The Heights 09/12/2013

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

@BOSTONTWEET ODD COUPLES

SPORTS

METRO

SCENE

Chase Rettig returns to his home state this weekend to battle the USC Trojans, A10

An interview with Tim O’Keefe, the BC alum who brings Boston to you in 140 characters or fewer, B10

The Scene analyzes the most surprising combos in recent music, B1

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HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

established

1919

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Vol. XCIV, No. 27

Band, audio system clash at Wake game Audio issues interfere with performance

BY ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT News Editor The Boston College and Wake Forest football teams were not the only ones battling in Alumni Stadium last Friday night.

The BC “Screaming Eagles” marching band and the athletic department’s audio system were also struggling—over airtime.

“There were multiple points during the game in which recorded audio was played over the PA system while the marching band was performing with the Superfans in the stands,” said Marching Band Director David Healey in an email. “This had never happened before in Alumni Stadium, so it came as a surprise to our students and the Superfans.”

During a normal game, the marching band waits until all announcements are over before beginning to play. On Friday, however, recorded audio—including songs like Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us,” and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”—started immediately after each announcement. The Wake Forest game was broadcast live over ESPN. At one point, Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” was played uncensored.

When the band began playing “Seven Nation Army,” the audio booth broadcast “I Love It” over the PA system for four of the five iterations.

Recorded versions of songs that the marching band normally plays were broadcast over the audio system as well.

Usually recorded songs are limited to

UGBC BREAKS DOWN BUDGET Eight UGBC executives to receive stipends, allocation of funds explained

BY ANDREW SKARAS Asst. News Editor On Tuesday night, the Student Assembly approved the budget for UGBC for the 2013-14 academic year.

For the first time, the budget, sent to the Student Assembly by Matt Nacier, UGBC President and A&S ’14, was broken down into line items beneath the headings of each division of the Executive Branch.

During the Student Assembly meeting, Tommy Steichen, UGBC vice president of financial affairs (VPFA) and CSOM ’14, explained each line of the budget to the Senators and guests present and fielded questions on the purposes and planned uses of each

AHANA Leadership Council (ALC), and the GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC) used to run, received $13,600 in funding. This money is appropriated to fund events for the participants, an overnight retreat, food for certain meetings, and two dinners.

The Department of Student Organizations received $4,000 for division projects. Nacier explained that this money was to be used to reach out to Registered Student Organizations (RSOs). Matt Alonsozana, executive vice president and A&S ’14, added that they hoped to offer a marketing and banner station to student organizations.

The Office of the Press Secretary received $20,000 for publicizing events, making t-shirts, and printing costs. The Programming Department received

allocation of funds. These funds came from UGBC’s apportionment of the Student Activities Fee, which amounted to $575,439, and carry-forward from last year’s budget, which amounted to $63,075. This carry-forward was partially from unused funding from the previous year and partially from funds set aside for emergencies and for costs incurred over the summer and at the beginning of the year before a budget is approved.

The Office of the President received $16,652 in funding, most of which went into a discretionary fund. The rest went to cover operating expenses.

The UGBC Leadership Academy (ULA), which replaced the three leadership programs that the former Cabinet,

See UGBC Budget, A3

UGBC BUDGET 2013 - 2014

BC2Boston $29,428.00

On-Campus $245,232.00

This graph breaks down the UGBC budget, excluding the $10,000 set aside for next year, into its major categories. The Division of Programming and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion are both further divided into three subsections.

Other $4,000.00 GLC $22,945.50

TOTAL: $628,340.23

See Audio Issues, A3

ALC $31,948.18

Heritage $85,341.00

Key $62,328.55

Student Initiatives

$13,600.00 UGBC Leadership Academy

$58,893.68

Diversity & Inclusion

$37,000.00 Student Assembly

$21,200.00

Executive Stipends

$4,000.00

$34,665.00

Salary Allocation

$20,000.00 Press Secretary

$16,652.00

Office of the President

$360,001.00 Programming

Student Organizations

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Superfans cheer on the BC football team during the game vs. Wake Forest last Friday.

Former Irish president addresses BC

BY JENNIFER HEINE Heights Staff The Boston College community welcomed Mary McAleese yesterday as the former president of Ireland and BC’s newest Burns Library Visiting Scholar launched her semester in Boston with an address in the Corcoran Commons Heights Room.

Co-sponsored by the BC Women’s Collaborative, the Council for Women of BC, the Women’s Resource Center, the Office of Institutional Diversity, and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the event, titled “A Conversation with Dr. Mary McAleese,” provided McAleese with an opportunity to introduce herself to the university and the community.

McAleese served as Ireland’s president from 1997 to 2011, only the second female and the first native of Northern Ireland to do so. Drawing on her experience as a child during the often-violent paramilitary struggles in Belfast, she is credited with helping to unite both sides of the country during her presidency. Internationally, McAleese is also remembered as the first female to succeed another as president.

According to the Center for Irish Programs Director Thomas Hachey, “Only two presidents in the Irish Republic have served two seven-year terms, and none of them were as eventful as that of Mary McAleese.

“The notable feature of her presidency was the attention she gave to peace and reconciliation in the north,” he said. “‘Building bridges’ was the slogan of her presidency.”

As a Burns Scholar, McAleese will use the Burns Library Irish Book and

See McAleese, A3

BC Dining Services director leaves for position at Google

Chiles to help plan future of BC’s sciences

BY CONNOR FARLEY Heights Editor

BY MARY ROSE FISSINGER Heights Editor Biology professor Thomas Chiles brings 21 years of experience at Boston College into his new role as vice provost of research and academic planning—a position that not only heads numerous underlying offices, but also is integral to defining the future of the sciences at BC. Chiles, along with Bill Nunez, who was recently appointed executive director for research administration in the Research and Academic Planning office, plan to spend the next several months creating what Chiles calls a “strategic vision” for the sciences that he hopes will include more integration of the natural science disciplines, more focus within the sciences on the Jesuit, Catholic mission of Boston College, and an expansion of the scientific resources—such as equipment and opportunities to work in labs—available to undergraduate students.

Chiles himself has done extensive research

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Mary McAleese spoke to Boston College students in the Heights room yesterday.

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS STAFF

Professor Thomas Chiles was named vice provost of research and academic planning. during his time at BC. His long-term work has been focused on B lymphocyte metabolism and its implications in cancer research. More recently, however, he has teamed up with chair of the physics department Michael Naughton on two separate but related projects, each funded by grants from the National Institute of Health. The first, funded by the National Cancer Institute, aims to create a diagnostic device that can be used to detect early stage ovarian cancer.

The second, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, is geared toward developing a similar device that can

be used by residents of third world countries to diagnose diseases that are endemic to the developing world.

“What is really appealing about that to me and to Mike [Naughton] and to everybody on the team, is we think this speaks to the Jesuit, Catholic mission of this University because we are using our science now and the discoveries in the lab to really impact those less fortunate and those in need of primary basic healthcare,” Chiles said.

See Chiles, A3

After serving eight years in Boston College Dining Services (BCDS), Helen Wechsler has resigned from her position as director to fulfill a similar food services role at Google.

“Helen did a wonderful job at Boston College, and left an indelible impression on those with whom she worked,” said University Spokesman Jack Dunn. “We’re happy for her opportunity at Google and wish her the very best.”

Named director of BCDS in 2005, Wechsler sought to actualize goals pertaining to student health, locally produced foods, and improving department communication.

In addition to enhancing student dining experiences and creating alternative food options like “On the Fly” mini marts and the Loft @ Addie’s, Wechsler was also the driving force behind increasing employee satisfaction and cultivating pride among the over 200 BCDS employees.

“She maintained the standards set before her and continued to raise the level of

customer service expectations,” said Patricia Bando, associate vice president of auxiliary services, in an email.

Bando, who also served as the director of BCDS for nine years prior to Wechsler’s term, oversees food service operations at BC and currently presides as the immediate managing director for the department.

Also selected as chairman of the board for the Massachusetts Restaurant Association in 2012, Bando utilizes her experiences in the field of dining to contribute to the immense scale of adequately feeding nearly 15,000 students every day.

“The BC Dining Services mission is Ever to Excel in F.A.C.T.: Food, Attitude, Customer Service, Teamwork—and to be an employer of choice,” she said. “The leadership of BC Dining Services has the chore of helping the vast and diverse team of employees to achieve this mission daily. Our mission can only be achieved with the teamwork of all of our dining department employees.”

Under Wechsler’s term, BCDS underwent

See BCDS Director, A3

TopTHREE

THE HEIGHTS

A2

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Thursday, September 12, 2013

A Guide to Your Newspaper

things to do on campus this week

1 2 3 Convocation

Silicon Valley Event

Today Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Conte Forum

For this year’s First Year Academic Convocation, William E. Strickland, author of Make the Impossible Possible, will be speaking about his book. Strickland is also the President and CEO of the Pittsburghbased non-profit Manchester Bidwell.

Bread and Puppet

Today Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Fulton Honors Commons

The Boston College Venture Competition and the Information Systems Academy are hosting a panel of entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley to talk to undergraduates. The panel features representatives from LocalOn, Astia Angel Network, WePay, and Equinix.

Saturday Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Robsham Theater

Saturday night, the BC Theatre department will host a celebration of 50 years of Bread and Puppet Theater with panel discussions, scholarly presentations, and a performance of The 50 Years Cabaret.

There will also be a fiddle lecture with the founder.

FEATURED STORY

Kinsel shares startup successes and failures

BY JOHN WILEY Heights Editor “Entrepreneurship these days, especially technology entrepreneurship, is a long, hard slog,” said Patt Kinsel, former CEO of Spindle Labs, Inc., on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at a lecture hosted by the BC Entrepreneurs Society (BCES) in the Fulton Honors Library.

Kinsel grew up in the Stanford, Calif. area, attending elementary school on the Stanford University campus. He described himself as having taken to the entrepreneurial mindset at a very young age. He came to Boston in 1999, attending Andover Boarding School, and later, Boston University. After a short period, however, Kinsel dropped out of college, feeling he wasn’t getting a “great use of his time.”

“I was going around asking people for advice, trying to figure out what to do, doing a lot of complaining,” he said.

Kinsel resolved to start applying for jobs around Boston, and eventually was hired as a project manager at a financial services company, implementing a trading platform. His work designing the platform gave Kinsel the idea of starting a software company.

He left the Boston firm, moved to Silicon Valley, and raised over $150,000 from friends and family to start a software company, contracting designers in Europe to build his idea.

“I quickly learned building a software product is about 1,000 times harder than telling someone about it at a bar,” he said. “You have to document

NICK BARTER / FOR THE HEIGHTS

Kinsel talks about rebounding after software failure and his second round success. how everything is going to work. You have to make a real clear presentation.”

Admittedly, this was not a success. In eight months, Kinsel lost all the money he raised.

Following his first failure, Kinsel took up a job with the New England Research and Development Center (NERD), a division of Microsoft. He worked at this job for two and a half years, the two defining experience of his time there being his work with Social URL—the analytical and search technology that later developed into Bing Social—and later, the development of a prospective Google Docs equivalent that would have forged a partnership between Microsoft Office and Face. The latter project was scrapped at the late stages of its development.

After leaving work at Microsoft, Kinsel developed Spindle, a social content query smartphone application designed to answer the question, “What’s happening nearby right now?” His work with the Boston tech startup began in 2011. He started with two engineers, then hired two other employees as the idea saw reasonable progress. From there, hiring was a slow, careful process and the company remained small.

Spindle used an advanced algorithmic system to track the social media updates of local businesses, particularly using information from Facebook—taking this data, the app would locate centers of activity among businesses, and relays details of offers and sales to smartphone users.

Spindle sought to differentiate itself

POLICE BLOTTER

from similar social content applications—like Foursquare, Yelp, Google Now, and Highlight—by using a query pooling information and updating it in real time to give users updates on businesses, as opposed to presenting static data.

Spindle was acquired by Twitter on June 19, after successfully receiving over $2 million in backing from venture groups including Polaris, Greylock, Lerer Ventures, and SV Angel in its two and a half years of development.

“We made a decision to make a huge leap in the technology of our product by bringing other players to the table,” Kinsel said. “We sold the company three weeks before we ran out of money, so as you can imagine, that was also a very, very, stressful situation.”

The details of Spindle’s future involvement with Twitter has not yet been disclosed, but its progress has been suspended indefinitely, at least visibly to the public.

“It is not a functioning app,” Kinsel said. “It exists as technology in the acquiring company that will see the light of day again someday soon.”

Kinsel currently works as an entrepreneur in residence at Polaris Venture Partners—he now mostly partners with portfolio companies, helping them evaluate new deals. Additionally, the position offers him support if he does decide he’s willing to start another company.

“Sometimes if you can get off the treadmill and call it a win, sometimes it’s not a bad decision,” he said. 

9/6/13-9/8/13

Friday, September 6

ported to a medical facility by cruiser.

intoxicated person in the McElroy Dustbowl.

3:59 p.m. - A report was filed regarding alcohol confiscated from Walsh Hall.

Saturday, September 7

Sunday, September 8

2:49 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to underage intoxicated BC students in Keyes Hall North.

1:27 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an off campus noise complaint and arrest of a BC student by the Boston Police.

1:01 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a larceny of a bicycle.

1:32 a.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student who was transported by ambulance to a medical facility from Walsh Hall.

8:17 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to an underage intoxicated BC student.

8:50 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to an intoxicated non-BC affiliate who was transported to a medical facility.

10:10 p.m. - A report was filed regarding an intoxicated party of legal age who was ejected from Alumni Stadium for possession of an alcoholic beverage.

10:38 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student who was trans-

4:50 p.m. - A report was filed regarding medical assistance provided to a BC student who was transported by cruiser from the Flynn Recreational Complex.

11:24 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an intoxicated underage person in Welch Hall.

11:28 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an underage

College Corner NEWS FROM UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

BY ANDREW SKARAS Asst. News Editor A riot of Project X proportions broke out on the streets of Newark, Del. on Monday night when thousands of students from the University of Delaware flooded the streets after a party. According to The Huffington Post, one of the reasons for the unruly conduct was the presence of a documentary crew from “I’m Shmacked” that films college parties. Newark police responded to the incident and were assisted by officers from the University of Delaware police, the New Castle County police, and the Delaware State police.

According to The Review, the independent student newspaper of the University of Delaware, the disorder began outside of a men’s club rugby party. Two students who resided in the house were arrested for hosting a disorderly premise and officers at the scene

reported observing public urination and trespassing. According to The Washington Post, a cameraman was also arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

The Newark police have not yet reported the total amount of property damage, but they have released that several cars were damaged, trash cans knocked down, and signs damaged. According to The Huffington Post, the Newark police did not report any vehicles set aflame.

Some pictures on Instagram and Twitter from the night, however, show a burning vehicle. The police and the university have said that investigations are still ongoing.

According to The Review, the coordinator for official “I’m Shmacked” events, All Axcess U, stated that no events were scheduled for the university via their Twitter account.

The founder of “I’m Shmacked,” Arya Toufania, told The New York Daily News, that it was the largest such party he has seen. 

2:48 a.m. - A report was filed regarding an activated fire alarm in Alumni Stadium.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

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VOICES FROM THE DUSTBOWL “What is your favorite throwback song from the 2000s?”

“Bye Bye Bye.” —Kelley Summers, CSOM ’16

“I Want Candy.”

—Meghan York, A&S ’14

“I Want it That Way.” —Nina Tedesco, CSOM ’17

“I Want it That Way.” —Catherine Kriendler, A&S ’17

The Heights

Thursday, September 12, 2013

A3

Band disrupted by audio Audio Issues, from A1 Dropkick Murphys’ “Shipping Up to Boston” and BC’s fight song, “For Boston,” and are played when the band is not in the stands.

“As the situation unfolded on Friday evening, we worked directly with the Associate Athletic Director for External Relations [Jamie DiLoreto] to address the challenges,” Healey said. “He was immediately sympathetic and responsive to the needs of the students. I’m confident he did everything possible to try to stop the recorded audio from being played over the band. In subsequent conversations, we emphasized the philosophical and pedagogical importance of ensuring that students in the band retain their role as the sound of game day in Alumni Stadium.”

Members of the marching band participate voluntarily and are not compensated either financially or with academic credit.

The band members, who number at over 180, report 10 days prior to the start of classes for preseason camp and commit over 200 hours of time during one semester.

They stay for the duration of games, reporting four hours beforehand and staying one hour afterward.

“The students in the band were disappointed by the situation,” Healey said.

“Our goal is always to create a distinctive, authentic, and high quality college game day experience in Alumni Stadium, and we simply cannot achieve that when recorded

music is played over the PA. Students, alumni, and family members who attend a Boston College football game deserve better than that.”

At one point during the game, Superfans started singing Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.” The band had been preparing to play Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” but adjusted in order to play along with the fans—the audio system broadcast Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” simultaneously.

“It seems inconceivable that a professional member of our own interactive media staff would deliberately attempt to embarrass so many BC students on national television,” Healey said. “I know many of our colleagues in the media booth are working diligently to ensure that it never happens again. We haven’t had any other problems like this in the past, and I don’t anticipate having any more in the future.”

Director of Athletics Brad Bates acknowledged that the audio situation on Friday was not optimal. “We were playing at the same time the band was, and that’s the antithesis of what we’re trying to do,” Bates said. “Whenever we have an athletic event, we want to showcase our students, both on and off the field. The number one priority is to make sure that we’re bringing the spotlight on our student performers, whether it’s the marching band, whether it’s student a cappella groups signing the national anthem, whether it’s the football team on the field. That always takes priority whenever we script the game.” n

Chiles takes on planning Chiles, from A1

photo courtesy of google images

The BC marching band plays in the stands during football games, interacting with fans.

During football games, associate director for Sports Marketing & Licensing of External Operations Brad Truman coordinates with all in-game promotional entities—he coordinates with the person in the control booth who operates the scoreboard, plays any public address announcements that may be slated, and coordinates media timeouts and any ingame sponsored promotions. Bates stated that someone with whom Truman was communicating was ultimately responsible for playing over the game, but declined to provide specific names.

“There was clearly a miscommunication that was going on during the game,” Bates said. “I know our staff tried to correct it immediately, but obviously that didn’t take place, and the result was we were overplaying on the band.”

Bates has been in communication with Healey and visited the marching band’s practice on Tuesday night.

“In our debriefing meetings with in-

teractive media personnel, we pledged to create a contract between Athletics and the marching band to ensure that the students in the marching band retain their position as the primary source of music on game day at BC,” Healey said. “As we seek to refine our game day offerings to support a new era in Boston College athletics, it’s critically important that we retain the unique relationship that has been forged between the marching band and the Superfans over the past 15 years.”

When asked how audio would be handled in the future, Bates stated that Friday’s game was an anomaly. “[In the future] it’ll be what we’ve done historically, and that is try to showcase our students in the marching band, particularly during media timeouts or when there are opportunities to energize the crowd,” Bates said. “So it’ll be carefully scripted to make sure we’re not overplaying when the band does, and featuring them as much as we possibly can, depending on how the games unfold.” n

UGBC releases details of 2013-14 budget to public Chiles, from A1

graham beck / heights editor

Mary McAleese spoke with Vice Provost for Faculties Pat DeLeeuw on Wednesday afternoon.

McAleese talks Irish politics McAleese, from A1 Manuscript Collection to further her own research, as well as lecture on a variety of topics throughout the semester. Although most Burns Visiting Scholars teach a seminar class on top of their research, she will lecture on a variety of topics instead, as necessitated by the constraints of of her own schedule as a doctoral student at the Gregorian University in Rome.

Asked about her trajectory from a child in a poor Northern Irish family, “I think luck played a very big role,” McAleese said. “Percentage-wise I couldn’t offer a comment but it pays to be born in the right generation.”

An education bill, based on Great Britain’s Butler Act, proved a valuable opportunity for McAleese. “My father grew up on a small farm in the west of Ireland.

At 14 years of age he left home with his first pair of shoes—literally his first pair of shoes—when he got on the train,” she said.

“He would have loved to go to school. My mother, very similarly, left school at 15.

So I was born a lucky child with two very ambitious parents.”

She also credits the church for her education. “The church, the priests and the nuns–they were the people who took it upon themselves to make sure that we were educated. The law was just words.

They gave it life,” McAleese said. “I went through never doubting, really, that I would go to college. There was self doubt, but the assumption was that this opportunity was there, and you were going to take it, and they were going to help you.”

Even so, being a Northern Ireland native often proved difficult. Her second, successful campaign shocked even her family, as the Northern Irish, including

McAleese herself, were not even eligible to vote in the election. “It was due to the greatness of people’s hearts that I won that election,” she said.

She also faced the difficulties of being a woman, especially being a working mother, during her terms as president. “At the end of the day, even though I’m married to a dentist, when my kids would get a toothache, they’d want mommy.”

At the same time, she believes that being a female helped her to perform her job better. “I honestly think it helped, being a woman,” she said. “I saw the role as intrinsically pastoral, occupying a moral space above politics. I had a sense of vocation: I had a job to do. I needed to break that cycle of ignorance and mistrust if I were to build bridges.”

Addressing young people, particularly young women, considering a leadership career, McAleese offered emphatic advice. “Be mindful that it requires sacrifice, that sometimes it won’t be possible to get the perfect balance,” she said. “It’s a very lonely stage. But I think if you have the courage of a very important conviction, if the conviction is good, is of good moral integrity and it’s not selfish, if it conduces to the benefit of humanity and human decency, if its about investing in human decency, then frankly it has to be done and someone has to do it, and if you feel that you have the talent and if you’re drawn to it, I think it’s important to say yes to it.”

She added, “I think the important thing, that no matter what is written about you, or what is said about you, no matter what criticism you get, no matter what doubts you have, is to have a faith in the integrity of purpose of what you are about.” n

a total of $360,001, which was divided between On-Campus programming, BC2Boston, and Heritage programming.

