Vol. XCVII, No. 18 Thursday, April 7, 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

SPORTSFreshman Matt Milon has decided to transfer from BC, B8

MOVIN’ MIL-ONMETROTwo BC students are running the Boston Marathon for a cause, A4

UP AND COMINGSCENEJunior Matt Michienzie discusses crafting his band and being with The Acoustics, B3

MATT MICHIENZE BAND

See UGBC, A3

See Donations, A8

As the presidential election draws

closer, students and faculty from univer-

sities across the nation join the political

race. At Boston College, the conversation

between students is diverse, as every

background shapes differing political

views. When observing donations made

to campaigns by BC employees, however,

the results are decidedly universal—every

donation made by individuals listing BC

as their primary employer was sent to

Democratic political campaigns.

The majority of campaigns sup-

ported by BC faculty were not, in fact,

in support of any particular presidential

candidates—the campaign garnering the

most support was that of Eric Kingson,

a Congressman from upstate New York

and former BC faculty member.

Twenty-five percent of donations

made by faculty members were in sup-

port of the professor and social security

adviser’s run for Congress. Th e second-

most popular campaign, however, was

in favor of a presidential candidate. For-

mer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s

campaign received 17.86 percent of

donations made by BC faculty, a distinct

advantage over the 3.57 percent made to

Senator Bernie Sanders’ “Bernie 2016”

campaign. Other campaigns garnering

support included ActBlue, a Democratic

fundraising eff ort, and the Democratic

Congressional Campaign Committee.

Th is data isn’t surprising, as it is not

unusual to see professors and educators

leaning left in their political stances. Ac-

cording to a study published in Th e Daily Signal in January, professors who identify

as liberal outnumber conservatives fi ve to

one. Yet the conversation at BC extends

beyond left-wing politics.

Jason Donnelly, professor of theology

and a current town meeting member in

his hometown of Arlington, Mass., elabo-

rated on his experience with politics as a

BC graduate school student.

“There was a wonderful political

diversity,” he said. “It was great because

there was a wide spectrum of political

beliefs and a kind of commitment to

reasonable engagement. Topics were

engaged in confi dence, with a kind of

trusting relationship—it was never a

debate.”

Looking only at active donors may

not be an accurate representation of the

entire BC community, a fact worth con-

sidering before making generalizations

based on the public records.

Th e political discussion on college

campuses extends much farther than the

limits of Chestnut Hill. In February, the

Harvard Crimson released a report with

results fairly similar to BC’s. Out of BC

professors’ donations to only presidential

campaigns, 83 percent went to Hillary

ABBY PAULSON / HEIGHTS GRAPHIC

Monday evening, the Undergraduate

Government of Boston College and the BC ad-

ministration hosted a dinner entitled “Boston

College Looking Forward.” Th e event allowed

students to discuss their visions for the future

of BC while the administrators in attendance

facilitated the discussions and recorded stu-

dents’ answers.

“We made this hybrid event as a starting

point, to have more events like this going for-

ward,” Sloan Renfro, UGBC vice president of

student initiatives and MCAS ’16, said.

Hosted in the Heights Room in Corco-

ran Commons, about 60 students discussed

issues of school diversity, upholding Jesuit

ideals, and the lack of proper communication

between UGBC and some members of the

administration.

Administrators made it clear at the be-

ginning of the session that the night was not

meant to answer specifi c questions but rather

to produce questions to be considered during

the administration’s “18-Month Process” for

strategic planning.

The plan for the $200 million project

to construct new athletic facilities on the

Boston College campus is being peti-

tioned for its lack of competitive resources

in the realm of Division I athletics.

Last week, an online petition was

posted on change.org with the goal of

collecting 500 signatures.

According to the explanation, if the

desired number of signatures is gath-

ered, the petition will be delivered to BC

Athletics.

The current plan includes a new rec-

reation facility that will replace the Flynn

Recreational Complex, as well as a field

house and fields for use by various athletic

teams. The anonymous author of the pe-

tition identifies himself as “BC EAGLES

ALL” and begins by describing his excite-

ment about the project. From there, the

author moves on to list all of the problems

he sees with the project’s plan.

“That new plan will replace the Plex

with an under-performing facility that

will not meet the needs of intercollegiate

athletics, will not appeal to prospective

students or recruits, and will actually

reduce the options for students to stay

active on our health- and fitness-minded

campus,” the author writes.

The pool and tennis courts are of

particular interest to the author, who

explained that, in order to compete with

other swimming and diving programs in

the Atlantic Coast Conference, the BC

team will need to have access to a pool

that is either 25 yards by 50 meters, or 25

yards by 25 meters with a diving well. The

author said that the pool that BC plans to

build does not reach these standards.

When asked about the petition, Di-

rector of Athletics Brad Bates responded

by saying that faculty members in his

position routinely receive these types of

petitions, which often contain inaccurate

information. Therefore, it is the athletic

department’s policy not to respond to

them.

According to Bates’ announcement on

Feb. 22, the construction for the project

will begin this summer, and is predicted

to take two years to complete.

“The plan in the works for the new

recreation complex will reflect the Uni-

versity’s needs and address the evolving

demands of intercollegiate athletics at

Boston College,” Bates said.

Clinton, with 17 percent going to Bernie

Sanders. At Harvard, 91 percent of dona-

tions to current presidential candidates

went to Hillary Clinton in a similar ma-

jority. Th eir donation history did diff er

in that it did include Republican candi-

dates—Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Chris

Christie received funding from Harvard

faculty, instructors, and researchers.

Harvard does not have a history of

subscribing to Jesuit ideals, however,

which traditionally align with conserva-

tive politics. Georgetown University, a

school that promotes the same Catholic

values of BC, is also similar in political

alignment. Th e Hoya disclosed in 2008

that over 70 percent of donated funds

went toward Democratic candidates,

with a distinct majority going directly

to candidates’ campaigns rather than

general party committees. Th e political

environment on the campus is similarly

“Looking at the timeline, there is a lot

of opportunity being planned in the fall for

feedback based on what we’ve learned here,

and how we’re moving forward as a steering

committee,” Vice President for Student Aff airs

Barbara Jones said.

UGBC and the administration aimed to

form an atmosphere best-suited to a casual,

welcoming environment, where students felt

free to provide their opinions and experi-

ences.

Additionally, UGBC saw the event as an

opportunity for students to get closer to ad-

ministrators, Katie Lamirato, UGBC director

of transparency and MCAS ’18, said.

Several administrators from multiple

departments were present.

“I think we had really good conversations

with UGBC at the start about how we might

be able to make the event work, and a lot of

it was their vision combined with what the

University was looking for in terms of student

feedback, and I think it turned out really well,”

Jones said.

Before students delved into smaller group

discussion, Executive Vice President Michael

Lochhead and Provost and Dean of Faculties

David Quigley explained the goals of the

night.

“What kind of university do we want to

leave for those that come next?” Quigley asked

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

ISABELLE LUMB / HEIGHTS STAFF

THE HEIGHTS

Joshua Landis, director of the center for Middle East stud-ies at the University of Oklahoma, will present on ISIS, Christians, and national identity in the Middle East on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Cushing 001. The event is sponsored by the Boisi Center for Re- li-gion and American Public LIfe. 1

Boston College Women’s Summit: Own It will host Sophia Amoruso, founder of Nasty Gal and author of best-selling novel #Girlboss, Susan Bissell, UNICEF’s Child Protection chief, and Libby Moore, Oprah’s former chief of staff. The event is Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 2

Thursday, April 7, 2016 A2

On Saturday morning, the Woods College for Ad-vancing Studies will hold an open house for all undergraduate students. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Woods College Conference Room in St. Mary’s Hall South.

Top

things to do on campus this week

3 3

—Source: TheBoston College

Police Department

If you were the voice of a cartoon character, which would it be?

NEWSBRIEFS

Connecticut Governor Dannel

Malloy, BC ’77, will receive the 2016

John F. Kennedy Profile in Cour-

age Award at the John F. Kennedy

Presidential Library and Museum

in Boston on May 1. He was chosen

for this prestigious public service

award for his work in defending the

U.S. resettlement of Syrian refugees

following the Nov. 2015 terrorist

attacks in Paris and personally

welcoming a family of Syrian refu-

gees to New Haven after they were

turned away by another state.

Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s

grandson, will present the award

to Malloy.

“As half of U.S. governors, lead-

ing presidential candidates and

countless others across the country

voice support for a ban on Syrian

refugees from entering the United

States, Governor Dannel Malloy

took a stand against the hateful,

xenophobic rhetoric,” Schlossberg

said on the JFK Profile in Courage

Award Web site. “In doing so, he

put principles above politics and

upheld my grandfather’s vision of

America that ‘has always served as

a lantern in the dark for those who

love freedom but are persecuted, in

misery, or in need.’”

Malloy has remained committed

to helping those fleeing persecution

and searching for freedom.

“If refugees—many who are

children fleeing a horrific, war-torn

country—seek and are granted

asylum after a rigorous security pro-

cess, we should and will welcome

them in Connecticut,” Malloy said.

POLICE BLOTTER 4/4/16 - 4/6/16

Monday, April 4

8:45 a.m. - A report was filed

regarding a traffic crash on the

Brighton Campus Roadways.

Tuesday, April 5

4:12 a.m. - A report was filed re-

garding a fire alarm activation in

the modular apartments.

5:14 a.m. - A report was filed

regardng medical assistance pro-

vided to a BC student at O’Neill

Library.

12:17 p.m. - A report was filed

regarding medical assistance pro-

vided to a BC student who was

transported to a medical facility

from Campanella Way.

12:34 p.m. - A report was filed

regarding medical assistance pro-

vided to a minor at the Haley Car-

riage House Day Care Center.

11:23 p.m. - A report was filed re-garding a suspicious circumstance at O’Neill Library.

7:04 p.m. - A report was filed

regarding a larceny from Stokes

Hall.

Billy Soo, the accounting de-

partment chair, was named as the

next vice provost for faculties. He

will assume his new position on

June 1 following the retirement

of Pat DeLeeuw, who is retiring

after serving Boston College for

37 years.

“I’ve gotten to know Billy Soo

through his energetic leadership

of the accounting department

and the Catalyst Program in the

Carroll School and his commit-

ted service over many years to the

University-wide Diversity Steering

Committee,” Provost and Dean of

Faculties David Quigley said to the

Office of News and Public Affairs.

“He has done a particularly good

job in hiring and mentoring an

exceptional group of faculty at the

departmental level. I’m looking

forward to working more closely

with him in his new role as vice

provost for faculties starting this

summer.”

In his new position, Soo will

help Quigley with faculty outreach,

hiring, and retention.

Soo has taught financial ac-

counting and financial statement

analysis since he began working at

BC in 1990. He has served as ac-

counting chairman since 2006 and

worked with the University Strate-

gic Planning Initiative, University

Institutional Diversity Committee,

Aquino Scholarship Committee,

NEASC Review Committee, and

University Budget Committee. He

has also served as an undergraduate

and graduate faculty advisor.

“I am excited to work with them

and Provost Quigley in making Bos-

ton College the prime destination

for faculty who share the Universi-

ty’s goals of providing intellectual

leadership and fostering student

learning and formation,” Soo said

to News and Public Affairs.

By Heidi Dong

Heights Editor

Brad Bates, Boston College’s

director of athletics since 2012,

began his Agape Latte talk Tues-

day evening by telling the audi-

ence that he was raised in Port

Huron, Mich., where has was

educated by the same school

district that expelled Thomas

Edison. His parents, who were

both educators, contributed to

the importance and value that

education carries for him.

Bates’ talk followed a per-

formance by the Heightsmen of

Boston College. Through three

stories, Bates explained living in

the present, God’s presence, and

the magnitude of different ideas

that students are given access to

through the University.

He was raised with exposure

to many different religious

perspectives—Methodist, First

Congregationalist, and Catho-

lic. The minister at the Bates

family’s church would invite the

local rabbi and the local priest

to give homilies. From his child-

hood, he engaged difference as

a source of growth, especially

in a religious sense. His faith

in God, Jesus, and the afterlife

was solidified and validated—at

least, until Mr. Miller’s 10th-

grade English class.

After reading the book No.

44, The Mysterious Stranger by

Mark Twain in this class, Bates’

faith was shaken. He doubted

the existence of an afterlife, he

said. He researched everything

he could about the afterlife,

out-of-body experiences, doc-

tors reviving flat-lined patients,

and anything else he could

think of.

Then, when he was a sopho-

more in college, he took a course

called Cadaver Anatomy, where

he saw his first dead body.

“One of the most powerful ‘a-

ha’ moments of my life was when

I walked into that room, and I saw

that body, and I realized that [the

body] is not soul, that [the body]

is just a container,” Bates said. “It’s

a way we visually and optically

relate to one another, and envi-

sion one another.”

After this realization, Bates

decided to stop worrying about

the afterlife, or whether there

was an afterlife, and focus on his

current life. He now sees life as a

series of “afterlives,” explaining

that the afterlife of high school

for the audience was BC, and

the afterlife of BC would be the

real world.

“Live in the moment ,” he

urged students.

Bates called the next story he

told “God’s presence.”

He recalled the first time

he was introduced to his wife,

Michele, who had attended the

University of Michigan with him,

and was also from Michigan,

and how he, regretfully, did not

get her number before summer

break. That summer, Michele suf-

fered serious injuries from a car

accident. She spent four days in

a coma with a fractured neck. For

the two years following the acci-

dent, Michele had to learn how to

talk and walk over again.

When she finally returned

to school, on her first day, Bates

recalled that he ran into her, al-

most literally, as he was biking to

class. Thankfully, Bates left this

encounter with her number.

Pausing to reflect, Bates ex-

plained how, had Michele not

experienced the arduous journey

of recovering from her accident,

Bates never would have met her.

“Don’t overanalyze life,” Bates

said. “It’ll come to you. God’s

presence will take care of it.”

His final story was about how

the world outside of football

opened up to him during his

junior year of college. His friends

dragged him to a talk that Noam

Chomsky was giving on campus

one day, despite having no inter-

est in anything besides football

at the time. He entered the

room, sat down, and, suddenly,

he felt the world open up to him.

Renowned speakers from across

the globe, he realized, were

coming to college campuses to

teach students about their ex-

periences, opinions, hardships,

and successes.

“And I only get four years of

this?” Bates said.

In the article titled ‘PBS Documentary Series on Men-tal Health,’ it stated that the

series would premier in 2017. The broadcasts started in

spring of 2016. It also said that the episodes are seven to 10

minutes, but they are actually half-hour episodes. It is also 12

episodes long.

CORRECTIONS

Brad Bates, director of athletics, spoke at Agape Latte’s finale, followed by a performance from the Heightsmen. JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

By Becky Reilly

Heights Staff

With springtime comes a resur-

gence of familiar outdoor events

at Boston College, but this week,

one fashionable feature will make

its debut.

UGBC first-years Carolyn

Townsend, MCAS ’17, and Hailey

Shewfelt, MCAS ’18, have organized

a clothing swap to promote sustain-

ability through trading and reusing

unwanted items. Townsend is the

director of environmental and sus-

tainability programming in UGBC’s

student initiatives branch, while

Shewfelt is the assistant director. The

event will take place this Friday.

“It’s essentially BC’s first-ever

clothing swap, and the whole purpose

of it is to encourage thrift shopping

and wearing used clothes in a way

to be more sustainable environmen-

tally,” Townsend said.

Part of Townsend and Shewfelt’s

larger goal with the project is to

bring sustainable clothing habits

into fashion.

“[It’s about] promoting the

culture of being able to reuse some-

thing and having that be really ac-

cessible and attractive for students

here on campus,” Shewfelt said.

Townsend and Shewfelt are

tabling this week to collect cloth-

ing items between 11 a.m. and 2

p.m. outside of Carney or in the

McElroy Commons lobby in the

case of inclement weather. They

will also be in Corcoran Commons

between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. For each

item donated, each student will

receive a credit to take home one

item from the swap.

The actual swap will take place

on Friday between 9 a.m. and 4

p.m. on the Stokes Lawn. Students

are free to donate clothing at the

actual swap or simply purchase any

item for $5. Townsend and Shew-

felt stated that they have already

collected a number of donations

and have even found plenty of

clothing to be donated when going

through their own closets and their

friends’ closets.

Proceeds from the swap will go

to the Nature Conservancy, an inter-

national organization that promotes

sustainability education and research

alongside its conservation efforts.

Townsend came up with the idea

for a clothing swap over a year ago.

“When I was going through

my closet, I realized that I have all

these going-out clothes that I never

wore anymore,” she said. “And they

weren’t really types of clothing

you would donate to Goodwill or

a homeless shelter, and a lot of my

friends were in the same situation…

So I came up with the idea of a

clothing swap for people to get new

clothes but without having to spend

any more money.”

Shewfelt noted that the two

biggest challenges of the swap were

figuring out the logistics and pro-

moting it at BC. She and Townsend

expect many donations at the actual

sale on Friday. They hope for en-

thusiasm and student participation,

which will determine the success

of the sale both this spring and in

subsequent years.

