Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
We are well situated for day trips! Even NYC or Montreal are arguably do-able in a (long, exhausting) day. Closer to home, I’d recommend: the coast of Maine including Portland and one of the beaches within an easy drive; the Berkshires for some art, music, theater or dance; or Mystic Seaport if you like ships and history. Or try some of the quirkier trips suggested here: bit.ly/DayTripsOuttaBoston… Beer Can Museum?
The one I haven’t yet been asked! To see what I’ve been asked: answerwall.domain.bc.edu.
Both? Continuing the superhero theme, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Any new technology solves some problems and creates others. Cars were much faster than horses, but people died a lot more often while driving them. Facebook makes communication much easier than mailing a letter, but also can be a platform for user manipulation. AI will probably solve a lot of problems and allow us to focus less on mundane tasks. But it will almost certainly lead to its own problems; potentially mass unemployment and/or even more structural racism. For more potential problems, checkout I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (PS3551.S5 I2 1950b).
This is one of those questions that won’t ever have a right answer and that people will argue about forever. Generally speaking, PS4 has more exclusives titles than XBOX. XBOX Live and Playstation Network are basically the same. However, XBOX live Gold allows users to keep the games they got for free even if their subscription lapses, which is pretty nice, but costs extra. XBOX also has interoperability with Microsoft Windows, allowing you to play some games on your laptop wherever you are, which I think is pretty clutch. And the XBOX controller just feels more comfortable than playstation. So I say XBOX.
If you mean “mans” as in “Mans Not Hot,” the satirical song released last September, the performer is the British comedian Michael Dapaah, who performs as fictional rapper “Big Shaq.” Here is an entertaining video of him describing the song & lyrics: bit.ly/neverhot
Someone that you connect with, who you think you will be friends with forever. Not necessarily someone you see or talk to every day; often someone you may not see all the time, but you just pick up where you left off. Someone who knows you and whom you know and you just accept each other for who you are and make time for each other when you need to. You may have lots of good friends throughout your life but will probably have very few lifelong friends. They are a true gift!
I like Emma Peel a lot, but suppose you probably mean the Marvel movies. I admire the steadiness and good cheer of Captain America. You should also read Matt Fraction’s run of Hawkeye if you haven’t: great small-scale stories and fantastic art, with lots of purple. bit.ly/bc-avenger
It’s possible to have too much milk from both the supply and consumption angles. For the former, I found this recent open access review article on PubMed: bit.ly/MilkOversupply; and while this systematic review of “Daily milk consumption and all-cause mortality” (bit.ly/MilkRisk) found no clear evidence of increased risk, there are certainly individuals for whom excess consumption of milk is a hazard.
I’m sorry you were uncomfortably cold! Heating a big building like this has its challenges, and great big windows, which let in a lot of cold along with the light, is one of them. I’ll alert my human assistants about the cold, and see if anything can be done about it.
Yes. Yes, you will. Be patient. And persistent. And resilient.
You always know you’ve got a good question when you ask one philosophers have been debating for a few thousand years. This is one of those questions. For a really great summary of approaches to answering it, you can’t beat this entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: bit.ly/SEP-free-will
If you’re facing me, turn around. The smiling folks behind the desk across the lobby can do that for you, as well as check out technology, course reserves, and lots of other things.
Love is more a feeling than a look. I would say that love differs from attraction because it creates a deep concern for the other person’s happiness over any concern for your own happiness. Attraction can be sudden, but love usually takes time to grow. As to what love looks like, it could be sad when the other is hurting, pride when the other succeeds, and joy when the other cares the same way about you.
A “shot” refers to the amount of liquid you can drink at once. In this context “shot” of expresso means approximately one ounce of espresso (according to the Italian standards, a volume of 25 ml plus or minus ten percent.)
Are we talking specifically shows produced by Netflix? Comedy: Bojack, Friends From College, Master of None, and Grace & Frankie. Action: Marvel’s Luke Cage and Marvel’s Jessica Jones (don’t let the Marvel tag fool you, these are great shows in their own right). Drama: Stranger Things (of course), The Crown (of course), Narcos, and The Get Down. I’ll also plug Chef’s Table as a wonderful Docu-series on some of the world’s most influential chefs.
Be honest and direct with your partner about how you’re feeling. If you don’t see each other frequently you’ll be tempted to put off the unpleasant conversation. That’s normal, but it doesn’t actually spare you or your partner the discomfort…and can sometimes make it worse.
It’s unconscionable, but it’s what the market will bear. However, you do have rights, and you should fight for what you need. The Mass Attorney General’s Office has some useful info for student renters: bit.ly/StudentRenterHelp. Also, check the BC help: offcampushousing.bc.edu/resource.
There are many right ways to study, and some of it depends on your personality. But why not set up an appointment for academic coaching at the Connors Family Learning Center (bit.ly/BC-connors), and discuss your learning (and grade) goals with them?
Email the relevant subject librarian with your recommendation (libguides.bc.edu/ask-a-librarian/contact). If you need it quickly, do place an interlibrary loan request (illiad.bc.edu/illiad/bxm/logon.html) and check “yes” for “Should BC purchase this item”.
As a primarily residential campus, BC never closes completely. So, those who make the snow day call try to keep all services available as much as possible. Unfortunately for many, that also means classes are also rarely cancelled. But when there are snow days, check out the library hours page- O’Neill is almost always open.
