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Vol. XCVII, No. 22 Monday, April 25, 2016
HEThe Independent
Student Newspaperof Boston College
www.bcheights.com
e s t a b l i s h e d 1 9 1 9
21 and the fi nish line, but when I asked him
that, he got a little quieter and thought a bit.
Um, he said, it’s his best experience as an
individual. He didn’t want to be unfair to the
other stuff he’s done.
Fair enough.
In terms of sheer length and complex-
ity, this year’s election was messy.
Candidates had to declare their intent
to run in early February, but when two of three
teams dropped out, the Elections Committee
reopened the ballot and postponed everything
until after Spring Break. After fi ve more teams
got in it, there was a primary and, fi nally, a
general election, which didn’t wrap up until
April 1.
Simons and McCaff rey were one of the
teams that got in it after the extension. Mc-
Caff rey was going to run with Olivia Hussey,
UGBC’s current EVP and MCAS ’17, but
Hussey dropped out for personal reasons. So
she asked Simons instead.
“It was very clear from the beginning that
we had the same vision on everything,” Mc-
Caff rey said.
Simons is the current UGBC vice presi-
dent for student organizations, which means
he meets with prospective clubs and helps
decide whether they should be referred to the
administration’s approval process. McCaff rey
is a senator in the Student Assembly, where she
has done a lot of work on the free-expression
proposal. And yeah, they said, of course they’ve
thought about leading UGBC before this year.
It was hardly spur-of-the-moment.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t
Andres Pastrana Arango, the president of
Colombia from 1998 to 2002, spoke at Boston
College Saturday about the four components
of successful leadership: conviction, courage,
confi dence, and communication.
Th e event was part of the day-long third
annual Latin American Leadership Conference
and was sponsored by the Latin American Busi-
ness Club of BC. Th e Conference also included
talks by Ernesto de Lima, CEO of Organiza-
ciones De Lima, Dr. Daron Acemoglu, MIT
economist and author of Why Nations Fail, Santiago Pena, minister of fi nance of Paraguay,
and Juan Pablo Garcia, Guerilla Demobilizing
Campaign leader.
Arango’s talk closed the event.
He wanted, he said, to show the audience
how Colombia has been dealing with terrorist
groups within Colombia from his side, the side
of the government. He also emphasized how
global problems impact his country.
Today, oil, gas, and other commodities are
cheap, just as they are across the world. But
there are also many problems that exist specifi -
cally in Colombia.
“In 65 years, I never have lived one day in
peace,” he said.
Over the past few years Colombia has
worked to create a strong middle class, de-
creasing the percentage of Colombians living
in extreme poverty.
“We have a real, real challenge in going
back and bringing these numbers up,” he said.
“We need to grow 6 or 7 percent if we want to
FEATURESMr. BC Elio Oliva talks impressions and male pageantry, A5
CROWNEDARTS & REVIEWUniversity Chorale came together in Trinity Chapel this weekend for its Spring Concert, B8
SING IT TO THE HEAVENSSPORTSBC took two out of three from Louisville over the weekend to return to the playoff picture, B1
CARDINAL SIN
See McSimons, A8
See Arango, A8
During an admissions panel last
Tuesday, Russell Simons, next
year’s Undergraduate Govern-
ment of Boston College president and MCAS
’17, started crying. He was talking about his fa-
vorite BC tradition, the Marathon, and—well,
he got a little overwhelmed.
“It’s become such a big part of who I am,
which is a big, sweeping statement to make,
but I’ve never had a happier day in my entire
life,” he said Friday morning.
Simons ran the Marathon last year, on a
whim, to raise money for Wellspring, a small
social services center in Hull, Mass. that got a
bib last-minute and was looking for a runner.
Simons jumped at the opportunity to run Bos-
ton and raised $6,500 for the organization. He
didn’t start training until after Winter Break—a
tight schedule, but he got it done.
“I literally felt like I was the only person
running down Boylston, and I didn’t even
recognize myself,” he said. “I was screaming
at the top of my lungs—26 miles in and I was
literally jumping up and down.”
Meredith McCaff rey, next year’s UGBC
executive vice president and MCAS ’17,
laughed and looked at me: “I personally have
no plans to run the Marathon.”
I asked Simons if it’s the best thing he’s
done at BC. A second before he was animated,
jubilant, visibly nostalgic for the rush of Mile
With the completion of his fi rst season
as the head coach of Boston College’s men’s
basketball came the release of Jim Christian’s
2014-15 salary. According to the University’s
Fiscal Year IRS Form 990, Christian, who was
hired in April 2014, received a salary almost
twice that of his compensation at Ohio, the
school he worked at prior to BC.
Christian received a base salary of $930,215,
with a total compensation of $1,140,225 when
including various additional fees, according to
the 2014-15 report. Th at’s about a $100,000
increase from Steve Donahue’s salary in his
fi nal year as head coach at BC. Donahue, how-
ever, still appears on the report. He received
$685,234 in total compensation as a result
of his fi ring on a six-year contract. Donahue
will also likely receive a similar amount in the
next fi scal year.
Director of Athletics Brad Bates and foot-
ball head coach Steve Addazio received similar
salaries to their fi rst year on the books. Bates’
total compensation was $643,739, a $50,000
decrease from 2013-14—however, Bates
received nearly the same salary ($516,715 in
2014-15 vs. $516,701 in 2013-14). Like Bates,
Addazio also had a slightly lower total com-
pensation. His $2,333,628 intake in 2014-15
was $200,000 less than what he earned total
in 2013-14. Yet, also like Bates, his base sal-
ary remained mostly the same ($1,890,130 in
2014-15 vs. $1,810,964 in 2013-14). For the
second year in a row, Addazio was the high-
est-compensated employee at BC.
Th e biggest jump in compensation went
to men’s hockey head coach Jerry York, who
signed a contract extension in December 2013
that kicked in after 2013-14 and will last until
the 2019-20 season. York earned a base salary
of $491,259, yet received $677,311 in “other re-
portable compensation.” Th at, combined with
other fi gures, led to a fi nal total of $1,249,617.
Th at total represents a 100 percent increase
from his 2013-14 compensation of $626,953.
For the fi rst time since he was fi red in 2010,
former men’s basketball coach Al Skinner was
not on the books in 2014-15. He was paid
$585,069 in 2013-14, the fourth consecutive
year he had been paid after leaving BC.
BC released the information this week
detailing its fi scal year, which stretches from
June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015. Th e section of
the 990 that includes the compensation for
BC’s 20 highest-paid employees, however,
ends in December 2014 at the conclusion of
the calendar year. An employee’s total com-
pensation is calculated by the combination
of what is reported as base compensation,
“other reportable compensation,” “retirement
and deferred compensation,” and nontaxable
benefi ts. Federally tax-exempt organizations
such as BC are required to fi ll out Form 990s
with the IRS every year.
change those numbers.”
He ran for president in 1994 after serving as
a senator but lost the election. He ran again in
1998, however, and won at 42 years old, making
him the youngest president of Colombia.
Th e are several parts to being a good leader,
he said: what he calls the “four C’s.”
“Th e fi rst one is conviction—the leader
has to be convinced on what he wants to do,”
he said.
He pointed to the drug problem. Th ey had
to change the strategy in how to deal with the
drug problem when he came into offi ce. Colom-
bia is the largest producer of cocaine, he said. In
1998, it planted 180,000 acres of coca.
Looking at these fi gures, he said he was
convinced to change the strategic eff orts in
combatting the drug issue. He also knew that he
needed to talk to Europe and to the U.S. about
the drug problem.
He came to the U.S. fi rst to convince Presi-
dent Bill Clinton that the U.S. and Colombia
needed to work together on the issue because
Americans were the largest consumers of
cocaine.
Th e plan gave Colombia bombs, helicopters,
and other equipment to combat the Revolution-
ary Armed Forces of Colombia (RAFC), which
was at the time the largest terrorist group in the
world. Th ey successfully strengthened the army,
he said. Colombian forces numbered 10,000 in
the beginning, and today they have over 110,000
soldiers—the largest army in the region.
Th e U.S. gives Colombia $750 million a
year, which he credits with helping to change
the country.
Next, he aimed to strengthen Colombia’s
justice system. Arango knew that if the govern-
ment wanted to end the drug issue, it needed to
give the peasants and farmers a diff erent way
to make a living.
For guidance, the president looked at other
nations that had dealt with similar issues. Th ey
found that Malaysia also had drug problems
and that they had turned people off of the drug
industry by establishing a palm oil industry.
Th e Colombian government then decided
to begin growing palm oil. When the president
fi rst began there were only 120,000 acres of
it, but when he left offi ce, there were almost
500,000 acres.
Th e palm oil industry has proven to be
a successful alternative to the drug industry,
Arango said. Now, farmers and peasants are
making much more money than they were
before and are less involved in the drug cartel.
A good leader also needs courage, he
said, to defend his ideas and fi ght for what he
believes in.
In between his two elections for president,
Arango knew he needed to make a change in
his message. He saw that many people in Co-
lombia wanted the government to work toward
establishing peace in the country, so he told
the voters that if he were elected president, the
fi rst thing he would do was go into the jungles
where the leaders of the RAFC were stationed
and talk to them.
When he was elected, Arango escaped
from his bodyguards to go into the jungle. He
explained that during his presidency he had 60
bodyguards with him at all times.
His friend, who was the head of his security,
accompanied him on the trip and helped him
get away from his bodyguards.
When they landed, the people who met
them in the jungle kidnapped the pilot and the
co-pilot of the plane. Th e president was driven
JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
THE HEIGHTS
The Boston College music department and Islamic civiliza-tion and societies department will hold the BC Middle East Ensemble on April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Fulton 511. The program will consist of music from across the Eastern Mediterranean, from al-An-dalus, to Egypt, to Lebanon. 1
On April 27, the Winston Center is holding a lunch with Robert J. Morrissey, during which students can meet with leaders in society. The lunch will take place in the Lynch Executive Center in Fulton Hall and will be held at 12 p.m. Students are asked to register as space is limited. 2
Monday, April 25, 2016 A2
Boston College is holding a Social Media Webinar on April 27 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. The webinar will address the current trends in social media usage, ways to increase engage-ment through social media, the impli-cations of social media on teenag-ers, and teens’ usage patterns.
Top
things to do on campus this week
3 3
What’s the coolest thing you’ve done at BC?
NEWSBRIEFS
Denise Morrison, BC ’75,
is the 2016 President’s Medal
for Excellence recipient. The
award was given at the 28th an-
nual Boston College Wall Street
Council Tribute Dinner on April
21. Morrison, who serves as the
president and CEO of Campbell
Soup Company, received the
honor for her successful career
and professional contributions
to society.
Before working for Camp-
bell’s, Morrison worked as the
executive vice president and
general manager of Kraft Foods’
snacks and confections divisions.
Morrison helped manage Plant-
ers nuts, Life Savers candies, and
Altoids mints while at Kraft.
Morrison was also listed
as Forbes’ 80th most powerful
woman in the world in 2011
and the 21st most powerful
woman in business by Fortune Magazine. Between August 2012
and August 2013, Campbell’s
launched 50 new products under
Morrison’s direction.
The Tribute Dinner, at which
Morrison was honored, has
raised over $24 million for the
Gabelli Presidential Scholars
Program at BC throughout its
history. University Board of
Trustees Chair John Fish, Uni-
versity Trustee Mario Gabelli,
and University Trustee Steven
Barry, BC ’85, all attended the
dinner on Thursday evening.
“To survive in this environ-
ment, companies must be agile
to identify trends, make deci-
sions and try new things quickly,”
Morrison said in an article she
wrote for Fortune Magazine. “My
biggest worry is if we can go fast
enough—patience is not one of
my virtues.”
—Source: TheBoston College
Police Department
POLICE BLOTTER 4/20/16 - 4/22/16
Wednesday, April 20
11:57 a.m. - A report was filed
regarding a larceny from Roncalli
Hall.
12:43 p.m. - A report was filed
regarding a traffic crash at an off-
campus location.
10:17 p.m. - A report was filed
regarding a medical transport from
Medeiros Hall.
Thursday, April 21
9:16 a.m. - A report was filed
regarding a trespass warning in
the Middle Lots.
12:24 p.m. - A report was filed regard-
ing a larceny from Maloney Hall.
3:03 p.m. - A report was filed re-
garding a fire alarm in Stayer Hall.
11:16 p.m. - A report was filed
regarding a medical incident in
McElroy Commons.
Patrick Downes, BC ’05, a
survivor of the Boston Marathon
bombing in 2013, completed this
year’s marathon on a prosthetic
blade. He is the first Boston bomb-
ing amputee to complete the
Marathon on foot.
Downes ran to raise money
for the BC Strong scholarship,
which will be awarded to a stu-
dent with a physical disability or
a student who gives back to the
community. The scholarship was
created by the Class of 2005 in
honor of Downes and his wife,
who also lost a leg because of the
bombing.
Downes was featured in a
panel discussion in Robsham
Theater last year and credited the
BC community with providing
support during his recovery.
“As the miles pass, he thinks
of everything he loved about the
sense of community and the spirit
of service at Boston College, and
imagines the first scholarship re-
cipient arriving at the Heights to a
warm welcome,” The Boston Globe
reported, regarding Downes’
training for this year’s marathon.
Downes finished the race in 5
hours, 56 minutes, and 46 seconds,
which was three minutes before
the first bomb detonated in 2013.
He ran alongside his brother, his
sister-in-law, and a BC friend, as
well as a member of the military
and amputee.
“I ran with the city in my
heart,” Downes said in an in-
terview with CBS just after he
finished the race.
Please send corrections to [email protected] with
‘correction’ in the subject line.
CORRECTIONS
The Earth Day Fair was held on Stokes Lawn on Friday and featured student organizations, like EcoPledge.JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
As smartphones become more
prevalent in the United States,
countries in Africa may finally be
catching up with the use of mobile
technology, according to Tavneet
Suri, a professor at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology’s Sloan
School of Management.
Suri, who was named one of the
world’s 40 best professors under 40,
gave a talk titled “Technology and
Poverty Alleviation” on Thursday
evening in Fulton 511. The event
was sponsored by the Shea Center
for Entrepreneurship and the Tech
Trek Ghana program.
Suri discussed the rising popular-
ity of mobile devices that support
the money-transfer service M-Pesa,
which she studied in 2009. M-Pesa
primarily functions on old, second-
hand Nokia phones, she said.
“You know, the ones where you
have to press a number three times
to type the letter ‘C,’” Suri said.
M-Pesa has become quite popu-
lar in Kenya in the last few years,
she said. Suri herself is a fourth-
generation Kenyan and studies the
impact of technology in developing
countries in Africa.
She stressed the importance of
finance in poor countries when it
comes to credit, saving, and insur-
ance. M-Pesa has created an easier
system by which poorer Kenyans can
manage their money.
Through the Nokia phones,
M-Pesa allows people to transfer e-
money between each other via text
message. The virtual money is backed
up by real money in a bank account
not owned by the user. This is a great
service for people who do not want to
manage a personal bank account be-
cause the bank is too great a distance
from their home, Suri said.
Users withdraw cash by selling
the e-money, or deposit cash and
receive e-money through M-Pesa
agents. The agents are usually
small-business owners or micro-
finance institutions, and they
receive small commissions when
managing transactions.
According to Suri, 96 percent
of households where M-Pesa was
available had an M-Pesa account by
2014 in Kenya.
“I decided to study how this af-
fected people’s’ lives,” she said.
Mobile money has created a safer
and cheaper financial intermediation
process, Suri said. Before M-Pesa was
popular, many people would have
to travel for miles to reach a bank.
To avoid this journey, people would
give their cash to someone in a van
who would drive it to the bank and
deposit it for them. This was a risky
process, however, as drivers could
steal money for themselves or be
robbed at gunpoint. For years, she
said, people did not feel safe with
their finances.
“M-Pesa lowered transaction
costs dramatically,” she said.
M-Pesa has also helped Kenyans
create local businesses and take
other financial risks by allowing
for the creation of comprehensible
insurance plans, Suri said. Users
can make insurance plans that allow
family members or friends to assume
liability for the user. Often, family and
friends will insure each other through
their M-Pesa accounts.
The process of linking insur-
ance plans with trusted family and
friends, Suri said, has created a more
entrepreneurial spirit. People are
now more likely to use their money
to create their own businesses and
help grow GDP, as failure has become
less risky. Suri has noticed a shift of a
population of poor farmers to local
businessmen driven by the economic
incentive of profit.
She was surprised when she
discovered that unfortunate events
lead M-Pesa users to increase
consumption. For example, if a
disease is spreading around a vil-
lage, M-Pesa users will spend their
money to purchase medicine, thus
increasing consumption.
People who do not use M-Pesa
tend to save money for future food
purchases to combat an expected
decline in health. Users, however,
are willing to take the financial risk
and purchase medication, stop-
ping the contraction of the disease
early on.
Looking toward the future, Suri
believes that e-payments will re-
duce corruption between the gov-
ernment and private businesses.
“Mobile money has really
improved financial resilience,”
Suri said.
It takes about 660 gallons of
water to produce one hamburger.
The meat and dairy industries
use about one-third of Earth’s
fresh water. At Boston College’s
second annual Earth Day Fair on
Friday, stands displayed these
facts, among others.
The fair aimed to educate
students about their impact on
the Earth and was sponsored by
the Undergraduate Government
of Environmental Caucus. The
Earth Day Fair hosted different
stations of food organizations,
clubs, vendors, and academics
that students could visit to learn
how to make an impact on the
Earth.
Students could grab a “pass-
port” listing the different tables
and organizations and check
them off as they visited each table,
with the opportunity to hand the
passport in at the end and earn a
free T-shirt or water bottle.
The food stations included
Equal Food Exchange, Every Bite
Counts, Real Food, and BC Din-
ing. Here, students could sample
different food items and learn
about where they came from
and how they were produced.
The BC Dining station had more
vegetarian options that they hope
to incorporate into BC’s regular
meal options.
“I didn’t know red meat was
not that sustainable, so I liked
the initiative of bringing more
vegetarian options to our dining
halls, and they actually tasted
pretty good,” Ravi Dhouni, CSOM
’18, said after trying the Greek-
style pasta salad.
The clubs at the fair included
RHA, EcoPledge, Charity Water,
Catholic Relief Services, the
Geology Club, and BC Bikes, all
displaying how students could
get more involved on campus in
different ways.
At the Charity Water table,
students pledged to reduce their
water footprint by eating less
meat, taking shorter showers,
and turning off the faucet while
brushing their teeth.
“The intention of the Earth
Day event was to make stu-
dents more accountable for their
impact on the environment,
particularly their consump-
tion of water,” Maggie Gorman,
vice-president of Charity Water,
MCAS ’18, said.
Other tables included L.L.
Bean, Save that Stuff, BC Ar-
chitect, the Office of Health
Promotion, BC Energy Depart-
ment, Earth and Environmental
Sciences and Environmental
Studies, Student Research, and
Sea Semester.
“The main purpose of the
Earth Day Fair is to educate stu-
dents about sustainability and
communicate that every human
on the planet has the inherent
responsibility to take care of the
Earth,” said Carolyn Townsend,
MCAS ’17 and director of envi-
ronment and sustainability pro-
gramming in student initiatives
of UGBC. “And the way we’re
doing that at BC is to show that
it’s really easy to be sustainable
and ‘be green’ and that there are
a lot of resources on campus to
do that.”
To educate students, organiz-
ers set up signposts on the Stokes
Lawn that students could read on
their way to class. One of these
posts stated that the average
American produces more than
four pounds of garbage per day.
Over the course of a year, that
is more than 1,600 pounds of
garbage per person.
“We really just want people
to be aware of what’s going on
in the world and how they can
contribute, and that’s something
as simple as composting, eating
less meat, learning about climate
change, about how BC recycles,
and about what energy they can
use,” Anxela Mile, MCAS ’17,
said.
The UGBC student initiative
of environment and sustain-
ability programming worked
closely with the administration
to make the event as successful
as possible. Particularly, they
collaborated with Bob Pion, the
sustainability program director.
“It’s not just student clubs,”
Townsend said. “It’s about BC
as a whole.”
THE HEIGHTS Monday, April 25, 2016 A3
When Beyonce’s “Partition” came out
in 2013, the singer received backlash for the
sexuality in the video. Many critics questioned
why she would release such a provocative
video when she had just become a mom and
had a largely teenaged fan base.
Kevin Allred, a professor at Rutgers
University and a speaker and writer, came to
Boston College Thursday and addressed the
three stereotypes of black women—mammy,
a stereotype based in history in which the
black woman cares for white men, women,
and children; jezebel, a hypersexual, animal-
istic stereotype; and sapphire, an angry black
woman stereotype—in Beyonce’s music and
music videos.
The AHANA Leadership Council hosted
the event in lieu of field day, which had
been cancelled due to inclement weather.
Students who attended the event had the
opportunity to win tickets to a Beyonce
concert this summer.
Allred aims to dismantle what is seen as
“normal” in order to create a more integrated
society. He focuses on a wide array of topics
from gender and sexuality to class and race.
His presentation on Thursday was “Politiciz-
ing Beyonce,” an analysis of the singer’s role in
dismantling the stereotypes of black women.
