The Heights April 20, 2017 by The Heights

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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

EST. 1919

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THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

Penn. Senator to Give Keynote at 2017 Commencement Bob Casey served as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. BY HEIDI DONG Asst. News Editor United States Senator Bob Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania will be the keynote speaker for Boston College’s 141st Commencement Exercises on May 22 at Alumni Stadium, the University announced. At the ceremony, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. will present Casey with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Previous Commencement speakers include former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz, BC ’66, who spoke last year; Chicago archbishop Rev. Blase Cupich, who spoke in 2015; and former Secretary of

State John F. Kerry, BC Law ’76, who spoke in 2014. Casey graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982 before becoming a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, spending a year teaching fifth grade at Gesu School in inner-city Philadelphia. He then earned his law degree from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America in 1988. Casey, son of former Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey, was first elected to the Senate in 2006 after serving as Pennsylvania’s state auditor general for eight years and state treasurer for two years. Upon seeking re-election to the Senate in 2012, Casey became the first Democrat in 50 years to be elected to a full term and win re-election from Pennsylvania. Throughout Casey’s 10 years on Capitol Hill, he has advocated for early learning,

fought for minimum wage increases, advocated for legislation to invest millions into infrastructure, and has been a Senate leader in efforts to cut off ISIS’s financing. Casey also was the prime Senate sponsor of the Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE), which modifies the tax code to allow individuals with disabilities, and their families, to save for long-term care using tax-advantaged savings accounts. The University will also present honorary degrees to Boston-area community activist Amy Guen MSW ’52; CEO of Building Educated Leaders for Life Tiffany Gueye, BC ’00 and PhD ’07; actor Chris O’Donnell, BC ’92; and missioner for Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Rev. Leo B. Shea, MM ’60. Guen, who will be attending her 65th BC alumni reunion this spring at age 94, has a long and accomplished career as a social

worker and will be presented with the honorary Doctor of Social Science degree. Guen has served on Massachusetts’ first social work licensing board, advocated for hospice care, and has facilitated funding for various agencies, like the Asian American Civic Association and the Golden Age Center, to assist immigrants. She has also worked as a community activist and leader in Boston’s Chinatown opposing the displacement of the neighborhood. Guen is the first American-born daughter of her family, and was sent to China during her childhood to continue her education after her mother died. After World War II, Guen returned to Massachusetts, then earned her undergraduate degree from Regis

See Casey, A3

Jarmond Emerges as a $1,270,725 Leading AD Candidate $1,131,195. paid to former AD Gene DeFilippo, who hasn’t been listed on the public 990 since 2011-12.

While BC’s endowment fell $150 million during Fiscal 2016, CIO John Zona earned

Coaches Continue to Top Payroll

BY CONNOR MURPHY News Editor

AND RILEY OVEREND Sports Editor Football head coach Steve Addazio and men’s basketball head coach Jim Christian were Boston College’s highest-paid employees in the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2016, according to tax documents released this week. Addazio received $2,488,949 in total compensation, and Christian received $1,463,235. Both have contracts that run through 2020. This year’s 990 form also listed compensation for John Zona, BC’s chief investment officer, who manages the endowment. Zona received $1,131,195 in total compensation, after receiving $535,708 in fiscal 2015. BC’s endowment decreased $150 million in fiscal 2016, with investment losses of $97 million, according to BC’s annual report for 2016. That made for a portfolio return of negative 4.3 percent.

Every year, BC must disclose the salaries of its five highest-compensated employees. Zona is the University’s highest-paid administrator, followed by Dean of CSOM Andy Boynton, who received $724,890, and Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, who received $556,855. Boynton has not been included in the 990 since fiscal year 2011, when he made $484,934. He has served as dean since 2004. Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead made $445,496 in his first full fiscal year on the job. Men’s hockey head coach Jerry York did not appear on the 2016 tax forms after earning $1,249,617 in 2015. His absence from the top five is likely the result of a signing bonus and deferred payments, considering that the winningest coach in NCAA hockey made about half as much ($626,953) in 2014. According to last year’s IRS 990, York made $491,259 in base compensation—his salary this year is likely in the same range. In his penultimate year at BC, Director of Athletics Brad Bates was paid

$639,748, down slightly from his 2015 earnings. Former AD Gene DeFilippo collected $1,270,725 in compensation after a brief hiatus from BC’s payroll. The 990 also showed an increase in permanently restricted assets from about $911 million to $971 million, which the Office of the Financial Vice President said in an email is primarily the result of donor contributions to the University. Fiscal 2016 was a down year for university endowments across the country, including Harvard University, which saw a negative 2 percent return, according to The Harvard Crimson, and Columbia University, which posted a negative .9 percent loss, according to Bloomberg. Nationally, university endowments lost about 2 percent in fiscal 2016. Harvard’s endowment woes have impacted its salaries for faculty—the Crimson reported that Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) will receive a 1.5 percent pay bump, lower than usual

See 990, A3

Ohio State admin is new favorite, ‘Sports Illustrated’ reports BY RILEY OVEREND Sports Editor

Martin Jarmond, the deputy athletic director at Ohio State, is the leading candidate to replace Brad Bates as Boston College’s next Director of Athletics, Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel reported on Wednesday morning. Jarmond, 37, would become the youngest AD in the Power Five after spending nine years at the helm of the Buckeyes’ football, baseball, and men’s basketball programs. He would also become the first AD of color in BC’s history. Currently, the University doesn’t employ any minority head coaches. The decision is far from official, as Army’s Boo Corrigan and Villanova’s Mark Jackson are still in the running for the position. Seton Hall AD Pat Lyons and Mike Dee, former COO of the Red Sox, have withdrawn from consideration. An announcement is expected [tomorrow] today. At OSU, Jarmond is in charge of football scheduling and serves on

the College Football Playoff advisory committee. In his previous role as Associate Athletic Director for Development, he raised $120 million in a three-year span. Before his work with the Buckeyes, he set numerous fundraising records at Michigan State. As the Assistant Athletic Director for Development and Director of Regional Giving, Jarmond raised over $126 million during the $1.2 billion Campaign for MSU. Earlier this year, Sports Business Daily Journal named Jarmond to its Forty Under 40 list honoring the best young sports business leaders in the country. The Fayetteville, N.C. native is considered to be OSU AD Gene Smith’s right hand man, and his success earned him looks at Syracuse and Mississippi State during recent AD openings. In 2001, Jarmond graduated from the University of North CarolinaWilmington, where he walked on the basketball team and ascended to captain. In 2000, Jarmond helped carry the Seahawks to their first-ever NC AA Tournament appearance. He also has two Masters Degrees from Ohio University in Business Administration and Sports Administration. 

Critiquing Intersectional Feminism Sommers thinks equity feminism should be reformed, not replaced. BY SOPHIA FOX Heights Staff

AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Sommers said equity feminism promises women the freedom to forge their own destiny.

Christina Hoff Sommers believes that the heart of feminism on college campuses is the dissemination of false information. Sommers, a resident scholar of feminism at the American Enterprise Institute, spoke to a packed audience Wednesday night in McGuinn 121. The event, a talk titled “What Has Gone Wrong With Feminism,” was hosted by the Boston College Republicans and Eagles for Israel. Sommers began her talk by jokingly de-

claring the room a “safe space” and describing herself as a “white, Jewish, cisgender, neurotypical woman with a non-gender conforming dog.” The bulk of Sommers’s discussion centered around her critiques of intersectional feminism, a brand of feminism that aims for inclusion of minority women, and the advent of microaggressions, or small-scale comments or jokes that are based in gender or racial inequality. Sommers is an equity feminist, a brand of feminism rooted in enlightenment ideals that aims for the moral, legal, and social equality of the sexes. Equity feminism is credited with inspiring the first wave of feminism that led to women’s suffrage. Sommers described equity feminism as “offering no prescriptions, but it prom-

ises you the freedom to forge your own destiny.” In recent years, the tide of public favor has shifted from equity feminism toward intersectional feminism, something Sommers characterized as “safe space, check your privilege, shut-the-f-up feminism.” Intersectional feminism, pioneered by Patricia Hill Collins at the University of Maryland, College Park, arose out of concerns that traditional feminism held the experience of white women to be emblematic of all women, something Sommers conceded was a legitimate concern. Where Collins and Sommers differ is in the mode of rectifying these wrongs. Collins introduced intersectional feminism, while

See Sommers, A3

SUMMER SELECTION

WEATHER WOES

The arts editors predict the most highly anticipated films, shows, and songs this season.

Baseball’s Beanpot final was shortened by rain as BC held a 3-2 lead over Harvard.

SPORTS

SCENE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

NEWS: Senior Statesman

Former presidential nominee Michael Dukakis spoke at BC last night...................A3

METRO: Where Tech Meets Art

With the startup Cuseum, museums can join the digital age..................................A5

INDEX

NEWS.......................... A2 ARTS & REVIEW............ B1

The Heights

TOP

things to do on campus this week

Thursday, April 20, 2017

From 2 to 4 p.m. today at the Office of the Dean of Students in Maloney, the Undergraduate Government of Boston College will host a Disability Services Open House and Ice Cream Social. The Disability Service staff and the Council for Students with Disabilities will be available to students at the event.

Today, the Campus Activities Board will host a free paint night. There will be two free paint classes led by Amped Events, one from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and the other from 9 to 10:30 p.m. The classes will be capped at 50 people each. Students will learn how to paint Gasson.

The Campus Activities Board will host a comedy event with Brian Kiley and Gary Gulman tonight from 6:45 to 11 p.m. at Higgins 300. Killey is the head monologue writer for Conan. Gulman was a finalist on NBC’s reality show Last Comic Standing.

NEWS Former NATO Commander Warns of Cyber Attacks BRIEFS By Katie Murphy

Woods Grads Honored

On Tuesday night, more than 150 students, with friends and family, gathered in the Murray Room of the Yawkey Center to celebrate the 2017 graduates of Boston College’s Woods College of Advancing Studies. Setti Warren, the two-term mayor of the City of Newton, Iraq War veteran, and BC ’93, addressed the graduates. Warren is credited with turning Newton’s financial crisis around since taking office. The event also included an award ceremony re cogniz ing members of the graduating class and distinguished alumni. Award recipients are seen as examples to both current students and alumni. Jeffrey Kelley, WCAS ’17, was awarded the Richard Lombard Award for academic excellence; Arvind Sharma, WCAS ’17, received the Graduate Award; and Barbara Brilliant, BC ’75, received the Distinguished Alumni Award. “Our students and graduates come from a variety of professional backgrounds with varying personal circumstances, often enduring many obstacles,” Burns said to The Chronicle. “These backgrounds are illustrative of all of our award recipients throughout the years. They are representatives of the best of Woods College students, all of whom demonstrate Jesuit ideals of the commitment to justice, to be men and women for others in service to the greater good.” The Woods College provides students with f lexible undergraduate or graduate certification programs for nontraditional students.

GE CEO Wins Award Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, was honored with the President’s Medal for Excellence at the 29th annual Boston College Wall Street Council Tribute Dinner, which was held on Tuesday in New York City. He was given this award in recognition of his exceptional career and contributions to society. Immelt held several global leadership positions since joining GE in 1982, including working with plastics, appliances, and healthcare businesses. He became an officer for GE in 1989 and joined its capital board in 1997. Since Immelt was named the chairman of GE in 2001, the company has been named “America’s Most Admired Company” in a poll by Fortune magazine. Barron’s named him one of the “World’s Best CEOs” three times. Immelt has also served as chair of former president Barack Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Immelt received an honorary degree from BC in 2010. BC’s Wall Street Council is a network of more than 2,000 alumni, parents, and friends who work in the financial sector in New York. Since it was created, the Tribute Dinner has raised over $26 million for the Wall Street Council Scholarship Fund, which supports the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program. Immelt spoke to an audience of more than 300 business leaders at the BC Chief Executives Club in March 2016 about his reasons for relocating GE’s headquarters from Connecticut to Boston. He hopes to attain a successful partnership with Boston’s higher education community.

Heights Staff

James Stavridis, a four-star admiral with 37 years of military service under his belt, wants people to be better listeners and learn about other cultures, not to build walls and live in isolation. Stavridis is a retired Navy Admiral and the current dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. From 2009 to 2013 he was the NATO Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility of Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, piracy, and cyber security. Stavridis has been awarded more than 50 medals, 28 of them from foreign nations. He spoke Wednesday night in Fulton 511. The lecture focused on national security in the 21st century, but before touching on the present, Stavridis talked about the national security crises and strategies of the 20th century. After the world wars, the strategies that many countries adopted were centered around isolationism and building walls to protect themselves. “Sixty million dead, two world wars, how did we fail so badly?” he said. “I would argue that we failed because we tried to create walls. We thought they would divide us and protect us, and that approach, in my view, is not the path to 21st-century security.” After discussing the failings of the 20th

century, Stavridis moved on to discuss the current problems that threaten national security. He first talked about the Islamic State and the type of terrorism that they implement, which he called “terrorism 3.0.” The advanced advertising, marketing, and branding of ISIS combined with its global reach and expert use of technology makes it a terrorist force unlike one the United States has ever dealt with. Stavridis singled out a few countries that he considers dangers to global security. He named four countries that he saw as the biggest threats: Iran, Syria, Russia, and North Korea. Headed by an unstable leader, Kim Jong Un, who Stavridis described as “unpredictable, unstable, morbidly obese, addicted to opioids, unproven, and worst of all, he already has nuclear weapons,” North Korea is the most threatening country. Along with dangers posed by individual nations, there are other types of threats that can compromise global security. The epidemic of opioids, heroin, and cocaine poses a sizable threat, he said. These drugs are a two-fold type of threat. First, they harm the population that chooses to use them. Second, the profit made from the drug trade goes to underground criminals, often in countries with fragile democracies, which undermines the authorities of the already unstable governments. Stavridis finished describing the different security threats with what he worries

Amelie Trieu / Heights EDitor

James Stavridis spoke to students about security threats of the 21st century. about most—cyber attacks. Cyber attacks are the only type of attack that threatens everything from our international security concerns, through our economy and personal finances, to the most intimate details of our lives, he said. Cyber attacks often target the infrastructure of countries and companies and can cause millions of dollars in damage. The steps that Stavridis described as the most important to take in order to strengthen global security are not rooted in military force, what Stavridis called “hard power,” but in building understanding and intellectual capital. He stressed the importance of listening to not only allies, but also enemies. Learn-

ing about other cultures and learning their languages can help in this understanding. Reading both fiction and nonfiction from around the world helps people to understand other cultures, he said. Stavridis explained that listening, learning, and in-person diplomatic work is integral to successful security, and sometimes hard military force also needs to be used. A careful balance among hard power and soft power, humanitarian aid, and literacy programs need to be utilized to achieve global security, he said. “By collaboration, by building bridges, by mixing hard and soft power, we can create the sum of all security in the 21st century,” he said. n

Students, Faculty Hold Forum on Free Speech Policies By Abigail Druhot Heights Staff Students and faculty gathered on Wednesday in O’Connell House at an event sponsored by Faculty for Justice to discuss current tensions at Boston College over free expression. The main conflict right now is that unregistered student groups are not allowed to partake in the opportunities registered groups (RSOs) have. For example, they are not allowed to book rooms, post flyers, or hold demonstrations. The problem has received renewed attention with recent sanctions against several members of the unregistered group Eradicate BC Racism (ERBC) for their involvement in two demonstrations last fall. In addition to holding the forum Wednesday, the Faculty for Justice have endorsed a list of proposals initially compiled by the Undergraduate Government of BC, which pushed for a revamped free expression policy on campus in fall 2014 and throughout 2015, though it had little success. In addition to other changes, the proposal would give groups of five or more students similar rights to those currently held by RSOs: the ability to place fliers or invite speakers to campus, for example. At Wednesday’s event, Leigh Patel, Lynch School professor, reading a letter from Eradicate members, cited problems

with the way the administration handled the demonstrations. “After the administration denied requests from EBCR to post an infographic on campus, Provost David Quigley explained to The Heights that he felt University resources should not be used to promote the message of EBCR, which he believes diminishes the work of BC faculty who have focused their academic careers on fighting racism,” Patel said. “In other words, University officials justified the erasure of our research under the guise that they were acting on behalf of your interests, as anti-racist faculty,” she added. The letter ended with a confident statement from Eradicate members. “After two years of organizing, we are comfortable stating in this forum that we believe the policies and procedures in place at BC concerning free expression and event registration illustrate the operation of institutional racism and other forms of institutionalized discrimination,” Patel quoted. Additionally, members of UGBC rallied for their peers and the free expression they said everyone deserves. “As a student government, we’re trying to represent all students on campus, and unregistered student organizations often have trouble expressing themselves,” said Meredith McCaffrey, UGBC executive vice president and

MCAS ’17. Molly Newcomb, a member of UGBC and MCAS ’18, mentioned the problems past UGBC governments have had when dealing with advocacy for free speech. “In the spring of 2015, we were focused on increasing freedom of expression for students not members of student groups,” she said. “A lot of what ended up in our final resolution is what is in this document today … and ultimately we as a student government passed this resolution about what we envision the free speech policies at BC to be.” “Ultimately, this was not incorporated into the student guide at the time,” Newcomb said. Olivia Hussey, last year’s UGBC EVP and MCAS ’17, followed up Newcomb’s point about the lack of action on the issue by BC administrators. “We presented to the Board of Trustees numerous times about these issues … however, at the end of our tenure, we still did not have a comprehensive free speech policy,” she said. Marilynn Johnson, a professor in the history department, said she disputed the argument that many peer universities that are also Jesuit or private institutions have similar free speech policies. She read aloud the policies from Georgetown University, a fellow Jesuit institution.

