The Heights 10/09/2014

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THROUGH THE LENS SCENE The story behind Steve Rosenfield, creator of the “What I Be” project, C1

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HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

established

1919

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Vol. XCV, No. 35

Students adjust to the costs of living off campus BCPD chief ResLife seeks to make the necessary financial accommodations for off-campus students

BY MARY ROSE FISSINGER Special Projects Editor AND

NATHAN MCGUIRE

Asst. News Editor

Editor’s Note: This story is part of an ongoing series about off-campus housing.

JORDAN PENTALERI / HEIGHTS GRAPHIC

For many students, moving off campus is a welcome teaser for adult life: there are no resident assistants, no security desks, and a healthy sampling of non-Boston College students in the homes and apartments nearby. This additional freedom comes at a cost, however—a cost that may not surpass that of living on campus, but is certainly more visible. Food, utilities, and the cost of rent are no longer folded into a single, handsome sum, but must be paid regularly and by deadlines. This proves an adjustment for most students, but can be even trickier for those receiving financial aid from the University.

BC can provide students with financial assistance for the duration of the school year, which amounts to about 30 weeks. Aid is calculated via a straightforward formula: cost of attendance minus family contribution, with cost of attendance taking into account room and board for on campus students, or the estimated equivalent for off-campus students. This estimation varies based on the type of living arrangement the student has found off campus and takes as its basis the median price of accommodations of that type, determined on a year to year basis. It also factors in an average price for groceries and utilities, as well as miscellaneous other costs. When arriving at the cost, the Office of Residential Life operates under the assumption that students will be sharing a room in their off-campus home or apartment, based on the logic that nearly all on-campus stu-

See ‘What I Be,’ A3

See Clery Act, A3

BY ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT Editor-in-Chief

Editor’s Note: This story is part of an ongoing series about the accessiblity on campus.

See Disability Access, A3

AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS STAFF

On Monday night, photographer Steve Rosenfield discussed his ‘What I Be’ project to more than 300 students in Devlin 008.

Photographer seeks to confront insecurity Heights Staff It’s not often that a person’s emotional and social insecurities are broadcasted on Facebook. The ‘What I Be’ project created by photographer Steve Rosenfield, however, aims to empower people by doing just that.

This past Monday, Rosenfield came to Boston College and photographed students who wrote their biggest insecurities on their hands and faces, with the intent of helping them confront and reclaim those insecurities through photography and social media.

The pictures were then posted to Rosenfield’s Facebook page, Ganesh Photography.

The pictures each have a caption written in the same format: “I am not my ____.” Each of the 73 BC participants ended the sentence with his or her own insecurity.

The project, which consisted of about 80 percent women and 20 percent men, was unveiled Oct. 6 in Devlin 008 with more than 300 students in attendance. After Rosenfield discussed the history of the project, several student participants also reflected on their experiences regarding socially driven points

News Editor

of inadequacy or concern.

In 2002, Rosenfield quit his job at a computer company and started traveling. He picked up photography in 2006 and eventually began photographing different musical acts such as Norah Jones and Macklemore. Although he loved being able to support himself through photography, Rosenfield said, he wanted to do more.

He initially wanted the project to be contained to just 150 people, but once he ran the

See Off-Campus Housing, A3

Students, admins work to address disability access

BY CAROLYN FREEMAN

BY CONNOR FARLEY The latest figures reported in the University’s Annual Disclosure of Crime Statistics—a public report federally mandated under the Clery Act—show an increase in the number of forcible sexual assaults reported at Boston College in 2013.

Last year, 11 instances of sexual assault were reported to the University, a rise from five in 2012 and seven in 2011, all of which were documented as having occurred in dorms or residential facilities, and only two over the last three years as having occurred off campus.

“The increase in the number of reported sexual assaults may be due in part to the increased national focus on sexual assaults and greater awareness of resources at Boston College,” said Chief of BCPD John King, who oversees much of the University’s coordination of sexual assault response policies, in an email.

“In cases where BCPD is involved, we provide support for the survivor, facilitate access to resources, investigate the case, and assist with any court-related matter.”

According to the University’s latest iteration of Student Sexual Misconduct Policy, students seeking to report a sexual assault are encouraged to do so through three types of primary contact groups: anonymous resources such as BC’s hotline for anonymous reporting Sexual Assault Network (SANet); confidential resources, such as a pastoral or professional counselor in University Counseling Services (UCS); and private resources, such as the Women’s Center, Office of the Dean of Students (DOS), Student Affairs Title IX Coordinator Katherine O’Dair, or BCPD. BC’s Required Disclosures and Reports of Campus Safety and Security Policies define Clery Act crimes as consisting of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, forcible and non-forcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking—all federally mandated to be publicly reported under the act.

According to King, under circumstances in which BC’s help-seeking policy has been invoked, BCPD officers are trained to perform any necessary immediate medical care to students exhibiting signs of injury until the arrival of Eagle EMS or third-party emergency medical technicians.

“The initial priority is to ensure that proper medical assistance and support are obtained,” King said regarding additional measures taken by the University for students

Accessiblity concerns persist at BC

For most students, a small wheelchair symbol embossed on a pole with the words “Lyons Hall” and a left-facing arrow will quickly blend into the rest of the Quad. The fact that the construction space next to St. Mary’s Hall seems to fill with the same stone planters flanking O’Neill Plaza will hardly register. These are easy oversights for some, but critical pieces of information for others—they give students with disabilities the information necessary to access Student Services, or make them wonder if they’ll have to traverse the full perimeter of the plaza in order to gain access to St. Mary’s once it reopens.

Before the beginning of fall semester, signage was added around campus in order to make disability-accessible routes more obvious, a new webpage detailing the school’s disability resources was added to the University’s homepage, and a door was added on the second floor of O’Neill Library to eliminate the need for stairs when moving across the atrium.

O’Neill also replaced Bapst Library as the latenight study space. Accessibility was a factor in the decision to keep it open continuously from Sundays through Thursdays, according to University Librarian Thomas Wall.

Some students, though, say these changes are barely scratching the surface of problems surrounding access at Boston College. Maryan Amaral, LGSOE ’18, attended BC as an ablebodied undergraduate. She now uses an electrical scooter or a wheelchair to get around, and, upon returning to BC, noticed a host of accessibility issues.

“There needs to be a large change in infrastructure,” Amaral said. “There’s a need to communicate with all the students and make accommodations for everybody under 504.”

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guarantees rights to individuals with disabilities. BC is subject to Section 504

talks Clery crime figures

Former Greek PM speaks on global collaboration

BY ANDREW SKARAS Heights Editor Whether it is containing the spread of Ebola or combating economic crises, international organizations could play a critical role in solving society’s greatest difficulties, but instead often force countries to face them alone, said George Papandreou, former prime minister of Greece, at Boston College yesterday afternoon in Robsham Theater, as a speaker in the Winston Center on Leadership and Ethics’ Clough Colloquium.

The son and grandson of Greek prime

ministers, Papandreou drew on his experience of leading Greece through “the center of the financial and economic storm” between 2009 and 2011 to provide perspective on global governance, collective responsibility in the face of crisis, and the role of institutions in creating necessary change in a society. When he took over as prime minister in the fall of 2009 at the helm of the PASOK, the social-democratic left-of-center party in Greece, Papandreou found that the government was in a much worse financial state than his predecessor

See Papandreou, A2

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Last night, the Winston Center hosted former PM George Papandreou in Robsham Theater.

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things to do on campus this week

The Heights Tonight at 6 p.m. in Robsham Theatre, the Church in the 21st Century Center will host Helen Prejean, CSJ, an author, advocate, and prison minister, for a discussion about the death penalty and the film Dead Man Walking, based on her book by the same title.

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Thursday, October 9, 2014 Next Wednesday at 7 p.m., Mark Edmundson, professor of English at the University of Virginia, will present the second Lowell Humanities Series talk. Edmundson will discuss his newest book, Why Football Matters: What’s Gained (and Lost) From a Gridirion Education.

30 Rock actor Judah Friedlander will take the stage at Robsham Friday at 7 p.m. to deliver a stand-up comedy performance. Comedy Central comedian Chris Gethard will join Friedlander. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased via the Robhsam online box office.

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Embrace Survivors must fight trafficking, says Lloyd insecurity

By Carolyn Freeman Heights Staff

Alex Gaynor There is a common denominator among Boston College students that often seems to get swept under the rug: we all have insecurities. With the new efforts of groups such as UGBC’s Be Conscious campaign, however, there seems to be no time like the present to start owning your insecurity at BC—or is there? What happens when the event is over, the students return back to their dorms, and the cycles of low self-esteem, perfectionism, anxiety, or self-harm start all over again? What about our campus conversations on acceptance and the irrelevance of perfection is not sticking in students’ minds?

Being vulnerable and caring about the wellbeing of others amid all of our brokenness, weakness, and insecurities is not a fad—it is something that needs to be seriously engrained in the all-is-okay-on-the-surface culture of BC. Monday night’s presentation of the BC participation in the “What I Be” campaign reaffirmed this idea that not always being okay is okay. I would like to acknowledge the courage that allowed our peers to put themselves in the spotlight to admit that perhaps all that is visible on the surface is not necessarily valid. We came together to confess that even though these issues may affect us, we are not our self-image, or expectations, or eating disorder, or grades, or loneliness. Steve Rosenfield, the founder of the project, pleaded with students to not let the conversation end that night, and to have it live on in our student body by genuinely taking interest in the feelings of others. After moments of clarity at these types of events, one can often leave thinking, “Now what?”

The issue often raised surrounding these types of solidarity-related, “feel-good” events is the question of continuity. The conversation that allowed students to put their pride and comfort on the line to admit in photographic and spoken form a facet of themselves that makes them self-conscious is a conversation that must continue to affirm the inherent vulnerable humanity within all of us.

It is a dialogue that should become prevalent around campus. Often, similar groups of people attend the types of events that involve this mix of sensitivity and vulnerability. As students empowered over this past week by the solidarity that came from writing insecurities on our bodies through “What I Be,” we must ensure that this spirit does not die, by becoming examples for our peers. More people must join the conversation, since emotions affect us all equally. Administrators and faculty could also be involved in this growing conversation of accepting weaknesses and thus turning those weaknesses into strengths.

Let vulnerability become contagious. If BC is a school where conformity is present, then let that conformity become something positive and powerful by creating safe spaces within your circles of friends and organizations that promote the discussion of feelings, insecurities, and difficulties. Together, we as a university body have the power to turn “What I Be” into what we all should be, and let the previously divisive and harmful stifling of emotion become a culture of openness and acceptance. My name is Alex Gaynor, and I am not my many insecurities, but I am empowered to start discussing them. Your turn, BC.

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

The future end of commercial sex trafficking rests with those who have had those experiences and who can lead the movement—those who are most impacted by the issue are the ones who need to be empowered to lead, said Rachel Lloyd, an advocate against commercial sex trafficking and CEO of Girls Educational & Mentoring Service (GEMS).

The Women and Gender Studies Program hosted Lloyd, who also authored Girls Like Us, to speak about the abolition of sex trafficking this past Tuesday.

Having been subjected to prostitution herself, Lloyd worked in the sex industry as a teenager until she left at age 19.

In 1997, she began to work with incarcerated women. Her experience with high school students at Rikers Island High School inspired her to start GEMS, a girls and women empowerment organization based in Harlem.

Her experience at Rikers Island was her first introduction to what commercial exploitation and trafficking looked like, outside of her own experiences.

Lloyd noted that despite there being ver y few examples of people leaving the sex industry due to it carrying such a stigma, it is important for those still in the sex industry to understand.

“I didn’t have any particular resources, there was no funding, it was just me and my particular memories of being in the commercial sex industry and leaving at 19,” she said. “Very few of us ever saw examples of those of us who had successfully made

had publicly proclaimed.

“Just a few days earlier, the previous conservative government had just announced that the deficit was 6 percent,” he said. “When I took office I was stunned, angry to discover that we were already sinking. The actual figure of the deficit was over 15 percent. For Greece, it was a moment of truth. For me, it was a critical test of my leadership. My option was full transparency—to come clean about the Greek situation. Honesty, no matter how painful, was the only way to show all that we were ready to change.”

The response that Papandreou received from other European heads of government, however, was not what he expected. With financial markets in turmoil, other leaders approached the Greek situation not with support, but with trepidation, afraid of what

Kemeng Fan / Heights Staff

EDITORIAL RESOURCES

it out.”

There was—and is—a very clear dichotomy within law enforcement between those who are seen as real victims, and those who were seen more as criminals, she said, claiming that victims from other countries are often seen as more necessary to help than those in the U.S. “That work … has really been about helping people recognize that that dichotomy is false and that what happens to girls in this country is very similar to what happens to girls in [other countries],” she said. “You don’t have to be from another country to feel like you don’t have options in this one.”

Lloyd said that it is often difficult for many people to understand that there are psychological, often unnoticed bonds between these girls and those who employ them in the sex industry—the mental bond often being much stronger than the

News Tips Have a news tip or a good idea for a story? Call Connor Farley, News Editor, at (617) 552-0172, or email news@bcheights.com. For future events, email a detailed description of the event and contact information to the News Desk.

it might mean for their own countries. Looking for assistance in righting the Greek ship of state, he was told—by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others—that it was Greece’s responsibility to solve its problems.

“The crisis revealed the interdependence and flaws of the Eurozone governance structures, but even more so, the close interrelationship of the global economy,” he said.

Looking at the beginning of the Ebola epidemic, Papandreou said that he found a similar lack of collective interest in solving what has developed into a global health crisis and f lawed governance structures—in this case, the World Health Organization (WHO).

“In responding to epidemics, it calls for countries to wage their own battles, with the WHO giving only technical advice,” he said.

“To deal with our problem in the European Union, or the world, we needed cooperative, collective

physical bond, she said.

“You don’t have to be chained to a wall to feel like you can’t leave,” she said. “There isn’t necessarily a physical chain keeping them.”

Lloyd discussed that simply rescuing girls from situations of sexual trafficking and domestic violence is not enough to really help the cause. Early intervention, she said, is critical to helping vulnerable young people.

“Rescue can’t be a plan for anyone’s life,” she said. “That’s not a long-term plan. It has to be about empowerment, about opportunity, about building on the inherent strengths that someone has.”

Lloyd recommends that those who are truly invested in the problem of sexual trafficking should mentor a young person for four to five years, pointing out that there is rarely someone with an already strong, consistent adult presence upon his or her

walking into GEMS. “Are there girls being born right now in New York City who are going to end up walking in the doors of GEMS in 15 years?” she asked. “And, if so, haven’t we failed in some way? We need to reduce the amount of young people that we’re serving.”

Right now, Lloyd said, the abolition of sex trafficking is a popular issue—generating extensive enthusiasm and momentum for addressing the issue now, making it important to seize the moment. The most effective way to further the initiative is for the leaders of it to be the industry’s survivors, she said.

“We need to empower folks who have had these experiences—we need to empower survivors to be in positions of leadership,” Lloyd said. “What creates real social change is love. Love for other humans, and love for ourselves, and love for humanity." n

responses.”

Without European assistance, Papandreou described the country as isolated and facing an unraveling. In trying to resolve the crisis, he found underlying structural issues that inhibited the proper functioning of the institutions of governance. These were problems that needed time to fix, time that the financial markets were unwilling to give him, he said.

The main focus of the troika—representatives from the EU, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Central Bank (ECB)—however, was primarily budget cuts and not the necessary changes, he said. Although the numbers were the easiest with which to work, Papandreou said that they were the least effective. The most difficult, and most necessary change was in the minds of Greeks across the nation.

Working to solve the revenue side of the government’s problem,

he cited “imaginative methods” that his government employed to collect taxes. When few citizens registered their swimming pools after the government instituted a luxury tax on them, the Greek government used Google Earth to find all of the pools in the country.

Facing the future, Papandreou said that there were industries in which Greece was positioned to grow economically, such as tourism, agriculture, wellness services, and renewable energy.

Instead of seeking isolation by running away from the problems of the world—issues such as inequality, public health, and corruption—countries must face them collectively. In the long run, the goal, he said, is to “integrate societies into global communities.”

“No one is an island,” he said.

“We are all in this together. More and more, your problem is mine and my problem is yours.” n

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Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights standards and practices, you may contact Eleanor Hildebrandt, Editor-inChief, at (617) 552-2223, or email eic@bcheights.com.

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CORRECTIONS

This correction is in reference to the issue dated Oct. 6, 2014, Vol. XCV, No. 34.

The article titled “CVSA hosts ‘Dancing with the Scholars’ competition” misstated Dennis Clifford’s height. He is 7’1’’.

10/6/14 - 10/7/14

ecuted at an off-campus location.

9:22 a.m. - A report was filed regarding damage to property in Middle Campus by graffiti.

11:52 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC employee who was transported to a medical facility.

6:04 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a well-being check ex-

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Rachel Lloyd, a survivor and advocate, said other survivors must lead the fight against sex trafficking and to inspire others.

Monday, October 6

Tuesday, October 7

The Heights Boston College – McElroy 113 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467

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8:42 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC employee who was transported to a medical facility by cruiser from McElroy Commons.

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Papandreou describes lack of collective action From Papandreou, A1

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2:49 p.m. - A report was filed regarding recovered stolen property at an off-campus location.

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—Source: The Boston College Police Department

If you had to have an eight-letter word or phrase Who is your favorite BC Dining employee? tattooed across your knuckles, what would it be?

“Live 2day.”

—Benjamin Habito, A&S ’15

“$$$$ Team.”

—Donald Lau, CSOM ’15

“Good tree.”

—Riley Kete, A&S ’15

“Knuckles.”

—Nate Fisher, A&S ’15

The Heights

Thursday, October 9, 2014

A3

ResLife projects offcampus housing costs Off-Campus Housing, from A1 dents have roommates.

ResLife annually calculates a rental cost comparison and provides it to the Office of Financial Aid. According to Peter Kwiatek, assistant director for off-campus housing in ResLife, the comparison is the average rent of the properties listed on ResLife’s database and is broken up based on number of bedrooms and location. The numbers are published on ResLife’s website, so as to give all students an estimated price range of different off-campus living situations.

The chart provides average rent prices for one to four apartments in Brighton, Brookline, Newton, and Watertown, and approximates monthly rent for students living alone or with others. In Brighton, where most off-campus students reside, a one-bedroom apartment has an average rent between $1,400 and $1,800 per month, according to the ResLife numbers. A twobedroom in Brighton costs somewhere between $1,800 and $2,400; a three-bedroom is between $2,500 and $3,200; and a four-bedroom is between $3,000 and $4,000 per month. Average rent in Brookline and Newton is comparable, although Newton is slightly more expensive. Watertown, which is about four miles north of campus, has the cheapest average rent, ranging from $900 for a studio apartment to $3,200 for a four-bedroom.

ResLife estimates that students living with others should expect to pay rent somewhere between $600 and $1,000 per month, depending on the size of the apartment or house and whether they share a room. For the 2014-15 academic year, a student living off campus has a cost of attendance of $57,511. For a two-bedroom apartment, a student who qualifies for financial aid can

receive up to $625 per month for rent.

Because all students receiving aid at BC are supported at least in part by federal funds, BC must follow federal regulations on disbursing those funds. These regulations include those that limit the period of time covered by aid to 30 weeks. They also dictate that annual aid become available in September and only be used for that particular year.

“It’s a hard federal rule that we can’t cover costs out of the year that we’re in,” said Bernie Pekala, director of Student Financial Services for Enrollement Management. As a result, students who may face steep additional fees at the signing of their lease—first and last months’ rent, a realtor’s fee, etc.—cannot use any of the next year’s aid to mitigate the cost.

Financial Services urges students receiving aid who intend to live off campus to meet with their aid officer as soon as possible in order to become fully aware of how their move off campus will affect their aid. In most cases, students experience a decrease in aid when they move off campus because the cost of attendance goes down due to, on average, rent costs that are lower than the cost of living on campus. Despite being on average cheaper, however, the added variability of off-campus housing costs can make living off campus a greater financial burden on students. Hee Leem, A&S ’15, ended up paying more to live off campus because of the high cost of living in 2000 Commonwealth Ave. coupled with the cost of furnishing his apartment. Coming from California, he could not bring any of his own furniture and had to purchase it all in Boston.

“We try to encourage really high need students, if they can stay on campus, to stay on campus because it is so much easier to help them that way,” Pekala said. n

graham beck / Heights senior staff

Financial Services urges students moving off campus to understand potential costs of living.

BC students participate in ‘What I Be’ project ‘What I Be,’ from A1 pictures on Facebook, the project grew faster than anticipated. Rosenfield has since taken photographs at many locations, including other collegiate settings such as Princeton University and Scripps College.

“I really wasn’t doing something that was making a difference,” he said. “So I started brainstorming. I wanted to do something with my photography that was making a difference.”

The name of the project comes from “What I Be,” a song by Michael Franti & The Spearheads—one of the bands Rosenfield photographed early in his career. He admitted that the grammatically incorrect name may be aggravating for English majors, but that all it essentially means is for a person to be happy with who he or she is. In order to accomplish this goal, the project is meant to make people uncomfortable, he said.

“I created the project, and I wanted to make the project as uncomfortable as possible,” he said. “I wanted to create this project and make it really uncomfortable for the viewer and the participant.”

Contrary to a selfie or typically “happy,” self-flattering photo, Rosenfield chose to photograph the participants unsmiling because of how unconventional such an expression is across every-day social media, he noted.

Rosenfield continues to photograph growing numbers of people, far exceeding the 150 portraits he original intended to do, because the project works to spark conversation and show people that they are not alone, he said.

“When you put yourself out there, people feel safe, and they can come to you for things,” he said. “I wanted to keep doing that. People would use their image then they would leave and they would get messages from strangers saying, ‘Thank you for posting that. I struggled with the exact same thing.’”

The portraits allow the participants to reclaim their insecurities. They are not casting them off, but rather reclaiming them, he said.

“It takes the power away from the insecurity and it creates empowerment in the person,” Rosenfield said. “They are owning it, they know they are suffering from it, and they are willing to move on.”

Seven of the BC participants discussed their experiences with the project and why they chose to partake in it. Haley Sullivan, A&S ’15, discussed the impact her experience surrounding sexual assault has had on her life, noting that people often feel like they should not discuss their problems for fear that they are not as bad as someone else’s problem.

“Nobody’s pain should be diminished and nobody’s hurt is inferior,” she said. “As a community, we can grow together to lessen the stigma against feelings.”

Despite it being a complicated process, taking opportunities to open up in order to decrease the stigma against having inferior emotions is important, noted Sarah Romer, A&S ’16, who spoke about her struggle with bulimia.

“No matter what, it’s important to take opportunities to open up,” she said. “If you’re not at that point yet, maybe this can be a bit of inspiration to reach out. Suffering and silence is never something you want to struggle with.”

