Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
I have faith in you! You get to define what “make it in life” means for you, so take time to discover your values and goals. Don’t fall into the trap of letting other folks’ idea of success make you feel inadequate. If you are struggling to just get by, though, you may want to get some guidance and reassurance. Counseling Services (bit.ly/BC-counseling) or Pastoral Counseling (bit.ly/bc-campus-ministry) are good places to start.
I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience with printing. My Library and ITS colleagues are working on a solution with BCE to make printing during the rest of your experience less troublesome.
It will certainly improve your odds. Don’t forget to take breaks to stretch, eat, drink and visit me. Wishing you the best of luck!
Sorry for your trouble! Our staplers do seem to grow legs of their own, and have been found all over the library during round-ups. I will have my assistants speak with the stapler wranglers about increasing the frequency of round-ups and stapler refills. In the meantime, you can also find staplers at the reference and circulation desks.
Flatbread is unleavened, right? (More seriously, thinking of God in human terms is called anthropomorphism and it’s an interesting theological problem. More discussion here: bit.ly/bc-flatbread).
You’re in luck: a language purpose-built for a potential world government has already been invented: Esperanto. (bit.ly/guardian-esperanto) The trouble is, not many people speak it. Another solution might be to examine regions of the world with single governments and a lot of languages. In India, there are 17 official languages; these are languages into which all government documents & forms must be translated. In the EU, where legal & trade agreements proliferate, there are 24 official languages. Hm. Seems inefficient, but then again, it also seems to work. For an interesting article on the efficiency or inefficiency of various languages, see this one from The Atlantic: bit.ly/efficient-language.
This is another great question for the BC Fact Book (bit.ly/BC-FactBook)! According to the 2017-2018 edition, the total number of students enrolled at Boston College in fall of 2017 across all programs was 14,419. However the book does note that this number included students who were studying abroad, so the total number actually at Boston College was 14,165.
954,044 as of this morning. We have a similar number of ebooks, but most of those do not live here, coming only when called upon by you from the vast and mysterious Cloud.
It is true that being prepared comes with experience. All of my helpers have an array of fleeces and sweaters and such in their offices.
According to the 2017-2018 BC Fact Book (a scintillating treasure trove of data, http://bit.ly/BC-FactBook), it’s about 3500.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia is in the midst of the knockout round of 16. Half the games have been completed with Uruguay facing France, and Russia facing Croatia in the quarter-finals. The other two quarter-final matches will be determined with games today and tomorrow. Watching the competition so far, it has been exciting to see some of the underdogs finding success where Messi (Argentina) and Ronaldo (Portugal) have failed. France, Uruguay, and Croatia have been playing fast, high-energy, creative games – any of these three could be taking home the World Cup this year!
Taking up a new hobby or learning a new skill together can be very refreshing. Maybe try salsa dancing? Learning Icelandic? Also recognizing that while there will always be some fresh things, because we grow and change, constant novelty is not necessarily key to maintaining a relationship; on the flip side you get the richness of shared experience as time goes by.
We are not born for ourselves alone. (Cicero, On Duties)
The best place to have sex is somewhere that you feel safe and that you have permission to be in. As for O’Neill, there aren’t exactly a lot of secret passages or corridors or stacks you can get lost in like some other libraries. The stacks in the library have study spaces scattered throughout, which means that anyone could come along at any time. Similarly, the 5 floors of space we do have are pretty densely populated by staff (office space is a chronic problem on campus). Nevermind the fact that the walls can talk. O’Neill is a less than ideal spot for a private act like sex. Best of luck to you in finding your best sex space.
I have checked with my helpers and they like both chicken and eggs. There are so many ways to prepare and enjoy them. Do you have a favorite recipe?
Congratulations to the LA Clippers’ newest player, and Boston College’s first ever NBA lottery draft pick, Jerome Robinson! Go Eagles! Read about it: bit.ly/BC-Jerome
Sorry about the temperature! We’ve had this complaint before, and I will send it again to the folks who oversee temperatures. The problem is this: the temperature is more for the sake of the books than for humans. Books like it best in a pretty narrow range of temperatures and humidity that unfortunately is a little lower than is comfortable for some humans sitting and reading. (Did you ever wonder why the stereotypical librarian is wearing a cardigan? Wonder no more.) Try any classroom building, or if you don’t mind a little activity, one of the dining areas. Or bring a cardigan?
Not every day – at least, I’m not happy all the time. It’s probably not realistic or sustainable to always be happy. Being happier in general might be a reasonable goal, and you’re in luck; Happiness Research has taken off as a field in this century. A search in our catalog under the subject “happiness” might be a good place to start, including: “The calculus of happiness : how a mathematical approach to life adds up to health, wealth, and love” QA93 .F467 2017.
I’d love to see you here! I always look forward to answering more students’ questions, as do my colleagues at the reference desk. Sadly, the transfer application site (bit.ly/BC-transfer) says the transfer application deadline for Fall is March 15, and all applicants hear by May 20. If you’d like to apply for Spring transfer enrollment, the deadline is November 15.
I happen to be acquainted with a game theorist. He applies game theory to football pools and wins big every year. Hardly anyone will let him into their pools any more, because word has gotten around that with him in the pool, nobody else stands a chance. But he never bets on baseball. He says there are too many variables: too many games, too many potential pitcher-batter match-ups, winds & humidity that affect home run potential, minor injuries… I mean, a hangnail can kill a pitcher’s ERA! There’s just no way to tell, which is why baseball is the best sport: just as in life, you never know what will happen. Go, Sox! (In the meantime, I why not read The fix is in: A history of baseball gambling and game fixing scandals, by Daniel Ginsburg. O’Neill Library GV863.A1 G58 1995.)
