby is the idea that there is only so much love to go around, and puppies are taking too much of the “love pie chart” from babies. Boss Baby’s

concern for the lack of love mirrors Tim’s own concern for his own family dynamic.

While The Boss Baby doesn’t make any new cinematic strides, it does convey a good and important meaning to audiences. There is a surprising deepness hidden below the dermis of this film.

The Boss Baby may have been marketed for children, but there is a quality movie waiting for delivery to any audience member. 

Gaelic Roots Unearths Rich Heritage

BY JACOB SCHICK Assoc. Arts & Review Editor On a cold evening in Boston dozens of friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers gathered close together. Some sat on chairs, others leaned against the windows and walls, all to enjoy a night of Irish music and dance. Connolly House served as a buoy of warm coffee and warmer smiles for those with Irish blood to stop in, out of the brisk air. As everyone settled into their seats, a low murmur rose as people introduced themselves to their neighbors. After a few minutes, the musicians and dancers appeared at the front of the long room.

Gaelic Roots Music & Dance was one part of the larger Gaelic Roots Series, presented by the Center for Irish Programs.

The series’ goal is to present a variety of events, from concerts to lectures, to those in the Boston College community looking to experience a part of Irish culture. This evening’s event featured two classes: Intermediate Irish Fiddle, led by Sheila Falls Keohane, a professor in the music department and interim director of the Gaelic Roots Program; and Traditional Irish Dance, led by Kieran Jordan, a faculty member in the Irish Studies Program.

The event began with a brief introduction by Falls Keohane, introducing herself and her fellow event coordinator, Jordan. She also made sure to tell the audience that the evening was a casual affair, and that if people wanted to sing and dance with them, they would be more than welcome. She even asked if any members of the crowd had brought their instruments

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

bOp! Thrives on Spirit bOp!, from B8 which featured her fierce, confident vocals over lyrics about hiding underneath a turtle shell. Ritzenthaler carried off her attitude-filled persona with ease, and the range of sultry and soaring vocals throughout the performance captured the spirit of the song effortlessly. Another powerful vocalist, Adriana Castaños, MCAS ’17, dazzled the audience with her performance of Alessia Cara’s “Here,” which utilized her sultry, incredulous attitude. Castaños’ vocals took the song’s ominous lyrics and elevated them to create a sense that the singer was fed up with the shenanigans the song described. Castaños finished the song with some serious high notes, which served as the cherry on top of a fabulous performance.

Amb er Glav ine, MC A S ’17, covered “Such Great Heights,” which was transformed by Glavine’s bright vocals and the song’s upbeat reimagining. The subtle power of Tim Skerry, MCAS ’19, on bari sax and Glavine’s sassy presentation led the whole au-

dience to clap along to the song, and showcased the interactive influence of jazz music. Near the close of the show, Michael Mastellone, CSOM ’18, floored the audience with his cover of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

The performance featured Mastellone’s crisp vocals that projected his enthusiasm through the whole theater, and instilled a sense of heart amid the warm brass music. After a dramatic pause in the song, he finished with an endless, soaring note that won over the audience and transported them to the splendor of the city that never sleeps.

The spirited energy of all of bOp!’s musicians was infectious, and the audience reveled in the artistically varied and polished spectacle of jazz music. Through performances that featured vivacious and vibrant talent, the audience could see that jazz isn’t merely a style of music.

It’s a spirited medium through which to communicate a worldview centered around finding the joy among the ups and downs of life as a whole. 

with them, but unfortunately, that was not the case. She and three of her students began by playing a beautiful piece of Irish fiddle music live. After the applause that followed, Jordan stepped to the center of the space to introduce her performers.

She, and three of her students, would be performing a dance in the traditional Irish step style. One of her students had a number of years of step dance under her belts, while the other two had entered the class with no prior knowledge. In spite of this, the three stepped and spun together quite admirably for the disparity in experience between them.

When listening in rapt attention to the rhythms and melodies from across the Atlantic, audience members felt themselves transported to the rolling green grasslands of Éire in a unique fashion.

Irish culture, even at a school like BC, is not typically experienced this way. Most students get a taste of this culture when they go to a show put on by BC Irish Dance in Robsham Theater, or even in Conte Forum for Showdown.

