The Heights March 17, 2016

Vol. XCVII, No. 14 Thursday, March 17, 2016

HEThe Independent

Student Newspaperof Boston College

www.bcheights.com

e s t a b l i s h e d

Th e kickoff for the Undergraduate Gov-

ernment of Boston College presidential race

was held Tuesday night in the Vanderslice

Cabaret Room, where the six presidential

teams shared their platforms, slogans, and

participated in games.

The final teams in contention for the

positions of president and executive vice

president are Anthony Perasso, LSOE ’17,

and Rachel Loos, MCAS ’18, Russell Simons,

MCAS ’17, and Meredith McCaff rey, MCAS

’17, Matthew Ulrich, MCAS ’17, and John

Miotti, MCAS ’17, Nikita Patel, CSOM ’17,

and Joseph Arquillo, LSOE ’17, Andrew Meck,

MCAS ’18, and Jonathan Barbosa, LSOE ’18,

and Ryan Fairhurst, MCAS ’17, and Charlie

Butrico, MCAS ’18.

Th e six candidates were approved for the

offi cial UGBC presidential ballot on Mar. 1.

A primary election will be held on Mar. 22 to

narrow down the competition to three teams

before the general election. Th e general elec-

tion will be held beginning on Mar. 31, and

voting will close on Apr. 1 at 8 p.m.

At the kickoff event, each team was given

the opportunity to present its campaign to

the audience. Teams revealed their campaign

slogans, goals for their terms, and focused on

their ideas of UGBC’s purpose. Several of the

teams noted the group’s past ineffi ciency to get

policies approved, and their plans to work on

Casey Doyle, CSOM ’17, who lives on Foster Street, said that an

intruder entered her house while she and her roommates were upstairs

watching Th e Bachelor. When one of her roommates went downstairs

just after 10 p.m., she found a man standing in their house holding three

laptops. He ran out the back door when she screamed. Th ey believe that

he entered through the back door, which was unlocked.

Later that night, the girls thought they heard someone in their base-

ment and called the Boston College Police Department to do a sweep of

their house. BCPD responded that they needed to contact the Boston

Police Department (BPD) instead.

Since Dec. 15, there have been 27 reported break-ins around the

off -campus community, according to a letter sent to the off -campus

community by the BPD this week. In the past two weeks, BPD reported

fi ve break-ins, four of which were this week—62 Kirkwood on Feb. 28,

288 Foster St. on Mar. 12, 235 Foster and 311 Foster on Mar. 13, and

290 Foster St. on Mar. 14.

“Investigations into these incidents are active and ongoing,” a

spokesperson for the BPD Offi ce of Media Relations said in an email.

“District D-14 detectives will use all available investigative resources to

identify persons of interest and ask any members of the public to report

any suspicious activity in the area.”

Doyle explained her frustration with BCPD’s unwillingness to re-

spond to their call. She also wishes that BC would have released more

information about the break-ins that occurred prior to their own.

Now, the girls always lock the door, even when they are home.

At the beginning of the spring semester, Alexander Bendo, MCAS

’17, said, a man entered his house, 62 Kirkwood, through an open

window on the third fl oor by climbing up the fi re escape. Th e student

who lives in that bedroom was asleep but woke up and screamed when

he saw the intruder in his room. Th e intruder ran out the window,

and the student never fi led a police report because nothing was taken,

Bendo said.

On Feb. 28, however, someone tried to enter his house again—twice.

At 1:30 a.m., Bendo said, he and his roommates were in the living room

watching television when a man tried to enter their house through his

bedroom window on the fi rst fl oor. One of his roommates saw what

was happening from the second fl oor and yelled down to alert them.

SPORTSBC will look to cap off its undefeated season this weekend at the Frozen Four, B10

BREAKING THE ICEMETROThe #techstyle exhibit uncovers the intersection of fashion and science, A4

FUTURE OF FASHIONSCENE“Sing it to the Heights” winner Will Supple discusses fi nding his voice and working with the Bostonians, B3

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

UGBC Elections <<<

See Break-ins, A3

Th e second annual Advancing Research

and Scholarship at Boston College day

kicked off Wednesday with a keynote from

Google, Inc.’s Marvin Chow. As this year’s

symposium of student, faculty, and alumni

research focused on “big data,” it seemed

appropriate that the mammoth of mass data

collection—Google—would lead the way for

any talk of digital information.

Chow, senior director of marketing at

Google and BC ’95, talked about Google’s

collection of lots of data, and how Google uses

that data to make the world a better place.

According to Chow’s presentation, Google

intakes 3 billion queries, 100 billion words, and

422,000 video hours per day. Th ere’s so much

information to process, yet so little—less than

one percent—of this becomes useful to those

who analyze data.

Th e key for tech companies like Google,

explained Chow, has been to fi gure out how

to use all of this data provided. Most people

know Google as the premier search engine,

but the question that Chow wanted to address

was: how has Google harnessed our searches

HOUSE HUNTERS

and uploads for our benefi t?

“It’s not how much data you collect,”

Chow said. “It’s what you do with the data

you collect.”

Over the course of his keynote, Chow

demonstrated several of the ambitious things

that Google has done with all this data that it

intakes on a daily basis.

One example Chow shared was Google

Trends. Pulling statistics from its search en-

gine data, Google can fi gure out what people

are searching for most frequently on a given

date. Chow humorously noted that searches

for “hangover” and “vodka” spiked drastically

on New Year’s Day.

Chow also discussed the predictive ele-

ment behind Google Trends. Based on sta-

tistics from the New Hampshire primaries,

Chow determined that the percentage of

Google searches for each candidate nearly

matched the percentage of votes that went

to each of those candidates. Similarly, Chow

revealed that the day after Super Tuesday

—in which Donald Trump was a big win-

ner—the search numbers for “move to

Canada” spiked.

Th e impact of using big data to create a

program like Google Trends, according to

Chow, is that it will lead to data journalism,

which digs through a more refi ned database,

diversity and mental health on campus.

Perasso and Loos presented fi rst with a

rendition of “Wonderwall.” Th ey sang about

their goals, poked fun at the other campaigns

for joining the race past the original nomina-

tion deadline, and presented their slogan,

“Bring Back the Funk.”

“I feel various feelings about new candi-

dates joining the race,” Perasso said in an email

Mar. 1. “We are happy to have new friends

joining the race, because we got a little lonely

when it was just us two with no competition.

Th e second feeling is surprise, because, as the

only two original candidates remaining, we

have become Th e Establishment Candidates.

Th e third and fi nal feeling is funky—do you

feel it, too?”

Fairhurst and Butrico followed and rede-

fi ned the goals of UGBC. Fairhurst believes

that UGBC cannot represent one united voice

of the students, but should rather work to con-

nect students with administrators. Th e duo

recognized their lack of power when it comes

to policy, but they want to continue to advo-

cate for marginalized groups on campus.

Th e presentations were then interrupted

by the “Newlywed Game,” where candidates

tested their knowledge about their running

mates. Th ey were asked to recall where their

partners lived freshman year, what their favor-

ite pick-up line would be, and what kind of dog

they would want.

Patel and Arquillo then presented their

campaign, whose slogan is “For BC, Not Just

UGBC.” Th eir goals are focused on bringing

See UGBC, A3 See Data, A3

have been robbed.

In the past fi ve days, off

campushouses

Since Dec. 15,

residenceshave been broken into.

Due to lack of housing,

of students live offcampus.

Anthony Perasso and Rachel Loos gave a rendition of ‘Wonderwall’ to the audience.

THE HEIGHTS

The Boston College School of Social Work is sponsoring a talk titled “Practice Behaviors that Mat-ter: Latina Perceptions of the Health Care System” as a part of its Latino Leadership Initiative. The lecture will be held in the Merkert Chem-istry Center on March 17 at 12:30 p.m.1

Several speakers from schools around the world will meet at an international conference in Devlin 101 on March 18 to discuss the events of the Easter Rising. The international conference will include visitors from Columbia Uni-versity and Edinburgh University. 2

Thursday, March 17, 2016 A2

The Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy will hold a conference on Mar.ch 18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to discuss the issue of student debt and brainstorm solutions to solve the national crisis. Guests are free to come and go from the Stuart House on Newton Campus throughout the day.

Top

things to do on campus this week

3 3

—Source: TheBoston College

Police Department

What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day?

NEWSBRIEFS

When U.S. News & World Report released its “Best Grad

School” rankings for 2017 on

March 16, Boston College gradu-

ate schools maintained their spot

at the top of several lists.

BC’s Graduate School of So-

cial Work ranked the highest out

of BC grad schools, in the num-

ber 10 spot. The school followed

universities’ social work schools

including Columbia, University

of Chicago, and the University of

Michigan at Ann Arbor.

BC Law ranked 30th overall,

climbing in the rankings four

spots from last year. The Connell

School of Nursing also ascended

to 33rd place, up one spot from

the 2016 rankings.

The Lynch School of Educa-

tion ranked the highest of all the

Jesuit universities in the 23rd

spot.

The Carroll School of Man-

agement remained in the top 50

MBA programs in the country.

It was also noted that finance

ranked 12th and accounting

ranked 16th in specialty pro-

grams.

“I am pleased to see this recog-

nition of the excellence of a range

of graduate programs across the

University, and I applaud the fac-

ulty and deans in the schools for

all their efforts on behalf of our

programs and our students,” Pro-

vost and Dean of Faculties David

Quigley said to the Office of News

and Public Affairs. “Graduate and

professional education at Boston

College enables us to advance

our mission in important ways,

most notably by training young

women and men for leadership

in the professions.”

POLICE BLOTTER 3/14/16 - 3/16/16

Monday, March 14

11:02 a.m. - A report was filed

regarding a property confiscation

in the Modular apartments.

12: 46 p.m. - A report was filed re-

garding a suspicious circumstance

in Cushing Hall.

2:08 p.m. - A report was filed

regardng a medical transport via

ambulance from McElroy Com-

mons.

6:24 p.m. - A report was filed re-

garding a medical situation at the

Flynn Sports Complex.

Tuesday, March 15

9:46 a.m. - A report was filed regarding a medical transport via ambulance from Gasson Hall.

8:47 p.m. - A report was filed regarding a university stay-away order at an off-campus location.

9:36 p.m. - A report was filed

regarding a University stay-away

order from the Boston College

Police Headquarters.

After University spokesman

Jack Dunn retained legal counsel

for his portrayal in the film Spot-light, the producers of the movie

have issued a statement admitting

that several of his quotes were fab-

ricated for dramatic purposes.

Initially, the Boston Globe reporters who spoke with Dunn

while writing their story con-

tended that it was an accurate

portrayal of his comments.

Dunn considered a lawsuit for

defamation after he was depicted

as being dismissive of the suffer-

ings of victims of clergy abuse. In

the film, Dunn was also shown

as being knowledgeable of the

church’s efforts to cover up the

assaults.

Dunn said that he was not

consulted in the writing or verifi-

cation of the scene.

The production team released

a statement on March 15 stating:

“As is the case with most mov-

ies based on historical events,

Spotlight contains fictionalized

dialogue that was attributed to

Mr. Dunn for dramatic effect.

We acknowledge that Mr. Dunn

was not part of the Archdiocesan

cover-up. It is clear from his ef-

forts on behalf of the victims at BC

High that he and the filmmakers

share a deep, mutual concern for

victims of abuse.”

Open Roads Studios promised

to donate to local charities in

Dunn’s name as a part of the set-

tlement. These charities include a

group called Resilient Kids, which

was created after one of Dunn’s

BC High classmates was victim-

ized by Rev. James Talbot, S.J.

By Heidi Dong

Heights Editor

For the first time, Boston

College’s Muslim Student Asso-

ciation (MSA) is hosting Islamic

Awareness Week March 14 to

March 18.

Although the national politi-

cal atmosphere surrounding this

year’s elections is heated and ar-

guably hostile toward Islam, the

same cannot be said for the BC

community, according to Ahad

Arshad, president of MSA and

CSOM ’16.

“I have never really faced any

stereotyping or ignorance or

hatred, at least not to my face.

I can’t think of anyone who has

done or said anything Islamo-

phobic,” Arshad said. “I was here

as a freshman when the Boston

Marathon bombing happened.

Even after that, when we were

all up in the lounge watching the

news all night and when it was

revealed that these two brothers

were Muslim, I remember think-

ing like ‘Oh, not again, I’m going

to have to explain myself and

have to tolerate passing stares or

whatever.’ But it really just never

really happened. There was a

lot more support than pointing

fingers.”

MSA began six years ago at

BC with the goal of trying to edu-

cate people about Islam, as well

as bringing together Muslims on

campus. According to Arshad,

most of the work that MSA has

done has been in collaboration

with Campus Ministry, as inter-

faith dialogue is important to

both groups.

The idea for Islamic Aware-

ness Week came from research-

ing other colleges’ MSAs, in

which most chapters did either

weeklong or month-long aware-

ness events.

The week features lectures,

presentations, art, free henna

tattoos, chai, open questions, and

more. The first event, which took

place on March 15, was a lecture

by professor Jonathan Bloom

that focused on the relevance of

Islamic art in society.

“Given that this is a Catholic

university, and most students

are Catholic, what better topic

for Muslims to engage students

with than someone as revered as

Jesus?” Arshad said.

On March 16, MSA set up

snacks and chai on O’Neill Plaza

from 10 a .m. to 3 p.m., and

answered any questions that

students had.

On March 17, from 10 a.m. to

3 p.m., MSA will be set up again

on the O’Neill Plaza, this time

with hijabs ready for anyone to

try on. This event is focused on

teaching students about women

in Islam.

“A lot of people want to stereo-

type and say that Islam oppresses

women and makes them cover

their hair, or something like that,”

Arshad said. “But obviously there

are women who do it in their own

free will, and it’s better if people

can just see that. It eliminates that

fear factor, like that ‘Oh this is so

foreign to me, I’ve never seen that

before.’ If you see it on campus,

you know girls wearing hijabs and

talking openly about it and how

they’ve made that choice on their

own, independently, it definitely

makes it less alien.”

On Friday at 1 p.m., MSA

invites everyone to its weekly

prayer in the Multi-Faith Center,

which is attached to 66 Common-

wealth Ave., to learn more about

Islam, listen to a sermon, and hear

its weekly congregational prayer.

Lunch will be served.

“I hope people can start to

see Islam as a religion of peace,”

Arshad said. “I hope the week

will educate people, unite people,

build bridges, and also I just hope

it’s fun for everyone.”

In the article ‘African Dias-pora Courses,’ Afua Laast was incorrecty identified as the vice president of racial

diversity and inclusion. She is the vice president of diversity and inclusion, and she over

sees GLC, the LGBTQ councilin UGBC, and CSD.

CORRECTIONS

Professor Jonathan Bloom speaks about the importance of Islamic art as a part of Islamic Awareness Week.JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

By Taylor St. Germain

Assist. News Editor

Hosffman Ospino, a Boston

College theology professor, and

Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill, the di-

rector of the Barbara and Patrick

Roche Center for Catholic Educa-

tion, conducted the National Sur-

vey of Catholic Schools Serving

Hispanic Families, which found

that despite the growing Hispanic

population within the Catholic

Church, it still remains difficult

for Hispanic families to enroll

their children in parochial col-

leges. The duo plans to share its

findings at the National Summit

on Catholic Schools and Hispanic

Families in September.

While most schools and uni-

versities have implemented pro-

grams and efforts to increase the

enrollment of Hispanic students,

not much progress has been

made in the last two decades,

the study found. With 8 million

Hispanic, Catholic, school-age

children in the United States,

only 300,000 are currently en-

rolled in a Catholic school.

“Supporting Catholic schools

is a crucial role for a Jesuit,

Catholic university like Boston

College,” University Spoke-

man Ed Hayward said. “The

new report offers unique in-

sights from Catholic school

leaders throughout the United

States. Furthermore, the data

developed and analyzed by the

research team will initiate an

important national discussion

about how Catholic schools can

better serve Hispanic families

and their children.”

Ospino and Weitzel-O’Neill

found that cost is one of the

main factors in the stagnant

rates of enrollment. They also

found, however, that only 14

percent of Catholic school lead-

ers and 12 percent of teachers

identify as Hispanic.

In addition, only 17 percent

of schools have strategies imple-

mented to recruit bilingual teach-

ers. Out of these leaders and

teachers, only 23 percent receive

training about Hispanic culture

and 17 percent about Hispanic

ministry and theology.

Within the 1,488 Catholic

schools who serve Hispanic

families , 656 schools in 130

dioceses responded. Typically

two or fewer people who identify

as Hispanic sit on those schools’

boards of trustees.

Six out of 10 of schools ,

including BC, offer English Lan-

guage Learner programs, which

help people who speak another

language become fluent in Eng-

lish. The team’s study found,

however, that these schools do

not often incorporate Hispanic

culture into their curriculum

or culture. Only 21 percent use

Spanish and English for their

prominent signage and only 25

percent of schools use cultur-

ally diverse and inclusive school

symbols.

“As a Church it is time to

recognize the advantages of

school choice options, such as

vouchers or tax credits and move

forward as one larger entity to

bring about this much needed

social change. This study is

just the beginning of a larger

conversation regarding the fu-

ture of the Catholic Church and

our responsibility to educate

the next generation of Catholic

children, the majority of whom

are Hispanic.”

Ospino and Weitzel-O’Neill’s

study did f ind that several

schools are attempting to make a

closer connection with Hispanic

Catholics. Out of the schools

surveyed, 35 percent now share

school prayer in both Spanish

and English and 36 percent of-

fer liturgies in at least partly

Spanish.

In addition, a majority of the

schools reported that about half

of their Hispanic students re-

ceive need-based financial aid.

The study also found regional

and geographical differences

in their results, in which West

Coast schools often spoke more

Spanish.

“I want to see stronger Catho-

lic schools that serve the new

generation of U.S. Catholic in the

best possible way in the twenty-

first century,” Ospino said in an

email. “Catholic education is

one of the greatest commitments

of the Church in this country

and that needs to continue to

be a marker of what we do as

Catholics.”

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, March 17, 2016 A3

By Chris Russo

Heights Staff

Two BC alumnae, Laura Gen-

tile, CGSOM ’96, and Jennifer

Welter, BC ’00 opened a discus-

sion on their experiences as

women in the male-dominated

industry of athletics. The two

also discussed the people who

influenced them, their BC expe-

riences that shaped them, and

leadership advice for college

students. The panel was an event

hosted by the Winston Center for

Leadership and Ethics along with

Own It titled “Leading Women:

Breaking the Barriers in Athlet-

ics” on Mar. 15 and was moder-

ated by business professor Amy

Lacombe.

Laura Gentile is the founder

and senior vice president of ES-

PNW, a women’s sports subsite

of ESPN. She received her MBA

in marketing and organizational

behavior from BC after spending

four years on Duke University’s

field hockey team. ESPNW is

the premier women’s sports web

site.

“It all started by being a tom-

boy who liked to get dirty,” Gen-

tile said.

Gentile said that she simply

played sports for the fun of the

game. She gives her parents

credit for always supporting her

amid a culture which did not

embrace women’s sports.

“Everything in my life ulti-

mately led to working at ESPNW,”

she said.

Before launching the web site,

Gentile worked as the chief of

staff to the president of ESPN,

George Bodenheimer. Gentile

was inspired by his ability to

openly listen to others and ulti-

mately make the right decisions,

she said. Working with him gave

her the confidence to speak her

mind and make good decisions.

“He was a wonderful mentor,”

Gentile said.

