The Heights 10/16/2014

BOSTON FOOD GUIDE

The Heights lays out a roadmap to the best food and drink in Boston, including in-depth looks at the stories behind four of the city’s culinary delights, C1

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

BY JULIE ORENSTEIN Assoc. News Editor

The renewal process for the University core curriculum at Boston College will continue this fall with a new shortterm objective—creating and selecting proposals for pilot courses that will be implemented beginning in the 2015-16 academic year.

This latest phase comes after nearly three years of ongoing efforts to renew the core in ways that would better emphasize complex thinking, student intellectual formation, and interdisciplinary approaches.

In 2013, the initial Core Renewal Committee released its proposed 42credit core, which included two six-credit courses for freshmen focusing on “enduring questions” and “complex problems.”

In response to significant concerns from the faculty, the committee halted efforts to implement this approach.

Last February, faculty and administrators formed the Core Foundations Task Force to establish a vision for the University core curriculum, setting aside specific logistics to ensure their efforts aligned with the Jesuit educational model and the ultimate outcomes they wanted for BC students.

Fourteen faculty and administrators, led by College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Interim Dean Rev. Greg Kalscheur, S.J., constitute the task force, which released a vision statement for the curriculum.

The document emphasizes the importance of the Jesuit educational ideas of “intellectual rigor in pursuit of truth and growth in knowledge of the whole of reality” and “developing the habits of mind, heart, and imagination that will equip students to contribute to the common good and live meaningful lives.” It also expresses the hope that students are exposed to disciplinary specificity and depth, as well as broad perspectives, to learn how to solve modern, global challenges.

Faculty members will play a key role in the new approach to the core, as they will be asked to deliver material in ways that consider the context of students’ lives and help students understand the world as a whole.

For the pilot courses set to begin next fall, the format will be similar to the initial proposal of six-credit course sequences for freshmen. According to Kalscheur, who addressed faculty in a town hall meeting Wednesday, two Enduring Questions pairs and one Complex Problems course will be taught each semester in the pilot program. In each component, courses will be linked by common topics and sets of questions.

An Enduring Questions pair will embody two independent courses that are related, each taught by one professor and containing 19 to 25 students. A Complex Problems course will embody one teamtaught, interdisciplinary course worth six credits, with a larger enrollment of 75 to 80 students and smaller lab sections.

English professor and director of the Institute for Liberal Arts Mary Crane and associate professor of history Julian Bourg serve as project managers for the core pilot design implementation. Faculty interested in creating and teaching a pilot course will submit proposals by Nov. 3, and the task force will make decisions

See Core Renewal, A3

Senior Alex Navarro expands his presence as a singer-songwriter, from BC to Quincy Market, B1

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University holds town hall meeting to proceed with core renewal steps

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BC faculty meets for core renewal

EVERYWHERE MUSICIAN

O’NEILL DEVELOPS DIGITAL MEDIA STUDIO

BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor In an effort to replace and concentrate the resources formerly housed in the Campus Technology Resource Center (CTRC), Boston College Libraries and Information Technology Services (ITS) have partnered to form the new BC Library Digital Studio—an early-stage media lab in soft launch phase on the second floor of O’Neill Library.

The technology now held within the Digital Studio, located in O’Neill 205, covers an expansive set of arts- and design-centric media, and also new data analysis and visualization software for those seeking science and math oriented computing tools.

In addition to 16 computers—13 Apple and three Dell—the Digital Studio also features color and black-and-white printers, a staff assisted Makerbot 3D printer, and three HP

Scanjets, some of which were transferred directly from the now-closed CTRC. Other media services include multiple flat-screen monitors throughout the room, green-screen and lighting equipment, two electronic keyboards with musical instrument digital interfaces (MIDI) and digital projectors—all accompanied by multiple open conference tables as well as individual desk areas.

According to Associate University Librarian for Instruction, Access and User Engagement Scott Britton, the space was designed for students to utilize advanced media programs that had not been offered at BC in previous years.

“I think what’s interesting is that the [Digital Studio technologies] are much more concentrated, and we’re expecting the use to be a little bit different than what we had in the CTRC,” he said.

Britton also noted that the studio has operated under a soft-launch rollout since its incep-

tion at the beginning of the semester due to an ongoing acquisition of new equipment, staff, and space, but is slated to have a fully integrated student and faculty staff by next semester.

With the presence of new campus technology services such as 3D printing, audio and visual editing, and data management, the University hopes the developing staff will help transition users to media-oriented software programs such as Adobe Suite, ArcGIS, and HyperResearch—a BC-founded qualitative data analysis tool.

“The idea isn’t to have just a general computer lab … but what we’re trying to create in the library digital studio is a place where some of [the technology] is common software, but a lot of it is something a student may need to use for the first time,” Britton said.

Only a portion of the student staff is sched-

See Digital Studio, A3

CAB nears halfway mark of fall programming schedule

BY NATHAN MCGUIRE Asst. News Editor

TATIANA PETROVICK / HEIGHTS STAFF

Last Friday, BC CAB hosted comedian Judah Friedlander to perform at Robsham Theater.

At the halfway mark of the semester, the new Campus Activities Board (CAB) is well into its fall schedule and will now focus significant efforts on developing and marketing its brand. The board took over all programming responsibilities from UGBC at the beginning of the semester—aside from AHANA Leadership Council and GLBTQ Leadership Council events—and has since sponsored a variety of on-campus and off-campus events, including today’s Homecoming Weekend concert with rapper Shwayze and tomorrow’s Homecoming dance.

Kendall Stemper, president of CAB and A&S ’15, said that because the organization was so new it was initially concerned with ensuring all events were logistically sound.

The Board began planning some of its events in April and throughout the summer, but now that the four programming departments have some experience actually putting on events, Stemper feels more comfortable formally

discussing the organization’s brand with other members.

She and other members of the more than 75 students involved in CAB are in the process of fleshing out the organization’s constitution and setting cultural precedents for future administrations. Stemper said that much of the programming CAB puts on aims to be transparent and inclusive. Those principles will drive how they develop their brand.

“It’s exciting that we’re starting to get into that part of the year where we’ve had our learning curve … and now we’re really able to start developing our brand,” Stemper said.

“A big thing [for us] has been communicating to the student body who CAB is, as well as doing the specifics of providing the events in our various departments,” she said.

According to Paul Murphy, CAB’s faculty advisor and assistant director of Student Programming, CAB has an annual budget of roughly $500,000, which comes from the student activities fee, a $316 charge all students

See CAB, A3

Women’s Center hosts SANet kickoff event in Conte

BY JENNIFER SUH Heights Staff Yesterday evening in the Shea Room of Conte Forum, the Boston College Sexual Assault Network (SANet) kicked off the organization’s year of programming with a talk by Katie Hnida, a survivor of rape and the first woman to play and score points in a NCAA Division I football game.

SANet is run by the Women’s Center under the leadership of Director Katie Dalton and Assistant Director for Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Rachel DiBella—the mission of the group being to provide support to survivors of sexual violence through trained advocates and on- and off-campus resources.

Dalton and DiB ella introduced Hnida, who spoke to a full room of students, student-athletes, and faculty members. Hnida discussed her experiences growing up in Colorado, playing high school and college football, and

subsequently getting raped by one of her teammates—the catalyst for her seeking to change culture of silence around sexual assault.

Hnida said she had dreamed of playing football since she was 14 years old, and began playing in high school as a backup kicker—the only freshman to make it to the varsity football team.

“Due to my size and gender, I never thought I would actually get on the football field,” she said.

Hnida recounted that her father first noticed her talent for kicking a football when she was only in junior high school.

At the time she became eligible to play at the high school level, Hnida noted that she was excited to participate in a sport formerly closed off to most female athletes. Excelling on the field, Hnida said she had always wanted to attend the University of Colorado Boulder, but while playing college football there, encountered a much different collegiate ARTHUR BAILIN / HEIGHTS STAFF

See SANet Kickoff, A2

On Wednesday evening, sexual assault survivor Katie Hnida spoke at a Women’s Center event.

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things to do on campus this week

The Heights Homecoming Weekend festivities will kick off tonight with a free concert headlined by hip-hop artist Shwayze in the Rat. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and BC junior and independent artist William Bolton will open the performance around 8 p.m.

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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., the Athletic Department along with the football team and the Screaming Eagles marching band will host the annual Homecoming Pep Rally on Shea Field. The University will put on a fireworks display at 8 p.m. over Shea Field.

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Stop by the Rat again on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. for the Voices of Imani annual Fall Jam concert.

The gospel choir, founded in 1977, will perform its own repertoire to showcase this year’s talent, welcome new members, and will invite other groups to perform.

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Defending Sexual assault survivor inspired to advocate millennials

A Guide to Your Newspaper The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467

From SANet Kickoff, A1

Alex Gaynor Narcissistic, lazy, uninformed, disinterested; these are all words often used by older generations today to describe what is referred to as the “millennial” generation. Millennials are classified as anyone born after 1980 but before 2000, thus placing college students in the middle of this demographic. It’s common for older generations to look down upon youth and say that “things aren’t like they used to be” or that we’re all a bunch of “no-good, dirty, rotten kids” who are destined to drive our society into the ground. Sure, with the emerging “selfie” culture, prominence of technology, and apparent lack of protest and social action, it seems that the zeitgeist of our generation is one of apathy. When more closely examined, however, millenials may not be as toxic as one might think.

NPR recently ran a campaign asking millenials to share their Census categorization as well as traits that they wish that they could include on their official identification. Some of the results included derivations on race, gender, life outlook, and personal philosophies.

A key factor that is present in the young-adult generation today is the growing steadfast ownership of personal identification and categorization. No longer is identity so black and white, but new shades of gray and splashes of color have also been introduced, painting this supposedly “lazy” generation in a new light.

Another critique of millenials is that we lack role models. In place of Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, and Kurt Cobain we have Harry Potter, Taylor Swift, and Justin Beiber. While it may seem that on the surface our generation is experiencing a drought in public leadership and role models, one does not need to look any further than the announcement of the recent Noble Peace Prize winners. Sharing the prize at 17, Malala Yousafzai, an educational activist from Pakistan, is a shining example of hope in our generation for the inspiring work that she does. There still are people who puruse a higher ideal and common good even if it means putting their reputation or life on the line. While it may not be as prevalent in pop culture, perhaps we need to look beyond the TV screens and Facebook profiles to see what real people are accomplishing.

It is apparent that the times are a-changin’, and many people may also critique the millennial generation for a lack of social activism and responsibility. While students may not be closing down schools in protest of tuition raises or war-involvement anymore, people are still getting together to protest inequality and raise their voices in light of injustice. Take the protests for racial equality in Ferguson, or the People’s Climate March last month, or high school students in Colorado protesting a censored cirriculum—all these events are as defining of our generation as our proclivity for narcissism, laziness, and apathy.

An important symbol of our generation, Harry Potter, once told a group of Hogwarts students that, “every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now, students. If they can do it, why not us?” His words give rise to the important fact that despite all the problems we may be inheriting, we have the power to actually cause some good in the world.

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

experience than she had imagined, noting that her teammates abused her both verbally and sexually.

“Unfortunately, the truth was … that I walked into a nightmare,” she said.

Hnida eventually transferred to the University of New Mexico after one of her teammates at the University of Colorado Boulder sexually assaulted her.

“I don’t even know how to describe it still to this day,” she said. “My life had been completely shattered.

It was the most depressing, darkest period of my entire life. Suddenly, I was this shell of my former self.”

At the University of New Mexico, Hnida said she had the virtual opposite experience of what she had endured during her years at CU. Her teammates became her family, she said—accepting her and embracing the rare occasion of having a female on the team.

In February 2004, during her last year at the University of New Mexico, a story by sportswriter Rick Reilly came out in Sports Illustrated about

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Arthur Bailin / Heights Staff

Hnida, a survivor of sexual assault, received an outpouring of support from those who read about her assault in SI. her experience getting raped and assaulted by her former teammates at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The story received national attention, and the swelling media-perpetuated rumors adversely impacted Hnida during what she called a “hellish time.”

The hundreds of letters that she began receiving after the SI article was published were what inspired Hnida to break the culture of silence

toward rape and publicly speak about her experience for the betterment and knowledge of other.

“When I was raped, I didn’t know anybody who had been raped,” she said. “I had no idea this was such a huge problem, so when I received and started opening those letters, I realized that this was a huge problem and that we needed to be out talking about it and that what I experienced was not a unique experience, that

it was something that women and men were going through across the country.”

The event was co-sponsored by BC Athletics, Boston College Police Department, Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, Bystander Intervention Education Program, Graduate Student Association, Office of the Dean of Students, Office of Graduate Student Life, Office of Health Promotion, Office of the Vice President for

Professor explores minority mental health

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Ruolin Lu / Heights Staff

David Takeuchi, professor and associate dean for research in the Graduate School of Social Work, presented on his health services research that explores how social, structural, and cultural factors are linked to different health outcomes in minority communities, particularly in Asian American communities.

O’Neill gallery showcases Latino food photos

By Jennifer Heine Heights Staff Boston College kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with an art showcase in the O’Neill Library first floor gallery. Sponsored by the Thea Bowman AHANA International Multicultural Center and the BC Libraries, and based on the theme “Presentando culturas sin fronteras”—“Presenting Cultures Without Borders”—the exhibit features food photography by Natalie Blardony, A&S ’15, in an exploration of the similarities between Filipino and Latin American culture.

For Blardony, a student of Filipino and Spanish descent, the project offered an opportunity to explore her heritage.

“I saw the proposal in an email and was immediately drawn to it,”

Blardony said. “I’m Filipino and Spanish, and to me the two have been so inextricably linked. My whole life, I grew up hearing a mix of Tagalog, Spanish, and English. So many of the words were similar, and so many things crossed over.

“But growing up, when I told people that I’m Filipino and Spanish, no one saw it that way,” she said. “They would hear Filipino and think, that’s Asian, that’s not similar to Spanish.

They forget that the Philippines was colonized for more than 300 years

by Spain. So when I saw the project, I wanted to do something with the two cultures.”

By choosing to take photographs of food, Blardony highlighted an aspect of culture that is often overlooked in more highbrow comparisons.

“I want the people who visit the

Police Blotter Monday, October 13 8:30 a.m. - A report was filed regarding assistance provided to another department on Comm.

Ave. 11:55 p.m. - A report was filed regarding larceny from Voute Hall.

Tuesday, October 14 8:32 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a Campus School student who was transported to a medical facility from Campion Hall.

gallery to really take a step back, and see how culture pulls people together through many different forms, whether it be through language, or music, or art, or even food,” she said.

Along with Rosemary Concepcion, A&S ’15, Blardony visited a variety of Filipino and Latin American restaurants in the area, ordering a variety of dishes and then taking photographs of the food.

The pair also spoke with the employees and owners at these establishments concerning the similarities between these types of food.

“In the exhibit, I’ve shown them side by side, so people can see how similar the foods look,” Blardony said.

“At the opening, people were telling me that some of the dishes from the Latin American restaurants look exactly like ones from the Filipino

restaurants.”

According to Blardony and Concepcion, many of the dishes also taste similar. The Filipino bistek and Brazilian beef steak, for instance, are almost the same dish, even sharing a similar spelling.

For Blardony, the project transcends food to make a more overarching commentary on culture.

“Food is such a big part of both cultures, and food is something that creates a sort of bridge that crosses the oceans and barriers that people think exist because of the fact that the countries are so far away,” she said.

“When you work with food, you work with so much more than just food,” she said. “Food deals with culture, it’s a symbol of what the people are ... You start to think of the history of that nation, and that’s where you’ll start to see similarities.” n

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10/13/14 - 10/14/14

9:20 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a miscellaneous traffic report on the Newton roadways.

1:52 p.m. - A report was filed regarding property confiscated from Vanderslice Hall.

11:48 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student who was transported to a medical facility. ­

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

If you could have anything pumpkin spice flavored Who is your favorite BC Dining employee? what would it be?

“Cake.”

—Marilyn Cheong, A&S ’17

“Pinkberry.”

—Megan Sperry, A&S ’18

“Ice cream.”

—Julia Jung, A&S ’18

“Everything.”

—Liam Maguire, A&S ’17

The Heights

Thursday, October 16, 2014

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O’Neill Digital Studio to serve as BC’s hub for media software Digital Studio, from A1 uled to begin working in the studio next Monday, but other students and a fulltime faculty position will be gradually introduced into the studio as training on equipment use and technology information is given to the studio’s staff.

The student staff will consist of a mix between undergraduate and graduate students, primarily performing reception roles, but will also assist studio users in becoming familiar with the space’s technology and software capabilities. Britton said that a full-time faculty member

within Library Services is also slated to oversee much of the daily operations of the studio, in addition to conducting other University library projects for the department.

From the former DVD rental area that O’Neill 205 used to hold, the digital studio’s organizers sought to preserve the “faculty previewing room”—a conference room designed for faculty members to screen and select academic videos before adding them to a course syllabus.

Now, the room is open to both students and faculty for viewings of academically related video materials or for general

conference purposes among students.

Usage of the previewing room will be allocated based on a reservation system, which Britton noted will likely be finalized by the spring semester after observing how the space is used throughout the fall semester.

The Digital Studio was designed to serve as an open, collaborative, and creative group area for students seeking non-traditional media technologies, and less so as a quiet space, Britton said.

“We’ve added some whiteboards and [Library Services] is thinking about adding some more—maybe even some

panels or whiteboard paint on the walls,” he said. “We’re trying to think of it as a place where groups of people can work on projects, hopefully using the technology the room has available.”

