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BrostonCollege.com celebrates its one year anniversary and plans for its future, B10
Jazz ensemble submits another timeless performance of nostalgic hits, A10
The men’s hockey team beat Merrimack 5-3 to win the league title, B1
HOCKEY EAST CHAMPS
Monday, March 21, 2011
Vol. XCII, No. 15
Cataracs sell out plex
Mass remembering Alex Grant to be held Tuesday Memorial mass scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. By Taylour Kumpf News Editor
The University will be gathering to remember the life of sophomore honors student Alexander Grant, A&S ’13, who was found dead on March 8 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. A memorial mass will be held for Grant on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. in St. Ignatius Church. The Boston College community is asked to join University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., along with Campus Ministry, in
uniting for the ceremony. Grant, an economics major from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., was visiting a friend at Skidmore College the weekend he passed away. His body was found by Saratoga Springs City Firefighters and New York State Forest Rangers in Putnam Creek. The cause of death was reportedly drowning, with hypothermia being a factor. Grant’s family issued a statement in the wake of their son’s death expressing their grief. “The Good Lord, in His infinite wisdom, has called home our beloved son, Alexander Maxwell Grant, in a tragic accident in Saratoga Springs,” read the statement. “We deeply appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of support and sympathy we have received. We are certain that Alex, too, feels the love you have sent out to him.” n
New guidelines will govern student conduct on buses cecilia Provvedini / heights editor
Over 1,000 students attended UGBC’s second annual spring dance Saturday. Co-sponsored by Ecopledge, the event featured the Cataracs.
Performance sells out, ends unexpectedly early By Daniel Tonkovich Heights Editor
Students dressed in whites and neons filled the Plex on Saturday evening for UGBC and Ecopledge’s “Raging Earth” spring dance featuring the Cataracs. Over 1,000 students attended the sold-out event. “Overall the event went pretty well,” said Michael Kitlas, UGBC director of campus entertainment. “We chose the Cataracs because
they matched the high-energy music that students wanted to dance to. From my conversations with students, they enjoyed the event. I think it was a success.” The Cataracs, however, popularized with songs such as “Like a G6” and “Bass Down Low,” ended their performance unexpectedly early for unknown reasons. Opening act DJ Dubs entertained the crowd for the remainder of the event after the premature ending of the featured act.
“[The Cataracs] did play a bit shorter set than we expected,” said Mark Miceli, associate director of student programs. “Their road manager said they played their normal set length. We disagreed a bit on how long they were actually on stage for. He also said they mashed in their new material into their regular play list instead of adding to the show to increase the set time.”
See Cataracs, A4
Alumni career services diminished Graduates five years removed feel effect
By Daniel Tonkovich Heights Editor
In response to safety and student conduct concerns surrounding the Boston College shuttle bus system, BC officials will soon be implementing guidelines governing the conduct of shuttle passengers. The new guidelines prohibit a variety of activities on the buses, including physically aggressive behavior or contact with passengers or drivers; blocking, leaning on, or holding open doors; damaging the buses; possession of open alcohol containers; and smoking. “Concerns voiced and publicized about the safety of the shuttle bus system prompted administrators to discuss the issues and institute a mechanism to curb potentially unsafe behavior while onboard the buses,” said Brent Ericson, associate dean for community standards. “The guidelines work to correct the unpleasant experiences drivers and passengers sometimes have on the system, usually during the late night weekend shuttles. They will help to create an enjoyable experience for everyone using the system.” Failure to adhere to the guidelines will result in removal from the shuttle, referral to the Student Conduct System for administrative or disciplinary action, or possibly prohibition from further use of the shuttle. The complete list of prohibited ac-
tivities and possible disciplinary action resulting from violations will be posted on the shuttles. Ericson said that drivers will be responsible for reporting violators to the BCPD who will forward information to the Office of the Dean for Student Development (ODSD) for follow up. The creation of the policy involved both students and administrators. “The document was drafted several times this semester to reflect opinions expressed by ODSD, BCPD, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, and Transportation and Parking, as well as at the Student Conduct Board, and UGBC’s Students Rights Committee,” Ericson said. “The final draft reflects feedback from all the departments and was positively received by the students involved in the process.” Ericson claimed that the new regulations will not only improve the experience, but also reduce system delays, especially during peek weekend times of use. “I believe the policies will make the riding experience more enjoyable for all,” he said. “I believe all agree the conduct rules are appropriate and reasonable. They are designed to reduce disturbances for riders, distractions for drivers, and in so doing, limit delays caused by disturbances and distractions. The regulations are not unreasonable. They are common
See Bus Conduct, A4
Groups prepare for Showdown
By Rebecca Kailus Heights Staff
During one of the most difficult economic times in recent history, the Career Center will discontinue its counseling services for alumni five years removed from the university. In the past, the Career Center has offered resources to assist alumni in their job search. In addition to offering links to job listing and networking on their website, the Career Center also offered counseling for these individuals. However, due to a new university policy, counseling services through the Career Center have been discontinued for individuals who aren’t current students or graduates of the past five years. Sheilah Shaw Horton, dean for student development, said that while counseling has been discontinued for graduates past five years of their graduation date, the University has continued to provide alumni with career services. “The insinuation that BC has ended its career services for alumni out more than five years is inaccurate,” Horton said. “The University will continue to serve its alumni. In response to growing demand, however, we are reshaping the Career Center to make it more effective in its outreach to students.” Horton said the new policy that has limited Career Counseling Services is the
See Alumni, A4
cecilia provvedini / heights editor
Middlemarch, a 30-year-old O’Connell House tradition, accommodated 300 students this year.
Nickelodeon theme inspires this year’s Middlemarch By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
Middlemarch, the annual dance held in O’Connell House, took place Saturday night. The dance, which accommodated 300 students who won the opportunity to buy tickets through a scavenger hunt, was Nickelodeon-themed. The dance, which has been a University tradition for over 30 years, has a different theme each year. The five managers of the O’Connell House, three undergraduate and two graduate students, meet to decide the theme. The managers base their decision on what theme they think students would be able to creatively dress up for. Last year, the theme was “Harry Potter.” “We pretty much just brainstorm until we come up with one we all like,” said Kai-
tlyn Moran, manager of O’Connell House and GLSOE ’11. The funding for the dance comes entirely out of the O’Connell House budget. Recently, the dance’s funds allocated to Middlemarch have been cut. Moran declined to comment on how much Middlemarch cost. “We’ve reduced the cost and still put on a great dance,” Moran said. “It was too extravagant before, really. We can still do a lot of things with the money that we have.” The number of tickets available varies year by year depending on which rooms in the O’Connell House are utilized. This year, the capacity was slightly smaller than usual, Moran said. To get tickets, students attend the theme announcement, which occurred
See Middlemarch, A4
kylie montero / heights staff
Members of the popular on-campus dance group, Synergy, spread the word about next Saturday’s ALC Showdown, one of BC’s most widely attended events, in Conte Forum.
TopFive
The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
things to do on campus this week
Political Indifference Lecture
Clough Colloquium Event
Monday Time: 4 p.m. Location: Higgins 225 Attend a lecture by William R. Clark, a professor from the University of Michigan, as he talks about his research on political institutions and their lack of indifference.
Monday Time: 4 p.m. Location: Robsham Listen to Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author talk about her book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln and Presidential Historian.
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Financial Crisis Lecture
Women Getting Even
Vicki Kennedy Speech
Monday Time: 4:45 p.m. Location: Devlin 008 Come listen to a talk by Mark Blyth, a professor at Brown University, as he speaks about the financial crisis and its long-run causes and issues. Admission is free.
Tuesday Time: 5 p.m. Location: Fulton 230 Hear Evelyn Murphy give a presentation called “Getting Even: Why women don’t get paid like men--and what to do about it,” sponsored by the Women and Gender Studies Program.
Tuesday Time: 6 p.m. Location: The Rat Experience Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who will be speaking about her Catholic faith and how it influenced her political beliefs.
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featured on campus
Dining hosts Meatless Mondays
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IntheNews A University of Colorado at Boulder graduate student resigned his post as diversity director of the student government after posting comments on a blog that were considered to be sexist. On a blog called stupidhumanbeings.com, the philosophy student stated that “women are not as smart as men,” among other comments. The student claimed that the posts, which were written before his work on the student government, were satirical, however student government leaders still asked for his resignation.
Local News Teenagers charged with fatal beating and stabbing of victim
Courtesy of sara davey
By Jacob Bajada For The Heights
This past week, Boston College Dining Services held its first sequence of sustainable dining initiatives in Lower Dining Hall as a part of its Green Dining Hall Series. The series, which will be held again this week in Carney Dining Hall and again in Stuart Hall the week after, promotes sustainability to students by offering them more environmentally-friendly dining options in addition to giving discounts for using reusable containers. “Meatless Monday,” the first sustainable event of the series, was instituted in an attempt to reduce the carbon emissions associated with the meat industry by offering primarily vegetarian options for one night in the dining hall. Julianne Hall, one of the UGBC directors of sustainability and A&S ’13, emphasized why it is important for the student body to partake in this event. “When people are eating their steak and cheese sandwiches, they tend not to think of the land that was required for that cow to graze, or the thousands of gallons that went into producing the corn or grass that the cow ate,” Hall said. “Now that we’re growing as a population at an incredibly high rate and our appetite for meat is increasing, humans are taking extreme measures to continue producing enough meat to feed the masses.”
To raise awareness for these issues, UGBC collaborated with Dining Services in order to put together a menu that could accommodate those who were both willing and unwilling to participate in the effort. D ale y Gr uen, the other UGBC director of sustainability and A&S ’11, explained how this idea became a reality. “We asked Dining to allow us to try Meatless Monday for one day, for one meal, in one dining hall,” Gruen said. “We did, however, include meat in the ‘grab and go’ section and upstairs in Addie’s in case people couldn’t go without it. They put together an amazing menu with awesome alternatives to meat that the majority of diners enjoyed or didn’t even notice.” Meatless Monday was just one of many initiatives offered by the dining hall throughout the week. On Tuesday, the dining hall offered a “The Loft on Tour” special in which food regularly served in Addie’s, a dining location that focuses on providing local, sustainable options, was also ser ved in Lower Live. Other events that were featured during the week included “Eat on China Wednesday,” which offered students a fiftycent discount for using a plate instead of a to-go container, and “BYO Container Thursday,” which promoted the use of re-usable containers by giving away free juice or soda to those that used them. The efforts made throughout the week are a part of BC’s
first-ever “Green Month,” a collaborative project devised by UGBC, Ecopledge, and other organizations to advocate sustainability on campus. BC has endorsed a “Green Week” for the past two years, however, this year marks the first time that a month has been dedicated to the cause. Not all students were receptive to the changes made in the dining hall throughout the week, however. Gruen explained the attitude of some in response to Meatless Monday’s change of menu. “There was, of course, the small minority who couldn’t handle 40 minutes without meat or walking all the way upstairs to Addie’s, and were disappointingly quite rude to the dining staff and our Green Month volunteers because of it,” he noted. “Personally, I was a little embarrassed by their behavior, given the real issues people around the world are actually facing.” Despite this, the general response appeared to reflect a growing awareness for the importance of sustainability on campus. Ali Grewe, A&S ’13, supported the efforts made in Lower throughout the week. “I think that if BC takes the step towards a world that is more sustainable then it will set an example for other colleges,” Grewe said. “We are the future of our country and we need to start educating people at lower levels to try to fix the system that we are in.” n
Today
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friday
48° Partly Cloudy 30°
saturday
41° Rain/Snow
University Sexist blog comments force U. Colorado student to resign post
Dining Services’ Green Dining Hall Series looks to promote sustainability by having Meatless Mondays in the dining halls.
Four Day Weather Forecast
After an arraignment hearing in Salem on Friday, two Beverly teenagers were ordered held without bail. The teens were held on charges that they fatally beat and stabbed a 26-year-old man the previous night in a Beverly playground. Although one of the teenager’s attornies stated that he expects both suspects to be acquitted, police allege that the teens beat and stabbed the victim and an eye witness told police that the victim was also hit with a bat. The victim was taken to Beverly Hospital, but died shortly after.
On Campus Academic challenge reality show seeks Boston College participants A new NESN reality show, Schooled, will be holding casting calls on Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22 for BC students interested in competing against other college students in academic and intelligence-based challenges. The show will feature teams from eight different New England universities, BC, BU, UConn, Maine, UMass Amherst, Northeastern, Providence, and Vermont, with each winning team advancing in a tournament-style bracket. The show is seeking BC freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to participate.
National New measure seeks to up sentences for prisoners using Facebook COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Islam Dunn updates his Facebook page with a phone like so many other 19year-olds, only he must hide the device so the prison guards don’t notice. The proliferation of cell phones smuggled into prisons has some inmates routinely updating their status from the inside, and South Carolina is considering becoming the first state to make that a crime. The measure would add 30 days to a prisoner’s sentence if he is caught interacting on social networking sites via cell phone.
31°
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Source: National Weather Service
A Guide to Your Newspaper The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467 Editor-in-Chief (617) 552-2223 Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Marketplace Desk (617) 552-3548 Features Desk (617) 552-3548 Arts Desk (617) 552-0515 Photo (617) 552-1022 Fax (617) 552-4823 Business and Operations General Manager (617) 552-0169 Advertising (617) 552-2220 Business and Circulation (617) 552-0547 Classifieds and Collections (617) 552-0364 Fax (617) 552-1753 EDITORIAL RESOURCES News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call Taylour Kumpf, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or e-mail news@bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk. Sports Scores Want to report the results of a game? Call Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor, at (617) 552-0189, or e-mail sports@bcheights.com. Arts Events The Heights covers a multitude of events both on and off campus – including concerts, movies, theatrical performances, and more. Call Darren Ranck, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or e-mail arts@ bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the Arts Desk. Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights standards and practices, you may contact Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or e-mail editor@ bcheights.com. CUSTOMER SERVICE
Police Blotter 3/16/11 – 3/18/11 Wednesday, Mar. 16 2:43 p.m. – A report was filed at Devlin Hall regarding an e-mail that contained threats to commit a crime. A detective is investigating. 3:22 p.m. – A report was filed regarding assistance provided to a subject in the Lower Lots who was upset and screaming. The subject was calmed down and was sent on their way once the issue was resolved. 4:36 p.m. – A report was filed regarding offensive graffiti/vandalism to Boston College property in Carney Hall. A detective is investigating. 10:02 p.m. – A report was filed regarding a past larceny in Conte Forum. A detective is investigating
Thursday, Mar. 17 10:02 a.m. – A report was filed regarding a past assault and battery on the Brighton Campus Fields. A detective is investigating. 4:13 p.m. – A report was filed regarding a a motor vehicle operator that accidentally struck the parking arm in the Common wealth garage. A work order was filed.
4:35 p.m. – A report was filed regarding students observed on a roof. Upon investigation, the subjects were determined to be contractors. 5:55 p.m. – A report was filed regarding the confiscation of alcohol from two underage subjects in the Mods. A report will be forwarded to ODSD for review.
Voices from the Dustbowl “Who do you think will win the NCAA basketball tournament?” “Duke.” —Anita Goyal, A&S ’14
6:22 p.m. – A report was filed regarding a motor vehicle accident with personal injury. Boston Fire, State Police, Armstrong Ambulance, and Boston EMS arrived on scene to investigate the accident and treat the injured subjects. Three subjects were transported to a medical facility. 11:46 p.m. – A report was filed regarding the arrest of a suspect for malicious destruction of property. The subject was booked and processed at BCPD Headquarters.
—Source: The Boston College Police Department
Advertising The Heights is one of the most effective ways to reach the BC community. To submit a classified, display, or online advertisement, call our advertising office at (617) 552-2220 Monday through Friday.
The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2011. All rights reserved. “Notre Dame, but Ohio State looks good.” —Yelsen Francois, A&S ’14
Friday, Mar. 18 12:14 a.m. – A report was filed regarding a subject operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol. The vehicle was towed and a sober adult subject arrived on scene to take custody of the operator.
Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact Dan Ottaunick, General Manager at (617) 552-0547.
“Duke.” —Brian Lynch,
A&S ’11
CORRECTIONS Please send corrections to editor@bcheights.com with ‘correction’ in the subject line.
The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
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South Boston CSON, CSOM, and LSOE grad programs festivities a rise in ‘US News & World Report’ rankings must for BC By Taylour Kumpf News Editor
Matthew DeLuca For all practical purposes, about half of yesterday’s St. Patrick’s Day paradegoers were packed into one of three lines inside a Burger King along the Broadway parade route. One line was for the ladies’ room, a parallel line was for the men’s, and cutting across the two from the front door to the counter was a line of people wearing green who’d decided that nothing would do like large fries and a shake to ease a stomach queasy with Arthur Guinness’ finest. Yesterday’s parade in South Boston had many highlights, I’m sure, about which I know nothing. My friends and I were stationed five or so blocks away from the Broadway Station, where the parade starts, and got there right as the action got underway. Perhaps the tenor for the parade was set when the first Stormtrooper waved to me. I don’t have any significant Irish heritage of which I am aware. My IrishAmerican credentials basically rest on the fact that I know when to bang on the table during the chorus to “Wild Rover.” I’m very much an outsider in South Boston, and while I watched the parade I wondered just how much of what I was seeing was something real and how much was a product of the hype of being the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the country. What I decided as I watched the parade was that it was neither, while perhaps a little bit of both. It’s ridiculous to ask how Irish the parade is. Most of the people in the parade or along the route are third or fourth generation Irish, I imagine. St. Patrick’s Day parades of the South Boston type are an American, not an Irish, phenomenon. There are moments when even the most outside of the outside viewers can see that there is a connection between the parade and the South Boston community, as when a woman ran out of the crowd and jumped into the arms of a fireman parading by. Then there are some things that are plain odd, in a way that makes one wonder what the process is to get onto the parade roster in the first place. The Cycling Murrays, for example, consists of three sisters, their parents, and their grandmother. They’ve apparently been cycling in parades in the New England area since 1987. They bring their dogs on the parade route. A man standing behind me had some excellent drunken commentary going. “Hey, Grandma!” he called out to the elderly woman driving the family van behind her brood of unicyclists. “Oh, wait, it says Grandma on the car door! Hey, Grandma!” For some of the parade participants, Irish heritage seemed like a pretext more than anything else. The members of Jim Kilroy’s Jambalaya Jazz Band were clearly the kind of guys who would rather swing over a riffin’ double bass than discuss centuries-old interreligious turmoil. And the members of what I can only presume was a truck driver’s union who maneuvered manically around on miniature versions of their big rigs didn’t even bother to throw green beads into the crowd. The Star Wars characters represented the 501st New England Garrison, a group of fully-grown and mentally stable adults who dress up for their own enjoyment but mostly to entertain children in local hospitals and perform other charity work. My one beef, perhaps, with the Irishness of the whole shebang was that all of the troops of bagpipers I heard except for one played “Scotland the Brave.” Yes, it is a very rousing theme. Yes, the melody is recognizable the world over. And yes, every time I hear it I want to grab a claymore and lead my clansmen across a moor to drive out our oppressors and reinstate the Bonnie Prince. But enough is enough. All Boston College students should go out to see the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade at least once during their four years in a city that likes to call itself America’s most Irish. You should go because it is fun, primarily, but also because it’s good to get out into some of the neighborhoods of Boston, away from areas like Newbury Street, and into an area where the policemen in the parade might march down the same streets they grew up on. And if they’re preceded by some dude and his kid in their replica of a Tatooinean landspeeder, all the better.
Matthew DeLuca is a columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at editor@bcheights.com
The University’s graduate programs surged upward in the rankings of elite national universities released Monday by U.S. News & World Report. The Connell School of Nursing (CSON) climbed five places in the rankings to 21st, while the Carroll School of Management (CSOM) moved up five places to 34th. The Lynch School of Education (LSOE) moved up four places to 15th on the list of graduate education programs, its highest ranking in 15 years. Further, LSOE held its position as the top-ranked program among Catholic universities. B oston College L aw School advanced one spot to 27th. The economics department’s doctoral program ranked 31st, the highest ranking among the University ’s PhD programs . In the sciences, the chemistry department ranked 45th in the U.S. The Graduate School of Social Work, a program that was not reviewed this year, ranks 14th in the country. Cutberto Garza, provost and dean of faculties, praised the work of faculty and staff and credited a range of strategic initiatives in the University’s graduate and professional programs. “The latest set of rankings confirm what is widely recognized – the excellence of these Boston College professional schools, the ‘across-the-board’ strength of the University’s graduate and professional programs, and our shared determination to continue our rise among institutions of higher education,” Garza said in a recent statement. Andrew Boynton, dean of CSOM, said, in the same statement, that he was thrilled by the recognition earned by the University’s graduate management programs. “Our MBA is nothing less than a bright jewel of a remarkable
program – small and flexible, encouraging personalized learning and career de velopment , enriche d w ith re alworld company-based project work, energized by outstanding faculty, and attended by experienced and talented students,” Boynton said. “Given all that, our continued rise in the rankings is well earned.” Jeffrey Ringuest, associate dean for graduate programs in CSOM, said the U.S. News rankings confirm the high regard for the program reflected in additional business school rankings in BusinessWeek and Financial Times. “This uptick in the rankings is a result of the hard work of our staff and faculty and a reflection of the quality of our programs and students,” Ringuest said in the statement. “It’s gratifying that U.S. News, BusinessWeek, and the Financial Times all recognize our programs as being among the very best.” Maureen Kenny, interim dean of LSOE, said the rankings reflect the concerted efforts of faculty, staff, students, and alumni on furthering the Lynch School’s mission of service to all children and social justice. “The strength and impact of the Lynch School is confirmed this year as we remain the highest rated program among Catholic universities and one the very best programs among all universities,” Kenny said in the recent statement. “We welcome this recognition of our outstanding faculty, students, staff, and alumni who keep the mission of service and social justice at the core of their education, outreach, research, and practice.” Kenny also commended programs within the school that were rated among the best in the country, including Elementary Teacher Education, which ranked 16th, and Student Counseling and Personnel Services, which ranked 17th.
