The Boston College
Chronicle
april 12, 2007-vol. 15 no. 15
Major Renovation Project
In the Works for Gasson
By Stephen Gawlik
Staff Writer
A view of Gasson Hall from the Quad. The building, the first Gothic-style structure
to be constructed on the Boston College Chestnut Hill Campus, will undergo major
exterior restoration starting April 17. Construction work will not take place during
Commencement and other selected periods or days. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Gasson Hall, the signature architectural edifice of Boston College that has stood atop Chestnut
Hill for some nine decades, will
undergo a comprehensive exterior
restoration beginning this spring.
Construction fences are expected
to be in place around Gasson starting next Tuesday, April 17, with
the initial phases of construction to
immediately follow. Construction
work will not take place during
study and exam days, Commencement and Alumni Weekend.
Parking will be affected near
Gasson and Lyons Hall and there
will be some traffic pattern changes
on Middle Campus, said Capital
Construction Director John Romeo. Details and updates will be
posted to BCInfo [www.bc.edu/
bcinfo] and the Facilities Management Web site [www.bc.edu/
offices/facilities/] as they become
available.
Romeo said the project, which
will likely take place in two phases
during the next several years, will
address numerous problems that
have resulted from nearly a century
of use and continual exposure to
various environmental conditions,
all of which have aged the building’s stone elements.
“The native Roxbury puddingstone remains in very good
condition but the more decorative
cast stone elements on Gasson’s
exterior are nearing the end of their
life expectancy and it’s time that
we addressed them,” said Project
Manager Jacob Mycofsky. “This
is a building with a lot of emo-
tional attachment to it. People love
Gasson, it’s the focal point of the
University and we’re going to bring
her back.”
Gasson Hall was the first Gothicstyle building to be constructed on
the Chestnut Hill Campus, originally occupied in 1913. Named
in honor of Rev. Thomas I. Gasson, SJ, president of Boston College from 1907-14, Gasson Hall
was originally called the Recitation
Building, then the Tower Building,
according to University Historian
Thomas H. O’Connor.
Mere stone and mortar it is not,
adds O’Connor, but rather a symbol of the University’s core values.
“That very element of the
‘Tower on the Heights’ typifies the
school’s motto of ‘Ever to Excel.’
Gasson was for so long the central
Continued on page 4
April 23 Forum Examines Faith and Politics
The national debate over
right-to-life and end-of-life issues,
as well as matters of morality,
family values and social justice
will be in the spotlight April 23
as two Catholic US senators —
and 2008 presidential contenders
— meet at Boston College for a
political discussion and debate
on the issue of faith and public
policy.
Senators Sam Brownback (RKansas) and Chris Dodd (DConnecticut) will represent a
spectrum of conservative and liberal views as they address the challenge of balancing dual loyalty to
the Church and to the American
people, as well as a range of hotbutton contemporary issues from
stem cell research, abortion and
euthanasia to gay marriage and
“just war,” among others, cast in
light of the relationship between
AT A GLANCE
Hockey heartbreak;
BC officer dies (page 3)
US Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.)
political decision-making and
Church teaching.
The event, titled “Catholic
Senators and Presidential Candidates: Their Faith and Public
Policy,” is free and open to the
public, and will be held at BC’s
Conte Forum at 7 p.m.
Moderating the discussion will
be Tim Russert, host of NBC’s
“Meet the Press” and political
analyst for “NBC Nightly News”
and the “Today” show.
Truman, Goldwater
scholars (page 4)
Ryan, above, sets historical
record straight (page 5)
At various times in his life a radio broadcaster, attorney, teacher
and administrator, Brownback
has been called “The Wilberforce
Republican” by The Economist,
while The New York Times described him as “one of the most
conservative, religious, fascinating
— and, in many ways, admirable
— politicians in America today.”
Brownback serves on the Senate Appropriations, Judiciary,
and Joint Economic committees.
He also serves in the Helsinki
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, co-chairs
Hugs Across a Distance
Freshman heads campus
outreach effort to US
military overseas
By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer
US Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
the Senate Cancer Coalition and
the Human Rights Caucus, chairs
the Senate Values Action Team
and is a founding member of the
Senate Fiscal Watch Team.
Dodd is perhaps best known
for his attention to children’s issues. He formed the first children’s caucus in the Senate and
spent almost a decade fighting
to enact the Family and MediTim Russert
“Hugs for Heroes” program creator Merielle Manzone ’10 speaks with ROTC cadets
Malcolm Ohl ’07, left, and Andrew Degiorgio ’07 during a recent collection of items to
be sent to American servicemen and women. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Continued on page 6
A collaborative effort by a patriotic Massachusetts freshman
who has organized a military
outreach campaign and a campus-based family support group,
along with logistic assistance from
Boston College’s Army ROTC
program and numerous employee
volunteers, has produced an outpouring of gifts and support for
American servicemen and women
stationed in Iraq.
More than 80 cartons – each
containing toiletries, personal
care items, individual snacks, batteries, sunscreen and other useful
but often short-supply items –
were sent from BC on March 30
to military units stationed in the
Middle East, including several
with University ROTC graduates and BC family members in
their ranks. The shipment was
the result of a brief but effective
“Hugs for Heroes” campus drive
to collect and forward the items
to military members serving in
the war zone.
The packages also carried dozens of letters and notes of support and encouragement for the
troops written by members of
the University community and
school children in Eastern Massachusetts.
A second “Hugs for Heroes”
campaign is being planned at BC
to coincide with Mother’s Day,
May 13.
Continued on page 5
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
april 12, 2007
The weather up there
Radio and TV weather forecasts tell us about heavy fog and
thunderstorms — and April
Nor’easters — and their impact
on ground and air travel. So in the
future might they also warn of unusual solar activity? One Boston
College scientist thinks it could,
and should, happen.
Patricia Doherty, co-director
of the Institute for Scientific Research at BC, was among several
scientists appearing last week at
a Washington press conference
to discuss the potentially harmful
impact of solar flares on the Global Positioning System (GPS).
The scientists spoke in particular about an unexpected solar
radio burst on Dec. 6 that affected
virtually every GPS receiver on the
lighted half of earth. Some receivers had a reduction in accuracy
while others completely lost the
ability to determine position.
Since, as Doherty and her
colleagues pointed out, the GPS
is used for navigating airplanes,
ships, and automobiles, transferring money between banks and
in operating cellphones, among
other things, the scenario exists
for solar activity to cause serious
disruption in everyday life.
Interviewed by Chronicle earlier
this week, Doherty said the time is
ripe — since the 11-year solar
cycle is at its lowest ebb — to educate society on the consequences
of space weather.
“As we become increasingly
reliant on space-based technolo-
Relay for Life: Can-do
Members of the Boston College community are gearing up
for this year’s All-University Relay
for Life, a popular benefit event
for the American Cancer Society
to be held April 20-21 at Harvard
University’s Gordon Track.
During the event, teams of people gather at schools, fairgrounds,
or parks and take turns walking
or running laps. Each team tries
to keep at least one team member
on the track at all times. Participants also honor survivors during
the Survivors Lap and remember
those who have died from cancer at the Luminaria Ceremony.
Some 200 Relays will be held in
New England this year.
Nearly 370 students, staff, faculty, alumni and others associated with BC have signed up for
the All-University Relay for Life,
and as of last week, BC teams
had raised more than $23,000.
Teams representing BU, Emerson
Harvard, Simmons, Lesley and
Northeastern, as well as local businesses, also are among those taking part in the event.
This year’s BC teams carry
AROUND
CAMPUS
gies, it’s not unrealistic to expect
daily ‘space weather’ forecasts,”
she explained. “These forecasts
may be able to predict impending
disruptions to systems in response
to a solar flare, solar radio burst
or a coronal mass ejection. This
information may become increasingly important as we reach higher
levels of solar activity.”
Doherty said last week’s press
conference was an example of how
to promote awareness of space
weather’s importance to the public, as well as government agencies
and industries that directly or indirectly utilize satellite and space
technology. The Dec. 6 solar
event also points up the need for
more research on improving GPS
receiver design and on the power
of solar radio bursts, she said.
But Doherty says not to get
overly worried if the idea of solar
bursts affecting the GPS conjures
up the plot for a made-for-TV
disaster movie. While such an
event might cause problems for
the systems, she says, it wouldn’t
be “total chaos,” especially as GPS
designs are tweaked to compensate for solar bursts.
