Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Many of the software packages that are available in the Digital Studio are licensed for BC users only- which means that allowing guests to access them would infringe upon the license agreement. Therefore, everyone who wants to use the Digital Studio computers needs to have BC credentials. The bcguest login is only meant to be used at the approved guest computer- if you need help finding it, ask one of my acolytes- ahem, associates.
You must be talking about the poet Paul Mariani, who has published widely on Hopkins. Watch an interview about his biography of Hopkins: bit.ly/hopkins-a-life, or read the biography: Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Life (O’Neill Library PR4803 .H44 Z71715 2008). BTW, he’s also published biographies of the poets Robert Lowell, John Berryman, and W.C. Williams.
You could lobby BC to install AC, but I’m betting it’s unlikely unless you also turn up a benefactor: AC is expensive to install, especially in older buildings, and actually uses more energy than heating does. Most residence halls are empty for most of the hottest months, so installing AC to offset heat for what would amount to a few weeks out of the year… let’s just say BC might have other ways to spend that money. Meanwhile, do what folks did before AC: fans, lots of cool liquids, lightweight loose clothing, draw blinds/curtains during the day, take a cool shower before bed, (dampen a bedsheet if it’s really hot at night), and get relief in AC buildings like the library.
Short answer: you don’t. Athens is a system for managing logins to web resources, but BC uses a different system for our electronic subscriptions. If you’re looking at a book or article that wants an Athens login, you have probably arrived via Google. Usually, all you need to do is search for it at library.bc.edu, but feel free to ask my library friends for help.
I suspect that Mod 4A is not much different than the other units. As for the residents of Mod 4A, I don’t know them so can’t comment on their coolness (but I have to say that BC students in general are pretty cool).
A university president must be many things- fund raiser, cheerleader, lightning rod, planner, money manager and thought leader to name a few. Nobody can do it all well, so the best presidents surround themselves with talented experts. The management team at BC seems to be doing well in their various areas (endowment is strong, admissions remains selective, reputation is excellent), so I believe Fr Leahy is doing an overall good job. Can he do a better job? Sure, like everyone else.
My helpers who have lived elsewhere are baffled that Bostonians treat air conditioning as optional. It’s very strange, especially given the Urban Heat Island effect.
![What is QSLC? [response: qual of student life committee]](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/aw111418-1.jpg)
Your fellow student is correct: it’s the Quality of Student Life Committee. Their orgsync page (bit.ly/bc-qslc) says they’re about instituting change at BC by talking to the administration and distributing the Boston Globe and New York Times at Dining Halls. They meet on Monday nights in Gasson 209.
I’ve answered this once before, last Spring: There are dependable resources on political leanings of college students in general, such as the Panetta Institute surveys (bit.ly/panetta-surveys), and there are dependable measures of past voting by district, such as the CPVI (bit.ly/wiki-cpvi). BC’s district (MA-04) has a CPVI of D+9, which means it is 9 percentage points above the share of democratic party votes in the last two presidential elections. But there are few dependable college-by-college surveys. MyPlan.com (bit.ly/myplan-college-politics) ranks BC as 392/500 “most liberal” colleges and 112/500 of “most conservative” colleges, based on ratings by about 11,000 MyPlan.com users. Sound method? Doubtful. Do the math – if 500 colleges are rated by 11,000 raters rating their alma maters, that’s barely 22 raters per college on average.
Systemic racism is endemic to the US and institutions in it. I’m not sure quite what acknowledging that fact at BC would look like. BC has an Office for Institutional Diversity (bit.ly/BC-OID) that grapples with institutional racism with programs & resources, and recognizes that faculty and staff of color and students of color deserve additional support to contend with living with racism, through diversity and affinity groups. Of course, there’s always more that can be done; that’s the nature of institutional racism. Please contact the OID or other campus offices with your ideas about what should be done.
I recommend telling Dining Services: bit.ly/BCDiningComment
According to Res Life, BC doesn’t provide them, but you can email them a suggestion at reslife@bc.edu. Best of luck, I think it could make for a nicer living situation!
I have directed my subordinates to look into this matter and will get back to you when they have gleaned some information.
Update, 11-14-18: BC has to balance student wishes with banks’ needs when placing ATMs on campus. If you have a suggestion, contact the treasurer’s office at 2-3041, and tell them. They can take it into account when making decisions. However, keep in mind that banks often place ATMs based on where they will most profit, which is not always perfectly aligned with customer convenience.
I don’t of course, actually need to use the facilities – I’m a wall. But according to one of my helpers, the 5th floor bathrooms in O’Neill are ever so much fresher and less crowded than the others. Outside of O’Neill, the restrooms in Robsham and Stokes come to mind as good places to try.
Coca-Cola has finally finished setting up all of their machines to accept Eagle Bucks. BC has looked into getting the coffee machine to accept eagle bucks, but unfortunately, that machine is incompatible with the card readers that read BC ID’s. You’ll need to bring cash or a credit card to use the coffee vending machine. 🙁
It makes me sad to hear you’re sad in my home. Some of my librarian friends tell me there’s a wonderful view of the Boston skyline on level 5. Check it out. I hope it brightens your outlook.
Materials on Course Reserves circulate for 2 hours because they are high-demand items that are set aside for class reading at faculty members’ request. The number of copies the libraries can purchase is limited by budgetary, space and copyright restrictions. What the BC Libraries are doing to address this issue is prioritizing the purchasing of ebooks for Course Reserves.
Yes, but not without limits: bit.ly/MA-weed. And it’s out of bounds at BC: bit.ly/BC-student-code4 (scroll down to the entry on marijuana).
Unfortunately, early voting ends today at 5pm, but there’s still Tuesday! The College Democrats of Boston College were involved in Joe Kennedy’s campaign in the primary (bit.ly/heights-cdbc). I’m sure they could use your help if you lean that way; Boston College Republicans might also have some plans underway. The library created a guide with links to voting info, including polling places: bit.ly/bc-vote-resources. There’s a talk on Monday at noon by BC’s David Hopkins about the midterms: bit.ly/midterms-hopkins. Get out there and ROCK THE VOTE!
When you see an injustice, there are basically two ways of trying right it: 1) try to correct that instance of injustice: feed a homeless person, or perhaps even help them get to a soup kitchen, or even help them find a job and a home. 2) try to address the systemic social problems that cause an injustice such as widespread homelessness: expensive health care, unemployment, inequity in schools, or a social safety net full of holes. Path #1 requires generosity and is hard to scale up to solve widespread social ills. Path #2 requires a lot of struggle for slow changes you may not see in your lifetime, and is therefore hard to convince people to undertake. It’s possible that BC’s focus on path #1 leads people on path #2 to attend other schools.
