BOUNCING BACK
BOOK LOVE
‘A DIFFERENT GRAVITY’
SPORTS
METRO
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Covie Stanwick’s five points helped women’s lacrosse defeat Harvard, A8
The Boston Public Library will undergo major renovations, B8
Members of Seaver’s Express discuss the making and re-making of the band, B1
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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College
BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor After raising the cost of tuition by 4.01 percent for the 2012-13 academic year— which then stood at $43,140—and 3.6 percent for 2013-14, the Boston College Board of Trustees has agreed to raise overall tuition costs for the 2014-15 year an additional 3.6 percent, to $46,670. The University has also announced it will increase need-based financial aid by 6.7 percent to $103.5 million—compared to last year’s 7.9 percent to $97 million—in an effort to dissolve more financial barriers to attendance for students across a diverse set of socioeconomic backgrounds. “The 2014-15 budget reflects our goal of limiting tuition increases while providing the best possible educational experience for our students,” said Executive Vice President Keating in a statement to the Office of News and Public Affairs. “It addresses our priorities and builds on the existing strengths that help to distinguish Boston College among the nation’s best universities. The Dartmouth College Board of Trustees approved a 2.9 percent increase in the college’s tuition to $46,763; George Washington University increased its tuition by 3.4 percent to $48,700; and Boston University increased its tuition by 3.7 percent to $45,686 for 2014-15. According to the College Board, the national average for tuition increases—including room and board—across all fouryear private universities in the U.S. for the 2013-14 academic year was 3.7 percent. “Mindful of the sacrifices that parents make in choosing a private education for their children, we remain focused on
See Tuition, A3
Plex concert sees spike in transports BY JULIE ORENSTEIN Assoc. News Editor
According to information released by BCPD in its public blotter, there were seven medical transports from the Flynn Recreation Complex on the night of the Plexapalooza concert hosted by the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) this past weekend. Five of the transports occurred within 40 minutes of each other between 10 and 11 p.m.—just after the concert’s headliner, DJ Enferno, took the stage. The final two transports occurred after midnight on Sunday. An additional incident involved a subject being placed in protective custody. BC Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety John King said that the incidents involved a few individuals that required medical assistance—provided by BCPD in conjunction with Eagle EMS—due to apparent alcohol intoxication. Overall, however, these students represented a small percentage of those in attendance. “The overwhelming majority of our students represented themselves and Boston College in a manner that makes us all proud to be associated with them,” King said in an email. Denise Pyfrom, UGBC vice president of programming and A&S ’14, noted that the number of transports from UGBC events
See Plexapalooza, A3
established
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Thursday, March 27, 2014
Vol. XCV, No. 17
Tuition for 2014-15 increases
HEIGHTS
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Students see need for expanded disability access at BC
DANIEL LEE / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
Students with mobility issues often find it difficult to navigate Boston College’s campus.
Administrative committee seeks to coordinate, address recent concerns about mobility access BY ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT Editor-in-Chief
In front of Devlin Hall, which houses Boston College’s admissions office, is a ramp. There are handrails on each side, and it looks like a person using crutches or a wheelchair could navigate up and down it with ease. On one end of the ramp is the door to Devlin—which is down a small flight of stairs. On the other end, the ramp leads to a raised pathway, flanked on either side by stone planters and running along the recently renovated O’Neill Plaza: there is no way to move down from this path toward O’Neill Library, or up, toward Gasson Hall or Bapst Library, without using stairs. Most people traversing this path would hardly give the configuration a second thought, but for some, the ramp is worse than pointless—it is one more reminder of the challenges that BC presents for those with mobility issues. Those problems were raised a few weeks ago when the student art gallery in Bapst’s basement was closed, after it came to the University’s attention that the space was inaccessible to people who were mobility-impaired. Dean of Students Paul Chebator said that BC’s facilities department is currently compiling a list of other spaces on campus that are not accessible. “We will either do what we can to make them accessible, or we will just not use
them for public programs,” he said. Access to programs isn’t the only challenge faced by students with mobility issues. Kristof Fogarasi, A&S ’16, who had a spinal stroke when he was 14 and now uses crutches to get around, noted that certain parts of BC’s campus are especially difficult to navigate. Getting to Upper Campus necessitates walking up several flights of stairs, or using either Beacon Street or Hammond Road—which don’t always have full sidewalks, he said. Inclement weather also poses a significant problem, as Phoebe Fico, A&S ’16, wrote in a Letter to the Editor in The Heights on Feb. 13. Maintaining balance on ice- or snow-covered walkways while on crutches is difficult, and routes often aren’t adequately cleaned during the winter, she said. On her way to a late-night class last semester, for example, the walkways were too icy for Fico to navigate on her own. “The only way I got to class was the help of strangers,” she said. “They literally held me up.” Maryan Amaral, LGSOE ’18, attended BC as an undergraduate, training for and running several Boston Marathons while studying psychology. She was in a car accident after graduating, and she became involved in wheelchair dancing as a way of regaining strength, eventually deciding
See Disability Access, A3
BC Fossil Free, UGBC members debate divestment BY NATHAN MCGUIRE Asst. News Editor
The issue of fossil fuel divestment has been heavily contested in recent years. Growing concerns about the causes and effects of climate change have inspired movements that advocate for public pushback against fossil fuel industries to spring up around the country. One such group is Fossil Free, a national organization that is active on over 300 college campuses and calls on institutions to divest their investments from fossil fuel companies. The topic is hotly debated across the country, and on Wednesday evening Boston College got a taste of clashy sides in a debate co-sponsored by the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) and the Fulton Debate Society. Erin Sutton and T.J. Buckley, both members of BCFF and A&S ’16, presented the case for divestment. Alexander Tingle, a member of the Fulton Debate Society and CSOM ’14, argued against divestment alongside Matt
Alonsozana, UGBC executive vice president and A&S ’14. An audience poll before the debate showed that 32 viewers supported divestment, while seven were unsure of their position, and 12 opposed divestment. A point of contention between both sides was how the mission of BC as a Jesuit university should play into its investment strategy. “Not only is it financially feasible and prudent for Boston College to divest from its holdings in fossil fuel companies, but … as a leading American and Jesuit university, BC has a chance and a responsibility to stand up for what’s right, to be a leader, and to really make a difference,” Buckley said in his opening statement. Alonsozana said BC should stand up for its students and consider their interests more than any thing else. By BC taking the lead on a divestment strategy, the debaters from Fossil Free acknowledged that the action would be largely
See Divestment, A3
EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Wednesday night, members of BC Fossil Free and UGBC debated fossil fuel divestment.
AEI president Brooks gives key to ‘happiness’ BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor For many, happiness—in the traditional sense of the term—is equated with rigid social constructs and conventional interpretations of joy, euphoria, or other ephemeral perceptions of what it means to be truly happy. Or at least, so said President of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and formerly renowned classical musician Arthur Brooks, who spoke to a crowded Devlin 008 on Tuesday at 8 p.m. “When you ask most people what they want in life, they give you one answer, and that answer is ‘I want to be happy,’” Brooks said. “What I’m going to do in the next half hour is I’m going to give you a happiness lesson, and I want to tell you to do four things … and starting tonight, you’re actually going to improve the happiness in your life.” The event, titled “The Secret to Happiness” and hosted by the Undergraduate Government of Boston
College (UGBC), focused on human understanding of happiness, including figures on its hereditary influence and its impact on the daily lives of individuals across a broad range of factors, namely gender and age. A current social scientist and former tenured professor of economics at Syracuse University, Brooks—whose research specialized in behavioral economics—spent several years compiling economic data in an effort to quantify and analyze what makes people happy. “The first thing I found is the most frustrating thing of all, which is that a bunch of your happiness is genetic,” Brooks said. “Why is that a terrible thing to find? … One thing that all of you have in common is that you want to own your future. You want to be rewarded for what you do, as opposed to having circumstances and fate decide what’s going on in your life.” According to Brooks, research conducted within the field showed that 48 percent of happiness is attributed to
genetics, 40 percent is attributed to life circumstances, and the remaining approximate 12 percent is the result of individual decisions, which he said more accurately reflects a person’s values. Studies over the last four decades have found that approximately onethird of the U.S. population considers itself happy, one-half considers itself somewhat happy, and the remaining portion of the population reported being unhappy. Brooks also proposed a four-branch system of happiness that he said, when consciously and actively reflected on, will improve one’s level of happiness and long-term success within the 12 percent margin that’s left within one’s control. The four aspects of sustainable happiness Brooks’ research revealed were faith, family, community, and work, all of which he noted should be fulfilled to their fullest extent. Brooks concluded the discussion by
See Brooks, A3
EMILY SADEGHIAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR
On Tuesday, former economics professor Brooks discussed the meaning of happiness.
The Heights
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The Boston College Office of Sustainability will host a screening of the documentary Trashed, which stars Jeremy Irons and focuses on the extent and effect of the global waste problem. The screening will be held Friday at 3 p.m. in O’Neill 211, with refreshments provided by BC Libraries.
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Thursday, March 27, 2014
Swingin’ Into Spring, featuring dance lessons from BC Full Swing followed by social dancing, will be held Friday at 8 p.m. in Gasson 100. Live musical performances will include the Beantown Swing Orchestra and former American Idol finalist Siobhan Magnus, among others.
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Beginning Friday at 6 p.m., the annual Relay for Life of Boston College will be held in the Flynn Recreation Complex until 6 a.m. Saturday. More than $110,000 has been raised so far to benefit the American Cancer Society, and over 1,100 participants are registered to walk as part of 120 teams.
Freedom of Packer paints portrait of struggling America getting lost By Carolyn Freeman Heights Staff
Alex Gaynor I have always loved maps. Antique maps of the world, detailed maps of local places that I am fond of, maps of places that I’ll never visit, and even artsy map patterns. Perhaps it’s my love of travel or my inherent desire of always wanting to know how to get from place to place, but I frequently consult a variety of maps just to make sure that I have a strong sense of direction. I’ve discovered over the years, however, that this obsession with maps is deeply rooted in my childhood stubbornness about always having a plan. Recently, a wise professor bluntly told me that he hopes my life doesn’t turn out anything like I planned it to. This shock to my system opened the floodgates to a new question: is it sometimes okay to get lost? The term “lost” tends to connote chaos and confusion. Lost is the exact opposite of having and abiding by a plan or carefully reviewed map. As my professor stated, perhaps getting lost can actually reveal to us places, people, and experiences that we never would have even fathomed had we stuck to our personal maps and plans. While this can apply to your average road trip, I find it much more applicable to life itself. As Boston College students, upon entry to the University, we are required to come up with our own roadmap, or abide by one already established by the college. Majors, dorms, extracurriculars—each becomes a piece of this route or plan that we set ourselves in motion with in order to achieve stated future goals. How will my involvement in student government affect my chances of becoming president one day? Will my sequence of arduous physics courses help me work at NASA one day? These are questions that exemplify the rut that we sometimes get ourselves stuck in as motivated and future-oriented college students. But what happens when we fail that first physics class? Or don’t get elected for the assembly position? What happens now? We’re lost. The map is ripped out of our hands, we’re on our own, and life isn’t turning out how we planned at all. To some people (like me), this can be a pretty terrifying concept. We start snowballing into “what if”s and “I’ll never”s, which only further pull us down into this vortex of fear of the unknown and uncertainties in life. But perhaps, those moments of being lost are where the real discovery, truth, and guidance lie. Suppose in being rejected from one organization, you stumble upon a new group that actually has more of an impact on your college career than you ever would have expected. We may never know what lies off of the beaten path until we actually go out there, make ourselves vulnerable, explore, and lose our way a little. If we are open to new discoveries that may not be in our personal five-year-plans, new opportunities will arise that would be completely unheard of if we still were in our previous mindset. While lofty goals are crucial to achievement in the academic and profession worlds, letting them hinder us from allowing ourselves the freedom of getting lost sometimes can take away the value of the unexpected. As we grow and experience more of the world in all of its totality, perhaps our need for a map will be less pertinent, as we discover the beauty in getting lost.
Alex Gaynor is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at news@bcheights.com.
Around 1978, the American culture changed. Before that year, there was an unwritten social contract between Americans, promising that everyone could have a slice of the American dream. But along the way—beginning with wage stagnation in 1973 and subsequent economic equality and culminating in 2008’s financial meltdown—this idea declined, said George Packer, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America. Packer spoke on Wednesday as part of the Lowell Humanities Series. The Unwinding, which won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2013, focuses on the stories of several Americans and their struggles to succeed in today’s disjointed society. Packer
used these stories in order to tell the larger story of the institutional failures that took place in America beginning in 1978. “It was a lot of economic upheaval and difficulty and widespread discontentment—a sense things had gone wrong,” he said. “The reaction to the discontentment of that time gave us the era we live in now, which I call ‘the unwinding.’” Packer structured the book into a series of vignettes, featuring a varying cast of characters: Tammy Thomas, a former factory worker and current community organizer from Ohio; Jeff Connaughton, former lobbyist, lawyer, and Joe Biden’s biggest fan; Dean Price, an idealist champion of biofuels; and Peter Thiel from Silicon Valley, who agrees with the idea that everything started going wrong in the ’70s. Interspersed between the chapters about these ever y-
day Americans are 10 short, tongue-in-cheek biographies of celebrities, many of whom pulled themselves up in the world, such as Jay-Z, Martha Stewart, and Oprah Winfrey. Packer included these celebrities to capture how they influence today’s culture. These stars dangle a myth in front of the everyday American: “Anything is possible, if only you have the right attitude,” Packer said. “There’s often a quality of self-invention to their rise,” he said. “But we know they aren’t really inviting us to be just like them. Their success is based on leaving the rest of us behind.” Price, for example, has the right attitude, but not everything is possible for him, Packer said. Despite the setbacks he faces with his biofuel company, he can conceive of a more hopeful America after a difficult transformation. This transformation
is possible as soon as Americans begin to view their individual lives differently, Packer said at the end of his talk. “Many Americans don’t just live alone, but feel they are alone without the old foundations to support their dreams,” he said. “Change begins the moment when people see their familiar lives in a new way—as not normal, and not just.” In The Unwinding, Packer hopes to restore power to the individual person and to weave this account through their stories. The struggle many of the characters face is like a flow of water that is pushing them in certain historical directions, he said. “In a way. we can all make something of our own individual lives, but we really can’t do it without understanding that we’re all part of the same society,” he said. n
Relay for Life aims to top last year’s fundraising By Carolyn Freeman Heights Staff Cancer never sleeps, and on Friday night, neither will over 1,000 Boston College students, professors, alumni, and friends. From 6 p.m. on March 28 to 6 a.m. the next day, the Flynn Recreation Complex will be filled with participants walking the track for BC’s seventh annual Relay For Life. The event is a community-based fundraising event hosted by the American Cancer Society. There are Relays For Life in 20 countries, but the ones on college campuses are known for being especially successful, said Becca Johnson, CSOM ’17, who is on the corporate sponsorship committee. BC’s chapter started in 2008. Last year’s Relay For Life raised about $146,000. This year, the committee hopes to raise $150,000. The proceeds from the event go directly to the American Cancer Society to fund research, advocacy, patient services, and education. Many people are attracted to the event because their lives have been affected by someone who has cancer, said Casey Osgood, LSOE ’14, who is a co-chair of the event. “I just love how it really unites people, not even just at BC but across the U.S. and around the world,” Osgood said. “People who do relays know that it’s such a great night for people to come together and celebrate those who have beat the disease, remember those who have passed away, and keep fighting back against the disease that affects so many people around the world.” This year’s relay will begin with all of the survivors in attendance taking a lap together, and then all of the caretakers joining in. After that, everyone else will join in. The caregiver lap is new this year—it was added to honor and thank caregiv-
POLICE BLOTTER Friday, March 21 3:09 p.m. - A report was filed regarding the issuance of trespass warnings at the Brighton Campus library.
Saturday, March 22 3:05 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an incidence of arson in Vanderslice Hall. 10:29 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to an underage intoxicated person who was transported by ambulance
ers of cancer patients for all that they have done. One of the biggest ceremonies of the night is the Luminaria ceremony, said Mark Maleri, CSOM ’15, who is a co-chair of the event. At 10 p.m., everyone will gather together, the lights in the Plex will dim, and Survivorship Chair Meghan Woody, A&S ’14, who has fought leukemia twice while at BC, will speak. Following this, participants will be invited to crack the glowsticks they are given and walk the track to honor the person they are celebrating. It’s an emotional ceremony wherein songs are sung by The Acoustics, and student speakers talk about their experiences with cancer. “It’s really a time for you to sit down and think, ‘Why am I here? Why am I doing this?’” Maleri said. “It’s a really somber moment.” In addition to the Luminaria ceremony, student bands and dance groups will be performing throughout the night to keep people having fun, Maleri said. There will also be various activities, like Zumba, sunrise yoga, and basketball and volleyball tournaments, taking place in the basketball and tennis courts. The theme of this year’s Relay For Life is “Destination: Hope. Passport to a Cure.” This travel theme will be emphasized through the screening of the movie Up, as well as within events like a travel-themed relay race, wherein participants will have to pack bags and take them all around the Plex. Food will also be provided, although it will only be free for those participants who have raised $100 or more. Everyone who reached this goal will also receive a free t-shirt. All of the committee members are expected to raise $100, as well, Johnson said. “We wouldn’t ask any of the relayers to do something that we wouldn’t do ourselves,” she said. In addition to individual fund-
raising, the organization holds various events throughout the school year. On Valentine’s Day, it sold nearly 30 dozen roses and raised $1,000. Fundraising continues until August 31, when this year’s Relay For Life officially ends. “Even though this is our event commemorating everything, it doesn’t stop at the event,” Maleri said. “In the past years, we’ve teamed up with Nights on the Heights, we’ve teamed up with UGBC. It’s really great to see other organizations on campus that want to help out our cause and want to be a part of something.” For each lap a participant takes, he or she will receive a bead to put on a string. As the night progresses, the string of beads will grow. Tradition has it that at least one person
from each team is walking around the track at the same time, but BC’s Relay For Life does not enforce that rule, Osgood said. “We really want people to make whatever they want of the night and have fun and enjoy it,” she said. Osgood’s mother and two of her aunts have all fought cancer. These three women have inspired her to keep fighting for a world without cancer, she said. “If it’s taught me anything, it’s taught me to never lose hope,” she said. “They’re just really inspirational, and they make me keep want to going and keep fighting this fight and seeing a world without cancer. “There’s always more that you can do, no matter what cause you support, but I think Relay For Life is definitely such a great way.” n
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A Guide to Your Newspaper The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467 Editor-in-Chief (617) 552-2223 Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Metro Desk (617) 552-3548 Features Desk (617) 552-3548 Arts Desk (617) 552-0515 Photo (617) 552-1022 Fax (617) 552-4823 Business and Operations General Manager (617) 552-0169 Advertising (617) 552-2220 Business and Circulation (617) 552-0547 Classifieds and Collections (617) 552-0364 Fax (617) 552-1753 EDITORIAL RESOURCES News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call Connor Farley, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or email news@bcheights.com. For future events, email a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk. Arts Events For future arts events, email a detailed description of the event and contact information to the Arts Desk. Call John Wiley, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or email arts@bcheights.com. 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. CUSTOMER SERVICE Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact Marc Francis, General Manager at (617) 552-0547. Advertising The Heights is one of the most effective ways to reach the BC community. To submit a classified, display, or online advertisement, call our advertising office at (617) 552-2220 Monday through Friday. The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2014. All rights reserved.
