The Heights 03/24/2014

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

‘PLEXAPALOOZA’ DENVER DATE

FEATURES

ARTS & REVIEW

SPORTS

BC’s a cappella groups blossom as they prepare for spring performances, B8

DJ Enferno mixed it up with EDM concert at the Plex on Saturday, A8

Men’s hockey will face the Pioneers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, B1

www.bcheights.com

HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

established

1919

Monday, March 24, 2014

Vol. XCV, No. 16

apHandic le sib inacces pace s t i b i h ex ssue brings i t n of stude s lay p s i d t r a to light

E

arly last week, students and faculty scrambled to put together a makeshift exhibition space on the fourth floor of Devlin Hall—a response to the recent closing of the student art gallery in the basement of Bapst Library. It has been brought to the attention of the University that the Bapst art gallery space is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), forcing the University to close the space due to lack of accessibility.

The most recent exhibit to be displaced was Wunderkammer, featuring the work of students from two courses: professor Sheila

Bapst Stu dent Gallery cl oses, further lim iting campus a rt space

Gallagher’s issues and approaches to studio art and Rev. Jeremy Clarke, S.J.’s Asia in the World II: 1800 to the Present.

“This is what happens when the Bapst Student Gallery closes,” Gallagher said, motioning around her as she walked up and down the narrow hallway of Devlin, trying to organize last-minute hangings of the students’ pieces.

“This is not adequate space,” Clarke said at the opening of the exhibit Wednesday evening.

“The fire marshal even had concerns that this was a fire hazard.”

Aside from being a safety issue, the movement of the exhibit to Devlin has furthered a larger concern among students and faculty

members, both within the fine arts department and among the general artistic community, that Boston College currently does not have adequate exhibition space for students and professors to showcase their work.

The Bapst Student Gallery, the first formal exhibit area on campus dedicated to student artists, was implemented in 2004 after Gallagher and members of the Art Club recognized a need to have such a space for students. Up until its recent closing, the gallery was curated by the Art Club, and the library assisted in arranging the exhibits and maintaining the space. In a letter to Claude Cernuschi, chair of the fine arts department, Gallagher mentioned

that members of the department have noted the physical limitations of the Bapst gallery in the past, yet the issue had not been directly addressed until last week.

“In 2010 myself and Adeane Bregman worked with a student, Tyson Jang, to draw up extensive architectural plans, which proposed improvements and locations for a handicapped elevator,” Gallagher wrote. “Besides access, the Bapst space has other limitations including lack of security, insufficient lighting, and awkward circulation.”

The closure of the Bapst gallery has prompted the administration to examine currently existing spaces, and how the issue will

BY

MICHELLE TOMASSI

Heights Editor

be addressed in future architectural planning of the University.

“A University-wide committee consisting of the space planning office, academic representatives and the arts council is scheduled to meet in the next couple of weeks to resolve the immediate issue of finding the best accessible locations on campus to display art,” said Kelli Armstrong, vice president for planning and assessment, in an email. David Quigley, dean of the college and graduate school of Arts & Sciences, has been working with Gene McMahon, associate dean of finance and administration

See Art Space, A3

UGBC hosts rescheduled Annual Ball

Pulitzer recipient Wright performs reading of works

BY JENNIFER SUH

On Thursday, March 20, the literary magazine of Boston College Stylus hosted a poetry reading featuring Franz Wright.

Wright is the winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection Walking to Martha’s Vineyard.

The poems selected for the reading came from several of his collections, and they featured “Recurring Awakening,” “Elderly Couple,” “Peach Tree,” “The Soul Complains,” “Lamp,” “Crumpled Up Note Blowing Away,” and “I Dreamed I Met William Burroughs,” among others.

Wright explained some of his feelings toward his own poems, commenting on the reactions of his audience. “I’ve never tried

BY SARA DOYLE Heights Staff

Heights Staff

Despite having to be rescheduled because of the Feb. 15 snowstorm, The Annual Ball 2014 at The Westin Copley Place on Friday night was a sold-out success.

“At the most basic level we sold out which is always a tremendous achievement, but more importantly, everyone seemed to be having fun and enjoying a night out with their friends, which is the true measure of a successful event,” said Alisha Wright, manager of Heritage Programming in UGBC and A&S ’15, in an email.

Eight hundred students attended the event, which celebrated the AHANA community. Doors opened at 9 p.m. and closed at 10 p.m. Buses ran back and forth from midnight until 1 a.m. to transport students from the hotel back to campus.

The ball featured a DJ and a photo booth throughout the night. Students were treated to a full dinner including pasta, tacos, dumplings, and bread, which was set up in both sides of the ballroom. Desserts included cookies and brownies.

“The Ball is usually a very smooth event to run,” Wright said. “There typically aren’t many surprises when putting together this event, so I’d say the most difficult part of planning the Ball this year was handling the postponement of the Ball—rescheduling with the hotel as well as our DJ and the photo booth was a strain, but we have such an amazing staff that everything ended up running very smoothly.”

See Annual Ball, A3

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

More than 20 seniors in the College of Arts and Sciences presented their theses on Friday.

Dean’s Office hosts first A&S thesis presentation

BY JULIE ORENSTEIN Assoc. News Editor

Boston College students with interests ranging from medical ethics to Kierkegaard to Afghan tribalism represented the breadth of undergraduate research at the University on Friday when they gathered to recount their experiences writing senior theses.

Over 20 thesis writers from across the disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and cultural studies programs prepared posters detailing their thesis projects. They shared their findings not only with younger students in attendance to hear more about the thesis process that they will perhaps begin soon, but also with each other and faculty members from various departments.

The Dean’s Office of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, and BC Libraries sponsored the event, which is in its inaugural year.

Rev. Jeremy Clarke, S.J., a professor

within the history department, helped coordinate the presentation along with Jennifer Erickson of the political science and international studies departments.

Clarke said that he and Erickson realized there was not an event such as this for all humanities majors, only department-specific presentations or awards ceremonies.

The students presenting, he said, came from diverse backgrounds of scholarship and represented some of the top work in their disciplines.

“Each department had to select people to bring,” Clarke said. “There are others who may have wanted to be here but aren’t, so there’s a prestige aspect to it.”

“We could see that students often had overlapping interests, sometimes within the same department and sometimes across different departments and programs, but they didn’t often have a chance to talk about their mutual interests,” Erickson said in an email. “[The poster session] also gives them

See Senior Theses, A3

to read it. I don’t know if it makes sense to anyone else,” Wright said of his poem “The Party at the End.” “It makes sense to me,” he said. “‘I Dreamed I Met William Burroughs’— I just write [poems],” he said. “I don’t take responsibility for them any more than I do for my dreams. You just sort of write what you write. It’s not your fault.”

After reading, he noted, “I have no idea what I’m saying. That’s okay, within limits.

If it looks like you know what you’re saying, then I think it’s all right.”

One of his poems, “The Last,” stemmed from Wright’s relationship with his father.

“I loved my father—that’s what the poem’s about,” he said. “I loved my father very

See Wright, A3

DJ Enferno headlines annual Plex concert

JOHN WILEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

EDM filled the Flynn Recreation Complex on Saturday night at Plexapalooza. See A8.

The Heights

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Top

things to do on campus this week

Tonight at 5:30 p.m. in McGuinn 121, Eric Bordenkircher, a scholar on the Middle East and BC ’96, will discuss the Cairo Agreement of 1969 and its impact on Lebanon. The Islamic Civilization and Societies Program is sponsorthe event.

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Monday, March 24, 2014

On Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Fulton 511 the five undergraduate finalists of the Boston College Portfolio Challenge will pitch their investment strategies to a panel of judges from Fidelity Investments. The winner will earn an externship with Fidelity.

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ing

an

The Career Center will host a Green Careers Night on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Heights Room at Lower. Alumni and professionals in the sustainability field will be available to answer questions. Public, private, and non-profit organizations will be represented.

Be a boss Auction raises money to support law students and mom

By Kayla Famalore Heights Editor

Adriana Mariella You might be inclined to call me bossy (among other choice “b-words”), and I’ll be inclined not to mind. Although it happens often enough that I’ve chosen to embrace “b-words” rather than be offended by them, I am still happy with the attention being paid to the Ban Bossy campaign. It encourages people to avoid branding little girls as “bossy,” citing the damaging message that it sends: men in power are commanding leaders, while women in power exhibit a negative character flaw.

This phenomenon is hardly breaking news—just ask token woman-in-power Hilary Clinton. I think we’re still missing the point.

The problem is not so much that women are less inclined to lead for fear of being branded “bossy,” but more that when we do, we are conscious of the femininity that we surrender or the token anomaly that we assign ourselves to being.

There is a dichotomy between the supposedly incompatible personas of “wife and mother” and “strong businesswoman,” not only because it is difficult to be both successfully, but also because our notions about femininity don’t permit a woman to be both. We haven’t grasped that strong women aren’t necessarily cold, or that our boo-boo kissing mommy can also be fiercely leaned-in (or, if you’re Rosa Brooks of The Washington Post, “leaned back” and demanding that men and women share the burdens of work and home).

Being successful as a woman is notably more difficult than it is for men (see: glass ceiling), but what’s more unsettling for me is that success is antithetical to my femininity.

I’m supposed to live by the quasifeminist motto of “act like a lady, but think like a boss,” which just reminds me that acting like a lady can never be synonymous with being a boss.

Femininity and success are forever separated by that horrible “but.”

There is, of course, an alternative situation in which success is contingent on femininity and femininity becomes an “angle.” Erin Andrews and Danika Patrick are perfect examples of this pigeonholed success that’s more insulting than it is flattering—skirting the “bossy” label shouldn’t mean dooming yourself to feminine-qualified success.

I want success that is noteworthy not because I’m a woman, but because it would still be noteworthy if I were a man. I want to be able to be a homemaker without Jezebel telling me it’s wrong, while also being able to be the leader I am without being labeled as “intimidating” or “sassy.” I want to be able to be a boss without dancing around male egos. I don’t want to “tone down” my femininity to make it, nor do I want that femininity to be the reason I make it.

More than anything, I want to raise my future daughters in a world where acting like a boss doesn’t mean not acting like a lady, because I’m not sure what “acting like a lady” means anymore, anyway. It’s another phrase I wish we’d eliminate. It’s useless—it’s the feminine equivalent of “be a man,” reinforcing outdated gender scripts. I don’t mean that I don’t want to be feminine or that I don’t think there is a distinction between femininity and masculinity, but I don’t want to be told what femininity is, nor do I think we should tell men what masculinity is.

I love being the woman I am and I’m going to keep being that woman, “b-word” or not.

Adriana Mariella is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at news@bcheights.com.

“Although law might not seem like a worthy profession to donate to, the proceeds from the auction are really necessary,” said Matt Brooks, president of Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) and Boston College Law School ’15 at the foundation’s annual fundraising auction.

Held in the Heights Room on March 20, BC Law School PILF sponsored its 26th annual auction to raise funds for stipends to support Law School students working at public interest law firms and organizations.

PILF is run by the law students and uses the proceeds from the auction, its largest fundraising event of the year, to fund students who cannot regularly afford to work in the traditionally low-paying public interest jobs. Law students can apply for stipends in order to practice law either locally, nationally, or internationally during the summer for those who cannot afford legal work.

“Over half the people who need lawyers can’t afford one,” Brooks said. “We have people working in refugee settlements, foreclosure offices, prosecution offices, and public defense.” According to the event’s program, “PILF has supported organizations that uphold civil liberties, protect human rights and deliver justice” for over 25 years.

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

The PILF auction uses its proceeds to fund law students’ public interest work.

Since this type of legal work is usually low-paying, PILF establishes stipends so that students who participate in these public interest jobs are guaranteed an hourly salary of $10.50 per hour.

Dean of the Law School Vincent Rougeau opened the night, welcoming the crowd and emphasizing the importance of PILF and the work done by those receiving the stipends. He urged guests to bid generously, especially on the prize of the home-cooked Louisiana dinner he would make for the winner.

The night consisted of both silent and live auctions, with prizes including Red Sox home plate seats, venue rentals, selections of wine, and restaurant dinners. Many of the items were geared toward the law students, such as dinners at professors’ homes during finals week and the first pick time during class registration period—a highly bid-upon item. Special BC items were auctioned off at a later time, including apparel and a handmade platter inscribed with “BC” in bottle caps.

The auction items were do-

nated by the law students who were applying for the stipends.

Each student had to give three items in order to be eligible to apply, receiving points on their application for the number of items he or she donated.

“The applications is based off of a point system, that way you can earn more points by donating an item to better your chances of receiving the stipend,” Brooks said.

The night honored Gar y Buseck, the legal director of the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and a triple Eagle for his commitment to public interest work.

“He has done really amazing work in terms of … making gay marriage legal in Massachusetts,” Brooks said. “What’s really amazing about Gary in the short time I’ve known him is how humble he is.”

“Although we have all this, we don’t have nearly enough money to fund everyone, so the process is still pretty competitive,” Brooks said.

Although the auction is its main fundraising event of the year, PILF hosts smaller events to fund the summer work of the students.

In his letter to attendees in the event’s program, Brooks thanks patrons, saying, “by bidding generously tonight, you support BC Law students in their public interest pursuits as well as the populations they serve.” n

Scholar discusses role of medieval women in politics, stresses need for more equality today

By Melanie Floyd For The Heights As part of its lecture series, the Islamic Civilization and Societies (ICS) program invited Zilka Spahic Siljak to speak to the Boston College community to discuss women and politics in her talk entitled, “Muslim Women in Politics: From Medieval Queens to Elected Political Leaders.” ICS Associate Director Kathleen Bailey introduced Siljak, an independent scholar from Bosnia. Siljak has a master’s in human rights and democracy jointly conferred by the University of Bologna and the University of Sarajevo and a Ph.D. in gender studies from the University of Novi Sad. Siljak has a near-decade of experience in non-governmental sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina and teaching in higher education. She has focused on human rights, politics, religion, education, gender, and peace-building.

Currently, she is a visiting lecturer on women’s studies and Islamic studies at the Harvard Divinity School.

She spoke on the global pat-

POLICE BLOTTER Wed., March 19 9:55 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student who was transported to a medical facility by ambulance.

11:46 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student who was transported to a medical facility by ambulance from Alumni Stadium.

Thurs., March 20 6:41 p.m. - A report was filed re-

tern of underrepresentation of women in politics present among both non-Muslim and Muslim peoples. Siljak began by giving the audience an overview of the four main perspectives on gender and politics present under Islam. The first is kyriarchical, a term coined

by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza of Harvard Divinity School. Different than hierarchy, kyriarchical is an intersectional analysis. It describes a social system of subordination and oppression, wherein an individual may be suppressed by one system and privileged by another.

That is, women are completely excluded from politics.

The second possible view is complementary, the dichotomy of women nurturing, men leading.

Another position is equality of genders, and the last is the abandonment of religion as the only possible way to achieve and analyze gender equality.

Muslim medieval queens, then, were female historical figures of Islam. “These women didn’t want to accept, impose, interpretations of the Qur’an and the Hadith,” Siljak said. “And they didn’t want to be subservient and they found

ways … to come to leadership positions”—there are just 17 known so far. To be considered a queen, Siljak said, is for the individual’s names and titles printed on monetary coins and for her name to be said in Juma prayer on Fridays.

One example is Sultana Radiyya, who was appointed by her father—the first sultan to appoint a woman to succeed him.

“They were basically no better nor worse leaders than men because they operated within the kyriarchical system of their time and they had to work within masculinized frames of leadership,” Siljak said, explaining the politicization and personal lives of a few of the medieval queens.

“Of course, women today have to do the same,” she said. “They have to manage within organizational structures … and they have to either adapt to that leadership style if they want to be accepted or they have to choose the role of the mother of the nation.”

The five elected political leaders—Benazir Bhutto among them— represent women who made some concessions to Islamists in their rise to power. Whether this was making

the pilgrimage to Mecca, upholding family values, or occasionally wearing the hijab, these women had not completely departed from Islam to enter politics. Bhutto, for example, was largely introduced to politics because her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a high-ranking politician, encouraged her to do so from jail. As the first woman to rule a modern Muslim country, she kept her family ties strong in order to continue his legacy.

The role of religion, culture, and family ties all had an effect on the rise of women in politics, in both cases of medieval queens and contemporary political leaders. Of course, the connection with the American political system is all too obvious, she said.

Since both the medieval queens and the political leaders are not well known among Muslims, she aims to expose the lack of visibility of women in politics. In politics— both new and old—women need to work hard to prove themselves as the equals that they are, she noted.

She stressed the autonomy of individuals even given these structures, challenging the audience to create a more just society. n

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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 Eleanor Hildebrandt, Editor-inChief, at (617) 552-2223, or email eic@bcheights.com.

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The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2014. All rights reserved.

CORRECTIONS This correction is in reference to the issue dated March 17, 2014, Vol. XCV, No. 14.

In the article titled, “Dance Ensemble’s ‘Spotlight,’” the choreographer of “Toxic” was misidentified. Michelle Prew, A&S ’14, choreographed the number.

3/19/14-3/21/14 garding an elevator entrapment in Stokes Hall.

8:54 p.m. - A report was filed regarding an incident of arson in Keyes North/South.

Fri., March 21 1:08 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an underage intoxicated person in Keyes South.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

What would you have done for an 8-man?

“We already tried to bribe someone an undiscolsed amount of money.”

—Mark Flood, A&S ’17 “Streak across the Quad.”

—Andoni AlanisCue, A&S ’16

“Lick the floor of Mac.” —Matt McDonough, CSOM ’17 “Taken an ‘F’ in one of my classes.”

—James Rohricht, CSOM ’17

The Heights

Monday, March 24, 2014

A3

Handicap-inaccessible gallery highlights lack of space for student art Art Space, from A1 for A&S, to plan both short-term and longterm solutions. Although plans have not been finalized, one possibility includes utilization of the space currently occupied by the McMullen Museum, which is anticipated to move to Brighton Campus within the next few years, according to Quigley. The current spaces that exist on campus through University Libraries include the level one and level three galleries in O’Neill, along with a space in the Theology and Ministry Library (TML), which is usually reserved for members within the School of Theology and Ministry. Although the libraries have no control over the closing of the Bapst gallery, they will continue collaborating with student groups and academic departments.

“We try to be a partner whenever we can,” said Scott Britton, associate University librarian. “We love having people come to us with ideas, whether it’s to co-sponsor something or to provide space.” University Librarian Thomas Wall added that the arts play an important role at the University, and that the libraries will continue to do whatever they can to promote their display. “We do our part—a very small part—but we like to be seen as a place where art is appreciated and an open space for student expression,” he said.

Kevin Tringale, exhibits specialist for Bapst Art Library, previously worked on the Student Art Gallery, and is currently responsible for

organizing and coordinating exhibits within O’Neill as well as TML. Tringale noted that the University Libraries only have so much space, and the closing of the Bapst gallery not only affects the fine arts department, but it also it impacts the libraries themselves and any club or organization on campus that seeks gallery space. The level one gallery in O’Neill has already been fully booked for the fall semester of 2014—with space being even more limited now, Tringale hopes that more attention will be focused on the creation of a new student gallery, noting that it’s a valuable learning experience for the students and faculty involved.

