Boston College in the News 2014-2015

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BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

May 31, 2015 Dear Friends: Boston College in the News is a compilation of the University’s major news articles and faculty opinion pieces from the 2014-2015 academic year.

The Office of News & Public Affairs works with local, national and international media to publicize the teaching and research activities of our faculty, the accomplishments of our students, and the societal contribution of the University, in a manner that helps promote Boston College as one of the nation’s premier institutions of higher learning.

As the print and broadcast media summations at the end of the book demonstrate, Boston College is in the news every day. Most importantly, as the enclosed articles and op-eds indicate, we are featured in a manner that reflects most favorably on the University.

Given the volume of news that we generate, this compilation offers only a sampling of our news placements and does not include all news and feature stories, small market papers, or the hundreds of articles quoting our faculty as experts. In addition to traditional media, we have also included a snapshot of the reach and engagement of the University’s social media channels, which are also offered through our office.

We hope that you will enjoy this glimpse of the University’s high visibility and the positive ways in which Boston College is perceived by the general public.

Sincerely, Jack Dunn Director of News & Public Affairs Office of News & Public Affairs: Melissa Beecher Sean Casey Patti Delaney Ed Hayward Sean Hennessey Michael Maloney Rosanne Pellegrini Sean Smith Kathleen Sullivan 14 MAYFLOWER RD, CHESTNUT HILL, MA 02467 TEL: 617-552-3350 FAX: 617-552-3959

Chicago Archbishop Cupich urges BC grads to ‘promote common good’

By Katherine Landergan | G L O B E S T A F F

Boston College conferred degrees to about 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students Monday. Photo b y David L. Ryan

Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich challenged Boston College graduates Monday to become leaders who will “promote the common good” and improve life for the poor.

The university conferred degrees on about 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students during a commencement rooted in Catholic tradition. Cupich told the graduates at Alumni Stadium to never lose their youthfulness, even though on occasion they will have “lost a sense of the grace of life.”

“There will be days . . . when the spontaneity and freedom you enjoyed in an earlier time in life has been sapped by disappointment and cynicism,” he said, adding that if that happens, he has one final homework assignment for them: to spend time with a child.

In his remarks, BC’s president, the Rev. William P. Leahy , also urged graduates to use their education to better society, and to become “forces for good.”

Leahy said that of the thousands of students who have graduated from BC, “those who have had the most fulfilling lives are those who used their education and talents in the service of society, who have given life and given it abundantly.”

He said that when the Rev. Robert Fulton welcomed a class of 22 men, mostly the children of immigrants, as the first students at Boston College in 1864, “he could not have imagined that his fledgling enterprise would be recognized as one of the world’s preeminent universities.”

Although BC has changed its location, size, scope, and reputation in the last 150 years, it has not wavered from its core values, he said.

“Its essentials remain the same: Jesuit education is a gift only fully realized when given away,” Leahy said, adding that the university “has never been stronger, more vibrant, and more willing to assist contemporary society and the Catholic Church.”

BC presented honorary degrees to: Archbishop Cupich; Sister Marie Chin of Jamaica, an internationally known speaker and spiritual director; Steve Pemberton, vice president and chief diversity officer at Walgreens; Michael J. Motyl, president of a tuition-free Catholic middle school in Texas; and Lee Woodruff, a “CBS This Morning” contributor.

Following the ceremony, Katerina Katsouri, 21, said that her time at BC has helped her to flourish as a “world citizen,” and that she is grateful for having had the opportunity to study across a range of subjects, including languages, art, and geology.

“You dip your foot into everything,” said Katsouri, who will soon start a job at a law firm.

Katsouri, who is from Athens, said the transition to life in the United States was tough at first, but she has found a home at BC. “The Jesuit education fosters a sense of community and giving back,” said Katsouri, a political science and art history major.

Alexa Geraniotis, 21, a nursing graduate, was visibly emotional after commencement and said that although she knew it was time to move on, the BC community would “follow me for the rest of my life.”

“BC will always be your second home,” said Geraniotis, from Orleans.

Added graduate Dorian Deen, 22, from Atlantic City, N.J.: “It’s been the best four years I could have ever imagined. There’s a type of love around BC that is just incomparable.”

Outside the Box: Brothers will be brothers at BC May 29, 2015 Mary Moore Mike Bourque Age: 54 Title: Vice president of information technology services, Boston College Education: Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Merrimack College, 1982; master’s degree in engineering management, University of Iowa, 1984 Residence: Wakefield Dan Bourque Age: 60 Title: Vice president of facilities, Boston College Education: Bachelor’s degree civil engineering, UMass Lowell, 1976; master’s degree in engineering management, Northeastern University, 1980 Residence: Reading Mike and Dan Bourque bring something that, by all accounts, is unique in higher education.

Both serve as vice presidents at Boston College and, oh by the way, they are brothers.

Mike, who had worked for Raytheon and technology company PTC in Needham before joining BC, leads the college’s information technology services operation. Dan had been working at Northeastern University and, later, joined his brother at BC to run campus facilities.

The Bourque brothers know their stuff professionally, and their comedic timing is impeccable; the zingers fly fast and furious during conversation.

The brothers grew up in Lawrence in a family of 10 kids. In their time working together, they said, they’ve had small squabbles over things such as project schedules. But nothing has risen to the level of an all-out fight.

The Bourques spoke with BBJ reporter Mary Moore about brotherly love, working together and maintaining the integrity of the family name.

What’s the dynamic when you’re sitting next to your brother in a work meeting?

Mike: It’s not a problem for us. We have a good working relationship, but sometimes that plays out as good-humored bantering. A lot of the other people were at least initially surprised by how we’d give it to each other in meetings.

Dan: There’s one key thing: Don’t embarrass the family. We jokingly say that to each other.

Were you close growing up?

Mike: Dan was a pain in the neck. He was a little older. He was a punk.

Dan: We got along well, though I did more things with an older brother. All six brothers got along well.

What’s your idea of a good day?

Mike: My idea of a good day is when our team in IT makes some kind of contribution to the mission of the university in terms of supporting students and faculty members. Sometimes it’s difficult for service organizations like IT and facilities to be seen as directly supporting the mission because you’re in the background.

Dan: My idea of a good day is no surprises. The building systems are working, whether it’s heating or cooling, and the campus is looking beautiful. And that we’re advancing on projects.

What are some things people don’t know about you?

Mike: Maybe that we didn’t attend BC as students. I would never have been accepted at BC. Dan: I’m an open book. I don’t think there are too many surprises when it comes to me.

What has been the biggest obstacle to your careers?

Mike: People don’t know that I am actually shy. I’ve had to focus on being more assertive and outgoing.

Dan: Public speaking. In facilities we try to slide below the radar, so public speaking is not my forte.

What are your pet peeves?

Mike: People who don’t say please and thank you.

Dan: Traffic and commuting and the rudeness of the drivers.

What is your favorite book?

Mike: It’s got to be “Curious George” for Dan. For me, it’s “TransAtlantic” by Colum McCann.

Dan: “Unbroken,” which is about Louis Zamperini.

What is your favorite restaurant?

Mike: Sabatino’s in Wakefield. And Strega.

Dan: His favorite restaurant is the cheapest restaurant he can find. Mine is Capital Grille.

Matthew Aucoin, Opera’s Great 25-Year-Old Hope May 27, 2015 – Carlo Rotella We want to feel like this shape is coming out of the mist, growing legs or something,” Matthew Aucoin said to the woodwinds.

They were in a rehearsal hall in Boston, workshopping “Crossing,” Aucoin’s new opera based on Walt Whitman’s Civil War diaries. To the cellos and basses, Aucoin said, “I want this to feel psychotic, like the kick drum in a techno song.” To the whole orchestra, on the subject of the work’s constant shifts in meter and cross-grained tempos — designed to counteract what he regards as the innate Italianness of opera and give “Crossing” the distinctive rhythms of American English — he said: “We want it to splinter. Ninety percent of the time I’m going to be like, ‘It’s not supposed to be together,’ and 10 percent of the time I’ll be like, ‘I messed up.’ ” The singers, with whom Aucoin had been working separately, would be joining the orchestra later that day. It was last fall, and the world premiere of “Crossing,” produced by the American Repertory Theater, was seven months away, scheduled for May 29.

Aucoin (pronounced oh-COYNE), who is 25, can easily pass for a high-school sophomore, with a shock of curly hair and a wardrobe that runs to jeans and much-laundered T-shirts. There are more established young composers who write operas, but if contemporary opera has a rising wunderkind, then Aucoin has to be it — although his promise as a composer, conductor, pianist, poet and critic extends well beyond opera or any other single form. The conductor Johannes Debus says that the range of Aucoin’s talents exemplifies “Gesamtkunstwerk, Wagner’s term for everything at once.”

Aucoin had already extensively rewritten “Crossing” over the summer, after discovering that a subtle movement between two chords in the final chorus opened the way for him to a deeper understanding of the whole opera. At the time of the workshop, he was still setting some sections of his libretto to music, a task for which he would have to clear space in a heavy schedule of commissions, performance commitments and craft apprenticeships. He had operas to write for Lyric Opera of Chicago and the newworks program of the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center; a variety of orchestral and chamber works to compose, play or conduct in various American and European culture capitals; and a two-year appointment as the Solti Conducting Apprentice at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Riccardo Muti, in addition to serving as one of the youngest-ever assistant conductors at the Met. He was also the first-ever composer in residence at the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts, where he and a crew of whiz-kid collaborators, collectively known as the Encounters Ensemble, staged multimedia events.

Looking forward, past other miscellaneous projects — including collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, “This American Life” and the baritone Paulo Szot — Aucoin had lectures to deliver at Harvard and New York’s Shakespeare Society, critical essays and perhaps a book or two about music to write and a desire to get back to poetry in a serious way. He wore a brace to support a wrist made sore by keyboarding at the piano and laptop, but took it off to conduct or play.

The workshop of “Crossing” offered Aucoin, who was also conducting, a chance to clean up rough spots in sections of the opera that were already complete. At a session with just the singers, Rod Gilfry, the imposing baritone singing the part of Whitman, stumbled over the line “Breathed the air you breathe.”

Aucoin tried singing it himself a few times, shifting the emphasis to see how it might fit best. Then he sang it with exaggerated British diction — plummily rolling his R’s and stressing the final syllable of “breathed” — and everyone in the rehearsal room broke up laughing.

“O.K., don’t articulate the ‘D,’ then,” he said to Gilfry. “It should sound like normal American speech patterns.”

Aucoin, seated, at a rehearsal of his opera “Crossing,” with the pianist Adam Nielsen and the singers Rod Gilfry, right, and Alexander Lewis. The work is based on the Civil War diaries of Walt Whitman.

As they worked through the score, his directions, which began in technical detail, coalesced in vivid similes: “You should be not quite in sync here, not so much like a canon, more like a delay pedal. … This is like walking with a limp, like woe-is-me, we want to feel each eighth note as a kind of limp. … It’s like you’re squinting at him, as if you were incredulous: ‘Don’t you have a life of your own? Don’t you have a life?’ ” Most new operas come and go without attracting much notice, and even the most wildly promising talents can run afoul of some obstacle and fall short of full development. Aucoin looks like a sure thing to many people in the world of classical music, but his agent and other advisers worry that he might become overextended or overexposed. The expectations surrounding him, they point out, are prematurely, impossibly high. As Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, puts it, “He needs time and space to succeed and fail.”

Carlo Rotella is the director of American studies at Boston College and the author, most recently, of “Playing in Time: Essays, Profiles and Other True Stories.”

30 years later, remembering Boston’s wave of antiimmigrant violence

By Marilynn S. Johnson – May 22, 2015 Thirty years ago, an explosion of violence ripped through two Boston neighborhoods. In the early morning hours of May 25, 1985, a group of some 30 young white men in Dorchester surrounded the home of three Vietnamese neighbors, shouting racial epithets and bombarding them with bricks and bottles. Breaking into the house through a window, they brutally attacked the residents inside. Two nights later, another outbreak occurred in East Boston, when 15 to 20 white teens brandishing hockey sticks and a lead pipe chased and beat up four Cambodian residents, leaving three of them hospitalized.

The victims of the violence that Memorial Day weekend were just a few of the hundreds of immigrants — and especially Southeast Asian refugees — in the Boston area who became targets of violent assaults, arson, vandalism, and murder in the 1980s. Among them were three young men — Hao Tan Lai, Anh Mai, and Bun Vong — who were killed by white assailants in Brighton, Dorchester, and Medford, respectively. Cambodian families in Revere faced equally brutal attacks, as arsonists targeted their homes in 1985-86, leaving dozens of refugees homeless and traumatized. Such abuse was devastating for those that had already endured years of war, genocide, forced exile, and long detentions in refugee camps.

While the recent flap over a proposed pardon for Mark Wahlberg briefly reminded us of this era, the ugly history of Boston’s anti-immigrant violence of the 1980s has been largely forgotten. At the time, this wave of hostility toward Asians was seen as a carry-over of the racial animus of the busing era, bolstered by lingering resentments over the Vietnam war in many white working-class neighborhoods. There was much truth to this claim, and as many noted, the violence began just hours after local white teens poured out of the latest “Rambo’’ movie, in which Sylvester Stallone shot up countless Vietnamese with his AK-47.

But in retrospect, the violence directed at immigrants and refugees in the 1980s was also occurring during a crucial transition in the city’s history, as the old Boston gave way to the new. Unionized jobs in older manufacturing industries had been disappearing for the past decade as factories across the region shut down and moved away. Laidoff workers found jobs in new service industries, but often at a fraction of their old wages.

The so-called Massachusetts miracle was not so miraculous, it turned out, for those trying to pay mortgages or rent in a region where high tech and professional workers were driving up housing costs at an astronomical rate. Southeast

Asian newcomers, who joined the low end of this emerging service economy, became scapegoats for these changes, as false rumors circulated that refugees were getting generous government-subsidized housing and car loans and other special treatment. Refugees thus found themselves under relentless attack in the poorer white working-class neighborhoods where many had been resettled.

Soon, however, the newcomers began to organize for protection and found support from local churches and panAsian civil rights groups such as Asians for Justice and the Asian American Resources Workshop. Together they led community-level protests, pressed local authorities for more protection, and provided legal advocacy for victims.

Their efforts resulted in some of the first official initiatives to foster multiculturalism in communities across the region, and on the national level, their documentation helped lead to the passage of federal hate crimes legislation in 1990.

Over the next decade, the city’s earlier reputation for anti-immigrant violence gave way to a more welcoming stance toward newcomers, including the opening of the Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians in 1998. But while street-level violence against refugees and immigrants has largely receded, popular resentments toward immigrants receiving government services such as health care, transitional bilingual education, in-state tuition, and the issuing of drivers licenses have persisted and grown.

In the absence of federal immigration reform, we need to move forward on these issues at the state level so that the rising generation of New Bostonians can fully participate and contribute to our economy and public institutions. With immigrants now comprising more than a quarter of Boston’s population, the future of the city and region will depend on their success.

Marilynn S. Johnson is professor of history at Boston College and author of the forthcoming book, “The New Bostonians: How Immigrants Have Transformed the Metro Region Since the 1960s.’’

Irish Catholicism Can Adapt to a New Role Oliver P. Rafferty, a Jesuit priest, is a visiting professor of history and Irish studies at Boston College. He is the editor of "Irish Catholic Identities."

UPDATED MAY 20, 2015 If the electorate rejects the advice of the Irish bishops and votes for gay marriage, it will indicate that the influence of Ir ish institutional Catholicism in the public square is virtually at an end. A church that once commanded the respect and allegiance of the vast majority of the Irish people will have been humiliated in a matter of Catholic morality by a people who, in the Republic of Ireland, still overwhelmingly self-identify (more than 80 percent) as Catholic.

Catholicism will continue to have some disputed role in educational, medical and social service provision, but its dominance of Irish social and political opinion will be at an end.

Catholicism could emerge as a more caring less overtly dogmatic and oppressive feature of the Irish landscape.

In the history of Ireland since the Reformation, Catholicism acted as a token of resistance to English and British rule.

Given the political independence of most of Ireland since 1921, we have witnessed a slow process of disengagement between Catholicism and the state, the 1937 constitution notwithstanding. The phenomenon of the undermining of the church in society has been rapidly accelerated in recent years, and Catholicism is no longer needed to play the role of nationalism at prayer. The church has, therefore, imploded in a manner that gives rise to concerns about whether the Catholic faith will in the future form part of what characterizes and informs the Irish soul.

Constantinian Christianity as a model for church-state relations is at an end. The question remains will the church survive as anything other than an increasingly irrelevant minority, resisting the blandishments of a highly secularized and superficially “liberal” modernity?

In the church itself some clergy have already given up the ghost, and accept the inevitability of the church’s increasing irrelevance for Irish society. But there is another strand of thinking. The resistance to gay marriage is a token of the fact that Irish Catholicism will not go quietly into the night. Like Luther here it stands, it can do no other. If it can no longer epitomize the broader culture in Ireland, Irish Catholicism can perhaps emerge as a more caring less overtly dogmatic and oppressive feature of the Irish landscape. Its focus might be more concentrated on ministering to peoples’ actual needs than on wielding power in Irish society.

If the church learns that lesson from the loss of the gay marriage referendum its defeat may not, after all, represent its Waterloo.

Often, Child Prodigies Do Not Grow Into Adult Genius Ellen Winner is a psychology professor at Boston College, where she directs the Arts and Mind Lab, which focuses on cognition in the arts in typical and gifted children. She is the author of "Gifted Children: Myths and Realities."

UPDATED MAY 20, 2015 Joey Alexander, the most recent child prodigy to be in the news, shows us the positive side of young genius. He clearly gets joy from playing jazz. You can see it in how he moves as he plays, and how he talks. Maybe Joey will grow up to be a great jazz pianist, but many child prodigies cannot sustain their careers into adulthood.

A major downside of being a prodigy is that everyone expects you will grow up to become a genius. But the skill of being a child prodigy is qualitatively different from the “skill” of being a creative genius. Child prodigies master an adult domain that has already been invented – whether it is perspective drawing, mathematics, chess, tennis or music. On the other hand, adults we classify as creative geniuses are individuals who have invented or discovered something new, something that changes their domain.

The skill of being a child prodigy is qualitatively different from the 'skill' of being an adult creative genius.

Countless child prodigies lose interest in their area of talent and drop out; others become experts in their area as adults. Only a tiny few become creative adult “geniuses.” It is impossible to predict which course a life will take.

Prodigies whose parents push them hard, and who expect them to grow up to be stars, may come to the conclusion that being a prodigy was a curse. This is what happened to tennis star Andre Agassi. Parents who relax, and make it clear that being a prodigy does not define their child’s future, are more likely to have a child who grows up to think being a prodigy was on the whole a good thing.

Boston College graduate wins prestigious Fulbright grant to study HIV/AIDS in China

Andrew Babbitt, 22, of Hampden graduated from Boston College this month with a degree in mathematics. He will travel to China in August to conduct a public health study on HIV/AIDS testing and treatment.

By Evan Belanger, BDN Staff Posted May 17, 2015

BANGOR, Maine — A Hampden resident and graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School has won a J. William Fulbright grant to conduct a public health study in China.

Andrew Babbitt, 22, graduated this month with a degree in mathematics from Boston College.

He learned in April that he was a recipient of the prestigious grant program for international educational exchange established by Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1946.

Babbitt who studied Mandarin in high school and spent time in Beijing during his junior year of college will travel to Guangzhou, China, in August to study how homosexual men utilize HIV/AIDS services.

Babbitt said in an interview Friday there have been a number of initiatives in China to expand testing and treatment services and make them available to the population free of charge, but little is known about how well the services are used.

By studying how homosexual men utilize testing and treatment, he hopes to determine whether any delivery models result in higher usage rates and work to expand those models.

“One of the issues just globally is that gay men are 80 percent more likely than the general population to be affected by HIV/AIDS,” he said. “It’s just a very important population to learn about, and in China right now that research hasn’t been done as in depth as it has in other places.”

Babbitt’s work will keep him in Guangzhou, China’s third largest city, through mid-July 2016.

He already has signed on to work in the Boston office of London-based L.E.K. Consulting, a global management consulting firm.

L.E.K. is a generalist firm with expertise in defense, aviation, life science, health care, energy, transportation, consumer products and financial services.

Babbitt anticipates working on a broad variety of projects at L.E.K. As for his future education, Babbitt said he has not decided what he’ll do next, but he is considering medical school and public health studies.

As for his mathematics major at Boston College, where he attended on a full academic scholarship, Babbitt said he never intended to go into math academia or math research.

“It was just something I enjoyed and sort of thought would make me a better thinker,” he said.

“I try to tailor the sort of thought that goes into math and bring that into my other interest,” he said.

Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.

Boston Marathon bombing case bound for lengthy appeal MAY 16, 2015, 6:50 PM

Law Professor Robert Bloom talking to CBS Evening News about death sentence rendered in verdict against Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Click the above image for video

Ideas In South Korea, international adoption as a solution to social problems

By Kevin Hartnett │ May 12, 2015 Monday was “Single Mother’s Day” in South Korea, an unofficial event meant to raise acceptance in the traditionbound country for women who raise their children alone. It’s also a reminder of the role that various social stigmas have played in another notable aspect of Korean society: international adoption.

South Korea was the first country to begin sending babies abroad in large numbers. The process began in the late 1950s, in the aftermath of the Korean War, as a way to remove “GI Babies” from the population — the mixed-race children of US soldiers and Korean women.

“Koreans have this myth of racial purity, they wanted to get rid of these children. Originally international adoption was supposed to be this race-based evacuation,” says Arissa Oh.

A passport photo of a South Korean adoptee.

Oh is a historian at Boston College and the author of the new book, “To Save the Children of Korea,” that looks at the motives behind the rise of Korean-US adoptions.

She says that politics was at work on the American end, too. “Americans started to adopt from Korea partly for Cold War reasons,” she says, “as a way to prove patriotism and win hearts and mind.”

By the early 1960s, GI babies had receded as an issue, and South Korea began using international adoption to solve other social stigmas — first as a way to remove poor children and later, as South Korea grew more affluent, as a way of dealing with out-ofwedlock pregnancies. The number of Korean babies put up for international adoption soared through the 1970s and 1980s, and peaked around 9,000 in 1985. The trend really started to reverse following the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which drew a lot of negative attention to the outflow of Korean babies.

Today only about 200 Korean children are adopted abroad each year, and other countries, like China and Ethiopia, have picked up what South Korea started. But while international adoption may be less prevalent in South Korea than it used to be, but it still influences Korean society. Adoptees are active in the “Single Mother’s Day” movement, and Oh says that many are working to change the laws and norms that, decades ago, led their birth-families to send them away.

Put the Onus on the Free Market Architects Juliet Schor is a professor of sociology at Boston College and the author of "True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans Are Creating a Time-Rich, Ecologically Light, Small-Scale, High-Satisfaction Economy."

UPDATED MAY 12, 2015 The horror of conditions in New York nail salons is an all-too familiar story. A combination of globalization and domestic policies has deprived multitudes of the opportunity to make a decent living, and led to a highly exploitable, often mobile, labor supply.

When cheap labor is plentiful and business entry into an industry is easy, the result is excessive competition. And consumers can reap the benefits. But should they? "Should" invokes morality, and to my mind, consumers should not participate in exploiting service workers just as they should not benefit from slavery, or profit from the carbon pollution destroying the climate. But the inclusion of the adjective "free" in discussions about capitalism suggests an alternative, albeit common, view: “Free” markets are moral because they yield optimal outcomes. Feel “free” to buy at whatever price the market will allow. No other moral criteria need apply.

Extensive evidence from across the social sciences reveals the fallacy of the “free” market.

Markets are constructed, and favor some interests over others. The new global economy, for example, heavily favors the economic elites who have built it over the last 30 years. If that seems implausible, consider that its architects, the global 1 percent, now possess an unprecedented 48 percent of the world’s wealth.

Posing the question as an issue of consumer ethics is a misdirection. While consumers do have moral responsibilities to pay fair wages and prices as they can afford them, they are also among the least powerful actors in the global economy. Better to pay attention to the people and policies most implicated in these dysfunctional outcomes. Let’s demand accountability from governments, companies and economists.

Ray Madoff isn’t morbid, though her Boston College Law School office is alive with death — at least on her bookshelves. After all, she teaches and writes about the hands of the dead reaching from the grave to control the living. Yep: estate law. But why, she has wondered, do we let the deceased do that?

Innocent question, maybe. Yet Madoff’s attempts to answer it have landed her in a thicket of controversy, from the living, of course. “I’m just raising perfectly normal questions,” insists Madoff (no relation to Bernie). With works like Immortality and the Law and a series of op-ed articles in The New York Times and elsewhere, Madoff has become one of the most vocal critics of charitable foundations — calling for them to spend more and questioning how they spend their money. One of Madoff’s original ideas has even worked its way into tax-reform legislation now being considered by Congress.

“Clearly people in Washington have been reading [her] stuff,” says Alan Cantor, a consultant on nonprofits. Madoff’s achievement, he adds, has been taking philanthropic community debates and “breaking through to the larger world.”

Take the topic of taxes, for instance. Yes, Madoff argues, your tax bill could be less if more than $1 trillion of assets weren’t parked in private foundations and university endowments largely protected from Uncle Sam. “It is important that we revisit the rules to see if they are producing the result we want,” says Madoff, who has found that, well, they aren’t. Instead, too much money is locked away, much of it spent for dubious reasons (Leona Helmsley’s $8 billion for dogs, for example), not at all or on causes dictated undemocratically by the dead or the very wealthy, all tax subsidized.

Madoff is an unlikely rebel. Modest in appearance and bookish — with long brown hair flecked with gray, glasses that are rimless on the bottom and pearl earrings — she is also friendly and soft-spoken. By her own admission, she started as a mediocre student (there’s that D in high school French) and found a circuitous route to Brown University, where she blossomed as a philosophy major. “I have a theory that philosophy majors end up as tax lawyers,” she jokes.

She found tax law, which she practiced in New York City and Boston, interesting, but she concluded, “I wouldn’t want me for a lawyer.” (She didn’t care enough about making money for the client.) This selfdescribed “compulsive cook” is a homebody who grew up in Newton Centre and now lives next door in Newtonville; she walks to work, has one of three kids still at home and is married to a public interest/environmental lawyer who works out of the house. She has surprised herself by ending up in the spotlight because she doesn’t think of herself as an activist. “It’s more like, ‘Hey, this really doesn’t look right to me,’” she says.

Professor Ray Madoff

Take donor-advised funds, which Madoff recently dubbed the Thing That Ate Philanthropy. These made the news after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated nearly $1 billion to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in December 2013. Generous, sure, but under current law, that money could sit there forever, earning fees for some money manager without being spent, while Zuckerberg gets an immediate tax deduction. (Zuckerberg didn’t respond to a request for comment, but he and his wife have already committed to spend more than $200 million in the next few years to support local schools and pay for medical equipment.) Then, last year, Rep. Dave Camp proposed a payout requirement of five years for these funds in a tax-reform plan. “That was all right out of Ray’s writing and speaking,” says Cantor. Camp didn’t comment and has since retired, though his legislation is still being considered.

Source: Courtesy of Ray Madoff

Even so, the philanthropy establishment has fired back at Madoff’s ideas. The Council on Foundations, an association with some 1,600 members, opposes any payout requirement that would tie the hands of donors to “invest strategically in a community’s future,” says spokesman Jesse Salazar. “At the heart of these critiques,” he adds, “is a troubling and misguided effort to call into question the value of endowed philanthropy.”

Criticisms like this haven’t stopped Madoff from also calling for ways to nudge private foundations with total endowments greater than $600 billion to spend more than the legally required minimum of 5 percent, all of which could now go toward administrative salaries and even travel expenses to conferences in the Bahamas. Universities don’t escape scrutiny, since the lion’s share of tax subsidies goes to elite schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, with their multibillion-dollar endowments. “If you are interested in educational opportunity,” Madoff asks, “is that really the best way?” The list goes on: dynasty trusts, perpetual trusts and tax-deductible gifts to churches, which have no reporting requirements.

Still, Madoff hopes to engage her critics, and she has started raising money for a limited-duration organization focused on finding practical fixes for the issues she has highlighted. The last time Congress reset the rules on philanthropy was back in 1969 — and Madoff figures it’s time for another overhaul. If she succeeds, she might yet cause some to turn over in their graves.

Top Image Source: Martin Wimmer/Getty

New Director of Center for International Higher Education to Redirect Its Focus, and Other News About People May 4, 2015

Wider Focus Abroad Hans de Wit, a Dutch scholar of global higher education who has spent the past few years working in Italy, is heading stateside to lead Boston College’s Center for International Higher Education. But when he becomes director this September, he wants to shift its focus a bit.

"There’s so much happening in China, South Africa, and Russia that is understudied and worth looking into," says Mr. de Wit. "I especially have a strong interest in Latin America, which traditionally hasn’t been the emphasis of the center."

Even with so much shared language and culture, countries in Latin America do remarkably little collaboration on higher education, says Mr. Hans de Wit de Wit. To figure out why, he will take a closer look at educational structures and also do research on how higher education and Roman Catholic identity intersect in the region.

Boston College

In some ways, the new job will be a return to Mr. de Wit’s beginnings. His background is in social anthropology in South America, and he did fieldwork in Peru.

"One of the strengths of my career is that I have been both a practitioner and a scholar at the same time," says Mr. de Wit, who has consulted for the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Most recently, he helped found the Center for Higher Education Internationalization at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in Milan.

Mr. de Wit says the position in Boston is "the cherry on the cake" because the center and its departing director, Philip G. Altbach, are giants in the field of international higher education. There, Mr. de Wit will have three full-time doctoral students to work with, instead of part-time students, as in Italy, and he expects to build a new master’s program in higher-education internationalization. —Angela Chen

41 Northeast Law Schools, Ranked By Graduate Employment Data from the American Bar Association shows lower first-time enrollment, but higher employment post-graduation.

Rebecca Strong│04/30/15

Last year at this time, conditions looked somewhat dismal for hopeful law students: The post-2008 recession meant dipping employment rates and considerable debt, even for some of those who attended top law schools. But it appears as if the job market for soon-to-be lawyers may be improving, according to our new data from the American Bar Association.

Image of Harvard via Shutterstock.

The report—which informed our law school ranking of the top law schools in Northeast for jobs—reveals that a slightly higher percentage of 2014 graduates secured jobs as compared with students from the year prior. Seventy-one percent of last year’s graduates were able to land longterm full-time positions (for which candidates with law degrees were preferred) within 10 months after finishing school — up from 67 percent who were employed within nine months for the class of 2013. It’s worth noting that the small increase in employment rate is likely due to a drop in enrollment: There were roughly 2,700 fewer law school grads in 2014 than the year prior. The ABA has said that first-year enrollment for 2014 was the lowest since 1974, with nearly two-thirds of schools experiencing declines in first-year enrollment from the previous year.

Additionally, the unemployment rate for 2014 graduates decreased by 1 percent from 2013, with 10 percent of last year’s graduates reporting that they were jobless and looking for work.

In looking at the ABA’s report, it’s clear that some institutions offer a distinct advantage in terms of postgraduation employment for lawyers. Because while the association doesn’t rank institutions, they do offer insight into employment rates for the law schools they certify nine months after each year’s graduation.

Unsurprisingly, graduates from Northeast institutions reaped key advantages in terms of employability this year. And comparing the 2014 findings for schools in this region over those from the year prior, there were some interesting changes: University of Pennsylvania, NYU and Cornell all jumped ahead of Columbia, while Boston University rose to No. 9 from No. 15 and Boston College shot up to No. 7 from its No. 13 slot.

For those concerned about securing employment after graduating, it’s certainly worth considering this ranking:

No. 7 Boston College Total 2014 graduates: 273 Class of 2014 employment rate: 83.9 percent No. 6 Yale University Total 2014 graduates: 230 Class of 2014 employment rate: 86.1 percent No. 5 Harvard University Total 2014 graduates: 586 Class of 2014 employment rate: 94.4 percent No. 4 Columbia University Total 2014 graduates: 468 Class of 2014 employment rate: 95.7 percent No. 3 Cornell University Total 2014 graduates: 191 Class of 2014 employment rate: 96.3 percent No. 2 New York University Total 2014 graduates: 479 Class of 2014 employment rate: 96.7 percent No. 1 University of Pennsylvania Total 2014 graduates: 278 Class of 2014 employment rate: 97.8 percent

Cranston collegian wins prestigious scholarship

By Gregory Smith │ Apr. 29, 2015 CRANSTON, R.I. — Marissa Marandola, a city resident, a Presidential Scholar and student in the Boston College Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, has landed a prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

The college announced the award Wednesday for Marandola, a graduate of LaSalle Academy who is pursuing a major in political science and a minor in American studies, management and leadership.

The scholarship, established by Congress to honor the memory of the 33rd president, supports the graduate education and personal development of standout undergraduates committed to public service leadership. It is awarded on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability and a strong record of public service, and requires a detailed policy proposal that addresses a particular societal challenge, the college said.

Jason Cavallari, associate director of Boston College’s International Studies Program and director of University Fellowships, praised Marandola: “Marissa won this award because she’s whip-smart, dedicated, ambitious, and above all, passionate about addressing the problems that plague our education system."

Boston College Marissa Marandola

Marandola said she was honored to receive the scholarship, which will help defray the cost of law school and enable her to ultimately pursue a career in education reform and advocacy.

“Through my research at Boston College and work in the community, I have seen a huge disparity between educational opportunity for some and the lack of opportunity for others,” said Marandola. “I think all students should have the same opportunity, and I believe that the charter school movement is a way to do so, particularly for the socio-economically disadvantaged who suffer the inequities in our education system.”

“My parents always emphasized that to whom much is given, much is expected,” said Marandola. “I was raised by loving parents, attended wonderful Catholic schools in Rhode Island and now study at Boston College. I have been given a lot, and the Truman Scholarship helps me to take all that I have been blessed with and use it to serve others.”

After attending law school, she plans to work in a legal department in an urban educational system before pursuing a career as a legal advocate for education reform.

She is one of 58 students nationwide to win the Truman Scholarship this year.

50 colleges where the students are both smart and athletic Melissa Stanger and Emmie Martin │ APR. 29, 2015

When it comes to college, being smart and being athletic don't have to be mutually exclusive.

We worked with college database Niche to come up with a list of schools where students are both athletic and smart.

To create this list, Niche culled data from students at colleges around the US who rated their schools in a number of categories, including academics and athletics.

Many of the schools on the list are big, sports-driven schools — Penn State and UConn, for example — but other, smaller ones known more for their academic prestige — like Princeton and Williams College — also rank highly not just for participating in varsity sports, but also joining intramurals, going to the gym, and, of course, having team spirit.

We've included some quotes from students on Niche to show why each school made the list.

8. Boston College "There are so many great and smart people here who are passionate about learning and making a difference."

"Club sports are our version of Greek life."

"We are especially known for our championship hockey team. Those games are exciting with the arena backed and all the fans chanting and cheering."

J. Meric/Getty Images

Metro St. Columbkille school rebounds with help from Boston College

By Katherine Landergan │ April 27, 2015 In spring 2006, the St. Columbkille School in Brighton seemed to be on the brink of closure. Enrollment had dwindled to 274, from about 1,800 in the early 1960s.

Now, nine years later, signs of a turnaround are evident.

Enrollment has grown to 380 students — a population that is racially and economically diverse — and is anticipated to increase to 420 for the next school year. Standardized test scores have risen dramatically.

The school is undergoing substantial renovations, including a new gymnasium and outdoor recreation area, DAV ID L . RYAN /GLOBE STAF F

Michael SaPonte, Francis Puente, and Jahsiah Montissol worked in a middle school science class at Loyola Academy at St. Columbkille.

in an effort to attract more middle school students.

Outside donors recently pledged more than $2 million.

School leaders attribute the uptick to the unique partnerships it forged with Boston College, which in 2006 began running St. Columbkille along with the Archdiocese of Boston, and to private donors.

They hope the school, renamed the St. Columbkille Partnership School, can serve as a model for Catholic schools not just in Boston but across the country. Head of School William Gartside has started to speak with school administrators in Dayton, Ohio, Philadelphia, and New York City about implementing this model.

“It’s at a pivotal time that if we don’t do something about Catholic education, it will really disappear,’’ Gartside said.

The past several years have seen many Catholic schools close around the country amid lingering effects of the recession, a drop-off in the number of nuns as teachers, and the fallout from the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

After years of sharp decline, however, enrollment in Boston-area Catholic schools is leveling off.

Gartside said that enrollment surged in the 1960s as Catholic schools became more prestigious and the general student population increased. Then in the 1970s, enrollment began gradually decreasing, and it crashed in the early 1990s to around 2005. This resulted in a number of school closings, including the high school at St. Columbkille in 1993.

The turnaround, he said, is largely thanks to Boston College. The university has provided financial aid, funds for renovations, and educational support by overhauling the curriculum and paying for all teachers to study for master’s degrees.

Kathy P. Mears, the superintendent for the Archdiocese of Boston, said the intent is to expand upon St. Columbkille’s model. The archdiocese has a small network of partners that it is working to develop, both in the higher education and business communities.

“St. Columbkille’s is a wonderful example of the great strides that can be made in Catholic education when we collaborate,” she said.

Other such partnerships have formed in the area, including: Endicott College is in its third year of a partnership with Immaculate Conception School in Newburyport; and Regis College has teamed up with several schools including Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton and Lawrence Catholic Academy.

St. Columbkille is now focused on its middle school grades and has renamed the sixth through eighth grades as Loyola Academy. Peter McLaughlin, chairman of the school’s board of trustees, said he wants to transform Loyola into a “destination middle school” by offering strong academics, high-quality facilities, and a wide range of after-school programs.

After Grade 6, school officials said, enrollment starts to drop as students leave for Boston’s exam schools. But by adding programs and renovating the school, officials think they will be able to recruit and retain students.

DAV ID L . RYAN /GLOBE STAF F

William Gartside

St. Columbkille recently added seven classrooms, two science centers, an art room, and a music room, and it renovated its administrative offices and cafeteria this past summer. The school is also transforming its parking lot into an outdoor recreation area and redoing its more than 110-year-old gymnasium.

John Eriksen, cofounder of the Drexel Fund, a not-for-profit organization based in Illinois that is dedicated to giving more students access to faith-based and private schools, said he is unsure whether this model is a widespread solution to challenges facing Catholic schools. Unlike BC, few Catholic colleges will have the financial resources to help run schools, he said, and Catholic middle schools will have difficulty competing with free charter schools, exam schools, or Catholic high schools that are extending into these grades.

“I’m not sure that in and of itself it’s going to stem the tide of school closures,” Eriksen said.

But Gartside and others at St. Columbkille are undeterred. Gartside said colleges benefit from having a laboratory to develop the best teaching practices.

The school, which was founded in 1901 to serve the Irish and Italian immigrant populations, continues to build upon its mission.

“Fast-forward to today, this school is primarily a school that serves immigrants,” he said. “It’s just the faces and the colors have changed.”

At St. Columbkille, 56 percent of students are white; 17 percent Hispanic or Latino; 11 percent black; and 9 percent Asian.

Tuition is $5,400 for kindergarten through eighth grade, and school officials say it costs about $2,500 more to educate each child. Forty percent of students receive financial aid.

Gartside said his goal is for urban students to have the same high level of education and care as those in the suburbs.

DAV ID L . RYAN /GLOBE STAF F

Children pay rapt attention to a story in a K1 class at St. Columbkille Partnership School.

“We can only service 500 children,” Gartside said of St. Columbkille. “We want thousands of children to have this opportunity.”

Bone marrow donor meets 4-year-old boy she saved Kayla Hammergren and the child’s bond grew via an exchange of letters

By Jennifer Smith │ April 27, 2015 When Kayla Hammergren signed up as a bone marrow donor in 2013, she doubted she would ever get a call to donate. Two years later, on Sunday at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, she got to meet the 4-year-old boy whose life she saved.

Five months after signing up for the bone marrow registry, she was matched with a 2-year-old boy suffering from leukemia. Hammergren, a 22-year-old Boston College student, donated her marrow through The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation to young James Strejc.

“It was an automatic yes for me; a no-brainer, really,” she said. If anyone she loved had needed a transplant, Hammergren said, she hoped a stranger would step up and do the same.

The foundation mandates a one-year waiting period before donors can meet with recipients. Before Sunday, Hammergren and James had exchanged letters (his came with a little parental help) that were vetted by the foundation, and the two finally met Sunday at the Gift of Life’s inaugural Boston 5K Walk for Life.

Seeing James now cancer-free was “fantastic,” Hammergren said in a telephone interview. “I think about him all the time.”

The morning was beautiful and sunny at the walk’s 8:30 start time, Hammergren said, though the weather was turning slightly cloudy. The volunteers joked that they had karma working for them. And James was bursting with enthusiasm, she said.

AMY GLANZMAN/GIFT O F LIFE B ONE MARROW Kayla Hammergren, 22, donated bone marrow which was used to help James Strejc, then a 2-year-old battling leukemia.

“I assumed he wouldn’t have a ton of energy, since he was still recovering,” Hammergren said after the event and a long lunch with James.

“He ran almost an entire lap around the reservoir,” she said.

James and Hammergren were joined by other marrow donors and participants at the event, which was intended to raise money to help match more donors and possible recipients. Each swab costs $60 to be processed, according to a Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation statement.

Amy Glanzman of the foundation estimated $45,000 was raised Sunday.

The odds of finding donors within a patient’s immediate family are slim, according to the organization’s founder Jay Feinberg. “Every four minutes, one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer,” he said in the statement. “Only 30 percent of patients will have a matching donor in their family.”

Hammergren will stay on the donor registry, which limits participants to two or three marrow donations before they are removed from the list for their own health. She said she would consider donating again if called to do so but would need to prepare herself mentally for the effort.

Though giving marrow is notoriously painful, she said the process of donating felt more like a “hollow ache.” Emotionally, it was wrenching.

The psychological struggle centered on her investment in the then-2-year-old boy battling a potentially fatal disease.

The senior business management major said she broke down sobbing after receiving a call while she was in London telling her that James also needed a blood transplant.

“I never thought about the emotional pull and how connected I would feel about this little boy I had never met,” she said.

Kayla and Little James, No Longer Strangers Sharing an Unbreakable Bond

When Kayla Hammergren signed up as a bone marrow donor in 2013, she doubted she would ever get a call to donate. Two years later, on Sunday at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, she got to meet the 4-year-old boy whose life she saved.

Click image for video

They Call Him the "Priest of Sin"

Few people know the gambling industry like Rev. Richard McGowan.

By Adam Vacca Boston.com Staff | 04.27.15

In El Salvador, where he travels a few times a year for missionary work, Rev. Richard McGowan is called “Pedro Pecado”—or, the Priest of Sin. Don’t get the wrong idea: McGowan isn’t Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Rev. Dimmesdale. But as a leading expert on the economics of tobacco, alcohol, and especially gambling, the Jesuit priest and professor at Boston College puts much of his time into the study of vice.

McGowan can be regularly found in the middle or closing paragraphs of newspaper articles, both local and national, offering perspective about the casino industry and public gambling policy.

He’s served as a consultant to help states explore casino and lottery regulations, with his pay for the work going to the Jesuits at BC and in El Salvador. “I did take a vow of poverty,” he said. (McGowan sits on the board of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling. He has not done any work with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, according to a commission spokesperson.)

He’s also a regular at big gaming conferences, though he doesn’t always love the setting. “I hate Vegas,” he said.

That sort of colors McGowan’s perspective on gambling in general. “I like studying why people gamble,” he said.

“But I myself am bored to death [by gambling].”

That’s not a strictly religious thing. While the Catholic Church tends to be anti-casino, arguing the industry can have adverse effects on casinos’ host communities, its position on the actual act of gambling is a bit more nuanced. (Hey, it’s Catholicism after all.) Look no further than basement bingo at a local parish to understand that the church’s considers gambling an OK thing to do in moderation, which is similar to its position on alcohol.

When it comes to studying gambling, alcohol, tobacco, and the like, McGowan considers himself an “observationist.” He acknowledges that there’s some irony in studying things that, even if not decidedly sinful by the church’s standard, are generally seen as opposed to its values. But that’s part of the point of the Jesuits’ scholarly mission, he said.

“We’re men of the church, but we’re expected to be on the margins of the church,” he said. “Do I wish we didn’t have to have casinos? Probably. But to be realistic, they’re going to be here.”

McGowan tracks the gaming industry and has a lot of thoughts about then ascent Massachusetts casinos. “I don’t see the sense of [a southeastern Massachusetts casino],” he said. He added: “The thing about Steve Wynn [who is licensed to build a casino in Everett] is that he always delivers.”

Most of his work—on gambling and other vices—has centered on how public policy and the relevant industries interact, such as how cities and towns benefit from state revenue derived from the lottery, or the economic effect of excise taxes.

He is also interested in questions with less tangible answers, such as how states deal with potential consequences from the vice industries, like addiction. “The real problem for policy makers are the social costs,” he said. “How do you measure them?”

Aside from his research, McGowan has dual public speaking roles as both a teacher and a priest.

At BC, he’s a chalk-and-chalkboard type of professor who distributes printed worksheets at the start of class. In one course this semester, he peppered statistics students with mathematical word problems, many of which were about marijuana, alcohol, or gambling. Prior to the class, he and a student chatted about legalized recreational marijuana. “It’s interesting. Legal pot in Colorado—just to get high,” McGowan said. A few minutes later, after class had begun, McGowan’s lesson turned toward gambling. “In a casino game, the odds are always stacked against you,” he told the class.

Outside of the classroom, McGowan says a daily Mass at St. Mary’s Parish in Winchester. He’s said it for more than 15 years, and he recognizes most of the 40 to 50 faces who speckle the pews daily at 6:45 a.m. He can knock the Mass out in under 20 minutes, complete with a two-minute homily. “It’s a to-the-point liturgy, thank you very much,” he said. That’s to his benefit, he said, as traffic back to BC on a weekday morning can be brutal, especially if he has class. Still, he values the time away from academia. “It’s a good way to start the day,” he said.

His missionary work brings him three times a year to El Salvador. It focuses on microfinance projects, which help locals secure funding to start small businesses such as chicken or cocoa farms. He also teaches in stints at a university in El Salvador. Locals who have gotten to know him, and who are familiar with his research, anointed him with the “Pedro Pecado” nickname.

McGowan was born in 1952 and was raised near Philadelphia. “I knew I wanted to be in the church, and I knew I wanted to teach,” he said. His Jesuit high school experience, at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, further cemented that. “This is a good combination for me,” he said.

The economics path was a little less foreseeable, he said. A big Philadelphia sports fan, McGowan played baseball as a kid. “I was a halfway decent player until I saw a curveball,” he said. The game also helped to build on his interest in math. However, “I knew I didn’t want to do proofs the rest of my life,” he said. Economics allowed him to marry an interest in public policy and history with his appreciation for numbers.

McGowan started down his road of vice research in the 1980s, while teaching for a summer at Georgetown. He was considering ideas for his own dissertation. Wandering in Washington, D.C., he entered the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and pulled data on cigarette sales by brand over a 20-year period. That served as the bedrock for a dissertation—which later turned into a book—about public policy and the tobacco industry.

McGowan received his doctorate in 1988 from BC’s cross-town rival, Boston University. He has taught and lived on campus at BC since that year, at the direction of the Jesuits.

After getting to BC, McGowan moved on to similar work about the alcohol industry. In the early ‘90s, he began researching the Massachusetts lottery and eventually the broader gambling industry.

He said legalized marijuana would make sense as another avenue to explore, and that he will do so in a chapter of an upcoming book. His early opinion is that if states are going to legalize it, they should sell it directly, similar to lottery games.

What other kinds of vice industries might he delve into?

Some things are off-limits—such as prostitution. “I draw the line there,” he said. “There, I agree with Mother Church 100 percent.”

But even setting morality aside, there would be another issue with that line of economic inquiry, he said: “Where the hell am I going to get data?”

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Negative electronic compressibility: More is less in novel material Apr 27, 2015

Add water to a half-filled cup and the water level rises. This everyday experience reflects a positive material property of the water-cup system. But what if adding more water lowers the water level by deforming the cup? This would mean a negative compressibility.

Now, a quantum version of this phenomenon, called negative electronic compressibility (NEC), has been discovered, a team of researchers led by physicists at Boston College reports today in the online edition of the journal Nature Materials.

Physicists have long theorized that NEC— an electron system lowering its highest energy level and effectively shrinking its overall size when electrons are added—could in principle be found in quantum materials with non-rigid band structures. Nevertheless, rare experimental realizations of NEC have been limited to the two-dimensional boundaries between certain materials, but never in any three-dimensional (3D) material.

The first experimental evidence of 3D NEC was discovered using the unique material iridium oxide, which belongs to a class of "correlated" materials in which electrons move in an orchestrated fashion. Here, the addition of an electron to the system has a significant impact on the motion of the other electrons, and changes the overall band structure of the material - like the deformed water cup - a prerequisite for NEC. The researchers experimented with iridium oxide samples synthesized by Boston College (BC) graduate student Tom Hogan, working in the lab of former BC and current University of California, Santa Barbara, Assistant Professor Stephen Wilson.

The observation was made by adding electrons to this material and then studying its band structure with a high precision, advanced spectroscopy technique. The study was performed mainly at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, and was led by postdoctoral researcher Junfeng He and graduate student Thomas Mion, researchers in the lab of BC Assistant Professor of Physics Rui-Hua He, a lead author of the paper.

By comparing with another correlated material, one that exhibits high-temperature superconductivity but not NEC, coauthors at Northeastern University, including graduate student Hasnain Hafiz and Professors Arun Bansil and Robert Markiewicz, believe they've obtained clues as to what makes the iridium oxide unique in terms of the long-sought occurrence of 3D NEC. "This is a collective achievement that could not have been made without such a close collaboration of leading experts, within and outside BC," said Michael J. Naughton, chairman of BC Department of Physics and a coauthor on the paper.

"Our finding might open the door to uncharted territory in the area of negative compressibility, which potentially features a whole variety of bulk correlated metals," said He. Co-author and BC Professor Krzysztof Kempa added that the 3D NEC materials may enable new research into terahertz optics and unique applications in areas such as metamaterials, pushing beyond the scope of two-dimensional systems that display NEC. This discovery serves as a stepping-stone for the team's ongoing effort to theoretically understand 3D NEC in quantum materials, and to experimentally probe 3D NEC in different ways.

At 2015 Boston Marathon, bombing survivors set to go distance

By Kevin Armstrong │Sunday, April 19, 2015 CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. − Beyond the crest of Heartbreak Hill, just past a patch of asphalt stamped “Water Station Mile 21” on the Boston Marathon route, Patrick Downes, dressed in a collared shirt and gray slacks, walked on stage at Boston College’s Robsham Theatre. He strode by a sheet of loose-leaf paper marked “Do Not Step Here,” and took a seat behind a microphone in a black wooden chair. It was minutes past 7 p.m. on April 14, hours short of the second anniversary of two backpack bombs exploding five miles east on Boylston St. He was introduced to 450 students and alumni as a bombing survivor. He reflected on his route home.

“The last time I was on this stage I think I was wearing a mullet, impersonating Doug Flutie,” he said. “I chose not to bring the mullet wig tonight.”

That was as a student more than a decade ago. He spiked a football and performed one-arm pushups then, co-eds on campus likening his look to Prince William. He laughed about carefree days before transitioning to catastrophic recollections. In detail, he recounted his experience at the blast site. His newlywed, Jess, a nurse, legs flayed in the explosion, wrapped a tourniquet around his mangled left leg as she burned. He mentioned the five weeks they laid in beds in separate hospitals, an ambulance doubling as a limousine the first time that she was transported to see him. He tried to reconcile the difference between “unspeakable sites and fear” unloosed by the explosives with the subsequent “onslaught of love.”

ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS Boston Marathon bombing victims Patrick Downes and wife Jessica are united in joy as they roll across finish line in last year’s race in Beantown.

“The endless meals people have made, the hugs, the kisses, the texts, the emails,” he said. “If you think for a second you’re not being thought of, or prayed for or cared for, then you’re missing it.”

The couple, hurried from the finish line to emergency rooms in 2013, will wheel their way from Hopkinton, Mass. past Hereford St. in Boston as hand cyclists at a pace of their choosing Monday. They have adjusted to life as amputees —Patrick lost part of his left leg, Jessica lost part of her left, too, eventually electing to have the right amputated, as well. They slipped into wheelchairs each morning, re-designing their house to accommodate everyday tasks. They gained special permission from the Department of Defense to rehabilitate at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. They spoke with the Boston Athletic Association — the governing body overseeing the marathon — and invited six Wounded Warriors to join them on the course Monday. They married efforts to forge ahead with a military alliance. Downes described wrenching hours in hospital rooms, lightening worries with wit.

“I asked three questions when I came to: Did the Red Sox win? Is Jess OK? Did the nurses go to BC?” he said. “The answer to all three was yes, so I thought everything was relatively OK.” Darkness fell over them in following days. There were conversations with psychiatrists, formations of support groups and struggles to comprehend progress interrupted. There were nuances to learn and talks with fellow amputees about prosthetics as they compared nubs. They shared intimacies with other survivors, and Jess dubbed them “our Boylston St. family.”

Brittany Loring, studying for a degree in BC’s joint MBA and law program, was part of that community. She was hit by the explosion, thrown to the ground and suffered injuries to both legs. She also endured a skull fracture and multiple injuries to her head and neck.

“What started as a beautiful, wonderful day turned into something I don’t even really know the words to describe it still,” she said. “It took two years to get to where I am today, which is a really good place.”

Loring went on to plan her wedding in 2013, and Pat and Jess both emerged publicly in time, Patrick addressing the nation on the first anniversary, telling a crowd that included Vice President Joe Biden in Boston, about “snapshots of grace.” He mentioned another survivor offering her hospital room for the couple to reunite, and referred to the fallen as “our guardian angels.”

Jess later seized an international stage, as well, testifying at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial, she told about “animalistic screams,” giving a harrowing account to echo in jurors’ ears as they deliberated on the verdict. Tsarneav was convicted on all 30 counts. His fate — life in federal prison without the chance of parole or execution — will be determined in coming days.

“The trial was a lot more emotional than Jess and I anticipated because Jess and I saw so many of our dear friends testify and have to relive some of the worst memories of their lives,” Downes said. “We also now are ready for it to be over.”

Previous simplicity stayed with him, too. He flashed back to duller times on Patriots’ Days past. His family, from across the Charles River in Cambridge, listened to the marathon on the radio as they rode out to Cape Cod on the days off from school.

“What’s more boring than listening to a marathon on a radio?” he said.

CHARLES KRUPA/AP Inspired by an ‘onslaught of love,’ Downes throws out first pitch at Fenway as he joins a strong-willed community of survivors who are bracing for another Patriots’ Day as they continue to create distance from 2013 tragedy. Jeff Bauman is on the left.

He ran the race as a senior in college, alongside roommate Mike Hundgen. Downes struggled through dehydration around mile 13.

Hundgen fought a cramp. Their friend, Chris Darcy, coaxed them through the Newton hills. Friends tracking the pair by official clock devices laced into their sneakers thought Downes and Hundgen stopped somewhere along the course, but up Heartbreak Hill they came.

“I thought I was going to lose them to the Mods,” Darcy said, noting the campus’ most popular party area.

Downes carried on and crossed the finish line. He did not know it then, but Jess was in the field that afternoon, as well. They later met, married and planned on moving west to her native California. The intent was to take in one last marathon Monday in 2013, both having the day off. He was studying for a doctorate degree in clinical psychology. She was a well-thought-of oncology nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. During a question-and-answer session following his talk in the theatre, an anonymous question was asked: Who is your favorite nurse? Several of his old nurses from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center were in attendance.

“That’s a trick question. That is a trick question,” he said. “I have many nurses, but my favorite nurse is my wife.”

There were brothers he gained, as well. Fellow amputees offered motivation, encouraging Downes to reach deeper in his recovery at Walter Reed. They worked out together, and welcomed him into a push-up club. Each day, they started with a goal of 100, and then up to 120 per day with plank exercises as a mettle test. There were participants with no legs. One man was missing an arm. He stuck a towel on a stool and positioned his nub to allow him to do his one-arm pushups.

“I’m hurting by 80, earlier really, but there’s an incredible feeling in that gym,” he said. “We’re all in this together. We’re a team.”

No one gave him as much strength as his wife, though. Downes took the steps out of the theatre; Jessica wheeled down a ramp, accompanied by their service dog. They exited together, taking a corner back to their SUV. Her parents helped them along, her father carrying her crutches, wrapped in Red Sox blue and red.

When they got to their parking space, Downes opened the trunk and helped her into the passenger seat. Patrick completed the new routine by folding the wheelchair and placing it inside. They drove off down familiar roads, another marathon lying ahead.

The next afternoon, he threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park, his throw proving more accurate that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s pitch in the dirt days earlier.

STRINGER/REUTERS The scary scene at the Boston Marathon bombing.

“I mean, geez, if you could throw a touchdown into the corner of the end zone and then skip a ball into home plate?” Downes said. “That’s embarrassing.”

Education Researchers Aim To Scrutinize College Rankings

By Brianna Lee // April 18 2015

College and university rankings have long driven battles for prestige among higher education institutions despite skepticism and criticism from some industry professionals over how the rankings are calculated. But some higher education researchers are aiming to take a closer look at ranking methodologies to see if colleges might be able to use them, rather than fixating on the criticism.

Henry Braun, a Boston College professor and director of the college’s Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation and Educational Policy, told a meeting of the American Education Research People walk around Princeton University -- which was the No. 1 university in the United States in 2014, according to the U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 16, 2013. Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

Association Saturday it was time to focus research tools on the controversial rankings systems. “This is a subject that deserves more scholarly attention, rather than just bashing rankings outright,” he said in a

Boston College news release.

He noted while parents and students had strong interest in paying attention to the rankings, university officials were “less enthusiastic and offer many criticisms.” Saturday’s discussion expanded on a conference from last year among professors, researchers administrators and people who calculate rankings to discuss the effect of college rankings on higher education institutions.

The U.S. News & World Report ranking of colleges and universities, perhaps the most popular annual rankings list, is released every September. Ivy League universities Harvard, Yale and Princeton generally occupy the top three slots. In 2014 Princeton took the No. 1 spot. The company uses data on student selectivity, graduation rates, student retention, assessments from peer schools and alumni giving to tabulate the final numbers.

The Princeton Review also issues an annual ranking on colleges and universities throughout the country, based on surveys given to students about the quality of their experiences at their respective institutions.

Their results are categorized under specific labels such as Happiest Students, Best-Run College, Best Financial Aid and Best Career Services.

The Obama administration has touted plans for a federal ranking system that would tie federal student aid to a school’s placement on the list. That system would emphasize access and affordability, incorporating graduation rates, how much students pay on average for loans, and income levels for students and graduates into the algorithm for ranking each school. The U.S. Department of Education said it plans to release its first ratings before this fall, when the 2015-16 school year begins.

O’Brien funds Boston College fellowship

By Ray O’Hanlon │ April 15th

Irish businessman Denis O’Brien has established a fellowship at Boston College that will provide two Irish students annually with a fully-­‐funded master’s degree in business administration at the college’s Carroll School of Management in Chestnut Hill.

O’Brien, chairman and principal shareholder of Digicel Group, one of the world’s leading cellular companies, and owner and board member of Communicorp, Ireland’s largest media holding company, has, according to a release, created the Denis O’Brien Fellowship at Boston College to provide an opportunity for aspiring business leaders from Ireland to obtain a world-­‐class graduate education at a premier American university.

O’Brien graduated from Boston College with an MBA in corporate finance in 1982, the Denis O’Brien release stated.

And it added: The O’Brien Fellowship will cover the full cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, books and living expenses for the duration of the MBA program, as well as international travel to and from Boston. The candidates for the fellowship must be Irish citizens of exceptional academic and/or career achievement, who possess the high personal and professional standards of the program’s namesake.

“Boston College and Ireland have had a long and illustrious association,” said O’Brien.

“I am delighted to continue this with a Scholarship Program for two Irish nationals to have the opportunity to pursue a two-­‐ year MBA program in management at Boston College,” he added.

Andy Boynton, dean of the Carroll School of Management, thanked O’Brien for establishing the fellowship.

“We are honored that Denis has created the O’Brien Fellowship at Boston College, as it will provide an invaluable opportunity for Irish students who want to pursue an MBA at one of the top business schools in the United States,” Boynton said.

“He is a person who has brought acclaim to his alma mater as a student, global business leader and generous alumnus. We are grateful for his support.”

Ranked fourth among business schools in the United States by Bloomberg/BusinessWeek, Boston College’s Carroll School of Management is internationally regarded for its graduate programs in entrepreneurial and asset management, corporate finance, marketing and accounting.

The MBA program, said the BC release, attracts top students from diverse backgrounds and experiences who work closely with Boston College faculty in a program that combines sequenced course work with experiential learning. Its alumni are among the top leaders in the corporate, non-­‐profit and finance world.

The release added: “Outside of his extensive business interests, O’Brien chaired the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland, which featured teams from 160 countries and more than 30,000 volunteers, in the first-­‐ever games held outside of the United States.

“O’Brien is also a director on the U.S. Board of Concern Worldwide and a member of the United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development.

“In addition, he is the Chairman and Co-­‐Founder of Frontline, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Based in Dublin, Frontline works to ensure that the standards set out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted in 1998, are known, respected and adhered to worldwide.

“He also established The Iris O’Brien Foundation to identify and assist projects in Ireland and abroad that aim to alleviate disadvantaged communities.”

Â

Denis O'Brien funds scholarships for students Mark O'Regan │04/09/2015

It will allow two Irish students each year to study at the College's Carroll School of Management in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Mr O'Brien graduated from Boston College with an MBA in Corporate Finance in 1982.

The O'Brien Fellowship will cover the full cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, books and living Denis O'Brien expenses, as well as international Businessman Denis O'Brien has funded two new MBA scholarships at Boston College. travel to and from Boston.

Successful applicants must be Irish citizens of exceptional academic and/or career achievement.

"Boston College and Ireland have had a long and illustrious association," said Mr O'Brien.

"I am delighted to continue this with a Scholarship Programme for two Irish nationals to have the opportunity to pursue a two-year MBA programme in management at Boston College."

Andy Boynton, Dean of Boston College's Carroll School of Management, thanked Mr O'Brien for funding the scholarship.

"He is a person who has brought acclaim to his alma mater as a student, global business leader, and generous alumnus. We are grateful for his support," he said.

The MBA programme attracts top students from diverse backgrounds and experiences, who work closely with Boston College faculty, combining sequenced course work with experimental learning. Former participants are among the top leaders in the corporate, non-profit and finance worlds.

Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org)

Sen. Paul Enters the Race & the Totalitarian Itch of Libertarianism at BC Conference Michael Sean Winters | Apr. 8, 2015 Distinctly Catholic Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky announced his candidacy for the presidency yesterday in a hotel ballroom in Louisville. The hotel was aptly named: The Galt Hotel. Presumably, the name is merely fortuitous as the hotel predates Ayn Rand’s writing Atlas Shrugged in which her libertarian hero is named John Galt. Paul’s candidacy will be a test of the power of libertarian ideas to persuade in America in the early twenty-first century and, just so, is a test for the truths of Catholic Social Teaching which could scarcely be in greater opposition to those libertarian ideas as was manifest at a conference at Boston College in which I participated on Monday.

Dan Balz, of the Washington Post, is an acute observer of politics, but his analysis of Sen. Paul’s candidacy [1] in this morning’s Post suffered from his repeating a lazy meme. He wrote: “Paul’s announcement was a reminder of why he often has been called the most interesting politician in the country, with a libertarian message that seemed to sweep across the ideological spectrum and that challenged the establishment of both parties.” Libertarianism is many things, but interesting is not one of them.

At the conference at Boston College, entitled, “Why Libertarianism Isn’t Liberal,” the first keynote speaker, Princeton Professor and political philosopher Alan Ryan, took issue with the title of the conference. For him, libertarianism is to liberalism as heresy is to orthodoxy, a truth run amok. They focus so exclusively on property rights, they end up neglecting other important liberal values and insights. He identified quite rightly one of the challenges Sen. Paul will face in his candidacy, the “libertarian schizophrenia” about whether the movement is a saving remnant, a view held by Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard, or are they a natural third party, a view held by David Boaz at the CATO Institute, the leading libertarian think tank, and the Koch Brothers who have pledged some $800 million to test the proposition in the next two years. Professor Ryan also pointed out that Paul, like all libertarians, will have a hard time answering questions about market failure, which the nation and world experienced in 2008, leading a bewildered Alan Greenspan, longtime Secretary-Treasurer of the Ayn Rand Society in Washington, to admit he could not explain how the economic meltdown happened. The libertarian insistence on property rights as the only useful lens for evaluating public policy is similarly ill-suited to pressing concerns, such as environmental degradation. Much of the pollution in San Francisco, Ryan pointed out, originates in China and it is difficult to see how an assertion of property rights could resolve that problem for those coughing on polluted air in the City by the Bay. The other keynoter, Alan Wolfe, delivered a trenchant indictment of libertarianism, root and branch. To him, the movement has more in common with the totalitarianism it ostensibly opposed than with liberalism. Libertarians like to place both Adam Smith and Friedrich von Hayek in their pantheon of heroes, but while both embraced laissez-faire economics, they did so in different circumstances and for different reasons. “Smith’s free market would liberate individuals from the caprice of an inflexible mercantilism,” Wolfe explained. “Hayek’s free market would chain individuals to a system of rules over which they have no control and cannot, by themselves, fully understand.” But, the problems with libertarianism are deeper than a misreading of their heroes. “Liberalism

raises questions. Libertarians seek answers, and always find the right ones,” Wolfe said. “Their philosophy is an antidote to the doubt, inconsistency, and vagueness that has always been built-into liberalism. There is nothing tentative, nothing haphazard, nothing weak-kneed about libertarianism.. If you believe in God, respect hierarchy, and venerate tradition you can oppose liberalism by becoming a conservative. If you prefer a social order that hides its authoritarianism behind opaqueness, you become a libertarian.”

