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‘Portugal, Jesuits, and Japan’ explores the cultural interactions of merchants and missionaries, A10
With a loss and a tie this weekend, BC falls to No. 2 in the Hockey East behind Merrimack, B1
Real Food BC brings locally sourced ingredients to students, B10
www.bcheights.com
HEIGHTS
THE
The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College
established
1919
Monday, February 18, 2013
Vol. XCIV, No. 9
ALC’s masquerade draws diverse crowd BY MARC FRANCIS Heights Editor Avant-garde performers, a retro photo booth, and the synthetic urban beats of DJ Ides (Alex Bou-Rhodes, A&S ’15) commanded the attention of over 850 Boston College students at the AHANA Leadership Council’s (ALC) 17th annual ball, held at the Westin Copley Place. Dressed to the nines, the hundreds of students who attended the dance represented a multitude of cultures and traditions, all celebrating and invoking the much sought
after BC spirit of unity. Gabriela Mejia, co-director of the ALC programming department and A&S ’13, affirmed the event’s success: “I was most impressed by the crowd that we were able to draw to the event,” she said. “We had a very diverse group of people in attendance and it was great to even get a large turnout of international students.” This year, ALC decided to add an element of flair to the ball by adopting a masquerade theme, reflected in the Renaissance masks distributed at the entrance and the clothing attire of the
several performers. “Our staff is very proud of how the Ball turned out this year,” said Denise Pyfrom co-director of programming and A&S ’14. “We wanted to do something completely outside of the box, and I believe it worked. We were so excited that people took the Masquerade theme seriously, and some even brought their own masks from home.” The performers in attendance included dolled-up stilt walkers, an intricate acrobatics show, and a powdered woman who might as EUN HEE KWON / HEIGHTS STAFF
See ALC Ball, A4
Over 850 students attended the ALC Ball, held at the Westin Copley Place on Saturday.
ALLIES ADDRESS ASSAULT
BCAAUP discusses governance
BY ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT
Professors look at faculty involvement
BC men don skirts in protest of gender-based violence
News Editor With spring a month away and snow still covering campus, “skirt weather” seems like part of a distant future. Yet for a group of Boston College men, a chilly Valentine’s Day was the perfect time to don that particular item of clothing. Last Thursday, male volunteers stood in the academic Quad between classes, wearing skirts as part of “Don’t Skirt the Issue,” an awareness event coordinated by Allies, aimed at ending gender-based violence. “We are calling on you, the men of Boston College, to take a stand against sexual assault and violence against women,” read the event’s description on its Facebook page. “We are tired of living in a culture that blames survivors of sexual assault, and we need our male allies to step up and help in the fight against gender-based violence.” According to Melanie Courtemanche, vice president of Allies and A&S ’13,
the idea for the event originated over Winter Break. After a young woman in India was gang-raped on a bus, eventually dying from injuries that she sustained during the assault, Indian men held a protest in response to comments from politicians implicating her outfit as a cause for the attack. “Over the winter break, our president, David [Riemer, A&S ’14] had run across a story about these male protestors in India, who wore skirts to protest some comments from some political figures about a famous rape case in the country,” Courtemanche said. “The figures said something about how the survivor had been wearing a skirt at the time, and had implicated that as a possible contributor to the rape case. So these men stood up and said, ‘We’re not going to tolerate this treatment anymore.’” The event also coincided with “V-Day,” and the One Billion Rising movement, a global effort to end violence against women and girls. Started in 1998 by Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues, VDay is an ongoing campaign to put an end to gender-based violence. One
Billion Rising, an event whose name references the statistic that one in three women (or around one billion) will be raped or beaten in their lifetime, took place around the world last Thursday, and consisted of women coming together to demonstrate collective strength. “Don’t Skirt the Issue” was held on the same day, bringing another dimension to the event. “The idea of our event was not, obviously, to end gender-based violence by having men wear skirts,” Courtemanche said. “It was really making violence against women and gender-based violence an issue that men cared about too. So we really wanted to make people aware that it’s an issue that should be affecting men and women, not just women—because it’s often considered just a women’s issue.” About 35 people were involved during the day of the event, including those who had signed up to wear skirts, and those who were present to give out
See Allies, A4
