Andy Stern, SEIU International President (Courtesy of SEIU Press Kit)

An employee of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 615 has been working to solicit student support for unionized employees at Boston College even though the contract between BC and its union-employees prohibits advertising negotiations between BC and the Union.

The AHANA ( for African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native-American) Leadership Council (ALC), confirmed that SEIU Local 615 employee Howard Ryan approached them to garner support for the unionized employees’ cause. Alexandra Heinz, the ALC’s co-director of political action and education, said that Ryan approached the ALC regarding their support for the Union in the ongoing dispute.

After meeting with Ryan, the Global Justice Project, the College Democrats, and university officials, Heinz and ALC President Earl Edwards decided to co-sponsor a November 2nd teach-in to shed light on the unionized workers’ position in the ongoing labor negotiations.

Ryan has also met with Kathleen Sellers, a BC graduate student who has been organizing student support for BC’s unionized workers. However, Sellers insisted that Ryan never asked her to carry out any specific task on the Union’s behalf. She described Ryan as a “conversation partner,” adding that “[Ryan] has never explicitly asked me to do anything except on one occasion, which was to explain, as a student of Catholic social teaching, why I found the Boisi discussion on Caritas in Veritate particularly interesting.”

Whether SEIU employees’ speaking to student leaders is actually a violation of Article 14, which prohibits “strikes, stoppages, lockouts, picketing, banners, or any advertisements concerning any matter in dispute between the University and the Union or the employees,” is currently disputed.

Robert Lewis, associate vice president for human resources and BC’s representative in the negotiations, was unaware that the SEIU had contacted student leaders helping the Union. Lewis believes that Ryan’s actions are a clear violation of Article 14. “It is a form of advertising the dispute. €The Union has agreed to extend the contract.€ That means all of its terms and conditions.€The Union cannot be selective about which articles of the contract they agree to extend.”

Lewis did not clarify what if any action BC would take against the Union in light of the SEIU’s contacting students about the dispute. He only added that BC “will discuss this with the Union leadership.”

In his lone statement to The Observer, Ryan said, “We believe all of the Union’s actions are in compliance with the contract.” Ryan declined to elaborate.

Ryan’s discussion with the ALC and BC Students for Worker Justice is not the first allegation that the SEIU violated Article 14. The SEIU and BC Students for Worker Justice held a public gathering outside Hillside on October 26th. Lewis contended that this act was also prohibited under Article 14, but he also noted that the Union disagreed. Sellers also disagreed with Lewis’ position.

Language from Article 14 can also be found in SEIU Local 615 contracts with Boston University, MIT, Tufts University, and Brandeis University among other universities in the greater Boston area.

Negotiations have stalled over BC’s proposed removal of Article 18 from the contract, which forbids BC from hiring outside contractors to perform union-labor. The University contends that it only wants to repeal Article 18 in order to hire outside workers to clean up after athletic events in order to save money. However, the SEIU believes that removing Article 18 would allow BC to phase out unionized labor on campus. Lewis stated that negotiations are moving slowly.

The SEIU represents 2.1 million healthcare, public services, and property services workers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The SEIU donated over $60 million to President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, and is currently lobbying for the proposed healthcare reform bill in congress.

With two purple candles lit on the wreath, and Christmas just a little more than two weeks away, the question arises: just what is Advent all about?

The word Advent derives from the Latin word adventus, which means coming. During the four weeks of Advent, we prepare both for the remembrance of the First Coming of Christ in the stable in Bethlehem and the anticipation of His Second Coming. We commemorate the Hebrews waiting for the birth of the Messiah and wait for Him to come again in glory.

Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas, between November 27th and December 3rd. The first Sunday of Advent is also the beginning of the Liturgical Year. Customarily, the Advent wreath adorns Catholic churches and homes during the season. The wreath is a circle of evergreens, symbolizing continuous life. More specifically, the laurel signifies victory over persecution and suffering; pine, holly, and yew are for immortality; and cedar for strength and healing. The circular shape of the wreath, with no beginning and no end, stands for the eternity of God and immortality of the soul, and everlasting life through Jesus.

Four candles adorn the Advent wreath, three violet and one rose, one for each Sunday. The violet candles, lit on the first, second, and fourth Sundays, symbolize the prayer, penance, and sacrifices and good works undertaken in preparation for the Christmas season. The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday, also known as Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. The faithful rejoice on Gaudete Sunday because the preparation is half over and the celebration of Christmas is close. The light of the candles symbolizes Christ, the Light of the world.