“Certain areas on campus shall be considered public squares, and shall be available without prior arrangement for individuals and groups during daylight hours,” she said, quoting Georgetown’s policy. “Certain information and communication channels are open to any individual member of the University community such as flyering, undesignated bulletin boards, chalking messages in the square, or tabling in public square areas.” “It is time for Boston College to recommit to its educational mission and to reform our speech policies,” Johnson said. Craig Ford, executive director of the Graduate Students Association and GMCAS ’21, agreed that BC should allow free speech as a critical part of its Jesuit mission. He noted the benefits free speech will have on campus. “We will be able to hold each other accountable,” he said. “It will help us discover what it actually means to be Catholic and Jesuit, because we will be centered on finding the truth together more than projecting an image that things on this campus go exactly the way Catholic bishops would like them to go.” He ended saying the discovery of truth should be at the center of everyone’s motivation for free speech. “It is to choose truth over our own image, and there is nothing more Catholic than that,” he said. n

8:12 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a drug law violation at 90 St. Thomas More Rd.

Tuesday, April 18

POLICE BLOTTER: 4/17/17 – 4/18/17 Monday, April 17

11:27 a.m. - A report was filed regarding event ejections for alcohol at the Mods.

7:55 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an elevator entrapment at Walsh Hall. 9:22 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an underage intoxicated person at Conte Circle.

11:41 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an assault and battery with a dangerous weapon at the Mods.

5:57 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a supcious circumstance at Walsh Hall.

6:14 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at Keyes North.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

12:05 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical incident at the Mods.

CORRECTIONS What was your favorite childhood snack? “Ritz bits were definitely my favorite.” —Christina LaRitz, CSOM ’19

“Pringles.” —Jake Evans, MCAS ’19

“Gogurt. Who could forget about Gogurt?” —Chris Barcia, MCAS ’18

“Chewy bars.” —Alexis Teixeira, CSOM ’17

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

The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Fake Braille Found at BC By Chris Russo Assoc. News Editor The lack of braille signage at a number of locations on campus, as well as a sign with fake braille in Bapst Library, has raised concerns from students who advocate for people with disabilities on campus. These concerns have since been addressed by Boston College via its Facebook page during a correspondence with a student. Leslie Templeton, MCAS ’20, notified BC about the Bapst signage issue by messaging its Facebook page last week. A moderator of the Facebook page then responded, asking for the location of the fake braille sign and in what other buildings non-tactile signs are potentially located. On Wednesday afternoon, the page moderator told Templeton that they brought her concerns to the appropriate people and have learned they are in the process of redoing the signage in Bapst. They are expediting signage for accessible restrooms, and the permanent signs should be up in a few days, according to the message. The non-tactile braille sign was found outside of an accessible bathroom, 206B, on the second floor of Bapst. The sign is a sticker, with braille dots printed on it that are not raised. The bathroom signs on the first floor of Bapst are also stickers that do not have braille on them. In addition, Bapst has few signs with braille that indicate the different rooms of the library. Other locations on campus have signs without braille or are missing signs altogether. These instances are in violation of section 216.2 of the American Disabilities Act (ADA). Dean of Students Thomas Mogan said

in an email that he was not aware of the fake braille signage and will look into the issue. The Undergraduate Government of BC’s Council for Students with Disabilities declined to comment on the situation. The ADA requires that all permanent rooms and spaces have tactile signs, or signs with braille. These include restrooms, room and floor numbers and letters, and room names. “If somebody’s putting up a sign that has braille that is just print, that would not be compliant to any requirements at all,” said Eugene Lozano, chair of the Braille Authority of North America Signage Committee. The purpose of these requirements is to make buildings accessible to those who are visually impaired. Visual impairment includes more than complete blindness, but also those who are defined as legally blind. The purpose of these requirements is to also keep people safe. In the event of an emergency, such as a fire, someone who is visually impaired would use braille to identify which rooms they are travelling between. There are several instances of signs across campus that are not tactile. The Rat does not have any sign outside of it. Signs in the Gasson stairwells that indicate the floor number do not have braille. Since the stairwells are considered permanent spaces, they are required to have tactile signs, according to Lozano. Lozano said that to resolve the issues of the non-braille signage, students can file a complaint with a local ADA coordinator. “A student does have the right to go straight to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to file a complaint, but it is always much better to start with the ADA coordinator,” he said. n

Sommers Wants to ‘Make Feminism Great Again’ Sommers, from A1 Sommers contends that equity feminism does not need to be overthrown but rather reformed. Throughout the talk, Sommers expressed concern over the divisive nature of intersectional feminism, at times stating that it encourages paranoia and neurosis. “There is a problem with defining what is a marginalized group,” Sommers explained. “It seems that everyone who is not a neurotypical white man has some grievance that fits into this axis of oppression.” The axis Sommers mentions is the root of her concerns with intersectional feminism. Within intersectional feminism, America is depicted as a system of domination and privilege, thinly veiled by the idea of freedom. Sommers disagrees with this fundamental idea, insisting that even members of the same minority group are not all like-minded, thus requiring more subdivisions. “My problem with intersectionality is that it fights sexism, racism, classism by labeling everyone into gender, race, and class,” she said. “It reinforces what it is trying to eradicate.” Intersectional feminism centers on the importance of discussing shared life experience of minority groups. Sommers contends that this discussion often occurs at the expense of evaluative reason and factual statements. “You have to evaluate different life experiences by how close they are to reality,” Sommers said. “[Intersectional feminism] is sort of a conspiracy theory because there is no way to prove it wrong. If you question it you just don’t understand the theory.”

Sommers explained similar concerns that the increase in reporting microaggressions stifles free speech on college campuses, which she likened to police states. Although Sommers did agree that bigotry can exist on small scales, she is troubled about the urgency of reporting these statements to university authorities. “I don’t see them as protection,” Sommers said with regard to bias response groups on college campuses. “I see them as enabling spies and busybodies … they keep multiplying, like the number of oppressed groups.” Rather than report offensive comments, Sommers advocates for forging friendships and the liberal tradition of equity feminism to fight bigotry. Tolerant, free speech, to Sommers, is a more effective solution than monitoring what others say. Sommers also expressed her doubts concerning the accuracy of reports about sexual assaults on college campuses. In particular, she contended that the statistic of 1 in 4 women being assaulted during their time in college is somewhere closer to 1 in 50. She did not provide data to back up this claim. Sommers stated that if common belief on this issue was true, “it would mean that our campuses are more dangerous than war-torn Congo.” After touching on a variety of topics, Sommers returned to her theme of the importance of equity feminism and left the audience with a charge to make positive change. “Fight for what is yours, the right to speak and express … take back reason, take back freedom, take back feminism, and—dare I say it—make feminism great again,” she said. n

Casey Will Address Grads Casey, from A1 College and her graduate degree from BC’s Graduate School of Social Work. Gueye, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Science in Education degree. Along with being CEO of Building Education Leaders for Life (BELL), she she is also a member of the board of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, the Board of Overseers for the YMCA of Greater Boston, and the advisory board for Results for America. O’Donnell, who will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, was still a student at the Carroll School of Management during his first movie appearance playing Jessica Lange’s son in “Men Don’t Leave.” His critically

acclaimed performance then launched into an acting career spanning over 25 years, earning him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O’Donnell has five children with his wife of 20 years Caroline O’Donnell, his BC roommate’s sister.He has also established a student scholarship fund at BC. Shea, who has served more than 50 years with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, will also be presented an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Shea earned a degree in English from BC before joining the BC Jesuit Lay Mission program, where he travelled to Jamaica to teach at a Jesuit high school and a parish in an impoverished neighborhood. n

Jake Evans / Heights Staff

How Dukakis Thinks Dems Lost in 2016 By Bernadette Darcy Heights Staff As the final speaker in the Hellenic Society’s Greek America Lecture Series, Michael Dukakis, former Democratic presidential candidate and the longestserving governor in Massachusetts history, spoke to a crowded Devlin 008 on Wednesday night. Dukakis delved into the personal and political, discussing his Greek roots and his hopes for the Democratic Party. Stavros Piperis, member of the Hellenic Society and MCAS ’19, introduced Dukakis and his wife, Kitty. “The idea behind the series was to somehow connect our community here on the Heights to the home nation that we hold dear,” Piperis said. The child of two Greek immigrants, Dukakis was born and raised in Brookline, Mass., where he was elected chairman of the Democratic organization in 1960, and steadily worked his way into the state legislature. By 1974, he was elected governor of Massachusetts. In 1988, Dukakis won the Democratic nomination for the presidency, but was defeated by George H. W. Bush. He spoke about two faults he saw in his campaign—not responding to Bush’s attack campaign and not focusing on grassroots, precinct based politics. “I am a huge believer in precinctbased, grassroots organizations because that’s how I was elected to the municipal

office, that’s how I was elected to represent the town of Brookline in the state legislature, that’s how I was elected governor three times,” Dukakis said. The former governor’s only campaigns not grounded in precinct-based, grassroots movements—his first gubernatorial reelection campaign and his presidential bid—were the two political races Dukakis lost. A voting precinct is a district into which a city or town is divided for voting. Dukakis sees the precinct as the basic election unity of the United States. There are approximately 185,000 precincts in the United States, with 2,157 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. “What’s serious about a precinctbased, grassroots organization is that it requires a precinct captain and six block or neighborhood captains,” Dukakis said. “Doing what? Making personal contact on an on-going basis with every single voting household.” By personal contact, Dukakis was not referring to a casual hello or 10 second phone call. Rather, he emphasized the need to find out the questions and concerns of voters, and responding to voter needs in an effective, personal way. “It’s important, lasting, and makes a huge difference, especially in a world where we’re so unconnected to people in many ways,” he said. Dukakis went on to emphasize the need to de-polarize American politics. He urged Democrats to renounce the

red state-blue state dichotomy, and instead invest time, energy, and money into precincts across all states. “Once you buy into this [narrative], you essentially say to half the country, ‘we’re not going to spend any time on you,’” Dukakis said. “In fact, you end up, as we’ve seen repeatedly now, campaigning in the same six or seven states in the last few months of the campaign while the rest of the country is spectating.” To illustrate his point, Dukakis explained a pitfall of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. With a month to go in the campaign, Clinton and Donald Trump were tied in the polls in Texas. Additionally, polls indicated that Clinton was slightly ahead in Georgia, and down a few points in South Carolina. “All winnable states,” Dukakis said. “What happened? No field operation. They were written off as red states.” Clinton went on to lose to Trump in all three states. “The Democratic Party isn’t going to win by slicing and dicing the electorate,” he said. Moreover, Dukakis explained that by writing off several states as “red” and therefore unwinnable, Democrats allow Republicans to funnel all resources into seven key states instead of all 50. “Now, these guys can outspend us, but I don’t think they can outwork us,” Dukakis said. “But the question is, will we do the work?” n

Endowment Woes Haven’t Affected Pay 990, from A1 and below the inflation rate. But the situation is different at BC, according to Vice Provost for Faculties Billy Soo. When BC plans its budget, it assumes a 5 percent draw on the endowment, Soo said in an email, so the $150 million endowment decrease translates to a decrease of just $7.5 million in what the endowment can contribute to the

budget. At Harvard, more than half of the operating budget for the FAS comes from the endowment. To offset endowment losses, BC has to generate more revenue elsewhere, like increased tuition or fundraising, or reduce expenses, like cutting back on some programs or not replacing faculty and staff who leave. Because BC relies less on its endowment, programs have not been cut significantly when it de-

creases, Soo said. In 2009, BC froze salaries to avoid layoffs during the financial crisis. Over the last several years, Soo said growth in faculty salaries has been stable at around 2 or 3 percent. “We have been fortunate not to overrely on the endowment to support our budget so that when it drops, we have not had to cut back significantly on programs,” Soo said in an email. n

CS Society Plans First Hackathon By Connor Murphy News Editor The Boston College Computer Science Society will host the first of what its members hope will become an annual hackathon this weekend. Set to run for 24 hours, starting Friday at 6 p.m., groups of students will have the whole time to put their heads together and work on bringing an idea to life. By the end, the idea of Hack the Heights is that participants have some kind of device, program, or another product that they can demo—they create something out of nothing, said James LeDoux, MCAS ’17, who’s helping organize the e vent with the BC Computer Science Society (BCCSS). They expect between 50 and 100 students to participate, with the possibility of expanding it in the future to include students from other Boston-area schools. The event comes after Sergio Alvarez, chair of the computer science department, sent an email to computer science students this week announcing that Lewis Tseng will join the department next year as a tenuretrack faculty member. The number of undergraduate majors in computer science grew from 57 to 267 between 2007 and 2016, according to the BC Factbook, but the department has just nine full-

time faculty. PennApps, the country’s first college hackathon, held annually at the University of Pennsylvania, has had enormous success—in February, four Penn students sold the company they had created from an app they made at the 2014 event. Projects range from apps to websites and robotics. One project that came out of PennApps 2015 was a program that allows users to operate a drone by playing the ukulele. “You can tr y to do something useful, you can try to do something totally interesting—the whole idea is that you get people all in one space together and catalyze that thought in the back of your head: “Oh, I wonder if I could make that,’” said Cam Lunt, MCAS ’17. Lunt said BCCSS is approaching this year’s event on a smaller scale to iron out the logistics and get a sense of how it works. He said people in the Office of Student Involvement did not understand the 24-hour, overnight aspect of the event, and one administrator expressed concern that a “hackathon” included some kind of illegal activity. BCCSS has partnered with several sponsors for the event, including General Electric, Optum, and Google. Hack the Heights is more or less unrestrained in terms of the kinds of projects people can pursue, but

there is one prize to incentivize some participants to do something for the social good. Larger events at other schools have corporate-sponsored prizes, where companies can ask participants to take a crack at a specific project that would eventually help the company. LeDoux said BCCSS has been surprised by the breadth of interest expressed in the event so far: a lot of people interested are brand new to coding, and 40 percent of registered students are freshmen. About one-third of the sign-ups so far are people who have only taken one of the two intro computer science courses. “The way you get expert at making things is by making a lot of things and going to these types of events a lot, and if we don’t have that kind of traction right now, we’re really trying to reach out to people who have limited experience,” Lunt said. “We’re going to try to have a lot of people available to help on projects.” LeDoux said that in his first hackathon, he knew pretty much nothing, and wasn’t useful to his team. “There’s so much that your education doesn’t teach you when it comes to CS, and I think hackathons are the best way to help people extract themselves from their academic knowledge to some practical and applicable,” he said. n

The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Flying Toward a Car Ride Through a City

Madeleine D’Angelo

Lizzy Barrett / Heights Editor

With Annual Student 9s Program, Red Sox Aim to Reach Younger Fans By Juan Olavarria Heights Senior Staff

As Adam Grossman, Red Sox senior vice president and chief marketing officer, made his way to the front of the room, intrigue built with his every step. After a pause, his gaze surveyed those present: 30 or so individuals all brandishing their weapon of choice, ranging from rudimentary notebooks to more modern recording devices. After a moment, Grossman broke the tension, catalyzing a flurry of simultaneous movement in the Fenway Park press room as everyone sought to keep up with his every word. For the fourth year in a row, the organization will offer deeply discounted tickets to both high school and college students in the city. The Student 9s, as the program is being marketed, offers those with a valid student ID tickets for only $9 in an effort to eliminate the biggest constraint for younger fans to make it to the stadium: cost. The program can be traced back to 2014, when the franchise looked to capitalize on its recent World Series title in order to tap into, and retain, a new consumer base. For students, making trips to the ballpark would now be more affordable than a movie ticket. As the program has evolved, so has student awareness about it. Of all the students present in the press room that day, the majority had heard of the initiative, but less than half had actually utilized it. Compared to previous years, the increased awareness of the program among the student population can be marked as a success. More challenges, however, will remain in the coming months as a

plethora of different experiences compete for attention in the city. According to Grossman, the “man with a marketing plan,” the team is continuing its push toward a more accessible environment for all those in attendance, especially younger visitors. These youthful fans, raised in the age of social media and technology, expect completely different experiences than previous generations did when heading to the ballpark. As the Red Sox look to increase the already 3 million individuals who attend games annually, it is “fundamentally important” to engage with the next generation of fans in the area. In the current environment, where ubiquitous computing and an almost omnipresent connection to the internet is expected, creating an engaging experience in any context is a problem. But developing one tailored to the desires of the diverse group of individuals attending Red Sox games presents a puzzle that the organization needs to solve, said Grossman. “It’s a challenge we need to solve over 81 games,” he said. “There are differences in how people consume media … it’s now important to complement the baseball action.” Revolutionizing the Red Sox’s use of media has been the big theme behind the team’s strategy this year, as “hanging their hat on their history” is no longer enough. In an age in which tech and data play a large role in almost every key decision being made, the Red Sox are fully entering the 21st century in terms of fan engagement. One of the goals of the different programs this year, including the Student 9s, has been to make the

experience at Fenway completely unique, said Steve Oliveira, promotions coordinator. By creating themed events, such as the confirmed college nights, and the rumored Star Wars and Game of Thrones days, the Red Sox are tapping into different demographics within the city, especially the younger ones. Historically, the team has not done much in terms of promotions—simply because it has not needed to—but that approach is slowly changing. The organization is also exploring re-developing the “rewards” program currently offered. The idea behind the potential “points” initiative is that every purchase in the stadium, ranging from merchandize to concessions, will accumulate points that customers can later exchange for experiences like meet-and-greets with the players, box seats, and batting practice access. “We are just trying to be more appreciative of the fans,” Oliveira said. Last season the team also introduced a virtual reality booth in which fans could put on a headset and get a glimpse of the stadium from the players’ eyes. In order to top that experience, this year the virtual reality capabilities have been upgraded, creating an interactive encounter through which individuals can participate in “batting practice” at Fenway and “chat” with players. “The organization is trying to give more varied experiences at the ballpark to meet the specific desires of fans,” said Zach Markell, special assistant to the chief marketing officer. “It’s hard to give access to the players, and this is a way to do it.” n

