11-6-2019

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6, 2019

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

YEAR XLIX. VOLUME XCVII. ISSUE VIII.

2 THE ELECTION ISSUE 2 Race for city councilor at large ends with a call for recount

BY ALYSSA FIGUEROA, SAMANTHA KIZNER, AND LINCOLN CURRIE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Tuesday’s election to decide Boston’s four city councilor at-large seats ended with a serious nail-biter.

While incumbents Michelle Wu, Annissa Essaibi-George and Michael Flaherty successfully defended their seats, Althea Garrison — the fourth incumbent — was not reelected, coming in seventh place.

Instead, challengers Julia Mejia and Alejandra St. Guillen battled the entire night for Boston’s fourth at-large seat, with the city’s unofficial results placing Mejia over St. Guillen by only 10 votes.

Wu led the pack with 41,616 votes or 20.71 percent, with Essaibi-George in second with 34,054 votes or 16.95 percent of votes and Flaherty coming in third with 33,242 votes or 16.54 percent, according to the unofficial results.

Meanwhile, Mejia garnering 22,464 votes and St. Guillen trailing closely with 22,454. Both won 11.18 percent of the votes.

While St. Guillen originally conceded the race earlier in the night, saying that the margin of votes separating her and Mejia was “too much to make up,” she later released a statement calling for a recount after the unofficial results showed her trailing by only 10 votes.

“Every voter who came out and cast a ballot — whether it be absentee, in the voting booth, or

GRAPHIC BY ANGELA YANG/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

provisionally — deserves a full and complete count to determine who is our next city councilor at-large,” St. Guillen said in her statement.

Challenger Erin Murphy came in sixth place with 16,843 votes or 8.38 percent of the vote, while Garrison — the only incumbent not to be reelected — came in seventh place with 16,161 votes or 8.04 percent. The final candidate, challenger David Halbert, finished in eighth place with 13,201 votes or 6.57 percent, while write in candidates took up 0.44 percent of the vote.

As Wu delivered her victory speech at her election party Tuesday night, she said her first successful election to councilor at-large in 2013 marked the beginning of a more diverse and representative city council.

“Six years ago to the day, we were celebrating my first ever election night in 2013,” Wu said. “That night, we doubled the number of women serving in the Boston City Council [from one to two.]”

Wu said the City Council has continued to diversify and encourage a new generation to run for

Bok defeats Nassour for District 8

BY VANESSA KJELDSEN AND MATTHEW SENSABAUGH

HANNAH YOSHINAGA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF After winning her campaign for District 8, Kenzie Bok addresses supporters gathered at the bar LIR on Boylston.

Flynn reelected in District 2, Frank Baker staying in District 3 and Matt O’Malley returning as councilor for District 6.

For the final four districts, Andrea Campbell won against Jeff Durham in District 4 with 4,557 votes or 87 percent, Ricardo Arroyo won against Maria Farrell in District 5 with 5,325 votes or 55 percent, Kim Janey won against Roy Owens with 3,847 votes or 75 percent and Liz Breadon won against Craig Cashman in District 9 with 3,883 votes or 59 percent, according to the unofficial results.

Bok said during her acceptance speech that tonight’s election was a step toward creating a future that

represents the people of District 8.

“Big challenges don’t get solved by talking about them,” Bok said, “they get solved by organizing and doing what we did for this campaign.”

At Nassour’s election party, fellow Republican and former U.S. Senate candidate Beth Lindstrom said she expected it to be difficult for a Republican to get elected in Massachusetts.

“Some people say just because you’re a Republican ‘I won’t vote for you,’” Linstrom said. “Because of this overarching administration, you’re

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Low turnout for city council

BY ANGELA YANG DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Candidate Kenzie Bok defeated opponent Jennifer Nassour to win the District 8 City Council election Tuesday night. Bok won each precinct with a total of 3,659 votes or just over 70 percent of all District 8 voters, according to unofficial election results released by the City of Boston as well as her campaign staff.

Bok thanked Nassour for running during an acceptance speech at her election party at Irish pub LIR on Boylston Street, the same location where she first announced her campaign for City Council.

“In the heat of a hard-fought race, sometimes things get passionate,” Bok said. “I am so grateful for everyone that turned in a ballot today, regardless of whether it was for me or her.”

Nassour said to The Daily Free Press she was grateful for the effort behind her campaign.

“Every single resident voice should be heard whether they are conservative, liberal or smack in the middle,” Nassour said. “I decided to do this because I felt like we needed another voice out there.”

The incumbent candidates for Districts 1, 2, 3 and 6 all ran unopposed, with Lydia Edwards retaining her seat in District 1, Edward

office, to the point that the City Council will be mostly composed of women for the first time in Boston’s history.