These events are enjoyable, but the experience is quite different from an evening like this. The Gaelic Roots Series event in Connolly House was an intimate and casual affair. The best description for an evening like this comes from the Irish language: Cèilidh. The word means a social gathering or a social visit, usually with the connotation of music and dance. This sort of gathering was very reminiscent of the way things have been done in Ireland for centuries between friends and family, as Jordan described.

“It’s the real old-fashioned comfort of

sitting around the living room sharing dance and music,” she said. “This event represents a chance for us to get together.”

Later on in the evening, after a few more pieces of Irish fiddle music, Jordan and her students once again moved to the center of the space. The class was only made up of four people, including Jordan, but she had felt it was important for the students to learn a group step dance. For this, they made good on their invitation of audience participation. Four intrepid volunteers each paired up with a performer and received the briefest of lessons in Irish step. After, the eight people performed for the rest of the attending, and were met with congratulatory applause and quick words of “Good Job!” and “Nice Work!” upon return to their seats. Apparently this type of participation is quite common in Cèilidhs, as Falls Keohane described.

“It’s a friendly kind of music that people shouldn’t be afraid to join in and get up and dance,” she said.

The evening drew to a reluctant close after both classes had run out of pieces to play. A friendly buzz drifted through the house as those present wished each other well and confirmed the details of the next event in the Gaelic Roots Series, a performance by folk/fusion trio Ten Strings and a Goat Skin.

A few distinct Irish accents lingered as some met for the first time and others caught up as old friends. Ex-audience members shrugged on coats, donned scarves, and interlocked arms with their companions as they grabbed a cup of warm coffee and stepped out into the cold night. 

B8 MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

Deafened

By Music

ARTS&REVIEW

A NIGHT

@BCHEIGHTSARTS

CALEB GRIEGO Other than touch, sound is the first sense we gain as a child. We are gifted with a connection to the beating heart of the world through our ears. In these columns, I have often lauded music and spoke to its great multifarious effects on one’s life. But there are times when its inclusion can be destructive and even weakening to one psychologically.

Earbuds have become as much a staple lining of our pockets as phones and lint. Our phones are often critiqued as a fixation of obsessive, anti-social behavior.

We can get lost looking at something else and not have to gaze out into the world.

But earbuds are not looked at in the same way. What’s wrong with listening to a little music while on the bus or train? When we do it as much as I do—a lot.

When we pipe in sound from elsewhere, it is pure isolation that no one else hears exactly what you are hearing. You are in a separate zone of experience as the bus becomes a dingy dive bar, the train becomes a concert, and your living room becomes a symphony hall. But why would we want to be treated to the monotonous sounds of daily life in the first place? I believe there is some value.

Sitting on a bench in a park without any distractions, you can take in the scenery around you, like the natural sounds of the blowing of the wind or the chirping of the birds. When we insulate ourselves from the world we become distant as we fail to share in a collective experience with others. As people meander down the walkways, you can hear their footsteps, their voices, as they approach. It is a small thing, but a reminder nonetheless that you are connected, indirectly, to others by sound. When listening to music, all is lost as you become deaf to the world, as if the moment was not good enough for you to be a part of. But why would we do this so actively or passively? Often times it is not done to keep the world out, but to keep other things bottled within. Think about the alternative. No earbuds. No phone.

You are left with silence, and the greatest horror of them all—yourself. Without music, there is nothing to stifle them.

Resounding from the crags of the mind you start thinking about something. The machinery in your mind begins to turn and creak as it starts up again. Imagine that, anything that sneaks its ways into the realms of your thoughts. These thoughts traverse your mind, unfettered by drum beats and raging vocals.

The thought of being left alone with one’s thoughts is often an unsettling one in this day and age. The necessity is never there as there is often a medium of entertainment to fall into. The most banal aspects of our day are interjected with sounds and elements from other times, spaces, and feelings. We neglect to hear ourselves and drown out pestilent thoughts about anything other than a song. But in these idle moments, I believe we can find something valuable about ourselves. It is in these moments of the day, without so much as a care to anything else that we can reflect and truly be thoughtful about our day, our lives, and the world we share. Next time you are out and about, notice just how many people go about their day with earbuds or headphones.

