The Heights October 7, 2019 by The Heights

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Monday, October 7, 2019

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period products

SPORTS

METRO

Captain David Cotton scored, and men’s hockey beat University of New Brunswick in an exhibition.

A bylaw was passed in Brookline to distribute free period products in all public restrooms.

A15

Lawsuit Documents Detail BC Assault Investigations BC has found 25 male students responsible since Aug. 2011. By Jack Miller News Editor and Andy Backstrom

Managing Editor

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ikram ali / Heights Editor

Class of 2023 Is 36 Percent AHANA+ Nearly 69 percent of the class comes from outside New England. By Jack Miller News Editor The Class of 2023 is the most diverse in Boston College history, with 36 percent of the 2,297 students identifying as AHANA+, according to statistics from a University release. There are 256 first-generation students and 303 Pell Grant recipients in the Class of 2023. Thirty-three percent of the Class of 2022, 31 percent of the Class of 2021, and 29.6 percent of the Class of 2020 identify as AHANA+. The University received an all-time high

35,552 applications for the Class of 2023, a 14 percent increase from the previous year, and accepted 9,500 students. This is the second year in a row that BC’s acceptance rate was 27 percent. Yield dropped slightly from last year, from 27 percent to 24 percent. The average SAT score for the Class of 2023 is 1412 and the average ACT score is 32, which rank in the 94th and 96th percentiles, according to the most recent College Board data. Four in five members of the Class of 2023 were in the top 10 percent of their high school class. Forty-eight percent of the 1,254 high schools that members of the Class of 2023 attended were public schools, while 26 percent were Catholic or Jesuit schools and 27 percent were other private schools, according to the release. Director of Undergraduate Admissions Grant Gosselin said in the release that the

new students are the most academically gifted class BC has ever enrolled. The Class of 2023 represents 45 states, with the top five states being Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California, and Connecticut, according to the release. More than seven percent of the new class is made up of international students, who came to BC from 40 different countries—China, South Korea, Canada, Italy, and the United Kingdom are the top “feeder” countries, according to the release. At BC, 66 percent of the Class of 2023 studies in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, 24 percent studies in the Carroll School of Management, five percent studies in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and five percent studies in the Connell School of Nursing, according to the release. n

University to Study Jesuit Commitment The self-study will examine BC’s Jesuit values in action. By Abby Hunt Assoc. News Editor Boston College has begun a self-study as part of an initiative by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), which has asked the 27 Jesuit colleges and universities across the country to assess their commitment to Jesuit traditions and values as part of the Jesuit Mission

Priority Examen. Robert Newton, special assistant to the president, and Ryan Heffernan, associate director of Campus Ministry, are leading the University in the self-study. BC will analyze how it has lived up to the Jesuit tradition in seven different categories: the leadership’s commitment to the Jesuit mission, academic life, campus culture, service, service to the local Church, Jesuit presence, and hiring integrity. The provincial of the Northeast Province of Jesuits has asked the Jesuit colleges and universities in the region to answer 17 questions within these categories.

Newton and Heffernan have interviewed the members of the BC community who they saw as best fit to answer the questions, including University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., and Dean of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Greg Kalscheur. Newton and Heffernan then compiled these answers to put together a 50-page, double-spaced draft document. “There’s so much going on at Boston College that relates to the Catholic and Jesuit nature of the place, that what we can

See Self-Study, A3

Recently released court proceedings pertaining to the overturning of a Boston College student’s suspension in late August revealed the number of investigations surrounding sexual assault allegations conducted at BC since 2011. The summary, presented in the testimony of Associate Dean of Students Corey Kelly, was split into two sections to reflect a change in the University’s conduct process. In the fall of 2014, BC, which previously used a five-person Administrative Hearing Board to review sexual assault allegations, opted to instead utilize a single investigator or a pair of investigators to determine responsibility. It has followed that disciplinary procedure since. From August 2011 to May 2014, with

the original disciplinary procedure in place, the University investigated nine male BC students accused of sexual assault—seven were found responsible, one was found not responsible, and one received a “no finding” determination (77.8 percent of accused students were found responsible). Following the 2014 change in disciplinary procedure, 32 cases of sexual assault allegations against male BC students have reached a final determination—18 have been found responsible and 14 have been found not responsible (56.3 percent of accused students were found responsible). Only male students at BC have been accused of sexualt assault, according to the court proceedings. In the case of the student’s suspension reversal from this summer, BC originally suspended the student, “John Doe,” on June 18 after finding him responsible for sexual assault in violation of the University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. In November 2018, another BC student, “Jane Roe,” informed Student Title IX Coordinator Melinda Stoops that Doe had engaged in a non-consensual

See Sexual Assault, A3

BC Sees Higher Sex Offense Reports Than Peer Schools Clery Act requires universities to release crime statistics. By Abby Hunt Assoc. News Editor Twice as many rapes and four times as many fondlings per student were reported at Boston College than at the average of its competitor schools in 2018, according to data from campus safety reports. The numbers were released in accordance with the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding to publish campus crime statistics yearly by Oct. 1. There were 1.3 reported rapes per 1,000 total students at BC in 2018, compared to an average of 0.64 reported rapes per 1,000 students at

the 12 schools with which BC has the highest crossovers in admitted students. There were 1.6 reports of fondling per 1,000 students at BC in 2018, compared to an average of 0.4 at its competitor schools. On average, BC has received three times as many reports of rape and 3.7 times as many reports of fondling per 1,000 students than its competitor schools over the past three years. This list of schools with the highest crossovers in admitted students includes Villanova University, Northeastern University, Boston University, Fordham University, University of Notre Dame, University of Virginia, New York University, Georgetown University, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, George Washington University, University of Southern

See Clery Act, A3

Newton Mayor Vetoes Council Pay Raise City councilors haven’t had a salary increase in two decades. By Gavin Zhang For The Heights Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller vetoed the City Council’s order to raise the mayor and City Council members’ compensations last week. It was the first mayoral veto in 20 years, according to the Newton Patch. Now, city councilors may decide to overrule the mayor’s veto at Monday’s Council

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

meeting. City councilors have not had a pay raise in nearly two decades. In the mayor’s veto letter, she said the raises are too large, too quickly implemented, and too untimely proposed. In 2005, the Board of Aldermen—the former name of the City Council—proposed for the mayor’s salary to be increased to $125,000. The sitting mayor rejected the proposal, but it was subsequently accepted by his successor. The Board refused to raise the compensation for themselves and that of School Committee members. The compensation for the two positions remained at

PROFILE: Ellana Lawrence

$9,750 and $4,875, respectively, which were originally set in 1998. Last year, the City Council passed Resolution 388-18, authorizing the president of the City Council to appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC)—13 members from various backgrounds—to review the salaries of all three types of positions on the City Council. The BRC recommended raises for all three. If put into practice, they will incur a total extra annual expenditure of $138,000. The City Council, however, in its Board Order 208-19, ordered raises higher than

See Mayor Veto, A5

METRO: Walsh Supports ROE Act

Lawrence grew interested in global tech Mass. mayors showed support for the bill, which effects during South Africa internship....A13 aims to increase abortion access....................... A4

Timothy d. Easley / AP Photo

Eagles Give Up Record Yards, Fall to Louisville

INDEX

NEWS.......................A2 METRO.....................A4

The Heights

TOP

things to do on campus this week

Secretary General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro will be speaking on the challenges to constitutional democracy today, Oct. 7, at 12 p.m. in Barat House.

Monday, October 7, 2019

Emma Winger, a staff attorney with the American Immigration Council, will discuss the U.S. government’s family separation policy and the American Immigration Council tomorrow, Oct. 8, at 12 p.m. in Barat House.

Bryan Stevenson, the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, will speak on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. in Conte Forum about his work as a public interest lawyer.

NEWS OHP Starts New Mind, Body, Soul Campaign BRIEFS ,

STM Launches New Program

The School of Theology and Ministry unveiled a new spirituality studies program at its Dean’s Colloquium on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The program is “a comprehensive initiative that will explore the richness of the Christian spiritual tradition, its historical and contemporary texts, practices, figures, and movements, drawing from existing faculty strengths in Bible studies, systematics, church history, practical theology, ethics, and the Jesuit tradition,” according to a University release. Spirituality studies will be the fourth advanced degree program offered in STM, joining the master’s program in theology, licentiate in sacred theology, and doctorate program in sacred theology. STM professor Colleen Griffith will be the faculty director of the program. She will oversee the core faculty in the program, which is comprised of a mix of professors from the theology department. STM professors— Rev. André Brouillette, S.J., Francine Cardman, Rev. Barton Geger, S.J., Angela Kim Harkins, Catherine Mooney, and Rev. Michael Simone, S.J.—will teach in conjunction with Andrew Prevot and Brian Robinette from the theology department. “Since [STM] is committed to rigorous academic inquiry and pastoral excellence, we asked ourselves how we might offer programs in spirituality studies that would contribute to the scholarship or academic study and to the pastoral life of the Church, and to people in the world who are interested in spirituality?” Griffith said in the University release. The new program offers a variety of degree options and specializations depending on the student. For individuals engaged in religious life and forms of caregiving and social work, STM will offer 18-credit certificate programs in the study of Christian spirituality, Ignatian spirituality, and spiritual and pastoral care, according to the University release. For those involved in ministry, teaching, and non-profit work, the school will now offer a post-master’s certificate in the study of spiritual formation, which will take about three months to complete, according to the University release. “This is doing theology the way that is appropriate to the School of Theology and Ministry,” STM Dean Thomas D. Stegman, S.J., said in the University release. “We teach theology in a special way. We take the next step, which is to ask the ‘so what?’ question. What does this mean for people going into ministry? What does this mean for the people who will receive the ministry from our graduates?” The spirituality studies application is currently open, and classes will begin in the spring semester.

Arrest Follows Threat at BC High Michael Caulfield was arrested on Oct. 1 for making a gun-related threat at Boston College High School. Caulfield was subsequently arrested by Massachussetts State Troopers and then turned over to the Boston Police Department (BPD). Caulfield, a 31-year-old from Braintree, Mass., was charged with threats concerning the location of a dangerous item, trespassing, and disturbing the peace, according to BPD. The suspect entered the building when the door was opened for two delivery men. He then “made a comment about going to get a gun,” BPD spokesman David Estrada said in an email to the Boston Globe.

By Madeleine Romance Asst. Investigative Editor Grace McKenna For The Heights

The Boston College Office of Health Promotion (OHP) kicked off its third annual “Let’s Talk Health” program with the launch of its new “Mind, Body, Soul” campaign. Since the office’s creation nine years ago, OHP has put forth a new, unique campaign every year. Makayla Davis, the assistant director of OHP, explained that their objective is to devise “holistic approaches” to change the conversation about health in order to keep it relevant and sustainable for college students. “Every year we’re trying to revamp and keep it new for students,” she said. This year’s campaign focuses on three core values of health: body, mind, and soul. Aimed at keeping with the University’s Jesuit and Catholic identity, Davis explained that one objective of the campaign is to encourage students to recognize their connectedness to the community. The “body” aspect of the campaign, which OHP focused on during the month of September, encompasses nutrition, safe alcohol consumption, sleep, and exercise. In October, the “mind” aspect will address mental health, stress, time management, and resilience. In November, “soul” will be devoted to relationships, spirituality, social life, and community. The office plans to hold discussion groups to promote a sense of

community for students. Davis stressed that the goal of the campaign is to teach students that all three areas of health are interconnected and to equip them with strategies and skills to make informed health decisions. “You’ve heard you can only have two but not all three, but we’re really saying you can take care of your mind, body, and soul,” Davis said. The campaign’s logo features the categories in a Venn diagram to convey that the intersection of these elements plays an integral role in living a balanced life, according to Davis. She hopes that the campaign will push students to gain awareness and knowledge, which they will use to implement behavioral changes, no matter how busy students get. OHP began the campaign on Sept. 18 with Healthapalooza. The event featured interactive activities, giveaways, and OHP’s campus partners, such as the BC Police Department, BC Emergency Medical Services, and BC Recreation, who all gathered on O’Neill Plaza to promote the “Let’s Talk Body, Mind, Soul campaign.” This year, OHP is implementing “Be Well” screenings, which expand on the alcohol and sleep screenings they have conducted in the past. Davis said that these screenings will address all three aspects of the campaign in order to create a “holistic” picture of health. On Oct. 9, OHP is planning a major “Be Well” screening which will be comprised of a 30-item questionnaire—10

Jack Miller / Heights Editor

questions each for body, mind, and soul. After completing the survey, students will have the opportunity to meet with a conversation partner and discuss their score as well as set goals for themselves. “It is important to take time to stop and reflect on our health and just see how choices in one area might be affecting choices in another area,” Davis said. “Our well-being and health really are the foundation for success here.” OHP also hopes to draw more students in with its online outreach efforts. At the beginning of each month, OHP has started emailing students ways to participate and encouraging them to visit its website for additional resources, which include informational podcasts, videos, and articles. One of the central messages of the campaign presents health as a journey, Davis said. OHP strives to meet students

at whatever point on the “journey of health” they are on and provide them with opportunities to improve. Davis said that during such a formative time, students ought to utilize the services OHP has to offer in order to learn to live a balanced lifestyle throughout the rest of their lives. She explained that students first need to take care of themselves in order to achieve personal and academic success. Through the campaign, she said she hopes the conversations about health will stretch beyond students and spread to faculty and staff. As it has done in past years, OHP will host de-stressing events prior to final exams. It also plans to reinstate the campaign in the spring semester to continue to promote health and wellbeing of mind, body, and soul across campus. n

BC, Yonsei Agree to Exchange Master’s Students By Owen Fahy Asst. News Editor Over the summer, the Lynch School of Education and Human Development took the first steps toward creating an exchange program with Yonsei University College of Educational Sciences in Seoul, South Korea. The program allows for two master’s students from each school to participate in an exchange program for up to a year in the dual degree program at either Yonsei or Boston College. In the last two years, Lynch has signed similar memoranda of understanding with the College of Education at Seoul National University and Seoul National University of Education, both of which are in South Korea, and Mary Immaculate College in Ireland. Founded in 1885, Yonsei University is a private research university that offers a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate academic courses to over 27,000 undergraduate students. It is one of South Korea’s three “SKY” universities, which are the country’s most prestigious schools. Seoul National University is also in the group. “We’ve been trying to build relationships with Korean universities since I got here, so three years now,” Dean of Lynch Stanton Wortham said. “We’ve been trying to build links with Korea, because Korea is

a country that has had a lot of economic development. They have many interesting ideas and aspirations about research activities and training their students, and it’s a place where we can have something of an impact.” “They have high quality education and quality infrastructure, but they’re still looking for something from the U.S.,” Wortham said. “They’re looking to us as a resource in higher education to some extent.” Wortham anticipates that that more South Korean students will pursue the exchange opportunity because they are more likely to know English than BC students are to speak Korean. Yonsei and BC do share similar practices in terms of an emphasis on the complete development of a student by hosting retreats, service trips, and ethical activities, according to Wortham. “It’s probably not going to be large scale to start,” Wortham said. “Yonsei is an excellent university … so philosophically and ethically the university is aligned with a lot of what BC values.” Wortham plans to speak further with the administration at Yonsei University to assess the viability of English-speaking students studying at Yonsei. Yonsei offers classes in both Korean and English. The two universities also need to establish which programs are viable for the dual-degree program since the Lynch

School offers rigid programs that certify students for jobs in the U.S., which would not be accessible for Korean students, and Yonsei offers courses that would likely not be beneficial for American students, Wortham said. “I hope that maybe down the road we could build more extensive collaborations,“ Wortham said. “Something that would involve further cooperation around research, around student exchanges.” South Korea is enticing because other American universities do not have ties with it yet, according to Wortham. Wortham said that his own connections in South Korea, in addition to the visibility that Lynch has due to its Center for International Higher Education, made the country an obvious choice for developing academic connections. “It’s a strong economy that has done very well over the last few decades,” Wortham said. Wortham hopes that faculty and student exchanges could be future products of the memorandum, because traditionally these agreements are centered around research opportunities. “It’s a little unclear at the beginning what is actually going to come out of it, but the agreements sometimes yield research collaborations,” Wortham said. “Two faculty and I will be traveling to Korea in [two] weeks to work on a big

collaborative research project.” Wortham and his colleagues received a grant from the Seoul Metropolitan Office, the government organization that runs the school system, to study whether recently-implemented reforms within the system are having a positive effect. In two weeks, they will make the trip to conduct the research, while also meeting with officials from Yonsei to hammer out the details of the agreement. A problem that Wortham is facing is that deans at Korean universities are elected by their peers to serve three-year terms, so turnover between deans has been a challenge of creating agreements such as the one that has been signed with Yonsei. “We’re going to keep going over there, we’re going in October, and then we’ll go again in the summer after or the academic year after,” Wortham said. “We’ll try to maintain these connections.” There are other potential collaboration opportunities for the Lynch School in Korea and abroad, with Chile as a leading target for future agreements, according to Wortham. “We have a lot of relationships with Chilean universities,” Wortham said. “So we’re trying to pick a couple of target locations and do more intensive stuff with those locations.” n

POLICE BLOTTER: 9/30/19 – 10/01/19 Monday, Sept. 30

Tuesday, Oct. 1

1:36 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a suspicious circumstance at Middle Roadways. 2:02 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident. at Campion Hall.

5:00 p.m.- An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Corcoran Commons.

11:35 a.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a suspicious circumstance at Keyes South.

3:24 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a suspicious person at Lower Campus.

10:15 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a fire alarm activation at McElroy Commons.

2:26 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a drug law violation at 90 More Road.

3:15 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Middle Roadways.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

CORRECTIONS What’s one trend that was cool when you were young but is out of style now? “Layering tank tops and rainbow looms.” — Bridget Cronin and Jackie Russell, CSON ’22

“Crimping your hair.” — Kimberly Callahan, MSW

Please send corrections to president@bcheights.com with ‘correction’ in the subject line.