“This is the first time this has

happened on BC’s campus, so I think

a lot of people are unfamiliar with the

idea,” Townsend said. “Sometimes

it’s hard to communicate new ideas

like this, especially when there are

so many details. So that’s definitely

been a challenge for us, but I think it’s

going to work out really well on the

day of, and we’re very excited.”

The event precedes BC’s second

annual Earth Day Fair on April 22.

The Earth Day Fair, planned by the

UGBC Environmental Caucus, will

also take place on Stokes Lawn and

will feature several groups, including

BC organizations, the Environmental

Sciences Department, non-BC food

vendors, representatives from L.L.

Bean, and campus architects. The

two events will work in conjunction.

Townsend and Shewflelt hope to

promote awareness of and dialogue

about issues of sustainability and how

students at BC figure into them.

“I think one of our biggest goals

is just to show students how big of

a role sustainability plays in their

everyday lives, whether they know

it or not,” Shewfelt said.

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, April 7, 2016 A3

By Taylor St. Germain

Assoc. News Editor

Eight-foot tall walls, reading

“free Palestine” and “peace, not

apartheid” tower over passers-by

on Stokes Lawn. The walls were put

up by Boston College Students for

Justice in Palestine (BC SJP), a group

attempting to raise awareness of the

Palestine-Israel conflict through

“Peace, Not Apartheid Week.”

The week, which is held at uni-

versities worldwide, encourages

students to think beyond biased

media about the conflict, which

often carries a negative stigma,

Kaitlin Astrella, treasurer of BC

SJP and MCAS ’16, said. The con-

flict has been ongoing for over five

decades and revolves around issues

including mutual recognition,

border control, water security, and

control of Jerusalem.

The group is holding events

from April 4 through 8 to educate

students, and encourages them to do

their own research on the conflict.

“We are really just trying to start

a dialogue on campus,” Katie Mears,

BC SJP board member and LSOE

’16, said. “The conflict goes in and

out of the news and we find that

students don’t really know much

about it.”

On Monday, BC SJP held a

student panel on Palestine, which

featured BC students who have

travelled to the country and worked

on peace initiatives within the

region. The group also provided

traditional Palestinian dishes for

students in attendance.

BC SJP then held a screening

of a movie titled The Wanted 18 on

Wednesday night in Devlin 227. The

documentary, which features stop-

motion animation, tells the story of

Palestinians’ efforts in Beit Sahour

to kickstart the dairy industry. The

movie tells about how the dairy

collective was deemed as a threat

to Israel’s national security.

“It’s a funny story,” Astrella said.

“It takes these conflicts in a different

direction than most documentaries.

It’s kind of new and fresh so it’s cool

to be able to show it.”

The group will hold its final

event tonight in Campion 010. The

event will feature Nathalie Handal,

a creative writing professor at Co-

lumbia University who will speak

about her experience as a Palestin-

ian-American woman and how her

heritage influences her work.

SJP began holding Palestine

Awareness Week in 2012 when the

president of the club wrote his thesis

about the Palestine-Israel conflict.

The club was unable to hold the

awareness week last year, however,

because of a lack of funding.

The group has been organizing

the event since the beginning of

the academic year, trying to recruit

speakers and publicize its efforts.

The group also went through the

Office of Student Involvement to

gain approval to build the walls on

Stokes Lawn.

Schools including Columbia,

University of California, Berke-

ley, and Edinburgh University are

holding awareness weeks similar

to BC SJP’s.

“If you go to a big school like

Boston College, it is helpful to

speak about these issues because

you have a certain credibility,” As-

trella said. “Educating people about

things like this at a well-known

university gives the fight to end the

conflict some credence.”

BC SJP will hold one more

event before the school year is

over on April 21. Remi Kanazi, a

spoken word poet and Palestinian-

American, will visit BC to perform

at BC SJP’s event.

“I think part of being men and

women for others is being aware of

how your actions have an effect on

others,” Mears said.

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Boston College students and faculty laid on Stokes Lawn on Monday, the date of Martin Luther King’s asssassination.

By Chris Russo

Heights Staff

Lu Pin, a trailblazing feminist lead-

er in China, founded Feminist Voices,

an online journal devoted to women’s

issues, in 2009 when she felt it was

time to speak out against the Chinese

government’s lack of policy regarding

LGBT and women’s issues.

Pin, a visiting scholar at Colum-

bia University’s Institute for the Study

of Human Rights, addressed Boston

College students in a talk about her

feminist activism in her home coun-

try of China on Wednesday evening.

The event is a part of the Daniel

C. Morrissey ’88 and Chanannait

Paisansathan, MD, Lecture Series

in Asian Studies and was hosted by

the Asian studies program and the

history department.

“I received messages from many

people,” she said regarding her fem-

inist work in China. “I had found

a community I had never heard

from before—Chinese feminists.

By 2011, a new feminist community

was coming together.”

The creation of Pin’s feminist

journal and the emergence of a more

vocal feminist movement in China

prompted groups of small women to

protest against domestic and sexual

violence in China.

The first of these demonstrations

took place on Valentine’s Day in 2012.

A group of women dressed in bloody

bridal gowns marched the streets of

Beijing to protest the prevalence of

domestic violence in relationships

in China. The women who marched

had personally witnessed or dealt

with domestic violence and spoke

out against how acceptable these acts

were. For too long, Chinese women

have suffered in silence, they said.

The slogan of the march was “Love

is not an excuse for violence,” and the

women chanted this phrase as they

walked through the streets.

Pin also discussed the “Bald

Sisters” protest that took place in

Guangzhou. To take action against

discriminatory admission rates at

the university in Guangzhou, a small

group of women shaved their heads

and held signs, speaking out against

the difference in gender criteria to en-

ter the university. Women would have

to score higher than men on the exams

to be admitted to the university.

In response, the Bald Sisters took

action and spoke out against these

unfair policies. Questioning Chinese

authority openly was extremely risky,

so many women supported the move-

ment online, posting pictures of their

shaven heads on social media. To

the women’s delight, the minister

of education eliminated a majority

of the gender biased policies in the

university’s admission.

“Feminism is still considered radi-

cal in China,” Pin said. “Because it is

considered radical, the movement has

attracted some bold, young people.”

Five young Chinese women who

were bold enough to hold protests

in China were arrested for “picking

quarrels and provoking trouble,” ac-

cording to the Chinese government.

Once news of their arrests became

public, #FreeTheFive became a trend-

ing topic on social media. Although

the women were released on bail, they

remain under close surveillance by the

Chinese government.

“I think this is a very difficult

time for feminist activism globally.

People should start at a small scale

an attack the patriarchy at different

places,” Pin said.

Pin hopes American feminists

will pay attention to the feminist

movement in China. In the age of

the Internet, she encouraged BC

students to support the cause via

social media. The main page for the

feminist activism in China is called

“Free Chinese Feminists” and has

over 5,000 likes.

Despite some setbacks, Pin has

a positive attitude toward the grow-

ing feminist movement in China.

“We need to develop more

ways to organize to gain more par-

ticipation,” she said. “As long as the

movement has a strong goal, we can

create change.”

the audience. “What does the

world need Boston College to be?

Right now is not about building the

wish list of what we want to do.”

He further explained that the

steering committee, a group of 24

different committees within the 18-

month process for strategic planning,

is taking this semester to assess the

greatest issues.

Students broke into smaller groups

to discuss a range of topics. Each

table was given three questions: one

focused on the vision of the school,

one focused on issues internal to the

school, and one focused on issues

external to the school.

Students’ ideas included improv-

ing school spirit, offering a STEM

degree, and improving BC’s diversity.

Some students, however, thought

that the confrontational nature

of other students, in their actions

toward the administration, has not

been productive.

“I feel like sometimes different

groups of students at BC have almost

been confrontational to the adminis-

tration,” Kanitkar said. “And I think

that has been counterproductive to

the conversation at times.”

Committees within the aforemen-

tioned strategic planning process will

each include a diverse group of faculty,

staff, members of UGBC, and general

members of the student body. The di-

versity of the committee will allow the

steering committee to most accurately

decipher what matters most in “Look-

ing Forward” to the future of BC.

Several students were pleased to

see their ideas proposed to admin-

istrators. Others, however, noted

the fact that their ideas may not get

serious consideration until next year,

when the Board of Trustees meets.

Lamirato said that increased

dialogue between the student

government, the general student

body, and the administration would

be beneficial.

“From both the administrator and

student perspective, an event like this

happening every semester would be

really helpful and really important so

that we can continue to work together

as opposed to working as two separate

entities,” Lamirato said.

By Sophie Reardon

News Editor

Thirty-one Boston College stu-

dents and faculty laid on the snow-

covered Stokes Lawn on Monday

evening to stand in solidarity with

the Black Lives Matter movement in

calling to end police brutality and ra-

cial discrimination. The die-in lasted

for 16 minutes—one minute for each

bullet that struck Laquan McDonald

when he was killed by police in Chi-

cago on Oct. 20, 2014.

The die-in was organized by

the Committee for the Integra-

tion for Social Justice in Psychol-

ogy and the Graduate Students of

Color Association.

Over 60 college campuses

across the nation held die-ins on

Apr. 4, the 48th anniversary of the

assassination of Martin Luther

King, Jr., at 6 p.m., the approximate

time of King’s death.

The group chose to use McDon-

ald’s death as a guideline for the die-in

because the college students who first

decided to host the die-in on Monday

are from Chicago.

“This all sprouted from their

interest in drawing attention to this

incident as one example of a larger

problem—of police brutality—that

basically constitutes a mental health

crisis in the U.S.,” Bryn Spielvogel,

LGSOE ’17, said.

In accordance with BC’s code of

conduct, the die-in was pre-approved

by the University.

“As a committee, we’re interested

in getting involved in social justice

agendas and trying to further push

psychology in the direction of being

very active in terms of social justice

events,” Spielvogel said.

The group first heard about the

nationwide event via email from a stu-

dent representative from the Ameri-

can Psychological Association.

“In general, it’s something that we

all care about,” Spielvogel said.

This event, she said, was also to

show that psychologists need to help

find solutions to this issue because it

affects their clients and their research,

and psychologists have the potential

to perpetuate racial discrimination.

As graduate psychology students,

Spielvogel said, they need to make

sure that they are doing what they can

to combat racial injustices.

This movement comes on the

heels of White Coats for Black Lives,

Stacy Morris, LGSOE ’16, said, a

movement in which medical students

took action to show that they are

advocates for black lives.

“This is a response to that, saying

that psychologists also have owner-

ship over advocating for black lives,”

Morris said.

Dinner, from A1

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, April 7, 2016 A4

For Madison Meehan, MCAS ’16, a

member of the women’s varsity soccer

team, this marathon will be more than

just about watching the participants go

by and having a good time—she will be

one of those running by the Mile 21 sign

this April 18.

“I’ve always been a runner, since high

school,” she said. “But this is the first

time I’ll run a marathon.”

Meehan, along with Chase Ryan,

MCAS ’16, joined the Dana Farber team

for the Boston Marathon in order to

raise money for cancer research.

The Dana-Farber Marathon Chal-

lenge, in which more than 400 runners

run in order to raise funds for the

Claudia Adams Barr Program, has made

large contributions to cancer research

since its inception in 1990.

Because Meehan has had a lot of free

time during the spring semester since

the women’s varsity soccer team is not

in-season, she decided to run.

“When I decided to run, I began

looking at different charities I could

support,” she said. “I saw the Dana

Farber team and immediately thought

it would be a good fit.”

Although the biting wind and blan-

ket of snow on the ground might not

agree, spring is here, and the 2016

Boston Marathon is right around the

corner.

On April 18, Bostonians and specta-

tors from around the globe will gather

along a 26.2-mile course to cheer on the

many brave souls determined to com-

plete a race made even more demanding

by Boston’s many hills.

According to the Boston Athletic

Association (B.A.A.) Marathon fact

sheet, 30,000 runners have officially

entered the 2016 Boston Marathon,

and approximately 1,000,000 people

will attend the Marathon as spectators.

Ninety thousand additional people are

expected to attend the Marathon’s 39th-

annual John Hancock Sports and Fitness

Expo on April 15.

The expo will feature over 150 ex-

hibitors showcasing the cutting-edge

technology and strategies in the run-

ning world.

Admission will also be compli-

mentary, and attendees can expect to

see representatives and exhibits from

companies such as Adidas, Gatorade,

and Clif Bar.

The same fact sheet also predicts

that the Boston Marathon will gener-

ate $181.9 million dollars for the local

economy.

With these large numbers , and

people attending events that begin three

days before the Marathon itself, Mara-

thon organizers are prioritizing safety.

In addition to the almost 2,000 medical

personnel and over 3,000 security per-

sonnel overseeing the Marathon, 4,176

members of the local, state, and federal

law enforcement will be present at the

2016 Boston Marathon.

And although the Marathon is an

important event that marks the progres-

sion of society, as well as giving cause

for celebration, and a reminder of unity

within the city of Boston and beyond, it

did not always have such a wide reach.

Organized by the B.A.A. in 1897,

the Boston Marathon began as a single

event in the larger Boston Athletic As-

sociation Games. As would become

tradition, the race was held on Patriot’s

Day, but at this early date, only 15 run-

ners participated.

As the decades progressed, the

Marathon gained traction and world-

wide attention. Patriot’s Day became

an official holiday in the state of Massa-

chusetts, which resulted in an increase

in marathon spectators.

Men from around the world par-

ticipated in the Marathon, and, in 1966,

Roberta Gibb became the first woman

to complete the course. Her entry was

unofficial, however, and it was not until

1972 that women were officially allowed

to enter the Marathon. From there, the

Marathon continued to evolve, gaining

a wheelchair division, a cash prize, and

breaking numerous records.

This year will mark the 50th an-

niversary of Gibb’s famous completion

of the Marathon, and in honor of her

achievement, and in celebration of 50

years of women running in the Mara-

thon, Gibb will be Grand Marshal for

the 2016 Marathon.

According to the B.A.A., events

throughout the week of the Boston

Marathon will be held to honor the

participation of women in the race, and

Gibb will ride just ahead of the runners

to alert spectators of their approach.

“Gibb changed the course of running

history five decades ago, setting the

stage for generations to come,” B.A.A

President Joann Flaminio said in the

organization’s press release.“Bobbi will

lead 30,000 runners, including more

than 14,000 female entrants, on their

way to Boston on Patriots’ Day this

year.”

This year will be another big year

for the Boston Marathon, which has

only become a stronger point of public

focus after the tragedy of the Boston

Marathon bombings in 2013.

Just this past Saturday, Boston

Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09,

and Massachusetts Governor Charlie

Baker unveiled this year’s tribute to

the victims of the bombing: a large blue

and yellow banner emblazoned with the

words “Boston Strong.”

According to Boston.com, the trib-

ute is located on the Bowker Overpass

hovering over Commonwealth Avenue,

positioned so that the runners can see it

as they near their final mile.

CYCLE FOR SURVIVAL

Ever since he was a freshman, the

Boston Marathon has been an important

aspect of Boston College for Chase Ryan,

MCAS ’16.

“I come from a small community in

Montana, so to see the hype and energy

and to see how many people came out for

Marathon Monday my freshmen year was

such a highlight of my BC experience,”

he said.

Th is year, however, the economics ma-

jor will be on the other side of the day, as

a runner with the Dana-Farber Institute’s

Boston Marathon team.

Th e Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge

(DFMC) raises funds for the Claudia Adams

Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer

Research. DFMC began in 1990 and since

then has raised over $74 million. Th e pro-

gram has helped improve survival rates and

quality of life for cancer patients. For the

2016 Boston Marathon, “the DFMC team

aims to raise $5.4 million in pursuit of the

ultimate fi nish line: a world without cancer,”

according to the program’s web site.

Ryan is excited to work with the DFMC

team, but his involvement is motivated by

a diffi cult past.

“When I was in high school, my mother

battled cancer,” he said. “We were just

so blessed with early detection that my

mother never doubted that she would pull

through.”

Ryan’s mother has since recovered, and

this year his family is celebrating fi ve can-

cer-free years. Since so many people that

he has met at BC have also been aff ected

by cancer, he decided to run.

All runners who gain a bib number

through a charity have to raise a minimum

of $5,000, but Ryan has a higher goal of

$11,000. He has had to be creative in his

fundraising approaches, starting with a

letter campaign.

In his letter Ryan outlines his reasons

for running, the history of the DFMC and

the Claudia Adams Barr program, and how

family and friends can donate.

“After experiencing the marathon

festivities at Boston College’s ‘Mile 21’ in

years past, I look forward to being a part of

this iconic race and of greater importance,

raising funds for a meaningful cause,” Ryan

wrote.

Ryan also enlisted the help of his two

favorite teachers at Core Power Yoga, a yoga

studio he goes to frequently.

Th e teachers hosted a fundraising class

for his campaign, asking people to donate

whatever they felt comfortable with. Th e

fundraising event had over 50 people in

attendance, and Ryan raised over $1,000.

“BC is a very giving and philanthropic

community and emphasizes giving back,”

he said.

Raising $11,000 and running 26.2 miles

are no small feats, and the journey has come

with several challenges. But when the chal-

lenges arise, Ryan said he fi nds motivation

and support in his family, close friends,

and fellow runners like Madison Meehan,

MCAS ’16, who is also a member of the

Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team.

