Officer Devlin embodied selfless duty, devotion, and sacrifice "Heroes live forever" is a slogan of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The fund was established to permanently record and commemorate the ultimate sacrifice made by countless members of the law enforcement profession since the inception of modern day policing in the United States. Inscribed on the Memorial's blue-gray marble walls in Washington, D.C. are the names of more than 17,500 officers who have made that sacrifice, dating back to the first known death in 1792.
The Boston College Police Department and the University community lost a true hero and friend on Good Friday. Officer Tom Devlin, a 21-year veteran of the BCPD, passed away on Friday, April 6 after a long battle with injuries that he received while protecting members of the BC community. On Sept. 22, 1988, Officer Devlin, an E.M.T. and a founding member of the BCPD's mountain bike unit, responded to a fire alarm at Edmond's Hall. A military canister of tear gas had been set off in the building's ventilation system, which caused the evacuation of 800 residents. Over 75 firefighters responded to the incident and many of them were treated for burns from the chemical. Approximately 30 students were treated on scene and another 30 at area hospitals. Officer Devlin rescued and treated many victims of the incident without regard for his own safety. As a result, he sustained severe burns to his lungs resulting in serious complications which required numerous hospitalizations. Still, Officer Devlin returned to duty and gave one hundred and ten percent each time. Deteriorating health finally forced him to retire in 2004. Officer Devlin, who was 51 years old, is survived by his loving parents, wife, and daughter.
So as you go about your day today, please remember Tom, his family, friends, and colleagues in your thoughts and prayers. Also remember, the men and women of the BCPD as well as all public safety officers nationwide whose selfless devotion to duty insure and protect the little things in life that we all take for granted. Thank you.
Sgt. Joe Desmond Boston College Police Department
Service is a Band-Aid for symptoms, not a cure for the disease I was happy to see my photo of Kristen Campbell, LSOE'07, on the front page of the March 19 issue of The Heights because I felt that image summarized well the mission of the Jamaica Mustard Seed and how worthwhile and powerful the trip was for me. I wanted to inspire others to talk to the people who went on the trip, to apply for it, to learn about what happens in Jamaica, to question their own lives and their own power structures at home, and to abandon the reluctance to donate to the trip next year when people are trying to sell raffle tickets, and ideally, to eventually solve these problems.
Here is what the article did not mention. (Tim Mooney in his pieces on Arrupe and Appalachia did mention them, however.) As much as I'd like to pat myself on the back for six days, we did not "meet those needs and more" as Victoria Ryan puts it. The trip did very little to acknowledge the institutional power structures that cause severely disabled kids and kids with HIV/AIDS to be abandoned as they are. Besides the interactions with kids, we did tasks like painting over cracking wood. Previous images like mine likely have "inspired people" to "donate" truckloads of heavy filing cabinets and tabletops. We moved those "donations" into a storage warehouse because they don't have enough manpower to do it without volunteers. It was exhausting work, but seemed futile to me. Were we just leaning up other people's "bad service"? I worry that "service" focuses too much on Band-Aids for the symptoms of the problems, and not the causes, while, at the same time, perpetuating this problematic and condescending Boston College "Student's burden" that people are helpless and "need us" to be there. Is building a house going to solve anything?
I hope that next year's group and other "service trips" do more to address the causes of these problems. Ideally, there would be no need to have "service" trips. Until we start addressing the institutional causes of why people "need service," and how we are potentially perpetuating these unfair power structures and paternalism, we aren't doing "service" correctly.
One of my friends criticized my images, likening my images to pornography: as eye-catching as it is, it kills emotion, feeling, and gets boring and mundane, so the pornographer has to come up with more interesting ways to appeal to the viewer. My images are dangerous because they could just be nothing more than a perpetuation of an existing power dynamic: a more interesting way to portray "people of color in need of compassion" that appeals to this "BC student savior" idea. We simply like being told that we're needed. But even with these ubiquitous images, why aren't more people "involved" with "service?" Do I need a more creative photograph that portrays "non-white people in need"? Am I just exploiting Anthony, labeling him as helpless without BC?
Also, why is it that we go all around the world to do "service" when we don't acknowledge unfair power structures at home? Do people ask those who "complain" about "institutional oppression" why they do? Do we focus on those who criticize as the problem as opposed to the "potential" problems they bring up?
So really, what effect does my image have? Am I going to inspire others to share in what was a powerful experience for me, but yet a week that in some ways seemed futile? Am I going to inspire future service trips to address the roots of the problems? I want those who read this to apply for service trips, but please, try to better the "service" and do it at home too. Chris Huang A&S '07
Contemporary Art is a refreshing experience for BC community Are you a Boston College student looking for some inspiration?
The Institute of Contemporary Art is not to be missed. The ICA is a new art gallery located on Boston's waterfront. With the special design of the building, ICA stands out after one exits the courthouse station. As the Web site describes, ICA is "the first building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro to be built in the United States, the building offers dramatic and dynamic views of the water throughout and allows us to present multi-disciplinary programming exploring today's art and ideas."
This is a wonderful opportunity for the BC community to broaden its creative horizons and heighten its appreciation of art by tapping the city's diverse artistic culture and resources.
The ICA is totally different from the popular Museum of Fine Art. Contemporary art tends to be abstract, but simple by design. The art may come in the form of a video, a chair, a wood box, an advertisement, or a spider.
One of the impressive pieces is a red rectangular box located in a dark room. When one enters the room, a red rectangular shape on the wall comes into view. At first glance, it appears that there's nothing to see. As one gets closer to that red area, the rigid rectangle hanging on the wall suddenly reveals a deep space, which I could put my hand through. The artist turns the seemingly boring rectangle into a mysterious object by adding "space" into it. It is initially deceiving, but we delight in discovering that it is not what we think.
The ICA was both refreshing and inspirational. It has opened up my eyes to see a variety of new ideas. I've found my inspiration. Have you? Wendy Szeto CSON '10
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