George Brown, interim dean of BC Law, welcomed the school’s improved ranking, but said we are not done improving a range of programs and services for students. “This is a reflection of a lot of hard work by a number of people,” Brown said in the statement. “We have put many important initiatives in place during the past several years, aimed at strengthening the school, including hiring more faculty, creating more job opportunities for our students, and increasing our available scholarship money.” Susan Gennaro, dean of CSON, said the school’s graduate programs have benefited from the addition of new faculty, who have added to the high quality of teaching and research in nursing science. In addition, the school has pushed to provide its graduate students with global opportunities for study and research. “The ranking is foremost a reflection of our excellent faculty,” Gennaro said in the statement. “In addition to that, we have absolutely fantastic programs and we are in one of the leading health science centers in the world. People who come here as graduate students get a world-class education.” n
photo courtesy of news and public affairs
Women’s History Month events begin By Adriana Mariella Assoc. News Editor
The Women’s and Gender Studies Program of Boston College will be sponsoring a host of events this month in honor of Women’s History Month, which is celebrated in March. The histor y month, first nationally recognized in 1987 after being expanded from a week, will be celebrated at BC by not only acknowledging the accomplishments of women but also by taking steps to solve current issues facing women and focusing on the future, said Sharlene Hesse-Biber, director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. The month will feature a variety of film screenings, presentations, and lecture opportunities. “I think we have an unbelievable set of events that cover a range of women and gender issues,” she said. “One of our main speaker presentations that we are sponsoring with a lot of help and money from the University is the Macho Paradox, and this is by a man, Jackson Katz who has done an incredible documentary called Tough Guys, which I show in all of my classes, which shows how men are raised in a sort of macho culture.” This, Hesse-Biber said, is important in a culture where violence is so widespread. “Violence against women is a huge issue that we want to continually look at and try to think about ways of reaching the population of college students in a way that people do not get defensive,” she said. “Jackson Katz really tries to figure out why some men hurt women and how men can be allies to women. The idea is, let’s reach across the gender gap and let’s work together to solve the problem.” Hesse-Biber said that another goal of the month is to work on the relationships of men and women as authentic human beings, rather than focusing
on the scripts handed to both genders by society. “We’re given these scripts by our culture, but we can change it,” she said. “We can vary it, not everybody is the same. And if you follow this strict strip, it’s going to lead you down a path that’s pretty violent and is one where the amount of time that men and women relate to each other as authentic human beings isn’t great. We’re trying to get at what it means to be in relation with each other as people, without having to follow these scripts. For example, the hooking up script, the eating disorder script, the attractive script.” “What are women’s dreams, what do women want?” she said. “What do they want outside of what capitalism wants them to want?” She said that these issues are very relatable on the BC campus. “How do we relate to one another as men and women?” she said. “Where are there moments where men and women come together to relate to one another outside of alcohol?” The partying culture of BC fuels the issue, Hesse Biber said. “I ask my students what they do on the weekend and they say go to a party, wake up the next day, and I don’t know if that’s true,” she said, “but if you think that that’s true that everybody is doing it, that encourages the problem.” Th e p r o g r a m w i l l co mp l e m e nt C . A . R . E . ( C o n ce r n e d Ab o u t R ap e Education) Week , sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center, which will take place this month. “We know there is violence on campus, we know there is rape on campus,” she said. “We partnered with C.A.R.E. week so we can insert some of our own events into these larger campus events.” The program has also collaborated with MIT’s “Women Take the Reel,” a film series in honor of Women’s History Month, by sponsoring two films
on the BC campus. In addition, it is co-sponsoring a presentation with the theology department about the legacy of Mary Daly, and helped to sponsor a film screening in Coolidge Corner called Orgasm, Inc. The program is also focusing on the historical contributions of women, by helping to honor the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, among other events in women’s history. “This was a severe loss of life that launched the labor movement, and women’s contribution to the labor movement is often brushed aside,” she said. “So with something like this, we are getting at the subjugated knowledge, getting at the contributions [of women]. Women’s History Month is about getting at knowledge that has been buried or forgotten. It is about all of those contributions and the contributions of significant women that make our lives better, stronger, and richer. We are all on the shoulders of all of these women who paved the way for us.” Finally, she said that the month needs to focus on the future and remind people that the fight for women isn’t over. “Many people say that feminism is over, we don’t have to worry about it, its passé. But [this month is about] reclaiming and keeping the term because I think that it’s important,” she said. “I’d say that the biggest inequalities today are gender [combined with race, class, religion, etc.], we still have so much work to do. The state of women, of all races, all ethnicities, is the biggest inequality ever.” She also said that this month is about equality and providing women with access to whatever they desire to achieve in life, rather than conflict with me. “It’s about social justice. It’s about equity, it’s about equality,” she said. “It’s my job to empower [women] to be what they want to be, to empower their dreams.” n
BC graduate to run Boston marathon Alum runs marathon to fundraise Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
Three runners, including Ben Applegate, BC ’10, will be participating in the Boston Marathon to raise money for the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (MBPH), according to a recent statement from MBPH. Applegate, the MBHP Rental Assistant Program Representative, will be running along with Hector Cruz, Winn Management Property Manager, and Steve Laferriere, Watertown Community Housing Senior Housing Project Manager. The group captain and trainer is Jesse Edsell-Vetter, MBHP
case management specialist. They have pledged to raise $15,000. MBPH is the largest regional provider of rental housing assistance, and it works to make sure middle and low-income families can find adequate housing, according to the release. Applegate worked with MBPH through the PULSE program, and was hired in June 2010. His fundraising efforts include a family-and-friends mail campaign, a Facebook following, and a dessert buffet special event. “Affordable housing has been an issue that has been important to me for many years, and I really believe in the work we do at MBHP,” Applegate
said in the statement. “Being a part of Team MBHP will be a chance to help further the agency’s cause.” Cruz is a Shrewsbury, Mass. resident and veteran marathon runner who fundraised for MBPH in the 2009 Boston Marathon, raising over $7,000. Laferriere, of Jamaica Plain, heard of MBPH’s fundraising efforts a few years ago and decided that he would eventually like to run the marathon for MBPH. “I believe that now is the perfect time to raise money for the important work MBHP does and to accomplish a lifelong goal of running the Boston Marathon,” Laferriere said. n
photo courtesy of news and public affairs
O’Keefe declines position Former LSOE dean declines position at St. Joseph’s University citing health issues By Taylour Kumpf News Editor
Rev. Joseph O’Keefe, S.J., former dean of the Lynch School of Education, has announced that he will not be assuming the presidency of St. Joseph’s University after a physical examination revealed serious cardiovascular issues that his doctors have said will preclude his service. In a letter to LSOE faculty and staff, and the greater Boston College community, O’Keefe said that a physical, mandated by the St. Joseph’s Board of Trustees, revealed issues that required immediate medical attention, and that, in consultation with his physician and the Provincial of the New England Province of Jesuits, he would not be able to assume the role. “With great sadness and regret, I have informed Saint Joseph’s University that I will not be moving forward,” O’Keefe said in a recent statement. “This is particularly painful because I was so enthusiastic about this position and found such a gracious and warm welcome from the entire St. Joseph’s community.” O’Keefe said that after a stress test on March 11, he would engage in a multifaceted wellness plan that will include a residential stay at the Duke University’s Weight Loss Clinic or a similar facility. He will be on sabbatical from BC for the 2011-2012 academic year, and then he will return to the Lynch School as a fulltime faculty member in September 2012. “I am grateful for your encouragement in the past, and I ask for your continued prayerful support as I begin this next phase of my life,” he said. “As I face my medical challenges, the thought of your friendship and prayers is deeply consoling.” In a letter to the St Joseph’s University community, Board Chairman Paul Hondros said, “I know you are as deeply disappointed as I am that we will not be welcoming Father O’Keefe to our campus as our next president. I know, too, that you join me in extending heartfelt prayers to Fr. O’Keefe for his complete recovery at this difficult time.” n
MBTA service increases Green line to use more three car trains By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will be increasing its Green Line service effective today, according to a recent statement by the MBTA. The number of three-car trains will increase from 13 to 32 trips per day. This increase is designed to make commuting more comfortable for those already utilizing MBTA services and to accommodate new riders, said Richard Davey, MBTA general manager. In addition to the increases in threecar trains on the B and D lines, the MBTA is introducing three-car trains to the E line for the first time. Three-car trains were reintroduced to the Green Line last year for the first time in many years. These changes come in response to customer complaints that the existing trains lack enough capacity for the riders, which number to about 200,000 each weekday. “As I’ve talked with Green Line customers over the past year, train capacity is an issue that is frequently raised,” Davey said in a statement. “We have received that message loud and clear, and the MBTA is responding.” n
The Heights
A4
Monday, March 21, 2011
Student conduct reportedly not a major issue at Saturday’s show
cecilia provvedini / heights editor
Based on a positive response to Girl Talk last year, UGBC’s campus entertainment department worked together with Ecopledge to bring a similar event to campus this spring. The dance was also used to celebrate BC Green Month.
Cataracs, from A1 The event marked the second annual spring dance at the Plex. Last year, popular mash-up artist Girl Talk performed for the dance. New this year, in addition to hosting a popular artist, the event was branded to promote campus initiatives, celebrating BC Green Month and Earth Hour between the open-
ing and main acts with program announcements. “There was a very positive response to Girl Talk last year, so we wanted to continue the event and give students another event to look forward to,” Kitlas said. “Thankfully, our budget allowed for a similar event this year, so we made it happen. We also used it as a platform to promote ongoing initiatives.” Despite the event being hosted on Saturday, stu-
dent conduct did not appear to be a major issue. While official numbers are not yet available, approximately 17 students were treated for a variety medical reasons with more seriously affected students transported to local hospitals, according to estimates from the Student Programs Office (SPO). “I think overall the event went well,” Miceli said. “The event sold out with 1,100 students attending.
The UGBC and Student Programs Office had no major issues at the event and worked closely with the Boston College Police Department, Team Ops, and Eagle EMS to ensure a safe environment.” “Students were kept safe at the event while having fun,” Kitlas said. “If students continue to show maturity at events, it helps us when proposing entertainment events to administration.” n
Shuttle concerns addressed Bus Conduct, from A1 courtesies that should be extended to all. However, my hope is that students ask one another to refrain from conduct to avoid incidents. The notion of community
standards is that we all hold each other accountable for our actions to create an environment that respects everyone.” Paul Cappadonna, manager of Transportation and Parking, did not respond to requests for an interview. n
Small impact felt by alumni Alumni, from A1 result of recommendations made by the University Administrative Program Review, which said that it was more necessary to focus on current students. “Last fall, the University Administrative Program Review process provided the Career Center with an opportunity to review it services,” she said. “In light of the Center’s limited staffing, it was determined that since students are the primary constituents, the Center must focus its services on them,” Horton said that the new policy is in part due to nature of how the recession has impacted students. “The recession had an impact on students because fewer employers were able to recruit on campus,” she said. “Students needed more counseling and strategies to job search during the recession. The wait list for students to receive counseling was continuing to grow and students were required to wait up to two weeks for counseling appointments. We needed to focus our counseling services on our students to meet their needs.” In addition, the new policy also better first with the structure of the Career Center. “The career development model upon which the Career Center is based, is geared toward establishing new careers, and therefore is appropriate for the new graduate and young alumni,” Horton said. “We are collecting data to determine how many alumni beyond the five years are seeking counseling and we are working with the Alumni Association to develop programs and services that will meet their needs.”
Though counseling services have been discontinued for alumni past five years of graduation, Horton said that the Career Center continues to offer other resources to alumni to assist them in their job search. “It is important to note however, that we continue to direct alumni five years out to web-based resources and other information that is available in the Center,” Horton said. “We expect that they will be able to utilize these resources effectively and we are willing to offer some assistance navigating the web.” In addition to the Career Center, Horton said that the Alumni Association is filling the gap left by this new policy. “Boston College still offers many career-related opportunities to alumni through the Alumni Association and through the respective schools,” she said. “The only thing that has changed is our ability to offer one-on-one counseling to alumni who graduated more than five years ago, and that issue is being addressed and will be resolved through other means.” Although discontinuing counseling services is a change, Horton said not many alumni utilized this service, and thus, it will not have a huge impact on alumni. “In general, this decision shouldn’t have a major impact on alumni because there was not a significant number of alumni beyond five years seeking counseling services through the Career Center,” she said. “Additionally, the Alumni Association is currently working on a plan to deliver counseling services to alumni who need such support.” n
cecilia provvedini / heights editor
Students (above) donned outfits resembling their favorite Nickelodeon characters. A committee of 60 students planned the traditional event.
Despite budget cuts, dance was a success Middlemarch, from A1 on Feb. 9, where they received copies of the scavenger hunt. Tickets were then available for purchase after students turned in the scavenger hunt to the Student Programs Office (SPO), and each of the 150 students who win are allowed to buy two tickets. The exclusivity depends on how many students turn in the scavenger hunt, Moran said. This year, the event sold out, though there were tickets available to all those who turned in the scavenger hunt. Tickets left over after the first 150 are given out by raffle,
and then offered to students who completed the scavenger hunt. In addition to the managers, a group of about 60 students from all four class years comprise the decorating committee. The group meets weekly for about six weeks prior to the dance. Each room of the dance was to commemorate a different Nickelodeon show, including Rugrats, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and The Wild Thornberrys. “They put in so much work, especially the two days before the dance,” Moran said. “We, as managers, really appreciate their help. We couldn’t have done it without
them.” Ryan Kennedy, a member of the decorating committee and A&S ’13, enjoyed seeing the final product of the group’s work. He dressed as a fairy godparent from The Fairly OddParents. “I thought [the theme] was great,” he said. “It’s cool to see it come together.” Elizabeth Sierocinski, A&S ’13, dressed as Helga from Hey Arnold! Her roommate, a member of the decorating committee, helped her pick her costume. “The theme is great,” she said. “Everyone did really creative things.” n
CLASSIFIEDS
A5
The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
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announcement UPCOMING LECTURE from Mark Blyth, Professor of international political economics in the department of political science at Brown University. His academic work has appeared in many different journals and his popular writings have appeared in venues such as the Huffington Post, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. Lecture title: “The Global Financial Crisis: Long Run Causes and Long Term Issues.” March 21, 2011. 4:45p.m. Devlin 008 auditorium. General public, undergraduate, graduate, faculty welcome.
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The Heights
A6
Monday, March 21, 2011
Editorials
When a short-term loss yields a long-term gain The Boston College Career Center’s decision to discontinue some alumni services reflects an intensified focus on helping undergrads The Career Center has made the decision to stop offering career counseling to Boston College alums more than five years out of the University. This is a decision that The Heights supports as it allows the center to be more dedicated to its main mission: to aid current undergraduate students with finding venues to apply the skills they’ve gained through their studies at BC. With this decision to cut services for older alumni, the Career Center is intensifying its efforts to aid students in taking that first, daunting step into the real world: securing their first job. By aiding students in this goal, the Career Center is aiding students in their later years, as well, by helping them insert themselves into the networking world. Once there, students can get career advice comes from colleagues rather than career counselors. Of course, as the many students whohave utilized the Career Center would agree, the best move a student can make
is to establish a strong relationship with the center’s staff and University alumni during their time at BC. If a student is dedicated enough to fostering and strengthening these relationships, it’s not unrealistic to believe they would sustain much longer than five years. Thus, this new initiative puts a charge on students to take advantage of the resources they have at their disposal while it’s the most convenient to do so. Though this change might prove bothersome for those alumni who utilized these services, they represent a small number of persons when compared with the amount of students in the current undergraduate community who could benefit by having the Career Center focus more of its attention on their imminent needs. It is a move that may, at first glance, seem as if the campus is only losing something, but, upon closer examination, students stand to gain much more.
Regarding bus policy, push personal responsibility To regulate student behavior on shuttle buses during the weekends, BC must push responsibility, not just more regulations In a move precipitated by numerous bus driver complaints and safety concerns, the Office of the Dean for Student Development (ODSD), along with the BCPD and the Office of Transportation and Parking, has enacted a new series of behavioral guidelines for students riding the BC shuttle buses. The behavioral guidelines cover a wide variety of misdemeanors commonly found on the shuttle buses, including inflammatory speech, possession of alcohol, or damage to the bus interior. ODSD hopes the guidelines will help accomplish the three goals of the shuttle service: a safe waiting space, a safe ride, and reliable service. The Heights supports these new guidelines as a way to encourage safer and more courteous behavior on the bus, especially on weekends, but we also call on the students to improve their behavior on their own accord. The bus is one of the areas on campus where students, for the most part, are not subject to direct surveillance by BCPD officers or resident assistants. If students take the initiative to act responsibly, they
will increase the amount of trust given from ODSD and limit the need for enforcement. At the same time, if they take the initiative to be more respectful, they can avoid possible punishments proposed by the new guidelines, which include removal from the shuttle, referral to the administration for disciplinary actions and, in extreme cases, prohibition from future use of the shuttle. In the past, a lack of enforcement of current policies has resulted in damages to bus property and injuries to students on board. It is important for both ODSD and BCPD to realize that, without enforcement, these new guidelines will become similarly ignored in time. While it is natural for buses to be more rowdy on weekend nights, there is a point where student behavior endangers the safety of those on board. If students are blatantly ignoring simple guidelines, The Heights feels enforcement at some point is necessary. It is unfair for those enjoying their weekend nights to feel irritated or unsafe because of the actions of students unable to control themselves.
For spring spaces, open your mind, open your Mod As the spring unfolds, students should capitalize on spaces to enjoy the weather and community There is little doubt that Boston College students welcome the arrival of spring. After the first signs of warmer weather emerged from the long winter this past week, we have witnessed a large response from the student body. It is refreshing to see such a large number of students taking advantage of the weather each day, as it is not only a welcome reminder of spring but also a sign of a unified spirit on campus. With 85 percent of the student body residing on campus, there is a large student community conveniently centralized, but it is up to students to take the initiative to step outside their dorms and take advantage of it. The warmer weather is the perfect atmosphere to facilitate meeting new people and fostering a stronger community. Even professors should take a cue from
the outdoor presence of students and consider taking their classes outside for a day. Despite the absence of the Dustbowl, students are noticeably making use of the outdoor space that is available—the patio near Hillside Cafe, the green spaces on Upper, and the backyards of the Mods. For example, this past weekend the inhabitants of the Mods showed their dedication to the tradition of springtime outdoor recreation by choosing to celebrate outside. The spaces where students choose to convene this spring will serve as temporary substitutons for the Dustbowl. Considering the amount of students who have persisted in finding outdoor space, it appears that the future of BC enjoyment will remain strong.
The Heights The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ottaunick, General Manager Hilary Chassé, Managing Editor
Editorial
Clara Kim, Copy Editor Taylour Kumpf, News Editor Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor Kristopher Robinson, Features Editor Darren Ranck, Arts & Review Editor David Cote, Marketplace Editor Ana Lopez, Opinions Editor Dan Tonkovich, Special Projects Editor Alex Trautwig, Photo Editor Lindsay Grossman, Layout Editor Mollie Kolosky, Graphics Editor
Matt laud / Heights Illustration
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR An open letter to the AHANA community It was very much a culture shock for me when I came to Boston College. The daughter of Cambodian immigrants, I grew up in urban Lowell, Mass. Like many freshmen, much of my first year was spent in confusion, trying to figure out who exactly I wanted to be. Eventually I identified as an AHANA student, and even found comfort and pride within the community. Recent events have led me to question this place of comfort. Conversations I would have with another AHANA student about race would rile me up, and often I recognized that I would let it manifest into anger. As I reflect on these conversations, I see that it is not uncommon for many AHANA students to experience something similar. AHANA students have a lot to be angry about. For instance, the AHANA population has grown to 30 percent of the student population since the word’s inception, but the resources for AHANA students have largely stayed the same. However, I cannot help but wonder if for other instances, this anger holds us back. For me, the most notable example comes from this past UGBC presidential election. Before I knew it, the election boiled down to issues concerning race. Though not all AHANA students supported one team, it was clear whom the majority supported. Their support in itself was not the concern. What I was troubled by was how the conversation manifested into AHANA versus white. Very quickly passion became misplaced anger. While each campaign offered differ-
ent platforms, the election quickly became about right vs. wrong. One team was not more right than the other. Unfortunately this became the basis for some people’s decisions. In the end, one of the candidates was unfairly deemed by some a racist. Though many from the other campaign may not have believed it, they certainly implied that of the candidate. From my experience during the campaign, my group of AHANA friends expected me to support one of the teams because I was an AHANA student. This expectation led me to feel as though the AHANA community really was not a community to begin with. A community should respect difference, but in this case doing something differently from the majority of the AHANA population made them look at me differently, sometimes disparagingly. I felt not only the disappointment in their voices but also their anger through their actions. As a result, I felt isolated within the AHANA population. Part of that was my fault. I did not engage in conversations with them when they questioned my support for the opposing team. However, responsibility also lies with the overwhelming number of AHANA students that supported the other team. They made me feel like I let them down for “wearing the wrong color” and being on the “wrong side.” The people I felt most comfortable with, the people I trusted the most made me feel like an outsider. Though I can only speak from my experiences, I do not doubt
that other students felt this way too. Our anger symbolizes how much passion we, as AHANA students, have for our beliefs, but it has also shown how we can be a hindrance to our progress. What have we done with our anger? We usually express it to another AHANA student giving us a chance to bond over similar plights. However, that is where we usually stop. Our anger does not translate into progress. What we should be doing is making what it means to be an AHANA student a learning experience for white students and the same thing must be done vice versa. Just as much as being a student of color is the world that we AHANA students know, being a white student is the world that white students know. I think AHANA students can easily forget that “whiteness” is an identity and there is plenty to learn from a white student’s experience. In the end, I did not write this piece to criticize AHANA students. I wrote it to offer a different paradigm through which we can approach things. As AHANA students, we often highlight what BC lacks. Maybe we should start looking at the things that we have to help close the gaps. As Marianne Williamson once said, “In every community, there is work to be done … in every heart, there is the power to do it.” I believe that all BC students have that power; we just have to get past the anger. Sue Ly LSOE ’13
Remembering to serve with an open mind In response to “Service Trips: serving who, exactly?” by Marye Moran, Feb. 24, 2011: I am a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and more importantly, a returning member of Appalachia volunteers. I just read your article in the Feb. 24 issue of The Heights and wanted to commend you for keeping an open mind on your Appalachia service trip. I simply wanted to let you know that I was also frustrated over many facets of Appalachia volunteers
last year before I embarked on my Appalachia service trip. You’re absolutely right in thinking that it is counter-intuitive to lend a hand to a community that can probably help themselves better than you can. But you seem to be touching upon some greater themes of an Appalachia service trip, which I hope will take precedence in your Appalachia experience. Although it seems like you were already planning on doing so, I encourage you to interact with the members of your site as much as possible. Also be sure to discuss
Readers Note: The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 200 words and column submissions that do not exceed 700 words for its op/ed pages. The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted
your thoughts and experiences with your group members, and especially with your trip leaders. Every person, group and site is different so I will leave you to figure things out for yourself. But you raised some interesting points about Appalachia Volunteers and I simply wanted to tell you that you seem to be on the right track in making the most of your Appalachia service trip. Samuel Hwang A&S ’12
to the newspaper. Submissions must be signed and should include the author’s connection to Boston College, address, and phone number. Letters and columns can be submitted online at www.bcheights.com, by e-mail to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.