“I’ve been working here a long time, and I’ve never seen any change of policy in [exhibit space],” he said. “Hopefully this will begin some dialogue with the University as to what they can offer.”

Gallagher also explained the need to have a centralized department gallery, since studios are currently located in different buildings both on and off campus. In addition, a new space would encourage the possibility of inviting contemporary artists to exhibit their work in a space that is equivalent to or approaching professional museum standards.

“I venture to say that we are the only university I know of where there is not a single space at the University where we as faculty members can invite professionals in our field to exhibit their work here,” Gallagher said,

citing the Jewett Gallery at Wellesley College as a good model to follow for future establishments at BC. In the aforementioned letter to Cernuschi, Gallagher detailed guidelines for creating efficient exhibition space—a publicly visible and accessible location that is capable of being locked, along with features such as adjustable track lighting and ceilings over 10 feet tall.

“We need space that’s devoted to exhibitions,” Gallagher added. “We don’t need a hallway. We’re not in the business of decoration. This is not about finding a place where a student can put up a poster in the Chocolate Bar. It’s about creating discourse around contemporary art practice, and also—very importantly—having a site for cultural programming that comes from students.”

Aside from the short-term consequences resulting from the closure of the Bapst gallery, a pre-professional training opportunity is also lost, as the exhibition space allowed students to prepare for work in related arts fields. Sarah Webber, president of the Art Club in 2012 and A&S ’14, reflected on her experience working on the art shows in Bapst, and on what the loss means for future Art Club members.

“I think it’s been really powerful and helpful to understand not only how to exhibit my work, but also how to curate a show,” she said. “I think that’s a very practical skill for art students to learn and is something that can be applied in future jobs and other positions.” The Bapst

space was essential to students such as Webber and current Art Club president Vivian Phan, biochemistry major and A&S ’15, who are not students in the fine arts department and therefore lack the same resources, and wouldn’t have an audience for their artwork otherwise.

“The Art Club’s mission on campus is to bring art to the general population on campus beyond the students that are fine arts majors or minors,” Phan explained. While the closing of the Bapst Student Gallery came as a shock to Phan and other Art Club members, she understood the University’s decision to close the space. “The whole point is to bring arts to everyone, and if we’re excluding students, that’s a problem,” she said. “We just weren’t aware of it, because when you’re given a space on campus, you assume that everything’s good to go.”

Students such as Phan and Webber, along with faculty members such as Gallagher, are still frustrated by the apparent lack of representation for the visual arts on campus. Gallagher posed several reasons for the absence, such as the small staff of the fine arts department that services over a thousand students. Going forward, however, she feels that the visual arts must be made a higher priority for the University.

“Frankly, it’s curious and bewildering to me why more attention has not been paid to the arts,” she said. “Especially the visual arts, fits so perfectly with the Jesuit mission of reflection and imagination, creation and creativity, and

creating for others.”

As a professor in the history department, Quigley offered insight into why BC seems to be lagging behind other universities in terms of visual display of the arts, in addition to limited space resources.

“As a historian, one thing that I point to in comparison to other universities is that they had well-established arts departments or schools of the arts for much of the 20th century,” he said. “The arts, as academic departments, are fairly recent phenomena at Boston College, and part of the explanation is that the arts came fairly late to BC. We are continuing to catch up to the creativity and imagination of our students and faculty.”

Catching up will be a more immediate concern to accommodate the closing of the Bapst Student Gallery, and Webber noted the need for a joint effort between the administration and the students.

“I think there could be a painting right behind you on the wall, and why not?” she said. “I think [the University] doesn’t take the most open approach to finding ways to integrate art into our studies, where I see a lot of room for that to happen. I know they have programs like Athletics that bring in as much money as they put into them, and I think they could find a way for that to work with the arts. They haven’t been motivated to do so yet, and I think that will happen when the students are motivated.” n

Renowned poet Franz Wright discusses method Wright, from A1

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

Seniors in the College of Arts and Sciences presented their research at the inaugural presentation sponsored by the Dean’s Office.

O’Neill hosts senior thesis presentations Senior Theses, from A1 a chance to learn how to present their findings to non-expert audiences, which can be a useful skill to have.”

Clarke and Erickson also emphasized that a goal for the event was to urge younger students to consider theses and share knowledge with them about the process.

“It’s a chance to honor the fine seniors we have but also to encourage a lot of the underclassmen and tell them it’s not as daunting as they may think,” Clarke said.

“The liberal arts gives you a great breadth, and doing a thesis gives the chance to get some depth.”

Students such as Stephen Choi, A&S ’14, acknowledged this depth in his research on the crisis in the Xinjiang region of China. While human rights violations and ethnic conflicts abound in this region, Choi said much focus remains on issues in Tibet only. Not many are aware of the fact that 55 ethnic groups make up the Chinese population, with 54 groups as minorities, and one group—the Han people—amounting to 94 percent of the population, which leads to intense division, particularly in Xinjiang.

Shifting across the globe, international studies major Maddy Walsh, A&S ’14, focused on the impact of women’s political participation in Latin America. She said this region served as an interesting point of comparison because it has one of the highest rates of women’s participation in politics

in the world, second only to the smaller and significantly wealthier Nordic region. She also noted that Latin American countries have generally done a better job at getting women involved than the United States.

Walsh said she chose this area of focus after spending two summers interning at the U.S. State Department in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues and branching off of an initiative on women’s involvement in the peace process in conflict situations, especially through political participation. Her topic, she said, changed continually since her junior year and fluctuated between broad ideas and narrow focuses until she honed in on her final subject. She said a challenge during the process was maintaining a separation between her personal beliefs and her research.

“For me personally, I think women’s leadership does matter,” Walsh said. “I think it was hard for me to remove myself from what I think personally matters versus what the data says. The fact of the matter is, it’s hard to measure the impact of women’s leadership, and it’s not consistent across the board.”

Mark Hertenstein, A&S ’14, the only representative of the theology department, shared his thesis on Martin Luther’s social ethics. He analyzed Luther’s own writings and also later interpretations of his ideas, and he discovered religious problems related to Nazism extending from his research.

“There was a movement of nationalist

PSBC hosts annual culture show

Christians before World War II that misused Luther’s doctrines of obedience to the state in order to say, ‘Obey the church,’ but then the church is also emphasizing absolute obedience to the state,” he said.

“So you can see where that really starts to go south.”

Hertenstein also pointed out an issue he and many thesis writers face, which is the large volume of information and extending, secondary topics that they simply do not have time to address in their narrowly-focused theses.

Erickson described students who successfully complete theses as driven, self-motivating, and able to work independently.

“It’s really hard to motivate yourself to research and write extensively on one topic for a whole year if you’re not especially interested in that topic,” she said. “Although you have an advisor to give guidance and feedback and to help you through, a thesis is ultimately an independent project for which you have to carve out regular time in your schedule to research and write.”

Thesis writers must also be patient, and willing to rethink their initial ideas and revise if necessary, Erickson said.

“Research and writing often take longer than you might expect,” she said.

“Sometimes you need to rethink plans and ideas, and critiques and revisions are a part of the process of learning and writing your thesis to the best of your ability.” n

Robin kim / heights staff

daniel lee / Heights senior staff

Poet Franz Wright spoke on the process of poetry writing at a reading event last Thursday.

2014 UGBC Annual Ball draws crowds Annual Ball, from A1

The Philippine Society of BC hosted its 22nd annual culture show ‘Harana’ last Saturday.

much. I spent my whole life missing him,” he said. He disagreed with his father’s idolization of poets such as Mary Oliver, however, saying that poets are simply human beings.

“To me, that makes them more interesting, the human ideals that we all go through.” Wright said. He noted that writing poems that might offend people like his father is not something that should be avoided. “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but I’ve had my feelings hurt a lot, and I didn’t die from it,” he said.

Another of his selected poems, “Robert, Cat” was inspired from Wright’s own life experiences and his health. “I’ve been in poor health, and I’ve been told so many times that I was going to die, and I never do,” he said. “It gave me extra time. It really put a fire in me.”

The poem, he said, also stemmed from some of the feelings of imprisonment that came from his health while he was writing.

The poetry reading ended with a book signing and a Q&A session for audience members, during which Wright commented on the journey to success for a person working alone.

“How do you imagine anyone as a solo artist? What do you think they did? Did the sky open, did someone hand them a scroll?”

he asked. “The fate of anybody who wants to do something as an artist is two things: If you love something enough, you’ll do it. I didn’t make any deals with the devil or God or anybody else. I had lots of very wrongheaded ideas, but how could I know? How does anyone do it alone? You just do it.”

According to Wright, the process of writing is a fairly lonely one, but he enjoys it.

“I like them, and I have fun writing them,” said Wright about his poems. Imagining not writing them, Wright said with a laugh, “My God, what would I do all night?

Then I’d really be a mess. It’s good for crazy people to have something to do.”

Wright also commented on the process of translation, as several of his poems are translations from French or German.

“It’s like learning how to take something apart and put it back together,” he said. “For me, translating is the best way to read. It’s just such a pleasure. Plus, it’s more fun. It’s terribly difficult, but I think it’s an art.

“You have the sense that there is a solution, you just have to find it. It’s good to have that feeling in writing,” said Wright.

At the reading, Wright also announced that he is done with writing, and that he has published his last collection. “I never thought I would say anything like this,” he said. n

Wright and nine coordinators from Heritage Programming—Klevis Baholli, A&S ’15; Jose Estevez, CSOM ’15; David Schanker, A&S ’15; Seth Blanke, CSOM ’16; Chris Kim, A&S ’16; Will Krom, A&S ’16; Jake Robinson, A&S ’16; and Tiffany Stanton, A&S ’16—worked together with The Westin and the Student Programs Office to plan and organize the event.

“We worked with the hotel to reschedule the date for Ball,” Wright said.

“There are so many schedules besides our own that we had to take into consideration, so we had to work very closely

with SPO and The Westin to reschedule the Ball.”

Members of Heritage Programming also collaborated with BCPD to ensure that the event ran smoothly and without problems.

UGBC Leadership Academy members Maggie Chang and Temi Ojo, both A&S ’17, also provided additional help with planning and organizing.

“I really enjoyed working on The Annual Ball, because we were able to see the results of all the work and planning we had put into it over the past few months,” Chang said in an email.

Originally called “ALC Ball,” the event

was renamed the “Annual Ball” because of the recent restructuring of the undergraduate government.

“The large-scale programming events from GLC and ALC were brought together under Heritage Programming, which falls under the Programming Division,” Wright said.

Heritage Programming has also spent the past few months planning and organizing the Annual Showdown, which will be held April 5 in Conte Forum. Dance groups including Synergy, Phaymus, Uprising, Sexual Chocolate, F.I.S.T.S., Irish Dance, and PATU will be performing in the annual dance competition. n

The Heights

A4

Editorials

Monday, March 24, 2014

QUOTE OF THE DAY

University must rethink art space on campus

Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

-Henry Kissinger (1923-), 56th U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Laureate, and political scientist

In light of Bapst art gallery closure, BC should work to increase art space on campus The University has re cently closed down the student art gallery in the basement of Bapst Library because it did not meet Massachusetts’ statutory requirement for handicap access.

This closure exacerbates an already problematic situation on campus—the limited amount of space available on campus for students to display their artistic creations.

There are currently fe w other spaces in use—for instance, the first floor of O’Neill has a small space, equipped only with corkboards, but this space is not one actually designed for student art. There is also some space on the fourth floor of Devlin where the fine arts department resides, but this is both very limited and out of the way of most potential viewers. An additional problem with this space is the fire hazard that displaying artwork on the walls may present. The department is limited by fire code on how much can be put on the walls, and already uses the space for products of the many studio art classes that are offered. Occasionally, the libraries will show some student art in small display cases within seating areas, but these are not truly exhibitions. Additionally, it is not the responsibility of the Boston College libraries to provide the space on campus for all student art.

This lack of art space is not only problematic for student artists who wish to display their work, but also inconvenient and discouraging for the fine arts department. When trying to attract faculty—on both a temporary and a permanent basis—one concern is where projects can be shown. As it currently stands, there is no place outside of the department that can support such a display. This poses a problem for the department, making it more difficult to attract exceptional candidates, or to show off the work of visiting artists.

The administration agrees that art space on campus is an issue, and is holding a meeting soon to discuss the problem, according to Vice President for Planning and Assessment Kelli Armstrong. It is unclear, however, what exactly will be done to remedy the situation. Currently, the visual arts are

only recognized at BC during Arts Fest—an enormously successful event. Its popularity is an indication that the student body is interested in the visual arts. As the Arts Council is responsible for advocating for all of the arts on campus—visual arts, dance, music, and theatre—it is easy for resources to be spread thin, especially since the fine arts department has only two tenured faculty to provide continuity to the advocacy.

Additionally, the McMullen Museum has had impressive exhibits in the past few years and has clearly been a priority of the University, but the mission of the museum is inherently limited to traditional art. The administration needs to recognize more contemporary art and the art that is happening on BC’s campus, both of which could be done with the establishment of more gallery space on campus.

In the long term, the administration must rethink where the fine arts fit into BC. Many peer institutions have designated student art galleries on campus. With all of the new construction scheduled for the next 10 years, the University should consider how student gallery spaces can be incorporated into existing construction plans. More immediately, the administration should look for existing spaces in which student and faculty art can be made more visible.

One possibility is to work student art into hallways in academic buildings, where there is plenty of space on the walls. In such a setting, more people would see the artwork than if it were cordoned off in a separate, designated space.

The Bapst Library is almost 90 years old, so it is understandable that there might be some structural constraints to retrofitting the space formerly used as a student art gallery to make it handicap accessible.

With the closing of that space, it is imperative that the administration takes the opportunity to consider art space on campus and open up new locations to showcase the work of the many student artists at BC. Additionally, the administration should consider the needs of the fine arts department and provide them with a more centralized space for the display of the art of both faculty and students.

Thesis presenters deserve greater recognition Presentations benefit seniors and underclassmen in A&S, must be better advertised in future years Boston College seniors representing eight departments from across the humanities and social science disciplines participated in the inaugural senior thesis poster presentation on Friday morning.

Each prepared a visual aid to outline his or her thesis project—a manifestation of a year or more of comprehensive research and writing—and were willing to share their expertise with peers and faculty.

Turnout for the event, however, was disappointingly low. Few students took advantage of the opportunity to learn about the unique projects being displayed, despite the event being held in the O’Neill Library reading room, a convenient location. Speaking with and receiving advice from students who are nearly done with the thesis process

could be extremely beneficial to underclassmen considering theses in the future, as the task may seem intimidating from an underclassman’s perspective. Additionally, the presentation session is not only advantageous for underclassmen, but also for the presenters themselves, as being able to explain their findings to a non-expert audience is a valuable opportunity.

Thesis writers work extensively within their respective areas of focus, undertaking projects on a scale most of them have not experienced before. They deserve greater recognition for their efforts, and this event should be continued and expanded next year. In order to encourage greater attendance, the University and organizers should more widely publicize the event.

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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Eleanor Hildebrandt, Editor-in-Chief Marc Francis, General Manager Joseph Castlen, Managing Editor

Editorial

Kayla Famolare, Copy Editor Connor Farley, News Editor Connor Mellas, Sports Editor Kendra Kumor, Features Editor John Wiley, Arts & Review Editor Ryan Towey, Metro Editor Andrew Skaras, Opinions Editor Mary Rose Fissinger, Special Projects Editor Emily Fahey, Photo Editor Maggie Powers, Layout Editor

andrew craig / Heights Illustration

Letters to the Editor Gratitude for the Pep Band This letter is a huge shout out to the Boston College Pep Band for the fine way it has welcomed my 5-yearold son into their midst.

While I have held BC Hockey season tickets for 24 years, it has been only in the past two years that I have gained full appreciation of a group that frequently is taken for granted. Last year, my younger son took an interest in the Pep Band and we would visit them regularly between periods. The band members were terrific, showing him their instruments and explaining to him how they worked. Over time, we spent less and less time in our regular seats and more time with the band. And now we go directly to the band when we arrive.

Andres now has a matching jersey and shows up at home games with his recorder in hand so that he can join in—usually standing with the flutes.

Without exception, everyone of you has been terrific, treating him with patience, respect, interest and

enthusiasm. This has been a very pleasant surprise as you all have busy lives and a role to play. From your example, Andres is learning to be a responsible team member, to contribute to a group, and to maintain his poise in times of adversity.

As his father, I can say that you are an exceptionally fine group of people who represent BC very well. If you are a valid sample of America’s young people and the future of this country (as I believe) then we have a very bright future.

My hope for you, is that your children will be equally as fortunate as Andres and that they will have the opportunity to be among such a fine group of role models.

Andrew Jay Hockey Season Ticket Holder

In support of the Marathon The last 13 months have been full of challenges, joy, sadness and surprises, some very good—some horrific. On April 15, 2013 evil visited our city. On that Marathon Monday, our city showed exactly what it is made of and in the ensuing year we were Boston Strong. This year, April 21 will be the day to demonstrate that we did not only come back, but are stronger than ever. We always protect and remember our own. Good always wins in the end.

The Campus School has faced challenges this year and as we all know—we are on the road to become better than ever, stronger than ever. Together with our families, staff, BCCS Volunteers, and the Boston College community, we became Campus School Strong.

We looked forward to coming out in full force to support the 350 runners who would be running for our children. We prayed for an outcome that would not let the bombers detract from this wonderful act of kindness from the BCCS Marathon team. Unfortunately those 350 runners will not be able to run on Marathon Monday. We all understand the reasons why for this year. It is disappointing, but understood.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who trained so hard to run for our kids. We understand that to run for one’s self is an accomplishment, but to run for someone who cannot is truly a gift! Thank you for the gift you were preparing. You have no idea how much your support means.

The reality, however, is this is a year when the

Campus School needs those runners and their sponsors more than ever. The $75,000 raised last year is so important to our school. The Great Campus School Bandit Run on April 13 will be the alternate event. It appears that at the time of this letter the number of participants has declined to 150 runners.

To those who have decided not to run in the event, please know that we wish you the best in whatever option you choose. We will send you good wishes for a victorious run and pray that we will see you next year. While you run, we hope you will remember our Campus School family.

To the remaining 150 runners—Thank you!! Please know that our families will be along the route—manning water stops, blasting music, cheering you on as loud as we can. Our children will work on posters with their BC buddies and siblings. We will do our best to make lemonade from the lemons that have been handed out. We will be the wind at your back as you take on this challenge. Promise!!!

To the BC Community—please consider joining us along the route to cheer on and support the Campus School Runners. Consider it a warm up for the 21st.

Two “Mile 21” events can be awesome events. Help us prove that we take care of our own—we are BC. Good always wins.