“The Dana Farber team couldn’t be

more supportive,” he said. “Th ey have so

many resources and team meetings and

committees that help us brainstorm.”

One of the coaches is Jack Fultz, who

won the Boston Marathon in 1976 and

has helped develop training programs for

runners of all levels. Th ere are weekly track

workouts at Tufts University and group

runs on Saturday or Sunday mornings.

“It’s very motivating to have others

pushing you and make you want to get out

of bed when you don’t want to run 15 to 20

miles by yourself,” Ryan said.

Finally, the night before race day the

team will host a pasta dinner for all the

runners and their family members.

In 11 days, on race day, Ryan’s friends

and family—including his mother—will be

on the sidelines cheering him on.

“I think [my mom is] proud that I’ve

taken the initiative to join Dana-Farber

and help those who aren’t as fortunate with

diagnosis and timing,” he said. “I think she’s

very happy.”

Ryan encouraged anyone who may want

to run the Marathon to go for it.

“It’s great to have a challenge and

if you’re running for a charity, to have

something to work towards that’s greater

than yourself,” he said. “It’s a phenomenal

opportunity.”

KELSEY MCGEE / HEIGHTS EDITOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF MADISON MEEHAN

Meehan decided to run the marathon with the Dana-Farber to support cancer research as a tribute to her late father (above).

Like many of the runners completing

the Marathon for the DFMC team, Can-

cer has personally affected Meehan. Her

father passed away from Leukemia two

years ago after a long fight. She found

no better way to honor his memory than

to run for the cause and raise money for

future research.

To be part of the team, the runners

must raise at least $5,000 for the charity.

Due to the large support network that

Meehan has developed over the years

she has been able to not only reach

that goal, but has surpassed it with over

$29,000 in donations to date.

Meehan said that no one reached

out to her in order to run, that it was

all of her own decision after hearing

from one of her friends who is also on

the team.

While her high school track experi-

ence helped during the training, going

beyond the normal six miles she would

run during practice was a tough adjust-

ment.

“We have a specific week-by-week

training regime to get us in the shape we

need to be to run it,” she said. “Taking

it week-by-week definitely helped my

mentality and got my body used to the

longer distances we began to do.”

One of the main sources of support

for her has been her friends and family,

with many at BC being very supportive

of her and her cause.

“While I am running a lot of the time,

I don’t think about much other than the

road ahead,” she said. “I concentrate on

what I have to do. I also think of all of

the support I’ve received, and that keeps

me going.”

She says that there are definitely days

when she doesn’t feel like running for

various reasons, but when those doubts

creep up, she thinks about her family,

friends, and the cause in order to muster

the energy to go out and run that day.

Having all of her friends and family

checking in on her to see how she was

doing has helped her more than they can

imagine Meehan said. She then added

that their support has been incredible,

especially beyond the donations.

Running the 26.2-mile course for

professional marathon runners is not

an easy task, so for others who are

not used to it it requires an immense

amount of dedication. But, anyone can

do it, Meehan said.

“If you follow the training regime

[the team] gives it is possible for any-

one to do it,” she said. “You just have to

think about why you’re running, and it

gets easier.”

STORIES FROM THE MARATHON

resources to develop and market

the product in the United States.

He that noticed many technol-

ogy and creative companies

have started purchasing napping

pods for their offices, which

made him realize that target-

ing for Sleepbox in the United

States should be more oriented

toward these companies than it

had been in the past.

There are three main mar-

kets for Sleepbox. The first is the

adaptation of them in office set-

tings. Sleepbox would typically

sell them to an office developer,

a real estate developer, or ten-

ants of the office spaces.

“They basically don’t charge

the people that are there to use

them,” Chambers said. “They

let the employees go in, close

the door, and sort of take a deep

breath to clear themselves from

the work for about a half hour,

an hour.”

The second use is in the hotel

setting, which breaks down into

two parts. There is the option

to take over a floor or so of

an existing hotel and use the

space to put in more beds so as

to manage space as efficiently

as possible. Since these are for

longer stays there is typically a

communal bathroom for all of

the Sleepboxes. Chambers de-

scribed the third use as similar

to the office use—single units

can be operated independently

as vending machines for tran-

sient people to use for napping.

In these cases, the focus is not

to offer overnight stays, and

wouldn’t require a dedicated

bath space. Units for this pur-

pose might be found somewhere

like a shopping center, and there

would likely be some sort of

reservation system available.

Commercially, the price of us-

ing a Sleepbox generally ranges

from $5 to $15, but the owners

set their own prices after buy-

ing the initial unit for around

$16,000.

S le epbox is working to

change the image of sleep in

the office space. There is often

a connotation that sleeping is

not something that should be

acceptable during the day in an

operating office, and that self-

care should be limited to the

home, the founders said.

“As work schedules become

f lexible and people become

more adaptable or amenable to

flexible work hours or work-

ing at all times of the day, that

they are starting to change that

cultural understanding and

cultural connotation that goes

along with sleeping in the of-

fice,” Chambers said. “So part of

that is changing people’s minds,

and the other part of that is best

practices to incorporate this.”

Some concerns still exist,

however. In traditional office

settings, it is important to nap

for an appropriate amount of

time, taking into account an in-

dividual’s REM cycle, otherwise

workers can wake up groggy and

ultimately be less productive.

This, as well as oversleeping,

could pose problems for com-

panies that use Sleepbox.

Sleepbox is not stopping at

bedrooms. Chambers said that

they are working on another

development: a water closet unit

that could be used in a hotel.

“It’s another tool of changing

the way that we look at genera-

tional talent management and

business, looking at how we

structure the way that people

are allowed to work and then

recharge and harness their pro-

ductivity and creativity,” Cham-

bers said in regard to his favorite

part of the project.

catching they were.

The sneakers in question

were what preppy dreams are

made of: the first pair featured

a pastel red and blue plaid

underneath bright-red piping,

and the second pair the same

plaid under a pattern of sky-

blue piping.

On the back of each shoe

was a small whale—about

the size of a quarter—smiling

cheekily at me from behind

the glass. The laces were, of

course, coordinated to match

the piping, and the insoles

were covered in more of that

same pastel plaid.

As I stared at the shoes,

I was filled with a sense of

dread and admiration. Dread,

because I suddenly realized

that I could be looking at the

latest Boston College trend.

I could see these sneakers

scattered throughout cam-

pus alongside Sperry’s, Bean

Boots, and all forms of Vine-

yard Vines.

The admiration came as I

thought about the abject con-

fidence that it would actually

take to wear these shoes out

in public.

Their bright plaid was so

distinctive that the sneakers

would clash with almost any-

thing, so finding a way to style

them that would be un-ironic

and still appealing would

require the utmost nuance and

skill.

I tried to think up a few

such options, and quite

frankly, I was stumped.

Eventually, I walked away

from the sneakers in sartorial

defeat, but I couldn’t help but

wonder where these shoes

came from.

Had Vineyard Vines de-

cided to appeal to the athe-

leisure trend, and join the

legions of brands making the

leap into athletic clothing?

But that couldn’t be, because

the little whales weren’t pink,

and Vineyard Vines surely

wouldn’t withhold its trade-

mark whale from a running

shoe.

So I poked around, and

discovered that the shoes

were created by the Seattle-

based shoemaker Brooks, in

honor of the upcoming Boston

Marathon.

According to BostInno,

the sneakers will cost $130,

and are actually the second

Boston-themed sneaker that

the brand has created. The

first ones were bright red, and

covered in lobsters.

And apparently this tradi-

tion of running companies

creating sneakers in honor of

the Marathon is long-stand-

ing. Massachusetts-based

brands Saucony and New Bal-

ance also designed Marathon

shoes.

Saucony’s were inspired

by the MBTA’s famous Green

line, and New Balance’s em-

phasized the high number of

colleges in the area with what

the company called “a col-

legiate color pallet.”

But isn’t it interesting that

the two local companies were

able to pay such a nuanced

tribute to the city of Boston,

while the out-of-towners

latched on to such a stereo-

type?

Because by now we all

know that, despite how it

might look from far away,

there is so much more to

Boston than preppy plaids and

lobsters.

THE HEIGHTS A5Thursday, April 7, 2016

By Joanna Yuelys

Heights Staff

As founding partners of an

architecture firm in Russia,

Mikhail Krymov and Alexey

Goryainov were constantly

travelling around promoting

their firm in the continent and

found they could not find places

to stay in airports or city centers

for reasonable prices. So, in

2012 they invented Sleepbox,

a way to catch some z’s on the

go.

Peter Chambers, another

co-founder acting as CFO and

COO, described the project as

a research development experi-

ment at first, with Krymov and

Goryainov initially doing all of

the design themselves and then

bringing contract manufactur-

ers in Russia and Europe to

bring the product to life.

Sleepbox sel ls enclosed

modules with about 40 square

feet of space with a bed and of-

ten a television which users can

rent for a given period of time.

They were originally built for an

airport in Moscow, where there

are about 50 installations.

“Our major installations

right now are in a hotel in Mos-

cow, and in Stockholm, Sweden,

at the Bo & Bistro hotel, right

across the street from the ma-

jor sports center Tele2 Arena,”

Chambers said.

There are also around five

other smaller-scale installations

in offices in Europe and Russia.

Last year, Krymov came to

the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology to complete a fel-

lowship as part of his Ph.D. pro-

gram in Moscow. The fellowship

itself is unrelated to Sleepbox,

but being at MIT has connected

the founder to important new

networks and had given him

PHOTO BY THE BSA

One of the many models on display at the exhibit showcasing the “progressive contextualism” style of Moshe Safdie.

Most of the time, I feel like

I have to walk past store win-

dows as fast as possible.

If I slow down, I know that

my resolve will weaken, and

I will probably end up pulled

into the shop, drooling over

whatever was in the window.

This ultimately means that

there are very few window

displays that actually have the

power to stop me in my tracks

and say something along the

lines of “wow.”

Many times, the abrupt

halt occurs after I see a dis-

play that is truly beautiful in

and of itself.

Other times I stop because

the items in the windows are

so bizarre that I need a few

seconds to process what they

really are.

This past week, an instance

of the latter occurred as I was

ambling down the streets of

Newton Centre.

As I moved past the quaint

shops, I stopped in confusion

in front of a store dedicated

to running gear—the kind of

store that I can honestly say I

am not naturally inclined to

stop in front of on any day.

I was brought to a halt by

the sight of two pairs of run-

ning sneakers prominently

displayed on pedestals in the

window.

I honestly couldn’t tell you

if there was anything else in

that window at all, or if the

display solely comprised these

sneakers, that’s how eye-

By Juan Olavarria

Metro Editor

Moshe Safdie returns to Bos-

ton with intent and is taking

the city by storm with his new

exhibit, Global Citizen: The Ar-

chitecture of Moshe Safdie.

Opening on March 16 and

running until May 22, the Boston

Society of Architects will hold an

exhibit showcasing the work of

Safdie, the 2015 AIA Gold Medal

winner. The exhibit is free to the

public and features a large collec-

tion of Safdie’s models, drawings,

films, and photographs of his

buildings from his projects all

around the world.

Safdie, born in Israel, also

holds Canadian and Ameri-

can citizenships. His extensive

travels have also exposed him

to a vast array of architectural

styles and natural environments,

evidenced by his commissions

that range from places like the

Tel Aviv airport to the Peabody

Essex Museum located in Salem,

Mass. His firm also has offices in

Jerusalem, Singapore, China and

Somerville, Mass.

The exhibit itself is almost

like a work of art, with the mod-

els, photographs, and drawings

not only arranged in chrono-

logical order but also made to fit

within the space available and to

adjust to the natural light coming

through the large windows. Visi-

tors are faced with a large model

of Boston as soon as they walk

through the door.

Curated by Donald Albrecht,

the exhibition includes large-

scale models of built, unbuilt,

and in-progress projects from

Safdie’s career. Around every

corner there is another model

of a buildings with its own story

to tell. Ranging from residential

building to museums to librar-

ies to convention centers, each

development featured has pho-

tographs of the actual building

alongside the tangible, miniature

displays that show the visitor

with surprising detail every

curve and edge of the building.

The varying degrees of prog-

ress of these models trace his

development as an architect

and highlight the major works of

his life, especially Habitat ’67, a

housing complex that was com-

missioned for Montreal’s 1967

world expo.

“In his career, Safdie has

tackled the challenges of urban

life head-on with solutions that

create enjoyable, livable spaces,

connecting individuals to nature

and their community,” Albrecht

said in an email.

The exhibit as a whole also fo-

cuses on the critical junctures in

the development of Safdie’s style

of “progressive contextualism,”

where a construction should act

both within the natural limita-

tions of the environment but also

be an “extension” of the same.

It is organized into five sec-

tions: Safdie’s formative years as

an undergraduate and the launch

of his practice in 1964; the estab-

lishment of a branch office and

his work across Jerusalem in the

1970s; a period of major institu-

tional commissions across North

America throughout the 1980s,

1990s, and early 2000s; a more

recent phase of diverse commis-

sions in new global centers in

India, Singapore, and China; and

examples of his firm’s current

large-scale work confronting the

challenges of dense urbanism

around the world.

Going up the translucent

staircase brings the visitor to the

bulk of the exhibit, with the orig-

inal model for his now-famous

Habitat ’67 among the objects on

display. The handiwork done by

Safdie is apparent in this model

and others.

The show becomes a tangible

expression of the evolution of

the practice of architecture, from

its origins in hand-built models

to computer renderings that give

the visitors the experience of

what a building would look like

from the inside.

One of the lasting images of

the exhibit, along with the large

miniature model of Boston, is

that of the model of the Marina

Sands Hotel in Singapore.

The large display showcases

Safdie at his best: aggressive, as

evidenced by the large terrace on

the rooftop that serves as a con-

nector between the three towers

of the hotel, but delicate, as the

building looks at peace with its

surroundings.

“I am thrilled to welcome

Global Citizen at BSA Space,

the first exhibition in a series of

shows celebrating seminal firms

with roots in Boston,” 2016 BSA

president Tamara Roy said to

Canadian Architect. “Safdie’s

office has made a lasting impact

on our local and regional archi-

tectural and civic community,

and this exhibition will be a tes-

tament to an impressive body of

work.”

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, April 7, 2016A6

HEIGHTSThe Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

THE

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art ... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

-C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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

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

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pany pieces submitted to the newspaper.

Letters and columns can be submitted online at ww

bcheights.com, by e-mail to editor@bcheights.com,

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

Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

EDITORIALS

The views expressed in the above editorials

represent the official position of The Heights, as

discussed and written by the Editorial Board. A list

of the members of the Editorial Board can be found

at bcheights.com/opinions.

An online petition posted last week

argued that the new Boston College

recreation facility, which will replace

the Flynn Recreation Complex, will

hinder efforts to recruit student-ath-

letes for both the swimming and tennis

teams and will not provide adequate

resources for students or current BC

athletes.

The main concern of the petition is

that the pool in the new facility is not

large enough for the swim team to re-

alistically use for practice. There is also

concern about the reduced number of

tennis courts.

In response, Director of Athletics

Brad Bates has said that the plan for

the new facility will “reflect the Uni-

versity’s needs and address the evolving

demands of intercollegiate athletics at

Boston College.”

This petition has a legitimate point.

If BC is to ever have a competitive

swimming team in the ACC, it requires

an Olympic-sized pool of at least 50

meters by 25 yards, or one that is 25

meters by 25 yards that also includes

a diving well.

This pool needs to be deeper and

have better filtration than the current

one in the Flynn Recreation Complex,

which is out of date and does not meet

these needs.

Every other ACC school, with the

exception of Miami, has an up-to-date

pool of adequate size available for use.

Each of these schools has an Olympic-

sized pool. In comparison, BC is far

behind the rest of the conference, and

the swimming program suffers because

of this.

If the swimming pool is not improved

in the new facility, the swimming team

is facing an uncertain future. By con-

tinuing to be vague about plans for a

pool, BC is threatening the viability of

swimming as a sport at BC.

Good facilities are a necessity for BC

to show dedication to the program and

provide incentive to recruits. As plans

for the new facility go forward, this is-

sue should be addressed.

This same principle applies to the

tennis team, which has not received

adequate information about how many

courts it will be allocated in the new fa-

cility. BC needs to show a commitment

to both the swim team and tennis team.

Continuing to be vague about whether

a suitable pool and tennis courts will be

built puts these teams in a precarious

position. Explicit information should

be released in order to ensure that no

team is neglected when the new facil-

ity is built.

This petition brings up a number

of important concerns with the new

facility. Since considerable donation

money is being spent on the new proj-

ect, it is important that the facility re-

flect the needs of the student-athletes

and non-athlete students who will be

using it . Having subpar swimming

facilities hurts BC swimming athleti-

cally and limits the fitness options of

regular students.

The concerns brought up in this

petition should be taken into account

by the athletic department and plans

should be adjusted to meet them.

Members of the Boston College ad-

ministration met with the Undergradu-

ate Government of Boston College as

well as non-UGBC-affiliated students,

as part of Boston College Looking

Forward, an event meant to foster

communication between the student

body and the administration at the

beginning of the 18-month strategic

planning process.