Gentile’s idea to create a

sports website that would cater

to women was almost unheard

of at the time, as men had clas-

sically been the core target audi-

ence for ESPN. Although ESPN

was servicing women, it was not

specifically thinking about how

to target a female audience.

Gentile saw this as a business

opportunity in an unchartered

area. She spearheaded the proj-

ect and presented her ideas to

several important executives in

the company. She then gathered

a group of both men and women

to create a plan to directly service

an audience of women.

Welter is the first woman

to coach in the NFL. She at-

tended BC for her undergraduate

education and then received her

master’s degree in sport psychol-

ogy and a Ph.D. in psychology

from Capella University. Welter

worked as an intern coaching

linebackers for the Arizona Car-

dinals and a special teams coach

for the Indoor Football League’s

Texas Revolution. After signing

with the Revolution, she became

the first woman to play running

back in a men’s professional foot-

ball season.

“I never once dreamt I would

have the opportunity to coach in

the NFL,” Welter said.

As a woman extremely pas-

sionate about sports , Welter

often felt like an outsider and

had to face discouraging remarks

from people close to her, she said.

From a young age, she dreamed of

being a tennis player. When her

coach told her she was too small

and did not have the build to play

tennis, Welter promised herself

she would disprove her coach and

put even more energy and effort

into her athletics. She ultimately

ended up playing professional

football instead of tennis.

“No one ever thought a girl

could be in the NFL,” she said. “It

was passion that drove me all the

way through it. What gave me the

courage was the women I shared

the fight with.”

Both women credit their ex-

periences at BC for shaping their

outlook as leaders in their respec-

tive fields.

For Gentile, the opportunity

to study at BC and focus on busi-

ness was crucial. The graduate

program provided her with a

stimulating environment that

shaped herself and her career

path.

Welter appreciated the sense

of community she felt playing

on the sports teams at BC. She

learned the importance of hav-

ing a family of athletic women

who supported each other. She

found a family in the women’s

rugby team when she felt like an

outsider.

Welter said that all aspects

of her experience at BC helped

her prepare for the opposition

she would face later in life as

a woman in a male-dominated

industry.

When asked for leadership

advice, Welter stressed being in-

dependent in your leadership.

“Own the talents that are

completely yours,” she said. “Be

authentic to yourself.”

Gentile stressed the impor-

tance of speaking your mind

without worrying about what

others will think.

“Leadership is a practice,”

Gentile said. “You get better at it

with repetition and experience.

Everybody has within them the

ability to speak their minds.

You have to have the courage to

speak up.”

more accessibility, relevancy, and

service to the needs of the stu-

dent body. Patel hopes to bring

forth other issues on campus

like students’ differing socioeco-

nomic classes and put more of

an emphasis on environmental

concerns.

They also hope to increase the

representation for concrete pro-

grams that address diversity and

diversity education.

Simons and McCaffrey re-

vealed their slogan, “Strength

and Unity,” and presented their

official campaign video to the

audience.

They have three main goals

that they hope to address during

their term: quality, inclusivity,

and accessibility.

The team also noted that

BC is undergoing its strategic

planning phase and whoever is

elected this year will have a major

impact on the University for years

to come.

“Student government is some-

thing that I have been doing for

basically my entire BC experience

and so it has always been some-

thing that I have thought about,”

Simons said.

After Simons and McCaffrey

spoke, the six teams played the

“cookie game,” where they were

challenged to move an Oreo

cookie from their forehead to

their mouth without using their

hands.

After winning the cookie

challenge, Ulrich and Miotti

talked about their campaign slo-

gan “Hype Up the Heights.” They

referenced The Boston Globe’s

article that showed the lack of

attendance of BC students at

athletic events.

Ulrich and Miotti hope to

bring back school spirit to BC,

not only in academics but within

other programs as well.

They also believe that the

individual student must be happy

in order to have a spirited com-

munity, so they are focusing on

providing additional resources

for a mental health clinic.

To wrap up the event, Meck

and Barbosa presented a “New

Perspective,” as both students

transferred to BC.

During their term, they hope

to make the transition from high

school or other universities to

BC smoother, provide support

for groups on campus through

funding , room reservations ,

and recognition, and focus on

health issues from mental health

to providing resources for the

handicapped.

All six candidates were given

the opportunity to wrap up

their campaigns in a 30-second

speech.

“We have nine new videos

coming out in the next few weeks,

but you will only be able to see

them if we make it past the pri-

mary,” Perasso said to conclude

his presentation.

which in turn means better

stories that evolve out of that

cross-collaboration. Journalists

would be able to tell stories they

couldn’t have before.

“[Data journalism] is a move-

ment that’s going to impact big

data,” Chow said.

Chow also demonstrated

how harnessing big data has

helped solve human problems.

A prime example of this is

Google Photos. Rather than

to try and find a photo via

the “scroll of death” through

hundreds of photos, as Chow

dubbed it, Google Photos al-

lows you to simply search for

the photo you are trying to find,

in what he called supervised

machine learning.

Likewise, Chow noted how

Google Translate has allowed

more f luid communication

between people of different

languages. Though some ini-

tially thought technology would

lead to isolation, it’s actually

brought people closer together,

Chow said.

Chow also spoke about how

the development of the Google

Car has used big data to create

self-navigation. Stopping car

accidents is the biggest problem

that Google has attempted to

solve yet.

“Why should human error

lead to so many deaths each

year?” Chow said.

Break-Ins, from A1

Bendo ran to his room, he said, and

saw the man walking away from

their house.

“He was lurking in the shadows

behind our house,” Bendo said.

They yelled to the man to leave,

and he did, so they did not call the

police.

Later that night, Bendo woke up

to a man trying to get into the house

via his bedroom window, which is

right next to his bed.

“I freaked out, and I pulled back

the blind,” he said.

The man, Bendo believes, was

wearing a black ski mask.

He called to his roommates,

and they went outside with flash-

lights looking for the intruder. They

watched as the man ran, setting off

motion-sensored lights. They called

BPD, he said, because this time they

had proof that the man was trying to

break into their house.

“It was a terrible experience

because it happened twice in one

night,” he said. “He was very per-

sistent.”

BPD explained to Bendo that

people trying to get into houses do

so through windows with air con-

ditioning units in them because the

windows do not fully lock. As a re-

sult, BPD took out Bendo’s unit and

encouraged others to do the same.

“I haven’t slept well since then,”

Bendo said.

Now, he said, he and his room-

mates constantly text each other to

see who is home and to make sure

that their doors and windows are

locked.

“If somebody wants to get in,

they can,” Bendo said. “That’s the

whole problem with off-campus

housing.”

The students living at 62 Kirk-

wood, Bendo said, have always kept

the windows and doors locked. Their

house also has security cameras, but

only the landlord has access to them.

The residents have reached out to the

landlord, but he has not responded

to them.

Bendo said that there are always

people walking around outside of

their house, even going through

their trash.

“The biggest problem with this

is that our landlords do not answer

the phone, they don’t do anything,”

he said.

When there is a break-in or

attempted break-in, the students

living off-campus are encouraged to

contact BPD rather than the Boston

College Police Department (BCPD)

since it is an off-campus issue, Ste-

phen Montgomery, the off-campus

student community liaison, said.

“I’m just on edge right now,”

Bendo said.

On Mar. 13, Michael Marzec,

CSOM ’17, left his house, 311 Foster,

and didn’t lock the door because his

roommates were in the backyard

having a cookout. When he returned

at 1 a.m., he locked the door. The

next day, his roommates noticed

their computers were missing.

Marzec called their neighbors

in 315 Foster to see if they had been

robbed, too. One of the students said

he thought he had heard someone

in their house when he was going to

bed around 12:30 a.m. but didn’t do

anything about it and nothing was

missing from their house.

Marzec also spoke to the girls

who live in the house behind his, and

they said they saw a man lurking in

their backyard around 8 or 9 p.m. the

night before.

Marzec and his roommates then

called BPD. The cop, he said, em-

phasized the importance of calling

BPD following suspicious activity.

They believe that the intruder just

walked in the front door when it was

unlocked and took their laptops.

In response, the students who

live in 311 Foster posted in the Class

of 2017 Facebook group, letting their

classmates know what had happened

and telling them to be sure to lock

their doors. Now, they all lock their

windows and doors, Marzec said.

Peter Kwiatek, the assistant di-

rector of off-campus housing, said

he and his graduate assistant visited

the houses that had been impacted

by the break-ins on Wednesday, and

spoke to the people who were home,

reiterating the importance of keep-

ing all doors locked.

“It’s nice that [ResLife] sent out

the email today [Wednesday] and

that they had someone from ResLife

go around to different houses today,”

Marzec said. “That’s a good step.”

Alexander Armstrong, MCAS

’17, who lives in 235 Foster, stayed

in his house for the first five days of

Spring Break and noticed that some-

one was going through his mailbox.

He also found a tear in the screen

door of his house, but he never saw

anyone in the house.

Upon returning to BC in the

evening on Mar. 13, however, he

discovered one of the windows on

the side of their house was shattered.

His roommates, who had returned

earlier that day, had their laptops

stolen from inside of the house.

The doors in their house, Arm-

strong said, automatically lock, but

it is possible for someone to enter

through a window.

Montgomery said that students

often do not call the police if the

intruder didn’t steal anything, allow-

ing the intruder to move onto other

houses in the area. He also said that

most of the break-ins are not forced

entries—usually intruders enter

through unlocked doors.

Bendo expressed frustration at

the fact that the off-campus resident

assistants and police are quick to

respond to noise complaints on the

weekends, but they were not as fast

to respond to their call about an at-

tempted break-in.

One of his friends who lives on

Radnor Street, Bendo said, called

BPD when they believed a man was

trying to break into their house, but

after 45 minutes, the police had not

arrived.

“It’s scary to live there now,”

Bendo said. “Nobody wants to leave

the house now because they don’t

want their stuff being stolen, and it

just creates issues because it’s not a

good way to live.”

UGBC, from A1

Data, from A1


This weekend, hundreds of

high school students will flock

to Boston for EagleMUNC, the

fourth annual high school Model

United Nations Conference host-

ed by Boston College’s Model

UN club.

Over 650 students from both

domestic and international high

schools will be at the Westin

Copley Place Hotel in downtown

Boston Mar. 18 to 20 for what has

been recently named the “Most

Innovative” Model UN conference

in the country by BestDelegate.com, the primary Web Site that

ranks and assesses MUN teams

and conferences.

Billy Fitzsimmons, secretary-

general of the conference and

MCAS ’16, said in an email that

the conference has seen signifi-

cant growth in his four years at

BC.

When he was a freshman, Ea-

gleMUNC was a one-day event in

Gasson Hall with 150 high school

students. The next two years each

saw over 500 students participate,

and this year 675 students are

registered.

With the growth in size and

prestige of the event, a lot of

preparation and planning has

gone into this year’s conference.

“We start planning the next

conference about two weeks after

the first one,” Alison Hiatt, under-

secretary general of administra-

tion for the conference and MCAS

’17, said.

The secretariat of EagleMUNC,

which consists of seven members

who are in charge of various as-

pects of the conference planning,

meet and plan for hours each

week year round.

In addition, all of the secre-

tariat’s members run their own

committee meetings at least once

a week, sometimes more, and have

conference calls for planning over

school breaks.

“It is a very rewarding experi-

ence, however, to see how suc-

cessful and well-known our con-

ference is throughout the Model

UN circuit,” Hiatt said. “Indeed,

we have heard from some schools

inquiring about next year’s confer-

ence, because another conference

praised EagleMUNC.”

While much of the planning

involves booking hotel rooms,

catering, and other logistical is-

sues, creating and planning the

committee premises and content

takes just as much effort.

The conference is meant to be

a 40-hour simulation, which mim-

ics the real-life, around-the-clock

experience that politicians and

diplomats face.

Students are placed into 17

different committees that they

will work with for the weekend

under the supervision of BC MUN

students working as committee

chairs.

While all of the committees

deal with different historical and

political situations, they are all

bound together with this year’s

conference theme of “Liberty and

Security.” Many of the situations

that the students will have to deal

with involve conflicts between

citizens’ rights and freedoms and

protection and safety.

“In keeping with this theme,

delegates will have the opportu-

nity to address topics from all the

way back to the Peloponnesian

War to the future with our Mars

2100 committee,” George Cortina,

under-secretary general of politi-

cal affairs and MCAS ’16, said in

an email. “Delegates will also have

the opportunity to discuss current

events such as the rise of ISIS, hu-

man trafficking, and the conflicts

surrounding the war on terror.”

In addition to the traditional

committee debates, EagleMUNC

has several fun and challenging

twists that caused BestDelegate.com to name it the “Most Innova-

tive Conference.”

In many committees there is

a “Midnight Crisis” in which the

delegates respond to an emergen-

cy issue in an unplanned meeting

during the night after a long day

of debating.

In past years, a committee on

international disease prevention

had a simulation of a disease

outbreak in which BC student

volunteers dressed in hazmat

suits and gave students surgical

masks to enhance the committee

experience.

This year Fitzsimmons says

there will be an EagleMUNC app

that will send delegates push noti-

fications with committee updates.

Additionally, the conference has

invested in new technology, vid-

eos, and props that will be inte-

grated into the conference.

Much of the inspiration and

drive to make this year’s confer-

ence as creative and well-run as

possible comes from the Model

UN experiences of many of the

organizers.

Many of the BC students run-

ning the conference were first

exposed to Model UN through

high school conferences similar to

EagleMUNC. For example, Cor-

tina, who is the president of BC’s

Model UN club and has traveled

the country going to conferences

to compete, first got involved with

MUN as a high school freshman.

“Looking back, MUN was one

of my best highlights from high

school,” Cortina said. “I want the

delegates this weekend to enjoy

their time as delegates and have

fun, but also remember that the

work they’re doing is reciprocat-

ing the incredible work that some

international organizations con-

duct across the world.”

When people imagine the

clothes of the future, they might

picture gleaming white jumpsuits

and sleek silver boots. But the

Museum of Fine Arts’ #techstyle

exhibition reveals a more realistic

vision of what the future wardrobe

might include, and than vision is

even more exciting that the thought

of skin-tight jumpsuits and chrome

footwear.

Opened to the public on Mar.

6 and running through July 10,

#techstyle was curated by Pamela

Parmal, the chair of the MFA’s de-

partment of textile and fashion arts,

Michelle Finamore, the curator of

fashion arts, and Lauren Whitley,

the senior curator of textile and

fashion arts. The exhibition features

the astounding work of 33 design-

ers who explore the fascinating

interplay between fashion and

technology, including pieces from

famed designers such as Alexan-

der McQueen, Rei Kawakubo, and

Iris van Herpen, as well as pieces

from lesser known designers such

as Elvira t’Hart and Noa Raviv.

Housed in the MFA’s Foster Gallery,

#techstyle spans two rooms and a

connecting corridor, which neatly

splits the exhibit into its two parts:

Performance and Production.

The Performance section fo-

cuses on interactive clothing, such

as a delicate dress that responds to

sound by Ying Gao, and the Cu-

teCircut MFA Dress by CuteCircut,

which is a floor-length ball gown

embedded with colorful LED lights

that are controlled by a nearby iPad.

Displayed in a dimly lit room with

videos of the clothing in action

projected onto the walls, the Per-

formance section offers a glimpse

into the future, where clothing and

fashion defy traditional expecta-

tions and are merely an extension

of the wearer.

The Production section explores

how designers have harnessed tech-

nology in their designs through

techniques such as 3D printing

and laser cutting. Works, such as

Victor&Rolf ’s Wearable Art Dress,

are displayed on tiered podiums

in a more brightly lit room, which

allows visitors to appreciate the

intricate details of each garment.

The star of the Production section

is the Anthazoa 3D Cape and Skirt,

designed by Iris van Herpen and

Neri Oxman, who works at the MIT

Media Lab. Although composed of

the ridged plastic from a 3D printer,

the stunning ensemble looks like it

was pieced together from delicate

sea shells, lending it a unique inter-

play between strength and fragile

beauty. This dress, acquired from

Fordham University in 2013, was

the seed from which the whole

exhibition grew.

“When we got the dress we

started thinking more broadly

about fashion and technology,”

Parmal said. “We realized that

Boston was actually a real hub for

technology, and so that maybe this

was a direction that we should be-

gin taking the collection, acquiring

more pieces, technology related.”

Their first idea was to a sym-

posium, to bring people together

to discuss the current kind of

synergy between science, technol-

ogy, art, fashion, all of that. Then

began to explore more of what was

being done and decided to do an

exposition.

After much discussion and a few

trips to London, the exhibit took

shape, and Parmal and her joint

curators were able to focus in on

their vision and the specific pieces

they wanted to feature. Given that

Boston itself is a very tech-centered

city, they made sure to include a

focus on Boston-based design-

ers, such as Nervous System and

CuteCircut.

This emphasis on Boston based

designers will highlight the growing

synergy between science and fash-

ion that exists within the Boston

community, as well as the global

one, Parmal said, noting that the ex-

hibit’s emphasis on the relationship

between designers and scientists

will reveal that it is unlike anything

that has existed in the past, and

contains an exciting new creativity

that is redefining fashion.

Parmal hopes viewers will come

away with a sense of optimism

regarding the current intersection

between technology and fashion.

Although these innovations may

seem mind-boggling at first, they

highlight the creativity in the world,

and the growing link between the

scientific community and the world

of fashion.

“Clothing will no longer just be

something you wear,” said Parmal.

“There’s this interactive component

that’s becoming more and more im-

portant. Whether it has solar panels

embedded in it and you can charge

your cellphone, there’s this other

function that is gradually being

introduced into clothing … I think

clothing, the way it’s developing, is

going to take on new functions, new

uses which is going to be interesting

to see.”

MFA

The new Museum of Fine Arts fashion exhibition features pieces by avant-garde designers such as Iris van Herpen 3D-printed ensemble (left), and Francis Bitonti’s Molecule Shoe (right) were but some of the design on show

“We realized that Boston was actually a real hub for technology, and so maybe this was a direction that we should begin taking the collection ... [so] we decided to do an exposition.”—Pamela Parmal, Chair of MFA’s Dept. of Fashion Arts

THE HEIGHTS A5Thursday, March 17, 2016

only makes this pitch more difficult,

given the transportation systems of

other prominent cities like New York’s

subway, which runs 24 hours a day.

Without public transportation,

many workers have no way of getting

home beyond walking or riding their

bikes in the dark. Even a cab ride or

Uber back to Brighton would diminish

much of what a downtown waitress

earns on a given night.

Walsh and his task force’s plan is

currently under review by the Boston

Licensing Board and the Inspec-

tional Services Department before any

final decisions are made by the state

legislature. But if we want to keep up

with the rest of the world and truly

become a world-class city, now is the

time for Mass. legislature to side with

the mayor and take a chance on his

proposal.

It’s time for Boston to put itself on

the world stage.

Just over a year ago, I listened as

Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09,

and former Boston 2024 chairman

John Fish pitched the benefits of a

Boston Olympics to a crowd of 300 at

the city’s first public meeting for the

Games. Walsh and Fish argued that

hosting the Olympics gave Boston

the perfect opportunity to put itself

on the “world stage.” They vowed

to be transparent and to fix public

transportation and infrastructure in

less than 10 years.

I wanted to believe them. So did

the majority of the audience, despite

members of NoBostonOlympics

holding up signs saying, “Better

Transit, No Olympic Games” in the

background.

The excitement was palpable.

After all, there stood two of Boston’s

most influential leaders: Fish, a suc-

cessful business executive who was

ranked first in Boston Magazine’slist of “50 Most Powerful People in

Boston,” and Walsh, the Dorchester

native who has garnered a positive

image during his first term as mayor.