The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 400 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

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 email to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

Jordan Pentaleri, Graphics Editor Nicole Suozzo, Blog Editor Austin Tedesco, Online Manager Corinne Duffy, Assoc. Copy Editor Evan D. Gatti, Asst. Copy Editor Julie Orenstein, Assoc. News Editor Nathan McGuire, Asst. News Editor Marly Morgus, Assoc. Sports Editor Alex Fairchild, Asst. Sports Editor Samantha Costanzo, Asst. Features Editor

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Ariana Igneri, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor Michelle Tomassi, Asst. Arts & Review Editor Bennet Johnson, Asst. Metro Editor Emily Sadeghian, Asst. Photo Editor JT Mindlin, Asst. Layout Editor Breck Wills, Asst. Graphics Editor Arielle Cedeno, Editorial Assistant Sarah Moore, Executive Assistant

Business and Operations

Mujtaba Syed, Business Manager Chris Stadtler, Advertising Manager Tricia Tiedt, Outreach Coordinator Donny Wang, Systems Manager Pamela Taylor, National Advertising Manager Katie O’Connor, Account Manager Jessica Turkmany, Account Manager Catherine Duffy, Collections Manager Russell Puleo, Project Coordinator

The Heights

Monday, March 24, 2014

A5

Responsible feminism

Tiffany Ashtoncourt Tapas - We think these are an oft-underappreciated food. There is nothing quite like having a varied assortment of delightfully delectable delicacies upon which we can dine. In many ways, going out for tapas is far superior to going out for a standard meal. When going out for dinner, one usually must agonize over a menu replete with excellent choices.

When one goes out for tapas, one has to do no such thing—one can simply order an entire smorgasbord of hors d’oeuvres to share among friends. And, as if this were not enough, one can also order pitchers of sangria to go along with dinner, and what’s not to love about that?

Listserv-Abusing Professors - We have all had at least one of these professors. You know, the kind who does not know how to handle the enormous power and responsibility that comes along with the class listserv. Don’t get us wrong, the class listserv is a fantastic invention—one of the marvels of modern technology, one might say. It is incredibly useful for notifying the class of a cancellation, a change in time and/or space, or a pressing announcement. It is also useful for disseminating materials that must be read for class in an environmentally friendly way—those who want to print it can, but those who prefer reading on their computers can do so without also having a physical copy. The problems arise when professors get all trigger-happy with their listserv, sending out materials and reminders just hours before class begins, notifications of mundane events on campus (or of their recently born child), and even inane comments that really make no sense. But that is not even the worst. The worst is when professors forward emails that are sent out via the departmental listserv, thus subjecting our tired and weary inboxes to at least two copies of those emails. Professors who flood our inboxes with unnecessary emails about which nobody cares, we ask you that you please stop—NOTH already fulfills that role on campus, we don’t need someone else doing it.

Russia Annexes Crimea - It has certainly been an interesting week in world geopolitics. An occupied Crimea votes for independence from Ukraine and then votes to join Russia. Putin decides that this is a wonderful opportunity to continue his dreams of rebuilding Russia into the size it was during the “glory days” of the U.S.S.R. and annexes a nominally willing Crimea.

Really though, how legitimate can a vote to join Russia be when Russian troops are in your region? We are quite doubtful of the legitimacy of that vote. Meanwhile, the West is dawdling on sanctioning Russia. The real question is not what the West will do about Russia, but rather, what will Russia decide to annex next?

Government (Center) Shutdown - Well, it’s not quite as bad as when the U.S. government decided to shut down this past year, but it is pretty darn close. The Government Center station on the Green Line will be closed for the next two years for remodeling. As regular users of said line of the T, this greatly upset us. What are we going to do when we need our regular dose of 1960s brutalist architecture (and it really is brutal on the eyes) that is the Boston City Hall? Although we certainly like a good remodeling, we would prefer for it to take place at a time in which it would not affect us.

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Voltaire once described his good friend, mathematician, and physicist, Emilie du Chatalet, as “a great man, whose only fault was being a woman.” In the context of 18th century France, this was a great compliment because Voltaire was essentially praising Chatalet’s genius while at the same time acknowledging the sad reality that she would never be truly appreciated by her peers, because of something outside of her control—her gender. And although the suffrage and the 1960s feminist movements fortunately gave American women both the civil freedom and equality for which they long yearned, it did not eradicate the subconscious belief that being a woman is an impediment meant to be overcome. In fact, the idea of feminism has become so misconstrued that we are now grappling with three unintentional repercussions that are simultaneously hampering women’s progress in society, eroding childhood for a generation of girls, and leaving them confused on what it means to be a successful woman today.

Feminism in the 1960s was a hard-fought battle spearheaded by women who had to assert continually that being a woman was not a limitation of their capabilities. But in the process of negating this belief, they unintentionally reinforced it and created a setback for today’s women. Case in point, in 1984 there was a national proposal for maternity leave, but fierce opposition from feminists prevented this from getting off the ground. As a 2010 Washington Post column detailed, “influential feminist activists in Washington opposed maternity leave because it wasn’t treating women the same as men ... They said: ‘No, no, no. We don’t want national maternity leave. We want to fold maternity into

other medical needs.’”

Feminists may have feared that acknowledging a medical need would make women seem weak, but instead they gave the impression that pregnancy, a uniquely feminine aspect, is shameful and an obstacle to being considered equal to men, when in reality, this has always been a beautiful and powerful aspect of being a woman. Put plainly, a national maternity mandate can’t treat women the same as men because women give birth and men don’t, so there is no shame in acknowledging a fundamental, biological difference between women and men, especially when it entails helping the very group of people you want to help.

Maternity leave may have been stunted out of fear of eroding progress, but the stereotypes surrounding progress have also proven to be detrimental to the true goals of feminism—one being the hypersexualization of girlhood. Never have the lines between girlhood and adult life been so blurred, and in so many different ways that it is hard to pick and choose which product is more harmful. From MGA Entertainment and its prostitute-looking Bratz dolls, along with all of the subsequent copycats, to Abercrombie marketing thongs and push-up bras for 10year-olds, corporations have been shameless in marketing to children, but as much as we can blame corporations for causing this, parents control the purse strings, and corporations don’t have feelings and only respond to consumer demand—so obviously if there’s a market, they’ll try to sell. Abercrombie wouldn’t have dared to go so far if it didn’t feel confident people would buy, and MGA wouldn’t have sold a single doll if mothers would have rallied against the product out of fear that their girls would want to look like their favorite dolls the same way that they worry about the sadly more realistic-looking Barbie. Tell me if I’m wrong, but I can’t rationalize this any other way other than corporations sold the stereotype that feminism meant sexualization, and while women undoubtedly benefited from being freed from puritanical beliefs regarding sexuality, the sexualization

of feminism kept being sold to a younger and younger age group over the years under the guise of modernity, and society unceremoniously accepted it. It’s disheartening when you realize that a suckling baby on a parenting magazine elicits more repulsion by women than elementary school girls going to school with “Juicy” emblazoned on the back of their shorts.

Feminism is meant to be power and equality, but many women today probably have an aversion to leaning in because they don’t want to be derided as “cold bitches,” and in many ways women with this fear are completely right.

One only needs to look at the first ladies of this nation to understand why.

First Lady Michelle Obama, an accomplished individual in her own right, was unpopular in the beginning of her husband’s campaign because she was vocal and opinionated. Now, in order not to become the “Hillary Clinton” of Obama’s administration, she suddenly switched to become a mother devoting her time to encouraging U.S. children to eat healthy and exercise, while glamorously posing for two Vogue magazine covers and moonlighting on late night talk shows, in other words the epitome of a true first lady … in the 1950s. If we want more women asserting their views and taking control, we should not deride or call first ladies “a liability,” because not everyone is a Hillary Clinton who can take the heat and continue on her path until everyone finally either lovingly or begrudgingly accepts you for who you are.

I don’t mean to lay the blame on the glass ceiling on women. I do say, however, that I believe that we become our own worst enemy by negating or twisting aspects of being feminine instead of celebrating them. So, what is the biggest glass ceiling to today’s women? There’s no easy answer, but I would say that women are great individuals whose only fault is not owning the power of being women.

Tiffany Ashtoncourt is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

Rethinking discovery

Ben Olcott The human side of the Malaysia Flight 370 story is important. It matters. It matters that 239 human beings are presently unaccounted for, and it is important to their families that they are discovered, whether that discovery entails their coming home or provides some sort of closure. Being entirely unaccounted for is sort of like the purgatory of living—the powers that be owe it to these people to have their ontological statuses determined, if they have the means. But, from all this has outpoured a steady stream of information that has nothing to do with the legitimate human story here, and the non-human parts of the story that were initially legitimate—the plane’s location, the timeline of its demise—have been warped into the worst type of sensationalism. As is true of all yellow journalism, the stories address and present the easy, thoughtless aspects of the story exclusively to sustain itself. Just as it is easy to talk about the weather, it is easy, and ultimately ego-feeding, to go to a CNN article, find out that the search area has widened by a thousand miles, and then have that comment in your back pocket for the rest of the day so that when the flight comes up you can “continue the conversation.” I say worst type of sensationalism because it has dominated the human elements so resoundingly (this is not a joke—type in “people in Malaysian flight” on Google and the headline “From ghostly to psychic, theories abound on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370” pops up first), and because it has laid itself in bed predatorily with the very honorable American notion of discovery.

I mean that in two senses. First, it has made itself a part of the process of discovery by reporting on every development, every new “theory,” every new twist. These reports are delivered according to the same mental process that occurs in individual human discovery.

There are hypotheses, tests, failures, theories

Bird Flew

that are wild and unconsidered and promptly poo-poo’d—the problem is that these failures and crap-of-the-mouth theories are presented by so-called “authorities,” and because they are their product, they do not present their lesser theories as lesser, like a human would. Would CNN ever admit that their article titled “EVERY FLIGHT 370 THEORY HAS A HOLE” is completely inane? Not up to the standard its “authority” as a news source suggests? Imagine if a person truly believed his or her every thought was a relevant and legitimate “discovery?” He or she would be considered psychotic. Now, of course, the argument that news sources are far different from brains and to call them psychotic (well, it’s not like they have a conscience) is valid, except news sources are delivering their information in a manner that is consciousness-esque, that is, in a manner that is fraught with inanities and little discoveries, and it is constant. Their process isn’t overtly American, but it relates in that it sort of feels like some psychotic minstrel troupe is trespassing on our brains, and most Americans don’t treat their brains like their lawns. Overpopulation in the brain, too, is unresolved.

But the really American thing at stake here is our view of discovery in all its edifying, destructive, contradictory glory. Like it or not, aspiration for discovery is, along with city-upon-the-hill et al, one of the supporting pillars of the country. America has always been populated by people looking to discover new riches—Lewis and Clark are national heroes.

We were the first nation to get to the moon, and we are damned proud of it. We thrill at being first. We are a country of pioneers. That spirit can be harnessed for bad or good, of course.

In the ’60s, the race to the moon inspired nationalistic pride when, in the face of the Cold War, Vietnam, drafts, Kennedy’s assassination, and great, truly warranted cynicism, the nation needed it. Discoveries in particle physics and energy, however, and the scientists who made them were harnessed to create atomic bombs, which were perpetrators of the cynicism we needed the moon landing to assuage. So, discovery drives the boat, or perhaps is the boat.

Objectively, setting aside morality and ethics for

a moment, the efforts at discovery and often the discoveries themselves are profound American moments.

The grossest perversion of that honorable searching is this type of sensationalist coverage on CNN (yeah, this is mostly about CNN). CNN would have you believe that it is presenting “the experience” via its constant coverage, that this brings you closest to actually being the discoverer yourself, and it would have you believe this because, as an American, you believe deep down that that’s kind of what you’re about … and CNN wants your clicks. But it cannot ever be your discovery. You, the reader, are not actually discovering anything by definition.

Reporters report their discoveries—inevitably, you are reading something someone else discovered. It gets pernicious when you realize CNN would prefer that you do not acknowledge that separation, that the CNN news-consciousness becomes just your consciousness, because once it’s there, it has you. You are discovering not with your eyes, but with its. Its eyes see thoughtless conspiracy theories—“EVERY FLIGHT 370 THEORY HAS A HOLE”’—and strictly speculative nonsense as fascinating insight, as a “human story” to rest your eyes on. Indeed, every flight 370 theory has a certain type of hole behind it.

And this has nothing to do with truth. A journal for which truth is secondary to anything else has no credibility whatsoever as a news source. Sadly, newspapers, CNN in particular, have exposed themselves as National Enquireresque eye-catchers, and shamelessly so. And they’ve made discovery their bedmate in doing so. They’re standing on its honorable shoulders looking not westward or skyward or inward, but at click totals. And my god, they ignored that the Big Bang was proven in the past weeks to be almost certainly (and that’s damn good) the model for the creation of our universe. That is an American discovery to think hard about and be proud of. But CNN doesn’t want us thinking—it wants us looking at CNN.

Ben Olcott is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@ bcheights.com.

BY DOLAN BORTNER

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

High-stakes global poker Jaclyn Susskind As the crisis in Ukraine advances, various questions and opinions have risen. A question I have asked is, why does the U.S. always seem to find itself in the middle? Then again, who else would? Rather than turning a blind eye to the wrongdoings of international communities, America has, for some time, decided not to leave countries unchecked—we keep watch, we get involved, for we are the only nation who has the military and political might to stop international aggressions.

Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea is threatening to the international world order brought about after World War II. America has found itself entangled in another mess, for how can we permit the Russians to overtake another land by sheer military force without suffering consequences? While many debates are taking place within America as to whether to make advances in the conflict, I advocate for our involvement—something needs to change, or else more dangerous issues will arise in the future. How can we turn our backs when we are fully conscious that Ukraine’s occupation implies that 46 million people are hostage to Putin? An article in The Economist has compared Putin’s occupation of Ukraine to Hitler’s seizure of territories in Europe in the 1930s, for Putin is now similarly justifying his occupation as a duty to protect his fellow “Russians and Russian-speakers.”

Thus, if Americans are to avoid countering Putin’s actions in Ukraine, will Putin not feel that he must assume this duty by regaining all territories previously part of the U.S.S.R.?

As America and its free-world allies jointly oppose Russia’s actions, many question what the EU will do, as there are economic factors to consider. While it is relatively easy for the U.S. to establish economic sanctions, Russia is a significant trading partner of EU member states, making sanctions an economically and politically unappealing move.

In this way, Putin has been extremely calculated in his actions, and his occupation of Crimea is premeditated. While he knew to expect uproar from America, Putin was well aware that countries in the EU need Russia for trade—it is, therefore, not easy simply to sever their ties to Russia. Furthermore, Putin’s triumph in his overtake of Crimea has revealed his strength, as he assures Russians that they are gradually recapturing their past legacy and dominance. Putin hungers to dominate Kiev again. Ukrainians just rid themselves of an autocratic ruler and now find themselves dealing with the next. But could this crisis end up creating a division in Ukraine? As Kiev and Lviv turn westward for help, knowing that Russian control would cause their country to weaken and lose sovereignty, those in Crimea turn to the East. As I write this article, Russian troops line the border of Crimea and the rest of Ukraine. Could the end of this crisis ultimately cause the break-up of what we currently know as Ukraine? Would this truly be viewed as a “resolution”?

However, I think the solution to this crisis is to isolate Russia as best we can, and that calls for the EU to bite the bullet. Germany seems to be the biggest threat to Western unification against Russia, as Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to protect Germany’s commercial interests. But Merkel must also recognize that her commercial partner has not left behind Russia’s autocratic past—far from it, in fact. Thus, we should seek to remove Russia entirely from international forums—making a G-7 instead of a G-8, for example—communicating that Russia is no longer viewed as a suitable partner to the Western world. In this way, Russians themselves hopefully will grow tense in their views of Putin, as their country will lose global strength and power.

I do not think that recent events are sparking what could be another Cold War, as Russia does not have nearly the same strength as it did back then. Putin’s aggression and autocratic rule does not command the power, economic might, or allies needed for the next Cold War. At this point, I even wonder if we can adopt an ending that was similar to the end of the Cold War—negotiation. After the many years that have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union, Putin has reinvigorated Soviet actions and ideologies, making friendly, diplomatic talk seem impossible. Let’s not forget Russia’s possession of nuclear weapons.

At the same time, he is aware that no country seeks to wage a war against Russia. Is isolation our only chance of avoiding war, or is war inevitable? Just like any poker game, no win is guaranteed.

Jaclyn Susskind is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

THE HEIGHTS

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Monday, March 24, 2014

‘Nymphomaniac’ seduces with dark humor and powerful aesthetics

BY TYLER WILKINSON For The Heights

My first encounter with a Lars von Trier film occurred two years ago when I watched his Grand Prix-winning film Breaking the Waves (1996). This Flaubert-inspired plot tries to disentangle the Puritanical interpretations of where morality, sex, and love intersect.

Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 is another attempt by von Trier to take a stab at the Holy Trinity of issues introduced NYMPHOMANIAC in BreakVOL. 1 Lars von Trier ing the Waves.

Joe, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, is a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac. Throughout the film, she has the need to constantly remind the audience that she is a bad person due to her never-ending list of sexual encounters, which are—most of the time—selfish and at the expense of other people’s lives. Joe believes that she is worthless when her only reaction to crisis is to have sex. At the heart of the film, von Trier wants the viewer to disaggregate his or her

normal conceptions of sex, love, and addiction into neutral terms. Joe’s nymphomania should not be viewed as immoral. Instead, she states that her only sin is that she’s “always demanded more from the sunset.” Even though Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 is not imbedded in the same literary and intellectual tradition as its predecessor, it is a more stunning, brazen, confident, and humorous film.

The film starts with a man, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgaard) finding a battered and abused Joe while on his way home from the grocery store. After he brings her back to his apartment to tend to her, she recounts the history of her sexual awakening to her caretaker and savior. Gainsbourg and Skarsgaard give compatible and believable, albeit cold and somewhat sociopathic performances. The most unique performance of the film comes from Joe’s continual love interest, the braggadocious Jerome (Shia LaBeouf). LaBeouf, even with his poor British accent, is able to excel at portraying a sleazy love interest who doesn’t mind taking the virginity of 15year-old girls in the most unromantic and animalistic way.

Von Trier has simple, yet beautiful methods of conveying Joe’s sexual history. In Joe’s

stories, von Trier employs various filmmaking techniques that range from the gritty realism of black and white—exemplifying the loneliness of delirium—to more expressionistic scenes filled with light. Von Trier’s ability to change filmmaking styles within the film to promote different moods is a definite addition for the film. Although the subject matter is very depressing at times, von Trier is able to bring out some of the funniest moments that occur in the most horrible of situations. The funniest part of the film occurs when one of Joe’s long-time lovers, Mr. H, decides to leave his wife and kids to live with Joe after she falsely claims to love him. Mr. H arrives at Joe’s door with Mrs. H (Uma Thurman) and his children in tow. Mrs. H wishes to show the kids their father’s favorite place, “the whoring bed,” which they’ll need to remember during their future sessions in therapy. At this time, another one of Joe’s lovers comes for his weekly session with her.

They all sit down at the table together to have tea and there are continuous cuts back to the sad children’s faces.