Students divided into small groups

that then met with an administrator at a

table, where they voiced their concerns

and provided suggestions for the future

of BC. The administrators marked

down these concerns and suggestions

for future use as the strategic planning

process continues. These administra-

tors will then meet with the Board of

Trustees to present their findings.

UGBC has made progress in open-

ing lines of communication with the

administration and needs to work to

ensure that they remain open in the

future. Now that a line of communica-

tion is open, the administration should

take these concerns seriously. In addi-

tion, the willingness of the administra-

tors to hear concerns from the student

body ought to be noted as a positive

step. This communication between the

students and the administration should

lead to an inclusive and successful stra-

tegic planning process.

Katie Lamirato, UGBC director of

transparency and MCAS ’18, and other

members of UGBC proposed having

this meeting every semester with the

administration. Since the ideas pre-

sented were often very large-scale and

require long-term discussion and ac-

tion, a meeting every semester has the

possibility for redundancy. Instead, it

would be better to have a meeting every

year. This helps ensure that as many ad-

ministrators as possible can attend and

the ideas presented will be adequately

evolved from the previous meeting.

The administration should continue to

attend these meetings and work with

UGBC to better understand student

concerns in this way. As progress on the

master plan continues, these meetings

can be used to update the administra-

tion on changing student concerns and

how well or poorly newly implemented

programs have worked. This will help

ensure that the master plan does the

most possible to help students and im-

prove student life.

One notable absence from this meet-

ing was University President Rev. Wil-

liam P. Leahy, S.J. Leahy should consider

attending meetings like this in order to

demonstrate a direct engagement with

student concerns.

Although much of the job of Uni-

versity President involves fundraising

and boosting University prestige, it is

important that Leahy takes the time to

meet with UGBC, even if it is just this

meeting or similar meetings, to ensure

that communication is taking place and

that ideas are being heard.

be confident enough that by ending

the barriers to trade, the Cuban people

will see the benefits of capitalism. Only

then will real change happen. We are far

beyond the years of the Cold War, and

the Cuban people must now choose their

own government without the control of

the United States. They have as much of

a right to self-determination as does the

rest of the world, and allowing them to

experience free markets and American

ingenuity will only help expedite their

path to capitalism and democracy. After

all, one of America’s largest trading part-

ners is none other than the communist

state of China. Is it not a double standard

to do business with China but ignore

Cuba? If the United States still had such

strong anti-communist feelings, consis-

tency would be necessary. It is obvious

that these divisions are antiquated, and

it is obvious that China’s transition from

communism to capitalism has led toward

more pressure for democracy from the

Chinese people.

What does the United States truly

have to lose by ending the Cuban em-

bargo? Perhaps American leaders still

do not want to admit that it has been a

failure, but it is time to admit the truth

and acknowledge the facts. If anything,

the U.S. and U.S. companies stand to gain

greatly from a repeal of the embargo.

Many Americans are drawn to the idea

of visiting Cuba, and airlines in the U.S.

stand to gain greatly from expanded

travel with new routes generating new

revenue. American tourism will help the

impoverished people of the island nation

and will help American travel companies,

too, a win-win situation for all parties.

The opening of American companies

in Cuba will help generate wealth and

opportunities for the Cuban people as

well, and the opening of a new market

will help generate increased demand for

American exports. The U.S. has noth-

ing to lose. By helping the Cuban people

generate wealth and helping American

companies, U.S. government policies will

finally reflect the values America stands

for—freedom and opportunity.

Those who disagree with lifting the

embargo often do so with many valid

reasons. It is true that the Castro regime

still holds political prisoners and limits

freedoms. The Cuban government is

well-deserving of intense scrutiny and

criticism. But people who feel this way

and support the embargo are only hold-

ing the Cuban people back. By limiting

their access to the outside world we

are shutting them out from seeing and

experiencing another way of life. In fact,

lifting the embargo could very well give

people inside the communist country

more access to outside information, a

freedom that has been quite restricted

inside of Cuba. Furthermore, the import

of U.S. goods will help improve Cuba’s

infrastructure, improving the quality of

life of many of the citizens there. Cuba’s

exports of world-renowned cigars and

rum to the U.S. will also help employ

Cubans by giving them more purchasing

power. A growing middle class is the key

to tackling communism.

Although it is unlikely for a Re-

publican Congress to give President

Obama a perceived policy victory in an

election year, it is time for Congress to

work together and carry out the popular

opinion of the American people. Let us

expose Cuba to capitalism and allow it to

prosper. Cuba’s path to freedom begins

with an opening of trade and travel

between our two countries. A sharing of

goods comes with a sharing of ideas and

culture. Let’s let capitalism free Cuba.

THE HEIGHTSThursday, April 7, 2016 A7

SNOW - Yeah, I bet you were expect-

ing a little thumbs down action on

this one, huh? But no! We here at

The Heights are all about subverting

expectations, switching things up,

hitting them with the ol’ one-two-

switcheroo. Just when you think

we’re going to complain about the

sudden cold, the ice-coated side-

walks, and the snow-covered boots,

we give you a little flip-de-doo. We

love the cold and the snow. There’s

no better way to get alert for your

first class than to slip in front of the

door and land flat on your patookis

in front of a crowd of laughing

freshmen. It’s better than coffee, I

tells ya.

BALCONIES - If you want to live a truly

dramatic life, you’ll spend a lot of

time on balconies, probably smok-

ing a cigarette and gazing wistfully

at the darkening horizon. “I don’t

know if it’s worth it,” you’ll whisper

when your friend walks out to see

if you’re all right. “I’ve been fight-

ing for justice in this neighborhood

for 32 years now, and these streets

don’t look no better to me.” “What

are you talking about?” your friend

will say. “You’ve only been alive for

20 years. Why are you talking in

that weird accent? What happened

to your normally impeccable gram-

mar?” You’ll shake your head, flick

your cigarette butt off the balcony,

and walk back inside as the credits

begin to roll.

RETROGRADE - In this world of con-

stantly shifting slang, it’s important

that we jump on top of trends im-

mediately. Everyone who’s anyone

knows that the newest super-fly

thing to say is “retrograde” as in

“Dawg, that’s so retrograde” or “I was

retrograding the other day and then

I bought a keytar and dawg, it was

pretty freakin’ retrograde.”

WHISPERED CONVERSATIONS WITH TWO-INCH FACIAL SEPARATION - There’s no

worse scene in a movie or television

show than when two absurdly attrac-

tive people stand about half an inch

away from each other and whisper

about their problems. “I don’t know

what we’re going to do.” “It’ll be fine

babe.” “I’m scared.” “Don’t be scared.

We have our love, and no one can

take that away.” “What?” “What?” “I

can’t hear you. Why are you whisper-

ing so softly, Paul?” “Can you avoid

P-words? You just spit on my chin.”

“I seriously can’t understand a word

you’re saying.” These scenes are the

scourge of our existence and must

be eliminated.

FINDING YOURSELF STUCK IN THE BUBBLE - No one hates jargon more

than this alien, but there’s something

very real about the BC Bubble. After

weeks on campus, you sometimes

realize that you haven’t ventured

forth into the world at all, you’ve

just been stuck eating, sleeping, and

pretending to have done the readings

in a never-ending cycle of despair.

You’ll go to the city tomorrow, you

decide, waggling your eyebrows

decisively. But then tomorrow you

have some work to do, and it’s kinda

cold, so forget it. You know you’ll

never break free. This is your life

now. Get used to it.

Like Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down?

Follow us @BCTUTD

I love eating alone. There, I said it. I

love ordering whatever I want and not

worrying about a predatory fork from a

fellow diner. I love eating slowly and delib-

erately. I love getting swept up in the chat-

ter and the clatter of restaurants. Call me

a selfish diner or a loner, but I absolutely

love eating alone.

I didn’t always feel this way. Eighteen-

year-old me hated eating alone. She used

to walk into Mac with a heavy heart and

sweaty palms. Looking out at the sea

of unfamiliar faces and crowded tables,

she felt an inconsolable sense of defeat.

She felt completely and utterly deserted.

Maybe you felt this way too. Maybe you

still feel this way. There’s something ter-

rifying about walking up to a table alone

and claiming it for yourself. This fear

stayed with me throughout freshman year.

I began wrapping up my dinners to go

when none of my friends were available. I

left the tables for closer squads than mine.

Somewhere along the line, I got over

the fear. I think I can trace it to sopho-

more year. As the only one of my friends

with a 9 a.m., I had a choice. I could

eat breakfast alone, or I could skip it

altogether. I struggled through two weeks

of grumbling stomachs and exhaustion

during classes before trudging into Lower

at 8:30. At first, I resisted. I set myself up

with a bowl of cereal and a textbook. Or

a study guide. Or my phone. Anything to

distract from the silence and the empty

seat across from me. One day, I looked

up from my steaming cup of coffee and

glanced around. I noticed that I wasn’t

alone. Groups and couples and a smat-

tering of other single diners surrounded

me. And none of them were looking at

me. None of them were judging me for

being alone, mistaking my empty table for

loneliness or rejection.

This discovery changed everything.

Slowly, day by day, I learned to put down

my phone. I left my textbooks and study

guides in my backpack. Although I did

occasionally pull out a book, I mostly

learned to enjoy the silence. I started

ordering more lavish breakfasts: omelets

and croissants and the occasional stack of

pancakes. I ate slowly and with as much

pleasure as one can find in cafeteria food.

With my eyes out of a textbook or off

of the table, I started to notice things.

I noticed that Lower looks downright

cheery in the early-morning sun. I noticed

the ebb and flow of diners at 8:45 a.m. I

noticed the group of BC dining workers

laughing and enjoying breakfast before

their shift. Above all, I noticed how calm-

ing and empowering these solo meals

could be.

With a newfound sense of confidence

and independence, I started seeking out

more adventures on my own. I went on

long walks and coffee dates and afternoon

movies, with only the streets of Boston to

keep me company. I started trying new

restaurants and coffee shops, not because

my friends wanted to, but because I did.

I became a selfish diner, and I didn’t even

feel bad about it. I no longer felt alone or

afraid. My own company was enough.

Sometimes I think back to 18-year-old

me. I think back to the stressful dinner

runs and the to-go boxes. I wonder how

I ever felt so scared of eating by myself.

But I know that fear extends beyond the

dinner table. Who wants to be alone?

Who wants to feel lonely or unwanted

or forgotten? Perhaps it’s just at a table,

alone, that we must confront these ter-

rifying feelings. Learning to let them go,

learning to stand (or sit) on our own two

feet, can take time. It takes courage and

acceptance and probably an inconvenient

class schedule. But let me tell you, once

you work through the fear and the inse-

curity, those meals might just be the best

part of your day.

So here’s my challenge. I want you to

go on Yelp and find an intriguing new res-

taurant. Put on some lipstick or a tie, and

take yourself out. Say those dreaded three

words: “table for one.” Say them again and

again until they roll off your tongue with

ease and pleasure. Keep your phone in

your pocket and your book tucked away.

Sit and eat and watch and listen. Above

all, enjoy.

feel entitled to place restrictive conditions on

campus political rights. Student-athletes are

not allowed to organize to receive compensa-

tion for the money they bring to universities.

Students are not allowed to have their voices

heard in endowment investments. Students

are not allowed to promote ideas or events

without their first being approved by admin-

istrators. Ultimately, university governance

structures are completely isolated from the

students who provide the majority of their

funds, in an oppressive way akin to “taxation

without representation.”

The last goal of the university is to expose

students not only to a wide range of ideas,

but also to a diverse set of people who will

foster community and deep relationships

across society. In this, universities have had

some success in the last half-century, acting

to diversify their student bodies through ac-

tive admissions programs. In the measures of

diversity that are a bit more challenging and

require sacrifice on the part of the university,

such as changes to governance structures or

the training of underrepresented peoples to

improve faculties, it has been much slower to

change. Another issue that hinders diversity

on campuses is the social stratification that

occurs between populations of students

during their time at university. Discussions

about these differences remain tightly con-

trolled, and many members of marginalized

communities feel unsafe or unappreciated at

university because their political voices are

sharply curtailed and policies do not accu-

rately assess the issues important to them.

Ultimately, these failures of the Ameri-

can university arise from the hollowing out

of its purpose to provide a public good,

replaced by the idea that it is maintaining a

consumer product. Rather than serving as

a space to transmit knowledge and foster

humanistic community, the university has

become a place to create employees. In the

process, the university has been forced to

take on new forms, as corporate entity and

autocratic state, to perpetuate itself and hide

the increasingly transparent emptiness of its

mission. The university will be able to regain

its relevance in modern society only if it can

grow the individual person and create an

educated and humanistic citizenry.

material made universities imperative. Today,

the Internet has made access to informa-

tion nearly free in comparison to its former

costs. Students entering college today are

better-educated than any previous gen-

eration, and they have the tools to access

information about nearly anything. Many

educational institutions are starting online

college classes meant to match the level of

their campus programs.

The counterargument to this technologi-

cal education is that one cannot possibly be

exposed to a diversity of ideas through the

Internet, which cannot provoke challenges

or provide questions to preexisting ideas. But

it is not so clear that the university plays this

role either. The university and it students are

increasingly acting in the “academic modus

operandi.” This means they are narrowly

focusing on standardized criteria of success:

grade point averages and well-developed

resumes. With this competitive academic

atmosphere, creativity and passion are side-

lined and only appreciated as supplements

to academic success. Students applying to

university feel increasing pressure to meet

intense marks for these criteria, and the time

and effort that they spend on these measures

of success come at the expense of their social

development, creative capacities, and mental

health. Educators also feel the pressures of

this narrow academic mindset, as the tenu-

ous positions they hold at universities in the

pursuit of tenure— and increasingly, many

try to make a living without even the option

of it—mean they are pressured to meet

higher academic standards. This places a

systematic preference for research and publi-

cation over the importance of teaching.

The university also serves to provide an

arena to experiment with new freedoms. For

many students, university serves as the first

opportunity to live outside the shelter and

control of their families. It is a time to learn

the powerful possibilities and responsibilities

of independent action. The life of a modern

college student, however, greatly restricts

freedom in a strange mix of oppression and

false privilege. On the one hand, students

today are given everything they need to be

happy and successful during their time at

university: food, shelter, security, support,

technology. This lifestyle seems ideal, but

payment plans mask its consequences by

pushing debt down the road. In exchange

for the provision of these goods, universities

What is the point of a university?

For a senior who is (hopefully) graduating

this May, it might be too late to be asking this

question: Why am I here? Why did I enroll

at Boston College, and why was it imperative

that I attend a full-time, in-residence, four-

year university program? My existential mus-

ings aside, this question seems imperative as

college costs continue to rise and more and

more people call for a reorganization of the

education system. In many ways, this politi-

cally charged moment speaks to the failings

of the modern university in providing a

coherent, necessary service and how it might

be too late to revive its relevance.

For many young people today, the main

reason to attend a university is to attain a

respectable job. Traditionally, the university

was aptly positioned to do this, as a college

degree delivered success in the technocratic

world. A university education was able to

carry people up the socioeconomic ladder,

acting as the meritocratic equalizer that

strengthened America’s middle class. Today,

a university education is just as necessary for

maintaining a standard of living in the econo-

my, but not because college students can

enter quickly into successful career paths.

Rather, a bachelor’s degree often provides

students with a position for which they are

overqualified, as the lower-skilled portion of

the economy shrinks and employers increas-

ingly shift job-training to graduate programs.

Thus, college-educated students are now

working jobs that wouldn’t have required

a degree, and the debt that goes with it, in

previous years.

The foremost goal of the university is

to provide an education. The university is

meant to act as a meeting place between

the world’s most skilled educators and most

driven students to transmit knowledge and

expose them to new ideas. This service not

only benefits the individual, but also provides

society with educated leaders and intellectu-

als. For hundreds of years, the university

was the only place where this could occur

because the expense of accessing scholarly

Last week, President Obama made

one of the most important trips of his

presidency—a visit to Cuba. His visit

was met with praise from many on the

left and scorn from many on the right.

Despite the criticism of some in elected

office, a majority of the American people

agrees with ending the embargo on Cuba

and allowing the American people to

travel to the country without restriction.

Feeling this way does not make one any

less of a conservative, but rather affirms

one’s faith in the free-market principles

the United States was built on.

The embargo on Cuba has failed.

President John F. Kennedy’s initial goal

for the embargo was to isolate the island

nation, leading to the fall of its commu-

nist regime, yet here we stand, 52 years

later, with a communist Castro still in

power in Cuba. It is an obvious fact that

the embargo, though well-intentioned,

was a futile attempt to end the Castro re-

gime and instead hurt the Cuban people.

By isolating Cuba from the United

States since 1962, America has harmed

the very people we claimed to be helping.

Cuba has suffered from outdated infra-

structure, transportation, and essential

services, in large part due to the isola-

tion it suffered during the U.S. embargo.

Instead of Cuba going forward with the

United States, it has been stuck in the

past. The Castros are not the ones who

suffer from this. In fact, the Castros are

probably able to use U.S. isolation as a

political tactic to help garner anti-Ameri-

can and anti-capitalistic sentiments

within Cuba. The U.S. has turned a blind

eye to the people in need and it is time

that we unleash the power of U.S. indus-

try to help free them.

