summer vacation
undrafted
features
sports
arts & review
Faculty look forward to summer plans complete with family time and research, C1
What should BC’s cancer surviving linebacker, Mark Herzlich, do now, B1
Razor-sharp comedic timing, and lively musical numbers stop Robsham cold, C8
‘Dirty rotten scoundrels’
Monday, May 2, 2011
Vol. XCII, No. 24
MOB STORMS CAMPUS
daniel lee / heights staff
Students celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden charge from Mods to Bapst Library By adriana Mariella, David Cote, Elise Taylor, & Brennan Carley | heights editors
O
n Sept. 17, 2001, former United States president George W. Bush made a bold statement: “I want justice. There’s an old poster out West, as I recall, that said ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive.’” Last night, nearly 10 years later, President Barack Obama finally announced the achievement of that justice. In a momentous and historic raid on an al-Qaida encampment in Abbottabad, Pakistan, U.S. military forces have killed Osama bin Laden, mastermind
of the attacks of Sept. 11 and one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals. In what the President called a “courageous” raid, U.S. military forces engaged al-Qaida soldiers, killing bin Laden and detaining numerous al-Qaida associates. There were no American casualties. Bin Laden gained international notoriety as the architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., a day that has been denoted by many as the most devastating in American history. Throughout the subsequent
See Mob, A4 daniel ottaunick / heights editor
Arts Festival revamped
Baldwin Awards not held due to change in leadership
Tryouts, workshops integrated into Fest
Newly responsible for the awards, film studies unable to harness manpower
By Elise Taylor
By Taylour Kumpf
Boston College’s annual Arts Festival consists of an impressive three days dedicated to showings and performances, 1,000 students and faculty broadcasting their talents, and over 16,500 attendees in 2010 – statistics that are a testament to the festivals enormity and influence. However, for this year’s Arts Fest, the Arts Council decided to revamp and intensify the festival by introducing a series of competitive tryouts, workshops, critiques given by professionals, and exclusive showcases in an attempt to maintain and improve the quality of work that enters the festival. The changes follow Art Council reports of rocky performances and underpar visual art, especially by student-run groups with no professional or faculty leadership. According to a recent release from the Arts Council, “Quality in the
The Baldwin Awards, honoring outstanding student achievement in film and video, noticeably did not take place this year. Formerly sponsored by the Office of Marketing Communications (OMC), the awards would have celebrated their seventh year this year. Organizational responsibility of the awards was assumed by the film studies program however, which was unable to get the event off the ground, reportedly due to a lack of manpower and time. “It was an issue of manpower, and it seemed like everyone was just too busy,” said Sean Meehan, a senior film studies major and A&S ’11, who helped look into the feasibility of this year’s Baldwins. “As of now, there will be no Baldwins, but there will be some kind of departmentwide awards [ceremony] to recognize student work.”
Heights Editor
News Editor
kevin hou / heights editor
arts, like any other discipline on campus, takes considerable training, diligence, mentoring, and critical feedback. Student-led activities, on the other hand, may vary considerably in the amount of due diligence they exercise toward refining their talents.” The new selectivity of Arts Fest has manifested itself differently in each of the artistic fields that are represented – namely music, dance, and some theater groups. In the music field, a capella
groups have particularly become a center of reform. In the 2011 Arts Festival a cappella program, the Arts Council said that a capella performances had been steadily declining and unprofessional. “A capella groups in particular have had a festival history of uneven performances,” read the recent statement. “The artistic quality of the groups has varied
See ArtsFest, A4
Meehan said that after last year, the OMC told John Michalczyk, co-chair of the film studies program, that they were no longer the best people to handle the Baldwins. Ben Birnbaum, executive director of the OMC, said he felt that the Baldwins had become an established tradition that could best be directed by the film studies faculty. “They know more about film and their students than we’ll ever know, and I’d like to turn back to developing something that still needs to be born,” he said in an e-mail. “It’s our job to help build and develop BC where we see we can help,” Birnbaum said. “But I always thought of the [Baldwins] as something temporarily mine. At some point they had to go to the film studies program. That’s where they belong.” “It had to be rooted in film studies
See Baldwins, A4
TopFive
The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
things to do on campus this week
Laura Dodd Book Signing
Joyce’s Ulysses Reading
Today Time: 12 p.m. Location: BC Bookstore Have your copy of Dig This Gig, a book by Laura Dodd, signed at a booksigning at the bookstore in McElroy Commons. The book focuses on the 20-somethings in their search for jobs.
Today Time: 2:30 p.m. Location: Connolly House Enjoy a reading of James Joyce’s Ulysses at the Connolly House by Senator David Norris, Irish presidential candidate and a professor at Trinity College Dublin.
1
2
The American Economy
3
Today Time: 4 p.m. Location: Higgins 225
Listen to a lecture by Martin Feldstein, a professor at Harvard University and president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research, on the topic of the future of the American economy.
featured on campus
SWS members meet Mr. Buffett
119th Fulton Prize Debate
4
Tuesday Time: 7 p.m. Location: Higgins 300
Witness the 119th annual Fulton Prize Debate as four members of the Fulton Debating Society participate in a public debate on the topic of military intervention in the Middle East.
Cawthorne’s Last Lecture
5
Wednesday Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: Fulton 511
Listen to a final lecture by LSOE Associate Dean John Cawthorne, who will be retiring at the end of this year. The talk is sponsored by the LSOE Undergraduate Senate.
IntheNews
Four Day Weather Forecast Today
63° Partly Cloudy 46°
Tuesday
61° Showers 54°
Wednesday
62° Showers
University Obama receives an honorary degree from Miami Dade College After speaking at Miami Dade College on Friday for an audience of the college’s graduates on the importance of community colleges and the Dream Act, President Barack Obama received what the Chronicle of Higher Education called “what may be the first honorary associate degree for a U.S. president.” Previously, the president received an honorary doctorate from Notre Dame in 2009, but Arizona State University, however, declined to award the President with anything after he spoke at the institution’s commencement, stating that his record of accomplishments did not merit one.
48°
Thursday
55° Showers 44°
Source: National Weather Service
A Guide to Your Newspaper The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467 Editor-in-Chief (617) 552-2223
Local News Parents of missing UMass-Boston student seek information on son
Courtesy of Smart Woman Securities National
Members of the executive board of the BC chapter of SWS traveled to Nebraska in March to meet Warren Buffett. By Adriana Mariella Assoc. News Editor
This March, three members of the Boston College Chapter of Smart Woman Securities (SWS) visited Nebraska to meet notable American investor and industrialist Warren Buffett. S W S , a n o rg a n i z at i o n started in 2005 by two 2007 Harvard University graduates, was created to cater to women seeking to learn about personal finance investing at a foundational and practical level. SWS currently operates at 14 colleges and universities, including Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Georgetown, among other notable institutions. The six students who now comprise the members of the BC chapter’s executive board, along with three class representatives, founded the BC chapter in January 2010, after a nine-month process. The board is comprised of Laura Travers, co-chief executive officer and CSOM ’12, Sayoko Kumamaru, co-chief executive officer and CSOM ’12, Juliet Zawedde, chief development officer and A&S ’12, Lauren Wallace, chief research officer and CSOM ’13, Sarah Olson, chief marketing officer and CSOM ’13, and Amy Hinz, chief operating officer and A&S ’13, with its
representatives being Alyssa Musmanno, CSOM ’13, and Dara Fang, CSOM ’13, for the sophomore class and Taylor Johnson, CSOM ’14, for the freshman class. Olson, one of the founding members, said that the club is important to have at BC because of its ability to cater to all female students regardless of their previous knowledge level. “On any campus, you’ll find someone who doesn’t know much about their finances, but there aren’t many places where they feel comfortable asking ,” she said. “SWS is set up for a person who has never heard of what NASDAQ is. It talks about the basics and creates a core foundation and that’s why it’s so beneficial.” According to Olson, the club also balances the focus on both education and networking. “[SWS] is about being able to educate women about their finances, to empower them, as well as help with networking,” Olson said. “SWS focuses equally on both the education and networking aspects.” This year, all three founding sophomore members , Hinz, Olson, and Wallace, attended the trip to Nebraska, an event organized by the national SWS and attended by members of other chapters
of the organization. Last year, both co-chief executive officers attended the same event in Nebraska. In addition to this event, the BC chapter has visited the Ne w York Sto ck E xchange where members were brought on a tour and then enjoyed a lunch with industry professionals, as well as girls from both the Fordham and Columbia SWS chapters, among other BC-based events. In order to become involved in the organization, a student must become an associate, which requires attending a nine-seminar series taught by industry professionals. However, one of the goals of the club is to broaden its audience to hold events to include more non-associates, as well as attract students from schools other than CSOM, Olson said. “ We definitely want to market SWS to A&S, LSOE, and CSON, not just CSOM,” she said. “One of our biggest goals this year is to get out into the rest of the school.” This month, the BC chapter ’s board members will meet to discuss their goals for the upcoming year. In a broad sense, Olson said that they hope to make it a “stronger club, and make it more defined.” n
Brendan Davis, a student at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, went missing yesterday after sending myserious letters to friends. According to The Boston Globe, the 22-year-old computer science major was said to have last been seen at a Theatre District bar on Tuesday around 11:15 p.m. According to an interview with the student’s mother, he watched sports while drinking three beers and then left the bar after talking with some bar regulars. Friends and relatives of Davis are searching for him and information on his whereabouts.
On Campus Herzlich, passed over in NFL draft, will hope for future free-agent offer Mark Herzlich, whose Eagles football career was put on hold for cancer treatment for Ewing’s sarcoma, was passed over in the NFL draft this week. The linebacker, who during his junior year season considered declaring himself for the draft after three consecutive good seasons, returned to football this year starting all 13 games. However, during the workouts for NFL scouts this year, Herzlich was no longer considered the same player he previously was. According to The Boston Globe, Herzlich said that he was disappointed with the outcome.
National Treasure Island of San Francisco Bay to undergo construction SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Created in the 1930s in San Francisco Bay, Treasure Island is said to have earned its name from the gold some imagined was hidden in dredged materials that form its foundation, as well as the exotic valuables displayed there for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. Developers have continued to view the 400-acre former Navy base as a precious commodity, and a proposal to turn it into a bustling residential and commercial enclave recently cleared a major hurdle when it was narrowly approved by the city Planning Commission.
Editorial General (617) 552-2221 Managing Editor (617) 552-4286 News Desk (617) 552-0172 Sports Desk (617) 552-0189 Marketplace Desk (617) 552-3548 Features Desk (617) 552-3548 Arts Desk (617) 552-0515 Photo (617) 552-1022 Fax (617) 552-4823 Business and Operations General Manager (617) 552-0169 Advertising (617) 552-2220 Business and Circulation (617) 552-0547 Classifieds and Collections (617) 552-0364 Fax (617) 552-1753 EDITORIAL RESOURCES News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call Taylour Kumpf, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or e-mail news@bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk. Sports Scores Want to report the results of a game? Call Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor, at (617) 552-0189, or e-mail sports@bcheights.com. Arts Events The Heights covers a multitude of events both on and off campus – including concerts, movies, theatrical performances, and more. Call Darren Ranck, Arts and Review Editor, at (617) 552-0515, or e-mail arts@ bcheights.com. For future events, e-mail, fax, or mail a detailed description of the event and contact information to the Arts Desk. Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights standards and practices, you may contact Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or e-mail editor@ bcheights.com. CUSTOMER SERVICE
Police Blotter 4/20/11 – 4/25/11 Wednesday, April 20
further, was forwarded to ODSD for review.
8:33 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a a parking permit improperly transferred to another vehicle.
Thursday, April 21
8:42 a.m. - A report was filed regarding the operator of a vehicle who failed to obey the traffic rules of the University. The subject was issued a citation. 10:53 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical treatment provided to an individual suffering from a medical condition in the Gate. The subject was transported to a medical facility by Armstrong Ambulance.
9:16 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a minor motor vehicle accident reported to BCPD. Responding officers report no accident had occurred. The City of Boston Fire and Police Departments responded.
“What do you think will be your hardest final?”
“Clinical Psychology.” —Lindsay Snyder, A&S ’14
8:06 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a stolen bicycle on Lower Campus. The matter will be investigated further.
Friday, April 22
12:31 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to an individual feeling ill in Vanderslice Hall. The subject was transported to a medical facility by Armstrong Ambulance.
12:58 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided for an injury in Walsh Hall. The subject is transported to a medical facility by Armstrong Ambulance.
2:29 p.m. - A report was filed regarding vandalism to the interior area of Ignacio Hall. The matter was referred to ODSD for review and Residential Life for inspection of the damage.
Monday, April 25
9:47 p.m. - A report was filed regarding the confiscation of contraband from several individuals in Gonzaga Hall. The matter which is being investigated
Voices from the Dustbowl
5:34 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a green substance in the stream in the Cabot Woods. The substance was identified as a non-harmful dye used to test the drainage system.
—Source: The Boston College Police Department
“Biodiversity Connections.” —James Raggi, A&S ’14
“French.” —Creighton Dixon,
A&S ’13
Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact Dan Ottaunick, General Manager at (617) 552-0547. Advertising The Heights is one of the most effective ways to reach the BC community. To submit a classified, display, or online advertisement, call our advertising office at (617) 552-2220 Monday through Friday.
The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2011. All rights reserved.
CORRECTIONS Please send corrections to editor@bcheights.com with ‘correction’ in the subject line.
The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
A very (Mod)est Marriage Matthew DeLuca The Modulars were abuzz, as all of campus knows, with news of the joining in holy matrimony of Mr. Peter Gilmartin of Rubenstein D43 and Ms. Sarah Patrowski of Modular 18A. Campus news sources have been tweeting like Reservoir geese at an early morning runner for weeks with news of the impending event, and Friday, as crowds gathered, this columnist bumped into a colleague from BrostonCollege.com who was covering the event. “Yeah, we’re doing a blog post on how Patrowski’s mum opted to serve Keystone over Busch. Our readers have been placing bets on what the beer situation would be for weeks, and we feel the old lady really hit the mark on this one. If she’d gone for something a bit more ostentatious, say a 2010 Pabst Blue Ribbon, that might have sent the wrong message in this economic climate.” The bride and groom met in their core economics class in the fall of their freshman year. “I saw him sitting in the back with his Bruins hat over his eyes, clearly sleeping, and I knew right away that I could mold him into, if not my prince, at least someone who would take me to the next Harry Potter,” Patrowski told The Heights early last month. Some in the media have expressed their doubts as to whether or not the new couple will last. Gilmartin was a notorious party boy up until this past February, when a Kairos retreat “totally turned me on to thinking about stuff and the way things are,” he said in a tell-all interview with BCTV. In one now-infamous incident that caused a particular stir among his girl friends and some of his socially conscious guy friends, Gilmartin went to a party dressed as a Chilean miner before a rescue plan was even announced. “It was too soon to even say too soon,” a source close to the couple said. “Even though the party was industries and commodities themed.” The nuptials went off without a snag on Friday, though, with University Chancellor Rev. J. Donald Monan, SJ, presiding. “This is a great moment for this lovely couple as well as for Boston College,” Monan said. “When I first arrived at this school, not even I imagined that forty years later Boston College would be on its way to becoming a top national university, that we’d be having weddings in housing that was intended to last a decade or two at most, that we’d have a bustling campus pub where students can socialize and have a friendly drink, and that Amy Poehler would be speaking at Harvard’s Class Day instead of at her alma mater. Now, some of those things have happened. And I just want to meet Will Arnett so bad. He’s almost as funny as Brian Williams on 30 Rock, which Father Neenan and I watch in St. Mary’s and laugh and laugh. Amen.” After the bride and groom were pronounced man and wife, the ushers and maids of honor lent a dignified air to the reception by honoring the couple with a 21 dizzy bat salute choreographed by Duncan I. Sadora of Dance Org. “We weren’t able to book a practice room anywhere, so we said, ‘Hey, this ain’t Arts Fest,’ and went for it. We didn’t practice once,” Sadora said. Between the ceremony and reception, best man Charlie Broder shared his hopes for the newlyweds. “Pete’s a standup dude. He’s a beast at Hoop Fever, and, get this, I’m borrowing his suit right now. When he lent it to me, he shook the loose Skoal out of the pockets and said, ‘Be careful, if you go too hard in this thing, I’m going to have to get it pressed again before I start at EY in late August or early September, depending on when they get back to me with my start date, those slackers.” But, as always, the final word went to the common man, in this case Brad Baxter, a latecomer and clearly lost gentleman who stood to one side of the gathering in his club lacrosse pinnie. He squinted at the bride, grinned at this reporter, and roguishly inquired, “You think she has a sister?” then did a royal face plant into some desiccated shrubbery. “Seniors 2011!” he could be heard to yell as this reporter moved on to the next scoop.
Matthew DeLuca is a columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at editor@bcheights.com
A3
Walk benefits Project Bread Annual Walk for Hunger passes by the BC campus By Elise Taylor Heights Editor
By Maurice Jackson For The Heights
Ye sterd ay, thou sand s of people walked 20 miles for the Walk for Hunger, an annual event that raises millions of dollars toward emergency food programs. The pledge walk was a fundraising effort for Project Bread, one of the state’s leading anti-hunger organization. According to their website, over 660,000 people do not have enough to eat in Massachusetts. The Walk for Hunger began in 1969, and is the country’s oldest pledge walk, now boasting over 40,000 participants a year. The route starts at Boston Common and snakes through Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, and Cambridge. The walkers climb up Beacon
“I don’t really give much to the community, and I wanted to be part of something bigger.” -Jalen Delacruz Walk participant Street right past Boston College, and also walk past BC’s Newton Campus. The main purpose of the walk is to raise funds for the needy people of Boston, but there are other reasons that inspire people to make the trek. For eighth-time walker Sandra Eilers of Natick, Mass., the Walk for Hunger made her feel like she was making a difference.
In mid March, UGBC Senate members unanimously passed a resolution that allocated $1,400 to the BCPD’s Rape Aggression and Defense (R.A.D.) program for new equipment. The resolution, promoted by senate members Derek Lo, A&S ’12, and Lizzie Jekanowski, A&S ’13, highlights the positive work of BCPD that is often overshadowed by their other work. “It was great working with the
“This was a great way to see a really positive thing that BCPD does.” Elise Taylor/Heights editor
Participants in this year’s Walk for Hunger pass BC’s Newton Campus. “It’s the coolest thing to b e par t of something this big,” she said. “I love seeing all the people. Young people, old people, skinny people, fat people, people of all different nationalities. It’s amazing.” Accomp any ing her w a s nine-year old Emily Chalfin, also from Natick. The walk has sparked a strong interest in her to help assuage hunger, and although she has never walked the entire course she hopes to eventually do the walk in its entirety when she turns 13. Another walker who commented on its importance was Jalen Delacruz from Dorchester. “I don’t really give much to the community, and I wanted to be part of something bigger,” she said. Many participants also choose
CBLE Exam tests business students By Anna Patrick Heights Staff
The new Certified Business Laureate Exam (CBLE), for graduating business students looks to level the playing field by testing entry-level graduates on five areas of business: accounting, finance, marketing, Microsoft Office, and writing proficiency. The exam, being administered in March for the introductory price of $250, will provide students with a score to put on their resume that shows potential employers their extended knowledge of business in a tough recruitment process laden with competition. Launched by the GF Education Group, the test was created in response to the overwhelming unemployment rates for college graduates, which is nearly 15 percent for individuals ages 20 to 24. Economists have indicated in recent studies that the unemployment percentage will not drop into the normal range until 2018. “What we’re seeking across the country is that college students actually do have the skills businesses are looking for,” said Guy Friedman, CEO of the GF Education Group in a recent statement. “But it is difficult for students to demonstrate this knowledge. In many ways it’s a broken system in which students earn diplomas and grade point averages, two metrics for success specific to their campuses and majors only, but ones that are hard to evaluate when compared to peers across the country. The CBLE finally gives students a way to show their business knowledge at this critical career stage. It gives everyone a better solution to the recruitment process.” According to a recent study conducted by the GF Education Group this past October, more than 78 percent of 850 college students and recent graduates indicated interest in taking the exam to attract prospective employers, yet less than half of those students, roughly 29 percent, said that they were concerned about their resume strength. “At this point we know of no employers requiring or even mentioning the exam, so there doesn’t appear to be a need for students to spend money to take the exam,” said Janet Costa Bates, associate di-
UGBC Senate gives funds to R.A.D.
rector of the Boston College Career Center. “Regarding the 78 percent of seniors interested in taking the test, I would be curious about their survey methods.” An additional study by the GF Education Group showed that only 25 percent of the 850 students surveyed said that they feel that they do not have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities through their college degree programs. “I remember reading about this recently and, honestly, I have no interest in taking the exam,” Josh Skelly, CSOM ’11, said. “I can understand how some students may find it useful if they are having difficulty getting a job after graduation, but I don’t think it really would add much to my resume even if I did really well. If I knew that top employers who had access to all the scores and would actually use them, I may be more inclined to take a stab at it, but to me it just seems like an easy way for this company to make money from college students who are having difficulty separating themselves.” The exam, developed by business professors and economics professors from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Loyola University Chicago, University of Florida, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Juniata College, provides a composite score that will be sent to businesses along with score results and profiles of top candidates for no cost. Employers will be able to view a nationally standardized score for candidates of all backgrounds. The CBLE is not the only business comprehension exam available to graduating students, who can also take other standardized tests like the Graduate Management Admission Test. “I can always just take the GMATs or the GREs and post that on my resume. Last semester I applied to at least 50 jobs from various employers mostly in banking, consulting, and investment management and I can’t remember a single employer asking for my CBLE score, so I really just don’t see how it would benefit me or most business students for that matter,” Skelly said. n
to be part of the walk for fitness goals. Antwionette NadrewsClark of Roxbury wanted to partake for charitable reasons, but also to help improve herself physically. “I wanted to participate because of my health,” she said. “I wanted to start to work out and this was a good way to do it.” Lisa Duncan of Hyde Park, also echoed these sentiments. Duncan has taking part in the Walk of Hunger for seven years, and this year she was walking with her young child in a stroller. “I do it for the sick people, but also to tone my body,” she said. For those who want to participate in the Walk of Hunger next year or donate to Project Bread, sign up and donation sheets are available on the Project Bread websites. n
-Lizzie Jekanowski Senate member and A&S ’13 BCPD,” Jekanowski said. “Often the student body has such a negative image of BCPD because their only relationship is through negative things. But this was a great way to see a really positive thing that BCPD does.” The resolution came at a very important time for the R.A.D. program, whose last purchase of equipment was over 10 years ago. R.A.D. relies on a small budget, plus other contributions from its instructors and community members to keep the program running. The allocated funds will purchase equipment for the program, whose older equipment is aging and is in need of replacement, Jekanowski said. Jekanowski said this is also an opportunity to see the tangible effect that the UGBC has on
campus. “A lot of students are shaky as to what UGBC as a whole does,” she said. “A lot of times you see things like the Spring Concert and other really big events, and that’s a huge and important part of what UGBC does, but it’s also a very small part of what UGBC does.” This resolution and other similar works the UGBC carry out is what Jekanowski said she likes to refer to as “under the radar” work most students never get the chance to hear about. On campus, R.A.D has been offering classes for over 20 years. Due to the program’s success at Boston College, members of other institutions have sought the consultation of BCPD instructors. R.A.D. holds classes instructed by member of the BCPD, all of whom are knowledgeable in the danger and threats of sexual assault and violence. The classes are held each month and are free of charge. Each group of about 14 to 30 female students focuses on awareness, prevention, risk reduction, avoidance, and selfdefense tactics and techniques. Jekanowski added that the classes provide empowerment for female participants. “The really cool thing about it is that it teaches women to be empowered and strong in every part of their lives, not just in standing up to someone who is being aggressive toward them,” she said. The R.A.D. system is a nationwide program founded in 1989 to help provide females with self-defense education. The program is run with the core belief that self defense should be easy to learn, retain, and use in life. Since its founding, the program has offered free classes to any female wishing to participate. n
Allston-Brighton Crime Reports 4/14/11 – 4/17/11
Driver arrested for operating under the influence On April 15 at approximately 5:38 a.m., officers responded to a call requesting assistance to Boston University Police at Beacon Street. Upon arrival, officers spoke to the BU officer who stated that he noticed a motor vehicle operating erratically and swerving over the double yellow line and then decided to stop the vehicle. The car was an SUV with damage to both its front and rear as well as the right and left sides. The officer spoke to the driver of the vehicle who exhibited glassy eyes and seemed to exude a smell of alcohol. The officer asked her if she had been drinking, to which she responded, “Oh my God, I’ve had so much to drink.” He then asked if she had any mental incapacities or handicaps, to which she responded, “No, I got nothing, I’m good.” He asked her if she would participate in a sobriety test, to which she responded, “No, I’m good. I’ll do whatever you want, you know I’m drunk anyway.” She appeared to stumble as she stepped out of the car. The officer asked her to recite the alphabet, which she recited successfully until she jumbled the letters “LMOP,” saying them as “LOOP” and then continuing to say, “Now I know by ABC’s, next time won’t you sing with me.” The officer conducted other tests and then determined that the woman was under the influence of alcohol and placed her under arrest for operating under the influence of alcohol and was given a civil citation for the possession of marijuana. Officers found two empty bottles of whiskey in the car. When they attempted to bring the suspect to the police station, she became verbally irate and resisted. She refused to take a Breathalyzer test.
1789 Commonwealth Avenue gets robbed Victims stated that between the hours of 7:15 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. on April 14, an unknown person had broken into their 1789 Commonwealth Avenue apartment and stole items while they were out with the father of one of their roommates. There was no sign of forced entry, but three laptops, an X-box, a backpack, a suitcase, and an iPhone were stolen from the house. Police advised the victims of the trace program.
Man awakens to find suspect sleeping on his couch On April 17 at 9:30 a.m., officers responded to a call regarding a breaking and entering. Upon arrival, officers spoke to the victim who stated that while he was sleeping in his bedroom around 5:30 a.m. that morning, he heard a noise coming from the kitchen. When he exited his bedroom, he observed an unknown male sleeping on his couch in the living room. He stated that the kitchen window was open but it had been closed when he went to sleep. Officers observed the unknown male, who was later identified, to be sleeping in the fetal position. He was covered in dirt and smelt of alcohol. The suspect, after loud attempts to wake him up by police, eventually sat up and began to put on high heel shoes, asking, “Where am I?” The officers asked if he knew where he was, to which he responded, “Somewhere on Washington Street,” and then told officers that he “smoked a lot of weed last night,” and “went clubbing with his mother and then returned to this house.” He kept asking where “his mother and his stuff are.” The suspect stated that he had no idea who the resident of the house was. He was arrested for “Breaking and entering, night.”
Hotel guest wakes up to find possessions and car stolen On April 17, between the hours of 2:35 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., officers responded to a call regarding a robbery at the Best Western on Commonwealth Ave. Upon arrival, officers spoke to the victim who stated that he had met the suspect and had had a late dinner with him in his hotel room. He then stated that he fell asleep at approximately 2:30 a.m. and woke up at approximately 6:30 a.m. to find his property and car gone. The victim described the suspect as possibly being from Queens, N.Y. The victim claims that $1,100 in cash, his blackberry, his laptop, his iPod and iPad, his TomTom GPS, his digital camera, his Bluetooth, and his Buick Century were stolen from him. Not including his car, the total value of items stolen was equal to $4,450. The only thing collected as evidence was a plastic bottle.
