The Wall

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BC needs 24/7 Pancake Service. How do I make this happen?

BC needs 24/7 pancake service. How do I make this happen?
BC needs 24/7 pancake service. How do I make this happen?

The Wall’s acolytes are very excited about this idea. From our collection, you might enjoy this Culinary Arts Career Starter: bit.ly/bc-culinary, or this film on starting a catering business (bit.ly/bc-catering), or this catchy title from 1688: The gentlewomans cabinet unlocked. Wherein is contained many excellent receipts for neat dressing of divers sorts of meats; as flesh and fish, with their proper sauces· Also directions for the best way of making pancakes, fritters, tansies, puddings, custards, cheesecakes…. (bit.ly/bc-ca). You could suggest it to Dining Services, they’re nice:  bit.ly/bc-dining. The Wall also has suggestions for places to go for more information on starting a business–ask again if that’s what you’re after.

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How do you draw a pony?

How do you draw a pony?
How do you draw a pony?

Not well. I’m a wall! But if you google, you will find there are many sites on the internet that will guide you in creating your diminutive equine artwork – caution that some are NSFW (or S)! Or, you could head to the Education Resource Center in Campion, where they have several books on drawing animals (for kids, but why let that stop you) in the NC600-900 call number ranges. But I can’t promise you a pony…

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Why venture into a romantic relationship if risks include losing the existing friendship?

Why venture into a romantic relationship if risks include losing the existing friendship?
Why venture into a romantic relationship if risks include losing the existing friendship?

Ah. But what if your friend could become your world? Making the decision to risk a friendship for something more is tough. But this is a classic example of “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. There’s no guarantee that you would lose the friendship if the relationship goes poorly. And there’s no guarantee the friendship would survive whether there’s a relationship or not. We don’t know what the future holds, but it would be a shame to look back and wonder what could have been.

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Following up on that, who is in charge of picking commencement speakers? Can students get involved?

Following up on that, who is in charge of picking commencement speakers? Can students get involved?
Following up on that, who is in charge of picking commencement speakers? Can students get involved?

The Board of Trustees picks the Commencement Speaker, but it sounds like they’re open to suggestions. From the commencement director: “Students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends are all welcome to send suggestions for speakers and honorary degree candidates to the University Commencement Office, 110 College Road.”

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Why no Presidents’ Day off?

Why no Presidents' Day off?
Why no Presidents’ Day off?

Every school is a little different about which holidays are days off. Colleges and universities have to fit a certain amount of classroom time into each semester to keep their accreditation, and it’s a balancing act. Lots of schools don’t get Good Friday off, which we do.

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Why do we have certain dreams? What is our brain doing?

Why do we have certain dreams? What is our brain doing?
Why do we have certain dreams? What is our brain doing?

Starting with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Western psychologists have had a lot to say about dreams. (The Interpretation of Dreams, by Freud: O’Neill BF1078 .F748 1999, Dreams by Carl Jung: online at bit.ly/jstor-jung-dreams). Of course, humans have been interpreting dreams for millennia. For a very different perspective, you might also be interested in Ancestral power: the Dreaming, consciousness and aboriginal Australians, by Lynne Hume (O’Neill BL2610 .H86 2002) Neurologists generally take a more functional view: the brain reshuffles neural connections from the recent past to cement memories. The brain also uses certain sleep cycles to rinse toxins out of the brain (bit.ly/science-brainwash) that otherwise might lead to conditions like Huntington’s Disease or Alzheimer’s. IOW your dreams are for brainwashing.

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Is every simply connected, close 3- manifold homeomorphic to the 3-sphere? If yes, please provide proof.

Is every simply connected, close 3- manifold liomeomorphic to the 3-sphere? If yes, please provide proof.
Is every simply connected, close 3- manifold homeomorphic to the 3-sphere? If yes, please provide proof.

Yes. Poincaré’s conjecture (formerly a Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize Problem) was proved by Grigori Perelman using Richard Hamilton’s Ricci flow program and confirmed in 2006 following review (bit.ly/CMIperelsol). Read the complete proof in the Asian Journal of Mathematics (bit.ly/poincareproof).

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Do you think spending $1M on taking care of our grass is financially responsible

Do you think spending $1M on taking care of our grass is financially responsible [reply]: I second this, I third this

A million dollars is a lot of money for a person, but not for an organization the size of BC. According to the BC Fact Book (bit.ly/BC-FactBook) the university had almost a billion dollars in expenses last year. A million pennies stacked on top of each other would be about a mile high. A billion would be 870 miles high. (bit.ly/BC-million). It doesn’t seem to the Wall like a bad investment in keeping campus looking nice, or out of proportion to the rest of what BC spends money on–see the Fact Book for more detail.

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How do you get the printer to print on post-its?

How do you get the printer to print on post-its? Doesn’t it stick in the printer? Size issues?

Putting a post-it by itself in the paper tray would probably be a very bad idea, but I’ve had very good results with my method. My helpers have a template: bit.ly/print-postit to create the ‘document’ and then send it to the printer as a manual feed. Then they put the actual template of sticky-notes into the printer’s manual feed tray.

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Why are people in CSOM so preppy?

Why are people in CSOM so preppy?

Fashion has a lot to do with identity, both group and individual, judging by how many books are available on the subject “clothing and dress — social aspects” in BC Libraries: bit.ly/BC-clothing. Browse among them, and I’m sure you’ll find some compelling answers about the tribal adornments of your fellow students.

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How many holes does a straw have?

How many holes does a straw have?

A great question that can really start a huge debate! Some argue there are two holes because of both openings, some argue there are no holes at all. However, if you take the straw and squash it into a disc, you’ll see that there is actually only one hole. This question can be answered mathematically through Topology, which you can see in this Forbes article (bit.ly/strawhole) or find more information about Topology in the stacks! (QA611 .M82 2000)