Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Short answer: no. Taxes are how societies arrange to pay for the things that are necessary but don’t make sense to do privately, like interstates and armies and post offices. Almost all human societies have had them in some form, and complaints about them are as old as recorded history. bit.ly/bc-taxes. What, how, and how much to tax, however, are really interesting ethical questions to explore. You might try a few of these sources: bit.ly/bc-tax-justice
There is limited space on campus; unfortunate, but true.
You’re not alone, it’s a Res Life frequently asked question. They say: “If you would like to find roommates with whom you can enter the room selection process, contact your Resident Director. Another option is to enter into Final Selection, which is the last event for room selection. On the designated days for final selection, students may register themselves into this process via the housing application on “My ResLife” in the Agora Portal. Over the summer, we will place the students from Final Selection into housing assignments, doing our best to work with any preferences indicated within a student’s housing application.” (bit.ly/ResLifeFAQ)
Dropping out is a big decision, not to be taken lightly. Why not take a semester or one year leave of absence and try out Wyoming? That way, you can come back to BC if Wyoming turns out to be bleak and inhospitable, or stay if you can’t imagine leaving the “big country.” I recommend talking to your adviser. I’d reckon your parents might also have something to say, but you’re also an adult; this is your decision.
Yes! The advice to the 3-day 15-pager is good: blocks of time, specific goals, rewards. The key is to make sure you set aside enough time.
Ahhh. Fake smiles, white lies, and contextual personae. These social falsehoods may seem bad but in fact help keep social situations and relationships strong. Unlike “big lies”, these “little lies” in effect say that our relationship is more important than anything else. Also, people can be hesitant to bring up the “real,” because it risks causing someone–maybe even the speaker–to lose face.
You can do it. Don’t ask me how I know. Try carving out blocks of time and setting specific, challenging, but manageable goals for the time (x pages before 2 PM, for instance.) Give yourself small rewards when you meet the challenge. And then, after this paper is done, maybe talk to the CFLC (bit.ly/BC-connors) about academic coaching, so you don’t wind up in this situation again. Best of luck!
So many great places to picnic around Boston. Beaches, parks, squares… Here’s a list to get you started: http://bit.ly/PickUrPicnic. Once the ferry starts back up in spring, try the Boston Harbor Islands at low tide, so you’re actually picnicking on the bottom of the harbor. Right now, you could picnic just about anywhere in a gorgeous winter wonderland, if you’re a hardy soul.
Tradition, it seems. Many European countries place the euro sign (€) after the number. One interesting theory is that it follows from British usage for the pound (£) from the pre-decimal era of pounds/shillings/pence, when amounts were written with slashes, e.g. £ 3/5/6, or “three pounds, 5 shillings, sixpence.” It was understood that £ referred to the whole assembly of numbers denoting a system of currency, not just a qualifier of the first number. Interesting side note: the word “dollar” derives from Low German “taler,” short for “Joachimstaler,” the name of a coin from the silver mines of that name, once in Bohemia, now a town in the Czech Republic; it was adopted in the US because it was the British English word for the Spanish Peso, a common currency in the colonies at the time of the Revolution. bit.ly/whence-dollar
Whatever you envision as a better world, make at least part your career and what you do outside of work hours part of it. And bring your children along so they can see how it’s done. And talk about it with them. Children are wise and curious, and will soon grow up to become people asking (we hope) this same question.
![I [crossed out] We want snowdays!!! [reply] I need them](http://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/aw031418-3.jpg)
Hope you enjoyed the snow day yesterday! Looks like a lot of you did: bit.ly/HeightsSnowy
The Wall is not sure. Those are both pretty Western takes, although very popular. Perhaps you could add in some postcolonial theory and liberation theology to your analysis. Here are a couple of suggestions: bit.ly/bc-decolonizing, and bit.ly/bc-lt
![Does he like me back? [reply] Ask him! It's better to be honest than to leave it unsaid. I know from experience](http://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/aw031418-1.jpg)
Very Blunt Girl has good advice. If you’re looking for certainty before you ask, you’ll never know. However, it’s wise to prepare for disappointment by letting a few good friends know what you’re about ask. Then, if the answer is no, they’ll be ready with support.
The Wall was in town this break, but hopes to be able to get to Prague to see the John Lennon Wall sometime. bit.ly/bc-lennon
The Wall is not sure, but if we are it will show up here: bit.ly/bc-emergency. There are links to social media accounts as well, if that’s your thing for news.
There are sooo many clocks, and most need manual updates. We’ll get to them, we promise.
Doesn’t it seem short? Sigh. But there is so much learning to be done before the end of the semester. I’m committed to staying here after mid-May, but you probably have other things to do then, so extending the semester to get a longer Spring Break wouldn’t be a great idea.
There’s no getting around it, people have done mean things and said judgmental things. A good many others have done heroic things and said things that were honest, thoughtful, and/or caring. I recommend seeking out more of the latter, and attempting to avoid the former as much as you can. If you can’t avoid it, perhaps you can meet it with equanimity & silence, kind of like a wall. Meanness expects (and thrives on) mean responses. Starved of reaction, it often recedes.
I have reached out to our friends at BC Facilities to get an answer. I’ll let you know as soon as I have one.
The TML is old enough that it is not legally required to meet modern accessibility standards. However, because of your question, BC is going to look at the doors to see if they can be improved.