The other speakers at the conference, approaching the topic from different perspectives, all took libertarianism to the intellectual woodshed. Boston College theologian Mary Jo Iozzio looked at how America’s happy, and largely successful, efforts to make life better for people with disabilities rests on a view of human society that is anathema to libertarians. Providence College theologian Dana Dillon noted the limits of rights as a political lens, asking how much more effective the Church’s opposition to the HHS contraception mandate would have been if Catholic institutions were at the forefront of efforts to provide liberal maternal leave policies, providing day care to employees, and other pro-family provisions. And, Mark Silk of Trinity College, who has happily published his talk [2], introduced a new phrase into the political lexicon: spiritual libertarianism. More on that tomorrow when I discuss the fallout from the Indiana RFRA fight.

The other panel featured Catholic University’s Stephen Schneck, who explained in detail why John Locke and James Madison also do not fit into the libertarian pantheon despite their efforts to claim them as their own.

Schneck is working on a book on this topic and his talk reflected the careful research and analysis we have come to expect from him. St. John’s University theologian Meghan Clark explained that libertarianism and Catholic Social Teaching are at odds at the root, with radically different conceptions of humankind’s creation in the image and likeness of God, the universal destination of goods, and the purpose of government. And Harvard’s Mary Jo Bane, who described herself as “a hopeless pragmatist,” noted that liberals – and Catholics – could draw policy threads from libertarianism on issues like school choice, criminal justice policy and social welfare policy. An expert in these policy areas, Bane is familiar with the way establishment thinking can resist improvements to systems that are not working, and she can be forgiven for seeking allies where she can find them. Nor did she evidence any sympathy for libertarian values or ideas, saying, “Both markets and governments can be exploitative and corrupt.”

In the end, however, what became obvious in the course of the day is that libertarianism is not very interesting at all. It is little more than an effort to turn selfishness and self-assertion into a political platform. That is not to say it does not strike some deep roots with plausible misreadings of liberalism and specifically Americanism. But, the problems the nation faces, from income inequality to environmental degradation to the rise of Islamicist terrorism, none of these problems can be solved, or the issues even clarified, by someone schooled in libertarian thinking, even a senator speaking at the Galt Hotel. The reporters covering his announcement should have come to our conference at Boston College the previous day. They would not use the word interesting to describe him, more like scary and juvenile. I wish, too, that some of those Catholics who serve as fellow travelers for libertarianism, our friends at the Acton Institute for example, had been there too. They must confront these issues or admit they are undermining Catholic Social Teaching. And, they must confront something else, a point the shone through the varied presentations. There is a totalitarian itch at the heart of libertarianism, an itch that could not be more different from the complex, rich, nuanced understandings that emerge from both liberalism and from Catholic Social Teaching. I will give the last word to Alan Wolfe: Libertarianism goes out of its way to reduce the complexities of the world to one thing and one thing only, whether it be how we make decisions, what decisions we make, and what our decisions imply for others. The often-noted attraction of libertarianism for young minds is, I believe, a reflection of this. There is something so satisfying when one is young about the Faustian idea that all of reality can be unlocked with one simple key. It is when we grow out of that fantasy and begin to understand just how complex the world actually is that adherents to libertarianism begin to understand the limits of what had once been so appealing to them

Social Media’s Expanding Relationship Universe Big Idea: Social Business | Blog | April 7, 2015

Gerald C. Kane

Thanks to technology, our “circles” have widened to include not just friends, family, and coworkers, but also followers, fans, and tweeps.

Part 2 of a 5-part series examining how social media has and will affect how organizations functions. The series is derived from a full-length article found in MIS Quarterly Executive.

Social psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan from the University of Rochester contend that “relatedness” is a basic psychological need. Technology platforms that enable new ways to relate, enhance existing social capabilities, or make social networks more transparent have the potential to help meet a basic psychological need.

The ability of technology-based social networks to achieve this potential, however, depends on several factors identified by researchers studying offline social networks — proximities, interactions, relationships, and flows.

Understanding these four factors and their different roles in online and offline social networks is critical to understanding the potential value of social tools within the enterprise.

Flows represent the transfer of information from one person to another. While some pre-existing connection between individuals is necessary for flows in offline networks, social media enables flows without the necessity of any previous relationship between users. A good example is Twitter hashtags or trending topics, which allow people to find and organize information around a common interest, even if they do not know each other.

These types of flows allow individuals to remotely participate in live events, such as sporting events, unfolding news stories (the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 and the 2015 trial of the accused bomber, for instance), or awards shows. They also allow groups to organize quickly in response to an unforeseen crisis, such as when the American Red Cross used Twitter to coordinate aid in response to Hurricane Sandy. New video feed platforms, such as Periscope and Meerkat, may take these information flows to a new level.

Relationships are perhaps the most common types of connections in social networking platforms. Relationships are persistent connections that define the relationship over time — such as friend, follower, or connection. These new digital relationships typically allow individuals to more efficiently maintain a larger network of connections, because they are tapped only when needed or provide serendipitous access to information.

While we have considerable control over the definition of our nuanced relationships offline, platform designers define what a relationship consists of online. They determine whether we are friends, followers, or connections, and users must figure out how to relate given these imposed constraints. Anyone who has ever had the difficulty determining whether a coworker should be a “friend” on Facebook recognizes the difficulties this lack of relational nuance on social media platforms can create.

Interactions are discrete exchanges between people, such as by direct message or email. Research into offline networks has shown that the strength of a connection is often an important factor in predicting how networks behave. An advantage of this type of connection is that it allows users to target particular users with particular types of information or inquiries. Interactions allow much greater expression of the strength of the relationship, because they can measure how frequently and deeply you communicate with given others — an important criterion for the value of certain relationships.A downside is that it can create information overload, as people are easily included in a greater number of interactions, as anyone spending hours wading through an overloaded inbox can attest. Recognizing interactions as a type of social media connection also suggests that “social media” actually predates Facebook, going all the way back to the dawn of email in 1971.

Proximities are when individuals located close to each other. Proximities may represent an increase in the possibility of a connection, rather than a connection itself. In the case of electronic proximity, such as membership in a shared interest or professional group, individuals may be more likely to interact when they both participate in that group. The value of proximity has already been identified by businesses: KLM, for example, allows passengers to select whom to sit next to on flights by allowing them to review each other’s Facebook profiles. Mobile devices are also supporting geographic proximity through GPS tracking. The ride-sharing company Uber matches drivers

and passengers based on proximity, and the commuting app Waze shares traffic data based on reports from other drivers nearby.

New Ways of Relating While people have been able to network via digital tools for decades, one of the reasons that social media has become so popular in recent years is the variety of different types of relationships that can now be supported by social media. At the same time, when relationships are carried out over digital channels, it also results in capabilities for interacting that we haven’t before known, as social media injects these connections with new capabilities and features that require us to learn to relate in new ways.

For instance, research has long shown that although social networks are a very powerful predictor of individual performance, people are usually extremely poor at accurately identifying what their social networks look like or how to improve them. Today, Facebook immediately identifies mutual friends. LinkedIn notes how many degrees of separation you are from a desired contact, and the best channels for gaining an introduction. The once-elusive structure of the (non-electronic) social network is now available for anyone to see, and equally available to all, on social media platforms.

I expect that the next generation of enterprise social network tools will provide even more advanced features that further allow us to relate in novel ways and leverage our connections more intentionally for particular purposes.

They will provide analytical support for recommending not only whom you might want to connect with, but also whom might be most beneficial to connect with given your current network and career goals. They will also provide managers with network maps and dashboards that will allow them to visualize in privacy-sensitive ways whether their employees are interacting in ways that are best suited to achieve organizational goals. Armed with these real-time analytics of employee networks, managers can design interventions to improve network performance and provide data to test their efficacy.

In short, social media tools have come a long way in supporting how people relate to others. Yet, I suspect that we have only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible with social media in organizations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gerald C. (Jerry) Kane is an associate professor of information systems at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and the MIT Sloan Management Review guest editor for the Social Business Big Idea Initiative. He can be reached at gerald.kane@bc.edu and on Twitter at @profkane.

Practicing Islam At A Catholic University: 'I'm 1 Of 5 Hijabi Students On Campus'

By Alexandra Svokos | April 7, 2015

At Boston College, a Jesuit Catholic university where 70 percent of students identify as Catholic, Fatmah Berikaa says she is the only student who lives on campus and wears a hijab.

Berikaa, an Egyptian-American who grew up in Massachusetts, says she chose BC for its academic programs, its friendly campus and its financial aid. She lives in a dorm on the Upper Campus with other first-years. Berikaa hopes to teach and is studying secondary education and English, with a focus in English as a second language, and minoring in Arabic.

Berikaa talked to The Huffington Post about her experiences on campus -- what she worried about before starting at the school, how strangers approach her with questions, and how she manages living in a dorm and squeezing in prayers between classes. Here's her story, as told to Alexandra Svokos: I was super worried about attending a Catholic university. I thought I would be the only Muslim on campus. We have a Facebook page for every class here, and I’d scan it looking for names that sounded Muslim, just to get an idea of what to expect. I met a few on Facebook before coming, but I met a bunch more once I got involved with the campus’ Muslim Student Association [MSA].

I’m one of five hijabi students on campus -- women who wear the headscarf -- and I’m the only one who actually lives on campus. Islam is a big part of who I am -- it’s kind of, inside and out, part of my identity -- so I always feel pressure, like I’m essentially representing my religion all the time. It’s hard sometimes, because that’s 1.6 billion people who can be judged based on how I’m seen. I don’t want people to see me having a bad day and generalize that to the entire population.

On campus, people are really open and friendly. People walk up to me and start asking questions. Sometimes people are really offensive without even meaning it, but I’d rather have them ask me outrageous questions and get the right information than go on believing something that’s not true.

A lot of people start off by commenting on the headscarf. They’ll talk about the color, or ask to feel it. And then every once in a while you’ll get ridiculous questions, like “Can you ever take it off?” I don’t shower with it. For the record, that’s not how it works.

I teach ESL in Boston as part of a volunteer program, and a lot of the students there are recent immigrants from El Salvador or Colombia, and they don’t have big Muslim populations in those countries. They’ve never seen a Muslim, so they ask me a lot of crazy questions, like “I heard that men can have four wives...” It’s really sweet that they make the effort.

I love when people ask questions, because it shows that they’re making the effort. So I want to reciprocate and make the same effort.

Once I got here, I found that a majority of the people that I was meeting came from really diverse backgrounds, and that’s great. But it’s also nice spending some time with people who are on the same page as you.

I can’t even begin to describe how much I love our MSA. We’re all going through the same things, so everyone is supportive.

We do a lot of things together, too. We do Friday prayers, obviously. We also have social events as a group -- we’ll do lunch after jamaat prayer, we see each other around campus daily. I have a friend who lives down the hall from me, and a couple live in buildings near mine. So it’s nice to hang out together, watch movies, do lunch and stuff.

I applied into the only building that’s all girls, which I love. Interacting with guys in class or in a club is not a big deal at all, but I don’t necessarily want to think, “Hmm, do I have to put on my scarf to go down the hall to wash my hands?” So it’s nice having a little safe space.

My RAs asked me about [boys being on the floor] at the beginning of the semester. I didn’t want it to be awkward -- to be like, “Well, you have to let us know before you bring a man home.” I’ll poke my head out the door to make sure there’s no one in the hallways, or if there is, I’ll just put my scarf on. And then there’s that occasional awkward moment when you get out of the shower and you’re trapped in the bathroom because there’s a man in the hallway.

My religion absolutely affects my student life. Islam puts a big emphasis on how important knowledge is; knowledge is super important in our religion. That’s obviously a motivator when the latest episode of "Downton Abbey" is more appealing than my philosophy essay.

Praying five times a day is great for me because it gives me time to talk to God, and it helps me relax so I can refocus myself. I plan my schedule around prayer times, in terms of classes and work -- it’s not as hard as it sounds. It’s not even about changing a class time, it’s just knowing I need 10 or 15 minutes between each class to get my prayer in.

It’s not a super lengthy process, and all I need is a prayer rug and a clean space. Depending on where I am on campus, I usually pray in my dorm, my friend’s dorm or an empty classroom or lecture hall. I keep a small little prayer rug with me, and it’s not really that big of a deal.

On Jumu’ah -- which is Fridays, the holy day -- we gather in this building that the school provides for us. We call it the hut, though I think it’s technically called the Multifaith Center. But it looks like a hut. It’s really cute. Every week the guides take turns giving a sermon and leading a prayer. The space feels really, really safe and cozy, and it’s always pretty clean. We all look forward to Friday prayer.

You know, there’s not as much bias as I would have thought. Sometimes people will say ignorant things. But it’s never confrontational. Other than that, everyone on campus is really accepting. That’s not always the case in the real world. I’ve had a lot of instances outside of BC where things have happened, or people have been really, really offensive. But that’s not happened at BC, which I was surprised at, but I’m really thankful for.

A lot of people look at Muslims like we’re aliens, like our lives aren’t parallel to theirs. That’s just not true. I giggle out loud when my friend sends me a text. I procrastinate. I stress over finals. I love Nutella milkshakes. We’re just like everybody else.

If people don’t have personal interactions with Muslims, they have no way of knowing that. We’re just “the other.” I want to tell people to go out and meet a Muslim. Just go meet one on the train or at work or whatever. Just make small talk.

If I were to say something to the Muslims reading: It’s our job to represent. We can’t leave people in the dark. They want to understand us, and they need to understand us. It’s important for our religious image that they know who we are and what we’re about.

Islam is such a big part of who I am, and I want people to be able to see the beauty in it, the way I see the beauty in it.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

April 6, 2015

Boston College, to Refresh Its Aging Curriculum, Turns to Design Thinkers

By Dan Berrett

To break a two-decade deadlock on revising its core curriculum, Boston College sought help from an unlikely source for academic inspiration: the minds that brought the world the Swiffer.

M. Scott Brauer for The Chronicle

Mary Crane, Andrew Boynton, and David Quigley are among the academic officials at Boston College who worked with outside consultants in design thinking to revise the longtime core liberal-arts curriculum.

The popular mop/broom was created by a Bostonbased company called Continuum, a specialist in design thinking, a method that applies interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems.

Design thinking often seeks not just to devise new gadgets or products but also to reshape the processes that people use in their work.

In recent years, design thinking has become hot in higher education. It is the subject of courses at Stanford and Wake Forest Universities and the University of Kentucky, among other places, and is used to streamline university operations and improve marketing materials and websites.

Harnessing design thinking to change a curriculum, however, is new territory and one fraught with challenges.

Founded during the Civil War and carrying on a centuries-old Jesuit tradition, Boston College was not the obvious choice to make such an unconventional move.

"My initial reaction was, ‘I need to be convinced here,’ " says David Quigley, the provost. But he also had seen how inertia took hold during previous attempts to revise the core, which hadn’t changed since 1991. Those conversations played out "according to an almost preordained script," he says, in which fiefdoms were preserved and turf was protected.

By 2012 the college had reached a crossroads. After spending months talking with colleagues across the campus, Mary T. Crane, director of the college’s Institute for the Liberal Arts, told a meeting of deans what she had heard: Many professors wanted the core revised; nobody wanted to be the one to do it. After the meeting, she received a note from Andrew C. Boynton, dean of the Carroll School of Management. What did she think of hiring a consultant in design thinking to help?

Like many faculty members, Ms. Crane was skeptical of anything having to do with consultants. She wasn’t sure how an outside group could help professors, who are the experts on curriculum.

But she’d heard stories about how difficult curriculum revisions could be, and she knew how colleges had used design-thinking processes in other areas, like facilities and marketing. What’s more, at the time, a leadership crisis was roiling the University of Virginia, and Ms. Crane kept hearing how colleges were too hidebound and needed to be more entrepreneurial. The choice was often framed as two extremes: cling to tradition or hurtle toward the unknown.

"Design-thinking consulting," she says, "seemed like a third way."

Empathetic Outsiders It’s a way that has seldom, if ever, led design thinkers to the heart of a university.

"This was probably the closest we’d ever gotten to the crown jewels of any institution," says Anthony T. Pannozzo, Continuum’s senior vice president for experience and service design.

Even after Continuum landed the job, its consultants knew they needed to sell the faculty on their role. Some professors objected to what they assumed was a costly and unnecessary expense. (Boston College won’t say how much it paid the company, beyond saying it was "a sizable investment"; Continuum says it charged far less than high-endmanagement-consulting firms do.)

Other faculty members saw the consultancy’s presence as another example of the corporatization of academe. One professor was blunt, seizing on the Swiffer. "You can design a mop," the professor told the consultants at one meeting, according to several attendees. "You can’t design me."

Continuum’s staff members struck a deferential tone, casting themselves as interested, empathetic outsiders, says Mr. Pannozzo, who led the project team. Aside from designers, its members included fine artists, M.B.A.’s, engineers, and history graduates. They saw their job as supporting the professors, who would do the actual work of making recommendations. "We made it clear up front that we’re not experts in education," he says. "They are."

To get the process moving, Continuum relied on a simple but deceptively effective tool: conversations. The consultants didn’t start by asking obvious things, like what the professors wanted to change about the curriculum.

Instead, says Mr. Pannozzo, they tried to get to know their subjects as people. Where did they live? What were their families like? What would a perfect Saturday be for them?

Why? "It shifts their mind from thinking about the curriculum to thinking about what they care about," he says.

"You have to understand people as people first."

The questions, Mr. Pannozzo says, encourage interviewees to articulate the kinds of experiences they truly value.

Design-thinking consultants often explain that people are bound to experience something as a result of interactions with the consultants’ clients, whether it’s because of a product, a call to customer service, or a college class. The key is to identify the experience those clients want people to have, and then figure out how to make it happen.

From there, the consultants got closer to the heart of the matter. They asked students what brought them to Boston College and faculty what courses they were proudest to teach.

Along the way, the consultants gave updates at town-hall meetings, where a member of Continuum’s staff took notes on the feedback the company was receiving, posting it online for all to see in real time. The process enabled the professors to watch the process unfold, articulate what they wanted students to get from their experience, and start building a curriculum to achieve those ends.

Continuum helped break the logjam, even if the result is not a radical departure. The faculty chose to retain the framework of Boston College’s 42-credit core; courses that already fulfill requirements will continue to be offered.

Thomas Chiles

Design-thinking consultants led town-hall meetings and workshops, like this one, at Boston College.

Faculty members devised two new sets of courses for the core that will begin in September. The subjects and syllabi are being developed by professors working together, not with Continuum.

Some will be team-taught, six-credit courses with labs for about 80 students, examining topics like the global implications of climate change, the social context of violence, and genocide. Others will be paired interdisciplinary seminars on a common topic, seen from different points of view: engagement, empathy, and ethics, studied from theological and musical perspectives; the natural and human-made worlds, seen from philosophical and literary viewpoints; the body and illness, taught by a nursing professor and an English professor.

Kathy Dunn, an associate professor of biology, and Scott T. Cummings, an associate professor of theater, will teach a pair of connected seminars on infectious diseases. The biology course will cover epidemics. The theater seminar will explore illness as metaphor.

Ms. Dunn had taught science courses for nonmajors and felt that they didn’t quite hit the right level of rigor or impart enough content. For her, the new course is an opportunity to do it better, while also pushing her out of her comfort zone. She and Mr. Cummings are still working through the details of their courses, but they say the effort to refresh the core brought them together to try something different.

Sparking Conversations In all, faculty members acknowledge that team-taught, thematic, and interdisciplinary courses aren’t a new innovation. The important thing for many professors, though, was not the final product. It was the process that arose. Professors from different departments were able to talk about the curriculum, exchange ideas about teaching, and come up with new courses.

"It is an experiment and it might fail, but it’s worth trying because the very process of trying is putting people into conversation," says Julian E. Bourg, an associate professor of history, who was initially skeptical. "That’s very, very healthy."

How sustained those conversations will be is another matter. Boston College has no faculty senate or regular mechanism for shared governance. Mr. Bourg wonders how the faculty will be able to evaluate the new courses, see how well they work, and revise them. For now, a core-renewal committee will manage that job.

Outside of Boston College, it’s unclear whether design thinking will influence curriculum changes elsewhere.

IDEO, a design-thinking firm in San Francisco, has worked with colleges to revamp career-services centers and offer internships, but the prospect of becoming entangled with a process that is as slow-moving, decentralized, and bound by precedent as curricular revision gives reason for pause, says Sandy Speicher, managing director of the firm’s education studio.

Other design-thinking consultants, however, are bullish on the opportunities, especially as colleges seek to differentiate themselves in a competitive market.

For now, companies and universities are likely to be watching whether the design-thinking process at Boston College will lead to long-term change after so many years.

Mr. Boynton, the business-school dean who suggested using a design-thinking company, is aware of all the challenges to sustaining change.

As a scholar of innovation, he knows that an organization’s ability to innovate ultimately doesn’t depend on brain power.

"It’s not the stock of knowledge," he says. "It’s the flow of ideas."

Best Value Colleges Wondering where you can get a good college education for a decent price?

Rank

School

City

1

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2

Avg. Scholarships and Grants

Avg. Starting Salary

College * Tuition

Student Living Costs

Student Retention Rate

College Education Value Index

Cambridge, MA

$33,030

$68,600

$42,050

$17,014

98%

93.83

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

$41,580

$53,000

$44,610

$14,450

98%

90.83

3

Tufts University

Medford, MA

$29,766

$48,800

$44,666

$6,834

96%

89.20

4

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

$29,881

$50,200

$43,878

$10,800

95%

79.12

5

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, MA

$30,123

$45,600

$43,400

$9,600

95%

77.92

6

University of Massachusetts -­‐ Amherst

Amherst, MA

$8,237

$47,700

$13,415

$12,337

89%

77.14

7

Babson College

Wellesley, MA

$29,942

$59,700

$41,888

$16,562

95%

76.55

8

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

$38,381

$55,300

$39,966

$20,944

97%

74.57

9

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester, MA

$20,014

$62,100

$41,380

$14,134

96%

73.62

10

Fitchburg State University

Fitchburg, MA

$5,198

$41,800

$8,710

$8,900

78%

73.00

$15,672 $46,168 $21,210 $13,418 79%

* Where applicable, used in-­‐state tuition (residents of the same state as a college, qualify for lower in-­‐state tuition)

MA

Methodology Earning a college degree can increase your skill set, job prospects and net worth. But with rising college costs, where you choose to get that degree from can make a big difference. SmartAsset looked at five factors to determine the best value colleges and universities: tuition, student living costs, scholarship and grant offerings, retention rate and starting salary.

To capture the true cost of attending a school, we included the tuition (using in-­‐state tuition for public schools where applicable), student living costs (including room and board, books, supplies, transportation and other personal expenses) and the average scholarships and grants offered to students of the school.

To capture what students get in return, we looked at student retention rate (the percent of students that re-­‐enrolled at the institution the following year) and the average starting salary.

We weighted each of the five factors equally to come up with a ranking of schools in our analysis. With that ranking, we created an index (a sort of grading on a curve) where the number one school was assigned 100.

Sources: 2013 National Center for Educational Statistics, 2014 Payscale, 2013 College InSight

American Express CEO defiant in defense of Costco divorce Greg Ryan │Mar 31, 2015 American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault strongly defended the financial services company’s decision to end its long-standing partnership with retailer Costco Wholesale Corp., saying “it wasn’t a good economic deal for us.”

The company (NYSE:AXP) said in February that its co-brand and merchant acceptance agreements with Costco would not be renewed next year. Weeks later, Costco announced that Visa would be its new credit card network and that Citi would issue co-branded cards.

The decision to end the exclusive agreement will affect about one in 10 American Express cards in circulation, the Wall Street Journal reported. American Express’ share price fell 6.4 percent the day it was announced.

K en n eth Ch e nau lt, ch airman an d CEO o f Ame rican Expre ss Co ., s poke to B osto n 's to p e xe cu tive s a t a lu n che o n Tue sd ay. A nd rew Harre r / Bl oo mb erg .

Chenault told an audience of the area’s top executives at a Boston College Chief Executives Club luncheon Tuesday that 70 percent of the spending on the cards was outside Costco, with spending inside stores less profitable. There are five Costco locations in eastern Massachusetts.

“I don’t like to get into deals when I don’t think they’re sustainable,” he said.

He added that American Express has renewed agreements with several other companies, including Delta Air Lines, British Airways and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Chenault spoke to the executives about how American Express’ brand has helped the company’s bottom line, shepherding it through a period in the 1980s and 1990s when he said it felt customers “should be privileged to have our card in the first place.” A recent survey found the company’s brand value represented roughly a quarter of its $79.6 billion market cap, he said.

BC’s Alex Carpenter wins Kazmaier Award FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS MARCH 22, 2015 Boston College junior forward Alex Carpenter, the Hockey East Player of the Year, won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award on Saturday, given annually to the top player in women’s college hockey.

The award was presented at the University of Minnesota, the site of the women’s Frozen Four.

Carpenter was chosen by a 13-member selection committee composed of Division 1 women’s head coaches, media members, and representatives of USA Hockey.

HANNAH F OSLIEN/AP

Alex Carpenter (right) became the first Eagle to win the Kazmaier Award.

Carpenter, who is from North Reading, beat out finalists Hannah Brandt, a junior forward for Minnesota, and Marie-Philip Poulin, a senior forward for Boston University.

“A lot of hard work is needed on and off the ice, and to be able to represent Boston College by winning the Patty Kazmaier Award is unbelievable,” Carpenter said.

“I’m excited for my teammates, as well; this is a team award in my opinion,’’ she added. “I’m also honored to be the first Patty Kazmaier winner from BC and proud to represent the University on this stage.”

Carpenter leads the nation in goals (37), assists (44), and points (81) in 37 games, and is fourth with a plus-60 rating.

“It’s a great moment for Alex and a great moment for our program,” BC coach Katie King Crowley said.

“I’m really proud of who Alex is, the player that she is and what she’s done for our program. It’s truly awesome moment for Alex and the Boston College hockey program.”

Carpenter, who played for the US Olympic team at the Sochi Games in 2014, powered the Eagles to their best-ever record (34-3-2) and a program-first No. 1 ranking, which they held from November to the postseason.

She has been selected as an alternate captain for Team USA at the world championship in Malmo, Sweden, March 28-April 4.

BC’s season ended Friday in a 2-1 loss to Harvard in the NCAA semifinals. Harvard faces Minnesota on Sunday for the title.

Boston College Seeks to Give Others Pause in the Overhaul of Scholarships BOSTON — On a recent afternoon, snow fell on Boston College’s tidy campus in suburban Chestnut Hill, piling atop the upper stands of Alumni Stadium and the tennis-style bubble enclosing the football field.

“We have spring practice,” Athletic Director Brad Bates said while looking out his office window, putting the emphasis on the word “spring.”

Snow in New England may not be man-bites-dog stuff, but Boston College provided something more unexpected in January at the annual N.C.A.A. convention, held this year in Oxon Hill, Md. After hours of discussion and months of anticipation, the five most prominent conferences passed a great deal of legislation, including a measure allowing colleges to increase the value of a scholarship by a few thousand dollars to cover the federally determined cost of attendance. The result of the ballot among the 80 delegates — one representing each of the 65 universities in the five conferences as well as three athletes from each of those conferences — was 79-1. Boston College was the lone dissenter.

“We clearly wanted people to pause,” Bates said, acknowledging that the college had known that the legislation would almost certainly succeed either way. “It was really more trying to put up a flag.”

Passage had been seen as foreordained since August, when the Division I board of directors granted the so-called Big 5 conferences — the Southeastern, the Atlantic Coast, the Big 12, the Big Ten and the Pacific-12 — substantial governing autonomy.

In a statement immediately after the vote, Boston College cited three reasons it opposed covering the full cost of attendance, saying it increased expenses, segregated athletes from the general student population and relied on a federal financial aid formula that was “sufficiently ambiguous that adjustments for recruiting advantage will take place.”

Boston College’s dissenting vote was a reminder that disparities — in resources, in situations, in philosophies — existed not only between the Big 5 and the rest of the N.C.A.A. but also among the 65 universities in the Big 5.

“Believe me, there’s not homogeneity with every one of them,” Oliver Luck, the N.C.A.A. executive vice president for regulatory affairs, said days before the vote. “Iowa State’s different from Alabama. West Virginia’s different from CalBerkeley.”

Nathan Hatch, the president of Wake Forest and a leader in establishing autonomy, said universities faced huge cost pressures.

“Even among the Big 5, there’s a huge difference in financial capacity,” he said.

Boston College, one of only 12 private colleges in the Big 5, seemed a likely candidate for bucking the trend. In sports, it is most famous for ice hockey and a three-decade-old Hail Mary pass from Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan to beat Miami in football. Its conference, the A.C.C., does not mint money like the Big Ten, the Pac-12 and the SEC — conferences with powerful cable networks. Boston College offers 31 varsity sports, a sizable and expensive number given that most programs outside football and men’s basketball run at operating deficits. (Alabama’s athletic department ran an operating surplus of $33 million last year, thanks partly to Crimson Tide football but also because it had a more modest 21 varsity teams.) Boston College routinely finishes near the top of the Big 5 in athletes’ graduation rates.

Hatch, who was also the A.C.C.’s representative on the Division I board, said he had been aware of the university’s concerns.

Alluding to Wake Forest, which like the Jesuit-affiliated Boston College is a private university, he said: “It is an issue private schools particularly face — the cost of our sports programs. Folks at Wake Forest had concerns about it.”

Bates said ultimate responsibility for Boston College’s vote rested with the college president, the Rev. William P. Leahy, but Bates said he agreed with the decision.

“We’re one of the few countries in the world that combines our sports with our educational system,” Bates said. “I think the ideology behind that is very noble because I think it views sports participation as developmental. But it’s also risky because it presents a context for potentially compromising values.”

Although Boston College does not release its financial data, as public colleges must, Bates all but admitted that its athletic department did not run an operating profit, which is common.

Critics note that some athletic departments that fret about finances have substantial revenue but also pay a significant amount in salaries to numerous administrators and coaches. Others argue that colleges use faulty accounting standards and that the out-of-pocket cost of a scholarship athlete’s education is frequently far less than the sum of tuition and other expenses.

But Bates said, “Regardless of how you’re accounting for it, having athletic programs is an expensive enterprise, and anything we do to increase our expenses is really putting a lot of pressure on institutions to make really difficult decisions.”

Boston College’s student-athlete advisory committee independently agreed with the nay vote, according to its president, Collin Fedor, who is on the track team.

“We saw value in the opportunity B.C. provides to compete,” Fedor said. “If those opportunities are eliminated, what’s the purpose of college athletics?”

Tyler Darlington, the starting center on Oklahoma’s football team and one of the 15 student representatives, disagreed.

“I think the hesitation that B.C. brought to light is pretty valid,” he said.

But he added, “I think the benefits outweigh the concerns.”

Bates said he was partly informed by his own experience as a college athlete: He played football at Michigan under Bo Schembechler.

Bates recalled that during his sophomore year, a classmate talked him into attending a campus lecture by the linguist and political commentator Noam Chomsky.

“I remember sitting there and realizing, I’ve got the entire world at my fingertips,” Bates said. “I had a chance to be on a very successful football team with one of the great coaches in the history of college athletics, and be fully immersed in the intellectual scene in Ann Arbor.”

By contrast, he said, giving athletes even more money “further contributes to a context that is almost antithetical to the original ideology of integrating sports with our educational system.”

Now that the legislation has passed, however, Boston College may apply it to any of its sports (though it must comply with Title IX, the federal gender equity law that requires colleges to provide equal opportunities to women).

Should any of the 65 universities decline to offer full cost to athletes on its most prominent teams, that would be even more surprising than Boston College’s vote. While others share its concern that full-cost calculations will be exploited to create a recruiting advantage — with some programs essentially trying to offer athletes more money — an even starker competitive imbalance would arise should a college not offer full cost at all.

“You can make the assumption on which sports, for sure, will include that new legislation,” Bates said. Football, he said, will be one of them.

How America Invented St. Patrick’s Day Mike Cronin March 15, 2015

Immigration and nativism transformed a quiet religious celebration into a day of raucous parades and shamrock shakes When I was growing up in Britain in the 1970s, St. Patrick’s Day didn’t exist. The conflict in Northern Ireland was at its bloodiest, and it was not a time when British cities would open their civic spaces for a celebration of things Irish. My sense of what St. Patrick’s Day looked like was informed by the odd news story about celebrations in the U.S. The day appeared as something that was more about Irish America than it was about Ireland.

Years later, I was in a bar in Dublin with a friend discussing Irish history topics that needed to be written about.

We agreed that the most obvious Irish date in the calendar, March 17, had never been touched by scholars, and a journey thus began. For the pair of us, the following years were all about understanding parades, Irishness, green beer, and corned beef and cabbage. We looked at a number of countries to try and comprehend why the Irish, perhaps above any other national group, have so successfully exported their national day so that it’s now a global phenomenon. The day is now celebrated in the form of parades, parties, and festivals on every continent.

The modest observance of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland dates back to the 17th century, as a religious feast day that commemorates the death of St. Patrick in the fifth century. Patrick is credited with having brought Christianity to Ireland, and as such became a figure of national devotion and, in due course, the nation’s patron saint. The day’s importance was confirmed in 1631 when it was recognized by the Vatican.

For most Irish people at home, the day remained primarily religious into the 20th century. The elite of Irish society did mark the day with a grand ball in Dublin Castle each year in the second half of the 19th century. But for the public at large, it was a quiet day with no parades or public events. The day wasn’t even a public holiday in Ireland until 1904.

In the 20th century, the day became a public spectacle, with a military parade running through Dublin’s streets from the 1920s to the 1950s. Right through this period, the day was rather somber: mass in the morning, the military parade at noon and—this will shock American readers—the bars across the country closed for the day.

(Irish bars didn’t begin opening on March 17 until the mid-1960s.) The military parade was replaced by a more general parade of floats and entertainment beginning in the 1960s, which in turn was transformed, in 1996, into the St. Patrick’s Festival, which still runs to this day. It’s a four-day event of music, treasure hunts, performances, and of course, on the day itself, a two-hour parade that draws up to half a million people onto the streets of Dublin.

But to understand the day and its significance is to tell an American rather than an Irish story.

The shift in the 1960s, after all, to a parade in Dublin (and many other Irish towns and cities) that was celebratory and fun was directly inspired by what was happening in the real home of St. Patrick’s Day, the U.S. The first recorded celebrations of March 17 took place in Boston in 1737, when a group of elite Irish men came together to celebrate over dinner what they referred to as “the Irish saint.” The tradition of parading began amongst Irish Catholic members of the British Army in New York in 1766 when the day “of St. Patrick, Saint of Ireland, was ushered in with Fifes and Drums,” as described in J.T. Ridge’s 1988 history of the New York parade.

The day grew in significance following the end of the Civil War and the arrival, across the 19th century, of ever increasing numbers of Irish immigrants. Facing nativist detractors who characterized them as drunken, violent, criminalized, and diseased, Irish-Americans were looking for ways to display their civic pride and the strength of their identity. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were originally focused on districts where the Irish lived and were highly localized. Through the use of symbols and speeches, Irish-Americans celebrated their Catholicism and patron saint and praised the spirit of Irish nationalism in the old country, but they also stressed their patriotic belief in their new home. In essence, St. Patrick’s Day was a public declaration of a hybrid identity—a belief in the future of Ireland as a nation free from British rule, and a strict adherence to the values and liberties that the U.S. offered them.

By the end of the 19th century, St. Patrick’s Day was being observed on the streets of major Irish cities such as Boston, Chicago, and New York, as well as in other cities such as New Orleans, San Francisco, and Savannah. The evolution of highly localized Irish celebrations to broader public events and parades tracked the rise of IrishAmericans in local governments. In the face of growing nativist opposition, to parade down major avenues in city after city announced that Irish-Americans were numerous and powerful, and not going anywhere.

The tradition of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day grew across the U.S. and became a day that was also celebrated by people with no Irish heritage. By the 20th century, it was so ubiquitous that St. Patrick’s Day became a marketing bonanza: greetings cards filled drugstores, imported Irish shamrocks (indeed anything green) showed up on Tshirts, and the food and drink that became associated with the day became bar promotions. Corned beef and cabbage—rarely eaten in Ireland but commonplace in American cities as a springtime dish—became the meal for March 17. Dietary innovations for the day have grown over the years with all types of green food, including milk shakes, beers, and candy. Once a food giant like McDonald’s latched onto the marketing potential of St. Patrick’s Day, it was clear that celebrating had jumped from a solely Irish day into the American mainstream.

The power of St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. was its ability to survive and then spread. It survived over the decades because generations of Irish immigrants were eager to celebrate their origins. The sheer number of those claiming Irish descent in the U.S., coupled with their mobility and assisted by a network of Irish societies and the forces of Irish commerce (namely Guinness and the ubiquitous Irish bar in very town) has meant that St. Patrick’s Day celebrations have spread across the country.

The holiday also spread by becoming a means for all Americans to become Irish for the day. The shared sense of being Irish, of wearing green and in some way marking March 17, has resulted in St. Patrick’s Day being observed in a similar fashion to July Fourth or Halloween. It’s the closest thing in America to National Immigrant Day, a tribute not only to the Irish, but to the idea that Americans are all part “other.” That may be why the holiday was slower to take off among the Irish diaspora in other nations around the world, where people are less comfortable with hyphenated identities.

Only more recently, once it was established as a bona fide American cultural phenomenon, and again aided by such Irish cultural ambassadors as U2, Guinness, and those ubiquitous pubs, did St. Patrick’s Day become a fullfledged celebration—whose spirit was re-imported in its Americanized form back to Ireland itself.

So, wherever you may be on this day, raise a glass to toast not only good old Ireland, but America’s interpretation of it as well.

Mike Cronin is a professor at Boston College and the academic director of its program in Dublin.

He is the author, with Daryl Adair, of The Wearing of the Green: A History of St. Patrick’s Day. He wrote this for What It Means to Be American, a national conversation hosted by the Smithsonian and Zocalo Public Square.

BC hosts Catholic school teams to examine students’ role in ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ ON: 3/13/2015, BY PILOT STAFF , IN: LOCAL

CHESTNUT HILL -- The Roche Center for Catholic Education brought principals, teachers and students from nearly 30 Catholic schools throughout the Northeast to Boston College to take a close look at how they can help fulfill Pope Francis' stirring vision of faith in action.

Inspiring faith is a central focus of the apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" -- "The Joy of the Gospel" -- a call to evangelical action issued

by Pope Francis in 2013. The 223-page document has been likened, in importance and inspiration from the Argentine Jesuit, to the impact of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, "I Have A Dream" speech.

How Catholic schools embrace the apostolic Teams of principals, teachers and students from nearly 30 Catholic schools from throughout Massachusetts and the northeast attended a workshop last week conducted by Boston College's Roche Center for Catholic Education. The workshop focused on the role of students in school-based faith formation in the wake of Pope Francis's call to action "Evangelli Gaudium."

Pilot photo/courtesy Chad Soldt, Boston College

exhortation is viewed as central to their mission to foster the Catholic faith and achieve educational excellence, said Roche Center Executive Director Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill.

"The message from Pope Francis is so strong about the joy of the Gospel and it reminds us to be joyful and that this joy is key to our Catholic identity," said Weitzel-O'Neill. "He has asked us to celebrate our faith and everything we have and that is what Catholic education is all about."

Teams of principals, teachers and students from nearly 30 schools attended the March 4 workshop, traveling from schools in the Archdiocese of Boston, other Massachusetts dioceses and New England, and as far away as Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Schools from the Archdiocese of Boston that [participated in the conference included Blessed Sacrament School, Walpole; Cathedral High School and Mission Grammar School, Boston; St. Columbkille Partnership School and St. Joseph Preparatory High School, Brighton; South Boston Catholic Academy, South Boston; Pope John High School, Everett; Sacred Heart Elementary School, Roslindale; and St. Rose School, Chelsea.

The program was part of the Roche Center's Emmaus Series, which offers school leaders professional development focused on the areas of spiritual formation, curriculum and instructional design, and business management.

Principals brought teachers and students to the workshop, which focused on the role students can play in the renewal of school-based faith formation.

Speaker Michael J. Corso, of the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations, encouraged school leaders to give students a legitimate voice in the work of schools to celebrate their Catholic faith and build school culture.

Student perceptions matter, Corso said, and should be viewed as valuable data. Just don't expect students to be perfect.

"When kids drop the ball in a leadership role, we teach them," said Corso. "We are teachers. It's what we

were born to do... We don't take leadership over from them."

Speaker Paul Melley, St. Ignatius Parish liaison to BC's Office of Campus Ministry, described the pope's Nov. 26, 2013 document as a unique guide for Catholics in these times.

"He's very clear and he pulls no punches...the good news is he talks the talk and he walks the walk," said Melley. The apostolic exhortation "takes the teachings and practices of the Church and it tells us how we can apply them in a meaningful way."

While the adult participants were engaged in the morning working with Corso and Melley, the student participants were developing their leadership skills in interactive, dynamic workshops led by teams of Boston College undergraduate and graduate students. The sessions focused on topics such as clarifying values, persuasive speech, and listening skills required to be an effective leader. During these sessions, students had the opportunity to learn from and engage with students from different Catholic schools from both urban and suburban areas, broadening their perspectives and view on Catholic education.

For schools, the guidance comes at an opportune time. Surveys have shown seemingly essential elements of Catholic education are not being conveyed to students in Catholic schools. Just 53 percent of high schoolers queried reported teachers encouraged them to look for God in everyday life; just 27 percent said discussions about religion are part of all their classes, according to 2006 data from the National Catholic Center for Student Aspirations.

Chad Broussard, the head of school at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J., said the Emmaus workshops are driving school improvement on a number of fronts.

"This has offered a sense of renewal," said Broussard. "These workshops and my fellow school leaders have equipped me with new leadership tools and guidance to bring back to the St. Anthony community and be an even more effective school leader."

Nancy Carr, the principal of the 360-student pre-K to grade 6 South Boston Catholic Academy, said the program offered a unique opportunity to the two student leaders.

"The words Catholic education together mean academic excellence," said Carr. "This was a chance to let students see what goes into that. Bringing our students here with us today helps to show them what Catholic education is all about."

The Limits of Free Speech Kent Greenfield │MAR 13 2015

Members of a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma were recently filmed chanting that they’d rather see a black student lynched than as a member of their clan.

The now viral video of dapper, privileged white men shouting, “There will never be a nigger at SAE, you can hang him from a tree” reminds us of our greatest national shame. The chant has been roundly condemned as abhorrent. But after university president David Boren announced the expulsion of two students leading the chants, prominent legal scholars from the right and left have come to their defense.

The university is a public institution, they say, and punishing the students for what they said—no matter how vile—violates the First Amendment’s commitment to “uninhibited, robust, and wideopen” discourse.

Reuters

Oklahoma could make a decent argument that the students’ chant created a hostile educational environment and was thus unprotected speech, but these scholars are likely correct as a predictive matter. If this situation were litigated before the current Supreme Court, the students would almost certainly win. The frat boys’ howls are reminiscent of the Westboro Baptist Church’s “God hates fags” protests near military funerals, which the Supreme Court protected a few years ago. And while public university hate-speech codes have never been litigated at the Supreme Court, they have been trounced in lower courts.

We are told the First Amendment protects the odious because we cannot trust the government to make choices about content on our behalf. That protections of speech will inevitably be overinclusive. But that this is a cost we must bear. If we start punishing speech, advocates argue, then we will slide down the slippery slope to tyranny.

If that is what the First Amendment means, then we have a problem greater than bigoted frat boys. The problem would be the First Amendment.

No one with a frontal lobe would mistake this drunken anthem for part of an uninhibited and robust debate about race relations. The chant was a spew of hatred, a promise to discriminate, a celebration of privilege, and an assertion of the right to violence–all wrapped up in a catchy ditty. If the First Amendment has become so bloated, so ham-fisted, that it cannot distinguish between such filth and earnest public debate about race, then it is time we rethink what it means.

The way we interpret the First Amendment need not be simplistic and empty of nuance, and was not always so. The Supreme Court unanimously held over eighty years ago that “those words which by their very utterance inflict injury … are no essential part of any exposition of ideas.” And in 1952 the Court upheld an Illinois statute punishing “false or malicious defamation of racial and religious groups.” These rulings, while never officially reversed, have shrunk to historical trinkets. But they mark a range of the possible, where one can be a staunch defender of full-throated discourse but still recognize the difference between dialogue and vomitus.

When frat boys delight in singing about lynching in Oklahoma, or loop a noose around the statue of James Meredith at Ole Miss, or publish a “rape guide” at Dartmouth, the First Amendment tells us our remedy to these expressions of hatred is to grimace and bear it. Or ignore it. Or speak out against it. But punish it we cannot. That would go too far; we would slide down the slippery slope to tyranny.

Those not targeted by the speech can sit back and recite how distasteful such racism or sexism is, and isn’t it too bad so little can be done. Meanwhile, those targeted by the speech are forced to speak out, yet again, to reassert their right to be treated equally, to be free to learn or work or live in an environment that does not threaten them with violence. The First Amendment’s reliance on counterspeech as remedy forces the most marginalized among us to bear the costs of the bigots’ speech. Counterspeech is exhausting and distracting, but if you are the target of hatred you have little choice. “Speak up! Remind us why you should not be lynched.” “Speak up! Remind us why you should not be raped.” You can stay silent, but that internalizes the taunt. The First Amendment tells us the government cannot force us either to remain silent or to speak, but its reliance on counterspeech effectively forces that very choice onto victims of hate speech.

The First Amendment tells us that threats are punishable, but only if they are targeted at specific individuals. Burning a cross on the front lawn of a family’s home can be a threat; burning one in a field outside of town is not. The latter is protected; the former is not. The secret of converting threats into protected speech, says the First Amendment, is to aim them at more people. The First Amendment asks African American students at the University of Oklahoma to set aside their fear that a bus of white men cheerfully singing about lynching might end badly for someone, somewhere. No one in particular was the focus of the threat; it was a generalized threat of violence, receiving full constitutional protection.

The First Amendment tells us that the fear of those being targeted, no matter how reasonable, counts hardly at all. What matters is whether drunken frat boys intend to whip themselves into a murderous frenzy then and there, or whether they could wait awhile. The First Amendment tells us we may not punish them for expressing glee that someone, someday, would kill a “nigger.” That would risk a slide down the slippery slope to tyranny.

Yet is the slippery slope so slick that we cannot fathom any restrictions on the worst speech? Is the slope so steep that we cannot recognize the harms flowing from assertions of privileged hatred subjecting whole populations to fear of violence? Does it really risk tyranny to expel a couple of racist punks?

If that is what the First Amendment means, I dissent.

Kent Greenfield is a professor at Boston College Law School.

THE BOSTON GLOBE THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 | BOSTONGLOBE.COM/METRO

BC College of Arts and Sciences to be named for Robert Morrissey

By Pilot Staff Posted: 3/12/2015 CHESTNUT HILL -- Boston College has announced last week that it will name its College of Arts and Sciences in honor of Robert J. Morrissey, a 1960 graduate of Boston College and a prominent Boston attorney and investor who, with this latest commitment, will become the largest benefactor in the university's history.

Terms of his gift were not disclosed.

Morrissey served as university trustee from 1980-2014, and has chaired the Committee on Investment and Endowment since 1981. His leadership and investment acumen have played a decisive role in the growth of Boston College's endowment over the past 35 years from $18 million to more than $2.2 billion.

"The Robert J. Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences is a fitting tribute to an alumnus whose commitment, service and generosity provide such a powerful example, and will have a lasting impact on Boston College," said university president Father William P. Leahy, SJ. Father Leahy continued, "Bob Morrissey has long appreciated the value of a liberal arts education, and has been grateful to his alma mater for his undergraduate experience. He has devoted much of his life to advancing the university, and now his name will forever be connected to the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College."

Robert J. Morrissey Pilot photo/courtesy Boston College

The oldest and largest of the university's eight schools and colleges, the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences comprises 6,867 undergraduate and graduate students and 450 full- and part-time faculty within 22 academic departments. As an affirmation of its commitment to the liberal arts, in 2013 Boston College opened Stokes Hall, a $78 million humanities building that is home to several arts and sciences departments and programs, and in recent years has made significant investments in the social and natural sciences.

"This gift marks a major milestone in the life of Boston College," said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. "Henceforth, all Boston College students will benefit from this substantial investment in the university. I'm thankful for this unrestricted gift and its statement of belief in and support for Boston College."

A native of Watertown who was raised by his mother after his father's early death, Morrissey commuted to Boston College during his student years. After graduating from Boston College cum laude with a degree in economics, Morrissey earned a law degree at Harvard Law School before joining the firm of Withington, Cross, Park and Groden, where he became a partner at the age of 30. In 1990, he co-founded the Boston-based law firm Morrissey, Hawkins and Lynch, where he currently serves as senior partner.

"My Boston College education had a transformational effect on my life," said Morrissey. "I am especially grateful for the faculty at Boston College who served as my teachers and mentors, particularly the members of the Society of Jesus. My classmates and I were often the first in our families to get a chance at higher education, but we knew that we were part of something special and of great importance to our families--Boston College."

Morrissey said that he joined the BC Board of Trustees as a way of giving back to his alma mater, which had played such a pivotal role in his formation. "When I got involved as an alumnus 35 years ago, the university had limited financial resources. Growing those resources became my priority, because I knew that doing so would change the lives of future generations of Boston College students."

"No individual has contributed more to the growth of the endowment that is so critical to our future than Bob Morrissey," said John Fish, chairman of the university's board of trustees. "As a trustee, Bob has devoted countless hours to advancing Boston College and has played a unique role in making Boston College what it is today. We are all indebted to him."

In addition to his work on behalf of Boston College, Morrissey has also served on the investment committees for the Society of Jesus at the Vatican and in New England, as well as the Archdiocese of Boston. He is a member of the Dean's Advisory Board of Harvard Law School, and chairman of the Board of Directors of Belmont Savings Bank. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Boston College in 2014.

Morrissey and his wife, Alyce, are the parents of five children, all graduates of Boston College. Regular attendees at athletic and campus events, they have long described Boston College as their "home away from home."

Citing the three loves of his life as his family, faith and Boston College, Morrissey said he was happy to support his alma mater. "I have been truly blessed," he said, "and I am pleased to give back to Boston College for all that it has given me."

On Campus Tours, Neither Snow, Nor Rain...

March 12, 2015 │ Kirk Carapezza and Mallory Noe-­‐Payne

Even though it's been weeks since a major snowstorm, New England’s college campuses still lay buried under a deep layer of snow and it doesn't look like it will disappear before Opening Day at Fenway. The weather, though, hasn’t deterred prospective students from taking campus tours in Boston.

Boston College’s campus, like the rest of the city, is impatiently waiting for mounds of snow now dirty at the edges to melt away.

The day we took a tour, it was a balmy 55 degrees in the sunshine.

Jo Connelly shows off Boston College's stained glass windows to a group of prospective students. (Mallory Noe-­‐Payne/WGBH).

“I’m really jazzed about the sun coming back out,” said student-­‐tour guide Jo Connelly. “Obviously it was an adjustment to this winter, but we’re happy to see the Heights all bright and lit up again.”

Like any good tour guide, Connelly is peppy but even this winter has challenged her spirit.

“It was beautiful at first, but by the time we had 100 inches I was ready to not tour anymore,” Connelly said.

Most New England colleges haven’t let one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record slow down their tour season. Instead they’ve readjusted, spending more time indoors, distributing hand warmers and avoiding the shade.

The admissions office is packed this time of year. It’s prime time for tours as high school juniors are in full-­‐swing search mode and seniors are making final decisions by May 1st.

“This week has been 200 or 300 a day,” reported Chris O’Brien, who runs Boston College’s campus tours. “Next week it will be 400 or 500. The two weeks around Easter we’re thinking about 1,000 or 1,200 a day.”

O’Brien says he hasn’t heard of anyone being scared off by the historic snowfall and frigid temperatures, but he wouldn’t be surprised.

“We might lose a few from Hawaii and Puerto Rico, yeah, perhaps we do but for the people who want this experience they’ll take the weather that comes with the education,” O’Brien said.

Back outside in the sun, there’s still a definite nip in the air. Elijah Hubbard, a sophomore touring from Texas, doesn’t mind though.

“Behind me is a big pile of dirty snow, that’s probably been here for a long time,” Hubbard said. “But I have no problem with it, because I love snow. And I love cold weather.”

Ever the optimist, tour guide Jo Connelly says at least students like Elijah are getting the full picture.

“If they get in, and they decide to come here, snow is definitely a reality,” Connelly said. “I’m sure there are silver linings to it.”

And the recent turn in weather has Connelly, like all of us, keeping her fingers crossed that the worst of winter is finally behind us.

A 'warhead' molecule to hunt down deadly bacteria Mar 12, 2015 Targeting deadly, drug-resistant bacteria poses a serious challenge to researchers looking for antibiotics that can kill pathogens without causing collateral damage in human cells. A team of Boston College chemists details a new approach using a "warhead" molecule to attack bacteria—and spare healthy human cells—by targeting a pair of lipids found on the surface of deadly germs, according to a report today in the journal Nature Communications.

The new strategy required the researchers to develop a novel type of "warhead molecule" capable of selectively targeting bacteria, overcoming biological conditions that interfere with bonding to pathogens and avoiding healthy human cells, said Boston College Associate Professor of Chemistry Jianmin Gao, the lead author of the report.

The BC team found answers to those challenges in the covalent chemistry of lipids, Gao said.

In this electron micrograph, a white blood cell eats an antibiotic resistant bacteria called methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

"In contrast to other efforts focused on the charge-to-charge attraction between molecules, we are using a completely different mechanism to target bacterial cells," said Gao. "Our method exploits the covalent chemistry of lipids - where the lipids react with synthetic molecules to form new chemical structures based on the formation of new covalent bonds."

Pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to conventional antibiotics pose increasingly serious threats to public health. Researchers in medicinal chemistry, particularly those who seek to develop new antibiotics, are constantly looking for new ways to identify and differentiate bacterial pathogens from host cells within the human body.

Gao said bacterial cells are known to display a different set of lipids in their membranes. Prior research has focused on the use of positively charged peptides to target negatively charged lipids on the surface of bacterial cells. The approach has seen limited success as the charge-charge attraction between the attacking molecules and bacteria is prone to weakening by the presence of salt and other molecules, said Gao. The researchers developed a novel, unnatural amino acid that serves as a suitable molecular warhead to target bacterial pathogens. Gao and his group sent the warhead molecule after bacterial lipids known as aminepresenting lipids—specifically phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and lysyl phosphatidylglycerol (Lys-PG) - which can be selectively derivatized to form iminoboronates, a covalent bond forming process that allows the selective recognition and labeling of bacterial cells.

In addition, because amine-presenting lipids are scarce on the surface of mammalian cells, they are able to seek out and label bacterial cells with a high degree of selectivity, Gao said. Furthermore, iminoboronate formation can be reversed under physiologic conditions, giving the new method a high degree of control and allowing the warhead molecules to self-correct if unintended targets are reached.

Gao said a large number of bacterial species present PE and Lys-PG on their surfaces, making the covalent labeling strategy applicable to many applications in the diagnosis of bacterial infections and the delivery of antibiotic therapies.

"For the short term, we hope this work will inspire other people to consider using covalent chemistry for interrogating biological systems," Gao said. "Going into the future, we are excited to explore the potential of our chemistry for imaging bacterial infections. We are also working hard to apply our current findings to facilitate the targeted delivery of potent antibiotics to bacterial cells only."

Overextending a Constitutional Protection Alan Rogers, a professor of history at Boston College, is the author of "The Child Cases: How America's Religious Exemption Laws Harm Children."

MARCH 10, 2015

For more than a century the Supreme Court has held that religious exemption laws are not protected by the First Amendment’s free exercise clause. Yet they exist in over three dozen states and many children have needlessly died.

The Supreme Court has said that religion doesn't give parents the right to harm children's health, but states have said otherwise.

The Supreme Court first tackled the question of whether a religious belief may trump a generally applicable and neutral law in Reynolds v. U.S. in 1879. The court upheld federal anti-polygamy laws and crafted a free exercise doctrine that remains substantially unchanged. The court concluded “Congress was deprived of all legislative power over mere opinion, but was left free to reach actions which were in violation of social duties or good order.”

The court extended its ruling to include the well being of children in Prince v. Massachusetts in 1944.

Society had an interest in safeguarding children’s welfare, the court stated, and the state had the authority to achieve that goal. Wisconsin v. Yoder, from 1972, did not alter the court’s jurisprudence, when the court said eliminating high school did not harm Amish children. In 1990, Justice Antonin Scalia reiterated the court’s basic principle: Religious exemptions to general laws were impracticable in a pluralistic society and would make each citizen “a law unto himself.”

Despite the Supreme Court’s clarity, Congress’s enactment of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in 1974 included a provision exempting from civil and criminal prosecution a parent legitimately practicing his religious beliefs who did not provide a child medical care. The law’s regulations also stipulate that to qualify for federal funds to fight child abuse, a state must add a religious exemption to its child welfare laws. These provisions, slipped into the law throughlobbying by the Christian Science church, opened the door to the harm the law was intended to prevent.

In Idaho during the past three years at least 12 children have died because their faith-healing parents, members of the Followers of Christ, withheld medical care. Autopsy records show that children died from medically treatable conditions. Of the states that allow religious exemptions, Idaho is one of six states that allow a religious exemption to manslaughter and negligent homicide.

It’s time to repeal all religious exemptions that unconstitutionally protect parents at the cost of a child’s death.

Three ideas on fixing the troubled MBTA

By Sean R. Martin, Steven J. Spear, and John Macomber | March 8, 2015 After the T’s recent collapse, the Globe asked management specialists at local business schools for recommendations to put the system on track (and maybe on time).

Sean R. Martin: Teams perform smoother when trust flows freely This historic winter has wreaked havoc on the thousands of commuters who rely on the T. It also has highlighted dysfunctional dynamics among Governor Charlie Baker, MBTA general manager Beverly Scott, and Keolis, the French contractor that runs the commuter rail.

To be fair, I am looking at this from the outside; all I can do is analyze the comments reported in the media. Still, this saga underscores a recurring theme: the importance (and apparent lack) of trust and open communication among various leaders, people, and groups involved. It’s a problem that afflicts all too many organizations.

Research suggests that leaders are more effective when they have timely, high-quality information from peers and subordinates. But information doesn’t always flow freely, which seems to be the case here. For example, before resigning, Scott announced a 30-day plan to get the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority back online, but Baker was apparently unaware of this plan. Several days later, he was similarly surprised by Scott’s abrupt resignation.

Meanwhile, the state sent mixed messages to Keolis regarding the fines the contractor may face for the many service delays in violation of their “no excuses” contract. Scott intimated that Keolis may not be responsible for all the fines, given JOHN TLUMACKI/ GLOBE STAFF the extraordinary circumstances. State Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack Sean Martin is an assistant professor of held firm on holding Keolis to its full obligations. Keolis representatives remarked management at Boston College’s Carroll that they had not discussed potential fines with state officials.

School of Management.

It may be obvious to most people, but during difficult times, it’s especially important for people to act as a team, share information, identify problems, and find solutions. So, what are the factors that inhibit communication, and how can people remove those barriers?

Two factors influencing information sharing are a) whether people perceive it to be safe, and b) whether they believe it can lead to productive change. From Scott’s perspective, her job would hardly seem safe. She was appointed by then-Governor Deval Patrick and her position has a notoriously short tenure — an average of about three years since 1980.

As far as believing that sharing information can lead to change, the MBTA has experienced neglect, crippling debt, and an ever-tightening operating budget. The new governor espouses conservative fiscal policies and shows no hesitation in publicly criticizing people he thinks aren’t up to snuff.

So for someone in Scott’s position, it’s hard to see how openly sharing information about the needs of the T would lead to change and not threaten her job.

Baker is in an unenviable position as well. He inherited a long-neglected transportation system during a historically terrible winter. And to give him credit, he appears to be taking constructive action — appointing a commission to investigate the root causes behind maintenance, financial, and service issues plaguing the T and having personal meetings with Keolis.

But several of the governor’s recent statements in the media, such as, “I’m sort of done with excuses,” (in reference to Keolis), and, “It’s pretty clear they need a new operating plan,” (referencing MBTA management), make it hard for someone to feel safe sharing information and debating ways to improve the system.

Finally, Keolis operates under a contract that provides no incentives to be open. A “no excuses” contract that imposes fines for poor performance may appear on paper to incentivize fewer mistakes, but it can also encourage people to hide problems

because openness can cost money. Indeed, studies suggest that steep penalties for mistakes simply lead people to cover them up.

In sum, the winter has highlighted an all-too-common organizational phenomenon. A combination of structural issues (contracts, role responsibilities) and personal actions (leaders sending combative signals) create environments where information doesn’t flow. Thus, when collaboration and information-sharing are most crucial, they don’t happen.

This occurs frequently in organizations when leaders criticize employees publicly, when cultures, rules, and regulations reward those who hide mistakes, and when people fear for their jobs.

It’s a shame that in this situation, the ones paying the price are the citizens of the Greater Boston area who depend on the trains.

Sean Martin is an assistant professor of management at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.

Boston College students take break at Holy Family

By Devonte Demby │ March 6, 2015 NATCHEZ — The 20 Boston College students performed several tasks for the school after traveling by bus to Holy Family as part of the college’s annual service trip.

“They will do anything we ask them to do,” Sister Bernadette McNamara said, who is the school’s financial director. “They will paint, clean and power wash buildings, but their favorite thing is to work with the children.”

McNamara said the majority of the students are education majors who got the opportunity to teach Holy Family students this week during their visit.

Boston College senior Kim McDonagh reads with Holy Family Catholic School kindergartener Erik Hutchins while volunteering with other BC students for the week. Every year, BC students come to Holy Family over their spring break to volunteer and donate school supplies from money that the students raise prior to their trip. (Sam Gause / The Natchez Democratic)

Boston College senior Nick Freehling, a secondary education major, has now visited Holy Family for the last three years.

“What makes this trip special is that I started to see right away that Holy Family is a family,” Freehling said.

“Everyone is working together to provide the best education possible.”

Freehling said after being one of the few men on the trip, he and his fellow schoolmates ended up doing most of the recycling, trash disposal and painting.

Boston College senior Megan Doeg is currently on her fourth trip to Holy Family — but mostly because she can’t get enough of helping McNamara.

“The Holy Family School is such an amazing place,” Deog said. “The kids and teachers are just full of love, and (McNamara) is such a blessing. I don’t know what I would do with my spring break if I could not come here.”

Doeg said she and her peers cleaned every toy in the school, organized classrooms, decorated boards, purchased school supplies and tutored several students.

Among the 20 Boston College students, sophomore John Hanron and juniors Natalie Brock, Amanda Dames and Ryan Poor visited Holy Family during the college’s annual service trip for the first time.

Boston College sophomore Andrew Craig is currently on his second trip to Holy Family. Brock said spending oneon-one time with the Holy Family students made her grateful for the choice to major in elementary education.

“I think that the emphasis on early education is so important, such as preparing kids going into elementary school,” Brock said. “I really like seeing what the kids can do in their classrooms.”

Even though Hanron is a secondary education major, he was impressed with the development showcased by young Holy Family students.

Holy Family Catholic School kindergartner Erik Hutchins, left, and Lela Reed, right, read Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” with Boston College senior Nick Freehling while he volunteers with other BC students for the week. Every year, BC students come to Holy Family over their spring break. (Sam Gause / The Natchez Democrat)

“I did not know what smart was for a fouryearold until I came to Holy Family,” Hanron said

Business

In ads, punctuation can make a point

By Deirdre Fernandes │ March 05, 2015 Call it a battle between the “Just Do It” crowd and the “Got Milk?” camp.

When it comes to advertising and urging people to buy a product, is it more effective for a company to make a statement or to raise a question?

New research by a Boston College marketing professor suggests that it depends on the circumstances and traces a consumer’s reaction to these slogans to evolution and our cave man roots.