What designates von Trier as a master filmmaker is his ability to create some of the most aesthetically appealing scenes in all of

PHOTO COURTESY OF ZENTROPA ENTERTAINMENTS

Von Trier reinterprets sex and addiction with intellectually the engaging ‘Nymphomaniac Vol. 1.’ cinema. During a discussion of polyphony between Seligman and Joe, Joe relates stories of her three favorite lovers. Joe’s memories of her three favorites are arranged in a triptych while a choral prelude by Bach plays in complete unison with the three independent scenes. Multiple images of a Pythagorean man and a leopard with its prey are woven into these scenes to make one of the most aesthetically powerful sets of images in cinema to date.

When one watches a von Trier film, he or she is in for one of the most unique intellectual experiences in contemporary cinema. His staple is shocking his audience, and he always exceeds expectations in that category—Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 is no exception. The directing, cinematography, and dark humor allows for the creation of another great masterpiece from one of the most respected international directors. 

‘Divergent’ a poor man’s ‘Hunger Games’

1 PHOTO COURTESY OF SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT

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Despite appearances from actors Shailene Woodley (left) and Kate Winslet, ‘Divergent’ gets lost in extensive subplots and action sequences.

BY GRACE GODVIN For The Heights

Divergent is yet another film based on a popular young adult book series that takes place in a near-future, dystopian world.

Based on a New York Times bestselling series

by Veronica Roth, Divergent is set in futuristic Chicago, the only city to have survived a near world-destroying war. The society here is divided DIVERGENT into five Neil Burger groups, the smart (Erudite), the selfless (Abnegation), the happy (Amity), the fearless (Dauntless), and the honest (Candor).

At the beginning of the film, 16-year-old Beatrice Pryor (Shailene Woodley)—along with the rest of her age group—must make the most important choice of her life: she has to pick which group, or faction, she wishes to be in for the rest of her life. Before deciding, Beatrice takes an aptitude test, which determines she is “Divergent,” a threat to the social order. Vowing never to tell anyone of her results for fear of being killed, Beatrice ultimately chooses to join Dauntless, which also means leaving her family for good.

When she arrives at the Dauntless headquarters, Beatrice shortens her name to just Tris and begins training. Here, she meets her instructor, Four, played by Theo James,

and they develop a romance through moody side glances and tension-filled practice sessions. From here, the film’s plot points continue to grow and get more complicated as Tris’ role in society as a Divergent plays out. Throughout training, Tris and the other Dauntless initiates constantly face the threat of being dropped from Dauntless, becoming “faction-less” and hence shunned by society. They are put to the test both mentally and physically, with their initiation unnecessarily swallowing up a whole lot of screen time.

The most redeeming 20 minutes of the film come later, with Kate Winslet’s performance as the villainous face of the Erudite group—the Erudite threaten to destroy the entire population of Abnegation, including Tris’ family. Screenwriters Evan Daughtery and Vanessa Taylor attempt to explain every facet of Roth’s novel in preparation for the sequels to come, and by this part of the film, there are so many subplots present that it is nice to be able to sit back and watch Winslet do her thing.

At this point, the action has heated up, and Tris finds herself in a complicated mess of subplots and trite details as she tries to avoid being discovered as a Divergent. Woodley’s sensitive performance makes Tris a protagonist who is easy to root for, but she is constantly bogged down by the film’s mismanaged direction and awkward choreography. Director

Neil Burger, who lists credits such as The Illusionist and Limitless, seems in over his head on this one, as there are so many diverging storylines that the film never quite finds its footing. Most notably affected are the relationships between characters, which never quite develop fully, as too much attention is devoted to the film’s action sequences and lengthy explanations of the mechanics behind this complicated dystopia. Therefore, when Tris leaves her family to go to a different faction, knowing she will never see them again, the moment feels highly anticlimactic.

Despite its two-and-a-half hour run time, Divergent never quite satisfies. Ultimately, it feels like a poor man’s Hunger Games, and surely will capitalize off this at the box office. The symbolic fight for individualism over conformism shines through, but while The Hunger Games focuses more on the strength of its main character, this film dabbles in its trifling moments for too much—especially the moody romance between Four and Tris. Its goal to provide a sound base for the next two films to come eventually sacrifices any chances it has at being a dynamic, standalone film. The growing idea that female-driven films have the potential to attract audiences not only in small films but also in action-packed blockbusters like this one is something to cheer for, nonetheless. 

WEEKEND GROSS

WEEKS IN RELEASE

1.DIVERGENT

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2. MUPPETS MOST WANTED

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3. MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN

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4. 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

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5. GOD’S NOT DEAD

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6. NEED FOR SPEED

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7. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

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8. NON-STOP

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3 PHOTO COURTESY OF DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

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BESTSELLERS OF HARDCOVER FICTION 1. POWER PLAY Danielle Steel 2. NIGHT BROKEN Patricia Briggs 3. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR Jeffrey Archer 4. STONE COLD C.J. Box 5. WORDS OF RADIANCE Brandon Sanderson 6. THE GOLDFINCH Donna Tartt

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7. THE INVENTION OF WINGS Sue Monk Kidd 8. THE BOOTLEGGER Clive Cussler and Justin Scott 9. PRIVATE L.A. James Patterson and Mark Sullivan 10. THE CHASE Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg SOURCE: New York Times

Welcome to the party: assessing the guest list for this summer’s upcoming movies RYAN DOWD Can you feel it? Welcome to spring.

Spring makes me think of summer, and summer makes me think of summer movies. While experts across the land may disagree over the details, most would agree that the summer movie season will get under way with the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, or maybe even Divergent this past weekend. The summer movie season has become a peculiar season of festivity. The sun is finally out, so why not spend our time inside watching movies? The summer movie season is one big party, and it’s the only party in town that courts 14-year-old boys.

This summer lacks the heavyweights of The Avengers: Age of Ultron set for summer 2015 and the Superman-Batman team-up set for summer 2016 (who’s counting anyway), but it still features plenty of superheroes and desecrated cities.

The party kicked off with the newest teen adventure movie, based off

best-selling series Divergent. It did well—not Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games well—but well enough to merit a sequel. Yay. And the festivities continue with Darren Aronofsky’s biblical epic Noah starring Russell Crowe.

Noah might take things in a direction many won’t want to follow, a project of exceeding ambition and funding.

Emma Watson will make an appearance somewhere in there. I really hope she makes it on the boat.

We fall back to familiar territory in early April with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, being reminded that winter is just seven months away and that superhero season has officially begun. The party hasn’t hit its stride yet, but at least the National Anthem is out of the way. Patriotism carries the festivities through a lull in April, but on May 2 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 premieres as thousands of 13 and 14-year-old boys and a few 30-year-old men dressed in costume burst through the gates. This rager is officially underway. Godzilla storms in to wide eyes and applause. X-Men:

Days of Future Past shows the old guys can kick it with the young ones. Adam Sandler teams up with old pal Drew Barrymore in Blended in an attempt to recapture whatever once made Adam Sandler funny. Angelina Jolie plays the wicked queen many believe she may actually be in Snow White-retelling Maleficent.

June and July roll through much the same with another Tom Cruise sci-fi in The Edge of Tomorrow, 22 Jump Street, and another Transformers movie, this time starring Mark Wahlberg.

This July may not have a Batman or Superman film to carry it through, but Jupiter Ascending from the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix) fills the “think man’s blockbuster” role, or alternatively what the raving stoners are talking about in the corner over there. It stars Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum in a futuristic world fighting against the Queen of the Universe.

In August, Marvel’s team of underdogs Guardians of the Galaxy brings some late night flair and fun, before things start to get a bit of uncom-

fortable with 50 Shades of Grey. But things more or less go back to normal when four talking turtles roll in with Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They brought pizza, so it’s all good. The festivities begin to die down a bit. Gone are the bright lights and thumping music. The boys are loitering outside the theater, waiting for Michael’s mom to pick them up. The Giver premieres in mid-August, reminding all of us school is just around the corner.

Many will claim in the next few months that summer movies are trash, abominations, and—my favorite—the product of creative inbreeding. They have a point. The invasion of sequel after sequel has gotten a bit out of hand. But I remember seeing Pirates of the Caribbean in theaters. I remember seeing Transformers. I remember seeing The Dark Knight two weekends in a row. Fourteen-year-old boys can’t get into bars, whether their IDs say they’re a 23-year-old native of Montana or not. So, they go to movies. Maybe they bring a date, or maybe they’re

the dependable third wheel on a date.

It doesn’t really matter what’s on the screen, only that it’s easy to follow and funny, because you’re already having fun. You’re with friends.

I’ve seen my fair share of summer blockbusters. I know that not because I remember most of them, but because I’m a weirdo who’s saved every ticket stub he’s ever bought. As I’ve gotten older I’ve shied away from the louder, more congested parts of the party in search of the quieter film. We also realized there’s more to do on a Friday night than going to the movies, believe it or not. But summer movies still have value. Fourteen-year-old boys don’t make up their entire revenue. We keep coming back, because what we love about a good summer movie isn’t its merit as a film, but its ability to make us feel 14 again for just a couple hours, to let us into the party one more time.

Ryan Dowd is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

The Heights

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Monday, March 24, 2014

‘For Colored Girls’ shows off talented cast of eight From ‘For Colored Girls,’ A8 narrowed into little more than a call to inclusivity since the race riots of the 1960s and 1970s turned the nation on its head.

The BC theatre department’s production of For Colored Girls was decidedly not inclusive—the show’s all-female, allblack cast was the first in the University’s history. It was a unique opportunity for the show’s eight-woman cast to speak forwardly about issues historically relevant to the black community. Directed

by John Houchin, an associate professor within the theatre department, in conjunction with guest artist Robbie McCauley, a member of the show’s Broadway cast, For Colored Girls was one of the bravest productions ever staged at BC, a forthcoming vignette of racial identity.

Looking beyond the social implications of the production, however, For Colored Girls was just great theatre.

The eight actors featured in the show were confronted with one of the most daunting scripts in popular theatre. A series of 20 poems, Shange’s words are at once very direct and topical, while only being abstractly held together. The chemistry of this small group of performers was essential to the show’s execution.

While most of the poems were read as monologues, the response of the other women was critical to their execution.

Following the more gritty monologues featured in the show, the performers would comfort each other and respond to each other’s suffering.

Ashlie Pruitt, A&S ’15, delivered some of the most devastating of the show’s material in a piece detailing an abortion.

Tears streamed down Pruitt’s face as she took up the persona of Lady in Blue—she was spitting and shaking on the stage.

“Abortion Cycle #1” outlines the dehumanizing aspects of the abortion process: Blue is violated, ignored, as she cries out for the abortionist to “Get those eyes offa me / Get them steel rods outta me.” This part of the show particularly was reminiscent of a scene from Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues—also staged at BC this semester—detailing the genital mutilation of a Bosnian woman. The performance of these graphic, heavy accounts is part of a larger effort by feminist playwrights, like Shange and Ensler, to reclaim woman’s agency over her own anatomy.

Beyond this, however, the comparison between For Colored Girls and The Vagina Monologues begins to break down. The Vagina Monologues is now performed as part of the V-Day movement—a nonprofit raising money to fight violence toward women—and productions of it had become an annual occurrence at schools like BC. For Colored Girls, also an experimental work addressing a cultural identity, plays out in a far less pointed manner. Its

Emily Fahey / Heights Editor

The ‘For Colored Girls’ cast addressed the emotional subject matter of the play by delivering its monologues with authenticity. production is more of an open-ended undertaking. BC’s production was far more than a series of monologues, integrating elements of dance and ending with a gospel-style ensemble vocal performance while repeating the lines, “I found God in myself / And I loved her.”

The audience, too, became a particularly important part of the performance.

Toluwase Oladapo, A&S ’16, singled out specific male members of the audience during her performance of “Somebody Almost Walked Off Wid Alla My Stuff,”

a poem telling the story of a woman who nearly gives up her identity for a man.

The show reaches an emotional climax with Lady in Red’s “A Nite With Beau Willie Brown,” performed by Raven Tillman, LSOE ’14. By the end of the poem, Tillman was shouting in full voice, telling the story of a woman abused by the father of her two children, insisting she marry him, and eventually, killing his own kids.

For Colored Girls has painful and tragic elements, but ultimately, its nar-

rative highlights the brazen self-love required for its characters to carry on through these hardships. The extraordinary cast of For Colored Girls brought Shange’s work to the BC community with a level of authenticity and thoughtfulness uncommon to University productions. The 90-minute show covered some incredibly heavy, often uncomfortable material, but there wasn’t a false note in the production—they kept true to the source and shared these stories fiercely. n

DJ Enferno shows off live mixes at Plexapalooza concert From Plexapalooza, A8

John Wiley / Heights Editor

DJ Enferno brought EDM mixes to the the Flynn Recreational Complex this weekend.

drops and synth sequences.

Taking over the main stage at 10:30 p.m., DJ Enferno immediately showed his style in a live-remix to start the show, working “N—s in Paris” by Jay-Z and Kanye into an extended EDM mashup. Prefaced as a “live-remix,” the song was played on a mixing board that faced the crowd so they could follow along with the creation, as well as a system of additional mixing controls tucked away behind the visible pad. The Washington, D.C.-based DJ used this same technique multiple times throughout the show, identifying these special live remixes through the evening. It was unclear, however, just exactly what made some of his songs “live-remixes,” while others didn’t seem to share this distinction. DJ Enferno’s rig was far more complicated

than most, and he bears the unusual distinction of being almost entirely known for his remixing techniques, rather than original numbers.

There always comes a question of the veracity of the remixing techniques of acts like Enferno. Recently, a string of incidents at festivals have brought to light the dishonest practices of deejays who do not actually do their mixes live.

In the case of Enferno, the crowd could clearly see him pushing squares that matched up with sound effects. After the initial drum sequences, the elements distinguishing these tracks as “live remixes” weren’t quite so easy to pick out, with some numbers nearly identical to the original. Enferno did, however, go to greater length than most of his contemporaries to bring a full mixing rig onto the stage, and kept involved with the controls throughout the show.

While the “live” aspect of EDM can be slightly confusing, it did not take away from the actual music in Enferno’s case—his mixes were never anything less than entertaining, and he had a very genuine style of showmanship on stage. DJ Enferno consistently chose up-tempo hits and kept the crowd entertained with quick switches and heavy bass. He also tapped into the live music necessity of crowd interaction and was able to ignore technical difficulties—such as when he called for a spotlight that either did not or could not work—to engage with the crowd.

That interpersonal talent is exactly what a musician needs to get a group of students to forget that they are in a place where basketball games, volleyball games, and group fitness classes are held daily, and instead get pumped up by the music. n

‘Wunderkammer’ opens in Devlin Hall From ‘Wunderkammer,’ A8 a collection of objects from all around the globe. The objects, which could include anything from flora and fauna to religious artifacts and hand-made creations, were meant to inspire awe—their creators attempted to merge objects from the natural world and those from the artistic sphere, leaving no distinction between the two. Wunderkammers continued to inspire artists throughout the 20th century, and prompted artists and historians alike to ask questions about the cultural implications behind each collection.

With this background knowledge in mind, students from Gallagher’s Issues and Approaches to Studio Art and Clarke’s Asia in the World II: 1800 to

the Present were assigned with the task of creating their own Wunderkammers, integrating lessons from the courses but also using considerable creative range.

Alex Madronal, a student in Clarke’s class and A&S ’16, explained the details of the assignment, which involved the collection of 12 objects from different areas of the world, some with Asian influence, along with reasoning for how they fit together as a collection and the way in which they showcase cross-cultural exchange.

Madronal’s piece in particular exemplified the broad range of possibilities students had with the assignment—for his Wunderkammer, called “Top International Football Team,” he chose soccer players from all around the world to compose his own world’s best Interna-

Emily sadeghian / Heights Editor

The ‘Wunderkammer Exhibit’ brings together unlikely objects, highlighting cultural exchange.

tional Manchester United Football Club team. His interpretation of a “Cabinet of Wonders,” he explained, was a Nike shoebox, and photos of the players were displayed hanging across the wall.

Students explored a common theme within their own collections—such as dolls, clothing, and even live musical performances. A jury was even present to award certain students with notable distinctions, and at the end of the opening reception students were encouraged to submit their own votes for the best Wunderkammer. Andrea Frank, the curator of visual resources in the fine arts department, and Anne Bernard Kearney, a faculty member in the romance language department, judged each piece according to certain criteria, such as theme, invention, wonder, craftsmanship, and how well they interpreted the function of a Wunderkammer. They awarded Julia Calvino’s “Plant Talk,” which incorporated the natural world into the piece, with the “best in show.”

Some students placed more emphasis on the physical aspect of the collection, such as Ryan Burns, A&S ’15, who assembled various weapons from around the globe in his “Worldwide Weaponry” piece. Others, such as Deryn Thomas, A&S ’14, showcased artistic capabilities, with her piece, “An Entomologist’s Anthology.” The display box held several origami butterflies with poems printed on the paper—a beautiful and delicate way of uniting cultural exchange and thematic cohesion.

The opening of the exhibit also allowed students from both classes to see the work of their peers for the first time and engage in discourse with faculty members, resulting in a fairly crowded hallway as guests navigated through the collections, satisfying their own curiosities. n

John Wiley / Heights Editor

Acoustics member Taylor MacLeod, A&S ’15, performed a rendition of Fun.’s ‘Some Nights.’

Acoustics dress down for pajama party-themed show From Acoustics, A8 and “Dream On,” by fan favorite Elliot Smith, A&S ’14. The audience even started a room-wide chant of Smith’s name after his song and at other points throughout the evening.

Junior Zubair Panjwani wrapped up the night with a crowd-pleasing blend of Justin Timberlake songs, starting off with “That Girl” and “Rock Your Body” and ending with “Mirrors.” Panjwani, clad in a star-spangled onesie, successfully channeled his inner JT. His smooth voice and nearly flawless falsetto had the room clapping along as he jammed out.

While the songs performed by the older members were some of the strongest, those presented by the first year Acoustics singers showed sure signs of

promise as well. Notable “Baby Projects” included those by Scottish exchange student Jack McLuckie, BC ’15, Matt Michienzie, A&S ’17, and Liv Lynch, A&S ’17.

The 19 person-singing group displayed not only its vocal talents by debuting both new song arrangements and freshmen members, but also its quirky personality by presenting a pair of comical skits that had Cushing 001 roaring with laughter.

Exciting and dynamic, the Acoustics’ charisma shined brightly in every feature of its cafe—its boy band medley project, its Frozen mash-up project, and its rendition of Fun.’s hit “Some Nights” were definite highlights of the show, demonstrating the group’s vocal versatility, silly but cool charm, and overall zest for their group and for a cappella. n

A8

ARTS&REVIEW MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014

THE FINER THINGS

Gaga’s latest artpop antics

ARIANA IGNERI Lady Gaga has been making her own rules for as long as she’s been around. From her meat dress to her Grammy-egg entrance to her defense this weekend of her performance at the SXSW Festival in Austin, there’s been no way to categorize what Gaga has been doing—not until “artpop.” Even if Gaga’s self-created genre is taken seriously, though, the fact remains: the Fame Monster is producing neither entertaining art nor good pop music, no matter what you call it.

