The Boston College
Chronicle
march 13, 2008-vol. 16 no. 13
Lee Pellegrini
Islamic Studies Major
Will Make Debut This Fall
By Sean Smith
Chronicle Editor
Kathleen Best, ’10, left, and Maureen Lonergan, ’08, dine with Employee Development Program Consultant for
Ignatian Spirituality John P. Murray, SJ, at St. Mary’s Hall as part of the “Lunch with a Jesuit” series.
The Pleasure of Their Company
‘Lunch with a Jesuit’ series a hit with Boston College undergraduates
By Kathleen Sullivan
Staff Writer
On a chilly, blustery latewinter Friday, a warm cup of
fish chowder and the promise
of thoughtful conversation were
waiting at St. Mary’s Hall for
Anne Lambert, ’10, and Melissa
Verrilli, ’11, participants in the
Ignatian Society’s popular “Lunch
with a Jesuit” program.
During the lunch, Lambert
and Verrilli talked with Alumni
Spiritual Programs Chaplain William McInnes, SJ, ’44, MA ’51,
about how students of his era differ from today’s undergraduates.
Fr. McInnes noted that, unlike
students who nowadays spend
a semester or a year abroad, he
and his peers rarely traveled during their college years. When he
joined the Society of Jesus, he was
able to go on assignments to farflung places as India and China.
“Fr. McInnes said that some
of the best things and experiences in his life occurred when he
least expected it and when it was
not planned,” said Lambert afterwards. “He stressed to Melissa
and me to always have an open
mind, and be prepared because
the best opportunities in life are
those that are not planned for or
foreseen.”
Fr. McInnes felt similarly enlightened by the luncheon. “I
really enjoyed their company.
There’s 50 years between us, and
I like to learn about what their
lives are like and to hear straight
from the students. It helps me to
be a better teacher.”
Held several times during
the course of the academic year,
Lunch with a Jesuit brings together a Boston College Jesuit
priest and a group of up to four
students from the Ignatian Society for a casual, midday meal.
“The goal of the program is
Continued on page 4
Tommaney to Manage
BC Emergency Team
By Jack Dunn
Director of Public Affairs
John Tommaney, a senior
manager with the Massachusetts
Emergency Management Agency
(MEMA) whose background includes 15 years in local, state and
national emergency management,
has been named the director of
emergency management and preparedness at Boston College.
Tommaney will lead an Emergency Management Team that has
been preparing the University for
emergency situations for the past
five years, most recently under the
direction of Executive Vice President Patrick Keating.
The team, which consists of
representatives from BC Police,
Facilities Services, Operations,
Information Technology, Public
Affairs, Residential Life, Environmental Health & Safety and
the offices of the President and
INSIDE:
Provost, among others, has created the foundation for a program
Keating says will benefit from the
leadership of a director with extensive experience in the field.
“We have organized the appropriate administrators, created an
emergency preparedness Web site,
purchased an emergency notification system, and are in the process of constructing an Emergency
Operations Center and finalizing
a comprehensive Emergency and
Recovery Plan,” said Keating.
“With John Tommaney, we will
have an expert who will not only
build upon the important work
that has been done thus far, but
will guide us in the future, all for
the sake of a well prepared and
secure University community.”
Keating touted Tommaney’s
expertise in all aspects of emergency management, including
preparedness, response, recovery
and business continuity.
McCoy to give inaugural lecture
as Fitzgibbons chair (page 3)
Boston College will introduce
a new major this fall in Islamic
Civilization and Societies, an interdisciplinary program its organizers
say will acquaint students with “a
diversity of cultures, languages and
political systems in several critically
important areas of the world.”
The ICS major will combine
faculty and resources of the departments of History, Political Science,
Theology, Fine Arts, and Slavic
and Eastern Languages and Literatures. Students will receive an
“intellectually rich, rigorous and
coherent introduction” to the study
of the Islamic world, including the
Middle East, North Africa, and
parts of South, Central and East
Asia, as well as Muslim minorities
in the United States and Europe.
“The new major will enhance
the breadth and diversity of our
undergraduate curriculum and will
help foster a deeper understanding
of the Middle East as well as other
areas where Islam is the majority
religion or has a significant presence,” said College of Arts and
Sciences Dean Patrick Maney, who
will chair the ICS academic advisory board.
Political Science faculty members Prof. Ali Banuazizi and Adj.
Assoc. Prof. Kathleen Bailey will
serve as director and associate director, respectively, of the major.
While Middle Eastern and Islamic studies programs have become increasingly common in
American higher education, the
ICS major at BC carries two marks
Continued on page 5
University Promotes 12
University President William P. Leahy, SJ, has announced the
promotions of 12 faculty members. Promoted to full professor are:
Pierluigi Balduzzi (CSOM), Katherine Lemon (CSOM), Jeffrey Pontiff (CSOM), Jeffrey Cohen (CSOM) and Laura Tanner (English).
The following faculty members have been promoted to associate
professor with tenure: Benjamin Howard (Mathematics), Matteo Iacoviello (Economics), Tao Li (Mathematics), Gregory Kalscheur, SJ
(Law), G. Michael Barnett (LSOE) and Guerda Nicholas (LSOE).
In addition, Catherine Cornille (Theology) was given tenured
status.
—Office of Public Affairs
University to Test Emergency
Notification System Today
John Tommaney
“John Tommaney clearly distinguished himself from a talented
pool of applicants,” said Keating. “He brings great experience,
know-how and management skills
to this new position, the importance of which has been underscored by recent natural disasters,
and the tragic events on college
campuses this past year.”
Working as MEMA’s response
and recovery branch chief since
2004, Tommaney has been responsible for developing and imContinued on page 3
Boston College’s Emergency
Management Team will conduct
the first test of its emergency notification system this afternoon,
March 13, as part of its ongoing
effort to make the BC community
as safe and prepared as possible for
crisis situations.
The test will take place at approximately 2 p.m., and will be
sent as a text message to the cell
phones of the more than 14,000
students, faculty and staff who
submitted their numbers over the
past year.
To ensure campus-wide awareness of the test, the Emergency
Management Team sent e-mails
yesterday to all members of the
University community. It has also
posted notifications on the BCInfo and BC/Prepared Web sites.
In response to Hurricane Katrina and the tragedies at Virginia
Tech and other institutions, Boston College and most colleges and
BC hosts Catholic schoolchildren
for “Stand Up, Speak Out” (page 4)
universities purchased emergency
notification systems to provide
instant communication in the
event of a natural disaster or oncampus emergency.
Boston College contracted
with 3n (National Notification
Network), which offers text messaging, voice and e-mail capability, to supplement the University’s
traditional notification vehicles
such as internal e- mail and Web
site postings.
BC emergency management
administrators cautioned, however, that nationally the success rates
of these emergency notification
systems have hovered between 40
and 80 percent, with all colleges
and universities facing complaints
of undelivered or delayed calls. In
light of these problems, they said,
the BC community should anticipate wrinkles in the University’s
system.
Continued on page 3
Tuned in on a radio
pioneer’s journal (page 5)
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
march 13, 2008
AROUND
CAMPUS
Real money, real success
The machinations of Wall
Street are on the minds of the
nearly 100 undergraduates who
file into the Merkert Chemistry
Center auditorium every Monday
evening, ready to evaluate stocks
and their place in the BC Investment Club’s portfolio, which after
25 years of student stewardship
has grown to $360,000 in value.
And those are real dollars – not
make-believe earnings from some
computerized simulation. It’s the
real risk and reward that students
say make the club an exciting,
educational and resume-enhancing extracurricular activity.
“The fact that it is real money
been attributed in no small part to
the genteel guidance of club advisor Assoc. Prof. Harold Petersen
(Economics).
“For the most part, I sit and
listen,” says Petersen, who has advised the club since its formation.
“If they ask, I respond. If they’re
way off the mark, I might interject. But I don’t tell them what
to buy or not to buy. We learn
from our mistakes as well as our
successes.”
A typical club meeting features
presentations about economic
news and market performance
during the past week. Students
make presentations in an effort to
convince their classmates to buy
BC Investment Club President Scott Atha,’08, with Assoc. Prof. Harold Petersen
(Economics), the club’s faculty advisor. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
changes things,” said Scott Atha
’08, the club’s president. “If this
was a game, you could invest in
higher risk stocks. With real money, you’d like to not lose money.
It’s a great learning experience and
it sparked my interest in finance
and investing.”