True free-market conservatives should

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, April 7, 2016 A8

Nestled among the slew of restaurants already located on

Washington Street in Brighton, Mass., Energize, a new fast

food restaurant serving fresh juices, blends, and salads, is set

to open in the next few weeks.

Ivo Dimitrov and three of his friends, all life-long athletes

who immigrated to Boston from Eastern Europe, were looking

for better workout-recovery drinks and better nutrition in gen-

eral when they conceived the idea to open Energize, Dimitrov

said. The restaurant’s menu will incorporate locally sourced

plant-based foods when possible, as well as “superfoods” like

goji berries. The team started experimenting with different

flavor combinations when it decided that opening a restaurant

would be a smart idea.

“We were like, ‘Wow, this is working. Why not just go with

it?’” Dimitrov said. “We took a hobby and decided to provide

it to others.”

Dimitrov hopes to reformulate what “fast food” means,

expanding beyond the widely-accepted unhealthy connota-

tion of the phrase.

“What we want to do primarily is redefine fast foods,” he

said. “We want people to think fast foods can be healthy.”

Dimitrov and his colleagues are focusing on hiring em-

ployees who generally care about healthy eating, as they are

likely to understand how nutritious food works. Energize’s

employees will be able to recommend certain juices and blends

to customers, paying particular attention to pre-workout and

post-workout drinks.

According to Boston.eater.com, Energize hopes to appeal

to all kinds of customers, not just those following a vegan or

vegetarian lifestyle.

Dimitrov and his team want to spread health benefits to

everyone, by serving freshly squeezed juices, juice blends

infused with superfoods, and salads, using local produce as

much as possible to incorporate into their plant-based, vegan

menu.

Dimitrov mentioned that Washington Street is lined with

restaurants serving pizza and other similar items, and hopes

that Energize will bring something new to the table.

According to the restaurant’s web site, many people turn to

convenience stores and coffee shops in search of sugar-filled,

caffeinated beverages. Dimitrov and his colleagues believe that

what the body is really in search of is energy, which one can

acquire through the juices and blends offered at Energize.

Madison Sweedler, MCAS ’19, is a practicing vegan, but

admits that it is sometimes out of her price range to be con-

stantly purchasing food off campus.

“As a vegan, you have to be more aware of what is in your

food,” she said. “Veganism requires a little more creativity, and

if one is willing to apply this, then it is problem-free.”

Sweedler believes that the BC community will take full

advantage of the new restaurant.

“Given BC’s student body, which tends to be pretty health-

conscious, I absolutely think a good portion of BC’s students

would be thrilled by Energize’s opening,” she said.

Sweedler is excited to try the restaurant herself, especially

because it caters specifically to the vegan lifestyle, she said.

The restaurant’s menu has a few pre-selected juices and

blends, but mostly lists ingredients, allowing customers

to be as creative as they please. Sweedler believes that the

combination of creativity and nutrition will be popular with

vegan and omnivorous BC students alike who struggle to

find reasonably-priced yet nutritious options that are easily

accessible from campus.

Vegetarian Madison Hynes, MCAS ’18, said that there are

a fair amount of restaurants in the Allston-Brighton area, but

that there is still a lot of room to grow.

“Energize’s emphasis on juices and smoothies is something

new to the Brighton community, which is great,” she said.

In addition to the influx of college students Energize hopes

to attract to its new restaurant, Dimitrov and his colleagues are

excited to be a new addition to the Brighton community.

“The people who are going to work at Energize are very

passionate and understand how food works,” he said. “That’s

how we’re trying to separate ourselves from everybody

else.”

PHOTO COURTESTY OF ENERGIZE

Last week, an event held by General

Electric to discuss its upcoming move to

Boston was met with stark opposition

from individuals who believe the move

will be detrimental to the City.

During the event, Boston Mayor

Martin J. Walsh, MCAS ’09, discussed

and supported the possibility of raising

the minimum wage to $15 per hour

statewide.

“When you look at the disparities,

and income inequality, and what’s hap-

pening, I think it’s important for us to

work on the issue,” Walsh told The Boston Globe. “And the way we work on the issue

is by increasing the minimum wage over

a period of time.”

The discussion about raising the

minimum wage in the state is not a new

one, with former Governor Deval Patrick

previously approving a minimum wage

increase to $10 per hour in 2014. At the

time, Massachusetts was the only state

with a minimum wage that high—it was

later joined by California and New York.

Thus the question is whether the state

needs the change and whether it would

be fiscally responsible to do so, taking

into account that to afford the higher

wages, companies would have to either

see an increase in revenue or lay off some

employees. Unions across the state have

applauded the proposal, citing the need

for a living wage for all individuals.

Critics of the proposal have come

mostly from business groups who are

concerned with the costs of such a

measure.

Chris Geehern, executive vice

president at the Associated Industries of

Massachusetts, did not agree with raising

the minimum wage again, he said to The Boston Globe, as employers across the

state are still digesting the Patrick wage

increases, which made the minimum $10

per hour in 2016 and will increase it to

$11 next year.

The city is currently experiencing

a boom in the startup scene, and to

continue to be an attractive spot for these

sprouting companies, it needs to provide

an environment where business can

prosper.

For employees, this would provide

a great incentive to work in the state.

But the opposite is true for employers

who would have to raise prices or lay off

workers to meet the new wage floor, were

it to come into effect.

College students, however, would

benefit from the increase.

It would provide a heftier source of

income to help many not only pay their

bills, but also put a greater dent into their

tuition payments and, in turn, reduce

their debt, especially as the process to

repay loans remains confusing.

Leaders in the state, include Governor

Charlie Baker, will have to look holisti-

cally at the effects that such a proposal

would have, especially since the wage is

still set to increase again at the end of

the year.

Yes, having higher wages would only

benefit those receiving those wages, but

not if those wages are not going to a large

enough group of people.

The state and the city have to ensure

that economic conditions exist so that

the largest amount of individuals can

benefit and prosper. It might be in the

best interest of the statewide economic

climate to wait for the economy to digest

the current wage increases and adjust ac-

cordingly before making decisions about

future spikes in the wage.

Politicians are often guilty of making

rash economic decisions without having

adequate data or because they wish to

effect immediate change in the short run,

without much thought about the long

term, especially in election years such as

this one.

We must take the mayor’s remarks

with a grain of salt and understand the

reasons behind why such a measure

would be beneficial and whom it would

benefit. In today’s economy, one that is

still recovering from the latest recession,

the City has seen remarkable progress

over the past few years.

Boston needs to remains an attractive

startup market, and now with GE’s move

to the city, it would be imprudent to shift

the economic conditions without first

seeing how all of the current, moving

parts fit together.

diverse as well. Scott Fleming, assistant

to the president for federal relations,

said that “political dialogue on our

[Georgetown] campus is pretty balanced”

between parties. Based on their dona-

tion patterns in the past few years, both

BC and Georgetown can be considered

progressively liberal.

Policy appears more restricted when

considering the University of Notre

Dame, another notable Catholic insti-

tution. While BC allows for its faculty

to consider their own political beliefs

without consideration for the Catholic

tradition, Notre Dame has proven to

be more involved with its employees’

political alignment. In 2011, the Na-tional Catholic Register reported that

Roxanne Martino “abruptly resigned”

from her role on the university’s Board

of Trustees after a month-long scandal

concerning her sizable donations to po-

litical-action committees that identified

as pro-choice.

The National Catholic Register calls

“the nation’s preeminent Catholic uni-

versity,” and it has received pressure

from Catholic institutions to uphold

traditional Catholic ideals. After the uni-

versity honored President Barack Obama

in its 2009 commencement ceremonies,

bishops across the country renounced

the university, and the Cardinal Newman

Society launched a petition campaign

in favor of the faith’s traditional values.

BC and Georgetown’s faculty are still

afforded open political liberalism as the

institutions have avoided backlash from

the Catholic Church.

While Catholic values may not align

with the political left-wing, BC’s faculty

does—at least according to the public re-

cords available on campaign donations.

Donations, from A1

Energize, a juice bar located on Washington Street in Brighton set to open in the next few weeks, is spreading health benefits by serving freshly squeezed juices infused with superfoods like goji berries.

‘DOG SEES GOD’BONN STUDIO EXPLORES THE TEENAGE ANTICS OF THE ‘PEANUTS’ GANG,

A DIFFERENT DIRT ROADMCGRAW’S ‘HUMBLE AND KIND’ TAKES COUNTRY BACK TO ITS ROOTS,

PAGE B2

REVIEW

REVIEW

‘The Boss’MELISSA MCCARTHY’S LATEST MOVIE DOESN’T STRAY FAR FROM HER USUAL FORTE,

PAGE B3

COLUMN

ABBY PAULSON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

THURSDAY | APRIL 7, 2016

THE

Page B4

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, April 7, 2016B2

It’s hard to resist imaginig what some of

the most beloved children’s cartoon characters

would grow up to be. Who wouldn’t want to

see where Tommy and Chuckie from Rugrats

ended up in their 20s, or if Dexter would still

be fiddling around in his laboratory in high

school? But, at the end of the day, we’re often

left only with our imaginations, picturing

scenes and conversations between our favorite

characters that will never be real.

The latest production from Boston College

Contemporary Theatre, on the other hand, is

not satisfied with keeping the fates of Charles

Schulz’s beloved Peanuts characters left con-

fined in the minds of fans. Dog Sees God, “an

unauthorized parody” of the Peanuts comic

strip and TV specials, sees the eclectic gang

of rascals trudging through its high school

years, embodying a tone and language that

audiences are entirely unaccustomed to see-

ing them in.

As an unauthorized parody, Dog Sees

God is not allowed to feature the actual

Peanuts characters. Instead, the characters’

well-known names are replaced with stand-

ins. Charlie Brown is CB, Sally is CB’s Sister,

Linus is Van, Pig Pen is Matt, Schroeder is

Beethoven, Peppermint Patty is Tricia, Marcy

is Marcie, and Lucy is Van’s Sister. These

substitutes can often feel clunky and forced,

marking the first of a few qualities of Dog Sees

God that suggest that working off of Schulz’s

cherished characters might not have been the

best move. While there is a point to corrupting

such an innocent entourage, the writer, Bert

V. Royal, could have explored the themes he’s

discussing without such a large distraction.

The play opens with CB’s dog’s funeral.

CB’s dog had contracted rabies, and after CB

finds him frantic, foaming at the mouth, and

next to the carcass of a little yellow bird, CB is

forced to put him down. CB’s Sister, who has

decided to be a Wiccan for the week, half-

heartedly consoles her brother, but berates

him for holding a funeral no one attends.

Over the course of the first few scenes,

we are introduced to Van (a stoner), Matt (a

sex-obsessed bully), Tricia and Marcie (two

alcoholic, loud-mouthed narcissists), and

Beethoven (a secluded, picked-on pianist).

CB tries to talk with each of these kids about

the death of his dog and what they think life

and death are really all about, but no one will

listen except Beethoven, who is still reluctant

to have anything to do with CB because he

considers him a bully. CB and Beethoven have

a touching conversation and begin to consider

romantic feelings toward each other. While

the play progresses, Van’s Sister sits in a mental

institution for lighting a little red-haired girl’s

hair on fire.

The main point of Dog Sees God is to show

audiences that life doesn’t remain simple for

long for anyone. It wants people to see that

even the most innocent characters imaginable

are susceptible to the trials, errors, and pains

of real life. To a degree, it does this well, but

where it starts to falter is in maintaining a

logical growth from the characters that people

know and love to the characters that we are

given on stage.

Aside from CB and Beethoven, none of

the other characters seem to exhibit any of the

traits that they are famous for. In effect, they’ve

all grown out of their childish personalities

into “realistic” stereotypes that feel really

forced. Pig-Pen (Matt) never exhibits any sign

of being a rotten kid in Peanuts. As a teenager,

Pig-Pen is openly snorting cocaine in the

hallway of his high school while shouting, “I

love p—y.” Peppermint Patty and Marcy were

always a bit kooky, but now they’re openly

drinking Svedka in the cafeteria and having

a three-some with Pig-Pen. It’s extremely

difficult to reconcile these types of absurdi-

ties throughout the play, and the discrepancy

between the purity of the cartoon characters

and these melodramatic manifestations of

their older selves distracts the viewer from

really appreciating the message that Royal

is trying to get across. This is all, however

the fault of the nature of the show, not of the

performances given.

Several members of the relatively small

cast of Dog Sees God take on their characters

in memorable fashion. Will Krom, MCAS ’16,

and Andrew Gaffney, MCAS ’16, playing CB

and Beethoven, respectively, have a noticeable

and engaging chemistry together and portray

their characters’ struggle over their sexuality

very genuinely. Pothead Van, played by An-

drew Meck, MCAS ’18, easily releases much

of the tension in some of more serious scenes

with a witty, albeit slowly delivered quip. For

the one scene Danielle Wehner, MCAS ’16, is

in, where CB visits Van’s Sister in an institution,

she steals the spotlight as Van’s Sister. Charlie

Brown and Lucy have the most cemented

dynamic in the Peanuts specials, and the scene

between CB and Van’s Sister holds the most

weight and shows the audience a relationship

that is heavily anticipated. Though the writing

for the older iterations of the Peanuts’ clan

seemed a bit shoehorned and their teenage

personas under-developed, the cast of Dog Sees

God brings an immense amount of energy to

the performances and keeps the piece both

entertaining and captivating.

The set in Bonn Studio Theater also fits

the mood of Dog Sees God well. Spray-painted

across the front of the black stage is a yellow

zig-zag emblematic of Charlie Brown’s iconic

shirts. One corner of the stage is made to look

like a classroom wall with a window whose

panels are blocked out by Peanuts comic strips.

The brick wall where Linus and Charlie Brown

often talk out their existential crises is broken

down the middle, laced with spray paint.

The ragged, yet somewhat familiar setting

combines with the complicated tone of the

play to create an impressive duality that strikes

viewers, regardless of their interpretation of

Dog Sees God.

It’s strange to see a warped version of

a favorite cartoon. That’s what makes Dog

Sees God, at the very least, intriguing. At

times, the play seems to have gone too far in

making every single character face or take

the role of some extreme adversity or quirk.

The Peanuts cartoons are a staple of classic

animation, and it’s difficult to see their natural

innocence torn apart and replaced with this

somewhat realistic representation of social

problems. Some might feel that Royal went

too far in choosing the obstacles that lay in

these characters’ paths and the personas they

take on in their teenage lives, while others will

see what Royal has created as a good dose

of reality to a flowery, romantic ensemble.

Either way, Contemporary Theatre’s Dog Sees

God gives audiences an energetic, possessing,

intriguing performance of the controversial

material.

A FULLER PICTURE

I’m a skeptical guy and, frankly, being a

skeptical guy in the age of unlimited “infor-

mation” can be extremely tough. Day after

day, all day long, I feel like I’m bombarded

with statistics—statistics that seem to

contradict each other and statistics that are

thrown out without a source.

Maybe it’s just my friends (I highly doubt

it’s just them), but no one seems to care to

offer a source to accompany these types of

claims. They either tell the table I’m sitting

at what they want to hear or read from some

random post that popped up on Facebook.

That’s why I always loved watching

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. When I

started taking an interest (albeit a superficial

interest at first) in national politics, they

seemed to be the first voices I heard that

cut through a lot of bulls—t. Especially with

Stewart, a lot of the claims that he made

over the years had their sources on-screen

when he cited them, and I appreciated that

transparency a lot.

Stewart also made the point to correct

himself whenever he made a mistake. After

stating in a segment on police brutality

that a black man had been shot by the San

Bernardino County Police Deparetment,

Stewart issued a correction and apology the

next week on his program.

In a heated debate with FOX News’

Chris Wallace, Stewart asked Wallace, “Who

are the most consistently misinformed

media viewers?” Stewart let the tense air sit

for a moment, and then went in for the kill.

“The most consistently misinformed? Fox,

Fox viewers, consistently, every poll.” Stewart

was corrected by politifact.com for his com-

ment, apologized to his viewers, then went

on to show that FOX News consistently

holds one of the most misinformed viewer-

ships on cable television.

It’s this sort of integrity that has always

drawn me to Jon Stewart and his disciples

(Colbert, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, and

Samantha Bee). I don’t think I’ve ever seen

a cable news program issue a correction

or apology for a false statement, yet those

programs spend all day commentating on

whatever they consider news. I’ve always

sympathized with satirical news programs’

bewilderment over the 24-hour news cycle,

and I’ve found a solace in these hosts’ com-

pany and wisdom over the past few years.

But, there is one facade I feel these

late-night political crusaders need to cast

away—being comedians. I’m not saying that

hosts like Bill Maher and Bee should stop

being funny. I’m saying that they need to

stop saying they’re comedians.

Discussing why his program could talk

about the controversy surrounding Donald

Trump and Ted Cruz’s wives and why

MSNBC, CNN, and FOX shouldn’t touch

it, Maher stated, “They’re news networks.

[Real Time] is an entertainment program.” In

that interview with Wallace, Stewart made it

clear that he felt that, “[he’s] not an activist,

[he’s] a comedian.” Even John Oliver, in his

popular segment on Trump, made the point

that he assumed few people cared about his

show.