“It’s pretty crazy when you think about it,” said Henrik Hagtvedt, a professor at BC’s Carroll School of Management. “It’s just a question or a period, and it can make people buy more or less.”

Statements, the study found, work best in intense environments, when potential buyers are being hit with loud music and a barrage of images. Some examples: campaigns for Nike, Dos Equis, and McDonald’s. In calmer situations, with more soothing music, consumers are willing to ponder a question and are more likely to think carefully about a company that is asking them for an opinion. Examples: Capital One and Wendy’s.

Hagtvedt’s study, to be published later this year in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, found that statements work best in intense environments in which potential buyers get hit with loud music and a barrage of images, such as during a basketball game or while they are watching an action movie. In calmer situations with more soothing music, such as while watching a documentary, consumers are willing to ponder a question and are more likely to buy a brand that asks their opinion.

It all comes down to primal reactions, Hagtvedt said. The earliest ancestors of the modern consumer wanted clear instructions from their families and tribesmen when they were under stress or their lives were threatened. In calmer situations, they were more likely to explore or satisfy their curiosity.

“We tend to respond to stimuli and environment in ways that have been molded by thousands and millions of years of evolution,” he said.

Hagtvedt tested his theory first by showing participants an ad for a pen with the slogan “The pen for you” — phrased as a question and a statement and accompanied by images of a fierce tiger or a quiet pool.

Then he moved his experiment to a grocery store, where short compositions by Felix Mendelssohn, one fast-paced and the other more soothing, were alternatively played near a display advertising “Strawberries” or “Strawberries?”

He found that when consumers were more excited, either by an image or by music, they were more likely to buy the product presented as a statement.

Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign used a simple statement along with images of people running, climbing and pushing their physical limits to sell billions of dollars’ worth of athletic gear. The slogan, launched in 1988 and still in use, was named one of the most memorable branding efforts of the last century by Advertising Age, a trade journal. The ad seems to prove Hagtvedt’s idea that a direct message is best in an intense environment.

On the other side of the punctuation debate is “Got Milk?” from the Milk Processor Education Program’s advertising campaign, Hagtvedt said. The question makes you stop, look, and consider what is being sold, he said.

The ads, which were splashed across magazine pages, featured straight-on photos of athletes and celebrities with milk mustaches. The slogan, which was retired last year, lent an aura of cool to the refrigerator staple.

Other companies have also gone the rhetorical route, from Capital One’s “What’s in your wallet?” to “Where’s the beef?” from Wendy’s, the fast-food chain.

Advertising is about connecting with people, said Alyssa Toro, a senior partner and chief creative officer at Connelly Partners, a Boston ad agency, and questions can help a company do that by engaging consumers, making them feel that their answers matter.

Questions are particularly effective on social media, where people look to connect with each other and exchange ideas by hitting a “like” button or sharing a story or a comment, she said. Increasingly, companies ask consumers on social media what they think about products or what they want, she said.

“It’s an instant invitation for the customer,” Toro said of such questions. “If they make a definitive statement, they are leading the customer, and that’s not showing empathy.”

But Gary Greenberg, executive vice president and chief creative officer at Allen & Gerritsen in Boston, said lots of different elements go into making a successful brand campaign, from capturing a cultural moment to understanding consumer demographics. It isn’t simply about whether you put a period or a question mark at the end of a sentence.

“You can’t really reduce what we do to a science, because it’s anything but,” Greenberg said. “Why do I feel good about doing business with this brand? That’s the magic dust. That’s what every brand is looking for.”

Still, Hagtvedt said that he hopes his research gets the advertising agencies thinking about how they make their pitches to consumers, and under what circumstances.

For example, advertising a toy with a question mark during the frenzied holiday season would probably confuse buyers — and turn them off.

“It’s about clear communication,” he said.

DOJ drops ball on anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s murder By: Mark S. Brodin March 5, 2015 In the face of the ugly violence against civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, broadcast nightly on the network news throughout the long hot summer of 1963, President John F. Kennedy gave an impassioned speech to the nation: “We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and as clear as the American constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.”

Those words retain their profound impact in our times, in so many ways, but particularly in light of recent events in Ferguson, Staten Island, Cleveland and other cities where unarmed black youth have been killed by white police officers — an event reportedly repeated at the rate of once every two days.

As staggering as that statistic is, more shocking is the almost total lack of accountability, either by criminal or civil litigation, or even internal disciplinary action.

It was just such indifference to the extinguishing of black lives that led to the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People more than 100 years ago.

Three years ago, 17yearold Trayvon Martin, returning from a convenience store to the townhouse of his father’s fiancée in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, was profiled, stalked and shot to death with 9 mm semiautomatic handgun by George Zimmerman, a “wannabe” cop who had organized a “neighborhood watch.”

Although Martin was unarmed and engaged in no wrongful conduct, it took the local authorities 42 days — and pressure from civil rights groups, marches and rallies around the country — to finally charge Zimmerman. He was “prosecuted,” sort of, and ultimately acquitted on July 13, 2013, setting off protests across the nation.

A review of the trial reveals a prosecution that, at best, was mishandled. The state itself put into evidence five of Zimmerman’s own self-serving, unchallenged and implausible versions of events, thus relieving Zimmerman of the need to take the stand, under oath, and be subjected to cross-examination.

In recordings, the jury heard Zimmerman tell police that Martin, with no history of violence, inexplicably jumped him, tried to smother him, repeatedly slammed his head onto the concrete sidewalk, screamed: “You got a f—ing problem, homie?” and “You’re gonna die tonight, MF,” and finally reached for Zimmerman’s gun (which was actually hidden in a back holster).

Notwithstanding the lack of any evidence to support this — the absence of Martin’s DNA on the gun or holster, the absence of Zimmerman’s DNA under Martin’s fingernails, the absence of injuries on Zimmerman consistent with such an attack, and finally Zimmerman’s substantial size advantage over the 158pound teen — the jury of six women bought the self-defense and acquitted him of all charges.

Remarkably, the prosecutors sat back while their own police witnesses were allowed to testify in response to defense questions that they believed the story told by “George” (as they referred to the defendant).

Florida’s rule (universally recognized) forbids one witness from testifying to the credibility of another. The state even put Zimmerman’s best friend on the stand, who, having published a book crediting Zimmerman’s tale, not surprisingly supported his self-defense. The prosecution team somehow also fumbled the compelling evidence that Martin was on his cellphone with a friend at the time he was stalked by Zimmerman, reporting to her nervously that a “crazy and creepy” man was following him. The call ended in Martin screaming: “Get off! Get off!”

In short, there was no real pursuit of the case against Zimmerman. Enter Eric Holder’s Department of Justice, charged with prosecuting civil rights offenders, which now concludes Zimmerman does not belong in that category.

Really? What about the evidence at trial that, when Zimmerman called 911 that fateful night, he described the AfricanAmerican teen (presumably solely on the basis of his color) as “up to no good or he’s on drugs or something.”

Referring to Martin in the context of previous burglaries and home invasions in the area allegedly committed by black males, Zimmerman complains to the 911 dispatcher, “These assholes. These f—ing punks. They always get away!”

Zimmerman then ignores the instruction not to follow the subject, instead chasing him, confronting him, and killing him with a single shot, point blank, to the heart.

Each of the three previous “suspicious person” 911 calls Zimmerman had made also identified black males.

How could the feds allow this blatant case of racial profiling and violence by a vigilante to go unpunished? Attorney General Holder talks a good game about race in America, but sadly does not walk the walk.

Mark S. Brodin, a former civil rights lawyer, is on the faculty at Boston College Law School.

Leaky retirement savings

By Jill Schlesinger │March 4, 2015

If only fixing a leaky retirement account were as easy as repairing a leaky faucet. A new report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that money is seeping out of retirement accounts at alarming rates, causing permanent damage to future retirement account balances.

The cause of these leaks is "any type of pre-­‐ retirement withdrawal that permanently removes money from retirement savings accounts." In other words, the ability for American workers to tap retirement Image Source: ChicagoTribune.com accounts through a variety of ways, which include: in-­‐service withdrawals (either hardship withdrawals or for those that occur for workers over the age 59 1/2); cash-­‐outs or lump sum distributions, which occur after an employee leaves a job; and loans against 401(k) assets. While all of these events are perfectly legitimate, they can "erode assets at retirement."

The Center worked with Vanguard Investments to determine just how much each of the methods for accessing retirement assets can reduce future retirement nest eggs. While cash-­‐outs are the most damaging, all three show a total leakage rate of 1.2 percent of retirement assets. The analysis then used that rate to project the impact on 401(k) balances at age 60 and the bottom line is startling: "Leakages reduce 401(k) wealth by 25 percent. These estimates represent the overall impact for the whole population, averaged across both those who tap their savings and those who do not."

So how do we repair leaky retirement accounts? The research makes a series of policy recommendations to plug the holes and keep monies in the plan for retirement.

Alter the definition of "hardship."

Hardship withdrawals allow plan participants to withdraw funds if they face an "immediate and heavy financial need." Government rules allow for hardship withdrawals under six circumstances: 1. To cover medical care expenses 2. To pay for funeral expenses 3. To prevent the eviction from or foreclosure on the mortgage on the principal residence 4. To cover certain expenses to repair damage to the principal residence 5. To cover costs directly related to the purchase of a principal residence 6. To pay for post-­‐secondary education.

While the paper acknowledges that it probably makes sense to keep hardship withdrawals as a safety valve for families in financial trouble, it suggests that "hardship" could be limited to serious, unpredictable hardships. Those might include: total and permanent disability, health expenses in excess of 7.5 percent of

AGI (as opposed to 10 percent under current law) and job loss, as documented by the receipt of unemployment benefits.

Separately, the report argues that the age for non-­‐penalized withdrawals from both 401(k) and IRAs be raised to at least Social Security's Earliest Eligibility Age, which is currently 62.

Avoid cash-­‐outs.

When you leave a job, there are usually three choices as to what to do with your retirement assets: 1. Leave the funds in the plan (if the employer permits).

2. Roll over the balance into an IRA, or into a new employer's 401(k).

3. Take a lump-­‐sum distribution.

It's the third option that causes leakage.

The report suggests closing down the ability to cash out of a plan altogether and, instead, changing the allowable options to leaving the money in the prior employer's plan (even balances under $5,000); transferring the money to the new employer's 401(k) or, for those leaving the labor force, rolling over the plan balance into an IRA. Loans are the least worrisome of the three leakage events. The reason is that most borrowers continue to contribute to the plan while they have a loan; and most of the money is repaid.

Most observers believe that these fixes are unlikely to be implemented any time soon, so the best bet for plan participants is to think twice before they tap the money in retirement accounts. Doing so could prevent a small leak from turning into a deluge of cash that flows out of their grasps.

This Is How Long It Will Be Before You Can Retire Martha C. White │ March 4, 2015 Stop working at 55? Fat chance First, the good news: After creeping up incrementally since the 1980s, the average retirement age seems to have leveled off — at least, for men. The bad news: It’s probably later than you want to hear, and women’s average retirement age will probably continue to rise.

New research from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College says that, as of 2013, the average retirement age for men was 64, and roughly 62 for women.

Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research and author of the new study, says financial incentives to delay drawing Social Security, the shift from pensions to 401(k)s and the unavailability of Medicare until the age of 65 all are part of the reason behind the increase.

The recession and its aftermath yielded two more counterbalancing trends: Many older Americans delayed retirement after their 401(k)s shrunk, but others who were laid off had a hard time reentering the workforce.

This isn’t the situation any longer, Munnell says. “By 2015, the cyclical effects have worn off,” she says. “The impact of the various factors that contributed towards working longer… largely have played themselves out,” she says.

At least, this is the case for men. “Male labor force participation has leveled off and, consequently, so has the average retirement age,” Munnell says.

Things are a little different for working women, whose historical retirement trends vary from men’s because women didn’t start entering the workforce in large numbers until the second half of the 20th century.

“Women’s [labor force] participation seems to have increased,” Munnell says. “This upward shift in the curves is reflected in the recent upward trend in the average retirement age.”

And this trajectory towards a later retirement is likely to continue, at least for a while, she says. “I think that it will continue to increase until it becomes very close to the average for men.”

But aside from the chance to earn a bigger Social Security benefit and shore up your nest egg, Munnell says there are advantages to the economy if more people keep working longer, calling this an “unambiguously positive” trend.

“The more people who are working, the bigger the GDP pie and the more output available for both workers and retirees,” she says.

McMullen show examines range of Roman influence

By Sebastian Smee / FEBRUARY 28, 2015 ‘Suburbia is the cutting edge of social change,” wrote the novelist J.G. Ballard. “Everything started here, from the fitness crusade to wifeswapping.”

Ballard’s point, arrestingly made, is well taken: In the late 20th century, suburbanites in affluent countries had more leisure time, more money, and more space to experiment with new occupations and attitudes. They did so with gusto, often leaving urban elites — the people who thought they were driving the agenda — looking nostalgic and unadventurous by comparison.

Fine. So wheel back two millennia to the great Roman Empire — at its peak, under Trajan (98-117 CE), well over a million square miles, and by the fourth century encompassing more than 100 provinces.

What was the relationship between the center and the periphery? How did these people — who amounted to 97 percent of the Empire’s population — experience life as “provincials”? How did they relate to Rome, the Roman elite, and to Rome’s official idea of itself?

What was the relationship between the center and the periphery? How did these people — who amounted to 97 percent of the Empire’s population — experience life as “provincials”? How did they relate to Rome, the Roman elite, and to Rome’s official idea of itself?

“Roman in the Provinces,” a fascinating new show at the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College, addresses these questions.

Drawn from the holdings of the Yale University Art Gallery, with supplementary loans from other institutions and private collectors, the exhibition is an attempt to complicate a narrative that, in times past, has tended to be about the oneway process of “Romanization.”

In thrall to the idea that Roman ideology, propaganda, engineering, and military might during the socalled “pax Romana” — the 200-year period of relative stability beginning with Augustus — were all spectacularly effective, scholars looking at material culture have been taken up with finding Roman influences everywhere.

They found them — and not just because they were looking for them. They are there. (In the same way, during the so-called pax Americana, you could buy Coke in the foothills of the Himalayas, Big Macs in Tripoli, and M-16 rifles throughout Southeast Asia.) But such clues to the existence of a dominant culture scarcely tell the whole story.

So what remained of provincial culture in the Roman empire, in what ways did it thrive, and how much was the process of influence actually two-way? How much did the provinces affect Rome?

This show, backed by a catalog with 15 scholarly essays by experts in the field, wants to know.

Beautifully installed, it’s a rewarding experience, although you emerge from it wondering if the subject isn’t simply too ambitious.

YALE UNIVER SITY AR T GALLERY

Marble bust of Julia Domna (203-217 CE).

The objects themselves are, by and large, small: gorgeous textile fragments (lent by Donald and Barbara Tellalian), pitchers, figurines, coins, column capitals, horse trappings, vases. There are also some stunning mosaics, sculptures, and wall paintings.

Each one has been chosen in large part, you feel, because it is so mysterious, so challenging to received wisdom. It might suggest, on the one hand, an adaptation to Roman influence, and yet, on closer inspection, the persistence of preexisting religious beliefs, customs, or decorative traditions.

Thus, the whole show is fraught with subtle questions of interpretation, many of which must be left open-ended because who, in the end, can be sure?

And then of course there is the fact that the empire was so vast and so much in flux, and the provinces so heterogeneous, that as you navigate the show it can be difficult to be sure where you are geographically, let alone in what era, unless you do a lot of close reading of the small print on the labels.

Nonetheless, the exhibition makes its overall point well. The upper gallery is devoted to objects made for public settings. Many of them dance with ambiguity, respecting official (Roman) culture while also promoting older allegiances.

A number of objects, including a textile roundel made in fifth-to-seventh-century Egypt, seem to show the Greek goddess of fortune, Tyche.

But her mural crown is deliberately ambiguous and could easily be interpreted as the halo of a Christian saint.

Other works, including a stunningly vivid marble bust, show Julia Domna (170-217 CE), the Syrian-born empress. Her husband, the emperor Septimius Severus, was born in Africa, while their son, Caracalla, was born in Gaul — a poignant reminder that power often moves, at least in individual cases, from the periphery to the center.

(Christianity itself, of course, was a provincial affair that was eventually adopted by Rome, thereby transforming an unlikely, put-upon cult advanced by a Jew from Roman-occupied Judea into an official state creed.)

Julia Domna, who grew up speaking Greek and Aramaic (Latin was only her third language), is also represented in a tiny ivory carving, part of a toy doll of a kind given to elite girls to encourage them to emulate the beautiful empress. Nearby is a Greek inscription, in marble, saluting Julia Domna in the temple of Artemis at Dura-Europos in present-day Syria — thanking her, perhaps, for using her position of influence to intercede on behalf of her native region.

Dura-Europos was a trading city and Roman garrison town on the Euphrates. It succumbed to a Sasanian siege in 256 CE, but was miraculously preserved, and in the 1920s and ’30s it was excavated by teams from Yale University and the French Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

Among the discoveries were the earliest known Christian baptistery, a Jewish synagogue richly painted with biblical scenes, and a temple of the ancient cult of Mithraism, as well as all sorts of evidence relating to the Roman military, to commerce, and to everyday provincial life.

In 2011, Yale University’s Lisa Brody and Boston College’s Gail Hoffman organized a marvelous exhibition at the McMullen devoted to the full range of the discoveries at Dura-Europos. That show gave them the idea to explore this larger theme of the relationship between Rome and the provinces.

Although it was ultimately vanquished by the Sasanians, the Roman military force at Dura-Europos does trigger key questions about the role of the imperial army.

Since it was largely made up of soldiers from the provinces, and since it was so mobile, the army played a huge part in transmitting cultural influences around the empire. Not only did it absorb weapons technology and military techniques from the foreigners it subdued, but it also spread artifacts and customs rapidly around the empire so that, for instance, Celtic belt buckles from the farthest reaches of the western empire were found at Dura-Europos, in the east.

Interestingly, according to one of many fascinating wall labels, the citizens of Rome worried that their soldiers were becoming “barbarianized” by their exposure to foreign customs. The soldiers, on the other hand, saw themselves as the most Roman of all peoples.

YALE UNIVER SITY AR T GALLERY

Seasons beaker (first century CE, The lower-level gallery is focused on private settings — dining, dressing, praying, funerary rites, and Eastern Mediterranean). trade. The range of objects alone is exciting: One goes from a child’s tunic made from linen to a silver pitcher adorned with scenes depicting Bacchus, a woolen textile fragment showing a rooster, and a beautiful Greek figurine of a seated dancer from the late fourth century CE. The latter figure, whose pose echoes the famous Greek figure of the “spinario” — the boy removing a thorn from his foot — is from the Museum of Fine Arts. According to the wall label, the dancer was probably also a prostitute, making her part of a sad sorority addressed again 15 centuries later by Edgar Degas. Degas’s popular pictures of ballerinas in tutus show us young girls who were also, in most cases, obliged to sell their bodies.

One sub-theme of the entire show is the ongoing relationship between Rome and the peoples of Greece and Macedonia. Although both were subdued during the Republican era, well before Augustus, the Greeks continued to exercise a strong influence on Rome. They had long ago been reduced to the status of provincials and openly patronized for their political naivete, but their cultural inheritance continued to be revered.

This nuanced dynamic is one of many that play out across the show, a reminder of how many fresh and powerful stories even the humblest of objects can tell.

Civil rights trailblazer Claudette Colvin visits BC

By Mark Shanahan / FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Claudette Colvin, who was arrested in Alabama in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person, spoke to Boston College students Thursday as part of the BC School of Social Work’s yearlong focus on race and justice. Colvin’s arrest is overshadowed in the history books by Rosa Parks’s similar civil rights stand, but it happened nine months before. The 75-year-old Colvin was joined at BC Thursday by her daughter-inlaw Cheryl , who serves on the committee planning the 50th anniversary commemoration of the march from Selma to Montgomery, and also her granddaughter Jennifer , who’s a student at the Boston College School of Social Work.

FEBRUARY 18, 2015

Enterprising Connections

By Thomas Farragher GLOBE STAFF

Greg Valentino Ball has passion, vision, and a deep bench of backers who’ve helped him emerge with contagious confidence from the entrepreneurial incubator that nurtured him for six months in a small, smart office above Dudley Square.

He also has an 86-year-old great aunt, a sharp woman named Elsie who, God bless her, has implored him to cut through all the high-tech gobbledygook and venture capital jargon and tell her exactly what the heck it is that he’s trying to do with his life.

“I’ve learned to boil it down to this: We’re a digital magazine. And now she gets that,’’ he told me the other day as he packed up his second-floor office on Warren Street.

You would get it, too, if you could see the image hanging above Ball’s desk, a large framed X-ray image of two turntables and a mixer. It’s a portrait of his business plan’s heart and soul.

“Our goal is to look underneath the surface,’’ he said. “I want ‘Killer’ to be an enterprise that looks into the core of what the music is all about.’’

Killer is shorthand for KillerBoomBox, a multimedia company that Ball and his partners are trying to breathe life into.

They envision it as sort of a cross between Rolling Stone and MTV for urban music, hip-hop, and R&B. It’s a startup like so many others taking root throughout this resurgent city, but this hopeful little green sprout is

planted not in Kendall Square, but in Roxbury.

And that’s just the way Gilad Rosenzweig, the man who helped place the 44-year-old Ball and his partners in his Dudley Square incubator, designed it.

“When you go to an incubator or an accelerator, the overwhelming majority of the participants are male and white or Asian,’’ said Rosenzweig, an MIT graduate and urban planner.

“What if in Dudley Square we had an accelerator for people with great ideas who many think are not part of the startup culture?’’

Rozenzweig’s answer to his own question is a nonprofit venture he’s founded called Smarter in the City. Ball’s KillerBoomBox was one of the five applicants accepted last summer into the inaugural program that serves as economic and strategic fertilizer.

Besides providing free rent, modern office space, and technical guidance, Smarter in the City builds bridges from Roxbury to other neighborhoods. That’s how Greg Ball of Dorchester, in need of legal assistance, met Jon Atwater of Weymouth, a Boston College law student in need of real-world experience.

“It taught me that when someone has passion for a business — and boy, does Greg have passion — you can accomplish a lot,’’ said Atwater, now a third-year law student at BC. “Greg thinks mainstream media puts people in boxes.

Whites in one corner, blacks in another. He wants one place where people can come together and talk about music.’’

Ball and Atwater talked a lot about music. And sports. And the

law. Atwater helped Ball navigate the legal shoals of intellectual property and helped the firm hammer out a formal partnership.

It’s the kind of advice that usually costs $350 an hour, advice that BC provided for free to all five Smarter in the City entrepreneurs.

“Before we were flying by the seat of our pants,’’ Ball explained.

“They gave us real information.

Part of KillerBoomBox is forging relationships outside of the ones we already have. That’s what we did.’’

Ball and his partners, Darius McCroey and Brandon Matthews, have moved into new quarters in the Seaport District, where they will take with them the lessons learned and the relationships forged in Dudley Square.

They will debut a podcast this summer and are at work on a documentary. They want to be the one indispensable destination for those who live and breathe hiphop, relying on ad sales to support the venture.

“Oh, this is going to get done,’’ said Ball, whose fondest dream is to return to Roxbury a smashing success. He’d better. Aunt Elsie has been talking him up big time at her senior center in Roslindale.

Like him, she’s a true believer.

Thomas Farragher is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at thomas.farragher@globe.com.

OPINION

A Muddle of Mixed Messages From the Fed Markets don’t seem to believe the central bank will follow through on its midyear rate hike.

By CHARLES W. CALOMIRIS And PETER IRELAND │ Feb. 18, 2015 7:29 p.m. ET With more than one million jobs added in the past three months, the unemployment rate nearly one full percentage point lower than a year ago, and rising consumer confidence, the economy is clearly on the uptick. Yet there is a worrisome disconnect between Federal Reserve officials and financial markets about what needs to be done in the near future.

Fed leaders suggest that the Federal Open Market Committee will begin raising interest rates as early as midyear and continue raising them over the next two years. Market expectations, however—reflected in interest-rate futures market prices—call for rate hikes beginning later in the year and far more gradual rate-raising than Fed projections.

This disconnect mainly reflects the clumsy way the FOMC has communicated its outlook and intentions. But Fed policy makers need to align market expectations with their own: Central-bank surprises foment market upheaval, as we learned from the “taper tantrum” of 2013. Here’s how the Fed can prevent this from happening again.

First, stop giving mixed signals reacting to each day’s data dump. The Feb. 6 jobs report, for example, confirmed the positive outlook for “solid” economic growth and “strong” job gains that was described in the Jan. 27-28 FOMC policy statement. Yet recent speeches and media appearances by Fed Chair Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Bank Presidents Charles Evans and Narayana Kocherlakota convey an impression that the economy and labor markets may not be healthy enough for a midyear rate hike.

Their statements may be part of an effort to maintain Fed flexibility, but they confuse markets. Far better to emphasize the compelling indicators that point to sustained economic growth. For example, while the GDP report for the fourth quarter of 2014—2.6% annual growth—was slower than the previous two quarters, it was still solid. The job market is stronger than it has been in years, and so are the data for consumption and housing starts.

Second, Fed leaders should clarify the implications for monetary policy of energy prices. Inflation has ticked downward in recent months, with the Fed’s preferred measure based on core consumer expenditures easing to 1.1% in the fourth quarter of 2014, down from 1.4% in the third quarter. This decline largely reflects sharply lower energy prices. That’s good news for consumers, who are now paying much less for the gasoline and heating oil, which are a significant fraction of household budgets.

Yet some market analysts worry that reduced inflation may be a drag on the economy. This is incorrect. A decline in the price of oil has a one-time effect on the price level and no lasting effect on the underlying inflation rate.

To its credit, the Fed has made this point. But misplaced worries about deflation persist, so the Fed should emphasize that as soon as the transitory effects of the decline in oil prices wears off, inflation should be expected to move back toward the FOMC’s 2% target rate. If energy prices remain relatively low, that will be a source of continuing higher economic growth.

Third, the Fed should debunk fears that the interest rates it contemplates will sidetrack economic expansion. Even with a hike beginning in midyear, interest rates would remain very low and still well below the inflation rate, implying a negative real interest rate. Prior rate hikes in similar circumstances in 1994 and 2004 did not throw the economy into recession.

The Fed should explain that an increase in interest rates at this stage of economic expansion would help to sustain healthy, balanced economic growth and avoid fueling asset-price bubbles. Such a statement would restore faith in the Fed’s commitment to price stability.

Fourth, Fed officials should remind markets that monetary policy takes time to work its way through the economy—what Milton Friedman famously referred to as “long and variable lags”—and on inflation. By holding interest rates close to zero since 2008, and expanding its balance sheet enormously, the Fed already has provided unprecedented monetary stimulus.

M2, the broad measure of the money supply, has been growing at rates in excess of 6% since 2011. As the effects of this sustained monetary growth continue to be felt, and as banks transform their idle excess reserves into new loans and deposits—a process that is well under way—inflation undoubtedly will rise.

By referring to these lags more frequently in their public statements, FOMC officials could express more clearly their confidence that the cumulative effect of past policy actions will bring inflation back to the 2% target. They could also explain, with reference to the same long and variable lags, that the interest rate increases planned for mid-2015 are intended to prevent future inflation from overshooting that target, setting the stage for prolonged economic growth and prosperity.

Mr. Calomiris is a finance professor at Columbia University. Mr. Ireland is an economics professor at Boston College. Both are members of the Shadow Open Market Committee. This op-ed is based on “A More Effective Strategy for the Fed,” a paper co-written with Mickey Levy and published Monday on centralbanking.com.

The best thing the Romans did for Britain was leave, historian claims On average Britons lived for two years longer after the fall of the Roman Empire

By Sarah Knapton, 16 Feb 2015 The Romans brought aqueducts, wealth, security and hot baths to Britain but the best thing they did for the population was to leave, a historian has suggested.

Studies of graves in cemeteries from the 400AD to 650AD show that Britons, on average, lived for around two years longer following the fall of the Roman Empire.

Robin Fleming, professor of history from Boston College in the US, said that once Britons were no longer forced to pay taxes they were able to eat more nutritious food which increased longevity.

A mosaic at Bignor Roman Villa in West Sussex. Photo: Alamy

Asked if the fall of the Roman Empire was good for Britain, Prof Fleming added: “If you are a villa owner, no. But it you are part of the 97 per cent of the rest, then, yes, it might add a couple of years to your life which makes a difference.

“The people were living longer after Roman Britain because they weren’t being taxed. “ Despite the boost in lifespan, most women could still only expect to live until around 35 because of the dangers of childbirth, while men were usually dead by their early forties.

Prof Fleming has also discovered that the period was a time of great movement in Britain, when populations ventured across the Pennines and began to mingle with immigrants from Scandinavia, Germany and the Baltics.

Skeletons from a graveyard in West Heslerton, a small village near Pickering, North Yorkshire, showed that the locals had once eaten food from a far wetter climate, suggesting they had moved from the west of Britain.

Prof Fleming said the finding was surprising because most historians thought populations were migrating from east to west during the period.

The graves also revealed that British people were buried with goods from foreign cultures, such as wrist clasps usually found in the early medieval period in Norway, pointing to West Heslerton being a multicultural hub.

“We don’t like to use the term Dark Ages anymore, but there is no written evidence for the late fourth and fifth centuries after the period where Rome falls,” she said.

“It’s a period where lots of people were on the move.

“During the Roman period culture came from the Mediterranean world. But when Rome has fallen they appear to be experimenting a lot more than before. A lot of the skeletons in the graves were not local.

“It was long thought that people were trying to advertise their ethnicity, but what we see in the graves doesn’t match with who that person was genetically.”

In fact, there were so many different cultures coming into Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire that Prof Fleming believes Britons from the period should no longer be described as Anglo-Saxons.

“Anglo-Saxons really makes no sense. It was a name coined by Alfred The Great for political reasons. They should be called Early Medieval people.

“People are coming from all over, including Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.” The research was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Jose, California.

Opinion: On presidential howlers, omissions and distortions

By FRANCK SALAMEH || 02/10/2015

Christendom today is awash in critical-thinkers and detractors and doubters and exegetes and blasphemers.

In a much ballyhooed National Prayer Breakfast speech last week, US President Barack Obama warned that when it comes to radical Islam, Christians must not be smug about their misplaced claims to the high moral ground.

“Remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition” he noted, “people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.”

Of course, the president isn’t necessarily off mark on that count.

However, while the president’s claims regarding Christianity’s evils are not untrue, historically speaking, there was something US President Barack Obama. (photo: REUTERS) disturbingly misleading in his moralizing across the millennia. At best, such hackneyed sloganeering, bereft of historical context, was grossly uninformed, perhaps even willfully clueless.

At worst, the president might have been a voluntary victim of inelegant theological apologia that may not belong in the politicians’ ken.

Besides the fact that the Inquisition, the Crusades and other Christian horrors and their perpetrators would have been condemned by modern Christian authorities were they to take place in our time, the president’s analogy was historically and theologically clumsy, and ultimately misleading. But then, little else in America’s behavior on the international stage of late has deviated from this presidency’s trademark incoherence.

Whereas radical Muslims and radical Christians may share many attributes in common, there is much in their respective creeds and behaviors that sets them worlds apart. For one, empirically speaking the conduct of Christians across the centuries meting out violence in the name of religion was in contravention of Christian texts and the teachings of Christ, not in accordance with them. That much may not be said with regard to Islam. Indeed, the violence perpetrated by Muslims through the ages can fairly be said to be in accordance with – not in breach of – the texts of the Koran and the hadith. After all, the Messenger of Allah was at once preacher, apostle, judge, taxcollector, warrior and military commander who both killed and was wounded on the battlefield. The historical Jesus, on the other hand, was a simple preacher who taught and lived a “pacifist” creed. In fact, most scholars are in agreement as to the foundational “pacifism” of Christianity textually speaking, even if it has not always been practiced. Conversely, pacifism can be said to be incomprehensible from a Muslim doctrinal and empirical perspective.

The Crusades, observed leading Medievalist Thomas F. Madden, before having been inaccurately reframed by post-colonial theorists as some early stirrings of modern Western imperialism were Christian “attempts to halt the inevitable expansion of Islam.” Likewise, he claimed, they were until the twentieth century “virtually unknown in the Muslim world.” Indeed, noted Madden, the Crusades were strictly speaking, and from a strictly Christian devotional perspective, legitimate Christian defensive wars waged against conquering Muslim intruders, part of a medieval world that is very different than our world today. Christians saw crusades to the east as acts of love and charity, waged against Muslim conquerors in defense of Christian people and their lands. For their part, medieval

Muslims had no understanding or interest in the Crusades.

Preeminent historian of Islam Bernard Lewis concurs, noting that from a Christian perspective the Crusades were just and justified defensive wars, waged by a Christendom under attack by a triumphant Islam. In that sense, Christians took to the East, claimed Lewis, in an – ultimately unsuccessful – attempt to retake by force Christian lands that had once been theirs, and which were wrested from them during the seventh century Muslim conquest.

Outside of this axiom, very little – including President Obama’s hokey claim – can be deemed more than literary flourish, anachronism, politically correct platitude and post-colonialist banter that cannot stand the scrutiny of the historical record.

This is not to suggest that the politics of the Crusades were uncomplicated, that the Crusading movement was under divine command, or that the Crusades were hallowed and pure and devoid of corruption, malevolence, expediency and impiety – in other words bereft of “human” failings. This is only to suggest that reflecting on the history and impetus of the Crusades, as President Obama attempted to do, requires nuance and context and thoughtful mining of contemporaneous sources, not restating modern third-worldist post-colonialist tropes, or engaging the exasperating and ultimately condescending language of political correctness that stifles debate and stunts robust critical thinking.

Islam is hurting today. It is also hurting itself and others. But its wounds are in the main self-inflicted; the savagery it is meting out – on itself and others – is of its own hands’ weaving. Thoughtful Muslims are speaking out, in very strong terms, against the evils being done to them, and in their names, by way of their creed’s teachings. They are calling for robust, merciless introspection.

They are advocating for unforgiving exegesis.

They are proposing the abrogation of problematic texts and unsound teachings. President Obama’s prevarications and rhetorical evasions unfortunately contribute to thwarting these reformers’ efforts. His insistence on the politically correct practice of denigrating Christianity, or comparing Christianity of a millennia or more ago to the ailing Islam of today, so as to better – or more equitably – engage a criticism of Islam, is not only political and moral cowardice, it is indeed a condescension toward Islam and Muslims fighting and dying for reform.

The president, his advisors and speech-writers would do well to recognize that Christianity and Christendom are not the creed under scrutiny today; that the genocidal bigots of our times are, in their own words, true Muslims who claim allegiance to a pure, pristine form of Islam, not to Christianity. And so the president’s painful analogies drawn between the Church of a thousand years ago and the Islam of today are false and misleading, both historically and theologically speaking. It bears repeating that the crimes committed by Christians in the name of Christianity contravened the creed’s teachings. With Islam things may be otherwise.

Likewise the Church that produced the Crusades, the Inquisition and anti-Semitism also brought forth vigorous exegesis, self-criticism, introspection, humanism, pacifism, secularism, the Age of Enlightenment and the separation of Church and State – in addition to Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Francis of Assisi, and many others.

Christendom today is awash in critical-thinkers and detractors and doubters and exegetes and blasphemers.

It is high time for President Obama and others endowed with his moral and political authority to lend their voices and their un-coded language to those decent courageous Muslims literally dying to engage the reformation of their faith.

Is Nurse Actually the Most In-Demand Job?

By Megan Turchi Boston.com Staff | 02.06.15 “If you’re a nurse and looking for a job, it’s pretty easy to get a new gig,” according to Fortune.

Indeed.com, which conducted a study to call nursing the most “indemand” job of 2015, is on the same page.

It’s a little more complicated than that, though—at least in Massachusetts.

Boston is teeming with hopeful nurses, according to Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Boston College Connell School of Nursing Sean P. Clarke. Not every region of the country faces the same potential shortage of nursing students.

Nurses have continuously been ranked one of the most “in-demand” jobs in the United States. iSTOCK

“We take probably in the range of a third to a quarter [of the applications] depending on the year,” Clarke said. “We do see a lot of interest in college kids studying in other fields coming into nursing.”

It’s not necessarily “easy to get a gig” as a nurse everywhere. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that for 2013, job rates for new baccalaureate program graduates varied by region: “the job offer rate for schools in the South is 68% followed by 59% in the Midwest, 50% in the North Atlantic, and 47% in the West.”

“Labor markets are very regional,” Clarke said. “Like the Boston area, we have lots and lots of nurses and experienced nurses who want to work right now.”

He said Boston College nursing graduates are finding jobs, but some have to look outside big cities on the coasts. A move to the suburbs or to another part of the country might be necessary.

“Nurses with a baccalaureate degrees have an easier chance,” Judith Shindul-Rothschild, an associate professor at the Connell School of Nursing, said. “Nurses in the south and central [United States] have the easiest chance and nurses who have Associates or are looking in the west and northeast [United States] will have the most difficult time.”

Shindul-Rothschild also said that currently, it is not that easy to find a job in the city of Boston because the shortage predicted by the AACN is dependent on an older generation of nurses retiring, which hasn’t happened yet.

“The average age has increased to 55-60 and the numbers of nurses retiring has slowed,” Shindul-Rothschild said. Once this group of nurses retires, a significant number of jobs will open up.

Nurses in Massachusetts are also in a unique position because they live in a state that pioneered universal healthcare in the U.S. “While on the surface one might think as more people have access there should be more job opportunities, my research showed that hospitals are restrained financially,” Shindul-Rothschild said. More patients means hospitals spend more money on treatment resources, and have less funding available to hire nurses.

Debra Burke, Associate Chief Nurse for Mass. General Hospital said, “We have certainly seen a greater patient volume because they have mandatory insurance. The uninsured rate is very low, clearly I think we’ve seen more of a need for nurses.”

But a 2014 bill has been passed which may combat this restraint, by limiting the number of patients nurses could tend to in hospital critical care units.

Burke said the bill has been passed, but not yet implemented, as the regulations have not been finalized.

Burke said that at a hospital like MGH, they already abide by this new staffing law, and have enough nurses, but it might not be the case for everyone.

“I do think there are places in community hospitals that might not staff to this level,” Burke said. “I think those places there will be a higher demand.”

Because more nurses are then needed, general employment prospects have improved, especially for new nurses.

First of all, registered nurses are not new to the list of most in-demand professionals. The job also topped Randstad’s list last year as the number one hot job with a positive outlook and the 2013 U.S. News list of jobs with the highest hiring demand.

It doesn’t look like nurses will be dropping down the list anytime soon. In fact, the AACN even predicts a nursing shortage.

The AACN said: “The U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) that is expected to intensify as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing schools across the country are struggling to expand capacity to meet the rising demand for care given the national move toward healthcare reform.”

According to the AACN, the number of people enrolling in nursing schools is not enough to meet the growing demand for nurse services. AACN reported, “the RN workforce is expected to grow from 2.71 million in 2012 to 3.24 million in 2022, an increase of 526,800 or 19%.”

The AACN’s website contains some ways in which nursing programs are attempting to increase their number of students.

Some of the methods have included, grants, expanding student capacity, partnerships to help with funding, and getting more faculty members.

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

Know Thyself Under the direction of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

An NRO Interview Peter Kreeft’s new book Practical Theology promises “358 pieces of wisdom from Saint Thomas’s masterpiece the Summa , which are literally more valuable than all the kingdoms of this world because they will help you to attain ‘the one thing needful,’ the summum bonum or ‘the greatest good,’ the ultimate end and purpose and meaning of life.” Kreeft, a professor of philosophy at Boston College and the author of many books, presents “Spiritual Direction from Saint Thomas Aquinas” — in “an easily digestible sample” of Aquinas’s “distinctly religious wisdom.” He responds to questions here about it. — KJL KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: Is your Practical Theology a self-help version of Saint Thomas Aquinas’s Summa? An executive summary for beginners? Is it just for beginners?

Peter Kreeft: Practical Theology is as far from self-help nonsense, i.e. pop psychology, as you can get. It’s theology, and it’s Aquinas, and it’s the Summa, for goodness’ sake. I have no idea what “an executive summary” is, but I’m quite sure this isn’t it. And it’s for everybody, therefore it’s for beginners. When it comes to God we’re all beginners, especially the ones who think they are experts. Only fools think they’re sages; sages know they’re fools.

(P.S. Aquinas wrote the 4,000-pageSumma “for beginners.” That was not satire. It’s really a very simple book.)

Lopez: Is theology ever practical, really?

Kreeft: Theology is always practical because nothing is more practical than living in reality, living in the real world, and God is the origin, center, end, and meaning of reality. If that’s not true, let’s be pagans, atheists, or TV executives.

Lopez: You say that “if our love is right, everything else will be right.” How does the Angelic Doctor propose that we get love right? Is he the love doctor, too?

Kreeft: Augustine wrote, “Amor meus, pondus meum” — “my love is my weight,” my gravity, my destiny. How to get love right? Ask its inventor, origin, and standard, the God who is love. He told us in many ways: conscience, saints, Scripture, Church, above all Christ. Yes, he is the love doctor. And he’d tell a culture like ours that identifies that title with Ruth Westheimer that it is as right about this as it would be in identifying expertise on Einstein with Archie Bunker.

Lopez: What is an angelic doctor, anyway?

Kreeft: He’s called “the” (not “an”) angelic doctor because (a) he got the angels right, and, most especially, because (b) like an angel, he was remarkably free from lust, greed, and other foolish human passions.

Lopez: Why is Saint Thomas Aquinas such a big deal? And one of the best spiritual directors?

Kreeft: He’s big because he was very large, like G. K. Chesterton. His mind is big because he gives us “big pictures” all the time, not little crabbed clever pieces of “scholarship.” And he’s a great spiritual director because he has the personal virtues that takes: personal sanctity (love of God and His creation, especially human beings), brilliant insight into good and evil, humility and open-mindedness, absolute honesty, and the habit of saying everything as simply, clearly, and directly as possible.

Lopez: Unless you’re discerning a religious vocation, or deeply invested in Catholic apostolic work, the phrase “spiritual direction” may be foreign to a lot of Catholics, as a practical matter in their lives. Should it be an element of every Catholic’s life?

Kreeft: A Catholic is one who believes what the Catholic Church teaches. The Catholic Church teaches that the meaning of life is holiness, happiness, and heaven. Spiritual direction means help in that journey. If that’s practical only for priests or apostles, we laypeople can say, of the supreme wisdom, “The hell with it; it’s not for

me.” It’s the other way round: The clergy are for the people, not vice versa. The pope is “the servant of the servants of God.” Lopez: What does the Summa have to do with human happiness?

Kreeft: The Summa is a map of reality and human life. Are we happy when we can get Home, or when we are lost?

Lopez: Last month at the Vigil for Life before the March for Life, Sean Cardinal O’Malley talked up chastity.

What does chastity have to do with a culture of life and a renewal of the family? What does Thomas Aquinas have to offer here from his own experience and writing?

Kreeft: Chastity means moral virtue, moral goodness, in matters of sex. No culture in history has ever more radically or selectively repudiated its sanity than ours has in that area. Human life begins in sex. Families begin in sex. Sex is part of the image of God, according to Genesis 1:27 and Saint John Paul II’s “theology of the body.”

The family has always been the primary building block and clearest indicator of a happy society. Aquinas puts everything in its place, including chastity. He’s neither a puritan nor a libertine. He’s not a new, creative, original theologian but a synthesis of the Church’s perennial teaching on pretty much everything, including chastity. He’s also good at talking about it because he was good at living it.

Lopez: How does Thomas Aquinas say the Eucharist keeps one from sin? And how is he so sure sin is the worst thing in the world?

Kreeft: The Eucharist keeps us from sin because the Eucharist is literally Christ, whose given name, “Jesus,” means “savior” — from sin. And that means not just salvation from sin’s punishment (hell) but from sin itself, i.e., He sanctifies us as well as justifying us, makes us heavenly here as well as taking us to heaven there.

He is sure that sin is the worst thing in the world, even worse than pain (which very much surprises and discombobulates nearly everyone in our culture) for the very simple reason that sin means separation from God, and God is the supreme good, joy, happiness, and fulfillment. Sin is much worse than just disobeying laws; sin is the dying of the soul, the personality, the Who, the I, the self. God is the source of all life and joy; sin cuts that umbilical cord. We’re all sinaholics. And quite insane, by the way; for we know, by experience, not just by faith, that sin and selfishness (“my will be done”) always bring us misery, in the end, and that unselfish love and faith (trusting God: “Thy will be done”) always bring us joy and peace, in the end. So the next time you’re tempted to sin, think this way: God, in giving you free will, is asking you: “Which hand will you pick? In my right hand is the key to joy, in my left hand is the key to misery. You know that every time you picked my right hand you got joy.

What about this time?” And we say: “Hey, God, let’s try the left hand; maybe it will work this time.” We are quite insane.

Lopez: How do you envision regular, non-scholar Catholics making use of this book? Would a non-Catholic scholar have any use for it?

Kreeft: Pretty much the only person who might have no use for this book would be the kind of non-Catholic scholar who scorns simple reason, hugs non-Catholicism to himself as part of his very identity, and is proud of being a “scholar” rather than a lover of wisdom. For everybody else, here’s some food you can really eat.

Lopez: You take a frequently-asked-questions approach to the book, with practical questions. Which are some of your favorite questions and answers?

Kreeft: My favorites are (a) the most obvious but forgotten “big ideas,” such as the idea that the only three reasons anyone ever should do anything are that it’s practically necessary, morally virtuous, or pleasant. That wonderfully simplifies your life. And: (b) unexpected little pieces of wisdom such as “cure for sadness: a good glass of wine, a hot bath, and a good night’s sleep,” and calling Socrates the greatest of all philosophers because, like Christ, he wrote nothing (the “secondary” kind of teaching), but simply lived his philosophy wholly (the “primary” kind).

Lopez: What is your prayer that people walk away from Practical Theologyknowing about Thomas Aquinas?

Kreeft: I did not write the book so that readers could know Aquinas. I wrote the book so that readers could know themselves. That is why I used Aquinas. He tells you nothing about himself, but a lot about you.

— Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online, and founding director of Catholic Voices USA.

Boston College center for study of wealth will close Retirements end decades of oft-cited research on philanthropy and its roots

By Sacha Pfeiffer FEBRUARY 02, 2015

For nearly a half-century, Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy has taken an unusual approach to studying the charitable giving of the very rich, examining not just how much they give but why they do it and asking whether great wealth comes with an ethical obligation to be financially generous.

Now, as Boston is enjoying one of the most affluent periods in its history, the center is preparing to close, an irony not lost on Phil Buchanan.

“People are coming into unimaginable wealth much earlier in their lives, and therefore dedicating a much bigger portion of their lives to philanthropy,” said Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy in Cambridge. “So we need more academic centers studying philanthropy, not fewer, and it’s a shame in that sense.”

Founded in 1970, the BC center has been led for the past three decades by Paul Schervish, 68, a former Jesuit priest who has become one of the country’s leading experts on philanthropy, along with associate director John Havens, 73. Both are planning to retire and neither is interested in continuing to do the grant-writing and fund-raising that’s necessary to keep the center open.

In addition, both say their distinctive blend of expertise — Schervish’s background is in literature, sociology, and theology, while Havens’s training is in economics, mathematics, and physics — has created an academic partnership that would be difficult to replicate.

Paul Schervish is director of Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy.

“We have a special chemistry, and that’s led to a unique working relationship,” Havens said.

Taking those factors into account, Schervish and Havens say they have decided, in agreement with Boston College administrators, that the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy will come to an end once they wrap up their current research, perhaps as early as this summer.

“The center emerged and became a national force because of Paul Schervish’s leadership and his commitment to the study of philanthropy, and there are different approaches to what happens when a center with that kind of strong director decides to move on,” said David Quigley, Boston College’s provost. “In this case, it makes sense that as Paul retires, the center will slowly sunset its work.”

Schervish is on sabbatical until June and was recently appointed a visiting research fellow at Duke University. He said he continues to do some research for the center but will give up his professor position at Boston College at the end of the year.

“I did not want it to become something different” under new leadership, Schervish added, noting that the center’s body of work includes not just sophisticated statistical analysis of charitable giving trends, but research into what he calls “the softer side” of philanthropy, including the ethical dimensions of wealth and privilege.

Indeed, the center’s work has ranged from producing widely cited estimates of how much money will be transferred from US estates to heirs and charities in the coming decades to publishing research papers on the psychological motivations behind charitable giving.

In a statement, the editor of Philanthropy magazine, Caitrin Nicol Keiper, said: “For many years, Paul Schervish has brought valuable empirical data to public discussions about philanthropy in America . . . [and] has sharply questioned the stereotypes about how, when, and why people give.”

In 2006, the center published a paper refuting the long-held belief that the main reason wealthy people leave money to charity is to avoid estate taxes, and that charitable bequests would plummet if estate taxes were eliminated.

On the contrary, Schervish and Havens found, the wealthiest Americans tend to give to charity for more altruistic reasons once they reach financial security.

“We always focused on spiritual context,” Schervish said, “and our statistical work was always the foundation for a moral question: How can you use your wealth for deeper purposes when you no longer need to achieve a higher standard of living?”

“There are no barriers to entry to philanthropy,” he added, “and the needs are infinite.”

Schervish said there is a remote possibility the center could get a renewed lease on life.

“If somebody comes along and tempts us with a grant in the next few months, we would ask permission to keep the center going for as long as it would take to complete that research,” he explained, although he noted that the bar for a research project that captures their interest would be high.

“It would need to be really up our alley and a thrill to do,” he said, “but we don’t anticipate anything like that happening because we’re not searching for it.”

Lack of penalties for bankers at root of crises, inquiry hears Supervisors ‘ignore dangerous risky financial behaviour’ during good times Ciarán Hancock│ Wed, Jan 28, 2015 Banking crises occur because banks routinely abuse the financial rules of the road without suffering meaningful personal penalties, the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry has heard.

“During good times, supervisors ignore the banks’ new and dangerous risky financial behaviour,” Professor Edward Kane of Boston College said. “Then, in times of deep trouble, supervisors extend the safety net to promote the needs of distressed institutions and their creditors (even foreign ones) over the welfare of ordinary citizens.”

Professor Edward Kane of Boston College

Mr Kane said regulators must explicitly measure and manage the cost of safety net guarantees and should impose a series of graduated penalties on individuals that violate important rules.

“These solutions would help force too-big-to-fail (TBTF) banks to internalise the costs of safety net guarantees, and would greatly lessen incentive distortions that corrupt the culture of regulation in the US and Europe.”

He said the result of regulatory capture meant that implicit and explicit government guarantees have become part of the equity funding structure of TBTF banking organisations and deserve to be recognised as equity claims both in company law and in financial accounting.

“For firms whose insolvency cannot be established and resolved in timely fashion, financial safety nets turn taxpayers into disadvantaged suppliers of loss-absorbing equity funding,” Mr Kane added.

He said taxpayers’ position in TBTF firms had, for many years, been exploited with impunity by managers and shareholders.

“Legislation is needed to clarify that managers of TBTF firms owe enforceable fiduciary duties of loyalty, competence, and care to taxpayers and to criminalise aggressive and wilful efforts to transfer value from taxpayers to shareholders and managers.”

He said limitless guarantees shift the risk of the deepest possible losses away from creditors and stockholders. “It is as if large banks’ profit flow moves through a pipeline with a Y junction in it. Once a TBTF institution becomes effectively insolvent [unable to cover its debts from its own resources], a switch is thrown that channels further losses to taxpayers until and unless the firm manages to recover its solvency again.

“Deeply insolvent banks ... can only operate because they are backed by the black magic of government implicit guarantees. The most important part of zombification is a passive policy of regulatory forbearance, which allows institutions that are insolvent to continue to roll over - and even to expand- their debt.”

Mr Kane urged the committee not to “fall into the trap of thinking of bailout expenditures as either loans or insurance”.

“An insurance company does not double and redouble the coverage of drivers it knows to be as reckless as TBTF firms proved themselves to be during the last economic boom,” he said.

“Similarly, lifelines provided to an underwater firm cannot be thought of as low-interest loans. Loans are simply not available to firms that are in zombie condition.”

During questions from committee members, Mr Kane conceded that he was “only a little bit” familiar with the Irish financial crash post 2008. “I’m not a student of the banking crisis in Ireland,” he said.

He also confused the committee members by referring to Anglo Irish Bank as AIB, which is shorthand in Ireland for Allied Irish Banks. When asked if he meant Anglo when referencing AIB, he said: “Yes, I think so. I thought that was the institution.”

Mr Kane said that in the case of a bank collapse, bankers are often treated as “some kind of high priests” where it is considered that they have been “punished enough by being embarrassed by leading the firm to failure”.

Yet, in many cases they walk away with good pensions and financial compensation and so it shouldn’t be just a matter of shame, “it’s a matter of redress”.

In response to a question about the closure of Lehman Brothers in 2008, Mr Kane said it involved a double u-turn by federal policy makers in the United States given that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were bailed out beforehand while insurer AIG was rescued afterwards.

January 25, 2015

Dr. Michael Naughton, Chairman of the Physics Department, offering expert analysis to ABC World News Tonight on Deflategate Click the above image for video

CBS NEWSJanuary 15, 2015, 7:15 PM

Connecticut rattled by 12 earthquakes in 1 week

Dr. John Ebel, Chair of Earth and Environmental Sciences, offering expertise to CBS Evening News on earthquakes in Connecticut Click image for video

Top 10 U.S. colleges for men's ice hockey By: David Klenda, College Factual │January 12, 2015 In 2013, the International Ice Hockey Federation surveyed 62 nations and found that the total number of hockey players was over 1.64 million. The IIHF also noted growth in officials and the number of ice rinks.

Those numbers are good news for hockey players who want to compete at the collegiate level and also suggests that there are career paths available beyond just playing right wing in the NHL — including refereeing, coaching and facilitating.

Quinnipiac forward Matthew Peca (20) works for the puck in the corner against St. Cloud State’s Nick Jansen (14) and Cory Thorson during the first period of an NCAA college hockey Frozen Four semifinal. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

College Factual studied over 100 of the top U.S hockey colleges and ranked them according to athletic strength, leadership, career preparation and value to come up with this list of the top 10.

Let’s take a look at the coaches who have built these outstanding hockey programs as well as some basic school information. Use the widget below to dig deeper — both beyond the top 10 and into more detail about the colleges.

Editor’s Note: College Factual bases college rankings by major on a unique selection of characteristics, including the quality of the overall school, Focus Coefficient and the starting and mid-career salaries of graduates within the major, among other factors.

1. BOSTON COLLEGE: CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. After seven years at Clarkson College and 15 years at Bowling Green, Jerry York returned to his alma mater, where he has coached for 21 years. With 963 wins, he is college hockey’s winningest coach. He has won five national titles. BC is a very exclusive school, admitting applicants with an average SAT score of 1360. Students graduate on time at an 89% rate to earn an average starting salary of $47,000.

2. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON: MADISON, WIS. Mike Eaves finished his Badgers hockey career with historic scoring numbers and a national championship. In 2002, he returned as head coach. His team captured the national championship in 2006. Wisconsin-Madison is ranked #1 in the state academically. 95% of its freshman return for another year. Biology, economics and political science are its most popular majors. Graduates earn an average starting salary of $42,000.

3. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES: MINNEAPOLIS, MIN.

In 2003, Don Lucia became one of only four coaches to win back-to-back NCAA championships. He does some of his best coaching late in the year, earning a career 68-36-2 record in March and April. Minnesota is quite exclusive for a public school, accepting applicants with an average SAT score of 1300. Most popular majors are psychology, economics and journalism. Graduates earn an average of $42,000 to start their careers.

4. UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME: NOTRE DAME, IND. In Jeff Jackson’s ten years leading the Notre Dame program, his teams have reached the NCAA tournament six times, including a berth in the 2008 title game. The Compton Family Ice Arena opened in 2011 and instantly became the envy of the nation. Notre Dame ranks #10 in the nation and is legendary for athletics and academics.

Its students graduate on time at an 89% rate to earn an average starting salary of $50,000. Student to faculty ratio is 10 to 1.

January 11, 2015

Boston College Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence discusses the Paris terrorist attack with CNN Click above image for video

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First look inside Boston time capsule from 1795 CBS NEWS | January 7, 2015

Boston College historian Alan Rogers appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss a time capsule dating back to 1795 has been recovered in Boston.

Click above image for video

Paris attack heightens European tensions with Muslims Oren Dorell │7:29 p.m. EST January 8, 2015 The terrorist attack on the satirical weekly in Paris threatens to create deeper animosities between Europe's growing Muslim minority and a native population that is increasingly embracing anti-Islam and anti-immigration movements.

"The radicals are trying to exacerbate tensions that are already there," said Jonathan Laurence, author of Integrating Islam: Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France. "They're trying to drive a wedge between Muslims and the West."

From France and Germany to Sweden and the United Kingdom, a backlash is spreading against Muslim immigrants, including tens of thousands of recent refugees from Syria's long civil war.

(Photo: Martin Bureau, AFP/Getty Images)

In France, which has Western Europe's largest Muslim community, the anti-immigration National Front Party won 25% of the vote in the most recent elections in May, and radical anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim protests have taken place in multiple German cities in recent days.

Until now, those and similar movements in other Western European countries have focused on limiting immigration and protecting the rights of publications to criticize Islam. They also have tried to halt what they view as excessive accommodations to Muslim culture: the use of Arabic language, headscarves worn by women, establishment of mosques, and serving halal food in school cafeterias.

Wednesday's attack will provide a security element to those arguments, said Laurence, who teaches political science at Boston College. It "ties a foreign threat of violence in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and Libya and brings it home and raises the conflict temperature to a dangerous levels within Europe," he said.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center on Freedom at the conservative Heritage Foundation, also predicted greater cultural conflicts in Europe. "It's inevitable there are going to be greater tensions now in France," Gardiner said. "These attacks will elevate the issue of homegrown jihadists to the top of the political agenda."

A similar discourse will take place all over Europe, as it has already in the United Kingdom, Gardiner said.

"There's a massive homegrown terrorist threat in the U.K. It's also an issue in Belgium, Holland, Germany and across Western Europe," he said. "This attack will up the stakes."

A man passes a makeshift memorial with the new edition of "Charlie Hebdo" as he pays his respects to the victims of the terror attack near the newspaper's headquarters on Rue Nicolas Appert on Jan. 14 in Paris. Two gunmen killed 12 people during a Jan. 7 attack at the newspaper's office. (Photo: Ian Langsdon, European Pressphoto Agency)

French and other European officials have warned of heightened terrorist threats from citizens who identify with radical Islamist groups in North Africa and the Middle East, while political and populist leaders have railed against their countries' immigration policies, which they've characterized as lax and threatening to European culture.

The attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, which poked fun at Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox Jewish clerics, fits into a pattern of radical Muslim reprisals against European critics in the world of culture.

"Kleine Zeitung" from Graz, Austria. (Photo: Newseum)

In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (legal decree) calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie over his allegedly blasphemous portrayal of Islam's prophet Mohammed. Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered in 2004 for his film,Submission, about the treatment of women in Islam. And Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard escaped an assassination attempt in 2010 for his 2005 cartoon portrayal of the prophet, which caused riots and protests across the Muslim world.

Thousands of Germans took part this week in anti-immigration rallies in Dresden, Berlin and Cologne, organized by a group known as PEGIDA, a German acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West. Germany's political establishment, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, denounced the rallies as undemocratic and hateful.

The group was started by PEGIDA leader Lutz Bachmann in October to protest plans to add 14 centers for about 2,000 refugees in Dresden. Demonstrators reject charges they are far-right extremists or neo-Nazis. They say they are concerned by an influx of 200,000 refugees in 2014, many from war-torn Syria.

Similar sentiments have been expressed in Sweden by members of the farright, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats Party, which centrist parties sought to isolate and weaken last month by forming a broad parliamentary coalition. In France, the National Front Party headed by Marine Le Pen has gained support among working-class voters who believe the mainstream politicians have failed to address their concerns about crime, immigration and jobs.

"There's a growing sense across France that immigration laws have been too weak," Gardiner said.

He predicted that French officials would crack down on preachers of hate in radical mosques in Paris and other large French cities, and on French citizens seeking to fight with radical Islamist groups in Iraq or Syria. Whether that means far-right groups gain support depends on French President Francois Hollande's response, Gardiner said.

France has been at the forefront of European nations in the fight against Islamist extremists in the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on its former 20th-century colonies. Hollande sent 3,000 troops to Mali to battle Islamist extremists who'd taken over a large swath of that former colony. He also joined the U.S.-led coalition launching airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. And on Monday, Hollande said he would strike at Islamist militants in Libya who try to cross or send weapons into neighboring Niger, where France has a base.

France's domestic immigration issues also stem from its colonial past, including a civil war for independence from French control in Algeria that led to a flood of refugees into France in the early 1960s.

"France has this colonial legacy to deal with when negotiating the integration of the millions of descendants of these colonial subjects," author Laurence said. "It's a political problem. What the violence does is prevent a political solution because it tends to polarize and make it appear the problem is not resolvable politically and can only be resolved militarily." Â

The CIA and journalists

By Martha Bayles and Jeffrey Gedmin │ JANUARY 04, 2015 │OPINION ACCORDING TO a recent series of investigative reports, oil-rich Azerbaijan — wedged between Russia and Iran — is ruled by a virtual kleptocracy. It is illegal for Azerbaijan government officials to own businesses, but the law does not apply to their families. So while President Ilham Aliyev’s control of the nation’s oil industry remains cloaked in layers of deceptive legality, the facts about his two daughters’ hefty stake in the mining, financial services, construction, and other industries have become public knowledge.

These facts were unearthed by a brave journalist named Khadija Ismayilova. On Dec. 5, Ismayilova was jailed; on Dec. 26, the Baku office of her employer, the US-funded Azeri language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was raided and ransacked.

For months, the ruling party has been accusing Ismayilova of spying for the CIA. But she has not been formally charged with espionage, and weeks of interrogations and searches by the legal authorities have not produced a shred of evidence to justify such a charge. Yet sadly, America has a history of providing a pretext to authoritarians and other adversaries to discredit independent journalists in this manner. This needs to end.

AZIZ KARIM OV/AP/ FIL E 2014 Independent journalist Khadija Ismayilova has been accused by the Azerbaijan ruling party of spying for the CIA. She has not been formally charged with espionage, and weeks of interrogations and searches by the legal authorities have not produced a shred of evidence to justify such a charge.

When RFE/RL was originally established in 1949, its purpose was to break the information monopoly of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union — and its funding came covertly from the CIA. In 1967 this covert funding was exposed (by investigative journalists), and in 1971 it was terminated. In 1972, Congress voted to fund RFE/RL openly as an independent media company under the supervision of the Board for International Broadcasting, a new entity created to serve as a firewall between RFE/RL and the government.

Today, there is a tendency in the private-sector media to characterize RFE/RL as a “government mouthpiece.” This is ironic, because the RFE/RL leadership is scrupulous about keeping the government at arm’s length.

But this raises a larger question. Does the CIA recruit journalists? The question has a hostile ring, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be asked. On the contrary, the tension between America’s security concerns and its sacrosanct free press tradition is far from resolved.

The practice of recruiting journalists, and of placing intelligence agents under cover as reporters, was apparently banned in 1977. But appearances can be deceptive. Two decades later, in 1996, President Clinton’s CIA director, John Deutch, revealed that the CIA had retained the right to use journalists as spies and to have spies pose as journalists.

Since then, the issue has not gone away, in part because the CIA refuses to fully swear off these practices. And Americans continue to acknowledge the possibility, if only in jest. For example, the controversial film “The Interview’’ depicts a TV talk show host and his producer being recruited by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. “The Interview’’ has some funny bits, but this plot is not one of them.

There are two reasons why the CIA should finally pledge to a ban on recruiting journalists and using journalism as a cover for its agents.

First, such practices make honest journalism more dangerous. Ask Terry Anderson, the Associated Press reporter who in 1985 was taken captive by Hezbollah, which accused him of being a CIA agent. After being released in 1991, Anderson went became an eloquent voice arguing against blurring the distinction between newsgathering and espionage.

This is not to suggest that if the CIA’s policy were less murky and problematic, the Taliban would not have murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, or the Azerbaijan ruling party would not be trying to discredit Khadija Ismayilova. But when it comes to managing risk, a definite ban on the recruitment of journalists would constitute a positive step. Not only that, but the lack of such a ban erodes the trust of America’s allies and provides fuel to its adversaries.

Second, the primary justification for freedom of speech as set forth in the Constitution is to allow a free and competitive press to hold power accountable. It is simply not possible to hold this principle dear while getting into bed with an intelligence service.

The CIA needs to step up. The government of Azerbaijan needs to release Ismayilova and end its harassment of independent journalists. And the defenders of free speech need to bring principled pressure on both Langley and Baku.

Martha Bayles teaches humanities at Boston College and is author of “Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America’s Image Abroad.” Jeffrey Gedmin is chairman of Global Politics and Security at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and served as president/CEO of RFR/RL from 2007 to 2011.