Since its inception, the club’s
portfolio has done well – outperforming the Standard & Poor’s
500 benchmark for market performance.
Atha, a finance major in the
Carroll School of Management,
said the club’s structure and reputation have served many graduates
well as they interview for jobs.
This summer, Atha himself will
join Lehman Brothers.
But the club president says
the primary goal is to educate its
members, in particular introducing underclassmen and women
to issues they may not have seen
yet in their economics or finance
classes.
That the club’s holdings –
which are technically part of BC’s
endowment – have grown from a
$15,000 stake, raised from alumni
by club founder Bill Doty, has
or sell a particular stock. Following a presentation, students have
a day to cast their votes online.
When the decision is made, Petersen administers the trade.
Club members also manage
phantom portfolios on a stock
trading program for additional
experience. Many students invest
independently as well.
The club’s portfolio consists
of equity stocks bought for longterm investment. General Electric,
Exxon, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Regis Corp. are
among the blue chip investments.
The purchase of Regis, parent
of the Supercuts franchise, grew
out of one student’s experience.
“Someone had gotten a haircut
and thought they were onto something,” muses Petersen.
That kind of decision-making
represents the investment philosophies advocated by BC alum Peter
Lynch, of Fidelity Investments,
and investor Warren Buffet, Peterson says.
“The club tries to follow their
advice and buy something we
know about,” Petersen says.
—EH
Senior Lect. Bob Radin (CSOM) interviewing former Standard & Poor’s President and current University
Trustee Kathleen Corbet, ’82, during a recent session of “The Manager’s Studio.” (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Studio time
The chief executives of some
of America’s leading companies
are making time in their busy
schedules to take a seat on stage
in Fulton Hall, next to Senior
Lect. Bob Radin (CSOM), so he
can calmly question them about
their careers and then turn them
over to an hour-long talk with
students and professors as part of
a series known as “The Manager’s
Studio.”
If the format and name sound
familiar, they’re supposed to.
Modeled after the Bravo network’s “Inside the Actors Studio,” Radin’s quarterly Q & A
with America’s corporate chiefs
is intended to give Boston College students a chance to look
beyond the balance sheet and into
the day-to-day decision-making
– usually professional, sometimes
personal – of executives.
The guests of the Manager’s
Studio have included Michael
Costello, ’71, managing partner for
Boston of the worldwide accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers;
Joe Tucci, the CEO of EMC
Corp; James J. Mongan, CEO of
Partners Healthcare; Cleve Killingsworth, president and CEO of
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mas-
sachusetts; and Kathleen Corbet,
’82, former president of Standard
& Poor’s, to name a few.
Just as the quirky James Lipton
pares away the movie star trappings as he questions his guests
about the craft of acting, Radin strives similarly to explore
the practice of managing – be it
a Fortune 500 company or one
slightly smaller.
“The media looks at executives
based on the bottom line, stock
prices and financials – which is
fine,” said Radin. “But if you
want to look at where the job of
being a CEO gets interesting, it’s
the managing of people. Running
a company is more about your
people than it is about the numbers and the analysts’ reports.”
As a former executive in the
mutual funds industry for 15
years, Radin knows of what he
and his guests speak. He thinks his
background provides a comfort
level for his guests. “I’m not trying to embarrass anyone or make
them feel uncomfortable.”
During the most recent Manager’s Studio, Corbet was at ease
as she traversed topics ranging
from the technicalities of bond
rating to finding a work-life balance as a married mother of two
Benefit of their experience
The Boston College Association of Retired Faculty isn’t just
a social organization — they’re out to serve the University community, and beyond.
Formed in 2002, BCARF and its members already provide
assistance, as marshals and hosts at Commencement and advising undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences.
But a recent membership survey found the desire for even
more volunteerism, such as tutoring, offering assessments of
faculty papers and grant applications, reading or reviewing
faculty papers and student dissertation, or mentoring younger
faculty.
The BCARF invites any individuals, departments or administrators interested in exploring potential roles for retired
faculty to contact Richard Mackey at (781)329-5787 or mackeyer@comcast.net.
—SS
heading a company employing
8,500 employees in 23 countries
and markets.
“No one wants to hear a prepared speech – we all want to
get to know the person behind
the podium,” says Corbet, who is
also a BC trustee. “What makes
her tick? What motivates him?
What lessons have they learned?
The listener learns more from the
Manager’s Studio-type dialogue
than in any pre-prepared speech.”
—EH
The Boston College
Chronicle
Director of Public Affairs
Jack Dunn
Deputy Director of
Public AFFAIRS
Patricia Delaney
Editor
Sean Smith
Contributing Staff
Melissa Beecher
Ed Hayward
Reid Oslin
Rosanne Pellegrini
Kathleen Sullivan
Eileen Woodward
Photographers
Gary Gilbert
Lee Pellegrini
The Boston College Chronicle
(USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published
biweekly from September to May by
Boston College, with editorial offices
at the Office of Public Affairs, 14
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Electronic editions of the Boston
College Chronicle are available via
the World Wide Web at http://
www.bc.edu/chronicle.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
march 13, 2008
By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer
As the first Fitzgibbons Professor
of Philosophy at Boston College,
Marina Berzins McCoy is ready,
willing and eager to take on the mission outlined in her new academic
title.
The Albert J. Fitzgibbons Chair
was established for a BC faculty
member to engage contemporary
philosophical and ethical issues facing modern society, and McCoy
will go right to that point in her
inaugural lecture, “Caring, Vulnerability and Community” on March
27 at 4 p.m. in the Murray Room
of the Yawkey Center.
“It’s going to be a ‘big picture’
kind of talk,” she said. “Rather than
focus on any one philosopher, I
will try to look at the bigger picture
– what types of human vulnerability
have been overlooked in political
philosophy?
“At their best, I think that philosophy ideas, whether they are ancient ideas like those of Plato or Augustine or Aquinas or new thinkers,
try to see how they can help us to
live today. My perspective has partly
been bringing ancient issues to bear
on contemporary issues.”
McCoy joined the Boston College faculty in 1999 when she was
hired as an adjunct to teach in the
Perspectives program. She has been
a full-time faculty member since
2003. Her fields of academic interest include Plato, feminist philosophy and the philosophy of love and
Lee Pellegrini
McCoy In New Role as Fitzgibbons Chair Tommaney Appointed
Marina McCoy
friendship.
During the 2005-06 academic
year, she was named a recipient of a
Research Incentives Grant from the
College of Arts and Sciences.
McCoy is a 1990 graduate of
Earlham College in Indiana and
holds a doctorate in philosophy
from Boston University. She is currently teaching a graduate course,
Platonic on the Rhetoric of Sophists
and Philosophers, which is also the
subject of her most recent book,
published in 2007.
The Fitzgibbons Chair was established by 1967 graduate Albert
J. “Trey” Fitzgibbons III through
a gift made to the University’s Ever
to Excel Campaign. A partner at
the New York firm Stonington
Partners, a private investment firm
focused on corporate acquisitions,
Fitzgibbons has been an active and
long-time volunteer at BC.
Fitzgibbons says that when he
was a teenager making his college
plans, his late father steered him
toward Jesuit higher education. “He
insisted on a Jesuit school primarily
for the philosophy education. He
said ‘You can learn a trade later in
life, but the most important things
you can benefit from in college are
ethics and logic.’
“I think everyone who goes to
Boston College – if not every Jesuit
institution – has to ‘suffer’ through
that same experience,” said Fitzgibbons. “But I think that, in perspective, it is the one thing that
really does stick with you for your
entire life. My father was absolutely
right.”
Fitzgibbons says there is a constant stream of questions challenging modern society – issues such as
the right to life, the death penalty
and bioethics. “With all of the questions that are arising today, it is so
important to take the time to sit
down and at least parse through
the questions and hopefully, offer some answers and perspective.
That’s what I asked BC to do with
the chair — let’s focus on ethical
questions of today.”
Says McCoy, “I want to say how
delighted and honored I am to be
the first holder of the Fitzgibbons
Chair in Philosophy. The generosity of donors like Mr. Fitzgibbons
shows what a special place Boston
College is, not only in terms of its
academic scholarship, but also as a
community.”
Mukasey to Speak at Law Commencement
United States Attorney General
Michael Mukasey will be the featured speaker at this year’s Boston
College Law School Commencement, which will be held on May
23 on Newton Campus.