CORRECTIONS This correction is in reference to the issue dated March 24, 2014, Vol. XCV, No. 16.
robyn kim / for the Heights
The article titled, “Baseball falls in series decider,” misstated that BC played Wake Forest on Sunday, March 23 when the game was played on Saturday, March 22.
Over 1,000 students will participate in the seventh annual BC Relay for Life.
3/21/14-3/23/14 to a medical facility from the Flynn Recreation Complex. 10:40 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to an underage intoxicated person who was transported by ambulance to a medical facility from the Flynn Recreation Complex.
Sunday, March 23 3:26 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a noise complaint in Gabelli Hall.
—Source: The Boston College Police Department
If you could swim in anything besides water, what would it be? “Kool-Aid.” —Daniel Gazzola, A&S ’17
“Chocolate sauce.” —Hugh Hanley, A&S ’15
“Jello.” —Caleigh O’Leary, LSOE ’17
“Skittles.” —Cole Hawkinson, A&S ’14
The Heights
Thursday, March 27, 2014
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Students, administrators seek change in accessibility at BC Disability Access, from A1 to pursue a master’s degree in the study of severe disabilities. Amaral now uses a scooter or wheelchair for mobility, and she has noticed multiple issues since her return to campus. “The problem at BC was actually astounding to me when I came here last semester,” she said. “I had such a different experience as an undergrad.” There is acknowledgment in the administration that, although changing certain aspects of BC’s physical layout may not be feasible, the University still has room for improvement when handling access issues. “I think, as an institution, we need to kind of take a new look at the way we deliver our services to students with disabilities,” Chebator said. To that end, a committee of representatives from over 12 departments and offices, co-chaired by Chebator and Vice Provost for Faculties Pat deLeeuw, was formed to improve cross-departmental communication and streamline services for students with disabilities. Following the committee’s first meeting this week, Assistant Dean for Students with Disabilities Paulette Durrett, who works through the Disability Services Office with students who have physical, temporary, medical, and psychological disabilities, said that gathering people from different disciplines was productive, as they each see varying aspects of accessibility. She anticipates that the committee will continue next year. “Hopefully, as people encounter issues, they’re thinking holistically about this—it’s not just reactionary,” Durrett said, “That’s a hard place, if you’re the person with the issue, to be at, if it’s always reactionary.” Students at BC have advocated for greater access in the past, as well as for more proactive and conscious attitudes toward disability.
Jennifer Fitz-Roy, who was LSOE ’06 and finished her degree in 2009, helped form the BC Disability Council, which worked to start conversations about disability issues. “I was somewhat frustrated with accessibility on campus because it seemed like the infrastructure was all there, but you had to be very familiar with the campus to know how to get around,” Fitz-Roy said in an email. She noted, however, that all academic buildings at BC were accessible, which isn’t always true at older colleges—elsewhere, students sometimes must petition the administration to move classes, which she never had to do. Ease of access is another matter, though— libraries, particularly Bapst, pose a common problem. Fitz-Roy said that while she was at BC, Bapst’s accessible entrance was difficult to find, and it was sometimes closed. Amaral said that she has recently faced problems with the accessible door being locked, the elevator being off, and nighttime security guards sometimes not letting her in immediately. The Massachusetts Department of Public Safety Architectural Access Board (AAB) cited BC in January for the locked Bapst door. A Feb. 6 letter from BC’s Office of the General Counsel to Walter White, chairperson of the AAB, stated that BC is in the process of replacing that particular door with an automatic entrance, which will be accessible with a “proximity card” given to the necessary students and staff. That and other improvements, including a new intercom, are slated for completion by April 31. Besides issues at Bapst, Amaral also mentioned steep slopes, a lack of access to computers, and an old wheelchair lift in the O’Neill atrium as cause for concern. “They can’t turn around and say that the problems that they have on campus [are] just due to old buildings,” Amaral said. “They have new buildings and new construction. I’m
here because of the program and because of BC—I’m not here to have to spend all my time fighting to figure out how to get from point A to point B, to find a computer, a place to sit down and study. That is absolutely ridiculous that BC has not figured that out by now, in 2014.” BC’s legal requirements to provide access and services are delineated by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which guarantees rights to individuals with disabilities, and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability. All institutions receiving federal funding—of which BC is one—are required to provide students with appropriate academic adjustments and offer equal opportunity through auxiliary aids and services, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s website. Institutions are not required, however, to make adjustments that would fundamentally alter a program or impose an undue burden. “A thing that we struggle with is, the law stipulates that we need to provide reasonable accommodations,” Chebator said. “Sometimes the definition of ‘reasonable’ is pretty slippery, and we have to try to understand exactly what that means.” Executive Director of the Office for Institutional Diversity Richard Jefferson serves as the University’s ADA/504 Coordinator, and in that capacity he is responsible for arbitrating disability discrimination complaints. “Because of the geography of our campus, we are challenged,” Jefferson said. “It’s important to hear from people in the community about ways in which we can do better.” During his time as coordinator, he said, very few issues have risen to the level of grievance. In fact, according to Jefferson, there had not been many formal complaints about physical access at BC until the last six to eight months. He differentiated be-
go deeper. “It’s a social problem, really,” Fico said. “People don’t think about it, and I don’t blame them, because if I wasn’t like this I wouldn’t think about it either.” Fogarasi agreed, saying that other students are friendly, often offering to hold doors or carry his bag—but he has noticed a disconcerting preoccupation with his disability. “When I’m talking to [people], the first question that kind of pops into their head and is kind of lingering there—and I can tell—is, ‘What happened to you?’” he said. “I want people to look at me and say, ‘That’s Kris, that’s the guy in the a cappella group Against The Current,’ or, ‘That’s Kris, 48 Hours pointguard,’ or, ‘That’s Kris, the guy who sings at the Mass,’ you know? Not, ‘That’s Kris, that guy on crutches.’” Although Fitz-Roy felt respected and included at BC, participating in a wide range of activities during her undergraduate years, mindsets were similar in the early 2000s—she still saw a need for disability advocacy. “I do think that other students saw disability as a charity issue instead of a rights issue, especially within UGBC,” Fitz-Roy said. The current UGBC recently created a task force to raise awareness and make recommendations about disability and access issues. Fico plans to work with them, and she also hopes to increase discussion among the general student body. For graduate students, Amaral has begun a Disability Awareness Committee to work toward the same purpose. “I feel like, in a way, handicapped people are still not seen as people,” Fico said. “That’s why I wrote the Letter to the Editor, and I talked to UGBC … I think I just got angry. I feel like anger is so often confused with hate. And I feel like anger is really a sort of powerful and useful emotion, if you use it in the right way, and I think it can spark real change.” n
Brooks talks behavioral economics, ‘happiness’
Board of Trustees sets new tuition
Brooks, from A1
Tuition, from A1 identifying cost-savings and promoting campus-wide efficiencies to ensure that our tuition dollars are directed toward the teaching and research of our faculty and the student-formation programs that support our mission,” Keating said to the Office of News and Public Affairs. According to U.S. News and World Report, BC is currently ranked 36th among the publication’s annual list of top 50 “Great School, Great Prices” national universities—a list calculated based on academic quality and net cost of attendance. The University was also ranked 24th on the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of top 50 “best value” private universities in the U.S. In an effort to combat rising expenses, the University also currently utilizes two programs—the Operational Efficiency Project (OEP) and Administrative Program Review (APR)—that were created to find ways of cutting costs and more efficiently run University activities. Launched in 2006 as part of the University’s Strategic Plan, APR is run out of the department of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment (IRPA) that promotes quality improvement and strategic thinking through the examination of a specific department’s operations. The Board of Trustees has announced that the operating budget for 2014-15 will be $916 million, which entails an additional $7 million allocated for supporting academic priorities enumerated in BC’s 10-year Strategic Plan, which was released in 2006. The 2014-15 operating budget reflects an increase from the $886 million the Board of Trustees set for the 2013-14 budget and the $862 million set in 2012-13. The University’s Strategic Plan is a 10year initiative aimed at making additional faculty hires, funding construction and facilities renovations, and expanding academic programs and initiatives. BC retains its stance as one of only 21 private colleges and universities in the U.S. that remains need-blind throughout the admissions process and meets the full demonstrated institutional need of accepted students as indicated through the FAFSA and CSS PROFILE. According to the University’s financial aid webpage, 70 percent of all current students receive financial aid in some capacity, with an average need-based financial aid package totaling $35,000. n
tween knowing about issues and formally addressing them as ADA/504 coordinator, though—he said that he is aware that BC’s facilities department keeps an inventory of issues involving physical access as they come up. As issues arise, Jefferson said, BC tries to address them informally through the departments or offices closest to where the issues originate, so that the concerned party does not have to resort to filing a complaint—if the grievant is unsatisfied with the initial response, he or she can follow BC’s formal grievance procedures. “We try to avoid issues escalating to the point where the only way to resolve them is through a formal grievance process,” Jefferson said. “It tends to harden people into positions and really does make it more difficult to really solve problems.” In order to anticipate problems, the cross-departmental committee plans to release short- and long-term recommendations by semester’s end. The Disability Services Office was also recently audited, and Chebator said the report will likely become public around the same time. “The University commissioned [the audit],” Durrett said. “They wanted this person to do this so that we could see where we were, in the beginning. Some of the specific recommendations from that report will be forwarded up the chain, to maybe the Executive VP, Pat Keating, for his review … this is kind of a big deal for us, and it also means that we’ll have upper-level administrative support. Not that we didn’t have it before, but when it’s on somebody’s radar, it makes a big difference, and it’ll be better than reacting to individual concerns. We’ll have a systemic approach.” While she agrees that institutional changes are necessary, Fico said that issues surrounding mobility access and disabilities
Emily Sadeghian / Heights Editor
On Tuesday, the president of the American Enterprise Insitute talked success and economics.
emphasizing the fact that, based on empirical analysis, money does not buy happiness. “Money for poor people makes them happier, that’s true … but once you get above that basic level of subsistence, money doesn’t buy you any happiness at all,” Brooks said. “It’s not about the money—it’s about something else.” Brooks used the notion of “earned suc-
cess”—the product of one’s efforts within the four-branch system of happiness—that equated with authentic happiness. “Earned success is not about money,” he said. “It’s about believing that you’re creating value with your life and creating value in the lives of other people. Earned success happens when you can create something that is of your own making and you can say ‘I built that, and it’s valuable for me and valuable for other people.’” n
Seven medical transports recorded during Plex show Plexapalooza, from A1 has decreased over the last two years, but she recognized that substance use is an ongoing concern, which the organization takes seriously. “We continually remind students that we do not condone any alcohol or drug use at our events, yet we acknowledge that this continues to be an issue,” Pyfrom said in an email. “We see every event as a learning experience to improve our programming.” The number of transports from Plexapalooza was an increase from the zero medical transports following September’s Fall Concert featuring O.A.R. Records from other recent
concerts indicate that there were three medical incidents—but no hospitalizations—at the 2012 Spring Concert featuring Third Eye Blind and Nelly. This was the first event following the administration’s moratorium on concerts in Conte Forum, instituted after a large number of transports during the Fall and Spring Concerts in the 2010-11 academic year. The most recent information available regarding transports from a Plexapalooza event was from the concert headlined by Super Mash Bros in October 2011. Ten patients were assessed for apparent intoxication, with six ultimately transported to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, two sent to the infirmary, and two released to a sober adult after evaluation. n
john wiley / Heights Editor
BCPD reported seven students being transported from the concert for medical reasons.
Students debate issue of fossil fuel divestment Divestment, from A1 symbolic, and that it would likely not have any effect on the profits of fossil free companies or their ability to operate. Only about 2 percent of the average college endowment is invested in fossil fuel companies, so if just one college were to divest, the effect on the companies would be minuscule. Alonsozana and Tingle said that other individuals or companies would pick up the stocks dropped by divesting institutions. They added that divestment would do little to change the global supply and demand of fossil fuels. “Divestment harms the ability of the University to educate its students by undermining its financial resources,” Alonsozana said. “[Divestment] negates opportunity not only for us but for others. The University requires funds in order to function. The endowment makes it possible for clubs to go on retreats
and put on events, for departments to hire the best faculties, and for students to receive financial aid.” Sutton and Buckley acknowledged that divestment would do nothing to touch the billion dollar profits of most fossil fuel companies, but they said that by socially stigmatizing the industry, citizens in the U.S. and elsewhere might begin to pressure their governments to enact more regulations on those companies. They called to mind the example of divestment from the tobacco industry in 1990s and said that that contributed to changing attitudes about the industry and helped push through government regulations. During that decade, Stanford and Harvard divested their endowments completely from tobacco. Tingle said that using endowments to make political statements goes against the fundamental purpose of an endowment—that is, to make sound investments that yield the highest possible return within a reasonable
risk margin. On its endowment website, the University’s investment guidelines give mention to BC’s Jesuit mission as a factor in its consideration of investment strategies: “Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic institution of higher education. In the management of its investments, Boston College reflects the ethical, social, and moral principles inherent in its mission and heritage. In particular, the University is firmly committed to the promotion of the dignity of the individual, personal freedom, and social justice.” The central argument of BCFF, a group not formally recognized by the University, was that divestment should be a strategy used to stigmatize fossil fuel companies, because those companies contribute to global climate change by releasing dangerous levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. “What we aim to do is remove the [industry’s] social license,” Sutton said. “We
want to weaken and stigmatize the industry, whose existence perpetuates the destruction of the planet. Divestment sends the message that it is wrong to wreck the planet, and it is absolutely criminal to profit from that wreckage.” The University’s endowment website states that it will “periodically” review its investment to ascertain whether the firms it invests in operate in accord with BC’s ethical, social, and moral principles. The 10-member Trustee Investment and Endowment Committee is responsible for the overall investment policy and the selection of assets. The post-debate poll of the audience showed that 25 audience members supported divestment after hearing both sides, while five remained unsure, and 25 were opposed. The poll was informal, and the pool of audience members fluctuated slightly throughout the debate. n
The Heights
A4
Editorials
Thursday, March 27, 2014
QUOTE OF THE DAY
University must improve accessibility on campus
You can never be overdressed or overeducated. -Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), Irish writer and poet
Students and administration must rethink attitudes surrounding disabilities at BC, increase discussion The issue of accessibility for students with disabilities has recently become much more visible on campus, after the art gallery in Bapst was closed a few weeks ago. One of Boston College’s strengths is its commitment to service, opportunity, and equal access, and it is crucial that the University works to uphold this much-vaunted principle in deed as well as word. In some ways, BC’s accessibility is hindered by its topography—most significantly, its dramatic changes in elevation. With adequate planning, however, traversing campus can be made much easier for those with physical disabilities. For instance, while the recently renovated Academic Quad and O’Neill Plaza create a straightforward diagonal link with the Stokes Green in order to cut across Middle Campus, students with disabilities must go around the perimeter instead—a much longer route. While not entirely prohibitive, this inconvenience could have been alleviated when the renovations were planned. In the long term, the University does have the opportunity to alter the campus physically. BC is still in the midst of reconfiguring its property and buildings, and the process of remodeling and rebuilding is slated to continue in waves for the next 10, 30, and 50 years as part of the University’s Institutional Master Plan. When blueprints for improvements and for entirely new buildings are drawn up and reviewed, disability access must be a priority. In the meantime, streamlining the process through which students with disabilities can request and receive accommodations makes sense, and progress ought to be made as soon as possible. Hopefully the new committee co-chaired by Dean of Students Paul Chebator and Vice Provost for Faculties Pat DeLeeuw will not only come up with concrete recommendations by the end of the semester, but also will continue to meet and discuss the various aspects of accessibility in years to come. Releasing a report about the state of disabilities services will also serve to clarify the process of coordinating access and make clear what is already being done to address more systemic issues. Another matter to consider is the various types of disabilities—while
the closing of the Bapst student art gallery was specifically related to access for students with mobility issues, there are myriad other types of disabilities on campus. According to Chebator, the Connors Family Learning Center works with approximately 450 students who have learning disabilities, and the Disability Services Office within the Dean of Students Office works with about 275 students who have an array of physical, psychological, medical, and temporary disabilities. Each of these BC students, not to mention faculty and staff members, faces different challenges, and each deserves the opportunity to have those issues acknowledged and addressed. UGBC, other student organizations, and individuals must keep the University appraised of the problems that they encounter, so that BC can continue to address both specific access issues and the ways in which the needs of those with disabilities are handled. Many changes, such as those involving construction and bureaucratic workflows, cannot be achieved overnight. An attitudinal shift, however, can be set in motion almost immediately, and in this aspect the burden of responsibility falls on the administration, faculty, and students alike. The social problems pointed out by students with disabilities—a lack of understanding about the realities of having a disability, and a tendency to focus on disability to the exclusion of personality—can be addressed by each person at BC. Ultimately, these issues can only be understood and resolved through open dialogue. The work that UGBC has already begun— forming a task force to study the state of disabilities on campus—is commendable. As UGBC is transitioning next year to an organization that focuses primarily on advocacy, creating a permanent disability advocacy board within UGBC’s division of diversity and inclusion would be a welcome step toward giving a formal voice to a group of students that often goes unrecognized. In addition, holding a BC Ignites forum or similar event focused around disabilities would be an effective method of bringing these issues to the attention of the wider student body.