Toward the end of the event, Chris Marchese, UGBC executive vice president and A&S ’15, made mention of the phone number for University Counseling Services to the audience. He encouraged those watching and participating to call and set an appointment if ever necessary.

“This cannot be the end of this,” said Olivia Hussey, A&S ’16. “This was an incredible evening and I’m speechless, but tomorrow when you’re sitting with your friends … talk about it,” she said. “We’re all in this together, so please do not let this stop here.” n

graham beck / Heights senior staff

In 2013, colleges and universities across the New England area saw an overall increased average rate of sexual assaults reported.

Area colleges see increase in assaults Clery Act, from A1 who demonstrate signs of potential harm.

“Depending upon the circumstances and nature of the assault, additional investigative resources may be assigned.

“Relevant information available at the initial point of contact with the patient is shared with ambulance service EMTs who, in turn, would be expected to share that with Emergency Department staff,” he said concerning the relay of information about a possible assault from the student to medical professionals.

Other Boston-area campuses have seen even greater increases in the number of reported sexual assaults, totaling 289 documented instances across 29 of the

largest New England colleges, according to a recent study by The Boston Globe.

Of the 29 colleges and universities cited in that study, BC ranked No. 16 for the highest number of reported sexual assaults per 1,000 students at .78 in 2013, compared to the average of 1.57 for all 29 schools. That overall average rate for the 29 area schools has also increased from .86 in 2011 and 1.24 in 2012.

After transportation to University Health Services in Cushing Hall or St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center—which follows a BCPD officer’s or resident assistant’s arrival on the scene of a student invoking the help-seeking policy—King noted that students who demonstrate signs of possible assault are

subsequently contacted by the University upon their return to campus for further investigation.

“Trained investigators would reach out to the victim to learn more about the assault and to begin an investigation,” he said. “Additionally, notification would be made to the Student Affairs Administrator on call (AOC) to alert him or her of the incident.”

King also said that incidents that occur in on-campus residential facilities are reported by BCPD to the office of Residential Life (ResLife), and that offcampus incidents are brought to the attention of the AOC by BCPD. “Our primary concern is for the safety of the student,” he said. n

Students look for improved accessibility Disability Access, from A1 and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act—which prohibits discrimination based on disability—because it receives federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. Institutions subject to the act are responsible for providing students who have disabilities with the services necessary to afford equal opportunity, but are not required to make adjustments that would fundamentally alter a program or impose an undue burden, according to the DOE website.

Frustrated by what she termed a lack of administrative response, Amaral filed a formal grievance with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) last May. If students do not think that BC is meeting its legal responsibilities, the University first tries to address concerns informally through the departments or offices closest to where the issues originate. Should the grievant be unsatisfied with the initial response, though, he or she can pursue BC’s formal grievance process, which is arbitrated through the University’s ADA/504 Coordinator, Richard Jefferson. Going outside BC’s process to file a grievance with the OCR is seen as a last resort.

Amaral provided a copy of the complaint to The Heights. It stated that the OCR would be investigating four main issues: whether programs and activities within specific University buildings failed to satisfy federal accessibility requirements; whether the University discriminated based on disability because of improper procedures to address accessible parking, snow, and ice removal; whether the University did not designate a person to coordinate its efforts to comply with the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and whether the University failed to adopt grievance procedures to resolve complaints arising under Section 504.

The OCR is currently investigating the discrimination claims, a spokesman from the Department of Education said in an email. Citing federal privacy laws, the spokesman would neither confirm nor deny that the investigation had stemmed from any specific individual’s grievance. While most of the office’s cases are completed within six months of the original complaint—which would put the decision on BC’s compliance sometime in November—the spokesman emphasized that some cases take longer to investigate due to the nature and complexity of the issues.

The University received notice of a complaint filed with the OCR concerning the accessibility of programs and activities associated with certain campus facilities, BC’s office of the General Counsel confirmed in a statement.

“In a manner fully commensurate with its commitment to provide program access to all persons, the University is making diligent efforts to assist and cooperate with the OCR in its review,” the statement read.

Almost five months after filing a federal grievance, Amaral still sees multiple access problems at BC. She says that since the wheelchair lift has been removed from the O’Neill atrium, the stairs in the O’Neill Atrium remain open while the elevators are inaccessible when the library is closed. Taking the elevator up to the roof of the adjacent garage is listed as the accessible route to get to Main Campus—but, she argues, the open parking lot is not a safe

walkway, and the distance is in excess of what other students must travel, which is the case for many accessible routes. Amaral pointed to other problems, some stemming from construction choices years ago—like the slope of the brick walkway that leads down to Higgins Hall—as well as obstacles posed by recent construction projects, like Stokes Hall’s heavy doors. To her, this is stark evidence that accessibility is not a focal point of renovation on campus.

“It’s an afterthought, if it even gets to be an afterthought,” Amaral said. “We would like it to be something—that they take the laws into consideration for the student body, the visitors—to make sure that BC is an accessible campus for everybody. Not just people who can walk.”

William Tibbs, the director of planning and design within the Facilities Department, asserted that the accessibility of BC’s entire campus is continually reviewed.

“This has been an ongoing effort for over 10 years, and we have made steady progress in addressing campus barriers through many targeted major and minor projects,” he said in an email. “These include ramps; lifts; curb cuts; improvements to paths, walkways, and bus shelters; dorm room reconfigurations; Res Hall accommodations; and improved handicapped parking. We have done a lot, but there is still lots to do.”

Tibbs pointed out that in addition to the federal ADA and Section 504 statutes, BC is subject to the Massachusetts architectural access code (521 CMR 1.00), which functions as a building code and sets requirements for new construction and major renovations. He noted that the ADA and Section 504 are essentially antidiscrimination laws, rather than building codes—they include physical and dimensional guidelines, but their main purpose is to ensure the provision of reasonable program accommodations.

“Given the particular challenges of the multi-elevational geography of a campus like ours, we have professional consultants to assist us with interpreting the [regulations],” Tibbs said. “When specific student or employee needs or issues arise, our goal is to accommodate, either through physical change or other [operational] means.”

Tibbs has been asked to coordinate accessibility-related efforts within the Facilities Management Department. He is a member of the Disability Services Coordinating Committee, as well as one of the departmental liaisons in attendance at Monday’s meeting.

Last spring, the committee—co-chaired by then-Dean of Students Paul Chebator and Vice Provost for Faculties Pat deLeeuw—was formed to evaluate and improve coordination of services for students with disabilities. The committee met for the first time this past Monday with a group of more than 50 people, including liaisons from around the University.

Various groups from around campus sent liaisons to hear from those departments that provide services, ranging from the law school to those who work with student-athletes, people in human resources, information technology, and the Connors Family Learning.

After the informational meeting, liaisons were tasked with educating their own departments about access, and to stay connected with the Disability Services Coordinating Committee in case further issues come up.

“It’s a first step, and I thought it was excellent,” said Senior Associate Dean of Students Carole Hughes. “I was really encouraged by the liaison meeting. It was great to have all that participation and all that interest and all that commitment.”

While administrators’ work is underway, Amaral and Phoebe Fico, A&S ’16, recently founded a new group called the Disability Awareness Committee (DAC).

“I would not say that BC has embraced persons with disabilities on this campus,” Amaral said. “I’m hoping that our Disability Awareness Committee will promote the need for that and open up options, and turn this into a positive.”

Fico, who is also planning to work with UGBC in order to increase advocacy and conversation around the issue, expressed a similar feeling in an interview last week. “People with disabilities are taught not to talk about it, sort of to put it out of our minds to make other people feel comfortable,” Fico said. “I think that we need to get more comfortable talking about it, and being okay, and being open.”

Susan Michalczyk, a professor in the honors program, is serving as the DAC’s faculty advisor.

“There needs to be an acknowledgement that this is not about a specific group of complaining kids or faculty or staff,” she said.

“It is an issue of conscience—it is a matter of responding to the good and the need of the entire community.”

Michalczyk said that the issue of disability access at BC has been a recurring problem for years. She detailed what she has seen as bureaucratic reluctance to address needs efficiently, citing examples like the struggle to get Braille signs installed in dormitories, or to add a doorknob to the accessible door in Stokes Hall. There are too few disability-accessible parking spots near academic buildings, she said, and she brought up extra mobility issues that students face when paths are covered in ice or snow. In Michalczyk’s view, students are made to feel shamed and alienated when they ask for assistance.

“There have been some minor, individual changes [since the spring],” Michalczyk said.

“But I think the resistance is still there. The goal of [the DAC] is to … increase awareness, so it isn’t just one individual who takes on the system or tries to figure out problems, but there’s a response in place that matches up with the law of the ADA, so that we are in compliance—not only legally, so we can attain higher standards of academic and social justice excellence at BC—but also because it’s the right thing to do. We need to welcome all students.”

To that end, the DAC plans to host a “day in a wheelchair” event on Nov. 7. Other events including speaker panels or wheelchair basketball are also in the works.

While the administrators involved in the Disability Services Coordinating Committee seem confident that progress is being made and issues are being handled as they arise, Amaral, Michalczyk, and the DAC are not convinced—and believe that a shift in outlook is necessary throughout the University.

“I believe there’s an attitudinal barrier here, and there shouldn’t be,” Amaral said. “This is BC, it’s a Jesuit community. You have some of the most caring people on the planet … it is a great school. We just can’t quite get there.” n

THE HEIGHTS

A4

EDITORIALS

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Canstructive fundraising for local food bank Canstruction—a nonprofit organization that holds annual designbuilding competitions, at which local architects and engineers build structures entirely from canned goods that are eventually donated to charity—will host its 19th annual building day in Boston this Saturday. Each structure typically uses between 2,000 and 5,000 cans—all within a space that is 10 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 10 feet tall.

Participants will head to the BSA Space and the Atlantic Wharf Hotel lobby, where teams will start building structures that they have planned potentially for months. After the designs come to life and the winners are declared, the creations are put on public display as giant art exhibits from Oct. 14 until Oct. 31. Although there is no admission fee to the exhibit, there will be food bins in which attendees can donate canned goods to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, which serves Lowell, Mass. This is a good cause, and Boston College students should

Thursday, October 9, 2014

What is the meaning of life? That was all—a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years. The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come.

-Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941), English author

consider attending this event to raise awareness for hunger in areas not far from Chestnut Hill.

Each year a new theme is selected, and the theme for 2014 is “Pop Culture.” Thousands of hungry people are fed wherever a Canstruction competition is held. Last year alone, 26 architectural and engineering firms donated 75,000 pounds of canned food to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank.

Canstruction is one example of the many fundraising events designed to tackle the issue of hunger in Boston.

The problems associated with hunger and poverty do not have easy solutions, but events like Canstruction bring together support from across the greater Boston area. Aside from the many volunteering opportunities available to students at BC, Canstruction offers students a creative way to support awareness for hunger while interacting with some of Boston’s top architects, engineers, and designers.

Addressing campus accessibility Over the summer, Boston College started making improvements across campus to increase accessibility for students with disabilities. In addition to the physical changes, BC also launched a new website to centralize information that students with disabilities might need. Although these are positive improvements, some students and faculty still have concerns that have not been addressed.

A complaint against BC is currently under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The existence of such a complaint does not necessarily mean that the University is not complying with its responsibilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act—that determination will be made by the OCR after an investigation has been carried out. It is concerning, however, that students’ issues with disability accommodation and their frustration with administrators has reached the point where resolutions cannot be reached internally. This is less a referendum on the actual state of accessibility at BC than it is commentary on the attitudes surrounding the issue.

It is important to note that while institutions receiving federal funds, like BC, cannot discriminate on the basis of diversity, it is not legally required to make changes that would fundamentally alter a program or impose an undue burden. Still, for BC to uphold its oftcited values—its inclusiveness and focus on service to others—it must make clear that it is seriously committed to being accessible to all students, and follow through on that commitment.

The new accessibility website is a positive step in this direction for the University—coalescing and streamlining all information relevant to accessibility, as well as placing the links prominently on BC’s homepage, sends the message that the school is concerned with granting all students access and that resources are available to those who need them.

A website alone, however, is not entirely sufficient. Other, more tangible steps, such as making publicly known the goals to improve accessibility across campus, can and should be taken in order to accommodate students with access needs better. The Disability Services Coordinating Committee, composed

of administrators and staff members from across the University, is one such move—the existence of such a committee has the potential to create real change in procedures and attitudes.

More transparency is necessary surrounding the work that BC is doing to improve, though. Last year, the Connors Family Learning Center worked with approximately 450 students with learning disabilities, and the Disability Services Office within the Dean of Students Office worked with about 275 students with various physical, psychological, medical, and temporary disabilities.

The needs of each one of those students ought to be addressed—and if they are not in fact being met, students should be able to see what efforts are being made, and in which areas.

Significantly, students are also working to address the indifference to and ignorance of disability issues at BC. Vice President for Diversity & Inclusion Martin Casiano and former UGBC senator Dan Ibarrola, both A&S ’15, are committed to advocating for students with disabilities. They plan to spend the semester gathering information by speaking with students who currently have disabilities, and determining the best ways to raise awareness and initiate discussions. This is a small step, and one that might not immediately yield visible effects, but it is important nonetheless. In order to change the attitudes toward disabilities on BC’s campus, the broader student body must be involved.

In light of the recent BC Ignites forum on mental health and illness, an iteration focused on disabilities or a similar event would be a good way to bring the conversation into the open. In addition, the work of the newly formed Disability Awareness Committee to organize events on its own should further expand the discussion.

In matters of diversity and inclusion, student advocacy alone will never be enough. Nor will an administrative response, carried out behind closed doors and in isolation from those whom it impacts, suffice. As with all matters in which the quality of life of historically underrepresented groups is at stake— GLTBQ students, AHANA students, female students, those with mental health issues—the situation of disabled students will only improve if the student body and the administration both make it an obvious and active priority.

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

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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 “The Broken BC Bubble” by Kendra Kumor, which ran on 10/6/14: This is the problem with rape culture, especially on college campuses; people are so keen to immediately blame the victim. “Well she drank too much so she was asking for it. She should’ve known better.” By holding the victim accountable for the perpetrator’s actions or even rationalizing his assault away by assuming that he too was drinking, you are perpetuating rape culture. Perhaps we should be more concerned that men think that they are entitled to women’s bodies and that women have to be constantly hypervigilant lest they be assaulted and then blamed for their assault.

—MARIA Yes let’s focus not on the actions of the men who are abusing the girl, but blame it on the drunk girl? Rape culture is perpetuated by such microaggressions like this!

—NEIL CASWELL I agree that we should of course not blame the victim in cases of rape and that the rapist is completely at blame and should be put behind bars for the remainder of his/her life.

However, I believe that all people should behave responsibly and make intelligent decisions—this applies to both men and women alike. While the rapist/attacker is of course to blame, individuals should take the necessary precautions to keep themselves out of harm’s way by not becoming drunk to the point where they black out or are unaware of their surroundings. Just because the rapist/attacker is to blame, it doesnt mean that men and women can behave irresponsibly by drinking to their hearts’ content without thinking about the ramifications. We cannot speak much on the particular case of Sarah because we are unaware of what exactly happened, if she was raped, or if she was given roofies causing her to black out. We simply do not know so there is no point arguing over it. I am speaking generally about the BC drinking culture. As a former student myself, I have had many friends who have woken up at St. E’s after blacking out. While perpetrators of crimes are completely to blame in cases of rape and assault, we are adults that should choose our actions very carefully. It is a dangerous world we live in.

—NICK How about we just agree that the rapist necessarily bears all moral culpability for a rape even in such a case the victim could ostensibly have reduced his or her odds of being victimized. For an analogy, consider that if you leave your bicycle outside your house, the odds the bike is stolen increase.

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

Nevertheless, the fault is entirely that of the thief. No one would seriously suggest you are responsible for the theft or deserve blame, nor should the thief be exonerated. That being said, advising someone to take precautions against theft or for that matter rape is reasonable under the right circumstances; it is probably easier to better equip victims to handle crime than to reform the sociopathic behavior of criminals.

It strikes me as incredibly insensitive, however, to reprimand a victim for failing to take precautions rather than displaying sympathy for his or her plight. “Victim blaming” in this vein seems to be a reaction against the feminist politics surrounding rape prevention. While policy arguments are fine, they should not be an excuse to trivialize profound suffering or demean someone who deserves our sympathy and support.

—ART Telling people that they need to take precautions, such as making sure that they don’t drink too much or watching their drink so that they’re not roofied, to avoid being sexually assaulted is still a component of victim blaming. You are setting them up to partially, if not fully, take the blame for their assault.

By telling a would-be victim, “Don’t be irresponsible and drink to your hearts content or you might get raped,” you are putting the responsibility of the crime on the victim’s shoulders. By saying that, you are telling a would-be assailant, “It is your victim’s responsibility to make sure that they are not assaulted. If they fail to hold their liquor or leave their drink unattended, they have willingly left themselves vulnerable for you to take advantage of them. It is their fault that they have provided you with this opportunity to assault them.”

Sexual assault and rape are the only violent crimes where we place responsibility of the crime on the victim. We do not tell victims of a carjacking, “Oh, well maybe you shouldn’t have been in a car to begin with.” We do not tell victims of a kidnapping, “Oh, well maybe you shouldn’t have put yourself in a position to be kidnapped.” But we do tell victims of rape and assault, “Oh, well maybe you shouldn’t have been drinking so much” and, despite your best intentions, that is a victim blaming microaggression that perpetuates rape culture.

There is a point to arguing about this. This article is not about the BC drinking culture. This article is about raising awareness that not everyone within and around the BC community are men and women for others but men and women who wish to do others harm. Kendra is trying to raise awareness that it is up to us to step in and stop assaults before they can begin and the first step of that is telling would-be assailants that is is NOT okay to take advantage of drunk people, not telling would-be victims not to drink.

—MARIA

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JORDAN PENTALERI, Graphics Editor ARIANA IGNERI, Assoc. Arts & Review Editor NICOLE SUOZZO, Blog Editor MICHELLE TOMASSI, Asst. Arts & Review Editor AUSTIN TEDESCO, Online Manager BENNET JOHNSON, Asst. Metro Editor CORINNE DUFFY, Assoc. Copy Editor EMILY SADEGHIAN, Asst. Photo Editor EVAN D. GATTI, Asst. Copy Editor JT MINDLIN, Asst. Layout Editor JULIE ORENSTEIN, Assoc. News Editor BRECK WILLS, Asst. Graphics Editor NATHAN MCGUIRE, Asst. News Editor ARIELLE CEDENO, Editorial Assistant MARLY MORGUS, Assoc. Sports Editor SARAH MOORE, Executive Assistant ALEX FAIRCHILD, Asst. Sports Editor SAMANTHA COSTANZO, Asst. Features Editor

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The Heights

Thursday, October 9, 2014

A5

Double negativity, double disengagement God in the Oval Office William Flautt Blue LEDs - We love these just about as much as we do red LEDs, but these won a Nobel Prize.

Netflix - Thank you, Netflix, for bringing Gilmore Girls back into our lives. It has some of the wittiest dialogue we have heard in a television show. Although we don’t really have the time in our lives to watch it right now, we are going to make room.

Success at Success - You might have achieved success, but have you achieved success at success?

Columbus Day - It has been a long semester already, and we are more than ready for a three-day weekend.

Singing After Midnight - It never ceases to annoy and frustrate those of us who just need to get some work done.

Fire Alarms - Does nobody know how to cook?!?!?!?!?! We have had two alarms in as many days in Ignacio, and it is getting really old.

Stop burning your toast at 8:40 a.m. when many of us are trying to sleep. Put water in your Easy Mac, and don’t leave your popcorn in the microwave too long when you get the post-midnight munchies.

We get it—you’re hungry, but so are we, and you don’t see us burning stuff at preposterous hours.

Get it together.

Repetition - We really hate it when a professor explains a concept and then spends the next 20 minutes saying the exact same thing in slightly different words.

Repetition - It greatly irks us when a professor explicates a theory and proceeds to use the following 20 minutes to convey the same concept using altered vocabulary.

Poor Timing - Of all the times maintenance could have chosen to refinish the main doors of Stokes, why did it choose the middle of the day? Almost any time other than the one in which the greatest number of students are trying to exit the building would have been preferable.

More Anonymit y - Rumors are flying that Facebook will soon launch an app that will allow users to communicate anonymously.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

After all, look how YikYak turned out. Also, we would like to hone in on one specific part of the release—the employees who spoke to The New York Times only did so on the condition of anonymity.

Closing Time - The final race at Suffolk Downs was held on Saturday. The bugle called the horses to the gate for the race to begin for the final time. The great machines of muscle and marrow jockeyed for position in the onemile oval before a crowd of over 9,000 for the final time. And one first crossed the finish line for the final time.

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“I support gay rights.” “I am not against gay rights.” The first is a positive statement, the second a double negative one. Logically, a double negative is a positive. So, why are these two statements so different? As it turns out, the mind is not a machine that follows mathematical principles, and there are more than two ways of expressing an opinion in politics—in many cases, there is a middle ground between the purely positive and purely negative that draws on the crowd of non-confrontational, easy-going people who want the security of having an opinion on an issue without the mental tax of standing up and acting on their convictions. Even though it begins as a positive belief in theory, the reality of double negative assertions leads directly to this middle ground, encouraging disengagement by opposing a conflicting view instead of supporting one with which you agree.

I confronted this issue a few summers ago when I went “canvassing” around Boston with a non-profit organization based downtown, essentially spending every afternoon knocking on doors and talking to people for hours about getting their support for expanding a renewable energy program. We call it canvassing, some call it grassroots campaigning, others call it annoying, and my roommate calls it professional begging. While canvassing, though, I learned that there is a spectrum of political participation into which all people fall regarding an issue. At one extreme, there are people who simply want nothing to do with it—“get off of my property, kid.” The other extreme are people who either fervently support or oppose the cause. The

people at the extremes are not all that common, and they are relatively easy to recognize and deal with. The most frustrating people to deal with on a day-to-day, eye-to-eye, door-to-door basis are the ones who fall into this middle ground of the double negative disorder. These are the people who “aren’t against” renewable energy. These are the people who “don’t think it’s not” an important issue. These are the people who “wouldn’t say no” if renewable energy were successfully expanded. The trick of the trade in grassroots campaigning is convincing the people with double negative disorders to convert to its ideologically equivalent, but politically active, positive side.

This all brings me to the real question: What use is it having a political opinion if you keep it quietly to yourself? Isn’t “personal political opinion” a bit of an oxymoron? Forget about voting—voting is the final decision after all the other voices have spoken. Political opinions are powerful, but they often go unused or underused thanks to political timidity, fear of confrontation, and a host of other reasons. Self-annihilation of political voice is especially concerning in a society that depends on the opinions of its people to guide its lawmaking and law enforcement—unfortunately, the quiet middle ground remains all too common of a choice these days. Double negative opinions are an unaddressed failure in personal opinion-making that take away incentive for political action, while maintaining the sensation of political involvement via ideological solidarity. For people who care deeply about the opinions they hold, the people who are on their side but refuse to act on their beliefs are a headache because of the potential political power gone to waste.