As the early Church evolved, so did the celebration of Advent. The earliest record of an observation of Advent was in France as a preparation for baptisms during the Feast of the Epiphany, and was very similar to Lent. The Gelasian Sacramentary, attributed to Pope St. Gelasius I, has the first instructions for Advent liturgies. Pope Gregory VII set the number of Sundays to four.

Scripture for the season of Advent features Old Testament prophecies of the First Coming of Jesus, exhortations for justice, and proclamations of the coming Kingdom by Jesus. We read John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord, salvation by faith, and the visitations of the Angel Gabriel to Mary and Mary to Elizabeth. The scripture readings illuminate the preparation for both the First and Second Comings of Jesus.

Pope Benedict said in his homily for the First Sunday of Advent, “Advent, this powerful liturgical season that we are beginning, invites us to pause in silence to understand a presence. It is an invitation to understand that the individual events of the day are hints that God is giving us, signs of the attention he has for each one of us. How often does God give us a glimpse of his love!”

He encourages us to step back during this Advent season and reflect on how God can better enter our lives.He reminds us, after all, “Advent is the season of the presence and expectation of the eternal. For this very reason, it is in a particular way a period of joy, an interiorized joy that no suffering can diminish. It is joy in the fact that God made himself a Child. This joy, invisibly present within us, encourages us to journey on with confidence.”

Fr. James Keenan, S.J., also touched on this subject during his homily on the same Sunday. He explained that at the first Christmas Jesus became man to share in our humanity and now we look forward to His coming again when we can share in His divinity. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website, www.usccb.org, offers scripture readings, prayers, devotions, and suggested actions for each day of Advent. The Observer wishes you and your family a blessed Advent and the merriest of Christmases. God Bless you all.

New entryway planned, students get to vote for new chairs

O’Neill Library recently announced it would renovate its first floor to add a new entryway along with a seating area, five look-up stations, scanners and printers for students. Construction will take place over winter break and the entryway should be open for students in January as the spring semester begins.

The current doorway, an emergency exit, will be enlarged and replaced with a set of glass double doors (which mirror the ones currently in use on the third floor). The first floor, which has traditionally been the location of the university’s microfilm storage and viewing center along with several bookshelves, will be relocated to another area of the library.

In the place of all the microfilm computers and storage more student seating will be added to make the library “a new destination for students” stated Mr. Thomas Wall, the University Librarian. He further added “We want to reform the image of the library to be not just an academic setting but one where students can meet with their peers and professors.”

The construction is part of O’Neill Library’s attempts to expand the role of the library” to better serve student interests, stated Mr. Wall. He added that the purpose of creating another entrance and exit in O’Neill Library was “for the convenience of the student body” and “important in rationalizing student flow” through the library, which at times becomes congested during exam week.

The issue of expansion in O’Neill Library was first addressed by Kathleen Carney, the Associate University Librarian, in 2004. However, little progress was made until March 2009, when the University hired Thomas Wall. Mr. Wall had previously worked at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh and had worked extensively on renovating libraries to fit student needs.

He began meeting with student groups such as the Quality of Student Life and UGBC to determine what changes needed to be made to the library. Mr. Wall claims he did a significant amount of “listening to the needs” of students and “collaborating with the CTRC.”

Since then, small changes have been made to the third floor (currently the only entrance to O’Neill library) to make it more “recreational:” over the summer, the study rooms on the fifth floor were technologically enhanced with screens, in September, Macintosh computers were added to the third floor and in November, an exhibit of photographer Bobbie Hanvey decorated the windows and front entryway of the library.

The first floor renovations were designed and approved in less than six months. Ms. Carney called the move a “quick win” for the library and for the student body and hopes that many more will follow in its place. She stated that the renovation carried out over the break is by no means definite but “an evolving process” which will be driven by students.

In fact, the library is asking for student input in the types of armchairs it intends to add in the seating area. Currently, the library has five chairs on loan from its furnishing provider on display (please see photo) and asks for students to vote on their favorite before Winter Break begins. The winning chair will be purchased and placed throughout the space.

Another touch will be the addition of student artwork, which will be displayed along the walls and rotated several times a semester to enhance the idea of a student setting.