Earlier this month, the ever-controversial singer collaborated with “vomit artist” Millie Brown on stage, inviting her to throw up on her while Gaga sang “Swine.” Brown jammed her fingers down her throat, until she began to gag and spew lime green liquid all over Gaga’s practically naked body. Near the end of the song, the two mounted a mechanical bull, Brown chugged a liter of black slime, and, again, began projecting a strange, vile liquid out of her mouth and onto Gaga.

Stained and breathless at the performance’s conclusion, Gaga embraced Brown, yelling, “F—k you pop music. This is artpop.”

Artpop, indeed ... There’s obviously no other way to describe that, and when you can’t make something fit existing rules, the only thing to do is to redefine the rules yourself—at least that’s what Gaga thinks.The problem with that method, though, is that your definition needs to hold. Gaga’s doesn’t.

On Friday’s Today Show, Gaga tried to explain her and Brown’s actions, saying, “Artpop is about bringing music and art together in the spirit of creative rebellion, and for us, that performance was art in its purest form … we don’t make things for any intention in particular other than in the spirit of entertaining the crowd and really for the moment.”

So, according to Gaga, artpop is about fusing a sense of highbrow art and catchy pop music for the sake of “entertaining the crowd.” While it’s not possible to speak on behalf of the entire audience present at the show, there’s no denying that the majority of the online community was far from entertained. Some people were even insulted.

X-Factor judge Demi Lovato criticized Gaga almost instantly, tweeting, “Bottom line, it’s not ‘cool’ or ‘artsy’ at all” and “Putting the word ART in it isn’t a free card to do whatever you want without consequences.”

Lovato, who has struggled with an eating disorder for some time, interpreted Gaga and Brown’s performance as “glamorizing” bulimia. She argued that calling something art doesn’t make it art.

And Lovato’s right. Although it is true that an artist has freedom of expression, it’s not true that an artist, including Gaga, should be allowed to act without discretion.

Offending people through art is not in and of itself wrong, especially if it incites productive dialogue, but there is a time and a place for crossing that line and a way that it should be done. Gaga didn’t seem to consider that, acting, instead, without taste.

The irony of the situation rests in Gaga’s justification of her SXSW show being about entertainment not bulimia. Even Brown insisted, “My performance is not a statement about eating disorders in any way.” She claimed that it was meant to exhibit “beauty from the inside out.” Regardless of their intentions, however, their work didn’t say anything meaningful about eating disorders or offer any significant artistic value—Gaga’s definition of artpop collapsed on itself.

Gaga’s concert conduct doesn’t seem much different from Shia LaBeouf’s recent controversial exhibit #IAMSORRY—both seem to point to a larger issue: that celebrities feel that they need to separate themselves from the entertainment world they inevitably are a part of. Because famous people like LaBeouf and Gaga are trying to define their personas by establishing their own rules, through misinterpret-able and sometimes distasteful performance art, the public fails to understand them and the significance behind their stunts.

Having someone puke on you on stage is not amusing—it’s not artpop—just like sitting silently in a chair with a brown paper bag on your head constitutes neither an artistic exhibit nor an effective apology.

It’s difficult to take much away from the behaviors of LaBeouf and Gaga, but if anything is certain, it’s that the more today’s artists stray from the rules, the less artistic they become. They may be making headlines, but they definitely aren’t making art.

Ariana Igneri is the Assoc. Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com

‘For Colored Girls’ radically transforms Bonn

BY JOHN WILEY Heights Editor The Bonn Theatre, Robsham’s amorphous studio space, underwent a radical transformation for the staging of Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf last week. Ben Wilson, scenic and lighting designer and A&S ’14, transformed the space into a cabaret-style performance venue, loosely inspired by Bacchanal, the California women’s bar where the experimental play was first staged in 1975. The ceiling was decked in string lights, and the walls covered in Black-

American folk art. The audience was brought onto the set, seated in the performance area as crowds would have been at the ’75 production.

Bringing the production in a very visible way back to this decade of racial unrest functioned as far more than just a stylistic choice. Shange’s work candidly addresses issues of race in a manner atypical of modern theatre, addressing themes left undiscussed in the dialogue on race encouraged at today’s universities. Boston College, four decades ago a place of wild social protest, has since grown docile.

Conversations on race have gradually

See ‘For Colored Girls,’ A7

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Sold-out Bonn show ‘For Colored Girls’ explores issues of black female identity.

DJ ENFERNO LIGHTS UP PLEX

JOHN WILEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Organized by the Undergraduate Government of Boston College, Plexapalooza hosted DJ Enferno and John Pierson in the Flynn Recreation Complex on Saturday night.

BY CHARLOTTE PARISH | HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

L

ive musicians are challenged to create an atmosphere consistent with the venue.

Developing continuity to a stage persona, working in a variety of venues—and often less-than-ideal spaces—is what makes live music so difficult. So it follows that a five-court gym might be a difficult space to turn into an EDM concert space.

Both acts at Plexapolooza, however, did an admirable job working the space and knowing their crowd to amp up the energy and create an

entertaining show once the evening got rolling.

There was a delay in the opening act because of an overall late crowd, but John Pierson rose to the occasion and played a heavily current, Top40 set list with just a few throwbacks to keep the crowd happy before DJ Enferno made his on-time entrance. Pierson’s set played off of the success of recent EDM acts like Avicii, bringing together central pieces of hit songs with his own orchestrated

See Plexapalooza, A7

SHOW DETAILS WHO: DJ Enferno feat. John Pierson MUSIC STYLE: EDM remixes of Top 40 hits WHERE: Flynn Recreation Complex WHEN: Saturday 3/22, 9 p.m.

ORGANIZED BY: Undergraduate Government of Boston College

BC Acoustics present ‘Acapillowfight’ Cafe

BY ARIANA IGNERI Assoc. Arts & Review Editor

EMILY SADEGHIAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The fine arts and history departments collaborated, organizing student art exhibit in Devlin.

‘Wunderkammer’ exhibit brings together art, history

BY MICHELLE TOMASSI Asst. Arts & Review Editor The fourth floor of Devlin, which usually smells of fresh paint emanating from the works of studio art classes, was transformed into a cultural exhibition space for the Wunderkammer Exhibit on Wednesday evening. The exhibit, featuring the works of students from classes taught by professors Sheila Gallagher and Rev. Jeremy Clarke, S.J., was a joint effort—sponsored by the fine arts

I NSIDE ARTS THIS ISSUE

‘Divergent’

department, the Art Club, the history department, Boston College Libraries, and the ILA China Watching Seminar Series.

This is the third collaboration between the fine arts and history departments organized by Clarke.

Each student took a creative approach to creating his or her own Wunderkammers, also known as Cabinets of Curiosities, which began to appear in Europe in the late 16th century and consist of

See ‘Wunderkammer,’ A7

Complex subplots cause ‘Hunger Games’-esque action flick, starring Shailene Woodley, to veer off track, A6

Wearing their coziest pajamas on Saturday night for their “Acapillowfight” Cafe, the performers of the Boston College Acoustics looked like they were ready for bed—their energetic two-hour performance, however, proved otherwise.

The group was animated and wide-awake, as it sang a collection of 21 a cappella songs for an audience of friends and fans thrilled to be a part of the Acoustics’ musical slumber party. Some people in the crowd even dressed for the o cc a s i o n , s p o r t i n g their favorite plaid PJ pants, nightgowns, and bathrobes.

Upperclassmen and freshmen soloed on their own songs

Summer Movies Guest List

The party is just getting started, as the summer movie season kicks off, A6

throughout the evening. Each member of the group demonstrated his or her personal style and range, but the group as a whole demonstrated how well it is able to blend their unique voices together, too.

After a number of strong opening performances, Marie McGrath, A&S ’14, finished the first half of the show with a soulful delivery of ZZ Ward’s “Put The Gun Down.” Because she was turning 22 that night, the group surprised McGrath by singing their very own version of “Happy Birthday” for her. It was one of the few times that song ever sounded good—a testament not only to the group’s skill, but also to how close the members are with each other.

Other strong upperclassmen solos of the cafe included “Set Fire to the Rain,”

by Danielle Para, LSOE ’15,

See Acoustics, A7 Bestsellers...............................A6 Box Office Report........................A6

SPORTS

B1

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014

[ northeast regional ]

TOURNAMENT TIME The Eagles will take on the Denver Pioneers on Saturday evening in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The winner will face either UMass Lowell or Minnesota State-Mankato on Sunday.

JORDAN PENTALERI / HEIGHTS GRAPHIC

#2 umass lowell vs #3 minnesoTa state-mankato

#1 boston college vs #4 Denver REcord:

REcord:

REcord:

REcord:

lead scorer:

lead scorer:

lead scorer:

lead scorer:

goaltender:

goaltender:

goaltender:

goaltender:

goals scored per game:

goals scored per game:

goals scored per game:

goals scored per game:

2.85

3.23

goals allowed per game:

goals allowed per game:

goals allowed per game:

goals allowed per game:

2.27

2.24

1.85

2.33

26-7-4

20-15-6

Johnny Gaudreau: 32-37-69 Thatcher Demko: .921 save % 4.05

25-10-4

Trevor Moore: 13-18-31 Sam Brittain: .932 save % 2.68

BY CONNOR MELLAS Sports Editor Johnny Gaudreau, the 5-foot-7, 150-pound forward many call the best college hockey player in the nation, is wearing black leggings and sitting on a couch surrounded by his teammates, casually picking at his younger brother Matt’s hair in a fashion similar to that of a caring gorilla.

For the moment, the Boston College men’s hockey team has traded skates, pads, and pucks for towels, flip flops, and Dunkin’ Donuts. Gaudreau and his teammates are relaxed and joking around in the locker room, and head coach Jerry York is beaming, because the worst of the waiting is over—despite recent struggles,

26-13-1

Joseph Pendenza: 13-16-29 Connor Hellebuyck .943 save %

BC is still a one seed.

Now, BC waits to learn the name of its opponent. As the selection show kicks into gear, the mood is dampened slightly for a brief moment. Low, hushed murmurs snake across the room as Notre Dame’s name is called on ESPN—outscored 13-8 in three games and ushered out of the Hockey East Tournament by the Irish, last weekend’s failure is not far from the players’ thoughts.

The atmosphere lightens up again within seconds, and soon enough, it’s BC’s turn. Kevin Hayes claps his hands and the room collectively focuses on the TV as the name is read aloud: Denver.

The last time one of York’s teams played Denver was Oct. 14,

Matt Leitner: 12-32-44 Cole Huggins: .924 save %

2011—Gaudreau had scored only one collegiate goal, and Parker Milner was the man guarding the net for the Eagles. Things have changed a lot since that loss to the Pioneers in Conte Forum.

BC has another star on the back of its jerseys, Gaudreau’s goal tally has reached a whopping 74 scores, and rookie Thatcher Demko has emerged as the heir to Milner’s pipes. Heading into Worcester on Saturday afternoon, BC’s goal is simple: beat the Pioneers and stay alive.

“I’m just trying to do whatever it is to help my team win,” Gaudreau said on Sunday. “Whether it’s offense, defense, I’ve gotta work on the little things to make sure that we get past the

See Hockey, B3

March Madness: the increasingly contagious, Illuminati-fueled disease CONNOR MELLAS The year was 1985. Wayne Gretzky won his second Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers, the premier of Rocky IV capped the last watchable (and second best) film in the series, everyone looked like they got dressed in the dark each morning, and my dad, then an academically challenged senior at Villanova, contracted a terrible case of the Madness.

He first became infected in late March. Although it seemed like a mild bout initially, over the course of a week the disease grew more overwhelming than Bon Jovi’s ’80s hair. Then, on April 1, No. 8-seeded Villanova beat the No. 1-seeded Georgetown Hoyas to win the National Championship game. In the process of creating one of the greatest upsets in the history of men’s college basketball—and sports in general—the Wildcats claimed an innocent victim, as my dad’s case of the Madness escalated to

an incurable level of severity.

By his own account, my dad reckons he’s lost close to $1,800 because of his struggles with the Madness. No matter how terrible the Wildcats have been, he’s unfailingly selected them to win the national championship every year since ’85, ignoring pleas from his relatives to seek help, and crossing out Georgetown and scribbling in the name of his alma mater during the 12 seasons that ’Nova’s failed to make the tournament since winning it.

In the Wildcats’ weakest years, he’s gone as far as shunning coworkers who openly root for the Hoyas—the man is truly and completely afflicted by the Madness.

This past Saturday, No. 2-seed ’Nova played No. 7-seed UConn in the East Regional round of 32. As the clock began to trickle away in the second half, I texted my dad a simple message: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this game.” His response was nearly instantaneous—humorous, but defeated: “I’ve got a bad feeling for everyone who has to deal with me after this game.”

Sure enough, with the Wildcats unable to stop Shabazz Napier from dribbling all over them, dropping 25 points, and nailing their coffin shut with three consecutive late-game 3-pointers, UConn buried

I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE

Villanova 77-65 as yet another one of head coach Jay Wright’s teams underachieved in the end.

Each year it seems like the Madness increases in potency and contagiousness—it’s become an epidemic. While my dad is one of its saddest victims, he’s not alone. The Internet has increased contact with the plague and made it incredibly easy to have multiple brackets, and at this point, if you don’t have at least three going at once you’re a rare member of the quarantined minority—flee the continental U.S. next March. It’s become clear that the disease has many different symptoms—my dad’s devotion to Madness being just one form.

There’s stat-head Madness—the kind most commonly seen in the Nate Silver disciples who desperately analyze every possible factor surrounding a team. Like the Nicolas Flamels of college basketball fans, year in and year out, those driven by statistical madness will sacrifice family, hygiene, and common sense in search of bracket alchemy—thus far to no avail. See fivethirtyeight.com’s prediction for Duke’s second round.

Arguably the most frustrating type of Madness for others suffering is the dumb,

Lacrosse: BC just misses UNC upset

A goal in the last minute of play helped the Tar Heels keep their perfect record..........B2

or beginner’s luck, side effect. At the moment, my two-year-old cousin is dominating my family’s 11-person pool, but given her advanced algorithm of picking teams by the color of their jerseys, I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

It’s clear that the global elites, Doritos, corporate shadow syndicates, North Korea, Voldemort, and the Illuminati have a vested interest in spreading the Madness even further. Likely bed-of-moneysleeper Warren Buffett’s $1 billion dollar challenge brought the Madness to a whole new level this year, forcing thousands of addicts to lose their minds attempting to craft the winning bracket—and of course, the only one who won in the end was Buffett. Even President Obama is a victim of the Madness. No one is safe.

The Madness affects the teams themselves—uncanny upsets spread through the NCAAs like lawsuits in Wonka’s chocolate factory tours. Just to name a few instances, so far this tournament, No. 3-seed Syracuse, No. 2-seed Kansas, No. 2-seed Villanova, No. 3-seed Duke, and No. 1-seed Wichita State have all been upset and knocked out of the tournament before the Sweet 16.

The most powerful and dangerous

Baseball: Eagles fall to Wake Forest BC took one game, but the Demon Deacons won the weekend series.......................B3

effect of the Madness is its addictive quality. It brings its victims back every year, gluing them to the couch for two days straight, turning grandmothers into masters of Vegas odds, and filling us with the gilded confidence required to toss away a few bucks in pursuit of the perfect bracket. And then, it leaves its targets spurned when all the brilliant picks are shot to hell.

A year from now, my dad will call me up and say “Hey Con, you hear the ’Cats have got it this year?” For the third decade in a row, he’ll throw $50 bucks into a pool, driven by fierce addiction to his memories from 1985. My mom will roll her eyes, I’ll pity his affliction, and he’ll tell us to wait and see.

As an early victim, he might be one of the lucky ones, though. Compared with the new-strain Madness infecting the world these days, his curse is far simpler than everyone else’s—cross out Georgetown, fill in Villanova, and keep the faith.

And of course, take another $50 out of the bank.

Connor Mellas is the Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.

Roundup...................................B2 Sports in Short.........................B3

THE HEIGHTS

B2

Monday, March 24, 2014

No. 5 Eagles narrowly miss upsetting top-ranked Tar Heels

BY TOMMY MELORO Heights Staff It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not what Andy Williams was describing, with kids jingle belling and everyone em14 UNC bracing good Boston College 13 cheer. It’s late March, so much of the country is caught up in the pure, unadulterated madness that is the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The inherent unpredictability of the tournament lends itself to the prevalence of upsets, with the first two days being a constant stream of upsets.

When Boston College lacrosse took on the University of North Carolina at Newton Campus on Saturday, BC had the opportunity to notch another March upset before ultimately falling

just short. UNC was able to score with just 28 seconds left, beating BC 14-13.

Both the Eagles and the Tar Heels were ranked top five in the nation prior to the game—BC at five, and the Tar Heels occupying the top spot in the polls. It was BC’s second home game in a row against a team ranked No. 1—as the Eagles’ previous home game ended with an 119 loss to Syracuse on Feb. 26. After that game, the Eagles went on a four-game road trip, going 4-0 and winning by an average score of 14-7.75.

The Tar Heels took an early lead, scoring twice within the first 32 seconds of the game and making it initially look like UNC would easily surpass its season average of 18.67 goals per game. BC would not go down easily, though, scoring twice in the following three minutes to tie the game. That trend would con-

GARHAM BECK / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

Caroline Margolis had three goals in Saturday’s one-point loss to the Tar Heels.

ROUND U P

tinue throughout the entire game. UNC’s largest lead of the game was three, which came with 18 minutes left in the game.

BC only had two leads in the game, at 6-5 and 7-6. Throughout the game, UNC would continually take the lead, only for the Eagles to fight back every time. The game featured seven ties in total.

“It’s very easy to go down two, three, four, five, six goals to a team like North Carolina,” said BC head coach Acacia Walker after the game. “My girls were resilient and committed to our goals, and that’s all I can ask from them.”

One of the players instrumental in keeping the Eagles close throughout the game was sophomore middie Sarah Mannelly. Mannelly tallied four goals and an assist for BC. Two of her goals tied the game, and a third gave BC its first lead of the game. Her fourth goal came after the Eagles had given up two straight to go down 12-9, starting a three-goal stretch that saw BC tie the game yet again.

“She’s someone that I personally rely on for a lot,” Walker said. “She’s great, she’s a great athlete. She’s probably one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen.”

After UNC took its early lead, BC’s defense stiffened up considerably, but not in the way most would tend to think: The Eagles’ defensive strategy seemed to center around a possession-based offense. Every time the Eagles advanced into their offensive zone, they moved deliberately, every movement calculated.

BC constantly cycled at the top of the zone, attempting to open up one-on-one matchups.

The Eagles would overload one side or the other, leaving the ball handler alone to take on the UNC defender.

Mannelly, Caroline Margolis, and Covie Stanwick were consistently asked to beat their defenders and drive to the crease, and they succeeded again and again, as UNC’s help was usually just a step too late. While UNC had been giving up an average of 8.11 goals per game, BC had nearly eclipsed that mark by halftime, a mark of how efficient the Eagles were on offense.