Why is it so addictive? Why does it keep happening? Why do so many people care about an issue, but won’t voice their opinions on it? The quick answer is that it is easy to be uninvolved because it requires no effort.

But there is more to the story—some people

I talked to wanted to get involved, but didn’t know where to start. Others had started, but didn’t know how far they could go. Unfortunately, the vast majority felt their voice couldn’t make a difference. One of my most meaningful personal accomplishments is that I talked to approximately 1,500 Boston residents and attempted to involve them in an issue they cared about, but weren’t acting on. Sometimes it worked. Most of the time, it didn’t. But with the help of hundreds of other people, we mobilized enough people into action that the legislation we were fighting for that summer was passed.

It all comes back to the silent majority of people who hold double negative beliefs.

Inaction is addictive. By necessity, politicians and governments react slowly and inaccurately to the people they represent, but this disconnect is in part due to our own inaction.

Political stimulation is so difficult—it sometimes requires legions of motivated people walking around neighborhoods, knocking on doors, and talking one on one—objects at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an outside force. Having been on the begging side, I know firsthand that a small part of the world is begging all of us to find our voices and tell the world what we think—it is indeed the most powerful and underused weapon we as citizens of a democratic nation have to use.

If you have an opinion, support what you want. Be against what you want. But be clear in your beliefs, and do not be afraid to act on them. That being said, if you don’t have any opinion, that is fine—and much more peaceful. But if you do find yourself honestly caring about something, be careful not to slip into the double negative doldrums, because in politics it leads to the passive middle ground where opinions go to die, and where the silent majority goes to wallow.

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

The things that follow us

Victoria Mariconti The other evening I was innocently browsing the Gap website in search of a new pair of pants. My long online-shopping drought was broken when I finally found them—maroon boyfriend-fit cords, on sale. But, being a believer in a few mom-and-pop financial strategies, I decided to sleep on the purchase and wait to make it in the rational light of day. I navigated away from the page to search something or another on Google. As the results came up, I looked to the far side of my screen and was surprised—my maroon boyfriend-fit cords had followed me. The Gap advertisement popped up almost as if Google knew I had been contemplating the purchase…. Surprised but not unnerved, I made my way to Facebook.

When I arrived at my timeline, I glanced once more to the side—the pants had followed me there, too! The Internet was conspiring to break my will and was stalking me to do it.

By now, those of us who are frequent flyers between retail websites, social media, and search engines have all surely been trailed by advertisements for the companies and brand names we engage online. It all seems innocuous enough—no one is forcing us to do anything— but it illuminates the fact that we are predictable beings whose virtual comings and goings are no longer protected by privacy.

The issues of the privacy we want, the privacy we want to forfeit, and the privacy we cannot choose to forfeit have become major topics in the discourses of the media and the international political scene. Since its ruling in May, the EU has labored to unpack all of the meanings of the “Right to Be Forgotten,” or the right, under certain conditions, to compel a search engine to remove links with personal

Across Campus

information. The debate in that arena pits the right to be forgotten against other longstanding rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

This discussion came to Boston College earlier in the semester when the 2014 Academic Convocation speaker, American novelist Dave Eggers, spoke on his book, The Circle. I have not had a chance to read it, but Eggers’ remarks and a few online searches (this time I was stalked by tickets to BC sporting events) confirmed that the book is about a parallel American society run (terrorized) by a Googlesque conglomerate gone wrong. The protagonist eventually espouses the view “Privacy is theft.”

Without belaboring the point, there is a lot of ironically well-publicized anxiety about the future of an individual’s private space in this increasingly connected world. But, how does this issue manifest itself on our campus?

I stumbled across an interesting opinion piece in The New York Times, “We Want Privacy but Can’t Stop Sharing.” The author considers the personal, psychological importance of privacy in light of the decrease in people who know how to wield it appropriately. Several quoted researchers reported privacy to be an important ingredient of a healthy mind and balanced self-image, but online over-sharing has become the norm in social media-driven communities. Between a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat account, one could easily reconstruct the thoughts, emotions, and locations of the average iPhone-wielding undergrad (and that’s without consideration of the GPS in each device).

The most interesting thread of this particular op-ed was an underdeveloped comment on the relationship between privacy and status.

The author writes, “The history of privacy (loosely defined as freedom from being observed) is one of status.

Those who are institutionalized for criminal behavior or ill health, children and the impoverished have less privacy than those who are upstanding, healthy, mature and wealthy. Think

of crowded tenements versus mansions behind high hedges.”

She is right to say that the history of privacy has verified this correlation of more seclusion to wealth and status, but today—and on college campuses in particular—that relationship has changed.

As a crowd whose tastes are often quantified by “likes,” “shares,” and “retweets,” we have turned the traditional relationship between privacy and status on its head. Now, when we share some intimate detail about our life—a change in relationship status, a death in the family, a new job, a particularly rough day, or a funny interaction—it comes as part of a tightlymanaged personal marketing plan that is based on a calculation of what information we should divulge in order to achieve the best status boost among friends and peers. Of course, such a reptilian mindset doesn’t explain all of our shares. I, for one, believe that others will get as much joy from pictures of my adorable kitten, Charlie, as I do. Believe me when I say that I would include a few photos in this column if I could. In the grand scheme of social media, though, we play the highlight reel.

Undergraduates do covet privacy when it comes to one aspect of life—the photos and comments that get us street cred among peers, but endanger our chances of landing jobs. In this respect, we want to have our cake and eat it, too … or, more accurately, we want to post our photos and be employed. If not photos, we want to air our grievances, give life to our off-color thoughts, or simply get something off our chests. This is the point at which privacy and the impulse to share converge. But, the undergraduate is a clever being, and collectively, we have found the solution in the age-old tactic of anonymity.

Don’t you hate it when they say, “To be continued.”

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

BY JULIA BOGIAGES

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.

Sean McGowan Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

These words have for over two centuries bound any man undertaking the office of the President of the United States to the faithful execution of his office. In context, they form the most integral part of an oath, sworn with dignity and reverence for the indomitable, ever-shifting moral code of one’s country.

And yet, every president-elect who has ever spoken the words, Theodore Roosevelt and John Quincy Adams excluded, has done it in nearly identical fashion—not with his hand on the Constitution has he sworn to uphold or on any legally binding contract, but on a 2000-year-old book, rife with contradiction, fragmentation, and fabrication, held sacred by only 32 percent of the rest of the world.

There is no mention in the oath of any Judeo-Christian God. The president-elect, therefore, is under no obligation to swear this oath to anyone or anything. Enumerated explicitly in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, it would seem that the phrasing of this oath is the product of a careful group of men dedicated to the production of a unique document—the basis for a secular republic, founded upon and governed by nonreligious moral principles, which would themselves be subject to change by learned discourse and democratic processes at any time.

The words “so help me God” would have been a simple alteration, and one that we can say with near certainty would have been made if our founding fathers had deemed the addition necessary. This final clause remains part of a similar oath—one not prescribed explicitly in the Constitution—taken by the vice president and members of Congress to this day. Yet, the phrase is absent from the oath that binds our commander-in-chief.

Either the framers of the Constitution anticipated the inclement weather on the steps of the Capitol building and sought to trim the oath a bit, or there is actually something to this absence of religious rhetoric with regard to the office of the presidency.

It is remarkable that our head of state is one of a small number in the world that does not have—and has never had—any sort of religious litmus test for eligibility.

Yet, as the president touches his gloved hand to the Bible in January, one cannot help feeling that the office remains imbued with an unspoken obligation to the Christian faith.

As religious faith continues to decline in the rest of the world, one cannot help but wonder if adherence to Christianity is actually beneficial to the leader of the free world, or if it—like a comb-over or a Y chromosome—is yet another one of the outdated and unnecessary preconceived notions associated with the presidency of which we cannot seem to rid ourselves. Must a person believe in God in order to do the job effectively? And if we continue to impose this unspoken religious requirement, will we exclude qualified nonbelievers from the running entirely?

While I’d like to believe otherwise, it remains difficult to imagine a person who has yet to accept Jesus Christ as his or her personal lord and savior ever advancing further than the primary stages of an election. It seems that there is no place in American politics for those who do not believe that religion is important—a rarity in the modern world.

A recent study conducted by the Pew Research center on the “American-Western European Values Gap” suggests that the U.S. is behind the secularization curve, noting that 46 percent of Americans consider themselves Christian first and American second, compared to just 21 percent and 8 percent of British and French citizens, respectively, who identify with faith before nationality. Similarly, 53 percent of Americans believe that God is absolutely necessary for morality, while 20, 19, and 15 percent of Britain, Spain, and France, respectively, express that opinion.

If nothing else, these numbers remind us that the American view of its head of state, and its apparent grounding in religious faith, actually shares more in common with the quasi-theocratic regimes of modern-day Israel or 17th-century England than those of its secular, democratic allies.

There are many countries that require their heads of state to be of a certain religion.

They make up a list of 30 countries, characterized largely by slow to nonexistent social and scientific progress. While there is no danger of the U.S. joining such a list, would the presidency really have to change much if it did?

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

THE HEIGHTS

A6

Thursday, October 9, 2014

It’s time to find reason for our hatred of all ACC football programs From Column, A8 me so much unfounded hatred, but unwilling to make any effort to get rid of it—because where’s the fun in that—I took inspiration from the Wall Street Journal’s recently published “Hateability Index” of MLB playoff teams.

After some soul searching about what exactly makes my blood boil about my least favorite programs, I managed to lay out 10 criteria, any combination of which are almost guaranteed to make you hate a program.

Initially inspired to tackle the entire FBC (plus North Dakota State, because why not?) and come to terms with all of the hatred inside of me, I immediately realized, though, that would be a ridiculous endeavor and decided to start tackling the hate where it hits closest to home—in the ACC. The criteria, as listed in my ever-so-informing infographic, are as follows.

1. How many “claimed national titles” does the school have?

2. Does the school have a live mascot that it brings out at games?

3. Do girls wear dresses to home games?

4. How hateable is the starting quarterback?

5. How many top-10 wins does it have this year?

6. Do they have a shorthand name for their mascot?

7. Signature hand gesture?

8. How hateable is their head coach?

9. Do their TV commercial obnoxiously claim academic superiority?

10. How many players have been arrested in the last five years?

For each category that is a yes or no question, the team was assigned zero points for a “no” and one point for a “yes.”

All others are on a scale of zero to five, five being the most hateable or actual numbers based on the number of times

the team has fulfilled a certain category. The team with the highest index wins. Or loses.

Or whatever. Let’s make this clear, too: most of these ratings are completely unfounded and under-researched, but rather a gut-reaction which, when we’re talking about hateablility, is really what matters.

I’m not going to take 5,000 words to go through each rating that I gave each team in each category. That would be absurd.

Instead, here are the highlights of my findings.

1. How many “claimed national titles” does the school have? What is a claimed national title? Apparently, it’s some sort of metric that Wikipedia uses and goes back as far as 1915, when Pittsburgh won its national title, so we’re going to roll with it. No real surprises here, except the fact that Pitt somehow manages to claim three times as many national titles as any other team in the ACC. Seems shady to me.

2. Does the school have a live mascot that it brings out at games? Here is where my system breaks down a little. I find the idea of bringing a horned sheep (looking at you, UNC) pretty stupid. Also, while this is a yes or no question, Florida State got two points for claiming to have a live Native American riding on a horse. Be that as it may, NC State actually gained negative hateability for its live mascot, Tuff y, a large wolf-like dog, who is adorable. Tuff y is a hero and the lone survivor after the rest of his family was tragically poisoned and euthanized.

3. Do girls wear dresses to home games? I’ll admit it—I think I would probably enjoy this. Regardless, it’s also an extremely pretentious, fake southern thing that all of the North Carolina schools do and it cannot stand. Extra points to Wake Forest for this one, where it appears the fans don’t even bother wearing the school colors.

4. How hateable is their starting quarterback? Perhaps

BRECK WILLS / HEIGHTS GRAPHIC

the area where Florida State excels the most, all others pale in comparison to the hateability of the one and only Jameis Winston, who has captured our hearts through sexual assault allegations and crab leg theft, not to mention a Heisman and a National Championship.

5. How many top-10 wins does it have this year? How are BC and Virginia Tech the only teams in the ACC with top-10 wins this year? In hindsight, this metric sucks and has no meaning because both of those teams have lost hateablity points in their failures following their top-10 wins.

6. Do they have a shorthand name for their mascot? Fun fact: this is much more common in the ACC Atlantic than it is in the Coastal division. While no

shorthand is particularly more hateable than the next, any name (’Noles, Eags, Pack, etc.) is enough to earn a point on my list, especially when they start putting it on shirts.

7. If they have a signature hand gesture. Did you know NC State has the same hand gesture as Texas? Fun fact. Also, while I’ll admit that seeing a sea of Florida State fans do their tomahawk thing is pretty intimidating and cool, that’s the exact reason why it’s so hateable.

8. How hateable is the head coach? Formerly of the University of Arkansas until he was released for an inappropriate relationship with a female employee, Bobby Petrino of Louisville takes the cake here. The inappropriate relationship isn’t all, though—he has also been accused of cheat-

ing on his wife, then getting in a motorcycle accident (with the girl he was cheating with on his back) while trying to cover it up.

Also, he coached at Nevada, so screw that.

9. Does their TV commercial obnoxiously claim academic superiority? The saddest part about this is that I’ve now watched the TV spot for every school in the ACC. What I found most surprising, though, was the fact that not all of them overtly claimed that they were better than everyone else. Florida State, UVA, Pitt, Duke, and UNC all absolutely did.

10. How many players have been arrested in the last five years? This one was easily the most fun. I made one of my most valuable internet discoveries ever when I came across ArrestNa-

tion.com, a site that sorts athlete arrests by team, and it’s not just college football. There are listings for MLB, NHL, NCAA basketball, college softball and many, many more. Pitt was the dark horse here, with 15 separate arrests. While most schools had repeat offenders (repeat arrests were only counted once), Pitt had 15 separate people make the list.

So what did we learn? Pitt is really really hateable. Besides that, I already knew that Florida State would be the most hateable team in the ACC, but now I have the data to back it up.

Marly Morgus is the Assoc.

Sports Editor for The Heights.

She can be reached at sports@ bcheights.com

Eagles face two personnel losses

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

John Hilliman has been valuable to the Eagles’ run game so far this season, and will hope to continue that on Saturday.

From BC, A8 easier this week against NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett, but lineman Brian Mihalik says the defense understands the game plan against thisversatile passer. “He can scramble a little bit and he does a good job of staying on his feet,” Mihalik said. “We got to make sure we keep him in the pocket and not let him make big plays.”

Unfortunately for the Eagles’ defense, they had more to contend with over the bye week than simply recovering from a loss to a mid-major opponent. Senior defensive lineman Mehdi Abdesmad was ruled out for the year after another season-ending surgery to his left knee.

Despite last year’s surgery sapping much of his quickness, losing Abdesmad further exacerbated the Eagles’ lack of depth this year, which has already suffered major injuries, including offensive guards Harris Williams and the recently returned Bobby Vardaro. Additionally, starting cornerback junior Bryce Jones was kicked off the team after violating an unspecified team rule. Jones played an integral part to the Eagles’ secondary early this season, making 20 tackles—the fourth most on the team—and an interception in last week’s game against CSU. “It’s a tough loss—he was a part of

our team and we really needed him,” said cornerback Manuel Asprilla.

Despite this, Asprilla put forth his confidence in Jones’ replacements.

“We have players that are younger and they weren’t just sitting around doing nothing—they’re on their stuff,” he said. “His loss is tough but people are ready to step up.” Head coach Steve Addazio echoed Asprilla’s remarks, saying the defense will continue to dominate and is moving on.

Additionally, Addazio praised Jones’ replacement in the rotation, sophomore John Johnson, as well as freshmen corners Isaac Yiadom and Kamrin Moore. Addazio noted his cornerback’s enthusiasm for this opportunity. “[Johnson’s] probably excited he’s got the chance to be a starter—he wants to play,” Addazio said.

Addazio asserted the readiness of these young cornerbacks, as they have all seen playing time. He recognized the problems that come with the youth of his secondary staff, but did not deny their ability to improve.

“They’ll make their mistakes, there’s a learning curve in there but they’ll play hard, they’ll play physical, if you get beat you get beat, you roll up, get ready for the next snap and go,” Addazio said.

Expect more of the same from the nation’s sixth-best rushing offense.

Freshman running back Jon Hilliman and quarterback Tyler Murphy once again turned in stellar performances on the ground, powering for 207 yards and three touchdowns against CSU. They look to exploit a Wolfpack rushing defense that ranks 94th in the NCAA and second-to-last in the ACC, which should mean easy pickings for an offense that runs for an average 316.8 yards per game. If the running game does stall out, this could be the perfect opportunity for Murphy’s struggling aerial attack to break out, as the NC State passing defense ranks towards the bottom as well.

BC’s offense has the talent to overcome a weak NC State defense—the key matchup comes down to the defense regaining their dominating form as they had against USC’s rushing attack.

Preventing the Wolfpack read-option offense from taking over the time of possession battle, especially in late drives the way CSU did, will allow Murphy to run Addazio’s powerhitting, counter running game most effectively.

If they can do that, the Eagles may again capture some of their early-season glory to gain positive momentum heading into their heavy ACC schedule in the coming weeks. 

THE HEIGHTS

EDITORS’ EDITORS’PICKS PICKS

Thursday, October 9, 2014 The Week Ahead

Standings

The football team will be on the road at NC State on Saturday. Men’s hockey opens its season at UMass Lowell. Also in action on Sunday will be the volleyball team, continuing its ACC schedule with a contest against Miami in the Power Gym. The NHL season is starting up again this week—how many goals will Johnny Gaudreau score between now and next Wednesday?

A7

Recap from Last Picks

MARLY MORGUS

15-7

ALEX FAIRCHILD

15-7

HEIGHTS STAFF

12-10

CONNOR MELLAS

11-11

Game of the Week

The soccer team toppled No. 1 Notre Dame with a 1-0 win in South Bend.

Women’s hockey demolished Syracuse by a final score of 10-2. The field hockey team had a rough weekend with two overtime losses—one of which was to No. 16 Wake Forest. Boise State held on despite a late effort from Nevada for a 51-46 win.

Volleyball

Boston vs.

College

Guest Editor: Bennet Johnson Asst. Metro Editor

“Teddy Bridgewater is the future.”

CONNOR MELLAS

This Week’s Games

Sports Editor

Football: BC vs. NC State M. Hockey: No. 4 BC vs. No. 17 UMass Lowell Volleyball: BC vs. Miami How many goals will Gaudreau score this week?

MARLY MORGUS Assoc. Sports Editor

ALEX FAIRCHILD

BENNET JOHNSON Asst. Metro Editor

Asst. Sports Editor

NC State

BC

BC

BC

BC

BC

BC

BC

Miami

Miami

BC

Miami

2

3

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Miami

The 7-7 Boston College Eagles’ volleyball team is heading into a tough weekend of ACC pla.

While BC has had a strong start in its conference play so far with a win over Louisville in five sets then a straight set loss to Pittsburgh followed by a straight set win over Syracuse, they are heading into a challenging couple of games against Duke on Friday and Miami on Sunday at 12 p.m. in Power Gym. The Hurricanes have had a similar start in the conference with wins over Notre Dame and Clemson and losses to Duke and Florida State.

Sunday, 12 p.m.

Brisset set to lead NC State offense with Eagles in town From NC State, A8 agility. He’s not a blazer, but he’s a strong runner. He does a great job staying alive and looking to make plays down field. I really am impressed with him.”

The 6-foot-4, 231-pound dualthreat is familiar with BC’s Tyler Murphy. For two seasons, the pair spent time on the bench as backup quarterbacks at Florida.

“We still talk to this day,” Murphy told ESPN in August. “We talk, if not every day then maybe every other day, just to check up on each other and see how things are going, because it can be a tough transition. And as friends you always want to see your other friend do well, and we both look forward to competing against each other when we do line up and play this year.”

Murphy’s NC State connection is not the only feature of the NC State offense, as it has a two-headed monster at running back in the form of Shadrach Thornton and Matt Dayes, both of whom yielded similar praise from Addazio.

Facing this multi-faceted Wolfpack offense will challenge the BC defense that has to rebound from its sub-par performance against the Colorado State Rams. The BC defense allowed 6.2 yards per

carry against the Rams, a mark that will not get the job done against the offensive ability of the Wolfpack, an offense that is averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

NC State’s defense has allowed an average of 194 rushing yards per game in conference play and will face a BC offense that ranks sixth in the country with 317 yards on the ground per game.

This is perhaps the most significant matchup of the day for the Eagles, whose success this year has been derived from their success with running the football.

In their three wins this season, BC has gained at least 338 yards on the ground in each contest. The most notable of these efforts was their massive upset of the USC Trojans in which their offense amassed a whopping 452 yards rushing.

When the Eagles have been able to consistently run the ball with Murphy, Willis, and Hilliman, they have controlled the game.

The BC offense has been mediocre through the air and establishing the running game is a prerequisite for a successful game.

As much as anyone else, Addazio is aware of the potential of NC State’s defense.

“On defense they returned six

starters,” Addazio said. “I really think their interior guys are really strong, like [Art] Norman and [Thomas] Teal. They run to the ball well and have a good scheme, so I think they’re a strong football team.”

This front will need to step up for the Wolfpack to be able to combat BC’s offensive game plan.

Both teams are in search of their first conference win and the Eagles will have to do it with a very young team in its first true road test of the season.

“We have to go on the road for the first time this season with a young group,” Addazio said.

“We have to handle the crowd and the noise and just everything that comes with being out of your comfort zone on the road. Our challenges are there for us, but we’re looking forward to it and we are excited to play on Saturday.”

As the Eagles head to Raleigh as slight underdogs on Saturday, they will look to prove themselves after a disappointing letdown game against Colorado State.

On the opposite sideline, the Wolfpack will look to prove that they are a legitimate team in the ACC, not just a team who beats up on weak, out-of-conference opponents. 

RAINER EHRHARDT / AP PHOTO

NC State’s Jacoby Brissett and BC’s Tyler Murphy go back to both their days at Florida, where they played together.

ROUND UP

BY ARTHUR BAILIN FOR THE HEIGHTS

MEN’S GOLF The Boston College men’s golf team travelled down to Raleigh, N.C. for the Wolfpack Invitational. BC emerged with a 13th place overall finish in team play. In the three-round tournament, the Eagles shot a combined 894 strokes, 48 strokes shy of the host, and eventual winner, North Carolina State.

BC opened the tournament on a slow note, shooting a 313-combined stroke total in the first round. Nick Pandelena and Patrick Albanesi, the eventual BC leaders in the tournament, shot an 80 and 78, respectively.

