BC's 95 Theses

At the risk of playing to my audience, my final column in The Heights isn't mine.

It's yours.

This was going to be about all the things I wanted changed at Boston College but never got around to writing about. The list would be long. Then, I realized, you don't care what I want. You want what you want.

So instead, I asked friends, classmates, acquaintances, and strangers in the Mods what they wanted to change at BC. Some of the ideas - or theses, in the vein of Martin Luther's demands of the Catholic Church - listed on this page have been mentioned before. Most have not. Many are simple, but they are what comes to mind when BC students want something done.

One thing is certain: few administrators who get paid, or UGBC members who get a sparkling line on their resume, have made the effort to go out and find these concerns. The response I got makes it clear students have plenty of concerns, but I've celebrated as many BC national championships in my four years as the number of times I've had a UGBC elected official or administrator ask me, unprompted, what I'd like to see changed at BC.

But as I paid for $7 beers along with my fellow seniors at the Roxy Friday night, I came upon a revelation: I am 100 days from getting my voice heard.

I don't see a six-figure salary in my near or distant future, but already I'm being asked to contribute to the Senior Class fund. Accounts from recent and distant graduates say the requests won't stop any time soon. With a gazillion dollar campus plan already on this side of the horizon, it's clear BC is going to need my contribution. BC needs me.

I've loved most of my time at BC. I have always planned to donate to BC in the future. But with my newfound power, I've got an ultimatum: I will not donate a cent until the printing policy is changed to an environmentally and cost-conscious per piece of paper system. Reward students for being both environmentally and cost-conscious by squeezing multiple PDFs onto double-sided pieces of paper.

Is this the single most important thing I would like BC to do? No, but I'm going to let the monorail dream die. This is something that is easy to do, is the right thing to do, and is the only way BC's going to get my money.

I encourage every graduating senior to do the same. Whatever issue you pick - condoms in health services, more financial aid - take your stance and stick to it. Imagine what could get done if every senior made an ultimatum of their own.

BC needs to remember not to, as one student pointed out, "insult our intelligence and think we don't care about what goes on at this school."

We care what you do, and how you act, BC. There's a blank check with my signature on it just waiting for you. Now get to work.

1. You already forgive loans for law students who go immediately into pro bono work. Forgive loans for students who participate in Teach For America, Peace Corps, and other organizations that support the Jesuit ideal of "Men and Women for Others."

2. Change the printing policy to count pieces of paper used rather than printed. Don't tell us you're trying to save trees if it actually doesn't matter whether you print double-sided.

3. Add "class diversity" to cultural diversity in the core curriculum. Too many people at this school think pearls, Uggs, and iPods are available to everyone if they just try.

4. A police officer, sumo wrestler, lifeguard, ANYTHING to enforce the 40-minute time limit on cardio machines in the Plex.

5. Rather than plant new tulips each year, BC should develop a more cost- and environmentally friendly landscaping plan. Design some landscaping that will last longer and allow money to be spent more wisely elsewhere. Too often I feel BC is more about image than substance.

6. Allow registered parties to go on longer than Late Night in Lower.

7. Set, and publicize, a reliable bus schedule.

8. Add more year-long classes like many European schools, which allow students to get to know professors better and become much more proficient in the subject.

9. Warn freshmen not to buy BC sheets or make BC sheets remotely comfortable.

10. If BC is going to allow Smart Movers exclusive access to its students, it should play a more active role in enforcing its insurance policy for lost boxes, which rarely gets paid.

11. Have the Office of Community Affairs do more than just please the neighbors: Start with pressuring Campus Convenience to stop its price gouging with $5 gallons of milk.

12. Feel free to charge extra, but put a color printer in the Campus Technology Resource Center.

13. BC should make an effort to supplement its Catholic teaching on sexual health by promoting the safe use of contraception.

14. CSOM should shrink its core and add a few classes on corporate responsibility. There are a few classes that could be replaced with a chance for CSOM students to understand the many ways they can positively impact the world with their skills.

15. Make the process for creating a new club or organization on campus easier: If there are students that want it, why prevent it?

16. There are plenty of pianos on campus for students to use. Let's get a few more drum sets.

17. When it comes to rape education, BC should talk more publicly about it. It's simple: "Enthusiastic consent, every time, no matter what."

18. BC can't wait for the new arts center to provide more space on campus for performing arts groups. If the basketball team has to practice in the Plex once a week so Dance Organization can use the Power Gym to practice, I would hope that's not a huge sacrifice.

19. BC should have more pep rallies like the one before the Notre Dame game - consistency breeds tradition. And every pep rally should have a fog machine, no excuses.

20. Avocados should be a topping choice at Hillside when creating personalized sandwiches.