Turnout reflects success in UGBC’s weekend events
Most recent Plexapalooza and Annual Ball should serve as example for new programming board UGBC hosted the Annual Ball and Plexapalooza last weekend, and by the numbers, both events were successful. The Annual Ball sold out, and the Plexapalooza concert, featuring DJ Enferno, sold at least 900 tickets and filled the gymnasium in the Flynn Recreation Complex to near capacity. Next semester, UGBC will no longer plan concerts like Plexapalooza, and the responsibility will be shifted to the new Programming Board, to be formed under the Student Programming Office. Given the disastrous financial figures surrounding last semester’s fall concert , which incurred a $112,000 loss, there are lessons to be learned from smaller events like Plexapalooza. The concert
broke even, according to Melanie MacLellan, programming manager of on-campus events and A&S ’14. Turning to smaller venues for lesser-known artists, like DJ Enferno, can minimize risk and protect the University from taking losses on concerts. By keeping ticket prices affordable, UGBC has been able to guarantee more consistent attendance figures for annual events like Plexapalooza and the Annual Ball. The Programming Board should not necessarily just seek out lesser-known artists, but in the case that up-and-coming and over-the-hill acts are the only ones available for the designated concert weekend, scaling down the venue—and keeping prices low—is the best option.
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Letters to the Editor On the need for bus etiquette As a Boston College Law student and double Eagle, the worst part of my day is not waking up early, reading unintelligible cases, or even waiting behind people who pay with cash at the dining halls. Instead, I have come to dread riding the buses to and from class. Bus etiquette has declined appallingly since I graduated last May. So, as a public service to BC undergraduates and law students alike, I encourage you to heed the following rules. First, and most importantly, wait until everyone has gotten off the bus before you begin boarding it. Mufasa had an easier time fighting through a wildebeest stampede than I do getting off a Newton bus. If you managed to get accepted to a Top 30 college, then you should understand that two groups of people cannot cross through a small door at the same time. Waiting for people to get off the bus first is not only common courtesy, but also more efficient. Second, if a bus is full, don’t try to get on it, wait for the next one. Nobody enjoys riding a bus so crowded that you can smell the bad decisions the person next to you made
at Mary Ann’s last night. If a bus is full, just wait for the next one. As someone who minored in being late to class, I can assure you that nobody cares if you stroll in 5 minutes after the teacher starts lecturing. Finally, check to make sure you are getting on the right bus before you board it. The human race spent thousands of years developing linguistics so that you could read the label on a bus that reads “Law School Express,” so seize the opportunity. These rules may seem blindingly obvious, but unfortunately most of your classmates do not follow them. A bus etiquette course would have many tangible benefits at BC, unlike the oxymoronic business ethics course also known as Portico. In the meantime, simply obey these three simple rules. It is difficult to go off and set the world aflame if you can’t even properly board the bus to get there. Matt Palazzolo BC ’13, Law ’16
The following letter is in response to “Losing my religion” by Stephen Sikora, originally published on 3/20/14:
Question of God deserves more consideration I came across Stephen Sikora’s reflection on becoming an atheist (“Losing my religion,” March 19, 2014) at Boston College by way of Facebook, and I must commend Sikora for his courage in writing it. While he praises BC for intellectual openness, he must be aware that surely many Jesuits and other faith-filled professors are disappointed by his conclusions. Thinking for one’s self is good, taking courage, evidenced by his column, but no one likes to come to a conclusion for the wrong reasons. That seems to be the case here. Sikora writes that he finds evolution and belief in the existence of God to be mutually exclusive beliefs. There is no reason for such a belief. While many are under the impression that the Church has only come to terms with a view of creation that was some other than seven literal days in light of scientific discoveries, one need only read St. Augustine’s On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis to see a different Christian view. Alister McGrath summarized Augustine’s view in Christianity Today a few years ago. Many would be surprised to read that “Earlier Christian writers noted how the first Genesis Creation narrative
speaks of the earth and the waters ‘bringing forth’ living creatures. They concluded that this pointed to God’s endowing the natural order with a capacity to generate living things. Augustine takes this idea further: God created the world complete with a series of dormant powers, which were actualized at appropriate moments through divine providence.” Not only St. Augustine but BC’s very own Patrick Byrne of the philosophy department has done much to show how evolution and faith are compatible. In 2006 he wrote in Theological Studies, “[The philosopher] Lonergan argues at length that God, conceived of as an unrestricted act of understanding, would be the author of a transcendent purpose for a contingent, dynamic, randomly evolving natural world that in its crucial aspects is comparable to the world of neo-Darwinian scientific theories.” Sikora may want to take all the further relevant facts into consideration and not end his BC education just quite yet. There’s still a month to learn.
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The Heights
Thursday, March 27, 2014
A5
Iran and the world around you
Emma Vitale #BC2018 - Congratulations! BC just made the best video ever! Holy smokes, can we just give the Office of News and Public Affairs a huge hug? We just can’t believe it—it is literally the best video ever. Welcome to the best three minutes and 13 seconds of your life. This video is just amazing. Did we mention that we saw a leprechaun? Riding high on the success of its “Happy” video, the Office of News and Public Affairs decided to make a welcome video to market BC to potential members of the Class of 2018. Rather than a dignified and comprehensive picture of BC, the video presents a side of BC that is limited, inane, and, at times, downright asinine. There are a lot of great things that can be said about this University, but this video does not include many of them. Furthermore, the video perpetuates the idea that college is the best four years of one’s life—a widely held tenant in the American cultural creed that we believe is both limiting and damaging. Also, what does it mean to tell the viewer that they have made the best decision? Pray tell, what decision has the viewer made? Decisions don’t have to be made until the end of April and most people take their sweet time in doing so. Another problem is a clear lack of understanding of the audience—the video is laced with references that likely mean nothing to the vast majority of the target viewership. They don’t know what the Mods are. They don’t know what the New England Classic sandwich is—plus, it is completely idiotic to say that a sandwich changed one’s life. Also, we don’t understand why it has everyone listing their activities.
If you’re unfamiliar with Iran’s recent history, the only thing you probably know about the nation is what has been in the news in the past few months—the supposed dangers of its nuclear program and the questionable agreement formed to curtail that danger. It’s unfortunate that this nuclear issue is what is characterizing knowledge and opinions of Iran, because there is so much more to the country than its pursuit of (allegedly peaceful) nuclear energy. Now, I am not an expert on Iran, but as an international studies (IS) major, I’ve always been interested in the Middle East since so many international issues revolve around that region. Last semester, I learned an incredible amount from Professor Ali Banuazizi’s Modern Iran class. The course made me realize the importance of understanding the history of a nation before judging it based on its image in the (American) media. At the same time, it also made me realize how little most people actually know or care about learning. I know people have varying interests and not everyone values learning about international issues, but not being a political science or IS major doesn’t justify ignorance about world affairs. Iran is not an Arab country, nor do Iranians speak Arabic as their primary language. It has an extremely strong Persian heritage that defines its identity as a nation—it was Persian before Islam spread as a religion in the seventh century, and it has remained Persian since Islam became the predominant faith. Women are not deprived of all rights in Iran—schooling is and has always been very
#BC2018 ... Again - If you thought we were done with our rant, well, we weren’t. We take serious issue with the profile picture campaign. The University is encouraging high school students who choose BC to change their profile pictures for a week to the (poorly) stylized image of Gasson it created. Who exactly is meant to see these profile pictures? Current BC students? How many current BC students are friends with high school seniors? The accepted students’ peers? What does that accomplish? Having everyone change their profile pictures to one thing is what one would expect from a UGBC campaign, not a University campaign. And this does not even get into all of the social tension that is caused by college acceptances (and rejections) for high school students. Quite frankly, the whole campaign is conduct unbecoming of a respectable academic institution.
A quick Google search for the phrase “spiritual but not religious” yields a list of varied results—everything from webpages espousing spiritual aid, to humanist chaplains writing on how to be good without God, to religious advocates warning against the dichotomy of spirituality and religion, to a host of popular media sites, each with its respective columnists and pundits popping opinions left and right. A 2012 Pew Research survey found that one-fifth of Americans claim no religious affiliation, but a large majority of this same group claim belief in a God or some supernatural, higher power. At the same time, though, almost 90 percent of this group of unaffiliated people claims they are not looking for a religion. What we have here, then, is the rise of the Spiritual-But-Not-Religious movement in the U.S. So popular is this alternative to institutional religions that it not only generates 37 million results on a Google search, but it also claims the abbreviation SBNR, as well as a dot-org web address and a Facebook page. Many authors—both on the side of religion and not—have tried to lay out the problem of spirituality and religion and how the two are supposed to relate to one another. In his CNN article, “Are there dangers in being ‘spiritual but not religious’?,” John Blake introduces many proponents of the SBNR school and holds them up against popular religious figures, such as Rev. James Martin, S.J. Although he could have better brought the two sides into conversation in his article, Blake highlights the main objections and responses. Blake presents the argument of BJ Gallagher, a sociologist and Huffington Post blogger, who contends there is nothing wrong with a “Burger King spirituality” in which you “have it your way.” In this way, it seems one finds contentment in going through life accruing those principles with which one agrees, and maintaining an ethic or morality that suits one’s
Yik Yak - At heart, we are very much an old grandfather. We like to read our news in print, smoke a pipe in the evening, and wear cardigan sweaters. We struggle with technology and cannot understand those damn kids with their social media, their “Facespace” and their “Mybook,” their “Tweeter” and their “Picturegram.” Really, we don’t quite understand what the hubbub is all about. We have heard through our grapevine of fellow technophobes that there is a new app that has been gallivanting around campus that allows users send out tweetlike posts completely anonymously. The app utilizes the smartphone’s GPS engine to present a feed of posts based on one’s geographic location. The possibilities for this are endless and we have heard that students are expressing their sexual interest in fellow co-eds, among other nefarious purposes.
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important for both men and women, and women can hold political office and other positions of power. Most importantly, Iran is not some radical, irrational state that should be feared. Iranians do not hate the U.S. or Americans, and although the government in the past has been led by Islamic fundamentalists—namely, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—these views do not represent the majority of the people. Iran may not be a fully democratic country, with its Supreme Leader and Guardian Council wielding important influence, but it is not an authoritarian regime. The presidential elections are held in a similar manner to our own, and the current president, Hassan Rouhani, is a moderate centrist who has so far proven his openness to cooperation and desire for good relations with other countries of the world. He’s even on Twitter—@ HassanRouhani, if you are interested—and he wished Jews a “blessed Rosh Hashanah,” which illustrates his desire to set Iran on a new, peaceable path, since historically the Iranian government has been extremely hostile toward Israel, especially under Ahmadinejad. He has also been open to discussions and negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program as evidenced by the current agreement which, while still insisting upon its right to pursue peaceful and non-threatening energy goals, is in stark contrast to Ahmadinejad’s policies. Many people are critical of this deal, saying it doesn’t go far enough and has little chance of success. Yes, the deal isn’t perfect—Iran still hasn’t agreed to the strictest inspection rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that help confirm that they are in fact curtailing the uranium enrichment to the agreed levels, and we don’t know if the Iranian government’s claim that in their continued nuclear development they only desire to acquire peaceful energy and technology, not weapons, is true. But this is a
huge step in the right direction for U.S.-Iran relations, and one that should not be glossed over simply because of possible obstacles. The U.S. and Iran have been at odds since the 1979 revolution and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and anything that might better the relationship between the two countries should be pursued—especially in light of the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the potential benefits that Iran could provide as an ally in the region. So I’m not saying that I know everything about international issues (far from it), that Iran is a perfectly democratic and problemfree nation, or that this interim deal is the key to all U.S.-Iranian issues. It’s important to recognize, however, that there is so much more to the nation than how it is portrayed in the media and stereotypically thought of. We’re all busy people at BC, and I don’t have an issue with a lack of knowledge about certain historical or current events, because we can’t stay informed about everything. What I do have an issue with is the insensitive judgments, statements, and stereotypes formed due to that ignorance, which I’ve noticed from conversations with friends and classmates, and the lack of concern for remedying those misperceptions through learning. I challenge everyone, regardless of major or class choices, to engage in efforts to educate yourselves, even if it’s just every once and a while, about a country or issue on a deeper level. Whether that’s Iran, the current crisis in Venezuela, or anything else happening in the world, it doesn’t matter—just read or ask questions about something, because as Benjamin Franklin once said, “being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
Emma Vitale is a staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@ bcheights.com.
The spiritual vs. religious debate
Patrick Angiolillo
Lecture Hall
particular spiritual experience. (It should probably be assumed that the positivist principles of J. S. Mill’s utilitarianism provide some framework or guide for this kind of make-it-yourself spirituality and humanism.) Others, though, encourage seeing spirituality as attached to a religion or a tradition. They warn against the potential for a self-centered or egotistical spirituality that can come of a spirituality divorced of a religious community. As Martin explains in his 2010 article for Busted Halo, “Spiritual but not religious—Not so fast!,” spirituality in community generates a healthy tension between the individual and the institution. He writes, “The wisdom of our religious traditions provides us with a corrective for our propensity to think that we have all the answers; and prophetic individuals [within the community] can moderate the natural propensity of institutions to resist change and growth.” He provides a powerful case for contextualizing personal spirituality within a religious tradition. Martin is not alone. Rabbi David Wolpe, in a 2013 Time magazine article, makes a practical case for institutional religion, though not without criticism of the system. He writes, “Institutions can be slow, plodding, dictatorial; they can both enable and shield wrongdoers. They frustrate our desires by asking us to submit to the will of others. But institutions are also the only mechanism human beings know to perpetuate ideologies and actions. If books were enough, why have universities?” Critics like Martin and Wolpe advance a convincing argument against spirituality unattached to religion. A spirituality without a community is in its own right a kind of religion. People who claim to be SBNR could, if asked, write up a list of morals or principles by which they live and breathe and interact with mankind. In a sense, these individuals have constructed their own religion, one entirely based on their perception of things, informed by their experience of the world, and owing only to their own hopes, dreams, and desires. Accordingly, they are accountable only to themselves, and even should they profess belief in a God, the individual comes first. The SBNR movement produces a kind of “I bow to no one” attitude that can foster unhealthy self-centeredness. This is not to say all SBNR individuals are
egoists or that all religions and religious institutions are without fault. Wolpe fairly admits and criticizes the potential for corruption, abuse, and violence in institutionalized religions. However, the idea of being accountable to and living within a community that we can share with one another is much more conducive to generating a spirituality of charity, directed outward and not focused on the self. When we conduct our spiritual life within a community, we will face the frustrations, critiques, suggestions, and support of others who share our morals and our spirituality. Now, a quick Google search for “religious but not spiritual” yields not only the suggested correction “Did you mean: spiritual but not religious?” but also a number of individuals reacting to the SBNR movement—good-intentioned religious people who see their institutions under attack. This phenomenon, though, is equally as reprehensible as the movement to which it is reacting. To divorce religion and spirituality in any way is to misunderstand both. A religion without a spirituality is a set of rules and regulations, dogma and doctrine, without the life and breath of a community and its individual faithful. The SBNR phenomenon so pervasive today that even a Catholic institution like Boston College is not immune to its presence. Scores of students at BC would probably claim they are SBNR. Groups like the Ignatian Society, with its “Finding God at BC” conversation series, are trying to respond to this phenomenon at BC with discussion (and pizza!). Perhaps more attention should be paid to these efforts, and to the problem altogether. It is unlikely we will have a campus sprawling with self-centered spiritual egoists if we disregard the question of SBNR, but there is real value in seeking to bring people who are spiritual into a community in which they can share, grow, create, and transform. And if Google is any indicator, a quick search for “spiritual community” and “spiritual religion” yield, respectively, almost double and well over double the results as “spiritual but not religious.”
Patrick Angiolillo is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.
BY PAT HUGHES
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.