By MICHAEL PAULSON JAN.2, 2015

BOSTON — The house on the rise has long been a symbol of Catholicism in Boston. When it was built, its grandeur demonstrated the wherewithal of the city’s newly powerful Roman Catholic community. When it was sold, the transaction reflected the straits of a once-powerful archdiocese brought low by scandal.

Now, the bedrooms of the Italianate palazzo where all of Boston’s 20th-century cardinals, as well as a visiting Pope John Paul II, once slept have been gutted, in preparation for it to be remade as a museum.

The conversion of the cardinals’ residence is the final step in the transformation of a leafy expanse on the western edge of Boston that was once so packed with Catholic institutions — a seminary, a At an entrance to St. John’s Seminary, which opened in 1884 in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, in 1959. Credit Samuel B. college, the residence and the archdiocesan Hammat/The Boston Globe headquarters — that it was referred to as Little Rome. It is still Catholic — most of the land is owned by Boston College, a Jesuit institution, and there are crosses and a statue of St. Ignatius on the campus. But the seminary gymnasium is now a dance studio; the old tribunal, where marriages were annulled, houses a center on aging; and the former chancery is the college’s alumni center.

A decade after the Archdiocese of Boston began the process of selling property at its headquarters to Boston College to pay victims of sexual abuse by clergy members, the most visible vestiges of the land’s historical uses are an archdiocesan seminary, now in half the building it once filled, and a grave site for the cardinal who acquired much of the land but whose remains were disinterred and relocated as a condition of the real estate deal.

“This property was a visible symbol of the imperial archdiocese in the early 20th century, and then, during the very difficult years in 2002 and 2003, it was a site of daily protest and picketing,” said David Quigley, a historian and the provost of Boston College. “The talented young people buzzing around the campus are the most hopeful sign that there’s something distinctly Jesuit and Catholic playing out there today, but not necessarily something that earlier leaders would have recognized.”

The transformation of the 65 acres, which Boston College purchased for $172 million and refurbished for another $100 million, in many ways prefigured changes in the wider church.

Members of the Boston College Irish Dance Club at their new dance studio, formerly the seminary’s gym. Credit Jared Wickerham for The New York Times

Even before the Archdiocese of Boston sold the land, the archbishop of Boston, Sean P. O’Malley, who as a Capuchin Franciscan friar had taken a vow of poverty, announced that he was not interested in living in the mansion of his predecessors, and moved into a modest cathedral rectory. That step has since been mirrored by Pope Francis, who lives in a Vatican guesthouse rather than the apostolic palace, and by several American prelates, including the new archbishop of Chicago, Blase J. Cupich, who have chosen more humble residences than those of their predecessors.

The Archdiocese of Boston sold its headquarters for the practical purpose of settling sexual abuse cases, but the move that resulted — to a modern office building in a suburban industrial park that was donated to the archdiocese — also reflected demographic changes, as American Catholic dioceses have become smaller and more suburban.

The uses of the land echo changes in the church: In particular, Boston College has set up a new School of Theology and Ministry there, which combines the training of Jesuits — newly energized by the popularity of Francis, the first Jesuit pope — with a strong emphasis on training lay people. There is a new residence for 70 Jesuit priests on the property. Still to come, the college hopes, are residences for undergraduates, as well as baseball and softball fields, parking and, possibly, more fine arts programs near the new museum.

The Brighton section of Boston, where the acreage is, began its history as a Catholic stronghold in 1880, when Archbishop John J. Williams acquired land there for a new seminary, St. John’s, which opened four years later.

Boston College, then in the city’s South End, moved to land across Commonwealth Avenue from the seminary property in 1913. And Archbishop William H. O’Connell, who later became the city’s first cardinal, moved the archdiocesan offices to a site between the seminary and the college there in the 1920s, building himself the grand home with money bequeathed from the fortune of B. F. Keith, a vaudeville theater magnate.

“Cardinal O’Connell was always eager to make statements about Catholic success in front of the Boston Brahmins — the Yankees — statements about Catholics having arrived after a long period of being the immigrants, the poor, the looked-down-on,” said James M. O’Toole, a Boston College history professor. “His big phrase, when he became archbishop, was ‘the Puritan has passed; the Catholic remains,’ and he was making a visible statement by building a big house in more leafy surroundings.”

Cardinal O’Connell also built himself a stone mausoleum, and said in his will The cardinal’s home in Brighton, the last building to be renovated. Credit that he desired to be interred there Katherine Taylor for The New York Times after he died in 1944. But Boston College — his alma mater — did not want the responsibility of taking care of his remains. In 2011, the mausoleum was quietly dismantled and the cardinal’s body relocated to a nearby seminary courtyard. Some observers saw irony in the move: A century earlier, when Cardinal O’Connell first took over management of the seminary, he ousted the Sulpician priests who were running it at the time, and demanded they exhume and take with them the remains of their own deceased colleagues.

The house had its own colorful history. When Cardinal Bernard F. Law lived there, there was a silver tray kept in the foyer, and his red biretta was placed atop the tray, or removed from it, to signal whether or not he was in the building. A group of nuns lived in the building to take care of the cardinal and the house; there was also a chapel, from which daily Mass was broadcast, and a conference room in which the table featured a plaque saying that John Paul II sat there, and the walls featured portraits of all of the diocese’s past bishops. In the basement was a swimming pool, long boarded over.

During the height of Cardinal Law’s power, the house was the site of an annual garden party, to raise money for Catholic Charities, that was considered a must for the city’s power brokers, most of whom were Catholic. But as the sexual abuse crisis exploded in 2002, the house became the backdrop for protests, and in December of that year, at Creagh Library on the archdiocesan campus, Cardinal Law announced his resignation.

“Originally that land was a seminary, and a seminary is to be a seedbed of priests,” said the Rev. William P. Leahy, the president of Boston College. “In some ways, it still is a seedbed, but it’s lay men and women, priests and students. It’s still a great incubator for the future of the church.”

Metro

For hands-on lessons, BC professor fills curious toy cabinet

By Carolyn Y. Johnson │ December 22, 2014

CHESTNUT HILL — T. Ross Kelly’s eccentric collection of science-themed toys and gizmos began, innocuously enough, with the purchase of a cheap soccer player figurine in Milan about three decades ago.

JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF T. Ross Kelly, an organic chemistry professor at Boston College, demonstrates a physics-related gizmo in his Chestnut Hill office, which is filled with toys and other curiosities that he uses to demonstrate scientific principles.

When the Boston College chemistry professor switches the toy on, air streams out of the player’s head and a ball levitates above him in midair, as if by magic. In fact, it is an elegant demonstration of a basic physics concept: Bernoulli’s principle, which holds that fast-moving air or fluids have lower pressure than static air. So if the ball strays to the side, it will be sucked back toward the center.

The now-dilapidated toy is part of Kelly’s “cabinet of curiosity,” which contains dozens of objects that can only be understood by thinking about them from a scientific point of view. He collects them from science museum gift shops, airport stores, and online, letting them accumulate on a sideboard and the shelves in his office.

At the beginning of the semester, he pulls out one particular gizmo and challenges students in his organic chemistry class to figure out how a nail got inside a wooden structure. He tells them if they want to find out the answer, they have to come to his office hours.

“It’s never been really something I’ve regarded as a collection that I’m assembling,” Kelly said. “It’s just more neat stuff!”

Kelly’s collection is not housed in a literal cabinet, so he began to think it would be a good idea to build a virtual cabinet of his gizmos and puzzles online, with videos and explanations of how each toy worked.

With the help of two students, the website went live in October and Kelly has been e-mailing high school science teachers in the hope it will be a resource that sparks people’s curiosity, demonstrating that the process of science is, fundamentally, fun.

Playing with a toy to understand how it works may seem remote from the kinds of questions professional scientists wrestle with as they unravel detailed questions about cells or black holes, but beneath it all is the same basic animating question: How does it work?

Unlike many academics’ offices, his bookshelves are crammed not only with serious books about science or the accolades he has earned, but also with a carbide cannon, boxes overflowing with models of the molecules he has spent his career working on, and an array of miscellany — a wind-up toy that shoots

sparks out of its mouth, a carbide lamp, and a tube labeled “only for use with big-bang gas cannons.” His toys range from a potato cannon, made out of PVC piping, that he has shot off the top of a BC parking garage to a puzzle that depends on centripetal motion to be solved.

For years, Kelly has delighted in challenging students to figure out how the toys work when they come in for help on more traditional scientific problems — homework.

Omar A. Khan met Kelly when he took an organic chemistry class as a BC sophomore and began stopping in during office hours for help with problems. He often found himself distracted by Kelly’s sideboard, crammed with toys.

“He’d always kind of half tell you what the thing was or how it worked and try to get you to figure it out — sort of like a homework problem,” said Khan, now a senior. “It was a really cool way to learn about different scientific phenomena, whether it was chemistry-related or physics-related.”

Kelly drafted Khan and senior Jaclyn N. Lundberg into videotaping the collection to present it to the world — a project that gave the students a lesson in how to distill scientific concepts and speak about them with a layperson.

“I think for a lot of students in school, science seems so abstract and formal when it is in a book,” Lundberg wrote in an e-mail. “With the videos, [we] tried to make science interesting and accessible by showing that even in everyday life science is always present.”

For Kelly, this is the kind of common-sense problem solving and delight that is fundamental to science but is not always part of how it is taught. He confesses that during his boyhood in Davis, Calif., building things and taking them apart was a constant, though unofficial, part of his education. He recalls hacking together a bicycle frame and a lawn mower motor to create a scooter, building rockets, and learning how things worked on farms.

That same spirit of fascination and curiosity has driven him to make all kinds of impulse purchases.

His favorite gizmo is the Mova Globe, a globe that seems to spin without any sort of external motor. To figure that one out, Kelly resorted to looking up the patent application, which he keeps printed and handy in a file drawer for anyone who asks.

Putting his collection online is a service, but it may also be seen as a challenge. Kelly said he buys stuff that is intriguing to him, but it is increasingly difficult to make additions.

“It’s hard to find things nowadays,” he said. “Because most everything I’ve seen.”

Law and Policy Center Moving to Boston College Karen Sloan │ December 22, 2014 The Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy—established in 2007 at Suffolk University Law School—has found a new home at Boston College Law School.

Boston College officials announced last week that the Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation has given the law school $7.53 million to host the center, which offers programs geared toward law students interested in public policy and government. The gift is the largest in the school’s history.

The Rapport Foundation announced in late July (l-r) Jerome and Phyllis Rappaport at their home in Lincoln, MA, with Boston College Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau. Photo: Lee that Suffolk had closed the center because it Pellegrini/Boston College Law School could not financially sustain its operations. New student enrollment at Suffolk fell by more than 22 percent between 2010 and 2014, and earlier this year it offered buyouts to all tenured law faculty. The foundation started looking for other institutions in Boston that could house the center.

Boston College, meanwhile, saw first-year student enrollment fall by 23 percent during the past four years, according to the American Bar Association.

“While transition can always be challenging, the selection of Boston College Law School to host the center has turned out to be wonderful,” said Jerome Rappaport, founder of real estate development company the New Boston Fund, who started the foundation with his wife Phyllis. “The move to Boston College gives the center a real opportunity to build on the foundation’s successes, while partnering with one of the nation’s leading schools of law. We are very excited about this new beginning.”

The center provides financial support and mentoring to public policy and government-minded law students, plus educational programs in those areas. A focal point is the Rappaport Fellows Program in Law and Public Policy, which funds summer internships for a dozen students at Boston-area law schools every year. The center, which will be headed by Boston College law professor R. Michael Cassidy, also conducts research and hosts public policy forums.

Boston College law dean Vincent Rougeau said hosting the center would further the school’s public-interest mission. “There is a critical need for serious discussion regarding law and public policy issues,” Rougeau said. “The center represents an extraordinary opportunity for Boston College and the Rappaport Foundation to work together to elevate our public discourse and to produce thoughtful, ethical and innovative public servants for the commonwealth and the nation.”

Through their foundation, the Rappaports initially donated $5 million to Suffolk to establish the center. At the time of its closure, Suffolk officials pledged to return the unspent portion of the endowment, although they had not publicly disclosed that amount.

Metro Rappaport Center for law moves to Boston College

By Matt Rocheleau │ December 18, 2014 An acclaimed law and public policy center formerly associated with Suffolk University is relocating to the Boston College Law School, BC officials announced Thursday.

The Rappaport Center, which began its work in 2000, shut down in August when Suffolk, its founding host, cut ties with the operation for financial reasons. It is scheduled to reopen at the BC Law School at the start of the spring semester, officials said.

The move to Chestnut Hill is backed by a $7.53 million gift — a record donation for the 85-year-old law school — from the charitable foundation of Boston real estate developer Jerry Rappaport and his wife, Phyllis.

“It’s really become a valuable brand, so keeping that brand alive was important and having the center continue at a premiere law school is very exciting for us,” Phyllis Rappaport said by phone from the couple’s home in Florida. “Boston College Law School has lots of graduates who go into public service in the city and state.”

She and her husband said numerous local schools submitted proposals to take over the center after its closure at Suffolk was announced.

“It was extraordinarily exciting to find out how important the Rappaport center has been,” Jerry Rappaport said.

The center educates, mentors, and offers financial support to students at area law schools — Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, Suffolk, the University of Massachusetts, and the New England School of Law — who are interested in government and public policy.

The foundation’s gift will fund a visiting professorship in addition to operations, which will include the continuation of a popular paid summer internship as well as research, lectures, and other events.

The center will be led by BC Law professor R. Michael Cassidy, who will hire an executive director to oversee day-to-day operations.

“I think it’s a natural alignment and a great fit for Boston College,” Cassidy said. “Solving public policy problems is an important part of the mission of BC. “For aspiring lawyers, law students, their talents are needed in the public sphere and there are problems in our communities that lawyers are uniquely positioned to solve,” added Cassidy, who worked previously as the criminal bureau chief of the state attorney general’s office and served on the state ethics commission.

An advisory board, which is chaired by former Massachusetts attorney general Scott Harshbarger, will help guide the center’s work, and it will collaborate with the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard University, officials said.

Follow Friday: Boston College You know your social media strategy is working when Jesuit priests start Snapchatting you back.

By Emily Goldman | Arts & Entertainment | December 19, 2014 The students and alumni of Boston College are a proactive bunch. This year alone, one alum kicked off the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and current students made a parody of “Shake It Off,” which earned a thumbs up from Taylor Swift herself.

These are just a few examples of what makes BC so fun to follow online. To learn more, we caught up with Melissa Beecher, Boston College’s Social Media Manager, and Patti Delaney, Deputy Director of the Office of News and Public Affairs, who shared their experiences running BC’s social media.

How do you manage Boston College’s various social media accounts?

Beecher: Boston College has a Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Youtube, Flickr, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, and a couple of blogs in addition to our Snapchat account. It’s our pilot semester with [Snapchat], and the feedback so far has been incredible. We interact day-to-day with our users and post content on a daily basis.

DEVLIN HALL AT BOSTON COLLEGE. / PHOTO BY MARGARET BURDGE

How do you maintain the Snapchat account?

MB: We do a series of contests and student takeovers for the account. We hide various things around campus, like T-shirts and prizes.

The most interesting thing we did was have people snap us back in what was basically a photo contest showing school spirit.

The second Snapchat we got back was from Jesuit priests from the School of Ministry. We knew we were onto something when our own priests were snapping back.

I was very skeptical, but after seeing the potential of the engagement between students, I got the platform. Our office manager is really behind this—Michael Maloney is really spearheading the Snapchat account, but I oversee it.

What are the goals for Boston College on social media?

Delaney: We have a mission statement for all of the channels, and we try to use all of them as another way to tell BC’s story and to uphold the mission of the college itself. We use the popular #WeareBC hashtag because we believe that to be true—the community is really a family.

MB: Our account numbers are great and we really value engagement—it’s a part of our success.

In three words, describe the voice and tone Boston College’s social media.

MB: Smart vibrant community.

Which social media account is the strongest channel for Boston College? If you had to pick, which one is the “must-follow”?

JESUIT PRIEST SNAPCHAT WINNERS. / IMAGE PROVIDED VIA BOSTON COLLEGE

MB: I think there’s a little bit of disagreement here. If you’re looking for straight account numbers, it’s Facebook and LinkedIn. But engagement-wise, our most engaged and popular by far—especially by our students I think—is Twitter, because of the back and forth.

For Instagram, there are a lot of campus beauty shots. Part of the beauty of the Instagram account is that we’ve always had a student help determine what that account should be that semester. A student curates and decides what images to use. This semester is different because we are selecting from a pool of nine student “social media fellows” from our social program. It’s a little different than other semesters, but it’s still vibrant.

PD: In terms of sheer popularity, Instagram. But as for engagement, Twitter is a great place for conversation.

How do you respond to your followers on social media?

MB: It is really on a case-by-case basis depending on what the question or comment is. We do have a liberal comments policy in terms of Facebook. The comments, questions, and concerns are really unfiltered unless there’s a vulgarity issue or something—we really let the community express themselves. If there’s a factual error, we step in. But we do want these conversations to happen.

GASSON HALL AT BOSTON COLLEGE. / PHOTO BY MARGARET BURDGE

PD: We like nothing better than to share something with someone who has posted. It doesn’t always have to come from us— we love seeing what’s out there and sharing with everyone else. If someone is on Twitter and has an issue, then we are happy to direct them to the proper place on campus [for help].

What’s the weirdest, most surprising, or most outspoken feedback you’ve gotten via social media?

PD: We don’t receive a lot of weird responses. We do think it’s interesting that there is a distinction between how people view the #GassonGram. At the same time folks are saying members of the community are posting too many of those, but they’ve also never been more popular. It’s on the student bucket list that you have to post a selfie with the Gasson in the background.

Since you’ve been with Boston College, what has been your personal favorite story to share on social media?

PD: It was heartwarming being able to share posts related to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge when Pete Frates was the alum and driving force behind it. It was amazing watching it kick off across the country and across the world. He actually came to speak at our social media council. He told us about the viral video that hasn’t been matched before or since then. Another one of our alumni Kevin Allocca headed YouTube’s Culture and Trends at Google and was looking at the Ice Bucket Challenge from YouTube’s perspective. And we were able to hear about it from the family’s prospective and hear it ourselves.

Did you personally take part in the ASL Ice Bucket challenge?

PD: Like Tina Fey, I wrote the check. I went the Tina Fey route.

MB: Yes, my college roommate nominated me.

Do you ever get in Twitter fights with Boston College’s rivals?

MB: No, I think the closest that has ever happened was when our BC Dining and BU Dining went at each other during the Beanpot. BU tweeted at BC Dining, “Congrats @BC_Dining on winning the #beanpot if you need a recipe on how to cook them let us know…” and our dining replied, .@BUDiningService Aw, thanks.

It’s a shame you won’t be able to use any of those recipes anytime soon. #fiveandcounting.

Are there any special tweet series that you do throughout the year?

PD: We always like to welcome the students back. We follow the academic calendar when it comes to exam season, study season, or approaching vacations. We follow the athletic schedule too.

MB: Particular traditions that happen at BC as well—that’s always high engagement. And we’ll tweet during the summer— there is never a dull moment.

Catholics of 2014: Hosffman Ospino

Researcher, professor shines light on Hispanic ministry in the United States Greg Erlandson 12/18/2014 Hosffman Ospino is an increasingly authoritative voice in the areas of Hispanic theology and catechesis.

As an assistant professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education for the Department of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, Ospino is shaping the next generation of Catholic theologians and religious educators. But it is his original research on U.S. Hispanic ministry, released in 2014, that has garnered an unprecedented level of interest in his work — and secured his place as one of Our Sunday Visitor’s 2014 Catholics of the Year.

This groundbreaking study, “Hispanic Ministry in U.S. Parishes” (OSV, 2014), documents the state and status of Hispanic ministry in the Church today. That the U.S. Church is rapidly moving toward a Hispanic majority gives significant impetus to his work, and Ospino has called attention to the challenges and the opportunities awaiting Catholic parishes as they embrace this reality.

He reminds Catholic leaders that Hispanic ministry is about much more than simply ministry done in Spanish. After all, 61 percent of today’s Hispanics were born in this country. This is not simply an immigrant Church. Nor is it only one community, but rather a gathering of many different cultures and heritages that are further enriching the already rich tapestry of U.S. Catholic diversity.

OSV file photo

Born and raised in Colombia, but now settled in Massachusetts with his wife and two children, Ospino is unfailingly optimistic about the transformation that is occurring in the Church. “We are witnessing the birth of a new way of being a parish and with it, a fresher way of redefining the U.S. Catholic experience,” he wrote. It is this optimism that makes his such an important voice for all of us.

Politics

New human services chief goes from front lines to calling the shots

By Jill Terreri Ramos G L O B E C O R R E S P O N D E N T DECEMBER 19, 2014

Marylou Sudders’ mother was in the final stages of a mental illness that would claim her life.

Though her mother was only 40, a social worker suggested to an adolescent Sudders that she would be most comfortable in a nursing home.

Sudders was shocked at the notion that the best solution for her mother would be to spend her last days with much older people.

“That’s what a social worker is? I can do a lot better than that,” she remembered thinking.

Thus began Sudders’ interest in social work and mental illness, which led to a career that has taken her from working with clients as a social worker to being an advocate in the State House and an academic at Boston College. She has held some of the most influential public policy positions in the state and, in January, she will join Governor-­‐elect Charlie Baker’s administration as secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

“In some ways, I think my entire career has led to this opportunity,” Sudders said in an interview.

Sudders was commissioner of the state’s Department of Mental Health from 1996 to 2003, during several Republican administrations. She then became president and chief executive of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, where she was at the forefront of overhauling the state’s juvenile justice system. After leaving to join Boston College in 2012, she served on a panel that helped draft changes to the state’s gun control laws. She is also currently a member of a commission charged with curbing the growth of health care spending in Massachusetts.

On Jan. 8, Sudders will take over a state office with a $19.4 billion budget, accounting for more than half of the state’s spending this fiscal year. Health and Human Services oversees several critical agencies, including the Department of Children and Families, which made headlines after it lost track of a child whose body was later found by the side of a highway.

Sudders will also oversee the Department of Public Health, which has been ensnared in near-­‐constant controversy over the past two years following a meningitis outbreak traced to a compounding pharmacy one of its boards regulates and the problem-­‐plagued rollout of the state’s medical marijuana law.

In Baker, Sudders will have a boss who has also been secretary of health and human services and who has placed a priority on addressing the widespread problem of prescription drug and heroin abuse.

Sudders, 60, is considered well-­‐qualified to take on those challenges, according to people who have worked with her. She is described as a good listener, and someone who seeks out different viewpoints and is concerned above all with how policies will affect people. She is an early riser, full of energy, and is not afraid of taking on difficult problems.

“She doesn’t try to simplify things,” said Maria Z. Mossaides, executive director of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service. “She recognizes the complexities of the issues involved.”

When Sudders started out as a social worker, she wanted to know why certain clients couldn’t obtain services she thought they needed. That led to an interest in public policy, she said.

Sudders’ career highlights, across her many roles, include pushing for parity in insurance coverage for physical and mental illness, helping to secure early intervention services for children with mental illness, and championing reforms to the state’s juvenile justice system.

She lobbied for children who were in the state’s juvenile justice system though they had not committed crimes, advocating that they be removed from the system and be provided mental health and substance abuse counseling instead.

“She’s very politically savvy, very approachable with a lot of common sense, a very hard worker,” said state Senator Karen Spilka, an Ashland Democrat, who sponsored the juvenile justice reform bill for seven years before it became law in 2012.

Sudders, who is politically unenrolled, has at times been critical of government, most recently following reports about the mistreatement of mentally ill patients at Bridgewater State Hospital, but she thinks government can be a force for good if resources are maximized and applied fairly.

What Do Illegal Immigrants Want?

Time to bring the immigration debate out of ‘the shadows’ DEC 15, 2014, VOL. 20, NO. 14 • BY PETER SKERRY The predictable furor over President Obama’s executive order offering relief to approximately 5 million undocumented immigrants has obscured the fact that his initiative is much bolder in form than in content. Obama has gone to extraordinary lengths to offer less than what immigrant advocates have for years been insisting is an absolute necessity: full citizenship.

If Obama’s initiative should prove to be the first step on “the path to citizenship” for these undocumented, it is a hobbled and halting one, and the path long and tortuous. It is difficult to believe that this or any Congress now on the horizon will be willing to affirm Obama’s initiative.

Neither is it likely, though perhaps less easy to predict, that Congress will risk the political consequences of rescinding it.

NEWSCOM

It is even more difficult to imagine a president in the foreseeable future unilaterally granting this population any more than Obama has, apart from perhaps extending the order’s three-year limit. Similarly, the odds are against any future chief executive—especially a Republican— terminating Obama’s program. So rather than direct these 5 million individuals down a path to citizenship, Obama has almost certainly consigned them to legal limbo.

Not surprisingly, immigrant advocates have already started pushing back and demanding more. Whatis surprising is that the undocumented do not seem to share the same sense of urgency. On the contrary, most seem willing to settle for much less than full citizenship—in particular, for legal status that allows them to live here without fear of deportation and to travel back and forth to their country of origin to visit family, which Obama’s order will allow them to do. In other words, the undocumented are not as concerned with attaining citizenship as their advocates have long and strenuously argued.

There is abundant evidence to support this assertion. First, there are ethnographic studies of undocumented immigrants from Ireland, Guatemala, and Mexico, revealing their intentions to return home and their consequent indifference to, or at least ambivalence about, any permanent tie with the United States.

Second, there are the results of the amnesty granted to nearly 2.7 million illegal immigrants by the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. According to data published by the Department of Homeland Security, as of 2009 (nearly a quarter-century after the IRCA amnesty program began), barely 41 percent had exercised the option to become U.S. citizens. The other three-fifths remain legal permanent residents.

A recent study from the Pew Hispanic Center reinforces this point by scrutinizing naturalization rates for legal immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Drawing on Current Population Survey data, Pew reports that, as of 2011, only 36 percent of the 5.4 million legal immigrants from Mexico eligible to become U.S. citizens had taken

simply because these young people have been penalized for the deeds of their parents but also because they conduct themselves as Americans claiming their due.

Yet despite such critical differences with their parents and other illegal immigrants who have arrived here as adults, the DREAMers are now regarded as prototypical of the undocumented generally—an undifferentiated group all of whom are assumed to seek full and formal membership in American society, including citizenship.

This, of course, is a gratifying narrative that flatters our self-image as a “nation of immigrants.” As New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently put it: “What most defines the 11 million undocumented in America is not illegality but undaunted courage and ambition for a better life. What separates their families from most of ours is simply the passage of time—and the lottery of birth.”

This view of illegal immigration is not all wrong. But neither should it be taken at face value. For while today’s undocumented may display courage and ambition, their goal is typically not to put down roots in America. To be fair, this was also true of many immigrants in the past, especially the millions who arrived here as “birds of passage” in the period leading up to World War I. Italians and other migrants from Eastern and Southern Europe typically arrived here not necessarily intending to stay. Many did, of course, but others, taking advantage of relatively cheap steamship fares unavailable to earlier migrants, did eventually return home.

Far less prone to the gauzy narrative of undocumented immigrants seeking a better life in America is the hard-nosed view of businessmen. Preoccupied with making payrolls and turning profits, they have been less inclined than the rest of us to romanticize immigrant motives. Yet their clarity of vision is limited by a tendency to see immigrants narrowly as workers, and to downplay or simply ignore the social and fiscal strains they—and inevitably their families—impose on communities.

Because of this narrow perspective, most businessmen do not factor into their calculations the burdens of the political claims made by advocates on behalf of illegal immigrants. Then, too, the technical virtuosity of economists (who tend to dominate this policy debate) not only adds lustre to the parochial perspective of businessmen, but also helps nervous political elites keep the debate focused on labor market outcomes and away from more volatile discussions about other challenges posed by illegal immigration.

The narrowness of the business perspective reaches its logical culmination in recurrent proposals for an expanded and streamlined temporary (or guest) worker program. Such an approach might appear to acknowledge precisely what I have been emphasizing, namely that most illegal immigrants do not intend to put down roots in America. Yet as I have also emphasized, “temporary” workers routinely end up staying more or less permanently. In light of these well-known patterns, proposals for temporary worker programs ought to embarrass even Jonathan Gruber.

As they consider their substantive response to President Obama’s recent initiative, Republicans need to ponder how they have arrived at this point. Not for the first time, they will have to reflect on the shortsightedness of their natural allies in the business sector. More counterintuitively, the GOP will also need to think about how it has allowed immigrant advocates to define this problem in a way that admits of no solution.

Peter Skerry teaches political science at Boston College and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Inspiration of the Year: Frates, Gleason lead way in fight for ALS cure

BY EMILY KAPLAN Posted: Wed Dec. 10, 2014 We are still a long way from a cure for ALS -- or even finding what causes the brutal disease. But this year a group of patients and athletes brought us a little closer. For that reason, Pete Frates and Steve Gleason were honored as Sports Illustrated's Inspiration of the Year for their efforts in the fight to defeat ALS. *** Two years before America met Pete Frates, he was fighting. No, he was on a crusade. It was 2012 when the former captain of Boston College’s baseball team was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS had always been linked LouGehrig’s famous “luckiest man” speech in 1939, but there was still no cure or even any known causes. Frates would soon be robbed of his ability to talk, walk and swallow food. He and his family wanted to know why.

They went to closed-door board rooms and sat through rubber-chicken banquets. They lobbied the Federal Drug Administration and CEO’s of drug companies. The Frates plead to everyone and anyone who might help, but each venture yielded increasing frustration. Audiences shed tears and wrote checks, but sustaining momentum was a constant struggle.

“There has been no progress made on the war against ALS in the 140 years since it was first discovered,” says Frates, who is now only able to communicate by looking at an on-screen keyboard that tracks the movement of his eyeballs. “The disease was misunderstood, underfunded and was not in the public consciousness as other diseases.”

But for two years, Frates continued to fight. He wouldn’t give up -- he couldn’t give up. Frates always prided himself on his strong hands, the ones that held a firm grip on his bat, the ones that powered base hits through the gap. Though those hands began to tremble, and no longer worked in perfect concert with his eyes or brain, Frates never relented. He mounted a poster of Lou Gehrig’s speech on the wall of his garage. It inspired him every day. I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for. The quote became his mantra.

Then, one day last July, Frates posted a 52-second video to Facebook. He challenged friends and a few people in the Boston sports community to try this thing called the “Ice Bucket Challenge.” It was passed along from Pat Quinn, 31, an ALS patient from New York, who had seen it on Facebook. The challenge started without a specific charity in mind and the mechanics were simple: Dump a bucket of ice over your head, post it to social media, then nominate others to either do the same within 24 hours or make a donation. Frates dared a handful of people to join his fight against ALS. They did, and millions of others followed. Those who doubted Frates for so long underestimated the collective reach of the sports community in the digital age.

About a week later, a cultural phenomenon was sparked, and America was introduced to Pete Frates.

“Our story, the realities of ALS and the journey the patient goes on has now been recognized as unacceptable,” says Frates. “To the whole world.”

Frates is a 2014 recipient of the Sports Illustration Inspiration Award not only because he became the face of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Rather, the 29-year-old from Massachusetts, like fellow SI Inspiration Award recipient Steve Gleason, persevered for a cause that for so long was neglected by the public at large. There are an estimated 30,000 Americans living with ALS, and patients are given two to five years to live after diagnosis.

“People were simply expected to fade away quietly and die,” says Gleason, a former special-teams ace for the Saints who was diagnosed in 2011. “That was no acceptable to me. That is not OK.” Though it took a viral campaign for America to fully appreciate the tireless perseverance of Gleason and Frates, those efforts are not forgotten. Gallons upon of ice water just fortified their fight.

We are still a long way from a cure from ALS, but one day we will find it.

“And when that happens,” says former President of the United States Bill Clinton. “All of you who are still around should remember the Ice Bucket Challenge and how we learned to laugh... All of these problems that have beleaguered us, it’s almost like God gave science a human face in its most distant frontiers, deep in our minds hearts and bodies.” *** At first, Frates’ friends and family took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge. Then it reached Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman and several members of the Boston Bruins. Soon after, Jeter and Jordan filmed videos. Entire college football teams got sprayed by hoses; LeBron James was doused on a yacht; Roger Goodell in his driveway; Paul Bissonnette, the pro hockey player, had a helicopter dump water on him as he stood on a mountaintop overlooking Lake Widgeon in British Columbia. Even Bill Belichick found reason to shed his beloved hoodie. And then came the non-sports celebrities: the Kennedy family, George Bush, Taylor Swift, Steven Spielberg. Justin Bieber did it twice (once with a shirt, once without). In the age of 140-character tweets, the Ice Bucket Challenge had miraculous staying power. The momentum, finally, seemed unstoppable.

The ALS Association reported more than $100 million in donations from July 29 to Aug 29, a staggering uptick compared to $2.8 million during the same time span in the previous year. In 2013, the ALSA national office received $128,000 in online donations; so far, in ’14, it has reaped $96 million. “To raise this much money in such a short time is absolutely astounding,” says ALSA spokesperson Brian Frederick.

Because the Ice Bucket Challenge was simplistic and fun, some critics slapped it with a “slactivisim” tag. As countless people shared videos of themselves showing off their summer bodies and shrieking at the bonechilling cold water, it was easy to wonder if they knew exactly why they were participating. For decades, ALS advocates had difficulty raising research money because the rare disease is complex to explain—and because the outlook is so bleak. There are no survivors. When patients are diagnosed, they’re told they likely have two to five years left to live. And they’re not good years.

“People ask what they can do now that the Ice Bucket Challenge is over?”

Gleason says. “If the world needs to continue pouring buckets of ice over their heads to wake up to ALS, then keep the ice going. But, another option would be after waking up from the ice bath, to realize the tragedy in the enormous loss of life and learn more about ALS, volunteer to help those living with the disease and encourage giving.”

Gleason, a fan-favorite when he blocked a punt in New Orleans’ first home game following Hurricane Katrina, has only amplified his life mantra, “No White Flags.” He’s skydived; he’s trekked up Machu Picchu with the help of friends; he’s spoken one-on-one with Bill Gates about combatting his disease. He has also privately gathered funds and partnered with neuroscientists, researchers, academics and pharmaceutical companies to help develop one of the most ambitious initiatives in the history of ALS research. He has been a mentor, and also a friend to Frates, their bond as former athletes significant as they search for answers.

A large number of ALS patients are former athletes, and researchers are looking at possible links to the disease and head trauma. A 2012 research study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that deaths from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's diseases, when combined, occurred in NFL players at about three times the predicted rate for the general population.

Professor Michael J Naughton and Dr Fan Ye discuss some technical aspects, innovative discoveries and potential applications of their research on nanomaterials and nanostructures, particularly concerning interesting electron density oscillations known as surface plasmon polaritons

How did your academic career guide you to your current research endeavours?

MJN: I entered small science driven by the idea that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. While investigating something called spin density waves in 1D organic conductors in high magnetic fields, my thesis advisor and I found that existing probes of magnetism were inadequate for the small samples we had and in the tight confines of our low-temperature (below 1 K) apparatus.

Thus, my research on organic conductors led me to the world of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), using silicon microfabrication techniques for magnetometry.

When the nanotube era began in the 1990s I, like many others, began studying their properties and using nanoscale tools to fabricate novel structures, actuators and sensors. More recently, in collaboration with Boston College colleagues including Professor Kris Kempa, we have been fabricating multilayer structures onto nanowires, forming what we call nanocoaxes, which resemble the coaxial cable used for cable

TV, only 10,000 times smaller. A number of technologies and devices have emerged from this nanocoax and related nano-architectures.

Could you explain the major challenges faced during your research and how you overcame them?

What are surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs)?

MJN: Scientific research almost always presents challenges. That is what makes it intellectually stimulating and makes us wake up at three in the morning thinking about our work. The best challenges are the intellectual ones. How do we understand that observation? How do we interpret those data? If I imagine myself the size of an electron, will it help me contemplate how electrons move in magnetic fields?

MJN: SPPs are oscillations of electron density that are confined to, and can move along, a metal-nonmetal interface. They are primarily excited by light or by a beam of electrons. Interest in SPPs is exploding (and is unlikely to have peaked yet) mainly due to the realisation that their energy-momentum relation is nonlinear in such a way that they can be propagated on size scales far smaller than their free space wavelength. This enables one to create structures that move information on the nanoscale in unique ways, or that respond to exposure to biomolecules in readily detectable ways.

Do you use any innovative experimental or theoretical methods in your investigations?

PROFESSOR MICHAEL J NAUGHTON & DR FAN YE

Small science, great achievements

Once a particular problem is chosen to be addressed or pursued, more practical challenges arise, such as a need to invent a new measurement technology, or to devise a ‘smoking gun’ experiment that settles an important issue. One of my biggest challenges right now is finding a way to execute on a concept for large-scale interrogation of neural activity with nanoscale precision.

MJN: We are playing with some new concepts in the field of optical microscopy, including fabricating new probes that may be useful for single cell-level interrogation of optogenetically modified neurons. The fact that the nanocoax can propagate visible light as well as measure electrical signals opens the opportunity to fabricate a high-resolution neurointerface that can optically stimulate and electrically record the activity of such neurons. In fact, the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, won by a trio of physicists, was for pioneering work in sub-diffractionlimited optical microscopy, used primarily in the life sciences. Our efforts were inspired by that work, and may someday help to advance it.

Is funding an issue that you have to regularly deal with or is your field appropriately supported?

FY: Moreover, I have developed an aperturerestricted critical illumination technique, which allows precise measurement of absolute reflectance of a sample with micron-sized area under normal incidence. The aim is to experimentally characterise the reflectionless directional coupling between free photons and surface plasmon polaritons, but this technique could have value to other researchers working on imaging of small samples.

This means nonscientifically trained citizens of every country need to increase their scientific literacy, to not be afraid of science, but to recognise its intrinsic good. And emerging, low-resource nations need to set STEM education as a national priority. One can look at Rwanda as such a nation – fantastic progress only two decades out from a devastating genocide, in large part due to national priorities on public health and scientific literacy.

MJN: The issue of obtaining funding is something we deal with on a nonstop basis. In recent years, much funding has gone into photovoltaics and disease monitoring and detection, but we still obtain our energy from fracking gas and digging coal, we still have too many people dying from cancer after late diagnoses, and we still experience emerging viral outbreaks that can threaten global health. Therefore, society as a whole needs to continue to recognise the value of fundamental science and support it as best it can.

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PROFESSOR MICHAEL J NAUGHTON & DR FAN YE

Better together In the spirit of integrated science, researchers from the Department of Physics, Boston College, explore the potential technological applications of nanoscience combined with insights from neuroscience and biology, with the goal of addressing society’s greatest challenges – making breakthrough discoveries along the way WHILE PROGRESS IN basic science is in itself a worthy endeavour and the primary goal for most researchers, it is a particularly thrilling outcome when scientific discoveries find practical applications that are able to meaningfully improve the human condition and increase quality of life.

Materials physics is an exciting field of research precisely because its value goes beyond that of expanding knowledge; it has the potential to advance our technologies and develop devices and strategies to address some of the most pressing global issues, such as the energy crisis, water scarcity and public health threats.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY MAGIC However, it is when the discoveries of materials science are integrated with those from other scientific disciplines, and experts with different backgrounds and outlooks join their efforts, that the greatest technological advancements are made and society’s biggest challenges can be met: “Modern, materials-based integrated science opens a world of opportunity and potential for improving the human condition,” enthuses Professor Michael J Naughton from Boston College, USA. “Physicists, engineers, biologists, chemists, neuroscientists – each give a specific contribution to common projects that cannot be conceived or completed without multiple discipline involvement.”

Within the field of materials science, the study of nanomaterials and nanostructures is especially fruitful in terms of practical applications, as it deals with low-dimensional systems like molecular organic conductors which are liable to be transformed into superconductors, metals, semimetals or insulators – magnetic or nonmagnetic – simply by applying different temperature, pressure or magnetic field.

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Moreover, some organic conductors such as nanotubes and fullerenes – the discovery of which fuelled the development of nanoscience – display on the nanoscale many peculiar physical, electrical and mechanical properties that do not apply in nature on the large scale and can therefore be utilised in unique ways in a number of technologies.

THE POTENTIAL OF NANOSCIENCE Exploiting the potential of nanomaterials and inspired by the collaborative, transdisciplinary approach of integrated science, Naughton and his laboratory have made important discoveries in the sub-fields of plasmonics and photonics, which may ultimately contribute to addressing societal issues.

The construction of nanocoax architectures is one of the team’s latest achievements, from which technologies like solar cells, biosensors and plasmonic waveguides may be developed.

This is thanks to nanoscale coaxes sharing many properties with conventional macro coaxial cables, such as the capacity to propagate electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength larger than the wire’s diameter.

More recently, as the lab started focusing on devices like electrochemical biosensors, neuroelectronic interfaces and nanoscale optical microscopes, the need arose to delve into surface plasmons and design nanostructures specifically with plasmonics in mind.

BREAKTHROUGH DISCOVERIES It is in this context that some breakthrough discoveries were made. In particular, Naughton’s graduate student Fan Ye, now a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, USA, discovered

and systematically described the novel phenomenon of plasmonic halos, which can be conceived as the electrooptical analogue to surface waves on a musical drumhead.

Surface plasmons were excited by light on circular microcavities integrated with step gaps to form confined plasmon drumhead modes.

The latter, under resonant conditions, were shown to modulate photon scattering into the far electromagnetic field and emanate colourful plasmonic ‘halos’, which can be modified by tuning geometric and/or material parameters. A peculiar feature is that part of the energy contained in the plasmon is reconverted to light that, being modulated by the surface waves, results in specific colour filtering.

The phenomenon may have significant technological applications; for instance, in discrete optical filtering and biomedical plasmonics. A molecular biosensor may be developed that exploits the halo’s peculiar properties. “Since the details of the light transmitted from a halo are altered by plasmons, it may be possible to further modulate this light by attaching biomolecules, such as disease biomarkers, to the surface,” Naughton explains. “Given the size of the device (~1 μm diameter), a small number of such molecules could lead to a sizeable change in the optical signal, and the device could be portable.”

LIGHT TO PLASMON Ye further discovered that asymmetric, periodic, two-element metal-insulator-metal structures can serve as reflectionless directional converters between freely propagating visible photons and surface plasmon polaritons. While the structure was not originally conceived for the purpose of specific applications, the finding opens a number of possibilities in optical and biomedical technology.

INTELLIGENCE INTEGRATED SCIENCE FOR SOCIETY OBJECTIVE To use the materials, tools and techniques of condensed matter physics, including microand nanofabrication, in collaborative efforts that address unmet societal needs.

KEY COLLABORATORS Professor Thomas Chiles, Department of Biology, Boston College • Professor Kris Kempa, Department of Physics, Boston College • Dr Michael J Burns, Department of Physics, Boston College • Professor John Christianson, Department of Psychology, Boston College

FUNDING

The lack of reflection means light can be converted into plasmons very efficiently, while plasmons’ directionality feature guarantees they can be steered in a specific direction with a high degree of precision. This will have useful applications in optically driven information technology on sub-wavelength size scales: “Due to the much larger effective resonance mode volume, this asymmetric, periodic plasmonic structure has a much higher quality factor (Q) than conventional symmetric structures,” notes Ye. “One can potentially leverage this high-Q resonance for accurate biomedical detection and sensing.”

NEUROELECTRONICS, PHOTOVOLTAICS AND BEYOND In line with the overall integrated science approach, Naughton’s team is collaborating with other Boston College research groups, like that of Professor Tom Chiles of the Biology Department and Professor John Christianson’s team in the Department of Psychology, to explore further exciting applications of their discoveries.

In the field of bioelectronics, researchers are designing a high-sensitivity, high-specificity sensor which, by exploiting arrays of vertical nanocoaxes that function as electrochemical detectors of biomolecules, can simultaneously identify multiple molecular indicators. This will help to specify those diseases that have not one but many biomarkers, and will also optimise point-of-care disease diagnostics. Vertical nanocoaxes are also being used to fabricate a high spatial resolution neuroelectronic interface.

The device will have a number of applications, ranging from understanding neuron networks to monitoring cell neurodegeneration, on size scales unavailable with other technologies or devices.

Naughton’s research on nanostructures is also going to be exploited in photovoltaics, thanks to a collaboration with Professor Kris Kempa of the Department of Physics. The two scientists are developing a plasmon-enabled hot electron solar cell, wherein metamaterial structures

are going to be used to orthogonalise optical absorption and electric current collection, and with plasmons extracting so-called ‘hot electron energy’ before it can be lost to heat, thus making an improved solar cell.

Naughton and his laboratory have made important discoveries in the sub-fields of plasmonics and photonics, which may ultimately contribute to addressing societal issues SPREADING THE WORD Results of these collaborative efforts will be disseminated through specialist publications, web pages, university colloquia and international conferences, such as the 2014 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston on 30 November-5 December, and the American Physical Society March Meeting 2015 in San Antonio, Texas.

Dissemination is crucial in order to spread the word among scientists as well as society at large that it is through an integrated approach to science that technology may be advanced in truly innovative ways and lives improved. “Smartphone-integrated diagnostics that exploit novel physical phenomena like plasmonics are envisioned and can be fabricated by physicists, but real implementation of such devices is next to impossible without the knowhow of biologists and biochemists,” Naughton insists. “Similarly, neuroscience stands to benefit greatly from new tools that enable scalable interrogation of neuronal activity in networks – tools that physicists working at the nanoscale may be able to make.”

US National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) • National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) • US National Science Foundation • W M Keck Foundation • US Department of Energy

CONTACT Professor Michael J Naughton Head, Naughton Lab Department of Physics Boston College 335 Higgins Hall 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3804 USA T +1 617 552 0635 E naughton@bc.edu http://bit.ly/1u0ra5K MICHAEL J NAUGHTON is Evelyn J and Robert A Ferris Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physics at Boston College. A condensed matter experimentalist and Fellow of the American Physical Society, his research is centred on nanoscale integrated science, including nanostructured bio/chemical and neuroelectronic sensors, solar cells, near-field optics and plasmonics, and molecular organic superconductors.

DR FAN YE is currently an HHMI postdoctoral research fellow at Cornell University. His research focuses on the fundamental properties and novel applications of photons and surface plasmons at the nanoscale. Ye joined Naughton’s group at Boston College in 2008, after obtaining his BS degree at Sun Yat-Sen University in China. He gained his PhD degree in Physics in May 2014, and has since joined Cornell University to develop nanoscale on-chip optical tweezers for single molecule (DNA) studies.

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OPINION | KARI HONG

It’s time to get rid of grand juries

By Kari Hong, DECEMBER 05, 2014 When I was in private practice, I was struck by the fact that the clients who gave the most heartfelt thank-yous were my criminal defendants who lost their cases. I was baffled until I received a phone call from a client’s mother, profusely thanking me for the help I gave her son. Concerned that she misunderstood what had happened, I cut her off, explaining that her son’s appeal was denied, the case was over, and there were no other legal options while he served the rest of his sentence in prison.

She explained, “We know. But you cared, and for the first time, he finally had a chance.”

Watching the gathering protests over the lack of indictments in Ferguson and New York City, I am struck by the call — not for a conviction — but for a trial, a chance to review and air the evidence. It is clear to me that the best possible reform that can come from these complex tragedies is not to create special proceedings for police officers — but to get rid of grand juries for everyone.

Not all killings are murder. There are good and important reasons that a police officer is given more legal authority to use lethal force than an average citizen. The problem in the recent cases is that prosecutors are failing to explain publicly and clearly why they do not want to prosecute the two police officers who have killed citizens. There very well could be compelling legal or factual reasons not to — and if those reasons exist, the prosecutor has every right not to bring charges. (In fact, under the law and the Constitution, a prosecutor should not bring charges if he or she believes that the evidence is flimsy or the case cannot be proved.)

In Ferguson and New York City, the grand jury appears to be a political cover for what otherwise could be a legitimate decision not to prosecute. Grand juries are designed to be able to indict ham sandwiches because typically the prosecutor presents only the best evidence, does not reveal exculpatory evidence, and the defendant is not even present to know who is or is not testifying against him.

Despite such a one-sided process, grand juries had a valuable purpose in ensuring that a prosecutor was not trumping up charges to serve a personal or political agenda. Historically, they were created to check abuses of power in the decision to initiate a misguided criminal proceeding.

Ferguson and the Eric Garner case, however, are highlighting a disturbing contemporary corollary — that grand juries can be manipulated for political means. Instead of having a public discussion as to why a case is not being brought, the grand juries are immunizing the prosecutor from scrutiny and accountability.

Although some are calling for special prosecutors to lead grand juries against police officers, that solution is equally lacking in moral credibility. Appointing someone with an expectation of an indictment will not make an unfair process less unfair — it simply shifts the mark for whom the odds are stacked.

There is an better solution — simply getting rid of grand juries altogether. Half of states have already done so and instead rely on preliminary hearings to be the means by which a prosecutor’s abuse of power is checked. Unlike the grand jury system, the preliminary hearing is completely transparent. It is recorded, the defendant is present (although does not present or contest evidence), and a judge decides if there is enough evidence to hold a trial. The standard is low enough so that the majority of charges, just like in the grand jury process, will result in an indictment.

The value of transparency, however, cannot be overstated. In most states, the grand jury witness statements can be used in future proceedings, ensuring that an unreliable witness will not be in front of a jury that determines guilt. In California (where I practiced for 10 years), whether the case went to trial or was resolved by plea, a defendant also has the right to appeal the indictment, permitting courts to ensure that there was enough evidence to bring charges to trial. There is no secrecy, no personal vendettas, and no political cover for not bringing charges.

People do not need to win to feel good about the criminal justice system. To the contrary, the simple call for a trial reveals an intuitive desire to know that the procedures are fair, and the odds — however long — are not stacked. It is time to relegate grand juries to the dustbin of history.

Kari Hong is a professor at Boston College Law School

Boston College to Move and Expand Art Museum

By MICHAEL PAULSON DECEMBER 4, 2014 Boston College plans to relocate its McMullen Museum of Art, doubling its exhibition space by moving into a Renaissance Revival mansion that for decades served as the home of Boston’s cardinals, the college said Thursday.

The announcement follows a decade after the college acquired the house as part of a large purchase of property from the Archdiocese of Boston, which sold most of its chancery campus to the Roman Catholic college as a way of raising money to defray some costs of settling sexual abuse cases. The house was built in 1927.

The museum is now located in a mixed-use building on the college’s main Chestnut Hill campus; the new museum, which is scheduled to open in 2016, will be just across the street. The new museum will be 26,000 square feet, including a 7,000-square-foot addition to the existing house; the architecture firm DiMella Shaffer is designing the expansion.

The move comes as many colleges and universities, including Harvard, are expanding their museums, and after several prominent Boston-area museums have completed expansions, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum.

The lead gift for the $25 million project was given by the McMullen Family Foundation — named for John J. McMullen, a former owner of the New Jersey Devils and the Houston Astros, who died in 2005, and his widow, Jacqueline McMullen.

The McMullens also donated the money for the creation of the museum, which in 1993 replaced a longtime Boston College gallery.

The McMullen has a rarely exhibited permanent collection of several thousand objects, including a number of Italian Renaissance and Baroque religious paintings acquired by the college in its early years, and New England landscape paintings purchased by the region’s Jesuit priests. The museum’s exhibitions, several of which have been praised by critics, have been outgrowths of faculty research, and have been assembled using work loaned from other collections. The museum is now showing works by the Cuban-born modernist Wifredo Lam; it is planning an exhibition of Gothic illuminated manuscripts as the first show in the new building.

“We’ll have a lot more space in which to mount what we think are world-class loan exhibitions,” said the museum’s director, Nancy Netzer. “Often we are leaving things out of shows, or they don’t look as good as they should, because we’re too crammed, so now we’ll be able to have a lot more flexibility.”

BC to relocate art museum to former archbishop’s residence

By Kiera Blessing | G L O B E C O R R E S P O N D E N T DECEMBER 04, 2014 Boston College announced Thursday that it will relocate the McMullen Museum of Art to the former residence of the Catholic archbishop on the school’s Brighton campus.

The change will allow the museum to nearly double its exhibition space when the move is completed in 2016, college officials said. The new facility will span 26,000 square feet.

The museum, founded in 1993, has been housed in Devlin Hall on BC’s Chestnut Hill campus for the past 21 years, but has outgrown its space. Its future home is just across Commonwealth Avenue, on a site acquired by DIMELLA SHAFFER ASSOCIATES, INC. the college from the Archdiocese of Boston in two transactions between A rendering of the planned McMullen Museum of Art. 2004 and 2007, said Jack Dunn, the BC spokesman.

The archdiocese sold the campus to settle obligations in the clergy sexual abuse scandal. The college has been using the first floor of the building as conference space.

Cardinal Bernard F. Law was the last archbishop to live in the Renaissance Revival mansion, built in 1927.

The $25 million project is being funded by a lead gift from the McMullen Family Foundation, which did not disclose the amount of its contribution.

“Our hopes are for a university museum that focuses on new scholarly research and on educating the next generation of museum-goers and curators,” Jacqueline McMullen said.

McMullen and her late husband, John, were the key donors in the museum’s founding. John was a former college trustee and former owner of the New Jersey Devils and Houston Astros.

Renovations to the museum’s future home at 2101 Commonwealth Ave. will include a new atrium and loading dock and a raised gallery roof. All internal walls on the second and third floors will be knocked down and replaced by 4-foot-high moveable partitions, the college said.

The museum hopes to preserve the historic building’s exterior — the new atrium will be the only renovation made outside the building.

“The idea is to preserve the facade, but to add additional square footage,” Dunn said. “The goal [of the atrium] was to have a glass entrance area that would let in natural light . . . and it would provide an opportunity for museum visitors to look out at the lawn and the Brighton campus itself.”

The museum, which attracts 10,000 to 15,000 visitors annually, has long been a key piece of campus life and BC’s character, said Nancy Netzer, director of the museum and a professor of art history.

“We see it as kind of a gateway to Boston College. And it will be designed to be very welcoming to the public,” Netzer said.

“This [new] space is really grand and we’re really pleased about it because it will have better parking for the public and is closer to public transportation.”

Since the 1990s, the museum has held more than 60 major loan exhibitions, several of which “rival those of anywhere in the world,” she said. Retrospectives have highlighted the works of such artists as Edvard Munch, Paul Klee, Georges Rouault, Gustave Courbet, and Wifredo Lam. The added space will allow the museum to hold more than one exhibition at a time or to expand the current kind of exhibitions it holds with “enhanced design and presentation,” Netzer said.

The museum will remain open in Devlin Hall until the renovations are completed.

The Unrest In Ferguson Is Terrible — Our Response Is Just As Bad Wed, December 3, 2014

By Tiziana Dearing, an associate professor of macro practice at Boston College Graduate School of Social Work.

Last week’s looting and rioting in Ferguson have become burned into the public psyche. Early on, media images of liquor store raids and burning businesses dominated the airwaves, reinforcing timeworn, negative stereotypes about anti-social behavior in urban neighborhoods, and becoming cast in the public consciousness as the “black response.”

Not only does this do a terrible disservice to a legitimate conversation about race and justice in America, it is also seemingly the only version of the riots being discussed. As the subtle narrative goes, the rioting was done by those who are black and in poverty, seemingly because they are “black” and “poor.” Yet, the same behaviors could be ascribed to any of a number of other populations, including people who are white and affluent.

Tiziana Dearing: Certain members of the media seem to think rioting is a uniquely black form of expression. It isn't. In this photo, protesters block streets after the announcement of the grand jury decision, Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, in St. Louis, Mo. A grand jury has decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. (Jeff Roberson/AP)

Why is anyone treating this like it’s specific to low-income, black residents in Ferguson? And why delegitimize concerns over the grand jury proceedings because a group of angry people self-selected to be out late at night and wreak havoc?

One can make a case that looting and rioting are human phenomena, resulting from a confluence of events such as weakened social control, a sense of reduction in the presence of the rule of law and, sometimes, loss of faith in a given system. Even large crowds laced with a few out-of-control individuals can be enough to trigger chaos.

No one of these factors alone necessarily explains rioting and violence, and certainly none justify it. The destruction of businesses and of public spaces is an indictment of those who participated. That is not the same thing, however, as indicting a segment of the American population based on the actions of a relative few.

It’s time to stop treating the disorder as a ‘black’ response, rather than a human response.

A week before the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, I noted to my students that when communities perceive cracks in social control, disinhibited behavior can ensue. Think Mardi Gras, for example, on one end of the continuum, and sports hooliganism a further down.

If you combine additional factors, such as great uncertainty or great public emotion, things can get even worse. Take, for example, the 2004 Boston Red Sox win in the World Series. Public emotion doesn’t get much greater than that. Reporting on the aftermath of the victory, Reuters described people “hurling rocks at police in riot gear, smashing windows and lighting fires.” Ultimately, a pepper spray pellet fired by police killed a white, female participant in the disorder.

Now imagine a weakened sense of the rule of law. In the case of Ferguson, that was represented by severe distrust between residents and police.

History offers plenty of other examples. In 1919, when Boston Police went on strike. Over a two-night period, Bostonians intimidated people on the streets, smashed windows and property, and looted stores. People were killed by gunfire in South Boston and Scollay Square. Order was restored only when the National Guard arrived. This last point is of note because Missouri Governor Jay Nixon had activated the National Guard, but did not deploy it in advance of the grand jury announcement. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “Nixon has been castigated all week for the National Guard’s late response in Ferguson.”

And sometimes, people riot for absolutely no reason at all. This past October, fraternity parties near Keene State College in Keene, N.H., turned into into public mayhem during the town’s annual pumpkin festival — yes, a pumpkin festival. During the melee, according to the Boston Globe, “rioters smashed windows, slashed tires and overturned Dumpsters.”

Lastly, imagine the compounding effects of believing a system that was supposed to protect and care for you instead failed you utterly. Where are the incentives to uphold that system for others? During the Great Depression, people committed runs on banks in most major American cities, including Boston, despite understanding that it would only make things worse.

It’s time to stop referring to the Ferguson rioters as “protestors,” delegitimizing countless effective, non-violent protests across America. It’s time to stop treating the disorder as a “black” response, rather than a human response. The behavior was wrong, but absolutely not a mystery, and not remotely unique to the people of Ferguson, to urban black America, or to poor people of color.

Boston College programme on how to use FDI

Dublin event to look at global strategy for Ireland and US Mon, Dec. 1, 2014

Boston College college’s global leadership institute will examine the importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the context of global strategy for Ireland and the United States

Boston College is hosting a three-day programme on foreign direct investment in Dublin this week.

The college’s global leadership institute will examine the importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the context of global strategy for Ireland and the United States.

The programme will be delivered in conjunction with Irish Times Training.

Participants will investigate how to use FDI as part of global business development and how they can evaluate US and other international markets for expansion. Boston College faculty will lead the programme, which runs from Wednesday to Friday, and which will include meetings with key FDI managers and organisations.

“The mission of this programme is to bring together executives looking to attract and utilise FDI for their individual organisations by way of studying recent trends of investment from US affiliates into Ireland, Irish firms into the US, and other developments in global business,” said Robert Mauro, director of the Global Leadership Institute at Boston College.

Business

A warning on realities of work, retirement

By Deirdre Fernandes │ NOVEMBER 30, 2014 Alicia Munnell has never been one to sugarcoat her opinions. As a top economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 1991, she shook up the New England banking industry by documenting discriminatory lending practices.

As an official in the Clinton administration, she opposed the balanced-budget amendment because it would cut Social Security and defense spending. And as a researcher, she warned that government insurance designed to protect workers and their pension plans wasn’t adequate to cover funding shortfalls faced by struggling companies.

Now approaching 72, Munnell remains unapologetically blunt and this time her target is the US retirement system.

“The idea that people can retire at 62 and walk around JUSTIN SAGLIO FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE Alicia Munnell.

holding hands on the beach, it’s not realistic,” she said.

Munnell, director of Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research, has completed a new book that concludes the golden age of retirement is over and Americans must adjust their practices and expectations. In the book, “Falling Short: The Coming Retirement Crisis and What to Do About It,” Munnell and her co-authors argue that retirement security in the 21st century means working longer, saving more, and passing fewer assets on to heirs.

The book, to be released Dec. 12, serves as a clarion call for new thinking and policies on retirement, including making it easier for workers to save and shoring up Social Security, which, in less than 20 years, will be unable to meet all its obligations.

If nothing is done, the book warns, “millions of retirees will find that they are too old to return to work and have little in savings — and no one to turn to for help.”

Munnell, who has run BC’s retirement research for 15 years, has studied pensions and Social Security since the 1960s.

At that time, these benefits provided the foundation for retirement, contributing to a steady decline in the age people stopped working.

Demographic and economic changes weakened the old supports. Birth rates have declined, meaning there are fewer new workers to pay the costs of Social Security. Without changes, actuaries estimate that by 2033 the program won’t have enough money to cover promised benefits, requiring the government to cut payments to recipients or raise taxes.

Companies also have abandoned traditional pensions, which offered workers income for life, based on earnings and years of service. In 1983, nearly two of three workers with retirement plans enjoyed a traditional pension; in 2013, less than one in four depended solely on such pensions, according to the Center for Retirement Research.

Meanwhile, the percentage of workers relying only on 401(k) plans during that period multiplied six times, to 71 percent from 12 percent. The typical household approaching retirement, however, had saved only $111,000, equivalent to $400 a month in income, according to Munnell and her co-authors, Charles Ellis, an investment specialist, and Andrew Eschtruth, associate director of the retirement research center.

“People are not going to have enough money when they stop working,” Munnell said in an interview in her Boston College office. “We need to fix this. It’s really important.”

Ellis approached Munnell about a year ago about writing the book after seeing people make investment mistakes that threatened their chances for secure retirements. But Ellis said he didn’t know enough about Social Security and retirement to write it alone.

“One name that obviously comes up is hers,” said Ellis, adding that Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen even vouched for Munnell.

Munnell, who earned her doctorate in economics from Harvard University, gained a reputation as a firebrand in the late 1980s as director of research at the Boston Fed, where she was among the few women in top positions. She recalled high-level evening meetings ending with cigars passed around. She lit up, even though she didn’t smoke, to show she could fit in.

But she wasn’t afraid to point out inconvenient truths and stand her ground. She was the lead author of a study that found systemic racial discrimination in mortgage lending among the region’s banks, which led to federal and state investigations into dozens of banks.

But it hurt her chances to become president of the Boston Fed when Richard Syron left in 1994. Banks and other interests upset by her work opposed her appointment and the Boston Fed’s board ultimately named Cathy Minehan, who retired in 2007.

JUSTIN SAGLIO FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE Alicia Munnell, now at the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, has been writing about Social Security and retirement for nearly five decades.

Munnell, who had left Boston for the Clinton administration, remained in Washington, serving first as an assistant secretary of Treasury and later as a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. When she returned to Boston in 1997, she accepted a teaching job at Boston College. A year later, with a federal grant, she helped launch the Center for Retirement Research.

“Falling short” is Munnell’s 23d book. The slim volume, under 130 pages, excluding footnotes, attempts to give families basic information about the challenges of retiring. Among the first steps they can take to improve the chances for comfortable retirement is plan to work longer, raising the issue with employers and updating skills.

By delaying retirement until 70 from 62, individuals can increase Social Security checks by 76 percent, she said.

Working longer also delays spending retirement nest eggs while providing more time to save. Munnell and her coauthors propose raising the earliest age for collecting Social Security to 64 from 62.

“People need to understand that one of the most potent levers is staying in the workforce,” she said.

One of the book’s more controversial recommendations is to use reverse mortgages, which allow seniors to take equity from their homes to pay for retirement. When they die or leave the home, the property goes to lenders.

Critics argue that these complex products target desperate seniors, who quickly burn through equity to cover long-term care costs and end up losing their homes because they can’t pay taxes and other expenses.

Jack VanDerhei, research director at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a think tank in Washington, said Munnell’s book doesn’t thoroughly consider the most appropriate steps for people based on their income and how long they might live.

For example, the costs of retirement are so high that reverse mortgages don’t always make a significant difference, he said. The number of middle-income retirees who will avoid running short of money increases by just 6 to 8 percentage points by tapping home equity, according to the institute.

So it may not be worth it for many seniors to take this risk, leaving them without a house to pass to their children, VanDerhei said.

But many retirees have few other sources of money and regulators have improved oversight of these products, said Munnell, who has advocated for reverse mortgages for several years (In 2012, she invested in and joined the board of Longbridge Financial, a New Jersey reverse mortgage company). For retirees who have enough savings to cover homeowners’ insurance premiums and property taxes, reverse mortgages may be a good option, she said.

Munnell has been writing about Social Security and retirement for nearly five decades, and has no plans to stop working. She said she recognizes her book makes proposals that workers and policy makers may not want to hear. But the reality is retirement for this and coming generations has changed.

Workers are increasingly on their own and denying that — and failing to take steps such as working a few more years — will only lead to serious problems in the future.