These three hosts have been the main

voices I’ve listened to in political conversa-

tions. Maher, Stewart, and Oliver all have

separate opinions, but they have all made

an effort to hold the credibility of their pro-

grams to a very high standard. Even if Stew-

art has left his desk at Comedy Central, he’s

still one of the standard bearers of American

political satire. Even now, he has the chance

to be a leading voice in the national political

discussion.

Speaking on the politifact.com correc-

tion he made, Stewart stated, “I defer to their

judgment and apologize for my mistake. To

not do so would be irresponsible. … That

would undermine the very integrity and

credibility that I work so hard to pretend to

care about.”

It’s obvious that Stewart did care. Other-

wise, he wouldn’t have spent segments of his

program correcting his mistakes. Late-night

political hosts need to acknowledge that,

although they want to maintain the semi-

lighthearted nature of their programs, they

are major players in a national conversa-

tion. I’m tired of hearing my heroes dismiss

themselves.

THIS WEEKEND in arts‘EYE IN THE SKY’ (NOW PLAYING)Complications arise when orders of a drone missile

strike meant to thwart terrorist activity in Kenya go

awry. Starring Helen Mirren, this drama/thriller fusion

is a suspenseful film sure to keep audience members on

the edge of their seats.

‘GOD’S NOT DEAD 2’(NOW PLAYING)When Grace Wesley gets into legal trouble with the school

board after voicing her feelings regarding religion, the high

school history teacher fights to justify her actions with the

help of a determined young lawyer. This new drama asks

profound questions about strength, courage, and identity.

J’OUVERT (SATURDAY AT 2 P.M.)Join the Carribean Culture Club on the Newton Campus

for BC’s first annual J’Ouvert paint party. Join in on the

fun and kick off the Caribbean carnival season with deli-

cious food, fun Soca music, and a lot of dancing.

‘MEET THE BLACKS’(NOW PLAYING)Horror and comedy converge in this odd, R-rated film.

When Carl Black suddenly acquires a large sum of

money, he decides to move his family from Chicago to

Beverly HIlls. What follows is a series of mysterious

happenings and a plotline straight out of The Purge.

MFA EXHIBIT- MEGACITIES ASIA(APRIL 3 THROUGH JULY 13)The improv group is performing its annual spring “Big Show” this

weekend. Head over to the Vandy Cabaret room for some witty

one-liners and hilarious skits at this free event.

RIHANNA(SUNDAY AT 7 P.M.)The R&B queen is coming to The TD Garden this

weekend to promote her critically acclaimed album

Anti. To see Rihanna perform live, grab your tickets

before they sell out!

SPEAK FOR YOUR CHANGE(THURSDAY AT 7:30 P.M.)Come see Faces Coucil’s 5th annual “Speak For Your

Change” event Thuresday night in the Rat to see a

range of performances from JUICE, the Dynamics,

Voices of Imani, Conspiracy Theory, and various

slam poets.

STEVE MARTIN AND MARTIN SHORT(FRIDAY AT 8 P.M.)This weekend, the two comedy greats will get

together to perform for a Boston audience at the

Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theater. The

performance is expected to be an uproarious fusion

of comedy, silly banter, and music.

BY: HANNAH MCLAUGHLIN | ASST. ARTS & REVIEW EDITOR

ENTERTAIMENT ONE

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

THE HEIGHTSThursday, April 7, 2016 B3

Country music is easy to criticize. Op-

ponents frequently find fault with many

of its themes, looking at countless songs

about beer, trucks, tractors, and girls.

Take, for example, Jason Aldean’s “Big

Green Tractor,” Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl

(Shake It For Me),” or practically anything

by Florida Georgia Line. These songs are

known for their fun, lighthearted lyrics that

make you want to roll your windows down

and cruise—or be somewhere on a beach

with Dierks Bentley.

Nashville has recently been under

fire for the rise of what is known as “bro

country,” and many in the industry are well

aware that these uptempo, booze-themed

songs may not have the most substantive

themes. But as bro country continues to

rule the business, Tim McGraw’s latest

hit, “Humble and Kind,” exemplifies what

country music is all about and proves that

artists can still have big results with serious

songs.

“Humble and Kind” is a touching,

lump-in-your-throat kind of song that has

a simple, universal message. The song was

originally written by Grammy-winning

songwriter Lori McKenna. The Boston-

based mother of five wrote the song for her

children, hoping the lyrics would inspire

her kids to understand the proper way to

treat others, growing up in an age domi-

nated by cell phones and social media.

Besides being humble and kind,

McGraw’s song includes advice about the

importance of going to church, visiting

Grandpa, and helping others. These themes

are classic country—and closely resonate

with some of the all-time greats, like the

Dixie Chicks’ “Wide Open Spaces,” Brad

Paisely’s “Letter to Me,” and Lee Ann

Womack’s “I Hope You Dance.”

The song’s greatest strength is its

direct message, which allows “Humble and

Kind” to reach an audience well outside of

country music: “Hold the door, say please,

say thank you / Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and

Few things in this world sound sweeter

than a unique and recognizable voice, that

sing-songy cadence carried by someone

familiar. It comes in the form of an old

childhood lullaby, your favorite singer’s light

and airy love ballad, or any track off Norah

Jones’ dreamy debut album Come Away With Me—take your pick.

For me, however, “music to my ears”

means the fluctuating nasal tone of a raspy-

voiced, Connecticut man in his late ’60s.

Well, that and screeching bagpipes paired

with screaming vocals. Wait—don’t go. Let

me explain.

“Swing and a ground ball, stabbed by

Foulke. He has it,” the familiar voice barks

hurriedly, the tone saturated with escalating

excitement. “He underhands to first, and the

Boston Red Sox are the Woooorld Cham-

pions.” The word is dragged out for miles,

high-pitched and as scrappy as it gets. “For

the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox have

won baseball’s World Championship.”

Shocked, he squeaks, “Can you believe it?”

The incomparable Joe Castiglione has

one heck of a voice. A long-time affiliation

with the Red Sox has made his name practi-

cally synonymous with the organization.

He’s been there for it all—pivotal changes to

the lineup, the astounding end to an 86-year

curse, and a lot more losing seasons than Sox

fans are willing to acknowledge. He landed

a role in my childhood as that disembodied

radio voice that for years lulled me to sleep

on long, nighttime car rides home from

wherever my family happened to venture.

His voice is rough, it has a whole lot of

character, and it ain’t too pretty, if we’re being

quite honest.

The Dropkick Murphys are like that,

too. The Boston-based band’s hit 2004 song

“Tessie” is a discordant convergence of

poorly played bagpipes and slurred refrains.

It’s a chaotic track that fits better as a tuneless

drinking song than a celebrated stadium

anthem. “Tessie” is a far cry from Neil

Diamond’s melodic “Sweet Caroline,” and

it lacks the jaunty background beats in the

other Fenway favorite, “Dirty Water” by the

Standells. Instead, it’s sloppy, it’s far too loud,

and—perhaps because of all this—it’s just

plain awesome.

This is the sweet sound of Boston, I’ve

found. It’s derived from the incessant car

honks of impatient drivers who just want

to get to the nearest Dunk’s before the Pike

jams in the morning. It’s the deafening boos

heard outside the ballpark when our friends

from New York pay a visit. It can be heard

in the intolerable screeching of an incredibly

ineffective public transport system. Most no-

tably, it’s emphasized in my family’s complete

“disregahhd” for consonant sounds usually

implied by the letter “R.”

Perhaps the best thing about this sup-

posedly shining “city upon a hill” is that it’s

not perfect—far from it, actually (sorry, John

Winthrop). But the ever-imperfect, rough-

and-tumble type of charm Boston boasts

beats any other city’s by a mile. The city’s raw

strength and brilliant resilience is glaringly

apparent. For me, Boston’s sound is comfort-

ing, it’s reliable, and it’s home.

Now, if I had to venture a guess, Casti-

glione probably couldn’t carry any semblance

of a tune for all the tea in Chin—er, Boston

Harbor. But who cares? Though he’s not a

native Massachusetts man, the guy boasts

an unmistakable sound that perfectly

encompasses the quintessential elements of

the city. So does music from The Dropkick

Murphys—and the Red Sox, too, while we’re

listing things.

While 2004 brought strange fads like

Livestrong bracelets and Napoleon Dyna-mite, it also brought together an even strang-

er band of ragtag baseball players whose

unkempt beards and untucked shirts were

the laughingstock of the AL East—that is,

before they trounced every team unfortunate

enough to have been placed in their path.

Boston’s signature sound is (and always

has been) harsh rather than harmonious. It’s

ugly, yet intriguing. It doesn’t pretend to be

glitzy, but instead opts for the unflattering.

Then again, for a city closely associated

with baked beans and 2004 World Champi-

ons who enthusiastically referred to them-

selves as “idiots,” what did you expect?

A MCLAUGHLIN MINUTE

After a brief moment of hesitation,

Matt Michienzie, MCAS ’17, exhaled

sharply and, with a nervous chuckle,

decided to come clean.

“NSYNC,” he said finally, sporting a

small grimace tinged with slight embar-

rassment. “Technically, that was my first

concert. But I don’t really count that.

Instead, I consider my second concert—a

Dave Matthews Band show—to be my

first big music experience on record.”

Far more enamored with the cre-

ative freedom DMB allowed itself than

the strict confines of the early-2000s,

frosted-tipped Timberlake’s bubbly teen

pop, Michienzie has from the advent

of his music career identified most

with the genre-hopping, rule-breaking,

free-wheeling types like Dave Matthews

Band.

As the singer enthusiastically elabo-

rated on his admiration for the popular

American rock band and other artists

who boast a similar inventive style, his

demeanor transformed. Michienzie’s

initial wince, perhaps a product of having

reminisced about the overly produced

pop tunes and synchronized dance num-

bers characteristic of the ’90s boy band

genre, dissipated almost immediately as

the junior passionately prattled on about

DMB’s bluegrass and progressive-rock

blend through an animated grin.

A current film major and aspiring

singer-songwriter, Michienzie is used

to having a microphone in front of him.

The Foxborough, Mass., native has been

performing in front of crowds and book-

ing gigs in local pubs since his early high

school years. In recent months, he’s be-

come quite comfortable under the bright

lights at The Middle East in Cambridge.

Michienzie currently serves as the

music director for the Boston College

Acoustics, a co-ed a cappella group

Michienzie has called family since his

freshman year. Of the entourage of Acous-

tics members that supports his personal

music endeavors outside of the tight-knit

campus group, Michienzie said, “We’re

like family. They come to my gigs, and,

honestly, they fill up half of my fan base

in the audience.”

As far as personal music pursuits

outside of a cappella are concerned,

Michienzie had for years stepped into

the spotlight solo—each new perfor-

mance an opportunity to showcase his

signature sound: blues-infused rock,

rife with impressive belts. It wasn’t until

recently, however, that the singer decided

to ditch the life of solo artistry and form

a good, old fashioned, multi-faceted

band instead.

“My first thought was, ‘I need a sax,’”

Michienzie said of his band’s early, for-

mative days. “I need a saxophone or a

trumpet so that if we don’t have a drum-

mer, we can still make something cool.”

Enter Paul Wagenseller, MCAS ’16,

into Michienzie’s search for a partner-in-

crime. A fellow BC a cappella singer and

music enthusiast, Wagenseller’s talent

and unique instrument of choice was

integral to fulfilling Michienzie’s bluesy

jazz vision of what sound he wanted the

band to embody.

“I knew [Wagenseller] played sax, I

jammed with him,” Michienzie said. “He’s

unbelievable. Turns out, Paul tells me,

his brother is a drummer, and he goes to

Northeastern. That’s how we got Evan to

join the band.”

In addition to the three core mem-

bers, Michienzie acknowledges Funky

Giant guitarist Nick Rocchio-Giordano,

MCAS ’18, as a vital asset to the success

of The Matt Michienzie Band thus far,

as the sophomore often lends his tal-

BENNET JOHNSONdon’t lie / I know you’ve got mountains to

climb / But always stay humble and kind.”

“Humble and Kind” is presented from

the perspective of a parent sending his or

her child off into the world, and he Mc-

Graw is the ideal artist to convey the song’s

message to a wide-ranging audience. As a

husband and father of three daughters, he

gives the song a voice that would not have

the same effect as someone younger and

less known. In fact, McGraw cried through

every take recording the song, since he and

his wife, Faith Hill, had recently sent their

oldest daughter off to college.

McGraw’s performance of the song—his

52nd top-10 single and latest release from

his album Damn Country Music—has

helped McKenna’s message reach an audi-

ence of tens of millions. Part of that success

has come from the music video for “Humble

and Kind,” which features footage from

Oprah Winfrey’s Belief series. The video

shows touching clips of people from around

the world celebrating faith and life, includ-

ing a man dressed in an army uniform and a

woman in a hijab.

In addition to the thousands of fans

who’ve chimed in with their own related

stories about acts of kindness, many celebri-

ties like Reese Witherspoon and Matthew

McConaughey have praised the song. Even

Oprah herself weighed in, tweeting “I love

this song. Every word feels true.”

It’s hard to imagine comparing the emo-

tional lyrics of “Humble and Kind” to some

of the songs at the top of country charts

nowadays. The business is changing—and

the emergence of artists like Sam Hunt,

Florida Georgia Line, and Chase Rice proves

there’s a huge demand for bro country.

Listen to Rice’s “Ready Set Roll” and you’ll

hear numerous references to Fireball shots,

pickup-truck dates, and sexy country girls.

After releasing his latest single, “Whisper,”

Rice even went as far as to write an open

letter to his fans, admitting his song lacked

any real substance. What kind of message

does that send about country music?

As the snow finally melts and the sum-

mer concert season approaches, more and

more songs about girls, trucks, beer, and

drinking beer with girls in trucks are going

to surface—because that’s what people

want. It’s hard not to sing along with Bryan’s

latest single, “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’

Every Day.” These songs are catchy, fun, and

are an intrinsic part of the industry. Plus,

they dominate country radio and sell tickets

to summer concert tours. So sit back and

crack open a cold Coors Light, because they

aren’t going anywhere.

But even as bro country rules, “Humble

and Kind” has proved that there is still a

place for serious songs in country music.

In one of the most moving moments at the

award show known as “Country’s Big-

gest Party” on Sunday night in Las Vegas,

McGraw was joined by dozens of diverse

groups of people on stage, spanning ages,

genders, and ethnicities, as they sang along

in front of thousands of fans and viewers.

“Every parent should make their kid lis-

ten to ‘Humble and Kind’,” tweeted one fan

right after McGraw’s performance. “Scratch

that. Every adult should listen too.”

Now that’s what country music is all about.

BIG MACHINE RECORDS

SAVANNA KIEFER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

SAVANNA KIEFER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

ents when he can. No longer a solo act,

Michienzie and his eclectic crew have

coalesced into a band on the rise—which,

with the help of this year’s Battle of the

Bands competition and other upcom-

ing on-campus events, will increase the

band’s presence as a fresh-faced, talented

BC band.

Big-name artists of varying genres—

such as John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan,

and, of course, DMB—make the short list

of Michienzie’s major musical influences.

“I like John Mayer’s blues guitar,”

Michienzie said. “He’s often seen as a

womanizer, a bad dude. But there’s a small

group of people who actually really listen

to his music and his riffs—” Michienzie

cut off suddenly, searching for analogies

that wouldn’t come. “Well, they’re just

something else.”

Michienzie is something else, too. In

fact, that’s precisely what’s most appeal-

ing about his music.

Veering away from the alternative,

rap, and synth-heavy tracks that have

for so long saturated BC’s music scene,

Michienzie’s signature sound is an ex-

perimental and ever-evolving melange

of genres—it’s soulful rock layered with

elements of old-school jazz and topped

with that sweet-sounding, rockabilly

vibe of the south. It’s gritty at times and

smooth during others. Able to incor-

porate this style into both his original

tracks and covers, Michienzie stresses

his love of experimenting with different

sounds and challenging belts. According

to Michienzie, he has never sung a song

exactly the same way.

“I gravitate toward stuff that I can be

free with my voice and don’t have to stick

to a script,” he said. “Same goes for my

music-writing, I guess.”

Michienzie’s original songs “Drunk”

and “Skylines” boast catchy hooks and

meaningful lyrics. The singer attributes

the inspiration for “Skylines” to his eager-

ness to get into the industry and passion

for music.

“I was sitting in an office one day, and

I started thinking about what I want to do

next. The song embodies that idea of getting

out there and being vulnerable,” Michienzie

said. “I love being put in a situation where

I have to figure it all out.”

Michienzie sat back in his chair,

contemplative. After a moment of quiet

reflection, he spoke up. “I don’t know

where I’m going. I don’t know what I’ll do.

I just want to go,” he said. “And if music

is the only thing that’s static, then that’s

fine with me.”

if you build it,

Complete with a sax and drum kit, Matt Michienzie crafts his rock band.

They will jam

THE HEIGHTS Thursday, April 7, 2016B4

For the longest time, one of the

very best things about Th e Walking

Dead has been its level of accessibil-

ity. Th e casual viewer can enjoy the

tension, the action, and the riveting

sense of dread and terror that perme-

ate every step the show takes. Others

fi nd themselves deeply immersed in

the interpersonal relationships and

development of the wide array of

characters that Th e Walking Dead has

to off er. Th e most devoted fans can be

found trawling through Web forums,

press releases, and comic books (the

source material for the show), desper-

ate for any shred of info concerning

upcoming plot arcs.