I listened intently, inspired that this

vision could become a reality.

Now, after 13 months and a failed

Olympic bid, Boston has recently

taken a huge step backward—one that

pulls us closer to our Puritan roots

than to a world-class city.

The MBTA board recently pulled

the plug on its late-night T service,

which is scheduled to end on Friday

night. And this comes at a time when

Walsh is pushing a proposal through

the state legislature to allow Boston

bars and restaurants to stay open past

2 a.m. in hopes of making the city

a more vibrant, late-night destina-

tion for recent college graduates and

foreign visitors.

If Boston wants to keep up with

powerhouses like New York City, Chi-

cago, and San Francisco, then Walsh’s

recommendations are absolutely nec-

essary to help put Boston on a “world

stage.” But how can this late-night

plan possibly work without a public

transportation system in place?

Walsh revived a years-long discus-

sion over extending the hours of local

bars and restaurants when he created

his own “Late Night Task Force” near-

ly two years ago. He previously tried

to file an amendment in 2014 to ex-

tend last call to 4 a.m. at areas within

walking distance of the T, which had

just implemented its newly launched

late-night program. That amendment

was shut down in the Massachusetts

State Senate.

The task force further researched

what measures would be feasible to

make Boston a 24-hour city.

Walsh and the group released a

list of seven recommendations at the

end of January, including extending

liquor licenses downtown, allowing

restaurants to stay open later if they

desire, and encouraging live music

and performances later in the evening.

The proposal would also allow

select pilot areas, like the Seaport and

Financial District, to test the extend-

ed-hours program.

In How I Met Your Mother, Ted

Mosby says, “Nothing good happens

after 2 a.m.” And that may be a com-

mon sentiment felt in the Massachu-

setts legislature. Opponents of Walsh’s

plan argue that this late-night pilot

would lead to increased crime and

alcohol-related problems in some of

Boston’s neighborhoods.

But this is not just about rowdy

college-aged kids out partying and

drinking. This is an economic devel-

opment issue. Boston prides itself on

being a hub of innovation, health care,

and education.

Our doctors and nurses work over-

night shifts in some of the world’s best

hospitals. Law firms keep attorneys

at their desks well into the night. Em-

ployees at financial firms make deals

in distant time zones.

Boston’s entrepreneurs work

tirelessly to make their ideas become

reality, which only adds to the need

for places to eat, drink, and exercise

past midnight.

Eliminating late-night T service

KELSEY MCGEE/ HGIGHTS EDITOR

By Margaret Bree

For Th e Heights

In a vote of 139 to 16, the Massachusetts

House of Representatives fi nally approved

the H.4049 bill, one of the most anticipated

statutes of the legislative session, which

would introduce a series of regulations on

the ride-hailing industry that would aff ect

both taxis and ride-sharing services such as

Uber and Lyft.

Th e bill, which is awaiting approval from

the State Senate and Governor Charlie

Baker, requires drivers to undergo state cer-

tifi cation and criminal background checks

conducted by the newly established Ride for

Hire division of the Department of Public

Utilities. Th e bill additionally mandates that

ride-hailing companies, formally referred

to as Transportation Network Companies,

conduct independent background checks.

Th e state will prohibit drivers who have

been convicted of driving while intoxicated,

sexual assault, and other violent crimes. Th e

bill requires drivers to clearly indicate when

their vehicles are in service, and it prohibits

“surge pricing” during emergencies. Further,

the legislation compels the companies to

invest a minimum of $1 million in insurance

liability for every vehicle in use, in addition

to specifi c coverage requirements for bodily

injury and property damage.

Th e emergence of transportation network

services has considerably shaken the taxi in-

dustry, which has demanded legislation that

can level the playing fi eld. Th e taxi industry

contends that ride-sharing companies, includ-

ing Lyft and Uber, operate with unfair com-

petitive advantages. For instance, transporta-

tion network service companies can employ

an unlimited number of drivers, not require

their employees to be fi ngerprinted, pay less

for insurance, and allow their employees to

use their own vehicles. In contrast, taxi drivers

are fi ngerprinted, have limited numbers, are

required to pay between $6,000 and $7,000 a

year for insurance, and must buy expensive

medallions.

According to Boston College Law School

professor Diane Ring, who has conducted ex-

tensive research on the ride-sharing industry,

transportation network services raise issues

that transcend several legal domains, includ-

ing tort law. She said that H.4049 addresses the

operational legal issues, upholds public safety,

and attempts to clarify the legal requirements

for the ride-sharing industry by making clear

guidelines as to what constitutes a company

and the responsibilities it has to uphold.

In the interests of the struggling taxi

industry, the bill forbids ride-sharing com-

panies from picking up customers at Logan

International Airport, the Boston Convention

and Exhibition Center, and taxi stops.

Th e legislation does not limit the number

of transportation network services vehicles

on the road, however, nor does it subject

ride-sharing drivers to the same degree of

fi ngerprinting requirements that is customary

for taxicab drivers.

Th e issue of background checks became

especially relevant after Uber driver Jason

Brian Dalton’s shooting rampage in February

in Kalamazoo, Mich., and after two women

were assaulted by their Uber drivers in the

Boston area.

Uber and Lyft dispute that fi ngerprinting

would be discriminatory to applicants who

were arrested but not convicted. Th e city

has already started the process of collecting

an estimated 6,000 licensed taxicab drivers’

fi ngerprints, and the process is extremely

effi cient and quick, according to the Boston

Police Department. Despite Boston Police

Commissioner William Evans’ resilient sup-

port of the fi ngerprinting provision, legislators

left out the provision at the last minute.

Uber Boston’s general manager, Chris

Taylor, released a statement against the bill,

writing, “Ride-sharing companies like Uber

have moved millions of people and helped

tens of thousands of driver partners earn

money on a fl exible schedule. As it is currently

written, this bill presents … challenges that

obstruct innovation and hinder an emerg-

ing industry that has had positive economic

impacts on communities throughout the

Commonwealth.”

According to Uber and Lyft, many of the

requirements, such as the mandatory certi-

fi cation process and car inspection separate

from the standard annual inspection that

all car owners must undergo, would deter

other car owners from joining the company

and cause current employees to leave the

company.

Uber has in the past ceased operations in

communities that have introduced regulations

that it deems unfair, particularly fi ngerprint-

ing requirements. In an interview with Th eBoston Herald Radio, Taylor did not elaborate

on Uber’s future in Boston. He declared, “If

you look at a lot of Uber’s history and where

we’ve walked through regulatory processes

and markets, its typically never a single issue.

If you look at this whole bill, it’s touching ev-

erything from pricing to how drivers come on

to the system to how the state interacts with

us. It’s a whole suite of issues, so it’s really not

one issue in isolation.”

A spokesperson for Baker told Th e BostonGlobe that the governor thinks the bill will

protect public safety while allowing for eco-

nomic growth. Baker considered this legisla-

tion one of his priorities for 2016. Th e Senate

is committed to reserving enough time for

the two branches to negotiate a compromise

on certain provisions before the legislative

session ends on July 31. BOSTON CAB COMPANY

The new bill removes some of the extreme competitive advantages ride-sharing services enjoy.

By Juan Olavarria

Metro Editor

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS

’09, announced this week that the owners

of the TD Garden, Delaware North Devel-

opment Corporation, had won the race to

redesign and revitalize the empty spaces of

Boston’s City Hall Plaza.

“I am confi dent that the City of Boston

has a great partner in Boston Garden De-

velopment Corporation who will help us

make the best use year-round of the space

we have at City Hall Plaza,” Walsh said in

a statement.

Th e timeline released by the city sees

the project being completed within the next

three years, pending fi nal approval after an

extensive public input initiative, which will

allow residents to vote on whether the

proposed plans are worthwhile.

In its submission, Delaware North said

it envisioned paying an unspecifi ed fee

after recovering its initial investment in

building out the plaza. It said the instal-

lation would result in “signifi cant annual

cash fl ow to the city.” Th e company said in

an email that some components of its plan

would only be fi nancially viable if the city

commits beyond the three-year contract.

Th e company beat out two other com-

petitors to land the redevelopment con-

tract after pledging over $15 million to the

project, according to Th e Boston Globe.The announced proposal features

many different attractions to make the

plaza a more desirable destination for both

tourists visiting and for residents that are

looking for something diff erent to do in

the city.

Th e plans include: a proposed 200-foot

Ferris wheel, which will feature 42 climate-

controlled gondolas, an “urban beach”

during the summer months, an ice-skating

rink during the winter, and a combination

of permanent and temporary restaurants

and shops.

Th e Ferris wheel design is reminiscent

of the London Eye in England, but it re-

mains to be seen whether, fi rstly, the public

would be on-board with the construction,

and, secondly, whether it would be a popu-

lar attraction if approved.

In the past, specifi c events like Boston

Calling and Wiz Khalifa’s surprise concert

have drawn large crowds to the area. Now

the city is aiming to maintain a steady in-

fl ux of people into the plaza, which on most

days remains empty except for individuals

who traverse it on their way to City Hall or

Quincy Market.

“We just haven’t quite fi gured out what

the sweet spot is,” Pat Brophy, Walsh’s chief

of operations, said in a statement. “People

walk around here all the time, they go to

Faneuil Hall and follow the Freedom Trail,

and then they get to this wide expanse of

space and it’s just dead.”

Many of the attractions Delaware North

has proposed would be free. Others would

include a fee, like the Ferris wheel, accord-

ing to Th e Boston Globe.

One of the big components of the pro-

posal that led to the company’s securing

the contract was that it vowed to not utilize

public funds for the project.

“I think it would be nice, actually,” said

Sean Healy, CSOM ’18. “A Ferris wheel, a

skating rink. It would be awesome.”

Public money is currently at a premium,

with both the city and the state having

made tough decisions in the last few weeks,

including the controversial decision to

shorten the operating hours of the MBTA

by 90 minutes on Fridays and Saturdays.

In the past, several attempts to revital-

ize the plaza have not come to fruition due

to financial shortcomings, but this past

summer Walsh succeeded in securing an

artifi cial “front lawn” to brighten the space.

Th ere are also plans to illuminate City Hall

at night.

Construction of the Ferris wheel would

not begin until next spring, but work for

the development of the winter garden could

start as soon as this October.

The new plans for the revitalized City Hall Plaza feature a Ferris wheel, an urban beach during the summer, and a myriad of shops and eateriesCITY OF BOSTON

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, March 17, 2016A6

HEIGHTSThe Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

THE

“You put too much stock in human intelligence, it doesn’t annihi-late human nature. ”

-Philip Roth, American Pastoral

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity,

accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the

right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accom-

pany pieces submitted to the newspaper.

Letters and columns can be submitted online at ww

bcheights.com, by e-mail to [email protected],

person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElro

Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

EDITORIALS

The views expressed in the above editorials

represent the official position of The Heights, as

discussed and written by the Editorial Board. A list

of the members of the Editorial Board can be found

at bcheights.com/opinions.

There have been 27 reported break-

ins around the off-campus housing area

since Dec. 15, according to a letter from

the Boston Police Department.

Four of these break-ins occurred

during this past week at locations on

Kirkwood and Foster Streets. The BPD

investigation into these incidents is

ongoing.

A number of these break-ins occurred

due to unlocked front doors while others

were through windows.

Various other attempted break-ins

and suspicious incidents have occurred

around off-campus housing throughout

this past year.

Students affected by the break-ins

have expressed frustration with the ini-

tial lack of information regarding prior

break-ins.

This knowledge could and should

have spurred these students to increase

security around their off-campus homes.

The simple nature of some of these

break-ins, through unlocked doors, is

something that can be avoided, and

student apathy should continue to be

heavily discouraged.

ResLife has sent out repeated emails

in the past urging students to lock their

doors, but until Wednesday nothing was

sent out to inform students of the string

of burglaries.

A new alert system that emails off-

campus students after every off-campus

break-in should be instituted through

the University. This system would pro-

vide extremely relevant information by

relaying the facts about recent break-ins,

especially ones that have been reported

to the BCPD.

A student living off campus should be

aware of a break-in just down the road in

order to respond appropriately. Alerting

these students will help to spur action

and encourage the locking of doors and

windows, as well as a general increase of

security and awareness, by demonstrat-

ing how close and immediate the danger

truly is.

This sort of alert system has al-

ready been used at Boston College for

security concerns such as last year’s

bomb threat and last semester’s Lake

St. mugging.

An expansion of these alert services

into break-ins for off-campus students

is much-needed.

The campus-wide emergency alert

should remain a tool for immediate dan-

gers, but sending break-in notice emails

to off-campus students is another alert

that should join it.

Living on campus is often not an

option for 50 percent of BC juniors.

Because of this BC has an obligation to

assist and inform these students with

regard to the various issues that occur

in off-campus housing.

While security reminder emails ear-

lier in the year are a good step, they do

not adequately inform students of ongo-

ing security concerns.

Steps must be taken to combat the

string of break-ins and keep every stu-

dent informed.

Immediate information regarding

the date, time, location, and nature of

a recent break-in is something all off-

campus students should know.

Boston College is having its first Is-

lamic Awareness Week from March 14

to March 18.

The week is sponsored by Boston

College’s Muslim Student Association,

a group that aims to educate people

about Islam while also bringing Muslim

students together.

The week will feature lectures, pre-

sentations, open questions, and more.

A number of the events, like the op-

portunity to try on a hijab, will occur

on O’Neill Plaza during the school day,

making them visible and accessible to

every student.

One of the greatest accomplishments

of this week is that it brings awareness

to the Muslim Student Association while

also normalizing the idea of Islam and

Islamic culture at BC.

Many students might not be aware

of the Association’s existence, and an

increased awareness of the group as

well as the various programs they put on

benefits both the Association itself and

the student body as a whole.

This week includes many events that

open up the Islamic community and

allow other students to experience and

better understand their culture.

Events such as an invitation to at-

tend the weekly Islamic prayer and

listen to a sermon are good ways to

educate students about the basic

beliefs and experiences of a Muslim

student at BC.

This kind of cultural education is es-

sential and extremely beneficial for all

college students.

The week could benefit from an ac-

cessible lecture or event addressing the

modern political climate in regards to

Islam.

These issues can be extremely contro-

versial and a simple informative discus-

sion surrounding them would benefit

and inform BC students.

In planning future events and pro-

grams such as this, the inclusion of this

type of talk would be a useful and worth-

while addition to the schedule.

The lecture planned for this week

regarding Jesus’ role in Islam is a posi-

tive and educational opportunity, but

an expansion into more accessible and

widespread issues affecting Islam would

be a useful addition.

This week is an effective way of bring-

ing Islamic culture at BC to the fore and

increasing knowledge of the Muslim

Student Association.

In the future the MSA should continue

to promote and sponsor these kinds of

events to educate and increase aware-

ness.

Hopefully, this week will become a

yearly occurrence at BC and will expand

to include more events and lectures.

GABE PASTEL / HEIGHTS STAFF

the comfort and familiarity of baking itself.

In stereotypical British fashion, the tone is

polite and utterly civilized.

To a critical viewer, The Great British Baking Show may seem a bit weak. After

all, it’s a competition show. One would

expect some drama, some disappointments,

even a tear or two. But something the Brits

understand, something us Americans may

have forgotten, is that tears don’t belong in

the kitchen. They certainly don’t belong at

teatime, not when there are scones to eat

and cakes to marvel at. Something more

important than competition is taking place

on this show. With each carefully crafted

pastry, these Brits are reaffirming their place

in the culinary world. Moreover, they under-

stand that when the food is truly impec-

cable, you don’t need any dramatic flair to

draw attention. The universal joy in creating

and sharing food is enough.

Now you might be asking yourself, where

is this girl’s American pride? Don’t worry,

I do watch American food competition

shows. I too get swept up in the cutthroat

competition of Chopped and Hell’s Kitchen,

with all of their aggression and drama. I

even recognize their strengths. These shows

have tapped into something fundamentally

American: visceral, heartless competition.

They may be hard to watch, but they’re even

harder not to.

Although these high-stakes competi-

tion shows seem inseparable from today’s

cooking culture, they serve their purpose

maliciously. Rather than celebrate the art

and pleasure of cooking, they churn out

endless hours of calculated drama and

downright inhumanity. Where’s the joy?

Where’s the pride? Where’s the comfort? It’s

hard to see any of that with Gordon Ramsay

spewing out expletives in the face of some

scared young chef.

Perhaps the contrast in styles is what

makes The Great British Baking Show seem

so extraordinary. It doesn’t demand atten-

tion, grabbing viewers by the lapels and

shouting in their faces. Instead, it charms

them. It offers delicate pastries and cakes

and a whole cast of kind, yet undeniably tal-

ented bakers. It sacrifices nothing in terms

of culinary perfection. Yet it respects both

its viewers and its contestants, something

that cannot be said of most American cook-

ing shows.

This concept of respect seems fun-

damental to cooking. Ask any chef, and

I’m sure they’ll tell you the same thing: to

be a great cook, you must respect food.

Somewhere along the line, this respect for

food has been lost. You can see it in the

supermarket, and you can see it on the Food

Network. Food is not sacred. It’s the basis

for some greedy TV executive’s next project.

Of course, not all hope is lost. First, you

must turn off the Food Network. It pains

me to say it, as someone who wants to

continue the conversation about cooking,

but those dumbed-down, high-drama reality

shows add little to the celebration of food.

They’re just noise. The only shows worth

watching are the quieter ones, those with a

little subtlety and dignity. With Season 1 of

The Great British Baking Show on Netflix,

perhaps we can learn a thing or two.

Maybe I’m being dramatic. Maybe I did

learn something from Chopped. But I truly

believe our media reflects our concerns. If

the Food Network produces shows that dis-

respect and capitalize on food, then perhaps

we as a nation should be concerned about

how we view food, and what we expect from

it. Perhaps the Brits had it right all along. I

don’t advocate learning how to cook from

the British (keep the steak and kidney pie

far away). I do, however, think we can learn

from the way the Brits view food. We can

tone down the drama and competition and

celebrate all the comfort and support the

cooking community has to offer.

Consider The Great British Baking Show as your first lesson in building culinary

character. Settle in for an hour of charm-

ing contestants and impeccable baking and

utter warmth. Then consider bringing that

same kind energy into your own kitchen.

Leave the drama for the Food Network, we

don’t need it at our dinner tables.

THE HEIGHTSThursday, March 17, 2016 A7

MARCH - This month is essentially

made up of small fits of school in

between extended and luxurious

breaks. We like to think of this week

and a half of classes as more of a brief

collegiate intermission in the middle

of our month off. A mindset like that

will help you get through the day.

RAIN - Some people like to complain

about the rain, about the cold wind

biting at your face like a rabid dog,

but we personally enjoy the rain.

There’s a certain sensation, a dif-

ferent mood, among people during

a dreary day. Everyone is slightly

less happy, a little quieter, calmer,

and generally more dismal. We love

this. It’s a pleasant break from the

high-energy enthusiasm of those

godawful sunny days. There’s noth-

ing better than holing up in complete

isolation during a rainstorm and

staring out the window while mut-

tering the poetry of Percy Shelley.

It’s a very healthy lifestyle.

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE - If you’re

the kind of fella or gal who likes

reading syndicated newspaper com-

ics (I know you’re out there) then

have we got a recommendation for

you. Pearls Before Swine is the best

comic strip out there. It has consis-

tent laughs, painful puns, drunken

egotistical rats, and gun-wielding

ducks. So go out and find yourself

some Pearls Before Swine before

it’s too late and you live the rest of

your life in complete and devastat-

ing regret.

