Boston College Chronicle

The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs february 19, 2015 VOL. 22 no. 11

•Senior authors Wiki entry on pioneering woman, page 2 •’Sing It to the Heights,’ page 2 •BC in sustainability competitions, page 2 •Biologist’s research could have AIDS/HIV implications, page 3 •BCSSW hosts civil rights activist Colvin today, page 3 •Karen Hughes to speak on campus, page 3 •BC among top Fulbright producers, page 4 •#BCWinter, page 5

•Shrayer story included in anthology, page 6 •English’s Najarian wins poetry award, page 6 •Trifecta of honors for Marketing Department, page 6 •Sutherland researches college health centers’ role in addressing violence, page 8 •BC Law students create blog, page 8 •Q&A: Michael Cronin on the good and bad of sports, page 9 •Campus Arts: Dennis Lehane talk (page 10); art exhibit (page 10); Steafán Hanvey’s “Look Behind You!” (page 12)

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

Workers removed snow from the Burns Library roof last week. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

IN WINTER’S GRIP Boston College community copes with impact of heavy snowfall, extreme cold Boston’s historic winter of 2015 continued to pose a stiff challenge for Boston College academic and non-academic operations, as major snowstorms forced the University to close on Feb. 2 and 9. This brought to four the number of days – all of them coming in a span of two weeks – that classes were cancelled and offices closed due to weather events; the University also delayed its opening to 10:30 a.m. the day following the Feb. 9 storm.

Another winter storm on Sunday dropped more than a foot of additional snow, although the University was able to open the next day. Icy temperatures dominated the Boston area this week,

with no immediate signs of a change in the weather pattern.

The spate of cancellations has prompted academic administrators and faculty to revise class schedules and syllabi so as to cover as much material as possible in the time remaining for this semester. Last week, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley announced that classes normally held on Feb. 9 would be moved to Feb. 12, and those on the latter date were cancelled. The shift was necessary, he explained, because more classes on the MondayWednesday-Friday cycle had been lost to snow days (as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday).

Continued on page 5

Office Broadens Outreach on Technology Transfer, Licensing

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing Director Jason Wen offers an expansive view of the “inventions” developed by faculty at Boston College.

“An invention can come from any field,” said Wen, who took charge of the office two years ago.

“It doesn’t have to be limited to a scientific discovery or a new piece of technology. It can be an idea, a curriculum or a new approach to

teaching. I want faculty from every department, school and college to see their potential to develop their own inventions.”

In support of that philosophy, Wen is expanding his outreach to faculty across campus to ensure they are aware of the services the office provides and understand some fundamental steps required to patent, license or commercialize new discoveries.

“People should bring us their ideas so they can be evaluated and Continued on page 4

QUOTE:

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jeffery Byers, whose research focuses on the development of sustainable chemistry including the catalytic synthesis of new, environmentally friendly polymers, has received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, the agency’s most prestigious grant for junior faculty.

The five-year, $655,000 grant will support Byers’ project, “Iron Polymerization Catalysis for the Synthesis of High Performance Degradable Polymers,” an initiative of his lab to convert bio-renewable lactic acid into useful, biodegradable plastic materials.

Byers, an organic/organometallic chemist, investigates underdeveloped chemistry that utilizes predominately non-noble metals in search of useful processes in areas such as organic and inorganic chemistry and materials science. A leading focus of the Byers lab is the perfection of new techniques to synthesize new types of polymers that can be used in chemical engineering, biomedical design, and sustainable chemistry.

“I’m grateful to the NSF for this

Jeffery Byers

opportunity,” said Byers, who joined the BC faculty in 2011. “It’s a very challenging time to get funding, but I am also excited for the recognition that the scientific community has had for this chemistry. The research is a little bit off the beaten path. So it’s been challenging to convince people we can do what we do, but people see what we’ve accomplished so far and this grant provides some validation for our approach. I’m excited to see where this takes us.”

Byers has developed simple catalysts using iron that synthesize polylactic acid from renewable resources.

The goal is to develop a polymer that is highly biodegradable, yet strong enough to be used in everyday prodContinued on page 4

A Faith That Shelters

For more than 25 years, BC Law’s Fr. Enman has helped the needy find affordable homes

Lee Pellegrini

•Photo: 2150 Comm. Ave. reaches the top, page 2

Lee Pellegrini

Research on Sustainable Chemistry Earns NSF Award

INSIDE

By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer

For Boston College Law School Chaplain Fred Enman, SJ, the goal is simple: Make the Gospel concrete. And that’s what Fr. Enman has done since 1988, when he co-founded Matthew 25, a non-profit organization that provides housing to people in need.

Matthew 25, of which Fr. Enman is executive director, purchases abandoned, dilapidated properties and oversees their rehabilitation

Fred Enman, SJ

into affordable rental housing for low-income people.

The name of the organization comes from the New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew where Jesus Continued on page 7

“The law is about justice, first and foremost, and it’s something that our entire society is built on. Practicing law is an important and very valuable profession to choose, and we want to explore why.”

–Law student Rob Rossi, co-creator of the BC Law: Impact blog, page 8

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Chronicle february 19, 2015

2

A ROUND

C AMPUS

THE WIKI WAY TO TOP IT OFF

Photo courtesy Marie Pellissier

Thanks to Boston College senior Marie Pellissier, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia now has an entry on a pioneering woman of the American West, Susan LaFlesche Picotte.

For an assignment last semester in Professor of History Marilynn Johnson’s course History of the American West, Pellissier introduced “Wiki” to Picotte (1865-1915), widely considered to be the first Native American woman to become a physician.

“I wanted to focus on a strong woman who was able to influence life in the West,” Pellissier told the WikiEducation Foundation, which featured the history major, and noted her use of Boston College Libraries resources to write her article, available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Susan_La_Flesche_Picotte.

“I’m delighted that Marie’s research has resulted in such a tangible and accessible contribution to historical knowledge on the web,” said Johnson.

“Wikipedia is here to stay, so why not improve it? There are tons of entries on male explorers and military figures in the American West, but not nearly as many on women and Native Americans. Marie’s article gives us both.”

Pellissier hopes readers of the article “come away with a sense of just how extraordinary this woman was.

I think one of the most interesting things about Picotte is the way she was able to have an impact on, and earn the respect of, both the Omaha nation and the community of whites living around their reservation in Walthill, Neb. “Though she was at a double disadvantage, as a woman and as a Na-

Marie Pellissier ’15 and the subject of her research, Susan LaFlesche Picotte.

tive American, she persisted in pursuing her education to Wikipedia become a doctor and in pushing for significant improvements to public health on the Omaha reservation,” she added. “She earned respect at a time when women were expected to stay home and care for families instead of working in a public sphere.”

Pellissier described Johnson’s assignment as “extraordinary: It asked us as historians to think differently about how we write; it was a challenge to write in an encyclopedic style.

“Writing for a broad audience,” she added, “really enhanced the experience in the class because instead of writing a research paper that only the professor would read, we were challenged to think about how to bring an interesting topic to a much broader group of people.”

–Office of News & Public Affairs

It’s nothing you’ll see on ESPN, or listen to on a radio, but the Boston College community is currently embroiled in two national competitions – both of them focusing on sustainability, rather than sports.

On Feb. 2, BC joined in the 2015 Recyclemania Tournament, an eightweek contest in which colleges across the US and Canada report the amount of recycling and trash collected every week. Contestants are ranked in various categories, such as which schools recycle the most on a per capita basis or best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste. The University’s Office of Sustainability – which is spearheading BC’s participation with Eco Pledge and students from the Jenks Leadership Program – posts reduction goals and weekly updates on its website, www.bc.edu/sustainability.

Also this month, BC is taking part in the NRG Games, which challenges colleges and universities to reduce electricity and overall energy use. BC residence hall communities compete with one another to see who can conserve the most, and the winner is awarded the Crystal Eagle NRG Games trophy.

For more on conservation and sustainability at BC, see www.bc.edu/ sustainability.

–Office of News & Public Affairs Director of NEWS & Public Affairs Jack Dunn Deputy Director of NEWS & Public AFFAIRS Patricia Delaney Editor Sean Smith

Contributing Staff Melissa Beecher Ed Hayward Sean Hennessey Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan Michael Maloney Photographers Gary Gilbert Lee Pellegrini

A “topping-off” ceremony was held recently by the construction management firm BOND for Boston College’s 245,000 square-foot residence hall currently under development at 2150 Commonwealth Avenue.

Once completed, the residential facility will provide an additional 490 student beds in a mix of apartmentstyle suites for BC students. The topping-off, or topping-out, is a builders’ rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its erection. (Photo courtesy of BOND)

SONGS IN THEIR HEARTS Next Thursday, Feb. 26, Boston College’s benefit talent competition “Sing It to the Heights” will once again display the musical talents of BC undergraduates as well as students from Brighton’s St. Columbkille Partnership School, the recipient of all proceeds from the show.