The library plans to keep this second entrance open Monday through Thursday until 9PM and Friday until 5PM. However, if the space becomes immensely popular, Mr. Wall said the university would consider expanding its hours to fit student needs.

Mr. Wall also hinted that additional renovations are in the works for O’Neill Library in the future.

A statue of Mary located near Bapst Library where students can go for private reflection.

If one had to tie the modern  crisis in the Catholic Church to a  single source, it would not seem  unreasonable to link it with the  spirit of excessive compromise  that has relentlessly undermined  and stripped away all devotions  that had the potential to serve  as a “stumbling block” to those  outside the Church.  This tendency has manifested itself in a  variety of ways, such as through  the syncretistic attitude of many  modern prelates, the elimination  of language stressing the need  for the conversion of unbelievers, and a skeptical, pyrrhonistic  attitude of many Catholics towards Divine revelation.  However, if one looks for a particular  consequence of this mentality  which strengthens and propels  all the others, they need look no  further than the decline in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

During the Second Vatican  Council, there existed a tremendous amount of debate as to  whether or not a chapter about  the Blessed Virgin Mary ought  to be included in the Dogmatic  Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.  While, at the insistence of the Pope and many  Council Fathers, the chapter  was included, a simple glance  at the Church over the past  forty years will demonstrate  that this part of the document  has been largely disregarded.

As Lumen Gentium says,  “the Blessed Virgin is invoked  by the Church under the titles of  Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix,  and Mediatrix”.  These titles are  not mere window dressing that  can be dispensed with whenever  ecumenism dictates it, but a theological reality dealing with the  economy of salvation.  Though  it may seem an overly bold statement to many, it is in fact sound  Catholic teaching to state that  devotion to Mary is necessary for  salvation.  This is not necessity  in an absolute sense, as if God is  powerless to save men without  the Blessed Virgin, but rather necessity on account of the way He  has ordained that graces be given  to men.  Duns Scotus, the 14th  century theologian who contributed so much to Catholic doctrine on the Immaculate Conception of Mary, was well known for  making this distinction between  the absolute and the ordained  power of God.  By His absolute  power, God can do anything  which does not entail logical  contradiction, while via His ordained power, God acts in accordance with the laws and systems  which He has freely established,  in order to benefit those to  whom He has revealed Himself.

As the great Marian theologian St. Louis de Montfort says,  drawing on St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Bernardino of Siena,  “God the Holy Ghost…has chosen  her to be the dispenser of all He  possesses, in such wise that she  distributes to whom she wills, as  much as she wills, as she wills and  when she wills, all His gifts and  graces”.  It was the will of God  to become incarnate and reveal  Himself through Mary, and, as de  Montfort says “to commence and  to complete His greatest works  by the most holy Virgin ever since  He created her”.  And as God  is eternally and essentially unchangeable, it is only logical that  He continue to work through,  with, and in her Immaculate  Heart in time and in eternity.

When Marian devotion is  understood to be necessary in  this way, it becomes quite obvious why its decline is such a  grave threat to the Church.  If  one deliberately takes the Mediatrix of all graces out of the  salvific economy, they are essentially saying that God’s ways are  insufficient, and need to be altered to better fit with the modern culture of compromise and  syncretism.  Conversely, however, if Catholics recognize and  honor Mary’s sublime dignity as  the Mother of God and ask often  for her intercession, it logically  follows that she will obtain for  them the grace to know, love, and  embrace the truth, and conquer  the threats which the Church  faces in this modern crisis.

When Cardinal O’Connell, Archbishop of Boston, passed away in 1944, he was buried under a chapel in Brighton, on the campus of St. John’s Seminary.

When Cardinal O’Connell, Archbishop of Boston, passed away in 1944, he was buried under a chapel in Brighton, on the campus of St. John’s Seminary. He had the chapel constructed in 1928 for this very purpose, saying publicly, “in that crypt is the place my body, after death, shall repose until the Judgment Day.”

The Cardinal went on to confirm this desire in his 1943 will, and his wishes were carried out the next year. For six decades, his remains have been interred on the Archdiocese land.

However, the land where the chapel stands is no longer a part of the campus of St. John’s Seminary, no longer even land owned by the Archdiocese of Boston. In 2004, the Archdiocese sold the land to Boston College in order to make restitution to the victims of the abuse scandal at the time. According to Boston College’s University spokesman Jack Dunn, as a condition of the sale, the Archdiocese agreed to move the Cardinal’s body to a location more befitting a Cardinal Archbishop.