- Courtesy of the Boston Police Department, District 14 Gathered by Adriana Mariella, Associate News Editor
The Heights
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Patriotism out in full force as students rally Mobs, from A1 years, bin Laden has used his vast personal fortune to finance al-Qaida operations on various continents. Though the CIA has had numerous leads since 2001, none have resulted in bin Laden’s capture or death. That is, until yesterday. The celebrations that broke out across the nation—outside the White House, in Times Square, at Ground Zero—carried over to Boston College. Many people claim to have started the celebratory riot that erupted throughout campus last night, but no matter the originator, hundreds of students participated in a University-wide display of patriotism. A group began to collect in the Mods, with chants of “U!S!A!” and rounds of “God Bless America,” while students from surrounding dorms began to accu-
mulate, with BCPD officers standing by. Students with flags and makeshift signs stood on the picnic tables and someone popped a bottle of champagne. With a cry of, “This way!” the throng of students flooded the pathways around Vanderslice Hall, joining a fast-moving horde of chanting students who had already begun to run. They passed Main Gate and continued down Campanella, where shirtless partakers directed the crowd up the Million Dollar Staircase to O’Neill Plaza. While running laps around Lower Campus, Eddie Parisi, CSOM ’14, affirmed the feeling of American pride that pervaded campus. “I’m celebrating America’s great victory,” he said. “America can’t be stopped.” Chuck Cahalane, A&S ’11, stood at the Higgins landing of the Million Dollar Staircase, cheering on the chaos, shouting “U!S!A!” and holding a flag. “Osama’s dead. No Rules! Go America!” he said. After briefly congregating in O’Neill Plaza, the students stormed Bapst Library, taking up cries of advancement. They climbed onto the tables, including those of students already studying, dancing and waving their flags, some with beer in hand. After rousing and hearty renditions of “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and “God Bless America,” the BCPD ushered students out of the library. The crowd swarmed the fountain in front of
Monday, May 2, 2011
Gasson Hall, while the self-appointed rally leaders jumped into the water, leading the group in chants. A nearly nude Nico Ricciardi, A&S ’14, climbed to the top of the centerpiece of the fountain and jumped into it, as the crowd roared in encouragement. When asked why he chose to conquer the fountain, Ricciardi said, “Because it’s patriotism and it’s awesome.” All of a sudden, the crowd began to chant the word “O’Neill” while others clapped their hands in sync. The mass quickly flooded O’Neill Plaza once again, this time heading straight for the glass doors of the library itself. A girl was seen flashing her breasts from the fifth floor window of the library, prompting a series of cheers from the onlookers below. While the mob pounded on the doors, students broke into the emergency exit of the Course Reserves Room as BCPD looked on. Shell-shocked students inside the library opened the main doors as if they were flood-gates, which elicited yet another round of cheers. The leaders situated themselves on the circulation desk, and after more cheers, the crowd dispersed, some throwing beer cans onto the ground as they spilled out into O’Neill Plaza and then into the Quad. Students flooded out of the doors again, capturing the life-sized cardboard cut-out of the Eagle’s Nest Piano Guy, Dennis Carr, A&S’ 11, and carrying it out
into the Plaza. A BCPD officer filmed the action on a small camcorder. Although the atmosphere was largely rowdy and jubilant, Eddie Timmerman, A&S ’13, recognized a deeper significance amidst the rioting. “I’m so proud of the men and women in the Middle East serving our country,” he said. “I would shake every single one of their hands if I could. Thank you to everyone who sacrificed for our great, great nation.” While in the Quad, Gio Trilleras, CSON ’12, echoed similar sentiments while carrying his friend on his shoulders. “We’ve had three years of college here,” he said. “We saw him rise in our freshman year, and fall in our junior year. Go America.” Raucous celebrations continued into the early hours of the morning, extending beyond the time when this article went to print. In what will surely prove to be a vindicating moment in the ongoing War on Terror as well as an imprint on the collective memories of BC students, the president stressed that the death of “al-Qaida’s leader and symbol,” must not be the end of our struggle. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaida,” he said. “But his death does not mark the end of our effort. We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.” n
Arts Fest incorporates academic segments Future of the ArtsFest, from A1 significantly from year to year, and most groups have only sporadically given attention to the quality of their presentation.” For this year, a capella groups were subjected to an audition process in front of a panel of judges, and those groups that passed the audition were subject to a workshop by Five O’Clock Shadow, a professional a capella group. Following this, only the Madrigal Singers, BC Dynamics, and B.E.A.T.S. were selected to perform. Cathi Ianno, Arts Festival director, said that these changes were part of a larger effort to provide student groups with mentorship by professionals. “What we tried to do was anytime there was a student group that didn’t have a leader, to insert a mentorship and professional leadership into their preparation process,” she said. For the dance programs, auditions to participate in Arts Fest have been the norm. However, the Arts Council now sponsors required dance workshops led by faculty and /or alumni professionals in which choreographers of student groups are required to attend at least once. Also, during the auditions, dance professionals gave feedback and critiques that were expected to be incorporated into routines. The biggest change for dance was the reorgani-
zation of the performance showcases. In this year’s Arts Fest, there was a Critics Choice showcase for the pieces judged by the committee as “achieving the highest level of quality,” a professional dance showcase, and the Dance Culture Exhibition, which featured pieces from all groups with an emphasis on culture context. The purpose of an exclusive student, and then professional, showcase, Ianno said, was to inspire and educate other dancers. “We inserted the critics choice program and we selected a number of dances to be part of this showcase,” she said. “Part of this program is to provide more education, and the other part is giving students role models to look up to and inspire them. The point of selecting a ‘critics choice’ was to show everyone what we thought was the best, and so they had that to emulate and inspire them.” This selectivity and idea of “the best” being broadcasted in a different and more widely publicized nature, was also shown in the visual arts. Arts Fest this year included a visual arts tent for the committee’s favorite works, in hopes of giving students’ a sense of what the best art being displayed was. Another alteration in the Arts Fest fabric was the steady inclusion of more academic-based arts such as fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry readings by faculty and students. There were three such
events at the festival, an increase from last year. Overall, the Arts Council mixed the ideas of publicizing what they considered the best work and assigning professional mentors to student-run groups without leadership to foster artistic growth. “I wanted the end result to be that what we put on the stage is always the best of what Boston College has to offer,” Ianno said. “What we show to the public should be the best. We have incredibly talented students who are doing amazing work, and I want to make sure that that is the focus of our programming.” The Arts Council also decided to honor those students who they thought produced exceptional work, giving out critic’s choice awards to numerous students. Natalie Thornton, A&S ’11 and Maria Liang, CSOM ’11, won for the visual arts. “I’m honestly still shocked that I won,” Lang said. “I’m just happy that other people enjoyed and liked my sculptures so much. This was my first Arts Fest so I’m proud and honored that I won.” Other students honored for their achievements in the Arts include Amy Allen, CSON ’14, Bryan Bernfeld, A&S ’11, Bailey Budd A&S ’11, Nicholas Foster A&S ’11, Lauren Gomez, A&S ’11, Eric Kim A&S ’11, Brianna LeRose A&S ’11, Keith Noonan, A&S ’12, and Sean Meehan, A&S ’11. In addition, Allen and Andrew Megs, A&S ’13, and The Loose Handle were winners of BC’s Best. n
kevin hou / heights editor
Baldwins up for discussion Baldwins, from A1 and not here,” Birnbaum said. “For us this is business as usual. There have been other programs that we’ve invented that we’ve also given away.” However, Birnbaum said that the was ready to continue financially supporting the event this year. Meehan said that the absence of the Baldwins this year was a gradual happening. “It was never really a decision,” he said. “It got no further than us saying that it needs to be organized. There were missed calls and crossed wires with the OCM.” In addition, Meehan said that they were missing a key player in the organization process. “Mike Ceville [former co-organizer of the Baldwins and former professor in the film studies program] left with all of the know-how of how to put the event together,” he said. Birnbaum echoed this sentiment. “Mike Ceville was our principal contact with film studies,” he said. Meehan and Matt Laud, also a senior film studies major, predict that the Baldwins will not be revitalized in the immediate future. “I could see them happening again in the long term, [especially considering] the plans to renovate Brighton Campus, [which will help centralize and expand the arts]. This was no one’s specific fault, it just doesn’t seem like there’s the will right now.” Named after the University’s eagle mascot, the Baldwins were typically awarded in 13 categories: Best Picture of the Year, Viewers Choice Award, Beginning Film and Video, Advanced Film and Video, Cinematography, Editing, Best Actor, Sound, Screenwriting, Drama, Documentary, Horror, and Comedy. Faculty from the fine arts and communication departments led the judging in all of the categories except Viewers Choice. Meehan said the student reaction to this loss, especially among film studies majors, has been a somber one. “We all want the Baldwins, and we’re all very sad,” he said. “Seniors in particular were hoping to [win some Baldwins]. It is a little better now that the department is giving us recognition, but it’s sad because the event used to be fun. There are a lot of seniors this year, but the department has told us that our work won’t go unnoticed.” Both Meehan and Laud agreed that it would be nice to get the Baldwins going again. As for the OMC, Birnbaum said that their next invention will be an annual student music awards program. “We’d produce it in some kind of partnership with the music department, the bands program, and ZBC, with the understanding that once it was fully developed, it would move to where it needs to be, which is under the supervision of the music and bands faculty,” he said. n
Chuck Hogan discusses his novel, which inspired ‘The Town’ By Brennan Carley Heights Editor
On Friday, April 28, Boston College welcomed home novelist and screenwriter Chuck Hogan, BC ’89, as part of the Lowell Humanities Series. The event, co-sponsored by the Alumni Association, featured a conversation between Hogan and Christopher Wilson, a professor in the English department and an expert in the crime-fiction genre. Moderated by Carlo Rotella, director of the American studies program and a professor in the English department, the event attracted a hearty crowd who listened to Hogan speak about his writing process. The discussion began with an exploration of Hogan’s inspiration for his novel Prince of Thieves (on which the 2010 movie The Town was based). The author said he would attribute his insight to “a few thoughts here and there and then about eight years of research.” Hogan said he first came up with the idea after reading a Boston Globe article, but hit a brick wall when it came to researching the armored cars that he so desperately wanted his characters to rob. “It’s a lot harder researching those things than you might imagine,” Hogan
said. “Especially when you’re asking the drivers about how the cars work.” Comparing Thieves to the Oscarnominated The Town, Hogan spoke of the surreal nature of the whole ordeal, mentioning that he found himself “mesmerized watching the movie, even though [he] kind of already knew what was going to happen.” When pressed for more information about what differences lay between the two, Hogan said that the movie’s ending was certainly more dramatic than that of the novel, and also pointed to the omission of a triangular relationship that he considered the “blood and bones” of the novel. Wilson and Rotella both spoke frankly about crime novel conventions, praising Hogan in his both reverence to and nonadherence of the all too formulaic nature that the genre had adopted. Wilson brought up the importance of technology to the crime novel, which Hogan said was the reason he chose to set Thieves in the ’90s rather than the present. “For one thing, there is certainly a change in novels thanks to technology,” Hogan said. “But more importantly, I think, today there is a lot more integration between the federal and the local authority. The tension that existed in
the ’90s is what makes it more exhilarating.” Hogan made an effort to pay homage to Boston, the city that both raised him and inspired his writing. In discussing the city, the author confessed to the nerves that plagued him about getting details right. “I don’t want someone coming up to me and claiming that ‘There isn’t a Dunkin’ Donuts on that block!’” he said. The event concluded with a question and answer period that ranged from queries about Hogan’s writing process to his thoughts on the casting of The Town. “For the record, when my agent called to tell me that Blake Lively was spotted reading Prince of Thieves on Page 6 of the New York Post, I quickly hung up the phone and Googled Blake Lively,” he said. The audience cracked up as the BC grad said that he was “not privy to that whole Gossip Girl thing.” When pushed to disclose what he was currently working on, Hogan said that he was working with the producers of The Town on a new movie that is “based on a real person, another Boston-based crime film.” The event was the last in the Lowell Humanities Series, culminating a successful year-long program. n
cecilia Provvedini / heights editor
Chuck Hogan, BC ’89, discussed his novel ‘Prince of Thieves,’on which the film ‘The Town’ is based.
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The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
UGBC members sworn into positions for 2011-12 tenure New UGBC leadership became official last Friday under oath By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
Last Friday, next year’s UGBC members were officially sworn into their new positions at the UGBC inauguration ceremony. The ceremony began with remarks from Michael Boyarsky, UGBC chief justice and A&S ’12. “Hopefully next year we should have a great year in UGBC,” he said. “This year we’ve learned a lot and have gotten a lot done.” Boyarsky said that during the difficult times, it was important for incoming members to keep in mind why they decided to join UGBC. “Remember why you wanted to get involved in the first place,” he said. Boyarsky then swore in Derek Lo, incoming Senate president and A&S ’12. Lo began his career in UGBC as a freshman senator, and remarked that the Senate has come far in the past decade. “Today we are an organization that is well-respected,” he said. Sometimes Senate has difficult responsibilities, Lo said. “There are moments when being in UGBC is hard. We have a lot of pressure.” Despite this, Lo said that it is important to remember UGBC’s responsibilities and goals. “We still have the responsibility to do great things,” he said. “Before me I see great things.” After the Senate was sworn in by Lo, the cabinet was inaugurated, starting with Mi-
chael Kitlas, incoming UGBC president and A&S ’12. “It’s been a long road,” Kitlas said. Kitlas reminded those before him that UGBC’s primary goal is to serve the student body. “We are here as student leaders to serve the student body,” he said. “Tonight officially marks the start of this journey for all of you.” Building off the past accomplishments of the organization is crucial, he said. “We have the ability to build off of the accomplishments of the past,” he said. “The potential in this room is awe-inspiring, and I can’t wait to see what you accomplish. Everyone in this room has a purpose, and next year we will accomplish it.” After the cabinet took their oath, Joshua Tingley, incoming GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC) vice president and A&S ’13, was sworn in by Natalie Isakkson, current GLC vice president and A&S ’11. Incoming GLC President Carolyn McCrosson, A&S ’12, could not be present because she is currently studying abroad. The incoming AHANA Leadership Council (ALC) President Gururaj Shan and Vice President Alicia Hernandez, both A&S ’12, took their oath next. Shan spoke about ALC’s work since its creation 15 years ago. “Since then, ALC has worked to uplift the AHANA community socially, academically, and politically,” he said. This year ALC has expanded. “We hope to establish a stronger ALC brand,” Shan said. “Part of establishing this brand will be to dispel
misconceptions.” Many students, Shan said, believe the ALC is an organization that caters solely to “AHANA issues,” such as increasing hate crime awareness. This is partially because of the way that students think, Shan said. “These issues are considered AHANA issues and not BC student issues,” he said. At the end of the inauguration ceremony, Micaela Mabida, UGBC president and CSOM ’11, and Patrick Raab, UGBC vice president and A&S ’11, made closing remarks. Raab spoke about how each person evaluates situations differently, and that there are various challenges, but that relationships should be the most important thing. “Remember it all comes down to relationships,” he said. “Let your experiences be defined by the relationships and connections you make.” Mabida reminded the incoming UGBC members that Friday night began their responsibilities. “You can’t postpone the future, because your mission starts now.” Mutual support is important, she said. “The greatest gift we can give is belief in each other. Hold onto that belief that each and every one of you has the ability to make this place better. You have an amazing opportunity.” Mabida expressed her excitement to see next Alex Trautwig / heights editor year’s accomplishments. “Congratulations to all of you,” she said. “I’m so excited to come back Michael Kitlas, UGBC president-elect and A&S ’12, was sworn in at the inauguration ceremony, officially assuming leadership of the student body. and see everything you do.” n
More buses to be added to routes this summer By Elise Taylor Heights Editor
kevin hou / heights editor
Beginning this summer, more buses will be added to the Newton and Comm. Ave. routes, following student response.
WRC launches support group for GBQ males By Anna Patrick Heights Staff
The 2011 fall semester marks the launch of a new program supported by the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) called the GBQ Men’s Support Group, which is designed to support undergraduate men who are gay, bisexual, or questioning their sexual orientation. Two graduate students, John Edwards and Lawrence Manfredi, both GSAS ’12, moderate the group, which plans to begin to meet starting next fall on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in confidential locations. The goal of the confidential support group is to provide these male students with a safe place to talk and offer support to one another. It will meet once each week, and participants will be able to speak about whatever topics they
choose to address that week. “These goals aren’t, and perhaps won’t be, defined beyond support, meaningful conversation,
“The goal of the confidential support group is to provide these male students with a safe place to talk and offer support to one another.” and an ability to listen to each other and share thoughts and experiences,” Manfredi said. Manfredi said that prospective group members can hope to gain “a sense that they are not alone, that others have experienced what they are going through, and that it
gets better. For those who are out of the closet to varying degrees: ongoing support, an ability to talk about life at Boston College, a chance to offer their own experience and thoughts and learn from others.” Lawrence and Manfredi started the program, which is the first support group under the guidance of the WRC to cater solely to men, in order to fill a gap that they said they perceived was not included in previous programs. What sets this group apart from GLC or Allies, the founders said, is that it is more transitory and support-based for those students who are seeking on-going support or just coming out. Men involved with the group can hope to take away “support, a shared sense of what it means to be a GBQ student at BC, and perhaps friendship,” Manfredi said. n
For those Boston College students who find themselves stuck at the bus stop for 20 minutes on Sunday morning, the wait may be over—or lessened, anyway. Starting this summer, BC’s department of transportation and parking has decided to add more buses to the Newton and Commonwealth Avenue routes. Paul Cappadona, manager of BC transportation and parking, said that the change is expected to be carried on throughout the 2011-2012 school year, and then it will once again be reassessed to see if any other changes are necessary. “The changes implemented are f lexible
Two seniors picked to spend year in Germany By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
Two Boston College seniors, Isabel Protasowicki, CSOM ’11, and Alison O’Connell, A&S ’11, have been selected to participate in the 28th year of the CongressBundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX), a year-long, federally-funded fellowship for study and work in Germany. Protasowicki and O’Connell were two of 75 participants out of 500 applicants selected for the program. The fellowship begins with a two-month intensive German course, followed by study at a German university or professional school for four months. The program culminates with a five-month internship in the participant’s field of interest. Participants are placed throughout Germany and as a result
Second annual GIS mapping contest honors students’ geospatial research By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
B o ston Colle ge L ibrar ie s has awarded the Second Annual Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Mapping Contest to two students for their scholarship in a geospatial research center. Tom Wall, University librarian, presented the awards on April 13. First prize went to Josh Coefer, GSAS ’14, for his entry, titled “Land Use and the Extent of Roadsalt Contamination in Surface Water and Groundwater, Eastern Massachusetts.” He
received a $100 Amazon gift
Boston College Libraries has awarded the Second Annual Geographic Information Systems Mapping Contest to two students for their scholarship in a geospatial research center. card. Christopher Soeller, A&S ’11, was awarded a second prize
of a GIS T-shirt for his presentation, “Potential Pollution of Water Resources in the Boston Metropolitan Area.” Librarians and Information Technology Services and Research S er v ices consultant s work with faculty and students to identify geospatial data for purchase and provide support for research. GIS skills are now used by corporations and various levels of the government and are a valuable addition to resumes. Awards are based on map quality, use of GIS as a research tool, and originality. Special consideration was given to stud-
and may change as the needs of commuters change,” he said. According to Cappadona, the changes are taking place in response to numerous student feedback. “We received feedback and observed a need for more buses to manage the demand,” he said. “All changes are designed to make commuting better.” One such change is that the Comm. Ave. buses will no pick up or drop off passengers at the Robsham Theater stop between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. on weekday mornings. The increases, said Cappadona, depend on the time of the day. Currently, the Comm. Ave. bus has two different routes, the Boston Direct Route and the Weekend All-Stops, whereas the Newton Bus has five different routes. n
ies that have social implications, such as environmental research. The judges were Rudolph Hon, a professor in the earth and environmental sciences department, Constantin Andronache, research associate in Information Technology Services, Sally Wyman, a science librarian, Enid Carr, a biology and earth and environmental sciences librarian, and Barbara Mento, a data and GIS librarian. Posters from the entries were on display in O’Neill Library both before and after the ceremony. n
are exposed to a multitude of aspects of German culture. The program is the result of
“Two Boston College seniors, Isabel Protasowicki, CSOM ’11, and Alison O’Connell, A&S ’11, have been selected to participate in the 28th year of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals.” collaboration between the United States Congress and the German Parliament, the Bundestag, and is primarily designed for
students in business, vocational, technical, engineering, and agricultural fields. Participants hail from across the U.S., and a variety of career fields. To be eligible, participants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents between the ages of 18 and 24, with career goals and experience in their field. German language ability is strongly recommended. Interested applicants can visit the program website at www. CBYX.info. The program is reciprocal, with German students traveling to the U.S. to gain career experience. The program is currently looking for interested host families, companies, and colleges interested in taking part in this exchange program. Interested participants can find out more by contacting the program at cbyx@cdsintl.org. n
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The Heights
Editorials
Quote of the Week
Bringing back the Baldwins
Monday, May 2, 2011
“The facts were complicated, and we didn’t foresee appropriately the nature of the reaction. But I feel like you don’t want to make important decisions in anger. You can always tell a man to go to hell tomorrow.” Charlie Munger, weighing in on his and Warren Buffet’s handling of David Sokol at the Berkshire Annual Meeting this weekend in Omaha, Neb.
Since all benefit from the Baldwins, everyone must contribute to making them a reality next year This year, to the disappointment of many, the Baldwins, Boston College’s annual filmmaker awards ceremony, was not held. This was due to a lack of manpower and resources being put in place following the departure of the event’s longstanding director, Mike Civille, and the shifting of responsibility for the event from the Office of Marketing Communications to the fine arts department. It’s understandable that these two factors are constraints to producing the event this year. But what stands as both confusing and slightly disappointing is that no plans have been made to reinstitute the Baldwins in the near future. Student organizers speculate that reorganization of the event will not become feasible for years, until the projected development of the arts dis-
trict on Brighton Campus. The Heights has been vocal since the start of the Master Plan about maintaining student life in the midst of physical changes to the campus. The experience of students during these coming years shouldn’t be compromised. Reviving the Baldwins is a perfect example of an action that needs to be taken. There is no reason that a lack of manpower or resources should be prohibitive for an event that holds appeal far beyond just the film studies program. Keeping this in mind, resources should be drawn upon from outside the fine arts department. If BC would like to see the Baldwins remain a staple event — an opportunity for students to showcase work beyond the realm of their classrooms — then all must assume a role in making this desire a reality.
Toward transparency, toward solutions Matt Laud/ Heights Illustration
There may not be clear answers to the issues presented by Title IX, but transparency is necessary to reach them Last week, Katie Thomas of The New York Times rekindled a discussion on gender in college sports with her article “College teams, relying on deception, undermine gender equity.” In her reporting, Thomas exposed universities cutting corners to comply with the Title IX law that requires them to provide equal resources for male and female athletes. These universities were shown to have included men on female rosters and to have padded their teams with women who didn’t actually participate in any events – some didn’t even know they were on the team. This is not a new issue. Universities have had difficulties complying with Title IX regulation since Congress passed them into law in 1972. Boston College, too, has faced difficulties with meeting the standard of allotting “substantially proportionate” funding to male and female athletes. As reported by The Heights last February, BC spent $1.14 million more in athletic scholarship money on males
than on females during the 2008-2009 academic year, despite having more female than male athletes. Athletics officials attributed this difference to a higher number of male athletes who stay on campus for summer sessions. With such a discrepancy, BC was flirting with noncompliance, but at least officials were honest about their issues with Title IX and had an explanation for them. BC passed its latest NCAA review in 2008 and has had proportionately better scholarship offerings to females than some of its ACC competitors (Duke and the University of Miami, to name a few). But this does not mean the University is immune to the problems highlighted by Thomas. Athletic programs need to be honest with national regulators about the issues they are facing with complying with Title IX. Clandestine tactics and fudged rosters only generate public distrust toward the University and good articles for newspapers.
Balancing academics and the arts To makes Arts Fest more focused upon academics is to defeat one of its main aims In the wake of the past weekend’s Arts Festival, The Heights would like to commend the event’s committee for its success. But we feel that, with the new emphasis on academic showcases, the Festival may have lost something. By adding more academic performances to the Festival schedule, the organizers limited the number of artistic acts and restricted some showcases to select arts groups. This could have an unintended effect on student attendance and involvement. Performers generate attendance by encouraging friends to view their shows and parents will come to town to see their children. The fewer students involved, the less opportunity there is to generate this interest. Though many excellent and commendable qualities can be noted about this year’s Festival, the movement toward a more “academically based” programming is not, in the opinion of The Heights, necessarily a positive change.
The Arts Festival is an annual opportunity to highlight students for their work as artists, not as students. Arts Festival allows its performers to transcend traditional roles and join together as artist in a collective display of talent. The weekend events provide recognition for student passions outside the scope of the typical classroom. With this in mind, The Heights feels that the reduction in traditional Arts Festival programming in favor of more academic programming does not necessarily reflect the interests of the Boston College community or the surrounding communities. Though the idea to implement new, more academic content has noble foundations, the most appealing performances are not necessarily the most academic. There must be room for the silly and the charismatic. As a whole, The Heights would question what is being forfeited through this change in the celebration’s content.
The Heights The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Michael Caprio, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ottaunick, General Manager DJ Adams, Managing Editor
Contributors: Maggie Burdge
Clara Kim, Copy Editor Taylour Kumpf, News Editor Paul Sulzer, Sports Editor Kristopher Robinson, Features Editor Darren Ranck, Arts & Review Editor David Cote, Marketplace Editor Ana Lopez, Opinions Editor Dan Tonkovich, Special Projects Editor Alex Trautwig, Photo Editor Lindsay Grossman, Layout Editor
Letters to the Editor Delight in the diploma In response to “The Meaning of a BC Diploma,” by Johnathan J. Darrow: As a recent alum, I enjoy reading The Heights online from time to time. Some articles make me proud to be an Eagle, some make me ashamed, and others make me laugh. Johnathan Darrow’s Op-ed, “The Meaning of a BC Diploma,” was so laughable that I couldn’t resist writing in (all in good fun of course) to point out several errors. First, a few factual errors. The Kyrie from the Mass is in Greek. My diploma does have my school’s name on it (“Collegium Bostoniense” is not hard to translate for non-Latin readers). Finally, the introduction of liturgy in the vernacular has much more to do with Vatican II and the Missal of Pope Paul VI than with a changing academic culture. I initially had to chuckle at the article’s opening assertion: “the diplomas are unreadable because they are in Latin.” They are certainly not unreadable, the problem is simply that the recipients lack the ability to read them. Four years of Latin was required at BC because
it was the common language of the Church. To be able to communicate with others around the world about those things which are of greatest value to the human heart, to read the same texts in the same language - surely this is not something to be lost (and surely it should appeal to the typically social justice-minded BC student of today). I for one am glad that my diploma is all in Latin. A final appeal for the current state of the BC diploma: I am currently an ND grad student and will graduate at the end of the term. My diploma will be nice, but small and in boring old English. It will hang on my wall in a nice frame, and I will be proud of it. However, I will smile from ear to ear when I see it dwarfed by my gigantic BC diploma, written in a sacred language, and prominently featuring an unnecessarily enormous eagle.
Brett Bertucio BC ’08
The Online buzz Reprinting reader comments from www.bcheights.com, The Online Buzz draws on the online community to contribute to the ongoing discussion. In response to “Setting the Dividing Line Straight” by Lindsey Hennawi: Lindsey, you are so ignorant that it makes me want to cry. I lived in Israel for many years and I love this country. Before you criticize any of Israel’s actions, I suggest you take your ignorant friends with you and come for a visit, to understand the reality here as many of my American friends did and it changed their mind completely. The thing that i dont understand is how come you spend so much money and time to act against Israeli injus-
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tice towards the Palestinians when your own country, the one you live and study in, the one that gives you the right of speech, does so many bad things to so many people around the world. Please, mind your own country’s business first, or start protesting and helping millions of people undergoing genocide as we speak. Stop bothering a small country that tries to survive in a hostile, fanatic neighborhood, and let us enjoy falafel quietly. Anonymous
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The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
A7
Opinions
Summer spontaneity
Thumbs Up Osama Bin Laden - IS DEAD. Cursive - You may have thought you were in the clear after third grade when you barely skated through penmanship. However, a case for reviving cursive handwriting – in an age where handwriting period is becoming a dying practice – is being made on the basis that it protects against forgeries and helps children’s motor skills. Does switching from Times New Roman to Monotype Corsiva for our standard font count? Royal Hiatus - For those of us who preferred The Weather Channel to watching the Royal Wedding, a break in the media’s obnoxious coverage of the marriage of two lavishly pointless figureheads may be near. Turns out the couple is “returning to work” before hitting an undisclosed overseas location for their honeymoon weeks from now. That should give us nearly a month to prepare for sightings of their random shows of PDA being once again classified globally as “breaking news.” Arts Fest - This year, like every year, the Boston College Arts Fest succeeded in bringing sunshine to campus, both in the form of a few temperate days and the fantastic sampling of the abilities of student artists shown last weekend. There could definitely be worse things to distract those of us cooped up in O’Neill for hours on end than the delightful show of dance, theater, pottery, and poetry that consumed the plaza. #Winning - For those looking to regain that “winning” feeling after the tough losses sustained during the fall and winter seasons, no need to wait until next year, spring sports have got us covered. The women’s track team defeated Georgetown by less than one second to win the 4x1500-meter relay at the Penn Relays this past weekend, the men’s baseball team beat No. 1 Virginia after two extra innings – someone’s earned their ability to tweet “#winning” without being ironic. Dirty, but not rotten - Any reference to the great, sassy Midwest gets TU/TDs endorphins running, but that was just one of the many, fantastic aspects of the Boston College theater department’s rendition of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that brought grins to our faces and delight to our ears. Every last aspect of this show, from the accents assumed by the leads, to the surprise plot twist at the end, to the M.C. Hammer-esque getup donned by Muriel Eubanks, was executed with impeccable comedic flair. Bravo!
