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BC Dining’s ‘test kitchen’ brings new entrees to campus, A4
The Acoustics made its own a cappella haunted house for its invitational showcase Friday night, B8
BC tops Denver behind Matty Gaudreau’s late goal Friday night, B1
www.bcheights.com
The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College
HEIGHTS
THE
established
1919
Monday, November 2, 2015
Vol. XCVI, No. 39
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DREW HOO / HEIGHTS EDITOR
BC’s will is broken after another crushing defeat to conference opponent Virginia Tech on Saturday. See page B1.
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To Andrew Yang, it seemed that many college graduates pursued fields such as finance, consulting, medicine, law, or graduate school, yet lacked genuine passion for these areas. Rather, it appeared as though they were following an ambiguous ambition for status. As a solution to what he considers an unproductive culture, in 2011 he created an alternative path for young people: Venture for America (VFA). The two-year fellowship program, of which Yang serves as CEO, looks to revitalize American cities through entrepreneurship by fueling job growth and productivity. VFA recruits recent college graduates and enables them to learn and work with over 150 startups in 15 emerging U.S. cities. The program provides mentorship and networking resources and offers access to capital for those pursuing entrepreneurial initiatives post-fellowship. Attracting graduates from over 70 schools and currently operating at an 11 percent acceptance rate, the organization holds a five-week, intensive training camp at Brown University from the end of June through July before sending the fellows to their respective placements in August or early September. The startups themselves run the gamut in terms of their industry and
categorization—from software and technology companies to nonprofits, breweries, and accelerators—and fellows earn the same salary, regardless of chosen startup. “We’re sort of what we call industry agnostic,” said Leandra Elberger, communications and development manager at VFA. “What we care about when we partner with these startups is that there’s a growth opportunity for a person, that there’s good leadership and mentorship available at the startup … and that they’re financially viable.” In terms of the actual startup-matching process, accepted fellows make pitches to companies that interest them and have partnered with VFA. These fellows then go through a normal interview process before receiving an offer and either accepting or rejecting it, with each fellow guaranteed a placement. Community is central to VFA’s mission, with mentorship, networking, educational updates, and programming enabling fellows to stay in contact with not only the VFA headquarters, but other fellows—current and past—and professional mentors, as well. “A huge part of being in VFA is not just working at your startup, but being a part of the community that is constantly in touch,” Elberger said. The next application deadline for VFA is Monday, Nov. 30.
Eight Boston College alumni have become fellows since 2012, with their VFA fellowship experiences detailed on page A8.
GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
:Xdglj JZ_ffc# n`k_flk DXiXk_fe YXe[`k ilee\ij# j\\j j`^e`Ô ZXek [`g `e ]le[iX`j`e^ 9P I8PDFE; D8E:@E@ =fi K_\ ?\`^_kj April 15, 2013: Three people dead. Over 260 wounded. The Boston Marathon bombing robbed civilians of their lives, family members, and limbs. While the event still occurred the next year—drawing a record count of runners—heightened security in response to the tragedy has kept charity groups like the Boston College Campus School volunteers from “bandit” running the marathon. Now, the Campus School is
looking to make up for a significant negative shock in its fundraising totals. Sunday marks the sixth annual Chilly Half-Marathon in Newton. Although it is open to anyone who wants to run, the Chilly Half-Marathon relates especially to BC’s Campus School, serving as a fundraiser for its students, as many Campus School Volunteers decided to raise the money while simultaneously training for the half. Before participating in this event, the Campus School had originally formed a group of students that ran as bandit runners
in the Boston Marathon. After the Boston Marathon Bombing, however, the Boston Athletic Association cracked down on unofficial runners, making sure they would not run, removing an important fundraising effort for the Campus School. The Campus School is a publicly-funded private day school for children ages 3 to 21 with severe, multiple disabilities. “Our students come to us because the cities or towns that they’re from do not have the proper services for our students to have an appropriate education,” Sean Schofield, volunteer coordinator at the Campus School, said.
