The Boston College
Chronicle
Undergrad Applications
Pass 30,000 for First Time
By Ed Hayward
Staff Writer
The convergence of demographics, technology and Boston College’s national reputation
combined to catapult applications
for next year’s freshmen class to
an all-time high of more than
30,000, according to admissions
officials.
A population bubble of high
school seniors, online and shared
application procedures, and the
continually expanding reach of the
University’s academic reputation
mean more students than ever
before are competing for the approximately 2,250 spots in the
Class of 2012.
“We will go over 30,000 applications for the first time and
set another record for Boston College,” said John Mahoney, director of the Office of Undergraduate
Admission. “The increase translates into an approximately five
percent growth over last year’s
applications total.”
In all, about 8,000 applicants
will be accepted and roughly 30
percent of those students will matriculate at BC in the fall. The
signs of BC’s success include 6,800
early action applicants who say
the University is one of their top
choices — a 13 percent increase
above last year.
BC has set a new record for
undergraduate applications almost
every year in the past decade, and
consistently ranks among the top
five or 10 private universities nationally for applications received.
The University first passed the
20,000 mark in applications eight
years ago, and exceeded 25,000
(with a total of more than 26,000)
two years ago.
Mahoney and Dean for Enrollment Management Robert Lay
say the prime drivers behind the
growing interest in the campus are
a stellar faculty closely connected
to Jesuit undergraduate education and significant investments
in the university – from improved
laboratories and classrooms to upgraded living spaces and student
programs.
“We have seen a remarkable
rise in Boston College’s academic
reputation,” says Mahoney, supervisor of 40 Admission staffers who
read applications and manage the
Continued on page 3
Arabic Language Interest at
BC Mirrors National Rise
By Sean Smith
Chronicle Editor
Craig Noyes ’08 didn’t think he
could learn another language, having experienced six years of French
instruction he says left him “jaded
and frustrated.”
But when he chose Middle
Eastern and Islamic Studies as his
minor, to go with his major in history, Noyes knew he had to tackle
an even more imposing language:
Arabic.
“I heard horror stories of how
labor intensive it was and how
much time it took to learn Arabic,”
says Noyes, an East Moriches, NY,
native. “At the same time, I knew
that it would help me with what
I wanted to do after graduation,
which is conflict resolution and regional studies. There is such a high
demand for Arabic speakers and an
intense interest in the region.
“Although it certainly wasn’t
my primary reason for taking Arabic, knowing that it would bolster
my resume certainly helped me
jump in.”
Once the class began, Noyes
INSIDE:
found — to his pleasant surprise
— he was more intrigued than
intimidated by the Arabic alphabet.
The workload was “moderately intensive, labor-wise, and a good deal
intellectually intensive, too,” he
says. Most of all, he says, Adj. Asst.
Prof. Franck Salameh (Slavic and
Eastern Languages) helped foster a
sense of camaraderie in the class.
“We all got a thrill out of sharing a new realm of education at BC
together,” says Noyes. “Trying out
something so unlike what you’re
used to, you have to be comfortable
with yourself and the people you
are around. You’re going to make
mistakes, so you might as well have
fun with it. It made the learning
more enjoyable.”
Noyes and his classmates have
helped Arabic become the fastest-growing language at BC, with
the numbers of students enrolled
jumping from 15 to 160 in the
three years since it was introduced.
The popularity of Arabic in
higher education institutions is a
national trend. According to the
Modern Language Association, enContinued on page 5
Undergraduate research;
Garza to speak at Laetare
Sunday (page 3)
february 14, 2008-vol. 16 no. 11
Photos by Joan Seidel
No Thin Ice for This Skater
Freshman Stephen Carriere prepares for the world figure skating
championships — and perhaps a future Olympic moment
By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer
“Free time” is not an elective
on Boston College freshman
Stephen Carriere’s schedule.
Every day, he tackles a rigorous
physical training regimen that
would intimidate even the fittest varsity athlete, and he views
his first-year academic schedule
as the foundation for a future
career in medicine.
His dreams even include an
Olympic gold medal – or two.
Carriere, a first-year student
in the Woods College of Advancing Studies, finished third
at last month’s US National
Men’s Figure Skating Championships and, at age 18, he’s set
his sights on the world’s top figure skating stage and the chance
for some prized Olympic gold.
This month, Carriere is off
to an international competition
in Korea. March will find him
in Sweden where he will compete in the world figure skating
championships.
In between, he’ll work on
reading assignments for his
Problems in Philosophy class,
one of two courses he is taking
this semester.
“It’s pretty difficult to balance everything,” admits Carriere, who commutes from his
home in Wakefield each day
to an extended on-ice session
at the Boston Skating Club in
Brighton, followed by twiceweekly class nights at BC. “Boston College has been the perfect
fit for me, a great school with
Ives is head of BC’s new
research division (page 4)
great classes that could also acIn three more years, Carcommodate my competitive skat- riere moved up to international
ing career.”
competition, representing the
“Stephen has had an amaz- United States at various chaming season this year,” says Scottie pionship events in the NetherBibb, spokesperson for US Fig- lands, Hungary, Slovakia and
ure Skating in Colorado Springs. Bulgaria. At the same time, he
“His hard work and dedication was an honors student at Wakedefinitely paid off at US Cham- field High School.
pionships. As we look forward to
“In my senior year, I was
the 2010 Winter Games, there’s taking five classes and doing
no doubt that we will be seeing a junior grand prix competitions
lot more of him.”
all over the place,” Carriere says.
Carriere began
skating at age five
after his mother
purchased a pair of
hockey skates for
him so he could
accompany
his
older sister to a local rink. His skill
on the blades was
quickly recognized
and his parents enrolled him in a US
Figure Skating Basic Skills Program
at the Stoneham
Rink, the skating
home of Olympic
medalist Nancy
Kerrigan. “The rest
was history,” he
quips, beginning
with success in re“There’s no doubt that we will be seeing a lot
gional and national more of him,” says a US Figure Skating official
juvenile competi- of Carriere.
tions in 2001.
By 2004, he had advanced “Then, it was senior nationals
through local and regional junior and the junior worlds.
age bracket competitions, qualify“I was kind of used to it,” he
ing for national novice champi- says of his hectic schedule.
onship meets and a Junior Grand
When it came time to make
Prix competition in the Ukraine.
Continued on page 4
Theater’s Cummings
writes play on woman’s
real-life ordeal (page 8)
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
february 14, 2008
AROUND
AROUND
CAMPUS
Lighter side
Retrofitted fluorescent lighting
recently installed in O’Neill Library, Flynn Recreation Complex
and Alumni Stadium will save the
University more than 1.03 million
kilowatts hours of electricity on
an annual basis – enough to provide power for 106 single-family
homes for a year.
The three buildings’ energy
savings is also equivalent to eliminating more than 800 tons of
CO2 emissions – the amount that
would be produced by burning
91,100 gallons of gasoline.
The installation of the new and
more efficient lighting systems “is
a continuing investment in the
infrastructure of Boston College,”
notes Facilities Services Utilities
Manager Deirdre Manning. “And
whenever we use less energy, it
saves significant money for the
University and reduces emissions
of toxins and greenhouse gases
into the environment.”
The new fluorescent technology provides better lighting with
less power than older systems,
Manning says. The O’Neill Library and RecPlex are two of the
largest and most-utilized buildings
on campus and Alumni Stadium
has lights that are typically left on
24 hours a day for safety purposes.
“Since they all have lights on for
such extended hours, it makes
sense to target these areas for efficiency,” Manning says.
The retrofitting is a part of BC
Conserves, the ongoing University-wide effort to reduce power
usage. “We are encouraging everyone at BC to help us be as
energy efficient as possible,” says
Manning.
—RO
Bon appetit
Graduate School of Social Work student Sarah Morrison and some of her budding soccer players: “They would teach us to dance, tell us about school, and
talk about themselves.”
Helping hand
In December of 2005, Prof. Karen Kayser (GSSW)
took several students to South India, a year after the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami had wreaked unimaginable death
and devastation on the region. The group visited several
villages and spoke with survivors, and also conducted a
research project on coping and resilience of the survivors
from the emergency responders’ perspective.
Early last month, Kayser returned to South India
for a three-week visit, accompanied by a group of nine
students — and found conditions were only marginally
better. “They had built about half of the houses that were
planned for the people living in temporary shelters,” says
Kayser, “which means that hundreds of people are still living in very poor temporary conditions.”