Thumbs Down Brain-Dead - If your plan to master your academic life through a series of Bapst allnighters isn’t panning out, your biggest enemy might be yourself. Turns out, regardless of the amount of coffee or other stimulants consumed, our sleep-deprived brains can still fall prey to fits of “micro sleep” where parts of the brain literally shuts down while the body is still awake and seemingly functioning. So you can tell your English professor the reason the last page of your term paper is illegible is because you blacked-out the night before … well, maybe you’ll have to reword that, but you get the sentiment. TU/TD on Twitter. You know you want to. @BCTUTD
Katya Rucker “These are the best of times, these are the worst of times … this is the season of light, this is the season of darkness … we have everything before us, we have nothing before us.” It’s strange how relevant Charles Dickens’ paradox appears in the revolving door of the four-year (give or take) college journey. Our experience is one of beginnings and endings, of trials and triumphs, of convictions and uncertainties. And now we stand at the brink of one of our many crossroads: the last week of classes before the gaping expanse of summer. One of the most amazing gifts we are given as undergrads is a four-month span of freedom each year. That means, in sum, over a year to do with as we wish, without classes or academic obligations. Sure, summer classes are always a choice, as are jobs or internships. But college is the last circumstance, for most of us, in which extended “time off ” is possible. For seniors, this realization is all too poignant. These may be the worst of times in the season of darkness, in fact. But you do have everything before you. And whether you’re starting a job right after you graduate or waiting a little while, summer is still upon you. You still have the opportunity to do summery things, and keep staving off that feeling that the best years of your life are over. Remember, the months when school is in session tend to fly by due to students’ busy schedules. So after finals are said and done, we’ll probably all have a little more time on our
hands than we have right now. No matter how many plans you’ve already crammed into the next few months, you’ll probably have a little more time to breathe. Summer is brimming with opportunities that most of us never have time to acknowledge in between a week’s worth of classes, clubs, and partying. As we begin our last week of classes this semester and dread the onslaught of finals, here are a few suggestions to get you thinking about the summer days ahead. 1) Get out of your comfort zone. This can be accomplished in many ways. A general rule of thumb, however, is to rack your brain for the absolute last (or maybe second-to-last) thing you would choose to do, and then summon the motivation to
do it on a particular day. Go to a museum or local exhibit for some educational sustenance, or go to a restaurant that specializes in the departure-from-the-American-diet. Summer is a time to rejoice in spontaneity, after all. 2) Be a man or woman for others. Volunteer. Lend a hand. Teach. Help in a way that you enjoy the time you spend, and know you’ll feel good after you do it. 3) Reflect and unplug. Be meditative, in the context of choice. Yoga positions, empty churches, or strolls through a forest are settings that tend to work for some people. Allow yourself to think deeply about some of the bigger questions in life. 4) Read for pleasure. Remind yourself
what that feels like. 5) Go somewhere you’ve never been before. You don’t need a plane or even a car to do this. If you’re near a city, explore it. Even if you’re not, be adventurous. Imagine where you might run away if you were five-years-old. 6) “Green” an aspect of your life. This is your chance to prove that one person really can do something to be part of a global solution. If you ever have a choice between driving and walking or biking, opt for the pre-industrial mode of transport. If you love shopping, try making it more of a special occasion than a weekly (or daily) ritual. Only buy what you need, or in more realistic terms, only buy what you think you really need. Go local. Find out if there’s a farmers market or food co-op in your area, and go there for your fruits and veggies. In America’s industrial food system, you’d really be accomplishing something if you find a way to buy food that traveled less than 100 miles to get to you. Stay hydrated by putting water in a reusable bottle instead of guzzling through plastic, disposable bottles. If you’re up for a challenge, do a “before and after” assessment of your carbon footprint. Go to www.footprintnetwork.org to find out what impact you have and how you can reduce it. Remember that summer goes as quickly as it comes. We’ll all be caught up in routines again soon enough, so this is the time to avoid them. Or if you’re a routine-kind-of person, it’s the time to establish new ones. Just don’t forget to reflect and unwind. After all, Charles Dickens also said, “Bring in the bottled lightening, a clean tumbler, and a corkscrew!” Katya Rucker is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
The way we were Hayley Trahan-Liptak Our Boston College sweatshirts gave us away. As my philosophy class walked through a park in the South End, just blocks from where the original BC stood, a BC alumnus approached us. She had graduated several decades before and was eager to recount stories of her time as an undergrad. The woman had been a commuter student, living at home in the South End back when the neighborhood was known more for crime than for high-class apartments. She had little time for student clubs or on campus activities. Most of her nights were spent working two jobs to put herself through school. Still, she’d been elected to represent the commuter students who were struggling to retain their image on a campus that was rapidly deserting its local base for rich suburban students. Before she was done, the woman had called my happily married professor “father,” kept us beyond our 5:30 p.m. class time, and unwittingly insulted each one of us by pegging us as rich suburban students. She ended her litany with one question, almost an accusation: “Where are all of you from?” Technically she was wrong about one thing; we are not all wealthy suburbanites. Many students come to BC from urban areas like Boston, New York, or Los Angeles. Others bring to school with them memories of rural life, farm chores, and county fairs. Still, freshman year at BC, many of these students remain the undiscovered exception to the suburban rule. Through weekends of parties, late nights of studying, and days of staying awake in classes, BC students rapidly leave
Party Time
BY BEN VADNAL
behind their diverse upbringing and blend together into one student body. If you want evidence of this phenomenon, you need only ask the professors who have watched this transition for years. Freshman year, a professor of mine pointed out my class’s transformation at the end of the first semester. It happened every year, she told us. Students come to her first day of class in their best dress from home. They all come from different places, they express different opinions, and each puts on a different front. As the weather gets colder and the semester goes by, she watches the students trade their diverse clothing choices for Uggs, North Face jackets, and other popular clothing brands as they try to blend into their surroundings. It’s not the clothes that matter the most, however. As the semester draws to a close differing opinions become quieter and students leave behind their backgrounds as they blend into the community. Students are not the only ones subject to this transformation. BC was once a unique city university, entering the college community as an alternative to the prestigious, yet exclusive, Harvard University. The school was located in the South End and catered mostly to Irish immigrants who commuted to the school to receive a liberal arts education in Latin, Greek, and philosophy. As the years passed, BC has followed the lead of other universities, expanding its programs and sharpening its image into that of an elite institution. Like its students, BC has worked hard to be a part of the elite circles known around the country. Although it remains a Jesuit institution, the school has outgrown its roots, the people who helped it become a university in the first place. Once BC students were children of immigrants, or immigrants themselves, who could commute to the school while working to pay tuition. In contrast, today 99 percent of the freshman class lives on campus; pay-
ing their own way through school has become impossible. The majority of students come from families who can pay the substantial tuition bills; almost 60 percent of students do not qualify for financial aid. At the same time, admission to the school is growing more competitive, Last year, only 31 percent of applicants were admitted. The numbers show the school has grown from its humble beginnings. What used to be BC has now become the BC “bubble.” The underlying question from the woman in the park remains – who have we become? That is not to say the new BC or its student body is heading in the wrong direction. With a BC education, students have the chance to learn from renowned professors while alumni have unparalleled opportunities around the world. During our four years at BC, we grow from teenagers to adult college graduates, blending together to become a united community is part of that growing up process. Still, neither BC nor its students need to leave their backgrounds behind. Seniors must remember our humble beginnings as they head out into the world of elite institutions and competitive cities. As BC moves toward its 10-year Institutional Master Plan, the school needs to remember where it came from, how it used to be an institution ready and willing to education anyone who wanted to learn, whether rich or poor. As we BC students graduate and head into the world, we too must recall who we were, students from cities, farms, and suburbs. But we also must remember who we’ve become, educated to be men and women for others. If we remember that this is who we are, we will proud to answer anyone’s question, that we are from BC. Hayley Trahan-Liptak is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
The human element
Pooja Shah When it comes to Boston College’s motto “Ever to Excel,” it’s a given that BC students surpass all standards and exceed in all realms. Founded by the Society of Jesus, BC remains a Catholic University that upholds Jesuit-inspired ideals of developing one’s mind and talents while encouraging the use of one’s abilities toward helping others. It comes as no surprise that service and volunteering are greatly valued at BC, as exemplified by the popularity of the PULSE Program, 4Boston, Arrupe, Service Immersion trips, and the plentitude of volunteering opportunities available on and off campus. But why should we volunteer? The other day, I was sitting in The Rat when I overheard a discussion between two girls at a nearby table on their upcoming weekend plans. The first girl turns to her friend and complains about a having to attend a volunteer commitment she signed up for two weeks ago, “This means I can’t go out tonight, ugh I guess I’ll have to wear my cute dress some other time,” to which her friend immediately answered, “Who cares? Ditch it! Why does it even matter anyways?” Let’s face it. How many times in our experience have we tried to sacrifice attending an event or activity for our own personal leisurely desires? Or even using academics as an excuse to justify how homework and exams take precedence over volunteering every now and then? Although every BC student does possess an interest towards service, what motivates this drive? Personally speaking, the concept of community service had always been a duty for me while in high school. In an environment where every student was competing to outshine his or her peers, volunteer opportunities were a way to stand out and be unique in the eyes of college admissions committees. Because of this goal to simply make it to college with an impressive list of extracurricular activities, most of my high school experience included a wide range of unrelated activities that I had no real passion for. It was college that redefined what community service meant to me. This semester, I participated the in “Get on the Bus” program with Amnesty International, an annual day of human rights activism where activists throughout the Northeast region gather in New York City to take peaceful action. Despite the excitement of spontaneously going to New York, the event was truly inspirational in seeing the fervor of people who care so much about these issues. This is when I came to the realization that community service should not be meant to simply build one’s resume. Rather, volunteering should be an act of generosity toward constructing a greater understanding of humanity. Although I do agree that a strong extracurricular record is crucial, the creation of strong human relationships and inclination to help someone should outweigh any personal benefits. It is such a great honor to be attending a university that incorporates service into its mission because of its contribution to a well-rounded education. I think that people need to take advantage of all the opportunities offered to them right from the beginning of their freshmen year. If I had been more aware and perceptive earlier in my college career, I’m certain that there existed a wide array of service opportunities that suited my interests. Community service not only allows one to offer assistance to others given the privileges you yourself have, but it’s also a service to yourself because it builds character. As you help make any form of change in someone’s life, you can gain worldly experience and deepened compassion. Outside of exams, homework, and similar academic pressures, you realize that there are real issues and problems that people deal with that you have the power to help alleviate. By taking a walk into a community less familiar, but equally important, you realize what you have and what you are given. Volunteering should not be limited just to your college career, but should continue even after graduation despite the other activities that may occupy your time. Elizabeth Andrew once said, “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” Make use of this time wisely. Pooja Shah is a staff columnist for The Heights. She welcomes comments at opinions@bcheights.com.
A8
The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
SPORTS The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
Section
B
Monday, May 2, 2011
What Herzlich should do next
NFL Draft
Running with the colts
Paul Sulzer
By Andrew Klokiw
I
Saturday was not the worst day of Mark Herzlich’s life. But it certainly has to rank among the most frustrating. Thirty-two teams had a chance to pick him with one of 254 selections in the NFL draft. None did so. Now he has to deal with the uncertainty of being an undrafted free agent during the lockout, which means he can’t catch on with a team until the players and the owners sign a new collective bargaining agreement. Instead of using this time to audition with teams and find the right fit, Herzlich can only work out on his own and bide his time until the labor issue is resolved. Does anyone familiar with Herzlich’s story actually think this will stop him from achieving his dream of playing pro ball? On Wednesday, the Boston College linebacker appeared on ESPN’s First Take and told host Dana Jacobson that he made a checklist of goals after he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in May 2009. Finish chemotherapy. Finish radiation. Be cancer-free. Play football again. Herzlich has approached each one with the focus and determination that made him a star as a junior, when he won ACC defensive player of the year. Why would his attitude toward this latest challenge be any different? I fully expect him to cross off play in the NFL when the new CBA is enacted. Herzlich can use this opportunity to refine his game for pro-style defenses. Teams look for flexibility from undrafted free agents, who are often competing for the final few spots on the team. By bulking up a few pounds, Herzlich can cast himself as a strongside linebacker in a 4-3 and an inside linebacker in a 3-4. That would make him particularly useful for teams like the Patriots and the Ravens who run varying defensive sets depending on the down and distance. Adding some weight will allow Herzlich to accentuate his strength (his physicality). The extra muscle would help him shed blocks more easily. If teams don’t view him as an every-down option, then he would be wise to ignore improving his coverage skills for the time being and focus on being the best at a particular skill set. Concerns about Herzlich’s lateral quickness were foremost among the reasons he slid down draft boards. Admittedly, he does not change direction as well as he did before cancer. He would be
For The Heights
n the midst of the work stoppage that has been enforced on the NFL’s players this spring, the league held its 2011 draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York City from Thursday to Saturday. The draft brought good fortunes for one former Boston College player and hard luck for another, as offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo was selected 22nd by the Indianapolis Colts, and linebacker Mark Herzlich Anthony Castonzo may have went undrafted. found the ideal fit with the Having been picked by the Colts, Castonzo Colts at No. 22 after he is expected to slide right into the starting left was passed up by rumored tackle position. He will be entrusted with what is suitors such as the LIons perhaps the second most important position for (No. 13), the Patriots (No. Indianapolis, protecting superstar quarterback Peyton Manning’s blind side. 17), and the Giants (No. 19). “I think I’m up to the task,” said the 6-foot-7, Castonzo will be responsible 311-pounder in a statement. “I expect he’s going for protecting quarterback to demand a lot of me, and I expect I can deliver. I Peyton Manning’s blind side. get to play for the best quarterback in the league. michael conroy / ap photo That’s more than you can really ask for. That’s unbelievable.” Being thrown into the fire is nothing new for Castonzo, as the lineman started nearly every game in his four years on the Heights. He set a school record with 54 consecutive starts and was named to the All-ACC first team. He was also chosen as a third-team All-American. Having declined an invite to the draft, Castonzo watched the proceedings from his home in Illinois, surrounded by friends and family. The most favorable mock drafts had Castonzo going as early as the bottom half of the top 10. He was shown repeatedly on camera as teams selected other lineman. The Dallas Cowboys, at No. 9, represented the first team where Castonzo could have landed, but they opted instead for Southern California tackle Tyron Smith. Height: 6-7 “I had six individual workouts,” Castonzo said to The Boston Weight: 311 Globe. “But the only team that I actually visited was the Cowboys. It’s been kind of fun really, guessing as to where I would wind up Position: LT playing.” Class: 2011 The Rhodes Scholar nominee was forced to wait anxiously as the Miami Dolphins at No. 15 and the New England Patriots at No. 17 Arm Length: 34.5’’ opted for other offensive lineman, as well. Hand Size: 10.625’’ With Manning’s Colts on the clock, ESPN panned its cameras to Castonzo and his family at home as he was shown talking excitedly 40 Time: 5.23 seconds on the phone. The call was from the Colts and it prompted a raucous Bench Reps: 28 celebration from the entire Castonzo family. Castonzo’s minor fall in the draft shocked the Indianapolis war Vertical Jump: 29.5’’ room as they didn’t expect to have the chance to take him so late in the first round. Picked: No. 22 by the “We didn’t think he’d be there,” Colts vice chairman Bill Polian Indianapolis Colts said in a statement. “He was the highest-rated offensive tackle on our board, and we were very happy that he was available to us. He’s Analysis: Castonzo a very tall guy, 6-foot-7, 305-310 pounds, long arms, quick feet, was the best pick for outstanding student, four-year starter, pretty much everything we look for in a football player so we’re very happy to have him. I’m sure the Colts, who are he can step in and do a good job pretty darned soon.” looking to win while However, equally notable news for BC fans came at the conclusion of the draft when someone’s name wasn’t called. Herzlich was QB Peyton Manning is invited to attend the draft and was present at Radio City, but was still in his prime. not one of the 254 players selected on the weekend.
The Anthony Castonzo file
See Herzlich, B3
See Castonzo, B3
baseball
BC upsets No. 1 Virginia
BC wins first event title ever at penn Relays
Eagles manage to take the middle game of the weekend series with a walkoff double in 11th By Andrew Klokiw For The Heights
Upon welcoming the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (42-5, 20-4 ACC) to Chestnut Hill 4 Virginia for a threeBoston College 0 game series , the Boston College baseball team (1626, 7-15 ACC) had endured a poor run of form in the ACC, being swept by Clemson and more recently, Georgia Tech. Virginia took two of three games on the weekend, including two shutouts, but the Eagles handed the Cavaliers only their fifth loss of the season on Saturday afternoon. Following the team’s big win on Saturday, BC’s bats were silenced Sunday by a spectacular effort from Virginia starting pitcher Will Roberts, who held the Eagles scoreless in a 4-0 Virginia victory. The sophomore threw eight innings, surrendering only four hits and striking out six. The win moves Roberts to 9-0 on the season, with an ERA under 1.50. “Roberts threw the ball well and he
was executing his pitches,” said head coach Mike Gambino of Roberts’ gem. “He was sinking the fastball today and he had the breaking ball going, he was ahead of us all day. It was a really good outing.” BC’s best chance to score came in the third inning, when left fielder Andrew Lawrence laced a triple down the right field line with one out. Designated hitter Mike Sudol followed with a fly-out to center field. On the play, Lawrence was thrown out at home plate on a great throw from Cavalier Kenny Swab. BC starting pitcher Dave Laufer pitched only the first inning, but was tagged with the loss to fall to 0-1 on the season after giving up one run. On Saturday, the Eagles earned the type of win that can change a season, defeating Virginia in 11 innings. Outfielder Matt McGovern scored all the way from first on a double by third basemen Anthony Melchionda in the bottom of the eleventh to hand the Cavaliers their fifth loss of the season, 5-4.
See Baseball, B6
i nside S ports this issue
matt rourke / ap photo
Caroline King overtook Sheila Reid in the final leg of the 4x1500-meter relay to give BC its first Penn Relay event title. For more, see B5.
Matt McGovern keeps hitting
Get to know the sophomore outf ielder, who’s hitting .424.....................B6
Ben Smith seizes opportunities
The former Eagle kept the Blackhawks in contention with some clutch first-round goals.............B2
Numbers to Know.....................B2 Quote of the Week........................B2
The Heights
B2
Monday, May 2, 2011
Smith makes most of opportunity on the big stage with game-winner spot, Smith’s Blackhawks fell behind the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs. However, as anyone on the Heights who followed the Eagles run to the title last year can tell you, Smith has a way of stepping up his game in the biggest moments. In the Frozen Four, Smith was named the Most Outstanding Player, as his three goals and one assist carried BC over Miami of Ohio and Wisconsin. With this in mind, it was no surprise when he netted two goals in Game 2 in front of a hostile Vancouver crowd. The second of those two tied up the game at three, before the Canucks’ Daniel Sedin scored the game-winning goal three minutes later. After dropping into a 3-0 hole in the series, Quenneville stated, “We need more from our top guys.” What he and Blackhawks fans could not have known was that Smith would establish himself as one of those top guys. The defending champions would stave off elimination with resounding 7-2 and 5-0 victories, before returning home for a crucial Game 6. That game would become the first overtime game of the series, as Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa tied the game with under a minute remaining. Bieksa’s goal only served to make the
Andrew Klokiw When one thinks of great hockey numbers, the number 57 would not be the first to come to mind, or the second, or even the third. In the storied history of the NHL, never has a player donned the number 57 and experienced any measure of memorable success. That is until now. As a late-season call-up for the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, Boston College graduate Ben Smith made the most of a fleeting opportunity to become a fan favorite in the hockey-crazed Windy City. The former Eagle assistant captain, who graduated last year with two NCAA championships, was first called up by Chicago in late October. With the team embroiled in a battle for the final playoff spot, the rookie scored his first NHL goal in a crucial match-up against the division rival Detroit Red Wings in only his fifth professional game. Smith’s rapid adjustment to the fastpaced play of the NHL saw Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville place him on a line with three-time All-Star Marian Hossa and 2011 All-Star Game MVP Patrick Sharp. After squeezing into the final playoff
stage even bigger for Smith to shine. Fifteen minutes into the overtime period, Blackhawk defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson took a slapshot from the point that was spilled by Vancouver’s All-Star goaltender, Roberto Luongo. Smith, who had stationed himself in front of the Canucks netminder, pounced on the rebound and chipped the puck over Luongo to send the frenetic series back to Vancouver for a seventh game. “I was just trying to fight for body position,” Smith said of his game-winner. “It’s never over until you lose that fourth game. The older guys harped on that. I wouldn’t say it’s amazing. It’s something we all hoped for. Down 3-0 nobody panicked, nobody quit.” For the Blackhawks, however, the momentum from the Game 6 victory was not enough to see them through to the second round. They bowed out in overtime of an intense Game 7 in which Vancouver’s Alexandre Burrows scored under five minutes into the extra time to send the Blackhawks home early. Chicago’s loss in the series, while painful for all, including Smith, will do nothing to dampen the future of the Blackhawks’ new number 57. The rookie carried over his big-game experience from BC to the NHL and showed the
country the NHL-ready standard of BC head coach Jerry York’s players. Smith is merely the latest Eagle to have success at the NHL level, following the likes of young players like Brian Boyle of the New York Rangers and Nathan Gerbe of the Buffalo Sabres. The accomplishments of these former BC men provide the blueprint for the futures of Eagles who have departed the Heights this past season, including Cam Atkinson, Brian Gibbons, and the Blackhawks’ own Jimmy Hayes. Ben Smith’s playoff feats demonstrate
how a sixth-round pick and the smallest, youngest player on the ice can make a difference even at the highest levels of competition. “You really just have to focus on what’s going on right now,” Smith said of his phenomenal 2011 playoff play. “It doesn’t get better than this. To have this experience will definitely help me down the road.” Andrew Klokiw is a guest columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com.
Nam y. huh / ap photo
nam y. huh / ap photo
Ben Smith was called up to the NHL by the Chicago Blackhawks in time for their playoff run, and the former Eagle shined on the big stage. He notched three goals in the playoffs, including the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 6.
Eagles finish regular season on high note, now wait for NCAA bid By Chris Marino Asst. Sports Editor
SPORTS in SHORT
The Eagles’ season was hanging in the balance. The No. 9 Boston College women’s lacrosse team Boston College 14 (12-6) was playNew Hampshire 9 ing for a chance to reach the postseason, and came away with a strong victory, 14-9, over New Hampshire (7-8). “It was do or die,” head coach Bowen Holden said. “We had to win and we did. Now the reality is that we have done all that we can do. We’ve controlled what we can control and the rest is in the hands of others at this point. It depends on what other teams do in their games and it’s in the hands of the selection committee in the end. So, we’ve done what we can do.” The Eagles, coming off a loss to Maryland, were unable to separate themselves from the Wildcats in the first half. Despite striking first on an unassisted goal by senior midfielder Hannah Alley, BC let UNH come back with two goals of its own. The Eagles took the lead back with three unanswered goals by attacks Brittany Wilton, Moira Barry and Brooke Blue, before the Wildcats responded with three of their own. Then, with UNH up one goal heading into halftime, senior midfielder Kristin Igoe notched her 42nd goal of the season to tie the game at six. “Basically, it came down to two things: unnecessary turnovers, I mean we had 10
turnovers in the first half which is typically what we have in an entire game, and the second would be that we just were not in sync defensively and weren’t playing team defense,” Holden said of her team’s inability to stay ahead in the first half. The second half featured a totally different BC squad, as the Eagles were able to outscore their opponents 8-3 in the half. “I didn’t say a whole lot in terms of Xs and Os, because they really didn’t need
Florida State Clemson NC State Wake Forest Boston College Maryland
Coastal
Virginia Georgia Tech Miami North Carolina Virginia Tech Duke
Ceglarski finished the scoring for the Eagles with one goal apiece. “It came down to the offense taking care of the ball and our defense really coming together,” Holden said. “We played great team defense [in the second half] and there was just much better offensive ball movement and finishing our shots and things like that.” The Eagles saw goals scored by nine different players, an aspect of the team’s game
ALEX TRAUTWIG / HEIGHTS EDITOR
The women’s lacrosse team secured an instrumental win against the UNH Wildcats, keeping its hopes of an at-large NCAA tournament bid alive.
ACC Baseball Standings Atlantic
that,” Holden said of her team’s game plan in the second half. “They just needed to get back to playing Boston College lacrosse and they managed to do that right off the bat coming into the second half and really set the tone.” In the half, Alley, Barry and Blue each scored their second goals of the game, while Jill Amo added one and Sam Taylor notched two consecutive goals, before the Wildcats even scored once. Brittany Wilton and Cali
Conference 16-8 13-11 11-13 7-14 7-16 5-19 20-4 18-6 16-7 13-8 9-15 5-19
Overall 33-11 29-15 26-19 17-26 16-26 20-27 42-5 31-14 29-15 33-10 26-20 21-26
Quote of the Week
Numbers to Know
.424
Matt McGovern’s batting average through 26 games played this year, good enough to lead the team.
12
Regular season wins by the women’s lacrosse team this season, tying the program’s record.
23
Players in last year’s NFL Pro Bowl who went undrafted out of college.
that Holden believes will be necessary for further success. “It’s incredibly important [to have so many different players score] especially as we hopefully head into the NCAA tournament,” she said. “You never want to rely on one or two people because then it means it’s just that much easier for the opponent to scout us and take us out of our game. So having nine different people score was definitely important yesterday but also important in general and it’s something that we continue to expect to have every single player be a threat. Even though we may have some plays set for certain individuals on our team, anything can happen and everybody has to be ready for their moment at any given time.” At this point, BC will have to wait to be called for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. While Holden is proud of her team’s strong play this season, tying last season’s team for most wins in a campaign, she and her players are both hoping to continue their season. “We had a great season,” she said. “The kids should be very proud of what they accomplished. At the same time it is certain that no one is satisfied on this team. There’s definitely an absolute hope and desire that we’re going to get an at-large bid, but we just don’t know.” Regardless of the final decision of the committee, Holden sees her team becoming a regular contender for seasons to come. “That’s where were heading, being that regular team making it every year.” n
“I have been told that I can’t play football before. We all know what happened with that. #neverquit” —
Mark Herzlich via his Twitter account
The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
B3
How to succeed despite going undrafted Herzlich, from B1 a liability in pass protection for whichever team signs him. But that may not be the case for long. Herzlich began to regain his quick first step by the end of last season. He recorded six solo tackles in each of the last two regular season games after doing so just twice in the nine games before that. He also grabbed an interception in both of those last two games, flashing the same instincts and positional awareness that helped him nab six passes in his junior season.
Even if Herzlich doesn’t fully recover his pre-cancer speed, he can still be a productive player as a two-down inside linebacker in the 3-4. Look at Brandon Spikes. New England’s rookie linebacker ran a molasses-like 5.02 40-yard dash in pre-draft workouts. The Pats took him in the second round last year anyway, and he had a productive first year, recording 61 tackles as a run-stuffing linebacker. His primary responsibility was to occupy a blocker so Jerod Mayo (175 tackles) could chase down the ball carrier. Sound familiar? Herzlich, who ran a 4.92 40 and registered 65 stops as
a senior, formed a similar tandem with Luke Kuechly (183) at BC. Whether Herzlich settles as the Robin to a Batman, develops into a standout himself, or latches on as a special teams player, happier days are ahead. As he noted himself on his Twitter account, he’s already been told once before that he can’t play football. We all know how that worked out.
Paul Sulzer is the Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com.
alex trautwig / heights editor
Castonzo sat out last spring with a broken foot but rebounded to have a productive senior year.
Colts select Castonzo with 22nd overall pick Castonzo, from B1 It was a surprise to some, as Herzlich was projected by draft experts to be chosen anywhere from the third to the fifth round of the seven-round event. Some of the talk around the league was that teams were weary of Herzlich’s leg problems that stemmed from his battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma. In a message posted on his Twitter account after the draft day disappointment, the linebacker wrote, “I have been
told that I can’t play football before. We all know what happened with that. #neverquit.” Odds are good that Herzlich will sign on with an organization once the lockout is lifted. He can be encouraged by the fact that 23 of the players selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl entered the league as undrafted free agents. In addition to Herzlich, graduating Eagles James McCluskey, Rich Lapham, Alex Albright, DeLeon Gause and Thomas Claiborne went undrafted. n
Point / Counterpoint:
Will BC win more games in 2011 than in 2010?