“In the future, I expect it will
be a ‘systems down’ type of reaction. Operational systems such as
oceanic vessels and aircraft navigation will have to revert to older,
less efficient backup systems and
wait for a return to normal operations. This may be the first time
you hear: ‘Flight delays due to
space weather.’ Personally, I’d
rather enjoy that.”
—SS
colorful names such as “Balding
Eagles,” “Eagle Squad,” “Team
Spoonfest” and “Running on
Faith.” Another is “Cans for
Cancer,” an ongoing enterprise
of Boston College Police Officer
Stephen Bianchi.
Bianchi, whose son Danny has
been battling cancer, last year took
over a defunct area bottle and cancollection operation that donated
deposits on the containers to cancer organizations. Since then, Bianchi reports, Cans for Cancer has
been the recipient of outstanding
generosity, notably from the BC
community: “I have two 45-gallon containers with me and am
filling them up daily, including on
my days off.”
This year, Bianchi has decided
to move all the donations from
the Cans program to support Relay for Life.
For information on Cans for
Cancer and the other BC teams
participating in Relay for Life,
see the event home page at www.
kintera.org/faf/home/default.
asp?ievent=206374, and click on
the link for “Boston College.”
—SS
Suzanne Camarata
The student group SIESTA (Sisters Influencing and Empowering Sisters Through Assembly) sponsored a benefit
fashion show in O’Connell House on March 30 with proceeds going to fund a local battered women’s shelter.
Among those who modeled clothing — all donated by area stores for the event — was Purvi Patel ’09.
Room to grow
A Boston College student-run
program designed to inspire the
next generation of women scientists
has expanded this year to North
Cambridge Catholic and Boston
Latin high schools.
Now in its second year, “Women in Science and Technology” is
bringing together 24 female students
from Boston-area high schools for
research, lectures, field trips, and the
opportunity to meet mentors and
role models from scientific disciplines. Among the participants this
year are 11 students from North
Cambridge Catholic, six from Boston Latin, four from Braintree High
and three from Trinity Catholic in
Newton.
The month-long Saturday series,
which began March 17 and ends this
weekend, is offered free of charge to
participants, and showcases in particular the impact of women in the
sciences and current opportunities
for women in the field.
Seventeen women students at
BC have volunteered their time to
help with the project. They include
senior Kate Pierce, a biochemistry major and one of two students
running the program. Pierce, who
hopes to become a science teacher
after she graduates in May, said she
is thrilled that North Cambridge
Catholic and Boston Latin opted
to send students this year in addition to Braintree High and Trinity
Catholic.
“To me, this program is about
giving women more opportunities
and showing that women can succeed in these fields even though in
the past they have been male-dominated,” Pierce said. “But it’s also
about offering opportunities for underprivileged students to do things
that they wouldn’t normally do in
their high schools, such as conducting experiments in BC’s world-class
laboratories.”
Pierce said the high school students have conducted research involving DNA forensics, polymers,
and protein purification, among
other areas. Scheduled field trips for
the group included outings to the
Weston Observatory and the DanaFarber Cancer Institute.
—GF
CSOM Rises in Grad Rankings
The Carroll School of Management ranks 39th among the nation’s top business schools, according to a recent US News & World
Report survey, “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”
CSOM, which placed 41st in last year’s rankings, tied with the
University of Notre Dame Mendoza School. The schools listed by
US News represent the top 10 percent of the nation’s 407 accredited MBA programs.
In addition, the Law School was ranked among the top 10 legal
writing programs in the country by faculty in the field, and the
Connell School of Nursing pediatric nurse practitioner program
also placed in the top 10 nationally.
The Graduate School of Social Work was 24th in the US News
rankings of social work programs that were published in the graduate school guide, although these were last compiled in 2004.
—Office of Public Affairs
The Boston College
Chronicle
Director of Public Affairs
Jack Dunn
Deputy Director of
Public AFFAIRS
Patricia Delaney
Editor
Sean Smith
Contributing Staff
Greg Frost
Stephen Gawlik
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
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Electronic editions of the Boston
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T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
april 12, 2007
NCAA Hockey Championship
By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer
After the Boston College men’s
hockey team lost a 3-1 heartbreaker
to Michigan State in the NCAA
championship game Saturday
night, head coach Jerry York walked
into a disconsolate post-game locker
room.
“We told our kids that when
you sign up to play for a team – like
Boston College hockey – there are
no guarantees that you are going to
win a championship,” said York in
an interview Monday. “All that we
can guarantee is that we will work
hard and we will all be a part of a
terrific team.
“You sign up to play and there’s
going to be one winner at the end.”
In that end, it was a basic hockey
mistake that cost the talented Eagles
a chance to win the national ice
hockey crown against the defensiveminded Spartans.
Boston College – in the “Frozen
Four” championship finals for the
second consecutive year – had been
leading MSU 1-0 until late in the
third period of Saturday’s game.
The Spartans managed to tie the
score late in the game and a sudden
death overtime session loomed.
With 40 seconds left in regulation, the Eagles gathered the puck
and prepared to storm the Michigan State goal, likely for the final
time. That’s when disaster struck.
“We had numbers on the rush,”
said York. “We had four against
their three.
“But we turned the puck over
right at the blue line and they came
back on us three-one-one. One of
the axioms of hockey is that you
never turn the puck over at your
offensive blue line.”
Photos courtesy of BC
Athletic Association
Above, Coach
Jerry York confers with his
players during
Saturday night’s
NCAA championship game in St.
Louis, which BC
lost 3-1. Right, the
team commiserates following
the defeat.
With the puck back in the BC
zone, Michigan State’s Justin Abdelkader poked home the winning
goal with just 18.9 seconds left in
regulation time. “I was at the right
place at the right time,” Abdelkader
admitted later.
An empty net goal with 1.7 seconds remaining provided the final
margin of defeat for the Eagles.
“I really thought that 1-0 was
going to win it,” said York. “Everything was in place.
“Overall it was a real good run
for our club. You just don’t parachute into the championship game.
You’ve got to win the NCAA regionals then you have to win the
first game of the Frozen Four.”
The Eagles did all of that and
more, collecting 29 victories on the
season, the Hockey East Tournament championship, regional tournament victories over St. Lawrence
and Miami of Ohio, and a classic
6-4 victory over North Dakota in
the national semifinal. The Eagles
built a string of 13 consecutive victories leading up to the final game,
the longest winning skein in York’s
35-year head coaching career.
“We accomplished all of that,”
laments York, “but just came up
one goal short.
“But we’re mature enough to
handle it. We’re really proud of the
run that we made from the Beanpot
on.”
Professor to Aid Terrorism Study
By Greg Frost
Staff Writer
The old job-hunting phrase
“It’s not what you know, it’s who
you know” may be relevant to
fighting terrorism and halting the
spread of weapons of mass destruction, as far as one Boston College
faculty member is concerned.
A US government agency recently awarded $450,000 to a team
of Boston-area whizzes including
Prof. Steve Borgatti (CSOM) to
study whether the science of social
networks can be used to disrupt
terror plots involving WMDs.
Borgatti, an expert in social
network analysis, will work with
scientists at Woburn-based technology firm Aptima to devise an
integrated theory of how social
networks function.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which is funding the
three-year research project, hopes
Borgatti’s theory may lead to a
model that could someday help
the US identify and disrupt networks that threaten to use nuclear,
biological or chemical weapons.
Borgatti, a member of the Car-
Prof. Steve Borgatti (CSOM)
roll School of Management’s Organization Studies Department,
said the science of social networking has been around for decades,
drawing on concepts from social
psychology, anthropology, sociology, mathematics and physics.
But it has come of age in the
last 10 years as organizations
try to become more innovative
and efficient by leveraging social
ties between individuals. Social
networks are also at the root of
popular online communities like
MySpace and Facebook.
Borgatti said the science of social network analysis can theoretically be applied to terrorist groups,
which, like many organizations,
rely on relationships in order to
get things done. It’s just that, in
many cases, terror organizations
use different organizational structures than those familiar to big US
institutions.
“In many ways, terrorists are
like open-source software groups,”
Borgatti said. “Somehow they
self-organize themselves in ways
that allow them to get things done
faster than a comparable group like
Microsoft can get things done.