“Heelys” — Antonio Mata, MCAS ’23

“Silly Bandz and playing Wii” — Ryan Fitzgerald and Anthony Wang, MCAS ’22

The Heights

Monday, Octover 7, 2019

AJCU Requires University Assessment Self-Study, from A1

Allyson Mozeliak / Heights Editor

Competitor Universities Release Crime Statistics Clery Act, from A1 California, and College of William and Mary. The reports only list crimes that occurred within universities’ “Clery geography,” which includes on-campus property, public property that is within or immediately adjacent to campus, and non-campus property that is owned or controlled by the university and frequently used by students for educational purposes. Melinda Stoops, BC’s Student Title IX coordinator, explained that it’s difficult to know what the Clery Act numbers mean, as well as the possible reasons behind BC’s higher numbers. “I can’t tell you if it’s that there’s a greater percentage of students at Boston College reporting rape and fondling than other institutions or if there’s a greater number of occurrences,” she said. “We don’t know what’s behind the numbers. We just know that that’s the number. “I firmly don’t believe that we’re less safe than other campuses—I feel like we are a safe campus—but I can’t explain why these numbers are higher.” One reason for the discrepancy, Stoops said, could be the fact that the vast majority of undergraduates—the population from which most of these reports come from—live on campus at BC. “If you have an institution that has a large percentage of students living off campus, if there are crimes happening in their off-campus apartments, that won’t be recorded in Clery,” she said. BC does in fact have a higher proportion of undergraduates living on campus than its competitor schools. Eighty percent of BC’s undergraduates live on campus, while the average proportion of undergraduates living on campus at BC’s competitor schools is 58 percent. But BC’s housing situation alone cannot account for the differences in reporting numbers it experiences with universities such as Notre Dame and Georgetown—which house 78 and 77 percent of their undergraduates on campus, respectively. Despite their similar on-campus housing proportions, BC has consistently experienced higher reports of rape and fondling than these schools over the past three years, with the exception of Georgetown’s 2016 report, which listed a higher number of fondlings than BC’s. As required by the 2013 Violence Against Women Act, the campus safety reports also disclose reported instances of dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. Over the past three years, BC has received 2.6 times as many reports of domestic violence per 1,000 students—0.63— than the average of its peer institutions, but similar numbers of dating violence reports and fewer reports of stalking. All of BC’s employees except for those in confidential or privileged roles are considered “responsible employees,” meaning that if someone tells them about an instance of sexual misconduct, they must report it to Stoops; the BC Police Department; or Patricia Lowe, the Title IX coordinator. Employees in confidential settings such as the Sexual Assault Network (SANet) and University Health Services are also required to pass along the number of reports they receive, although they do so without identifying information about the student, according to Stoops. The only employees who are not required to pass along any information about instances of sexual misconduct are those considered “privileged resources,” which refers to the professional counselors at University Counseling Services and the pastoral counselors in Campus Ministry. The number and type of employees that are required to report instances of sexual assault to the police or Title IX

coordinator differs from institution to institution, which could be another reason behind BC’s higher reporting numbers in comparison to its peer schools, according to Stoops. Some universities have a much narrower scope of who is considered a responsible employee than BC does—at NYU, for example, only employees who are in leadership or supervisory positions “or who have significant responsibility for the welfare of Students or Employees” are considered responsible employees. At other peer institutions, including Fordham, Notre Dame, Virginia, and William and Mary, the medical providers at the health services centers are not required to report incidents of sexual misconduct that they are informed about like BC’s UHS employees are. “One would imagine that the greater number or greater percentage of your employees who are responsible employees, the more reports you’ll probably get,” Stoops said. “At BC, if a student makes a report to an employee, most of the employees have to report it—whereas not every school has that same assignment.” Stoops said that most of the reports she receives come from sources other than herself, such as responsible employees. “It’s unusual for a student to walk into my office as the very first contact,” she said. “They may go to help a professor and then get referred to me, and then I reach out to them, and they come in and talk to me. But we really rely on people in the community reporting and helping us—then follow up and care for the student.” Stoops emphasized that there is a difference between reporting an incident to a responsible employee and filing a complaint. When students report a sexual assault, it is always their choice about whether they want to file a complaint, except for in the unusual case in which the University determines the report entails a threat to the community. “If a weapon was used, or if there’s something where we really felt like there was a danger to the community, or we felt like this was a pattern of repeated behavior by someone, we would need to investigate that,” Stoops said. “The student who made the complaint could choose not to participate in the investigation, but we do have an obligation to protect the community as well.” Stoops said another factor that might play a role is the comprehensive approach the University takes to handle sexual assault education on campus. First-year students take the online sexual assault prevention course Haven over the summer, attend the “Speak About It” performance on consent during Welcome Week, and receive Bystander Intervention Training in their residence halls later in the year. “So by the end of the first year, all students have had three points of training about sexual violence—which is unusual,” she said. “Most schools don’t have three points.” The multiple-point approach could be helping BC students finish their first year better educated about sexual assault reporting, Stoops said. “You do something in the fall, and you may forget about it … [but] then if you have a training in the hall in February, it reminds you again of our policy,” she said. “So that could be something that could lead to different rates of reporting.” While the information included in the Clery reports is helpful, Stoops emphasized how limited it is. “It’s a mixed bag when Clery comes out,” Stoops said. “With that said, I understand the intent of it, and I think that transparency is always a good thing ... But I think also you have to look at it and recognize that this only represents a piece of everything.” Owen Fahy and Madeleine Romance contributed to this report. n

do in our self-study is not be exhaustive … but we can be illustrative,” Newton said. “In other words, we can give you what we think are representative of the examples of the responses to the set of questions, and so that’s what we did.” Newton noted that while Jesuits have recently released Universal Apostolic Preferences, which focus on walking with the marginalized, supporting young people, and caring for the Earth, the self-study document consists mainly of the University’s responses to the 17 questions, which do not necessarily address all of these topics. “Those things won’t be totally ignored in the self study … but [the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities] said, ‘these are the questions that we want you to answer now,’” he said. “If they go through this process, again, the questions will probably be different.” For the second part of the self-study process, Newton and Heffernan have

been and will continue to meet with different groups on campus to hear their views on whether the draft document accurately responds to the questions. These 10 groups are the Council of Deans, the Student Affairs directors, the Staff Advisory Senate, BC’s Jesuit community, the Board of Trustees, the directors of University Mission and Ministry, a group of graduate students, the Undergraduate Government of BC, the University vice presidents, and a group of alumni. In the third stage of the process, a visiting committee of three people from other Jesuit higher education institutions will come to campus in March. “They will spend a couple of days here talking with people—they ’ll talk with students, they’ll talk with administrators, they’ll talk with the president, talk with various vice presidents,” Newton said. “So they’ll go around and get a sense: Is our selfstudy an accurate description of what goes on here?” The committee will write a report that will be reviewed by Leahy, followed by the provincial of the North-

east Province of Jesuits. After Leahy and the provincial converse with one another about the report, it will be sent to the Jesuit Superior General in Rome for him to review. The AJCU has also asked the universities to set goals for themselves for the next five years, which Newton said, in BC’s case, will be drawn from the “Ever to Excel” strategic plan. The examen has been going on for the past five years, and BC is in the last round of universities to participate. “In the old days … they didn’t need to do this because there was that close direction and control, by the Jesuit provincials of the Jesuit institutions, whereas now the institutions have become more independent,” Newton said. “But when they became independent, they said, ‘It’s very important for us to maintain our Jesuit and Catholic character.’ And so the Society of Jesus is coming around now and saying, ‘Well, let’s see how you have done that,’ and I think we have a very good story to tell.” n

Kelly Testimony Describes Investigations Sexual Assault, from A1 sexual encounter with Roe while she was intoxicated. The University denied Doe’s appeal to this ruling on July 24. But on Aug. 20, presiding Judge Douglas P. Woodlock ordered BC to allow Doe—noted as a student-athlete in a document submitted by his legal team—to register for classes and participate in all University activities, according to his order of preliminary injunction. BC filed an appeal of that decision on Aug. 28—the transcript of this hearing has not yet been released. Woodlock criticized the University’s investigator-based model, ultimately suggesting that its setup violated Doe’s right to a fair process. He said that the lack of a real-time crossexamination or equivalent process in BC’s investigative model deprived the accused student of fundamental fairness. Woodlock also stated that the lack of clarity surrounding the role of the Dean of Students office in the review and approval process was a cause of concern. The Administrative Hearing Board model, which BC used prior to 2014 and operated through the Dean of Students office, began with a pre-hearing investigation of the allegations. This investigation included a review of statements obtained from either party, interviews with the complainant and the accused, interviews with appropriate witnesses, and a review of other relevant information. Administrative Hearing Boards were composed of three administrators, one faculty member or academic administrator, and one student, according to the 2012-13 Student Guide. All board members were trained by the Office of the Dean of Students. One member was designated by the Dean of Students Office as chairperson. During hearings, both the complainant and the accused student could bring an adviser and witnesses, although the adviser could not address the board or formulate specific responses for the student. Live witnesses were limited to those who could speak to the facts that they personally witnessed but character witnesses could submit written statements. The board would question the testimony of both parties and each witness, as well as examine the presented evidence. Notably, both the complainant and the respondent would have an opportunity to ask questions of each other and of witnesses through the chairperson of the board. At the conclusion of the hearing, both parties could make final statements. After the hearing, the panel would deliberate and rule one of four findings: responsible, not responsible, no finding, or responsible for a lesser charge. In cases of a “responsible” finding, the panel could recommend sanctions up to and including suspension or dismissal from BC.

Students could appeal on the basis of an unfair proceeding or the appearance of new evidence that would likely change the outcome of the hearing. The University switched to an investigative model in 2014 to align with regulatory guidance from the federal government, according to Heights reporting from October 2014. This model, which is still in place, uses an expert internal investigator, with the option of an additional external investigator available, according to BC Student Sexual Misconduct Policies since 2014. Under the current investigative model, both the complainant and the respondent can offer testimony, present evidence, and name witnesses, just as before. Unlike the hearing board model, the investigators meet with the parties and their advisers alone. At the time of the change, administrators in charge of the conduct system said that the switch would make the process less adversarial for the student reporting sexual misconduct, according to Heights reporting. B oth the respondent and the complainant have the opportunity to review and comment on written summaries of their own interviews. At the end of the process, both parties can review the full collection of evidence and provide comments, which the investigators take into account before writing their final summary. There is no formal process by which the complainant and the respondent can suggest lines of questioning for the other party, as they could through the hearing board chairperson. In court documents defending the investigatory model, BC said that accused students are afforded the opportunity to review the evidence and raise concerns about evidence and testimony. After that comment period, the investigators then send a summary of the investigation, their finding with respect to responsibility, and an explanation of their rationale. From fall 2014 to spring 2019, the Dean of Students Office and the Student Title IX Coordinator received the investigatory report “for their review and approval,” according to the 2018-19 Student Sexual Misconduct Policy. This year’s policy, however, declares that the Office of Student Conduct and the Student Title IX Coordinator must review the report to “verify that the investigation was conducted in accordance with [the Student Sexual Misconduct Policy] and that the report adequately outlines the basis for the investigator’s findings.” Stoops said in an email to The Heights that the University revises the policy every summer. The University also expanded upon the definition of consent when it switched to the investigatory model. The 2012-13 Student Guide said that “active consent” is needed to engage in sexual activity but devoted comparatively less space to defining the concept than the post-fall 2014 editions. The 2012-13 guide said that consent is “informed, freely and actively given,

mutually understandable words or actions that indicate a willingness to participate in a mutually agreed upon sexual activity.” It also noted that consent cannot be given by minors; those incapable of giving informed consent due to drug or alcohol consumption; or unconscious, unaware, or physically helpless people. The 2012-13 guide did not provide a definition for incapacitation. Student Sexual Misconduct Policies since the fall of 2014 have added to both terms. The 2014-15 policy defined consent as words or actions that clearly indicate voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity, and noted that it should be freely informed, actively given, and ongoing. Like previous years, it made added points about age, intoxication, and physical helplessness, but also included that individuals who are “blacked out” or have mental, intellectual, or physical disabilities cannot give consent. The 2014-15 policy offered a formal definition for incapacitation, which it said is “ the inability to make informed, rational judgments and decisions.” It also provided an additional set of requirements for alcohol- and druginduced incapacitation. “If alcohol or drugs are involved, incapacitation may be measured by evaluating how the substance affects a person’s decision-making capacity, awareness, and ability to make informed judgments,” the 2014-15 policy said. “The impact of alcohol and drugs varies from person to person; however, warning signs of possible incapacitation include slurred speech, unsteady gait, impaired coordination, inability to perform personal tasks such as undressing, inability to maintain eye contact, vomiting, and emotional volatility.” Until this year, new policies made no changes to the definition of consent but did add more information about how the University would assess accused students’ responsibility in situations involving alcohol- and drug-induced incapacitation. “The perspective of a reasonable person will be considered in the University’s determination of whether a person knew, or reasonably should have known under the circumstances, whether the other party was incapacitated” the 2018-19 Student Sexual Misconduct Policy said. “Being intoxicated or incapacitated does not diminish one’s responsibility to obtain consent and will not be an excuse for sexual misconduct.” The 2019-20 Student Sexual Misconduct Policy added that consent is needed before sexual contact as well as sexual activity, an expansion of previous years’ passages. It also amended the definition of consent to say that ambiguous situations require the person initiating sexual activity reaffirm that the act is consensual. The current policy also includes additional markers of incapacitation, including a list of several questions that an intoxicated person would not be able to answer. n

The Heights

Monday, October 7, 2019

The High School Op-Ed That Led to Legislative Change

PHOTO COURTESY OF CARTER MUCHA

From left to right: Era Laho, Carter Mucha, Eva Stanley, Rebecca Stone, and Ali Keenan snapped a photo together immediately after the tampon bylaw passed in Brookline.

A new bylaw will stock all of Brookline’s public bathrooms, regardless of gender, with free menstrual products by 2021. By Isabella Cavazzoni Copy Editor Aunt Flo, the Crimson Wave, that time of the month: a few of the euphemisms that people use in place of menstruation or period—more identifiable terms for what many female-bodied people experience every month. This stigmatization of a person’s period is exactly what students at Brookline High School (BHS), with the help of a former state representative candidate, sought to address through a new bylaw passed in Brookline set to provide access to free menstrual products in town-owned bathrooms. Toilet paper is provided freely in public restrooms, so why not pads and tampons? Last May, Brookline representatives voted to pass the bylaw which would make Brookline the first town in the country to freely provide menstruation products in public restrooms of all genders. The bylaw will fully take effect in fiscal year 2021, two years following its passing in a Brookline Town Meeting. And it all started with an op-ed in Brookline High School’s student newspaper The Sagamore. “Since menstruation is an experience isolated to female-bodied people, it is not normalized in the same way that other fluids and discharges are,” wrote Sarah Groustra, a student at Brookline High School, in April 2018. “Men hold the majority of positions of power in our country (a separate issue I don’t have the column space to touch). Because of this, female-bodied people

continue to experience barriers on their right to much-needed menstrual and vaginal healthcare.” Groustra’s op-ed caught the attention of Rebecca Stone, who was fresh off an unsuccessful campaign for a Massachusetts state representative election. Throughout her campaign, Stone tied in themes of gender equity and women and children’s rights. Stone served on the Brookline School Committee for almost 12 years, according to Wicked Local. In announcing her candidacy for State Representative, Stone sought to even out the male majority in the Legislature and bring her experience as a woman to the table. Although her political endeavor was unsuccessful, Stone saw potential in Groustra’s article to make policy changes toward gender equity in Brookline. “I read this article about period shaming and … what it did for people who were female-bodied in the school environment,” Stone said. “And I just couldn’t believe it, it never occurred to me.” In the original Sagamore op-ed, which garnered the attention of NPR, The Boston Globe, and other prominent news outlets, Groustra describes how the intense stigmatization of periods makes female-bodied people feel awkward about handling menstruation products in public. Groustra used to zip tampons in her boots so she wouldn’t be caught with one in her hand, she said. She went on to emphasize the additional cost of periods, an expense that male-bodied people do not have to account for. “The Huffington Post predicted that the average woman will spend $1,773

throughout her life on tampons alone, and that the total cost of a woman’s period in her lifetime is $18,171 dollars,” Groustra wrote. Combine the expense of a person’s period with the shame associated with it and Stone saw an opening for some real legislative action. Though Groustra graduated from BHS in 2018, Stone kept close ties with a group of former high schoolers that helped to shape their campaign to end the stigmatization around menstruation and period products. One of whom was Carter Mucha, now a freshman at Vassar College. Mucha worked with Stone on her campaign, mostly through phone banking, calling voters to try to win the vote for Stone. With a new idea to support gender equity upon seeing Groustra’s op-ed, Stone decided to partner with the NARAL Pro-Choice chapter of BHS—a non-profit organization that advocates for abortion access, of which Mucha was the co-president—to garner support of the bylaw for free period products in public bathrooms. “So I diverted some of our NARAL Pro-Choice club time to working on this menstrual hygiene products issue, in addition to our reguarly scheduled programming of supporting our local abortion clinics and educating and such,” Mucha said. In creating the verbiage of the new bylaw, it was important not only for women’s public bathrooms to be provided with free menstrual products, but all public bathrooms. For Mucha, it was important to include gender neutral language in the

bylaw and provide menstrual products in women’s, men’s, and gender neutral bathrooms to accommodate female-bodied people who might not identify as female. “There was another issue with people who menstruate who do not identify as women having to go to these great lengths to get the products that they need,” Mucha said, “and perhaps risk outing themselves or increasing the level of dysphoria that they already feel by … having to act as a gender that they don’t present as and they don’t identify with in public places.” Despite the inclusive wording, Stone and Mucha still faced issues in passing the bylaw. Their first hurdle: Brookline’s public schools are not governed under Brookline Town Meetings. Mucha and the women of BHS NARAL Pro-Choice had to run a separate campaign aimed at getting the Brookline school committee to sign onto the same warrant article that Stone and Mucha presented to the Town Meeting Committee. As a high school student, Mucha and the rest of the NARAL Pro-Choice group at BHS worked on collecting signatures from fellow students and faculty members to show support when presenting to the school committee. Whereas Mucha and her high school peers brought the knowledge of the school setting, Stone had a career background in local legislation—an endeavor that Mucha says she couldn’t complete without her. And though she was on the losing side of a campaign in 2018, Stone still found she could create change. “You know, running for office ... was a wonderful experience. I very much regret

that I did not get a chance to, to serve in that office,” Stone said. “But serving in the state legislature is not the only avenue for making a real difference in public policy.” In actually implementing the bylaw, Stone and Mucha budgeted for dispensers to be built into every public bathroom in Brookline. At $350 a piece, according to Mucha, the machines are a heavy expense. By installing machines, the dispensers will prevent unnecessary theft and promote only taking the products that one needs. The upkeep of filling the machines is estimated at $1,700, according to Mucha. And though the law presents, at the surface level, to be solely about menstruation products, Stone recognizes that this bylaw is a massive step toward gender equity. For Stone, the lack of availability of menstruation products is a public hygiene issue only associated with female-bodied people. “It’s so important that we talk about this as public health and hygiene and not as feminine products for you know, a women’s problem, right?” Stone said. “... That’s the example that Brookline set, we raised the bar.” While the bylaw will not be implemented immediately, Stone, Mucha, Groustra, and the rest of the women in the NARAL Pro-Choice chapter at BHS laid the groundwork for a stigma-free period for people of all gender identities. It might be that time of the month, but these women are making sure that female-bodied people have access to all of the supplies that they need. Aunt Flo won’t get the best of them this time. n

Longfellow Bar: Where Cultural Flavors Meet Casual Bar Bites By Rebecca Speer For The Heights The goal for restaurants has always been to raise the bar, but for Longfellow Bar, they take the adage quite literally. Elevation of typical bar food and drinks, as well as physical elevation from the hustle and bustle of Harvard Square, allow it to think outside the box—or the margarita glass. Longfellow Bar resides in the elegant, red-brick, colonial-style Brattle Hall, sharing a space with its sister restaurant, Alden & Harlow. The bar serves to function as its more casual and welcoming counterpart, with a smaller, cozier space and a bar both upstairs and downstairs. The candlelight and exposed lightbulbs along with the contemporary yet rustic touches give the bar an inviting feel.

A large blueprint of Brattle Hall pays homage to the memories of the past as new ones are created on 40 Brattle Street. The multiethnic dishes on the m e nu i l l u s t r ate o w n e r M i ch a el Scelfo’s multifaceted commitment to a personal yet eclectic style of dining. He emphasizes the importance of finger food, so silverware was nowhere to be found unless asked for, but moist toilettes were in abundance. Bar food standards can be found—like the Cotechino Pigs N’ Blankets—but they’re enhanced to become new versions of themselves. Other menu items, such as the Mortadella Musubi (basically a sweetbut-salty sushi with ham in it), are simultaneously foreign and familiar, welcoming all to try them. A careful balance between salty and sweet ap-

pears in most dishes here, with a sauce served to accent most of the dishes served. The most popular dish is the Short Rib Kitfo, an Ethopian-inspired minced meat, which further helps to emphasize the importance of shareable finger food in the relaxed bar atmosphere. While I could not try the drinks at the bar, Dan Pontius, Longfellow Bar’s beverage director, noted that one of the most popular beverages is the spicy margarita. Initially, he was doubtful of the jalapeño syrup, but after trying the drink prepared by a staff member, he absolutely loved it. Visitors also enjoy the Fire-inthe-Hole, a clarified peach Cordial. The emphasis on sourcing local and seasonal ingredients from the New England area is paramount to the experience at Longfellow Bar. For

Fire-in-the-Hole in particular, local peaches are selected and charred to create the perfect balance of flavors with some Irish whiskey. Customers can either decide to sit at traditional bar seating or small two- or three-seat tables where drinks can be enjoyed by candlelight. An outdoor balcony overlooking the street is also available for those few months of warmth in Boston. One of the e vents coming up for the business is the ever-popular holiday among beer drinkers, Oktoberfest. Longfellow Bar, along with many other businesses in the area, will be setting up a tent for the parade and festivities in Harvard Square. They pick a local brewery to sponsor, keeping the beer on tap. Maintaining its commitment to local ingredients and vendors, the bar oftentimes will

go through six kegs of beer during the festivities. Typically, it will also serve a form of protein paired with the beer to commemorate the celebration. Longfellow Bar tries to serve a variety of people in the Har vard area—from college students to tourists to a wandering Salman Rushdie (he dropped by the bar once after a lecture at Harvard)—in an unpretentious manner. The restaurant’s goal is to create a wonderful experience within the bar with, as Pontius says, an “emphasis on clarity of flavor and hospitality.” As reflected in their diversity of plates, they adapt to the transient nature of their customers who come from all over to visit the Harvard area. The Longfellow Bar, elevated as it may be, wants its visitors to take their experience home. n

REBECCA SPEER / FOR THE HEIGHTS

The Heights

Monday, October 7, 2019

Gun Industry Examination Proposed Vape Ban By Eric Shea For The Heights

Closure of the Week Orange Line: Oct. 7 to Oct. 13 Until Nov. 10, Orange Line services between Sullivan and Tufts will be suspended on weekends (Friday at 8:45 p.m. until end of service Sunday). From Oct. 7 to Oct. 10, shuttle buses will replace Orange Line services between Wellington and Oak Grove (8:15 p.m. until the end of service each day). Green Line (D): Oct. 7 to Oct. 13 Starting at 8:45 p.m. on Oct. 11, shuttles will replace D branch services between Kenmore and Newton Highlands. Shuttles will replace D branch services between Kenmore and Newton Highlands, starting at 8:45 p.m. until the end of service each weeknight.