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The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
A7
Opinions
Thumbs Up Rebecca Black – If you’re not one of the 26,350,651 people who’ve already seen this lyrical genius’ music video, “Friday,” move out of hiding and join the living. For those of you who have looked and are looking for something else to feed your need for Miss Black, watch her highly uncomfortable, borderline offensive interview with Good Morning America. Spring – Has sprung! All hail to the best season of the year-the days of sundresses, the birthdays of Geminis worldwide, and lounging out in the Dustbowl. Oh wait … too soon. Well, let’s hope the slope in front of Higgins can pull through and do the job of two in these final two months. Hockey East Champs – Congrats to Jerry York and his boys on another successful trip to the TD Garden this past weekend, culminating in a Hockey East tournament championship for BC with wins over Northeastern and Merrimack. It’s the third time in the past four seasons our Eagles have brought the Lamoriello Trophy back to the Heights. Now the team travels to St. Louis for the NCAA regionals. Here’s to hoping that the “Gateway to the West” holds a good draw for the Eagles during their try at another national championship!
Thumbs Down Freshman Housing – Steer clear of the Newton Bus, McElroy, and writing seminar classes in O’Neill tomorrow-the youngest members of the BC community get their housing assignments tomorrow and we’re sure a few tiny hearts are going to be broken and a few social lives allegedly crushed when those coveted Walsh 8-mans fall through. Head’s up, youngins’, Walsh peaked in 2009-2010. It has a sign-in desk now. Anti-Gay App – Apple has approved an app that claims to be able to “cure” homosexuality for its ultra-exclusive app store. The app is named after its Christian ministry group developers, Exodus International. What’s more disturbing: That there’s people out there who view sexuality in such limited terms or that Apple really thinks it’s a good call for people to depend on their iPhones as a source of moral guidance? U. Chicago – You thought BC had the market cornered on the hook-up culture? Think again … and about a pretty unexpected contender: the University of Chicago. Members of the student body, best known for their insanely studious reputation, want to let the world know that they’re sexual beings as well and have started a Craigslist-esque website that allows coeds to connect to coordinate hookups. So it takes emotionallyvoid college relationships to a whole new low. So what? After you’ve spent your afternoon protesting for extended library hours on the weekends, who’s got the emotion to spare for true love? Classless Coeds – Thumbs down to the SUNY Albany student body for having no class in celebrating our favorite holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. While throwing TV’s out of windows and flipping cars seem like a lot of fun, we prefer classier celebrations like grilling in the Mods and hosting parties, not riots. We commend the student body for recognizing that a party occurs when everyone has a good time, not when their property is being destroyed.
The struggles of nuclear energy for the US
Dineen Boyle A world collectively holds its breath— its focus fixated for days on the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in disaster-ravaged Japan. After suffering the devastation of an earthquake and tsunami of nearly incomparable magnitude, the Japanese are now left to contend with partial and, possibly, total nuclear meltdown. This crisis has implications not only for those who live in regions exposed to radioactivity, but also for the entire field of nuclear energy. The nuclear energy industry has experienced a surge in recent years. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, as of Feb. 23, 2011, 70 percent of Americans claimed to support nuclear energy as a means of providing electricity in the United States, with “solid majorities believing nuclear energy will and should play a prominent role in the nation’s energy future.” This can in part be attributed to both its status as a relatively clean form of energy and its ability to produce large amounts of power. But despite these benefits, the field faces intense obstacles. More so than other types of energy, the development of the nuclear industry is entirely dependent on political support. With the cost of building a single nuclear plant in excess of a billion dollars, federal aid and government approval must be procured prior to building new facilities. In order to gain support from politicians, the development and expansion of nuclear energy is first and foremost contingent on public favor. With soaring public fear about nuclear accidents, experts anticipate that the Fukushima disaster could mark the end of a period that some have termed the ‘nuclear renaissance.’ Politicians who wish to gain and remain in office are unlikely to support the funding of an industry that has sparked global
terror. When asked on Sunday about the building of new plants, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), generally a proponent of nuclear energy, said for now, we must “put the brakes on it.” While I in no way mean to undermine the tragedy that faces those exposed to radioactivity in Japan, I urge those ready to entirely turn their back on the advancement of nuclear science for purposes of clean energy to educate themselves on the topic. Additionally, politicians who remain committed to exploring options of sustainable fuel sources should be commended, rather than criticized by their constituents. Throughout the week, world leaders were quick to assure their citizens that measures would be taken to improve energy security and in some instances, to dramatically scale back nuclear dependence. There is even speculation in Germany that Angela Merkel may face some difficulty in being reelected as Chancellor as a result of her strong support of nuclear energy in the past. As global demand for energy increases, there is a potential for complications. The year 2010 has been a year of nearly unprecedented variety of energy-related catastrophe. Between the British Petroleum oil spill that resulted in the deaths of rig workers, the release of hundreds of millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and the entrapment of Chilean coalminers underground for 69 days, to crude oil futures exceeding $100 a barrel as a result of continued unrest in the Middle East, energy remains, and will continue to remain, a volatile field. Over the past few centuries, both people and animals have died as a result of implications associated with the mining and burning of fossil fuels. There is danger in producing any form of energy. And unless carbon emissions are drastically decreased in coming years, air quality as a result of burning fossil fuels will continue to decline. As the earth becomes more populated, future generations will find themselves confronted with and perhaps even defined by their dependence on dwindling fuel sources. In
such an energy dependent society, we must recognize that most practical energy sources carry with them some element of risk— generally, the lower of such risks, coming from nuclear power plants. However, in light of the Fukushima disaster, it is necessary that this thinking be thoroughly explored, rather than entirely abandoned. In 1980, a group of British scientists calculated one’s odds of dying in several different accident scenarios. The odds of a person dying from a left-handed person using a product designed for a right-handed person were exorbitantly higher than one’s likelihood of dying from radiation escape from nearby nuclear power plant. As a public, we are most likely to die or be harmed in a car accident than in any other situation. But despite our odds, we assume this risk because the quality of our lives would be greatly diminished without the use of motor vehicles. Similarly, we must consider whether the relatively minute risk of utilizing nuclear energy is worth the gain of ensuring clean, sustainable energy for generations to come. Is it perhaps even possible that one is more likely to die in a future war with another country over competition for depleted natural resources than to die from a nuclear accident? The events of the past year, including the tragedy in Japan, have underscored with increased urgency the need to diversify and develop safer forms of alternative energy. It is a markedly huge problem that in the event of an emergency (despite its rarity) one of our cleanest, most widely accessible forms of energy can render miles of land uninhabitable for decades. Yet despite these concerns, nuclear power continues to be essential to domestic energy production. It allows the U.S. to decrease its dependence on foreign resources. It is inarguable that nuclear energy is imperfect. We can do better. But unfortunately, for now, it might just be the next best thing. Dineen Boyle is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
A volatile time for student loans
Tim O’Connor Bankruptcy law allows you to discharge, or cancel different types of debt in the event you find yourself overwhelmed to the point that you can no longer pay. Credit card debt is usually the big stickler, but there are others. Many find themselves on the wrong end of a huge hospital bill due to insufficient medical insurance. It’s possible to discharge that. Even gambling debts are eligible. Student loans, on the other hand, will follow you to your grave. Student loans, like home loans and business loans, are secure debt. Secure debt is so-called because it is “secured” against something – usually a physical asset. In the case of a home loan, the loan is secured by the house. If you don’t pay your debt, the bank that granted you the loan has the right to seize the property. The law is designed that way so you can’t just buy a house, cry out, “Bankruptcy!” and walk away with a free crib. But with a student loan, there’s no such asset to offset the risk the bank is taking. Thus, when a private company offers a student loan, they usually demand that it co-signed by someone (a parent) with collateral (a house, for example). That’s a great solution if your parents happen to own valuable property they can risk losing, but what about all the people who simply can’t afford to take that chance? Enter the federal student loan program. With origins dating back to Higher Education Act of 1965, federal student loans were initially designed to make college affordable to students who otherwise wouldn’t be able
to attend. The federal government offers to secure a loan on behalf of the student, with the knowledge that a more educated workforce would lead to a stronger economy, as well as innovations in technology and science. We were in the middle of the space race, and we had to make sure our best and brightest were getting the educations they needed to help us beat the Commies. As more students started attending college, the job market became more competitive. By the 1990s, a college degree became a literal necessity, and federal programs expanded to meet demand. But there wasn’t really any reason for panic – college grads were entering into a boom-
We’ve seen what happens when a “sure thing” suddenly isn’t so sure with the housing crash—banks rush to collect, investors panic, and the entire economy more or less goes down the drain. ing economy that virtually guaranteed employment. They were earning salaries that allowed them to make good on their debt, and student loans were considered among the safest types of debt out there. Of course, as demand for a college education grew and supply stayed the same, prices rose. According the United States Department of Education, the average cost of college, accounting for inflation, increased by more than 32 percent between 1999 and 2009. The National Association for Colleges and Universities reported an average tuition increase of 4.5 percent in 2010. College gets more expensive, so students take more loans. Students taking out
more loans signal an increased demand for college education, so schools charge more every year. The cycle isn’t particularly problematic as long as people can keep paying off their loans. But what happens when college grads suddenly can’t find a job – an increasingly common concern? In the case of a private loan, the co-signer is obligated to pay the debt. The government guarantees federal loans, so in theory the government is on the hook for the balance. But if you think the government’s going to say, “Good try! We got this one,” think again. A couple years down the line, what if things haven’t recovered? If you took that part-time retail job “just until something better comes along,” and nothing ever came along, what do you do about that huge bill? A gap that large in your resume is a serious hindrance towards getting a job, but those secure loans aren’t going away unless you can demonstrate that paying back the loan would cause you “undue hardship.” And that doesn’t mean, “I don’t get paid enough.” Think more, “I am physically disabled to the extent that I am no longer capable of working.” We’ve seen what happens when a “sure thing” suddenly isn’t so sure with the housing crash – banks rush to collect, investors panic, and the entire economy more or less goes down the drain. College students who take loans generally don’t realize full economic impact of their decision, and it’s becoming harder and harder to find a job even with a college degree. Wages for all but the top earners have stagnated, and the “recovery” is lagging with regard to job creation. The stars are aligned for another catastrophic meltdown, and many speculate that student loans are the next big bubble. Let’s hope they’re wrong. Tim O’Connor is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
One-liners and big timers
C.J. Gustafson “Hey, I didn’t mean to bother you, but I was wondering if you could tell me how much the average polar bear weighs?” Like a deer in the headlights she stares back, paralyzed by the awkwardness of the moment. She debates smashing her Apple Martini over his head and sprinting for the door in an act of self-defense, as the $8 beverage may temporarily blind the beast. But suddenly, the predator pounces, ensnarling her with his creepiness. “Enough to break the ice! Hi, my name is ….” Pick up lines don’t work in the real world. We’ve all seen movies where some dude with slicked back hair and a nice pair of sunglasses scoops up a pretty girl using some corny one-liner. In fact, I’m on a plane right now stuck watching some romantic comedy where Matthew McConaughey or some other interchangeable, static character with a beach body, has ladies practically kissing the floor beneath his feet (I know I should have splurged the extra few bucks for Jet Blue and got my own TV). Getting girls is simple for Will Smith in Hitch. In fact, sometimes characters do it with such ease that it’s literally in their job description. It’s perceived as “cool” if a guy possesses the uncanny ability to reel a girl in, hook-line-and-sinker, as if he’s fishing for goldfish at the town carnival with an aquarium net the size of a tennis racket in an inflatable pool. With a couple of suave words and a credit card that can pick up any fruity drink from Sex in the City for her and some shot of alcohol that seems to instantly add more hair to his chest for him, the only thing that stands between them and the Jersey Shore smoosh room is a cab ride home. But when was the last time you’ve actually seen a one-liner work. In fact, when people attempt to use one-liners it usually comes off as disturbing. But Charlie Sheen doesn’t exactly seem the To Catch a Predator type on Two and a Half Men. No one is busting down the door on him while he’s in the midst of a heated AIM conversation with a “goddess” who’s half his age. And Ashton Kutcher is portrayed as happy-go lucky and clueless enough to walk directly into oncoming traffic on I-95 if his baseball rolled into the street. He’s even leveraged as a marketing tool, randomly snapping pictures of hot girls with a digital camera and letting them crawl into the palm of his hand like he was reaching into a hungry hamster cage. I’d like to clarify two misconceptions for these actors. No one has picked up a girl while wearing a bowling shirt and cargo shorts since Vietnam. And snapping pictures of random women in public, especially while utilizing a topof-the-line zoom feature, is looked down upon like loudly debating the prices of random objects in Sky Mall while on an airplane. By the way, does this magazine really think I’m going to buy a barrel that catches rain for $159 plus $15 shipping? It catches rain. It’s a barrel. I’m a little more resourceful than they might believe. The ability to “reuse rainwater” isn’t appealing unless I’m in a country where I can’t afford a barrel in the first place. But I digress. Besides movies and television shows, publications like Men’s Health and Maxim treat women like a Rubik’s cube that can be solved in one turn. But most of the things men are told to do are just plain creepy. Walk into a bar and try to pick up a chick by doing everything James Bond does. First, I challenge you to find a bar in Chestnut Hill where you won’t look like a knock-off Vegas street performer if you meander in wearing a tux and bow tie on a Thursday night. Second, the bartender will most likely offer you a discounted bucket of frosty Rolling Rocks before you can ask for a “Martini, shaken, not stirred.” Third, it’s just not going to work. Is chivalry dead? Well, I’m probably not going to lay down my jacket over a puddle for you so you can cross over a pothole in the street (my mom just bought me this North Face and it’s actually really comfortable, yet trendy). But I wouldn’t conduct an interview like Charlie Sheen. I wouldn’t pull a Ronnie and throw all of your belongings out of a summer home because I took too many steroids. And I wouldn’t be too upset if Ashton Kutcher actually did walk into oncoming traffic on an episode of Punk’d and were to be punk’d by his own stupidity if my roommate succeeded in using the line at Mary Anne’s, “Did it hurt … when you fell from Heaven?” C.J. Gufstason is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
The Heights
A8
Monday, March 21, 2011
When delivering a smattering of laughs, ‘Paul’ barely achieves lift off By Joe Allen Heights Staff
This year is offering audiences many alien films to choose from. Next month, an alien “found footage” horror movie hybrid Apollo 18 will be released. This summer, moviegoers will watch the western and sci-fi genres combine in the literally titled Cowboys and Aliens (don’t Paul: worry, HarriGreg Mottola son Ford stars Universal Pictures in it). Can the most recent alien movie this year, Paul, distinguish itself from the masses by infusing a simple concept with R-rated comedy? The answer, much like the initial reaction of the film’s protagonists to harboring an alien who sounds like Seth Rogen, is a semi-enthusiastic, “Yes!” The extraterrestrial road-comedy extravaganza kicks off with best friends/British tourists Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) renting an RV for a true nerd voyage. The two begin traveling across the American southwest to hit all the “alien invasion” sites. Their benign trip quickly falls apart after they pick up a heavily sarcastic alien named Paul
B-
(a CGI character voiced by Seth Rogen) who is on the run from the United States government. Luckily, Graeme and Clive’s decision to harbor a distantly foreign fugitive allows the film to bust out a slew of awesome comedic actors, including Jason Bateman as an obsessive government agent and Kristen Wiig as Graeme’s love interest. From then on, Paul becomes a parade of silly, yet often funny jokes that benefit from the movie’s R-rating. This film’s story could have been made into a PG-13 movie, or even into potty humor-filled family fare, but that would have resulted in a much less humorous film than Paul becomes. Many of the movie’s jokes stem from injecting a seemingly benign premise with characters that drink, smoke, curse, and kill frequently. Paul is hard to take seriously as an alien with Seth Rogen voicing the character, but perhaps that’s the point. Many of Paul’s “F word”-enhanced one-liners hit harder because a well-known comedic actor delivers them. Other great, smaller characters often make Paul jaw-droppingly hilarious. Wiig can improve any comedy. In this movie, she delights as a strict Christian woman who rapidly unwinds, becoming a party girl who
curses and begins trying everything that she is offered. Another source of hilarity is the ragtag team of government officials who chase Paul, comprised of the ultra-serious Zoil (Jason Bateman) and the bumbling duo of Haggard (Bill Hader) and O’Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio). These three hilariously bounce off each other in every one of their scenes. As the lead actors and writers, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are more disappointing. They make up two-thirds of a comedy group responsible for two classic comedy hybrids, the zombie-filled Shaun of the Dead and the ultra-violent buddy-cop movie Hot Fuzz. Pegg and Frost, along with the director of their past endeavors, Edgar Wright, have become famous for over-the-top genre parodies. While Paul obviously feels like it was conceived to exist in this vein, it ultimately misses that mark. Paul’s director Greg Mottola often finds the funny in scenes that combine liveaction comedy with CGI effects, but he lacks the stylistic craziness that Wright could have brought to this film. Also not helping matters is the fact that Pegg and Frost wrote themselves the two worst parts in the film. Graeme and Clive are often more lame than funny. Viewers who
Cooper keeps ‘Limitless’ from sinking
Courtesy of Allmoviephoto.com
In ‘Paul,’ a madcap alien adventure, Seth Rogen stars as the potty-mouthed title character. have seen this duo deliver big laughs will find Paul to be underwhelming. On a side note, both actors look exceptionally creepy with long hair. Overall, Paul is a fun comedy with some big laughs, but it leaves audiences with the impression that it could have been much more. By taking a family-friendly concept (nice tourists travel across the country with
an alien) and making it into an R-rated movie, Pegg and Frost should have created a film that was outrageously over-the-top and wildly inappropriate. What they instead created was an amusing film that sometimes finds gold, but often chooses to keep things safe. Even so, watching every actor in the film, including Blythe Danner and Sigourney Weaver, merrily curse, makes this film worth seeing. n
Box Office Report title
weekend gross
weeks in release
2 photos courtesy of allmoviephoto.com
1. Limitless
19.0
1
2. Rango
15.3
3
3. Battle: Los Angeles
14.6
2
Courtesy of Allmoviephoto.com
Even though it cannot decide whether it wants to be serious or more lighthearted, ‘Limitless’ manages to entertain audiences with clever plot. By Charlotte Parish Arts & Review Editor
Nobody likes a tease. Especially when you’ve invested around $10 and nearly two hours in something. Although Limitless does fulfill the dramatic potential of its truly intriguing storyline by the end of the film, the abrupt endLimitless: ing leaves you feeling frusNeil Burger Many Rivers trated and, Production as though the writers were simply worn out and threw up their hands while Bradley Cooper waves them away, saying goodbye in one of the many languages he picks up in the film. Of course, Cooper has lost several pounds of stomach padding and inches of greasy locks between this sudden blackout and the opening scenes where he ironically points out that no one has an excuse to look as dirty as him unless they are homeless or a druggie. But the addict that Cooper’s character, Eddie Morra, becomes, is a Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde, alternating between the stereotypical, strung out junkie to the unusually suave, smart-talking business man he is while on NZT, his drug of choice. This imaginary drug is sold to Cooper as something that opens up 100 percent of the brain’s abilities, as opposed to the 20 percent that can usually be accessed. Only problem is that it has all the usual side effects of changing Cooper’s personality, causing blackouts, and
B+ B-
inducing incredible physical pain when he comes down. However, the film gets confused about whether it is making a statement against drug use or simply suggesting that we have yet to find the perfect super drug. It’s an interesting suggestion: is a drug that activates all our natural capabilities a bad thing? The way Cooper describes its affects on his first use, NZT just sounds like a supped up version of Ritalin, giving him the ultimate focus. Throughout the film, Cooper’s girlfriend, Lindy (Abbie Cornish), comes in an out of his life. First, it is Cooper’s inability to be productive in any sense of the word that drives her away, later it is his focus and hyperactivity. Cornish and his ex-wife, Melissa (Anna Friel), serve as Cooper’s conscience throughout the film, each urging him to stay away from the drug. Both women bring sensitivity and passion to their juxtaposing roles, each giving opposite, but well intentioned, council to Cooper. The actors and characterization in Limitless are the best part of the film, and are definitely the critical elements keeping audiences interested. Even the Russian mobster, Gennady (Andrew Howard), gets a full plotline and some of the funniest moments in the film. Howard is the literal definition of black humor when threatening to pull Cooper’s torso skin up over his head if Cooper doesn’t pay him back. But don’t worry, that won’t kill him. Suffocating Cooper with said ripped-off skin will.