On-Campus programming received the bulk of the money—$245,232—while BC2Boston received $29,428 and Heritage events received $85,341.

The Student Assembly received $37,000, which covers their operating costs, research expenses, and an allocation for the fall and the spring to give to organizations requesting it. The Department of Student Initiatives was allocated $62,328.55 to fund events to raise awareness for different causes. Events like BC Ignites, Love Your Body Week, CARE Week, and the UNITY dinner fall into this category.

As a whole, the Department of Diversity and Inclusion was allocated $58,893.68.

Of that amount, $31,948.18 went to ALC, $22,945 went to GLC, and $4,000 went to other expenses in the department.

In addition to the departmental allocations, money was also allocated to pay stipends to the senior executives in UGBC. “The salaries have never been a secret in the past and have always been $6,000 for the President and $6,000 for the Vice President,” Nacier said. “However, we took a substantial pay cut this year. It went from $6,000 to $4,500 for the President and $6,000 to $3,500 for the Vice President.

The salaries for the Vice Presidents of the divisions turned out to be $2,200.”

Nacier also said that they are looking at how the money is being distributed to the executives.

“The money will not be just given out,” Nacier said. “[We are] also working with SPO to find a way to hold them accountable, so if they are not showing up for office hours, if they are not performing in their department, if they aren’t coming to meetings, the stipend will not be given to them.”

He also explained that the reasoning for the stipends was the workload asked of the executives. He noted that they did not want to exclude students who needed to work to support themselves at school.

“For a lot of students, you don’t want to deter the possibility that a student who could potentially be on work-study or be working somewhere else not be willing to be a part of UGBC,” Nacier said.

In addition to the top executives being

paid less, Nacier also added that UGBC was formerly responsible for paying the entirety of the salary of their Administrative Assistant. Now that assistant also works in another department and UGBC is only responsible for paying part of her salary.

Both Nacier and Gus Burkett, director of the Student Programs Office, spoke of other universities who compensated the executives of the student government.

They mentioned universities that paid both more and less than the compensation offered by BC. “There are different models,” Burkett said. “When we were looking at the new structure of UGBC, we looked at models in other institutions. Some schools pay a lot more. I think that there is a school in Texas that pays their student body president $16,000 per year. On top of that, a lot of times they get their housing covered and they get maybe parking covered. That’s an extreme. On the other extreme, there are some state institutions that do not pay their student body officers. They think that it is an honor and privilege. We are not in any extreme. We are closer to the lower end of stipend value.”

An example of this can be seen at Stanford University. According to an article in The Stanford Daily published in 2011, the president of their student government made $8,250 that year.

There was, however, disagreement within UGBC over the stipends, according to Alonsozana.

“There were ideological divides on what the purpose of the salary was and what it implied and whether or not it should be awarded,” Alonsozana said. “[One side said] these stipends do exist, they are being offered by SPO, and we should take them. There was another camp that said we shouldn’t use them.”

During the Student Assembly debate on the budget, Matt Hugo, Senator and A&S ’16, used his time to address the Senators and executives present about this issue.

“I’d like to talk about the scary precedent set by stipends,” Hugo said. “It kind of makes you wonder who deserves money at BC among the student leaders. Do the presidents of RSOs deserve money?

Furthermore, I think that maybe Chairs deserve money as well, since they are the equivalents on the legislative side. I personally think there is an honor bestowed upon us and we take an oath. It is really what we make of it. And personally, I don’t think that I would take the stipend.” n

BC Dining Services looks for new director in Wechsler’s wake BCDS Director, from A1 new business development that responded to student concerns and concentrated on partnering with local food purveyors, but kept a focus on fiscal growth within the department.

Between 2005 and 2011, BCDS had increased revenue from $25.4 million in 2005 to $39 million—a growth factor of nearly 54 percent.

The financial expansion allowed BCDS to establish a wider base of vegetarian dining options—including B’ean Green in the Carney dining room in McElroy Commons, and an eight-week farmer’s market on Thursdays from

September to October in Corcoran Commons—and programs that enable students to voice their opinions directly on issues of food quality and affordability, like its Survey on the Spot app: “… a simple customer feedback tool that lets you instantly give [BCDS] feedback and ensures a return reply from a dining manager when something fails to meet your expectation.”

Despite transitional management in Wechsler’s absence, two associate directors—Megan O’Neill and Michael Kann—“continue to carry the operational leadership load,” Bando said, amid an active search to fill the position.

Despite Wechsler’s leaving, BCDS

maintains a consistent emphasis on customer service, staff engagement, and innovative solutions to student interests in a highly price-sensitive industry.

“Our mission can only be achieved with the teamwork of all of our dining department employees,” Bando said. “BC Dining has earned national awards and recognition for our exceptional employees and our employee career programs.”

The University’s food service program received the top national award of Silver Plate in 2004 and Ivy Award in 2006.

The National Restaurant Association has also twice awarded BCDS with the Employer of Choice Award—BC being the only university to receive this recog-

nition from the restaurant industry.

“Our university’s food service programs offer our BC students a maximum of meal plan flexibility and menu choices,” Bando said. “This has often been an envy of other university students.”

BCDS holds the director accountable for maintaining and surpassing such operations, making the search for a qualified individual a difficult task.

“The goal of the BCDS director is to continually raise the bar of expectations for our F.A.C.T. mission—never allow complacency,” Bando said. “This is a challenging requirement that we seek as we currently actively search to fill the Dining Director position.” n

Both the interdisciplinary nature of this research and the social justice incentive behind it have helped shape Chiles’s vision for the direction of the sciences at BC. In the near future, he hopes that the sciences at BC will better reflect the scientific trends worldwide by including more “integrated science.” This will not only help in maintaining or advancing BC’s status as a premier research institution, but will also make undergraduates who have worked in labs that do this kind of integrated research even more competitive for the top graduate schools and most sought-after jobs.

“I have three undergraduates working in my lab,” Chiles said. “Fifteen years ago, those undergraduates would be doing biology—molecular and cell biology. Now, my three undergraduates are doing molecular and cell biology, and they’re doing material science, and a little bit of physics. Not only are they connecting the dots within biology now, they’re connecting the dots in other natural science disciplines.”

Last year, Chiles was also one of the original members of the Core Renewal Committee—an experience that he says has shaped his approach to developing a strategic vision for the sciences by encouraging him to get a variety of different perspectives on the topic. He hopes to engage not just administrators but also faculty members and some alumni in the process.

His first step, however, is to get a handle on the resources available to the sciences and see where they can go from there.

“We are a research university,” Chiles said.

“It is true we are a Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts university, but we are a research university as well. We’re ranked 31st in the country now. But where are we going in terms of our science?

You need a vision so that it can inform the type of faculty you recruit, it can inform the type of core facilities you need to support the science, and it can inform long-term strategic initiatives like science buildings.”

Chiles views the liberal arts tradition of BC and its hopes to advance the sciences as two things that are in harmony rather than in conflict, believing that a stronger focus on the sciences would only serve to deepen BC’s liberal arts tradition.

“We believe in a liberal arts education,” Chiles said. “I think we can do both. I think we can do it better than everybody else, and I think we can do it and be distinctive.” n

Maloney Hall to undergo renovations

By Eleanor Hildebrandt News Editor Visible alterations to campus—the new academic Quad, the lounge area in McElroy—were not the only renovations that took place over the summer. After Stokes Hall opened up last spring, and St. Mary’s Hall closed for repairs shortly beforehand, the process of moving department offices began. The history, theology, and philosophy departments moved from their original space in Maloney Hall to Stokes, opening up room for other branches of the University. Also moved were a few of the Theatre department’s offices—while the department itself is still based in Robsham theater, several offices are now housed in Rubenstein Hall, where theater has acquired more workshop space as well.

“The space vacated … gives us a great opportunity to renovate Maloney,” said Vice President for Institutional Planning Kelli Armstrong in an email. “Economics and Student Affairs will remain in the building but will be changing floors as [the economics department] has grown in size and needed more space, and Student Affairs will move to the fourth floor so that it can be at the ‘bridge’ to the Library and on the path for many students.”

The economics department is slated to move during winter break, while Student Affairs will move next summer. The summer afterward, in 2015, will see the Connell School of Nursing move entirely into Maloney, taking up the second floor and half of the third floor. The mathematics department will be transferring from Carney Hall to the fifth floor of Maloney during that time as well. “Both CSON and Math will be gaining significant square footage as they have been confined in their current spaces,” Armstrong said.

Other departments will be vacating Maloney in the near future—the computer science and communications departments will move when the renovation of St. Mary’s ends in December 2014. Additional changes in Maloney include a floor-by-floor renovation that, starting this semester, will introduce more glass and natural light to the building and will, Armstrong said, create “more collaborative spaces for students and faculty.”

“We’re excited about the changes as we think they’ll benefit each of the departments,” Armstrong said. n

The Heights

A4

A ‘spoiled’ Japan

Thursday, September 12, 2013

BC Special Olympics benefits athletes and volunteers alike

By Katie Cutting For The Heights

Daniel Lee Congratulations to Japan on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The news couldn’t be any better for the country that has suffered from long economic stagflation and national disasters.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t disregard the concerns for the radiation and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative swing. Since relatively more people know about the situation in Fukushima, I want to talk about Japanese politics. From the election, Abe has expressed his strong will—“historic mission,” he said—to amend the war-renouncing Peace Clause of the constitution to alter the implications of the Self Defense Force of Japan. The current constitution prohibits any offensive military operations.

Neighboring states—the victims of Japanese imperialism, such as South Korea, China, Taiwan, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and other Southeast Asian states—are deeply concerned with the direction Japan is heading. I must compare the historical perspectives of Germany and Japan: in January 2013, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Germany has the everlasting responsibility for German Nazi crimes,” while Deputy Prime Minister of Japan Taro Aso said, “Japan should follow Nazi route on revising constitution” last August. The comment is unacceptable along with the recent denials of other facts, such as wartime sex slaves, and the government officials’ visits to Yaskuni to honor the WWII war criminals.

What the neighboring countries have expected from Japan is heartfelt apologies to WWII victims and acknowledgement of war crimes, not just proper financial reparations. Germany has sought sincere apologies to its neighboring countries with emotional, historical, political, legal, and financial commitments. Every single German I met during the last semester was well-informed about the history of the World Wars, while only about a half of the Japanese people I have met in my lifetime learned about Japanese imperialism at school.

My largest frustration is the ignorance of the West on this matter. The West isn’t aware of what Japan hasn’t done and what it has done—political actions are overshadowed by the glory of the Japanese economy and culture, such as Pokemon and sushi. At the American Academy in Berlin in 2011, I remember how furious Germans were when a renowned American professor—I won’t reveal the name—compared Germany and Japan in the historical management of the WWII, and praised Japan’s efforts. The old German next to me asked her: “How dare you compare us with the Japanese on history?”

The largest contributor to a “spoiled” Japan was U.S. foreign policies during the Cold War. As soon as the reparations to the U.S. and the new Pacifist Constitution were made, Japan was merited with American support, similar to the Marshall Plan in Europe, because the U.S. was concerned with the communist Soviet Union and China. In my view, the U.S. even tacitly allowed Japan the capability to produce hundreds of nuclear warheads with the plutonium-based—instead of uraniumbased—Fukushima Daiichi power plant and other accelerating facilities, such as Monju in Eastern Japan, in case Japan had to be mobilized during the Cold War. Unlike Germany, the islands of Japan were free from checks and balances by other powers. Koreas were devastated by the war, while the U.S.S.R was the only serious threat to Japan. Beyond the Korean peninsula, China was not much of a threat to Japan during the ’50s and ’60s. With guaranteed American protection, Japan wasn’t forced to make apologies to the weaker states, if it wasn’t going to apologize voluntarily. Furthermore, the Japanese capital has been successful in “covering up” the ugly truth of Japanese history.

Japan must remember the reason for the absence of global support on its entrance to the U.N. Security Council a few years ago. Japan will never gain quality global leadership unless its government and citizens accept their past as Germany has done.

Daniel Lee is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at news@ bcheights.com.

graham beck / Heights editor

Yesterday, the Peer Health Exchange program disrtibuted infromation for students.

Peer Health hosts dialogue

By Sara Doyle For The Heights Yesterday afternoon, the Peer Health Exchange program held an event in the Quad to provide information about the program to students and to encourage them to apply. Students were able to get information about where and how to apply, as well as talk individually with students already involved in the program to learn more about their experiences. The Peer Health Exchange program trains college students in teaching health-related courses to ninth graders from local public schools. Boston College students are joined by other students in the Boston area as one chapter of a nation-wide program.

“We’ve had a lot of interest with people wanting to join here,” said Kate Boyle, A&S ’14. “We want to give everyone who wants an opportunity to help to have one.” According to Boyle, students come from a variety of different backgrounds and study areas.

Students who are accepted into the program are able to give their preference on topics about which they would like to teach. The topics are relevant to health issues faced by young adults, including mental health, pregnancy prevention, and tobacco use. Participating students meet in groups, led by one of 12 leadership council members, once a week to learn how best to teach their specific topic, and then continue to meet as a support system and to discuss the experiences with teaching. Students go to the school with a partner so that they can have support from each other while teaching each class. Every week, it is about a four-hour commitment, and the meetings take place on Wednesday nights. The goal of the training is to ensure that the Peer Health Exchange members feel comfortable visiting classrooms and speaking about their topics so that everyone feels ready to teach by the time they get into the classroom, Boyle said.

“There are definitely challenges, but I think people definitely find it a rewarding experience, and they have definitely been able to reach kids,” Boyle said. “One of the things we love most is when kids come up after the lesson and ask questions.”

The program focuses on educating students coming from underprivileged school

systems, who may not have had access to information or education about these topics before. Instead of instructing the students on how to behave, the Peer Health Exchange focuses on making sure the students can make informed decisions.

“When we’re in these classrooms, we’re never telling kids what they should or shouldn’t do. We are just giving them the information to make their own decisions,” Boyle said.

Boyle has been a part of the program since her sophomore year, and said that

“We want to give everyone who wants an opportunity to help to have one.”

- Kate Boyle Participant of the Peer Health Exchange program and A&S ‘14 she has found that members of the program have been able to have a significant impact on the ninth graders who attend the courses.

She described a former ninth-grade participant who is featured in a promotional video and reflected upon her experiences with the Peer Health Exchange program. “She said she feels more comfortable talking to college students than a 40 or 50-year-old teacher about sensitive topics,” Boyle said.

The Peer Health Exchange program has found a positive response among the ninth grade students involved, which Boyle said is very rewarding for the college students.

“Students who participated in the programs said they either learned something from the workshop or are going to use some of the information,” Boyle said. “It’s great, because it shows that what we do actually has an impact.”

Last year, about 140 students participated in the program as teachers. This year, the program is hoping to accept 40 new students to train and participate. Applications are due on Friday, Sept. 13, and are available online at www.peerhealthexchange. org/apply. n

“If you played sports when you were younger, or if you were involved in any community activity, what benefits did you get out of that? What lessons did you learn? What relationships did you build?

What opportunities were you given?”

Those questions were posed by Steve Huftalen, the Assistant Vice President of Corporate Development and Special Events for Special Olympics Massachusetts, at the recent announcement of Special Olympics Boston College (SOBC) as an official group on campus. SOBC has been an unofficial club at BC since 2006, and this summer was approved and recognized as an official student organization.

Headed by Pat Luchini A&S ’14 and Danny Corning A&S ’15, SOBC is striving to establish itself on campus this year with the help of BCPD. BCPD Officer Kevin Christopher is SOBC’s staff advisor, and BCPD as a whole has embraced a key position in supporting this group.

SOBC coaches two soccer teams, the Double Dragons and the Freight Trains, and a volleyball team. There are a total of 24 Special Olympic athletes training with SOBC, ages 19-56 years old, all from the Greater Boston area. These teams provide the opportunity for individuals with intellectual disabilities to focus on new activities, and the opportunity to be successful and celebrate that.

Kevin Slattery, SOBC athlete, BC Dining Employee, and one of the star soccer players on the Double Dragons, joined the conversation. He said he has “at least five or six gold medals” hanging on his wall, and shared his experience playing soccer and volleyball.

“I think it’s worth getting the exercise,” Slattery said. “It’s fun doing those sports and I enjoy doing all that.”

Last year during Senior Week, BCPD participated in their annual “Dunk-aCop” fundraiser, with the money raised used to purchase necessary new soccer balls, volleyballs, equipment bags, and pumps for SOBC. This equipment was formally donated to SOBC at the organization’s announcement event.

BCPD Sergeant Jeffrey Postell, Sergeant of Community Relations, shared his experience as At-Large Director of MA LETR, the Law Enforcement Torch Run. Postell has been involved for the past 14 years with Special Olympics

North Carolina and Massachusetts, and “never regretted it.”

LETR, affectionately referred to as the “Guardians of the Flame,” raises funds and awareness year-round to support Special Olympics athletes. Postell describes his role with Special Olympics as “part of the job.” He believes it to be a standard component of being a police officer and a guardian, and following in the Jesuit tradition of being a person for others.

Christopher, the organization’s faculty advisor, shared his reasons for connecting with SOBC as well. Christopher’s experience with individuals that have special needs started during his night patrols through the Campus School. He remembers reflecting on the pictures decorating the Campus School halls, and the happiness and smiles evident on the student’s faces.

Christopher has come closer to this community over the years, and now is very involved with Special Olympics through BC. He describes his experience with SOBC as one of the most rewarding things he has done. A reason for this is the sincerity and purity of the athletes when they smile and say “thank you” for helping with Special Olympics. And he says there is a similar authenticity in the coaches and volunteers.

“Heroes don’t always wear badges,” Christopher said. “Sometimes they wear Double Dragon shirts.”

SOBC’s goals for the year include continuing to fundraise, as well as to develop a strong and sustainable organization on campus. They aim to retain a core group of volunteers, hopefully training as many of these volunteers as possible as coaches.

Both co-presidents, Luchini and Corning, are trained and certified coaches, a process of day long training for each sport they coach, along with an online component.

Fundraising events for SOBC include a Truck-Pull coming up in two weekends, on Sep. 21. Beginning at 10 a.m., teams of 10 people can compete for the chance to bring home the Truck-Pull trophy. Other fundraising plans for the year include a 5k run in October, and continued SOBC participation in the Polar Plunge. Events to raise awareness and create experiences are what count. As Corning pointed out, the Special Olympics Athlete Oath embodies the experience and dignity of these athletes. n

Photo Courtesy of BCPD

Kevin Slattery, Special Olympics BC Athlete, poses with newly purchased equipment.

Legacy of Leadership dinner

emily fahey / Heights Staff

Student leaders and alumni gathered in Conte Forum last night to celebrate the accomplishments of BC students and network. Paula Ebben, WZBC Tv Anchor, and BC ’89, gave the keynote address.

CLASSIFIEDS Thursday, January 17, 2013

Thursday, September 12, 2013

COMMUNITY HELP WANTED $$ SPERM DONORS WANTED $$ Earn up to $1,200/month and give the gift of family through California Cryobank’s donor program.

Convenient Cambridge location.

Apply online: SPERMBANK.com.

Directions: The Sudoku is played over a 9x9 grid. In each row there are 9 slots, some of which are empty and need to be filled.

Each row, column and 3x3 box should contain the numbers 1 to 9. You must follow these rules: · Number can appear only once in each row · Number can appear only once in each column · Number can appear only once in each 3x3 box · The number should appear only once on row, column or area.

THE HEIGHTS THE HEIGHTS

A5 A5

THE HEIGHTS

A6

UGBC must reassess allocation of funds

Thursday, September 12, 2013

QUOTE OF THE DAY The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

-Buddha

Executives should reconsider stipends, divert money to programs that impact the student body Every year, each undergraduate student at Boston College pays a $310 Student Activity Fee (SAF), part of which goes toward UGBC’s annual budget. Between the portion of the SAF allocated to UGBC and a roughly $60,000 carry-over from last year’s budget, this year’s UGBC budget accounts for about $628,000 of student money. This past Tuesday, the Student Assembly voted to finalize their budget for the 2013-14 school year in a meeting that was open to the public. After the final vote, UGBC released a public line-item budget for the first time in recent memory. For the most part, this line-item budget lived up to its name—most allocations of money were met with specific descriptors that left few questions as to what the funds would be going toward. This act of definite transparency should be applauded.

There were, however, some areas in which the Student Assembly has failed.

Last week, Tim Koch, co-coordinator of concerts for UGBC and A&S ’14, admitted that when planning the fall concert, UGBC operates under significant financial constraints. It is unclear why the Student Assembly did not allocate more money to programming in order to bring a more popular and relevant act to campus, knowing that the annual concerts are some of the most popular UGBC-sponsored events. More money also should have been allocated to BC2Boston, which received only about $29,000 for the year.

Without sufficient funding, this organization cannot ever hope to achieve its full potential of providing BC students with fun, affordable activities in the city each weekend. Still, the aforementioned exercises in transparency represent welcome progress for UGBC, which has in past years been unduly secretive when it comes to financial matters.

Transparency is crucial to the operation of a democratic government because it allows those who fund the government—the students—to scrutinize exactly how their money is being allocated.

Being transparent is not the same as being fiscally responsible, although it can in some instances lead to increased fiscal responsibility and accountability. In his role as UGBC President, Matt Nacier, A&S ’14, receives a $4,500 stipend as compensation for his service. UGBC Executive Vice President Matt Alonsozana, A&S ’14, receives a $3,500 stipend for his service.

The six other vice presidents in UGBC each receive $2,200 stipends. In total, these stipends account for $21,200, or 3.4 percent of the UGBC budget—money that could have helped fund a better act for the fall concert, or perhaps could have been allocated to BC2Boston.

These eight UGBC executives, some of whom were directly elected by students and others who were simply appointed by the elected officials, put in a significant amount of work every week toward administering various functions within UGBC. This is not, however, an issue of the exact number of hours they work, the exact amount of money they get paid, or

whether or not they work more or less hard than the leaders of other student organizations. The issue is not what happens at other universities and how much more or less they compensate the executives of their student governments.