Following a recent meeting with the Quality of Student Life committee, Library Services wanted to ensure that the closing of the CTRC did not imply the abandonment of its resources, only their relocation throughout various parts of O’Neill library. “[Former CTRC resources] are now either folded into the general library computing or into the library Digital

Studio,” Britton said. “It’s all there and it’s free for people to use. The soft launch is really around the services that we’re offering and the staffing that we provide …

The intent all along was not just to replace the CTRC with another one, but was to try and build something more forwardlooking than back in the ’90s.”

The Digital Studio is open and operated on the same 24/5 schedule as the rest of O’Neill, and a complete listing of the studio’s software, hardware, and office equipment features can be found on its new website at http://libguides. bc.edu/digitalstudio. n

BC seeks to renew core Core Renewal, from A1 regarding which courses to pursue by mid-November.

“The process will require communication, flexibility, and patience on all our parts as we move forward to try something new,” Bourg said. “This is not an attempt to replace the strengths of the core we have, but to have an additive dimension, to have some new ways to connect—to connect ourselves to our students by engaging them in new ways with new types of classes; engage one another through interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue in ways we maybe don’t fully realize at Boston College; and also to connect the core to Jesuit principles and processes of Ignatian pedagogy.”

Bourg clarified that nothing about the existing core distribution requirements is changing right now. An interdisciplinary Complex Problems course taught by a history professor and a sociology professor, for example, would fulfill one history and one social science course for a student’s core requirements. Students will receive core credit in their professors’ disciplines.

Kalscheur and Bourg also discussed additional required evening activities to enhance learning taking place in the classroom and deepen discussion. These might include lectures, as well as other programs implemented with the help of the divisions of Student Affairs and University Mission and Ministry.

“The idea behind the whole set of requirements that we’re talking about is to introduce first-year students to a particular kind of environment, to have rigorous intellectual conversation, and to engage in that reflection so [they] have a habit of mind and power of imagination that starts from the beginning,” Kalscheur said.

With regard to the number and variety of courses that will be offered, Kalscheur said one of the ideas of the new approach was to connect faculty expertise with core ideas, therefore a large Enduring Questions community of inquiry, for example, would include courses that engage different specific areas of expertise. He also said that the goal is to facilitate collaboration between different departments to draw faculty out of “disciplinary isolation.”

A challenge that Kalscheur acknowledged was fostering interest among incoming freshmen to register for the pilot courses, and that the task force would work closely with academic advisors and the Office of First Year Experience to make it an attractive option.

As far as the timeline for implementing new courses, Kalscheur said next year will have initial pilots, the following year will likely scale up those initial efforts, and a decision will then be made on full implementation. When asked how the task force will know if the pilots are successful, he said it will depend on whether the courses meet the goals for core learning outcomes, have the desired integrative effects, and work logistically. n

tatiana petrovich / Heights senior staff

As it closes on the halfway mark of its first semester, the Campus Activities Board has recruited live acts such as Shwayze and Judah Friedlander.

Fall programming continues under CAB CAB, from A1 pay for the current academic year. About half of CAB’s budget goes toward live entertainment and includes fees not only associated with booking acts, but also for production.

Production fees include police details, ticket printing, event security, sound, lighting, etc.

Special Events is awarded one-third of the budget, and the remaining quarter of the budget is split up between Trips and Excursions and Campus Engagement. Any revenues made from events go back into CAB’s budget and can carryover year-to-year.

The four programming departments in CAB are Live Entertainment, Special Events, Trips and Excursions, and Campus Engagement. Live Entertainment—which last week hosted Judah Friedlander, an actor on 30 Rock and a standup comedian, and put on the Andy Grammer concert the week before—and Spe-

cial Events plan larger-scale events a few times each semester, while Trips and Excursions and Campus Engagement have smaller, more frequent events. The Trips and Excursions department puts on a lot of the same events that UGBC’s BC2Boston used to.

“We feel that we’ve had a lot success with Trips and Excursions, which is kind of our off-campus department, because the already have a pretty [well-] established brand,” Kemper said. “They kind of adopted all the BC To Boston stuff that UGBC used to do.”

That department has offered students tickets to Red Sox games, The Lion King Broadway show, and an apple-picking excursion. Campus Engagement plans on-campus events that are typically more intimate, such as movie showings and Thursday-night trivia.

The two large-scale programming departments are just getting into their fall schedules.

Special Events’ first event is Homecoming, which is tomorrow at the Sheraton Hotel Boston. Those events—and particularly ones that involve musical performances—require a great amount of time and effort in both the planning and execution stages. Stemper and others began planning for a fall concert in April.

To book certain high-profile acts the organization uses a third-party agent often used by the University. CAB informs the agent of their timetable, budget, and type of genre they’d like to bring to campus, and the agent works to find a good fit. Artists who are touring in the area around the specific timetable are the most likely candidates to book.

As CAB grows, it is constantly accepting new members and through its recruitment and retention department is placing individuals with departments they would work well with. n

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An expanded offering of digital media

Over the past month, University Library Services, in conjunction with Information Technology Services (ITS), has been conducting a soft launch of a new media center on the second floor.

The new media lab is a beneficial addition to the technological resources offered by library services and could serve as a boon to students who take advantage of it.

The digital studio is located in the area that used to house the library’s collection of DVDs, CDs, and VHS tapes. In that location, the collection did not see much foot traffic, and for those still seeking the former media materials, they have been moved up to the third floor of the building. When the Campus Technology Resource Center (CTRC) closed during the summer, some of the resources were set aside for this new center, including several Apple iMac computers, as well as keyboards and audio hardware, available to students 24 hours per day during the library’s weekday operations. There are also additional black-and-white printers, a 3D printer that students can use with staff assistance, and conference room spaces

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Droll thing life is—that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself—that comes too late—a crop of unextinguishable regrets.

-Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924), Polish author

available for student use.

One unique feature of the computers in the media lab is the software installed on them. It includes the full Adobe Creative Suite, along with music making and other artistic software. As these products are very expensive and often outside of a student’s budget, having this space is important for helping those in creative fields develop the skills relevant to more design-centric fields of employment.

The University has also done a commendable job of providing information about the center. There is a digital studio section in the online library guide that fully details the resources available to students in the media center. Often criticized for having an out-of-date online presence, the University has created a useful presentation of information that will likely help students better utilize the center.

The new media center is a useful addition to the school’s technology resources, and it goes a long way to compensate for those lost when the CTRC closed. Students can find it on the second floor of O’Neill (205) and should make use of it.

U.S. should not tie federal aid to college ratings In 2013, President Barack Obama announced a plan to have the federal government rate American colleges and then tie financial aid to those ratings, in an attempt to reduce the cost of quality higher education. With the ratings slated to launch before the 2015-16 academic year, there are expectations that the White House will release more information before year’s end. Obama wants financial aid to begin to be tied to those ratings by 2018. Although the goal of increasing university affordability is worthy, the rating methodology is questionable and it is unclear how the plan would achieve its intended effect—namely, making college more affordable.

The White House has outlined some of the factors that will be used in determining the ratings, but has not released the entire methodology yet. These include measures such as graduation rates, graduate earnings, level of student post-graduation debt, percentage of low-income students enrolled, and tuition. At first, the Obama administration wants the ratings to serve as a guide to high school seniors and their parents who are looking at colleges—not unlike the annual ranking of colleges issued by U.S. News and World Report—but with an explicit focus on fiscal value.

While publishing a system of ratings for colleges is within Obama’s executive authority, tying aid to those ratings will require Congressional legislation. The president is pushing for legislation that will give students at higher rated colleges greater federal aid—in the form of larger grants and better loan terms—to be in effect by the 2018-19 academic year.

With continually rising tuition costs and decreasing state funding of public colleges and universities, college affordability is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Between 1978 and 2008, tuition and fees increased approximately threefold, after adjusting for inflation. It is unclear, however, how this plan will actually help make college more affordable. Although a higher rating—accompanied by more federal aid to students—based on a college’s ability to keep costs low could serve as an incentive for institutions to contain costs, it is unclear how much that would change from the current system, in which universities already compete for the best students, with financial aid as one of the tools.

The questionable impact of this plan is not the only troubling aspect of the administration’s plan to tie federal aid to college ratings. The methodology is equally suspect. Using post-graduation income

as a measure of success will disproportionately affect schools that specialize in programs for fields that are not necessarily financially lucrative, but may be socially beneficial. Low earning potential should not prevent students from receiving aid to enter professions that society needs.

Another potential problem with this plan is that the schools that reap the most benefit from it are likely to be the schools that need it the least. Wealthy schools are the ones most able to offer financial aid as grants, instead of loans, making their student indebtedness rate better than schools that do not have large endowments. They are also more able to lower the cost of attendance and massage their statistics to look good for ratings. When the stakes are high, as they are when U.S. News and World Report ranks colleges, there is a high incentive for schools to manipulate the data that the ranking bodies consider.

A recent study by two Emory University law professors has shown that many law schools have engaged in data manipulation and outright falsification that could be federal felonies. In 2011, Villanova University and the University of Illinois publicly admitted as much. If a government rating system were to determine federal financial aid, that could further incentivize universities to commit fraud.

There is also a serious possibility that this initiative could harm community colleges and other programs that do not fit into the mold of the traditional four-year bachelor’s degree program. Those colleges may have lower graduation rates and could thus receive lower ratings, but still provide an important function by offering training to people for whom a four-year degree is not the right option. High school seniors should not be financially incentivized to attend programs of study that are not right for them because of the possibility of higher federal aid.

Attempting to lower the cost of higher education is a noble pursuit, and it is one in which the administration should persist. Collecting, collating, and presenting important information about universities in the form of a rating system is, in and of itself, not a bad undertaking. In fact, an alternative to U.S. News and World Report and the other major college rankings could very well be useful to many students. Tying those ratings to financial aid distribution is inherently problematic, though, and it is not clear that doing so will address the rising costs of college. The administration should look for other measures that will.

The views expressed in the above editorials represent the official position of The Heights, as discussed and written by the

Editorial Board. A list of the members of the Editorial Board can be found at BCHeights. com/opinions.

HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT, Editor-in-Chief MARC FRANCIS, General Manager JOSEPH CASTLEN, Managing Editor

EDITORIAL

KAYLA FAMOLARE, Copy Editor CONNOR FARLEY, News Editor CONNOR MELLAS, Sports Editor KENDRA KUMOR, Features Editor JOHN WILEY, Arts & Review Editor RYAN TOWEY, Metro Editor ANDREW SKARAS, Opinions Editor MARY ROSE FISSINGER, Special Projects Editor EMILY FAHEY, Photo Editor MAGGIE POWERS, Layout Editor

ANDREW CRAIG / HEIGHTS ILLUSTRATION

THE ONLINE BUZZ Printing reader comments from www.bcheights.com, the Online Buzz draws on the online community to contribute to the ongoing discussion.

In response to “Accessibility On Campus Still A Concern For Some Students” by Eleanor Hildebrandt, which ran on 10/9/14:

they are truly “Eagles for Others” right there on the Heights. #WeAreBC —G REG M IHAL

Thank you to The Heights for covering this issue.

Sad to hear that BC hasn’t made greater strides in addressing accessibility on campus, especially since many minor improvements could have been implemented years earlier. Accessibility not only affects students but their family, faculty, administrators, employees, visitors and alumni. I would hope that BC administration, the Alumni Association, and (perhaps) the Office of University Advancement would want the greatest possible audience to experience all the wonderful things happening on campus first hand. I am very proud of the students who are working to raise awareness of the issues disabled students face. This seems like a great opportunity for the entire Boston College community to show

In response to “BC Women’s Hockey Projected Lines And Pairings” by Connor Mellas, which ran on 10/9/14:

The Heights welcomes Letters to the Editor not exceeding 400 words and column submissions that do not exceed 700 words for its op/ed pages.

The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted JORDAN PENTALERI, Graphics Editor NICOLE SUOZZO, Blog Editor AUSTIN TEDESCO, Online Manager CORINNE DUFFY, Assoc. Copy Editor EVAN D. GATTI, Asst. Copy Editor JULIE ORENSTEIN, Assoc. News Editor NATHAN MCGUIRE, Asst. News Editor MARLY MORGUS, Assoc. Sports Editor ALEX FAIRCHILD, Asst. Sports Editor SAMANTHA COSTANZO, Asst. Features Editor

Gotta question that fourth line—Grieves is good but she isn’t that good.

I think you’ll find Kickham as the fourth liner and Kaliya Johnson (currently recovering from injury, as far as I can tell) and Lauren Wedell (who didn’t dress for the first game but was in the stands and was tweeting on behalf of BC_WHockey last week) filling in on D. Johnson in particular is a very strong D, led the team in +/- last year, while Kickham is more of a two-way player.

—W ILLIAM

to the newspaper.

Submissions must be signed and should include the author’s connection to Boston College, address, and phone number. Letters and columns can be submitted online at www.bcheights.com, by email to editor@bcheights.com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

ARIANA IGNERI, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor MICHELLE TOMASSI, Asst. Arts & Review Editor BENNET JOHNSON, Asst. Metro Editor EMILY SADEGHIAN, Asst. Photo Editor JT MINDLIN, Asst. Layout Editor BRECK WILLS, Asst. Graphics Editor ARIELLE CEDENO, Editorial Assistant SARAH MOORE, Executive Assistant

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The Heights

Thursday, October 16, 2014

A7

The cost of perfection

Ryan Daly Writing on the Wall - The farthest stall on the right in the Bapst men’s bathroom has some prime graffiti.

There must be 110 puns written on the grout in between the tile above the stall. We always appreciate a good pun. You know, “The Grout Gatsby,” “The Grout Escape,” “Groutsiders,” and “Grout You Find This Funny” are all excellent examples of the kind of humor that desperate Adderall-driven college students devise around finals time. What better way to procrastinate than bringing laughter to the lives of your fellow delirious students.

Arboreal Additions - Some trees have been planted next to the seventh floor of the Commonwealth Ave. parking garage. In a space that is constantly filled with dust and debris kicked up by the nearby constructions on St. Mary’s Hall, we think this is a welcome addition. Maybe, just maybe, our everyday air will be cleaner. Fingers crossed.

Changing of the Leaves - Sources close to TU/TD have informed us that last weekend was the official “Leaf Peeping” weekend in New England.

The oddities of that name aside, we find it amusing that people travel to New England from all over the country to watch leaves change color, and this is taking into account that we come from a place where the leaves of most trees don’t change color in the fall.

Conifers are great—we haven’t raked leaves in ages.

David Fincher is an abhorrent nightmare to work with. Since he is the director of some impressive hits like Se7en, Fight Club, and The Social Network—films that have had significant cultural impact—that point is ignored, for the most part, by the general audience.

Look at Fincher’s most recent film, Gone Girl. Volumes of analysis have already been published on it, along with mostly positive critical reviews, and it has garnered consistent success at the box office. Gone Girl shows that Fincher has continued to improve his stylistic edge—the film gives audiences a disturbing story of crime and consequence, adapted from Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel. Running at more than two hours, it feels like it goes by in one. Twenty-two years in the business hasn’t left Fincher with any rust.

But, he—as with many other perfectionist artists, people who work on everything from movies to books to cartoons to video games—is also difficult to work with. Do not be part of the general audience—do not ignore this point. For Fincher, and the perfectionists like him, there is a very specific way that the final product—the story or idea—is supposed to reach you. That kind of exactness takes time. And, to some degree, the final products are the final products because of the artists’ very basic need to achieve some meaning, purpose, existence.

Take the opening scene of The Social Network. We find Jesse Eisenberg’s and Rooney Mara’s characters ferociously trading passive aggressive comments in a cacophonous city bar. “You don’t have to study,” Jesse says in the final moments, to which Rooney shrieks, “Why do you keep saying I don’t have to study?” “Because you go to BU!” (Cue laughter and applause—even the big screen knows what the safety school of Boston is.)

That scene was shot 99 times. Let that sink in for a moment. It was not because the actors kept messing up lines that required them to redo the scene, but instead, that Fincher had them go through the dialogue 99 times, with ever-so-slight variations, until

he was satisfied with the lighting, upward infliction of a single word, Jesse’s angst, and Rooney’s anger, among other things. Nine pages of dialogue, 99 times.

Perfection. Still, even Fincher pales in comparison to the most obtuse perfectionist filmmaker in history: Stanley Kubrick.

Kubrick has directed numerous cinematic epics—2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, and The Shining—and was notorious for demanding hundreds of takes for the majority of his scenes. Steven Spielberg has said “nobody could shoot a better picture in history,” referring to Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, and I think the same of Fincher.

Fincher’s filmmaking ability is so singularly phenomenal and unique that a viewer can distinguish his films based solely on his framing and score, and rumors of a new project of his bring excitement for how his craft will evolve and astonish. (Don’t be surprised if the highly stylized scenes of violence in Gone Girl—with soft fades to and from black during the most climatic moments, visually representing a rush of adrenaline—are soon replicated.)

Storytelling is more critically successful and emotionally impactful with a perfectionist approach. Combine 10 years of work and a young man’s angst, and you get Catcher in the Rye. Combine a five- and six-year development cycle and a game designer’s passion for storytelling, and you get BioShock and BioShock Infinite, respectively. Take 19 years of practice and a love for cartooning, and you get Calvin & Hobbes.

The concern with such an approach is that, after so much time of exhausting work and preparation, the material can be ill-received, and an individual or company can be left financially and emotionally bankrupt. If Fincher’s films started bombing because revenue couldn’t meet the production budgets, then, understandably, production companies would stop giving him money to fulfill his visions. Actors would start turning down roles in his films. Writers wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing him scripts.

The reward seems to outweigh the possible peril, though. Fincher was snubbed for an Oscar for his work on The Social Network in 2010, but he has a fantastic shot at winning one for Gone Girl. Even without an Oscar, his catalog of movies will be reveled in and studied for years to come, much in the way

that entire film classes are dedicated to Kubrick’s work. J.D. Salinger, Ken Levine, Bill Watterson—people swear by these names and what they’ve done with practiced talent.

Perfectionism has paid off in critical success.

Critical success. Yes, Gone Girl, according to most critics, is a terrific, unsettling portrait of married life, but it is a portrait painted by someone who is an abhorrent nightmare to work with. Ben Affleck will probably never collaborate with Fincher again, and how could anyone blame him? Many others before him—Jake Gyllenhaal, most notably—have vowed to avoid Fincher. Filming a movie with him is more trouble than it’s worth.

Critical success. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye went off like a double-barrel shotgun when it was released, but too much exposure caused Salinger to hide out for the second half of his life, still writing but not publishing. (Fingers are still crossed for postmortem literature.) Levine’s Irrational Games shut down last year, laying off 75 people, because Levine’s desire for perfection in storytelling has led him to want to work with a smaller group of people with a different focus. Watterson stopped publishing Calvin & Hobbes almost 20 years ago, because he believed that he had done what he could do with the strip, and fans are still clamoring for more, but Watterson has mostly withdrawn from the limelight.

The movies, literature, and video games—the entertainment—that comes out of the unfaltering dedication and scrupulous attention to the work—the perfection—has negative results on the individual, or on the participants, or, sometimes, on both. It takes as much as it gives—it drains as much as it enriches.

So why do it, if it looks as though the results cancel out when zooming out far enough? Because, for some—for Fincher, Kubrick, Salinger, Levine, Watterson—the need to engage in an art, even if it wrecks them, is the only way to survive. It is the only way to disrupt the vacuum into oblivion, to stop the drowning, and allow them to break the surface—even if it leaves them or someone else with a shiver up the spine, searching for the sun in the sky that will never come.

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

This interview never happened Carney Classroom Closure Conundrum - This make a whole lot of sense, BC. Leave classrooms in the expensive, most recently constructed building open and unlocked for students to study until almost midnight, but lock the classroom doors in the one building on campus that we almost forgot still exists and which we are fairly certain no one would notice if it were to mysteriously vanish one night.

Yeah, this makes about as much sense as an electric blanket in hell. Good work, BC. Midterm Schedules - We have no control over this, but the Fates that determine midterm schedules can greatly impact our performance. By a stroke of luck, one can have his or her midterms spread out leisurely throughout the month of October with time to study (or write papers) in between the class and the obligations of day-to-day existence. Or, if the gods have cursed your names and the Roman prelates have cried out anathema against you, then you might find that all of your midterms have been scheduled by those cruel powers-that-be for the same week. It’s okay, though, you don’t need sleep to perform on exams, just a BCC (Blood Caffeine Content) of .18 or higher and a slight jitter in your left hand, right? There’s no chance of falling asleep during an exam ... right?

Airline Stocks - Ebola has really caused the market to lose confidence in airline companies. Who wants to fly when there is a killer disease on the loose? (Disclosure: TU/TD does not currently hold any positions in the aforementioned industry.)

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Nate Fisher Tucked away in the dusty computer archives of Boston College policy, cased in impenetrable byzantine Windows Vista-era web design, written in tempus immemorialis

by God-knows-who, reside the by-laws concerning student organizations at Boston College. A recent Indiana-Jones-esque spelunk into this dungeon of legal prose and broken hyperlinks (not by me, I lack the courage, but by UGBC kids organizing a focus group on student rights, the heroes) revealed harsh reminders of exactly how blocked avenues of student expression remain. Standard laws apply­—if a registered student club so much as blinks, the blink must have been approved by an ever-growing series of acronyms. As the student rights focus group revealed, though, unregistered clubs lack what freedoms registered clubs occasionally enjoy. An attempt to involve unrecognized groups in a roundtable discussion was shelved on the grounds that the groups ought not state their name in a public forum. A chilling reminder that, if power isn’t strictly obeyed, mere speech could be considered unlawful.

The Heights is a public forum, so for a writer to publicize such clubs could constitute an on-campus crime punishable by … ??? You can never really know just how much you or your organization will be punished for any offense (or what “offense.”) This makes taking any stand against the University extremely difficult, no matter how much you think it conforms to their standards of expression.

Few are likely to join you, all to the benefit of the powers that be. No concrete discussions about any unregistered club can legally take place. But what about hypothetical discussions? If you were to speak solely in hypothetical speculation, you could avoid any censors’ claims you were being harmful. It’s not yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater—it’s yelling “what if someone were to yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater?” in a crowded theater. With that in mind, I hypothetically scheduled an

“interview” with someone who, created strictly for the purposes of this article, is a member of an unrecognized student organization. To save ink, let’s call this conversational placeholder Ellie Tedeschi, A&S ’16, and to make her seem like a totally normal undergraduate student like you or me rather than a cypher for the point of my argument (which, I hasten to remind you, she is), let’s just say she’s a biology major from just south of Boston.

I “sat down” with Ellie in a metaphorical dimension right next to Addie’s. I asked her about the unrecognized, theoretical group Climate Justice at Boston College. Pretend this nonexistent group was an environmental activist group similar to hundreds of groups on other college campuses nationwide. These groups, Ellie “told” me, are interested equally in propagating student empowerment along with demanding BC take action regarding energy policies. While advocating for fossil fuel divestment (Google it, like I did—definitely don’t seek out information at a Climate Justice meeting, as they are fictitious) the group prides itself in fostering intensive discussion and awareness at their meetings. And yet no group like this is recognized at BC. Conjecturing as to why this may be so, Ellie’s accounts of Climate Justice’s pretend rejection showed a distressing—though nonetheless purely hypothetical—narrative of disingenuous repression. This theoretical group was, until recently, theoretically named BC Fossil Free, but as part of their application process, was theoretically strong-armed into change its name, dropping the “BC,” lest someone get the wrong impression of our dear school. I was told this name change was essential, or else particular members of the group “would be held personally responsible” (quotes here referring to hypothetical rhetoric the University may or may not use.)

Ellie herself has experienced only apparent sympathy for her group from the administration’s student employees, and remains skeptical that the actual administrators she is aware of are the roadblocks or just one small branch of a shadowy bureaucratic network. Even taking the conversation to the administration’s acknowledged leaders has theoretically proven fruitless. They might potentially have met with University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., “sending” two

“members” to his house for a well-prepared “conversation.” When other “members” waited outside in a mock “candlelight vigil” to show support, three “cop” cars showed up causing distress among the group with the “threat” of disciplinary “action.” I hasten yet another time to remind you that these “events” certainly never happened. Ever.

Given what we’ve all experienced of the administration’s unflinching power, however, don’t they seem awfully plausible?

There’s a reason I made up Climate Justice at Boston College. Unlike other potential, unrecognized clubs that could conflict with “University Values” in more hot-button religious ways (like, oh, I don’t know, contraceptives and homosexuality), energy issues are strictly secular. I maintain the University would likely deny a group invested in environmental activism on the grounds that their agenda would be to change the actual administrative function of the University, and that simply doesn’t fly at BC. As I’ve said before, the patterns of behavior the administration has adopted in dealing with clubs proves they would rather none of us exist to muck up their streamlined, sterilized campus identity.

BC runs a narcissistic ship. Like a face staring onanistically at its own reflection, the buildings on campus all resemble one another, edificially affirming that the administration’s voice is the only one worth hearing on these grounds. And the issue of Climate Justice (which, I again hasten to remind you, DOES NOT EXIST. Shhhhhhh.) would expose the misuse of “University Values” as a nebulous term meaning “anything the administration deems convenient to their immediate ends.”

And if a group like Climate Justice was ever anointed by the higher-ups and given a place at the organizational table, it would not solve the problem. The problem is not that Climate Justice needs a seat at the table. The problem is with the table, and it needs to be overturned. Metaphorically speaking, that is.

Note: Any resemblances in this column to persons living or dead or unrecognized organizations existent or nonexistent are purely coincidental. Na-na-na-na, you can’t get me.

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

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

The problem with protest Diana Kim Several weeks ago, protests began in Hong Kong when the socialist Chinese government in Beijing interpreted the city’s constitution, such that candidates for the city’s chief executive would be chosen by a majority vote in a 1,200-person committee dominated by business interests and regulated by Beijing leaders, instead of through a popular vote.

These initial protests were met, surprisingly, with police violence. This provoked more people to join the generally peaceful and organized protests because Hong Kong has enjoyed a long history of peaceful demonstration. As the protest dragged on, though, it was met with resistance, as tensions rose between yellow-ribbon pro-democracy protesters and blue-ribbon pro-Beijing protesters last weekend with outbreaks of violence. With tensions mounting, there is no end in sight.

I contacted a friend from Hong Kong for her opinion about the incident. Elizabeth did not completely support the yellow-ribbon demonstrators—surprising for someone who had lived in the land of the free for some time. She did not think that the terms they demanded—that Beijing overturn the reform package completely—were feasible, and as the protest escalated with no response from the government in Beijing, she also thought that the protests were only creating more tension without achieving anything.

“It is extremely difficult and overly idealistic to establish an ‘entirely direct election’ in the terms they demand (where every HK citizen will get a vote on selecting the presidential candidates and also to vote for the chief executive),” she said via Internet chat. Instead, she supports indirect elections—such as the U.S. electoral college—because of the political difficulties with universal suffrage.

“However, I do agree that we need to fight for a more flexible and universal way of electing the candidates” she said. “This could mean increasing the number of electoral colleges, having a more even spread of representatives in all levels and professions.”

Recently, though, it appears that the problem in Hong Kong is further complicated by suspicions that triads and thugs are paid to start violence at some demonstrations.

“Many believe that the Chinese PRC government is funding the anti-protesters,” Elizabeth said. “So a lot of the blue-ribbon [movement] is possibly funded. But that being said, many believe that the yellow-ribbon [movement] is funded by the West, including the USA … that’s why people say that students are simply political puppets. They’re ultimately the scapegoat in this situation.”

The response from many mainland Chinese students in the U.S. that I know has been completely different. To them, the protests appear mainly to be a dangerous, chaotic inconvenience, with the Chinese government suppressing much of the news. An article in The Diplomat by Alvin Y. H. Cheung refutes the often claimed idea that economic envy and dissatisfaction are the root of the protests.

“Although quality of life issues undeniably played a role in building up public discontent, the emerging narrative—which seeks to portray Hongkongers [sic] as ingrates resentful of Mainland China’s newfound economic success—is incomplete and misleading,” Cheung wrote. The article warns that the protests reflect a growing disenchantment with socialism, also seen in the fact that “the key leaders are students, not pro-democracy legislators.”

“The views expressed by Martin Jacques [author of the article about the economic envy of the Hong Kong residents] and others are symptomatic of Beijing’s growing frustration with its inability to ‘buy off’ the Hong Kong public, even as it goes about undermining the ‘key policies’ it pledged to uphold in the Joint Declaration of 1984,” he concluded.

With the continuing silence of the government, many citizens are increasingly unhappy about the effect of the protest on retail. There are more voices asking the demonstrators to stop occupying major roads, and the average citizen does not know where things will go.

The protesters have garnered international support for their struggle for universal suffrage, an issue that hits close to home in the U.S., with its history of protesting for suffrage.

It is, however, a good idea to take a step back and really understand the issues behind the Occupy Movement, rather than just jumping on the democratic bandwagon. Elizabeth notes that, so far, with the lack of change and conversation between the people and the government, things are not looking too good.

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

The Heights

A8

BC defense wary of a slow start

Stoudt reclaims the QB job against the Eagles From Clemson, A10

From BC, A10 game plan of pounding the rock. Even against CSU, a game BC lost in the final minutes, the Eagles managed to put up 239 rushing yards. In their four wins this year, the Eagles are averaging 378.25 rushing yards. They know they face a tough test this week in Clemson, and will have to keep pounding the rock, even against a nigh-impenetrable Tigers front seven.

In his Monday press conference, BC head coach Steve Addazio was effusive in his praise for the Tigers’ defense. “This is the most dominant defense I have seen,” Addazio said. “Period. I’m just amazed watching them.” The Eagles recognize the mountainous challenge that awaits them on Saturday.

“They’re a real good defense, especially up front,” said quarterback Tyler Murphy on Wednesday. Specifically, Murphy pointed out Tigers defensive end Vic Beasley, who has already tallied eight sacks on the year. “He’s a real good defender, he’s very explosive off the ball,” Murphy said. “The big thing for me is to keep my eyes downfield, trust my pocket awareness, trust my offensive line, and try to get the ball out fast.”

Perhaps the most Jekyll-and-Hyde part of this BC team has been the defense.

Although it’s ranked eighth in the nation in yards per game, it has been dominant in some games and, to borrow a hockey term, sieve-like in others. In its four wins, BC has given up 134 rushing yards on defense, while against Pittsburgh and CSU, the Eagles seemingly could not tackle anybody, giving up 465 rushing yards.

Against the Rams, BC’s 18th-ranked pass defense let Garrett Grayson go for 268

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Emily Fahey / heights editor

Murphy’s runs will once again be a key part of BC’s strategy, but he must contend with Beasley. yards through the air. Jacoby Brissett, NC State’s quarterback, who threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns against Florida State, only managed 174 yards, one touchdown, and an interception against the Eagles in the first game without starting cornerback Bryce Jones.

“You just have to play disciplined,” said BC starting defensive lineman Connor Wujciak. “Everyone has to play their gaps and play disciplined football.”

It will be imperative for BC to not let Clemson’s offense jump out to a quick lead—once that happens, the Tigers’ defense will clamp down and choke the life out of the offense. For that reason, Addazio views his own defense as the key to this game. “[Offensively] it’s going to be very, very difficult to drive the ball, in any consistent fashion, down the field against this defense,” Addazio said.

“It’s not happened yet … The defense, in a game like this, becomes extremely

critical.”

That could be easier than the Eagles may have expected—Clemson’s starting quarterback, freshman Deshaun Watson, broke his hand against Louisville last week and is sidelined. In his place will be senior Cole Stoudt, who began the year as the Tigers’ starter before Watson took over against Florida State. Wujciak and the Eagles are not taking him lightly, however.

“I bet it’ll be pretty challenging this week,” Wujciak said. “Clemson’s a great team, their o-line’s good, quarterback’s good, they’re obviously a very good football team.”

Defense wins championships, but it also helps win regular season games, and if the Eagles hope to avoid the same fate that befell the Broncos in the Super Bowl last year, their own defense had better bring its A-game. Then, they need to keep pounding that rock until it breaks. n

not factor heavily into this game, thanks to BC’s weak aerial attack behind quarterback Tyler Murphy. This means Tigers’ star pass rusher Vic Beasley, third in the NCAA with eight sacks, will seek to keep Murphy scrambling.

Normally, this would not be a problem for Murphy and BC’s vaunted ground game, which has gained the most yards in the ACC and has scored 20 touchdowns between five different backs. Yet, head coach Dabo Swinney’s rushing defense ranks 11th in the nation, giving up a mere 100.5 yards per game, a full 215 yards lower than BC’s per game average, and it is far and away the most difficult defense the Eagles have faced so far this year.

While the Tigers may get the advantage on the defensive side, they will be hard-pressed to get ahead when controlling the ball. According to ESPN’s metrics, BC’s defense ranks just ahead in rushing defense (ninth) and just behind in passing defense (18th), giving Clemson its toughest all-around test this season.

Clemson will certainly benefit from BC’s lack of depth in the secondary, and it will look to capitalize on the loss of Eagles’ cornerback Bryce Jones.

The Tigers, however, will have to deal with their own loss in freshman phenom, quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson, who threw for 1,176 yards and 12 touchdowns while also gaining 147 yards on the ground with three touchdowns, left last week’s game against Louisville in the second quarter. According to CBS Sports, he broke a small bone in a finger on his throwing hand and requires four screws—the injury will leave Watson on the sidelines for about four weeks.

This means that senior Cole Stoudt will once again step into the starting role. Stoudt began the year as the starter,

but was demoted after turning in a poor performance against Georgia and being overshadowed by Watson, who threw three touchdowns in eight passes in Clemson’s 73-7 demolishing of South Carolina State.

While Stoudt led Clemson in its win over Louisville, he did so unimpressively, completing 20 of 33 for only 162 yards and an interception. The Tigers did not score an offensive touchdown with Stoudt in the game. Additionally, he received a painkiller and did not practice prior to the Louisville game, as reported by Charleston’s Post and Courier. Despite being a senior, Stoudt has spent most of his career on the bench as a backup to Tajh Boyd.

“It really wasn’t because Cole played bad,” said Swinney of the previous change under center in a teleconference on Wednesday. “It was more that this freshman we have was just unreal. That’s just kind of what happened there. But we have all the confidence in the world in Cole Stoudt. We expect him to play at a high level and lead us to victory. We know he’s capable of doing that.”

Despite having no player with 100 yards in a single game, Clemson sports four running backs who have gained over 100 yards, including leading rusher Adam Choice, with 205 on the ground, and senior D.J. Howard, who also has three touchdowns. Swinney will need one of them to break out against BC’s iron-clad rushing defense, led by defending ACC Defensive Players of the Week Josh Keyes and Brian Mihalik.

