Author: Answer 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 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)

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What do you think about Italians?

What do you think about Italians?

Italians invented the word “graffiti,” so as a wall, I’m a little mixed. Then again, they also were expert practitioners of “sgraffito,” an artistic close cousin of graffiti with well-known practitioners from the workshop of the artist Raphael. Here’s an example from Firenze: bit.ly/sgraffito-firenze. They knew how to treat a wall! I hear the food is also good, and the music. And did you see the Italian Olympic skating team? What a good-natured bunch, full of camaraderie!

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What can we do to stop all these school shootings? So many innocent people die, it’s sick.

What can we do to stop all these school shootings? So many innocent people die, it’s sick.

This is a difficult topic and so far a great failure of the United States. There have been too many school shootings here: if you search for “school shootings” and “stop OR prevent” in databases such as Academic OneFile, Education Research Complete, and PsycInfo, you will find that a good amount of research has been done. Perhaps a viable solution will be one that includes several different strategies, from better training and education to recognize those who may be in trouble, to better mental health services to help them, to better gun control laws, and so on (see this article and references in PolitiFact for a summary: bit.ly/stop-shootings). It will not be easy; educating ourselves (but beware of bots and trolls online) and talking is a good first step, but it does seem as though many lawmakers are not really willing to be part of the solution. We must keep talking and learning, speak out, vote for candidates who will address the issue. And we must continue to support those who have been victims of gun violence. Students in Parkland FL are leading the charge, with a planned march in DC (and one is apparently being planned here in Boston as well: bit.ly/marchforourlivesboston) as well as other events: bit.ly/walkout-shootings.

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will we pass our Microecon midterm tomorrow?

will we pass our Microecon midterm tomorrow?

The Wall wishes all students best of luck on midterms – it’s a stressful time! I feel very hopeful about your chances. If you don’t end up doing as well as you hope, and are struggling with the concepts, please consider spending some quality time with a peer tutor at the Connors Family Learning Center (bit.ly/BC-connors).