“I’m less of a bomb-thrower the older I get,” she said. “But if I see something I don’t agree with, I still speak out.”

Opinion Ferguson puts spotlight on what we need to change

By Vincent Rougeau, Dean of BC Law School│ NOV 27, 2014

Like so many other Americans, I waited anxiously for a decision from the Missouri grand jury and was not particularly surprised when I learned that Officer Darren Wilson would face no charges in the killing of the unarmed black teen Michael Brown. It is very unusual for police officers to be prosecuted in these circumstances.

Nonetheless, while I hesitate to second-guess the grand jury’s review of the evidence, the result troubles me. The tragedy in Ferguson is another in a long list of examples of how guns and deadly violence distort the relationship between citizens and the police in the United States.

As the dean of a law school, I have a professional interest in highprofile events that raise important questions of law and public policy. This particular incident touched me more personally because I am an African-American man with three sons who range in age from 13 to 20, and frankly, because of the alarming frequency of these types of shootings in our country.

Outside the US embassy in London, a protester marched with a sign to show solidarity with Michael Brown’s family. REUTERS

At 51, I have reached a point in my life where I have little fear for my personal safety in my interactions with the police, although I am fully aware that minor changes in my behavior or appearance could rob me of this security very quickly. But I worry constantly about my children and other young men and boys like them.

Racial stereotypes, particularly the common tendency in American culture for black men to be perceived as uniquely threatening, are obviously an important source of my fear, but honestly, that is just a part of it. Negative cultural associations with black men are harmful, but what is worse is how quickly they can become deadly.

American society is chillingly comfortable with violence as an effective way to provide safety in threatening situations. We enact “stand-your-ground” and concealed carry laws that make guns ubiquitous in many parts of the country, and we respond to the slaughter of innocents at an elementary school with serious discussions in Congress about the benefit of armed guards among kindergartners.

This casual relationship with guns and gun violence certainly sets us apart from our peer nations. When you add that to our country’s tortured racial history, it is not at all surprising that black men are shot by the police even when, as appears to have been the case in Ferguson, they are running away.

Having lived in Europe for extended periods during my adult life, I know there are a lot of black men and boys in and around London who labor under many of the same stereotypes that exist here in the United States. But there is an important difference in their life experience: It is rare for the police to shoot anyone in Britain, even in teeming, multicultural greater London.

Shortly after the Ferguson shooting, The Economist reported that police in England and Wales fired their weapons a total of four times during the past two years. Four times —meaning in two years they discharged fewer bullets policing 57 million people than were discharged into Michael Brown’s body on one afternoon.

Why do police in the United States shoot their guns so often? Is it because many of them believe that almost anyone they encounter might have a gun and shoot them first?

When compared to its neighboring communities, Ferguson has a fairly low violent crime rate, and crime rates across the country have been dropping for many years. Despite all this, Officer Darren Wilson, who initially was inside of his police cruiser, felt so threatened by a physical interaction with Michael Brown, who was outside of the vehicle, that he shot at him twice. When Brown fled the scene, he chose to give chase and felt threatened enough again to shoot 10 more times. I have to believe that similar situations occur with some frequency in London, but guns are not fired and nobody dies.

Michael Brown’s family, though saddened that no charges would be brought against Officer Wilson, has asked for calm and for people to turn their attention to efforts to encourage changes in how communities are policed. One suggestion the family has put forward is for police officers to use body cameras nationwide.

There is a certain wisdom in that idea — these cameras have been instrumental in revealing many instances of police misconduct and in other cases, vindicating officers’ actions. But, as is often the case in the United States, we reach for a technological solution when we confront an intractable social problem. What really needs to change is our culture’s relationship to guns and deadly violence.

Here's How We Ranked The Best Law Schools In America MELISSA STANGER AND ANDY KIERSZ NOV. 24, 2014 We recently published a list of the Best Law Schools In America.

To create this list, we surveyed more than 300 American legal professionals to determine the best law schools in the US with the help of SurveyMonkey.

This year Yale replaced Harvard as the No. 1 school.

Our survey asked participants to select the top 10 law schools in terms of how well they prepare students to land their ideal job. We recorded the percentage of respondents that ranked each school in the top 10.

Approximately 52% of survey participants said they have a law degree, while 3.5% reported that they had a partial degree, meaning they're either still in law school or dropped out.

We balanced our industry survey with objective incoming metrics — acceptance rates from U.S. News and World Report — and outgoing metrics — employment rates reported from the American Bar Association.

The results of our survey composed 50% of our final "Legal Insider" rating, while employment rates from the ABA and acceptance rates from U.S. News and World Report each composed 25% of our final rating. We took each metric and with these numbers we came up with a total score, which we then scaled out of 10 to come up with our Legal Insider rating. Yale, our winning school, received a Legal Insider rating of 10, while the other schools followed.

17. Boston College Boston College scored a 5.9 out of 10 on our Legal Insider rating.

78% employed nine months after graduation.

35% applicants accepted.

The law school is just six miles from downtown Boston and offers specialty programs like the Women and the Law Clinic and the Land and Environmental Program.

The law school is the alma mater of US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller.

Facebook/BostonCollegeLawSchool

Why millennials should take their parents to work

By Lauren Stiller Rikleen NOVEMBER 6, 2014 Boomers, if you notice an influx of strangers who look your age at the office this week, no need to worry. They’re not after your job — you may just be meeting the parents of younger employees, as Thursday is officially the 2ndAnnual Take Your Parents to Work Day. The brainchild of LinkedIn, Take Your Parents to Work Day was the result of a survey that revealed that, although nearly all parents of millennials reported tremendous pride in their children’s work, nearly half did not understand what they actually did. This created difficulty for a senior generation eager to impart their reservoir of advice based on their own careers. How can you adequately share these lessons learned if you don’t necessarily understand what your kids do at work?

Welcoming mom and dad for a peek into the daily work lives of their adult child can help them become better leaders, says Lauren Stiller Rikleen, author of You Raised Us – Now Work With Us: Millennials, Career Success, and Building Strong Workplace Teams.

As an increasing number of companies sign-up to participate, the inevitable question arises: how does the close relationship between millennials and their parents impact the workplace?

The image of hovering ‘helicopter’ parents who over-indulged and over-protected their children makes great fodder for jokes and complaints. The unfair stereotype, however, misses the importance of understanding the relationship between millennials and their parents – a relationship that has profoundly impacted how millennials are adapting to the workforce. Ultimately, such understanding should lead to greater workplace effectiveness as employers grapple with the influence of parents in the lives of their employees.

It is an influence that started very early. As a generation that grew up believing they had all the answers, Boomer parents were eager to transfer that wisdom to their children. They began their role as parental advisors while their children were still in utero; they sang, read and played music to pregnant tummies, preparing for the emergence of infants who would be prepped for their life of accomplishments even before birth.

By adolescence, many millennials had already spent years engaged in after-school resume-building activities. With so much time accounted for by lessons and teams, directed by parents as chief life-coach, millennials were molded into accomplished young adults.

Millennials’ reliance on andclose contact with their parents continued even through their teen years — ages when prior generations experienced far greater intergenerational tension. Today’s young adults see the process of seeking advice from their parents as a logical, well-considered opportunity to benefit from the wisdom of trusted advisors.

As millennials have entered the workplace, they continue to turn to their parents for guidance. This time, however, their parents frequently lack the observational vantage point they enjoyed when their kids were younger. Savvy employers who understand this may be more willing to help parents learn.

Today’s employers have the unique challenge of assimilating members of a generation that have grown up with a large safety net, helping them thrive in an environment that often expects risk-taking through reach assignments and problem-solving without clear direction. There is, after all, a difference between being pushed by parents along the path to success, and knowing what to do when that path must be traveled alone.

Figuring out how to navigate the workplace is critical to career success and advancement. But not all young workers arrive adept at steering their way forward. If one’s childhood environment was open, welcoming, and supportive, adapting to the demands of the workplace requires skills that may not yet be fully developed. Employers focused on their future leadership pool will invest in a variety of ways to integrate their young employees into the culture of the workplace, providing them with opportunities to better understand the employer’s goals and objectives.

Employers who move beyond the stereotypes to understand both the positive and negative aspects of millennials’ relationships with their parents are best positioned to develop thriving future leaders.

Welcoming mom and dad for a peek into the daily life of their adult child at work provides an opportunity for employers to positively acknowledge that bond. It also recognizes that parents are likely to remain an important source of ongoing support in their employees’ lives.

Lauren Stiller Rikleen, the author of You Raised Us – Now Work With Us: Millennials, Career Success, and Building Strong Workplace Teams, is the president of the Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership and Executivein-Residence at the Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Boston College to launch Corcoran academic center for real estate study

By Casey Ross | G L O B E S T A F F

NOVEMBER 06, 2014

Boston College on Thursday will launch the Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action, an academic center to teach students how to develop mixed-use housing communities and improve city neighborhoods.

The center will be part of the Carroll School of Management and focus on developing undergraduate courses on real estate development and finance. It is named after its chief benefactor, Joseph E. Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Jennison Companies, a Boston-based developer of JOSEPH E. CORCORAN

mixed-income housing communities.

“The center will bring the best minds together with industry experts to determine how to make our communities better,” said Corcoran, 78, a 1959 graduate of Boston College. “What we’re going to do is give the rest of the world a model for how to transform the poorest areas into communities where people can lead viable lives.”

Corcoran developed the Harbor Point housing complex, a mixed-income community that revitalized Dorchester’s once crime-ridden Columbia Point neighborhood. The complex established a new model for housing development in urban communities. Instead of marginalizing low-income residents into housing projects, it integrated people of various income levels in a way that was both transformative and profitable.

Andrew Boynton, dean of the Carroll School of Management, said the new center will teach students that real estate can be a catalyst for positive change. “Students will learn about development not just intellectually, but socially in terms of giving back and understanding how real estate can turnaround neighborhoods,” Boynton said.

The center grew out of a popular class inspired by Corcoran, Real Estate and Urban Action, which has been taught at the Carroll School for the past five years.

The son of Irish immigrants, Corcoran who was born in Dorchester and attended BC High.

He founded the American City Coalition, a nonprofit organization that plans and implements the revitalization of urban neighborhoods. He also is a trustee at Boston College.

The 10 colleges with the highest paid education graduates By: Megan Cahill November 3, 2014 Education is a popular field of study for many students as it opens up the potential for a variety of jobs, from teaching, to administration, or research and development of curriculums and teaching methods.

While popular, education is not known as a well-paying field (a general education major is actually in the bottom 10 of lowest paying majors in America.) The average salary of those who majored in education is $41,000.

However, this earnings potential can increase or decrease based on many factors, including the college you choose to attend.

This list rounds up the top 10 colleges with the highest paid graduates in the field of education, based on salary data provided

by PayScale. Although we believe that knowing the average salaries of graduates can give you some very useful information about colleges, note that this ranking is based only on salary data and is not meant to rate the overall quality of the school.

This ranking is inclusive of many specific majors in the field of education, such as special education, student counseling, curriculum development, and others.

1. SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY San Francisco State University is a large public school with approximately 26,000 students. The College of Education offers professional training to prepare students for successful careers as teachers. The high average starting salary of $42,000 makes SFSU a good choice for education majors. Additionally, education graduates of SFSU go on to earn an average midcareer salary of $74,000.

2. SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY: DALLAS, TEX. Southern Methodist is a private university located in downtown Dallas. Students interested in pursuing an education career may consider SMU due to its earnings potential. Graduates of the SMU education program may only earn an average starting salary of $38,000, but they go on to make the highest average mid-career salary of $78,000.

3. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY New York University is considered a top university due to the strength of its academic programs. The school is located in New York City, one of the most diverse and unique cities in the world. Along with the draw of city life, education students may choose to attend NYU because graduates earn a high average starting salary of $43,000 and an average mid-career salary of $70,000.

4. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS, MO. Another school that offers high salaries for education majors is Washington University in St. Louis. This school is a fair value for your money because although it has a high net price, the school offers strong programs that create high earnings potentials. The average starting salary for an education graduate from WUSTL is the highest on the list at $50,000. This jumps to an average of $63,000 at the mid-career level.

5. BOSTON COLLEGE: CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. Boston College is a private school dedicated to teaching students in the Jesuit tradition. The college is highly selective and pushes its students with rigorous academic programs. While the average net price is high, education majors may choose to pursue a degree from BC because it will lead to high starting and mid-career salaries of $42,000 and $70,000, respectively.

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Learning from Our (First) Parents The Living Word / Richard J. Clifford / November 3, 2014 Can we see Adam and Eve anew?

Centuries of Biblical interpretation make it difficult for us today to appreciate Adam and Eve as characters in a well-told story that deftly probes the ways of God with humans. Yet the increasing availability of literary works comparable to Genesis 1-11 enables us to appreciate how seriously ancients took their stories of origins. Pope Pius XII’s 1943 encyclical “Divino afflante spiritu” (Nos. 19-23, 31) urged scholars to appreciate “the manner of expression and the literary mode” of the stories in Genesis 1-11. Tryggve Mettinger of Lund University in The Eden Narrative clearly expresses appreciation for Genesis 1-11: “the conditions of real life in the present are seen, in a validating and explanatory perspective, as being founded on events between god(s) and man in primordial time.” The referential ambition of such texts is representativity; that is, they possess a validity that is greater than the individual case.

Mettinger explains: “We do not ask about the factuality, the historicity of event narrated, but about the relevance of the narrative. How can it contribute to our understanding of what it means to be a human being,” and, one might add, what it means to be a married couple.

The Man and the Woman in the Garden of Eden The Lord God creates the man (2:4-7), plants a garden in Eden with the tree of life and tree of the knowledge of good and bad, appoints the man as gardener and gives him leave to eat everything except the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad (2:8-17). Observing that it PARENTAL UNITS. Stained glass window depicting Adam and was not good for the man to be alone, God creates the animals from the earth. Observing again Eve in the cathedral of Brussels, Belgium. that no animal proved to be a suitable helper for the man, God creates the woman from his rib (2:18-24). On seeing her, the man rhapsodically declares her to be the one for him; the couple are naked without shame. Enter a snake (not a serpent, not Satan), wisest of the animals, who persuades the couple to eat the fruit of the tree, which, he says, will open their eyes and make them like the gods who know good and bad. (The translation “like God” in the NRSV is inaccurate.) The couple’s eyes are indeed opened, but they know only one new thing—they are naked (2:25-3:7). God investigates their transgression (3:8-13) and assigns penalties to the snake, woman and man (3:14-19). The man then gives his wife a second name, Eve, “mother of all the living” (3:20). God clothes the couple with leather, i.e., permanent, garments, and expels them from the garden (3:2024), setting armed cherubim to guard against re-entry.

It may help readers to recognize two “before-and-after” scenarios shaping the story, one “agricultural” and the other “anthropological.” Before the couple’s sin, agriculture consisted in the man tending a vast garden irrigated by a mighty stream flowing up from the Deep and branching into four great rivers that fertilized the earth. After the sin, the couple was expelled into a new agricultural system in which the man will laboriously till the arable soil dependent on uncertain rain.

The soil had been there from the beginning, of course, but it was dormant, for “there was no man to till the soil” (Gen 2:5).

The “anthropological” scenario concerns the couple’s human nature and defining tasks. Before their sin, the man and the woman enjoyed fullness of life and knowledge simply by being in the presence of the Living and Wise God. To be sure, they were not inherently immortal like heavenly beings, formed as they were from earth, nor did they have the wisdom of heavenly beings. But such limits did not matter as long as they were in God’s garden. After the sin, “death” in the sense of living outside Eden, the sphere of life, was imposed on humans. Humans now had a life span.

Narratives such as Genesis 2-3 invite many more questions. Here are seven.

1. Is the garden important in the story? Yes, for it is part of the palace of God. Gardens of gods and kings were exceedingly important institutions in the ancient Near East well into Islamic times; their plants and trees symbolized creativity and fertility. The four rivers fertilizing the earth in Gen 2:10-14 are essential to the story also, for they symbolize the intense vitality emanating from the garden. The man and woman did not need to go outside God to enhance their life. There was another reason the garden was important. It was sacred space, requiring strict protocols for human behavior. Expressions of sexuality and all vestiges of death were excluded, for God was eternal, beyond sex or death. The demand for such purity in sacred places is a feature of both Judaism and Christianity as Gary Anderson points out in The Genesis of Perfection (2001).

2. What is the meaning of the two trees? Though the narrator tells us there were two trees, the man, woman, and snake speak of only one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. (In the same way, the narrator speaks of the “Lord God,” whereas the couple and the snake speak of “God.”) The best explanation for the discrepancy in the number of trees is not that the tree of life is a later addition (a common view), but the literary concept of voice (who speaks?). The characters speak from their limited perspective, whereas the narrator speaks from an unlimited perspective.

The trees are metaphors for the two qualities that in the ancient Near East chiefly distinguished earthly from heavenly beings—immortality and superwisdom. Two second millennium Mesopotamian stories, Gilgamesh and Adapa, tell how the gods gave humans a certain degree of wisdom, but withheld immortality. Like the protagonists of those two stories, the biblical couple gains a certain knowledge of primordial things, but not the heavenly knowledge they aspired to.

3. Why did God forbid the couple to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad? God’s prohibition is usually seen as an assertion of divine will, reminding the couple that humans’ first duty is to obey God even when no reasons are given. But an explanation that is more closely tied to the story is also possible. God’s command was meant to safeguard the wisdom the couple already had simply by being in God’s presence; there was no need for them to acquire knowledge outside of God. The tree of knowledge was therefore forbidden to them. In the Bible, God sometimes issues a command (“You shall not eat!”) instead of giving a reason. In Deut 16:18-20, for example, God describes the duties of judges by a series of commands: “You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality,” instead of simply saying (as we might do) that judges must judge fairly.

4. Why did the man and woman not die when they ate the fruit? God said to the man, “on the day you eat from it you shall surely die” (2:17) “On the day” is simply a Hebrew idiom for “when”; it should not be taken literally. “You shall surely die” cannot mean that the man will die upon eating the forbidden fruit, for he lives to be 930 years old (Gen 5:5)! Nor does it mean “you will become mortal,” for the man was already mortal by reason of being made from earth. The meaning can only be that the man’s sin will end that nearness to God that made him fully alive despite his being made of earth. When he leaves God’s garden where life abounded, death will eventually come to him, as 3:19 says, “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

The eyes of the man and woman were indeed opened, but they learned only that they were naked.

5. Is the Woman a temptress leading the Man into sin? Christian tradition has often said yes, but the short answer is no. We need to know why the snake approached the woman rather than the man. When God noticed that none of the animals was a suitable helper for the man, he created the woman from the man’s body. The snake was passed over and planned revenge. He addressed the woman to expose her as an unsuitable helper. And so he asked, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The snake first overstated the prohibition (“from any tree?”), provoking the woman to another overstatement (“or even touch it”) and awakening in her, it seems, a sense of the arbitrariness of the command. To the woman’s generic reference to “the tree in the middle of the garden,” the snake supplied specificity: it is not just any tree, it is the tree that God doesn’t want you to eat from, for its fruit will make you “like gods knowing good and bad.” The woman looked at the tree again—its fruit was delicious, alluring and imparting secret knowledge. She ate and gave the fruit to her husband standing at her side. (Unfortunately, Jerome’s Latin Vulgate omitted “at her side,” creating the impression that Eve approached him later as a temptress.)

6. Why are the Man and the Woman naked and not ashamed (2:25)? It is often noted that Eden depicts the childhood of the race, for only children are naked and unashamed. Yes, the couple’s sexuality has not yet been awakened, but that fact must be put in context. In the agricultural scenario mentioned above, the soil outside the garden was originally dormant, because “the Lord God had not caused rain to fall upon the earth and there was no man to till the land” (2:5). But when the man left the garden to till the soil, the soil was activated by the man’s tilling it and rain began. The same thing happened to the procreative aspect of the couple’s sexuality. It was dormant at the beginning of the story, indicated by the couple’s unashamed nakedness. As long as they were in God’s garden, they did not have to worry about procreation of children, for life bloomed everywhere. Indeed, they could not have exercised their sexuality (in the Bible, the remedy for mortality) because no elements of sex and death were permitted in the sacred dwelling of the eternal God. But once expelled from the holy garden, they had to exercise their procreative powers and beget children, for they no longer were in the life-imparting presence of God. The interpretation just stated, while not a common one, has the advantage of explaining a puzzling feature of the story: the man names his wife twice, the first time in 2:23, when he names her “Woman.” (The phrase “the two of them become one flesh,” in 2:23 does not refer to sexual union, but to the woman’s joining the man’s family.) He names her a second time in 3:20, “Eve” when “she became the mother of all the living”; she must henceforward bear children in view of human lifespans.

Inquiring minds will no doubt ask: if the couple had remained forever in Eden with their procreative powers dormant, how could they have had descendants and the human race expand? The answer lies, I think, in understanding the way that God chose to relate to the couple—by observing and responding. God observed that it was not good for the man to be alone and so created animals from the earth to be his helpers; but observing that animals did not satisfy the man’s “aloneness,” determined that the helper would have to come from the man’s body. But why did God not foresee the man needed a woman? Even more pressing, why did God not foresee the human race would become totally corrupt and avoid the bother of even creating the world? It took ten generations before God “regretted making man on the earth, and his heart was grieved,” and that “he was sorry he made them” (Gen 6:5-8). Philosophical notions of divine omniscience cannot be applied to God in these stories. In a sense, God enters so deeply into human temporality and finiteness that he must wait to learn what these new creatures are capable of doing before responding. God has a learning curve.

7. How should we understand the divine punishments inflicted on the snake, the woman and the man (3:14-19)? “Punishment” is probably not the right word. Rather, God imposes on them a new state, or more accurately, announces the new state their actions have created. The snake, the woman, and the man become the beings we know today. Previously, the snake aspired to be a suitable helper to humans and was able to stand and speak face to face with them. Now he must crawl on the ground as humans recoil at the sight of him. The woman can no longer live simply by her nearness to the Living God. She will now “live” by giving birth to the next generations, a process attended by pain and danger. Because the husband listened to her instead of God, she now must listen to her husband, “Your desire shall be for your husband, but he shall rule over you.” The man will longer tend a well-watered and fruitful garden, but struggle to farm resistant soil.

The man accepts the couple’s new state when he names his wife Eve, “the mother of all the living,” 3:20, and God accepts the new state of affairs with a gesture of his own—replacing the couple’s hastily made fig leaves with leather, i.e., permanent, garments. God’s final act is to put the tree of life beyond their reach, a mercy in view of their mishandling of the tree of knowledge of good and bad. God’s sarcastic comment (3:22) can be paraphrased: If they made such a mess of their life with the tree of knowledge, think what a mess they would make with the more potent tree of life.

What Do Our First Parents Teach Us? Living in the very dwelling of God proved too much for our inexperienced first parents. They had to leave it for a less intense environment. But they—and we—cannot forget that living with God in Eden was what God originally intended for them. And we, poor banished children of Eve, ought never to forget God’s original intent or to lose hope that one day that intent will be realized.

If the story teaches us about God’s high hopes and generous intent, what does it teach us about our parents’ sin? When the snake urged the woman to eat the fruit so that she and her husband could be wise like the heavenly beings, he invited them to go outside their relationship with God to acquire something belonging to another order of beings. Their act was an everyday thing—eating fruit—but it was representative. It was at once an act of disobedience and an act of idolatry. Disobedience is more obvious. God had commanded them, using the commonest Hebrew verb of commanding. The Hebrew verb šāma‘, “to obey,” is profoundly personal; one “listens to” a person rather than carries out a command. In 3:17, God accuses the man of “listening to the voice” of his wife rather than listening to God. The couple refused to let God define their life.

Their act was, more subtly, also idolatry. The couple went for the gift and bypassed the giver, illustrating vividly Hos 2:8: “[Israel] did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold that they used for Baal.” The prophet Hosea indicts the people for seeking from other gods the benefits that were in reality gifts of the Lord. The man and woman in Eden sought to be wise with heavenly knowledge instead of living on earth with God. Though the pair (and all whom they represent) missed out on the fullness of life and wisdom that was originally intended for them, they did come away with a lesser version of each. They continued to live, but not in the Garden of Eden. And as for knowledge, they had seen what happened in the beginning, and they also learned how to farm the soil and beget the next generation. The story ends with a loss, but not an irreparable one, for it is possible for their descendants to access the garden and the tree of life in the present, albeit in a diminished mode, by visiting God’s dwelling, seeking wisdom, and living according to God’s word. Expulsion from the Garden of Eden may have pushed the man and the woman into a harder existence, but it provided the human race with an indelible image of a future life with God. No wonder that the Christian vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22 includes the tree of life.

Richard J. Clifford, S.J., is a professor of Old Testament at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Brighton, Mass. A former editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly and president of the Catholic Biblical Association, he also served as a translator and commentator for The New American Bible, Revised Edition. This article is part of America’s series, "The Living Word: Scripture in the Life of the Church,” co-sponsored by the American Bible Society.

Book of The Times│ Michael S. Roth │ October 26. 2014 In the beginning was Diaspora, at least it can seem that way for the Jews. The longing for the Promised Land may be an important theme in the Torah, but fundamental religious practice and cultural identity have mostly been formed far from Jerusalem. For millenniums Jews have lived in exile; “next year in Jerusalem” is an acknowledgment of loss and hope — not a travel plan.

Modern Zionism should be understood in this long context of living “outside the land,” which has always meant living in somebody else’s land. The lessons of being outsiders are ingrained in Jewish culture and identity. This is no less true today in Israel, where Jews are frequently looked at by their neighbors merely as extensions of Western colonialism, than it is in Europe or the Americas.

But modern Zionism has implanted something new. “By returning to the very place from which they were so long ago expelled,” Alan Wolfe writes in his new book, Alan Wolfe “At Home in Exile,” “the Jews had at long last closed the chapter in which Credit Lee Pellegrini statelessness was always associated with powerlessness.” In the new chapter, Zionism promises (or threatens) to make Jews like all those other nationalists, with the attendant violence and injustice that go into the establishment and maintenance of all nations.

While Israel’s existence is now part of the experience of Jews wherever they live, it shows no signs of bringing the Diaspora to an end. And a good thing, too, argues Mr. Wolfe, a prolific political scientist and frequent commentator on religion and public life. He despairs of the anti-Semitism connected to the denial of Israel’s right to exist, but also of the ethnocentrism of those who see Israel as the only authentic place for leading a complete Jewish life. Rejecting Zionism as therapy for decadent Diasporic Jews, Mr. Wolfe emphasizes that “the blessings of exile are older, and more enduring, than the evils of statelessness.”

Mr. Wolfe’s enemy is particularism, the allegiance to one’s group no matter the consequences to others. He recognizes that the Diaspora has fostered a sense of defensive belonging: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” But he also sees that the experience of living as a minority has fostered in Jews a commitment — based in universal principles — to defend the rights of other groups. Embraced by Jewish tradition and repeated countless times over the centuries, universalism teaches that it is not enough to care for your own; there is a responsibility, even a commandment, to “repair the world” where it is broken.

The tension between Jewish particularism and universalism animates Mr. Wolfe’s book. Both leftist and liberal Zionism grew out of the universalist tradition, seeing the establishment of Israel as part of a much broader struggle for social justice. Conservative and religious Zionism rejected this struggle as a distraction from the obligation that Jews had to defend themselves, or to fulfill a specific covenant.

In the shadow of the Holocaust, particularism seemed to many a more realistic response to a world that might at any time again become hostile. And after what is often called the “miraculous victory” over those who vowed to drive Jews into the sea during the 1967 Six-Day War, the muscular defense of one’s own had renewed appeal to Jews around the world.

But Jewish universalism has also survived, in the Diaspora and in Israel. Mr. Wolfe traces its modern forms back to the 18th-century philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment he helped inspire.

This movement was rooted in the belief that Jewish ways of thinking would both benefit from and contribute to moral and scientific progress, and that education beyond religious study would be good for the Jews and those around them.

Mr. Wolfe surveys important writers in the particularist and universalist traditions. He offers a stinging account of how casual but rancid bigotry has become an acceptable dimension for particularist Jewish writers committed to

defending their own. Even with serious scholars like the Harvard professor Ruth R. Wisse and sensitive writers like Cynthia Ozick, Mr. Wolfe shows that empathy and principle evaporate into preening chauvinism and callous disregard for others. Mr. Wolfe has no trouble demonstrating that for the right-wing activist David Horowitz, all is “arrogance and assertion,” amounting to a justification of anything Jews do.

Contemporary particularism forsakes all ideals, Mr. Wolfe argues, depending on tougher-than-thou antiintellectual posturing. “Its bitterness offers no hope, and its descent into racist stereotyping relies on ways of thinking so often deployed against the Jews,” he writes. Appealing to Jewish heritage, he continues, it strips away from that heritage “everything that ought to make a Jew proud.”

Mr. Wolfe looks at Diasporic Jewry not as an endangered species threatened by aliyah (emigration to Israel) and assimilation, but as a vital and creative force that is also good for Israel. The “best thing Jews can do to further the survival of the Jewish state,” he writes, “is to remain outside Israel and keep the tradition of Diasporic universalism as vibrant as possible.” American Jews in particular, he optimistically concludes, “retain a commitment to social justice in ways that resemble a biblical commandment,” adding, “Religious or secular, universalism is part of who they are.”

Mr. Wolfe is well aware that many people, including those he labels pseudo-Nietzschean particularists, will think him naïve. Have you forgotten about the Holocaust? Have you not heard the cries of death to the Jews in Europe today? But Mr. Wolfe is a determined liberal who refuses to concede that abandoning the universal values that have emerged in Jewish history is the only way to fight anti-Semitism: “Jews have sufficient enemies in Europe,” he writes. “Creating new enemies out of whole cloth can only benefit those who want to collect as many antiSemites as possible to provide justification for Israel to do anything it considers necessary.”

Mr. Wolfe quotes Christopher Hitchens’s remark that “Israeli Jews are a part of the Diaspora, not a group that has escaped from it.” Jews have found ways of living in exile, even thriving in it, but nothing forces them to live in exile from their ideals. Alan Wolfe’s book is an expression of allegiance to those ideals and the people who have wrestled with them — keeping them alive wherever they may live.

IBM chief discusses Watson, cloud services

By Jack Newsham

OCTOBER 22, 2014

Watson, the superintelligent computer built by International Business Machines Corp., is perhaps best known for its tour-de-force performance on “Jeopardy!” in 2011, with swift responses such as “Who is Eleanor Rigby?,” to a clue about the subject of a Beatles song who “died in the church and was buried along with her name.”

But IBM chief executive Virginia Rometty argues Watson’s genius is best used to come up with answers to much more serious, real world challenges — treating cancer, for example.

SUZA NN E KREITER/G LOBE STAF F

Virginia Rometty, chief executive of IBM. greets Boston College student Violet Papathanas at the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club luncheon at the Boston Harbor Hotel.

The computer, which can understand questions posed in natural language, was a main feature of Rometty’s address in downtown Boston Wednesday about business uses of Big Data, cloud computing and cybersecurity measures. Watson is more than a computer; IBM markets the computing technology as a powerful tool that industries such as banking and telecommunications can use to more effectively analyze and process massive amounts of data.

For the medical industry, Watson is already helping doctors to personalize treatments for individual cancer patients, Rometty said “We will solve many of what have been looked at as unsolvable problems,” Rometty said. Watson, she added, “learns. You don’t program it.”

In an appearance at a luncheon of the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club, the IBM leader talked about how businesses could tap big data and off-site computer services to assert themselves in the marketplace. She also spoke about the need for companies to “train, test, and trick” their cybersecurity systems in order to keep their growing volumes of customers’ data safe.

Rometty was named to the top position at IBM in 2011, about 30 years after joining the company as a systems engineer.

IBM’s own business performance, meanwhile, came under question from an audience member who asked Rometty when the company would end a string of poor earnings that were highlighted just this week with an especially troublesome thirdquarter report.

Rometty replied that IBM had dramatically changed its business model in recent years, spinning off hardware units and focusing on software and cloud-based services.

“We don’t need more revenue with empty calories,” she said. “It’s a dangerous thing to talk about your target being just a size without going into what it is.”

IBM is a major employer in the Boston area, with a large research facility in Cambridge and several acquired companies in Greater Boston. Since 2003, the company has bought out 22 Boston companies. Most recently, it acquired the database company Cloudant, which it closed on in March. Globally, the company has 430,000 employees.

K-12 Leaders: Look for Lessons Outside Schools

By Andy Hargreaves | Boston College Lynch School of Education October 20, 2014

There is a great rift valley between business leaders and public education advocates.

Business leaders complain about public education and educators: School districts are gridlocked bureaucracies. Unions are vipers' nests of self-interest. Schools are failing. The system is broken. Charter schools, technology, top-down accountability, and wholesale replacements of teachers, principals, and schools—these seem to be the only answers.

Public educators say their work has nothing to do with business and that corporations should stay out of it. In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, defenders of children's rights, the 2014 Nobel Committee declared, "Children must go to school, not be financially exploited." Many U.S. educators might well add: Children must not go to school to be financially exploited by for-profit charter schools, technology corporations, or data-management companies.

But the truth is, all of our organizations need more and better leadership that is responsible, inspiring, and effective. Instead of pitting sectors and people against one another, we need to identify and articulate what the best leaders have in common and to elevate the place of leaders and leadership in all of our institutions—public and private. We shouldn't be taking our lead from big business and bad business, or from big, bad educational bureaucracies either, but from the best that leadership has to offer everywhere.

This is the challenge that Alan Boyle, Alma Harris, and I took on when we embarked on a seven-year study of unusually high performance in more than 15 organizations in business, sports, and education around the world. We looked at organizations that created something from almost nothing, that achieved a —Chris Whetzel for Education Week

lot with few resources, did so in the face of challenging circumstances, or turned poor performance into impressive

success.

What these organizations share, we found, was something we call uplifting leadership. It's a simple idea: These leaders uplift the opportunities or quality of life of the people they serve. They make the world a better place. They raise the hopes, spirits, and performance of the people in their organizations who are responsible for these outcomes. Uplifting leaders don't motivate people to do bad things. They don't bully or browbeat people into getting better outcomes. They align their goals with their means. They get the right results in the right way.

"Uplifting leaders don't try to beat out all competition and vanquish all opposition. They play well with others."

The kind of leadership that we uncovered is the opposite of what we've seen in the U.S. education reform movement: caricatures of big business, rather than principles of best business. Let's look at four reform trends and the uplifting alternatives to them: First, the unusually high-performing organizations we examined don't want to be No. 1 or race to the top for their own sake. They have a mission. Like Martin Luther King Jr., they define an inspiring dream that raises their people by pursuing a desirable future, while not disregarding an important history. Fiat Auto's acquisition of Chrysler Motors has been about inserting small energy-efficient cars in the North American market and reducing waste to zero.

For the 5 million people in Finland, following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and facing 19 percent unemployment, the dream was to reinvent a creative, craft-focused nation into a dynamic and advanced knowledge economy through the development of a high-quality teaching force.

Second, high-performing organizations learn from, but don't replicate, the work of high performers. They are original. They look at and learn from others, but forge their own counterintuitive paths to success. Burnley Football Club is the smallest club ever to be promoted into the English Premier League, the country's primary soccer association. It won a place in the Premier League in spite of being the smallest playing squad in its division. Yet it converted this apparent weakness into a formidable strength by developing team spirit among players who knew they would be playing together almost every week, rather than being benched or rotated.

When the tiny island nation of Singapore took just one generation to become one of the world's most productive economies and highest educational performers, it didn't rest on its laurels. Singaporeans pushed themselves even harder to become more creative and innovative by implementing a policy of "teach less, learn more." They also reduced the amount of standardized testing of students.

Third, uplifting leaders don't try to beat out all competition and vanquish all opposition. They play well with others. The iconic U.S. craft brewery Dogfish Head developed and launched a new craft beer with one of its major competitors, the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. As a result, they elevated customers' taste and passion for unique rather than mass-produced standardized beers. This lifted the entire craft-brewing industry.

The London Borough of Hackney moved from being England's worst-performing school district in 2002 to topping the national average in 2012. The community did this by expecting and funding principals and teachers in its privately sponsored academies (the equivalent of U.S. charter schools) to help neighboring schools improve. It was the right thing to do: When all the schools improved, parents stopped deserting Hackney for other districts and educated their children locally instead.

Last, uplifting leaders and their organizations don't ignore statistical data, but they aren't obsessed with the numbers for their own sake, either. Their metrics are meaningful. Shoebuy.com, an online retailer, moved from a startup in a 60-square-meter converted funeral parlor to become one of the leaders in its sector. The company used real-time metrics to support constant innovations and adjustments to its website. This improved online user experience translating into one of the highest rates of "stickiness" (or staying on the site) in the online-shopping industry. Nearly all members of the staff are involved in the website's innovative design changes. Unsurprisingly, the retailer has a high retention of staff.

In the successful Vancouver Giants minor-league hockey team, coaches increase players' blocked-shot ratios (the number of times they are willing to put their bodies between a puck traveling 100 mph and the goal) not by throwing new performance targets at them, but by sitting down with their players and reviewing their performance together and discussing personal- and team-improvement goals.

In the strong-performing Canadian province of Ontario, teachers regularly look at achievement and learning data in their schools. Using their own judgment and professional experience, they consider the data and take collective responsibility for student success and failure, including across grade levels.

Uplifting leaders pursue an inspiring dream that is larger than themselves. They take their own counterintuitive paths. They turn their greatest weaknesses into their biggest strengths to create unexpected and exceptional results. They work with their competitors because it is the right thing to do and also more effective. And they combine good data with good judgment to achieve excellent outcomes and engage the expertise of all their staff in doing so.

In teaching, business, and sport, this is the future of high performance窶馬ot by racing to the top, copying competitors, vanquishing the opposition, or being driven by data alone, but by uplifting teams and communities to produce stronger performance that contributes to a greater good.

The top 10 colleges for a major in history

By Megan Cahill, October 6, 2014

History classes allow students to examine past cultures and interpret various elements of society. Advanced analytical and writing skills prepare history majors for careers in numerous fields, ranging from education to museum curation to anthropology.

History degrees are typically rooted in a liberal arts education that provides students with a well-rounded course of studies leading to success in various professions.

History programs often expose students to specialized classes, including American history, European history, Middle Eastern society and culture, and world history. These classes are writing-intensive and push students to discover patterns in society.

The top ten colleges for studying history are highly competitive and attract both excellent students and well-respected faculty. Many of the schools are Ivy League institutions that have a reputation for providing the finest education available, leading students towards prosperous careers. These colleges were ranked on a variety of outcomes-based factors.

Read about College Factual’s methodology to find out more. Salary data is provided by Payscale.

7. BOSTON COLLEGE Boston College is a prestigious university, known for its selectivity and demanding curriculum. Faculty members ensure students have the skills to think critically, while writing concisely and persuasively.

The undergraduate program at BC includes classes in Western history, European history, Latin American history and other specialized topics to help students see the connection between the past and present so as to understand how cultures and traditions have been shaped. These skills lead students into careers in education, law, communications and management, earning an average starting salary of $49,000 and an average mid-career salary of $87,000.

By Ray D. Madoff │Oct. 5, 2014 NEWTON, Mass. — HOW can we increase the flow of money to charitable organizations? With the anemic economic recovery and cuts in government funding, the need for donations is greater than ever, yet funding for charities has remained largely stagnant.

One important source of funds for charitable organizations is private foundations, large ones like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or small family foundations with assets of $1 million or less. These organizations do not usually engage in charitable work themselves, but rather provide funding to organizations that do — think of the Red Cross, food banks, museums, etc.

There is over $600 billion sitting in private foundations awaiting distribution. However, private foundations have typically limited their annual giving to the minimum amount required by law: 5 percent of their assets. Moreover, since the payment of salaries and other administrative expenses can also count toward the 5 percent requirement, charities often receive far less than the minimum distribution rule would suggest.

Charities have begged and pleaded for increased distributions from these warehouses of wealth, to no avail.

What is to be done? A bill currently making its way through Congress, called the America Gives More Act, purports to provide the answer. While much of the bill is benign, included among its provisions is one that lobbyists for private foundations have been seeking for years: a reduction in the excise tax on private foundations to 1 percent.

Private foundations are generally subject to a 2 percent excise tax on their investment earnings. However, if in a given year they increase their annual distribution over their historic distribution rates, then the excise tax is reduced to 1 percent. This is intended to reward foundations for making larger grants.

For years private foundations have argued that this system is complicated, and can have unintended consequences. Most notably, they say it discourages private foundations from making large distributions in a single year, because it will then be harder to beat the historic average and qualify for the lower tax rate in subsequent years.

Private foundations and their lobbyists have argued that the way to address this design flaw is to allow all foundations to enjoy a reduced 1 percent tax rate. If the foundations pay less to the government, they say, then they will be free to spend more on charitable endeavors.

The problem is that there is no reason to believe that, absent an incentive, private foundations would increase their charitable giving. Experience teaches us just the opposite.

The 5 percent rule was enacted to provide a floor for charitable giving, but most private foundations use it as a ceiling as well.

Indeed, 75 percent of private foundations spend 6 percent or less of their assets each year.

Reducing taxes for all private foundations does nothing to encourage greater payouts. Instead of abandoning the incentives, Congress should make them cleaner and easier to apply.

We should adopt a system that reduces excise taxes on private foundations that distribute greater amounts to charitable causes.

Private foundations could qualify for these reduced tax rates by meeting higher payouts. Retain the current 2 percent excise tax for those private foundations that spend 6 percent or less; reduce the rate to 1 percent for those that spend between 6 and 8 percent; and eliminate the tax completely for those that spend 8 percent or more. Each year the foundation could choose its own payout and excise tax rates. This would be a simple system, easily understood by everyone. The more a private foundation spends on its charitable purpose, the less it would pay to the government.

Most important, this system would serve as a reminder that the purpose of private foundations is not to live forever, but to live a life with meaning.

Ray D. Madoff is a law professor at Boston College and the author of “Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead.”

Opinion NFL should follow FIFA’s example At the start of each game, team captains should read a brief statement against domestic violence

By Alberto Godenzi | October 03, 2014 If the NFL wants to take an unequivocal stance on domestic violence and promote respectful and nonviolent relationship, it should start by embracing a simple but powerful gesture.

What I am suggesting is not new. It has been successfully tested in that other version of football.

When the international soccer community was confronted with repeated acts of racism, FIFA, the international governing body that has grappled with its own reputational issues, launched an anti-racism campaign. The most striking example of that campaign was demonstrated once again at the recent World Cup quarterfinals in Brazil, in front of hundreds of millions of fans. Right before the kickoff, the captains of each team read a declaration against racism and discrimination, a gesture that generated worldwide attention.

A similar campaign for the NFL will not resolve domestic violence or sexual abuse. It will, however, make room for a course of action that is essential and overdue. Of all the stakeholders in this latest NFL controversy, the ones who have remained on the sidelines are the active players. They have been silent observers, either willingly or because their bosses asked them to avoid the fray. Undoubtedly, however, a good number of them have been irritated about the unwanted distraction, upset that their public image has been tarnished, or genuinely outraged about the shocking display of violent behavior against women and children.

Such an initiative encourages NFL players to do something similarly bold in favor of nonviolent, respectful relationships with women and children. It would give the players an opportunity to step out of the shadow and speak up. It provides them a space right on their turf where they can demonstrate solidarity with their wives, girlfriends, daughters, and mothers, recognizing that in this specific realm there is no neutral zone. Either you condone violence against women or you don’t. And if you don’t, let the world know, on the field, at the game.

No sport of the size and influence of American football ever dared to take on the omnipresent issue of domestic violence and sexual abuse. It seems that so far the NFL as an organization has chosen the strategy of damage control, the default response of most institutions that deal with violence against women. So it would be up to the players to change the course and do the right thing. The players are the heart of the NFL. Without them, there is no excitement and no business.

Just imagine for a moment how the teams line up on the sidelines. Right after the national anthem and before the kickoff, at that moment where the anticipation reaches a first peak, the team captains read a brief statement against domestic violence and sexual abuse. This would be a powerful message to all those who have a stake in football, owners, coaches, fans, the media, and last, but not least, the players themselves. Players don’t look to their coaches when it comes to relationships with women or domestic matters. They take cues from their peers, especially those men they admire. Fans, similarly, can take their cues from the actions of the players they admire.

Adopting the FIFA model would also mark a significant change in this latest episode of sports and society. If the active players add their voice and support to confront domestic violence and sexual abuse, it could be a game changer.

Alberto Godenzi is the Dean of the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work

September 30, 2014

Learning Payoff Found for BC's 'City Connects' Program Academic payoffs found for program

By Sarah D. Sparks Even in resource-­‐rich cities like Boston or New York, students in poverty often miss out on the support and enrichment provided by local museums, businesses, and civic organizations.

By the start of middle school, The Afterschool Corp. estimates that children in poverty have received 6,000 fewer hours of learning outside of school—both enrichment and support—than their middle-­‐income peers. While many programs target low-­‐ income students who are struggling academically or emotionally, it can be more difficult to find enrichment activities to build on the strengths and interests of students progressing normally in school.

To fill those gaps, some elementary schools in two states— Massachusetts and Ohio—are working to better coordinate with local partners to provide the kinds of cultural and extracurricular Nicole Young, at center in white sweater, a City Connects coordinator at Josiah experiences, as well as social services and supports, that boost all Quincy Elementary School in Boston, leads a tour of the school for college students who will be volunteer tutors there. New research suggests there is an academic students' long-­‐term academic progress. payoff from the City Connects program, which links students and their families to

supports and resources that align with their needs. —Charlie Mahoney/Prime for The approach is at the heart of a Boston College program called Education Week "City Connects," which helps schools organize and align services for students, including the "great middle"—students who are neither excelling enough to be tapped for gifted programs nor struggling enough to be identified for special education.

"Let's not spend all our time on the 10 percent of kids who are having the most trouble, because we're missing the other 90 percent," said Mary E. Walsh, a professor in urban education and innovative leadership counseling at Boston College. "Most kids, even if they are doing OK, can always benefit from all the opportunities in the community that can foster resilience. There's a lot we can do to promote healthy development."

New Study Results An evaluation published in the August issue of the American Educational Research Journal suggests that the program may be yielding results. The study found evidence that students who attended elementary schools that engaged in more personalized use of community programs and services performed better academically, not just during their early years but through the end of middle school.

Boston College researchers tracked nearly 8,000 students in kindergarten through 5th grade in the Boston public schools from 1999 through 2009. A little more than 3,400 of those students attended one of 13 city schools implementing the City Connects program; the rest attended more-­‐typical elementary schools that were matched by neighborhood and demographics. The researchers also analyzed the performance of students in four schools before and after implementing the program.

Ms. Walsh and colleagues at Boston College's Center for Optimized Student Support have been developing and studying the program for more than 15 years in schools in Boston and Springfield, Mass., and Dayton, Ohio. The participating schools conduct detailed needs assessments and generate electronic data profiles of every child on campus. Then a coordinator works with teachers and administrators to identify and arrange for community and local agency services, creating a single support system instead of matching students with programs ad hoc.

In the study published in AERJ, the latest in a series on the program, students attending the City Connects elementary schools showed higher reading, writing, and mathematics report-­‐card performance in grades 3 to 5 and higher math scores on the state standardized test in grade 3. In middle school, students who had attended a City Connects school had higher overall course grades in 6th a nd 7th grades, and higher performance on math and English/language arts state tests in grades 6, 7, and 8.

The results suggest that additional support for students outside of school, both in academic and nonacademic areas, can clear the way for students to progress academically, Ms. Walsh said.

Strengths and Needs City Connects uses a tiered approach similar to that employed by response-­‐to-­‐ intervention models to monitor students' progress and supports in and out of school, beginning with a "whole class review" in which every student in a school receives a personal review by a three-­‐person team including the child's teacher.

Catherine Riede, a City Connects coordinator at Josiah Quincy Elementary School, in Boston, watches as students play a game of Candyland as an ice-­‐breaker exercise. A recent study found that the academic gains students made in the program persisted into middle school.—Charlie Mahoney/Prime for Education Week

"One of the things that happens in the teachers' lunchroom is they talk about the [students] who give them grief, they talk about the star, but there's the great middle that goes unnoticed from year to year," Ms. Walsh said. "They never sit and review every single child, and they never look at the class as a whole."

In the City Connects review, the teacher, program coordinator, and another staff member or administrator analyze and record each student's strengths and needs in four areas: academics, health, social-­‐emotional development, and family. Conversations within the review cover some of the typical indicators, like grades, test scores, and absences, but also more subtle cues, according to Catherine Riede, a City Connects coordinator for Boston's Josiah Quincy Elementary School: "Does the student appear lethargic in class? What kind of snacks do they bring? Is the family communicative, do they sign and return papers?" Ms. Riede explained. "There are a lot of different avenues to look at."

The process takes about 45 minutes per student, and the resulting profiles are entered into an electronic data system that allows teachers and administrators to look at the needs and strengths of individual students, classes, or the whole school.

Once every student and classroom has a profile of needs and strengths, the program coordinators go to community partners to match services to students.

The coordinator fills roles often managed elsewhere in a piecemeal manner by a school's principal, guidance counselor, or teachers. The coordinator can also screen potential community services so that teachers and parents aren't overwhelmed by the array of outside groups.

"It's really important for community partners to have someone focus on managing the programs at the school," said Nicole A. Y oung, who joined City Connects in Boston as a coordinator after working with a Big Sisters program in the district.

Meeting Needs For example, after reviews last year, Ms. Riede said the school realized it had some strong general mentoring programs, but not enough targeted to young boys; it was able to work with other City Connects schools to find programs that specifically could provide men as role models.

Even in a city like Boston, which is packed with museums, colleges, and medical centers, schools still need help coordinating access to such resources.

"We can't just say, 'Here's a note for your mother; tell her to take you to a museum," Ms. Walsh said. "We need to talk to the museum, find free passes, figure out how to get transportation for the family."

Ms. Young also asks community groups to arrange programs on campus for families with transportation challenges. For example, to help several Quincy families with nutrition and obesity problems, the school brought in dieticians from a nearby Tufts University medical center to give shopping tips and cooking lessons for low-­‐income families. Those cooking lessons proved so popular that the school offered a three-­‐night cooking series called "Delicious Living" last spring.

Researchers are still tracking the longterm effects of more community support, but some early results show promise. A separate 2014 progress report on the program that has not yet been published in a peer-­‐reviewed journal shows students who had attended City Connects schools also had significantly lower rates of chronic absenteeism throughout their school years, including high school.

The results suggest community groups can keep students more connected to school if they know how to reach the students, Ms. Walsh said: "It's much better to work with children in a holistic way than to come in and say, 'I have a magical mental-­‐health program and I'm going to give counseling to all of the students in your school.'"

Why we can’t reform literacy and math all at once School “reform” is hardly a new phenomenon in the public school system, with decades of efforts to improve reading and math scores. Why haven’t all these efforts met expectations? Here’s one explanation, from Andy Hargreaves, the Brennan Chair in Education in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College and an adviser to the premier and minister of education of Ontario, Canada. His new book, with Alan Boyle and Alma Harris, is “Uplifting Leadership.” This first appeared on the blog of Lesley University’s Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative.

By Andy Hargreaves | Sept 26

(BIGSTOCK)

Less than a year ago, I participated with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD who do the PISA tests) to do a review of the educational improvement strategy for Wales. Part of the Welsh strategy was to raise student achievement in literacy and numeracy (math) across the country in a relatively short space of time. Our report advised that the Welsh Government should rethink this strategy. Here’s why.

Large-scale literacy reform has been in vogue in the United States and elsewhere for two decades now. It has been one of the driving forces of educational change across the country and many other parts of the world. One of the places it began was in New York District 2 in the mid 1990s. There, the Chancellor of Schools, Anthony Alvarado, and his staff, imposed a literacy program across the whole system, linked to measurable achievement gains, and backed up with detailed new materials and intensive one-on-one in-classroom coaching.

Harvard professor Richard Elmore and his school superintendent coauthor Deanne Burney articulated and applauded the reform design and its impact on results. Diane Ravitch later took some of the edge off the achievement gains by arguing that some of them were a result of gentrification of the community, not of the change strategy. But the more important point is that when the San Diego school district became enamored of the model, and transplanted Alvarado and many of his team members to implement it on the other side of America in a fraction of the timescale, the results were catastrophic. Gains were not sustainable and open warfare broke out between district factions as teachers and principals buckled under impossible high stakes pressure for short-term results. What was the lesson to be learned? Large-scale literacy reform has to be grown gradually. It cannot be imposed impatiently.

Across the Atlantic, England’s Blair Government was also setting about large-scale reform by instituting a national Literacy and Numeracy Stragey (NLNS). The strategy had an extremely tight focus so that many schools abandoned other curriculum priorities to accommodate it, it provided prescribed and paced instructional materials, it exercised relentless surveillance over implementation through the use of coaching and other strategies, and it imposed high stakes consequences for schools that failed to improve.

Architects and admirers of the strategy like Tony Blair’s education adviser, Sir Michael Barber, claimed there were significant gains as a result of the strategy. Critics provided data indicating that the improving trend preceded the implementation of the strategy, they pointed to how the results hit a plateau once the easiest wins had been made (for instance by concentrating on what US scholars call “bubble kids”), and they revealed the existence of huge collateral damage in the form of a narrowed curriculum, loss of classroom creativity and the rise of teaching to the test.

One of the biggest problems was massive teacher burnout and professional disillusionment that led to a crisis of recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. What was the lesson to be learned? Simultaneous imposition of literacy and math reform requires teachers to change all their practice all at once and this is so overwhelming that it threatens the basic capacity of the profession to maintain its quality.

On the United States’ northern border, the high-performing province of Ontario also took on the strategy of large scale reform but tried to learn from the mistakes that had been made in England that it saw as providing insufficient support and imposing punitive pressure, and in San Diego by taking an off-the-shelf model and implementing it too fast. Inspired by the systemic literacy-oriented change efforts of Peter Hill and Carmel Crevola in the Catholic School system of Melbourne, Australia, Ontario created a literacy and numeracy secretariat that made these areas of change the province’s core priority. It paced the change agenda so that achievement gains would be steady and sustainable rather than spectacular but unstable. It also provided a stronger spirit and much higher levels of support than in England in terms of resources, training, partnership with the teacher unions and an emphasis on school-to-school assistance.

Ontario’s literacy gains of 2-3 percent or so every year seemed both steady and cumulatively substantial and sustainable. But even its more advanced strategy had its limitations. The literacy gains were not matched by similar gains in math over the whole reform period, and in the past four years, math results have actually fallen. In practice, reformers now acknowledge, the numeracy strategy was not nearly so intensive as the literacy strategy.

What is the lesson to be learned? In practice, even Ontario, with all its change knowledge, couldn’t implement wholesale changes in literacy and numeracy together, so one half of the strategy fell by the wayside by default.

Wales introduced its own Literacy and Numeracy Framework in September of 2013. Drawing on the lessons of international reform efforts, the advice of the OECD team on which I served as one of two experts was, in effect, for Wales to have a literacy then numeracy strategy, or vice versa. Here is what our team concluded (OECD 2014, p76): Effective continuous professional development and implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy Framework may …. require judgments about sequencing. To implement the framework requires teachers to learn three new things: new content in literacy, new content in numeracy, and new pedagogical strategies for effective differentiated teaching in particular. For a primary teacher, these three areas of learning affect all their teaching, almost all of the time, all at once. There is increasing evidence that this is simply too much. For example, in Ontario, the effort to implement the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in practice meant that while great gains were made in literacy, the other half of the strategy (numeracy) did not get implemented to any great extent and in recent years results in numeracy have actually fallen….. Wales should learn from this experience.

This is a valuable lesson not only for the nation of Wales, but for all nations undertaking system-wide reforms in literacy, or math, or both.

Philippines president visits Boston College Aquino recalls Hub as haven, talks of his ties to the area

By Jeremy C. Fox | S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 NEWTON — Filipino-Americans from around New England gathered at Boston College on Sunday to celebrate the visit of the country’s president, Benigno S. Aquino III, who was making a nostalgic return to the Hub for the first time in 31 years.

“Boston . . . gave my family a sense of normalcy in what can only be described as very abnormal times back home,” Aquino recalled of the turmoil in the Philippines of the early 1980s. “Every aspect of life was controlled there by the dictator. And unless you belonged to the favored few, you had very limited rights.”

Aquino attended a Mass at the Parish of St. Ignatius of Loyola on the college campus before speaking to a crowd of hundreds at the adjacent Robsham Theatre.

AR AM BOGHOSIA N FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Boston College President Rev. William Leahy (left) speaks with Philippines President Benigno Aquino III during an event in Robsham Theater on the school’s campus.

In his speech, Aquino touted improvements in the economy, employment rates, health care, education, infrastructure, and public accountability of officials in the Philippines since his election in 2010. But he devoted much of his talk to memories of the time his family lived in the Boston area in the early 1980s.

“It was in Boston that I experienced my first snowfall,” he said, going on to recall a bitterly cold winter in which he slept in thermal underwear beneath a track suit, inside a sleeping bag, under sheets and blankets topped with a comforter.

Aquino is the son of Benigno S. Aquino Jr., who rose from mayor of a small city in the Philippines to provincial governor and then senator before being arrested by the government of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos, whom he had planned to challenge for the presidency. The elder Aquino spent 7½ years in prison.

After his 1980 release, the elder Aquino and his wife Corazon C. Aquino made their home at 175 Commonwealth Ave. in Newton, near Boston College, while he served as a fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs and the MIT Center for International Studies before being assassinated upon his return to the Philippines in 1983.

Corazon Aquino attended church at St. Ignatius of Loyola during the family’s Newton years, and BC presented her with its Ignatius Medal after she toppled Marcos — a dictator who ruled for two decades — in a 1986 election.

During her September 1986 visit to the college, she described St. Ignatius Church as “a place of solace and meditation” during her family’s self-imposed exile, according to a Globe story.

Since 2010, Boston College has offered a scholarship for Asian-American students named in honor of the Aquinos.

Professor Min Song, chairman of the scholarship committee, told the audience Sunday that for years the scholarship had been known simply as the Asian-American scholarship. But he said that students had wanted its name changed to recognize the achievements of a leader, just as the school’s scholarship for black students is named for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and its Hispanic student scholarship for Archbishop Oscar A. Romero.

Song said that the college had looked for about two years and considered many candidates to honor, but none seemed right until they considered the Aquinos.

“What I personally love about the name Benigno and Corazon Aquino is that it tells us something about the struggle for justice,” Song said. “It says that one might never see the fulfillment of one’s aspirations for justice, but that one nevertheless survives and finds courage to attain it. And if one fails, someone else will pick up that struggle. . . . That the struggle for justice never ends.”

How the GOP stopped caring about you

By Heather Cox Richardson, September 19 Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and the author of the forthcoming “To

Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party” (Basic Books), from which this essay is adapted.

In 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, Republican Justin Smith Morrill stood in Congress to defend his party’s invention: an income tax. The government had the right to demand 99 percent of a man’s property, the Vermont representative thundered. If the nation needs it, “the property of the people . . . belongs to the government .” The Republican Congress passed the income tax — as well as a spate of other taxes — and went on to create a strong national government.

By the time the war ended, the GOP had invented national banking, currency and taxation; had provided schools and homes for poor Americans; and had freed the country’s 4 million slaves.

(Eddie Guy for The Washington Post)

A half-century later, when corporations dominated the economy and their owners threw their weight into political contests, Theodore Roosevelt fulminated against that “small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power.”

Insisting that America must return to “an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him,” the Republican president called for government to regulate business, prohibit corporate funding of political campaigns, and impose income and inheritance taxes.

In the mid-20th century, Republican President Dwight Eisenhower recoiled from using American resources to build weapons alone, warning, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” He called for government funding for schools, power plants, roads and hospitals.

At these crucial moments, Republican leaders argued that economic opportunity is central to the American ideal and that government must enable all to rise. But each time the party has taken this stand, it has sparked a backlash from within, prompting the GOP to throw its support behind America’s wealthiest people and to blame those who fall behind for their own poverty.

How did the progressive Republican Party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Eisenhower become the reactionary party of Ronald Reagan, the tea party and Paul Ryan?

There is nothing random about these ideological shifts. They reflect the party’s — and the nation’s — central unresolved problem: the tension between equality of opportunity and protection of private property.

This tension has driven American politics since the nation’s earliest days. The Declaration of Independence promised citizens equal access to economic opportunity. This was the powerful principle for which men were willing to fight the American Revolution, but it was never codified in law. When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they assumed that the country’s vast resources would ensure equality of opportunity. Worried instead about stability, they enshrined in the Constitution another principle: that property rights must be protected.

Soon after the Constitution was ratified, American settlers poured across the Appalachians and into the new lands to the west, hoping to work their way to economic security. There, some men settled on better land than others; some had family money; some were rich enough already to own slaves to work their lands — and quickly, those men accumulated more than others.

This stratification of wealth revealed the disparity between the Declaration and the Constitution.

Along with wealth, slaveowners gained political power, which they used to secure legislation promoting their interests.

Gradually, the laws they put in place circumscribed other Americans’ ability to rise. Wealth moved upward; equality of opportunity faltered.

By 1854, Southern slaveholders, who made up about 1 percent of the population, had come to control the White House, Senate and Supreme Court. They insisted that America’s central principle was the protection of property and that this principle established their right to spread slavery, effectively limiting access to land for poorer men. They contended that their leadership was God’s will. Society functioned best when a workforce with little intelligence and no aspirations produced food, clothing, housing and other basic requirements, overseen by wealthy, educated white men who could focus on advancing human progress.

This system depended on the concentration of wealth and political power. If those at the bottom were allowed to vote, they would demand a larger share of the wealth they were producing and launch a revolution by “the quiet process of the ballot box,” one Southern leader warned.

It was this very scenario that inspired the creation of the Republican Party. Northern men who aspired to better themselves rejected the idea that they were part of a permanent underclass; they reiterated the promise of the Declaration of Independence that every man was created equal and argued that the government must guarantee all men equal access to economic opportunity. Only widespread prosperity could maintain a healthy society. They organized the Republican Party in 1854 to push back against the control of the government by wealthy slaveholders. Republicans “are for both the man and the dollar; but in cases of conflict, the man before the dollar,” Abraham Lincoln explained.

In 1860, the Republicans put Lincoln in the White House, and Southerners left the Union. Their absence opened the way for the new party to reshape the national government, from protecting the wealth of propertied men to promoting economic opportunity for everyone. Prodded by the needs of the Union cause, the Republican Party created a strong national government that educated young men and gave them land to farm. Ultimately, the GOP abolished slavery, then gave freedmen the vote so they could protect their own economic interests.

Civil War Republicans rejected the idea that they were enacting welfare legislation. Rather, they argued, it was a legitimate use of the government to promote broad-based economic growth. The Founding Fathers had neglected to guard against the wealthy dominating and subverting the government, but Lincoln’s Republican Party addressed that omission.

Almost as soon as the Civil War ended, the Republicans’ egalitarian vision came under attack. The war had required Americans to pay national taxes for the first time, and when government-funded programs helped former slaves and immigrant workers, opponents saw the very wealth redistribution Southern leaders had feared. Eastern Republicans, whose industries flourished under the party’s economic policies, began to focus on protecting their interests rather than promoting opportunity. Within just a few years, they drove the party to embrace the ideas it had fought a war to expunge. By the 1870s, powerful Republicans were railing against the “socialism” and “communism” that might lead the government to redistribute wealth through public works projects and social welfare laws. The party began to focus on defending the interests of business, and money and power became concentrated at the top of society.

In the 1880s, voters turned to the Democrats, and the Republican Party restricted voting and jiggered the electoral system to stay in power, adding six states to the Union in an attempt to stack the Senate. When their efforts failed and voters elected a Democratic government in 1892, Republican leaders predicted economic disaster, encouraged investors to shun the stock market, prompted a run on treasury gold and precipitated an economic crash.

In three decades, the Republican Party had taken the nation to opposite extremes. Once the driving agents of economic opportunity, Republicans had become the engineers of economic ruin.

As Lincoln had done before him, Theodore Roosevelt recognized the danger of a system that concentrated wealth and power.

He came of age during the 1880s, the height of early American industrialization, when wealth was gathered in the hands of business owners who built empires with the labor of unskilled urban workers. Opposing the industrialists’ control over government, Roosevelt turned back to the original Republican vision, adapting it to his time. He called for government regulation of business and promotion of education to guarantee a level playing field, and he forced national leaders again to take measures to protect economic opportunity. They cleaned up the tenements, factories and adulterated food that sickened workers; regulated railroad shipping rates; broke up trusts; protected public lands; and promoted education and women’s health to guarantee that no hard-working American would be locked into poverty.

The backlash against this second expansion of the middle class was quick and dramatic, especially amid the labor and racial unrest following World War I. Republicans accused workers and African Americans of plotting to bring the Bolshevik revolution to America, and demanded support for unbridled capitalism from all Americans. When the party retook power in the 1920s, its leaders slashed taxes and business regulation, insisting that a strong business sector would create wealth for everyone. “The chief business of the American people,” said Republican President Calvin Coolidge, “is business.”