The event, which is open to the public, takes place from 7-9 p.m. in the Robsham Theater Arts Center.

Now in its 11th year, “Sing It to the Heights” – inspired by the popular Fox TV show “American Idol” – features 10 BC students, selected through a series of auditions held last month, performing for a panel of Jesuit judges. The winner is decided by votes from the audience.

This year’s contestants are: Alex Cavanaugh ’17; Esther Chung ’17, accompanied by Eric Lee ’15; Chris Colgan ’16; Patrick Fei ’18; Meghan Linehan ’17; Liz McGovern ’18; Wynnm Murphy ’18; Nick Page ’18, accompanied by Ameet Kallarackal ’18; Chris Paterno ’15; and Jon Vaughn ’15.

For the fifth year, St. Columbkille students also will get a turn in the spotlight. Many have been able to take musical instrument lessons, sing in chorus and participate in art and drama clubs at St. Columbkille as a result of the support “Sing It to the Heights” has provided for the school’s fine arts programs.

“Sing It to the Heights” is sponsored by the Emerging Leader Program, Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Robsham Theater.

Tickets are available at the Robsham box office or at www.bc.edu/robsham.

–Office of News & Public Affairs

The Boston College

Chronicle www.bc.edu/chronicle chronicle@bc.edu

The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of News & Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (617)552-3350. Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus.

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Chronicle february 19, 2015

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Biologist’s Work on ‘Viral Reservoirs’ May Have Impact on AIDS/HIV “Our question was if we can do that with HIV, does it stop virus replication in the brain, stop seeding and does it reverse injury?” says Prof. Ken Williams (Biology) of his research. “The answer to each of those questions, we now know, is ‘yes.’”

Lee Pellegrini

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

A drug used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease has confirmed how “viral reservoirs” form in patients living with HIV and AIDS and also proven effective in animal trials at blocking the pathways to those reservoirs in the brain and gut, according to new research conducted by Professor of Biology Ken Williams and colleagues from other universities.

The drug, a humanized antibody called natalizumab, is produced by Biogen Idec Inc. under the brand name Tysabri and prescribed to treat patients suffering relapse of multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease.

In their experiments, Williams and his fellow researchers found the antibody effectively blocked a molecule that two types of white blood cells use to travel to the brain and the gut, where they collect in viral reserves linked to debilitating illnesses that afflict people living with HIV infection, even if they are symptom-free.

The researchers recently reported in the journal PLOS Pathogens that a three-week course of natalizumab,

applied four weeks after infection, reversed lesions on the central nervous system. Furthermore, the drug confirmed for the first time that the traffic of the virus – transported in disease-fighting cells known as monocytes and macrophages – to the brain could be physically blocked, said Williams, a senior author of the report.

In a parallel trial, a three-week course of treatment with natalizum-

ab at the time of experimental infection completely blocked the traffic of the virus to the brain and the gut in animal subjects, according to the report. These tests confirmed the roles of monocytes in seeding the central nervous system with the virus and leukocytes leading to the infection of the gut, a precursor to a range of illnesses.

“We actually stopped all traffic and showed that if you physically

Former Bush Aide Hughes to Speak at Clough Forum Karen Hughes, former counselor to President George W. Bush and undersecretary of state during his administration, will discuss her experiences in politics, public policy and communications at a Feb. 25 Boston College appearance.

Hughes, now global vice chair of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, will present “The CEOs of Leadership: Clarity, Example and Optimism” at 4 p.m. in Gasson 100. The event, which is free and open to the public, is

Cai Thomas ’16, far left, was chosen as the 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship winner. She was honored at Tuesday night’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship Banquet, which featured remarks by University President William P. Leahy, SJ, and Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley ’79 (left of Fr. Leahy), who co-originated the registered Boston College trademark acronym “AHANA” (African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American).

Also on hand were other scholarship finalists Afua Laast ’16 and Elisa Bushee ‘16 (to the right of Thomas) and at far right, Julia Biango ’16; another finalist, Ronald Claude ’16, who is studying abroad this semester, was represented at the event by his mother, Marie-Yolette Claude.

sponsored by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics as part of its Clough Colloquium, along with the Carroll School of Management.

A former television news reporter, Hughes worked as Texas press coordinator for the Reagan presidential campaign in 1984, and later became executive director of the Republican Party of Texas. In 1994, she began working with Bush, first as director of his Texas gubernatorial campaign, and then as counselor on policy and communications during

his presidency from 2001-02.

After a two-year leave, she rejoined Bush for his 2004 presidential campaign, and in 2005 became undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, with the responsibility of helping improve the international community’s perceptions of America. She resigned from the post in 2007, and joined Burson-Marsteller in 2008.

Hughes is the author of Ten Minutes from Normal, a memoir of her experiences with President Bush. In the spring of 2013, she was a resident fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics.

–Office of News & Public Affairs Frank Curran

block monocytes and macrophages, the virus does not enter the brain,” said Williams, whose research focuses on the long-term impact of the immune system’s response to HIV/AIDS infection. “And even if full and major lesions of the central nervous system are present, application of the antibody can heal that damage and eliminate the virus, underscoring the necessity for continued traffic of cells to the central nervous system and the gut to maintain infection and lesions.”

The team – which included additional researchers from Boston College, Harvard Medical School, Cornell University and the University of Florida College of Medicine – studied the antibody based on earlier research that showed natalizumab blocked monocyte traffic in laboratory mice in trials focused on the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Members of the Williams lab who worked on the project included researcher Patrick Autissier, Jennifer H. Campbell, PhD ’14, Samantha Tse ’14 and Research Associate Professor Tricia Burdo.

“So our question was if we can do that with HIV, does it stop virus replication in the brain, stop seeding and does it reverse injury?” said Williams. “The answer to each of those questions, we now know, is ‘yes.’”

The findings suggest that similar treatment regimens for humans at the time of infection could include the use of the antibody in combination with anti-retroviral drugs, a pairing that could serve to halt the seeding of HIV reservoirs in the brain and gut, while traditional anti-retroviral therapies can target lymphoid organs to contain infection, Williams said. Human clinical trials would have to be conducted to

pave the way for that potential use of the drug, he said.

The latest report is viewed as a critical step in the effort to combat illnesses tied to HIV infection, including nerve damage, cardiac disease, gut disorders and dementia, which strike patients living with HIV even though they are largely symptom free thanks to treatment from anti-retroviral drugs.

Despite drug therapies that help hold HIV/AIDS symptoms in check, researchers have centered on the presence of viral reservoirs that persist in the brain and the gut. Earlier research from the Williams lab has shown that cells and molecules from these stockpiles are present in illnesses such as neuropathy in the hands and feet, AIDS-related dementia, “leaky gut” syndrome and heart inflammation in people living with HIV and AIDS, said Williams.

The Williams lab is also involved in a $39-million human clinical trial led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to determine whether treatment with a statin drug can reduce the elevated risk of cardiovascular disease in individuals infected with HIV. The REPRIEVE trials are slated to begin this spring.

As calls grow louder for a push to a “cure” for HIV/AIDS, researchers have focused on monocytes and macrophages – as well as T-cells – as another route to the development of new drug therapies that can fully arrest the damaging impact of the virus.

“When people talk about a ‘cure’ for AIDS, it’s really about eradicating these viral reservoirs,” said Williams.

BCSSW Event Today Features Civil Rights Pioneer Claudette Colvin Claudette Colvin, whose civil rights activism preceded that of Rosa Parks, will appear at a special Boston College event this afternoon that also will feature her granddaughter Jennifer, a first-year student at the BC School of Social Work, and her daughter-in-law Cheryl, a co-organizer of the 50th anniversary commemoration of the famous Selma to Montgomery civil rights march.

“Celebrating a Pioneer,” sponsored by BCSSW, will take place 12:30-2 p.m. in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. The event is free and open to the University community.

Colvin was 15 years old in March of 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus, and was arrested for violating that city’s segregation laws – nine months before Rosa Parks made her own, widely publicized stand. Colvin later became a plaintiff in the landmark legal case Browder v. Gayle that helped end segregation on Montgomery public buses.

At today’s event, in conversation with Jennifer and Cheryl, Colvin will share her reminiscences and talk about her fight for social justice.

To attend, RSVP chris.mcintosh@bc.edu.

Read an interview with Jennifer and Cheryl Colvin at the BC Social Work blog [http://bit.ly/1zgpwPj].

–Office of News & Public Affairs

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BC Remains One of Top Fulbright Producers in US

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

Boston College is again one of the top producers of student Fulbright recipients among the nation’s leading research universities, according to the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which oversees the program.

In 2014, 10 BC students received Fulbright awards – which support a year’s post-baccalaureate study abroad – placing BC in the top 40 US research universities. Two other students were named alternates as well.