The low point of the film, though, is its indecision in genre, wavering between the lowtech sequences of Cooper’s black out drug haze to the gory realism of fight sequences. If it wanted to stay with either level of technical detail, that would have been fine, but Limitless cannot seem to decide if it wants to be elevated to the intensity of films like the Bourne series, or remain among the lighter thrillers and dramas like the inane Jumper. Even so, the story line keeps you hooked by throwing a twist into the plot at all the right moments, never losing speed despite a few instances of convenient plot points. Cooper does a perfect job throughout maintaining his duel personality. On the one hand, his pathetic, drugless state is pitiable, and one almost wants him to take another hit just so he can be on top of the world again. Plus, Cooper’s character holds back from the edge of being a one-dimensional, self-absorbed playboy, concocting some undisclosed master plan for good with his new powers. But as he progresses, Cooper the junkie disturbers viewers in how far he will go to get a hit. At the end of the film, audiences don’t know whether or not to trust Cooper. The last half an hour of the film includes some incredibly bizarre and disturbing choices by his character. However, director Neil Burger doesn’t help satisfy this character dilemma or the plot, teasing viewers with a cliffhanger ending that feels like a cop out, rather than a dramatic statement. n
4
10
4. The Lincoln Lawyer
13.4
1
5. Paul
13.1
1
6. Red Riding Hood
7.2
2
7. The adjustment bureau
5.9
3
8. mars needs moms
5.3
2
9. beastly
3.2
3
10. hall pass
2.6
4
Hardcover fiction Bestsellers 1. Sing You Home Jodi Picoult 2. the Wise Man’s Fear Patrick Rothfuss 3. River marked Patricia Briggs 4. Minding frankie Maeve Binchy 5. Treachery in death J.D. Robb
6. A Discovery of witches Deborah Harkness 7. Tick Tock James Patterson 8. the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Stieg Larsson 9. Pale Demon Kim Harrison SOURCE: Publisher’s Weekly
Directors go back to the basics with slate of long-awaited sequels By Dan Siering Of all the crazy antics that Hollywood execs have pulled over the years, there has always been one constant: It is virtually impossible to produce a sequel that is as satisfactory as the original work. Sure, there is the occasional Godfather 2 or The Dark Knight in which the sequel is brilliant and rivals the previous film, but most of the time the follow-up movie disappoints and crashes and burns like the Situation’s jokes at a comedy roast. Nevertheless, Hollywood still continues to churn out sequels and cash in on the fans looking to revisit their favorite characters and storylines. This week brought forth two big announcements that signals that more sequels are on the way. How will these upcoming productions hold up against the originals? Midway through the we ek , the movie buzz websites caught word that America’s favorite group of Michigan high school misfits will reunite once again at, well, their high school reunion. The Wrap, an industry website, reports that now television star Jason Biggs, recently rehabbed Sean William Scott,
and series staple Eugene Levy have all signed on to reprise their roles in a new American Pie sequel. The producers are also in talks with several other actors from the original installment, including Chris Klein, Tara Reid (who really has nothing better to do with her time), and Mena Suvari. This will be their fourth installment, and first since 2003 that takes place within the original American Pie storyline. American Pie 4 has been fluttering around Hollywood ever since Harold and Kumar directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg elected to continue the American Pie series instead of making another installment in their original projects. After a seven-year hiatus, I have lofty expectations for this project. The original American Pie brought the ’90s teen comedy era to an admirable conclusion and raised the level of indecency in high school films to a whole new level. American Pie 2 retained much of the allure from the original by successfully combining the hardships of teen angst with the complications of college life. The third chapter of the series, American Wedding, had its moments, but in the end it seemed that the filmmakers went too over-the-top with the various
storyline shenanigans. Perhaps reuniting the original cast could be the right move to spark life back into this series. But a word of advice to the writers – don’t let Stifler control the party. If the filmmakers can stay away from the crutch of shock-and-awe scenes and touch on some salient issues surrounding life in real world, this sequel might just make it. The second sequel that became a reality over the week was Taken 2, the follow-up to the rather successful action thriller starring Liam Neeson. After the film’s release in 2008, producers quickly assembled a team to develop a follow-up. After an initial hesitance by Neeson, a list of actors, including Mickey Rourke and Ralph Fiennes, were considered as a replacement. With the pre-production process underway, Neeson appeased the weary and anxiously awaiting souls of the filmmakers and the fans by announcing that he would reprise the role and star in the sequel. Despite tepid reviews and an outlandish storyline, I firmly believe that Taken is one of the best action movies in the last few years. It was a movie that seemed to reinvigorate and redefine the acting career of Neeson, and I’m happy that
he has returned to this project after the disappointing roles in both Clash of the Titans and Unknown. I feel that Neeson has found his groove as the aging, but still hard-hitting vigilante. While I hold high expectations for these two sequels, I don’t expect my hopes to be fully met. A beloved fan of the original work brings with them lofty standards when viewing the sequel. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be first in line
to see the latest antics by Stifler or ridiculous kung fu attacks by Neeson. No, I’ll be with the rest of the crowd hoping that they catch lightning in a bottle by not making American Pie 4 or Taken 2 simply two more notches on the endless timeline of disaster sequels.
Dan Siering is a Heights columnist. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
Courtesy of Allmoviephoto.com
Producers recently announced that Liam Neeson would join the cast of ‘Taken 2.’
The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
A9
‘Trestle’ makes a statement ‘Trestle,’ from A10 another like a finely tuned duet. Their scenes possess a surge that continually builds to the point of sheer electrocution. Gouchoe perfectly captures the transformation of Dalton from an adolescent to an adult. His unsure body language and naievete strikingly contrast the worldweariness and anger characteristic of his imprisonment scenes. McCourt shows the most range, though, in the plum role of Pace. Pace is a girl that cannot be placed. Her femininity and masculinity blend together into one fearsome force. McCourt brings a gruff disposition, subtle sensuality, playful girlishness, and poignant sadness to Pace, making her all at once easy to read and completely mysterious. Berger similarly succeeds in finding the duality of her matriarch. She affects the proper tone of concern and motherly love toward Dalton, but then exhibits the longing she feels without the touch of her husband. In the latter role, Brown is the only one that doesn’t pop off the stage, possibly because the bar was set so high. As the show progresses, his performance becomes stronger and stronger, but he initially doesn’t appear to fit into the production as well as his co-stars. Sherburne does not face this problem, owning his multiple monologues. His character, to an extent, explicates the complexities of the play’s message, but Sherburne never becomes muddled in this task – he seems born in this role. The technical aspects of the show heighten the sense of fear already expressed by the characters. Greg Keches’, A&S ’11, set, based at the foot of the trestle, perfectly captures the industrial, cold nature of the show while Jules Forsberg-Lary’s, A&S ’12, costumes similarly position the period piece. The lighting design by Patrick Brazil, A&S ’12, is, frankly, brilliant. The use of an eye-catching wall of backlights and the soft spotlights captures the performance in a perpetual twilight, including the thick tension that accompanies the moment. The moment when the train approaches marries the best of the show’s lighting with the sound design of Riley Madincea, A&S ’11. It’s truly a moment that cuts to the core. McKnight’s production possesses a courage that one often doesn’t find in a typical college production. That courage alone does not make it a phenomenal show, though. That would be the work of everyone involved. It’s an unforgettable production. n
Director Cary Fukunaga and actress Mia Wasikowska talked about their newest project together, an adaptation of Bronte’s ‘Jane Eyre’
Courtesy of Google.com
Wasikowska & Fukunaga dish on ‘Eyre’ Eyre, from A10 I was like, this would make a great book! Did you have any challenges as far as the style goes? MW: The only challenge for me stylistically speaking, the costumes were a blessing and a curse. It was good to understand the repression that women were under and what that would feel like. And that was such a metaphor for the whole society and how women were treated then so that was useful, but also….(laughs) How long did it take you to find the right Mr. Rochester? CF: [Michael Fassbender] was the first person we talked about in my initial meeting with the producers and the writers. Fassbender was someone I’d seen a year before that in Hunger, and I’d probably seen him before but wasn’t aware of him. But after seeing his performance in that role I knew I wanted to work with him on something. For you, what made him the right Rochester? MW: He has the qualities of being both potentially dangerous and also really vulnerable and loving. It’s the right mix of excitement and fear and challenge as an actor, it’s so easy to work opposite him because you can completely believe it, and he’s so natural and has such an intensity that comes through his eyes. The ending is happy, but in the book it could be happier because you could
have shown he regained his eyesight and everything. Who decided not to do that? CF: In cinematic language, saying, “Reader I married him,” is like a wink at the camera and that’s just a different film. I think that every time Charlotte addresses her audience in the book is like a departure that was a unique device
“[Fassbender] is potentially dangerous and also really vulnerable and loving.” in the time period in terms of literary device. So what I wanted to do was end it in a way that for the people who don’t there’s still this ‘What’s going to happen?’ that shouldn’t be all buttoned up. It’s a story that lives inside you after you finish watching it. In a way I think the weakest part of Charlotte’s book is the ending. I was kind of disappointed in the book about that. As an actress do you have any personal pros or cons in playing a literary role like Jane or Alice, versus an original character like in The Kids Are Alright? MW: Well with original characters and original material, the audience is just gonna take it for what you give
them. But when you’re dealing with a character like Jane and Alice, they’re so well know by people, and so ingrained in people’s mind and they’ve lived for such a long time that there’s a bit more risk in terms of you hope people will accept your interpretation. I read in the production notes, you have a dance back ground, can you elaborate on that a little bit? MW: Yeah, I danced very intensively from the age of eight to about 15 and I was doing full time dance so I’d leave school, so it was about 35 hours a week. And I thought that’s what I wanted to do and acting never dawned on me as a career until I came to the end of my dance, and dance was so much about achieving the physical perfection and I was watching a lot of films in the last year that I was dancing that were so much about the imperfections of people. But it’s a similar form of expression. What are you going to do next? CF: I’m going to spread my focus out again. Just to have the inspiration of life, so I’m going to go home and build a chicken coup or something. n
B.E.A.T.S. & Dynamics on par with musical greats a Capella, from A10 brought everything that defines college a Capella groups with their synchrony both within the group and within their music. Rounding out the night, every member had a spotlight moment in the viral Cee Lo Green hit, “F— You” – the non-edited version with hand motions to match. The crowd loved this high paced send off, giving out the first standing ovation of the evening. Dynamics calmed the music down again, coming back for their second set, choosing MIKA’s “Happy Ending.” Led by Eric Carroll, A&S ’11, the group crooned the ballad quietly, building up steam throughout the song before the heartfelt final chorus. Throwing in a unique twist, the final lines were mixed with Avril Lavigne’s “My Happy Ending,” which brought even more cheers from the already enthusiastic crowd. Building on this energy, Rhiannon Spencer-Jones,
a visiting student from Scotland, channeled the fiery Florence Walsh in the ambitious rendition of “The Dog Days Are Over.” Not a song that lends itself easily to a capella, “Dog Days” brought down the house with its vivacity. The crowd had a hard time quieting down for the bridge and wanted to cheer for Spencer-Jones’ impressive vocal control and power so much that they cut off the quiet last two bars of the song with a standing ovation. Finishing up their set with the India Arie cover of The Eagles’ “Heart of the Matter,” the Dynamics and Krista Tietjen, A&S ’12, gave one final show of the impressive range of the group with her solo and the sweet lyrics, “My will gets weak / and my thoughts seem to scatter / but I think it’s about forgiveness.” Coming back onstage for one final bow, Dynamics and B.E.A.T.S. received the final round of applause and standing ovation to end a night of entertaining and impressive songs. n
annie budnick / for the heights
With big band flavor and a crew of scatting and energetic chanteurs, BC bOp! gave a thrilling performance in Robsham last weekend.
Jazz ensemble BC bOp! sweetly sings the praises of old nostalgia BC bOp!, from A10
Nick rellis / for the heights
The B.E.A.T.S. and the Dynamics joined forces for the first time at their joint show Friday.
pianist Matthew Gibbons, CSOM `11. It became very clear through various solo showcases that each member of the four instrumental sections of bOp! possesses a unique style that adds to their interpretation of classic and contemporary repertoire. Beyond typical in-song solos, entire portions of The Most Interesting Band in the World worked to highlight instrumental sections, as well as individuals. The four-man trumpet section was brought front stage for “Backrow Politics,” a cheeky piece featuring solos by each trumpeter that gave the audience some insight into the camaraderie (as well as friendly competition) among the members of a section as each tried to outdo the other. A similar effect was had in the second act’s “Tenor Madness” which found pianist Matthew Gibbons wielding a saxophone alongside the rest of the section while Steve Bass manned the keys. In a similar way, the six vocalists, headed by section leader Brendan Quinn, A&S ’11, fused their distinct voices to yield crooning harmonies, produce a soulful layering of sound, and execute classic jazz techniques
like scatting. Stepping in to accompany the band in songs like “Smack Dab In The Middle,” where the singers demonstrated their still in complementing the instrumentalists (at one point joined in the chorus by their fellow musicians), or in the case of “That Cat Is High,” the night’s final musical number, demonstrated their ability to imitate the wailing instruments accompanying them. A notable a cappella performance of a 1938 classic by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal, “I’ll Be Seeing You” (made more familiar perhaps by its feature in The Notebook) was moving enough to bring tears to the eyes of those in the audience missing a loved one. Quinn took the spotlight for “Feeling Good,” a tune with a striptease hook fit to match his devilishly debonair performance. Saturday evening also hosted a very special selection, “Special Forces” which was composed by bOp!’s own Steven Bass. Featuring a tremendous guitar solo by Christopher Daley, A&S ’13, the piece, which Bass describes as an “up-tempo rock tune,” was a break from tradition which called attention bOp!’s percussion including drumming by Patrick Atkinson, CSOM ’11. A composing major, Bass cited Chicago as well as Earth,
Wind and Fire as his influences for the song, which he conducted himself. The ensemble is directed and conducted by Sebastian Bonaiuto, with vocal direction by JoJo David. When asked for a favorite among the night’s selections, Bonaiuto replied, “That would be like asking which one of my children is my favorite – I love them all!” He noted that he seeks to tailor the show’s pieces to the talents of the musicians, and it is evident that next year when the eight seniors in the band graduate there will be a major adjustment period. Though losing members to graduation is obviously a yearly reality the band has to deal with, the closeness of the group is evident from the joking biographies in the concert’s programs, to the obvious appreciation they have for each other while playing The performance serves as a testament to the Boston College Bands Program, as well as a brilliant reminder of how multitalented our student body is at BC. The show ‘s impeccable blend of vocals and toe-tapping instrumentals illustrated the dynamic capabilities of the group, proving, at the very least, that they are some of the most interesting and skilled musicians in our BC community. n
arts&review
A10
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wicked Cultured
From sand to spectacle
‘Creek’ Lingers in the mind By Darren Ranck
Arts & Review Editor If the measure of a production’s success depends on how long it stays with you afterward, the Boston College theatre department’s production of The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek is wildly deserving of the accolades it receives. Haunting, complex, and thought provoking, the play, penned by Naomi Wallace, presents common issues of Depression-era citizens but marries them to larger questions of the self and whether life truly means much when you feel you have nothing. The possibilities for interpretation, however, are endless. The play takes place in a small town during the peak of the Great Depression. Two teenagers, Dalton Chance (Chris Gouchoe, A&S ’14) and Pace Creagan (Deirdre McCourt, A&S ’12), form a friendship under the shadows of a trestle, a large, rod iron support structure for train tracks. Both face difficulty as Dalton pushes himself to succeed and leave his emotionally distant family while Pace tries to get over the death of an intimate friend, killed a year before while trying to outrun a train on the trestle. Pace and Dalton train at the creek regularly to practice outrunning the train, but their friendship slowly becomes more convoluted, manipulative, and intimate. The proceedings are all the more mysterious with interspersed scenes of Dalton brooding in jail, awaiting a sentence for an alleged crime under the eye of a jaded jailer (Jacob Sherburne, A&S ’11). As Dalton waits for his fate, though, his parents (Tom Brown, A&S ’13, and Caitlin Berger, A&S ’11) must decide the fate of their marriage. Wallace’s script beautifully spirals into deeper and darker territory as the play continues. Her use of language and her complex plot make her a treat for the intellectual theater-goer, the kind that does not look for absolute answers but looks to see what the best plays reveal – a glimpse of the human spirit. McKnight masterfully breaks Wallace’s wild steed, reigning in potential confusion to a fine point. She bravely tackles the dense subject matter, but, with the help of her cast and creative team, McKnight takes the audience through a dark journey. The production shows a side of America so chilling that McKnight deserves strong praise for her simultaneously tense and no-holds-barred approach. The cast exhibits some of the finest acting BC has seen since its 2008 production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Gouchoe and McCourt play off one
Charlotte Parish Let me be blunt. I am obsessed. I have been recently introduced to the fantastic art of Dale Chihuly and have spent way too much time mesmerized, staring at the incredible and literally awesome creations of this Washington-born artist. He wears an eye patch, folks. If that doesn’t make him a winner (much like the media’s current obsession, Charlie Sheen), I don’t know what does. The only thing that could make him better in my mind would be if he had a peg leg to go with it and a parrot. I’d even settle for one of the fancy hats and a solid, “Argh.” But in all seriousness, as a person, he is highly impressive. Chihuly attended the very first glass program in the country at the University of Wisconsin, and he later established a similar program at RISD and taught there for a decade. Need more proof of his technical prowess? Chihuly received a Fulbright Scholarship and studied glasswork in Venice. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know that you could get a Fulbright for art, never mind do something as unique as studying glasswork. I have seen miniature glass figurines blown out and it was simply spectacular. The process of creating this fragile object is fascinating. The heat off those furnaces is scorching, yet people purposefully stand by them all day, heating and working the pieces of glass in excruciatingly slow increments so that they are perfect. Now, imagine those impossibly fragile swirls of color in an intricate sculpture that is as large as – if not larger than – your dorm room. If you haven’t seen Chihuly’s work, fire up Google and you’ll see that I’m not exaggerating. These creations are a cross between Willy Wonka and Dr. Seuss in their colorful explosions and zany protrusions of spiraling squiggles, dangerously sharp icicles, and floral bulbs. Looking at them is overwhelming because you can’t keep your eyes on one part of the sculpture. The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) is bringing these amazing works to Boston this summer and they are going up right now, piece by piece being painstakingly placed by hand. Part of me is terrified to walk by, nevermind imagine being one of the assembly members. Clumsiness really is a public danger in this case. But I am absolutely going to make my way over to see the creation of these massive works that will take over every atrium in the MFA and undoubtedly cause walking obstructions. Generally speaking, I am not a fan of modern art. I would like to tell at first glance that the five-year-old I babysit did not make a painting as opposed to a famous artist. I’ve really tried to keep an open mind though, honestly. But I lost a lot of faith in the genre a couple of summers ago when I went to Centre Pompidou. Granted, it’s a spectacular place, and I thought, “If I’m in this city, I have to at least visit.” But the art I saw in this famous place was a canvas covering an entire wall and literally the whole thing was painted dark blue. Just blue with nothing else and not even different shades of blue. That’s not art, that’s a really well-painted living room. What I did love about the museum were the colorful pipes intersecting all around the building – functional but also artistic and a gorgeous offset against the drab buildings surrounding it. Chihuly’s work has the same effect with the vibrant colors that made it so incredible. His work is simple enough in content, but incredibly difficult as a medium. That is the sort of modern art I can understand when I don’t have to wonder if Bobby Jr. or Jackson Pollock made it.
Charlotte Parish is the Assistant Arts & Review editor of The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com
See ‘Trestle,’ A9
nick rellas / for the heights
Music intertwines during first B.E.A.T.S./Dynamics show By Charlotte Parish
Asst. Arts & Review Editor The crowd at Friday night’s a capella show, featuring B.E.A.T.S. and the Dynamics in their first ever show together, was rearing to go for a night of high-energy music, clapping along to the first two numbers performed by Against the Current. In front of a crowd that filled all of the seats, aisles, and space in front of the performers, Against the Current kicked off the night with Ryan Cabrera’s “On The Way Down” and then quickly followed up this
spirited pop ballad with a powerful solo by Elizabeth Peter, A&S ’12, who recently won BC Idol, by singing The Doctor and Rose’s “When Time And Space Are Through.” The main acts kept the energy going, alternating two songs each before coming back for a second set with three pieces each. First to perform, B.E.A.T.S. were as tight physically as they were musically on the Alicia Key’s power ballad “How Come You Don’t Call Me?” blending in incredible harmonies and packed close together on stage while Laura Mayock, A&S ’12, led the song on solo. Both this bluesy Keys tune and their follow-up, “Waterfalls,”
showed off the group’s pure vocal talent with a slower tempo, which enabled Madeline Smith, A&S ’11, to break out impressive rapping skills on the TLC hit. Her performance brought cheers mid-song. The Dynamics chose to keep their first two pieces down tempo, fleshing out the group’s complex arrangements on Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There?” and the mash up of Citizen Cope hits “Bullet and A Target” and “Son’s Gonna Rise.” Peter Clabby, A&S ’12, was joined by Ryan Galvin, A&S ’13, on harmony on the second number. Drawing out the vocal swells, Clabby and Galvin compli-
mented one another well. B.E.A.T.S. retook the stage, with Monica’s “Angel of Mine,” before launching into a piece that soloist Michael Matosic, CSOM ’11, dedicated to his roommate. On Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” Matosic and B.E.A.T.S absolutely proved that, although this group may be the youngest a capella group on campus, this should hardly be associated with inexperience. Matching humor and energy with spot-on group harmony and a fantastic solo falsetto by Matosic, B.E.A.T.S
See a Capella, A9
A one on one with Mia Wasikowska, Ms. ‘Jane Eyre’ By Charlotte Parish
Asst. Arts & Review Editor Last week, Carey Fukunaga, director of the recent release of Jane Eyre, and actress Mia Wasikowska, who played the title character, sat down to discuss their experience with recreating a work that is a classic both in the literary and film worlds. It’s a story that’s been told 27 times on film. How many have you actually seen of those? Carey Fukunaga: This is the first one. I had no idea. When I signed on I knew about the black and white one and that’s it. And as I started to do more research just to get a feeling for that world, that style of world, I was amazed that there were so many versions of the film. I have no doubt it will be made again. Why? It’s the same question of why do we do anything repeatedly. It doesn’t have to be a movie. Plays, like
i nside Arts this issue
Shakespeare are repeated around the world in different languages. It’s about storytelling. At this point it’s classic. Mia Wasikowska: And classics are always relevant. So did you know there were 27 Janes before you? MW: I don’t know if I knew there were exactly 27. I was partially overwhelmed by how many there were, I didn’t know where to start. I also didn’t want to be influenced by anything even in a way that I didn’t realize. I hadn’t actually read it until I picked it up in the middle of 2009. And I was half way through it and I thought it was really incredible, and I got in touch with my agent and asked her if there was anything in development. When you were reading it did you think ‘This would make a great movie?’ MW: Actually, yes. I just really wanted to play the character. And there wasn’t. It was about two months later that she sent me the script and I met Carey. CF: I had the opposite reaction, I saw the movie and
See Eyre, A9
Sequels permeate the movie scene
With ‘Takers 2’ and ‘American Pie 4,’ will original movies ever see the light of day again? A8
Annie budnick / for the heights
Combing vocals and instrumental, bOb! produced an immensely impressive range of music .