Like 30 years before, wealth became concentrated at the top of the economic scale and declining purchasing power among the majority of Americans destabilized the economy. When the 1929 crash wiped out disposable income, there were not enough consumers to fuel a recovery. Americans clamored for government aid, but Republican President Herbert Hoover echoed his party’s big-business rhetoric of the 1890s. His administration blamed greedy, lazy American workers for the crash and insisted that the only things that would spark a recovery were lower taxes and pay cuts for public employees. “Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate,” Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon insisted.

Parents of Welles Crowthers brimming with pride

By Kevin Cullen | G L O B E S T A F F | S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

Last Thursday, on the 13th anniversary of the day their son, Welles, died while saving many people inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center, Alison and Jefferson Crowther left their house in Nyack, N.Y. They drove to Clarkstown South High School, to talk to kids about why their son kept bringing people out of the tower and going back into it on 9/11.

Then they headed down to Queens, and Jefferson threw out the first pitch at the Mets game, and the people at Citi Field cheered Welles and their city’s resilience.

On Friday morning, they drove up to a middle school in New Canaan, Conn., and talked about the curriculum they’ve built around the life and death of their son. Then they drove to Walpole to work on the trust in their son’s memory.

BOSTON COLLEGE Welles Remy Crowther

From there, they drove to Waltham, for dinner with their daughter and her fiance.

On Saturday, they headed to Chestnut Hill, to Boston College, where Welles graduated in 1999. BC was playing the ninthranked USC Trojans. The Crowthers spent the pregame handing out 6,000 red bandannas, because that was Welles’s trademark. His dad gave him one when he was 6, and he always had one. In his pocket when he rode his bike. Under his hockey and lacrosse helmets in high school. Under his helmet when he played lacrosse at BC. Across his face when the South Tower blew up.

They didn’t know it, but BC coach Steve Addazio had just shown his team the ESPN documentary about Welles, “The Man in The Red Bandanna.” The film was produced by Drew Gallagher, one of Welles’s BC buddies. The USC team watched it, too.

Alison and Jefferson Crowther were introduced during the game. Jefferson Crowther realized he only had a blue bandanna in his pocket. That was the deal: His was blue, Welles’s was red.

He ran over to the stands and asked one of the kids for one of the red bandannas.

“Keep it,” the BC student told him.

“No,” Jefferson Crowther said. “I’ll bring it back.”

Five minutes later, the ceremony over, he went over and handed it back.

“He held it close, like a relic from the saints,” Jefferson Crowther said.

They met with Pete Frates, the BC grad who is battling ALS and who inspired the Ice Bucket Challenge. Frates struggled to express verbally how much inspiration he took from Welles. His brother read out a tweet that Frates wrote about Welles, and at this point Alison and Jefferson Crowther were overwhelmed.

It wasn’t supposed to be much of a game. BC was a 20-point underdog. Nobody gave the Eagles a chance. But someone did.

When it was over, and BC won in the dying minutes on a Tyler Murphy touchdown run, the Crowthers found themselves hugging all these thirtysomethings, everybody that went to BC with Welles. They found themselves shaking hands with a BC grad named Marty Walsh.

“This is so great,” the mayor of Boston told them.

Coach Addazio brought them in the locker room, and after handing out game balls to the defense and Murphy, he handed a third game ball to Alison and Jefferson Crowther.

Jefferson Crowther stood before a bunch of sweaty, exhilarated football players, looking at their uniforms — their helmets, shirts, shoes, gloves — emblazoned with red bandannas. He almost didn’t know what to say, and then he said, “I can’t get over those frickin’ cleats.”

The locker room exploded in cheers.

After the Crowthers left the locker room, they were approached by two BC players. One, whose name they didn’t catch, gave them his game shoes. The other, Malachi Moore, who is 6 feet 7 inches and wider than the Pike, told them the only reason he came to BC is because Tom Rinaldi, who wrote the script to that ESPN documentary, visited his high school in New Jersey and told Welles’s story.

“I just wanted to tell you how much your son means,” Malachi Moore told them.

There was nothing else to say.

The One Thing Most Companies Get Wrong When Trying To Innovate

By Andy Boynton with William Bole │9/15/2014 Most executives have seen the ubiquitous lists of the ten or however-many best ways for their firms to innovate. If I were assembling such a list, I’d be tempted to include just a single item.

I’d do that because of the one thing most companies get wrong, when aiming for big Andy Boynton Contributor innovation.

And that is—they don’t have the connective tissue. By that, I mean they really haven’t connected their products to the people who might be using them. To do that, a company has to get in touch—deeply—with the customer’s life.

It has to understand his or her experience and situation, in a way that even the customer may not understand.

Very few companies engage in that sort of deep discovery. But that’s what they have to do, if they want to develop not just new and improved products, but knock-your-socks-off products that’ll change the game.

These thoughts come to me after hearing a presentation by Gianfranco Zaccai, founder and president of Continuum, a leading global design and innovation consultancy based near Boston, Massachusetts. Like many design professionals today, the people at Continuum are well adept at forging what I describe as this connective tissue between product (or service) and person.

A Dirty Story Consider, for example, the story of Swiffer, a product that has revolutionized the way many people clean floors. In 1994, a senior executive at Procter & Gamble approached Continuum and said, “There has got to be a better way to clean a floor. Current mops are the cleaning equivalent of the horse drawn carriage. Where’s the car?”

With this mandate, members of a Continuum team fanned out to 18 homes in Boston and Cincinnati, to observe people and their mopping rituals.

For one thing, the team noticed that most people swept the floors before they mopped (because mops aren’t good at getting rid of dust). And afterward, they seemed to spend as much time rinsing the mops as they did cleaning the floor (otherwise, during the next mopping they’d return dirt to the floor). It was dirty work, so people wore old clothes.

The result of this deep discovery was a product that “combined sweeping and mopping into a single mess-free act” (using dry and wet disposable cloths), Zaccai explains. Fifteen years after its debut, Swiffer is now a line of cleaning products with sales of around $500 million a year.

There’s a time-honored way of creating innovative products. It involves putting together a focus group and sitting around a table and talking. But that’s not the “connective tissue” way.

Zaccai makes the critical point that participants in focus groups can’t identify unmet needs “for the simple reason that most people don’t know what they are missing until they experience it.” He says focus groups are more likely to pour cold water on a game-changing idea than to recognize or inspire one.

As an example, Zaccai cites (in an article he wrote for Fast Company) the Reebok Pump, another acclaimed product developed by Continuum.

“When Continuum pitched an idea to Reebok for a new basketball shoe that would use inflated air to better support the ankle, thereby reducing injuries, the brand manager for basketball shoes said he wasn’t interested because he had never heard about a need for that from a focus group. When we proposed the idea to a high school basketball team, the response was even worse–the players openly laughed at the concept.

But when the team members actually used an early “experiential model” of the shoe during practice, they were won over by how cool it was to have a shoe form-fitted to their feet. Over time, they were even more

enthusiastic as they realized they could play more confidently without fear of injury. Like that, the Reebok Pump was born.

Putting the “Ovation” Back in Innovation Of course, you don’t get to great by just hanging out in people’s kitchens and other settings. There’s usually a long way toward developing the product through prototyping, experimenting, iterating, and so on. That’s part of the deep discovery.

The point is that you’re unlikely to get there without the connective tissue. A company might have all the other ducks in a row, including the technology and the usual market research. But they often don’t close the loop in the value chain of innovation. They don’t get into the life of the customer and connect with a person’s experiences.

Their plans look great in PowerPoint but fall short of the mark in reality.

Why they don’t is another question. It’s possible that some companies don’t understand the need for such discovery. Maybe their people don’t have the necessary skills (which involve keen listening and observation, not to mention empathy), or the habits (constant prototyping being a crucial one).

Many companies do well enough, without adding this value to their innovation strategies. But the stories of products such as Swiffer, the Reebok Pump, and many others have demonstrated that when you connect product with person, you drastically ramp up the odds of success with a giant payoff. You get noticed, and you put the “ovation” back in innovation.

Andy Boynton is Dean of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and coauthor, with Bill Fischer, of The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen (Jossey-Bass), written with William Bole.

Common Core math is not fuzzy: Column Real fluency is an improvement on traditional math's plug-and-chug, mechanical approach Solomon Friedberg | September 15, 2014

Common Core math is getting the works from critics: It's too demanding for most kids; holds back the speedy kids; not the same as what parents already know; makes kids cry. It even promotes "fuzzy math."

As a professional mathematician, I'm as firmly against fuzzy math as they come.

Common Core lays the foundation for students to have a better grasp of mathematical concepts than present standards and sets higher expectations for teaching and learning.

If that doesn't sound fuzzy, there's a simple reason: It isn't.

To appreciate the changes under way, and perhaps to understand the anxiety provoked by Common Core, it's helpful to look at math before the core.

Too often, it has been "plug and chug" math. In this approach, math is a bunch of memorized rules that don't make much sense. Follow the rules, and you will get (Photo: Alton Strupp, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal) the right answer. Do something different, and you're likely to get it wrong.

"Analytical thinking" consists of figuring out which rule to apply. There is limited need for originality, explanations, or even genuine understanding. Learning enough rules will allow you to solve the problems you are given. Do this for enough years, and you may firmly believe that this is what mathematics actually is. If your kids are asked to do something different, you may be up in arms.

Reality of rules Math as rules starts early. Kids learn in elementary school that you can "add a zero to multiply by ten." And it's true, 237 x 10 = 2370.

Never mind why. But then when kids learn decimals, the rule fails: 2.37 x 10 is not 2.370. One approach is to simply add another rule. But that's not the best way.

Common Core saves us from plug-and-chug. In fact, math is based on a collection of ideas that do make sense. The rules come from the ideas. Common Core asks students to learn math this way, with both computational fluency and understanding of the ideas.

Learning math this way leads to deeper understanding, obviates the need for endless rule-memorizing and provides the intellectual flexibility to apply math in new situations, ones for which the rules need to be adapted. (It's also a lot more fun.) Combining computational fluency with understanding makes for problem solvers who can genuinely use their math. This is what businesses want and what is necessary to use math in a quantitative discipline.

Here is what good math learning produces: Students who can compute correctly and wisely, choosing the best way to do a given computation; students who can explain what they are doing when they solve a problem or use math to analyze a situation; and students who have the flexibility and understanding to find the best approach to a new problem.

Common Core promotes this. It systematically and coherently specifies the topics and connections needed for math to make sense, and promotes both understanding and accuracy.

No revolution This doesn't sound revolutionary because it's not. Common Core is a list of topics everyone knows we should teach. It doesn't tell teachers how to teach them (though it does ask that they teach them coherently, with understanding). It is also not a test, not a curriculum, not a set of homework problems, not a federal mandate and not a teacher evaluation tool.

But you wouldn't know it from some of the criticisms directed at it. It lays out the topics for students, grade by grade. The rest is up to the teachers, school districts and state boards.

The higher expectations laid out by the Core have been endorsed by every major mathematical society president, including the American Mathematical Society and the American Statistical Association. They called the Common Core State Standards an "auspicious advance in mathematics education."

Of course, the core will do best if parents can support their children in reaching these higher goals. Websites such as Khan Academy and Illustrative Mathematics have incorporated the standards and show best practices and well-crafted math problems.

There is no doubt that the new standards are more rigorous. They will require more of our students, our teachers and our parents. Knowing what you are doing, instead of just knowing a set of rules, is the essential foundation for applying math to the real world.

That's not fuzzy. It is smart.

Solomon Friedberg is the Chairperson for the Mathematics Department at Boston College

Boston College Brings Joyce's 'Dubliners' Digital Kirk Carapezza │September 15, 2014

The news from campuses around the nation is clear: as a concentration for study, the humanities have seen better days. That's what makes a two-­‐year-­‐old project at Boston College so interesting. At the Heights, it's the English Department that's pioneering technological change.

Dubliners, a collection of 15 short stories by James Joyce about Irish urban life published 100 years ago, is an unlikely launching pad for a pedagogical revolution.

But don't tell that to Professor Joe Nugent.

Professor Joe Nugent and his student Sarah Doyle both worked for two years on the digital version of James Joyce's 'Dubliners' (Mallory Noe-­‐ Payne/WGBH).

"Long before the term digital humanities came into the academy -­‐ before it began to sweep around the otherwise dusty corridors of academia -­‐ Joyceans were doing things that others weren't daring to attempt to do," says Nugent.

Like the characters in Dubliners, Nugent had an epiphany, a moment of cosmic self-­‐realization that his old-­‐fashioned, page-­‐ centric way of teaching Joyce's work to young students wasn't making it over the cultural divide.

“It was thanks to them that I embraced, willingly and unwillingly, but increasingly willingly, the digital humanities, says Nugent.

Over the past two years, Boston College students have been developing a digital project guiding readers through Joyce’s 15 stories. The online project is called Digital Dubliners, and it provides interactive maps, photos and interviews with Joycean scholars. You can even listen to some of Joyce’s favorite songs – songs that inspired the Irish scribe’s writing.

In short videos, each story is introduced by the student editors involved in the project.

“For digital books to work properly, they’ve got to provide an awful lot more than your average book," Nugent says.

"And this provides things that simply can’t be made available through print.”

A self-­‐described academic purist, Nugent admits that he was initially skeptical. Now, he predicts Digital Dubliners is what a textbook will look like in the future. That’s because his students are no longer mere absorbers of information.

Technology allows them to co-­‐produce it.

On campus, Nugent slides his finger across his iPad as he reviews the app with one of his students and co-­‐producers Sarah Doyle.

“This is one of those projects where I actually found myself forgetting that we were getting graded,” says Doyle.

The 20-­‐year-­‐old from Andover is majoring in both English and Biology. In these digital tools, she sees the potential to embed information so you don't have to look for it elsewhere.

“When I’m reading texts now, I find myself going on to Google and looking up pictures of where they wrote about," Doyle says. "I want to know more about historical context.”

Of course this project comes at a time when the humanities are facing stiff competition. Price-­‐conscious students, encouraged by their parents, are choosing majors like political and computer science because it seems more practical.

And the liberal arts are coming under fire from business leaders and families to justify their existence as the cost of college skyrockets.

“The ability to appeal to undergraduate students in a language that they understand is crucial to any 21st century discipline,” says Joseph Valente, a professor and Joyce scholar at the University of Buffalo.

Valente thinks Joyce, who opened Ireland’s first cinema, would have appreciated this digital project.

"He would not only have been happy about its cutting-­‐edge technology, he would have been happy about its pop culture sensibility,” says Valente.

A sensibility that's transforming teaching techniques.

“University education is now flexed in a way that it has never been before," Valente says. "It's not bound by specific dimensions of the classroom; it’s not bound by the temporal dimensions of the class period.”

Jeffrey Selingo, editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, agrees. He points out that most 18-­‐year-­‐olds don’t want to attend school online, but they also don’t want the analogue experience with the professor at the front of the room lecturing at them for 60 to 90 minutes.

“And this idea that students come to the classroom much more prepared for a more in depth discussion, that is much more interesting than just sitting there and listening to a professor drone on for a while,” says Selingo.

The emergence of digital humanities, Selingo predicts, is just the beginning of a revolution.

“I think other disciplines will follow what the humanities are already doing in this area,” says Selingo.

And as students and faculty rethink higher education, some of them have already experienced an epiphany, one that might transform how we teach and learn.

Theater & Art McMullen sheds new light on Cuban modernist Lam

By Sebastian Smee | Globe Staff

September 13, 2014

CHESTNUT HILL — Ten years in the making, “Wifredo Lam: Imagining New Worlds” is as magnetic an exhibition as you will see anywhere in New England this year.

It’s on at Boston College’s McMullen Museum of Art, through Dec. 14. Curated by Elizabeth T. Goizueta, who teaches Hispanic studies at the college, it tells the story of an undersung artist — he’s been called “a second-tier modernist” — whose achievement critics have always struggled to judge.

What was the problem? Was Lam too manifold? Did he straddle one too many cultures? Or was it simply that his work was not quite good enough for him to be remembered as one of the greats?

Submissions welcome. From my own vantage point, the “second-tier” theory looks ready to collapse, like a sandcastle as the tide comes in.

AR TISTS R IG HTS S OCIETY (AR S), NEW YORK/ ADAG P, PAR IS

“À la fin de la nuit.”

The McMullen show includes important paintings, drawings, prints, and ephemera borrowed from a range of collections in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. It’s accompanied by a brilliant catalog, with original contributions by a range of scholars. And it heralds an oncoming surge of interest in Lam, who will soon be the subject of major surveys at Tate Modern in London, the Reina Sofia in Madrid, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

The first thing to emphasize about Lam is how gifted and intellectually curious he was. In terms of graphic inventiveness and sheer assurance, his achievement must rank high in any appraisal of modernist art. Anyone who doubts this need only look at the series of colored etchings and aquatints he made in 1969, on display near the end of the show. Full of strange, attenuated figures thrusting dynamically across the page and a Hieronymus Bosch-like amalgam of weapons, sexual organs, hair, tails, hands, and feet, they are the culmination of a life of invention.

The next thing to marvel at is how incredibly well connected Lam was. He knew everyone. Here was a man who fraternized with the leading lights of the Spanish intelligentsia in Madrid in the 1920s and ’30s; whom Picasso loved and called his “cousin”; who was playing games of Exquisite Corpse in Marseilles at the last Surrealist gathering before the outbreak of World War II; who grew close to Aime Cesaire, the poet from Martinique who founded the “Negritude” movement (a reaction against French colonialist racism), and to Alejo Carpentier, the Cuban writer who helped instigate the Latin American movement of “magical realism.” Lam palled around with Claude Levi-Strauss and Peggy Guggenheim, with Andre Breton and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Perhaps in part because of all the influences swirling around him, Lam seems to have taken a long time to come into his own. The McMullen show, spread across two levels, kicks off with his early, academic efforts, and a great many paintings strongly stamped with the influence of Matisse and Picasso.

Thankfully, several paintings from Lam’s breakthrough period — the 1940s — are visible across the gallery. You see them — big, strange, commanding paintings — and can’t help wondering how he got from this . . . to that!

Lam was born in Cuba in 1902. He had a Chinese father and a mother of mixed African, Indian, and European descent. He spent his formative years in Madrid, where he moved in 1924 to study under F. Alvarez de Sotomayor, the director of that city’s great museum, the Prado. His paintings from this period — a still life, a street scene — are assured, if unremarkable.

More noteworthy are two large-scale portraits of peasants, a man and a woman, executed in pencil on yellowing paper. Fastidiously finished, they exude a sobriety that, in spirit, goes straight back to the genre scenes of Velazquez and Ribera. They hint, too, at Lam’s instinctive sympathy for the plight of the poor.

Married in 1929, Lam lost both his wife and child to tuberculosis just two years later. The ensuing depression hit hard. But he gradually returned to painting, and continued a shift away from realism that had already begun.

In paintings like “Composicion I” and “Composicion II,” he cultivated a vision that was both socially engaged and dreamlike, visionary. But this style was put aside as, for several years, he fell under the influence of Matisse. Then in 1936, still in Spain, Lam saw a show of work by Picasso. He was spellbound.

Bruised by the Spanish Civil War, in which he’d fought on the Republican side, Lam went to Paris, carrying a letter of introduction to Picasso. “You remind me of someone that I knew many years ago,” Picasso is reported to have said: “me.” (Classic Picasso). Lam felt an instant affinity. “There was no question of imitation,” he said, “but Picasso may easily have been present in my spirit, for nothing in him was alien or strange to me.”

AR TISTS R IG HTS S OCIETY (AR S), NEW YORK/ ADAG P, PAR IS

“Le Sombre Malembo, Dieu du carrefour.”

Lam used the same kind of language to describe what happened next. Forced by war to flee Paris, he traveled — via Marseilles and Martinique — back to Cuba. There, his art underwent a massive transformation.

At first, he was depressed. He missed Paris. Havana evoked painful memories: “The whole colonial drama of my youth seemed to be reborn in me,” he said. But on his voyage back to Cuba he had met, and read writings by, Cesaire. Influenced by his own time in Paris, Cesaire was advancing the counter-colonialist “Negritude” doctrine, backing full independence — both political and spiritual — for Latin Americans.

Lam was inspired. He kicked against the reality around him: “I decided that my painting would never be the equivalent of that pseudo-Cuban music for nightclubs. I refused to paint cha-cha-cha. I wanted with all my heart

to paint the drama of my country, but by thoroughly expressing the Negro spirit, the beauty of the plastic art of the blacks.”

The new aesthetic he formulated, beginning in 1942-43, was still heavily influenced by Picasso and the surrealists.

But it drew, too, on Cuba’s native flora, on the flickering light and color of the tropics, and above all on a new vision of the human that seemed indivisible from the animal and the vegetable.

This vision was inspired in part by Santeria, a syncretic Afro-Caribbean religion that combines Yoruba beliefs and traditions with elements of Roman Catholicism. Devilish heads atop totemic forms, or cup- or horseshoe-shaped figures representing Yoruba gods like Eleggua and Oggun, began to appear in Lam’s work. “I have spontaneously rediscovered these forms!” he claimed, a little dubiously. “They have emerged within me as ancestral spirit.”

A visit to Haiti, and exposure to the Voodoo cult, in 1946 crystallized his new, hybrid aesthetic. Certain symbolic motifs — such as the “femme-cheval,” or woman horse — began reappearing in his work.

What followed, over several restless decades, was a cascade of fascinating work, all of it attesting to an elastic imagination, great passion, and tremendous graphic invention.

The question that hovers around Lam is this: Was he “returning to his roots” when he developed his mature style (which dates from the return to Cuba), in the process becoming a more authentic and politically significant artist?

Or was he merely extending liberties carved out for him in Europe by Picasso and the surrealists, who had been looking at art from Africa and the Pacific for years, albeit from an ignorant, colonialist perspective? Was Lam, that is to say, superficially adopting African and Latin American motifs in which he did not really believe (he was an atheist), because it helped his credibility with European audiences and bolstered a jerry-built identity?

Put crassly like this, the question sounds vitally important. It’s addressed in depth in a subtle catalog essay by Claude Cernuschi.

But I would caution against getting too caught up in it. Lam was influenced less by big ideas than by poetry. He sought to infuse his art with the same liberty and the same rich ambivalence as the poetry he loved.

Obviously, he cared about ideas. He hated injustice, and he was scarred like everyone by the violent convulsions of his era. But he was absorbed above all by lines, shapes, colors, and by the different methods of applying these to paper and canvas.

AR TISTS R IG HTS S OCIETY (AR S), NEW YORK/ ADAG P, PAR IS

“Grande Composition.”

To stress that is not to try to evacuate meaning from his work. It is only to acknowledge that, while in questions of cultural identity the idea of authenticity has little purchase, in art, lines and shapes and colors do. You must reckon first and foremost with what you see before you.

Luckily, that’s rewarding in Lam’s case. There’s something almost sticky about his best work. It’s adhesive. Once he has worked through his Picasso period, his forms feel clear, and even familiar, but no longer borrowed. He has made them his own. They’re haunting, convulsive, violent, erotic, totemic, dynamic, and — once seen — indelible.

Metro Panel focuses on Pope Francis during launch of Crux

By Derek J. Anderson | Globe Correspondent | September 12, 2014 Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley joined a panel of journalists and academics Thursday night in a discussion of the new pope that was part of an event marking the launch of The Boston Globe’s new website Crux, which will cover the Roman Catholic Church across the world.

O’Malley kicked off the night’s discussion by talking about the pontiff’s goals, actions, and thoughts.

“Pope Francis challenges us to overcome our indifference in our own lives,” he said, adding that the church is about caring and compassion.

Panelists dove into the specifics of the pope’s allure to those who have disconnected from Catholicism, as well as issues including immigration and sacraments for divorced and remarried couples.

In between, conversations were light, especially when Crux spirituality columnist Margery Eagan asked O’Malley about being “BFFs,” or “best friends forever,” with Francis.

Crux editor Teresa M. Hanafin introduced the panel. The cardinal was joined on stage by Globe associate editor John L. Allen Jr., of Crux; Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand professor of law at Harvard University and the former US ambassador to the Holy See; Robert Christian, editor and blogger; and Hosffman Ospino, a Boston College assistant professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education.

ESSDRA S M SU AREZ /GLO BE STAFF

At Boston College, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley offered some insight into Pope Francis and the issues facing Catholics.

“It’s obvious his love for ordinary people,” Allen said of the pontiff’s connection to common, everyday people.

“There is an electricity about this guy, an excitement about him.”

The website, cruxnow.com, went live last week with a goal of becoming the best English-speaking medium covering the Vatican, Globe editor Brian McGrory told those gathered at the Robsham Theater Arts Center at Boston College.

“We are beyond excited at the Globe for the launch of Crux, which admittedly is an unconventional endeavor,” McGrory said. “We saw a journalistic need for more reporting, for more discussion about the church.”

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Opening Up Pandora's Genetic Box: Should All Women 30 and Over Be Tested for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer?

Sharlene Hesse-Biber Professor of Sociology and Director of Women's and Gender Studies, Boston College 09/11/2014

One day, Heather is riding home from work on the subway when she notices an advertisement. "Are you ready to fight disease before it starts?" The ad encourages her to learn more about the BRACAnalysis test for the BRCA1 and 2 gene mutations that indicate a woman's increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Heather is 22 years old and has a family history of breast cancer. The ad strikes a nerve and raises new questions. Can this genetic test really help her fight disease? Should Heather consider it? Will it let her know, once and for all, what her risk is of getting breast cancer -- and how to deal with it?

Many of us have seen advertising like this in subways, magazines, and online. But this week, an article in JAMA by lead author Mary-Claire King, a geneticist at the University of Washington who discovered the BRCA1 gene, is now recommending that all women over 30 be tested for the full spectrum of BRCA mutations. King's rationale for expanding the genetics testing net comes from new research that points to the high percentage, around 50 percent, of women diagnosed with hereditary breast cancer that had no family history of cancer. Under the current medical protocols for genetic testing, these women would not be eligible for testing since they do not have a high family history of cancer.

Dr. King seeks to stem the tide of what she sees as the failure of our health care system to prevent cancer before it strikes, especially given that recent research findings reveal that BRCA-positive mutation women who go on to have preventative surgery can significantly reduce their risk of dying.

While some of Dr. King's critics, such as Joy Larsen Haidle, president-elect of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, think women may not be ready for this type of recommendation, Dr. King would counter this claim by noting genetic knowledge gives women the power to control their genetic destiny.

So, who would not agree with Dr. King's rationale for testing all women 30 and over?

Before answering this question I would like you to mull it over with me for at least a few minutes by following me on a short research journey I just completed that may shed some light onto what at first may seem like a simple "yes" answer to Dr. King's question.

In my own research into the lived experience of women who test positive for the BRCA genetic mutation, I interviewed and surveyed a range of women in order to delve into their motivations for getting tested and their post-testing medical decisions. I listened deeply to women's narratives regarding the impact a BRCA-positive mutation diagnosis has had on their lives and those within their family.

By listening to women's lived experiences with the BRCA mutation it became clear that Dr. King's screening initiative leaves out an understanding of the human context within which BRCA testing takes place and the fallout that often occurs once women, many of whom have no history of cancer in their families, suddenly find out they have hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer that places them and others in their family at high cancer risk.

Much of the research literature on medical decision-making assumes that women who test positive for the BRCA genetic mutation will follow a specific decision-making protocol that assumes women will adhere to their care providers' expert knowledge and decide on a course of action based on a self-described rational medical decisionmaking model. Medical personnel surmise that once women know about their risk, they can then be "managed" and they should "comply" with their recommendations. Instead women feel as if they are being "managed" and find such a protocol does not fit their own decision-making style that often bears little resemblance to a strict medical model.

So even though the new screening initiative recommends that women 30 and over get tested, one important consideration that women in my study take into account in their decision to get tested is their feeling "ready" to do so. While women understand the value of getting tested and for the most part they agree with the idea that genetic testing can give you the power and knowledge needed to fight cancer before it strikes, they also tell me that that they when they are "not ready" and forge ahead with genetic testing, they often lose the control they need to feel empowered in their BRCA-journey. Understanding each woman's sense of "being ready" is critical to the success of this type of screening effort.

It's also important to understand that any given woman's BRCA-positive mutation result especially impacts those in her family who are tied to her by blood. Are they "ready," to hear this news? What the women my study relate to me too, is that sometimes their test result news can break up a family; it can create havoc in their personal lives, as well as bring families together. It depends.

So how do BRCA-positive carriers become empowered in their BRCA-journey?

For some women in my study who have a high cancer history in their families, gaining control and power over their hereditary risk is accomplished by using their family's cancer narrative as a guide as to when to get tested, and when and if they will seek preventative surgery. Very often it is a mother's cancer narrative that is used as a guide for when a woman decides to get tested and when to have preventative surgery. So, for example, if one's mother had breast cancer or died from breast and/or ovarian cancer, a woman will use her mother's cancer clock -- what age her mother got tested, had cancer or died from cancer -- to make crucial medical treatment decisions. Women in my study also take some comfort and gain some control over their cancer risk by knowing they have this type of guidance and often provides them a feeling of being in control of their own cancer clock. Such knowledge is also a critical element to their feeling empowered in their BRCA-journey.

For many of the women in my study getting tested means they have already made the decision to have surgery.

Many women with a high history of breast and or ovarian cancer in fact put off getting tested even though they tell me they know they are have the BRCA-positive mutation. They do this because they want to buy some time before they get tested and have surgery. Some of the women in my study refer to this as a game of Russian roulette. In this instance waiting to get tested becomes an important strategy some women use to accomplish other life goals -getting married, having children, and so on. In some sense their family cancer histories tell them how long they can wait before cancer comes.

For those women who have no cancer history in their family, hereditary cancer may strike before they are "ready" and these women especially need to feel in control over their medical decision-making process as they move forward in their cancer treatment and beyond.

In addition, it's important to understand that once women know they carry the BRCA-positive mutation, their perception of the gap between being positive for BRCA and having cancer is almost non-existent. One woman told me: "My breasts are ticking time bombs." Women use military terminology to describe their being "ambushed" by their BRCA-positive status, one that leaves may women driven by the fear of getting cancer right into preventative surgeries. They don't want to wait for cancer to come as they are convinced it will.

Sharlene Hesse-Biber is Professor Sociology at Boston College. Her new book, Waiting for Cancer to Come: Genetic Testing and Women's Medical Decision Making for Breast and Ovarian Cancer has just been published.

Giving the Diaspora Its Due

By Alan Wolfe | Boston College Professor of Political Science | September 8, 2014 The months of war in Gaza have raised intense questions about the nature of the Jewish state. Is Israel acting, as any state has a right to do, to protect itself against enemies bent on its elimination? Or has it gone too far down the road toward religious and ethnic extremism?

As those questions dominate our minds and media, however, they are crowding out what is the most important development in the more-than-two-thousand-year history of the Jewish people. No, I am not referring to Israel’s birth in 1948, significant as that event was. I mean instead that in the years after World War II, a vibrant, successful, and above all else, secure life has, for the first time, become possible in states in which Jews are, and always will be, in the minority.

"In the diaspora," proclaimed The Economist in the summer of 2012, "Jewish life has never been so free, so prosperous, so unthreatened." That Jews can live among gentiles without living in fear is an epochal accomplishment, as much testimony to the perseverance of those who have made the Diaspora their home as it is to the willingness of their compatriots to overcome centuries of prejudice. Most remarkable of all, it is rarely remarked.

Geoffrey Moss for The Chronicle Review

It is time for the Diaspora to have its due. Living at the mercy of the majorities around them throughout history, Jews have experienced more than their fair share of discrimination and destruction, the latter as thorough and unwarranted as any group has ever faced. Nor can there be any doubt that anti-Semitism persists throughout the contemporary world and rears its ugly head all too many times.

Yet lost in the tales of endless woe that Jews so frequently tell each other has been the opportunity that living in a land not their own has offered: a deep understanding of unfairness and a commitment to the absolute necessity of fighting against it. "Exile and dispersion," as David J. Goldberg, rabbi emeritus of London’s Liberal Jewish Synagogue, writes of the Jews, "far from being the disasters they were invariably considered to be were in fact blessings in disguise, enabling them to escape the fate that befell other contemporary nations rooted in a single territory." Now that they have become so much safer in non-Jewish lands, Diaspora Jews are in a stronger-than-ever position to transform the passion for justice that so moved the Hebrew prophets into ideals of human dignity desperately needed in an age of rising domestic inequality and overseas instability.

That, unfortunately, has not been happening, at least not enough. The Jewish Defense League, based in New York and Los Angeles, with the mandate "to protect Jews from anti-Semitism," is a violence-prone organization rightly condemned by Jews around the world. But defensiveness is widespread among all those Diaspora Jews who remain reluctant to accept the fact that at long last they belong where they have chosen to live.

It is not difficult to grasp why. For the past 70-plus years—the same years in which I, born in 1942, have been alive—Jewish life has been marked by the shift, in the course of a mere decade, from the horrors of the Holocaust to the haven offered by statehood. Those events are inevitably linked, and not just because Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) occurs just a week before Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day).

It is often said that there exists within Judaism a tension between particularism and universalism, one of those dichotomies that on the one hand greatly oversimplifies but on the other contains a good deal of truth: Particularists believe that Jews should be primarily concerned with their own, while universalists insist they are under a special obligation to spread the light of reason to as many people as possible. The twin events that have dominated contemporary Jewish life created an environment especially conducive to particularism: The Holocaust singled out Jews for extermination, while Israel singled them out for citizenship. Statehood promised a final solution to the Final Solution: Now that they had achieved it, Jews would finally constitute a nation like the others, able to speak in their own name and defend their own interests.

Finality, alas, was not to be. Because it was built on land occupied by others, the Jewish state has been unable to satisfy the need for security that gave rise to it. Nor, despite a dynamic economy and numerous efforts at outreach, has it been able to appeal to all Jews. Many Jews have made aliyah (ascent), the Hebrew word that characterizes the decision to leave the Diaspora for Israel. Today, roughly half the world Jewry lives there.

Worse, at least for those who consider Israel the only appropriate home for the Jews, a significant number of Israelis in recent years have made yeridah, or descent into the gentile world.)

As it increasingly becomes clear that the Diaspora is not a disaster and that the security offered by statehood is precarious, the lost universalism that was so much a part of Jewish tradition may well be prepared for a comeback, and this time on firmer ground than in the past. That will be good for the Jews no matter where they live, Israel very much included. It will be just as important for the non-Jews with whom they live, Israel, again, very much included.

As important as it may be to achieve, no one should expect that a revival of diasporic universalism will prove easy. There are four intimately interconnected reasons why so many Jews are determined never to forget the events of the 1930s and 1940s, no matter the cost to the universalist element in their own tradition.

The first is the feeling, strongly believed if rarely explicitly stated, that honoring the living somehow insults the dead. Six million Jews, from this perspective, did not die so that another six million could lead the good life in New York, Toronto, London, or, God forbid, Berlin. Since Hitler was determined to kill each and every one of them, any Jew who is now alive must be so through sheer chance: by the decision of one’s grandparents to leave Europe before it all began, for example, or by the fact that they boarded one train rather than another, or because they had the right connections to obtain an elusive exit visa. When survival is the result of individual fortitude, pride in longevity follows. When it is a roll of the dice, the winners ought to have the good sense not to brag. Every living Jew must understand that he or she is taking the place of another who never had the opportunity. Guilt that pervasive is not easily overcome.

The never fully quarantined disease of anti-Semitism is commonly brought forward as the second reason for Jews not to succumb to any illusion of security in the Diaspora. Waiting for the next Hitler to appear requires that instances of Jew hatred be told and retold with increasing fervor.

How, this responsive reading asks, can any Jew be safe in Paris when Jewish children are killed in Toulouse? British Jews can and do attend Oxford and Cambridge, but anti-Semitism in that country, now polite and respectable rather than cruel and arbitrary, is as pernicious. It is only a matter of time before societies long known for their record of anti-Semitism, especially those in Eastern Europe such as Hungary, Ukraine, and Russia, return to their pattern of hating the Jews, paradoxically made all that much easier because so few of them live there now. America’s Jews may have it better than those in Europe, but let an economic crisis linger, and criticisms of Wall Street, which the knowing inform us are actually attacks on the Jews, will come from the angry left as well as from the nativist right.

And above all else, there are the Islamic militants, whether they live in the Middle East or in the West, who, a number of fervid writers warn, have inherited the hideous Nazi obsession with the Jews and are unafraid to act upon it. Jews can never bring Hitler’s victims back to life. But, the conclusion follows, they can at least avoid the mistaken optimism that condemned so many to death.

Third, love for everything Israel has accomplished since its founding keeps Jews in a particularist frame of mind. For those who view the state as the last refuge against hatred, Israel has everything Diaspora Jewry lacks. In contrast to a long tradition of subservience in foreign courts, its military makes it the dominant state in the Middle East. Because of the protection it continues to offer to Jews who remain vulnerable in Eastern European or in Arab lands, it is still the natural destination for those unwelcome in the countries in which they live. For the most religious, it is too secular, and for the secular it is too religious. But its very existence demonstrates to the world that, because they have a state of their own, Jews can never again be treated as a people undeserving of the respect of others.

Of course Israel needs the Diaspora, for without the support of American Jews, especially, it would have too few friends in the world. Yet for all that, the notion persists that Diaspora Jews, cut off from the language, traditions, and sense of solidarity that nationhood offers, are being unfaithful to their Jewishness. Israel’s strength and Jewish survival, many Diasporic Jews believe, have become one and the same. Should the day ever come when they find themselves not so welcome at home, the existence of a Jewish state will mean that, unlike the last time around, they will have a place to go.

But will Israel continue to exist? The final reason so many Jews are determined never to forget the events of past decades and their relevance to the realities of today is the idea that everything Jews have accomplished with their sovereignty is now being threatened by ever-newer enemies determined to wipe the Jewish state from the face of the earth. Statehood, to the great regret of Israel’s defenders, has transferred rather than solved the problem of Jew hatred: Israel’s very triumphs have led to new rounds of criticism of its policies and plans to boycott its products and universities. These moves, we are told, may be expressed in the language of support for supposedly oppressed people such as the Palestinians.

But in reality, the criticisms are little more than expressions of age-old tropes about Jewish power. The proclivity to single out Israel for its alleged crimes, while ignoring or excusing worse crimes of other states, shows that celebrating diasporic universalism is a bad idea. The Jewish people, always small in number and vulnerable to attack, need to present a united front to the rest of the world.

Intentionally or not, a focus on the success of Jews in the Diaspora undermines that unity, for if Jews can flourish outside Israel, the fundamental rationale for that state’s existence is inevitably brought into question. Zionists did not build a home for some Jews so that others could treat it as a place to go on vacation. The cold, hard truth about the Diaspora is that no matter how welcoming it may seem, it will always be a second home.

These are emotionally powerful matters touching on the most sensitive of subjects. Unable to ignore the Nazi years that brought such ways of thinking into being—indeed, I am obsessed by those years to the point of reading endless books and watching nearly every new film about them—I find myself unable to dismiss such points of view out of hand. Nonetheless, they must be discussed and, when necessary, challenged.

The scholar of Judaism Jacob Neusner, who has argued passionately that "America is a better place to be a Jew than Jerusalem," sees in the conjunction of events that dominate the consciousness of contemporary Jewry nothing less than a new faith, which he calls the Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption. But this faith, rooted in history rather than God, cannot appeal to eternal truths: The events that brought it into existence will inevitably lose their emotional power as new generations arise with new needs and interests.

Already we can see signs of that happening. According to the Pew Research Center, which published an exhaustive study of the attitudes of American Jews in 2013, 77 percent of those 65 or older considered remembrance of the Holocaust an essential element of Jewish identity, compared with 68 percent of those between 18 and 20. A similar, indeed more striking change involved Israel: 92 percent of the younger cohort say that people can be considered Jewish if they are strongly critical of Israel, compared with 84 percent among the older group. And three times as many younger Jews than older ones believe that the United States is too supportive of Israel.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — FOR all the differences between establishment Republicans and Tea Party insurgents, their various efforts to rebrand the Grand Old Party tend to start from a common premise: the belief that Ronald Reagan was the quintessential Republican, and that his principle of defending wealth and the wealthy should remain the party’s guiding vision.

In doing so, they misunderstand the party’s longer history. They would do better to look to earlier presidents, and model their new brand on the eras when the Republican Party opposed the control of government by an elite in favor of broader economic opportunity.

The history of the Republican Party is marked by vacillation between its founding principle of opportunity and its domination by the wealthy elite. The party came together in the 1850s in opposition to the wealthy slaveholders who controlled the federal government. Democrats acting on their behalf insisted that America’s primary principle was the Constitution’s protection of property, and they pushed legislation to let planters monopolize the country’s resources at the expense of the working class.

Abraham Lincoln and others recoiled from the idea of government as a prop for the rich. In organizing the Republican Party, they highlighted the equality of opportunity promised in the Declaration of Independence and warned that a healthy economy depended on widespread prosperity. Northerners and hardscrabble Westerners flocked to that vision, and elected Lincoln to the White House in 1860.

Even as the Civil War raged, Republicans made good on their promise: They gave farmers their own land, created public colleges, funded a transcontinental railroad, took control of the national currency away from rich bankers, and ended slavery.

To pay for their initiatives, they invented national taxes, including the income tax. The middle class grew, and the North and West, regions covered by the new programs, boomed.

But as soon as the war ended, wealthy Americans joined with those who hated African-Americans and immigrants to insist that slaveholders had been right: Permitting poor men to have a say in government had produced policies that redistributed wealth. Only a few years after building a federal system that cleared the way for equal opportunity, Republicans faced a racist and xenophobic backlash against an active government — and they folded. By the 1880s, the party’s leaders had abandoned their message of opportunity and tied themselves to big business. Like the slaveholders before them, they argued that the rich were the country’s true producers, directing the work of lesser men. The party strengthened laws that protected business and crushed laborers, then jiggered the electoral map to stay in power.

Republicans controlled the federal government for decades after the Civil War, and their policies funneled wealth upward — with dire consequences. In 1893, the economy crashed, and too few Americans had enough purchasing power to revive it.

Lincoln had been right: Government that served the wealthy would ruin the country.

The party responded, and a new Republican Party emerged from the Panic of 1893, rededicated to Lincoln’s vision. Led by Theodore Roosevelt, the progressive Republicans recognized that government had to address the systemic inequalities of industrialization or no man could rise.

They cleaned up the cities, promoted public education, protected workers and regulated business. Their policies fed a strong and growing middle class; their vision resurrected the Republican Party.

But, as before, wealthy Americans pushed back. During the “Red Summer” of 1919, they whipped up riots against AfricanAmericans, immigrants and workers, accusing them of sucking tax dollars from hard-working white people.

And again, the party folded: During the ensuing backlash against government activism, Republican leaders handed policy making to businessmen. In the 1920s, they slashed taxes and government programs and refused to address growing economic inequalities.

Then, on Oct. 29, 1929, the bottom fell out of the stock market, and Republican policies had once again concentrated wealth and destroyed purchasing power that might have put the economy back together. The Republicans looked finished.

It took a new leader who would embrace Lincoln’s principles to return the party to health. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s experiences in World War II convinced him that the only way to prevent the rise of dictators was to promote economic equality around the world. He used the government to desegregate American schools, promote higher education and start the largest public works program in American history, the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act. Eisenhower’s policies were enormously popular, but they inspired the wrath of businessmen, who claimed that taxes funding public programs were an unconstitutional redistribution of wealth. They demonized minorities, young people, women and Democrats, and with the help of social conservatives, tied the Republican Party once more to big business.

The consequences were predictable: After Reagan’s 1980 election, economic stability turned into the Great Divergence, in which wealth moved steadily upward. In 2008, the economy crashed.

Twice in its history, the Republican Party regained its direction and popularity after similar disasters by returning to its original defense of widespread individual economic success. The same rebranding is possible today, if Republicans demote Reagan from hero to history and rally to a leader like Lincoln, Roosevelt or Eisenhower — someone who believes that the government should promote economic opportunity rather than protect the rich.

Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and the author of the forthcoming book “To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.”

OPINIONATOR | THE STONE

Losing Our Touch

By Richard Kearney │ August 30, 2014 Are we losing our senses? In our increasingly virtual world, are we losing touch with the sense of touch itself? And if so, so what?

I recently had occasion to pose these questions to students in a college class I teach on eros — “from Plato to today.” Not surprisingly, the topic of physical contact and sex came up, and the conversation turned very much to “today.” A number of the students said that they regularly messaged online before having “real contact” with partners, perhaps using online dating and mating services like Match.com, OkCupid, SpeedDate.com and Tinder. They shared messaging acronyms that signaled their level of willingness to have sex, and under what conditions. They admitted to enjoying the relative anonymity of the one-off “hook up,” whose consummation required no preliminary close-quarters courtship rites or flirtation ceremonies, no culinary seduction, no caress, nothing — apart from the eventual “blind rut,” as James Joyce put it — requiring the presence of a functioning, sensitive body.

Jesse Draxler

We noted the rather obvious paradox: The ostensible immediacy of sexual contact was in fact mediated digitally. And it was also noted that what is often thought of as a “materialist” culture was arguably the most “immaterialist” culture imaginable — vicarious, by proxy, and often voyeuristic.

Is today’s virtual dater and mater something like an updated version of Plato’s Gyges, who could see everything at a distance but was touched by nothing? Are we perhaps entering an age of “excarnation,” where we obsess about the body in increasingly disembodied ways? For if incarnation is the image become flesh, excarnation is flesh become image. Incarnation invests flesh; excarnation divests it.

In perhaps the first great works of human psychology, the “De Anima,” Aristotle pronounced touch the most universal of the senses. Even when we are asleep we are susceptible to changes in temperature and noise. Our bodies are always “on.” And touch is the most intelligent sense, Aristotle explained, because it is the most sensitive. When we touch someone or something we are exposed to what we touch. We are responsive to others because we are constantly in touch with them.

“Touch knows differences,” Aristotle insisted. It is the source of our most basic power to discriminate. The thinskinned person is sensitive and intelligent; the thick-skinned, coarse and ignorant. Think of Odysseus and the Cyclops, Jacob and Esau. The power of touch. Even the Buddha, when challenged by Mara to reveal his authority, simply touches the ground. Our first intelligence is sensory refinement. And this primal sensibility is also what places us at risk in the world, exposing us to adventure and discovery.

Aristotle was challenging the dominant prejudice of his time, one he himself embraced in earlier works. The Platonic doctrine of the Academy held that sight was the highest sense, because it is the most distant and mediated; hence most theoretical, holding things at bay, mastering meaning from above. Touch, by contrast, was deemed the lowest sense because it is ostensibly immediate and thus subject to intrusions and pressures from the material world. Against this, Aristotle made his radical counterclaim that touch did indeed have a medium, namely “flesh.”

And he insisted that flesh was not just some material organ but a complex mediating membrane that accounts for our primary sensings and evaluations.

Tactility is not blind immediacy — not merely sensorial but cognitive, too. Savoring is wisdom; in Latin, wisdom is “sapientia,” from “sapere,” to taste. These carnal senses make us human by keeping us in touch with things, by responding to people’s pain — as when the disguised Odysseus (whose name can be translated as “bearer of pain,”), returning to Ithaca, is recognized by his nursemaid, Eurycleia, at the touch of his childhood scar.

But Aristotle did not win this battle of ideas. The Platonists prevailed and the Western universe became a system governed by “the soul’s eye.” Sight came to dominate the hierarchy of the senses, and was quickly deemed the appropriate ally of theoretical ideas. Western philosophy thus sprang from a dualism between the intellectual senses, crowned by sight, and the lower “animal” senses, stigmatized by touch. And Western theology — though heralding the Christian message of Incarnation (“word made flesh”) — all too often confirmed the injurious dichotomy with its anti-carnal doctrines; prompting Nietzsche’s verdict that Christianity was “Platonism for the people” and “gave Eros poison to drink.” Thus opto-centrism prevailed for over 2,000 years, culminating in our contemporary culture of digital simulation and spectacle. The eye continues to rule in what Roland Barthes once called our “civilization of the image.” The world is no longer our oyster, but our screen.

For all the fascination with bodies, our current technology is arguably exacerbating our carnal alienation. While offering us enormous freedoms of fantasy and encounter, digital eros may also be removing us further from the flesh.

Pornography, for example, is now an industry worth tens of billions of dollars worldwide. Seen by some as a progressive sign of post-60s sexual liberation, pornography is, paradoxically, a twin of Puritanism. Both display an alienation from flesh — one replacing it with the virtuous, the other with the virtual. Each is out of touch with the body.

THIS movement toward privatization and virtuality is explored in Spike Jonze’s recent movie “Her,” where a man falls in love with his operating system, which names itself Samantha. He can think of nothing else and becomes insanely jealous when he discovers that his virtual lover, Samantha, is also flirting with thousands of other subscribers. Eventually, Samantha feels so bad for him that she decides to supplement her digital persona with a real body by sending a surrogate lover. But the plan fails miserably — while the man touches the embodied lover he hears the virtual signals of Samantha in his ears and cannot bridge the gap. The split between digital absence and carnal presence is unbearable. Something is missing: love in the flesh.

The move toward excarnation is apparent in what is becoming more and more a fleshless society. In medicine, “bedside manner” and hand on pulse has ceded to the anonymous technologies of imaging in diagnosis and treatment. In war, hand-to-hand combat has been replaced by “targeted killing” via remote-controlled drones. If contemporary warfare renders us invulnerable to those who cannot touch us, can we make peace without a hand to shake? (Think of Mandela-de Klerk or Begin-Sadat).

Moreover, certain cyber engineers now envisage implanting transmission codes in brains so that we will not have to move a finger — or come into contact with another human being — to get what we want. The touch screen replaces touch itself. The cosmos shrinks to a private monitor; each viewer a disembodied self unto itself.

Full humanity requires the ability to sense and be sensed in turn: the power, as Shakespeare said, to “feel what wretches feel” — or, one might also add, what artists, cooks, musicians and lovers feel. We need to find our way in a tactile world again. We need to return from head to foot, from brain to fingertip, from iCloud to earth. To close the distance, so that eros is more about proximity than proxy. So that soul becomes flesh, where it belongs. Such a move, I submit, would radically alter our “sense” of sex in our digital civilization. It would enhance the role of empathy, vulnerability and sensitivity in the art of carnal love, and ideally, in all of human relations. Because to love or be loved truly is to be able to say, “I have been touched.”

Richard Kearney is a philosophy professor at Boston College whose books include “The Wake of Imagination” and the forthcoming “Carnal Hermeneutics.”

Opinion

Child's Play Is About More than Games

By Peter Gray And Lenore Skenazy │ Aug. 27, 2014 They've got their backpacks and glue sticks, and they're off—to erase the gains made over the summer. While educators bemoan the "summer slide" when children ostensibly forget lessons they learned at school, we should be more concerned about the "September slide." That's when the gains children made in summer slip away. "Back to school" too often spells "No more play."

Play—"free play" initiated and directed by children—is not the opposite of learning. It is learning at its most powerful, nature's way of teaching children the big lessons they need for a happy, productive life. Yet play gets shoved aside by reading logs and essay prompts and today's misguided view that résumé building is more valuable. One large-­‐scale study found that children age 9 through 12 spent just more than an hour a The Boston Globe/Getty Images day playing, mostly indoors. That's not enough.

Here's what kids miss when they get little or no time to play on their own: • Innovation and creativity. When children aren't told what to do by a teacher, parent or coach, they have to figure out how to create their own fun and keep it going. That means play is continuously creative. There's no better way to raise innovators than to allow and encourage play.

• Cooperation. In play with others, children learn to negotiate. They have to attend to one another's needs—"Am I pitching too hard?"

"Is she sick of being the troll?"—because if they are totally self-­‐absorbed they know the other kids will quit and play will end. So they learn to cooperate, perhaps the most crucial of all skills we social creatures must learn.

• Self-­‐control. To play, children learn they must follow the rules, allow others their turns, and control their impulses and emotions. Play may evoke a child's anger when a playmate disagrees with or accidentally hurts him. And it may evoke fear when a child is chased by a child-­‐eating dragon. But children must control those emotions to keep playing. They learn not to cry at a minor injury or throw a tantrum when they get upset. They learn not to give in to fear or tattle to an adult—because doing so would ruin the game.

• Paying attention. Can you think of any games where kids have to pay attention? That's right, all of them. Pay attention to the ball, the cards, the rules for who can say what to the Great Monkey King. Paying attention to details for love of the game prepares kids to pay attention to other things, like adverbs or the decimal point in math.

• Managing difficult tasks. Children at play are naturally drawn to tasks at the cutting edges of their abilities—not so easy as to be boring, nor so difficult as to be impossible. Whether scaling fences, building towers, creating make-­‐believe worlds or playing videogames, players keep advancing to higher levels to maintain the sense of challenge.

They learn not to give up when the going gets tough, because in play they are so highly motivated to succeed. That ability can be applied to all of the difficult tasks that life entails.

• Learning to practice. Did you ever see a child do the same thing day in and day out? Build with blocks, draw Batman or jump rope?

They're trying to get it right. That's practicing. It's what we beg our children to do with their vocabulary lists and piano pieces: Get down to business, focus and work on something hard. The difference is they choose the something.

• Solving problems and taking responsibility. In play, children must solve their own problems—emotional, social, physical or intellectual.

In the other parts of a child's life, adults jump in and make everything work. In play children are the adults. Play is practice for adulthood, because in play the children are in charge.

Children's intense desire to play evolved because it serves so many educational purposes. It's the natural, joyful means of learning how to become smart, social, successful adults. When we substitute school and supervised activities for play time, it's like substituting a vitamin pill for real food. It provides some of the same nutrients, but you wouldn't want a kid to survive on Flintstones Chewables. Play is so much richer.

Peter Gray is a professor of Pyschology at Boston College

A priceless chart for deep waters Arvind Sivaramakrishnan August 18, 2014 Professor Philip Altbach is one of the world’s greatest authorities on Indian higher education. Inspired by Edward Shils at the University of Chicago and by his own experience of student politics there in the early 1960s, Altbach went to Bombay and wrote his doctorate on the history of Indian student politics; Indian higher education has been his main concern since. Pawan Agarwal has divided this collection of 34 of Altbach’s papers, reproduced from Indian and international journals, into seven sections, ranging from higher education and modernisation through the academic profession, regional issues and globalisation, publishing, and campus politics to a comparison between India and China. Each section starts with a paper by a distinguished academic, and the entire volume is highly accessible, being illuminated throughout by a clear perspective and a compassionate sense of what life is like for Indian academics and students.

Altbach gives credit where credit is due. India has significant advantages in what he calls the 21st century knowledge race; its higher education sector is the third largest in the world (now the second), English is the primary language of higher education and research, and academic freedom is generally respected. The country also has a small number of high-quality institutions, and there is space for a variety of policies and approaches, despite the fact that the States’ powers and responsibilities in higher education make the system cumbersome.

The weaknesses, however, are severe. Only 10 per cent of the relevant age-group is in higher education; the figure is 50 per cent in the Global North, and in China it is 15 per cent. It hardly needs saying that women are underrepresented at every level of the Indian tertiary system. China, as Rafiq Dossani says when introducing the comparative papers, has A Half-century of Indian Higher Education - Essays by Philip G. improved its tertiary sector far more thoroughly and systematically than Altbach: Edited by Pawan Agarwal; Sage Publications India Pvt. India has done. India’s spending on higher education was a flat 0.37 per Ltd., B1/I-1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Mathura Road, cent of GDP for decades, and as recently as 2008, India lagged behind New Delhi-110044. Rs. 995. much of Latin America in percentage enrolment; although pay at the better Indian institutions has risen, it is far below pay in the so-called advanced economies.

Pyramidal higher education systems exist all round the world (the University of California at Berkeley is substantially better funded than other Californian universities), but the Indian pyramid is particularly steep. In addition, much of the ethos is corrosive. Student groups — which are often just appendages of political parties and no more than vehicles for budding politicians — intimidate, often violently, academic bodies over appointments and promotions, and many institutions are poisoned by caste-hatreds among students and staff. K.N. Panikkar, opening the section on campus politics, notes an “undercurrent of resentment, anger, and dissatisfaction”, particularly about the “appalling” conditions in institutions which impart general education.

Furthermore, financial freezes — possibly driven by market fundamentalism or deficit fundamentalism, or both — mean that part-timers are increasingly replacing full-time lecturers; some states have abolished pensions for newly-appointed publicsector academic staff, and outside the best institutions the system is riddled with poor accountability and low pay. As Altbach says, the contemporary Indian academy undermines much of the traditional status of the guru in Indian society. Moreover, the expanding private tertiary sector, which is bitterly hostile to any widening of access, puts next to nothing into research, and

some private colleges are run on such viciously authoritarian lines that they can only be intellectually moribund, with a servile (and probably terrified) staff; Altbach names one such place.

Unsurprisingly, many of the better graduates vote with their feet. In 2005, even as aggregate figures showed the Indian economy expanding rapidly, 86 per cent of Indians who studied sciences or technology in the United States did not return immediately, and 30 per cent of them went not into their specialist fields but into management. A handful do stay in India, in high-quality institutions like IITs and IIMs, and their reasons could be of considerable interest; those who work under what a British teacher has called the punitive managerialism of today’s education systems in the Anglophone First World would envy the standing and the freedoms rightly held by their colleagues in the best Indian institutions.

There is, however, as Altbach points out, almost no research on Indian higher education. Secondly, elite institutions cannot, and must not be expected to, redeem the entire system. Moreover, the colonials based Indian higher education on the University of London rather than the elite Oxbridge model. Altbach is almost caustic here; the version of the London system imposed on India — with rigid organisational and curricular controls added — was not intended to “train an Indian intellectual class which would eventually drive the British from the subcontinent, but to provide the middle level manpower necessary for the clerical work of the Raj.” Nevertheless, none of the many post-Independence official reports on higher education has been implemented with any real will towards comprehensive improvement. Therefore, although close links obtain — with direct interference by politicians — between universities and government, the enormous demand-driven expansion of higher education has been virtually directionless, and the system of colleges affiliated to universities is “ungovernable”. Intrainstitutional hierarchies are paralleled by interinstitutional ones, there are huge variations between colleges, and colleges have almost no contact with their respective universities; the fact that the better academies are mainly postgraduate institutions only marginalises college lecturers, who form the overwhelming bulk of tertiary staff and teach by far the majority of students, even further.

There is no point in hand-wringing about these consequences of the massification of Indian tertiary education or about policy failures. Foreign participation, however, is not a solution; China and Israel, for example, have had mixed experiences of that.

Foreign institutions tend to confine overseas activities to a limited number of lucrative courses, and to establish full facilities only when the host country bears all the costs, as Qatar did for Cornell University’s medical school there. The countries which seem to have benefited most from such arrangements, such as Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, have tough regulations for foreign universities and have closed down unsatisfactory providers.

While questions of the politicality of knowledge, that is, of who gains access to knowledge and how knowledge is validated, underlie the entire collection, the section on publication addresses those most directly. Altbach is cautious about the Citation Index, which reduces academic success to a single number and is dominated by journals published in English; in effect, the Index consigns publications in other languages, and particularly those in the developing world, to a subordinate position, even if Indian publishers, partly encouraged by the creation of the National Book Trust, are expanding the range and quality of their work greatly.

Altbach is clear that Improvement will have to come from within India, and there is anecdotal evidence of movement. Those involved face formidable challenges constituted not only by established interests but by the documented need for far better academic staff and by what will at least initially be resistance from students. An eminent professor of English who tried, a decade ago, to replace 19th century English novels with Indian works translated into English was shocked when his students accused him of pulling the ladder of status and privilege up behind him. Yet, as Altbach notes, the imperative of participation in the global creation and dissemination of knowledge is simply too great for India to ignore. This collection is a priceless chart for deep and deeply troubled waters.

Does Your Company Collect Data — Or Hoard It? Sam Ransbotham July 28, 2014

At what point does a company’s data collection become self-defeating?

As organizations everywhere increasingly embrace analytics, it is tempting to think that additional data will provide the crucial insight, reveal the overlooked explanation, or crisply discern key solutions within a morass of muddled information. But “more data” is not the answer to every problem.

Organizations that add data indiscriminately run the risk of becoming data hoarders instead of data collectors. An analyst working in a large financial services institution offered this useful distinction: “Hoarders store everything and don’t know how to determine what is important.

Collectors know exactly what is valuable and prioritize what to keep.”

As data storage costs continue to plummet, why not just save everything? Why not be a hoarder?

The answer is: hoarding wastes resources and, paradoxically, reduces the usefulness of existing data.

The impulse to collect and store all data on the off chance it might be useful is counterproductive.

First, costs still exist; while storage costs have decreased, they are not zero. The sheer volume of data produced by modern information technologies adds up quickly and relentlessly. Calvin Smith, principal manager of global innovation at EMC Corporation, observes that “… ‘big data’ does not describe a Holy Grail data set that some companies ‘get’ and other companies don’t … big data could really include all data … and it’s not easy or cheap to attempt to collect and store all the data out there.”

Furthermore, storage costs themselves are a small part of data’s expense; maintenance costs (such as provisioning, backing up, verifying, and recovering) can be substantial and require expensive staff involvement.

Second, hoarding data interferes with existing data since it diverts scarce analyst and managerial resources that may be better applied elsewhere. If actionable insights are the proverbial needle in the haystack, adding more data may just make the haystack bigger, and the needle that much harder to find. The financial services analyst notes, “Even if data is free to store, high-priced data scientists will still waste time looking at it and try to find spurious patterns or incorporate the data into models to no avail. There is still an opportunity cost to looking at the wrong data and not having a strong sense for what questions are important to answer.”

Yet additional data can be valuable. What distinguishes collecting behavior from hoarding behavior? In the spirit of Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, I suggest Three Laws (plus a “Zeroth” Law) to guide your company’s approach to adding more data.

Law 1: “More data” should not obscure desirable information or, through distraction, allow ongoing analyses to come to harm.

Additional data should have a defined purpose in the analysis. Does it inform about a potential source of customers missing from current analysis? In what way does it reduce uncertainty or allow more precise estimates of an important measure? How does it improve discrimination, segmentation, or causal inference?

Data collectors use experience or sampling to add data rich with potential to further the purpose of the analysis; data hoarders add data fearfully and speculatively. The fear of making a wrong decision leads to keeping everything — and this can sometimes be counterproductive. As an example, in the context of searching for terrorist activity, security expert Bruce Schneier observed, “Piling more data onto the mix makes it harder, not easier. […] the last thing you want to do is increase the amount of hay you have to search through.”

Law 2: “More data” should be added only if other data will not suffice and its addition does not conflict with the First Law All data is not created equal; there is considerable variation in quality and usefulness. As such, alternate sources of data might achieve similar purposes. Data collectors consider multiple available alternatives to meet the purpose of the analysis; data hoarders add additional measures to the stack.

For example, in investigating recent trouble with engine stalls, GM’s OnStar system did not capture data specifically about the ignition switches. However, rather than perform additional data collection, GM was able to use existing data about engine status and shifter position as a proxy for the missing information about ignition switches. While an additional direct measure could improve accuracy, cost must be balanced against incremental accuracy.

Law 3: “More data” should be added only if its addition does not exacerbate existing biases in the data, and its addition does not conflict with the First or Second Law. All data is biased in some way. Adding more data can add more bias, undermining overall data quality. Social media, for example, is a rich source of information, but comes with demographic and socio-economic sampling. Analysis of Twitter and Foursquare activity during Hurricane Sandy offers fascinating and unprecedented insights into human behavior. However, one commentator noted that adding more data from other social media sites would not add more information about affected people without power or Internet access. Data collectors seek novel perspectives; data hoarders pile on convenient data and reinforce bias.

Law 0: “More data” must not harm the overall analytical process.

For analytical organizations, analyses are not isolated projects, but rather part of a process. Using data is like having a child — the process should not be orphaned and requires ongoing maintenance. As additional data is incorporated into analysis, what will the process be for incorporating updates to the data, ensuring quality, etc.? Is the process sustainable? Do the long-term costs of maintenance sufficiently offset the value added in order to create a positive return on investment? Data collectors integrate data into ongoing processes; data hoarders add data that require new processes that interfere with other important organizational processes.

Sam Ransbotham is a Professor of Information Technology in Boston College's Carroll School of Management

Putin’s propaganda highlights need for public diplomacy

By Martha Bayles | J U L Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 4

Russia’s propaganda effort also has a global dimension. In the last few years, the Kremlin has launched a slick, fast-paced satellite TV channel, Russia Today (RT), which pays top salaries to British and American broadcast journalists willing to repeat the same messages in English. A surprising number of viewers are tuning in.

How should the US government respond? Should it fight fire with fire, bombarding Russia and Ukraine with counterpropaganda? Or should it do what comes naturally to a democratic society with freedom of speech and the press — gather the facts, articulate the values at stake, and disseminate both as forcefully as possible, even if some aspects of the story do not reflect well on the United States?