Th e Walking Dead’s inviting na-

ture is what makes it AMC’s biggest

show to date. Generally speaking, this

is perhaps the premier trait of AMC’s

production arm—look no farther than

Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Better

Call Saul for evidence of large fan

bases that fl ocked to shows at diff erent

times. AMC’s slogan—“Something

More”—rings true.

Indeed, something more for ev-

eryone, even if the “something” is

diff erent from person to person. In

many ways, the show’s accessibility

is a great thing—with a multitude of

fans watching for diff erent reasons,

everyone fi nds their niche. Th e show

is constructed in an ingenious way, re-

TOP SINGLES

1 Work Rihanna ft. Drake 2 7 Years

Lukas Graham 3 No

Meghan Trainor 4 Pillowtalk

Zayn 5 Love Yourself

Justin Bieber 6 My House

Flo Rida 7 Stressed Out

twenty one pilots 8 Me, Myself & I

G-Eazy x Bebe Rexha

TOP ALBUMS

1 Mind of MineZayn

2 More Issues Than VogueK. Michelle

3 ANTIRihanna

4 PurposeJustin Bieber

5 25Adele

Source: Billboard.com

CHART TOPPERS

Just when the world thought

Zayn Malik couldn’t possibly

climb any higher on the popular-

ity ladder, he left One Direction

and became a pop enigma in his

own right. Th e Zayn Train has

been chugging along mightily

for months now, fueled by hits

like “Pillowtalk.” A Timberlake-

esque evolution from boy-band

heartthrob to mature pop art-

ist has been hoped for, if not

expected from Zayn—and his

recent success suggests it just

might happen. But for now, Zayn

is stuck in an awkward musical

puberty, which forced attempts

at maturity ultimately threaten

the quality of his work.

Th e story in the “iT’s YoU”

(yep, that’s how it’s officially

written) video is all too com-

mon: a tortured lover admires

a beautiful girl from afar as she

fl irts with other men, all while

she shoots him glances that

scream “I’m totally into you,

too.” No one would be surprised

if this video was originally writ-

ten as a Great Gatsby tribute,

complete with elegant parties,

a sophisticated but disgruntled

male protagonist, and even a

swimming pool scene. Taking

no chances, the video embraces

every imaginable cliche of dra-

matic unrequited love—from

contemplative cigarette drags

to cheesy black-and-white slow-

motion shots. To remind us of

the new Zayn’s edgy persona,

a few unnecessary expletives

are thrown into the otherwise

mellow lyrics. Th e fi nest point of

the song and video is the chorus,

which is just striking enough to

make you temporarily forget the

lackluster verses. It wouldn’t be unfair to

question the future of this

newly minted solo artist. At

some point, his name alone

will fail to propel him to the

top of the charts and his music

will have to stand by itself—

and if the music continues

to be average, that task may

indeed prove diffi cult.

“IT’S YOU”ZAYN

AMC STUDIOS

THE WALKING DEADFRANK DARABONT

PRODUCED BY AMC STUDIOS

SEASON 616 EPISODES

OUR RATING

In fact, this is precisely why the

season fi nale spits in the face of every

type of fan. Th e most casual fan loses

the sense of action they seek. Th ose

who are most invested in the char-

acters themselves are left hanging,

wondering which of their favorites is

most at-risk. Die-hard comic fans are

the most disappointed of all—watch-

ing the most famous and anticipated

adapted scene of a magnifi cent work

being butchered before your very

eyes is not a glorious sight. AMC has

proved its unwillingness to make risky

choices, choosing instead to betray its

fans with money-grubbing tactics far

too commonly seen in media today.

And this is a real shame. As said

before, The Walking Dead has the

tools to be an incredible television

program. Th e actors are consistently

spectacular. Th e cinematography has

never been better. Music choices en-

hance the story 1,000 times over. On

a technical level, Th e Walking Dead

is nearly perfect. But more than any

other show currently running, it is

evident that, without quality writing,

even perfect technical skill means

little in the face of a failure to write a

compelling plot.

Here’s the reality: The Walking

Dead is a “good” television show.

AMC’s biggest hit has the essence of

a compelling plot. As unfortunate as

it is, though, the inability to conclude

a story has the ability to invalidate the

work as a whole. For 99.5 percent of

a season, AMC has delivered high-

quality programming. The truest

fans of the show hold to this with

good reason. If Th e Walking Dead is

ever to become the best of the best,

the writers must stop pulling their

punches when the stakes are high.

Otherwise, the show will fade into

obscurity, which is a fate no fan wants

to see.

Every established comedian has something about their that makes their distinguishable from the crowd. For some it is the quality of their jokes. Others fi nd their craft in their presence and personality. And for those like Melissa McCarthy, it is all about delivery. Much like a car and a car salesman, jokes need to be sold, and if there is one thing McCarthy does well, it is sell. In Th e Boss, Mc-

Carthy does well to sell as the colorful and brash industry businesswoman Michelle Darnell, but, as in business, one is only as strong as one’s weakest link. With inconsistent or otherwise tactless jokes and a supporting cast poorly versed in the art of comedy, Th e Boss will leave moviegoers chuckling at times and stoically unimpressed at others.

The Boss follows Darnell (Mc-Carthy), a successful industry titan who has made millions off many in-vestments and crafty entrepreneurial

endeavors. Orphaned as a child and fueled by her abandonment, Darnell steers clear of emotional attachment to become a vicious and, at times, heartless competitor. After her ar-rest for insider trading, Darnell fi nds herself with liquidated assets and nowhere to go. Turning to her former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell) for help, Darnell soon fi nds herself at the head of another profi table business venture, Darnell’s Darling Brownies.

Some might say McCarthy has been typecast as this kind of loud,

cheeky, heart-of-gold character. While that may be true, she does little to mitigate that stereotype. Her hus-band and director of Th e Boss, Ben Falcone, helps her propagate this image in his films. His directorial debut, Tammy (2014) was an abhor-rent mess that found McCarthy as distasteful and unfunny as the fi lm itself. Th e Boss—though not as bad as Tammy—is frustrating in many of the same respects.

McCarthy does have some mo-ments in the fi lm when her delivery as the character makes for some genu-inely funny encounters. As she insults, berates, and belittles her opponents, the verbal thrashings are worth a smirk or two. In these moments, Mc-Carthy feels sincere in her role. Her comedic timing lines up perfectly with her characters’ succinct vicious stares. Darnell is mean and unforgiving and McCarthy makes her sinister behind unassuming eyes and smiles. That being said, insult humor is relatively low-hanging comedic fruit and it does not always land as intended, but it is better than much of the throwaway humor interlaced through the rest of the movie.

Much of this throwaway humor has no set-up and is immediately fore-seeable. One such gag has to do with a pull-out couch, on which Darnell must sleep when staying at Claire’s apartment. Instantly, audiences may

understand the simple gag that is to come as the scene slows and she begins to lie down. It is of almost no surprise when she is thrown from the bed into the wall. It is a cheap laugh. It is an undeserving laugh. It will likely leave audiences feeling betrayed.

Th e narrative is most engaging when dealing with Darnell’s antics in regard to the brownie business and re-claiming her fame. Unfortunately, this is interlaced with the dull ongoings of Claire’s life and otherwise unfunny content. As the fi lm tries to shoehorn in heart, it leads some to wonder if it would have felt more cohesive if it embraced the darker demeanor of its protagonist.

The supporting cast, especially Bell and Peter Dinklage, the main antagonist, are not paramount ex-amples of comedy, nor should they be. Th eir acting chops lie squarely in genres outside of comedy and it shows. Th rough Dinklage has dabbled in fi lms like Elf (2003), Death at a Funeral (2007) and Pixels (2015), his forte is not in the comedic sphere. Th ey are not unfunny so much as they are not funny.

The Boss highlights what Mc-Carthy has become known for, but is bogged down by unnecessary addi-tions and throwaway gags. In many respects Th e Boss is cheap, but coming from the likes of Falcone and McCar-thy, it could have been worse. UNIVERSAL PICTURES

THE BOSSBEN FALCONE

DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES

RELEASEAPR. 8, 2016

OUR RATING

TELEVISION

FILM

SINGLE REVIEWS BY LEIGH CHANNELL

In his new track, “Raging,” Kygo takes on a new challenge by partnering with Irish band Kodaline. The Norwegian producer’s trademark summer-house style generally lends itself to heavily produced pop music, not the acoustic rock feel Kodaline has perfected, yet the unlikely mashup shows promise.

KYGO“Raging”

Broods has quietly been infi ltrating the U.S. electronic pop scene since their debut single, “Bridges.” Their newest single, “Free,” may just make into the top-200 mainstream. Showcasing Georgia Nott’s impressive voice, the lively track combines catchy tribal vocals with a modern electronic score.

BROODS“Free”

Pop icon Jason Derulo strikes out with “If It Ain’t Love.” The song is peak Derulo, utilizing his vocal range, bubbly synth, and love-story lyrics. It feels as if it is trying way too hard to suit his found niche of success. While it will appease his fans, success comparable to hits “Want You to Want Me” or “Talk Dirty” is unlikely.

JASON DERULO“If It Ain’t Love”

MUSIC VIDEO

In many ways, Th e Ranch is noth-ing but a typical multi-cam sitcom with an increasingly predictable laugh track. Th e characters are somewhat compelling, if not framed with an intentional dash of mediocrity. And the relationships between the char-acters are anything but dynamic and unforeseeable. But Th e Ranch does generate some benefi t from the Net-

of attempts at becoming a professional football player. Although his lack of success is surely attributable to his burgeoning alcoholism and hedonistic lifestyle, Colt is still considered a sort of legend in his hometown of just over 500 inhabitants. After all, Colt took his football team to state his senior year of high school. And as the show would have you believe, in small-town America, that’s one of those big deals that has generational staying power. As such, Colt enjoys plenty of social

graces for otherwise questionable behavior. He’s not much in the way of a unique, dynamic character, but is the sort of guy that probably has tons of crazy stories worth a listen. And then there’s everyone Colt left behind.

His brother, Rooster Bennett (Danny Masterson) is the underap-preciated son who stayed home to help his father take care of the ranch. He comes across as a little jaded, albeit sincere enough to admit that he’s happy for his brother to be back home. Instead of trying to escape the comparisons to Th at 70’s Show, which were perhaps inevitable, and possibly intentional, the show reprises the antagonistic, love-hate relationship between the two actors and continues the trajectory within this new, country setting.

Beau Bennett (Sam Elliott) is the hard-working, emotionally distant father. Beau and Colt have the typical on-again, off -again spat that centers on a general theme of disappoint-ment. Beau is the typical blowhard, uncompromising and rough around the edges. Th en there is Abby, the one girl Colt ever truly fell for. She’s the one who actually seems to understand Colt and she never puts him on a ped-estal. Most unfortunately, however, RANCHO HAND PRODUCTIONES

THE RANCHNETFLIX

PRODUCED BYRANCHO HAND

RELEASEAPR. 1, 2016

OUR RATING

TELEVISION

she is tragically unavailable. Th e characters seem to be cast

within an accessible narrative, and it’s easy to predict how each character will react to a given situation. At times this can make the show come across as slow and something to get through. Regardless, each of the characters fits well within a setting typically reserved for Budweiser commercials and country music videos.

Th e Ranch is not particularly family-friendly. It’s not much compared to other Netfl ix releases like Masters of None, but the char-acters on Th e Ranch are constantly swearing and referring to sexual innuendos. Not for nothing, this sort of approach may be one of the most appealing aspects of Netfl ix Originals. It’s refreshing and excit-ing to witness a spate of original releases free from the typical net-work standards of censorship and family decency. Th e Ranch gets an opportunity to play around with a genre of television that has been largely tonally set in stone since its inception. But, Th e Ranch is nothing special.

Th e show can be entertaining and funny—as long as the audi-ence doesn’t expect too much.

ally: Th e Walking Dead is a television

program that has an incredible array

of tools to form itself into the greatest

television drama of all time.

Unfortunately, if the man behind

the hammer is incompetent, the house

has to crumble sooner or later.

In many ways, the sixth season of

Th e Walking Dead has been plagued

by much, much more than “walkers.”

A few notable examples are easy to

come by—for instance, the apparent

killing-off of a beloved character, only

to revive him four episodes later, feels

less like compelling writing and more

like lazy fanservice. Th is cop-out style

of writing shows up over and over:

directorial choices made after the

third episode’s “reveal,” the midsea-

son fi nale, and, most egregiously, last

Sunday’s season fi nale.

Poor writing has always been at

the top of the list of criticisms of the

show, but up until this Sunday, these

flaws had been forgivable. If “Last

Day on Earth” (the show’s season-six

finale) is any indication, however,

turning a blind eye to Th e Walking

Dead’s weak points has only served to

exacerbate the problem. It has become

clear that AMC no longer respects

the will of its audience—fanservice,

of course, is undoubtedly bad, but

outright disrespecting the source

material of your television show is

dangerous in multiple ways. The

show risks weakening the program

and fanbase.

fl ix treatment. Unlike most sitcoms, with their bubblegum aesthetics and over-reliance on consumer friendli-ness, Th e Ranch is able to subvert the typical situational comedy.

Looking at the main characters, fi rst there’s the typical anti-hero and prodigal son Colt Bennett (Ashton Kutcher). Despite his tendency to-ward chronic underachievement, he’s the sort of guy who has had it easy. He’s coming back to small-town America after an unsuccessful series

DAN FITZGERALD

THE HEIGHTSThursday, January 17, 2014 B5THE HEIGHTSThursday, April 7, 2016 B5

THE HEIGHTSThursday, January 17, 2014

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AJ MAST/ AP PHOTO

Newton, MA 11/09

Boston, Ma 11/111-

scoreboardWORCESTER, MA 3/26

MIN-DBC

23

FARLEY 1 G 1 ADOHERTY 2 G

BASEBALL CHESNUT HILL, MA 3/29 SOFTBALL BOSTON, MA 3/30 Lacrosse

SOFTBALL CAMBRIDGE, MA 3/29BCHARV

DAULTON 1 H 1 RBILANTZ 1 RBI 1 R

BASEBALL AMHERST, MA 3/30 LacrosseBASEBALL CHESTNUT HILL, MA 4/112

Charlottesville, va 4/2

New Haven, CT 3/2

M. HOCKEYCONNBC

94

YAHN 2B 2 RBISAUTER 2B 3 RBI

BCBU

54

CORTEZ 2 H 1 HRMARTINEZ 3 H 2 RBI

BC UVA

1415

KENT 2 G 2 A BEHR 4 G 1 A

BC YALE

1511

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FSUBC

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Sports Editor

MICHAEL SULLIVAN

RILEY OVEREND

Assoc. Sports Editor

ANNABEL STEELE

Asst. Sports Editor

BC has done extraordinarily well overcoming

the March demons that have plagued the team

over the last few years. This offense is stellar, and

Thatcher Demko should win the Hobey Baker.

That being said, North Dakota and its feared CBS

line put up too much offense, and Cam Johnson

is too good. The Eagles will beat Quinnipiac,

whose easy schedule in the ECAC has over-

rated that 31-3-7 record, but will fall to NoDak.

Tonight’s matchup is a contest between two

New England schools with electric offenses

and presidents with remarkably similar names

(Leahy vs. Lahey). But ultimately, BC’s size will

overwhelm Quinnipiac, and the country’s best

goalkeeper will show up to play as always. The

finals will mark a rematch of the 2001 title game,

infamous for Krys Kolano’s overtime winner.

UND knocked off a hot Northeastern squad—the

same one that eliminated BC from the Hockey

East tournament—on its way to Tampa. But, like

15 years ago, expect Jerry York’s squad to prevail.

Call me an optimist . First BC will roll

over Quinnipiac. Then the Eagles will shut

down the formidable North Dakota and

bring another national championship home

to Chestnut Hi l l . Yeah, I know, I know.

North Dakota is a very good hockey team.

But I think the conditions are perfect for

BC throughout the Frozen Four. Thatcher

Demko is on top of his game and will hold

North Dakota to just one goal, while the

t a l e nte d o f fe n s e w i l l co m e to g e th e r to

net a fe w on Cam Johnson for the win.

Prediction:North Dakota 4, BC 2

Prediction:BC 3, North Dakota 2

Prediction:BC 2, North Dakota 1

UConn , from B8

Possession: BC’s semifinal

opponent is a top-five Corsi For

club in the nation, checking in at

56.3 percent. This is the second

straight year that Bobcats head

coach Rand Pecknold’s seasoned

outfit posted a mark above 56

percent.

Gamebreakers: Junior Sam

Anas was sixth in the country

in goals with 24, tying Hobey

Baker finalist Jimmy Vesey of

Harvard. Per multiple reports,

Anas was banged up during the

East regional but still managed

to pick up a point against RIT

and Lowell. Senior Travis St.

Denis had 46 points on the year,

also tied with Vesey as well as

BC junior Ryan Fitzgerald.