If the Tigers want to retain their spot in the Top 25, this matchup is crucial to impress voters, especially with little difficulty remaining on their schedule. But, if the Tigers choke against BC, expect them to stay off the rankings. This time, for good. n

Like coaches, players with genius must be unleashed From Column, A10 starter since his freshman year. Part of that is because he does not, in the eyes of the coaching staff, follow their directions and play the way they want him to. But that comes as a result of Nana’s decision-making.

Every person who lives has to make very, very quick decisions. Whether that’s telling someone you don’t want to take an extra shot at a party, or deciding whether to shoot first time or take a touch—life and games are decided in those split-second decisions.

Jim Christian talked about the same thing when he neared the end of his first week of practice. He’s dealing with both teaching the players a new way of playing basketball, and enriching the choices his players make on the court before tip-off against UNH on Nov. 14.

Christian has chosen to focus on the defensive end of the ball, which cost the team so many games last season. Last season’s coaching staff was very much hands-on when it came to dictating what the players did on each possession.

“In basketball there are ebbs and flows, and you have to be able to react,” Christian said. “That’s what you try to teach them in practice, so that they can react without thinking.”

Teaching decision-making is different based on the player and the sport.

Sometimes players have to watch tape of their errors, and in other situations, the sequence has to be broken down for them live—like what Kelly did with Nana. The first situation illustrates an idea or concept to the player to think about, and the latter corrects his mistake right away.

Christian watches film with his players

before practice, and each day has a different theme or focus. For example, one day the team will watch its transition defense on tape, and the next, check out its off-theball defense. Each player has an iPad, so that coaches can send him clips at any time of day.

Back to the enigma that is Nana. His tactical decision-making and position is fascinating. Even though he fits the mold of an attacking midfielder due to his work ethic and creativity as a footballer, his brain works differently from everyone elses. You have to wonder if he sees tape of himself off the ball, or realizes why he is not seeing time on the field—he often looks lost.

But, if you put Nana and every other soccer player in this country, amateur and professional, through the same sequence 10 times each, only Nana could spot and play the perfect ball each of the 10 times. He doesn’t always pick out the obvious pass, but he picks ones out every once in a while when you ask, “how did he see that?”

What Nana does on the pitch, or for that matter what he wears to class, is not something that coaches can coach, nor is it something they can harness, try as they might.

Coaches cannot cage these players up. You can’t bench them because you don’t like them or the way they act or play. Coaches have to let these players be themselves. Nana might not be the most coachable player in the world, and his decision-making is extraordinarily inconsistent, but in his case, and in many cases with geniuses, he is a player that is at his best when turned loose.

Alex Fairchild is the Asst. Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com

John WIley / heights editor

Westphal pushes BC to stronger finish From Westphal, A10 Westphal had done most of her training independently before arriving in the U.S. She had graduated at the top of her class in France, and she did so with few of her teachers knowing she was a nationally ranked runner. Quickly departing from this sense of independence, Westphal found herself depending on her team as a safety net when adjusting to life in Boston.

She was one of four freshmen on the women’s cross country team, and the only international student in the group. It was her conversations with teammates that allowed her to break the language barrier in the first few months, and her time with the group that dissuaded any doubts she had about the sudden move to the U.S. “I struggled like every freshman here—especially on a sports team—and then a double amount because of the language barrier and the entirely new context,” Westphal said. “Having the team gave a really nice cohesion, and I think that’s what I was missing in France.”

Westphal saw consistent, albeit slight improvements as a runner her first two seasons. She pushed her way to the top position on the BC team by sophomore year, but as an individual, she only saw small improvements to her times. “When you go from sixth in France to being 70th or 80th here, it’s an

adjustment,” Westphal said.

Last year was a breakthrough in Westphal’s cross country career. She ended outdoor track season with a personal record of 16:22 in the 5k, securing second in her event at the ECAC Championships. And then soon after the close of her season with BC, she finished fifth in the 5k at the European Czech Championships. “I really wasn’t expecting it,” Westphal said. “So in summer 2013, I thought, ‘Oh actually, I might be able to do something for cross country this year.’”

Westphal opened her cross country season that year coming in first at a UMass 5k invitational with a time of 16:44, carrying the momentum of a strong spring season in track. She went on to push the women’s cross country team to close the season at sixth in the ACC. The women’s cross country team is off to a strong start this season. It’s a far younger team than the one to which Westphal arrived in 2011, and it now includes four international students. In an upset victory, the No. 17 team placed fourth at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown race late last month, and it hopes to continue bucking expectations heading into the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational Friday.

“Coast-to-Coast Battle was a very good meet from a qualitative point of view,” Westphal said. “But Wisconsin is very different from a quantitative point of view.” Twenty-

two of the top 30 teams in the division will be represented at the meet, meaning the outcome will be particularly telling of how BC will close out the season.

Westphal’s strategy for races has evolved since her underclass years. She starts a little faster, only letting up her pace a little bit mid-race. “The start is my greatest fear,” Westphall said. She hesitates. “Well, not fear, but it’s hard to describe the start—especially in big races like Wisconsin this weekend or nationals, because if you just screw up your start, then you start as 80th or 100th.”

In cross country, it’s easier to lose some places than to gain a lot. Westphal is arriving at another unknown these last months of her senior year. She plans to stay at BC for a fifth year, earning a master’s in business administration, but from there, the course is unmarked. Westphal is unsure whether she will stay in the U.S., or go on to seek out running professionally in France.

She’s now an All-American runner, but still caught in that strange place between Boston and France.

According to Westphal, the most challenging part of running a 5k is the late middle stretch. “I think the hardest k is the third or the fourth—that’s where you have to stay tough,” Westphal said. “After then, you just try to finish as fast as you can.” n

Alex Fairchild is the Asst. Sports Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@bcheights.com

THE HEIGHTS

EDITORS’ EDITORS’PICKS PICKS

Thursday, October 16, 2014 The Week Ahead

Standings

After beating NC State over the weekend, the football team hosts No. 24 Clemson in its homecoming game. Women’s soccer takes on ACC foe NC State as it looks to build off of its win over Louisville. The men’s hockey team opened its season by losing to UMass Lowell and will look to rebound at RIT. Liverpool and Real Madrid play in the Champions League.

A9

Recap from Last Picks

MARLY MORGUS

17-9

ALEX FAIRCHILD

16-10

HEIGHTS STAFF

14-12

CONNOR MELLAS

12-14

Game of the Week

The football team beat NC State on the road after its bye week. Men’s hockey was obliterared by UMass-Lowell in a 5-2 defeat. Miami shut out the volleyball team in a 3-0 victory last weekend, as BC suffered a second straight loss.

Johnny Gaudreau played in five games for Calgary over the last week, but has yet to score a goal.

Women’s Soccer

Boston vs.

NC State College

Guest Editor: Ryan Towey Metro Editor

“I’m here to fulfill Ra’s al Ghul’s destiny!”

CONNOR MELLAS

This Week’s Games

Sports Editor

Football: BC vs. No. 24 Clemson

MARLY MORGUS Assoc. Sports Editor

ALEX FAIRCHILD

RYAN TOWEY Metro Editor

Asst. Sports Editor

Clemson

BC

BC

Clemson

W. Soccer: BC vs. NC State

BC

BC

BC

BC

M. Hockey: No. 7 BC vs. RIT

BC

BC

BC

BC

Real Madrid

Draw

Draw

Real Madrid

Champions League: Real Madrid vs. Liverpool

The women’s soccer team has broken down since the six-game win streak it went on in nonconference play to drop five out of its last seven matches. Although a weekend defeat of Louisville could serve as a way for the team to right its ship, just four games are left on the regular season schedule. Hayley Dowd’s strong run of form for Alison Foley has continued, as the sophomore forward has scored 11 goals this season, which leads the ACC. NC State has not won a game since Sept. 4, though, and it is 0-6 in the conference.

The Wolfpack enters its match with BC coming off of a 6-0 loss to No. 4 Virginia.

Sunday, 1 p.m.

Don’t miss the Head of the Charles this weekend JOHN PUGH We come upon a warm fall day with a crisp wind—before us is the great Charles River. The sun shines down upon a small cluster of wandering Boston College freshmen that looks like it just stumbled upon the earth’s surface for the first time, as if the train transported it into another dimension rather than a couple miles from its home.

Their journey was long, boarding first the T’s green line, then the red line and the orange line, the blue line, the purple line, the teal line, the yellow-orange line and somehow back to the red line.

Finally, though, these freshmen find themselves on the banks of the Charles in mid-October—a group of people who, at the time, are only pretending to be the best of friends, bound together by a common interest.

And here, this conglomeration of college kids finds itself before a regatta. “Wow, a regatta!” they say, as they discuss the magnificence of the term. And they remember that it is fancy talk for a boat race.

This is not just any ordinary boat race down any ordinary river on any ordinary day, however. It is the illustrious Head of the Charles, an event that has become one of the largest and most popular regattas in the world, and if you have a friend who rows, you might know this.

For those of you who aren’t in the know about the world of rowing, the Head of the Charles is coming up again, which is a big deal, because the Head of the Charles is a big deal—it’s a longstanding New England staple of fall.

But what’s even more important is that this year is the 50th anniver-

sary of the regatta, and that’s a hefty anniversary.

As time passes, the six BC students find themselves lying on a blanket on the banks of the Charles River. It is bright, sunny, and surprisingly, not humid. The remnants of bread bowl chowder sit scattered across the grass surrounding them, and the soup warms their bellies.

Just as the sun dips behind the only cloud in the sky, a single boat cuts through the glassy waters, far beyond the reach of its competitors, and the students on the bank see a hand wave from the back of the boat, and they wave back as their friend’s boat races toward the finish.

The regatta comes to a steady close, and the group finds itself among the usual Sunday crowd in Boston, and it still rests upon the banks of the Charles, forgetting just for a few more hours that tomorrow is the start to another week of papers and midterms—for this moment, they are more than overworked college students.

We depart upon a cool fall evening—before us is a group of students growing closer as friends.

It parades down Newbury St. to find a cheap burger restaurant where the college kids can continue on with the conversations that will come to dominate their days.

They talk about people, and football, and school, and then they leave.

One of them departs with a victory on the water, but they all leave with the memory of a beautiful day in Boston.

The Head of the Charles is coming this weekend, and you should definitely be going.

John Pugh is a contributor for The Heights. He can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com

ROUND U P

BY ALEX FAIRCHILD | ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

MEN’S GOLF HITS MARYLAND Nick Pandelena led the Boston College men’s golf team at the Maryland Terrapin Invitational. The Eagles finished in fourth in the 12-team tournament, which featured the Terps, Loyola Maryland, and Elon. On the individual leaderboard, Pandelena came in fifth. On the first day of play, the senior shot a 72. In the next two rounds, Pandelena shot a pair of 73s to finish the tournament with 35 pars and nine birdies to end the twoday outing at 2-over par.

Pat Albanesi was closest to Pandelena on the leaderboard, as he shot two 73s before struggling to a 79 in the third round of play. The final round pushed Albanesi to finishing nine over par. In addition, Andy Mai finished in the top 30, shooting 10-over at the invitational. John Jackopsic finished two places behind Mai in 31st.

As a team, the Eagles will be disappointed to have let their advantage slip in the tournament. The tournament’s first day of play ended with the team in third place. After shooting a combined 293 on day one, BC shot a 291 in the second round. The Eagles took 306 strokes in the final round, though, pushing them to a finish out of the top three.

Elon beat out the Eagles by one stroke. 

W. SOCCER

scoreboard

BC UVA

CHESTNUT HILL, MA 10/9 3 6

W. HOCKEY BC SLU

2 1

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Cole DeNormandie’s first goal of the season equalized the match on 82 minutes and came 41 seconds after the Bears took a 1-0 lead.

Eagles’ draw with Brown feels like a loss

BY ALEX FAIRCHILD Asst. Sports Editor When Quinn English sped around the Boston College defense in the 107th minute of the Eagles’ clash with Brown, the freshman forward had the goal and a Brown victory at his mercy. One-on-one with goalkeeper Alex Kapp, he should have scored. But Kapp came out to pressure the player and the ball. As the junior crashed into English at the right of penalty spot, the junior and his neon green jersey stuffed the ball and kept the game tied at 1-1.

This was just one of the many margins that decided the match between BC and Brown, as two minutes later, Isaac Normesinu side-footed a volley over the bar, even though he was just four yards away from the goal’s mouth.

Instead of mistakes keeping the Eagles from a non-conference triumph, it was missed opportunities that restricted them to a 1-1 draw against the Bears.

“It feels like a loss,” said associate head coach John Murphy. “There’s not too much you can say right now, because it can kind of be condescending to try and cheer them up after the game … you have to separate the result from the performance sometimes.”

BC thought it would be able to attack the Bears after playing each of its ACC matches after the loss to Clemson in a 4-4-1-1. Two banks of four suit the Eagles better, because it is easier for the players to understand. In addition, the system accounts for two wide midfielders that can defensively support the full backs, and a double screen of center midfielders tasked with protecting the back four.

In the diamond, which the team reverted to on Tuesday, the system becomes more complex.

“We had some early success with the diamond, and we wanted to go back to a more defensive mindset for the games after we played Louisville,” Murphy said.

“We have the defensive shape, which is good, but then it doesn’t translate to getting enough numbers forward into attack.”

M. HOCKEY

DOWD 3 G BC DONIAK 2 G UML

CANDON, NY 10/10

2 5

M. SOCCER

0 CARPENTER 1 G 1 A BC MARKS 1 G NCSU 0

In a 3-0 victory over Fordham last month, the team’s offense shows signs that it was starting to click and play the direct, yet attractive style of soccer it is capable of playing. But the coaching staff traded that momentum in order to be secure at the back. The move back to the diamond was supposed to give Normesinu more support up front, as Nick Butler, Phil Sandgren, and Zeiko Lewis were put in rotation with the sophomore.

Lewis played the best out of the three. His work in midfield was tireless on defense and when the team had the ball, as the Bermudan attacker dropped back to receive passes on several occasions. The sophomore’s lovely skill nearly led to BC’s opener on 37 minutes when he stuck a set piece from 45 yards onto the head of Dylan Pritchard, whose effort was parried away

by Mitch Kupstas.

The Eagles don’t usually generate chances from set plays. This is a passing team with a talented group of creative players, but nothing gelled. Part of that was the tall grass at the Babson field where the match was played, because the Newton Campus soccer field’s turf is being replaced.

That is not an excuse, though, and the coaching staff would be the first to say so.

“I think we were bogged down in the midfield a little bit, and I really think that’s usually been a strength of ours,” Murphy said. “We pass the ball, usually, very well.”

Without movement off the ball, nothing happened in the attack, and it gave the Bears room to take advantage. In the 81st minute, the Bears finally took advantage when Quinn’s headed flick at the top of the box split BC’s back line. Louis Zingas read the play and punished the Eagles by scoring.

Ed Kelly’s team responded quickly when Cole DeNormandie leveled the match just 41 seconds later. Pritchard rarely attacks from his right full back position, but he raided the flank and drove the ball on the ground to the senior midfielder, who was unmarked at the top of the six.

In the overtime period, chances were few and far between. It was up to Kapp to

defend Brown’s corner kicks, as the Bears loaded the six-yard box on set plays or crashed the box from its edges. Kapp has been excellent in the air, though, and he was able to deal the lone corner Brown had by laying out to keep it away.

“Alex has been very good for us and I’m disappointed for conceding the goal, because as of late, we haven’t been allowing a lot,” Murphy said. “He made a couple of important saves, and you could be looking at a loss instead of a tie.”

Kapp is listed as a 6-foot, 182-pound goalkeeper, which is a bit on the small side, when there are stronger and taller keepers on the team.

“You have to work on your weaknesses,” Kapp said. “I’m not that 6-2 goalkeeper.

I just have to work on my vertical and all that kind of stuff. That’s why I have to work on my feet. I have to be better with my feet.

I have to set myself aside from the other goalkeepers that are just huge.”

The junior is also responsible for organizing a back four that has been strong this season. In the opening games, BC’s coaching staff played with a higher line, and central defender Atobra Ampadu is eager to squeeze the match to suppress the opponents’ moves forward.

“We have to be communicating out of the back a little more to our midfielders, so that our midfielders are in tact with what we’re doing,” Kapp said. “I think we just need to be on the same page as our midfielders.”

BC’s problems are not centered on the back four, though, and Kapp has been strong in backing up the rearguard when having to serve as its last line of defense.

Issues with the team hinge on whether the skillful front three and four players can finish the chances they create. By squandering opportunities, BC portrays itself as a team worse than it really is.

“We let ourselves down a little bit today,” Murphy said. “I think we can perform a little bit better than that.”

To qualify for the ACC Tournament, the Eagles will have to play stronger and finish, because as of now, they would not make the postseason. 

LOWELL, MA 10/10 VOLLEYBALL

CHESTNUT HILL, MA 10/10

BC 0 DUKE 3

TOPOR 10 K SKLAR 12 K

BC LU

RALEIGH, NC 10/11

M. SOCCER

MURPHY 132 YDS (R) BRISSETT 174 YDS (P)

BC BROWN

CALNAL 1 G GAMBARDELLA 1 G 1 A

BOSTON, MA 10/10 FOOTBALL KAPP 4 SVS MCCAULEY 4 SVS

BC 30 NCSU 14

LOUISVILLE, KY11/11 10/12 Boston, Ma

W. SOCCER 1 0

DOWD 1 G BROWN 2 SVS

Newton, BABSON PARK,MA MA11/09 10/14 1 1

DENORMANDIE 1 G ZINGAS 1 G

SPORTS

A10

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2014

How to coach the uncoachable ALEX FAIRCHILD “Nana!”