With a performance for everyone, bOp! delights By Christina Quinn Heights Editor
Boldly titling a show The Most Interesting Band in the World may have set lofty audience expectations, but the wealth of individual musical talent in the BC bOp! jazz ensemble bravely synchronized this Saturday evening, rising to the challenge with energy and style. By catering to a wide variety of tastes, the men and women of bOp! certainly don’t struggle to please a crowd – a fact which
Aliens invade Earth again in Paul
The mildly amusing comedy manages to restore humankind’s faith in Seth Rogen, A8
became blatantly evident after their opening piece, “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” was met with roaring applause. The song, a jazz classic from the 1940’s, featured especially strong performances from trumpet player Steve Bass, A&S ’11, and Greg Fortunato, A&S ’11, on the tenor sax. The group is equally as pleasing with its interpretation of more modern pieces like a jazzy adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” which featured an unexpected scat solo by
See BC bOp!, A9
Bestselling Books...........................A8 Box Office Report........................A9
SPORTS The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
Section
B
Monday, March 21, 2011
The constant gardeners
alex trautwig / heights editor
alex trautwig / heights edirot
alex trautwg / heights editor
The TD Garden has become a second home for the men’s hockey team, which has won back-to-back Beanpots and Hockey East tournament titles there. BC has won eight in a row at the arena, including Saturday’s 5-3 victory over Merrimack.
BC continues its success at the TD Garden, winning a second straight Hockey East crown By Paul Sulzer Sports Editor
BOSTON - Three down, one to go. Boston College continued its march toward another Boston College 5 spring full of 3 Merrimack hardware with a 5-3 win over Merrimack in the Hockey East tournament championship game yesterday at the TD Garden. The Eagles have captured the Beanpot, the league regular season title, and the league postseason title. They’ll have a chance to complete their trophy case in the NCAA tournament, beginning Friday against Colorado College
in St. Louis at 9 p.m. EST. The Eagles have won two straight Hockey East tournament crowns and a leaguebest 10 overall. This was the Warriors’ first appearance in the championship game. “We found out how much pressure there is to play well in games like this,” Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy said. “To repeat is quite a feat.” Cam Atkinson (Tournament MVP) was the catalyst for the victory, notching two third-period goals, while John Muse saved 35 shots for BC (30-7-1). Brian Gibbons and Pat Mullane each scored two points (one goal and one assist). For Merrimack, Ryan Flanigan had two goals, Mike Collins
tallied a goal and an assist, and Stephan Da Costa registered two assists. Atkinson, Gibbons, Flanigan, and Muse were named to the all-tournament team along with defensemen Tommy Cross of BC and Kyle Stollery of Merrimack. When the game was deadlocked at three, 14:49 into the third period, Atkinson snapped the tie with a vicious one-timer that flew past Merrimack goalie Joe Cannata (30 saves) off a feed from Patrick Wey. That game-winning strike was Atkinson’s 30th goal of the season. He’s second in the country to North Dakota’s Matt Frattin, who has 35. “Cam’s the sniper,” Dennehy said. “If you give him an inch, he’ll put it in the back of the net.” Merrimack nearly tied it up on a breakaway 20 seconds later, but Philip Samuels-
son tracked back and prevented a shot with a diving poke check. He was called for tripping, though, so the Warriors got another chance to test BC’s power play, which allowed two goals in the first five man advantages. But the Eagles smothered the Merrimack offense this time. When Samuelsson sprinted out of the box after serving his two-minute minor, he latched on to a long pass and was about to take a shot when Jordan Heywood hooked him from behind at 17:25. The Eagles were content to ice clock for the first minute of their power play before Brian Dumoulin gave them an insurance goal with a wrister from the point. That goal capped a wild period of scoring. Atkinson broke through for the first goal of the third, which broke a two-all tie.
Badgers send BC home with last-second goal Asst. Sports Editor ERIE, Pa. - What was nearly a storybook comeback for the women’s ice hockey team ended in a 3 Wisconsin crushing defeat Boston College 2 in the semifinals of the Frozen Four in on Friday night. No. 4 Boston College fought back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game at 2-2, before No. 1 Wisconsin scored the winning goal with 48 seconds left, advancing to the national championship game with the 3-2 victory. “I’m extremely proud of my team for coming back against a great team in Wisconsin,” head coach Katie King said. “I thought our kids gave everything they had there in those last two periods, and really left it all on the ice. I couldn’t be prouder of a team. Not only tonight, but in the success that we’ve had this season, and how well our kids came together as a team and really got us to this point.” The Eagles got behind early, as the
Badgers lit the lamp just 4:23 into the first period. Molly Schaus got her pads on the initial shot by Wisconsin, but the puck ended up 10 feet in front of the net, where Meghan Duggan was right there to slam the rebound home to make it 1-0. The top-seed scored again just over seven minutes later on a power-play goal by Brooke Ammerman. Ten seconds into the power play, Brianna Decker set Ammerman up for a textbook one-timer, doubling the lead. “Obviously it wasn’t the start we were looking for,” Schaus said. “But we had full confidence [when we were down]. Everyone was just kind of relaxing. We have a young team, so we were getting a lot of jitters out right there. We weren’t worried.” Four first-period penalties hampered BC’s ability to get anything going early. Besides the power-play score, the penalties kept the Eagles from gaining any real momentum and creating scoring chances.
See Frozen Four, B3
photo courtesy of david schaus
Taylor Wasylk helped BC climb out of a 2-0 deficit with a spectacular goal in the third.
i nside S ports this issue
See Hockey East Champs, B3
Reflecting on Donahue’s first season
women’s hockey
By Greg Joyce
Midway through the period, Joe Whitney dangled two defenders and fired a shot off Cannata’s right pad. Atkinson slid in and flipped the puck over the goalie’s pad to give BC the lead at 9:41. “I hit off the guy’s pad so Cam could put it in,” Whitney said with a smile. “Cam’s a goal scorer. That’s what he does. I wish could do some of the things he does.” Merrimack responded at 13:32, eight seconds after Whitney was whistled for elbowing. Flanigan chased down his own rebound from a very narrow angle and redirected it past Muse off the goaltender’s back. In the first period, Flanigan pulled the Warriors even, 26 seconds after Mullane opened scoring by beating Cannata five-
Paul Sulzer
the 333rd ranked Wildcats (and those rankings are out of 346). “I thought they hustled to balls better than we did at times,” Donahue said. “They did what we try to teach and that’s convert [second chances] into threes. For them to get 10 offensive rebounds was surprising because they go games without getting that many. I think that speaks to our inability to hustle to loose balls.” The game got off to a sluggish start as one would expect at 11:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The teams went into the first TV timeout with Northwestern leading 5-2 and then came the 3-pointers. Michael “Juice” Thompson hit a spot up three coming out of the break and then they started to fall in bunches. Northwestern shot an astonishing 19 threes in the first half and converted on seven of them. BC has struggled getting out on shooters all year long, as opposing teams shot 35.3 percent against the Eagles during the regular season, ranking them 227th in the NCAA. Northwestern’s complicated
It’s tough to complain about Saturday’s 85-67 loss to Northwestern that ended the men’s basketball season because expectations were so low to begin the year. The Eagles were coming off their most disappointing season in over a decade and had lost senior Rakim Sanders and three freshman recruits to transfer and decommitment. They were picked to finish 10th in the ACC. This looked like a transition year. Boston College beat that prediction. In his first year, Steve Donahue guided the Eagles to 19 wins and a tie for fourth place in the league. They played hard, most of the time, and overachieved. The team went to the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament and the NIT. Reflecting on this season, though, I can’t help but feel disappointed. A lot of the same problems that forced Al Skinner out of town resurfaced this year. Hustle and awareness on defense were huge issues that went unresolved. How much of that is poor coaching and how much is on the players is certainly open for debate. But the important question is, can Donahue fix it? We won’t know until he has his own players in his system. It will be four years until he graduates a recruiting class. Still, his strategies this year were not conducive to excellent defense. With frequent subs and switching between zones, he failed to allow the team to find its rhythm. The Eagles need a base defense that they can
See Men’s NIT, B4
See Reflection, B4
Alex trautwig / heights editor
Reggie Jackson looks on somberly as BC’s season comes to a close against Northwestern.
Imperfect Eagles ousted by hot-shooting Wildcats By Brad Zak Heights Staff
It wasn’t a perfect sendoff for the Boston College men’s basketball class of 2011, but it was still pretty Northwestern 85 special. Boston College 67 As each of the seniors exited the game in the 85-67 loss to Northwestern on Saturday, those who made the early Saturday trip to Conte Forum showed their appreciation. The loss capped a 21-13 season that was a roller coaster ride from start to finish. No matter how many games were played and practices were held, the Eagles couldn’t escape their deficiencies, and unfortunately for head coach Steve Donahue and his squad they finally brought an end to the season. The Eagles struggled on the glass once again and were outrebounded 29-20 for the game. Northwestern turned 10 offensive rebounds into 10 second chance points and held BC to only one offensive rebound until garbage time. BC came into the game the 297th ranked rebounding team in the country but actually had an advantage over
BC takes two of three from Terps
The Eagles won in College Park behind eight solid innings from John Leonard.............B5
Seeding procedures send Eagles west
BC will play its next game in St. Louis because NCAA rules prohibited them from playing in Manchester......B3
Quote of the Week.......................B2 Numbers to Know......................B2
The Heights
B2
Monday, March 21, 2011
Shields carries BC to next round By Tim Jablonski Heights Staff
After turning down a bid to last season’s women’s NIT, Sylvia Boston College 86 C r a w l e y and her 59 B o s t o n St. Joseph’s College women’s basketball team are making one thing clear: this year, they’re in it to win it. Crawley’s squad pummeled the St. Joseph’s Hawks, 86-59, on Saturday afternoon to advance to the third round of the tournament. Led by 26 points from sophomore Kerri Shields and 21 from senior Carolyn Swords, the Eagles played like the NCAA tournament-worthy squad that started out the season 11-0. “Over the spring break we were able to get some rest and refresh ourselves,” head coach Sylvia Crawley said. “We got run down a little bit during the season, and now we look like we looked in November when we were playing our best basketball.” The extra rest clearly did wonders for the team. The Eagles jumped out to a 17-6 lead and
never took their feet off of the gas, leading 47-26 by halftime. Swords did much of her damage in the first half, racking up 15 points and seven rebounds. Playing in what could be her final game at Conte Forum, the senior passed the 2,000 career point mark just 9:23 into the game. “It’s incredible. I never imagined that I would get to this point, and I have to credit my teammates,” Swords said. “I get a lot of help and I’m thankful for that.” The one teammate helping her more than anyone on Saturday was Shields. Matched up against her sister, Hawks guard Erin, Shields had a career game, tying a school record with eight threes. She hit four straight at one point in the second half during an 18-9 Eagles run that put the team up by 30 with under eight minutes to play. “The way it ended, [Erin] had a great game and we had a great win,” Shields said. “My teammates were getting me the ball in a great area and I was feeling it.” While Shields only recorded one rebound and no assists, her
teammates more than made up for her. Freshmen Kristin Doherty and Katie Zenevitch each recorded a double-double with points and rebounds, and senior guard Jaclyn Thoman pulled in nine boards herself. The fact that BC’s shooting guard and small forward combined for 20 rebounds should say enough about the Eagles prodigious size advantage, as they were bigger than the Hawks at every position. BC outrebounded their opponent by a margin of 56-27. Those rebounds only led to two more shots for the Eagles than St. Joseph’s, but they defended the opposition so well that it did not matter. Even half-open looks were scarce for the Hawks, who struggled mightily all game in the half court. They tried to speed up the pace in the second half, but BC’s transition defense proved just as capable as the sticky manto-man they used to get St. Joe’s out of their rhythm in their half court sets. BC will play conference foe Virginia on Wednesday night for a spot in the quarterfinals. n
ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR
The Eagles made sure not to overlook the Bulldogs in the first round of the WNIT, and comfortably won on on the road.
Thoman leads Eagles past Yale By Raychel Kruper Heights Staff
ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Kerri Shields (right) outdueled her sister Erin (left) on Saturday, dropping 26 points to help BC advance in the WNIT.
The Boston College women’s basketball team breezed past the Boston College 85 Yale Bulldogs in 61 th e f i r s t Yale round of the NIT Thursday evening on the road in New Haven, Conn. The Eagles won, 85-61, and made this their 17th game of the season in which they scored over 80 points in a game. “We didn’t take them lightly when we came in here,” head coach Sylvia Crawley said. “I thought our players stuck to the game plan and executed it to perfection tonight.” Senior captains Jaclyn Thoman and Stefanie Murphy shined in the first-round victory, scoring a combined 41 points – over half of the team’s total points. The two finished the game scoring 23 and 18 points, respectively. Thoman was on fire as she entered her senior year postseason, scoring 15 points in the first half, shooting 87.5 percent from the field, contributing three rebounds and a steal. “I don’t know why, but I was attacking the basket more,” Thoman said. “They came out at me hard
and they played tight defense on me, but I found that I could beat them off the first step. It just came to me, and that’s what they were giving me.” Yale’s defense did not allow any breathing room for the post players, forcing the Eagles guards to take control, and they came through, shooting 70 percent from the floor in the first half. This shooting enabled BC to open up a 19-point lead midway through the half. Furthermore, foul trouble forced Carolyn Swords out of the game early in the second half and Murphy had two fouls of her own. “I think with the way their post players play defense, they were face guarding on the high side and we told our post players to post up at the mid-post instead of the low post, so our post players were actually able to be a screen for our guards to go all the way to the basket,” Crawley said. “That worked for us and once our guards saw that was happening, they just kept driving and getting all the way to the basket.” After halftime, the Eagles opened the lead up to 25 at 16:45 in the second half. The closest that the Bulldogs got to closing the gap
was 18 points at 9:35. The statistics prove how much energy and work ethic the Eagles demonstrated on the court, as they outrebounded the Bulldogs 46-21, the bench outscored Yale’s 19-8, and Murphy moved up in the ranks to become the fourth all-time scorer in BC history. “I think it’s anybody’s goal to go to the NCAA tournament, but being able to play in the WNIT, it’s a championship too,” Thoman said about the team’s high energy level in the first round game. “It’s a dance, too, and that’s the way we looked at it. It might not be as big, but it proves something, so we told everyone that and I think we were all thinking that anyway. It’s just great to still play and to continue to play with this group of girls.” Having not made it to the NCAA tournament, the Eagles are hungry for a title, and after handling Yale in the first round, the team is still very much alive in postseason play, gaining momentum, and looking like a threat to future opponents. “I think everyone is invested,” Crawley said. “They are on a mission. They are hungry and they are working hard and having fun doing it. It was fun to watch tonight.” n
Top-ranked Terrapins too much to handle for women’s lacrosse team By Robert T. Balint Heights Staff
SPORTS in SHORT
The women’s lacrosse team hosted No. 1 Maryland on Sunday afternoon and 20 endured a hard Maryland loss at the hands Boston College 9 of its ACC rivals, 20-9, at Newton Sports Complex. With the win, the defending national champions improved to 8-0, and 3-0 in the ACC, while the No. 20 Eagles fall to 7-2, and 0-2 in the ACC. “They’re No. 1 in the country for a reason,” head coach Bowen Holden said after the game. “They’re a very good team.” The Terrapins set a fast pace from the very first whistle, gaining possession quickly and scoring just 38 seconds into the game. Kari Ellen Johnston, a senior attacker, fed the ball from the backside of the goal to Kristy Black, who found an opening in the middle, cut across the front and scored. The Eagles were able to maintain a long possession, but were turned back for most of the first half by a strong defensive effort from Maryland. The Terps held the BC attackers at arm’s length, forcing turnovers on which they managed to capitalize. On the strength of another backside assist from Johnston, this time to Brandi Jones, the Terrapins jumped
out to an early 2-0 lead. BC managed to gain some ground midway through the half on a penalty shot, which midfielder Kristin Igoe successfully converted to put her team on the board with 13:14 remaining. Soon after, teammate Moira Barry followed suit, and exploited a rare weakness in the Maryland defense by cutting in from the near side and sending in a shot at close range, evening the score at 2-2. Just five seconds later, off the ensuing faceoff, Maryland’s Caroline Barclay flew down the field and put her team back on top with a quick score with 11:37 remaining. From then on, Maryland took firm control of the half, scoring six more goals. The Eagles had just one more goal in the first half, a bouncing shot by midfielder Iliana Sanza that put the score at 10-3 at the end of the first half. “You can’t have a whole lot of offensive productivity when there were only two draws in the first half,” Holden said. “That’s something that we’re going to have to address.” Maryland continued its strong attack after the halftime break, and it took Laura Merrifield just 13 seconds after the whistle to score the first goal of the second half. The Terrapins used their time of possession efficiently, scoring on breakaway goals and assists from the
ACC Baseball Standings Atlantic
Florida State Clemson Boston College Wake Forest Maryland NC State
Coastal
Virginia Georgia Tech Miami North Carolina Duke Virginia Tech
Conference 3-2 3-3 2-4 2-4 1-5 1-5
5-0 6-0 6-0 4-2 2-4 0-6
Overall 15-4 10-7 8-9 7-12 10-10 10-10
19-1 17-4 12-8 18-3 15-7 12-10
backside to great effect all throughout the game. “They do an excellent job of making you feel that you can never get a step on them,” Bowen said. “Every time we’d get a goal, they would respond pretty quickly.” After the Terrapins’ 17th goal, BC backup goalie Catherine Conway substituted in for starter Sheila Serafino. The Eagles were more productive in the second half, scoring six goals, three of which came from Igoe. The senior finished with four scores on the day, good for 27 goals on the year. However, by that time, the game was far out of the Eagles’ reach, and at the final whistle the score stood 20-9. Holden acknowledged the high performance of the visiting Terrapins, but expressed confidence in her squad. “I’m proud of where this team is. We have a long season to go.” The loss came on the heels of the Eagles’ home opener against Harvard, in which they defeated the visiting Crimson 15-10 on Thursday. The two teams were neck and neck throughout the game, trading the lead frequently. With less than five minutes left, however, the Eagles smashed the 10-10 draw by scoring five goals in quick succession for the win. n
ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Kristin Igoe scored four times in Sunday’s loss vs. Maryland, giving her 27 goals on the year.
Numbers to Know
30
Goals for Cam Atkinson on the year. This marks the second straight 30goal season for the junior.
102
Games won by the men’s hockey team’s senior class of Brian Gibbons, John Muse and Joe Whitney.
43
Saves by Molly Schaus in Friday night’s 3-2 loss vs. Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Frozen Four.
Quote of the Week “We love our fans to death, and hopefully some will travel to St. Louis, but it’s not the end of the world going out there. We’ll have a good group out there, and we’ll be ready to go.”
— Joe Whitney
The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
B3
Seeding procedures send BC west, not to Manchester By Paul Sulzer Sports Editor
BOSTON - The road to St. Paul will go through St. Louis for Boston College. The Eagles received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament yesterday. They will be sent west, though, despite two of the four regionals taking place in New England. Their first round opponent is Colorado College on Friday at 9 p.m. EST. No. 2 Michigan will face No. 3 Nebraska-Omaha in the other West regional semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Friday. BC’s game will be broadcast on ESPNU and online at ESPN3.com. BC is not the only No. 1 facing a long flight. Miami (Ohio) will play in New Hampshire on Saturday. “This is one of those days you anticipate throughout the year: Selection Sunday,” head coach Jerry York said. “It’s interesting. Miami comes all the way east and we go all the way west. None of us are frazzled that we have to fly all the way to St. Louis to play.” The Northeast regional in Manchester, N.H. and the East regional in Bridgeport, Conn. were both unavailable to BC due to tournament seeding procedures. No. 1 seed Yale and No. 4 seed New Hampshire were automatically assigned to these locations because they’re hosting those regional. NCAA selection rules stipulate that host schools must be placed in their respective regionals before top seeds are assigned locations based on a combination of PairWise ranking and attendance concerns. Teams from the same conference cannot meet in first round games, which prevented BC from slotting in the Northeast to face Hockey East rival UNH. “We love our fans to death, and hopefully some will travel to St. Louis, but it’s not the end of the world going out there,” team captain Joe Whitney said. “We’ll have a good group out there, and we’ll be ready to go.” This will be BC’s 12 NCAA tournament appearance under York and 30th overall. The Eagles (30-7-1) are 12-4-1 all-time against the Tigers (22-18-3), including two wins in three meetings in the postseason. They have not met since 1998. “I spent this summer in Switzerland watching the U.S. under-17 team play,” York said. “The coach of Colorado [Scott Owens] was with me. We spent three days together. We talked about how we haven’t played each other in so long and how we should
alex trautwig / heights editor
Atkinson won MVP with a two-goal title game.
One trophy left for BC to claim Hockey East Champs, from B1
alex trautwig / heights editor
Joe Whitney and the Eagles have become accustomed to local arenas like the TD Garden. They’ll have to adjust to increased travel demands. schedule a series down the road. All of a sudden we’re playing now.” Kreider’s comeback Sophomore Chris Kreider will play on Friday, York announced after the league championship game. The left winger broke his jaw when he was hit by a puck against New Hampshire on March 4. “Chris Kreider will be full-up for Monday’s practice, so he’ll play in the regionals,” York said. “He’s had a quick recovery from the break in his jaw.” Cross in the Garden Tommy Cross, a Boston Bruins prospect, again looked impressive in his future home arena, the TD Garden, this weekend.