In the second round, BC saw a surge, led by Albanesi’s 69-stroke total, good enough for 3under par. Pandelena also contributed to the effort, making par with a 72.

Brian Butler was the third-best golfer on the Eagles, finishing with a 76 in the round. The Eagles took the momentum from the second round and finished with a strong third round.

Pandelena finished the third round with a team best 68, or 4-under par.

Max Christiana also had a solid third round, finishing a stroke under par at 71. The Eagles will travel to Maryland for the Maryland Terrapin Invitational. This will mark the end of the fall 2014 season for the team. 

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @HEIGHTSSPORTS M. soccer

scoreboard

BC ND

1 0

FIELD HOCKEY 3 BC WAKE 4

SOUTH BEND, IN 10/3

w. ICE HOCKEY

10 NORMENSINU 1 G BC WALL 2 SVS CUSE 2

NEWTON, MA 10/3

w. soccer

0 HROMINSIN 1 G BC KOZNIVK 2 G CUSE 3

CHESTNUT HILL, MA 10/4 M. ICE HOCKEY BENDER 3 G GILLIGAN 24 SVS

BC NB

6 4

SYRACUSE, NY 10/4 W. VOLLEYBALL DUNHAM 1 SV O’NEILL 2 G

BC 3 CUSE 0

CHESTNUT HILL, MA 10/4 TUCH 2 G BRACE 1 G

CHESTNUT HILL, MA 10/5 TOPOR 15 K SHAIPOVA 13 K

FIELD HOCKEY BC NU

2 3

PLASTERAS 1 G LAMISON 1 G

3 1

DOWD 2 G 1 A ARVAS 1 G

CAMBRIDGE, MA11/09 9/25 Newton, MA

W. SOCCER BC PITT

BOSTON,Ma MA11/11 10/5 Boston,

2014 HEIGHTS HOCKEY PREVIEW

SPORTS

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SEE B1

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014

OCT. 11. 2014 BC vs. NC State.

3:30 p.m. ET ESPN3

BRECK WILLS / HEIGHTS GRAPHIC

ATTACKING THE PACK

Jacoby Brissett is set to lineup against old friend Tyler Murphy when his Wolfpack takes on the Eagles

BC’s defense will have to adapt after losing two starters, including Mehdi Abdesmad, for the season

BY CONOR FINN

BY MICHAEL SULLIVAN

For The Heights The North Carolina State Wolfpack faces an important conference matchup this week as the Boston College football team enters Carter Finely Stadium. After starting off 4-0 with wins over Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, South Florida, and Presbyterian, NC State’s season has taken a drastically different turn. Two weeks ago, the Wolfpack almost took down the No. 1 team in the country, the Florida State Seminoles, even holding a 24-7 lead in the first half, before ultimately falling 56-41. After contending with the Seminoles, NC State was dismantled against Clemson last week, 41-0.

This week against the Eagles, the Wolfpack will look to get back to what has sustained its

offensive attack, its rushing game, which is averaging 212.8 yards per game, ranking 32nd in the country. NC State’s offense lost its way last week against Clemson, gaining only 154 total yards, including an abysmal 35 yards through the air on 18 attempts. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was under pressure all day, surrendering two fumbles on sacks in his worst performance of the season. Brissett, who has had a solid season so far—passing for almost 1,400 yards and rushing for almost 200 through six games—drew praise from BC head coach Steve Addazio.

“He [Brissett] reminds me of Jameis Winston,” Addazio said in his Monday press conference. “He’s athletic—he’s got good feet and

See NC State, A7

For The Heights Ask Eli Manning about team consistency, and he’ll be the first to tell you that you’re only as good as your previous performance, that glory fades with each subsequent game.

The only way to live up to that glory is to constantly keep producing, because if a team doesn’t, the happy feelings can quickly spiral into frustration. As Garrett Grayson’s pass fell into the hands of Charles Lovett for a knife-twisting touchdown in Boston College’s game against Colorado State, all of the glory of the Eagles’ stunning upset of the then-No. 8 University of Southern California Trojans just three weeks prior vanished as quickly as the fans’ enthusiasm in Alumni

Stadium.

The Eagles now look to rebound on the road in an attempt to pick up their first ACC victory against North Carolina State, a team they handily defeated last year, 38-21.

Despite its 4-0 start against mid-major opponents, the Wolfpack has dropped its last two, both to Atlantic Division foes. Though NC State gave No. 1 Florida State its most difficult test thus far, it comes into this game limping after a 41-0 shellacking from the Clemson Tigers.

BC will try to recapture its defensive prowess after giving up 430 yards, the most it has so far this season, in its 24-21 defeat to the Rams. The Eagles’ task doesn’t get any

See BC, A6

Rationalizing hate in college football: a quantified index of ACC teams MARLY MORGUS Let’s be honest—college football is all about the hate. Sure, we all have a team or two that we like to support.

Maybe, if you’re particularly tenderhearted, you can come up with one per conference.

But, reasonably speaking, you could probably come up with a much longer list of teams that you can’t stand.

Oregon. Nevada. USC. Texas. Ten-

nessee. Miami. Florida State. Florida.

Michigan. Michigan State. LSU. Notre Dame. Penn State. Oklahoma. You get the point.

Sure, some of it is about individuals—many of them long departed from the program. Tim Tebow? Not really my type. Colin Kaepernick? He owns a tortoise. Don’t get me started on LaGarette Blount. But the individually hateable players are just the tip of the iceberg.

Recently, I realized that I’ve never made an effort to quantify exactly what I find so disgustingly despicable about so many of these programs. Feeling a little bit guilty about carrying with

See Column, A6

I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

There are a lot of things to hate about college football programs, from quarterbacks to live mascots to top-10 wins and everything in between.

Men’s Golf: Wolfpack Invitational

The Eagles headed to North Carolina for a weekend of play against NC State and others, but finished in 13th...........................................................A7

Scoreboard...........................................................................................................A7 Editors’ Picks.........................................................................................................A7

the heights

hockey 20 Preview 14

built on the

blue line

Returning one of the strongest defenses in the country, Jerry york’s team must find a way to score points in the post-gaudreau era.

Q a

The heights sits down with york as he begins his 21st season As bc’S head coach, B4

[ ][ ][ ] EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

At just 17 years old, Noah Hanifin is on campus and ready for the big time, B8

JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

Alex Carpenter is back At BC and gunning for college hockey’s ultimate prize, B7

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Oh captain, my captain: Michael matheson leads BC WitH consistency, B6

JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

2

THE HEIGHTS| OCT. 9, 2014

2014 Men’s Hockey

first line

HOCKEY PREVIEW PROJECTED LINES

Projected Lines and pairings

zach Sanford

ryan fitzgerald

austin cangelosi

24

19

26

Games: 0 Goals: 0 Assists: 0 Points: 0

Freshman Height: 6’4” Weight: 191 Age: 19

Games: 40 Goals: 13 Assists: 16 Points: 29

Sophomore Height: 5’10” Weight: 177 Age: 19

Games: 40 Goals: 10 Assists: 16 Points 26

Sophomore Height: 5’7” Weight: 173 Age: 20

second line

Chris Calnan

11 Games: 37 Goals: 4 Assists: 9 Points: 13

Sophomore Height: 6’2” Weight: 209 Age: 20

Adam Gilmour

Alex Tuch

14

12 Games: 40 Goals: 7 Assists: 13 Points 20

Sophomore Height: 6’3” Weight: 193 Age: 20

Games: 0 Goals: 0 Assists: 0 Points: 0

Freshman Height: 6’4” Weight: 220 Age: 18

third line

Quinn Smith

Michael Sit

27 [a] Games: 110 Goals: 11 Assists: 17 Points: 28

Senior Height: 5’8” Weight: 165 Age: 22

Destry Straight

18 [a]

Games: 116 Goals: 5 Assists: 9 Points: 14

Senior Height: 5’11” Weight: 175 Age: 21

17 Games:101 Goals: 15 Assists: 21 Points: 36

Senior Height: 6’1” Weight: 182 Age: 21

fourth line

Cam Spiro

Matthew Gaudreau

Danny linell

15

21

10

Games: 24 Goals: 2 Assists: 2 Points: 4

Senior Height: 5’10” Weight: 199 Age: 22

Games: 9 Goals: 1 Assists: 0 Points: 1

Sophomore Height: 5’9” Weight: 145 Age: 19

Games: 112 Goals: 7 Assists: 24 Points: 31

Senior Height: 5’7” Weight: 181 Age: 22

defensive pairings

michael matheson

5 [c] Junior Height: 6’2” Weight: 194 Age: 20

Games: 74 Goals: 11 Assists: 35 Points: 46

6

3

Games: 35 Goals: 3 Assists: 8 Points: 11

Sophomore Height: 6’3” Weight: 218 Age: 19

noah hanifin

Freshman Height: 6’3” Weight: 205 Age: 17

Games: 35 Goals: 5 Assists: 8 Points: 13

teddy doherty

7

2 Games: 35 Goals: 4 Assists: 14 Points: 18

ian mccoshen

Sophomore Height: 6’2” Weight: 208 Age: 19

scott Savage

Sophomore Height: 6’1” Weight: 186 Age: 19

steve santini

4

Games: 0 Goals: 0 Assists: 0 Points: 0

Junior Height: 5’9” Weight: 173 Age: 20

Games: 66 Goals: 3 Assists: 28 Points: 31

goaltenders

Sophomore Height: 6’4” Weight: 195 Age: 18

thatcher demko

brian billett

brad barone

30

1

29

Games: 24 Save %: .919 GAA: 2.24 Record: 16-5-3

Senior Height: 6’0” Weight: 184 Age: 22

Games: 27 Save %: .913 GAA: 2.58 Record: 15-8-2

Senior Height: 5’10” Weight: 177 Age: 23

Games: 5 Save %: .938 GAA: 1.76 Record: 0-0-0

HOCKEY PREVIEW FEATURE

THE HEIGHTS| OCT. 9, 2014 3

BC

2014 Men’s Hockey

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For the last three Seasons Seasons, BC’s senior class class, sans Gaudreau Gaudreau, has played a bit part. now, as the seniors prepare for one more run, BC needs them to step up.

austin tedesco | Heights editor One thing you’ll never be able to take away from the seven Boston College men’s hockey seniors on the 2014 roster is their absurd level of success during three years in Chestnut Hill. The numbers stand on their own: 122 wins, six NCAA tournament victories, three Beanpots, two regular-season Hockey East championships (the Bertagna Trophy, as head coach Jerry York calls it), one Hockey East Tournament title, and, of course, the 2012 National Championship that was the culmination of a crazy 19-game winning streak. Those are enough accomplishments for a few hockey lifetimes. Looking at that all at once, you can convince yourself that any of the seven of them—Goalies Brian Billett and Brad Barone as well as forwards Danny Linell, Cam Spiro, Destry Straight, Michael Sit, and Quinn Smith—could leave Conte Forum behind without notching another win or another point and tie a pretty bow over their maroon and gold careers.

But they have one more ride left, and for the first time, they’re being bumped from the passenger seat into a spot directly behind the wheel. Gone is the class’ lone superstar.

Johnny Gaudreau has shipped his Hobey Baker-winning 80 points out to Calgary for his first NHL season. No longer do any older giants loom above them on the roster, and only one proven star, captain Michael Matheson,

skates in the class below these vets. If you’re looking for the ceiling of this year’s BC hockey team, don’t go any farther than the crew chasing degrees in May. Yes, the Eagles will need Ryan Fitzgerald and Austin Cangelosi to take leaps in their sophomore seasons and, of course, it would be a boost if new defenseman Noah Hanifan could echo Matheson’s freshman campaign. Those young players still exhibit near limitless potential. These seniors are past that point. York just needs them to be productive—and he needs it badly.

First, a brief history.

Six of the seniors saw the ice during the 2011-12 title run. Barone was the only holdout, but he didn’t miss out on much.

Billett appeared in eight games, spelling Parker Milner during a brutal winter’s darkest timeline where no goalie could consistently get the job done. He went 3-4-1, giving up more than two-and-a-half goals a game with a .907 save percentage. Then Milner squeezed every ounce of talent he had into 19 dominant games, forcing Billett onto the bench.

The five forwards? They combined for 23 points that season. Gaudreau notched 44 on his own. That team was loaded, and these guys were only freshmen, but this turned out to be more of a trend than a slow start.

Even though Chris Kreider, Barry Almeida, and Paul Carey left following that season,

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it didn’t quite pave the way for the then-sophomores. Barone played in one game, and Billett played in two, but Milner’s shiny championship essentially cemented his place between the pipes. While Matheson joined Gaudreau and a few juniors and seniors as commanding forces on the ice, the rest of the class squeaked out spots as grinders. They provided necessary tough, aggressive play when the top lines needed breaks. Straight, the most-heralded scorer of the class behind Gaudreau, increased his point total from 10 to 15. Smith’s jumped from four to 13. They started to emerge as important role players—Smith pushed BC into the Beanpot final with his first two-goal game since his days in the USHL—though they rarely stood out as more than that. That status was further solidified last year, as one of the most heralded freshman classes in school history arrived.

The five forwards’ numbers hardly shifted in 2013-14. Freshmen like Fitzgerald, Cangelosi, and Adam Gilmour rose up the team’s points leaderboard as well as the lineups.

While Billett started the opener and contended with rookie sensation Thatcher Demko for the starting goalie spot early in the year, he eventually lost that battle. The juniors were role players yet again.

For BC to be successful this year—especially when success in only measured by

trophies—it can’t afford a similarly relegated status in its seniors’ final run. The five forwards filled the first two lines in this year’s exhibition against New Brunswick. Barone looked strong in net during the second period.

This crew’s value has to go beyond leadership, intangibles, or minor roles.

It starts with Sit, Straight, and Smith.

York refers to their line, which he’d like to keep together, as the three “S”s. The name couldn’t be more fitting When you hear the Super Line—the nickname for Gaudreau, Bill Arnold, and Kevin Hayes’ devastating trio from last year—you think of three Avengers running train all over helpless defenses, creating heaps of unstoppable, relentless scoring chances. When you hear the three “S”s you think of an annoying grammar rule that will sneakily bite you in the ass. York needs points from his three “S”s, and it doesn’t matter how they come. It won’t be dazzling like Gaudreau, or brutish like Hayes, or smooth like Arnold, or beautiful like the three of them working together, but the points will count all the same. Even if defenses and opposing fans are compelled to call “garbage goal” as the puck careens into the net, they’ll still be doing it over goal horns for what will likely be BC’s third line.

In an interesting twist, Spiro and Linell will be wingers alongside their former classmate’s

JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

younger brother, Matty Gaudreau, who has been moved to center. This was nominally the second line in the scrimmage, but it should be bumped lower once the real games start on Friday. Spiro’s biggest strengths are his speed and hands, while Linell boasts solid puck skills. It’s a combination that is unlikely to score often, but has the potential to swing a few games with timely opportunities that most other team’s fourth lines can’t create.

They’re your X-factor.

Don’t expect to see much of Billett this year? Think again. Demko should only improve in his sophomore season, but as New England winters roll in, so do BC goalie skids. It’s nearly scientific at this point. Will it ever turn into an actual position battle?

No, but Billett can make Demko stronger by pushing him during the pre-Beanpot dregs of January if he has to.

With the Eagles’ top four forwards off to the pros, offense has become BC’s biggest question mark, especially scoring depth. For three years, production from this group has been a welcome bonus—a penalty kill here, a stand-in goaltending performance there—but not a necessity. They’ve been hard-working grinders—the kind of players a team needs to fill out a good roster—and now they need to be more. 

In one of the highlights of his career, Quinn Smith scored two goals to help propel the Eagles past Harvard and into the Beanpot final against Northeastern.

It was the first multi-goal game of Smith’s collegiate career.

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR | GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

After sitting out a large portion of the 201314 season, Destry Straight is back in the lineup as the the right wing on the three “S”s line. Tall and strong, he adds muscle to the undersized line. Straight has always had potential, now he must put it together.

4

THE HEIGHTS| OCT. 9, 2014

2014 Men’s Hockey

HOCKEY PREVIEW Q&A

here we go Again

THE HEIGHTS| OCT. 9, 2014 5

words: connor mellas Photos: emily fahey

A flying mass of preseason energy cloaked in maroon and gold bursts into fourth gear and meets a promised pass with the blade of his stick—the clatter of frozen rubber stinging composite echoes around an empty Conte Forum. Head up, legs pumping, he rockets toward the goal as two teammates join the color-coordinated assault on the lonely goaltender. The shot’s on—stick back, eyes locked, he fires away and snaps a ripper at the net.

The puck strays wide and slams into the boards with a cacophonous boom, skirting away harmlessly.

Another skater breaks the blue line and guns for the net—the drill loops on again, and again, and again.

All the while, Boston College men’s hockey coach Jerry York watches quietly, observing every miss, save, and

“... Good Defense is going to propel you a very long way. I think defensively we feel very, very solid— now we’ve got to fInd some offense.” goal. Sporting skates, a black BC jacket, a maroon ball cap, and athletic glasses, York eyes his team, surveying his latest challenge, his newest project. Finally, he stops the drill—and for a moment, peace descends on Kelley Rink.

It’s early October, and BC is working through its eighth practice of the preseason. Thatcher Demko glides around aimlessly near the blue line, goalie mask resting on top of his head, taking pot shots at Brad Barone. York calls his team over to the area in front of BC’s bench and pulls out a whiteboard—the shot stopper-turned-sniper and his teammates heed their coach’s call. In eight days, BC opens against UMass Lowell, and with the way BC ended the River Hawks’ season in Worcester, Lowell will be out for revenge. And maybe Ryan Fitzgerald’s head on a platter—BC will find no peace at the Tsongas Center.

Of the many sports writing cliches that have been mercilessly ridden to death, thoughtlessly resurrected, re-saddled, and driven into the grave time and time again, the trope “reloading not rebuilding” rears its hacky head around season preview time like poinsettia-filled flower pots around Christmas. If the 2014 edition of BC men’s hockey fell into either of these alleged ultimatums, it would be tempting to cast the Eagles into Yin or Yang, and be done with the matter.

That’s not the case, though. Appreciating the effects of a dominant stretch of recruiting, York’s team hasn’t really had to rebuild in years. But for the first time in multiple seasons, the Eagles aren’t exactly rich in offensive ammunition. Captain Michael Matheson, a defenseman, enters the season as BC’s leading scorer.

BC is led by an enviable defense and goaltender, a stable of still-developing, young forwards, and a senior class, which, sans Johnny Gaudreau, chronically underperformed for three seasons.

Success breeds success, but it also fuels exponential expectations. For BC, reaching those ridiculously lofty expectations means that nothing short of a trip to the Frozen Four and a run at the National Championship will suffice. The nation’s top two point scorers, Gaudreau, and Kevin Hayes, are gone, as is BC’s rock at center, Bill Arnold, who finished last season tied for fifth in points, nationally. York heads into his 21st season in Chestnut Hill with a team in transition, but the degree of struggle wrought by the ongoing transformation has yet to be determined. So, before BC embarks on another go at a sixth star, The Heights sat down with York for an in-depth look at BC in the post-Super Line era.

First of all, personnel wise, how close are you to getting the lines set?

I think they’re always fluid, the lines, especially over the course of the season, but we’re set for the exhibition game with our lineup.

Are any pairs jumping out at you?

I think the senior line, of Sit, Straight, and Smith has been terrific. They’re gonna have to carry a lot of us early, because at the forward positions we lost four key forwards for us. So, I think that line right now has impressed me.

It’s our 10th practice—or our eighth practice today—so it’s a small sample size, but they’ve meshed pretty well together, I like that. The three “S”s.

For the most part they had a quieter role last year, how much are you expecting them to step up in their last season?

I think that it would be terrific to see that. They’ve kind of paid their dues over the four years, and for them to step forward and be leaders for us—we expect it, and it would be a terrific boost for our team.

Last year you had Ryan [Fitzgerald] and Austin [Cangelosi] on the same line together, are you going to try and keep them together this year?

We’re going to start off that way for sure. Like I said, it’s a little bit fluid, so as we get game situations, we’ll look at that. But I think those two, they’ve had some chemistry, so it would be kind of neat.

Are you keeping Ryan on the wing? Or moving him to the middle?

No, moving him to center. Austin on the right, and right now we have a freshman, Zach Sanford, on that left side.

As far as the defense goes, are you doing what you did last year, you know like Matheson with Scott [Savage]?

We’ll be mixing and matching a lot early in the season.

We’ve got five veterans back, and we’ve got Travis Jeke trying to get into the lineup with Peter McMullen, and we have a freshman, Noah Hanifin, who will certainly play an awful lot for us this year.

Obviously there’s been a ton of hype on Noah, how game ready would you say he is?

Still with the context that he’s 17 years old.

That’s crazy. It’s really unusual, he might be the youngest freshman in the school, he turns 18 in I think January. But I think he’s really shown the qualities we expected. He skates very well, he’s got good size, he anticipated the plays very well. But it’s still going to be a learning process given his age and the jump year. He’ll probably play in the first exhibition game—and Lowell too—some 25-year-old players. That’s gonna be a heck of an environment, I think they’ll be out looking for revenge. They’ll be eight years older, some of those guys.

The narrative going around now is you know, last year, best offense in the country, this year—obviously you gotta play the games—but poised to be one of the best defenses in the country. Do you see that happening, or what kind of balance are you expecting?

As we look at it, we think we’re going to be very solid there. Last year, we benefited from a terrific offense because we had the puck an awful lot. It’s easier to play defense for 15 seconds a shift rather than 45 seconds a shift because we’d have the puck down in the other end. But I think—they’re not veterans cause Santini, McCoshen, and Savage are still young kids, sophomores, but I think that they have a whole year under their belt, so we’re expecting them to be pretty solid this year. So, our depth is certainly on defense.

But on the flip side, are you concerned about offensive depth at all?

The bash brothers BC’s two most bruising blue liners, Ian McCoshen (No. 3) and Steve Santini (No. 6) return more seasoned and stronger than ever for their sophomore campaigns. At 6-foot-3, 218 pounds and 6-foot-2, 208 pounds, respectively, McCoshen and Santini will undoubtedly supply a lot of muscle for one of the highest-quality defensive units in the nation.

The super line is gone, but with expectations as high as ever, jerry york’s team is focused on the future.

We feel that we have the potential to become a better offensive team as the year goes on, but we’re going to have certainly different roles for our players. All of a sudden, they’re going to step into power plays, they’re going to step into 4-on-4s that maybe Johnny, Kevin, and Billy Arnold, and Patrick Brown had last year. So, it will be a learning curve for those group of forwards, but if we can ever get production from Sit’s line, that would really help us.

I won’t hold you too much longer, can I just grab one more question—just two more questions, I promise. Any injury concerns as of now?

We’re getting ready for New Brunswick—like Bill Belichick said, we’re getting ready for Cincinnati.