Councilor Josh Zakim put forward an ordinance on Wednesday titled the Boston S.T.R.O.N.G. Act, which would require the City of Boston to examine its relationship, and that of Boston’s financial institutions, with firearm manufacturing companies. The ordinance cites both the national and local crisis of gun violence, as well as the federal government’s lack of response to what Zakim calls a “public health and public safety crisis.” “The City of Boston should maximize its efforts to reduce gun violence by holding firearm vendors and financial institutions accountable in their policies and practices to effectuate change and promote better public safety in the community,” the ordinance states. The ordinance will apply to all manufacturers from which the Boston Police Department (BPD) purchases equipment. It lays out six basic guidelines to which gun vendors must adhere. According to the ordinance, gun vendors must prevent, detect, and

screen for the transfer of firearms to straw purchasers or firearm traffickers; prevent sales to prohibited individuals; protect against theft of firearms and ammunition; train employees and have employment policies to ensure maximum compliance with the law; assist law enforcement in investigations and prevention of criminal access to guns; and promote public safety and responsible firearm ownership. The need for the ordinance is “self explanatory,” Zakim said at the meeting on Wednesday. “The burden unfortunately is on cities like Boston and states like Massachusetts to take action in the face of ongoing national gun violence due to complete abdication of responsibility by the federal government,” the councilor said. Zakim noted that the act drew inspiration from Executive Order No. 83, enacted by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, which secures that gun safety measures are being taken by the state’s corporate partners. The ordinance will not completely fix the problem of gun violence but views this legislation as an essential

first step, Zakim said. Governments are the biggest consumer of guns and public safety equipment in the country, and it is their responsibility to utilize their market influence to certif y that weapons vendors and financial institutions operate with basic gun safety practices, according to the councilor. Zakim said he wants the institutions the city is doing business with to prevent the sale of firearms to those on watchlists, felons, or people who legally cannot possess a firearm. Additionally, Zakim called for the existence of whistleblower protections if the sale of weapons to people who cannot legally possess a firearm is taking place or being funded by said institutions. The information provided by the businesses under the ordinance will allow the city to better understand who it is working with, enabling Boston to utilize its market influence to make sure that those that have contracts with the city are operating in a way that promotes gun safety, Zakim said. The Boston S.T.R.O.N.G. Act was assigned to the Committee on Government Operation, which is headed by Michael F. Flaherty. n

Natural Hair Bill Supported by City Council

By Sophie Ragano

For The Heights

The Boston City Council announced its support for a bill which would protect primarily black women and girls from discrimination regarding their natural hair at the Boston City Council meeting on Oct. 2. Councilor Lydia Edwards spoke in support of this bill, which came after both California and New York passed similar legislation. In June of 2019, California became the first state to pass legislation that banned discrimination against natural hairstyles. The state created the CROWN Act—”Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair.” Following California, New York also passed the CROWN Act in July of 2019. This bill amends the definition of race to include hair texture and style, so that any discrimination based on hair texture will be

considered racial discrimination. Cincinnati is also considering similar legislation and is discussing the matter on Oct. 9. Edwards said she discovered this legislation after working as a panelist where she discussed the regulation of girls’ bodies. “Through this research I realized the amount of overregulation of natural hair that disproportionately impacts black girls,” Edwards said. “These regulations prevent them from going to school and has increased the amount of times they are expelled.” Edwards said this information was particularly shocking to her because she has natural hair, and based on the way that the regulation was written, she could have been prevented from attending or teaching at some institutions. “These regulations were a slap in the face [because] they tell you the way your hair is growing is so offensive that you shouldn’t be able to grow it that way,” the

councilor said. The councilor also cited her own personal experience in accepting her natural hair, adding that these regulations directly affect young black girls who become insecure about their natural hair. “When you go to school and try to get an education, you are looking at policies that tell you your hair is disgusting,” Edwards said. Furthermore, Edwards stated that this bill had less to do with self-expression and more to do with young black girls’ abilities to attend school with the hair they were born with. The councilor also cited a recent example in Malden in which two girls went to school with braids in their hair and were told to go home. One of the girls was also told that she could not come back until she got her hair straightened. “We’re not talking about 20 or 50 years

ago,” Edwards said. “We’re talking about the last two to three years that this has been allowed.” Finally, Edwards stated that she planned to do her due diligence on the Boston Public School system’s dress and hair code specifically, and planned to research if there were any ongoing discriminatory practices regarding natural hair styles. She also called on those in the state house to sign their name to make sure the legislation gets passed. After Edwards, councilor Kim Janey also spoke, saying she supported the bill wholeheartedly. She said that one’s hair style should not preclude them from being able to work or learn. “This is about letting young black girls learn,” Janey said. “We should not be trying to mandate how people’s hair grows out of their head.” n

Winter Overnight Parking Ban Shortened By Julia Landwehr For The Heights

The Ne wton City Council has decreased the length of its winter overnight parking ban by four weeks over concerns that it is a burden to residents. The ban, which states that cars cannot be parked on the street for more than one hour between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., was previously in place from Nov. 15 to April 15. It will now be enforced from Dec. 1 to March 31, according to Susan Albright, a Newton councilor at-large

who worked on the proposal. Although the city will still require citizens to move their cars off the streets during declared snow emergencies, the new dates are an attempt to make winter parking a bit easier for Newton residents. Using municipal parking lots is an option for residents who don’t have their own driveways, but, in the past, the city hasn’t always been helpful or accommodating for people who need to use them, the councilor said. As a result, some residents have resorted to more extreme measures in order to comply with the winter over-

night parking ban, paying extremely high rates for a spot in a private driveway or even paving their front yards, Albright said. The adjusted dates are an attempt at a compromise, but Albright said that there’s still a ways to go. “I think we need to solve this problem, we need to keep the streets clear for the citizens who live here,” she said. “But, we also need to let the people who don’t have a place to park, park. There’s got to be some kind of a middle ground that I haven’t found yet, that I’d like to work on some more.” The council discussed the possibility of shortening the ban even further to

begin on Dec. 15, instead of the agreed upon Dec. 1. Some residents, however, were concerned that Boston College students’ on-street parking would become an issue. The Ne wton City Council has pushed for a pilot program that would eliminate the winter overnight parking ban in some precincts to see how it would affect the community. But with the Newton elections coming up so soon, Albright said that she and others on the council are concerned that the pilot program won’t be enacted anytime soon. n

The City Council Could Overturn Mayor’s Veto Mayor Veto, from A1 those suggested by the BRC. If passed, the Council’s order will add an extra $191,000 of cost to the current budget. This proposal, as the mayor wrote, is 38 percent more costly than the amount recommended by the BRC, which she said was “excessive.” The BRC is appointed for advising the City Council on the matter, but the ultimate decision is to be made by the City Council, according to Cheryl Lappin, councilor for Ward 8. Lappin also said that even if the amounts were higher than recommended, they would still have little effect on the municipal budget. The mayor’s stance is in fact sterner than the BRC’s recommendations. According to a Programs & Services Committee Report, the mayor told Councilor Leonard Gentile, chair of the finance committee, that she would veto any raise that is more than half the amount recommended by the BRC. The mayor also wrote that the raise should be done in increments like

other projects in the city, citing some projects that are funded throughout a span of 10 years or longer. The mayor said that pre vious implementarions prove this method efficient, and her colleagues should apply the same strategy in raising the compensations. “This gradual approach is the appropriate method to address the long-frozen stipends for City Council and School Committee members,” Fuller wrote. “We, as elected officials, must apply the same fiscal discipline and measured approach to our salaries and stipends as we do to so many other city programs.” Some council members said that the raise is necessary to support and attract more people to participate in local politics, so that members of the community can be better represented. Lappin said that when she was 9 years old, she was “shocked” to know that her father—then an Alderman— received no payment for being on the Board. She then testified to the Board in

favor of the Aldermen getting paid, even though her father eventually voted against it. Lappin also said that she has to devote 20 to 25 hours per week to her role as councilor while still working as a marketing consultant. She said that while the raise would not affect her, as she is retiring, the financial barriers caused by a low compensation prevent some prospective candidates from participating in local politics. “It’s a lot of out of pocket …” Lappin said. “But if we don’t [raise the compensation], it will really limit the representation of the city to only to some people who have tons of money and are retired or can afford to do this job.” The mayor wrote that the decision should be made prior to the deadline to encourage prospective candidates to file their candidacy. The mayor said, however, that the City Council opened the public hearing for the proposal on July 24, a day after the deadline, which “raised [her] concerns.” The mayor spoke of another reason

for her to consider the proposal untimely. The proposal—according to the BRC—would be effective immediately for School Committee members and on Jan. 1, 2020 for councilors. These changes would occur in the middle of a fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The mayor said that this would disrupt the already determined budget by cutting funds for other projects. Some councilors said that the municipality will receive free cash during the fiscal year that can support unplanned expenditures, including the raise. The extra expenditure is small when compared to some other unplanned costs, Lappin said. The mayor, however, said that these free monies must be invested in issues of the highest priority. “As Mayor, I cannot support the recommendation that has been presented to me,” Fuller wrote in her veto letter. “I remain open to working with the City Council on another path forward.” n

Goes Too Far Lauren Burd In the face of 18 deaths and 1,080 vape-related illnesses around the country, Governor Charlie Baker has ordered a four-month ban on the sale of all vape products, including those that contain tobacco and marijuana, in Massachusetts. In declaring the epidemic a public health emergency, the ban is set to last until Jan. 25, 2020. Massachusetts is not the only state to have banned vape products, but this ban is the harshest, while Rhode Island and Michigan have banned only flavored pods and e-cigarettes. A New York court blocked a state ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes on Oct. 3. The case is moving to the Supreme Court in Albany where the Vapor Technology Association (VTA) will argue for a preliminary injunction on the ban. The Baker administration claimed that the biggest factor in pushing for the four-month ban is so that proper research can be conducted in order to determine what chemicals in these vape products are causing disease among such a growing number of individuals. While many individuals are praising the governor for his swift action, I question if this ban was the most effective way to approach the issue. As stated in The Heights’ editorial last week, with such an all encompassing ban, most vape businesses in Massachusetts, such as Vape Daddy’s, Luxe Vapours, and Beyond Vape, will be unable to sell the majority of their products, and thus will most likely have to shut down in the upcoming weeks. In other words, people will lose their jobs. And this is not a small number of people either. The VTA estimates that about 924 individuals are employed by vape stores in Massachusetts. The majority of these vape shops are small businesses and the direct owners and employees will be immediately affected. As the ban was passed so quickly, these vape stores have been completely blindsided. They had no time to prepare for the prohibition or stock alternative products to sell. And what is the government doing to help these struggling business owners? As of right now, nothing. This begs the question, does the ban reach too far? Current research on these vape-related illnesses have found that most of these cases have resulted from individuals smoking black market THC marijuana (tetrahydrocannabinol) pods, not legally bought vape products. In a recent report, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that “the latest national and regional findings suggest products with THC play a role in the outbreak.” It also concluded that only about 16 percent of patients exclusively use products that contain nicotine. And, ironically, now that legal vape options have been banned, individuals will most likely turn to these harmful black market products. Then we’ll have a bigger problem on our hands. In completely banning vape products, the government is taking away a legal alternative for cigarette smokers who are attempting to quit tobacco use. Many individuals use vape products to satisfy their nicotine addictions without having to smoke cigarettes. Now individuals may be more inclined to return to cigarettes, which, may I remind you, have been certifiably declared unhealthy by medical professionals since the 1960s. It is important to get to the bottom of what exactly is causing these deaths and illnesses and it is also critical to get vape products, of any kind, out of the hands of minors. Perhaps a ban on all vape products could be enforced for a single month, and then slowly pushed back to allow the sale of more products as researchers find conclusive evidence as to what exactly is causing these illnesses. If Massachusetts wishes to keep its four-month ban on these products, then I propose that they consider compensating vape businesses that are going to be hurt by this legislation. It’s only fair.

Lauren Burd is a metro columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at metro@bcheights.com.

The Heights

Monday, October 7, 2019

Editorial

QUOTE OF THE week

During Self-Survey, BC Should Consider How to Better Serve Students from Lower-Income Families Boston College is participating in a self-study as a part of the Jesuit Mission Priority Examen initiated by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The study is designed as a self-reflective measure to assess how well Jesuit universities are demonstrating Jesuit ideals. Topics in the survey range from integrity to campus culture. Jesuits and students at Jesuit schools are, in general, “encouraged to develop their God-given talents and use them in the service of others to help make the world a more just and humane place,” according to the University’s website. Jesuit values also include a commitment to service and helping the poor. There is not a direct question relating to the University’s treatment and inclusion of low-income students on the survey, however, the issue is still a major one that the University should consider as it reflects on these Jesuit questions. According to the Student Experience Survey, student rates of satisfaction as a whole were very high. Most BC students said that their education has given them a better idea of “what is different about a Je-

suit education.” When broken down by socioeconomic background, there is a difference in levels of satisfaction between wealthier students and low-income students. In general, low-income students rated the overall BC environment as less welcoming. Based on the Jesuits’ historical and moral commitment to the poor and underprivileged, however, BC could push itself harder to become a more value-based institution for its students from marginalized communities. The University has recently decided to switch its admissions policy from early action to early decision. BC must try to reconcile this decision with its Jesuit values. An early decision program mandates that if a student is accepted to BC, then the student must attend the school. This can be an issue for low-income families as they cannot compare financial aid packages from different colleges. The switch may also be more likely to encourage applications from wealthier students who need not consider financial aid packages. On its website, the University encourages only students who have “confidence in [their]

“Take the gun, leave the cannoli.” - The Godfather, 1972

family’s ability to meet the full cost of attendance with or without needbased financial aid” to apply early decision. The University expects to fill 40 percent of its 2024 class with early decision applicants. But BC does meet full demonstrated financial aid for admitted students, which is more in accordance with its Jesuit values. According to The New York Times, BC is also one of the 38 universities in the United States that enrolls more students from families in the top one percent of income brackets (families making $630,000 per year and more) than it does from the bottom 60 percent of income brackets. Though this is not unusual among other top-40 colleges and universities, the current socioeconomic makeup of BC is a stark contrast to BC’s founding as a place to educate the sons of Irish immigrants. As a committed Jesuit university, BC prides itself on living out its Jesuit values every day. While it reflects through the Jesuit Mission Priority Examen, it should consider its role in serving underprivileged students.

Timmy’s Home-Hardened Apple Cider Ingredients: - 1 Half-Gallon of Apple Cider - 1 Apple - 3 Cinnamon Sticks Plus 1 for Garnish - 1/4 Cup of Brown Sugar - 1/3 Cup of Orange Juice - Any Dark Liquor, like Jim Beam or Maker’s Mark Preparation: 1. Cut an apple into thin slices and put slices in a warm pan. Cook for 2 minutes. 2. Add apple cider, orange juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon sticks. Stir, bring to a boil, and then let simmer for 15 minutes. 3. Pour a shot of preferred liquor into a mug. 4. Top with a ladle of warm cider. 5. Garnish with a cinnamon stick for stirring.

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The Heights

Monday, October 7, 2019

My Culture Is not Your Costume

Maya Taha As someone who is of Middle Eastern heritage, I dislike Halloween very much. It’s the time of year when my friend who once thought Pakistan and Syria were both bordering nations, who once asked me if I liked “Muslim food,” and who once expressed her sorrow about the war in my country (in Lebanon?) decides that this year she should dress up as sexy Jasmine from Aladdin. If I have to explain why the above sentences are offensive, then Boston College’s cultural diversity core class requirement has failed. Cultural appropriation refers to the misuse of cultural elements, usually clothing, of one culture by another. There seems to be an uptick in instances of cultural appropriation around Halloween, in which people attempt to pretend to be something they’re not, such as a witch or vampire. Dressing up as someone that you’re not become an issue, however, when you dress up as a member culture that has a long history of oppression. It is disrespectful because using a culture as a costume diminishes the value of that culture. This can be seen in situations where white people wear dark makeup in order to look black, also known as black or brownface. Similarly, cultural appropriation is when a non-Christian person dresses up as a “sexy nun” for Halloween, or when a non-Muslim person wears traditional Saudi Arabian garb in order to look like a “Muslim terrorist”. Halloween costumes are traditionally scary. We should not associate darker skin tones or traditional cultural garb with fear. We should not have ghosts and zombies and demons next to people in Saris or hula skirts. What does that say about those particular

cultures? That they’re scary, primitive, and beastly. There is an important difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation. Wearing a Sari at an Indian friend’s wedding is not the same as wearing it as a costume at a Mod Halloween party. As a nation, America is complicit in the plundering of Native American cultures. The least we could do is avoid using elements of their culture as costume props. Historically, Native American women have been and continue to be sexually abused by non-Native men. Native American woman continue to be fetishized and objectified. This kind of objectification is magnified by harmless Halloween costumes. By dressing up as sexy Pocahontas, one can directly contribute to the dehumanizing stereotype that portrays Native American women as objects of sexual gratification. I’m sure many have seen the recent image circulating around the internet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in brownface. Don’t be like Trudeau. I cannot believe I feel the need to write this in 2019, but here it is: Altering physical features to appear to be of a different race for the sake of a costume is disrespectful and, quite frankly, ridiculous. Staying home on Halloween is better than wearing blackface. Blackface has historically been used to perpetuate degrading stereotypes about black people. Their blackness is not an accessory to take on or off whenever one pleases. Their identity is not a Halloween costume. This is not an issue exclusive to white people. It applies to all races. People of all backgrounds have been guilty of this. Nobody should be mocked based on their race, national origin, religion, or disability, or living 69

in a society with complete disregard for anyone else’s feelings. We can (and should) do better than the generations before us. There is a huge difference between wearing cultural wear, such as a sombrero or a sari, and wearing a blue dress to look like Elsa from Frozen. There is a difference between dressing up as a Disney princess whose clothes are everyday clothes, and a princess whose clothes are someone’s cultural wear, or a costume that would require one to change their physical features to change one’s race. When in doubt, students should put themselves into the shoes of their peers. How will my black friend feel if I wear dark makeup in order to look like Snoop Dogg? Avoid costumes that are everyday garb for other people. Dress up as a ghost, vampire, demon, etc.—the options are limitless. It’s extremely easy to avoid offending people, so this Halloween, let’s do just that. Every year, UGBC sends out an email about how to “Dress with Respect” for Halloween parties. I suggest students actually read it this year, particularly if they’re not too sure about their costume. Halloween is a fun time of year, and it’s even better when we respect others and their cultures. Cultural appropriation should not be a Halloween costume—and that’s just common sense.

Maya Taha is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Dunkin’

Skunk Hunting in the Mods, Part Two Grace Christenson Last Tuesday, I sat at my computer immobilized by the sense of impending doom that sets in after promising a lot of people something that you’re probably never going to be able to deliver. After conducting extensive research on skunks (thanks, Google) and trying to figure out who in BC’s administration to ask for a formal, skunkcentered interview (Father Leahy?), I was out of ideas. My chances of having a skunk-investigation revelation were looking bleak; so, I opened up my email to procrastinate and pretend to be productive. Isn’t that, after all, the college student way? While scrolling through mountains of junk mail, one message caught my eye. The subject line was a single word: “Skunk” I regarded the email eagerly but not without trepidation. What if, I asked myself, this is some administrator suing me for slander for publicizing BC’s skunk population (which some might perceive as an infestation)? Is this how my career in journalism ends? Were all of those years of being an annoying rule follower for nothing? Would skunks be the end of me? I opened the email. This was no end—this was just the beginning. It was from a resident of Mod 88z* (changed to protect privacy), a fellow skunk enthusiast, who disclosed that one skunk in particular, Umberto, has become beloved in the Mods. As I scrolled down, I found a photo of the mammal in question. Bushy-tailed and snow white with a slender black stripe, I could tell Umberto was a true stunner of the skunk world. Finally, part two of this investigation came into focus. I had to meet Umberto. I speedily transcribed an email informing Mod-man that he had just blown my skunk investigation wide open, and begged him to tell me more about Umberto’s specific whereabouts. Upon hitting send, I revelled in my newfound power and direction. People were sending in tips. I was basically a one-woman Spotlight team. Truly, I thought, this search will be my legacy. One hour and a few emails later, things were getting spicy. Umberto, I learned, emerges on weekdays after seven in the portion of the Mods closest to the Mod lot. This was when I took a chance. Not one to leave such an incredible opportunity hanging there wasted, I did the unthinkable: I invited myself to the Mods. Specifically, I invited myself to sit outside of a stranger’s Mod at a picnic table on a weeknight, armed with only peanut butter and sheer force of will, to attempt to befriend a skunk named Umberto. There was no way, I thought, that these guys would allow this to happen. After emailing my proposed plan, I pretty much assumed I was just waiting for rejection. Yet, one day later, I got the reply. The mission was a go. Molly (my new co-conspirator after Gabi, citing a moral refusal to

Munchkins Name Change Possibly the worst name A great way to eat five donuts worth of change since IHOP calories and pretend became (jokingly?) not to know it. IHOB.