“Just six years later, I’m told that we’re pretty confident next year we will have eight women serving on the Boston City Council,” Wu said in her speech. “We are here because you believed in the city of Boston, and you believe that the City Council matters.”

During the next two years, Wu said during her speech she would focus on improving Boston’s transportation system while also

pushing the city to prepare for and combat climate change.

“The heat is coming, the floods are coming, the traffic is coming as well,” Wu said.

“All of these issues are fundamental to the quality of life around the city and to the future.”

Following her speech, Wu said to The Daily Free Press she was able to use this year’s campaign as a platform to build relationships with members of the community and encourage greater participation in local elections.

“We really felt that this year,” Wu said, “there’s an opportunity to not just think about running for reelection and securing a seat, but pushing for turnout to be high and pushing for people to feel connected to city government.”

Kevin Ready, 35, from the South End, attended Wu’s election party and said one of the reasons he supported Wu’s reelection was because he always thought that Wu has been an advocate for the people of Boston her entire public life.

“She’s spent her available time working for the community,” Ready said. “And since she’s been in Boston, she has been fighting for the people of Boston, whether it was as an elected official or as an activist, and I’ve really admired and appreciated that.”

Second-place finisher Essaibi-George said to The Daily Free Press before results were released her goals would not change if she was reelected.

In Tuesday’s municipal election, 17 percent of registered Massachusetts voters -- as of September -- cast their ballots for Boston’s atlarge City Council members, a dip of more than 10 percent compared to the last election in 2017.

Every two years, Bostonians head to the polls to pick their representatives for all 13 city council seats, which include four city councilor at-large positions and nine district councilor seats. The 2019 ballot also polled voters on whether they were in favor of renaming Dudley Square to Nubian Square.

Voter turnout for Boston’s city council elections have historically lagged behind federal and Massachusetts state elections, according to voting records released by the Boston Department of Elections.

Over the past two decades, an average of 25 percent of registered voters cast their ballots each election for the City’s at-large council members.

The number of ballots cast during the past 20 years of City Council elections have not exceeded 40 percent, with the highest being 38 percent in 2013 and the lowest being 13 percent in 2007 and 2015, according to the records.

From 1999 to 2019, total turnout percentage has fluctuated up or

down by more than 10 percent for every at-large election.

Low turnout is not a trend unique to Boston, especially as municipal elections typically occur off-cycle from presidential and congressional years. Compared to the federal and state levels, they tend to draw minimal voter attention.

MassVOTE Deputy Director Tegan George said presidential elections incentivize more individuals to vote because these campaigns inundate communities with advertisements and events, and people generally get more excited over such a large-scale event every four years.

“It’s harder to harness that energy around local races, even though local races are often the ones that impact us as individuals and as residents of our towns and cities the most,” George said.

College students prove a challenging demographic to mobilize, George said, because many no longer live in their home state.

They may be unsure where they are registered, or are registered at home but have not updated to their new location.

“And it’s harder to mobilize [Get Out The Vote] around college students because they have nontraditional schedules compared to someone who works a nine-to-five,”

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2 NEWS

Ayanna Pressley answers questions from BU students

BY MEGANA VONGURU

CAMPUS Crime Logs

DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

BY MARY LULLOFF

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley visited Boston University on Tuesday for an election day question-and-answer event hosted by the BU College Democrats.

More than 100 students gathered in the Conference Auditorium at the George Sherman Union for the chance to ask Pressley a question and to listen to her speak.

College Democrats compiled a list of questions for Pressley, taken from a form that attendees filled out. Pressley sat on stage with two student moderators, Cece Szutak, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and Nathan Bindseil, a senior in CAS and vice president of College Democrats.

Pressley started off by thanking the audience for a good turnout at her Q&A. “Our coming together is another demonstration of resistance against the backdrop of the current political climate that we find ourselves in,” Pressley said.

College Democrats President Nancy Santarsiro, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, started off the event by giving a brief introduction of Pressley.

Born and raised in Chicago, Pressley said she moved to Boston to attend BU. She later withdrew from the university to help support her mother and worked as an aide to Congressman Joseph Kennedy and Senator John Kerry.

In 2009, Pressley launched a campaign for Boston City Council and became the first woman of color elected to the council in its 100-year history.

Pressley then defeated Incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano in 2018 and became the first woman of color to be elected to Congress from Massachusetts. She is one of

DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The following reports were taken from the Boston University Police Department crime logs from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.

Suspicious person in West Campus A caller reported a woman in her 40s trying to recruit people into a cult around 4 p.m. Monday on Commonwealth Ave. The case has been closed.

Fight in Allston Boston Police Department reported a fight in progress on Linden Street Sunday around 1 a.m. Officers located one person involved and the area was cleared.

Misunderstanding on Bay State Road

AUSMA PALMER/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Representative Ayanna Pressley speaks at an election day event hosted by the Boston University College Democrats at the George Sherman Union on Tuesday.

only 22 members in the Senate and House of Representatives to serve without a four-year degree.