Mukasey, who was nominated
by President Bush as US attorney
general last fall, served from 1988
to 2006 as justice and later chief
judge at the US District Court
for the Southern District of New
York.
He also has worked as an assistant US attorney in New York
and as an associate and member of
the firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb
& Tyler.
“It is a singular honor for Boston College to have the attorney
general of the United States as our
commencement speaker,” said BC
Law Dean John Garvey. “Michael
Mukasey has had an unusually distinguished career. Before becoming attorney general he served the
United States as chief judge of the
most important district court in the
nation. He practiced law for 20
years in the US Attorney’s Office
and in one of New York City’s premier firms. He is the recipient of
the Federal Bar Council’s Learned
Hand Medal.”
A native of the Bronx, NY,
Mukasey graduated from Columbia College and Yale Law School,
where he was on the board of
editors of the Yale Law Journal.
During his service as an ADA from
1972-76 in New York, he also was
United States Attorney General
Michael Mukasey.
chief of his district’s Official Corruption Unit.
After 11 years at Patterson,
Belknap, Webb & Tyler, in 1988
Mukasey was appointed to the US
District Court for the Southern
District of New York by President
Ronald Reagan. Among the many
cases he presided over during his
18 years on the bench was the
trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman
and 11 co-defendants charged with
conspiring to blow up numerous
sites in New York. Mukasey was
widely praised for his efforts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
to restore normal operations at the
federal courthouse, located just
blocks from the site of the World
Trade Center.
Upon his retirement from the
bench, Mukasey returned to Pat-
terson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, in
the firm’s litigation group.
In addition to the Learned
Hand Medal, his honors include
the William Tendy Award from
the Fiske Association, awards from
the Seymour Association, the Respect for Law Alliance, and the Ari
Halberstam Award from the Jewish
Children’s Museum. He also received an honorary degree from the
Brooklyn Law School.
Mukasey’s professional and civic
activities have included service as
a director of the William Nelson
Cromwell Foundation and as a director of the Jewish Children’s Museum. He has also been a lecturer in
law at the Columbia Law School,
chairman of the Committee on
Public Access to Information and
Proceedings of the New York State
Bar Association, and a member of
the Automation and Technology
Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
One notable change to this year’s
Commencement is that there will
be no awarding of the Founder’s
Medal, BC Law’s highest honor.
Garvey said that, as a result of a
change in policy, the school will
“not routinely confer Founder’s
medals at graduation,” a decision
he said had been under consideration for some time.
Details on the Law School
Commencement will be available
through the Law School Web site,
www.bc.edu/schools/law/.
—Office of Public Affairs
Continued from page 1
plementing Massachusetts’ Mitigation, Recovery and Logistics Support Plans, as well as reviewing
and implementing the Commonwealth’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. He has also
provided technical assistance and
recommendations to the governor
and the secretary of Public Safety
during and after local and statewide emergencies.
“I am excited about coming to
Boston College, which has clearly
demonstrated its commitment
to ensuring a prepared university
community,” said Tommaney.
“Given my experience, I think I
can bring the BC community together to help prepare for, respond
to and manage an emergency, and
to lead the recovery effort.
“The goal of emergency management is for people to be prepared, knowledgeable and educated on the issues, without it
interfering with their day-to-day
functions. The key to a successful emergency management program is good communications and
strong coordination. It is about
providing the program capability
for the University to run seamlessly
when the situation is not optimum. I look forward to meeting
that challenge.”
A graduate of St. Anselm College, Tommaney began his career
in emergency management as deputy director of the Office of Emergency Management in Woodcliff
Lake, NJ, in 1992. He has had
extensive training in the National Incident Management System
(NIMS), Incident Command System (ICS), Hazardous Materials
Operations and Homeland Security. He has also served as a volunteer
fire fighter for the past 21 years,
most recently in his hometown of
Southborough, Mass.
Emergency Test Today
Continued from page 1
It was hoped that today’s test
would represent an improvement
on the low delivery rates that have
thus far been the norm, administrators said.
“The reality is that in the wake
of the Virginia Tech tragedy, emergency notification vendors jumped
at the opportunity to provide a
service that they were not prepared
to deliver,” said Vice President for
Information Technology Marian
Moore.
“In some cases, emergency messages have gone undelivered because
the recipients are in an area where
the cell signal is weak or because
they have a prepaid cell plan,” she
said.
“In other cases, we suspect that
the messages go undelivered because
telecommunications companies
view large volumes of text messages
coming from Internet companies
as spam and will either drop the
messages or in some cases deliver
them hours later. Collectively, colleges and universities are hoping
that their continued pressure on
the cell phone companies will force
them to solve this problem.”
Instant text messaging is one
of many communications vehicles
the University plans to deploy
in the event of an actual campus
emergency. In addition, the Emergency Management Team will
utilize campus-wide e-mails, postings on the BCInfo (www.bc.edu/
bcinfo) and BC/Prepared (www.
bc.edu/prepared) Web sites and a
newly established Verizon 1-800
emergency information line that
can be accessed by calling 1-888BOS-COLL. The University is also
considering adding a public address
system on campus.
“Over the past year, the Emergency Management Team has
worked hard to implement a notification system that will deliver emergency information to members of
the BC community as quickly and
accurately as possible,” said Executive Vice President Patrick Keating,
who has overseen the University’s
emergency preparedness effort for
the past four years.
“While no system is perfect, we
believe that our notification vehicles
and the experienced leadership that
we will soon gain when our recently
hired Director of Emergency Management and Preparedness John
Tommaney comes on board later
this month [see separate story], will
enable us to be in the best possible
position to respond effectively to an
emergency situation.”
—Jack Dunn
BusinessWeek Survey Ranks
Carroll School at No. 14
The Carroll School of Management ranks 14th in the recent BusinessWeek survey of the nation’s top undergraduate business programs.
BusinessWeek determined the rankings by polling more than 80,000
graduating seniors at more than 125 schools, as well as 618 corporate
recruiters for companies that hire thousands of business majors each
year. CSOM received an “A plus” in job placement and teaching
quality; the school summary read “Real-world lessons, helpful careerservices staff, and active alumni network give BC the edge.”
The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School finished first in
the survey, followed by the University of Virginia McIntire School and
the University of Notre Dame Mendoza School. Others in the top 20
included MIT (9), University of California-Berkeley (11), University
of North Carolina (12), University of Southern California (17) and
Georgetown University (19).
The report is available at bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/undergrad_bschool.
—Office of Public Affairs
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
march 13, 2008
Taxes and Team-Building: BC Helps Out
University hosts
Catholic school
leadership event
Lee Pellegrini
CSOM volunteers
try to make dreaded
task a little easier
By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer
By Melissa Beecher
Staff Writer
Accounting students from the
Carroll School of Management
are lending their time and newly
learned skills to dozens of people
in both the Boston College community and in neighboring towns
as Americans face what is often
the most dreaded task of the year:
filing income tax returns.
For the past 10 years, Lect. Edward Taylor of CSOM’s Accounting Department has organized,
trained and supervised teams of
student volunteers to assist people
needing help filling out the often
complex and confusing Internal
Revenue Service Form 1040 between now and the April 15 filing
deadline.
The tax preparation advice is
available to BC Dining Service
employees, senior citizens in the
Brighton-Allston neighborhood
through the auspices of the Veronica B. Smith Multi-Service
Center, and Cambridge residents
through that city’s East End
House community center.
While noting that it is a helpful
service for tax filers, Taylor insists that the benefits are two-fold.
“It’s a great experience for the
students,” he says. “They actually
become young tax advisors, and
they are really making a difference
for people.”
Taylor recruits accounting students from his classes and figures
that about 10 will come forward
to help this tax season. “I have
actual tax software that we put on
the students’ computers,” Taylor
explains. “It’s professional soft-
Boston College last week hosted
dozens of middle-schoolers at the
first leadership conference of The
Boston College Center for Catholic
Education and Assumption College’s National Catholic Center for
Student Aspirations.
Nearly 120 students from 23
Catholic schools in the Greater Boston area attended “Stand Up, Speak
Out” at Lyons Hall on March 7.
Throughout the day students participated in team building exercises
that helped establish leadership skills
while principals, parents and teachers took part in workshops.
More than a dozen Boston College students volunteered at the
Carroll School of Management student Ted Allister, ’09, gives tax advice to Dining
Services employee E.E. Cho. The CSOM students also are offering assistance to
Brighton and Cambridge residents.
ware, so we never have to do
returns by hand anymore. That
really helps with the mathematical
accuracy of the process.