And then, everything stopped.

The players froze, the ball ceased rolling in the middle of the possession drill, and with his gray hair and sunglasses, Ed Kelly, the Boston College men’s soccer team’s head coach of 27 years, yelled, “Why didn’t you play that 1-2 with Moro?”

Derrick Boateng, otherwise known as “Nana,” just stood there and shrugged.

“Why not?” Kelly screamed.

The whole team stood quietly with each player staring at the ground.

“We need to start thinking, guys,” Kelly said. “Notre Dame is over.”

This situation from last Tuesday’s soccer practice reveals two important issues in the lives of players: 1) Decision-making and 2) Coachability.

Whenever people think about the cause and effect of what happens in sports—soccer or not—none of the tactics or strategies covered can work without the above two components. In other words, it’s assumed that each player’s decisionmaking is perfect, and that each player is coachable to the fullest extent.

For example, if I write about the midfield diamond and its workings, I’m assuming that Kelly and associate head coach John Murphy can teach it perfectly to every player, and that every player will listen. I’m also assuming that within the diamond, every player will know how the coaching staff wants the system, and that he or she will make the right decisions all the time.

Comprehension of tactical systems varies among different athletes. Some players watch tape and others don’t—and some players have high IQs in their sport, which their teammates might lack.

The willingness to learn from a coach is an important trait. Players are often selected in squads based on whether they’ll listen and carry out instructions.

Take Louis van Gaal, the manager of Manchester United.

He’s the guy who masterminded the Netherlands’ remarkable run to the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup, and had the team been better from the penalty spot, the Dutch would have reached the final.

People forget that the Oranje were not even supposed to get out of their group.

The extremely young squad was right in van Gaal’s wheelhouse. After losing Kevin Strootman to injury and with the performances of the team’s three-headed attacking trio turbulent as ever, van Gaal realized that the 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 were not going to yield success.

The Dutchman had to mix it up, and the team bought into his plans.

An older group of players, or a more rebellious crew, might not have listened.

Playing the three/five back system that the Dutch did, and giving specific man-marking instructions not for one player, but for an entire midfield, is about as unheard of as a freshman guy from Newton getting invited to a Mod. Van Gaal’s system worked because the players were coachable. Daley Blind and Georginio Wijnaldum bought in, as did the three center backs. Sure, van Gaal might be a psychopath who has the tendency to resemble German dictators when giving public speeches in Munich, show his teams his genitals, and tell Wayne Rooney how to shoot, but the man is a genius. To achieve success at the World Cup, his players let his genius work through them.

But what should be done about players who resemble Van Gaal in that they have an indescribable intelligence, but refuse to conform? Van Gaal has been successful despite his antics, so why haven’t coaches done the same with players?

Take Nana.

The junior has the first touch of a La Liga star and the work rate of Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson, who hasn’t stopped running since last year’s 1-0 win over Manchester United.

Nana can’t find his way into the team, though, and he has not been a consistent

See Column, A8

The French Connection Born across the atlantic, Runner Liv Westphal is BC’s ‘all-american’ JOHN WILEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

BY JOHN WILEY Heights Editor The recorded high in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 23, 2013, was 34 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low of 19. Muddy trails and steady winds made conditions punishingly cold for the 254 women running at the NCAA Division I Championships. Terre Haute was far from home for Liv Westphal: 4,290 miles, to be exact. The only athlete representing Boston College at the race, Westphal finish 17th in the country last season, completing the 6k circuit with a time of 20:30. And with that, she made her way onto the All-American Honor Roll for cross county track.

Westphal was not all American, and moving to the U.S. in August of 2011, she had her doubts of whether

she would even make it to Christmas.

Born in Milan, Germany, Westphal moved to France at age four, growing up just 200 miles outside of Paris in Limoges. A dual citizen of Germany and France, she began racing competitively at age 15 while studying in Spain for eight months. By the time BC recruited Westphal to the women’s cross country and track teams, she was already a two-time National Junior Champion in France, ranked sixth in the country.

Westphal made her decision to move across the Atlantic after only briefly speaking over the phone with BC track coach Randy Thomas. When she arrived in the U.S. late summer before her freshman year, it was her first time visiting Boston and meeting the people with whom she would spend her next four-plus years. She made no official visit to the University before arriving

to move in, and began classes with only limited English proficiency. The decision was rash, but to Westphal, it just made sense.

“I’d always kind of been all around the world, and American universities have a very good reputation abroad,” Westphal said. “It gave me the ability to combine good academics with really good athletics.”

When it comes to race strategy, Westphal emphasized the importance of a strong start. “I think it’s easier to lose some places than to gain a lot,” she said.

Adapting to life in a new country, however, Westphal was forced to start well behind the line. In France, high schools do not traditionally offer athletic programs, so

See Westphal, A8

Tigers aiming for a statement win in Chestnut Hill

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

RICHARD SHIRO / AP PHOTO

Addazio’s defense must get off the field come Loss of Watson to injury will hurt the Tigers, Saturday to give his offense a fighting chance but a Beasley-led defense still fuels Clemson

BY TOMMY MELORO Heights Staff It was a chilly day for football in East Rutherford, N.J. At 49 degrees Fahrenheit, it wasn’t quite the coldest Super Bowl on record. In fact, for early February, 49 degrees is nearly a balmy day in northern New Jersey. On that Sunday, 82,529 people packed inside of Metlife Stadium to watch what they believed would be a battle between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks for the Lombardi Trophy.

What they saw instead was a slaughter, as the Seahawks defense completely smothered Peyton Manning and the Broncos’ prolific offense, which had been averaging 36.44 points per game.

It was another compelling reminder that the adage “defense wins championships” isn’t just something that Mike Ditka and Bill Parcells, who coached perhaps the two most feared defenses of all time (1985 Chicago Bears and 1986 New York Giants), pronounce without any

I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE

evidence.

BY MICHAEL SULLIVAN This weekend, the Clemson UniverFor The Heights sity Tigers come to Chestnut Hill boasting the nation’s sixth-ranked defense Everyone has that one friend whose in terms of yards per game, ready to life is pristinely in order: countless hours suffocate Tyler Murphy and the Boston spent at a varsity sports practice and College multi-faceted even more volunteerrushing attack just as ing in Boston while still Seattle stopped Denkeeping an impeccable ver in early February in social reputation and a New Jersey. sterling GPA. For this The FBS defenses kid, everything clicks— t h at B C h av e f a c e d nothing can tear him thus far include North or her away from this OCT. 18. 2014 Carolina State, ranked seemingly endless hot BC vs. Clemson.

72nd, USC, ranked 75th, streak.

3:30 p.m. ET ESPN Colorado State, ranked But watch this friend 100th, UMass, ranked 112th, and Pittsvery closely: come midterm season, burgh, ranked fourth. Pittsburgh was homework piles up, expectations get really the only team able to contain BC’s higher, and all of a sudden, the hard rushing attack, limiting the Eagles to work crumbles as quickly as it came. In just 142 yards. In that game, the Eagles other words, this kid chokes under the fell behind early and were never able pressure, unable to clinch a completely to catch up, throwing off their favorite spotless record.

This weekend, the No. 24 Clemson Tigers hope to avoid choking again, takSee BC, A8

Head of The Charles: A Classic New England Event Heights Contributor John Pugh waxes passionate on the quintessential fall regatta as its 50th anniversary approaches this weekend................A9

ing on Boston College at Alumni Stadium.

The Tigers moved back into the AP Top 25 after defeating the ACC rival Louisville 23-17, continuing a three game ACC win streak and increasing to 4-2, with a 3-1 record in the ACC. It’s notable, however, that each of Clemson’s three ACC wins came while unranked—that’s because the Tigers suffered two early season losses to ranked opponents: then-No. 12 Georgia, in a 45-21 rout, and then-No. 1 Florida State, 23-17 in overtime. And while a hardfought defeat to FSU could seem like a positive, the Seminoles lacked defending Heisman winner Jameis Winston, a loss which represented a golden opportunity for the Tigers to take control of the ACC and the polls.

Save for the brutal loss to Georgia, Clemson looks poised to dominate the Eagles on defense, as it has done all year. The Tigers rank 18th in passing defense—an asset that will most likely

See Clemson, A8

Scoreboard...........................................................................................................A9 Editors’ Picks.........................................................................................................A9

Wiley’s Follies

What Would Kanye Do? Life lessons from the selfproclaimed god, Page B2 Album Review

Edgar Allan POe Statue

the Independent rapper chokes on ‘People Keep talking,’ Page B3

Bc Professor Paul Lewis discusses the author’s boston legacy, b4

Hoodie Allen

The Raven’s Return to the Frog Pond Thursday, October 16, 2014

the

Senior Alex Navarro and His guitar travel around Boston for his ‘sessions’ Video series See Page B2 Heights Photo Illustration / Jordan Pentaleri | Emily Sadeghian / Heights Editor

The Heights

B2

Thursday, October 16, 2014

outside the lines

Don’t call me basic, b—tch

Michelle Tomassi When someone says the word “basic,” what comes to mind? At one point, the word was used to convey concepts that are simple: basic math, learning the basics, getting back to basics. The term was merely a necessary starting point before venturing into a more complex field.

Everyone has to start with the basics, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Almost overnight, the word has taken on a much different significance. Ask any Boston College student for what comes to mind when someone says “basic,” and the first response will most likely be “pumpkin spice latte” (which has recently been given its own acronym, PSL). Other fall-themed things are also often labeled as basic: apple picking, wearing scarves with vests, and posing in a pumpkin patch. For some reason, being excited about seasonal changes is associated with “basicness.” If you say, “I love fall,” be prepared for confrontation from The Basic Police.

The Basic Police, I have noticed, is everywhere. It’s lurking behind you in the Chocolate Bar as you order your PSL, chanting “that’s so basic” as you pick up your delicious drink. It’s judging your meal choices—if you love Chobani, granola, or anything associated with the word “brunch,” you’re labeled as basic.

The Basic Police are sitting on your couch, forcing you to question that decision to watch The Notebook for the 10th time or to watch Sex and the City re-runs.

It’s hiding in your closet, ready to pounce at the first sight of leggings, a North Face, and boots—and if they’re worn together, well, you’ve just put yourself on high alert for basicness.

The Basic Police is no more real than the Beygency (just to be safe: I love every Beyonce song ever made). The threat of being called “basic,” however, is everywhere. If there isn’t someone physically there to remind me that my PSL is unoriginal, then the voice in my head will gladly do so. I try to ignore it, but it’s nearly impossible for me to say “pumpkin spice” without thinking of the b-word.

We have several associations with the word “basic,” but what does it actually mean? The word has been used by artists such as Tyga and Lil’ Wayne, and even merited a song from rapper The Game, simply called “Basic B—tch.” Urban Dictionary offers definitions such as, “Used to describe someone devoid of defining characteristics that might make a person interesting, extraordinary, or just simply worth devoting time or attention to.” More commonly, the word is heard in reference to a “basic b—tch,” which can be defined as “just an extra regular female” who “fulfills all the stereotypes of your typical 22-year-old white girl and absolutely nothing more.” It’s almost exclusively used in reference to females, and can be used as an insult or a form of unity. You can call someone basic, or you can accept yourself as basic, and unite with fellow PSL drinkers in shared basicness. A girl may even gladly offer herself up to the Basic Police: I’ve heard on several occasions some proud declarations of “we’re so basic,” or ending a sentence with #basic.

Soon enough, Urban Dictionary won’t be the only one defining the popular term. If “selfie” was the word of the year in 2013, then the Oxford Dictionary better prepare to add a new definition of “basic” for 2014.

Even though being basic has negative connotations—it’s basically (pun intended) calling someone unoriginal who blindly follows popular trends—it has a certain appeal, as well. It’s harmless enough that it can be used in regular conversation, but it has just the right amount of insult to make it funny.

At what point, however, does “basic” become dangerous?

Calling a bunch of girls basic because they engage in stereotypical “female behavior” just perpetuates the stereotypes that exist, and adds an additional stress of being “labeled” as a certain type of girl. The only male equivalent to basic that I can think of is “bro,” but even that doesn’t come across as an insult.

Not every girl who is called basic will necessarily feel insulted, but at some point, it starts to feel as though we are being defined by these physical things. It may just be a single word, but it’s a word that innately causes women to question themselves, or self-label to avoid being targeted as such.

So, next time you decide what to wear, don’t go for the leggings-sweaterscarf combo because it fits your “basic” personality—wear it because it’s cozy and comfortable. And don’t be afraid that someone will overhear your order for a pumpkin spice latte. Just drink up, because it’s damn delicious.

Michelle Tomassi is the Asst. Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.

Emily Sadeghian / Heights editor

Alex Navarro, BC musician and CSOM ’15, travels around campus and the city at large, filming himself performing in unusual, and at times restricted, locations for his ‘Sessions’ series.

Senior Alex Navarro takes his music to the streets

By James Farrell For The Heights A few weekends ago, singer-songwriter Alex Navarro, CSOM ’15, was performing in Boston’s Quincy Market when something special happened. It was the time of night when the rushed hustle of the day begins to slow down, and tourists looking for something to do are more inclined to stop and listen. A large congregation of about 100 onlookers gathered around Navarro and his acoustic guitar.

Suddenly, just before the last song, Navarro’s battery-powered speaker system died, leaving him volume-less, powerless, and forced to improvise. Instead of calling it a night, Navarro walked up to the crowd with guitar in hand and played his last song unplugged, singing without the aid of a microphone, as the congregation excitedly welcomed him by gathering closely around.

“Everybody loved it,” Navarro said. “For me, that was like one of my highlights.”

Being able to engage people with your music under any possible circumstances is the mark of an experienced performer, and with the amount of time Navarro has dedicated to his musical career, there is no doubt that it is a mark he possesses.

“It’s become pretty routine at this point,” he says of his frequent performances at Quincy Market. “Routine” is putting it lightly.

Over this past summer, Navarro performed at the popular tourist spot about five days

a week. Navarro plays acoustic music, influenced heavily by singer-songwriters like James Taylor and folk musicians like Bob Dylan. Accompanied by his guitar and a seasoned voice, raspy beyond its years, he would fill two or three hour time slots with covers and original songs, handing out free CDs to anyone who would stop and listen.

With the start of the semester, he has dialed back his Quincy performances to about twice a week, but that doesn’t mean that he has dialed back his musical workload.

If one eats at Lower or Hillside, there is a good chance he or she has seen Navarro there, doing the same thing he does at Quincy Market. He has been slated to play every other Thursday in Hillside and Tuesdays in Lower. In addition, you might see him playing at big events with his band, Free Alley.

Just recently, the group played at Alumni Stadium’s Superfan Zone for a game day tailgate performance.

You might also see him playing around campus, filming another edition of his “BC Campus Sessions.” This series of videos features Navarro playing popular covers with other BC musicians in various scenic locations on campus. Just recently, he filmed a few covers with fellow BC musicians John Guzzi and Lisa Bai overlooking Alumni Stadium, but has also ventured to more creative places.

“You ever been in that closet, or the balcony outside [Lyons] 409 if you climb out the

window?” he asked, with a slight grin. “We thought it’d be sick to do a video out there.”

Sure enough, he and Guzzi filmed a few covers, such as the popular “Pumped Up Kicks,” on the balcony of Lyons with the brightly lit Gasson in the background.

Navarro has done videos outside of BC as well, as part of a separate but related series he calls the “City Sessions.” These feature him singing in various locations around Boston, varying from a moving car to the World War II memorial. Through his “Sessions” videos, Navarro uses the backdrops of his life to showcase the music that he loves so much.

The project was born out of a desire to be “approaching music in a different way.” With each video, Navarro does just that, allowing his music to evolve and adapt with his changing environment.

Already busy with ongoing projects and performances, Navarro is also hard at work on his first-ever, full-length album. The album will consist of entirely original songs and is being recorded back in his home of Connecticut. Whenever he has a chance to go home, he works with a producer who plays many of the instruments on the album.

Navarro considers himself a singersongwriter before a musician. “I’m pretty self-conscious about my instrumental ability,” said Navarro. “My voice is the only thing I’m really comfortable with.”

Inspired by classic singer-songwriters like his all-time favorite, Jackson Browne,

Navarro hopes to create an album that captures his musical personality, especially as a singer and as a songwriter.

When it comes to the future, Navarro only dreams of music. “If I felt like I developed a following and I could get a chance to go on tour after graduating, that’s what I’d want to do,” he said. “Obviously, that’s a long shot for everybody.”

There is some truth to that, of course. The music industry is not friendly to everybody.

Even at BC, many talented student musicians operate just below the consciousness of campus culture, struggling to get exposure and attention.

Yet if one thing is certain about Navarro, it’s that he is doing everything he can to live the life of a musician. He is completely engrossed in his art, seeking out every opportunity possible.

As for his Quincy Market shows, the response to his unplugged performance a few weeks ago has encouraged him to try the same thing again. In the video of a purposefully “unplugged” performance, a small group of people stands around Navarro in a tight semi-circle, waving cell phones in the air to stand in for lighters while he croons the lyrics to the Avett Brothers’ song, “Laundry Room.”