There are some car rides that hold a special significance—the ride after a long day at work, or maybe the drive back to your house after a flight. The longer you’ve been away, the more tantalizing the drive itself is. But before you travel along those familiar bends and past the childhood landmarks, you have to get yourself through the flight. For many people, this probably isn’t a problem. Maybe a flight is even enjoyable—but not for me. You see, it’s been quite a while since I last enjoyed getting on a plane. Every once in awhile, that old wonder that originally accompanied even the mention of the word ‘airplane’ will come back in a flash—usually when flying through a particularly fluffy cloud, or at night when the lights of the city that you’re flying over look like pulsing veins filled with gold—but for the most part, that sense of wonder is harder to grasp. Like many emotions that were easier to elicit in chiildhood, the simple joy just seems to be one of those feelings that shrunk when faced with reality of the world. Each year it dissipates more and more. Instead of leaning toward the window, I lean into the aisle and avert my eyes from the sickening distance that grows between the plane and solid ground as the flight takes off. My knuckles are likely to turn white if they stay tightly clenched in my lap, and I have to actively distract myself from the thoughts of everything that could go wrong. Even touchdown doesn’t fully calm my nerves, because there’s still the chance that the plane could tip over as it deaccelerates, cartwheeling across the blacktop of the runway. It is only when the gigantic contraption has come to a full stop that I can feel the tension loosen in my back, and usually realize that I have been clenching my jaw for the past couple of hours. In some ways, this stress has eased slightly since starting school. It isn’t that the frequent flights have dulled my sense of paranoia (if anything, flying more actually increases the chances of a fiery death plummeting from the sky,

right?), it’s more that when I fly to and from school, I tend to fly alone. Flying alone means that my family and my friends are safely where I left them, and that is what sets my mind at ease. And although this vein of thinking is by no means uncommon—I have heard of many families who take separate flights for family vacations just to prevent the unthinkable—it almost seems like a strange form of selfishness. While you are resigned to your fate, what about the people that you leave behind? But who knows, the question is kind of pointless because in the end you just need to get from point A to point B, and if you’re taking a plane that’s that. Whatever you tell yourself to get through the flight doesn’t really matter. Comforting yourself with the potential of your own isolated death gets a bit morbid after a while. The repetition of resigning yourself to whatever horrible fate could occur (or could just as easily never take place) starts taking its mental toll. I needed something new to get me through those flights, especially when I was heading back to school—a direction that, despite the amazing friends it contained, inevitably led to the particular stresses and anxieties that face students. Not that student stress is even worth complaining about in the scheme of life problems, but any stress is stress. It’s an evolutionary technique abused by our modern psyche, because we can physiologically place the grade of a paper on same disaster level as death by hyena. Anyway, I began focusing on the ride after the flight. After getting through baggage claim, you can hop into a cab and get a completely unique view of the city that you whiz through. You see it like a tourist might for the first time, and sometimes, it isn’t the prettiest view. On the way back from Logan, you might be overwhelmed by the sheer number of brutalist concrete overpasses that you drive under, but maybe you’ll also notice the colorful graffiti emblazoned on the walls. It’s an imtimate view of the city that you’re passing through—a sacred moment in a way. If you can get out of your own head, that ride home from the airport is always beautiful in a way. At the very least, it’s definitely something worth looking forward to.

Madeleine D’Angelo is the metro editor for The Heights. She can be reached on Twitter @mads_805.

The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Questions Catch ‘All the Feels’ on Thursday at the Gardner of College By Madeleine D’Angelo Metro Editor

William Batchelor The other day I was asked a simple question—“Is college better than you expected, as you expected, or worse than you expected?” After hearing the question, I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I had no idea how to answer this straightforward question that only required a short response. After a few awkward moments of silence, I finally uttered the words, “I don’t really know.” Despite my inability to give an adequate answer, the question stuck around in my head. As I look back on the school year as it begins to wind down, the question has made me reflect on my first year as a Boston College student. So let’s start with some positives. Before coming to BC, I was under the impression that spending time in the city of Boston would be a rare occurrence. But I regularly venture into town to satisfy my food cravings and de-stress with a bit of retail therapy. I never thought I would get to visit the North End whenever I felt like a decadent cannoli or a little taste of Italy. Prior to leaving for Boston, I saw the movie Brooklyn, the story of a young girl who leaves Ireland for New York City. Eilis—played by Saoirse Ronan—struggles with homesickness as she adjusts to her new life in America. I worried that I would suffer from homesickness like Eilis. Even before finishing high school, I was anxious about the idea of moving to a new city and dreaded leaving the comforts of home. Thankfully, I never felt the agony of being separated from home like the film depicted. My mom insisted I didn’t get homesick because of all the praying she had been doing. While that may be the case, it seemed like I was ready to leave home. But my first year of college wasn’t always easy. Academically, I struggled to adjust to the rigor of BC classes and underestimated the workload. In the first semester, I foolishly signed up for a science class that I thought would be a breeze. I ended up spending hours at a time studying elaborate terms and concepts that I could never memorize. Eventually I had to throw in the towel and take an L. I had high expectations for the food at BC. Upperclassmen I knew said it was “world-class” and “superb.” I had heard about the renowned steak and cheese sub that the New York Times called “an excellent sandwich.” After a few weeks of eating at Mac and Eagle’s every day, however, I longed for a home-cooked meal. While the food at BC may be good compared to other schools, the dining halls constantly serve the same dishes. In many ways, college has been what I expected. I was well aware of the dorming situations for freshmen at BC, and had mentally prepared myself for the communal bathrooms. While it’s been far from an ideal situation, it only took me a few months to get used to sharing a bathroom with the dozens of other guys on my hall. Unlike with suite bathrooms that never get cleaned, the showers and toilets in freshman dorms are usually spotless and pristine. Whenever I told someone I was going to college in Boston, they would always warn me about the cold. So it came as no surprise when temperatures slid below 10 degrees and snowstorms cancelled classes. While the winter did seem a bit longer than I had expected, I was prepared for the extremely low temperatures. While I did have to overcome many hurdles this past year, I would sum up my freshmen year at BC as rewarding and humbling. So the next time I’m asked, “Is college better than you expected, as you expected, or worse than you expected?” my answer will be that is was all of the above.

William Batchelor is the asst. metro editor for The Heights. He can be reached on Twitter @williambatch.

Classes may only have been in session since Tuesday, but it is more than likely that students are already itching for Summer Break. But if the end just seems too far away, perhaps students should set their sights on Thursday and make their way down the E Line. This Thursday, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will host its monthly Third Thursday program, and this month’s unique theme, “All the Feels,” will provide attendees with a reprieve as yet another stressful week comes to an end. The best part? The event is completely free of charge for anyone with a Boston College ID. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., “All the Feels” will be a night filled with music and dance— various performances that Jessie Smith, the director of program planning, and Abigail Geringer, the assistant programs director, hope will fill visitors with emotion and give them, well, “all the feels.” Scattered throughout the palatial galleries of the Gardner Museum, these performances will include music from Stringalong, a group that has previously performed there with enormous success. The musical duo, comprised of cellist Aaron Fried and violinist Josh Knowles, will be situated in the Gardner Museum’s famed Courtyard, showing off their unique contemporary pop and R&B sound. Visitors will also have the chance to appreciate the work of dancer and choreographer Aysha Upchurch as she performs in the Gardner Museum’s special exhibition space, the Hosetter Gallery. There, Upchurch will respond to the current sound-art installation housed in the

gallery as part of the Gardner’s Listen Hear exhibition, which asks viewers to consider the auditory arts. Smith and Geringer, who met with Upchurch to show her the space, explained that even Upchurch’s immediate improvised response to the work was “incredible,” and something that will delight viewers when the night itself arrives. But Upchurch’s performance is not the only way through which attendees will have the opportunity to connect with the Gardner Museum and its wildly popular sound-art exhibition. In many of the other galleries throughout the museum, visitors will have the chance to participate in activities intended to elicit even more “personal responses” from attendees. In past Third Thursdays, these activities have included games such as scavenger hunts, but for “All the Feels,” attendees will engage both their visual and linguistic skills that connect to the larger sound-art exhibition. In the Gardner Museum’s Tapestry Room, a wordplay activity will invite participants to craft a poetic response to the work of sound-art that is housed in the space. In another space, visitors will also create their own physical works of art. Inspired by carefully chosen songs that organizers will play in the gallery space, visitors will create a mosaic and make personal connections with the Gardner Museum. “The gallery activities are really just playful ways to connect with the collection,” Smith said. “You know, they’re games and they’re playful and lighthearted, but they’re also are really fantastic to get to understand what this museum is all about, and get, a taste for the incredible collection.”

madeleine D’Angelo / Heights Editor

The Gardner’s monthly Third Thursday event hopes to elicit emotion from attendees. And “All the Feels,” like the many other Third Thursdays that have come before it over the decade since the Gardner Museum first launched the program, will not only connect visitors more deeply with the museum itself, but also more intimately with the Boston community around them. Geringer explained that the monthly night, which often draws young professionals and students who call Boston home, is also a “social evening.” Visitors can take advantage of the bar located in the Courtyard, or even the Gardner Museum’s café if they are feeling peckish, and bond with their friends in this tranquil oasis that is nestled within the city. Geringer also noted that these nights offer students the perfect way meet

people outside of their “normal circle,” and to “just experience what the city has to offer as a college student.” Smith also explained that nights like “All the Feels” often serve as the perfect decompression tool after a long week. “April can be a very busy time for students, so having a night at the Gardner Museum is a really beautiful way to take a break and recharge,” Smith said. “Especially as classes are getting really intense, this is a really nice way to spend time with friends and maybe make some new ones in an incredibly beautiful location.” And for those unable to make this “All the Feels,” May’s Third Thursday is only a month away. n

Photos courtesy of Cuseum

With Cuseum, Museums Enter the Digital Age By Mary Kate DiNorcia Heights Staff Brendan Ciecko is ridding cultural attractions of the need for clunky audio guides and is bringing learning tools to the palm of museumgoers’ hands with the creation of his tech startup Cuseum. Ciecko, an entrepreneur with a background in the music industry, has always had a passion for art. So when he realized he could combine his love for art and learning through experience to create a platform that can change the museum world, he jumped on the opportunity. “I was working with a number of museums and was constantly hearing of the frustrations when it came to providing a certain level of experience to visitors on site,” Ciecko said. When he heard one particular institution’s frustration with how frequently its audio guides broke, costing the museum e ven more money, Ciecko decided to dive even further into the museum’s goals, and began exploring the most efficient ways to achieve them. Then, in Aug. 2014, he released Cuseum as the solution. The platform began providing museums and other cultural attractions with the digital tools that the institutions needed to engage on-site visitors in new, dynamic ways. As visitors enter any one of the

museums partnered with Cuseum, they can download the attraction’s personalized application to their phone. Then, users are instantly presented with a variety of tours that will guide them through the museum. These tours, which can focus on any experience the museum chooses, range from highlighted tours to ones customized for special exhibits. Each tour is also interactive, as it detects the location of the user to provide a multimedia experience. As a visitor approaches a piece of art, content about the piece in front of them pops up on his or her phone, bringing the work to life. This location component also allows users to share their favorite pieces on social media, or even comment on an interactive discussion board with other users. As users digitally ‘like’ their favorite artworks or share pieces on Facebook, they are prompted to become a member at the museum, or even make a donation. This, Ciecko explained, is the goal of the software development he released just over a month ago. Ciecko’s newest product is the digital membership card he has made available for museums in order to make the membership process easier and more convenient. The to ol helps museums f ill memberships in a more efficient manner, as the entire process is

completed digitally, popping up on users’ phones as they walk through the door. Even with museums that offer free admission, entrance passes immediately open electronically on the visitors’ phones, ridding any unnecessary paper waste and time spent on lines. All of the products put forth by Ciecko can be customized to fit every institution that one could imagine. “Our tool is used by some of the largest museums in North America as well as some of the smallest museums in North America” Ciecko said. “So being able to provide a high-quality resource to museums of every shape and size is something that we’re very passionate about.” The growth of Ciecko’s multiple software developments is something he credits Boston with kick-starting. Wi t h B o s t o n’s c o m m i t m e n t t o education and its many established cultural institutions, its community values line up perfectly with those of the Cuseum platform. Ciecko pointed out that Boston has an environment that, beyond mutual passions with the software, has been a kind mentor throughout Cuseum’s development and launch. The officials at the Paypal Start Tank, the organization that picked up the Cuseum software in its developing stages and supported its growth, are a testament to the Boston environment as a whole, Ciecko explained.

“ B o s t o n a s a s t a r t u p c i t y, and a city that encourages and supports its entrepreneurs , has been unbelievable,” Ciecko said. “I credit a lot of our early laying of our foundation to the entrepreneurs and successful founders who have invested in our company and our vision, as well as supported us.” Although Cuseum was created in Boston, and is used by the city’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Ciecko collaborates with museums all over the country to bring the interactive art experience to users everywhere. Aside from the ICA, Cuseum can now be found many other world-class institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Ciecko’s goal for the near future, after just releasing the new digital membership product, is to fine-tune the digital tools that he provides to museums, and to increase the number of museums in partnership with Cuseum. “There is an ongoing evolution in the museum, cultural attractions, and nonprofit space where there is a move to become more digital and more closely connected to the visitor and the member,” Ciecko said. “Our goal as a company is to really build tools that address those core needs of the institutions that we work with and help them drive more success.” n

The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Editorials

BC Should Devote Additional Resources to Computer Science Boston College has seen its te chnolog y culture grow in recent years. The number of undergraduate computer science majors has grown from 57 in 2007 to 268 in 2016, an increase of 370 percent, the largest of any undergraduate discipline. As another sign of the rising interest in coding, the BC Computer Science Society (BCCSS) is hosting its first Hack the Heights hackathon on April 21 and 22. Between 50 to 100 students are expected to participate, according to the BCCSS. The competition will highlight the developing department and showcase the talents of computer science students in creating useful and innovative apps, devices, and programs. The steadily increasing number of students studying computer science and the organization of events such as Hack the Heights is evidence of the expanding interest in this department at BC. Despite these developments, howe ver, computer s cience remains understaffed for the number of students in the department. As of 2016-17, computer science has nine full-time faculty, a drop from 10 in the

previous academic year. To keep up with continuously growing student interest in the field, the University should look to devote more attention and resources to its computer science department. The recent hiring of Lewis Tseng as a tenure-track faculty member is a step in the right direction.

It is commendable that BC is choosing to fund the technological interests of its students in this way. Recently, T.J. Mei, CSOM ’20, received administrative approval to start the BC E-Sports Club, which seeks to bring together students that share an interest in playing video games competitively, a booming national trend. It is commendable that BC is choosing to fund the technological interests of its students in this way. The University should seek to replicate this support by allocating additional resources to the computer science department to

ensure that it can meet student demand for courses. Computer science students at BC have created a number of innovative and useful apps that benefit the University community, including EagleScribe and EagleEats. These creations demonstrate the potential of BC students interested in technological fields and coding to succeed in the future. The University’s proximity to Boston has lead the city to play an important role in its development and culture throughout its history. The growing prevalence of the technology industry in the city should be no exception to this relationship, and therefore B C should acknowledge the amassing interest among students in technological fields by adequately supporting pertinent academic programs and student clubs. As the University seeks to develop its own technological resources, as it has done with an ongoing remodeling of the website and new projects like bcservices.bc.edu, it should also focus on broadening the opportunities available to students to pursue technological fields of study and careers.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” - Thomas Paine

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The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

The Complication of Taxation

Garrett Reynolds Musical Geniuses - Not too long ago, a video arose on YouTube in which an astute musical mind took it upon himself to dissect the songwriting process of The Chainsmokers. In a hilariously simple fashion, he explains that almost all of their songs can be recreated with three chords, using the melody from “Closer” as a prime example. He then goes on to satirize the pair’s lyrics as of late, exposing their cliché and corny nature. To the man behind the camera, it seems, all it takes to write a Chainsmokers song is a few sentences about heartbreak, a couple random proper nouns, and a reference to the ambiguous era of “when we were young.” What makes this assault so fantastic, however, is how entirely accurate it is. Perhaps the duo should take notice.