NOT DOING THE READING - Walking

into a discussion section, you clutch

the book in your cold, diseased

hands. Maybe if you ruffle the pages

and crack the spine the professor

will think you did your reading. As

the kid next to you spouts off a long

string of “Look-at-me-I-obviously-

read-the-book-because-I’m-smart-

and-organized-and-ahead-of-the-

game” comments, you stare down

at your desk, hoping you can find an

opening in which you can toss out a

casual contribution to the discus-

sion. But then the professor points at

you and screams your name. “What

was your opinion of what happened

to Framiloomer the Hunchbacked

Charlatan in chapter 78,” he hollers.

You look up, your face turns an odd

shade of chartreuse, and your hands

shake. Falling to your knees, you

weep like a small child, knowing

that your grade for this discussion

section will be slightly lower than

normal.

TOPICAL, RELEVANT, AND TIMELY REF-ERENCES - You might be expecting

a downward-aimed thumb for the

low-hanging fruit of “Not Getting a

Pick Time,” but not today, you scoun-

drels! These thumbs are for things

that the people really care about,

issues that strike at the folks’ hearts,

not frivolous housing concerns.

BARKING CHIHUAHUAS- The high-

pitched squeal of the barking chi-

huahua is the greatest issue of our

time. Frankly, we should all be

ashamed and disappointed that

not a single presidential debate has

featured a question on what can be

done to minimize that barking of the

vicious four-legged chihuahua. Get

with the times, people.

Like Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down?

Follow us @BCTUTD

For all their work promoting important

causes at BC, many social justice groups on

campus have no idea what they are talking

about. While it’s true that they have worked

tirelessly to connect national research and

trends with the personal stories of those

affected on campus, they lack the demo-

graphic, budgetary, and policy information

they need to sharpen their arguments on

how much the BC community is affected

by these issues. To a great extent, this is not

because the information does not exist, but

rather, because it is locked in administrative

channels that would prefer to avoid public

scrutiny and student accountability.

Mental health appointments at counsel-

ing services have risen nationally in the past

decade, as a recent study of universities

that included BC has shown. What are the

statistical changes for these rates at BC? It’s

unknown. Many groups across the country

are working to get their universities to divest

from fossil fuel companies over concerns

about climate change. What is the size of the

investment from the BC endowment in these

companies? It’s unknown. The last year’s

events across the US involving black student

protests have demonstrated a need for a re-

examination of race relations at universities.

What proportion of black BC students report

feelings of marginality? It’s unknown.

Over two years, the University gath-

ered information regarding diversity at BC

through the Campus Climate, Diversity, and

Inclusivity survey. In addition to the survey,

the Office of Institutional Diversity’s web site

states that it “develops policy statements,

provides regular reports on the University’s

progress and performance, identifies prob-

lem areas, and offers problem-solving assis-

tance.” None of these reports or statements is

available on their website. When University

Spokesman Jack Dunn was asked to explain

the University’s refusal to divest the BC en-

dowment from fossil fuel companies, he sug-

gested that the endowment exists to further

the mission of the University and not a social

justice mission. This contrasts directly with

the minimal and distractingly broad informa-

tion provided on the endowment’s web site

that states, “In the management of its invest-

ments, BC reflects the ethical, social, and

moral principles inherent in its mission and

heritage. In particular, the University is firmly

committed to the promotion of the dignity of

the individual, personal freedom, and social

justice.” In balancing these objectives with

others of the University, the decision-making

process remains opaque.

In fact, the information about these funds

was so ambiguously reported to the students

and faculty they are meant to support that the

federal government recently mandated that BC,

along with 55 other universities, release more

information about how the endowment is being

used to “guarantee that these schools are using

the money to sponsor their ‘charitable and edu-

cational’ purposes.” Should it take the federal

government’s stepping in to require the Uni-

versity to be accountable and transparent with

its community? A university that is interested

in raising its social prestige among potential

students would share reports with statistical

markers of high levels of racial integration or

low levels of sexual assault on campus. On the

other hand, the University should release this

information regardless, humbly accepting that

the PR-primed message sold in admissions

information is not the whole picture and that

work needs to be done and will be done to

address the issues that have become rallying

calls among students. BC has done neither, and

in doing so leaves many questions unanswered

about the state of the University.

The effect of this lack of transparency can

be seen in multiple ways on campus. Firstly,

it limits the knowledge, and ultimately the

power, of organized students and faculty to

sharpen their arguments for the importance

of addressing these issues openly on campus.

Students and faculty will not be inspired to

support a cause when they know little about

how it affects them or others in the com-

munity. Secondly, it weakens their ability to

work with administrators at an equal level.

It is often the case that students and faculty

will provide administrators with presenta-

tions and research on their proposals only

to be met with the answer that these groups

do not know how the system works and that

they are not privileged to know more of the

information that the University has gathered.

One comes to wonder in what interest

BC chooses to privilege some knowledge

while hiding other information from scru-

tiny. What does this mean for the place of

the student and faculty in the University’s

governance structure?

of underperforming academic states,

the standards may drastically improve

overall educational well-being, but in

other states such as Massachusetts with

a strong academic track record, student

achievement could very well be signifi-

cantly diminished.

Using an untested, unproven

method all over the country is a risky

and dangerous move. Educational stan-

dards should be created then reviewed

and discussed with teachers, parents,

students, and local governments

around the country before they become

the norm.

To automatically reject all types of

government educational standards is

not the right course of action either. It

is evident that the governments of many

states are failing their pupils. This sad

truth cannot be overlooked, and for

these states some federal guidelines or

even requirements are necessary. The

state government should still have a

hand in setting up the standards for

the educational system, but in severely

underperforming areas some federal

assistance is needed. I do not reject all

federal educational standards, but I

do reject the nature in which the new,

untested Common Core standards have

been pushed on to states.

The idea behind Common Core is to

provide students with a consistent edu-

cational experience across the country.

Surely the idea of all students’ having

the necessary skill sets to succeed is

attractive to everyone. Common Core

does not have to be a divisive issue, as it

has become. It does not have to be black

and white. What does need to happen is

a real discussion of the issues facing our

educational system and how we can all

work together to solve them.

Though I do not believe Common

Core to be the correct next step toward

educational reform, I disagree with the

premise that all educational decisions

rest with the states. We all have a vested

interest in a well-educated population

and every student in every city and

town deserves the opportunity to learn.

the Massachusetts educational sys-

tem, which most students know as the

MCAS. To me, this seemed like the

clearest case of the federal government’s

overreaching its bounds and bullying

communities into accepting its view of a

good education. How can a government

official in Washington possibly know

what the best educational strategy is

for someone in Boston, San Francisco,

Detroit, or New Orleans?

In Massachusetts and states like it

around the country, top-down ap-

proaches to education directed by the

federal government will only make the

jobs of teachers more difficult. Many

skilled teachers who have been do-

ing their jobs effectively for years now

have to change the way they teach their

subjects to follow the new rules. All this

does is put more obstacles in the way

of children’s education. The freedom

of teachers to be creative is part of the

joy of education we must not take away

from today’s youth.

Beyond just the teachers’ added

stress, the Common Core educational

standards are often unreasonable and

simply not productive. To help convince

kids to stay in school, it is critical that

they are taught important skills and

also how to enjoy learning, but many

Common Core standards, especially

for early elementary students, can be

unreasonably challenging for students

of their age.

The theory is that by throwing more

difficult material at students they will

be able to pick it up. But this is not the

case. The added stress and additional

work to the most vulnerable students

fosters an early contempt for learning,

something that will damage their long-

term academic stamina and success.

Something that governments often

overlook is the human element of

every decision. Common Core and the

PARCC and Smarter Balance exams

that go with it are all data-driven. The

government is convinced that data can

help solve all of our educational woes.

While data can be great, testing out

entirely new educational standards on

a national scale can do great damage by

essentially using students all over the

country as test cases. In some instances

Most of the talk about the 2016

election has revolved around Donald

Trump’s foolish antics and Hillary

Clinton’s scandals, overlooking im-

portant issues like educational reform.

As much as everyone seems to agree

that education is the key to success in

this country, candidates don’t often

talk about how to fix the educational

system. Over the past few years, the

federal government has tried to answer

this question through the implementa-

tion of the Common Core educational

standards. Though Democrats tend

to embrace federal control of educa-

tion and conservatives tend to lambast

it, a middle ground must be reached

between federal standards and states’

rights if we are to set reformative educa-

tional policies.

In 2014, I was a student representa-

tive on my town’s school committee. It

was a non-voting role, but I was able to

fully debate and contribute. At the start

of my tenure, I assumed the commit-

tee would be discussing various aspects

of local education by debating issues

like budgets and facilities, but I did not

expect to be on the committee during

one of the most contentious battles of

the committee’s history, the adaptation

of Common Core.

Though the state of Massachusetts

was responsible for the decision to

adopt Common Core, citizens of the

town felt that it was the committee’s

duty to rebuke the standards with a

formal complaint to the state. As a

conservative, I typically believe that the

less interference the federal govern-

ment has with the people, the better,

and in this circumstance my beliefs held

true. Teacher after teacher testified to

how “teaching to the test” was going to

further hinder their freedom as educa-

tors. I heard the voices of community

members who did not want a “dumbing

down” of the world-class standards of

Does anybody like British food? Any-

body besides Brits themselves? As far as I’m

concerned, the only highlights of British

cuisine are served at teatime, smothered

in clotted cream and fresh raspberry jam.

Turn up to any truly British restaurant and

the pickings are slim. I say this all as an An-

glophile and foodie, someone who has lived

and cooked and dined in England. I tried to

love British food, but that love was cold and

unforgiving.

Despite this culinary black hole, England

has produced something that could trans-

form the American food experience. No, I’m

not talking about scones or chicken tikka

masala. I’m talking about The Great British Baking Show, the most delightful food com-

petition show to hit American soil.

The premise is simple. Ten amateur

bakers compete in three rounds: a signature

bake, a technical challenge, and a showstop-

per. They bake in a giant outdoor tent. The

music is light, the furnishings are pastel,

and a quaint British garden peeks out from

the tent windows. After the three rounds,

judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood

award one contestant with the title of Star

Baker. The weakest baker is asked to leave.

This show sounds familiar, yet there’s

something unmistakably different about it.

When the judges offer praise, the cameras

cut to the contestant’s face. What you see

isn’t the steely confidence of an American

showman, but rather the quiet glow of pride.

Their eyes light up and a soft smile spreads

across their faces. I melt every time. When

Berry complimented 17-year-old Martha’s

goat cheese biscuits, I nearly jumped up and

cheered. Later, when contestant Enwezor

was voted off the show, Berry reassured

him: “Your family should be very proud of

you.” That very human touch seems charac-

teristic of the show, which seeks to emulate


The organizers of the annual South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade filed

a lawsuit on Monday against the city of Boston, claiming that the truncated

parade route stood in violation of their First Amendment rights to peace-

fully assemble.

The Allied War Veterans Council of South Boston had requested a tem-

porary restraining order that would require the city to approve its permit

for a longer parade along the route it had traditionally travelled in the past,

according to The Boston Globe.

Having met with parade organizers the previous Friday, Boston Mayor

Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09, said in a statement he was surprised by the

decision to go through with the lawsuit.

A federal judge ordered Tuesday that the St. Patrick’s Day parade in

South Boston has a First Amendment right to march along its original route,

according to The Boston Globe.

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns further added in the same article

that the parade “does fall in a matter of constitutional protection,” and would

be allowed to go along its original 3.2-mile route, rather than the shorter 1.4-

mile route sought by the city of Boston earlier this month.

The annual parade is a longstanding tradition for denizens of the city. On

Sunday, green decorations adorned houses of South Boston’s Irish popula-

tion.

But for many, excitement was tempered when Boston police forces and

the city’s mayor announced in a statement the plan for a shortened parade

route, citing security as its primary justification.

The city announced the route last month, calling for the parade to begin

on West Broadway at Dorchester Avenue, to follow West Broadway to East

Broadway, and to end at Farragut Road.

The precedent for this decision occurred last year when an unseasonably

large amount of snowfall forced the city to shorten the route for the first time

in the interest of public safety due to impassable streets. After the parade,

Boston Police had apparently fielded half as many emergency calls relative to

previous years. The truncated route needs 150 fewer police officers and will

save the city more than $100,000, according to Boston Police Department.

Among those affected by this news was the Allied War Veterans Council,

the organization that sponsors the parade.

“We’ve dishonored our military and veteran contingent and nose-thumbed

Nothing makes life more exciting

than a good mystery. And like any city,

Boston has its fair share of them. There

are the relatively insignificant everyday

mysteries that arise after living near

the city for long enough (What does

that strange graffiti on the sidewalk

mean? How long has this man been

playing the trumpet in the Commons?)

and then there are the larger mysteries

that everyone knows about. After some

point, these mysteries become like a

kind of mythology, they define the city

and illuminate aspects of the people

who live there.

And one of Boston’s biggest myster-

ies is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Mu-

seum Heist, which took place 26 years

ago when 13 works of art were stolen

from the museum walls, including

works by Degas and Rembrandt. This

was the largest art theft in history, and

neither the culprits, nor the paintings,

have been found in the almost three

decades since.

Their empty frames still hang on the

museum’s walls, acting as poignant re-

minders of the stolen art and confusing

many casual visitors who are shocked

to see the wallpaper through the intri-

cate frame instead of another stunning

work of art.

I’ve always thought there was some-

thing tragically romantic about seeing

these empty frames on the wall. I could

almost picture the lonely and aging

thief who kept the masterpieces locked

away. Perhaps they were in a base-

ment vault where he could spend hours

each day admiring the stolen beauties.

Any day now, investigators would put

together the pieces of the puzzle and

uncover his name, eventually perform-

ing a stealthy raid for the paintings and

following arrest. Or maybe, just maybe,

on the thief ’s deathbed, he would come

forward and reveal his crime, allowing

the art to finally return to its rightful

home in a triumphant and glorious cel-

ebration of the ultimate good contained

in each person. In my mind it was like

something out of a movie, which meant

that at any moment there was a chance

of a heartwarming and happy ending.

But then I stumbled across an

article in Boston Magazine revealing

that the security chief of the Isabella

Gardner Museum has a solid theory

regarding who stole the paintings. In

fact, finding the thieves wasn’t even the

problem anymore—it was more a prob-

lem of tracking down the actual paint-

ings. Instead of being carefully kept

in the thief ’s basement as I imagined,

it seems that the paintings were most

likely sold through organized crime

rings. The paintings could be anywhere

in the world, and tracking down the

specific people who stole the paintings

in no way guarantees that the paintings

will be found.

For some reason, this dose of reality,

although obvious in retrospect, really

annoys me. It’s not so much the loss of

my romantic crime drama that gets on

my nerves. It’s not even the fact that

this outcome faces me with the harsh

reality that people don’t always have a

kernel of goodness deep within them.

It’s more the fact that this momentous

event—again, the largest art theft in

history—functions exactly like the triv-

ial moments in everyday life. People of-

ten know the technical answer to their

problems, but somehow that doesn’t

actually help solve the real issue.

It’s like daylight savings time. We all

know the problem (that it exists) and

the solution (abolish it entirely), but no

one quite knows how to get there.

I had never quite thought about this

disconnect that exists between solving

a problem and actually resolving it. I

definitely never recognized it as a pat-

tern in my own daily life.

But once I considered the pos-

sibility, quite a few recent events flew

through my memory. There are so

many moments when I know exactly

what I need to do, but for some reason,

maybe laziness, or anxiety, or some

strange hesitation that I can’t quite put

my finger on, I can’t quite bring myself

to actually do it.

Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that

knowing the answer doesn’t equal solv-

ing the problem.

our tradition,” parade commander Bill Desmond said to

CBS.

Desmond and the Allied War Veterans Council see the

shortened parade route as a significant deviation from the

more than 70 years of tradition. Parade organizer Timothy

Duross said in an email that the city never consulted the

South Boston Allied War Veterans Council on the shortened

route and never gave a reason.

He added that the shorter route misses several significant

sites and that he is concerned spectators will be packed too

tightly along the sidewalks, citing public safety to counter

the city’s parallel claim.

Residents have had mixed responses to the shortened

parade route. Patty Hallissey told The Boston Globe that

she was “very disappointed with the shortened route

again,” while some of her other neighbors did not seem

to mind as much.

The shorter route has not curbed Marcella Slinney’s

excitement.

“I support it,” she said to CBS Boston. “I am happy. I

have been here 20 years, and I’ve seen a lot of things go

on and this is my home … It’s all up to you to make a good

parade.”

The parade will take place on Sunday, March 20.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NPR

The city of Boston ordered the organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to observe a truncated route to save expenses.

‘TIME STANDS STILL’THE BONN STUDIO PRODUCTION LOOKS AT LIFE DURING AND AFTER WAR,

INDIANA JONES RETURNSFOR BETTER OR WORSE, HARRISON FORD WIELDS THE WHIP ONCE MORE,

PAGE B2

REVIEW

REVIEW

‘10 Cloverfi eld Lane’THE ‘CLOVERFIELD’ “SEQUEL” SHOWS THAT MONSTERS COME IN MANY FORMS,

PAGE B2

COLUMN

ABBY PAULSON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

THURSDAY | MARCH 17, 2016

THE

Page B4

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, March 17, 2016B2

While society often encounters the

upsetting stories perpetually plagu-

ing the news cycle, it probably doesn’t

start brainstorming solutions to the

world’s problems, or consider the sac-

rifices others made to give society that

depressing reading material. But in the

Bonn Studio’s latest production, Time

Stands Still, viewers are confronted with

these dark realities as two couples work

through these issues in an entertaining,

yet distressed manner.

Directed by Caitlin Mason, MCAS

’16, the play centers around Sarah

Goodwin, a photojournalist who hobbles

home to Brooklyn from the war in Iraq

with crutches and a scab-studded face

following her recovery from a roadside

bomb explosion. Assisting her is her

guilt-ridden boyfriend, James, a reporter

who traveled alongside Sarah until re-

turning early to Brooklyn, only to jet back

to the war zone to be by his comatose

girlfriend’s side.

The couple attempts to heal in the

fallout from this harrowing experience,

and soon they meet with their magazine

editor friend, Richard, and his sheltered

girlfriend, Mandy. Through the occasion-

ally cumbersome discussions between

these couples, the audience is pulled into

the drama of adjusting to life after the

horrors of war, and watches the strain

of that misery immeasurably affect the

lives of the characters.

The entirety of the play takes place in

James and Sarah’s cozy apartment, which

lends constancy to the ever-changing

lives of the characters. The stage is set

with rustic touches from the couple’s

lives abroad, such as photos Sarah has

taken of the people on her travels. These

photos broadcast the couple’s alarming

lack of work-life balance. As the plot

transpires, the stage often goes dark as

the characters progress through several

days.

The audience is slowly filled in on

these gaps during the following scenes.

Not only does this periodically allow

the audience to reflect on the preceding

scenes, but it also keeps its attention by

exhibiting the most interesting snippets

of the characters’ lives (which are spread

out over several months).

The one aspect of the sound design

that viewers might find mildly confusing

are the train noises that appear sporadi-

cally throughout the play. Presumably,

the sounds signify Sarah and James’

heading off towards another endeavor in

their daily lives. Viewers, however, aren’t

always given an express explanation of

the couple’s impending plans, so this

phenomenon was sometimes perplexing.