This is an issue of whether or not students should, in principle, be compensated for work they do for the organizations on campus that they choose to join. Students in many different organizations receive valuable experience for their efforts that they can list on their resumes. They make valuable connections with other students in and out of their organization and with alumni who were once in the organization. Above all for many students, they have the opportunity to do something about which they are passionate, and enjoy themselves while doing it. For every other organization, these are the reasons students are involved and why they accept leadership positions with large time commitments.

As the representatives of the entire student body, the executives of UGBC should understand the hardworking nature of the student body they represent.

In clubs all over campus, and even off campus, students devote tremendous amounts of time to their respective endeavors. The hours that some of these students devote to their own organizations can match or even exceed the time that the UGBC executives’ positions require of them. Some student leaders are forced to take on work-study jobs in addition to their other extracurricular time commitments in order to relieve the financial burden of an education at BC. Since these students and all other student leaders do not receive stipends, despite their already considerable time commitments, the question then arises: why do the UGBC executives receive such large stipends when the other members of registered student organizations are not similarly compensated for their leadership activities?

Students should be asking this question and voicing their opinions if they come to the conclusion that the UGBC executives do not deserve a stipend any more than other student leaders. The new UGBC constitution, which was ratified in the last academic year, has a provision that allows student initiatives, or petitions, to be voted on by the entire student body once they accrue enough signatures. Meanwhile, senators should be asking their constituents for their views on the stipends, and they should take action to effect change and more appropriately allocate the $21,200 currently paid to the executives.

The UGBC executives should themselves consider whether they truly deserve a stipend more than their equally hardworking peers. The UGBC mission statement states: “The needs of the BC community come before the agenda of specific members in UGBC.” The UGBC executives would be wise to heed their mission statement.

LESLIE SNAPPER / HEIGHTS ILLUSTRATION

Convocation’s message remains relevant for all The event traditionally attracts a mostly freshman crowd but can be beneficial for students in all grades The Convocation ceremony is a longstanding Boston College tradition that helps unify the freshman class while putting their first year of college into perspective. It is a way to welcome them to the community and to give them a sense of how much they can accomplish in their four years here.

This message of hope, encouragement, and welcoming, however, does not solely apply to freshmen. All students, regardless of their class year at BC, are always welcome to attend the Convocation speech. The event can give all students a fresh start to the year by reminding them of what they have already accomplished and what else they can accomplish during the remainder of their time at BC. This year’s speaker, Bill Strickland, won a MacArthur Genius grant and founded an arts-based mentorship program for in-

ner city teenagers in Pittsburgh. Although each Convocation speaker’s speech carries some of the same threads as his or her predecessor, Strickland’s experiences will undoubtedly color his in such a way that attendees may find a new perspective on what it means to be a BC student. One does not necessarily have to have read his book in order to gain something from his talk, and this should not discourage any student from attending.

At Convocation, freshmen are often encouraged to make the most of their time in college and take advantage of the many opportunities present at BC for them to grow as individuals. For those students beginning their second, third, or fourth year of college, attending Convocation once again can be a reminder that they are still on that same journey of self-discovery.

HEIGHTS

THE

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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.

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The Heights

Thursday, September 12, 2013

A7

The 21st birthday

Ryan McGuill A Comment on The Weather (Classic) - Even though we are not too pleased about the weather trends of late, and by that we mean the utter lack of any comprehensible trend in the weather of late, we are choosing to see the silver lining in the recent roller coaster of temperatures and smile upon the fact that yesterday’s stifling heat had some upsides: for one, on a day that hot, there’s no internal “do-I-want-hot-or-coldcoffee?” debate. The choice is clear.

Along with that, it was a nice day to dip into the Chocolate Bar’s gelato selection, or just stick to the froyo in Mac/Lower. And finally, we all sort of got to feel like we were reinforcing our tans one last time to hopefully last a tad longer into the cold season.

Maybe we’ll make it through the semester without hitting ghost-white status! But there are upsides to the onset of cold as well: who doesn’t like New England fall? No one. It really is our best season, and you can actually sleep under the covers in your bed. So let’s cherish this ambiguous seasonal period and view it as a best of both worlds kind of thing.

Some Textbook Complaining - Okay, someone seriously needs to tell teachers to specify on their syllabi whether or not the textbook will explicitly be utilized during the class.

Because, we’ll be frank with you, if we don’t need it for homework, we’re not buying it. Yes, you always say that it’s good to have as reference, but we have another reference tool, called Google, that has endless information on all sorts of topics AND it’s free. Here’s the cold hard truth: the Internet has rendered $200 text books, unless said books actually contain questions we need to answer for homeworks which count for a significant portion of our grade, entirely useless. And we, for one, are not upset about this. An extra couple hundred bucks in our pockets? Don’t mind if we do.

The Evil of Blisters - They are one of the evils of this world that fly most under the radar. But evil they are.

All we do is purchase a new pair of shoes, excited to finally replace our old/raggedy/scuffed pair of [insert your brand of choice], and what do we get? A pea-sized red spot on our heel/toe/what-have-you that inflicts pain far larger than its tiny size would suggest possible. And, the worst part is, chances are you’re halfway through your incredibly busy day by the time you realize this little devil is here to stay. So what do you do? There are a few options, none of them particularly preferable: 1. You could tough it out, but your pained limp will undoubtedly betray to those around you that something is amiss, and you feel kind of pathetic admitting that it’s just a blister, so you let them look at you quizzically without offering any sort of explanation and trying to stop yourself from wincing at every step. 2.

You could be that guy who takes his shoe off in class, which, even if they don’t smell and are perfectly clean, will certainly gross out 80 percent of the people around you and forever brand you in their mind as “the weird guy who takes off his shoes in class.” 3.

You can sprint back to your residence and put on some painless sandals, no longer giving any shits about whether or not you miss 10 minutes of class because it’s just too damn unbearable.

And then, on top of all that, this small blister has ruined for you not just the originally guilty pair of shoes but all shoes for at least a week.

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The endless season of 21st birthdays came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. At this time last year, it felt like every junior at BC was frantically rushing to savor the excitement and ridiculousness of their own 21st birthdays and the birthdays of their friends. Events like “So-and-So’s Super Sloppy 21st Slop-apalooza” occupied my weekends and sarcastic friends complained that the newly acquired taste of beer was bitter and yucky. “Ouuu, so this is what beer tastes like!” I even celebrated my own 21st in glorious fashion, starting with a jam-packed basement party in my off-campus shanty-shack and ending with a shortened outing at Mary Ann’s due to an underage drinking sting operation (poetic justice in its finest form).

The 21st birthday is equal parts relief, nostalgia, and blissful acceptance into adulthood. And unless you’re celebrating one in a yurt in Siberia, they’re universally enjoyable!

But just like any good hurricane, the destructive path of 21st birthday season massively slowed down at the end of spring semester. Fatigue set in among BC students, who are simultaneously so easy and so hard to please. Another 21st birthday party at Roggie’s? Sigh. I myself was even guilty of the “been there, done that” mentality. If you’ve seen one 21st birthday then you’ve seen ’em all, right?

If I had a nickel for every drink I saw ceremoniously dumped on a birthday boy over the last year, then I’d have about … seven nickels.

My most recent entry in the dwindling twilight of 21st birthday season occurred last night on behalf of one of my best friends, a kid who has socialized, presented himself, and looked as if he were of legal drinking age since I first

met him during freshman year. That the poor guy had to wait until senior year to tackle a commonly junior rite of passage only made us more festive. Beneath the surface of that extremely fun and debauched night, however, laid a common thread in all 21st birthdays: a sense of urgency. The climatic, “this-is-it” type feeling that rushes you to remember and subsequently un-remember a night that must be filed under “epic” in the record books. It’s the silently creeping realization that this birthday should be the biggest reason to celebrate, the most glaring excuse to be obscene and obnoxious, because when can you honestly do it again?

The comedian Patton Oswalt

Beneath the surface of that extremely fun and debauched night, however, laid a common thread in all 21st birthdays: a sense of urgency. resonates this sentiment in his hilarious stand-up album, Werewolves and Cocktails. Oswalt claims: “There’s only 20 birthdays you’re allowed to celebrate … one through nine you get a birthday. Why? ’Cos you’re a little kid! Ten gets a birthday.

Now you’re in the double digits. Thirteen, you get a birthday, now you’re a teenager. Sixteen, you get a birthday, ’cos now you can drive. Eighteen? Awesome birthday, ’cos you can buy a gun and vote! When you’re 19, you get a birthday, because it’s your last year as a teenager. Twenty, you get a birthday … every time you enter a new set of tens, you get a birthday. Twenty-one, you get an awesome birthday. And then, THAT’S IT. A birthday every 10 years.

“I’m 26!” Great, go to work. Who gives a shit?”

In other words, Oswalt believes that you turn 21, and then you only have death to look forward to. (Oswalt also says that one law should no longer apply to you each year after you turn 100 years old. Meaning that your great-granddad could go streaking during the Super Bowl and hypothetically get away with it. Truly philosophical ramblings.)

Pessimism is the easiest trap to fall into, and it’s also a colossal waste of time. So allow me, the self-proclaimed eternal optimist, to coax you out of that washed-up, post-21-year-old funk that’s currently sucking the life out of you.

A birthday is a celebration of life, after all. After you turn 21, you’ll (hopefully) still be alive, still capable of expressing and translating emotions into speech and dialogue. Sure, you may not be able to get as rowdy as you’d like on a Tuesday night, but you also won’t be a broke college student! This despondent mentality reminds me of when my friends say that the BC football team is just getting good and that they wish we didn’t have to graduate the year before the team acquires a potentially winning record. Guess what? After you graduate, you will still be a sentient being, capable of throwing your hands in the air when the Eagles pick up a first down and locating where to toss a bag when you’re playing Cornhole (with pinpoint accuracy, if you’re me).

Every time you hit a new year, be sure to focus on the things that make you happy to be alive. When you hit an obscure age like 33, celebrate all the new wisdom you’ve accrued by taking a vacation in Fiji. When you turn 25, eat 25 burritos if they happen to be your favorite foodstuff, but don’t come looking for me when you need to write a check to the gastroenterologist. Every birthday is a reason to take the greatest gift you’ve ever received—life—out on a test drive of celebratory madness.

Alexia LaFata They say to write about what you know. Unfortunately, for the next three and a half months, this will be almost impossible. I’m more than 3,000 miles from familiar faces, familiar customs, and a familiar language. I’ll be lucky if these few months will even help me scratch the surface of all there is to know about the majestic place where I currently reside: Madrid, Spain. Yes, I am reporting to you live from across the Atlantic, where I’ll be doing a whole lot of self-discovery (so they say) and a whole lot of whining about how my budget for this trip is actually almost $700 less than I thought it was because of currency conversions.

I truly feel like a child again. I’m relearning some of the most basic social customs that, back home, were completely second nature. I find myself having to ask things like, “What time is dinner?” “Do I eat this meal with a fork?”

“How do I greet someone?” “Do I pass on the right?” I’m still learning the basics, but so far I’ve obtained some very useful knowledge during my first week and a half here in Espana. I learned that fewer people than I thought actually speak English, that I have to specifically ask for lined notebook paper (graphing paper is more common), and that patterned ankle-biters are fashionable. I learned that men dress way better here (sorry BC boys!) and that I stick out like a huge sore American thumb: fast-talking, zealous, and with a heavy enunciation of my r’s.

Lecture Hall

I truly feel like a child again. I’m relearning some of the most basic social customs that, back home, were completely second nature ... I stick out like a huge sore American thumb: fast-talking, zealous, and with a heavy enunciation of my r’s. random questions about their daily lives and about what is typical for their country. In fact, I thrive on it, and it excites me more than any museum or art exhibit ever would.

As important as I think it is to spend some time abroad visiting famous galler-

Matt Auker

ies and landmarks, I would much rather spend my time changing my definition of normal. I’m less interested in visiting random attractions than I am in learning about what Spaniards typically eat for breakfast or what they would wear out to a club on a Friday (or, as I’ve learned, Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday) night. I’m trying as hard as possible to shed the “tourist” vibe that I might be giving off. I want to become fluent in Spanish, enjoy Spanish food, live a Spanish life. I personally don’t think I need to visit a million museums to make this happen. It took me 19 years to visit the Museum of Modern Art back home, and that fact certainly does not make me any less American than the next person.

What makes me American is my ambition, my values, and my routines—not that I’ve been to a museum in New York. Of course, it’s true that a country’s fundamental values must come from somewhere. I’m sure history and art play a huge role in shaping the functionality of a nation. However, my personal interest will always be in the now, in what is relevant today. It is this interest that drove me to actually live in Spain and immerse myself in the culture as opposed to simply read a Spanish art history textbook.

At the end of the day, I’m going to explore as much as I can about this place, even if it means having to wear a headset and listen to a tour guide while doing a walking tour of local streets. I won’t love it, but I know it is part of the study abroad experience. But give me a group of foreign kids, a few rounds of 1.50 euro tinto de verano at a local bar, and some open minds, and I’ll be one happy American.

Gentlemen and (maybe a few) ladies of Boston College: fall is upon us. There is a crisp chill in the air as the leaves begin to fade into various shades of orange, yellow, and brown and fall gracefully onto the sloping New England landscape. Shorts and flip-flops are being exchanged for jeans and sweatshirts, and tans that have been cultivated over a summer of pool and beach days are fading as you once again realize just how blindingly pale your thighs really are. Freshmen: buckle up because it’s a matter of meteorological law that it’s not going to get above 65 degrees again until the middle of finals week. But most importantly, football is back.

There is nothing better than waking up late on a Saturday morning after a long night of heavy juice drinking and quiet reflection with your peers in the library and knowing you’re not even putting pants on until at least halftime of the 3:30 game. And I defy any room this side of the B-line to come up with a better game day TV-setup than Rubenstein D37 (room number changed to protect the innocent). Even Sundays—usually reserved for the work that you definitely should have gotten done on Thursday night when instead you spent the whole night programming your TI-83 for the upcoming week—have that special three-hour time slot reserved for watching your team play.

With that being said, I have some advice for all of us regarding the time-honored and extremely serious tradition of fantasy football.

No one, besides maybe the poor soul matched up against you with Alfred Morris and Eric Decker as his week one starters (read: me), gives a damn about your team.

Everyone has had the experience of talking football with someone when out of nowhere they start spewing every minute detail of how their team was down three points going into Sunday night but so-and-so had a breakout third quarter and I only started him because what’s-his-name pulled a quad last week and my backup was playing the 49er’s defense and … It’s infuriating, especially when you’re actually trying to watch a game.

And yes, maybe this is coming from a place of bitterness from someone who lost by 50 points last week. And maybe the fact that it was to his direct roommate adds to the resentment (Connor you’ll always be a scrub no matter how many imaginary points you put up on me—name NOT changed to expose said scrub). But seriously, when is the last time you were genuinely interested in hearing the breakdown of someone else’s team? It’s like shoving pictures of your kids into someone’s face—if they haven’t asked to see them, keep it in your wallet.

As a rule of thumb, it should be clear to everyone else in the room which team you’re pulling for in any given game. None of this “okay so I need the Ravens defense to shut down Peyton Manning, but Demaryius Thomas needs to have a big game”—everyone else shouldn’t have to suffer through your fantasy team’s existential crisis just because you had a meeting during the first six rounds of your draft and you wound up with a punter in round four. Self-proclaimed fantasy guru Will Forsyth feels strongly about this issue, adding, “as a fantasy guru myself, I make it a policy to never have to root against my favorite team, the Bears. I realize that not everyone possesses the superior intellectual prowess that I do when it comes to fantasy football, but careful efforts made to avoid this problem come draft-day can be a huge help further down the road.” This advice is probably too little too late for a lot of us, but it’s worth knowing nonetheless.

So there you have it. As much as you’d love for the entire room to be hanging on your every word when you explain how you came to the decision to play Julius Thomas in week one, and boy did that work out well, it’s never going to happen. Just sit down, shut up, and enjoy the game—there’s only 15 left.

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

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

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

I’d rather be a Spaniard The more people I meet here at my university, the more fascinated I am by the seemingly endless differences between the cultures. If America is a melting pot, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid is a double rainbow with colors both inside and outside of the visible light spectrum. In the first week alone, I’ve met and actually befriended students from all over the world. I’ve learned Korean songs and how to say “How are you?” in Dutch. I met a German girl who has never been to Oktoberfest. I definitely find myself drawn to these more personal interactions where I am able to let my inquisitive nature flow. I have no problem asking international people

Fantasy guidelines

BY PAT HUGHES and LOUIE FANTINI

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

THE HEIGHTS

A8

Thursday, September 12, 2013

USC vs. Boston College

USC struggling through quarterback dilemma

BY CHRIS GRIMALDI Assoc. Sports Editor

KEYS TO THE GAME BOSTON COLLEGE ESTABLISH THE RUN USC didn’t allow Hawaii or Washington State to run the ball. If that’s the case for BC too, the Eagles will struggle to match USC’s point total.

LIMIT BIG PLAYS The Trojans are inevitably going to get a few big gains down the field, but keeping those numbers low through quarterback pressure will help.

SOUTHERN CAL STOP AMIDON If USC can provide blanket coverage on Alex Amidon, Chase Rettig might not be able to find another wide receiver to throw to, shutting down the BC offense.

HOLD ON TO THE BALL The worst thing USC can do its give BC the ball deep in Trojan territory, allowing an easy score and not forcing BC to produce against the Trojan D.

PLAYERS TO WATCH BOSTON COLLEGE ANDRE WILLIAMS WEIGHT: 227 HEIGHT: 6’0” POSITION: RB YEAR: Senior

BRYCE JONES

WEIGHT: 166 HEIGHT: 6’1” POSITION: CB YEAR: Sophomore

SOUTHERN CAL TRE MADDEN

WEIGHT: 220 HEIGHT: 6’1” POSITION: RB YEAR: Sophomore

MORGAN BRESLIN WEIGHT: 220 HEIGHT: 6’2” POSITION: LB YEAR: Senior

OUTCOMES BOSTON COLLEGE WILL WIN IF...

The Eagles can establish the run well enough to set up bigger plays with play-actions and counters, throwing the USC defense and its front-seven off balance..

USC WILL WIN IF...

If the Boston College football team truyly wants to test the new defensive scheme that’s energized a 2-0 start, its wish will come true this weekend in Southern California.

Though the 2013 USC Trojans have not performed like the owners of 11 national titles, Eagle head coach Steve Addazio is anticipating for their offensive playmaking personnel to come out in full force on Saturday afternoon.

“What we are doing is going in to play a ticked-off football team who is going to come out swinging,” Addazio said.

Trojan Quarterback Dilemma Considering the Trojans’ performance over the past two weeks, they’ll be coming out of the Coliseum’s gates with a lot to prove from the line of scrimmage.

Head coach Lane Kiffin’s squad is coming off a disastrous home loss to Washington State in which it only mustered 54 yards from the air and seven points on the scoreboard—losing a top-25 ranking along the way. The root of USC’s alarmingly sluggish start on offense has been a festering quarterback controversy between sophomores Max Wittek and Cody Kessler.

Both signal-callers have seen time on the field during the young season, but neither has managed to secure the starting gig with a complete performance.

Considering that the Trojans have yet to complete a passing play of over 20 yards, Kiffin’s experiment with a quarterbackby-committee system has failed.

“We were just totally inept in the passing game,” Kiffin said in his weekly video.

“As bad as it can possibly be.”

Yet USC’s embattled head coach added fuel to the fire by naming Kessler the starter for Saturday’s game—without

going into details to explain his selection.

“I’m not going to get into, for protection of the guys, this guy did this, this guy didn’t do that,” Kiffin said. “We made a decision to go with Cody and we’re excited about how well he’s going to play Saturday.”

Like his classmate, Kessler has produced an underwhelming stat line during his playing opportunities, notching an anemic 136 yards while throwing two interceptions to just one touchdown.

The announcement of Kessler as starter does not eliminate the possibility that Wittek will also see time, depending on the circumstances. Regardless of the quarterback under center for the Trojans this weekend, Addazio respects each player’s potential to emerge as a

momentum-shifter.

“Both are talented and capable guys,” Addazio said.

Defending a Heisman Contender While watching a quarterback carousel can distract a defense, the Eagles cannot afford to lose track of USC receiver Marqise Lee. Brandishing sole ownership or a share of 22 USC records, the junior has proven himself as one of college football’s most dynamic players. Lee’s 14-touchdown sophomore campaign earned him a unanimous nod as All-American and the Biletnikoff Award, designating him as the nation’s top wide receiver.

Regardless of USC’s uncertainty at quarterback, Addazio believes that

Lee—a potential contender for the 2013 Heisman Trophy—will find a way to assert his abilities as a playmaker.

“He’s going to get his hands on the football,” the Eagle head coach said, “and when he does, that’s going to keep you up at night now—because I think he is legit.”

Lee presents BC’s aggressive style with a dangerous challenge. Earlier in the season, Addazio recognized the “good news, bad news” style of risk-taking that BC’s new strategy entails. Although it effectively cuts off short pass attempts and squelches an opposition’s running game, the scheme becomes vulnerable to blown coverage whenever a player with Lee’s speed steps on the field.

“You’ve got your eyes on the right guy there,” Addazio said. “That guy is a next-level player.”

Homecoming for Rettig

DANIEL LEE / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

QB Chase Rettig returns to his home state for his first collegiate gate in California.

Despite all of the attention being paid to USC’s scoring strategy, the Eagles have their own captivating storyline on offense—Chase Rettig’s return to the West Coast.

A native of Sierra Madre, Calif., BC’s starting quarterback played his high school football at San Clemente, not far from the Coliseum’s walls.

Yet beyond a geographical return, Saturday’s game represents a collegiate career come full circle for the senior signal-caller. Rettig not only drew interest from USC before committing to BC, but also passed up an offer to play at Tennessee—under Kiffin.