The GSSW contingent also met with two of the more
vulnerable groups of Indians, the Dalits (“Untouchables”)
caste and widowed or abandoned women, whose post-tsunami struggles have been magnified by the exclusion and
oppression they endure from the rest of society.
But Kayser and her students were heartened by their
work with the Dalit Solidarity [www.dalitsolidarity.org],
which provides services to members of the Dalit caste
through health care and education, including a boarding
school for Dalit children.
While several GSSW students helped undertake a
health care screening of rural families, three of their cohorts coached at a week-long children’s soccer camp. The
trio worked with about 160 girls aged 10-14 years old for
six hours each day.
Since most of the girls had never played soccer before,
the BC students ran beginner-level drills with a focus on
kicking, shooting, foot trapping and headers. To vary
things a little, the volunteers played games with the children.
“They loved relay races,” says Sarah Morrison. “We
encouraged them to cheer each other on, and to be more
concerned with teamwork than ‘winning.’”
The GSSW contingent found their charges “respectful
and considerate,” says Morrison, and often as excited to
teach the Americans about their culture as to learn about
their visitors’ lives. “They would teach us to dance, tell us
about school, and talk about themselves.”
One thing Morrison and her BC colleagues learned
is that hand-holding, even among persons of the same
gender, is a very common sign of affection and friendship — and their soccer students demonstrated this in no
uncertain terms.
Morrison often took the opportunity to reciprocate.
“There was one very hot day when we were all finished
and going inside. There was a girl named Leena next to
me who was plainly hot and tired and she started to slow
down, so I tried to offer her some comfort by holding her
hand. It wasn’t a big event, but felt just right.”
—SS
Having undergone a dazzling
renovation that would impress
even devotees of television’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
series, the Faculty Dining Room
in McElroy Commons has reopened to rave reviews and burgeoning patronage.
In the new facility, nestled in
McElroy’s third floor, diners will
find a beautiful new décor – highlighted by mahogany veneer paneling, new tables and chairs, appropriate lighting, new windows
overlooking the campus green, a
new heating system, carpeting and
ceiling – as well as a revamped and
improved menu that includes hot
and cold buffets, varying entrees,
soups, salads, sandwiches, vegetarian meals, beverages and desserts.
Customer service has been improved as well, with the addition of an on-site assistant general
manager, Sheryl Thompson, three
daily wait staff employees and a
luncheon reservation system that
will guarantee seating for patrons
bringing guests or faculty candidates.
The room also has a comfortable lounge area open from
9 a.m.-4 p.m. each weekday for
teachers to meet and talk with
students and colleagues.
“The talk about having a nice
faculty dining room has been going on for years,” says Vice Provost
for Faculties Patricia DeLeeuw,
who worked with members of
the College of Arts and Sciences
Board of Chairs to plan help the
renovation with University leaders
and Dining Services officials.
“They listened to us and it’s a
powerful symbol that we not only
value our faculty, but we listen.”
University Provost and Dean
of Faculties Cutberto Garza told
faculty members attending last
week’s grand re-opening that
“without the support of [University President] William P. Leahy,
SJ, the reinvigorating of this facil-
University President William P. Leahy, SJ,chats with (L-R) Executive Vice President
Patrick Keating, Associate Vice President for Capital Projects Mary Nardone, Adj.
Asst. Prof. Patricia Riggin (Theater), Provost and Dean of Faculties Cutberto Garza and
Theater Department chairman Assoc. Prof. John Houchin at last week’s opening of the
renovated Faculty Dining Room in McElroy Commons. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
ity would not have occurred.
“So many faculty have already
e-mailed me to let me know how
pleased they are with this new exterior,” Garza said, “but they also
have mentioned how wonderful
the staff here has been.”
Garza also commended Associate Vice President for Capital
Projects Mary Nardone and Facilities Management construction
teams for completing the renovation project in less than eight
weeks.
“This facility has exceeded all
of our expectations,” said Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Patricia Bando, who
oversees the University’s dining
operations. “It gives you an offcampus feel – it’s a real ‘club’ or
‘restaurant’ experience in everything from the ambience to the
food to the customer service.”
The Faculty Dining Room is
open to faculty and staff from
noon until 2 p.m. weekdays. Reservations may be made online at
www.bc.edu/offices/dining/locations/mcelroy/fdr/fdr_reservation.
html or by calling ext.2-4999 after
10:30 a.m.
—RO
Correction
A photograph of Boston College quarterback Matt
Ryan that appeared on page 6 of the Jan. 17 Chronicle
should have been credited to Ian Thomas/The Heights.
Chronicle apologizes for the error.
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
Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA
02467 (617)552-3350. Distributed
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and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to
The Boston College Chronicle, Office of Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower
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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
february 14, 2008
By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer
Carroll School of Management sophomore Caroline Beimford (right) discusses her poster project, “Free Trade in Central America and the Dominican Republic: Inspiring or Stifling?” with (L-R) Maryclaire Abowd, ’08, MIT student Arnoldo
Pereira-Diaz and Ronald Mendoza-DeJesus, ’08 at the Feb. 1 Undergraduate Research Symposium. (Photo by Gary Gilbert)
Variety the Spice at Research Symposium
By Melissa Beecher
Staff Writer
The topics ranged far and wide
— from Eastern box turtles to Hispanic folk healing, the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in Africa to Edgar Allen
Poe — as more than 40 students
presented their work at the second
annual Undergraduate Research
Symposium on Feb. 1.
Students were asked to present
the results of research and grantfunded travel to their peers and
teachers. Poster presentations and
panel discussions were spread
throughout Gasson Hall and most
enjoyed audiences between 10 and
25.
Vice Provost for Undergraduate
Academic Affairs Donald Hafner,
chairman of the University Fellowships Committee, joined keynote
speaker Political Science Department chairwoman Prof. Susan Shell
in welcoming students, parents and
professors to the symposium.
“Welcome to what I am tempted
to call ‘the players club’,” said Shell.
“Consider scholarship as a vocation.
For some of you a taste of the apple
may be too much to resist.”
Nicole Picone, ’09, presented
“Face to Face: A Study of Orphan
Life in Uganda.” The paper focused
on Picone’s experience living alongside 53 orphans in a rural orphanage for a month.
“Many of the children had been
left in the dirt, outside the orphanage as babies because their parents
were too sick or too poor to take
care of them,” said Picone. Uganda’s government, she added, has
turned its back on the nation’s poor
children and handicapped people.
Christopher Nauser, a sophomore chemistry major, focused on
issues closer to home with, “More
Than Volunteering: A Story &
Analysis of the Uninsured Working
Poor.” Nauser was inspired to write
his paper after he volunteered to
work alongside health care providers at a Jackson County free clinic
in Missouri last year.
“I walked in on a Tuesday at
5:30 p.m. to a full waiting room,”
said Nauser. “There are approximately 47 million working poor:
people who make too much money
to qualify for Medicaid, but do not
work for a place that offers health
insurance.”
In his research, Nauser assessed
what states are doing to address the
problems facing the uninsured and
explained what individuals are doing to obtain affordable health care.
Many participants received Advanced Study Grants to fund their
areas of study; others aimed to have
work published in BC’s many academic journals.
The award for best presentations
were: seniors Stacy Brown, Michelle
Hubele, Ronald Mendoza-DeJesus,
Soren Lagaard and Sarah Williams;
juniors Nicole Picone, Shahan Mamoor, Cullen Nutt, Robert Kubala,
Adam Berkland, Malak Yusuf and
Celso Perez; sophomores Michael
Betten and Sarah Popper.
Chief Executives’ Club Ranked Tops in US
The Boston College Chief Executives’ Club of Boston has been
named the No. 2-ranked CEO
event in the world and the top
forum of its type in the United
States, according to an analysis and
report by global public relations
firm Weber Shandwick.
The Chief Executives’ Club of
Boston, which operates in association with the Carroll School of
Management, was listed behind
only the World Economic Forum
in Davos, Switzerland, among
business groups that build thought
leadership, executive visibility
and reputation enhancement in a
world-wide venue.
Weber Shandwick published
the ranking after conducting a
“Five Star Conference” study of
CEOs and C-level executives in the
world’s top 50 most admired companies. Other venues in the Top 5
speaker forum ranking are Fortune
Innovation/Fortune iMeme, Fortune Global and The Wall Street
Journal’s “D.” The Chief Execu-
tives’ Club of Boston was the topranked American business forum
in the listing.
