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The off-the-wall actor talks his career and recent visit to Boston, A10
Campus Recreation and undergraduates comment on the state of the facility, B6
Boston College comes up short in South Bend against Notre Dame, 16-14, B1
Monday, November 21, 2011
Vol. XCII, No. 45
No plans to expand Walsh check-in desk By David Cote Heights Editor
Walsh Hall will remain the only residence hall with a security-staffed checkin desk in the near future, administrators have said. “There are currently no plans to expand the program,” said John King, director of Public Safety and chief of the BCPD. “The Walsh Hall project is still in a trial phase to give us more of an opportunity to see how effective the program could be.” The check-in desk was installed in the fall of 2010 to test whether such a program would be effective in Boston
College residence halls. During its first year, the desk operated from Thursday afternoons at 5 p.m. to Sunday mornings at 5 a.m., in an effort to prevent individuals without authorization from accessing the hall. For the 2010-2011 school year, any student with a BC I.D. could swipe into the building between those hours, and non-BC students could enter the building if signed in by a Walsh Hall resident. This year, the program has been slightly changed to a new 24/7 schedule, as opposed to the limited hours of 2010. Furthermore, the check-in desk is subject to the same swipe-in policies
as other halls, where students in the same residential community can access the building, but students from other residential communities must be given access by residents of Walsh. Patrick Rombalski, vice president for student affairs, echoed King’s sentiments. “In regard to the future, we have no current plan to expand the program with the one exception of the new residence hall proposed to be built at 2150 Commonwealth Avenue,” Rombalski said in an e-mail. The 2150 Comm. Ave. residence hall will begin construction after the demoli-
See Walsh, A4
daniel lee / heights staff
Securitas employees work 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the Walsh check-in desk.
BC welcomes ‘The Onion’ head writer
RHA plans to add ‘bubblers’ to dormitories
By Kerry Hightower
By Anna Patrick
Boston College welcomed Seth Reiss, the head writer for The Onion to speak about the satirical newspaper last Thursday. Although Seth went to Boston University, he attracted a substantial audience of around 40 BC students to his presentation. Reiss, who exuded charisma and showmanship as he entertained the audience, read aloud excerpts from articles and showed video clips, eliciting roars of laughter from many in the audience. He jokingly told the audience that The Onion has “97 trillion readers everyday, which is more than the amount of people in the world.” The Onion is a satirical newspaper that prints articles on a variety of topics from politics and science, to sports and entertainment. These stories, which contain fabricated elements, find the humor in current events and mock political figures and celebrities. The paper is based in New York and has a relatively small editorial staff of around eight to 10 people, and its mission has been to provide news with a comedic edge. For example, The Onion writers can use profanity and, unlike other newspapers where articles are meticulously checked for accuracy, The Onion staff is encouraged to write with entertainment in mind. The end result is a paper that demonstrates the immense creative talents of its writers. “The Onion makes the news instead of waiting for news to happen,” Reiss said. The publication creates its own satirical stories and even sends video crews down to various news sites to report on the concocted stories. The way in which the photojournalists use photoshop to manipulate photos is an important aspect in making the stories seem credible. When asked to describe the writing process for these articles, Reiss explained that a writer must write two drafts and then cycle the article through three
The Residence Hall Administration hopes to pass a new initiative to install water fountains in residence halls as soon as this year. The initiative calls for water fountains to be placed in residence halls where students do not have a kitchen or half kitchen. If the movement gains enough momentum, the water fountains could be installed as early as next year, depending on the construction involved with the additional plumbing. The initial drive for the water fountains began at town hall meetings in the fall of 2010 when students wrote a suggestion to add water fountains for sustainability purposes, and an additional e-mail poll showed that students sought such improvements in their residence halls across campus. “We saw that many common bathroom residence halls did not have any place for residents to get water except for the bathroom sink,” said Will Rush, president of the RHA and A&S ’12. “This is both a convenience issue, as well as a sustainability issue, as we hope that residents will choose to refill a water bottle as opposed to buying large packs of water only to throw out the plastic bottles later.” Currently, the initiative is being considered as one of the top priorities for the RHA, and the process to get the movement off the ground has already begun. The RHA has started negotiating with University administrators and are also looking to gather student support for the cause. Over the course of the next month, the RHA plans to collect student opinions
For The Heights
See Onion, A4
Heights Staff
kevin hou / heights editor
Rev. Anthony Penna, director of Campus Ministry (above right), gave an introduction at the Multifaith Thanksgiving ceremony.