From BC’s 2014 Fulbright class, students are studying in countries including Austria, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Taiwan, Germany, Guatemala and Ukraine.

“I think one of the reasons we’re so successful is that the Fulbright program speaks to exactly the kind of students we have at BC,” said Jason Cavallari, associate director for the University Fellowships Committee, which administers the Fulbright competition. “We have students who are academically talented, interested in the wider world, interested in fostering the kinds of relationships with others that the Fulbright stands for.”

Cavallari also credited the work of advising staff and faculty for presenting highly qualified applicants from BC on an annual basis.

In addition to the Fulbright scholarships, BC students and alumni earned an impressive array of fel-

Byers Continued from page 1 ucts, such as plastic bottles.

The process could ultimately help reduce the paper products waste stream and reduce the harmful environmental impacts of less degradable plastic products that are currently used today.

But before polylactic acid can be used on a large scale, Byers said, the brittle nature of the material needs to be resolved. The grant will support the lab’s work to diversify the physical properties of polylactic acid.

“We’ll do that by including other molecules into the polylactic acid matrix, to make compounds called co-polymers, which are essentially a plastic whose chemical structure is composed of a mixture of two different compounds,” said Byers, who earned his PhD at the California Institute of Technology in 2007 and was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT from 2007 to 2011.

Furthermore, the lab is trying to change the architecture of polylactic acid by altering its molecular structure from linear to cyclic, an advance that could make the material more flexible.

Cyclic polymers have proved difficult to synthesize in large quantities, which

lowships for the 2014-15 academic year, including a Boren Scholarship, a Goldwater, two Teaching Assistant Program in France awards and a Congressional Policy Fellowship.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 360,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

More than 1,800 US students, artists and young professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English and conduct research annually.

The Fulbright US Student Program operates in more than 140 countries throughout the world. The program is funded through an annual appropriation made by Congress to the Department of State.

Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.

The Fulbright Program also awards grants to US scholars, teachers and faculty to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, some 4,000 new foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study for graduate degrees, conduct research and teach foreign languages.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, see eca.state. gov/fulbright. has limited their development and commercial applications. But Byers hopes to develop a simpler approach to synthesizing cyclic polymers that will allow for their synthesis on a large scale.

A significant component of the CAREER award is to increase the broader impacts of science so as to make it more visible and appealing to the general public.

Therefore, the grant funding will also support a pre-collegiate summer institute for high school students, known as “P2P: Paper to Plastics,” which he established with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Eranthie Weerapana in 2012. The program brings 16 high school students, predominately girls and students of color who are under-represented in the sciences, to campus for a program that combines mentoring, research, career exploration and college preparation.

“In addition to our ongoing efforts to address important scientific challenges in the area of biodegradable polymers, the CAREER award funding will help support the P2P program, which we’re very excited about,” said Byers. “It’s a multidisciplinary program that combines research, undergraduate student mentors, graduate student advisors, and high school students with a passion for science. And it’s a lot of fun.”

“People should bring us their ideas so they can be evaluated and protected – that means contacting us before a paper is published, a poster is presented or a talk is given at a conference.”

–Jason Wen

Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing Director Jason Wen (center), speaking with Ferris Professor and Physics Chairman Michael Naughton (left) and Associate Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

OTTL Seeks to Expand Its Outreach Continued from page 1 protected – that means contacting us before a paper is published, a poster is presented or a talk is given at a conference,” said Wen. “There are some very basic, but very important steps we need to take.”

For faculty who break new ground, OTTL serves as the University’s service center for the protection of intellectual property, technological and scientific evaluation and chief negotiator of licensing and commercialization agreements that can bring royalty payments and take new discoveries to the public.

In his two years on campus, Wen says he has made the office as close to a one-stop shop as possible for services to help faculty advance proprietary discoveries.

That is in no small part related to Wen’s broad range of credentials and experience in the life sciences, business and patent law.

A former professor, Wen holds a PhD in molecular biology and an MBA. He’s a licensed patent agent with professional certifications in licensing and technology transfer. That background has allowed Wen to bring much of the office’s work in-house, reducing costs and streamlining services for faculty, he said.

With the addition of licensing associate Jill Edgar, Wen said the office provides timely services such as legal agreements, contracts and support services related to intellectual property licensing.

Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship Thomas Chiles said OTTL is a crucial piece of the University’s strategic plan to expand and enhance faculty research initiatives.

Last year, OTTL finalized 66 agreements, the largest number

completed in a single year since the office was created in 2004.

The number marked a 32 percent increase above the prior year.

The office evaluates technologies, files and manages patents, markets BC innovations and negotiates agreements to license technology, establish collaborations with industry and facilitate start-ups.

Last year, Wen approached nearly 30 companies as part of a technology marketing effort, inviting some to campus for additional discussions. The companies included GE, Samsung, Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Abbot Laboratories and Cubist Pharmaceuticals.

The office has negotiated licensing agreements for discoveries from BC labs. Among those agreements was the launch of the startup EnerLeap Inc., to commercialize a new battery and energy storage technology developed by Associate Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang.

Wang said OTTL was extremely helpful throughout the process, helping him take an important step toward seeing one of his lab discoveries advance toward the competitive green energy marketplace.

“It’s pretty exciting to see that we can take this to the next level,” said Wang. “Scientists work in the lab, driven by a vision. Often it’s a blurred vision. When it becomes clearer and you see it become something real, it is very fulfilling.”

Among other successes, Wen pointed to a renewed licensing agreement for the assistive technology EagleEyes, developed more than two decades ago by faculty from the Carroll School of Man-

agement, the Computer Science Department and the Campus School. The technology, which allows people with severe physical disabilities to control a computer using eye movement, has been licensed to the Opportunity Foundation of America since 2008.

John R. and Pamela Egan Professor in Computer Science James Gips said OTTL’s work helps to ensure EagleEyes reaches the people who need it most.

“Jason and OTTL have been key in our being able to get the EagleEyes technology into the lives of children with the most severe disabilities and their families,” said Gips. “Jason and his office just concluded negotiating a renewed and revised licensing agreement with the Opportunity Foundation of America so they can develop, manufacture, and distribute EagleEyes systems to families and schools.

“Without these agreements, EagleEyes would be a curiosity in my lab rather than having a profound positive effect on the lives of children with disabilities and their families throughout the country.”

The Association of University Technology Managers recently featured the agreement as a project that sets an example for intellectual property benefitting society, Wen said – a first for BC. “We’re thrilled to see AUTM recognize Boston College’s EagleEyes and the Opportunity Foundation of America for the contributions we’re making to helping those truly in need,” said Wen. “It’s a great example of how our inventions can serve our Jesuit mission to be of service to others.”

Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu

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Chronicle february 19, 2015

Snow, Cold an Endurance Test for BC Continued from page 1 “I understand that this decision will have some negative impacts, but I believe it is the right call for the University,” said Quigley, who referred to the confluence of closings as “historic.”

Meanwhile, non-academic BC personnel again worked extra hours to help campus operations run as normally as possible, as they had done during the late January closings [see Chronicle story at http://bit.ly/1Dj45Uf].

Facilities Services and Boston College Police continued to keep campus walkways and roads safe for pedestrian or vehicular traffic, and ensure access to campus buildings, while Dining Services and Office of Residential Life also provided essential services.

Others making valuable contributions have included employees of University Health Services and Boston College Libraries.

Health Services maintained its 24-hour operations during all of the storms, in contrast to some area colleges and universities that advised students to go to emergency rooms for medical assistance, according to Health Services Director Thomas Nary, MD. Several staff members helped support the overnight shifts during the days BC was closed, ensuring the department was ready for any and all eventualities, he said.

The early part of February brought an additional challenge to Health Services, Nary added: an intestinal virus that sent more than 20 students to the infirmary around the Feb. 2 University closing.

O’Neill Library also was able to keep its 24-hour weekday schedule during the Feb. 2 and 9 storms, said Associate University Librarian for Instruction, Access and User Engagement Scott Britton, with two to three staff during the day, one full-time person in the evening and one overnight, along with two or three student workers at all times.

“O’Neill is one of the largest and most popular places on campus where students can meet and work, and we try very hard to have it open even during these weather events,” he said. “During the last storm, we had several hundred students studying in the library throughout the day and into the evening. Some staff and student workers arrived earlier or stayed later than they were scheduled to so that coverage would be continuous.”

Britton noted that when the MBTA stopped running, BC’s Eagle Escort service was able to bring workers to and from

5

#BCWinter Despite the snow and cold, many Boston College students have been sharing the chilly scenes of winter at the Heights through the BC Instagram and other social media. [Go to bc.edu/ social for more]

Arnav Roy

Haley Cormier

Facilities Services staff last week cleared away snow that had accumulated on the roof of the 90 More Road residence hall from recent storms.

Since the last week of January, Boston College has closed four times and had a delayed opening due to winter weather. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

O’Neill so the late-night shifts could be covered.