“Any time you are listed as
second in the world it stands as
a tremendous honor for both the
Chief Executives’ Club of Boston
and for Boston College,” said Peter Rollins, president of the club
and CSOM executive director of
corporate and government affairs.
“We are humbled by the recognition that our program continues
to receive and thank our members,
hosts, speakers and staff for making
this possible.”
The Chief Executives’ Club of
Boston — with a membership including some 500 executives at the
highest levels in their organizations, among them chairpersons,
CEOs, presidents, and managing
partners — sponsors regular invitation-only luncheon events that
provide a forum for the discussion
of major issues and challenges facing business today.
Keynote speakers drawn from
the ranks of the world’s most
prominent business leaders offer
views on a wide variety of topics,
from education to health care to
the implications of the information
age. Past CEO Club speakers have
included an “All-Star” roster of
chief executives, such as Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group; Rex
Tillerson of ExxonMobil; Rupert
Murdoch of News Corp.; A.G.
Lafley of Proctor & Gamble; Kenneth Lewis of Bank of America;
Robert Iger of Walt Disney; Leslie
Moonves of CBS; Jeffrey Immelt
of General Electric; Patrick Stokes
of Anheuser-Busch; and G. Richard Wagner Jr. of General Motors.
The Chief Executives’ Club has
previously been ranked as the nation’s No. 1 venue for CEO speakers by Best Practices in Corporate
Communications of Washington,
DC and is listed among the ten top
world speaker forums according
to a Burson-Marsteller survey that
was published in USA Today.
—Reid Oslin
The excellence of Boston College’s academic endeavors will be
in the spotlight on March 2 as
University Provost and Dean of
Faculties Cutberto Garza speaks
to the approximately 1,000 alumni, parents and friends expected to
attend the University’s 57th annual Laetare Sunday celebration.
“The great things that happen on a daily basis in the academic world at BC sometimes
don’t make it to the front pages,”
said Associate Vice President for
Alumni Relations John Feudo.
“We want to be able to showcase
the day-to-day excellence of our
academic programs – our faculty,
our students and the research that
is being done. Bert is a person
who is responsible for overseeing
all of that.”
Laetare Sunday marks the midpoint of the liturgical season of
Lent, and Boston College has
held an annual Mass and breakfast
gathering for alumni and friends
of the University since 1951,
making it the longest-running oncampus spiritual event of its kind
in the country.
“Laetare Sunday is an opportunity for us to continue to fulfill
Boston College’s mission through
our programming,” says Feudo,
“which is why it is so important
to us.
“Having somebody like Bert,
who is a spiritual person, who
Gary Gilbert
March 2 Laetare Sunday
Event Features Talk by Garza
Boston College Provost and Dean of
Faculties Cutberto Garza
lives every day to continue BC’s
mission in that way by showing
his commitment to Boston College and the Ignatian mission,
that’s what we want.”
This year’s Laetare event will
include a 9:30 a.m. Mass in the
Conte Forum Power Gym, with
principal concelebrant University
President William P. Leahy, SJ,
and Lynch School of Education
Dean Joseph M. O’Keefe, SJ, who
will deliver the homily.
Mass will be followed by a
brunch in the main Conte Forum arena that will feature Garza’s
talk.
All members of the Boston
College community are welcome
to attend. Tickets are available
through the Alumni Association
at Ext. 2-4700 or at www.bc.edu/
alumni.
Applications Top 30,000
Continued from page 1
process. “Academically, our repu- early action students and their partation is at a new peak. The good ents on campus, with three more
news is that we compete for the programs slated in April.
best students in the country with
Colleges and universities are
all the best colleges and universities also watching a demographic wave
the country. These are high-pow- crest in their favor. Next year, the
ered kids.”
number of high school seniors will
Among the elite institutions peak at about 3.2 million, before
that compete with BC are Harvard, starting a gradual decline.
Yale, Georgetown, the University
While Boston College memberof Chicago, Duke and Penn.
ship in the high-profile Atlantic
Applications numCoast Conference
bers continue to rise
“We will still continue has further raised
because of improved
the University’s
to see increases in aptechnologies and pracprofile and sparked
tices. Between 90 to
a rise in applicaplications from the
95 percent of the aptions in southern
plications received by states where populations ACC states, Mathe university are filed
honey and Lay say
are growing, such as
online. BC is one of
population trends
California, Texas and in states beyond
300 institutions that
accept the Common Arizona. We are truly a New England may
Application, a “onebe the more impornational university.”
stop” option for stutant factors in apdents applying to
—Robert Lay plication growth.
multiple institutions.
“We have one
“It has become easier
of the best profiles
for students to apply and colleg- of any university in the country
es and universities are marketing for top students,” says Lay. “We
themselves more aggressively,” Ma- don’t think our appeal is going
honey said.
to wane. While demographics will
University recruiters and alumni level out in the Northeast, we will
have visited 600 high schools and still continue to see increases in
hosted information nights in major applications from the states where
cities across the country, Mahoney populations are growing, such as
says. Already, the Admitted Eagle California, Texas and Arizona. We
program has hosted 900 accepted are truly a national university.”
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
february 14, 2008
The Front Line of Research Administration
Catherine Ives has seen
an ugly side of academic
research. Now, she wants
only the best for BC
Prof. Thomas Seyfried (Biology) with members of his Tay-Sachs research group:
L-R, Karie Heinicke, Rena Baek and Linh Ta. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
BC Researchers Aid Effort
to End Tay-Sachs Disease
By Ed Hayward
Staff Writer
Researchers from Boston College, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cambridge University (UK) and
Auburn University have formed the
Tay-Sachs Gene Therapy Consortium, with a goal of advancing to
human clinical trials a unique gene
therapy with the potential to halt the
fatal genetic disorder.
Commonly found in children of
Eastern European Jewish descent,
Tay-Sachs typically claims its victims before they reach age 5. There
are variants that affect children of
Irish and French-Canadian descent
as well. While genetic screening has
greatly reduced deaths from TaySachs, approximately 20 individuals
die from the disease annually.
By 2011, the consortium plans to
have initiated a gene therapy clinical
trial in Tay-Sachs disease patients.
“To bring the resources and expertise of Boston College and these
other world-class institutions to bear
on this deadly disease means we
may see the first successful attempt
to control a neurodegenerative disease,” says Prof. Thomas Seyfried
(Biology), whose lab has made
breakthrough discoveries regarding
Tay-Sachs.
“This is a scientifically important
project, but more important is the
opportunity to use our scientific expertise to dramatically improve the
lives of others – particularly children
– stricken by Tay-Sachs.”
The disorder creates an enzyme
deficiency that allows harmful quantities of a fatty substance, or lipid,
to build up in the nerve cells of
the brain, resulting in a relentless
deterioration of mental and physical
abilities. Consortium researchers say
their therapy will battle the disease at
the cellular level.
The proposed therapy would inject a viral vector carrying two human genes – known as HexA (T-S)
and HexB (SD) – which are deficient in Tay-Sachs. Infection of cells
in the brain through two individual
vectors has been shown in laboratory
mice to spur production of normal
enzyme at levels sufficient to correct
the enzymatic deficiency throughout the entire brain of these subjects.
Consortium researchers have successfully paired the two genes in a
single vector, which they believe will
result in increased therapeutic efficiency and lower production costs.
“We think we know how to do
this, based on the experience in my
lab, the experiences at Cambridge
University, at Auburn and at BC,”
says principal investigator Miguel
Sena-Esteves, an assistant professor
in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical
School. “This group was essentially
working on this initiative with some
loose connections or six degrees of
separation. Ultimately, we decided
we can work together because we all
have complimentary expertise.”
The consortium combines the
expertise in lipid biochemistry of
Seyfried’s lab, MGH leadership in
building viral vectors and delivering
gene therapy to the brain, Cambridge scientists who have produced
long-term survival of laboratory
mice afflicted with Tay-Sachs, and
the Scott-Ritchey Research Center
at Auburn University’s veterinary
school, a leading center for small
animal research.
Seyfried’s lab has been researching Tay-Sachs for 30 years. Three
years ago, Seyfried reported success
in mice of a drug that blocks the
accumulation of the fatty substances
in the brain. That drug was a small,
artificial amino sugar molecule that
blocked the initial steps of the disease.
Infants can show signs of the
disease as early as six months, cease
meeting developmental milestones,
and then begin to lose motor skills.
Children affected by juvenile onset show signs after age three and
quickly begin to regress physically
and mentally. For adults afflicted by
late onset Tay-Sachs, symptoms are
often confused with mental illness or
other diagnoses.