Pressley noted how her district in Massachusetts is in a major state of change.

“This seat is one of the most progressive, vibrant and diverse and also unequal districts in the country,” Pressley said.

One question asked was if and how local-level experience has affected work at a federal level.

Pressley said, in many ways, the federal government has abandoned local-level issues and there is a strong need for municipal leaders who will stand in the gap.

“Everything is an issue of equity and health at the micro level,” Pressley said. “And the municipal is a form of government hostess of the people”.

Her work in municipal govern-

ment allowed her to establish a new caucus within Congress called the Future of Transportation, which address how transportation is a social justice issue.

Pressley stayed after the event to take individual pictures with students.

Santarsiero said she felt Pressley was a powerful person to come speak at BU. “I honestly was just awestruck when I met her before the event,” Santarsiero said. “She’s so nice down to earth, like, just so intelligent. It was a real honor to have her here.”

Bindseil helped organize the event and said he was pleased with how well the event went.

“I think it really turned out really well. All the team, all the executive board, communicated together,” Bindseil said. “We worked really hard, you know, communicating

to make sure that all aspects of the event were planned out amongst ourselves and with [the Student Activities Office] team.”

Laura Bursel, a sophomore in CAS and COM, said that she appreciated Pressley’s willingness to speak up about issues she cares about.

“She doesn’t shy away from speaking her mind and speaking up for what she believes in,” Bursel said, “and she’s really really compassionate and cares a lot about the people that she represents.”

Bursel also said she liked how Pressley connected with the audience through her compassion.

“I think a lot of people sort of like miss the actual individual people when they’re thinking about the bigger picture,” Bursel said. “Ayanna really, actually cares about people and loves to connect with them on a more personal individual level.”

Wu, Essaibi-George, Flaherty defend their council seats

SOPHIE PARK/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Michelle Wu addresses supporters at her watch party at Distraction Brewing Co. after winning her reelection campaign for Boston’s City Council at-large on Tuesday.

AT LARGE, FROM PAGE 1 “The work that I’ve been focused on is much more long term, but where we’re looking to modify it,” Essabi-George said. “Especially around family homelessness, it’s shifting from planning and conversation to action.”

Members of Essaibi-George’s campaign said the councilor has focused on eliminating family homelessness in Boston.

52-year-old volunteer Colleen Coughlin said Essaibi-George’s dedication to this issue is what originally convinced her to join Essaibi-George’s campaign.

“I like what she’s done with the kids and homelessness for families,” Coughlin said. “I never knew about all the kids that were homeless and still went to school, so that kind of sparked my participation.”

After learning of her strong second-place finish, Essaibi-George thanked her staff and supporters in a victory speech, but said they must not forget why she decided to run for reelection.

“It’s about families experiencing homelessness,” Essaibi-George said, “and not just this idea that we can do something, but that we’ve laid out a

roadmap to end family homelessness in the city.”

Homelessness, however, is not her only concern. Essaibi-George said to The Daily Free Press after declaring her victory she will push to improve the lives of Boston’s residents in a variety of issues.

“When I think about my work, I think about broad brushstrokes,” Essaibi-George said.

“It’s improving education, it’s eliminating the achievement gap in all of our schools. But there are specific ways that we do that, and those steps are really important to me.”

While the race for the fourth councilor at large seat proved to be inconclusive Tuesday, St. Guillen said during her initial concession speech she was still proud of those who helped her during the campaign.

“I feel super proud of the campaign that we ran,” St. Guillen said. “I feel like we put it all out on the field.”

After declaring her own victory, Wu arrived at St. Guillen’s election party at Bella Luna & the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain to support the candidate. Wu had earlier endorsed St. Guillen for one of the four councilor atlarge seats.

Jason Bushey, 32, of Fenway voted at the polling station at

Boston Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church and said he chose to support all the current incumbents.

“I honestly wasn’t super informed walking into this one, but did remember that it was Election Day,” Bushey said. “And I had some friends tell me that the existing councilors are doing a good job and I honestly just kind of went for that.”

Rinat Sergeev, 42, of Kenmore went to the polling station at Boston University Kilachand Hall and said he voted entirely for challengers because he was unsatisfied with the members of the previous council.

“It’s good to equalize it a little bit with any kind of preexisting administrative recourse that you have, so you can broaden the discussion,” Sergeev said.

Kristen Richards, 34, of Kenmore said she voted for Wu, Garrison, Halpert and Murphy because of their campaign issues. “[Murphy] is supporting Boston Public Schools and I’m a teacher,” Richards said. “The others are focusing on affordable rent and traffic — like congestion — and problems with the T.” Marion Cassidy, Mia Khatib and Angela Yang contributed to the reporting of this article.