CHRISSY SUCHY / HEIGHTS STAFF
Heights Staff Faculty involvement in Boston College’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (BCAAUP) has increased since its start in 2010, and now boasts over 120 members. Recent signs during last Friday’s meeting, however, hinted at a growing sense of apathy toward one of BCAAUP’s main goals—establishing faculty governance. The BCAAUP aims to set up a faculty senate so that they can have a stronger voice in University decision-making. Members were unhappy with the lack of transparency in the University administration and even confused as to the structure of governance within the faculty handbook’s bylaws and statutes. “Each year for the past three years we’ve done a survey of all faculty at BC,” said Paul Gray, associate professor of sociology. “Full-time, part-time, adjunct, tenured, non-tenured … in all the different schools.” This year’s survey had 177 respondents, a drop from the 260-plus people who responded in each of the previous two years. Gray suspected that the drop may be the result of “a little bit of a burn out.” According to the survey results, only 14 percent of respondents disagreed that faculty morale has declined in recent years. The qualitative comments as to why this figure is so low have not been
See BCAAUP, A4
Bubble collapse complicates schedules for athletic teams
Relay raises money and awareness
BY SAMANTHA COSTANZO Special Projects Editor
BY DAIVA SILIUNAS For The Heights Friday night was no quiet night at the Plex. While many Boston College students went about planning another typical night out, over 1,000 students headed to the Plex to dedicate a night to the support of cancer research. Students continuously walked around the indoor track from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in memory or honor of those affected by cancer. The hours passed quickly as the endless list of planned activities took place: from knee hockey to an ice cream eating contest, a Miss Relay pageant to a viewing of Cool Runnings, performances from many of BC’s song and dance groups, the serving of a plethora of catered food and baked goods, and most importantly, multiple memorial ceremonies. Raising $145,000, last year’s BC Relay
BY GIANNI MATERA
EMILY STANSKY / FOR THE HEIGHTS
BC students honored cancer survivors in the Plex during Relay for Life last Friday. For Life was the number one Relay in the New England per capita division. BC managed to beat Northeastern, despite its smaller student body. “Our goal for this year is $150,000,” said Madison Aleksa, LSOE ’13, co-chair of the event, “and right now [at 9:08 p.m.] we have already reached $130,000.” Aleksa has been the chair of the event for the past two years. After losing her father to cancer during high school, she searched for a way to cope, and Relay for Life was the answer. Aleksa managed to start the Relay for Life in her home com-
munity, and found that the active fundraising for the American Cancer Society and the feeling that she was making a difference helped her honor the memory of her father. Upon arriving at BC, she immediately got involved with the BC Relay committee, and along with the rest of the members, works year-round to fundraise and prepare for the event. “It gives you power—it’s a way to make a difference,” Aleksa said. The event draws people of all back-
See Relay, A4
The protective bubble over Alumni Stadium’s football field was pumped back up on Friday afternoon, about a week after it collapsed under the two feet of snow deposited by winter storm Nemo. It is still possible, however, that the bubble will not stay up until the end of the winter sports season in late March, according to Michael Jednak, director of facilities services. A team of Boston College engineers and outside engineers must still meet with athletic department management to evaluate whether or not the newly repaired bubble, which sustained a tear near the 50yard line, is safe to continue using. Jednak said in an email that the decision should be made sometime this week. “We have to repair it just to take it down,” Jednak said. “The membrane gets folded in a particular pattern, so it has to be lowered and folded slowly.” Setting up or taking down the bubble
takes about one week and 25 to 30 workers, Jednak said. Before the storm hit, Jednak said that the bubble was locked down, evacuated, and pumped with extra air to stabilize the structure. According to BC athletics’ official website, the Tevlar bubble is also equipped with a wind sensor—which detects high winds and adjusts the air pressure inside accordingly—and a snow sensor, which increases the temperature on the bubble’s surface to melt snow. The football, baseball, field hockey, golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, men’s and women’s soccer, and track teams, as well as several intramural teams, practice inside the bubble during the winter. Ever since the bubble came down, all teams have had to make alternate arrangements. Some intramural leagues, including indoor soccer, have simply cancelled practices and games indefinitely. Several competitive teams began their seasons right after a
See Bubble, A4