T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle february 2, 2012
By Ed Hayward Staff Writer
Lee Pellegrini
BC, Newton Establish Tech Collaborative MLK Ceremony Expands Format for 30th Anniversary University President William P. Leahy, SJ, joined Newton Mayor Setti Warren last week to announce a new three-year, $300,000 initiative to help upgrade computers and other educational technology in the Newton Public Schools. Fr. Leahy joined Warren, a 1993 BC graduate, Newton Superintendent of Schools David Fleischman and Lynch School of Education Interim Dean Maureen E. Kenny at the Countryside Elementary School in Newton Newton Mayor Setti Warren and Countryside Elementary School Principal Emily look on as University President William P. Leahy, SJ, speaks during a Highlands to unveil the Boston Ostrower Jan. 23 ceremony unveiling the Boston College-Newton Technology Collaborative. College-Newton Technology Collaborative. last Catholic elementary school Principal Emily Ostrower said “The Boston College-Newton in Brighton. City Connects in Countryside, the city’s largest elTechnology Collaborative deep- Catholic Schools and the Ur- ementary school, has struggled to ens Boston College’s partnership ban Catholic Teacher Corps are keep pace with changes in eduwith the City of Newton and among the programs that serve cational technology, relying on the Newton Public Schools,” Fr. Catholic schools in Boston. a limited number of computers Leahy said. “Through the Lynch In its first year, the Boston and other technology purchased School of Education, BC provides College-Newton Technology years ago. dozens of student teachers and Collaborative will fund the pur“Educational technology is graduate students chase of 81 Apple transformative,” said Ostrower. each year, as well The $300,000 initiative Mac Books, a dozen “Some of our laptops are older as faculty expertise. ELMO digital visual than the students who attend our will help upgrade comThis new collaboraprojectors, a dozen school.” tive draws on those puters and other educa- flat screen televisions The Lynch School has develstrengths and will and a dozen media oped a long-standing partnership tional technology in the play an important carts for elementary with the Newton Public Schools, role in providing Newton Public Schools. schools in the great- said Kenny. During the past five Newton students est need of updated years, 680 BC students have with the benefits of technology. worked as student teachers and today’s educational technology.” Following the announce- counselors in Newton. Veteran Newton School Committee ment, Countryside second grade city teachers are eligible to take Chair Claire Sokoloff, committee teacher Michelle Powers, a 1995 classes tuition-free at the Lynch members Angela Pitter-Wright BC graduate, and graduate stu- School in return for mentoring and Margie Ross Decter, and dent teacher Rebecca Finkelstein BC students. In addition, Lynch Board of Aldermen members MA’12, demonstrated a writing School faculty have worked with Cheryl Lappin and Brian Yates lesson using technology similar to the school system on program ’71 joined Warren, who called what will be purchased through development and research. the partnership between BC and the grant. Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu the city crucial to ensuring all students benefit from today’s educational technology. “Education is the bedrock of our community, and Boston Colcovery could lead to the devellege understands how important By Ed Hayward opment of drugs that target the it is that our students have access Staff Writer protein in order to block the to technology in the classroom,” mechanism that advances the Biology professors Marc-Jan Warren said. “I am so pleased two diseases. Gubbels and Gabor Marth have that Boston College is willing to “The mechanism of microidentified a protein that plays strengthen our partnership by neme secretion, which is required a pivotal role in the spread of continuing to improve the learnfor host cell invasion, is a valthe deadly diseases toxoplasmoing that takes place in our classid drug target,” said Gubbels. sis and malaria, and also shown rooms with the resources needed.” “Since neither microneme secreits function could be genetically The technology collaboration nor invasion itself are curblocked to halt the progress of tive is the latest entry into BC’s rently targeted by any anti-malarthe parasite-borne illnesses. broad slate of university-school ia drugs, a potentially new class The protein, identified as ventures. BC maintains multiple of anti-malaria reagents can be DOC2.1, supports the secretion partnerships with the Boston developed. The high incidence of of microneme organelles, which Public Schools that provide supdrug resistance against malaria is are crucial to the mobility of the port personnel, student teacha big problem, so new drugs are two parasitic protozoa that cause ers, graduate assistants, faculty experts, student volunteers, SAT the diseases, Gubbels, Marth urgently needed.” Gubbels said researchers in his tutors, grant funding and in-kind and researchers from the Harlab obtained a temperature-sensivard School of Public Health, services to more than two dozen tive mutant of the parasite ToxoChildren’s Hospital Boston and BPS schools. plasma gondii, which displayed University of Oxford reported BC’s ongoing commitment to a mobility defect preventing it recently in the journal Science. the St. Columbkille Partnership from host cell invasion. Marth, The researchers said the disSchool has helped to save the