The talk, he said, would be like a condensed
class lecture. The first part of the talk was the
part that would’ve normally been homework
for his students. Instead of readings, he gave
the audience some background information
on the stereotypes of black females.
Allred began by explaining the intersec-
tionality of black women in that they cannot be
reduced to simple and/ors. Black women are
both black and female, not one or the other.
“You cannot just analyze Beyonce’s work
as the work of a woman,” he said. “Beyonce is
a black woman.”
Melissa Harris-Perry, a writer, professor,
television host, and political commentator
with a focus on African-American politics,
wrote a book called Sister Citizen in which she
describes how when you walk into a crooked
room, you tend to bend your head to fit ac-
cordingly. This is done, Allred said, because it
takes a lot of money and time to completely
tear down the room and rebuild it.
This, Allred said, is how black females
face the world—like they’re walking in a
crooked room.
Allred pointed to other examples of black
female artists’ work and how the public re-
acted to it.
Artist Kara Walker created a sculpture, A Subtlety, that was a black woman in the pose
of a sphynx and made out of sugar. Walker
knew that the response to the sculpture would
exhibit the stereotypes that people place on
black women.
What Walker did not tell the viewers,
Allred said, was she was filming all of them
reacting to the sculpture. Many of the
viewers took inappropriate photos with A Subtlety and posted them online. Walker
then took these responses and turned it into
another exhibit.
“What is the interaction with black women
and the general public?” Allred said the sculp-
ture asks its audience.
The Nicki Minaj wax figure at Madame
Toussauds in New York City got a similar
response from the public. Allred showed the
audience several Instagram pictures, all of
which were viewers posing with the singer’s
body in sexually explicit ways.
“Beyonce’s performance in ‘Partition’
might also have to do with the interaction
between people watching what she’s doing,”
he said.
Allred then showed both “Partition” and
“Jealous,” asking the audience for its reactions
to the two music videos.
In the “Partition” video, audience mem-
bers explained, Beyonce seems to have a
lot of control over the unidentified male. In
the opening scene of the music video, she is
seated at the head of a long table, opposite
the person—presumed to be a male—reading
a newspaper.
Beyonce also exhibits her power when she
purposefully drops her napkin on the table.
When she drops it, the beat drops, showing
that she is in control of the music.
The video, Allred said, demonstrates the
difficulty that black females have with the
jezebel stereotype insofar as they want to
express their sexuality without confirming
the stereotype.
Just as the three stereotypes about black
women can divide people, so can a partition.
Allred asked the audience to identify some of
the partitions within the music video.
Many of the partitions that the audience
pointed to were of Beyonce’s clothing in the
video. For example, her glasses and her high
neck collar both are partitions, creating a
sort of wall between Beyonce and the viewer.
As the music video progresses, however, she
takes them off.
Another scene in “Partition” shows
Beyonce dancing on a stage with a light
projecting a leopard print onto her. This light
acts as a partition, Allred and the audience
concluded, and serves as a metaphor for the
animalistic stereotype that people project
onto black women.
“This is a stereotype she’s pointing out to
us rather than just being,” he said.
The audience found that “Jealous” is also
riddled with partitions. The most glaring of
all would be the partition between the two
videos themselves—“Jealous” and “Parti-
tion” could be one long video, as “Jealous”
is a continuation of “Partition,” but are seg-
mented into two different videos.
The person sitting at the table in the
opening scene of “Partition” and the man
who gets out of the car and runs to Beyonce
at the end of “Jealous” remain anonymous.
Beyonce purposefully did this, Allred said,
so that the audience members could assume
this unknown person’s role.
In putting the audience in the video,
Beyonce makes the members of the audi-
ence guilty of objectifying her. She does
this, Allred said, to show the audience that
it continues to see black females as these
stereotypes.
“It’s not like she solved the stereotypes by
doing this artistic performance of ‘Partition,’”
he said. “But she calls out the questions and
then she asks us... to unlearn the stereotype
and break it down ourselves.”
Over 200 students participated in the
first Boston College Dance Marathon
in over 10 years this past Friday night
through Saturday morning in the Plex. The
event, which raised $17,000 for the Boston
Children’s Hospital, involved 12 hours of
dancing along with visits from local pediat-
ric cancer patients and performances from
an array of BC dance groups.
“Our goal was simply to bring Dance
Marathon to the BC community as a great
cause and fundraiser,” Emmy Ye, the ex-
ecutive director of BC Dance Marathon,
the social chair for the Sophomore Class
Council and MCAS ’18, said in an email.
“This is our way of raising funds and aware-
ness for pediatric illness while having fun
at the same time.”
While dance marathons have become
massive fundraisers at many universities
across the country, BC has not had one
since 2005.
The idea for the event started through
the Sophomore Class Council back in
October. This led to connecting with
Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), the
parent organization for the nationwide
Dance Marathon organization. CMN
connected BC Dance Marathon with the
Boston Children’s Hospital as part of its
fundraising model to keep the money
raised close to the community and to have
a local impact.
Starting the process was daunting, Ye
said, because the event was so open-ended,
and there was no real precedent for what
the event should be like.
“We could have made Dance Marathon
into anything we wanted, it was simply hard
to figure out what we wanted,” Ye said.
For this whole school year, the Sopho-
more Class Council worked with the
Office of Student Involvement to contact
local business sponsors, plan every detail
of the event, and spread the word around
campus. The Boston Red Sox, JP Licks,
Whole Foods, and Marriot Hotels were a
few of the many local businesses to donate
to the event, and participants raised funds
through contacting friends and family and
posting donation links on social media.
The event began on Friday at 10 p.m.
with BC dance teams Aerok, Phaymus,
and Conspiracy Theory performing at the
opening ceremonies of the event.
Then DJ Darren Roy, who has played
several other dance marathons in the
Boston area, spun records until 1 a.m.
Throughout the night, the swing dance
team Full Swing and Indian dance team
Masti taught the participants lessons in
their respective styles of dance.
As the sun rose Saturday morning, five
children currently being treated at Boston
Children’s arrived at the Plex with their
families. The children joined the partici-
pants for games of Red Light Green Light
and Simon Says, and were led in some
dances by members of the Pom Squad and
the BC Irish Dance team.
The closing ceremonies included the
children running through a Tunnel of
Hope, a Dance Marathon tradition, and
a testimonial from one of the families
whose daughter was treated at Boston
Children’s. Finally, participants formed
the Circle of Hope, another Dance Mara-
thon tradition, and the children went
around the circle, cutting the hospital
bands each participant wore for the
entire night.
“Seeing the kids in the morning made
the entire process worth it,” Jack Dona-
hue, the financial chair for the Sopho-
more Class Council and MCAS ’18, said.
“When you see those kids’ smiling faces,
you forget about how tired you are or how
much your feet hurt, and remember why
you’re doing it.”
The organizers hoped to leave a legacy
for future dance marathons at BC.
The plan, Donahue said, is to have
the Dance Marathon be the signature
event for the Sophomore Class Council
every year. Donahue described how large
and well-attended other schools’ dance
marathons have become. Although they
did not get the turnout they thought they
would, Donahue hopes the BC Dance
Marathon can become a staple on cam-
pus for years to come.
“We hope that in the future, BCDM
will grow to be a regular part of campus
life, the way other fundraisers are, such
as the Relay for Life,” Donahue said. “I
would love to come back one year and see
the Plex packed with dancers.”
From escaping the Rwandan genocide to
jumping onto the tracks in front of an oncom-
ing train, eight graduate students shared their
stories and passions in the fourth annual Grad
Talks event on Friday afternoon.
Three judges—Scott Britton, associate
university librarian for public services; James
Burns, the dean of the Woods College of
Advancing Studies; Vice Provost for Faculties
Patricia De Leeuw, and Nekesa C. Straker,
director of residential education—chose Bolun
Chen, GMCAS ’17, as the winner of a trophy
and $500 honorarium. Chen has published
six papers in peer-reviewed journals and has
received more than 60 citations.
Erin Doolin, LGSOE ’17, currently serves
as a graduate assistant at the Boston College
Women’s Center and runs the Stand Up BC
program, an educational program intended to
teach students about bystander intervention.
Doolin’s talk was titled “Stand Up BC: A Four
Year Approach.”
Doolin started by referencing her rela-
tionship with her brother. Growing up, the
siblings did everything together: participated
in the same activities, took the same classes,
and attended the same school, Emerson Col-
lege. When Doolin’s brother was called in to
be the single witness on a sexual assault case
at Emerson, she realized that rape culture is
prevalent everywhere, even at her tiny, quirky
college, she said.
“This was happening to our friends, our
classmates, to random people I was passing
on Boylston Street,” Doolin said.
When Doolin came to study at BC, she
became involved with the Women’s Center
under the University’s Title IX coordinator,
Katie O’Dair. Doolin shared her story work-
ing with Stand Up BC, and referenced the
growth of the program, which now has over
50 student volunteers and gives over 70 pre-
sentations a year.
Doolin shared the upcoming goals of Stand
Up BC, including tackling domestic abuse, fo-
cusing on LGBTQ issues, and implementing a
separate program for athletes and seniors.
Chen, the winner of the event, followed
Doolin. Chen discussed the synchronized
patterns of fireflies flashing in a national park
in Tennessee.
Chen explained that neurological pat-
terns are responsible for their “internal clock”
and flashing in unison. He then spoke about
the effects of neurological patterns on other
animals in nature.
Justin Cambria, who is currently pursuing
a joint MBA and MSW, spoke about the prob-
lem of addiction in America. Cambria, who
is now 2,451 days sober, spoke about how the
United States needs to find alternate solutions
to jail time for addicts.
Rather, Cambria said that we need to start
viewing it as a public health crisis rather than
a a moral failing. Society needs to take steps
to offer holistic support, integrative care, and
treatment for addicts, Cambria said.
“Recovery really unlocks the true beauty
in life,” he said.
Marcel Uwineza, a Rwandan Jesuit priest
and theology Ph.D. student who expects to
graduate in 2020, shared his narrative of escap-
ing the Rwandan genocide, which took place
in 1994. Uwineza fled from a church when it
became a place of slaughter, leaving behind
his parents and siblings, who were killed in
the massacre.
Uwineza shared his path to forgiveness
when he travelled back to Rwanda to visit
the burial ground of his family. While paying
his respects, Uwineza came face-to-face with
his family’s murderer, who had been released
from jail. The killer got down on his knees and
begged for forgiveness, Uwineza said.
“‘I forgive you,’” he said. “When I uttered
those words it felt as though the chains were
cut from my legs. I felt free.”
After his confrontation, Uwineza decided
to drop out of medical school and become a
Jesuit priest.
Bobby Wengronowitz, GMCAS ’19, who is
currently an organizer, teacher, and sociology
Ph.D. candidate at BC, then gave a talk titled
“Climate Justice Demands Compassionate
Activism.” He emphasized the fact that people
have known about climate change since before
the Civil War, and yet not enough has been
done to combat global warming.
Wengronowitz also looked at the political
history of climate change and showed how the
issue has become more partisan in the last 10
years. He emphasized the need for activism
surrounding global warming, but stressed that
it needs to be done with compassion.
“We are our own worst enemy in many
ways,” Wengronowitz said. “But we are also
our only hope.”
Erlinda Delacruz, LGSOE ’16, who is
currently working on her master’s in mental
health counseling, spoke next about how
makeup shades perpetuate the idea of colorism
in society. Colorism is discrimination based
on one’s own skin tone, in one’s own ethnic
or racial community.
Delacruz shared her struggle of trying to
find makeup that matches her skin tone as a
Filipino women. She talked about how only the
most expensive brands of makeup have cre-
ated shades dark enough for her skin. Delacruz
believes that this perpetuates white privilege,
and weakens equality efforts.
Danielle Heitmann, GSSW ’16, talked
about the DSM-V, a manual that diagnoses
mental illness. The guide, however, tends to
perpetuate a negative stigma behind mental
illness, Heitmann said.
“Illness is only a piece of the human experi-
ence and never the entirety of one’s identity,”
she said.
Heitmann then attempted to put mental
illness into a Catholic perspective. She believes
that a Catholic voice is needed to combat the
negative stereotyping of those who struggle
with mental illness.
“People are always more than their prob-
lems,” Heitmann said.
Adam McCready, a second-year Ph.D.
student in the higher education program who
hopes to graduate in 2018, closed out the night
with this talk, “What I learned by Jumping
in Front of the Red Line Train.” McCready is
currently studying the behavioral tendencies of
college men, including hazing, alcohol abuse,
and vulnerability.
McCready shared a story that incited his
work on the lack of emotion and vulnerability
of men in society. On his way home from work
one day, McCready witnessed a man fall onto
the tracks in front of an oncoming train. Mc-
Cready jumped onto the rails and rescued the
unconscious man.
“I can distinctly recall the adrenaline run-
ning through my veins,” he said.
It took over a year for McCready to speak
about his experience and every time he at-
tempted to share the story, he broke into tears.
He realized that men are taught to be strong
and not show emotion.
“I want my sons to be able to live in a
society, to go to school and eventually college,
where they can be intimate and vulnerable
with others,” McCready said.
Colored powder filled the air as students
donned in white celebrated the Hindu reli-
gious festival of Holi on Stokes Lawn Saturday
at 1 p.m.
Organized by the South Asian Student
Association (SASA), the Holi festival has been
celebrated at BC for the last 10 years. One
thousand students were expected to attend the
event, co-president of SASA, Suraj Mudichin-
tala, CSOM ’16, said, but the turnout this year
ended up being just over 250 students.
“Most students don’t know too much
about the festival’s meaning, but that isn’t a
problem,” Mudichintala said. “It is really just
about having fun, embracing the culture, and
having a good time.”
Holi is a celebration of spring and a festival
of color, usually taking place in March or April.
It is primarily celebrated in India and Nepal,
but many universities across the U.S. celebrate,
and students of all religious backgrounds are
invited to attend.
The powder, which was made of 500
pounds of flour and 500 pounds of chalk
material, was distributed among the crowd
in buckets. The participants then took the
powder and threw it at each other.
“At least we are providing a good Satur-
day,” Mudichintala said. “It fosters a sense of
community. Everyone is throwing powder at
everyone. It’s just everyone having fun.”
JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Monday, April 25, 2016
Kevin Eidt, BC ’00, only had eyes for
the basketball net looming over his head.
Only a second-semester freshman, Eidt
was already involved in the men’s intra-
mural basketball team and competed
regularly in the Plex. He had his heart in
the game, but little did he know just how
much of an impact his heart would have
on the Boston College community.
While playing a game, Eidt went into
sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed on
the court. His close friend, Mark Ritchie,
BC ’00 and a certifi ed EMT, witnessed
the fall and immediately began to per-
form CPR on Eidt, accompanying para-
medics as they transported Eidt to the
nearest hospital. Despite their attempts
to revive Eidt, he ultimately passed away
because of heart failure. Heartbroken,
Ritchie founded Eagle EMS to care for
BC students, and over the past 16 years,
the student organization has developed
into a respected on-campus authority
while maintaining a casual student air.
After acquiring its own fi rst-response
vehicle in 2012, Eagle EMS began 24/7
coverage of the local community and
changed its name to BC EMS in Nov.
2014.
Boasting 76 current members, BC
EMS remains a completely student-run
organization that holds the same state
certifi cations as professional ambulance
companies. Th e organization is divided
into the departments of education, oper-
ations, and organizational development.
Th e president and vice president oversee
the organization as the members of the
departments plan specifi c tasks.
EMTs work both vehicle shifts ,
responding to emergency calls and
performing on-site medical care, and
standby shifts, attending games, con-
certs, and other major campus events
and monitoring the audience. BC EMS
works closely with University offi cials,
such as the offi ces of the Dean of Stu-
dents, Student Health Services, Student
Involvement, Emergency Management,
and BCPD, as well as with professional
ambulance companies from the local
community. Th ese established relation-
ships are best seen in their involvement
in the Boston Marathon.
“Our involvement in the Marathon
has greatly increased throughout my
time here,” said Kevin Zirko, LSOE ’16
and current president of BC EMS. He
recalls the Marathon bombing in 2013
as a defi nitive moment for BC EMS that
elevated the student organization to a
new professional level.
Until that point, BC EMS had mainly
focused on monitoring campus, running
a medical tent to treat BC students and
distributing foot teams throughout
Main, Newton, and Brighton campuses.
In the aftermath of the bombing, all
available medical resources were re-
quested to treat the wounded at the fi n-
ish line. Th e Boston Athletics Associa-
tion (BAA) stopped the Marathon and
housed runners at St. Ignatius Church.
THE HEIGHTS A4
PHOTO COURTESY OF KEVIN ZIRKO
BC EMS teams were stationed throughout campus and along the marathon route to provide emergency medical care for both students and runners, ensuring the safety of the community.
Like most Boston College students, I
had originally planned to study abroad.
But plans change, and now I fi nd myself
in a cubby in O’Neill, writing papers and
cramming for quizzes, procrastinating by
watching Snapstories of my best friends
vacationing together in Greece. I only
recently found out what FOMO means, but
man, is it real.
First semester of junior year was a
blur. At some point I blinked and woke up
with norovirus during fi nals, watching my
friends pack their rooms into cardboard
boxes to leave me behind. At least that’s
how I felt at the time, and it’s how I’d been
feeling for months.
I felt static—physically, in my decision
to not go abroad, and emotionally, in my
failed attempt to cling to my status as an
underclassman. All of a sudden I could hear
the clock ticking, and I had the unfortunate
realization that my time at BC is ephemeral.
I’d been going through the motions, day
after day. Lift, class, practice, library. Lift,
class, practice, library. I wasn’t particularly
happy, but had no real reason not to be, and
the fact that most everyone I was close to
was leaving on these grandiose adventures
made me all the more anxious and nervous
for what next semester would bring.
Come January, my squad left for Lon-
MADELEINE LOOSBROCK
ity with the host city. Th ese are experiences
that I want to have, but it just wasn’t the
right time for me.
It’s a personal choice, and diff erent for
each individual, but I am confi dent at this
point in the semester in my decision to stay
at BC. I think about the new relationships
I’ve formed. I think about the fear, sadness,
anxiety, and pain that I’ve learned to over-
come on my own.
I think about my roles as a teammate,
captain, student, friend, and sister, and how
I’ve grown in these roles in more ways than I
could have possibly imagined. And perhaps
most importantly, I think about the clarity
I’ve gotten on what I want out of my experi-
ence here at BC.
I think that by junior year, what we need
is a change. We need something new and
exciting to get us over the wall of anxiety
standing between now and graduation. For
some of us this is an experience overseas,
and for some of us it’s not—and that’s okay.
We’re all going to be back on the Heights
come September, revitalized, smiling
through the fear of the future as we soak up
the last two semesters we get to spend at the
greatest place on earth.
KELSEY MCGEE / HEIGHTS EDITOR
don and Paris and Sydney, and I returned
to Stayer with six random roommates and
a direct I hardly knew. At fi rst it was lonely,
especially in the dead of a Boston winter. But
their leaving forced change upon me, and for
that I’m so thankful.
I’ve used this semester as an opportunity
to get to know myself outside the context of
my closest friends. I’ve known these people
since freshman year, some even longer.
I’ve grown up with these people, adjusted
to life away from home with these people.
When I thought about it, there really hadn’t
been a time at BC that I hadn’t had these
friends available to me whenever I needed or
wanted them.
Because of this, I’ve spent signifi cantly
more time alone in the past few months,
more than I probably ever have in my life. At
a place like BC, where you’re surrounded by
your best friends constantly, it’s hard to fi nd,
or even realize you need, a minute alone.
While it’s wonderful to be able to turn to the
people you love in times of sadness, laughter,
anger, or excitement, there’s also something
to be said for learning to process these feel-
ings alone.
To deal with these emotions on an indi-
vidual level develops a deeper understanding
of these emotions and has ultimately helped
me become more in touch with who I am
and what I want in my last year at BC.
I’ve learned the importance of doing
things for me. It’s all too easy to get caught
in the motions of everyday life—the clubs
we’re part of, the sports we play, the classes
we take, the social lives we choose to lead.
Th is fall, I did the things that made me
comfortable. I couldn’t tell why I didn’t feel
like myself because I was doing everything I
normally do, everything that had made me
happy in the past. Everyone goes through
times when he or she feels “off ,” but can’t fi g-
ure out why. We’re growing up, and change
is imminent, even when we can’t see that.
People argue that going abroad instigates
this change, that being far away from a
familiar place forces you out of your comfort
zone and fosters personal growth. For many,
this is undoubtedly true. I do believe, how-
ever, that it’s possible to have that experience
without going abroad. In fact, I’m not sure I
would have grown the same way that I have
over the past four months had I been in
Europe as I’d originally planned.
Th ere are certainly aspects of being
abroad and traveling that can’t be experi-
enced at BC. I think that the real sell for
studying abroad, however, is to broaden your
horizons and see the world through a diff er-
ent lens. While this may be harder to accom-
plish at BC, it’s certainly not impossible.
I do feel left out almost every time I see
pictures on Facebook of my friends abroad.