“We have someone sit down
with every person, and the students get to a point where they
will know what to ask, what to
look for,” he says. “They quickly
become familiar with certain deductions or credits that people are
entitled to. It’s a great service.”
Ted Allister, ’09, is looking
forward to his first year working
with the tax assistance program.
“There are two important reasons
why I am involved,” says Allister,
an Honors Program student from
Rhode Island. “Helping out in
the BC community like this is the
best way for me to give something
back. It’s a method of service
that is unique to a management
student.
“I also get hands-on experience,” Allister says. “I worked
at an accounting firm this past
summer, and you really didn’t get
to do too much in a job like that
because you don’t have any experience. This is a great way to get
some experience in the field.”
For the past four years, the BC
volunteers have assisted Dining
Service employees who seek help
filing their returns.
“The students have been just
fabulous,” says Beth Burns, human resources manager for BCDS,
who helps arrange the tax service
sessions for employees in her division. “We have never had a complaint from anyone who has used
the student assistance. Ed Taylor
has always been there to help if
there is a more difficult question or situation with someone’s
return.”
Burns sees an added dividend
to the tax assistance program. “It
has helped to form relationships
between the staff members and
the students involved,” she says.
“These partnerships are great. It
really builds a bond. I really try to
promote the whole program.”
Jesuits, Students Forge Connection
Continued from page 1
to create and enhance bonds between BC students and the Jesuit
community by fostering encounters in a different setting than the
classroom,” said Campus Ministry
Director James Erps, SJ, the moderator of the Ignatian Society.
The Ignatian Society is a student organization dedicated to
helping the student body grow in
its understanding of the principles
and values of Ignatian spirituality.
All Boston College undergraduates
who graduated from a Jesuit high
school are automatically enrolled
in the society, whose membership
now exceeds 700.
The Lunch with a Jesuit program has been offered for the last
couple of years, said Fr. Erps, but
this year, when the group turned
to technology — a Web site and
e-mail — to get the word out, participation increased. Every lunch
slot has been filled, said Fr. Erps,
who hopes to add more lunches
later this spring.
“The feedback has been very
positive. The Jesuits really enjoy
it and the students get to meet a
Jesuit they didn’t know before,”
said Fr. Erps.
Sophomore Chris Rakovec
joined Jesuit Community Rector
Paul Harman, SJ, ’61, MA ’62,
for lunch in January. Given his
plans to study abroad next year,
Rakovec said it was interesting to
hear about Fr. Harman’s experiences teaching in Baghdad and
having to learn Arabic.
Rakovec, who graduated from
St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, said Jesuit education is so
important to him that he applied
to only Jesuit colleges and universities. “I like the foundation
in the humanities,” he said of Jesuit schooling, “and how faith and
service work together. At a place
like BC, the students and faculty
know it’s important to ask the big
questions.”
Fr. Harman, who attended
Fairfield Prep as a young student,
said “interaction with the Jesuits
made a big difference in my life”
and felt participating in the lunch
program would enable him to do
a similar turn for the next generation of students.
Added Fr. McInnes, “Things
can be so impersonal now with
computers and cell phones. I’m
afraid we are losing the art of the
personal interaction. I think these
lunches are a great way to address
that.”
Lambert, an alumna of Loyola
Academy high school outside of
Chicago, said she didn’t hesitate
to take advantage of the invitation
to meet a Jesuit. “A huge part of
the reason I chose to come to BC
was because it is Jesuit. I have a
lot of friends at other schools and
none of them have been offered
this kind of one-on-one personal
interaction.”
“There are phenomenal priests
here,” said Lambert, who hopes to
stay in touch with Fr. McInnes.
Adds Rakovec, “If you haven’t
had a Jesuit professor yet, [the
lunch program] is a great introduction to the Jesuit community.”
values of the Christian mission,”
said James. “We are fostering connections between the schools and
building partnerships between faculty and students.”
NCCSA Director Kristin Melley
began the research-based workshops
at Assumption College in Worcester. The activities promote leadership through eight conditions that
affect children’s hopes and dreams,
such as a sense of belonging, confidence and responsibility. Similar
workshops have been planned for
students in New York and Philadelphia after the success of the Massachusetts programs.
“I told my students to take advantage of this opportunity to meet
new people,” said Eric Mendoza,
who teaches at St. Columbkille
School in Brighton. “This is a rare
opportunity for students to interact
with other student-leaders from the
area.”
Maura Bradley, principal of Rox-
Boston area Catholic middle school students Regan Judge (left) and Megan Rogers take part in a team-building exercise at the “Stand Up, Speak Out” event held
at BC March 7. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
conference, leading teams and participating in discussions.
Center for Catholic Education
Executive Director Michael James
said the event, in addition to encouraging tomorrow’s leaders, introduced local children to the Catholic
community at BC.
“The strength of Catholic
schools is built upon shared core
bury’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Mission Grammar School, said the
collaborations with local Catholic
leaders are invaluable.
“This is an opportunity for students to see the greater Catholic
community,” said Bradley. “It is a
wonderful opportunity for us all to
come together.”
Fr. Sobrino to Speak on the
Future of the Catholic University
Rev. Jon Sobrino, SJ, an active and controversial figure in El Salvadoran
social politics for decades, will present a talk at 4:30 p.m. today in Robsham Theater, “The Catholic University in the 21st Century.”
The lecture is sponsored by the Latin American Studies Program in
collaboration with the Provost’s Planning Committee on Catholic Intellectual Traditions (CIT), a faculty-coordinated initiative exploring Boston
College’s Jesuit and Catholic mission.
Fr. Sobrino’s support and advocacy for liberation theology have made
him a figure of controversy, and last year drew a formal rebuke from the
Vatican.
A native of Spain, Fr. Sobrino was first assigned to El Salvador in 1958,
the year after he joined the Society of Jesus. A co-founder of the University of Central America (UCA), he became embroiled in the country’s
civil war and joined other Jesuits — including Archbishop Oscar Romero,
later assassinated by government forces — in condemning the Salvadoran
government’s treatment of the poor. Fr. Sobrino escaped death in 1989,
when Salvadoran troops raided UCA and killed six priests, their housekeeper and her daughter.
Prof. Robert Goizeuta (Theology) will serve as moderator for the event,
with Murray and Monti Professor of Economics Peter Ireland and Assoc.
Prof. M. Shawn Copeland (Theology) as respondents.
For more information, call ext.2-3260 or e-mail courtney.luongo@
bc.edu.
—Office of Public Affairs
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
march 13, 2008
Travels In Search of One World
BC’s Keith adding
another chapter to
story of pioneer’s
memorable journey
By Sean Smith
Chronicle Editor
It was more than a trip around
the globe. It was a voyage through
a world on the cusp between cataclysm and hope, anticipating a time
of peace but fated to endure yet
more upheaval.
In June of 1946, legendary CBS
radio writer, director and broadcaster Norman Corwin began a
four-month, 37,000-mile odyssey
through countries in Europe, the
Far East and the Pacific rebuilding
from World War II, which had
ended less than a year ago. In the
days and weeks to follow, Corwin
would act as a kind of sounding
board and post-traumatic stress
counselor, speaking with prominent personalities — including British prime minister Clement Atlee,
French wartime poet Louis Aragon
and Russian composer Aram Khachaturian — as well as ordinary
citizens about their views on the
prospects for a sustaining peace in
the aftermath of war.
The product of Corwin’s labor
was the critically acclaimed 13-part
series “One World Flight” (named
for the “One World Award” Corwin had received that year, established in memory of former presidential candidate Wendell Willkie)
that aired over CBS from January
to June 1947.
But as Adj. Assoc. Prof. Michael
Keith (Communication) — a longtime friend of Corwin, an East Boston native — was to find out, there
was more to the story.