Why, Just Why - It’s a Saturday night at Boston College, and the freshman returns to his dorm, triumphantly still a little bit drunk from the offcampus party he attended for all of 19 minutes. Upon entering his building, however, he is caught in the middle of a smokescreen. When the air clears, he suddenly finds himself surrounded. His dormmates have blocked the stairs in front of him, each of them wielding a tiny black box known as a JUUL. They simultaneously put the devices to their lips, inhaling deep. The freshman has little time to prepare himself before a massive cloud of smoke descends upon him like fire from the mouth of a dragon. He is enveloped in the fumes, paralyzed by the mixture of social pressures and nicotine. “It’s mango bro, it’s good. You should try it,” one of them says, peering at him through the aviators he is wearing at night and inside. Another before him, who is donning an American flag tank top in 30 degree weather, aggressively offers up his small contraption. “Be one of us, man. Hit the JUUL,” he prompts, attempting to entice the freshman into a poor and pointless decision. Alas, the freshman knows better than that. He breaks the glass of the emergency JUUL gas mask container on the wall, and straps on the facial protection. He ascends to his room, addiction free. The Nerve of Some - Any of the loyal TU/TD followers out there know how I feel about BC’s housing process. I was pretty outraged when I received an email from ResLife at 12:03 a.m. Wednesday morning asking for my feedback on its room selection system. Seeing a message from this evil and diabolical department reopened a number of old wounds and transported me back to the hell from which I thought I had emerged. Stay away from me, ResLife, and remember the turmoil you put my entire class and me through. Because we haven’t forgotten, and probably won’t, at least until Mod day rolls around.

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There are two main ways in which the government hurts business: regulations and taxes. Nonsense regulations make businesses—large and small—jump through hoops to make sure that all the “t”s are crossed and all the “i”s dotted for licensing, rules, and procedures. For taxes, money that could be used to reinvest in a company is instead brought under the government’s jurisdiction, where it falls victim to widespread inefficiency and red tape. Regulation and taxes used to be two separate issues, but recently they’ve become more and more similar. This isn’t because old conservative pundits groan about them both, but because they’re slowly becoming a connected problem. The ridiculous tax code isn’t just a financial burden anymore. It creates a bureaucratic nightmare that firms experience every April. Our regulatory process is a tax in and of itself because of the expenses firms must dole out to deal with it. In other words, the costs of taxes have increased as businesses spend more money to work the system and pay those taxes, while the costs of regulation have spread to taxes, creating a system where firms do more work for no reward. Much of the time, business owners simply grumble about this work and keep their heads down. But during this time of the year, when these two monsters rear their ugly heads, the public at large begins to grumble. It’s tax season, every adult’s nightmare. Everyone who has an over-the-table income understands the plight of filing taxes and attempting to understand the odds and ends of the tax brackets and the different tax breaks. And the system doesn’t get any better as we age. The older we get, the more complex our assets become. We earn enough money

to differentiate our investments, we buy property, we start businesses, and we donate to charities. Each individual action has its own nuances, and the savvy financial mind can wind through the path that allows him or her to keep the most of their money. But most of us don’t have that kind of mind, let alone that kind of time. Here’s a brief breakdown on how extensive our system is. According to the Internal Revenue Service, there are three main parts of our tax code: the Internal Revenue Code, the Treasury Regulations, and a section for other tax code information. In order to read, say, the Internal Revenue Code, the taxpayer must select a subtitle, chapter, subchapter, part, and section to find one specific area of the tax regulation, leading to over 70,000 pages of code across the board. In my last column, I wrote about how important it is to understand practical finance, but when it comes to taxes, attempting to understand our system becomes an impossible challenge. While asking everyone to understand the basics of the stock market is reasonable, asking everyone to understand the American tax code is too much. One person’s taxes may consist of multiple foot-thick stacks of papers, and it’s gotten to the point where many simply pay accountants and lawyers to crunch the numbers and check the rules because it’s impractical for a layperson to even try. Congress continues to make new rules and exceptions, which, for those select few who benefit, is great, but for the most of us, make the system more complex. Making reasonable changes to the tax code often becomes a partisan battle, and the lobbying of the accountants who benefit from a Byzantine system makes it even harder. I’m not saying that these regulations and taxes should just disappear in an extreme libertarian sense. Upton Sinclair did some great work, and I’m glad that we have the FDA to make sure that we actually know how the sausage is made. Taxes aren’t evil—they serve a practical purpose. Federal roads and a uniform

system for marking those roads has helped virtually every industry and field in the nation. There are more effective ways to administer the system. Some conservatives argue for an across-the-board flat tax. The reasoning behind this system is a logical mathematical process. Under a 10 percent rate, those who earn $10,000 a year pay $1,000 in taxes, and those who earn $100,000 pay $10,000 in taxes. People who earn more, pay more. Personally, I don’t agree with the flat tax system. It makes the assumption that money is worth the same amount to people in different income brackets. I find that the quality of life of the taxpayer who loses $1,000 of his or her $10,000 likely drops much more than the taxpayer earning $100,000 and paying $10,000. As citizens become wealthier, this becomes even truer. A billionaire can still buy a yacht after losing a few million dollars, or a couple percentage points of their income. For a family earning $100,000 and trying to pay for college, however, those couple of percentage points have a much larger effect. That’s where the widely accepted progressive tax system comes into play, where those who earn more pay a higher percentage. That’s rational, and that’s what we have now, but extra add-ons and exemptions make this system far more complex than it needs to be. If we can figure out a way to simplify the tax code—a nonpartisan endeavor— then we will make our workforce more productive. Of course, limiting regulations and lowering taxes would also help, but with a divisive political field, simplification is one task that we can readily achieve. We’re losing millions of hours of productivity administering an internal service. We should be using human intellectual energy to invent new machines, cure diseases, and write programs, not to shuffle paperwork and learn tax jargon.

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

Learning to Eat Sustainably

Valerie Cherbero Recently I started reading M.F.K. Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf. In this literary cookbook published in 1942, Fisher teaches American housewives how to keep hunger (the wolf ) at bay in the midst of wartime rationing. She shares some practical tricks, like roasting several dishes at once to use less gas or saving cooking water for soup, as well as recipes for wartime feasts. But her aim is not simply practical. Fisher infuses her recipes with humor and vision, proving that although we must sometimes sacrifice food, we need not sacrifice the comfort and joy of the dinner table. Food writers still talk about How to Cook a Wolf, and not for its quaint recipes. Fisher’s seamless prose and whipsmart advice have proven timeless. After all, she wasn’t just writing for wartime housewives. She was writing for anyone who wanted to eat outside their means and use food as an escape from a life that was perhaps dreary or limited. Although her direct context was war, her words echo through famine, poverty, and drought. If you squint, she was writing for the modern college student. Or at least, that’s what I thought when I started this column. When I originally sat down to write, with my copy of How to Cook a Wolf all dogeared and bent, I thought of Fisher’s work as an analogy for college life. Much like Fisher’s wartime housewives, today’s college students must solve a pressing problem: how to eat well with tight budgets. The analogy fit, but after more thinking, I began to see the gaping hole it left behind. When I reduced Fisher’s work to an analogy, I denied it the real, concrete power it holds in today’s world. After all,

she was writing for a country at war. For many people in my generation, war is background noise, a constant hum like a ceiling fan or a refrigerator. Unless we have family or friends in the armed forces, many of us can tune out the noise. We can pretend the destruction is not ours and ignore questions of responsibility or sacrifice. But the hum seems louder nowadays. Sharp notes clang out: “Mother of all bombs” and “North Korea missile test.” They jolt me back into reality and remind me that for all the peace my privilege provides, the U.S. is still as war-obsessed as ever.

“Although we must sometimes sacrifice food, we need not sacrifice the comfort and joy of the dinner table.” When Fisher wrote How to Cook a Wolf, she imagined that war would soon be over, and over for good. She called World War II “the last war,” but astutely mentioned in a later annotation that she now seems more inclined to write for “the next war.” Her words rang true in Korea, in Vietnam, and they ring true today, when conflict rumbles through the news every night. From where I sit behind my laptop, I cannot stop the hum of war. None of us can. But we can train our ears to hear the hum, and then train ourselves to live responsibly and sustainably in its midst. And that’s where Fisher comes in. That’s when the conversation about rationing and sacrifice moves from 1942 to 2017. We may not be rationing yet, but it couldn’t hurt to learn how. The wolf may be knocking at our door soon, and each bomb dropped hastens his arrival. So we must learn to eat sustainably. We must learn to reuse our cooking wa-

ter and eat less meat. We must grocery shop with purpose, buying not what we could eat but what we will. And we must learn to eat deliberately, thinking about what each meal means for our country and our planet. War is one thing, and climate change is quite another, but both demand a sense of restraint that American eaters haven’t practiced in decades. And that demand is even more urgent at Boston College. Despite BC Dining’s efforts to compost, food waste is still a major problem on campus. We carelessly toss uneaten food in the trash, goaded on by bloated $2,600 meal plans. What would those wartime housewives think if they saw our budgets? Would they even be able to help us if rationing became our reality? Lucky for us, we aren’t doomed by our overuse. Writers like Fisher have taken up this topic not to chastise, but to explore. If we acknowledge that we must make do with less, then we can begin to learn how to stretch our culinary imaginations. Aided by guides like How to Cook a Wolf, we can tackle complicated questions, such as: How can we learn to sustain both our sense of hunger and comfort with restraint? How can we celebrate food with a ration stamp in hand or a drought-induced water restriction? And Fisher isn’t alone. This is a conversation that must involve chefs, environmentalists, and everyone with mouths to feed. As a country at war on several fronts and with a fragile climate hanging in the balance, we must take a hard look at the costs of our dinner tables. And then we must learn how to find beauty in that challenge. So let’s take up the task. If Fisher can craft recipes for Parisian onion soup, sweet potato pudding, and crackling bread in the midst of WWII, there’s hope for us today.

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

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

Watching Women Win Emma Greco

I’m guilty of it. We all are. As a society, we tend to support men’s professional sports, and neglect the female counterparts. Even if a girl is told from a young age that she can follow her love of playing sports, she must face the inevitable reality that Americans don’t appear to particularly care about women’s sports. Yes, we all supported Simone Biles during the Olympics, and we do love watching the Williams sisters play tennis, but those are particular and wonderful athletes rather than the institution of women’s sports. Very few women’s teams have attained the almost cult following that, say, football or baseball teams have amassed. But is it because of a lack of interest? Or is it instead because of a lack of familiarity with the teams and players? A number of different outlets have espoused ideas on the troubles faced by women’s sports in America. In a column for The Washington Post, Redskins beat reporter Liz Clarke examined the facts and figures of media coverage for women’s professional sports. She deduced that there is no across-the-board gender discrimination in covering male and female sports. Rather, it appears that the media covers what is most popular, which is not at all surprising, as in a commercialbased system, they are looking to get the highest possible ratings. For the most part, men’s sports are more popular, and so are covered in the media more often. This is clearly demonstrated by the superior ratings of the NBA versus those of the WNBA, the United States’ most popular female professional league. But there are some instances, such as the US Open, when women’s sports are given more premier timeslots. The greater the interest, Clarke found, the greater the coverage, regardless of the gender of the players. In 2003, espnW.com reporter Graham Hays wrote a column for ESPN’s Page 2 postulating why men don’t watch women’s sports. He states that men don’t know female athletes, and in order to truly enjoy a sport, you have to know the players and follow them. This is logical and, dare I say, common sense, since sports are more enjoyable when there is a personal connection and familiarity. Of course, this also has an easy fix: we can take the time to learn about female athletes like so many of us take the time to learn about their male counterparts. Hays mockingly proposes that “women aren’t as fast, don’t jump as high, and don’t kick as hard as their male counterparts,” a view that he believes many men have. While this may certainly be true for some who still cling to the sexist divide that was once more prevalent in America, I believe that his earlier point is more credible in the current time when more and more girls are active in sports. The seeming lack of public interest stems from a lack of familiarity with generally under-covered women’s sports. In truth, the gender divide in sports is not so much about sexism as it is about emerging from a sexist time. More men than women watch women’s sports, just as more men than women watch sports in general. Women’s sports are in their “infancy” compared to men’s sports. People are not as attached to or familiar with women’s sports because they have not been around as long as men’s sports. Once they achieve success and become more familiar to the American public, however, it seems that support will follow, evident in the massive ratings of the U.S. women’s national soccer team’s victory in the 2015 World Cup. Supporting women’s sports will have a positive effect on the industry, as well as on society, by giving young girls a chance to see successful female athletes. Let girls see that they can do what men can, and that people care enough to watch. We can find out about teams and players, learn the stats, and even go to a game and cheer. The only difference between men and women’s sports lies in quantity, not quality—and that quantity is in both money and support. With just a bit more of that same support, women’s sports will succeed more than they ever have.

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

THE HEIGHTS

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

Where Starbucks Meets StarCraft

Set to become Boston’s ﬁrst e-sports cafe when it opens in mid-May, Balance Patch aims to make gaming more social. BY GAO LIU Heights Staff The crowd is dead silent, fixated on every move the players make on screen: “Left! Right! No not there!” Then the crowd erupts, accompanied by sweeping red stadium lights, as a game-winning arrow from the underdogs, ROX Tigers, wins the match against the defending world champions, SK Telecom T1 in a late, last-ditch effort—the equivalent of a Hail Mary situation in football. But this isn’t football. The game is League of Legends (LoL), a 5-on-5 video game similar to basketball. The venue is Madison Square Garden, where seats sold out for two consecutive days during the World Championship Semi-Finals last year. E-sports, short for electronic sports, are a form of video game competition. Although the term has yet to achieve household status, that reality may not be far off in the future. As of last year, LoL alone boasted over 100 million unique active monthly players. Although the hubs of competitive gaming are often planted in areas like the West Coast and Asia, e-sports are finally showing a pulse in Boston. Balance Patch, a soon-to-be gaming café dedicated to e-

sports, will open its Commonwealth Ave. doors in mid-May. The shop is designed as a cross between a Starbucks, a computer lab, and a basement hangout joint. The primary function of the shop serves to provide premium hardware setups for gaming enthusiasts. Players can rent out stations outfitted with a gaming chair, monitor, and console—ranging from an Xbox One to a high-end PC—for an hourly fee. Just entering and hanging out, however, comes at no expense. At the front of the store, in direQct view of the street, are two large flat-screen TVs and lounge seats for players to enjoy and watch games in a - Peter group setting. In addition, Balance Patch will offer a selection of refreshments and sandwiches from its on-site café, Hot Fix. At the very back, behind all the tables and computers, lies a designated event space modeled after a classic e-sports stage layout. Two soundproof glass booths contain six PCs each for teams to use. Modular furniture in front of the booths can transform the space into an

audience venue at a moments notice, providing spectators with an open view of a projector that displays games as they are played live. The idea is to put players behind the glass, just like one would find at Madison Square Garden. Founder Peter Lind wants to tap into the roaring interest for competitive gaming. “[Balance Patch] gives a chance for

major e-sports events, and tournaments hosted for local competitors. A potential tournament pitting teams from local universities against one another is also in the works. Balance Patch derives its name from a developer-side routine of adjusting in-game mechanics to make for “healthier”—or fairer—gameplay. The ultimate goal is a more enjoyable and less frustrating experience for players following a “balance patch.” Lind, along with co-founders Brian Rasbury and Nick Johansson, hopes that Balance Patch will serve as a vehicle for positive change in Boston’s gaming culture. “Video games have Lind, a co-founder of Balance Patch so long been stigmatized as a ‘basement-dweller’ activity—something that’s people who have a passion for gaming to distinctly anti-social,” said Lind. “That’s come together in a space that is relaxed the beauty of e-sports. That it allows for and social,” Lind said. video game hobbyists to enjoy in a group On top of running the day-to-day setting.” functions of renting out stations, Lind Lind reflected on his time during wants to prime Balance Patch as a space his undergraduate experience when he for local competitive e-sports to thrive. was affiliated with the school’s StarCraft He has plans in store for a monthly sched- team. ule of events, including screenings of “We’d all be in a living room eagerly

“Video games have so long been stigmatized as a ‘basementdweller activity—something that’s distinctly anti-social.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF BALANCEPATCH.COM

watching [the teams play] while they were competing in the other room,” he said. “It was a blast.” Lind hopes to host various popular e-sports events, which at the moment involve PC titles like LoL, Dawn of the Ancients, Overwatch, and CounterStrike, as well as classic games like the ’90s classic Super Smash Brothers: Melee. As for competitive games that may arise in the future, Lind and his team hope to keep a vigilant eye out for new trends in e-sports. T.J. Mei, CSOM ’20, agrees with the positives of social gaming. In the wake of a few failed attempts at starting an e-sports club before his time, Mei finally earned administrative approval for his club. Next fall, Mei will spearhead the very first Boston College E-Sports Club. “Most sports let people collaborate with one another,” Mei said. “My main goal is to just connect people, and to make a friendly environment … so that people aren’t lonely if they are playing games. Sometimes I felt that way when I first got here [to BC].” After finishing up final touches in May, Lind plans to get his feet on the ground while college students are off on Summer Break. When September rolls around, he said, Balance Patch will be ready to play. 