“It’s a way of organizing that is
non-traditional, but it works,” he
said. “We have to figure out how
you make it work less well.”
As Borgatti works on developing an integrated theory of how
social networks work, Aptima’s
engineers will try to adapt the
theory to a computer model that
would be able to understand and
control WMD scenarios.
A funeral Mass was celebrated
at St. Mary’s Church in Franklin
on Tuesday for Boston College
Patrol Officer and Emergency
Medical Technician Thomas E.
Devlin, who died April 6 after a
lengthy battle with a lung ailment
believed to have resulted from
exposure to a tear gas leak in Edmonds Hall nearly 20 years ago.
Officer Devlin, who began
working at BC in 1983, was 51.
In September of 1988, an unknown person discharged a tear
gas canister in the ventilation system of Edmonds Hall, causing
the evacuation of 800 resident
students. Twenty-four students,
five Boston College police officers,
including Officer Devlin, and two
Boston firefighters were treated at
area hospitals for injuries suffered
in the incident.
In the years following the incident, Officer Devlin was hospitalized several times with viral
infections caused by exposure to
the chemical substance.
But Officer Devlin remained
on the BC Police Department
force. An avid bicyclist who participated in bike-a-thons for many
charitable causes, he helped found
the BCPD’s Mountain Bike Patrol Unit.
When in May of 1999, an unattended candle caused a fire in a
third-floor Ignacio Hall room, Officer Devlin — despite his chronic
lung condition — rushed toward
the blaze and helped evacuate
students. He had to be hospitalized but was discharged within a
couple of days.
“He was a great guy, everything
you would want in a police officer,
File photo by Gary Gilbert
BC Officer Loses Long
York Reflects on Eagles’ Tough Loss Battle with Lung Ailment
Thomas E. Devlin
and more,” said Boston College
Police Chief Robert Morse. “Mike
worked so hard to stay ahead
of the illness that dogged him.
He always gave 120 percent, and
sometimes you had to tell him,
‘Just give me 100 percent.’”
Officer Devlin retired from the
BCPD in March of 2004. A native of Blackstone, he was a recipient of the Massachusetts Association of Colleges and Universities
Public Safety Association Special
Recognition Award for special efforts in law enforcement and contributions to the professionalism
of campus police.
Officer Devlin is survived by
his wife, Patricia, and daughter,
Christine, of Franklin; his parents,
Thomas Sr. and Margaret, and
brother, Michael, all of Blackstone; his sisters, Catherine Gongoleski of North Smithfield, RI,
and Mary Wright of Mahopac,
NY, and several nieces and nephews.
Burial took place in St. Mary’s
Cemetery.
—Sean Smith
BC: A Parents’ ‘Dream College’
Boston College has placed sixth among the top 10 “dream colleges” parents wish their children would attend, according to the
latest annual survey by The Princeton Review. BC was seventh on
the list last year.
The New York-based education services company recently announced the latest results of the “College Hopes & Worries Survey”
it has conducted among college applicants and their parents since
2003. The survey also identified the “dream college” of both students and parents.
The 12-question survey ran in The Princeton Review “Best 361
Colleges: 2007 Edition” book and on www.PrincetonReview.com,
at which a complete report on the findings is posted.
In tallies of the survey’s only fill-in-the-blank question, “What
‘dream college’ would you most like to attend (or see your child attend) if acceptance or cost weren’t issues?,” the schools parents most
named were: Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Brown, Notre Dame,
Boston College, MIT, Northwestern, Yale and Georgetown.
The top schools cited by students were: New York University
(for the third consecutive year, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, UCLA, Brown, Georgetown and Penn.
Among its other findings for student and parents respondents
combined, the survey reported that only nine percent said the key
factor in deciding which college they/their child will attend will be
the one “with the best academics” and only eight percent said “the
most affordable” college. While 30 percent will choose the college
“best for career interests,” 53 percent said they’ll pick the school
that’s “the best overall fit.”
The Princeton Review is known for its test-prep courses, college
and grad school admission services, books and education programs.
It is not affiliated with Princeton University or ETS.
—Office of Public Affairs
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
april 12, 2007
Truman, Goldwater Honors for Students
By Sean Smith
Chronicle Editor
Romero Scholarship winner Genoveva Abreu dances with her mother at the
March 24 Romero Awards Banquet. (Photo by Joan Seidel)
University Presents Romero
and Fr. Dineen Awards
A Boston College junior and
student leader who is planning
a career as a math teacher is the
winner of the 2007 Oscar Romero
Scholarship.
Genoveva Abreu was awarded
the scholarship, which is equal to
three-quarters of a year’s tuition,
at the annual Romero Scholarship
Awards Banquet held March 24 in
the Yawkey Athletics Center.
The award is given annually to
the junior who best represents the
ideals and values of Archbishop
Romero, an activist for the poor in
El Salvador who was assassinated
in 1980 while celebrating Mass.
A native of the Dominican
Republic, Abreu is a McNair
Scholar and a mathematics major
in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has been active in a
number of international and local
service programs throughout her
undergraduate career, including
the Organization for Latin American Affairs. She is a student leader
for the Dominican Service Trip
and has also volunteered through
PULSE to teach GED students.
Abreu plans to become a teacher of mathematics in an urban area
and hopes she will inspire her students, “as Archbishop Romero has
done for me,” to “set the world
aflame.”
Also recognized at the March
24 event was Patricia Arredondo
’73, university dean of student
affairs at Arizona State University, who received the 2007 John
Dineen, SJ, Hispanic Alumni
Community Service Award.
Arrendondo began her academic career with the University
of New Hampshire and Boston
University. At BU, she developed
a bilingual-bicultural counselor
training program to better serve
the counseling needs of linguistic minority, immigrant students.
From 1985-1999, she served as
president of Empowerment Workshops Inc., in Boston, a consulting
firm focusing on workforce diversity.
While in Boston, Arrendondo
served on the board of directors of
social service organizations such as
Parents’ and Children’s Services,
the Freedom House, INROADS
of New England, and the Latino
Professional Network. For her
exceptional entrepreneurial and
civic initiatives, she received the
prestigious Pinnacle Award from
the Boston Chamber of Commerce.
—Stephen Gawlik
Gasson Renovation Set
Continued from page 1
focus of campus and I still contend
that it is the heart of Boston College.”
Today the building contains the
office of the Dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences, the A&S Honors
Program and the Irish Room, originally the University’s assembly hall,
which currently serves as a center
for special events. The upper floors
contain numerous classrooms.
The upcoming project calls for
the rebuilding or replacement of all
deteriorated elements to replicate
the original building. This will include the four spires, crenulations,
structural and ornamental components, roofs, tower landings and
all windows. Masonry work, consisting of Roxbury puddingstone
and cast stone, will be repointed
throughout the building.
The first, and most complex,
phase of the project will concentrate on the Gasson Tower, said
Mycofsky. All its cast stone pieces
will be removed and measured to
determine what their original shapes
were, and a drawing will be made
of each. After the architect and
conservator review and approve the
drawings, a mold will be formed by
the cast stone manufacturer who
will create the new pieces.
Part of the project’s challenges
lies in hiring the best team that can
replicate the kind of skilled masonry work that was more common
when Gasson’s construction began
in 1909, said Mycofsky. Construction techniques have changed over
time and firms that can reproduce
Two Boston College undergraduates — one an aspiring cancer researcher, the other a child of
refugees who plans to be an international human rights lawyer — have
won prestigious fellowships.
Kuong Ly ’08, a philosophy and
studio art major who was born in a
Vietnamese refugee camp, has been
selected to receive a Truman Scholarship, which is given to college
students seeking to attend graduate
school in preparation for careers in
government or elsewhere in public
service. Ly is the only Massachusetts resident to earn a Truman this
year.
Ryan Heney ’08, a native of Essex, Vt., majoring in chemistry, was
chosen for a Goldwater Scholarship,
awarded to those students planning
to enter the scientific, mathematical
and engineering fields.
Assoc. Prof. Kenji Hayao (Political Science), who nominated Ly for
the Truman award, said Ly’s parents were from Cambodia, but fled
the country in 1979 to escape the
Khmer Rouge regime. Two of Ly’s
older siblings died from starvation,
and no members of his extended
family survived the genocide. With
the help of the United Nations
High Commissioner on Refugees
(UNHCR), the family relocated
to Massachusetts in 1990, and Ly
eventually graduated from Lexington High School.