Nevertheless, the other sound design

tactics such as the cacophonic news radio

voices that open the play, or the melan-

cholic transition music between scenes

really enhance the audience’s perception

of the play and add a layer of narrative

perspective to succeeding events.

The production’s cast performs the

play’s startling material with genuine

emotion that brought the plot to life.

Mandy (Lauren Strauss, MCAS ’18) bril-

liantly comes off as naive and superficial

compared with the other characters on

stage, and she is a great representative of

the average American civilian. One could

easily write off her bubbly demeanor

and profuse attachment to the safety of

domestic life as selfish or unimportant,

but ultimately, she is one of the most

relatable characters in the play.

After James flies off the handle about

Richard’s magazine’s unwillingness to

publish too many “bummer stories” at

a time, Mandy heartbreakingly notes

that the average person can’t do much

about the world’s problems except get

depressed and turn the page. She goes on

to say that “There’s so much beauty in the

world, but you only see the misery. Feel

the joy, otherwise what’s the point?”

This sentiment is also championed

by Richard (Johnny Rooney, MCAS ’17),

and the audience is able to empathize

with his wish for a simpler and lighter

life, which he expresses through his

vehement outbursts at Sarah and James.

Since Richard claims Sarah’s near-death

experience set him on this course toward

domesticity, the audience gains the sense

that at some point, one must draw the

line between fighting for justice, and

sentencing oneself to the same grotesque

end as those one is trying to help.

Played by Michael Pisaturo, LSOE

’17, and Cassie Chapados, MCAS ’17, re-

spectively, James and Sarah spend much

of the play navigating the angst-ridden

waters of making personal sacrifices in

hopes that their work will make a differ-

ence in the world.

Chapados’ portrayal of Sarah’s un-

compromising dedication to her work

complements Pisaturo’s display of James’

concern and gradual scrutinizing of their

lifestyle in a way that prompts the audi-

ence to contemplate society’s perhaps

unsatisfactory reception of the products

of the pair’s sacrifices.

By the conclusion of Time Stands

Still, the audience is left feeling stunned

by the choices the characters have made,

and viewers have no choice but to hang

onto that feeling as the engaging story is

zipped up by its ends.

A FULLER PICTURE

A terrible sense of deja vu has crept over

me. The worst part is, this isn’t some strange

trick my mind is playing on itself—this is

history repeating itself. While some might

have rejoiced in this week’s news, the true

fans of one of America’s most iconic heroes

cried out in horror when Disney announced

that a new Indiana Jones film was in the

works—an Indiana Jones film starring the

legendary Harrison Ford himself.

For many casual moviegoers, this

probably seems like a gross overreaction

to the jumpstarting of a beloved American

classic. Especially with older viewers, the

Indiana Jones films define adventure and

mysticism. Many might see James Bond as

the ultimate manly-man, but in my opinion,

the gaudy “secret” spy would get his face

sucker-punched in a match with the famous

archeologist. As far as role models go, Jones

has got Bond beat by miles. He found the

Holy Grail for Christ’s sake, and he did it

without being a raging alcoholic.

Indiana Jones is the exaltation of youth-

ful adventurism. He’s dashing, sophisticated,

and burly to say the least. So when it comes

to thinking of doing a new Indiana Jones

movie, why in God’s name is Disney still

clinging to a 75-year-old man to play Jones?

When Disney first bought Lucasfilm,

which has both Star Wars and Indiana

Jones under its trademark umbrella, many

became giddy at the thought of a possible

Indiana Jones resurrection—in the form of

a reboot, though. Many thought, including

myself, that Chris Pratt or even Bradley

Cooper would do a phenomenal job filling

in the role, starting a new series of adven-

tures for a younger Jones than was seen in

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Then Steven

Spielberg went on the record saying that no

one would replace Harrison Ford as Indiana

Jones, “ever.” Even with this, I felt Spielberg

(actually Disney forcing Spielberg) would

change his mind when it came to announc-

ing the fifth film in the series. Then Disney

stated Monday afternoon that the famed

adventurer would be hitting screens in 2019,

with Harrison Ford in the leading role.

I don’t mean to give a load of crap to

Harrison Ford. I get why he wants to do it.

I bet he has a great time making these films

with his old buddy Spielberg. My problem

is we already saw old Indiana Jones, and,

to say the least, it was a god-awful mess.

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is rife

with problems besides Ford’s age (i.e. Cate

Blanchett’s atrocious Russian accent, the

refrigerator/atomic bomb fiasco, and of

course, Shia LaBeouf playing a greaser), but

to an extent Ford’s age is a noticeable point

in the degradation between the original

series and the fourth installment. All of

the “I’m getting too old for this” jokes and

moments are just sort of sad to go through.

How the hell is another Indiana Jones film

made another 10 years later supposed to

remedy any of those problems?

Like I said, I don’t want to say Harrison

Ford is not a good actor. For me, he was the

best part about The Force Awakens, but it

wasn’t because he was this awesome action

hero. He hobbles around a bit when he runs.

The one or two punches he throws are slow

and creaky. The best part about Harrison

Ford in The Force Awakens is seeing how far

his character has come from being the reck-

less, self-absorbed smuggler he was in Star

Wars—not all the stunts and harrowing ac-

tion scenes his character makes it through.

And Kingdom of the Crystal Skull sort of

had all of this type of character development

that could be had from Indiana Jones.

Then there are all the consequences

of the last film that need to be taken into

account. I don’t want to see Shia LaBeouf in

another Indiana Jones movie. I don’t want

Indiana Jones to be a married 75-year-old

man. He needs to be the quick-witted,

bone-crushing, fast-paced archeologist that

people fell in love with in the first place.

In my head, Indiana Jones can beat

James Bond to a pulp. He doesn’t slowly

prod him with the tennis balls at the end of

his walker. Disney shouldn’t be giving me

the chance to make terrible Indiana Jones

titles like Indiana Jones and the Search for

Social Security Benefits, but there you go.

Now we all have to deal with that.

THIS WEEKEND in artsACOUSTICS SPRING CONCERT(THURS. THROUGH FRI. AT 7 P.M.)Gasson 305 is your destination for an exciting a

cappella performance. In addition to the Acous-

tics’ set, the show will feature songs from the

Common Tones and the Stonehill College Sur-

round Sound.

‘ALLEGIANT’ (OPENS FRIDAY)This fast-paced, post-apocalyptic adventure is the first

of two films to chronicle the final book in the popular

Divergent series. The film focuses on Tris and Four’s

brave venture outside city limits in valiant attempts at

saving humanity.

BATTLE OF THE BANDS(FRIDAY AT 9 P.M.)Head to Middle Campus this weekend to hear the musi-

cal stylings of BC bands and solo artists like Matt Mich-

ienzie, Sixtowns, and Small Talk. The highly anticipated

competition will be held this Friday in The Rat.

BCDE PRESENTS: ‘ROULETTE’(FRIDAY AT 6:30 P.M.)The Boston College Dance Ensemble presents Roulette, a

dazzling showcase of various genres of dance. All proceeds

from ticket sales will be donated to the Campus School.

Purchase your tickets before they sell out!

BOSTONIANS SPRING CAFE(SATURDAY AT 7 P.M.)The popular a cappella crew will perform a free concert

in McGuinn 121 this weekend. Get there early to grab a

seat and hear the group’s entire repertoire, in addition to

new debuts.

DROPKICK MURPHY’S(FRIDAY AT 6 P.M.)Get into the St. Patrick’s day spirit on Friday with

a performance by the Dropkick Murphy’s at House

of Blues. As part of its weekend-long St. Paddy’s

Day Tour, the music group will play fan favorites

all night long.

JUICE(FRIDAY AT 10 P.M.)Get your tickets for this high-energy performance

from the popular BC Band. Head to the Paramount

Theater this weekend to hear Juice play inventive

covers and original music.

‘MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN’(NOW PLAYING)In this stirring new drama, Jennifer Garner stars as a

concerned mother desperate to save her incurably ill

daughter. When the young girl begins to show miracu-

lous signs of recovery after suffering a traumatic injury,

doctors everywhere are baffled.

BY: HANNAH MCLAUGHLIN | ASST. ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR

20TH CENTURY FOX

KRISTIN SALESKI / HEIGHTS STAFF

KRISTIN SALESKI / HEIGHTS STAFF

THE HEIGHTSThursday, March 17, 2016 B3

If there’s one thing Spring Break 2016

has taught me, it’s that Tina Fey should quit

her day job.

Now, before an angry mob of devoted

Fey fans assembles, I entreat you to put

down your torches and pitchforks and

just listen to me for a minute. It’s no secret

that the writer/producer/actress is doing

exceptionally well in the entertainment

realm and should therefore stay right where

she is. What I propose, however, is that

the beloved comedienne could also do

exceptionally well as a life coach if she really

wanted to.

It’s not often that a mediocre comedy

makes me contemplate my future. I seldom

ruminate over fi lms that take their titles

from some silly military jargon like Whiskey

Tango Foxtrot. For me, at least, an innocent

trip to the movie theater rarely turns into

some type of existential crisis. But folks,

there sure is a fi rst time for everything.

Alright, so maybe the word “crisis” is a

bit too extreme. I certainly didn’t feel like

all my long-held aspirations were suddenly

rendered meaningless. Th is wasn’t an overly

dramatic calamity that hurled all my hopes

and dreams into the all-consuming abyss. I’d

say it was more of a brief existential hiccup,

a self-analytical x-ray, if you will. Whatever

it was, though, it really did get me thinking.

Ever since I was old enough to under-

stand that working for Th e New York Times

was a pretty big deal—for me, this was

probably around 8 years old—I’ve wanted

to do just that. At the time, my best friend

was going to become a ballerina when she

grew up, my second-grade crush wanted

to be the next Manny Ramirez, and there I

was— a pint-sized pipsqueak who wanted

to be a Times editor.

In Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Fey plays Kim

Baker, the fi ctionalized version of New York

Times reporter Kim Barker. Whiskey is the

comedic fi lm adaptation of Barker’s stirring

memoir Th e Taliban Shuffl e: Strange Days

in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Th e fi lm is

smart, profound, and genuinely funny when

it needs to be. It even has all the makings of

your average, enjoyable rom com: girl sets

out to see the world, girl meets boy, boy is

captured by a group of radical Islamic ter-

rorists—you know, the usual.

While there’s no question the fi lm

focuses primarily on the struggles of life in

war-ravaged Afghanistan, there’s another

kind of survival intertwined in the plotline,

which makes Kim’s unique situation a lot

more relatable that it seems: the unrelenting

battle for a fulfi lling life.

When it comes to her bleak desk-job,

repetitive gym routine, and rather mundane

daily schedule, Kim just can’t deal. She

needs excitement. She craves taking wild

risks, and she thirsts for adventure. Kim has

no kids, a sleazy boyfriend, and that nagging

reminder that she’s only getting older. Pretty

bleak stuff , right?

Th e thing is, she’s a New York Times

journalist. She doesn’t hate her job, but she

doesn’t love it, either. And isn’t that worse?

If all she feels once she snags that dream

job is an unfulfi lling restlessness, isn’t it a

bit disheartening that the only sentiments

she has for her life’s work culminate in an

uninterested shoulder shrug, an apathetic

“meh?”

Cue the familiar “Am I doing any of

this right?” feeling that gnawed away at

my psyche just as soon as I thought I had

it all fi gured out. How do you know if the

life you’ve always wanted will end up being

the one you can’t wait to escape? More

importantly, how do you realize this before

it’s too late?

Th e answer is simple: you don’t. And

there’s no sense in worrying about it, either.

You might graduate with a nursing degree,

wake up one day, and experience some

inexplicable epiphany that persuades you to

become a big-time business mogul. It’s the

guess-and-check method, but for adults.

You might have spent years of schooling

and paid exorbitant tuition dollars just to

change your whole plan, but that’s the cool

thing about life. It goes on, and it can’t—

shouldn’t—be meticulously calculated.

Even if it could be, where’s the fun in

that?

A MCLAUGHLIN MINUTE

It’s hard to know what to expect from Kendrick Lamar’s surprise new album, untitled unmastered. Each song is labeled “untitled” and unnumbered, with a date attached. At fi rst, it would seem to simply be a release of scrapped tracks that didn’t make it onto his stellar last project, To Pimp A Butterfl y, or a compendium of non-album cuts in the vein of J. Cole’s Truly Yours EP or Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Friday releases. untitled unmastered is, how-ever, much more unifi ed on the whole than a

simple collection of random tracks and, like Lamar’s other projects, it seems to develop a theme and message during its half-hour-long runtime. So is it an album? A mixtape? Maybe it doesn’t matter.

In a time when Kanye is still editing his last album a month after its release and Chance the Rapper continues to produce wildly popular music independent of a label, it doesn’t matter what package the music comes in. It may be that Lamar doesn’t want us to know exactly what to make of the album, given its surprise release and eccentric character. Regardless, Lamar’s world of fans was surely ecstatic upon

fi nding out about untitled unmastered.Sonically, the album fi nds Lamar diving

ever deeper into his signature fusion of jazz, funk, and hip-hop, as well as playing with the styles of his contemporaries. His sound has also grown more uniformly dark in com-parison to Kendrick’s last project, a clear move away from optimistic songs like last year’s single, “i.” Many of the songs on the album would feel perfectly comfortable on an A Tribe Called Quest album, and several moments feel as though they might be directly sampled from a John Coltrane record. Simultaneously, many of those same tracks borrow from the styles of other major rappers, notably Drake, a former collaborator of Lamar’s. Sections of “Untitled 02” and “Untitled 07” carry the unmistakable feel of last year’s If You’re Reading Th is It’s Too Late, sifted through a K-Dot fi lter. It might not quite be correct to suggest that he is imitat-ing the styles of recent albums, since many of the songs are dated long before IYRTITL was released, but it does indicate that Lamar has been developing along with the rest of the industry.

As always in Lamar’s music, it is easy to get lost in his expansive sound, neglecting his equally profound lyrical content. Cornrow Kenny (Lamar) hardly ever stays far from po-litical commentary, and race-conscious tracks like “Untitled 03,” which he had previewed on TV before To Pimp A Butterfl y was even re-leased, are standard fare. untitled unmastered is decidedly darker, opening with an apoca-

lyptic jeremiad and then discussing racial prejudice and cynically analyzing the impact of Lamar’s music. He is alternately supremely confi dent in his music and unsure of himself and his own development. He tackles seri-ous topics, including depression and anxiety. While TPAB was focused on a large political movement, Kendrick concerns himself on untitled unmastered with problems on the scale of an individual. Even on “Untitled 03,” in which he raps about an entire culture, he puts these lyrics in the perspective of a single “white man” or “Indian.” Kendrick still has a lot to say, even if the way he says it has shifted.

Kendrick Lamar’s music has been so uniformly good since his Section.80 debut, it has practically been a drug for the hip-hop community, and he knows it. “Untitled 07” lists love, fame, and several other things that, “won’t get you high like this.” Besides the fact that it is, by design, less polished, untitled un-mastered isn’t quite on the same level of quality of Kendrick’s previous major releases.

Still, the songs on this island of misfi t tracks feel magical and are bound to please Kendrick’s most faithful fans.. untitled un-mastered has all the trappings of a K-Dot record—race-conscious rap, introspective themes, slick rhymes, and great beats. Years from now, this release is unlikely to be remembered alongside the other legend-ary albums he has already released, but it’s certainly enough to tide fans over until the next one. TOP DAWG RECORDS

UNTITLED UNMASTEREDKENDRICK LAMAR

PRODUCED BYTOP DAWGRELEASED

MARCH 4, 2016OUR RATING

MUSIC

“A tattoo artist isn’t an artist, though,

right?”

In nearby Allston, right off of the

Harvard Avenue T stop, Stingray Body

Art off ers piercings and tattoos for any

willing, sober participant. Home to 12

diff erent artists and a massive, private

workspace, I’ve seen nothing but great ink

come out of the establishment. Th ere’s

no doubt that Stingray is a great tattoo

parlor—however, confusion is arising as

it prepares for its upcoming art showcase

on Mar. 31. Th e 18+ event sounds like

a great time, with a live DJ, free snacks

and drinks for sale, yet many don’t know

what to expect. Will the walls of the shop

simply be lined with framed tattoo mock-

ups? How many portraits of pin-up girls

in American traditional style will be on

display?

What many fail to realize, and even

I often forget to consider, is how much

talent is necessary to have a career as a

professional tattoo artist. When people

are paying you high prices for a piece of

work that they will carry on their bodies

for the rest of their lives, you assume a

huge responsibility to make that piece

perfect. Granted, one could argue that an

artist working exclusively with non-eras-

able ink pen is operating under the same

conditions of permanence. Th at artist, on

the other hand, won’t be sued for making

an un-undoable mistake, only annoyed

with his or her own failure. Th e stakes

of a job are always raised when working

directly with a customer, and the pressure

put on tattoo artists to produce great

work is incredible.

Th e only reason they don’t crack

under this pressure is their sheer natural

and practiced talent. Th e last artist that

I spoke to actually told me the story of

his years in art school in Boston, where

he was able to hone his affi nity for visual

art into a professional skill and eventu-

ally combine that with his love of tattoos

in becoming an artist at Stingray. Most

would consider a man with his level of

artistic education working as a freelance

painter or sketch artist an “artist” with no

hesitation, yet the social stigma associ-

ated with tattoos discredits his talent.

Th is is where people start to question

the credibility of a tattoo artist’s work. At

least to my traditional, southern parents,

tattoos are uncouth, unbecoming, and

unprofessional, so therefore the people

who administer them must be blind to

culture and artistic integrity. I’ve never

agreed with this sentiment, but this

negative social connotation leads to the

dismissal of how stunning and technically

intricate tattoos can be. What’s more, few

artists limit their talents to only designing

and inking tattoos—that’s not how they

got started drawing, after all. Like any

artist, their talents range from oil paints

to charcoal pencils, from hyper-realism

to cubist portraits, and from tiny sketches

to massive murals. Th ey aren’t limited

to only one facet of their skills simply

because it is the one they make a living

with.

Stingray’s art show could house any

kind of visual art, so I’m not setting

any expectations beyond excitement

for the quality of the work. But putting

the artists’ work in an actual art show

should not be the only time their work is

acknowledged as “art”—tattoos them-

selves require the same, if not higher,

level of skill, with much higher stakes

involved. Even more importantly, I’d

argue that the lasting emotional eff ect of

a tattoo is even more drastic than that

of a Van Gogh exhibit at the MFA. An

artist can create a beautiful piece of work

that resonates with human emotion and

provides aesthetic comfort, but a tattoo

artist uses his or her talent so people can

view themselves as beautiful, and if that

isn’t art, I don’t know what is.

Facing an intimidating panel of Jesuit judg-es, Will Supple, MCAS ’19, and Colin Cross, MCAS ’19, strut out under the glistening lights of Robsham Th eater. Th ere are a few whistles while the introductory applause slowly fades away, someone shouts out a hearty, “Yeah, Will!” and then the auditorium goes silent. Supple gives Cross a slight, quick nod, and Cross strums his richly coated, beautiful acous-tic guitar. Cross plays his way through a couple progressions, then the bomb drops. Supple delivers the fi rst few lines of Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey.” Listening to the thun-derous applause that erupted after each verse or diffi cult note Supple faced, one might’ve thought Th e Beatles had just waltzed into Robsham. It becomes quickly apparent that Supple might just make it to the top of Boston College’s annual Sing it to the Heights.

For many freshmen coming to BC in the fall, campus can be a diffi cult place to navigate and to gain one’s bearings. Especially when one lives on Newton, Main Campus can feel like a far-off kingdom, only reachable by the notorious Newton bus. Th is isn’t the case for

Supple. For him, traversing the murky waters of collegiate living has been something of a breeze.