RENDERING COURTESY OF BALANCE PATCH

Left: Co-founders Bryan Rasbury (left), Nick Johansson, and Peter Lind are bringing e-sports to Boston. Right: A rendering of the space inside Balance Patch, where people can pay to play on high-end PCs and more.

Matisse Beyond the Studio Borders Over 70 of his pieces are on display at the MFA through July. BY MADELEINE D’ANGELO Metro Editor Inspiration can come from humble places. For Henri Matisse, it came from objects like a simple pewter jug. The jug in question, which has a fliptop lid and a subtle pattern impressed upon the now-dull metal, can be seen in one of Matisse’s paintings, where it rests on a side table and is filled with the flowers, all committed to canvas with loose brushstrokes. It can also be seen as just one of many objects featured in one of the Museum of Fine Art’s newest exhibitions, Matisse in the Studio. After opening to the public on April 9, the exhibit juxtaposes over 70 Matisse works—ranging from his well-known paintings and drawings to his bronze sculpture—with over 80 of the objects that inspired them. The connection between the carefully curated collections from which Matisse drew inspiration gives visitors a richer understanding of the 20th century French painter’s work, and provides them with rare and valuable insight into the creative process. Curated by Ellen McBreen and Helen Burnham, Matisse in the Studio is organized into five sections—the object as an actor, the nude and African art, the face, studio as theatre, and essential forms. Each section delves into the connections between the artworks that Matisse created over his career and the variety of objects that he collected throughout his lifetime. The first section, the object as an actor, eases visitors into the idea of the exhibit, presenting them with the physical objects that Matisse frequently featured in his work. Some of the following sections of the exhibition become more conceptual, highlighting the ideas and techniques that he borrowed from other cultures. As visitors make their way through

the gallery, Matisse’s brightly-colored paintings, or his commanding sketches and sculptures, jump off the bright-white walls, and visitors can immediately notice the connection between the pieces and the nearby object with which it is paired. Visitors will notice how the pattern of an intricate Egyptian curtain that Matisse owned is repeated in his paintings, and how his bronze busts, and even his portraits, draw inspiration from objects like a Mboom mask. As McBreen suspects, some might actually be shocked by the obvious links between Matisse’s work and his objects, many of which originate from areas in Africa and Asia. “Even [visitors] who are fairly familiar with Matisse, because we think of him as such an European artist, and I think that it will be a good pleasant surprise for people to discover how international and how culturally diverse his inspirations were,” McBreen said. While conducting research for her book, Matisse Sculptures: The Pinup and the Primitive, McBreen herself was even slightly surprised as she discovered just “how intense these relationships were” between Matisse’s objects and his work. But the surprise became inspiration as she delved more deeply into Matisse’s collecting of African sculpture, and how it impacted his treatment of the body in “a more abstract style.” But this exploration shed light upon the many other objects unique in style and place of origin that influenced Matisse’s works at different moments in his life. So, with the help of Burnham, McBreen began creating this exhibition that would illuminate Matisse’s own sources of inspiration. As they, selected the works, the two curators focused upon including a range of mediums—Matisse worked as a painter, a sketcher, and a sculptor. But McBreen and Burnham also had to tell a specifi c story that showed Matisse “engaging with his personal objects.” This requirement made organizing the exhibition slightly difficult, as each piece—some of which came

from Germany, or the Matisse family itself—was integral to the exhibition. “The pairs are kind of like a chess game, each move is conceived for specific intent,” McBreen said. “So it was a complex show to plan, because if a loan fell through, you couldn’t just replace it with another item.” But for McBreen, this complex game of chess paid off, resulting in a show where the underlying themes are just as important as the masterpieces on display. As McBreen explained, the “intelligence” and skill of an artist is largely dependent upon how open minded he or she is. For a master like Matisse, this meant never sitting down to work with a pre-planned solution in his head. Instead, he would open himself to discovering something “in the process of doing,” a kind of release that can frighten some creators. The connection between Matisse’s work and his objects also exhibits his intense gaze beyond “the borders” of his own European tradition, a value that is particularly poignant given modern political discourse on immigration and the preservation of American ways of life. “If a culture and a nation isn’t open to other ideas outside of borders, things get pretty boring and limited really quickly,” McBreen said. “It’s interesting that this has become such a political issue now, with things like the Muslim ban, and you’re like, well Matisse had an open border policy with his studio, so everything was open for questioning and new ideas were constantly welcome. In order for creativity to happen, that’s kind of a necessity to be open to new people and new ideas.” And when the show ends its stay in Boston in early July before moving to its second location at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, its layers of relevancy will not have faded one bit. “It is a test of really great art that each time period and each generation can see something that’s new or relevant to their generation,” McBreen said.” 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Above: Matisse’s self-portrait, uniquely titled Self-Portrait. Below: Vase of Flowers.

COLUMN

‘GOOD’ ENTERTAINMENT

SOMETIMES THE BEST FORMS OF MEDIA ARE THE ONES THAT GET ON YOUR NERVES, PAGE B3

REVIEW

TEENAGE YEARS ARE MADE MORE STRESSFUL WITH A BABY ON THE WAY IN THIS TEEN DRAMA, PAGE B4

SANDLER IS BACK WITH MORE PEDANTIC, UNINSPIRING CHARACTERS, PAGE B4

‘SLAM’

‘Sandy Wexler’ THURSDAY | APRIL 20, 2017

THE

The arts editors tell you what will be hot in entertainment this summer.

Caleb Griego Jacob Schick Isabella Dow

SEE B2 ZOE FANNING / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

The most anticipated TV, film, and music will make waves across the summer season. By Caleb Griego Arts & Review Editor What’s a day at the beach without a boombox? What’s a skate down the boardwalk without jamming to your favorite tunes? What’s a windows-down, hands-outthe-side, highway drive without a song to set the mood? Music is as summer as swim trunks, the Fourth of July, and ice cream. In the stifling summer heat, the AC will soothe our hot skin while music will keep us feeling cool in both senses of the word. As we shed layers and don sunglasses, there are a few artists to listen for as they make a splash in their respective airwaves this summer season. In 2015, when electropop singer Halsey released her self-described “angry female record” debut album Badlands, it was immediately clear the singer wanted to connect with listeners. Conceptually, she challenged viewers with video components that artfully brought metaphors in song to life in film. Lyrically, she treaded on and transitioned between the bounds of self-aware satire and earnest emotional strife. During an

By Jacob Schick Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Coming this summer to theaters near you are dozens and dozens of movies. Some are big-budget summer blockbusters, some are independent art-house movies, and a few are somewhere in between. As usual, there will be many half-billion-dollar enterprises that are the same recycled garbage as always, but there are a few films that one should keep an eye out for. Dunkirk, the newest film by director Christopher Nolan, will be released July 21, and by all accounts will be fantastic. Featuring perhaps the best trailer in the last 20 years, Dunkirk is a cinematic recounting of the famous Dunkirk evacuation, which took place during the summer of 1940 when Allied forces were cornered by the Germans in Dunkirk, France. Over the course of eight days, more than 300,000 soldiers were transported across the English Channel. Nolan has described the film as a story of suspense

By Isabella Dow Asst. Arts & Review Editor Everyone knows summer is the time for sun, fun, and indulging in quality time in front of your trusty television (if you still own one of those) in the previous ten week window during which time the sunflowers are out and you’re indoors bonding with your favorite couch. So if you want to engage in your great grandparents’ favorite pastime and soak up some of those TV rays, look no further than this list full of mainstream returns and intriguing series premieres, which is bound to have something for everyone. For starters, director David Lynch’s Twin Peaks will return with a third season this May on Showtime, continuing with the storyline 25 years after the show first ended. Bringing back most of its original cast and involving a whole host of new stars including Laura Dern and Amanda Seyfried, fans of the cult favorite will anxiously await the mysterious return of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) to the horrors of Twin Peaks.

interview with Complex, Halsey described the overarching idea behind all of Badlands as “creating a space with sound.” All these ideas and concepts Halsey explored within the confines of her catchy pop style. After her contribution to The Chainsmokers’ hit “Closer” in the summer of 2016, and collaboration with Justin Bieber, Halsey solidified herself as an artist we are likely to hear from more and more. Looking to her second album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, this June, the idea of an art that transcends the music itself will continue. Her social media campaign for the album includes mature themes and strife. In an interview with iHeartRadio, Halsey described the upcoming album as capturing the idea that there are “two people who want to be in love so badly they’re willing to change themselves for their love and in doing so, they let the real versions of themselves die.” Bound to be heady, sincere, and thoughtful, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom is important

for two reasons. First, we will see how Halsey continues to interact with listeners in a social media market that can be difficult to keep up on. Second, it will be an opportunity for Halsey to differentiate herself from the collaborative pop mainstream she has been in

album since the release of 2013’s Days Are Gone. The infectious album saw success with singles “The Wire,” “Forever,” and “Don’t Save Me.” Its glossy sound created a kind of free, airy pop that takes, melds, and meshes influences from Stevie Nicks to Phil Collins. HAIM said in an interview with Rolling Stone that fans can expect a more organic sounding album, likely to contrast with the use of synth and harsh baseline movements seen in Days Are Gone. Bassist Este Haim said of the album: “You don’t even know what’s coming for you. I’m warning you. You. Don’t. Even. Know.” Originally scheduled for 2015, then pushed back to 2016, we can astralwerks finally say Beck’s latest album will communion with thus far. be coming in 2017. After his Album of the In summer 2017, the word “finally” Year Grammy win in 2015, Beck seemed set comes to mind as several other artists will to take it back to the studio to unleash even be releasing their next installments after more. But some things are worth waiting long stretches of silence. This summer will for patiently. also see the release of another highly-anSpeaking with New Musical Express, ticipated sophomore album. The sister trio Beck described the album as free-flowing HAIM has been working on its forthcoming and explorative.

“This record has felt like a lot of freedom, as I’ve had time to work things out and try things,” Beck said. “I’ll go too far in one direction, then go too far in another.” While the avant-garde, no-holes-barred behavior is not surprising coming from Beck, it nonetheless instills excitement in fans wondering what he has conjured up next. In the rap world with Eminem, Pusha T, Jay Z, and Kendrick Lamar all with new material rumored or already on the way, this is like to give fans enough to heighten days at the beach this year. With Eminem and Jay Z both coming off of stretches without releasing solo work (2013 for both), such contributions will likely cause waves inside and outside the genre. There is much music to be listened to this summer, and more talent always pouring in to bring even more shine onto our summer days. Whether it be Lorde’s new album, Linkin Park’s latest jam, or Taylor Swift’s annual sugary contribution, our hours of summer sounds are most certainly endless even if our days of summer might be numbered. n

and survival, and that it doesn’t focus on the war. As evidenced by films like The Dark Knight, Inception, and Insomnia, Nolan is very capable of building a mood that permeates the entirety of his films. In addition to the talented direction and writing of Nolan, Dunkirk stars acting heavyweights such as Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, and Cillian Murphy. All four of these actors have carried movies from good to great on the strength of their acting alone. Mix them all together and Dunkirk will definitely be vying for best movie of the summer. A film that will be very different from Dunkirk, but will likely be more fun to watch, is Baywatch. This upcoming summer comedy is a film adaptation of the widelywatched ’90s television series of the same name. With a rumored feature of Pamela Anderson, Baywatch will star Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, and the man who turns almost everything he touches into

heart-warming gold, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The story focuses on a team of lifeguards who must put aside their personal differences to stop a drug-trafficking scheme. Because it contains The Rock, Baywatch will most likely be funny, fun,

as well as the untapped acting potential of Daddario, Baywatch will be more than just a phone-in remake. The long-awaited film adaptation of the beloved Stephen King book The Dark Tower will finally be hitting theaters on August 4. The Dark Tower is based on The Gunslinger, the first book in King’s The Dark Tower series. The film stars Idris Elba, and is set in a Old West-like future landscape. Elba, as the Gunslinger, pursues the Man in Black, played by Matthew McConaughey. Fans of the books know that if The Dark Tower can capture even half of the power felt by the first lines of the book, it will establish itself as the anchor for warner Bros. Pictures the next epic fantasy series. “The and—with an R rating—suitably raunchy. man in black fled across the desert, and the The Rock has recently expanded his acting gunslinger followed.” scope, with dramas like Ballers, comedies At the end of summer, director Edgar like Central Intelligence, and family movies Wright’s (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, like Moana, in which he steals the show. and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) new movie Paired with the comedic ability of Efron, Baby Driver will be released. Baby Driver is

a crime movie starring Ansel Elgort as the titular Baby, working as a getaway driver for a crime boss. While Elgort has usually found himself in young-adult movie adaptations, the actor has talent. Under the direction of Wright, who always adds his characteristic spin to his movies, Elgort has the potential to shine. Baby Driver also features Jon Hamm, an acting legend in his own right, and Jamie Foxx. These two have a high capacity for serious roles, as well as the skill to insert elements of comedy. Wright’s Baby Driver will be the great and likely underseen movie of the summer, similar to The Nice Guys of 2016 or The Man from U.N.C.L.E. of 2015. There are many other movies coming out this summer, like Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, but these movies and others like them are getting more coverage than they probably deserve. Dunkirk, Baywatch, The Dark Tower, and Baby Driver will be the better and more unique movies of their respective genres. n

Another show in the vein of dark humor and the horror genre, Preacher returns to AMC for a second season this June. The DC comic based show gripped audiences with its hellish landscape and twisted world in its first season, and fans and critics have high expectations for its dramatic return. As horror stories become more prolific on the small screen, this show sets itself apart from shows like The Walking Dead and American Horror Story with the richly developed treatment of heavenly and hellish characters amidst its wild small-town setting. Netflix will deliver a diverse amount of new content this summer, one of which is G.L.O.W., to be released on June 23rd. Short for Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, the comedy is set in 1980s Los Angeles, and follows the story of Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie) and her pursuit of the limelight into the world of shimmery leotards and women’s wrestling after her acting career ends up on the rocks. Involv-

ing several other women in the same boat, the show is poised to become another action-packed drama that should entertain audiences with strong female leads and tough attitude.

haven’t heard, Ed Sheeran will be doing a cameo sometime in the seven episode run, which should be epic. On the off chance that nothing on this list draws you in like a moth to a flame, there’s still one more TV show that is sure to please: the premier of Candy Crush, the new game show inspired by the popular app and coming to CBS on July 9th. Contestants will compete on life-size game boards requiring the use their brains and brawn to win, most likely relinquishing what’s left of their dignity in the process. Who knows, it could be the next Jeopardy. Overall, there seems to be a trend in television at the moment centered around replicating or reviving shows that have gripped audiences in the past. This suggests that viewers reject the revolving door of new shows that are simply disappointing knockoffs of TV shows they used to like. With any luck, this will send a message to the entertainment industry that any slapped together, shallow program will not find mainstream success among audiences with innumerable options from which to choose. n

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Old favorites will return in the coming weeks as well. Science fiction drama Sense8 returns for a second season on May 5th, which tells the story of eight strangers who must work together to save humanity from some terrible organization out to destroy the world. The third season of comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt hits

Netflix on May 19th, which is set to tell of Kimmy’s crazy new life at college and bring on the show’s quirky sense of humor. Other staples will be returning to the platform in short order as well, with House of Cards on May 30th, and Orange is the New Black on June 9th. These shows have become must-sees for many Netflix addicts, and viewers will eagerly await their return that will hopefully, but maybe not, live up to the unfathomable amount of hype surrounding these shows. In other news, everyone’s favorite Manhattan corporate lawyers on Suits will return to USA on July 12th, which will place the Showtime show in uncharted territory after resolving much of the driving tension of the show at the end of last season. But whatever happens, the witty one-liners and exuberant characters will surely maintain enough consistency to seamlessly transition the show into a new and exciting era. Game of Thrones appears on July 16th on HBO for a highly anticipated seventh season, and in case you

The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Appreciating the Earnest Efforts of Others

Isabella Dow

beachesofarbuba.com

We all owe some respect to those who unabashedly sing their hearts out with pride.