Although I had the opportunity to spend a
summer session in London, the experience
is inarguably diff erent. A semester allows for
more travel and exploration, more familiar-
With medical resources already spread
thin, it was up to the remaining members
of BC EMS to triage over 400 patients
in the makeshift clinic, bringing new
meaning to the place of healing.
“For an hour or so, we were complete-
ly in charge, which was a huge test for the
organization,” Zirko said. “We were able
to step up, and it defi nitely makes you
realize how important we are and how
[we’re more than just for] BC.”
Because of its performance that day,
BC EMS has been included in the BAA
planning committee each year, with
members from the organization helping
to plan the medical response along the
entire route of the Marathon. In addition
to its usual campus coverage, BC EMS
staff s fi ve to six students at three medical
tents at the end of College Road, in front
of St. Ignatius Church, and by the Chest-
nut Hill Reservoir for the Marathon.
Grace Jarmoc, MCAS ’18, worked
as the command post representative for
BC EMS in the BCPD offi ce, supervising
the crews throughout the day. Before the
Marathon, Jarmoc debriefed the EMTs
working the event on Marathon Monday
protocols, teaching them what illnesses
to expect and running through practice
scenarios. Once Jarmoc received an
emergency call in the BCPD offi ce, she
would dispatch the team closest to the
location of the call to take care of the
patient. Th is responsibility necessitates
discipline and organization, which Jar-
moc said has benefi ted her work ethic
as a student. Being busy has helped her
stay organized, she said.
“One of the more diffi cult things of
being an EMT, especially at BC, is also
being a student,” Jarmoc said in an email.
“I’m always trying to fi nd the right bal-
ance between my life at school and my
passion for BC EMS.”
Hannah Bowlin, MCAS ’17, and Oliv-
ia Spadola, CSON ’17, were in charge of
BC EMS’ fi rst-response vehicle and an-
swered calls from the BCPD offi ce. Th e
most common locations for EMTs to go
to on Marathon Monday are the Lower
bathrooms, the Mods, and along the BC
side of the Marathon route, to treat for
alcohol-related head injuries. Th e EMTs
would immobilize the patient’s head
to prevent further injury to the neck
or spine, look for other wounds, take
vitals, and decide with BCPD if hospital
transport is necessary.
“Th e most diffi cult part of being an
EMT is tailoring my subjective assess-
ments for each patient I encounter,
because no two people or medical issues
are the same,” Spadola said in an email.
“[You have to make sure] you don’t
miss any red fl ags,” Bowlin also said in an
email. “Many patients are fairly routine
and treating them can be normal, but
staying on my toes and making sure we
don’t miss anything important for a more
serious issue can be diffi cult.”
Nicholas Favazza, MCAS ’18, treated
Marathon runners at the BAA tent
in front of St. Ignatius. His team was
responsible for assisting a physician,
a physician’s assistant, and a physical
therapist by performing initial patient
assessments for runners who stopped by
the tent. Th e most common health prob-
lems marathon runners faced with the
warm weather were heat-related, such as
fatigue, heat stroke, dehydration, and hy-
ponatremia. Th e EMTs were tasked with
massaging cramped muscles, providing
ice baths, and supplying beverages high
in electrolytes to replace necessary water
and nutrients.
“Working in medicine, your actions
have an obvious eff ect on patient out-
come, good or ill, and you always want
to do right by your patient and give
them a shot at recovery,” Favazza said
in an email. “Th e pressure to perform
is definitely there, and although it is
stressful, I think it also helps motivate
me to provide the highest quality care
possible.”
Th roughout their time with BC EMS,
the students agree that having an EMT
license has meant more than another
credential to put on a resume. BC EMS
encourages personal and professional
growth, with the students’ exposure to
the love and dedication of professional
EMTs shining light on a side of health
care that is often overlooked.
“Pre-hospital care still has a sig-
nificant effect on patient outcome,”
Favazza said. “Being a member of that
pre-hospital team and seeing that my
actions allowed a patient to make it to
defi nitive care and recovery is one of
the most rewarding things I have ever
experienced in my life.”
Under the pressed uniforms, pounds
of medical equipment, and crackling
radios, the EMTs are still students at
heart. For Zirko, the hardest and most
rewarding aspect of being in EMS is
helping his peers.
He regards being a student EMT as
an advantage for the patient, as he or
she can advocate for both student and
patient rights, and this belief has been
supported by the patients’ gratitude at
receiving treatment.
“I was so surprised by how reward-
ing the job is,” Jarmoc said. “Hearing
someone genuinely say ‘thank you’ after
you cared for them makes the job worth
it 10 times over.”
It is also part of BC EMS’ mission
to advocate for public health, teaching
fi rst-aid classes and providing fi rst-aid
kits for other organizations throughout
Boston and the surrounding area, such
as the Horace Mann School for the Deaf
and various homeless shelters. Th ough
most students initially join BC EMS
for medical exposure, many fall in love
with the administrative and community
aspects of BC EMS, all in the eff ort to
provide care for the whole person.
“Th ere’s so much more to our organi-
zation that I’d love for people to recog-
nize,” Zirko said. “Yes, we may be there
when your friend is drunk, but we aren’t
there to get them in trouble—we’re there
to help them get out of trouble.”
For such a young organization, BC
EMS has come far—from the initial
heartbreak on the basketball court to the
top of Heartbreak Hill. Th e organization
remains just one call away.
“Th e pressure to perform is defi nitely there, and although it is stressful, I think it also helps motivate
me to provide the highest quality care possible.”
—Nicholas Favazza, MCAS ’18
THE HEIGHTS A5Monday, April 25, 2016
JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Boston College Irish Dance formed a
kaleidoscope of patterns on the stage, first
in a perfect phalanx, then seamlessly transi-
tioning to form concentric circles in homage
to the arena of the Hunger Games. After an
eight-minute routine as mesmerizing as the
mockingjay’s haunting song, the dancers
stomped their last step and broke the spell. The
stunned audience rose to its feet in thunderous
applause, and BCID team knew that the odds
were definitely in its favor.
“The crowd was in it for the whole dance,”
said Madeline Jacob, LSOE ’16 and captain of
BCID of the non-stop energy of last week’s
annual ALC Showdown. “There was really
no silent moment for them. It was really cool.
Immediately when we finished they all stood
up, which was crazy. And even the dancers
stood up, which was such a huge compliment
for us.”
Last week, BC’s most talented dance
groups performed at a sold-out Conte Forum
and celebrated the best of the school’s student
dancing. With two titles at stake, BCID took
home the coveted dance title of Showdown
winners while, Presenting Africa to U (PATU)
brought home the cultural dance award. Each
team dedicated its schedule toward intense
preparation for this showcase event, and its
work paid off with highly coveted titles.
BCID is led by co-captains Madeline
Jacob and Betsy Hughes, MCAS ’16. With
26 members—25 girls and one boy—they
practice three nights a week for a total of
10 hours on Brighton Campus. This was its
second year competitively participating at
Showdown after showcasing in the past. In
2014, BCID competed for the title and gave
the now-senior captains a taste at what a title
could feel like.
“We didn’t have a theme that year, two
years ago,” Jacob said of its first competitive
performance. “We didn’t have a lot of experi-
ence with the event. During our freshman
year there was a part of the dance that got the
crowd engaged and people were energized
afterwards. From that moment on they wanted
to win.”
Siobhan Dougherty, MCAS ’17, cut the
music to give its theme, the Hunger Games, a collective, exciting feel. The serious tone of
the theme challenged the dancers to work on
their facial expressions. The assistant chore-
ographers Aine McGovern, MCAS ’17, and
Bridget TeeKing, MCAS ’16, helped head
choreographer Doughtery give this dance its
unique touch.
“[Facial expression] was not easy for most
people on the team,” Hughes said. “We are not
used to theatrically performing. Usually for
Irish dance we smile, but this dance was seri-
ous and we had to look angry at some of the
parts. We made everyone look in the mirror
and make themselves look angry.”
As the dance began each member gave
it his or her all. Intense preparation, excel-
lent music, and passion drove them all into a
crowd-engaging performance.
The win will add more pressure to them
for next year, the captains concluded. They
credit their team’s unique determination for
the win—they could see visible improvement
between the first and third hours of their
practices. The team has only existed for nine
years, and Hughes feels that the win will help
it be taken seriously.
BCID’s main event each year is its Spring
Showcase, during which the group performs
20 dances. Additionally, throughout the year it
dances on campus, at cultural events, at a Red
Sox game, and, especially near St. Patrick’s day,
around Boston.
PATU, BC’s only African dance troupe,
won the cultural dance award. Kadeajah Gos-
lin, the group’s captain and LSOE ’16, helped
bring the small but determined dance group
to its first Showdown award. PATU was cre-
ated in 1996 and focuses on Western African,
Caribbean, and African diaspora styles.
This group of nine dancers comprises the
smallest number, but with five seniors there
was a special emphasis on bringing back the
title this year. Like BCID, PATU has one male
dancer.
PATU performs year-round at BC with a
recruitment and try-out process after the fall
Student Involvement Fair. It also performs
around Boston throughout the year at loca-
tions including Rosie’s Place, a shelter for
battered women, and other colleges like BU,
MIT, and Brandeis.
Come January, PATU began to practice
every day in anticipation of Showdown.
“Everyone is very dedicated, there is a
lot of hard work,” Goslin said. “A lot of pain,
blood sweat and tears, but it is worth it once
the show is here.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZOE ZHAO
I was running a few minutes late
getting to the residence hall of Elio
Oliva, CSOM ’17, to speak with him
about his recent coronation as Mr. BC,
so I sent him a frantic text letting him
know I was a bit behind schedule. His
response set the tone for the rest of our
conversation.
“No worries bro. I’m just chilling here
in my room.”
After an eccentric winning perfor-
mance at the RHA’s annual “Mr. BC”
pageant earlier this month, it was pretty
unsurprising to find that the finance
and English double major was a type-A
people person. In another unsurprising
move, Oliva showed little hesitation
at our request for a photo-op—within
minutes he had donned his crown and
cape from the pageant, and began nobly
making his bed.
“I don’t want my mom to see these
pictures and think that I have an un-
made bed,” he joked, but with a drop of
conceded seriousness.
He proceeded to smooth out his
sheets, rearrange his pillow, and brought
us to a lounge to get down to the serious
stuff. Fortunately for us, the cape and
crown would remain for the rest of the
interview.
A newcomer to the Mr. BC pageant,
and to male beauty pageants more
broadly, Oliva was candid in describing
his lack of knowledge of the program—
and furthermore his lack of odd talents.
In fact, his own nomination took him
by surprise.
“One of my friends texted me saying,
‘Hey, a little birdie told me that you’re
going to be in Mr. BC,’” he recalled of his
first time hearing about his soon-to-be
pageant debut. “I was like, ‘Uh who is
this birdie?’”
Though blindsided by this propo-
sition, Oliva noted his response was
succinct.
“Why the hell not?”
Though Oliva himself is humbly
dismissive of his own talents, others
would beg to differ. Along with those
in the crowd, Oliva won the approval
of the RHA—the student organization
that hosted the event—in his interview
beforehand.
“RHA could not have been happier,”
said Catherine Duffy, MCAS ’17 and
RHA co-vice president of the student
programming committee. “When we
interviewed Elio, we knew that his per-
sonality and impressions were going to
take him to the top—while all the guys
gave it their all, it was Elio’s talent that
got him the crown.”
Certainly, his talent, a knack for
celebrity impressions (many of which,
naturally, managed to slip into the in-
terview) is what earned Oliva the title.
Ranging from Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pink-
man to presidential candidate Donald
Trump, Oliva’s massively popular im-
pressions, however, didn’t come without
practice.
Beginning as nothing more than a
side hobby, Oliva explained that at some
point last year, he captivated the room
as he let a killer Jesse Pink impression
slip at a party.
“I let it slip, and I was like ‘Yo
Bitches!’” Oliva said, slipping briefly
into the Breaking Bad character he was
imitating. “I was like wow, I can actually
kind of do that.”
As it turns out, Oliva most certainly
can “do that.” His scripted stand-up per-
formance of impressions during the tal-
ent portion of the show even carried into
the Q&A portion, where he channeled
the spirit of Matthew McConaughey to
define beauty, among other triumphs.
Adding to the confusion, however,
was the stiff level of competition he
faced as a contestant. A humble parodist
in the midst of singers, dancers, and
even a rollerblading accordion player,
Oliva was keenly aware that any victory
would have to be a hard-fought one.
Admittedly nervous, Oliva felt the
pressure from all sides—even his own
camp. Receiving feedback from his
friends in the audience while backstage,
Oliva claimed that one threat in particu-
lar stood out as a contender for the
Daniel Sundaram, MCAS ’16, has a big
summer ahead of him. Partnering with the
Bike and Build program, Sundaram, along
with about 25 others, will cycle across the
United States while stopping to assist in the
construction of affordable homes.
Ahead of the bikers lies the open road
and the chance to form friendships in the
name of community service. Four thousand
miles separate Sundaram’s starting location
in New Haven, Conn. from his destination
of Half Moon Bay, Calif.
Bike and Build, which has been an ac-
tive organization since 2003, organizes and
supervises cross-country bike trips that
incorporate elements of service. Required
to raise at least $4,500 prior to the begin-
ning of the trip, riders contribute to and
raise money for the program, which in turn
supplies the riders with food, planning, and
service opportunities for the summer while
they ride from coast to coast.
The elements of service provided by
Bike and Build are as they sound—riders
take an expected 12 days off of biking to
work construction on an affordable hous-
ing build site. This element gives the riders
an opportunity to provide service while
they experience great swaths of American
countryside.
“I think this trip is the beginning to
a commitment to service that I hope to
continue for the rest of my life,” Sundaram
said. As well as doing Bike and Build,
Sundaram is currently applying to Officer
Candidate School to be an officer in the
US Coast Guard. Sundaram said that his
commitment to service began as a student
JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Sundaram plans to bike across America in an effort to raise money for Bike and Build. See Mr. BC, A8
in high school and has continued at Boston
College.
“I did Habitat for Humanity in high
school, and I figured that this trip is a
logical continuation of that,” Sundaram
said. “Looking back on my experiences
at Boston College, these experiences of
teamwork and service is what made college
[great] for me.”
A former member of men’s club row-
ing at BC and an active athlete, Sundaram
is no stranger to the teamwork lifestyle.
But, the physical aspect of biking more
than 4,000 miles is not something that he
underestimates.
Sundaram has been spotted by many
riding on a trainer outside of Fulton Hall
to raise awareness for his ride. He hasn’t
exactly been a cyclist for a long time. Sun-
daram said that the only form of cycling
he has really done is riding his bike around
the neighborhood as a kid. But, this hasn’t
stopped him.
Sundaram has some very long roads
ahead of him. Though he is concerned, he
knows that he is riding for a cause greater
than simply turning over the pedals.
“Like I’ve said earlier, this trip is a
beginning to that commitment to service,
and I’m really excited to get out on the
road,” he said.
Thinking even longer-term, Sundaram
said that this trip is a culmination of how
he has lived life here at BC.
“I feel like I’ve enjoyed myself and cre-
ated a great spot and have learned how
to succeed here,” he said. “The transition
away from it is going to be really weird,
but this adventure is going to be a great
way to do that and is an affirmation of this
lifestyle.”
THE HEIGHTS Monday, April 25, 2016A6
HEIGHTSTh e Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College
THE
“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”
-G.K. Chesteron, Alarms and Discursions
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Th e Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity,
accuracy, and to prevent libel. Th e 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, Th e Heights, 113 McElro
Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.
EDITORIALS
The views expressed in the above editorials repre-
sent the official position of The Heights, as discussed
and written by the Editorial Board. A list of the mem-
bers of the Editorial Board can be found at bcheights.
com/opinions.
Th e fi rst Boston College Dance Marathon
in over 10 years, sponsored by the Sophomore
Class Council, was held this past Friday and
Saturday. It consisted of 12 hours of danc-
ing and performances by various BC dance
groups such as Full Swing and Phaymus, as
well as other activities including visits by
local pediatric cancer patients. In total, the
event raised $17,000 for the Boston Children’s
Hospital. Roughly 200 students participated
in the marathon, which was held in the Flynn
Recreation Complex.
Since the event was the first dance
marathon in many years, this relatively low
turnout is understandable and should not
discourage the continuation of this event in
future years. Th is year should serve as the
launch for future events, and students should
continue to both promote and attend these
events. Th e money goes toward a good cause,
and the event eff ectively promotes awareness
of pediatric illness.
Dance marathons have found great success
on other college campuses, but many of these
other colleges are larger state schools such
as Pennsylvania State and the University of
Florida. Th ese schools have diff erent cultures
than BC as well as much larger student bod-
ies. Th e same methods used at these schools
will most likely not generate the same levels of
success at BC. Because of this, the event should
be adjusted to bring in a greater number of
students in the future.
One way to do this is by looking at past
events that have achieved great success. Th ese
events normally involve a high-level adminis-
trative group or something that involves a great
portion of the student body, such as Showdown.
Partnering with multiple groups would allow
the Sophomore Class Council to attract more
students. One of the reasons Showdown has
achieved such success in the past is due to the
wide range of groups involved and the con-
nections many students have to at least one of
these groups.
Th is year’s dance marathon involved part-
nership with a number of dance groups, as
well as cooperation with local businesses. In
the future these same eff orts can be expanded
to on-campus administrative and high-profi le
groups. Th ose planning the Dance Marathon
in the future should look to partner with a
powerful group on campus that can provide
other outlets for promotion as well as other
incentives for students to attend. Th is could
include athletics, whose support could help
generate interest in the event.
At Northwestern University, for example,
students have hosted a dance marathon for
the past 42 years. In that time, the university
has raised over $16 million. Th is kind of suc-
cess could be replicated at BC, with time and a
creative look at high-powered resources.
Showdown, which was held on Saturday,
April 13, presents another issue in relation to
the Dance Marathon. Two dance-related charity
events within one week of each other could eas-
ily have caused apathy toward the second event.
Because of the shared features of each event, this
could present another possible partnership for
the Dance Marathon. Partnering with Show-
down, or another powerful event, would allow
for advertising and promotion through multiple
outlets, generating increased interest.
By bringing together these various groups,
the Dance Marathon would most likely be
able to attract more students. Th is possibil-
ity should be seriously considered in order to
increase turnout for the Dance Marathon and
raise more money for the Children’s Hospital
in the future.
During the Boston Marathon, Boston
College EMS students lined Comm. Ave.
manning tents and walking the campus in
order to help students and runners.
After the Marathon bombing in 2013,
security was heavily increased along the
marathon route, and BC EMS was given
an increased role in providing medical
attention along Mile 21.
This includes runners who are dehy-
drated or suffering from cramps as well
as students suffering from alcohol-re-
lated injuries.
During the sometimes-chaotic day,
it attended to these medical issues and
handled the situation well.
It set up medical tents and patrolled
the campus in the BC EMS ambulance.
B C E MS is a cer t i f ie d ambulance
company, meaning that the services it
provides are on par with professional
ambulance drivers.
The students themselves have all re-
ceived extensive training that they are
often unable to use due to the fortunately
low frequency of emergency medical
events on campus.
After undergoing considerable train-
ing in many different medical tech-
niques and procedures, BC EMS stu-
dents often respond to calls that do not
warrant the use of any of these newly
learned skills.
Working the Marathon allows these
students to use the skills they’ve learned
while providing a necessary service for
both students watching the Marathon and
the runners themselves.
It is a good way to ensure that BC EMS
students have the opportunity to put their
learning into action while also helping the
student body.
These BC EMS students are also often
better able to deal with students they
serve because the students relate to them
and find a mutual understanding.
This was evidenced by the lack of seri-
ous issues regarding BC EMS during this
year’s Marathon.
Its work was necessary and performed
well. With the increased post-bombing
security, it is extremely important that
medically trained workers are available
for the Marathon.
BC EMS handled the more high-pres-
sure situation very well, assisting stu-
dents professionally and taking care of
the various medical issues brought about
by the Marathon.
After the Marathon BC EMS and the
important medical services it provided can
easily be forgotten, but students should be
thankful for the work it contributed.
These BC EMS students deserve com-
mendation for taking on the increased
responsibilities well and providing an
important service.
During future Marathons, this level of
success should be replicated, as BC EMS
students continue to serve.
Joshua Behrens, The Heights’ resident
Bernie Sanders cheerleader, wrote an as-
tonishing piece yesterday, one about which
all advocates for those American virtues
of liberty and self-government should be
angered. Though I have no desire to get
myself again entangled in something like
the relentless back-and-forth inspired by
my LTEs on race issues earlier this year,
Mr. Behrens’s piece is so extraordinary that
I can’t help but write.
Mr. Behrens admits that “the found-
ing fathers did not plan for us to have a
democracy,” for which I suppose I can be
thankful. Many individuals erroneously but
unapologetically believe that the United
States is a democracy and hold to “Democ-
racy! Unchecked democracy! Democracy
everywhere and always!” These people evi-
dently do not value the virtue of prudent
restraint, but maybe that is to be expected.
Fine—Mr. Behrens agrees with us that the
framers of our Constitution never intended
a democracy. Yet his claim is even more of-
fensive to the American spirit, I think, than
the absurd belief that the United States is an
unrestrained democracy (just so you know,
our country is a constitutional republic with
some democratic elements), so beloved of
others of his progressive-liberal-radical
bent.
Succinctly, he believes that, yes, the
framers did not want democracy—and so
the framers were wrong. The American’s
mental warning-bells should be ring-
ing like crazy here. So the Declaration
of Independence, and the Constitution,
and the Bill of Rights were wrong? The
old argument for democracy grounded it,
however erroneously, on our Constitution.
The new argument, Mr. Behrens’s, grounds
it on chucking the Constitution out the
window and letting wild jackals eat the
poor old thing.
Saying that the rest of Mr. Behrens’s
argument is nonsensical is offensive to non-
sensical arguments. We have to chuck the
Constitution because it has created an “oli-
garchy” ruled by money (begging the ques-
tion of “Why stop at socialism? Why don’t
we go on to full-on Soviet communism, Mr.
Behrens? Would that make you happy?”).
He cites one Princeton study and claims
that it “empirically” establishes something
that cannot be empirically established,
namely that the U.S. is in fact this oligarchy
that he so greatly dreads. He then briefly
sketches a look into this year’s presidential
election, mounting a democratic defense
of his beloved Sanders and warning about
that opaque and apparently omnipotent
“establishment” (could somebody please
give me a good definition?).
Mr. Behrens does not believe in the
founders’ republic. He wants a democracy.
Well, Mr. Behrens, the founders experi-
enced a near-democracy under the Articles
of Confederation. It was a disaster. The Ja-
cobins in France and the Bolsheviks in Rus-
sia slaughtered and destroyed nations in the
sainted name of unrestrained democracy.
(Might I suggest reading Burke?) We need
to preserve and conserve, not destroy, our
(small-r) republican values. We are either
the last, best hope for the earth, Mr. Beh-
rens, or else we go out into the final dark-
ness, screaming hopeless platitudes about
“Equality,” “Democracy,” and “Progress,” and
not with a bang but with a whimper.
A Reponse to “Th e End of Democracy”LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
THE HEIGHTSEmail opinions@bcheights.
com for more information.
See this blank space? Want to fi ll it?
Draw a weekly comic for
dustry. Things are not always greener on
the other side of the counter. Yet when I
try to think of my most rewarding expe-
rience at BC, I don’t think of tutoring or
making care packages. I think of every
exhausting, messy, soul-crushing night
at White Mountain. Those nights have
done so much more than just fuel my
sugar addiction. They gave me a sense
of purpose and achievement, as well as
an acute, and sometimes painful, sense
of humility.
And now I have one tip for any-
one looking to broaden his or her
worldview or set the world aflame or
become a man or woman for others.
You don’t need to apply for a presti-
gious volunteering position or travel to
an underdeveloped country. Just get a
low-paying, low-dignity job. You will be
exposed to more service than you could
have ever dreamed.
Of course, I don’t mean to knock
community service. Volunteering is kind
and generous and extremely important.
I’m down with the Jesuits. Yet there’s
something that’s difficult to learn un-
less you’ve worked in the food industry
yourself. You learn more than just how
to count change and clean counters and
restock topping containers. You learn
about respect. Respect for servers and
cashiers and dishwashers. And that
respect changes everything. Each dis-
respected hostess and untipped waiter
becomes a personal outrage. I abhor
complicated orders and impatience
and people who complain about their
food. Every tired, grumpy, overwhelmed
server is just someone trying to get
through the night.
I remember walking into an ice
cream parlor shortly after starting at
White Mountain. Somehow I thought
the girl behind the counter would sense
my experiences and we’d share an intan-
gible bond. “One scoop of cookie dough
in a cup, no toppings please,” I request-
ed cheerfully. She gave me a tired nod
and retreated to the freezer to scoop my
ice cream. At first I was disappointed.
I wanted recognition. I wanted a bond.
At the very least, I wanted a smile. But
then I remembered the aching back and
the overwhelming lines and the lack of
“thank you’s” and “please’s.” I remem-
bered the blank stares from familiar
faces, as if the counter created a sort
of disguise for each service employee,
stripping them of their identity and
value. I remembered the exhausting
feeling of disrespect and silently slipped
a dollar into the tip jar in solidarity.
As spring rolls in, campus seems to
buzz with stories of internships and
service trips. These are both noble and
valuable experiences, but in the midst
of all this buzz, I can’t help defending
my small, unglamorous part-time job.
In the grand scheme of things, this job
isn’t small at all. In terms of my own
self-awareness and understanding of
the world, this job has been everything.
In fact I’m starting to think we should
all be embracing the unglamorous. It
certainly doesn’t set the world aflame,
but I like to think each server and scoo-
per and washer contributes to a steady,
slow-burning fire.
We can do more than just serve
customers. We can spread the respect
and the humility that our minimum
wage jobs instill in us, and we can truly
become men and women for others. At
the very least, we can count our tips
with pride and eat our well-deserved ice
cream with a sense of purpose.
THE HEIGHTSMonday, April 25, 2016 A7
CLASSES WITHOUT FINALS - As we ap-
proach the final days of class, when
studying for finals becomes a prior-
ity, it’s important to acknowledge
those good folks who don’t give
final exams. I’ll up a thumb for you
beautiful people any day.
A SELECT FEW PARTICULAR BRANDS OF HOT SAUCE - Some hot sauce tastes
like failure. Some hot sauce tastes
like justice. Other hot sauces taste
like concepts that are referenced
where you would normally expect
a more tangible taste-related word
for some not-fantastically-executed
comedic effect. But generally, when
you get a good hot sauce it can keep
your meal engaging, interesting,
fascinating, and maybe even a little
stupendous.
GETTING LOST - In the spirit of the
great explorers of ages past, you de-
cided to go for a little stroll through
Boston. With no particular guiding
force, you got off the T downtown
and headed in a direction you sup-
posed might be sort of oriented
toward the east. About 20 minutes
later, you’re in some never-before-
seen area of Dorchester and some
vaguely threatening Girl Scouts are
trying to foist unwanted cookies into
your hands. “Stay away from me,”
you cry, running off, flapping your
arms as though you are a majestic
sea fowl. Grabbing your phone you
realize that your battery has dropped
to 5 percent. Confound your foolish
need to listen to hours and hours of
Polish club music on the ride over.
With no map in sight, and far too
much pride to ask for directions,
you continue to wander. Hours later
you realize that you are surrounded
by buildings covered in symbols
that are clearly not English. You’ve
entered Chinatown. Your shoes be-
gin to overflow with blood, leaving
a ghastly trail behind you. A small,
scraggly beard has covered your face.
Stumbling onward, you finally see
something you recognize. You’re al-
most downtown again. It all becomes
clearer. The Pru! The Common! The
State House! You see the T stop and
rush forward. Falling to your knees
you kiss the floor of the subway
station and immediately contract a
virulent cold sore.
SUN-HEADACHES - These are also
known as happiness headaches in
some parts of the world. They occur
when the subject is walking through
a grass-covered area and observes
other subjects enjoying the warm
weather and bright sunlight. This
causes immediate negative effects
in the subject: dizziness, cramps,
blurred vision, an inexplicable sound
of locust buzzing filling the ears.
Too much enjoyment, too much
happiness, too much satisfaction.
An immediate retreat into a subter-
ranean, badly lit place is the only
known cure.
CLOSED COURSES - For one moment
your naive, childish mind thought
you would actually be interested
in what you were learning for next
semester. While planning for regis-
tration, you saw a class that vaguely
stimulated that long-dormant part
of your brain that gains satisfac-
tion from education. But then the
course filled up the day before you
registered, and that was that. Time
to slog through another semester.
The Republican Party has already lost the
presidency, but if the party wants to save itself
for future elections, it has two unfortunate
options. If you have paid any attention to the
political media at any time over the past few
months, the prediction has been clear—the
Republican Party is headed for a brokered
convention that could potentially lead to its
downfall. The first part of this statement is
true, but the latter half does not have to neces-
sarily be so. If no candidate has clinched the
1,237 delegates needed to become the Repub-
lican nominee, the party can pick its poison
and elect Donald Trump or Ted Cruz to the
ticket and can hold the party together. As
counterintuitive as it may seem, picking either
Cruz or Trump in the long run is likely to help
moderate Republicans in the future, by show-
ing those on the far right that their extreme
candidates cannot win a general election.
As tempting as it is, it would be seen as
a validation of both Trump and Cruz to let
the party elites choose another candidate
like Paul Ryan, who received no votes and
no support from the electorate. A choice
like this would only further anger those who
support Trump and Cruz and would indeed
likely cause the split in the Republican Party
that many have been predicting. Perhaps it
would be good for the party to regroup and
rebrand as one with less extreme views than
those of Trump and Cruz, but if the party
hopes to remain relevant in the contem-
porary period, it is best served with either
Trump or Cruz as its nominee for president.
By the time the convention rolls around,
it is almost certain that Trump will be far
closer to clinching the nomination than any
other candidate. This presents the party’s
first option: let Trump be the nominee and
show the voters that the primary process
does work. In this case, the GOP willingly
sacrifices any chance at a general election
victory over Hillary Clinton, but it holds
together the party by telling voters that their
votes actually mattered and the candidate
with the most votes is the one who will get
the nomination. If anything, the Republican
Party could use this opportunity to clean
up a murky primary process and open the
process up to more transparency, reassuring
voters that their voices are being heard.
By doing this, however, the Republican
Party will be also sacrificing more than just
the presidential election. With Trump at the
top of the Republican ticket as the figurehead
of the party, the Republicans will also likely
lose control of the House and Senate due to
Trump’s unfiltered and often controversial
remarks that will likely damage many Repub-
licans’ chances of winning reelection.
This leads us to the second option.
Though no easier to swallow, the Republican
party’s other choice is to let Cruz be the
nominee. It would be well within reason and
within the rules of the convention process
for Cruz to be the nominee if Trump is still
shy of 1,237 delegates. By electing Cruz at
the convention, it is still possible that many
Trump voters will walk out in anger, but
the rules do make clear that Cruz would be
equally legitimate and the fallout of a Cruz
nomination would likely be less severe than
the convention choosing another candidate.
Cruz received many votes, which gives him
credibility as a candidate.
Furthermore, it would teach all those in
the Tea Party and other far-right factions
within the Republican organization what
have long felt the reasonable candidates like
Mitt Romney and John McCain lose is be-
cause they are too liberal that their ultracon-
servative candidate can and will in fact lose.
Cruz would be the most conservative and
clear-cut manifestation of the extreme right’s
desires, and his defeat at the hands of Clinton
would squash the extremist views that have
long hindered moderate Republicans’ efforts.
Beyond this, if Cruz were the nominee,
the Republican Party might still lose some
House and Senate races, but it is unlikely to
lose both houses of Congress as it likely would
with Trump. Though extreme, Cruz tends to
be more tight-lipped than Trump and is less
likely to offend as broad a voting bloc.
Only then will the party be able to
quiet the calls of those on the far right, and
perhaps the party would unite around a more
moderate, more electable Republican can-
didate to emerge as a contender to Clinton
running for her second term, if that’s what it
comes down to.
slowly addressing the climate crisis, and
the reinvigoration of a social structure
that places humanity and the planet over
the pursuit of profits. How could this
reinvestment work at BC?
Firstly, it involves the divestment
of all University funds from fossil fuel
companies or portfolios that contain
these companies. In its place, BC can fol-
low the call of U.S. Secretary of Energy
Ernest Moniz, the 2016 Commencement
speaker, to “double down on our clean
energy innovation investments” and
request that its funds be reinvested in
companies focused on sustainable tech-
nologies or renewable energy.
Secondly, it means that the University
can reinvest in the power of its students.
This involves opening the processes of
University governance to greater trans-
parency and student input. Societies lose
so much potential when they let voices
go unheard, and the University admin-
istration would gain greatly by allowing
students’ energy and ideas to enter its
systems.
Thirdly, BC can incorporate environ-
mental stewardship into its strong pro-
grams of service to those most in need.
Society must recognize that ecological
issues are human issues and vice versa,
and this is best learned through direct
encounters with those most vulnerable,
in this case the planet and people af-
fected by environmental disasters.
The divestment from fossil fuels at
all universities will not leave much of a
mark on the industry. Rather, this deci-
sion is steeped in powerful symbolism
that sends a message to the country’s
political and economic elites that the
next generation of world leaders, as well
as the powerful centers of knowledge
that bring them together, is calling for
the swift divestment from a system
that profits off the exploitation of the
planet and the silence of the world’s most
vulnerable, and demands in its place
purposeful reinvestment in a sustain-
able system that safeguards the world’s
resources over profits and empowers all
individuals to have their voices heard.
publication of Laudato Si last summer.
In recognizing the immeasurable value
of the world’s natural resources and the
market’s inability to justly protect these
common goods for all humanity, Pope
Francis’ encyclical unequivocally calls
for purposeful action to combat the ills
facing the planet today.
Specifically, he writes, “Here too,
it should always be kept in mind that
‘environmental protection cannot be
assured solely on the basis of financial
calculations of costs and benefits. The
environment is one of those goods that
cannot be adequately safeguarded or
promoted by market forces.’ Once more,
we need to reject a magical conception
of the market, which would suggest that
problems can be solved simply by an
increase in the profits of companies or
individuals.” BC is just one of the entities
that continues to make profits from com-
panies that literally fuel the wrecking of
the environment.
This statement calls for radical ac-
tion in that it asks believers to reject
the socioeconomic orthodoxy that
places profits over humanity. In fact, the
changes that BC would have to make to
completely divest from fossil fuels would
not harm its financial dividends because
global energy equities have not out-
performed other investment categories
since 2012, according to a 2014 report by
Cambridge Associates, a financial advis-
ing company to BC. This is even truer
today with the current weakness of oil
markets and the advancement of next-
generation power technologies. Now is
a powerful time for new momentum in
this movement.
The divestment movement is not
simply a campaign to end the use of
fossil fuels. It is a call for reinvest-
ment in the planet that provides all our
resources, the reordering of the political
and financial institutions that are too
Divestment is not the final answer
to the climate crisis. The holdings of all
American university endowments in fos-
sil fuel companies account for less than 1
percent of these companies’ total market
capital. No one actively campaigning
to make this change believes that it will
ruin the fossil fuel industry economi-
cally, and thus automatically lower the
world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
But divestment cannot be considered
in economic terms alone. It is more
importantly a political, social, and moral
movement that speaks to a vision of a
just and sustainable world—and it is
gaining traction among more and more
students across the country. It is a step
in a process that begins with saying that
a fossil-fueled future that wrecks the
planet is not one in which to invest. It is
a bold first move, despite the staggering
challenges humanity collectively faces
and the fact that there is an unsure path
of how exactly to solve it. It is meant
to force a moral analysis of how our
financial and political institutions are
structured, and to introduce a founda-
tional ethics of sustainability and justice
for them.
Luckily for Boston College, the
University already has a strongly worded
ethic based on Catholic social teaching
set down in its mission statement, which
is meant to carry over into all aspects
of how the University is governed. This
includes how the University invests its
endowment. The Ethical Investment
Guidelines read, “In the management of
its investments, Boston College 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
individual, personal freedom, and social
justice.” But how do these guidelines
apply to climate issues? The leader of
the Catholic Church provided a pow-
erful answer to this question with the
Last night, as I huddled over a
container of cookie monster ice cream,
melted dairy dripping down my bruised
forearms, I started to think about ser-
vice. It’s hard not to think about service
at a school whose community service
clubs are as competitive as its academ-
ics. But I don’t mean to talk about that
kind of service. I want to talk about food
service, in all its unforgiving, unglamor-
ous, and minimum-waged glory.
I started working at White Mountain
Creamery two years ago. A friend con-
vinced me to apply despite my complete
lack of food service experience. “Free
ice cream!” she said. “Great tips!” I was
sold. But I was also woefully unpre-
pared. My first night, I unknowingly
underserved all my customers. “Just
one more scoop,” my supervisor goaded
me on, eyeing the growing line behind
the counter. I dug into the container of
coffee ice cream with all my strength,
cursing my weak arms and every cus-
tomer in sight. By the end of the night,
my arms were aching, my wrists were
bruised, and a thick layer of dishwater
and melted ice cream covered me like a
blanket. I felt like I had survived a war.
I’ve learned a lot from this job. I’ve
learned to scoop and frost. I’ve learned
to put up with rude customers and low
tips and broken blenders. I’ve even
learned the art of mental math, though I
still freeze up as soon as I stand behind
the cash register (what’s 20.01-4.76?).
More than anything, I have learned the
value of a dollar and the inestimable
power of everyone who stands behind a
counter and makes your food.
Having served and scooped for mini-
mum wage for two years, I am starting
to see the horrors of the food service in-
THE HEIGHTS Monday, April 25, 2016 A8
think about the idea of being student-body
president,” Simons said. Even people who
aren’t in UGBC must think about it, they said.
But it’s also a natural byproduct of having been
in the organization for a long time, having lots
of friends in it, and feeling like they can do the
best job of running it.
Th e position of the president is generally
considered the top spot, but the two view them-
selves as equals. McCaff rey wanted to be EVP
because it allows her to run the Student Assem-
bly (SA), which she thinks needs some changes,
having spent two years in it. For example, two
months ago she helped pass a resolution to
reduce the size of the SA from 50 members to
35. She said that in her time in UGBC, the SA
has only had 30 to 35 active members.
Wait, some people run and get elected and
don’t show up?
“Yeah, essentially,” she said. Th at says a lot
about what they’re up against.
Simons and McCaff rey are both from
New York, he from Larchmont and
she from Lockport, opposite ends of
the state. Simons studies biology and hopes
to go to medical school. He’s doing a medical
humanities minor, too, which he said helps
give him a perspective on the day-to-day,
human aspect of medicine that the sciences
don’t quite provide. McCaff rey is a political
science major and plans on going to law school
after graduation, though she spent last fall in
Geneva studying international relations.
Simons said that in high school, he
couldn’t have been less interested in student
government.
“I didn’t think that the students had a
voice in anything beyond a nominal pres-
ence,” he said.
But that changed when he got to BC.
He joined the UGBC Leadership Academy
(ULA), a program for about 40 freshmen
that has a competitive admissions process,
and said he fell in love with giving back to the
organization and the ability UGBC gave him
to make change on campus. He’s stuck with
it ever since.
Simons and McCaff rey are exceedingly
sure of themselves. Th ey were almost too cool
when we talked, chilling in Hillside with break-
fast as I tried to wake myself up. Th ey were ar-
ticulate and candid. Mark Miceli, an associate
director in the Offi ce of Student Involvement,
called Simons pragmatic. Hussey called them
both charismatic. I feel that.
“Russell seems super type-A, but he’s really
approachable,” said Kyle McCormick, MCAS
’17, who ran outreach eff orts for the campaign
and is one of Simons’ roommates. “He’s mega-
competent. … He’s one of those people who
gets 600 likes on his profi le picture.”
Speaking of Facebook, they ran a pretty
slick online campaign. One shot on their
site’s home page has the whole team hanging
out on the Million Dollar Stairs, looking like
an album cover for a preppy, up-and-coming
folk band.
McCormick’s job as the outreach coordi-
nator was mostly based on social media, so
maybe he’s to credit for that. Th ey had a pretty
good handle going into it on the networks and
friend groups in the junior and senior classes—
and besides, he said, the seniors for the most
part don’t care—so he and the team tried to
pinpoint freshmen and sophomores who they
thought had large and diverse networks and
could spread the word quickly. McCormick’s
ideal model was having supporters in a lot of
group chats encouraging other students to
vote for Simons and McCaff rey, to change
their profi le pictures, and to come help out at
dorm hours, when candidates campaigned in
residence halls.
“It’s not my speed to be so camp coun-
selor-ish, and I had to send all these emails
to 300 people, but I wound up loving it,” Mc-
Cormick said.
According to Hussey, part of Simons’ and
McCaff rey’s appeal was that they have big roles
in UGBC but also outside it, where McCaf-
frey, for example, was in the Emerging Leader
Program (ELP) as a freshman. McCormick
called ELP a “huge untapped network,” which
is weird considering that it’s just 50 students.
But they know people. Combine that with the
freshmen in ULA, another target group, and
that’s a lot of underclassman networks.
That all sounds perfect, but let’s just
throw this out there: it’s probably
not going to be very easy for them.
Th e extended length of the election means
they have four weeks to do what incoming
administrations usually do in eight or 10. More
importantly, Simons and McCaff rey inherit a
UGBC that is somewhat uncertain and con-
cerned about its current role on campus. Th e
length of the election also means that turnout
was extremely low: just 2,592 students voted,
down from 3,411 last year, and 4,332 two years
ago. Lots of people seem uninterested, and
some, like Anthony Perasso, LSOE ’17, who
ran a satirical campaign, are openly opposed
and calling for some changes to the system.
When I talked to Hussey last week, she said
fi xing student disillusionment is something
UGBC has to be focused on.
“In my three years here nobody has ever
said, ‘UGBC is so awesome, we love all the
work that you do,’” she said. She paused for a
second. “I think that’s also part of the deal that
goes into it, that people who do UGBC aren’t
doing it for the recognition in the fi rst place.”