Rettig’s improvement fosters better success By Sean Hyatt For The Heights
Succeeding in college football is a delicate recipe. It takes two key ingredients: talent of the team and strength of schedule, blended together perfectly to achieve greatness. Without talent, a team fades into obscurity as one of many in a weak conference. Without an advantageous schedule even the strongest teams can fall among other powerhouses. To put it simply, a team must be talented and have a beneficial schedule to win games. So get excited folks, because the Boston College Eagles will have both in the upcoming season. Talent-wise, the Eagles have progressed from the past season on both sides of the ball. Offensively, BC improves, without question, at all skill positions. The Eagles return quarterback Chase Rettig, who started the final nine games of the 2010 season with both flashes of brilliance, like his 58-yard touchdown pass against Notre Dame in his collegiate debut. Granted, he did have his shortcomings – failing to take over games and generally compiling lackluster passing yardage. So sporadically, he looked great. With all that said, he was a 19-year-old freshman last season, an unproven, young gun with a good deal of potential. His return as starter in the 2011 season will naturally bring improvement. This seems especially true after an off-season spent working with new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, Kevin Rogers. Rogers is no random, untested new coach. He’s a quarterback guru with an impressive list of success stories under his belt. To name two: He developed current NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb at Syracuse, where McNabb garnered an insane number of Big East records and awards—like Big East offensive player of the decade—and shattered just about all applicable Syracuse records. Also consider his work with future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre on the Minnesota Vikings, where Favre posted one of his best statistical seasons with a career high in both touchdowns and quarterback rating. Rettig and the offense are in good hands. But things get sweeter still for the passing attack, as the receiving core has logically every reason to improve. It returns all previous starters and 2009 standout receiver Colin Larmond Jr., who missed last season while recovering from a torn ACL. Montel Harris will also come back to the lineup. He rushed for over 1,000 yards the past two years, leading the ACC in rushing last year and placing second the year before. Courtesy of Harris, the Eagle running game should impress. On the defensive side of things, the squad stays
david givler / heights senior staff
Herzlich would have provided an instant emotional and public relations boost to any team that drafted him. Instead, all 32 teams passed up the chance.
solid. Admittedly, BC loses Mark Herzlich and a number of defensive linemen, but BC retains a dominant group of linebackers and gains a few strong prospects for the D-line and defensive backfield. Whether the defense as a whole improves is unclear, but between Luke Kuechly, who led the nation in tackles, and Kevin Pierre-Louis, who started all 13 games last season as a freshman, it will remain adept. So BC’s got talent, but what about strength of schedule? The Eagles luck out in this department. Last year, the Eagles played and lost to four teams that finished the season ranked, (Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Florida State, and Maryland). BC plays them all again in 2011. Although this may initially sound like bad news, it isn’t. Three of the four lost their offensive weapons in the offseason. Florida State’s star quarterback last season, Christian Ponder, went 12th in the NFL draft. He’s gone. Both Ryan Williams and Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech’s two stars, are headed for the NFL. That offense is dismantled. Quarterback Russell Wilson, the face of NC State’s program, was just released from his scholarship when head coach Tom O’Brien asked him to choose between baseball and football. The three best ACC teams from last season need to restructure their offenses. The leaders of the conference are now weak. The ACC is BC’s to take. BC has the two key ingredients it needs to succeed next year. As students at BC, the only thing left to do is sit back and watch as the recipe unfolds into a strong season filled with success. n
Harder schedule makes progress unlikely By Drew McKay For The Heights
Boston College will not win more games in 2011 than they did in 2010. The Eagles went 7-6 last season. BC looks to be much improved but it won’t tally more wins this year because its schedule is much more difficult this year. BC’s 2010 football schedule was a walk in the park. The schedule started off with two easy non-conference patsies (Weber State and Kent State), and culminated with three ACC cellar dwellers and an abysmal Syracuse team. The only game that the Eagles won that they were not expected to was at Clemson. Although they did have a seven-win season, they only beat one quality team. Their 2011 schedule is much tougher. Instead of opening the season with two easy home games with an easy FCS team and a second-tier MAC team, BC has to play Northwestern then travel to Orlando and play Central Florida. While Northwestern and UCF are not exactly national powerhouses, both schools have played well in the last few years. Northwestern should be a win, but the Wildcats are certainly much tougher than Weber St. UCF looks to be a strong team in 2011. UCF’s quarterback Jeffrey Godfrey is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation. While the UCF game can be a potential win, the Golden Knights are a much higher caliber team than Kent St. The following week, Duke visits BC, which should be a win for the Eagles. UMass then comes to Chestnut Hill. Although UMass is
alex trautwig / heights editor
an FCS school, this is a rivalry game. Given Amherst’s close proximity to BC, a large UMass fan presence is expected. Furthermore, recent BC- UMass history has shown that the two Massachusetts rivals usually play a close game. BC hosts Wake Forest next, which can be penciled in as a win. BC travels to South Carolina to face Clemson. This game is essentially a toss up. Both teams have offensive issues, but Clemson’s Memorial Stadium is a tough place to play. Coming off the bye week, BC plays at Virginia Tech. Last year, BC had a bye week before hosting the Hokies. The Hokies shutout the Eagles, and won 19-0. Although Tyrod Taylor is now a Baltimore Raven, Tech still looks like a top-25 team. BC plays Maryland in a winnable game before hosting the Florida State Seminoles on Thursday on national television. Florida State looks to be a top-five team next year. BC will be hard pressed to beat Deion Sanders’ alma mater. North Carolina State visits Alumni Stadium in November in what should essentially be a toss up. BC then travels to South Bend to play the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Quarterback Dayne Crist played well last year before he tore his ACL halfway through the season. This game can go either way, but expect ND to take this one. BC closes out the season with a trip to Miami, which should be a win for the Canes. This puts the Eagles at about the six-win mark, one win shy of their 7-6 2010 record. Beyond their schedule, BC has lost many key players from 2010. Defensively, BC lost key players Mark Herzlich and Damik Scafe. These two players went undrafted, but expect them to get serious looks from NFL teams once the lockout ends and players can be signed. BC lost three offensive linemen, including first-round draft pick Anthony Castonzo, and fullback James McCluskey. Also, BC has had a lot of fluctuation on offense. BC just hired a new offensive coordinator in March. Injuries may affect the Eagles this fall. Stud running backs Montel Harris and Andre Williams are both coming off significant injuries. Williams sat out the Spring Game, while Montel Harris saw limited action. Tahj Kimble looked impressive, but the Eagles fourth string running back, Mike Javorski led the ground attack with 80 yards. Eagle fans should also be concerned that the team was unable to score a passing touchdown in the Spring Game. That certainly sounds like the 2010 football team. n
The Heights
B4
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“If I had a daughter, I would put a bomb in her. And if I found out she did something like that, I’d set it off!”
Directions: The Sudoku is played over a 9x9 grid. In each row there are 9 slots, some of which are empty and need to be filled. Each row, column and 3x3 box should contain the numbers 1 to 9. You must follow these rules: · Number can appear only once in each row · Number can appear only once in each column · Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box · The number should appear only once on row, column or area.
The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
B5
Seniors put up one last fight in final home series, but it’s not enough By Kim Schroer For The Heights
Alex Trautwig / Heights editor
Alison Kooistra was one of five seniors who played their final series at home this weekend, getting swept in the process.
Senior Day didn’t go exactly as planned Sunday, as Boston College lost 9-7 in a tight game against Georgia Tech (42-8, 16-1 ACC) 9 Georgia Tech that completed a threeBoston College 7 game sweep by the Yellow Jackets. Although the loss brings BC’s record down to 14-30, with a 5-13 record in ACC play, the Eagles were encouraged by the team’s strong showing against a Georgia Tech team ranked 20th in the country. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning, BC responded with five runs in the bottom half of the frame, including a three-run home run by sophomore outfielder Maria Pandolfo. The Yellow Jackets tied the game in the third inning off an RBI by senior catcher Jessica Weaver and took the lead for good in the fifth inning when Weaver blasted a three-run home run with one out to put Georgia Tech up 8-7. Errors were a major problem for the Eagles Sunday, as the team committed five compared to none by Georgia Tech. Head coach Jennifer Finley attributed the mistakes to the team’s youth and hopes to correct the problem heading into the ACC tournament. “We need to sharpen up defensively,” Finley said. “Because we’re very young, the team feels a lot of pressure on the field. It’s a growing process.” Although the Eagles weren’t able to steal a win from Georgia Tech, Finley was very encouraged by her team’s performance against a strong Yellow Jackets team. “We actually played really well two out of the three games this series,” Finley said. “We can play against any team in the country, and we showed it today.” Seniors Allison Gage, Carolyn Jones, Rene Delagrammaticas, Gemma Ypparila, and Alison Kooistra were honored in a ceremony before the game. The Eagles will miss their presence both on and off the field next season. “This group of seniors made it their mission to build team chemistry and unity this season, and they accomplished their goal,” Finley said. “We had the best
team chemistry I’ve seen in 16 seasons. The seniors were great mentors to our eight freshmen.” The Eagles struggled in Game 2 of the series, losing 11-2 on Saturday afternoon. Freshman pitcher Amanda Horowitz lasted just 1.2 innings after allowing five runs on four hits while walking two batters. BC allowed six runs in the second inning and never recovered. Freshman Tory Speer was a bright spot for the Eagles, going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Kooistra added an RBI in her only at-bat, scoring freshman outfielder Nicole Koszowski. The Yellow Jackets were led offensively by junior left fielder Kate Kuzma, who went 3-for-3 with three RBI while scoring two runs. Georgia Tech pitcher Lindsey Anderson earned the win after pitching five innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Georgia Tech won Game 1, 2-1, as pitcher Kristen Adkins earned the win after tossing a complete game while allowing one run on one hit. Pandolfo drove in the only run for BC. Senior pitcher Allison Gage took the loss despite a strong showing, lasting 6.1 innings and allowing just two runs while striking out three. The Eagles had a chance to take the lead in the fifth when Pandolfo was robbed of a home run by freshman outfielder Hayley Downs, who made a catch over the wall to save a run. Georiga Tech senior Kristen Priebe scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning with a solo home run. Although BC failed to secure a victory against Georgia Tech, Finley is very optimistic about her team’s future. With the ACC tournament just two weeks away and her team hitting incredibly well down the stretch, Finley is eager for the postseason to begin. “I’m excited for the ACC tournament,” Finley said. “Whoever pulls us in the first round will have a lot to handle.” If the Eagles can correct their fielding problems and continue their solid hitting, they could be a major sleeper in the ACC tournament. With a very young team and a confident coach, the Eagles have a lot to look forward to heading into the conference championship. n
After sophomore slump, Wilkins returns with power and leadership By Steven Principi For The Heights
Coming off of a somewhat disappointing season in 2010, junior Brittany Wilkins exploded onto the scene this year. The struggles that the Boston College softball team has experienced so far this season have overshadowed the incredible performance of Wilkins, who catches for the team. Wilkins is well on the way to setting new career highs in every major offensive category, and could potentially break the team record for most home runs in a season, with 13 already. In 2010, she ended the year with a .217 average, three home runs, and just 14 RBI. 2011 has been a different story, as Wilkins has a team-high batting average at .318, leads in RBIs and runs scored with 30 each, and has the highest on-base percentage at an incredible .418. The stats alone can tell the story of what a remarkable turnaround season her junior campaign has been, as Wilkins has been nothing short of a star for the Eagles so far. “I had a huge slump last year, so I think I’ve really bounced back from that,” she said. “Things just started to click for me this year.” Wilkins recent string of success can be traced back to her outstanding work ethic. After a disappointing season last year, Wilkins wasted no time in going back to work and attempting to improve her game. In the offseason, she changed her workout routine and made sure to be a different player when she returned for the new campaign. She began to workout every day, rain or shine, in an attempt to rediscover the form that had eluded her
Alex Trautwig / Heights editor
While Brittany Wilkins is depended on for her leadership behind the plate calling pitches, she has also recorded a team-high 13 home runs. all season. The results this season are easy to see. “It was really over the fall more than anything. Over the fall I was just out hitting every single day no matter what.” Wilkins said. Her work ethic may have started to rub off on some of the younger members
of the team, as Wilkins has made big strides this season as a leader. With a very young roster that consists of only five seniors, the Eagles were in need of someone to step up and be a leader. This did not go unnoticed by Wilkins, who said that she saw the opportunity to step up and take on a bigger role on the team.
And she has done just that, combining her on-field success with an exceptional attitude and personality off the field. The new role she has stepped into is not one that Wilkins has shied away from, as she has been flourishing in the spotlight since the season began. “At the start of the season, I really
wanted to step up and become a leader for my team,” Wilkins said. “As the catcher behind the plate, I have a big role back there and I really just wanted to step up and do anything that I could for them.” Possibly even more impressive than her success at the plate is the way that Wilkins has been able to manage the Eagles’ young pitching staff. With only one senior on the staff, Wilkins has done a phenomenal job helping to incorporate some of the newer pitchers into their role on the team. From calling pitches during the game, to helping them develop in practice, Wilkins has helped the staff come a long way in a very short period of time. She is also nearly flawless defensively, with just one passed ball all season. The added importance of playing arguably the most difficult position in the game has not slowed Wilkins down, and is something that actually is very appealing to her. “There’s no more pressure on me than normal really,” Wilkins said, “They have a lot of confidence in me with the pitch calling and communication and everything. Its pretty much just more communication than anything else.” On a team that is in a transition year, Brittany Wilkins has been nothing short of phenomenal all season. She has made impressive strides in every area of her game and only looks to be getting better as the season goes on. Her incredible work ethic, on-field accomplishments, and handling of herself off the field make her the perfect leader for such a young team. With the ACC tournament approaching and her senior season still ahead of her, Wilkins shows no signs of slowing down and could be more dangerous than ever before. n
Weekend roundup
BC grabs photo finish at Penn Relays By Raychel Kruper Heights Staff
The Boston College 4x1500-meter relay team made history when it took home the school’s first-ever women’s title at the world famous 117th Penn Relays Carnival in Philadelphia on Friday afternoon. The team, consisting of Caitlin Bailey, Jillian King, Siobhan Breagy, and Caroline King, not only brought home the win, but also scorched the BC all-time record by over 33 seconds, clocking in with a final time of 17:25.19. Bailey, who made her third appearance at the Penn Relays in her five years a BC, started the team off with a 4:25.20 leg, which put the Eagles in fourth with the Richmond Spiders claiming an early lead. However, Jillian King was prepared to make a move in the second leg of the race and with a split of 4:18.80, she finished the leg dead even with the Spiders. Breagy followed King with a 4:29.00 split to keep the Eagles in the race during the third, and what proved to be, slowest leg for all teams. The Georgetown Hoyas anchor, sixtime All-American Emily Infeld, started the final leg with a 30-meter advantage on senior All-American Caroline King and 2010 NCAA Cross Country champion, Sheila Reid, of Villanova. With a blistering final leg of 4:12.20, King held her position until the final
100 meters where she made her move and flew by her competitors to win the event by just 0.46 seconds ahead of the Hoyas. Thanks to everyone running a perfect race, according to Eagles head coach Randy Thomas, the team made history for the program with the title it captured as well as establishing the new school record. Caroline King was also named the college women’s athlete of the meet for relay events with the fastest split in the event. Men’s Track The men’s track team toppled the 22-year standing BC record during the 4xMile Championship of America event at the Penn Relays on Saturday. The old record stood at 17:02, which was set by Hogan ’89, Grant ’89, Prince ’92 and Dugan ’89 at the Colonial Relays. The Eagles walked away from the event with the time of 16:51.97. The relay team consisted of Ian Thomas as the leadoff leg, with Louis Serafini, Jordan Hamm, and Michael Keebler anchoring for the team. Despite the Eagles’ record setting and BC history making time, the 4xMile team placed 10th in the overall event. The fastest time came from the Princeton Tigers, who finished with a time of 16:19.98, and won their first championship since 1940. The fastest split in the race, however,
came from the University of Arkansas’ third leg runner, Dorian Ulrey, who completed his mile in a blazing 3:58.3. The team placed second overall. Softball The Eagles toppled Providence College by an impressive 13-5 mark on Thursday afternoon at Shea Field. The team made program history in reaching 50 total home runs on the season, with three in Thursday’s game. Gemma Ypparila, Nicole D’Argento, and Ali Lynnette-Krech each contributed a home run to propel the Eagles to this notable milestone. Though Providence took a one-run lead in the first, and the Friars doubled their lead off a second inning homer, the Eagles battled back later in the match-up. BC evened the score at two after Maria Pandolfo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing in the tying run. Providence regained the lead on a third-inning homer, but the Eagles pushed five unanswered runs across the plate and never looked back. The closest the Friars got to catching the Eagles was 7-5 in the top of the sixth, but BC flew away with a game-ending six runs in the bottom of the inning. Ypparila got up with the bases loaded and singled in a runner before LynetteKrech smashed a ball to left field and brought home the rest. n
Matt Rourke / AP photo
The 4x1500 relay team of (left-right) Jillian King, Caitlin Bailey, Caroline King, and Siobhan Breagy.
The Heights
B6
Monday, May 2, 2011
BC rides McGovern’s hot bat atop the order By Greg Joyce
Assoc. Sports Editor Matt McGovern knows he’s not a power hitter, and he’ll be the first one to tell you that. He measures in at a scrawny 5-foot-10, 169 pounds, and has just one collegiate home run. Last year as a freshman, he was virtually a non-factor for Boston College, hitting a meager .152. But a summer’s worth of at-bats and a mechanical change in his swing later, McGovern is now a pitcher’s worst nightmare. The outfielder had a tough start to his college career. In his freshman season, McGovern had just five hits in 33 at-bats. He saw action in 28 games, but started just four. He took the summer to get in plenty of at-bats playing in the Coastal Plains League and led his team in batting with a .293 average. McGovern racked up 44 hits in 44 games and scored 21 runs for the Martinsville Mustangs. “I was able to get consistent at-bats all summer and that helped out a lot,” McGovern said. Things were looking up for McGovern, until he experienced more unrest this past
fall in the offseason and decided to make a change. “I was struggling a little bit in the fall, and I took the end of the fall and all winter and was working on all the mechanics,” McGovern said. “I actually took away my stride, which allows me to see the ball a lot better.” With his new swing, the results have been off the charts. McGovern was held out of the lineup for nearly a month after spraining his ankle just a week into the season at Florida, but since then, McGovern has torn the cover off the ball. He holds a batting average of .424, the highest on the club, connecting for 39 hits in 92 at-bats. “I’ve been working on my swing a lot,” McGovern said. “And now, I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable with the mechanics. McGovern recently had a 10-game hitting streak, in which he had multiple hits in six straight games that included three consecutive four-hit games. “That was awesome,” McGovern said of the four-hit games. “That was one of those times where it seemed like everything I was hitting was finding a hole, whether it
alex trautwig / heights editor
Matt McGovern worked on his swing in the Coastal Plains League over the summer. He’s hitting .424.
was hard or not.” Despite his success, McGovern tries not to pay any attention to his streaks and torrid hitting. “I really try to just go up to the plate every at bat like I’m 0-for-0,” McGovern said. “I really don’t try to think about what I did in the past at all or think about what I’m going to do in the future.” Head coach Mike Gambino has had a first-hand view for McGovern’s tear, and is impressed to say the least. “He’s struggling at the plate right now, I don’t think he’s hitting that well,” Gambino said with smirk on his face. “Every time he swings the bat it seems like he hits the barrel. He was hot for a while when he was hitting .540 or whatever. But I don’t think he’s hot anymore. I think he’s just hitting. I think it’s just Gov being Gov.” Gambino credits McGovern’s success to his new swing, combined with great preparation off the field. “He’s got a very simple swing,” Gambino said. “It’s short, it’s compact, and he never swings at a bad pitch. When I see him do that, and I look at the way he swings, I’m not so sure if it’s going to stop, because of all the things he does. “He’s a diligent worker, he really, really works on his swing, and really, really prepares, which then allows him to do all these things. That’s what he does, all the time. So it’s a combination of all the work. Once he gets up there, he can just go play.” Gambino said that McGovern’s ability to reach base for the Eagles has been key, and this came into play over the weekend. In Saturday’s huge win over No. 1 Virginia, he was 3-for-4 and crossed the plate twice, the second time being the most important. In the bottom of the eleventh, McGovern smoked a line drive to right field for a single. He then used his speed to score all the way from first on a double to the gap in right field. “When I came up in the inning to lead off, I was just really trying to get on base any way possible, knowing [Anthony Melchionda] was behind me, he’ll be able to drive a ball to the gap,” McGovern said. “That’s exactly what he did, and I was able to score.” “They were worried about holding [McGovern at first base], so you have a guy who tries to be a little bit quicker, he makes a mistake with a fastball, and now
alex trautwig / heights editor
McGovern’s baserunning helped BC upset Virginia, as he scored from first on a double in the 11th. Melch can run a ball in the gap,” Gambino said as he broke down the play. “He can run, so that puts a little pressure on pitchers to hold him, and that was a factor right there.” As the number two batter in the lineup, McGovern has an on-base percentage of .461, which helps out the rest of his team as he is constantly on the base paths. “We love having him at the top of that order,” Gambino said. “He’s on base all the time, he’s constantly having good atbats. You know he’s on base twice a game. Whoever is coming up there behind him [in the order], they know they’re going to have a guy on base and in scoring position all the time. So everybody else’s numbers go up.” “I don’t know if I can explain enough
how big he’s been for our season. The guys feed off his energy too. He’s a really good baseball player and has spark and energy and we love having him around.” McGovern is constantly a tough out, and annoys pitchers with his ability to lay off bad pitches. Most importantly, his combination of a thorough work ethic and an offseason tweak in his swing has allowed him to become one of the most dangerous hitters in the ACC. “I know I’m not a power hitter, so really I’ve just been trying to hit the ball hard on the ground or a line drive, and I’ve been able to do that,” McGovern said. “Every at bat, I’ve just been trying to come up and hit the ball hard. Really, I’ve just been fortunate enough to find a lot of holes. I just try to put good swings on every ball.” n
Boston College hands Virginia its fifth loss in 47 games this season Baseball, from B1 “No matter who we’re playing, no matter where we are, we play harder than everybody else, play smarter than everybody else, and have more fun than everybody else,” Gambinos said. “And when we do that we can beat anybody in the country. It shows me a lot about these kids that they were able to rebound and come back after that tough loss.” BC received a solid pitching effort from starter John Leonard, who allowed three runs in five innings, earning a nodecision. Brought on in the eighth inning to maintain the tie, junior Kyle Prohovich pitched four stellar innings, allowing only two hits and picking up his third victory of the year to move to 3-1. Offensively, the story for the Eagles once again was the sophomore McGov-
ern. The outfielder led the team with three hits and scored the final two runs of the game for BC. “He’s on fire,” Gambino said of McGovern’s hot streak. “Even his outs are hard outs. Every time he swings the bat it seems like the ball is hitting the barrel. I look at his recent run and I just don’t think it’s going to stop.” In addition to McGovern’s strong effort, freshman catcher Nate LaPointe hit his first collegiate home run, a three-run shot, in the second inning. The big victory on Saturday served as a measure of redemption for the blowout BC endured at the hands of Virginia on Friday afternoon. Cavaliers starter Danny Hultzen, the 2010 ACC pitcher of the year, hurled seven nearly flawless innings, allowing only an infield single to Eagle Garret Smith, as Virginia defeated BC 17-0.
“Friday night we didn’t play well at all,” Gambino said. “We didn’t do anything well. It was probably our worst baseball game of the year. We didn’t do any of things that we want to do or care about in this program.” Hultzen struck out eight batters, walked one and hit another. BC was also held hitless by relief pitcher Shane Halley, who completed the one-hitter with two innings of work. Virginia’s torrid day at the plate started early, as the Cavaliers scored seven runs in the first three innings off a combination of four Eagle pitchers: the starter Lawrence, Matt Brazis, Matt Alvarez and Nate Bayuk. In total, Gambino used nine pitchers to get through the game. The Cavaliers were paced by three-hit games from third baseman Steven Proscia and Swab, who registered a double, triple, and five RBIs. n
alex trautwig / heights editor
Freshman Nate LaPointe (15) hit his first career home run on Saturday in BC’s 5-4 victory.
Eagles hitters hang tough with Cavaliers pitching in final two games of series By Chris Marino Asst. Sports Editor
This past weekend, the Boston College baseball team (16-26, 7-16 ACC) hosted the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (42-5, 20-4). Although the Eagles lost the series 2-1, the team’s approach at the plate was consistent and tough in the last two games against one of the nation’s top pitching staffs. “I loved our at-bats yesterday and today,” head coach Mike Gambino said after Sunday’s 4-0 loss. “That’s a really good arm we’re facing and [Will] Roberts, when you look at his numbers, he doesn’t walk anybody and he pounds the strike zone and has really good stuff. People really don’t score off him. I thought we had really good at-bats today.” The Eagles, faced with possibly their toughest weekend matchup since playing the previously No. 1 Florida Gators, were blown out in the series opener 17-0 and only mustered one hit. They made their offensive presence felt Saturday, though, when they took the extra innings victory with a walkoff double from third baseman Anthony Melchionda. With sophomore right fielder Matt McGovern leading off the 11th inning with a single, Melchionda stepped up to the plate and launched a double into the right field gap on the first pitch he saw. McGovern scored, sending the ACC foes into the rubber match tied in the series at one. For McGovern, the extra innings hit was his third of the day, as he finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Gambino was thrilled with his team’s late inning production. “He can really, really hit,” he said of Melchionda. “He can really hit. That’s why, going into the 11th, with Gov, who’s hitting .400 and has on-base percentage close to
alex trautwig / heights editor
Third baseman Anthony Melchionda was the hero Saturday, smacking the game-winning double to the right-field gap in the bottom of the 11th inning. like .600, he had a pretty good feeling he was going to get on first base. That’s just Gov being Gov. So right before the inning I walked past Melch and I said, ‘Hey, I’m not bunting.’ And I walked past and Gov got on first and I looked at him and said, ‘Go get ’em.’ With a kid like that, who consistently gives you good at-bats. And he had given
us a couple of good at-bats in huge situations earlier, like in the second yesterday when he moved a runner over, which got us a run. So, I trust him up there. I want him up there in a big situation. To me, with Gov on first base and with Melch’s power, that’s scoring position right there, so I want to go get ’em.”