There I was, lounging on a chaise by the pool, watching the balmy and salty breeze tousling the heavy palm tree leaves. The warmth from the radiant sun was glorious—the aquamarine ocean sparkled off to the horizon in an Insta-worthy scene. The dreamy clouds in the pale-blue sky were fluffier than a rabbit’s cottontail, and I couldn’t have imagined a more idyllic setting when I was in Florida marinating over Easter break. Even the iguanas were perched on the rocks in the distance, with their endearing, wiry tails and sun bathing routine. There was even a live band playing music, which was the multi-colored sprinkle topping on a whipped-cream-covered ice cream sundae, and … you know what, that’s it, I’m sorry, I just can’t do this anymore. I have to stop this saccharine narrative for a moment and acknowledge an inconvenient truth: the live entertainment was a one-man band with the voice of one of the Muppets, and his pitchy crooning fractured the blissful atmosphere that I had been waiting for since getting accosted by snowflake daggers all winter long. And for the record, I have mixed feelings about iguanas. Those scaly lizards slither and waddle around, and they seem harmless enough, but they’ve always got a sneer on their face, and the almanacs and horoscopes can’t seem to give me a legiti-

mate explanation for their uncalledfor demeanor. But I digress. If you had told me that Fozzie Bear or Gonzo was actually wailing into the mic the other day, I wouldn’t have been surprised at all. One of the staff workers saw my family and I guffawing among ourselves, and said he was convinced a cat-dog creature had got its tail crunched under a car, and that was what we were actually hearing. But no, lucky for any furry mammals in the area, everyone was in the presence of a singer absolutely butchering a tropical version of “Just the Two of Us,” by Grover Washington and Bill Withers. I would have expected such an ear splitting, cringe-inducing spectacle from a bunch of tipsy tourists at beach karaoke night. But from someone that was actually getting paid to sing in front of living, breathing people ... in public? Inconceivable. Now, I can assure you, it wasn’t just me that was in awe of the questionable antics of this performer: a quick look around the pool showcased amused conversations and stifled laughter as people tried to decide if their ears were actually bleeding, or if the entertainment got everyone’s attention for the wrong reasons. If the goal was to entice guests to stick around and enjoy their vacation, well, I guess that mission was accomplished, because no one could bring themselves to leave the trainwreck on the makeshift stage next to the bar. Once people acknowledged that it was not a pleasant auditory experience, they had a lot of fun looking at a singer that was having a good time in all his unpleasant glory. Few people set out to look at

someone doing something they presumably love and cackle haughtily at the fact that it’s just not quite measuring up to what one would consider “good” entertainment. It took me several songs of good-faith effort to appreciate the music in all of its amateur-hour splendor to realize that I would be crushed under the weight of my cognitive dissonance if I insisted upon considering this spectacle in earnest. I wasn’t laughing at the performance because I felt the need to squash anyone’s dreams. My singing talents are marginally better than the melodic tunes of a beached whale, so I’m not one to judge others for what they can or cannot do. People say all the time that they can’t sing, but the fun thing was that this logic didn’t stop this artist from going up there and jamming out anyways. I think there is something to be said about entertainment that grates on your last nerve to the point where you enjoy watching it. I will certainly remember this delightfully dreadful performance for years to come, and that’s more than I could say for a perfectly average, ultimately dull band that I wouldn’t have thought twice about. All dramatic, saturated description aside, it takes guts to go on stage and perform for an audience, and that’s something for which I can set the jokes aside and acknowledge in earnest. But with that said, please consider lip syncing or autotune the next time you feel inclined to subject everyone to singing to which even Bob Dylan would do a facepalm.

Isabella Dow is the asst. arts & review editor for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

Media Mysteries Vol. 2: Lobster and Coconuts

Jacob Schick I know Spring Break was a while ago, but there was one film I decided I needed to watch during that week spent laying on my couch enjoying the wonderful Florida spring weather while never going outside. I knew I needed to watch this movie because if I didn’t, my head arts editor/overlord Caleb would never give me peace about it. This movie was The Lobster. Not many people saw this Oscar nominee, but I would strongly recommend this incredibly weird film. Anyway, a topic of much discussion has been the meaning of the ending of the movie. Spoiler Alert. For those who haven’t seen the movie (read: almost everyone), The Lobster ends in a diner where David (Colin Farrell) and Rachel Weisz’s character (who doesn’t really have a name), sit together. Weisz’s character has been blinded, and in order to re-establish a common ground, David goes to the bathroom to blind himself too. David stands over the sink, holding a steak knife to his eye, and the movie cuts to black. Roll credits. This abrupt ending has puzzled many of the people who watched it. Did he blind himself? Did he just leave Weisz’s character at the diner? What happened? There are three options to consider. He blinded himself, he didn’t

and told her that he did, or he didn’t and he just left her there by herself. People have taken to analyzing the levels of water in the cups on the table, seeking to find some sort of symbolism that will prove or disprove any of these options. I think one of these answers is clearly the correct one. David blinded himself. The Lobster cuts to black at the moment because David can no longer see. It is in line with David’s character to mutilate himself just to go along with whoever he is with. Earlier in the movie, he makes every effort to shrug off the murder of his brother just to be with Angeliki Papoulia’s character. It seems clear that David would be willing to lose his vision in exchange for some sort of stability in a relationship. He tries to mirror the actions of those around him, seeking to build a bridge of similarity. How can he be closer to Weisz’s character except by blinding himself? Another semi-recent development for me was the addition of another 12 hours of music to my Spotify playlist, bringing us up to a nice round 81 hours and 54 minutes of “old people” music to torture everyone who doesn’t enjoy music that is older than they are. While listening to this playlist, the masterpiece by Harry Nilsson, “Coconut,” came on. For those who don’t immediately recognize the song, this is the “put the lime in the coconut and shake it all up” song. I realized two things while singing along. One. I know all of the lyrics to Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut.” Two. I think I’ve gleaned an actual meaning from what seems like a recipe in lyrics.

CALEB GRIEGO Arts & Review Editor Now through May 7, the Boston Children’s Theatre (BCT) will be putting on its rendition of the classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Based on the groundbreaking novel by Ken Kesey, the play details the trials and tribulations of those imprisoned in a Oregonian psychiatric hospital. The powerful story will be brought to life through the experience of the BCT and director Burgess Clark. Additionally, the BCT performance will feature pre-proffessional students training with the company’s New England TheatreWorks program.

Just like literally everyone who wrote, sang, played, or listened to music in the ’70s, Harry Nilsson did a ton of drugs and drank gallons of alcohol. So my theory is, when Harry Nilsson describes his two-step beverage making process, he is actually describing his problems with alcohol. The characters in the song drink this concoction, which sounds suspiciously like a minimalist pina colada, and then they feel sick. This can be related to what can only be imagined as the nights of debauchery that Nilsson engaged in. After drinking like a fish while doing copious amounts of heroin, Nilsson probably didn’t feel very good. The characters in “Coconut” call the doctor, asking what they should take to feel better. The doctor recommends more “lime in the coconut” for them to drink. This is very similar to the “hair of the dog” idea. When you’re feeling bad after drinking, some people recommend the “hair of the dog that bit you” to feel better. This means a small amount of whatever you were drinking or doing the night before. If you’re craving a hit of heroin, some heroin always does the trick. I think Nilsson inserted this idea of curing a hangover or addiction with more of the substance into this simple little tune. Unfortunately, Nilsson is long passed, and with him the true meaning of this song, but I think I’ve discovered it. If nothing else, we all have a killer recipe for a refreshing beverage.

Jacob Schick is the assoc. arts & review editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

Picturehouse entertainment (top) | RCA Records (Bottom)

What happened at the end of The Lobster? And why put a lime in a coconut?

JACOB SCHICK

Assoc. Arts & Review Editor This weekend marks the release of Free Fire, a new crime-thriller-action movie starring Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, and Armie Hammer. The film is set in Boston during the ’70s. Two gangs meet in a deserted warehouse to complete a weapons deal. The deal escalates into a violent shootout in which the gangs are trapped together in the warehouse trying to survive. The appeal of Free Fire is its contained story and setting. The movie doesn’t leave the warehouse, and takes place over the course of a few hours.

ISABELLA DOW

Asst. Arts & Review Editor Everyone’s favorite scientist, Bill Nye, will host a talk show premiering on Netflix this Friday, Bill Nye Saves the World, with the goal of integrating scientific discussion into the social dialogue. In a world where baseless-claims and politically expedient opinions reign supreme, the talk show could provide an entertaining and relevant platform to demystify issues like climate change or alternative medicine, which would foster a more evidence-based outlook in a sea of hysterical opinons. Featuring guest appearances such as those of Wil Wheaton and Karlie Kloss, the show will hopefully resonate with a popular audience.

THIS WEEKEND IN ARTS: EDITORS’ PICKS

THE HEIGHTS

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

Criminals Find Selves Between ‘Rock and a Hard Place’ BY JACOB SCHICK

Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Rock and a Hard Place is not what you would expect. Upon first glance, it might seem like a documentary in which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson takes young men who might otherwise go to prison and puts them through a grueling four-month program of exercise and discipline. This would make the documentary’s title the best in the history of cinema. These young men would be caught between a hard place (lengthy prison sentences) and The Rock, a pseudo-deity who is more muscle than man. This is not the case. Instead, Rock and a Hard Place is about the Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation Boot

Camp Program, a 16-week camp in which actual drill instructors, who are unfortunately not The Rock, push the inmates to their limit, breaking them down mentally and physically in order to build them up again as regular citizens. The Rock appears only at the very beginning and end of the documentary. He welcomes the 38 inmates into the program on the day they arrive. “You don’t feel like it right now, but you’re lucky,” he says. “You’re lucky you got another shot. Don’t f—k this thing up.” Rock and a Hard Place focuses on one of the many groups that have been put through this program. The 38 individuals arrive onsite and are immediately subjected to psychological pressure by the drill instructors. Their heads are shaved, they

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receive uniforms, and, most importantly, they are screamed at by the instructors to get them to fall in line. The inmates do thousands of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and laps around the facility. They wake up before the crack of dawn to begin this intense physical training, and by the start of the second day, you can notice the changes in these young men. The young men are often shown crying as they must adjust to the strict discipline of the program. One inmate continually refuses to act according to instruction, snorting derisively at the drill instructors’ attempts to correct them all. He is placed in lockup time and time again. The drill instructors speak to the camera, outlining how they have the option to kick inmates out of the program if they aren’t receptive to the training. This is not something they enjoy doing, as they know that the boot camp really works. The national rate of prison recidivism is 70 percent, while the boot camp program’s recidivism rate is only 15 percent. They want to see these young men succeed, but if there are inmates who refuse to cooperate, they cannot risk the potential dissension in the ranks. The inmate who was placed in lockup multiple times was eventually removed from the program and faced his original sentence of 15 years in prison. In spite of the gaping lack of The Rock, a god among men, Rock and a Hard Place really is quite meaningful. Johnson is an executive producer of the documentary, calling it his passion project, as well as one

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of the most important films he has been a part of. The Rock ran into trouble with the law as a young man, citing the discipline he found in sports as the only reason he didn’t wind up in prison. These young men are being given a real second chance at life. They can avoid spending decades of their lives sitting in a cell if they can find the strength within themselves to make it to the end of the program. The boot camp is not just about the physical training, however. Every day, the inmates attend anger management classes, as well as vocational training and work duty. Over the course of the documentary, the viewer watches as the inmates are changed from the inside out. There are moments of genuine heart, as one inmate calls his family and afterward, breaks down in tears when he realizes what he has been putting them through. At graduation, four months in real time and only 80 minutes later, the remaining 33 members of boot camp look like new people. They walk in formation, standing up straight and in line. But even outside of the physical aspect, their entire demeanor has changed. They are polite, happy, and excited. They have made a vow to themselves to use their second chance at life wisely. Tough love and instruction by all of the members of the Miami-Dade County facility have transformed them. While there isn’t as much of The Rock as one might initially hope for, Rock and a Hard Place shows a happier outcome for troubled youth. It isn’t a prison documentary; it’s a story of redemption. 

Netﬂix’s ‘Slam’ Exempliﬁes Ideal Coming-of-Age Tale BY CALEB GRIEGO

Arts & Review Editor Sex. Skateboarding. School. Security. Self. All these are staples of a wild, prosperous, and worrisome adolescence in Netflix’s latest teen-drama Slam. Without overplaying the melodrama or bogging itself down in the overdone coming-of-age story, Slam, Italian director Andrea Molaioli’s rendition of Nick Hornby’s 2007 novel, is refreshing and memorable. And, as Netflix continues to expand its own endeavors in film and television, future directors on the live-streaming service—and its competitors—may look to Slam as how to get the genre just right. Slam follows 17-year-old Sam (Ludovico Tersigni) as he goes through his increasingly stressful life with his single mother, Antonella (Jasmine Trinca). After meeting Alice (Barbara Ramella) at one of his mother’s social gatherings, they become mutually infatuated. Soon their relationship blossoms organically into a passionate romance. But the paradise is soon lost as history repeats itself in tragic ways. Alice becomes pregnant, paralleling Sam’s own birth to teen parents. With this wrench thrown into his life already full of indecision, the young father-to-be must look to mentors inside and outside his life to combat a problem from which he cannot skate away. Structurally, the film captures the levels of indecision and uncertainty contained in the adolescent years. Throughout the film, Sam has dreamy forays into hypothetical futures. He sees himself separate from Alice.

He sees glimpses of a busy, sad existence as he divides time between his studies and child. Sam becomes confused and afraid by these potential realities, but they, along with advice from family and friends, help him push through the tough times. Sam is determined to not be as absent as his own father and strives for the kind of security and success his hero, Tony Hawk, had at his age. In many cases, the ideas he has about what the future will hold are not inaccurate, but also not quite what he had in mind. In this way, the story of the film mimics the mental games we go through when wondering what the future has in store for us. It is in this pensiveness that Slam succeeds. In all aspects of the film, life is presented like the sport of skateboarding: a refinable entity. In many ways, given enough hard work and practice, everything may just fall into place. Even when hardships and roadblocks present themselves, like bailing on a trick, it is not so much a death blow as a temporary inconvenience to endure. The acting in the film solidifies these notions in a grounded reality. The film actively characterizes modern thoughts on serious issues like teen pregnancy tenderly and with care. Despite its drastic, life-altering effects, optimism and hope predominate the thoughts of the young lovers—and the horrified parents. Tersigni and Ramella often wore dreaded, hopeless looks on their face during terse conversations with parents, but diffused them as they embraced, looked at each other, and spoke of a better tomorrow.

Trinca gives the strongest and most impactful performance as Antonella. Her character is often the most compelling as she is forced to painfully watch her son make the same mistakes she did. In a roundabout fashion, however, this leads to a retroactive acceptance, not only of her son’s faults, but of her own youthful shortcomings. These more liberal attitudes may be chalked up to the European setting, but the mannerisms and tone adopted by all parties involved seem to suggest a shift away from fatalistic attitudes, airing instead on hope. Where many other films would take the subject matter and go straight for the jugular of woeful, self-descriptive, teen hor-

ror story, Slam’s measured approach paints a nicer, more realistic picture of familial safeguards and individuals strong in the face of adversity. Slam is a modern teen drama that does not center on unrealistic hopes for better tomorrows. It knows full well that there are consequences to actions and missteps. But in the place of a message of damnation, the film gives us one of courage. The metaphor of skating is used well, as it demands that we keep on rolling. Though we might not know what the future has in store for us, we can be certain that we will miss a lot more if we never pick ourselves up again and hop back on. 

Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Adam Sandler has returned once again to slap viewers in the face with his atrocious movies and inordinately large sums of money … and Rob Schneider. Long gone are the days when Sandler could pull laughs from audiences with any sort of reliability or intention. It seems that years after successful, lighthearted comedies like Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and Punch-Drunk Love, Sandler has reverted to horrific flicks such as Grown Ups, Grown Ups 2, and Jack and Jill. Astoundingly, Sandler still has

enough credibility or sheer force of will to land a multi-million dollar deal of four films with Netflix and still practice his formula of paying for him and his friends to goof around all over the world under the guise of filming a movie. And, according to Netflix, it’s working. Sandy Wexler is the newest spawn birthed from the ungodly matrimony of Sandler and Netflix, and it’s a really bad Jerry Maguire. Sandler plays the titular character, a so-bad-it’s-not-even-funny talent agent working in Los Angeles during the ’90s. He represents a cast of characters ranging from a clown-puppeteer-ventriloquist named Ted

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SANDY WEXLER STEVEN BRILL DISTRIBUTED BY NETFLIX RELEASE APR. 14, 2017 OUR RATING

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1 Shape Of You Ed Sheeran 2 That’s What I Like Bruno Mars 3 Humble Kendrick Lamar 4 Sign of the Times Harry Styles 5 Something Just Like This Chainsmokers & Coldplay 6 iSpy KYLE ft. Lil Yachty 7 Mask Off Future 8 XO TOUR Llif3 Lil Uzi Vert

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1 Memories...Do Not Open The Chainsmokers 2 More Life Drake 3 Divide Ed Sheeran 4 PTX Vol. IV Classics (EP) Pentatonix 5 All-Amerikkan Bada$$ Joey Bada$$

Source: Billboard.com

MUSIC VIDEO CALEB GRIEGO

“EPILOGUE” KEATON HENSON

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‘Sandy Wexler’ Suffers From Symptoms of Sandler BY JACOB SCHICK

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Rafferty (Kevin James), depressing standup comic Kevin Connors (Colin Quinn), and aspiring actress Amy Baskin who, in one of the grossest displays of nepotism outside of Gwyneth Paltrow, is played by Jackie Sandler, Adam Sandler’s literal wife. Why anyone with even marginal respect for their profession would be in this movie is unfathomable. From the start of the movie, Wexler is established as one of the most annoying people in Hollywood. The audience is first introduced to Sandler in nothing other than a montage of garbage. Sandler appears to be doing a bad, and somehow more annoying, impression of Gilbert Gottfried’s voice. Wexler is a cartoon character, but the bad kind. For example, Jim Carrey has always played a cartoonish version of himself in movies like Liar Liar, The Cable Guy, and The Mask, but it was funny and enjoyable. Wexler is the bad kind of cartoonish character, like a human Scrappy-Doo. Sandy Wexler makes lame passes at humanizing this life-size cardboard cutout of a person. He begins to represent someone with actual talent, a singer named Courtney Clarke (Jennifer Hudson), and Sandy Wexler attempts to build some semblance of a will-they-or-won’t-they between them. Clarke eventually makes it big and the film attempts to draw laughs from the outof-place Wexler among Hollywood’s high society. The worst part of these almost-jokes is that the movie gets agonizingly close to Sandler’s real humor, the kind he is praised

for in actually funny movies, without being anywhere close to funny. The story, what little there is in this over-two-hour movie, is paltry and tiring. Wexler seems to have a relationship with Clarke in his reach, he ruins it, his character is “redeemed,” and it all works out. These aren’t spoilers, because anyone who has seen a singular movie has seen more innovation than is present in Sandy Wexler. Somehow, Clarke and Wexler end up together, in spite of his constant lying, ceaseless blame deflection, and general lack of rationality. But in spite of all of this predictability, Sandy Wexler seems to believe it’s reinvented the wheel with this “cinematic landmark.” This is an Adam Sandler movie, so without fail Rob Schneider can be found hiding somewhere. A suggestion would be to turn Sandy Wexler into a game of “figure out who Rob Schneider is.” Viewers will be surprised at what appears as blatant racism but is probably a sheer lack of awareness when they realize that Schneider is playing a stereotypic wealthy Middle-Eastern landlord complete with actual brown face. If an awful movie with a bad plot, bad acting, blatant nepotism, annoying characters, blatant racism, bad cameos, and a lengthy runtime is the goal, then go ahead and watch Sandy Wexler. Actually, don’t. Don’t ever watch Sandy Wexler. Netflix might stop throwing millions of dollars at Sandler if viewership declines for these movies. 