Considering the culture Jovani Hernandez Although the world of higher education poses academic challenges that develop one’s critical thinking, a more significant challenge students confront is one that tests their grasp on the environment from which they come. Attending Boston College for three semesters has made me feel more in tune with my Mexican heritage than my childhood in a neighborhood filled with Mexican traditions. As an English major, I’ve been exposed primarily to literature with British and Irish narratives. In my other classes, the curriculum, more often than not, aligns itself with a Eurocentric worldview—in addition to being underrepresented in the student population, my story is not promoted within the classroom. To become better versed in Mexico and the Mexican diaspora, I have conversed with other students of Mexican ancestry, in addition to doing my own research. Studying my heritage has fostered appreciation for the culture in which I was raised, but my gratitude for my Mexican inheritance did not come about until I encountered the threat of losing touch with my upbringing. It is not, however, only a question of my personal connection with my upbringing— I’m scared that my kids and their kids and their kids’ kids won’t identify with how I grew up and what I grew up with. Regardless of intention, BC pressures its students, at the very least, to consider changing themselves to fit a particular mold—one that sports Vineyard Vines and L.L. Bean boots. Although many may argue that BC does not urge its student body to dress a certain way, it is undeniable that a trend exists among students and is more than mere coincidence. You might be thinking, “they’re just clothes,” but to integrate socially, I believed I needed to trade in jeans and Jordans for button-downs and pastel chinos. Now, I feel happier and smarter when I dress preppier than when I dress like another kid from my neighborhood in the Bronx, N.Y., but this wasn’t the case before college. Being successful at BC resembles, to some degree, being successful in the “real world” because both promote a culture that isn’t hoodies and sneakers or Spanish music blasting in bodegas—all intrinsic elements of my background. Instead, a bourgeois culture that expects a tailored suit is imposed on me. Recently, I approached a mentor of mine to teach me table etiquette because I’m tired of feeling incompetent in that setting. My upbringing is simply different, not better or worse, than that of people I usually share classrooms with, but the University doesn’t do the best job of convincing me it agrees. Caring about students such as myself— first generation, AHANA, or from less-thanpreferable socioeconomic and educational backgrounds—goes beyond accepting a small percentage of these students. I’ve come to realize that diversity goes beyond skin color. Although BC may boast about the number of AHANA students it accepts, these students oftentimes fail to diversify BC because they tend to come from backgrounds that mold them into being more like the stereotypical BC student. Although I am guilty of typecasting, I do not identify with the classical music performed at Pops on the Heights or the acts booked for campus entertainment. I may accept and give certain things a try, but that does not mean I can identify with them. I’ve met students who have had less trouble assimilating than I have, but I don’t ever want to disengage my culture fully, as many of these students have needed to, in order to gain a “fuller” experience at BC. Instead, there’s a newfound necessity to share my love for Vicente Fernandez and other artists that play when my mother cleans the house on Sunday mornings, to advocate for immigration reform, and to encourage other kids from inner-cities by performing well academically and carrying myself in a respectable manner—not only to bring awareness to the greater BC community, but to prevent me from forgetting everything that helped me get to the Heights. When I return home, I expect it to grow like I am, but I realize that I’m the only one growing. It doesn’t have to remain that way, but to Latinos, progressing always means selling out. Such an outlook hinders rather than benefits us. I’ve already made it farther than most people ever will from my neighborhood. Through my family, I strive to share what I’ve learned about higher education during my time at BC, while advocating for being proud of our humble upbringing.
Jovani Hernandez is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.
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The Heights
Thursday, March 27, 2014
THE HEIGHTS
EDITORS’ EDITORS’PICKS PICKS
Thursday, March 27, 2014 The Week Ahead
Standings
The baseball team travels to Kingston, R.I. for a three-game set against Florida State and Jameis Winston. Men’s hockey plays Denver in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. BC’s women’s tennis team plays Clemson at home, and the Portland Timbers will look to pick up their first win of the season in their game against FC Dallas on Saturday.
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Recap from Last Week
ALEX FAIRCHILD
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MARLY MORGUS
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HEIGHTS STAFF
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CONNOR MELLAS
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Wake Forest took two of three games from the baseball team. Women’s tennis was able to beat Pittsburgh 6-1 to improve to 2-3 in ACC play. Head coach Acacia Walker’s women’s lacrosse team came a goal shy of knocking off UNC. UMass Lowell beat New Hampshire and Notre Dame 4-0 each to win the Hockey East Tournament.
Women’s Tennis
Boston vs. Clemson College
Guest Editor: Sarah Moore Executive Assistant
“Don’t go chasing waterfalls.” CONNOR MELLAS
This Week’s Games
Sports Editor
Baseball: BC vs. No. 2 Florida State (series)
MARLY MORGUS Assoc. Sports Editor
ALEX FAIRCHILD Asst. Sports Editor
SARAH MOORE Executive Assistant
FSU 2-1
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W. Tennis: BC vs. No. 18 Clemson
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MLS: Portland Timbers vs. FC Dallas
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M. Hockey: BC vs. Denver
Looking to recover from a defeat against Syracuse, the women’s tennis team will play No. 18 Clemson on Sunday. The Eagles won seven straight matches to start the season, but have stuttered since entering the core of their schedule. Conference opponents have given the Eagles a rough time. Clemson is flying high heading into its weekend battle with the Eagles. The Tigers have won 11 of their last 12 matches and are undefeated in conference play. Head coach Nigel Bentley will rely on the pair of Jessica Wacnik and Lexi Borr to give the Eagles an edge in doubles play and singles matches.
Sunday, 1 p.m., Chestnut Hill
Organization is the perfect poison for a potent attack
Skating away from the shadows
Column, from A8
KAYLA FAMOLARE Johnny Gaudreau is to Conte Forum as Batman is to Gotham City. As Shrek is to Far, Far Away, as Don Quixote is to La Mancha. The nation’s leading goal scorer has become the staple of all things Boston College hockey. One would be hard pressed to find someone who has never heard of the top-scoring star winger on the men’s hockey team. Gaudreau is virtually a celebrity on campus. The band even plays “Johnny B. Good” every time he rips one past an opposing team’s goaltender—if that doesn’t say “hot shot,” I may have to rethink my standards of stardom. (Yes, the Jonas Brothers are still considered celebrities.) Lurking in the hockey star’s enormous shadow is a lesser-known member of the team—yet his last name rings through Conte Forum regularly. Matt Gaudreau, the younger brother of the Calgary Flames prospect, joined the Eagles this season as a freshman forward. I remember the first time I became aware of his existence—I thought the PA announcer for the game against Army had made a mistake by declaring that the younger Gaudreau had scored his first collegiate goal. This would be one of the few games Matt would see all season, however, as he went on to ride the pine for a majority of the campaign, until his appearance in the game against UMass Lowell. He didn’t suit up for 17 consecutive games, while his brother continued to score goal after goal with the best line in college hockey. One can only imagine the pressure Matt must feel with the well-known accomplishments of his brother. Truthfully, it’s the same old song and dance: younger siblings are often overlooked in the presence of their seemingly flawless older siblings. Take it from a varsity pine-rider like me, my sister’s countless athletic achievements made me seem pale in the eyes of her devoted followers. I was the constant tag-along to games and competitions. To be blunt, it was horrible. I was working just as hard in my athletic endeavors, yet I never got the glory or the recognition I deserved and that my sister received. Same for Matt—he has to show up and perform at long, grueling practices, lift-ses-
Game of the Week
EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
York said Matt Gaudreau will play on the fourth line when the Eagles start the NCAA Tournament. sions, and long team road trips, yet, his efforts are rarely rewarded with playing time. So, Matt, allow me, a fellow shadowdweller, to sympathize with you and give you and all the those in our position some words of encouragement. First and foremost, it’s an incredible honor to merely be on the roster of one of the best teams in the country. It’s clear that the time and effort you put in during your time on the Omaha Lancers has paid off, as you earned yourself exclusive membership to the coveted BC boys’ club. Those in the spotlight know that they cannot achieve greatness completely on their own accord. In fact, most of the time, the heroes need a little assistance from the sidekick. Everyone knows that Shrek could not have saved Fiona from the dragon without the help—and tomfoolery—of Donkey. And Don Quixote is nothing but an earthly fantasist without the simplified wit and corrections of Sancho Panza. These counterparts and the support they bestow upon their friends are crucial to the success of the heroes. Matt, continue to play your hardest during practices, because your participation only betters both your brother and the rest of the team. Without your strong passes, without your forechecks, and without your aggressive play during practice, the team could never have improved and gone on an 18-game winning streak. Johnny, Bill Arnold, Kevin Hayes, and Thatcher Demko—some big names on the team—cannot be as good
as they each may be without you and the rest of the boys on the team. The team would inevitably fail and be ill prepared and weak in the eyes of the tough competitors it has faced this season. Remember to be supportive off the ice as well. The pressure to carry a team through an NCAA tournament is tremendous, and Johnny will more than likely look to you, his own brother, for that encouragement and well-wishing in the next few days. A pregame battle of NHL with him might do the trick. (Let him win. It’ll be a nice confidence booster.) The best part is, Matt, you’ll be able to give Johnny these pats on the back as you sit next to him on the bench, as your coach said you have earned a spot on the fourth line at this Saturday’s first round tournament game against Denver. The hard work and discipline you demonstrated throughout the season have fared well in the eyes of the all-mighty Jerry York. It’s your time to shine, bud. Keep working hard, keep being supportive, and know that the next three years will bode well for you as long as you persevere and continue to be a team player—on and off the ice, and even at the kitchen table. Maybe one day it will be “Matty Hockey” chanted regularly in Conte.
Kayla Famolare is an editor for The Heights. She can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.
from near-telepathic communication. Most of the squad has been playing alongside one another since exiting the womb of La Masia, the club’s youth academy. They are able to whip the ball around at an astounding pace and dissect defenses, just like York’s squad has been known to do this season. But now they have been figured out. A phenomenon known as “parking the bus” has taken center stage in soccer. After Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan put in the defensive shift of a lifetime to advance past Barcelona in 2010, Chelsea did the same to thwart the Catalans over two legs. While Lionel Messi infamously missed a penalty, the tactic still did the job. Roberto Di Matteo’s men stuck together and mauled Messi & co., which led to a downfall that was in no way related to Sergio Busquets flopping. Chelsea’s organizational ability played the same role against Bayern Munich in the final, allowing the English side to become kings of Europe for the first time in club history. Munich’s shape stopped Barcelona last season, and with the rise of Atletico Madrid’s defense, Barca’s run of dominance has hit a wall similar to that of a strong rearguard. While it is easy for the boys of Camp Nou to run riot over the back threes and fours of poorly put together La Liga sides, they struggle to do the same against compact counters to their attack. The Eagles are in danger of falling to that same fate. If BC advances by Denver on Saturday, it could face the nation’s top defense for the third time this season. While York’s team made fools out of UMass Lowell in its first crack at the Riverhawks, the Eagles’ Hockey East rival held the Eagles to a draw the next night. What well-organized defensive teams do best is take away space. Not only do they forbid the final pass, from splitting a set of defenders to someone skating into a gap, but they also take space from those who like to have a go at defenders 1-on-1. Messi is one of soccer’s great dribblers, and Gaudreau can stickhandle
with the game’s greats. When either gains possession, they cut cleaner slalom runs through mobile defenders than Bode Miller can through stationary gates. The two have similar styles of play. Gaudreau’s dekes involve simple cuts and deft nudges of the rubber to the left and right, matching Messi’s moves. While Cristiano Ronaldo uses three and four stepovers to create space, Barcelona’s star just wows the eye by trimming from right to left on his left foot, before blowing past the opposition with a change of pace. Each protects possession well, putting the puck and ball as far away from the defender as possible. Gaudreau and Messi have made careers out of doing things coaches tell youngsters to do, but their greatest weakness as individuals is their inability to turn into a team. Although they are supreme when it comes to 1-on-1 play, the pair is humanized by organization. Strong defenses force these players to drop further back to gain possession of the ball and, in Gaudreau’s case, the puck. Messi has turned into a false nine, which is a player that drops back deep to get the ball from a forward position. Barcelona’s star has had years to adapt to the roll, which is new to Gaudreau, who was forced to drop against the Fighting Irish. In the first game of the Hockey East quarterfinals, the left wing was given the puck in his own zone, so that he had space to skate into in the neutral zone. Jackson’s defense was prepared, though, and even after Gaudreau would beat a member of the Fighting Irish, another would step in to stop the Calgary prospect and bring an end to the Eagles’ attack. Notre Dame wrote the book on stopping the Eagles, and tapes from the four games between the two outfits have, without doubt, circulated amongst the coaches looking to halt BC’s offense. The short and sweet answer lies within those tapes, but parents and teachers have already given it to you for years.
Alex Fairchild is the Asst. Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.
Huskies improve to .500 after dominant win against sliding Eagles BY CONOR HAWLEY For The Heights On March 1, the Boston College baseball team earned a hard-fought extra innings win in Port Charlotte, Fla., putting their record at 6-3, with things 7 Northeastern looking up afBoston College 0 ter their dismal 2013 season. That 6-3 start seems like a distant memory at this point. On Tuesday, the Eagles (7-15 overall, 1-8 in conference play) squared off against cross-town rival Northeastern in Brookline and were unable to tame the Huskies, losing in a 7-0 route. Northeastern wasted no time in knocking out junior starting pitcher Eric Stone, scoring three runs in the third inning and forcing head coach Mike Gambino to put
in reliever Eric Stevens. Stevens was unable to stop the bleeding and surrendered three more runs in just two and one-third innings. Northeastern tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth for good measure, cementing the win. Throughout the game, BC’s pitching was rocked by Northeastern’s bats and allowed 12 hits and six walks. On the flip side, BC compiled just three hits and two walks. The Eagles also struck out six times and were shut out for the second consecutive game. In their current losing streak, the Eagles have not been able to consistently get men on base and drive in runs. After BC’s strong offensive start to the season, the Eagles have fizzled in recent weeks. The team’s batting average has sunk to a lowly .231, with team leaders Gabriel Hernandez and Logan Hoggarth batting .250. In their first nine
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lowed just one hit over seven innings and had a stretch where he retired 17 consecutive BC hitters. Mulry turned heads earlier in the season while playing the Red Sox when he struck out Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. Although Mulry has shown flashes of brilliance, he has struggled to maintain success, posting a 5.09 ERA in five starts while also conceding 25 hits in 23 innings of work. Northeastern alumnus and current Huskies assistant coach Mike Glavine saw a difference from previous starts in Mulry’s Tuesday performance. “I just saw a lot of strikes and a lot of confidence,” Glavine said. “He’s an outstanding pitcher.” Since that first game in March, the Eagles are a dreadful 1-12 overall and 1-8 in the ACC. One may attribute this slump to the fact that BC has played stiff competition in the likes
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games, the Eagles averaged a solid 4.9 runs per game, and have since only produced at a 1.7 per game clip. Since the 11-inning win against Villanova, BC has failed to score more than three runs in a single game, putting more pressure on the pitching staff. Gambino noted that his team has hit a bit of a rough patch. “It’s just a team that’s pressing right now,” Gambino said. “We are trying too hard and trying to do too much.” For Northeastern (10-10), this was an important win, as the Huskies have been building momentum since a rough start to the season. They have won nine of their last 14 games after beginning the season 1-5. Northeastern’s success against the Eagles can be attributed to an outstanding pitching performance from sophomore southpaw James Mulry, who al-
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of Virginia, Miami, and Wake Forest, but the Eagles need to prove that they can compete in league play if they want to make a run at the ACC tournament. Despite Tuesday’s shaky outing, one of the few bright spots for the Eagles has been their two front of the rotation starters, junior John Gorman and redshirt sophomore Andrew Chin. Gorman leads the Eagles in innings pitched with 33.2 and an impressive 2.94 ERA over six starts. He also has been able throw strikes efficiently, forfeiting just five walks and holding a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5:1. Chin’s numbers are just as stunning, as he has posted a 1.82 ERA and has held opposing batters to a .182 batting average as well. Despite their solid performances over a combined 12 games, their aggregate record is a mere 4-4, which can easily be attributed to BC’s poor hitting.
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THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014
Gaudreau and Barcelona’s Messi have similar skills, and their teams can be stopped in similar ways.
Organization vs. offense ALEX FAIRCHILD How many times has someone told you to “get organized?” Elementary teachers told you to do it to prepare you for your future education. Five years later, your parents probably told you to do the same, and by the time high school rolled around, if you were not organized, you probably got lots of points taken off on binder checks—and those points add up.
The same goes for the whole “time management” thing that comes up once you get to college, which is tough because half of your time is spent playing FIFA. Grades begin to slide, and then getting yourself together becomes a desperate priority. You pull it together—you’re going to do really well—until suddenly everything is discombobulated again a couple of weeks before Spring Break when you’re hungover in your double on a Sunday afternoon. Sports are similar to life—organized teams are better than unorganized ones. Talent can only
do so much against an opposition focused and armed with a game plan centered around a zeroed-in unit. Take late 1980s AC Milan for example. The team’s manager, Arrigo Sacchi—according to Chris Anderson and David Sally’s The Numbers Game—believed that his 10 attackers of extraordinary capability could not beat a defense of five that was well organized. To communicate their limits, he would pit five of the world’s best attackers and a few others against three more defenders. The result: The attackers never scored—not once. Sacchi’s Milan was no offensive slouch either. Three of his players
were members of a Dutch national team that won the 1988 European Championship. Marco Van Basten led all scorers in that competition with five goals. Ruud Gullit was European Footballer of the Year in 1987. That edition of AC Milan won the first of its two European Cups by beating Steaua Bucharest 4-0. Compare that powerful combination of attackers with Johnny Gaudreau, Bill Arnold, and Kevin Hayes. Replace those five defenders and you’ll get Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish halted the Eagles by stopping the home team’s highoctane attack. Head coach Jeff
Jackson’s team beat Jerry York’s dynamic setup with organization. The Eagles looked to exploit space on the ice, but could not, because Jackson’s team moved as a unit to slow the Eagles’ advances. Teams that play with swift, high-pressure attacks are vulnerable to a compact defense. Comparisons can easily be drawn with Barcelona—a Spanish soccer club that has won three European Cups in the past decade—but has been stopped in recent years, and BC. The Blaugrana is an intelligent group of footballers that benefit
See Column, A7
Stanwick, Blue lead Eagles past Harvard in cross-town matchup BY TOMMY MELORO Heights Staff It’s officially spring in Boston, but Wednesday sure didn’t feel like it—with a high of just 34 degrees and winds gusting up Boston College 13 to 41 mph, it Harvard 9 seemed like Old Man Winter was still in control. The Boston College women’s lacrosse team started its game against Harvard ice cold on both offense and defense, giving the Crimson a 3-0 lead before heating up and storming back to beat Harvard 13-9. The Eagles ended the first half on an 8-0 run, leading 8-3 at the break. The Crimson outscored BC in the second half, 6-5, but it was a case of too little too late. Once the Eagles’ prolific scorers found their groove, the Harvard defense was powerless to stop them, as BC scored in a variety of ways to earn its eighth win of the year. Sarah Mannelly continued her recent run of strong performances, as she, along with Mikaela Rix, Brooke Blue, and Covie Stanwick paced the Eagles’ offense. Mannelly broke through for the Eagles almost 12 minutes into the
game and then went on to score three more times throughout the contest. Rix put away three goals of her own, as did Blue. It was Stanwick who led the Eagles in points, however, as she notched five points with two goals and three assists. Offensively, BC dominated. The Eagles were able to get the 1-on-1 matchups they wanted, they were consistently able to find cutters out front, and their attackers behind the crease were able to create space and exploit it consistently. Harvard was unable to stop anything BC threw at it, and the Crimson’s frustration showed, as Harvard committed 32 fouls. Harvard freshman standout Marisa Romeo was unstoppable, scoring four of Harvard’s six second-half goals. At one point in the second frame, Romeo deftly split two BC defenders at the top of the attacking area, stepped up, and effortlessly whipped a shot past Eagle goalie Emily Mata. Other than Romeo, however, the Crimson was largely shut down by a combination of the Eagles’ tireless defense and the stout play of Mata, who had five saves on the night. While Harvard outscored BC in the second half, most of its goals came when it
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looked as if BC had taken its foot off the pedal, the game already in hand. The Eagles’ offense was less efficient than normal, as it turned the ball over 14 times. That, along with Harvard goalie Kelly Weis’ nine saves, robbed BC of even more scoring chances. The Eagles were also just 2-6 on free position shots. As the second half opened, Harvard once again potted an early goal. Unlike the first half, however, BC put its foot on Harvard’s throat, scoring four of the next five goals to go in front 12-5. After that, it was clear BC had eased up, but was still clearly in control of the game. One thing that remained consistent throughout the game was BC’s proficiency on the draw. The Eagles won 18 of 24 draws, keeping Harvard’s offensive opportunities to a minimum. The Crimson did what it could with the opportunities it had, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the high-flying Eagles offense on Wednesday night. Between two games against top-five opponents (the Eagles play at Maryland on Saturday), an unexpected reprise of winter weather in March initially slowed down the Eagles. Once they got warmed up, though, there was no stopping them.
GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
The Eagles recovered from a narrow defeat to UNC by going on the road to beat the Crimson.
Baseball: The Eagles fell to Northeastern 7-0
Mike Gambino’s team was defeated by the Huskies 7-0 in a game that was moved away from Shea Field................................................................A7
Editors’ Picks...........................................................................A7 Scoreboard............................................................................................................A7
Music video
Lady And The ‘G.U.Y.’
Gaga’s latest video is a lot of credits and confusion, Page B2 Column
‘Frozen’ On The Charts
Why Idina stuck and demi didn’t with ‘let it go,’ Page B4
Feature
Exposure Media Group The production house in a walsh closet, B3
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014
John Wiley | Arts & Review Editor Ariana Igneri | Assoc. Arts & Review Editor
A DIFFERENT GRAVITY The Cabaret Room was captured in sudden quiet as an anxious audience waited on the last of three names. Some of the more devoted fans—several dressed in band apparel—could be seen mouthing names to fill the silence, while others stared blankly. Still others had already begun packing up and filing out of the doors quickly, eager to move on to Friday plans. The silence broke: the winner was Seaver’s Express. The announcement effectively drawing the preliminary round of Battle of the Bands to a close. Sean Seaver, founder of Seaver’s Expess and A&S ’16, was emotionally torn. Earlier that week, he and his longtime musical confidante William Bolton, CSOM ’16, had created a Facebook event together to draw support at the event for Seaver’s Express and Times New Roman, Bolton’s act. Seaver’s Express advanced, while Times New Roman, along with a handful of other talented acts, did not. For the recently reshaped Seaver’s Express, which officially switched out its lead singer just a month earlier, this was a moment of validation and surprise. Recently gigging at greater Boston venues like Middle East and Cantab, the band was happy to be back at Boston College, a place its members consider home.
See Seaver’s Express, B2
jordan pentaleri / HEIGHTS PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | Logo by Cam Boylan
The Heights
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Wiley’s Follies
Entrepreneurs in the arts
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John Wiley Max Prio and Billy Foshay, both CSOM ’16, did something radical this week: they successfully launched a startup with no formal investors. Operating out of a closet in Prio’s Walsh suite, Exposure Media Group has taken up a formidable strategy for growth. Now leveraging the new brand heavily through social media, the five-man production house is unique in that, while certainly having costs, it takes advantage of a resource Boston College startups are quick to overlook: talent. BC’s startup culture has mostly kept itself contained within the Carroll School. University entrepreneurs have long turned toward venture capital competitions and deep-pocked investors for the possibility to begin work on a dream. While BC has been making substantial gains in terms of startups, the Carroll School has been closing in on programs like the Wharton School at UPenn and Mendoza at Notre Dame. The Carroll School, however, will almost surely never make it to the top of the list of undergraduate business programs. All five universities ahead of BC in the 2013 Businessweek rankings have an unspoken advantage—an engineering school. In-house talent is difficult to find at BC, particularly when it comes to technology-based startups, and the more successful entrepreneurs here are often the ones willing to look outside Chestnut Hill for talent, turning to MIT students for help on these tech projects. But before crossing the Charles, perhaps it’s wise to look across the Quad. Career-minded students in the College of Arts and Sciences have a tendency to speak of the Carroll School with mild disgust. The world seems handed to business students, who in many cases have significantly smaller course loads and far greater resources. The founders of Exposure Media Group had a different perspective. Pulling together talent within the University’s smaller film studies department, Exposure bypassed all the clerical work required to start a business through the systems typically utilized by CSOM students. While BC does not have an engineering school, there’s extraordinary talent tucked away in its often-overlooked departments. Perhaps Exposure is something of an anomaly, but in the case it’s not, the production house could well be the model for a new kind of startup culture at BC in which entrepreneurs turn to the arts. It’s an odd partnership, business and art—the two can often appear to be completely opposing forces. Their relationship is fraught with distrust, and yet, they so often find themselves dependent on each other. While many independent artists put together incredible work, the longevity of artists is almost always dictated by business, for better or worse. The focus on brand is enormous in both the artistic and business communities, and are, in part, what makes the two so compatible. Businesses like Exposure make it possible for artists to organize and advocate for fair pay— something which is remarkably hard for artists to do individually. So why do artists distrust businesses, and similarly, why do business often undervalue creative work? In the case of the latter, it’s often because they can. As for the artist’s hatred of “selling out,” it’s complicated. Doing what you love and getting paid for it certainly doesn’t come off as bad in itself, but when the work gets valued unequally—when one artist gets paid and another doesn’t— the artist that’s getting paid suddenly seems less genuine. In both cases, these attitudes are just wrong. Art needs time and resources, and time and resources come at a price. At BC in particular, where there isn’t the same potential for tech startup that there is at other schools, the creative and business communities have a lot to offer to each other. When it comes to BC startups, there’s something to be said for creating value using the skill sets of the undergraduate community. Business can be far more than just a means of making a profit—it can be a method of organizing a community of skills and advocating for the things its employees care about. Fulton Hall is a silly building if it closes its doors to the arts and sciences, and closes its mind to the efforts of this University’s creative community.
John Wiley is the Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
The making and re-making of the band
john wiley / heights editor
Seaver’s Express, from B1 The irony of the situation, however, is that following last semester’s departure of lead singer Jacob Monk, CSOM ’16, the individual members of the band are now mostly from the Berklee College of Music. Adding two new members to the band—Sean’s 22-year-old brother Brian Seaver, who recently graduated from Berklee, and Zoe Ainsburg, who currently attends Berklee—Seaver’s Express had a chance at an entirely new start, and yet, it kept with BC, and it kept with the name Seaver’s Express. “I guess the only place that it’s not impressive to be a musician at the Berklee School of Music is at Berklee,” Sean joked with Chris Southiere, the band’s drummer and a longtime friend to Sean who also attends Berklee. The two had met growing up in Cumberland, R.I. together, and they first began performing together in high school, initially under the joke band title Chris and the Pussycats, and later as Through The Wall. Coming to BC, Sean had planned to scale down his work as a guitarist, and he only began to consider performing at the University after meeting Bolton, who was a floormate in Hardey Hall on Newton Campus. Bolton, a Detroit native and Motown enthusiast, would show his work to Sean, and in time, they began trading ideas. This inspired Sean to begin performing at BC. That spring, Sean and Southiere played at a University music event under the name Through the Wall. Joined by Monk, their act grew into Seaver’s Express in the fall of 2013, and with the new identity came the release of the Parachute EP, the band’s initial expose. “Recording that EP taught me that I wanted to do more live sounds,” Sean said. “Parachute was just me playing instruments into my computer, with Chris and Jake singing over that.” Leaving the band to refocus on academics, Monk’s departure last November left a pressing vacancy. “The obvious solution after Jake left was my brother Brian,” Sean said, “He has a great voice, and it just seemed like everything was lining up for him to join the band.” On Monday, following a first-round win at BC’s Battle of the Bands, Seaver’s Express released “A Different Gravity,” its first single with Brian as lead singer. “We don’t really feel the same way we did before,”
Sean said. “It kind of sucks, but at the same time, it’s exciting because there’s really no precedent of where we have to go from here.” The new additions to Seaver’s Express meant that less of the songwriting responsibilities would fall on Sean, who wrote all five tracks of Parachute by himself. “It’s more collaborative,” he said. With so much change in the band’s dynamic, Sean and the rest of the group considered switching around the name, but the members ultimately decided against replacing it, since it had already garnered a fan base as Seaver’s Express. “The name kind of brings a sense of community that I think we have as a group,” Sean said. “It feels welcoming to me. I was happy to stick with it.” Now that there are two “Seavers” in the band, though, Sean mentioned the possibility of removing the apostrophe in the name, making it plural, rather than possessive. “But then whose ‘Express’ is it?” Southiere joked. “It could be anyone’s.” It’s these little questions, apostrophe or no apostrophe, that have come to characterize the transition. In spite of all these internal changes, the band has unquestioningly kept BC as its home. “We practice at Berklee, but I still feel like we’re from here,” Sean said. “I still feel like we’re based out of BC.” The band has found the BC community far more welcoming, and generally excited by the idea of the band. Leaving for a concert, traveling down the Walsh elevator, the five members of the band will frequently get asked about their instruments. At Berklee, no one questions groups carrying instruments around. “Because it’s 100 percent music there, it’s a lot harder to stand out,” Sean said. The band has found its identity quickly cemented in BC’s relatively small live band scene. Beyond the band’s immediate success at BC, though, Sean sees an opportunity with Seaver’s Express to broaden the opportunities for future generations of artists at the University. “For us, we would rather help build the scene than try to fit into a preexisting one,” Sean said. “Here, I feel like acts like us, Bobnoxious, Juice, and Times New Roman are helping to grow the scene. I guess the opportunity is open—for the next two-and-a-half years that we have here—to leave our mark on BC art.” Comparing Berklee’s expansive practice spaces
and recording studios to BC’s limited piano spaces on the top floor of Lyons, Sean holds that improving BC’s music resources is an integral part of expanding the art scene on campus. “You kind of have to expect that when you come to BC, but at the same time, I didn’t expect it to be this under-the-radar,” he said. “I feel like arts, and music, and just the bands in general can get more representation.” Bands at BC are put into a strange situation—at once, they are limited in resources and inundated with opportunities. “While the scene here isn’t as strong as it could be, there are some cool opportunities—like being able to open for Modstock,” Sean said. “That’s a cool opportunity. I don’t think Berklee has anything like that.” During the Monk era, Seaver’s Express used to do far more with hip-hop covers, performing “B—h, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “No Church In The Wild” at a Music Guild event last semester. When considering the chance of opening at Modstock, Sean and Southiere are hoping to get back to these hip-hop covers. “I’d like to open for a rapper because that’s how we’d reach an audience we never reached before,” Sean said. “It’d be nice to be exposed to that.” In the long run, Sean and Southiere believe that to become respected for its bands the same way Berklee is, BC will need the proverbial Passion Pit—an act that came out of Berklee years ago. “It’s going to take an artist to gain national exposure for people to take a look at what’s happening around here,” Sean said. “While that sounds like a shot in the dark, I think the artists here have the ability to do that.” For now, it’s a different gravity for bands like Seaver’s Express, at once flourishing within BC’s tightly knit band scene, while also recognizing the obvious limitations of it. “There is good talent here, as good as there is at any other school,” Sean said. “When more people start realizing that, that’s when bands and the art scene here are going to thrive. Because we have the talent, the exposure and the audience are going to be there eventually. We just need to put the work in.” n Editor’s Note: The first installment of The Scene Sessions video series, featuring “A Different Gravity” by Seaver’s Express, will be released on bcheightsblog.com Friday afternoon, in conjunction with this feature.
This weekend in arts
By: Ariana Igneri | Associate Arts & Review Editor
007 James bOp! (Saturday 3/29, 8 p.m.)
‘Noah’ (Ongoing)
With this year’s James Bond theme, BC bOp!’s annual big jazz concert will feature music from Skyfall and 007, as well as from other musicians. Tickets are $10 through Robsham with a BC ID.
Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, and Logan Lerman star in the action-drama Noah, which tells the Biblical story of a man chosen by God to rescue the world before an apocalyptic flood. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the movie opens Friday.
the Big Apple Circus Presents ‘Luminocity’ (Ongoing)
Trapeze artists, flying acrobats, daring wirewalkers, jugglers, and clowns are all parts of Big Apple Circus’ show Luminocity, opening this week at City Hall Plaza. Tickets start at $20 through bigapplecircus.org.
the Boston Underground Film Festival (Through Sunday 3/30)
Hosted at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, the 16th annual BUFF celebrates the most bizarre of independent films. Movies are being screened every day until Sunday evening. For more information, show times, and tickets, visit bostonunderground.org.
Graham beck / Heights Senior sTaff
Haru Matsuri (Saturday 3/29, 8 p.m.)
The Japan Club of Boston College is presenting its culture show in Gasson 100. Including games and music, as well as both student and professional performances, the event is free.
HOLI (Saturday 3/29, 12:00 p.m.)
BC’s South Asian Student Association is sponsoring its annual free Holi festival, featuring Indian food, dancing, water balloons, music by ESM, and a rainbow of powdered paints.
Singer-Songwriter Competition (Thursday 3/27, 8 p.m.)
BC singer-songwriters will compete in Hillside Cafe on Thursday night for the opportunity to be featured among the top four acts at Arts Fest 2014. Admission is free.
Swingin’ into spring (Friday 3/28, 8 p.m.)
BC Full Swing is offering free dance lessons on Friday night in Gasson 100. There will be a live band, musical guest performances by American Idol finalist Siobhan Magnus and the last two years’ BC Idol winners, as well as new choreography showcases.
The Heights
Thursday, March 27, 2014
B3
outside The Lines
Exposure Media Group
Sophomores Max Prio and Billy Foshay launch film company focusing on promotional videos for BC clubs
several years o n p ro fe s sional film sets, and he ser ved as an assistant director for three of his father’s productions. It was a hobby he John Wiley | Arts & Review Editor planned to give up at BC. “I came to BC as a In business student, got into the closet CSOM,” Prio said. “Somehow, of Walsh 601, my advisor convinced me to take a Max Prio, CSOM ’16, scrolls through a gallery of in- film class, at the shock of my father, because terviews, motioning toward one in particular he never wanted me to enter the film indusas his business partner Billy Foshay, CSOM try—just because it’s such a pain.” In spite of his father’s initial “excitement,” ’16, stands over Prio’s shoulder, his face lit by a large computer monitor bracketed into the Prio has taken up a full film major to compledrywall. The scratched-up walls of the closet ment his studies in CSOM. “It’s unexpected,” Prio said. “You can’t are lined with black and white concept postpredict what’s going to happen in the film ers, designed by Foshay. The studio is tight: Prio’s Canon 7D nar- industry, unless you’re Martin Scorcese.” Prio and his partners, however, have rowly fits on the surface of his desk—he’d built the rig just a week earlier using an old 10-foot found something of a hidden market at BC. 2-by-4. Seeing Prio return from Cleveland After producing a promotional clip for the Circle Hardware with the 2-by-4, a handsaw, Cuban American Students Association, Prio and Phillips-head screwdriver, the security at was approached in the fall by Karl Bell, assistant director of the Student Programs Office, Walsh’s front desk was alarmed. “Will, the security guard at Walsh, was about the possibility of producing similar like, ‘What is this? It doesn’t look very good,’” videos for other clubs. As production of the Prio said. “I told him it was the start of a BC football short film began winding down, and Prio’s talks with Bell advanced, the idea company.” Formally not even a week old, the Expo- for Exposure started developing. One day this spring, while studying for a sure Media Group is a new name at Boston College. The five-man production house, now finance test, Foshay caught Prio working on operating out of Prio’s eight-man suite, hadn’t the logo for Exposure. Foshay, a photographer even existed in concept a month before the and graphic designer, immediately connected launch of its website last Sunday. The group of with Prio’s concept, and within a week, the BC videographers and photographers began two were shooting ideas back and forth for working together in the fall semester after the business. “I was getting tired with the whole proreceiving a $10,000 grant from Hyundai to cess, and then, he drove me crazy,” Prio said. produce a short film on BC football. Growing up in Miami, Fla., as the son “We were so pumped up to start this thing—it of a freelance film director, Prio has a very just kind of blew up.” Over Spring Break, the two were Skyping involved relationship with film. almost every day, discussing logistics, devel“I’ve grown up with a camera in my hands my entire life,” said Prio. “I’ve seen every type oping concept art, even unsuccessfully trying to tack together a pricing scheme. Prio started of camera roll through my house.” Before coming to BC, Prio had worked teaching himself the basics of web design in
his free time, and by the end of the week, the beta of Exposure’s website was live. Finding the right people to bring on board in these early stages of planning was relatively easy for Prio, working within BC’s small film studies department. “Naturally, I brought in my Hyundai team,” Prio said. “They’ve worked with me, they know what I’m doing and as a director, what I expect of them. I’ve taught them everything I need them to do, what I need them to know.” Joining the team as creative leads, Adisa Duke, A&S ’15, Nick Genovese, A&S ’16, and Ryan Reede, A&S ’16, met with Prio and Foshay about the project the week after Spring Break, excitedly forming the new company. On St. Patrick’s Day, the startup team was contacted by UGBC to create a video promoting tickets for the Annual Showdown. Given a week to produce, the five were almost immediately confronted with a near-impossible deadline. “When they dropped that deadline on us, our jaws all dropped,” Prio said. “It was like, there was no way this was gonna happen.” After rejecting a collection of iPhone clips offered by the Showdown organizers, the Exposure collaborative requested the rehearsal schedules of the six dance groups involved. Spending roughly three hours in the dance studios each night, Prio and his team collected hours of footages to be condensed into a 97-second video. The production process took roughly 25 hours of work, according to Exposure’s estimates. The video for Showdown released on Sunday collected 2,000 views within 48 hours, and the Exposure media group, created at the same time, had 400 likes within 36 hours. “It’s been a pretty crazy, fast ride, and I guess that’s what we wanted,” said Prio. “We planned it that way.” Prio, now CEO of Exposure Media Group, and Foshay, chief of marketing and design, have a very natural manner when handling cameras. They speak to each other using extraordinarily technical terms about the technologies they work with as if they’re stock phrases, but otherwise, they communicate quite casually.
