Carroll School Of Managment Sophomore Michael Gannon was found dead in his dorm on Saturday afternoon.

Boston College Public Affairs Director Jack Dunn said “The medical examiner has not found the cause of death.”  However, police do not suspect foul play.

Dunn said police have not reported anything about the condition of Gannon’s Walsh Hall dorm room, where he was found.  Dunn did rule out drinking as a factor.

Vice President of Student Affairs Patrick Rombalski asked the campus in an email to pray for Michael’s sister Michelle Gannon, a senior in the Carroll School, Michael’s many friends on campus, and Michael’s family in his hometown of Lake Forest, Illinois.

Gannon’s death comes in the wake of the mourning for Boston College student Franco Garcia, who disappeared in February and whose funeral was April 18th.

Rombalski encouraged the community to again band together in mutual support, and encouraged students to seek campus counseling and ministerial aid at 617-552-3144, available 24 hours.

Read the entire story here.

Goodwin says that her fascination with the American Presidency began when she was a twenty
four year-old White House intern for President Lyndon Johnson. President Johnson became
personally acquainted with Goodwin during this time, although Goodwin assured the audience
that it was a completely “non-amorous affair that eventually led [her] to study the lives of
great American Presidents, from LBJ to JFK to FDR (the subject of Goodwin’s’ Pulitzer Prize-
winning No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War
II), and finally, to [her] favorite: Abraham Lincoln.” She related Lincoln’s celebrated life story,
addressing his destitute upbringing and his unquenchable desire to be educated and make his
mark in history. Both of these qualities, Goodwin says, enabled him to meander his way through
the morass of Illinois politics and the United States Senate. Eventually, his resourcefulness and
ability to appeal to both sides of the antebellum divide won him the Presidency, though not
without incurring the wrath of the Southern States that started to secede one by one starting in
the spring of 1861.

Lincoln’s strength as a President lay in his ability to make concessions. The title of her talk gives
an indication of this because Lincoln’s cabinet was filled with men who were “better educated,
more respected, and who each thought he should lead the country rather than Lincoln.”

Goodwin’s lecture was laced with anecdotes from Lincoln’s early life, his crucial decisions
made while President, and, most importantly, traits that defined him as a truly inspiring
leader. “Lincoln never missed the chance to force his cabinet to compromise, especially when he
and his cabinet were debating hot-button issues related to the war,” remarked Goodwin. On the
other hand, Lincoln was stern and assertive when his subordinates, particularly General George
McClellan, were not properly carrying out their duties on the battlefield. Goodwin’s discussion of
Lincoln’s death and assassination sparked the question of what he would have done had he lived
to see the end of the war and commenced his own program of Reconstruction.

Overall, Goodwin’s speech was informative, anecdotal, and wildly humorous. She concluded
with a poignant closing statement about her passion for history, which she says “allows [her] to
believe that the private people we have loved and lost in our families, and the public figures that
we have respected in history just as Lincoln wanted us to believe, can be immortalized in our
hearts and memories so long as we pledge to tell and retell the stories of their lives.”

The critical long-term issue facing the United States right now is the rapidly growing size of the government deficit, currently estimated to be $1.6 trillion for 2011, and the increased amount of government spending.

A growing backlash has mounted as fiscal conservatives contend that the rising national debt could undermine international faith in the United States and challenge the legitimacy of the dollar as the global reserve currency. These opponents of Obama’s Keynesian economic policies argue that government spending needs to be dramatically reduced to eliminate the budget deficit and reduce the national debt. This thinking follows the growing debate taking place among people of conflicting political parties over whether the massive government stimulus was actually effective. Many argue it did not work because the unemployment rate has remained persistently high and the economy has not been fully recovered yet.

Numerous Americans wonder: why worry about the deficit? The answer can be found in the lessons learned from the current plights in Greece and Ireland, which have run large budget deficits and amassed unsustainable levels of government debt. These countries have fallen into a debt trap that the United States could soon fall into too if they do not take action to reduce the national debt.

The Obama administration recently announced that by 2016 the national debt will be $20.8 trillion. The risk of a potentially weakened dollar has raised the likelihood of reduced appetite for foreign creditor nations to finance our national debt, as evidenced by recent reduced appetite for treasury bonds by the Chinese. The conclusion Hale and Peterson came to was that decisions about deficit reduction, reducing the national debt, and enacting spending cuts need to made now.