Boston Police Department reported that a woman left her wallet in an Uber on Bay State Road at 1:45 a.m. Sunday and the driver refused to return it. The officer reported that it was a misunderstanding and no further action was required.

Vandalism at Warren Towers Sunday at 5 a.m. a caller reported seeing a person vandalize Warren Towers, flee and abandon several items including a backpack and a stencil. Officers were unable to locate the primary suspect.

Hit cyclist on Harvard Street

BUPD assisted with a hit cyclist on Harvard Street in Brookline at 12:45 a.m. Thursday. The cyclist reported she was hit by a car door while on her bike. Boston Fire Department and Boston Police Department arrived at the scene.

CITY

Crime Logs

BY ANGELA YANG DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The following reports were taken from the Boston Police Department crime logs from Nov. 1 to 2.

Dorchester homicide victim identified in Roslindale Officers responded to a report of a gunshot on Paine Street in Roslindale at 10:39 p.m. Friday. They arrived to find one adult male dead with a gunshot wound. The victim was later identified as 35-year-old Aderito Barbosa of Dorchester.

Police are currently investigating the case.

Officers arrest two armed suspects in Chinatown Officers arrested two armed suspects while at an altercation inside a Chinatown restaurant on Edinboro Street around 3 a.m.

Saturday. Security footage showed the male suspect threatening the victim with a revolver. Officers also arrested the female suspect after finding the firearm wrapped in a jacket on her lap.

Drug trafficking in Roxbury Officers discovered and seized multiple plastic bags containing approximately 25 grams total of a substance believed to be crack cocaine at a Roxbury residence on East Lenox Street Friday afternoon around 3 p.m. The seizure came after police obtained a search warrant for the home.

NEWS 3

Closed Kenmore Post Office to be relocated to South Campus

BY MELISSA ELLIN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The United States Postal Service plans to open a new location at 512 Park Drive in Boston Universit y ’s South Campus, USPS officials say, which will replace a post office in Kenmore Square that closed in June due to construction.

Kurtis Bullard, a USPS real estate specialist, said the office on Deerfield Street in Kenmore Square, which was the only post office on campus, was forced to close after the USPS’s lease was terminated when real estate firm Related Beal began to redevelop the property.

Bullard said the prospective space would house the retail section of the branch.

“We’ve been working with the landlord for the past couple of months, working out the details of how the space will work, but I feel pretty confident that we’ll have a lease soon,” Bullard said.

Bullard added that the delivery location is proving to be a bigger issue because it’s difficult to find a building with a parking lot in the area.

“At this point, we’re actively engaged in the market,” Bullard said. “We have our national real estate provider that is working with us.”

Steve Doherty, a USPS communications specia list, said USPS is working hard to find new spaces for the delivery portion of the branch, but there is no specific deadline for when they

will have the locations found and ready.

“As soon as we can find [an off ice location] that’s suitable, we’ll look into it and start working on it to make it ready,” Doherty said.

Doherty said the reason USPS didn’t find a new location sooner was because the notice from Related Beal came so quickly.

This affected the reallocation of resources for the Kenmore office.

“We had to put in some stock gap measures where we temporarily moved the post office box customers over to Mass. Ave. and the letter carriers are actually working out of the Port Place facility on Dorchester Ave. temporarily, until we can find something in that neighborhood,” Doherty said. “Then, we’ll put everybody back in place.”

Bullard said that because USPS leases instead of purchasing spaces currently, there is an added layer of complexity to the search.

“We have to find a landlord that’s willing to do business with us,” Bullard said.

Bullard said she is hopeful the location search will reach its end soon.

“We’re gonna tr y to move for ward so that we can get everything set up and try to be open for business,” Bullard said.

“That’s the key goal here.”

On BU campus there is a FedEx and an Amazon Hub Locker location, so options for returning packages or sending letters are nearby.

Until the new post office loca-

Bok to represent BU students by focusing on affordable housing BOK, FROM PAGE 1 overarching administration, you’re looked upon as something less than competent.”

Nassour’s election party drew a crowd of about 20 supporters at her campaign headquarters in Beacon Hill.

Maureen McInerney, Nassour’s campaign manager, said she was satisfied with how much the campaign accomplished.

“I feel exceptionally proud,” McInenery said after the loss. “I don’t think that anyone can say we left anything on the table.”

Bok, who will be succeeding current District 8 Councillor Josh Zakim, said to The Daily Free Press her main focus will be on housing and climate change.

Zakim told The Daily Free Press after the election he will be working with Bok to help with her transition into her position as a city councilor.

State Representative Jay Livingstone, who attended Bok’s campaign party, said Bok will represent college students in her district — which includes BU — by concentrating on affordable housing.

Bok’s campaign manager Carolyn Schuette said Bok will be effective as a housing advocate and progressive leader.