Coming together in thanks Multifaith Thanksgiving celebration unites denominations By Marc Francis For The Heights
The harmonizing tunes of organs and violins filled the Heights Room last Thursday afternoon during the annual Multifaith Thanksgiving celebration. The event, “a joyful celebration of our diverse roots and shared values,” hosted guest speakers and musicians, all of different religious backgrounds. “We want to provide an opportunity for the BC community to come together,” said Campus Minister Rev. Howard McLendon, explaining the significance
Week showcases the breadth and depth of international intiatives on campus For The Heights
kylie montero / heights staff
gratitude to honor heroes and help those in need,” Griefer said. She detailed Spread the Bread’s journey, and how the organization is currently active in 48 states and nine countries. Rev. Anthony Penna, director of Campus Ministry, gave an introduction on the meaning of thankfulness, and how it plays a role in his life. “I am grateful for working with a staff full of hope,” he said. “I am grateful for the faith we all have here. I am also grateful for the new
See Thanksgiving, A4
See RHA, A4
Events highlight benefits of an international education By Chloe Mamelok
Seth Reiss, head writer for ‘The Onion’ (above), talked about the satirical paper.
of the event. “We are a multifaith community – not a single one. This is a spiritual celebration reflective of religious tradition.” Upon entering the Heights Room, the sight of baskets filled with carefully packaged bread allowed the audience to understand the theme of generosity highlighted by this celebration. For the second consecutive year, the event was sponsored by Spread the Bread, a grassroots organization founded by Karen Griefer, BC ’82. “The organization uses the gift of bread wrapped in notes of hope and
International Education Week took place last week from Nov. 14 to 18. Through a series of events, the week sought to promote the benefits of international education at Boston College. Organized by the Office of International Students and Scholars, a wide variety of events were offered, ranging from a discussion of Higher Education and the Arab Spring to a Bollywood film viewing. With over 30 events, however, students were overwhelmed with options. “One of the purposes of International Education is to highlight the breadth and depth of international initiatives on the BC campus,” said Adrienne Nussbaum, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. “There is no other forum where members of the BC community can fully appreciate all of the many diverse programs and activities that are available at BC.
“The events are targeted to different audiences,” Nussbaum said. “Although BC is very focused towards undergraduates, International Education Week is meant to be open to all members of the BC community, and therefore we wanted programs that would be of interest to all of them. We also wanted a nice mix of academic, as well as cultural and social programs.” Yet, with so many events, and overlapping of timing between them, it was easy to be overwhelmed initially. However, the number of events was merely a means of demonstrating the cultural diversity on campus. Throughout the week, there was a focus on all areas of the world, with specific emphasis on the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe, as well as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The BC alumni event Going Beyond the Heights was an example of the broad and insightful experiences that were available last week. The event was in the form of a panel for international social
work, with alumni who had spent time working in areas such as Belize, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Belgium. Their experiences, working for institutions such as the World Health Organization and the International Rescue Committee were testament to the multiple international opportunities that BC has to offer current and prospective students.
Additionally, the Occupy Wall Street Event with Charles Derber and Boston College Occupies Boston was a particularly interesting talk in light of recent events. The talk focused on establishing the historical context of the Occupy movement as well as providing a forum
See International, A4
alex trautwig / heights editor
BC alumni (above) spoke about their experiences with social work beyond the Heights.