Grease A Great Excuse The grease from the Dunkin Late to class? Grab an Double Sausage Bagel will iced almond milk latte leave a permanent stain on and your professor will your olive-toned pants. totally sympathize.

Accept Philanthropy With Integrity Ellie Grondin The most influential American universities rely on the generous philanthropic donations of powerful corporations and individuals to thrive. Most of the time, it is safe to say the root of those donations stem from the belief in the value of the receiving institution. Societal growth increasingly relies on education through exposing citizens to new ideas, while providing the means to enact global change with that knowledge. Besides simply equipping students for professional success, education sets the foundation for individuals’ morals and ideals. Ideally, philanthropy would always come from a place of genuine selflessness, yet it also inherently serves as a way to empower the donor. That, of course, is not necessarily bad—I tend to believe most people are inherently good—but it muddies the waters of the donor’s power over an institution in shaping its operations, values, and social sphere. Universities should not just blindly accept large donations for the sake of money, but should be mindful of what the donor represents, their ethics, and how their presence could affect the school as a whole. While philanthropy “might seem an uncontroversially good thing, a mechanism for the wealthy to return some of their wealth to society,” describes Stanford scholar Robert Reich, “philanthropy is an exercise in power—the direction of the private assets of wealthy people toward some public influence … Too often philanthropy is not just giving.” The extent of consideration when accepting a donor’s money can thus seem unclear—I propose universities should be more transparent about how and from whom they accept money. Analyzing that other end of the exchange should hold just as much weight as the money itself. Foreign governments can employ philanthropy as a type of political act. In this case, what is being exchanged becomes even more unclear. A stark example of when to reject philanthropy resides in the donations in Saudi Arabian financial ties to U.S. universities. Saudi Arabia has given to dozens of U.S. universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As reported by The New York Times in 2018, MIT students rose in collective protest against the Saudi Prince’s campus visit, by “calling attention

to the Saudi state’s financial ties to MIT—and at least 62 other American universities—at a time when the regime’s bombing of civilians in a war in neighboring Yemen and its crackdown on domestic dissidents were being condemned by human rights activists.” Around that same time, Saudi Arabia signed three contracts with MIT for a total of $23 million relating to research projects. Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of California, among others, were also recipients of Saudi Arabian money. The country funneled about $650 million to American universities between 2012 to 2018—why were American universities not questioning why such a corrupt government would want to support landmarks of democracy and liberation? Some people may not see a problem with colleges accepting the Saudi government’s philanthropy— money is money, right? But more thought needs to be devoted to the long-term effects of such a donation. The country benefits massively, reaping in heaps of soft power. As Michael Sokolove writes in The New York Times, “Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, hostile to women’s and L.G.B.T.Q. rights and without protections for a free press or open expression, but its associations beyond its borders can make it seem almost like an honorary Western nation.” Its philanthropic acts serve, in part, to soften its image and to turn attention away from these egregious human rights violations. Richard Lester, an associate provost who oversees MIT’s foreign partnerships, spoke out against Saudi Arabian suppression of human rights. Referring to the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Lester addressed Saudi influence as “an unwelcome and unsettling intrusion into our space, even though evident only in retrospect.” This is exactly what schools need to be careful of. Those who fund schools are inserting their wishes, their interests, and themselves into the institution—whether it be beneficial or detrimental, as in the case of MIT. After the news of Khashoggi’s murder broke, Harvard’s student newspaper, The Crimson, released a pressing editorial addressing Saudi involvement at Harvard. The Crimson wrote, “By associating itself with the Saudi regime, Harvard— one of the best universities in the world—runs the risk of legitimizing both the authoritarian nature

of the regime and the brutal policies it carries out abroad. By continuing to strengthen this relationship, Harvard turns a blind eye to Saudi atrocities.” Saudi Arabia’s donations to such prominent schools may seem like an outlier example, the underlying sentiments relate to all types of university philanthropy. Schools need to weigh the long-term benefits of a donation with who gains influence on their campus. The values of a school should never be compromised for a donation. Unconditional donations have been increasingly championed as a way to reduce paternalism. That said, if universities began to reject donations based on blemishes in a person’s life or professional work, schools would never receive any funding. Every person makes mistakes and people are multifaceted. Especially in such a politically polarized time, institutions must remain cautious of pressures to reject donations that could greatly benefit the student body based on the individual political views. However, there are some moral failures that cannot be ignored, and my above example stands as one. I simply urge colleges, including Boston College, to keep the influence and special interests of donors in mind when accepting donations. BC was not named as one of the recipients of the Saudi government’s money, but can still learn from others’ mistakes. Maybe BC’s unique incorporation of ethics and messages like “Men and Women for Others” already instills the values I have urged other prominent American universities to follow regarding philanthropy. BC does not publicly release information about investments, so at this time, I cannot render judgement on the University about this topic. This, however, does not exclude BC from its moral obligation to police its funding sources. Philanthropy creates so many new opportunities for education, but when it’s not properly aligned with university values, it can have unforeseen effects and moral implications. The integrity of American education should rise above all else—the preservation of our society, and our colleges, depend on it.

lurk outside of a stranger’s Mod, abandoned the mission) and I arrived in the backyard of 88z around seven. Things got off to a rocky start. First of all, I’m shy. This meant that I tried to get Molly to just sit outside and not knock on their door or anything. She freaked out, saying that this was already super weird (it was), and that at least saying hello was non-negotiable. Gathering my courage, I knocked, and one of the guys waved me in. I barely got out, “I know that this is really weird, but—” when he said “You’re here for the skunks? Go for it.” My reputation, dear reader, precedes me.

We sat outside at the picnic table and waited with baited breath and frozen hands for Umberto. A lot happened in the hour and a half that we sat there. We saw a bunny try to eat a box of (empty?) Natty Ice. We watched nervously as a resident of another Mod almost unwittingly stepped on one of our peanut butter skunk baits. We googled whether or not Antonia (that’s what we named the bunny) would die if she ate peanut butter. She would not die, but would develop severe gastrointestinal issues. We picked up the peanut butter. We met more of the residents of 88z as they arrived home. All asked if we were there for the skunk. Yes, we told them: We’re here for Umberto. Umberto, for his part, never came. Clearly, he was unappreciative of my willingness to totally sacrifice my social reputation to meet him. What a douchebag. Eventually, Molly and I knocked again to say goodbye and walk away from this investigation, forever labelling it a failure—but the residents of Mod 88z stopped us. They invited us inside to discuss our shared skunk interest. They told us about the poll they set up to name Umberto, all of the horrible names that were suggested (Carl, we agreed, was a particularly bad one), and their skunk-centered group chat with other Mods. One of them declared: “I don’t say this lightly: I feel like my relationship with the skunk might be the most meaningful thing that’s happened to me at Boston College.” I was touched by his apparent willingness to lie in order to be quoted in my column. As time wore on, we discussed other non-skunk-related aspects of their lives. I learned about their Mod culture, which was less bro-y and much more Malcolm Gladwell-oriented than I had anticipated. I think I was offered lentils at some point. One of them emailed me David Foster Wallace’s musings on lobsters. As I left, they assured me that I was welcome back. So, I guess the sly little skunks did it again. I went searching for the elusive beauty of those adorable, stinky beasts and wound up regrettably free of skunk companions, but surrounded by interesting people who offered up unmatched crass impersonations of podcast hosts and a surprisingly steadfast commitment to my investigation. Should I ever live out my dream of chilling with a skunk, I think I might still prefer the company of the people I ended up with instead. (That’s a big might, though, because skunks are really freaking cool.) I’m probably giving up on my search, but I’m not going to write this off as a total failure. Sure, I wanted to bring the great people of BC some hard-hitting, up-close investigative skunk journalism, and I kind of crashed and burned; but, at the very least, I confirmed that the results of the first half of the investigation were sound. We can all walk away from this experience with solid evidence that people at this school are good people. They might try to pretend they’ve never seen you before, or hit the “close door” button as you run to catch the Maloney elevator, or forget your name a lot. But if you invite yourself over for a skunk investigation, they’ll pull through. That

Ellie Grondin is an op-ed columnist for The is, at least the guys of Mod 88z will. And, while a tale of skunk-related Heights. She can be reached at opinions@ heroism likely provides meager relief from the tumult and horror of bcheights.com. our contemporary reality, it’s all this mediocre columnist has to offer.

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

Here’s hoping my skunk investigation can keep us from losing all optimism entirely.

Grace Christenson is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at opinions@bcheights.com.

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Monday, October 7, 2019

@BCHeightsArts

Five

funniest

people

By Kaylie Ramirez Arts Editor

g n i d n i F

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Jesuit universities claim to do a lot more than just provide students with a degree that will land them a seat in an office with a doorman in Midtown Manhattan. Boston College specifically defines “student formation”—a lofty admissions term that is short-hand for producing graduates who can carry a conversation and behave like normal human beings in society—as one of its primary missions as a higher education institution. In the 2019 institutional spot, BC identifies itself as “The Leader in Formative Education,” four words that mean almost nothing to your future employer. Although this claim sounds like it was workshopped in a PR focus group, this holistic approach to aca-

demia also gives students the opportunity to hone their wits, situational awareness, and big-picture thinking, all of which easily lend themselves to comedy. Georgetown University—otherwise known as every BC student’s first choice—famously educated Big Mouth creators Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, while Chris Farley (Saturday Night Live, Tommy Boy) attended Marquette University. The classic BC example is, of course, Amy Poehler, BC ’93, who was a member of My Mother’s “First-Ever-College-Comedy-Group” Fleabag during her four years on the Heights. In November 1992, Poehler told The Heights that she had “never done anything like improv before Fleabag.” On a whim, she decided to sign up. It was a spontaneous decision that put her on

a path from the O’Connell House to 30 Rock. Whether it’s the Catholic guilt, the delayed social progress detailed in a 1992 letter to the editor signed onto by Poehler, or the acid in the Holy Water at your resident director’s weird 11 p.m. mass, Jesuit institutions can be incubators for comedic minds. The Heights spent the past month vigilantly scouring Facebook groups, club rosters, and reader nominations to pull together a definitive list of the funniest campus comedians. The next Poehler walks among us, and they might even be on this list—or maybe they are the person who declined to be a part of the feature despite our gracious courting. Or maybe they didn’t even make the short list for this year’s feature. What do we know anyway? We’re just a college newspaper that still prints in 2019.

‘20

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R EIGHTS EDITO

CELINE LIM /H

If you have attended a My Mother’s Fleabag show in the past year, you know who Sam Harmon is. Harmon is the guy who knows a lot about history: During “185 Blanks Walk Into a Bar,” a game in which Fleabaggers have to riff off jokes about a given topic, Harmon always finds a way to bring it back to wars. For the comedy group’s October 2018 café, Harmon channeled the intense accent and demeanor of a Polish pilot who had been reunited with his family after the fall of the Berlin Wall multiple times throughout the night. It sounds dry—and Harmon is the first to admit that—but between the wainscotted walls of Gasson 305, it’s a potent form of highbrow humor. This academic approach to comedy is reflected in the way Harmon describes what exactly makes a person funny. “It’s kinda like a literacy,” Harmon said. “It’s like a type or style of thinking that you can develop like anything else I think.” If comedy is a scholarly pursuit, Harmon is an A student. Between descriptions of his personal experience on stage, Harmon perfectly recited quotes from Oh, Hello, a Broadway show about two older eccentric New Yorkers written

and performed by Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. For two relatively high profile comedians, it’s an unusually niche performance abounding with off-the-cuff one liners about polio and mezuzahs, but the show has garnered a cult following since its Netflix release. Harmon’s ability to effortlessly quote the play acts as an informal diploma—proof of his dedication to his studies. A champion of dry, situational humor, Harmon also gave high praise to Nathan Fielder, the creator and star of Nathan For You, a show Harmon called “life-changing.” Because Nathan For You requires Fielder to maintain composure even in the most precarious of situations—whether conducting a press conference for Dumb Starbucks, a fake company that went viral, or orchestrating an airport luggage mix-up just to have an embarassing story for a late night appearance. Fielder displays the same stoicism required of improv performers on stage: Total character immersion and outlandish imagination are prerequisites for getting crowds to laugh. Harmon, who is majoring in English and political science, got his start in improv comedy when he was in high school in St.

Louis, Mo. Harmon attended St. Louis University High School, where he was in a sketch comedy club and participated in two improv shows. “It was basically hanging out with those [comedy club] guys that completely rewired my brain,” Harmon said. “I had always been like a goofy kid or whatever, but I didn’t know how to actually be funny.” When Harmon came to BC, Fleabag and sketch comedy group Hello...Shovelhead! were already on his radar, but it was up to him to court the comedic incumbents to gain entry into one of the clubs, both of which have gained a reputation for being highly selective. According to Harmon, it wasn’t his improv chops that got him a spot on the team. After looking at the notes Fleabag members took during his audition, Harmon noticed a common theme among them: the J.Crew pineapple print shorts he chose to wear to auditions. “I thought he looked kinda goofy,” Brendan McGinty, a director of Fleabag and MCAS ’20, said. “I knew he was like an ROTC guy, and in his callback—with the pineapple shorts—he did not fit the mold. I was like this kid, there’s something off with this kid, and turns out I was right.”

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Maya Rao, MCAS ’21 In the 21st century, Malibu Barbie has a lot more to worry about than just the #Bod yPos i move ment : @ thrftstorebrbie (May a Rao) is on the rise. Her Twitt er hand le origin ates from a nickname her friend Pat Carpente r, MCA S ’21, spon taneo usly gave her durin g her fresh man year. Ever since, Rao’s online presence has become a staple of BC Twitter, a small but loud faction on the social medi a platf orm. From chirp ing soror ity girls to satiri zing BC’s well-meaning but terribly executed brand of woke culture, Rao harve sts humor from all areas of campus and serve s it to her 500-plus followers in 280 characters or less. “I think good tweet s are— I hate to soun d like Jenni fer Lawr ence , like ‘#rela table ’—bu t like stuff that a bunc h of peop le can be like, ‘Oh yeah, I totall y thoug ht that before,” Rao said. Rao, who grew up in Chap el Hill, N.C., ident ified a twee t abou t the struggles of girlho od as her best: Rao tweeted, “Half of girlho od is shaming your friend s for the boys they like,” on Aug. 19. The tweet has 17 likes—a solid amount given the site’s const ant

outpour of random musings, even in local circle s—be cause it’s true. But unlik e the majo rity of the people you meet on the internet, Rao is funny (and #rela table ) IRL— she is, like Harm on, a mem ber of My Mother’s Fleabag. At Fleabag’s March 2019 café, Rao momentar ily stole the show by initiating a “No more men!” chan t that was quick ly adop ted by Fleab agger s and audie nce mem bers alike. For Rao, being funny is about being shameless and over- the-top. “One of the big thing s that make s some one funny is being able to laugh at them selve s,” Rao said. “I think if you can’t be the sourc e of humo r either by making fun of yours elf, or being willin g to be the perso n that every one laugh s at, [then ] it’s hard to be funny.” “You can tell that Maya is like a really thoug htful , a really carin g, a really intelligent person when you talk to her,” McGinty said. “But she’s also willing to goof around and poke fun at herself and others in a way that’s—I don’t know—it’s just refreshing to be around.” Luckily for Rao, her life is full of laughable moments. Maloney elevator

rides are typic ally awkw ard for every one involved—Should I ask them what floor, or just assum e it’s the fourt h? What if no one else has airpo ds in and every one can hear me listening to the Jonas Brothers right now? Where am I suppo sed to look? The floor? The doors? Rao’s ride with a friend took a turn for the worst when she tried to lighten the mood by jumping as the elevator took off, but she miscalculated her footing and fell onto the ground in her dress , exposing her underwear to the other passengers . Rao claims that her hidden talent is “not maki ng the team”—sh e was even cut from her midd le schoo l’s volle yball team —so when she was accepted into Fleab ag she was a little surpr ised. But even the mann er in which Rao was accep ted to Fleab ag was some what embarrassing. When Rao, then a freshman, auditioned for the come dy group , she accid ental ly sat at the table with the sign-in sheet , leading auditioners to think that she was already a member of the club and ask her for instructions. “By the end of it, I was like, ‘Yeah just take a seat, sign in. I’m not even in the group,’” Rao said.

Nicole Garcia, MCAS ’22 Awkward humor is likely the most divisive form of comedy: For the person on the other end of the interaction, awkward moments are more likely to feel more uncomfortable than funny as they unfold. But for an independent onlooker, awkward humor can be cathartic, especially for those who have found themselves in uncomfortable situations as a result of their own doing—i.e. those who have responded “You too” to a Plex employee who is just trying to wish you a good workout. Nicole Garcia is both an initiator and purveyor of awkward humor. Donning a t-shirt with a picture of Nathan Fielder in his infamous big suit printed across the chest, Garcia unfurled the inner-workings of her unconventional style of satire in the mid-afternoon glow of the ever-dusty Heights office. She broke it down into three distinct parts: dark humor, ironic humor, and “I don’t know how you would describe Nathan Fielder’s humor, but making situations awkward, I guess.” What all three have in common is a distinctive element of self-indulgence. All humor is subjective, but these styles of comedy are derived from the depths of one’s personal

taste and are almost always self-referencial. Garcia has other quirks that are mainly dependent on her own whims: The sophomore computer science major runs a TikTok account where she posts utterly strange videos. “I guess I’m okay with doing weird stuff in public in terms of like if I’m filming a video or if I’m making a TikTok, I’m just—I do it in public,” Garcia said. “I guess I’m just good at ignoring the weird looks I get from people.” “I don’t have many followers, so then I don’t get many likes on my videos but I still post stuff,” Garcia said. “I post stuff that makes me laugh.” Aside from her burgeoning TikTok account, Garcia also manages a considerably popular One Direction fanpage on Instagram. Originally a personal “finsta” (fake-Insta, for all the parents that should have stopped reading this feature a long time ago), @snoopdoggharry was started in 2014 and now has over 3,000 followers. It’s tough work in 2019—the band has been on hiatus since March 2015 when Zayn Malik left the band—but someone has to do it. A recent post on her Instagram page

announces that Garcia won a radio contest that granted her the “Once in a Lifetime” (Four stans know) chance to meet Niall Horan in New York next week. “IM [sic] MEETING NIALL HORAN!!!” Garcia wrote. “I AM MEETING HIM WHAT THEIFKCKCF [sic] THANK GOD!! NEVER GIVE UP ON UR [sic] DREAMS.” Her commitment to the band is unwavering, even after the members of One Direction decided to go their separate ways: Garcia waited 40 hours in line to see Harry Styles on SNL. In the time since the band announced its break, however, Garcia assumed the role of meme curator to keep her followers engaged. One recent post is a screenshot of a tweet in which the user declares his answer to the question “How do you plan on paying back your student loans?” is “If God don’t do it, it just won’t get done.” “Her familiarity and proficiency with memes and meme culture is just incredible,” André Miller, one of Garcia’s friends and MCAS ’22, said. “For my birthday in September, she slipped a card under my door and it was just a hand-drawn meme. It was fantastic.”