The third baseman knew that the visiting staff would not give many opportunities to score runs, so he focused on working the strike zone to his advantage. “They have a lot of guys with great command and they were living on the outside corner, so I was trying to live in the backside gap,” Melchionda said. “That
was really my approach the whole weekend. Those guys don’t miss their spots a lot so stick in that backside gap was my real approach.” Gambino has instilled a sense of confidence into his team and that was definitely seen in not only the team’s victory but also in yesterday’s close loss. “We really work hard and talk a lot about the way to be confident in a ballgame is to trust your preparation,” he said. “We want to play in close ballgames. We love close ballgames. We’re going to be confident. We’re going to be loose. We relax and we play hard in these close ballgames. It’s something that we take a lot of pride in and we really believe we have the advantage if we can have a close ballgame at the end.” The team’s approach at the plate all starts with its head coach’s mentality. “We talked about wanting to be a stubborn baseball team, where this is what our plan’s going to be and we’re going to execute it,” he said. “You make a mistake, we’re going to hammer it, and if you don’t, we’re going to wait for you to. And I thought we did that in the last two days. Friday, I don’t think we did anything well but I like what was going on offensively these last two days, against one of the top pitching staffs in the country.” Melchionda understands the importance of maintaining focus not only late into games but throughout the remainder of the season. “We’ve been battling the whole year and we’re not going to go down without swinging, so it looked great yesterday being able to beat those guys,” he said. “We’ve been battling all weekend. They have some great arms, so just being able to straighten out a few across yesterday and giving ourselves a chance was awesome.” n
B4
features A Summer for All Ages The Heights
Monday, February 7, 2011
C1
Monday, May 2, 2011
By Brooke Schneider Asst. Features Editor
The last day of school has always been a day of celebration for students. The image remains the same as the last bell rings and the front doors burst open, releasing hordes of restless students tossing graded papers in the air. For them, the summer road is wide open for anything to happen and freedom is the only thing to which they are committed. With all the focus on the students’ summer plans, it can be difficult to remember that vacation is not reserved solely for the learners. Though they do not join the students in the rush toward the front door, faculty and staff experience the same three lazy months as we do. See Summer, C2
Alex Manta / Heights Graphic
Combining fashion and function in innovative clothing line By Juliette San Fillipo For The Heights
During the summertime, is there anything better than being outdoors on a sunny day? How about being outdoors on a sunny day while being properly and stylishly protected from the sun’s harmful rays? Mott 50, a new clothing line created and cofounded by Boston College alumni Anne Botica and Monique Moore, seeks to achieve just that. The two BC women came upon the idea two years ago while basking in the sun themselves. “We got the clothing line started not last summer, but the summer before,” Botica says. “We were at the beach and we noticed people had started to change their tanning habits. We saw a lot of people not covering up and getting burned. We also knew that there weren’t too many good-looking methods out there to protect oneself from the sun, so we decided to make something that would be both fashionable and practical.” While on the Heights, Botica and Moore were roommates and studied communication. The cofounders went on to work in New York City for Conde Nast Digital, a company that creates and develops prestigious online magazine brands such as NewYorker.com, VanityFair.com, and Style.com. When they decided to start their own clothing company, Botica and Moore used their backgrounds in online technology and brand marketing to launch Mott 50, using a website as the jump-off point. “It was a lot of work, a lot more work than we initially realized,” Moore says. “We had to do a lot of research. We did so for about a year and a half before we were actually able to have products. Our backgrounds were both in e-commerce and online networking [and] we both worked for Conde Nast Digital, which has a lot of lifestyle brands like Conde Nast Traveler and Vogue. We worked in their online division, and when we decided to start our clothing line we knew we wanted to first build a robust website. We were both communications majors, so that’s how we relayed our majors in college into our professional lives.” After putting in the work, Botica and Moore successfully co-founded Mott 50, a clothing brand dedicated to stylish and protective garments. Both women believe that properly shielding oneself from the sun’s harmful rays is vitally important. Yet, Mott 50 pioneers the idea that function does not have to
trump fashion. In accordance with this philosophy, the clothing line features fashionable, chic pieces that additionally offer a UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) of 50 to ensure the wearer’s safety against both UVA and UVB rays, which cause burns, premature aging, and skin cancer. Mott 50 seeks to show consumers that regular clothing is not enough to properly protect oneself. “A regular T-shirt only has a UPF level of five, which means all of those harmful rays are still getting through your clothes,” Botica says. “A regular tunic won’t let you burn, but it will let through damaging UVA rays. Clothing is therefore an important facet of sun protection, and a lot of people aren’t aware of that. Our whole mission is to still encourage people to be active [in the sun] but to do so in a smart way. When you decide to cover up, we want to make sure you put on something that actually does protect you.” The duo says that for something like sunscreen to be effective against the sun, it must actually be applied about every two hours, which is rarely done and inconvenient. The Mott 50 clothing therefore is an easy alternative for substantial, long-term skin protection for the informed and the fashion-conscious. “We wanted to create something that people would buy regardless and love to wear, and also have sun protection be an added bonus,” Botica says. Additionally, Mott 50 has the endorsement of the Skin Cancer Foundation, with a portion of the brand’s proceeds donated to furthering skin cancer research. “We approached the [Skin Cancer Foundation],” Botica says. “That was a really important move to us. The endorsement gives us an element of credibility, and they’ve also been great partners for us. The work that the Skin Cancer Foundation does is also something that we strongly believe in.” Both Botica and Moore have dealt firsthand with the damaging effects of the sun, so taking a stronger initiative with their own clothing line – along with the approval of the Skin Cancer Foundation – was a crucial component of their vision. Furthermore, the two founders attribute part of their success with the brand and their partnership with the Foundation to their time at BC. “BC had a hugely positive influence on our starting the business,” Moore says. “For one, we met there – we talk about BC all the time – and we’re really proud of our alma mater. Secondly, BC’s Jesuit influence taught us how important it is to give back to the community. That’s why we currently work nonprofit with the Skin
i nside FE ATURES this issue
Eagle Dates
courtesy of thewomenseye.com
Cancer Foundation, and give a portion of proceeds to them. In May we’re also giving an added percentage of our sales to the Foundation for Skin Cancer Awareness Month.” They also took advantage of the expansive BC network in creating their brand. “Networking is also really important,” Moore says. “Talking with our good friends and roommates, as well as other friends and BC alumni in marketing, really helped a lot.” As the two founders reflect on the success of their brand, they fondly remember the enjoyable times they shared while in Chestnut Hill. “Tailgates were always so fun, both as undergraduates and as alumni, especially for reconnecting with old classmates,” Moore says. “We definitely liked the camaraderie that came from BC football events.” The successful women have plenty of advice for
current BC students. “I always say, a tan fades, but wrinkles don’t,” Moore says. “Yet, I’ve always enjoyed being outdoors and I’ve had my fair share of tanning and premature aging. When it’s summertime and you’re in Nantucket, be smart about what you’re doing with the sun. And have as much fun as you possibly can because life is short.” Botica stresses the importance of finding what one loves and following it. “Pursue something you’re very passionate about because only good things will happen from that. Also surround yourself with positive people,” she says. It is clear that both Botica and Moore did just that. Taking with them the positive friendships and skills they acquired in college, they channeled their passions into creating a successful, healthy, and chic clothing brand. And now, thanks to them, stepping out in the sun never felt and looked so good. n
Read about two pairs of BC students who went on blind dates as they detail their personal experiences and reflections........................................................................................ C5
How-To.................................C3 R ea l Wo rl d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C 3
The Heights
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Monday, May 2, 2011
Faculty members use summer for travel, family time, and research Summer, from C1 The professors and administrators at Boston College are no exception. Academics who have spent their time lecturing on the use of technology for the betterment of the world can refocus their energy on trying to windsurf successfully, and administrators that have spent the year hearing the concerns of the student body find some repose in quiet, summer homes. Even though there is always work to be done, for many faculty members, the atmosphere in which that work is done is much different in the summer. John Gallaugher, a professor in the Carroll School of Management (CSOM), describes the summer atmosphere as one of less pressure. “What’s nicer is not having the constant pressure of preparing and delivering an excellent course,” he says. “I love teaching, but there is a constant pressure especially when I’m teaching my core course. It’s three days a week and four classes are given each day so I’m sort of manic about that.” Elizabeth Bagnani, a professor in CSOM, also looks forward to summer as a respite from the rigor of the academic year. “The one piece that I think is so rejuvenating about this job is that you have this summer that’s different – and sometimes it’s busier – but it’s just different, and that element is the reason why I encourage students to consider academics as a career.” Different is the name of the game for Bagnani, who will be participating this summer in the Nicaragua Faculty / Staff Immersion Trip, sponsored by the Volunteer and Service Learning Center. Fresh off the academic calendar only two days after commencement, Bagnani will be traveling to Nicaragua for an eight-day stay that will include a series of meetings and visits to a women’s cooperative, a volunteer organization founded by two BC alumni, and a health clinic, among many other locations. Already equipped with an interest in global business, Bagnani says she is eagerly anticipating the trip as a learning experience
about the country of Nicaragua and its businesses. “I’m looking forward to just learning more about their economics, their challenges, their politics,” she says. Additionally, she views the trip as a means of fostering a deeper connection with students, which will benefit her specifically in her role as an adviser. “The other piece for me is to have somewhat of a window into what the students’ experiences are here in terms of these kind of immersion trips,” she says. Already thinking about the re-entry into life in the States following the trip, Bagnani intends on continuing the conversations that were the focus of her Nicaragua experience. She is currently toying with the possibility of creating a course that grants students with different immersion trip experiences the opportunity to engage in conversation and reflect on their experiences and any action that they might take as a result of their time abroad. Concerning her personal re-entry into her typical home life, Bagnani will be returning to a summer filled with watermelon, frozen custard, and quality time spent with family, which she says will also double as a means of broadening her pop culture knowledge. With the Nicaragua trip aside, the extent of Bagnani’s summer traveling usually takes her to California, where some of her relatives live, and her hometown in rural New Jersey. Though it so happens that Bagnani does not spend much time at the beach despite her love for it, she urges everyone to experience southern Jersey’s beaches. “I think most people are missing out if they haven’t experienced the Jersey shore,” she says. Gallaugher might say the same about experiencing all that Boston has to offer during the summer months. A member of community boating, Gallaugher has been sailing in the Charles River for more than 12 years. “It’s really fun for me because I actually have terrible vision so I can’t drive, and it’s a vehicle I can power without having to get a license,” he says. “And I can go slow enough that I don’t have to worry about
hitting anybody.” His time spent sailing also introduced him to the sport of windsurfing, which he says always has him ending up in the water. Though he enjoys Boston and its access to activities like sailing on a breezy July day, for Gallaugher, home is where his heart is because home is where he is with his wife and three young children. Due to the nature of his work during the academic year, he is not able to spend as much time at home as he would like or to make it home for dinner on many nights. For that reason, Gallaugher takes pleasure in the simple things like just being able to have his children crawl up next to him to read a book on a swing chair in the backyard or going on a walk with his daughter in tow. “There’s a really great muffin shop that’s a couple miles from our house, so I used to push her [my daughter] down in the stroller and back with muffins and coffee for the family,” he says. Not every day can be as lazy though, as Gallaugher says there is always a need to re-prep his courses due to the constantly changing nature of his field. “We [professors] catch up on our reading in the summer,” he says. “I think all of us probably have stacks of business press in our offices or bedside reading at home.” Along the same vein, Gallaugher recognizes summer as the time for research, which comprises the other half of the faculty’s job that often goes unnoticed. “The students know and completely focus on our role as teaching faculty, but we’re a research university, and in fact the research pressure at Boston College is going up, so I think that you’ll find most faculty using a good portion of the summer for research,” he says. As a result of such research and the subsequent publishing of one of his books, Gallaugher has been invited to be the keynote speaker for the African International Business and Management Conference at the University of Nairobi this summer – the prospect of which is very exciting to him. International travel is something that is on the agenda of Paul Chebator, senior associate dean for
student development, every other summer when he and his wife travel to Italy. This summer, however, is a “United States summer,” which means that many of the weekends will be spent at his house in Vermont, far from the hustle and bustle of Boston and close to the fresh corn on the cob and tomatoes that Chebator enjoys. In this secluded getaway, Chebator and his wife spend their days walking, biking, and taking the time to cook. These activities turn into fond memories, and Chebator says that one of his favorite nights last summer was the Fourth of July celebration in Vermont, which was complete with fireworks and a live band. However, Boston is Chebator’s primary summer residence because he works at BC year-round. Whether classes are in session or not, there is always work to be done in the Office of the Dean for Student Development. His summer duties consist of wrapping up work from the previous year and planning ahead for new projects for the upcoming year. “We always have a laundry list of those things,” he says. “It is not by any stretch of the imagination slow during the summer.” It may not be slow as far as work is concerned, but Chebator says the campus is quieter, although not as quiet as it used to be during the summer months. Away from campus, when he is traveling around Boston, Chebator rides his Vespa as a means of going about his daily activities. “I usually use it in the summer to go shopping or to run an errand, but occasionally we’ll go out on a Sunday afternoon [and] drive downtown,” he says. He notes that it is especially convenient for driving to crowded places like Fenway Park, and also that it simply allows for an enjoyable riding experience. While no two summer vacation plans are ever the same, this notion of getting outside and enjoying the summer air is something that seems to appear on everyone’s agenda – regardless of whether it’s the person standing at the front of the lecture hall or someone vigorously taking notes in one of the seats. n
Hearing it by pigeon, by letter, or in this case, by Word of Mouth By Marye M oran For The Heights
“I remember my first speech,” Georgie Asfoura, A&S ’12, says. “It was first semester freshman year, I didn’t even know Upper from Lower Campus, and I was scared out of my mind. My hands were shaking, and I barely got through it.” Hearing her three years later, articulating this experience without an “umm” or unintentional hesitation, her story is hard to believe. As president of Word of Mouth, Boston College’s public speaking club, Asfoura is living evidence of the conviction of her Vice President Will Ransky, A&S ’12, who says, “Everyone on this campus can be a good public speaker, whether they know it or not.” Word of Mouth was founded four years ago by Kenta Kodama, BC ’10. As an aspiring law student, Kodama started the club as a way to hone his public speaking skills and teach others what he had learned. Originally it began with just one forum, in which students would present three-minute long speeches. Topics are often e-mailed out a few days in advance, leaving time for preparation, but certain experienced members merely go to the meetings and speak extemporaneously. Following each presentation, speakers receive feedback from fellow club members, which they use to improve for the next week. Word of Mouth was never just about the skill of speaking, though. Ransky describes how Kodama wanted to find a group of people who were “willing to really reflect on themselves, and public speaking is an important way of gauging your own self confidence and your ability to interact with other people.” As the club has progressed since its founding, it has become even less strictly tied to the singular skill of speech, and now considers itself a leadership club with an emphasis on rhetoric. A recent change in structure has been the addition of Advanced Leadership Training, which allows club members to participate in workshops focusing on different leadership skills during the spring semester. These sessions open with a group exercise, and then break into smaller group discussions intended to bring participants to a greater level of self-awareness and to push them out of their comfort zones – as
if speaking in front of a large group of fellow students, one of most people’s greatest fears, wasn’t enough. As a useful but feared skill, public speaking is a hard concept to sell students on. However, especially this year, the club has grown tremendously. Now with about 150 members, they have expanded to four forums, and are poised to move to eight for next year. At first, Word of Mouth was “more than just the title of the club,” Ransky jokes. “It was almost a rumor that we existed.”
Asfoura also notes how the club’s presence on campus has changed. “It’s nice to see people recognizing our logo and knowing about us,” she says. These changes are only just beginning. Word of Mouth has recently updated its social media, with a website, Twitter, and Linked In, and hopes to become an even greater presence on campus. “We’re building a large alumni base which we can call on for guest speakers,” Asfoura says. She and Ransky are also interested in hosting a campus-wide debate or speech competition. In
courtesy of Word of Mouth
the long run, the pair jokes, that “ideally every Boston College student will be a member of Word of Mouth.” Though not entirely realistic, this is a well-intentioned aspiration. Ransky’s personal mission statement reads, “Through a mastery of public speaking we seek to help club members identify their passions, cultivate their emotions, and ignite a desire to succeed that empowers them for the future.” To wish this upon all of his fellow BC undergrads is not exactly a bad thing. Unlike certain clubs, which are selective or require a high skill level upon entry, Word of Mouth welcomes speakers at all levels. Asfoura says that there are certainly some natural talents, but many, she says, “are giggling at the start and speaking colloquially.” What makes all the difference, though, is the supportive environment where members have a vested interest in each other’s success. “People keep coming for their forum leader, who’s a mentor and has a real interest in them,” Asfoura says. She and Ransky both speak poignantly about this role that they once looked up to and now hold, and she described it as “a gift and privilege to see younger students grow, improve, and become more confident.” Through the nerve-wracking process of opening up and speaking out, Word of Mouth members gain both a practical skill and an unparalleled sense of confidence. “It doesn’t get lonelier than when you’re alone in front of a group about to make a speech,” Ransky says. “But when you learn how to handle that, you feel like you can handle anything.” By the end of the year, with dedication, all members, even those starting with giggles and shaking hands, have that skill. “We end the year with a condensed group of talented public speakers,” Ransky says. Students join Word of Mouth for a multitude of reasons, with some wanting to captivate juries or boardrooms, and others hoping to gain communication skills for the public relations field. Some have less career-driven motives, as Asfoura notes that one member finally got the confidence to ask a boy on a date. Teaching a skill that is transferable to any aspect of life, Word of Mouth attracts a wide range of students, and gives them not just the skill of public speaking, but a support system and sense of confidence. n
Around the world with new BC chapter of organization GlobeMed By Alexandra Schaeffer Heights Staff
Anyone who says that today’s young adults are self-absorbed and consumed with immediate gratification probably hasn’t been to Higgins 310 at 8 p.m. on a Wednesday night. Upon first glance, it looks like an environmental science, biology, or sociology class, but after only a few minutes one can see that not only is there no professor, but the students seem oddly passionate about the topic. This is a GlobeMed meeting, a relatively new venture on Boston College’s campus. GlobeMed is a national organization with chapters in schools across the country that partner with grassroots organizations in underdeveloped countries to improve the quality of health in povertystricken regions. Founded in 2007, GlobeMed only just established a chapter at BC last fall, along with 13 other schools. Ricky Pizzo, president of GlobeMed and A&S ’12, who first heard about the national organization through the pre-med office, spearheaded this expansion, “My Pulse placement last year was at a free health clinic in east Boston,” Pizzo says. “This really opened my eyes to the need some people have for healthcare, and that it isn’t treated as a human right. It really motivated me to do something about it, so when I was notified about GlobeMed, I wanted to get it started here.” After applying to the national office, BC was among the 14 schools awarded a chapter of GlobeMed in 2010. The currently 32-chapter organization hopes to grow to 60 by 2013. Though not yet recognized as an official club by the University, the GlobeMed group chose to partner with a grassroots organiza-
tion in Ayacucho, Peru. This organization, known as Centro de Capacitacion de Campesino de la Universidad Nacional San Cristobal de Huamanga, or CCC-UNSCH, works to collaborate with elders in the Peruvian community to provide healthcare to them, discuss health issues within the community with the elders, and seek solutions together. “The national office researched several different programs in South America, found several valid groups, and then let us choose which one we’d like to work with. We chose CCC-UNSCH because it took a really unique, holistic approach to healthcare by focusing on the older members of the community, a group that often gets overlooked,” Pizzo says of the selection process. All the chapters that entered at the same time as BC were given partnerships with organizations in South America, a change from the previous collaborations with solely African-based groups. Once Pizzo and his co-president Ryan Finn, A&S ’12, created the chapter at BC, they had the task of finding like-minded individuals to join them. “We had a somewhat rigorous application process because we really wanted to weed out some of the kids who might be joining just as a resume builder, and really find the people that were motivated to make changes in global healthcare,” Pizzo says. The group is now comprised of 33 members of mostly sophomores and juniors. Though about half of the members are pre-med students as well as a large majority of nursing students, there are several members whose only qualification is a passion for social justice. The group had a second application process for members of the executive board, on which Dana
Larsen, A&S ’12, works. His role requires planning part of the weekly meetings, giving presentations about global health issues at those meetings, and working directly with the presidents to expand the influence of the club through campus-wide events such as lectures. “The fall was really our planning period, we were only just getting started at that point. We’re in the process of organizing events for next semester that will educate the whole campus on these issues of social justice and global healthcare. This year, though, we did get started with several fundraising campaigns,” Larsen says. These fundraisers included selling gift certificates to Tasca, in which GlobeMed received 25 percent of the price of the certificate, and adopt-a-grandparent, where elderly residents in Ayacucho were paired with BC students and their families in an effort to raise money for them. So far, the BC chapter has done a great job of raising funds, exceeding its initial yearly goal and raising over $3,000 for CCC-UNSCH. In addition to the monetary aid the club is providing to the Peruvian organization, they plan to help the group this summer when six club members travel to Ayacucho to work hands-on with the organization. “It’s something that we’re going to try to do every year, as long as it’s possible. We’re building a long-term relationship with CCC-UNSCH, and will ideally be working with them for many years to come,” says Pizzo, who currently participates in monthly Skype calls with the grassroots organization, as well as bi-weekly e-mail exchanges. In addition to the international work being a
chapter requires, there is much to do within the United States. Every year, the chapters must attend the Global Health Summit, held in Evanston, Ill., on Northwestern University’s campus, the site of the first GlobeMed chapter. This three-day retreat consists of lectures and workshops, and attempts to foster discussion among the various chapters. Additionally, the chapters stay in contact through shared online databases and listservs, and follow the same curriculum put out by the national office. The curriculum poses a different topic that chapters should focus their weekly meetings on every month. This past year, the topics included infectious diseases, philosophical frameworks of global health, religion and global disease, nutrition and the food fight, mental health, conflict and health, GLBTQ and health, and economic institutions and health. These topics serve as starting points for education and discussion among the members. In the process of assembling next year’s executive board, the GlobeMed group on BC’s campus is rapidly growing. Only just an idea at this time last year, the group is on its way to becoming an officially recognized club by the University. One should expect to hear more from the group next semester, as plans for a guest speaker and a miniature GlobeMed summit on campus proceed, and the club’s campus-wide influence increases. Larsen attributes this growth to the group’s objective, “I think GlobeMed is great because it’s really the first group on campus to address both the issues of social justice and global healthcare. It’s a cycle that perpetrates itself, poverty and poor health, and we’re really working to break it.” n
The Heights
Monday May 2, 2011 Monday,
C3
how-to
the real world
Pander all the right individuals
The power of great art in turning us right-side up
Brendan Kneeland At the end of another year of college, I am asking myself all the big questions. Did I live up to my expectations? How will I improve myself for next year? Most importantly, though, the question I think that is on every mind on campus, every beating heart between the ages of 18 and 22, is, of course: What does everyone else think of me? That’s right, folks, it’s application season. Want that nice internship in New York City? That cushy position in the UGBC? Maybe you’d like to go to grad school. Or maybe you’d like a job offer … you know, a future? Well that’s great, I see you’re a group of go-getters. Just one thing to keep in mind as you prepare yourself for the world that awaits: Don’t think for a second that you can be you and get away with it. When you were just leaving high school, your parents told you that you could be anything. Do anything. Wear anything. That reminds me, if you want to be successful at Boston College and beyond, in whatever field you choose, and however you want to express yourself, make sure you’re wearing business casual. The possibilities are endless! You can wear a grey tie, a blue tie, or maybe even a red one. The choice is yours. The world, my friends, is your oyster. CSOM got it right: While the rest of us are toiling at our creative endeavors, writing, making music, or having fun, these pre-professionals are setting the world aflame, one line of accounting at a time. It’s nice that you have your interest in art, history, and music. You have a personal philosophy and read really long books about love and death? That’s cute. Now prove to me that matters. Prove to me that it has any practical value to be a “student of the humanities” anymore. This is the world of business, people. If you can’t describe yourself in three adjectives or less, if you can’t type at least 60 words per minute, what use are you to humanity? If you can’t create a resume that sums up your existence in less than a page, why are you even talking to me? Let’s face it, we live in a society and go to a college of leaders. In CSOM, for instance, there are 40-plus extracurricular executive board positions available for about 120 students. Because when it comes time to pad that all-important resume, who cares what your real interests are? In the world of applications and interviews, you have to prove that you will be useful to someone, not show that you are a real person. I’m being a bit unfair. It’s not just CSOM that knows how the world really works. UGBC knows what everything’s about as well. Do you want to create change across campus? Do you envision a campus that has a more open dialogue about race, sexuality, and politics, and an undergraduate government that is efficient and responsive to students? Well, you won’t find it here. But what I can promise you is much more exciting. For the low, low price of one human soul (yours), you will receive the following fabulous prizes: a meaningless executive board title – let’s call you “associate director of inter-campus community outreach building” – the honor of meeting world famous UGBC president and vice president, and the chance to do it all again next year! All you have to do is dedicate about 30 hours a week to planning meetings, having review meetings that analyze how well the previous meetings went, and of course, hosting huge parties to celebrate your success. It’s all about appearances, folks. Put on a suit, and bam! You’re a professional. You don’t even have to achieve anything, really. Substance? Originality? That’s just what losers talk about to make themselves feel better when they lose elections or don’t get an internship at Goldman Sachs over the summer. But you’re smarter than that. You are setting the world aflame. So when your parents or friends approach you and tell you to stop and enjoy life for a minute, tell them to “get a job, hippie.” This is no time for fun. This is college.
Brendan Kneeland is a Staff Columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
Dan Friedman As a liberal arts student, it is worth asking myself, or perhaps reminding myself, of the purpose of the arts. I was reminded of this after watching the movie Sideways with my roommate the other night (we decided it was one of the top 10 movies of our generation – bold, I know, but we’re prepared to defend it). In the movie there is a scene near the beginning, when the main character Miles tells a small group he is writing a novel. A man in the group then tells Miles that he only likes nonfiction, which teaches one something, as opposed to fiction, which is just some guy’s invented story. Miles responds by saying, “That’s an interesting perspective.” The joke is a little pretentious, obviously meant to caricature the supposed a—holes in the world that don’t understand art. Yet, as I leaned back smugly on my bed, sure that I was one of the chosen few that realized the virtues of art, it occurred to me just how many people had tried to explain it, and how much controversy remained. Consider good old Mr. Rationality, or as our teachers refer to him, Aristotle. Art is about imitating nature. The highest form of art is tragedy, and tragedy is meant to arouse pity and fear in the audience, which then achieves catharsis from these emotions. Of course, beauty has been a key element of art as well. Obviously, we enjoy looking at things that are aesthetically pleasing. Sounds, rhythms, and words placed in their perfect and natural order stimulate us. Shakespeare’s greatest fear was, of course, “How with this rage can beauty hold a plea?” While for Keats, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all.” Oscar Wilde was an enormous proponent of the aesthetic movement. However, once sent to prison and exposed to sorrow, what he calls the “supreme emotion of which man is capable,” he realizes that art is a mode of existence in which “the outward is expressive of the inward.” In the same year, Leo Tolstoy wrote “What is art?” In his view, the essential mark of good art was creating an emotional connection between the artist and the viewer. The art should be clear and genuine. The stronger the feelings of connection felt by a viewer of art, the better the art is. He also
devolves heavily into religious thought, advocating that all good art is accompanied by a Christian message. So what the hell does all this have to do with anything? It seems to me that the dominant emotion of my generation is an unfocused anger. I suppose I can really only speak for those who go to college in the Northeast, as I have done no formal surveys to prove this point. But there are, I think, certain things that prove this to be the case. Consider one of the centerpieces of today’s art: rap. If we agree with Wilde that art is the outward expression of the inward, and with Tolstoy’s view that art must involve a connection between those viewing and those creating, then the fact that we have as a generation chosen rap, and to an increasingly greater degree the vile sounds of dubstep as our desired form of music proves my theory. What exactly is rap? There’s no doubt that it’s catchy – I openly admit that I listen to it. But so often the most popular songs are an unfocused collection of lyrics polemicizing about one issue or another, with no clarity or genuineness. Entire blogs, like Snacks n’ sh—, are devoted to documenting the most ridiculous of them. Even Immortal Technique, an oft-defended rapper for his supposed lyrical genius, enlightens his audience in one song by saying “I don’t eat pork, not ’cause I’m a Muslim, I just don’t like it.” He adds as an afterthought that he really will fornicate “a bird up.” Even Nas, who many agree is among the best rappers ever, still goes for cheap rhymes and occasionally has lyrics that add nothing of value to his song or point. But what is overwhelming in rap, and certainly in dubstep (which seems to be all the rage lately) is the feeling of anger. But unlike the originators of rap, who started rapping in an attempt for social revolution and more equal rights, the largely white population that subscribes to rap today has no such problems. So what is it that we are so angry about? I would posit that part of the answer to that question is that we really don’t know. My generation has no identity. Following the end of the Cold War, things are less black and white, as it is no longer communists versus capitalists. We know the economy is bad, we know our politicians are corrupt, we know that we’re stretching ourselves too thin militarily.
And yet the dominant student culture is partying. Harvard recently made it into the top 10 party schools in America, and whether we choose to believe that or not (Harvard kids partying? Blasphemy!), this list shows that there are no schools “above” this culture. And yet we continue to waste away in lavish four-year institutions, studying less and less according to recent studies. We hear more and more how bad things are, and feel less and less able to do anything about it. And that is what the character in Sideways missed. A song is just made up and so are stories. But art can help us understand who we are, what we are missing, and for the really great artists, how we can improve. Dan Friedman is a Staff Columnist for The Heights.
He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
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Even rappers like Nas have, on occasion, dropped to the level of other artists by including lyrics of no value.
he said, she said I’m graduating this year from Boston College and my little sister’s going to be starting here in the fall. I feel like I have so many things to tell her, but it’s hard to fully explain life at BC to someone who hasn’t experienced college at all yet. How can I condense my four years worth of experience into a few helpful pieces of advice for my sister? - Words Wanted
It would certainly be a daunting task to try and explain what a full four-year career at BC is like, and it’s probably better not to even try – that way your sister can experience it for herself. To me though, the key to taking full advantage of all that BC has to offer is getting off to a good start freshman year. This doesn’t mean trying to Alex Trautwig go out and make as many friends as possible or suddenly start partying as you never had before. Instead, I would stress the importance of getting involved on campus – not with every club that seems interesting, but one or two that she could really dedicate some time to and become involved. This is not only a good thing for a resume and a way to contribute to the BC community, but it is also an excellent way to meet people in different grades and to start creating a group of friends that have similar interests and personalities. Just as important to me would convey the fact that freshman year should be about acclimating to school and trying to just get comfortable with yourself and the life you will have at BC. But it’s also important for her to realize that freshman year won’t always be great. Heading into college, the only thing I kept hearing from the adults around me was how it was “the best four years of their lives,” but when I got here, I simply couldn’t understand it. Now, however, I can understand it and have started to believe it for myself. Some people have an easier time adjusting than others but in the end, I believe that everyone is able to find a niche on campus that keeps them happy and enjoying their time at BC. It might not happen in the first week, it might not even happen in the first semester, but I really do feel that anyone can find a way to be happy on this campus.
Alex Trautwig is an Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at features@bcheights.com
This may be the classic question asked by soon-to-be college graduates everywhere – how could anyone ever condense their four years of college into a few pieces of advice for incoming freshmen? I’m not sure it’s possible. Reflecting back on your BC experience in order to give your sister the best possible advice is a great thing to do. But what you should keep in mind is that no matter what advice you choose Julia Wilson to give her, she’ll still have to find her own way at BC – and her path might turn out to be a lot different than yours. Instead of focusing on the “what” of your BC experience, you should try to focus most on the “why.” These questions are different for all of us, no matter how similar we may think our BC experiences are. The following are just a few from my own growing list: “Why was living in a Walsh eight-man so epic? What made studying abroad amazing? What is it that makes Mod 10A the most magical place on campus?” We’ve all had to make a lot of important choices during our time at BC, and we’ve had the opportunity to experience a lot. Think about why you made the choices that you did, and how they’ve made your BC experience what it is today. While I’m wary of putting myself into the category of sappy, end-of-the-year Heights columns written year after year by nostalgic seniors, it’s true that there is no such thing as a “BC Dos and Don’ts” list for incoming freshmen. Short of knowing some of the basics – like a few good classes to take or how to navigate the housing selection process – there’s no such thing as one true “BC experience.” This time to reflect on your time at BC should be something you undertake for your own benefit just as much as for your sister’s. Ask yourself the tough questions and try to understand your experiences in the greater context of BC and your life. It’s too bad for your sister that you didn’t overlap by a year – having an “in” at Mod parties can sometimes be more important for a successful freshman year than a few pieces of helpful advice.