The consortium has received support from the Cameron and Hayden
Lord Foundation, the Brightonbased National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association (NTSAD),
The Cure Tay-Sachs Foundation,
The Mathew Forbes Romer Foundation, and The Jewish Community
Federation of San Francisco Endowment Fund. It is in the process of
applying to the National Institutes
of Health for funding for therapies that show promise of successful
clinical trials.
For more information about
the Tay-Sachs Gene Therapy Consortium see www.tsgtconsortium.
com/. For more information about
Seyfried’s lab, see www2.bc.edu/
~seyfridt/index.html.
Provost of Research, both believe
Ives’ experience and expertise are
critical to making the new division
successful.
“She is a true expert,” said Erickson. “We have tremendous confidence in her.”
By Melissa Beecher
Added Shore, “She has tremenStaff Writer
dous experience and range in the
area of transfer and licensing techInnovative academic research
nologies. She knows the ins and
sometimes provokes controversy,
outs, is thoughtful and has made
and no one knows that better than
tough decisions before.”
Boston College’s inaugural director
Ives said a major objective is to
of Technology Transfer & Licensidentify markets for prospective reing Division Catherine Ives, who
search and push faculty and staff to
has seen her work come under fire
answer the questions “what problem
— quite literally.
does this solve?,” “who
In 1999, Ives was directing an
wants it?,” and “will they
agricultural project at Michigan
pay for it?”
State University when a group
Before any of that can
of FBI-classified domestic ecohappen, her first major
terrorists set fire to her office.
task is probably the most
Funded by the US Agency for
critical: establishing reInternational Development, the
lationships with faculty
project aimed to create genetimembers.
cally modified crops that would
“Tom Brady’s agent
benefit developing nations in
isn’t the one to throw
Asia and Africa.
the touchdown pass,”
The Earth Liberation Front,
said Ives. “Executing the
which claimed responsibility,
technology is different
caused nearly $1 million in damthan executing the deal.
age to the administrative offices.
In my role, it’s critical
The incident also catapulted
to understand that it all
Ives into the national spotlight,
begins and ends with the
where she was interviewed by
faculty.”
“Frontline,” “Nova” and a slew
Ives, who also has
of other news outlets interested
served as associate diin the work conducted in her
rector in the Office of
lab.
Technology Transfer
“For a long time, I didn’t
feel safe,” Ives admits. “It is hard Catherine Ives, inaugural director of Technology Transfer & at Boston University,
earned a biology degree
to describe what its like to be a Licensing Division. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
at Virginia Tech and
named target.”
Determined not to let the un- faculty members through the cum- a doctorate in microbiology from
pleasant incident define her career, bersome process of obtaining legal the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. A Fulbright fellow
and her life, Ives has established protection.
“This is a new office and with it who studied microbial biochemistry
herself as a top research administrator. Now, at BC, Ives is ready to deal will come all the ups and downs of at the University of Glasgow, Scotwith issues that, while not as sensa- holding a position in a new office,” land, Ives worked at New England
tionalistic as those she confronted at said Ives. “I hope to be involved in Biolabs in Beverly, Mass., on a postMichigan State, are of paramount the early stages of research to give doctoral fellowship. Ives won the
American Society for Microbiology
concern to a university committed faculty the support they need.”
Office for Research Compliance Congressional Fellowship, where she
to its research mission.
Describing her role, Ives says that and Intellectual Property Manage- provided scientific expertise to Conshe needs to be part sports agent, ment Director Stephen Erickson gressmen Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
part scientist and part market ana- and Arnold Shore, Associate Vice
lyst.
“This is very exciting because
I get to interface with faculty, scientists, industry leaders and legal
professionals,” said Ives. “I am like
an agent who works to get the most
out of faculty research.”
The Department of Technology
Transfer & Licensing was created
to help faculty and students understand intellectual property issues,
protect discoveries made as part of
BC research and promote those advancements. The division will be
in charge of determining if patents
are needed, negotiate partnerships
or sales with corporations and help
Carriere Ready for the World Stage
Continued from page 1
his college plans, Carriere wanted
to stay in the Boston area to continue his on-ice training at the
famed Boston Skating Club, an
old barn on Soldiers Field Road
that has been the home to dozens
of ice champions over the years.
“When I interviewed at some
schools, people said to me, ‘Look,
this is the undergraduate freshman curriculum and this is what
you will be expected to do,’” he
recalls. “When I looked at BC, I
didn’t get that feeling. I could still
train the way I want to and go to
school.
“My long term goal is medical
school,” Carriere says, “and I want
to specialize in sports medicine. I
know it will take a while, but the
closer I can get to that goal while
I am still skating is not going to
hurt my chances.”
Carriere’s typical day does not
leave much time for the enjoyment of traditional college life. “I
am at the rink by 10 a.m. and do
a training session from 10:10 until
11 and an 11:10 session until 12,”
he says.
“I take a break at 12, followed
by a 1:10 session until 2, and after
that, I do off-ice fitness training. Depending on the day, we
do strength training or interval
training that involves hard-core,
intense exercises for four and a
half or five-minute periods, which
is the length of my long program.
After each one, we rest for a minute and then do another one – five
in all.
“On Wednesday, which is a
BC class day for me, I have ballet at 3 until 4, and then I’ll do
some extra reading to try and get
a little bit ahead of my classwork,”
he says. “I try to manage my time
wisely. I try to get everything done
beforehand.”
Carriere says that he trains
year-round for his skating career.
“We never stop practicing,” he
says. “My ‘season’ normally starts
in October and ends in March.
But even when I am done with
competition, I am still on the ice
every day. It doesn’t stop.”
He hopes to qualify for the US
men’s figure skating team that
will compete at the 2010 Winter
Olympics in Vancouver and possibly again for the 2014 Games in
Sochi, Russia.
Carriere readily admits that in
spite of his ice skating accomplishments, he is rarely recognized on
campus. “Hopefully, as my career
expands, that may happen,” he
laughs.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
february 14, 2008
February African American
Lectures Focusing on History
Part-time faculty member Atef Ghobrial (Slavic and Eastern Languages) leads an Arabic language class. “Students come to see
how rich and nuanced the Arab world is,” says Adj. Assoc. Prof. Kathleen Baily (Political Science), coordinator for the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Arabic Is Fastest-Growing Language at BC
Continued from page 1
rollment in Arabic language classes born in Lebanon. “But that apmore than doubled from 2002-06, proach doesn’t work here; we have
putting it among the top 10 foreign to build a program that emulates
languages studied in the US, and those of other living languages,
the number of institutions — two where there is real engagement and
and four-year — offering Arabic back-and-forth. What’s difficult is,
we don’t have educational materinearly doubled to 466.
While events like 9/11 and the als that would be available for, say,
Iraq war have undoubtedly helped Romance languages.
“So we ad-lib or borrow ideas:
spark interest in Arabic-related
For
example I might introduce a
courses, BC faculty and students say
recipe
in class, then invite students
there are other, more deep-seated
to
my
house
to cook it.”
and enduring factors — the potenGhobrial,
an Egyptian native,
tial use in careers and international
feels
it’s
important
to seize opportuexperiences, or simple curiosity for
nities
for
shedding
light on cultural
a part of the world still largely unfadifferences
—
even
among those
miliar to many Americans.
of
Arabic
backgrounds.
“I mention
As BC faculty strive to meet
how
my
children,
who
were both
the demands that come with the
born
in
the
US,
find
it
unthinkable
increased enrollment in Arabic language courses, students are discover- that in Egypt it is not uncommon
ing the joys, challenges and utility to marry your cousin, or your best
of reading, writing and listening to friend’s sister.”
Bailey points out that, with US
Arabic, as well as learning about its
secondary schools
myriad cultures.
now offering Arabic
“Students come
language courses,
to see how rich and
“The
best
thing
I’ve
BC and other uninuanced the Arab
versities will see
world is,” says Adj.
learned,” says one
more undergraduAssoc. Prof. Kathstudent,
“is
there’s
no
ates arriving with
leen Bailey (Political
Science), coordinaone Arabic anything, solid preparation
for advanced study
tor for the Middle
no
one
Arabic
culture
in Arabic.
Eastern and Islamic
“It’s definitely
Studies Program.
and no one Arabic
going
to test the
“The courses give
language.”
discipline,”
she says.
them access to Ara“However,
we are
bic literature and
fortunate
in
having
art, and a further
fabulous
instructors,
appreciation of the
Middle East. Obviously, you can’t and students who are very commitignore the impact of current events, ted to the program.”