Looking to lead the Eagles to an upset road victory over his hometown team and a coach that once recruited him, Rettig has every reason to be fired-up for Saturday afternoon.

“I can’t imagine there is a more excited guy getting on that plane tomorrow,” Addazio said. 

Q&A: ‘Neon Tommy’ sports editor talks Trojans Jacob Freedman, a sports editor for the USC student-run website Neon Tommy answers some questions heading into Saturday’s matchup.

The Heights: So, what are your thoughts on this quarterback situation for the Trojans? Is starting Kessler the right move? What will it take for Wittek to see the field on Saturday? How do you think Kiffin has handled the position so far?

Freedman: It’s absolutely the right move, and it’s one Kiffin had to make.

Kessler mentioned yesterday that it was hard to play while knowing that he could be taken out at any moment, and now those lingering thoughts should disappear. Kiffin hasn’t given specifics to why he chose Kessler, but said he’s now going to tailor the system to the redshirt sophomore’s strengths. Kiffin has botched the situation so far, as there’s no way two high school AllAmerican QBs should combine to throw for 54 yards in an entire game, but this Saturday should reveal a USC team built around Kessler.

That being said, it will take nothing short of disaster (which can’t be counted out after Washington State) to see Wittek put in, if only because the time invested this week towards a oneQB system.

scheme under new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast has packages with five rushers, and the outside rushers in that scheme, Devon Kennard and Morgan Breslin, have been nearly unstoppable. USC also has four viable safeties, including converted linebacker Dion Bailey, and the fervent pass rush has resulted in a lot of hastily thrown passes that turn into interceptions.

The Heights: Opponents aren’t even averaging one yard per carry against USC. Some of the BC players have mentioned the unique alignment from the USC front seven. What do the Trojans do up front and how has it worked?

Freedman: The 5-2/3-4 scheme means that the Trojans either rush five linemen with the outside two standing up on the line, or rush three and send those two linemen back as outside linebackers. This gives the defense flexibility and allows players to sub in for certain packages to keep the defensive line fresh.

The 5-2 sets allow for a swarming pass rush that has USC leading the nation in sacks (11) through two games, while the 3-4 helps limit plays on the edges of the field and cut down on extra-yardage plays out of the backfield.

The Heights: High-scoring game?

Low-scoring game? What do you expect?

Freedman: Both teams have had success running the football, and I expect this to continue on Saturday. Because of that, I expect a low-scoring affair filled with long drives, strong defensive efforts, and a game where one or two crucial turnovers will swing momentum.

The Heights: Outside of the obvious guys like Kessler, Marqise Lee, and Tre Madden, who should BC be worried about on the USC offense?

Freedman: The forgotten man has been Nelson Agholor, who was expected to be Lee’s partner in crime at wide receiver this year. The sophomore has strong hands and runs great routes, but was targeted just once against Washington State. If Kiffin loosens up and trusts Kessler to throw down the field more this week, then Agholor will make BC pay if they double-cover Lee. The Heights: What is the offense trying to do to create points, and what did it do that didn’t work against Washington State?

Freedman: What didn’t work against Washington State was rather than taking risks and trying to win, Kiffin called the game as if he were playing not to lose.

This week, expect more passes over the middle and down the field, and a better balance of carries. Tre Madden said himself that he can’t carry the ball 32 times every game, so expect true freshman Justin Davis and Buck Allen to utilize their speed and try to create space by running to the outside, since bruising back Silas Redd doesn’t look likely to play.

The Heights: What outlook do USC fans and people close to the program have for this game? Are they expecting an easy win? A close game? Something in between?

Freedman: In the eyes of those following the program, the 2013 outlook has turned sour real quickly. There’s

still skepticism surrounding Kessler and the offense, and few are expecting the two-touchdown win that the Las Vegas sports books are predicting for the Trojans. Trojan fans always expect USC to win, but I doubt the offense can rebound quickly enough to turn the game into a blowout.

The Heights: If you were Lane Kiffin and this were possible, would you trade Chase Rettig for Kessler straight-up, right now?

Freedman: No. If there’s one thing we know about Lane Kiffin, it’s that he believes his choice is the right one.

He said he handled the quarterback situation the right way, and while he’s shocked by the ineptitude from the position last Saturday, he doesn’t appear to show much remorse. He’s spent three years with both Kessler and Wittek, so it wouldn’t be in his character to give up on making a system for Kessler to implement starting Saturday. Kiffin likely knows he’s going down with the ship if USC falters this season, and Kessler blossoming has the higher upside, and thus better chance of saving his job.

The Heights: Prediction?

Freedman: It won’t be pretty, but I think Kessler will show enough to get the job done against an Eagles squad traveling across the country.

Andre Williams and Rettig will move the ball down the field, but USC’s defense will make enough stops to keep the score low. It won’t be what Trojan fans like to see, but it’ll be enough to earn USC a win. USC 24, Boston College 17. 

Marqise Lee can punish the BC defense for its aggressive attack with big plays over the top and the USC defense shuts down Andre Williams and Alex Amidon.

The Heights: Through two games the USC defense has allowed zero rushing touchdowns and just one passing TD. What makes the defense so effective?

Freedman: The Trojans’ front seven has a strong argument so far for being the best in college football. The 5-2

NUMBERS TO KNOW

BC offense will need production from Williams, O-line

BOSTON COLLEGE

727 319 Total yards

Rushing yards

408 2

Passing yards Turnovers

SOUTHERN CAL

557 331 Total yards

Rushing yards

226 4

Passing yards Turnovers

Football, from A10 front seven, but only two, or sometimes three, of the defensive lineman are actually down on the ground. The rest stand up, and it’s troubling offenses so far.

“They do something a little different with their front seven,” Williams said. “I think really the main thing that I need to focus on this week is being able to identify who’s who. It’s another team.

I’m going to respect them, but I’m not going to give them too much respect, though. It’s another team.”

Williams said the mixing of defensive linemen with linebackers, along with who is standing and who is down, makes the holes more difficult to identify.

The Trojans have typically used 6foot-3, 285-pound George Uko and 6foot-5, 270-pound Leonard Williams as the down defensive tackles so far with 6foot-1, 315-pound nose tackle Antwaun Woods also working in. Hayes Pullard and Lamar Dawson are the primary

linebackers behind the line, and Devon Kennard and Morgan Breslin have been the standup rushers up front.

It’s something that, according to Williams, BC hasn’t seen before.

“I think it’s one of the best defenses in the country, to tell you the truth,” said BC head coach Steve Addazio. “They’ve got six returning starters and a bunch of great players. Guys that can rush the quarterback. Guys that can sack the quarterback. Guys that can run you down. Aggressive in the secondary, physical linebackers, and they make interceptions.”

For the BC offense to be successful, the attack must start with the power running game and build from there.

“The challenge for us will be to strike some balance,” Addazio said. “In order to do that, our receivers are going to have to get open and we’re going to have to throw and catch well.

“The power run game is going to be our power run game. So I think it’s the balance of it that we’re really, really

going to need against this outstanding defense. But people don’t move the ball real well against this defense now.”

White thinks that, although USC will be throwing out multiple looks up front, the rushing mindset is still simple.

“Running the ball is all about getting looks and then just being nasty,” he said.

“Once you understand the looks then it’s all mental and it’s all toughness.”

Although it might have looked like it in the first two games, Williams said he isn’t always running into the daylight.

“Sometimes you’ve got to run into the darkness,” he said.

The Trojans are going to create plenty of darkness for Williams on Saturday, and it’ll be up to him and the offensive line to make the most of it if the BC offense is going to get rolling and open some eyes.

“I know what we’re capable of as a team,” Williams said. “My eyes are open. I’m looking down the field. I want everybody else to see what we’re capable of.” 

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The O-line is creating lots of running lanes.

THE HEIGHTS

EDITORS’ EDITORS’PICKS PICKS

Thursday, September 12, 2013 The Week Ahead

Standings

BU hosts field hockey on Friday.

Volleyball travels to the Columbia Invitational this weekend. Football heads to LA this weekend to take on USC. Men’s soccer is playing at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez will meet at MGM Grand this weekend in a boxing match.

Marly Morgus

3-2

Chris Grimaldi

3-2

Heights Staff

3-2

Austin Tedesco

2-3

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Recap from Last Week

Game of the Week

Field hockey beat Quinnipiac for its sixth win of the season. The BC defense shut down Wake Forest for a Friday night football win. Women’s soccer upset Ohio State 1-0. Men’s soccer was defeated in a come from behind double overtime effort from Dartmouth. Michigan stayed perfect against Notre Dame.

Field Hockey

Guest Editor: Devon Sanford

BU

Associate News Editor “If you’re gonna eat mat, you eat mat hard.”

This Week’s Games

Austin Tedesco Sports Editor

Chris Grimaldi Assoc. Sports Editor

Field Hockey: No. 17 BC at BU

Marly Morgus Asst. Sports Editor

Devon Sanford Assoc. News Editor

BC

BC

BC

BC

Volleyball: BC at Columbia

BC

BC

Columbia

Columbia

Football: BC at USC

USC

BC

BC

BC

Pittsburgh

BC

BC

Pittsburgh

Alvarez

Mayweather

Mayweather

Alvarez

Men’s Soccer: BC at Pittsburgh Boxing: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Alvarez

BC

vs.

After suffering their first loss of the season last weekend, the Eagles will look to bounce back on the road against Boston University. Head coach Ainslee Lamb’s squad will face a Terrier team that has also gotten off to a strong start, winning three of its first four contests. BU enjoyed a strong effort in its 5-1 victory over Ohio to stay perfect on its home turf. Yet the Eagles will come into play tomorrow night averaging over two more goals per game than their counterparts, as they’ve outshot their opponents by an impressive 64-shot margin.

Friday, at 7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth forces Eagles into 3-2 overtime loss on the road

BY MATTY PIERCE For The Heights

The Boston College men’s soccer team (1-2-1, 0-0-1 ACC) looked to rebound on the road Monday night at Dartmouth (1-0-1, 0-0-0) after suffering a conference loss over the weekend. The Eagles came out aggressively on offense and were able to record the first two goals of the match midway through the first half. Despite this early surge of energy, the Big Green prevailed, scoring three unanswered goals to gain a double-overtime win at home.

BC started the scoring off in the 28th minute of play. Freshman Zeiko Lewis had been controlling the ball in front of the Dartmouth net when he found junior Diego Medina-Mendez to his left, who made a move on the Dartmouth goaltender and net his first goal of the season. Less than a minute later, the Eagles were able to capitalize on a Dartmouth goaltending error, when Medina-Mendez controlled a loose ball in the box and fed it to junior Nick Butler, who found the back of the net for his first goal of the season, putting the Eagles up 2-0.

Just six minutes later, the Big Green was able to cut the deficit in half. With just 10 minutes left in the half, sophomore Alberto Gorini struck a corner kick which found the foot of senior Colin Skelly, who

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Transfer Giuliano Frano (above) and rest of the BC squad couldn’t get past Darmouth. The Eagles haven’t notched a win since the season-opener. relayed the ball to junior Justin Rosner.

Rosner was able to put the ball in the back of the net for his first goal of the season, giving the Big Green momentum heading into halftime.

The Eagles recorded eight shots on goal in the first half, while the Big Green recorded four. Dartmouth held the ad-

vantage on corner kicks with a first half total of seven, compared to none taken by BC. Eagle sophomore goalie Alex Kapp collected one save in the first half, while Dartmouth freshman goalie James Hickok collected two.

The Eagles fought hard on both ends of the field in the second half to preserve

their lead. In the 84th minute of play, an Eagle player was given a red card and the team was forced to play a man down. It did not take long for Dartmouth to capitalize on the BC mistake, when just two minutes later junior Colin Heffron crossed it to freshman Alexander Marsh who was able to net the ball and tie the score at two with

Bates works on gameday experience

GOLF

BC falls short

BY PAT COYNE Heights Staff

Column, from A10 We’ve got an Eagle to be named later, extended tailgating, a full student section (at least during the first half ), and fireworks—why can’t BC claim the best gameday experience in the ACC? The issue lies in that the biggest element that will determine the quality of BC’s gameday lies completely out of Bates’ hands: the constraints.

Essentially, it all comes down to one constraint from which all of the others derive themselves. As long as BC is winning—especially if they build on a streak—there will be interested fans, a loud stadium, and a lively tailgate. So far, the Eagles have won two straight. The energy that came off of winning the home opener left an optimistic crowd eager for the Wake game.

It showed. The high of the first win combined with some of the elements that Bates has provided and the night game atmosphere led to a raucous student section and an impressively full, excited stadium.

What happens after this weekend, though? If BC pulls off a win over USC, Alumni will likely explode with excitement after the bye week when Florida State comes to town, regardless of the Seminoles’ ranking. But what if BC loses?

It’s easy to ride the high of a couple wins—especially with the optimism that comes with the start of the Addazio era, but when that comes down, the gameday experience is bound to come down with that. There are other constraints—everything from budget to the weather, but the

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Regardless of the effort that Bates puts into gameday experience, there are elements that he can’t control that make or break a day at Alumni. element of the gameday that will make the biggest difference to the fans is confidence in their team.

If BC plays like the strong teams in the SEC and pulls off a competitive record, then maybe we can hope for that elusive SEC gameday experience, but without a legitimate reason to believe in the team, fans will lose their excitement and confidence.

Scarcity is another principle that helps to define the economic problem. Because of limited resources, you can never

field hockey

scoreboard

just minutes remaining in the contest.

Dartmouth tallied 10 shots in the second half compared to five by BC. Kapp collected three saves for the Eagles in the final half of regulation, while Hickok collected two for the Big Green.

In the first overtime period, both teams fought hard in an attempt to end the match. The Eagles and the Big Green unsuccessfully registered two shots apiece on net before the period came to a close.

Just four minutes into the second overtime period, Dartmouth was able to come away victorious. Kapp made an impressive save on a shot inside the box

by Dartmouth’s junior Alex Adelabu. Adelabu fought for the loose ball in front of the net and was able to help deflect it to the center of the box, where junior Robin Alnas was waiting to score the game-winning goal for the Big Green.

The Eagles found themselves in their third overtime contest in just their fourth match of the year.

Kapp recorded a career high seven saves in the game for BC, while Hickok recorded five for Dartmouth. The Big Green was able to overcome an early deficit and overpower the Eagles offensively. Dartmouth had 19 shots on goal, while the Eagles had 17. The Big Green also led the contest in corner kicks taken with 10, compared to three taken by the Eagles. 

BC Quin

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completely satisfy the objective of your problem. There have to be sacrifices along the way that lead to a slightly incomplete solution.

Scarcity means that we won’t be as loud as Death Valley unless we add more seats to Alumni, but that would sacrifice a healthy portion of the budget. Scarcity means that there are only so many wins to go around that must be split among the 12 teams that BC will face this year.

In this sense, BC has a true economic problem. There is no solution to the

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ultimate gameday experience. Even if it reaches its goal of a “memorable and meaningful” day at Alumni, there will always be room to improve, and there will always be sacrifices creating holes. A gold pass and a live bird don’t create an experience. They may affect it, but it all comes down to the team.

Marly Morgus is the Asst. Sports Editor for The Heights. She can be reached at sports@bcheights.com.

amherst, ma 9/8

chestnut hill, ma 9/7 field hockey

workman 14 kills BC stapleton 11 kills mass

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Traveling down to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for the Golfweek Program Challenge this past weekend, both the men and women’s golf teams had the chance to start their seasons off on the right foot. At the end of competition, however, the men’s team had finished in 11th place out of 12 after three rounds, and the women’s team finished ninth out of 12 teams, also after three rounds.

During the Challenge, the men’s team shot an 882 total, putting the team at 18 strokes over par. Junior Andy Mai was the top golfer for the Eagles, shooting an even 216 and finishing 17th overall.

Nicholas Pandelena, a sophomore, played the next best behind Mai, shooting a 219 overall and finishing +3. The men’s team finished 26 strokes behind the winner of the challenge, Akron, who shot a team score of 856 and -3.

For the women, Cristina McQuiston was the top performer for the team that shot a 923 overall and finished 71 strokes over par.

McQuiston shot a 218, which was good for +5 after the three rounds of play. She finished seventh overall in the Challenge. Katia Joo, a junior, was the next best performing Eagle during the weekend, finishing 14th overall with a score of 221 that was good for +8. The team finished 61 strokes behind Campbell, which won the tournament with a team score of 862.

Although the teams’ outcomes were far from as good as they could have been, there is still a long season ahead of each team. The men’s team will compete in the Tar Heel Invitational next weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C., while the women’s team will take to the links again September 2325 at the Golfweek Conference challenge in Vail, Colo. 

hanover, 9/9 Boston, MaNH 11/11

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24 williams 204 yrs rush 10 campanare 86 yds rec

SPORTS THE HEIGHTS

A8

A10

Thursday, September 12, 2013

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

BOSTON COLLEGE VS. USC PREVIEW

“Running the ball is all about getting looks and then just being nasty. Once you understand the looks then it’s all mental and it’s all toughness.”

- IAN WHITE, RIGHT TACKLE

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR AND DANIEL LEE / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

Leading The Way

BC’s ability, or inability, to run will decide game

EAGLES TROJANS POINTS/GAME

BY AUSTIN TEDESCO

24

Sports Editor

Before last Saturday, it had been almost three years since Andre Williams had seen so clearly on the football field. Time after time, quarterback Chase Rettig would hand the Boston College senior the ball, and Williams could envision exactly where he needed to go. Matt Patchan and Bobby Vardaro moved the Deacons out of the way on the left, Harris Williams and captain Ian White did the same on the right. Center Andy Gallik forced holes in the middle.

The Eagles offensive line accumulated more than 20 knockdowns, a good number against an ACC team. It was down from the 30 knockdowns the unit put up against Villanova, but that number probably can’t be topped.

“I’ve never seen knockdowns like we had in the first game,” White said. “The score didn’t necessarily show it, but physically we dominated them up front, which we should’ve. They didn’t have the size of the ACC opponents.”

It may not have shown in the score, as BC put up 24 points in each game, but it has shown in the rushing statistics. Williams has already accumulated 52 percent of his yardage total on the ground from 2012, with outings of 114 and 204 yards in the first two games this year. Williams gave a lot of the credit for his success to the five guys up front.

“It always starts with the offensive line,” Williams said. “They’re not going to be in the tabloids all the times, but it really starts with them. Making sure they’re on their

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RUSHING YDS/GAME 157

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3RD DOWN CONVERSION % 38

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A look at how the Boston College offense matches up against the USC defense aiming points, making sure they’re being physical, and I’m just the follow-up.”

It’s helped, though, that Williams is back to following up in the right way.

He pounded his way to two consecutive 100-yard games at the end of the regular season his freshman year, but since then he’s had trouble establishing himself at the position.

Rather than continuing to punish any defender trying to take him down, Williams spent his sophomore and junior years trying to add more agile movements to his

game. The former Pennsylvania track star looked like he was trying to get back to his roots. It didn’t work.

Now averaging a full yard per carry more than he did last season, he’s back to hitting people relentlessly, and his team, especially the offensive line, is loving it.

“This is his offense,” White said. “All of our plays are the perfect plays for him.

Even when we start running side-to-side he can pound it up in there. He can run any offense, but handing him the rock down the field is what he wants and that’s what

we’re doing.

“There’s no running away from people in this offense—well, maybe Chase. If he gets out there he might slide, but other than that we’re looking for one more hit, one more block.”

When the Eagles face USC on Saturday, the progress made in the run game will be put to its biggest test yet. Although the Trojans have stumbled out of the game with a disappointing 10-7 loss to Washington State last week, the defense has proven itself as one of the most dominant in the country. The numbers don’t even seem real.

Hawaii put up just 23 yards on its 31 attempts in USC’s season opener. Washington State registered only seven yards on its 22 attempts. Through the first two games, the Trojans are allowing offense to average an absurd 15 yards per game on the ground and .6 yards per rush.

“We have played great defense through two games … phenomenal effort by our players … very aggressive,” said USC head coach Lane Kiffin on a conference call Tuesday. “I’m really glad we have fixed what we set out to do last January, which was to change our defensive structure [and] to be more attacking to deal more with the different offenses that we face.”

Last January, Kiffin appointed CalBerkeley’s Clancy Pendergast to replace his father Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator, and Pendergast’s “52” defensive scheme has worked wonders for USC. Williams said he’s been watching some Cal tape to get ready for Saturday and the Trojans’ new multiple scheme.

USC essentially has five defensive linemen and two middle linebackers on the

See Football, A8

Bates’ economic problem: creating the ultimate gameday experience MARLY MORGUS The hottest on-campus buzzword, especially from the desk of Director of Athletics Brad Bates, seems to be “gameday experience.” Bates, from the beginning of his tenure at BC, has sought to make it clear to students, alumni, and fans that he wants a day at Alumni to be one of the top experiences in the ACC. The buzzword has been used heavily this week as BCEagles.com published a letter from Bates, but what exactly are they talking about when they mention the “gameday experience?” What model are they using? What is the end goal, and how exactly will we know when that is met?

On the first day of many a micro-

economics class, the professor will stand at the front and explain the fundamental theory that is the Economic Problem. In every economic problem, there are three elements that structure it.

First, there is an objective. There must be something that you want to gain or achieve. In econ, they’ll talk about a firm seeking a profit. Second, there are alternatives—more than one route that you can take in solving your problem. Do I pour money into advertising and hope it pays off, or do I cut costs? Third, there are constraints, and these pose the biggest problem when solving your economic problem. Budget. Demand for your product. Laws.

In the first paragraph of the letter that Bates published on Monday, he cited his objective in broad terms.

“At Boston College, our vision is to make your time on our campus memorable and meaningful, with you not wanting it to end,” he wrote.