When Boston College received approval to move forward with the 10 year Master Plan, and began expansion to the Brighton Campus, the necessity to fulfill this agreement was realized. The Archdiocese and Boston College filed a joint petition in Probate Court of Massachusetts for approval to relocate O’Connell’s remains.

Statues of angels stand guard in front of the chapel

In the official statement from Boston College, Jack Dunn says, “In jointly filing the petition, Boston College supports the decision to establish a permanent resting place at St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, which Cardinal O’Connell founded in 1941. The University believes that this resting place, at an Archdiocesan site, is respectful of the late Cardinal and his heirs, faithful to our Catholic heritage and best in accordance with his wishes.”

In the months since the filing of the petition, however, several of O’Connell’s surviving family members have come forward in protest of the relocation. Twenty-two family members signed a court filing objecting to the proposition, describing it as “irreparable damage to the mortal remains of the cardinal.”

Richard Iannella, the Suffolk County register of probate, recently told the Boston Globe, “I don’t recall ever seeing this type of case before…It’s not that often that somebody comes in and asks to exhume a body.” The Probate Court usually sees cases of divorce, adoption, and wills.

The family member at the forefront of the debate is O’Connell’s grandnephew, Edward W. Kirk, a Cape Cod lawyer, who is representing the family in court. “Here you have a man whose connection to both of those institutions is intimate and intricate, and yet here those two parties are suing his family for his removal. It is very strange and it’s most unfortunate that it had to come to this.” Kirk said in a phone interview to the Boston Globe, referring the Archdiocese and Boston College, from where O’Connell is an alumnus.

Altar in chapel where Cardinal O'Connel is buried

The O’Connell family’s filing outlines the Cardinal’s history with the Archdiocese and the university. He was instrumental in the development of the Brighton land. Since the Archdiocese no longer owns that land, Kirk argues, it has no right to try to relocate O’Connell’s body. He also claims that no one has no right to move the body because it has been properly buried.

The probate court scheduled the hearing on the case for February, but Kirk plans to attempt to move the case to land court for real estate issues. Jack Dunn, University spokesman, has simply said, “We await the court’s ruling in anticipation that the decision of the Cardinal Archbishop and the Archdiocese of Boston, supported by Boston College, will be upheld by the Probate Court.”

The Observer will continue to release information on this topic as it develops. For additional coverage, please see the September 22nd issue on our website.

A speaker tackles the challenges consumerism presents during the discussion.

The Church in the 21st Century Center and the Boston College Women’s Resource Center  presented the seminar Unwrapping Faith for Our Children:  Helping the Young Challenge  Consumerism.  The discussion  focused on the detrimental impact that our consumer culture  has had on the development of  children and strove to define the  true meaning of the holiday season.

Questioning the material  excess that is seen during the  holiday season was the major  premise of the night.  Dr. Juliet  Schor, professor of sociology  at Boston College, started the  night off with a commentary on  the question of material excess  at Christmastime: “There has  been a pretty rapid acceleration  in the commercialization and  targeting of children,” she said.   “And according to polling that  has been done by the Center for  the New American Dream, the  vast majority of people feel that  the holidays have become far  too commercialized, and have  lost the original spirit.”

Of the small group in attendance, most of the people were  mothers, therefore the perspective of mothers was examined.   It looked at the particular strain  that mothers are prone to during the holiday season as a result  of too much concern over material presents and decorations.   “Being parents and mothers, especially given the daily barrage  from the media on how much  we are spending, commercialism does affect us,” Schor explained.

Dr. Mary Doyle Roach, from  the College of the Holy Cross,  contended that, “Childhood itself is being marketed to us…we  believe that the presents that we  give to our children are somehow reflective of our own social  status.”  Those in attendance  nodded in agreement to this  statement.  Schor mentioned  that even in those families that  put price limits on the amount  of money to be spent, it has still  been reported that the pressure to spend in excess is high –  something that takes away from  the true meaning of the season  of giving.

From an economic standpoint, the strain that our consumer culture exudes is no  less, either.  For example, polling shows that high numbers  of families purchase expensive  presents around the holiday season just because that is the perceived norm.   “There are  a significant  number of people who go into  debt in order to  finance the holiday season,”  Schor said,  “even though so  much of what  we are giving  are things that  we do not actually need.”   Such financial  burdens could  be averted if  the pressure of  our consumer  culture and the  emphasis on  showing affection through  material goods  were lessened.