“She is one of the smartest people I have ever met,” Schuette said. “I don’t know anyone better to tackle some of the more complex challenges that Boston faces.”

Campaign intern and Boston College student Sam O’Connor, 20, said

Nassour’s strong stance and focus on local issues drew him to her campaign.

“Jenn is someone who sticks to her values and can argue very explicitly for what she believes in,” O’Connor said. “She’s so vibrant.”

Voters shared their ballot choices with The Daily Free Press while exiting District 8 polling stations at Boston University’s Kilachand Hall and the Boston Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Corinn Cassarino, 50, of Fenway said she liked Bok because of her qualifications to tackle the housing crisis.

“I [voted] for Kenzie Bok because she is connected to the housing department and I think that housing needs very important in this part of the city,” Cassarino said.

Bok worked to develop policy for the Boston Housing Authority, according to her campaign website.

Jessica Roy, 37, of Fenway said she voted for Bok because she was impressed with her campaigning.

“She did a lot of grassroots efforts to get her name out,” Roy said, “and I just figured if she was organized enough to have that kind of robust of campaign that she would be effective when she got in office.”

Eric Tyler, 26, of Fenway said he voted for Nassour and that he made his decision based on the visibility of the candidates within the community.

“I think local politics is probably the most important,” Tyler said, “so that’s why I’m out here today.”

Marion Cassidy, Mia Khatib and Angela Yang contributed reporting for this article.

BETSEY GOLDWASSER/ DFP FILE ILLUSTRATION

The five finalists in the Cannabis Start-Up Competition, an annual contest hosted by Innovate@BU, were released Friday.

tion opens, postage stamps must be purchased digitally from USPS and sent to a student’s mailing address, or an individual can go to an off-campus post office.

Helen Kitrosser, a junior in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation, said her BU organization, Camp Kesem, was greatly affected by the office shutdown because the group relies heavily on having a PO box. “[The closure] ma kes it harder on the other people in my club to go to a PO box to pick the stuff up that we need that helps the organization run,” Kitrosser said.

K itrosser a lso mentioned that, in her case, USPS didn’t communicate about the shutdown, so it came as a shock. She said they had an important check in the PO box too.

“There was no communication between the postal service and our organization through our email that was connected to the PO box,” Kitrosser said, “and so we don’t know what happened to all the stuff that was there.”

Soph ia Ma r racci n i, a j u n ior i n t he C ol leg e of Communication, said she was inconvenienced by the office’s remova l when she arrived on

campus this year.

“When school started, I didn’t even realize that it had closed, so I brought packages with me to return to find out that it simply wasn’t there anymore,” Marraccini said.

Tori Abdalla, a senior in Sargent, said not having a post office on campus could impact students’ ability to get absentee ballots.

“I feel like it’ll probably impact voting and accessibility for next year,” Abdalla said.

“Getting stamps to vote would be kind of a pain in the butt if you don’t have a post office.”

Low turnout caused by lack of education TURNOUT, FROM PAGE 1 George said. “In the past it was hard to get folks registered if they live in dorms. That has progressed really nicely.”

Students today can change their residency to their dorm address when updating voter registration information. Meanwhile, those who prefer to remain registered in their home state can vote absentee.

Caroline Mak, research and field coordinator at Nonprofit VOTE, said she believes the low turnout rates for municipal elections correlate to lack of knowledge.

“I think that goes hand in hand with not knowing what’s on the ballot,” Mak said. “You don’t know the candidates, therefore you’re not really excited about them, therefore you don’t really know what’s going on or even when the elections are.”

Primary responsibilities of the City Council include reviewing and approving Boston’s annual budget, voting on policies to send to the mayor for final approval and appropriating the money to fund city projects.

Mak said that when she was in her second year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she didn’t perceive local politics to be of importance to her.

“I remember being a sophomore and seeing a poster for [a] forum being like, ‘There is a Cambridge City Council panel,’ and it’s like, what does that have to do with me?” Mak said. “I have homework to do, I’m not really interested.”

However, Mak said many community issues can directly impact students. Sometimes policies

specifically affect them, such as the Boston Licensing Board’s indefinite ban on MIT fraternity parties in 2013, but more often the reverberations are low-key.

“If you want to live on campus or in summer housing — especially in the Boston, Cambridge, Somerville area, where housing prices are really expensive — you have a very direct stake in having affordable housing,” Mak said.

Municipal race results can be “razor-thin,” according to George.

Every vote counts more when so few participate.

“Voting is your most sacred civic duty as an American citizen,” George said. “It’s really the only way to have your voice heard and part of the best way to have your voice heard. And it’s fun to get your ‘Voted’ sticker; I still get so excited about stuff like that.”

Dorchester resident Reginald Busby, 52, said he does not vote in federal elections because he doesn’t believe they make a difference. But local elections are a different story,

he said.