Various University events and activities were cancelled or postponed during the last few weeks, among them the Undergraduate Government of Boston College elections, which were to take place Monday and Tuesday and are now scheduled for today and

tomorrow.

Not even a lull in stormy weather allowed the University community to relax its vigilance.

Earlier this week, BC Police and Facilities Services issued a warning for pedestrians to proceed with caution due to snow-moving trucks and machinery operating on campus.

–Office of News & Public Affairs

Liam Weir

Matt Bui

Office of News & Public Affairs Videographer Sean Casey captured scenes of Boston College campus life during the recent winter onslaught in his new video, “Snow at Boston College.” Watch it on the BC YouTube channel at youtube.com/BostonCollege.

Erin Fitzpatrick

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Chronicle february 19, 2015

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Shrayer in New Anthology of Jewish American Fiction Lee Pellegrini

With its selection for inclusion in a major new anthology of Jewish American fiction, the title story of Professor of Russian, English, and Jewish Studies Maxim D. Shrayer’s acclaimed 2009 collection, Yom Kippur in Amsterdam, will reach a new audience.

The New Diaspora: The Changing Landscape of American Jewish Fiction features 36 stories by some of the leading names in contemporary fiction, including Edith Pearlman, Francine Prose, Jonathan Safran Foer and Na- Maxim D. Shrayer than Englander. migrants.

Literary critic, author and “So it’s not just a Jewish boy University of British Columbia from Moscow who founded an Professor Ira Nadel writes that Internet company whose name the “remarkable” collection “re- rhymes with noodle [Google coflects the panoply of interests and founder and Jewish émigré Sergei literary forms that characterize Brin], but many more girls and the variety of Jewish experience boys from different corners of today. the former Soviet Empire. We’re “In this anthology, culture, here to stay.” history, and identities intersect Whether set in his native Rusand remake themselves. Not to sia or in North America and be missed, not to be skipped.”

Western Europe, Shrayer’s stories The story by Shrayer, a noted explore emotionally intricate reauthor and scholar, follows Jake lationships that cross traditional Glaz, a young Jewish man baffled boundaries of ethnicity, religion by the prospect of intermarriage and culture. to a Catholic woman. After realHis work is included in the izing neither he nor she will con- second section of The New Diasvert, Jake leaves the United States pora, which, the publisher notes, to spend Yom Kippur in Am- reflects the evolving landscape of sterdam, a “beautiful place for American Jewish fiction over the a Jew to atone.” His collection, last 50 years. in which the story is included, The anthology, according to offers a compelling and distinc- the publisher, “offers an expandtive perspective on the modern ed canon of Jewish writing in immigration experience and on North America and foregrounds Jewish-Christian relations. a vision of its variety, its unique“I’m thrilled to be in the an- ness, its cosmopolitanism, and its thology, especially because the evolving perspectives on Jewish editors have chosen the title story life. It celebrates the continuing of my collection Yom Kippur in vitality and fresh visions of conAmsterdam,” Shrayer said. “It temporary Jewish writing, even feels good to share this new di- as it highlights its debt to hisaspora with so many talented tory and embrace of collective authors, and with three other memory.” writers who are Jewish-Soviet im–Office of News & Public Affairs

Quigley to Speak at Laetare Sunday Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley will be the featured speaker at the Boston College Alumni Association’s 64th annual Laetare Sunday Celebration on March 15.

Laetare Sunday – which marks the mid-point of Lent – will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a Mass in Conte Forum; University President William P. Leahy, SJ, will preside. The brunch, at which Quigley will speak, follows immediately.

Tickets for the event are $15 each for alumni of the undergraduate classes of 2005-2014 and children over age 13, $25 each for all other classes and guests; there is no admission charge children 12 and under or for current Boston College students.

To register, go to www.bc.edu/laetare.

–Office of News & Public Affairs

Najarian Wins Writing Award in Poetry The Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) has honored Associate Professor of English James Najarian, who specializes in Romantic and Victorian Poetry and nonfiction prose, with its Stephen J. Meringoff Writing Award in Poetry.

Najarian – a specialist in Romantic and Victorian poetry and nonfiction prose whose research interests include gender and sexuality in literature, poetic influence, religion in literature, and book production – won the award for his poems “Kleptomania,” “From the Armenian Quarter,” and “The Frat Boys.” The award judges were poets Greg Delanty and David Curzon.

“I’ve entered poetry and volume publication contests many times, and never made more than finalist, so to win this award from an organization and poets I respect is especially gratifying,” said Najarian, who directs the English Department’s PhD program and edits the scholarly journal Religion and the Arts. He is working on a study of the idea of the “minor poet” in the 19th century.

Associate Professor of English James Najarian specializes in Romantic and Victorian poetry and nonfiction prose. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

In addition to receiving a cash prize, Najarian will have his poems published in either the association’s tri-quarterly journal Literary Imagination or its Literary Matters newsletter.

His monograph, Victorian Keats, was published in 2002; he also has published verse in West Branch, The Mennonite, Tar Poetry Review and other journals.

His volume of verse, An Introduction to the Devout Life, was selected as a finalist in several publication contests, including at Anhinga Press, The Ashland

Poetry Press, and The National Poetry Series.

The Boston-based ALSCW [alscw.org] seeks to promote excellence in literary criticism and scholarship, and works to ensure that literature thrives in both scholarly and creative environments. The association’s Meringoff awards are presented annually: in the categories of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction in the fall, and in high school writing in the spring.

–Office of News & Public Affairs

Three Marketing Faculty Earn Honors

By Sean Hennessey Staff Writer

Three recent high-profile awards received by Marketing Department faculty have added to the Carroll School of Management’s reputation for outstanding research, as reflected by its steady rise in national rankings.

Assistant Professor Hristina Nikolova was selected for the 2014 John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Dissertation Award for her work on how pairs of people make joint self-control decisions where the decision involves instant gratification or bigger, longterm benefits such as a couple saving for retirement or taking a luxurious vacation.

“I am very happy and proud that my dissertation work was recognized with this award,” says Nikolova, who joined the Carroll School last fall. “I am also very thankful to all the people who have helped me get here: my dissertation co-chairs; my husband, who was the inspiration for the ideas in my dissertation; and my colleagues here at Boston College who are extremely supportive of the work I do.”

The findings, the first on this topic, were featured in such media outlets as Time, Forbes, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, ABC News, Expert Beacon, Shape, and Allure, among others.

Assistant Professor Nailya Ordabayeva, who also arrived last fall, won the 2014 Journal of Consumer Research Best Article Award for co-authoring “Getting Ahead of the Joneses: When Equality Increases Conspicuous Consumption among BottomTier Consumers.” The article, based on Ordabayeva’s dissertation, was chosen a winner by the Journal’s policy board among all articles published in the Journal of Consumer Research in 2011, based on factors such as innovation and impact since publication.

“I am extremely happy and honored to receive this award, which recognizes my work for making an impact in the field of marketing,” says Ordabayeva. “I am very excited to see growing interest in the issues of inequality, financial deprivation, and status aspirations among marketing scholars, and I am privileged to contribute to this conversation.”

Rounding out the Carroll School’s award trifecta is Marketing Department Chair and Accenture Professor Kay Lemon, who co-published an article that won the Journal of Retailing Davidson Award. “Capturing the Evolution of Customer–Firm Relationships: How Customers Become More (or Less) Valuable Over Time” examined whether a firm’s customers remain profit-

able over time and the marketing steps that can be taken to maintain that profitability. Lemon says the insights from her team’s model will allow marketing managers to make better resource allocations decision because they will better understand how their customers change over time.

“I was honored to have our article chosen for the Journal of Retailing Davidson Award,” says Lemon. “As department chair, I’m thrilled that we have assembled such an outstanding group of scholars in the department. Nailya and Hristina just joined us this academic year and this recognition of their research excellence is well-deserved.”

Carroll School of Management Dean Andy Boynton says the awards are a testament to the high-quality research that is an everyday part of the school’s mission.

“The success of my colleagues in Marketing and the prestigious awards their research has earned further illustrates our faculty’s excellence as world class scholars.

It’s no coincidence or surprise that three of our outstanding Marketing Department’s faculty won these particular awards. I’m confident there is more to come.”

Contact Sean Hennessey at sean.hennessey@bc.edu

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Fr. Enman says the inspiration for the non-profit originally came from a book by Jon Sobrino, SJ, who singled out Matthew 25 in writing that Christians must make Gospel values real in the lives of the poor. When selecting his pastoral project for his final year as a theology graduate student, Fr. Enman forged ahead with the idea of Matthew 25.

“I like to say it’s my longest incomplete ever. I still haven’t finished,” he jokes.

Photos on this page courtesy of Fred Enman, SJ

Fr. Enman using pipefitting equipment outside one of the Matthew 25 houses.