The undergraduates in BC’s
but the coursework goes beyond
Arabic
courses have found the expolitics.”
perience
generally quite satisfying
For Salameh and his fellow Ara—
although
there also are suggesbic language instructor part-time
tions
for
more
sections, or offerings
faculty member Atef Ghobrial
of
more
specialized
classes in Turk(Slavic and Eastern Languages), the
ish
or
Farsi,
for
instance.
Students
challenge is not only dealing with
cite
a
range
of
vocational,
personal,
increased enrollments, but in devising a curriculum that meets con- even spiritual motivations for taking
the classes.
temporary undergraduate needs.
For sophomore Christopher
“Arabic is text-intensive, and in
Izant
of Syracuse, NY, who is enpast years was taught as a ‘dead’
rolled
in the Marine Corps officer
language — you’d sit in a graduate
program
and will be commissioned
seminar and leaf through a docuas
a
second
lieutenant upon graduament,” explains Salameh, who was
tion, Arabic is likely to be an indispensable part of his future.
“Today, no foreigners are immersed in Middle Eastern culture
more than the US servicemen and
women. If they can communicate
with the population, it can greatly
contribute to the success of their
individual missions, and the overall strategy of winning the hearts
and minds of the people — every
soldier or Marine is a diplomat in
this war.”
As a practicing Muslim, junior
Zainul Hasanali of Houston had for
years written and spoken in Arabic
in observance of his faith — but,
never having had instruction in the
language, he had no idea what it
was he was saying. “”I feel much
more involved in my religion now
and can appreciate the eloquent
verses of the Qur’an as they were
meant to be understood.”
Students also say they are gratified to have a sharper, more enlightened view of Arabic peoples. “The
best thing I’ve learned,” says John
Leahy, ’11, of Omaha, “is there’s no
one Arabic anything, no one Arabic
culture and no one Arabic language.
I had no idea such discontinuity
existed in a region portrayed as one
continuous bloc of Arabic-speaking
and Islam-following people.”
Adds Noyes, “September 11
shocked us into paying attention
and learning more about the politics, religions, cultures, histories,
and languages of the Middle East.
The region is tremendously important and influential - economically,
politically, and religiously — and
it’s disappointing that such a horrific event like 9/11 had to occur
before this amount of attention was
invested in it.
“I definitely believe that the Arabic classes have instilled appreciation for Arabic culture simply from
showing how misleading that term
actually is. There are so many different dialects of Arabic, so many
different ethnicities and even religions that use it, and so many different societies and cultures that are
influenced by the language.”
The African and African Diaspora Studies Program continues its series of talks this month
on African and African American
history with a lecture today by
Eric McDuffie titled “A ‘New
Freedom of Movement of Negro
Women’: Sojourning for Truth,
Justice, and Human Rights During the Early Cold War.”
McDuffie, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign, looks at how
black women in the Communist
Party USA formulated a “black
left feminism.”
McDuffie’s talk will take place
at 4:30 p.m. in Devlin 101, as will
all the other events in the series.
Artist, activist and scholar
Régine Jean-Charles will present “Terre et chair: Re-embodying Violence in Gisèle Pineau’s
Macadam Dreams” on Feb. 19.
Jean-Charles, who holds a doctorate in Romance languages and literatures from Harvard University,
pursues research on how Francophone women writers from SubSaharan Africa and the Caribbean
represent violence as a historical,
cultural and theoretical phenomenon that is deeply gendered.
On Feb. 21, historian Walter
Rucker will give the talk “Only
Draw in Your Countrymen: Akan
Community and Culture in Colonial New York City.”
Rucker, an associate professor
of African American and African
Studies at Ohio State University,
is the author of “The River Flows
On”: Black Resistance, Culture, and
Identity Formation in Early America and co-edited The Encyclopedia
of American Race Riots.
On Feb. 26, Alexander Byrd
will present “The Atlantic World:
A View from the Cane Fields
of Eighteenth-Century Jamaica.”
Byrd is an assistant professor of
history at Rice University who has
researched and written on the two
largest streams of free and forced
black migrants across Britain’s
18th century empire and the social worlds these migrants made
in motion.
For more information on these
lectures, call ext.2-3238 or e-mail
mcateerm@bc.edu.
—Office of Public Affairs
Sociologist Christakis to Speak
on Social Aspects of Health
Harvard University sociologist Nicholas Christakis, who is part
of a team of researchers studying the popular Facebook Web site,
will present a talk, “Social Contagion and Individual Health,” on
Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m. in Higgins 300.
A professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School
and an attending physician at Cambridge’s Mt. Auburn Hospital,
Christakis will discuss the ways in which individual health practices can be “contagious” and affect friends, family, and peers.
Christakis’ work revolves around social networks, such as
Facebook, and their impact and influence on behavior. His
research also examines the health benefits of marriage and the
consequences of spousal illness and widowhood. Other ongoing
investigations consider the effects of neighborhoods on people’s
health, the biodemographic determinants of longevity, and the
genetic bases for human behaviors.
The event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost with the
Connell School of Nursing, the Sociology Department and the
Carroll School of Management Marketing Department. For more
information, call ext.2-3260 or e-mail courtney.luongo@bc.edu.
—Office of Public Affairs
Catholic Writers Panel Offer
Reflections on ‘Hope in Our Time’
A panel of prominent Catholic
writers will speak on the meaning of hope at a public forum
on Feb. 18 that is being held to
commemorate the publication of
a book based on a groundbreaking
2002 Boston College event.
The forum, which takes its
name from the book Take Heart:
Catholic Writers on Hope in Our
Time, will feature Boston Globe
columnist Kevin Cullen, College
of Arts and Sciences Associate
Dean Clare Dunsford, Adj. Assoc.
Prof. Colleen Griffith (Theology)
and Assoc. Prof. Rev. Robert P.
Imbelli (Theology). Executive Director of Marketing Communications and Special Assistant to the
President Ben Birnbaum, editor
of Take Heart, will moderate.
Take Heart is a collection of
essays whose authors include novelists, poets, essayists, journalists,
theologians, philosophers, a documentarian and a former presidential speechwriter. The 35 writers
were assigned to “reflect on the
nature of hope and its sources and
uses in our time.”
The book was inspired by a
panel discussion, “Laity and the
Governance of the Church,” held
at BC in September of 2002 in
the wake of the Catholic Church
sexual abuse scandal. Some 350
Boston-area Catholics attended
that event, which was sponsored
by the Church in the 21st Century initiative.
The Feb. 18 forum will be held
at 7 p.m. in Devlin 008, and is
sponsored by Boston College Magazine and the Church in the 21st
Century Center. For information,
call ext.2-4576 or e-mail carlisll@
bc.edu.
—Office of Public Affairs
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
february 14, 2008
Postings
Lecture on trade policies
and human rights Feb. 20
Global trade expert Susan Aaronson
will present the lecture “Trade Imbalance: the Struggle to Weigh Trade and
Human Rights” on Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. in
Devlin 101.
Aaronson, a research associate professor at George Washington University
who has studied the impact of US policies on corporate social responsibility,
will discuss how trade policies affect
human rights issues around the globe
and what governments can do to
promote human rights as they seek to
expand trade.
For more information on the event,
which is sponsored through the Globalization and Inequality Series, call
ext.2-0740.
Workshop examines diversity
in the Catholic Church
The impact of diversity — from a theological and practical standpoint — on
Catholic parishes, and the opportunities
it presents for parishes to “live their
Catholicity” more fully is the subject of
an interactive workshop to be held Feb.
23 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in the McElroy
Commons Conference Room.
“A Diverse Church: Meeting the Challenge, Celebrating the Gift” will be led
by Asst. Prof. Nancy Pineda-Madrid
(Theology), and is sponsored by The Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry and the Church in the 21st
Century Center as part of the “Building
Up the Body of Christ” series.
For more information, call ext.2-8057 or
e-mail lambmb@bc.edu.
Works of Pergolesi to be
performed at Lenten concert
The Music Department will sponsor
the concert “A Lenten Offering: Music of
Pergolesi” with Margaret Felice, soprano, and Brooke Larimer, mezzo-soprano,
on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m.
The concert will present music of the
17th-century Italian composer Giovanni
Battista Pergolesi, one of the most important early composers of comic opera,
but also known for his sacred music,
notably “Stabat Mater” (1736).