This second option has a name: public diplomacy. The term was coined in 1965 as a meaningful alternative to propaganda, which acquired a bad odor as early as World War I, when the British and American governments fabricated reports of atrocities committed by the “evil Hun.” By the 1930s, both governments realized how much damage their hate propaganda had done. Not only did it inspire Hitler (as did Soviet propaganda), but it also fostered incredulity toward early reports of Nazi atrocities, based on the assumption that those reports, too, were fabricated.

So during World War II and the Cold War, both Britain and America took the relative high road, when communicating with foreign populations, of refusing to spread blatant lies and disinformation. Compared with the aggressive propaganda of the Third Reich and the Soviet Communist Party, this approach was decidedly asymmetrical. But it worked.

UN IV ERSAL HIS TOR Y AR CHIVE/G ETTY IMA GES

Public diplomacy, sadly, was an early casualty of the post–Cold War era. In the early 1990s, America’s mood was “triumphalist” — meaning not “triumphant” but something more like “full of it.” Not only did Americans declare ourselves the indispensable nation, but we also stopped practicing public diplomacy. Congress slashed funding by one-third. In 1999 the US Information Agency, which had coordinated public diplomacy since 1953, was dismantled.

A 1931 Soviet propaganda poster states “The USSR is the elite brigade of the world proletariat.”

There are still great public diplomats out there. For example, during the US occupation of Iraq, when American troops faced a fierce insurgency, a foreign-service officer named Alberto Fernandez stepped into the communications vacuum. A fluent Arabic speaker, Fernandez made over 500 appearances on Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, and other Arab TV channels, allowing himself to be grilled by celebrity hosts and enraged callers alike. In the opinion of Arab media expert Marc Lynch, this “one-man show” was effective because, instead of a “grim diplomat reading from a script,” it consisted of a flesh-and-blood individual “willing to argue, to get angry, to make jokes — in short, to offer a real human face.”

In 2006, the domestic US media erupted over a comment that Fernandez made on Al-Jazeera: “We tried to do our best, but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq.” Red-state pundits pounced on the comment, which Fernandez quickly retracted. But it was part of a longer statement intended to reach out to Sunni insurgents opposed to Al Qaeda, a strategy that eventually led to the cessation of violence known as the Sunni Awakening. Clearly, public diplomacy performed at this level is a high-wire act, fraught with risk not only from enemies overseas but also from attention-seeking politicos at home. But sometimes a high wire is the only possible path across an abyss of distrust.

Truth-telling is not an easy principle for any government to follow, but not every government lies to the same extent. If this were true, then Americans and Europeans would not be outraged over the alleged removal of evidence from the Flight 17 crash scene in eastern Ukraine. Free societies accept that there is such a thing as objective truth — and that the facts speak for themselves. But facts cannot speak, only people can. Russian President Vladimir Putin has crushed the development of institutions that respect the difference between fact and fiction. And after a century of intelligence-insulting propaganda, the Russian people have been conditioned to roll their eyes at claims of objectivity.

Americans are more trusting. But lately, some — particularly on the left — have become disillusioned enough to think that America’s way of communicating with the world is no different from Moscow’s. On the right there is more support for America’s claims to the truth, but that may not translate into support for a more robust public diplomacy. Many libertarians do not consider it the government’s responsibility to communicate US interests, intentions, and ideals to a turbulent and skeptical

world. Instead, they assume that the job is best left to the private sector, including commercial news, Hollywood, and Internet companies.

Indeed, Americans across the political spectrum remain sufficiently enamored of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media to believe that the best response to authoritarian propaganda is to help the whole world gain access to the Internet.

Unfortunately, authoritarian regimes, notably China’s, show growing expertise at using the same technology to censor free speech and glut online forums with propaganda camouflaged as private opinion.

No effort to deal with these challenges can succeed without a new cohort of public diplomats able to communicate with foreign publics in their own languages, as well as field the inevitable questions and take the inevitable flak with humanity, humor, and grace. This is best done in a live setting, but to reach large populations it is necessary to use whatever media platforms are prevalent in a given region. This is what VOA and other government-sponsored broadcasters do well. Just to cite one example, the most popular international radio channel in Cambodia, the Khmer-language service of Radio Free Asia, uses Internet and FM in Phnom Penh but shortwave in the countryside.

As for Russia and Ukraine, both are still in the orbit of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE-RL), the Cold War channels that relocated to Prague in 1995 and now communicate in 28 languages with 21 countries, including all the Central Asian republics, Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq. These channels are needed because — unlike the Arab media, which are relatively free because they are owned by competing governments and serve a 24-nation market — most of the world’s media are becoming more censored, not less.

Unfortunately, international broadcasting has suffered the same neglect as public diplomacy more generally. Poorly governed and chronically underfunded, RFE-RL has struggled to penetrate the vast Russian market. The same poor governance is also responsible for the dearth of US communication with Russian speakers in adjacent countries, notably Ukraine. There is now a rush to fill this vacuum, but without the long-term trust built up by a steady, reliable presence, any new effort is bound to be dismissed as — you guessed it — propaganda.

To turn this situation around, Americans need to do two things. First, we need to find some common ground when communicating with the other 95 percent of humanity. This can’t wait until we resolve our cultural and political differences, because those differences will never be resolved. But this is precisely the point. America’s most important message is that it is possible to build institutions that, by recognizing the inevitability of disagreements, make it possible for people to live together in spite of them.

Second, Americans must reckon honestly with public diplomacy’s essential function, which is to further the nation’s agenda as forcefully as possible without engaging in propaganda. This is nothing to apologize for. Public diplomacy emerges from a unique tradition of truth-based persuasion, rooted in constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, press, and debate. When this tradition is upheld, it highlights the difference between democratic and authoritarian regimes. When it is neglected, the difference becomes blurred. And that is a very great danger.

Martha Bayles, who teaches humanities at Boston College, is the author of “Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America’s Image Abroad.”

Elizabeth Graver draws inspiration from family history

By Eugenia Williamson | July 12, 2014

Elizabeth Graver writes novels, short stories, and essays. Her last book, the historical novel “The End of the Point,” was longlisted for the National Book Award. She lives in Lincoln and teaches at Boston College.

A FAMILY AFFAIR: I’m working on a project that will probably be a novel, maybe linked stories, maybe nonfiction, but probably fiction, using as its seed the story of my maternal grandmother and assorted family members.

[My grandmother] had a very interesting life. She was born in Turkey in an upper-class family, then they lost all their money, and she moved to Barcelona in the 1920s, at a time when there were no Jews there. . . .

Through various twists of fate, she ended up having an arranged marriage to my grandfather, who was in New York, and marrying him in Cuba and settling in Queens.

EXPLORING WORLDS: I tend to do a lot of research. I’m not so much JOANNE RATHE/GLOBE STAFF looking for answers as I am dropping inside worlds so that I can find the stories there. I can’t really know what I’m looking for until I encounter it, so Fiction writer and essayist Elizabeth Graver. it’s a long process. For this book so far, I’ve been reading and traveling. I went to Barcelona with my mother in April . . . and discovered all kinds of interesting things, like the fact that my greatgrandfather, when he lived there, had been the keeper of a private, hidden synagogue in the 1920s. On the old site, there’s now a hotel called the Hotel American. I’m already starting to write about that place.

UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE: I take notes and tons of pictures and record my conversations. I have research assistants at Boston College to help me, but . . . I can’t delegate much because it’s the uncertainty that moves [a project] along. Besides, I really like it.

QUALITY CONSTRUCTION: I love sentences and the music of language. Much harder for me is the architecture of a novel. I can usually fool myself into thinking I’m getting somewhere because, sentence by sentence, it sounds like I know what I’m doing.

JOANNE RATHE/GLOBE STAFF

HIDING IN THE BASEMENT: If I’m feeling very distracted, I head to the public library. I’ve worked in a lot of public libraries. The Lincoln library has a sheet music room in the basement that’s windowless and very small, like a closet. I sometimes hide in there because I won’t run into people I want to chat with.

LIFE OF A DESK: I found my desk on the street in Somerville, where I used to live. These priests were putting it outside. The base was a terrible bright green, so I stripped it. I found a sticker that said “Property of the University of Michigan.” Then I found another sticker underneath that said “Property of the US Military.” I love that it has this history.

A photo of her mother and grandmother that she keeps near her desk.

SOURCES OF DISPLEASURE: The real difference between writing now and writing 20 years ago when I was starting is the gifts and perils of all this connectivity. I find I need help JOANNE RATHE/GLOBE STAFF getting deep into the story and making decisions without constantly pulling in other A doll her grandmother gave her. sources. I can tell, particularly in historical fiction, when someone has done research in a way that feels not integral to the piece. Suddenly, you’ll come across a paragraph that talks about everything that happened on that day. You can just tell they Googled what happened on March 2, 1852. For me, the characters, the psychology, and the pulse of the story have to stay central, as does a voice that’s not the voice of the time I’m writing about, but my voice.

The Numbers: The Wall Street Journal examines the way numbers are used, and abused.

New Dads Likely to Take Paternity Leave if Paid Time Is Offered July 8, 2014

By JESSICA SPARKS New fathers are likely to take paid paternity leave if it’s offered, but are still likely to work during their leave time, according to a recent Boston College Center for Work and Family study that surveyed mostly professional married men.

Unsurprisingly, if a man is offered paid paternity leave, he is likely to use that benefit. According to the survey, 86% of men said they would use the paid leave as long as they received at least 70% of their normal salary.

About 45% said they wouldn’t take less than 100% of their salary for paid paternity time.

However, when men take leave for a new child at home, they still make themselves available for work. About half of the fathers said they made themselves available for emergencies at work. About 45% said they checked their work email regularly (one or more times a day) and 30% said they checked their voicemail. Only 18% of men in the survey said they did not work at all during their paternity or parental leave.

Only about 20% of all workers in the U.S. are offered paid paternity leave, according to a Family and Medical Leave report. About 70 countries in the world have legislation requiring paid paternity leave or shared parental leave, but the U.S. isn’t in that category. The study showed hourly workers received significantly less support for paternity leave than salaried workers. Hourly workers were more likely to take no time off or less than a week off after the birth of a child.

Research throughout the world has shown many benefits to families when fathers take paternity leave including increased well-being and health for the mother. According to one 2010 study in Sweden, for each month of parental leave taken by the father, the mother’s earnings increased by 6.7%.

In the Boston College survey, 67% of the respondents had access to paid paternity. The survey also skewed high for those who were married (97%), employed (96%), in a professional job (95%) and highly educated (95%).

Among those surveyed, millennials felt most strongly about paid paternity leave and parental leave. While 89% of the surveyed said it was important for employers to provide paid paternity or paid parental leave, 93% of millennials said it was extremely, very or somewhat important. About 88% of Generation X fathers felt the same way, and Baby Boomers felt least strongly about it, with only 77% responding that it was at least somewhat important to get paid paternity or parental leave.

Most respondents (74%) said they believed two weeks or three-to-four weeks should be offered for paid paternity leave. Again, millennials and Generation X fathers had higher expectations for paternity leave than Baby Boomers.

'A Minefield' The Troubling Implications of the Hobby Lobby Decision Cathleen Kaveny July 7, 2014 The Supreme Court’s 5-­‐4 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, where religious exemptions to the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act were extended to a private for-­‐profit company, has produced jubilation among those who regarded the mandate as a grave threat to religious liberty and consternation from those who think access to no-­‐cost contraception should be a fundamental component of health care for women. Critics complain that in extending the accommodation to Hobby Lobby, the court has misinterpreted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 in order to take the unprecedented step of recognizing the religious rights of certain for-­‐profit corporations. The likely result will be an endless stream of similar religious claims from other businesses. Anticipating that criticism, the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, asserts that the case was decided on narrow grounds, and argues that worries about exemptions being granted to religious groups opposed to vaccinations, for example, are unfounded. Writing for the four dissenting justices, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg questioned such assurances, arguing that the Court “has ventured into a minefield.” “Approving some religious claims while deeming others unworthy of accommodation could be ‘perceived as favoring one religion over another,’ the very ‘risk the [Constitution’s] Establishment Clause was designed to preclude.’”

In granting the accommodation to Hobby Lobby, the majority ruling further contended that the administrative mechanism used to accommodate religious entities could easily be extended to commercial enterprises. Three days after issuing the Hobby Lobby ruling, however, the Court granted an emergency injunction to Wheaton College, temporarily allowing the Evangelical institution to avoid complying with even the minimal administrative paperwork required by the government in order to receive an exemption. Wheaton, like some Catholic groups, maintains that filling out the form that notifies the government and its insurer that it desires an exemption will still facilitate access to contraceptive methods it opposes on religious grounds. All three of the Court’s women justices vociferously objected. “Those who are bound by our decisions usually believe they can take us at our word,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “Not so today. After expressly relying on the availability of the religious-­‐nonprofit accommodation to hold that the contraceptive coverage requirement violates RFRA as applied to closely held for-­‐profit corporations, the Court now, as the dissent in Hobby Lobby feared it might...retreats from that position.”

So, at this early date, it very much remains to be seen whether the Court has issued a narrow or sweeping decision with regard to the scope of religious exemptions from laws such as the Affordable Care Act. Supreme Court cases, however, are not only or primarily about the named plaintiffs. Their purpose is to set the normative framework that governs the decisions of countless other unnamed persons (both natural and corporate), who may never have the opportunity to see the inside of the courtroom. It is the future course of cases that makes me worry about the majority opinion—not the outcome in this particular case. For what the Court has done in the Hobby Lobby case is transform the Religious Freedom Restoration Act—a statute enacted by Congress to counteract a bad Supreme Court decision that harmed powerless religious minorities—into a tool for powerful minorities to resist what they believe to be dangerous social and political change. For example, it is not hard to see how the religious exemptions justified in the Hobby Lobby decision could also be applied to businesses that object to dealing with same-­‐sex couples.

The Original Purpose of RFRA As “the findings and purposes” of the law itself make clear, Congress enacted RFRA for a very specific reason. In Employment Division v. Smith (1990), the Supreme Court had significantly relaxed the test used to evaluate the government’s case in religious liberty cases. In short, religious exemptions from otherwise generally applicable laws became much harder to come by. In response to protests from both sides of the political aisle, Congress passed RFRA, which was intended “to restore the compelling interest test as set forth in Sherbert v. Verner (1963) and Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972).” The government, in other words, had to demonstrate a compelling state interest—such as maintaining a system of taxation or protecting public health against infectious disease—if it wanted to burden religious exercise. Moreover, the government needed to show that it promoted that interest by a law tailored to impinge as little as possible on religious exercise. In practice, however, the government has nearly always won such cases. Yet while RFRA clearly came down on the side of religious expression, it did not appreciably expand the religious liberty protections available to claimants before the Smith decision. Very few cases have appeared under federal RFRA in the past twenty years; most have involved members of small religions claiming an exemption from general laws that burden them without conferring any discernible benefit on third parties. A good example is Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal (2006), in which the Supreme Court held that RFRA protected the right of a tiny New Mexican sect of a Brazilian church to import a particular type of tea for sacramental use, despite its hallucinogenic properties that put it in the cross hairs of federal drug laws.

RFRA’s Mutation Justice Alito’s opinion in Hobby Lobby, however, has worked a powerful mutation on the statute. Ignoring the purposes of the legislation, not to mention its legislative history and subsequent application, Alito argues that “nothing in the text of RFRA...was meant to be tied to this

Court’s pre-­‐Smith interpretation of the Amendment.” That is a highly selective if not deceptive interpretation of the statute. Alito virtually ignores the Court’s own earlier interpretation of RFRA in Boerne v. Flores, which recognized that the law “purported to codify” the pre-­‐Smith religious freedom jurisprudence. He further claims that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 requires that the Court interpret RFRA to protect “religious exercise to the maximum extent.”

The land-­‐use act did amend RFRA’s definition of religious exercise to clarify that it included non-­‐central as well as central practices of faith. But this amendment did not widen RFRA’s purpose beyond restoring pre-­‐Smith jurisprudence. Nor did it require a “broad interpretation” of the earlier statute. And the land use act, which is focused narrowly on the use of land by religious entities and the free exercise of rights of institutionalized persons, says nothing whatsoever about how to interpret RFRA. In short, Alito wants it both ways. Looking at the text of RFRA, he focuses only on the letter of the statutory mandate, ignoring even the congressional purpose. Looking at the text of RLUIPA, he expansively interprets its spirit, extending it so far as to reframe the scope and reach of RFRA in ways that are beyond both the provisions and congressional intent of either law.

What groups should be exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate is a difficult issue. On the one hand, from the perspective of many religions, political questions are also moral questions—on every level. And for most people, moral questions invariably have a religious dimension. On the other hand, living in a pluralistic representative democracy, we are inevitably subject to laws and policies that we believe to be unjust. Except in the most extreme cases, however, we cannot expect to be exempted from laws that otherwise apply to everyone else. Here, of course, facts matter. If the contraception methods Hobby Lobby claims act as abortifacients do not in fact cause abortion, the case for exemption is seriously weakened.

In a pluralistic society, the religious freedom of one party needs to be balanced against the rights and the legitimate expectations of others. In this case, the consciences of some religious people must be weighed against the health-­‐care concerns of women more generally, as judged by the people’s legitimately elected representatives. Yet as Ginsburg emphasizes in her dissent, Alito’s opinion gives us precious little guidance on what principles of law we should use when balancing those conflicting concerns. For example, while the ruling recognizes that corporations have free exercise rights, it identifies those rights solely with the owners of the corporation. The legitimate interests of other corporate stakeholders, particularly the employees, who may not share their employer’s religious views, evidently have no standing. In this instance, it seems that more money buys you more religious freedom—and more freedom to infringe on the choices of others.

Second, the opinion provides virtually no way to evaluate the strength of a plaintiff’s religious-­‐liberty claim. Although RFRA’s text speaks of “substantial” burdens on a claimant’s exercise of religious liberty, the ruling pulls the teeth of this requirement. According to Alito and the majority, a burden is “substantial” as long as a claimant sincerely says it is. But as Ginsburg noted, this is an invitation to run through a minefield, not a way out of one.

The injunction granted to Wheaton College reveals the problem. If it is a substantial burden for a religious institution merely to sign a paper notifying the insurance company of its objections to contraception, then why isn’t it a substantial burden for a pacifist to sign a similar paper for the government conscientiously objecting to military service? But if we go down that road, how will we tell the difference between a conscientious objector and a deserter or draft dodger?

At a minimum, we can assess the substantiality of a burden by looking at whether it requires direct participation in an activity or merely indirect facilitation. We need to acknowledge the difference between, for example, fighting in an unjust war and paying taxes that help support an unjust war. The former is a substantial burden; the latter is not. We need to acknowledge, as well, that it cannot be a substantial burden on one’s free exercise merely to inform the government of one’s objection to a law. So too, it is one thing to be asked to provide contraception oneself, another to contribute to a benefit plan that covers contraception, and still another to be asked to inform the government of one’s religious and moral objections to contraception. The first is a substantial burden, in my view. The second and third are not.

Becoming What They Hate Jurists like Justice Alito (and the Republican politicians who appointed them) have long crusaded against “judicial activism,” especially “legislating from the bench.” Their main object of ire, of course, is Roe v. Wade (1973), which not only found a right to abortion in the penumbras of the Constitution, but also required the Court to delve into the messy business of evaluating various schemes for regulating abortion.

In what may be the chief irony of Hobby Lobby, the majority opinion puts the Court in much the same position with respect to religious liberty.

Alito accepted without scrutiny the plaintiff’s claim that the contraception mandate substantially burdened its exercise of religion. For the purposes of this decision, he assumed (albeit grudgingly) that the government had a compelling interest in making no-­‐cost contraception available. In the end, the case turned on the third prong of the RFRA test: Did the government adopt the least restrictive means to achieve its end? He pointedly did not rule out the possibility that accommodating religious objections could require the government to adopt new programs—which would be supervised and second-­‐guessed by the Court. That outcome now seems more likely after the injunction granted to Wheaton College. How is this not legislating from the bench? The conservative majority has, I would argue, become what it has so long hated.

The test proffered in the majority opinion in Hobby Lobby amounts to little more than judicial intuitionism. Does the government have a compelling state interest, say, in combatting racism? In the majority opinion, Alito suggests the answer is yes—but we’re not sure on what grounds. What about combatting discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexual orientation? My guess is that he would say no, but there’s no way to know. The logic of the Hobby Lobby decision is, I fear, as arbitrary as it is partisan.

Cathleen Kaveny is a professor of Law at Boston College

REVISITING RACISM Black theology and a legacy of oppression July 7-14, 2014

M. Shawn Copeland For white people living in the United States, the entanglement of Christianity with chattel slavery and antiblack racism forms a set of deep and confusing paradoxes. As a nation, we understand ourselves in terms of freedom, but we have been unable to grapple with our depriving blacks of freedom in the name of white prosperity and with our tolerance of legalized racial segregation and discrimination. As a nation, we have been shaped by racism, habituated to its presence, indifferent to its lethal capacity to inflict lingering human damage. Too often, Christians not only failed to defy slavery and condemn tolerance of racism; they supported it and benefited from these evils and ignored the very Gospel they had pledged to preach.

COLOR LINES. This wall, pictured in 2005, was built in the 1940s to enforce residential segregation in Detroit. The wall still stands, even though neighborhoods on both sides are now uniformly African-American.

Not surprisingly, 11 a.m. on Sunday morning remains the most segregated hour in Christian America, yet most white Christian theologians have given little attention to slavery or racism. In the wake of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the black liberation theologian James H. Cone denounced the lukewarm responses of mainline Protestant and Catholic Christians to the plight of black Americans as well as the willful blindness of Christian theologians. He declared racism to be America’s original sin and proposed the concept of black theology.

When confronted with this unseemly history, many Catholics argue the “immigrant thesis,” which dates the bulk of Catholic European immigration from the 19th century, thereby exempting Catholics from earlier slaveholding and active participation in racism. This is not the case. Many Catholic planters in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries acquiesced in and prospered from slaveholding, and many white Catholic neighborhoods in the 20th century intentionally staved off housing integration. Most Catholics have heard little, if anything, about black theology, and given our national insistence that we now live in a “post-racial age,” many may wonder whether such a theology is at all relevant. Recurring public acknowledgments of landmark events in the modern black struggle for civil rights provide opportunities for reflection on our nation’s recent past and for an examination of conscience.

Time of Turmoil The years extending roughly from 1954 to 1968 remain a controversial yet pivotal period in American history. These 14 years were marked indelibly by the courage and suffering, prayer and resolve of American women and men of all races and religions who dedicated themselves to secure basic civil rights for the disenfranchised, the segregated and oppressed black women and men of the nation. These were the years of Brown v. Board of Education, the Montgomery bus boycott, Dr. King’s leadership of the civil rights movement, the involvement of black and white college students in sit-ins, freedom rides and voter registration drives. These were years of bombings and burnings, of police wielding batons, water cannons and cattle-prods, of sanctioned torture and murder of blacks and those whites who fought for justice alongside them; of protest and marching, mourning and rebellion. Montgomery, Little Rock, Jackson, the Mississippi Delta, Selma, Birmingham, Cicero, Memphis, Watts and Detroit were other stations of the cross.

Given Dr. King’s thoroughgoing appeal to the Hebrew prophets and the teachings of Jesus, the civil rights movement could not but present a challenge to the consciences of Christians and Jews. Catholic vowed religious women and men, along with priests, seminarians and lay people, Jewish rabbis, Protestant pastors and ministers joined protests and marches; several Catholic members of Congress supported civil rights legislation; bishops of many Christian churches denounced racism as a sin; and some Catholic bishops either integrated parochial schools under their direct control, or condemned publicly the most egregious instances of discrimination. Many individual Catholics made a difference. But what John Deedy argued in his 1987 bookAmerican Catholicism: And Now Where? still rings true: The Catholic Church in the United States, as an institution, had a marginal effect on the civil rights movement.

Despite passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 and 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the masses of black people in the United States remained disenfranchised, segregated, discriminated against and mired in poverty. Sidelined by

intentional presidential and bureaucratic refusals to deploy government resources and enforcement, these laws proved to be little more than legislative gestures. When in 1966 Stokely Carmichael, then chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, took up the phrase “black power” (most likely from a speech given by Congressman Adam Clayton Powell at Howard University), he disrupted the ethos of the civil rights movement and captured the frustration many blacks had begun to feel about nonviolence as a strategy for social empowerment.

The notion of black power was freighted with manifold meanings. In an economic sense, black power called for black ownership and control of economic and institutional resources in black communities—housing and schools, businesses and industries, banks and health care, land and real estate. Supporters of black power reasoned that even if blacks were guaranteed the exercise of political rights, without economic resources they remained locked in a distinctive type of colonial subjugation and economic exploitation. In cultural expression, black power advanced an aesthetic aimed to eradicate the internalized self-hatred that extended and deepened the psychic effects of slavery. Ron Karenga and Amiri Baraka (a k a LeRoi Jones), both activists and writers, were among its most notable advocates, and James Brown sang its slogan in the song “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”

Cultural nationalism promoted research, adoption and creative adaptation of African rituals and practices, but too often in uncritical ways.

Since blacks already were racially segregated in schools and housing, black power argued its embrace as separation and demanded that blacks build up their communities and ebonize academic curricula. This was also a poignant period. The sudden and violent deaths of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy sowed suspicion and conspiracy theories that left the nation anxious, wounded and jaded.

Black theology emerged from the existential, discursive and cultural energy generated in black people’s struggle for human dignity, liberation and flourishing. Through black theology, James Cone aimed to demonstrate that, as he wrote in his book For My People: Black Theology and the Black Church, “the politics of black power was the Gospel of Jesus to twentieth-century America.” Just as Jesus put his ministry at the service of “the little ones”—the physically impaired and ill, the outcast and the poor—so, too, black power was committed to the liberation of the black outcast and poor from oppression. In his 1969 bookBlack Theology and Black Power, Professor Cone questioned the meaningfulness of the Gospel to: powerless black [people] whose existence is threatened daily by the insidious tentacles of white power. Is there a message from Christ to the countless number of blacks whose lives are smothered under white society? Unless theology can become “ghetto theology,” a theology which speaks to black people, the gospel has no promise of life for black [people]—it is a lifeless message.

Despite the passionate language and polemical tone of Black Theology and Black Power, James Cone’s theology remained a Christian theology, taking into account the complex religiosity of the enslaved Africans and their descendants as well as the tradition of radical advocacy of the historic black church. Professor Cone sought to give voice to the seething pain black people felt at the betrayal of the Gospel through the indifference and racist behaviors of too many white Christian clergypersons and lay people. Thus, he distinguished sharply between sacred Scripture as the word of God and sacred Scripture as it had been manipulated to serve the social and cultural interests of white Protestant and Catholic churches and their memberships. Black theology demanded a new consideration of the cultural matrix that is the United States in light of God’s revelation in Jesus of Nazareth.

Against ‘Elegant Racism’ Under James Cone’s inspiration and practical commitment to training doctoral students, for more than 45 years theologians of the black theology movement have sustained within Protestant Christianity one of the most provocative, intellectually stimulating and methodologically innovative movements in Christian thought in North America. Initially, these mostly male scholars failed to confront sexism and homophobia within the black community, but in the ensuing period black theologians have put forward an agenda dealing with issues of gender, race, class, culture and sexuality as these have been posed by womanist theology (that is, theology that takes the differentiated historical, religious, cultural and social experiences of black women as its starting-point).

Black theological reflection calls attention to the perspective of oppressed black men and women as its point of departure; critically probes the meanings and consequences of the religious, historical, cultural and social experiences of black people in the United States; critiques the schism between Christian practice and Christian teaching in relation to race and gender; and contests the persistence of white supremacy and racism.

Public displays of vicious anti-black racial animus have become rare, although racially reactionary opinions are not hard to find. Disdain for these reactionary comments can afford us moments of self-congratulation: “We are colorblind. We have put race behind us; we have elected an African American as president.” But our self-righteous reactions to displays of boorish racism distract us from what Ta-Nehisi Coates aptly described in The Atlantic (5/1) as “elegant racism,” which is “invisible, supple, enduring.”

Elegant racism is embedded in our vicious national practices of housing discrimination, redlining and real estate covenants. “Housing discrimination is hard to detect,” Mr. Coates writes, “hard to prove, and hard to prosecute.” Elegant racism constricts black and Latino access to adequate public transportation, first-rate schools, good jobs, good quality supermarkets and adequate public services. Elegant racism accounts for the disproportionate rates of incarceration of African-Americans and Latinos in comparison with whites; elegant racism explains what Michelle Alexander in The New Jim Crow describes as the “sevenfold increase in the prison population in less than 30 years due to [putatively] rising crime in poor communities of color.” Racism, Mr. Coates writes, is “elegant, lovely, monstrous,” sinful and evil. Racism, America’s original sin, makes black theology crucial and the collaborative theological critique of racism among white theologians necessary.

M. Shawn Copeland is professor of systematic theology at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

College orientations for parents help ease separation pains Colleges provide facts, offer advice on whether to let go

By Matt Rocheleau |

JUNE 30, 2014

College orientation is a rite of passage for freshmen, a time to savor the first taste of independence. But the tradition is not just for students anymore.

Special orientations for parents, once a rarity, have in recent years become common on campuses.

“A lot of parents are living their lives through their children,” said the Rev. Joseph Marchese, Boston College’s orientation program director.

The one- or multi-day events for parents, held mostly in June and July, allow colleges to cover issues students tend to ignore during their own orientations, such as academic expectations. But some administrators say the sessions also help overinvolved, or “helicopter,” parents who might be having difficulty letting go, particularly amid increased concern over issues like school shootings, sexual assaults, and dangerous party and study drugs.

Boston College recently held an elaborate orientation for parents that spanned three days, five campus venues, and several meals — along with a wine and cheese reception.

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The Rev. Terrence P. Devino gave an orientation talk to parents of incoming freshmen at Boston College.

Speakers assured parents their sons and daughters will be fine, telling anxious adults to essentially back off — don’t call, text, visit, e-mail, or post on their child’s Facebook page so often.

“Your kids, over the next four years, need you to be there for them and listen to them — not to judge them,” motivational speaker Norm Bossio told the 500-plus parents gathered in BC’s Robsham Theater. “You’ve worked hard to get here. Don’t wreck this by being a nervous wreck.”

He segued between jokes and heartfelt anecdotes, which caused some parents to well up.

One BC parent at the session, Joe Castro, said it’s difficult not to worry about the safety and general well-being of his daughter, Emily.

“She’s going to be all out on her own,’’ said Castro, of Weston, Conn.

“I’m close with my daughter. I told her that when I’m driving home after I drop her off, I’m sure I’ll be bawling my eyes out.”

He sees a dramatic shift in the 30 years since he was in college.

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Joe Castro (right) and Ted Fischer (center) were roommates as Boston College students. They’re attending orientation again, this time as parents.

“My parents came up to drop me off and said, ‘See you later,’ and that was it,” he said. “But I think during this orientation they lay everything out . . . and get rid of your fears. They’ve convinced us, ‘Don’t worry, they’re in good hands.’ ”

Parent orientations were virtually nonexistent a generation ago.

Now, more than 90 percent of campuses offer such programming, according to a 2011 National Orientation Directors Association survey of 200-plus schools nationwide. Attendance rates are high, between 80 and 90 percent.

While BC essentially implores parents — particularly the incessant worriers — to simply let go, other colleges encourage them to maintain a closer level of involvement.

For years, Brandeis University administrators told parents to “detach as rapidly as possible,” said Andrew Flagel, senior vice president for students and enrollment at the college.

But he said Brandeis — which ends its orientation by bringing parents to a room stocked with wine and tissues for emotional mothers and fathers — has changed its tune in recent years.

“The concept of keeping parents at arm’s length can become very unproductive,” Flagel said. “In an age of digital technology and social media, that process of parents and students communicating back and forth is very positive.”

“Parents feel like they are a part of what’s going on at campus. That’s not helicoptering, that’s just being proud of what their child is doing,” he added. “My advice is to keep being the kind of parent you most want to be.”

Becker and Emmanuel colleges and Suffolk and Lesley universities, also have retreated somewhat recently from emphasizing “letting go.”

“We’re not saying do it all for your child, but here’s how to help your child do it for themselves,” said Joe Onofrietti, Emmanuel’s dean of students.

Suffolk orientation director Patrick Heaton said he distributes his phone number during parent orientation, a twoday affair that includes lunch with faculty, a campus tour, and a “Telling It Like It Is” student panel. He said he welcomes their calls.

If a mother, for example, called saying she hadn’t heard from her child a while, Heaton might tell the student: “Your mom called, she’s worried, you don’t have to have a long conversation. But shoot her an e-mail. Let her know you’re eating and you’re OK.” But like BC, other colleges, including Holy Cross and Wheelock, say their overall message to parents is give their freshmen space.

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BC essentially implores parents — particularly the incessant worriers — to simply let go.

Bryan McGrath, assistant dean of students at Wheelock, said some parents gasp when administrators advise them to wait six weeks after school begins before visiting their child or having them come home.

Holding student and parent orientations simultaneously can help ease the pain of the impending separation.

Remy Fischer, a Barrington, R.I., native who recently attended orientation at BC along with her parents, Ted and Lisa, said: “I consider myself very close with my parents. We have a tightknit relationship. But I think it will be a good experience. I feel like I’m ready,’’ Plus, she is not the family’s first child to go away to college.

“Our parents will give us advice, but they won’t tell us what to do,” Fischer said.

Boston College’s Marchese says much the same thing, although he frames it a bit differently. College, he said, is the “beginning of our identity and asking those big questions about ourselves — who are we called to be. Let the students involve themselves in that process. Don’t construct a life for them.”

Rev. William Neenan, 85; called ‘the pastor’ of BC

By Bryan Marquard

| JUNE 29, 2014 “I was going to be at BC for two years and then go back and spend the rest of my life in Ann Arbor,” he told the Globe in 2000. “But I fell in love with BC and its students.”

The affection was mutual. Before his visiting professorship was over, the college asked him to become a dean, and he stayed at the Chestnut Hill campus the rest of his life, later serving as academic vice president and as vice president and special assistant to the president. The titles, however, do little justice to Rev. Neenan’s impact on the college, say those who knew him. From daily lunches with students in the Eagle’s Nest dining area to raising millions from alumni to officiating at the weddings of scores of graduates, he became the Jesuit nearly everyone knew.

PAT GREENHOUSE/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2000

The Rev. William Neenan’s time at Boston College was supposed to be a brief interlude from teaching at the University of Michigan.

“He was in some ways the pastor of campus,” said the Rev. William P. Leahy, president of the college.

On Wednesday, a couple of days after returning from an annual retreat in Wisconsin, his Jesuit provincial home, Rev. Neenan worked in his BC office all morning. He was soon to leave for a haircut and an afternoon meeting when he died in the Jesuit residence at Roberts House. Rev. Neenan was 85 and his health had been failing due to bouts with bronchitis and other illnesses.

Throughout his 35 years at Boston College, Rev. Neenan kept his childhood in Iowa in his thoughts. As an icebreaker, he might open a serious meeting by quizzing those present about the major rivers in his home state. More than three decades ago he founded the Iowa/Nebraska Luncheon Club, which inspired other regular gatherings on campus for students to commune with people from their home regions. And Rev. Neenan never tired of teasing those in his adopted home about the clear superiority of the Midwest.

“I found many people on the East Coast are challenged in a language way, and to be with people from the Midwest who speak English accurately is comforting,” he said with a smile in a 2006 interview with the Boston Irish Reporter. Creating the Iowa/Nebraska club, he added, allowed those “from the area to get to know each other better, and to make fun of everyone else.”

Around the time he founded the club, he also began annually issuing what became known as the “Dean’s List” of recommended reading, 27 books drawn from his personal reading habits. So popular was Rev. Neenan among undergraduates and alumni that the college soon began fielding 10,000 requests a year for the list.

Rev. Neenan also was in demand by BC couples and he officiated at seven or eight weddings each year. “I think he holds the record by a long shot of the number of young couples married by a Jesuit,” said Jack Connors, a founder of the Boston advertising firm Hill, Holliday and a college trustee.

“He obviously fell in love with Boston College,” Connors added, “and Boston College fell in love with him.”

William B. Neenan was born in Sioux City, Iowa, where his father was a dental surgeon. His mother died in childbirth.

His father remarried when Rev. Neenan was a teenager, and in 1946, he graduated from Trinity High School in Sioux City. He spent two years at St. Louis University, a Jesuit school, where he was inspired to join the order.

“Bill told me that when he said he was thinking of joining, my dad said, ‘Well, you picked the best,’ and Bill has always felt that way,” said his younger brother, Peter, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“He was a quintessential Jesuit,” said Rev. Neenan’s younger sister, Mary Jo Warnke, of Plain, Wis., “and he was also a very holy and caring person.”

Rev. Neenan received a master’s in economics from St. Louis University and a doctorate in economics from the University of Michigan. He taught at St. Louis University, at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, and at the University of Michigan before leaving in 1979 for a visiting professorship at BC. Connors and others credited Rev. Neenan with helping Leahy and his predecessor as president, the Rev. J. Donald Monan, transform Boston College from being a commuter school to a nationally recognized university.

Among his many honors, Rev. Neenan received the Founder’s Medal from Boston College Law School. The New England Province of the Society of Jesus presented him with the Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam Award for his commitment to Jesuit education. For his service to Boston College, he was awarded an honorary degree in 2008, his 60th anniversary of becoming a Jesuit.

In 2004, Margaret and Thomas Vanderslice established the William B. Neenan Millennium Chair in Economics, and five years later the college created the William B. Neenan, S.J., Society for alumni who make annual gifts in consecutive years.

Despite the accolades “there was no standing on ceremony for Father Bill Neenan,” Connors said. “He was just a sweet, approachable guy who loved life, and when you were with him, you loved life, too.”

The Rev. Joseph Appleyard, executive assistant to the provincial of the New England Province, said Rev. Neenan was unusual among those who rise through the ranks of academic administration.

“I would say, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating, that I don’t think he had any enemies, and that’s kind of rare for an administrator,” Appleyard said. “It’s very hard to be dean and then academic vice president and have everybody like you. That was the case. He could even deliver bad news with grace.”

At an age when he traded handshakes for fist bumps because his immune system was compromised by illness, Rev. Neenan would be invited by students to give talks and offer life lessons. He was among four Jesuits who made a guest appearance in acampus video that featured students dancing and lip synching to the Pharrell Williams song “Happy.”

“There’s been no one here in my time that’s had this kind of engagement with the whole campus,” Leahy said.

In addition to his brother and sister, Rev. Neenan leaves his stepmother, Margaret, of Spring Green, Wis. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday in St. Ignatius Church on the Boston College campus.

Though Rev. Neenan was a Jesuit for 66 years, “he was devout in a very modern way,” said the Rev. James Keenan, a BC theology professor who lived with Rev. Neenan at Roberts House the past dozen years.

“Everybody knew he was a priest, but he very rarely wore a collar. His priesthood was in himself, rather than in ritual. You met it in his person,” Keenan said. “He always had people laughing. He liked the upper side of life.”

Social Security Closes Offices As Boomers Retire. How to Get Help Now. Philip Moeller June 24, 2014 With fewer offices and fewer employees, the agency is overwhelmed. These five steps can help you find the information you need.

As millions of Baby Boomers start to retire, the Social Security Administration is being flooded with demands for help with benefits. But in a feat of bad timing, the agency has closed 64 field offices (1 out of 20), reduced hours at all the others, and now has 11,000 fewer employees today since 2010, according to a recent bipartisan Senate report.

The reason for these cutbacks? Pressure from Washington budget-cutters, who are requiring the agency to do more with less. Social Security’s “solution” is to reduce face-to-face interactions and beef up less-costly options: online tools, call centers and, in some cases, video connections.

For its troubles, SSA got hammered last week by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, which issued the report. More accurately, the agency got hammered by the panel’s ranking members, Florida Democrat Bill Nelson and Maine Republican Susan Collins. They were the only Senators present for just about the entire session, and they made good use of their time.

Nancy Berryhill, SSA’s deputy commissioner for operations, got the dubious honor of playing punching bag for Sens. Nelson and Collins. At one point, close to frustration if not tears, she said the agency has been decimated. “With these tight budget times, I’m trying to survive. . . .

It’s been devastating to us. . . . And we are losing our most experienced employees.”

The loss of veteran workers will not be easily made up by online tools. The agency logged more than 156 million public interactions last year, including 45 million office visits, 46 million field-office calls and 56 million call-center interactions. Meanwhile, the total of all its Internet interactions—for benefit applications, address changes, disability reports and other service requests—was fewer than 9 million.

Expecting the Internet to somehow emerge as the preferred and dominant source of Social Security assistance overnight is simply virtual unreality.

So, we are facing a world where there are fewer and fewer workers available to help more and more aging Americans make very complicated Social Security decisions. And, as Ms. Berryhill said, the remaining agency employees are not as skilled as those that have left. Given this reality, here are five steps you can take to help you make the right decisions about your Social Security benefits.

Sign up for My Social Security. You’re reading this story online so, clearly, asking you to use the Internet should not be a stretch.

Create a personalized account with the SSA to see your official earnings history and the agency’s projection of your benefits at various claiming ages.

Use benefit calculators. Compare the financial impact of claiming at different ages—and be sure to consider your spouse’s benefits too. Financial Engines is the latest financial advice firm to offer a Social Security benefits calculator. TheAARP calculator does a good job of explaining the virtues of delaying benefits. My favorite calculator by far is Maximize My Social Security. (Full disclosure: MMSS was created

by Boston University economics professor Larry Kotlikoff, who also happens to be co-authoring a book about Social Security with me and PBS business and economics correspondent Paul Solman.)

Personalize the numbers. Calculators are fine when it comes to plain-vanilla claiming situations. But most of us require more complex assessments to determine the best Social Security options. What’s your longevity outlook? Are you divorced? Has your present or former spouse died? Do you have young kids? Are you financially supporting your own parents? Did you or your spouse work in a job on which Social Security taxes were not paid? All of these situations may affect your Social Security benefits. Calculators rarely provide such nuanced advice.

Compare answers. As a background check, enter your precise Social Security question or claiming situation into your favorite search engine, and you’ll see a wealth of solid (and often not-so-solid) advice. You can use this information, along with your other research, as preparation for the next, and last, step.

Push for top-level Social Security advice. Armed with your research, confirm your answers with SSA. You will find plenty of basic information on the SSA website. Next, call the800 line with any specific questions. Then follow up with a visit to your local SSA office and meet with a claims representative. Yes, you may have a long wait, but it’s worth the effort. Finally, confirm your understanding of your benefit options with an SSA technical expert—these pros are the agency’s most experienced benefits staffers. To connect with one, you may need to be persistent. But that way, you’ll get the best help SSA still has to offer.

Philip Moeller is an expert on retirement, aging and health. He is an award-winning business journalist and a research fellow at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. Reach him at moeller.philip@gmail.com or @PhilMoeller on Twitter.

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Catholic College and the Priesthood THE I GN A T I AN EDUCATOR Matt Emerson | June 23, 2014

What influences men to enter the priesthood? How does college impact this decision? Thanks to a new report issued by Boston College, we now have a lot of data on this question.

Boston College has issued its summary report of the 2013 Summit on Vocations to the Priesthood. This Summit was convened to discuss the results of a study conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). This CARA study, commissioned by Boston College and the Jesuit Conference USA, sought "to assess the impact of Catholic higher education on the vocational discernment of men entering the seminary and religious life in the United States, seeking to determine variables related to what led them to the seminary and/or eventual ordination."

The goal of the Summit, says the report, "was to communicate new insights into what promotes and what hinders vocations to priesthood, and to facilitate dialogue toward developing a national strategy for fostering such vocations."

The 40-page report contains helpful information and data about the makeup of the men entering the priesthood and the reasons for their decision, especially as it relates to college. For example: "The men who entered priestly formation were just as likely as the broader Catholic population to have attended Catholic elementary or high schools, but they are significantly more likely to have attended a Catholic college. Forty-four percent of ordinands attended a Catholic college, in contrast to only about 7 percent of the overall U.S. Catholic population."

"Simply put," says the summary report, "if a Catholic college provides more experiences of encouragement of vocation to priesthood, it is likely that such encouragement will bear fruit."

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Metro

Greatness on the tiniest stage

By Carolyn Y. Johnson G L O B E S T A F F J U N E 1 4 , 2 0 1 4

On first glance, it looks for all the world like a manufacturing flaw: a tiny smudge defacing James Joyce’s owl-like eyeglasses on a Euro coin commemorating the Irish novelist.

But the rectangular imperfection reveals itself to be far more intricate and marvelous under the microscope: a miniature reproduction of the famed writer’s 300-page short story collection, “Dubliners.”

A Boston College physicist etched the famed text, published a century ago this Sunday, onto a 2.5-squaremillimeter patch using a sophisticated nanolithography technique more commonly employed to build electronics than to print miniature editions of classic literature.

The Joyce coin was searched for a flat surface and the ideal spot within the left eyeglass lens was found for “Dubliners” to be printed.

This is not the first time Joyce’s influence has rippled beyond the merely literary.

The word for a subatomic particle known as a quark was inspired by its use in his book “Finnegans Wake.” In 2010, scientists encoded a quote from Joyce into the DNA of a lab-made cell.

“You might say there’s kind of a tradition of physicists borrowing from Joyce,” said Joseph Nugent, an English professor at BC who provided the coin that now bears an edition of the “Dubliners” that is roughly one-hundredth the size of a dime.

The decision to painstakingly deface a silver coin using a beam of electrons and a special coating in a BC laboratory this spring happened by chance. But it is a playful reflection of the growing effort to integrate methods and tools more commonly used in the sciences into the realms of literature and history. t also shows how two worlds that can seem impossibly separate — the laboratory and the library — are connected as human endeavors.

“These experiments show how science and culture are deeply entwined,” Colin Milburn, an English professor at the University of California, Davis, wrote in an e-mail. “They show how the meanings of scientific discovery and innovation are

not merely technical but resonant with many other aspects of history, politics, literature, art, and popular media. Even as individual experiments, they brilliantly illustrate the extent to which science is culture, never separated.”

The project began in April, when BC physicist Michael Naughton attended a physics conference on campus focused on energy production and the development of new materials to help meet the world’s future energy needs. As he was leaving, he noticed a few friends attending a different conference in the same building, this one focused on James Joyce and the digital Michael Naughton is a Joyce fan, kind of. “Like everybody else, I’ve struggled to read ‘Finnegans Wake,’ ” he says. humanities, in which researchers apply tools of computer science to fields such as literature and history.

The gulf between these two worlds can be wide, the butt of friendly teasing on either side. To the English professor, the science conference was for “physicists and their abstruse brand of knowledge.” The physics professor admits to being a fan of Joyce, to an extent. “Like everybody else, I’ve struggled to read ‘Finnegans Wake,’ ” Naughton said.

Still, the physicist was a happy interloper at the Joyce conference, where he learned about a “Digital Dubliners” initiative, an interactive e-book being developed by Nugent and students that would enrich the text with maps, archival videos, and interactive contextual information.

“I was thinking, ‘Why can’t I do something cool like that?’ ” said Naughton, who works in nanotechnology, a field focused on manipulating matter at the smallest scale. He came up with a simple idea: What if he just printed a really, really small version of the book?

He had to persuade a graduate student — Fan Ye, who has since moved on to Cornell University — to come on board. There was no particular practical application for printing tiny books on coins, and Ye had not read “Dubliners,” but they struck a deal: After Joyce, they would create a nanoedition of the writings of Confucius.

Naughton took the text of “Dubliners” from the public domain and formatted it, working line by line to make sure Joyce’s distinctive style was preserved,

including the italics. Then, he handed the project off to Ye, who coated the coin with a polymer coating and printed the text of the book using an electron beam.

Finally, they used a chemical solvent that left the text etched in the special coating.

At first, they tried a variation of the technique on silicon wafers. Then Naughton took a 50th anniversary coin, a two shilling Irish coin called a florin, minted in 1964. Between the word EIRE and the harp, he and Ye deposited “Dubliners.”

The English professor then proffered an even more appealing nanopublishing opportunity: a commemorative Joyce coin. Naughton searched the coin for a flat surface and found the ideal spot within Joyce’s left eyeglass lens. He printed “Dubliners” on the lens. Then, on a second coin, he printed the 866 pages of “Ulysses” on a different coin, a feat that took 12 hours.

Naughton and Nugent admit that the nano version of “Dubliners” is something of a gimmick. It will not have much to contribute to serious scholarship. But it shows how art and science are often driven by human curiosity and how they can, each in different ways, provide new and deeper perspectives on the world.

The physicist thinks he might make nanoprinting books part of his teaching; it is a good way for scientists in training to learn basic techniques. Both professors think this is a way to draw broader interest to their fields.

Nugent said that looking at the text through a microscope, he would search out the final paragraph of a short story called “The Dead.”

“That is the most anthologized and the most lyrical and, for most people, the most beautiful and, perhaps, the most heartfelt piece,” Nugent said. “There’s a way in which I think we can touch Joyce’s old feelings, Joyce’s old heart.”

Don’t Call them Mr. Mom: More Dads at home with kids because they want to be

BY BRIGID SCHULTE June 5, 2014

The number of stay-at-home Dads has doubled in the last 25 years, reaching a peak of 2.2 million in 2010, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center. And although the Great Recession contributed to a sharp uptick, by far, the fastest growing segment of at-home Dads say they’re home taking care of the kids because they want to be.

And they don’t want to be called Mr. Mom anymore. In fact, the growing At-Home Dad’s Network has been leading a campaign to get the term banished from the English language.

Advocacy campaign graphic of the National At-­‐Home Dad Network

“Back in the 1980s, ‘Mr. Mom’ was a way to describe a man who was taking care of children, because that was seen as women’s work,” said Al Watts, president of the National At-Home Dad Network. “But now there’s been a great change in society.

And there’s a great term for a guy who takes care of his kids. It’s ‘Dad.’”

And while at-home dads still face stigma – surveys show that society rewards at-home mothers, but still wonders why athome fathers aren’t at work – Watts said his organization is taking that uneasiness about caregiving men head on: His organization has begun handing out “Man Cards” that read “As an actively involved dad, you are the manliest of men.”

Watts and his organization are part of the fast-growing share of dads who are staying home because that’s what they and their families have chosen. The new Pew Research Center report found that in 1989, only 5 percent of the 1.1 million at-home fathers said they were home to be primary caregivers. That share has increased four-fold now to 21 percent, a sign not only of the power of economics in reshaping traditional family structures, but of shifting gender norms.

“The assumption that a lot of people make is that the number of stay-at-home dads went up because of the recession. And while that’s absolutely true, even if you take out that trend altogether, the fact is the number has been going up over time, regardless. And the biggest increase is in the share of fathers who want to stay home to take care of kids,” said Gretchen Livingston, author of the new report. “That’s very striking.”

Other surveys have found that men today, particularly younger men, say being a good father outweighs their ambition at work. Boston College’s Center for Work and Family found in a recent survey that 77 percent of the fathers wished they had more time to spend with their kids and more than half said that, if given the choice and if finances permitted, they’d prefer to quit their jobs and stay home to take care of the kids.

In the Pew Research report, the share of fathers home because they themselves are ill or disabled has dropped from more than half of all at-home fathers in 1989 to about one-third. And the share of fathers who are home with kids because they’re in school, retired or for other reasons has dropped only slightly in the past 25 years, from 25 to 22 percent.

About half of all at-home fathers are white, 20 percent Hispanic and 16 percent African American, according to the report.

Livingston also found that at-home fathers tend to be quite a bit older, poorer and have less education than their working father counterparts. And, unlike trends with at-home mothers, where a recent Pew Research report found a disproportionate share of foreign-born mothers stay home, at-home dads are fairly evenly distributed between immigrant and U.S.-born.

While the number of at-home fathers has been on the rise, the actual number is in dispute, in part, Livingston said, because there just isn’t a lot of information collected about dads not at work. Livingston used the Current Population Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and included fathers ages 18 to 69 who reported living with at least one child younger than 18 who has not worked for pay in the prior year.

The Census Bureau limits the definition of at-home fathers to those living with children younger than 15 who are home as primary caretakers. That’s the fastest growing segment of at-home fathers and now stands at around 214,000. Some at-home

father groups say the number could be as high as 7 million, because they also include the number of fathers who say they are primary caretakers, but may work part-time out of the home.

“As with dad data in general, there just isn’t a whole lot of information out there,” Livingston said. “For so long, the thinking has been, ‘Dads go to work, that’s what they do, so that’s how we’ll study them.’ But maybe as we see more dads as caregivers and that becomes more normal, maybe we’ll move toward more research that does look at all that dads do.”

The handful of researchers who study fathers say that the dearth of information available on fathers outside their roles as primary breadwinners extends to science as well. It was only in the past few years that scientists found that men, like women, have hormonal and neurological changes once they become parents. When they become fathers, men, too, produce estrogen and prolactin, the hormone associated with producing breast milk, their testosterone levels drop and their production of the bonding hormone, oxytocin rises.

“We discovered that men produced these hormones by accident – by doing thyroid studies,” said Kyle Pruett, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine’s Child Study Center who has long studied fathers.

Pruett and a handful of others who study fathers have found that, contrary to the cultural view that mothers are key to child development while fathers are merely providers and bystanders, involved and active fathers strengthen child development.

“Being an involved father changes him, his health, the nature of his relationships, his job satisfaction, his warmth. It changes the child, and improves the child’s chances for well-being and the ability to deal with the kinds of everyday stresses in their lives,” Pruett said.

In fact, Pruett said, the emerging science should not come as a shock. The distant, provider father only emerged as a cultural ideal during the Industrial Revolution. “During the pre-industrial period, men were very close to their kids. They worked together in the field. They spent a lot of time with them,” he said. “This artificial polarization of Dads Who Work and Moms Who Care started very recently with the Industrial Revolution. Well, the factories have shut down. Today, 86 percent of fathers feel they want to be more involved with their children than their fathers were with them. We should give them support and help, not only in the home, but also in the workplace.”

Although the Pew Research report notes that at-home fathers still face stigma – some at-home dads will tell outsiders that they’re “consultants” – and are not as rewarded for care-taking as are mothers, at-home fathers like Mike Stilwell, co-founder of the growing National At-Home Dad Network, say that society has come a long way.

When Stilwell, who lives in Fairfax County, began staying home to care for his three children more than a decade ago, fathers taking their children to the parks in the middle of the day was an oddity. One such at-home Dad in Montgomery County was actually approached by some mothers and asked why he wasn’t at work, Stilwell said. Not satisfied with his answer that he was an at-home dad, they called the police.

“That was pretty shocking. But things are changing,” he said. “You go to a park now, you may see a group of dads talking to other dads, or hanging out and talking to moms. The more and more dads taking care of kids becomes acceptable to people, and the more they see how natural it is for a father to do it, I think it’s going to keep getting better. I just wish I’d done it earlier.”

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05-27-15 05-27-15 05-26-15 05-26-15 05-26-15 05-24-15 05-23-15 05-22-15 05-22-15 05-22-15 05-21-15 05-20-15 05-20-15 05-19-15 05-19-15 05-18-15 05-18-15 05-18-15 05-18-15 05-18-15 05-18-15 05-17-15 05-15-15 05-15-15 05-14-15 05-13-15 05-13-15 05-12-15 05-12-15 05-12-15 05-12-15 05-11-15 05-11-15 05-11-15 05-10-15 05-09-15 05-08-15 05-08-15 05-08-15 05-07-15 05-07-15 05-07-15 05-06-15 05-06-15 05-06-15 05-06-15 05-05-15 05-05-15 05-05-15 05-04-15 05-04-15 05-03-15 05-03-15 05-02-15 05-01-15 05-01-15 05-01-15 May 2015 04-30-15 04-30-15 04-30-15 04-30-15 04-30-15

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English’s Rotella writes on young opera composer and conductor Psychology’s Gray on free-range parenting CRR on leaving a legacy or inheritance CRR’s Munnell, Webb on penalty for early 401(k) withdrawals Theology’s Cahill, Copeland, Fr. Keenan on pope’s encyclical on environment CRR study cited on lower living standards in retirement CRR cited on requirements for reverse mortgages Op-ed: History’s Johnson on ‘80s anti-immigrant violence in Boston STM’s Fr. Bretzke on Catholicism in Ireland Carroll School’s Brasel on Tom Brady’s marketing pull post-Deflategate CIP’s Fr. Rafferty on Catholicism in Ireland Psychology’s Winner on child prodigies CRR on how to build a nest egg despite low investment returns CRR: fewer retirees start SS at age 62 History’s Rogers on Tsarnaev verdict CRR on solutions to retirement problems CRR on choosing right time to retire Carroll School’s E. Kane on secrecy at Goldman Sachs Carroll School’s Harrison on how co-workers can help you succeed Theology’s Copeland, Fr. Keenan queried: what would they ask the pope Commencement: Chicago Archbishop Cupich addresses graduates PoliSci’s Krause on Tsarnaev verdict CRR on pension funds and the stock market CRR on penalties of early retirement CRR on retirement strategies Op-ed: Law’s Hong on death penalty protocols Law’s Brown on Patriots, Deflategate History’s Oh: new book on Korean adoption highlighted Sociology’s Schor on true cost of services in a free market CRR on US workers hold off on retirement CRR on retirement shortfalls of US workers Lynch School’s Altbach on American universities abroad Law’s Quinn on T Rowe’s challenge to Dell deal Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Carroll School’s McNealy on consumer need for game consoles CWF report on wealth transfers occurring during a giver’s lifetime Carroll School’s Zola on insurance for top college athletes forgoing draft Carroll School’s E. Kane on how banks can topple Fintech challengers Law’s Brown on NSA surveillance limitations Law’s Holper on legalizing immigrant children in US CWF on parental roles forming early in child’s lifetime Psychology’s Tecce on Tom Brady’s body language discussing Deflategate CWF’s Schervish on effectiveness of benefit concerts CWF study cited on dearth of paid paternity leave in U.S. Economics’ Fulford’s study: the enduring $1 bill Career Center’s Gaglini on how recent grads negotiate salaries BC students, football players formed BC’s “Coffee Crew” Carroll School’s G. Kane, Erin Hughes ’15 on NHL’s use of Pinterest Carroll School’s E. Kane on Yellen meetings with financial firm under scrutiny Communications’ Sienkiewicz on possible Tsarnaev jury TV ban Lynch School’s de Wit to redirect CIHE focus CWP report cited on massive transfer of wealth from 2007 to 2061 CWF’s Harrington on fathers being happier at work when involved at home BC Law grad Marilyn Mosby oversees Gray case CRR study cited on costs of in-home nursing care BC Law grad Marilyn Mosby oversees Gray case English’s Rotella writes on spectacle of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao match MBA grad Denis O’Brien funds scholarship Irish students to get BC MBAs CWP report cited on massive wealth transfer from 2007 to 2061 CRR study cited on state pension cuts CWF report aids Fatherly magazines’ ‘Top 50 places to work for new dads’ list CWP report on massive wealth transfer from 2007 to 2061 Economics’ Ireland on the Fed, interest rates

04-29-15 04-29-15 04-29-15 04-29-15 04-29-15 04-28-15 04-28-15 04-28-15 04-27-15 04-27-15 04-27-15 04-27-15 04-27-15 04-27-15 04-26-15 04-26-15 04-26-15 04-25-15 04-24-15 04-24-15 04-24-15 04-23-15 04-23-15 04-22-15 04-22-15 04-22-15 04-22-15 04-21-15 04-21-15 04-21-15 04-20-15 04-20-15 04-20-15 04-20-15 04-20-15 04-19-15 04-19-15 04-18-15 04-18-15 04-17-15 04-16-15 04-16-15 04-15-15 04-15-15 04-15-15 04-15-15 04-14-15 04-14-15 04-12-15 04-12-15 04-11-15 04-10-15 04-10-15 04-10-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-09-15 04-08-15

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Carroll School’s Greene on Supreme Court EEOC ruling BC students named in top 10 schools with “Smart and Athletic” students Weston Observatory’s Ebel on earthquake in NH Gabelli Presidential Scholar Marissa Marandola ’16 named Truman Scholar CRR study shows limited retirement savings for average family CRR study estimates health care costs for retirees Elisabeth Medvedow to lead Law’s Rappaport Center BC grad Joe Bastianich on bringing restaurant to Boston with Mario Batali Sociology’s Hesse-Biber on interpreting risks when BRCA-positive Carroll School's Fr. McGowan: priest, professor studies societal vices Physics' He on negative electronic compressibility Op-ed: SCAW’s Moeller on why it pays to delay SS benefits St. Columbkille Partnership School rebounds with BC’s help Kayla Hammergren ’15 meets recipient of her bone marrow donation CRR’s Munnell on PERA’s shortfall Op-ed: History's Richardson on the splintering GOP Weston Observatory’s Kafka on earthquake aftershocks in Nepal Psychology’s Gray on free-range vs. helicopter parents Carroll School’s Bradshaw on variation in company earning figures Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev sentencing Philippine Society of BC on seminar for Fil-Am youth Op-ed: STM student Zachary Dehm on Tsarnaev case, death penalty Law’s Bloom on Hernandez civil lawsuit STM’s Fr. Bretzke on pope’s Cuba visit Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on Mohegan Sun targeting Asia CRR on Obamacare CRR on a three-step retirement plan STM’s Gaillardetz on pope’s environment encyclical Law's Bloom on Tsarnaev trial penalty phase Law's Bloom on Tsarnaev trial penalty phase Op-ed: Law/Theology’s Kaveny on limits of religious freedom Law’s McCoy on bogus stamps, phony bonds backing failed insurer Lynch School’s Hargreaves on teachers in isolation Erin Kelley '15 succeeds with Bottom Line program CWP on why inheritances fail BC grad, marathon bombing survivor Patrick Downes and wife Jess on their recoveries

Law's Bloom on Tsarnaev trial CSTEEP’s Braun on university rankings scrutiny CRR on investing for retirement Sociology's Moorman on how bad marriage may hurt health CRR study: early withdrawals from retirement account hurt savings Law’s Greenfield on Etsy’s IPO MBA grad Denis O’Brien funds scholarship for Irish students to get BC MBAs SSW’s Calvo’s study shows support boosts post-disaster resilience CRR study shows common wealth management errors in retirement CRR’s Aubry, Rauner on pension fixes CRR model cited, shows saving needs for average retirement CWP’s Schervish on origins of the money taboo PoliSci’s Hopkins on Clinton’s candidacy for president Lynch School's Proctor, Paez on flaws in immersion plan Op-ed: MCA&S’s Ted Gup, Katie Rich '15 on Enola Gay minor mystery Op-ed: Philosophy’s Hirsch on the value of service Carroll School's Fr. McGowan on casino mogul Wynn’s financial problems MBA grad Denis O’Brien funds scholarship for Irish students to get BC MBAs MBA grad Denis O’Brien funds scholarship for Irish students to get BC MBAs MBA grad Denis O’Brien funds scholarship for Irish students to get BC MBAs MBA grad Denis O’Brien funds scholarship for Irish students to get BC MBAs MBA grad Denis O’Brien funds scholarship fpr Irish students to get BC MBAs Op-ed: English's Rotella on musical “Musketeers” worthy of Dumas CRR’s Webb on spending during retirement CRR’s Munnell on the retirement crisis Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Chicago Archbishop Cupich to speak at Commencement Chicago Archbishop Cupich to speak at Commencement Chicago Archbishop Cupich to speak at Commencement CWF’s Harrington on evolving role of millennial dads

04-08-15 04-08-15 04-08-15 04-08-15 04-08-15 04-07-15 04-07-15 04-07-15 04-07-15 04-06-15 04-06-15 04-06-15 04-06-15 04-06-15 04-06-15 04-06-15 04-06-15 04-04-15 04-03-15 04-03-15 04-02-15 04-02-15 04-01-15 04-01-15 04-01-15 03-31-15 03-31-15 03-31-15 03-31-15 03-31-15 03-30-15 03-30-15 03-29-15 03-27-15 03-26-15 03-26-15 03-25-15 03-25-15 03-25-15 03-25-15 03-25-15 03-25-15 03-24-15 03-24-15 03-24-15 03-23-15 03-23-15 03-23-15 03-22-15 03-20-15 03-20-15 03-20-15 03-20-15 03-19-15 03-19-15 03-18-15 03-18-15 03-18-15 03-18-15 03-17-15 03-17-15 03-16-15 03-16-15 03-16-15 03-16-15 03-16-15

Miami Herald USA Today National Catholic Rep Forbes.com Time.com Religion News Service Boston.com Sloan Management Rev Huffington Post Boston Globe Star Tribune Boston.com/Crux National Catholic Rep Boston Globe Boston Herald Associated Press Chronicle of Higher Ed Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune New York Times Huffington Post Dow Jones MarketWatch Boston.com Baltimore Sun Int’l Business Times Sloan Management Rev Bloomberg News Boston Globe Bloomberg News Boston Business Journal Boston Globe Fortune.com New York Times USA Today Boston Globe Bloomberg News Boston Globe Boston Globe Chronicle of Higher Ed Dow Jones MarketWatch Boston Globe Boston Globe Boston Herald Washington Post America Washington Post USA Today Boston Globe Columbus Dispatch Huffington Post National Catholic Rep Investor’s Business Daily New York Times Boston Herald Los Angeles Times Bloomberg News Boston Herald Chronicle of Higher Ed US News & World Rep Money.com Wall Street Journal Lebanese Examiner National Catholic Rep Denver Post New York Times Wall Street Journal

CWF’s Harrington on working dads, paternity leave Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial STM hosts colloquium on libertarianism CRR study cited in article on Americans retiring too early CRR study cited in article on older workers poor in retirement STM hosts colloquium on libertarianism CWF’s Fraone on MA law expanding unpaid paternity leave Op-ed: Carroll School’s G. Kane on social media Op-ed: Fatmah Berikaa ’18 on being Islamic at a Catholic university Weston Observatory’s Ebel on small MA earthquake CRR study cited in article on red flags in mapping out retirement years STM's Fr. Bretzke on Tsarnaev trial STM’s Ospino, Law’s Holper on C21 panel re immigrants Law’s Bloom on Hernandez trial Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial BC’s core renewal initiative featured CRR study on early withdrawals from retirement accounts Op-ed: Law’s Olson on music streaming demanding new rules CRR study cited in article on retirement savings Op-ed: Law's Sherman on girls and the juvenile justice system CRR study cited in piece on retirement CRR study on employer pension funds vs. 401(k) plans CWP cited in article on rise of working poor and non-working rich STM’s Fr. Bretzke on pope’s Church sex abuse reforms Carroll School's Ransbotham on producing more than good analytical results Law, Theology’s Kaveny on Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act CEO Club: AmEx CEO speaks CEO Club: AmEx CEO speaks CEO Club: AmEx CEO speaks SCAW’s Fideler on job market for older workers BC grad Pete Frates named one of “World’s Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Law’s Cassidy on Tsarnaev trial Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Op-ed: English’s Rotella on downside of fraternities, sororities CRR cited in article on shift-to-bonds strategy CCC’s Smith on corporate volunteers Sociology’s Hesse-Biber on Angelina Jolie’s latest medical decision Student Affairs’ Jones on colleges improving career development Op-ed: CRR’s Munnell on labor force participation of older workers BC alum, Broadway actor Bryce Pinkham visits campus IT‘s Bourque on Harvard reserves domain CWF's Harrington on councilors’ pitch for paid parental leave Lynch School’s Hargreaves re PISA Artist in-Residence Fr. VerEecke on spirituality through dance CRR study on households at risk of lower living standards in retirement CRR on average retirement savings CWF study: spending time with kids may make fathers better workers CRR study on pension cuts Op-ed: CWF's Harrington on “Is It Time to Retire?”