The National Science Foundation

Dr. Dunwei Wang, an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Boston College, has received a Career Award from the National Science Foundation to assist him with his ongoing research into clean energy technology and the community outreach programs of his laboratories. The five year,$550,000 grant will enable Wang, now in his fourth year at BC, to continue developing his Nanonet technology, which consists of a series of flexible wires that Wang says will “change the world” by culling hydrogen gas from a water splitting process generated by the addition of a metallic catalyst. This research is important, Wang says, because “without clean energy, our future as a species is reaching a point of critically dangerous uncertainty.”

Wang became involved in the research because he truly desired to make a difference in reducing the overall impact of atmospheric carbon emissions. “Rigorous scientific analysis tells us that Earth’s environmental biosphere cannot stand the depletion of the ozone layer throughCO2 emissions any longer,” said Wang. “That is why we are at the stage where we must take action to combat the excessive and unsustainable practices our society has for too long condoned.There can be no compromise when it comes to reducing humanity’s influence on Mother Nature.”

The Nanonet technology works by using silicon and titanium to grow nano-scale   elongate into a two-dimensional metal lattice. Combining the two elements produces titanium disilicide, which further drives a water-splitting reaction and “allows for the harvesting of hydrogen gas as an alternative energy source.” Although tests have yielded positive results so far, the product is far from being implemented at the commercialization stage, according to Wang. “Much more research needs to be done to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the Nanonet before we can confidently say it is ready to be released. Hopefully, the work of the coming five years will reveal some important insights into how it could potentially work,” he said.

Wang also has fulfilled some of the community outreach goals of his lab by demonstrating solar and wind-powered technologies to kids before every home football game: “This is a fun but informative way to demystify science in the public sphere. By getting people involved and interested in science, I hope to see a new shift in mindset regarding the importance of sustainability and how this issue could drastically affect new generations of people being born into a world increasingly in peril.”

Left to Right: Managing Editor Allison Gallagher, Editor-in-Chief Jesse Naiman, Executive Editor Max Bindernagel

The Observer at Boston College has won the Collegiate Network’s (CN) Paper of the Year award! Editor-in-Chief Jesse Naiman and Managing Editor Allison Gallagher attended the annual CN conference from November 5-7 in Dallas, Texas and received the award on behalf of The Observer.

Editor-in-Chief Jesse Naiman issued the following statement in regards to the victory:

“We at The Observer are ecstatic for winning this award. We are grateful to the CN for all it has done for us over the years and we are honored to receive such recognition from it. In addition, we would like to thank all of our donors and friends for their continued support. None of this would be possible without them.

“With this award, we realize that while we are proud of our work product thus far, we have many ways in which we can improve, and just as important, we will also have even more breaking stories to bring to our readers. The Observer will continue to be vigilant in pursuing its mission of bringing news and editorial that would otherwise not exist at BC.”

The Observer was previously named runner-up for the same award in 2009, and won the award in 2006.

She compared how the rest of the world responded to the natural disasters in those two countries in terms of humanitarian aid, and her lecture delved into the issues surrounding the exact nature of what “aid” is and the ramifications of distorting the difference between true humanitarianism and human rights advocacy. Dr. Ferris noted how a drastic disparity existed between the responses toward the Haitians and the Pakistani flood victims.

Statistical findings she cited from her own research at the Brookings Institute shed much light on this matter. For example, one-third of Haitians were directly affected by the earthquake, whereas the Pakistani flood affected only 12% of the population there.

Also, the American general public raised $1.2 billion in monetary aid for the victims of the Haiti earthquake whilst only $220 million was raised for Pakistan. Ferris hypothesized that these starkly dissimilar responses could have been due to the time and location of the disaster.

Since the Haiti earthquake occurred first and is closer geographically to the U.S., the response to that tragedy was correspondingly more focused than for the distant flood. In addition, national biases and political agendas surely played a role in shaping the international responses to the two crises.