Simons thinks about students’ disinterest
a lot like Hussey does. Th ey both said the rea-
son turnout was so low was the length of the
election season and the number of candidates:
it’s always a little more high-stakes when two
teams are going at it, rather than six.
Th ey also both acknowledged that there
may be more to it. Simons said fi xing disin-
terest is about communication, making sure
students know that some of the good things
that get done on campus are UGBC initia-
tives. McCaff rey cited healthy food at late
night and the bus to the Chestnut Hill Mall
as projects that students don’t give UGBC
enough credit for.
“I think many would argue that we’re doing
almost too many things on campus,” Simons
said. Next year they hope to make clear connec-
tions between initiatives to give students a bet-
ter sense of goals and themes.
Another issue is the potential that, because
Simons and McCaffrey come from within
UGBC, perception of the organization will
continue to be that it is ineffi cient and insular.
Th eir slick social media might not help them
out much on that front.
“Th roughout their campaign they were
struggling to seem less establishment-ish, just
because they were the favorites and they’re
polished,” McCormick said.
But Perasso tried to run a campaign, with
Rachel Loos, MCAS ’18, that made fun of that
establishment vibe and argued that UGBC
wastes some of its $328,000 budget, and look
what happened: they didn’t make it through
the primary. Simons and McCaff rey got al-
most twice as many votes as the runners-up.
It seems like people aren’t anti-UGBC—lately,
anyway, they’re over UGBC. Th ey won’t vote
against it, but they won’t vote for it, either.
And Simons and McCaff rey see that.
“I don’t think students have much reason
to believe the elected leadership at this point,”
Simons said. “[Being insiders] doesn’t mean
that we’re okay with the way everything’s been
done.”
Adam Rosenbloom, co-chair of the Elec-
tions Committee (EC) and MCAS ’16, said
that it’s generally true that students who are
more involved are the ones who vote—hence
the coveted ELP/ULA bloc. Maybe they feel
more invested in UGBC’s goals. It’s also true
that participation decreases as students get
older—last year, 1,004 sophomores, 840 ju-
niors, and just 419 seniors voted.
It’s unclear why. Students might get more
apathetic over time, Rosenbloom suggested,
feeling like UGBC plays a smaller and smaller
role in their lives as they get closer to gradu-
ation. He said there isn’t much the EC can do
to increase interest. After a certain number
of emails and a certain number of town hall
meetings and debates, people stop showing
up.
The biggest obstacle Simons and
McCaffrey face might be the
administration. Their platform
includes a sexual health initiative, which they
say is a refl ection of BC’s Jesuit values and
should be considered part of cura personalis,
educating and caring for the whole person.
One of the goals of the initiative is to make
sexual health pamphlets readily available in
University Health Services. Hussey said that,
as with a lot of complicated issues, getting the
whole plan approved would be tough. Th at’s
part of the job.
“It is really diffi cult to make change, and
change on any college campus in general
happens slowly,” she said. “You just have to
focus on what can you accomplish in one year
and also what bigger things you can move the
needle on.”
Simons and McCaff rey have to be okay, in
other words, with sowing seeds for the long
term. In the past, like with this year’s admin-
istration led by Hussey and Th omas Napoli,
UGBC president and MCAS ’16, some issues
have gotten off the ground too fast. One of
the biggest focuses for Napoli and Hussey is
a comprehensive free-expression policy that
would create more avenues for unregistered
groups to have a presence on campus—un-
registered groups can’t put up fl yers or reserve
meeting space. It passed through the SA, and
then stalled going through the approval pro-
cess in the Offi ce of the Dean of Students.
“I think [the free-expression policy] was
one of those cases where we probably needed
to have a lot more dialogue before the policy
was put out,” said Vice President for Student
Aff airs Barb Jones, who oversees the offi ce.
Simons and McCaff rey hope to keep that
conversation going, and Jones said she’ll be
having breakfast with them every other week
next year to talk. Th ey both said that BC Look-
ing Forward, a dinner hosted by UGBC and
administrators to discuss student concerns, is
a good fi rst step. But the key is action, Simons
said. As UGBC president and EVP, he and
McCaff rey will make four presentations next
year to a group from the Board of Trustees,
though Simons said they’ve historically led to
few concrete changes.
“It’s hard to say what’s gone on after those
conversations,” he said. Th ey’d like to meet
with University President Rev. William P.
Leahy, S.J., who hasn’t met with UGBC in
the past year. One of their goals is to improve
students’ perception of the administration and
try to be a bridge between the two.
McCormick said that on one hand, Si-
mons wants to be progressive and push the
University on diffi cult issues, while on the
other hand, his roles on campus make him
very well-known to administrators, and he
might hesitate to clash with them. Navigat-
ing that balancing act will be tricky, but they
can do it.
“If someone’s gonna find that middle
ground, it’s gonna be them,” McCormick
said.
Maybe that experience and confi dence are
what it’s all about, kind of like running down
Comm. Ave. at Mile 21—a couple miles to go
before you cross the fi nish line, with a few goals
in mind, a lot of road behind you, and (at least
some) students cheering you on.
McSimons, from A1
into the jungle and delivered to the leaders of
RAFC. Th ey all sat around a table, wearing
masks and holding guns.
Despite the risks, he knew that the most
productive way to address the drug issue was to
start conversations with the drug lords.
Th e third characteristic for a good leader is
confi dence, he said. Pablo Escobar, then the big-
gest leader of the drug cartels in Colombia and
one of the wealthiest men in the world, killed
400 people personally and 1,400 indirectly.
Before Arango was president, he was a
journalist who supported the government
crackdown on the cartel. Since he began work as
a journalist in 1982, he had received numerous
death threats from Escobar.
“Th e only thing people feared at the time
was extradition to the United States,” he said.
Th e Colombian government decided to
begin punishing cartel members who fought
extradition. In response, the cartel began to
target, kill, and kidnap politicians. Arango was
kidnapped in 1988 and put in a small jail. It was
during this time that he met Escobar.
“He said he was going to kill me, and so we
had a long conversation—a six-hour conversa-
tion,” he said.
During the conversation, he tried to instill
confi dence in Escobar. When Escobar went to
leave, he told the guards to give Arango any-
thing he wanted but that if he tried to escape,
they should shoot him.
Escobar told him that on Friday he was go-
ing to kidnap the attorney general of Colombia.
Th ey wanted to release a photo of the president
and the attorney general handcuff ed to show
the cartel’s power.
A week later, the authorities showed up,
but Arango thought that his kidnappers would
kill him before they were taken by the police.
When one of the kidnappers came in, he told
the president that he was his “insurance policy”
and would not shoot him.
In all of the commotion, Arango was able
to escape from the jail. He later learned that
the men fl ed to the Amazon rainforest just
after he left.
“If I had stayed there another three or four
minutes I don’t know if I would have survived,”
he said. Th e last essential characteristic of a
good leader is communication, he said.
Before social media, getting his message
out to the general public was much harder. By
traveling to Venezuela and talking with the lo-
cal people, he said, he was able to learn about
the humanitarian crisis for the fi rst time. After
discovering the need that existed in the country,
he set out to educate others on the crisis.
He attributes the power of communica-
tion to the improvements in Venezuela since
his visit. He also decided to make a digital
presidential library available to the public. Th e
site includes photos of his family, videos, and
other personal documents. He then built a
large library with documents and books about
history and Colombian politicians.
“All of you are here listening to my stories
and that shows a lot about you—the great
leaders that you’re going to be in the future,”
Arango said.
talent portion of the show.
“Th e pants one,” he recalled decisively when ques-
tioned about his biggest threat. “Th at was so impressive
because practicing standup is one thing, but practicing
putting your pants on without hands is unheard of.”
Building off of this success, another make-or-break
moment in the show was professionally handled with
elegance by the future Mr. BC—the swimsuit portion.
“I told myself I was going go to the Plex for the
whole week,” explained Oliva of his preparation, along
with listening to the original Superman theme several
times. “I went for the fi rst two days, and I was like, ‘No
I’m not doing this’.”
Th e solution? Own it.
“I fi gured I might as well own up to what you’ve
got and make a joke of it, instead of go in serious and
have this weird dad-bod,” admitted Oliva with a touch
of pride.
Th ough his fi rst foray into the standup comedy
genre, Oliva has ambitions to take his newfound
talents farther and perform in the future. Adjust-
ing his crown and meditating on the experience
briefl y, Oliva refl ected on the experience of
standup comedy as an exercise in vulner-
ability as well.
“So often, people, myself included,
can be like, ‘Wow, that guy sings poorly,’
or, ‘Wow, his jokes are terrible,’” he
explained. “After doing Mr. BC, I
can step back and realize that you
shouldn’t rush to some review of a
performance without consider-
ing that what they are doing on
stage takes so much courage.
So I want to give a big shout
out to all the other contes-
tants—I tip my hat.”
Th is victory for Olivia
is, in a lot of ways, a vic-
tory for virtue. Th ough
my personal knowledge
of the male beauty pag-
eant landscape is fairly
limited, I can’t imagine
that many characters
as genuine as the new
Mr. BC emerge victo-
rious from competi-
tions of this nature.
In fact, Oliva has
a hard time believ-
ing he is Mr. BC himself.
“Its funny because I’m not that involved on campus,”
Oliva responded when asked about how he felt with
regards to this new title. “I try to be nice to everybody,
so I have a good amount of friends and stuff . But, over-
whelmingly, people don’t really know me.”
For now, however, the title of Mr. BC will have to
fi t—and deservedly so. When asked if the newly coro-
nated Mr. BC had plans for the future, Oliva burped,
excused himself graciously, and answered graciously.
“Mr. BC is going to make the other people at BC feel
like they can be Mr. BC,” he said with an impish smile.
“Yeah, that’s a great quote.”
Mr. BC, from A5Arango, from A1
AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Former Colombian President Andres Pastrana Arango talked to students about leadership.
INSIDE SPORTS TU/TD...................................B2Sports in short............................B2Baseball.................................B3THIS ISSUE
SPORTS B1
MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
To the untrained eye, it looks like
a good thing. That is, if you hate Jim
Harbaugh.
I can understand if you do. This
man is brash, cocky, fearless, some-
times mouthy, and, worst of all,
the leader of the Michigan Wolver-
ines—a program that I am obligated
to remind you has won one national
championship since full integration,
(1997) yet whose fans act as if they are
the kings and queens of the college
football world. The way he screams at
officials and pouts up and down the
field is irritating to an unreal level.
And Harbaugh himself hasn’t even
won anything yet!
It’s Harbaugh’s recruiting that gets
under the skin of most people in the
college football world. He accepted a
challenge to climb a tree. He has slept
over the house of a kicker who had
already committed to Penn State. Hell,
he even Netflixed and Chilled with a
4-star recruit! No, not the kind you
might (hope to) do when your Walsh
8-man is empty. The actual one. With
cookies and milk.
Nothing pisses off college football’s
establishment more than Harbaugh’s
insistence to set up satellite camps
across the country to sell the already
well-known Michigan brand. But,
while they cannot control Harbaugh’s
individual actions, the old and cranky
men who run the sport—namely,
those from the Southern schools—
could shut him down.
About two weeks ago, a slight ma-
jority of the FBS conferences—name-
ly, the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pacific-12,
Mountain West, and Sun Belt—voted
to permanently ban satellite camps,
against the wishes of Harbaugh and
the Big Ten, American Athletic,
Conference-USA, and Mid-American.
(Note that the Pac-12 claims its repre-
sentative voted incorrectly.) The ban
means that all conferences will likely
follow the rules of the ACC and SEC,
in which, even when invited, coaches
could not step outside a 50-mile ra-
dius of campus.
Naturally, Harbaugh was upset.
So were several other coaches, even
ones in the ACC. Wake Forest’s Dave
Clawson said that the camps only help
his program, which, despite playing
in talent-rich North Carolina, isn’t as
nationally known.
“I don’t think we should do any-
thing that makes us less competitive
nationally,” Clawson said last year,
when legislation was first proposed.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack
Swarbrick echoed Clawson’s state-
Pitching for Boston College softball
has been one of its consistent strengths
all season. Coming into its weekend
series against North Carolina State,
sophomore Allyson Frei ranked fourth
in the Atlantic Coast Conference in
strikeouts with 139, and eighth in the
conference in opponent’s batting aver-
age at .230.
Sophomore Jessica Dreswick ranked
sixth in the conference in ERA at 2.22.
Those two have shouldered the bulk of
the innings for the Eagles so far, and
while the BC season has been up and
down, you can always expect Dreswick
and Frei to give a quality outing.
Sometimes, that quality outing ends
up being something special. Through-
out the whole season Dreswick has been
confusing batters and making them look
silly through her repertoire of pitches,
but she herself had been eluded by a
goal that every pitcher hopes to ac-
complish.
That is, until Saturday, when Dres-
wick pitched the first no-hitter in con-
ference play in BC (24-20, 7-8 Atlantic
Coast) history against NC State (21-29,
4-14), the highlight of the Eagles’ week-
end sweep of the Wolfpack.
The Wolfpack did manage to get
five baserunners against Dreswick off
of walks, but she was not flustered
and shut down any opportunity that
NC State managed to muster. She kept
the Wolfpack batters off-balance with
an impressive mix of speed and loca-
tion, and the Eagles played an errorless
defense to back up the best pitching
performance of the season.
The Eagles finished the sweep on
Sunday, beating NC State 5-2 behind
another impressive pitching perfor-
mance from Frei. Eight out of the nine
BC starters recorded hits, and the
Eagles exploded for four runs in the
top of the second after falling behind
early, 2-0.
Freshman Danielle Thomas walked
to force in the first run for BC, and Lo-
ren DiEmmanuele and Allyson Moore
followed across the plate on a throw-
ing error. Thomas then scored on a
groundout from Murphy. This was all
Frei needed, as she kept the Wolfpack
See Satellite Camps, B4
If someone told you before this past
weekend that Boston College baseball
would take two of three games from the
No. 4 team in the
country, anyone
would be thrilled.
Well, that’s just what happened—BC won
its weekend series against the University
of Louisville, No. 4 in the country. Despite
that, though, a disappointing 6-4 loss on
Sunday left a sour taste in the Eagles’
mouths.
The Eagles (21-15, 7-12 Atlantic Coast)
might have fallen to the Cardinals (31-9,
14-7) 6-2 in the final game of their three-
game series, but they still took the series
with two wins on Friday and Saturday.
So while BC head coach Mike Gambino
was disappointed with Sunday’s result,
he took positives away from the series as
a whole.
“Ultimately, looking back on the week-
end, two out of three is great,” Gambino
said following the loss. “But right now, I’m
thinking about the fact that we just lost a
baseball game.”
Junior Mike King had an unusually
poor start against the Cardinals, as he
didn’t make it through five innings. Over
a dozen scouts were in attendance to
watch King duel with opposing starter
Kyle Funkhouser, who is projected to be a
late-first- or early-second-round pick in
the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft. On
this occasion, Funkhouser had the upper
hand. King had problems locating his
fastball throughout the start, as he walked
three batters, beaned another, and threw
two wild pitches.
King was yanked immediately after
giving up a home run to shortstop Devin
Hairston for the fifth run of the game, but
the bullpen settled down nicely to keep
the Eagles in it. Lefty Zach Stromberg
threw two innings of relief surrendering
only a run, and freshman John Witkowski
tossed the final 2 2/3 innings to keep the
Cardinals at bay.
In his best outing of the season, Wit-
kowski was excited by the team’s perfor-
mance over the weekend and the promise
that the young arms of the bullpen showed
in the defeat.
“A loss is a loss, but looking at the
weekend as a whole, it was very good for
us,” Witkowski said. “We won the series,
and we’re taking that as a positive going
into this week.”
Though it was going to be very tough
for the Eagles to sweep a team as good as
Louisville anyway, they didn’t do them-
selves any favors with a number of mental
gaffes in the field and on the bases.
With a runner on first base and nobody
out in the top of the fourth inning, Louis-
ville’s Danny Rosenbaum hit a screaming
line drive directly at Gabe Hernandez in
Lacrosse: Swansong on Senior DayBC couldn’t handle Johns Hopkins in its second meeting with the lacrosse powerhouse....B2
Baseball: Catching Up with PeteThe Frates family attended Wednesday’s Bean-pot, giving updates on Pete’s progress...B2
See Softball vs. NCST, B2
LouisvilleBoston College
62
BASEBALL
TAYLOR PERISON / HEIGHTS STAFF
Jessica Dreswick, a sophomore, shut out the Wolfpack while walking five and striking out six.
SOFTBALL
BACK IN THE HUNT
ALEC GREANEY AND JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITORS
JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
See Sunday Baseball, B3
THE HEIGHTS Monday, April 25, 2016B2
DRESWICK DEALS Jessica Dre-
swick threw BC softball’s fi rst-
ever ACC no-hitter on Saturday,
but somehow she fi nished the
weekend with a higher ERA
than she started with. How?
She allowed four earned runs in
two relief appearances over the
series’ fi nal two games.
HE KNOWS HOW TO SCORE Bird-
ball’s Nick “Scors” Sciortino has
been on a tear as of late, scoring
seven runs in his last six games.
Over that stretch, the junior
catcher also has nine hits—in-
cluding his first career home
run—and four RBIs.
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS - Sal-
ary details revealed this week for
BC’s coaches showed Jerry York
nearly doubled his paycheck
in 2014-2015, raking in about
$1.2 million. With 45 years of
coaching experience, 1,012
career wins, and fi ve national
championships, it’s safe to say
he has earned his share.
SENIOR-DAY DOWNER - After
building a 7-3 halftime lead
behind strong play from the
team’s six seniors, BC lacrosse
surrendered six straight goals
to Johns Hopkins before fi nally
losing 12-9 in the regular season
fi nale. Not the best way to send
off the squad’s seniors, but at
least they got some delicious
food at the postgame banquet.
SPRING SPORT DIVERSITY - The
weather’s fi nally becoming per-
fect for spring sports, but there’s
not enough athletic action going
on at the moment—especially if
you’re not a baseball fan. How
about some soccer, or football,
or outdoor streetball to satisfy
our spring sports desires?
NO LOVE FOR SCOTTY - Birdball’s
Scott Braren has come up clutch
for the Eagles on multiple occa-
sions this year, and sports a .476
average in 21 at bats this year.
But therein lies the problem:
Gambino has only given him
21 at bats. Maybe it’s time for
him to escape his pinch-hit-
ting role.
THUMBS
UP
THUMBS
DOWN
Like Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down?
Follow us @HeightsSports
EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Emily Fahey / Heights EditorCupicatuidet L. Fulessedo, querfecta, nihilicii ineri fic
SPO
RTS
in S
HO
RT Numbers to Know Quote of the Week
DREW HOO / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
Coaches from the four Beanpot schools presented Pete Frates with a $5,000 check before last week’s game.
BASEBALL
Ten years ago, Boston College
baseball needed a spark.
Th e team had gone 34-20 in
its fi nal season in the Big East the
year before, but started just 4-11
against ACC opponents. With
a 6-5 win over the University
of Connecticut, BC moved one
game above .500, but a diffi cult
schedule the rest of the way
threatened to give the Eagles
their first losing record since
1998.
Th en, on April 25, 2006, BC
took on Harvard in the Beanpot
Championship. Eagles’ starter
Ted Ratliff allowed two runs in
the fi rst inning, putting the team
in an early hole, but BC struck
back. Th e team put up four runs
in the second and a total of 10
in the game, while Ratliff settled
down for a complete game three-
hitter, striking out nine along the
way. But no one shined like Pete
Frates.
Th e junior soon-to-be captain
of the Eagles went 4-4 on the day,
tallying four RBIs and blasting a
home run out of Fenway Park. It
wasn’t even Frates’ best career
game—that more likely came in a
game the next year, when he went
4-6 with a grand slam, three-run
homer, and eight total RBIs—but
it was no doubt one of his most
memorable.
“I haven’t had a 4-4 day since
high school,” Frates said after
that game.
Since then, life has changed
for Frates and his family, who
learned of his diagnosis of amyo-
trophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
in March 2012. Yet, that hasn’t
meant the Beanpot has became
any less important in their lives.
Pete’s parents, Nancy and John,
both came out to Northborough,
Mass. this past Wednesday to
watch BC beat Northeastern for
the program’s 12th champion-
ship in the 26-year history of the
tournament.
“It’s kind of a melancholy
night for us,” Nancy said before
the game. “We’re excited that BC
is in the championship, we fol-
low the Beanpot every year. Th e
fact that 10 years ago, Pete was
scoreless for the remaining six
innings. Junior Taylor Coroneos
scored an insurance run on a
wild pitch for the fifth run of
the game.
While the story of the day on
Saturday was Dreswick’s no-hit-
ter, Frei also came in clutch in
the second game of the double-
header. Dreswick started the
second game, but the Wolfpack
appeared to figure her out early,
scoring two quick runs. Frei
came in and tossed 6 2/3 innings
of scoreless and hitless relief.
The Wolfpack only had two hits
over the doubleheader, as BC’s
pitching was dominant for all
14 innings.