Julia Wilson is a Senior Staff Writer for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com
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Monday, May 2, 2011
Warming up to the heat of a culture shock-inducing Spain Francesca Bacardi During my sophomore year at Boston College, I decided to take intro to sociology to fulfill my social sciences core. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect much from it as it was a core class, but I turned out to be very wrong. We discussed ideas such as social deviance, social norms, and what exactly constitutes ‘culture.’ More importantly, our professor taught us about a term regarding culture that most of us have already heard or have assumed we know exactly what it is. That term is culture shock. Before leaving for Seville, Spain (where I am currently studying
speak the language. I was also fortunate enough to have traveled to Spain beforehand to visit family and stay with them for a few weeks during one summer when I was much younger. Needless to say, I felt prepared to see the world, or at least a lot of Europe as I planned to travel anywhere I could. My only stress before leaving? How to fit everything into one large and one medium-sized suitcase. Much to my own chagrin, half of my wardrobe couldn’t see the world with me. When I first arrived in Spain, everything was as expected: late lunches, late dinners, and a different language. My group and I toured Madrid and Toledo and eventually made our way south to Seville. With clear skies, palm trees, and a beautiful river, I had
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abroad), I wasn’t nervous at all. I thought I knew what to expect about living in a foreign country, especially in one where I already knew how to
found paradise. Although there were differences between American culture and Spanish culture, as all Spaniards manage to point out to us Americans
– “Please, don’t yell.” – everything generally seemed the same, even in the classroom. Eventually, the differences developed. No matter what time of day it is, when we walk through Parque Maria Luisa, Seville’s miniature version of Central Park, all we see are people engaging in some hardcore version of PDA, enough to make any American uncomfortable. And to think people in the United States have issues holding hands in public. Is it really necessary in the early morning, though? Seriously? Take a break to brush your teeth. This may not seem like the culture shock you may be picturing as you think of the term, but to any one of us foreign students in Seville, it truly is shocking. Another lifestyle tendency that will forever shock me is the fur coats in 90-degree weather. Yes, that’s right. Spanish women wearing fur or winter jackets in 90-degree weather. Not only is it extremely humid, but no one can walk for five minutes without breaking a sweat so please, explain to me, dearest Seville, how your women are dressed like this without dying of dehydration and heat stroke? Of course, leave it to us, the Americans, to defy this cultural characteristic and bust out the shorts, sundresses, and shortsleeves BC style. I’m not even talking the first day that hits 50 degrees and every BC girl is wearing her summer dress, and then the weather plummets back to 30 again the next day, leaving half of the student population with pneumonia. It truly has been 90 degrees every day since the beginning of April, so I think that justifies a change in wardrobe. However, the Sevillanas do not agree. Wearing shorts without stockings seems more blasphemous than stealing your best friend’s girl/boyfriend based on the amount of death glares you receive. Is wearing shorts with stockings really a good look? I guess that’s up to the individual to decide (but let me help you out – in
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90-degree weather, no it’s not). Although there are obviously other minor cultural tendencies that differ from ours, like siesta time, when everything except for restaurants and cafes shuts down from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., it is surprisingly more similar than I expected. I always thought the term culture shock implied the fact that you would go to a different country and become completely uncomfortable not knowing any of the norms. Of course, those do exist. I’m assuming if I traveled anywhere around the Middle East I would find myself at a total loss, as I did when I went to Morocco, but that’s an entirely different story. I guess one of the lessons I learned while studying abroad here is that although there can be glaring differences, there are also shared characteristics such as going out late with your friends, hanging out all day when there’s no class, etc., which makes the studying abroad experience new and incredible. The true culture shock occurs, as I’ve briefly mentioned, when you travel somewhere completely different from your own culture. Studying in Europe makes it much easier to travel throughout Europe; everything is a couple of budget airline plane rides away, which only adds to
the entire experience. I could write an entirely differently column on just the wonders of traveling throughout Europe, but I’ll keep it brief. All I will recommend and say is that you see as much as possible in the little time you have in Europe. Although four months in a different country may seem like a lot, it really is no time at all. However, with that recommendation I also have to add that you must spend as much time in your home country as it will allow. Although I have been shocked and awed by the different actions by the Sevillanas, the people could not be any friendlier or more welcoming to a group of people. Seville is a beautiful, laid-back city where no one is in a rush to do anything. It’s relaxation in its purest form. Seville has become one of my favorite cities, which I know is a bold statement as a faithful New Yorker. Studying abroad, with or without its culture shock, has been the best decision of my life thus far. It will be a semester that I will remember forever.
Francesca Bacardi is a Guest Columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights.com
An internship is an internship ... even in a foreign country Iulia padeanu My heart is pounding. My hands are sweaty. My knees are weak, and I am feeling faint. I am talking myself into this every step of the way. I’m nervous, terrified, and excited. I take my time, try to calm myself down, but I know it’s now or never. No, I am not about to have the most passionate kiss ever, I am not asking the man of my dreams out. Nothing about this is straight out of a Hollywood movie. I am about to ask for an internship … en francais. I have always been fearless. I have moved enough times to know that nothing comes easy. No one will hand out favors, and if you are going to set yourself apart in a new environment, you have to work for it. I have also had to learn to live in another language. I remember how frustrating it was being unable to defend myself when I was 11, not because I was shy or afraid, but simply because I could not find the right words in English. Still, having to walk up to a intimidating man dressed in a suit and ask for a favor, in a language I had not even begun to master, was excruciating. But I am stronger and much more confident than my 11-year-old self, and I knew that if I wanted an internship during my time in France, I would have to go out and get it on my own. A few days earlier, one of my professors at the university had encouraged us to attend a talk at the Maimonides of Jewish studies here in Montpellier. Still clinging to my American impulses, I was the first one to sign up. It would be a great way to show my professor, that despite my lack of communication skills in French and very poor writing level, I was dedicated and willing to work in his class. Back then, I was still naive and innocent, and had not figured out the most French students would never attend anything that was not required, let alone on a Thursday night at 8 p.m. I made it to the lecture early, took out my pen and paper and waited for the small room to fill up with my fellow classmates. Not another one showed up. I sat through a lecture of Jewish history in the southern France. That is about as much as I remember, and about as much as I could un-
derstand. Two and a half years of basic French proved inadequate to my understanding of such a complex subject. At least I assume it was complex. I had the opportunity to meet another researcher, a lady that found me wandering the streets of Montpellier, lost and confused as I tried to make my way to the Salle Petrarque where the conference was taking place. I had been in Montpellier for a little less than two
bullet and ask for an internship. And so I approached what seemed to be the director of the Maimonides Institute and in very broken French asked if it was possible to apply to intern at the Institute for the semester. “With pleasure!” he said, and asked me to come in for an interview later that week. We spoke a mixture of French and English, discussed my plans for the semester and the
weeks and the small, narrow streets and convoluted city plan were doing little to help me orient myself. I was lucky to run into Danielle Iancu, a researcher at the University of Montpellier, and, as it turned out, the wife of my professor. She was kind enough to help me find my way, and invited me to one of her talks a few days later. It was at this next talk I decided to bite the
Institute’s needs, and about 30 minutes after I begun my first interview in France, I left the Maimonides Institute with a part time internship. A few months later, as summer descended upon Montpellier, I was sitting outside at a cafe sipping an espresso and discussing the loss of memory, the importance of reconciliation, and the meaning of sanctity with one of the institute’s
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guest speakers. I had been entrusted with the job of picking up our guest at the train station and accompanying him to the hotel. Since it was just past lunchtime before we even got to the hotel, Michael de Saint-Cheron asked if I would join him for a ‘petit cafe.’ And so we sat down in the Place de la Comdie, the heart of Montpellier, and begun discussing Jewish history. As I expressed my concern over the treatment of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, I realized just how far I had come. My sweaty hands were now simply a welcomed consequence of the warm temperature, my nerves had turned into excitement about new ideas I was getting to share with a distinguished researcher, and my heart was racing at the thought of the new possibilities that had opened up for me. I may not have had the same academically rigorous experience at the University Paul Valery as I would have had back home at Boston College. I never thought I would miss camping out in O’Neill Library, working away into the night on projects and papers. I do. I miss being challenged the way I am every day at BC, but I have come to realize that the lessons France had to teach me were not between the walls of a classroom. Having had the opportunity to work with professors like Carol Iancu, to intern at a research institute, and casually discuss my ideas with experts in the field of Judaism was incredible. It was the fact that I did all that in French that I am most proud of. It seems like nothing that I will have to face at BC will be as difficult, for everything I have to do, I will be able to do in English. It is as if I have been training myself for a marathon carrying a twenty pound weight on my back, and now when the time comes to actually start the race, I can let go of that weight and really get ahead. I have loved every moment of speaking French; and I will miss it when I come back home. It has been a terrifying and wonderful challenge. I miss home terribly sometimes, but studying abroad has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Iulia Padeanu is a Guest Columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at features@bcheights. com
The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
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They might have the biology … but do they have the chemistry? By elizabeth gavin | F o r T h e H e i g h t s
kelly tyman
ben brigham
majors in: Biology and Psychology (with a Pre-Vet concentration) ideal weekend night: Grabbing some ice cream at Chill, hanging out in CLXF, watching a movie with friends. if stranded on a desert island: She would bring a fishing rod, her dog, laptop, and a pillow. her ideal date: Watching a movie, then taking a walk to get ice cream at midnight.
Lives in: Edmond’s Hall majors in: Biology and Perspectives Ideal weekend day: Walking around a grocery store, then spending the majority of the day cooking and baking His exes would say: He was very generous and caring as a boyfriend his ideal date: Taking a girl to high tea in the summer. It’s a pretty unusal date. A walk around the waterfront and the North End, see the rose gardens.
class and year: A&S ’12
class and year: A&S ’14 lives in: Fenwick Hall
Wait, just how old are you? kelly: We arrived at basically the same
moment, introduced ourselves, and started to walk to the bus stop. While we walked, we talked about our housing situations. I’m actually going to be living in Edmond’s next year, the same dorm that he’s living in now. ben: Everything was pretty casual. It
wasn’t awkward at all. I was kind of surprised at first when she told me she was a freshman. I thought she would be a sophomore. kelly: I was surprised to find out that
he was a junior. I thought he would be a sophomore. ben: The conversation flowed easily
throughout the night; there were no lulls. We talked about classes and pro-
fessors. We’re both bio majors. kelly: We both know Professor Wolfman and we talked about dog sitting for him, which was a cool connection. As a fellow bio major, he gave me a lot of advice about what classes to take.
ben: I thought it was interesting that
I like my veggies … do you?
kelly: As dinner came to a close, he
ben: I’m a vegetarian, so it was defi-
nitely a nice surprise to find out that she was also one. I didn’t have to go through that whole spiel. kelly: We talked about how we both
wanted to travel. He has already been to some amazing places. Someday, I would love to get the opportunity to travel to some of them myself. Our families also came up. A Nice Ending to a Nice Evening
she is also from Massachusetts. Her big family seems pretty cool. We walked back from the restaurant. I’m a big walker and never really take the bus, so that was nice. asked me whether I wanted to walk or take the bus back to campus. We decided to walk. At the beginning of the night, it had been raining, but at this point, it was lightly snowing, which was nice. At one point along the route, I almost took a wrong turn, so Ben asked, “Do you need to be somewhere?” So I just laughed (and, most likely, blushed, per usual) blaming my bad sense of direction. We forgot to take the picture at the restaurant, so we had to corner someone and get them to take it.
Photo Courtesy of Kelly Tyman
ben: As the evening was ending, I told
her the funny part about this whole thing. I actually didn’t have an active role in this; my friends signed me up and did not tell me. So when I got the e-mail, it was a surprise, but I thought it could be fun so I said yes. I walked her back to her dorm and we hugged good night.
the details when: 6 p.m. where: Fin’s, Cleveland Circle, Brighton his grade: B+ her grade: B+ what now? They plan on continuing this new friendship.
Age is nothing but a number
the details when: 6 p.m. where: Trattoria Toscana, Fenway, Boston his grade: B+ her grade: B+ what now? They plan on staying in touch as friends.
By elizabeth gavin | F o r T h e H e i g h t s Small Talk…
Can Opposites (Majors) Attract?
nicole: We met outside Lower; I looked
william: Our majors are really different
at every guy who walked by to see if he was coming. When I saw him, my first thought was that he was pretty cute.
this before, so I was nervous at first, especially once I realized she was a senior.
(I’m history / political science and she’s a math major). We didn’t have that much in common. We both come from ethnic families though: she’s really Italian and I’m really Irish. And we both really enjoy cooking. We were both enjoying the meal.
nicole: We then walked to catch the bus
nicole: The food was good. It was a bit
william: I’ve never done anything like
to the D line. At this point, it was snowing pretty hard. Our conversation started off right away, as we asked each other the initial questions. I learned that he plays rugby, which was interesting. william: We started talking about some
basic stuff. We were squished into one corner of the bus because of all the people going to the ALC Ball. Then we got on the T and walked to the restaurant, which is near Fenway.
nicole: Neither of us knew exactly where
we were going. We had an idea. It turned out to be a cute Italian restaurant. There were only a dozen tables; it was a warm atmosphere. I was trying to figure out if all the waiters had Italian accents.
awkward because he’s two years younger. I wanted to order wine, but I couldn’t because he’s underage. During the meal, we talked a bit about traveling and a lot about cooking. I gave him some tips. william: She told me about her bucket
list at BC, which included a bunch of restaurants and Eagle Dates. I thought that was an interesting idea. By the time we finished dinner, the snow had sanitized everything and it was a beautiful night, even though the area was not the best. nicole: I was staying in the city after so
we hugged goodbye and I caught a cab.
william: There were never any long, ex-
tended pauses. It was definitely friendly.
Photo Courtesy of Nicole Borruso
nicole borruso
school and year: A&S ’11 lives in: The Mods majors in: Math and Italian on campus she: Dances in DOBC and is an Appa leader ideal weekend night: Cooking dinner, going into the city with friends and dancing her exes would say: She loves to cook, is an organized type, always on time, and is always dancing. Her best date ever: She met an Italian guy while in Italy, who picked her up and took her to a small restaurant in a castle on a hill. The food was amazing and their conversation was funny because neither of them spoke perfectly well in the other language, and it was a completely new experience.
William Rockwood
school and year: A&S ’13 lives in: Walsh Hall majors in: History and Political science on campus he: Plays rugby and is in history club Ideal weekend night: Attending a hockey game and then watching a movie His exes would say: He’s a nice guy, kind of nerdy, pretty blunt. if stranded on a desert island: He would bring a machete, some rope, a lighter, all the Star Wars movies, a football, and the Harry Potter books.
The Heights
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Monday, May 2, 2011
Special effects ignite the screen in stripped down ‘Five’ By Alex Trautwig Heights Editor
As the Fast and Furious series turned five this year, there was a lot of hesitation about what the latest installment had to offer, but Fast Five does not disappoint. With a plot that rewards viewers that have seen the four previous films and Fast Five: a script that eliminates Justin Lin the corny Dark Side mid-race Productinos lines and honors the rapport established in the preceding films, Fast Five was well directed and enjoyable. The film certainly won’t win any Academy Awards with Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the main characters, but they all work in their respective roles. Fans of the Fast and Furious series are loyal by nature. The first film introduced a cast of gritty characters with the Los Angeles street racing scene as a backdrop, and unfortunately, it went downhill from
B+
there. 2 Fast 2 Furious was a decent attempt at a sequel, but it drifted from street racing into territory that the series wasn’t ready for. Most people, including the series creators, would like to forget about Tokyo Drift. Last year, however, with the reprisal of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Fast and Furious was considered an overall success by fans. This fifth film can certainly be considered a success, as it has garnered excellent viewer reviews on websites like Rotten Tomatoes and from critics such as the esteemed Roger Ebert, who gave the film three out of four stars. Fast Five was certainly less “fast” and more “furious” as the plot again moved from the cars and the racing to more serious matters involving a Brazilian crime boss and a bloodthirsty government agent in the form of Johnson trying to hunt down Toretto and O’Conner (Paul Walker). Although the trailer for this movie looked promising, I couldn’t help but feel that we already knew the whole story in that short time, but this was not the case. There are plenty of twists, and the character relationships
pick up exactly where they left off at the end of their respective films. They are taken to a new level in the latest installment by the screenwriters, though. The fast pace of the film makes the two hours go by quickly, and there is hardly a dull moment. The number of buildings and cars destroyed in the film is uncountable. Unfortunately, as Diesel and Walker are towing a bank vault behind their cars through downtown Rio de Janeiro, you have to wonder, how ridiculous is this? Sure, some of the stunts in the movie are a little far-fetched, but going in you need to accept that fact that it’s just a movie. The aforementioned vault scene is one of the most entertaining action scenes in recent years, blendCourtesy of Allmoviephoto.com ing fast cars, slick driving, and plenty Focusing on extraordinary chases, Lin steered clear of corny one-liners found in his other sequels. of explosions to keep anyone happy. There is one major flaw: the series character in Tokyo Drift, was killed in a there isn’t much to complain about. Fun ‘timeline is frustrating. Which is to say, car wreck, yet he magically appears in characters, explosions, gunfights, fast although this was the fifth movie made Fast Five. There are almost unnotice- cars, and non-stop action will make this for the Fast and Furious team, it is not able references to the fact that this plot a worthwhile trip to the movies. And if the most recent in the lives of the char- occurs before Tokyo Drift throughout you find yourself forking over the $10 acters, yet it marks the “return” of many the movie, but it becomes clearer in the to see it, do yourself a favor and stay of them to the series. For example, some last scenes as Han explains he’ll travel for the credits. Apparently Fast and might remember that Han, a prevalent to Tokyo “eventually.” Other than that, Furious might not be done just yet. n
Spurlock combats ads with laughter
Box Office Report title
weekend gross
weeks in release
2 photos courtesy of allmoviephoto.com
1. Fast Five
83.6
1
2. Rio
14.4
3
3. Madea’s Big Happy family
10.0
2
Courtesy of Allmoviephoto.com
Although the content of ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ does not surprise as much as other Spurlock films, its delivery is more comical. By Joe Allen Heights Staff
The corporate images that permeate modern American life were ironically lampooned in The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, which was completely financed through product placement. Morgan Spurlock, the director of The Greatest Movie Sup e r Si z e Ever Sold: Me, decided Morgan Spurlock t o m a k e a Snoot f i l m ab o u t Entertainment how companies advertise in movies. Admittedly, this subject is not unfamiliar to the average American, who encounters many advertisements on a daily basis. Spurlock’s movie does not leave the viewer with much new information about the film’s well-known subject, unlike Super Size Me, which exposed the audience to the dark side of the fast food industry. So, why see the new Spurlock documentary? Because it is hilarious. The strange premise of The Greatest Movie Ever Sold doesn’t seem like a great source of comedy. Morgan Spurlock begins the movie by pitching his idea (for the film that the audience is watching) about a movie that will be completely financed by advertisers. For the rest of the movie, Spurlock works on securing companies to sponsor his film and exploring the psychological and moral implications of advertising. He speaks
B+ A-
with film directors, advertising executives, college professors, and average urban bystanders, trying to discover the purpose of advertising. By the end of the film, Spurlock may not have come up with a solution to the advertising epidemic, but he has found a way for the common American to cope with advertising: a fine-tuned sense of humor. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold functions better as a comedy than as a documentary. Whether he is attempting to make a point or not, Spurlock is a natural comedian. Due to the contracts Spurlock makes with the sponsoring companies, most notably POM Wonderful, Jet Blue, and Mane ’n Tail, he must often bend to every whim of each individual company. Because POM Wonderful was the largest sponsor, Morgan Spurlock had to both include the company in his film’s title and entirely eliminate any other beverage brand from his film. This sorry fact leads to many of the film’s laughs. The most successful source of humor in The Greatest Movie Ever Sold stems from a different clause in Spurlock’s contract with his three major advertisers. The film must feature one 30-second spot for each of the major companies involved in the film. These in-film commercials are all laugh-out-loud funny because Spurlock doesn’t take them seriously. The POM spot proves to be the best. It is preceded by a meeting between Spurlock and the company’s advertising executives, in which they insist that a very
particular commercial (which attacks one of its rivals, Minute Maid) must be aired during the film. Hilariously, Spurlock takes their idea and reproduces it word-for-word. Jet Blue, Mane ’n Tail, and POM all have good humor in terms of their portrayal in Spurlock’s film. While Spurlock doesn’t condemn the practice of advertising in his new film, he does poke fun at the companies who made the movie possible. The aforementioned companies don’t care much about their portrayal because their abundant presence in the film will make the viewers crave them, whether Spurlock is satirizing them or not. After laughing at Spurlock’s jokes in the film, I found myself desiring a bottle of POM. This counterintuitive thought process proves that The Greatest Movie Ever Sold isn’t completely against advertising. Spurlock seems to be perpetuating an inevitable modern-day phenomenon, which induces many a laugh. Fun fact: In Spurlock’s film, Quentin Tarantino states that he wanted the diner scenes in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs to take place at Denny’s, which denied his filming requests. Most recently, Denny’s new “Baconalia” menu features seven items containing bacon. So, watch Spurlock’s film, and complete the film experience by eating a maple bacon sundae at Denny’s. This is the perfect ending to “the greatest movie ever sold.” n
3
4
4. Water for elephants
9.1
2
5. Prom
5.0
1
6. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
4.1
1
7. Soul Surfer
3.3
4
8. Insidious
2.7
5
9. hop
2.6
5
10. Source Code
2.5
5
bestsellers of hardcover fiction 1. Chasing Fire Nora Roberts 2. the Land of Painted Caves Jean M. Auel 3. The Fifth Witness Michael Connelly 4. I’ll walk alone Mary Higgins Clark 5. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Stieg Larsson
6. 44 Charles Street Danielle Steel 7. The Pale King David Foster Wallace 8. Save Me Lisa Scottoline 9. Live Wire Harlan Coben SOURCE: Publisher’s Weekly
Blissfully trite, ‘Prom’ presents a typical Disney high school By Kelsey Damassa
For the Heights Disney’s most recent teen flick , Prom, hit theaters this past weekend making tween girls across the country squeal with excitement and dream of what their senior prom will be like. The film offers a seemingly perfect glance into the world of high school proms – the highProm: light of seJoe Nussbaum nior year for Rickshaw some and Productions a d re a d e d source of anxiety for others. For the main female character, Nova Prescott (Aimee Teegarden), prom is the single most important day of her high school existence. Despite Teegarden’s mediocre acting ability, it is hard to dislike her character – the overachieving class president who sees the best in everybody. Unfortunately, her perfect vision of prom begins to fade starting with an insincere invitation to prom from her crush and an accidental fire that destroys all decorations for the prom’s theme, “A Starry Night.” In typical Disney style, the fire, which seems devastating at first, ends
C+
up bringing bad boy, Jesse Richter (Thomas McDonell) and Nova together. The two of them predictably grow closer as they rebuild prom decorations. Jesse’s rebellious, leather-wearing, motorcycle-riding exterior proves to be a cover for his troubled past and sensitive personality. This attempt to create complexity is overshadowed by the characters’ lack of originality. Although the film follows a diverse mix of characters, each one comes off extremely one-dimensional, promulgating a specific high school stereotype – think The Breakfast Club – but less innovative. Throw in some predictable plot twists, meddling parents, a few laugh-eliciting lines, a choreographed shopping trip, and the film is complete. There is no need to worry about how the film will end as it concludes in exactly the way one would expect, all tied up in a pretty pink bow. Directed by Joe Nussbaum, Prom is very similar to his other work, which includes films such as 2004’s Sleepover with Alexa Vega and 2007’s Sydney White with Amanda Bynes. Nussbaum succeeded in keeping his tween fans interested, but he did not manage to create anything groundbreaking or earth
shattering with Prom. Using the same high school stereotypes, cliched plot lines, and awkward dialogue, the film is extremely predictable and portrays a very unrealistic high school experience. Disney makes sure to create a perfect high school world - free from drugs, alcohol, sex, bullying and any questionable behavior. The worst offense that the movie’s bad boy commits is bailing on his last period class every Monday. The school’s most popular lacrosse star throws a party consisting of soda, burgers, and music by the boy band All Star Weekend. Everything is perfectly placed within the Disney bubble. Despite the film’s cheesy jokes and sappy moments, Prom will not disappoint any loyal Disney fans out there, especially those who enjoyed the High School Musical trilogy (think the prom scene from HSM3, but in movie form). The film offers a magical escape from reality, instantly puts the audience in a good mood, and of course has the classic Disney, fairy-tale ending. It was a breath of fresh air to have a cast comprised of mainly unknowns. Disney definitely deserves a round of applause for not recycling their usual stars like Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and the
High School Musical gang. The film’s soundtrack surprisingly featured decent artists including Passion Pit, Neon Trees, and Travie McCoy. Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, or Demi Lovato were not slipped into the film and thankfully none of the unknowns were forced to sing in addition to their acting. Disney may have finally realized that not all of their actors and actresses need to sing, dance, and act in order to be successful.
The film entertains for its 103-minute duration, more so for female viewers who enjoy romantic comedies. Prom is the perfect option for a girl’s night out - a chance to relive the high school experience, escape the pressures of college, and take in some good old Disney magic. One can’t possibly argue that the film isn’t entertaining. However, compared to Disney’s past attempts at tween and teen films, Prom’s starry night definitely lacked luster. n
Courtesy of Allmoviephoto.com
Thankfully song and dance free, ‘Prom’ still follows the pattern of Disney staples like ‘HSM.’
The Heights
Monday, May 2, 2011
C7
EcoFashion lights up the tent at Arts Festival Green Show, from C8
Alex Trautwig / Heights Editor
Even though the script hit some clunky and awkward moments, a few key cast members brought the show to rapturously hilarious highs.