Fr. Enman Puts Gospel Into Action Continued from page 1 says: “For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you covered me; sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these, my least brethren, you did it to me.”

Matthew 25 has opened nine houses in Worcester and one in Boston, providing housing for 19 families. Another house in Worcester is slated to open this spring with space for two more families.

Fr. Enman has a steady team of volunteers who help with the demolition and restoration work of each house. Students from the College of the Holy Cross, where Fr. Enman was teaching when work on Matthew 25’s first house began, have done demolition work on every Matthew 25 house in Worcester.

In 1994, Worcester Techni-

cal High School “adopted” Matthew 25 as their shop project and supervised students have done the skilled carpentry, electrical, plumbing and heating work on all the Worcester houses. The 21-year-old partnership has provided the students with unparalleled hands-on experience and Matthew 25 with immense financial savings.

Fr. Enman cites The True Church and the Poor by Jon Sobrino, SJ, as the inspiration for Matthew 25. In the book, Fr. Sobrino wrote that Christians must make Gospel values real in the lives of the poor and singled out Matthew 25. When selecting his pastoral project for his final year as a theology graduate student, Fr. Enman forged ahead with the idea of Matthew 25.

“I like to say it’s my longest incomplete ever. I still haven’t finished,” joked Fr. Enman, who credits BC friends Tim Healey ’87 and Jim MacGillivray ’87 as

Matthew 25 co-founders.

The Matthew 25 properties all seem to have a special story attached to them. The first, a duplex built in 1863, was listed on both the Massachusetts Historical Register and the City of Worcester’s demolition list. “It is a gorgeous house and we got to it just in time,” said Fr. Enman.

After paying $32,000 in back taxes, the house was renovated and is now home to four families.

A second Matthew 25 property on the Historical Register is a 1840s Greek Revival. “We got that house around the time of the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse fire where six firefighters were killed,” said Fr. Enman, a Worcester native. “We wanted to do something to honor those men, so that house is called Firefighter House and we have the name of each of those firefighters on the front porch.

“It seemed like everyone I knew had a connection to one

Fr. Enman with carpentry students from Worcester Technical High School outside a renovated house in fall, 1999.

A mother and son, among the first tenants of Matthew 25, pose with Fr. Enman outside her new house in 1995.

of the firefighters. Everyone was deeply affected by the loss.”

The purchase of another property, named The Louise and Fred Enman House after Fr. Enman’s parents, was financed in part by gifts bestowed by couples Fr. Enman had married. Boston College undergraduates and graduate students did the interior demolition for the first Matthew 25 house in Boston, which was dedicated in 2010.

A legal aid lawyer by training, Fr. Enman graduated from Wesleyan University and earned a juris doctor from BC Law, a master of arts degree in philosophy from BC, a master of divinity and a master of theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology (now the School of Theology and Ministry) and a diploma of legal studies from Oxford University.

When he is not at a Matthew 25 work site, Fr. Enman can be found at BC Law, where he serves as chaplain and special assistant to the associate dean of students. His duties include coordinating academic advising

and working with student organizations. He also celebrates noon Mass at Trinity Chapel every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

In March, Fr. Enman will travel with about a dozen BC Law students to New Orleans, where they will provide free legal work for non-profits and government agencies aiding those still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. It is a trip he has taken annually since 2007 and something he calls “one of my favorite activities” in his role at BC Law. Fr. Enman’s work on behalf of those in need has been recognized by the Ignatian Volunteer Corps New England, which presented him with a Madonna Della Strada Award in 2013. He also has received the John W. Spillane Award for Distinguished Christian Leadership from the Knights of Columbus, Crusader Council 2706 and the Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice from the Paulist Center in Boston.

For more information on Matthew 25 or to make a donation, see www.Matt25.org

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Chronicle february 19, 2015

Centers for Attention

Connell School faculty member examines how college health centers can help address violence against women

By O. Angela Bowser Special to the Chronicle

Connell School of Nursing Assistant Professor Melissa Sutherland recognized early in her career that women aged 18 to 25 are an at-risk group for violence: Research has found that 33 percent of college women report having experienced intimate personal violence, she says, while her own informal conversations with students have provided anecdotal evidence.

So it follows, according to Sutherland, that college health centers can play an important role in fostering awareness of, and addressing, violence against college women.

“We do know that in certain settings, screening for violence is low,” said Sutherland, whose work focuses on interpersonal violence and the health consequence of violence. “So what does it look like in college health centers?”

Sutherland now has the opportunity to find out, thanks to a

$169,892 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant that will enable her to continue her research.

The two-year grant is funded by the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.

“It is a big accomplishment,” said Sutherland of receiving the grant. “I feel strongly that I would’ve continued to do this work, whether the grant was funded or not.”

Working with five schools, two in New York and three in Massachusetts, Sutherland’s project will survey some 1,000 female students who used services at campus health centers within the last three months. In late spring, she plans to shift her focus to assessing attitudes, beliefs and organizational factors in clinics that serve students. Health care providers will be asked about their views on interpersonal violence, how health centers conduct screenings, and whether violence screenings should be routinely offered for all students.

Sutherland’s research comes at a time when the issue of sexual assault on college campuses has attracted increased scrutiny from the media and federal authorities; the Obama administration also has urged colleges and universities to be more vigilant about reporting and responding to incidents of sexual assault. A report released last year from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault proposes that colleges and universities be required by 2016 to conduct campus climate surveys on sexual violence.

Sutherland hopes her research team’s work will present stakeholders with a clearer picture of the situation that will aid in developing theoretical and appropriate interventions to deal with violence against college women. Determining which aspects should be targeted, she believes, is an important first step in a multifaceted response.

“I don’t think any one study or any one approach is going to solve a problem,” said Suther-

Gary Wayne Gilbert

8

Connell School of Nursing Assistant Professor Melissa Sutherland

land. “I think college health centers are one stakeholder in the bigger issue of violence.”

Sutherland’s mentor and consultant on the grant, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Professor Katherine Hutchinson, said those who are familiar with Sutherland’s research are delighted but not at all surprised that her NIH grant application was funded.

“Her research is innovative and highly significant, and has the potential to inform and change clinical practice,” said

Hutchinson. “It also creates opportunities for our graduate students to participate in cuttingedge research.”

Sutherland’s research team also includes University of Massachusetts Lowell Assistant Professor Heidi C. Fantasia, PhD ’07, Boston College Senior Research Statistician Matthew Gregas, and Elizabeth Miller, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh Division of Adolescent Medicine.

–O. Angela Bowser is communications specialist for the Connell School of Nursing

Blog Seeks to Provide Big, and Small, Picture of Studying Law at BC A blog’s-eye view of the life and times of nine Boston College Law School students is among the newest entries in BC-associated social media.

Officially launched last month, BC Law: Impact [bclawimpact. org] seeks to offer a window into the law school experience, according to the bloggers – the BC Law experience in particular.

“This school is special, and it’s the people who make it that way,” explains second-year student Rob Rossi ’13, a Lexington, Mass., native. “We’re just trying to illustrate what that means. As students, we’re deeply invested in the community, and we want to tell the world why.”

Rossi’s co-contributors include Amelia Wirts and Ronald Makawa, both of whom had past forays into blogging.

“I am excited because this blog is connected with a community of dedicated students,” says Wirts, a first-year student from Medford, Ore., whose previous blog centered on the joint degree in philosophy she is pursuing at BC. “I think the focus of the blog and the dialogue between the bloggers will make this project much more interesting to a broad audience.

“I also hope that it will be a place where BC Law students can discuss the issues that matter to

them. Since we are a school that focuses on social justice, I hope some of those issues will center on this calling to be good citizens now as well as good lawyers in the future.”

In addition to maintaining a personal blog “in the early days of the Internet,” Makawa, a thirdyear student from Gaithersburg, Md., formerly managed the blog of an indie-rock music group from Washington, DC. “Blogging is great because it gives you the opportunity to connect with a very large group of people all over the globe. With BC Law: Impact, I’m looking forward to engaging with a global community of visitors who are interested in BCLS, and working with my fellow bloggers to provide a rich platform for a variety of discussion topics.”

Thus far, BC Law: Impact posts have included Makawa’s account of a regional mock trial competition (the trial concerned a domestic violence case involving a dispute over a velvet painting of Elvis Presley); 3L Lucia Foulkes on BC Law’s first-year spring break service trips; an enthusiastic endorsement of clinical programs by second-year student Elizabeth Blass; and Rossi’s description of a reading assignment about the Salem Witch Trials as part of the American Legal

“As students, we’re deeply invested in the community,” says BC Law: Impact contributor Rob Rossi ’13, “and we want to tell the world why.”

History class taught by Professor Mary Sarah Bilder.