Navarro is constantly moving to new spaces, modifying his style to fit into the unconventional environments of his “Sessions” series. Just like his sound, Navarro, as a performer, has learned to adapt. n

Wiley’s Follies

Life lessons from Kanye (or: How to lose friends and create enemies)

John Wiley Kanye West is a man of great wisdom best avoided. If you’re looking to quickly end a relationship, lose a couple friends, make questionable parenting decisions, or otherwise enhance your worldly suffering, the Chicago rapper is a treasure trove of relevant advice. It is with great reluctance that I share my experience embodying the life philosophy of Kanye West.

Indeed, many a college admissions offers must have scoffed as they read that oddball essay—written by an Eagle Scout from Bloomfield, N.J.—detailing how West’s music was integral to his education.

A word of advice: if you’re a high school senior getting started on the Common App, do not, I repeat, do not admit that Kanye West is your role model, no matter

how much the essay prompt tempts you.

No one appreciates your honesty, and you’ll be better served picking a more respected public figure, like Michael Phelps or Tiger Woods.

I first heard West’s “Through the Wire” in fifth grade, and for better or worse, it stuck with me. West was then a young artist, initiating his career after a car accident. His jaw still wired shut, West bravely detailed his stint with death, and how it changed him (“Through the fire, to the limit, to the wall / For a chance to be with you, I’d gladly risk it all”). I was then an introverted 11-year-old with a heavy speech impediment, and the idea that this man—who at the time was nominated for his first Grammy as a rapper—struggled to find words resonated with me.

For a time, it would seem I had picked the wrong role model to cling to. Soon after his emergence as a national celebrity, West was built out by the media as an arrogant, insensitive figure. But I did not see arrogance. I saw an artist, speaking with candor—not even blinking as he pointed out the inherent racism in President George Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina on

national television.

The idea of “celebrity” developed quite rapidly in the 20th century, with technologies like television and consumer photography elevating certain people to an almost godlike status. The role of celebrities in pop culture grew more rapidly over the last decade with the mass proliferation of online content. Over the years, West’s brash remarks have been magnified by the evolving viral landscape. While most artists took added measures to shrink away from the headlines, measuring words to avoid media scrutiny, West’s comments have grown more extreme.

I am not necessarily endorsing any of West’s recent behavior. I do not regard every remark he makes as a pearl of wisdom, or even defensible, for that matter.

Embodying West’s extraordinary egotism will not get you far at dinner parties, and any defense of his antics is unlikely to get past a first read in the college admissions process.

But the untethered caution by which most public figures are watching their speech is crippling our sense of what it means to be authentic. It’s a challenge to

pick role models when near all artists are careful cropping their public images—so much so that media relations business has bubbled to one of the biggest pieces of the entertainment industry.

Authenticity isn’t synonymous with reckless behavior, but with nearly all of us now tailoring our online personas to appease family members, potential employers, even casual acquaintances, strangers, it’s worth looking at how West made a career doing namely the opposite.

Kanye West is a man of great wisdom best avoided—but you need not agree with his publicly held beliefs to admire the conviction with which he holds them.

So what exactly is Kanye West telling us? Take a stance. Write something controversial. Don’t shy away from pointing out that elephant sitting across the room.

Few of us actually claim to be gods, and it’s a waste to measure our words as if we’re trying.

John Wiley is the Arts & Review Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at arts@bcheights.com.

This weekend in arts

By: Ariana Igneri | Associate Arts & Review Editor

1. BC Street (Friday 10/17, 10:45 a.m.)

The city of Boston comes to BC for RHA’s annual Street event, featuring free food from some of the city’s best eateries—including J.P. Licks and Real Deal—and performances from several campus a cappella and dance groups, such as Synergy and B.E.A.T.S.

2. Cosmic Loops (Thursday 10/9, 6:30 p.m.)

Music comes to the Milky Way for the Museum of Science’s special planetarium concert, featuring vivid visuals of nebulas, galaxies, and constellations as well as a performance by four-time Grammy Awardwinning cellist Eugene Friesen and double-neck guitarist Ian Ethan. Tickets are $15 at mos.org.

3. Dress With Respect Fashion Show (Thursday 10/16, 7 p.m.)

UGBC and FACES are unmasking the issues surrounding offensive costumes with Thursday evening’s Halloween Fashion Show. The event will feature a showcase, an open discussion, and free food.

4. Harvard Square Ghost Tour (Through Sunday 11/2)

Get in the fall spirit with Harvard Square’s Ghost Tour, taking place each Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. until the beginning of November. Tours gather in front of the Harvard Coop, near the Harvard Square T stop. Student tickets are $12, and reservations are required.

See cambridgehistoricaltours.org for more info.

5. Neil Patrick Harris Signs books (Friday 10/17, 7 p.m.)

Friday evening at the Brookline Booksmith is going to be legendary—to promote the release of his new autobiography, Neil Patrick Harris of How I Met Your Mother will be at the Coolidge Corner store for an exclusive signing. Tickets are free with the purchase of the book. Call 617-566-6660 for more information.

6. Shwayze & William Bolton (Thursday 10/16, 7:30 p.m.)

Pack the Rat tonight for a free concert with California rapper Shwayze and William Bolton, formerly known as Times New Roman. Space is limited to the first 500 people.

THE HEIGHTS

B3

Thursday, October 16, 2014

P!nk and Green blend sounds in new folk album ‘rose ave.’

BY CHRIS FULLER For The Heights

The phrase “opposites attract” carries little weight when it comes to music. In most cases, differences in style within collaborations can lead to ruin (think Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s “Accidental Racist”), but this is not the case with rose ave., the first album from You+Me, a recently formed folk duo comprised of singer-songwriter Dallas Green and American pop sensation, P!nk. Leaving behind her ego and image, P!nk presents herself with a noticeably different character and tone—a sound most newcomers would not even recognize. Coupled with friend and veteran folk singer Dallas Green, the two launch off on a journey exploring each other’s capabilities and styles.

Coming off of his success with the Canadian post-hardcore group, Alexisonfire, Green has had several years to define his style. Using the alias City and Colour, Green has released several exceptional folk albums, and he has collaborated with the biggest names in Canadian music. It’s Green’s expertise in the genre that serves as a base for the tone that the two have created together. Although each song on the album develops uniquely, a listener can recognize an overarching

feel to the record that almost takes away from the novelty of the project.

Almost. What rose ave. lacks in variety it makes up for with passion and complex, heart-felt lyricism. rose ave. opens with “Capsized,” a melody exploring the troubled pasts of these two performers and how those pasts have affected them as artists. P!nk’s voice has a passionate ring to it, blending well with a style of rhythmic beat and acoustic strum that will only grow more familiar as the album progresses. Their chant, “We were two ships in the night / Hell bent on trying to survive / And capsized” immediately etches itself into the listener’s mind. The cosmic backdrop—also present in the majority of the album—heightens the suspense of the track, infusing You+Me’s distinct sound with a sense of mystery.

The duo’s passion and vocal ability is teased out furthered in “From a Closet in Norway,” the next track on the album. This song is all about nostalgia: yearning for has been and appreciation of what is now gone. The two voices complement and play off of each other quite wonderfully. Echoing each other’s lyrics, the duo conveys a sense of conviction, painting vivid images with their words, and setting it to a bleak musical backdrop. P!nk’s echoing phrases at the end of the

track especially showcase the range of her voice.

“Love Gone Wrong” and the titular “You and Me” are also notable tracks included on the album. “Love Gone Wrong” best shows Green’s vocal capabilities and range—he’s given the entirety of the first verse, and when the voices do trade off, this song serves as a showcase for what these two can achieve together. The lyrics speak plainly and push back on some of the usual cliches used in songs dealing with separation.

“You and Me” is arguably the

most chart-ready track off the album, and its tone makes it distinct from the rest of the bunch. The song’s lyrics get at themes of connections and fate, with strong vocals to match the rich content. P!nk’s line, “And some days / Are better than others” can—in all its power—send chills rolling down your spine, and yet, she maintains a sense of grace throughout the track.

You+Me sets the bar extremely high with its first album. Whether this is that first coming together of two artists with a grand future as

partners, or just a one-time, shotin-the-dark project is yet to be seen, but the chemistry between P!nk and Green is undebatable. Although rose ave. might have benefited from a more dynamic mix of songs, what we are given sure does the trick. P!nk separates herself from a well-defined persona for this project, recognizing new potential for her voice. Her versatility as a vocalist fits phenomenally with Green’s experience in the folk genre, making for a lovely match of talent that will hopefully continue to develop in the future. 

ROSE AVE. YOU+ME PRODUCED BY RCA RECORDS RELEASED OCT. 14, 2014 OUR RATING

According to the Chinese calendar, 2014 is the year of the horse, but as far as Compton rapper The Game is concerned, hip-hop fans worldwide are now living in the year of the wolf.

Following 2012’s critically acclaimed Jesus Piece, Game releases his first studio album with Entertainment One Music after releasing his first five projects with Universal Music Group. Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf, produced by Game himself, along with Cash Jones and Stat Quo, delivers a solid project, filled with features of rising talent such as Ty Dolla $ign, Eric Bellinger, as well as Blood Money’s

newest signees, Skeme and Dubb.

While the album does not quite live up to the precedent that previous albums like Jesus Piece have set, the project offers a number of tracks that remind us why Game has been a mogul in the rap game for as long as he has.

The title of the album, Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf, is incredibly fitting, as almost every track gives off a general sentiment of aggression. In an interview over the summer with Los Angeles radio station Power 106, Game explained why he changed the title of his forthcoming album from Blood Money La Familia, to Blood Moon: Year of The Wolf: “People [are] pretty much terrified of wolves,” he said. “Wolves howl. They scream and

PHOTO COURTESY OF RCA

You + Me, a duo comprised of P!nk and folk singer Dallas Green, launches its career on a high note with ‘rose ave.’

do all of that. And I just feel like this year I got a lot to get off my chest … I got very angry artists that I’m signing … It’s a whole angry movement …

Basically, what I’mma do is I’m exposing everything.” And he does just that with “Bigger Than Me,” the first track on the album, which has a violent beat littered with chainsaw sound effects and an eerie yet striking female vocal loop. Within the first minute and 30 seconds of the album, Game makes his doubt in newcomers to the rap game very clear. He raps, “I came in with Ye, Jeezy, and boss ass n—as / Your freshman cover a whole bunch of soft ass n—as / tampon lyricists, evacuate the premises / Mute BET cyphers, cause I don’t wanna hear that s—t.” Game

BLOOD MOON: YEAR OF THE WOLF THE GAME PRODUCED BY ENTERTAINMENT ONE MUSIC RELEASED OCT. 14, 2014 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF ENTERTAINMENT ONE MUSIC

Rapper The Game addresses personal and national issues with raw honesty in his latest album ‘Year of the Wolf.’

explains his overall disassociation with many of the emerging artists in today’s rap game and emphasizes the noticeable difference between today’s budding talent and the up-and-coming artists of his day.

The theme of uncut honesty and aggression is continued throughout the project with the equally forceful track “F.U.N.” “F.U.N.,” ironically standing for “F—k U N—as,” is one of the three songs on the 18-track album that Game does on his own.

Just before the chorus, the Compton rapper references his falling out with the East Coast hip-hop collective GUnit, as he was left off of the invite list for the group’s reunion earlier this year. The beef between Game and G-Unit began in 2005, shortly after the release of Game’s debut album, The Documentary, on which G-Unit’s most prominent member (50 Cent) was heavily featured.

Game raps, “G-Unit had a reunion … Man f—k you N—as.”

While Game does spend a portion of the project addressing personal issues he has with other rappers, and the industry as a whole, he uses his fearless emotional transparency to address issues bigger than himself. Following the tragic shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., Game assembled some of the most prominent names in the rap game (Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Wale, and Curren$y to name a few) to rap over a DJ Khaled-produced track

called “Don’t Shoot” in honor of the slain teen. On the seventh track of the album, “The Purge,” Game continues to express his deliberation of the world’s issues, and specifically continues his reflection of Brown’s death in the third verse. The track reveals that Game is not only concerned about his personal quarrels, but that he has genuine concern for the greater community which surrounds him.

The sixth track, “Married To the Game,” featuring French Montana, Dubb, and Sam Hook, is easily the most successful song on the entire album. Hook adds a beautifully sung, captivating chorus delicately placed between strong verses from Game, Dubb, and Montana (yes, Montana’s verse is actually pretty good). Other notable tracks include, “Food For My Stomach,” featuring Dubb and Skeme, and “Or Nah,” featuring Too $hort, Problem, AV, and Eric Bellinger. The remainder of the tracks are, overall, very mediocre. Game struggles on tracks such as “F—k Yo Feelings,” featuring a horribly autotuned chorus by Lil Wayne, and “Best Head Ever,” featuring a boring sounding Tyga and Pharaoh Prophet.

Largely, the album falls short of what we have come to expect from Game, yet he still delivers an aggressive, brutally honest project with a fair number of enjoyable tracks.

While it may not be fair to call 2014 the year of the wolf, Game certainly gives us a reason to howl. 

Hoodie Allen has all the wrong words on ‘People Keep Talking’

BY CAM HARDING For The Heights

Twenty-six-year-old rapper Hoodie Allen has been building a career and fan base through social media since 2012. This week, the Long Island native released his first studio album, People Keep Talking.

Allen’s music might actually cost something now, but the 14-track debut is hardly a leap in quality from his mixtape material. “The message is about being an individual and not feeling ashamed to keep going for things that are not super-traditional,” Allen said in an interview with Newsday. Despite his uplifting words, this message hardly manifests itself in the album—any concept behind People Keep Talking is drowned beneath wave after wave of generic songs centered almost exclusively on girls. Even Allen’s other generic rap tropes—partying, alcohol, drugs, money, and fame—are completely dwarfed by this focus of the album. For anyone between the ages of 12 and 25 lacking a Y chromosome and interested in the comforting familiarity of a brainless, starry-eyed, “feel good” album, People Keep Talking is definitely worth a listen. For anyone else, it’s a forgettable, run-of-the-mill product with average beats, predictable flows, and lyricism

ranging from boring to baffling.

The production of People Keep Talking is by no means terrible, but it’s nothing special. Although the beats are decently engineered, they become nearly interchangeable by the third or fourth song. Hoodie’s nasally delivery resembles a blend of white boy impersonations of Drake and Chance the Rapper spliced with Slim Shady LP-era Eminem. His singing is slightly more tolerable, but has a painfully poppy and familiar cadence. While his flows vary, with nearly effortless switches between rapping and singing, nothing in this is particularly outstanding.

The lyricism is terrible. Hardly a single line is clever, insightful, amusing, or memorable. In “The Real Thing” there is a single line that practically summarizes the entire album: “My life is like a song that’s stuck on f—king repeat.” As mentioned, nearly every line is something to the effect of “girl, I want you.” Half of the sexual innuendos alternate between clumsy and corny. A few examples include, “We can be like two digits cause ain’t no one equivalent to you” and “I’ll take your girl from court side just to show her the lockers.” A few of the songs mention heartbreak and relationships, but on such a superfluous level that it hardly feels personal.

Hoodie also fleetingly addresses critics and competitors, but, again, in a minimalistic way. His jabs at other emcees hardly evolves past one-dimensional “I got your girl on my arm” disses aimed at no one. In “Act my Age” Hoodie gets as close to a concrete response to critics as he can manage. “They say the way I act is immature / But don’t get mad at me because you’re insecure.” Aside from being a shallow, childish response, the chorus of this song ironically celebrates how Hoodie will never act his age. The rhythm and delivery of

this same chorus could seamlessly fit into a Katy Perry song. Many of the tiresome hooks resemble “rebellious” tween anthems.

As frat rap, however, there’s one important question that remains to be answered: is it good to get drunk to? Frankly, no. The songs are too lyrical to be club hits, the instrumentals are upbeat but don’t quite capture a Dionysian vibe, and the mix between explicit eroticism and borderline kid-friendly hooks confounds the tone. At best, it’s mediocre pregame music.

TOP SINGLES

1 All About That Bass Meghan Trainor 2 Shake It Off Taylor Swift 3 Black Widow Iggy Azalea feat.

Rita Ora 4 Habits (Stay High) Tove Lo 5 Bang Bang Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj 6 Don’t Tell ’Em Jeremih

TOP ALBUMS

For rapper The Game, 2014 marks the ‘Year of the Wolf ’

BY HARRY MITCHELL Heights Staff

CHART TOPPERS

The only aspect of Hoodie’s persona that is actually offensive is his emphasis on being “independent.”

In “Against Me,” he states, “F—k that mass appeal s—t / F—k that record deal s—t.” Ironically, while Hoodie is not signed to a major label (and his album has no celebrity features), his music reflects nearly every generic, cookie-cutter trend routinely manufactured by the mainstream industry.

His “individualistic” identity feels more like a cheap gimmick machinated in a transparent attempt to try to stand out. 

PEOPLE KEEP TALKING HOODIE ALLEN PRODUCED BY RJ FERGUSON RELEASED OCT. 14, 2014 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF HOODIE ALLEN

With mediocre lyrics and generic beats, Hoodie Allen’s ‘People Keep Talking’ fails in its attempts to stand out.

1 Old Boots, New Dirt Jason Aldean 2 Hozier Hozier 3 Partners Barbra Streisand 4 Cheek to Cheek Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga 5 Everything Will Be Alright Weezer Source: Billboard.com

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK

BY MARIAN WYMAN

“HEROES (WE COULD BE)” ALESSO

EDM music is not usually known for its heart. With such huge musical production going into every song, meaningful lyrics and storylines are usually set aside.