Ly’s career goal is to become an
international human rights lawyer,
with a focus on helping refugees
— especially those who have been
traumatized by their experiences
fleeing from mass violence — and
ultimately to work as a legal adviser
with the UNHCR. Ly plans to use
his Truman Scholarship to obtain a
law degree and a Masters in human
rights.
“The Truman Scholarship will
allow me to address the social and
ethical responsibilities and challenges raised by efforts to protect refugee
human rights and helping victims of
trauma,” said Ly, who is studying in
China this semester at Beijing Uni-
“This is a building with a
lot of emotional attachment
to it. People love Gasson,
it’s the focal point of the
University and we’re going
to bring her back.”
— Jacob Mycofsky
Gasson’s cast stone elements are few
and far between.
To accurately assess the building’s needs, a detailed investigation of Gasson’s problems and
their causes was completed last fall.
This allowed the design phase to
be finished in December by an
architectural and engineering team
Truman Scholarship winner Kuong Ly,
above, and Ryan Heney, who has been
awarded a Goldwater Scholarship.
(Heney photo by Lee Pellegrini)
versity. “The scholarship will also
allow me to be part of a community
of like minded individuals who see
problems in society and are willing
to challenge the status quo.”
Among other honors, Ly has
received the Amnesty International Patrick Stewart Human Rights
Scholarship, which he used to develop the “Remember Cambodia
Project” in 2005 to commemorate
the 30th anniversary of the Cambodian genocide. Last year, he was
one of two BC students to receive
the International Institute of Public
Policy Fellowship, which helps students prepare for careers in international affairs.
Ly is conducting research with
the Harvard Program in Refugee
Trauma, and developing a guide in
Khmer and English as a means to
improve mental health resources for
Cambodians in the United States
and abroad. He also has been active in neighborhood revitalization
efforts in Boston’s Chinatown community.
Said Ly: “I owe a lot of my
success in winning the Truman
Scholarship and other national fellowships to my professors, to wonderful individuals I work with at
the Harvard Program in Refugee
Trauma and at the Asian Community Development Corporation, my
close friends and most importantly,
my family.”
Heney’s career ambition is to
obtain an MD/PhD in oncology
and pursue cancer research, primarily in the development of novel
treatments and highly specific anticancer drugs. He has worked in the
laboratories of Vanderslice Professor
of Chemistry T. Ross Kelly and
Prof. Evan Kantrowitz (Chemistry),
and last summer took part in the
Applied Biosciences Research Experience for Undergraduates Program
at MIT.
“The sciences, and particularly
the Chemistry Department, have
been incredibly good to me throughout the course of my time here,”
said Heney, who recently returned
from studying in Ireland. “We are
extremely lucky here at BC to have
very approachable, personable, caring professors. My professors have
always been very accessible and eager to lend further explanation of
tricky subject matter. I feel that this
has been of utmost importance to
my educational experience.”
Heney expressed his gratitude
to Kelly and Kantrowitz for giving him the opportunity to work
and learn in their laboratories, adding “The graduate students under
whose direct tutelage I have worked
have been incredibly helpful and
patient with me, and for that I am
very grateful.”
A Dean’s Scholar, Heney has
been active in the Emerging Leader
Program and the Appalachia Volunteers Program, spending the
2005 spring break at a service site
in Kentucky.
headed by McGinley, Kaslow and
Associates, LLP. Mycofsky said the
process required the engineers to
rappel down the face of the building
while using small tablet computers
to help document the condition of
each stone.
The design and engineering team
engaged the services of well-known
stone conservator Ivan Myjer, representing the firm of Building &
Monument Conservation. Myjer
has led many significant projects
for the preservation of historic stone
structures including the Holder
Tower at Princeton University, the
Cooper Union Foundation Building in New York City, Boston Public Library and the Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum in Boston.
“When this project gets underway, it will be one of the biggest
cast stone projects in America,” said
Mycofsky.
Gasson’s puddingstone façade
was quarried right out of Chestnut
Hill, and Mycofsky says the project may entail using some of the
same rock currently found around
campus. About one percent of the
puddingstone will be replaced and
95 percent of the cast stone.
The famous four bells housed
in Gasson Tower will — for the
first time in history — have to
be silenced to accommodate crews
working at the higher elevations.
The building’s clock will also be
overhauled and repaired.
Mycofsky said that while the
exterior needs attention, he was delighted to learn that the building’s
structure and interior is in better
shape than expected.
“They went over each and every
stone to determine the building’s exact needs,” said Mycofsky. “When
this exterior restoration project has
been completed, Gasson Hall will
be ready for another 100 years.”
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
april 12, 2007
BC Student Organizes
Collection for Military
Associate Dean for Student Development D. Michael Ryan in colonial garb. (Photo by Gary Gilbert)
Revolutionary Thinking
D. Michael Ryan wants to set the record straight on one of the most
important events in American history (are you listening, Mel Gibson?)
world of 18th century Americans
to future generations of history
students.
He profiles a variety of residents of the Concord-Lexington
area as the basis for his work,
among them children, servants,
preachers and widows, as well
as the more commonly featured
“Minuteman” citizen-soldiers and
British commanders. “My goal
is for the reader to know what
the average person was like back
then,” Ryan says. “I want you to
say to yourself, ‘That could have
been me.’”
that shaped the events at Concord
and Lexington on April 19, 1775.
Among these is the story of a large
D. Michael Ryan cringes every
unit of British Regulars — the
time he hears the line from the
10th Light Infantry Regiment
popular poem about Paul Revere’s
— that was marching to the Confamous ride: “One if by land, two
cord area, when the unit’s officers
if by sea.”
decided “to stop at a local tavern
Contrary to accepted lore, Ryan
for a beverage,” Ryan says.
notes, the lantern signals were not
While the soldiers were relaxsent to Revere; they were sent by
ing, shots were fired at Concord’s
Revere to colonists watching in
North Bridge and hostilities beCharlestown in the event Revere’s
gan. Ryan maintains that if the
river crossing was unsuccessful.
125-man British unit had arrived
“Longfellow wasn’t necesin Concord on time, their omisarily concerned about history,”
nous presence in battle formation
sniffs Ryan, associate
could have caused
dean in the Office of
the local militia to
Student
Developflee before any shots
“I dislike revisionist history,” says Ryan,
ment, life-long history
were
exchanged.
buff and Revolution“We probably never
who once gave Mel Gibson “an earful”
ary War reenactor for
would have had the
about inaccuracies in “The Patriot” when
the past 30 years. “He
fight at the bridge,”
was concerned about
he says.
the actor visited Concord.
rhyming couplets. He
Instead, a group
couldn’t say ‘two if by
of British Army
river’ because it doesn’t
soldiers cobbled to“‘Oh, it’s Hollywood. It’s entertainment,’”
rhyme. Revere never
gether from various
Gibson replied.
rowed across the sea.
units garrisoned in
He rowed across the
Boston were left to
Charles River.”
face the rebelling
Ryan says modcolonists at North
ern depictions of the
Bridge. One of the
American Revolution
Redcoat command— which began 232 years ago
In doing this, Ryan is able to ers there was Major John Pitcairn,
this month — are not very accu- debunk several myths that have a British marine, who was likely
rate. “The movie ‘The Patriot’ was emerged over the 232 years that unfamiliar with army tactics, Ryan
horrible from an historical point the story of the “shot heard ’round says. Pitcairn, according to Ryan,
of view,” he says. He was thus the world” has been told and “went on to make one of the first
surprised one day several years ago retold.
major errors in judgment of the
when “Patriot” star Mel Gibson
“I dislike revisionist history,” day,” and war was the result.
and his family visited Concord’s Ryan says. “A lot of it concernRyan’s book has been made reOld North Bridge while Ryan ing the Revolutionary War came quired reading for volunteers and
was on duty portraying an 18th out at two different times in our workers at the Minuteman Nacentury character.
history. When you look at many tional Park, where Ryan — who
“I gave him an earful about towns in Massachusetts, you see is retiring from BC at the end of
historical accuracy and how it re- that their first histories were writ- the summer — says he works 700
ally irked me that people took the ten in the 1820s when America to 800 hours a year as a volunteer
licenses they did. He just said, was trying to find itself and really interpreter and reenactor. He es‘Oh, it’s Hollywood. It’s enter- decide who it was.
timates that he has written more
tainment,’” Ryan recalls.