Did you hear his press conference? Oh, you gotta hear it, every question was, “Oh, we’re getting ready for Cincinnati.”

Speaking of Gaudreau, how much are you expecting to see from Matt this year?

I think he showed flashes last year that he can play at this level. He’s right in our top four lines now.

But, I want to save him from any comparisons to the brother, that’s not fair to anybody.

Didn’t he answer Cincinnati like five times?

Yeah. But what was your question?

Yeah, no, that’s tough. As of now, what would you say you think your biggest strength is heading into the season?

Talking to the captains, terrific team—(Asst. Coach Greg Brown declares that it’s “coaching,” from the other side of the room)—there’s been terrific team unity early in the season, so I think that’s gotta be a strength for us. But I think that blue line back is right now our strength, and we’ll build on that.

Most of us talk—coaches in all sports—it’s the Celtics or Bruins or Patriots, good defense is going to propel you a very long way. I think defensively we feel very, very solid—now we’ve got to find some offense.

Yeah, and I guess kind of transitioning to special teams a little bit if you want to talk about that, do you see Noah hopping right in on maybe that second power play?

He’ll have power play time for sure. Greg Brown runs our power play units, so he’ll watch. Right now he’s looking at a lot of different combinations, because who really knows what it’s going to be like in November or January. But right now, we’re looking to get some cohesiveness and hopefully get two units right now.

Any injury concerns as of now?

Right now, just Brendan Silk has a concussion, so we’re waiting to see if he can be eligible or not.

Last question, who and what are you most excited to see out there?

I think what’s exciting me the most is just the enthusiasm of our players. They’re actually running down to the rink to practice. They want to chase trophies, and that’s terrific for all of us.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for clarity. 

history hit

On the first one, you think Matheson on point?

Right now, we’ve got two pretty good units. We haven’t gone to our five best players and put them on one unit. Right now, Noah’s playing with Mike Matheson, and we’ve got Teddy Doherty with McCoshen. But, Scott Savage could get in that group also. From those five will probably come the four defenseman.

And we saw back in Philly, Santini can rip one from pretty far out.

Yes, he can, yeah.

I remember that shot.

(Chuckles) Yeah, that was a good shot.

You’ve got three freshmen this year, but a lot of sophomores. So, that balance is toward the younger part of the team. And, with a senior class that, aside from Johnny, was a pretty quiet senior class, how much do you think you need them to step up as leaders this year?

Oh, I think we depend on that upper core of guys. We have seven seniors, and whether it’s Barone or Billett, from goaltenders to forwards, we need them to really be key guys for us. Nine sophomores, that’s a big class.

I remember last year it was the most freshmen in the country, but they grow up. And how important is it for you guys that Matheson decided to stay this year?

Well, it’s a big plus for us. He analyzed it and made I think the correct decision as far as getting his academics in order, and also his hockey in order. So, I think he made a really good, well-educated decision. You can never leave too late. You can leave too early, but not too late.

And then on the flip side, you can leave real early, like Sonny. That caught you guys pretty late.

That’s late August when he decommits, how bad does that hurt you guys?

Well, you know, it surprised us because we thought he was committed to our program. But that’s water over the dam, and we proceed. It was gonna be a small class anyway, whether it’s three or four, it was still going to be a small class.

Did you try to accelerate any other forwards at that point?

No, I thought it was too late to do that. Looking at that senior class, you know, Danny Linell—those guys can step forward a little bit for us.

Heading into his 21st season at the helm of the Boston College men’s hockey team, Jerry York boasts the all-time winningest record in college hockey with 963 wins. York’s won four national championships at BC, in 2001, 2008, 2010, and most recently, in 2012. In the two seasons since BC’s last title, York’s guided the Eagles to the postseason both times, and last season, the Eagles fell 5-4 to the eventual winner, Union College, in the Frozen Four. Returning an all-star caliber blue line and a prodigal goaltender but suffering the loss of a Hobey Baker winner and most dangerous line in the nation, York’s challenge is to keep BC’s momentum going and find point scorers quickly.

6

HOCKEY PREVIEW FEATURE

THE HEIGHTS| OCT. 9, 2014

marly morgus assoc. sports editor

2014 Men’s Hockey

Taking The Lead Michael matheson brings Confidence and consistency to his role as captain

While talking with Michael Matheson, it’s unlikely that you’re going to get very excited very quickly. He admits it freely.

“I’m not exactly … ” he said, laughing, “ … I mean, I have a really boring monotone voice, so nobody’s going to get fired up when I’m talking.”

And yet somehow this guy with a—to use his own words—boring monotone voice, wears the “C” on his chest heading into the Boston College men’s hockey team’s 2014-15 season. It turns out, there are more important things than a commanding verbal presence when it comes to leading a team. ___________ Matheson has been on skates since before he can remember, growing up in Quebec with a sheet of ice laid in his back yard every winter.

“It’s an everyday way that you act—just the way you act consistently, because that’s what makes true leaders.”

“It’s always been hockey,” he said. “From the moment I could walk, I was on skates and stick handling in the back yard.”

As a kid, he watched Saku Koivu, a Montreal center who played for the Habs from 1995 until 2008. While he loved watching dynamic forwards like Koivu, as Matheson matured, his focus began to shift.

“Koivu was a big idol in our house,” Matheson said.

“He was the captain in Montreal, so we really like him.

I’ve always really idolized [Sydney] Crosby, and as I’ve gotten older and gotten to know the actual game better, I started to watch defensemen and model my game after them and see what they do. So I like watching, well I used to like watching Nick Lindstrom before he retired, and Kris Letang, too.”

Through his NHL heroes, he saw the strong skating and smart puck movement—skills that, as a defenseman, he is constantly seeking to improve.

When it came time for Matheson to pick a college program, he went from visit to visit—five in a row. He was unfamiliar with American schools, and each program looking more impressive than the last. When Matheson reached BC, though, he knew that it would be the right fit because of the people he encountered, both future teammates and coaches.

What made BC’s coaching staff so right for Matheson is a characteristic that he speaks of pervasively, no matter what question you ask him.

“It’s something that Coach York talks about every single day, just working on your craft and trying to get better, so if you do that, you’re going to have a lot of success,” he said.

Two sentiments ring through from Matheson’s description of York’s coaching style. First, there is the element of

Despite being one of the best defensemen on the team, Matheson is not a one-trick pony—he’s one of the most creative players on the team and possesses a blistering slap shot. Matheson’s presence has been vital in all aspects of BC’s game.

hard work. Then, there is consistency. _____________ As happens with almost any sophomore selected in the NHL Draft and capable of an NHL career, last year there was a large amount of uncertainty buzzing around whether or not Matheson would return for his third season at BC. When asked the question, though, his answer flows easily.

“I just didn’t see the point in rushing, really,” he said.

“One of the big things that I figured is if I’m able to make the jump to the NHL, I want to be completely ready so I can have an impact and I can stay there. I think that I’ll benefit a lot from coming back here for another year and working on my craft where I’m in an environment that I’m used to, and a bit of a slower pace where I can work on the things that I still need to get better at.”

Despite the roughly 18 years of hockey under his belt, Matheson can still nail down a couple of key aspects of his game that need to develop more before he makes the next step. They are the skills that he admired in players like Letang and Lindstrom, especially the presence of mind to make better game-time decisions. Matheson’s still dedicated to putting in the work every day, just as York says, to help his team and give him a better chance at building a successful career when it comes time to leave BC. “I’ll get caught trying to do too much once in a while,” Matheson said. “And if you do that at a higher level you’ll be in big trouble, so I think I’ll benefit from being here and working on that to, I wouldn’t say perfect that area because nobody’s perfect, but get better in it so once I try to make that jump I’ll be more successful.”

What that comes down to is being more mindful of the ice—seeing which plays are worth the risk and which aren’t.

“I’d have the puck sometimes and I’d see someone who was a little bit open and try to get it to them,” he said.

“It would come into a balance of high risk, high reward.

If you try to make that play and it works one time but the other nine it goes down the other way it’s really not that useful.”

Having made the decision to return to BC for at least one more season, Matheson was credited with what he expressed as “a cherry on top of all of it”—the cherry being the captaincy. While he was already grateful for the opportunity to simply attend BC and make an impact on the team, it meant even more that his peers saw him as someone to look to for leadership. ___________

jokes by, for instance, pressing their faces up against the glass while their captain is being interviewed, Matheson is more likely to—and in fact did—let out a chuckle and throw back a goodnatured quip about maturity than to be the one making the first goofy move. He acknowledges that his teammates most likely see him as a more serious figure.

“I’m just always kind of focused,” he said. “And I’m really dedicated to hockey and to school and I try to work hard in every aspect of my life so I think guys kind of see me as the serious guy.”

Matheson isn’t about to up and become a wild jokester just to get his teammates to think of him as a lighter character in his new role. Why? By now, you should have already gotten it: Consistency.

To Matheson, a leader is not somebody who is given a position, and then steps up only at that moment in a completely new way, altering his persona and how he acts in order to fill a role. It’s fake. It’s becoming something that you’re not, and that’s not the right example to set. True to this idea, he doesn’t see a huge change in how he has been acting in his new position from how he acted before the “C” was sewed onto the No. 5 jersey.

“Obviously when I was a freshman I was a lot more quiet,” Matheson said. “But I think that’s what people respect in a leader, is somebody that just stays the same and is always the same personality that they would be regardless of if they have a letter on their jersey or not.”

Like captains before him, Matheson has the added support of a network of captains, especially Tommy Cross, Pat Mullane, and Patrick Brown—the three before him—to look to for advice. Before the last school year even ended, the three alumni were contacting him and meeting with him, helping him gain an understanding of what to expect.

The message that came through most clearly was a simple one. Things aren’t always going to be great, and that’s when leadership becomes the most vital. In Matheson’s case, that means being the calm face when things are 2014 looking down, and setting the precedent that, if he can be calm and confident, so can everyone else. Hockey Men’s _________ Yes, the kid with the boring, flat voice is the one that his peers chose to lead BC’s hockey team this year, and when he speaks, he justifies their decision. He’s calm, collected, mature, and consistent. He hopes to exhibit leadership not by making big changes and stepping up only when he is desperately needed, but by being the same person every time he steps on the ice, into the locker room, or in a meeting.

Consistency does not mean that one remains stagnant. Rather, in Matheson’s case, it means a constant growth trajectory. And that, monotone as it may sound, is exciting. 

[]

But hold on a minute—this is still the guy with the monotone voice, right? When it comes down to it, even that boring voice makes sense when it comes down to defining the type of leader Matheson is—a consistent one.

Take the consistency in his steady, calm, slightly invariable voice and put it on the ice, and you have a solid, dependable leader.

“I don’t think there is one specific thing that makes you a leader,” Matheson said. “It’s an everyday way that you act—just the way you act consistently, because that’s what makes true leaders. It’s not the people that rise when it’s a big situation then you don’t see them if its not. It’s the people that, on a day like today, they come down and they work as hard as they can, they’re ready for practice, and you just give that hundred percent effort every time that they go on the ice, they go in the gym, they’re in a meeting going over video, just that consistency.”

In his words you can find a maturity developed through years of work towards betterment in an area that he loves.

While other players may take every opportunity to make

Matheson fact sheet

Two tournaments, and two trophies. Matheson is undefeated in Beanpot play.

The Florida Panthers took Matheson in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft with pick No. 23.

23

RD

Remarkably consistent, Matheson’s missed just four of a possible 78 games over the last two seasons.

Establishing the trend of red-haired captains, Matheson will wear the “C” this season.

3/1/13- Two assists and one goal at Providence

10/18/13Plus-7 rating in BC’s rout of Wisconcin.

As the team’s leading returning scorer, Matheson’s collected 46 points in two years.

1/10/14Three assists in 5-2 win over the Friars.

Career highs

By deciding to defer turning professional with the Florida Panthers for at least another season, Matheson may have turned the Eagles’ defense from a very solid blue line into a contender for the country’s top defensive unit.

HOCKEY PREVIEW WOMEN’S HOCKEY

THE HEIGHTS| OCT. 9, 2014 7

back for the banner tommy meloro | Heights staff

Hockey is a game of transitions. Transitioning from offense to defense, from defense back to offense, transitioning into new teams, new schemes, even transitioning mindsets as a game progresses. Over the last year or so, Boston College forward Alex Carpenter has gone through two huge transitions off the ice, but she’s handled them with the same grace, fluidity, and power she’s constantly shown on the ice as well.

Carpenter has a steely look in her eye as she sits across the table and talks about Sochi. It’s clear that she still hasn’t forgotten that feeling, that she maybe won’t ever forget the weight of a silver medal hanging around her neck, watching the Canadian flag being raised up to the rafters and listening to the Canadian national anthem ringing throughout the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Russia.

“It was definitely a disappointment, we thought we had it there,” Carpenter said.

“We say that we didn’t train all these years for a silver medal. We didn’t win the silver medal, we lost the gold.”

Just over three weeks after Canada completed its comeback, dashing the United States’ hopes of winning gold, the Boston College women’s hockey team also came up just short of achieving its goal of adding a star to the backs of its jerseys. The Eagles made the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Clarkson, the eventual National Champions, in Potsdam, N.Y. by a score of 3-1.

At one point in the second period of the gold medal game, Carpenter came around the backside of the goal unguarded, taking advantage of Canadian defender Tara Watchtorn’s perch in the penalty box.

Carpenter’s linemate Hilary Knight slid the puck through a defender’s legs, across the crease, right onto the tape of Carpenter’s stick. All she had to do was beat Canada’s goalie Shannon Szabados. She’d done it time and again with BC, and she wasn’t going to miss here, not on the world’s biggest stage. She slammed the puck home for an emphatic 2-0 lead.

“I just thought ‘Wow, we’re up 2-0, this is it, we’re gonna win,’” Carpenter said, a wistful smile briefly lighting up her face. “It was a very exciting moment for myself personally, but for our team I think it was as well.”

Carpenter was just 19 years old and playing in the Olympics, an incredible experience for someone just halfway through college—even more amazing were the four goals and the assist she tallied in five games.

After a silver medal at the olympics, Alex Carpenter is back and looking to finally raise a Banner.

2014 woMen’s Hockey EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Leaving Team USA—temporarily, at least—and returning to BC, Carpenter lines up to a familiar face on the ice—fellow forward Hayley Skarupa.

“It’s been really easy, you know, we played together even before we got to BC [with the] USA U-18 team and we played together my sophomore year here,” Carpenter said. “We kind of know where each other are on the ice all the time, and then we have Kristyn Capizzano with us, and our line is coming together nicely.”

When Carpenter joined the U.S. Olympic team, the first six months of her year were spent training all day every day at their team hub, which was located near Boston. Carpenter took advantage of her close proximity to BC to stay a part of the Eagles.

“From what I saw and what I’ve heard, we have got a great group coming back, so I’m excited to finally mesh with this group,” Carpenter said.

“It was different having to sit in the stands and not be able to go out there and help them win, but I’m excited to be back.”

Carpenter attributes this close contact with BC to her easy transition back to being an Eagle. Instead of needing to meet two new classes of players, Carpenter was already familiar with this year’s sophomores

first line

before coming back on campus.

“It was pretty easy to come back and meet all the new freshmen,” Carpenter said.

“A couple of them are local, [and] a couple of them were involved with USA Under-18 team. We were acquaintances before, so I think it was pretty easy to come in and mesh with everybody.”

After BC’s 10-2 dismantling of the Syracuse Orange in its season opener, it’s hard to argue with her statement.

Carpenter scored twice and assisted on two goals, one for Skarupa and one for Capizzano, amassing four points in her first game with the Eagles since March 22, 2013. BC head coach Katie King Crowley was positively thrilled to have Carpenter back on the front lines, but, in typical fashion, was still able to point out room for improvement.

“You know, it’s kinda getting back to college hockey. It’s definitely different when you come back, and I think she’s doing a great job,” Crowley said. “There were some times where I thought she passed when she should’ve shot and a few times where she was trying to make that extra play, but she’s obviously a great player.

We’re happy we have her back, and she’ll be a threat wherever she is on the ice.”

Second line

Carpenter may have been able to ease on back into the Eagles lineup with minimal problems, but even she admits it’s been a little bit harder for her to transition back into the student portion of being a student-athlete.

“That was tough—it’s still pretty tough,” Carpenter said. “Last year at this time I wasn’t doing too much, I was just training, off-ice training, on-ice training, so it’s definitely a challenge to come back and know you have homework due every day, and sitting in class for a couple hours is kinda tough on me, but I’m getting used to it.”

While transitioning back from training to school hasn’t been easy, both Carpenter and Crowley are confident that she benefited and improved in a big way thanks to her time with the national team—training every day and playing the top competition in the world will do that for a 19-year-old.

“I think she’s stronger, quicker, and everything else, I mean she’s still one of the most intense players that you’ll ever come across,” Crowley said. “Being a player who just works out and plays hockey is a pretty cool experience to have, and she took full advantage of that and has certainly gotten stronger and faster, when you don’t even

Third line

think that she can.”

Carpenter agreed with her coach, citing her improved speed. “I definitely have been told by numerous people that I had to get quicker, and I think I really worked on that last year and I think that separates me from a lot of other players now,” she said. “I think I’ve gotten a lot quicker with and without the puck.”

Spending a year away from a team, especially a college team where players have a limited timespan to play, can make a team look different. Carpenter acknowledges that this incarnation of the Eagles isn’t the same one that she left a year and a half ago. She doesn’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, though.

“I think we have a lot more depth this year, I think we can have four solid lines, and we have five solid defensemen and three goalies vying for a spot, so I think that we have that good mix of older veterans and rookies who are going to mesh together very nicely,” Carpenter said.

When Alex Carpenter talks, it’s almost always in an even, matter-of-fact tone. It’s in Carpenter’s nature to take care of her own business first, to control what she can control, and to not concern herself with things that escape her control. Whether it was talking about her experiences with the U.S. Olympic team, her transition back to the Eagles, or her personal goals for the year, Carpenter was all business.

That type of attitude doubtlessly helped keep Carpenter’s transitions over the past year smoother than they could’ve been.

When Carpenter was with the Olympic Team, her mind was completely focused on Sochi. Now that she’s back at Chestnut Hill full time, Carpenter is completely on winning with BC. “I definitely think this team does [have what it takes to win the National Championship] just from looking at our team from all of preseason,” Carpenter said. “I really see a special group with these girls, and I think if we keep getting better week by week, month by month, we’re gonna get to where we wanna go.”

Hockey is a transition game, and if Carpenter’s switch back to college hockey keeps going as smoothly as it’s been so far, it’s no stretch to think that the Eagles could be wearing jerseys with a star on the back in a year. This time, after the final whistle, Carpenter doesn’t want to be the one looking at someone else’s banner being raised.

She wants someone else to be looking at her team’s banner being raised. 

Fourth line

Kristyn Capizzano

Emily Field

Kenzie Kent

Kate Leary

7

15

12

28

Games: 38 Points: 29

Sophomore Height: 5’2”

Games: 112 Points: 110

Senior Height: 5’6”

Games: 1 Points: 1

Freshman Height: 5’6”

Games: 74 Points: 54

Senior Height: 5’2”

Alex Carpenter

Dana Trivigno

Andie Anastos

Danielle Doherty

5

8

23

19

Games: 73 Points: 123

Junior Height: 5’6”

Games: 71 Points: 59

Junior Height: 5’5”

Games: 38 Points: 35

Sophomore Height: 5’8”

Graduate Student Games: 76 Points: 14 Height: 5’4”

Haley Skarupa

Tori Sullivan

Haley McLean

Meghan Grieves

22

9

13

17

Games: 67 Points: 97

Junior Height: 5’6”

Freshman Height: 5’5”

Games: 1 Points: 0

Games: 1 Points: 1

Sophomore Height: 5’1”

defensive pairings

goaltenders

Emily Pfalzer

Toni Ann Miano

Kali Flanagan

14

18

10

Games: 112 Points: 66

Senior Height: 5’2”

Games: 73 Points: 9

Junior Height: 5’8”

Games: 1 Points: 0

Freshman Height: 5’4”

Games: 1 Points: 1

Freshman Height: 5’5”

Katie Burt Freshman Height: 5’6” Games: 1

33 Gabriella Switaj

32

Junior Height: 5’8”

Lexi Bender

Megan Keller

Erin Kickham

21

4

3

Games: 75 Points: 36

Freshman Height: 5’10”

Games: 1 Points: 0

Senior Height: 5’5”

Taylor Blake

35 Games: 44 Points: 0

Junior Height: 5’7” Games: 1

Freshman Height: 5’3” Games: 0

8

THE HEIGHTS| OCT. 9, 2014

HOCKEY PREVIEW FEATURE

new kid

in town 2014 Men’s Hockey

michael hoff | Heights staff Noah Hanifin shouldn’t be here. Kids his age roaming college campuses this time of year are on tours, embarrassed by their parents’ questions and worried about their last round of SATs on Saturday. But if Hanifin, Boston College men’s hockey’s 17-year-old freshman defenseman, is worried about anything Friday night, it’ll be about stopping a UMass Lowell squad featuring players up to seven years his senior.

Hanifin is used to being an exception. The Norwood, Mass. native made the varsity team at his high school, St. Sebastian’s, in eighth grade and left the school after his sophomore year to play for the U-17 U.S. National Development Team in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A few months after his 17th birthday, he got called up to play in the U-18 World Championships in April. Now he’s a 1997 birthday in a freshman class of ’95 and ’96 birthdays.

Exceptions cease to be exceptional if they keep happening. In fact, Hanifin isn’t that special amongst his peers. An atypical, accelerated path is standard operating procedure for a prospect of Hanifin’s caliber. NHL.com draft guru Mike Morreale said that Hanifin, a consensus top-five projected pick in June’s loaded 2015 draft, possesses the ceiling of a possible future Norris Trophy candidate—the trophy given to the best defenseman in the NHL. Jack Eichel, a 17-year-old freshman at Boston University and another projected top-five pick, spent last season with the USNDT. BC sophomore goalie Thatcher Demko was 17 when last season began after spending a season out in Michigan, too.

“I talk to Thatcher a lot about it,” Hanifin said. “You gotta play with confidence. Thatcher tells me you gotta know [that] you’re here for a reason. Just like last year, Thatcher was an under-ager and he was a starting goalie. You just gotta be confident and know [that] you’re here for a reason.”

Hanifin is here to produce. From practice and exhibition observations, Hanifin will be partnered with sophomore Steven Santini to start the season.

Santini, the Eagles’ best defensive zone player, often matches up against opponents’ top scoring lines. Those tough assignments, along with the regular power play time that Hanifin received in the exhibition versus University of New Brunswick, indicate the trust and expectations placed in one of the most premier recruits York has landed.

At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Hanifin is noticeably beefed-up from his St. Sebastian’s days. He thinks he’s ready, but he wouldn’t have been if he didn’t spend the year in Michigan. “Definitely not,” Hanfiin said. “Skill-wise, I just developed as a whole, playing with some of the best players in the country every day, going to battle with them every day—that just helps your skills naturally.