While many musicians here at BC can talk about how they’ve been performing at school recitals or have been taking singing lessons since they were fi ve years old, Supple is actually quite new to his craft.

“I’ve sung all my life, but I never tried singing publicly until senior year of high school,” Supple said. “I started to fi gure, since I sang so much in the car or say in the shower, that I might as well take it into a more public environment.”

Supple started singing for his choir at his local Needham, Mass., high school. While he never performed solo at any of its events, Supple started to see how much he enjoyed performing and the people with whom it brought him into contact.

Once he arrived at BC, Supple started searching for a cappella groups to join in the fall. Although there were myriad choices for him to browse through, Supple set his sights on Th e Bostonians and quickly found himself a spot in the group.

“Getting into the a cappella groups can be pretty diffi cult,” Supple said. “I sort of lucked

out in fi nding Th e Bostonians and got accepted right away. You can audition for a bunch of the groups, but once you get called back for multiple groups, things can get messy. You might choose two groups out of three or four, but they have the last say, so it can sort of be a shot in the dark.”

Looking at BC’s a cappella scene, Supple made a couple points on the range of a cap-pella groups that can be found across campus. Supple thought that, while it was disappointing that some of BC’s voices might not have the opportunity to show the arts community their talent, having a jungle of a cappella groups on campus would be extremely overwhelm-ing. Instead, Supple believes that niches of musically inclined students can be found all throughout campus. He himself has found one in Keyes. While Supple might have fallen into luck fi nding a group of students in Keyes who love to share their musical talents, tastes, and experiences, he feels that these sorts of groups are a pinnacle of the music community here at BC.

Working with Th e Bostonians, Supple has found friends and colleagues that speak highly of both Supple and his abilities.

“He’s hilarious and one of the greatest

people to have around,” fellow Bostonian Ben Stevens, CSOM ’18, said of Supple. “His fal-setto is glorious, and he’s become a good friend of mine. His loyalty, honesty, and talent just sort of make you want to be around him.”

When somebody mentions Supple’s name, the number of people who perk up, claiming they know the man himself and attesting to how personable he is, is astounding.

It’s not easy to put a tag on Supple’s style. His rendition of Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whis-key” suggests that Supple’s individual sound is a mix of grassy-blues and more classical soul. As Stevens suggests, his falsetto is spectacular and emblematic of Supple’s vocal range. It will be interesting to see Supple’s development as an individual singer, seeing as his fi rst solo performance garnered him fi rst place at Sing it to the Heights and its $300 cash prize.

The freshman year experience can be a tricky business. The future can often be clouded for many of the bright minds entering BC, and some might not have as great a grasp on their desires as they’d please. Will Supple, on the other hand, isn’t bogged down by the stresses of his year. Instead, he’s carving out his path at BC with his musical career, one performance at a time.

LEIGH CHANNELL

Bostonian singer Will Supple discusses finding his community at BC.

Conquering The Heights


House of Cards is something

of a social phenomenon—while

most premier television pro-

gramming is highly focused on

raw action, the tale of Frank

Underwood relies on the slow

effects of character development

and story-building . Though

season four of the criticallyac-

claimed series is not quite up to

par with its earlier installments,

the show undoubtedly maintains

its gritty charm with its latest

go-around.

From the very beginning, the

strength of House of Cards has

been its characters. This sea-

son, the legendary Kevin Spac-

ey returns as Underwood, the

President of the United States.

Though he brings nothing new

to the table, he is still impressive

in his role, delivering yet another

solid look into Underwood’s life.

The real standout this season is

Robin Wright, who delivers an

unforgettable performance as

Claire Underwood, First Lady of

the United States.

Another surprise this season

was Neve Campbell as LeAnn

Harvey, introduced into the se-

ries as a determined campaign

manager. Though somewhat

hidden in the background, her

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Weezer, the quirky American

rock band assembled somewhere

on the streets of Los Angeles in

early 1992, has for decades pro-

duced popular albums with the

help of a truly commendable work

ethic—a can-do attitude that has

motivated the group to produce

yet another album with the fervor

of a band that thinks it’s still rel-

evant. Unfortunately for Weezer,

however, the new “California Kids”

video exposes a stark truth that the

beloved but outdated 24-year-old

outfit isn’t nearly as “hip” as it

thinks it is.

In the new video, frontman

Rivers Cuomo fi nds himself in a

series of incredibly odd situations.

Presented with a towering pile

of cream-fi lled cannolis, Cuomo

forgoes his table manners and un-

apologetically attacks the dessert

plate. Without an iota of explana-

tion, he spends entirely too long

smearing the pastry all over his

face and in his hair before tipping

the entire tray over on his head.

If Cuomo’s cannoli episode

isn’t confusing enough, the lead

vocalist trudges to the beach,

where he experiences vivid fl ash-

backs to stealing an innocent

beachgoer’s bag of chips and

frolicking along the coast with a

female bodybuilder. In a desperate

attempt to lure millennials into its

quickly diminishing fanbase, Wee-

zer invites the teenage creators of

the viral “Damn, Daniel!” meme

to make a quick (and incredibly

cringe-worthy) cameo.

With its highly fi ltered footage

that resembles a shoddy series of

Instagram posts and today’s pop

culture, the video could be some

kind of ingeniously coded criticism

of contemporary adolescence.

More likely, however, is that the

puzzling video was created in an

attempt to prolong Weezer’s ten-

ure in the industry and promote

its eccentric identity. Th is failure

to preserve the band’s signature

cool, meta identity of its heyday is

especially disheartening for a rock

group whose lead vocalist boasts

an incomparably cool name.

“CALIFORNIA KIDS”WEEZER

MEDIA RIGHTS CAPITAL

HOUSE OF CARDSKEVIN MACDONALD

PRODUCED BY MEDIA RIGHTS CAPITAL

RELEASEMARCH 4, 2016

OUR RATING

invested in the twists and turns

of the Underwood existence.

This is not the fault of the ac-

tors—there really is no weak

link among the long list of cast

members. Perhaps it’s a combi-

nation of source material and

writing, but in terms of plot, this

is the weakest season of House of Cards yet.

For a show so devoted to its

own grit, however, these flaws

can be written off. It is generally

natural for a television program

to decrease in quality over time,

and when dealing with the scale

of international politics, a little

bit of hyperbole may be in order

from time to time. In essence,

the latest Cards installment

breaks itself down into a simple

dichotomy: if its viewers are

devoted to the genre of political

drama, Netflix’s most famous

show will fill that need without

question. On the other side of

the coin, those looking to enter

into a mysterious genre won’t

find their answer in House of Cards. When watching char-

acters continue to decieve, lie,

and cheat, observant viewers

will become keen on the aims

and end goals of most parties

involved.

House of Cards is still good.

It has all of the inner workings

of “good” art—a driving mes-

sage of corruption, a stark look

at the human condition, and a

masterful grip on theme and

tone. For all of its flaws and dis-

connections, it has a quality of

sophistication and poise—it begs

to be taken seriously. Whether

this happens, however, is largely

dependent on the person in front

of the screen.

Traversing the streets of New York, a troupe of friends hoped to make it out alive as nightmarish crea-tures descended on the night. Fear and terror spread infectiously throughout the city as the alien monsters made their way through every tunnel, across every bridge, and into every room. Th e thrashing camera, frantic screams, and solid cast amplifi ed this new kind of monster tale and made

Cloverfi eld a memorable found-foot-age epic. Following in its footsteps, 10 Cloverfi eld Lane brings a new take on monsters and where they dwell, as the city is traded for a bomb shelter, and our troupe of friends reduced to three strangers.

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Win-stead) awakes injured inside a bunker after a car crash, unaware of her sur-roundings. Th e owner of the bunker, Howard Stambler (John Goodman), tells Michelle that the world outside has suff ered an attack, rendering the

air too toxic and preventing her from leaving. He saves her and Emmett De-Witt (John Gallagher, Jr.), by allowing them to stay in the bunker until the outside world becomes safe. After questioning Howard’s intentions and planning with Emmett, she decides she must take action to ensure her survival.

10 Cloverfield Lane is truly, as producer J.J. Abrams describes it, “a spiritual successor,” rather than a true sequel to the 2008 monster romp. Th e claustrophobia and the subtle sense

of tension is in direct contrast to the open air and cataclysmic feelings brought about throughout Clover-fi eld. Th ough it shares the Cloverfi eld name, it does not share the fi lming style, characters, or the feel of the world. One may wonder whether the attachment of the Cloverfi eld name was a cheap attempt at drawing in audiences lusting for a sequel. Only time will tell if its position within the rest of its purported universe remains as strong.

When looked at as a standalone, the fi lm is masterfully executed for a majority of the run time. Th ose feel-ings of unease and tension seen rest-ing on the shoulders of the characters can be felt pressing audience members to the edge of their seats. It is a very bottled fi lm, ready to burst because of the arduous events within the story and because of the expectations placed on it as a Cloverfi eld fi lm.

The characters are extremely fl eshed out. Each facet of their char-acters is explored deftly and tactfully. Th ere are a lot of payoff s in the fi lm, in which certain characteristics or skills function integrally within the narrative. It is refreshing to see char-acters’ motivations and skills working in a fl uid and honest way. Th ere are real character arcs within the fi lm, leading to satisfying conclusions in its run time. When the fi lm fi nally reaches resolution and the pressure

is released, some viewers may fi nd its finale rather out of place for a movie that places much of its time developing characters in smart and clever ways.

On the acting side, Goodman plays marvelously into the doubts of characters and audiences, while insidiously pulling them to his way of thinking. Though given numer-ous clues or suggestions, one may never truly be sure of his intentions or aims. His moral ambiguity, coupled with fl eeting glimpses of humanity, makes for a character with whom we sympathize and despise. Winstead’s expressivity adds much to the sense of tension and unease laden throughout the fi lm. Her face is often front-and-center frame, cuing the audience into her next move, feelings, or fears. She makes all viewers fear what is inside the bunker, as much as what lurks outside of it.

10 Cloverfi eld Lane is a worthy entry into what may become an an-thology series. As it stands, it is a great psychological thriller in more ways than one. Th e creative minds at Bad Robot Productions are pushing the boundaries on what a sequel means, though it may not fi t the conventional sense of the word. 10 Cloverfi eld Lane is good in ways that are diff erent from the monster movie that came before it, but as its marketing campaign says, “Monsters come in many forms.” PARAMOUNT PICTURES

10 CLOVERFIELD LANEDAN TRACHTENBERG

DISTRIBUTED BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES

RELEASEMAR. 11, 2016

OUR RATING

TELEVISION

FILM

SINGLE REVIEWS BY SHRAVAN CHALLAPALLI

Understated and subtle, “On the Lips” offers a glimpse into how seemingly ordinary music can still be remarkably beautiful. The guitars are simple and accessible to even those just starting to learn the instrument. Lead singer Greta Kline’s hushed vocals and musings of the achingly wonted come across as special.

FRANKIE COSMOS“On the Lips”

Audacity is a California punk band that you’d just as likely see play in a basement than any proper venue. Released ahead of its upcoming album Hyper Vessels, “Hypo” comes across as heavy and wickedly feral. It’s a jumble of youthful bus rides, teeming anxiety, and unadulterated power.

AUDACITY“Hypo”

Weaves are an emerging four-piece from Toronto, Canada. Its new release “One More” buzzes along until it ultimately breaks down into a tangle of noise and disorder. To this end, the guitars are simultaneously precise, melodic, and unruly. The whole song is just seconds away from coming totally unhinged.

WEAVES“One More”

MUSIC VIDEO

When Disney bought Star Wars back in 2012, it became clear that, at least in some ways, Star Wars would be getting a bit of a Disney makeover. Mickey Mouse started fl aunting a Jedi robe at Disneyland, Darth Vader could be seen riding the Dumbo ride, and it was only a matter of time before the massive entertainment conglomerate started producing its own content

out most instances of insurrection across the galaxy, a growing resistance movement is beginning to take hold in the Outer Rim. A Robin Hood-esque band joins with the up-and-coming Rebellion at the end of season one and spends most of the second season running various errands and missions for the cause.

What’s most notable about Rebelsis the stunning and compelling char-acter development that viewers have seen from and between members of

the main team, aptly named Ghost Squadron. Each character is some-times given his own thematic episode, giving audiences an extended time to get to know each of these characters and to chart how they’ve grown since the beginning of the show. For a kid’s show, Rebels exhibits a deep, layered emphasis on character growth that makes Ghost Squadron relatable and charming.

When it comes to the action sequences and villains in the show, Rebels could use a bit of polishing. Th e animation can get a bit choppy when Ghost Squadron gets in a fi refi ght with stormtroopers and some of the scenarios the team escapes are quite ludicrous. Th e lightsaber battles, on the other hand, are actually executed very well. Kanen, Ezra, and the Impe-rial Inquisitors (basically Sith agents) they come up against are light on their feet, quick to strike, and go through their skirmishes with exceptional grace.

Th e Inquisitors are an interesting dynamic in Rebels. Th e show needs to have lightsaber-wielding villains. Th at’s sort of the crux of anything Star Wars—there need to be lightsaber battles. Inserting these Inquisitors in the program deals with that aspect of LUCASFILM LTD.

STAR WARS: REBELSSIMON KINBERG

PRODUCED BYLUCASFILM LTD.

SEASON 222 EPISODES

OUR RATING

TELEVISION

Rebels, but opens up a can of worms as to how Inquisitors fi t into Star Wars mythos. Th ere are only sup-posed to be two Sith, according to the fi lms, so where these characters fi t into that rule is an interesting and un-answered questioned that the show needs to address in the future.

Th ere’re also myriad guest ap-pearances from characters in other Star Wars programs. Ahsoka Tano, Rex, and Hondo from the Clone Wars series are featured as recur-ring characters that bring about interesting character relationships with Ghost Squadron, while guests from the original fi lm trilogy remind Rebels of what lies in the universe’s future and the possible mark Ghost Squadron has on major events in the original series.

A lot is at play and at stake in Disney XD’s Rebels, which might be surprising at fi rst glance. Once sucked in, though, it’s easy to see why the show has already been renewed for a third season. Rebels has devel-oped its own unique team of charac-ters that stand their ground among some of the more famous members of the Star Wars cast. It exhibits the infi nite stories that can be found in a galaxy far, far away.

efforts are quite commend-

able—though she has played a

smaller role than most, she will

not be quickly forgotten.

Beyond its characters, House of Cards is perhaps best known

for the tone it creates within

episodes.

The latest iteration of the

show has not lost its touch. The

most fascinating pieces of the

season revolve around the re-

lationship of Frank and Claire.

The tension and complexity

surrounding their relationship is

masterfully crafted, and is what

truly makes House of Cards a

standout television show. Sex,

crime, and greed will always be

compelling, but the interper-

sonal relationships drive the

drama.

Unfortunately, much of the

strength of House of Cards is

directly tied to its weaknesses as

well. On a number of occasions,

the show presents such a bleak

outlook on political life that

its frame of reference becomes

somewhat comical. House of Cards—the fourth season in

particular—has a tendency to

go far beyond a realistic point

of drama.

Certain plot devices come

off as melodramatic rather than

just dramatic, which can be

offputting for those not entirely

aside from the episodic entries in the Star Wars fi lm series. While at a fi rst glance, Disney XD’s Star Wars: Rebelsmight seem dismissible to Star Wars fans for appearing on a children’s network, the animated series is chock full of memorable and substantive lore and stories that can very easily absorb the most “mature” fans’ interest.

Rebels takes place after Revenge of the Sith and before A New Hope, 14 years after the rise of the Galactic Em-pire. While the Empire is able to stamp

HANNAH MCLAUGHLIN

THE HEIGHTSThursday, January 17, 2014 B5THE HEIGHTSThursday, March 17, 2016 B5

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13 Iona

15 Weber St.

10 Pittsburgh

9 Providence

7 Dayton

10 Syracuse

2 Michigan St.

11 Gonzaga

3 Utah

14 Fresno St.

5 Purdue

12 Little Rock

4 Iowa State

6 Seton Hall

1 North Carolina

16 FGCU

8 USC

5 Indiana

12 Chattanooga

4 Kentucky

13 Stony Brook

6 Notre Dame

11 Michigan

3 West Virginia

14 S.F. Austin

7 Wisconsin

2 Xavier

1 Virginia

16 Hampton

8 Texas Tech

9 Butler

16 Holy Cross

9 Cincinnati

5 Baylor

12 Yale

4 Duke

13 UNC Wilm.

6 Texas

11 N. Iowa

3 Texas A&M

14 Green Bay

7 Oregon St.

10 VCU

2 Oklahoma

8 St. Joseph’s

9 Connecticut

5 Maryland

12 S.D. State

4 California

13 Hawaii

6 Arizona

11 Wichita St.

3 Miami (FL)

14 Buffalo

7 Iowa

10 Temple

2 Villanova

15 UNC Asheville

1 Oregon

8 Colorado

16 Austin Peay

PICKS FROM THE HEIGHTS

SPORTS EDITORS

1 Kansas 2016 MEN’S BASKETBALLBRACKET

Kansas

Kansas

UConn

Maryland

Hawaii

Maryland

Kansas

Wichita St.

Miami

Miami

Miami

Iowa

Villanova

Villanova

Kansas

Duke

Duke

Duke

Oregon

Oregon

St. Joseph’s

Baylor

Texas

Texas A&M

VCU

Oklahoma

Duke

Texas

Oklahoma

Oklahoma

UNC

Providence

Indiana

Kentucky

Michigan

WVU

Pittsburgh

Weber St.

Virginia

Butler

Purdue

Iona

Gonzaga

Utah

Dayton

MSU

UNC

Kentucky

WVU

Pittsburgh

Virginia

Purdue

Gonzaga

MSU

UNC

Pittsburgh

Virginia

MSU

UNC

MSU

North Carolina

Duke

Champion: UNC

15 CSU Bake. 15 Mid. Tenn.

With two outs in the top of the ninth,

Johnny Adams tried to steal second base.

Getting him into scoring position would

have given Boston College a better shot at

picking up an insurance run, but he was

gunned down by catcher Andrew Knizner,

ending the inning and putting BC just three

outs away from a win over No. 8 North

Carolina State. In a tight 1-0 game, it was the

perfect time to bring in a shutdown closer

for three quick outs against the bottom of

the order.

Th e only thing was, BC head coach

Mike Gambino had already gone to Justin

Dunn—his closer—four innings earlier. And

once three straight men reached base to

start the inning against a guy who shouldn’t

have been on the mound for BC (12-3,

2-1 Atlantic Coast) on Sunday, it looked as

though BC’s slim lead might be erased in a

hurry.

After surviving a couple threats from

NC State (13-4, 1-2) in the fi rst four innings,

freshman starter Jacob Stevens got himself

into a little more trouble in the fi fth. With a

man on fi rst and two outs, Stevens threw a

wild pitch that got by catcher Nick Sciortino,

then walked the next batter—his fi fth of the

day, to go along with fi ve strikeouts. In a 0-0

game that didn’t show any sign of becoming

a slugfest, Gambino knew exactly what he

was going to do, even if he had his catcher

buy a little time with a mound visit.

“We knew we were going to Justin,”

Gambino said.