Felice sings regularly in recitals, opera, oratorio, and other concert work
across southern New England, most
recently as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don
Giovanni with Boston Opera Collaborative. Among the performance credits for
Larimer, a recent graduate of The Boston
Conservatory, are the New England premiere of “Little Women,” Philip Glass’s
“Ahknaten” and Daniel Crozier’s “With
Blood, With Ink.”
For more information see www.bc.edu/
schools/cas/music/calendar.html.
Boisi Center features
lecture by Martha Minow
Martha Minow, an expert on human
rights and advocacy for members of
racial and religious minorities and for
women, children, and persons with disabilities, will present the lecture “Just
Schools” at the Boisi Center for Religion
and American Public Life on Feb. 27
from noon-1:15 p.m.
The Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor at
Harvard Law School, Minow has written
such books as Breaking the Cycles of
Hatred: Memory, Law and Repair; Partners, Not Rivals: Privatization and the
Public Good; and Between Vengeance
and Forgiveness: Facing History After
Genocide and Mass Violence. She also
helped to launch Imagine Co-existence,
a program of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to promote peaceful
development in post-conflict societies.
Reservations are required for this
event. Call ext.2-1860 or e-mail richarsh@bc.edu.
For Two Irish Visitors, BC Is ‘Home’ This Semester
By Sean Smith
Chronicle Editor
Two Irish scholars — one an
award-winning poet and short-story
writer, the other a widely respected
musician — are sharing their talents
and skills with the Boston College
community this semester.
John F. Deane, founder of the
Dedalus Press — a leading publisher of contemporary poetry — and
Poetry Ireland, is the Burns Library
Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies for
the spring 2008 semester. His fellow
countryman James O’Brien Moran,
a master practitioner and student of
Ireland’s Uilleann pipes, is at BC as
the Fulbright-Culture Ireland Visiting Professor in Irish Studies.
The Burns Chair is filled every
year by a distinguished scholar, writer or artist who uses the library’s renowned Irish Book and Manuscript
Collection for his or her research,
teaches one course per semester and
delivers two public lectures on an
Irish studies-related topic.
A native of Achill Island off the
coast of Mayo, Deane is the second Burns Scholar of the 2007-08
academic year. His predecessor for
the fall 2007 semester was another
prominent if somewhat controversial poet, Brendan Kennelly, with
a writing style and voice often described as scabrous and colloquial.
Deane — whose honors include
the O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish
Poetry and the Marten Toonder
Award for Literature — is known
for his work with religious poetry,
such as his 2006 book of essays
In Dogged Loyalty on poets such
as George Herbert, John Donne
and Gerard Manley Hopkins “who
have devoted their imaginative energy to questions of God, belief and
service.” He is currently at work
on a book about Francis Thompson, the 19th-century English poet
and namesake of an exhibition and
seminar room in Burns.
The relationship of poetry and
religion in Ireland seems to be in
flux, Deane says, as the country
struggles to cope with the many
changes accompanying its “Celtic
Tiger” economic success.
“I see us in a state of adolescence,” he explains. “With prosperity has come lot of attention to
material well-being, and with that
a hardening of the Irish heart — a
certain loss of moral, ordinary human values of generosity, friendship
and consideration.”
Complicating this, he says, is the
alienation — for a variety of reasons
— of many Irish from the Catholic
Church. “People are in a frenzy
to find something besides material
concerns that provides meaning in
their lives. Without religion, there is
a lack of a deep response to art. And
so there is an overemphasis on ‘easy’
fiction, TV shows — fast, undemanding — and serious poetry, and
other art, will always suffer for it.”
Deane, meanwhile, has thus far
found winter in Boston a boon to
his own writing. In fact, he is in
a distinct minority of people who
actually are hoping for more snow
before the arrival of spring.
“Obviously, we do have winter in
Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies John F. Deane (left) and James O’Brien Moran, Fulbright-Culture Ireland Visiting Professor in Irish Studies. (Photos by Gary Gilbert)
Ireland, but nothing like it was here
back in January,” he says. “There
are new experiences and sensations
— snowplows coming almost literally up to your door, the absence of
birdsong for an extended period of
time, followed by its return — that
help provide inspiration, perhaps
deepen the focus. It’s another insight into the creative process.”
The visiting professorship held
by O’Brien Moran is part of a fouryear reciprocal exchange program
between Ireland and the United
States created to highlight Irish music research and performance by the
Fulbright Commission and Culture
Ireland, an Irish state agency chaired
by Michéal Ó Súilleabháin, who
while a visiting professor at BC in
1990 helped lay the groundwork
for the University’s Irish music resources.
Born in Tramore, Co. Waterford, O’Brien Moran became interested in Irish music as a teenager
listening to the group Planxty, one
of the most influential bands in the
1970s Irish music revival. O’Brien
Moran began learning to play the
Uilleann pipes and was mentored
by Sean Reid, who had played with
many eminent traditional Irish musicians in the pre-revival era.
“I was incredibly lucky to have
Sean as a teacher and friend, and he
was quite influential in the outlook
I developed on Irish music,” says
O’Brien Moran, who was given
by Reid a set of pipes dating back
to the 1820s. “I suppose in my
own playing I’m an uncompromising traditionalist, in the sense that I
don’t have an interest in combining
Irish music with other genres, such
as rock or bluegrass, as has become
popular these days.
“But at the same time, I do
appreciate all the creativity and innovation, which is part of the gentle
progress of traditional music. The
music is big enough that I can just
ignore what I don’t like.”
Although O’Brien Moran’s research on 19th-century Irish music
scholar and composer Henry Hudson will primarily be done at the
Boston Public Library, he will give
public presentations at BC, the first
of which was a Feb. 6 multimedia
lecture and concert on Hudson and
his era.
On Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.,
O’Brien Moran will present a multimedia lecture and performance on
the legendary piper, folklorist and
singer Seamus Ennis, and on March
27 will perform a concert of “Music, Stories and Songs” beginning
at 7 p.m. Both events take place at
Connolly House.
O’Brien Moran also will give
classroom presentations to BC students in collaboration with Assoc.
Prof. Ann Morrison Spinney (Mu-
sic).
“I hope my presence can be
of some use,” says O’Brien Moran, who expresses his gratitude to
the Center for Irish Programs, the
Fulbright Commission and Culture
Ireland for the opportunity to work
in Boston. “I’m very happy to be
at BC, which has cultivated a real
presence in Irish music, arts and
culture. The caliber of scholars and
musicians here is remarkable.”
WELCOME ADDITIONS
•Asst. Prof. Thomas Crea (GSSW)
PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research interests: Services for Children and Families, Team Decision-making,
Foster Care Placement Dynamics, Special Needs Adoption, Home Study Assessment Methods, Fatherhood, Quantitative Methods, Program Evaluation
Courses: Program Evaluation
While at UNC-Chapel Hill pursuing his doctorate, which he received last
year, Crea worked as a teaching assistant, research assistant and visiting clinical
instructor. His practice experience includes serving as a supervisor and caseworker
at a special-needs adoption agency in Georgia. Crea is currently a subcontracted
investigator on the project “Self-Evaluation in Family to Family,” sponsored by
the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and a investigator and consultant on the ongoing evaluation of a home study methodology for assessing prospective foster and
adoptive families. His publications include co-authored articles in such journals as
Families in Society, Child Welfare and Child and Family Social Work.
•Assoc. Prof. Kenneth Kersch (Political Science)
PhD, Cornell University
Research interests: American political and constitutional development, American political thought, and the politics of courts
Courses: American Constitutional Law; Civil Liberties; American Constitutional Development
Prior to arriving at BC, Kersch was a professor of politics at Princeton University and also taught at Lehigh University. He is the co-author of The Supreme
Court and American Political Development, and his book Constructing Civil
Liberties: Discontinuities in the Development of American Constitutional Law was
awarded the American Political Science Association J. David Greenstone Prize.
A graduate of Williams College, he holds a juris doctorate from Northwestern
University in addition to master’s and doctoral degrees from Cornell University.
•Asst. Prof. Rene Olate Alveal (GSSW)
PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
Research interests: International social and economic development; civil society
and nonprofit organizations; civic engagement, volunteerism and civic service;
community participation and capacity building; social services
Courses: The Social Welfare System
Olate’s previous teaching experience includes stints at the social work schools
of Washington University in St. Louis and Pontifica Universidad Catolica in his
native Chile. Since 2004, he has been conducting research on youth service in 12
Latin American countries, a project funded by the Ford Foundation and the Interamerican Development Bank. Olate also has worked as a teaching consultant,
resident coordinator and lecturer for the Social Development Institute (INDES)
in areas such as social management, social service delivery, and citizenship and
social participation.
