Boston College

Comparing Christian and Confucian ethics, investigating gender violence in Caribbean and African literature, and using biomarkers in saliva to diagnose pain and anxiety are among the subjects discussed by nine newcomers to Boston College’s faculty. This is the second of three installments in which 27 faculty new to the University in 2008-09 describe their interests and research.

At a televised Thanksgiving Day celebration held in Hollywood’s Kodak Auditorium and featuring celebrity entertainers, news anchor Anderson Cooper announced Liz McCartney ’94 as the winner of CNN’s 2008 Hero of the Year award. She was among 10 finalists chosen from 4,000 nominees. The competition, which honors “everyday people accomplishing extraordinary things in their communities and beyond,” concluded with McCartney’s getting the most votes among one million cast in an online election.

Community service is a recurrent theme in McCartney’s career. After graduating from Boston College, she earned a Master’s Degree in curriculum and instruction at George Washington University, taught in a middle school, and worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in the tiny African nation of Lesotho. In 2006, she was the executive director of an educational nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., when she and her boyfriend Zack Rosenburg traveled to Louisiana to help out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They arrived at St. Bernard Parish, a blue-collar community just southeast of New Orleans where virtually all 27,000 homes had been destroyed. Describing the situation she encountered, McCartney told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, “I couldn’t believe that six months after the storm, you were still waiting in line for food, and there was no plan to get back into your house.”

The experience transformed McCartney and Rosenburg. “When we started to think about it, we realized we could go on with life as planned, or we could be, in a small way, part of the solution,” she said. They moved to the parish and created the nonprofit St. Bernard Project to rebuild homes for those lacking the means to do so on their own. McCartney and Rosenburg had no construction experience but did have skills in grant writing, advocacy, and nonprofit management. With private and corporate contributions and volunteer labor, they rebuilt homes quickly and inexpensively (a typical reconstruction costing about $12,000 and taking 12 weeks). To date, some 150 families have been resettled. “No one has been able to achieve anything close to their success,” says St. Bernard Parish Council member Mike Ginart. The project is now the largest organization of its kind, according to the Washington Post, with an annual budget of $2.7 million and as many as 500 volunteers per week.

McCartney will contribute all of the $125,000 award she received from CNN to the St. Bernard Project, and plans to continue her work for hurricane victims. “We’re here until we work ourselves out of a job,” she told CNN. “To the country and the world, I ask you to please join us.”

A Dancer’s Christmas uses familiar stories and traditions to present the wonder of the season from a dancer’s point of view,” according to the ballet’s creator and choreographer Robert Ver Eecke, SJ. For nearly three decades, he has directed professional dancers, alumni, and students, combining styles from classical ballet to break dancing, to stage what the Boston Herald called a “festive, emotionally moving, and spiritually nourishing reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.” Above, Ver Eecke attends a rehearsal at the Brookline Academy of Dance on November 23 for the 28th and final season of this Boston holiday tradition. “Many of the dancers who have devoted themselves to the ballet for years are retiring,” he told the Chronicle. “To retain the level of professional dance performers has become more and more challenging, especially in Boston.” Ver Eecke will continue serving as pastor at two local churches and teaching at the University, “finding ways to integrate dance into the spiritual lives of people.” This year’s performances will take place at Robsham Theater at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on December 13 and 20; and at 3 p.m. on December 14 and 21. Tickets for general admission are $30; $20 for seniors and those with University IDs.

When Boston College Police Officer Martin Curley responded to a call on October 20 from the Merkert Chemistry Center, he found two contract workers in a nearby manhole who had succumbed to fumes from liquid nitrogen they were using to clean steam pipes. “It was evident to me that I had to go down there,” said Curley. “I was confident that I could do it.” Fellow officers lowered Curley into the hole. With an improvised breathing apparatus fashioned from an oxygen canister in his car, he resuscitated one worker before bringing him to the surface. The officer again descended into the manhole and rescued the second worker. Curley received a standing ovation on November 28 at the TD Banknorth Garden when the Boston Celtics presented him with a Heroes Among Us Award, which “honors individuals who have made an overwhelming impact on the lives of others.” Above, (l-r) are Celtic Paul Pierce, General Counsel Charles McIntyre of the Mass. Lottery, Curley, and Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand of the Philadelphia 76ers.