Issuu

INSIDE

INDEX

THIS ISSUE

NEWS...........A2 ARTS...........A8 METRO........A4 OPINIONS.....A10 MAGAZINE....A6 SPORTS.........A12

www.bcheights.com

Monday, January 31, 2022

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

OPINIONS

MAGAZINE

Columnist Sophie Carter argues that the Democratic Party is poised to lose in the 2022 midterm elections.

The Magazine section offers some tips on how to make attainable New Year’s Resolutions and stick to them.

A11

Remembering STM Professor Francine Cardman By Amy Palmer Assoc. News Editor

Francine Cardman, an associate professor at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (STM) and scholar of early Christianity and feminist theology, died on Jan. 21 at the age of 74. “She’s left the impact that lots of great teachers and scholars do,” said Catherine Mooney, an associate professor of church history at the STM and long-term friend of Cardman. “She’s influenced scholarship in her field in terms of early Christian women and in terms of ethics and social justice, and also just personally, she’s impacted … people.” Cardman began her career at BC in 2008 when the University’s Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry merged with the Weston Jesuit School of Theology—where she

had been teaching since 1979—to form what is now the STM. Rev. Thomas Massaro, S.J., a professor of moral theology at Fordham University and former professor and dean at the STM, said Cardman was his professor when he was a student at Weston. “She was an absolute expert on that large body of literature about the early centuries of the church, including doctrines, church history, organization of the church, [and] how we develop bishops and popes,” Massaro said. In addition to learning from Cardman as a student, Massaro worked alongside her when he began teaching at Weston in 1997 and later at the STM. Massaro said Cardman embodied everything that a colleague should be. “[She was] easy to get along with, easy to talk to—that’s the core of collegiality—and I have to say, whip-smart, just super intelligent,” he said.

According to Massaro, Cardman brought a personal approach to her teaching. “I’m sure that her students will remember her kind of personal approach to theology,” he said. “It wasn’t just abstract. … She would add a personal touch of anecdotes of colorful stories.” Massaro said Cardman was also a great partner to the Jesuits. “I just think that they all came away knowing her well, respecting her, and feeling respected by her, and that applies across the board,” Massaro said. Cardman was an independent thinker, according to Mooney, with a deep understanding of the gospel and a strong sense of justice. In particular, Cardman had a deep knowledge of women’s roles in the early church— roles often made invisible, Mooney said.

See Cardman, A3

Arts

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOSTON COLLEGE

Metro

‘The Mad Ones’ Confronts Loss All Newton Employees

Are Vaccine Compliant

By Katherine Canniff Arts Editor Josie Mcneill Assoc. Arts Editor

Madison Baker laid her notebook down on the table. The front and back covers are enveloped by a homemade collage that she pieced together, and its pages are stuffed with notes about The Mad Ones, the musical that occupied the intimate Bonn Studio Theater from Jan. 27 to 30. Opening the notebook at its centerfold, Baker, director of The Mad Ones and MCAS ’22, revealed that the lined pages are enshrouded by splashes of dark colors pierced by vibrant blues. Beside these harsh contrasts of light and dark, ordinary images of roads and highways appear sinister. The notebook contains Baker’s creative inspiration for the musical and represents the process of getting the show from the page to the stage, a process which began in March 2021. The Boston College theatre department reserves the position of director of its winter production for senior theatre majors, who apply for

By Ashley Emanuel Heights Staff

VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS EDITOR

the position and submit a proposal for the show they want to put on. Baker said that she has been anticipating the opportunity to direct a production since starting at BC. “I was just so moved by the piece,” Baker said. “And I thought that it was such an important story to tell, but [it] still describes stress and anxiety and fear and vulnerability in a way that I had never seen before or articulated before.” After the department accepted her application in the spring, Baker met with the show’s ensemble of student

designers: scenic designer Lily Telegdy, Lynch ’23, costume designer Franny Giangiulio, MCAS ’23, and lighting designers Jun Choi, MCAS ’23, and Sophia Lombardo, MCAS ’23. The group brainstormed the show’s visual themes, which Baker’s eclectic collage embodies. The Mad Ones is the first student-directed musical that the BC theatre department has produced, although it has produced student-directed plays in the past.

See ‘The Mad Ones,’ A8

As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to challenge the City of Newton, Newton municipal employees recently reached a 100 percent compliance rate with the city’s employee vaccination policy, according to Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s Jan. 21 newsletter. Newton required all of the city’s employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 14 unless they have received an exemption, according to the city’s vaccination policy. There are a total of 884 permanent municipal employees of Newton, according to Fuller’s newsletter. Of those, 790 employees are currently fully vaccinated, according to the newsletter, and 43 employees have pending requests for an exemption or are currently in the process of being vaccinated against COVID-19. The newsletter reported that 51 employees have already been approved for

exemptions. Two non-union employees are no longer employed with the city after refusing to comply with this requirement, Fuller wrote. Four employees resigned or retired because of the vaccination policy, according to the newsletter. “Once the pending employees come into full compliance, we expect that 95% of our City employees will be vaccinated, thus matching the extraordinarily high vaccination rate of our residents,” Fuller wrote. Achieving the high compliance rate was done in coordination with many individuals and departments, particularly within unions. “Over the past several months, our teams in Health and Human Services, Human Resources and the City Solicitor’s Department joined with all our City department staff to answer the questions of our employees and our City union leaders,” Fuller wrote.

See Vaccination, A5