“The other time, unfortunate- than 70 articles on life and events
“There’s nothing wrong with ly, was during the Bicentennial in the Concord-Lexington area
fiction as long as people know it’s when people were trying to put at the start of the Revolutionary
fiction.”
information together quickly and War.
To help set the story straight really weren’t doing the research,”
“I want teachers and students
on the beginnings of the Revo- he says. “You came up with all to be able to read it, too,” Ryan
lutionary War Ryan has written kinds of weird stories that just says of his book, “particularly the
a book, Concord and the Dawn of were not correct. My goal was to chapters about people of color,
Revolution: The Hidden Truths, be as honest as possible, as close women and children, so that they
that not only has become a best to the truth as possible and do the can get a perspective on people
selling volume in the locale of the research.”
other than the Minutemen, who
birthplace of the American RevoRyan points out a number of were doing other things.”
lution, but opens the day-to-day interesting but little-known facts
By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer
Continued from page 1
“It’s a wonderful thing for
people to do,” says Army Capt.
Brett Tashiro, assistant professor
of military science in ROTC. “It’s
setting the politics aside and just
taking care of people. We have
put our young men and women
in a tough position over there,”
Tashiro notes, “and this is a good
way to show them that they are
still on our minds.”
“Hugs for Heroes” is a project
started by BC freshman Merielle
Manzone of Dover, who began
enlisting support for service members during her sophomore year
in high school. While attending a
youth conference in Washington,
DC, that year, Manzone says she
heard an Iraq war veteran remark
that “Mail day was the loneliest day of the week for a lot of
soldiers. Most would get nothing
– not a package, not a letter.
“I figured that these people are
over there sacrificing so much for
us, and it just broke my heart,”
she says. Manzone began collecting toiletries and baked goods
from her neighbors and placed a
donation box at her school, Noble
and Greenough in Dedham. Her
first shipment of “care packages”
was mailed to Iraq in the fall of
2004.
When Manzone arrived at Boston College last fall, she brought
the “Hugs” project with her. “I
asked my residence director in
Keyes Hall if I could do a note
drive. We wound up with 800
notes. I knew from that point it
would be something that could
succeed here.”
Manzone also established ties
with BC’s Army ROTC detachment, obtaining the names of BC
grads in service who might appreciate getting packages for distribution to their units.
Recently, Manzone was introduced to members of the campusbased Iraq/Afghanistan Support
Group that includes members of
the University community who
have children, relatives or friends
serving or who have previously served in the military in the
Middle East. The group quickly
embraced her idea.
“When we heard about it, we
said ‘Let’s do it,’” says Pat Touzin,
director of the University’s Faculty/Staff Assistance Program, who
helped launch the support group.
Touzin said a member of the
group then presented the “Hugs”
idea to the Staff Advisory Senate. “They responded immediately
and helped put collection boxes in
offices all over campus.”
Contributions poured in.
ROTC cadets and employee volunteers sorted, packed and prepared the items for mailing to the
forces in the field.
“It makes me feel so appreciative, it means so much,” says
Gail Howe, a Web specialist in
the University Provost’s Office,
whose son Michael is preparing to
deploy to Iraq this summer with
a Navy construction battalion. “It
means that they care. It means so
much to a parent that somebody
cares.”
More than 100 neck coolers
were included in the “Hugs for
Heroes” shipment, each handsewn by Howe or one of her
friends. The bandanna-like coolers contain pockets of absorbent
polymers and when the cloth is
soaked in water, it provides heat
relief to the wearer for several
hours.
“The whole goal of this is to
remind our soldiers and Marines
that we do love them and there are
people back here who recognize
their sacrifice,” Manzone says.
Master Sgt. Ted Carlin, a 24year Army veteran and a senior
military instructor in the BC
ROTC group, knows just how
much items sent from home can
mean to a soldier in a combat
venue. “When I was deployed to
Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf
War, I received a package from my
Mom back in western New York
that arrived a week before Thanksgiving. It had a small canned ham
and other food items.
“I waited until Thanksgiving
came, and wound up eating the
food while I was in an observation
post in a bunker in the middle of
the desert just south of the Iraqi
border,” he says, recalling how he
savored the impromptu holiday
feast.
“It’s one of those things that
sticks in your head even more
than the missions you were on, or
direct fire or any of the other sorts
of things you think would stand
out in your memory.”
Graduate Students Seeking
Donations for ‘Give Back Day’
Members of the Law Student and the Graduate Student associations of Boston College will visit University offices and departments tomorrow, April 13, to collect non-perishable food items,
which will be donated to Catholic Charities of Boston.
The food drive is part of a larger service effort, Grad Students Give Back Day: More than 100 graduate students will be
volunteering their time that day, taking part in various projects
which include a clean up of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, as well
as working with agencies serving the elderly and persons with
addictions.
More information on the food drive is available through the
Volunteer and Service Learning Center, at www.bc.edu/offices/
service/ or ext.2-1317.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
april 12, 2007
April 18 talk on US-Saudi relations
The Middle Eastern and Islamic
Studies Program will sponsor the
lecture “Saudi Politics and US-Saudi
Relations Since 9/11” by Middle East
expert F. Gregory Gause on April 18
from 4:30-6 p.m. in Devlin 008.
Gause, an associate professor of
political science at the University
of Vermont, teaches and pursues
research interests in international
relations and Middle Eastern politics.
He is the author of numerous articles
and the books Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in
the Arab Gulf States and Saudi-Yemini Relations: Domestic Structures
and Foreign Influence.
For more information, call ext.2-4170
or send e-mail to baileyk@bc.edu.
Author and former Marine Fick
speaks April 19
Nathaniel Fick, author of One Bullet
Away: The Making of a Marine Corps
Officer, will present “Leading from
the Front: Lessons from Afghanistan
and Iraq” on April 19 from 7–8:30
p.m. in the Murray Room of the
Yawkey Center.
Fick draws on his experience as an
elite Marine Recon officer — who
led platoons in Afghanistan and Iraq,
and brought all his men home safely
— to explore the challenges of
building consensus, the relationship
between authority and responsibility,
and the absolute importance of ethics in all good decision-making.
His appearance is part of the
Chambers Lecture Series for Undergraduates sponsored by the Winston
Center for Leadership and Ethics. For
information, call ext.2-9296 or send
e-mail to winston.center@bc.edu.
Chorale spring concert is April 21
The University Chorale of Boston
College will present its spring concert on April 21 at 8 p.m. in Trinity
Chapel on Newton Campus.
Conducted by John Finney, the chorale will perform Beethoven’s “Mass
in C.”
Tickets are $10, $5 with BC ID. For
more information, call ext.2-2306 or
e-mail chorale@bc.edu.
Panel to discuss JewishRussian literature
Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer, chair of
the Slavic and Eastern Languages
Department, will be part of the panel
discussion “Jewish-Russian Literature from the Age of Alexander I to
the Age of Putin” taking place April
22 at 3 p.m. in the Fulton Hall Honors
Library.
Shrayer, co-chair of the BC Jewish
Studies Program, will be joined by
Brandeis University faculty members Antony Polonsky, the Albert
Abramson Professor of Holocaust
Studies, and ChaeRan Yoo Freeze,
associate professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. Executive
Director of Marketing Communications and Special Assistant to the
President Ben Birnbaum will serve as
moderator.
The event will commemorate the
publication of An Anthology of Jewish-Russian Literature: Two Centuries
of Dual Identity in Prose and Poetry,
edited by Shrayer.
For more information, e-mail andrewma@bc.edu.
Irish Programs Director a ‘Top Irish American’ for 2007
It’s becoming difficult to find
someone with an Irish background
at Boston College who hasn’t yet
been honored by Irish America
Magazine.
The international publication
has included University Professor
of History Thomas Hachey, the
executive director of BC’s Center
for Irish Programs, among its Top
100 Irish Americans — an annual
salute to Americans in politics, the
arts, business, service and other
fields for their contributions to
the Irish community as a whole.