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

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Brandon Portillo, MCAS ’22

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Brandon Portillo is a two-time comedy group reject: He was cut by Asinine and Hello...Shovelhead! during his freshman year. Although rejection can leave a bad taste in the mouth of a freshman who just wants to quench their thirst with club-sponsored Rubinoff and Natty Lite, Portillo decided to give Shovelhead a second chance. Based on an off-putting interaction Portillo had with a Shovelhead member last year, Portillo wasn’t initially planning on going through comedy group auditions again. “I may have made like an inappropriate, like forward move towards one of the people in Shovelhead—not like purposefully,” Portillo said. When Portillo was asked to come up with an improv character during auditions, he quickly assumed the role of a “valley girl who was like really hot, like a stereotypical valley girl.” But his pleas for one of the male judges to indulge Portillo’s valley girl need for attention remained unanswered, despite Portillo’s batting eyelashes and forced giggles. Kieran Harrington, a member of Shovelhead and MCAS ’20, convinced him to give it another go this year. Once Portillo was accepted to the

group, he earned the immediate approval of Laura Huepenbecker, a former director of Shovelhead, a Five Funniest alumna, and BC ’19; who sent Portillo an “inspiring” message about making the group. “She’s like a legend in Shovelhead,” Portillo said. Since being inducted into Shovelhead, Portillo has written about eight sketches, he said. His self-reported best sketch is about a “sexy Stanford Prison experiment.” Only 14 sketches are selected to be performed at shows, so Portillo writes down any inkling of a sketch that comes to him throughout the day. When leaving the interview, Portillo jotted down the phrase “You’re doing amazing sweetie”—which I told him as we were leaving CoRo Cafe—in his notes app. And thus a new sketch is born. Prior to joining the group, Portillo had already built up a reputation for being the “funny friend.” Cat Marra, one of Portillo’s friends and MCAS ’22, recalled a time when Portillo boldly ranted about not making the cut for any comedy groups to his freshman topic seminar class. “I knew about [the rejection] because he vented about not getting in in the freshman seminar,” Marra said. “He just went off on

a tangent and everyone was like, ‘Me too!’” For Portillo, comedy is more than just the punchline of a joke or the plot of a sketch—it’s a lifestyle. “It’s just his attitude that’s funny,” Marra said. “Like he’s not making jokes—it’s just the way he says things and the way he presents himself [that’s] just funny.” Portillo’s shameless antics are part of what makes the sophomore seem like a real life SNL character. Portillo’s bold fashion choices take cues from his sense of humor. “I like Crocs,” Portillo said. “I wear them casually. No one seems to understand that they’re a fashion statement.” Portillo admitted he likes to decorate his Crocs with Jibbitz, the pins that adorn the holes of the infamous shoe. His Jibbitz collection includes pins that depict some of the most important cultural icons of our time: Dory from Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, a minion from Despicable Me, and Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants. Aside from Crocs, Portillo also wears a garbage bag for a raincoat on occasion. If you see a black blob approaching on the quad, don’t be alarmed—Portillo is just trying to make it to class without getting soaked. n

GRAPHICS BY ALLYSON MOZELIAK AND IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITORS

‘Asinine Fall Café’

‘Goldberg Variations’

Asinine screened a video about ghost group therapy and Peter Watcorn performed Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’ for a played various improv games at its fall café.............................. A12 packed St. Mary’s Chapel on Thursday................................A12

‘Big Mouth’.............................................A11 ‘Kirk’............................................................A11 ‘Joker’..............................................................A11

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‘Big Mouth’ Chomps on Toxic Masculinity, Sexism By Kaylie Ramirez Arts Editor

And Jack Miller News Editor Nick Kroll and his comedic dream team gave college students the opportunity to binge on more than just pizza and beer this past weekend. Friday marked Big Mouth’s climactic return to Netflix. While Season Three technically started with My Furry Valentine, a 46-minute Valentine’s Day special that aired in February, the latest episodes deliver the show back to its delicious bitesized format. Point One: Humor Kaylie: For Big Mouth, the third time is a charm—if middle school children talking

about wanting to have sex with each other can be considered charming. This season’s references are admittedly more niche, but it makes watching the show feel like getting to sit at the cool kids’ table at lunch. While conversing with the cater waiter raccoons, Coach Steve (Kroll) asks Lisa the Raccoon if she is a “tiny bear or a possum with a burglar mask on.” Oh, Hello, Lisa. The shameless self-awareness of Big Mouth is historically one of its best attributes. Coach Steve tearing through the rolling credits page of Netflix in Season One set a wonderful precedent of breaking the fourth wall. In Season Three, Big Mouth admirably achieves the same effect when Andrew’s (John Mulaney) dad Marty (Richard Kind) screams, “Skip the intro already!

television

big mouth nick kroll distributed by netflix Release october 4, 2019 Our rating

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We don’t have time! Mantzoukas? Too many letters!” over Charles Bradley’s “Changes” during the opening credits of “Florida.” It’s the fifth episode of the season. Kroll knows we’re just letting it roll at this point. Jack: While the one-liners were definitely as good or better than in past seasons, they were concentrated pretty densely in Maury (Kroll, again) and Connie’s (Maya Rudolph) dialogue. That’s understandable to a point, since it’s hard to give the kids some of the more out-there references or visual comedy bits, but it comes at the cost of giving the Monsters more to do in the plot. Early on, they’re effectively comedic em dashes—an easy crutch to cram an extra joke in scenes that are already full. In Seasons One and Two, Maury and Connie egged on their wards’ increasingly inappropriate behavior. For the first few episodes of this season, they feel more like passengers providing quippy commentary, along for the ride but not in the driver’s seat. Point Two: The Male and Female Experiences Jack: Time for some mansplaining: Big Mouth was at its best and most poignant this season when it explored the unhealthy way middle school (and beyond) boys talk about their female peers. Nobody ever sat me down and explained what a hostile environment was like, so I figured that as long as I wasn’t making any lists or pointing out oth-

ers’ clothing, there was nothing else I could do. For a 13-year-old boy, Nick’s “What am I gonna do, say something?” attitude was a spot-on diagnosis of how stupid pubescent guys are. Also, not to be a broken record, but I think the way that the first episode framed this conflict—Andrew and Jessi on opposite sides and Nick in the middle—would have been perfect for the show and the current moment. Kaylie: Boys, look away. Big Mouth is, like puberty, complicated. On the one hand, Jessi’s inexplicable infatuation with Judd (Jon Daly), Nick’s strange older brother, is completely relatable. One of the absolute worst parts of girlhood is having to explain to your friends—and worse, yourself—why you like a boy. Connie’s constant pressuring of Jessie to admit that she has a thing for Judd perfectly mirrors the teasing that ensues when you admit you have a crush in middle school. On the other (evidently misplaced) hand, Big Mouth somewhat over-exaggerates the bounds of middle school sexual exploration. In “How to Have an Orgasm,” Jessie learns exactly that. It’s one of the rare moments where asking a cartoon character to act their age feels reasonable. In all, every point we just made is kind of a wash. Big Mouth still is—and always will be—the best explanation of all the bonkers events that take place during your pre-teen and teenage years. Feast, you beasts. n

DaBaby Reflects on Grief, Family Values in ‘Kirk’ By Nathan Rhind For The Heights DaBaby became one of hip-hop’s rising stars after releasing his debut album, Baby on Baby, to critical acclaim and commercial success. Songs like “Suge” and “Baby Sitter” propelled DaBaby into the spotlight, with non-stop radio play and a viral social media presence making the star a global sensation. While DaBaby is on top of the world, make no mistake: The road has not been easy for the man behind the rap phenom, Jonathan Kirk. The aptly named Kirk is his second studio album, and, while still including his signature fierce flow and hard-hitting 808s that brought him mass appeal, it is a notable departure from Kirk’s past work in subject matter and tone. And while he still includes his fair share of braggadocious one-liners and party-starting anthems, he also gets introspective and reflects on his trials and tribulations many times throughout the album. This newly reflective attitude is immediately apparent in the opening lines of the first track, “INTRO.” Backed only by choral synths, Kirk raps, “Thinking ’bout my grandmama and shit / I got the number one record they acknowledged da jit / They going crazy when they play it, head bobbing and shit / And I’m just somewhere f—ked up thinking bout my father and shit.” Kirk reflects on how the tragic loss of

his grandmother and father have made him reevaluate his life and what he truly cares about, understanding that fame and fortune pale in comparison to his family. He vulnerably shares how the pain of losing his family members has made it impossible for him to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He continues revealing himself to be a man of family and principle in the following track, “Off the Rip,” while also providing some familiar trap bangers in the third and fourth tracks, “Bop” and “Vibez”. “Bop” is undoubtedly the best of the three, with an infectious flute instrumental that brings to mind Tory Lanez’s “Freaky” and Future’s “Mask Off.” Toward the album’s finish, “Really” and “Prolly Heard” follow in a similar vein as tracks that could easily be included on previous DaBaby projects. “Really” is aided by a sharp Stunna 4 Vegas feature and a sparse, hard-hitting drum beat that, together, act as a deadly one-two combo destined to turn up any party. The Stunna 4 Vegas one-liners provide the quick jabs while the booming base swoops in as a sucker punch. That said, it would be remiss to skip over arguably the centerpiece of the project, “Gospel,” which appears about midway through the album. It demonstrates Kirk’s maturity and new perspective, all while detailing his recent personal tragedies and his coping methods. Kirk connects the loss of his father with the loss of rapper Nipsey Hussle, a personal

role model and leader in the black community. On “Gospel”, Kirk is aided by YK Osiris, who provides a velvety smooth hook that adds emotional weight to the theme of loss prevalent in Kirk’s verses. Further on, Chance the Rapper delivers a trademark choppy, high-pitched flow that isn’t innately bad but unfortunately doesn’t fit the introspective tone of the song. The song would be better suited if Gucci Mane were given more room to operate and impart his wisdom to the newcomer Kirk, or to reflect on his own path to success and the obstacles he faced. The other features, Migos and Nicki Minaj, lend serviceable flows to give Kirk a breather on some songs, although they do

not make much of a lasting impact. While the features on the album all performed admirably, especially Stunna 4 Vegas, the tone and subject of the album was ultimately better suited for Kirk’s own thoughts and voice. Kirk’s finale, “XXL”, is simply the freestyle Kirk performed on the XXL Freshmen Cypher this year. It is important to the project, not for its content, but for what it demonstrates about Kirk’s ability. Kirk can rap. He has also proven on this album he can delve into subjects of emotional depth. In the future, Kirk will hopefully combine these skill sets into a cohesive whole that pushes forward both the sound and social conscience of the hip-hop genre. n

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dababy kirk distributed by interscope records Release September 27, 2019 Our rating

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‘Joker’ Shines Despite Concerns About Violence By Donagh O’Brudair For The Heights Joker is one of the most controversial movies of 2019 so far: Following its screening at the Venice Film Festival in September, critics alleged the film was sympathetic to involuntarily celibate, or “incel,” culture, and that the movie’s visceral violence may inspire copy-cat acts of violence. (This concern without a doubt stems from the mass shooting that occurred at a 2012 showing of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo.) As a result, there were increased levels of security at screenings across the country. At the press screening at the AMC Boston Common on Tuesday, attendees were required to wear wristbands, an unusual level of security for the theater. Regardless, the film won the Venice Film Festival’s top award, the

Golden Lion, and intrigue translated to massive revenue at the box office during the opening weekend. Joker mirrors our current world and speaks to some of the problems of modern society, including wealth inequality and a growing sense of societal abandonment that some feel. While this particular theme still lends itself to a cohesive narrative, setting it in the modern day may have been a better decision for a movie with the lofty aim of creating a succinct criticism of contemporary society. Director Todd Phillips explained that the choice was deliberate to be sure that Joker stood apart from the more recent DC cinematic universe that Warner Bros. is attempting to build. Joker is a gritty origin story of the iconic Batman villain and shows the slow descent of one man—neglected

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joker todd phillips distributed by warner bros. Release october 4, 2019 Our rating

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by society—into the deranged clown prince of crime we are all familiar with. The movie takes place in 1981 Gotham, a city in the grip of a severe economic downturn. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally ill man, is struggling just to make it by and look after his mother while he aspires to become a stand-up comedian. The Joker’s mental conditions are never specified, but we learn early on that he has a condition which causes him to laugh hysterically during moments that he doesn’t actually think are funny. Joker’s last big screen appearance came in 2016’s Suicide Squad, a film in which Jared Leto’s portrayal received a mixed reception from fans. Phoenix, however, shines as the titular character of Joker, with a performance that can hold a candle to Heath Ledger’s Academy Award-winning portrayal of the character in The Dark Night (2008). The Joker’s laugh causes emotional pain for Arthur, and this comes across with stunning clarity during the darker scenes involving the troubled character—Arthur often looks like he is in physical pain when he is laughing, which helps to externalize the internal pain the character is experiencing. Joker’s mental illness is woven intricately into the narrative, leaving the audience to question what it is supposed to believe: Several events are revealed to be manifestations of Arthur’s damaged psyche which will certainly leave viewers with questions

to ponder after the movie. The rest of the cast, including Robert De Niro and Frances Conroy, all turn in intriguing performances. De Niro plays Murray Franklin, a fictional talk show host à la Jay Leno. Phoenix, however, is the main force carrying this film. The cinematography is excellent and captures a highly stylized iteration of Gotham as a place of staggering wealth inequality. The score, which was crafted by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, is superb and helps to bring the film to life by capturing its mood and themes. As a Batman-adjacent film, the Wayne family is also featured. In the film, Thomas Wayne (Bruce Wayne/ Batman’s father), played by Brett Cullen, is running for mayor of Gotham. His portrayal in Joker is very different from his typical comic book representation. In the film he is rather antagonistic, looking down on Gotham’s lower classes. In the comic books, Wayne is usually a beneficent and philanthropic figure dedicated to making Gotham better for everyone. While these changes serve the story that Joker is trying to tell quite well, they come at the expense of fan discontent. Joker is a dark character study about one man cast aside by society and his gradual descent into madness. As a spiritual sequel to the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, Joker is sure to be another milestone for the superhero movie genre. n

Single review mason laferney

‘10,000 hours’

dan + Shay and justin bieber

Along with the release of a misleading futuristic trailer, Grammy Award-winning p op star Justin Bieber took to Twitter Wednesday night to unveil his new collaboration with “Tequila” country singers Dan + Shay. The duo is famous for writing songs that often get overplayed on country radio and usually feature great harmonies backed by catchy, pop-like tunes. In his initial announcement, newlywed Bieber described the song as “wedding music,” perhaps in hopes of scoring a spot on the quintessential reception playlist. To fans’ disappointment, however, “10,000 Hours” is anything but a classic—both sonically and lyrically, the song falls short. The new single employs a confusing syzygy of monotone acoustic guitar riffs, painfully autotuned adlibs, and awkwardly cliché rhetorical questions. Bieber asks listeners, “Do you miss the road that you grew up on?” and “Did you get your middle name from your grandma?” prompting them to ask in return, “But how much money are you making from this collaboration?” n

music video Eliott DeGuilo

‘nice to meet ya’ niall horan

Niall Horan originally gained fame as part of the popular boy band One Direction but eventually split from the group and came out with his first solo album, Flicker. Now, two years after the initial release of Flicker, Niall is back with a catchy and empowering new solo number called “Nice to Meet Ya.” The music video also contains a few easter eggs that add to the excitement around Niall’s new release. The video opens with a woman sneaking out of Niall’s apartment early in the morning. Niall leans out the window shortly after she passes and cracks the joke, “Well, she’s not very good at this, she’s left her phone behind,” which cues into the music and instantly sets an upbeat and confident mood for the rest of the song. Niall then exits the apartment and struts down the street, singing to the energetic piano background, as the camera shows the story of the 24 hours leading up to the opening shot. As the day progresses, Niall continues his stride, and the camera uses various angles and turns to emphasize his confidence. The video concludes when he meets the woman in the bar and she leaves her number on a napkin. The videography is smooth and easy to follow, and definitely complements the feeling the lyrics and music are trying to create. The song does what one would expect of a catchy, upbeat pop track , and the visual component effectively ties into the song’s overall aesthetic. While the song does a good job of creating a compelling beat and has some exciting lyrical moments, it does not take many risks or present many new ideas compared to the plethora of modern pop songs available. Still, Niall adds to the excitement around his album with an easter egg discovered by some dedicated fans. If the number shown at the end of the video is called, a message from Niall is heard confirming the release of a new album and hinting that there are four song titles from the new album hidden in the music video. n

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Asinine Spoofs Therapy, Foot Fetishes in Gasson The Plight of

By Shannon Carmichael

For The Heights

On Thursday night, the stoic old men painted on the concave ceiling of Gasson 305 were treated to much more than just the usual lecture: Improv and

sketch comedy group Asinine managed not only to fill the room with people but also constant laughter that made for an all-around hilarious night. The room quickly neared fire hazard status as students resorted to the floor, radiators, and window sills in anticipation

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Asinine engaged the crowd with a series of improv games throughout the show.

of a hilarious performance. Music blared as the audience buzzed with anticipation while awaiting the entrance of Asinine— and when they finally ran into the room, the crowd went wild. Co-directors Matt Sottile, MCAS ’20, and Elizabeth Burke, MCAS ’20, entered the electric atmosphere and, soon after, the lights dimmed. A pre-recorded sketch entitled “Ghost Therapy” flickered on the screen and the audience was immersed in a group therapy session with the famously dead—from President Abraham Lincoln (Sottile), to Steve Irwin (August Riess, CSOM ’21), to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (Justin Manrao, MCAS ’23). The sketch took a sexual turn and fast, which appeared to be a general theme for the evening. With the lights back on, Riess became the host of a game called “My Movie.” Burke; Cole Hammers, CSOM ’21; Brendan Barnard, MCAS ’21; and Stephanie Chamberlain, MCAS ’23, each contributed movie titles corresponding to audience-selected initials. Notably, scenes from Bogus Vigilantes and Junior Varsity Girls were performed with great enthusiasm. Quinn O’Connor, MCAS ’21, assumed the role of facilitator in the following high-spirited game of “Bing.” Burke and Isabella Espenilla, MCAS ’23, transformed into sweeping orphans proposing a revolution—“no, a dance party”—to rise up against orphanage head Quinn Kiernan, MCAS ’22. High off the energy of the orphans and in the spirit of dance, Kiernan’s declaration that all dancers deserve parents ended the sketch on a jovial note.

Asinine then turned to a radio bit, which involved four different stations’ takes on the topic of bathtubs. Maggie Dockrey, MCAS ’22, and Justin Manrao, MCAS ’23, broadcasted the ASMR sizzle of bath bombs and the smooth R&B drip throughout the hall, respectfully. Sottile channeled an inner Billy Mays to sell a tub and was followed up by Hammers’ proposition of speed baptisms on a Christian sports radio station. Carrying on the show, O’Connor and Riess treated the rambunctious crowd to a love story in the following game. Bonding over both their limitations to speak sentences starting with succeeding letters of the alphabet and their configured foot fetishes, Gassion 305 beared witnesses to the start of a relationship between the two. Kiernan was escorted out of the room as Audrey Davis, MCAS ’23, Sottile, and Riess assumed new identities. Kiernan returned with the task of uncovering their new identities through small talk at a party he was hosting. The revelation of the Jolly Green Giant (Sottile) was made surprisingly quick, though revealing Davis’ one-syllable answers and Riess’s fear of circumcision proved far more challenging. The roar of laughter proved to never cease throughout the entirety of the show. Each member’s love for the group and performing was evident, and their weird senses of humor struck a lasting connection over the course of the night. The performance could come to a close in only one way: a well-deserved standing ovation. n

Watcorn Impresses With ‘Goldberg Variations’ By Nathan Rhind For The Heights

St. Mary’s Chapel was filled to capacity by the time Peter Watchorn sat down to play Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Music students, faculty, and fans alike packed every pew, with additional attendees either sitting hunched in the aisles or standing crammed together at the back of the chapel, all craning their necks for a glimpse of the virtuoso pianist performing before them. The Goldberg Variations are a masterclass in technical brilliance and compositional excellence, each variation building and interweaving on the last to create a whole that is both always in flux yet bound together by a central theme. The performance as a whole is incredibly melodic without becoming redundant, making the hour and a half sitting on the floor of St. Mary’s Chapel well worth one’s time. Watchorn opened with a heartfelt dedication to Gregory Miller who, per the event program, “inspired, supported and encouraged [his] quest to perform and record the complete harpsichord works of J. S. Bach over a period of thirty-one years.” Watchorn’s admiration for Bach and desire

to honor his friend’s memory was apparent in the passion of his performance, and the audience responded with their undivided attention. The performance itself was impressive, yet held different significance for all in attendance. Some of the music students were aggressively scribbling in their notebooks with every twist and turn of Watchorn’s fingers while the rest of the audience simply wondered why the “piano” (which was actually a harpsichord) had two “rows” of keys instead of one. Following intermission, the performance continued, with the two keyboard melodies interplaying harmoniously, the variations continuing to build on one another. It sounded as if two world-class musicians were having a duel of pianos, which made it all the more impressive when you looked up and saw Watchorn sitting unassumingly on the bench, his hands flying in all directions while not missing a note. Although Watchorn’s performance was the focal point, St. Mary’s Chapel created the perfect ambience for the baroque classics to fully embed themselves in the mind of the listener. Many people closed their eyes, fully immersing themselves in the sounds. Others looked around, admiring the architecture

MATT PALIOTTA / FOR THE HEIGHTS

The audience was mesmorized by Watcorn’s masterful performance of the Bach classic.

and stained glass and perhaps imagining hearing Bach perform in a church similar to St. Mary’s Chapel hundreds of years ago. As soon as Watchorn stopped playing, the crowd erupted and rose to their feet, a long standing ovation given in a place normally reserved for quiet approval, which is a testament to the success of Watchorn’s ability to connect with his audience. The event’s festivities, however, were not over, as Watchorn announced it was the birthday of one of the Jesuit priests living at St. Mary’s.