The junior defenseman earned a spot on the all-tournament team by posting a goal and two assists in the semifinals against Northeastern and a plus-three rating against Merrimack in the final. “The Garden is a great place to play,” he said. “Everyone on our team loves playing here, being on an NHL rink with great crowds. We watch the Bruins play here all the time on TV and coming to games. Playing here is still something special. It’s a big-game atmosphere, and it’s fun to play in those games. We’ve played in some this season, and we want to keep playing in them.” Odds and ends Steven Whitney scored a highlight reel
goal in the second period of the semifinal win that was No. 2 on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays Saturday. The sophomore forward skated between the circles and was checked downward by a Northeastern defenseman. While falling, he flicked a backhanded shot into the roof of the net on Chris Rawlings’ glove side. “Maybe he learned it from his dad in the backyard,” York said. “That was a special, special goal.” Also, brothers Jimmy and Kevin Hayes connected for the third goal-assist combo of their BC career. Older brother Jimmy fed younger Kevin for the first time with a pass from the post on Rawlings’ stick side to the slot for a wide-open shot. n
hole off a Merrimack turnover in the defensive zone. Flanigan beat Muse glove side high at 9:41 to tie the game at one. The one-all tie was short lived. Cannata again failed to cover his five-hole, and it cost him when Gibbons slotted an Atkinson rebound between the goalie’s legs to put BC up, 2-1, at 11:01. BC was 30 seconds away from taking a one-goal lead into the first intermission when Mike Collins tipped a cross-ice pass into a half-open net on the power play. Merrimack outshot BC 15-11 in the first period. The second period was a defensive struggle. Neither side scored. The Eagles evened up the shot count at 26. The Warriors began the third on fire, recording eight of the first nine shots. But they couldn’t beat Muse. He turned away 12 of 13 third-period attempts to keep Merrimack at bay and improve to 13-1 all-time in the Hockey East tournament. Combined with his 8-0 NCAA tournament record, he is 21-1 in postseason play. “His resume is not finished yet,” head coach Jerry York said. “He’s very focused on winning another national championship.” n
Wisconsin halts Eagles in national semifinals Frozen Four, from B1
photo courtesy of david schaus
Molly Schaus capped one of the best season’s in school history with a terrific performance against Wisconsin, recording 43 saves in defeat.
Senior duo ends triumphant season By Greg Joyce
Asst. Sports Editor ERIE, Pa. - Throughout the entire season, the Eagles were led by the fifth-year senior duo of Molly Schaus and Kelli Stack. Receiving a multitude of contributions from both All-Americans, Boston College relied on the two for their skills and leadership. Schaus, who recorded 43 saves on Friday night in the semifinal game against Wisconsin, kept her team in the game early on despite being bombarded by shots, often while the Badgers were on the power play. “Obviously she played a great game tonight, and always seems to have the big saves when we need it,” head coach Katie King said. “Molly’s meant so much to our program. She’ll definitely be a player that will always be remembered in Boston College history for everything that she’s done. She played another great game for us tonight. She’s a great goaltender, a great leader, and she’s been that for our team all year.” “Schaus is an outstanding goaltender,” Wisconsin forward Meghan Duggan said. “She’s going to make great saves all over the ice. She kept them in that game in the first period. She played an outstanding game.” Stack did not figure in any scoring on Friday, but her impact has been felt the rest of the year, and she is a huge reason for why the Eagles made it to the Frozen Four with
such a young team. “She’s asked to play a lot of minutes for us, and she has been all year,” King said. “I think that for the first three quarters of our season, she and Molly were relied on for a lot. “And I think [Wisconsin] watched for her. Every time she was on the ice, they were matching lines against her, and they were trying to put their best group out against her group. She gave everything she had tonight. That kid has worked hard for our program to make Boston College what it is.” Friday night’s game proved to be the last collegiate game for four seniors: Schaus, Stack, tri-captain Katelyn Kurth, and Laura Hart. “Molly and Kelli and our seniors, they’ve done an unbelievable job for Boston College.” King said. “It’ll be hard to think of our team without them.” Young players stepping up As hard as it will be to replace the 2011 senior class, King won’t have to worry too much given the success of her younger players on the team, especially down the last stretch of the season. “I think it’s great because they were able to learn from these older kids,” King said of the young team. “They’ve really come into their own here in the end of the year. “Obviously it’s a difficult loss for everyone, and you know that these young kids
will remember this, and they’ll remember the moments they had throughout this year, how difficult it is on a daily basis to get to this point. This young group of kids is a great group. They followed our seniors here, and they have a lot to grow on and a lot to look forward to in their next couple years.” The current team includes seven juniors, seven sophomores, and six freshmen who will return next year looking to build on this year’s success. “They’re a very good team, they’ve got some young good players,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said. Odds and Ends On Saturday morning, the team attended the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Brunch, where Stack was one of three finalists for national player of the year recognition. Wisconsin’s Duggan was named the winner. The Eagles shared a charter flight to Erie with the BU women’s ice hockey team, who was in the other semifinal game. BC’s Schaus and Stack, and Wisconsin’s Duggan, and Hilary Knight were familiar with each other before Friday night’s game, as they were all on the 2010 Olympic team together, and coached by Wisconsin’s coach Mark Johnson. BC was outshot in the game 46-25. Wisconsin defeated BU on Sunday afternoon to win the national championship. n
“I think in that first period, we were a little jittery, a little nervous,” King said. “Pucks were bouncing off our sticks. We were doing some things that were maybe taking ourselves out of position a little bit, so we may have needed to hook or grab or get in their way. To be able to kill off as many [power plays] as we did, that obviously was a success. But it definitely does take a lot out of you.” BC came out of the locker room for the second period looking more confident and refocused. Blake Bolden got her team on the board midway through the frame, just as the power play was about to expire. The sophomore defenseman took a puck from her own defensive zone, flew down the left side of the ice past multiple Badgers, and wristed it into the back of the net. “When doing video, we looked at the forecheck a lot, and we noticed that they gave the D a lot of space to skate up the ice,” Bolden said. “So I was just using that to my advantage, and I think they underestimated my speed a little bit.” The score stayed 2-1 until 8:37 into the third period, when Taylor Wasylk scored a highlight-reel goal. The freshman took the puck into the zone by herself, skated her way through Wisconsin’s two defenders, deked the goalie to draw her out of the net, and finished off the play with a backhander that went between the pipes. The score tied the game at two, and swung the momentum on BC’s side. “I can’t say enough good things about
the team for being able to come back like that,” King said. “We do have a fairly young team, and a lot of our young players are out there a lot. For them and for our upperclassmen to kind of carry them through it, I thought they really did a great job. [Wisconsin’s] a great program over there. They’re the No. 1 team in the country. For us to come back against them, I think that really says a lot for our team.” “We knew we could score some goals, and we would fight back,” Schaus said. “Fortunately, it showed a lot about what BC hockey’s all about, that we were capable to do that.” Just when it looked like the Eagles were ready to take their first lead of the game, or hold out long enough to send the game into overtime, the Badgers turned once again to their top-scoring line for the game-winner. Duggan threw a shot on Schaus, which she saved, but a crashing Decker was somehow able to just force the puck over the line for the winning goal. Despite the outcome, the Eagles were able to show what they were capable of doing, even though many people underestimated them coming into the game. “I think tonight I learned how resilient they were,” King said. “I’m just extremely proud of them tonight. We know it’s difficult to get here. I know the group coming back next year will be fired up to get back here again.” “We know we’re a great team now,” Bolden said. “No one believed in us, we believed in ourselves, and we turned a lot of heads.” n
photo courtesy of david schaus
Blake Bolden (10) got BC on the board in the second period when she skated coast to coast.
The Heights
B4
Monday, March 21, 2011
Northwestern eliminates BC from the NIT
It’s too early to judge Donahue’s potential at BC
Men’s NIT, from B1
Reflections, from B1
Princeton offense opened up a lot of backdoor cuts early, which gave the Wildcats’ shooters room on the outside. BC’s offense this year has been defined by its three-point shooting, but Northwestern was able to come to Conte Forum and put up a performance that would have put the Tees for Threes manufacturer out of business. “It was a difficult match-up for us because they play way different than the teams we’ve faced,” Donahue said. “I knew we’d score, I knew we should shoot a good percent, but I knew we would have a difficult time guarding them and we did.” Seniors Joe Trapani and Josh Southern attempted to fend off the hot shooting by Northwestern and were pacing an inside attack for the Eagles. At one point in the second half, Southern reached deep into his repertoire and pulled off a Dream Shake fade away jumper for one bucket that left most of the Eagle faithful delightfully stunned. Southern had his struggles as an Eagle but in his final game he showed the touch and offensive awareness that had many excited for his tenure at BC. Trapani was using his speed advantage to frustrate Northwestern center Luka Mirkovic in the first half. He led the Eagles with 18 points on seven of 11 shooting and was the most active Eagle around the basket. After trailing 38-31 in the half, BC was unable to make the proper adjustments to deal with the complexities of the Northwestern offense. Donahue tried a few different defensive looks but each one seemed to make the team more vulnerable than the last as nothing could stifle the shooting of Northwestern, whose 15 3-pointers were a Conte Forum record. Northwestern forward John Shurna, whose build is more suitable for badminton then big time basketball, used his high basketball IQ to frustrate the Eagles. All five Northwestern starters ended the game in double figures led by Thompson with 22 and Shurna with 20. Any time the Eagles began to close the gap, another Northwestern 3-pointer would kill their momentum and keep the game perpetually out of reach. Reggie Jackson turned up his offensive urgency in the second half, but his rhythm seemed off from the opening tip. Another 3-pointer by Thompson with seven minutes left put the Wildcats up 18 and unceremoniously ended BC’s 2011 basketball season. “It was kind of disappointing we had to go out like that especially on our home floor,” Trapani said. “I appreciate the fans and the people who have supported me. I have nothing but love for Boston College basketball fans.” It wasn’t the perfect basketball season, but, in the end, it was still pretty special. n
run to perfection when they absolutely must have a stop. They never had one. Whether it’s a 1-3-1 or 2-3 zone, or man-to-man, does not matter. Find one that works and stick to it in crunch time. Equally important as finding the right scheme is replacing the scoring BC is losing to graduation. After Reggie Jackson, the next four highest scorers on the team (Joe Trapani, Corey Raji, Biko Paris, and Josh Southern) are all seniors. Danny Rubin is sixth on the list, and he didn’t score over the final 11 games of the season. Jackson might have to be Jimmer Fredette 2.0 for BC just to be competitive. Recruits Ryan Anderson, Lonnie Jackson, Kyle Caudill, Dennis Clifford, and Eddie Odio are a decent recruiting class. The Eagles are in trouble, though, unless two or more of those guys become significant contributors immediately. Relying heavily on freshmen is a dicey proposition because it’s difficult to forecast how they’ll adjust to the college game. Anderson, in particular, has been soaring up recruiting boards the past few months. The Gatorade player of the year in California is the 68th best player in the country, according to ESPN.com. He’s a spread four who could slot into Joe Trapani’s role in the offense. How well he fits into Donahue’s system will go a long way in determining the success of next season. With eight seniors graduating and five recruits joining the program, leadership will be critical for the Eagles to maintain any sense of continuity. That burden falls on Jackson’s shoulders. He stands a good chance of being the ACC preseason player of the year since three of the other first-team all-ACC members are graduating and the fourth, Jordan Williams, is considering declaring for the draft. A year of stat padding in a watered-down ACC could boost his stock from second round to late first round. Contracts in the first round are guaranteed and ones in the second aren’t, so it’s a major risk to declare for the draft unless you’re a lock to be picked early. Jackson would be wise to stick around for his senior campaign. He still has plenty to prove after the way these past two seasons played out. The highlight of his BC career right now is being the third-best player (after Tyrese Rice and Trapani) in the team’s 80-74 win over Duke his freshman year. He’s too good for the footnote on his ultimate BC biography to be that he peaked halfway through his first season on the Heights. If he leaves, he’ll be remembered as arguably the best Eagles player ever to never win a tournament game. If he stays, he can change that.
Weekend roundup
Softball completes UVA sweep By Ryan Kiracofe Heights Staff
Boston College completed a series sweep of Virginia to open ACC play with a 7-6 victory yesterday in Charlottesville. Nicole D’Argento and Brittany Wilkins both homered for the Eagles (7-15, 3-0). D’Argento went 2-for-3, driving in three runs and scoring two, including the game-winner in the top of the seventh. Wilkins went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Morgan Kidd (1-3) picked up the win by tossing 1.2 shutout innings, walking two and striking out one. On Saturday, Eagles freshman Tory Speer dominated at the plate, going five for seven with two home runs and six RBIs. BC pitcher Allison Gage (2-6) finally got into the win column, earning victories in both games. She threw 5.1 innings of relief in the day’s early game, striking out three and allowing just one run in a 9-3 BC win. The senior returned in the nightcap with a three-run, complete game effort as the Eagles slammed the Cavaliers again, 11-3. Eagles junior Ali Lynette-Krech crossed the plate four times on the day, going five for six at the dish. Game one saw both sides tally a run in the first, but BC opened up a comfortable lead with a four-run third inning. D’Argento and junior Alison Kooistra hit back-to-back singles with the bases loaded to open up a 5-2 lead. Wilkins hit a three-run blast in the sixth, stretching the score to 9-3. BC picked up right where it left off in game two, jumping to a two-run lead in the first on senior Gemma Ypparila’s sacrifice fly and a wild pitch. Virginia fought back to level the score in the second, but Speer’s two-run jack put the Eagles back in front, 4-2. BC would blow things open in the sixth with a seven-run rally. D’Argento went deep with a two-run home run, Wilkins singled in Lynette-Krech, and Speer blasted another three-run homer. Souders Qualifies to National Championships Junior Peter Souders, a Silver Spring, Md. native, finished ninth in the men’s sabre competition at NCAA regionals, good enough to qualify for the fencing national championships at Ohio State next week. Senior Jennifer Colocino narrowly missed qualifying herself. She was named an alternate to the NCAA competition after her seventh-place effort in the women’s foil. BC had three other athletes finish in the top 15 in their respective events. Albert Starshak was 14th in the men’s epee competition, Anabel Young was 11th in the women’s epee, and Chelsea Rosenbauer finished 12th in women’s sabre. n
alex trautwig / heights editor
Junior Reggie Jackson is the only one of BC’s five leading scorers who’s not graduating, but he could bolt for the NBA.
Paul Sulzer is the Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.
Motion of Princeton offense confuses BC defense By Daniel Popko Heights Staff
While at Cornell, Steve Donahue had to constantly deal with the vaunted Princeton offense. The constant motion, in which everybody is a threat, was made famous by Pete Carril in his 30-year tenure at the Ivy League institution and has since been employed mainly in lower-echelon conferences. Nobody has told that to Northwestern. Using this system, the Wildcats ended Boston College’s season with an 85-67 win in the Sweet 16 of the NIT. “No one runs [the Princeton offense] like Northwestern. Bill [Carmody] runs it as close as Pete Carril. Princeton even doesn’t run it like that any more,” Donahue said. “Nobody runs it like this, particularly at this level.” The Eagles tried going with both zone and man defenses but were powerless against the Wildcat attack. Every starter had at least three assists – led by their big man, Luka Mirkovic, with seven – and 27 of their 34 field goals came off of an assist. “They really sensed that they could get us, once they got the ball moving I think all five of those kids really shared the ball,” Donahue said. Northwestern did the majority of their damage from behind the arc, hitting a Conte Forum record of 15 threes (on 36 attempts), including six from Michael Thompson. “They were hitting threes, which was tough,” Joe Trapani said. “If you get up on them, they were going to go back door and, if not, they’re just going to hit a jumper in your face.” Coming out of the half down by seven, BC conceded seven points on its first two defensive possessions – a three by Thompson followed by a Alex Marcotullio four-point play to stretch the lead to 12. To counter, BC came out in a 1-3-1, a defense they employed expansively early in the year but largely dropped from their repertoire after conceding far to many open threes. The defense extended the Wildcats and upped the pressure, but the Eagles could never get closer than eight the rest of the game. Northwestern’s offense was second in the Big 10 in scoring, trailing only Purdue in points per game. Though the Wildcats’ conference opponents had seen the Princeton-style attack for the past 11 seasons, it was a new look for the Eagles. “It was just a difficult match-up for us in the sense that they play way different then the teams we face,” Donahue said. “Obviously, I know it [the Princeton offense] and you try and do as much as you can in terms of translating to your players, but you don’t want to overdo it so there is a fine line there as well.” The Eagles’ confusion was evident from the outset as Mirkovic found the 5-foot-10 Thompson wide open under the hoop for the game’s opening bucket. “We had a game plan coming in but I guess we let them get a little bit comfortable,” Trapani said. “They were able to hit shots, they were moving the ball well and it’s tough when you play one way the whole sea-
alex trautwig / heights editor
The BC defense struggled throughout the game with Northwestern’s offense, which included devastating backdoor cuts. son and we try not to tailor ourselves to their game to defend them but they beat us back door.” When the Eagles seemed to have the cuts covered, Northwestern seemed to go over their outstretched arms, particularly exploiting the smaller BC defenders like Biko Paris and John Cahill when they switched onto taller Wildcat players. John Shurna, at 6-foot-8, took particular advantage, tallying 20 points on a variety of dunks and layups despite just shooting 1-for-8 from outside the arc.
Thompson, Marcotullio and Drew Crawford picked up the slack, hitting 12-of-25 shots from deep. Even the 6-foot-11 Mirkovic got in on the action, hitting his one three-point attempt from straightaway above the arc. “Once they started doing that and they did it well, they sensed that they could really cut backdoor and, in turn, they got open threes because we’re over-helping on the back cuts, all those things,” Donahue said. “They did a great job of running their offense.” n
The Heights
Monday, March 21, 2011
B5
King’s All-American honors highlight memorable senior season By DJ Adams
Assoc. Sports Editor Science will tell you that acquired traits don’t get passed on from generation to generation, but in sports at least the myth pervades the truth and seems to hold some clout. Incredulous athletic families exist in every form of competition, whether it’s the Griffeys, the Millers, or the Mannings. At Boston College, we have witnessed
numerous Fluties take the field of Alumni, as well as multiple Hayes, Whitneys, and Atkinsons skate atop Kelley Rink’s cold surface. But it doesn’t stop there. Currently one of the University’s most dynamic athletes, senior cross-country and track-and-field star Caroline King comes from a royal family of runners herself. Her older sister ran at the University of Connecticut, her younger sister Jillian is also currently a member of BC’s squad,
and, to top it off, her father was a collegiate runner once upon a time. So while other families gather around the dinner table, does the recently crowned All-American and her loved ones ever take a quick lap together? “My [younger] sister is on the team here at BC, so we run together all the time over break and especially in the summer,” King laughed about the idea of a family run. “But my older sister, she will occasionally go for a run, but she is more of the run-alone-with-an-iPod type. And not that he can’t keep up, because he probably could, but my dad will sometimes ride his bike with me to keep me company if that counts.”
This year, and I don’t know how it happened, but this year for some reason it all clicked. Running, therefore, has always been in King’s blood. It’s what got her to first participate in competitions in middle school, what persuaded her to give up swimming and soccer prospects in high school to focus on track, and what finally drove her to pursue becoming a collegiate athlete. “I think I always knew if I was going to go to college, I was going to run,” King said. “My older sister ran at UConn, and my dad ran in college, too, so it was just kind of a natural progression. I just always had it in my head that this was what I wanted to do.”
Photo courtesy of John Connelly
King has set three BC records in track this season, including a 4:36.00 time in the mile run.
A season to remember King is currently completing one of the most amazing individual seasons a collegiate runner could ever hope for. This spring, the senior set three different BC track records (the mile, 1,000meter race, and as a member of the distance medley relay team) and earned All-American status this past weekend for running a 4:36.00 mile at the NCAA indoor track and field championship in College Station, Texas. “I was very happy,” King said. “That’s been my goal since I’ve come to college.