On the defensive end, BC had its game plan and stuck with it. The Eagles were able to hold UNC to well below its season scoring average, as goalie Emily Mata made seven saves against the Tar Heels, five coming in the second half.

BY ALEX FAIRCHILD ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

M. TENNIS

SAILING

W. TENNIS

Clemson swept the Eagles on Sunday. The No. 20 team in the country took all of the singles and doubles matches.

Aiden McNulty came the closest to edging his opponent, as he was defeated

by Alejandro Augusto 6-4, 6-3. Philip Nelson and Matt Wagner lost out to Hunter Harrington and Dominique Maden in a match that went unfinished after the Tigers won the first set 6-3.

The Eagles struggled to make progress in their ACC schedule against Georgia Tech, as they fell 6-1 to the Yellow Jackets. In fact, not one Eagle won a match, as the hosts were short-handed.

Kyle Childree won his match by default, because Georgia Tech’s five-man squad could not produce a player for the sixth singles tie. 

Sailing lost to Roger Williams and Brown in the battle for the Jan T. Friis Trophy,which was moved to Harvard due to an ice out at Mystic Lake.

Erika Reineke, William Bailey, and Raul Rios led the Eagles to a third-place finish in the two-day regatta. Roger Williams also edged Boston College at the Team Race Invitational.

BC came in second place at the two-conference regatta.

The Eagles capped off their weekend by finishing in fifth at the Southern Series 1, which was hosted by Salve Regina. Tufts won the meet, beating the Eagles by 47 points. 

Women’s tennis lost out in a narrow bout against Syracuse. Katya Vasilyev, Lexi Borr, and Emily Safron won their singles matches to split singles competition, but the doubles pairing of Borr and Jessica Wacnik could not get the job done in doubles play. Vasilyev and Wan-Yi Sweeting won their doubles match 8-4 to keep the contest close.

The Eagles lost 4-3.

BC beat Pittsburgh on Friday evening in Dedham, Mass. Wacnick, who won her singles, spurred the 6-1 triumph. Her victory in doubles matches was assisted by Sweeting. Vasilyev and Borr won their doubles match 8-4, before the team combined to take five of the six singles matches away from the Panthers. 

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

Sarah Mannelly was the Eagles’ top contributor with four goals and an assist against UNC. UNC’s passing was crisp and clean, allowing the Tar Heels to expand BC’s defensive zone and exploit the open spaces.

Defensive stalwart Claire Blohm, who was wearing No. 19 for the game in honor of Welles Crowther, was a force in the second half. When faced with a one-on-one, Blohm was consistently able to keep her mark in front of her, slamming the door on numerous chances.

Blohm was able to anticipate where her help defense would be needed, but she still had the speed to recover to her own mark afterwards.

The Tar Heels’ final goal came with just 28 seconds left after Aly Messinger was given a free position. Messinger converted, scoring her fifth goal of the game, which paced the Tar Heels. BC had

several final opportunities, but its shots went wide as time expired, leaving the Eagles at 7-2 on the year.

In their second big home ACC test of the year, the Eagles may not have come out on top, but they proved their mettle.

The Eagles may not be happy with the outcome, but there were positives to take away.

“I tell my girls, even against Syracuse and North Carolina, that losing’s not accepted in our culture, but as long as we stay committed to what we’re working on, then that’s something to be proud of,” Walker said. “No real acceptance of the loss, but I think it creates a little bit of drive and fuel for our team. We’ve just got to do a couple things better here and there, and maybe the outcome will be different next time.” 

Eagles swept by ’Noles in second ACC series

BY ALEX STANLEY Heights Staff No. 10/11 Florida State swept the Boston College softball team in a threegame series this weekend. The Seminoles won each of the first two games by a margin of 5-1 and defeated the Eagles 8-0 within five innings on Sunday.

The series, originally scheduled to be played at BC, was moved to Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. due to poor field conditions. The teams faced off for a doubleheader on Saturday and finished the series with a game on Sunday. The Eagles entered the weekend in good form, riding on a six-game winning streak. They won all five games at the recent USF Tournament, and in doing so matched their total number of wins that they gathered in play last season.

The Seminoles, however, put a dent in their record, which is now 14-10, 2-4 in the ACC. Nicole D’Argento started both games on the mound for BC and was relieved

by Jordan Weed on both occasions. In the first game, D’Argento struck out five batters, allowing four runs and five hits over the course of five innings.

In the third inning, Florida State first baseman Victoria East hit a three-run home run, brought about by a walk and a single prior to East’s hit. The Seminoles then tacked on another run in the fourth inning and one more in the sixth. The Eagles got on the scoreboard late in the game during the seventh inning when Jessie Daulton hit a single, which allowed Weed to reach home plate.

In the second game on Saturday, Florida State did not waste any time in running up the scoreboard. Junior Bailey Schinella put the Seminoles up 1-0 with a solo home run in the second inning. Then, freshman Tatiana Cortez evened out the score line in the same inning, hitting a solo home run for BC, which gave the Eagles their only point

of the game.

Home runs proved to be the only method of scoring in this game, as Florida State’s Maddie O’Brien hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and Courtney Senas grabbed another two-run home run in the fifth inning to put the game at 5-1.

O’Brien leads the ACC in batting average, RBIs and home runs.

For the Eagles, centerfielder Megan Cooley proved to be the star of Saturday.

She recorded two hits in the second game and three in the first in her total of five at bats on the day. She trails just behind O’Brien, coming in second in the ACC for batting average.

Florida State showed true dominance in Sunday’s game.

Florida State pitcher Lacey Waldrop only allowed the Eagles one hit in the game. She threw four balls in the first atbat of the game to allow a walk, but then managed to send the next 12 batters back to the dugout. She faced 18 batters on the day, walking two, allowing one single, and striking out seven. After this game, Waldrop is 18-2 with a 0.57 ERA. The BC mound had a much tougher day. Weed started the game for the Eagles and pitched three full innings before being relieved by D’Argento in the fourth.

In the top of the first, the Seminoles gathered four runs. With a runner already on base, Weed walked the second and third batters. Then Schinella hit a two-run single for the Seminoles, followed by an error and a sacrifice fly, which put the score at 4-0.

Florida State made the score 7-0 in the fourth inning with an RBI single and then two-run double. Courtney Senas ended the game with an eighth run, after hitting a leadoff triple, and then coming home off of a miscued pitch.

Freshman Taylor Coroneos was the only Eagle to notch a hit on Sunday. She was one of only three players to reach a base during the game. 

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, March 24, 2014

B3

Baseball falls in series decider

BY JOHNNY CAREY Heights Staff The Boston College baseball team concluded its first “home” series of the 2014 season at Bryant University’s Co8 Wake Forest naty Boston College 0 Park in Smithfield, Rhode Island on Sunday.

After splitting the first two games of its three-game weekend set against the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest, the Eagles had a chance to take their first ACC series since last April.

It wasn’t in the cards for BC, however, as the team fell to Wake Forest 8-0, dropping its record to 7-14 and 1-8 in ACC conference play.

Control issues plagued the Eagles’ pitching staff, costing the team the game on Sunday. Sophomore Jeff Burke started the game on the mound but was only able to make it through four and two-thirds innings due to a lack of control. He allowed five walks, four of which came consecutively in the third inning.

The bullpen didn’t fare much better, as Bobby Skogsbergh and John Nicklas each allowed three walks in relief. Gifting 11 walks is simply not a recipe for winning baseball, as BC head coach Mike Gambino noted after the game.

“You can’t do that against a good baseball club like that,” Gambino

said. “They’re going to take advantage of that, and that’s what they did.

They did what you’re supposed to do in those situations.”

Wake Forest was only able to notch six hits on the afternoon. With the amount of free base runners allowed by BC pitching, however, it didn’t really matter. The Demon Deacons were able to take advantage and put eight runs on the board thanks to their patience at the plate as well as a big day from the top of the order.

Wake Forest got on the board in the third after the four straight walks allowed by Burke. After a run scored on a sac fly in the fourth, the Demon Deacons broke the game open in the fifth inning. Matt Conway doubled in two runners to give Wake Forest a commanding 5-0 lead.

The game remained 5-0 until late in the game, as Wake Forest tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth and one more in the top of the ninth.

Ever y Wake Forest starter reached base while five of the Demon Deacons’ first six batters knocked in at least one run. Evan Stephens led off and reached base three times, while also knocking in a run. The two-through-four hitters, Grant Shimbley, Charlie Morgan, and Matt Conway, combined for five RBI. BC’s bats didn’t bail out its pitching staff either. The Eagles were held

very quiet at the plate, registering four hits on the day while leaving eight men on base. Wake Forest’s Connor Kaden tossed seven shutout innings, striking out two while allowing three hits and one walk. The bullpen, comprised of John McCarren and Max Tishman, took it from there, shutting the door on a potential Eagles comeback, combining for two innings of one-hit baseball.

Gabriel Hernandez, Michael Strem, Johnny Adams, and Nick Colucci were the lone Eagles to register hits on Sunday. While Wake Forest drew 11 walks, BC was only able to do the same three times. The Eagles’ only real chance at a big inning came in the fifth after a one-out triple by Nick Colucci. Colucci was left stranded at third, however, as the Eagles couldn’t come up with a clutch hit. Colucci would be the only Eagle base runner to reach third base on the afternoon.

As a whole, the Eagles couldn’t really get anything going on Sunday. Gambino acknowledged his team’s frustration at the plate and struggles on the mound over the last two games, but remains optimistic about the direction in which the team is headed, with an upcoming game against Northeastern in Chestnut Hill.

“We know we can pitch well enough to win, so we’ll get back to doing what we do,” Gambino said. 

Eagles split Wake doubleheader

BC takes Worcester one-seed

BY BRIAN BROOKS For The Heights

Hockey, from B1

SPORTS in SHORT

regionals and get to Philly.”

Helping his team win will mean getting the better of Sam Brittain, Denver’s senior goaltender, who boasts a .932 save percentage, a 2.11 goals-against average and is ranked as the country’s 12th best goalie—one place above Demko. On the other end of the ice, BC’s defensemen and backchecking forwards will need to contend with a host of offensive threats. Whereas BC’s offense is certainly not limited to—but fairly concentrated around—the heralded Gaudreau-Bill Arnold-Hayes line, the Pioneers’ weapons are very spreadout: only one player has scored more than 30 points this season, but nine have collected 20 or more. Trevor Moore has set the Pioneers’ pace with 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points.

Heading into the tournament, York said BC’s struggling fourth line will see fewer minutes. “We basically play three lines through our regionals, through the Frozen Four,” York said. “We’re trying to look for a fourth line that can really check, you know, win that game with their shifts and give us seven to eight solid minutes, but we haven’t come up with that pairing yet, those three guys.”

York did say, however, that Matt Gaudreau—despite playing in five of BC’s games, scoring only one

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Eagles will be a No. 1 seed in Worcester’s regional this weekend. goal over the course of the season, and at one point not dressing for 17 consecutive games—will have a spot on the fourth line.

“He just had a great week of practice, he’s kind of jumped at us, you know he’s been on the cusp all year long, knocking at the door, and we’re gonna give him a chance,” York said.

Last season, a BC team bent on repeating as national champions drew Union in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and was listlessly obliterated in a 5-1 mas-

sacre of a game. This Saturday, the Eagles will look to avoid a repeat of 2013’s one-and-done performance.

According to York, BC’s biggest challenge is simply being better than Denver.

“They are a hot team, they’re playing well, and arguably have probably the best goaltender that we’ll face this year in the Brittain boy, but whoever you play in the national tournament is a big challenge because, like I said, there’s no lousy teams left now,” York said. “They’ve earned the right to get there.” 

ACC Women’s Lacrosse Standings Team

Conference

Overall

Maryland

3-0

11-0

North Carolina

3-0

10-0

Syracuse

2-1

9-1

Duke

2-1

7-3

Boston College

1-2

7-2

Notre Dame

1-3

8-3

Virginia Tech

0-2

5-4

Virginia

0-3

4-6

Friday was a chilly day at Friedman Diamond for the Boston College baseball team—the kind of cold that really lets you hear the pop of ball smacking leather—as the Eagles squared off against Wake Forest in an in-conference doubleheader, the first of two contests of the weekend’s three-game series between the ACC rivals. Similarly cold all afternoon were BC’s bats, amassing just nine hits between the two games, as the team managed to scrap out a 2-1 walk off win in the first contest, but fell short in the second, 6-2.

D e a c o n s s o u t hp aw J o h n McLeod was simply stellar, allowing no earned runs and just one hit in seven frames, all while striking out nine and walking two. His stuff was electric all afternoon, leaving Eagles batters waving at pitches, and sending them packing to the dugout.

McLeod, carrying a no hitter through five innings, was hitting all his spots, making Wake catcher Garret Kelly’s job significantly easier. It didn’t seem to matter which combination of fingers Kelly waved at McLeod: Each of his three pitches was equally devastating for the struggling Eagles’ bats.

It wasn’t until the sixth that BC was able to get any sort of offense going—though it was not without some help. Designated hitter Geoffrey Murphy found himself to be just the second Eagle standing on first base after Wake first baseman Will Craig was unable to handle an errant

throw from second baseman Jimmy Redovian, who missed his mark after fielding the ball cleanly, resulting in a throwing error—his second in two innings.

A Stephen Sauter single up the middle broke up the no hitter and moved Murphy over to second base before Gabriel Hernandez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, as the Deacons, playing with the lead, opted to take the outs and allow Murphy to move uncontested to third. Another throwing error on the next at-bat from Wake third baseman Joe Napolitano allowed Murphy to touch home.

Where McLeod flourished, Eagles left-handed hurler Andrew Chin struggled, as he had trouble hitting his spots and locating his fastball for the entirety of his short outing. Chin surrendered three runs, one of which was unearned by virtue of his own throwing error, on four hits and two walks in three innings of ball, and got into trouble with his first batter when he surrendered a single up the middle to Deacons lead off hitter Evan Stephens.

Chin then sent a wild throw on a sac bunt in the general direction of Eagles’ first basemen John Hennessey, who had to chase the ball down as the runners moved up to second and third. A double

by Charlie Morgan put BC down two runs before it had even recorded an out.

Af ter getting out of that jam and surviving the second with a trio of groundouts, Chin found himself in trouble again by plunking the first Wake batter to step to the plate, giving him a free trot to first base. A Grant

Shambley single to right center and a sac bunt put runners on second and third, with one out, before Matt Conway notched his first RBI of the day, putting the Deacons up 3-0.

Head coach Mike Gambino then made the move to righthanded pitcher Eric Stephens, who did a fine job, inducing weak contact and relying on the glovers behind him. He tossing three innings without an earned run, although the Demon Deacons did manage to plate three runners on his watch.

A 6-1 game headed into the bottom of the ninth, the Eagles attempted to piece a comeback together by stringing together three one-out singles, with Tom Bourdon eventually knocking in Joe Cronin. But it was too little, too late, as Geoffrey Murphy ended the game grounding into a 6-4-3 double play.

While the Eagles still struggled to produce in the first game of doubleheader, the combined arms of John G orman, who went six strong innings, surrendering only one run, and a couple of Eagles out of the pen carried them to a 2-1 walk off victory, with Eagles righty John Nicklas notching the win. The late-game heroics began when John Hennessy singled to right center, before advancing to third on a Chris Shaw single to right.

Joe Cronin then put in a strong at-bat, doing exactly what he was supposed to do, sending a deep fly ball to center field that allowed Hennessy to tag up and beat the throw to the plate to give the Eagles their first conferencewin in dramatic fashion. 

Quote of the Week

Numbers to Know

2001

“I tell my girls—even The last year the BC men’s hockey team against Syracuse and didn’t qualify for the NCAAEmily tournaFahey / Heights EditorCupicatuidet L. Fulessedo, querfecta, nihilicii ineri fic North Carolina—that ment. losing’s not accepted in our culture, but as long The number of days this spring it as we stay committed to took the softball team to meet its what we’re working on, win total from last season. then that’s something to be proud of.”

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

24

5

Points contributed by Sarah Mannelly to the lacrosse team’s 14-13 loss to UNC, including four goals.

women’s lacrosse coach Acacia Walker

—

THE HEIGHTS

B4

Monday, March 24, 2014

Live by the three, die by the three

Biko Paris Under Skinner, Paris attempted 121 3-pointers over three years. In his senior season, with Donahue in charge, Paris knocked down 76 of 180 looks from deep.

shots, the team still struggled with the issue that emerged in the previous season. Opposing players made an astounding 37.5 percent of their threes against BC, greatly contributing to Donahue’s second consecutive losing record, 16-17.

After three seasons of gradual decline, the final collapse came—necessitating, in the opinion of the athletic department, the firing of Donahue. The team finished the 2013-14 season with even more losses than two before, with an 8-24 record. The vast ma-

three key offensive threats—not just 3-point threats—in Jackson, Paris, and Trapani, with the conclusion of the coach’s first season, was a large hit. Likewise, the transferring of veteran guard Matt Humphrey, who made 55 3-pointers during the 2011-12 season, must have taken a toll.

Perhaps the most costly developments during Donahue’s tenure were the missed recruiting chances. Although BC Athletics director Brad Bates assured the press that Donahue was “on to some great players” in the conference following the coach’s dismissal, the amount of local players who have slipped from BC’s grasp or beneath its radar and who could have contributed greatly, working in the system that Donahue employed, is large.

For example, 6-foot-5 Pat Connaughton, who was raised in Arlington, Mass. and attended St. John’s Prep, currently plays for Notre Dame and has a 36.8 career 3-point percentage, in addition to making 55.4 percent of his shots within the arc. Also, Jake Layman, who attended King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, Mass., starts for Maryland and has scored 36.5 percent of his perimeter shots this past season, contributing to an 11.7 points per game average.

Regardless of what caused the decline in the performance of Donahue’s squads, the coach’s fall has been remarkable. In spite of the promise that accompanied his arrival, Donahue compiled a 54-76 record over four years with BC. During the span, the coach’s dependence on the 3-point shot negatively affected the outcome of many games. And as the losses accumulated, so too did the concerns that the coach would be unable to duplicate the successes he experienced at Cornell, when his team had the best 3-point shooting percentage in the nation. 

Knock ’Em Down

2010-11

Matt Humphrey The transfer put up nearly three times as many 3-pointers as he did in his freshman season at Oregon. He made 31.3 percent of the 176 he attempted in his time at BC.

2011-12

3PM 2012-13

Olivier Hanlan As a sophomore, he took 41 more attempts from distance than he did as a freshman, but he finished just nine more. The shift lowered his accuracy by .04 points.

3PA

247

234

225

702

662

3PM

306

3PA

Before Donahue took over as head coach, Al Skinner’s team was not known for its prowess from range. Skinner’s last squad took 488 shots from behind the arc in 2009-10, making just 159.