Alesso—a DJ and producer known predominantly for his remixes— pays attention to story, though, in his music video for original song “Heroes (We Could Be),” featuring vocalist Tove Lo. The video for this single is incredibly dramatic—it has the intensity of a big-budget action movie packed into a five-minute clip. In an eerie, post-apocalyptic setting, teens and kids in an underground jail facility are realizing the powers they possess: a young girl who can create fire, a teenage boy who can cut through rock with laser beam. Although this romanticized view of a superhero is not exactly what the lyrics are getting at, its metaphorical significance is clear. The symbolic nature of their powers is telling of the human potential in every individual.

As the video progresses, particular attention is paid to one character: a girl wearing large, theatrical angel wings, but clearly suffering in her environment.

Alesso, who previously had only been seen in the video walking around rather aimlessly, takes charge at this point. While the other characters are looking for an escape from the prison, Alesso knows that the angel won’t be able to. He takes her by the hand, runs up to the facility’s roof, and they run off the ledge together.

In an incredible act of sacrifice, the angel flies off with her enormous wings, and Alesso is seen at the bottom, crashed on top of a car—presumed to be dead.

With this emotional storyline, the music video for “Heroes (We Could Be)” displays a more personal take on EDM. It’s still a dance song—one that will undoubtedly be played at parties— but the video gives it meaning, making “Heroes (We Could Be)” unique in the genre. 

SINGLE REVIEWS BY EILEEN KAO TAYLOR SWIFT “Out of the Woods”

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER “Good Girls” After much talk, Taylor Swift finally released her new single, and it’s more pleasing than “Shake it Off.” Straying from her country roots, Swift takes more of a pop/synthetic approach in the song, which has a continuously catchy beat. With her strong acoustics, Swift showcases newfound talent with synthesizers and strong lyrics.

Unfortunately, this British group has come out with another typical boy band song—one that doesn’t have the best of messages, either. With their unoriginal usage of pop beats, the song doesn’t properly showcase the voices of each member, as the instruments seem louder than their voices. Hopefully in their next single, the band will shine more than the instruments.

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS “Froot” Marina’s unique voice is audible in her new single, but the sounds that she chooses to match up with her voice don’t work quite as well as her older songs. The song has a disco/pop feel, but it doesn’t work out as well as planned.

Although a voice can make a song, the words and sounds are just as important, and Marina doesn’t quite get that in “Froot.”

The Heights

B4

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Nevermore: Professor Lewis monumentalizes Poe’s Boston legacy

PHOTOs courtesy of russ Rocknak

A life-size and site-specific bronze sculpture of Boston native Edgar Allan Poe was set up at the intersection of Boylston St. and Charles St. this month to commemorate the literary history of the Gothic author.

By Ariana Igneri Assoc. Arts & Review Editor The contents of his tattered briefcase—papers, books, and a single, beating heart—trail behind him while his coat billows in the New England wind. His face is somber, his hand dismissive, his leg mid-stride.

He’s leaving everything behind and moving on, with an oversized raven leading the way.

Earlier this month, The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation officially welcomed Edgar Allan Poe back home, unveiling a life-sized statue of the Gothic writer on the corner of Boylston St. and Charles St. South to commemorate his Boston heritage.

Unlike other Poe memorials in cities where the author is affiliated, Boston’s statue is location-specific, said Boston College English professor and Poe Foundation chair Paul Lewis. “We didn’t just want a general memorial to Poe. There’s one of those in Richmond, and another in Baltimore,” Lewis said. “Poe sitting as an author—that could be anywhere.”

Each detail of Poe’s Boston sculpture deliberately alludes to Poe’s ties to his birthplace and situates him within Boston’s cultural history. The 5-foot-8 bronze statue is dynamic, illustrating Poe heading across the square toward the site where his parents used to live. “He’s come back as a ghostly figure, bursting with his creative energy, which is literally pouring out of his suitcase in both directions,” said Lewis, who fell in love with the darkly humorous nature of Poe’s work as a middle school student.

There’s more to Poe’s story and to his statue than his birth, however. Poe had a tumultuous relationship with Boston, Lewis said, and even though he published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, his most famous short story, “The Tell Tale Heart,” as well as some of his last works here, Poe is not usually remembered as a Bostonian.

On the whole, Poe lived in Boston for less than a year—mostly when he was just a baby. When Poe did associate with the city later in his life, he criticized its transcendentalist and

abolitionist writers, pejoratively calling them “Frogpondians” because he thought they sounded like the croaking frogs of the Boston Common with their didactic writing style.

Poe was a new, different, and exciting kind of author, Lewis said.

While other writers of the period, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Charles Sprague, favored literature that taught its readers a lesson, Poe valued art for art’s sake.

Poe separated himself from his native city’s literary legacy through this feud, but Lewis said he hopes that Boston’s new memorial will help remedy the severed bond.

“The statue brings Poe back into the pantheon of Boston’s authors and inserts his story into our literary past,” Lewis said. “The past focused a little too much on the Frogpondians, who were very much connected to different causes and ideas, but now both of those positions are out there within a few feet of the Boston Common.”

The Poe Foundation came out of the Poe bicentennial and was started in 2009 in order to install a permanent

work of art honoring the American author in Boston. Over the last five years, the foundation has worked to select a design, raise funds, and move through the city’s seven-stage public art approval procedure. “It’s actually more stagey than it sounds,” Lewis said, “because every stage has 10 subsections, which require you to do four things—so by the time you’re done moving through this process, you’ve done a lot of work.”

During this process, artist Stefanie Rocknak was selected from 265 applicants to go ahead and create her statue proposal, titled, “Poe Returning to Boston.” A five-person committee—on which Lewis sat—a professional art consultant, and online and in-person comments from the public helped set Rocknak’s design apart from all the rest.

It took Rocknak and the foundry that was helping her with the project a total of eight months to complete the Poe sculpture, which started as an 18inch model. From there, the mock-up was digitally scanned in Texas, turned into a full-sized Styrofoam version of

the statue, covered in clay, slurry, and sand, and transformed into a kind of ceramic shell with wax inside. In the last stages, the mold was filled with liquid bronze and eventually cracked open, revealing the final sculpture that now stands in Poe Square.

As chair and daily manager of the Poe Foundation, Lewis was involved in each step of the project, from negotiating contracts with transportation, installation, and construction companies, to navigating through the city’s Public Improvements Commission and Boston Arts Commission, to seeing Rocknak bring her vision to life, to public event-planning for the dedication ceremony, and of course, to raising the money needed to back it all. “I learned a lot,” Lewis said. “It was a real growth experience, but day to day, it could also be a grind as well.”

Financial support for the statue—which ended up costing about $225,000—came from the Browne Fund, the Highland Street Foundation, and Poe fans world wide, including Steven and Tabitha King and Susan Jaffe Tane, a private donor who owns

a $685,000 edition of Poe’s first book that was found at a New Hampshire yard sale. Lewis, who’s taught a course specifically on Poe and the Gothic at BC for the past 20 years, also gives sporadic tours about Poe’s Boston literary legacy to fund the statue’s long-term maintenance costs.

Seeing hundreds of people flock toward the statue during the unveiling, which featured readings and musical interpretations of Poe’s Boston-published works, made the whole process worthwhile for Lewis.

“To see the sculpture take shape, and then actually be installed and to see how much people love it was remarkable,” he said.

Lewis said he hopes that Poe’s statue will become a central spot in the city’s new Literary Cultural District, expanding what Boston’s cultural scene is all about and giving the Common’s ducklings sculpture a waddle for its money. More than that, though, he said he hopes it will allow Poe’s past to find its home in Boston’s present—nevermore to be a subject of the city’s forgotten lore. n

Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Heights

METRO e i H g h e t s h T BOSTON food guide

The Hungry I savors cuisine and memories, see C4 For a breakdown of Boston’s best eateries, see C4 Step into October at The Gallows, see C2

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THE HEIGHTS

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BRECK WILLS / HEIGHTS GRAPHIC

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hile the perks of attending college near a major metropolitan area abound, one stands out in our minds, hearts, and stomachs—the food. A newcomer to Boston College is undoubtedly pleased from the outset at the proximity of Chipotle, but there is a much bigger culinary world out there, even more inspired than Boloco’s burritos. In these next few pages are not only suggestions for pizza, noodles, and dessert to try in the city, but also in-depth looks at who and what breathe life into Boston’s many popular dining spots and watering holes. Though we here at The Heights love Fin’s as much as the next person, we’ve attempted to highlight places and neighborhoods that will hopefully inspire an adventure.

enjoy.

GALLOWS PUTS DOWN ROOTS IN SOUTH END Words: Maggie Powers Photos: Emily Fahey

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aybe it’s the larger-than-life Ouija board glowing behind Seth Yaffe, or the little flock of stuffed ravens that sit to his left. Whatever it is, stepping into The Gallows feels like stepping into October.

Yaffe, the general manager of the South End restaurant, confidently surveys his luminescent restaurant, the candlelight reflecting off his face and the wood paneled walls behind him. Rough wire chandeliers throw starburst patterns across the ceiling. The decorations make you feel like you’re inside a jack-o-lantern, but the ambiance isn’t spooky—it’s warm and engaging. Yaffe’s restaurant makes you want to sit down for a full-bodied beer and a long story.

Those stuffed ravens have overheard hundreds of stories, including Yaffe’s own. He knew what he wanted to do with his life before he turned 13. Even through business school, his real passion was working as a cook. He held onto his dream of opening a restaurant.

But that dream didn’t even begin to find roots until 2006, when Yaffe was working alongside his friend Seth Morrison at Perdix, another South End establishment.

One day when the two were cooking, a petite girl named Rebeca Roth knocked on the back door and asked for a job.

She had just quit culinary school.

After long nights of cooking, the trio often craved two of the most American pleasures: a cheeseburger and a cold beer. But there simply wasn’t anywhere to go—the South End was full of white tablecloths.

“We’d all be kind of smelly and dirty and we’d leave and want to go get a burger and a beer and there just wasn’t anywhere,” Yaffe said.

After splitting up to pursue different projects for a few years, they didn’t let go of the idea of opening the restaurant they had been searching for. They talked about it until the day they bought the Washington St. location. Roth was the owner from the start, and Morrison ran the kitchen. Yaffe assumed the position as general manger, a move to the front of the house he had already taken in their time apart.

The kitchen was filled with Brazilian and Colombian prep cooks and dish washers who struggled to pronounce the “th” of Yaffe and Morrison’s shared first name. When Morrison first introduced himself the crew immediately re-christened him.

“No, no, no, you’re the Jefe,” they said.

The routine was repeated when Yaffe came in.

“No, no, no, you’re number two, you’re Segundo,” they said.

The nickname would stick around, even when the distinction between Yaffe and Morrison was no longer necessary. Yaffe now runs most of the daily operations at the restaurant and Morrison has since left The Gallows.

Even with the confusion of two Seths gone, the staff still affectionately tosses out calls of “Segundo” as Yaffe strides around the glowing restaurant. Although Yaffe stepped out of the kitchen, he stays involved with the food by conceptualizing much of the menu.

While they’re best known for their burger—they’ve won “best burger” in every major Boston periodical—the menu changes every week. But the philosophy behind the food is always constant.

Now one of the hottest culinary attractions in Boston, this restaurant born out of a quest for a burger and a beer hasn’t lost it practical, all-American roots.

Even more complex dishes, like the Asian-style lobster roll, still allow the personality of The Gallows to come through. Substituting a boa bun for a hot dog roll and green curry for mayo, Yaffe shows how a relatively basic item can be elevated to a culinary delight but still grounded in a recognizable classic.

But the menu also features a hot dog. The Gallows doesn’t let its philosophy get in the way of the laid-back atmosphere—they know sometimes their customers aren’t looking for an adventure, just a predictable meal.

“We’re a community of people who like to eat dirty, disgusting food and we don’t necessarily know where they come from, and be okay with that,” Yaffe said.

Yaffe doesn’t feel the need to boast about the details of his food, even though much of it is sourced locally—he thinks providing the highest quality food to the customers is his responsibility and the taste stands on its own.

This sense of responsibility doesn’t stop with Yaffe and Roth. Even though they are clad in street clothes, the whole staff ’s desire to provide their customers with the full Gallows experience is palpable. The bartenders rotate taps featuring local beers frequently to mimic the menu. There is always someone being attentive to the little touches, whether it is a greeting when you walk in the door or a quick goodnight when you head out.

“As much as the glamour comes from doing things that are different from everyone else, I think that that’s a large part of why some places become successful, but you also have to make sure you’re doing those different things consistently,” Yaffe explained.

The fluid consistency leaves the customer a sense of forward motion, a sense of change. The good kind that makes you excited for things to come. At The Gallows, every day feels like those crisp October days that leave you craving a full-bodied beer and a good story. 

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The Beehive

The South End Buttery

541 TREMONT ST

314 SHAWMUT AVE

If you’re looking to eat a dinner out in Boston that’s a little more than your average dinner, check out the Beehive. The food is top-notch, but the atmosphere is even better. There is live jazz music almost nightly, featuring well-respected artists from all over the country. You can sit by the stage and dance off your dinner, or grab a table upstairs for a more traditional restaurant feel that happens to have a soundtrack of live saxophone coming from just over the railing. The pairing of such delectable food and music is a rarity and everyone interested in both or either should swarm the Beehive ASAP. 

This place is as mouth-watering and decadent as its name suggests. Walk in for a delicious treat to go from the overflowing display case by the cashier, or make a reservation ahead of time for brunch in the cozy downstairs level. While the savory breakfast dishes are fantastic, don’t you dare leave the premises without trying a pastry, or at least the Strawberries and Cream Brioche French Toast. It is the perfect place for a warm meal and toasty environment when the weather gets colder. They also serve dinner, lunch in the upstairs cafe, and have a full bar. 

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BOSTON’S OWN TASTE OF PARISIAN FLARE Words: Bennet Johnson Photos: Joseph Castlen

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Otto

The Regal Beagle

289 HARVARD ST

308 HARVARD ST

Otto Pizza has quickly become a favorite gourmet and specialty pizza joint in Coolidge Corner. A small chain born in Portland, Maine, Otto is known for pairing unique ingredients and flavors—including butternut squash, ricotta, and cranberry. This corner location offers a user-friendly design that accommodates customers who want to dine in with table service, have a drink at the bar, or anyone who prefers to grab a quick slice and sit along a counter. In a neighborhood full of dining options, Otto has been mobbed nearly every day since it opened in 2012. Coolidge Corner is hungry for good pizza, and many call Otto the neighborhood’s best. 

Known for its innovative and ever-evolving take on American comfort food, the Regal Beagle is a mainstay of Coolidge Corner’s bustling, artistic crowd. The bulk of the menu changes constantly, but you can always get the crowd favorites, like the blue-cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon to start, or the classic macaroni and cheese. It’s impossible to fall into a rut ordering the same thing over and over again here—the specials are always too tempting, and every new meal seems to top the last. This long, narrow gastropub delivers on dinner, but is also an excellent spot for weekend brunch. Once you try it, you’ll be on a short leash. 

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early 15 years ago, Chuck Silverston was vacationing in Paris with his brothers when he experienced his first taste of the city’s famous street food—crepes. Silverston had an immediate predilection for the simple, traditional French fare. A plate of fresh crepes dished out by a street vendor in a flamboyant food truck inspired Silverston to bring a taste of France back home with him to Boston.

Silverston opened up his restaurant—The Paris Creperie—just over 10 years ago in Brookline’s historic neighborhood of Coolidge Corner. The quaint cafe has become a staple in the area, offering various crepes as well as coffee, smoothies, and Nutella chocolate drinks.

“Our product and branding have improved tenfold since we moved to Coolidge Corner,” said Nick Mallia, the catering and events manager of The Paris Creperie. Mallia has been working at the restaurant for 11 years, and represents all of the operations that happen outside of the front door—from catering to corporate clients, lunches, dinners, parties, and other local gatherings.

The small cafe is tucked in an intimate space on Harvard St., offering a traditional Paris setting. The jam-packed restaurant gives customers the ability to see the young staff work in an open kitchen.

Behind them, the creperie prominently features two clocks—one providing the local time, the other set six hours ahead to Paris time. The large menu, which spans the front of the cafe, is written in red, blue, and white—the colors of the French flag.

The creperie offers a wide variety of crepes—ranging from breakfast options, to savory dinner choices, to sweet sugary crepes. One of the most popular dishes is The Storming of the Basil, which is an oregano-infused crepe with chicken, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, sauteed mushrooms, and pesto sauce, referencing the famous Storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. Some of the sweeter options are filled with treats like fresh fruit toppings, dulce de leche, S’mores, and Nutella.

The restaurant also has gluten-free crepes, as well as a “You Be the Chef ” option, where customers can select a combination of cheeses, meats, vegetables, and infusions to make their own crepe.

“We changed our menu entirely six months ago,” Mallia said. “Each quarter, we take our sales reports and we switch out some options on the menu, looking to keep offering new and improved options.”

Throughout October, The Paris Creperie is presenting a special, known as the Don Creper. The crepe includes grilled green peppers, caramelized onions, and sliced roast beef, all under a layer of melted provolone cheese, finished off with a chipotle aioli.

The restaurant’s latest project has been to create New England’s first crepe truck, aptly titled “la Tour Eiffel.” The bright pink truck resembles the traditional street vendor Silverston discovered years ago on the streets of Paris. Offering a smaller, but unique selection of savory and sweet crepes, the truck serves customers across Boston and Brookline, as well as privately catered events. “Kale ‘n It” is one of the truck’s most popular dishes, which includes kale, chicken, parmesan cheese, and lemon poppyseed aioli.