Well, that all sounds just about per-

I NSIDE SPORTS THIS ISSUE

fect. At the same time, however, it’s very abstract. In his letter, Bates goes on to explain initiatives and steps that the athletic department has been taking, but what exactly is the final vision? What is the best gameday experience? Are we envisioning an SEC-style tailgate to make its way onto Shea Field? Do we expect Alumni to fill up and create as much noise as Death Valley?

Even with that, could BC say that it has the best gameday experience, or would other elements come into play?

We flow pretty easily from there to the second element of the economic problem—alternatives. Numerous changes that have already been put into place illustrate that Bates has already spent some time considering his options.

Bates started early in the calendar when he held a town hall meeting to discuss the coming season with alumni and fans. His alternatives? Listen to fans, trust their opinions, or go purely with strategies developed internally.

Most noticeable to students is the

Late comeback bests men’s soccer

BC scored the first two goals, but that didn’t stop a Dartmouth rally..................A8

implementation of the Gold Pass. Although it has its flaws in that it is an all or nothing ticketing solution for students, Bates has decided to reward loyalty to BC athletics by choosing the new system over the old. There have been kinks—the hubbub at the Villanova game is memorable in that much of the student section remained empty until midway through the first quarter as a cue of students with Gold Pass issues waited for entry—but Bates has been quick and direct about dealing with the problem and could even be seen standing outside the student gate at Friday’s Wake Forest game asking for students’ opinion on the Gold Pass system.

Other alternatives have been decided on as well—live Eagle or no live Eagle?

One hour of tailgating after or two?

Should we put a portion of the budget into pyrotechnics or should we focus on external marketing?

See Column, A9

Game Of The Week: BC at BU

Coming off of its first loss of the season, field hockey looks for redemption at BU.........A9

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Bates has made fan experience a priority.

Editors’ Picks........................A9 BC Notes...............................A9

The Heights

A2column

Fashion Forward

not going gaga over the pop icon’s fashion choices, page B4 column

hipster evolution

tracing the development of a moDern movement, page B2

Thursday, January 17, 2013

album review

‘am’

the latest by the arctic monkeys is a slick, progessive work with a vibe at once retro and modern, B5

S E L P U O C D D O E TH When Musical Worlds Collide See B3

MAGGIE BURDGE / Heights PHoto illustration

THE HEIGHTS

B2

WILEY’S FOLLIES

Urine good company

Thursday, September 12, 2013

SCENE AND HEARD

BY: CHRISTINE ZHAO

JOHN WILEY This summer was a real pisser.

For the second year, I spent the better part of June, July, and August working with The Charles Seller Foundation. What you need to know is it’s a charity theatre project—a 65-year-old charity theatre project—a nonprofit entity operating out of my hometown of Bloomfield, N.J., donating all proceeds from its annual production to a beneficiary from the northern New Jersey area. Oh, and it all started when young Charlie Seller got hit by a train.

No, he didn’t die. He lost a leg, but that’s not the remarkable part of this story. See, a group of Charlie’s friends banded together to put on a variety show for his benefit. Almost over night, the group of a couple dozen became hundreds. I’m happy to report, 65 years later, Charlie is alive and well, and so is the Charles Seller Foundation.

Returning this September to the Carroll School of Management—after seeing in action this organization kept going by young people for well over half a century—it’s odd hearing so much talk of “startup culture.”

So goes the fairytale, this proverb of a brilliant class of young people, banding into a brilliant court of young entrepreneurs—a hard year or two poured into an idea, and then sold.

With the slash of a pen, these brilliant young people inherit the world twice over, selling the sustainability of that great idea. The more trendy, the more volatile, the more timely the idea, the more attractive it is to large corporate entities. Gladly absorbed is the risk, and with it, the youthful ingenuity.

Fueled by profits, the engine of most business is largely unsustainable.

The world of CSOM finds its heart heavy with the hymns of The Wall Street Journal, bred on the parables of millionaire youth. The world I engaged in this summer? A delicate bubble, wedged in the history of a solidly working class community, its engine greased for 65 years by a group of young artistic types—a world, often wanting, as far as efficiency goes, but pushed along nonetheless by the weight of a tradition.

So what happens when these two models are turned in on each other?

In Urinetown: The Musical, I played the role of McQueen, a profiteering business hack, perpetual yes-man, and serial follower (it’s a role I certainly hope I wasn’t type-casted for). The premise of the show is that in this nondescript town—much like any other town you’d find in a musical—all bathrooms are public commodities. Implemented by Urine Good Company, this measure for the supposed regulation of water consumption was accomplished through the bribing of the political elite. The price of failing to pay and urinating publicly? Banishment to Urinetown, which is a metaphysical place, a means of keeping the poor in check, which we’re all pretty certain is just death.

Eventually, the poor stage a revolt—the people claim they have the right to pee for free, because people inherently are free. And without giving too much away, it doesn’t end well for them. The musical reaches this Malthusian conclusion, that extreme charity is unsustainable, and leads to overpopulation and scarcity of resources. This partly pharisaic, but genuinely cautionary message certainly resonated with this business student.

Interestingly enough, Thomas Robert Malthus—the notable 18th century political economist inspiring the message of Urinetown—likely could not give a good account for the sustainability of something like the Charles Seller Foundation.

Artistic capital is remarkably easy to come by, and with few strings attached. And the goodwill of people can be seen as a near inexhaustible resource, if properly harvested. I’m making this pitch—this business pitch—because I believe the arts need more business students, and business students could use some more art. And fundamentally, perhaps the brilliant young people starting these multimillion-dollar companies aren’t all too different from Charlie and his friends, who started something 65 years ago.

The truth is, we’re all either headed to Urinetown, or waiting to get hit by a train. Profits aren’t sustainable, but ideas often are.

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

1. BLINK PLAYS FOR 9/11

Blink-182 usually brings to mind the perfect middle school soundtrack—emo cult favorites like “What’s My Age Again” and “Down.” But the punk rock band is more than just party staples and safety pins. Drummer Travis Barker and band mates Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge gave up precious time and money to play a tribute concert in NYC in honor of the 2013 Sept. 11 anniversary.

All proceeds from the concert were donated to hospitals including City of Hope and William Randolph Hearst Burn Center.

2. BURQA BOUNDARIES

In the fashion world, avant-garde ads are often lauded for being bold and pushing boundaries.

When the bold becomes offensive, however, it’s not so cool. Diesel’s latest ad features a Caucasian, heavily tattooed model wearing a burqa—and nothing else.

The fact that the model was photographed topless (the burqa covers her breasts) brings up a question of appropriateness: in an article for MTV Desi, Shruti Parekh called the ad “a nasty flaunting of privilege.”

4. CAMPAIGN DANGER

Anthony Weiner, the candidate who’s willing to bare it all, has yet again proven himself to be worthy of his reputation. On Tuesday night, porn star Sydney Leathers attended Weiner’s campaign party boasting surgically enhanced cleavage and wearing a promiscuous red dress. According to Leathers, it was her “duty” to be at the party. Of course, her “duty” was also to stand outside Weiner’s midtown campaign headquarters Tuesday afternoon telling people not to vote for Weiner. Perhaps the “perpetually horny” mayoral candidate still has a chance, somehow, by winning sympathy votes.

3. WE CAN’T STOP LEARNING

Miley Cyrus has been called a lot of things lately, but thus far, very few have considered her someone who can make you smarter. Recently, a British scientist claimed that listening to songs by Miley Cyrus and other pop artists can have a calming effect that increases one’s ability to think logically. Dr. Emma Gray believes that emotive pop songs “can produce a heightened state of excitement that is likely to enhance creative performance in subjects such as English, drama, and art.” New excuse to like the song “We Can’t Stop”?

5. IPHONE 5S RELEASE

When you buy your first Apple product, you essentially sell your soul for a pretty penny because it’s very hard to go back. Also, each shiny new iPhone boasts more superpowers than the last. On Tuesday, Apple, Inc. finally unveiled the latest iPhone 5. The iPhone 5S, and its cheaper counterpart, the iPhone 5C, will be available on Sept. 20. The 5S boasts a new color choice—gold—as well as a touch ID fingerprint authentication security feature and faster performance. The 5C is “unapologetically plastic” and will come in five colors.

THE EVOLUTION OF HIPSTER-DOM

@RIHANNA (RIHANNA, MUSICIAN)

“JUST LEFT THE STUDIO...

RECORDED A #MONSTER HOOK FOR ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS! AND THAT’S ALL I CAN GIVE YOU... #NAVYSHIT” PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES

The modern-day hipster has undergone a gradual evolution from the “scenesters,” “indie-kids,” and “emo-kids” of the early-mid 2000s.

The Perks (and Problems) of Being A Hipster ALEX GAYNOR The modern-day “hipster” has undergone many evolutionary transformations throughout its short but dynamic history.

In fact, the hipster’s ancestry can be traced back to the dark ages of the early 2000s … back to the days of MySpace, iPod minis, emotional indie rock, and Hot Topic colored pants. I’m no Charles Darwin, but it can be deduced that the “scenesters,” “indie-kids,” and modern-day hipsters can all find a common ancestor in the self-titled “emo-kids” of the early 2000s. The common bond in all of these group labels is a general distaste for the mainstream, along with knowledge of the passing trends.

Being trendy in today’s culture seems to have multiple implications and various routes that one can take. It could be possible, however, that through galvanizing efforts to oppose the conventional culture, people belonging to this alleged label are actually just buying into an entirely new lifestyle that has recently become more mainstream.

The year is 2003. You’re sitting alone in your room listening to the new Bright Eyes album that you just bought for your new iPod Mini. You’re not sure why you’re supposed to feel melancholic, but the music you’ve been listening to makes you feel like you’re missing out on something.

You’re soon on your way to the hairdresser to get a new cut that hides your eyes under a curtain of layered bangs and later you may go spend the evening at a coffee shop. You hate listening to popular

music—who is Eminem anyway?—and you consider yourself to be different from your peers, except those who have a hankering for Eliot Smith and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

It’s now 2006 and you’re frantically updating your MySpace page. Your new lime-green skinny jeans from Hot Topic currently look great with your checkered Vans. You’re all about concert festivals these days and can’t wait to go see your favorite band All Time Low at Warped Tour next weekend. You may dye your hair black next week just to further this look of non-conformity that you have going for you. Before the day is over, you will probably have taken about 15 more mirror pictures for your profile, as you definitely have to fit in with all other 50,000 of your closest MySpace friends.

Time rolls on and you trade in your Cobra Starship mix tapes for Vampire Weekend records and take a trip to the mall to purchase a few pairs of skinny jeans and a bunch of white tee shirts. Your mantra is “obscurity” and anyone who listens to Top 40 music or reads anything that isn’t by Chuck Palahniuk or Dave Eggers is not worth your time or conversation.

The years pass and you’re no longer this particular type of “indie kid” of the late 2000s, you’re a full-blown 2013 hipster.

Your friends may sport ironic mustaches, if you’re male you most likely have a beard, and your vinyl and vintage camera collection is out of control. You used to spend your weekends going to concerts of bands like Fleet Foxes and Arcade Fire but now even they are too popular for your image.

You must retreat “underground,” as the best bands are obviously the ones that nobody has heard of. You spend your break hours from your job at Starbucks perusing the shelves of Urban Outfitters, all the while still feeling like your cultural tastes are far superior to those of your peers.

What cultural trend erupted that led to this fast-paced evolution of people who oppose the commercial mainstream while also buying into it? While the cause may still be unknown, it is a fact that this general trajectory of people has formed a solidified American counterculture, even if it is one that is very similar to the mainstream in terms of consumption. Buying an overpriced pair of jeans at Urban Outfitters is no different than buying an overpriced jacket at J. Crew.

Dedicating yourself to the IFC really isn’t much different than being a diehard fan of The Bachelor. Attending Sasquatch Music Festival is hardly unlike going to Coachella. The lifestyle trends of those who claim to be “less mainstream” than the average 20-something reflect a pattern in the changing marketing and media tactics that companies attempt to sell to this target age. Through this, the culture of obscurity has become a culture of popularity. While the ways in which this particular group chooses to express itself have drastically changed, the cultural mindsets and attitudes have remained constant over a decade from the “emo-kid” to the hipster.

Alex Gaynor is an editor for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@ bcheights.com.

@FEMINISTTSWIFT (FEMINIST TAYLOR SWIFT, HUMOR ACCOUNT)

“THIRD-WAVE FEMINISM ISN’T A CONTRADICTION / THIS LIFE IS SWEETER THAN FICTION” @AARONPAUL_8 (AARON PAUL, ACTOR, ‘BREAKING BAD’)

“HEART WILL SPEED UP. BREATHING WILL SLOW DOWN. YOU WILL WANT TO LOOK AWAY BUT WON’T BE STRONG ENOUGH. THE WORST IS YET TO COME. #BREAKINGBAD” @JIMGAFFIGAN (JIM GAFFIGAN, COMEDIAN)

“THIS EATING MYSELF TO DEATH IS TAKING FOREVER.” @BRADBIRDA113 (BRAD BIRD, DIRECTOR, ‘THE INCREDIBLES’)

“IS IT MY IMAGINATION OR HAVE THEY BEEN ADVERTISING ANCHORMAN 2 FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS?” SUBMIT YOUR FAVORITE TWEETS OF THE WEEK FOR CONSIDERATION AT ARTS@ BCHEIGHTS.COM.

THE HEIGHTS

Thursday, September 12, 2013

B3

dynamic duos

Whether in movies, sports, or television, there is something extremely satisfying about a superstar team-up, where two artists at the top of their game play off of each other in offbeat and unexpected ways. Modern music is especially dependent on the art of collaboration, with rappers and pop stars frequently showing up on their colleagues’ albums to drum up buzz and show off their diverse musical talents. This week, The Scene looks at several musical odd couples, artists whose unlikely collaborations cast their work in a decidedly new light—though not always a positive one. From Paul McCartney appearing with the Italian dancepunk group The Bloody Beetroots to the triumphant duo of Kanye West and Justin Vernon, we’ve got it all: the good, bad, and just plain odd of modern musical duos.

BY: SEAN KEELEY | ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR, ARIANA IGNERI | ASSOC. ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR, AND JOHN WILEY | ASST. ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR

BEST

Kanye West & Justin Vernon

No one can ever predict Kanye West’s next move—but even so, his decision to bring on Justin Vernon as a collaborator on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was rather surprising. What was Kanye doing with the balladeer from Bon Iver, a band known for weepy, wispy indie folk? But Kanye proved the doubters wrong, using Vernon’s auto-tuned falsetto to open “Monster” with an appropriately creepy vibe and lend an ethereal quality to “Lost in the World.” The unlikely duo came together again for West’s latest album, Yeezus.

Vernon’s delicate falsetto voice weirdly compliments West’s minimalist electronic soundscapes and aggressive, often disturbing lyrics on three tracks: “I Am A God,” “I’m In It,” and “Hold My Liquor.” In an interview with Pitchfork, Vernon elaborated on his relationship with Kanye, saying, “I get along with Kanye really well and I think his musical decisions are exquisite. He feels otherworldly—he talks about being a god and shit, and his confidence in himself is inspiring. But at the end of the day, he’s a musician working in the lab. We have fun.” –S.K.

Justin Timberlake & Jay Z Jay Z and Justin Timberlake are two of the biggest names in music right now, but put these icons together—as friends or even as collaborators—and you’ve got something else entirely, something that’s little short of legendary. Recently, the pair has worked together on a number of varying projects, from record tracks to on-stage performances.

Timberlake’s highly successful 2013 release of The 20/20 Experience Experience, for example, led with the suave, retro, R&B single “Suit & Tie,” showcasing the two collaborating with seamless effort—Jay Z’s bold rap cut complements Timberlake’s smooth falsetto perfectly. Part II of Timberlake’s record, set to come out later this month, will feature another cooperative project: the song is titled “Murder.” And lastly, Timberlake lent Jay Z his vocals for the track “Holy Grail,” off of his album Magna Carta… Holy Grail Grail, which came out this past summer. Their relationship, however, extends beyond a couple of in-studio recording sessions—the duo united for a sell out, nationwide tour last season, and they even performed together for the 55th annual Grammys. –A.I.

Eddie Murphy & Snoop Lion So Eddie Murphy and Snoop Lion walk into a recording studio—no, this is not the setup for a joke. The semi-retired actor—notable for his work in a lot of bad films, Dreamgirls Dreamgirls, and the however many Shrek movies that have come to pass—joined together with the rapper—formerly known as Snoop Dogg, but now a self-proclaimed reincarnation of Bob Marley—to record the reggae single “Red Light,” the first off an album Murphy expects to release next year. This is not a test. This is not a drill. The premise here is too absurd to make up. But even more extraordinary than the circumstances under which “Red Light” came together is how respectable, and dare I say good, the track turned out to be. Perhaps in 2013 this doesn’t mean all too much, but it’s one of the most compelling works in reggae genre this year. Its timely treatment of issues such as race relations, privacy rights, and economic welfare add poignancy to Murphy’s surprisingly crisp, vibrant vocal performance—the reggae genre seemingly resonates well with the concerns of our time. In addition to Murphy’s surprising work, Snoop Lion shows noticeable growth as an artist on “Red Light,” following the June release of Reincarnated Reincarnated, his narcotics-inspired reggae album. Murphy and Lion have proven themselves another fantastically unlikely and unexpectedly fantastic musical duo. –J.W.

Pink & Nate Ruess This year’s chart-topping hit “Just Give Me A Reason” is the third single off of Pink’s sixth studio release, The Truth About Love..

Though her songs, for the past decade, have been well-received in and of themselves, Pink’s most recent one became her fourth No. 1 single ever, largely in part to her slightly unexpected yet brilliant duet with fun.’s lead singer Nate Ruess. Appealing to fans of Pink and fun. alike, the piano pop-ballad is layered with sincere, vulnerable vocal performances from both artists. The pair worked so well together that they even won the 2013 MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration against dynamic acts like Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, Pitbull and Christina Aguilera, Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, and Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell.

Though there is no word concerning a future joint project from Pink and Ruess at the moment, there’s enough promise in the success of “Just Give Me A Reason” for people to keep on hoping. –A.I.

The Bloody Beetroots & Paul McCartney In 1964, the world entire seemingly was watching as Paul McCartney, along with the three other Beatles, performed on The Ed Sullivan Show,, marking the beginning of the British Invasion and the respective Beatlemania. Nearly 50 years later, McCartney can navigate the musical universe a bit more discretely, picking some interesting, lower key projects. One of the most overlooked tracks of the year is “Out of Sight,” a collaboration between McCartney and The Bloody Beetroots, an Italian electro house and dance-punk duo. The former Beatle sings—and screams—over driving synthesizers and Dubstep drops in a project transcending both generation and genre. Surprisingly, McCartney’s vocals prove far more than serviceable, and often well suited, to the edgy, experimental sound of The Bloody Beetroots. The single adopts a sound in the nature of alternative acts like MGMT and Daft Punk, juxtaposing a youth choir with raging synth textures.

The Bloody Beetroots sophomore album Hide is expected for release next week, and McCartney’s latest solo project New is expected Oct. 14—while they might be catering to a very different aesthetic in their solo work, the collaboration of these two artists again proves a fluidity in musical spheres, that projects like Yeezus and Random Access Memories similarly sought to prove this summer. – J.W.

Brad Paisley & LL Cool J If there is one modern song that could single-handedly embody the worst of musical collaboration, surely it is “Accidental Racist.” This is a song so bad, so stunningly ill-conceived, that it actually sounds like a parody of itself. You can’t fault Brad Paisley and LL Cool J for not being ambitious—in the course of six minutes, they try to merge country and hip-hop and (a slightly harder task) purge America of racism. Needless to say, both efforts fail spectacularly. On a musical level, the song is a paragon of mediocrity, filled with sleepy guitar licks and half-hearted stabs at hip-hop beats. But it’s the lyrics that truly set “Accidental Racist” apart. Whether it’s Paisley singing that the Confederate flag on his T-shirt “is like the elephant in the corner of the South” or LL Cool J yelling “The relationship between the Mason-Dixon needs some fixin’” the song is filled with lines at once hilarious and cringe-worthy. My personal favorite comes when LL Cool J raps, “If you don’t judge my gold chains / I’ll forget the iron chains.” That’s right, LL Cool J will forget the entire history of American slavery if you don’t judge his fashion decisions. Isn’t progress lovely? —S.K.

worst IF WE HAD OUR WAY... the editors pick their dream collaborations Sean’s pick Jack White & Tom Waits

Cross-generational collaborations are always a fascinating thing to behold. Blues-rock superstar Jack White has often taken advantage of this fact, appearing on stage with Bob Dylan and producing records for older music legends like Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson. Yet White has never worked with Tom Waits, the rock star with whom his sensibilities most align. Both Waits and White are grizzled bluesmen with powerful, unconventional voices, outlandish public personas and a penchant for stretching blues formulas into genre-bending territory. White’s high-pitched shriek joined with Waits’s gravelly growl could be an electrifying combination. Seriously, Jack and Tom: write a song, cut an album, go on tour, but do something together—and make White-Waits happen.

Ariana’s pick Lana Del Rey & Lady Gaga Being fairly independent when it comes to their musical careers, female pop-powerhouses Lana Del Rey and Lady Gaga have both released a number of sensational hits on their own. Neither, however, has released much when it comes to collaboration (though there have been rumors that Lana will be featured on Gaga’s upcoming ARTPOP). The two have incredibly idiosyncratic styles, both in the music they produce and in the personal personas they present, but I think a joint effort would actually benefit from these distinct eccentricities. As a team, I think Lana and Gaga could create something that’s retro and edgy, vocally stunning in terms of range, and altogether unique. Also, I bet they’d have a mindblowing music video…

John’s pick Childish Gambino & Daft Punk

Donald Glover, the Community star and up-and-coming rapper under the pseudonym Childish Gambino, has been releasing new experimental content very cryptically over the summer. With the timeframe and nature of his next album still indefinite, there’s room for speculation, certainly so far as any collaborations on it might go. While Gambino has received much acclaim on his verses, his most recent mix-tape Royalty was wanting so far as production quality goes. With Daft Punk contributing heavily in the production of Kanye West’s most recent album, the avenues are certainly open for them to produce on other hip-hop albums. Pairing Gambino and Daft Punk would put together two of the most exciting experimental artists in the industry in the same studio, and would be a coup d’etat in the hip-hop and electric genres.