Consumer  culture and  its effects on  children were  talked about in  a more dramatic manner, but  not to anyone’s  surprise.  Schor  compared our  commercial culture to sugar, in  its addictive and detrimental nature: “The more oriented to consumer culture that our children  are, the more likely it is that they  will suffer from depression, a  lack of self-esteem and fighting  with parents.”  Roach added,  “our consumer culture has lost  the sense of children as gifts of  God…children have now become  mere objects to be cultivated.”

So, the conclusion was  reached that the more media  that children are exposed to, the  more likely those children are to  become consumers themselves  – not a shocking revelation in  the least.  As for the solution in  combating these trends, that received resistance.

According to Schor, “the  best strategy is to control the  environment that our children  grow up in…as much as we can  limit children’s exposure to  such media as television and the  computer, the more we will be  able to curb their consumer desires and habits at an early age,  before they can develop them.”

Of course, no one doubted  the truth inherent in this statement.  Countless studies have  proven that there is a direct correlation between higher media  exposure and greater consumer  tendencies.  However, asking  to rid ourselves of the media  in general just seemed far too  extreme.  To do so would be to  deny the positive effects that the  media does have on our culture.  Roach provided a more  down-to-earth perspective,  speaking about both the fleeting  pleasure and disappointment  associated with materialism and  our consumer culture.  She said,  “Gifts have become something  that we deserve, that we need…  and we have to challenge this  traditional sense of gift-giving.”  Translation: We need to  move back towards viewing the  holiday season as a time of reconnecting with our loved ones,  not as a time of stress due to the  pressures of a consumer culture.

For years reality television has  provided networks with cheap programming. Expensive actors and  flashy sets are replaced by Hollywood  wannabees who will do anything for  their own fifteen minutes of fame.  Reality TV might be a fun way to occupy your Sunday afternoon but are  the growing obscenities surrounding it becoming too much to handle?

To find the origins of modern day  reality TV one needs to look no further  than The Real World. MTV started the  show in 1992 as a way to branch out from  music videos. The show was a great  success but like most shows, things got  repetitive as time went on. MTV looked  to up the ante with The Real World’s  content and things started to get ugly.

The format of The Real World has  not changed much since its 1992 debut but its content has gotten out of  hand. The police have been involved  almost every season and The Real  World: San Diego is better known  for the rape investigation than any other thing that happened in the  house. Is this really the “real world”?

VH1 has had several incidences  where reality TV has gone too far. Its celebrity version of The Real World – The  Surreal Life – is responsible for many  of these infractions.  Season four’s cast  included Verne Troyer, aka Mini-me,  who made TV headlines when he was  shown on camera urinating against  a wall while naked, riding around on  his mobile scooter. While this seems  like it could contend for worst reality moment of all time, Troyer was  hardly even the worst cast member.

Flavor Flav, another cast member of The Surreal Life, is responsible  for much of the degrading quality of   one man to accomplish alone. After  a much-publicized relationship with  Brigette Nielsen finally ended, Flavor Flav became the host of Flavor  of Love. The show was a bachelor-  like reality show where Flav hoped  to find himself a new soul mate.

The fact the Flavor of Love had not  one but three seasons speaks for how  successful Flavor Flav was at finding the  girl of his dreams. What was particularly offensive about that show was the  nicknames that Flav insisted upon calling the contestants. Girls with the nick-names “Like Dat,” “Buckwild,” “Toastee,” or “Somethin” are exactly people I  would want to be seen with in public.

VH1 should not bear all of the  blame for the decline of dating shows  on TV. The Bachelor has failed to produce a couple that has actually kept  their engagement (though to be fair, spinoff The Bachelorette has one). The  CW makes whole shows dedicated to stereotypes such as Beauty and the Geek.  These shows barely make an attempt  to show what real dating is actually like and this is not good for America.

In 2005 Fox aired a wildly  controversial show called Who’s Your  Daddy. Contestants in this program  were given $100,000 if they could  correctly identify their biological father, who was standing amongst 24  other potential candidates. Who’s  Your Daddy did very poorly in the ratings and was canceled. This shows  that there is some hope for America.