“The nature of what we do is spontaneous,” Prio said. “We have a camera in our hands, and we want to just do stuff. We want to show people things.” While they try to interact with clients as any professional in the media industry would, the duo categorizes its style of business as young, cool—“almost-hipster”-like. “We’re not only going to be doing work for clients, but us, as a production house, we’re going to be putting out media, some skits, stories—sponsoring some artists we meet,” Prio said. “We already have a few creative things in the oven—we’re just trying to come up with ways to entertain people.” Rather than talking in terms of revenues at this stage in the company’s development, the two discuss success relative to social media figures. “If we have a ton of Instagram followers, a ton of Facebook followers, we can provide a channel,” Foshay said. “The content’s there to work with—the content’s actually very good, but these artists don’t have a way to share it. Exposure provides that.” “The initial launch was 200 percent a success,” Prio added. “We’re riding waves of lives.” In addition to promotional videos, Prio plans to grow Exposure to producing screenplays, short webisodes, and smaller projects thought up by the creative leads. An obsessive worker, Prio spends hours in the Walsh 601 production studio, and he acredits his continued mental wellbeing almost exclusively to his roommates, whom he describes as “interns.” “I have two or three pretty damn good interns that check up on me, make sure I’m still sane,” said Prio. “They’ll give me comedic relief, bring me water, coffee, ask me if I need anything. They love that there’s a business in here.” While currently in talks with administrators about funding for more RSOs to sponsor video promotions, Exposure plans to continue its work with UGBC in the immediate future. On Tuesday, it began work on a promotional video for Modstock, following the popularity of the Showdown video. “We want to keep our creativity at its peak,” Prio said. “We want to release great content, 24/7.” n
John Wiley / Heights Editor
Fashion Forward
Rihanna redefines fashion icon with bold and transformative looks RiRi brings runway attitude to everyday style, making her deserving of the CFDA Fashion Icon award
Therese Tully What is a fashion icon, and who are some of yours? Many people think of Audrey Hepburn or Coco Chanel right off the bat, but in the modern day and age, we are working on interpreting the term for ourselves. What constitutes a modern icon? What components of the magic formula can we glean from the past, and which ones must be rethought in 2014? The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) undoubtedly runs the fashion world. It is the cream of the crop, the ultimate authority when it comes to what’s in, many argue. Every year, it hosts an awards show to honor the most notable of the notable, the most fabulous of the fabulous, in a fashion show like no other. This year’s awards ceremony will take place on June 2, and it will honor Rihanna with the CFDA Fashion Icon award. Previous winners include the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Johnny Depp, Lady Gaga, and Iman. This year’s winner seems to bring her very own and very unique flavor to the mix. Rihanna is surely a new kind of winner, and she is much different than her predecessors. Since the announcement broke that Rihanna would be this year’s winner, there has been a varied response. In my opinion, Rihanna deserves to win for her versatility alone. Her bold
nature also doesn’t hurt—wallflowers don’t make great icons. The pop starlet has transformed her style and herself greatly from her “Pon de Replay” days and has embraced and established multiple trends in the fashion world. From ball gowns and long flowing locks to hot pants and fire engine-red bobs, Rihanna is a true fashion chameleon. She is able to rock a red lip, a pixie cut, and a stunning white gown one day and an incredibly revealing black lace dress the next—all with elegance and poise. She can go from soft and feminine to hard and sexy from day to day, and that’s why we just can’t get enough. Rihanna has always been a risk taker, and it seems the CFDA is ready to reward those risks. She’s the bad girl we all love to love. At the heart of Rihanna’s style is her tough demeanor. She radiates a fierceness that is paralleled by few. She has the vibe of a runway model in her everyday life, which is perhaps why the luxury brand Balmain asked her to be the face of its spring line. Her other fashion credentials include deals with MAC, a collection she designed for River’s Island, and the launch of her show Styled to Rock on Bravo last year. Additionally, she has been no stranger to the front row section of plenty of runway shows—Chanel and Commes des Garcons, to name a few. The woman can’t be stopped. She goes big, she is a diva, and we are eating it up. Her elegance in a formal gown is timeless, but her shaved hairdos and over-the-top metal earrings keep us coming back for more. Generations from now, people will look at Rihanna as the modern day Madonna that she is: always changing and always keeping it interesting. Doesn’t hurt that she has had a
stellar vocal career as well. Some argue that Rihanna’s risks don’t always pay off. ‘Hyper-sexualized,’ ‘trashy,’ ‘trite,’ and ‘disrespectful’ have been uttered by her critics. She came under some scrutiny earlier this year for a controversial photo shoot that took place outside of a mosque in Abu Dhabi. Some will argue she is more trendy than timeless, ultimately, but what this award is really about is a person whose fashion sensibility stops and makes us think, someone who pushes the envelope and can change the way that a whole country looks at fashion—its purpose, and its limitations. I think that Rihanna was ultimately a great choice. Some of her most iconic looks, in my book at least, are her 2013 Grammys look—a stunning Azzedine Alaia dress in a bold red with scandalously placed red chiffon cut-outs, and
her Dolce & Gabbana puffed sleeve tuxedo suit. The girl can go from wearing head-to-toe Chanel, to rocking all leather outfits with gold gun pendants. If that isn’t iconic, I don’t know what is. Rihanna has a vibrant and well-updated Instagram presence that she uses to help document her daily life and fabulous ensembles. Check out @badgirlriri to take a look at some of her most iconic looks to date. The tough girl has so much elegance about her these days that we can’t help but be rooting for her, and I can’t help but applaud the CFDA for its forward thinking and truly iconic choice this year. We can only wait and see what she pulls off next. Congrats, RiRi, and keep the fabulous fashion coming.
Therese Tully is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
photo courtesy of idolator
Rihanna’s 2013 Grammys dress is just one of many ensembles deserving of recongition.
Art ‘to go’: how a closed museum stays relevant
Michelle Tomassi Are art museums still relevant? What role do they play in today’s society? Why should we even care? These were the questions I was faced with after applying to an internship a few weeks ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and only now am I really considering the answers. Although the application formed these questions in a much more elegant manner, the prompt basically asked me to explain what value art museums have in modern culture, and why even the most historical museums have maintained relevance today. Plenty of answers came to mind: They facilitate conversation and learning about artwork that continues to influence our present society, they allow us to remember and revisit cultural aspects of our past, and they unite pieces from all around the world, creating a sense of global connectivity. They’re perfect for a class field trip, a first date, or the everyday individual who feels that he or she needs to “get cultured.” In other words, yes—they are still relevant. Recently, I came across an article in The New York Times about the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), called “Its Art Elsewhere, a Museum Tries to Stay Relevant.” The museum, which closed down last summer for major renovations, does not anticipate reopening until 2016, which has several San Franciscans and west coast modern art lovers concerned. Can a museum stay closed for that long and still keep its members interested? Does it have a responsibility to open a temporary location? Is a museum even relevant without a physical space for it to occupy? The questions that I considered on my internship application were actually being addressed in a real-life, contemporary issue. It’s not a surprise that the museum’s membership has decreased by half—after all, why be a member when you can’t even get through the doors? As for the second question, the museum’s director decided not to open temporary exhibits in other locations, since this would deplete the energy and funds that would be better suited toward the renovations. The museum’s initiative, “SFMOMA on the Go,” reflects an attempt to maintain relevancy by partnering with other arts institutes and engaging in public art projects. This desire to increase visibility is more openminded, and it redefines the meaning of the word “museum”—it’s not just a physical building, but also an artistic movement in itself. Museums represent an idea that can be shared beyond the physical space they inhabit, and the notion that a museum can be “on the go” suggests a flexibility and modernity that contrasts with traditional perceptions of museums as being pristine, immovable establishments. The efforts of the SFMOMA are commendable—art, like other aspects of our culture, should be adaptable and should connect with its audience in the most immediate and engaging way possible. In addition, I think there’s something to be said for a museum that wants to maintain its integrity and avoid dividing itself among temporary spaces. The SFMOMA may be losing membership, but at least it’s taking a creative approach to keeping itself alive while the physical space is closed down. The museum sees value in having a space to call its own, and it doesn’t want to prolong the attainment of that space. By completely closing its doors for a few years, the museum has gained value through absence—sad, but true. The SFMOMA was the first museum on the west coast devoted to modern and contemporary art, and now that the space it once occupied is under construction, people of the Bay area are starting to lament the loss and realize what a museum really has to offer: an opportunity for exchange of ideas and celebration of culture. The SFMOMA’s approach offers valuable lessons for artists and museum curators alike—from global art institutes to Boston College’s own exhibition spaces, being able to claim ownership of a space is essential and should be pursued with determination. In the mean time, it’s all the more important to keep connecting with an audience, and to prove that museums, both in place and on the go, are still relevant.
Michelle Tomassi is the Asst. Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
THE HEIGHTS
B4
Thursday, March 27, 2014
THE CRITICAL CURMUDGEON
‘Frozen’ at No. 1: why Menzel’s vocal character reigns supreme MATT MAZZARI In October 2013, Disney released a preview single from the soundtrack of its latest animated film. The movie was Frozen, and the song, of course, was “Let It Go.” Since then, the soundtrack of that motion picture has experienced immense success. Frozen has spent six non-consecutive weeks at the No. 1 Billboard position thus far, making it the first motion picture soundtrack to accomplish this since Titanic. In February, it reached one million record sales, making it the first LP to do so in 2014. The unstoppable original soundtrack even bumped out Beyonce’s latest release, making it the last thing to mess with Beyonce and live since forever. “Let It Go” won best song at the Academy Awards and, just last week, broke into Billboard’s top 10. Its infectious energy and spirit has made it tremen-
dously popular with adults and children of all ages. Plus, it’s the perfect type of song for in-shower acoustics, which is a thing that I totally heard from a friend. But this is where it gets interesting: the single released back in October isn’t the same song as the one that just became an Oscar winner and a record-breaking radio hit. This “Let It Go” is by Idina Menzel, a former Broadway performer, whereas the pre-released “Let It Go” was by Demi Lovato, one of the many Disney-prodigy actor/ songstresses of the decade. Both versions are on the Frozen soundtrack, both are sung as solo ballads in essentially the same style, and neither singer was responsible for writing the song. The tracks were recorded at approximately the same time in the same studio with the same producers, and Disney oversaw both to the same degree. So, why is Menzel’s clearly so much better?
This isn’t really an issue of subjectivity: Menzel’s version has sold close to two million downloads already since the movie’s release, while Lovato’s has sold just over 700 , 000 in almost twice the time. It’s possible that Menzel, being the actual voice of Elsa, has a lot to do with it. It’s worth noting, however, that Lovato has had a studio career for six years longer (despite being younger than this columnist, yikes), and not for Menzel’s lack of trying. According to Menzel, she’s been “signed and dropped a million times” in her years-long pursuit of a record career. The time she spent at the cusp of pop fame, however, is over now, as the former star of Wicked and Rent has finally become a household name, even if nobody can pronounce it correctly. Lovato’s original, on the other hand, has taken a backseat. Okay, now I’m going to move into subjective territory, but it’s ultimately to make a point about how the music market
objectively considers timbre. Timbre is the “tonal color” of a voice or a musical instrument— it differentiates one musical sound from another of the same volume and pitch. It’s why you could have Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant (two British rock singers from the ’70s with similarly fantastic vocal ranges) belt out the same note in the same octave and yet always be able to tell the two apart. More so than timbre, though, I’m talking about a singer’s vocal “character,” by which I mean an incorporation of timbre along with other qualities a singer’s tone can possess. Have you ever listened to a song because you liked the singer’s accent? How about the singer’s attitude? There are all sorts of emotion and bravado that a person’s voice can convey that don’t rely upon whether the tune itself is in minor or major key. All of these factors are considered (or at least intuited) in a wellsung song, and it’s difficult to quantify them in any way that
doesn’t just sound like your opinion. Still, in the case of Menzel and Lovato, there is a general consensus. It’s my belief that music listeners look for unique “vocal character” in their singers and sometimes value it even above virtuosity. That near-indescribable feature of a person’s voice that makes it “interesting” is the reason behind so very much of the way the industry gets shaped. In fact, it’s often the reason that there’s so little overlap between the exceptionally talented and trained vocalists on Broadway and the college-age singers in the Top 40. In this happy case, though, a far more unique vocal character accompanies Menzel’s experience and skill, which is why, in my correct opinion, Menzel’s version was the “Let It Go” that won out in the end.
Unbeknown to English-speaking music lovers, Shakira had been making honest, guitar-driven Latin pop-rock long before her third album and English crossover Laundry Service. On these albums, including Donde Estan Los Ladrones?—which is considered a “rock en Espanol” classic—she proved herself to be an adapt songwriter. The albums that followed, however, lacked the same sense of personal nakedness that made her the Latina version of Taylor Swift to young Hispanic girls
in the ’90s. That changed with her 2009 release of Sale el Sol, in which she returned to her Spanish-singing roots and personal songwriting. The record received rave reviews, setting high expectations for her latest release, Shakira. The self-titled album almost lives up to them. Its main problem is that, when listened to all the way through, it seems all over the place. That is not to say that the album doesn’t have themes or sounds that tie it together with her other albums. There are frequent sonic references to reggae and ska, which are a surprisingly nice twist to Shakira’s pop music sound.
Lyrically, Shakira spends most of the record thanking her partner, and Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique. That said, the sequencing of the album makes its content seem strange. The album opens with its only dance track, “Dare (La La La).” Featuring elements of both dubstep and ’90s house music, the song is musically and lyrically uninteresting (“Is it true that you want it / Then act like you mean it”). Furthermore, it lacks the spunk and musical intricacy of Shakira’s 2009 single “She Wolf,” which mixed electronica and violins, and featured some witty lyricism (“Not looking for cute little divas /
SHAKIRA SHAKIRA PRODUCED BY RCA RECORDS RELEASED MAR. 21, 2014 OUR RATING
PHOTO COURTESY OF RCA RECORDS
With only a few redeemable tracks, Shakira’s latest album is a scattered compilation of pop, dance, reggae, and Latin.
Or rich city guys that just want to enjoy / I’m having a very good time / And behave very bad in the arms of a boy”). It’s a disappointing track, considering what Shakira can do. Next comes the first single off the album and the first of the reggaeinspired tracks, “Can’t Remember to Forget You.” Despite a disappointing performance on the charts—the song peaked at No.15—it is a catchy tune with fast ska and escalating drums. This song marks the beginning of a strong patch of songs on the album, all taking inspiration from Bob Marley and The Wailers. “You Don’t Care About Me” is possibly the album’s most catchy and musically inventive songs. Shakira borrows the xylophone part from Goyte’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” and overlays it with horns and reggae guitars. “Cut Me Deep” keeps with the reggae guitar sound, and adds the beautiful harmonies of featured artist Magic—but that’s really all the song has to offer. While all the songs on the album have something that makes them musically interesting, few have the lyrics to match. Shakira is a better lyricist when she gets personal—as exhibited on the sing-in-the-carwith-windows-down “Spotlight,” in which she recounts the story of a girl, in her words, “hid behind a wall, piling up the bricks, hoping they would fall.” This is, of course,
a personal reflection. “They can say whatever they want,” she declares. She refuses to give up her man, “even if [she] ends up blind.” The song has an amazing hook that uses the usually hipster effect of white noise over vocals. It’s a powerful application of the technique, unlike its use on the album’s second single “Empire,” which feels forced. After “Spotlight,” the sequencing problems of the album really come to light. She follows the effects-laden track with acoustic ballad “Broken Record.” Both are good songs, but they don’t fit together. As a result, the beauty of the second song is lost, and listeners are left to make the transition between these tracks on their own. By far the most heartfelt track on the record is “23,” in which Shakira goes so far as to declare that her partner made her believe in God and destiny. It is beautifully stark and simple, using only an acoustic guitar. Meanwhile, “Medicine,” the track before “23,” sounds as awkward as a rooster mating with a peacock. The song utilizes slide guitar, which sounds uncomfortable when paired with the vocals of fellow Voice coach Blake Shelton. While Shakira’s album stretches pop music to its limits—adding island, Latin, and reggae in the mix— the self-titled album needs more consistency to be truly great.