BAseball
Behind stellar pitching efforts, Eagles take two from Terrapins Leonard continues to flash dominance, throws eight strong innings in series finale By Chris Marino Heights Editor
The Boston College baseball team took two games of three from Maryland this weekend. The Eagles (8-9, 2-4 ACC) Boston College 4 relied on great pitching 1 Maryland to defeat the Terrapins (10-10, 1-5) at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium in College Park, Md. In the rubber game of the series, starting pitcher John Leonard led the way. The senior only allowed one unearned through 8.0 innings of work. The Terrapins were unable to get a hit through 5.1 innings. Leonard ultimately only gave up three hits and two walks while fanning five to seal the series win. His season’s record currently stands at 3-1. “He really learned how to work and learned how to play this year,” Gambino said. “He’s changed his attitude over the summer time and he’s just become an absolute workhorse for us. He’s really obsessed with his preparation now. He used to not be as focused on preparation but he is now, and you can see how hard he’s worked in the weight room and with his conditioning. He’s in great shape and you can really see it with his ability to throw 99 pitches today.” The BC bats came alive in the fifth inning with a pair of runs. Sudol began the inning when he was hit with a pitch and then moved to second when Matt Hamlet walked. Bourdon put the two in scoring position with a sacrifice and Sudol came in for the first run on a wild pitch. Zapenas followed with a walk to put runners on the corners before Lawrence scored Hamlet with a sacrifice fly. Smith began the Eagles’ scoring in the seventh with a single. Sudol smacked another to put runners on first and second. Bourdon belted a single up the middle to score Smith and put BC up 30. The Eagles’ final run came in the ninth when Smith scored on a balk. Smith led the inning off with a double and was moved to third on a fly out to right. The Terrapins scored their only run in the bottom of the ninth with an unearned run. Smith came on in relief of Leonard with a runner on first and had a botched pickoff attempt to move him to second. The runner came home on a single to right. In the second game of the three-game set, Maryland came out on top in a tough 4-3 contest. The Terrapins ultimately won on a bases-loaded balk in the bottom of the seventh inning when the ball slipped from the pitcher’s hand. BC began the scoring with a single and a stolen base from Brad Zapenas. Zapenas then moved to third and scored on an errant pickoff attempt. In the second, the Eagles got back-to-back singles
from Sudol and Smith. Even though BC grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, Bourdon had an RBI single to put the Eagles up 2-0. Starting pitcher Dave Laufer looked good early, throwing 2.2 perfect innings before giving up the game’s first run. Maryland scored its first run on an RBI single down the line after a hit batsman and a single put runners on first and second. The Terrapins scored two more times in the fourth to give them the 3-2 lead. BC scored one more unearned run in the sixth on a bounced pickoff attempt to third. Despite the loss, BC still had a solid performance from Sudol who went 3-for-4 with a run scored. To that point in the series, he was 6-for-9. “He’s been great,” Gambino said of Sudol. “He really swung the bat well in the first few weekends but had nothing to show for it. He’s had some tough-luck weekends where he was hitting the ball right on the nose. And that’s all you can really ask for. “Baseball is a mental game and sometimes he would talk himself down and make himself think he needs to change something. He can really, really hit. He’s got great hands. He’s got juice. He’s really important in this lineup. He’s a leader on and off the field because of how he works and how much he carries this ballclub.” The first game of the series was highlighted by a great effort from the Eagle bullpen with a 7-4 victory. After giving up three earned runs in one inning of work, starter Andrew Lawrence was replaced by reliever Hunter Gordon. Splitting eight innings of work between Gordon, Matt Alvarez, Matt Brazis, Steve Green, Eric Stevens, Kyle Prohovich, and Garret Smith, the Eagles only gave up one run on a solo home run. The Terrapins only had three base runners during this span – all three reached on walks. Gordon and Brazis each pitched two innings. Hunter recorded the win, his first of the season with two perfect innings. “We’re really short on our number of arms this year,” head coach Mike Gambino said of his bullpen’s work. “So what we want to do is give ourselves the best chance to win on Friday night with these guys and give ourselves available arms for Saturday and Sunday. And it’s also good because it doesn’t really ask anybody to bite a little more than they can chew. Whether or not we win on Friday, this setup gives us the best chance to win the weekend [series].” At the plate, the Eagles were led by senior Mike Sudol, who went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, a double, and three runs scored. Junior third baseman Anthony Melchionda also went 3-for-5 with a double, and senior captain Garret Smith was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. The series was defined by strong pitching performances from both the bullpen and Leonard, who has taken the role of staff leader to this point in the season. The Eagles will look to take this success into this week as they face non-conference foe Holy Cross and ACC-opponent Virginia Tech. n
To have actually done it, I am really happy and thankful, and obviously blessed, to be given the opportunity to do that.” Though the indoor season is now complete, the outdoor events are just getting under way. King maintained that while she is aware that even a minor slip from her incredible indoor production wouldn’t put a damper on her accomplishments thus far, she hopes to build aggressively upon her recent success rather than passively accept it. “You know, you finish a race, and you always kind of want to do better,” King said. “I’m happy with my success, but I want to keep improving upon it. I don’t want to grow complacent with it.” Her 2011 track season is enough evidence itself that the senior feels this way. Though King has always been a member of both the cross-country team and track squad, track and field was predominantly her specialty. But this past fall, she performed spectacularly in what was her best cross-country season to date, earning her first All-American recognition for her efforts in the 5K. “I was so happy with the way crosscountry went [this year],” King said. “You can even ask our coach, my first three years of cross country, it just wasn’t my strong point. I always thought of myself as an 800-meter track runner, and making the jump up to a 5K, I just didn’t think I could do it.” Though her training regimen remained the same, King credits her newfound success in cross country to a more optimistic outlook. “I was frustrated with it for three years, because I knew that somewhere in me I could make that transition. ‘If I can run a mile, I can be pretty good at cross country.’ This year, and I don’t know how it happened, but this year for some reason it all clicked. I was so happy coming off of cross country, and that just made me that much more excited for track.” Overcoming injuries The 2010-11 season has been a memorable one for King, but the magnitude of its success might have occurred earlier in her career if various injuries hadn’t stood in her way. “I always have had these nagging little injuries,” she said. “Sophomore year I
red-shirted because of a stress facture, and last year during cross I had problems with my IT band. It’s always kind of put dampers on my mileage and what training I could do.” While many runners sadly fall from grace when physical issues become routine, King was motivated to stick to a rigorous rehab schedule in order to overcome them. “It is tough some days, especially in the summer, to get yourself out the door,” King said. “But honestly, you just have to. In track more so than any other sport. A lot of other sports take skill, so a few days off here or there isn’t going to affect you. But I think in running, if you take random days off here or there because you don’t feel like doing it, it is going to show in your performance.” No finish line in sight Though her sophomore season was tough, as King was forced to refrain from competition, it will allow the senior one more year of eligibility. As a result, she plans on enrolling within the Graduate College of Arts and Sciences and performing one more year at the collegiate level. Even when it’s all said and done at BC, King is inspired to continually incorporate running into her everyday life.
I was very happy. That’s been my goal since I’ve come to college. “If I had the opportunity to keep working at running after college, whether it be a club team or what, I would obviously do that in a second,” King said. “I just love it. I’m not ready to be done with that, and I don’t think I will be next year at this time. It’s just been such a big part of my life.” For once in her life, King is not willing to cross the finish line that effectively ends her running career. You can be sure that when she eventually does, however, it will come with an incredulous assortment of accolades that few others can match. n
The Heights
B6
By Megan Cain For The Heights
Sophomores at Boston College are currently buzzing about where they will be studying abroad next year, and many current juniors are either reminiscing over photos from their European travels last semester or hiking through mountains in South America this semester. However, Nicole Mancuso, A&S ’12, had a different experience than most BC students. Mancuso participated in the Disney College Program. “I always tell people that I was studying abroad in Epcot with all of the countries,” she says jokingly. Nicole arrived in Orlando, Florida in late August and studied and worked on Disney grounds for nearly six months. The Disney College Program allows college students the opportunity to earn money working at a Disney park, hotel, or other facility, learn in a variety of courses, and live in housing that is provided to program participants. The benefits extend to networking, improving your resume, working with professionals, and sharpening your customer service skills. After working at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa gift shop in the Walt Disney World Resort and taking a marketing course as well, Mancuso says, she now feels more well-rounded after spending time down there. She says that interacting with the guests helped her gain a lot of experience.
Kerri MacPherson has been working with Disney for just under 11 years and serves as a Disney Internships and College Recruiter. MacPherson participated in the program herself while she was in college, and she now has the opportunity to welcome new students into the program. The Disney College Program has been going on for 30 years, touching the lives of a large number of students. “We’ve inspired and had just around 100,000 students come through the program,” MacPherson says. Speaking about the strength of the program, “Whether you put Disney on your resume or make it your career, it’s a great place to start,” MacPherson says. The company makes an effort to expose students to areas of which they may have an interest in working as a career and introduce them to successful people in the industry. Students can earn anywhere between three and 12 credits from accredited courses, as long as their university accepts these credits. Mancuso was able to receive some internship credit from BC but did not have a typical 15-credit course load. BC students who are interested in participating in the program during their undergraduate years would most likely have to complete extra coursework before or after their time at Disney in order to compensate for the missing credits. The other option, however, is to complete the program immediately after
graduation. Application requirements include enrollment in a college or university taking at least one course, being 18 years old or above, and viewing either an on-campus presentation or the E-Presentation. As long as students apply before they graduate, they are eligible to participate, pending acceptance, following graduation. Participants are placed in a variety of roles. The most common work locations are attractions, food and beverage, merchandise locations, or custodial staff. When students apply online, they can check off as many roles of which they have an interest. MacPherson suggests that applicants be flexible with the options they select. “Flexibility is big in our company. We expect everyone to pull their weight,” MacPherson says. When she participated in the program, MacPherson did not receive her first choice role of working on “The Great Movie Ride” and was instead placed in food and beverage, but that did not taint her experience. Many students report that they get a lot out of the program, MacPherson says, “You go expecting one thing, and you will come back learning something completely different.” Participants gain many transferable skills and create life-long friends. Mancuso spoke highly of the friends she made while at Disney and indicated that their friendships would last for a long time.
Monday, March 21, 2011
One student in particular came to the program very shy and had difficulty speaking to large groups of people, MacPherson recounts. During the experience at the Disney College Program, however, she transformed. “She gained so much confidence,” MacPherson says. “She is one of the best and shining examples of somebody who wanted to grow and learn a lot about herself and was open to feedback and learning to grow and change.” Students may not know what they will get out of the program before they start, but after they are done, so many say positive things about it. Mancuso agrees, expressing similar sentiments. “I was nervous going into it,” she says, “but it really was so awesome. I met people that I will honestly probably talk to for the rest of my life.” Both Mancuso and MacPherson emphasize that the program is about what each student puts into it. If you commit yourself, it can be an amazing experience. Current college students who are interested in the Disney College Program can look to www. disneycollegeprogram.com for more information. The E-Presentation can be found there, as well as the many details regarding the program and application. Mancuso says she loved her experience and recommends the program to anyone. “Disney employees are treated so well,” she says, “I really can’t stress enough how great it was.” n
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Heights
B7
Living up to Jesuit ideals by learning to respect and love others Boston College partners up with Facing History in an effort to prepare students to make informed decisions for the future By Julia Wilson
Heights Senior Staff Boston College prides itself on being a university of “men and women for others.” With its JesuitCatholic background and focus on social-justice issues, BC’s academic offerings reflect its commitment to fostering a service-learning environment for its students. One such class offered through the theology department is the Challenge of Peace. Taught by Stephen Pope for more than five years, this year marks the first of Pope’s partnership with Facing History, an international, educational, and professional development organization that seeks to combat bigotry and create a more humane and informed citizenry. Founded in 1976 in Brookline, Facing History’s goal has been to use education to fight racism, prejudice, and anti-semitism by training teachers to link the events of the past to the moral choices of today. Through case studies about the Holocaust and other examples of genocide and mass violence, Facing History has trained 29,000 educators who reach nearly 2 million young people annually to face these issues in the classroom. With offices across the nation and partnerships around the globe in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, China, Rwanda, and Israel, Facing History uses a historical lens to relate the past to contemporary issues in order to prepare young people to make informed choices in their own lives. Like Facing History, the emphasis of Pope’s Challenge of Peace class is to help students learn
from the past to make a difference in the future, to live better personal lives, and to become leaders with a conscience in society. This emphasis on choosing to participate that both Challenge of Peace and Facing History share is “BC at its best,” Pope believes. “A course like this can get us to hone in on our greatest priorities,” Pope says. “It attempts to get students to ask, ‘What are our strengths and how can I take my core values and make them the center of my life?’ Part of the problem is that people move too quickly. How do we get people to stop and think? Accumulating information is not the same as understanding. This is one problem of our education system from high school through university levels: there’s an emphasis on quantity, not quality.” Through its trainings and long-term follow-ups with teachers, Facing History consults with educators about how to best implement its educational components into their own classrooms. Facing History focuses on giving students the choice to participate through its interactive model. Instead of just listening to a lecture, students are asked to think critically about their own life and experiences. In the Challenge of Peace, students learn about case studies like the Holocaust, the civil rights movement in the U.S., and apartheid in South Africa. More than just reading various texts, students participate in activities like small-group discussions, analyzing artwork and music lyrics, gallery walks, and silent conversations. During a gallery walk, students move from one end of the classroom
to the other, looking at photographs taken from different perspectives about a particular event or era, like Nazi Germany. In silent conversations, students respond to each other through written, instead of spoken dialogue, about a short story, interview excerpt, or other piece of writing. William Miller, Pope’s co-instructor and Facing History representative, says he believes that every educator ought to strive to create a reflective classroom community and that this should be among their top priorities. Miller, a former eighth grade social studies teacher, has been working with Facing History for the past 30 years. “Once you create that reflective community, people feel free to grapple with the issues, to engage with each other, and to really listen and enter into the world of the other,” Miller says. “It’s not about necessarily agreeing but enlarging your thinking. It’s about being able to look at the world through a different lens.” “It makes it more interactive,” says Michael Fee, a student in the Challenge of Peace and CSOM ’11. “It allows the student to have a visual and physical experience so that you’re actually interacting with history. It taps a different part of the mind in a way that class doesn’t usually do.” Another Challenge of Peace student agrees with Fee about the effectiveness of the Facing History material. “For something as intense as the Holocaust, it makes sense to use different learning approaches and to make it engaging,” says Christine Doonan, A&S ’11. “It’s a different representation of the material besides just what we typically learn in
Courtesy of Flickr.com
the classroom.” Regarding the ways in which students could seek to relate the classroom material to their lives at BC, Pope recognizes some in which the BC community could work towards a greater sense of collective reverence, a deeper sense of what’s good that leads to better treatment of others. Changing the dorm structure so that all students live in the same dorm for all four years with members of all other classes is one such area for improvement. Pope says that a change in the dorm structure would make dorms real communities instead of places where many different friend-groups happened to have neighboring suites. Being forced to jockey for roommates every year creates conditions of cruelty. Assigning students to permanent and mixed-class housing would eliminate the annual agonizing process in which students have to separate who’s ‘in’ from who’s ‘out’ to get the best housing options on campus. For some students, many of the issues that Facing History and Challenge of Peace seek to deal with may seem too distant to relate back to their own lives. The task of doubling back on one’s own experience and linking the past to the present and to one’s own life may seem difficult. Miller recognizes the impact of the Facing History material not just on students’ academic perspectives, but also on their daily lives. “Central to this course is the question of how you see the other,” Miller says. “If you see the other as an embodiment of the sacred, and you really deeply understand that and are grounded in that, then the way that you treat your roommate will matter.” n
Courtesy of Flickr.com
Facing History discusses some of the world’s greatest tragedies, such as those that have been memorialized in the New England Holocaust Memorial and this timeline of the Apartheid from the 1960s to the 1990s in South Africa.
CSOM students welcome professors into their dormitories for dinner Take Home Prof program allows students to enjoy dinner with professors and develop mutually beneficial relationships outside of class By Brooke Schneider Asst. Features Editor
College students are no strangers to take-home exams and the long hours of procrastination that precede the frantic worrying that takes hold of one’s mental state when a deadline is hours away. The Take Home Prof program, offered to students in the Carroll School of Management (CSOM), grants students the opportunity to take something home that they would welcome with much more enthusiasm – their favorite professor. Funded by the Ernst & Young Excellence in Accounting and Management Fund, the program was expanded as of this fall to provide groups of sophomore, junior, and senior students with $100 to invite a professor to dinner in their residence hall. Students are reimbursed for the money spent on the groceries purchased in order to cook the meal, or the money spent on take-out, if the group of students does not have access to a kitchen. Each semester, 10 groups of students are able to take advantage of this program on a first come, first serve basis, and the interest always exceeds the availability, says Erica Graf, CSOM undergraduate programs administrator. Graf, who created the program in the fall of 2008, finds a tremendous amount of value in the interaction of students and professors outside the classroom. “The program is pretty low-key, it’s a one-time commitment, but I think it makes a large impact for being such a short program,” she says. These dinners enable both the professor and the student to be learners in the sense that they each leave the table with a greater understanding of the other. From the professor’s perspective, there is often a great interest in the personal lives that complement the intellectual lives of their students. “It’s not about the food or anything, it’s about you just getting to know more about students, where they came from, what their experience here is like, and what they’re planning on doing,” says Mark Bradshaw, a professor in the accounting department, who describes his experience with the program as one of the gems of his time at Boston College. On a more informative level, Bradshaw tailors his classes to what he hears from students about job searches and what employers are interested in. More concretely, Bradshaw began incorporating deferred taxes into his financial statement analysis course because he heard from students that certain employers were asking about them in the interview process. Even though there is much to be learned that differentiates the two groups, both the professors and the students share common experiences that serve as meaningful topics of discussion. “We’re old, but we were all students at one time, and everybody will always look back on the time that you were an undergraduate as a fond time, so it’s nice to serendipitously hear about other students’
experiences,” Bradshaw says. Joining two of his students for dinner in Edmond’s Hall was particularly meaningful for John Gallaugher, a professor in the information systems department, who, nearly 20 years earlier, had invited his PULSE professor to dinner in Edmond’s, where he was an RA. “I have a real fondness for Edmond’s,” he says. The trio had much to discuss during their dinner as the students were interested in what had changed in Edmond’s since Gallaugher was there last and the fact that he first met his wife when she was a resident in the same building. This discussion of topics outside the realm of academia is what gives the Take Home Prof program a humanizing power in the eyes of students because it allows them to see their professors as real people, who aren’t just teachers. “At the end of the day, professors, they are mentors, they are teachers, they are, so to speak, at a higher level because they have Ph.D.s and they are the ones teaching us, but at the same time, they are human beings and they still want to enjoy a nice dinner and chat about conversational things,” says Bo Wen, CSOM ’11, who has participated in the program twice. Joe Matta, CSOM ’11, cooked dinner with Wen and another classmate, for Bradshaw after developing a solid relationship with him in class. “You get to learn a little bit more of the personal details of a professor, their background, etcetera, so you get to know them more on a friend-type personal relationship, rather than a student-teacher relationship.” A surprise encounter on Lower Campus, removed from the academic buildings, demonstrates the development of Matta and Bradshaw’s relationship outside the classroom. “There was that one day I was walking down Campanella, and he beeped at me and gave me a wave, I waved back,” he says. “It was kind of a smaller moment, I guess, but, like I said, you don’t really expect your professor that you have to just beep and wave at you when you’re walking down Campanella.” After strengthening her relationship with a few of her students following a dinner in their residence hall, Sandra Bravo, a professor in the marketing department, found herself cheering on the women in the Boston Marathon, with her son by her side. “I think it was neat for my son to see what college was all about in the sense that I explained to him that I had dinner with them,” she says. “He was really interested in that.” Students who are unable to claim one of the 10 spots each semester and those that are in other schools are still encouraged to engage in dialogue with faculty members outside of the classroom. “I think students just need not to be intimidated by having conversations with professors and just ask them for what they need,” Bravo says. “Most professors are more than happy to be helpful in
any way that they can.” One of the manners in which professors can aid students is in writing a thorough recommendation letter, and that can only happen if the relationship between the student and the professor is strong. “If the faculty members know more about you, what makes you special, the clubs that you’ve volunteered in, the impact that you’ve had on students, if you’ve been able to share your enthusiasm for a particular profession, and you’ve had deep discussions about them, then there’s a lot more depth the faculty can use to advocate on your behalf,” Gallaugher says. Excellent recommendation letters can lead to successful careers, and oftentimes student-professor relationships will continue until that point, evolving into something resembling a relationship among peers. Having graduated from BC, Gallaugher now works with the professors that he admired during his years spent sitting in the seats
of the Fulton lecture halls. “I still remember being in Hassell McClellan’s class and Sandra Waddock’s class and walking out, inspired,” he says. “And so, I really feel a sense of responsibility to uphold their commitment.” Gallaugher upholds their commitment by forming meaningful relationships with his students that withstand the test of time. “It would be so sad for me to lose connection with the brilliant students that we have at Boston College and not know what they do in the future,” he says. This deep care that professors have for their students and the emphasis that BC places on the development of relationships between students and faculty beyond the occasional question at office hours is reflective of the mission of the University. For Bravo, the Take Home Prof program is a mark of the uniqueness of BC. “It’s part of what makes Boston College a special place, to have some of those relationships.” n
The Heights
B8
the real world
Truly awe inspiring Dan Friedman As a first timer on Appalachia, I can honestly say that the trip didn’t meet or exceed my expectations, but rather shattered them. By now, the heady afterglow of my trip to West Virginia has faded a little into the past, and the exact hilarious thing that a member of my group said the second day has perhaps been forgotten. Speaking solely for myself, however, two major feelings still remain: the anger, and the awe. It would be easy to write this column with anger; it was easy to find things in West Virginia to be angry about. Here is a state that is the favorite each year to hover in the bottom five slots of national polls concerning health, education, and employment. Here is a state eternally cleaning up after Big Coal, thrusting itself into debt, with representatives who fear to take action lest West Virginia is perceived as being unfriendly toward businesses. What’s worse, I would be willing to bet that as much as 95 percent of the population at Boston College knew that Japan had suffered a monstrous earthquake before they knew that West Virginia was battling a flood, if at all. I say this not to belittle Japan’s disaster (although, let’s be real, the hype about nuclear reactors and the dangers of nuclear energy recently has been overstated), but rather to emphasize the pitiful attention given in the media to pressing issues in our own country. But a little over a month ago, I wrote a column chiding Americans for complaining too often and appreciating the quality of people and of life here too little. So in part I don’t want to be a hypocrite, but even more, I want the people who continue to strike me with such awe to get some sort of acknowledgment, even if it is only in a college newspaper. There were three real life saints that I was privileged enough to meet and spend some time with over my spring break. These three angels worked through the Catholic chapel, which doubled as an aftercare center for at-risk schoolchildren. The first was a man named Danny, a 23-year-old man, fresh out of college. He carries with him a relaxing aura of calm, something that settled and reassured volunteers, who at times could get frantic. Danny has no income. He represents a dying breed of Americans, those who still take their hats off to a Jeffersonian model of America. His specialty is gardening. And no, he did not take science, or geology, or anything like that at college. Rather, he learned his trade from books and what he described as “old farmers” who knew the craft. He set up neighborhood gardens where members of the community could come together and work on something and find a common source of pride. He also organized a miniature farm, keeping chickens and rabbits and various crops. Whether it was pioneering a project like the gardens or just generally helping out with the vast array of responsibilities, Danny was a man you could count on. The second was Miss Patty. She has worked as a caterer for 25 years, and churned out filling, tasty dinners for some 250 people every night. Though at times she could seem as harsh as the Marb Reds she smoked, as perhaps every chef can be, her dedication and passion could not be questioned. Finally there was Mr. Alex. The progeny of a Chilean miner, Mr. Alex came to America with nothing, including the ability to speak English. He enrolled in an intensive English language program in Michigan, where he simultaneously earned a degree as an engineer. He told us that initially he would travel to South America every year and try to help there, until one day he realized there was enough work to be done in West Virginia to keep him busy for a long time. I could write a small book about these people and the kindness, knowledge, and catharsis they passed on to all of us. But I think it is enough to say that, as an economics student, I believe passionately in the human tendency to respond to incentives. It is easy, however, to forget that there are other forms of incentive besides money. These three people demonstrated the most virtuous of incentives – the desire to do good. If that doesn’t inspire one with awe, I’m not sure what will.