Hachey joins University President William P. Leahy, SJ, Burns
Librarian Robert O’Neill, Irish
Studies Music Programs Director Seamus Connolly and former Irish Institute Director Mary
O’Herlihy as among those who
have been previously lauded by
Irish America. The magazine also
named the late Adele Dalsimer,
co-founder and co-director of
BC’s Irish Studies Program, as an
“honorary Irish-American” for its
top 100 list in 1996.
Since arriving at BC in 2000,
Hachey has overseen the direction of all the University’s many
Irish-related initiatives including
the Irish Institute, the Irish Studies Program, the renowned Burns
Library’s Irish collections, and
Boston College’s Center for Irish
Programs in Dublin. In that time,
BC has affirmed and bolstered its
reputation as one of the leading
exponents of Irish culture, history,
art and political thought.
“It’s very fortuitous that the
‘Top 100’ list appeared in the
same issue as an article about Boston College which proclaims it as
a ‘guardian of Irish culture,’” said
Hachey. “That’s what pleases me
most about this honor: It raises
the profile of BC and the work
we do.”
In the Irish America profile,
Hachey touches on the work of
the Irish Institute and its contribution to the Northern Ireland
peace process.
“We have invited all 700 participants who have been in Irish
Forum on Faith, Politics
Continued from page 1
cal Leave Act. He authored and
enacted landmark legislation to
ensure better access to safe and
affordable child care, and was
honored as a national Head Start
“Senator of the Decade” for his
efforts on behalf of that program.
He helped write the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act,
worked to create after-school initiatives designed to keep children
out of trouble and on the road
to success, and has helped author
measures to make higher education more affordable for working
families.
After the controversial presidential election of 2000, Dodd
wrote legislation enacted as the
Help America Vote Act – which
has been called the first civil rights
law of the 21st century. He co-au-
thored the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley law, and authored legislation
to protect individuals’ financial,
medical and genetic records, as
well as to protect the mentally ill
from abusive and deadly restraint
and seclusion practices.
“Catholic Senators and Presidential Candidates” is sponsored
by Boston College’s Church in
the 21st Century Center, which
seeks to be a catalyst and resource
for the renewal of the Catholic
Church in the United States by
engaging critical issues facing the
Catholic community. The event is
made possible through the Murray Monti Speaker Series Fund for
the Church in the 21st Century.
For event information, call
ext.2-0470 or e-mail church21@
bc.edu. The venue is handicapped
accessible.
—Office of Public Affairs
SISTERS IN ARMS—Sophomore Leyna Figliozza and her sister Zara enjoyed
the film “Goonies” during the recent Siblings Weekend sponsored by the Undergraduate Government of Boston College. (Photo by Kris Brewer)
File Photo by Lee Pellegrini
Postings
Center for Irish Programs Executive Director Thomas Hachey.
Institute programs since 1997 to
attend a reunion conference this
April [in Dublin Castle],” he told
the magazine. “The program has
garnered such respect that the
Irish government has agreed to
waive for BC all fees normally
associated with the use of Dublin
Castle.”
Others included in the Top 100
this year are presidential contender
US Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY),
who was named the magazine’s
“Person of the Year,” as well as
actor Alec Baldwin, folksinger and
entertainer Tommy Makem, US
soccer player Clint Dempsey and
New York City firefighters William P. Connolly, Bob O’Neil
and Stephen Duffy, who have
regularly donated bone marrow.
—Sean Smith
Capstone Program Founder
Earns Waldron Award
Assoc. Prof. Fr. James Weiss
(Theology), founder and director of the University’s Capstone
Program, has been named winner of the 12th annual Mary
Kaye Waldron Award.
Presented to a faculty member or administrator who has
worked to enhance student life
at Boston College, the award
commemorates the late Mary
Kaye Waldron ’95, a varsity basketball manager and member of
the Jenks Leadership Program
and who died of cancer in her Assoc. Prof. Fr. James Weiss (Theology)
senior year.
for the community and the inFr. Weiss serves as an Epis- dividual before God,” says Fr.
copal priest in two diverse par- Weiss. “To receive nominations
ishes, one in Boston’s inner city, from students and alumni was
another in the Back Bay. His a joyful thing. To be selected
research interests include con- for the award itself, however,
temporary spirituality (1900 to was very, very humbling, bethe present), Renaissance and cause previous recipients of this
Reformation church history and award have been my own role
the spirituality of work and vo- models of what it means to live
cation.
out BC’s distinctive mission.
In 1990, Fr. Weiss found“For me personally, the
ed the Capstone Program as award confirms a sense of callan outgrowth of his interest in ing as teacher, scholar, and
spirituality and personality de- priest. We do not really choose
velopment. The program offers our calling. Our calling chooses
more than 30 sections a year us. I am so grateful for the
to 400 seniors on subjects of magnificent students, faculty,
life-long commitment in work, and deans who make it a joy to
relationship, citizenship, and be as generous and committed
spirituality.
to that vocation as I know how
He also has worked on behalf to be.”
of BC’s international efforts,
Fr. Weiss will receive the
serving as a liaison to foreign award at a ceremony to be held
study sites that focus on social at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April
justice in South Africa, Ecuador 23, in the Murray Room of
and Nicaragua.
the Yawkey Athletic Center.
“The Mary Kaye Waldron For more information, contact
Award represents some of the Vanessa Careiro at ext.6-5216
highest values of Boston Col- or careiro@bc.edu.
lege: Jesuit excellence in care
—Sean Smith
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
april 12, 2007
PEOPLE
•Prof. Thomas Groome (Theology), director of BC’s Institute for
Religious Education and Pastoral
Ministry, was quoted by the MetroWest Daily News for a story on
the possible canonization of Pope
John Paul II.
•Institute for Religious Education
and Pastoral Ministry Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry Programs
Hosffman Ospino was quoted
by the Boston Globe regarding
efforts by the Catholic Church in
America to reach out to Hispanics.
•Assoc. Prof. M. Shawn Copeland (Theology) was quoted by
Catholic News Service for a story
on an event she moderated as part
of a Jesuit-sponsored teach-in on
racism and poverty.
•Adj. Lect. Greg Stoller (CSOM)
was a guest on the WBZ-AM
“Paul Sullivan Show” discussing
business topics, including outsourcing.
•Prof. Walter Haney (LSOE) was
quoted by the Washington Post and
the Associated Press regarding the
use and value of standardized tests
mandated by the No Child Left
Behind Act.
•Brennan Professor of Education
Andy Hargreaves spoke with the
Boston Globe for a story on the
importance of engaging curricular electives to complement rigid
standardized requirements in high
school.
•Prof. Marc Landy (Political Science) was quoted by the Associated
Press on the political profile of US
Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.).
•Prof. Peter Skerry (Political
Science) offered remarks to the
Providence Journal regarding the
illegal immigration debate heating
up in the Northeast US.
•College of Arts and Sciences Dean
Joseph Quinn was quoted by the
Guardian about the effects of the
growing elderly population on the
landscape of American society. The
report was also published in South
Africa’s Mail & Guardian and in
The Hindu, among other outlets.
•Roche Professor of Economics
Arthur Lewbel was interviewed
by the Boston Globe for a story on
the still-thriving juggling club he
founded in the mid 1970s while an
undergraduate at MIT.
•The Washington Post published
an op-ed by Rachel Rosenbloom
of BC’s Center for Human Rights
and International Justice on the
injustices inherent in the US deportation system.
•Carroll School of Management
Dean Andrew Boynton was
among several of Boston’s top
management experts asked by the
Boston Herald to offer advice to
Red Sox manager Terry Francona.
•An op-ed co-authored by Prof.
Thomas Kohler (Law) on the the
right of workers to unionize and
bargain collectively was published
by the Austin, Tex., AmericanStatesman.
•Preschool students who speak
Spanish as their first language at
home are losing their native tongue
while also struggling to speak
English, according to a study by
Asst. Prof. Mariela Paez (LSOE)
and colleagues that was cited by
Reuters.