But I think I made [a bigger jump] off the ice, in the gym. In the development program, we lift four days a week—it’s a lot more intense than a college program. We just do so much training out there. It’s really hard, but I think I got a lot stronger.”

While preparing to shut down Eichel, Maine’s Devin Shore, and other frontline forwards in Hockey East, Hanifin doesn’t have much time to think about what he could be doing in an alternate, quieter life. But even a fast-tracked

prodigy catches himself pondering what life would be like as a normal senior in high school.

“I do think about that,” he said. “I miss [St. Sebastian’s] a lot. But hockey’s one of those sports where you gotta make sacrifices. It’s not like football or basketball where you can just play high school and college. If you really want to play hockey for a living, then you gotta go places early, move away, stuff like that. I think about it sometimes, but it’s nice that I’m not far away.”

So far, those sacrifices have paid off in full, and Hanifin can accelerate that progress this year at Conte Forum. In just over a month since he arrived on campus, the youngest player in program

history understands why York’s program is in contention annually.

“The coaches have really positive expectations,” Hanifin said. “Even though haven’t had a lot of practice, coaches expect players to be ready to go every single day. You have to be prepared for the season, even though we don’t get a lot of time to practice as a team, so it’s pretty incredible how well prepared the players are, how ready we are for the season and we haven’t had much time to work together. So it’s pretty cool, the training, everything’s very serious. It’s a school where they want to win national championships, and that’s driven into all the players’ heads: you’re here and you’re expected to win

championships.”

The preferred style of those coaches meshes with their only freshman defenseman. Hanifin’s skating ability is the most impressive thing about his game, and it would be even if he wasn’t 6-foot2 and 200 pounds. He can chase down smaller, quicker forwards and also lead the offensive rush. In York’s fast-paced system, all players need to be capable of skating and pushing the play, and they won’t waste a player that loves to, and can do, just that from the back end. “[Hanifin] is a very smart skater,” Morreale said in an email. “The thing I like is that he has that offensive upside ability to push the play, but does a good job at understanding how to control

“I talk to Thatcher a lot about it. You gotta play with confIdence. Thatcher tells me you gotta know [that] you’re here for a reason. Just like last year, Thatcher was an under-ager and he was a starting goalie. You just gotta be confIdent and know [that] you’re here for a reason.”

JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

it and when to let the play go away from him and move it up to whoever is open.”

“Especially being an offensive defenseman, [associate head] coach [Greg] Brown gives me a lot of confidence to play my game,” Hanifin said. “They don’t play set back at all, they want defensemen up in the play, they want to play with the puck, they don’t want to be playing defense at all. It’s nice being part of a team that likes to thrive off the offensive game. I like to play at a fast pace.”

Brown, a former BC, minor league and NHL blue liner who liked to jump up into the play himself and whom now coaches the BC defensemen, is already a catalyst to his new pupil’s development.

In an observed practice, Brown was conducting an offensive zone faceoff drill when the puck was won back to Hanifin at the point. Hanifin didn’t execute his assignment, and Brown stopped the drill to get in Hanifin’s ear.

“We just played similar styles. When he played he was an offensive defenseman, so his knowledge of little habits of the game from a defenseman standpoint is so good, so important, so I listen to what he has to say,” Hanifin said. “I haven’t been here a long time and I’ve already learned a lot from him. Little keys that can help me when I’m playing against older guys and stronger guys and stuff, more physical guys. He just really helps me a lot because we played a similar type game.”

Hanifin is aware and composed for a 17-year-old, far from surprising for a figure known on the continental hockey landscape for a disproportionate fraction of his life.

While effusive in his praise of his coaches and teammates, he knows what needs to be improved upon if he wants to ascend at a continuous rate.

The margins in all aspects of the game shrink as the level of competition rises, and Hanifin is focused on making sure he can get his shot through from the point as the bodies gets bigger and the shooting lanes shrink. And he’s not just thinking about Hockey East or the Beanpot.

“My shot is something I really want to work on this year, because as your progress in the levels of hockey, it’s really important to work on your shot, especially as a defenseman, getting shots from the blue line, it gets harder and harder,” Hanifin explained.

“I come out here usually Tuesday and Thursday mornings and skate with Coach Brown, and I try to work on my shot a lot because it’s so vital at next levels.”

The draft looms. Every matchup with Eichel will be scrutinized from Boston to Saskatoon. Bob McKenzie, renowned TSN reporter and the Walter Cronkite of hockey, recently published a feature titled Hockey Fans Will Soon Know the Name Hanifin, which means that they probably know it. If they don’t, they have eight months to find out.

But the 17-year-old behind the name isn’t worried anything beyond the end of practice, let alone Lowell. After another failed turn in Brown’s drill, visibly frustrated with himself and Brown’s chirping, he finally fired the puck off the back end boards behind the goalie, intentionally wide, where he was supposed to put it. The drill was done, and practice was soon over, but not before a scrimmage. Hanifin’s team lost, and each member had to skate gassers as punishment—no exceptions. 

Outside The Lines

Social Media Activism

Sharing and tweeting isn’t enough to change the world, Page C2 Album Review

Joe LaRocca

the country star goes nowhere with ‘Old Boots, new dirt,’ Page C4

Bc Professor films one video every day each month, C2

Jason Aldean

‘Month Movie’ Series Thursday, October 9, 2014

the

Steve Rosenfield’s ‘What I Be’ Project Michelle Tomassi | See Page C3

Heights Photo Illustration / Jordan Pentaleri | Photos courtesy of steve rosenfield

The Heights

C2

Thursday, October 9, 2014

outside the lines

Using Facebook for a cause

LaRocca’s ‘Month Movies’ Series

Michelle Tomassi Retweet, share, favorite, like—four simple actions that take place in a matter of seconds. Initially, these social media features were the tools to having fun— back when Facebook was just used for sharing the mundane details of our lives, uploading vacation pictures, and playing Farmville. At one point, social media was really just all about fun and games.

Fast forward to 2014, when social media has grown into a platform for change and social activism. The fun and games are not entirely gone, but there’s a whole new level to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—one that functions as a way to share important messages with the world. Some of these messages can be empowering and eye-opening, while others can be pretty scary in the truths that they reveal.

The benefits of using social media to raise awareness are obvious—it works fast, it reaches a large audience, and it makes it easy for the general population to get involved. The Ice Bucket Challenge is the most recent example, but the concept has been around for quite some time. Facebook campaigns tend to be short-lived, unfortunately ,leaving many people wondering if they are really helping the causes at all. Think back to KONY 2012, the most viral video in history. But where are the Invisible Children now? What has happened in the following two years? Or, remember when your female friends were posting statuses such as “I like it on the table” or “I like it in my closet?” The obscure statement was part of a larger breast cancer awareness campaign, which asked women to post a status answering the question of where they like to put their handbags. Thanks to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the cause has not been forgotten—but the brief Facebook campaign has disappeared from recent memory.

Using social media platforms such as Facebook presents a strange paradox: the content itself never disappears, but the movements lack permanence. A Facebook newsfeed is physically never-ending, but we assign ending points—mindlessly scrolling downward until we reach an already-viewed post, which becomes the end of our activity for that day. Even the site itself asks its users “what’s new?” in the status bar, and draws users to “recent activity.” People are looking for what’s new rather than revisiting what has already been done, and in this way, social activism becomes a search for the next best thing.

In addition, there are some campaigns that have much more impact and participation than others. After Robin Williams’ death, there was an attempt to raise awareness for suicide prevention with the “Doubtfire Face” challenge—in which people tried to reenact his famous scene by covering their faces in cream and saying “Hellooo!” The page has about 7,000 likes, and has struggled to become a bigger movement. The #feelingnuts campaign has been going around the celebrity world—stars such as Hugh Jackman have been taking pictures while holding their crotches to raise awareness for testicular cancer. It’s a little too early to tell if this trend will catch on, but there’s also potential for #feelingnuts to lose prominence.

So, what makes a social media campaign have staying power? It has to be more than just posting and sharing— there must be a story behind it, and a real person that participants can connect to.

Pete Frates served as the source behind the Ice Bucket Challenge’s immense growth among the Boston community, for example. Even when I was home in New York, I still knew who he was and his own personal struggle with ALS, which made me more inclined to get involved and stay involved. Most recently, we can look at the What I Be at BC campaign as an example of how to translate social media posts to real-life activism. The photographs of various students may not be in our newsfeed in a few weeks, but the project will stick with me for a while because, after Monday night’s unveiling event, I have faces and stories to connect to those photographs. Long before the Internet was created, people spread awareness for their causes by talking—giving speeches, asking for donations in person, and mailing information. Now, I’m not saying we should abandon Facebook and start door-to-door campaigning, but there has to be real-life discussion and personal stories to accompany the social media movements, if we really want to remain invested.

Retweeting and sharing is simple, but it doesn’t always get us talking.

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

PHOTOs courtesy of Francis Jakubek and joe larocca

BC Professor joe LaRocca Films one short film every day for a Month, tells stories of the humdrum of daily life.

By Summer Lin For The Heights As the camera pans out to a grainy shot of a silver Ford Focus—its bumper densely adorned in cartoon horse stickers—the viewer gains a sense of the commonplace. The clip, aptly entitled, “Fingers Off the Glass,” is just one of 30 daily video shorts that Joe LaRocca, a film professor within the fine arts department at Boston College and BC ’05, has compiled into his latest 40-minute film in June 2013. “The first thing I noticed was how cheap they made the car look, and how angry my father would have been had we stuck stickers all over his car as children,” LaRocca said. “Then I realized how funny they were, because they were little horses all over the car.”

The “Month Movies” series seeks to capture the humdrum, monotony, and essence of daily life.

Filmmaking has been part of

LaRocca’s life since high school—long before he earned his B.A. in film studies at BC and then his M.F.A. in film production at Boston University. The first of his prolific “Month Movies” series, which he both shoots and directs himself, debuted in February of 2007.

For the series, he records one-totwo- minute, seemingly random video shorts, and at month’s end, pieces them together into one final film running about 40 minutes. Family members, friends, and household pets have all made guest appearances in what he describes as his “video diary.”

LaRocca’s series is a response to the Digital Age, streamlined and catered toward the “YouTube Generation” to which viral videos are commonplace. For LaRocca, the goal is to challenge redundancy and derive creative vision from the first thing that inspires him that day. Rather than finding the constraints of daily filmmaking inhibitive to the creative process, he prefers shooting short

video series to feature length films, and he describes the experience as unexpectedly liberating.

“After [my second film in] May 2008, I said I’ll never do anything after that again, and here we are six years in,” LaRocca said. “Creating a series rather than a feature forces you to be creative and go beyond the boundaries.”

Although the feedback to LaRocca’s series has been markedly varied, since its inception, his “Month Movies” has garnered a loyal following.

“I have a small niche,” LaRocca said.

“There’s a spectrum of responses that I get: I’ll have someone who will tell me their least favorite film, and then have someone else say it’s the best one they’ve ever seen.”

In addition to filmmaking, LaRocca’s “Month Movies” has served as an innovative platform for other creative outlets, most notably music. The video series is scored by a range of performers, from distinguished com-

posers such as Beethoven to more relatively unknown musicians, with some of whom LaRocca is personally acquainted.

LaRocca’s career as a professor and a teaching assistant has helped support his work as a freelance filmmaker, and it also has been an opportunity to give guidance to student filmmakers.

“There is this wall created by E! shows and Hollywood and reality television,” LaRocca said. “If you’re just trying to get famous or published, your idea is going to get clouded.

When giving advice to young artists, LaRocca stresses that recognition and acclaim stem from the pursuit of passion and relatability in the creation of art.

“You have to figure out a way to make yourself stand out and create something people can relate to,” LaRocca said. “I have learned that the only satisfaction is to enjoy the creation of it.” n

This weekend in arts

By: Ariana Igneri | Associate Arts & Review Editor

PHOTO courtesy of reprise records

1. Boston Winter Film Festival (thursday 10/9 to Saturday 10/11)

Chill out and check out the annual Boston Winter Film Festival. The New England Aquarium’s IMAX theatre will be screening snowboarding and skiing movies, documentaries, and shorts made by athletes and directors. Admission is $20.

For more info, visit bostonwinterfilmfestival.com.

2. Carla Fernandez (Thursday 10/9, 6:30 p.m.)

The weather may be cooling down, but the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is heating up, hosting a runway show and after party for Mexican fashion designer Carla Fernandez.

Pieces from her summer and spring line will be showcased.

Tickets are $35 at gardnermuseum.org.

4. fleetwood mac concert (Friday 10/10, 8 p.m.)

6. oktoberfest (sunday 10/12, 12 p.m.)

5. illuminus D (thursday 10/9 to saturday 10/11)

7. world champion judah friedlander with chris gethard (friday 10/10, 7 p.m.)

By a landslide, Fleetwood Mac’s concert at TD Garden on Friday is one of the most exciting things happening in Boston this weekend. Tickets for the classic rock band’s show start at $66.90 at ticketmaster.com.

Light the night at the Lawn on D this weekend. Largescale sculptures, fusing sound, and projection art will be on display for viewers during this three-day, immersive lawn experience. The event will feature DJs, artists, and technologists, among others. For more information, visit lawnond.com.

Make some noise for Harvard Square’s 36th annual Oktoberfest and Honk Parade, featuring six stages of live music, five different beer gardens, international and local food, sidewalk sales, and more. For details, see harvardsquare.com.

Judah Friedlander—who played Frank Rossitano on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock—will be delivering a stand-up comedy performance in Robsham on Friday. Chris Gethard from Broad City and The Office will be joining him. Tickets are $10 through Robsham.

The Heights

Thursday, October 9, 2014

What I be

i

omass T e l chel

By Mi

C3

Asst. Arts & Review Editor

Photos courtesy of steve rosenfield

Her blue eyes stare into the camera, with lips parted slightly, and her thumb and index finger are extended outward. She’s not smiling, but she’s not frowning, either. The words “thunder thighs” are written along her fingers, and her headshot is captioned, “I am not my body image.” Her insecurity is out in the open, written in black marker for the world to see. This girl, however, does not look afraid. She does not look weak.

In the words of the photographer, Steve Rosenfield, she is empowered—and taking ownership of her insecurity without letting it define her.

This girl’s name is Amanda, and she was the very first person to be featured in “What I Be,” a photography project started by Rosenfield in order to “build security through insecurities.” This past week, Rosenfield brought his Boston accent and impressive dreadlocks to campus, taking photographs of students as part of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College’s (UGBC) Be Conscious mental health initiative. The six-day campaign culminated in an unveiling event on Monday night, during which Rosenfield, along with several other student participants shared their stories.

The “What I Be” project has four steps: individuals have their insecurities written on their hands or faces; pose for a headshot without smiling; have it uploaded to Facebook; and provide a caption with their insecurity, preceded by “I am not.” Each photo follows the same format, but the “What I Be” project is anything but formulaic—it allows participants to be open and

honest about themselves in the hopes of encouraging and empowering others who are experiencing similar struggles.

Rosenfield may spend up to 10 hours a day talking to his participants, but he was not always so open—with himself or with his friends and family. After graduating from high school in Brockton, Mass., he immediately entered the workforce, and he eventually ended up at a computer company called Thomson Financial in Boston.

During that time, Rosenfield explained, he was a completely different person—more materialistic, closed off, and unhappy with his situation. “I was just done with the corporate world,” he said. “It wasn’t where I wanted to be, and it wasn’t fulfilling me, so that’s why I chose to quit.”

With no job, and no commitments, Rosenfield took up rock climbing for the next few years—traveling, journaling, and picking up photography as a hobby. In 2008, he befriended musician Michael Franti and began taking photographs of his concerts, which eventually led him to shooting more live shows from artists such as Dispatch and Ben Howard.

For Rosenfield, the magic didn’t happen at these concert venues. It happened one night in 2010, when he was playing around with his camera and started photographing his friend Amanda. “I took a picture, and the minute I saw it is when I knew: that was my vision of the project,” he said. “I wanted it to be really raw and dramatic.”

Rosenfield uploaded the image to Facebook and received lots of positive feedback from others who wanted to learn more and be-

come involved in the project.

And thus, “What I Be” was born.

The project’s name comes from one of Franti’s songs of the same title—a song about being who you are and accepting your differences and flaws. Rosenfield seeks to convey a similar message through his photography, and he has found that people are quite open during the process.

It’s just Rosenfield, his subject, and the camera—which allows for honest and uninhibited conversation.

“The cool thing about it is, I’m not a professional,” he said. “I’m not a therapist, so I don’t have to be careful of what I ask. I’m speaking as a friend, and I’m 100 percent open. I ask any questions I want, and they can ask any questions they want. It’s literally those two people getting into a room and talking honestly with each other, and there’s nothing more amazing than that.”

The product of these conversations is a simple headshot, with only a few words written on the skin of the subject. The concept of using photography and social media is not exactly revolutionary, but Rosenfield wanted to do something different with his work—after all, the world isn’t all smiles and selfies. He wanted the photos to include only the individual—no props or embellishments—which is why he decided to write directly on the subject’s skin rather than having him or her hold up a card or a board.

“I didn’t want to do full body shots because it distracts people,” Rosenfield added.

“It takes attention away from the subject and what I wanted people to concentrate

on.” And why use photography, compared to other artistic mediums? “For me, there was no better way to do it—it’s something that stops time and allows you to receive the emotion of the subject,” he said.

While Rosenfield loves meeting new people and hearing their stories, he admits that the emotional weight of his discussions is one of the most challenging parts of the project. Depression, negative body image, sexual assault, and relationship problems are just some of the issues that he encounters on a daily basis, but the end result reminds him why this project is necessary.

“Some of it is really upsetting, and some of it makes me mad,” he said. “It’s just real tough seeing people hurt, but it definitely pays off when the pictures go up, and their lives are different because of talking or putting their insecurity out there and becoming empowered by it.”

Even though he meets new faces every day, Rosenfield has been able to see the patterns in people’s insecurities, and how we’re really not all that different from each other. After completing the project at BC, there was nothing that he hadn’t heard before from previous students. Although the circumstances are unique to each individual, the insecurities at the core of those experiences are often common to other people, and that sense of universality is what makes the project so appealing. Students especially take interest in the project, and Rosenfield has worked with about 12 schools, along with yoga studios, music festivals, and various other events.

So, why do so many college students reach out to Rosenfield to bring the project to their schools? For Rosenfield, high school is more about following the crowd, while college is a much greater process of self-discovery. “When you’re in college, you really start to create yourself and learn about who you are, and what you want, and what path you want to take,” he said. “And I think that’s a time for a lot of struggle.” One might think that college is the epitome of self-expression and being one’s true self, but in reality, there are still pressures to conform. “You go to a prestigious school that costs a lot of money, so you’re expected to fit a mold,” he said. “Expectations are created, so it creates stresses.”

Rosenfield himself didn’t attend college, but his experiences working with college students have allowed him to understand the reasons behind people’s insecurities.

And that’s not to say that Rosenfield doesn’t have his own set of insecurities—he admits to being a workaholic who has trouble maintaining relationships because of his extensive traveling.

But, if you’re looking for Rosenfield’s own face among the images on his website, you won’t find it. His upcoming book will feature the images he has taken over the past four years as part of “What I Be,” and his own biggest insecurity will be revealed in the publication.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, “What’s my biggest insecurity?” Whatever it may be, Rosenfield explained, having an insecurity is what makes us human—and there is nothing wrong with that. n

John Wiley / Heights Editor

Wiley’s Follies

Debunking the ‘busy student’ myth

John Wiley Wake up. Turn off your iPhone alarm. Check for emails you might have missed last night. Sit on the toilet. Read some news. Take a shower. Check your iPhone halfway through to see what you missed.

Get dressed. Check the weather.

Look outside. Check again. Put in your earphones as you iron your shirt. Walk out the door, pick out a song and then head to class.

What did you just accomplish?

Cut out my interaction with devices, and what just took 40 minutes could have easily taken 15. We’ve bought into this narrative that we are busier than any generation before us—that invasive technology has opened the floodgates for constant intrusion, and that we, the users of these devices, are held hostage by a growing set of expectations.

Tune out the noise.

For many of us, life has actually become so painfully efficient that we have more free time than we could ever fathom trying to spend.

We are suspended in a constant state of leisure, in which near everything we do is driven not out of necessity, but choice. Even the

simplest, most human activities of the day—the ones necessary for survival—can now be paired with something else to make them feel a little less bothersome. Meanwhile, our brain is filled with “busy” signals, driving us to check our phones, bring out our laptops, look at our watches, and repeat.

This is the “busy student” delusion.

On Friday, the Marketing Department at Boston College released a video feature on the research of Professor Adam Brasel. In a study on multitasking, Brasel left participants in a room for half an hour with a television and a computer screen, with cameras placed inconspicuously around the room.

Over the course of 27 minutes, the average subject in the study shifted attention between devices over a hundred times. The subjects were asked afterward how often they thought they shifted their focus while in the room. Most would give numbers like seven or ten.

If one person goes mad, there’s usually a diagnosis, a system of treatment, but how do you begin to address the madness of a generation?

At its surface, the “leisure state” technology allows us is a matter of privilege, and perhaps the “busy student” delusion is actually relatively contained on a global scale.

But beyond that, it’s a question of purpose. It was simple enough for my grandmother, growing up on a farm, to rationalize that her time

had meaning. She grew up during the Great Depression, and her attention was needed to provide food for the family and help pay the bills.

For me, it can almost be a challenge seeing what value I’m creating in any specific action, what service to the world I’m providing, why I should spend my time as such. By convincing myself I’m “busy”—that my time has purpose and that there’s more work for me to do than I can ever get to—I never have to ask the tough question of what it all means in the first place.

The cult of distractibility is, in part, the curse of living in interesting times. American culture has shifted more over the last 20 years than it has during any peaceful time in history, and we’re still stumbling to figure out what’s next. Much of our time is currently victim to this false narrative of busy, but when the bubble’s bound to pop—and almost surely it will—we’ll have to rethink what makes our days worthwhile.

We’ll have to refocus on some issues a little further from our glance.

Put in your earphones as you iron your shirt. Walk out the door, pick out a song and then head to class. You see a friend. She asks you how you’re doing. You look up from your phone.

Don’t dare say the B-word.

John Wiley is the Arts & Review Editor for The Heights.

He can be reached at arts@ bcheights.com.

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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Jason Aldean’s ‘Old Boots’ fails to kick up any new dirt

BY RYAN DOWD Heights Staff Old Boots, New Dirt sounds good without really saying much. Jason Aldean’s sixth studio album rolls off into dirt roads of soft rock, hard rock, and classic country—with anthems, ballads, and even some R&B. The reigning Academy of Country Music (ACM) male vocalist of the year (admittedly a title that means very little) Aldean can sing pretty much anything. His thick falsetto

is fused with power throughout the new album. Aldean’s voice and the appearance of musical variety define the album.