In addition to the material he
produced for “One World Flight,”
Corwin kept a journal during his
four months of travel, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse of his work
as well as insights about the people
and places he encountered. Once he
had completed the series and took
on other assignments, however, he
set aside this travelogue and, in
Adj. Assoc. Prof. Michael Keith (Communication) with Norman Corwin.
time, forgot about it.
onset of the Cold War — people
But when Keith asked him last wanted to believe that they could
year if he’d ever kept a personal rebuild their societies and look foraccount of “One World Flight,” ward to a lasting peace. But how
Corwin — now almost 98 and firm were their beliefs? That’s what
writer-in-residence at the University Corwin wanted to find out.”
of Southern California — recalled
Corwin found hope for bethis journal. Corwin located the doc- ter times, but tempered by, among
ument and sent it to Keith, along other things, concern over rising
with his permission to prepare it for nationalism in many parts of the
publication. Keith is
world. The view exnow editing the man“The message in ‘One pressed by Norweuscript for a two-part
gian Foreign Minister
article in the Journal World Flight’ is a non- Halvard Lange, Keith
of Radio and Audio partisan one, delivered at says, mirrored CorMedia and hopes to
win’s own: “...Even
turn it into a book a time of relatively little though we may have
as well. partisanship — one that disastrous setbacks
Keith says there
from time to time, we
unfortunately did not must never give up
are any number of
reasons
Corwin’s
faith in the possibility
last long.”
unpublished work
of reaching interna—Michael Keith tional understanding.
makes for compelling reading. “Great
Old habits and tradiwriting is timeless, and Norman tions cannot be changed in a few
Corwin is a great writer, period,” months, even in a few years — and
says Keith of Corwin, whose credits this is a new world, transforming
include a series on the Bill of Rights, itself before our eyes. We shall cer“We Hold These Truths,” “This Is tainly need all optimism we can
War!” and numerous radio dramas manage, and I’m optimistic.”
starring such luminaries as Orson
Paris, in particular, presented
Welles, Charles Laughton, Ruth Corwin with a fascinating variety of
Gordon, Groucho Marx and Elsa life stories and commentaries, Keith
Lanchester; he also was the subject notes: a young Zionist who had
of an Oscar-winning documentary, fought with Yugoslav partisans and
“A Note of Triumph: The Golden a Polish girl who literally escaped
Age of Norman Corwin.”
from the Germans on her way to
“The context in which he kept the gas chamber. In Warsaw, Corthis journal is important, too. This win visited the ruined ghetto where
was just after World War II and thousands of Jews were killed, or
before the Korean conflict and the else languished until their internment in concentration camps. “This
was not the work of aerial bombs or
night raids,” Corwin wrote. “This
was the fascism that the Poles got
gone to Iraq, nor does it concern
to know so much of — with all its
when and how we should get
cowardice and its sadism.”
out,” said Prof. Alan Wolfe (PoSays Keith, “Much of what Norlitical Science), director of the
man saw and heard then resonates
Boisi Center, who will moderate
with him today: the dangers of ramthe event. “Instead it asks the
pant nationalism, the human cost
question of whether we owe the
of military conflict, limits on free
Iraqis anything because of our
speech and expression, for example.
role in their country, and, if so,
The message in ‘One World Flight’
then what.”
is a non-partisan one, delivered at a
Panelists also will discuss
time of relatively little partisanship
what continued American action
— one that unfortunately did not
and withdrawal could mean for
last long.
Iraq, what moral responsibilities
“This journal affirms that mescoincide with those actions and
sage in a way I think people will
what the invasions has meant in
find compelling, reasonable and
terms of change for the Middle
moving. We are fortunate not only
East, said Wolfe.
to have these words, but to still have
For more information, conthe man who wrote them.”
tact Susan Richard, ext. 2-1860
The Web site www.normancoror richarsh@bc.edu.
win.com has extensive information
—Melissa Beecher
on Corwin’s life and works.
Forum to Address Iraq War
As the fifth anniversary of
American military action in Iraq
approaches, the Boisi Center for
Religion and American Public
Life will host a panel discussion
to answer the question: “What
Do American Citizens Owe the
Iraqis?”
The event, which takes place
on March 18 at 5 p.m. in Cushing 001, will feature Adj. Assoc.
Prof. Paul McNellis, SJ (Philosophy); Andrew Bacevich, a
professor of history and international relations at Boston University; and Rev. J. Bryan Hehir,
secretary of social services for
the Archdiocese of Boston and a
faculty member at the Harvard
University Kennedy School.
“This panel discussion is not
about whether we should have
Islamic Studies Major
Continued from page 1
of distinction, say its organizers:
First, the major reflects the University’s commitment as a Jesuit,
Catholic institution, to “a sustained
interfaith dialogue” with other religion traditions.
In addition, the ICS major will
utilize and build on BC’s strengths
in the humanities and social sciences, as well as the existing major in
international studies and the minor
in Jewish studies. The establishment
of the major also comes at a time
when Arabic is the fastest-growing
language of study among BC undergraduates.
Maney, Banuazizi and Bailey
note that the success of BC’s A&S
minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies — which will also
take on the Islamic Civilization and
Societies title — effectively laid the
groundwork for the cross-disciplinary collaboration characteristic of an
intellectually challenging academic
program.
“It’s very important for a Jesuit-Catholic institution to have the
willingness to engage other faiths
and theologies, and BC has continually demonstrated that enthusiasm,” said Banuazizi, citing the
University’s Jewish Studies Program
as an example. “BC also has sought
to internationalize its curriculum,
and so this is another step in that
direction.”
Banuazizi and Bailey add that
the range of faculty expertise is a
considerable asset for the major.
Other ICS advisory board members are: Sheila Blair and Jonathan
Bloom, co-holders of the Calderwood Professorship in Islamic and
Asian Art; History faculty members Assoc. Prof. Benjamin Braude
and Asst. Prof. Dana Sajdi; Assoc.
Prof. David Deese, Assoc. Nasser
Behnegar and Prof. Peter Skerry
of Political Science; Prof. Dwayne
Carpenter (Romance Languages
and Literatures); Prof. James Morris
(Theology); and Asst. Prof. Franck
Salameh (Slavic and Eastern Languages and Literatures).
“We believe that this major offers a diversity that is rare among
programs of a similar nature,” said
Bailey. “Ours has added breadth
and depth: It goes beyond Middle
Eastern countries, and it’s not just
a languages and literatures focus.
Students will be immersed in politics, history, culture and theology
— and our hope is that this will
make for a broader, integrated view
of Islam.”
BC also will continue strengthening its programs abroad to provide
further educational, research and
study opportunities for students and
faculty, said Bailey and Banuazizi. A
summer study course in Kuwait will
debut this year — which had 50 applicants for 20 available slots — and
the University is pursuing partnerships with institutions in Istanbul
and Cairo.
“We’re happy to be working
with [Office of International Programs Director] Bernd Widdig on
these and other initiatives,” said
Banuazizi. “There are some exciting
possibilities ahead.”
Information on the new major is
available at www.bc.edu/schools/cas/
meis/.
A sampling of courses included in the Islamic Civilization and Societies
major that will debut this fall:
Jerusalem
Instructor: Jonathan Bloom
Jerusalem, a unique city, holy to and contested by the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. To understand the conflicting claims, this interdisciplinary seminar will explore the history and changing
perception of the city over three thousand years not only through scripture
and written sources but also through the study of physical remains, including
archaeology, architecture, and art, and how representations of Jerusalem in art
and cartography have changed over the centuries. Politics and Society in Central Eurasia
Instructor: Kathleen Bailey
This course explores political systems and contemporary society in Central Eurasia and devotes special attention to ethnic relations among the various peoples
of the region. Greater Central Asia constitutes the western part of Inner Asia,
stretching from the Caspian Sea to Xinjiang Province in China, from Chechnya in the north to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the south. It belongs culturally to the Islamic world. The region has been impacted by the imperial policies
of the Soviet Union and China, by the rise of nationalism, and by religious
radicalism, terrorism and war. Reform strategies and models will be discussed.
France and the Muslim World
Instructor: Jonathan Laurence
For over two centuries, the French Republic (and Empire) has had a complex
and occasionally tormented relationship with the Muslim world. The exchange of ideas, politics — and, eventually, populations — has permanently
transformed all parties involved. Sometimes serving as a beacon of freedom
and enlightenment, at other times the French relationship with its Mediterranean neighbors has been fraught with tensions.
Islamic Political Philosophy
Instructor: Nasser Behnegar
What is the relationship between philosophy and Islam? Does the divine law
(Shari’a) need to be supplemented with purely rational reflections on the nature and purpose of political life? What is the place of toleration and individual rights in the Islamic legal and philosophic tradition? The class will explore
these and similar questions by focusing on two particularly fertile periods of
Islamic thought — the encounter of Islam with Greek philosophy in the classical period and its encounter with modern secular West in late modernity.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
march 13, 2008
March 18 symposium looks at law,
religion and politics
The Law School will host a symposium,
“Electing Faith: The Intersection of
Law and Religion in Politics Around the
World,” on March 18 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
featuring a panel of international and
domestic scholars who will discuss how
law and religion have an impact on the
politics of their countries.
