GARDEN WORK
HELPING HANDS
TINSELTOWN
SPORTS
METRO
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Men’s basketball takes on UConn tonight at Madison Square Garden, A10
A Boston medical team aids the Philippines after the devastating Typhoon Haiyan, B10
With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, The Scene previews upcoming holiday movies, B1
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HEIGHTS
THE
The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College
Professor emeritus dies at 72
Campus School may move out of University facilities
BY CONNOR FARLEY Heights Editor
See Dietrich, A3
1919
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Vol. XCIV, No. 45
Last Saturday, Nov. 16, internationally recognized scholar of German Catholicism and retired Boston College professor of theology Donald Dietrich—professor emeritus and chairman of the Theology Department from 1991-2000—died at the age of 72. A Buffalo, N.Y. native born in 1941, Dietrich was shaped by an ongoing Jesuit education during his undergraduate years at Canisius College and later at the University of Minnesota, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Modern German History in 1969. Dietrich developed his career in academia at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where upon completing his doctorate he taught classes, published numerous works, and chaired multiple committees within the fields of theology and German Studies for 20 years. After conducting a national search for an additional faculty member in 1989, BC selected Dietrich to become a full-time professor within the Theology Department. Just two years later, Dietrich became the chair of the department—a position he would hold for the next nine years. “For nine years—1991-2000—he held that role with poise, equanimity and a seemingly unflappable demeanor,” said Rev. John Paris, S.J., close friend and Walsh Professor of Bioethics at BC, in a written tribute to Dietrich. “His door was always open, his desk always clean and his attention devoted to making Boston College an outstanding center for theological scholarships and teaching.” Paris, who has served as a consultant
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BY DEVON SANFORD Assoc. News Editor The Campus School is exploring a collaborative relationship with the Kennedy Day School at Franciscan Hospital for Children that could result in an affiliation of the two entities, according to a press release published by the Office of News and Public Affairs on Nov. 14. Campus School Director Don Ricciato has signed a letter of intent that will explore affiliation possibilities. Kennedy Day School, like the Campus School, provides special education services to students, ages three to 21, with severe disabilities. The school currently hosts approximately 70 students, while the Campus School serves 38. Ricciato informed his staff, parents of Campus School students, and Boston College students and volunteers of the recent development at a meeting this week. “These discussions are in the early stages, so we do not have specific details to share at this time, but we wanted our staff and the parents of Campus School students to be aware that discussions are taking place that are focused on how best to serve the students at both schools,” Ricciato said in the press release. “A joint advisory committee has been formed to lead the process, and we will provide additional information
See Campus School, A3 ALEX GAYNOR / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Winter sports kick off without promo event Athletics and UGBC consider interactive events going forward BY AUSTIN TEDESCO Heights Editor Changes could be coming for the way in which Boston College’s winter sports— mainly men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s hockey—are promoted to the student body, although the exact details aren’t clear yet. “I think our job is really to help fill the stadium and build tradition in our winter sports,” said UGBC president Matt Nacier. “But we’ve got to explore new avenues for it.” A record student attendance was set at BC men’s hockey’s season-opener against Wisconsin last month, which was the first
game at which the high-demand Gold Pass point system was used. Students who had accumulated enough reward points through the new ticketing initiative gained access to the game and combined for a student attendance of more than 2,400, as well as a better than 90 percent show rate. There was also an increase in student attendance at the men’s basketball season-opener against Toledo last week, as students were encouraged to go due to the offer of double Gold Pass points. The six points given that night, with the two for early arrival, were the most for any game this year. While this athletic season has seen the addition of the Gold Pass and a new seating arrangement in Conte Forum for men’s basketball games, a larger-scale event such as 2010 and 2011’s Ice Jam or 2012’s Pack Power was not hosted before the start of the season. Both Ice Jams featured the splitting of Conte Forum into half ice and half
basketball court, combined with entertainment such as Bob Costas, Steve Levy, and Vanilla Ice. Last year’s Pack Power event was much smaller than the Ice Jams—the men’s basketball team played a scrimmage in Power Gym and the athletic department provided pizza. The athletic department centered most of its efforts heading into the winter sports season around the Gold Pass system and logistical support for the new seating, according to Associate Athletics Director Jamie DiLoreto. The department also didn’t go into the year committed to hosting a large-scale event in conjunction with UGBC. “A lot of our efforts have been new initiatives,” DiLoreto said. “It’s not that I’m not open to doing [a large-scale promotional event], it’s more that we need to set up the program to be able to do it together.”
mathematics,” he said. “They talked about his research, and his work in creating the Ph.D. program in mathematics here, but he’s also heavily involved in mathematics education at all levels, not only undergraduate and graduate but also K-12. The honor is very well deserved.” Although in past years the new fellows
have been alerted by letter, Friedberg found out about his award through an email from the American Mathematics Society office. “I was reallay pleased,” he remembered. “I was very excited to get the notification.” As the second BC professor named
TIFFANY LAW / FOR THE HEIGHTS
Platt, former ambassador and diplomat, spoke as part of the China Watching Series.
Platt reflects on experience Math department’s Friedberg earns AMS accolade in China PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Dietrich, a former professor in the theology department, passed away on Nov. 16.
BY JENNIFER HEINE Heights Staff The American Mathematical Society has recognized Professor Solomon Friedberg, chairperson of Boston College’s Mathematics Department, as a Fellow, an award that honors his long career as a mathematician and researcher. According to the organization’s website, “The Fellows of the American Mathematical Society program recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics.” Founded in 1888, the society seeks to further mathematical research and scholarship in the national as well as international community. The AMS began naming fellows last year, who then have the responsibility of representing the society, furthering mathematical research, and helping to select new fellows. According to Professor Robert Meyerhoff, also of the Mathematics Department, who will serve as interim chair during Friedberg’s sabbatical, “pretty much all the mathematicians in the U.S. and a lot
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BY DANIEL PEREA-KANE of foreign mathematicians belong to the American Mathematical Society, and so to be honored by them is a big thing.” “As an organization concerned with research in mathematics, the AMS is an organization whose goals are close to mine—concerned with advancing scholarship in mathematics, scholarship that can be used or studied by anyone anywhere in the world,” Friedberg said. As an award, then, the fellowship recognizes the research Friedberg has performed over his career. Specifically, the American Mathematical Society cited Friedberg for “contributions to number theory, representation theory, and automorphic forms, and for the establishment of a new Ph.D. program in mathematics.” It therefore refers to all of Friedberg’s contributions to the study of mathematics over his more than 30 years at BC, identifying his research and scholarship as well as his work in creating the doctoral program as chairman of the department. Meyerhoff observed that Friedberg offers even more to the field over his long BC career than his nomination suggests. “It’s interesting that the AMS didn’t even mention all of his contributions to
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ALEX GAYNOR / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Solomon Friedberg of the math department was honored earlier this semester for his research.
For The Heights Diplomat Nicholas Platt came to Boston College Wednesday night to show footage from his trips to China during the 1970s, comparing and contrasting China then to China today. The footage he showed to students was from home movies he took while in China on two separate trips from 1972 and 1973. The first clips Platt showed were ones he took of Richard Nixon shaking Mao Zedong’s hand during his visit to the country in the 1970s. The next clips were stirring shots of Nixon on the Great Wall with other videos showing the former president going to the Ming Tombs. “Quite a few press people and quite a few others there were extremely curious about us,” Platt said. Fourteen months after his first trip to China, Platt returned to help set up the U.S. Diplomatic Liaison Office in China, an office that had not existed there since 1949. Platt said that everything was of interest to him when he took his videos,
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