‘Supermodel’ poses as upbeat album, maintains complexity BY LUIZA JUSTUS AND MEREDITH SOUTO For The Heights
Los Angeles alternative rock band Foster the People has just released its second album, Supermodel. The band’s previous work, Torches, was released in 2011 and featured hits such as “Pumped Up Kicks,” “Helena Beat,” and “Color on the Walls.” While the new album lacks the optimistic energy that dominated the last one, it has interesting, consistent themes and a number of notable tracks. Foster the People’s warm, vivid music comes through in easy and colorful tones, with a captivating blend of keyboards, guitars, and synthesizers that create a sound that is completely unique to the trio. Mark Foster’s soft vocals are the nucleus of every song in this album. He sings consistently about the pains of entering adult life and not knowing exactly what the game plan is—that gnawing feeling that consumes every 20-something. The lyrics also provide a commentary on modern consumer culture and how people measure their self-worth in terms of how others discern their online presence, thus hiding their true selves beneath this facade. Foster describes the album as “angry,”
and that it is. Much darker than Torches, this album feels like a slap in the face for those expecting to hear the feel-good melodies of the band’s previous work. The opening song is “Are You What You Want To Be?,” a catchy tune more reminiscent of the electronic, upbeat style of the band. It leads us into the album with its semidistorted guitar riffs and repetitive vocal “nananas” that, surprisingly, do not seem to get old. The verses are constructed in a complex and interesting way—they are a little odd to listen to, but that’s what makes them intriguing. It’s easy to imagine “Are You What You Want To Be?” being played in a stadium setting—it sounds bigger than a lot of their older tunes, more geared to play live than, say, “Helena Beat.” The lyrics are still amazingly dark, but in a playful way that you can only hear if you really listen. “Pumped Up Kicks” is a deceptive song in that it has a bubbly beat but lyrics that do not fit that mood, which actually talk about a school shooting. Supermodel builds off of this mood—it keeps this pop-like facade, but listeners who know the band fairly well will know to look under this lighthearted exterior to find what sets this band apart from other mindless indie pop bands.
The track “Pseudologia Fantastica”—a title that sounds nothing but pretentious—is actually a display of Foster the People’s stylistic development. The group leaves the realm of well-calculated radio pop and delivers a track that experiments with psychedelic sounds and lethargic beats. Foster the People is taking a leaf out of the book of its fellow indie rockers MGMT, with a ’60s feel and a looser attitude. The stark difference between this track and general
Foster the People canon is that this is more reminiscent of a throwback: it has a Beatles-esque timelessness that doesn’t care too much about millennial catchiness and sounds much more experimental. With “Goats in Trees” and “Fire Escape,” it sounds as though the band is abandoning its computer and the theatrics in favor of a more human and natural sound. These strippeddown songs remind the listeners that the members of Foster the People are
TOP SINGLES
1 Happy Pharrell Williams 2 Dark Horse Katy Perry feat. Juicy J 3 All of Me John Legend 4 Talk Dirty Jason Derulo feat. 2 Chainz 5 Pompeii Bastille 6 Team Lorde 7 Counting Stars OneRepublic 8 Drunk in Love Beyonce feat. Jay Z
TOP ALBUMS
Matt Mazzari is a staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.
Shakira falls from her ‘Empire’ with self-titled album BY PHOEBE FICO For The Heights
CHART TOPPERS
bonafide musicians who can actually play instruments without relying on modern technology. Supermodel has its stylistic and experimental merits, but overall it returns to the familiar and fails to be exciting upon repeat listens. It lacks the energy and quirky fun of Foster the People’s debut album. While Torches was a more relatable listen, however, it fell into the trap of generic indie rock—a category Supermodel avoids.
SUPERMODEL FOSTER THE PEOPLE PRODUCED BY COLUMBIA RECORDS RELEASED MAR. 14, 2014 OUR RATING
PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA RECORDS
Foster the People continues juxtaposing lighter melodies with darker lyrical themes in its new album.
1 Frozen Soundtrack Various Artists 2 My Krazy Life YG 3 Supermodel Foster the People 4 Recess Skrillex 5 Going to Hell The Pretty Reckless Source: Billboard.com
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK BY RYAN DOWD
“G.U.Y.”
LADY GAGA
Lady Gaga’s new video “G.U.Y.” is a lot like the artist herself. There’s a lot of spectacle, a lot of glitter—along with some confusion with what it all might mean. Confusion isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if it’s an engaging type of confusion. Gaga’s “G.U.Y.” is surely engaging to some, but alienating to most. “G.U.Y” effectively runs for seven minutes—that is, if you don’t count the five additional minutes tacked on for the credits—which should give you an idea of the video’s sheer spectacle. The video, directed by Gaga herself, has a welcoming, auspicious beginning, but then gives in to the conventions of a pop/dance video. The first half of the video can be considered “engaging confusion.” Sure, Gaga’s crash-landed bird-woman is seemingly a rip off Kanye West’s “Runaway” birdwoman, but Gaga fills the frame with an earnest, seldom overbearing enthusiasm. She includes crucifixion and baptismal imagery that’s easily spotted but not right in your face. The stop and start quality of her music in the first half matches her uneven visual pacing. The first half isn’t necessarily enjoyable, but it’s stimulating. Gaga’s second half (the half that actually plays the track “G.U.Y.”) is also not necessarily enjoyable and is anything but stimulating. Here, she swaps her bird form for full Gaga. She’s always enjoyed surrounding herself with throbbing, shirtless males, and in “G.U.Y.” she doesn’t disappoint. The second half is essentially Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” with the genders flipped and the dancers clothed. To her credit, Gaga can stage and execute a dance sequence—but after the ambitious beginning, it’s not exactly where we wanted it to go. Maybe there’s more in store for the aforementioned bird-lady, but most of us are still wondering where the heck she went.
SINGLE REVIEWS BY MICHELLE TOMASSI 50 CENT “Pilot”
TRAVIE MCCOY FEAT. BRENDON URIE “Keep On Keeping On” Gearing up for his next album Animal Ambition, 50 Cent released his latest single, “Pilot,” on Monday evening, followed by an official video the next day. The track cues the more subdued beats of last week’s releases “Hold On” and “Don’t Worry ’Bout It,” signaling 50’s more understated reentry into the rap sphere.
Two lead singers are better than one—at least for Travie McCoy’s track “Keep On Keeping On,” featuring Panic! At the Disco lead singer Brendon Urie. McCoy, lead singer for Gym Class Heroes and solo artist, pairs his rap rhythm well with Urie’s vocals, leaving a strong chorus that will make you keep on coming back for more.
CHRISTINA PERRI “Burning Gold” Christina Perri takes a more upbeat approach with “Burning Gold”—a lighthearted departure from her more emotional ballads. A pop-rock song that is less piano-driven, “Burning Gold” proves that Perri can be versatile, although her impressive vocal range doesn’t shine quite as strongly.
CLASSIFIEDS Thursday, January 17, 2014 Thursday, March 27, 2014
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THE HEIGHTS THE HEIGHTS
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The Heights
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Bennet’s Banter
All is not well with the Red Sox Bennet Johnson Opening day for the Boston Red Sox is just a week away. The team hopes to defend its World Series title by starting a series in Baltimore. With a newly inked, one-year, $16 million deal, the Sox will also have fan-favorite David Ortiz batting cleanup. Everything seems to be great in Red Sox Nation, right? Wrong. Last week, we were reminded about the murder charges facing Jared Remy after the death of his girlfriend Jennifer Martel. Jared is the steroid-fused son of former second baseman and famous NESN announcer Jerry Remy, who has been dubbed “RemDag,” “Voice of the Red Sox,” and “President of Red Sox Nation.” The details of Jared Remy’s long and abundant history of charges ranging from domestic violence, wanton behavior, and irresponsible adult activity were laid out in an article in The Boston Globe last Saturday. The story quelled the idea that The Globe would no longer report negative stories about the Red Sox organization after its purchase by John Henry, who is also owner of the Red Sox. Here is the official report from The Globe: “Jared Remy was the king of second chances. A review of hundreds of pages of court files and police records revealed accounts that he terrorized five different girlfriends starting when he was 17, and that courts repeatedly let him off with little more than probation and his promise to stay out of trouble. He rarely did.” Now 35 years old, Jared has been arrested and brought to court for allegedly murdering Martel, who is also the mother of his child. Although he was repeatedly let off the hook, Jared’s latest accusation of stabbing Martel to death in cold blood looks like it will bring a different fate to the infamous son of a star. Jared’s troubled past began nearly 17 years ago, and it is still causing problems today. Jared worked as a security guard at Fenway Park in 2004 when the team captured a World Series championship. He was assigned to drive the trophy for an appearance at the Berkshires in the offseason, and was pulled over for going 92 mph on the Mass Pike, according to RMV records. The Red Sox employed Jared for over four years, even after he served jail time for assaulting his former girlfriend in 2005. Jared was later fired from his position for steroid distribution in 2008. Although Jared is no longer directly affiliated with the Red Sox and his father, his name continues to pop up in news stories about violence over the years. So, should the Red Sox fire longtime broadcaster Jerry Remy over the actions of his son? Many argue that the Red Sox, who own over 80 percent of their broadcast channel NESN, must part ways with Remy in order to protect a positive television rating and public opinion. There are many people who argue that Jerry is responsible for his son’s actions. BostInno blogger Alex Reimer argues that, “It’s time for Jerry Remy to resign from NESN,” while an anonymous author from Obnoxious Sports Fan declares that NESN viewers “unknowingly helped to finance Jared Remy’s way of life for years,” by financing Jerry’s salary as an announcer. But what did Jerry Remy do? He wasn’t the one who was accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in cold blood. There are countless felons who play professional sports, and fans hardly complain about them. There is also no evidence that his father used his influence to get Jared special treatment over the years—it does seem that Jerry Remy paid for his son’s superb legal defense, however—similar to what many fathers would do for their sons. Jared’s trial isn’t scheduled until this fall, but more troubling discoveries are likely to be made about his past throughout the summer—about the same time that Jerry will be broadcasting to millions of Sox fans on NESN. I do not believe that Jerry should be fired over his son’s behavior, but more disturbing discoveries throughout the year could jeaporadize Jerry Remy’s position—costing baseball one of its greatest broadcasters.
Bennet Johnson is the Asst. Metro Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at metro@bcheights.com
Thursday, March 27, 2014
First annual Design Week hosts city events By Sarah Moore Heights Editor More than 80 events, including demonstrations, speakers, open houses, and cocktail receptions, are taking place throughout Boston this week as part of a new citywide festival. Produced by Fusco & Four/Ventures, LLC, the first annual Boston Design Week kicked off last Thursday and will continue until Sunday, March 30, and is focused on the appreciation of all things design. Meaghan Slaherty, account assistant for Boston Design Week, explained the value of the festival’s focus. “When most people think of design they think of interior design, or architecture, but not necessarily that everything around us has, at some point, been designed,” she said. The organizers hope that the various events planned will help to encourage the public to redefine their awareness of the importance of design and recognize its role in everday lives. This idea determined the breadth of activities planned throughout the week that highlight areas ranging from sculpture to industrial design and fashion to textiles. “People definitely need to be enlightened as to the various aspects of design all over the city,” Slaherty said. “Of course there is the traditional interior design to furniture design, but also students making robot models—which is going on Sunday—to photography and even food design. We want people to learn how much design there really is, and all of its different definitions.” Boston Design Week hopes to open the public’s eyes to furniture design, which is the focus of various panels and discussions on Thursday. Throughout the day and across the city, representatives from the furniture design business, including Bradley Odom, the director of Design Education of West
Elm, and Dwight Sargent, the owner and founder of Pompanoosuc Mills, will host seminars discussing the very different approaches they take on the same subject. Also on Thursday is an event held by the Institute for Human Centered Design that focuses on the challenges for some physical human environments. The discussion, entitled “Running with Scissors,” involves working alongside those with hand impairments to understand, as its Boston Design Week description says, “where this scissor idea just doesn’t quite cut it.” Boston Design Week will not only highlight the differences in areas of design but also the potential variations in the design process. On Friday it is hosting a special event concerning reclaimed retail at Orchard Skate Shop on Newbury St.—which was designed and built by installation artists from !ND!V!DUALS Collective with wood from a 100-year-old, demolished Allston home. “This is just an example of how design is everywhere,” Slaherty said. “You might not think about it, but from the clothes we wear to the cars we drive, everything has been designed.” Though the idea for Boston Design Week, initially proposed in 2009, was stalled by an unstable economy, Fusco & Four/Ventures, LLC, have always seen Boston as an important location to share their focus on design. To organize the numerous events that make up the festival’s 10 days, planners looked to design weeks of other cities, including Philadelphia and London. “We think that Boston is a really special city both history-wise and designwise,” Slaherty said. “As Boston is an important world hub, I think it was ready for the city to have this week to showcase its history as well as the future of Boston design.” The week will close with its biggest
Selected Events From Boston Design Week What: Floral Fictions Wine Reception Where: 175 Newbury St. When: Friday, 6 - 8 p.m. What: Student Exhibition and Demonstration Where: 150 North St. When: Saturday, 12 - 4 p.m. What: Designing & Decorating with Salvage Where: 1946 Washington St. When: Saturday, 1 - 2 p.m. What: Art & Design of the 20th and 21st Centuries Where: 539 Tremont St. When: Friday - Saturday event, AD20/21, which is also produced by Fusco & Four/Ventures, LLC and will be held from Friday to Sunday at The Boston Center for the Arts’ Cyclorama. This is the seventh year that Art and Design of the 20th and 21st centuries and The Boston Print Fair will be hosting the show and sale of contemporary fine art, photography, jewelry, furniture, and sculpture in the South End. This year all proceeds of the event will benefit the Boston Architectural College—the largest independent, accredited college of spatial design in New England. “I think that there’s a lot of good design related happenings in Boston,
and this event is an extension of the opportunity to continue to learn about design and why it is so important,” Slaherty said. Although AD20/21 will begin on Friday, Boston Design Week has already seen positive reception from the city. Events have consistently been standing room only, drawing in both individuals from the design world as well as people on the street. “Our participants have been really happy with the exposure they are getting,” Slaherty said. “We have heard only positive responses from them as well, as the community and the dates are already set for next year.” n
Fare hikes proposed, closures disrupt MBTA commutes MBTA, from B8 “Boston doesn’t have the most lively nightlife, but [the extended hours] could help it become more active,” he said. While residents anticipate the positive effects of the extended hours on their weekend commute, many have already started to dread the other major MBTA change, which will significantly affect their commutes during the week. Government Center closed on Saturday for a complete construction overhaul, which will last until the spring of 2016. The $82 million project has one definitive purpose: to make the station accessible to people with disabilities. As it stands, Government Center is only accessible by sets of stairs and escalators. In order to bring the station—the ninth busiest in the MBTA system—into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) Agreement, two sets of elevators will be installed. Mark Prescott, the public relations director for the Boston Street Railway Association, emphasized the pervasive nature of the project. “A full two-year closure of a major downtown transfer station is unprecedented,” said Prescott in an email. “Orient Heights Station, on the Blue Line in East Boston, closed for approximately six months for renovations in 2013. Within the last decade, Park Street and State Street have been renovated but were not closed for the duration of the project.” While simply bringing a station up to code seems at odds with the project’s lengthy duration, the convergence of the Green and Blue Lines in the station necessitates a total redesign to accommodate the necessary handicap requirements. All the mechanical, electrical, and subsystems within the station must be redone to function with the new ac-
commodations. The majority of construction will take place underground. For those who regularly travel through Government Center, the T recommends allotting an extra 10 to 15 minutes into the commute, but Prescott advised 15 to 20 minutes. Green Line trains will still be able to travel through Government Center during the construction, but will not stop at the station. The Green Line branches—B, C, D, and E—will end at either Park Street or North Station, depending on the specific line and time of day. Sara Williams, an intern at Hill Holliday and A&S ’14, fears the effect of the closing on her bi-weekly commute. “I go to Government Center twice a week, so it’s going to be a big pain,” said Williams. “Everyone in the office is really concerned as well.” Like many others who work at or near City Hall Plaza, Williams plans to either walk to her office from the Park Street stop, or transfer to the Orange Line to continue to State Street. When Jacqueline Delgado, A&S ’14, first found out about the Government Center closing, she considered how the construction would affect those unfamiliar with the T system. “I’m graduating in May, and my parents have to go through Government Center to transfer [lines] from the airport,” she said. “Most of my family is from Florida, and they’re not used to public transportation or Boston in general. It’s complicating matters for me, working out logistics for them.” T riders may soon see fare hikes in addition to their re-routed commutes. On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Finance Committee proposed a 10-cent increase for subway and rides, and a $5 increase in the MBTA monthly pass. Public meetings will be held in April to discuss the hikes, which, should the proposal pass, would take effect as early as July 1. n
Photo Courtesy of Nick Tomkavage / BSRA
The T left for BC from Government Center for the last time before the station’s two-year closure.
AP File Photo
Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09, wants Boston to have a say in nearby casino plans.
RTCD awaits court decision on changing state casino laws Casino, from B8 tention for its efforts to repeal the 2011 gambling law. “What I found is that wherever casinos were placed—especially in the middle of communities—crime rate always goes up, property values decrease, and small businesses are always negatively impacted because they simply can’t compete with the casinos,” Ribiero said. “Once I learned that, I became involved with fighting casinos locally and now statewide.” As it currently stands, general Massachusetts residents do not have the ability to vote on a casino. According to the law, residents of the specific communities in which the casinos hope to build must approve the transition. Casino opponents, such as RTCD, have helped end several projects including those proposed in Milford, East Boston, Palmer, and West Springfield. Like Walsh, Ribiero hopes that the city of Boston and its citizens will be permitted to have a voice on the development of casinos in Massachusetts. According to Ribiero, the only way potential consumers could access casinos in Revere and Everett would be through roads that go through Charlestown, which would make Boston a host community to the casinos. “Our hope is that the gambling commission will see it that way and give the people of Boston a say on the two proposals,” Ribiero said. “If not, we hope that the mayor will take this case to court and fight for the right to allow our people to voice an opinion on these two casinos.” The RTCD campaign is currently seeking a ruling from the state’s highest court to allow Massachusetts voters to decide whether to modify the state casino law, despite opposition from State Attorney General Martha Coakley, who declared that the change is unconstitutional.