Some of the posts are personal observations on more general topics or issues related to law school: Rossi mused about the role of persistence and motivation, using New England Patriots star Tom Brady an example (he titled his post “How Tom Brady Helped Get Me a Job”); Wirts shared her thoughts on racial justice in the wake of Ferguson and other related incidents; and Old Bridge, NJ, first-year student Zain Ahmad wrote about being an American Muslim at a Jesuit school.

A major reason for the blog, according to Rossi, is to help dispel misconceptions and stereotypes about law school, which he

says “has always been viewed as something you have to fight your way through: Books and movies make the classroom experience seem intimidating, to say the least, and the workload and pressure may seem overwhelming.

“People worry about law schools being cutthroat environments. That may be true at some other schools, but here’s it’s different. We definitely work very hard, and we’re challenged in all the right ways, but we also have a lot of fun. It’s a true community, and we think BC Law is a pretty unique place in that way. We help and support each other – we’re all in this together, and that sense of teamwork and shared commitment carries through everything we do.”

Related to that, continues Rossi, is the BC Law: Impact bloggers’ desire to battle similarly negative attitudes about their profession of choice. “Legal education and the profession are taking a lot of criticism in the media. We felt it was important to illustrate all the interesting things that students and lawyers are doing, the impact we’re having on the community, and the different paths people can take.

“The law is about justice, first and foremost, and it’s something that our entire society is built on.

Practicing law is an important and very valuable profession to choose, and we want to explore why.”

–Sean Smith

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Q&A: Michael Cronin

Book Offers Overview of Sport’s Place in Society – for Better or Worse Lee Pellegrini

Boston College-Ireland Academic Director Michael Cronin is the author of the recently published Sport: A Very Short Introduction, part of the Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions series. The book offers an overview of the origins and development of sports from 3000 BC to the 21st century, examining international and business trends, amateur and professional sports, and sports-related controversies. Cronin spoke with Chronicle’s Sean Smith the same week the City of Boston celebrated the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl victory.

Q: Given that you’ve been overseeing a major historical project involving sports – Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association – writing this book seems like a natural progression for you. Has sports played a big role in your life? ball, if you prefer). Yet for hundreds Cronin: Not really. I was a high of years there was a game known as jumper in high school, and that “folk football” played on holy days was about the extent of my athletic between neighboring villages – with career. I suppose my true interest in teams numbering in the hundreds sports came about during my doc- sometimes – where the object was toral studies, when I started to look to move a “ball,” which might be at the question of Irish identity. an inflated bladder or even a cask Obviously, Ireland has a strong arts of ale, to a geographical point in the and literary tradition that provides fields separating the villages. It was a connection for many Irish. But boisterous, chaotic, violent – injunot everyone has the means or the ries were common, and there were access to that, so what else speaks deaths – and considered not at all to being Irish? During the course “gentlemanly.” of my research interviews, a lot of Q: The book gets at a lot people talked about the importance of those contrasts and contraof sporting organizations in their dictions of sports down through lives, and that really struck me. the ages: sports as an individual Later on, I worked in the Cen- pursuit but also a “team” game; tre for Sports History and Cul- an informal activity as well as a ture in the UK, and teaching there highly organized and structured broadened the scope of my interest, one; something that celebrates because my students were from dif- strength and dominance, but ferent parts of the world other than can also be about aesthetics and Britain and Ireland. It was fascinat- beauty. ing to hear their perspectives, and Cronin: One of the most fasgave me a global appreciation of cinating things to me is how sport sports. tends to be written and talked about Q: You’ve certainly sought to in terms of elite, highly skilled and make the book as “global” as possible, what with talk- “There are many ideas we ing about the development of sports in Japan, China, South have about sports that have and Central America, among been hard-wired from the other places.

19th century, and perhaps Cronin: That was quite challenging, actually. I really seem at odds with each other, wanted to encompass all counespecially in this era.” tries, but when you’re talking about “modern” sports – from the 19th century on – and in par- high-profile individuals. You look ticular the role of business, the big at the kids who play football in counterweights are North America high school and maybe – maybe – and Europe. So ultimately, most there’ll be one Tom Brady among of the focus is on those parts of the them. Yet a victory, like the Patriworld. ots in the Super Bowl, can bring But there are plenty of interest- together a city, state, a region, and ing insights to be gained just by people feel they have a “share” in looking at Britain. We might think the achievement. of sports there as having a highly It’s a shared commonality. In organized “gentlemanly” tradition – theory, we know the skill set that cricket, horse racing, soccer (or foot- gets all the attention is the one at

in things other than athletic skill and ability: Maybe the football star is also a superb musician, or the basketball player writes poetry, and they work with needy kids.

And traditionally we also want the player (or the team) to win the “right” way – not to cheat or skirt the rules, obviously, but also to show a certain amount of humility for his or her achievements, and generally behave with equanimity.

So, naturally, we’re disappointed when that Renaissance athlete is found to have fallen short of the ideal.

Q: But it’s become increasingly difficult for athletes, and sports organizations of most any kind, to live up to that ideal, isn’t it?

Cronin: Yes, but we should keep in mind that there’s nothing really new about this. Look at the Black Sox Scandal, which was almost 100 years ago. Athletes have been arrested for, or associated with, bad behavior for decades and decades.

It’s just those kinds of stories tended to be smaller, because – unless it was on the scale of the Black Sox Scan-

a very high level. Most of those high school kids will never know what it’s like to play in an NFL game, let alone a Super Bowl. But there’s always the appeal of having an accomplishment, like scoring a touchdown or making a big play.

Or simply being part of a team, working towards a goal.

“We can still applaud Q: What do you think the virtues of ability, defines our view of sports in drive, hard work, even the “modern era”?

Cronin: There are many if it means perhaps ideas we have about sports that swallowing some of have been hard-wired from the 19th century, and perhaps our cynicism.” seem at odds with each other, especially in this era. For example, with something like the dal – they weren’t considered news, Super Bowl or rugby, these are ag- or not news worth devoting a lot of gressive, male-oriented team sports, space or time to.

As we know very well, in the age and often full of war metaphors: of 24/7 media coverage, it’s very “blitz,” “conquer,” “sack.” Yet when different.

Scandals like those of Tithe Olympic Games come around ger Woods, Michael Vick or Lance every four years, what’s the sport Armstrong get completely blown that tends to draw the most interup.

What’s more, sports bodies have est? Gymnastics, especially women’s become a lot more aware of their gymnastics. Then it’s the human corporate and social responsibility, dimension that is in the spotlight, in ways that go beyond what hapthe aesthetics, the body being pens on the field or in the stadium. beautiful in movement.

Now they’re having to address the Similarly, there is the cultural off-field behavior of athletes, or how representation of sports, the way sports is fictionalized and roman- athletes express themselves via social ticized: someone writing about media, or – as witnessed by the conthe art of fielding, for instance, troversy over concussions among or of throwing a baseball. We NFL players – assume some responfeel strongly that playing sports sibility for athletes’ post-sport lives.

So there are, of course, enorinvolves something more than mous pressures on athletes now, brute strength or physical attriespecially if they’re in the upper butes, that there is a certain discilevels of achievement.

They’re selpline of the mind which is just as, if dom anonymous, and their every not more, important. indiscretion is going to be jumped Q: Does that speak to the ideal on.

But there is this locked-in idea of the “Renaissance man,” someof athletes as role models, many of one who combines all the virtues whom came from modest or lowwe value: strength, intellect, artisincome backgrounds, and not altic ability, ethics, etc.?

Cronin: Yes. We certainly know ways the best family situations: Yes, how athletes have been idolized and you’re making millions of dollars, held up as role models, especially if but can you also behave like Francis he, or she, demonstrates an aptitude of Assisi?

Q: As you compiled your research for the book, were there some aspects that surprised you?

Cronin: When I looked at the “dark side” of sports – the scandals and so on – I was pretty shocked by the sheer, never-ending litany of athletes who’d gone bad, especially in the modern era. My intuition had been that a lot of it was noise from the interface of sports and media, but the track record was discouraging.

The other thing that struck me was the business dimension of sports. For example, it’s amazing how many people the golf industry in a particular geographical area employs. The top-to-bottom depth in sports-related employment, from the team executives to groundskeepers to ballboys, is eye-opening.

Q: So, perhaps the big question is: Knowing what we know about the “dark side” of sports, and all the contradictions it embodies, is it healthy for us to enjoy sports?

Cronin: Oh, I definitely think so. I mean, if we’re getting our young people out there running around and being active, they’ll be healthier. Physical activity is good for all of us. And, as we saw with Patriots fans, there is a joy in having this collective identity – you can call it entertainment or a distraction, whatever you want.

It does get murky, though, because at a certain point you compartmentalize. For example, in the 2016 Olympics, when the runners line up for the 100 meters, part of me will be wondering how many of them are doping. Yet that won’t stop me from watching, or from enjoying and marveling at their athletic ability. We can still applaud the virtues of ability, drive, hard work, even if it means perhaps swallowing some of our cynicism.