For information, see www.bc.edu/
bc_org/avp/law/st_org/lrp/symposium.
html.
Former Jesuit Krivak
to present memoir
Former Jesuit Andrew Krivak will read
from his new memoir A Long Retreat: In
Search of a Religious Life on March 18
at 7:30 p.m. in Gasson 305.
Krivak’s book recounts his journey
through eight years of contemporary
religious life as a Jesuit, and his meditation on the search for God and the self.
Krivak will discuss the transition from
the solitude of the spiritual life to the
solitude of the writer’s life, and how the
Catholic imagination persists in both.
For information, call ext.2-6343 of email soyerd@bc.edu.
Panel to assess bishops’ statement
The Church in the 21st Century Center
will sponsor a panel discussion March
25 on the US Bishops’ Conference
election-year statement, “Forming
Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A
Call to Political Responsibility from the
Catholic Bishops of the United States.”
Assoc. Prof. Gregory Kalscheur, SJ
(Law), will serve as moderator for the
event, which takes place at 4:30 p.m. in
Cushing 001.
For updates and additional information,
see www.bc.edu/church21/, call ext.20470 or e-mail nayla.raffol@bc.edu.
Police auction is March 29
The Boston College Police Department will hold its annual auction of
abandoned property on March 29 in the
Walsh Hall Function Room.
A preview of the items will take place
at 8:30 a.m., and the auction will begin
at 9 a.m.
Sales are cash only, and proceeds will
be donated to the Medford Early Education Program for Special Needs Children.
BC Biologist and Team Speed Up DNA Analysis
By Ed Hayward
Staff Writer
File photo by Suzanne Camarata
Postings
It took a global corps of scientists approximately $2.7 billion
and 13 years to identify the more
than 35,000 genes of the human genome. Five years later, in
Higgins Hall, Asst. Prof. Gabor
Marth (Biology) has developed
software that can analyze half a
million DNA sequences in 10
minutes.
The Marth laboratory’s proprietary PyroBayes software is
one of just four computer programs able to accurately process
the mountains of genome data
flowing from the latest generation
of gene de-coding machines that
have placed a premium on computational speed and accuracy in
data-crunching fields known as lab’s PyroBayes software, which
bioinformatics and high-through- examines data from the latest generation of de-coding machines
put biology.
“We’re on the edge of a real faster and with far greater accutechnological revolution that I racy than other programs.
A second article, written in colthink will help us understand the
laboration with
genetic causes of diseases in humans and “We’re on the edge of a real colleagues from
the Washinghow genetic materitechnological revolution ton University
als determine traits
in animals,” says that I think will help us un- School of Medicine, reported
Marth. “It is going
three
to lead to less ex- derstand the genetic causes that
pensive technologies of diseases in humans and other computer programs
that will allow researchers to de-code how genetic materials deter- developed by
any individual.”
mine traits in animals.” the Marth lab
made it posThe advances of
—Gabor Marth (above) sible to quickly
the Marth lab were
and accurately
revealed in two arexamine the
ticles published by
the professor and his assistants whole genome of a laboratory
recently in Nature Methods, the worm and identify key differences
premier journal of scientific re- between the sample strain and an
earlier strain – a comparative prosearch methodology.
In an article co-authored by cess known as re-sequencing, now
Marth, post-doctoral researcher being applied to the genomes of
Chip Stewart, and graduate stu- humans and other organisms.
Advances are driving re-sedents Aaron Quinlan and Mike
Strömberg, the group unveiled the quencing costs down, but re-
searchers must still prove the effectiveness of new technology by
working with smaller organisms,
which made the worm study critical, Marth says. “This brings us
closer to a major milestone in
human individual re-sequencing
– the decoding of the genome of
human beings in routine fashion,”
says Marth.
Of the few computer programs
that are available for the new se-
quencing machines, the software
package developed by the Marth
lab is the only one capable of
working with a variety of decoding machines and offers greater
accuracy, allowing researchers to
separate true genetic variations
from data errors, Marth says.
As a member of its analysis
group, the Marth lab participates
in the data analysis of the 1000
Genomes Project, which was
launched last month. The goal
of the project is to sequence the
genomes of at least 1,000 people
from around the world to create
the most detailed and medically
useful picture to date of human
genetic variation.
Ultimately, advances in bioinformatics will help push genetic
science forward, shedding new
light on human health and disease. Marth sees his lab’s role in
providing critical software tools
that allow researchers to organize
data, interpret them, and visualize
genome variations.
“We are excited to develop the
software that will help these superfast, high-throughput sequencing
machines to realize their potential to produce data for research,”
Marth says.
WELCOME ADDITIONS
•Asst. Prof. Hao Jiang (Computer Science)
PhD, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Research Interests: Computer vision with the focus on object detection,
tracking and recognition, multimedia, graphics and artificial intelligence.
Courses: Computer Science I, Principles of Multimedia Systems
A native of Harbin, China, Jiang received bachelor and master’s
degrees from Harbin Engineering University in China and a PhD from
Simon Fraser University in Canada. His research focuses on enabling
computers to pick out objects in complex settings within seconds, specifically gesture or action detection. Jiang was an associate researcher at
Microsoft Research Asia beginning in 1999 and completed his postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia in 2006.
•Asst. Prof. David Olson (Law)
Research Interests: Patent, intellectual property and antitrust law.
Courses: Intellectual Property Survey, Patent Law
Before joining Boston College, Olson was a resident fellow at the
Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University Law School. He
also worked for five years at Kirkland & Ellis in New York and San
Francisco, where he specialized in intellectual property, trademark and
patent law. His current research project is “Towards a First Amendment Grounding for Copyright Misuse; Patentable Subject Matter: The
Problem of the Absent Gatekeeper.”
•Asst. Prof. Vlad Perju (Law)
Research interests: European legal thought, comparative constitutional
law, constitutional theory, jurisprudence, social and political philosophy.
Courses: European Union Law, Constitutional Law II, European Union
Moot Court Team
While a Harvard Law student, Perju taught a workshop on global
constitutionalism as a Byse Fellow, was a research fellow for the Project
on Justice, Welfare and Economics and a graduate fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. He also established the Law Teaching
Colloquium and co-coordinated the Graduate Forum in Comparative
Constitutional Law. His publications include “The Puzzling Parameters
of the Foreign Law Debate” in the Utah Law Review; “Comparative
Constitutionalism and the Making of A New World Order” in Constellations; and “Review of Toward Juristocracy: The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism, by Ran Hirschel” in Modern
Law Review.
Provost and Dean of Faculties Cutberto Garza (right) and Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Sheilah Shaw Horton chat
with College of the Holy Cross President Michael C. McFarland, SJ, during a reception March 8 in Gasson 100 welcoming participants in the Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators annual spring conference. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
—Melissa Beecher
“Welcome Additions,” an occasional feature, profiles new faculty members at Boston College.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
march 13, 2008
PEOPLE
Newsmakers
•Boston College students’ participation in the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge during
spring break in was covered by
several media outlets, including
the Spartanburg Herald Journal
and the Charleston Post and Courier in South Carolina, the Huntington, WV, Herald-Dispatch,
and television stations WSAZ and
WOWK.
•Center for Irish Programs Executive Director Thomas Hachey
was interviewed by USA Today
regarding the debate over holding
St. Patrick’s Day parades during
Holy Week.
•Cleary Professor of Finance Edward Kane discussed with Reuters
a recent meeting of the world’s
top bankers on the credit crisis.
•Weston Observatory Director
Prof. John Ebel (Geology and
Geophysics) offered his expertise
on the probability and ramifications of an earthquake in the Boston area to the Boston Phoenix.
•Boisi Center for Religion and
American Public Life Director
Prof. Alan Wolfe (Political Science) was interviewed on WGBHTV’s “Greater Boston” about the
recent Pew survey on religion in
America.
•Boston Globe “City Weekly” profiled Boston College doctoral student Michael Cermak, who is
writing his thesis on the connection between environmental justice and hip-hop, and putting the
topic to use as he assists teachers
at the Urban Science Academy in
West Roxbury and New Mission
High School in Roxbury.