THE HEIGHTS

B4

Thursday, September 12, 2013

KEELEY’S CORNER

NETFLIX NEXUS BY RYAN DOWD

Deschanel is the new girl next door for our generation Twelve years later: is it still too soon?

TITLE: New Girl YEAR: 2011

CREATED BY: Elizabeth Meriwether

STARRING: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson WHY: With its relatable characters and its clever sense of humor, Fox’s New Girl is relevant, resonating with young viewers.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FOX

Television is littered with 22-minute programs that fit the nearly all-encompassing definition of sitcom (situational comedy). But every decade or so, there is one sitcom that raises the bar a little higher and captures the collective devotion of a generation. It’s the show with such realistic characters you begin to think they really do exist. It’s the show you watch over and over again.

In the ’80s, Cheers (also available on Netflix) perfected the “Will they or won’t they?” dynamic. Friends dominated the sitcom landscape from 1994-2004. In 2005, How I Met Your Mother (also available on Netflix) debuted and changed how sitcoms tell their stories.

HIMYM is now entering its ninth and final season but ceded its crown nearly two years ago. The crown now rests on the dark curls of Fox’s New Girl.

New Girl arrived in 2011 with some fanfare, presumably as a Zooey Deschanel vehicle. That presumption was soon vanquished. New Girl has become one of the best ensembles on television with Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, and Lamorne Morris providing not only most of the laughter but most of the heart. At its best, New Girl is about weird people doing weird things that we somehow, miraculously relate to. New Girl is our generation’s sitcom. 

FASHION FORWARD

What ever happened to Lady Gaga?

The pop icon’s bizzare fashion has become a parody of itself

THERESE TULLY What’s going on with Lady Gaga these days?

It’s a question I have not asked myself recently because, to be honest, I am tired of giving her so much time and attention. I would like to harken back to her days of singing “Boys, Boys, Boys,” and wearing disco ball-inspired leotards, looking futuristic and fresh. Her videos were fierce, fun, quirky, and a little provocative. The Fame was hot, and so was she with her platinum blonde hair bob and bedazzled shades. We all fell in love with her fashion sense, and a host of female performers followed in her larger-than-life steps.

But Gaga’s mix of pop and performance art, which was once sassy and fun, has recently gone to a place where her sartorial ridiculousness has begun to outshine her actual talent. It’s hard not to look at Lady Gaga’s fashion choices, both on and off the stage, and see how thin they wear, often literally as well as figuratively (I’m looking at you, clear plastic dress and lobster hat). I have always loved her for pushing the envelope, for being assertive and not taking herself too seriously. She screamed fun, flirty, and catchy to me in the days of yesteryear, but post-The Fame, it seems that Gaga’s fashion choices began to parody themselves.

No one can pull off a dress made out of plush Kermit the frog heads, I’m sorry Gaga, you just can’t. But we all laughed along, wondered how bad she smelled in that meat dress, and awed at how only she could make these things seem okay. She began to rock the boat that she had built on her sequins and spandex, and we were all along for the ride, but how far will she take us? When will she reduce herself to a mere laughingstock, left alone with her costumes, masks, and platform shoes?

This is not to say that all fashion is not some sort of mask that we try on for the day, or even the hour. Each piece, from Lululemon yoga pants to a Versace dress or a dress made out of plastic bubbles, says something about us. Performance costumes and pop stars are meant to attract the eye, and after donning so much glitter and glitz, maybe Gaga was looking for a new way to stay in the spotlight—although, her music should have been this outlet and her focus.

We do not wish to confine Gaga to her belted, hooded leotards, hair bows, and striking face paint of the past, but it seems that she plays with sarto-

rial ridiculousness for its own sake, and not for any larger purpose. Her persona is merely a joke in my eyes. Push the boundaries, be you, do what you have to do, I understand. But I don’t see any truth, or passion, behind Gaga’s increasingly zany looks.

Stilt shoes so high that she is essentially paralyzed and needs to be carried from place to place? I have to think maybe she is just a little tired of walking, and maybe I’m just a little tired of watching.

It’s hard not to look at pictures of her, and wonder if she is laughing at all of us. If she is asking herself how she hoodwinked us all to such an extent that we have escalated someone wearing dresses made out of fake purple hair (to the airport no less) to such a level of stardom. Does she have us all fooled? It’s even difficult to talk about her particular outfits without using the event in question as reference, because most of them defy explanation. Words like “braided hair,” “lace face mask,” and “tiered wedding cake dress” don’t begin to explain the garments or the feelings.

Drama, sass, fearless fashion, yes—but when Gaga’s fashion started overshadowing her singing, that’s when I lost interest. I don’t think that Gaga’s most recent work has been anywhere as good as her older work, but this isn’t a music column after all and I’ll keep those opinions mostly to myself.

For Gaga the ridiculousness has taken center stage, and I am no longer buying it.

I know that performers function in a different fashion space than most of us, and I know that Lady Gaga isn’t going to wear a J. Crew dress on stage at her next concert, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to see her in something paired down and simple, and let her voice do some of the talking for a change? I wouldn’t want her to lose the essence of her character, Lady Gaga, but I want Gaga to remove some of the fully-covered lace face masks and be seen! She needs to remain accessible to the fans that loved her for stepping outside the box in the first place.

At some point, will others tire of her antics and leave her applauding herself? Or is Gaga such an international and cultural phenomenon that she will be around well into her 80s concocting newer and more ridiculous ensembles than ever? I have to believe that Chris March from season four of Project Runway and others just like him will be ready and willing to outfit the person(a) that is Gaga, in shocking ensembles for as long as they all shall live. Though I hate to say I will be following along, I’m sure I will stumble upon her for years to come, as she thinks up something else ridiculous and I yearn for the days of “Poker Face,” and rhinestone gloves.

Therese Tully is a senior staff columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@ bcheights.com.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES

An icon both in the music and fashion realms, Lady Gaga has been pushing the limits ever since her first album release, ‘The Fame.’

With her most recent sartorial choices, however, fans are beginning to wonder if she could have gone too far.

THIS WEEKEND in arts

BY: ARIANA IGNERI | ASSOCIATE ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

1. SHOWCASE SUPERLUX CINEMAS (ONGOING)

3. ACAPPELLAFEST (SATURDAY 9/14, 8:00 P.M.)

5. PULSE OF THE CITY EXHIBIT (ONGOING)

Located on Boylston Street in Chestnut Hill, the new Showcase Superlux Cinemas offers moviegoers a truly unique viewing experience, complete with reclining, leather seats and full dining menu selections. Show times and ticket options are available online.

Hosted by Boston College’s Acoustics, this year’s annual Acappellafest concert will feature performances by a number of on-campus singing groups.

Tickets can be purchased through Robsham, either at the theater or online, for $10, with all proceeds benefitting children of The Morgan Center.

2. AN EVENING WITH BOB & DAVID (FRIDAY 9/13, 7:30 P.M.)

4. MIXFEST 2013 (SATURDAY, 9/14 4:00 P.M.)

Pulse of the City is an interactive art installation dispersed throughout the streets of Boston. The heart-shaped pieces, created by artist George Zisiadis, are designed to detect and translate the heartbeats of pedestrians into musical melodies, conveying a link between health and art. The fixtures are being mounted in downtown and East Boston, Longwood, Roxbury, and Dorchester.

In support of their recently released book, writers and actors David Cross and Bob Odenkirk will be signing, touring, and performing throughout the fall. Their stand-up comedy show comes to the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre this Friday.

Tickets start at $39.50.

Acts including Gavin Degraw, Backstreet Boys, and Of Monsters and Men will be featured at Mixfest, a free, outdoor concert organized by Mix 104.1. The show will take place along the Charles River at the DCR Memorial Hatch Shell. Doors open at 1 p.m., and music begins at 4 p.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES

SEAN KEELEY “It’s too soon.”

Again and again, I remember those words echoing in the public discourse in 2006, a year that found the U.S. mourning the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks just as Hollywood released two films dramatizing that terrible September morning: United 93 and World Trade Center. Although both films were somber, respectful, and celebrated American heroism, the public outcry was vocal. It wasn’t either movie’s message that offended, it was their mere existence. For many Americans living in the aftermath of the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil—and all the geopolitical confusion and war that followed in its wake—it was simply too soon for Hollywood to be exploiting the tragedy.

Twelve years after 9/11, it seems to me that the “too soon” argument has largely lost its force. No American of our generation will ever forget where they were that Tuesday morning—it was an epochal moment for our country and we will likely be living under its repercussions for a very long time. Yet the outrage over cinematic depictions of 9/11 has gradually subsided, and its iconography has gradually and pervasively taken over our movies.

Of course, there are the obvious suspects: big awards movies like Zero Dark Thirty or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which make the events of 9/11 an essential part of their narratives. Zero Dark Thirty opens with an audio collage of real 9/11 distress calls set against a black screen—a sensitive way of depicting the attacks without subjecting the viewer to re-enactments or actual footage. The decade-long hunt for bin Laden that the film then details is framed as a response to that opening, a search for meaning and retribution following the national trauma of the attacks. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is about a more personal trauma, following a boy who lost his father in the attacks and who copes by trying to decipher a cryptic message he left behind—an investigation that leads him to the doors of many New Yorkers similarly reeling from loss.

Admittedly, I haven’t seen Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Still, there is something about the premise, the trailer, and the whole Oscar-seeking vibe of the enterprise that rubs me the wrong way. Same with Remember Me, the 2010 Robert Pattinson romantic drama that ends with its lead character being killed in the Twin Towers. I don’t think that movies should avoid confronting 9/11, but there is something undeniably offensive about using the event as a glorified plot twist to prop up a sub-par romance with cheaply earned tears.

And yet, despite my instinctual aversion to such films, I sat in a movie theater in May thoroughly enjoying Iron Man 3, another movie that digs up 9/11 imagery for similarly shameless ends. Though many popular blockbusters since 2001 have evoked 9/11 with images of burning cities and terrorism—think War of the Worlds or The Dark Knight—few have been so explicit as the latest Iron Man. The villain here is a vaguely Eastern-looking terrorist called The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who sports a beard straight from bin Laden and who creates grainy videos executing soldiers and lecturing U.S. leaders about imperialism. In a clever twist, it’s eventually revealed that The Mandarin is not a real person but a creation of the videos themselves, brought to life by a washed-out British actor to serve as the face of terrorism to frighten the world. Thus, in the world of Iron Man, the bin Laden stand-in is a laughing stock and terrorism is simply an illusion created to frighten us. It’s a reassuring message, wish fulfillment at its finest—just like the first Iron Man, in which everyone’s favorite Avenger uses American ingenuity and military power to defeat primitive, cave-dwelling Afghan terrorists.

I recognize the ways in which movies like Iron Man 3 exploit horrific images of 9/11 and the war on terror for slam-bang action entertainment, and yet somehow I can’t get too worked up about it. Maybe this makes me a hypocrite—in its own way, isn’t Iron Man just as exploitative as Remember Me? I can’t explain in any coherent way why one bothers me and the other doesn’t.

And ultimately, I don’t have the answers.

I don’t know what is the “right” way to depict 9/11 on film. Maybe there is no right way. Maybe it’s a subject that is simply too complicated and thorny and close to our experience to be touched by Hollywood in any meaningful way. Maybe it still is too soon.

But it’s never too late to ask these questions. And it’s never too late to take a step back and remind ourselves of what happened that day 12 years ago—a story of tragedy, pain, and heroism greater than any film could conceive.

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

Thursday, September 12, 2013

THE HEIGHTS

B5

Arctic Monkeys noticeably evolved on album ‘AM’ LUIZA JUSTUS Heights Staff

If the legendary single “Do I Wanna Know?” was any indication, it was obvious that the new Arctic Monkeys album AM was something to get excited for.

They released the album’s first track weeks before the whole thing came out, giving fans a little taste of what was to come.

Even though the single set the bar pretty high, the other 11 tracks do not fail to impress. They manage to maintain the band’s dirty, late-night style rock while still providing a fresh new set of favorites that will make any listener feel tough and confident when blasting the tunes.

One of the most notable aspects of the album is the prevailing intriguing, enigmatic mood that it carries throughout.

Sleazy guitars are only part of the ensembles that make each and every song feel like a different part of a blurry night. This hazy midnight vibe serves to create a sort of calm tension, tangible in tracks like “I Wanna Be Yours” and “One For The Road.”

Even though the album tends to focus on muffled guitar riffs, epic falsettos, and the Arctic Monkeys’ signature long verses, the style does vary as the album progresses. The track “No. 1 Party Anthem” is a slower, very mellow song despite what its name suggests. As track six, it serves to

divide the album in half, for the first few tracks carry a dark and ominous tone while the second half seems significantly lighter.

The track “Mad Sounds” is quite slow and provides relaxed vocals.

The second half of the album has a retro vibe that mixes in really well with the modern style of the instruments and the voice.

This juxtaposition is not only pleasing but interesting to listen to with some vocal harmonies that fit very well with the overall energy.

The reason this album is so impressive is that it is easy to sense a real growth for the band. There is confidence in every note, and their identity is maintained exceptionally well, while still sounding miles away from previous cheerful hits like “Fluorescent Adolescent.”

There is definitely a prevalent theme in the lyrics as well. Singer Alex Turner seems lovesick in the most brutal way, as he confesses the frustrations and realities of a love that doesn’t seem to go forward. In “Do I Wanna Know?” he expresses a frustrating inability to stop thinking about someone who does not seem to be responding and the feeling of desperation that comes when the evening hits. He sings, “Crawling back to you / Ever thought of calling when you’ve had a few? / ‘Cause I always do.” This same theme comes back later in the album during the track titled

CHART TOPPERS TOP SINGLES

1 Roar Katy Perry 2 Blurred Lines Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell 3 Berzerk Eminem 4 We Can’t Stop Miley Cyrus 5 Holy Grail Jay Z feat. Justin Timberlake 6 Applause Lady Gaga 7 Wake Me Up! Avicii

AM ARCTIC MONKEYS PRODUCED BY DOMINO RELEASED SEP. 6, 2013 OUR RATING A-

PHOTO COURTESY OF DOMINO

A confident, cool, and progressive sound sets the Artic Monkeys’ ‘AM’ up to be one of the year’s strongest records.

“Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” The fact that there are three songs with questions as titles is reflective of the doubts and worries that go through the mind of someone who is pining, longing, yearning, but doesn’t have the faintest idea of how to stop.

“R U Mine?” has a quickpaced, aggressive mood to it.

The low-pitched guitars are similar to those in “Do I Wanna Know?” and make the song

progress into a fun, upbeat song that could easily become a rock classic. The chorus is nothing but the repetition of the words “are you mine?” over and over again, touching on that same theme of the absolutely endless confusion that is a human love life. The fact that the title uses abbreviations for the words “are” and “you” could indicate that the song focuses on issues recurrent among the young, as they try to find out who they are and who is

right for them.

This album is worth every second you spend listening to it.

The mix of two different moods, the reflections on love, and the depiction of the confusion and dissatisfaction that comes with youth can speak to absolutely anyone. One line in the first track summarizes the idea that encompasses the album: “Baby we both know that the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can’t say tomorrow day.” 

TOP ALBUMS

1 Hail To The King Avenged Sevenfold 2 Crash My Party Luke Bryan 3 Hall Of Fame Big Sean 4 Stay Trippy Juicy J 5 Blurred Lines Robin Thicke Source: Billboard.com

Earth, Wind & Fire are elementally strong, but overproduced

BY PHOEBE FICO For The Heights The musical group that Rolling Stone magazine once cited as “changing the sound of black pop,” Earth, Wind & Fire, is back with their first album of new

music in eight years, titled, Now, Then & Forever.

With a title that seems to encompass and sound like every era of their career, Earth, Wind and Fire, named after three of the four classical elements, finally seem to bring its name to life.

Firstly there is the earth, which is present in the musicianship and instrumentation of the album, as they go back to their roots of what made them popular in the first place: smooth, jazz-infused R&B that recalls the sound of their heyday in the ’70s, the decade that

NOW, THEN & FOREVER EARTH, WIND & FIRE PRODUCED BY LEGACY RECORDINGS RELEASED SEP. 6, 2013 OUR RATING BPHOTO COURTESY OF LEGACY RECORDINGS

Earth, Wind & Fire stay true to their roots, creating a sonically impressive album, but it ultimately burns out.

gave them such hits as the classic “September” in 1978. Now, Then & Forever is held upright by the rich soils of Earth, Wind & Fire’s extensive career.

The first branch that they grow in this mystical music tree is their classic horns section, which is as lively and vibrant as it was on those ’70s hits. Whether it be supporting a song about the injustices that are still present in the world today, the opening track called “Sign On” or a simple sound about love (although with this group, a simple song is never simple) on “Love is Law,” the horns section gives the songs a bouncy, funky feel that helps distinguish them from the often inhuman sounding electronic music that is standard of pop radio nowadays.

It is not only their horn section that sets them apart from the repetitive, electronic dance music, but their whole instrumentation. From the small addition of the rolling African drums at the beginning of “Love is Law” to the ones that dance through

the bridge of “My Promise,” the album’s first single. But the most shocking track is “Belo Horizonte,” for the sheer fact that it is all instrumental. It boasts Spanish guitar, marimbas and, if you listen close enough, a Donna Summers’s “Bad Girl”esque whistle blowing in the background.

While their instrumentation is excellent, it can sometimes get out of hand, as on the trying-toohard-to-appeal-to-young-people track “Dance Floor.” Another thing that can often be excessive is their use of the next element, wind.

Before this album, the vocals in Earth, Wind & Fire were always shared by founding members’ Philip Bailey’s heavenly falsetto and Maurice White’s enriching tenor. This is the first album, however, that they have done without White and thus, Bailey’s falsetto permeates throughout the record. While at times astonishing and awe-inspiring, it can also get overwhelming, as Bailey goes for extended high note riffs

on back-to-back songs, “Guiding Lights” and “Got To Be Love.” In addition to Bailey’s overzealous vocals, the overpowering background vocals (which don’t stay in the background most of the time) can detract from the true message and structure of the song.

Lastly comes the fire, which there does not seem to be much of, as every song’s sound is so polished by the production to seem as though it has been brushed over like a new violin with 15 coats of varnish. As a result, all the passion that should be present in an R&B record is not there.

This could also be due to the absence of White, who produced most of the band’s major hits in the past.

While Earth, Wind & Fire have crafted 10 songs that hail back to their “innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing” sound that Rolling Stone praised them for in the past, their immaculate instrumentation only seems to cover up the fact that they forget their most important element—the fire. 

New 2 Chainz album misses the ‘B.O.A.T.’ and drowns at sea

BY MATT MAZZARI Heights Staff Nearly two years have passed since 2 Chainz, Grammy-nominated rapper and acronym-enthusiast, released Based on a T.R.U. Story. The suspicious stain it left on the music industry’s TV-room sofa was only just beginning to fade. Now he’s back with B.O.A.T.S. II: #MeTime, and, boy, it’s really S.O.M.E.T.H.I.N.G. This 17-track odyssey of incompetence is not only an unlistenable train-wreck of disorganized, un-engaging, criminally-generic sound, but also frequently gives the impression that 2 Chainz goes into the studio after recording and actively tries to sabotage himself.

Ironically, each track lists its producer’s name in parentheses next to the title, even though the album displays some of the laziest producing since Phil Spector recorded himself for 40 minutes on the toilet by accident. Also, why does each song have its own producer? Did all of them just quit after producing one?

All of this leads me to believe that 2 Chainz wasn’t actually present for most of the recording, then showed up at the studio four months late with Cheeto dust all over his shirt demanding to be part of the project. He proceeded to destroy what the producers had meticulously crafted in his absence with incomprehensible machismo and an insistence on cheesy Muzac overdubs.

Let’s have a look at some of the songs, shall we? If you aren’t immediately put off by the bizarre, out-of-place spoken-word intro on “Forks,” just give it a few more seconds: 2 Chainz personally delivers the pain with a grating “skurt!” noise, like the mating call of some inbred Bird of Paradise.

The rare “Brd o 2adize,” perhaps.

The next song, “36,” is mercifully short. It’s about 2 Chainz selling crack out of his apartment before he got his start, and, surprise! He’s insufferably smug about it. Then we reach the LP’s single-release, “Fed’s Watching (feat. Pharrell),” wherein the beat is uninspired, the synth loop falls flat, and we get

this gem: “I’m known to kick it like the captain of a soccer team.”

I just love the idea of 2 Chainz wracking his brain for a simile that accurately describes how well he kicks it: “Who kicks things ... ah yes, soccer players! They kick a ball! Then I’m like the captain.

He kicks the ball the best!” Then I imagine he called his producers, but they didn’t pick up because they were cowering from the phones in terror, so he decided to take a nap.

Most of the songs are just what you’d expect from 2 Chainz.

Drake, Lil Wayne, and T-Pain come in to do their usual shtick, and every refrain takes a very similar tone and cadence. It’s the familiar “Screw the haters, I’m the best and I do drugs!” spiel, chanted in aggressive monotone by three to four totally-self-assured dudes telling you about how much more money and sex they have than you. The album is pretty much barren creatively.

Every so often there’ll arise a striking tagline for the money/sex motif: for instance, on “Netflix

(feat. Fergie),” the chorus says he wants to “record a sex-tape and put it on Netflix,” which I guess is a pretty unique request.

That, plus an unexpected spoken-sermon opening on “U the Realest” (an attempt at claiming gospel roots, perhaps?) and a slam-poetry knock-off on “Black

Unicorn” are really the only standout moments. The rest is pretty standard tripe.