“Because you live there, it’s just more direct. I guess you’re closer to the government,” Busby said.

“Washington’s like an abstract thought, so far away. And those people don’t interact with us.”

Brandon Thomas, 25, of the North End, said he thinks municipal elections are “absolutely more important” than federal or state.

“We can impact our environment, keep things from impacting our environment,” Thomas said.

“And it’s just a better, more tangible way of seeing how you function in the civil process.”

Ansley Moore, 19, of Downtown Boston, said she likes to vote in any election available to her.

“Smaller elections often get overlooked, even though they impact your life more directly, but also the people that win those offices are the people that have the power to run for presidential elections in the future,” Moore said. “And so by taking those elections for granted, you’re jeopardizing your future.”

4 NEWS

Go Boston 2030 transportation plan reaches major milestone Boston votes

against renaming Dudley Square

BY KATE GILBERD DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The City of Boston announced Friday it has reached a major milestone in its Go Boston 2030 transportation plan, with more than half of its proposed transportation infrastructure improvement projects currently underway.

The Go Boston 2030 plan identified 58 specific projects that are designed to make transportation safer, more convenient, more environmentally friendly and more accessible for residents across Boston’s neighborhoods, according to the plan. They range from improving access to the MBTA, building and improving sidewalks and bike lanes and redesigning city streets for greater efficiency.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh first released the plan in 2017. To form the plan, the city collected more than 3,700 ideas submitted by residents and created a mayoral advisory committee of citizens and advocacy groups to determine the best course of action, according to Friday’s press release.

Richard Dimino, president and CEO of A Better City and co-chair of the mayoral advisory committee, said Walsh and his administration did a good job at developing and implementing the transportation plan.

“I have to give Walsh and Chris Osgood, Boston’s chief of streets, a lot of credit for moving forward with putting together one of the most substantive transportation plans in the city’s history,” Dimino said.

Among the city’s completed

BY AUDREY MARTIN, VICTORIA BOND, HALEY LERNER, AND NATHAN LEDERMAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

CHLOE GRINBERG/ DFP FILE

A sign in South Station promoting Imagine Boston 2030, a series of citywide improvement plans. Over half of the framework’s transportation projects are currently underway.

projects are a new bus-only lane on Washington Street as well as protected bike lanes throughout the city.

There are currently 21 projects under implementation, 17 in design and 20 not yet started, according to the Go Boston website.

60 percent of Bostonians are now within a 10-minute walk of a transit station, up from 42 percent in 2017, according to the Go Boston 2030 website. Meanwhile, the city established its first Transit Team this year, which will work to improve regional rail travel.

Dimino said that there have also been challenges associated with the Go Boston initiative, especially in coordinating with the MBTA. “One of those third parties that needs to step up is the MBTA, especially if Boston is going to become

a transit-first city,” Dimino said.

“We’re all hoping that at some point the T can move to being a 21st-century transit system.”

LivableStreets Alliance, a Boston transportation advocacy organization, is part of the advisory committee and is developing an accountability report on the city’s progress, to be released in March.

Louisa Gag, public policy and operations manager for LivableStreets, said while the progress shown on the new website is promising, there is still plenty of work to be done.

“We don’t think that [revealing] how many projects they started really tells the whole story,” Gag said, “That doesn’t speak about whether their pace is on track and it doesn’t speak to the quality of projects.”

Gag said LivableStreets’ account-

ability report will be an unbiased assessment that will include the whole story.

Andy Boudreau, 31, of Brighton, said he was a regular commuter, but hadn’t noticed any major changes so far. He said many of his frustrations relate to a convoluted bus schedule.

“For me, certainly certain bus connections don’t seem to link up correctly, like sometimes there’ll be a ton of one bus that’ll come by and then none of another,” Boudreau said. “It just seems very messy the way that it’s set up.”

Kayla Campbell, 18, of Roslindale, said the changes she’s seen have been mostly negative, such as the recent delays on the orange line.

“You can’t get from a certain place to another place,” Campbell said, “which is really aggravating.”

Boston residents voted not to rename Dudley Square in Roxbury to Nubian Square Tuesday in the Nov. 5 elections.

The measure lost by 4,556 votes with 24,207 people voting to change the name and 28,763 voting not to change the name, according to unofficial election results from the City of Boston.

Proponents of the measure argued the name Dudley Square, which name comes from Thomas Dudley, a leading politician in 1641 when Massachusttes became the first colony to legally sanction slavery.

Voters were given the option this year to rename the square after the Nubian Empire, a historical state in the Nile region of Egypt.

There was no option on the ballot to indicate that the name should be changed but to something other than Nubian Square.

As more than half of the population of Roxbury is African American, supporters of the measure argued that naming the popular center after someone so influential in the procuration of slavery sends an unfortunate message to the community.