“We are following the path of lots of other innovative petitions,” Ribiero said. “There is a law in the state of Massachusetts that allows citizens to put together a law approved by voters, and currently we have gone forward and collected over 90,000 signatures, with 75,000 of those certified as registered voters.” RTCD collected more than the minimum 68,000 valid signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot. Now, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts must decide whether this alteration to the law is constitutional or not. The repeal effort has raised concerns within the casino industry. There are several casino developers fighting against Walsh and RTCD to keep the repeal off the ballot. “It is the people’s right to decide on whether we make casino gambling illegal in Massachusetts,” Ribiero said. “We fully expect that the Supreme Judicial Court will side with us, and that our new change will allow Bostonians to vote on their ballots this coming November.” Their proposal will be heard during the first week of May in court, and a decision will be released by late June or early July. Secretary of State William F. Galvin needs to know the results of the case by July 9 in order to have sufficient time to prepare the ballot. Looking forward, RTCD plans to focus on impacting the upcoming election as much as possible by petitioning resident communities in Everett and Revere. “We are planning significant outreach to communities that will be impacted by some of these proposed sites,” Ribiero said. “Although only those communities can currently vote on the casinos, our focus over the next couple of months prior to the court decision will be to boost awareness of casino consequences in those communities.” n
THE HEIGHTS
Thursday, March 27, 2014
B7
Library’s Johnson wing to experience renovations
THE HEART OF THE CITY
Restaurant Week needed this rebrand MAGGIE POWERS
EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
The Boston Public Library, located in Copley Square, will be renovated to include spaces equipped with recording technology and large screens in order to attract younger patrons.
Library, from B8 Colford said. “In addition, library services have changed so much that the buildings people have are substandard now and aren’t really suited for the way people use public space now.” In the case of the BPL, the idea for the renovations started with a desire to upgrade its children’s library. Although it was the first library to designate a space specifically for children, the resources currently available at the BPL for the very young are far behind what should be expected of a library that size, according to Colford. After deciding to redesign and relocate the children’s library, however, BPL officials began exploring ways to cater more to teens, in order to get those children who grew up going to the library with their parents interested in coming back as high school students. Eventually, they decided to entirely reinvent the Johnson wing of the library to fit their vision of what they hope the BPL will be. The renovations will take place on the first floor, the mezzanine level, the second floor, and the lower level of the building. Besides those currently underway on the
second floor, further renovations are pending the city budget, which will be available on July 1. Colford says that the release of the budget will determine only when—not if—the renovations can be done, and he is confident the entire project will be completed in about three years. When the second floor is finished in March of 2015, it will house the new children’s library and a teen space, along with the nonfiction and adult reference sections. The teen space will bring a more social aspect to the library, featuring booths in which to do work with friends, as well as an area called “the lounge,” which will have a large screen for watching movies or playing video games. There will also be a space called “the lab” equipped with technology for recording music and editing audio or video clips. Colford referred to it as a space where kids can “mess around with technology” and said that it fits in well with the “makerspace” movement of libraries today. By making technology a more central focus of the renovated building, the BPL also hopes to attract a greater portion of people within the 20 to 35 age range, which is often the hardest demographic for libraries to draw in, according to Colford.
“A lot of libraries lose that age group because they go to college and they use their college libraries, and once they graduate from college they’re not really oriented toward libraries,” he said. “They usually come back once they become parents and they bring their kids to the library, but we think there’s an opportunity using technology and cool places to hang out to keep them coming in.” Despite this new focus on technology, Colford spoke of a desire to re-engage the community that is traditionally the heart and soul of a library—the readers. According to him, this can be difficult for a central library to accomplish due to its size. At the BPL’s branches, the populations are smaller and better-connected, both with each other and with the branch librarians. This connection fosters vibrant conversations about books—something the BPL hopes to bring to its main location by creating spaces for readers and staff to discuss what they’re reading. Colford said that in this way, they hope to fill the role of the old independent book store. Colford believes the most visually dramatic renovations will be opening up the lobby of the Johnson building to the city and to the rest of the library. Now, the con-
nection between the Johnson building and the McKim building is tucked away on one side of the Johnson lobby. The renovation will widen the connector and knock down several walls within the lobby, making each building more visible from the interior of the other. Retail space of some sort, possibly a cafe, will be installed at street level, and most of the granite columns in front of the windows of the Johnson building will be removed. The tinted windows, in turn, will be replaced with clear glass—uniting the library with bustling life out on Boylston Street. “We wanted to make sure that when people came to the Boston Public Library, they knew they were in Boston and they knew they were in the Boston Public Library,” Colford said. According to Colford, the BPL will always be known for its history as the first public library in America. Their challenge is to create an environment that evokes the future, instead of just history. He hopes that the new Johnson building will spark an excitement in people about the present and the future—the same way the McKim building inspires awe of the past.
BOSTON FOODIE Pauli’s delivers a ‘spectrum of sandwiches’ Chef Barker hopes to restore old North End atmosphere BY KELLY COLEMAN Heights Staff When it comes to sandwiches, chef Paul Barker is not exactly conventional. “We try to push the envelope,” he said. One would probably be able to find or create any sandwich one wants from the extensive menu at Pauli’s, a North End restaurant known for its great quality, affordable prices, and “spectrum of sandwiches.” Pauli’s is known for its “Lobsta Roll,” which comes in a seven, 14, or even 24ounce sub. The delectable lobster meat is dabbed with lemon and mayo in order to add flavor, but just enough so that the lobster meat is still the dominant ingredient. In addition to its renowned lobster rolls, Pauli’s also has fantastic burgers, salads, pasta dinners, and breakfast entrees and sandwiches. The Mexicali burger, for instance, has your black angus, grass-fed beef patty on a bun, topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and chipotle mayo. Barker said that Pauli’s
prides itself on its use of fresh ingredients and authentic, house-made sauces. Pauli’s frequently has new and exciting specials. March brought several mouthwatering offers to Pauli’s menu for a limited time. On Fat Tuesday, Pauli’s introduced their own muffuletta sandwich, a classic New Orleanian bite comprised of ham, salami, mortadella, provolone, and chopped red onion, which is all topped with house-made olive salad. To add the Italian flair of the North End, the sandwich is put LOCATION: between two Italian 65 Salem St. seed rolls. This special is available until CUISINE: the end of March. American In the spirit of St. Paddy’s Day, Pauli’s SAMPLE DISH: released a corn-beef March Madness Platter reuben, complete with corned beef, swiss
PHOTO COURTESY OF PAULI’S
cheese, and sauerkraut. For St. Joseph’s Day, Pauli’s introduced a mixture between a classic reuben and Italian sub called the “reubino.” Without giving too much away, Barker explained that to make a reubino, he grills the ingredients of the classic Italian sub. Then, he adds sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing—two signature ingredients of a reuben. Pauli’s pays attention to all kinds of seasons—including basketball season. For March Madness, Pauli’s serves a delicious March Madness platter until April 7. The dish has sandwiches representing each region of the country participating in the tournament. A set of Pauli’s beloved lobster rolls represents the East Coast; a group of California wraps—complete with grilled chicken, mixed green, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes and chipotle mayo—stands in for the West Coast; crispy fried chicken subs served on rolls and topped with cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise rep-
resent the South; and finally, a pair of steak tip wraps topped with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and red onions represents the Midwest, known for its scrumptious beef. Pauli’s opened in 2010. Barker had previously owned several other establishments, including an Italian deli called Scali in the financial district of Boston, which he closed about six years ago. In the ’90s, Barker owned an Italian concept restaurant with more of a fast-food vibe called Pacini’s. Barker grew up in the food industry, working from a young age at his father and uncle’s grocery stores. After graduate school, he helped his mother open a restaurant in the North End called Nicole’s. Barker recalled a time when the North End was a place of familiarity and intimacy between services and customers. By frequently interacting with customers and keeping his employees happy to work at Pauli’s, Barker hopes to reestablish that same closeness in the old North End.
In most cities, March and August are traditionally slow periods for restaurants, but for four weeks each year in Boston, the crowds swell in around 200 of the city’s hottest dining spots. This is almost entirely thanks to Restaurant Week. Started in 2001, Restaurant Week offers a sampling of the city’s most posh places for a steep discount of $38 for a three-course meal. This is great, in theory. In practice, however, turning any ordinary experience into “The Event” presents a—excuse the silverware pun—twopronged set of problems. First, as pointed out by Taryn Luna in The Boston Globe, there are many logistical problems with Restaurant Week. The appeal of Restaurant Week, the one-size-fits-all price tag, is not particularly effective considering one of the major appeals of the Boston food scene is its diversity, the antithesis of a forced number of courses and set price. For higher end restaurants, Restaurant Week meant either sacrificing profits to offer signature dishes, or disappointing customers. On the flip side of the coin, less expensive restaurants had a harder time getting customers in the door because the mandated $38 check was a higher price point than what the clientele expected. These criticisms led to the rebranding of Restaurant Week in 2014. Now known as Dine Out Boston, greater flexibility is being offered to both diners and restaurant owners. There is now tiered pricing—$15, $20, or $25 for lunch and $28, $33, or $38 for dinner—with no set course limit for restaurants. The second set of problems that arise from Restaurant Week is those elusive, intangible qualities that often come with making a typical experience—going out to eat, in this case—“The Event.” (Forgive me for the brief, obnoxious, curmudgeon-y direction this column is about to take—I promise it will not last long.) In some ways, Restaurant Week becomes an adult version of the vastly popular Scooper Bowl. Granted, it’s a cheap three-course meal rather than all-you-can-eat ice cream, but the awfulness of the experience remains the same. Despite being initially enticed by the great deal, ultimately you find yourself just short of throwing elbows in a sea of people, all of them thinking they are more entitled to personal space and to the deals than others. After about an hour into the experience, you realize this whole production sounded a lot more fun in concept rather than in actuality, and you probably should have just stayed home with the same Netflix and bad Chinese food you eat every weekend. Hopefully, the re-branding of Restaurant Week to Dine Out Boston will take the best parts of the event and distill them slightly so that it once again becomes an occasion that the city celebrates, not something that provokes snarky blog posts advising readers how to avoid Restaurant Week, or an event that starts to seem a lot like the Groupon offers that arrive in inboxes every morning. This weekend will be the second of the two Dine Out Boston weekends. Despite all the potential drawbacks, there is still something enticing about all the promise that the rebranding and a spring weekend have to offer. Hopefully, a new optimism can be cultivated among restaurant owners and patrons alike, achieving the original goal of Restaurant Week—boosting the food scene of Boston. The new tiered pricing system and flexible number of courses will hopefully encourage a wider customer base —a $15 lunch is much more enticing to a college student than an almost $40 dinner. Thanks to the changes made, I may be persuaded to put down the porkfried rice and emerge from my cocoon of covers in hopes of a new experience that will indeed entice me, and the rest of the city, to dine out.
Maggie Powers is an editor for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.
Metro
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Thursday, March 27, 2014
Inside Out
Edge of Town
Listening to voters Ryan Towey Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09, launched his first of a series of town hall meetings called “Mondays with the Mayor” this week, designed for him to hear the needs of the average Boston citizen, but Walsh is not the first guy to try to achieve political success by listening to his constituents. It may come as a surprise that I myself have dabbled in the political game. In middle school, I was—of course—running for student government because I apparently had no cooler things to do. I had to come up with a crafty slogan that would help launch what I hoped would be a winning campaign, but I couldn’t come up with any words that rhymed with my name other than cryin’ and dyin’, neither of which seemed like words that would invite victory. Ultimately, I came up with something only a tad less embarrassing: “Your Choice, Your Vote, Your Voice!” Amazingly, I went on to achieve victory. I like to believe that my peers voted for me because I promised to act as their political voice, though I recognize that I actually won because I delivered an earnest speech that everyone thought included several hilarious jokes, and I was not going to correct them. But I digress. The point here is that there is great value in letting your constituents be heard, or at least making them feel like they are being heard. Because of the amount that I have read or written Walsh’s name, it is easy for me to forget that Walsh has only been Boston’s mayor for a few short months and that he still has much to learn, both about the office itself and the people he serves. In terms of an official having a relationship with his constituents, former mayor Thomas M. Menino—known for his palpable presence in all of the city’s neighborhoods—is a tough act to follow. Even I had one indirect experience with Menino before his tenure ended. He came out on stage at Boston Calling in September to introduce Local Natives, a gesture that made me feel like an authentic member of the Boston community. I have yet to have the same experience with Walsh, who remains a figure I have only seen in photographs. Even when I went to a meeting held by his transition committee at the Boston Public Library in January, he himself was not present and was a figure tangential to the actual proceedings. The “Mondays with the Mayor” series should change that. At the first meeting in the series, held at a school in Brighton, The Boston Globe reported that citizens gathered to express their concerns on issues ranging from the need for crosswalks to concerns about charter school enrollment. I will eventually attend one of Walsh’s town hall meetings—as a BC student, the city’s concerns are my concerns, and Walsh is most definitely my mayor. Walsh is wise to reach out to his constituency in a tangible way, as he is likely to convince people like me—who have thus far seen him only as a distant image—that he is very much a present force in their lives. My middle school campaign slogan may not have been what brought me political victory, but it at least had the right idea—Make sure the people voting for you know that you are paying attention to them. It’s worth the time.
Breck WillS / Heights Graphic
Boston Public Library will undergo renovations to better integrate with city By Mary Rose Fissinger Special Projects Editor The Boston Public Library (BPL) has two faces—and one of them is getting a serious face lift. Its first, older and more recognizable face is the facade of the historic McKim Building, home to the majestic Bates Hall reading room and host to scores of Bostonian weddings. The McKim building—dubbed a “palace for the people” by architect Charles Follen McKim—was built in the late 1800s, and has presided over Copley Square ever since. The BPL’s other face, which looks out at Boylston Street, is decidedly less grand, and a person seeing it for
the first time would have a hard time identifying it as part of the BPL. In fact, the only noticeable indications on the concrete face of the Johnson Building are the colorful signs advertising its coming renovations. The Johnson Building was designed in the ’60s and opened its doors in 1972. Now, more than 40 years later, its gray, fortress-like exterior is the antithesis of the direction in which libraries everywhere are moving—toward a more social, inclusive environment that incorporates rather than shuts out its surroundings. The renovations, the first of which began about a month and a half ago, aim to recreate the Johnson Building as a space that invites people inside and fosters creativity and collaboration along with research. The
BPL follows a growing number of large urban libraries that have made similar changes in recent years, such as the Seattle Public Library and the Chicago Public Library. Director of Library Services for the BPL Michael Colford attributes this wave of renovations to both the changing nature of sharing information and the simultaneous realization on the part of many library administrations that the structures of their buildings are incongruous with the services they want to provide. “There was a lot of library construction money in the ’50s and ’60s, and now those buildings need updating,”
See Library, B7
Students prepare for effects of MBTA changes Government Center stop closes for two years, later hours begin tomorrow By Tricia Tiedt Heights Editor The early spring season has already included many major changes for the MBTA, including the extension of its public transit service hours and the two-year closing of Government Center, the T station located under City Hall Plaza in the heart of downtown Boston. Starting tomorrow, the MBTA will extend its service hours on Friday and Saturday nights, keeping the T running until 3 a.m. On weeknights, the final T will leave its designated station at 1 a.m, still a 25-minute
extension from its customary 12:35 a.m. departure time. Bostonians welcome the extended service hours, as do Boston College students hoping to expand their weekend nightlife options. “I haven’t been to any bars past Cleveland Circle,” said Matt Burke, A&S ’15, who turned 21 last month. “But now I will definitely check out some places further into the city, because I know I can get back without taking a cab.” Burke said that he hopes the extended hours will become a permanent fixture of the MBTA.
See MBTA, B6
Photo Courtesy of Mike Prescott / BSRA
Government Center, a high-traffic T stop in the heart of downtown Boston, will be closed for two years for improvements.
Walsh looks for more clout in casino debate By Bennet Johnson Asst. Metro Editor
Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09, is seeking a larger role in working with some potential casino locations in Massachusetts. Walsh recently declared that Boston is entitled to a popular vote on proposals, has a right to negotiate compensation packages with the developers, and deserves to have the ability to block casinos from being built, according to The Boston Globe. Walsh’s administration made a statement in two letters to the state’s gambling commission on Wednesday, which asserts that Boston is a host community to a Mohegan Sun casino project at Suffolk Downs in Revere and to a Wynn Resorts proposal in Everett. According to the 2011 casino law signed by Governor Deval
R yan Towey is the Metro Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at metro@ bcheights.com
i nside Metro this issue
Boston Design Week
The Metro section takes a look at a new, annual citywide design festival...........................................................................................................B6
Patrick, the mayor of the host communities has the authority to demand millions of dollars in payment from casino developers, and can prevent projects by refusing to negotiate with developers. “Mayor Walsh has a huge impact on the effects of the casinos in Revere and Everett,” said John Ribiero, the chairman of Repeal the Casino Deal (RTCD) in an interview. RTCD is a group of citizens united with the intention of preventing the development of casinos in Massachusetts. “The casino law is clear that if there are any amenities built to support the casino in a community, then the area is considered a host community,” Ribiero said. Although RTCD was once considered by some to be a group of anti-gambling fanatics, it has recently gained significant at-
See Casino, B6
Boston Foodie: Pauli’s.........................................................................B7 Column: Rebranding Restaurant Week.................................................................B7