It’s also rather ironic that the album title advertises 2 Chainz’ #MeTime when the track list is so cluttered with collaborating artists and producers. The album is a perfect example of what

happens when there’s no unified creative force driving the project and no real cohesion going on between the writing, recording, and engineering staff. What you wind up with is factory-generated pop-music, redundant and impotent lyrics, and a laughably bad follow-up LP. 

B.O.A.T.S. II: #METIME 2 CHAINZ PRODUCED BY DEF JAM RELEASED SEP. 9, 2013 OUR RATING F

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEF JAM

2 Chainz’ sound is choked by his redundancy and incohesiveness on his dull sophomore effort ‘B.O.A.T.S. II.”

SINGLE REVIEWS BY LUIZA JUSTUS Zedd feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore “Stay the Night” Reflecting Zedd’s undying energy, “Stay the Night” combines the DJ’s electric zest with Hayley Williams’ unmistakable rock voicals. Suitable for the club, party, or just to get you going, this driven anthem will get you singing along right from the start—be it because it’s so catchy, or because the lyrics loop around so repetitively. Either way, an enjoyable experience is at hand.

Portugal. The Man “Purple Yellow Red & Blue” What a great new song by Foster the People! Wait, it’s not? This alternative rock tune has all the elements of typical 2010 indie rock. Between soft, highpitched vocals and groovy guitar and piano combos, this single is the epitome of “chill” music with a soft electronic edge.

Coldplay “Atlas” (from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack) It’s a good thing this song is part of the soundtrack for an anticipated film and is not expected to stand on its own. Chris Martin’s extended groans can hardly be considered melodious and the progression is simply anticlimactic. This song is best compared to a failed rocket launch—it never takes off, fails to entertain, and is an absolute disenchantment.

B6

The Heights

Thursday, September 12, 2013

THE HEIGHTS

Thursday, September 12, 2013

B7

THIS WEEK IN...

BY RYAN TOWEY | ASST METRO EDITOR

ARTS POLITICS L aug h B o ston, a new comedy club located in Boston’s Seaport District in the Westin Seaport Waterfront Hotel, will officially open on Sept. 21, but invites comedy lovers to enjoy free comedy previews on Sept. 13 and 14.

Two of Laugh Boston’s three owners, Chet Harding and Norm Laviolette, are both co-founders of Improv Asylum. A third owner, John Tobin, owns Theatre District Productions, a live comedy production company. The three owners, according to their website, hope that Laugh Boston will fill a gap in Boston’s comedy scene, which the owners feel is in need of a mid-range club.

Featured comedians this weekend will include Kelly MacFarland and Jimmy Dunn. Laugh Boston will seat 300, and will host stand-up shows every Wednesday through Saturday.

Governor Deval Patrick criticized the state’s new tech tax on Tuesday. The tax forces small software businesses to charge customers a sales tax. The tax is scheduled to be added to customers’ bills on Sept. 20, but Patrick is calling for the repeal of the law.

Legislators hoped the tax would bring in revenue to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure, but many businesses felt the tax would be debilitating to their businesses, causing many software business owners to call for its repeal. According to Boston Magazine, Patrick fears that the law will make Massachusetts a state that appears unfriendly to the innovation industry.

Now, Patrick hopes that legislators will repeal the tech tax and work together to find another way to meet revenue needs for the state’s infrastructure.

THE RED LINE

BUSINESS

STEALING MUSICAL HEARTS

This Sunday, Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville will join forces to give people a trip along the Red Line in an event called the “Red Line Ride,” organized

by OneIn3 Boston, Cambriville Connects, and Somerville officials.

Similar to a pub crawl, attendees will hit a series of hotspots. According to the event’s Facebook page, “the day-long event will span all three cities highlighting local businesses, organizations and activities.

From lawn games and bike rides, to cupcake decorating and dumplings, there is something for everyone.” The event will begin at the South Station stop on the Red Line at noon, when there will be music and food. The day will end at 4 p.m. in Davis Square in Somerville, where there will be a chance to win tickets to Harvest Fest and to grab giveaways at the end of the day. Other stops along the Red Line will include Downtown Crossing and Kendall Square.

A court complaint was filed on Sept. 9 that shows that the North Andover-based Converse is suing the Jamaica Plain-based Autonomie Project for producing its own eco-friendly version of Converse’s popular, black and white Chuck Taylor shoe design. Converse complains that the Autonomie Project has created shows called “Ethletic High Tops” that steal the sole, stitching, and look for Converse’s Chuck Taylor shoes. According to Boston Magazine, Converse sent a cease and desist letter in 2012.

Despite this, the products remained on Autonomie’s website. According to the court complaint from Converse, the company asserts that it “owns common law and federal trademark rights in the appearance of the outsole, midsole, and upper designs commonly used in connection with Converse’s Chuck Taylor All Star shoes.” Converse wants the Autonomie products to be destroyed and hopes to recover Autonomie’s profits.

One of the “Pulse of the City” art installations, which were put in place less than a week ago, was stolen, and another was destroyed. The art pieces, designed

by Harvard grad and San Franciscobased artist George Zisiadis, are heart shaped structures designed to play music to the beat of a pulse when someone touches the art pieces. The heart erected in the North End was stolen on Saturday morning. “We have already started remedying the situation,” said Zisiadis, according to Boston Magazine.

“We created the pieces to give joy to the city of Boston, and the public, and that’s the response we have been seeing.” Zisiadis said that the group of artists who worked on the hearts will do “structural welding along the base of the connection” of all of the pieces, and that the hearts should be replaced in the next two weeks.

‘Boston Strong’ license plate in works Purchase of the license plates will benefit One Fund for bombing victims

BY MAGGIE MARETZ For The Heights After the tragic bombings that took place at the Boston Marathon, the city’s new unofficial slogan and rallying cry, “Boston Strong,” has since appeared on tshirts, hats, posters, billboards, and much more.

Now, nearly five months later, the motto may find a place on the official license plates of the state of Massachusetts as well.

The bill that outlines the implementation of the new plates, sponsored by State Representative Angelo Puppolo, states that they would include the words “Boston Strong,” and would cost at least $50 more than it presently costs motor vehicle owners to register their cars every two years, with a portion of the proceeds going toward assisting the victims of the Marathon Bombings.

As the spokeswoman for the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Sara Lavoie, explains, a fraction of this payment would go toward the cost of making the plate—about $12—while the remainder of the proceeds would go to The One Fund Boston.

The fund is an organization founded by Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino on April 16, 2013 following the bombings in an effort to raise money to aid for the victims—three killed and 260 injured—as well as their families.

At the time of the chaos following the events of the marathon, Patrick said, “The One Fund Boston will act as a central fund to receive much needed financial support … At moments like this, we are one state, one city, one people.”

Immediately following the events of the marathon, the victims experienced an outpouring of monetary as well as emotional support. Puppolo and other proponents of the “Boston Strong” license plates bill hope that the proposed legislation, though criticized

for being costly, will receive avid support of the same nature.

Puppolo, who is among 60 legislators to have signed on as a sponsor of the bill, says he sees the new plates as “another way for people to show their support and continue to remember.”

Like many license plates with partial proceeds going toward charity, such as those dedicated to breast cancer or animal welfare, the plates would be significantly more expensive than regular plates would typically cost.

One provision of the bill, however, states that the license plates will be issued at no cost to any parent,

“The Boston Strong license plates...would be one more way to honor the victims and their families.”

—State Rep. Angelo Puppolo child, sibling, or spouse of those either killed or severely injured in the bombings.

The bill was scheduled for a hearing with the Joint Committee on Transportation this past Tuesday.

While news of the hearing has yet to be released, the bill must pass in both the House of Representatives as well as the State Senate before it can be signed into law by Patrick.

“The Boston Strong license plate would give the citizens of the Commonwealth the opportunity to contribute to financial support to those who were impacted by this tragedy,” Puppolo said. “In addition, Boston Strong license plates on vehicles throughout Massachusetts and wherever their owners travel would be one more way to honor the victims and their families, and let them know that they will not be forgotten.” 

HOUSE AD

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Cleveland Circle’s freshest eats

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE REAL DEAL DELI

BY SAMANTHA CONSTANZO Heights Editor

Real Deal Deli might just be the best thing to happen to Cleveland Circle since Fin’s. The brand new restaurant is a short stroll away from campus, and it’s definitely worth the walk.

Real Deal’s bright interior is welcoming and adds a splash of modern aesthetic to the area.

You can tuck yourself into a small table on the sides of the restaurant, bring a big group and take over the tall table in the middle, or people- watch at the bar-style seating by the front window. On warm days, the window usually gets opened up to let some sunshine in and some of Real Deal’s pop-heavy soundtrack stream out.

When it comes to food, Real Deal prides itself on serving fresh and innovative food. There are plenty of options for lunch and dinner, from paninis and salads to half-pound Monster Burgers with Sriracha mayo. I ordered a Cuban sandwich the first time I went to Real Deal, and that was more than enough to bring me back for more. It was warm, crunchy, perfectly melty, and with a surprising spiciness from the whole grain mustard.

The french fries I ordered on the side were piping hot and still had the skin on them.

Pizzas, another Real Deal specialty, come in anything from the traditional margherita to ranch chicken, eggplant and red peppers, or pulled pork.

You can even customize your own pie with a variety of other uncommon toppings.

Real Deal also offers seasonal specials, and if you stop by in the next few weeks you can still enjoy a last taste of summer. Options like the watermelon and feta salad with lime vinaigrette and jerk turkey panini with avocados and pineapple salsa will whisk you right back to the beach if classes are already bringing you down.

A typical meal at Real Deal will run you about $10, which is fairly reasonable for a college kid’s budget. You can also sign up for their rewards program, which offers a point for every dollar you spend most days of the week. You can get double points on Mondays and Tuesdays and triple points on Wednesdays, then redeem them all for gift certificates. The program is a fantastic deal for anyone, and with these menu options, you’ll rack them up in no time.

Real Deal Deli provides a relaxing atmosphere, friendly service, and menu options for just about any mood. With reasonable prices and a prime location, you might have just found your newest off-campus haunt.

The Heights

B8

Bookish Bostonian

Through another’s point of view

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Food, music, and art featured at open market Open Markets, from B10 products at the market are many skilled locals from all over the Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville areas. Vendors include Fifth & Madison, a Bostonbased boutique that sells handmade, all-natural candles and lotion, as well as Botanical Spirits, which encourages the use of its hair care products in lieu of regular soaps. Crafts exuding a classic Boston vibe can be found at a booth operated by Steven Beaucher, owner and cofounder of WardMaps LLC, Boston Coastesr, and MBTA gifts, where he

sells products made with antique maps and Boston transit memorabilia. Joining Beaucher as newcomers to the lineup of vendors at the open market are environmentally conscious Be-Spoked Urban Bike Wear and Nora Miller Jewelry of Somerville. For more worldly-style crafts, there is a booth run by Carmine Mutascio of Camu Imports LLC, who voyages all the way to Thailand and Laos to buy jewelry directly from the artists who make in on the spot at small markets.

In addition to the expanse of artwork, crafts, and mobile boutiques present at

the new open market are several food trucks, establishing the recent mobile food trend in the Cambridge area.

Trucks participating in the SoWa market will make an appearance in Cambridge as well. Make sure to look for the bright yellow Bon Me truck for Vietnamese-style cuisine, or the highly praised Roxy’s Grilled Cheese truck.

Along the line of trucks, anything from crepes to bacon, or lobster to fro-yo, to name a few, can be found with crowds swarming to get a taste of the action.

After hearing about the debut of a SoWa-style open market in Cambridge,

some people commenting online at bostonmagazine.com have suggested that visitor turnout would be higher if the Cambridge market was open on Saturdays instead of Fridays, or at least open later into the evening so that those who work outside of the Harvard Square area can still have time to make a stop at the market at the end of the work day.

On the other hand, transportation and travel is expected to be far more convenient than making the journey to SoWa, as the Plaza location allows visitors to arrive directly from the T instead of inducing any parking hassles. n

Ryan Towey The hipsters really came out to play at the Boston Calling Music Festival this past Saturday. (Note: this is not another insignificant article that obsessively updates its readers on where hipsters are living, as if it mattered and as if we did not know.)

With that said, I myself did not look like one of the hipsters at Boston Calling, because I was wearing a blue Under Armor t-shirt and black Under Armor sneakers, providing me with such a low level of cool that even the 55-year-old man that is my conscience was cringing. But what one has to understand about me is that I’m the kind of guy that just recently found out cargo shorts are no longer cool—and apparently never were—but still hoards two pairs of them in my dorm room closet on the off chance that I need them. I’m the kind of guy that used to get up for breakfast in the morning only to have my mother and sister force me to turn around because I “don’t match.”

And so, despite the fact that many of the people around me at the musical festival looked like the love-children of a beatnik and Janis Joplin, I was the one who looked out of place.

As I worked my way into the crowd, I felt my usual bout of undue, unimportant self-consciousness.

But then I saw a woman near the stage, hired to translate the songs performed by the bands into sign language for the crowd to see. This was no empty translation—this woman’s body and facial expressions were feeling the words flowing out of her hands for those that could not hear.

I tried to imagine how someone who is deaf would experience a music festival. Certainly, he would pay attention to the woman performing sign language, perhaps paying more attention to the actual lyrics than those exposed to the entire composition of a song would. Perhaps he would feel the vibrations of a heavy bass, growing upward from his feet and into his throat. And he would watch the rising and falling hands of his fellow music fans, the motion as the whole crowd moves up and down, mirroring the motions of an exultant frontman.

He would be aware of the whole crowd, not just himself, and certainly not just me—and though I had no real way of knowing how a deaf person experiences a concert, my experience felt suddenly not so different from someone who cannot actually hear the music. I was just part of the crowd, enjoying the motions, especially as darkness fell and the lights of the buildings surrounding City Hall Plaza came to life. Everyone’s experience suddenly became more reliant on the flashing lights of the stage and the powerful vibration of nearby people. Sound was almost secondary.

And no one was looking at me—all were just enjoying the show in their own way.

I am reminded, now, of a man that my friends and I saw while we took a break from Boston Calling to grab some lunch in Quincy Market. He was a percussionist, buckets and metal objects acting as his drum set. A man like him is of course not an uncommon sight on the streets of a city.

But I am especially conscious of this particular man, just outside the barricades that surrounded the Boston Calling Music Festival, playing his own good music.

I imagine him listening to the festival, without the visual and the feeling of a crowd around him.

I imagine him collecting his instruments just as the festival lets out and a crowd of people exits City Hall Plaza, among them a woman who translates music into sign language, perhaps one of the deaf audience members she had served, and myself, trudging out of the festival, feeling a bit less awkward in my skin than I did at the beginning of the show.

To the drummer, all three of us look the same.

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

Photos Courtesy of Sowa open market

The SoWa Open Market of Boston’s South End, New England’s largest bazaar, will make a trip across the Charles River to Cambridge on every Friday through Oct. 18.

Final mayoral months dedicated to residential life Housing Boston, from B10 sold in the South End. 100,000 net new jobs are also expected to be created in the city by 2020, according to the statement, generating demand for 28,800 new housing units.

To work toward solving housing issues for the middle class, Menino’s plan calls for the construction of 5,000 units of affordable housing at a cost of $1.5 billion. Vital to achieving this goal is promoting development in lower-cost neighborhoods such as Dorchester, Roxbury, and East Boston.

Menino is also proposing subsidies and other assistance to make housing more affordable for middle-class families, while the city has begun allowing smaller units of 450 square feet or less to be constructed and targeted at single people and young professionals.

“We need to make sure that Boston works for all of its people, not just some of its people,” Menino said Monday.

The plan further acknowledges the issue of high demand for off-campus housing in concentrated centers surrounding the numerous colleges and universities in the Boston area, proposing the investment of $1.5 billion to house 10,000 more full-time students, particularly graduate students.

Already, Menino’s strategy is poised to receive a boost from Boston housing regulators this week as they approve the construction of over 900 residences across the city, according to The Globe.

As Menino’s time in office draws to a close, the housing initiative will serve as a guide for the incoming administration, though the outgoing 70-year-old mayor is likely to carry out several

quick steps while still at the city’s helm.

Among these steps will be selling large segments of public property, increasing fees for developers to help fund his affordable housing plans, and approving some 3,000 housing units currently awaiting permits.

A majority of the candidates for mayor have recognized housing as a key issue facing the city, yet Menino’s plan to lay out blueprints for his successor has been met with mixed reactions.

When asked in Monday night’s mayoral debate whether a “lame duck” mayor should be making promises that the next mayor will have to meet, several candidates, including front-runners Daniel Conley and John Connolly, expressed support for Menino, with Connolly pointing to the ways the housing plan will help the middle class.

Contrastingly, candidate Bill Walc-

zak asked Menino to “please stop” and leading fundraiser Marty Walsh called for Menino to “scale back on some of these plans,” according to Masslive. com.

City housing chief and candidate Charlotte Golar Richie used the opportunity to not only support the mayor’s plan, but also emphasize her own expertise on the issue of housing.

No matter who assumes control in City Hall following November’s general election, Menino has been firm that the city must actively address the housing question.

“Boston 2013 is thriving, and well positioned to meet its bright future,” Menino said. “But one thing has not changed: in order to fulfill its promise, we must stay focused on creating housing, because this is an issue that affects every Boston resident.” n

Patriots to host New York Jets in home opener tonight Patriots, from B10 last Sunday in Buffalo against the Bills.

While they came away with a 23-21 win, the Patriots displayed some concerning characteristics, some of which could be attributed to early season jitters, others of which are going to have to be focal points as New England improves down the road.

Turnovers were the story of the game, both of the Pat’s touchdowns in the first half coming off of recovered fumbles by the Bills. They quickly returned the favor, however, and ended up racking up three turnovers—two fumbles and an interception—by the end of play.

Strong p erformances by Shane Vereen, Danny Amendola, and Julien Edelman with some help from Brady kept the Patriots in the game. Vereen

rushed for 101 yards on 14 carries and had seven receptions for 58 yards.

Amendola and Edelmen both averaged over 10 yards per reception—Amendola catching 10 passes from Brady for 104 yards and Edelmen snagging seven for 79 yards. Brady had two touchdown passes, both to Edelman.

It was Stephen Gostkowski, howe ver, who seale d the deal for the Patriots.

With 4:31 remaining after forcing a punt from the Bills, the Patriots offense started its final drive of the game that included 12 plays over the course of four minutes and 26 seconds.

D o s ome quick math and that shows you that Gostkowski lined up behind the ball for the game-winning field goal with five seconds remaining.

Thirty-five yards later, the Patriots had won it.

Tonight, the Patriots host the New York Jets in their home opener. Coming off of a short week, both teams will have had less time to prepare for their new opponent than is preferable.

Belichick did note that there will be some similarities between the Bills’ and the Jets’ play, as the Bills’ head coach is a recent transfer from the Jets.

“There is certainly some familiarity and some carryover between the two schemes but at the same time, both those schemes are predicated on game planning and matchups and trying to create schemes and matchups that are favorable and that is going to change from week to week, no matter who they play,” he said, according to a press release transcript. “Obviously with different personnel involved, that’s another factor in it too. There’s still a big degree of unknown there.”

Once past the early season jitters and mistakes, the Patriots will be defined by performances from their top players such as Brady, Amendola, and Vereen, but also by whether or not they are able to diversify their offense and use all of their receivers and running backs.

Down the road, the Patriots face a tough home schedule that starts tonight and continues with visits from the Saints , Steelers , and Broncos , among others. Week seven will feature a rematch of tonight’s game, this time at the Jets’ home Metlife Stadium, and New England will also be tested on the road as it visits Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons, Houston, Miami, and more. Another game to watch will be in the week of Dec. 22 when the Patriots head to Baltimore seeking redemption for their elimination at last season’s AFC Championship game. n

THE HEIGHTS

Thursday, September 12, 2013

B9

‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ pianos come to Boston streets

BY BRENNA CASS Heights Staff A brand new, interactive form of street art is coming to Boston beginning Sept. 27. There will be 75 pianos located in downtown Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline, open for the public to play. The project, called “Play Me, I’m Yours,” is the brainchild of British artist Luke Jerram. It has debuted in more than 35 cities around the world, including Los Angeles and New York City. The project is sponsored by the Celebrity Series of Boston to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

The 75 pianos will be decorated by local artists from Boston and its surrounding areas, as well as Boston-based artistic groups, who have been working diligently on their playable works of art. The pianos, which range in size from upright pianos to grand pianos, were all donated in their original, unpainted states.

Decorating began in the middle of August and is reaching its final stages of completion as the pianos prepare to be displayed around Boston.

Some of the local artists include Needham’s Nancy-Lee Mauger, Lou Lim of Medford, and Natalia Chilcote of Jamaica Plain. Some of the artistic groups include The Huntington Theater

Company and Wilson Kelsey Design. “Play Me, I’m Yours” in Boston will also include the 1,000th piano of the project, a baby grand to be decorated by Frank Casazza and Michael Crockett and placed near City Hall.

A final map for the pianos will be released in the final week of September when the pianos are set to debut. Some locations will include the Statehouse, Chinatown, the Franklin Park Zoo, and South Station, as well as locations outside the Museum of Fine Arts and near City Hall. One of the closest pianos to Boston College will be located in Washington Square in Brookline. The pianos will be open for all to use, regardless of ability. They could be played by a piano virtuoso, a musician in a local band, or a 4-year-old who just likes the sound that they can make by running their hand down all of the keys. Pianos that are located in public places will be for composing at all hours of the day or night. Pianos that are located in more residential neighborhoods, such as Somerville, will have opening and closing hours in order to observe local noise ordinances.

The Celebrity Series has worked since 1938 to bring the performing arts to the city of Boston because, according to their website, they believe “in the power of excellence and

innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experience, transform lives, and build better communities. ”By bringing “Play Me, I’m Yours” and other performances to Boston, the Celebrity Series hopes to make a city where the performing arts are valued and shared among the community.