Nota Bene
The following honors were presented at the Boston College Distinguished Volunteer Tribute Dinner and Awards Ceremony, held March
30 at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston:
John J. Griffin Sr. ’35, Hon.’72 Class Agent Award
James J. Derba ’51 (Parent ’78)
Rising Star Award
Eric A. ’92 and Susan L. Brock ’93
Phillip J. Callan Sr. ’25 Award
Leo M. Vercollone ’77 (Parent ’06)
Outstanding Parent Volunteer Award
Robert A. ’63 and Evelyn J. Ferris (Parents ’07)
John P. Curley ’13 Award
Charles P. ’66 and Elizabeth K. Smith ’67 (Parents ’91, ’92, ’94 and ’97)
James F. Cleary ’50, Hon. ’93 Masters Award
Cynthia Egan ’78
Kathleen M. McGillycuddy NC’71
•Prof. Peter Kreeft (Philosophy),
who spoke at Augustine College
in Canada, was the subject of a
lengthy feature by the Ottawa
Citizen. His address was covered by
Canadian Catholic News Service.
•Calderwood Professors Sheila
Blair and Jonathan Bloom were
quoted by the Chicago Tribune regarding artwork that offers insights
into Islam.
Honors/Appointments
•BC Law School faculty members
Prof. Michael Cassidy and Adj.
Lect. Cathleen Cavell were named
as two of the 18 new appointments
to the Judicial Nominating Commission announced by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. The JNC
will be responsible for screening
applicants for appointment to the
Appeals Court and to trial courts
throughout the Commonwealth.
Publications
•Mathematics Institute Director
Stanley J. Bezuszka, SJ and Prof.
Margaret J. Kenney (Mathematics) published “Just Five Does It”
in Mathematics Teaching in the
Middle School.
•Assoc. Prof. Pamela Lannutti
(Communication) and Melissa
Camero ’03 published “Women’s
perceptions of flirtatious nonverbal behavior: The effects of
alcohol consumption and physical
attractiveness” in Southern Communication Journal.
Grants
•Assoc. Prof. Michael Russell
(LSOE): $725,519, Alabama Educational Television Fund Authority,
“eLearning for Educators Initiative
Evaluation.”
•Prof. Barbara Wolfe (CSON):
$225,645, National Institutes of
Major Honor for Starratt
A consortium of major research universities has recognized
Prof. Robert “Jerry” Starratt ’59
(LSOE) for a lifetime of excellence
in the field of higher education
administration.
The University Council for
Educational
Administration
(UCEA) presented Starratt with
the Roald Campbell Award,
which recognizes senior professors
in the field of educational administration “whose professional
lives have been characterized by
extraordinary commitment, excellence, leadership, productivity,
generosity, and service.“
According to the organization, criteria for the award include
longtime distinguished service as a
teacher and researcher in the field
of educational administration, superior contributions to the field’s
body of knowledge and recognized leadership efforts to improve
the field, especially the preparation of educational administrators or professors of educational
administration.
“I am humbled by the outpouring of congratulations from
friends and colleagues from many
universities both in the US and
abroad,” said Starratt, who extended his gratitude to those colleagues who wrote nominations in
his support.
Starratt says for most of his
career as an educator and scholar
he has worked as a bridge builder,
who can help two groups who are
in opposition or different camps
interpret some of the good points
the other side is making.
“As an educator within the
Catholic school system, I tried to
help my colleagues appreciate the
dedication of public school teachers and their commitments to the
value-added dimensions of their
work with young people, while
File photo
Newsmakers
•Assoc. Prof. Bruce Morrill, SJ
(Theology), discussed the history
and practice of American Easter
sunrise services in the Baltimore
Sun.
Health, “Serotonin Resulation in
Eating Disorders.”
•Prof. Kevin Mahoney (GSSW):
$208,263, Department of Health
and Human Services, “Clearinghouse for the Community Living
Exchange Collaborative.”
•Adj. Assoc. Prof. Francine Sherman (Law): $156,687, Jacob and
Valeria Langeloth Foundation,
“Massachusetts Health Passport
Project - Implementation.”
•CSON Dean Barbara Hazard:
$122,450, L.G. Balfour Foundation, “Boston College/Pine Manor
College Nursing Partnership.”
•Prof. Ann Burgess (CSON):
$100,422, Justice Resource Institute, “Internet Related Techniques
Used by Offenders in Crimes
Against Children.”
•Assoc. Prof. Gail Kineke (Geology and Geophysics): $72,588,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, “Mechanisms of Fluid-Mud
Interactions Under Waves.”
•Asst. Prof. Paul Tallon (CSOM):
$19,760, University of Arizona,
“Duel in the Desert.”
Time and a Half
•Assoc. Prof. John McDargh
(Theology) spoke to the Albert
Schweitzer Fellows of Boston on
“Complementary and Integrative
Approaches to Health Care” at
Tufts New England Medical Center.
at the same time, conversing with
public school educators about the
commitment of Catholic school
educators to a humanistic education and commitments to the
common good, as well as the cultivation of religious sensibilities of
their students.
“As a scholar I have tried to
explain and legitimate postmodern perspectives in language that
scholars entrenched in the Enlightenment roots of modernism
might understand, as well as argue
with the postmoderns about the
legitimacy of the pursuit of rational understandings of the world,
however historically, politically,
and culturally embedded those
understandings might be.”
Winning an award with the
namesake of Roald Campbell was
especially gratifying for Starratt.
“Roald Campbell was a giant
in his time. He was among the
first of a small group of scholars
that connected school administration and educational leadership to
the larger field of management sciences and organizational theory,”
said Starratt. “So, to receive an award attached to his name is both an honor and a humbling experience.”
—Stephen Gawlik
•Assoc. Professor Rachel Freudenburg (German Studies) and
Classical Studies graduate student
Rebecca Mull served as judges at
the World Language Public Declamation at the Boston Latin School.
Students at the event recited famous
texts in German, French, Chinese,
Spanish or Italian.
•Prof. Margaret J. Kenney
(Mathematics) gave a presentation
“Discrete Mathematics Counts” at
the 85th Annual Meeting of the
National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics in Atlanta.
Jobs
-Administrative Assistant, Center
for Work & Family
-Temp Pool open hours
-Staff Assistant, University Advancement
-Administrative Assistant, Capital
Giving, University Advancement
-Information Specialist, Center on
Aging and Work -Associate Director, General Services, Student Services
For more information on employment at
Boston College, see www.bc.edu/bcjobs
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle
april 12, 2007
LOOKING AHEAD
April 13
•“Practices of Dialogue in the
Roman Catholic Church,” with
Bradford Hinze, Fordham University, 9 a.m., Fulton 145, email:
ennissa@bc.edu.
•Catholic Women’s Discussion
Group, noon, McElroy 141, 23489, email: wrc@bc.edu
•“Leadership in Arts Marketing”
with Joanne Scheff Bernstein,
Lake Forest Symphony, Illinois, 3
p.m., Fulton 511, call ext.2-9296,
email: winston.center@bc.edu
•Black Family Weekend Alumni
Reception, 9 p.m., Barat House,
email: moised@bc.edu.
April 14
•Black Family Weekend Alumni/
Student Basketball Game, 4 p.m.,
Power Gym, email: moised@
bc.edu.
April 15
•Black Family Weekend Awards
Brunch, featuring guest speaker
LaTanya Bennett ’02, 12:30 p.m.,
Walsh Function Room, email:
moised@bc.edu.
April 16
•Patriot’s Day. No classes. All
University offices closed.
•“Catholic-Jewish Dialogue in
Germany after the Holocaust”
with Rev. Hanspeter Heinz,
4:30 p.m., McGuinn 3rd Floor
Lounge, call ext.2-4495, email:
cjlearning@bc.edu.
April 17
•Canisius Lecture: “The Sacred
Liturgy: Revisiting Sacrosanctum
Consilium Forty Years After Vatican II” with Cardinal Godfried
Danneels, Archbishop of MalinesBrussels, 4:30 p.m., Fulton 511,
By Rosanne Pellegrini
Staff Writer
File photo
READINGS • LECTURES •
DISCUSSIONS
April 12
•Annual meeting of the Ancient
Philosophy Society, through April
14, Heights Room, Corcoran
Commons, email: romeromi@
bc.edu.
•“The Alexander River Restoration Project as a Bridge between
Israelis and Palestinians,” with
Amos Brandeis, noon, Higgins
263, email: bc-israel@bc.edu
•“Let’s Twist Again: The Traumatic Saga of Russian Rock Music,”
with journalist Artemy Troitsky, 4
p.m., Fulton 511, call ext.2-3910,
email: shrayerm@bc.edu.
•“Paying For Graduate School”
4 p.m., McGuinn 5th Floor
Lounge, call ext.2-4551, email:
ltl@bc.edu.