Dan Friedman is a Staff Columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
Monday, March 21, 2011
how-to
Save the world from the comfort of your own bedroom Brendan Kneeland In the wake of massive floods, the violent uprisings in Libya and Egypt, and the election of Kitlas-Long, many Boston College students have taken their collective voice to the one place where The Man won’t be able to stifle it, the one place where change and action can actually happen: the blogosphere. Tens upon tens of BC students are out there, fighting the good fight on the frontlines in their dorm rooms. As Sean Parker, aka Justin Timberlake, said in The Social Network, “This is our time.” Sit back, Mr. Obama. We’ve got this. Not surprisingly, over spring break alone, the ravages of Hurricane Katrina were repaired, the homeless were reunited with their long-lost homes, Gavel Media achieved marriage equality, The Observer promptly destroyed it, and ATL Eagle figured out exactly what’s wrong with our basketball program, and as a result, will have it fixed soon. If you want to join this revolution, I should warn you, it’s not for the faint of heart. This isn’t Afghanistan or Iraq. This is YOUR war. Sometimes people will disagree with you, and even attack you through Facebook comments. For those of you brave enough to continue, may God bless and continue to protect you. First of all, you need to get outraged. Something has to make you so boiling mad, so personally offended, that you have absolutely no other
choice than to blog about it. Look at all those who thought they were effecting change by going out into the world: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK. What do they all have in common? They’re dead. Better for you to write passive-aggressive comments on your friends’ Facebook walls about how Fox News is so biased, than to go out into the streets where people can see your face and punch it. You’re mad, and you want to be in the thick of the fight, but whoa, slow down, you don’t want any trouble. Also, the further removed from your life the event or issue is, the better. Because Mubarak and the United Nations are desperately waiting to hear what sophomore political science majors think, and will absolutely not act until they have heard from them. Gather some information. Secondary and tertiary sources of information are alright, but in the world of Internet commentary it has become common and more acceptable for people to base their arguments not on articles based on articles, but on the comments based on the articles based on other articles, based on some unconfirmed reports. The more tenuous the argument, the better. Also, anonymity is the name of the game. Only a real rebel, only a true patriot would have the courage to spit venom online under the tag “anonymous” or something clever like ObamaSucks69. The more certain you can be that people will not be able to tell who you are, the harsher your commentary can be. Completely
anonymous? Go nuts. All will tremble at your sword of truth, and despair. Don’t limit yourself to text posts alone. Any form of artificial, projected concern about world or local events will do. Change your profile picture to an Egyptian flag. Start an argument in a dining hall with a total stranger when you hear them express their concerns about Democratic leadership. Have your picture taken with a member of Congress or a CEO. Everything is about appearances, should you decide to be seen. Finally, sit back, relax, and con-
gratulate yourself. You did it! People often neglect this part, but it’s actually the most important aspect of setting the world aflame in the new media, the whole reason you set out on your quest in the first place. As soon as you click “post,” rest easy knowing that you have moved that mountain, toppled that autocratic regime, and fought that good fight.
Brendan Kneeland is a Staff Columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
Courtesy of flickr.com
he said, she said My boyfriend and I just went through a pretty messy breakup a couple weeks ago. Even though we’re not together anymore, I still have to see him around campus all the time. Seeing him around only makes the task of getting over him that much harder. How do you get over a breakup on a college campus? Is it even possible? - Down from a Breakup Breaking up is very difficult for both people, and as my “She Said” counterpart made abundantly clear, a college campus does nothing to help the situation. Especially at a school like Boston College, where a lot of the places you regularly visit are close by, it is likely you’ll see them at least a few times, particularly if your group of friends are close, or if he’s friendly with a lot of Alex Trautwig your friends, as is very common. Most likely one of you initiated the breakup, so there’s that added guilt factor, but at the same time, you did have something special with this person so it’s easy to just think of those times with them. Personally, I think immediately following a breakup a little radio silence can be very beneficial. Obviously this doesn’t help when you see them walking through the Dustbowl, or rather next to it, but avoid the temptation in the early parts of the breakup to continue talking to them on a regular basis. Not only does this help you get over the person, but in case you do run into them, you can actually make a little small talk without feeling as if you’d just spoken. The idea is to just make it as amicable and easy for both people. This is obviously made more difficult if you broke up under bad circumstances, but it is in the best interest of both of you and the people around you, to make an effort. It is definitely possible to get over someone on a college campus but I think it takes an effort on both parties to be considerate and mature about it. Although it probably sounds like a difficult thing to do, if you find that things have become really awkward between the two of you when you see each other, try talking to them about it. Don’t accuse them of being awkward, just explain that you’d prefer things to not be that way when you see each other and ask them to make an effort to peacefully coexist. As I said, there’s no easy way to do it, but I’ve always admired couples that were able to stay friendly after they’ve broken up and so I now challenge you to try to do the same.
Alex Trautwig is an Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
The concept of the college campus is pretty incredible: a place where thousands of kids get to spend some of the most exciting years of their lives surrounded by their friends 24/7. After a breakup, however, a college campus can turn into a daunting place. At BC, the possibilities are endless for surprise run-ins with your ex-boyfriend: seeing him at Hillside while you wait for the barista to finish your skim Julia Wilson non-fat extra shot caramel macchiato (or even just a simple iced coffee), or at a neighboring bench in the Quad (an even smaller space than what the Dustbowl used to be). As a senior, this breakup thing only gets worse. Now you have to think about how to react when you see him from afar at Mary Ann’s, or across the room at Roggie’s trivia night. Although it might motivate you to do even better at Hoop Fever or finally win trivia for once, it can definitely create some awkward moments and just general tension between you two. Especially if you’re in the same friend group, social situations can become pretty difficult. If I’ve only made you feel worse by listing all the opportunities for awkwardness, my apologies. College breakups are tough. You’re allowed to cut yourself a break on this one. It’s okay to acknowledge the difficulty of the task at hand: actually getting over your ex-boyfriend while still having to see him all the time. The thing about college breakups is that they happen in a totally artificial environment. College does not resemble the “real world” in many ways. If this breakup were to happen post-college, would you really have to worry about running into your ex in the laundry room of your building, or at any one of a few dozen places within the same one-mile radius? Probably not. Whether or not it’s possible to get over a significant other while still sharing the same campus – you’re going to have to answer that one for yourself. You should at least take comfort in the fact that it has been done before, and if you confront this issue with a positive attitude, you’ll be able to do it too.
Julia Wilson is a Senior Staff Writer for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com
campus chronicles
Living senior year according to a different set of rules Allison Lantero My birthday is definitely one of my favorite holidays. I mean, who doesn’t love a day when everyone celebrates your existence? I checked Facebook at least three times, giggled at each text, and sincerely thanked every birthdaywisher. Plus, my birthday happens to be on a day that most people do not forget: Pi Day, March 14. This year I turned 22, or as my friends put it, it was the first anniversary of my 21st birthday. Since I was abroad last year for my birthday, my roommates decided they wanted to celebrate as if it really was my 21st. That meant having a birthday week, which easily became one of the most crammed weeks of my college career. Boston College students love to stand by the motto, “Work hard, play hard.” This is a great idea in theory, but doing everything hard can really wear a person out. Senior year especially has given me an intense feeling of urgency. I have to complete my bucket list, find a job and a place to live and someone to live with, hang out with friends, oh, plus study and
go to class. I have never found it more difficult to balance studies with extracurricular activities and a social life. I do not claim to be a perfect schedule balancer. In fact, I was that kid in middle school who never wrote down any homework assignment, and would often forget them. High school was what taught me the value of a planner. I now keep two: a Google calendar with important due dates, my class schedule, and an activity schedule, and my planner with daily homework assignments and day-to-day plans. A well-organized calendar was my savior junior year when I was overloading with six courses, and two lab credits, as well as study abroad meetings and Liturgy Arts Group. I was completely overwhelmed until I put it everything on my Google calendar, color coded by activity and level of importance. Suddenly, I could see exactly what days were going to be hellish, and best of all, which ones had glorious free space. I still have my beautifully color coded Google calendar, but that free space seems to diminish the closer we get to May. This past Wednesday night (Thursday morning), I found
myself awake at 5 a.m. writing a paper. I hadn’t done that since sophomore year. Then, on Thursday I handed in my paper, read for my next class, wrote another paper, went to the Mods (hey, it was St. Patrick’s Day), attended class, went out for dinner for my birthday, and then headed to the bars. It was completely insane, and I am so deeply in sleep debt that I can barely spell. The sense of balance I thought I achieved from advice given to me freshman year has been vastly thrown off by “the countdown to graduation.” Freshman year, as my parents were kissing me goodbye, they gave me the last piece of advice, also known as the Rule of Eight. My mom advised me to break each day into three eight-hour intervals: spend eight hours doing class work or in class, eight hours sleeping, and eight hours on everything else. This breakdown works really well, especially if there is a day I don’t have class. It can be so tempting to spend the whole day watching television or at the Plex, but if I can devote myself to eight hours of study I feel so much more prepared on a class-filled day. This advice was what got me
through a lot of crazy weeks and (I believe) kept me from getting sick multiple times. It’s the perfect idea in theory, but lately, between things I want to get done and the things I have to get done, I have found it almost impossible in practice, hence my Wednesday night. Thus, I have decided we need a new rule for second semester senior year. The Rule of Eight cannot apply if one wants to go to Trivia Night, and still be up for a 10 a.m. class. It doesn’t work if you spend eight hours on your thesis and still have class that day. The Rule of Eight may work for underclassmen, but I am focusing more on a four-hour system: four hours for class, four hours for homework, four hours for socializing, four hours for planning the future, four hours for sleep, four hours for eating, exercising, and extra sleep. This may seem a little excessive, but face it. We have two and a half months left, let’s really work and play it well.
Allison Lantero is a Staff Columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com
Monday, March 21, 2011
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Reaching out to a special long-lost sibling with a family fortune Ryan McGuill So, Oprah Winfrey revealed a couple months ago that she has a half-sister. With the advent of Oprah’s harrowing and dramatic secret, I felt the time was right to make a confession of my own. It’s a pretty intense confession, one that I have only revealed to a select few individuals and, of course, my family. I am Oprah’s half-brother. Yep, it’s true. I’ve kept this under wraps for way too long, but the time has come to reveal the fact that I am indeed related to the most powerful woman in the world: Oprah. I know the first thing that most of you are thinking is, “Ryan, there’s no way you two could possibly be related. You’ve always mocked Oprah’s ‘My Favorite Things’ episodes in which she gives free Greek islands to her audience members! You’ve always thought the show was an impediment to your enjoyment of “Around the Horn,” which was always on air at the same time but never watched because your mom was usually tuned into Oprah’s show! In fact, you despised watching her show, and always thought it was just Maury without the staged paternity tests. How
could you and Oprah, two completely different people, possibly be related!?” Well, to answer your questions, I guess I had such mixed emotions watching the show because it would always end with me being so depressed over the fact that I’ve never even met my halfsister. I just couldn’t stand the sight of a dear relative who was so close on the television screen, yet so far away in reality. It’s a really alienating feeling whenever I watch the show. And of course, the second reason that probably made you question our proximity on the family tree is the fact that Oprah lives in Chitown and I live in Boston. Well, I’ve got news for all you non-believers; I have relatives on every one of Earth’s continents. (Note how I didn’t say “living” relatives ... R.I.P. Uncle Jacob ... the winter in Antarctica would’ve brought an icicle enthusiast like Mr. White Christmas to tears.) In fact, I’ve visited my half-sister’s hometown quite a few times before with the intent of revealing my true identity to her, but I’ve never had the guts to go further than holding a cardboard sign that reads “I Am Your Half-Brother” outside of Harpo Studios. “I don’t know, man. I still say you’re full of it. You’ve never seen ‘The Color Purple,’ and you’ve
never even heard of ‘Beloved.’ So what if I haven’t seen either of my halfsister’s most applauded films? (However, I was one of the eight people who saw Bee Movie, which Oprah may have forgotten about making along with the rest of civilization. Enthralling film, though.) Just because your father works in construction, does that mean you are obligated to listen to ‘The Village People’ 24/7? Just because your brother rides a motorcycle, does that mean that you should go grow a handlebar moustache, females included? Just because your great-aunt is a troll who lives under a bridge, does that mean you should let a bunch of billy goats walk all over you? No, no, and hell no. Families can possess different identities, as is the case with Oprah and me. But the most egregious difference, one that most of you have probably already called me out for, is the fact that Oprah is actually older than my biological mother. Okay, now that incriminating fact might be where I lose most of you, but you really have to believe me. Blame it on a wormhole in the space-time continuum or maybe even Inception, but believe me, Oprah is my halfsister. In fact, this article just makes it more clear that Oprah and I have a lot of catching up to do.
So if you happen to be reading your favorite collegiate newspaper today, Oprah, I think our first order as siblings is to engage in a little familial sharing. I’m a college student, of course, so I’m always in need of cash. You can send me a trivial few million from your income, and I can share my music library with you. I have the complete discographies for Radiohead, Wilco, and Modest Mouse. And you can borrow my Magic Bullet whenever you want – it’s the quickest way to make salsa and chop veggies, no big deal! Wait, did I say borrow? You can have it! Oh, and how’s your bracket for March Madness looking? Guess who picked Butler over Pitt? This guy! Don’t you wish you could’ve consulted my infinite NCAA wisdom before you put Louisville in your Final Four? But, you know, pay it forward/pay it back, isn’t that the phrase? So, Oprah, I know that this news is certainly sudden and maybe even jarring, but at the end of the day, I’m still your half brother. So send the love. And by love, I mean money. Love ya!
Ryan McGuill is a Staff Columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at features@ bcheights.com
Broston College celebrates its one-year anniversary Broston College, from B10 When it’s time to post, the guys have certain things they like to keep in mind. For instance, they strive to be original as possible so people have a reason to look at their site and though they don’t limit the type of things they post, they do try to stay away from overexposed happenings. “Some topics are so pervasive, there’s almost no point in posting anything on them,” they say. “We try to get people thinking about the stuff they overlook or don’t think about all the time, so that we’re the first ones to say it,” say the guys. “With any post about BC, the goal is for people reading to say ‘that is so true’.” Their postings don’t have to be about something absolutely nobody knows about, however. “It doesn’t have to be anything too obscure,” they say. “It’s the funny spin put on ordinary concepts that are really funny.” As ordinary as the glass window of Robsham Theater, for example. One of the funniest posts on the BrostonCollege website details the tendency for BC students to check their reflection in the theater’s artificial mirror. Driven by their success so far, the guys plan to expand the BrostonCollege franchise even further.
Generating revenue is one of things they are looking to focus on more than they have before. “The only way we’ve made money is through events,” they say. The two events that BrostonCollege put on were parties held at local Boston bars and both were extremely successful. “We were worried about selling tickets at first, but they both went really well.” Money wasn’t the primary motivation for holding these events, the guys say. “We did it for fun and for the ability to bring live music that we knew of to people, especially smaller artists that we’ve been following that some people heard of through us.” “It’s at the point now where people around us have kind of seen that these guys probably should be making money with their site,” they say. “Some alumni contacted us and showed us it can be done.” The Boston College alumni that have gotten in touch with them, followers of the site themselves, have even offered to assist the guys in their marketing efforts. “They said ‘we love the site, clearly a bunch of other people do. You guys just write and we’ll take care of the business side.’” The guys also want to delve into merchandising and plan on getting into T-shirt sales and creating stickers,
Mollie Kolosky / Heights Graphic
all with the purpose of getting their readers more involved. While they are working on more business-related aspects of the Broston College franchise, the guys still appreciate what originally drew them to creating the website in the first place. “It’s nice having somewhere to get your ideas out,” say the guys. The blog also gives them additional motivation as they encounter things in their day-to-day lives. “It’s a really cool extra angle to have. You live your day with that thought in the back of your mind always looking out for stuff [to post].” If something appeals to them instantly and they’re not able to make a blog post out of it at the moment, the guys turn to their Broston College Twitter account, where they currently have around 500 followers. “It’s almost like the mobile app of Broston. It’s like blogging on the go. It’s so convenient.” Brostoncollege.com feels far from a job for the guys. “There’s no deadlines and it doesn’t feel like work,” the guys say. “We’re living the same life everyone else is. We just write it down.” For other people who want to start their own blog, the guys of Broston College give words of advice that they themselves follow. “You have to
have the drive,” they say. “You have to have original thought that will last a while.” “When you read stuff that’s funny, you can’t deny that it’s funny. “ “You have to have a voice and an identity and stick to it.” Initially, the guys worried about getting into trouble with the BC administration but so far, they haven’t faced any heat from the university. Even though the name of the site might imply that the guys themselves are “bros,” they say that that is probably the biggest misconception surrounding their personalities. “People that really know us wouldn’t consider us bros really,” they say. “We think bro culture is funny.” Though they remain anonymous, the guys say that doesn’t keep them from being themselves. “We couldn’t be more of ourselves on the site,” they say. “We give as much as ourselves personally to the site as we can without giving our names.” “We put as much time into Broston as anyone puts into their club or activity,” the guys say. And they’re rewarded for their passion, time, energy, and effort in even the smallest ways. “Seeing someone [on the site] in the library or in class—that’s the most rewarding part.” n
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Monday, March 21, 2011
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Monday, March 21, 2011
By Kris Robinson Features Editor
don’t post,” they say. “So many people are looking at it and they expect to see something new.” To keep their content fresh and appealing to their readers, the Broston College team places no limits on the things that they post. “It’s really varied,” they say. “We can write on something that happened in the sports world or something that happened to us last weekend. There’s no limit of genres.” In addition, like any successful team, the guys also depend on each other. “Sometimes there’s a lot to write about and other times, there’s not and that’s when you hope that not everyone has nothing to write.” But they’re not all on their own when it comes to coming up with ideas. “We get tips and e-mails where people will show us a story and ask us to write about it.”
See Broston College, B9
Mollie Kolosky / Heights photo illustration
Back in October 2009, a group of BC guys came up with the idea to start a website, a blog that would allow them to say whatever was on their minds, when they wanted and how they wanted. Soon after, in March 2010, Brostoncollege.com was officially launched. Post after post, the website “for the BC bro, by the BC bro” amassed a fan base that kept people coming and kept the guys posting. Now that the website has celebrated its first birthday, the guys have bigger plans than ever. When Uncle Chafe, Lieutenant Jenkems, and the Great Fratsby (the handpicked aliases with which they go by) first started the site, they had a larger group of writers that was comprised of their friends. “It started as a message board,” say the guys. “Then we started writing more and they
started writing less. We just liked doing it more.” In an effort to try to bring more writers in, the guys held an application process via their website, but ultimately ended up with only one new main addition out of the 50 or so applicants, their “intern”, who goes by the name Stoop Kid. Having a core group of writers has worked for them, they say. “That’s the beauty of having three writers and then our intern—just having people you trust being able to write.” The site-viewing statistics reflect a similar sentiment. “We were kind of surprised by how consistently people check the site,” the guys say. “We have a large audience who’s reading what we write. A lot of people we know check it every day and that’s what we want basically.” Knowing that they have a steady and consistent following is one of the things that keep them motivated. “When you look at the stats, it kind of makes you feel bad if you
Honoring one of the best parts of the World Wide Web I don’t think it’d surprise anyone if I said that since its inception, the Internet has been the recipient of a large amount of widespread criticism. With every day that it grows more and more popular, it becomes subject to more and more scrutiny. I think Kris Robinson it’s safe to say that I’m in the majority of the younger generation, who, for the most part, appreciate the Internet and its contributions to the society. While I have my own qualms about some aspects of it, lately, I’ve really started to cherish a few things that have come into existence as a result of the World Wide Web. YouTube is one. Message boards are another. Facebook, of course, is a third. But the one I’ve really grown to be fond of recently is the blogosphere. Blogs, in my mind, are a pearl of individuality lost in a sea of anonymity. While very few, if any, people are truly anonymous while surfing the web (I.P. addresses have made sure of that), most people bask in the safe delusion that what they may do or say or watch on the Internet can’t be traced back to them. (Though now, especially among college students, this thought is becoming
conceivably reconsidered as the prospect of being looked up by potential employers takes on an uncomfortable reality.) Through their posts, bloggers intentionally reveal parts of themselves, exposing innermost thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints for all to see. I can’t express how much I admire that. As an admittedly private person who happens to internalize his thoughts more times than not, and who, on top of that, finds it hard to express himself, I can’t help but to applaud bloggers. I’ve thought about starting a blog of my own plenty of times, or at least, writing for another, but I’ve never actually tried to do it. Maybe, eventually, one day, I’ll start one of my own, but until then, I think I’ll live vicariously through the people who actually have. The variety of blogs on the Internet is remarkable. From personal blogs that feature daily posts on the happenings of the owner’s lives, to celebrity blogs that keep readers updated on their favorite media A-to-Z-listers, to news blogs to fashion blogs to sports blogs ... there’s truly something out there for every curious reader. Even among just personal blogs the content differs significantly. While some may simply update their online diaries with images or videos that they find interesting or entertaining, others may write poems, stories, or reflections. No mat-
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ter what shape the content of a blog takes, for all blogs, the content says something about the poster. It highlights something about their interests, reveals a facet of their personality. It offers readers a glimpse into their mind, their heart, and dare I say it, even their soul. And because of that, even though a blog’s owners may not reveal themselves using their full birth certificate-approved names, they certainly expose themselves in a huge way. Maybe I’m turning blogs into something bigger than they are. Maybe I’m just blowing the significance of blogs out of proportion. I mean, there’s no denying that some blogs say a lot more about the people that run them than others. If you randomly surf the Internet for a few blogs, you’re probably not going to learn people’s life stories in a matter of seconds. That’s definitely not what I’m trying to say. But from my experience, are there blogs that have the potential to do so? Absolutely. Because you can link Tumblr updates to Facebook, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen friends’ blog posts sharing very intimate details of their lives, some easier to read than others. Every blog is different because every person is different. What one person puts into their blog, another may not. Everyone’s not going to like every blog that’s out there, myself included, but
Taking Home Professors
I won’t deny any blog or blogger any amount of respect because I don’t find it or what they’re posting particularly appealing. The universal appreciation I have for the blogosphere is and will remain separate from my own opinion of individual blogs. Sitting down with the Brostoncollege.com guys for the second time and listening to how much they’ve put into it over the course of the year that their blog has been in existence, made me realize the appreciation I have for bloggers. It was unexplainably inspiring to see a group of guys devoting a significant amount of care, time, and effort into something. While they do it for fun, as I’d like to think all bloggers do, they also care a lot about their readers and enjoy working for their fan base. Personal enjoyment aside, their motivation has come from providing their visitors with content that, more so than anything, is true to themselves. So whether it’s Brostoncollege.com, the Huffington Post, TMZ, or PerezHilton (the last three being among the top five most popular blogs on the Internet), I’m sure that the blogosphere has a lasting place on the World Wide Web. And that honestly couldn’t make me any happier.
Kris Robinson is the Features Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights. com
Read about the Caroll School of Management’s (CSOM) program where students interact with their professors in a more intimate setting.......................................................... B7
The Real World.................................B8 Campus Chronicles.........................B8