As much as it’s changed, some things are never-changing about sports: I watched a film from the 1890s of a soccer game in the UK, and you know, all these years later it’s still 22 guys kicking around a ball.

With sports, there’s always a chance for redemption. You think, “OK, last season we were bad, but maybe if so-and-so is better this year and that guy is healed from his injury, maybe this will be the season we win it all.” If the Red Sox have a horrible year but they beat the Yankees in Fenway, it makes us feel a little better. It’s the same number of guys playing the same game, but we’ll buy into it.

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

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More Campus Arts on page 12

“I’ve traveled all around the country and Bostonians are a unique breed.

So it is thrilling to write about the city and I’m grateful that I wasn’t born somewhere that’s just like anywhere else.” (Dennis Lehane, below)

For Him, Writing a Matter of Passion

Dennis Lehane comes to BC next month to talk about his new novel, and more

By Rosanne Pellegrini Staff Writer

School of Social Work student Frank Garcia-Ornelas chats with a visitor at the reception earlier this month to mark the opening of his exhibit, “The Power of Youth Movements in Black History.” (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Exhibit Honors Youths’ Role in Black History

A Boston College graduate student’s art exhibit on display during February in O’Neill Library honors the contributions of young black men and women in the struggle for racial equality and social justice.

“The Power of Youth Movements in Black History,” located in the O’Neill Level One Gallery, features artwork created specifically for the exhibit by BC School of Social Work student Frank Garcia-Ornelas. His pieces cover the period spanning the civil rights movement of the 1960s to recent protests concerning police actions in Ferguson, Staten Island, Cleveland and elsewhere. The exhibit is sponsored as part of Black History Month by the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Boston College Libraries.

A native of Kansas City who is enrolled in BCSSW’s mental health concentration, Garcia-Ornelas says he sought to celebrate the “fight and spirit” of young black men and women, and their allies, as well as major figures like Martin Luther King Jr. “I never felt comfortable expressing myself vocally on many levels, but when it comes to art I am just able to let my thoughts and feelings explode on paper, canvas, or clay. I doubt that I will ever get on a stage and captivate an audience like Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy did, and I am fine with that. However, if I am allowed to formulate my feelings in a creative way, I just might be able to move that audience in a way that words could never do.

“Art is powerful: It can start a war or end one, build you up or break you down, fill your heart with love or pain. And most importantly, art has been around since the dawn of man and will be here once we are no longer. This is why art is so significant to me.”

Garcia-Ornelas says he hopes the exhibit will encourage reflection and conversation on issues of race in the United States, and that people express their opinions “in a manner that is respectful and thoughtful.” As a Jesuit university and a diverse community with a strong interest in social justice, BC can and should be active in efforts to promote racial equality and harmony, he says: “Why watch change happen when we can initiate and be that change?”

–Sean Smith HEALTHY YOU, Boston College’s employee health and wellness campaign, marks its fifth year with another series of incentives and programs, including the popular “Walk Across Campus” team walking competition from April 1-May 31.

A major focus of HEALTHY YOU this semester will be “Know Your Numbers” – free, confidential on-campus biometric screenings by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care staff that measure key health indicators such as choles-

terol, blood pressure and blood sugar, and a health questionnaire available to all employees regardless of insurance coverage.

Employees who complete the questionnaire

by April 30 – using data from the screenings or from their doctor – can earn a $125 Boston College reward card for use in the BC Bookstore or in one of the campus dining facilities.

In a 2014 interview, best-selling novelist Dennis Lehane said, “I agree with what Gustave Flaubert said: ‘Be bourgeois and boring in your life, so that you can be violent and passionate in your fiction.’”

The talented scribe – whose works, often set in his native Boston, have garnered both critical and commercial success – went on to say his interests “pull me towards questions about violence, questions about class, questions about the haves versus the have-nots. It’s a matter of passion, it’s a matter of interest.”

Lehane will offer his insights on writing and more at a campus appearance on March 11 at 7 p.m. in Gasson 100, a Lowell Humanities Series event made possible by the Gerson Family Lecture Fund, established by John A. and Jean N. Gerson, P’14.

His visit is timely: His new novel, World Gone By, will be in bookstores on March 10.

“We’re particularly pleased to have Dennis Lehane coming to BC just as his new novel goes on sale,” said Professor of English Carlo Rotella, who directs both LHS and the American Studies Program.

“He’s a distinguished and very popular writer with deep Boston roots, and he’s probably best known for his Boston-set stories

Dates, times and location for the screenings are available at the HEALTHY YOU website [www. bc.edu/healthy-you].

Registration is underway for Walk Across Campus, which will begin with special “kick-off walks” on April 1 at 7:30 a.m.

that have been turned into movies, but this new book gives our audience a chance to encounter him as a historical novelist exploring the underworlds of Cuba and Florida in the 1940s.”

Lehane’s web site [dennislehane.com] describes World Gone

By as “a psychologically and morally complex novel of blood, crime, passion, and vengeance, set in Cuba and Ybor City, Florida, during World War II.” Since his first novel, A Drink Before the War, won the Shamus Award, Lehane has published nine more novels – with three adapted into award-winning films – that have been translated into more than 30 languages, won the Edgar Award and many other honors, and become international bestsellers.

They include Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone, Baby, Gone; Prayers for Rain; Mystic River; Shutter Island; The Given Day; Moonlight Mile; and Live

by Night. The film rights for the latter are under option to Warner Brothers with actor Ben Affleck

outside the Flynn Recreation Complex and noon outside 129 Lake Street on Brighton Campus. New participants receive a state-of-the-art Fitbit pedometer. Those who participated in the fall Walk Across Campus are already assigned to their spring team and can use a previously issued Fitbit.

Employees also are encouraged to take part in a charitable

– another native Bostonian - as producer, writer, director and star.

Lehane also was a writer on the acclaimed HBO series “The Wire” and a writer-producer on the fourth season of HBO’s popular “Boardwalk Empire.” The 2014 film “The Drop,” featuring the late James Gandolfini in his last role, was inspired by a short story by Lehane titled “Animal Rescue,” which he has expanded for publication as a paperback original novel. He is also working on “Ness,” a drama series in development at WGN America.

Discussing his Boston focus in a Gaby Gerster 2012 Literary Bostonian interview, Lehane said: “The thing about Boston, which is why I write about it so much: There are not many places like it. Boston has character, it is a small town... it’s a very concentrated area...and the people are unlike anybody else. I’ve traveled all around the country and Bostonians are a unique breed. So it is thrilling to write about the city and I’m grateful that I wasn’t born somewhere that’s just like anywhere else.”

For more on the Lowell Humanities Series, sponsored by the Lowell Institute, BC’s Institute for the Liberal Arts and the the Office of the Provost, see www.bc.edu/Lowell.

Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu

walk this spring, such as the May 3 Walk for Hunger or the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer (May 16-17). Go to www.bc.edu/ charitablewalks to find the name and contact information for a team leader, who will assist with the registration process (registration fees and fundraising requirements are paid by participants).

For more information on HEALTHY YOU and BC’s health and wellness programs, see www.bc.edu/healthy-you.

–Office of News & Public Affairs

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 19, 2015

Newsmakers

Carroll School of Management Assistant Professor of Finance Jordan Nickerson teaches Corporate Finance and researches topics such as executive compensation and corporate governance, structured finance and corporate credit ratings, and CDO and MBS securities. He was co-author of the paper “Rating Shopping or Catering?

An Examination of the Response to Competitive Pressure for CDO Credit Ratings,” and his current writing projects examine CEO compensation, tax avoidances, and lessons learned from default correlations. Nickerson holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas-Austin.

Assistant Professor Vishal Baloria, a member of the Carroll School of Management Accounting faculty, earned his doctorate last year at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Baloria’s research interests are focused on the political economy of accounting and how political incentives affect the decisions of corporate managers and capital market participants.

Prior to earning his doctorate, Baloria was a tax specialist for a financial services company, and an auditor for Canada’s Auditor General.

Among his honors, Baloria was the winner of the Haskell & White Corporate Reporting & Governance Academic Conference Best Paper Award (2014) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship (2013-2014). He is teaching Managerial Accounting this semester.

Assistant Professor of Marketing Hristina Nikolova, an expert in consumer decision-making who teaches Marketing Principles, came to the Carroll School of Management from the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned her doctorate and taught consumer behavior last year. Nikolova’s dissertation was the first work to examine how pairs of people make joint self-control decisions where the decision involves instant gratification or bigger, long-term benefits and received awards from the John A. Howard/American Marketing Association [see story on page 6], Association for Consumer Research/Sheth Foundation and Academy of Marketing Science, among others. She also received the American Marketing Association CBSIG Rising Star Award in early 2014. Nikolova and Carroll School colleague Assistant Professor Nailya Ordabayeva created the school’s Consumer Insights Panel to help CSOM researchers collect immediate and targeted data in behavioral research. Her work has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research and Review of Marketing Research and featured in such media outlets as Time, Forbes, New York Magazine, ABC News and The Huffington Post.

–Sean Hennessey Photos by Lee Pellegrini This is the final installment of Welcome Additions for the 2014-15 academic year.

NOTE: Due to the impact of recent weather events, the Chronicle publication schedule for February has changed. Today’s edition will be the only one for this month. The next edition will be published as planned on March 12.

A report by the Center for Retirement Research showing ways in which money often “leaks” out of a 401(k) was featured by the Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report and Dow Jones MarketWatch. Carroll School of Management Drucker Professor Alicia Munnell, director of the center, was interviewed by USA Today regarding realistic retirement goals, and center research also was cited in two other Wall Street Journal articles, as well as

by CNBC and Time.

In an article for Economics21, Murray and Monti Professor of Economics Peter Ireland examined the nature of forward guidance about the future course of monetary policy that the Fed is delivering to the public.

Assoc. Prof. Brian Quinn (Law) addressed pros and cons, from both business and consumer perspectives, of the Staples-Office Depot merger in an interview with WGBH-FM’s “Morning Edition.”

Assoc. Prof. Jonathan Laurence (Political Science) analyzed in an article for the Brookings Institution’s “Research” website the current political situation in Tunisia, following developments that allow the young democracy’s first posttransition government to achieve a

Lee Pellegrini

11

Nearly 200 people gathered in the atrium of Cadigan Alumni Center on Jan. 29 for a tribute to biblical studies scholar Richard J. Clifford, SJ, founding dean of the School of Theology and Ministry who now serves as a visiting professor of Old Testament. [For more on this event, see http://bit.ly/1A0ZHqs]

majority in parliament.

the Reconstruction Era.

“Theology is always practical because nothing is more practical than living in reality, living in the real world,” said Prof. Peter Kreeft (Philosophy) in a Q&A

The Lynch School of Education’s City Connects program, under the direction of Kearns Professor Mary Walsh, was featured by WBUR FM’s “Learning Lab” and the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun.

BC BRIEFING with National Review Online about his latest book, Practical Theology: Spiritual Direction from Saint Thomas Aquinas.

A C-SPAN series marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War featured Prof. Heather Cox Richardson (History), who explained how cowboys became a symbol for a newly reunited America during

obituary

IREPM Co-founder Fr. McBrien, 78

Fr. Richard P. McBrien, cofounder and later director of Boston College’s pioneering Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry (IREPM), died on Jan. 25 in West Hartford, Ct. He was 78.

Fr. McBrien had served from 1980 to 2013 as the CrowleyO’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, where he was chairman of the Theology Department for 11 years. An expert in ecclesiology, he authored more than 20 books, wrote a weekly column for Catholic newspapers for almost 50 years, and was a frequent media commentator on Catholic issues.

In 1970, Fr. McBrien joined BC’s Theology Department, and a year later with Jack McCall, SJ, founded IREPM as a means to prepare the laity for greater roles in the Catholic Church. He became director of IREPM in 1975.

IREPM became one of the largest graduate facilities in North America dedicated to educating men and women in religious education and pastoral ministry, serving approximately 500 students a year. Its offerings included a master of arts degree in pastoral ministry with such concentrations

as spirituality, pastoral counseling, church leadership and youth ministry; a master’s degree in education; a doctoral program in religion and education and continuing education opportunities; and joint degree programs in social work, counseling psychology and nursing.

In 2008, IREPM became a department in the new School of Theology and Ministry.

A native of West Hartford, Fr. McBrien studied at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton and was ordained in 1962. After completing his doctorate at the Gregorian University in Rome, he taught at the Pope John XXIII seminary in Weston before coming to BC. While on the University faculty, he wrote the two-volume book Catholicism, considered one of the most widely used undergraduate theology textbooks.

A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated for Fr. McBrien on Jan. 30 in West Hartford.

NOTE: Most of the information above was taken from an obituary written by School of Theology and Ministry Professor Thomas Groome, who joined IREPM in 1972 and later served as director.

–Office of News & Public Affairs

Center for Work and Family Associate Director Jennifer Fraone discussed the dilemma snow days often create for parents in an interview with WBUR-FM’s “Radio Boston.”

Publications Carroll School of Management Professor Jeffrey Cohen and Associate Professor Gil Manzon published “Contextual and Individual Dimensions of Taxpayer Decision Making” in Journal of Business Ethics, which also published Cohen’s “An Examination of CEO Social Ties and CEO Reputation on Judgments about CEO Compensation.”

JOBS The following are among the most recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources.

For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/offices/hr: Assistant Director for Residential Ministry Fiscal Assistant, Auxiliary Services Health Services Aide, Health Services Assistant Director, Graduate Student Life Administrative Assistant, School of Theology and Ministry Director of Assessment and Accreditation, Lynch School of Education Assistant Director, Office of Health Promotion Research Economist, Center for Retirement Research Assistant/Associate Director for Parents’ Fundraising, Development

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 19, 2015

12

More Campus Arts on page 10

Humanities Series to Host Dennis Lehane March 11

Singer-songwriter Steafán Hanvey adds a unique dimension to his multi-media show about growing up in Northern Ireland: his father’s iconic photographs role of language – especially by the media and authorities – in depicting The Troubles.

A native of Downpatrick, Co. Down, Hanvey grew up in a musical household. His parents played traditional music and recorded two albums. As a teenag-

Sean Smith

By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor

The “Troubles” may be receding into history, but its impact is still felt by many in Northern Ireland who lived through the decades of political and sectarian violence. Singer-songwriter Steafán Hanvey, son of acclaimed Northern Irish photographer and broadcaster Bobbie Hanvey, will share his uniquely personal perspective about growing up during the period when he returns to Boston College on Feb. 23.

Hanvey will present “Look Behind You!” – a musical and spoken-word concert that combines song and story with photographs taken by his father, whose archives are housed at BC’s Burns Library. The show, sponsored

by Burns and the Boston College Center for Irish Programs, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Theology and Ministry Library Auditorium on BC’s Brighton Campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives offer comprehensive documentation of the people and life in the North of Ireland from the 1970s through the first decade of the 21st cen-

“I think the best way I can put it is, I have never written about Northern Ireland,” says Steafán Hanvey (at left). “Northern Ireland has written me.” tury. The photographs feature major figures in politics, arts, literature and other fields – such as John Hume and Seamus Heaney – as well as families and individuals from all walks of life, whether at work, leisure or in the midst of social and public events. Other photographs capture the dramatic landscapes of Northern Ireland, from an undisturbed scene in nature to a town coping with the aftermath of a paramilitary action. Burns Library has digitized and made available via its website many of the more than 50,000 images in the collection.

In “Look Behind You!” these photographs provide a counterpart, and sometimes a counterpoint, for the songs Hanvey performs. Most are his own compositions, which deal with themes and ideas that percolated through the three decades of Northern Ireland’s sectarian turmoil encompassing most of Hanvey’s life (he was born a few months after the tragic Bloody Sunday massacre in 1972).

In addition, he uses clips from his father’s radio interviews with prominent political and cultural figures, along with other broadcast material, as he discusses the

BC SCENES

er, Hanvey began to explore his own path, forming a rock band at age 16. He released a mini-album while living in Finland during the mid-1990s, then moved to Dublin and released his debut full-length album, “Steafán Hanvey and The Honeymoon Junkies.” During 2004-05, he played in New York City, Montreal, Europe and at Boston’s NEMO festival; he also recorded three in-studio sessions at the BBC. In 2012, he recorded “Nuclear Family,” which along with his first album, provides much of the musical material for “Look

Behind You!” Although “Look Behind You!” inevitably touches on political aspects of Northern Ireland, Hanvey says the show is meant to be a biographical/autobiographical work. “I think the best way I can put it is, I have never written about Northern Ireland,” he said in an interview with the Boston Irish Reporter during his spring 2013 appearance at BC. “Northern Ireland has written me.”

Burns Librarian Christian Dupont said, “Steafán’s performances make fascinating use of his father’s photographic archives, with all the intimacy and sensitivity that only a son can convey. His show will have wide appeal, from those who are passionate about social and political history to mavens of creative multimedia projects – and, most of all, to anyone who has a heart that yearns to connect with others through life’s deepest challenges.”

For further information and directions for the Feb. 23 event, call ext.2-3282 or see www.bc.edu/libraries/about/news/2015/150216. html.

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

BACH TO THE FUTURE Photos by Frank Curran

The Music Department presented “Mr. Bach Comes to BC” on Feb. 8 in Lyons Hall, an interactive family concert that depicted a day in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach (portrayed by harpsichordist Peter Watchorn) as he composed, improvised and performed, and taught a music lesson to a young pianist (Raquel Fisk). Part-time faculty member Barbara Gawlick directed the event, which also featured various vocalists and instrumentalists.