Th e coach came out to the mound and

motioned with his right hand for his most-

trusted reliever, the fl ame-thrower who

consistently hits the upper-90s and generally

comes out at the end of the game for the

Eagles. While this type of pitcher in Major

League ball is almost exclusively kept for

the special “save situation,” a statistic that is

one of the most overvalued in professional

sports, Gambino believes in using his best

reliever when he needs to. With Chance

Shepard—a player who came into the

weekend tied for second in the country with

seven home runs—coming to the plate, he

felt he needed Dunn.

His experiment worked. Dunn got

Shepard to ground out to short, ending the

frame and allowing BC to pick up a lead

the next inning. Th is started with a base on

balls for Jake Palomaki, who set BC’s all-time

record for walks in a season during his

rookie campaign last year. After Joe Cronin

grounded out, the Eagles picked up three

consecutive walks to get their sole run of the

game.

“You could tell early on that game had

a feel like it would be a close one, that runs

would be hard to come by with how we were

throwing the ball, how they were throwing

the ball,” Gambino said.

Cody Beckman got NC State out of that

jam, getting pinch-hitter Gian Martellini to

line into a double play. He and Tommy DeJu-

neas combined to shut out the Eagles for the

rest of the game, while Dunn stayed in after

getting his out, allowing a few walks and a

hit during three more innings, but getting

a key double play in the eighth to keep NC

State off the board.

Th is pitching dominance lasted all

weekend long for BC, which allowed the

Wolfpack to score a combined three runs in

three games, all of which came on Satur-

day against Jesse Adams. Th e lefty made

just one signifi cant mistake: leaving a 1-1

pitch too far over the plate to Shepard, who

drove a two-RBI double into the gap to give

the Wolfpack its fi rst and fi nal lead of 3-2.

Adams managed to recover enough to work

into the fi fth inning, when Brian Rapp came

in to shut the door on a one-out jam. Dan

Metzdorf and John Nicklas went on to face

just seven batters to close out the fi nal two

innings, but a solid start from Brian Brown

proved too much to overcome.

Th e only man to get to Brown on the day

was Cronin, who blasted a two-run shot to

left in the third. Th e captain, who’s hitting a

team-best .389 through 15 games, also had

the hottest bat the day before, going 2-for-3

with a triple, two walks, and three RBIs.

Th ose hits alone were far more than

Mike King, another rising star in the ACC,

needed on Friday. He went seven innings,

surrendering just six hits and no walks,

though with a pair of HBPs, on just 89

pitches. Bobby Skogsbergh needed nearly 40

pitches to get through the fi nal two frames,

but picked up four strikeouts to complete

the shutout. Meanwhile, BC’s off ense had

blown the game wide open by taking advan-

tage of the Wolfpack’s mistakes.

Th e fi rst came in the fourth inning, when

an error from NC State shortstop Joe Du-

nand eventually led to two BC runs. Another

miscue from Dunand in the fi fth—his third

on the afternoon—along with a throwing

error from starter Joe O’Donnell led to

three BC runs. Th e fi nal two tallies, the only

earned runs in a 7-0 win for BC, were set up

by a wild pitch and a four-pitch walk, put-

ting runners in scoring position for Cronin

to blast a triple to the gap and drive them

home.

Th is big victory in game one not only

gave BC a chance to win a series against a

good top-10 team, but also allowed Gam-

bino to stretch out Dunn in the fi nale. Th e

coach feels comfortable allowing the former

starter to go up around 50 pitches on a given

night, a mark he fell just short of when he

completed the eighth. Dunn also showed

signs of fatigue throughout that frame, forc-

ing Gambino to fi nd a substitute closer.

Gambino elected to give the ball to

Donovan Casey, a reliever who has not only

pitched four scoreless innings so far this

season, but has also started all but one game

in the fi eld, tallying a .321 average on the

year. Against the fi rst three batters he faced

on Sunday, however, he allowed a single,

another single, and a walk to load the bases.

“Going to Donovan Casey in that situ-

ation was a mistake on my part,” Gambino

said afterward.

It’s not that Gambino doesn’t trust

Casey in the late-inning role—the reliever

has already picked up a save this season,

and Gambino is adamant that Casey will

continue to get those opportunities when

Dunn isn’t available. But that time he spends

as a fi eld player can take its toll, and it did

Sunday afternoon. Th e worst bruise came

in the top of the eighth, when Casey took a

hard-thrown pitch off his right shoulder.

“Going to him in that spot, with how

much he had gotten beat up today, was the

wrong move,” Gambino said.

Th e head coach then pulled Casey,

inserting Nicklas into the worst possible

situation for a pitcher—bases loaded, no

outs, game on the line. In the cruel happen-

stance of baseball, the batter Knizner drove

the second pitch to right, to the player who

probably least wanted the ball: Casey, who

Gambino had slotted back out in right fi eld.

He made the play, fi ring the ball back in

before the man at third could tag up. Gam-

bino came back out again, this time bringing

on Metzdorf, a freshman left-hander.

Popped straight up, where Sciortino made

the play in front of the plate.

Th at brought Gambino out one last time,

bringing on Skogsbergh to face Shepard, the

player most likely to blast one in the gap to

end it.

Instead, he hit a grounder to the left

side, where third baseman Gabe Hernandez

ranged over to his left and fi red to second

to end it.

“Th ose guys bailed me out,” Gambino

said. “And that was awesome.”

BASEBALL


criticized a lot of aspects of

BC Athletics. In the 10 years

since the Eagles joined the

ACC, neither football nor

men’s basketball has managed

to consistently compete with

the conference’s established

powerhouses.

Sure, there have been odd

seasons when the teams play

well and qualify for either

a bowl game or the NCAA

Tournament. But in general,

it’s been a rough time for the

teams, and the dry spell has led

to an unprecedented drop in

attendance, disinterest among

students, and added pressure

on University officials to im-

prove the situation.

In the article, Hohler

mentioned the huge drop in at-

tendance at football and men’s

basketball games. According

to the report, the attendance

has suffered since BC joined

the ACC. Football’s season

ticket sales have dropped by at

least an astounding 60 percent,

leading to the lowest fan turn-

out in 25 years. Men’s basket-

ball has suffered similarly, with

half as many fans coming out

nowadays as in the pre-ACC

era. People just don’t want

to come out and watch these

teams play, and who can blame

them?

The student disinterest

surprised me a lot when I first

arrived on campus in the fall. I

was really excited for my first

college football game. I got to

Alumni Stadium early, worried

about finding a spot in the

student section. I shouldn’t

have been concerned. All

throughout the season, fans

didn’t straggle in until well

into the first quarter—if they

showed up at all. I heard a lot

from my high school friends

about the insane game-day at-

mosphere at schools like Penn

State, USC, and Georgia, and I

wondered why the same didn’t

exist at BC.

But as the season dragged

on, I understood more and

more why so many students

just didn’t care about being

there for the full game. The all-

in football culture just doesn’t

exist here, and when the team

is struggling so much, there is

absolutely no motivation for

students to go sit in the sun for

a few hours and watch a sorry

excuse for a game. And as for

men’s basketball games, even

fewer students showed up to

them than football.

So with attendance drop-

ping and students less and less

interested in the teams, the

clock is ticking for University

officials to fix the problem. It’s

not easy, though, when people

are second-guessing how com-

mitted the administration is

to athletics. Hohler suggested

that University President

Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J.

is lukewarm at best toward

sports, even when it comes

to the school’s most popular

sport, hockey. At #JY1K Night

last month, I was too dazzled

by the video messages from

the likes of Bill Belichick and

Mike Krzyzewski to notice that

Leahy did not record a mes-

sage for York, let alone show

up to support one of the most

beloved figures at BC. But

looking back, it seems highly

significant that Leahy was

completely absent from the

night. It really does seem like

he doesn’t care for sports.

This is a huge problem,

for obvious reasons. Two of

the biggest sports here are

suffering, bringing a lot of

unwanted negative publicity to

BC. Leahy needs to show that

he really cares about sports to

appease students, alumni, and

the Board of Trustees. After

all, he’s the one who pushed

for BC to abandon the Big East

and join the ACC, a move that

greatly endangered the Big

East’s stability. BC benefited

from the move, gaining the

prestige of the ACC, fame, and

money. Now that the teams are

struggling to even slightly suc-

ceed, Leahy should show the

same investment in athletics

that he showed when money

and fame were on the line.

Leahy can show investment

in sports in smaller ways, too.

He is the University’s presi-

dent, the face of BC, but he

doesn’t really make himself ac-

cessible. Showing up to games

is an easy way to boost his

public persona and demon-

strate that he cares about ath-

letics at the same time. Com-

ing to events like #JY1K Night

is imperative and will show

his interest and investment

in more than just academics.

After all, right now Leahy has

given students no reason to be-

lieve that he is invested in the

actual success of the big-name,

revenue-earning teams.

The administration

counters claims like these by

mentioning the plans to build

new facilities, including a

fieldhouse and new fields for

baseball and softball. These

additions will make it easier

for teams to practice through-

out the year and may appeal to

potential recruits. And sure,

I’ll concede that new facilities

will probably be helpful. But

they won’t magically solve all

of BC’s problems.

Students can help, too. Peo-

ple complain all the time about

the game day atmosphere and

bemoan the lack of spirit at

games. Sure, BC may not stack

up against the likes of Alabama

in terms of football talent.

Yeah, maybe the Eagles aren’t

exactly at the same basketball

level as UNC (even if they did

inexplicably give the Tar Heels

a scare last month).

Still, there’s no reason

why Superfans can’t create

their own rollicking game-day

experience. If that’s what fans

want, then they have to show

it. Sure, it’s easier to do this

when teams are winning, but

showing up and creating an in-

tense atmosphere can actually

motivate the teams to win.

Bolstered by the student

section, my high school men’s

basketball team made an im-

probable run to states last year

after a lengthy period without

any success. The same can

work here, too. Coming out in

droves to support the teams

and boosting attendance will

show the University that the

students prioritize athletics. It

will force the administration

to begin to prioritize athletics,

too.

Let’s face it—the adminis-

tration absolutely must start

to show that it values athlet-

ics. First and foremost, this is

a school. People come here to

get an education. I get it. But a

lot of factors go into choosing

the right college, not just the

academic record, and athlet-

ics is absolutely one of them.

I was definitely influenced by

sports when I narrowed down

my choices and made my final

decision, and I know my clos-

est friends were too.

BC will lose a lot of pro-

spective students by continu-

ing to put athletics on the

back burner. I highly doubt the

administration wants to lose

students to the likes of Notre

Dame, but that’s what is going

to happen if emphasis isn’t

placed on improving football

and basketball. Hockey alone is

not enough to pull students in,

especially because it isn’t over-

whelmingly popular outside of

New England.

Rebuilding is never easy,

but it’s absolutely necessary

in BC’s case. Leahy, Director

of Athletics Brad Bates, and

the rest of the administration

need to prioritize improve-

ment in order to garner more

interest from top recruits and

steadily improve BC’s teams. I

firmly believe that if the right

steps are taken, attendance

will rocket right back up and

students will create an intense

atmosphere at Alumni Stadium

and Conte Forum. Otherwise,

BC sports will continue to

resemble D.C. sports.

And I promise you, that’s

something that no one wants.

BC’s Mediocrity, from B10

Northeastern superstar forward Kendall Coyne (77) will depart the college game as one of the sport’s all-time greats.JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

more than half of BC’s games and

recording 52 tackles in 2012, he

returned with a quieter sophomore

season, playing in each game but

picking up just 34 tackles. In his

junior season, injuries in BC’s sec-

ondary forced him to shift from his

natural safety position to corner

for six games, but he still managed

to lead the nation’s second-best

defense in tackles with 72. Though

he moved back to free safety this

past season, Simmons is grateful

to have the experience.

“Most teams are seeing me as

a safety, but I think playing corner

in the past and a little bit of nickel

shows my versatility,” he said.

Safety was, after all, the posi-

tion Simmons shone in most this

fall. Though his tackle numbers

shrank slightly—down to 67—he

finished the season with a team-

high five interceptions, two of

which came in his signature game:

this November’s contest against

Notre Dame.

It was a nationally televised

matchup against a ranked rival

at Fenway Park—just about the

biggest stage a college athlete

can reach in regular-season play.

Going up against the No. 4 Fight-

ing Irish, a team on the fringe of

a College Football Playoff berth,

Simmons more than exemplified

BC’s dominant defense. After

junior John Johnson nabbed an

interception in the end zone on

the opening drive of the game,

Simmons forced a fumble in the

first quarter, got an interception

in the second, and another pick

in the third.

Though the Eagles ultimately

fell, it got Simmons a firm spot on

the map. After the combine, Lance

Zierlein of NFL.com pegged Sim-

mons to go on the third day of the

Draft, citing some concern over

his skinny frame—it depends a bit

on where you look, but he usually

comes in at about 6-foot-2 and just

over 200 pounds. His overall ath-

leticism and knowledge, however,

still make him a prospect worth

looking at.

Simmons said after he has

spoken with pretty much all 32

teams, a product of getting to go

to the combine. On Wednesday,

besides the time he spent working

with the Lions’ coach, the man who

seemed most interested in looking

at Simmons was a New York Gi-

ants scout, who chatted with the

safety for about five minutes after

his workout.

Of course, everything comes

back to the 40. Simmons listed it

as his main goal of improvement

for Pro Day after running what he

felt was a slow 4.61 at the combine,

and he felt as though he had a faster

day at Chestnut Hill. Although he

hadn’t heard his exact number at the

time of the interview, it’s probably

wise to trust his instincts—they’re

one of the top reasons he managed

to lead a top-notch BC offense, and

will also be a top reason for a team

using a pick on him in April.

Pro Day, from B10

give us energy, they’re fast, they’re

quick, and they play the game the

right way.”

The second saw the Eagles get

an early advantage, as they ben-

efited from a Paige Savage tripping

penalty from the first frame. They

nearly tacked on another when

Carpenter received a feed from

Keller between the circles. She

slammed it past Bugalski, but the

zebras conferred to call offsides

on Keller.

“First I asked Keller if she was

offsides,” Crowley said with a laugh.

“She thought she wasn’t, so I asked

how close it was, and she said,

‘Well, I thought I dragged my foot.’

But as soon as she said I thought I

dragged my foot, I thought, ‘Uh-oh,

this could get called back.’”

It was the kind of play that

could shift the momentum back

in Northeastern’s favor. But the

Eagles didn’t let off the pedal, and

wouldn’t be denied their sixth vic-

tory over their crosstown rivals in

as many games.

Skarupa gave BC that third goal

after rocketing in a feed from Car-

penter—for Carpenter, the assist

was the 275th point in her illustri-

ous career. She was helped out by

a Kenzie Kent screen that blocked

Bugalski just enough to help the

puck slide past her left skate.

In the third, BC kept the pres-

sure on Bugalski, especially along

that third line. Sullivan drove home

another big rebound off Bugalski’s

pad, taking advantage of an initial

shot by Meghan Grieves. And,

despite nearly successive penalties

that kept the Eagles playing down

a skater throughout the period,

the kill stood strong. Goaltender

Katie Burt had a hand in that, turn-

ing away the first 21 shots in her

direction. Though that total is still

less than what BC’s two looming

opponents—Wisconsin and Min-

nesota—put up, Burt’s head coach

isn’t worried.

“Burt gets tested quite a bit

in practice,” Crowley said. “She’s

mentally more focused this year

compared to last year.”

By the time Carpenter rocked

an empty-net goal with under

three minutes to go, virtually all

that remained was the shaking

of hands and the playing of BC’s

alma mater.

But, as they’ve done all season,

and as she has done her whole

career, Coyne and the Huskies

kept fighting. The forward took

advantage of a late Kaliya Johnson

penalty, using her outstanding

speed to race down the ice to slot

the puck past Burt’s right shoulder.

It was the 50th goal of the season

for Coyne, but merely a consola-

tion prize for what she has done all

season, and for her whole career.

For now, she’s excited to see how

the Huskies will keep strong the

culture she has worked hard to

build.

“I’m excited to watch from a

distance, but hopefully I’m not

too far away,” Coyne said. “It was

an honor to play another week of

hockey. I hope they push to play

another one next year.”

After the game, Keller, the play-

er tagged with guarding Coyne,

had nothing but good things to

say for the women’s hockey legend,

who will represent Team USA at

the World Championships and

was drafted No. 2 overall by the

NWHL’s Boston Pride.

“She’s the one that you kind of

have to look out for,” Keller said.

“With her speed, you have to stay

with her, always have an eye out for

her, and stay in it.”

For Coyne and Flint, their final

press conference together provided

several heartfelt moments. The

head coach commended his star

for helping make Northeastern a

winner again. With her leadership,

Coyne helped Northeastern to its

best season in program history, its

first NCAA Tournament berth,

all while setting team records in

goals, assists, and points. Flint

recalled recruiting Coyne, believ-

ing his hands-off approach and

the appeal of Boston—and not,

as he sheepishly admitted, his

personality—helped attract her to

the school. And he believes, thanks

to her, that there is bright future

on the horizon for Northeastern

women’s hockey.

“She could’ve gone anywhere,”

Flint said. “Thankfully for me, and

Northeastern, she chose us.”

But in the end, it’s the Eagles

that will advance. And, in Flint’s

opinion, every other team better

watch out.

“I haven’t seen an NCAA team

as good as they are,” Flint said.

WHOK vs. NU, from B10


gear. Th e freshman rocketed

two goals off rebounds amid the

roar of U-V-M chants from the

Burlington faithful who made the

trip to Kelley Rink. Just like that,

the Eagles were on the brink of

another crushing disappointment

with only 15 minutes to spare in a

game they looked utterly helpless

in.

An unlikely contributor, a

familiar face, and a little luck pre-

vented that from happening.

With 10 minutes remaining

in the frame, Dudek earned his

fi rst career goal on a blast from

between the circles. Th e young

man jumped into uproarious

celebration, hugging both Ryan

and Casey Fitzgerald, the two

players who got the assists. After

the game, York credited Dudek’s

strong play over the last few

weeks as to why he shook up the

lines.

Th e head coach felt confi dent

that his freshman’s play and the

healthy return of Chris Calnan

could allow Teddy Doherty to

move back to defense. Dudek’s

blast, combined with some excel-

lent saves by Th atcher Demko,

helped push BC into an always-

stressful overtime frame.

Th at’s when the magic hap-

pened, the kind you’d only fi nd in

a playoff hockey game in March.

Four minutes into OT, Ver-

mont appeared to get the game-

winner. A bull rush at Demko

ended up with the puck spinning

and dancing along the goal line.

Immediately, the referees waved

it off , much to the dismay of the

UVM fans. At the next whistle,

they went to the replay booth.

Th e video determined that the

puck didn’t ever fully cross the

line.

Sneddon lamented that his

team was a mere inch away from

winning the series. York, on

the other hand, swore that the

madness ended his chances for

a 10th Hockey East title. Well,

thanks to Gilmour, who, when he

returned to the bench looking for

a Willis Reed moment, convinced

everyone that the puck crossed

the line. When he heard the call,

York just looked to the sky.

“Maybe when you have home

ice, you get the hockey gods with

you,” York said.

If the hockey gods were

around, they came in the form of

Ryan Fitzgerald.

Eyeing that elusive fi rst trip

to the Garden, Fitzgerald lofted a

shot at Munson. As the puck fl ew

in, Fitzgerald said a quick prayer.

And on its path, the puck tipped

off a couple of Vermont defense-

men. Th e fi nal one, a redirection

off Pattyn’s stick, did the job.

“He can add a knuckleball to

his repertoire,” York said of the

goal, recalling former Boston

Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefi eld

and his famously unpredictable

signature pitch.

