BC's away football games need to be more accessible
There's a rumor going around that Boston College football and its fans are frauds. You hear it around the water cooler, on the message boards, and even in the press. Brent Musburger said as much on national television.
In a town where professional sports reign supreme, he noted that the Eagles and their home game against the Seminoles appeared to be nothing more than a footnote in the Boston Globe, relegated to Section C, Page 8.
Many of us who support BC football actually live in ACC country, however. True, I may not bleed maroon and gold the way my Clemson friends bleed orange and purple, but I have supported the Eagles in Atlanta, Chapel Hill, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Clemson, S.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Winston-Salem, N.C.
One day I hope to make the trek to Blacksburg, Va., for one of those infamous Thursday-night games at Lane Stadium. The Gridiron Club and local alumni groups are fixtures at these away games, but where are the rest of the fans?
Since joining the ACC, how many tickets does BC routinely return to its opponents? Geography is a problem to be sure, but if BC is going to shed its image as a team that travels poorly, it's time the University figures out a way to make traveling to away games convenient and affordable for its students.
And as for those rumors about the football team? Last-minute heroics salvaged a win against Virginia Tech, but there were no heroics left against Florida State or Maryland.
I was raised in Massachusetts but have lived in South Carolina for 14 years. Take it from someone who knows: BC will lose and lose big if it walks into Death Valley and tries to play from behind as it did in these last three games. Memorial Stadium will be filled with 80,000 orange-clad Tiger fans on Saturday night.
I'll be there as well, cheering on the Eagles, looking for some Superfans and hoping the team that won eight straight shows up for the game.
Joann Infante
Rock Hill, S.C.
BC '83
Administration must treat GLBT students 'equally'
The Heights' ongoing discussion of GLBT issues is laudable. However, I find it presumptuous of the editorial board to tell the GLBT community which among the courses of action against homophobia is best to follow.
In recommending conversation and disparaging confrontation ("An ethical knot: gay rights and BC"), you fail to provide your readers with the full context of homophobia at this institution (the true sources of incivility and aggression), and you fail to offer a measure by which the GLBT community should judge conversation's progress.
I agree that conversation should be our common practice (indeed, it is the hallmark of any reputable university), and that moderate discourse is preferable to confrontation, but only when conversation means sincere dialogue, and moderation means mutual respect.
As evidenced by recent GLC events, many students, staff, and faculty are genuinely engaged in conversation enacting these virtues.
However, only when GLBT students are treated equally, only when this administration comes to the table with respect and openness, committed in word and deed to ending homophobia, only then will we truly be in conversation at Boston College.
For now, insofar as the GLBT community remains officially abject, we should proceed with cautious optimism and keep our options open.
Chuck Morris
Department of Communication
Challenge of pre-med program is a 'taste' of what's to come
In the article regarding medical school applications ("Medical school applications become increasingly competitive," Nov.12), it is suggested that the pre-med program "weeds out" students.
As a Boston College graduate and Tufts DMD student, I must say that in reality, the pre-med program at BC is simply giving you a taste of what's to come.
The simple fact is that the jump from undergrad courses, even Organic Chemistry, to the full course load of a medical, dental, or veterinary student is akin to the difference between sixth grade and college. A professional course of study is extremely difficult, time consuming, and leaves barely enough time to shower much less have a social life. Professional students routinely spend their Friday and Saturday nights in the library or other study spaces, grinding away.
I'm not, however, trying to scare anyone away from these professions as they are extremely vital and honorable professions.
The simple fact is that the pre-med program is hard by necessity, not because the pre-med office is trying to pad their application success rates.
If you want to become a doctor, you have to be willing to deal with a lot of frustration and work.
BC's success rates are high because we have a lot of students who are willing to do just that.
Mike Lee
BC '06
Tufts DMD '11
2008 Woodie Awards