He proceeded to play one of the most technically sound and sophisticated versions of “Happy Birthday” you will ever hear. All in all, the concert was an enjoyable affair for all in attendance who were able to take a couple hours out of their Thursday night to appreciate the lifelong work and talent of a great musician. As a reward for attentive listening, or more likely as an act of formality, the concert ended on a sweet note with apple cider and cannolis served at the exit of the chapel. n

DACA, Immigration Examined in ‘The Unafraid’ By Grace Yang For The Heights

The American Dream has been historically deemed as the ideal life pursuit in the United States. It has motivated many individuals from around the world to reside in the States, but the irony is that doing so has become an American Nightmare. Some struggle to survive daily, and there are limited opportunities for any kind of upward social mobility for those living in poverty. That said, some American policies make financial security and, consequently, the American Dream difficult to actualize. This is especially the case for undocumented immigrants. The documentary The Unafraid hu-

manizes the individuals who have limited access to opportunities for upward mobility in American society. A screening of the documentary took place in Stokes 195S on Oct. 2 and was sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and International Justice. The screening was prefaced with a handout that listed general information about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA is a policy created by President Barack Obama in 2012 that provides temporary protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants who come to the United States before the age of 16. As explained in the documentary, DACA’s “protection” does not offer full security. Raquel Muñiz, assistant professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human

ANEESA WERMERS / FOR THE HEIGHTS

The Center for Human Rights hosted a screening of ‘The Unafraid’ in Stokes Hall.

Development and liaison to the Boston College Law School, welcomed the audience to the event and introduced two students who were providing commentary for the documentary: Armando Guerrero Estrada, a doctoral student of theology and education at the BC School of Theology and Ministry, and Carlos Aguilar, a doctoral student of culture, institutions, and society at the Harvard School of Education. The two provided information and their opinions about DACA before the documentary was played. The Unafraid follows three undocumented students from Georgia: Alejandro, Silvia, and Aldo. The film showcases their fight for the opportunity to obtain a college education. Because of DACA, these students are banned from attending the state’s top-five universities and do not qualify for in-state tuition at any other public college in Georgia. Instead, they are considered international students and must pay exponentially higher tuition for class credits than in-state tuition. The film follows the three students over the years leading up to the 2016 presidential election. We see how these students make sacrifices and work incredibly hard to financially support their families. The film sheds light on these families’ tender relationships, reaching the heart of the audience and encouraging them to understand how these policies affect these families not just financially, but emotionally as well. After the end of the film, Muñiz opened up the panel for follow-up questions to

debrief what was shown in the film. Many of the audience members who participated in this discussion agreed that it was a very moving documentary and that they felt privileged to be at BC. The film inspired people to want to take action, and both Estrada and Aguilar offered many ways of doing so. Many asked the questions, “How do we help? What can we do at BC to make a change?” One audience member, without explicitly saying so, seemed to acknowledge the limited number of white members in the audience. “I feel rage. This is becoming a social rage,” he said. But then, a BC student openly reflected on her privilege as a white woman and how the film made her realize that she takes it for granted. In response to this, Aguilar advised her to use her whiteness in spreading information about undocumented and “DACAmented” students, in order to promote change. As the debriefing came to a close, the group was left with multiple suggestions to help BC’s campus become more aware and involved in addressing this current issue. Students and faculty can attend similar events or visit the Center for Human Rights and International Justice for other opportunities to get involved. A memorable scene from the documentary shows the students chanting, “The people united will never be defeated!” There is power in numbers, and one by one, the American Dream can once again become a reality. n

Sonic Sexism Jillian Ran

My sister and I grew up during the peak years of the iPod. During long car rides, we’d have Nelly Furtado or Natasha Bedingfield blasting through our earbuds. Sometimes, though, our batteries would die and we’d inevitably be subjected to our parents’ music taste. Most of the time, we didn’t mind listening to “Sunshine of Your Love” through the car’s speakers. But when Leonard Cohen came on, we voiced our protests loudly. Best known for writing “Hallelujah” (that sad song from Shrek), Cohen was, no doubt, a brilliant lyricist who had a massive impact on the culture of the ’60s and ’70s. And yet he couldn’t carry a tune. More than that, his singing voice was grating and dull. It sounded like he wasn’t even trying. None of that seemed to matter to critics, or my parents, though. For male musicians, a lack of technique, far from being a barrier to success, is almost a badge of authenticity. It’s the equivalent of Silicon Valley tech bros emulating Steve Job’s robotic approach to dressing. If you don’t care about shallow things like clothes (or singing well), you’re free to focus on more intellectual pursuits. A male musician who doesn’t bother with vocal technique must be a lyrical genius. He’s cerebral and inward-looking, not performative. A female musician with a bad voice, on the other hand, is branded talentless. Period. As the backlash against the usage of the word “like,” and the obsession with vocal fry show, people are especially quick to judge the speaking voices of women. This obsession bleeds into the music world. The standards for female performers are miles beyond those for men. Even female singer-songwriters à la Cohen are expected to have impeccable voices. Taylor Swift has the gloss and sheer celebrity power of a pop star, but she’s a songwriter at heart. After all, she’s been writing her own songs since she was 12 years old. But with the pop star persona comes the expectation that Swift be both “authentic,” which means continuing to write her own material, and also palatable to mainstream audiences, meaning hitting every note at every stadium concert. Rather than embrace female singers’ natural voices, the music industry’s solution beginning in the late ’90s was a now-ubiquitous software: Auto-Tune. Pop stars like Britney Spears and Ke$ha were criticized for using the technology so blatantly, but the truth was that Auto-Tune dominated the entire musical landscape of the 2000s. Yet it was only until Kanye West’s fourth album, 808s & Heartbreak, was released that listeners could appreciate Auto-Tune as a deliberate stylistic choice rather than a cheap replacement for talent. In other words, it took a man using Auto-Tune to elevate its status. While female singers who hope to break into the mainstream are expected to sound technically flawless, the range of emotion they can express is restricted. Men can stretch the limits of their voices. They can dip into gravelly lows and airy falsetto. They can wail and scream. They can sound truly ugly in ways that women can’t. Because just as female singers are pressured to be physically attractive, their very voices have to be alluring. It’s difficult to convey real emotion when you have to simultaneously sound sexy. As a result, female pop artists can come across as somewhat two-dimensional. Lana Del Rey’s distinctive voice, for example, has set her apart from her cohorts at the expense of emotional depth. There are indications that times are changing, though. Teen powerhouse Lorde made a name for herself with “Royals,” a cutting critique of consumerism. She spends most of the song singing in the husky, lower register of her voice, only rising up to a more typical range for the chorus, a rare occurrence in pop music. Billie Eilish, with her baggy, androgynous outfits and quietly menacing songs, refuses to be objectified. And singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett channels male bravado in her music with a cool snarl. These young women are symbols of a cultural shift that, hopefully, will continue to allow more experimental female voices to enter the music world.

Jillian Ran is the asst. arts editor for The Heights. She can be reached at arts@ bcheights.com.

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Monday, October 7, 2019

Between Qualitative and Quantitative, There Is Lawrence By Ashlyn Gallagher For The Heights As the first generation that grew up texting, Generation Z has an unparalleled command of acronyms. Two of the most common but least related in the Gen Z vocabulary are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and BLM (Black Lives Matter). The former is a set of career paths students are encouraged to pursue given today’s advances in the fields, and the latter is a political movement that grew from public outrage over the deaths of several unarmed black people at the hands of law enforcement. The former is more quantitative, the latter is more qualitative. The former asks what it can do tomorrow, the latter answers what needs to be done today. Trying her hardest to bridge the gap between these two acronyms is Ellana Lawrence, CSOM ’22. This past summer, Lawrence traveled to South Africa with a program called diiVe, a global leadership program in Cape Town that seeks to train and inspire a new generation of ethically minded STEM workers who hope to aid the underprivileged in their technological pursuits. In what’s called the “Silicon Valley of Africa,” she was given the opportunity to work with the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative. Most of her time was spent researching the effects of global technology and education or consulting with firms such as Injini, an app that features games designed specifically for toddlers and preschoolers with cognitive or fine motor skill delays. “I really think my purpose is to use technology as a resource to better the world and impact as many people as I can,” she said. The internship was unique in that it asked its interns to consider how they could weave their concern for those less fortunate with their tech skills. But Lawrence had been tinkering with lines of code and pickets since high school. Lawrence grew up in Queens, N.Y., and attended Little Red School House, a prestigious, progressive high school

in lower Manhattan, founded in 1921 by Elisabeth Irwin—a gay educator and reformer who sought to promote social justice and feminism. The school has a progressive approach to teaching and encourages students to explore their purpose through independent projects. The summer before Lawrence’s freshman year at the Little Red School House, the death of Eric Garner enraged New York City locals. Garner, a black man, died at the hands of a white police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, after being choked to death on the city sidewalk. Pantaleo approached Garner after accusing him of selling unstamped cigarettes, and then arrested him, holding Garner down on the sidewalk by his neck. Garner repeatedly exclaimed, “I can’t breathe” 11 times, but Pantaleo refused to desist. On the cloudy and overcast day of Dec. 12, 2014, shortly after it was announced that the Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo, the president of Little Red School House decided to hold a walkout to protest the decision. As Lawrence sat in the school’s auditorium for their weekly Friday morning meeting, the president said that if students wished to participate in the walkout, they should remain in the auditorium. “I was like ‘Wow’. Even now I’m getting chills talking about it. It was insane—there was about 250 of us still sitting down. I was hesitant at first, but then I was like ‘I need to do this.’ I would feel so useless if I was just sitting down,” Lawrence said. Together, the classmates made posters before marching through the streets of SoHo screaming “Hands up, don’t shoot!” and “Black lives matter!” “It was extremely rewarding and empowering,” Lawrence said. “People were giving us high fives in the street and honking their horns in support, but I saw people crying. It was just an overwhelming amount of emotions.” In this moment, Lawrence realized there was still so much work to be done in the criminal justice system, and

as a black woman, she felt personally connected to issues pertaining to race relations. After participating in the protest, Lawrence began getting her feet wet in the realm social activism. She founded the Black Student Union at Little Red School House and started going to conferences and hosting workshops. She even created her own documentary during her junior year of high school, Unfound Justice, which highlighted the pressing issue of police brutality and won the Princeton Prize in Race Relations Award. The documentary was inspired by the day of the walkout, and with the help of her closest high school friends, Lawrence was able to craft her own interpretation of how racist police officers improperly influence the criminal justice system. “Ellana was always someone who wanted to be involved in high school … especially if it was something that had to do with helping others,’’ said her best friend. Around the same time, she also decided to join Girls Who Code at her high school. She had no prior computer science experience. Through joining this club, Lawrence landed a couple of impressive internships over the summer while still in high school. After her sophomore year, she interned with AT&T in Rockefeller Center in New York City. It was an exhausting program, demanding Lawrence to work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. After the experience, she decided computer science wasn’t for her. After, Lawrence was unsure of what would come next. Through college visits and hearing about possibilities of alternative career paths, Lawrence realized she wanted to pursue a degree in information systems, which primarily focuses on how individual companies use technology. “I was more of a strategist and wanted to interact with people, rather than being confined to behind my computer screen. … I really appreciate

JESS RIVILIS / HEIGHTS STAFF

Ellana Lawrence wants to raise awareness about the global effects of technology. human interaction. I love having really deep, intimate conversations in person,” she said. After her senior year, Lawrence scored what any young, hopeful technology enthusiast aspires to achieve: an internship at Google. “It was intense. They described it as learning a semester’s worth of computer science information in three weeks. I left with a headache everyday … but it was a great experience,” she said. Lawrence enjoyed many of the perks of working at Google: unlimited access to a supply closet full of Google goodies; a game room equipped with everything from video games to skeeball; and a grand cafeteria serving endless amounts of gourmet desserts, wraps, smoothies, and fruit. Aside from the more social aspect of working at Google, though, Lawrence was able to zero in on developing her business and technological skills. For her final project, she was tasked with designing her own app, which would give her the chance to actually use well-known coding languages, such as Javascript and Python. With the idea of helping others in mind, Lawrence chose to engineer a self-esteem app. “It was pretty much an app for encouragement that would give you pieces of advice throughout the day,” she said. Bidding farewell to Google and her

closest family members, Lawrence packed her bags to move up north to Boston College. Lawrence carried over the momentum she built up in high school to BC in 2018. As a Gabelli Presidential Scholar, Lawrence set the bar high for herself. After arriving on campus, she immediately immersed herself in everything BC had to offer—taking classes with renowned professors, going to job and start up fairs, and becoming involved with different diversity initiatives on campus. Lawrence continuously strives to find ways to not only highlight, but promote diversity on campus. She is a member of the Campus Activities Board, as well as the diversity team for the Fulton Leadership Society, which is a student-run honors program in the Carroll School of Management. This semester, she hopes to work at a job fair for students of color that’s designed to provide more opportunities in the business sector. With such a busy schedule, Lawrence now spreads her efforts across several fields, all while keeping justice at her forefront. The gap between the qualitative and quantitative remains, but that’s not stopping her. “I haven’t found an intersection between [them], but I know I will,” she said. n

Recent BC Grad Helps Students Handle Their Handles By Alexis Lopez For The Heights Imagine the ability to store all of your social media usernames in one place—and then share them with friends just as easily. While it’s never existed before, this idea is the brainchild of recent Boston College graduate, Maxwell Andrew, BC ’18. Similar to a passport, which gives people the opportunity to go wherever they want in the world, his brand-new program, Duffeltag, allows users to distribute all of their handles at once. “It’s kind of: Getting a handle on your handles,” Andrew said. Andrew was born in Baltimore, Md., and is the third-oldest of his five siblings, the younger of three of whom Andrew credits with providing some of the inspiration for Duffeltag, along with his many younger cousins. Andrew observed that, in contrast to when he and his friends were college-aged and would connect across social media platforms by simply getting each other’s numbers, teenagers are now communicating less and less frequently through text messaging. “I noticed that there was a bit of a shift between my younger siblings and me,” he said. “My friends and I used to

just say, ‘Well, what’s your number?’ Then from all of that, we’ll get your Instagram, your Snapchat, everything. ... [Now] you have this problem of having all these different handles—sometimes they’re the same, sometimes they’re not.” During his time at BC, Andrew was a self-motivated student who would often apply the material he learned in his computer science and economics courses to his own side projects. For instance, Andrew wrote the code for a computer program called Odetta. Odetta gave students the opportunity to attend “digital office hours” if they were unable to go in person, which meant that they would be able to log on to the program and message their professors online— whether this was due to laziness, other obligations, or lack of time in general. After they occurred, the chats with their professors would remain visible to other users of the software. An added perk of Odetta was that when students participated in these virtual office hours, students could access the chat log and see questions their classmates had asked—through this, answers to questions they might not have even thought to ask their professors would be accessible to them. Though it doesn’t exist anymore, Andrew notes

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF MAXWELL ANDREW

Duffeltag is a platform where people store all of their personal identification information.

that Odetta was an important stepping stone to his eventual creation of Duffeltag. “I think a lot of the things I learned building [Odetta] led me to being able to build Duffeltag today, because I learned what is really, like, scalable developmentally,” he said. “At a certain point, it became so hard to even add new features or just maintain the code at all, so I realized that I needed to start using completely new software and tools for development [for Duffeltag].” While attending a career fair his junior year at BC, Andrew met Duncan Walker, co-founder and vice president of research and development at Jebbit, a technology startup working toward complete transparency between companies and consumers. Walker offered Andrew the opportunity to intern there that summer, and Walker soon became both a friend and mentor who taught Andrew the ins and outs of the technology world. “Entrepreneurship is when someone lives to create their own opportunities in order to solve the problems facing the world today,” Walker said. “Max didn’t wait for the million dollar idea—instead, he identified it and sought to fix it.” Andrew knew he wanted to go on to found his own startup when he was in college, but this idealism was balanced with a sense of responsibility. So, rather than blindly chasing his ambitions right after graduation, Andrew took the time to hone his developmental skills while simultaneously doing consulting and development work for big startups and Fortune 500 companies. This approach allowed Andrew to pay his bills while he prepared for his own launch. “Since before I graduated, I knew I wanted to be doing something like this, some kind of startup that I think can actually make a difference in the world and actually do something really cool that no one has done before,” he said. While Andrew worked on advancing the mental blueprints he already had for Duffeltag, he also began familiarizing himself with new tools like serverless computing on websites. Andrew made sure to stay informed on new trends surrounding website creation, so he could implement these methods when coding Duffeltag.

By incorporating pragmatism into his master plan, Andrew was able to bring in a steady income, which eventually allowed him to switch gears and spend all of his time on developing his startup. Since making the transition, Andrew has hopped from location to location—including Bristol, England; Los Angeles; and back to Baltimore, where he currently lives—looking to find the unique combination of affordable housing and adventure. “I’ve kind of just been bouncing all over the place, just looking for cheap rent, cool places, because ultimately, it didn’t really matter where I was, so I thought, might as well take advantage of that,” he said. “So I’ve actually been traveling around the world.” Andrew doesn’t remain in one place for long, though. He’s currently completing applications for accelerator programs, and his next move is contingent on the one he decides to pursue. Within the tech industry, accelerator programs are known for the mentorship they provide, in addition to networking and seed funding—when an investor funds a startup and receives an equity stake in the company in return. Andrew intends to move to Chicago next if he is accepted into one of his top-choice accelerators. In July of this year, Andrew got the website for Duffeltag up and running. The software will eventually become an app, inspired by the young family members in his life—his cousins and siblings—as well as a massive security breach on Equifax, a major credit reporting agency which was hacked in September 2017. Because Andrew was personally affected by this, with his full name, home address, and social security number implicated, one of his goals with creating Duffeltag is to prevent others from suffering from a similar breach— with the ability to store all social media handles and personal information in a single, secure place. With Duffeltag, users can compile all of their online information in one location, creating a cohesive identity. Then, they can share their Duffeltag with someone, which would allow them to instantly be connected with that person across all platforms. Andrew believes this is a problem with current members of Generation Z, who often connect with

someone on one or two social media platforms but not others—making it hard to stay in touch with people. Whether it’s entering the workforce or heading off to college, Andrew hopes to simplify the sometimes-daunting process of meeting new people. He also wants to defeat the awkwardness that comes with asking someone for all their social media handles. “Instead of asking someone for their Snapchat or Instagram, or whatever platform they have, you can get your information with one clean phrase, ‘What’s your Duffeltag?’ [and smooth] out the awkwardness of connecting with people,” Andrew said. Although Andrew has been working on this by himself, he recently got in touch with Madeline Marshall, CSOM ’20, who is the lead consultant of the BC chapter of the national organization Consult Your Community. This organization had given Andrew a hands-on team that works on developing Duffeltag’s potential in order to fulfill both its short- and long-term goals. “Ultimately this is all in pursuit of making your [digital] passport. We want to make it so easy to use, really secure to use, and so private making it that you wouldn’t want to use anything but your Duffeltag,” Andrew said. Although this seems like a big ambition for Andrew, it’s just another accomplishment he hopes to check off his list. Privacy has been a big deal for Duffeltag throughout this entire process, as Andrew has focused on creating something that people will trust and use without the fear of their information being stolen. Andrew is currently still working on Duffeltag, and, if all goes well and he moves out to Chicago, he will work with an accelerator program to further develop the app with his new team. He hopes to expand Duffeltag to the BC community, which represents the majority of Duffeltag’s current users, who can sign up for Duffeltag on its website while the app is in the works. “To summarize all this, this isn’t a radical reinvention of the ID,” he said. “[It’s] getting all the personal information that’s on your [BC ID on] your Duffeltag … and then eventually we work our way up to passports, which is kind of what we’re talking about.” n

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Monday, October 7, 2019

Lawsuits Filed Against Baker Over Four-Month Vape Ban The Vapor Technology Association and local vape shops are seeking to overturn the ban passed last month. By Colleen Martin Metro Editor Two lawsuits have been filed against Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Monica Bharel, the public health commissioner, over the four-month vape ban that was announced on Sept. 25. Both suits were filed in the United States District Court in the District of Massachusetts. Mass Dynamics, Boston Vapor, and Vick’s Vape Shop owners were the first to file a suit to overturn the ban on Sept. 29. The second suit was filed by the owners of the Vapor Technology Association, Devine Enterprise, Sun Vapors, and the Steam Co. on Oct. 1.