“While I’ve been operating the food truck, ‘The Speculoos’ has been a major hit,” Mallia said. “When I had it last, it tasted exactly like the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls I used to have for breakfast when I was a kid. It was impeccable.”

The Coolidge Corner neighborhood has grown over the past 10 years to include various coffee shops, pharmacies, bookstores, restaurants, a renovated movie theater, as well as an influx of major banks.

Visitors are now able to turn a quick trip into a full day spent at Coolidge Corner. With the increased business, the neighborhood has become a prime destination for college students—with easy access off the main bus route stop and the MBTA train system.

“We mostly have a lot of college students working here, based on the culture of the neighborhood,” Mallia said. “A lot of college-aged students will come in throughout the day and say hello to people, and grab a cup of coffee and some crepes before heading over to see a movie.”

Based on the current success of the creperie, Mallia expects the restaurant to expand into the space next door within the next five years in order to increase its visibility and capacity that is currently tapped out nearly every weekend. The company is expanding its menu to offer a beverage program that will feature wine and cider, as well as other traditional French items.

“We are also hoping to expand to another location, similar to Coolidge Corner,” Mallia said. “Finding one that has a theatre, main street, and MBTA accessibility with a great college population like we have now is going to be hard find. All we can hope for is to keep serving our crepes to as many people as possible.” 

COMMUNITY AT THE SEAPORT”S BREWERY Words: Sarah Moore Photos: Emily Fahey

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mong the bustle of the up and coming Seaport District—just some blocks and a few crosswalks beyond South Station—sits an iron and brick gate. The metallic structure functions as an artistic interruption in the starkness of the seaport, and it is charged with the responsibility of preserving spirit secrets and malt mysteries. Adorned with representations of nautical tools, the gate stands as tall today as it has for the past 20 years.

Just steps beyond the entrance rests an adult version of Willy Wonka’s infamous factory, in which the maritime aromas of the neighborhood are replaced with those of soaking barley.

Harpoon’s Boston Brewery has remained in the same Seaport location since 1986, and the local company’s founding principles have remained the same as well—the love of brewing great beer. This passionate notion is reiterated by their motto, “Love beer. Love Life. Harpoon,” which is scrawled across the metallic drums of the Boston brewery.

“As a young twenty-something living in Boston, I obviously loved the idea of taking a job at a brewery, but here we are doing so much more,” said Michelle Palerimo, a manager in Harpoon’s Boston Beer Hall. “On the human side of things, we are not just here making and serving beer but doing something bigger—we have set up this environment that creates a community.”

After passing the faded, red “H” logos that stamp a pathway from the gate into the industrial building, a set of stairs leads to the warmth of the Beer Hall. Laden with rustic, interior brick on one side and glass paneling that looks directly into the brewery on the other, the location’s main room is a conglomeration of the traditions and technologies of the modern beer making process. With a view of the Harbor just outside the windows, it’s a perfect space to enjoy a Boston-brewed beer.

Centered in the Beer Hall, stretching under the very New England pastoral chandeliers, lays a simple wooden bar counter dotted with glasses of different varieties of the brewery’s specialty, all of which flowed from the fanciful taps at the hands of Harpoon’s staff, the Beer Captains.

“Being a Beer Captain isn’t just about being able to answer any question a customer may have, but it allows us to be able to serve someone at the start of the night and watch them leave later, laughing and shaking hands with the people around them,” Palerimo said.

Truly deserving their maritime title, the employees of the brewery accentuate the intimate, beer-centric experience that Harpoon offers as they all function as bartenders, tour guides, and Beer Hall staff—as comfortable pouring a glass of Octoberfest as directing beer connoisseurs along

the bottling line and barrels of the brewing process.

Founded by the original Beer Captains, Dan Kenary, Rich Doyle, and George Ligeti, in the mid-‘80s, the Boston brewery was originally surrounded by fish processing plants and car repair shops. As the Seaport experiences a transformation that began in 1986, Harpoon is still producing the same quality light lager that the founders envisioned.

Always on hand among the seemingly endless varieties that the Beer Hall has on tap is Harpoon’s India Pale Ale, the beer that made the Boston brewery an immediate favorite for both locals and beer drinkers across the North East.

First served in the summer of 1993, Harpoon IPA has been brewed in the same “spirit of fun and sociability,” ever since, according to their online beer guide.

“It’s an exciting time to be in craft beer,” said Harpoon Media Correspondent Liz Melby. “With the success of the craft beer industry, there is much more conversation about quality, locally brewed beer.”

After the success of its yearly options, Harpoon became one of the first breweries in the country to offer seasonal beers. Now, even if options ranging from unfiltered pumpkin ale to grapefruit summer shandy aren’t enough to get anyone of age excited, Harpoon has recently installed a 10 barrel pilot system which allows it to experiment with different styles in order to craft its next brew.

Harpoon’s love of all things beer goes beyond its multitude of selections and the seemingly unending knowledge of its Beer Captains, to make it into the Beer Hall’s famous pretzel recipe, at least 200 of which twist each day. Not only is the traditional IPA used in the dough, but it is also used to boil the pretzels in, as opposed to a more traditional cooking liquid. But the brewery doesn’t stop there, as it uses dried spent grain from the brewing tanks in its pretzel salt mixture and each of the pretzel dipping sauces, from Ale Mustard to IPA Cheddar Cheese, are made with seasonal beers on tap.

Whether it be through enjoying a seasonal ale and pretzel combination, taking a voyage through the brewery with one of their Beer Captains, or stopping by for a quick drink in the rustic Beer Hall, Harpoon hopes that it can share its passion for great beer in as many ways as there are drinks on tap. “Beer is a sociable product,” Melby said. “We want people to feel welcome, to feel proud of their local brewery, and to have a really wonderful beer drinking experience.”

And it is just that—an experience—that is part of what is hidden behind Harpoon’s entrance gate, burrowed between back alleys of the Seaport: an experience, a love of life, and most importantly, a love of beer. 

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The Barking Crab

Yankee Lobster Company

88 SLEEPER ST

300 NORTHERN AVE

With a waterfront location, a casual atmosphere, and New England traditions on the menu, The Barking Crab is a local favorite for fresh seafood. Though it began as a seasonal restaurant—only open in the summer for its first two years of business—over the past 20 years The Barking Crab has grown into an eclectic eating spot that even has Marina access open from May through October. In addition to options from the raw bar, various crab platters, and a chicken and waffles recipe made with Harpoon IPA maple syrup, The Barking Crab offers specialty cocktails and local beers to complete their coastal, comfort food experience. 

Just blocks from the Harbor sits Yankee Lobster Company, a self proclaimed fish market and eatery that has been specializing in local seafood for over 60 years. The hand-written, chalkboard menu offers items ranging from Blackened Salmon to Lobster Mac and Cheese, as well as the local favorites—Clam Chowder and Lobster Rolls. With paper plates and an outdoor patio, Yankee Lobster is just as much about the experience as it is about seafood, but if you can’t make time for a full meal, its fish market will send live lobsters, fresh cut fish fillets, and other prepared foods with you to cook at home. 

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THE HUNGRY I HAS EYE ON PAST & PRESENT

Sweet Cheeks Q

Words: Ryan Towey Photos: Emily Fahey

1381 Boylston St.

Southerners looking for comfort food that tastes like mama made it—this one’s for you. Commonly referred to just as “Sweet Cheeks,” this spot is known for whipping up the best Texas-style BBQ in the city. The menu is divided into categories of “meat” and “not meat,” which goes to show where the kitchen’s priorities lie.

Tip: Whatever you do, do not skip the biscuits.

Mei Mei 506 Park Dr.

One of Boston’s best food trucks has recently opened its own brick and mortar. Self-defined as “creative Chinese-American food,” Mei Mei is known for its innovative twist on classic dishes such as scallion pancake sandwiches, bacon fried rice, and sweet corn fritters. If you’re downtown during lunch time, check their website for the food truck’s location—it’s still out and about seven days a week.

Tip: Try “The Double Awesome.”

The name speaks for itself.

Yard House

126 Brookline Ave. Looking for a spot to watch a Sox game? With 180 different beers to choose from and better-than-average bar food, Yard House has become a tried and true local favorite. Draft beers come in four sizes: shorty, pint, goblet, and half-yard (yep, you read that right), the largest of which you can snag for as little as $14. Though this is a popular bar, the under-21 crowd is still welcome—huge plus.

Tip: They don’t take reservations. Go early on game days.

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hen Peter Ballarin cooks, he hears memories.

His aunt guides him through the recipe and childhood days spent at his father’s bakery come back to life. These warm memories feed his cooking mantra: “Every time you cook, you recreate the past.”

To reach Ballarin’s Beacon Hill restaurant The Hungry I, located just below street level, one has to pass—almost literally—through a hole in the wall on Charles Street. Doing so feels quite a bit like escaping into the past, as you vanish from Charles Street and into the small, warmly decorated French restaurant.

Leaning against The Hungry I’s dark wood bar in an orange v-neck sweater, Ballarin is surrounded by tables decorated with white cloths, plates adorned by fruit designs, and wine glasses with napkins artistically folded into them—all patiently waiting for the customers who will fill the establishment.

“I always felt that the restaurant should reflect yourself,” he said of the decor. Descended from bakers in the Italian Dolomites, the restaurant indeed mirrors Ballarin’s Old World culinary sentimentalities, and The Hungry I’s three fireplaces—which cast a welcoming glow on all three of the restaurant’s dining rooms—reflect the chef ’s sincere and convivial manner as host.

During the interview, Ballarin continues preparing for the guests that have not yet arrived with a manager, switching between English and French—just two of the languages that make up the restaurant’s fabric.

“Your customers are part of your family,” Ballarin said, especially here on Charles St., which he sees as pleasantly separate from the rest of the city and as a village in its own right. “We look after each other here.”

Indeed, a regular in a scarf walked into the restaurant out of the cold shortly before opening. Ballarin offered him a glass of wine, and the customer warmed his hands at the fire as if it were his own home.

Ballarin’s restaurant has made its place on Charles St. since 1981, after he bought The Hungry I as a young man. The restaurant, according to Ballarin, had once been called The Hungry Intellectual, and it was a cafe where poets and singers would gather.

Looking to make his own mark on the restored 1840s brownstone, Ballarin had plans to change the establishment’s name to The Hideaway, a fitting name for the restaurant that is hard to peek into from street level—but Boston Magazine was eager to look into the young chef ’s new venture, and a review was published without notice before he could make the change. So the name stayed.

Ballarin’s decision to keep the restaurant’s traditional

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75 Chestnut 75 CHESTNUT ST

Deep Ellum

477 Cambridge St.

For those of you just starting to explore Allston, check out Deep Ellum. As a bar and restaurant, patrons get the best of both: cocktails like “The Man with No Name” and “Texas Money,” paired with Gorgonzola Truffle Fries and Bratwurst platters—sans the alltoo-common hipster stereotype.

Tip: If it’s nice out, ask for patio seating. The space is less crowded and more amiable.

Carlo’s Cucina Italiana 131 Brighton Ave.

North End quality Italian without the hour-long trek. Carlo’s offers traditional Italian fare with bigger portions at smaller prices than its downtown counterparts. If the menu overwhelms you, try one of the House Specialties. All the entrees—like Pollo alla Irene and Rigatoni alla Rachele—are named for different members of the owner’s family.

Tip: Wine is sold only by the bottle, not by the glass. Perfect to share on a date night.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

On what otherwise seems like a standard residential street in Beacon Hill, 75 Chestnut rests just off the beaten path of Charles St., where most usually try to grab dinner tables for a night out. 75 Chesnut, however, is certainly worth the few extra steps. The tasteful use of wooden decor and candlelight provides the restaurant with a warm, old-fashioned feel, perfect for the oncoming cold of the winter months. On the dinner menu, you cannot go wrong by starting with the Mediterranean Platter before enjoying the Meyer lemon chicken breast. Be sure, though, to try out their brunch menu as well, which is served on Saturdays and Sundays. 

name proved fitting for its location—his view across the street hasn’t changed in the three decades since he first bought The Hungry I. “If I look through the window,” he said, pointing across the street, “nothing has changed since 1981.”

Much of Charles St., Ballarin acknowledged, has of course changed, and so does The Hungry I—just as the seasons do. As an autumnal chill rolls across Boston, the restaurant’s menu reflects the change, adopting accents of pumpkin and cranberry. The venison au poivre and rabbit a la moutarde are among the dishes Ballarin expects will do well throughout the season. Even the actual names of the restaurant’s offerings begin to transition.

One starter on the current menu is a “cold snow crab mousse crepe,” with the word snow invoking the colder weather to come.

“I think literature and menu-writing is very important—as much as the ambience,” he said. Together, these elements can make a dining experience superb, so long as the food is also exemplary. The point, Ballarin said, is helping customers to enjoy what they are eating in the moment.

“Cuisine is now,” he said, taking a breath as if to breathe in some distant scent, or, perhaps, a memory.

“Now.” It seems contradictory, maybe, for a man who so lovingly strives to recreate the past to place such a heavy emphasis on the present, but the contradiction is the restaurant’s most important rule. It is the escape into the past that allows its customers to live in the moment.

Known commonly as one of the most romantic restaurants in Boston, it is said that countless proposals have transpired within its walls—but engagement, Ballarin suggested, might miss the point. An engagement is a plan for the future, but romance is for the present.

Like food, it is to be savored.

“Romance is an enjoyment of the richness that you have at the moment,” he said. “Romance is saying ‘Not yet’ for the check. We all know ‘Not yet.’”

It is the moments that people keep that add to something, just like the childhood memories that fostered Ballarin’s love for cuisine. When he would visit his father’s bakery, he was enthralled by the culinary skill of those around him, but mostly by the scents.

“God,” he said. “The aromas.”

Ballarin recalled a particular treat that was given to him as a child—a light donut rolled in sugar. Once, he asked his older sister if she remembered it as well.

“Oh my God,” she said. “Yes.” Through food, the memory stood as a present moment. That’s the way it works at The Hungry I. 

Toscano 47 CHARLES ST Just up the street from The Hungry I, a mainstay of the Beacon Hill neighborhood, Toscano serves up its traditional Tuscan cuisine in what is arguably the city’s most time-honored region. Providing a similar warmth to 75 Chestnut, the restaurant’s wooden floors and brick walls house such dishes as Rigatoni Toscano—complete with double-smoked bacon and tomato cream—and Maiale Nizzardo, their oven-roasted pork tenderloin with Dijon mustard and herbs. In the event that you are closer to Cambridge than Beacon Hill on a given night, Toscano has another location in Harvard Square at 52 Brattle St. 

A BREAKDOWN OF BOSTON’S BEST A

t Boston College, we’re drawn to the places that boast convenience for the collegiate lifestyle. Dorm room drawers are filled with the same four to six takeout menus, a day downtown means little more than strolling Newbury St., and we are too often satisfied with what Cleveland Circle has to offer. Enter The Heights Boston Food Guide. Through personal experiences, suggestions from fellow students, and even a tip or two from BC outsiders, we’ve compiled your newest list of go-to spots to spice (or sweeten) up your routine. And we’ve checked these restaurants’ reps with critics and reviewers in the city—so you don’t just have to take our word for it (although you should). Grab a slice at Santarpio’s, a salad at Root, a scoop at Toscanini’s—or, really, whatever looks good at any of these places, because it’s all good. Whatever you do, just break out of your food rut.

Best Pizza

Best Vegetarian

Best Noodles

Santarpio’s – 111 Chelsea St., Boston

Root – 487 Cambridge St., Allston

Brown Sugar – 1033 Comm. Ave., Boston

Ernesto’s – 69 Salem St., Boston

Punjab Palace – 109 Brighton Ave., Allston

Thai North – 433 Faneuil St., Brighton

Picco – 513 Tremont St., Boston

Veggie Galaxy – 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

Xinh Xinh – 7 Beach St., Boston

Best Breakfast

Best Dessert

Best Burger

The Friendly Toast – 1 Kendall Square b3101, Cambridge

Finale – 1 Columbus Ave., Boston

Tasty Burger – 1301 Boylston St., Boston

Athan’s European Bakery – 1621 Beacon St., Boston OR 407 Washington St., Brighton

JM Curley – 21 Temple Place, Boston

Jim’s Deli and Restaurant 371 Washington St.

Known as one of the secret gems of Brighton, Jim’s is much more of a diner than a deli—with the huge portions, fair prices, and friendly service that you’d expect from a local joint about six decades ago.

The extensive menu covers breakfast, hot and cold sandwiches, and dinner specials—all hearty fare with no fuss.

Tip: Jim’s Deli delivers to BC every weeknight until 9 p.m.

Zaftig’s – 335 Harvard St., Brookline @Union – 174 Harvard Ave., Allston

Contributors:

Toscanini’s Ice Cream – 899 Main St., Cambridge

Flat Patties – 33 Brattle St., Cambridge

Mary Rose Fissinger, Special Projects Editor  Ryan Towey, Metro Editor  Bennet Johnson, Asst. Metro Editor  Sarah Moore, Heights Editor  Tricia Tiedt, Heights Editor  Maggie Powers, Heights Editor  Breck Wills, Heights Editor  Jordan Pentaleri, Heights Editor  Emily Fahey, Heights Editor  Joseph Castlen, Heights Editor