Highlights from Boston’s city council election

SOPHIE PARK/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A Michelle Wu campaign sign in the window of Distraction Brewing Co. on Tuesday night during Wu’s 2019 City Council at-large watch party.

RACHEL SHARPLES/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Jennifer Nassour addresses supporters at her campaign headquarters after her loss in the 2019 Boston City Council elections for District 8 on Tuesday.

LAURYN ALLEN/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Annissa Essaibi George, left, takes a selfie with supporters at her home in celebration after being elected to Boston’s City Council at-large on Tuesday.

HANNAH YOSHINAGA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Attendees at candidate Kenzie Bok’s watch party at LIR bar listen to her celebratory remarks after her victory in the 2019 Boston City Council’s District 8 election.

FEATURES 5

Dean DiChristina brings the spirit of curiosity to COM

BY ALEX LASALVIA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The late morning sunlight shone on bright yellow walls in Mariette DiChristina’s office as she spoke about her first semester back at Boston University.

The new dean’s office in the College of Communication matched DiChristina’s sunny disposition about her new position.

When she graduated from Boston University in 1986, she said, for months she had a recurring dream that she was starting a new semester and would be able to learn more.

“So I can legit say that this job is a dream come true,” DiChristina said, “because it’s a new semester and I’m learning so many things.”

DiChristina took over leading COM from former Dean Thomas Fiedler in August after working as the editor-in-chief of Scientific American, a science and technology publication, for a decade. She said journalists and scientists are alike in that both are curious people — part of her job, she said, is to foster that curiosity.

“There are so many similarities between the ambitions of scientific research and the ambitions of not just journalism, but the other areas of the college as well — these are all ways of sharing the human experience through a story,” DiChristina said. “I hope that I will bring my own unique

LIBBY MCCLELLAND/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Mariette DiChristina, the new dean of the Boston University College of Communication, in her office.

perspective the way everybody else does and I hope to add to the conversation.”

DiChristina said she recently started a months-long process with staff and faculty to ensure COM is at the forefront of its field, but they don’t know what that change will look like yet.

“It’s been a long time since COM’s strategy has been refreshed,” DiChristina said. “We’d all like to be in a place where we feel like we are innovators.”

BU implemented the Hub last year — DiChristina said she believes the program is a positive step for the university.

“I think it’s a really smart idea for the university to look to core competencies or capabilities that we all should have,” DiChristina said. “And from my perspective,

as a dean of COM, I’m pleased to see that communication is one of them. I do think that everybody needs to have that capacity.”

DiChristina’s own curiosity is what led her to pursue a career in journalism.

“Any new job has the ‘new’ word in baked into it already and I’ve always been a curious person,” DiChristina said. “That’s why I went into journalism — I wanted to study everything for the rest of my life.”

DiChristina has also worked as the executive editor at Scientific American, the executive editor at Popular Science and the executive vice president for magazines at Springer Nature, Scientific American’s parent company.

She said these leadership roles helped prepare her to be the dean

of COM. DiChristina said she could never be perfectly prepared, but the job wouldn’t be as enjoyable if she was.

“You never know what the next day’s new challenge will be and that’s how I like it,” DiChristina said.

DiChristina herself is an alumna of COM and The Daily Free Press.

“When I was a student, I joined all the things I could. I was at the Free Press — I wouldn’t say I was the best reporter there by a long shot,” DiChristina said, laughing.

For students looking to go into science journalism like she did, DiChristina suggested students find and join student organizations and student groups within national organizations in their field, such as the National Association of Science Writers.

Meeting students has been one of the highlights of her job so far, DiChristina said.

“As a community on the whole it’s been just such a highlight for me to meet such passionate, talented, committed, excellent people,” she said.

DiChristina instituted a Dean’s Invitational Speaker Series to bring guests who spark conversations among the student body.

Her first guest, Joe Palka, was an example of the common ground DiChristina sees between science and journalism — Palka is a former scientist who is now a science

correspondent for NPR. “Each time we’re bringing people in for this new series,” DiChristina said, “we’re introducing them to different groups that we think will get the maximum benefit so that it’s not just one presentation but a series of conversations.”

DiChristina said she values building those bridges between schools and disciplines.

“I can’t help but say, you know, everything is probably a little bit better with some element of COM in it,” DiChristina said.

“Ultimately we’re all humans, and we all need to share stories.”

DiChristina encourages students to take advantage, like she did, of the many opportunities at BU and to make good use of their calendars to schedule everything in.

“Your biggest enemy in a short period of time that you have here at BU is wasting that time,” DiChristina said.

DiChristina remembers her own lack of self-confidence when she was a student and said she wanted to tell students, “everything will be ok.”

“You do have the abilities, as long as we work hard and persist, we can mostly get to where we want to be,” DiChristina said.

“You also need luck. You also need connections. But luckily, at COM and at BU, we can help you with that.”