The offense took a while to
get going during game two on
Saturday, but scored three runs
in the fifth inning, starting with
a home run from Jessie Daulton
to left-center field. Moore and
DiEmmanuele followed with RBI
singles that scored Tatiana Cor-
tez and Chloe Sharabba respec-
tively. The Eagles added a fourth
run in the top of the seventh on a
Cortez home run. Daulton went
6-8 with a home run, a triple,
five RBIs, and four runs scored
throughout the day, and Cortez
went 4-7 with a home run, three
RBIs, and two runs scored.
In game one on Saturday, the
Eagles broke through in the top
of the fifth after four innings
of scoreless softball from both
teams. Daulton ripped a single to
left center that scored DiEmman-
uele, followed by Cortez, who
drew a bases-loaded walk that
forced Thomas home. Sharabba
knocked in Daulton on a line-
drive single to left-center field.
Cortez homered in the top of the
seventh to make it 4-0, more than
enough for Dreswick.
On Thursday, BC faced off
against a tough UMass softball
team, and were unable to come
up with a win. Errors were the
deciding factor, as the Eagles
made a key error in the fifth
inning that allowed the Minute-
women to go ahead for good.
UMass struck first powered
by a two-run home run from
outfielder Tara Klee off starter
Jordan Weed in the bottom of
the first inning. The Eagles were
held scoreless for the first three
innings, but fought back to tie
the game in the fourth. Cortez
hit a leadoff double, and was then
singled in by Jordan Chimento.
DiEmmanuele pinch ran for
Chimento and later scored on a
single by Moore.
The Minutewomen scored
again in the fifth inning to take
the lead back. Jena Cozza led off
with a walk, and was followed by
a single to left field from Taylor
Carbone. BC rightfielder Murphy
misplayed the ball, which allowed
Cozza to score the go-ahead run
from first. UMass scored again in
the bottom of the sixth, and the
Eagles were unable to capitalize
despite out-hitting the Minute-
women nine to seven.
The Eagles’ dominant pitch-
ing performance this past week-
end against a solid NC State team
will hopefully lend even more
momentum to them as they enter
their last games of the season and
the ACC Tournament. It will be
hard to bet against them if Frei
and Dreswick continue pitching
like they have been.
standing there with the iconic
Beanpot over his head—every
kid’s dream. A lot has happened
in 10 years.”
Frates couldn’t make the game
this past Wednesday since his
health makes it diffi cult to travel,
but his impact is still present. All
proceeds from the $10 tickets to
the game went to benefi t the Pete
Frates No. 3 Fund. Before the
championship game, the coaches
of the four schools in the Bean-
pot—BC, Harvard, Northeastern,
and the University of Massachu-
setts—presented Pete’s parents
with a check from the New Eng-
land Baseball Complex for $5,000
toward ALS research.
Although $5,000 is barely a
drop in the $115 million bucket
raised by the Ice Bucket Chal-
lenge in 2014, it isn’t all about the
money. Th e biggest inspiration
for the Frates family’s eff ort has
been the fact that before Pete was
diagnosed, they had no idea what
ALS was.
“As Pete calls it, we’re the cool
disease now,” Nancy said. “We
knew we couldn’t raise money
unless people really understood
[what it was] ... So, the fact that
the Ice Bucket Challenge not only
raised all that money, but people
know what ALS is now. They
know the unacceptable situation
of this disease, that for 75 years
had no progress. Well, we’re here
to tell you that there has been
tremendous progress. Since the
Ice Bucket Challenge, lightning-
speed progress.”
Nancy said that three months
ago, top doctors in the field of
ALS had met in Boston and
announced that they expect a
treatment within four to five
years. Much of their fundraising
right now is focused on getting
in a position to spread a treat-
ment when it is found—and
many involved are optimistic it
will be soon.
“We’re hoping by the 10th
anniversary of Pete’s diagnosis,
they’re doing things to help cure
ALS, and maybe we can stop
having these ALS games,” BC
head coach Mike Gambino said.
“That’s the goal. Doing all this
stuff for ALS is not something
we hope is with our program.
We’re hoping in 10 years people
say, remember when we used to
have to make ALS a cause and
now it’s gone?”
His impact has also been
spreading around college base-
ball. One of the family’s’ latest
projects, Band Together to Strike
Out ALS, has been to encourage
ACC teams to wear wristbands
for a weekend in May that reads
“STRIKE OUT ALS,” with a
small “PF3” in tribute to Pete.
Even though Pete can’t travel
with the team to every game as
he did for the first couple years
after his diagnosis, the play-
ers still recognize Nancy and
John, and they’ll still exchange
tight hugs whenever the family
shows up.
“I mean, that’s family,” Gam-
bino said. “It’s hard to explain
how much that means.”
After the game, senior Logan
Hoggarth, who went 2-3 with
a homer in his final Beanpot,
spoke with confidence about
BC’s future in the Boston.
“I know they’ll keep winning
the Beanpot,” he said. “We’ll
never give it back.”
Frates could hardly have said
better himself how important
winning the Beanpot is for Bird-
ball—after that game for 10 years
ago, sometime after hoisting the
trophy above his head, he wrote
about how thrilled he was to be
“bringing the Beanpot back to
BC, where it belongs.”
ACC Baseball Standings
Softball vs. NCST, from B1
TAYLOR PERISON / HEIGHTS STAFF
The dugout watches as a BC baserunner prepares for the pitch on third base.
SOFTBALL
THE HEIGHTSMonday, April 25, 2016 B3BASEBALL
Freshman ace Jacob Stevens (44) tossed seven innings of one-run ball to beat Louisville.
Catcher Nick Sciortino (7) hit his first career walk-off on Saturday afternoon to clinch a series win for BC against No. 4 Louisville.ALEC GREANEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
left field.
A hard-hit ball directly at you is one
of the toughest to read off the bat. Her-
nandez learned that the hard way. He
took a few hard steps in before freezing
as the ball sailed over his head and off
the bottom of the wall. The run scored
from first, the Cardinals added another
run in the inning, and Hernandez was
pulled in favor of freshman Dominic
Hardaway in the next inning.
On the bases, BC was picked off first
base twice. The first time, Johnny Ad-
ams had just reached first on a single to
right field, but Funkhouser caught him
leaning. He faked a throw to third base
before wheeling around and gunning
Adams at first to end the BC rally.
Gambino is never one to defend
baserunning mistakes by his players,
but he went to bat for Adams following
the game.
“I think it was a balk,” Gambino said.
“I’ll defend Johnny on that one. The
umpires didn’t think so, but we’ll agree
to disagree.”
The second occasion, however, had
Gambino much less accepting of the
mistake.
Logan Hoggarth led off the bottom
of the seventh inning with a walk, and
the Eagles were looking to string togeth-
er a few hits in a row off of new pitcher
Anthony Kidston. With Hardaway at the
plate, Kidston threw a pitch in the dirt
that catcher Will Smith blocked, but the
ball settled a step or two away from him.
Hoggarth took an aggressive lead off
of first base, and Smith threw a dart to
Rosenbaum at first to nab Hoggarth.
Though Hardaway eventually struck
out, BC loaded the bases later in the in-
ning, only for Louisville to escape the
jam unharmed yet again.
“Logan’s [baserunning error] can’t
happen,” Gambino said.
With the remainder of its schedule
against local non-conference opponents
and lower-tier ACC opponents, the
Eagles have a chance to string together
enough wins to make some noise in the
ACC Tournament—and, perhaps, the
NCAA Tournament. If the series against
Louisville is any indication, the Birds
might be getting hot at just the right
time. Sunday’s result might have been
a single step back, but the series overall
was a few steps forward.
Clutch players shine in big moments. With
runners on first and third in the bottom of the
ninth inning, Nick Sciortino knew that he was
in a big moment.
He capitalized,
blasting a base hit
up the middle for the game-winning run. In
a low-scoring game with few opportunities,
Sciortino didn’t let his moment slip away.
For the second day in a row, Boston Col-
lege baseball (21-14, 7-11 Atlantic Coast)
shocked No. 4 Louisville (30-9, 13-7). This
time, the final score was 2-1 after Sciortino’s
walk-off single.
The first four innings were a scoreless
pitcher’s duel between BC’s Justin Dunn and
Louisville’s Drew Harrington. Dunn, a former
relief pitcher, started to get tired and allowed
Danny Rosenbaum to crush a home run
over the left-field wall in the fifth inning. The
fastball was a bit more elevated than Dunn
probably would have liked, and Rosenbaum
made him pay.
“We’re still stretching him out a little bit,”
head coach Mike Gambino said about Dunn
after the game. “You could see him starting
to tire in that last inning. Fastball started
coming up.”
The next crucial moment of the game
came in the top of the seventh inning. BC’s
offense was struggling mightily and surren-
dering an insurance run would have been
costly. Reliever Brian Rapp allowed Will Smith
to smash a ground ball right at third baseman
Gabe Hernandez to start the inning, who
made two phenomenal diving plays earlier in
the game. But on this one, Hernandez was a bit
off-balance, falling backward and attempting
to snare a scorcher that took a tough hop.
Smith took advantage of this opportunity
to get on base, stealing second base to put a
potential insurance run in scoring position
for the Cardinals. After Rosenbaum flew
out to right field, Louisville head coach Dan
McDonnell elected to send Colby Fitch to
the plate as a pinch hitter. During the at bat,
Smith advanced to third because of a passed
ball. Fitch ended up drawing a walk, but Rapp
struck out Logan Taylor with a tough breaking
ball on the outside corner. Taylor was visibly
frustrated with the call, sending a glare toward
home-plate umpire Olindo Mattia before
sauntering back to the dugout.
With runners on the corners and two outs,
Gambino sent right-handed relief pitcher
John Nicklas to the mound. Nicklas was very
careful with dangerous leadoff hitter Corey
Ray, making sure that he did not give him
anything good to hit. He walked Ray on five
pitches, opting to attack right-handed batter
Drew Ellis instead. After getting behind on the
count 2-0, Nicklas knew that he had to give
Ellis something to hit because the bases were
loaded. Ellis was sitting on the fastball and
drove it to deep left field. A grand slam would
have all but ended the Eagles’ chances, but
the ball did not carry far enough. Left fielder
Dominic Hardaway tracked it down to record
the final out and end the rally.
Through six innings, the Eagles had
managed a measly three hits off Harrington.
Logan Hoggarth began the seventh inning
with a base hit that just got past the shortstop.
Devin Hairston made a Derek Jeter-esque play
earlier on a similar ground ball, but this one
snuck by him as he attempted to make the
backhand play. The next batter, Hernandez,
laid down a sacrifice bunt to put the game-
tying run in scoring position. Gambino sent
pinch hitter Stephen Sauter to the plate, and
his ground ball to the shortstop allowed
Hoggarth to make it to third base. Hoggarth’s
speed and instincts were key on this play, as
many baserunners would have safely stayed
at second base. His efforts were rewarded, as
leadoff hitter Jake Palomaki laced the payoff
pitch into left-center to tie the game at one.
That full-count pitch, which was Harrington’s
101st, ended his outing.
Though Eagles had tied the game, they
were hungry for more. Jake Sparger entered
the game with a fresh arm, so continuing the
two-out rally was going to be difficult. When
Palomaki attempted to steal second base,
Smith threw the ball past the second baseman
and into center field. Palomaki advanced to
third on the play and stood 90 feet away from
giving BC the lead. Sciortino, no stranger to
big moments in this game, drew a walk on
five pitches. Michael Strem, the next batter,
hit a deep fly ball to left-center, but Taylor
was able to track it down. Strem got just a
bit under the ball, barely missing a potential
home run pitch.
In the top of the eighth inning, Louisville
responded to BC’s rally by putting together
a similar one. In fact, a sacrifice bunt and a
ground ball to shortstop which moved the
runner to third base occurred once again.
Gambino decided to start the inning with
left-handed relief pitcher Dan Metzdorf
because he liked the matchup against left-
handed hitter Brendan McKay. He worked a
full-count walk, but the fourth ball was close
to the strike zone, sending the BC crowd
into an angry frenzy. With a right-handed
hitter coming to the plate, Gambino replaced
Metzdorf with right-handed pitcher Bobby
Skogsbergh, who recorded the final six outs of
the game. After the sacrifice bunt and ground
ball out, Smith stepped up to the plate with
a runner on third and two outs. Smith had
been making solid contact all game, as he
had one single and two deep flyouts. This
time, however, he hit a slow ground ball to
shortstop. Johnny Adams charged the ball,
kept his glove down, and fired a throw to first
base that barely beat Smith.
Sparger got the best of the Eagles in the
eighth inning, quickly racking up two strike-
outs and a foul out to the third baseman. In
the ninth inning, Louisville threatened to
score the team’s second run again by putting
another runner in scoring position. Rosen-
baum started it off with a base hit to right
field. Ryan Summers was asked to lay down a
sacrifice bunt, but after failing twice, he struck
out swinging. Taylor followed with a sacrifice
bunt that moved Rosenbaum to second base.
Leadoff hitter Ray stepped up to the plate,
but Skogsbergh blew a fastball right by him
on the 1-2 pitch.
McDonnell sent right-handed reliever
Zack Burdi to the mound for the ninth inning.
Gambino countered by sending Scott Braren
to the plate as a pinch hitter. Gambino’s
strategic decision paid off, as Braren—who
came through in the clutch for BC twice
against defending national champion Virgin-
ia—smashed a ball that diving third baseman
Blake Tiberi couldn’t glove. Another pinch
hitter, Anthony Maselli, was sent to the plate,
but Burdi quieted the crowd a bit by record-
ing a three-pitch strikeout. Palomaki was the
next batter, and he ripped another huge base
hit in between the first and second basemen.
With runners on first and third, Sciortino
attempted a safety squeeze on the first pitch,
but he could not make contact with the ball.
Gambino decided to call off the play and let
Sciortino hit. He certainly delivered. The
base hit up the middle emptied the dugout,
as his teammates met Sciortino at first base
to celebrate.
“He always seems to get the big hit, you
know,” Gambino reflected. “Scorsy is the guy
you want in that big spot. We were looking
at a safety squeeze on that first one, and they
kinda crashed it so hard I said ‘Alright, go get
’em Scorsy.’”
Sciortino remained humble and grateful
after the game, giving credit to his teammates
for the win.
“It feels nice to get that hit, but props
to the pitching staff for keeping us in that
game,” he said.
BC baseball has gone through its fair share
of ups and downs this season. After taking
two games from Virginia, the Eagles were
swept by Notre Dame. Now, BC has taken two
games from one of the nation’s best teams and
has a chance for a sweep on Sunday. It will be
interesting to see if the Eagles can be consis-
tent and finish strong down the stretch in a
very difficult conference to try to earn their
first postseason berth since 2009.
With a runner on first, only one man out,
and black clouds rolling in, Louisville threat-
ened Boston College baseball in the seventh in-
ning. The Eagles
appeared to have
a commanding
five-run lead, and should have prepared to
coast for the remaining three frames. Yet when
you’re up against a lineup like the Cardinals,
whose one through six hitters all bat at least
.324—yeah, you heard me—there’s never an
opportunity to coast.
Unless you’ve got a battery like BC’s.
On a 3-2 count with the runner going,
the man on the mound kicked and delivered
a 92-mile-per-hour high heater that rung
up cleanup hitter—and Louisville’s starting
pitcher—Brendan McKay. Nick Sciortino, the
man behind the plate, leapt up and fired down
to second base. Johnny Adams slapped the tag
down on Devin Mann with a body length to
go before he reached the bag. Strike ’em out,
throw ’em out. Threat over.
Yes, there was a storm on its way to Chest-
nut Hill on Friday evening, and its name was
Jacob Stevens.
Riding high after a Beanpot victory over
Northeastern on Wednesday, BC put up its
best performance of the season thanks to its
freshman stud and some timely hitting. With
102 pitches and a career-high seven innings of
one-run ball—an unearned run, at that—Ste-
vens lifted the Eagles (20-14, 6-11 Atlantic
Coast) over No. 4 Louisville (30-8, 13-6) in a
6-1 final at Shea Field on Friday evening.
Typically, Stevens has stymied his oppo-
nents with an 88-to-90 mph fastball that can
clip both corners with ease. But with a Louisville
attack that ranks third in the nation (first in the
ACC) with 320 runs scored entering the day,
relying on one key pitch can’t cut it. Throughout
the week, Stevens worked with pitching coach
Jim Foster to refine his sharp, biting slurve,
complemented by a changeup that he has begun
to experiment with while at BC.
“Kid can just pitch,” head coach Mike
Gambino said following the game. “It’s fun to
watch, isn’t it?”
It’s not without a little bit of struggle.
Stevens, one of the nation’s leaders in WHIP,
rarely pitches with runners on. The Cardinals,
however, spread nine baserunners across
Stevens’ seven innings. No matter. Stevens
handled pitching from the stretch just as well,
helped by some slick plays from his infield-
ers. In fact, the only run of the game scored
because of a questionable call at first, in which
first-base umpire Olindo Mattia ruled Cronin
was off the bag (even though The Heights’ own
photographer’s shot says otherwise). And
after the game, Stevens was asked what was
working for him.
“Pretty much everything,” Stevens said of
his stuff. “It was a nice warm day, had all my
pitches going, so it was all good.”
The day truly belonged to the BC offense.
The Eagles have struggled of late at the plate.
BC has fallen into a tie for 219th in the coun-
try, with only 165 runs scored entering the
day—almost half of what Louisville has done
this year. Middle infielder and senior captain
Joe Cronin has the highest batting average
on the team in ACC play, a mere .250. And
if you add up the RBI numbers of BC’s top
three hitters—Jake Palomaki, Nick Sciortino,
and Michael Strem—they equal the output of
Louisville’s leadoff man, Corey Ray, alone.
From the get-go, BC was able to tee off
against McKay, Louisville’s ace. The left-hand-
ed sophomore with a 2.15 ERA, 7-1 record,
and impressive 73-to-22 strikeouts-to-walks
ratio simply couldn’t hit his spots. He con-
sistently missed on the outside corner with a
four-seam fastball that typically hits 94, but on
Friday only got to the 89-91 range. His erratic
throws led to 35 pitches in the first inning, in
which he allowed solid hits to Sciortino and
Strem and walked Cronin and Adams to force
in the game’s first run.
Given his inability to claim the outside cor-
ner, McKay was forced to move inside. Initially
it worked, but when he consistently had to stay
inside, the Eagles pounced. With the bases
loaded and one out in the third, Adams poked
a single to the outfield to score two. His team’s
ability to get on by spraying the ball around the
field or forcing McKay to throw a lot of pitches
was his key to the game.
“That was huge for us, just working counts,
stick to our approach, and trying to hit that
fastball,” Adams said.
For Gambino, it was the at bat immediately
after Adams’ that solidified BC’s place in this
game. As Gian Martellini, a catcher by trade,
danced on third, Logan Hoggarth lofted a fly
ball to right field on a 2-2 pitch. Louisville’s
Colin Lyman lined it up and fired home, yet
the tag by Colby Fitch was too late.
“If we don’t score there, not getting that run
would’ve changed things,” Gambino said.
With McKay done after five, the Eagles
turned their attention to getting insurance off
the Cardinals’ bullpen. That came in the sixth,
when BC used a mix of good hitting and small
ball to tack on two more off Sam Bordner. The
first came on a double by Palomaki that scored
Gabe Hernandez from first. The latter run came
after Palomaki stole third and Strem placed a
perfect safety squeeze to get him home.
With starters like Stevens and hitting
from the entire lineup, Gambino’s crew has
the perfect storm to go up against any team
in the ACC, even No. 4 Louisville. What the
Eagles now need to do is prove if they can use
that consistency to propel them to a berth
in the ACC Tournament for the first time
since 2009. If they play like they did on Friday
going forward, there’s reason to believe it’ll
happen.
Sunday Baseball, from B1
LouisvilleBoston College
12
LouisvilleBoston College
16
ALEC GREANEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Behind starter Kyle Funkhouser (NP), the Cardinals salvaged Sunday’s game against BC.ALEC GREANEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
THE HEIGHTS Monday, April 25, 2016 B4
Six seniors took the field for
the last time at Boston College
on Saturday, as lacrosse finished
o f f i t s
regular
season
against Johns Hopkins in front
of a spirited crowd. This was
just the second time the two
teams have met, with the Eagles
taking the first-ever meeting in
last year’s season opener against
the Blue Jays.
BC came in riding a three-
game winning streak at the
most crucial point in the season.
With big wins previously com-
ing against Dartmouth, Virginia
Tech, and Harvard, the Eagles
appeared to be clicking at the
right time. But BC (10-7, 2-5
Atlantic Coast) faltered after a
strong start, falling 12-9 to the
Blue Jays (10-7).
The Eagles came out firing
in the first half on their way to a
7-3 lead at the break. Sarah Man-
nelly powered BC’s attack, as she
tallied a goal and three assists.
Seniors Kate Rich and Caroline
Margolis each tallied a point as
well for BC in their last game at
the Newton Lacrosse Field. Zoe
Ochoa held down the fort in goal
with five terrific saves in the first
half for BC. Ochoa’s play was
key in helping the Eagles stretch
their lead out to a four-goal
margin, despite the immense
pressure provided by the Blue
Jays’ attack in the first half.