CCE brings laughs with ‘Superdead’ ‘Superdead,’ from C8 of the heroes combined what little deducing powers they had together to catch the criminal. Many characters were woefully underdeveloped or underutilized, which only made life easier when it came to choosing which ones to follow when it came time to move about the house. As the Cougar, Sam Simmons, A&S ’12, showed immense promise. Her elongated snarls and pawing buffoonery should have been given more time in the spotlight. Likewise, Law Man (portrayed by Abby Peterson, A&S ’11) and Fire Marshal (Donald Chang, A&S ’12) were given an amusing storyline that never quite lifted off of the ground. Other characters just fell flat entirely, never quite rousing anything more than a mere chuckle out of uncomfortable audience members. A subplot surrounding the Announcer Man’s desire to join the league of heroes, as well as his incessant desire to spill the beans as to the murderer’s identity, was as annoying as it was unnecessary. On
the other hand, characters like Communist Man and Tekcop were given next to nothing to do other than stand there with their cohorts. Although the CCE was clearly pressed for time, it would have been nice to see the two characters do more than shuffle their feet around. The major issue with Superdead was its timing. Knowing full well that the event was a blend of improvisation and actual scripted material, one would hope that the performers would’ve spent more time ironing out the obvious kinks in the material. At times, multiple actors found themselves talking at the same time, never quite recovering from the cacophonous effect. At other times, people on stage riffed for what seemed like an endless amount of time on inane and unintelligible material that never lent anything to the plot at hand. While there is something to be said for improvisation, more time should have been spent advancing the plot that audience members were slowly beginning to lose interest in. Some cast members stars shone too brightly for the show to contain, often lifting
the loose plot to sidesplitting levels. Emma Missett, A&S ’13, consistently brought the house down with her brilliantly phrased “dumb” comments. Her quirks and eccentricities as an improviser are taken right from Kristen Wiig’s playbook. Just like Wiig on Saturday Night Live, every word from her mouth was a sheer delight (just to point out one in particular, her droll, “I call my breasts Mary Kate and Ashley, but sometimes I get really confused about which one is which,” brought the house down). Likewise, Joe Allen, A&S ’13, dominated the show with his nasally Weather Man, a down on his luck character who defied what could have easily been a weak caricature. From his “occasional ability to sometimes predict the weather” to his fighting skills in the villains versus heroes portion of the show, Allen showed a willingness to let himself go. By embracing the ridiculousness of the show, both Allen and Missett deserve serious commendation. Their performances demonstrated the star power that they both possess, and hopefully will continue to demonstrate in shows to come. n
the moving “Dare To Be” after winning a slam open mic night on Feb. 9. Following directly in their footsteps, Morgan Fry Pasic, A&S ’13, and Alicia Martinez, A&S ’12, also spun alliterations and metaphors on the topic of being green with a more fierce, almost angry, delivery on the topic. Not all of the slam poetry – which was scattered between the three sets of cat walks – lived up to the standards of the first two groups, however, as Sean Hackel, A&S ’13, and Chris Criswell, A&S ’13, were difficult to follow in the content and symbolism of their slam poem. But, what they missed the mark with in comprehension, they mostly made up for in physical comedy. Taking up more of the stage than any of the other groups, Hackel and Criswell put a theatrical, funny twist on the typically rhythmic and more stationary genre. In between the spoken word, student designers Lauren Cdebaca, A&S ’14, Elizabeth Floriano, A&S ’14, Ji Lee, A&S ’12, and Claire Townley, A&S ’14, showed off their fantastic creations to blaring club music that really made the catwalk a show. The final piece of the set, worn by Grace Lee, A&S ’11, and impressively designed by Mary Helen Larson, A&S ’11, was the most impressive as a three-part outfit that changed each time Lee struck a pose, ripping pieces off. First, coming out in a white mini-dress with ruffles and a lacy collar, Lee paused to pull off the collar, making the outfit less couture and something perfect for a fancy
dinner. Then, stopping center stage, the skirt was unattached and her final creation turned into a white romper with a brown belt, fit for a night out. The next two sets of runway walks were composed of professional pieces that were lent to the show by 13 EcoFashion companies, including Cangles, Deborah Lindquist, Maggie’s Organics, and RESCUE, whose executive team Elizabeth Barthemes, A&S ’11, Lauren Gomez, A&S ’11, and Kathie Chang, CSOM ’11 – sought out throughout the year. Coming after the student designs, which were impressive in their own right, the professional pieces really demonstrated how much EcoFashion can be regarded as just normal, beautiful fashion. From black lace tops and fauxleather bomber jackets to colorful Tshirts and simple dresses, The Green Show had outfits for all occasions, levels of formality, and styles, and all of the pieces fit the models perfectly. Their energy clearly showed that the models enjoyed wearing all of these outfits and kept the night casual with funny poses at center stage and playing off the other person walking at the same time. Closing out the night was a confusingly attractive, full-length dress by Natracare, worn by Ji Lee, A&S ’12. It is confusing because the beautiful dress with a full skirt that was fitting for prom was made out of feminine products and their wrappers. Whether or not the materials might turn people off from actually wearing the dress, it was a perfect example of just how far you can push sustainability in fashion. n
Dancers move with bOp! bOp!, from C8 “The Most Interesting Band in the World,” to appreciate the melodic voices of bOp!’s jazz singers as they offered beautiful renditions of “Come Fly With Me” and “Feelin’ Good.” Individual sections also got their share of the limelight when the saxophones were brought front stage for “Tenor Madness” and the trumpet section abandoned their usual position for the sassy “Backrow Politics.” BC’s Dance Ensemble was the first to take the stage, performing a tap routine to a collaboration of Alicia Keys’ songs segueing from “How Come You Don’t Call Me” to “Karma” finishing with “Heartburn.” The upbeat performance corresponded to the increasing tempos in each song, and the ladies of Dance Ensemble beautifully portrayed the attitude of the scorned but strong lover embodied in all three songs. It became evident throughout the evening that the dancers of Swing Kids can’t resist an open floor. The next dance performance was set to Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” and despite the fact that swing evolved in much more modest eras than our own, the group’s classic style and impressive use of lifts and twirls managed to evoke an arguably seductive feel. The group’s undeniable enthusiasm and impeccably coordinated outfits graced the stage again for a spirited performance to a selection famed for its presence in Pulp Fiction, Chuck Berry’s “You Can Never Tell.” Though the group performed twice formally, they couldn’t keep their feet off the stage, later spontaneously rising to perform impromptu routines during some of the nondance selections.
The Dance Organization of BC played into the jazz theme with their interpretive routine to “Valerie” by The Zutons. The group’s skillfully executed coordination was extremely upbeat and exhibited several styles reminiscent of both jazz and ballet as they moved in response to the lyrics. Donning eye-catching, sequined costumes for their second routine to “Beggin’” by Madcon, their flashing movements were accented by an admirably executed rapping interlude by bOp!’s Brendan Quinn, A&S ’11. Representing one of the more challenging musical adaptations, the ladies of the BC Irish Dance Club were perfectly in time, anchored by the beats of bOp!’s percussionist, Patrick Atkins, CSOM ’11. Those not familiar with the dynamics of traditional Irish dance were treated to a deliciously geometric display of interlocking rings of dancers, as flawlessly coordinated bobbing heads moved at an unbelievably fast pace in time to a light brass accompaniment. A sensual routine set to Marc Anthony’s “I Need to Know” impressed on many levels from the talent of the fiery dancers of Fuego del Corazon, to the innovative cowbell percussion provided by bOp!’s Steven Bass, A&S ’11, to the impressive fluidity with which bOp!’s vocalists launched into Spanish for the salsa portion of the show. The engaging groups of couples brought lots of audience attention, and as is typical for a Fuego performance, it was evident that the men and women of the group were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Concluding the dancing for the night was Phaymus Dance Entertainment, illustrating how surprisingly well two extremely different genres of music can complement each other. n
Sang Lee / Heights Staff
Singers, dancers, and musicians alike joined forces in this powerhouse of a musical extravaganza.
Alex trautwig / heights editor
Cam Cronin makes the most of his supporting role and, at times, steals the show from the capable hands of its excellent stars.
‘Scoundrels’ are quite the delight ‘Scoundrels,’ from C8 -come rivals, competing for the money and affections of Christine Colgate, the “Soap Queen” (Sarah Winglass, A&S ’14). With reputations at stake, the search is on for the vital answer to the question of which con can con best. What ensured the success of this show is simple – the score and book are wonderful. The music by David Yazbek sounded modern and catchy but still maintained the classic showtune sheen. His lyrics perfectly compliment the knowing, clever nature of Jeffrey Lane’s book, a collection of spitfire lines and hysterical usage of double entendre, wordplay, and irony. The show never becomes too wacky, as is the danger, in the hands of director Kevin P. Hill, though. A Broadway veteran, Hill keeps everything fun and manic but still wraps everything in a wonderful ribbon of sophistication. He pushes the envelope just enough to get the right reaction and keeps the musical moving at a rollicking pace. Hill hits his stride not only through his direction, but through his choreography, as well. He incorporates lovely and languid Latin dance moves throughout the performance, from the Overture to the finale. The ensemble never once seems unsure of the steps, particularly in the
simmer-to-boil number, “The More We Dance.” Perhaps most impressive, though, is the line dance and boot scootin’ during the show-stopping number, “Oklahoma,” led by scene stealer Lisa Boccuzzi, A&S ’11. Boccuzzi’s rough Southerner earned a brunt of the laughs with her gun-toting ways. The cast uniformly lives up to the challenge of performing this work, though. Byrum seemed just a touch unsure of himself in the opening number “Give Them What They Want,” but he quickly settles into the character of Lawrence. His comic timing, enforced by his blunt delivery and aristocratically stilted line readings, serves him well, and his transformation into the Viennese Dr. Emil Shuffhausen makes for a riotous musical number. Connolly proves every bit Byrum’s equal. His caddish demeanor and vulgar nature work wonders, as proven in his act one showstopper, “Great Big Stuff”. When the two finally pair up for the 11 O’ clock number, it’s clear these two have all the makings of a musical-comedy duo. Winglass’ makes a lovely debut on the Robsham stage. Her beautiful voice and sweet humility give her the quality of a quintessential ingenue, but it’s her knack for ditzy, clumsy comedy as well as her act two transformation that give her the legs to
stand next to Byrum and Connolly. Kasey Brown, A&S ’12, also leaves her mark on the production as the wildly lavish and delightfully daffy Muriel Eubanks, an initial conquest of Lawrence. Her romance with Lawrence’s sidekick Andre (Cam Cronin, LSOE ’12) gives the production a sweetness that isn’t always found in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The production could never have truly succeeded, though, without the work of its technical crew. Music director Jose Delgado conducts the orchestra beautifully through everything from waltzes to rapinspired tunes. The sets by Crystal Tiala, a professor in the theater arts department, capture opulence without getting too gaudy while Jacqueline Dalley, a professor in the theater arts department, drapes the women and men in the best of nautical fashion and the lowliest of five-star hotelier uniforms. Perhaps most impressive of all, though, is Franklin Meissner, Jr.’s lighting design, which perfectly captures the light of the French Riviera sunset. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels truly evokes the importance of a weekend like Arts Fest – sometimes we just need a bit of entertainment. This production certainly touches upon that goal and wonderfully caps off a considerably successful season for the BC theater community. n
Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines among stars of summer movies Dan Siering Looking ahead to the summer movie season, it seems inevitable that spandex superheroes, wand flailing wizards, and dueling robots will dominate the box office and attract the majority of casual moviegoers. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining by the amount of blockbusters this summer. I am most certainly going to do the full superhero movie circuit, and there’s no doubt that I will be in line to see the Deathly Hallows Part 2 midnight showing. But after meticulously combing through the release schedule for the forthcoming months, I’ve come across some less publicized films that I think have a chance to provide this summer with some artistic credibility. Here a few films that could be suitable candidates for those looking to temporarily escape the
high-flying summer blockbusters. Submarine (June 3): Set in a murky English landscape, Submarine tells the tale of 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), a blooming intellectual who is plagued by strong discontentment and a serious lack of social skills. While trying the mend his parent’s hapless marriage, Tate also sets out to find a girlfriend in hopes of engaging in activities that, well, only a girlfriend can provide. His searches pay dividends when Jordana (Yasmin Page), an independent and quirky girl, catches his eye. Produced by Ben Stiller and the Weinstein Brothers, Submarine looks like it provides a fresh take on the struggle of teen angst. The trailer shows intriguing scenes such as Oliver jumping into a pool fully clothed and Jordana snapping Polaroid shots of the two making out. As far as I can see, there won’t be a hipper couple this summer than Oliver
and Jordana. The Devil’s Double (July 29): The Devil’s Double is based on the haunting true story of Latif Yahia, an Iraqi army lieutenant who is given the task of becoming the body double for the infamous Uday Hussein. This plunge into the lavish and chaotic world of Iraq’s dictating family stars Dominic Cooper as both Yahia and Hussein. The film caught my attention when a thrilling trailer was released last week. The story revolves the unimaginable wealth and rock star lifestyle that Saddam’s son enjoyed, and the struggle that Yahia had in accepting his role in a tyrannical government. The possible conflicts and plot direction are endless, and with a story that is both thrilling and culturally significant, this film has the best chance of any summer flick to make its mark come award season. Hesher (May 13): Already equipped
with rave reviews from Sundance, Hesher is an offbeat look into the life of its title character, played by Joseph GordonLevitt. Hesher is a chain-smoking, PBR drinking drifter who, by happenstance, becomes a semi-mentor for a young boy named T.J. The film costars Natalie Portman, who thankfully seems to be done with her four-week hiatus from theaters, and Rainn Wilson. This is not classy, pretentious Gordon-Levitt that we all love. No, here the Inception star goes well out of his comfort zone with a role that demands the utmost sloppiness. Portman is also on board as the producer, so it will also be interesting to see how the Oscar winner performs on the other side of the camera. The Art of Getting By (June 17): Remember that lovable, starry-eyed boy from August Rush? Well his name is Freddie Highmore, and he’s all grown
up now, playing the lead in this coming-of-age film. Highmore plays Geroge Zinavoy, a rebellious student who is looking for his calling in life (I think he and Tate would be good friends). George spends most of time in class doodling and mouthing off, but people around him soon begin to see potential in his sketches. George also engages in a friendship, or perhaps more than a friendship, with classmate name Sally, played by Emma Roberts. This might mark the start of Highmore’s career as a serious adult actor and a means to escape his tag as a child star. On the other hand, this film might crash into the wasteland of mediocrity that so many coming-of-age films have done before.
Dan Siering is a staff columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at arts@ bcheights.com.
arts&review
c8
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wicked Cultured
‘rotten’ has never been SO good
Plan your summer now Charlotte Parish Once again, I was overambitious. On a blustery, cold night back in January, my friends and I had all kinds of elaborate plans for second semester, making up a list of all things we needed to do in the city. Considering we have talked about these grand excursions since first semester, maybe I should have had an inkling that we were going to fall into the same patterns and fail to check everything off our list. So now, with a shockingly small number of days left, I’m taking a moment to ignore pressing things like tests and papers to daydream about the list of things I want to do in the city over the summer since I am fortunate enough to live nearby. And hey, maybe we can even get a few more off our list during the frantic end of semester weeks. The first thing to do in the summer is simple: go to Boston Common for a picnic. Granted it is really Mother Nature’s fault that I haven’t done this yet since the grass has only poked through completely in the last month, and the sun has failed to make any appearances earlier than a week ago. Regardless, the Common is as completely wonderful as it is completely free. Speaking of free things (my forte in city sights), the next abandoned item on the list is embarrassing: the Chihuly exhibit at the MFA. I have even written with zeal about this artist before but failed to follow through and catch the barely used E-line to the MFA to check out his larger than life glass structures. Shame on me, there’s really no excuse. Without being redundant from last week, I’ll simply say Shakespeare on the Common. Another must that might be more greatly appreciated in the coldest months, although it is always a glorious place, is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. With buckets of plants everywhere and hanging flower displays, the Gardner Museum is my favorite green spot in the city with its gorgeous Venetian building. I don’t know if I can pick just one, but Boston’s amazing eateries will all be burning a hole in my pocket. During the school year, it’s hard to convince myself (or drag anyone with me) to go to a restaurant more than 10 minutes away. First, there’s the T’s fickle timing that can reduce a group of friends into a starving, snippy mess. Then, with a ridiculously large meal plan left over, it just feels wrong that I can’t use Eagle Bucks at Faneuil Hall (believe me, they give you strange looks for trying). In particular, The Boston Chipyard, Finale, and Kick Ass Cupcakes will be wiped out on many a night. If you’re sensing a theme, it’s because I am a chocoholic. No summer would be complete without a visit to see penguins at the Aquarium. There’s something delightfully ironic about seeing ice during the few months of the year when Boston is not plagued by freezing weather. Conveniently close to another one of my favorite parts of Boston (the North End), the Improv Asylum has been a long-neglected adventure on my list. It will be somewhat bittersweet when I actually make it to one of these shows, since this winter when I spontaneously looked up tickets, I realized that I had missed seeing Sassy Gay Friend (the literature parody YouTube sensation) as a guest star by one measly day. Seeing that sparkly orange scarf in person would have been amazing. And last, but not least, Red Sox. Although I’m a more strident Celtics fan, there is really no hope of me getting playoff tickets for them. Plus, seeing the Red Sox has been a summer tradition for my whole life. There’s nothing like finding some cheap, day of bleacher seats that are, to be honest, pretty uncomfortable and eating hot dogs and peanuts with friends. It’s utterly classic, and I will argue with anyone who thinks that there is a better stadium than Fenway. I’ll get all of these done, right? Right.
Charlotte Parish is the Assistant Arts & Review editor of The Heights. She can be reached at arts@bcheights.com
Alex Trautwig / Heights Editor
Seth Byrum and Pat Connolly enchant the audience with their wonderfully contrasting lead characters, carrying out a jovial rivalry that eventually turns to friendship.
This Broadway-caliber performance explores the relationship between two very different con men, and the mayhem that follows them on their preposterous travels.
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By darren ranck | arts & review editor
othing ushers in spring better than a beach vacation, but the Boston College theater arts Department’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels brought the breezy, sunny atmosphere of the French Riviera, along with a heaping helping of surefire musical comedy, in spades. The Arts Fest contribution succeeded in the way that any college performer hopes. Rarely, if ever, does the performance falter, setting it in a class above that of university theater.
Based on the 1988 Steve Martin-Michael Caine film of the same name, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels depicts the power struggle between two very different con men, the experienced and uber-sophisticated Lawrence Jameson (Seth Byrum, A&S ’11) and slovenly but cheekily charming Freddy Benson (Pat Connolly, A&S ’11). Lawrence, the con king of the French Riviera, dominates the scene early with his debonair air and effortless charm, but when wily Freddy encroaches on his territory, the games begin. After a successful mission as partners, the two be-
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
DIRECTED BY Kevin P. Hill WRITTEN BY Jeffery Lane Music and lyrics by David Yazbek Starring Seth Byrum A&S ’11, Sarah Wineglass A&S ’14, Pat Connolly, A&S ’11, Lisa Boccuzzi A&S ’11, Kasey Brown A&S ’12, Cam Cronin LSOE ’12 Stage Manager Josiane M. Lemieux Sound design George Cooke Costume design Jacqueline Dalley
See Scoundrels, C7
Murder mystery finds a home with CCE By Brennan Carley
Assoc. Arts & Review Editor On Friday and Saturday evenings, a murder most foul took place in the O’Connell House as part of Superdead, the Creative Committee for Enactment’s annual celebration of all things zany and improvised. Upon entering the dimly lit mansion in the middle of Upper Campus, audience members were warned that the show was an interactive one in which the characters might directly address the audience, in which case showgoers were encouraged to interact
with them. The hybrid improv-cum-play was an enjoyable experience, minus a few hiccups that occasionally ground the otherwise laughstuffed affair to a cringe inducing halt. The plot was a loosely held together set of vignettes surrounding the superhero Muffin Man, a cocky character played to great laughs by Davy Keefe, A&S ’13. Strutting around with undeserved bravado, Muffin Man served as the head of a league of heroes who included characters like Sales Man, Business Woman, and Woo Girl. Upon the kidnapping of the town’s mayor (“Who will give me my key to the
city now?” bemoaned Muffin Man), the heroes decide to investigate the crime. As in most superhero movies, the culprits were a cast of villains whose ranks consisted of characters (many of whose names were funnier than any of their actual performances) like the Fabulous Silver Fox (a hilarious Ryan McGrath, A&S ’14, playing equal parts Tim Gunn and Sassy Gay Friend) and the Notorious MILF. After Muffin Man himself was discovered, all
See ‘Superdead,’ C7
Sustainability meets haute-couture in ‘Green’ By Charlotte Parish
Asst. Arts & Review Editor With music blaring, lights flashing, and the models walking down a catwalk, O’Neill Plaza was transformed into a nearly professional fashion show on Saturday night that entertained the crowd even more than America’s Next Top Model because those slinking down the runway were all their fellow students, and many were wearing student designs. Each model received a loud cheer from a particular part of the audience, clearly showing how much support friends were giving to the first ever Green Show – a combination of past years’ Re-Sewn and Slam Fashionation that ran with flawless timing and transitions that were particularly impressive because it was such an
i nside Arts this issue
extensive collaboration between very different mediums of art. Kicking off the show and explaining the show’s emphasis on EcoFashion was Marcia Zaroff, the woman who coined the term of the night, ‘EcoFashion.’ “You can look good, feel good, and do good all at the same time” Zaroff quipped, summing up the night’s theme that being eco-friendly when making fashion decisions does not mean having frumpy or uncomfortable clothing. Zaroff then turned over the microphone to the first set of slam poets, Kelsey Gasseling, A&S ’11, and Amanda Espiritu, CSOM ’14. Occasionally speaking in unison, these girls flawlessly passed their lyrical narrative back and forth, crafting a simple yet truly creative slam poem about teenage rebellion against their mother (Mother Earth). The most in sync duo performance of the night, Gasseling and Espiritu set up high standards with their powerful, precise delivery and simple presentation, letting the words speak for themselves. Gasseling also returned to the stage as the last poet, performing
See Green Show, C7
Finding more than blockbusters this summer
Beyond the big budget action flicks, a few summer films have the promise of quality cinematography, C7
Sang Lee / Heights Staff
The popular music group skillfully accompanied masterful dancers in a variety of tunes.
bOp! blends music, dance Audiences marvel at the band’s musical skill By Christina Quinn Heights Editor
Cozily filled with spectators from a variety of age groups, the Arts Festival performance tent played host to a blend of talents on Saturday night as Dancing with bOp! showcased the versatility of the BC bOp! jazz ensemble alongside the unique abilities of several Boston College dance
Disney crafts unrealist, but endearing ‘Prom’
Staying true to form, Disney’s latest tween flick is heart warming, though predicatable, C6
groups. The defining trait of Dancing with bOp! is the group’s skillful interpretation of the different genres of music utilized by the dance groups. Opening with the big band sound of a traditional jazz number, “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” bOp! set the stage for the evening’s musical mood. Interspersed between the dance performances, the ensemble showcased much of their own repertoire, a welcome opportunity for any who may have missed their spring show,
See bOp!, C7
Bestsellers.....................................C6 Box Office Report........................C6
The Heights
Thursday, November 11, 2010
State of the Arts MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
The Heights
Kevin hou / HEIGHTS EDITOR
inside
two a capella groups take the stage with their mentors
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Steve Bass gives dancers access to Bop! with his unique talents
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fashionistas mix eco-friendly with high fashion in the green show
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dance teams make moves year-round to prep for the fest
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D2 ARTSFEST
The Heights
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
Literary magazines celebrate the written word By Kelsey Damassa
F For the Heights
iction, nonfiction, criticism, poetry, theaterre, art, recommendations, verse, prose, and guest folios. These are just some of the many genres that Boston College’s very own literary magazines, Post Road and Stylus, have consistently been publishing for the BC community. Both publications had an opportunity to be involved in this year’s Arts Festival and jumped at the chance to hold their own events. These events allowed the publications to share the fruits of their labor with interested students, faculty, and the local community in a fun, enjoyable and artistic setting. Post Road began its literary celebration during Arts Fest with an event to celebrate the launch of their spring edition. For those who are unfamiliar with Post Road, it is a biannual journal that has been around since 1999, but began its collaboration with BC in 2009. It features both established, professional writers as well as up-and-coming writers. Past contributors include a variety of esteemed writers including Tom Perrotta, whose story, “The Smile on Happy Chang’s Face,” was also published in Best American Short Stories 2005. This is managing editor Christopher Boucher’s first year working on Post Road and he is ecstatic about the magazine and the many characteristics that make it unique from other literary publications on campus. The staff, which is comprised of undergraduate interns, graduate assistant-managing editors, undergraduate readers, and nationally located editors, work hard all year to produce each issue. Boucher says, “We have a lot of different aesthetics, a lot of different voices, and a lot of different artistic priorities that inform the decisions that are made with Post Road.” Each issue contains a variety of genres as well as an art folio and a guest folio. Boucher explains, “The guest folio is a different genre every issue. For issue 20, professor Paul Mariani was the guest folio editor. He chose a number of poems and that was his guest folio. Every issue a different faculty member is the guest folio editor and a different
genre is featured.” Boucher described his experience with this year’s Arts Festival as, “a perfect storm.” The event featured, Sumanth Prabhaker, a contributor to issue 20 as well as the founding editor of Madras Press, a publication company located in Newton. Madras Press publishes short stories and novella-length books and distributes the proceeds to charitable organizations chosen by the authors. Prabhaker was excited to be a part of Post Road’s issue 20 as well as Arts Fest. He said, “It has been a blast and a lot of fun. I haven’t had a chance to go to as many of the events as I would like to because you go to one and then you spend half the time feeling guilty because there are like ten other ones that you wished you were going to, but it has been really great.” The importance of Post Road reaches far beyond the final product. The process building up to the final product is equally as important. Boucher says, “We exist here on campus to give undergraduate students an opportunity to get a variety of experiences in the publishing world. We exist to give them a real world sense of the publishing industry.” The Arts Festival event furthered this goal by combining entertainment for the general audience with an educational twist for aspiring writers and publishers. One of the undergraduate interns for Post Road, Meghan Keefe A&S ’13, has gained a better understanding of the publishing industry through her work with the magazine. “Being an intern for Post Road was my first experience with publishing, and it has really helped me understand the basics. My experience at Post Road has helped me land other publishing positions, and solidified my desire to have a career in publishing,” Meg says. “I think Arts Fest helps raise awareness of all the different opportunities there are to get involved in the arts.” Post Road understands the importance of celebrating literature on campus and was grateful to have an opportunity such as Arts Festival. “I of course think that it is really important that we celebrate literature and I also think that one of the many attributes of Arts Fest is that we get a chance to see artists perform and also sort of gain some insight into their creative process,” Boucher says. “And I think that is really an important part
of Arts Fest – the idea that an audience can learn not only what the artist has done, but also how they have done it.” Stylus continued celebrating the literary work of BC students with the release party they held for their spring issue. Keith Noonan, the editor-inchief of Stylus and member of A&S ’11, describes the publication as, “Boston College’s art and literary magazine. We publish once each semester and try to select the best in student writing and visual art.” The publication is the oldest one on campus, founded in 1882. The team behind Stylus consists of 11 editors that sift through a variety of submissions from undergraduate student writers and artists. One unique characteristic of Stylus is that the publication has non-editorial members that vote in order to determine what will be published in each issue, providing additional opinions and voices to the selection process.
This past Thursday’s event not only debuted the most recent issue with a slideshow of published art and readings from student writers, but it had an integral role in emphasizing the literary arts on campus. Noonan says, “I’m very fond of the Arts Festival. It’s always a pleasure to see the various elements of Boston College’s creative community converge under a single banner for several days.” BC’s literary journals have a significant presence on campus and have gained more recognition throughout the annual celebration of BC’s arts. Not only were the magazines’ final products showcased at each event, but also, the creative process was revealed to students, faculty, and any community members who expressed interested in the publishing industry and writing process. Arts Fest has allowed these literary publications to showcase what they work arduously on all year and what they devote countless hours of their time to in order to create the best final product possible.
The launch parties for both ‘Stylus’ and ‘Post Road’ celebrated the legacies of the publications as the University’s premiere literary magazines. After months of collecting pieces from students, professors, and outside contributors, the release marked the end of a semesterlong project. Photo by Annie Budnick / Heights Staff
Fest puts competitive spirit into a capella By Brennan Carley
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Assoc. Arts & Review Editor ot a weekend at Boston College goes by, it seems, without a different a capella show occurring on campus. You’ve inevitably been invited to the events on Facebook or have seen the flyers in stairwells or dining halls. Even if you haven’t stopped to actually listen to the groups that incessantly scream at you in the quad, it’s easy to see their brightly decorated banners that wave from the trees. It is obvious that a capella maintains a sterling presence on campus, but how can one keep up with the musical phenomenon with so many groups to choose from? With so many diverse and excellent options to choose from, it is sometimes difficult to
navigate the musically splendid field. The 2011 Arts Festival has done the job for students by narrowing the field down considerably. Pop culture savvy coordinators and members of the BC Arts Council decided to take a page right out of the reality show playbook in a move that is equal parts The Voice and The Sing-Off. This year, the directors decided to pit on-campus a capella groups against each other in a competition to determine who would sing at the popular spring event. Four groups participated in the event (all were invited to do so), including the Sharps, the Dynamics, the Acoustics, and the B.E.A.T.S. Ultimately, the judges chose to send the Sharps and the Acoustics packing, bestowing the honor of singing in the a capella showcase to the overjoyed Dynamics and B.E.A.T.S. Most participants heralded the competition, claiming that it was more friendly than cutthroat. “It fostered somewhat of a competitive
nature…[but] it ultimately brought the B.E.A.T.S. and the Dynamics that much closer,” said Chris Battaglia, music director of the Dynamics and A&S ’11. Pointing out that the competition fostered a deep bond between all of the singers, Battaglia mentioned that he “will forever celebrate this fun little competition because not only did we get a chance to hone our skills … but the random Sunday afternoon that many of us were hesitant to attend, turned out to be one of the more rewarding days of the semester.” When reached for comment, Cathi Ianno, Arts Festival director, made it clear that the changes were made with all the student groups. “Theater groups had to apply. Dance groups underwent a more rigorous audition process and we were more selective. Even the art tent exhibition was curated differently” she says in defense of the decision. In her eyes, “the results of the a cappella program are excellent.”