Goaltending: Senior Mi-

chael Garteig has started at least

35 games each of the last three

seasons and improved every

year. He has a .926 save percent-

age this year.

Power-Play Prowess: BC’s

possibly fatal flaw is its propen-

sity for penalties. If the Eagles

lose it may very well be because

a stupid penalty finally burns

them. That could happen on

Thursday. Quinnipiac scores

on the power play 27.4 percent

of the time, good for fourth in

Division I.

North Dakota (32-6-4,

19-4-1-1 National Collegiate

Hockey +75 goal differential,

beat Michigan 5-2 in Midwest

Regional Final)

Possession : The newly

dubbed Fighting Hawks slightly

edge out Quinnipiac as the best

possession team in the Frozen

Four with a Corsi For of 56.8

percent. In this realm, new head

coach Brad Berry has been an

upgrade over former coach

(and current Philadelphia Flyers

boss) Dave Hakstol, as this year’s

mark is a 5 percent improve-

ment over last year’s.

Gamebreakers: Vancouver

Canucks first-round draft pick

and freshman Brock Boeser’s 54

points were good for fifth in the

country. His linemates, senior

Drake Caggiula and sophomore

Nick Schmaltz, are equally dan-

gerous. The two combined for

100 points this year.

Goaltending: After playing

just two games last year, sopho-

more Cam Johnson came on this

year and posted an elite .934

save percentage in 32 games.

Power Play Prowess: North

Dakota converts on just less than

one-fifth of its man-advantages,

going into Thursday with a 19.5

percent success rate.

Denver (25-9-7, 17-5-2

National Collegiate Hockey,

+40 goal differential, beat Fer-

ris State 6-3 in West Regional

Final)

Possession: The Pioneers

were the 12th-best possession

squad in Division I this year with

a 53.8 Corsi For.

Gamebreakers : Boston

Bruins prospect Danton Heinen

was a top-10 scorer in college

hockey, and it’s easy to picture

why after reflecting on his per-

formance during Denver’s 4-3

loss to BC in October. Heinen

touched up BC for a goal and

an assist and was easily the

best skater on the ice the entire

game. Defenseman Will Butcher

adds some flair from the back

end, too. He was the fourth-

highest-scoring defenseman in

the nation.

Goaltending: Sophomore

Tanner Jaillet is the least-pedi-

greed netminder in this year’s

Frozen Four. In only 30 games

this season, he’s racked up a .923

save percentage.

Power Play Prowess: Den-

ver has the least lethal power

play out of the four remaining

squads, but not by much, scor-

ing at a 19 percent clip.

BC (28-7-5, 15-2-5 Hock-

ey East, +75 goal differential,

beat Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 in

Northeast Regional Final)

Possession: With a 52.3

Corsi For, BC controls the run of

play the least of the four semi-

finalists. BC’s goal differential,

however, is comparable to North

Dakota’s and Quinnipiac’s be-

cause BC has the best overall

shooting and save percentages

of all four teams.

There have been plenty of

games this season where, when

the Eagles have roughly tied or

lost possession, they still won

because they have better fin-

ishers and a better goalie than

the opposition. We’ll see if that

persists against the best of the

best.

Gamebreakers: Fitzgerald

has 46 points, and Colin White,

Zach Sanford, and Austin Can-

gelosi are all in the top 50 in

scoring nationally. As BU found

out in the Beanpot final, though,

Alex Tuch and his tranquilizer

of a wrist shot only need a few

seconds and a couple feet to

change a game, so his number

may be circled on the white-

board in Quinnipiac’s locker,

as well. Also, White’s ability to

create both smooth and greasy

goals could be big in a tight

spot.

G o a l t e n d i n g : J u n i o r

Thatcher Demko is the only

goalie still up for the Hobey

Baker for good reason. You don’t

need to know his .936 save per-

centage to know how much of a

monster he is. He’s transcendent

and BC’s biggest advantage in

Tampa. If the Eagles win it all,

Demko likely will be reasons

one, two, and three.

Power Play Prowess: BC

features a dangerous power play,

converting at 21.5 percent, good

for ninth-best in the country.

All of this information

could be irrelevant by midnight

on Sunday—or even 8 p.m. to-

night. A few pucks might go off

a skate or an arm, and a referee

might have a bad night, and the

team that deserved to win it all

might go home with a lifetime of

regret. Yet in ride-or-die, single-

elimination hockey, “deserve”

ain’t got nothing to do with it.

Al l these teams are so

evenly matched that any one

of them could claim to be the

best despite what happens at

Amalie Arena. The Frozen Four

might not determine who the

best team is, but it does crown

a champion, and everyone wants

that ring.

Trophies are nice. Dia-

monds are forever.

Frozen Four , from B8

believe that the Huskies are the

best thing for the sport.

Think about it. Would

anyone—anyone—be talk-

ing about women’s college

basketball without UConn’s

dominance? The answer is

no. It’s a harsh truth, but it’s

a truth all the same. Just look

at the WNBA. It doesn’t have

one team consistently blowing

everyone else out of the water,

like UConn does, and nobody

talks about it. According to a

report, attendance at WNBA

games dropped by 3.4 percent

this year to the lowest point in

the league’s history. At the end

of last summer, NBA Commis-

sioner Adam Silver admitted

that TV ratings and attendance

were below the ideal target.

I’d love it if people paid more

attention to the WNBA, but

there’s just no interest in the

league. This suggests that

women’s sports need domi-

nance or else nobody will pay

attention. And if you don’t

believe me, I have plenty of

examples.

I’d argue that the two most

popular women’s sports in this

country are soccer and tennis.

The U.S. Women’s National

Soccer Team (USWNT) has

absolutely dominated on the

international stage recently.

In case you were living under

a rock last summer and didn’t

hear, it beat Japan and won the

World Cup. Four years ago the

team was the gold medalist

at the London Olympics. Five

years ago the team nearly won

the world championships but

lost in heartbreaking fashion—

to Japan, no less—in the World

Cup. (Speaking as a goalie,

penalty kicks are the worst,

you guys.) And the Americans

also triumphed at the 1991 and

1999 World Cups.

Meanwhile, Venus and

Serena Williams—but mainly

Serena—are single-handedly

keeping American tennis rele-

vant on the world stage. Sorry,

John Isner—I still love you, but

they are the best thing about

American tennis right now.

Serena Williams is unquestion-

ably the best women’s tennis

player in the world. Last year

she won the Australian Open,

Miami Open, French Open,

Wimbledon, and Western &

Southern Open. A close loss

in a U.S. Open semifinal killed

her chances of winning all four

Grand Slam events in one year.

Over her career, Williams has

won 21 Grand Slams. That’s

more than the biggest icons of

men’s tennis—Roger Federer

(17), Rafael Nadal (14), and

Novak Djokovic (11).

I don’t hear people com-

plaining about the USWNT

dominating on the interna-

tional level. I don’t hear critics

arguing that Serena Williams’

success is bad for tennis. Even

those who claim that her at-

titude detracts from the sport

can’t deny the numbers. Fans

were so excited at the thought

of witnessing Serena complet-

ing a calendar Grand Slam that

the Women’s U.S. Open final

last year sold out before the

men’s for the first time ever.

One of the major criticisms

leveled against UConn is that

its games aren’t even close. But

the United States scored four

goals on Japan in 16 minutes in

last summer’s World Cup final,

and Serena routinely destroys

her competitors. It doesn’t

affect whether or not people

are willing to watch them. So if

the two most popular wom-

en’s sports include historic

dominance, that should tell us

something. When it comes to

women’s sports, it’s very clear

that dominance is what draws

interest.

People—not just UConn

fans—pay attention to the

Huskies. They tune in to see

the unbelievable performance

Auriemma’s squad will give.

They marvel at senior Breanna

Stewart’s stats and stature—

she has a wingspan longer than

LeBron James’ while standing a

full four inches shorter.

And UConn is more than

just a national powerhouse—

it’s an example to young female

basketball players everywhere.

The Huskies offer heroes to

youth players all across the

country. Some of the most

famous WNBA players are

UConn products, includ-

ing Diana Taurasi and Tina

Charles. Stewart is almost

certainly going to be the next

WNBA star, and is already the

champion of women’s col-

legiate basketball. This year

she was named Player of the

Year by the Associated Press

for a record third time. It was

the first time in history that a

player was unanimously voted

to win the award. If that wasn’t

enough, she has won the Final

Four Most Outstanding Player

award a record-setting four

times. Nobody, male or female,

has done that in college bas-

ketball history. Just as tennis

needs Serena Williams to be

the iconic female figure, wom-

en’s basketball needs UConn to

provide the heroes.

So, Shaughnessy is wrong.

Women’s sports aren’t as

inherently popular as men’s

sports. Evidence suggests

that dominance is needed for

people to pay real attention to

women’s sports. UConn, then,

is the best possible thing for

women’s college basketball.

When UConn dominates, it

makes headlines. When the

Huskies run their opponents

out of the gym, people talk

about it. Not everyone is happy

about it, but that’s alright. Not

everyone was happy about

John Wooden’s UCLA teams,

either, but people managed to

survive anyway. I’m sure they

can now, too.

MEN’S HOCKEY

Scoreboard........................................................................................................B7Editors’ Picks.......................................................................................................B7

SPORTSB8

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

INSIDESPORTSTHIS ISSUE

Hockey: The Long Road to the Frozen FourTh e Eagles fl ew south to Tampa seeking their sixth national

championship, but had to pass these teams first........B6

Every time I rewatch The Office,

I tell myself that I won’t get upset at

Steve Carell’s departure. Every time I

rewatch The Office, I get exceedingly

upset and emotional when it’s time

to say “Goodbye, Michael.” At this

point, I’m not even surprised. I know

for a fact that it’s going to upset me.

In a similar way, UConn dominating

women’s basketball is not a surprise

to anyone anymore. In a develop-

ment that shocked absolutely nobody,

earlier this week the Huskies defeated

Syracuse, 82-51, to win their fourth

consecutive national championship

and their 11th in Geno Auriemma’s

31-year stint as head coach.

UConn is synonymous with domi-

nation in women’s collegiate basket-

ball. The Huskies have set three win-

streak records since 2000—they won

70 straight games in the early 2000s

followed by an astounding 90 straight

from 2008-2010. The 90-game streak

snapped the previous record of 88

games established in the 1970s by

John Wooden’s UCLA teams. After

this year’s national championship,

they have won 75 games in a row.

If that wasn’t enough, UConn’s

perfect 38-0 campaign marks the

sixth time it has gone undefeated

during Auriemma’s tenure. Overall,

Auriemma has guided the Huskies

to 11 national championships since

1995. To quote my eternally wise and

wonderful grandfather, “UConn is to

women’s basketball as the Yankees

were to old-school baseball.”

With this much dominance, it’s

easy to see why some people believe

the Huskies are bad for women’s col-

lege basketball. When the margin of

victory is more than 40 points on a

consistent basis, it opens the door for

claims that UConn is turning people

off of women’s college basketball.

This year alone, the Huskies defeated

their opponents by an average of

more than 41 points per game. Their

closest margin of victory was 10

points against both Notre Dame and

Maryland. Blowouts breed disinterest,

people might say. Nobody wants to

watch a game when he or she already

knows how it’s going to end, because

that takes the fun out of it. Boston

Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy

argued this point—first in a tweet and

then in a column.

Shaughnessy conceded that the

Huskies play pure basketball better

than anyone in history—the type of

basketball, as he says, that the legend-

ary Red Auerbach preached. But he

believes that their dominance has

created unwatchable games and an

unstoppable dynasty with absolutely

no rivals across the country. This is

wrong.

UConn is still very much watch-

able, and the numbers prove it. Ac-

cording to ESPN, this year’s Women’s

NCAA Tournament has seen ratings

jump by 46 percent compared to

last year. On average, 108,000 more

people watched each game of the

first two rounds this year. UConn has

dominated throughout this season

and the tournament. If UConn was

hurting women’s college basketball,

then the ratings wouldn’t be improv-

ing so much, plain and simple.

And on the rivalry question?

Stanford, Tennessee, and Notre Dame

each have heated rivalries with the

Huskies. Stanford was the school that

ended the Huskies’ historic 90-game

win streak back in 2010. In 2014,

Stanford snapped another UConn

streak, this time at 47 games, with a

thrilling 88-86 overtime victory. The

Cardinal and the Huskies meet every

regular season for a rivalry game.

Tennessee and UConn also have a

rich history. The two teams duked it

out for the national title four times,

with the Huskies triumphing each

time. And Notre Dame and UConn

have met six times in the Final Four,

with the series split at three apiece.

The Huskies also defeated the Irish

in the national championship in both

2014 and 2015.

Each of these teams has also won

national championships in the past.

In fact, only with the victory in this

year’s national championship did

UConn pass Tennessee as the most

successful program in Final Four his-

tory. Tennessee is a historic power-

house in women’s college basketball—

under the legendary Pat Summitt, the

Lady Vols won eight national cham-

pionships. Notre Dame has won once

and Stanford has won twice. Even

though UConn dominates, it’s not like

there are no other successful pro-

grams in women’s college basketball.

So Shaughnessy is wrong. Sure, I’ll

concede that competitive games are

really fun to watch—like Villanova’s

buzzer-beater victory in the men’s na-

tional championship earlier this week.

Even so, UConn women’s basketball is

far from the worst thing for women’s

college basketball. In fact, I firmly

See UConn’s Dominance, B7

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Matt Milon scored 163 points for the Eagles this year, including 25 against Syracuse in Feb.

Assoc. Sports Editor

Boston College men’s basketball

got bad news today, as freshman guard

Matt Milon announced he will transfer

after this semester. The news was first

reported by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.

Milon later confirmed the report to

The Heights in an email, but said he has

not yet decided between mid-major

or high-major programs for his next

destination.

The Oviedo, Fla., native averaged

5.4 points in 16.6 minutes per game

for the Eagles in his first year under

head coach Jim Christian.

The highlight of Milon’s freshman

campaign came during a 25-point

outburst at home against rival Syra-

cuse. The 3-point specialist drained

5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc on

his way to a career day, sparking high

praise from Syracuse head coach Jim

Boeheim.

“Milon’s a deadly shooter, and they

did a good job of finding him,” Boe-

heim said after the game. “I don’t like

to see him out there against us.”

Milon also scored 16 points, includ-

ing four 3-pointers, in a November win

against Harvard.

Despite periodic flashes of scoring

potential, he struggled with earning a

spot in the rotation, eventually losing

playing time to fellow freshman guard

Sammy Barnes-Thompkins.

The decision by the sharpshooter

to leave the University comes just days

after Western Michigan University’s

Connor Tava announced he would

transfer to BC for his final year of

eligibility, reuniting with high school

teammate A.J. Turner.

Boston College hasn’t won a national title in four years.

In the grand scheme of things, that’s not a long time. But if

BC flies home empty-handed from the Frozen Four in Tampa,

Fla. this weekend, it will be the first time since 2007 that one

of Jerry York’s senior classes will graduate without a cham-

pionship ring. Quinnipiac, North Dakota and Denver aren’t

particularly worried about BC’s senior class’ legacy because

they want that ring as badly as anyone could want anything.

Single-elimination hockey produces maximum desperation.

These four teams are all roughly equal and that, combined

with such desperation, will make for an awesome product on

Thursday and Saturday. Three of these teams, though, will

remember this weekend in Florida as anything but awesome,

and the prospect of such despair and emptiness will make

every blocked shot and battle in the corner non-negotiable.

Because hockey is so random, a team’s record is not as

indicative of team quality or predictive of its future success

as puck possession is. The percentage of shots that a team

attempts during its games while at even strength—which

discounts special teams—is the best proxy for puck posses-

sion. The abbreviated version of this stat is Corsi For. That’s

not to say strength on the power play isn’t important. And,

in a single, tightly contested matchup, teams often need their

offensive gamebreakers to make something happen. Finally,

there is goaltending, hockey’s great equalizer. We preview

each of the Frozen Four participants through the lens of these

four elements.

Quinnipiac (31-3-7, 16-1-2 Eastern Collegiate Athletic,

+ 81 goal differential, beat UMass Lowell 4-1 in East Regional

Final, will play BC in National Semifinal today at 5 p.m.)

5 P.M.ESPN2

BOSTON COLLEGE

QUINNIPIACvs.

8:30 P.M.ESPN2

DENVER

NORTH DAKOTAvs.

CHOSEN FOUR

RECORD

IN HOCKEYEAST

GOALS SCOREDPER GAME

GOALS ALLOWEDPER GAME

5TH OVERALL

7TH OVERALL

RECORD

IN ECAC

4TH OVERALL

5TH OVERALL

GOALS SCOREDPER GAME

GOALS ALLOWEDPER GAME

RECORD

IN NCHC

GOALS SCOREDPER GAME

GOALS ALLOWEDPER GAME

11TH OVERALL

13TH OVERALL

RECORD

IN NCHC

GOALS SCOREDPER GAME

GOALS ALLOWEDPER GAME

7TH OVERALL

2ND OVERALL

JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

KELSEY MCGEE / HEIGHTS EDITOR KELSEY MCGEE / HEIGHTS EDITOR

KELSEY MCGEE / HEIGHTS EDITOR

MEN’S BASKETBALL