“International agencies donating time and aid to nations affected by either natural or man- made disasters each have their own preconceptions about the countries they are bringing aid to,” said Ferris. “Therefore, assistance of this kind is never neutral, and the responses to these crises can exacerbate the inequities in the socioeconomic systems of those distressed nations.”

Ferris raised some interesting questions during the lecture, such as what the government’s role is in responding to foreign disasters and what the optimal collective response to these calamities should be. Ultimately, only by learning from the examples of the past and planning for potential environmental catastrophes will we truly benefit future victims of these terrible and unforeseen events.

Earlier this month, in a response to The Observer’s article BC Law Defends Abortion Link, TFP Student Action launched an e-protest to request that BC Law remove the Planned Parenthood link from their website.

John Ritchie, TFP Student Action Director, recently updated me on the status of their protest.

“So far, we’ve collected 6,870 protest petitions to Fr. Leahy.  And dozens of people have told me that they personally called his office, asking him to remove the PP link at BC Law,” said Ritchie.

He expressed hope that the protest will have an impact and that BC Law will remove the link soon.  On their website, TFP Student Action reminded readers that:

“Regis University, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame de Namur University, Loyola University New Orleans, and Marquette Law School, Rosemont College, the University of Detroit Mercy also listed Planned Parenthood on their web sites. Thank God, those listings vanished soon after Catholic World News pointed them out and TFP Student Action protested.”

Sir Isaac Newton, by Sir Godfrey Kneller

On the second floor of the John J. Burns Library lies an exhibit that deepens one’s understanding of the significance of early scientific works from distinguished pioneers such as Sir Isaac Newton, Christoph Clavius, and Galileo Galileo.

The Burns Library, in collaboration with the Department of Physics, became one of the select institutions to acquire Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. This tremendous book elaborates on Newton’s three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation that form the foundation for many science and mathematics courses. It is truly breath taking knowing the fact that Sir Isaac Newton died in 1727 yet we still study his material today.

The exhibit also features information about other scientific pioneers like Christoph Clavius, who worked extremely hard at devoting himself to his craft, making things like the calendar possible for us today. Clavius was known for his collaboration on the Gregorian calendar and Gnomonices, which is a work based on the science of constructing sundials. This exhibit informs its viewers of the significant figures in history who paved the way for the study of and advancements in science and mathematics; what we know today could not have been possible without the perseverance of the scientists in the exhibit.

On Friday, parents were given the opportunity to experience classes and lectures, immersing families into the academic aspects of Boston College, and even allowing alumni to re-connect with former professors and administrators.

Other scheduled events included the opportunity to meet with the dean of undergraduate schools as well as Father Leahy’s welcome address and open house displaying information about programs and services available on campus. Parents were additionally welcome to ask questions regarding the recently controversial ten year plan.

Friday night’s scheduled events included the Pops on the Heights concert at Conte Forum, and Keith Lockhart and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which were enjoyed by all.

The following day, students and parents rose early to attend the football game against Virginia Tech. Despite the 19-0 loss, tailgates were in full swing on Shea field and throughout campus, as parents and students alike enjoyed game day festivities.

The weekend was brought to a close on Sunday, with a family liturgy and breakfast in Conte Forum.

Many first year students had positive feedback about their first parents weekend.  “I liked being able to show my parents the campus the way I see it and have the opportunity to introduce my family to my friends. Getting to see my family while at school is a rare occasion, so it is nice to have all the parents here at once,” said freshmen Lauren Spinelli from New Jersey.

Yet another enjoyable parents weekend has graced the heights.

“Activity that deliberately claims innocent life and promotes the Culture of Death should be off limits at Boston College and every Catholic university,” said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie.

TFP Student Action also noted that several Catholic colleges have already removed their own links to Planned Parenthood after media coverage and protests.

The following is a video produced by TFP Student Action to encourage those who are concerned about this issue to join their online protest.

Life News also picked up the story on the e-protest by TFP Student Action.

You can read the story here.

The Observer will continue to update readers as the case continues.

Peter Bonilla of FIRE congratulated Westfield State College for its actions and commented in this regard:

“FIRE appreciates Westfield State College’s forthrightness in correcting its error. We now will reevaluate WSC’s red-light rating, which signifies that a school has at least one policy that clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech. If WSC earns a yellow light as a result of its revisions, it will need to make only a few more changes to policies that still threaten speech, in order to attain a green-light rating. WSC would then join a small but noble list of schools that have achieved FIRE’s most favorable policy rating. FIRE would be pleased to keep working with WSC to fully safeguard free speech on campus while protecting students against harassment and discrimination.”

