Boston College is now an addition to the latest trend sweeping the internet: college “meme” pages on Facebook. Internet memes are a concept that spreads by various websites, the form being a hashtag, video, phrase, or most popularly, a picture with a caption. Content various, usually formed by some sort of social interaction, referencing an event, or mocking certain societal figures. Some popular forms are “College Freshman,” “Forever Alone,” and “Philosoraptor,” just to name a few. These memes evolve rapidly and have been known to spread worldwide within the span of a few days.

Their impact has recently hit college campuses, where students make up the bulk of meme-creators and readers. Many universities have begun to create Facebook pages with memes of all varieties related to that specific school. For instance, one “College Freshman” meme on BC’s page includes the caption: “Crosses CoRo…Looks Both Ways.” The memes all revolve around various BC jokes, which students from other universities would not understand.

A bit of competition emerged in the page’s natal stage, as Boston University students commented on the page, claiming their BU meme page was created first, and the like. Some memes were subsequently created mocking BU, as many of their memes involve jokes about BC. For instance, one BC meme of the “Philosoraptor” type has the caption, “If the Plex ellipticals were hooked up to generators…would they power all of Boston?” The BU meme page picked up this meme and created one in response which reads “If Boston College isn’t actually in Boston…why would they want to power our city?” Despite a few bad-natured memes, most pages are in good spirit, and other Boston universities like Northeastern are following suit.

The BC meme page generated 3000 Facebook “likes” in just over one day, exemplifying the widespread popularity and impact of memes. It is just gaining momentum as submissions for memes to be posted continue to pour in. To check out the page, simply go to the page “BC Memes,” “like” the page, and enjoy the BC-related humor.

 All photos courtesy of BC Memes. 

Researchers in Texas found this dangerous behavior far more prevalent than expected, with 16% of students at a Texas University having played, and three-quarters of them having played more than once. Males were more likely to have played than females. 90% of students said they first played in a group and learned from friends.

Experts The Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University attempted conjectures as to why students would practice such risky behavior, which works by cutting off blood flow to the brain. The resulting loss of oxygen produces the woozy, high feeling. Researchers guess that students do not realize the game to be just as deadly as illegal drugs. Indeed, the study notes, “This ‘game,’ as it is often called, does not require obtaining any drugs or alcohol, is free, and can go undetected by many parents, teachers, physicians, and other authority figures. Most importantly, many of those who engage in this activity, do not understand that the practice can be just as deadly as the illegal substances youth have been warned against.”

In conclusion, apparently 16% of college students think they are saving themselves from substance abuse by strangling themselves. If you think that suffocating yourself is a healthy alternative to drugs, maybe you should ask yourself how you got admitted to college in the first place.

The Anthrax and Swine Flu scares may have been taken out of proportion considering how many deaths and injuries there actually were. Only five deaths and 17 injuries were reported as a direct result of Anthrax. CNN reported that a little over 1,000 people died worldwide from the Swine Flu epidemic since the very first outbreak in the Philippines back in 2007.

It would seem the media delights in playing with our fears: providing vast coverage of new diseases which actually do not present much of a threat. They know that hyping up a story about a major pandemic will boost their ratings. And the “Bird Flu” virus is no exception.

This recent “breakthrough” of a chemically engineered Bird Flu and the claim that, in the wrong hands, could be catastrophic just seems like a media tactic used to draw readers in. The argument is that this variation of the H5N1 virus which scientists have engineered could be stolen by bioterrorists and wielded against the U.S.

This all began when a 39-year-old bus driver in a Shenzen, a Chinese city bordering Hong Kong, died on January 1 as a result of the H5N1 virus. The virus is not spread easily and must involve either direct contact with someone who is infected or direct contact with infected poultry, though there is little evidence to support that this could become the next epidemic.

The real risk, therefore, does not lie in the potential spread of the virus, because that would be difficult in and of itself, but in an almost sci-fi movie like scenario in which the virus escapes the lab and the information is put in the wrong hands.

There is also very little probability that the death in Shenzen was linked to the chemically engineered virus created at the University of Wisconsin and Erasmus University. Still, after only two birds tested positive for the virus in China, over 19,000 birds were killed as a caution.

Though the public should be alert to possible threats and take warnings by news officials and scientists seriously, there are other threats that the public is not so aware of: filtering the news they receive.

For students who had no experience interviewing or even applying for internships, there were several workshops in the days leading up to it in preparation. Among them were resume-building workshops in the Career Center several times a week as well as resume critiquing for those who just wanted to update their resumes or make sure they were on the right track.

At the fair, booklets were given out with a list of all the companies in attendance, including a page with suggestions on how to dress and conversation tips. Among the “questions to avoid” section was, “So, what does your company do?” which seems obvious enough but may have saved some students from some awkward interviews. There was much useful advice to help students impress potential employers.

Stephen Loverde, who attended the Internship Fair on Wednesday to look at some of the Medical oriented companies, said of the event, “For me it was mostly about experience. I was not looking too seriously into getting an internship, but I wanted to understand the process more. I learned a lot from just going and walking around, so I will be prepared for next time.”

There was a large variety of companies represented ranging from companies like J&L Marketing, Inc., Commonwealth Annuity and Life Insurance Co., and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; to Children’s Hospital Boston, the Boston Center for the Arts and Saks Fifth Avenue. Students from all majors and years were invited and encouraged to participate.

For those students who could not find any companies that caught their attention at the fair, there were several other employers with links on the fair’s booklet that led students directly to websites for other companies who were not present. The page on the BC Portal also had links for information for those students who were looking for summer internships.

For anyone who missed the fair, the links are still available on the Portal leading them to those companies they did not get to see, or even those companies that were scheduled to attend but could not make an appearance, like Children’s Hospital Boston.

Boston College students share how technology plays a role in their lives.

Filmed by Lauren Rever.
Edited by Meghana Kuthyar

The Occupy Boston movement spread to the Boston College campus, made evident by the mic check held by “BC Occupies Boston” group on December 7th, 2011. BC Occupies began as a group of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a faculty member, and has since grown to include more than 80 supporters on their Facebook page.

What messages are the BC Occupies group hoping to send to the BC community and how have BC students reacted to the movement?

The Gavel is here to report.

To watch the full video of the mic check, follow the link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8gBYVOCzqc&feature=g-upl

To watch The Gavel’s video, “Occupy Boston ends”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEpggG0CoLA&feature=related

For more information:
Occupy Boston: http://www.occupyboston.org/
BC Occupies Boston Student Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/280761848614304/

Filmed by Lauren Rever and Luisa Navarro
Edited by Meghana Kuthyar