I am sure there are plenty of  people who enjoy watching people  eat cow brains on Fear Factor or like  to watch spoiled children get their  dues on Nanny 911. Reality television is not necessarily a bad thing.  It is when it is taken to such an extreme that when Mini-me urinates  against a wall is not even all that outlandish that something needs to stop.

Even expenses such as Christmas trees can make wallets feel light during Christmastime.

As we enter the upcoming  weeks of frenzied shopping and  holiday spending, mixed signals  make it difficult for anyone to  predict the future economy.  Unemployment hit an all time high  of 10.2 percent in October, yet the  stock market seems to be continuing its upward trend.  The statistics could indicate a further delve  into recession, or the beginning of  a long awaited economic recovery.   Which brings us to the important  question: what does this mean for  Christmas shopping?

A Gallup poll in early November revealed that Americans  plan to spend approximately the  same amount on holiday shopping as last year: $638 on average.   Although the numbers remain  the same, demographics have  changed.  Young adults generally plan to increase spending on  Christmas gifts this year, while  middle-age adults plan to cut back  on spending.  Adults over the age  of 55 are planning to maintain  spending.

While some may be alarmed  to learn that most Americans  plan to match one of the worst  years for retail spending during  the holidays, most experts agree  that the devastating 3.4 percent  drop in spending last year will not  be repeated.  Years when Americans predicted that their spending would equal or exceed that  of the year before were typically  followed by strong growth in sales  during November and December.  It was only those years when  Americans estimated lower expenditures than the year before  that usually resulted in minimal  or nonexistent growth.

Therefore, because those  polled in November predicted  that they would generally maintain their spending levels from  last year, it is not likely to see the  same kind of devastating drop in  sales as in 2008.  Whether this  means that sales will grow or simply remain stagnant is yet to be  determined, however.  According  to CNN.com, “analysts are generally calling for retail sales to either fall no more than 1 percent  or rise no more than 2.4 percent  during the November-December  period.”  Exact predictions cannot  be made.

Black Friday, one of the  biggest days of shopping during  Christmas season, saw an 8.6 percent decrease in average spending from last year.  Consumers  typically spent $106 daily over  the weekend – down from $116  last year.

The decrease in spending  could be a result of a general decision to spend less on presents this  Christmas, or could be connected  with an overall change in what is  considered “normal” spending.    Many argue that the past year  has cultivated a redefinition of  “normal” spending to be a more  frugal one.  It is also possible that  consumers simply plan to spread  out their holiday spending during  the weeks leading up to Christmas, rather than knocking out the  entire Christmas to-do list in just  one day.  Time will only tell, as  statistics continue to roll in during the remaining weeks in December.

Keeping the uncertain future  of the economy in mind, here are  several tips for budgeting during  the Christmas season:  • Decide on a concrete  dollar amount you want to allocate for spending, and stick to it.

• Use cash rather than  credit cards.
• Be discerning when creating a list of those to purchase  gifts for; try to limit presents to  one per person.
• Consult craft stores and  magazines for ideas as to making  presents rather than purchasing them.  Added bonus?  You appear  thoughtful and devoted while saving money.
• Shop online at sites like  Overstock.com or Amazon for  bargains.

Reggie Jackson led the Eagles with 18-9, and got it done in crunch time. He dunks on a helpless Cane, Ronnie Jackson with 0:20 to go.

It was a nerve-racking afternoon in Conte Forum, which ultimately ended joyously as the Eagles knocked off the Miami Hurricanes, 61-60. The Eagles were led by Reggie Jackson and Corey Raji. The duo combined for 35 electrifying points. Jackson demonstrated the pizzazz while Raji displayed his usual grit.

The Eagles seemed to have great control over the game midway through the second half. Their lead grew to sixteen with 12:07 left. Jackson and Raji were the only Eagles in double figures. Sanders was sidelined with a bummed ankle, Joe Trapani was sub-par due to the flu, and Josh Southern struggled. Biko Paris’ was underwhelming as well.

Raji’s grit was rewarded again. He was constantly around the glass, fighting for position and diving for loose balls. He put up an impressive 17-9. His hot play has kept the Eagles afloat with Sanders sidelined and Trapani ill. He recorded many unflashy points but his effort and production were impressive.

While Raji was the tough grinder, Jackson was his usual self. He danced around with his tongue out, his pants sagging and his headband barely resting on his dome. All that show led to another good game for the sophomore though. His explosiveness was on display against Miami. He dropped 18 points and brought down 9 boards. His leaping ability was truly extraordinary.

