ALL patched up
The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Established 1919 Vol. XCII, No. 3
STATE OF THE UNION
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Sports
Marketplace
aRTS AND REVIEW
Sophmore walk-on recovers from broken nose, A10
President Barack Obama delivered his annual address yesterday, B10
The films you will be talking about, B1
The Heights Thursday, January 27, 2011
www.bcheights.com
Senate advocates for student lounge By Taylour Kumpf News Editor
The UGBC Senate voted unanimously in favor of supporting the addition of a “conversational lounge” to existing plans to renovate the course reserves room of O’Neill Library. This multi-purpose student space would provide a place for student-faculty conversation and would offer sustenance to students without the need to leave the confines of the library.
The Office of the Dean for Student Development (ODSD), the Student Programs Office (SPO), and the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs have all identified a need for a more collaborative student space on campus, and this conversational lounge would provide that space, said Nick Domino, UGBC Senate member and A&S ’12. Domino, who has been working on this project since mid-November, said this plan was developed after listening to student concerns. “Faculty, un-
dergraduates, and graduate students have all identified this as something they want,” he said. “As the Senate, we represent the undergraduate point of view.” Many other student leaders and administrators have also talked about this, Domino said. “I’ve been surprised by how the University has responded because nearly every administrator I’ve spoken to from Patrick Rombalski [vice president of student affairs] to Mark Miceli [associate director of the
Student Programs Office], and even graduate students are on board,” he said. “Everyone seems to like the idea, and are in favor of it, but no one has pushed for it.” “Hopefully this push by the UGBC senate will yield the results the three primary constituent bodies of BC desire – undergraduates, graduates, and faculty,” Domino said. “The main opposition [to this pro-
See UGBC, A4 AP File photo
Professors disagree with study
Lynch dean to head St. Joseph’s U.
Worth of college degree is examined
By Adriana Mariella Assoc. News Editor
By Molly LaPoint Asst. News Editor
A new study of more than 2,300 undergraduates published in Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses has found that a college education may fail to drastically improve critical reading, complex reasoning, and writing skills, with 45 percent of undergraduates showing no sign of improvement at the end of their sophomore year. Despite the numbers, however, Boston College professors are skeptical about whether this means college should actually be considered less important. Ina Mullis, a professor in the Lynch School of Education (LSOE) and executive director of the International Study Center of BC, said that she is unsure of the validity of this study. “It is quite a reach to determine there is limited learning in college based on this test,” she said. Another problem with the study, she said, is that it tested all students on the same measures regardless of their particular area of interest. “A student needs to be grounded first of all in what you’re reasoning, thinking, and writing about.” To make the study better, the researcher would have to pay more attention to the subject matter, said Michael Martin, a professor in LSOE. “[A re-
See Study, A4
University remembers King
Nick Rellas / Heights staff
Annual MLK Memorial Gathering honors the leader’s legacy By Logan Gallagher For The Heights
“The best way to memorialize Martin King, Jr. is not to host fancy programs and regurgitate history,” said Reverend Brandon T. Crowley, pastor of Myrtle Baptist Church. “The best way is to peacefully protest.” Campus Ministry held the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Gathering in Saint Ignatius Church on Monday, the anniversary of King’s birth. Faculty members and students joined Crowley to urge the current generation to continue King’s work. “I challenge you to be reactive, be consistent, and most of all be loving,” said Diana Morris, president of the Black Student Union and A&S ’11. The speakers also emphasized that remembering King and practicing his ideals is a continuous process. “Meditating on his work is not an end to be reached, but a life to be led,” said Catherine Duarte, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar and A&S ’11. The gathering also featured a special choir composed from student groups: Against the Current, Liturgy Arts
White Tower uncovered
Group, and the Voices of Amani, which collectively went by the name “The United Voices of Freedom.” The choir performed several classic Civil Rights and gospel songs such as “We Are Marching In the Light of God,” and “We Shall Overcome.” During the latter song, the audience was encouraged to cross arms and hold hands in the style of Civil Rights organizers in the 1960s. “If you want to see the living manifestation of King’s dream, you just heard it,” Crowley said after the United Voices of Freedom performed “Precious Lord.” Crowley delivered the keynote speech about King’s concept of the “Beloved Community.” Crowley used the analogy of children jumping rope to explain the concept of supporting the “man in the middle.” “I dream about the day that America will worry about the man in the middle,” Crowley said. “When the people in the middle trip up and fall we fail to give them another shot.” Crowley explained that the world will be more peaceful when society embraces the “Beloved Community.” “There will be no more need for phobias, ‘isms,’ and war when we give into the concept of the beloved community,” Crowley said. n
For The Heights
Alex Trautwig / heights editor
See O’Keefe, A4
Desire to intern remains steady By Ji Hae Lee
The “white tower” next to Fulton Hall is a temporary enclosure around the Stokes building mock-up. Its size provides room for materials, staging, and workers, and it will provide heat to install the masonry. The structure will only be up for several weeks.
Rev. Joseph M. O’Keefe, S.J., dean of the Lynch School of Education (LSOE), will be ending his 20-year residence at Boston College this March after being named president of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, a fellow Jesuit University. O’Keefe, who joined the faculty of BC in 1991, began his tenure as dean in 2005, after two years of serving as the interim dean and two years as the assistant dean. Throughout his two decades at BC, O’Keefe expanded the school’s outreach by approaching Catholic schools in the city of Boston and across the country. He made the Lynch School what it is today, said Philip G. Altbach, a professor in LSOE and the director of the Center for International Higher Education at BC. “I’ve known him ever since he was an assistant professor in my department, long before he became dean,” Altbach said. “He’s a very nice guy, a serious scholar who takes education issues seriously. As a Jesuit, he’s deeply interested in Catholic education issues in general and has done a lot to focus Lynch with Boston city schools.” “He has a great knack for fundraising, which is probably one reason St. Joseph’s picked him,” he said. “Since he’s been here he has gotten a number of big endowments for BC. He has a good reputation among education deans in the area and I’m sure around the country.” Altbach applauded O’Keefe’s per-
Boston College students’ interest in summer internships has not abated despite the recent recession. The Career Center hosted an Internship Fair this Tuesday in the Heights Room, where more than 1,000 students were in attendance, proving that both the firms and BC students are looking for more internships “More and more students are becoming interested in summer internships,” said Russell Ventura, the Career Center internship coordinator. “Two years ago, about 700 students showed up for the Internship Fair. Last year, the number was around 900, and this year, we had more than 1,000 students come.” Ventura urged students to use the Career Center website more often. “There is a link that says, ‘Choosing a Career or Major’ on the left side of the site. Then click on your major, and it will show you an extensive range of jobs that are pertinent to that major.” However, Ventura also emphasized that a student’s major should not confine him or her to only certain internships. The common misconception among students is that most firms are interested in recruiting CSOM students only. Although Ventura concedes that the firms that recruit at BC at the Career Fair in
fall tend to be looking for more business majors, this is not generally the case for the firms that show at the Internship Fair in the spring. “Every year, we have 50 firms come to the Internship Fair, and we try to have as much of a variety of firms as possible. They look not only for people in business and marketing, but also consulting, healthcare, non-profits, or any field that overarch communications,”
Ventura said. Some students feel that most paid internships are directed toward business majors. Kristen Zale, A&S ’12, said, “It is extremely competitive to find paid internships, especially when your interest lies in social services and non-profit. So I think there are still many people looking for summer jobs than internships.
See Internships, A4
Andrew Powell / heights editor
Despite the recent recession, students continue to seek internships and firms seek students.