—Sean Smith
“Welcome Additions,” an occasional feature, profiles new faculty members at
Boston College.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
february 14, 2008
PEOPLE
Newsmakers
•Several faculty members offered
comments to the media on Mitt
Romney’s withdrawal from the
presidential race: Moakley Professor of Political Science Kay
Schlozman in BostonNow: Prof.
Marc Landy (Political Science)
and Assoc. Prof. Robert Murphy
(Economics) in the Boston Herald;
and Prof. Alan Wolfe (Political
Science), director of the Boisi
Center for Religion and American Public Life, in the Salt Lake
Tribune.
•Assoc. Prof. Jeffrey Cohen
(CSOM) was interviewed for
CFO.com magazine on issues of
auditors and audit committees.
•Psychology Today featured research
by Prof. Lisa Feldman Barrett
(Psychology) on the neuroscience
of emotion.
•Adj. Assoc. Prof. Richard McGowan, SJ (CSOM), spoke with
the Boston Herald about anti-casino activism in Massachusetts.
•Lynch School of Education
Brennan Professor Andy Hargreaves published an op-ed in the
UK’s Times Education Supplement
on the need for a vision in educa-
tion.
•Prof. Stephen Pope (Theology)
discussed the emergence of “independent” Catholic communities like the American Catholic
Church of New England for a story that ran in the Boston Globe.
•The Spanish audiophile magazine Scherzo published a profile of
Adj. Assoc Prof. Michael Noone
(Music) highlighting his recording and conducting career as well
as his research on Renaissance
music.
Publications
•Prof. Charles Morris (Communication) served as guest editor
for “The AIDS Quilt at 20: Commemoration and Critique of the
Epidemic Text,” a special issue
of the journal Rhetoric & Public
Affairs.
•Adj. Assoc. Prof. Michael C.
Keith (Communication) published Radio Cultures: The Sound
Medium in American Life.
•Prof. Sharlene Hesse-Biber
(Sociology) was co-editor of The
Handbook of Emergent Methods in
Social Research.
Nota Bene
The Robsham Theater production “Metamorphoses,” directed by
Adj. Assoc. Prof. Luke Jorgensen ’91 (Theater), has won the Outstanding Creative Ensemble Award given by the Kennedy Center American
College Theatre Festival.
The award recognizes such elements as direction, acting, innovative
staging and overall unity and excellence of a production.
Jorgensen teaches classes in acting, theater history, and creative dramatics. His professional acting credits include roles in the films “School
Ties” and “Starving Artists.”
The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival is a national
organization promoting the pursuit of excellence and diversity in undergraduate theater around the country, and provides theater students with
opportunities to develop advanced skills and professional standards.
•Prof. Emeritus John F. Travers
(LSOE) recently co-authored
Children’s Literature: A Developmental Perspective.
•Prof. Beth Kowaleski Wallace
(English) published the essay
“Postcolonial Melancholia in Ian
McEwan’s Saturday” in Studies in
the Novel. She also edited the
section covering the 18th century period in Women’s Worlds:
The McGraw-Hill Anthology of
Women’s Writing.
•Collection Services Librarian
Brendan Rapple has published
The Rev. Charles Kingsley: An Annotated Bibliography of Secondary
Criticism.
Honors/Appointments
•Asst. Prof. Jonathan Laurence
(Political Science) was appointed
nonresident senior fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.
•Prof. Charles Morris (Communication) has been named by the
National Communication Association a visiting scholar for its
annual Doctoral Honors Conference, to be held in June at the
University of Alabama.
•James F. Cleary Professor of Finance Edward Kane has been
named the Midwest Finance
Association’s 2008 Distinguished
Scholar, and will deliver the keynote remarks at the association’s
57th annual meeting in San Antonio.
•Assoc. Prof. Eva Garroutte (Sociology) has been appointed to the
editorial boards of the American
Indian Quarterly and the Journal
of Native Health and Aging.
Students interested in working on an Undergraduate Government of Boston College campaign had the opportunity to “meet and greet” UGBC candidates at a reception held Jan. 31 in Higgins Hall. Approximately 100
students attended the event, sponsored by the Election Committee. (Photo by Christopher Huang)
Time and a Half
•Asst. Prof. Jonathan Laurence
(Political Science) presented a paper on “Extraparliamentary Interest Representation and Political
Moderation” at the MacMillan
Colloquium on Religion, Politics
and Society at Yale University.
•Prof. Donald Cox (Economics)
gave a public lecture titled “Evolutionary Thought and the Social
Science” at Swarthmore College.
•Asst. Prof. Lisa Fluet (English)
presented “Ben, in the Welfare
State” at the Doris Lessing Society’s panel at the Modern Language Association convention in
Chicago.
•Asst. Prof. Matteo Iacoviello
(Economics) presented “The Role
of Housing Collateral in an Estimated Two-Sector Model of the
US Economy” at the Allied Social Science Association Annual
Gallaugher
Takes MBA
Students for a
TechTrek
Assoc. Prof. John Gallaugher
(CSOM) and his class of MBA
students recently returned from
the fourth annual Graduate
TechTrek West, a two-week
crash course on the West Coast
tech world that takes them to
some of the most high profile
companies in the world, including Google, Microsoft and
Apple.
TechTrek has flourished, according to Gallaugher, because
of the commitment of the BC
alums working in the information technology sector who either host or connect the course
with companies leading the innovation economy.
“TechTrek is something special because our students get
to learn how businesses grow
from start-up to blue chip from
the organizations that support
them and finance them. You
go from start-ups with beanbag
chairs or lawn furniture in the
conference room all the way
to the geek Disneyland that is
Google.”
Company visits also included Amazon.com, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Genentech, Actuate, Tallwood Ventures, Cisco,
Cybersource, AT&T Wireless,
Intuit, Intel, eBay, Network
Appliance, and an exclusive
peek at MacWorld. Next up:
Undergraduates travel to the
Silicon Valley for spring vacation for their week-long TechTrek.
—Ed Hayward
Meetings in New Orleans.
•Assoc. Prof. Eva Garroutte
(Sociology) recently was invited
to present “Health Research in
American Indian Communities”
as part of a panel at Harvard University. She also gave an autobiographical talk at the University of
Colorado at Boulder as part of a
seminar series focusing on the life
stories of contemporary American
Indian leaders (A version of the
talk will appear as a feature story
in the Winter 2008 Boston College
Magazine).
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/:
Training and Communication
Specialist, Information Technology Services
Associate Director, Merchandising, BC Bookstore
Art Director, Office of Marketing Communications
Managing Editor, Center for
Catholic Education
Resident Director, Residential
Life
Grant Manager, Graduate School
of Social Work
HVAC Mechanic, Facilities Management
Administrative Assistant, Leadership Gifts, Development
Director, Annual Giving, Gasson
Society & Special Gifts, Marketing & Regional Development
Director, Capital Planning &
Engineering
Assistant Director, Residential
Life
Director, Admissions and Recruitment, STM Administration
Interlibrary Loan
O’Neill Library
Assistant,
Information & Program Specialist, Graduate School of Social
Work
Fiscal Coordinator (32 hours/
week), Weston Observatory
Investment Officer, Public Equities
Compensation Analyst, Human
Resources
Graphic Designer/Communication Specialist, Connell School
of Nursing
Job Coach, Lynch School of Education - Campus School
Audiovisual Archives Assistant,
Burns Library
Interns (various positions), Athletic Association
Staff Assistant, Sociology Department
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
february 14, 2008
LOOKING AHEAD
READINGS • LECTURES •
DISCUSSION
February 14
•“Mormons in American Politics,”
with Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School, noon, Boisi
Center for Religion and American
Public Life, 24 Quincy Road. Reservations required, call ext.2-1860,
richarsh@bc.edu.
•“A ‘New Freedom Movement of
Negro Women’: Sojourning for
Truth, Justice, and Human Rights
during the Early Cold War,” with
Erik McDuffie, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 4:30
p.m., Devlin 101. Call ext. 23238, e-mail mcateerm@bc.edu.
February 15
•“Turning Noise into Signal,”
with Lanbo Liu, University of
Connecticut, 4 p.m., Devlin 307,
call ext.2-3640, e-mail noah.snyder.1@bc.edu.