The vape ban was instituted as part of the public health emergency that Baker announced last month. It prohibits the sale and purchase of all “ENDS” products, which are electronic nicotine delivery systems and marijuana. “The use of e-cigarettes and marijuana vaping products is exploding and we are seeing reports of serious lung illnesses, particularly in our young people,” Baker said in a statement regarding the vape ban. “The purpose of this public health emergency is to temporarily pause all sales of vaping products so that we can work with our medical experts to identify what is making people sick and how to better regulate these products to protect the health of our

residents.” Stores were ordered to take all vape products off their shelves the day after the ban was announced, as state and town officials checked in to see if businesses owners were being compliant. “The Plaintiffs and their employees rely on the revenue generated by the sales of ENDS products and e-liquids to meet the demands of daily living, including, but not limited to, the purchase of gas, groceries, rent and mortgage payments, car payments, daycare” the suit filed on Sept. 29 says. The suit argues that the products being sold are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and are deemed “safe and effective for marketing and use in the United States.” Black-market vape products, which

are causing the illnesses, are not distinguished from FDA-regulated products, the second lawsuit says. It also argues that the ban is not directly targeting the group that it is attempting to protect. “Instead, the Emergency Order implements a categorical ban on the sale or display of vaping products to all persons, threatening to destroy an entire industry and the livelihoods of Massachusetts citizens,” the suit filed by the Vapor Technology Association says. Some vape businesses, like Vape Daddy’s in Newton, have been forced out of business due to the ban. Stacy Poritzky, one of the owners, said that they were taken by surprise when the ban was announced and will not be

able to keep all of their four locations open. All of the locations are currently closed. “It is me and my business partner’s livelihood,” she said in an interview with The Heights shortly after the ban was announced. “So it’s really so wrong on so many levels.” The ban undermines the FDA’s decision that vape products should be available for sale, the first lawsuit said, which is a state disregard of federal policies. The suit filed on Oct. 1 said that the ban interferes with interstate commerce, as it prohibits online and in-store sale of vape products. Baker could not be reached for comment regarding the lawsuits by press time. n

Newton Campus Apparel Line Celebrates Frosh Community The four freshmen sold over 400 shirts and will donate the proceeds to a BC student’s charity run. By Megan Kelly For The Heights and

Danny Flynn

Copy Chief It was nothing new for the group of first-years. Huddled around a table in McElroy, four Newton Campus guys were taking heat from their buddies about living on the satellite campus. They were long used to hearing the same jokes—the dorms, the bus, the whole nine yards—dished out by their Upper Campus counterparts, but this particular conversation gave

them an idea. The freshmen—Noah Spiesz, Liam Kelleher, Joe Lamoureux, all MCAS ’23, and Thoma s L og an, C S OM ’23—decided to take on the challenge of making Newton’s “great sense of community” a reality by creating and distributing a set of Newton Campusthemed t-shirts. “We thought it would be kind of a cool way to build community because everybody that lives on Newton has to deal with these things,” Spiesz said. “So we made something to unify us and bring us together, and we thought that

t-shirts were a great way to do that.” They had their idea on the first Friday of classes. Two days later, they launched their marketing campaign. To get the word out, the group reached out to some Instagram pages dedicated to BC freshman content— meme pages, Newton pages, and the like, according to Spiesz. “A couple of [the students in charge of those pages] live on Newton … so we kind of talked to them about it and they thought it was a great idea,” he said. “So they helped do some publicity and stuff like that and the rest was

Nick Newbold / For the heights

Two of the shirts’ creators model both versions of their product, which they advertised primarily through BC social media accounts.

on Instagram stories, posts, and word of mouth.” The response, they explained, was overwhelming. “At first, we just kind of did it as a Microsoft Word document … to see who would be interested,” Spiesz said. “And we ended up getting over 400 people that wanted them.” The t-shirts, sporting a graphic of a bus encircled by the names of the four Newton residence halls—Cushing, Duchesne, Hardey, and Keyes—and “Newton Campus: #NewtonOrNothing” displayed on the back, sold for $15 a pop. Some people hopped on board immediately, some took convincing, and others, Spiesz said, were downright hostile. Amassing a near-$1,500 profit on the shirt sales alone, the boys were unsure of what to do with the money. Spiesz and Lamoureux, both in the Emerging Leadership Program (ELP), learned that Ivelisse Mandato, an ELP alumna and MCAS ’20, was raising money for a cross-country relay run she plans to take part in next summer. “So we ended up making around $1,500, and we chose to donate all the money to her fund,” Spiesz said. “It’s kind of a big surprise right now.” The run, from Baltimore to San Francisco, is organized through the Ulman Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to funding support to people affected by cancer. “We didn’t really want to tell them we were going to donate the money

… we wanted to keep it authentic. So some kids would be like, ‘If you’re making a profit, I don’t want it. I don’t want to buy anything from you,’” Spiesz said. “We ran into a few situations like that, some setbacks … but at the end of the day, we were super successful with it, so that’s all that matters.” As for future business plans, they are taking it one day at a time, they said. They’ve thought of making Upper Campus t-shirts, given the success of the Newton ones. “We may or may not be selling Upper Campus t-shirts, and they may or may not be upcharged,” Logan said. The group said they learned a lot from the experience. From putting their collective efforts into such a great project to making bunches of new friends—Lamoureux said that he’s come to like being known as “the t-shirt guys” by fellow residents—each of the freshmen agreed that they are glad they pursued this opportunity. “As cliché as it is, if you work towards something, like, you can get it done,” said Spiesz. “Even if it’s just selling campus t-shirts to build community … whether it may be donating money, or just making shirts to make people come together.” “I think it’s way more rewarding when you do something like this for yourself.” Logan said. “But when we see people walking around with t-shirts … It’s just kind of like, ‘I did that.’ Which is cool. Because it’s like you’ve left your mark on something.” n

Mayor Walsh Voices Support for Abortion-Rights Bill in Mass. The ROE Act seeks to improve abortion accesibility and give people under 18 the right to choose to have the procedure. By Isabella Cavazzoni Copy Editor A group of Massachusetts mayors gathered around the State House steps on Tuesday to publicly declare their support for the ROE Act, which strives to improve abortion accessibility. Among them was Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, BC ’09; Mayor Yvonne Spice of Framingham; Mayor Dan Rivera of Lawrence; Mayor Nicole LaChapelle of East Hampton; Mayor Joseph Curtatone of Somer ville; and Mayor Donna Holaday of Newburyport. The day marked the release of a letter signed by 20 Massachusetts mayors to show their support for reproductive rights in Massachusetts, despite ongoing debates about abortion access in other states. “Massachusetts has always led the fight for the rights and freedoms, especially when it comes to health care, and that’s quite honestly why we’re here today,” Walsh said. The ROE Act seeks to provide safe and accessible abortions to tho s e who ne e d them. He ade d by Senator Harriette Chandler of Worcester, the petition will work to eliminate government interference with abortions up to and following 24 weeks of pregnancy. “The Commonwealth shall not interfere with a person’s personal decision and ability to prevent, commence, terminate, or continue their

own pregnancy consistent with this chapter,” the petition states. Under current Massachusetts law, women are able to have abortions following 24 weeks of pregnancy if the mother’s life is in danger or if the physical or mental health of the mother is in danger. The ROE Act seeks to remove any unnecessary restrictions that may prevent safe and reliable access to an abortion. “The ROE Act is important because it is really working to make sure that we have a pure safety net for young people who are looking to access abortion and other … reproductive health care services,” said Whitney Taylor, the political director of the American Civil Liberties Union Massachusetts. Massachusetts law mandates that people under 18 seeking an abortion must either obtain parental consent for an abortion or have a judge of the superior court determine that they are mature enough to consent to an abortion, a practice the ROE Act aims to amend. “The current process that young people have to go through is scary,” Taylor said. “It has nothing to do with the medical system. It has nothing to do with doctors or health care professionals. It has to do with the courts and the government.” Spicer spoke of the importance in providing government support for more accessible abortions.

“This is a human right,” Spicer said. “Women’s right to control their own bodies is their right with the guidance of their doctors. It is so critically important that each and every one of us stand up—stand up for all women.” Many people in East Hampton have described having to drive to surrounding states for reproductive health care, LaChapelle said, maintaining that the ROE Act is not only about abortion, but also safe reproductive health care. “This is not just about one health care choice, this is about something a choice that a woman deserves, that will affect the rest of her life if denied,” the East Hampton mayor said. “I have constituents in East Hampton, who are driving to Connecticut, upstate New York, to get basic information and a choice that only they deserve to make.” The ROE Act and the support that has rallied around it comes on the heels of a petition that could effectively stop state-funded abortions. An initiative petition that counteracts the ROE Act, spearheaded by Thomas Harvey—a chairman of the Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortions—must receive over 80,000 signatures by Massachusetts registered voters by the first Wednesday of December to move foward in the legislative process. “It’s the first step in trying to

Maggie Dipatri / heights editor

Interns at the ACLU and Planned Parenthood held signs and stood behind the mayors. make this state pro-life,” Harvey said in an interview with The Heights in September. The ROE Act is further backed by

the organizations ACLU Massachusetts, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and NARAL ProChoice Massachusetts. n

The Heights

Monday, October 7, 2019

A15

VOLLEYBALL

BC Rallies to Beat Wake Forest, Remains Unbeaten in ACC Play

Wake Forest Boston College

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Kait Devir / For The Heights

Cat Balido and the Eagles tallied 55 kills, and BC moved to 13-4 by beating Wake Forest.

FIELD HOCKEY

Balanced Offensive Effort Helps Eagles Coast Past Quinnipiac By Nick Pulice For The Heights

Sunday afternoon marked the fifth straight game where Boston College field hockey struck first blood. Ye t , u n l i k e Quinnipiac 0 the last three Boston College 4 contests—all of which were decided by just one goal—there was no drama. The Eagles never fell behind Quinnipiac and defeated the Bobcats by a score of 4-0. The No. 13 Eagles posted their second consecutive shutout to bring both their overall and ACC records over the .500 mark for the first time this season (6-5, 2-1 Atlantic Coast). Even though the Eagles led by a score of 1-0 at the end of the first quarter, head coach Kelly Doton said after

that she “felt that we came out really, really slow.” The goal came from junior midfielder Fusine Govaert on a corner shot. Govaert received a pass from freshman forward Margo Carlin and sent a rocket past the Bobcats’ (3-8) netminder for the opening goal of the game and her sixth of the season. After the scoring play, the Eagles had a few more chances to add to their one-goal advantage, but were unable to beat Hedda Bierman-Ratjen, Quinnipiac’s freshman goalie. In the huddle following the period, Doton made it clear she wanted more from her team, despite holding the lead. BC played strong for the first 10 minutes of the second quarter behind sturdy offensive pressure and

solid midfield defense. In the final few minutes of the frame, the Eagles had to halt a power surge from the Bobcat offense. Senior goaltender Sarah Dwyer stood on her head as she made multiple diving saves on a trio of Quinnipiac corner shots. Dwyer made a total of six saves on the day, en route to her second straight shutout performance. If not for her efforts, the Eagles could have gone into the break tied despite controlling play for most of the game. “She earned both of those starting jobs, and she did a hell of a job in the cage for us,” Doton said. The Eagles came out firing in the second half and were able to score two goals off corners to extend their lead to 3-0. BC’s second scoring play of the day was recorded by sophomore

Nell Webber, as she tapped it in after a pass from Govaert for her second goal of the season. Just 29 seconds later, the Eagles were back on the score sheet. In a very similar play, Charlotte Von Huelsen deflected a pass from defender Sky Caron into the back of the net for her third goal of the season. After finding the back of the net, the Eagles shut down the Bobcats’ offense—in fact, Quinnipiac didn’t attempt a single shot on goal in the period. In the opening two minutes of the final quarter, the Eagles added to their lead. Carlin, BC’s leading goal scorer, laced a backhand shot into the back of the net for her 11th goal of the year. Neither side scored the rest of the way, and the Eagles were able to see

out the 4-0 victory. Although BC got the job done on Sunday during its non-conference matchup, Doton believes there is room to grow. “I still think our defense,” the fifthyear head coach said when asked what could be improved. “When the attack starts to flow and when they’re going pretty well, it’s going great. Our press needs to clean up the defense. [There are] no easy games from here.” The Eagles have strung together eight straight quarters of scoreless play with Dwyer in net, but that’ll be a tough task to replicate in their next matchup. BC is hosting No. 19 Harvard on Thursday, a Crimson side that has rattled off six straight wins and is scoring 2.8 goals per game. n

Maggie DiPatri / Heights Editor

Sky Caron (left) and the Eagles’ defense held Quinnipiac scoreless, Margo Carlin (right) scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season, and BC beat the Bobcats, 4-0, to win its second straight game and move back above .500. MEN’S HOCKEY

BC Pulls Away From Varsity Reds in Season-Opening Exhibition MHOK vs. UNB, from A18 Kris Bennett took advantage of, skillfully putting the puck between his legs and just over the shoulder of Knight. Shortly after, though, BC captain David Cotton, who led the Hockey East in scoring last season, tapped in a Connor Moore rebound from a Logan Hutsko shot to even the score. But the Eagles weren’t ready for intermission yet, as sophomore Jack McBain took a pass in the slot from senior Luke McInnis and buried the puck with less than a minute to play in the period, putting BC up, 2-1, going into the first break. The Eagles were the first to score in the second period, as freshman Matt Boldy—the 12th overall pick in the NHL Draft—scored on a onetimer from fellow freshman Alex Newhook—the 16th overall pick—to extend BC’s lead. Both teams had

many scoring chances in the next few minutes, as the Eagles gave the Varsity Reds another power play, hit the post while short-handed, and eventually killed the penalty. BC freshman Mike Hardman gave the Eagles an even larger lead with six minutes left in the second, sniping a shot past the New Brunswick goalie after junior Aapeli Räsänen won the face off directly. York brought in freshman goaltender Jack Moffatt for the third period, but he didn’t see many shots before the Varsity Reds went on the power play again. Moffatt made some impressive stops, but New Brunswick eventually cut BC’s lead as Oliver LeBlanc blasted a shot in from the point. The rest of the game was more back-and-forth action, and New Brunswick attempted to close its deficit by pulling goaltender Rylan Parenteau (17 saves) with just under two minutes left. They almost

succeeded, putting several shots on Moffatt, but he remained solid, and sophomore Patrick Giles beat out an icing infraction near the end to let the clock run out. The Varsity Reds actually outshot the Eagles on the game, 27-19, but solid goaltending from Knight and Moffatt, as well as quality offense, ensured a decisive exhibition win to start the season. BC enters the 2019-20 season at No. 7 in the national preseason rankings, also being dubbed the favorite to finish first in Hockey East in the coaches preseason poll. These projections , combined with the returning talent and highly touted set of rookies that joined the team this year, certainly set the bar high for BC. It is worth noting, though, that the Eagles were also the favorites to win the Hockey East in last season’s preseason coaches poll, yet they ended

Maggie DiPatri / Heights Editor

Spencer Knight made 20 saves in his collegiate debut, and BC began the year with a win.

the season with an underwhelming seventh place finish. Jerry York and the Eagles begin the pursuit of an NCAA Tournament berth at home next Friday against Wisconsin—a tough, familiar, non-

conference foe. Time will tell if BC can maximize its potential, but based on Saturday’s showing against New Brunswick , Eagles fans have a lot of reasons to be excited. n

The Heights

A16

Monday, October 7, 2019

FOOTBALL

BC Can’t Create Defensive Stops, Falls on Last-Minute Field Goal FB vs. Louisville, from A18 right knee injury in 2017 on a similar play, did not return to the game. Enter Grosel. The redshirt sophomore, who finished the game just 9-of-24 for 111 yards despite throwing three touchdowns, connected with Korab Idrizi on a 10-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. The 14-14 scoreline didn’t last long. Hawkins—who came into the weekend averaging 5.9 yards per rush and finished with 25 carries for 172 yards—kept finding holes, cutting back for a 32-yard gain that set up Louisville’s third touchdown of the game. Even penalties didn’t deter the Cardinals back for long. Rodjay Burns took a punt all the way back to the Eagles’ five-yard line, but the explosive return—which featured several missed tackles from BC—was whistled back for holding, backing Louisville up to its own 20. Two plays later, though, Cunningham dropped back and found Dawkins on a 77yard completion that put the Cardinals right back inside the five. Hassan Hall punched the ball in for a six-yard score that put Louisville

up, 28-14. It appeared that the game was getting away from the Eagles. But Grosel and the offense—which netted just two total yards on two drives after Brown’s injury—created a scoring drive when BC needed it most. A 31-yard completion to Jake Burt up the seam got the Eagles moving, and with BC in the red zone, Grosel took a snap and rolled to his left before firing a dart to Kobay White for a 13-yard touchdown. The drive, which covered 70 yards in nine plays and took just 1:16, even ended with an improvised two-point conversion. Grosel bobbled the snap, and was forced to roll to his right, but found Hunter Long to salvage the botched play and cut the Louisville lead to 28-22 at halftime. The Eagles’ offense repeated the feat to open the third quarter. After BC’s defense forced a rare three-and-out, Grosel and Co. methodically marched down the field and converted on 4th-and-1 from the Louisville 35, thanks to a quarterback sneak. Three plays later, Grosel found Idrizi in the end zone on a seam route for a 19-yard score, giving BC its first lead of the game, 29-28.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the defense wasn’t able to replicate the success it found on the first possession of the third quarter. A 41-yard throw to Fitzpatrick—one of 12 Louisville plays that gained 20 or more yards—put the Cardinals right back in the red zone. Creque then kicked a 34-yard field goal to reclaim the Louisville lead after a pair of penalties pushed the Cardinals from the two-yard line all the way back to the 27. On Louisville’s next possession, it was Evan Conley—a true freshman who rotated in with Cunningham throughout the game—who led the Cardinals down the field. After Grant Carlson’s punt pinned Louisville at its own four-yard line, Conley didn’t panic. Instead, the freshman calmly picked apart the BC secondary, moving 96 yards across 13 plays and converting four third downs along the way. He finished the drive with a 23-yard touchdown to Fitzpatrick, who broke out of the attempted tackle of Brandon Barlow en route to the end zone. The Eagles trailed, 38-29, and after Grosel threw his only interception of the day while attempting to find David Bailey, things

once again looked bleak. But the defense responded by forcing a three-and-out, and Travis Levy took an end-around straight to the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown, once again getting BC within one score. Conley threw long to Fitzpatrick on the ensuing Louisville possession, as BC finally manufactured some pressure with a Jahmin Muse blitz, and the Eagles got the ball back with 7:29 to play. The drive that followed, while not perfectly executed, was certainly gutsy. Facing 4th-and-inches from Louisville’s 48-yard line, BC lined up to go for it, but Alec Lindstrom was whistled for a false start. Cognizant of the Eagles’ defensive struggles, BC head coach Steve Addazio elected to go for it anyway, and Grosel responded by rolling out and finding Kobay White for an eight-yard gain and a first down. The Eagles’ offensive momentum stalled at the 28-yard line, after Flowers’ trick play pass intended for Grosel fell incomplete, and Addazio elected to send out Boumerhi for a 45-yard field goal. The graduate transfer buried the kick, putting BC on top again.