•“Jesuits, Biblical Exegesis, and
the Mathematical Sciences in
the Early Modern Period” with
Volker R. Remmert, University of
Mainz, 4:30 p.m., Gasson 305,
email: taylor@bc.edu.
•“The Behrakis Family Symposium in Classical Studies” with
John McKesson Camp II, American School of Classical Studies
at Athens, 5 p.m., Devlin 101,
call ext.2-9157, email: megan.
mould.1@bc.edu.
Festival Includes Salutes
to Robsham, BC bOp!
The Boston College community’s artistic skills will be on display at the ninth annual campus Arts Festival April 26-28. See story at right.
call ext.2-3396, email: frkenned@
bc.edu.
•“Are All Values Relative? Thinking About Objective Values in
Ethics, Art and Religion in a
Pluralist World of Conflicting Beliefs” with Robert Kane, University of Texas at Austin, 4:30 p.m.,
Gasson 305, call ext.2-2303,
email:taylor@bc.edu
April 18
•“Traveling Ethnicity in the
Nineteenth Century,” with Assoc.
Prof. James Wallace (English)
12:00 p.m., Lyons 301, email:
mcateerm@bc.edu.
•“Saudi Politics and US-Saudi
Relations Since 9/11” with F.
Gregory Gause, University of
Vermont, 4:30 p.m., Devlin 008,
call ext.2-4170, email: baileyk@
bc.edu.
•“Speaking As A Woman: Reflections on Contemporary Catholicism” with Adj. Assoc. Prof.
Colleen Griffith (Theology), 7
p.m., Fulton 511, call ext.2-8057,
email: lambmb@bc.edu.
April 19
• Heinz Bluhm Memorial Lecture
Series: “How to Invent Unknowness: The Poetry of Disenchanted
Reenchantment” with Ross
Chambers, University of Michigan, 4:30 p.m., Fulton 511, call
ext.2-8497, email: newmark@
bc.edu.
•“Erotic Spirituality and the Book
of Jonah” with T. Anthony Perry,
University of Connecticut, 4:30
p.m., Gasson 305, email: taylor@
bc.edu
•“Leading from the Front: Lessons from Afghanistan and Iraq”
with Nathaniel Fick, 7 p.m.,
Murray Function Room, Yawkey
Center, call ext.2-9296, email:
winston.center@bc.edu
April 30
•“On the Other Side of the Desk:
The Experience of Being Gay
Faculty at Boston College”, a
round table discussion with eight
faculty, 7:30 p.m. Gasson 305,
email: mormando@bc.edu
MUSIC • ART • PERFORMANCE
April 12
•“Black Family Weekend Talent
Show” 7 p.m., Welch Dining
Room, Lyons Hall, email: obannone@bc.edu.
•“Art” by Yasmina Reza, directed
by James Fagan ’07, 8 p.m., Bonn
Studio, call ext.2-4002, email:
marion.doyle.1@bc.edu.
April 13
•“Voices of Imani Annual Spring
Concert” 7 p.m., Trinity Chapel
Newton Campus, call ext.2-3238,
email: hubert.walters@bc.edu.
•Chamber Music Concert, 8 p.m.,
Vanderslice Hall, call ext.2-3018,
email: bands@bc.edu.
April 18
•Greater Boston Intercollegiate
Poetry Festival, 7:30 p.m., Murray Function Room, Yawkey Center, email: matsons@bc.edu.
April 20
•“The Journeys: A Reality In
Photos and Stories,” from Boston
College students, faculty and staff,
3 p.m., Corcoran Commons Balcony, email: sommerlb@bc.edu.
For more on BC campus events,
see events.bc.edu or check BCInfo
[www.bc.edu/bcinfo] for updates.
A look at Paul Daigneault,
winner of this year’s Boston
College Arts Council Alumni Award for Distinguished
Achievement:
•Theater and English major
at BC, graduated in 1987.
•Has produced nearly 50
Boston premieres. His 2002
production of “Bat Boy: The
Musical” ran for 105 performances and won multiple
awards, including the Elliot
Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Production and
the Independent Reviewers of
New England Award for Best
Musical.
•Included in the Boston
Business Journal’s “40 Under
40” List for 1999 and named
by the Boston Herald in 2000
as one of the top 10 directors
in Boston.
•Founded SpeakEasy Stage
The University’s upcoming ninth annual Arts Festival will celebrate two
important milestones in Boston College arts, while offering its yearly showcase
of the BC community’s musicians, actors, dancers, singers, sculptors, painters,
photographers, writers, curators, filmmakers, authors and other artists.
In addition, this year’s festival — which takes place April 26-28 — will
feature collaborative art projects such as mask-themed sculptures and the
creation of a sidewalk mural “masterpiece” led by popular Boston artist
Sidewalk Sam, and a visit by Paul Daigneault ’87, producing artistic director
of Boston’s award-winning SpeakEasy Stage Company, who will receive the
2007 Boston College Arts Council Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement [see below].
Some 1,000 BC students, faculty and administrators will participate in the
festival, which is open to the public. As always, there will be a wide variety of
events to engage and entertain attendees of all ages, who are invited to take
part in hands-on experimentation with ceramics, painting and other artistic
media. A program of activities for children — including theater, crafts, a play
and a story hour — will be offered on Saturday, April 28; families are encouraged to attend.
“The arts at Boston College continue to grow and flourish,” says Prof.
Jeffery Howe (Fine Arts), chair of the University’s Arts Council, which organizes the Arts Festival. “The festival is a perfect opportunity to experience the
increasing diversity, scope and quality of the University’s arts programs.”
Affirming the vitality of BC’s art scene will be two special observances to
be commemorated during the festival on April 28: a 25th anniversary celebration for the Robsham Theater Arts Center following the production of
Gilbert and Sullivan’s popular “Pirates of Penzance,” and a reunion concert
for the 20th anniversary of the popular campus jazz ensemble BC bOp!, with
appearances by some three dozen former members.
Daigneault, in addition to receiving the Arts Council award from University President William P. Leahy, SJ, will take part in an “Inside the BC
Studio” public interview session — modeled after Bravo TV’s “Inside the
Actors Studio — with Boston theater critic Terry Byrne in Robsham Theater
at 4:30 p.m. on April 27.
At noon that same day, the Arts Council also will honor BC students and
faculty who have contributed to the arts at an awards ceremony to be held
on O’Neill Plaza.
The festival’s collaborative sculpture project for 2007 features 19 large
wooden thematic sculptures. This year’s theme — “Carnival Masks: The
Faces of Boston College” — was inspired by James Ensor, an artist known for
pieces that include masks, whose work is on display in the current McMullen Museum of Art exhibition: “A New Key: Modern Belgian Art from the
Simon Collection.”
Professional sculptor and Adj. Assoc. Prof. Mark Cooper (Fine Arts) designed the original forms for the sculptures, which are decorated by members
of BC student groups and organizations to express their missions and messages. Completed sculptures will be displayed on O’Neill Plaza during the
festival; judges will select the winners, which will be announced at noon on
April 28.
The “mask” theme will carry over into other events: Bapst Student Art
Gallery will offer an exhibit titled “Masquerade,” and children can make
masks to wear in the Kids Carnival Parade led by the Boston College Marching Band.
Information on festival events, including those that require paid admission, is available at www.bc.edu/arts.
Gary Gilbert
Arts Council Alumni Award winner
Paul Daigneault ’87.
Company in 1992. Its productions annually attract some 20,000
audience members. The organization is involved in theater-education projects, provides internships for college and high school
students and participates in a
variety of community outreach
and support projects.
•SpeakEasy’s productions of
Paul Rudnick’s “Jeffrey” and
Eric Bogosian’s “SubUrbia,” directed by Daigneault, received
the Boston Theater Award for
Outstanding Production in
1996 and 1997, respectively.
•SpeakEasy recently was
cited by the entertainment
newspaper Variety as a force in
regional theater and a champion of small, often over-looked
musicals.
•Fifth recipient of the BC
Arts Council Alumni Award
for Distinguished Achievement. Previous winners: actor
Chris O’Donnell ’92 (2003);
singer/songwriter Ellis Paul
(nee Paul Plissey) ’87 (2004);
photographer James Balog ’74
(2005); and comedian/actress
Amy Poehler ’93 (2006).