Today’s music videos are used to amplify the emotions within songs—an electronic song is made more uppity, a rock ballad becomes more raw, and the latest pop track grows more sugary. But English folk-rock artist Keaton Henson uses video in “Epilogue” to simple yet powerful ends to reinforce ideas of loneliness and melancholy. The video is a single shot of Henson sitting in the backseat of a moving car. As viewers hear his tender voice overlaying the scene, they are forced to study Henson as he sits idly by, casually looking out the window, at his feet, or into his hands. At first glance, the shot may seem banal and uninspired, but the contained nature of the video makes the lyrics seem more real and heartfelt rather than a rambling into the platitudes of loneliness. When coupled with the video, the lyrics adopt a sort of lived quality. It is as if the lyrics are the thoughts of Henson in the moment. His loneliness has a time and space clearly visible within the context of a single shot. This idea would be lost in a video that uses a collage of elements to suggest unhappiness and isolation rather than a concrete example of it in the flesh. Later on in the video, black spots begin to appear throughout the image. Whether due to burning or distortions on the reel of film, Henson and the petite setting of the car are engulfed in a black cloud. Thematically, this seems fitting as Henson in the film goes about unaware as the clouds coalesce. In this way, the more nefarious and deadly aspects of isolation and loneliness, though unseen, can be just as damaging. “Epilogue” is a pensive song and its video counterpart demands viewers to analyze its contents more stringently. Its difference in presentation makes its message all the more impactful. 

SINGLE REVIEWS BY TOMAS GUARNA LUIS FONSI, DADDY YANKEE FT. JUSTIN BIEBER “Despacito” Justin Bieber is melting Latin America and the world with his remix of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito.” A cheesy reggaeton plainly about slow sex, it’s a song that could be easily lost in Latin music irrelevancy. Bieber whispering sweet nothings in Spanish, however, makes it a masterpiece.

FRANK OCEAN FT. JAY Z & TYLER, THE CREATOR “Biking”

LADY GAGA “The Cure” Lady Gaga’s new single is just boring. It steers away from the incredible originality of her last album Joanne, and returns clumsily to her origins. “The Cure” is a slow and uneventful track, ﬁlled with musical clichés. It’s led by timid, awkward vocals singing problematically dull lyrics.

This beautiful collaboration between Frank Ocean, Tyler The Creator, and Jay Z collects quirky metaphors and word plays about riding actual bikes, leading to a point about the freedom of letting go being like biking down a hill. Once again, Ocean manages to create a strong anthem about surrendering.

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Thursday, April 20, 2017

SOFTBALL

UMass Wins Pitchers’ Duel, Hands BC Fourth-Straight Loss SB vs. UMass, from B8 Stacevicz for the third out, giving BC another chance at the plate. Lexi DiEmmaneuele started the bottom of the third with a strikeout, but then teammate Brenna Griesser broke the Minutemen no-hitter. She poked a single through the left side of the infield and safely reached first. That was the only hit BC recorded in the inning, however, as Dani Thomas struck out and Coroneos grounded out to end the third. In the fourth, both teams earned their best offensive chances, but once

again failed to score any runs. Kaitlyn Stavinoha singled, putting a runner on first for the Minutemen. Stavinoha was thrown out at second, however, after Jena Cozza singled. Dreswick then struck out Tara Klee, but walked Garcia, putting runners on first and second. The Eagles escaped without any damage after Dreswick forced Wince to hit a pop fly for the easy third out. Sharabba began the bottom of the fourth with a groundout, but teammate Murphy made up for it with a single to second base. Cortez followed it up with another single, putting runners at

first and second. Cortez and Murphy each advanced with steals, reaching second and third, respectively. It seemed as though BC would take the lead with two runners in scoring position and only one out—but Chimento struck out and Moore grounded out, ending the fourth and stranding the two runners. The fifth inning saw the only runs of the game. Gimpl started the inning out on a positive note for UMass by drawing a walk. Dennis laid down a sacrifice bunt, giving BC the first out of the inning but advancing Gimpl to second. Gimpl further advanced

to third when Denis singled into the outfield. Stacevicz hit a sacrifice fly, allowing Gimpl to tag up and take home, giving the Minutemen a 1-0 lead. A Stavinoha double sent Denis home, but BC escaped the jam without any further damage. Down 2-0, the Eagles refused to quit in the bottom of the fifth. DiEmmaneuele hit a hard grounder to short and managed to safely reach first. An error from the shortstop allowed her to take second, putting a runner in scoring position for the Eagles. She then stole third. Griesser grounded out to the pitcher, but the play allowed

DiEmmaneuele to advance home, scoring BC’s only run of the day and cutting into UMass’ lead. But Thomas and Coroneos each failed to reach base, ending the inning without any more runs for the Eagles. Neither team managed to score again in the sixth and seventh innings, but BC came close. With Murphy and Cortez on third and second, respectively, Chimento walked, loading the bases for the Eagles. Moore singled, but the Minutemen got Murphy out at home, preventing BC from scoring the tying run and handing the Eagles their fourth-straight loss. n

Dreswick, Eagles Fail to Slow Tar Heel Offense in Sweep By Andy Backstrom Asst. Sports Editor Boston College softball’s Jessica Dreswick has logged the second-most innings in the ACC. The junior also ranks in the top-five of every major pitching statistical category—wins, strikeouts, and earned-run average. But when the Eagles traveled to Chapel Hill over the weekend, not even she could quiet North Carolina’s offense. The Tar Heels, who average more runs than any other team in the conference besides Florida State, tacked on a total of 17 in their sweep of BC. On Saturday alone, UNC scored eight runs. But initially, it looked as if the Eagles had a chance to salvage a game in the series. For the first time all weekend, BC got on the board before the Tar Heels. Leading off, Taylor Coroneos singled through the left side. In order to advance Coroneos into scoring position, Chloe Sharabba sacrifice bunted. Then, a passed ball allowed Coroneos to take third. All Annie Murphy needed was a fly ball to score Coroneos, but she got way more than that—ahead in the count, Murphy doubled to right field, and Coroneos crossed the plate for the game’s first run. Right after that, Tatiana Cortez hit a double of her own, scoring Murphy. Later in the inning, Allyson Moore singled, moving Cortez to third, but that’s as far as she’d get. Eventually, Lexi DiEmmanuele grounded out, stranding two Eagles on base. Dreswick looked strong in the first two frames, as she held UNC to just one hit. But, thanks to a BC throwing error and a Taylor Wike double, the Tar Heels cut the deficit to one in the third inning. And shortly after, they tied it all up. Well, Brittany Pickett tied it all up. In the top half of the inning, Pickett, who picked up wins in both games of Friday’s doubleheader, replaced Kendra Lynch on the rubber. And in the bottom half, she homered to

left center, giving herself some run support. Pickett retired the side in the top of the fifth, and the Tar Heels’ scoring spree began. Berlynne Delamora drew a walk to get things going. Brittany West was then called in to pinch run for Delamora, and Lynch was brought in to pinch hit for Hailey Cole. T h e s w i t c h p a i d o f f . Ly n c h launched one over the fence in rightcenter, giving UNC a two-run lead. But for the Tar Heels, that wasn’t good enough. Whether it was a single through the hole or a walk, UNC continued to reach base. The Tar Heels scored three more runs before Dreswick was pulled. Jordan Weed came in to relieve Dreswick and stop the onslaught. Ultimately, she did, but only after Delamora singled through the left side, scoring UNC’s eighth and final run of the day. BC responded with one run in the next inning, but small ball was not anywhere close to enough to compensate for its fifth-inning meltdown. Weed and Pickett traded scoreless innings to round out the game, and the Tar Heels claimed the 8-3 victory. Unlike Saturday’s contest, UNC established an early lead in both of the Friday games. The second game featured a pitching duel between Dreswick and Pickett. But all it took was two Tar Heel runs in the third inning to decide the game. Coming into the inning, UNC had recorded just one hit. And once again, Dreswick all but silenced the Tar Heel bats. As a result, UNC turned to patience at the plate and aggressive base running. Destiny DeBerry and Wike drew walks to open up the frame. To make matters worse for the Eagles, DeBerry and Wike stole their respective bases during the ensuing at bat, edging closer to home plate. Soon after, Katelyn Shifflett doubled to right field, bringing home both of her teammates. Just like that, it was 2-0. From that point forward, UNC

Celine Lim / Heights Staff

Starting pitcher Jessica Dreswick (25) and Tatiana Cortez (21) talk things over on the mound in between hitters last week. only got one more hit off of Dreswick. But two runs was more than enough for Pickett, who went all seven innings, striking out six and allowing only three hits. Dreswick countered with a comparable performance on the mound, but BC could not produce any kind of offense. Much like the latter portion of the doubleheader, the Eagles struggled to get a piece of Pickett through the first six innings of play in the series opener. On the other hand, it didn’t take UNC long to get a hold of Dreswick. In the bottom of the first, Shifflett singled up the middle. Then, Dreswick hit Delamora with a pitch. West replaced Delamora on the basepath. For a moment it appeared as if Dreswick regained her accuracy, as she fanned Lynch with just three pitches. But she walked the next Tar Heel batter, loading the bases.

BASEBALL

Dartmouth Knocks Off Nelson, BC By Riley Overend Sports Editor The more pitches you have to throw, the more opportunities you have to make a mistake. Boston College baseball’s Jack Nelson learned that lesson the hard way during Tuesday afternoon’s 8-3 defeat at Dartmouth, surrendering three runs over three innings of work in his first loss of the season. On multiple occasions, Nelson and the Eagles (12-22, 3-15 Atlantic Coast) looked as if they were going to escape a jam, but the Big Green (9-12, 8-4 Ivy) would not go away quietly. In the bottom of the second, Michael Ketchmark and Justin Fowler both singled to put runners on first and second with one out. Nelson got the next batter to line out, bringing 6-foot-3 shortstop Nate Ostmo to the plate with two outs. Nelson attacked the zone and pinned him in a two-strike hole, but Ostmo fouled off four-straight pitches to stay alive. On the fifth pitch, Ostmo found one he liked and tripled past a diving Michael Strem in center field, bringing home a pair of runs for a 2-0 lead. In the third, Matt Feinstein led off with a single and took second on

a wild pitch. Dustin Shirley stepped into the batter’s box and began another long at-bat against Nelson. On the ninth pitch of the at-bat, the Dartmouth second baseman won the battle and ripped an RBI double into the right-center gap. Allowing a big hit after at-bats like these isn’t just tiring, it’s demoralizing, too. BC used a Gian Martellini double and a Big Green error to narrow the lead to 3-2 by the fourth inning, but the game slipped away in the sixth inning. It started smoothly, as utility player-turned-pitcher Jake Alu got the first two outs of the inning with ease. Soon after, though, the sophomore began to struggle with his control. He walked the next batter, then hit another to put a couple runners on base. Shirley followed with an RBI single, Ketchmark notched his third hit of the day, and Kyle Holbrook singled home another run, as Dartmouth rattled off three-straight hits that plated four runs. Alu beaned the next two batters, loading the bases and forcing head coach Mike Gambino to make a pitching change. Mitch Bigras hit the next batter to bring home the fifth run of the inning, extending the Big Green lead to 8-2, but he induced a flyout to finally end the inning.

The Eagles got one more run back in the eighth inning, but the deficit proved too large to overcome with a late-inning rally. One of the lone bright spots of the afternoon came in the bottom of the eighth, when Luke Fernandes rebounded from a string of rough outings by retiring the side in order on just 12 pitches. It was the only 1-2-3 inning of the day for BC. Fernandes, who spent most of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery, had allowed eight earned runs in his last four innings of relief. The loss marks the the Eagles’ first real midweek defeat of the season, as they had previously taken down Massachusetts, Northeastern, and Harvard in between ACC weekend series. These nonconference games on Tuesday and Wednesday can be difficult to mentally prepare for after facing nationally-ranked squads on the weekend, but they go a long way in improving their overall record and reminding the Northeast who the top dog in the region is. Tuesday was a step back , but Wednesday’s Beanpot championship game means that they’ll likely forget about it soon. Like any other sport, it's best to have a short memory in baseball. n

Leah Murray grounded to shortstop, but Sharabba misfired on her throw to third, allowing Shifflett to score. UNC left three on base, but it took the lead. The Tar Heels’ scoring didn’t resume until the fourth inning. But when it finally did, runs came in bunches. It all started when Pickett reached base on a walk. Campbell Hutcherson then came in to run for Pickett. Micaela Abbatine singled through the left side, moving Hutcherson into scoring position. Next, Dreswick walked DeBerry—the ensuing batter—loading the bases. Wike capitalized on the opportunity, doubling to center and scoring Hutcherson and Abbatine. Dreswick proceeded to walk in another run. And to top things off, she gave up an RBI single to Katie Bailiff. Having walked four batters and allowed just as many runs in one inning,

Dreswick’s outing was cut short in the fourth. Weed’s number was called in the bullpen. She quickly ended the inning, but over the course of the next two frames, she too fell victim to the UNC offense. By the top of the seventh, the Tar Heels maintained a 7-0 advantage. In a last-ditch effort, the Eagles put together four runs in the final frame. But it was by no means pretty. All but one of BC’s runs were unearned. If it wasn’t for a few miscues in the infield, the Eagles could have been staring at a shutout. Despite winning every ACC series prior to its meeting with UNC, BC has consistently struggled offensively. In the past month, the Eagles have only posted one five-plus run performance. If anything, their three games against the Tar Heels uncovered a weakness that was previously disguised by winning. n

The Heights

Thursday, April 20, 2017

BASEBALL

At Fenway, Beanpot Title Cut Short by Rain Beanpot Championship, from B8 Harvard’s offense rejuvenated. Patrick McColl took Jack Cunningham’s first pitch and blasted one to left field. The ball soared over Alu’s head and hit the fence, allowing McColl to jog into second. Not too long after

that, John MacLean singled through the right side. The ball barely escaped the glove of a diving Jake Palomaki, giving McColl the opportunity to score. To break up the Crimson’s offensive flow, Gambino pulled Cunningham and put the ball in Casey’s

hand. Casey quickly quelled Harvard’s surge, picking up two outs in just as many batters. At that moment, play was abruptly suspended, and the one-run game was halted until further notice. Disregarding the uncertainty of the final outcome, Gambino is satis-

fied with his team’s performance—especially leading into this weekend’s key series against North Carolina State. “Regardless of how many innings, any time you can leave a game with a lead like that, you end up feeling good,” Gambino said. n

EDITOR’S

PICKS On Saturday, Birdball returns to Fenway Park for the ALS Awareness Game against NC State. Will BC pull out another win for Pete Frates & Co.? Or will the Wolfpack rise to the occasion at the oldest ballpark in baseball?

RILEY OVEREND Sports Editor

Shaan Bijwadia / Heights Staff

Left: Dan Metzdorf warms up in between innings. Right: Mitch Bigras (4) stays close to a runner on first base during the Beanpot championship game on Wednesday.