The idea for “Play Me, I’m Yours” came to being when artist Luke Jerram was sitting in a Laundromat. “I saw the same people there each weekend and yet no one talked to one another,” Jerram said, according to the official website for his street piano artwork. “I suddenly realized that within a city, there must be hundreds of these invisible communities, regularly spending time with one another in silence. Placing a piano into the space was my solution to this

problem, acting as a catalyst for conversation and changing the dynamics of a space.”

Since its beginning in Birmingham, UK, the pianos have appeared in cities around the world. Jerram is famous for his works of live art including “Sky Orchestra,” where music is projected from hot air balloons to the people below and “Just Sometimes,” where he floated 1000 umbrellas down the Rotte River in the Netherlands.

After “Play Me, I’m Yours” ends on Oct. 14, the decorated pianos will be donated to charities, schools, and organizations that are in need of them, continuing the missions of both “Play Me, I’m Yours” and the Celebrity Series of Boston to integrate music into the fabric of the city of Boston. 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PLAY ME, I’M YOURS

Each street piano part of the traveling exhibit is decorated or painted in a unique way.

Twitter account focuses on what is ‘beautiful’ about Boston Boston Tweet, from B10 @BostonTweet provides is a connection between employers and those searching for work. Frequently, O’Keefe will tweet, “What companies in the Boston area are currently hiring (full-time, interns)?” This simple question receives responses on Twitter, allowing O’Keefe to tweet a list of companies to which people can apply.

“The beauty of using twitter for looking for jobs is that you’re able to talk directly to that hiring manager,” O’Keefe said, adding that some of his favorite encounters are those in which someone tells him that they are now employed thanks in part to @BostonTweet.

O’Keefe also uses his Twitter clout to help promote non-profit charities.

“There are a lot of people in this city who have far less than I do,” he said,

commenting on the fact that non-profits often do not have as much money for marketing as would be ideal for their cause. “I like being able to have a pretty large voice to be able to promote these kinds of things.”

O’Keefe said that much of his dedication to the promotion of non-profits is linked to his Catholic education at BC, a place to which he still maintains a strong connection. O’Keefe was at a tailgate for BC’s game against Wake Forest last Friday, and he tweeted a photo of the event. Furthermore, O’Keefe had the opportunity to fly in a Hood blimp last Friday during BC’s Student Involvement Fair. When winds did not allow the blimp to fly over downtown Boston, the pilot flew over BC, giving O’Keefe the opportunity to see his alma mater from above for the first time.

“I’d never seen the campus from

above,” O’Keefe said. “I get to have a lot of cool experiences like that, that many people never get to do.”

Mostly, O’Keefe enjoys meeting as many people as he can through his experience with @BostonTweet. With many of his followers being college students or young singles, O’Keefe feels a connection not only to BC students, but to the younger demographic. “During the summer, it’s nice, but some of the pulse and the energy is gone,” O’Keefe said of when students leave Boston for the summer.

In order to meet as many people and see as much as possible, O’Keefe does the obvious thing—he walks.

“Boston is a really small city, especially compared to New York or LA,” he said. “You really can walk everywhere.

It’s the best way to discover everything.

I try to avoid the T at all costs.”

His former Internet ventures had chained him to a desk, but, according to O’Keefe, the iPhone became his “main, most important tool,” allowing him to walk throughout the city with his computer essentially in his pocket.

According to O’Keefe, he was out in Boston almost every day for the first two or three years of launching @B ostonTweet , improving his understanding of the city and trying to constantly produce content to remain relevant on Twitter. Only in the later years of @BostonTweet did O’Keefe begin to let himself take a break from time to time.

“I love just being able to go out in the city randomly and knowing everyone in the city. Just bumping into people,” he said. “My community in Boston, which started with just some BC buddies, has grown to thousands and thousands.” 

COLLEGIATE ROUND-UP

BY TRICIA TIEDT | METRO EDITOR

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

MIT remains No. 1 University in world for 2nd year It comes as no surprise that the surrounding universities bring some of the brightest minds in the world to Boston—and now, there’s another statistic to prove it.

MIT was just named the Top University in the World by the 2013 QS World University Rankings, holding the title for the second year in a row. According to Boston Innovation, the QS rankings are based upon “a variety of criteria, including international outlook, academic reputation, faculty-student ratio, employability and research.”

According to their own information, QS organizes the largest business education events in the world and “links high achievers from the graduate, MBA and executive communities around the world with leading business schools, postgraduate departments at universities and with employers, through websites, events, e-guides and technical solutions.”

The university had a perfect score with 100 out of 100 points, followed closely by Harvard with 99.2 points. This is the second year MIT has beat out its neighbor along the

BOSTON UNIV. Last April, the athletics department at BU announced the cut of the school’s Division I wrestling program, shocking both the university and regional athletic community alike. Carl Adams, four-time Coach of the Year, was equally as shocked: in his 30 years on the mats at BU, he has led the team to 10 NCAA conference championships. To combat the program’s disappearance, two local filmmakers have sought out to document the 2013-14 season, the final year of the Terriers’ wrestling program.

Michael Abelson, a graduate from the University of Rhode Island, and Brandon Lavoie, a current student at Emerson College, have partnered with Adams to chronicle the end—and hopefully, save the program.

Through the startup accelerator IndieGoGo, the two men will create the documentary entitled “It Hurts to Win.” According to their campaign page, the documentary seeks to “document the season, the wrestlers, the coaches, and the local wrestling community,” as well as “further investigate why the men’s wrestling program was so unexpectedly and unceremoniously dropped.”

Charles. Harvard once reigned over the QS rankings, however, taking the top spot from 2007-09. During the Crimson reign, MIT barely secured a spot in the ranking’s top 10.

Over the past few years, as the world’s outlook shifted to computer-based science and technology, so shifted the success of MIT. Long recognized as one of the top universities in the United States, MIT now leads the education of the technologically innovative for the greater good.

The QS Rankings rated the Top Ten Universities of 2013 as follows: MIT, Harvard, University of Cambridge, University College London, Imperial College London, University of Oxford, Stanford University, Yale University, University of Chicago, and California Institute of Technology. Other Boston-area schools came in significantly farther down the charts: Boston University ranked No. 79, with an overall score of 72.5 points, and Northeastern University ranked No. 397, only racking up 33.3 points.

Our own Boston College came in at No. 331, with 38.1 total points.

HARVARD Last week, Harvard’s student newspaper The Crimson published a four-part series on their incoming Class of 2017. The articles, based on information gathered through online surveys conducted in the month of August, questioned the soonto-be freshmen on highly personal information, such as their sex life, mental health, and drug use. Over 1,300 freshmen—nearly 80 percent of the class—answered The Crimson’s call for insight into their lives in and out of the classroom. Of the data published, perhaps the most shocking statistic seen in print was this: only 35 percent of the incoming class had lost their virginity before coming to college. After the cheating scandal that shook the university to its core last year, the newspaper questioned integrity as well—and apparently, rightly so.

Forty-two percent of respondents admitted to cheating on homework or an assignment before entering Harvard, and 10 percent admitted to cheating on a test or exam.

The Crimson’s findings have made headlines throughout newsrooms across the country in the past week, provoking questions of high school stereotypes and the actual success of students entering the Harvard prestige.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGE

BABSON On Tuesday, US News and World Report released their annual Best Colleges list, a ranking system highly esteemed throughout the nation. For the 17th year in a row, Babson College was named the No. 1 Undergraduate School for Entrepreneurship. Babson operates under a unique entrepreneurship philosophy, which the university deems “Entrepreneurship of All Kinds,” that seeks to educate students through real-world business propositions and problems brought into the classroom. According to Babson, their Entrepreneurship Thought and Action program functions to implement “the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose.”

The repeat title comes as Babson announces multiple new programs geared toward entrepreneurial innovation, including the WIN—Women Innovating Now—Lab, a new curriculum for the first-year required course “Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship,” and a new concentration focused on business analytics. While they took the top spot in entrepreneurship, US News and World Report ranked Babson 34th overall on their list of best undergraduate business programs.

THE HEART OF THE CITY

Finding your own Boston MAGGIE POWERS The label “born and raised Bostonian” is something that many people hold with pride. I accept this label even though it is semi-undeserved because I was raised in a suburb about 30 minutes away from the city. Despite this minor detail, I consider myself a Bostonian through and through.

The love of Boston was instilled in me at a young age. I walked the Freedom Trail for fieldtrips, watched the sea lions touch balls with their noses at the Aquarium, sang “Sweet Caroline” with my brothers at Red Sox games in thick August heat, and trekked into (the vastly overrated) Fire and Ice for countless teen birthdays during my high school years.

Coming to Boston College has further ingrained my love of the city of Boston in me. Before anyone at BU or Northeastern points out BC is not a Boston college at all, but rather a university in Chestnut Hill, I am the first one to recognize we are not a “Boston school” in the truest sense of the word. My campus is not the city street and my dorm room is not in a high rise. Being at BC, however, was the first time I had the city truly at my fingertips—it was the first time I could go in on a whim.

After a year of following my whims and desires around the city, what charms me about Boston now is quite different than what charmed me when I was a child and a teenager. Before, I was drawn to the attractions: the history, the sports dynasties, the fancy restaurants. But very recently it has occurred to me the charm of Boston is that it is a city that begs for each and every person in it to add his or her own story.

Boston itself is not one identity—it houses everyone from the hardened old man in Charlestown to the woman toting her Louis Vuitton down Beacon Hill. It is a multitude of identities tied together by a city that inexplicably draws so many together.

As students, Boston is our city as well. We are the pinnacle of a college town with somewhere around 250,000 students entering every September and injecting the city with discussion, noise, and the energy that only 20somethings can generate.

So whether you are a freshman and experiencing Boston for the very first time or returning to Boston for your fourth fall here, I encourage you to explore Boston: our—pardon the cliche—extended campus. Only by exploring can you find the part of the city that asks you to own it.

Find your Boston. This is a city with layers upon layers begging to be discovered by someone. Your Boston could be the Green Line, Grill 23, or just a particular patch of grass on the Esplanade.

Explore. Allow the character of the city to invite you within itself. Be attracted by the attractions. Seeing the Bruins in action or watching the performers at Faneuil Hall have the predictable thrill of being “classic Boston.”

But, once in a while, turn away from the expected and soak in the true character of the place. The twists and turns of the inefficiently laid out streets collect the spirit of a city full of people who are convinced they live in the best place in the world. I thought I knew Boston when I was seven.

And then I thought I knew Boston when I was 16. After having Boston at my fingertips for a year I now know I will never really know all of Boston. But I also know that I have my Boston.

My Boston is going to expensive restaurants in Government Center and then only ordering appetizers.

My Boston is sitting on a dock on the Esplanade. My Boston is standing in the front row of the Paradise Rock Club.

That’s my Boston. What will yours be?

Maggie Powers is an editor for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@ bcheights.com.

METRO THE HEIGHTS

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Thursday, September 12, 2013

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

BREAKING BOUNDARIES

A friend and coffee

AN

Tricia Tiedt is the Metro Editor for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.

E I V R E T IN

@ BOSTONTWEET

TRICIA TIEDT As a third-year student, completely new occurrences are rare in my day-to-day BC routine. This past Monday, however, a novelty struck: instead of spending my morning on middle campus, I strolled a few blocks down Beacon to Washington Square.

Getting out of the BC Bubble was not the rarity—I try to get into the city at least once a week (and by the city, I mean farther than Eagle’s Deli). The reason for switching up my painfully predictable weekday routine was this: I had coffee with a friend from high school.

Now, this was not your classic “frenemy” situation, casting aside years of seemingly offhand comments between hallway lockers or pretending to be BFFL when forced to sit together at a pep rally. There was no need for reconciliation of any sort, no reconnections to be made. In the two years I’ve been in Boston, I haven’t seen anyone from high school—simply because no one else was here. My graduation class was 117 students.

The number of kids who left Texas, or the South in general? Four. Out of those four, Boston College was the farthest away from the Liberty Christian School grounds.

I made my decision long ago: when I left Texas, I knew I would never look back.

Sitting at a booth in Starbucks Monday morning, I caught a glimpse in the rearview mirror. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect: I had not seen this girl in four to five years, and had only a vague idea of what she looked like. A streak of bleach blonde hair flashed past the window; the Dallas Stars logo hidden under a denim jacket confirmed the rest. As she slid into the seat across from me, latte in hand, she began her story.

For anonymity’s sake, let’s call her “B.” B is 23 years old, fresh out of college, and, until Aug. 29, 2013, had never in her life lived anywhere outside of Denton and Stephenville, Tex. (neither of which can be easily located on a map). Against the advice of everyone she knew back home, including her closest family and friends, B decided to ship up to Boston to see what New England had to offer.

She was scared out of her mind.

B was looking for information about the city, trying to make sense of this place so different than where she and I called home.

What is a Charlie Card? Why is the rent on my apartment so high? How do young people meet each other? What is it about New Englanders and Southerners that make us so fundamentally different?

In her 11 days in Boston, she had made a few observations of her own. People here do three main things, she told me: drink, run, and work.

Sounds pretty accurate, if you ask me.

More than anything, B was looking for someone who understood her. Little did I know, I was looking for the exact same thing. Meeting with B was one of the best coffee dates I’ve had in my time as a student in this city.

It’s amazing what one common place can do.

After we flashed back to our uniform days and played a little game of “Where are they now,” we got to the heart of her transition. B uttered one line that encompassed everything I could say about moving away, and put it better than I ever could: “Had I not gone, I never would have forgiven myself.”

Whether you’re a freshman or senior, a local native or New England transplant, the daily grind at BC has probably hit you by now. Work piles up, clubs become commitments, free time slips away. But, if you think about it, would you really have it any other way? Is there any place else you would rather be? If you had not come here, would you have been able to forgive yourself?

I sincerely hope not.

Because being here, getting to do what we do, going to school in this city, is a novelty.

H T I WW

B Y R YAN T OWEY Asst. Metro Editor

When the recession hit hard in 2008, Boston College alumnus Tom O’Keefe was concerned.

“My fear was that all the local businesses in Boston would be deserted,” O’Keefe said, who, in 2008, was an internet entrepreneur who had two startups but was in need of another source of income. “I wanted to talk about local businesses in a down economy.”

Launched by O’Keefe in November 2008, @BostonTweet joined Twitter when the social media website was still essentially in its infancy, but O’Keefe said that by January 2009 the account “actually star te d b e coming pretty popular.” It was in that same year that O’Keefe became a Boston representative for Groupon, a collective buying company that, like @BostonTweet, was born out of the recession.

Beginning as a way to bring attention to local Boston business in a recession,

Tom O’Keefe began using @BostonTweet in 2008 to promote Boston businesses in the recession.

@BostonTweet would eventually come to tweet to nearly 96,000 followers, not only connecting people to hiring opportunities but also acting as a valuable voice for Boston charities and as a key window into Boston cuisine, art, news, and culture.

“I grew up in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and then went to BC, and then never really left,” O’Keefe said. “Boston just really worked for me.”

During his college years, O’Keefe was a relatively typical student at BC, where he majored in economics and political science. Aside from the occasional visit to Harvard Square or Allston, O’Keefe spent most of his time in Chestnut Hill rather than venturing into downtown Boston. “I really wished I had branched out more in the city,” O’Keefe said of his time at BC. “The experience on campus at BC is great and fun, and you’re busy all the time, but I wish I had explored more.”

Now, O’Keefe advises BC students to take more advantage of the city that is

@BostonTweet

9/7/13 “Sweet Idea is a late night cookie delivery service that delivers to students at BU, Tufts, NU & Harvard until 3am.”

their college’s very namesake. “I think BC students should just take a hike around the city more often. It really is a great place,” O’Keefe said. He did acknowledge, however, how tiresome it can sometimes be for BC students to reach downtown Boston.

Despite this, O’Keefe said that there are simple things that BC students can do to interact with the city, saying that students should attend events like Boston Calling or take a walk through the Common or the Public Garden, which he considers to be “one of the most beautiful places in any city.”

In this way, it is the beautiful in Boston on which O’Keefe tends to focus through @BostonTweet. “Photos of Boston always do really well,” he said. The tweets that he accompanies with photos of the city often receive a response not only from current residents of Boston, but also from those who once lived there and miss their old home or those who are deciding to move to the city.

“Everything that I do tries to pro-

@BostonTweet

9/3/13

“After a 47-year hiatus, Boston College once again has a live mascot during all home football games.”

mote the positive in the city,” O’Keefe said. Af ter the B o ston Marathon, O’Keefe was driven by a similar worry that had spurred the creation of @BostonTweet—he did not want the city to become an avoided place because of fear. And so he tried to use @ BostonTweet focus on what is “beautiful about the city.”

Regardless of his efforts to be a positive promoter of Boston, O’Keefe does not exactly consider himself a journalist. “I get invited to things like Boston Calling as media, so in that aspect I am part of the media,” he said. “But unlike media, I’m often in the picture a lot too.

It’s definitely a mixture of my life and social media.” O’Keefe prefers to focus on off-beat news, such as the 75 pianos that will be placed throughout Boston for all to freely play later this month as part of Luke Jerram’s artwork “Play Me, I’m Yours.”

A more practical f unction that

See Boston Tweet, B9

Through O’Keefe’s efforts, @BostonTweet is currently followed by nearly 96,000 twitter users.

SoWa Market, a Boston favorite, to hit Cambridge

BY LAUREN TOTINO Heights Staff The SoWa open market has been New England’s largest outdoor weekly bazaar for 10 years, with talented artists and vendors filling three parking lots at 460, 500, and 540 Harrison Ave. in Boston’s South End. Last Friday, the creators of SoWa brought this same open market concept across the Charles River to Cambridge, and this open market will run for just a few weeks, open every Friday through Oct. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Part of a new collaboration with the

Harvard University Common Spaces Program, the open market will be located on the Plaza at Harvard. The market will come back to the Plaza in the spring of 2014 for its first full season.

SoWa, an abbreviation for “South of Washington” and modeled after the famous New York City neighborhood moniker SoHo (“South of Houston”), designates the area of the South End spanning east to west from Massachusetts Ave. to East Berkeley St. and north to south from Washington Street to Albany Street. Specifically known for its art galleries, studios, shops, and generally trendy atmosphere, it is not

surprising that the open-air market concept flourishes here. Cambridge, equally as known for its artsy, hipster culture as the South End is, seemed an ideal place to bring an open market.

SoWa director Masci had had his eyes on the Cambridge area for a few years, he told Boston Magazine, despite “having difficulty in finding a space large enough to house our large number of vendors.” Masci eventually won the Plaza space for his vendors, and was excited for the new market to “reflect that eclectic flavor [of Cambridge] with some awesome new talent and SoWa regulars.”

The Sowa Open Market came to fruition in 2003 with the help of New Yorker Chris Masci and his company, NE Open Markets, LLC. Nearly every Sunday from May to October for the past 10 years, roughly 5,000 visitors have frequented the collection of outdoor markets, including the SoWa Farmers Market and the SoWa Food Trucks. The indoor SoWa Vintage Market, additionally, operates year-round in an adjacent brick building.

Among the artists, designers, and craftspeople selling their handmade

See Open Markets, B8

Menino launches housing project throughout city B Y J ULIE O RENSTEIN Heights Editor There may be only months remaining of Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s two decade-long tenure, but he has not yet given up on his efforts to improve the lives of Boston’s citizens.

On Monday, Menino announced Housing Boston 2020, a plan to add 30,000 new housing units within city limits by the year 2020. The new initiative follows in the footsteps of the “Leading the Way” plan, which, from 2000 to 2010, added 20,000 housing units in the city’s greatest increase in housing supply in 50 years.

According to a statement released by the Mayor’s office, the city’s “new blueprint for housing strategy” will be funded by $16 billion in public and private investment, with the key goal being to accommodate the needs of a growing and demographically shifting population.

“We do not simply need to put roofs over peoples’ heads—we need to think carefully about the right kind of housing for our changing city,” Menino said

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in a speech announcing the plan.

Menino was not alone in developing the strategy, reaping advice from his Housing Advisory Panel as well as three working groups made up of real estate specialists, developers, and architects.

The policy is shaped around addressing four major priorities that Menino and his staff have specified for the city’s near future: accommodating growth, an expanding middle class, affordable housing for the workforce, and college and university housing.

With more businesses and residents moving into Boston proper, housing and building costs have rocketed upward in the last decade, making housing less available and less accessible to the middle class. The Boston Globe reported that a two-person household earning the area’s median income of $75,500 would only be able to afford 7 percent of units sold in the South B oston neighb orho o d in 2012-13, only 5 percent of units recently sold in Charlestown, and 3 percent of units

See Housing Boston, B8

Collegiate Round-up

PHOTO COURTESY OF GARY WIEPERT / AP PHOTO

Pats cornerback K. Arrington knocks ball away from Bills running back C.J. Spiller.

Pats win after summer turmoil B Y M ARLY M ORGUS Heights Editor It was without a doubt one of the more interesting off-seasons that the New England Patriots have seen. The Aaron Hernandez scandal was quick to overshadow any on-the-field, football-related coverage during the week of Aug. 22 when he was indicted on murder charges, and Tebow-Mania struck Foxboro for a few short weeks as it appeared that one of the nation’s most recognizable and controversial players would find a place on the Pa-

Highlights from other prestigious universities and colleges in the greater Boston area.........................................................................................B9

triots roster.

The offseason, however, is over. Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots released Hernandez as evidence against him emerged, and Tebow was cut on Aug. 31 when the Pats were required to reduce their roster to 53. With the drama of the summer behind them, Belichick, Tom Brady, and the rest of the Patriots have nearly a whole season ahead of them to drown out the controversy.

The Patriots opened their season

See Patriots, B8

Restaurant Review: The Real Deal.................................................................B7 “Play Me, I’m Yours” Pianos Coming to Streets of Boston...................B8