•Kearns Professor Mary Walsh
was interviewed on the WGBHTV Ch. 2 news magazine “Greater Boston” Thursday evening as
its “Eye on Education” segment
looked at the BC-Boston Public
Schools “Boston Connects” program.
•Adj. Assoc. Prof. Francine Sherman (Law) spoke with the Associated Press about the need for
better oversight of the system
charged with caring for youths in
custody.
Publications
•Prof. Jeffrey Cohen (CSOM)
published “Academic Research on
Communications among External
Auditors, Audit Committees and
Boards: Implications and Recommendations for Practice,” in Current Issues in Auditing.
•The paper “Constructing Emotion: The Experience of Fear as
a Conceptual Act,” by Prof. Lisa
Feldman Barrett (Psychology)
and graduate student Kristen
Lindquist, was accepted for publication in Psychological Science.
•Adj. Assoc Prof. Michael Noone
(Music) published “The Grandeur of Seville” in Early Music.
Grants
•Prof. Randy Easton (Psychology): $950,000 (five-year period),
National Institutes of Health/
Western Michigan University,
“Blind Pedestrians Access to
Complex Intersections.”
Nota Bene
Calderwood Professor of Islamic and Asian Art Sheila Blair and
Prof. James Morris (Theology) were co-recipients of the World Prize
for the Book of the Year award from the Ministry of Culture of the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
Blair, who holds the Calderwood Chair with her husband, Jonathan
Bloom, was honored for her book Islamic Calligraphy, while Morris
earned recognition for his The Reflective Heart: Discovering Spiritual
Intelligence in Ibn “Arabi’s ‘Meccan Illuminations.’”
The BC faculty members were the only representatives of an American university to receive prizes — 10 in all were awarded — in the
international category for Islamic studies. Evaluated books in the field
of Islamic studies include the history of Islam, Qur’anic sciences, philosophy and Gnosticism, contemporary Islam, historiography, knowledge of Shiite sources, political sciences in the world of Islam, women’s
rights, and the history of science and art.
Adj. Assoc. Prof. Michael C. Keith (Communication) has been
selected to receive the 2008 Distinguished Scholar Award from the
Broadcast Education Association. The award, considered the highest
honor a broadcast educator/scholar can receive, recognizes significant
contribution to research and scholarship involving broadcast and
electronic media, as well as extensive publication in books and leading
journals.
Keith has written a series of ground-breaking books which examine
the use of the nation’s airwaves by groups with strong social, political, and revolutionary messages and agendas. He also is the author of
the most widely adopted text on radio in America, The Radio Station,
among other titles.
The 1,300-member BEA is the professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students who are interested
in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia
enterprises.
Colleagues, friends and well-wishers feted Vice President and Special Assistant to the President William B. Neenan,
SJ (right), at a Feb. 27 reception to celebrate the exhibition “The Dean’s List.” Now on display in O’Neill Library, the
exhibition pays tribute to the list of books for recommended reading Fr. Neenan has compiled for 25 years. It includes
many of the books that have appeared on “The Dean’s List” over the years; six of Fr. Neenan’s favorites are highlighted
along with their opening passages. For more information, see www.bc.edu/libraries/about/exhibits/oneill/2008spring/
index.html. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Time and a Half
•Assoc. Prof. David Scanlon
(LSOE) has completed his term
as president of the Special Education Research group of the
American Educational Research
Association. We Buy,” Illahee Lecture Series,
Portland, Ore.; “Advertising and
Ethical Practice,” Wieden + Kennedy Agency, Portland, Ore.; and
“Consumption and Sustainability,” Portland State University.
•Prof. Juliet Schor (Sociology)
presented the following talks:
“The Paradox of Affluence,” Phi
Theta Kappa faculty training
seminar, Jackson, Miss.; “Why
•Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer (Slavic
and Eastern Languages and Literatures) presented “Translating
Jewish-Russian Literature” at Boston University.
Coquillette Completes
Gift to Law Library
Monan Professor of Law Daniel
R. Coquillette recently completed
an ambitious two-part gift of rare
books by and about Sir Francis
Bacon to the Boston College Law
Library.
The collection of approximately
80 titles is one of the largest collections of Bacon’s works and Baconiana (works about Bacon) in private
hands.
“Dan Coquillette has formed a
remarkable collection,” said Karen
Beck, the library’s curator of rare
books. “It takes time, knowledge,
experience, and careful research to
create such a comprehensive and
important grouping of books. We
are so grateful that he has entrusted
them to us.”
The gift encompasses the entire
range of Bacon’s writings, from legal writings to literary essays to histories to scientific and philosophical
works to his letters and speeches.
The works hold potential interest
for scholars in the fields of law, history, philosophy, English, natural
science and political science, according to BC Law administrators.
“The Boston College Law
School continues to benefit from
Professor Coquillette’s generosity,”
said Associate Dean for Library and
Computing Services Filippa Marullo Anzalone. “Having this unique
Francis Bacon collection opens up
intriguing interdisciplinary historical research possibilities for legal
scholars and the entire University
community.”
Coquillette, who served as BC
Law dean from 1985 to 1993, conveyed his gift in two annual installments. Last year’s included multiple
editions of Bacon’s Essays, the Wisdom of the Ancients, the Histories and
16 volumes of law books. Among
the highlights of this year’s gift are
scientific and philosophical works,
including first editions of the Advancement of Learning and the Historie of Life and Death; works about
Bacon, including contemporary accounts of his life and legal battles; all
of the most famous early and modern scholarly editions of Bacon’s
collected works, many in original
bindings; Bacon’s collected works;
and Bacon’s lectures, speeches and
miscellany.
Selections from the Bacon Collection will be on view in the library’s Daniel R. Coquillette Rare
Book Room [www.bc.edu/schools/
law/library/about/rarebook.html].
—Office of Public Affairs
Jobs
The following are among the
most recent positions posted
by the Department of Human
Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.
bc.edau/offices/hr/:
Assistant Director, Practicum Experiences and Teacher Induction,
Lynch School of Education
Reserve Services/Interlibrary
Loan Assistant, O’Neill Library
Senior Systems Programmer, Information Technology
Research Associate,
School Of Nursing
Connell
Associate Director, STM Continuing Education
Assistant or Associate Director,
Annual Giving, Classes, Development
Associate Director, Advancement
Information Systems, Development
Communications
Specialist,
Lynch School of Education
Communications
Specialist,
Connell School Of Nursing
Assistant Director, Learning
Laboratories, Connell School Of
Nursing
Director of Development (parttime), St. Columbkille Partnership School
Assistant Director, Programs &
Events, Development
Griller/Fryer, Dining Services Lower Campus
Training and Communication
Specialist, Information Technology Services
Associate Director, Merchandising, BC Bookstore
Art Director, Office of Marketing Communications
Managing Editor, Center for
Catholic Education
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
march 13, 2008
Nabokov, Russia and
Life After Communism
LOOKING AHEAD
READINGS • LECTURES •
DISCUSSION
March 13
•“The Latin Rock Diaspora,” with
Lect. Roberto Avant-Mier (Communication), noon-1 p.m., Lyons 301.
See www.bc.edu/schools/cas/aads/
events/wipls.html.
•Josephine Von Henneberg Lecture
Series in Italian Art: “Viewing Humility in ‘Caravaggio’s Madonna of
Loreto,’” with Pamela Jones, University of Massachusetts, Boston, 4 p.m.,
Thompson Room, Burns Library.
Call ext. 2-4295, e-mail edward.howland.1@bc.edu.
•“The Catholic University in the 21st
Century,” with Rev. Jon Sobrino,
SJ, University of Central America,
respondents Assoc. Prof. M. Shawn
Copeland (Theology) and Murray
and Monti Professor of Economics
Peter Ireland and moderator Prof.
Roberto Goizueta (Theology), 4:30
p.m., Fulton 511. Call ext.2-3260.
March 14
•Biennial Boston College Conference
on the History of Religion, through
March 15. See www.bc.edu/schools/
cas/history/about/religion_conference.html.
•“Antarctic Snow Megadunes: Enigmatic Keys to its Past Climates and
Geology,” with Don Wise, University
of Massachusetts, Amherst, 4 p.m.,
Devlin 307. See www.bc.edu/schools/
cas/geo/seminars.html.