“Garvey replaces Most Rev. David M. O’Connell, who led CUA for twelve years. (Reverend O’Connell is leaving to serve as coadjutor bishop for the Archdiocese of Trenton.)

“Most Rev. Allen H. Vingeron, archbishop of Detroit and chairman of both the CUA board of trustees and the search committee, said that the trustees would have preferred to name a priest as president, all other things being equal, but that the committee found Garvey to be the most qualified person in this case.

“Garvey calls his appointment ‘the greatest honor I have ever received’ and pledges to serve the Catholic Church and the Church community by raising the university’s ambitions.”

He has had 27 years of journalism experience and has been a producer and consultant for NBC News since 1989. Appearing in the Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report, among other notable publications, his articles relay solely the facts and strive to inform the world of Israeli-Palestinian interactions.

Having worked several years with the International media, Toameh was approached by The Jerusalem Post in 2002. The publication invited him to write on Palestinian affairs, and seeing as the Israeli media is more accepting of free speech than the Palestinian media, Toameh accepted the offer.

Frequently asked if he is considered a “traitor” by Palestinians, Toameh stressed that he simply relays the facts through the Israeli media; he in no way favors either the Israelis or the Palestinians in his reports. He admitted that he has “to go live in Jerusalem to express [himself] freely.”

Though “under heavy pressure to stop writing,” Toameh is “pro-facts and pro-truth” and will stop at nothing to expose the truth, no matter how unattractive. For example, when he learned of the financial corruption in the Palestinian government under the rule of Yasser Arafat, Toameh alerted his colleagues, many of whom were American journalists, of the corruption; to his dismay, his colleagues refused to report negative things about Palestine for fear of Arafat’s reaction. Toameh never submitted to such fear.

At the end of his talk, Toameh cautioned his audience, “whatever you read today, relate to it with reservation,” conscious of the political leanings of the mainstream media. However, he assured that he has no agenda, or rather that his only agenda is the truth; rightly communicated by Khaled Abu Toameh, the facts should speak for themselves.

Scott Brown speaks to BC College Republicans in September 2009

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) will deliver the BC Law School commencement address on Friday, May 28 at 10:30 a.m. on BC’s Newton Campus, according to a press release from Jack Dunn, the University spokesman.

Brown, a 1985 graduate of Boston College Law School, was elected to the United States Senate in January, winning 52 percent of the vote against Democratic opponent Martha Coakley, the current attorney general of Massachusetts.

“As Boston College made repeatedly clear from the start, however, the ability of the University to play a helpful role has always been contingent upon confirmed funding in the form of financial transfers from international sponsors to the University and upon unanimity among key parties about the vital details that must be resolved for holding a successful conference.  Unfortunately, to date these conditions have not been met, and it has not been possible to resolve vital details.  With the proposed date for the conference now only seven weeks away, Boston College has concluded that such a conference cannot take place as the University had hoped.”

Boston College junior Leon Ratz, who has played a key role in organizing the conference, declined to comment on the record.

Professor Farb began his lecture my stating his target theme: “Geometry and geometric reasoning underlie all of science.” Jokingly, he added that his ultimate goal would be to “confuse” the audience, explaining that one becomes confused only when he truly contemplates a subject.

Like a true mathematician, Farb divided his lecture into three distinct sections, the first being “Symmetry.” He introduced the concept of symmetry by posing “The River Problem” to the audience. To solve the problem, one needed to determine the most efficient way to move first from the point A to the line labeled “river,” and then from the river to the second point, B. Simply reflecting the point B over the river line so that the two points, B and B’, were symmetrical about the line, Farb illustrated how, by drawing a straight line from A to B’, one could easily designate the point at which to reach and depart from the river.

His preliminary example demonstrated the way in which symmetry can effortlessly solve problems that appear perplexing. Farb underlined the value of symmetry with his statement that “there is symmetry inherent in the laws of physics.” To support this assertion, Farb cited the conservation of angular momentum, electric fields, and the “method of images” as elements of physics that, when depicted, clearly exemplify the role of symmetry in physical science.

Secondly, Professor Farb attacked the subject of “Handedness (left vs. right).” He provided the audience with pictorial examples of two-dimensional mirror images. The first example depicted an upside-down L-shape and its mirror image, both “fundamentally different images” because the original shape was chiral, or “not super imposable onto its mirror image.” On the contrary, the second example displayed a T and its mirror image, both super imposable on one another and therefore achiral.

Addressing three-dimensional mirror images, Farb questioned why, when “you put up your left hand, the mirror puts up its right hand,” and, furthermore, “why left and right, but not up and down?” His questions provoked laughs, however they certainly fostered great contemplation and, of course, confusion.

Though a fundamental mystery of the universe, the issue of left versus right has become easier to understand because of geometry and scientific investigation. Farb revealed to the audience the fact that “almost all amino acids found in living things are left-handed” and that this fact, though seemingly trivial, “has huge, huge, huge implications for us.” According to Farb, left and right versions of molecules “interact differently with the human body.”

For instance, menthol and peppermint are mirror images of one another, yet they give off quite different odors. More seriously, the right-handed version of the drug thalidomide treats morning sickness, but the left-handed version causes severe deformity in babies; because our bodies convert the right-handed version to the left-handed version, thousands of children were born deformed when the drug was being used by pregnant mothers. Fortunately, the grave affects of the drug were discovered and its circulation was stopped.

The third and final phase of Farb’s lecture was devoted to “The Fourth Dimension and (far) beyond.” Farb began this section by addressing the way coordinates are specified in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and nth dimensions. He used the airplane as an example of an object that is located with five coordinates, one each for latitude, longitude, altitude, time, and speed. Though rather impossible to represent pictorially, the fifth dimension in which the airplane exists can be expressed numerically by these geometric coordinates because “geometry is fundamental” to the problem of location.

Additionally, Farb toyed with the perspectives of objects in each dimension. Succeeding in his goal to confuse the audience, he pondered how we, members of the third dimension, would perceive a visitor from the fourth dimension as he fleetingly passed through our world.

Both funny and thought-provoking, Professor Benson Farb’s discussion on the fundamentality of geometry truly unearthed the way in which “geometry and geometric reason underlie all of science.” The complicated questions of the faculty members following the lecture demonstrated the wealth of mathematical interest in the Boston College math department; clearly, Farb achieved his goal of engendering in the minds of his listeners a monumental contemplation.

In addition to his role as director, Fr. Madigan, a member of the Boston College faculty since 1979, will serve as a member of the University Core Development Committee (UCDC), a group which oversees the undergraduate core requirements and reexamines the purpose and efficacy of the core curriculum.

One challenge in examining the core requirements is adapting its components to match the rigor and weight of high school courses among students entering the university.  The broad range of backgrounds must be mitigated through the system of awarding Advanced Placement course credits and exemptions.  Currently, the core is designed to foster a well-rounded education in students, encompassing courses in the arts, literature, mathematics, science, theology, philosophy, and other fields.

In light of recent news that the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC) is seeking to include a core course discussing race, class, and gender issues, the core may be reevaluated in the future.

Additionally, Saunders writes often for Harper’s, McSweeney’s, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and GQ. Because of his outstanding ability to incorporate humor in his writing to produce unique, entertaining works, George Saunders was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2006. Currently, he is a member of the Creative Writing program faculty at Syracuse University.

Before Saunders took to the podium, he was introduced by Christopher Boucher, a BC professor of Creative Writing. Not only did Boucher regard George Saunders as his “favorite living writer,” but he also revealed that Saunders was one of his favorite professors and mentors; Boucher studied with Saunders in the Creative Writing program at Syracuse.

After expressing his gratitude for the warm introduction and plentiful applause, Saunders asked with a smirk, “Is Boston College a laughing kind of place?” His humor was palpable in each of his eloquent phrases, illustrating his mastery of language as a tool for entertainment. The audience answered ‘yes,’ hungry for a funny story.

For about forty-five minutes, Saunders held the attention of the room full of faculty and students, reading animatedly a story about a man dealing with both matters of hilarity and those of melancholy. With his vibrant voice, quirky characters, and unpredictable storyline, Saunders excited and enlivened his audience.

Upon finishing his reading, Saunders addressed his editing process. He explained that he goes through each work about one hundred times until he succeeds in making it sound “natural.” According to the writer, each piece of writing has an “optimal version” that can be reached only through tedious editing.

Saunders also distinguished fictional stories from essays, divulging that, when writing fiction, he does not know “what’s going to happen,” whereas he knows what’s to happen in non-fiction pieces but needs to “cut through” his numerous notes to render the material entertaining.

Clearly, Boston College students and faculty alike enjoyed the insight that Saunders provided into the world of creative writing. Fiction writer and essayist, genius and comedian, George Saunders exemplifies the manifestation of pure literary talent.

Josh Berk, the Organizational Director of the American Red Cross Club of Boston College, explains that the drive was one of four annual drives that attract students and faculty alike to donate their blood.

“There is always someone waiting in line,” Berk said, “and we’re always welcoming new donors.”

Although the dates of blood drives are dictated by the schedule of Red Cross, the club tries to avoid certain high-stress dates such as Marathon Monday and Parents Weekend.

While the prospect of having their blood drawn may not be for everyone, each drive hosted by Boston College has had a solid number of volunteers. Its unwavering success can be attributed to the willingness and enthusiasm of students and faculty towards volunteering their time to helping others. Students largely contribute to the organizational process as well by actively recruiting donors and scheduling appointments.

The donating process at Boston College has become increasingly efficient as to tend to the 360 scheduled donors. Licensed technicians are quick to calm jittery patients before they draw their blood, making the selfless act a fearless one.

Adam Danielson, a sophomore, describes his incentive for having become a blood donor:  “It’s a great feeling to know that I can give something of mine to help others. The free t-shirts and pizza are also perks!”

Who is the ideal blood donor? The Red Cross looks for donors who are generally healthy with good eating happens and a good medical history. Although the Red Cross screens all donated blood, some donors are discouraged.

Berk explains, “If a donor has recently traveled to a country requiring a vaccination, the antibiotics in their blood may cause a reaction in a recipient if they are allergic to antibiotics.”

The blood drawn by the Red Cross is sent to blood blanks and hospitals in need.

The American Red Cross Club of Boston College is an independent club that sponsors disaster actions teams and CPR classes in addition to blood drives. For more information, visit http://www.bc.edu/clubs/redcross.

Each year, Boston College sponsors research awards of millions of dollars, providing grants to both students and faculty.  With this funding, a great number of exciting discoveries are taking place.  For instance, a February 15, 2010 press release describes a project occurring in the lab of Boston College Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Dunwei Wang.  Wang’s team is using nanotechnology to produce Nanonets, which could provide the foundation for light-weight, long-lasting batteries in the future.

Social researchers are also making advances.  Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy has developed a model for calculating charitable giving on a per-household, quarterly basis.  This CWP Individual Giving Model will provide more reliable and frequent indications of charitable collections for organizations.

A number of research opportunities are available to undergraduates.  The Undergraduate Research Fellows Program, for instance, offers paid internships to students who work with a faculty member on a research project.  Elements, the Boston College research journal, contains research articles written by undergraduates, providing a means by which the research currently taking place may be communicated across disciplines and to the larger university community.

For more information, visit www.bc.edu/research.

Even though news about the earthquake has been saturating the media for the past few weeks, the discussion was very well attended.  However, Massachusetts House of Representative Linda Dorcena Forry had to cancel due to family matters to attend to, and Professor Marc Prou from the University of Massachusetts – Boston was an hour late.  Dr. Erica James, Professor of Anthropology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was therefore the chief panelist.

One common theme to the discussion was the unintended effects of humanitarian aid relief efforts, shedding light on the possible challenges to the reconstruction process.  Even though their purported efforts are always focused on promoting selfless gains, these charitable organizations do often obscure the truth and conceal certain information – the “grey side” of humanitarian assistance.  “It must be acknowledged,” James said, “that these institutions, even if some are non-profits, are still businesses that need to produce tangible monetary gains and meet their bottom lines.  Often, these organizations maintain secret solidarity with the very powers they ought to be fighting.”  James stressed that although this is a cynical world-view, it is also a necessary one.

As a physical therapist, Dr. James’ specialty is in the study of how trauma manifests itself for both survivors of torture and survivors of crisis – the latter being the current dilemma for survivors of the earthquake in Haiti.  Of course, the earthquake has proven itself to be quite devastating for that country in terms of political and economic infrastructure.  However, the social repercussions might be the most pronounced, at least according to James.  “The loss of social role and the inability to meet expectations,” James explained, “has resulted in tremendous levels of stress and anxiety for the Haitian people.”

James concluded that the major lesson to be learned is that the victims of the earthquake should not be viewed as passive objects on which to impose our own agenda, but as active participants in the solution.  “As Haiti attempts to move forward from this catastrophe,” James said, “one hopes that international interveners will hold themselves to high standards.”

On February 8^th, the public was invited to join in a free opening celebration in honor of the exhibit.  Guests were treated to free desert and coffee, as well as music from the 1950’s and 1960’s – courtesy of University jazz ensemble BC bOp!

Featured within the exhibit were fifty-six authentic pieces of artwork ranging from the end of the sixth century to the beginning of the nineteenth century, and derived from several different Asian cultures.  Most conspicuous were the sculptures and ceramic works that were from such regions as China, Japan, India and Vietnam.

John D. Rockefeller 3^rd founded the Asia Society in 1956 with the express intent of having a positive impact on international relations between Asia and America through the advancement of both cultural appreciation and mutual collaboration.  From 1963 to 1978, the Rockefellers teamed up with the famed art historian Sherman E. Lee in an attempt to amass the most impressive private collection of Asian art found within the United States.

Perhaps Adriana Proser, the John H. Foster Curator for Traditional Asian Art, summed it up best when she commented that, “Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3^rd, Dr. Sherman E. Lee and the extraordinary times they lived in provide us with intriguing subject matter for a study of the symbiotic connections between international politics, art collecting and art history.”

Although raised Catholic and trained as a Roman Catholic theologian, Daly was particularly critical of the Catholic Church. Fox also adds that she wrote books arguing that the Catholic Church “had systematically oppressed women for centuries.”

The New York Times broke the story of the Daly’s death in its January 6th edition. BC does not appear to have released a statement in response to her passing.

The Year of Youth serves to unite dissatisfied young people into a powerful movement.

Tens of thousands of small groups, scattered across the country, were coming to the conclusion that no single politician would be able to swoop into Washington and save the day.  Tired of the increasingly irrelevant back-and-forth of traditional American politics, citizens rallied behind the banner of individual liberty and a smaller federal government.  Their philosophies were not revolutionary.  Their cause was not radical.  They simply suggested- with rational arguments instead of talking points- that we stop spending our country into an ever-deeper hole.  Their rallying cries were the same ones the country was founded on, their heroes the long-dead men who drafted the Constitution.

A year later, their conclusion is verified: deficits plummet ever deeper.  The youth shoulder an ever-greater debt burden.  Wars continue to expand.  The groundswell of Change has foundered on the immobile shoals of Washington, and Hope dwindles by the day in people who once believed.  At this dark hour, the very people who saw it coming- the people whose future is unravelling with every TARP relief fund and Cash for Clunkers dollar and investment bank bonus- these people have finally begun to stand.

Year of Youth is a nationwide project to provide resources to these young people as they run for office in pursuit of real change.  In 2012, the project will support a coordinated effort to run over 150 candidates for local offices across the country.  Buoyed by huge membership, youth activity, and national publicity, this new generation of politicians will climb the ladder in a singleminded mission to save the future- for their peers, and for themselves.

Adam Kokesh, an Iraq War vet in the hunt for a Congressional seat, has said that Year of Youth will be “the largest youth movement this country has ever seen.”

Disillusioned by the Obama administration’s rapid conversion from Change to Same, young people are flocking to join the cause.  In a few short months, the Year of Youth project has grown to a network of over 1500 members.  Its exponentially increasing surge in membership should serve as a signal to the powers that be: the youth are mobilizing.  They are organizing.  They are rising.

Information about Year of Youth can be found at http://www.yearofyouth.org/ .