BC carried its momentum
into the second half, as Tess
Chandler scored 3:28 in to make
it 8-3 Eagles. But Johns Hopkins
responded ferociously with three
unanswered goals, two coming
from Shannon Fitzgerald and the
third from Emily Kenul, making
it an 8-6 game with 20 minutes
remaining. The Eagles called a
timeout to gather themselves,
and Mannelly won the draw out
of the timeout, taking the ball
quickly all the way down the field
before Hopkins goalie Caroline
Federico denied her shot. This
short sign of life by the Eagles
was succeeded by two more
goals for the Blue Jays, making
it an 8-8 game with 16 minutes
remaining.
Just a minute later, Johns
Hopkins took its first lead, 9-8.
The veteran Mannelly responded
with an immediate goal to tie
the game once again, igniting
the crowd of Eagles’ faithful.
Fitzgerald silenced the crowd
with yet another goal for the Blue
Jays, sneaking a shot past Ochoa
in the upper right corner to make
it 10-9 with 12 minutes remain-
ing. Hopkins then added two
more goals, each coming from
Miranda Ibello, to stretch its
lead to 12-9 with seven minutes
remaining, forcing head coach
Acacia Walker to replace Ochoa
with Lauren Daly in net.
Looking to chip away at their
deficit, Carly Bell won a ground
ball for the Eagles, and they
controlled the ball deep in Johns
Hopkins’ zone. After throwing
the ball back and forth for close
to two minutes while looking
for a shooting lane to open up,
Mannelly finally fired a shot
on goal with 5:20 remaining in
the game. The ball went wide
and out of bounds, and Johns
Hopkins won back possession of
the ball. This was the Eagles’ last
chance to make it a game down
the stretch.
BC struggled mightily in the
second half, as its high-powered
offense was held to just two
goals. The game was lost in draw
controls, as Hopkins dominated
BC 14-9 on draws, resulting in
the Blue Jays controlling pos-
session for much of the game.
The Eagles were unable to get
anything going down the stretch,
with the ball in their defensive
zone for almost the entire last
15 minutes of the game.
Kenul was the key to Johns
Hopkins’ potent second-half
attack. The Brookeville, Md.,
native tallied three goals and
two assists on six shots. For the
Eagles, Mannelly was the star
as she scored two goals and
added two assists. Junior Kate
Weeks scored her 38th goal of
the season for BC, giving her the
team scoring title for the regular
season.
The Eagles will head down
to Blacksburg, Va., for the ACC
Tournament on Thursday, where
they will take on Syracuse on
Thursday at 5 p.m. on ESPN3.
They’ll look to strengthen their
resume for the NCAA tourna-
ment. But even as the No. 16
team in the nation, the Eagles
may need to do a little more work
in order to guarantee a spot in
the 26-team field.
ALEC GREANEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
BC is heavily disadvantaged because of the NCAA’s ban. Someone tell that to Steve.
ments through the most basic
and classic reasoning: It’s another
reason that gives backing to the
national narrative that the NCAA
is a bunch of crooks. Preventing
coaches and student-athletes from
freely having an opportunity to go
on the open market and choosing
their school or players may open up
another round of antitrust suits.
If anyone should be leading
the outrage charge, it’s Steve
Addazio and Boston College
football.
(Note: Addazio has been
reached for comment and has not
yet responded by time of publica-
tion.)
Th ere’s a few reasons for this,
and it starts with proximity. As a
member of the ACC, Addazio has
already been burned by his inabil-
ity to stretch outside that 50-mile
mark thanks to the conference’s
self-imposition. Th e ACC does
this because, at its core, it’s a
Southern league with schools
smack dab in the middle of some
exclusive recruiting hotbeds. No,
they’re not from the big three—
Texas, California, and Florida,
save for Miami—but there’s still a
load of blue-chip talent in places
like North and South Carolinas,
Georgia, and even Western Penn-
sylvania.
Th at’s not the case in BC’s
50-mile radius. Th anks to SB
Nation’s Nebraska affi liate Corn
Nation, we can see exactly how
many recruits from 2002-14 fall
into that sweet spot.
Hint: it’s not many.
First, we must adjust for
Satellite Camps, from B1
“blue-chip recruits,” or those who
received a 4- or 5-star from some
arbitrary scaling system. Th ese
are the guys who are supposed
to make or break a program with
their incomparable amounts of
physical strength and athleticism
(A quick reminder that we are
rating 17-year-olds).
In some areas, there’s no prob-
lem in restricting coaches to that
50-mile radius because of how big
the talent pool is. If you examine
the radii around North Carolina’s
four ACC schools—Wake For-
est, Duke, North Carolina, and
North Carolina State—you’ll
fi nd that there were 27 blue-chip
recruits (20 were 4-stars, seven
were 5-stars). Down near Miami,
there were 22 blue chippers (fi ve
5-stars). Around Georgia Tech,
there were a whopping 41 who
qualifi ed (28 were 4s, 13 were
5s). Not all of them went to the
schools in their areas, but the
coaches there had easier access
to them.
Meanwhile, BC is screwed. In
its 50-mile radius, which stretch-
es as far west as Worcester, as far
north as Manchester, N.H., and
as far south as Providence, there
have only been 10 “blue-chip
prospects,” all of them 4-stars.
Of those 10, BC has successfully
recruited fi ve of them: Will Black-
mon, Albert Louis-Jean, Gosder
Cherlius, Jim Unis, and Mark
Spinney. Th e other fi ve were
snatched by Michigan, North
Carolina, Georgia, Vanderbilt,
and Maryland.
On the other hand, BC has
struggled in attacking entire
states in which ACC schools lie,
much less its direct radii. Th e
Eagles have only had four blue-
chip recruits come from the 50-
mile radius of another school in
the ACC. All four of them—John
Elliott, Will Th ompson, Steele
DiVitto and Brian Toal—came
within the reach of Rutgers, a
school that isn’t even in the con-
ference anymore. After that, BC
has stolen two blue chips in Penn-
sylvania and two in Virginia.
Now, let’s take a couple of
things away from that. Th ere
are some unavoidable factors
here that absolve BC of some
blame. Four of those fi ve schools
had to work under those rules
limiting coach travel (at the time,
Maryland was in the ACC). No
matter where you go, people are
going to know Michigan and
Georgia football. Moreover, we
can’t blame Addazio for any of
these shortcomings—none of
those blue chippers within the
wall were from the time when he
recruited at BC.
Yet Addazio’s strategy of a BC
coach building that wall around
Massachusetts and the New
England area isn’t one that was
unique to him. Th e truth is that
it’s hard to fi nd reason to build a
wall when there’s nothing to keep
inside.
Now, when you open it up
to 3-star recruits—which, mind
you, are a big dropoff in the
recruiting world—BC performs
a lot better given the amount of
solid prospects there are in New
England. Additionally, BC has
shown an ability to snag incred-
ibly talented 3-star recruits from
states in which ACC rivals reside.
For example, Andre Williams is
from Maryland, Harold Landry
from North Carolina, and Kamrin
Moore from Virginia. BC’s coach-
ing staff should be commended
for developing these players (and
others) into elite prospects.
But given that New England
high school football isn’t as highly
regarded in the national eye—nor
should it be—it’s hard to say how
these kids will perform going
up against players who spent
their time in the South or West
smashing each other. And relying
solely on a coaching staff without
mixing in the occasional elite and
natural talent can come back to
bite some players.
It’s Harbaugh’s main objec-
tion, however, that should be a
factor in Addazio’s argument.
Harbaugh’s brother, John, the
head coach of the Baltimore
Ravens, weighed in on that issue
to ESPN.com.
“What are we arguing
against?” the elder Harbaugh
said. “An opportunity for young
athletes to take a look at colleges
from other parts of the country,
especially those that aren’t in a
socio-economic situation where
they can travel all over the coun-
try with their parents and look at
schools.”
Th ese camps provide an op-
portunity for coaches from across
the country to access areas they’d
never get a foot in. It’s especially
helpful for ones that don’t have
as large a footprint. Perennial Big
Ten bottomfeeder Northwestern
and the MAC’s Ball State both
struggle to attract high-end
recruits. Yet when Northwestern’s
Pat Fitzgerald and Ball State’s Pete
Lambo spoke at a camp hosted
by Harbaugh in Ann Arbor, they
helped spread their message and
get to recruits that Michigan
might not be interested in.
Th at’s something that would
help BC greatly. Addazio has a
unique recruiting pitch shared
only by Northwestern and, in a
little more of a stretch, Stanford.
At BC, you can get a top-fl ight
education, better than many
other FBS schools, while still be-
ing in a large city and not a farm
village in rural Indiana.
Since so many of the best
recruits don’t live in the area, it’s
expensive for them to make the
trip to Boston. Giving Addazio
the opportunity to go down
South—or, honestly, even to
New Jersey, BC’s hottest and
most exclusive recruiting bed of
late—benefi ts the program and
the players who want to be seen
by as many recruits as possible.
Just ask the hundreds of players,
former and current, who have
tweeted out how ridiculous this
ruling is. It’s just information and
opportunity, that’s all. Th en again,
when has the NCAA ever taken
into account the well-being of its
players? (No, free Wi-Fi doesn’t
count.)
As a Northern school allied
with Southern schools by confer-
ence and forced to play under
their rules, Addazio and BC must
stand up for what’s good for
themselves. It’s the only way BC
will have any chance of making
the jump to becoming a great
program.
TAYLOR PERISON / HEIGHTS STAFF
Though BC built up an 8-3 lead in the first half, Hopkins ultimately prevailed.
Johns HopkinsBoston College
129
THE HEIGHTSThursday, January 17, 2014 B5
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THE HEIGHTS Monday, April 25, 2016B6
Over the past 20 years, American so-
ciety’s obsession with the dead returning
to life has increased tenfold. Zombies are
at the forefront of pop culture, and there
is no greater evidence of this than the
coexisting television shows The Walking
Dead and Fear The Walking Dead. Unlike
the former, Fear The Walking Dead does
not have the benefit of prior source ma-
terial, meaning that it is blazing new plot
trails for AMC’s zombified empire. And
with the recently announced 43-percent
increase in viewership for the latest sea-
son of the show, it is easy to see why Fear
The Walking Dead has been renewed. Of
course, therein lies the big question: why
and how
d o e s i t
main-
tain such
a l a r g e
viewer
base?
The
answer to this question, unfortunately, is
difficult to uncover. It certainly does not
lie with the writing of the show, because
much like its big brother, The Walking
Dead, Fear struggles to offer a believable
skeleton story that fleshes out its charac-
ters. The spin-off explores the origins of
the living-dead apocalypse that wrecked
the world of The Walking Dead, but with
very little of the gumption normally of-
fered in the creations of Robert Kirkman,
the writer of The Walking Dead’s comics.
Fear The Walking Dead feels skewered
by its own normalcy, an ironic twist for
a television program seeking to depict
the very downfall of normalcy.
A perfect example of this paradox is
the plotline of the first episode of the
show—fleeing the apocalypse by boat.
Especially for a television show set in
Los Angeles, making a run for the coast
is not particularly compelling. Both
Walking Dead shows explore the lives of
characters rather than the world around
them. But still, there is no denying that
setting sail to flee the apocalypse is not
an original or interesting idea.
Perhaps, then, the popularity of the
show lies with its actors and actresses.
This is the more believable scenario—
AMC, for all its flaws, has an undeniable
knack for finding the best and brightest
of unknown talent. Cliff Curtis, playing
Travis Manawa, is arguably the star of
the show in terms of ability. Though
he does not maintain center stage with
much consistency, it is clear that his
acting prowess matches the higher elites
of Hollywood. Kim Dickens as Madison
Clark and Frank Dillane as Nick Clark
make strong backing performances as
well, proving once again that a strong
cast of characters may not save a show,
but they undoubtedly improve it.
Colman Domingo, as Victor Strand,
is the definite sleeper cell of Fear The
Walking Dead’s cast—known for his
work in Lincoln, Lee Daniels’ The Butler,
and Selma, Domingo is unaccustomed
to working on a television program, but
he makes the transition flawlessly. His
talent, combined with the refreshing
inclusion of many new cast members,
makes for a rather enjoyable cast all
around.
Those who are attentive to cinema-
tography will also find reason to keep
tuning in every Sunday. Though it
may not carry the visual mastery of its
predecessor, the color palette of Fear
The Walking Dead is still appealing.
Glowing yellows and oranges make for
a nice backdrop to the impending doom
of humanity. As it goes with visuals, so
it goes with music as well—the score of
Fear delivers in the highest degree.
Much like The Walking Dead, Fear
The Walking Dead has the inner work-
ings of a good show. Though the writ-
ing struggles a good deal, the minds
behind the magic are strong, meaning
that Fear very much has the potential
to become a household AMC classic.
As the situation currently stands, the
truest fans of the show will be the ones
already invested in the worldbuilding
of Kirkman’s original masterpiece, and
truthfully, this is an acceptable reality.
Pulling in 3.5 million viewers a night
is no small feat. Problems fester, how-
ever, if they are not solved. If Fear The
Walking Dead is ever to find success
like a litany of AMC’s programs that
have come before it, it must shore up
its errors in writing and originality, or
else it will go the way of the world it
depicts—straight into the fire.
Jerry Schilling needs to get home. His
girlfriend’s parents are going to be in L.A. in
the next couple hours, and he wants to ask her
father for his permission to marry her. He goes
to tell his buddy, Elvis Presley, that he can’t stay
in Washington, D.C., anymore. He needs to get
home now. Presley, coating his hair with black
hair spray,
is baffled
that his
friend
would
leave him
in his time
of need. In his calm, seductive tone, Presley
tries to explain to Schilling why he needs him
by his side.
“When people see you, they see Jerry,” said
Presley, “When they see me, they never see the
boy from Tennessee. Th ey see an object. Th ey
buried that boy Jerry. Th ey buried him in gold.
You see that boy, Jerry. I need you here.”
As time goes on, Presley continues to re-
cede into the memories of older and younger
1
AMAZON STUDIOS
TITLE WEEKEND GROSS WEEKS IN RELEASE
1. THE JUNGLE BOOK 60.8 2
2. THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR 20.0 1
3. BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT 10.8 2
4. ZOOTOPIA 6.6 8
5. THE BOSS 6.0 3
6. BATMAN V SUPERMAN 5.5 5
7. CRIMINAL 3.1 2
8. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 2.1 5
9. COMPADRES 1.3 1
10. EYE IN THE SKY 1.2 7
SOURCE: New York Times
1. ONE WITH YOUSylvia Day
2. THE BEASTJ. R. Ward
3. AS TIME GOES BYMary Higgins
4. FOOL ME ONCEHarlan Coben
5. FAMILY JEWELSStewart Woods
6. THE 14TH COLONYSteve Berry
7. THE NESTCynthia Sweeney
8. ME BEFORE YOU Jojo Moyes9. VIRGINS Diana Gabaldon10. FAKING JAKE Bryan Reardon
HARDCOVER FICTION BESTSELLERS
3
NEW LINE CINEMAFEAR THE WALKING
DEADAMC Studios
A lack of narrative direction in AMC’s ‘Fear’ may leave viewers craving brains and substance as much the hordes of undead from which they flee.AMC STUDIOS
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE REPORTWALT DISNEY STUDIOS
2 3
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
morous portrayal of Nixon, but Nixon only re-
ally serves as a vehicle to explore more of Elvis’
personality. Aside from their meeting, Nixon
is in the fi lm very little. Pettyfer does fi ne with
his part, but the fi lm doesn’t do a great job of
making audiences sympathize or care about
him getting back to his girlfriend. It’s still hard
to tell why Knoxville’s character is in the fi lm,
other than that there were two of Elvis’ friends
in the Oval Offi ce in a few pictures from that
day. Th e fi lm might have purposely left the
focus off of these supporting characters, but
this decision leaves the scenes without Shan-
non feeling immensely lackluster.
To say the least, Elvis & Nixon is a bizarre
fi lm. Running at under an hour and 30 minutes
and produced by Amazon Studios, the fi lm
feels like it should be found on the streaming
service’s web site, not in a movie theater. It
serves an interesting depiction of rock god
Presley, framing this engaging characteriza-
tion in a charming, yet unimportant moment
in history, which leaves Elvis & Nixon feeling
trivial. Elvis & Nixon would work well as an
Amazon short fi lm that one fi nds browsing
Amazon Prime on a Saturday morning, but for
viewers trekking out to a theater for the fi lm,
the movie seems barely worth the eff ort.
Michael Shannon brilliantly brings life to a man often overshadowed by his immense legacy.ELVIS AND NIXONAmazon Studios
AMBLIN TELEVISION
the spy craft that usually makes Th e Ameri-
cans a wee bit of fun. Spy stuff is fun, but the
show doesn’t seem to care for that side of the
equation anymore. Th e Americans is brutal
and stressful—a wallop to the gut and needle
inching its way through your eyeball in the best
way. And sometimes a nice car chase or bit of
spy craft set to Fleetwood Mac or Genesis can
be rewarding for the viewer.
In the beginning of the season, the Jen-
nings were forced to bring a sample of Glan-
ders (a horrible chemical weapon) into their
garage. It was a perfect metaphor to start the
season—Phillip and Elizabeth bringing poison
into the home. And much of the fun—maybe
not fun—tension of the season has been to
see how in even subtler ways the work Philip
and Elizabeth aff ects the home. And one has
been Phillip’s idealism. Can I be a good spy
and a good man? And the answer has been a
resounding no. And Martha is surely “the rat,”
the informant. But she’s also the tragic, unin-
tentional subject of Phillip’s trial-but-mostly-
error with this new way of living.
‘The Americans’ continues to amp up the tension as the KGB operatives’ covers begin to falter.THE AMERICANSAmblin Television
Early in “Th e Rat,” the most recent episode
of Th e Americans, Phillip turns to his gruff ,
scientifi c operative William. Phillip doesn’t
look too good. Matthew Rhys’ rogue, Welsh
good looks have leaned more and more
rogue-ish this season. William, played with a
certain boredom by Dylan Baker, sighs. Th ese
are the quiet moments in Th e Americans,
the moments just before a character mutters
some-
thing
inessen-
tial that
speaks of
truth, the
show’s
webbed and intersecting confl icts.
“It eats you up inside … this job,” William
sympathizes.
The job has become more and more
diffi cult, to say the least. Th ings used to be
simple and easy in the good old days. In Th e
Americans, Phillip and Elizabeth are Soviet
spies living in plain sight among the suburban
whigs and wasps. Th ey’re married to each
other and to the cause. Th eir accents, cars,
and even kids are all American. Th ey carry
out dead drops and kidnappings across D.C.,
and they’ve been at it for a while. Th e show
explores, as many critics have noted over the
past few years, the Cold War of the American
marriage. Now, in the middle of its fourth
season, Th e Americans is still one of the fi nest
shows on television, hiding in plain sight like
Phillip and Elizabeth.
In a nice suburban house, with nice kids
and nice things, Th e Americans asks the ques-
tion… who is this person lying next to me?
Can they, can this refuge, save me from a job
that might (metaphorical made literal in this
case) kill me?
Th e tentpole operating principle of Th e
Americans is marrying micro and macro
tension, emotional and geopolitical stakes. It
explores the emotional consequences of being
a spy and not only being a spy, but being mar-
ried to a spy. One of the main threads the past
season and a half has explored, running along
the uber-thread described above, is whether
you can be a good spy and a good person. Phil-
lip is trying. Elizabeth, played by Keri Russell,
still carries a more Soviet disposition.
“Th e Rat” fi nds Martha, Phillip’s opera-
tive within the FBI counterintelligence offi ce,
compromised or near compromised. Phillip is
also “married” to Martha, fi rst for his cover, but
now Phillip really seems to care for Martha.
And if the FBI fi gures it out, questions her,
then Philip and Elizabeth are blown. Show’s
over. Phillip brings her in, and the FBI plans
to ship her out as soon as possible.
And as Philip is trying to fi gure out what
to do with Martha, and Elizabeth is trying to
fi gure out if she should be worried about Phil-
lip and Martha, back at the FBI offi ce they’re
trying to parse Martha’s possible betrayal.
“I think Martha’s bad,” Stan Beeman,
played with a twitching stillness by Noah
Emmerich, says.
His boss, the gleefully stereotypical G-man
Frank Gaad mutters, “Martha’s worked here
over 10 years…that’s crazy.”
Th e question Beeman and Gaad are strug-
gling to climb is a simple one. How could our
secretary betray us? How can Martha be good
and bad?
While “Th e Rat” is surely a harrowing (in
a good way) hour of television, it doesn’t have
generations. He’s often portrayed as the radi-
cal, hip-thrusting youth that led rock and roll
to new frontiers and signifi cance in the ’50s
and ’60s. But beyond Presley’s many hits and
television appearances lies a man with ideals
and opinions that one might not expect from
the king—the “object”—of rock and roll.
Elvis & Nixon, the latest film from di-
rector Liza Johnson and Amazon Studios,
explores the mindset of the famed rock star
in the midst of the changing political and
cultural landscapes in 1970, and is based on
true events. Watching newsreels and fi lms
from his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn.,
Presley (Michael Shannon) decides that he has
a part to play in maintaining what he consid-
ers traditional American principles. He fl ies
to Washington, D.C., with the intention of
meeting President Nixon (Kevin Spacey) and
asking the president to make him a federal
agent-at-large for the Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs.
Elvis & Nixon’s goldmine is found in its cli-
max, where Nixon and Presley come together
in the Oval Office. According to a People
Magazine interview with the actual Jerry Schil-
ling—a producer for the fi lm—much of what
happened at the meetings was exaggerated.
Regardless, seeing these two iconic fi gures
brought together with a comedic tone is amus-
ing to say the least. Seeing Nixon curmudgeon
about the offi ce, while Elvis performs karate
routines with his friends, is a beautiful sight,
despite knowing the actual meeting was a
little less saucy.
While the famous meeting is the goldmine
of the fi lm, Elvis & Nixon’s exploration of the
aging, surprisingly conservative rock star,
as well as Shannon’s performance, make up
the fi lm’s heart and soul. Shannon, at fi rst
glance, might not be the fi rst person a viewer
would expect to see playing Elvis, but the
actor’s soothing, almost melodious whisper
is enrapturing and very much in the surmised
persona of Presley. Seeing the “object” of Elvis
dismantled—the well-read man under glamor-
ous outfi ts and golden sunglasses is actually
vulnerable—reminds viewers that even the
most composed celebrities have their own
daily gripes to trudge through.
Th e rest of the cast and, honestly, the rest
of the fi lm lack substance and feel useless next
to Elvis’ character and Shannon’s performance.
Spacey presents a predictably accurate, hu-
THE HEIGHTSMonday, April 25, 2016 B7
Frideric Handel’s spirited song “Let Their
Celestial Concerts All Unite.” Majoring in
music and biochemistry, Seo is also the
director of the Madrigal Singers at BC.
Having started his singing, composing,
and conducting career when he was 16,
Seo put his skills to the test in front of a
large crowd of classical music lovers from
the BC community.
Titled “Sunrise Mass,” Gjeilo’s four-
part blend of mesmerizing instrumentals
and vocals was the final piece performed,
spanning a period of nearly 30 minutes.
The students’ voices, lifted in harmonious
exaltation, provided the audience with a
rousing and inventive rendition of a typical
Christian Mass. Latin lyrics, synchronized
voices, and the various string instruments
combined to create an evocative musical
experience for all in attendance.
The piece began with “The Spheres,” a
calming opening to an emotion-evoking
piece marked by a melange of beautiful
harmonies. The soft voices blended
perfectly into the beginning of the
euphoric “Sunrise.” Sharply contrasting
its lighthearted tone was “The City,” a
powerful and compelling piece made
possible by the male singers’ booming
vocals. The triumphant tone of this
portion transitioned nicely into the final
part of the piece titled “Identity & The
Ground.” A rather long song, the varied
nature of the four parts broke “Sunrise
Mass” into manageable pieces for the
audience to enjoy.
Though the University Chorale’s
Annual Spring Concert marks the final
formal performance for the Chorale
members graduating this year, the group
will take the stage to perform at BC’s
annual Arts Fest on Thursday afternoon
at 4:30 on O’Neill Plaza. As usual, it will
also be featured at the Commencement
Mass and Graduation Ceremony.
The University Chorale’s choice of
music pieces was wonderfully suited for
the warm spring season—jaunty and
enthusiastic as well as serene and mellow,
the tone of the performance kept audience
members engrossed in the Chorale’s
classical performance. The inclusion of
Gjeilo-composed songs as well as the
celestial and religious themes incorporated
into the program contributed to the
rejuvenating nature of spring—a season
marked by rebirth, rejoicing, and the
overpowering prevalence of nature.
of the Rings is a violent series capturing
a fantastical war, he felt that the films
went unnecessarily out of their way in a
few instances to heighten violent scenes,
like when Frodo and Golem struggle
over the ring in Mount Doom in Return
of the King. This idea, while the first
analogy Kreeft made between The Lord
of the Rings and American society, was
not the last or most striking.
Looking at the colorful cast of char-
acters in The Lord of the Rings, Kreeft
chose the one character he felt best
encapsulated American society: Sauron,
the antagonist of the series.
Sauron, Kreeft feels, is the perfect
candidate to represent America in the
story because of his obsession with con-
quest, his focus on crude and efficient
manufacturing, and above all, because of
his, as Kreeft puts it, “external materi-
alization of his power in the one, true
ring.”
The ring, in Kreeft’s view, isn’t just
one manifestation of America’s strength,
but has many facets. The ring could
represent our military, our technological
feats, or even apathy. There is one social
construct, however, that Kreeft decided,
above the others, is the ring’s truest
form for America: artificial immortality
by genetic engineering. Kreeft feels that
this is the most accurate representation
of the ring for American society because
it mirrors Sauron’s purpose for creat-
ing the ring: conquering death. Kreeft
believes that, if American society is to
persist and grow, it must cast this meta-
phorical ring into the fire.
This all may seem a bit confusing,
and that’s both because there’s a very
substantive argument to grapple with
and because Kreeft presented it in a
very roundabout manner, leaving a few
of his points under-developed. Kreeft
didn’t really explain who would destroy
his metaphorical ring, or how you could
convince people to stunt technological
growth.
Instead, he left that to the lecture’s
attendees to decide, and focused on
examples of how societies within the
book handle technology. He pointed out
that the blissful Hobbits ignore techno-
logical growth, the Elves have refined
their productions through art, and that
the dwarves are plagued by their greed.
These examples gave the attendees a
picture of how Kreeft imagines America
could look if it focused less on techno-
logical superiority, but at the same time,
they did nothing to explain how Kreeft
envisions us reining in technology’s
might.
After Kreeft’s lecture, a Q&A with
the professor commenced that lasted
nearly as long as the lecture. While
one might think this Q&A would allow
students an opportunity to ask Kreeft to
clarify and expand on some of the points
he made in his lecture, it more devolved
into students asking Kreeft for his inter-
pretations of certain scenes or themes
found in the novels and in the films,
like whether or not Lord of the Rings is
racist. These types of questions were
interesting, and it was engaging seeing
how interested Kreeft is in the series.
But the Q&A didn’t do much to clear
up some of the points in Kreeft’s lecture
that were muddled.
It’s difficult to assess how I really feel
about Kreeft’s lecture and thoughts. His
comparisons and metaphors he drew
out of that beloved, fantastical world are
interesting to consider and have kept
me working through them days after the
lecture. Seeing such a large Lord of the
Rings fan base congregate in Higgins was
lovely, as I haven’t been in a room with
as many avid followers of the series since
the movies came out.
Leaving Kreeft’s lecture, though,
I felt like I had more questions about
“What Lord of the Rings Tells Us about
America” than I had walking in. Maybe
that was the point. Literary works and
societal issues of an epic nature deserve
an epic analysis, and maybe Kreeft’s
lecture is just scratching the surface of
both.
then cheer for their favorite household
animal. As the room warmed up, the
crew announced their first game: an
improv musical.
Calling this performance a game
somewhat trivializes it, and this is a
true tragedy because CCE’s level of
ingenuity this time around cannot be
overstated. There is something to be
said for the abilities of an improv actor
who can write cohesive songs—ones
that are rhyming, no less—without any
pre-existing plan.
In fact, the CCE improv musical was
impressive even without the merit of
the songs. Telling the story of an idyllic,
plastic-flamingo-loving community, the
musical explored the relations between
each of the town’s citizens. Nothing is
off-limits for CCE—incest, clowns, and
calling your children ugly were all topics
that were broached over the course of
the night. The unnamed musical even
had a redemptive arc and a moral, too:
“family is more important than f—k.”
Yes, seriously.
As the show progressed, CCE moved
on to more short-form games. Classics
such as “growing-shrinking machine”
and “pan left” were brought out and
executed with precision and poise.
In particular, the growing-shrinking
machine is of great interest—the
game begins with only two actors, but
progresses upwards at an alarming rate.
More and more actors enter the scene,
and each time someone enters, the
scene must change to something new.
Finally, once the limit has been reached,
actors leave the stage, and the scenes
begin to progress backwards to their
original states until only two performers
are left. This improv game is typically a
fan favorite, and with good reason: not
only is it hilarious chaos, it showcases
the ability of the actors extremely well.
Toward the end of the evening, CCE
launched into long-form improv. This
consists of a long-running series of
routines, each of which is connected
to another. In this instance, CCE’s
long-form improv told the story of a
man with rectal cancer, plagued by an
overbearing daughter, a fame-seeking
surgeon, and an eerily obsessive ex-wife.
This, perhaps, is when improv becomes
most interesting—when it becomes
humorous, improvised storytelling. It
is enjoyable for all involved to follow
the stories and lives of freshly created
characters, and when the scenarios are
injected with the perfect dose of humor,
there is all the more reason to love the
experience.
Strangely enough, the best part
of the night was not the comedy, but
rather the reason for the show itself:
the departing seniors. Seeing them
cycle out of the Committee was a
genuinely sad sight. It is clear that the
CCE underclassmen feel much the
same way, as some tears could be seen
in the eyes of both performers and
audience members at the close of the
show. Goodbyes are never easy, and
the members of the Committee for
Creative Enactments are more than
just actors—they are a family.
AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Attesting to histories often overlooked, the O’Neill One exhibit calls to mind the trials and triumphs of peoples from across the Pacific.SAVANNA KIEFER / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Chorale, from B8
throughout history, the exhibit calls to
mind the kind of expansive and varied
history found in the community. It is
apparent that the experiences had by
people of the past and of today are as varied
and unique as the individuals the images
represent. The visual representation
follows an abridged timeline of Asian-
American history in the United States,
from migration to the modern age. The
progression follows not only the trials,
but also the triumphs of the community
throughout history. Though the products
of racial issues can be seen in many of the
pieces, a sense of resilience remains just
as pervasive.
One image depicts the internment of
Japanese-Americans during World War
II. The action was seen as a preventative
wartime measure to ensure the safety of
Americans. What is often forgotten is
that 62 percent of those interned were
American citizens. The blatant disregard
and invalidation of civil liberties of these
Americans can been seen in the photo as
a crowd of Japanese-Americans stands
behind a barbed-wire fence. This divisive
and unconstitutional internment led
up to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988,
through which reparations were made
to the interned and their heirs. Despite
this, the event will forever mark a dark
moment for Asian-Americans, due to the
loss of material goods, reputation, and in
some cases, life.
On the theme of inclusion, one photo
depicts Filipino-American stewards
accompanying President Harry S. Truman
to the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam,
Germany following the defeat of the
Nazis, as well as a photo of an all Japanese
American battalion around the same
time period. These images reflect the
positions of Asian-Americans at crucial
points in world history, as these people
were strong, active participants in history,
rather than ineffective, standing idly by.
Another image shows the masses of
Chinese workers as they constructed
the Transcontinental Railroad in the
19th century, experiencing different
hardships of an earlier time. These new
immigrant workers represented around
90 percent of the workforce as they laid
down ties, ballasts, and steel. In building
the network that spanned and connected
the country, the low-paying, high-risk
environment cost many of the workers
their lives. Cutting through mountains
and driving spikes proved to be arduous
work that claimed the lives of many of
the Chinese workers along the Central
Pacific section of the railway stretching
from Utah to California. They also remain
active makers of history, despite the
brutal, sometimes fatal costs.
During the 1992 Los Angeles riots,
Korean-American establishments were
the targets of looting and vandalism
following the acquittal of four officers
involved in the beating of Rodney King,
leading many to feel abandoned and
unprotected by law enforcement. Many
Korean-Americans thought to leave the
area as a result of such express violence
toward them. An image showcased in
the gallery is striking, as it depicts men
armed to defend themselves in solidarity.
Showing a storefront enveloped in flames
acutely shows the severity and impact of
the situation.
In the current age, the exhibit chooses
to address the topical issue of diversity
in regards to the Oscars, criticizing the
2016 host Rock for his jokes utilizing
Asian stereotypes. This is represented
through a shot of Chris Rock cracking
a joke perceived by many as racist while
gesturing to several Asian boys on stage.
In this way the exhibit shows how such
conversations regarding inclusion and
respect remain as pertinent today as they
have been in the preceding decades.
The Asian-American History exhibit
follows the trials and journeys of many
Asian peoples in America. In many
cases, the forces at work were great
and seemingly unsurmountable. But
as the exhibit suggests through its
provocative images, people, no matter
Asian American, from B8
It’s a strange thing as a Lord of the
Rings fan to confront the idea that the
film adaptations’ best and worst quali-
ties are their visuals and special effects.
I would say that the epic battle scenes
in Peter Jackson’s trilogy were the most
sublime spectacles I had ever seen
when the films were originally released.
Though today some shots and the films’
CGI don’t look as crisp and clean as
NEW LINE CINEMA
they might have back in the early 2000s,
the Lord of the Rings films arguably hold
their own against the last couple years’
blockbusters and even Peter Jackson’s
subsequent Hobbit trilogy.
This notion, presented at the opening
of Boston College philosophy professor
Peter Kreeft’s lecture “What Lord of the
Rings Tells Us about America” in Higgins
310 Thursday night, left the room silent,
probably giving Kreeft his desired effect.
While Kreeft let this idea ruminate in
our heads for a bit, he went on to explain
that he felt the Lord of the Rings’ visuals
expressed what he views as an abhorrent
quality in our nation: our obsession with
technology, grandiosity, and violence.
Though Kreeft acknowledged that Lord
CCE, from B8
KRISTIN SALESKI / HEIGHTS STAFF
Improvising a complete song in
under 10 seconds, and then proceeding
to get said song stuck in the heads of
one hundred audience members, is a
rather impressive feat. The ability to do
it well, six times in one night, is mind-
boggling. The ability to design an entire
musical around them entirely on the fly
is essentially impossible.
And yet, the Committee for Creative
Enactments managed to pull it off.
An incredible rendition of improv
was unveiled last Saturday night in
Stokes Auditorium, and CCE has
yet again proved that it is top-tier in
the world of Boston College comedy
troupes. The “Senior Leaving Playbook,”
a final show to celebrate the departing
Class of 2016, illustrated exactly why so
many people enjoy the work of CCE.
To introduce themselves to the
audience, the actors had onlookers
shout out their favorite curse words and
In the 20th century, America represented
a place in which people of all kinds could
fl ourish. On the East Coast, we hear often
about the migration of the English and
Irish, Spanish and Italian, or Germans and
Slavs. At least in this area, the history of
such migrations is taught, discussed, and
analyzed readily. On the other side of the
country, across the Pacifi c, other Americans
made a similar trek to that of their Atlantic
counterparts.
Rooted in a rich and infl uential history
in the Americas, Asian-Americans have
left their mark through cultural, industrial,
and social contributions to the nation. Th e
Asian-American History exhibit on display
in O’Neill’s fi rst-fl oor lounge highlights just
some of these contributions, while calling
to mind the signifi cance of celebrating the
vast diversity within the Asian-American
community.
With images of various Asian-Americans
&MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015
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icons in this pseudo-historical comedy, B6THIS ISSUE
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season four of the FX drama, B6
Weekend Box Offi ce Report.........................B6Hardcover Bestsellers....................................B6‘Fear the Walking Dead’.................................B7
CALEB GRIEGO
Sometimes, after hours of painstaking practice
and when performed just right, music has a funny
way of perfectly imitating the inconceivable majesty
of nature. Th e shrill whistle of a fl ute is evocative of
wild prairie winds at one moment and calming bird
calls the next. A fl urry of brassy horns fused with a
sudden crash of Zildjian cymbals have the power
to audibly illustrate the ferocity of a storm at sea.
Most astounding, however, is the human voice’s
shocking ability to accurately encapsulate the bold,
evanescent spirit of the Northern lights.
In an astounding feat of musical talent and vocal
fi nesse, the University Chorale of Boston College
entranced its audience with the eerie beauty of
aurora borealis. Performing Norwegian-born Ola
Gjeilo’s “Northern Lights,” the chamber singers
of the chorale treated their sizeable audience to
an enjoyably transcendental musical experience,
an otherworldly ode to the natural, luminescent
phenomenon.
Airy and light, the vocals of this particular song
served as the perfect lead into the intense and
impassioned sound of the next number, which was
a Latvian folksong composed by Eriks Esenvalds.
Yet another nod to the unbridled beauty of the
Northern lights, the song tells of the simultaneous
waves of overwhelming awe and horror which
must have tormented the souls of those who fi rst
discovered the natural light show.
Th e Chorale singers deftly conveyed Esenvald’s
message of confl icting sentiments, their voices
ebbing and fl owing in pitch and volume as the tone
shifted from blissful serenity to palpable panic. Th e
students played with the power of vocal crescendos
and fl uctuation, their eff orts ultimately culminating
in a rather realistic impression of the elegantly
dancing lightwaves—that is, if the aurora’s graceful
dance across the night sky could be translated from
the visible to the audible realm, a moving image
encapsulated in sound.
While the Northern lights’ pieces were a
defi ning portion of the performance, the show
featured other captivating numbers from the
Chorale singers. The group’s signature songs,
Camille Saint-Saens’ euphoric “Tollite Hostias” and
Lodovico Viadana’s jaunty “Exsultate Justi,” were
well-received by the audience members, who sat
attentive and intrigued by the students’ showcase
of musical prowess throughout the entirety of the
show.
Immediately following “Exsultate Justi,”
Chorale’s director introduced Kyung won “Josh”
Seo, MCAS ’17, the show’s featured guest
conductor. With great poise and the precision of a
seasoned conductor, Seo led the Chorale in George
When you are on the road, so many
things pass you by. Th e mindlessness of
driving needs to be uplifted by things like
the radio, lest the driver go insane. On
long road trips out to New Mexico, or up
to northern Maine, I was always amazed
by my parents’ ability to know virtually
every song that made its way onto the
radio. From station to station, they not
only knew the songs being played, artist,
album, and year, but were able to sing,
say, or poetically recount all the words.
As a kid, I didn’t think I was capable of
housing so much knowledge, but as I grew
I began to add, song by song, lyrics I knew
by heart to my mind. Th e words meant
something, but the more I think about it,
the more I wonder if lyrics are important
at all.
Some say they are the fi rst thing they
notice, fi nding each word instantly and let-
ting it wash over them. Others say that lyr-
ics come second to the sound and move-
ment of the song, adding embellishment
to an instrumental showcase. Much of
the time, I agree with the latter sentiment,
because oftentimes instruments or non-
human sounds capture feelings and emo-
tions that words never could. Words have
a distinct meaning. Th ough over time they
may change, they remain, at least in one
moment in time, stagnant. Notes, on the
other hand, require more context. Chords,
harmonies, progressions, and keys all play
important roles in shaping a song. A single
note needs the context found within the
rest of the piece, which can give that note
a whole new feel or meaning from song to
song. Th at sensation of goosebumps one
gets when hearing a favorite song is often,
for me, brought about through the fi rst
couple notes or chords rather than the
fi rst verse.
But we are drawn to lyrics still. Words.
Something compels us to sing along or
at least, in our minds, follow the train of
thought in the song. I fi nd that this has to
due with our innate need to fi nd some-
thing tangible and comprehensible to latch
onto. We can understand the meaning of
the words in this moment and extrapo-
late meaning based on defi nitions and
cognitive inference. But I also fi nd another
reason, one that speaks to the core of
humanity and people.
When we are fi rst born, we cannot see
anything more than shadows. We can,
however, hear. And the fi rst tangible thing
we may latch onto, our introduction in the
world is often a sound. A voice. Th e voice
of a doctor or our mother or father is the
fi rst sensory experience we get.
When we gravitate to voices, I believe
it is because it is one of the fi rst things we
do and one of our fi rst experiences. And
the sounds are human. Th ere is no guitar
or keyboard to function as a medium
between the two. It simply is one person’s
voice and another’s ability to hear it.
Lyrics, words, and poetry speak to
that connection between people that we
have been building since we were born.
Th e voice of another person is enticing to
listen to. It is not so much what they are
saying, so much as the fact that they are
saying something. In this way, lyrics inter-
ject a concrete, unadulterated human ele-
ment into music that resonates with our
primal inclinations to associate ourselves
with the sounds of another person.
I fi nd myself drawn to lyrics more and
more now, not because they are saying
anything in particular, but because they
are saying something. Th e meaning be-
hind lyrics is a discussion for another time,
but I think their place in songs is solidifi ed
and needed in today’s age. As we become
more dissociated from other people
through various means, having songs that
continue to maintain a human element is
even more important.
When I drive now, during the sum-
mers I fi nd myself with the music. Th e ra-
dio blaring, I fi nd songs everywhere that I
know the lyrics to. Quietly to myself, I may
sing along, knowing that, in all likelihood,
someone somewhere is doing the same.
MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
B8
See Chorale, B7
KRISTIN SALESKI / HEIGHTS STAFF
See SASA, B7
SAVANNA KIEFER / HEIGHTS EDITOR
AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
See CCE, B7 See Asian-American, B7
ARTS REVIEW
The eclectic setlist at Chorale’s Spring Concert kept audience enchanted.
SING IT TO THE LIGHTS