March 15
•Workshop: “A Diverse Church:
Meeting the Challenge, Celebrating
the Gift,” with Asst. Prof. Nancy
Pineda-Madrid (Theology), 9 a.m.-3
p.m., location TBA, call ext.2-8057,
e-mail lambmb@bc.edu.
March 17
•Lowell Lectures Humanities Series:
“The Strange Death of Romantic
Ireland,” with R.F. Foster, 7:30 p.m.,
Gasson 100. See www.bc.edu/Lowell.
LIGHTING THE WAY
March 18
•Panel discussion: “ Electing Faith:
The Intersection of Law and Religion
in Politics Around the World,” 9
a.m.-5 p.m., Law School East Wing
120. See www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/
law/st_org/lrp/symposium.html.
•PhD Colloquium: “ The Nursing
PhD: Professional Experience,” 4:307:30 p.m., Murray Room, Yawkey
Center. See www.bc.edu/phdcolloquia.
•Panel discussion: “What Do We
Owe the Iraqis?” 5 p.m., Cushing
001. See www.bc.edu/centers/boisi/
publicevents/current_semester/iraq.
html.
•“A Long Retreat,” reading by Andrew Krivak, 7:30 p.m., Gasson 305.
Call ext.2-6343, e-mail soyerd@
bc.edu.
•Fiction reading by Alexandra Chasin, 7:30 p.m., McGuinn Fifth Floor
Lounge.
March 19
•“Hazards and Disasters in New England: Preparing for the Unexpected,”
with Edward Fratto, Northeast States
Emergency Consortium, 7-9 p.m.,
Weston Observatory, 381 Concord
Rd., Weston (program repeats March
26). Reservations required, call ext.28300, e-mail weston.observatory@
bc.edu.
March 24
•“Lectura Dantis: Purgatorio XXVII,”
with Italian Consul Liborio Stellino,
7:30 p.m., Devlin 101. See www.
bc.edu/schools/cas/honors/bcdante.
html.
March 27
•Panel discussion: “Palms, Fish, and
Fountain: The Jewish and Christian
Contexts of the Hammam Lif Synagogue,” 7:30 p.m., Devlin 101. Email artmusm@bc.edu.
UNIVERSITY EVENTS
March 20-24
•Easter break. No classes March 20.
All University offices closed March
21. Classes resume at 4 p.m. March
24.
March 15
•Oscar Romero Memorial Scholarship Banquet, 7 p.m., Murray Room,
Yawkey Athletics Center. Call ext.21996, e-mail reyese@bc.edu before
March 3.
MUSIC • ART • PERFORMANCE
March 13
•Music in the Afternoon Series: John
Muratore, classical guitar, performs
works by Castelnuovo-Tedesco,
Moreno-Torroba, William Walton
and Frederic Hand, 4:15 p.m., Gasson 100. Call ext. 2-6004, e-mail
concerts@bc.edu.
•Film: Baldwin Awards screening, 5
p.m., Devlin 008. See www.bc.edu/
baldwin/.
•Performance: “Wintertime” by
Charles Mee, 7:30 p.m., admission
$10, Bonn Studio, Robsham Theater (through March 15). See www.
bc.edu/offices/robsham/season.html.
March 16
•Faculty recital: Part-time faculty
member Sandra Hebert (Music),
piano, with Kirsi Perttuli, violin, and
Junko Simons, cello, perform works
by Bach, Brahms, Whitman Brown
& Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio. Call
ext. 2-6004, e-mail concerts@bc.edu.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
•“Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from
the Roman Empire,” at the McMullen
Museum of Art, through June 6. •“Boston Through the Eyes of Brehaut,” material from Ellerton J. Brehaut Bostonia
Collection of Boston and Boston history,
Burns Library, through March 30.
•“Reflections of Ireland: Music and
Landscapes,” paintings and drawings
by Richard Toomey, Burns Library,
through March 31.
For more on Boston College events, see
events.bc.edu or check BCInfo [www.
bc.edu/bcinfo] for updates.
BC SCENES
Lee Pellegrini
More than 500 students, families, and friends packed St. Ignatius Church on Feb. 29 to attend “Sending Forth” Mass, held for
undergraduates departing for Appalachia Volunteers community service trips during spring break. Chaplain Donald MacMillan, SJ, presided over the Mass: “We pray that they travel well, that they learn and teach, and that they have the experience
of serving others.” Some 600 undergraduates embarked to 36 sites in seven states, from Pennsylvania to Louisiana, to construct and renovate homes, run soup kitchens, repair public facilities, and provide other services to needy communities.
Nina L. Khrushcheva, whose writings have encompassed literature, politics and international issues — and even a notorious incident involving her
great-grandfather, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev — will present “The
Prophet of Post-Communism: Vladimir Nabokov and Russian Politics” on
March 31 at 4 p.m. in Devlin 101.
An associate professor in the Graduate Program of International Affairs
at the New School, Khrushcheva last year published Imagining Nabokov:
Russia Between Art and Politics, in which she examined parallels between
Nabokov’s transition to American life and contemporary Russia’s own
integration into the globalized world.
Khrushcheva, who also is a senior fellow of the New School’s World
Policy Institute, has written articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street
Journal, The International Herald Tribune and other publications. She is
working on a new book, Russia’s Gulag of the Mind.
In 2000, she wrote an article for New Statesman [www.newstatesman.
com/200010020025] analyzing the much-discussed outburst by her greatgrandfather during a United Nations session 40 years earlier when he
banged his shoe on his desk.
The act, she explained, was partly a matter of happenstance: “In the
excitement of fist banging, his watch fell off. Meanwhile, his shoes, made of
durable Soviet leather in a special shoe atelier for the Soviet nomenclature,
were too new and too tight, and he removed them. He bent down to pick
up the watch and saw his empty shoes. How lucky!”
But Khrushchev also was driven by a desire to make an impression on
the Western world, Khrushcheva added, which saw him as largely a “vaudeville character.”
“I learnt these facts from my family, as the spell of embarrassment was
broken and we were finally ready to talk about the incident. I still think
that, if the banging had not happened, it would have been invented. The
best anecdote is always the one that reflects the morality and character of
certain times. The shoe incident became a potent symbol of the cold war,
probably the only war in which fear and humor peacefully coexisted.”
Khrushcheva’s talk is sponsored by the departments of Slavic and Eastern Languages and Literatures, Communication, Fine Arts, History and
Political Science, the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, and
the Boston College Bookstore. For more information, e-mail shrayerm@
bc.edu.
—Office of Public Affairs
BC Irish Film Series
Begins Tonight with ‘Once’
Boston College’s Irish Film Series will tonight kick off its seventh year
showcasing highly acclaimed feature and documentary films, with screenings
to be held at West Newton Cinema and on
the BC campus.
The series begins with the 7 p.m. showing tonight in West Newton of the highly
acclaimed “Once,” winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song (“Falling
Slowly”), and continues through April 16.
“Irish cultural exports have exploded onto
the world scene in recent years, and young
filmmakers are redefining the notion of
Irishness,” said Irish Studies Program co-director and film series curator Robert Savage,
who cites Irish visual media as a vital part of
Ireland’s complex culture. “The wide variety
of films challenge stereotypes often associ- Louis de Paor will introduce
ated with Ireland.”
the April 16 screening of a
Savage will introduce, and lead a discus- film on poet Sean O’Riordain.
sion on, the first film in this year’s series to be screened at BC, “Get Collins”
on March 26. The film depicts the behind-the-scenes machinations of the
1916-21 Anglo-Irish War, in particular the secret contacts between British
officials and controversial Irish leader Michael Collins.
On April 2, the series will feature the first of three biographical films, “Colman Doyle,” a profile of the celebrated Irish photographer and his return to
West Kerry, site of his earliest work.
Following on April 9 will be “Liam O’Flaherty,” an examination of the
life and times of the author of such works as The Informer, Thy Neighbor’s
Wife, The Ecstacy of Angus and short stories including “The Sniper” and
“Going Into Exile.” The film will be introduced by Prof. Philip O’Leary
(English), a faculty member in the Irish Studies Program.
The series will conclude on April 16 with “Mise: Sean O’Riordain,” a look
at the great Irish poet who remained an intensely private person despite his
popularity. Poet Louis de Paor, of the National University of Ireland, Galway,
will introduce the film and hold a discussion.
All BC screenings take place at 7 p.m. in Higgins 300.
For more information about the series, see www.bc.edu/irishfilm.
—Rosanne Pellegrini