After three seasons of gradual decline, the final collapse came—necessitating, in the opinion of the athletic department, the firing of Donahue.

jority of Donahue and his squad’s 24 losses were correlated, once again, to those major problems that emerged within the past three years: inaccurate 3-point shooting, relative to that of competing teams, and shoddy perimeter defense. Over the course of the last five months, the BC team shot roughly 35.1 percent from beyond the arc, while the squad’s opponents made approximately 37.9 percent of their 3-point attempts. Aggregating the team’s 24 losses, BC standardly completed 34.8 percent of its 3-pointers each game, while the squad’s competitors made 38.9 percent of their perimeter shots on average. (Conversely, grouping the team’s eight victories, the BC squad scored 37.6 percent of its 3-point shots each game, while defeated teams’ perimeter shooters made only 32.4 percent of their 3-point attempts on average.)

For followers of the Donahue saga, and trackers of the statistics that define it, the possible reasons for the coach’s increased losses and the related decline in the effectiveness of the team’s outside shooting are varied. Certainly players’ struggles with injuries affected the situation—at least this past season. Jackson, who led the team in made 3-pointers during the two seasons before this most recent one, suffered a hamstring injury in the early goings and took an extended amount of time to return to form.

Dennis Clifford, the team’s 7-foot center, who struggled with a knee injury, was sorely missed through the past season. BC suffered without his capability of drawing defenders inside and away from the arc. In the two games during which Clifford saw playing time, his teammates made 17 of 41 outside shots, or 41.5 percent of their attempted 3-pointers. Departures must have also compounded Donahue’s problem: the loss of

664

3PM

Steve Donahue’s Four Years 3-pointers made: 1,012 3-pointers attempted: 2,830 3-point percentage: 35.76%

(34.9) than his own squad for the first time since his second season coaching Cornell, from 2003 to 2004.

With the addition of Olivier Hanlan and Joe Rahon to the BC roster, by the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Donahue’s 3-point strategy became more workable. Guard Lonnie Jackson—who accounted for 57 outside made shots, shooting 39.9 percent, in the previous season—no longer existed as the only legitimate 3-point threat. Despite making a solid 35.3 percent of its total perimeter

3PA

802

3-POINT SHOTS

Since the rule’s introduction in 1986, and through nearly three decades of existence, the 3-point play has greatly and undeniably impacted college basketball. Over the course of time, and with extended use, the perimeter shot has developed into the focus of offensive strategies, defensive adjustments, and recruiting ventures. And for many coaches, it has become an albatross—a feast or famine factor. Such was the case for men’s basketball coach Steve Donahue, who was fired by Boston College last week.

For Donahue, coaching success has consistently been tied to his squads’ 3-point shooting abilities. Before accepting the BC position, Donahue led Cornell to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, as well as to the 2009 and 2010 Ivy League titles—heavily employing 3-point shooting through both the regular seasons and postseasons. The Cornell players were among the best perimeter shooters in their university’s history. With Donahue’s guidance, they set several outside shooting records. At the individual level, swingman Ryan Wittman seized his school’s record for most 3-pointers made in a single season in three different years, with an unprecedented 93 made shots his freshman year, 97 in his junior year, and 109 in the 2009-10 season. In that same season, the team itself gained notoriety for record setting as well: The squad completed the most 3-point field goals of any Cornell team to ever play—with a whopping 326 made shots, exceeding the second highest mark by 75 scores—on 43.3 percent shooting from beyond the perimeter, the best percentage in the nation.

Following his tenure at Cornell, and his

appointment as head coach of the BC men’s basketball team, Donahue’s success continued to be predicated on 3-point shooting.

In his inaugural year, the 2010-11 season, Donahue diverted from the offensive game plan of his predecessor, Al Skinner, and implemented his 3-point offense at the high major level. While 27.4 percent of the field goal attempts in BC’s previous season were potential 3-pointers—ranking 294th in the NCAA—approximately 43.3 percent of BC’s 2010-11 field goal attempts were from outside, ranking 11th in the nation, according to Kenpom.com. For the most part, the players took the tremendous change in stride. NBAbound junior Reggie Jackson made 42.0 percent of his 3-point tries, for 71 total threes.

Additionally, senior contributors Biko Paris and Joe Trapani combined for 126 total 3pointers, driving Donahue’s offense. As a whole, the team shot 38.2 percent from the perimeter, the 25th best mark in the NCAA that year. With the aid of Skinner’s upperclassmen, this inaugural season proved to be Donahue’s most successful as BC’s coach: the team would finish with a 21-13 record. It would be the program’s first and last winning season under Donahue, though.

After a single year, with the departure of offensive pinnacles Jackson, Paris, and Trapani, the impact of the 3-point game rapidly diminished, accompanied by the disintegration of BC’s record. By the conclusion of the 2011-12 season, the team’s 3-point field goal percentage dipped to an average 33.9 percent, ranking 183rd in the NCAA, and the squad had gone 9-22, which accounted for, at that point, the most losses in school history. Additionally, during this span, defending the perimeter became an issue for Donahue, with opposing teams collectively posting a higher 3-point percentage

3PM

Heights Staff

3PA

BY JIM HILL

2013-14

Lonnie Jackson Donahue’s 3-point specialist was hampered by injury at the start of the season, but finished by nailing 53. His made-total was its lowest in his three years as an Eagle.

CLASSIFIEDS Thursday, January 17, 2014

The Heights The Heights

Monday, March 24, 2014

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THE HEIGHTS

B6

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Monday, March 24, 2014

PROFESSOR PROFILE

Working to Keith combines radio, sci-fi short stories in lifelong career live in France

BY CORINNE DUFFY

ANDREW MILLETTE It’s 3 a.m. You and your fourth coffee are in Bapst, and your paper is due in class the next morning. You have finished your final draft. As the minutes of precious sleep tick away, your delirious eyes read through the final version over and over again, to the point at which you could probably recite your epic work by heart. It is perfect. All of the details are there, and it is everything your paper was supposed to be. Close MacBook.

It took me a trip to Grenoble, France to understand why I haven’t received an A on every perfect final draft that I have ever submitted. There is a very real danger in reading through the same details over and over again—you slowly become convinced that there is no other way things could be.

After five semesters at Boston College, I thought I understood exactly what the college experience was, and what it should be. As it turns out, the only way to truly understand your home is to get very far away from it.

France is in many ways, in my humble opinion, an absurd country. My spring break is coming up, but my excitement for it has been somewhat diminished since we have more or less already had two separate weeks off. If one of the purposes of university education is to prepare students for the workforce, our schedule makes perfect sense. Young French minds must be prepared for the government-mandated annual eight weeks of paid vacation that they will receive after they graduate and find employment. The Grenoble metro area consists of 664,832 people, but don’t try to find an open grocery store when you have run out of milk on a Sunday. Trust me, you will be eating dry cereal until Monday morning.

When a class is scheduled at 9 a.m., don’t bother showing up before 9:05, and don’t consider yourself late until about 9:20, because the professor is most likely just booting up his PowerPoint slides.

Last weekend, the university sponsored a massive party inside the school building itself, in which—gasp—alcoholic drinks were served, and in fact, each ticket came with two free cocktails of choice. For the French, 18-year-olds drinking alcohol on school property is fine, but wearing gym shorts or yoga pants to a lecture is practically grounds for expulsion. Leaving class during a professor’s lecture for a smoke break is completely kosher, and enough students take advantage of this to make the front doors to the school my personal asthmatic nightmare.

And yet, there is so much beauty in all of this insanity. On a nice day at 1 p.m., groups of old friends line the sidewalks outside of cafes, sipping coffee and laughing into the spring air. I really mean any nice day at all, be it Tuesday or Saturday.

Most stores in the city take a two-hour lunch break every day (except Sunday, of course), and employees are free to go off and enjoy the afternoon. I often begin to think that I must be in Manhattan when I come across the sheer number of people out in the streets on a weekday afternoon, only to realize that I am in a city one-fortieth of that size in which people really understand what it is like to work to live, and not the other way around.

Even as I hear Ke$ha blasting from a car while walking past a McDonald’s covered in billboards advertising the new season of Duck Dynasty, I am struck by how far away from the U.S. I am. While Americanization has sadly had a vast impact on a number of the countries in Europe that I have visited, it hasn’t affected what I consider to be the true French spirit in any way. As a humble foreigner looking in on the French mystique, I would have to distinguish the French by their passion for enjoying life every day and not letting any pressures ruin the beauty of human existence.

So what if the French economy is crumbling? Your money isn’t coming with you when you die. A life truly lived in the moment, to the fullest, is worth so much more.

BC isn’t a perfect final draft. Maybe it’s absurd that I’ve eaten many “lunches” while walking from Lower to class because I feel like I have no time to balance academics, clubs, and an internship search. Maybe it’s crazy that my iCal runs my life on the Heights and I can hardly remember the blur that was last semester. The French economic system isn’t sustainable, but maybe the widespread Adderall abuse at competitive American colleges shows that our highstress education system isn’t either.

I love BC, but I think I would love it even more if I stopped to actually enjoy it in the moment every once in a while. So, take a deep breath, put on your beret, find your friends, and go lounge in the grass for an hour. You’ve only got four years here.

Andrew Millette is a writer for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com

Heights Editor

WHO: Michael Keith

Since he was 8 years old, Michael Keith, a professor within the communication department at Boston College, has been composing science fiction. While his earliest work included flying saucers and the like, today, with over 21 books on electronic media, multifarious academic monographs, seven compilations of short stories, a widely adopted textbook about global and national radio, and a published memoir, Keith’s passion for writing remains. “I guess it never left me,” he said.

Keith was born and spent his youth in Albany, N.Y. before leaving for California with his father at the age of 11. Throughout the rest of his early adolescence, Keith and his father traveled the country together, often hitchhiking to the next destination in what Keith described as a “bizarre childhood” of irregular schooling and constant migration. In fact, he depicts his upbringing as the subject of his memoir, The Next Better Place, which Algonquin Books published in 2004 and is currently a screenplay in L.A. Following his childhood, Keith served in the army and then went to school to become a radio announcer. For a decade, he worked in radio—in cities such as Miami, Fla., Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn.—while simultaneously taking college courses at the University of Maryland and Florida International University.

Ultimately, however, Keith decided to pursue a degree, and so he attended the University of Rhode Island to complete his undergraduate education. “I enjoyed it,” Keith said about his experience as an announcer, “but I didn’t like being confined to a studio for six, seven, eight hours at a time. You get claustrophobic. So, I went on to finish school.”

In 1975, Keith graduated with a B.A. in English, and he continued with his

TEACHES: Radio in Culture and Society EXPERIENCE: Has written several books about radio and worked at stations across the U.S. FUN FACT: Has written seven short story collections throughout his

CORINNE DUFFY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

graduate and doctorate studies at URI, as well. Keith attained his M.A. in English in 1977 and his Ph.D. in 1998, and he began teaching full time at Dean College in 1978 as the director of radio and television and an associate professor within the communication department.

Following his employment at Dean College, Keith first taught at George Washington University until 1992, and he then served as the chair of education at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago while also instructing at Marquette University. At both George Washington and Marquette, he taught mass media courses on broadcast operations and media history. Keith came to BC in 1993, where he now teaches Radio in Culture and Society and Broadcast Century Issues—two writing-intensive classes—and in the Woods College, Survey of Mass Communication. Keith has also given creative writing workshops in Cape Cod over the summer.

In addition to teaching, Keith’s professional life often leads him abroad. In May,

he will travel to Iran to speak at a radio forum, and he has also spent time in Russia and South Africa, among many other places, to present guest lectures on his area of expertise.

Despite his early interest in radio announcing, Keith said that writing always interested him: “I always aspired to be a writer,” he said. Toward the end of his schooling and throughout his first years as a professor, he started writing articles that appeared in small publications, such as academic monographs—scholarly books that treat a particular issue, which, in his case, usually dealt with the historical background and implications of radio and broadcasting. From subjects such as American FM broadcasting to the underground radio and the ’60s and sex and indecency in radio, his monographs covered various aspects of radio within the U.S. Additionally, Keith, noting deficiencies in the texts utilized for studies on radio and broadcasting, conceived the idea for a more modern book. Therefore, he authored The Radio Station, which was first published in

1986 and is currently in its ninth edition as the most widely used textbook on radio media in America—though now under new editors and renamed Keith’s Radio Station.

Further, he strayed from academic writing and began to write creatively, publishing The Next Better Place in 2003, as well as many short stories.

“The memoir really whet my appetite to do more creative writing,” Keith said. “You rely so much more on imagination than on piles of research.”

Keith revealed that he most enjoys composing short stories, and he classifies much of his work as speculative fiction, a genre that encompasses aspects of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and peculiarity with unusual occurrences and people, although occasionally, he will incorporate elements of realism or naturalism into his pieces. “It’s kind of like a hobby,” he said about his writing. This past Friday, Keith released his seventh collection of short stories: The Collector of Tears, a compilation of around 50 bizarre, fictional tales—“with a smattering of naturalism,” he added with a laugh. 

A cappella groups gear up for a busy spring season A cappella, from B8

tinues its tradition as a prominent gospel choir. “Imani means ‘faith’ in Swahili,” said president Gabriella Sharpe, A&S ’14.

Voices of Imani is different from other groups in that there are no strict requirements in being a member of the organization.

“We have people from off campus that just want to come and sing with us, grad students as well,” Sharpe said. “It’s pretty much open—the only thing we might require is communication … otherwise just be there.”

Sharpe also revealed that the group does not always perform a cappella. “For our bigger shows we definitely have a band,” she said. In addition, Voices of Imani’s assistant director has a production company and is able to use technology along with unique instruments and tools to make sounds the singers normally couldn’t produce. “He really spices up our sound,” Sharpe said. “People don’t really expect that when they think of a gospel choir.”

The Acoustics Next Show: April 11, Higgins 300, 7:30 p.m.

The Acoustics bring theatrical aspects

of Bollywood songs, as well as popular music, in addition to some songs in Hindi. “Most of our members don’t know the language, so aside from learning their voice parts, they have to work a lot on learning/pronouncing a different language,” she said.

Chaturvedi emphasizes the great social connections that can be made by being in a group like Shaan. “It makes practices and performances that much more fun when you’re doing it with your friends,” she said. “We definitely love working with other groups and meeting people from other groups.”

Shaan’s own Spring Cafe will take place on campus in late April, and in addition it will sing at another April performance at Bentley University alongside other South Asian a cappella groups.

Voices of Imani Next Show: April 13, Gasson 100, 5 p.m.

With its origins as the official choir of the Imani Temple—now St. Joseph’s chapel on Upper Campus—Voices of Imani con-

to the art of a cappella. “It’s a group with a lot of traditions,” said president Elliot Smith, A&S ’14. “Some of the traditions involve alumni and kind of discovering what it means to be an Acoustic.”

In terms of theme for the group, Smith explained that anything goes in terms of artistic direction. “I guess we don’t have a definitive style—we have everything from Justin Timberlake to Carrie Underwood— we really go across the spectrum,” he said.

“We just try to do songs we’re passionate about and that the audience will enjoy.”

One of the most important parts of being in this group is showing the audience that the members enjoy what they do.

Like several other a cappella groups on campus, the family dynamic of the group is key to its success. “As you go through more and more you realize it’s not just about the singing … this group of people support each other through no matter what,” Smith said.

The Sharps Next Show: April 9, O’Neill Plaza, 6 p.m.

The Sharps is the only all-female a cap-

CLUB SERIES

pella group on campus. “It’s a great way to form a community,” said co-president Abbey Clarke, A&S ’14.

“We make a lot of connections with female-oriented organizations, like Strong Women, Strong Girls,” said co-president Kristie Dickinson, CSOM ’14.

“Our visibility and reach on campus is way wider than it used to be, just by participating in all of these events,” Clarke said.

In being an all-female group, the copresidents revealed that a lot of people make comparisons to the popular comedy Pitch Perfect. “People ask us, ‘So, is your life like that?’ It’s exactly the same. We have a brother group, The Heightsmen,” Dickinson said. The students even revealed that they have a group member at the radio station like Anna Kendrick’s character and another girl with nodes like Brittany Snow’s. The group performs at a variety of events, from children’s hospitals to Arts Fest. “We have opened for other colleges at their shows,” Dickinson said.

“We also have our Spring Cafe to feature our new songs on April 11,” Clarke said. 

FEATURING BC’S STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Cuban American Students’ Association hopes to educate on Cuban politics, culture

BY CAROLINE KIRKWOOD Heights Staff

Although students may think they know about Cuba, in reality it is often buzzwords like “the Cuban missile crisis” and “Fidel Castro” that come to mind when the average individual thinks about this country. The Cuban American Student Association (CASA) hopes to educate the Boston College community about Cuban culture, history, cuisine, and politics in order to help add depth to those buzzwords and correct many of the misconceptions and preconceived notions students may have about the country.

“Our main mission is to teach the BC community the social, political, and cultural aspects of Cuba in the present and the past,” said Brenda Rojas, CASA president and A&S ’14.

C A SA u s e s b oth e duc ational events, such as political speakers, and more casual ones, such as Cuban cooking classes, so that BC students can get a sense of Cuban life from varying angles.

“We have always been big on collaborations as a club because we think it is important to not just stay within the Cuban community at BC but to

expand our horizons,” Rojas said.

One example of this type of collaborative event is the Hispanic or Latin American potlucks, where organizations like the Caribbean Culture Club, the Brazilian Club, and the Organization of Latin American Affairs each bring dishes of special cultural foods to share with other members.

CASA is also very involved in the Translating Cuba project, wherein students gather together to help translate the Spanish works of Cuban bloggers into other languages so they can be read around the world.

“We go into blogs where Cuban activists and political writers are writing, but a lot of it is in Spanish,” Rojas said. “So what we like to do is translate all those blogs that are in Spanish into different languages so everyone in the world can read their work. Their blogs and articles are about Cuban life today, so a lot of the writers are risking their life everyday to write this kind of material. We just give them that extra push.”

Political events are something that CASA feels very strongly about, as its members want to present an accurate and real perspective on the situation in Cuba. In the past the club has brought

both Fidel Castro’s daughter and granddaughter to speak on campus about the social and political conditions on the island.

On Monday, March 24 in Gasson 100, CASA will be hosting one of its biggest speakers of the year, Humberto Fontova—a famous Cuban-American author, blogger, and political commentator.

His most recent book, which he will be speaking about at the event, is Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots who Idolize Him, which critiques the sensationalism that has developed around the figure of Guevara and shares personal accounts of families who worked while affected by Guevara’s politics.

“He will touch on the book and what inspired him to write it, as well as personal accounts and details about his transition to America from Cuba,” Rojas said. “The primary goal of this event is to expose BC students to the truths and myths about Che Guevara.

He is a public icon, I guess you can say, as he is sprawled all over t-shirts and mugs in every country. We just want to make clear to students the true historical facts.”

Rojas explained why CASA was

particularly interested in bring Fontova in as one of its keynote speakers for the year. “‘He is a very famous speaker and individual where I am from in Miami,” Rojas said. “A lot of his theories and opinions are of hot debate at the current moment. I wanted to expose him to a different side of the country because the Northeast area may not know of him very well. I wanted to bring his political ideas here.”

Rojas also has personal connections to Fontova’s works, as personal stories from members of her family are featured in his newest book.

