Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
To our joy and sorrow, probably not. The reasons for joy are real, as are the reasons for sorrow. You’d probably enjoy the idealist philosopher George Berkeley (bit.ly/bishop-berkeley), though you may find his pure idealism jarringly more radical than the possibility that we’re living in a simulation, which presupposes a material reality that’s creating the illusion in which we live. Berkeley would dispense with that materialist nonsense rather quickly.
I miss you all when you don’t write, but I also assume there’s always a good reason. You have many, many things to do, and so little time! Give everything important to you your best, and good luck!
Fortunately, helping students figure out those questions is just what the BC Career Center does! Check them out at bit.ly/BC-career. You may find yourself employed in a field not generally identified with your interests, but you may also find ways to incorporate them into your work.
Apparently, there are some parts required to make that happen. Big Cola has ordered them, and my library helpers are doing their best with the university administration to encourage them along.
My human library assistants are all working hard with the right university offices to make sure Coca-Cola fixes the vending machines. Coca-Cola says they’re waiting for parts. I wish I could hurry along the people responsible for those parts, but my influence doesn’t really extend beyond the campus walls.
I can give you some context. The GRE is an exam that is created, instituted, and analysed by a private for-profit testing company. There is little evidence that it actually measures your aptitude for success in graduate school. More and more graduate schools are eliminating the need for the GRE as part of your application. Even when it is part of your application, graduate school admissions departments are giving it less and less value as part of your application package. It is a hurdle, treat it as such. Focus on your personal statement, which is a much more important and valuable piece of your admissions package in that you can share your passions, your successes, and your growth (past and potential) with your future department as a true introduction to how awesome you are and why you would be a good fit and an asset to the field. The best thing you can do the night before *any* exam is get a good night’s sleep. Sweet dreams! You’ll do great.
One of my helpers used to work at Tufts and says it’s great, too. Maybe people like eagles better than elephants? (You said “BC”, right, not “BU?). bit.ly/bc-tufts1. Maybe it’s Quidditch rivalry? bit.ly/bc-tufts2
There are so many interesting & memorable questions! So cruel to make me pick only one! Here’s one of many, a recent one: “Tell me something that is true, but that almost no one would agree with.” My answer: It is upsetting but true that the smell of old books is the smell of their decomposition. Which, in the case of paper, is a bit like vanilla: bit.ly/bc-old-books. Many questions make me leap into research, but this one really forced me to stop and think.
My assistants tell me that BC is working out a solution with the vendor. The problem, apparently, has to do with replacing a part to make the machines compatible with card readers. I’ll update you when and if I hear more.
Cloning anime characters is super easy. You’d probably want to use some combination of this software: bit.ly/bc-anime. Or. Do you mean make actual cat girl maids? Not judging, but that seems really ill-advised. Think of the cat food and litter required.
1984 is a member of a group of 20th century dystopian novels. There are many who like to read them and argue about which author predicted the future most accurately. Check out Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (O’Neill Stacks PR6015.U9 B65 2013), Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (PS3503.R167 F3 1993), Animal Farm by George Orwell (PR6029.R8 A6 1946), or The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (PR9199.3.A8 H3 1986). These books tend to be pretty popular, so they might be checked out. But we often have online versions you can read as well.
“On Earth, gold is found in ores in rock formed from the Precambrian time onward. It most often occurs as a native metal, typically in a metal solid solution with silver. Native gold occurs as very small to microscopic particles embedded in rock…” (Thanks Wikipedia!) Massachusetts doesn’t have much gold, but you can find some very fine flecks in the rivers of western Mass. Check out bit.ly/MassGold for more info.
Crowther is an American hero. After his death in the 9/11 attacks, his parents started the Red Bandanna Project, which sells bandanas emblazoned with his BC lacrosse jersey number (19). Boston College was a large part of Welles’ life (he lived with other BC grads in New York), so it makes sense that BC honors his sacrifice while the charitable organizations started in his honor fundraise, in part, on his connection with BC. The world is more complex than simple “monetary gain and capitalism” – it’s a symbiotic relationship between BC and the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust. The Red Bandana 5K raises money for the Trust, and BC is a sponsor of the race (thus making their association with him a financially “losing” prospect in this instance). BC alumni are more likely to give money to both BC and the Trust due to their mutual association. Sometimes, everyone really does win – the Trust gets more money to develop its programs (see http://www.crowthertrust.org for more info) and BC is associated with exactly the type of person that the University aims to graduate into the world.
Yikes! I truly cannot answer this because I promote kindness, not violence (particularly when directed at ME.) If your friend has a beef with the Wall, I’d like to respond to it. With words. On Post-Its.
![Why do girls enjoy getting pet so much? [Response: Because we do]](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/aw102518-3.jpg)
Short answer: English is weirder than a bread beard. Longer answer: Modern English is a mix of Old English & Anglo Saxon (Germanic), Norman (French), and Latin, with many other loan words acquired through trade & colonies. No effort was made to standardize English orthography (IOW spelling) until Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755. “Mood” was often “mode” or “mod” until around 1600. “Food” was “foda” in Old English, then “fode” “fude” and “foode” before finally settling on “food” in around 1700. “Good” was, in Old English, “god,” “godum” “godra” and “gode”, and then variously “gowde,” “guyde” goud” “gowid,” etc., “Good” began appearing about 1400 or so. Take pity on anyone who has to learn English as an adult.
Isn’t it wonderful when you have someone like that in your life? Make sure you let her know how much you value her!
Be interested in someone’s story. Ask questions. Be a good listener. Reveal yourself. Suggest an outing. And sometimes go with the flow and let your friend direct the plan. But first check your pulse: are you depleted or overwhelmed? You may not be in a place to be that friend.
![Is [name redacted] a Goblin or a Ghoul?](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/aw102418-7b.jpg)
It depends. Are they a) a malevolent, demonic, small ugly creature who causes harm and mischief, or are they b) an undead being who frequents graveyards and eats human flesh? (a = goblin, b=ghoul). We have the Greeks to thank for goblins (“kobalus” meant “knave” or “rogue”) and the Arabs to thank for ghouls. Goblins have populated the European imagination for at least a millenium; ghouls are a more recent addition that came with the translation of 1,001 Nights into French in the 19th Century.Ā For more spooky etymologies, see the Oxford English Dictionary (BC only):Ā bit.ly/BC-oxford-english.
Communicate, but don’t suffocate. Give him enough breathing room to miss you, and most importantly enjoy your own semester even though you’ll miss him!