After winning performance slots in a somewhat controversial competition, the mixed a capella group The Dynamics and the newest a capella group on campus B.E.A.T.S. performed in the a capella showcase Saturday afternoon on the Arts Fest main stage. They were accompanied by mentors and professional a capella group Five O’ Clock Shadow. Photos by Sara Davey / Heights Staff
Michael Matosic, president of the B.E.A.T.S. and CSOM ’11, takes a different viewpoint to this year’s a Capella competition. As the group has only been existence for four semesters, “we were never really familiar with ‘oh there was never a competition and now there is’ thing.” According to him, the rejected groups will only learn from the process, promising, “It’s only going to make them get better.” Others were not as pleased with the decision, pointing to the fact that the goals of the Arts Festival is to “promote the visibility and excellence of the arts disciplines on campus.” The excluded groups were left questioning why they would not be allowed to perform at the three-day event. “As an all female group, it’s harder to create the same sound that a coed group has” said Jen Maraia, business manager of the Sharps’ and CSON ’13, who says she just wishes “all four groups could have had the opportunity to perform.” Ianno understands the complaints but “felt strongly that it was time to improve the quality of what we put on stage.” Citing a roller coaster effect in terms of the quality of groups based on their leaders from year to year, Ianno stands behind her decision, saying, “We invest a significant amount of resources—time and funding—in the festival, and I want to make sure what we present represents Boston College well.” To help mentor both winning groups, Ianno hired the all-male, adult group Five o’Clock Shadow, who met with both groups to listen to their songs while providing professional guidance for their performances. Oren Malka, the leader of the Shadows, believes that music on campus is vital for growth, saying, “It means an opportunity for a student to express an aspect of themselves that is so important and yet so often lost in the normal curriculum.” Both groups are thrilled to have worked with Five o’ Clock Shadow, but the adults themselves seemed the most excited about the creative process. Malka claims that at one point the students became the teachers, musing, “Although we intended to inspire them, that energy and true excitement about their music really ended up inspiring us in turn.” The Dynamics were simply thrilled to bring joy to stressed out students’ Saturday afternoons. “I want to excel in just making people happy,” Battaglia said in an e-mail. “Putting a smile on someone’s face or a tune in their head is all we can ask for, and we are fortunate enough to show off what we’ve been working on all year long.” For the B.E.A.T.S., this year’s Arts Festival is a first in what Matosic hopes is a long series of performances for the newer group, who also hopes to introduce some musical diversity to the event. “I don’t think the arts get enough focus sometimes,” he states, “but we want to bring R&B and soul music to the community through a reflection of black music which had been missing from the BC community.” Five o’ Clock Shadow performed at this year’s event, with a headlining slot at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon alongside both the B.E.A.T.S. and the Dynamics. “We wanted to put on a great show that everyone there can enjoy, but [we] also [wanted] to help show other students on campus to think outside the box musically,” said Malka, who is already looking forward to future Arts Festivals. “We only hope,” he proudly proclaimed, “to have the opportunity to work with them and other BC students in the future.”
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
The Heights
ARTSFEST D3
Steve bass considers arts fest and his legacy
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By Darren Ranck | Arts & Review Editor
Bass’ exposure to music occurred in a rather peculiar but formative fashion. “When I was three, I went to a musical pre-school because I wasn’t talking,” Bass said. “A doctor said the best cure was musical therapy. I realized quickly I had an ability to play back what I had heard.” This ability, along with an affinity for keyboards, led Bass to begin taking piano lessons with Chan at eight-years-old. Chan recognized an immediate challenge during her first lesson with Bass. “He was left-handed, and it’s very hard for any professional musician to be left-handed,” Chan said. “I thought, ‘I must
ochi Chan, a piano teacher in Manchester, N.H., drives over an hour-and-ahalf to Boston College at least twice a year. She attends every performance of BC bOp!, the University’s jazz ensemble, and her reasons for attending go beyond simply enjoying the performance. She looks for Steve Bass, A&S ’11, a student who fills multiple roles in the BC arts community – trumpeter, musical director, composer, music arrangement coordinator, and, now, conductor. With talent to spare, Bass’ road from pre-med student to future music composition candidate at New England Conservatory reflects upon one student’s immersion into the music scene at BC.
help this baby and started totally different training with him.’” “Mochi is almost like a relative in the family now because she’s so important to me,” Bass said. “Anytime I perform, she comes to Boston College.” Bass joined BC bOp! as a freshman, but he did not initially put his whole heart into it. “I came in with a bad attitude because I was on the whole ‘music is a recreation thing for me, I’m not serious’ kick,” Bass said. Sebastian ‘Seb’ Bonaiuto, director of bands, saw potential in Bass, though, and tried to motivate him. Following a hiatus from bOp!, Bass returned at
the recommendation of Bonaiuto. “To his credit, Seb treats everyone with the respect a serious musician deserves,” Bass said. “He’s always known my potential and always pushed me. If you look at me junior year, you’ll see I was being really serious about it and having growth occur. Seb has been a big part of that.” Bass took his interest in music in a different direction during his sophomore year. At the urging his of friend and roommate Evan Cole, A&S ’11, Bass took on the part of music director for the BC Contemporary Theater’s production of Jason Robard Brown’s The Last 5 Years. “The music isn’t
the usual Broadway tinkering,” Bass said. “You need actual chops to play it. I had never done music directing before, but I heard Evan on the phone asking, ‘Where are we going to get a pianist good enough to play it?’ I kind of got thrown into it.” Bass took on the responsibility of coaching the singers, leading the pit, and practicing with the singers on his own time. “Anything that had to do with the music was literally all my construction.” When Bass’ parents saw the production, they recognized his passion, encouraging him to change his major from pre-med to music. “They just said, ‘You are so into this, you should be a music major. Watching you do [The Last 5 Years] made us know that you belong in this for a career,’” Bass said. “Usually it’s the opposite.” With his experience directing musicals, Bass took his interest a step further. Prior experience using the music program Sibilius prepared him for his next task, which would prove to lay the groundwork for his major involvement in Arts Fest. The yearly event Dancing with bOp! pits several of BC’s dance teams against the big band orchestration of bOp!, but prior to Bass’ involvement, they only used big band music. When Dance Organization approached Bonaiuto with the request for an arrangement to Maroon 5’s “Won’t Go Home Without You.” “Seb wanted this creative … translation of what you hear in that song to what instruments we have at our disposal,” Bass said. “It can’t lose its original intent, and it can’t sound hokey.” Bonaiuto, aware of Bass’ dabbling in composition, asked him to transcribe the song for bOp!. This year, Bass transcribed every song used, with styles varying from classic big band to hip-hop. “What’s difficult are the mixes because you have new material coming every minute,” Bass said. “There’s a verse and chorus and then there’s a new song.” Using careful consideration of the beat and innovative choice in instrumentation, such as using saxophones to mimic bass synthesizers, Bass took on the task of fully transcribing the pieces for each group this past year. Bonaiuto encouraged Bass to think outside the box during his transcription. “Seb said, ‘I want you to feel more free in arrangement.’ When I did the first year, I did everything exact. I would never creatively put in my own melody or background, I would never add anything to the piece,” Bass said. “It actually made it more fun and creative and easier because it’s coming out of your head.” With graduation swiftly approaching, Bass plans to pursue a Masters in music composition from the New England Conservatory. His experiences in bOp! have given him true inspiration for his future, though. “It’s important for BC to showcase the arts. They have considerable talent to show off,” Bass said. For Chan, Bass is still the reason to see the performances, though. “I’m so happy for him,” she said. “I think he is on the way to a great future in music.” It looks like Chan will have plenty Bass performances in her future.
all the hard work pays off for dance teams By Therese Tully Heights Staff
Art involves community. A community of people create it, and a community of people support it. Inside the tents at Arts Fest this year, one will find quite a diverse community of artists and entertainers. Though from all different grades, countries, cultures, and backgrounds, they all have something in common: a love for art. Dance is a physical representation of this love. Dance is a gift, both given and received. The dancers give of themselves to each other, in rehearsals, and to their audiences, hoping to entertain, impress, or to express some universal feeling; dancers receive the power dance has to offer them. Many different groups have been asked to perform at Arts Fest this year, in testament to its growing nature and the widespread appeal it holds on campus. Sixteen different groups performed at this three–day event. “I love how diverse the dance scene is here. There are so many cultural groups as well as technical groups. In the end, we are all here to entertain others, and with a wide variety of dances, everyone is bound to be entertained somehow,” said Katrina Im, assistant director for Aero. k and A&S ’13. All of the dancers at Boston College found dance in their own way, at their own time, and continue to pursue it for their own reasons. For some, dance provided them a way to make the BC community their own. Dance provides a link that is like no other. “Being able to try a new art form of dance such as stepping has really given me the confidence to be active on campus and step out of the box (no pun intended) when it comes to being involved in college. So dance in college truly represents who I am as a person and a student,” said Reynaldo Sylla, project manager and captain of Sexual Chocolate and CSOM ’12. Preparing for Arts Fest is not a simple task. Most of these groups have a constantly grueling schedule that gets even more hectic as this event rolls around. For some, their identity as a member of a dance group here on campus means so much more than the practice hours and the big performances, it is their life. “We believe in hard work, brotherhood, perseverance, helping others and creating a strong network to help past and current members of the group. So we essentially commit to this group 24/7 because we are not only committing to practice and performances but we are representing the values of our brotherhood in everything we do, whether its academics, volunteering, extra-curricular activities, internships,” Sylla said. Just as a ballerina must employ great strength to find balance on the narrow box of her Pointe shoes, so must any dancer enrolled in a academically challenging university, such as BC, learn to find balance in their lives. A fine line exists between dance as an outlet in one’s life that helps them reduce stress and brings joy, and it becoming your whole life, where
other parts fall by the wayside. Arts Fest has become a time for all of these “families” or teams to come and show the student body all the hard work they have done. Elizabeth Muller, president of Swing Kids and A&S ’11, defined dance as, “The opportunity to express myself, do something I love, and share my passion for my style of dance (swing) with others.” This general theme of sharing is one found in the heart of many dancers. To share with others, not only a wonderful show, but all of the hard work that has gone into it, is the most gratifying thing to any performer. There is a true desire in art to get across a message, to help the audience reach a certain level of understanding pertaining to a director or choreographer’s vision. “Dance to me is a sport. I am definitely convinced of that now. It takes time and practice. Dancing in a team requires a sense of comfort and trust, like a family. Dance to me is a way that I could show art with my body, it’s a way I could express myself to the BC community and all who care to watch,” said Jesse Francois, vice president of Phaymus Dance Entertainment and A&S ’11. What seems to draw such great numbers of people to these teams, most of which exclusive auditions, is the ability to share with an audience and with a team. “There is a rush I get when performing in front of people. I believe that dance can really change people’s moods. So I use performing as a way to intrigue and entertain the audience,” Sylla said. Community exists within the dance community as a whole at BC. The dancers are able to relate to one another, and the common difficulties they face, and their common love of dance, while at school. “I’m excited not only to perform, but to see the other dance groups,” said Kasey Jong, dance coordinator of the Hawaii Club and CSOM ’14. Within groups, the relationship is even closer. “Our bond this year between the members has been the strongest it’s ever been. We are truly a family and look out for each other outside of Aero. K,” Im said. The members lean on each other, and learn from one another. “Each person on DE brings their own technique and style to the group, so I have grown so much just from watching and learning from the other dancers,” said Danielle D’Ambra, director of BC Dance Ensemble and A&S ’11. Expressions through dance are just another way to help the students at BC further relate to one another, and make this the most tight–knit community possible. Within these groups, dance is a bond because no one knows a dancer’s personal triumphs and downfalls like the people they share their stage with. This allows for bonds to form that are like no other, and students are grateful for this. “On Sexual Chocolate, we get together and pray right before every show, no matter how small or how big the show is. We realize that we are entertaining the audience and we thank God for giving us the ability to perform and develop a bond between each other,” Sylla said.
At the Dance Showcase, several of BC’s dance teams performed specially choreographed arrangements under the main tent. A few teams performed completely separate choreography at Dancing with bOp! on Saturday night. Photo by Pampan Zhang / Heights Staff
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The Heights
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
comedy is hard, but worth it for improv troupes
T By Katie Lee Heights Staff
his weekend at Arts Fest, a few of the most highlyanticipated performances were those done by some of Boston College’s most beloved comedy groups. Although there are comedy troupes of all kinds and sizes on campus, two prominent organizations made quite a memorable impression on the tented stage of O’Neill Plaza during the few days of the fest. The two groups, My Mother’s Fleabag and The Committee for Creative Enactments (more commonly known as CCE) proved their mastery over the art of laughter. The performances done by Fleabag and CCE are always filled with quick wit and high energy. When watching a performance done by either group, one can immediately notice the uncanny ability to captivate an audience not only by entertaining them, but also by constantly making them laugh. Despite the similarity that the groups have as resident improv groups, My Mother’s Fleabag and CCE are two groups that approach comedy in distinct and unique ways. My Mother’s Fleabag is an organization that primarily performs improvisational comedy with a few small written sketches weaved throughout their improv games. The major focus of the show is referred to as “short-form improv,” meaning that their shows are full of short and unrelated games or scenes. One thing that makes Fleabag stand out at BC is its formidable reputation on campus and its history. In fact, the group celebrated its 30th anniversary just last year, making it reportedly the oldest collegiate improv troupe in the United States. Since its beginnings in 1980, BC students have returned again and again to fill up the O’Connell House for Fleabag’s “Big Shows,” performed once a semester. Additionally, Fleabag performs at outsourced events on campus throughout the year, such as Arts Fest, along with some shows done around the Greater Boston area. So what exactly is a “fleabag,” one may ask? Dave Givler, Fleabag co-director and CSOM ’11, said, “I’ve heard that a ‘fleabag’ is an old house, like something you might find on Foster.” He explained how the entire name of the group “My Mother’s Fleabag,” refers to the quirkiness of the members involved. For Givler and fellow co-director Riley Madincea, A&S ’11, Arts Fest was their final performance with the troupe. Upon discussing his experience, Givler commented on the way in which the fellow members of Fleabag have made his involvement so phenomenal throughout the years. “The best part for me has been making that family and making those connections,” he says. “Group trust is of the highest importance. It’s like a freefall, you have to trust the people you are going on stage with not knowing what is going to happen in the scene.” That being said, being comfortable with fellow Fleabaggers and trusting the energy of the audience are two aspects that are absolutely key for the success of any performance.
Katie Cummings, a member of Fleabag and A&S ’14, discussed just how important the energy of the audience really is. “The energy that they bring is a huge part of how successful a show can be,” she says. “If they are excited we can feed off of that and really go for it. “ Of course there are challenges that often arise during performances. Another member of the group, Lindsey James, A&S ’13, talked about the difficulties of not getting the laughs you wanted during a certain scene. “The most difficult part can be getting up the courage to go back out and try again,” she says. “You have to learn to always give it your all.” The CCE takes a somewhat different approach to comedic entertainment. The club was created in 1988, eight years after the formation of Fleabag. Since its beginning, the organization has put on a murder mystery comedy show each semester. With its signature motto being, “Sex, murder, and comedy – all in a night’s work!,” the idea behind a CCE performance is to incorporate improvisational tactics into a scripted show. The shows are a mix of scripted and improvisational comedy. The aspects that are improv are opportunities for the audience to participate in order to ensure that each of the shows performed is unique. Laura Gennarelli, director of CCE and LSOE ’11, describes her experience as entirely positive and rewarding. “Every CCE show in itself has been a positive experience for me” she said. “I’ve loved being able to perform for the BC community, and every show leads to stronger friendships and hilarious memories with my fellow CCE members.” One thing that makes CCE so special and attractive at BC is the fact that anyone interested in the organization is able to join. In fact, most members have had no improv experience before getting involved. Even Gennarelli, in a high leadership role within the organization, had little experience with improv before joining as a freshman. “Now, four years later, it’s my favorite hobby,” she said. This weekend at Arts Fest, CCE performed the highly anticipated, Superdead!. The show was centered on the adventures of mostly incompetent superheroes and their rivals. Emma Missett and Colleen Vecchione are two CCE members that worked to develop the show’s script and plot. Emma and Colleen pointed out that they do write an entire script that is “light on plot.” Giving the show a light plot makes it easier for actors have more freedom with the characters and get creative. The writers described how they have enjoyed seeing the characters and plot develop through the use of improv in practice. “The people in CCE have brought these characters to places we didn’t even see coming,” Missett said. “People have put an incredible amount of work into this. When someone is cast as a character and runs away with the part, it’s awesome.” All in all, after examining the two groups, one thing can be certain: everyone involved is passionate about what they are doing. The members of both groups love what they are a part of and provide incredible and talent-filled entertainment to any spectator. The BC community can expect great things, and lots of laughs, from both CCE and Fleabag for years to come.
(top) My Mother’s Fleabag, the oldest improv troupe on campus, celebrates its 31st year at Arts Fest with their lightning round improv style. (bottom) The Committee for Creative Enactments presented their annual murder mystery performance at Arts Fest with an homage to the idiosyncracies of superheroes. Photos by Alex Trautwig / Heights Editor
all the world’s a stage for college thespians
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By Joe Allen | Heights Staff
hat does Arts Fest mean to the Boston College theater kids, exactly? Perhaps Elise Hudson, A&S ’12, sums it up best, saying, “Arts Fest is one of the most busy, high stress, fun weekends of the year for theater students.”
If asked to point out the most hard-working group at BC, the average student might quickly refer to our school’s (assumedly) superhuman athletes, lab-frequenting future doctors, and calculative Carroll School of Management classmates who view an elective class as an elusive treasure. In comparison, Elise jokes that she has been called a “lazy theater major” more than once in the past. To see how misguided that statement actually is, one need only look at a theater student’s involvement in the BC art scene. “We spread ourselves all over the theater department,” Hudson explains. “I usually act, but I have recently started dabbling in directing and costume designing as well.” Directing seems like a difficult job to simply “dabble” in, but when talking about her role as a director for After Hours Theater, Hudson makes it sound easy. “Each director is responsible for every technical aspect of their six-to-10 minute play. This allowed me to really do what I wanted with the material. I was able to choose the actors for my play, who are fabulous. They are now doing great as far as comedic timing is concerned.” Elise seemed particularly thankful for this. Since the
From high-powered musicals to original one-act plays by BC students, the theater department and its patrons stacked Arts Fest with varied performances. Many members of the department participated in a number of projects throughout the weekend. Photos by Sara Davey / Heights Staff Alex Trautwig / Heights Editor
spring After Hours plays tend to be comedies, this timing is essential. The play that Hudson is directing, Cain, is a biblical farce written by Jacob Sherburne, A&S ’11. “Jacob came to one of the rehearsals,” Hudson says. “He was able to give a couple notes to the actors which I was having trouble verbalizing.” This display of teamwork between the two students could only have helped in a production that requires a loose atmosphere to reach the stage. “We just had a few fittingly late-night rehearsals before and after spring break. Many of us are involved in other Arts Fest activities as well.” The three other After Hours directors, John Delfino, A&S ’12, Pat Lazour, A&S ’13, and Meghan Crosby, A&S ’12, also wrote their plays, further proving Elise’s point. In addition to the shorter plays, every theater person interviewed seemed to be involved in the massive department production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in one way or another. Kasey Brown, A&S ’12, further proves this rule. She both acted in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and directed the human rights play Speak Truth to Power on Saturday. Unlike the biannual After Hours Theater, Speak Truth to Power took much work to be brought to BC.
“I first saw this play done while in high school and loved it,” Brown explains. “It was so powerful. Last year, it came to me that ‘Oh, I really want to do this play on my own.’ To do that, we were sponsored by ASTEP, Artists Striving to End Poverty, and ASRP, Arts and Social Responsibility Project. Then, I needed to hire a crew and get a space set up for the Bonn Studio for our April production. It was hard to get all the technical aspects together.” Hard, but worth it. Brown’s enormous initiative helped bring Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman’s enlightening play to BC. The play conveys the first-hand accounts of 15 real-life activists.. The activists’ stories tell the audience that there are real ways to alleviate wide-spread injustice. Kasey’s abundant knowledge of the play allowed her to direct it in her own unique way with great success. “I tried to give every actor an issue or person they could relate to,” she says. “It’s fun as a director because so many of the ideas for the movements and the blocking came from the actors. It was a very collaborative process.” The implicit sense of unity in the BC theater department was brought full circle in an interview with Nick Foster, A&S ’11. Throughout in the semester, Nick has performed the jobs of director for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, fight director for The Pillowman, and board member for After Hours Theater. Partly because of his tremendous work on the two plays, Nick was chosen by Patricia Riggin of the BC Theater Department to direct Daze of Zen, a serio-comedy written by BC fiscal assistant/playwright Susan Leonard for Arts Fests’ Short Play Festival. As the most seasoned theater student who was interviewed, Nick was also the most reflective of the group as a whole. “It helps a lot to have a collaboration with any given play,” Foster says. “Your vision doesn’t usually play as well on stage as it plays in your head. The writers/directors give the actors inspiration, and the actors bring their own ideas to the work in return. Together we create a cohesive work.” Even though the Short Play Festival, unlike After Hours Theater, is ran by the BC theater and arts department, the students still play a large part in its production. Actually, the entire week of Arts Fest shows just how much talent, creativity, determination the theater students have. Simply put, the students involved in BC theater, love theater. “You get very involved,” Foster sums up. “It’s fun doing a lot of different things and working with all your friends to produce theater. That’s what theater groups do.” This last remark shows just how close BC theater students are, and their work is made better because of their personal bond. With the ridiculous prices of Broadway theater tickets, it’s refreshing to know that great theater can be found rights on campus from such a strong and talented group of people.
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
The Heights
ARTSFEST D5
one’s trash, another’s treasure
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By Charlotte Parish
Asst. Arts & Review Editor
Using many materials found on campus, including dining hall plastic bags, paper, and trash bags, student designers in The Green Show looked for inspiration locally when creating their excentric fashions. Meanwhile, professionals leant pieces from their collections, which highlighted eco-friendly fabrics and a range of styles, from casual T-shirts to an astounding dress by Natracare. Together, the two sets of designers demonstrated that EcoFashion has a bold future. Photos by Daniel Lee / Heights Staff
rom celebrities’ absurd get ups, to magazine spreads, to your local boutique, fashion is inextricable from daily life since the first thing everyone does in the morning is get dressed. It is also one of the most wasteful industries, both in economic and ecological terms as billions of dollars are spent worldwide every year, and the products involved in processing our favorite frocks are quickly destroying the environment. The current agricultural practices associated with growing, processing, dying, manufacturing, and shipping cotton and other materials used in the industry are an incredible proportion of the world’s waste. But, redemption is on the rise for the enterprise that some write off as vapid consumerism. Among those who want to change this perception are the organizers of this year’s Arts Fest fashion show, The Green Show, which is a reflection of the growing movement to promote sustainability and eco-conscious products. A combination of past years’ Re-Sewn (a fashion show) and Slam Fashionation (a slam poetry show), The Green Show is a collaboration of several groups on campus who want to “transform part of people’s lifestyle,” said Kelley Fitzgibbons, vice president of Ecopledge and LSOE ’11, not simply put on a one-night show. Tirelessly leading the yearlong preparation were Elizabeth Barthemes, president of Ecopledge and A&S ’11, Fitzgibbons, Lauren Gomez, president of Arts Club and A&S ’11, and Kathie Chang, UGBC director of Fine Arts and CSOM ’11. Throughout the year, these girls have worked with numerous EcoFashion designers, including Looptworks, Stewart + Brown, the Autonomie Project, Loomstate, and FASE, which is the newest line launched by the night’s guest speaker, Marci Zaroff. One of the first designers to fully commit herself to the EcoFashion trend, Zaroff actually coined the term ‘EcoFashion,’ which previously had only been thought of as a “hippie movement” with only “hemp and sacs and tan” colors for fabrics, Zaroff said during the show’s opening. Through her own designs, Zaroff has proved this stereotype wrong, but she did not stop at the fashion world, “making it a business model and brand for all companies to follow,” Barthemes said in an e-mail. However it was Barthemes and Brian Gareau, a professor in the sociology department, who made this word a part of the Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues in 2010 after Gareau was asked to help revise the encyclopedia and noticed that fashion ecology words were missing. “[Professor Gareau] knew I was promoting awareness of environmental issues associated with the textile industry, and asked if I would be interested in writing an entry with him on this. It was an exciting experience,” Barthemes said.
All those involved with the show hope that sustainability, particularly in fashion, will continue to be on the forefront of ecological movements, and wanted to make The Green Show more than a one-night extravaganza. Leading up to the event, The Green Show blog consistently posted updates about designers involved in the show, finding EcoFashion companies that students can shop at, and keeping everyone appraised of the show’s progress. In addition, the day after the show there was a discussion about environmentally friendly fashion and what this movement means in daily life. This is all part of an effort to make EcoFashion “not earthy, crunchy, but accessible,” Gomez said, hoping that this Green Show talk back will provide more context and information for those who want to be educated about the topic. This is not a movement isolated to Boston College by any means, as Ecopledge and The Green Show team in particular reached out to groups around the country. Most impressively, The Green Show is serving as a model for the UC Berkeley chapter of Teens Turning Green to put on their own EcoFashion show. Teens Turning Green is a fashion company that is currently spreading their message to college students by creating club chapters across the country, hoping to make their company not only a business venture, but also a social impetus for change. Although the executive members of The Green Show are all graduating, they all expressed confidence that EcoFashion will not be a passing fad on campus because of the strength of the underclassmen involved in the project. When asked about the future of EcoFashion as an industry and one of the countless sectors of the ‘going green’ movement, Barthemes commented, “my hope is that EcoFashion is seen beyond a superficial trend, as an area that is changing the critical environmental, health, and human rights issues of traditional textile practices.” Fitzgibbons agreed, adding that at BC, the administration spends a lot of behind the scenes time making the campus ecofriendly by having LEAD certified buildings and participating in Recycle Mania – a 10-week, collegiate recycling competition – since 2005, this year placing first in the ACC. Also this year, the admissions office is adding a section to its informational pamphlet about the University’s sustainability efforts, demonstrating the importance of sustainability to future students and the University’s image. More than just a collegiate oriented effort, Gomez said that the ecofriendly movement has created such a stir that companies who embrace it receive “good marketing, and use economically sound practices” that save businesses money. Despite this large scale importance of EcoFashion, it is ultimately an individual issue, and Zaroff pointed out in the show’s opening that every time a purchase is made, a vote is made for that product and all the practices for which it stands. With displays like The Green Show leading the way to being fashion forward and ecofriendly, this personal choice could be very simple very soon.
D6 ARTSFEST
The Heights
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
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thursday
readings by creative writers
After four years of creative writing classes and hours of drafts, edits, and rewrites, the senior creative writing concentrators present their work before a collection of students, faculty, and staff in Gargan Hall. The students met for monthly meetings with professors and authors in preparation for the reading.
SHAKESPEARE JUKEBOX
Led by Amy Lerande, BC ’97, along with the Knighthorse Theatre Company, this theater troupe delivered the best of the Bard on command. With a knowledge of scenes from the classic balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet to lesser-known scenes such as the reincarnation in The Winter’s Tale, the group impressed all.
MADRIGAL SINGERS
Decked out in some of the most extravagant and luscious costumes this side of Cambridge (the one across the sea, that is), the Madrigal singers offered a charming performance of chamber music. With a selection spanning the Renaissance and Medieval periods, the a capella group put on a delightful show in the similarly opulent Gargan Hall.
BC BANDS CHAMBER MUSIC
The University Wind Ensemble crowded Gargan Hall with not only its musicians, but the sounds of beautiful woodwind music. Boasting a strong group of percussion instruments, brass choirs, and other classically trained musicians, the group offered a somber yet stellar example of BC’s music scene.
friday
ALUMNI RECITAL: MARGARET FELICE
Past Arts Fest participant Margaret Felice, BC ’02, exhibited her stunning soprano vocals to a crowd in Gargan Hall. Accompanied by Bonnie Donham on piano, she performed works from Within These Spaces: Five Songs by Three Nebraskan Women by Lori Laitman.
INSIDE THE BC STUDIO
Chuck Hogan, author of Prince of Thieves, the book upon which the Ben Affleck film The Town was based, and BC ’89, participated in a live interview modeled after Bravo TV’s Inside the Actor’s Studio. Although primarily known for his connection to the popular film, Hogan drew many questions regarding his work on past novels, including Devils in Exile and The Killing Moon.
ShaRP 11th
The jazz stylings of Peter Clote, a professor in the biology department, and Ned Rosen, a professor in the mathematics department, filled O’Neill Plaza. Professors participated in Arts Fest events, as well, including dance performances, short fiction readings, and other musical duo and trio performances.
‘ALL IN THE SAME BOAT’
Written by the members of the Dramatics Society of Boston College, this production included monologues that celebrated the diversity of the University. Each monologue was shaped by the experience of its author and spoke to the human experience found through differences. Emotionally stirring, the pieces drew great acclaim from viewers.
saturday
SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM FESTIVAL
Students from the Jacques Salmanowitz film program participated in this showcase, as BC presented their documentary films every half hour. Topics included culture studies of the Mexican border, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Haiti, Israel, South Africa, India, Chile, and Kenya.
ALIVE, On The INSIDE
Luke Jorgensen, a professor in the theater arts department, wrote this play especially for young children as it touched on the bullying epidemic in America. Touching, funny, and very relevant, Jorgensen’s play was well-received by the young attendees of Arts Fest.
BC MARCHING BAND PEPTACULAR!
A seeming cross-culture of disciplines, the BC Screaming Eagle Marching Band, a staple at football games, marached about campus pep rally-style. The band performed for students and families, playing popular hits such as “Sweet Caroline” and the classic “BC Fight Song.”
VOICES OF IMANI GOSPEL CHOIR
Drawing quite a crowd in O’Neill Plaza, the Voices of Imani put their powerful pipes to work as they performed a set of gospel songs for the masses. The large group brought soul to the proceedings and captured the audience with a mesmerizing set.
mollie kolosky / heights photo illustration