But despite the offense’s best efforts, it was Louisville’s balanced attack that got the last word. After a chunk play, Creque nailed his game-winning 41-yard try. BC’s last-minute drive came to a screeching halt after Grosel misfired on 4th-and-2, and the Cardinals started to celebrate their first ACC win since 2017. Brown’s injury will likely be the story moving forward, and for good reason, but ultimately Grosel still put up 32 points while leading the offense, enough for the Eagles to win the game. The BC defense, which struggled to generate pressure on Conley and Cunningham, simply couldn’t cover any of Louisville’s playmakers. If Brown’s injury keeps him out for an extended period of time, BC’s defenders will need to step up. After all, the Eagles can’t reasonably expect Grosel, who has never started a game at the college level, to lead an offense that scores 30-plus points per game. The problem is, Sheridan and the defense have shown little to suggest that a step forward is coming. In fact, Saturday can’t be thought of as anything but a massive step back. n

Cardinals vs. Eagles Drive Chart A look at BC’s 41-39 loss toLouisville, possession by possession:

BRADLEY SMART / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Brown Goes Down With Injury and Eagles Suffer Narrow Loss By Bradley Smart Sports Editor On Saturday afternoon, Boston College football quarterback Anthony Brown was on pace for a career performance against Louisville, as he completed six of his first seven passes for 193 yards and a touchdown. But, on one ill-fated 14-yard scramble, he went down with a left knee injury. And, on a day where the Eagles needed all the offense they could muster, backup Dennis Grosel tried to will his team to victory, but the Cardinals came away with a 41-39 victory, thanks to a 41-yard field goal from Blanton Creque with 1:02 remaining. Here are five observations from the loss, which featured a combined 1,227 yards of offense and dropped BC (3-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) to .500. 1) Defensive Struggles The Eagles, quite simply, couldn’t find any answers on defense against Louisville (3-2, 1-1) for much of the game. They were gashed for 236 yards on the ground and 428 through the air—and it didn’t matter if it was starter Micale Cunningham or backup Evan Conley throwing the ball. Cunningham was 13-of-18 for a career-high 288 yards, while Conley came in and closed out the game by going 10-of-16 for 140 yards. BC surrendered a plethora of big plays to the Cardinals, who were nothing short of explosive. On Louisville’s first drive of the game, Cunningham found Dez Fitzpatrick for a 23-yard reception and then Javian Hawkins broke free for a 47-yard run. It was a pattern that would only repeat, just with

different names. Seth Dawkins hauled in a 59-yard touchdown and another 77-yard reception while Hawkins had runs of 32 and 21 yards—and that was in the first half alone. It didn’t seem to matter what BC did on defense. Despite forcing five punts, it allowed a whopping 664 yards of offense, the highest total allowed in program history. 2) Disappointment for Brown It’s always tough to see someone go down with an injury, but the loss of Brown on Saturday was especially heart-wrenching. The third-year starter has yet to play a full season—he went down with a right knee injury against North Carolina State in 2017 and missed practically all of the Clemson game last year after suffering an upper body injury on the first possession—but seemed to have established a rhythm the past few weeks and clearly emerged as the team’s leader from the outset of the 2019 campaign. After completing just 31-of-61 (50.8 percent) combined passes against Kansas and Rutgers, Brown hit his stride last week against Wake Forest. While he threw two interceptions, he completed a season-high 72.4 percent of his passes and came 10 yards shy of a season-best with 265 yards. That surge carried over in Kentucky, as he nearly reached 200 yards on just seven passes. So, it was especially disheartening to see him go down on his first scramble of the game, as the redshirt junior had worked so hard to get back for 2018 and was playing at his highest level yet this season. 3) Grosel in Relief It was a mixed bag for Grosel, Brown’s

replacement, but the redshirt sophomore did perform admirably in relief. Grosel entered just three minutes into the second quarter with his team trailing by a touchdown. After a handoff, he found Korab Idrizi for a 10-yard touchdown that tied the game at 14 points apiece. He misfired on his next three passes, though, setting the tone for what would be an up-and-down performance. He responded by engineering a touchdown drive in the final two minutes of the half, completing 5-of-7 passes to guide the Eagles on a nine-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 13-yard score from Kobay White. Not only that, but he also rolled out after a botched snap on the extra point attempt and connected with Hunter Long for the two-point conversion. That was easily his best drive, though, as 75 of his 111 passing yards came in the second quarter. From then on, he went 3-of-13 for 36 yards, and while that included another touchdown pass to Idrizi, he also had an interception, and the Eagles had to turn to more of a running game. 4) Clutch Kicking Both team’s kickers stepped up when they needed to, which isn’t always the case in college football. First, BC’s Aaron Boumerhi drilled a 45-yard field goal with 3:32 remaining, capping off a 13-play, four-minute drive for the Eagles. It gave BC the lead, albeit briefly, for the first time since early in the third quarter. It also bumped Boumerhi up to 5-of-7 on the year, a strong clip, and was a season-long that topped his 40-yarder against Kansas. It’s even more impressive

TIMOTHY D. EASLEY /AP PHOTO

The Eagles totaled 563 yards of offense, but it wasn’t enough in a two-point loss.

when you consider that BC’s kicker for the last few years, Colton Lichtenberg, maxed out at 43 yards and was just 4-of-12 from 40 yards out during his BC career. Then, it was Louisville’s Creque who got his chance. After hitting the left upright on an attempt before halftime, Creque, a redshirt junior, bounced back. He knocked in a 34-yard field goal in his second attempt with a little under seven minutes left in the third quarter, then came back and hit another from farther out with 1:02 on the game clock. It was a strong display from the tenured placekicker, who twice handed the Cardinals a lead. 5) Streak Busters Earlier in the season, BC suffered a brutal 48-24 defeat at the hands of Kansas,

which at the time was mired in a 48-game road losing streak against Power Five opponents. With Louisville, the Eagles had a chance to hand Scott Satterfield’s side its 10th straight conference loss in a row—a streak dating back to Nov. 18, 2017, when Lamar Jackson was still the quarterback. Instead, the Cardinals bounced back after a loss to Florida State, leaving last season’s 0-8 ACC mark in the rear view mirror. Unfortunately for the Eagles, opponents bucking trends has been a theme of their season. Even in the win over Rutgers, BC only left New Jersey with a 14-point win. The other Power Five opponents who’ve played the Scarlet Knights? They’ve only outscored Rutgers by 123 points in three games. n

The Heights

Monday, October 7, 2019

A17 WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Barnes Scores Twice, Eagles Fend Off Syracuse for Fourth Straight Win By Andrew D’Ambrosio For The Heights After rolling past Holy Cross on the road Thursday, Boston College women’s hockey took a break from Hocke y East Boston College 4 play and made Syracuse 3 a quick trip to New York on Saturday for a matchup with Syracuse—a team the Eagles have historically dominated. Yet, for the first time in 31 games, the Eagles were outshot, and they nearly surrendered a three-goal thirdperiod lead in the process. In the end, though, behind two goals from Cayla Barnes, BC escaped with a 4-3 win over the Orange. The first period was dictated by the Eagles (4-0, 3-0 Hockey East) and their powerful offense, which hummed along after a six-goal output against the Crusaders. With more shots on net, BC was able to control possession and had the balance of chances. In the first few minutes of the opening frame, Barnes kickstarted the scoring with an excellent pass to Kelly Browne inside the right circle. On a brilliant give-and-go, Browne immediately dished the puck back over to a crashing Barnes for a finish at the left post. The Eagles didn’t drop their intensity in the period, though. Two minutes later, after picking up a loose puck, Savannah Norcross found Lind-

say Agnew, who buried a top-shelf goal past Orange (0-3) netminder Ady Cohen. In the second period, Syracuse bounced back and gained momentum, tallying 19 shots on net compared to just four for BC. Like the Eagles had in the first, the Orange were able to control possession, and it eventually came to fruition. In BC’s previous three games, it had managed to stymie 24 power plays by opposing teams. In the final minutes of the second period against Syracuse, though, the Orange was able to snap that streak. Emma Polaski, a junior forward for Syracuse, tapped in a goal off a feed from teammate Jessica Digirolamo. That was the first time that Maddy McArthur, BC’s sophomore goaltender, allowed a goal since the first period of the second game of the season. But she was largely stellar in the second period. Even though the Orange racked up shots, McArthur was still able to block nearly everything. By the end of the period, she had recorded a remarkable 20 saves on the afternoon and allowed her team to keep a slim lead. In the final period of the game, Hannah Bilka was able to score an early goal during a power play, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead just two minutes into the final period. Browne registered her second assist of the game, sending the puck across to the freshman

forward who rifled it in from the dot. Then, at the five-minute mark, after an impressive sequence of passes from Bilka and Olivia Finocchiaro, Barnes tucked her second goal into the back of the cage. With most of the period ahead of it, BC led by a comfortable 4-1 cushion. The Orange, however, would not relent. At the seven-minute mark of the period, Kristen Siernachesky found Digirolamo on an on-man rush, and she tallied a goal on the left side of the net. Syracuse, at that point, was still down by a pair of goals, but it amped up the pressure. In the final minutes of the game, with an extra attacker on the ice, Anonda Hoppner capitalized on a loose puck in front of McArthur and lit the lamp. A minute and a half remained, but the Eagles were able to hang on and grind out the win. As a whole, BC should feel good about its victory, and further, its unbeaten start. The defense struggled slightly on Saturday but still managed to hold off the Orange. If McArthur continues to set the tone in net, the Eagles will be in great shape for the future. That said, BC’s offensive attack, led by the trio of Barnes, Browne, and Bilka, was easily the bright spot of the win. The Eagles have swept through four road games—no easy feat—and get to return home for five of their next six games. n

BC’s Defense Is in Shambles Four Years After Don Brown’s Departure Regressing Defense, from A18

Upsets Men’s soccer beat No. 3 Wake Forest, 2-1, thanks to a late winner from Stefan Sigurdarson.

Snap Execution For the third week in a row, football botched a snap on a kick attempt.

Shutouts Field hockey held both Quinnipiac and No. 8 Virginia scoreless over the weekend.

Anthony Brown’s Injuries For the third straight season, BC’s quarterback left a game with an injury.

Fast Starts for Hockey Freshmen Matthew Boldy and Mike Hardman both scored in an exhibition win over New Brunswick.

Scoring Woes After scoring eight goals in its first two ACC games, women’s soccer has just one in its last two contests.

backs university” to a position group plagued with issues. Perhaps most frustrating is that the team’s defense looked better against Wake Forest last week, allowing 440 yards but holding the high-flying Demon Deacons and Jamie Newman to 27 points—well below their season average of 38. Sheridan was creative with packages and the defense adjusted quickly to the strange, delayed handoff that Wake Forest used. But, like they did against Kansas in Week 3, the Eagles took a colossal step backward against the Cardinals. The 41-39 loss to Louisville was the latest indictment of a unit that is plagued by missed tackles, coverage breakdowns, and an inability to pressure opposing quarterbacks. The Cardinals—despite coming in having lost their last nine conference games—piled up 664 yards of offense, the highest total the Eagles have ever given up. Yes, ever. Scott Satterfield’s Louisville had nine more yards than Miami managed against BC back in 1984 during the Hail Flutie game. Now, BC clocks in at 118th in yards allowed per game (476.2), 12 spots short of the nation’s worst mark. It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to set the tone of the game, too. On the second play of the game, Micale Cunningham stepped back in a clean pocket and delivered a 23-yard strike to Dez Fitzpatrick, who immediately spun out of an attempted tackle from Mehdi El Attrach. Two plays later, BC had eight men in the box but couldn’t slow down Louisville’s Javian Hawkins—he ran right around the left side and rumbled 47 yards until El Attrach finally dove and dragged him down. That was just the first drive. Louisville racked up chunk yardage left and right, with seven different players registering plays of 10-plus yards. BC struggled for a variety of reasons. Cardinals quarterbacks Cunningham and Evan Conley combined to complete 23-of-34 (68 percent) of their passes for 428 yards, good for 12.6 yards per completion. This was the product of a clean pocket, with the duo taking their time to pick out receivers downfield. There was no drop-off between the two, either, as they both were able to carve up the Eagles defense. “We had two different quarterbacks coming in and you really couldn’t tell,” Satterfield said after, per Louisville Athletics. “We didn’t miss a beat whoever was in the game, quarterback-wise. We

didn’t turn the ball over offensively. Just a lot of good things on the offensive side of the ball.” Countless plays can be pointed to as examples of shaky defense. El Attrach had a tough day, as in the first quarter, he seemed frozen as Seth Dawkins ran right by him and caught what would be a 59-yard touchdown reception—and this was after getting juked by Cunningham in the backfield on a quarterback keeper. Then, near the end of the first half, a pair of linebackers—John Lamot and Joe Sparacio—were in zone coverage and had no chance to catch Dawkins, as he ran a simple corner route and went 77 yards with ease. Mismatched coverages were a recurring trend—Fitzpatrick caught a pass three yards downfield and scampered for a 23-yard score after defensive end Brandon Barlow attempted to cover him but didn’t have the speed to handle a crossing route. This popped up again on one of the biggest plays of the game, as a 3rd-and-10 for Louisville was converted in the fourth quarter when defensive end Marcus Valdez was tasked with covering Tutu Atwell, one of the fastest wide receivers in the conference. The result was predictable: A Louisville first down. Louisville running backs and wide receivers made BC’s defensive ends and linebackers look silly, keeping drives alive at will. After letting Wake Forest go 17-for-24 on third down attempts last week, the Eagles promptly surrendered an 8-for-16 mark to the Cardinals. To make things worse, Louisville didn’t enter with high marks on third down, as they ranked 117th in the country at the start of the game. This was more of a problem in the opening three quarters, and BC dug a deficit as a result. Ultimately, that brings us to a tough question: What’s next? The Eagles have been playing without linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, but at this point it seems he might end up a medical redshirt. Plus, it’s not like that is the position that’s causing the most issues, as Max Richardson has easily been the defensive MVP, and Lamot and Sparacio have both played well. There’s also the fact that good linebackers can only do so much for you, as without pressure or good coverage, they’ll just rack up tackles on chunk plays. There aren’t reinforcements coming for the secondary or defensive line, two problematic position groups for BC thus far. One potential outcome could be that Sheridan’s time as defensive coordinator will be short-lived. The

linebackers coach was promoted over Jim Reid this spring, but his defensive game planning has left much to be desired. A mideason move is far from likely, but it’s not out of the question. Just take a look at Wake Forest and Jay Sawvel last season. Head coach Dave Clawson fired Sawvel on Sep. 23 after the Demon Deacons slumped to 2-2 and had given up 97 points in their last two games while also ranking 121st in yards allowed per game. Still, that’d just be a band-aid, and it’s unlikely to happen. Sheridan and the Eagles need to take a long, hard look at what they’re doing. El Attrach may be an established graduate student, but with the way he played against Louisville, BC should look elsewhere on the depth chart. Jason Maitre, a redshirt freshman, has worked his way into a starting role, and it might be worthwhile to follow his example and work more players in. Addazio and Sheridan might as well use players like Shittah Sillah and Izaiah Henderson, as it surely can’t get worse than Saturday’s debacle and maybe they’ll hit on something. Burning redshirts is always a delicate issue, but the simple fact is that the Eagles are unable to get any pressure on opposing quarterbacks, struggle to contain, and get picked apart through the air. Why not shuffle things up and try and find a more successful combination? The Eagles need to fix mental mistakes and tackling issues, and they need to do it fast. They have a brutal, back-loaded schedule, and the fact that they’re letting the likes of Kansas and Louisville run all over their defense is incredibly troublesome when you consider the offenses they’ll be up against later this year. Clemson, North Carolina State, and Florida all rank in the top half of the ACC in total offense while Notre Dame is averaging just under 40 points per game. If nothing changes, BC is headed toward a season similar to 2015. That season’s offense was derailed by injuries at quarterback, but with the way Dennis Grosel played—he threw for three touchdowns and guided the Eagles to a go-ahead field goal attempt—and the potent running game the Eagles have, it’s hard to see a massive step back there. So, unlike 2015, the issue this time isn’t the offense or injuries, it’s a defense that pretty much hasn’t been able to stop anybody.

Bradley Smart is the sports editor for The Heights. He can be reached on Twitter @bradleysmart15

A18 Monday, October 7, 2019

SPORTS

@HeightsSports

FOOTBALL

LOUISVILLE 41

BOSTON COLLEGE 39

Cards Snap ACC Skid By Peter Kim Assoc. Sports Editor On Louisville’s fourth play from scrimmage, freshman running back Javian Hawkins took a handoff and found a big hole, ripping off a 47-yard gain that put the Cardinals in business at the five-yard line. It was just a harbinger of things to come for Boston College football and its defense. The Cardinals finished the game with 664 total yards of offense and manufactured big play after big play. In the end, it was too much for the Eagles—who lost quarterback Anthony Brown to a knee injury in the second quarter—and backup Dennis Grosel to overcome. BC took the lead with 3:32 to play, but Blanton Creque buried a game-winning field goal with just over a minute left. Louisville snapped a nine-game ACC losing streak and beat the Eagles, 41-39. In a Week 5 loss to Wake Forest—which entered ranked 10th nationally in total offense and 28th in scoring—the Eagles (3-3, 12 Atlantic Coast) allowed just 440 total yards and 27 points. Saturday, the Cardinals (3-2, 1-1) nearly surpassed both of those numbers in the first half. Whether it was through the air or on the ground, BC’s defense simply couldn’t stop Louisville’s option attack. After Dillon fumbled while trying to fight for extra yards on 3rd-and-1 from the Cardinals’ fouryard line on the Eagles’ opening drive, Micale Cunningham and Louisville immediately went to work. Cunningham fired a pass over the middle to Dez Fitzpatrick for a 23-yard gain, then “Playstation” Hawkins took a handoff over the left side and burst through a hole for 47 more yards to set up Louisville on the BC five-yard line. Two plays later, Cunningham kept the ball on an option play and juked Mehdi El Attrach in the backfield before strolling in for a three-yard touchdown. The chunk plays just kept on coming. Cunningham lofted a ball over the top to Seth Dawkins, who ran by the attempted tackle of El Attrach for a 59-yard touchdown on the Cardinals’ next possession to put Louisville back on top, 14-7, with 5:14 left in the first quarter. Brown hit Zay Flowers for a 53-yard gain on BC’s next possession to put the Eagles back in Cardinals territory, but injured his knee two plays later while trying to cut upfield on a quarterback draw. The redshirt junior, who also suffered a season-ending

See FB vs. Louisville, A16

TIMOTHY D. EASLEY / AP PHOTO

Louisville piled up 664 yards, the most allowed by BC in program history, and snapped a nine-game ACC losing streak with a late 41-yard field goal from Blanton Creque.

TIMOTHY D. EASLEY / AP PHOTO

The Cardinals had 12 plays of 20-plus yards in the victory.

After Louisville Debacle, Clear That Defense Is the Problem Bradley Smart In 2015, Boston College football went just 3-9, the worst record that head coach Steve Addazio has posted during his time in Chestnut Hill. That season, though, with defensive coordinator Don Brown leading the way, the Eagles were fourth in the country in scoring defense (15.3 points

per game). The unit boasted the likes of Justin Simmons, John Johnson, Matt Milano, and Harold Landy—all of whom have gone on to have success in the NFL. The problem was the offense, as BC finished 121st of 125 teams in scoring, managing a meager 17.2 points per game. Having two units at such extremes is not a winning recipe, and Brown jumped ship to Michigan the following year. This season, as was reflected in the team’s shootout loss to Louisville on Saturday, the Eagles have seen their units trade places. The offense has been more than up to par, ranking third in the ACC in total

yardage while averaging 32.8 points per game. The defense? It’s been nothing short of porous. With new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan running the show, BC has surrendered 400-plus yards in four of six games, ranks last in the ACC in yards allowed, and is second to last in scoring defense. All in all, the play of the defense through six games and the difficult home stretch of the schedule has the Eagles headed for their first missed bowl game in four years and a similar letdown to that difficult 2015 campaign. Yes, the BC lost a tremendous amount of talent this offseason: Three-fourths of

its secondary, three-fourths of the defensive line, and a talented middle linebacker all left the Heights. In total, the Eagles returned just 38 percent of its defensive production, good for 128th in the country. Still, every team in college football faces turnover, and there’s no reason for the unit to have struggled as much as it has. After all, a handful of tenured BC players have stepped into starting roles this season, so it’s not like it is over-reliant on freshmen— it’s floundering with players that have been around the program for years. This exodus of talent and further step backward was a long time com-

ing, though. After Brown left, the Eagles have regressed on the defensive side of the ball each season, and that was even with the likes of NFL starters Landry and Zach Allen. From 2016 to last season, Jim Reid’s defense went from Brown’s No. 1 mark in the nation in yards per game (254.3) to 70th, at over 400 per game. To make things worse, coming into this season, another BC coach headed to Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan—defensive backs coach Anthony Campanile—and the Eagles went from a potential “defensive

See Regressing Defense, A17

MEN’S HOCKEY

Eagles Double Up Visiting New Brunswick in Exhibition Game

New Brunswick Boston College

2 4

See MHOK vs. UNB, A15

INSIDE SPORTS

WHOK: Barnes, Eagles Fend Off Syracuse FH: BC Comfortably Blanks Quinnipiac

SCORES AND STANDINGS.................... A17 .... A16 Cayla Barnes scored twice and BC avoided blowing a 4-1 Margo Carlin had a goal and an assist, and the Eagles won FOOTBALL................................................. third-period lead to the Orange...................................... A17 their second game in a row..................................................A15 VOLLEYBALL............................................ A15