Of course, everything is good in moderation. Music can make dreary moments of our day great, but from time to time, I find it helpful to embrace the drear and be left to my own devices as I take in the world rather than shut it out. Though music is helpful, it can harm us if we take the role of personal DJ too seriously. Escapism will never save us from ourselves.

Before shuffling to the next song, sometimes I challenge myself honestly, not by asking, “What do you want to hear?” but “What are you trying to drown out?”

Caleb Griego is the arts & review editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

INSIDE ARTS& REVIEW

SHAAN BIJWADIA / HEIGHTS STAFF

OF NOIR

BC bOp! Noir was both musically wonderful and thoughtful as it honored its former vocal director with stunning renditions and flashy performances.

BY ISABELLA DOW Asst. Arts & Review Editor It didn’t take long for the bright and entertaining jazz ensemble, BC bOp!, to engage the audience in its latest show, bOp! Noir, dedicated to its former vocal director, JoJo David.

Presented by Boston College Bands at Robsham Theater on Saturday, the group showcased a hearty mix of traditional jazz pieces and inspired song covers that created a fabulous show for the audience to enjoy. The perpetually tapping feet and undying enthusiasm of the crowd demonstrated the power of jazz music to captivate and brighten the lives of those who listen.

The show opened with “Chu Cho,” a whimsical, easygoing piece that set the tone for the rest of the night’s sassy jazz tunes. “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” featured lighthearted drums and the breezy vocals of Nicole Trone, CSOM ’20, and others to convey a playful warning to the song’s addressee not to do anything of note with anyone except their love. In another register, “I Could Write a Book” utilized simple, romantic lyrics about moving a friendship out of the friend zone, and included the vocal talents

of Ryan Silva, MCAS ’17, and Monte Samuelian, MCAS ’20, that played off the full-bodied band accompaniment.

The end result was a performance that enveloped the audience in a dreamy, charming sentiment.

The band presented one of the most touching aspects of the night with its tribute to David, who tragically passed away last October. His influence on BC bOp! and the greater campus community was felt by the audience as current and alumni vocalists sang of the precious and fleeting nature of life. As the gradually built, sustained notes from the band filtered into the song amidst a melancholy piano melody, the music gripped the audience with the strength of the collaborative performance. Through the powerful, deliberate notes that were situated within the open spaces in the song, the tribute developed an intensity that stirred the audience.

When the song fi nished, the whole theater was silent for a moment as the audience absorbed the beautiful display in memory of David, and the tribute’s request for everyone to live in the moment.

Taking a slower temp o and conveying an energetic, melancholy

sentiment, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” featured fluttery embellishments and a prominent, fun bass section by John Kiefer, MCAS ’19.

The song also showcased a twinkling, bright piano by Andrew Tort, CSOM ’18, which together with the rest of the instrumentation, demonstrated yet another facet of bOp!’s talents.

In an even slower tempo song, “Jada” gave the audience a mellow performance that highlighted the energy of Christian Wilson, MCAS ’18, on vibes.

Through the wondrous, ringing sound of the instrument, Wilson was able to feature a persistent and meandering section that mesmerized the audience with notes that pushed forward and climbed in intensity. Paired with the piano talents of Taylor Nardone, MCAS ’20, the song was a pleasant contrast to the more roaring pieces of the night.

A major crowd pleaser, bOp!’s cover of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” drew upon the cheerful nostalgia of the song and presented it in a playful incarnation through the musical conversation between Brad Bitzer, MCAS ’17, and Matt Passanante, MCAS ’17, on alto and tenor sax, respectively.

The concert also contained a

number of nuanced and fl ashy performances that delivered an energy in which the audience got lost. “Count Bubba” featured a swimming brass sound that captured listeners as they attended to the scope of musical variation. The mysterious and energetic quality of the song was enhanced by the section that isolated first the saxophones, then the trombones, then the trumpets. This was a unique instance where listeners could hear the individual contributions of each of these instruments, and the culmination of this progression into a bright, blaring melody gave the piece a memorable quality. Another fun piece, “The Rotten Kid,” featured short, crisp notes among snazzy ones to create an amusing number. Showcasing Jimmy Croft, MCAS ’18, on tenor sax, Arthur DiepNguyen, MCAS ’18, on trombone, and Marie Peduto, MCAS ’18, on alto sax, the song was a delightful presentation of artfully sprawling melody.