Indeed, Aldean dabbles in several forms here—soft rock in “Too Fast,” hard rock in “Gonna Know We Were Here,” classic country in “If My Truck Could Talk,” and in some R&B touches with “Sweet Little Somethin’” and “Burning It Up.” But adding some synth drums to real drums doesn’t really change the essence of Aldean’s style. It’s still

about big choruses, trucks, and some moonlight. This isn’t meant to be a damning accusation. It’s just what he does best.

To his credit, Aldean has never dabbled in “Bro Country,” the subgenre populated by the whiny likes of Florida Georgia Line and their crowd of cowboy dressed fraternity brothers. Aldean has more steel than “the country bros.” He doesn’t whine.

When he says he loves a truck and a woman—like he does in “If My Truck Could Talk” and “Miss That

OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT JASON ALDEAN PRODUCED BY BROKEN BOW RECORDS RELEASED OCT. 7, 2014 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF BROKEN BOW RECORDS

Despite several good tracks, Aldean’s latest album lacks the edge necessary to set it apart from the rest of country music.

Girl”—he sounds like he really means it.

Despite its title, Old Boots, New Dirt is surprisingly light on the obligatory beer, truck, and girl references, so far as country albums go.

Well okay, there are plenty of girls mentioned in the album, but country boys aren’t the only ones hung up on the ladies. Yeah, I’m looking at you, Drake. Sure, Aldean does have a track titled “If My Truck Could Talk,” to which I’m sure the truck would respond, “Eyes on the road, you weirdo.” But “the truck” or his first real hit “Big Green Tractor” has always been more than just a vehicle he can give pretty, jean-clad girls rides with. Aldean is obsessed with these images, these little immaculate country moments—“the southern sky, sitting back behind that moon” in “Tonight Looks Good on You.” It’s generally pointless to read into Aldean’s lyrics. He’s not telling much of a story here. He doesn’t operate with the lyrical wit of Brad Paisley or lyrical fury of Eric Church.

But he can sing. He’s got the vocal chops to match pretty much anyone in music. And while his steely voice is in fine form here, it’s hard to tell if Old Boots, New Dirt carries the same heavy-weight mashers as the previous two albums (Night Train and My Kind of Party). Those songs, like title

track “Night Train” and “Dirt Road Anthem,” told just enough of a story to go with Aldean’s booming voice.

Most of Aldean’s songs sound nice the first time you hear them and generally remain nice for a little while before they, like most songs, become repetitive. But a good Aldean song sticks with you.

Unfortunately, it takes the album a full 15 tracks to finally show off the best of Aldean with “Two Night Town.” It’s the only song that tells an interesting story, one of a man who spends “three nights in a two night town.” Other songs tell some moonlit tales, but none that really capture the listener like the last. “It was women / It was lovin’ / It was alcohol / It was everything the Bible said will make a man fall.” Aldean’s voice takes center stage, away with the melodramatic riffs and unwieldy synths—just the voice and a ringing, lingering guitar.

With the right words and the right arrangement, Aldean can make one honky tonk of a song.

And even without that combination, Aldean can make good songs for easy listening. Most of country, however, does fall into this category of easy listening, and to be great in the genre demands a bit of an edge, and much of Old Boots, New Dirt is lacking that. 

Childish Gambino wades into an island sound with ‘Kauai’ EP

BY MARIAN WYMAN For The Heights In combination with the mixtape STN MTN—a conglomeration of rap songs unlike anything Childish Gambino has made before—Kauai arrives at the scene as a refreshing return to the familiar, much like its name would suggest. The surprise EP is emotional in a way completely opposite to STN MTN. Amid powerful storytelling, high-quality production value, and meaningful spoken word, each track of Kauai speaks to Gambino’s

identity as an artist. Certainly the differences in STN MTN and Kauai are intentional, serving to contrast the soothing, easygoing nature of Kauai with the heavier rap world of Atlanta, but in any light, Kauai is particularly exceptional. It’s some of Gambino’s best work, both on account of his own growth and his ability to work together with other artists.

The majority of songs are smooth, enjoyable tracks, specifically highlighting his vocals. Whether it’s the playful atmosphere of “Sober” or the soulful vibe of “Retro,” the feel of these songs

demonstrates good taste—there’s nothing overdone about them. Moving away from the more ostentatious singles of STN MTN, Gambino brings it back to his simpler, musical root with Kauai—keeping to an aesthetic fans adore and love. His approach is minimal, but the product is actually quite thoughtful, with the content enhanced by Gamino’s musicality.

Crucial to Kauai’s success is collaboration. Whether it’s performing intense spoken word with Jaden Smith, or singing harmonies with Christian Rich, it’s obvious that

KAUAI CHILDISH GAMBINO PRODUCED BY GLASSNOTE RECORDS RELEASED OCT. 3, 2014 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF GLASSNOTE RECORDS

The highly collaborative nature of ‘Kauai’ makes the seven-song EP at once dynamic and distinctly Gambino’s.

Gambino wanted to bring on as much talent as he could could to the seventrack EP. Without these collaborations, there wouldn’t be much to talk about. Sure, the rest of the album is good, but it very easily could teeter toward one-dimensionality. Plenty of artists release successful hip-hop EPs. It’s the joining of minds—the coming together of great artists—that makes Kauai something special.

Of the EP’s seven tracks, four are collaborations. Alongside Smith, Rich, and Steve Glover, Gambino shows just how versatile he can be. Produced with Glover, “Poke” is truly hip-hop.

The amount of production is much greater here than on any of the other songs, and it strays away from the easy listening of Gambino’s other tracks.

Rich, on the other hand, enhances Gambino’s smooth stylings with tight harmonies in “The Palisades.”

Smith collaborates with Gambino on two tracks, and after hearing the two together, this combination makes sense. Their sounds feel organic, and their delivery packs a punch. Primarily through spoken word, Smith and Gambino focus on lyricism. “Pop Thieves (Make It Feel Good)” and “Late Night in Kauai” are successful because of their attention to rhyme and lyric—with scaled-back musical production to complement the words. Whereas some songs (such

as “Poke”) have a dramatic production quality, these are focused on storytelling.

“Pop Thieves” features a more pop, R&B sound enhanced by smooth vocals that soon transitions into a spoken word performance. The song’s introduction—a jarring, sudden switch to silence—allows for the listener to treat Gambino’s words more as poetry. The song builds over time, with a laid-back, island-inspired beat picking up amid Gambino’s rhymes.

It transports the listener right into Smith’s story.` “Late Night in Kauai” starts right where “Pop Thieves” left off, and then “Late Night” piggybacks directly off of “Pop Thieves.” Acting as a finale of sorts, “Late Night” provides a proper finish to Smith’s storytelling, with Gambino’s vocals adding a dynamism to the production.

Kauai ultimately is a testament to Gambino’s understanding of his limitations as an artist. He understands what he’s good at, but he’s also perceptive enough to bring in other artists to aid him in areas where his own work could be enhanced.

While STN MTN seemed to clumsily experiment with an unfamiliar style, Kauai speaks to Gambino’s staying power. The EP is marketable without being superficial, and accessible without being cheap. 

Weezer struggles to breathe life back into career with ninth record

BY JAMES FARRELL For The Heights

If you talk to longtime Weezer fans (at least, the ones who are left), two things are clear: they don’t forget how their favorite band betrayed them in the pursuit of more commercial friendly music, and they haven’t forgiven them either. Now, four years after the band’s last release, Weezer is ready to return to its roots with Everything Will Be Alright In The End. And indeed, maybe—just maybe—everything will be alright in the end for the band.

When Weezer decided to go in a more commercially appealing direction with 2009’s Raditude—an album considered as lame and confusing as its title suggests—the group began a slow decline into obscurity. Alienated fans still wistfully long for the raw, minimally produced Weezer of The Blue Album, an album heralded by many to be the best of the ’90s. In Everything Will Be Alright—released 20 years after The Blue Album—Weezer directly addresses its situation, selfconsciously attempts to revive the days of old, and even goes as far as to apologize.

The opening song, “Ain’t Got Nobody,” with its thick electric guitars, muddy power chords, and raunchy garage sound, is the closest thing to The Blue Album rawness that the band has released in years. The vocals are slightly overproduced, but the effort

is evident, and any Weezer fan will appreciate it. Hidden in the opening buildup is a recording of a male voice saying, “Rock is dead / Guitars are dead.” Frontman Rivers Cuomo then sings the repeating chorus, “Ain’t got nobody / Ain’t got no one to really love me.” This chorus, along with the mysterious male voice, suggests that Weezer is aware of where their musical decisions have taken them: into a world of abysmal record sales and dangerous to near “where-are-theynow” status.

The second song, “Back to the Shack,” provides the apology that Weezer fans have been waiting for. Almost directly addressing his audience, Cuomo sings, “Sorry guys, I didn’t realize that I needed you so much / I thought I’d get a new audience / I forgot that disco sucks.” The chorus that follows could be taken right from any one of Weezer’s earlier albums, and asks us to “rock out like it’s ’94,” which is, coincidentally, the year The Blue Album was released. These two songs act as a self-aware introduction, a promise that Everything Will Be Alright In The End will rectify the wrongs and revive what Weezer used to be. In some ways, this promise is overbearing. The lyrical tone of “Back to the Shack” doesn’t change after that initial apology, saying later, “We belong in the rock world / And there is so much left to do.” If you have to proclaim you are going back to your roots, then maybe you aren’t

SINGLE REVIEWS BY MICHELLE TOMASSI

NICK JONAS “Numb”

If you haven’t heard, Nick Jonas has surpassed puberty—and he wants everyone to know. His new single “Numb” is nothing like the music of his JoBro days, as he delves into hip-hop and sings about heartbreak. Jonas collaborated with rapper Angel Haze, resulting in a solid housemusic track—but unfortunately, it doesn’t stand out quite as much as his abs do.

doing it right.

That being said, Everything Will Be Alright really does make a concerted effort to evoke the sound of earlier works. “Lonely Girl,” is evocative of romantic songs like the earlier “No One Else.” “I’ve Had It Up To Here” has a chorus reminiscent of a faster “Island in the Sun” from The Green Album.

This explicit desire to go back in time, however, is constantly in contention with the album’s more commercial sentiments. The vocals have been polished to a shine at certain points, particularly in the pop-friendly “Go

Away,” and the lyrics are often geared towards mainstream audiences, like in “Da Vinci.”

All of this is redeemed in the last four songs of the album, a streak of excellence that will excite fans old and new. The angry yet redemptive “Foolish Father” is Weezer grunge-rock at its finest. Raw vocals, strong guitar leads with a gritty tone reminiscent of earlier songs, and honest, reassuring lyrics that retain a sense of angst.

The final three songs, “I. Wasteland,” “II. Anonymous,” and “III. Return to Ithaka” provide a three-part master

class in jamming in your garage. From uncharacteristically face-melting guitar solos, to sing-along choruses and seamless transitions, they represent a certain kind of evolution in the band’s maturity.

Whether the album will satisfy the rabid disappointment of fans remains unclear. Without a doubt, this is a good album, worthy of a listen from both longtime listeners and the newly initiated. Is this, however, the revival album that Weezer fans have been waiting for? Probably not—but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. 

EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT IN THE END WEEZER PRODUCED BY REPUBLIC RECORDS RELEASED FEB. 4, 2014 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF REPUBLIC RECORDS

Twenty years after the release of the band’s iconic self-titled debut, Weezer tries to reconnect with old fans.

AVICII “The Days”

CHART TOPPERS TOP SINGLES

1 All About That Bass Meghan Trainor 2 Shake It Off Taylor Swift 3 Black Widow Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora 4 Bang, Bang Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj 5 Anaconda Nicki Minaj 6 Habits Tove Lo

TOP ALBUMS

1 Bringing Back The Sunshine Blake Shelton 2 747 Lady Antebellum 3 Partners Barbra Streisand 4 Cheek To Cheek Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga Source: Billboard.com

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK

BY CHRIS FULLER

“IT GIRL” PHARRELL WILLIAMS

Several months after the release of his latest album Girl, Pharrell Williams drops an explosive music video for his melody “It Girl.” Combining a voluptuous, vivacious anime style with a throwback to 8-bit graphics and video games, “It Girl,” captures the tone and groove of its titular song excellently. In the video, Williams preaches about the power of his love is his “inspiration,” and then, how “her” being gone devastates him. Although there is nothing truly innovative in his message here, Williams’ art direction and bombardment of colors articulate his passion for this woman remarkably.

“It Girl” almost leaves itself no room to breathe.

Every second is filled with a visual cacophony of anime and graffiti presented in multitudes of extravagant colors.

Williams also has comical references to 8-bit, 2D platform gaming and more specifically, Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalker” video game.

Although Williams’ lyrics focus on his special love, his video follows a group of scantily clad anime girls through their shenanigans on the beach and in space.

Williams’ character might be particularly interested in only one of these girls, but the video’s depiction of the beach beauties as a whole could be construed as slightly obsessive or misogynistic, however innocent it may be.

Although it may not be as popular as “Happy” or, “Come Get It Bae,” “It Girl” exemplifies what Williams’ aesthetic can achieve. It’s a wonderful exhibition of his passion as an artist.

“It Girl” is chock-full of flare, with a bombastic spectrum of color and imagery that fits well with Williams’ sound. 

JESSIE WARE “Pieces” With Avicii’s new single, it almost sounds like “The Days” of his heavy EDM style are over.

British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams sings for the majority of the track, which sounds more soft-rock than anything Avicii has produced in the past. With only a minute left, Avicii finally drops in—and it’s not even that danceable, either.

Ware’s stunning sound is stronger than ever in her new song “Pieces,” one of several releases building up to her upcoming album Tough Love. With vocals that alternate between powerful and delicate, Ware maintains a slow and steady pace, allowing us to soak up each and every word of the soulful piece.

Thursday, January 17, 2014 Thursday, October 9, 2014

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Bennet’s Banter

Can Boston handle an Olympic bid?

Bennet Johnson Nearly every middle-aged U.S. citizen can tell you exactly where he or she was when Boston University’s Mike Eruzione buried the game-winning goal to help the U.S. men’s hockey team upset the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic games.

Those types of moments in sports are special—moments that create a sense of pride that are remembered forever. Now, the U.S. is looking to bring those moments home for the first time since 2002.

Olympics fever is here in Boston.

As the world prepares for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Boston is pushing to become the host of the 2024 summer games.

Boston 2024—the young organizing committee designed to bring the games to the Hub—makes the case that Boston’s existing infrastructure, collegiate atmosphere, sports-crazy community, exquisite parks, and a rich history make the city a prime candidate poised to host the competitive games.

Declaring that “it would be Boston leading the United States,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09, gathered with Olympians, Paralympians, and members of Boston 2024 Monday night near Fenway, expressing his support for Boston to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The last time the U.S. hosted the games was in 2002 in Salt Lake City, and before that, 1996 in Atlanta. Bringing the Olympics back home is daunting task that requires undertaking seven years of preparation and billions of dollars of funding—building an athletic venue for opening and closing ceremonies and constructing an Olympic village to house 16,000 athletes, as well as perfecting a reliable transportation system.

London’s use of landmarks such as Hyde Park, Wimbledon, and Lord’s Cricket Ground that were used in 2012 would be utilized in Boston—which could use the Common for volleyball, Franklin park for equestrian events, and even Harvard Stadium for field hockey.

Many of Boston’s offerings, including a cluster of colleges such as Harvard, MIT, Boston University, and Boston College, would be near the Charles River and would surround the MBTA system.

But is this idea feasible for Boston?

While Boston has an undeniable historic charm, its intimacy poses numerous challenges to moving people around a congested city. Boston can barely handle rush-hour traffic, and some transit improvements like easing jammed roadways and extending the MBTA system could prove to be costly.

Other opponents believe the total cost of hosting the games is too high—in Sochi, Russia the total costs amounted to $51 billion. Or, others believe that Boston would be better suited to host the Winter Olympics.

Proponents are working to convince city residents that creating sports venues would not ruin their neighborhoods or lengthen commuting times after the games are over. A $1.5 million 3-D version of greater Boston was recently created by Boston 2024 to forecast the potential impact of the games to planners and engineers in the region—years before anything is built.

The selection of a host city is an arduous process that takes place about seven years before the Olympic games.

Currently, Boston is up against four other cities on the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) short list of potential host cities. The others include Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. For Boston to get the 2024 games, a few things must happen first: The USOC must decide if it will submit a bid for the United States, and it must choose Boston as that city. In December, the International Olympics Committee will present a plan for the future of the Olympics, and the USOC will make a bid following that meeting.

With the city’s quadricentennial coming up in 2030, the possibility of hosting an Olympics in 2024 or 2028 will prove to be a central topic in Boston’s debate surrounding its evolution. By 2024, many BC students will have left Boston behind, but the effects of hosting the Olympics will be prevalent for decades to come.

Bennet Johnson is the Asst. Metro Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at metro@bcheights.com

Thursday, October 9, 2014

First Lady supports Coakley for governor at rally

By Sultana Seban-Sumner For the Heights

First Lady Michelle Obama left her husband’s side on their 22nd wedding anniversary last Friday morning to join Massachusetts Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley at a campaign rally at The Strand Theatre in Dorchester, Mass. The theater, which practically shook with excitement as each guest took the stage, was filled with over 1,500 men, women, and children who had waited for three hours in the cold for the chance to hear the first lady speak. Other speakers included Coakley’s running mate Steve Kerrigan, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Senator Ed Markey, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09, and Boston City Councillor Ayanna Pressley—all of whom expressed support for Coakley’s candidacy.

Kerrigan began the rally, promising the audience four years of the best possible leadership and hailing Coakley the “the best governor to protect people.”

The first lady spoke passionately about Coakley as a candidate, describing her as a staunch supporter of women’s rights—in health, opportunity, and safety.

“I think we can all agree that no one in this race will fight harder for families here in this state than Martha Coakley,” she said. “Martha has been a tireless advocate for survivors of violence and abuse ... She led the fight to raise the minimum wage, and in this campaign, she’s leading the charge for earned sick time for working families.”

Walsh took the stage to urge all those in attendance to take a stand and act for their own future as well as the city’s. Pressley, meanwhile, reminded the audience that politics and the gu-

bernatorial election should have little to do with personality and more to do with policy.

“This isn’t about rhetoric—it’s about a record,” she said.

The first lady emphasized that enthusiasm and passion should win out over money in an election, and she urged the audience to rally not only for themselves and their own children, but also for those who fight against barriers of poverty and violence—who she said need the chance to take advantage of basic opportunities provided to them by the state.

“These kids have every reason to give up, but they don’t, because they are so hungry to succeed,” she said.

“They are so desperate to lift themselves up. And if you didn’t have a good enough reason to get on it on this election, then just think of those kids—because that’s why we’re here

today. Because those kids never give up, and neither can we.”

“If you want a governor who will stand up to powerful interests, if you want a governor who is truly on your side, then you need to elect Martha,” Obama said. “I’ve seen it. If we do that, if we all work together, if we all keep stepping up and bringing others along with us, and we just vote, then I know that we can keep on making that change we believe in. I know we can elect Martha Coakley as governor of Massachusetts.

And I know that together, we can build a future worthy of all our children.”

Coakley faces Republican candidate Charlie Baker in the Nov. 4 election, which current polls show will be a close race. The two are both trying to rebound from poor showings in the 2010 election cycle—she in a disastrous Senate run and he in a substantial loss against Patrick. n

‘Canstruction’ exhibit donates cans to food bank From Canstruction, C8 “They service one of the most in need communities in Massachusetts,” said Allison Scott, a member of Canstruction’s steering committee.

While Boston’s Canstruction chapter, sponsored annually by the Society for Design Administration, first started working with the Greater Boston Food Bank—back when it was little more than a garage into which trucks could deliver donations—the committee decided to begin working with the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, reasoning that it could make a greater impact at the smaller organization.

The first year that Canstruction donated to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, Heckman recalled that she took a day off of work to visit the food bank, where she had the chance to see people taking food from the pantry—the direct result of Canstruction’s efforts.

Amy Pessia, the food bank’s executive director, told Heckman to follow her downstairs—she wanted to show her something. Heckman saw that the entire floor that they were on—essentially an open warehouse—was filled with the cans that had been donated by Canstruction.

“I’ve seen what an impact we make on their organization,” Heckman said.

This Saturday, the participating firms will flock to the BSA Space and the Atlantic Wharf Hotel lobby, where teams will start building structures that they have planned potentially for months. After, the structures will serve as an exhibit from Oct. 14 to 31.

Although there is no cost of admission to the exhibit, there will be food bins in which attendees can donate canned

goods for the food bank.

“Boston has such a huge population of architecture firms and engineering firms and construction management firms,” Scott said. “I was just inspired by all of these great firms who have such a commitment to design … taking all that energy and funneling it toward such good. It’s something that’s so tangible.”

Past designs at the event have included a Slinky, a Green Line trolley, and the Wilson ball from Cast Away.

Each year, a new theme is selected—the theme for 2014 is “Pop Culture.” Awards for the various structures include Best Use of Labels, as well as Best Meal—that is, the structure that incorporates the cans that would work most cohesively as a meal. Each structure, Heckman estimated, tends to incorporate between 2,000 and 5,000 cans—all within a space that is 10 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 10 feet tall.

“People get really creative,” Scott said. “That’s what’s so exciting about this. Here you have teams that take time after their day job—they stay late, they work, they design, they model, they have to count the cans, they have to figure out how it’s going to be built … It’s a lot of time that these people put forth.”

This year, Canstruction is partnering with Whole Foods, which will deliver to the build site the cans that the architectural firms purchase.

“If you consider that cans are about a dollar each, they’re putting a lot of their own money into it,” Heckman said of the architectural firms. “But they understand why they’re doing it and how it will help the communities near them.” n

Photo Courtesy of boston Fashion Week

A woman models clothing at the Copley Catwalk Show at Copley Place for Fashion Week.

Founder discusses growth of Boston’s Fashion Week From Fashion Week, C8 regulatory, and odor absorbent. Ministry of Supply’s event during Boston Fashion week is a casual celebration of the new technology over drinks, as well as a walkthrough of its innovative concepts with the co-creators Gihan Amarasiriwardena, Kit Hickey, and Aman Advani.

Having grown in size, popularity, and participation of local designers, Calderin believes he has accomplished his first goal, and he intends to strive for further success in the years to come.

“Now, it’s about experimenting with new ways to deliver fashion, to build these relationships with other communities, to build what we started over the past couple of years with tech—science, the arts, and education,” Calderin said.

Striving to partner with education

and mentor upcoming generations, BFW has kicked off the week for the past six years with Launch, a show featuring five new designers, all students or recent graduates of one of the many prestigious fashion programs in the region. The five selected for the 2014 exhibition are Jeffrey Dickerson, Chynna Pope, Dominique Quinque, Ty Sinnet, all from the School of Fashion Design, and Maryanne Meservey from Mount Ida College.