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One of the University’s major be aware of — what it was all about, annual campus events, the Martin and what it accomplished,” said Luther King Jr. Scholarship Cer- Assistant Director of Alumni Affinemony, will have a different format ity Programs Eva Maynard, who is this year in celebration of its 30th chair of the scholarship ceremony. anniversary when it takes place on “We don’t simply want to memoriFeb. 10. alize Dr. King, but to honor his life The event, which traditionally and work by having a conversation has been an evening banquet in the about where we are along the path Welch Dining Room of Lyons of civil rights and social justice, and Hall, will instead be held in Rob- what needs to be done.” sham Theater at 4 p.m., with a The afternoon panel discussion keynote address by Harvard Law will introduce that theme, and OgleSchool Jesse Climenko Professor tree will “continue the thought” in Charles J. Ogletree, followed by the his keynote, said Maynard. The presentation of the Martin Luther founding director of the Charles King Jr. Scholarship, and a recep- Hamilton Institute for Race and tion. Justice, Ogletree has researched and Preceding the ceremony at written on numerous topics related Robsham will be a 2 p.m. panel to civil rights and social justice. He discussion in the Murray Room is the author of All Deliberate Speed: of Yawkey Center that Reflections on the First Halfincludes former scholarCentury of Brown v. Board ship winners and finalof Education and in 2003 ists and members of the was selected by Savoy magaMartin Luther King Jr. zine as one of “The 100 Memorial Committee. Most Influential Blacks in Among the participants America.” will be Boston College But Maynard affirmed Law School Dean Vinthe importance of the Law Dean Rougeau: cent Rougeau and Uni- will be on panel event’s primary purpose: versity Trustee Darcel the presentation of the Clark ’83, who won the first King King Scholarship, which is given to Scholarship. a BC junior who reflects King’s phiOrganizers say the ceremony’s losophy in his or her life and work. changed format has a two-fold pur“Every year, the MLK Commitpose: to commemorate the King tee faces the task of choosing a winScholarship’s three decades at BC, ner from among several outstanding while offering an opportunity for candidates who represent the very the University community to reflect best of Boston College, in academon the state of civil rights and social ics, service and spirituality. We look justice more than 40 years after forward to honoring these young King’s assassination. people and their achievements.” “The civil rights movement is —Sean Smith associated with an era long ago, so Black History Month people may forget — or not even at BC, page 6
Biologists Find Key Protein in Parasite-Borne Diseases a computational biologist, sequenced the parasite’s genome and identified 33 possible sites in the genome responsible for the defect. Lab work isolated a single mutation in the DOC2.1 gene that was associated with a microneme secretion defect responsible for the mobility defect. Co-author Manoj Duraisingh, of the Harvard School of Public Health, generated a mutant of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in which DOC2.1 expression could be shut off. Furthermore, he demonstrated the protein was also crucial to microneme secretion in the parasite. Gubbels said the findings reinforce the dramatic advances made possible by complete genome sequencing and computational biology, which are Marth’s areas of expertise. These
approaches bypass the need for the difficult and time-consuming task of mapping causative mutations by genetic crosses as used in model organisms. “The re-sequencing method will permit the study of eukaryotic pathogens by forward genetics, which has shown its power in studies of model organisms, such as yeast and fruit flies,” said Gubbels. “To date, many of these pathogens have limited experimental and genetic accessibility, but this roadblock can now be lifted.” Added Marth, “We are now working with a number of research teams to gain insight into other critical pathogenic pathways, and already see promising initial results.” Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu