Spread out over a Tuesday afternoon and a Wednesday morning, the Internship Fair provided all students with the opportunity to talk with potential employers and obtain information about available internships and how to apply for them.

Students from all undergraduate classes at Boston College were invited to attend the fair. The Career Center encouraged students to wear business casual attire and arrive prepared with their resumes.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Career Center hosted its first round of organizations in the Heights room. Some of the attendees were Bay State Realty Solutions, Boston Center for the Arts, Children’s Hospital Boston, Hanover Insurance Group, Hill Holiday, Liberty Mutual, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

The fair continued Wednesday morning, hosting an entirely different group of organizations invited by the Career Center. This group included Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, CBS Radio Boston, Gallagher Benefit Services, ING, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network—The Wellesley Group, and Prudential Financial.

The 2012 Internship Fair allowed students from nearly all majors to find and speak to representatives of organizations that offer jobs for individuals with their applicable skills.

As it hosted several financial organizations, the event was particularly helpful to majors in the Carroll School of Management.

In addition to encouraging students to attend the Internship Fair, the Career Center also provides students with multiple resources to aid them in finding and landing spring, summer, and fall internships.

For instance, students can attend Drop-In Question Hours Monday through Friday from 1pm to 4pm and on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5pm to 7:30pm at the Career Center. Furthermore, undergraduates can schedule appointments with Career Counselors by calling 617-552-3430.

The Career Center also conveniently listed online internship sources in the brochure for the 2012 Internship Fair. These resources included two main BC internship databases, the Internship Review website, the Internship Series Online website, and Internmatch website.

Finally, the Career Center also listed the upcoming Spring 2012 events in the Internship Fair brochure. Specifically, these events include but are not limited to How to Find and Land a Great Internship on Wednesday February 1st at 5pm and Wednesday February 15th at 4:00pm, the Government Careers Information Forum on Thursday February 23rd at 12pm, the K-12 Education Career Fair on Monday February 27th from 3:30pm to 7pm, and the Science Career Networking Night on Wednesday March 14th at 7pm.

Clearly, the 2012 Internship Fair was one of the many helpful events made possible by the Boston College Career Center that aid students in the process of finding, applying for, and landing internships.

Undoubtedly, the Career Center will continue to succeed in providing students with opportunities to apply the skills they are learning at Boston College in the work field.

With the help of the funding from these awards, Professor Weerpana will, as a part of a research group, “make strides in key research areas that apply chemical and mass-spectrometry tools to study cancer and aging.”

Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Professor Weerpana obtained her high school education in Nairobi, Kenya. Later in life, she travelled to the states, as she “was an undergrad at Yale University, and got [her] Ph.D. in chemistry at MIT.”

Before setting foot on the Boston College campus as an assistant professor, Weerpana “was a postdoctoral researcher at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, CA.” She arrived at BC in the summer of 2010.

Directing her attention to her specific area of study within the Boston College Chemistry department, Professor Weerpana explained, “I specialize in chemical biology, and use techniques from organic chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, and analytical chemistry in my research.”

This spring semester, Weerpana is teaching CH562, the second semester of Biochemistry. The course is described by Boston College as concentrating “on the structure of nucleic acids, recombinant DNA technology, mechanisms of gene rearrangements, DNA replication, RNA synthesis and splicing, protein synthesis, control of gene expression, membrane transport, and hormone action.”

In regards to the classes that she hopes to teach at BC, Weerpana specified, “I am excited to teach any classes at BC that lie at the interface of chemistry and biology – this includes courses geared toward understanding the fundamental chemistry that underlies biological systems, and the application of chemical tools to gain insight into biology.”

She continued, “On the research front, my lab is currently pursuing a diverse set of projects, and we hope that results from these preliminary studies will open up new avenues of inquiry in the future.”

Weerpana characterized her research as that which “applies chemical probes and mass spectrometry to investigate protein activities dysregulated in cancer and aging.” Her research group’s “ultimate goal is to identify protein activities that contribute to cancer pathogenesis and the onset of aging and age-related degenerative diseases.”

In addition to her obvious passion for chemistry, Professor Weerpana harbors a particular enthusiasm for her work and students at Boston College. She detailed, “I very much enjoy all aspects of my work here at BC. I have been fortunate to interact with a great group of undergraduate and graduate students in classes that I have taught, as well as in my own research group.”

Moreover, she expressed her extremely high regard for chemistry students of Boston College, adding, “BC chemistry/biochemistry students are some of the brightest and most enthusiastic students that I have encountered, and I look forward to future interactions with these students in both the classroom and the laboratory setting.”

An exceptional contributor to the Boston College Chemistry department in terms of both her research and her teaching abilities, Assistant Professor Weerpana is a vital addition to the College of Arts and Sciences who will, with the help of her recent awards, continue to make strides in the research field of chemistry.

In addition to Sexual Chocolate, the show featured performances by Phaymus, The Boston College Dance Ensemble, Synergy, Fuego Del Corazon, F.I.S.T.S., and MASTI.

Each student admitted to the show paid $10 for his or her ticket, and every seat in Robsham was filled by the time the hosts took the stage to introduce the talented dance groups. The members of Sexual Chocolate made clear in their playbill that “proceeds will be donated to Bird Street community center in inner city Boston for educational programs.”

Additionally, the proceeds “will also go to support the ALC Volunteer Corps service trip this semester, namely the annual winter service trip to the Delta Mississippi region where they will be working with Teach for America in Clarksdale Middle School.”

First to take the stage was Phaymus, “founded in 2004 by Kevin Owens and Jermaine Curtis,” whose members incorporate jazz, modern, tap, and cultural dances into their hip-hop routines. The performers excited the audience members with their dances to Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation” and Kesha’s “Blow.”

Next was the Boston College Dance Ensemble, “a student run organization that provides opportunities for approximately thirty talented dancers to choreograph and perform.” The group began with a routine to a rendition of Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World).” BCDE gives back to the community by giving all of its generated proceeds to the Boston College Campus School.

After BCDE came Synergy, a hip-hop dance company “started in the fall of 2004 by former Director and Assistant Director Whitnie Low (’07) and D.J. Leak (’07).” A strong demonstration of hip-hop talent, Synergy “competes at various venues across Boston and the East Coast.”

Boston College’s only Latin dance team, Fuego del Corazon showcased its members’ talents with several Latin routines. Fuego aims to “promote and heighten the awareness of Latin culture and traditions within the Boston College community and the greater Boston area through dance.”

Following Fuego, F.I.S.T.S. took to the Robsham stage. Its name standing for “Females Incorporating Sisterhood Through Step,” BC’s only all-female step team delighted audience members with its firefighter-themed outfits and loud, rhythmic performance.

Then, MASTI, “the South Asian Student Association’s official dance troupe,” showcased its members’ expertise in the art of Indian dance. The group awed the audience with its routine, which was set to Bollywood music and western beats.

Finally, Sexual Chocolate, BC’s only all-male step team, took to the stage. Sexual Chocolate “is dedicated to developing an unbreakable brotherhood through step, always bringing a new and fresh look to the art.”

Its members were dressed as reindeer, elves, penguins, and snowmen to get the audience into the Christmas spirit. They performed a clever skit that revolved around doing a “Christmas deed,” which was ultimately to dance excellently for the audience.

As Lauren Shaw, A&S ’13 exclaimed, “the show displayed an excellent array of dance types that captured the audience’s attention for the full two hours.” Obviously, Sexual Chocolate’s show was an extreme success.

According to Matson, the award is “a grant amount that you can use to support your writing in a variety of ways—leave time, research, travel.” She continued, “The grant is wonderful, but feeling affirmed in the manuscript I sent is the best thing of all.  It gives me the excitement and energy to push forward on a project whose exact shape has been difficult to get right.”

Matson has been a professor in the English Department at Boston College for about twenty-three years. This semester, she teaches Contemporary American Poetry, and next semester she will teach an Advanced Poetry Workshop. Matson explained that “as chair of the department [she] [has] a reduced teaching load.”

Having taught Contemporary American Poetry on a regular basis, Professor Matson tends to “to mix in at least a few different works each time it’s offered, to make it new for [her] each time.”

Matson attended Portland State University during her undergraduate career, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Afterwards, she attended the University of Washington for her MA and PhD.

Matson elaborated, “I did my MA in Creative Writing and my PhD in English at the University of Washington.” She continued, “While there I was a teaching fellow.  But this has been my first and only job since getting my PhD.”

Before relocating to the Boston area, Matson, a native of Portland, lived in Seattle for seven years during her time at graduate school. Though admittedly attached to the Pacific Northwest, Matson now happily deems Boston her home. She detailed, “I live in Newton with my husband, three sons, and standard poodle [Oscar].”

Not only does she enjoy living in Newton, but Matson also demonstrates obvious delight in teaching at Boston College. She characterizes BC students as “bright and ambitious and ready to go.”

Moreover, she is incredibly fond of, and impressed with, her colleagues in the College of Arts and Sciences. Matson declared, “My colleagues in the English department are accomplished, interesting, caring people. But I’ve found that that’s actually a hallmark of the place as a whole—great people.”

With her recent award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Professor Suzanne Matson is evidently as impressive as her colleagues. The English Department is undoubtedly strengthened by her dedication to and enthusiasm for reading, writing, and teaching.

Now chairman of the Philosophy Department at BC, Madigan joined the Boston College faculty in the fall of 1979. Recalling his past teaching jobs, Madigan explained, “I taught for a year at Fordham University (1973-74).  I have also taught as the Miller Visiting Associate Professor of Classics at John Carroll University (1996-97) and as Wade Professor of Philosophy at Marquette University (1999-2000).  I served as rector of the Jesuit community at Le Moyne college from 2002 to 2005.”

Madigan grew up as a native of New York City. In 1963, he entered the Jesuits and “studied classics and philosophy in…Jesuit seminaries” that were divisions of Fordham University in New York City. Afterwards, he studied both philosophy and theology in Toronto, Canada. Madigan detailed, “I was ordained priest in 1977, received my Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1979, and have been teaching at Boston College ever since.”

Directing his attention to his teaching of philosophy at Boston College, Madigan named “ancient philosophy, especially Aristotle, and ethics and political philosophy, especially the Aristotelian tradition” as his special interests in his field. According to Madigan, “Before becoming chairman of the Philosophy Department, I regularly taught PL 524 Introduction to Ethics and PL 505 The Aristotelian Ethics.  For some 20 years I have been teaching the first year Honors Program course Western Cultural Tradition.”

Though he has been heavily involved in the Boston College Philosophy Department for 32 years, Reverend Madigan still hungers to revisit past courses and construct new courses. Particularly, Madigan “would love at some point to return to Introduction to Ethics and to The Aristotelian Ethics.” Moreover, he “would very much enjoy developing a course on the 18th Century Enlightenment and its contemporary relevance.”

Indeed, there is a reason for which Madigan has remained at BC for so long. He explained, “I very much enjoy interacting with the capable and hard-working students of Boston College, graduate and undergraduate.  It is particularly invigorating to work with students who take ethical, political, metaphysical, and religious issues seriously.”

Addressing his recent appointment to the Fitzgibbons Professorship, Madigan elaborated, “The Albert J. Fitzgibbons Chair is funded by a very generous benefaction from the Fitzgibbons family.  Their intention is that the Chair should engage with contemporary philosophical, ethical, and religious issues facing society today.”

Though his new role in the Philosophy Department does not require him to teach a particular course, “it does carry with it the supervision of the Albert J. Fitzgibbons Lecture Series, which is also oriented toward contemporary philosophical and especially ethical issues facing Society.” Madigan is particularly excited by the Lecture Series, as he added, “We have had a number of very accomplished philosophers speak in this Lecture Series and I hope that we will have many more in the future.”

A truly dedicated member of the Boston College faculty, Reverend Arthur R. Madigan, S.J. has demonstrated his passion for the study of philosophy throughout his years on the heights. Undoubtedly, the Boston College community congratulates him in his award of the Albert J. Fitzgibbons Professorship in Philosophy.

This semester, the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College introduced over a dozen new faculty members to its various departments. The school wishes to provide these professors with a warm welcome by informing students of their specialties and origins, and has profiled five of these new faculty in order to facilitate their integration into the BC community.

In the Chemistry Department, Jeffery Byers is now an assistant professor. Having received his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology, Byers concentrates on organometallic chemistry and its applications to organic, inorganic, and polymer chemistry.

Before joining the BC community, he was a postdoctural fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently a professor of Mechanistic Organic Chemistry. David Quigley, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, says of Byers, “[he] promises to continue our strong tradition in organic chemistry.”

Additionally, Dawei Chen has joined the Mathematics Department as an assistant professor of mathematics. He specializes in algebraic geometry, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Before assuming his post at Boston College as a professor of Calculus II, he served as a research assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

According to Quigley, “Dawei Chen is one of several new hires in Math as we build a world-class doctoral program that will have substantial benefits for our undergraduates.”

This semester, the Theology Department welcomes Richard Gaillardetz, now Joseph McCarthy Chair in Catholic Systematic Theology, who is in Quigley’s view “an important public intellectual in the contemporary Catholic world.”

At the University of Notre Dame, he pursued his academic concentration in Catholic systematic theology and focused on the theology of the Church. He served as Thomas and Margaret Murray and James J. Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Toledo before journeying to Boston. His fall 2011 course is titled Vatican II: History, Interpretation, Reception.

In the Economics Department, Julie Mortimer joins the BC faculty as associate professor of economics. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles where she concentrated on industrial organization, and went on to become an associate professor of economics at Harvard University. She joined the BC community as a professor of Industrial Organization: Competition and Antitrust this fall. Quigley calls Mortimer “a remarkable teacher and a cutting-edge researcher.”

Finally, the History Department adds Sylvia Sellers-Garcia, an expert on Colonial Latin America, early modern Spain, spatial history and cartography, Guatemalan history, and the history of empire, to its faculty. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Before arriving at BC, she was an assistant professor of history at the University of Cincinatti. Her fall 2011 course is titled Study and Writing of History: Writing the Conquest of the Americas.

As is evident from her strong background in Latin American history, “Sylvia Sellers-Garcia strengthens [A&S’s] offerings in Latin American Studies both as a promising historian of the region and as a published novelist,” says Quigley.

The addition of such accomplished professors to the faculty of A&S should excite students further as they approach the period of course selection for the Spring semester of 2012. As Quigley effectively notes, these new professors “strengthen our ranks this academic year.”

According to Director of the Women’s Resource Center Katie Dalton, “The programs [offered] aim to give students the tools to recognize what characterizes healthy and unhealthy relationships with one’s body, to identify strategies and develop a motivation to build a healthier relationship with one’s body, and to evaluate the false and problematic ways that our society and media present the body and manipulate our understanding of beauty.”

In order to plan the week, “The student director, Jaclyn Kundrat ’12, and the vice director, Nicole Laniado ’13, composed a planning committee of representatives from offices and student groups across the university.” Dalton assured that each member of the committee “brought a unique perspective” in order to ensure that the needs of each group of students at BC were met.

The offices represented and that cosponsored events were Art Club, Boston College Libraries, Office of Health Promotion, Dining Services, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, F.I.S.T.S., ALC’s Women of Color Caucus, Office of AHANA Student Programs, Sexual Assault Network (SANet), Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, UGBC Women’s Issues, University Counseling Services, and Mosaic.

Among the various events that were part of the week were Eat This, Not That: BC Dining Edition, Loving Your Body After Trauma, Disordered Eating: How to Help a Friend, and a performance of Eve Ensler’s The Good Body.

When asked about the goals of the Women’s Resource Center in hosting Love Your Body Week at Boston College, Dalton listed three main aims: “To give students the tools to recognize what characterizes healthy and unhealthy relationships with one’s body, to identify strategies and develop a motivation to build a healthier relationship with one’s body, [and] to evaluate the false and problematic ways that our society and media present the body and manipulate our understanding of beauty.”

With its vast array of events hosted by different student groups, the committee seeks to educate as many students as possible about the ways in which they can love their bodies. Specifically, Dalton explained that they “anticipate educating over 600 students through all of the programs.”

Though the Love Your Body events only span one week, the Women’s Resource Center is determined to promote positive body treatment and image throughout the school year. Dalton detailed, “The WRC is seeking to offer more intentional Love Your Body Week continuing education programs. We will be working with the Office of Health Promotion to plan a spring semester event.”

Featuring events that attracted students from all groups around campus, the Love Your Body Week events proved a success for the goals of the Women’s Resource Center and the groups with which they worked to organize the week.

Michalczyk has been a professor at Boston College since 1974. He began his college education “at the University of Scranton but finished at Boston College in 1966 in Philosophy and French.” Shortly afterwards, he received his MA degree in French Literature in 1967, and finally pursued and received a PH.D. in Romance Language and Literatures with a film focus from Harvard University in 1972.

Before arriving at Boston College to teach, though, Michalczyk “taught French and film at Loyola High School, a Jesuit prep school in Towson, Md.” Additionally, he taught French for one year at Harvard before joining the BC faculty.

According to Michalczyk, he was the Chair of the Boston College Fine Arts Department for nearly fifteen years and now remains Co Director of the Film Studies program.

Michalczyk teaches courses at BC primarily dedicated to the examination of socio-political issues in film. For instance, he has taught Propaganda Film, European Film, Latin American Cinema, Holocaust and the Arts, Conflict Resolution Film, and Genocide and Film.

Directing his attention toward the films he has premiered, Michalczyk explained that he has introduced most of his works to the crowds at the Museum of Fine Arts. Moreover, “many [of his films] were shown on PBS, and some were shown internationally.” Additionally, “a good number are used in classes and conferences.”

Among the films that Michalczyk has created are Confronting Amnesia: Frozen Memories of the Russian Gulag from the Conflict Resolution Series, Michael’s Eagle Eyes from the “I’m in Here” Series, and The Cross and the Star: Jews, Christians and the Holocaust from the Breaking Barriers Trilogy.

The Fine Arts professor has also written multiple books that include Italian Political Filmmakers (1986), Costa-Gavras: The Political Fiction Film (1984), and The French Literary Filmmakers (1980).

Currently, Michalczyk is in the process of developing a feature script entitled “Anya” for potential future production. The script tells the story of “a young girl coming of age in a coal-mining town in Pennsylvania where she encounters disturbing anti-Semitism, especially in her father,” according to the professor’s Curriculum Vitae.

A true champion in his cultural and film endeavors, Michalczyk received the prestigious culture award, known as Les Palmes Academiques, from the French government “for his contributions to, and study of, French culture and language for more than 25 years.”

Moreover, a member of BC’s Art Council, Michalczyk was awarded the “Boston College Alumni Achievement Award for Arts and Humanities” in 2003.

Enthusiastic in the study of culture and film, Professor Michalczyk has proven a vital part of the Boston College Fine Arts faculty.

According to The Boston Globe, “The Atlantic Coast Conference’s expansion to 14 teams with the inclusion of Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the Big East is being portrayed as a simple move to expand its footprint in the Northeast.” Additionally, the expansion is reportedly “driven by the football-dominated television contracts.”

Though football television contracts seem to be pressuring the ACC to grow, basketball is serving as motivation as well. “According to sources in the Big East and ACC, the idea is to reestablish the ACC as the preeminent conference in college basketball and was a predatory strike at the Big East, which, while struggling to improve its BCS rankings in football, had established itself as the runaway leader in basketball,” reported The Boston Globe.

However, Boston College Director of Athletics Gene DeFilippo assured The Globe, “‘It had nothing to do with basketball…It was football money which drove expansion. It was football money and securing our future.’’’

Not only did DeFilippo explain the reason for the ACC expansion, but he also expressed negative sentiments towards the potential addition of UConn to the ACC. He told The Boston Globe, “‘We didn’t want them in…It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team.’”

The Globe exposed the alleged reason for Boston College’s icy rejection of UConn, detailing, “[BC] was still fuming over what it perceived to be vitriolic comments made when BC was finally invited to join the ACC and started competing in 2005. UConn and Pittsburgh filed a lawsuit against BC, and Calhoun made comments about never playing BC again.” Thus the negative feelings between BC and UConn have been mounting for the past eight years.

In response to the article in The Boston Globe, The Hartford Courant ran a story about the evident feud, citing comments from UConn president Susan Herbst. According to The Courant, Herbst assured, “‘I don’t believe in institutions fighting each other…We are colleges and universities, after all. I have absolutely nothing against any educational institution, Boston College included. And we never would.’”

After the article about ACC expansion surfaced in The Globe, DeFilippo released a statement to the presidents and athletics directors of the ACC that promised them that Boston College will from now on remain silent on the issue of the conference’s expansion.

DeFilippo stated, “I would like to apologize for any negative effects caused by my recent interview with a Boston Globe reporter.” He continued, “while I harbor some ill feelings toward the University of Connecticut regarding the lawsuit, depositions and derogatory comments from UConn officials when we announced our decision to join the ACC, it was inappropriate to express personal feelings that might have been construed as the position of Boston College or the Atlantic Coast Conference.”

Though DeFilippo’s apology makes clear that BC will now refuse to comment on the issue of the school’s feud with UConn, the articles run by both The Boston Globe and The Hartford Courant only serve to increase the attention paid to the expansion of the ACC as well as the tension between Boston College and the University of Connecticut.

Morgan Chalfant/The Observer

Next semester, Professor Young plans to teach a graduate seminar in Social Psychology.

Recently, Boston College Assistant Professor of Psychology Liane Young was awarded a 2011 Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Social Neuroscience.

Young attended Harvard University for her undergraduate education and majored in Philosophy “in order to pursue [her] interest in bioethics.” Writing her thesis “on the role of intention in moral judgment, [Young] became intrigued by how people…make moral judgments in the first place.”

Upon graduating, Professor Young continued her graduate education at Harvard in Cognitive Psychology from the fall of 2004 until the spring of 2008. Afterwards, she “was a post-doctoral fellow at MIT in the Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences…[and] was also a visiting scholar in the Department of Philosophy at MIT.”

According to Young, in July of 2011, she “joined the Department of Psychology at Boston College as an Assistant Professor to continue [her] research on the cognitive and neural basis of human moral judgment.” She conducts her research “using methods of social psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including functional neuroimaging (fMRI), studying patient populations with selective cognitive deficits, and modulating activity in specific brain areas using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).”

Next semester, Professor Young plans to teach a graduate seminar in Social Psychology. Moreover, she assures that “Thereafter, [she will] teach a course on the psychology of morality, which [she is] excited to create from scratch.”

According to the text written for a grant given to Young, “Her work in cognitive science and neuroscience as well as moral philosophy has been disseminated in top journals, at national and international academic conferences, interdisciplinary events, and via news media.”

Particularly, “Dr. Young’s work has been cited, in total, approximately 987 times from 2006 to date. She has received general media coverage for her research in the New York Times, National Public Radio, The Economist, CNN, NOVA, Scientific American Mind, Nature, Science, FOX News, ABC News.”

Addressing the specific research she is currently doing in the lab, Professor Young explains that she is focusing on “the psychological and neurological components of moral judgment and decision-making in neurotypical populations and populations with high-functioning autism as well as clinical psychopathy.” Moreover, she and her colleagues are “also investigating the psychological basis of moral self-concept and self-deception, and the attribution of responsibility and mental states to groups versus individuals, allies versus enemies, and self versus other.”

In addition to her research and teaching work at Boston College, Professor Young will be giving some upcoming academic talks. For instance, she will be speaking at the Society for Social Neuroscience in Washington, DC in November of 2011, at a TEDx in the Netherlands in November of 2011, and at the NYU Center for Bioethics in March of 2012.

Professor Young has “also written a few pieces for popular audiences” as well as book chapters, which can be viewed on her website https://www2.bc.edu/liane-young/. BC students interested in psychology and the particular research of which Professor Young is part are encouraged to investigate her publications.

According to Baden, the exhibit features “a video and sound projection piece…that involves the year [he] was diagnosed with and treated for cancer.” During his talk, he elaborated on his “various self-portrait projects, from the early 1970s to the present.”

A professor at Boston College since the spring semester of 1989, Baden is obviously a dedicated and passionate member of the BC Fine Arts community. This fall, he is teaching Photo I and Art and Digital Technology. According to the Boston College website, students in Art and Digital Technology “produce a variety of design and art-oriented pieces, including magazine spreads, posters, advertisements, and CD covers, using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as creative tools.”

Come spring, he plans to teach Digital Diaries, “a course [he] designed where students create and publish a photographic book.” In addition to his current and future courses, Baden also has taught Photo II and Experimental Photography at Boston College.

Though Baden has spent the bulk of his teaching career at BC, once in a while he has served as a guest faculty member at various schools. Specifically, he has “been guest faculty at Harvard University, Rhode Island School of Design, Clark University, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and Phillips Andover Academy.”

In addition to his current exhibit at the Danforth Museum in Massachusetts, Baden has featured his work at various galleries, many in Massachusetts and New York. For instance, he elaborated on his various shows at the Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston: “The Howard Yezerski Gallery, who represents me in Boston…has been very loyal to me since my first show there in 1984.”

He continued, “I’ve also enjoyed exhibiting at Robert Mann Gallery, Zabriskie Gallery, and Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery, all in New York City. Finally, I’ve felt good about shows at the Decordova Museum in Lincoln, MA, and the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.”

In addition to being recognized in shows at various galleries, Baden’s work has also been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, Light Work and Visual Studies, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Kenan Foundation, and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation.

Not only a master of the Fine Arts, Baden also has a wonderful sense of humor. When asked about his general background, he joked, “For background information, please check my FBI file.” He added that “in [his] younger, wilder days, [he] played in a number of blues bands.”

Students excited by or simply curious about the Fine Arts would certainly be inspired by the expertise and passion of Professor Baden. The Danforth Museum of Art, which currently houses his exhibit “Every Day: A Long Year,” is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12:00pm to 5:00pm and offers discounts to students.

Soares is part of a program set up by the Portuguese Consulate that places Portuguese teachers in schools abroad. Originally placed at UMASS Boston as the Director of the Center for Portuguese Language in 2010, Soares soon after was told by the Consulate that she would also serve as a Portuguese language professor at Boston College.

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Soares not only is an expert on Portuguese language, culture, and history, but she also obtained her masters in English literature as a student in Portugal. She taught classes addressing the translation of Portuguese to both English and German during her years as a professor in Portugal.

However, Soares always desired to travel. Before taking her present position in Boston, she spent seven years working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by teaching Portuguese in Croatia. By Educating Croatian and American students in the art of the Portuguese language, Soares is fulfilling her goal to “promote [her] culture abroad.”

Though enthusiastic about teaching in Boston, Soares admits that it’s “like working five jobs.” In addition to teaching at Boston College, Soares teaches two courses at UMASS, directs the UMASS Center of Portuguese Language, and corresponds with the Portuguese Consulate regarding cultural and educational programs; she jokes that she must be “everywhere at the same time.”

Additionally, the Consulate organizes the annual Boston Portuguese Festival during the months of May and June, and thus she must meet every month to budget, look for sponsorship, and coordinate the twelve events that go along with the festival.

Having lived in Boston for more than a year now, Soares remarks the differences between life in Portugal and life in the Northeast United States. She explains that Portugal does not have the “fast rhythm” as does the US. For example, “there is always time for a talk with your colleagues and friends” in Portugal, especially during the period in the middle of the workday when schools and offices close for lunch.

With an interest in photography, Soares enjoys the “amazing landscapes” that Boston offers during the fall and spring. When she finds a break in her busy schedule, she also “would like to go to Canada and other places, like San Francisco” to develop a greater connection to North America.

Soares also notices significant differences between the universities in Portugal and those in the United States. First, she notes that students who study language in Portugal have a much stricter curriculum than American students; whereas BC students majoring in language have the freedom to take a variety of courses in one semester, Portuguese students who choose to study language spend their three years at school studying the literature, language, and history of a particular culture. Though American students are able to excite their minds by dabbling in different areas of study, Portuguese students emerge from university absolutely prepared to pursue the career for which they attended college.

Moreover, Soares estimates that the amount of money spent on one university academic year in Portugal is slightly over 1,000 dollars, a tiny portion of the close to 60,000 dollars many students pay for one year of private higher education in the United States. Soares deems this discrepancy “unbelievable.”

According to Soares, “there are many [Boston College] students thinking of going to Brazil” for internships or study abroad, and she urges these students to consider getting their masters abroad in Portugal if they feel utterly passionate about the Portuguese language and culture. More important than the saving of money would be the complete immersion they would experience in the Portuguese culture; she promises that Portugal has “wonderful summers” and, more significantly, “great food.”

With her knowledge of Portugal, her experience of and love for traveling, and her tremendous determination to promote education about the Portuguese language and culture, Sofia Soares proves a crucial asset to the Boston College faculty and the Boston community as a whole.

On the weekends, Morgan worked as a costumed character promoting used cars for a local dealership. She portrayed many types of animals including a shark, a donkey, and a zebra. The job wasn’t always glamorous, especially since it was hot in the suit during the summer, but Morgan thinks it prepared her well for the rigors of the working life.

Anthony Russo/The Observer

Franco talks enthusiastically to the crowd.

On a recent afternoon in Robsham Theater, acclaimed actor James Franco screened his new film, The Broken Tower, based on Boston College Professor of English Paul Mariani’s biography of the American poet Hart Crane. Lead actor and director of the film, Franco is also known for his roles in Milk, Howl, Eat Pray Love, Pineapple Express, and the Spider-man movies. Additionally, he received a 2011 Oscar nomination for his role in 127 Hours.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Quigley opened the event by admitting that “Boston College is not often the site for this kind of cinematic event.” Describing Franco and Mariani as “two American originals,” Quigley revealed that poetry, specifically the spirit of Hart Crane, brought them together.

Then, Mariani took the stage, joking with the audience members, “I know you’ve all come out to see me today.” Though he deemed the film “a little bit rough in a few places,” he nevertheless characterized the work as “brilliant.”

Introduced by Mariani, Franco addressed the audience, detailing that he discovered Mariani’s biography of Hart Crane seven years ago, but was not able to turn it into a film until he attended film school years later. He warned the audience, “This isn’t Pineapple Express,” explaining that the slow pace of the film enables the audience to “experience” and “be with the character.”

Set in 1920 New York City, the nearly one hundred minute biopic explores the life of the manic depressive, homosexual poet who committed suicide at the age of thirty-two. Intense and engaging, Franco’s performance inspired laughs and gasps from the audience members.

Following the screening of the film, Mariani and Franco once again ascended the stage to answer questions posed by excited audience members. Franco revealed that “the idea was to have the texture of the film parallel [Crane’s] work somewhat.” He joked that he expects people to talk about two elements of the film the most: the ten-minute poetry reading and the scene in which Franco’s character performs oral sex.

Franco explained that the poetry reading, a real event in Crane’s life, did indeed receive “a response of confusion and silence” from the crowd to which he read, as in the film. He wanted the audience of the film to feel exactly as does the onscreen audience, an effect he undoubtedly achieves with the long, poetry-laden scene. As for the sex scene, Crane was “very open with his sexuality,” thus Franco felt it necessary to include the scene in the film.

When asked about his choice to play a homosexual in three separate films, Franco asserted that he believes in the characters and does not ever think, “What would playing three gay roles do to my career?”

Franco cited the Russian film I Am Cuba as one that greatly influenced his direction of The Broken Tower stylistically. Additionally, he gained inspiration for the music from the French film My Life To Live.

As he and his crew were faced with the challenge of shooting a period film on a low budget, Franco “had to go find locations that were period accurate” to portray 1920 New York City, Cuba, Mexico, and Paris.

Though he admitted that acting and directing together is “not [his] favorite thing,” Franco took on the role himself after other actors, like Jason Gordon Levitt of 500 Days of Summer and Inception, turned down the lead. Franco’s mother and younger brother also both had roles in the film; Betsy Franco plays Hart Crane’s mother and Dave Franco plays a young Hart Crane. Franco revealed, “sometimes it’s just nice to work with people that you know,” especially when tackling an unusual project like The Broken Tower.

Speaking about his attraction to Crane’s poetry, Mariani explained that he was both “puzzled by” and “drawn to” the work of the poet. He noted his desire to, with the biography, exhibit the “brilliance of [Crane’s] mind” while also addressing the other important aspects of his being, like his alcoholism and homosexuality.

Addressing the overall conception and production of the film, Franco remarked, “we were always thinking, ‘how can we tell the story, how can we give the feeling of the kind of poet he was?’” The film certainly is not Pineapple Express; it allows the audience to identify with Hart Crane himself and those around him, to understand his genius and his demons. An obviously passionate and dedicated member of the film industry, Franco impressed the BC community with his eloquence and artistic vision when hosting the world premiere of The Broken Tower.

The school defines itself as “an international theological center that serves the Church’s mission in the world as part of a Catholic and Jesuit university.” However, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, … tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’”

As the School of Theology and Ministry’s John Falcone specified, the service, entitled “Knit Us Into One,” was “a ‘first’ at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.” The group conceptualized the service as an offering “to people who are committed to ministry and to service to the world.”

The service featured scripture readings that were “read through an LGBT Catholic lens,” including Ephesians 4: 4-7, 11-16. Additionally, the event ended with “a creative ritual in which [the audience members] were all ‘knit into one.’”

Falcone stated the mission of the service: “As LGBT students and their allies, we invite all to recognize and share their gifts, for the building up of the Body of Christ.  More colloquially, we have expressed it this way:  ‘I’m tired of being prayed for because I’m all ‘messed up.’  Instead, let’s come together and share our gifts.”

The service was held at the school’s 9 Lake Street chapel located on Boston College’s Brighton Campus.

Particularly controversial were the “Meatless Monday” dinners at Lower, Carney’s, and Stuart. The dining halls worked to reduce carbon emissions by serving only vegetarian meals. The Observer recently ran a blog exposing students’ surprise and outrage at the lack of meat in the Lower dining hall on the first Meatless Monday.

Eric Neumann of the Revolutionary Government of Boston College maintained that, though the RGBC is “in support of Eco-Pledges’ and BC Sustainability’s overall message and mission,” he and fellow RGBC members believe that “a lot of [the Green Month] initiatives fall short of addressing the real problem.”

Though the programs and lectures dedicated to encouraging green discussion could prove informative, Neumann added that “information only goes so far.” Moreover, he explained that the Green Career Night became quite off-topic, as “[Sociology] Professor Derber used it as a forty five minute lecture/plug for his book.”

Agreeing with The Observer, Neumann deemed Meatless Monday “an absolute flop.” Forced to choose from only vegetarian meals, students resented the Green Month event instead of understanding the meaning behind it. As Neumann said, “vegetarians would complain if they had nothing but meat to chose from.” He suggested BC cut down bus services for a limited period of time to actually have an impact on carbon emissions, instead of limiting students’ choices in the dining hall for a mere night.

Not only do the programs fall short in content and message, but also their impermanence does not force students to always think about ways in which to act “greener.” Neumann asserted, “The other programs would also be more effective if implemented on a regular, permanent basis, especially the free drinks/refills.  They had maybe one or two clean up events, and that has the most direct and immediate impact; maybe some more of those would actually create a greener and more environmentally friendly BC.”

He also suggested Eco-pledge and the Sustainability Team encourage more student involvement. For example, groups of students could be organized to travel to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, surrounding neighborhoods, and local parks to clean up litter.

Though he believes the groups have done a successful job advertising the initiatives of Green Month, Neumann encouraged them to “be more visible during the times the most kids litter: late at night on weekends.” According to Neumann, “BC students littering when and wherever they want” is one of the biggest obstacles BC faces in its effort to become greener.

“BC is Green Month” presents a crucial opportunity for students to understand the way in which they impact, and can improve their impact on, the environment. However, the organizations behind the month’s events must, as Neumann made clear, work toward involving students in the green effort and providing events that clearly communicate their initiatives.

According to member of the BC Chapter of Spark the Truth Joseph Pasquinelli, the Boston youth-led Spark the Truth organization “was founded by three young women when they were juniors at the Boston Community Leadership Academy, including Pharlone Toussaint, CSOM ‘12.” With the goal of helping young students, especially those of the Boston public schools, improve their community and thus improve their own lives, the larger organization has adopted the practice of “Ubuntu,” an African word popularized by Archbishop Desmond Tutu that means “I am because you are.”

Pasquinelli explained, “the philosophy of Ubuntu helps us to recognize our interconnectedness” and that, upon realizing the way in which the improvement of their community connects to that of their lives, the students to whom Spark the Truth reaches out will be motivated by the ideas of Ubuntu to do good for their community.

The annual Audacity to Dream Conference encourages the student-athletes that it hosts to “realize their potential for goodness” and thus their ability to participate in Ubuntu. As Pasquinelli noted, “This is the second year that [the] tournament and conference will be including female teams.”

This year, the organization aims to “recognize the potential of Ubuntu” through the conference and tournament. Pasquinelli explained, “One of the goals of the conference was to have these student-athletes, who, by virtue of their role as student-athletes, are leaders in their communities, to recognize the potential they have to be role models and create positive change in their communities.”

One of the highlights of the conference was the panel of “several BC athletes and former athletes, both male and female” that advised the young student-athletes about academics, sports, and their quest for colleges. Among the group of athletes were Wes Davis, Matthew Humphrey, Tessah Holt, Catherine Duarte, Thelma Rodrigues, and Tiffany Kornegay.

The panel discussion with the female athletes proved especially enlightening to the young invitees. The women stressed the cliché but true fact that academics come first. As one player recalled, she once had to miss a major tournament because she had to take finals for her classes; she stated that ultimately she is a “student-athlete,” and student comes first.

Several of the athletes agreed that it is important for student-athletes to each have an advisor of some sort, whether it be a teacher, friend, or parent, who has their best interests in mind. Moreover, the individuals with which they interact should for the most part share their values and goals. As one athlete explained, she found great advisors in her assistant coaches throughout the years.

Though the athletes on the panel recognized the lack of time an athlete has for himself, they encouraged the young students to find moments on the weekends to spend with people other than their teammates. One of the women described the way in which she sets social and academic goals for herself, telling her friends she will finish her homework by a certain hour so she will have time to hang out, relax, and reboot.

Another panelist explained the way in which she, throughout high school, maintained a balance between school and sports: she actually sharpened her academic focus by “running around” a little during practice and later returning recharged to her schoolwork. As the other athletes agreed, time to “play and frolic” is definitely necessary when tackling hours of schoolwork.

Addressing the process of searching for colleges, one athlete encouraged the young attendees to do their homework; she urged them to research the majors, clubs, organizations, resources, and social atmospheres offered by each school. Furthermore, one panelist advised the athletes to have “as much communication as possible with the coaches” when considering schools that are willing to recruit them.

The women agreed that the students should, if able, visit a school that interests them, spend a day there, ask questions, and understand whether or not they would feel comfortable in the academic environment. Finally, as one wise panelist pointed out, the student-athletes should strive to attend schools that they would be happy to attend even if they were injured and sitting on the bench.

This year’s Audacity to Dream conference proved both helpful and enlightening for the young student-athletes that were in attendance. Clearly, the Boston College Chapter of Spark the Truth takes seriously its goal to both advise young people and inspire them to become leaders in their own community.

In order to explain their vision of the class, the Committee members cited various authors and works that they would encourage professors to feature on their syllabi if willing to give the seminar a trial run. Among the authors and speakers was Tim Wise, a self-proclaimed “anti-racist” who will in fact be visiting BC this spring.

Delivering multiple speeches and lectures, Wise has shed light on what he believes to be the continuing presence of racism in our society. However, he often does so by demeaning and stereotyping the American population.

For instance, Wise has bluntly characterized conservatives who prefer small governments as racists. Along the same lines, he paints the average Tea Partier as a 70-year-old white man.

Wise has even criticized Independence Day celebrations. He also maintains that Americans are eager to celebrate the forth of July because “we love to live in the past as long as the past feels good,” but asserts that Americans ignore unpleasant events in history, such as slavery.

In addition, Wise once proclaimed that “banks have done more harm than the 9/11 attacks” when discussing the way in which many banks in America have proved themselves corrupt. His downgrading of the harm that 9/11 caused countless Americans of every race, sexual orientation, and religion causes one to question whether his words would be appropriate for freshmen taking a supposed diversity seminar.

According to the members of the Backgrounds Committee, Boston College would benefit from such a class because it does not presently offer a medium in which students can openly discuss diversity. The Committee wishes to supply all freshmen with the opportunity to voice their opinions and feel comfortable with their own unique backgrounds and those of others. They believe conversations about diversity will help to foster community at BC.

Originally labeled the Social Experiment Group, the Backgrounds Committee first strived to implement a mandatory seminar on diversity for freshmen. However, they discovered that such a demand was too large to stand behind, and thus they decided to change their approach. They renamed their organization and are working with the administration to compromise and achieve their ultimate goal: to create a space for students to discuss issues and thereby render BC a home for everyone.

The Committee explained that instead of developing an entirely new seminar dedicated to conversations about diversity, they want to integrate themes of diversity into first year seminar classes that already exist. Having agreed to approach the topic of diversity, professors would, at their discretion, weave works and conversations about diversity into their syllabi.

Though as the Social Experience Group they desired to make such a class a part of the core curriculum, the Committee now recognizes that the seminar will not be mandatory until the administration deems it necessary for freshmen.

The Committee divulged that the time at which the seminar is implemented would depend completely on professors’ willingness to change their syllabi and experiment with the concept of the class. Though they regrettably have not yet spoken to any professors, the members of the Committee promised to host events in the near future at which students can discuss their opinions about diversity.

Professor Paula Mathieu, director of the First-Year Writing Program, explained the nature of the current freshmen writing seminars. Though professors choose the specific reading material of their classes, they must ultimately achieve five outcomes: students must have experience writing in a range of genres, engage in critical reading and writing, learn the process of revision, master grammar and conventions, and compose works in electronic environments.

Because the Committee has yet to approach professors, Mathieu had not heard of the proposition of the diversity seminar. Nevertheless, she supposed that the integration of a diversity theme into a first-year writing seminar could be achieved as long as the focus on reading and writing would be maintained.

Anthony Russo/The Observer

Construction on the Dustbowl

However, one wonders what kind of affect the weekly New England winter storms have produced for the construction itself and the workers that must bear the cold day after day. Daniel Bourque, BC’s Vice President for Facilities Management, explained that “With the bitter cold and snowy days we have lost some time to particular activities.”

Nevertheless, as “the Stokes project is a very important and exciting project in the physical master plan here at Boston College,” the bulldozing and building must continue despite the cold and snow. Bourque assured that, “While the winter weather has not been very cooperative to us this past month, we have continued to make progress on the site.”

For instance, “the excavation work is well underway,” a conclusion that students can draw for themselves as they trudge by the construction site and peer through the fence. Moreover, as noted Bourque, the “installation of underground drainage systems is in process and concrete forms are being erected and reinforcing steel installed for the foundation system.”

Dr. Patrick Keating, Executive Vice President of Boston College, affirmed, “The snow is challenging but no change to ultimate schedules at this point.” Originally scheduled to last approximately two years, the project will not yet see any deadline changes because of the winter weather. Bourque confidently stated, “we still will make the overall schedule of completion during the fall of 2012.”

During the fall months, a principle concern of the Stokes project was the way in which it would affect students, especially those living on Upper Campus, College Road, and Newton Campus. Bourque explained, “With regard to the impact upon students, we have worked closely with Residential Life and others to minimize and address any concerns.”

He cited “the opening up of the stairs and ramp adjacent to McElroy Commons during non-construction activity hours” as an example of the Stokes team’s cooperation with Residential life. Due to the change, students on Upper campus and College Road can more easily access the middle campus.

In order to keep the surrounding neighborhood happy and informed, the Stokes team has continuously spoken with the City of Newton and those residents living closest to campus in order to “communicate information about construction activity and site access.” Bourque deems this communication successful thus far.

According to Bourque, the Stokes construction will probably remain the only construction students view on middle campus for a while, with the exception of that on Gasson Hall; he maintained, “At this time our focus on the middle campus is to complete the Stokes hall project with minimal, if any at all, changes to the program or design.”

Though undoubtedly students had to adjust to the machinery noises and sudden absence of the dustbowl, they have become anxious to watch the project progress. Helping to peak students’ excitement are the virtual tour of Stokes Hall and the live feed of the Stokes construction site, both available on the BC website.

Pleased with the way in which the project has unfolded during the past months, Bourque asserted, “I do believe the students and the Boston College community are all excited about the new building which will provide quality classrooms and enhance the campus environment.” Hopefully, spring will soon approach, melting the snow and alleviating the construction workers of the burden of the snow and cold.

BC Film Studies' Home

Recently, Patrick Knipe, once an undergraduate at Boston College, sound designed a commercial called “Pug Attack.” After submitting the commercial to the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl competition, he was ecstatic to discover that “Pug Attack” is a Top Five Finalist in the competition out of over five thousand submissions. As the Super Bowl game day approaches, fans will vote online for their favorite of the five commercials, and the three most popular will air on the Super Bowl broadcast.

As a teenager, Knipe chose BC because it “had a very strong well-rounded core curriculum in addition to a popular film minor.” A student in the Honors program, Knipe came in contact with “some of the greatest world literature, philosophy, history, and art” and was also able to pursue an English Major and a Film Studies Minor.

According to Knipe, “The classes [he] took that were taught by Mike Civille gave [him] most of the basic tools one needs to make movies”; those skills included the preparation of a budget, the shooting and editing of film and video, the directing of scenes, and the development of sound design. He also credits Drew Yanno, Father Richard Blake, and Professor John Michalczyk with the growth of his filmmaking abilities.

Referencing his choice to major in English, Knipe asserted that “having an English background is very helpful in the film industry because ultimately it all comes down to storytelling.” Due to his education in English, Knipe can confidently “communicate a story quickly and clearly,” write “colorful scripts,” and word “business plans and proposals” succinctly.

After receiving his undergraduate education at Boston College, Knipe attended the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts to further perfect his skills in filmmaking.

He admitted that USC was quite “intense”; according to Knipe, “The first year of graduate film school is like boot camp, and a lot of the people in the production program have barely even used a video or film camera before.” Nevertheless, he characterized the school as “a great place to work hands on with the exact techniques and equipment that is used in the industry” and to meet many professors who also work professionally in Hollywood.

Knipe showcased his talent when writing, directing, and sound designing his graduate thesis short film entitled “Scarecrow.” Taking place during the American Civil War, the film tells the story of “a young Confederate soldier named Jack who goes off to war to be a hero, and who is so horrified by what he encounters in his first battle that he runs away, becoming a deserter.  Ending up in a nearby cornfield, Jack encounters two runaway slaves who are running for their lives. In them, he witnesses a different source of courage and discovers a battle worth fighting for.”

Shot for about $27,000, “Scarecrow” proved a low budget film in comparison to its $35,000-$65,000 counterparts. However, the film did not seem to anyone cheap; it has played at more than twenty film festivals worldwide and has received ten awards in the past year.

Moreover, while at USC, Knipe “threw [himself] into learning production sound recording, sound editing, and re-recording mixing” well enough to earn a position as a Teacher’s Assistant in the sound department. Having accumulated a great amount of experience sound editing films for other students, Knipe went on to start Soundhenge, his own sound design company that “has paid the bills and allowed [him] to pursue [his] other passions of writing, directing, and producing.”

Talking about his sound designing of “Pug Attack,” Knipe explained that two of his best friends and former roommates in Los Angeles, JR Burningham and Tess Ortbals, produced the spot. He “had to work on it in the middle of the night in [his] spare time” and was given only three days to finish the editing process.

Obviously, Knipe harnessed his creativity when editing the commercial. He revealed that “The dog’s footsteps are actually horse hoof impacts into dirt…, The sound of the pug eating is a combination of the commercial’s producer making pig sounds and [Knipe] scarfing down an oversized mouthful of Doritos,” and “the birds you slightly hear in the background were recorded in a park [he] played in as a kid.”

Knipe cited the opportunity to “collaborate with such a diverse group of creative people who come from all different parts of the world and different walks of life and work with them to tell stories that will move and inspire people” as his favorite part of the filmmaking process. According to Knipe, he eventually wants “to make movies like E.T. and Braveheart.”

Currently, Knipe is writing and directing his first feature film entitled Apocalypse New Jersey and inspired by “the local New Jersey folklore [he] grew up with.” In order to begin the development and financing of the film, Knipe recently moved back to New Jersey after having spent six years in Los Angeles. He excitedly reported that “investors have actually been approaching [him]” as opposed to the reverse. He hopes to begin shooting the project this year.

Salam jumpstarted the discussion, warning the audience that he harbors “strange thoughts about American Exceptionalism.” Though he agrees with the commonly held perception of America as a positive world force, he stressed that the characterization of America as extremely “unique” clouds most Americans’ worldviews.

The columnist explained that, although the United States remains much richer than most underdeveloped nations, these countries are becoming less poor and more diverse, “leap-frogging” over other previously richer and more technologically advanced countries. Citing Taiwan as an example, Salam described Taiwan as “a real actor in the world” today though it wasn’t just a few decades ago.

He characterized America as a “complex kaleidoscope,” an arena of different visions of the kind of country America should strive to become. Returning to his original conception of the United States as less unique than most perceive it to be, Salam noted that one can find this kaleidoscope of visions in many other countries, such as Africa.

In conclusion, Salam urged the audience to abandon the idea that America is “incredibly rich and powerful” and can thus control the fate of other countries. Instead, he encouraged his listeners to embrace the economic growth of the rest of the world, even if it elevates other countries as the United States remains, for the moment, stationary.

Next, columnist Ross Douthat expressed his opinion of American Exceptionalism. He noted first that the United States currently occupies a “peculiar position” as less of a culture that exerts great power in the world and more of one immersed in a “declinest climate.”

Describing the conservatist opinion of America’s current situation, he explained that conservatives harbor great anxiety that the “free market culture is going to disappear” and that American Exceptionalism is “under threat.”

In contrast, Douthat asserted that liberals are beginning to “come down from the Obama-high.” Though they rejoiced when Obama replaced the loathed George Bush, “liberals are realizing that Barak Obama is not as complete a superman” as they previously supposed.

The columnist bluntly stated that American institutions, including states, bureaucracy, and the senate, are “broken.” Explaining the deeper problem with the American government, Douthat affirmed that our system of government is so complicated and tied to so many institutions and groups that to change one aspect of the system is to alter multiple parts.

Agreeing with Salam, Douthat stated that we now live in the globalized age when America is becoming more like the rest of the world; he added that the United States is almost certainly “going to become less powerful.” However, he made clear the stresses that the United States’ “rivals” are going to face, hypothesizing that the United States is still in an “incredibly unique position” of power. Moreover, he asserted that the decline of our economy does not imply the imminence of some “crazy fall-of-the-Roman-Empire moment.”

Finally, Associate Professor of Political Science Kenji Hayao engaged in the conversation. Though our economy seems to be faltering at present, he asserted that “the United States economy as a whole has grown in sync with the world economy at large.”

In a positive tone, he supposed that we can probably “maintain a certain degree of dominance” in the world. The professor listed America’s strengths: we have no “demographic problems” like Europe, and we have a “strong entrepreneurial society.”

However, he did mention some valid “reasons for concern.” Introducing the concept of the “rise of the rest,” he explained that countries like China and India are progressing technologically and economically. His question, though, is whether these advancing countries can live up to their potential, as both China and India house predominantly poor populations.

Additionally, the professor cited Japan as an example of a country that has been robbed of economic growth due to deflation in the ‘80s. As Japan’s political system was unable to deal with its economic problems, the country “lost decades” of progress. Hayao contended that this example raises concerns for the United States; he stressed that we must have an extremely functional government to recover from the current economic state.

Professor Landy concluded the discussion, reminding the audience of the particularly commendable aspects of American Exceptionalism: the separation of powers, the off-year elections, and the “vital,…vibrant, and…dynamic” local governments. Providing the Boston College community with a many-faceted conversation about American Exceptionalism, the experts enlightened the audience with their opinions of the current condition of the United States and their suggestions for the future.

Recently, PhD student of the College of Arts and Sciences Rebecca Clark accused sociology professor Eve Spangler of perpetuating anti-Israeli ideas and hosting anti-Israeli events, one of which took place on campus on November 14th.

Spangler, who is an active member of the American Jews for a Just Peace (AJJP), actively invited members of the Boston College community to a cello concert that featured an Israeli cellist of Yemeni descent from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Palestinian qanun player from the Berkelee School of Music.

The concert, entitled “Strings for Peace,” served as a fundraiser for both the organization Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the annual Health and Human Rights Trip of AJJP that allows young American professionals to journey to Israel and teach classes and hold clinics. Spangler helped co-chair of AJJP, Alice Rothchild, introduce the musicians.

Having analyzed the actions and statements of AJJP, Rebecca Clark believes the ideas perpetuated by AJJP and its members, Spangler included, are rather accusatory. She explains that AJJP asserts “all Palestinian grievances can be traced to Israeli wrongdoing, and, what’s more, to the malicious intent of Jewish Israelis.”

Though the organization attempts to hide such an opinion by utilizing “buzzwords like ‘health’ and ‘human rights’” to render its point of view neutral, AJJP concerns itself with pinpointing the ways in which Jewish Israelis violate Palestinian rights. This concern, Clark stresses, colors the organization “more anti-Israel than pro-Palestinian.”

Furthermore, Clark divulges, “other AJJP activities directly attack Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people.” For example, members of the organization “advocate boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel and recently held a BDS training seminar in Boston.” In essence, BDS campaigns argue for the removal of “any semblance of Jewish sovereignty ‘from the river to the sea,’” says Clark.

Despite Clark’s opinions of AJJP, Professor Spangler affirms that “AJJP’s core assumption, it’s intellectual and moral starting point, is that international humanitarian law must be the basis for a just and lasting peace in Israel and Palestine.”

Moreover, she assures that the organization’s members act justly and legally “by sponsoring education, witnessing, and non-violent forms of dissent from behaviors that [they] think violate the standards of international humanitarian law.”

Directing her attention specifically toward the professor, Clark explains that Spangler organizes her SC 367 course and its supplementary “Birthright Unplugged” trip to the West Bank so that it perpetuates her anti-Israeli opinions. For instance, in the spring of 2009, students from the class organized events, some of which were sponsored by the Sociology Department, during which they reflected on their trip to the West Bank as part of their course requirement.

According to Clark, “the students parroted back stories told to them by their hosts–interested parties to a very complex and controversial conflict–without giving any indication that they had attempted to verify these accusations before repeating them to a Boston College audience as fact.” Specifically, the “students accused the state of Israel of being systematically racist, murderous, and anti-Christian as well as anti-Muslim. The only ‘evidence’ they provided to substantiate these accusations were the stories told to them by their hosts.”

Additionally, Clark viewed the 2009 syllabus for the class in which lay the following essay question: “We have examined three images of the Israeli occupation of Palestine: genocide, apartheid, and sociocide. Which of these organizing concepts, if any, do you find most persuasive and why?” She cited this question as evidence of how Spangler’s students “came to hold such hatefully inaccurate views of the state of Israel.”

In an effort to expose Spangler to other opinions about the conflict, Clark repeatedly invited the professor and her students to events she organized with Hillel and the leaders of the Student Coalition for Israel during which they could engage in “open dialogue about the Israeli-Arab conflict.” Spangler never showed interest.

Clark admitted that she “lost hope when [Spangler] rejected the idea of her students and Jewish and Arab students on campus working together in support of the Artsbridge program, a coexistence education program bringing Palestinian and Israeli teenagers to Boston each summer for intensive dialogue and arts therapy.”

In more positive spirits, Clark explained that she wrote a letter to Professor Spangler and campus administrators in spring of 2009, suggesting that “responsible people on campus [should provide] more intellectually and morally serious fora for discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict at BC.” In the past year and a half, Clark believes “this has happened” to a certain extent.

As the midterm during which Massachusetts voters will elect a governor and members of the House approaches, the political climate is becoming palpably tense. However, because exit polls of past midterm elections have demonstrated a disparity in student voting in Massachusetts as well as across the country, it remains to be seen whether BC students will seem as politically anxious in the present days as their older counterparts.

According to CNN, in the 2006 midterm election, the Massachusetts exit polls showed that a mere 11% of votes for Senate came from youths in the age group of eighteen to twenty-nine. Likewise, only 11% of votes for governor came from those of the same age group.

In contrast, the votes that came from the eighteen to twenty-nine age group during the Presidential election of 2008 comprised 17% of the votes for president and an even higher 19% of the votes for U.S. Senate.

Obviously, students are less likely to vote during a midterm election than they are during a presidential election. This evidence leads one to hypothesize logically that, in the upcoming midterm, the student voters at the Massachusetts polls will be few in number in comparison to those who showed up in 2008.

Dennis Hale, Associate professor of Political Science, explained the difference between the presidential and midterm statistics: “the presidential election is a national event, highly publicized, in which both party’s candidates spend a gazillion dollars to advertise themselves.”

Expanding on the steadily increasing hype surrounding presidential campaigns, Hale added, “Since the 1970s, presidential primaries have become increasingly important as avenues to the nomination, which pushes the effective start of the campaign farther and farther back, so that the presidential campaigns are longer than they have ever been in our history.”

Moreover, Hale described Congress campaigns as “less publicized, and often not heavily contested.” He explained that many state legislatures have drawn Congressional districts so that the dominant political party of the state avoids competition by holding “‘safe seats,’” thus making for an unexciting election.

For instance, “About 1/3 of Massachusetts voters voted for Republican presidential candidates in the past several elections, but there are no Republicans in the House delegation, in part because of the way district boundaries are drawn.”

Despite the trend of past midterms, though, this year is quite different. “Republicans are enthused,” adds Hale, “Democrats are dispirited, and the Tea Party movement has brought tens of thousands of voters into the system who might otherwise have skipped the election entirely.”

Hale presumes that most college students remain fans of President Obama, yet he wondered “Whether those students will translate that support for the President into support for candidates for the House (or for Governor of Massachusetts) …since the President is not on the ballot — even though the election is critically important to his presidency.”

Upon reviewing the 2006 and 2008 statistics, David Hopkins, Department of Political Science, cited four main reasons for the figures: young voters are “less well-informed about politics,” are less “civically engaged” than their older counterparts, “tend to have collectively less strong political opinions and allegiances,” and “don’t always keep up their voter registration.”

Furthermore, Hopkins noted that “the Obama candidacy was particularly appealing to voters under the age of 35, and the Obama campaign expended a great deal of resources in targeting these voters and encouraging them to turn out to vote in 2008.” Thus, “the electorate included more casual or first-time voters” than most other years, causing the percentage of young voters to be unusually high, even for a presidential election.

Though Obama received much active support from young voters during 2008, the lack of attention-grabbing campaigns and stiff competition between candidates will most likely deter young voters from trekking to the polls during the 2010 midterm elections. Hopkins suspects that the student turnout for the midterm elections will be as it has been in the past.

Kristoffer Munden, President of the College Democrats of Boston College, agreed with Hopkins, though he stressed that “there is a significant amount of attention surrounding these elections which may boost turnout slightly over historical levels.” However, this “boost” will inevitably prove too small to produce figures anything like those of 2008.

Though President of the Boston College Republicans Tomas Castella hypothesized that the percentages of midterm votes would resemble those of 2006, he added, “However, among more conservative students this number will probably be higher than 2006.” He qualified this claim, explaining, “this election is almost just as important [as a presidential election] given the generally accepted idea that this is a referendum on Obama’s policies and can greatly affect the course of the administration.”

The Massachusetts exit polls will tell all as the midterm elections begin in the very near future. One can only hope that as many politically enthused BC students as possible will break the usual trend by journeying to the polls to cast their votes.

Anthony Russo/The Observer

Acclaimed blogger, author, critic, and journalist Elif Batuman visits Boston College.

On a recent evening, Elif Batuman participated in the Lowell Humanities Lecture Series to promote her new book, The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. She greeted the audience by presenting her newest endeavor and jokingly introducing it as her “affordably and attractively bound book.”

A first-generation Turkish-American, Elif Batuman was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey. She now lives in San Francisco, California, and teaches at Stanford University.

Having written many an article for The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, and n+1 Magazine among others, Batuman obviously has had much experience in the field of journalism. Additionally, she writes a blog My Life and Thoughts in which she shares her stories and experiences with avid and interested readers. She has been recognized for her work by her reception of the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award.

The creation of The Possessed began with a collection of “memoir-y essays” that she had written for various magazines. In the book, Batuman intersperses narratives about famous writers with her own personal experiences, striving to explain that people become writers because they are first readers.

Referring to the various chapters of her book as “adventures,” Batuman began to read from the book to allow the audience to experience her exploits with her. She focused on an essay detailing her journey to Tolstoy’s conference to present a field research proposal on the noted Russian author in hopes of winning twenty-five hundred dollars.

As the audience shook with laughter, Batuman stated the ridiculous topic of her research proposal: “Did Tolstoy die of natural causes, or was he murdered?” The way in which Batuman poked fun at her own ideas in elegant prose revealed her admirable ability to constantly criticize her own work and learn from her mistakes.

Hilarity ensued as she explained how she lost her suitcase on the way to the conference; she compared air travel to death as “it takes everything from you,” provoking numerous giggles from her listeners.

Finally, Batuman reached the point in her adventure at which her “big moment” took place. Describing her proposal of her research on the possibility of Tolstoy’s murder, the writer admitted that she was met with some criticism. She advised that one knows he is finally a writer when he hears people shouting “liar!” after they hear his ideas. Specifically, Batuman mentioned with a smile that many of her fellow researchers disagreed with her comparison of some of Tolstoy’s characters with those of Alice in Wonderland.

Batuman also spoke candidly about her reason for devoting much of the novel to her experience with and research of other writers. Referencing a visit to her grandmother’s house during which she discovered Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, she acknowledged Russian literature as the most meaningful to her.

Moreover, she confessed that she “enjoy[s] looking for clues,” alluding to both her “invention” of a mystery concerning Tolstoy’s death and her general tendency to embark on adventures.

Though she assured the audience, “I’m not an expert in very much,” it is obvious that Batuman takes pleasure and pride in producing stories that require meticulous detail, literary talent, and powerful insight. When asked about the origin of her essay topics, Batuman answered that most of her essays germinate from ideas of her own. However, as her recent essay on Kafka for The New York Times was assigned to her, Batuman’s talent is obviously being noted and rewarded by people who know good writing.

She gave the audience a clue about her current endeavor, disclosing that her next essay will concern Dante and several of his famous works. As with many of her projects, Batuman will have “to do a ton of work” to generate an essay as elaborate and genius as those that precede it.

An innovative author and passionate reader, Elif Batuman inspired members of the BC community to find structure in life’s adventures by writing about them.

As college campuses are notoriously liberal, the percentages of faculty donations to Democratic and Republican campaigns are typically predictable figures. Boston College falls among these liberal institutions as many of its professors donate regularly to Democratic campaigns.

The Huffington Post’s 2008 analysis of campaign donations made by BC professors supported the fact that 94% of faculty donations, a total of $53,753, went to Democratic campaigns, while a mere 6% was contributed to Republican campaigns. Obviously, these figures demonstrate the faculty’s political homogeneity as of 2008.

However, this liberal pattern now appears at first glance to have been broken. Presently, the Huffington Post shows that 62% of campaign donations, a total of $4,150, made by Boston College faculty members have been made to Republican campaigns.

Upon analyzing this figure, one realizes that it does not indicate that the Boston College faculty has suddenly become incredibly politically diverse. As Dennis Hale, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, advised, “It is always important, when looking at statistics, to know what the sample was, including how large it was: in a small sample a single outlier can create a big (and possibly misleading) difference”.

First, a donation of $500 must be neglected as it was made by a graduate student, not a faculty member, of BC. Though this still leaves 59% of campaign donations to the conservative campaigns, there were actually only a total of four donations made to the Republican campaigns by Boston College faculty. This pales in comparison to the total of twenty-three donations made by BC professors to the liberal campaigns.

The reason for this misleading information lies in a single large donation—that of $2,400—made by a professor to a Republican campaign. As this particular sum accounts for 66% of the donations made to conservative campaigns, and thus 38% of the total donations made to campaigns, it is responsible for the false appearance of a “shift” in political viewpoints of BC professors.

Thus, one can conclude by glancing at the amount of donations to Democratic campaigns, that the BC campus remains largely liberal.

Hale explained the reason for which the majority of faculty members at Boston College continue to hold onto their liberal beliefs: “most faculty members are liberal, a fact which can probably be explained by their having formed their political ideas in the 1960s and 1970s.”

He continued that, despite whether or not the world has made these particular beliefs “questionable,” most people who have grown up with a particular political view would feel reluctant to explore any other.

In spite of this, Hale’s “impression of the campus is that the dominance of a single party does not stifle debate the way it does on many other campuses, in part because there are enough Republican, independent, and conservative students to keep the debate lively.” Moreover, he affirms that, though most faculty members are Democrats, they are nevertheless “open to the expression of competing views.”

When informed of the statistics posted by the Huffington Post, Kristoffer Munden, President of the College Democrats of Boston College, agreed with Professor Hale that “the contributions support the generalization that professors are, overall, more likely to be liberal than other groups.”

Munden, however, does not believe that the abundance of faculty members with liberal viewpoints affects the political on-campus experience of the BC student. As a political science major himself, he assures that “most professors do not discuss their personal political beliefs in class.” He sees the abundance of contributions as an indication of  “a politically engaged professorship” rather than “a partisan professorship.”

Tomas Castella, President of the BC Republicans, explained that the increase in amount donated by BC professors to Republican campaigns could “very well reflect the shifting political environment even among former Obama supporters.” Though the amount of donations to liberal campaigns exceeded those to conservative campaigns, the statistics nonetheless show that professors are more enthusiastic about Republican campaigns than they have been in the past.

Additionally, Castella disclosed that the “dissatisfaction with the Obama administration is reflected in the number of new and excited members to [the BC Republicans].” According to Castella, the political organization “signed more students up on Student Activities Day than [he had] ever seen at Boston College.”

Though ultimately the statistics of campaign donations sustain the fact that the Boston College faculty is predominantly liberal, Castella does present a valid point regarding the present discontent with the Obama administration felt by a large portion of the public. As Republicans become more dissatisfied with Obama’s choices, they will undoubtedly participate more actively in the campaigns of their own party. Likewise, as Democrats lose confidence in Obama, their support for the liberal campaigns will most likely lag.

For now, Boston College professors lean steadfastly to the left, but as the political climate changes, so too may the political views across campus. Until then, let us continue to engage in lively political debate.

All State of the Heights events will be issue-based and in discussion format in order to encourage students to provide input and opinions regarding the vast physical changes that will soon commence on campus.

The administration hopes to strengthen its communication with students about the construction through these dialogues with the student body.

Guiding the presentation was Dr. Patrick Keating, Executive Vice President of Boston College. Also present to provide information and answer questions were Patrick Rombalski, Vice President for Student Affairs, and Daniel Bourque, Vice President of Facilities, among several representatives of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College.

Dr. Patrick Keating began by providing the audience with an “update on what’s about to happen.”

He described the components of the Master Plan for the university: the Stokes Academic Building, a new dining hall to replace Carney, a new science building, renovations on the Brighton campus, a residence hall built in the place of More Hall, the tearing down of Edmond’s Hall, occupation of 2000 Commonwealth Avenue, a new Rec Plex, and a new student center.

Although Keating admitted that the duration of the above projects in total will exceed ten years, but he is confident that we will certainly see progress in the next decade.

Boston College has already made strides with the building of a Jesuit Community on Foster Street, the construction on the exterior of Gasson Hall, and the construction of an Institute for Liberal Arts at 10 Stone Avenue.

The emphasis, though, was on the construction of the Stokes Academic Building located on middle campus, scheduled to begin October 4th of this year provided the board votes positively on it next Friday, September 24th.

Keating gave the audience a “feel” for the Stokes building, describing the way in which the north and south wings of the complex will be built closest to Lyons Hall and will embody the impeccable Gothic style of the buildings in the Academic quadrangle.

Keating also explained that the building will house 36 classrooms, the History, English, Philosophy, Theology, and other department offices, as well as the Office of First Year Experience, the Administration Assistance of Arts and Sciences, a café, and a common area.

In order for the audience to fully envision the Stokes Academic Building, Dr. Keating invited his viewers to “join [him] in 2012” as he played a virtual tour of Stokes’s interior and exterior.

He assured those in the audience that the building will become a “very active space” in which students can do homework, chat with friends, go to class, meet with professors, or just relax.

Since the State of the Heights events are to function as a forum throughout which students may voice their opinions and concerns about the master plan, Dr. Keating encouraged the audience to ask questions regarding the project.

Many expressed concerns regarding the difficulty the construction may pose for students, particularly newfound residents of both Upper and Newton campuses, who will have to be educated as to which pathways will be inaccessible to them. Additionally, several members of the audience expressed interest in prospective virtual tours of the finished Stokes building in order to build excitement across campus for what is to come.

Keating accordingly confirmed that the administration plans to devote a website to the progress of the Stokes project.

Though the construction of the Stokes Academic Building is expected to take about two years, Boston College students will undoubtedly be anxiously awaiting the building’s completion.

In the meantime, students should not hesitate to make their comments, suggestions, or concerns known by attending the State of the Heights discussions.

As Associate Dean Filippa Marullo Anzalone explains, Garvey is leaving Boston College Law “to become the president of the Catholic University of America”. Having been a student of Harvard Law, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, and a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, Garvey was deservedly appointed dean in 1999 and has spent the last eleven years steadily improving the Law School. Though leaving Boston College, Garvey has enjoyed his years at BC and will undoubtedly miss his time at the Law School.

Both Kenyon and Associate Dean Marianne Lord explain that the University is deep in the preliminary process of organizing the execution of the search for a new dean. Though there is yet little information about the specifics of the search, Kenyon expects that the Law School will release more details about the process in coming weeks.

Among Boston College’s most recent guests was acclaimed poet Kevin Young, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska. Having received his Bachelor of the Arts from Harvard University, where he learned from poetic heavyweights Seamus Heaney and Lucie Brock-Broido, and his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Brown University, Young has certainly studied the art of writing extensively and has proven himself a master of his literary talents.

Young has produced an impressive collection of books of his poetry: For the Confederate Dead, Black Maria, Jelly Roll: A Blues, To Repel Ghosts, Dear Darkness, and Most Way Home. Additionally, he has edited a few anthologies: Blues Poems, Jazz Poems, John Berryman’s Selected Poems, Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers, and Art of Losing.

Thanks to his unique subjects, rhythmic style, and groundbreaking creations, Kevin Young has been repeatedly recognized as an exceptional poet. He has been awarded a Stegner Fellowship in Poetry at Stanford University, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, a NEA Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. Moreover,his book To Repel Ghosts was a finalist for the James Laughlin Award, and his book Most Way Home was chosen for the National Poetry Series and won the Zacharis First Books Award.

Once a professor at both the University of Georgia and Indiana University, he currently serves as the Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. What’s more, he also curates the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library at Emory.

Upon entering Gasson 100 on Boston College’s main campus, Kevin Young was welcomed warmly with loud, excited applause. He began his reading by announcing that he would share mostly new poems with “some oldies” thrown in the mix.

A collection of “odes, elegies, and blues,” Dear Darkness was the first of Young’s books into which he delved. He read “Farm Team” first, which he regarded as a new, modern kind of blues. Afterwards, he shared “Black Cat Blues” and “Lime Light Blues,” both of which he characterized as “proper blues.” He closed Dear Darkness with an ode, more specifically “New England Ode,” joking that the audience “might recognize some of the things in it,” perhaps alluding to “rotary, not roundabout” and “soda, not pop.”

Young read next from Jelly Roll, noting, “the whole book is love poems.” Beginning with “Song of Smoking,” a blues poem, he afterwards added, “you can’t have blues without boasts,” and went on to read “Boasts,” a clever marriage of lighthearted, original statements and allusions.

Happily, Young treated the audience to “a few more odes,” reading the ingenious “Ode to Chicken,” “Ode to Greens,” and “Ode to Grits.” He explained the apparent pattern of the poems: after the death of his father, Young was unable to write for several months, and when his ability returned to him, these poems, all “about hunger,” came out in a natural “burst.”

Next, he shared some poems from the anthology Art of Losing, a collection he deemed “the book I wished I had when my father died.” One of the most powerful was a poem from the Redemption section, “The Trees” by Philip Larkin. According to Kevin Young, though trees seem an “unlikely source of redemption,” he believes “that’s where redemption is found.”

In conclusion, Young read “some new poems” that included “Elephant Funeral,” “Untitled,” “Bereavement,” “Gravity,” “Pilgrimage,” and “The Mission.” He added, chuckling, that, though “The Mission” takes place in San Francisco and also references Emily Dickinson, he knows very well that Dickinson did not live in San Francisco.

A master of beats, rhythm, and voice, Kevin Young harnesses and magnifies the musicality of poetry, creating works that transcend traditional meter and rhyme. As the audience clapped and Young stepped from the podium, it was clear that all people in attendance greatly appreciated the words and wisdom of such an influential poet.

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.