Despite the positive result,

York knows his team has a lot of

work to do. Th ough he lauded the

Newton, MA 11/09

Boston, Ma 11/111-

scoreboardCHESTNUT HILL, MA 3/12

NUBC

15

COYNE I GCARPENTER 2 G 1 A

SOFTBALL ATLANTA, GA 3/12 M. HOCKEY chestnut hill, ma 3/12 BASEBALL

SOFTBALL ATLANTA, GA 3/12BCGT

CORONEOS RBIKOWALEWICZ 1 R

BASEBALL RALEIGH, N.C. 3/12 m. HOCKEYLACROSSE DELAND, FL 3/1341

RALEIGH, N.C. 3/13

CHESTNUT HILL, MA 3/13

W. HOCKEYBCGT

90

CHIMENTO 1 HR 3 RBI ANDERSON 1 K

UVTBC

42

COUGHLIN 1 G 2 ACANGELOSI 1 PPG

BC NC ST

10

STEVENS 5 KPIEDMONTE 6 K

UVT BC

34

O’NEIL 2 GDUDEK 1 G 1 A

BCSTET

1810

APUZZO 4 GSUMMERS 2 G

BCNC ST

23

CRONIN 1 HR 2 RBISHEPARD 2 RBI

Sports Editor

MICHAEL SULLIVAN

RILEY OVEREND

Assoc. Sports Editor

ANNABEL STEELE

Asst. Sports Editor

The time of reckoning has finally come. Katie

Crowley’s team has everything on the line when

the Eagles go up against the best from the West.

Fortunately for them, they’ll only have to take

on either Wisconsin or Minnesota in a quest

for the title. The Badgers’ Ann-Renee Desbiens

has been fantastic, but the Golden Gophers’

dynamic offense will outpace her. But Amanda

Kessel and Co. simply can’t match up with BC.

Clarkson, I’m really happy for you. I’mma

let you f inish, but BC women’s hockey is

having one of the greatest seasons of a l l

time. OF ALL TIME. For head coach Katie

Crowley, it’s been a dream-like season dur-

ing which a l l the pieces have fa l len into

place perfectly. Katie Burt has two shutouts

in seven tournament wins this year, and the

Eagles will cruise past Clarkson and Min-

nesota (or Wisconsin) on their way to the

program’s first ever national championship.

This has been a historic season for BC

women’s hockey. In a year when football

and men’s basketball have suffered through

highly publicized woeful seasons , women’s

hockey has dominated its way to an unde-

feated season. The Eagles will make history

this weekend when they take down Min-

nesota to capture a national championship

and cap off a remarkable year. Alex Car-

penter will score at least one goal in the

victory and cement her place as the best

women’s hockey player to pass through BC.

Prediction:BC 7, Minnesota 4



MHOK vs. UVM, from B10

Amid criticism and frustra-

tion over other teams’ struggles

in the ACC, Boston College

softball hoped to make some

noise in league play when it took

on Georgia this weekend. The

Eagles were so loud, students

could hear the smack of the bat

all the way in Chestnut Hill. In a

three-game series, BC (17-9, 3-0

Atlantic Coast) swept the Georgia

Tech Yellow Jackets (5-14, 0-3) to

bring some good ACC mojo back

to campus.

On Saturday afternoon, BC

hoped to capture the series fi nale

in order to sweep GT. Th e Eagles

wasted no time. In the fi rst inning,

with two on, Jordan Chimento

rocketed one over the left fi eld

fence to give BC an early 3-0

advantage.

BC kept things rolling in the

second. Jessie Daulton hit an RBI

single, bringing in one. Chloe

Sharabba then hit a sac fl y to right

fi eld to plate one more. But the

Eagles weren’t done there. With

two on, Tatiana Cortez hit her

seventh home run of the season

to give her team a commanding

8-0 lead heading into the bottom

of the second. In the third, Loren

DiEmmanuele stole home to tally

one more.

Jessica Dreswick threw five

fl awless innings for the shutout

win. Her complete-game eff ort

was only one out shy of a no-

hitter. With a 9-0 victory, the

Eagles swept the Yellow Jackets

in the fi rst ACC matchup of the

season.

Earlier that morning, the Ea-

gles looked to claim game two.

Knotted at zero in the fi fth, BC

looked to get on the board fi rst.

Daulton reached base on an RBI

fi elder’s choice that allowed Me-

gan Cooley to cross home plate

and put the Eagles up 1-0. But GT

answered back.

In the bottom of the seventh,

the Yellow Jackets loaded the

bases with one out. Kelsey Ch-

isholm hit a ground ball to the

pitcher in order to send one home

and tie the game. But BC cut

them off there. Both teams were

deadlocked until the 11th inning,

when the Eagles took advantage of

their own bases-loaded situation.

Carly Severini and Cooley both

walked after they were each hit by

pitches, bringing two home. Up 3-

1 with the bases still loaded, Tay-

lor Coroneos hit an RBI single to

bring in Annie Murphy. Dreswick

held GT scoreless in the bottom

of the ninth in order to clinch the

series win with a 4-1 victory.

On Friday, GT opened the

series with a strong fi rst inning.

With two runners in scoring posi-

tion, GT hit a sac fl y and an RBI

single to plate two. The Eagles

struggled to cross home until the

third inning. With runners on sec-

ond and third, Daulton reached

fi rst on a throwing error that al-

lowed Cooley to score. Another

error brought home Danielle

Th omas. To keep the momentum

going, Chimento hit a sac fl y to

bring in Daulton. Cortez fi nished

the inning with a RBI double,

making it a 4-2 game.

GT got one back in the fourth

but was unable to regain the lead.

With Murphy on base, Coroneos

singled up the middle to increase

the Eagles’ lead to 5-2. In the sev-

enth inning, BC decided to tack

on three more. Cortez smashed

an RBI triple to bring home one

before Murphy hit an RBI double

to send Cortez across the plate.

Carly Severini fi nished things up

with an RBI single to lock in an 8-

4 victory after the Yellow Jackets

got one back in the seventh.

MEN’S HOCKEY

SOFTBALL

work that Sneddon has done with

this scrappy Vermont crew, the

facts can’t be denied. Th e Cata-

mounts are mediocre off ensively

compared to the Eagles’ typically

sharp attack. Vermont exposed

some of BC’s weaknesses, espe-

cially when it comes to physical-

ity. And the Huskies, BC’s Friday

night opponent, are the hottest

team in college hockey—they

have a stellar 18-1-2 record since

BC defeated them on Dec. 6, and

they’re coming off an impressive

two-game sweep of Notre Dame

in South Bend.

But right now, York is living

up the fact that his Eagles get

to play an extra week in March.

In fact, his only regret was not

calling the game-winning goal

correctly.

“We’re always thinking of that

#bucciovertimechallenge,” York

said in reference to ESPN’s John

Buccigross, who gives out t-shirts

and hats to his Twitter followers

if they correctly guess the goal

scorer in an overtime hockey

game. “After regulation, the

coaches were trying to pick their

players, and I picked the wrong

Fitzgerald. But I should get a half

a hat or something.”

If Boston College head coach

Jerry York ever gets tired of winning

hockey games, the State Department

could use him. York is a pleasant yet

devious liar when he needs to be, and

that’s usually when he’s talking about

opposing teams. He doesn’t change

his tone when he’s giving his real

opinion, and that would make him a

great ambassador.

“It’s mind boggling that [Vermont]

fi nished ninth in our league,” York

said. “It’s a team that’s right with

ourselves, Providence, BU and Lowell.

We played them about fi ve times in

three weeks, so I got a pretty good

feel for them.”

He was telling the truth there

because that claim is empirically true.

The Catamounts probably should

have been better than they were

this season. College Hockey News tracks even-strength Corsi index for

percentage, which is essentially just

plus/minus with shot attempts, minus

special teams. Th e stat is the best way

to approximate which teams have

the puck more than their opponents.

Entering Sunday, Vermont out-at-

tempted its opponents by 217 shots.

BC was at +174. Th e Eagles go from

good to great by having better shoot-

ers and a better goalie than just about

anyone else in the country, never mind

the conference.

After the fi rst 10 minutes of the

fi rst game, the series played out about

as expected possession-wise. Both

teams controlled the run of play for

extended stretches, and the scoring

chances evened out. What surprised

was that Vermont equaled BC in net

and in fi nishing touch. Inserted after

BC went up 3-0 in the series opener,

freshman goalie Packy Munson

stoned several of BC’s top-end for-

wards throughout the weekend, and

those forwards aided him at times

with some blown chances.

“We’ve been impressed with

Packy’s play in the four games he’s

played against us,” York said follow-

ing the third game of the series, a 4-3

overtime winner for the Eagles.

“Packy was outstanding all week-

end for us,” Vermont head coach

Kevin Sneddon said.

Vermont’s skaters supplemented

their usual grease with a dose of fl ashi-

ness. Liam Coughlin tied up Game

Two with a top-corner missile, and all

three Vermont tallies on Sunday had a

good amount of fi nesse. Craig Puff er

deftly redirected the Catamounts’

fi rst goal through BC goalie Th atcher

Demko as the BC goalie was moving

from post to post, and Conor O’Neil

effi ciently banged in two rebounds

before Demko got back into position.

Vermont was on the wrong end of

two video reviews regarding would-be

Catamount goals, as well, including

one in overtime.

Despite the diff erence in pedigree

between the programs, both teams

skated, scored, and stopped pucks

just as well as the other one did.

Hockey’s not always fair, and that’s

most apparent when defl ected over-

time shots decide postseason series.

It won’t make Vermont’s bus ride

home any shorter, but if a shot like

Ryan Fitzgerald’s game winner is the

equivalent of a coin fl ip on ice, then

the way Sunday’s game ended is actu-

ally as just as hockey gets. Vermont

deserved a 50-50 shot at advancing

to TD Garden.

Fitzgerald’s shot trickled through

Munson minutes after that same puck

spun in place on BC’s goal line. After

Munson took up residence in goal, the

Eagles needed every inch they could

get because the Catamounts didn’t

give them any. Vermont took them to

the wall for the second year in a row,

and so perhaps they were due for a

little divine intervention. Either way,

BC needed it.

“It was one of those shots where

you throw it on net and say a quick

prayer,” Fitzgerald said. “Th ank God

it kind of trickled in.”

Freshman goalie Packy Munson played well in UVM’s series loss.SAVANNA KIEFER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Colin White (18) boxes out Vermont’s Dan Senkbeil as he goes for the puck.SAVANNA KIEFER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Scoreboard.........................................................................................................B9Editors’ Picks.......................................................................................................B9

SPORTSB10

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016

INSIDESPORTSTHIS ISSUE

Baseball: Eagles Earn First Nat’l RankingAfter downing No. 8 NC State in 2-of-3 over the weekend,

Birdball accumulated votes in the national polls........B7

You know what’s tough?

Being a D.C. sports fan is tough.

Every year, without fail, my home-

town’s major professional teams

either suck (a lot) or dominate

throughout the entire regular season

only to collapse and fail miserably

in the playoffs. (I still wholeheart-

edly believe this year is the year for

the Caps to win it all, though.) To

be honest, I’m not sure which hurts

more—getting blown out of every

game or going up in flames at the very

last minute. Either way, it isn’t ideal,

not by a long shot. So when I began to

look at colleges, I knew I wanted one

with great school spirit and talented

teams I could enjoy watching.

My first year at Boston Col-

lege hasn’t shaped up exactly how

I expected, though. When you take

hockey out of the equation, the big-

name sports have been pretty awful.

I didn’t expect football and men’s

basketball to combine for exactly zero

wins in the ACC. I really didn’t expect

any completely humiliating games like

football’s 3-0 loss to Wake Forest last

fall. I never in a million years thought

men’s basketball would at one point

drop to a 37-4 deficit in a nationally

televised game (also against Wake

Forest, one of the other terrible teams

in the conference). In my first year

here in Chestnut Hill, BC football and

men’s basketball have been reduced to

a laughingstock in the media.

So, yeah. I went from living in the

tough, heartbreaking world of D.C.

sports to living in the tough, depress-

ing world of BC sports. The worst

part is, other people are taking notice.

Just a few days ago I was sitting at the

airport when I checked my email and

saw a link to a Boston Globe article

about the “sorry state” of BC Athlet-

ics.

Bob Hohler, who wrote the article,

See BC’s Mediocrity, B8

Once upon a time, Boston College

men’s hockey owned March.

Th rough the heart of their dynasty

in the 2000s, head coach Jerry York led

the Eagles to nine consecutive semifi -

nals at TD Garden. In his 22 seasons at

the helm, York has lifted the Lamoriello

Trophy nine times as well.

But in back-to-back seasons, he has

spent March thoroughly disappointed

despite the gift of home ice. In Johnny

Gaudreau’s Hobey Baker season of 2013-

14, the Eagles fell to Notre Dame in the

Hockey East Quarterfi nals. Last season,

the same result: a best-of-three series

loss to Vermont after an expert relief job

by goaltender Brody Hoff man.

“When you don’t go for two years in a

row, it seems like a decade,” York said.

Luckily for York, junior Ryan Fitzger-

ald was tired of spending March on the

Heights.

With his goal past Packy Munson at

9:47 in overtime, Fitzgerald lifted the

Eagles (26-6-5, 15-2-5 Hockey East) to a

4-3 victory over the team that knocked

them out last year, Vermont (15-22-3,

6-13-3). BC will play Northeastern in

TD Garden at 8 p.m. this Friday evening

for the chance to continue the hunt for

the program’s third trophy of the season

thus far.

Once again, the Catamounts didn’t

give BC an easy time. Kevin Sneddon’s

crew matched the Eagles shot for shot

throughout regulation. For much of the

game, Vermont exemplifi ed Sneddon’s

hard-nosed philosophy by using an

aggressive forecheck to keep the more

skill-oriented Eagles off balance. After

trading goals in the fi rst—a Zach Sanford

backhand matched by a Craig Puff er

redirection—the Catamounts had BC on

its toes entering the next frame.

Colin White, who has been battling

an upper-body injury for the last few

weeks, appeared to swing the momentum

back in BC’s favor for good. Th e fresh-

man took advantage of a juicy rebound

off the stick of J.D. Dudek while falling to

the ice because of a trip by Rob Hamil-

ton, ricocheting the puck off the left post

and into the net.

Not long after, a divine force inter-

vened. An odd-man rush on a 4-on-4

gave Vermont the neutralizer. After a

lengthy review, the zebras determined

that team captain Yvan Pattyn performed

a kicking motion that drove the puck into

the net, waving the goal off . After the

game, Sneddon wasn’t convinced—the

head coach believed it skirted just under

his skate. Yet, of course, there’s not much

he can do.

“When there’s a review, you have to

just trust the offi cials,” Sneddon said.

“Th ey spent the appropriate amount of

time to look at it, for sure.”

Instead of capitalizing on its good

fortune, BC fell fl at for the next 20 min-

utes. Th e team looked lost in the neutral

zone, especially after Adam Gilmour

limped back to the locker room in the

third with an injury. Meanwhile, Conor

O’Neil pushed the Catamounts into full

Kendall Coyne had just settled down from the emotion of playing her fi nal

game in college for Northeastern women’s hockey. Th e superstar forward will

walk away from the game on the Top 10 all-time scoring list in NCAA history

with 141 goals and 249 points, following a 5-1 loss to Boston College in the

national quarterfi nal.

In the postgame press conference, Coyne praised her time in Boston and

how much she has enjoyed bringing pride back to Matthews Arena. She

despondently understood that only one team gets to end its season with a

meaningful win. Coyne also lauded the future of this program, which will

feature a battle-tested, young goaltender in Brittany Bugalski and several

underclassmen, including Coyne’s sister, Bailey, a Class of 2020 recruit.

But when talk went back to her head coach, Dave Flint, and her team as a

family, Coyne broke down again.

“He treats us as people and not as hockey players,” Coyne said. “Th at’s the

one thing that has gotten me going for the last fi ve years, knowing I have him

when my family is back home in Chicago.”

But while Coyne and the Huskies (28-9-1) lamented the loss, BC cel-

ebrated. With the win, head coach Katie Crowley’s squad will head to the

sixth Frozen Four in program history, and the fourth in the last fi ve years.

Th is, of course, keeps a perfect season alive for the Eagles (39-0-0) as they

will play Clarkson on Friday evening at the Whittemore Center Arena in

Durham, N.H.

As they always do, the Eagles came out fi ring right from the beginning.

A mere 50 seconds into the game, defending Patty Kazmaier Award winner

Alex Carpenter put up a slam on Bugalski. Megan Keller, the nation’s leading

scorer among defensemen, gave a good screen, allowing Carpenter’s shot to

give the Eagles the early 1-0 lead.

Not long after, BC doubled its lead by showing the incredible depth that

has made Crowley’s team so successful all year. Northeastern struggled to

contain Keller, who fed it over to Haley Skarupa. She sent in a booming shot

on Bugalski, who left up a juicy rebound for Tori Sullivan to put home. Once

again, the BC third line proved why the team has been the one to beat.

“Th ey’ve sparked our team when we were a little fl at,” Crowley said. “Th ey

See MHOK vs. UVM, B9

MEN’S HOCKEY

Anyone who knows anything about

football scouting knows about the 40-

yard dash. It’s the go-to stat of football

recruiting, a concrete number other than

height and weight that can compare two

different players from nothing more than

a quick workout.

It was the premier event at Boston Col-

lege’s Pro Day on Wednesday afternoon, as

about 15 NFL scouts with 15 stopwatches

huddled next to orange cones inside the

Bubble at Alumni Stadium, waiting for

four linemen, three defensive backs, and

a wide receiver to come barrelling toward

midfield, one after another from the 10-

yard line. Each player knew exactly what

to expect: four had already gone through

the NFL Combine a few weeks ago, and

the rest have also developed firm warm-up

routines for the all-out sprint that can play

an important role in determining whether

a player will hear his name called on Draft

weekend.

“You just gotta come out here and be a

football player, be an athlete,” graduating

linebacker Stephen Daniels said. “For us,

we practice this stuff for two and a half,

sometimes three months in some cases.

So, we just gotta come out here, be confi-

dent, and do what we do.”

After that simple and popular tradition,

though, things can get a little different at

Pro Day. Linemen took turns executing

a series of agility drills—still under the

shadow of the almighty stopwatch—but

with more involved motions than running

straight from point A to point B.

The turf at Alumni Stadium didn’t

seem to help, as several players slipped

and fell while making the sharpest cuts

they could around the cones, but they also

seemed to struggle with the direction of

the drills, at times having to restart be-

cause of a couple first steps in the wrong

direction. Though most recovered well

and could post a time by the second try,

these mental slip-ups can’t go unnoticed

by scouts, who need to decipher how well

a player can learn under pressure just as

much as they need to find out how fast

they can run.

On the next round of drills, Justin Sim-

mons began to demonstrate just that.

Alan Williams, the defensive backs/

safeties coach from the Detroit Lions,

stepped up to facilitate a lengthy array of

drills for BC’s three defensive back par-

ticipants—Simmons and 2014 graduates

Manuel Asprilla and Dominique Wil-

liams—as well as Daniels. Simmons went

first each time, quickly picking up on the

coach’s instructions, running the routes

called for without needing a do-over, and

showing off his great hands and quickness.

Tack on a notable performance at the

NFL Combine, and Simmons has likely

become the most attractive prospect BC

has to offer.

Simmons hasn’t always appeared

destined for the NFL. After starting in

See Pro Day, B8

FOOTBALL

Safety Justin Simmons as he begins his 40-yard dash in front of several NFL scouts.ALEC GREANEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

See WHOK vs. NU, B8

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Heights March 17, 2016

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