BC Wins First ACC Series of Season at Duke

By Riley Overend

Sports Editor

Boston College baseball’s bats woke up this weekend, as the team took two of three games at Duke this weekend to earn its first ACC series win of the season. On Sunday, the Blue Devils (19-19, 7-11 Atlantic Coast) avoided a sweep by scoring early and often against BC starter Brian Rapp. With one out, Duke loaded the bases off of two hits and a walk. Rapp came back and struck out the next batter on three pitches, but he wasn’t out of the jam yet. Kennie Taylor ripped a bases-clearing double into the rightcenter gap, and Max Miller brought him home moments later with a bloop single. After just one inning, the Eagles (12-21, 3-15) trailed the Blue Devils, 4-0, in the series finale. In the third inning, Mitch Bigras appeared to catch a foul pop out near the BC dugout and lose control of the ball on the transfer. When the umpire ruled no catch, head coach Mike Gambino argued the call until he was eventually ejected. Later in the frame, Duke plated two runs thanks to a sac fly and balk, extending the lead to 6-0. The Blue Devils tacked on a few more insurance runs off of sophomore relief pitcher John Witkowski in the sixth in-

ning. Down 9-0 in the seventh, Birdball finally got on the board thanks to a rally sparked by freshmen. Jacob Yish continued his hot streak with a leadoff single, and Brian Dempsey followed with a hit by pitch. Donovan Casey then singled, loading the bases for junior Jake Palomaki. The second baseman scored a run with a groundout and Michael Strem followed suit with a RBI groundout of his own. That was all the Eagles would get, though, as Gian Martellini drove one to the warning track, but it was tracked down to end the threat. The Eagles couldn’t reach base in the eighth or ninth innings, resulting in a quiet 9-2 defeat on Sunday afternoon. Saturday’s matchup featured plenty of offense, including the rare longball for BC. Duke struck first, with Griffin Conine smashing a three-run homer off Dan Metzdorf in the first inning. The Eagles chipped into the deficit in the second inning behind a RBI double by Casey. But the Blue Devils added two more runs soon after to stretch their lead to 5-1. Everything changed with two outs in the fourth inning. The rally began with a single from Yish, who advances to third on a single by Dempsey. Casey tallied his second RBI hit of the day, and subsequent back-to-back walks set the table

for Martellini. The catcher blasted his first career grand slam over the left field fence, shifting all momentum and giving BC a 6-5 advantage. Birdball’s bats stayed hot in the sixth inning. Forcing Duke to use three pitchers in the frame, the Eagles racked up six hits and capitalized on two Blue Devil errors to score nine runs and take a 15-5 lead. Once again, it was Martellini for BC, scoring Strem with a single to right for his fifth RBI of the day. Two batters later, Johnny Adams drove in two more runners with a double to push the Birdball lead to 9-5. Next, Yish lined his first career double and Dempsey bunted for a hit as the baserunners kept coming. Casey walked, setting up runners on the corners for Palomaki. The switch-hitter brought in two more runs with a triple. In total, nine straight hitters reached base before Strem eventually flew out. Duke got one run back in the eighth off of Jack Nelson, but that would be all, leaving the Eagles with a convincing 15-6 win. BC’s 20 hits were the most since the team rattled off 22 hits against Northeastern in 2015. On Friday, Jacob Stevens and Casey limited the Blue Devils to just one hit in a 3-1 win. Stevens returned to ace form, tossing seven strong innings, walking three and striking out three.

Duke’s lone run came in the third inning, when Miller doubled and advanced to third on a sac bunt. He scored on a sac fly by Chris Proctor. From the fourth to the seventh inning, Stevens retired eight straight batters. BC broke through in the fourth inning following back-to-back hits from Casey and Palomaki. Strem grounded out to score Casey and Bigras doubled to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Birdball added an insurance run in the fifth thanks to some heads-up baserunning by Adams. The senior captain singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, when Yish flied out to deep left center, Adams tagged up and kept running around third toward home after the Duke shortstop misplayed the relay throw. Casey shut the door with two scoreless innings of relief, preserving the 3-1 victory in the opening game of the series. This weekend was vital for the program, which had been swept in four straight conference series heading into this series. Not only did the offense return to respectability, but Stevens looked a lot like the lockdown pitcher fans came to know as a freshman. The Eagles will have to continue this kind of all-around effort if they want any shot of making the ACC Tournament. n

‘Boston’s College’ Must Honor Marathon Roots Time for a Track, from B8 BC does not have an indoor or outdoor track facility. In fact, it hasn’t since the 1990s. Before there was a demand for increased seating in Alumni Stadium, there was a track that surrounded the football field. But with the program’s rise in prestige, it only made sense to tear down the track and to expand the viewing area available to ticket holders. It upped the stadium’s capacity, but, more importantly, it moved the fans closer to the field of play. Still, the track was gone, and so were the traditions that came with it. For years, the school hosted the BC Relays. Numerous schools throughout New England made the trek to Chestnut Hill to compete in an assortment of events, ranging from the decathalon to the 440-yard relay. This kind of invitational puts programs on the map, and can be even used as a recruiting ploy—a luxury that BC hasn’t enjoyed since the turn of the century. On the bright side, the removal of the track inside Alumni offered a new opportunity. Because it ringed around the football field, its measurements were slightly off, meaning that tracking certain distance races was awkward and inconvenient. But instead of taking the chance to build a refined track elsewhere on campus, BC decided to refrain from making such an investment.

Currently, both the men’s and women’s track and field teams use Harvard’s facility as their home course. Sure, it may be doable, and it is by no means a hike, but it defeats the purpose of a home course. It’s already hard enough for the school to coax students into attending the high-profile sporting events. By exiling teams to another school—let alone Harvard—the teams are bound to be ignored. Contrary to cross country, space is hardly the problem. Last year, Director of Athletics Brad Bates announced the plans for three projects to be built on the Brighton campus: a recreational center, playing fields, and a field house. According to the school website, it is a $200-million investment, designed to “enhance intercollegiate, intramural, and club sports at BC.” Both the softball and baseball programs will be receiving new playing fields, light poles, increased seating, and a state-of-the-art sound system. Additionally, there will be an entire field dedicated to intramural sports. Essentially, track—a varsity sport—was beat out by the likes of flag football. But the proposals shouldn’t stop there. Regardless if it’s on Brighton or not, there are other places where the school can construct a track. Take Newton. The soccer and lacrosse field is the perfect size for an infield. Yes, there would need to be changes concerning the bleachers and the fence

SCOREBOARD SOFTBALL BC 3 | UNC 8 BC|CORONEOS 2H

BASEBALL

BC|MARTINELLI GS

UNC|WIKE 2 RBI

4/15 BASEBALL

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

BC 15 | DUKE 6

DUKE| CONINE 3 RBI

surrounding the field. But it would be a relatively easy fix to a long-lasting problem. What’s even more inexcusable is the absence of an indoor track. Every other Beanpot school—Northeastern, Harvard, and Boston University—has one. All BC has to offer is a rock-hard, less-than-200-meter oval that straddles the tennis courts. And that new recreational center that Bates introduced? Well that won’t help either. To this point, it has been revealed that the complex will include a jogging track. That description does not imply whatsoever that the school intends to field a competitive banked track. If anything, students could very well be getting a glorified version of the current one. But track isn’t the only program that’s getting the short end of the deal. According to the plan, the swimming and diving teams are set to become the only ones in the ACC and the Boston area to not carry a 3-meter-high diving board. Men’s and women’s tennis will lose a total of seven courts, leaving the teams with just three—far fewer than the rest of the conference. And the fencing program is also expected to shrink in size. Time and time again, BC, despite bragging about its conference-best 31 varsity sports, leaves the non profit activities in the dust. It’s inevitable that, just like the rest of the country’s

BC|YISH H R

4/15 BASEBALL

DURHAM, N.C.

BC|ADAMS 2H R

Division I schools, BC loads up the moneymakers—football, basketball, and in its case, hockey. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the programs have to be routinely cheap shotted. And there doesn’t have to be a tradeoff. In the track world, schools like Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Louisville are highly competitive. All three of those schools also made the NCAA Tournament and two of them reached Bowl games this year. Besides, there’s something to say about living up to your name. Worldwide, Boston is renowned for its marathon. In the United States, the term Heartbreak Hill is common knowledge. Unsurprisingly, runners from all 50 states ran in this year’s marathon. Boston may have Fenway, and it may be a hockey town, but for runners, it is a haven. Right now, BCEagles.com lists that more than half of men’s track and field’s roster is from the East coast. As one of the hot spots of the running world, the school has no reason not to be pulling from a more diverse group of recruits. The only thing stopping it is money. If BC is really is “Boston’s College,” it’s about time that it starts to respect that title.

Andy Backstrom is the asst. sports editor for The Heights. He can be reached on Twitter @AndyHeights.

BC 2 | DUKE 9 DUKE|KONE 2 R

BC 3 | DART 8

4/16 SOFTBALL DURHAM, N.C.

DART|KETCHMARK 2R

4/18

HANOVER, N.H.

The Eagles don’t lose when Pete Frates is on hand to watch them. Last year, they swept Wake Forest in the ALS Awareness Doubleheader and, earlier this year, they took down Harvard with Frates in attendance, too. BC is hungry for another series win now that the team is in the downhill stretch of ACC play. Look for veteran leaders like Donovan Casey, Michael Strem, and Johnny Adams to step up at Fenway and deliver a big win in front of their favorite former captain.

PREDICTION BC 8 NC State 6

ANNABEL STEELE

Assoc. Sports Editor

Fresh off a sort-of Beanpot title victory over Harvard at Fenway, the Eagles will return to the home of the Red Sox this weekend and earn a dominant victory over NC State. Emotions are highly charged at this point of the season anyway, but honoring Pete Frates and the fight against ALS will give BC new strength. Look for dominant pitching and hot bats early, allowing BC to build up a quick lead, before the game stabilizes. In the end, the Eagles will earn a victory over the Wolfpack and honor Frates in style.

PREDICTION BC 7 NC State 4

ANDY BACKSTROM

Asst. Sports Editor

Last weekend, North Carolina State held in-state rival and No. 4 North Carolina to just 16 runs over the span of three games. To put that in perspective, BC gave up 31 runs to the Tar Heels in two games alone. All four of the Wolfpack’s top pitchers have ERAs below five. So whoever take the mound on Saturday could very well shut down the Eagles offense—a group that has scored three or less runs in four of its past five games. NC State will get a hold of BC early, and its pitching will limit the Eagles to small ball.

PREDICTION NC State 8 BC 2

BC 1 | UMASS 2

BC|DIEMMANUELE R

BASEBALL BC|STREM 2 H RBI

UMASS|DENIS R

4/19

CHESTNUT HILL, MA

BC 3 | HARV 2 HARV|HOFFMAN HR

4/19 BOSTON, MA

B8 THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

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ANDY BACKSTROM Monday was a holiday. For most, Patriots’ Day consisted of recovering from yet another Easter celebration. But for Boston College students, the day carried an additional meaning: it was Marathon Monday. The majority of campus may not have been running the 26.2 miles, but they were participating in a marathon of their own. From the crack of dawn to around 5 p.m., students flooded Commonwealth Ave. Hour after hour, they cheered on runners—many of whom they had no affiliation with—at, arguably, the most pivotal point of the race. Location-wise, BC not only marks Mile 21, but also the end of Heartbreak Hill. The infamous climb, which posts a 3.3 percent grade incline, is the steepest of the five major marathons (Boston, New York, Chicago, Marine Corps, and Los Angeles). So when the runners hit the downhill, they are near exhaustion. Having already traveled 20-plus miles, and still needing to run about five more, it is common for runners to slow down, walk, or even call it quits at this point of the marathon. What they really need is a boost of adrenaline. And just like every year, BC delivered. The atmosphere is surreal. As close to 30,000 runners pass, thousands of students, faculty, and alumni alike fill out the surrounding area. It feels like a dream. After all, it really is the only day where everyone on campus genuinely cares about the sport of running. With the exception of Marathon Monday, competitive running is all but neglected at BC. Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of people, myself included, who run for fun, or perhaps are training for their own half or full marathon. But in terms of the school’s varsity cross country and track and field programs, most are apathetic. You can’t blame them. BC does not have a cross country course on campus. This is understandable, considering the school’s location and proximity to the city. Realistically, it would be virtually impossible to fit eight kilometers of racing on any of the three campuses without bleeding onto the streets. And let’s be honest. Cross country, whether it is at the high school or collegiate level, rarely draws spectators. The length and dynamic of the race makes it hard to follow. Unlike the majority of sports, the competition isn’t restricted to a confined playing field, pool, court, or what not. As a result, it isn’t practical to watch an entire race. On the other hand, track is a different story. Limited to an arena, fieldhouse, or an outdoor field, every event is visible and typically caters to the average viewer’s attention span. Yet

REIGN DELAY SHAAN BIJWADIA / HEIGHTS STAFF

Leading Harvard 3-2 in the ﬁfth inning, BC had dreams of hoisting its secondconsecutive Beanpot trophy at Fenway Park. But the skies had other plans. BY ANDY BACKSTROM Asst. Sports Editor It was bound to happen. It was just a matter of when. With rain in the forecast all throughout Wednesday, both Boston College and Harvard baseball knew that weather was all but guaranteed to disrupt the Beanpot final. The two sides even decided to move up the annual Fenway Park classic to 5 p.m. But, as luck would have it, the third place game between Massachusetts and Northeastern ran late. And as a result, Dan Metzdorf ended up taking the rubber right around 6 p.m.—just a half hour prior to the original game time. Four innings in, and the rain started to pick up. Having just let up a run, BC head coach Mike Gambino walked to the mound, knowing that this very well could be his team’s final frame. Up 3-2, Gambino turned to his go-to reliever: Donovan Casey. After throwing out Drew Reid at first, Casey punched out Trent Bryan on four pitches to end the inning, and apparently the game. As soon as the teams began to trot back to their respective dugouts, the grounds crew assumed position. Within seconds, the tarp was being rolled out, and the game was ruled final. Or so we thought. Eventually, after 15 minutes or so, every-

thing was sorted out between the Boston Red Sox staff and the two teams. The game was officially halted, meaning that the teams will try to coordinate with the Red Sox, in order to reschedule the final innings. If nothing can get worked out in the coming days, the Eagles will be crowned Beanpot Champions. But for now, the 3-2 score is anything but final. The first inning was misleading to say the least. Metzdorf forced Josh Ellis to groundout. But one pitch later, the lefty’s scoreless effort was already tainted. Quinn Hoffman hit a solo shot over the Green Monster, giving the Crimson the early lead. Fortunately for BC, Metzdorf immediately recovered, retiring the next two batters. And it wouldn’t take long for the Eagles to erase the deficit. Everything was bouncing their way. Literally. Leading off, Casey half-swung at Garrett Rupp’s pitch. The ball dribbled toward the left side, but gave Casey just enough time to beat the throw to first. Casey then stole second, avoiding a potential double play. With a man in scoring position, Michael Strem did what he does best. Ahead in the count, he doubled through the left-center gap, scoring Casey. Gian Martellini proceeded to drill one toward third base. The ball took an odd hop, preventing John Fallon to, not only get the out at third,

but also make the throw to first. To cap things off, Mitch Bigras hit a line drive to center, bringing home Strem. BC would go on to strand two runners on base. Nevertheless, it had the lead. But the apparent shootout transformed into a chess match between pitching staffs. For the next two frames, Harvard and BC traded goose eggs. Yet in the fourth, the scoring resumed. Only it came in the most unconventional of ways. Now facing JT Bernard, Jake Alu worked his way to a full count. Alu took one more pitch, drawing the walk. Shortly into Johnny Adam’s at-bat, Alu swiped second base. And just one pitch after that, he took off for third. Then, for the third-straight pitch—this time, a passed ball—Alu stole a base. The sophomore slid into home plate before Bernard could apply the tag. All it took was three pitches for Alu to cover three bases. Right when he reached first base, both he and Gambino knew what needed to be done. “We knew [Bernard] wasn’t real quick to the plate,” Gambino said. “We knew we wanted to get going. And Jake did a really good job of reading pitches and getting jumps.” Down two runs in the top of the fifth,

See Beanpot Championship, B7

See Time for a Track, B7 SOFTBALL

Dreswick’s Gem Goes to Waste Against Massachusetts BY ANNABEL STEELE Assoc. Sports Editor For most of the afternoon, both Boston College softball and the University of Massachusetts softball struggled offensively. In the end, both the Eagles and Minutemen only managed offensive productivity in the fifth inning—but it was enough for the Minutemen to earn a 2-1 win over BC (24-18, 8-6 Atlantic Coast). UMass (20-19, 8-3 Mid-American) started the game off with a hit, but failed to capitalize on its base runner in the first inning. Pitcher Jessica Dreswick quickly rallied, however, striking out another batter and forcing two groundouts to end the top of the first, leaving Stacevicz stranded at first. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they also failed in the bottom of the first.

INSIDE SPORTS

Taylor Coroneos and Chloe Sharabba, batting first and second, respectively, each struck out. Up third, Annie Murphy made contact with the ball, but grounded out to shortstop. Not a single batter reached base in the entire second inning. On the Minutemen side, Melissa Garcia and Ashton Wince grounded out, then Madison Gimpl flied out. For BC, Tatiana Cortez flied out, Taylor Chimento struck out, and then Allyson Moore grounded out. In the third, each team put one runner on base, but again failed to capitalize. Kate Dennis led off for UMass in the inning, but struck out. Teammate Candace Denis, up second, singled, but was soon called out after leaving first early. Dreswick struck out

CELINE LIM / HEIGHTS STAFF

See SB vs. UMass, B6

Annie Murphy, a junior outfielder, prepares to take a hack from the left side of the plate during BC’s game last week.

SOFTBALL: North Carolina Sweeps Eagles BASEBALL: BC Wins First ACC Series BC threw its ace, Jessica Dreswick, but not even she could cool down a red-hot Tar Heel offense................................ B6

Last weekend, the Eagles took two out of three at Duke for their first conference series victory.......................................B7

SCOREBOARD............................ B7

EDITOR’S PICKS.......................... B7