Th e show also presented some glorious solo performances from its talented vocalists. Greta Ritzenthaler, MCAS ’17, stunned the audience with her rendition of “Turtle Blues,”

See bOp!, B7

In Brighton, Juice Gives Multifaceted Performance

BY CHARLOTTE LEBARRON For The Heights Although spring began a week earlier, heavy sleet drenched the roads and T tracks in a manner all too typical of Massachusetts weather.

But, given that New Englanders are a resilient breed, the elements didn’t deter groups of Bostonians from pouring into Brighton Music Hall to watch Juice perform. The venue was jam-packed with a variety of audience members ranging from middle-aged couples lining the edges of the room to a conglomeration of college students surrounding the stage in a swaying mass of cheap liquor, hipster attire, and anticipation.

Despite a somewhat nondescript exterior, Brighton Music Hall was transformed into a colorful hub b u r s t i n g w i t h e n e rg y o n ce t h e performance began. A standing-room only venue, the music hall provided a cozy ambiance seemingly perfect for forgetting the dregs of winter during the sold-out show.

The close proximity to the stage created an atmosphere of intimacy with musical passion practically radiating from the artists as they performed.

Openers Los Elk and Kyle Thornton & Company complemented each other beautifully with an energizing mix of smooth soul and upbeat indie

‘Automaton’

rock, but the crowd came even more alive when Boston College’s very own signature band took the stage.

Juice has twice won BC’s “Battle of the Bands” and now headlines at a variety of notable venues including the Land the Big Gig music festival in Milwaukee last summer. Entirely comprised of current and former BC students, the band includes vocalist Ben Stevens, CSOM ’18; vocalist and electric violinist Christian Rougeau, MCAS ’18; vocalist and guitarist Kamau Burton, MCAS ’17; guitarists Daniel Moss, MCAS ’17, and Michael Ricciardulli, MCAS ’17; drummer Miles Clyatt, MCAS ’17; keyboardist Chris Vu, MCAS ’17; and bassist Rami El-Abidin, BC ’15.

In the 10-minute interim between the openers leaving the stage and Juice taking it, the audience could feel the anticipation and energy as Juice members adjusted microphones and rearranged amps. Dressed in attire typical for your average khakied, polo-doning male BC student, it wasn’t hard to picture the members of Juice lounging in a common room in Walsh as easily as performing a show. Once they started playing, it became evident that the guys of Juice are anything but typical.

Juice, in a word, is electrifying.

Although technically exemplary, its excellence lies in its passion. After opening up with a bouncy guitar

Jamiroquai proves it knows how to fuse the best of jazz and funk in its latest jouney of an album ‘Automaton’....B6

‘The Boss Baby’

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Juice countered the dreary weather with a bright and wholly envigorating setlist. melody—catchy to the degree that one couldn’t help but dance to it—Juice segued into a number of fresh eclectic beats.

In “Where I Want to Be,” a tune familiar to Juice fans, Rougeau treated the audience to impressive riffs, captivating the crowd alongside impressive vocals. In “Gold,” the most noticeable element was the pounding, rhythmic, energetic percussion, giving a rock vibe complemented by smooth, throaty vocals and violin lines that pranced across the heavier guitar and bass.

In all of Juice’s songs, listeners may be struck by how each member’s part is distinguished on its own yet blends richly with the other seven

Alec Baldwin makes this film a fun, slap-stick romp that has as much heart as it does humor...................................B7

voices, creating a multi-dimensional, seamless sound. In a cover of “I”

by Kendrick Lamar, listeners were pleased, although not entirely surprised by this point, to realize that Juice can rap—and well.

This point was reemphasized by the flooring rendition of “Gold Digger” that they used to close out this and many of its shows.

Juice is light. Juice is fruity. Juice is exhilarating.

By creating music layered with complexity, v iv acity, and depth be yond what one would expect , Juice reminded a room full of winter weary 20-somethings that life’s about creating something rife with passion— and having fun while doing it. 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE REPORT.................. B6 ‘The Discovery’......................................... B6 ‘Smurfs: The Lost Village’................................. B6