“Every 10 years I try to think of a new goal to infuse into Fashion Week,” Calderin said. “He has successfully fostered a fellowship around an industry, a partnership between trades, and a tradition among Bostonians. This year marks BFW’s 20th anniversary, and with a fortunate past and a bright future, the Boston fashion community cannot wait to hear that next goal.” n

DoorDash expands delivery service east to Boston From DoorDash, C8 food delivery business across the U.S. “Whether it is food, groceries, or consumer products, we are working to send anything to anyone in 45 minutes,” Lachs said.

This past September, DoorDash expanded its services to the east coast, offering delivery services to Boston, Brookline, and Allston/Brighton. DoorDash also hit the streets in Cambridge this past Monday. The Silicon Valleybased company plans to expand to Somerville, Medford, as well as South Boston in the near future.

“Boston is our first east coast city, and we are really excited about bringing our business here, specifically,” Lachs said. “It made sense to come here with the food culture and large student population. We wanted to launch with school

resuming this fall.”

DoorDash is the latest deliver y service looking to woo customers to become the go-to online delivery service in Boston, with others including Chicago-based Grubhub, Austin-based Favor, San Francisco-based Caviar, Postmates, and Boston-based alcohol delivery service Drizly.

The startup typically partners with popular restaurants that do not normally deliver for a number of reasons—ranging from high insurance costs to a lack of available drivers. DoorDash delivers food from more than 100 of Boston’s top restaurants, including Figs, Cafeteria, Toro, Root, Regina Pizzeria, and Roxy’s Grilled Cheese. According to Lachs, the average delivery time between when an order is placed and when the consumer receives the food is 39 minutes when using DoorDash.

“What’s unique about DoorDash is that we provide something for everyone—from lower-end foods to higherprice points, and vegetarian options to steak restaurants,” Lachs said. “Anna’s Taqueria, Soul Fire BBQ, Alfredo’s, and Otto are some student favorites near Boston College.”

The company operates in a similar manner as ride-sharing service Uber in the sense that drivers can apply to become a “DoorDasher” and work on their own schedules. Drivers must be 18 or older and go through some various regulations. DoorDash currently boasts a fleet of over 2,000 drivers who earn about $21 per hour. The startup employs many students as DoorDashers, who fulfill transactions by car or bike, specifically in dense student areas like Boston and Los Angeles.

“Students are a key target for us,

because they tend to be early customers and willing to try things out,” Lachs said. “They tell their friends about us and spread the message of our company, and they have the potential to be ambassadors or Dashers now in Boston.”

To celebrate its Boston launch, DoorDash is offering a free first delivery for customers. Customers can place their DoorDash orders online or through the company’s mobile app.

The California startup claims that it is the fastest delivery service due to its “dasher” location technology, which is designed to find the nearest DoorDasher to deliver nearby orders. The service also sends various updates on the status of one’s order.

“The bigger picture for the future of the company is to be able to deliver anything in under 45 minutes,” Lachs said. “Time is our advantage.” n

Statues like Poe’s deserve reverence, but they are for the living From Column, C8 wave to that which he never expressed the desire to return.

His absence was not a misunderstanding, the stance tells the viewer. He is only here on some literary business, or to visit a friend—probably the least favorite of his friends, too.

And that is the strange trouble with statues—they have no say in where they are placed. Boston was Poe’s birthplace, yes, but it was not the home he chose. In his death, we have chosen it for him.

While Rocknak gave him the stance

that he would likely have adopted should he have actually been in Boston, is it wrong to take a man’s likeness and place it where the man himself would not have liked to be?

The last time I spent this much time thinking about sculpture was when I travelled with my family to visit colleges in Washington, DC—what must be the American city most populated by massive statues. I have, of course, no evidence for this, but half the time I felt like I was hanging out with more statues than people. (I wasn’t talking to them or anything, but I saw some people that were. We don’t judge here.)

Upon visiting some of these statues, I was filled not only with awe, but also some minor disgust. These statues— the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials for example—were built to instill reverence in people. But over there—right

by Lincoln’s mighty foot!—various tourists in all levels of disarray, a little boy picking his nose, an older woman giving two ice cream cones to already messy children. Surely, I thought, this could not have been what was intended by this Greco-Roman style tribute to the nation’s 16th president.

And what of poor Edgar? No doubt, he will sometimes be left to be a rest-

ing place for the birds, children climbing atop him like a jungle gym, the ice cream of wandering tourists dripping onto his immobile feet. These are the modern realities of statues, but I take comfort in the fact that we still build them at all.

This way, a little boy can look into the face of Edgar Allan Poe and wonder—a certain reminder that statues are for the living.

Ryan Towey is the Metro Editor for The Heights. He can be reached at metro@ bcheights.com

THE HEIGHTS

Thursday, October 9, 2014

C7

Lt. Governor candidate discusses economy at Northeastern

BY GUS MERRELL Heights Staff

In 1988, Martin O’Malley had just graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law. He was, in his words, living out of a cardboard box and waiting for the results of his bar exam. Under those circumstances, he said, the only logical solution was to get into politics and so he went and worked as the Maryland field director for then-governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis. Fast forward 26 years, and O’Malley is no longer living in a cardboard box, nor waiting for his bar results (he passed), and has been the governor of Maryland since 2007.

O’Malley (D), the incumbent governor of Maryland, and Steve Kerrigan (D), the lt. governor candidate of Massachusetts running alongside Martha Coakley (D) in the Massachusetts gubernatorial race, met on Monday, Oct. 6 with college students from around Boston to discuss the importance of a strong civic engagement and the impact that has on forming a strong economy.

O’Malley made it clear from the beginning of the talk that the position of governor is full of choices. The men and women that are elected are faced with many choices pertaining to the economy, and the choices that are made can determine whether or not the economy succeeds. In recent years, O’Malley said, better choices could have been made. The result has been an economy, that while recovering, has produced fewer jobs, fewer opportunities, and the wealth has been concentrated at the top while wages have been kept low for the majority of the population.

“One of your great sons, John Kennedy, famously said ‘to govern is to choose,’” said O’Malley. “If we expect to achieve better results as a people, we’re going to have to make better choices.”

O’Malley believes that there has been a change in the way that people are looking at leadership, and thinks that it is a generational gap. Leadership in generations past was based off of ideology and hierarchy, whereas today it is fundamentally entrepreneurial. O’Malley explains that today, problems are solved by bringing a diverse group of people around the table and determining the big “what,” without losing sight of the small “how.”

“That is the new way of governing that, as I travel around the country, I’m seeing emerging in every well-run city in America,” O’Malley said.

In addition to the stylistic changes of leadership, the younger generation has also shifted its views on relationships. O’Malley says that the younger generation has more students graduating with multiple majors and studying in multiple disciplines because they recognize that to form a newer and better world, it is important to utilize a holistic way of thinking and recognize the relationships between the relationships.

This generation is choosing to live together in large cities like New York City, Los Angeles, and Baltimore, forming clusters and connections that they can draw from.

“Your parents and grandparents grew up in a world where they were told that their greater security and prosperity depended on separating from others,” O’Malley said. “You guys understand the truth. You understand that your future security and prosperity comes from better connections with others.”

At the end of the talk, O’Malley opened the floor up to questions from the 20-odd students and faculty present in the room.

Questions ranged from thoughts on education, cyber security, crime, and local infrastructure.

O’Malley emphasized the importance of education and what it can do for a society, and both he and Kerrigan made it clear that education was one of their priorities going forward. They highlighted the fact that they wanted to move away from the ideological view held by former conservatives who thought that higher education should be like a toll: if one takes that route, they should be the ones to pay for it, not the state. But the U.S., they argued, with the world’s highest average cost of education, is not on a sustainable track, and O’Malley and Kerrigan both want to see their respective states assume more responsibility for tuitions.

“I believe, and Steve believes, that education is something that benefits all of us,” O’Malley said. “And that the more a person learns, the more a person learns.”

One student referenced the NSA’s headquarters location in Maryland and asked about O’Malley’s views on the recent scandals involving Edward Snowden and the security leaks. Although Kerrigan laughed and joked that he was glad the headquarters weren’t in Massachusetts, O’Malley said that it is important to balance civil liberties while also protecting ourselves from asymmetrical warfare.

National security is just as important as the constitutional rights, and O’Malley said that it is unreasonable to give up either

AP PHOTO / ELISE AMENDOLA

The gubernatorial race between Martha Coakley and Charlie Baker is in a dead heat. one. Rather, it is essential to find a balance between the two.

Earlier in the speech, O’Malley made a reference to students congregating in cities like New York City and Los Angeles.

He said that was due in part because there has been a significant decrease in Part 1 crimes.

People tend to look at crime as a barometric scale, O’Malley explained. When crime is up, sometimes people say to fire the mayor or the police commissioner, but when crime is down, no one praises those who deserve it. One student asked about his views on marijuana, and O’Malley said that the experiment in Colorado is something to keep an eye on. Since marijuana cases are often a distraction on a prosecutor’s docket, he and Kerrigan both agreed that while decriminalization of marijuana is a step in the right direction, full legalization made them “feel a little bit queasy.”

“If you are smarter on reducing crime, you can target more repeat violent offenders with more of your resources more effectively,” O’Malley said, in reference to the decriminalization of marijuana.

According to O’Malley, infrastructure is just as important to a city as education and innovation. While he says that conservatives are opposed to spending $100 million

on a bridge, it isn’t possible to spend only a tenth of the total cost and expect the result to be the same. However, he says that this infrastructure is a necessary investment in securing a prosperous future for the next generation. It is irrational to think that either the non-profit or the private sector is capable of financing all the infrastructure expenses, so it’s necessary to find a way to combine them to finance the various projects. O’Malley said that this is even more necessary considering the rising sea levels due to climate change. And to silence those who oppose spending on infrastructure, O’Malley says that for every $1 billion spent on infrastructure, 37,000 jobs are created in the construction industry.

O’Malley and Kerrigan are focused on bringing back a strong economy. In doing so, they are calling upon the younger generation to take up leadership roles and embrace the fact that their relationships with each other have so much to offer.

“We’ve also been able to realize a deeper truth, that sometimes it seems we’ve forgot, and that is our diversity is our strength,” O’Malley said. “That with people from different backgrounds, different ethnic backgrounds, coming together around a problem, you’re far more likely to figure out a better way forward.” 

Johnny’s serves as local staple in Newton Centre New owners of Johnny’s look to maintain tradition

BY WILLIAM MENNICKEN For The Heights

ture dish, with fresh ingredients made from scratch. Johnny’s also offers popular options, including lox on a bagel, cheese blintzes, and pastrami sandwiches.

The Masterson family has a long history in the restaurant business. Kevin Masterson has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years, and the family used to own over 15 restaurants in Canada—all of them specializing in traditional American food. After moving to Boston, the Mastersons took ownership of Tennessee Barbecue restaurants LOCATION: in Framingham, BrainNewton Center tree, and Peabody.

The family has been CUISINE: improving the use American of local produce in its dishes. The SIGNATURE DISH: Farm Plate specials include feature foods ’50s Style Burger from local farms and seasonal produce. Farm

Genetics and my caffeine addiction

MAGGIE POWERS

BOSTON FOODIE

Both locals and visitors from afar come to Johnny’s in Newton Centre to experience its famous all-day breakfast menu and warm, local atmosphere.

Johnny’s Luncheonette features classic American fare and diner food, with such items as burgers, hot dogs, club sandwiches, Reuben’s, chili, macaroni and cheese, frappes, and rice pudding offered on the extensive menu.

In March of this year, Johnny’s came under the new ownership of Kevin and Karen Masterson, the former owners of Nourish in Lexington. The diner was first opened 21 years ago by John Furst and Neal Solomon as a traditional Jewish deli, and the current owners are looking to maintain that tradition.

“We wanted to incorporate some of those traditional items like the deli sandwiches and soups into our menu,” said Josh Masterson, the son of owners Karen and Kevin.

Among those popular Jewish deli foods, the matzo ball soup is a signa-

HEART OF THE CITY

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHNNY’S

plate concepts are also featured in their other restaurants. They also have added house-made sweet potato fries, vegetarian dishes, gluten-free dishes, and more.

Johnny’s works with local seafood providers and even gets its beef from a small ranch in Maine.

“Johnny’s offers a wide array of breakfast foods that are served throughout the day,” said Masterson. “The crunchy French toast is definitely a favorite, and it includes challah bread coated with nuts served on a skewer with butter and syrup.”

Also popular are the ’50s-style burger, grilled cheese, and the “Setti Warren” omelet named after the mayor of Newton. This omelet features egg whites with cheddar cheese and spinach.

Located in Newton Centre, Johnny’s is less than a mile away from the Newton campus and just one mile from Upper campus. The restaurant is open until 9 p.m. on most days, and it is looking to attract more nighttime business from college students.

Johnny’s is planning to have a “pretty aggressive promotion” and hopes to bring more college students in for business. For those not looking to have breakfast for dinner, there are plenty of other options like soups, salads, burgers, and dinner plates.

The restaurant is also looking into accepting the Eagle Card as a payment method, but has no set commitment yet.

Although Johnny’s does not offer formal reservations, it does recommend calling ahead on busy days. Saturday and Sunday mornings are the most popular times to come in, and there could be a wait.

Despite being under new ownership, Johnny’s continues to offer traditional Jewish deli sandwiches and soups, while also serving breakfast all day long. The Farm plate specials bring out a healthier, fresher way of dining that supports local farms and seafood industries. Whether you are looking for lox on a bagel, and omelet for dinner, or a glass of wine, Johnny’s is a popular destination. 

My Keurig doesn’t quite cut it in the morning. I’m sure the caffeine output is the same as any other coffee maker, and the coffee is outstandingly average, but every morning something is missing. It may be sleek, modern, and convenient for the college student cooking for one, but it’s too quiet.

The hiss and gurgle of a pot of coffee make me think of my dad. In my house, the coffee maker stays quiet and tucked away on the back counter weekdays, my father out the door long before my brothers and I would even think of stirring. My mother, a tea drinker, allows the whistle of the teakettle to satisfy the strange human craving for something warm in the morning.

Although I didn’t really start drinking coffee until high school (and didn’t develop a full-fledged caffeine dependence until college), the ritual of coffee was always pleasing to me. In my house, the smell of coffee wafting through the air meant Saturday mornings, sausage, and soccer games. But it also meant Dad and the promise of the adventures that only seem to happen when the days are open and the whole family is together.

Turns out, ritual is not solely to blame for my physical dependence on caffeine. A new study led by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers shows that genetics may also be to blame. The study was published in Molecular Psychiatry on Tuesday looked at 120,000 regular coffee consumers and identified six loci associated with habitual coffee consumption.

These genes weren’t related to taste buds, either. Rather, they were primarily genes linked to the stimulating effects caffeine causes or metabolism. The faster a person is able to metabolize caffeine, the more likely they are to be a heavy caffeine drinker.

The more of these loci a person has, the more likely they are to be heavy caffeine consumers.

While the implications of the study have yet to be determined, when the study popped up in the headlines it made me take note. Scientific proof of something that I had always assumed was ingrained by habit always makes me pause and think.

No matter how minor or common coffee drinking may seem, a tiny sliver of me had an identity crisis.

Does the genetic evidence negate my situation in a tradition? Maybe. But not enough that I’m willing to disassociate even so trivial from a ritual that has taken place for years before I came around.

The old coffee maker on my countertop at home creaks and groans as it starts to heat up the water, almost as if it is as begrudging being awake and beginning to work just as much as its bleary-eyed owner. Mechanical clicks whirr inside of it, too loud for any modern appliance but not enough to cause alarm, it just means the coffeemaker is getting to work. The water winds itself through the grounds, emitting a babble to let the impatient caffeine addict know that its coffee is on its way into the awaiting empty mug.

The coffee is finally welcomed into the pot with a satisfying hiss and the gradual minimization of sound that occurs when liquid slowly fills an empty vessel.

Best accompanied by the rustle of the newspaper and a barking dog, this little strain of caffeinated music is the sound track of weekends at home.

It is the sound of my childhood, in a way.

Despite owning my own coffee maker, having the money to fund my designer coffee cravings at the closest Starbucks, working the same hours as him this summer, the trusty old coffee maker offers something none of those other things can—mediocre coffee and memories of my dad.

Maggie Powers is an editor for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.

METRO

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014

CANNING IT Architectural and engineering firms throughout Boston will build structures from cans on Saturday— which will all be donated to a food bank

BY RYAN TOWEY Metro Editor Kerry Heckman hurriedly drove to Market Basket in Somerville, where she bought hundreds of cans of black beans—a bit excessive under normal circumstances, but in this case, it was with good reason.

A team of architects was waiting for her to return with cans that had blue labels, which it needed to complete a structure made entirely of canned foods.

Heckman, the chairman of Boston’s Canstruction committee, has been involved with the charity event for years. The basic idea is this—architects and engineers throughout Boston buy thousands of cans in order to build unusual and entertaining structures for a competition and an exhibition. Later, these structures are taken apart and the cans are donated, just before the busy holiday season begins in November.

“We do what it takes,” Heckman said of her mission to secure the cans with a blue label.

This is Canstruction’s 19th year in the city of Boston.

Last year alone, 26 firms donated 75,000 pounds of canned food to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, which serves Lowell, Mass.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CANSTRUCTION

See Canstruction, C6

Boston Fashion Week celebrates local styles

EDGE OF TOWN

Poe’s new statue is for the living

Fashion Week founder Jay Calderin discusses efforts to build a local fashion community

BY MAGGIE SULLIVAN Heights Staff Shopping, fashion shows, luncheons, parties—Boston Fashion Week (BFW) is in full swing. By the end of this week, a crowd of hundreds will have attended over 50 events throughout downtown Boston.

When Executive Director Jay Calderin founded BFW in 1995, his initial goal was to build a fashion community—something that was lacking in the Boston area.

“I think of myself as a community organizer more than anything else because it’s about spending the year having these conversations with people and really sharing with them the value of all this,” Calderin said. “I hear from a lot of people who work in the industry that this is the one time of year they really get to see each other and celebrate what they do, because the rest of the year we’re all busy working and building our businesses.”

BFW relies on this camaraderie to operate on a minimal budget. Every year, each designer puts on a different type of show depending on how much money and energy he or she is willing to spend on the event. This instability provides variety from year to year and calls upon the fashion community to work together.

“The goal is for us to get people to step up and be a community … I consider it, since the beginning, civic initiative,” Calderin said. “I want there to be a thriving fashion community here, and you can’t just do that with money. You have to do that with relationships.”

BFW events mostly take place in downtown Boston such as catwalks at Copley Place or jewelry shows at the Museum of Fine Arts. In past years, however, BFW has hosted events as far

out of the city as Hyannis, Mass. in Cape Cod. The event encourages communities to take the liberty to celebrate fashion in their area.

“BFW isn’t just about something that happens in downtown Boston—it’s really a time of year and state of mind where we are focusing on fashion and celebrating what’s home-grown,” Calderin said.

Although the glamour and sparkle of some of these shows may be intimidating to outsiders, many events require purchasing tickets ahead of time, and a large number of the shows simply require an RSVP. This open style of attendance strives to fulfill Calderin’s goal of creating a community around the industry. By broadening the spectators, that community not only grows, but it also thrives.

The new motto that BFW has established, “Boston fashion is smart,” appeals to the unique academic identity of Boston. This city is oriented around business, law, science, technology, and academia.

“What we realized over the years is that we were trying to apologize for all the things Boston naturally was … but what we found was that fashion actually permeated all those things and more,” Calderin said. “The Boston fashion consumers are smart. They don’t follow trends blindly, they appreciate good work and look for ways to tie it into other parts of their lifestyle.”

One event in particular embodies this idea of fusing industries. Ministry of Supply is both a fashion and technology startup. The company manufactures a line of business clothing made of smart fabric, intended to anticipate the physical stresses of a workingman’s day. The line of performance apparel is waterproof, wrinkle proof, stain proof, temperature

See Fashion Week, B6

I NSIDE METRO THIS ISSUE

RYAN TOWEY PHOTO COURTESY OF DOORDASH

financial sense for a small company to offer delivery services.

On Jan. 12, 2013, Palo Alto Delivery was born. The four were students by day, delivery drivers by night, delivering food across the Stanford campus to thousands of students, local families, and office workers.

Now renamed DoorDash, the startup is backed by nearly $20 million and received $17 million in venture capital funding by Sequoia Capital last May. DoorDash currently delivers from over 1,000 restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

“We are helping places ranging from family-owned small business to large restaurants deliver to areas that are underserved,” said Jessica Lachs, the general manager of DoorDash. Lachs was introduced to the Tony Xu, the CEO and co-founder of DoorDash last June, and she joined the company with the hopes of spreading DoorDash and the

It is one of the modern world’s little absurdities that we still have sculptors.

In a world where millions of people babble transient nonsense on Twitter and reality television shows worship the pathetic, there still exist people who use the power of their hands to twist metal and stone into art—often to honor those who society deems valuable.

A sculptor is a fine reminder that, despite how different human society may seem today, the modern world is indeed descended from the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans—and some of human sensibility has remained unchanged.

When Stefanie Rocknak’s bronze statue of Edgar Allan Poe was unveiled near the Boston Common on Sunday, crowds flocked to grab a photo with the famed writer’s gloomy likeness.

If they cannot have the real Poe, then this is the next best thing.

Indeed, the statue’s title, “Poe Returning to Boston,” suggests a living quality to the tribute—his absence was only a misunderstanding, and he has just now gotten around to returning to the cold city that he never very much liked anyway. (His tense relationship with Boston’s literary figures was famous.) His stance, however, suggests something else—his back is to the Frog Pond, his hand swept behind him as if in a dismissive final

See Door Dash, B6

See Column, B6

DoorDash was founded by four Stanford University students and is now hitting Boston.

DoorDash traces path from Stanford to Boston

BY BENNET JOHNSON Asst. Metro Editor Four Stanford University students walked into a novelty dessert store looking to buy a pack of macaroons back in the fall of 2012—instead, they left with an idea that ignited a multimillion dollar business that has spread across the U.S. The students had been talking to the manager of the small macaroon store about her difficulty fulfilling pages and pages of delivery orders—with no drivers to complete them. The small company was losing potential revenue because it simply did not have the financial support to hire more workers to complete the influx of macaroon orders in Silicon Valley.

Over the next few weeks, the group of students was motivated to fix the problem. The four interviewed over 200 small business owners all over the Bay Area, all with the same complaint: deliveries are painful. It did not make

Gubernatorial Politics

Democratic Lt. Governor candidate Steve Kerrigan spoke with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley at Northeastern .........................C7

Boston Foodie: Johnny’s ..........................................................................C7 Column: Bennet’s Banter......................................................................................C6