February 18
•Forum: “Take Heart: Catholic
Writers on Hope in Our Time,”
with Kevin Cullen, Clare Dunsford, Fr. Robert Imbelli, Colleen Griffith and moderator Ben
Birnbaum, 7 p.m., call ext.2-4576,
e-mail carlisll@bc.edu.
February 19
•PhD Colloquium: “Putting Your
Best Self Forward: Representing
Yourself in the Media,” with Jack
Dunn, Sally Millar and Judith
Shindul-Rothschild, 4:30 p.m.,
Murray Room, Yawkey Center.
See www.bc.edu/phdcolloquia,
call ext.2-4250, e-mail vitone@
bc.edu.
•“Terre et chair: Re-embodying Violence in Gisèle Pineau’s
Macadam Dreams,” with Régine
Jean-Charles, 4:30 p.m., Devlin
101. Call ext.2-3238, e-mail mcateerm@bc.edu.
•“SeVenn, EleVenn, and Beyond,” with Barry Cipra, Science
magazine, 5 p.m., Carney 103. See
B-I-N-G-O
www.bc.edu/schools/cas/math, email math@bc.edu.
February 20
•Globalization and Inequality Series: “Trade Imbalance: the Struggle to Weigh Trade and Human
Rights,” with Susan Aaronson,
George Washington University,
5 p.m., Devlin 101. Call ext.20740, e-mail mackayli@bc.edu.
•Lecture by journalist and author
Ted Conover, 7 p.m., Gasson 305.
E-mail Toepferj@bc.edu.
February 21
•“Only Draw in Your Countrymen: Akan Community and Culture in Colonial New York City,”
with Walter Rucker, Ohio State
University, 4:30 p.m., Devlin
101. Call ext.2-3238, e-mail mcateerm@bc.edu.
•“Social Contagion and Individual Health,” with Nicholas
Christakis, MD, Harvard Medical
School, 4:30 p.m., Higgins 300.
Call ext.2-3260, e-mail courtney.
luongo@bc.edu.
UNIVERSITY EVENTS
February 15
•American Cancer Society Relay
for Life, 6 p.m.-6 a.m. Feb. 16,
Flynn Recreation Complex. See
relay.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeNewEngland
Division?fr_id=7059&pg=entry.
February 18
•Opening reception for “Tree of
Paradisee: Jewish Mosaics from
the Roman Empire” exhibition at
McMullen Museum, 7 p.m.
MUSIC • ART • PERFORMANCE
February 16
•OLAA Presents: “Revelations,” 7
p.m., Robsham Theater, tickets
$10. See www.bc.edu/olaa, e-mail
igor.lima.1@bc.edu.
•Concert: “Dance II,” performance
by University Wind Ensemble,
8 p.m., Gasson 100. Call ext.2-
3018, e-mail gravessc@bc.edu.
February 17
•Concert: Boston College Symphony Orchestra, conducted by
John Finney, featuring Miguel
Garcia-Bender performing Bruch’s
“Violin Concerto in G Minor,”
3 p.m., Gasson 100. Call ext.26004, e-mail concerts@bc.edu.
February 19
•Concert: “The Idaho Set,” performed by BC bOp!, 8 p.m.,
Cabaret Room, Vanderslice Hall.
Call ext.2-3018, e-mail gravessc@
bc.edu.
•Music at St. Mary’s Series:
Adaskin String Trio performs
works of Mozart and Beethoven,
8 p.m., St. Mary’s Chapel. Call
ext.2-6004, e-mail concerts@
bc.edu..
February 21
•Film and discussion: “For The
Bible Tells Me So,” followed by
panel discussion with John Darr,
David Vanderhooft, Rev. Mary
Luti and Fr. Robert Bower, 6:30
p.m., Cushing 001. E-mail celso.
perez@bc.edu.
ATHLETICS
February 14
•Men’s basketball: BC vs. NC State, 7
p.m., Conte Forum.
February 15
•Men’s hockey: BC vs. UMass-Lowell, 7 p.m. Conte Forum.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
•“Boston Through the Eyes of Brehaut,” material from Ellerton J. Brehaut Bostonia Collection of Boston
and Boston history, Burns Library,
through March 30.
•“The Betrayal of Srebrenica: A Commemoration,” photo exhibition, Bapst
Art Library Gallery, through Feb. 29.
For more on Boston College events,
see events.bc.edu or check BCInfo
[www.bc.edu/bcinfo] for updates.
BC SCENES
Nights on the Heights and the Emerging Leadership Program sponsored an “Extreme Bingo” night Feb. 8 at The Chocolate
Bar in McElroy Commons. The event raised about $550 for the Travis Roy Foundation. (Photo by Christopher Huang)
A Play with Purpose
Robsham production has true-life story behind it
By Ed Hayward
Staff Writer
A deadly courthouse shooting in Atlanta in May 2005 dominated the
national news. But when Ashley Smith, a single mother held captive by
the alleged gunman, emerged unscathed from her suburban apartment
and called police, her account about using prayer and reflection to survive
shifted the story from the manhunt to something approaching a miracle.
On Feb. 20, the story takes the Robsham Theater stage in the play
“Ashley’s Purpose,” conceived and directed by Assoc. Prof. Scott T. Cummings (Theater).
“It struck me from the get-go as of tremendous interest,” says Cummings. “For me, the hook was the press conference. I’d watched the story
for two days over the weekend. It was one of those wall-to-wall, 24-hour
news stories.”
Smith was a 26-year-old
mother of a six-year-old
daughter. She was a widow. She was a drug addict.
Somehow, she had talked
and prayed her way to safety.
The play, which runs until
Feb. 24, explores Smith’s personal story and the many issues raised by the harrowing
events.
The 90-minute production is more “theatrical fantasy
than documentary realism,”
Cummings insists. The script
gathers writing and content
from a range of media, as
well as contributions from the “Ashley’s Purpose” director Scott Cumveteran theater students in the mings discusses dance sequences with
choreographer Amanda Engborg, ’08 durensemble cast.
The goal is to present an ing a rehearsal. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
original dramatic composition that raises questions about the ethics of
broadcast journalism, the presence of God in everyday life, the possibility
of starting your life over, and what it takes to be a mother, according to
Cummings.
“The Theater Department tries to serve a two-fold mission,” says
Cummings. “We want to provide the best possible theater experiences
for the campus community. We also want to provide a wide variety of
practical and artistic experiences for our students.”
Smith’s apartment became a focal point of the nation when Brian
Nichols allegedly took her hostage as he tried to evade one of the largest
manhunts in Atlanta history. Nichols was wanted for allegedly shooting
and killing four people and wounding a fifth after overpowering a deputy
sheriff while in court for a hearing. Nichols is awaiting the start of his
death-penalty trial, which is scheduled to begin this spring.
Following her ordeal, Smith met the media to explain what happened
during her captivity and why Nichols gave himself up to authorities the
next morning.
“On a storytelling level, the thing I found most astonishing was that
this woman spoke for 20-25 minutes without notes, without a question.
She brought the whole event to a stop,” says Cummings. “I can’t recall
another moment when anyone spoke for 25 minutes without interruption on TV news.”
That press conference and other multi-media content will be combined with the actors and stage to add a broad range of viewpoints that
shape the production.
The ensemble will be joined by the Voices of Imani, the University’s
gospel choir, making its debut in a theatrical drama, according to choir
director Rev. Hubert Walters.
“We haven’t done this before,” says Rev. Walters. “We are looking
forward to it and consider it quite special. The choir’s role doesn’t involve
just singing. It involves acting and movement and timing. It is a new experience for many members in the choir who have never performed this
way. We are having a lot of fun with the acting and the music.”
The play’s cast consists of seniors Meghan Hart, in the lead role of
Ashley, Jeff Augustin, Megan Green, Patrick Ryan, Jess Kelly, Laura
Murphy and junior David Bruin.
“It’s definitely been a different process playing someone who is an
actual person and still alive today,” says Hart. “At the beginning, I felt
nervous making clear-cut character choices. I didn’t know if I was doing
her justice. So I kept doing a lot of research.”
Hart says that the piece will challenge the audience, far more than the
television accounts from which much of the content is based.
“I think the audience is really going to be thrown for a loop,” says
Hart. “In the first 10 minutes of the show, so many elements of the play
come at you. You have to start piecing it together. Once the play settles,
you start to put together the story line and the pieces of the puzzles.”
“Ashley’s Purpose” will be performed at Robsham Theater Feb. 20-23 at
7:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. For more information, see http://www.
bc.edu/offices/robsham/currentseason/ashleyspurpose.html.