The last two minutes of the first half were the Reggie Jackson show. He almost touched the new banners hanging from Conte’s rafters while hauling in a rebound. His dunk with under a minute to go in the game that was called a charge was mind-boggling. He epitomized the phrase “jumping out of the gym” on that play.

While those two shined, it was not as rosy for the rest of Al’s boys. Trapani only contributed five points, but one must realize he was a game-time decision due to an influenza diagnosis. It is reasonable to give him a pass, but one must come down harder on some of the other strugglers.

Southern only contributed 6-7. He missed multiple opportunities for easy, close points. He also dropped many passes, which led to turnovers. Cortney Dunn played pretty well, however, off the bench. He added two very impressive blocks. His defense has been promising, and he should see more time as the season progresses.

Biko Paris added seven assists, but seemed inadequate compared to Jackson. It will be interesting to see how Al works his rotation when the whole squad is back and healthy. I would advocate for a lineup of Jackson, Sanders, Raji, Trapani and Southern, but my gut tells me that Al will choose otherwise. He picked Biko to start the year and he is usually a man of great faith. It will be hard for Skinner to reserve Jackson though if he continues to shine in the prime time.

The Eagles made things far more uneasy than they had to be, but a win is a win. They brought home their first conference win. This was as big of a win that you can have in December. It is the type of game that BC must win to get into the tournament. BC will probably have to win 10 ACC games and today was a good start. They must especially win their home conference games.

Harvard comes over next and then they will take on A-10 power University of Rhode Island. They do not have another conference game until January 9th when they travel down to Clemson. The game against Miami was a good start, but they must focus on these non-conference games ahead. While they cannot help a ton, they can certainly hurt.

Tattoos can either be a meaningful piece of art to mark one’s  body or they can be the product  of a long, regrettable night in  the city. These marks have long  been considered to be only for  those on the fringe of society,  but as society has increasingly  accepted this as a legitimate art  form, the tattoo has increased  in popularity and frequency especially among college students.

Even the Boston College administration has not decided to avoid  this obvious phenomenon, sending out an email to the student  body before the school year began giving some advice for those  potentially “thinking of ink.” The  email naturally discouraged students from acquiring “ink,” listing all the negative effects that  could be posed by getting a tattoo.

Some of the potential negative side effects listed included  discrimination in the workplace  and the potential for infections.  Despite these warnings, one  should not be completely deterred from expressing themselves in the form of tattoo. But  my first piece of advice is that  you should probably be in a proper state of mind when you make  the decision to get a tattoo.

Not  to sound like a broken record of  your parents, but this is pretty  much a permanent choice you  are making. Either you will live  with your tattoo for the rest of  your life, or you will live with the  scar from the removal. That removal, P.S., often costs ten times  more than getting the tattoo.  This is a pretty important decision  and the potential negative effects  are definitely there.

Discrimination does, in fact, occur in the  workplace and there is a chance  for a tattoo to become infected.  But a simple cure for both of  these problems that could result  from a tattoo is the use of plain,  old fashioned common sense.  For instance, if you decide, soberly or not, to get a tattoo,  maybe the full face Mike Tyson- like tattoo or the tear drops are  not the best choice. This might  put you at a disadvantage during the hiring process.

A place  that is not commonly seen, unlike the face, would be a good  place for a tattoo. Also, check  out the tattoo parlor before the  day you actually get the tattoo.  This prevents you from making  a poor choice in a state of inhibition. Just look around and that  in itself may be an indicator of  whether this is the best place to  have an open, exposed wound  being prodded by a needle.

The choice of a tattoo is the most  important part of the process.  This is the stage that makes the  difference between the trashy  “tramp stamp” and a meaningful  piece of art that is an expression  of yourself as a person.  Maybe  look at some pictures on the internet or look at the examples  provided by the parlor. Pick  something meaningful to you  and that will be meaningful for a  while to come. For instance, the  name of a boyfriend or girlfriend  has universally been decided  upon as a bad choice for a tattoo.

Getting a tattoo is an important  personal choice, but you should  seriously weigh all the potential  positive and negative side effects before you make this major decision. A tattoo can either  be a wonderful thing or it can  be a horrible memory of a foolish night. So think of this before  you walk into the tattoo parlor: do you really want “Notre  Dame Sucks” printed on your  chest for the rest of your life?