Op-ed: Nathan McGuire ’16 on need for humanitarian aid in Syria CRR’s Munnell on the state of SS Psychology’s Gray on free-range parenting Economics’ Ireland on Fed’s signals of rising interest rates Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev Trial Law’s Quinn on investment management PoliSci’s Hopkins on Netanyahu’s reelection Lynch School’s Altbach on open campuses in restrictive communities Economics’ Ireland on Fed’s rules CRR study shows patterns of retirement spending CRR’s Munnell authors “Falling Short,” on retirement resources Former president of Lebanon visits BC CHRIJ’s Fr. Hollenbach on executive pay CRR on IRA basics Athletics’ Bates a lone voice on NCAA scholarships CRR’s Munnell’s study shows average retirement age in early 60s

03-15-15 03-15-15 03-15-15 03-13-15 03-13-15 03-13-15 03-13-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-12-15 03-11-15 03-10-15 03-10-15 03-09-15 03-09-15 03-08-15 03-05-15 03-05-14 03-05-15 03-05-15 03-05-15 03-04-15 03-04-15 03-04-15 03-04-15 03-04-15 03-04-15 03-04-15 03-04-15 03-03-15 03-03-15 03-03-15 03-03-15 03-03-15 03-02-15 03-02-15 03-03-15 03-02-15 03-02-15 03-01-15 02-28-15 02-25-15 02-25-15 02-24-15 02-25-15 02-24-15 02-24-15 02-23-15 02-23-15 02-22-15 02-22-15 02-22-15 02-21-15 02-20-15 02-20-15 02-20-15 02-20-15 02-20-15

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Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial CRR study on pension bonds Op-ed: CIP Ireland’s Cronin on how America invented St. Patrick’s Day Op-ed: Law’s Greenfield on the limits of free speech CRR’s Munnell testifies before Senate on retirement income deficit CRR’s Munnell on IRAs at 40 Theology’s Cahill on Catholicism and cosmetic surgery CRR study shows problem with “leakage” in 401(k) accounts Weston Observatory: two earthquakes hit Maine an hour apart Op-ed: English’s Rotella on a night at the fights Chemistry’s Gao finds “warhead” molecule can hunt down deadly bacteria BC to rename A&S for former trustee and largest benefactor, Morrissey BC to rename A&S for former trustee and largest benefactor, Morrissey BC to rename A&S for former trustee and largest benefactor, Morrissey BC to rename A&S for former trustee and largest benefactor, Morrissey BC to rename A&S for former trustee and largest benefactor, Morrissey BC to rename A&S for former trustee and largest benefactor, Morrissey Theology’s Delong-Bas on Islam for Catholics 101 Op-ed: PoliSci’s Hopkins on Democrat and Republican compromise History's Rogers on overextending constitutional protection Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev Trial CWF's Harrington on ways men benefit from gender equality conversation Carroll School's Martin on ideas for fixing troubled MBTA Law's Brodin on the DOJ and accountability CWF study shows men willing to take domestic role at home Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Theatre’s Tiala designs set for series of plays at Boston theater Carroll School’s Hagtvedt researches importance of punctuation in advertising CRR study: more than half of Americans won’t have enough retirement savings Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Economics’ Erbil on America’s overpriced cities Op-ed: SSW’s Dearing on Jeb Bush’s poverty plan CRR’s Munnell on report showing average retirement age trends CRR report: money leaking out of retirement accounts at alarming rates Communications’ Sienkiewicz on Tsarnaev trial Actor, BC grad Chris O’Donnell honored with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame CRR research shows Americans don’t save enough for retirement CRR research shows trends on borrowing money to pour into pension funds BC grad Pete Frates’ story continues to inspire CRR's Moeller, Munnell on making money last in retirement BC students volunteer in West Virginia through Appalachia program CRR’s Munnell on CRR report showing average retirement age trends Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Carroll School's Harrison on improving the feedback process Law's Bloom on Tsarnaev trial SCAW on job seekers over 50 Review: McMullen Museum’s “Roman in the Provinces” Psychology’s Kensinger on nostalgia’s tech comeback Chemistry’s Wang study shows new possibility for creating better batteries Carroll School’s Ransbotham interviews BC grad Jim Lucchese on analytics Chemistry’s Wang’s study shows new possibility for creating better batteries Psychology’s Russell on science’s struggle to study emotion Author Dennis Lehane to appears at BC Op-ed: PoliSci’s Kruks-Wisner on gender inequality in Rajasthan, India CRR on pension bonds Theology’s Fr. Keenan: young people led the civil rights movement CWP on wealthy donors STM’s Fr. Bretzke on S.F. archbishop’s strict morality code CWF’s Harrington on parental leave policies hurting same-sex couples Carroll School’s Fisher on New Balance targeting soccer shoe market CWF’s Harrington on snow days, productivity, work anxiety CRR on reverse mortgages Former CEO of Saucony lectures at BC Civil rights trailblazer Claudette Colvin visits BC

02-18-15 02-18-15 02-18-15 02-16-15 02-15-15 02-14-15 02-13-15 02-13-15 02-13-15 02-12-15 02-11-15 02-11-15 02-10-15 02-10-15 02-10-15 02-10-15 02-10-15 02-09-15 02-09-15 02-09-15 02-09-15 02-09-15 02-08-15 02-08-15 02-07-15 02-06-15 02-06-15 02-06-15 02-05-15 02-04-15 02-04-15 02-03-15 02-03-15 02-03-15 02-02-15 02-02-15 02-02-15 02-02-15 02-02-15 02-01-15 02-01-15 02-01-15 02-01-15

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Op-ed: Economics’ Ireland on the Fed, rising interest rates History’s Fleming presents at AAAS meeting on post-Roman Britain Through “Smarter in the City,” Law students help Roxbury entrepreneurs Carroll School's Fr. McGowan on Everett casino Carroll School's G. Kane on employee tweets on behalf of companies Op-ed: English's Rotella on Somerville's Adopt-An-Identity Ops Romance Lang & Literatures' Goizueta on Lam exhibit now in Atlanta Carroll School's Nikolova on San Francisco’s ranking first for Valentine's Day Law’s Bloom on location of Tsarnaev trial, potential move from Boston CWP on sustainable investing CRR on retirement saving Op-ed: CRR’s Munnell on UK initiative to allow retirees to buy pension benefits CRR on reverse mortgages History's Rogers on religious objections to vaccinations Law’s Bloom: snow delays pose risk in Hernandez case CRR report on age and financial decisions cited Essay: Near Eastern Studies' Salameh on the president, Christianity, and Islam CWF's Harrington on parents and snow days Carroll School’s Hudson on new McDonalds’ CEO Sociology’s Schor’s “The Overworked American” shows longer US work week CRR report on how money “leaks” out of 401(k) featured CRR report on how money “leaks” out of 401(k) featured CWF study referenced in article on working fathers and job satisfaction CRR report on reality of meeting retirement goals featured CRR’s Munnell interviewed on retirement goals Connell School's Clarke, Shindul-Rothschild on demand for nurses CRR’s Munnell on pension bonds and state and local governments CRR report cited on 401(k) money “leaks” Philosophy’s Kreeft on his latest book, Practical Theology CWF study referenced in article on fathers and job satisfaction Weston Observatory on earthquake near Newport, RI Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on NE casino boom Carroll School’s G. Kane on simplifying social enterprise Law’s Greenfield on corporations, diversity and corruption BC Law Review cites issues with unpublished judicial decisions CWP closes with retirement of Schervish, Havens CWP closes with retirement of Schervish, Havens CWF survey: most fathers take little time off after birth of child New Orleans Times-Picayune CRR on New Orleans’ employee pension fund USA Today CRR recommends saving 15% of earnings for retirement The Atlantic Op-ed: Law’s Greenfield on the rights of corporations U.S. Catholic Op-ed: Theology’s Fr. Keenan on ethics and universities Fortune.com CWF study referenced in article on fathers’ desire for paternity leave Jan/Feb ’15 Washington Monthly Op-ed: Law’s Greenfield on Citizens United decision 01-31-15 Boston Globe McMullen Museum: “Roman in the Provinces” exhibit a critic’s pick 01-30-15 Wall Street Journal CWF referenced in article on working dads and job satisfaction 01-30-15 Bloomberg News Law's Madoff on inheritance taxes 01-30-15 Irish Times Irish Institute’s Mauro on comedy group Improv Asylum 01-29-15 Boston Herald Law's Quinn on looming Partners/AG battle 01-29-15 Boston Globe Op-ed: BC grad Nicholas Burns on remembering Auschwitz 01-29-15 Boston Globe Law’s Bloom on opening of Hernandez Trial 01-28-15 Washington Post CRR on pension plans that could severely cut retiree benefits 01-28-15 Irish Times Carroll School’s E. Kane on Oireachtas banking inquiry 01-28-15 Irish Independent Carroll School’s E. Kane on Oireachtas banking inquiry 01-26-15 Boston Globe Physics’ Naughton on “Deflategate” 01-26-15 Associated Press SCAW on partial retirement 01-25-15 USA Today STM’s Fr. Bretzke on exclusion of Catholics in Boston bombing jury 01-25-15 Time.com STM’s Fr. Bretzke on exclusion of Catholics in Boston bombing jury 01-25-15 Chicago Tribune CRR’s Webb on investing for discretionary purposes 01-24-15 New York Times Theology’s Fr. Keenan on the church and parenthood 01-24-15 Boston Globe BC grad Patrick Downes, wife’s, journey following marathon bombings 01-22-15 Boston Herald Physics’ Naughton on “DeflateGate” 01-22-15 U.S. News & World Rep CRR: “A Guide to Saving Money for Empty Nesters” 01-22-15 Fortune.com CWF on parental leave 01-21-15 Wall Street Journal Op-ed: CRR’s Munnell on unexpected joys of aging 01-21-15 Boston Herald Law's Bloom on Tsarnaev trial

01-21-15 01-20-15 01-20-15 01-20-15 01-19-15 01-19-15 01-19-15 01-18-15 01-18-15 01-17-15 01-16-15 01-16-15 01-16-15 01-16-15 01-15-15 01-13-15 01-13-15 01-13-15 01-12-15 01-12-15 01-12-15 01-12-15 01-12-15 01-12-15 01-12-15 01-12-15 01-10-15 01-09-15 01-09-15 01-09-15 01-09-15 01-09-15 01-09-15 01-09-15 01-08-15 01-08-15 01-08-15 01-07-15 01-07-15 01-05-15 01-05-15 01-04-15 01-04-15 01-02-15 Jan. 2015 12-29-14 12-28-14 12-26-14 12-25-14 12-23-14 12-22-14 12-22-14 12-20-14 12-19-14 12-19-14 12-19-14 12-19-14 12-19-14 12-19-14 12-17-14 12-17-14 12-17-14 12-17-14 12-16-14 12-15-14 12-14-14

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CWF on SOTU address, importance of child care Letter: CWP’s Schervish, Havens voice data concerns on “How America Gives” study CRR’s Munnell re SOTU address, Americans over 50 Law's Madoff on Capitol Hill battle on donor-advised funds Psychology’s Gray on “helicopter parenting” STM’s Fr. Bretzke on conservatives’ distrust of pope Actor George Takei at BC to discuss media, sexuality, and identity CWF’s Harrington on state paternity leave law Weston Observatory’s Ebel on CT earthquakes PoliSci's Laurence on Charlie Hebdo and protected speech Theology’s Copeland on racism Weston Observatory’s Ebel on CT earthquakes Op-ed: PoliSci’s Laurence on Algerian legacy STM's Fr. Bretzke: pope's U.S. visit a chance to mend fences with conservatives CRR on retirement savings PoliSci's Laurence on Charlie Hebdo and protected speech Lynch School’s Altbach on Obama’s free college proposal Weston Observatory's Ebel on CT earthquakes Weston Observatory's Ebel on CT earthquakes Weston Observatory's Ebel on CT earthquakes CWF’s Harrington, BC grads’ study: family time helps working dads Communications’ Sienkiewicz on Paris attacks, Boston terror trial Lynch School’s Altbach on higher ed in India Weston Observatory’s Ebel on CT earthquakes Weston Observatory’s Ebel on CT earthquakes STM’s Groome on theological response to terrorism PoliSci’s Landy re Jeb Bush and Boston donations CWF’s Harrington, BC grads’ study: family time helps working dads Theology’s Pope on evolution, games and God CRR’s Munnell on factors contributing to retirement age PoliSci’s Hopkins on Mitt Romney, Chris Christie, political handicaps Lynch School’s Dearing on affluence and adolescents Carroll School’s Gray on target-date fund risks Law’s Bloom on high-profile jury selections Lynch School’s Altbach, Rumbley’s study finds global academic “inbreeding” Op-ed: PoliSci’s Laurence on aftermath of Paris terror attack PoliSci’s Laurence on Paris terror attack PoliSci’s Laurence on Paris terror attack Lynch School's Hargreaves 6th on 2015 RHSU Edu. Scholar Public Influence rankings PoliSci’s Wolfe on former NY Gov. Cuomo, Catholic liberal tradition STM’s Fr. Bretzke, Theology’s Rev. Weiss on Pope Francis’ new cardinals Op-ed: Honors Program’s Bayles on CIA recruiting Law’s Bloom on Tsarnaev trial Transformation of Brighton Campus, museum’s move to former Cardinal’s residence Fine Arts’ Baden’s photo project documents self-aging Law's McCoy: court filing on Morgan Stanley’s role in lending McMullen Museum: Brighton Campus relocation BC grad, Judge George A. O’Toole to preside over Tsarnaev trial Sociology's Schor advocates less holiday spending Theology’s Fr. Paris on nursing as most trustworthy US profession Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy moving to BC Chemistry's Kelly uses “Curiosity Cabinet” in teaching Lynch School’s Dearing on traveling with teens SSW’s Sudders to become Gov. Baker’s HHS chief Law's Madoff: Congress targets giving accounts “BC Social” featured BC names Michael Lochhead executive VP, Nanci Tessier vice provost for enrollment management

Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy moving to BC BC student Zachary Dehm on importance of theologians talking to strangers Physics’ Krzysztof, Herczynski report spider webs weave advanced networks Physics’ Krzysztof, Herczynski report spider webs weave advanced networks Physics’ Krzysztof, Herczynski report spider webs weave advanced networks Op-ed: History’s Johnson on cycles of outrage and policy change Op-ed: Lynch School’s Altbach on creating a global classroom PoliSci's Skerry on what illegal immigrants want BC hosts “Christmas Reflections”

12-13-14 12-12-14 12-12-14 12-10-14 12-10-14 12-10-14 12-09-14 12-09-14 12-09-14 12-08-14 12-07-14 12-05-14 12-05-14 12-05-14 12-05-14 12-04-14 12-04-14 12-04-14 12-04-14 12-04-14 12-03-14 12-03-14 12-01-14 12-01-14 12-01-14 12-01-14 11-30-14 11-30-14 11-30-14 11-30-14 11-28-14 11-28-14 11-27-14 11-27-14 11-26-14 11-26-14 11-24-14 11-24-14 11-24-14 11-22-14 11-22-14 11-22-14 11-22-14 11-21-14 11-21-14 11-21-14 11-21-14 11-21-14 11-20-14 11-20-14 11-20-14 11-20-14 11-20-14 11-18-14 11-18-14 11-18-14 11-17-14 11-17-14 11-16-14 11-15-14 11-14-14 11-14-14 11-14-14 11-14-14 11-13-14 11-13-14

Boston Herald U.S. News & World Rep Boston Globe Christian Science Monitor Boston Herald Boston Globe Fortune.com Boston Herald Dow Jones MarketWatch Chemical & Engineering Boston Herald US News & World Rep Wall Street Journal Boston Globe Boston Globe Wall Street Journal New York Times Boston Herald New York Times Boston Globe Jerusalem Post The Atlantic Burlington Magazine Religion News Service Wall Street Journal Irish Times Boston Globe The Atlantic Boston Herald Boston Globe Boston Herald The Atlantic The Economist Boston Globe Washington Post Religious News Service Boston Globe Business Insider Christian Science Monitor Boston Herald Boston Globe Boston Globe Boston Herald Wall Street Journal Malay Mail Boston Globe Huffington Post Chicago Tribune Sloan Management Rev Sloan Management Rev Bloomberg News Boston Herald Boston Business Journal New York Times Wall Street Journal Dallas Morning News New York Times Boston Herald Boston Globe Boston Herald Huffington Post Newsweek New York Times Washington Post Boston Herald Money.com

PoliSci's Hale on ranking Republican demand for Gruber docs Lynch School’s Arnold, Biology’s C. O’Connor on tech and higher ed Carroll School's Hotchkiss on Market Basket deal CWF's Rikleen on NFL’s new domestic abuse policy PoliSci's Landy: Obamacare likely to face more challenges BC grad Pete Frates named SI Inspiration of the Year CWF's Rikleen addresses millennial myths PoliSci's Hale: free speech and elections Op-ed: CRR's Munnell: retirement crisis is coming Chemistry's Kelly uses “Curiosity Cabinet” collection in teaching Law's Lyons predicts more TV programming blackouts CRR: ways homes can help fund retirement CRR on retirement savings Law’s Hong advocates getting rid of grand juries Op-ed: English’s Rotella in defense of flip phones Op-ed: CRR's Munnell on retirees’ spending CRR's Munnell: pension strategy at risk for extinction Law’s Bloom on Eric Garner chokehold case McMullen Museum to expand, move to Brighton Campus McMullen Museum to expand, move to Brighton Campus Essay: Slavic & Near Eastern Studies' Salameh: politics at Mideast Studies Assoc Lynch School hosts NE Education Forum on high-stakes testing McMullen Museum: Wifredo Lam exhibition featured Theology’s Morris on Pope’s overtures to Orthodox, Muslims CRR’s Munnell: think twice about early retirement BC’s Global Leadership Institute to host program on how to use FDI CRR’s Munnell on retirement insecurity CWF’s Harrington on a happier workplace and office productivity Theology’s Sonsino: Church’s long schism shrinking CRR’s Munnell’s new, co-authored book, “Falling Short” Law’s Lyons: cable fee disputes lead to big game blackouts CWF study on paternity leave PoliSci’s Laurence on Europe, Islam and Tunisia Op-ed: Law Dean Rougeau: Ferguson spotlights need for change Theology’s Morris on what Pope Francis hopes to accomplish in Turkey Theology’s Morris on what Pope Francis hopes to accomplish in Turkey Lynch School's Walsh on BC “City Connects” program Law ranked 17th in nation by Business Insider CWP's Havens on paying it forward SSW’s Sudders praised as gov-elect Baker’s choice for HHS chief Op-ed: English's Rotella: why we need financial doomsayers Law's Witten on argument re Mass. Chapter 40B Carroll School's Fr. McGowan on casino foes CRR analysis shows struggle to cover expenses during retirement Law's Hong: Democrats show support for Obama on immigration change Sociology's Schor: hitchhiking goes digital Op-ed: SSW's Berzin: mentors critical for foster children Law’s Hong: Obama tells GOP opposed to immigration to pass bill Carroll School’s G. Kane on death of social business Carroll School’s Ransbotham interviews Google economist on data flood CRR study cited re Philadelphia pension issues CEO Club: DirecTV CEO, BC grad Michael White speaks CEO Club: DirecTV CEO, BC grad Michael White speaks Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on gambling in the Northeast CRR on possibility of pension cuts CRR: middle class struggles to preserve retirement security Letter: STM student Erik Lenhart re Jesus, Francis and the church today STM’s Fr. Bretzke, Theology’s Rev. Weiss on Cardinal O’Malley as US face of papacy Carroll School’s Reuter on financial firms lobbying against stricter protections PoliSci’s Hale on Jonathan Gruber’s gaffes concerning Obamacare Op-ed: SSW’s Dearing re feeding the homeless Law’s Albert on tobacco sales ban CWF on stay-at-home dads CWF on paternity leave Law’s Hong re John Boehner’s immigration reform fight CRR’s Munnell, Eschtruth on badly designed 401(k) plans

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Lynch School’s Martinez-Aleman, PhD grad Kristen Renn on women-only universities

CRR’s Munnell on retirement funding Sociology’s Schor on pitfalls of “sharing economy” Law's Madoff: Fidelity Fund becomes pace setter in charity Late historian O'Connor inspired Boston mapmaker CRR: think twice before buying long-term care insurance Earth and Environmental Science's Shakun on clues to future sea levels Theology’s Rev. Weiss on Pope, bishops STM’s Fr. Bretzke on Catholic bishops gathering in Baltimore History’s Richardson: how US voters fell out of love with their parties CWF on paternity leave Carroll School’s G. Kane interviews CMO of Mitel on social media policy Op-ed: CWF’s Rikleen: why millennials should take parents to work Launch of Corcoran academic center for real estate study CRR’s Munnell on stingy SS benefits Psychology’s Young researches nature of intractable conflicts PoliSci’s Melnick on new Republican majority seeking state policy changes Psychology’s Young researches nature of intractable conflicts Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on failure of Mass. measure to repeal casino bill PoliSci's Schlozman on millennial voters in midterm elections Economics’ Fulford on why people carry credit card balances Lynch School ranks in top 5 for alumni salaries Op-ed: STM’s Fr. Clifford on learning from our (first) parents Law's Quinn on French ad giant Publicis CWF: men struggle with work-life balance Carroll School's Fr. McGowan: casino questions resonate with faith groups English's Rotella writes on boxing's oldest, most cunning champion Law's Papandrea: Halloween and the law Carroll School's Fr. McGowan: Catholic pastors urged to preach against casinos PoliSci's Hale on death of Mayor Menino CRR’s Munnell on pension regulations CWF’s Harrington: dads ask for paternity leave PoliSci’s Laurence re burqa bans, preserving religious freedoms Carroll School's Ransbotham: tips for companies short on analytics Law’s Brodin on Law Enforcement Mail Review Law’s Brodin on Law Enforcement Mail Review CRR study: parents spend much more as empty nesters English’s Lewis brings Poe statue to Boston Law’s Bloom on guilty verdict for Tsarnaev friend PoliSci’s Wolfe’s book “At Home in Exile” reviewed Carroll School’s Gallaugher featured in “My Morning Cup” series Op-ed: English’s Rotella on US Ebola panic Biology's Burgess to lead $19 million NIH mentoring network CRR: US middle class knows it faces a grim retirement CRR: 3 ways to fast-track your savings Op-ed: Lynch School’s Altbach: creating grading mechanism for Indian universities CEO Club: IBM chief speaks CEO Club: IBM chief speaks CEO Club: IBM chief speaks Biology's Burgess to lead $19 million NIH mentoring network CWF on men with workplace flexibility Lynch School's Hargreaves: K-12 seeks lessons from outside schools Sociology's Schor: the labors of leisure CWF: why work-life balance is just as hard for dads as moms Theology's Gaillardetz, STM's Fr. Bretzke: bishops backtrack on gays in final synod Taylor Swift tweets shout-out for C21 “Shake it Off” video Fine Art's Michalczyk on documentaries that made a difference CWF's Rikleen on gender wage gap Taylor Swift tweets shout-out for C21 “Shake it Off” video CRR study: pension cuts impair government quality Op-ed: CRR’s Munnell: early retirement advice Op-ed: CWF’s Rikleen: employers and domestic violence Theology’s Gaillardetz re Vatican Synod on the Family CWP study: boomers to inherit $27 trillion over next four decades PULSE’s Sweeney on combining study and service SCAW on the little-known SS strategy

10-13-14 10-13-14 10-12-14 10-12-14 10-12-14 10-10-14 10-06-14 10-05-14 10-05-14 10-05-14 10-05-14 10-05-14 10-04-14 10-04-14 10-04-14 10-04-14 10-04-14 10-03-14 10-03-14 10-03-14 10-03-14 10-03-14 10-02-14 10-02-14 10-01-14 09-30-14 09-30-14 09-30-14 09-30-14 09-30-14 09-29-14 09-29-14 09-28-14 09-28-14 09-28-14 09-27-14 09-26-14 09-25-14 09-22-14 09-22-14 09-22-14 09-21-14 09-21-14 09-21-14 09-21-14 09-21-14 09-20-14 09-19-14 09-19-14 09-19-14 09-18-14 09-18-14 09-17-14 09-17-14 09-16-14 09-16-14 09-15-14 09-15-14 09-15-14 09-15-14 09-15-14 09-15-14 09-15-14 09-13-14 09-13-14 09-12-14

Arkansas Business Journ Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal The Atlantic Washington Post

CRR study on boomers' 401(k) plans and retirement SCAW: the case for quitting your job CRR study featured: retirement wealth since recession Theology’s Cahill, Fr. Keenan on Vatican Synod on the Family Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on revenue gains made by Maryland casinos Grand Rapids Business Journ CWP study cited: boomers to inherit $27 trillion over next four decades Boston Herald English’s Lewis brings Poe statue to Boston Time.com English’s Lewis brings Poe statue to Boston Chicago Tribune CRR’s Munnell: households saving less for retirement Boston Globe Carroll School’s Cronin: chances of Wayfair standing out in the marketplace New York Times Op-ed: Law’s Madoff: a better way to encourage charity Boston Globe English’s Lewis brings Poe statue to Boston New York Times STM’s Cahill: responses by Church leadership to same-sex marriage Wall Street Journal CRR study: target-date funds aid retirement investing Boston Herald PoliSci’s Landy: Martha Coakley campaign seeks support from DC insiders USA Today CRR’s Sass on SS’s annual report New York Times English’s Lewis brings Poe statue to Boston Boston Globe English’s Lewis brings Poe statue to Boston Chicago Tribune CRR study: advantages of the young saving for retirement Boston Herald Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on criticism of casino regulators New York Times Theology’s Pope on bishops’ Synod on the Family Boston Globe Op-ed: SSW’s Dean Godenzi: why NFL should follow FIFA Christian Science Monitor Law’s Barrozo on escalating violence of ISIS Boston Herald Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on casino regulatory processes Forbes.com CRR study: problems with multi-employer pension plans Boston Herald Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan: Mass. casino causing potential job losses Courier Journal Lynch School’s Barnett on personal air monitors US Catholic STM’s Groome, BC grad DeCaro on lay ministry Education Week Lynch School’s Walsh on success of City Connects Boston Globe English’s Lewis brings Poe statue to Boston Religion News Service STM’s Fr. Bretzke on Islamic state attacks Boston Globe STM’s Fr. Bretzke featured in “My Morning Cup” series Sloan Management Rev Carroll School’s Ransbotham on big data The Economist Economics’ Sönmez, Ünver noted for work on kidney exchange Boston Globe Fine Arts’ Michalczyk, A&S Honors’ Michalczyk premier documentary Boston Globe Op-ed: English’s Rotella on the story of Etan Patz abduction Boston Globe Lynch School’s Hargreaves on impossibility of reforming literacy and math at once Wall Street Journal Law’s Brown on Eric Holder’s resignation Boston Globe Philippines President Aquino visits BC Philippine Star Philippines President Aquino visits BC Irish Times BC grad Mayor Walsh meets BC students on trip to Ireland Washington Post CRR: new, coauthored book: on a fix SS Wall Street Journal Theology's Gaillardetz: Pope Francis selects Chicago archbishop who shares his vision Philippine Daily Inquirer Philippines President Aquino visits BC San Francisco Gate Philippines President Aquino visits BC Boston Globe Philippines President Aquino visits BC Commonweal BC doctoral students on “Formative Years” Washington Post History's Richardson on GOP evolution Forbes.com CRR: on getting your 401(k) into the red zone Boston Globe Op-ed: English’s Rotella on good reading for techies Boston Globe SSW’s Dearing featured in “My Morning Cup” series Boston Herald History’s Cronin: ramifications of Scotland’s independence vote New York Times Letter: History’s Lal on Ebola crisis Huffington Post Op-ed: SSW’s Dearing: the census report on poverty Boston Globe Parents of late alumnus Welles Crowther at Red Bandanna run Boston Herald PoliSci's Landy on “fake” plan quip is best left untouched Huffington Post Op-ed: Lynch School's Shirley on educational leadership in east, west USA Today Op-ed: Math’s Friedberg: Common Core math America STM lecture by Cardinal Walter Kasper Wall Street Journal Lynch School’s Laski: board games and math skills Forbes.com Carroll School’s Dean Boynton on getting innovation right New York Times McMullen Museum: Wifredo Lam exhibit featured in fall arts preview America Mission & Ministry’s Jesuit education resources Boston Globe Lynch School PhD student Elizabeth Stringer Keefe helps ID 9/11 photo Boston Globe McMullen Museum: Wifredo Lam exhibit University World News Lynch School’s Altbach, Rumbley on higher global higher ed

09-12-14 09-12-14 09-12-14 09-11-14 09-11-14 09-11-14 09-10-14 09-10-14 09-09-14 09-08-14 09-08-14 09-08-14 09-08-14 09-08-14 09-07-14 09-06-14 09-06-14 09-05-14 09-05-14 09-04-14 09-04-14 09-03-14 09-03-14 09-02-14 08-31-14 08-29-14 08-28-14 08-26-14 08-24-14 08-18-14 08-18-14 08-18-14 08-16-14 08-15-14 08-15-14 08-15-14 08-14-14 08-11-14 08-04-14 08-03-14 07-31-14 07-30-14 07-30-14 07-29-14 07-28-14 07-28-14 07-27-14 07-26-14 07-24-14 07-24-14 07-23-14 07-16-14 07-14-14 07-14-14 07-10-14 07-09-14 07-09-14 07-08-14 07-08-14 07-08-14 07-08-14 07-08-14 07-07-14 07-07-14 07-07-14 07-07-14

Boston Globe Chronicle of Higher Ed Boston Globe Huffington Post Boston Herald Boston Herald New York Times Wall Street Journal Boston Globe Sloan Management Rev Chronicle of Higher Ed Chronicle of Philanthropy Reuters New York Times Commonweal USA Today Washington Post Forbes.com The Hindu Boston Globe New York Times The New Yorker Inside Higher Ed Washingtonian Huffington Post University World News Boston Globe National Catholic Rep Boston Globe The Hindu USA Today Washington Post Washington Post Commonweal New York Times Boston Globe Boston Globe Huffington Post Bloomberg News Miami Herald Philly.com National Catholic Rep New York Times Sloan Management Rev Boston Globe Sloan Management Re Boston Globe Jerusalem Post Washington Post Toronto Globe & Mail Boston Globe National Catholic Rep Boston Business Journal Reuters S. China Morning Post Reuters The Economist Washington Post St. Louis Post-Dispatch Boston.com Wall Street Journal Boston Globe Washington Post Commonweal Los Angeles Times America

STM’s Ospino on Pope Francis bringing hope Lynch School’s Shachmut: obstacles for students with disabilities STM’s Ospino featured in panel at “Crux” launch event at BC Op-ed: Sociology's Hesse-Biber: women and genetic testing PoliSci’s Hale on Mass. attorney general race PoliSci’s Landy: presidential response to ISIS Law’s Quinn on Dollar General’s bid for Family Dollar Lynch School’s Laski: board games and math skills Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on Mass. casino proposals Carroll School’s G. Kane on why social media will change business Boisi Center’s Wolfe on giving the diaspora its due Law's Madoff on charity rules and the public good Carroll School's Brasel on Ray Rice cut by Ravens, suspended by NFL Carroll School's Brasel on Ray Rice cut by Ravens, suspended by NFL Theology’s Fr. Keenan on racial understanding in colleges and universities SCAW: how to phase into retirement PoliSci's Hopkins on political polarization BC grad Pete Frates, Ice Bucket Challenge launch Lynch School's Altbach on why Indians want to study abroad McMullen’s Lam exhibition among event picks Op-ed: History’s Richardson: Bring Back the Party of Lincoln English’s Nugent, BC students bring Joyce’s “Dubliners” to life online Lynch School’s Altbach on international student recruitment CWF's Harrington: working dads want more time with their kids Op-ed: Lynch School's Hargreaves on global education leadership Op-ed: Lynch School’s Altbach on Chinese students in the US McMullen Museum Lam exhibit advance STM’s Ospino on building solidarity, Catholic Association of Latino Leaders Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on union of Christian right, political left against casinos Lynch School's Altbach's book on Indian higher ed reviewed STM’s Fr. Bretzke: Pope Francis on Iraqi victims Op-ed: Lynch School’s Hargreaves on educational benchmarking CRR cited on brokers encouraging federal workers to ditch retirement plan Op-ed: Law and Theology’s Kaveny on Hobby Lobby decision Op-ed: English’s Johnston on the song of summer BC grad Frates takes Ice Bucket Challenge at Fenway Park Slavic & Near Eastern Studies’ Connolly on Boston accent road signs Op-ed: STM’s Sr. Guider on future of American nuns CRR's Munnell on Christie’s pension fixes Lynch School’s Arnold on what high school grades can indicate Law’s Papandrea on public employees, online free speech Theology's Gaillardetz: can Catholics disagree only when they agree with the church?

Law's Coquillette: how to learn law without law school Carroll School’s G. Kane: the paradox of leading a social business Op-ed: Honors Program’s Bayles: on public diplomacy vs. propaganda Carroll School’s Ransbotham on collecting vs. hoarding data Admissions’ Mahoney wins college admission counseling award Op-ed: Slavic & Near Eastern Studies’ Salameh: plight of near eastern Christians Law’s Greenfield on corporations and people CWF featured in re paternity leave, parent-child bonding Law's Kanstroom: Mass. voter split on sheltering migrant children Mission & Ministry: college choices and the priesthood Law’s Cassidy on Commission on ADA, public defenders’ pay CWP on women investors PoliSci's Ross: relations in the balance as tensions rise in East Asia CWP: US financial advisers try to win over millennials CRR on playing hedge funds with public money Sociology's Magubane on the west's obsession with saving Africa SCAW's Pitt-Catsouphes: retaining older workers can help business CWF's “New Dad” report, paternity leave CWF's “New Dad” report, paternity leave Op-ed: Law’s Greenfield on Supreme Court’s subterfuge PoliSci's Ross: US-China relations Law, Theology's Kaveny on Hobby Lobby CWF study cited in article on paid parental leave Op-ed: Theology's Copeland: black theology and legacy of oppression

07-07-14 07-04-14 07-03-14 06-30-14 06-30-14 06-30-14 06-30-14 06-29-14 06-29-14 06-27-14 06-27-14 06-26-14 06-26-14 06-26-14 06-25-14 06-25-14 06-24-14 06-23-14 06-20-14 06-20-14 06-20-14 06-20-14 06-19-14 06-19-14 06-18-14 06-18-14 06-17-14 06-17-14 06-17-14 06-17-14 06-16-14 06-14-14 06-14-14 06-13-14 06-12-14 06-11-14 06-11-14 06-10-14 06-10-14 06-10-14 06-10-14 06-09-14 06-06-14 06-05-14 06-05-14 06-05-14 06-05-14 06-02-14 June 2014

America New York Times Boston.com National Catholic Rep Financial Times Dow Jones MarketWatch Boston Globe Boston Globe PhysOrg.com Religion News Service Bloomberg News Boston.com Reuters Time.com National Journal Jerusalem Post Money.com America Wall Street Journal Variety Boston Globe Boston Globe Boston Globe Kuwait Times Dow Jones MarketWatch Forbes.com Daily Mail.com (UK) WSJ MarketWatch Forbes.com Huffington Post Huffington Post Wall Street Journal Boston Globe Boston Globe Mag Wall Street Journal Forbes.com USA Today Fortune.com Boston.com Boston Globe Boston Globe Washington Post National Catholic Rep Washington Post USA Today Wall Street Journal Reuters America Boston Magazine

Op-ed: Law Dean Rougeau: legacy of Civil Rights Act CRR study cited in article re states seeking to fill retirement savings gap PoliSci’s Landy on death of veteran in VA hospital Theology's Gaillardetz on views of the laity at Bishops' conference Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan on Kentucky state lottery Law’s Quinn on Supreme Court Hobby Lobby ruling Sec. Fr. Devino, FYE’s Marchese on orientation for parents Remembering the late Fr. Neenan Physics' Padilla on team of researchers advancing THz imaging STM Dean Fr. Massa on Vatican and natural law CRR study cited in article re US public pension funding gaps Law’s Lyons on broadcasters, Aereo and Supreme Court ruling CRR study cited in article re US public pensions investment gains CRR study: retirees and the prospect of poverty CRR study: on retirees and the prospect of poverty Op-ed: Slavic & Near Eastern Studies’ Salameh on the field of Middle East studies Op-ed: SCAW’s Moeller on navigating SS Report by Mission & Ministry's Muldoon: Catholic colleges and the priesthood Carroll School’s Fr. McGowan: Northeast casino building boom BC grad Greg Poehler among Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch for 2014 Op-ed: Psychology’s Gray: importance of children taking risks at play Op-ed: English’s Rotella: how to get kids to tackle summer reading SSW’s Sudders on child custody fight Irish Institute’s Mauro speaks on entrepreneurship Op-ed: CRR's Munnell: what’s next for state, local pension funding CRR’s Munnell on automation as key to savings success Lynch School’s Lombardi on working moms CWP study: charitable inheritance CWP study cited in article re heir and charity inheritance SCWF cited in piece re working in retirement Op-ed: Lynch School’s Hargreaves: global search for education BC grads ordained as Jesuit priests Physics’ Naughton etches Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’ unto small coin CWF “New Dad” study featured in info graphic CWF “New Dad” study cited in piece re working dads CWP study cited in article re the “transfer of wealth” trap and inheritance Sociology's Garroutte on ad against NFL use of Redskins name CWF’s Harrington re “New Dad” study CWF “New Dad” study cited Op-ed: English’s Rotella on his anxiety surrounding guitar recital SSW's Sudders on patient safety at Bridgewater hospital CWF “New Dads” study cited CHRIJ’s Fr. Hollenbach on Cardinal Dolan CWF study cited in piece on stay-at-home dads CWF’s Harrington on stay at home dads Carroll School: finance conference features Minn. Fed head Carroll School: finance conference features Minn. Fed head Op-ed: STM’s Fr. Baldovin on liturgical reform Boisi Center’s Wolfe re selling God

SAMPLING OF BROADCAST OUTLET APPEARANCES (June 1, 2014– May 28, 2015) 5-27-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” History/Robert Savage re Ireland’s vote on same-sex marriage.

5-26-15: NECN Political Science/Peter Krause re possibility of ISIS reaching Baghdad.

5-26-15: NBCNews.com Center for Retirement Research/Anthony Webb re the timing of drawing down retirement savings.

5-20-15: CNBCNews.com, CBSNews.com Moneywatch Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell re retirees waiting longer to claim benefits.

5-20-15: NBCNews.com Center for Retirement Research/Anthony Webb re mistakes people make with retirement planning.

5-20-15: FOX Sports.com Law School/Michael Cassidy re police lapses in investigation into Aaron Hernandez.

5-18-15: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Law School/Kari Hong re death penalty.

5-18-15: NECN Political Science/Peter Krause re possibility of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev being a terrorist martyr.

5-18-15: WGBH Radio Law School/Robert Bloom re death penalty verdict for marathon bomber.

5-16-15: CBS Evening News Law School/Robert Bloom re death penalty verdict for marathon bomber.

5-15-15: WBUR-FM, NECN’s “Broadside” School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re death penalty verdict for marathon bomber.

5-15-15: FoxBusiness.com Center for Retirement Research study re successful retirement.

5-13-15: Yle TV News, Finland History/Alan Rogers re death penalty possibility for marathon bomber.

5-13-15: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research/Steven Sass re using a home in retirement plans.

5-12-15: NECN College of Advancing Studies/Barbara Mikolajczak re learning via the videogame Minecraft.

5-8-15: WRKO-AM Economics/Robert Murphy re April jobs report.

5-8-15: Fox 25 Boston Psychology/Joseph Tecce re Tom Brady’s body language.

5-7-15: KPFK-FM’s "Background Briefing with Ian Masters” History/James Cronin re UK election of David Cameron.

5-7-15: WGBH Radio School of Theology and Ministry/Thomas Groome re ongoing church vigil in Scituate.

5-2-15: WBZ Radio BC Law School/Tracey West recalls former BC Law student Marilyn Mosby, now a Maryland prosecutor.

5-1-15: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research re how to make a nest egg last during retirement.

5-1-15: ABC News BC student Kayla Hammergren, bone marrow donor, is “Person of the Week.”

4-29-15: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re humanitarian response to Nepal earthquake.

4-29-15: NECN Law School/Kent Greenfield re Supreme Court hearing on same-sex marriage.

4-26-15: NECN, WCVB-TV, Fox 25 Boston, WBZ-TV BC student Kayla Hammergren meets recipient of her life-saving bone marrow transplant.

4-26-15: WBZ-TV Law School/Robert Bloom re sentencing hearing for convicted marathon bomber.

4-23-15: WBZ-TV Law School/Robert Bloom re sentencing hearing for convicted marathon bomber.

4-22-15: NBCNews.com History/Devin Pendas re trial of former Auschwitz bookkeeper.

4-22-15: WBUR Law School/Robert Bloom re possible civil suit in Aaron Hernandez case.

4-22-15: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” School of Theology and Ministry/Thomas Groome re the death penalty and religion.

4-22-15: NPR’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom re sentencing hearing for convicted marathon bomber.

4-21-15: NBCNews.com Law School/Robert Bloom re penalty phase of marathon bombing trial.

4-14-15: NHPR “Morning Edition” Carroll School of Management/Richard McGowan, SJ re casino gambling in New England.

4-16-15: CNN.com Sociology/Gustavo Morello, SJ re Pope Francis’ habit of calling people on the phone.

4-15-15: WGBH Radio Lynch School of Education/Usha Tummala-Narra re psychological trauma of marathon bombing trial and second anniversary.

4-15-15: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re case of South Carolina police officer charged with murder.

4-15-15: PRI/WNYC’s “The Takeaway” Psychology/Peter Gray re the value of “free-range” parenting.

4-14-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Political Science/Kay Schlozman re Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

4-10-15: WGBH Radio Law School/Robert Bloom re closing arguments in trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

4-10-15: WGBH Radio History/James O’Toole re how Roman Catholics conquered Massachusetts.

4-8-15: NECN Law School/Robert Bloom re verdict in trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

4-6-15: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research cited in story on retirement savings.

4-6-15: ABC News “Good Morning America” Law School/Robert Bloom re defense in trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

4-1-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Sociology/Sharlene Hesse-Biber re genetic testing for cancer.

3-31-15: AP TV Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-31-15: ABC News “Good Morning America” Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-30-15: WRKO-AM Law School/Kari Hong interviewed re Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law. 3-26-15: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research/Anthony Webb re planning a retirement budget.

3-26-15: CCTV-America (China Central TV) Carroll School of Management/Kathleen Seiders re global food trends.

3-26-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-24-15: NBCNews.com, CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research study on pension plans cited.

3-24-15: Bloomberg Radio’s “Bloomberg Law” Law School/Daniel Lyons re challenges to net neutrality ruling.

3-24-15: Minnesota Public Radio Psychology/Elizabeth Kensinger re recall of emotional memories.

3-23-15: CNN.com Law School/Mary-Rose Papandrea re Supreme Court case on specialty license plates.

3-23-15: WBUR Radio School of Theology and Ministry/James Bretzke, SJ re gender identity.

3-19-15: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re participatory budgeting in Cambridge.

3-19-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-18-15: NECN’s “Broadside” Law School/Kent Greenfield re University of Oklahoma and First Amendment issues.

3-18-15: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” Law School/Kent Greenfield re review of Citizens United ruling.

3-18-15: WBZ Radio (2 interviews) Lynch School of Education/Usha Tummala-Narra re anniversary of lost Malaysian flight.

3-18-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-18-15: NBCNews.com Center for Retirement Research/Anthony Webb re controlling spending in retirement.

3-17-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-16-15: NECN’s “Broadside” Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-16-15: WBZ Radio Economics/Can Erbil re Boston’s high cost of living.

3-17-15: CBC News (Canada) BC-Ireland/Mike Cronin re St. Patrick’s Day as an American export.

3-16-15: WWL-AM (New Orleans) Theology/Rev. James Weiss re Pope Francis’ two-year anniversary.

3-14-15: NPR.org Center for Work & Family data on paid parental leave cited.

3-12-15: WGBH Radio Undergraduate Admission volunteer Jo Connelly, administrator Chris O’Brien giving campus tours during winter.

3-9-15: CNBC.com Center on Wealth and Philanthropy’s wealth transfer study cited.

3-6-15: WGBH Radio “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-5-15: ABC News Radio Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-5-15: NBCNews.com Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell re financial benefits of delaying retirement.

3-4-15: ABC News Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-4-15: NBCNews.com Law School/Robert Bloom re trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

3-2-15: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” Law School/Daniel Lyons re net neutrality.

2-25-15: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research report on early 401(k) withdrawals cited.

2-24-15: MinnesotaPublicRadio.com Law School/Catharine Wells re bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

2-19-15: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Law School/Robert Bloom re arguments to move trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

2-18-15: CBSNews.com Moneywatch Center for Retirement Research data on women in retirement cited.

2-18-15: NBC Nightly News Psychology/Joseph Tecce re snow stress depression.

2-13-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Carroll School of Management/Hristina Nikolova interviewed re couples who are financial opposites.

2-11-15: CNN.com Center for Retirement Research data cited.

2-11-15: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Arts & Sciences/Martha Bayles re Jon Stewart leaving “The Daily Show” 2-10-15: CNN Espanol Romance Languages/Elizabeth Goizueta interviewed re Wifredo Lam exhibition now in Atlanta.

2-10-15: CBS News’ “This Morning” Center for Work & Family study on working dads cited.

2-10-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Brian Quinn interviewed re Staples and Office Depot merger.

2-9-15: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research/Anthony Webb re older people making decisions about retirement finances.

2-4-15: France TV "Complément d'enquête" Law School/Ray Madoff re US philanthropy.

2-3-15: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” Center for Work & Family/Jennifer Fraone re problems of snow days for working parents.

1-31-15: C-SPAN’s American History TV “The Civil War” History/Heather Cox Richardson re cowboys in the Reconstruction Era. 1-30-15: WBZ-TV Political Science/Marc Landy re Mitt Romney’s decision not to run for president.

1-30-15: NonProfit Radio's "Tony Martignetti Show" Center on Wealth and Philanthropy/Paul Schervish re fundraising last year and projections for this year.

1-30-15: CNN.com History/Arissa Oh re social media flub for new show about Asian-Americans.

1-29-15: RTE, Newstalk (Ireland) Carroll School of Management/Ed Kane re inquiry into banking crisis in Ireland.

1-26-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Physics/Michael Naughton interviewed re the science behind Deflategate.

1-25-15: ABC News’ “World News Tonight” Physics/Michael Naughton interviewed re the science behind Deflategate.

1-24-15: WCVB-TV Physics/Michael Naughton interviewed re the science behind Deflategate.

1-23-15: WCVB.com, WBZ Radio Physics/Michael Naughton re the science behind Deflategate.

1-23-15: NPR’s “On the Media” Law School/Kent Greenfield interviewed re “corporate personhood.”

1-20-15: WGBH-TV News Law School/Ray Madoff re Obama’s proposal on capital gains and inheritance taxes.

1-19-15: WGBH Radio History/Patrick Maney interviewed re Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

1-17-15: Weather Channel Weston Observatory/John Ebel re earthquake swarm in Connecticut.

1-16-15: WTNH-TV, NBC News 10 (Connecticut) Weston Observatory/Alan Kafka speaks at town hall forum on swarm of earthquakes in CT. 1-16-15: NECN Law School/Kent Greenfield interviewed re Supreme Court taking up same-sex marriage case.

1-15-15: NBC News 10 (Connecticut).com Weston Observatory/Justin Starr re swarm of earthquakes in CT. 1-15-15: CBS Evening News, WTNH-TV, Weston Observatory/John Ebel re swarm of earthquakes in CT. 1-14-15: WNPR News (Connecticut), WNPR’s “Where we Live” Weston Observatory/John Ebel re swarm of earthquakes in CT. 1-14-15: KQED Radio (NPR affiliate in San Francisco) Center for Work & Family/Brad Harrington re reluctance of dads to take paternity leave.

1-13-15: CNN Political Science/Jonathan Laurence re terrorist attacks in Paris.

1-13-15: Boston Catholic TV’s “This is the Day” Law School/Fred Enman, SJ re his Matthew 25 project.

1-11-15: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research/Matthew Rutledge looking for job after age 50.

1-11-15: CNN Political Science/Jonathan Laurence re rally in Paris in aftermath of terrorist attacks.

1-10-15: CNN Political Science/Jonathan Laurence re terrorist attacks in Paris.

1-9-15: MSNBC, CNN, PRI’s “The World” Political Science/Jonathan Laurence re terrorist attacks in Paris.

1-9-15: APM’s “Marketplace” Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell re Social Security solvency.

1-8-15: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom interviewed re jury selection in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial.

1-8-15: Minnesota Public Radio Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell study on later retirement age cited.

1-7-15: Bloomberg TV Political Science/Jonathan Laurence re terrorist attack in Paris.

1-7-15: NECN’s “Broadside” Political Science/Peter Krause re terrorist attack in Paris.

1-7-15: CBS News’ “This Morning” History/Alan Rogers re contents of time capsule recovered from Mass. State House.

1-5-15: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” History/Heather Cox Richardson on legacy of US Sen. Edward Brooke from Massachusetts.

1-5-15: WGBH Radio News Political Science/Alan Wolfe on legacy of NY Governor Mario Cuomo.

1-4-15: BBC Radio Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell re underfunded retirements looming.

1-3-15: WCVB-TV Boston, CCTV-America Law School/Robert Bloom re change of venue ruling in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial.

1-2-15: WCVB-TV Boston Law School/Robert Bloom re change of venue request in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial.

12-25-14: C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” Arts & Sciences/Martha Bayles re issue of North Korea/Sony’s “The Interview.”

12-25-14: CBSNews.com Moneywatch Center for Retirement Research cited in story on how to calculate retirement savings.

12-23-14: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Arts & Sciences/Martha Bayles re issue of North Korea/Sony’s “The Interview.”

12-17-14: WBUR School of Theology and Ministry/Hosffman Ospino re Hispanic ministry in Lawrence, Mass.

12-16-14: NBCNews.com School of Theology and Ministry/Thomas Groome re Pope Francis’ comment on pets in heaven.

12-16-14: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Law School/Kari Hong re case of taxpayer-funded sex-reassignment surgery for an inmate.

12-15-14: CNBC.com Law School/Ray Madoff re donor-advised funds.

12-15-14: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” Sociology/Charles Derber re protests regarding police action against African-Americans.

12-12-14: NBCNewsToday.com Sloan Center on Aging & Work/Steve Sass re center data on gender and job security/investing.

12-12-14: WCVB-TV Boston Law School/Robert Bloom re hearings in the Aaron Hernandez case.

12-12-14: CBS This Morning History/Alan Rogers re time capsule recovered from Mass. State House.

12-10-14: CBSNews.com Moneywatch Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell re pension plans.

12-10-14: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” Law School/Kari Hong re grand juries relative to Ferguson & NYC cases.

12-10-14: NECN Political Science/Peter Krause re CIA torture report.

12-9-14: NPR “Morning Edition” Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell re making retirement savings last longer.

12-8-14: WGBH-TV “Greater Boston” Law School/Kari Hong re grand juries relative to Ferguson & NYC cases.

12-8-14: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Robert Bloom re grand juries relative to Ferguson case.

12-5-14: NECN “Broadside” School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re protests over race and policing.

12-4-14: CBSNews.com Moneywatch Center for Retirement Research data on long-term care data cited.

12-3-14: CNBC.com Law School/Ray Madoff re donor-advised funds.

12-3-14: WFPL.com (NPR in Louisville) Lynch School of Education/Andy Hargreaves wins Grawemeyer Award for co-authored book.

11-27-14: NPR “Morning Edition” Psychology/Liane Young re her research on ideological differences.

11-21-14: CNN School of Social Work/Westy Egmont re Obama’s immigration executive order.

11-20-14: NECN Political Science/Peter Krause re synagogue attack in Jerusalem.

11-19-14: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” Carroll School of Management/Greg Stoller re China’s wealthy investors moving to Boston.

11-18-14: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Feature on McMullen Museum’s Wifredo Lam exhibition, interview with Elizabeth Goizueta.

11-18-14: CBSNews.com Center for Research Retirement data cited in story on retirement crisis.

11-14-14: NECN’s “Broadside” Law School/Kari Hong re Obama’s executive order on immigration.

11-13-14: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” Admission Director John Mahoney part of a panel on undergraduate admissions.

11-13-14: Fox 25 Boston School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re deceptive fundraising practices of local non-profit.

11-12-14: KGNS-TV (Texas) Law School/Dan Kanstroom gives speech on deportation law.

11-7-14: PRI’s “Marketplace” Economics/Michael Grubb decline of cell phone bills over two decades.

11-4-14: Fox 25 Boston Law School/David Olson re artist removing her music from Spotify streaming service.

11-3-14: WBUR School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing offers commentary during live coverage of funeral for Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

11-3-14: NECN School of Theology and Ministry/Thomas Groome offers commentary during live coverage of funeral for Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

11-3-14: Fox 25 Boston School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing offers commentary on the legacy of Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

11-3-14: WBZ Radio School of Theology and Ministry/Thomas Groome on Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

10-31-14: WGBH Radio’s “Morning Edition” Law School/Alice Noble on Ebola quarantine for Maine nurse.

10-28-14: WCVB.com Law School/Robert Bloom re verdict in case of alleged marathon bomber’s friend.

10-27-14: Fox 25 Boston Lynch School of Education/Mike Barnett re new smart phone app for solving math problems.

10-23-14: NECN Political Science/Peter Krause comments on terrorist attack at Canadian parliament.

10-24-14: Boston Catholic TV’s “This is the Day” Grad student Chris Canniff '14 and Natalie Yuhas '16 discuss the publication, The Torch.

10-22-14: WBZ-TV Center for Work & Family/Lauren Rikleen re workers prefer working with same-sex offices.

10-17-14: WCVB-TV News, Fox 25 Boston, NECN.com, RyanSeacrest.com C21/Taylor Swift tweets praise for BC’s “Shake It Off” video 10-16-14: NPR’s “All Things Considered” School of Theology and Ministry/James Bretzke, SJ re preliminary report on Bishop Synod on the family.

10-15-14: PBSNewshour.com Sloan Center on Aging & Work/Philip Moeller’s “Making Sense” column.

10-15-14: CNBC.com Lynch School of Education/David Blustein re long-term unemployment for the collegeeducated.

10-14-14: Fox 25 Boston School of Theology and Ministry/James Bretzke, SJ re preliminary report on Bishops’ Synod on the family.

10-10-14: Minnesota Public Radio Law School/Ray Madoff re decline of charitable giving.

10-7-14: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” Carroll School of Management/Greg Stoller re protests in Hong Kong.

10-6-14: PRI/WNYC’s “The Takeaway” School of Theology and Ministry/James Bretzke, SJ re Bishops’ Synod on the family.

10-5-14: NBC Sports The Bostonians perform a cappella version of Sunday Night Football theme.

10-3-14: WBUR’s “Morning Edition” Carroll School of Management/Richard McGowan, SJ re criticism of casino regulator.

10-3-14: BBC “Have Your Say” School of Theology and Ministry/Thomas Groome re Bishops’ Synod on the family.

10-3-14: WTVC News Connell School of Nursing/Ann Burgess re men as sexual assault victims.

9-26-14: NECN Political Science/Peter Krause re U.S. response to ISIS threat.

9-24-14: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” English/Paul Lewis on upcoming dedication of Edgar Allan Poe statue.

9-22-14: Fox 25 Boston School of Theology and Ministry/James Bretzke, SJ re Catholic Church and marriage and family.

9-21-14: TV5, ABS-CBN News Visit of Philippines President Benigno Aquino III to the University.

9-18-14: CNN BC Law School-CNN panel post Whitey Bulger documentary screening.

9-18-14: NECN History/James Cronin gives analysis of vote for independence in Scotland.

9-17-14: NECN History/James Cronin re vote for independence in Scotland.

9-17-14: CBS Evening News Fine Arts/Sheila Gallagher’s artwork included in “State of the Art” exhibition.

9-15-14: CBSNews.com Center on Wealth and Philanthropy/Paul Schervish re ALS Ice Bucket Challenge success.

9-15-14: WGBH.com Lynch School of Education/Eric Dearing re the debate about the proper amount of homework.

9-12-14: WGBH.com Boston College hosts event to mark the launch of Boston Globe’s Crux site.

9-10-14: CBSNews.com Center for Retirement Research data cited on retirement for GenXers.

9-9-14: CSPAN’s “Book TV” History/Heather Cox Richardson interviewed about her new book on the GOP. 9-5-14: NECN Sociology/Sharlene Hesse-Biber re salary gap between men and women.

9-5-14: NPR affiliate KGOU-Oklahoma Slavic & Eastern Languages/Franck Salameh re Arabic dialects and Middle East peace.

9-4-14: PRI’s “The World” Fine Arts/Jonathan Bloom describes symbolism of flag used by militant group, ISIS. 9-4-14: WCVB-TV Boston Communication/Matt Sienkiewicz re legacy of the late Joan Rivers.

8-18-14: CNN Boston College alumnus and parent, Gunnar and Boomer Esiason, on fighting cystic fibrosis.

8-14-14: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re report on high poverty in NE suburbs.

8-13-14: WGBH-TV Boston College featured in report on undergraduate housing in Boston.

8-13-14: Fox32TV.com (Chicago) Center for Work & Family/Brad Harrington re center’s study on paid paternal leave.

8-12-14: KTUU-TV News (Anchorage) EagleEyes technology helping Alaskan teenager with genetic disorder.

8-12-14: WCVB-TV Lynch School of Education/Usha Tummala-Narra re connection between addiction and depression.

8-11-14: ABC Nightly News, NBC Nightly News Boston College’s Pete Frates and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

8-7-14: Fox 25 Boston Sociology/Sharlene Hesse-Biber commenting on a commercial featuring women apologizing.

8-7-14: WBUR’s “CommonHealth” Psychology/Liane Young re connections between morality and the brain.

7-29-14: Fox Business.com Center for Retirement Research/Alicia Munnell re outlook for Social Security.

7-28-14: NPR’s “On Point” Law School/Diane Ring re American companies using inversion to save on corporate taxes.

7-25-14: CBSNews.com Center for Work & Family study on parental leave cited.

7-24-14: WBUR Law School/Michael Cassidy re verdict in probation patronage case.

7-11-14: Fox 25 Boston Political Science/Marc Landy re President Obama’s vacation.

7-11-14: Australian Broadcasting Co.’s “The World Today” Political Science/Jonathan Laurence re case of Germans spying on America.

7-10-14: PRI’s “The World” Political Science/Jonathan Laurence re case of Germans spying on America.

7-9-14: WWL-AM (New Orleans) Theology/Rev. James Weiss re the seal of confession.

7-9-14: NBCToday.com Center for Work & Family “New Dad” study cited.

7-7-14: CNN.com Carroll School of Management/S. Adam Brasel re brand image problems for GM. 7-3-14: CNN.com History/Patrick Maney re Civil Rights Act. 6-30-14: WPRO Radio (Providence) Carroll School of Management/Richard McGowan, SJ re casinos in Massachusetts.

6-30-14: Marketplace Radio Law School/Kent Greenfield re Supreme Court ruling on Hobby Lobby.

6-30-14: NECN “Broadside” Law School/Kent Greenfield re analysis of various Supreme Court rulings.

6-30-14: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Law School/Kent Greenfield re analysis of various Supreme Court rulings.

6-29-14: The Voice of Russia Radio School of Theology and Ministry/James Bretzke, SJ re Catholic Church’s questionnaire on family issues.

6-27-14: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” Center for Work & Family/Lauren Rikleen re myths about millennials in the workplace.

6-24-14: WBZ Radio’s “NightSide” Carroll School of Management/Greg Stoller on his trip with MBA students to China.

6-19-14: ABC.com (Australian Broadcasting Company) Lynch School of Education/Dennis Shirley re education reform in Australia.

6-19-14: Fox 25 Boston Law School/Alfred Yen re copyright issues surrounding Washington Redskins.

6-18-14: Larry King Now Woods College/Aaron Walsh re 3D printing.

6-17-14: ABC Radio News.com, KMBZ Radio.com (Kansas City) Lynch School of Education study by graduate student Caitlin McPherran Lombardi re benefit of working mothers is cited.

6-16-14: NBCNews.com Lynch School of Education study by graduate student Caitlin McPherran Lombardi re benefit of working mothers is cited.

6-16-14: NBCToday.com Lynch School of Education/Usha Tummala-Narra re grief for the family of a perpetrator.

6-13-14: WBUR’s “Radio Boston” Law School/Ray Madoff re legal right to privacy after death.

6-13-14: Fox News Channel Center for Work & Family/Brad Harrington re center’s study on paid paternal leave.

6-12-14: NBCNews.com Center for Work & Family/Brad Harrington re center’s study on paid paternal leave.

6-11-14: WRKO Financial Exchange School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re tax rate for the richest one percent.

6-9-14: TodayShow.com, CNBC.com Center for Work & Family/Brad Harrington re center’s study on paternity leave.

6-9-14: WGBH Radio News School of Social Work/Tiziana Dearing re Boston’s vanishing middle class.

6-9-14: CNBC.com Center for Retirement Research study re Americans struggling to save for retirement is cited.

6-5-14: PBS “Newshour” Arts & Sciences/Martha Bayles re her book on impression of American pop culture abroad.

6-4-14: CBSNews.com Center for Retirement Research/Anthony Webb re Americans struggle to save for retirement.

6-2-14: NECN’s “Broadside” Center for Work & Family/Lauren Rikleen re boomers and millennials working together.

6-1-14: WGBH-TV’s “Greater Boston” Law School/Zygmunt Plater re new EPA regulations on greenhouse gases.

2014-­‐2015 Social Media Report

The Office of News & Public Affairs maintains all the University's official social media channels. The following is a snapshot of the audience and reach of those channels this year.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL

AUDIENCE

Facebook

98,040 fans

Twitter

48,000 followers

YouTube

1.1 million views, 2,443 subscribers

LinkedIn

104,067 followers

Google+

3,575 followers, 905,000 views

Flickr

1.1 million views

Instagram

46,400 followers

Accolades:

#8 Top Brands in Higher Education on Instagram, Iconosquare #13 Top 100 Most Influential US Universities on Twitter, Times Higher Education #21 Most Influential Colleges in Social Media, College Atlas #31 Top 100 Social Media Colleges, Student Advisor

Twitter Demographics:

Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook Demographics:

YouTube Demographics: