For an inside look at BC baseball, softball, and lacrosse, see the Spring Sports Preview, B1 ‘CIRCLE MIRROR’
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FEATURES Danny Gillis’ school spirit stems from century-long family tradition, C8
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BUMP IN THE ROAD SPORTS
The theatre department presented ‘Circle Mirror Transformation’ last weekend, A10
The men’s ice hockey team’s unbeaten streak is still alive, but its 11-game win streak ends, C1
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Monday, February 24, 2014
Vol. XCV, No. 11
BC AIDS Awareness Committee fundraises at ‘Acapelooza’ BY JENNIFER HEINE Heights Staff A cappella filled McGuinn on Thursday night as the Boston College AIDS Awareness Committee hosted its first annual Acapelooza. Featuring musical groups The Dynamics, The Heightsmen of Boston College, Jammin’ Toast, The Sharps, and Against The Current, the event served as a fundraiser for Camp AmeriKids. This foundation is a summer camp for young people aged eight to 16 who are living with HIV/AIDS and sickle cell disease. Founded in 1995 by Robert C. Macauley, the eight-week program in Warwick, N.Y. allows inner-city children and teenagers living with these diseases to attend summer camp in a community with peers who understand their experiences. In addition to traditional summer camp activities such as boating, arts and crafts, and even a talent show, Camp AmeriKids also provides medical care, with doctors and nurses who reside on the campgrounds, as well as a wellness team, which provides psychosocial support. Participants do not pay
for the program, which means that fundraisers are particularly important. For the BC AIDS Awareness Committee, the event serves both to inform the BC community and address the struggles of those living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. According to the organization’s president Ayman Bodair, A&S ’14, “HIV is a disease that affects 35 million people worldwide. Many people think that that disease can’t affect me here, in the BC bubble, in the United States of America. But the reality is 1.2 million people in the U.S. still have the disease today, even with the advent of medication and treatments.” He and the e-board decided to focus on the plight of HIV-infected children for this particular fundraiser. “What HIV does is, it strips your body defenseless against pathogens,” Bodair said. “It leaves your immune system completely vulnerable, and unfortunately, it’s the most vulnerable among us who tend to get the disease, especially children. “As a result, children born into families
See ‘Acapelooza,’ A4
EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR
A cappella groups filled McGuinn 101 last Thursday at Acapelooza, a musical performance hosted by the BC AIDS Awareness Committee.
Lowell Series continues to progress The Lowell Humanities Series at Boston College has showcased numerous internationally acclaimed writers and continues to host famous speakers BY KENDRA KUMOR Heights Editor
GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
Poet Tracy K. Smith discussed her recent collection of poems ‘Life on Mars’ last Thursday.
For over half a century, the Lowell Humanities Series has brought famous writers from myriad backgrounds to Boston College. As one of the most successful lecture series on campus, the events have brought BC international attention. With such acclaimed authors as Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, and Maya Angelou on the list of former speakers, attendees hold high expectations for future events. “The emphasis at the beginning w a s m o r e h e av i l y o n p o e t s a n d fiction writers; over time the range of speakers has broadened into nonfiction, journalism, and other fields ,” said
Carlo Rotella, director of the Lowell Humanities Series and a professor in the English department in an email. Rotella, in the first year of his three-year term as director of the series, hopes to continue to further the mission of the professor who created the program: Rev. Francis Sweeney, S.J. “Francis Sweeney knew a lot of prominent writers and wanted to bring them to campus,” Rotella said. According to the Lowell Humanities Series’ website, Sweeney believed that “There is nothing like an author reading from his or her own works,” sparking the idea for the early installments of the series. When actually planning an author’s event, there are several factors that determine the structure. “Poets and
Tracy K. Smith talks poetry, sci-fi literary inspiration
fiction writers will often read from their work, but I ask them to make sure to also talk about the work,” Rotella said. “Some visitors really look forward to the Q and A , and they want to emphasize that. When Governor Patrick came a couple of years ago, he wanted to get to the Q and A as quickly as possible.” A quick look at the series’ website will reveal the upcoming events for the entire semester. “We also start planning well in advance to get our visitors’ work onto syllabi for that semester, so that there will be particular classes or other groups on campus who take a special interest in the visit,” he said.
See Lowell Series, B7
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Smith discussed her recent collection of poems ‘Life on Mars’ BY MICHELLE TOMASSI Heights Editor
Tracy K. Smith, a Pulitzer Prizewinning poet, proved Thursday evening that science fiction doesn’t just belong in the movies. Sponsored by Poetry Days and kicking off the Lowell Humanities Series this semester, Smith spoke about her most recent collection Life On Mars, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book. Smith has published two other books as well, and is currently a professor of creative writing at Princeton University. The poems within Life On Mars experiment with imagination and space, both in a celestial and a metaphorical sense. Smith’s poems suggest a fascination with science fiction, but she admitted that the true sci-fi lover was her late father, a scientist who worked on the Hubble Telescope. His passing led her to explore questions of existence and reconciling the vast space of the universe with earthly experiences, resulting in a collection that bridges the limitless “out there” with the finite. “I realized that being ‘out there’ helped in articulating the questions and anxieties that came as a result of grief,” she said. “It all came together in an eeri-
ly frightening way.” Smith explained that she never thought of herself as a sci-fi person, but her interest in science fiction movies combined with her father’s passion encouraged her translate those themes into poetry. Smith began with a reading of poems that outwardly project that otherworldly experience, such as “SciFi,” “The Universe is a House Party,” and “The Weather in Space,” using metaphors of space in conjunction with human experience. Her poems ranged in form and subject matter, with some discussing questions of the intangible, such as “It&Co.,” with lines such as “We are a part of It. Not guests. / Is It us, or what contains us?” Smith recognized the “value and necessity of occasionally turning to form,” and as an example of formal structure, she read “The Speed of Belief ”—an elegy dedicated to her father. Smith also look s to immediate sources for poetic motivation. “I often get a lot of inspiration to write from the news, and things that unsettle me, and things that challenge me,” she said. After reading stories about Somali pirates and realizing that mere acceptance of these events wasn’t enough, she decided to
See Smith, A4
PHOTO COURTESY OF BCPD
BCPD became the ninth college police department in the state to receive accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.
BCPD receives full MPAC accreditation BY JULIE ORENSTEIN Assoc. News Editor The Boston College Police Department (BCPD) has formally received accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, becoming the ninth college police department in the state to achieve this status. Three assessors from the commission reviewed BCPD’s policies in a two-day assessment in early November. The department was judged on whether it had
written complying policies and followed through with procedures that adhered to the policies. Following that review, the assessors suggested that the department receive accreditation, noting that BCPD had complied with more than 280 national standards and best practices. An initial review last spring found that BCPD had already met more than 150 mandatory standards, and the department received certification. The 98 additional mandatory standards for accreditation were fulfilled by the time of the Novem-
ber review, along with 75 of 125 optional standards. According to a press release from the department, areas that were assessed included patrol operations, administrative procedures, recruitment and selection, training and professional development, victim assistance, fiscal management, discipline, performance evaluation, crime prevention and investigations. The standards upon which the accreditation was based
See BCPD, A4