“I knew there was a connection to my family that was very interesting,” Rojas said. “I wanted to meet him, as he did write about my family and personal stories that my parents had always told me about. It is interesting to see that in a book that is out in the public.”

A question-and-answer session will follow Fontova’s talk, and students will also have the opportunity to purchase his book in the BC Bookstore.

By bringing speakers like Fontova to campus, CASA hopes that the BC community will have a better sense of the history and people of Cuba. 

THE HEIGHTS

Monday, March 24, 2014

LTE nears funding goal Learn to Earn, from B8 systems department, as an advisor; and a volunteer team composed of three web developers and 15 mentors.

The Klosses and their team are now funding for a project, which will be included in Kloss’ three-credit research project for his MBA coursework at BC. “Ongogo will install a computer lab in the Kisumu area of North Western Kenya, where he’s from,” Kloss said. “It will be a four-laptop lab to help kids like him—he’s an orphan—who have never seen a computer and need a baseline introduction to them in the elementary system.”

Students must pay for their education after eighth grade in Kenya. Consequentially, it is crucial for students to gain access to computers in their elementary years.

The access to computers allows students to communicate with people in other countries, opening the world to them.

LTE is currently fundraising for its project through the website experiment.com—a platform on which researchers can post projects to fundraise and spread awareness.

Anyone is able to donate, and if the project reaches its goal, the supporters are charged the amount they chose to donate, and the project can proceed.

The LTE project needs to raise $1,200

by Friday, March 28. If this goal is reached, the money will be used to fund the laptops, Internet, and accessories (such as a printer, wireless router, and Ethernet cables). If the goal is reached, Ongogo will begin reviewing applicant schools for the program. The lab will be installed and the program will start up between August and November.

Regardless of whether this funding goal is reached, LTE already has 15 Kenyan students who have signed up for the mentoring program via ihub.co.ke—a well-known startup incubator in Kenya. Kloss is interested in having BC students volunteer to serve as mentors. “I would love to see every Saturday, 15 people log on and mentor 15 individual students,” he said.

The mentoring sessions take place every Saturday from 4 to 5 p.m. There are no computer science requirements—mentors are only required to understand and type English, type 30 words per minute, and have access to a computer with Internet.

Mentors would participate in an hourlong training session, go over computer basics, and take a more extensive class that teaches web design and WordPress, which would occur over Google Hangouts.

Mentors are able to interact on Google Hangout from wherever they choose and, as Kloss describes, the video images are extremely clear. The mentors teach the computer lesson with the aid of a video, answer questions, and help the mentees type and program.

The project has the potential to have broad impacts on Kenyan students and the East African work force. “When calculating the multiplier effect of the computer labs and mentors and students attending from five to seven different regions across East Africa, the impact of study will extend to 2,500 students across Kenya and Tanzania,” according to the project website. 

B7

THE HEIGHTS throughout the century STUDYING FRENCH AT BC

Davis said.

The students explained that their schedules were jam-packed for the entirety of the 10 days as they had meetings planned to talk with everyone from university students to the vice president.

“My favorite day was probably talking to the university students because they had the most perspective,” Davis said. “The country has recently gotten out of a civil war, so it was cool to hear what the students had to say about it.”

Bellantonio described her favorite interviewee as an American midwife who moved to Sierra Leone to teach women in rural areas the skills they need to reduce the birth rates.

The students admit that it was not always easy to film the people in Sierra Leone, especially in the provinces.

“Some people would accuse us of filming their suffering,” Bellantonio said.

“I think also the fact that there were dozens of journalists around during their time of civil war might have made them feel exploited by the cameras.”

“It was also hard to have such a busy schedule because you really want to build a relationship with the person before you sit down and film them and ask them a bunch of questions on the spot,” Davis said.

Other struggles that the team had to overcome included technological breakdowns and equipment issues.

“First our memory card broke, and from there it seemed like every other piece of equipment slowly stopped working,” Bellantonio said.

Not afraid of quitting

The study of French language and culture has a long and distinguished history at Boston College

BY DANIEL PEREA-KANE For The Heights Francophone culture has had a small but vibrant place on Boston College’s campus over the past century.

The genesis or the French club on campus came in 1923, but the club struggled in its early years before beginning to flourish in the ’30s.

In 1934, there were meetings in the Fulton Room for students interested in learning about French literature and customs. There is an advertisement for meetings in the Sept. 26 issue of The Heights that year.

In 1935, a regular weekly meeting of the French Academy was held in the Fulton Room with a special visit from Henri Bergeron, who was the French consul in Boston at that time. Twelve years later, in 1947, a new French consul, Albert Chambon, upped the ante from the previous consul’s visit by offering prizes of books and gold medals for the French Oratorical Contest.

In October of 1936, Rev. Louis J. Gallagher, S.J., president of BC from 1932 to 1937, received the honor of “L’Officier de l’Instruction Publique” from the French government for his work cultivating the study of the French language at the University, including his strong support for the French Academy.

Jim Ryan, a student from Dorchester, Mass., gave a speech on renowned French scientist Marie Curie for the French club—officially called the French Academy—on Monday, Feb. 14, 1947. The next year, in 1948, President of the French Academy Paul Martin gave a speech detailing the character of the French as frank critics, masters of conversation, and lovers of the soil.

A brief description of a French club meeting from Dec. 7, 1951 describes Paul Ryan, moderator of the French Academy, recounting some of his experiences as a soldier in France during World War II. He then led members in singing a French song.

In March 1955, a weekly newspaper called FranceAmerique honored BC as one of its “Colleges of the Week.” The newspaper ran a feature including the responses of six Lynch School of Education freshmen to the question “Pourquoi apprenez vous le Francais?” or, “Why are you learning French?” The students emphasized the importance of French as an international language in their responses.

1957 marked the retirement of longtime associate

professor of French Andre Gyron de Beauvivier. A veteran of World War I, he received a Croix de Guerre with a bronze star for his service. During his academic career, he had earned the distinctions of a Palmes Academiques award and and Officer d’Instruction Publique award from the French Government.

In October of 1975, Greycliff Hall was converted into a language dorm with French and Spanish immersion programs on either side, with a picture of the front of the dorm from the Oct. 4 issue humorously reading “Spench House.” The language learning programs still exist, but they have since moved out of Greycliff and into Voute Hall.

In 1985, Robert Guilleman wrote an article about the French Library in Boston on Marlborough St., which has since been renamed the French Cultural Center. At that time, the library had 40,000 books, a movie club with film showings, and concerts.

In February 1992, the French government awarded BC fine arts professor John Michalczyk a Les Palmes Academiques award for his contributions to the study of French culture and language.

According to an article from Feb. 10, Michalczyk received the award for his “25 years as professor of French literature and film, prolific research on French literature and cinema, organization of conferences on Andre Malraux and on surrealism, and extensive cooperation with the French Library and cultural Attaches’ office in creating film festivals.”

In April 2003, Sabine Elsass, BC ’03, wrote a defense of the French position on the Iraq War, writing that everybody deserves respect after hearing insults directed at her home country on campus. “In an educated place like Boston College, we should all respect each other, wherever we are from, whatever our beliefs, whatever our background,” she wrote.

Margaret Flagg, a professor in the romance languages and literatures department, wrote a defense of studying French at BC in 2006. She talked about students who had used the language outside of the University, including one who worked with refugees from Senegal and another who wanted to use her newfound language skills to speak with her family in Quebec, and she cited these students as examples of French’s utility outside the classroom. Her conclusion and most compelling reason, however, was simple: studying French is worth it simply because “it is a beautiful language.” 

Students create film to promote ACF initiative Sierra Leone, from B8

EDITOR’S COLUMN

Finally, there was a slight language barrier between the students and the interviewees, as many natives speak a variety of tribal languages.

“In the urban areas everyone pretty much spoke English, but when you got out to the provinces we had to go through a translator,” Davis said.

When the group arrived back in the U.S., the girls jumped right into the stresses and excitement of senior year, and the project was put on hold for a few months.

“It was a lot of 4 a.m. editing, doing it in your spare time,” Davis said.

The students admit that none of them had any professional filmmaking experience, but Abagyan has worked behind the camera directing and producing for many years as a hobby, and Davis took a film class while she was studying in Nepal.

First, the students began making the promotional video for ACF, which consisted of scenes from the health care center in addition to many interviews with locals.

“We got a wide variety of interviews while we were there, so we had to look at them through a lens—what would be most useful for ACF?” Davis said.

The health care center sponsored by ACF will be finished in May, so the students wanted to make sure that the organization had their promotional video well before in order to raise awareness for the project and possibly accrue more funding for construction.

“We set a deadline for the day before Spring Break,” Bellantonio said.

“It’s definitely not perfect,” Davis

said. “We are meeting next week to make some changes to it—edit it and make some updates with new pictures of the hospital since it has come a long way since last August.”

The next step for the students is to take the short video and make it into their own film in order to fulfill the requirements for the grant.

“I think we want to make it less about

ACF and more about Sierra Leone in general,” Davis said.

Davis and her father, along with a representative from ACF, have planned a trip back to Sierra Leone in June. In addition, the students have been invited to speak at ACF’s national conference.

“I am so excited to see the progress of the hospital and revisit the people I met,” she said. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTY DAVIS

Davis interviewed dozens of Sierra Leone natives on the health care crisis for the film.

KENDRA KUMOR I can honestly write that I have never quit something that I have started, besides maybe a game of mMonopoly with my siblings that I knew I was going to lose. Even with things like books and movies, I never could just start one and completely push it to the side, even if I was put to sleep multiple times by its contents.

I think this is mostly because my dad had a sign in his office that read, “Quitting is not an option.” Every time I wanted to quit something when I was younger, whether it be a soccer league or piano lessons, he would assure me that “if there is one thing you are not, it’s a quitter.” I guess this is why I always associated quitting with liars, cheaters, and generally bad people and have developed over the years a subconscious revulsion to quitting anything.

But this week I actually decided to quit something for the first time in my memory. I decided to quit training for the 2014 Boston Marathon.

On Friday evening, the announcement that my fellow runners and I had been anticipating and dreading for months came in the form of a long email from the Campus School executive board: the organization will not be busing runners to the starting line this year, as bandit runners have been strictly banned from entering the race. Even though I had known this announcement was coming, it didn’t make the news hurt any less.

I think it was the moment when I read, “it would be irresponsible for our organization to transport 360 undergraduates to Hopkinton,” that I started the quitting process. As soon as I mentally registered that I wouldn’t be running the historic route with an expected one million spectators, complete with friends and family from Ohio and Boston College decked out in custom-made tank-tops for my roommate and I, I knew my heart wasn’t in it anymore.

And if you recall my last column about the mental strength needed to complete the training, you know that if my brain was not convinced I could do it, my body would not be able to do it either.

As I put off the news to enjoy a Friday night with friends, I awoke Saturday morning to a pit in my stomach instead of the usual ball of energy, knowing that I had to run 18 miles in a few hours. When I didn’t get out of bed at 11, then 12, then 2 p.m., I realized it was time to call in the reinforcements: my mother.

“Do what your heart tells you to do,” she repeated, as she always does when she wants me to make a decision for myself and knows that all I want her to do is make the decision for me so that I can blame her and not myself if it goes wrong.

I put on my running shoes and walked to the dining hall to get some fuel—my usual training routine. I passed some of my good friends: “Hey, are you headed out on your run? How much do you have to do today?” As I sat down at their table to explain the situation, one of them confirmed what I already knew: “your heart isn’t in it anymore.”

When I finally got back to my room, my roommate and training partner was back from her run. “We need to talk,” she said, and I agreed.

She explained to me that she didn’t complete the whole 18 miles, and she admitted that she could have if she wanted to, but she had lost the enjoyment in training, knowing that the race she had dreamed of running would no longer be a possibility. As I agreed and explained my sentiments about my lack of enthusiasm, we officially quit—but quitting together didn’t make it any easier either.

As soon as I made my final decision, I didn’t turn into an awful person like I always thought quitters were. I didn’t start lying or cheating. I simply came to peace with the situation, making resolutions to continue the healthy habits I have developed over the past few months of training as well as to have no regrets about all of the time and effort I had put into my regimen.

I’m a quitter, and I couldn’t be happier.

Kendra Kumor is the Features Editor for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com.

B8

Features Monday, March 24, 2014

Seniors film Sierra Leone documentary Students focus on health care crisis, civil war

By Kendra Kumor Features Editor

Breck Wills / Heights GRaphic

Cara Annunziata / For The Heights

Photo Courtesy of Voices of Imani

A cappella groups like The Heightsmen and Voices of Imani spend up to six hours per week practicing original arrangements of music.

Spring is the season for BC’s a cappella groups to sing their hearts out in alumni performances, cafes, and benefit concerts throughout the city

By Kendra Kumor Features Editor and

Samantha Costanzo

Asst. Features Editor

Spring is a cappella season at Boston College, and with dozens of shows coming up, it’s hard to keep track. Even though all of those notes might blend together, each group brings its own style and signature quirks to the stage.

Against the Current Next Show: April 5, Devlin 008, 7 p.m.

Formed in 1998, Against the Current (ATC) has been spreading the Gospel through song for 16 years. “ATC aspires to serve God on the campus of Boston College in conjunction with the campus fellowships, churches, and other organizations,” said president Daltrey Abney, LSOE ’14, in an email.

The group provides non-denominational Christian music with a twist. “We really enjoy making mash-ups of different songs and genres, too—one of our most popular songs is a mash-up between ‘Don’t You Worry Child’ by Swedish House Mafia, ‘Demons’ by Imagine Dragons, and ‘Came to My Rescue’ by Hillsong,” she said.

This spring, ATC has a full schedule, including a variety of fundraisers and campus events.

Break it Down Boston, a concert to take place on April 5 in Devlin 008 at 7 p.m., will feature 15 different Christian a cappella groups from universities across the country.

“It’s a really great opportunity to make new friends and listen to some music that hasn’t been cycled around the BC music circuit,” she said.

The Heightsmen

Next Show: April 25, McGuinn 121, 7 p.m.

The Heightsmen is BC’s only all-male a cappella group. “It’s been said that we’re the closest thing that BC has to a fraternity since there isn’t any Greek life here,” said president Masrur Khan, A&S ’14.

Although The Heightsmen perform both on and off campus at everything from birthdays to weddings, including a proposal in Bapst Library this past December, they have their biggest shows coming up at the end of April.

“We try to practice the week of the show every day for about two to three hours to prepare,” Khan said. “We bring our highest energy to each practice so that we can bring that to the concert as well.”

As for the shows, the Spring Cafe, which features the famous freshman dance, will take place

The movie-making business isn’t all glitz and glamour, as seen by three Boston College seniors stepping into their first experience in the documentary-making field. Marisa Bellantonio, Kristy Davis, and Armen Abagyan, all A&S ’14, travelled to Sierra Leone this past summer to film a documentary about the current condition of the health care crisis and its effects on its people.

This idea has been a long time coming for the students. “We first thought up the idea in a Perspectives class we took together freshman year,” Bellantonio said of herself and Davis.

The girls talked to a professor about the idea of making a film with respect to a global social issue, but had not yet settled on a concrete idea.

“Junior year, I went abroad and my dad came to visit me, and one of the first conversations we had was about a contact he met through his business who works for ACF [African Christian Fellowship],” Davis said.

Her father explained that ACF was attempting to build a permanent health center in Sierra Leone. “My first reaction was to apply for the grant under this idea,” she said.

The Jacques Salmanowitz

Program for Moral Courage in Film, which serves as a resource for independent filmmakers, university students, and faculty who wish to create documentaries that will inspire future generations, had been on the students’ minds since the idea came to them in their Perspectives class.

The proposal for the grant forced the group to think about and plan exactly whom they would talk to when they got to Sierra Leone.

“The proposal included information on the health care crisis in Sierra Leone, the specific town we were going to film in, our exact budget, and the specific dates we were going to go,” Bellantonio said.

Once the students were finally approved for the grant, they rented film equipment from the BC film department and were ready to begin their project that had been in the works for over three years. The entire group consisted of Bellantonio, Abagyan, Davis, Davis’ father, and a contact from ACF. “We didn’t have a set plan really until a few days before we left when our contact emailed us with an hour-by-hour itinerary,” Belantonio said.

The group arrived in Freetown, the capital city, and stayed at a hotel there for 10 days, but worked mainly in Samuel Town where the health center was being built. “When we arrived, there were school children on these steps waiting to sing us a song,”

See Sierra Leone, B7

on campus on April 25, and on April 30 the group will perform its Senior Show.

Looking ahead to next year, Khan describes what it takes to be a member of The Heightsmen.

“We look for guys that have a good sense of humor and add character to the group as it is,” he said.

Shaan Next Show: Late April Shaan is a relatively new addition to BC’s a cappella scene, establishing itself in 2011 as the University’s only South Asian a cappella group. “Our main goal … is to expose BC and surrounding communities to a fusion of eastern and western styles of music,” said president Priyasha Chaturvedi, A&S ’14, in an email.

The group performs a variety

See A cappella, B6

Photo Courtesy of Kristy Davis

Davis, Bellantonio, and Abagyan film promotional video to raise funds.

Learn to Earn trains African students in computing, design

By Caitlin Slotter Heights Staff

Learn to Earn (LTE) is a remote training program that teaches East Africans basic computer skills and web design, with the hope that the local students will be able to get web design jobs and potentially pay their way through college.

Israel Kloss and his wife, Jennifer, oversee the East Coast efforts of the program. Kloss and his wife quit their jobs in 2012 and traveled to East Africa to see how they could be of more help. On their visit, they witnessed an 18-year-old’s first interactions with a computer—he was blown away by the experience of a mouse, motor skills, and his first mapping of hand to screen.

“I was floored by how basic computer training is—anyone could do it,” he said.

It was on this trip that the

i nside FE ATURES this issue

Klosses met Kenyan Cavin Ongogo.

They kept in touch with him, teaching him web design principles and WordPress via remote training. As a result of this training, Ongogo was able to get a job and pay his way through college. He finished the pilot training program in 2013, graduated from college, and now directs LTE in Nairobi.

Through LTE, a mentor is matched with an East African student. LTE uses Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which are free online courses through various colleges. These MOOCs are controversial because of their high dropout rate, “which is why we pair it with mentoring,” Kloss said. Via Google Hangouts, mentors help supervise and teach their mentee basic computer skills—how to use WordPress, a content management system that can be installed like a piece of software—and allows us-

Heights Through the Centuries French culture has enjoyed a distinguished place on BC’s campus for almost a century........................................... B7

ers to design Web sites on home computers or remote servers. One doesn’t need to know programming language to use WordPress. “It’s as easy as Microsoft Word for building websites,” Kloss said. Mentors play the instructional video, ask their mentees questions about what they’ve just learned, and watch their mentees while they type and program to make sure they understand or see if they need help. Lessons range from how to type and what a browser is to basic programming skills.

LTE currently has Jennifer overseeing the curriculum and educational side; Israel overseeing fundraising and training in technology; Ongono supervising the program in East Africa; John Gallaugher, an associate professor in Boston College’s information

See Learn to Earn, B7

Foreign Affairs.........................B6 Editor’s Column.........................B7