See Campus School, A5
PHOTO COURTESY OF EMILY SADEGHIAN
Jkl[\ek$Xk_c\k\j Xe[ m\k\iXej# ]fi^`e^ lec`b\cp i\cXk`fej_`gj @e`k`Xk`m\ j\k kf Zi\Xk\ gXike\ij_`gj Y\kn\\e 9: Xk_c\k\j# nfle[\[ nXii`fij 9P D8>;8C<E JLCC@M8E ?\`^_kj <[`kfi “You must be really excited about going home.” “No, I’m not.” “Why?” “Right now, I’m surrounded by people who know what’s going on. When I go home, what’s going to happen to me?” This was the conversation Susan Sheehy, a visiting scholar at Boston College, described having with a wounded soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The soldier had endured a bilateral amputation and severe abdominal injuries. After multiple surgeries, he was getting ready to go to his hometown—away from the support system present at Walter Reed. The conversation struck a chord with Sheehy and led her to develop the Collegiate Warrior Athlete Initiative, a holistic
wellness program that pairs BC studentathletes with wounded soldiers. The program, which is set to launch in January, matches the pairs as exercise partners. Each warrior-athlete partnership would follow a routine specially designed for each soldier’s best pathway to recovery. In addition to weekly workouts, the wounded warriors would attend a wellness class on BC’s campus. This will follow a model developed by Col. Paul Lewis, a senior researcher at Fort Bragg, N.C. “Everybody who’s in the military is an excellent athlete,” Sheehy said. “Not necessarily in a sport, but they’re physically fit, they’re trained to perform at the top. And then they get injured and they lose that.” Maria Hutsick has recently joined the project, signing on as the head athletic director tasked with developing individualized workout regiments for each participant. Hutsick is the former
head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine at Boston University. She has worked with the U.S. national women’s hockey team, and currently serves as the athletic trainer for Medfield High School in Medfield, Mass. The wellness class will focus on Bragg’s “12 Components of Wellness,” tackling one element each week. The components, for example, could include nutrition, medication, financial planning, or familial affairs. “The warriors come with all different types of things.” Sheehy said, “They may not be visible wounds. Somebody might have a vision issue, or a hearing issue, somebody might be an amputee, somebody might have PTSD.” After the 12-week, twice-a-week program concludes, the wounded warriors will continue to meet with their peers for monthly gathering. The program is funded for one full year as a trial project by a grant from Wounded Warrior Project. “We would like to thank Wounded
Warrior Project for this grant which will provide us the support to expand our efforts with warriors locally through health and wellness programs while continuing to connect them with our BC community,” Associate Athletics Director for External Relations James Di Loreto said in an email. The Initiative will track progress through both physiological and psychosocial measurements, from body weight, tissue mass, and body fat percentage to anxiety scales and resiliency. “The idea is to have all of this data collected, and to apply for some more grants, so that we can actually expand it and roll it out across the country to any school that wants to do it,” Sheehy said. The only barrier preventing the program from starting in January is its BC institutional review board (IRB) approval, which, Sheehy said, could take months. Should the IRB approve the Initiative in time, Sheehy hopes to host a national conference at BC at some point during the year, allowing other schools the oppor-
tunity to learn about the program. After giving presentations about the idea over the past year, Sheehy said she has been met with nothing but enthusiasm. She has heard from eight schools in the U.S. and three universities in the United Kingdom that are ready to sign up. “People are really interested in doing this and giving back,” Sheehy said. “Not just having veterans as students, which a lot of schools are doing, but seeing what else can you do for those who aren’t going to school, or how we could welcome them to our community.” The student-athletes who will work with the wounded warriors have not yet been selected. When an application is released, Sheehy said they will be examined holistically in an attempt to best match them. She has, however, already heard students express interest in applying. “It’s a different mindset with an athlete—they have a very ‘get back in the game’ mindset,” she said. “And that’s what we’re looking for—getting back in the game.”