COMMUNITY The Callbacks celebrate 10 years of laughs on campus

BY CAMMY MORSBERGER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

In 2009, a group of students auditioned for a comedy group at Boston University, and in spite of being “called back,” weren’t accepted. Instead of feeling defeated, these students made their own comedy troupe called — wait for it — The Callbacks.

Ten years later, the group is still keeping BU laughing.

The Callbacks are a sketch, improv and video comedy group that have grown over the years through countless BU Central performa nces a nd on-sta ge appearances.

Jordan Grannick, a senior in the College of Communication and the club’s vice president, said each member’s personal comedy style help make up the structural base of The Callbacks.

“I think one of my favorite qualities of The Callbacks is that we encourage individual comedy styles,” Grannick said. “The comedy can definitely change year to year, but the values are very much the same as they were ten years ago.”

Grannick said he has been a part of the group since his first year at BU. A staple within the close-k nit comedy community, he said, is an emphasis on gathering distinct styles of performance. It’s this diversity in comedy styles, Grannick said,

COURTESY OF THE CALLBACKS

The members of Boston University’s sketch comedy and improv group, The Callbacks.

that sets The Callbacks apart.

“Many of us share similar senses of humor,” Grannick said.

“But every year, we get new and different ideas.”

The group performs at least two shows per semester, which Bennett Morgan, a senior in COM and the current president of the group, said strengthens the organization’s standing.

“A lot of clubs don’t get the chance to grow as much as we

have in a ten-year span,” Morgan said. “I think our 10th anniversary is a testament to the community we’ve built and its staying power.”

Fundamentally, The Callbacks are a haven for new, funny and creative minds, new member Rozime Lindsey said. Lindsey, a freshman in the College of Fine Arts, said he joined the group this semester and had his stage debut at Friday’s anniversar y

show.

Lindsey said that while he had never performed comedy before, The Callbacks made him feel welcomed and comfortable enough to audition and interact with the other members.

“The experience performing with the Callbacks was just an energy-driven, positive and fun experience,” Lindsey said. “I can’t think of any other way I would rather spend my time.”

The Callbacks’ set on Friday included equal parts sketch and improvisation, in addition to digital short videos. BU Central was packed with students celebrating the occasion and witnessing a milestone moment for the young club.

Meera Sabeh, a junior in COM and secretary of the Callbacks, said she feels a responsibility to uphold the group’s reputation among current and former members.

“It comes in the form of a great honor,” Sabeh said. “I feel that this is a very special time to be a Callback.”

These sentiments were echoed

by Grannick, who emphasized the importance of the show itself and its impact on crowds for the past decade.

“The Callbacks are a collective effort and what has helped us reach ten years is the group’s cooperation in making sure that we are always at our best,” Grannick said. “The 10th anniversary is a big deal to me.”

In keeping their jovial and friend ly energ y a live, The Callbacks look for ward to a future of creative promise, interesting perspectives, and continued group vitality, Sabeh said.

“Ten years is a huge milestone,” Sabeh said. “But I believe the foundation of the troupe is solid enough to stay standing many more years down the road.”

6 FEATURES

ARTS

Ayokay leaves audience feeling “A-Okay” at the Sinclair

BY JENNIFER SURYADJAJA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Michigan music producer and singer Alex O’Neil has a positive outlook on life — his stage name, Ayokay, says as much. Known for his relatable lyrics and amiable attitude, Ayokay gave an honest performance Sunday night at the Boston Sinclair that reflected his warm personality.

Ayokay began touring the day after releasing his latest EP “we come alive. (Side A),” whose follow-up, Side B, is in the works. In an interview with The Daily Free Press, the artist said the tour has been rewarding so far and performing on stage in front of his fans has been “effortless.”

“It’s been such a good tour,” Ayokay said. “Honestly, I think these shows have exceeded my expectations a lot. And I think there’s nothing like the payoff of seeing people actually buy tickets to come see [me] play live.”

But this isn’t Ayokay’s first rodeo in Boston, having performed at Great Scott in Allston in 2018. He said coming back to Boston “feels

SOFIA KOYAMA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Ayokay, who performed at the Great Scott last year, has returned to Boston in the wake of his recently released EP, “we come alive (Side A),” with a B-side soon to come.

just so full circle” with how much his career has advanced since then.

He and his longtime friend Nicholas Perloff-Giles, known on stage as Wingtip, joined forces to create a dynamic performance. Wingtip strolled on stage first, opening the night with “Heatworks.” He strummed his yellow guitar, closed his eyes and sang with passion throughout his time on stage.

Wingtip said touring with his friend has been fun. Similar to Ayokay, this isn’t his first stop in Boston. Wingtip said he has gained more friends who live in the city after stopping here a couple of times before.

“It’s better every time,” Wingtip said in an interview with the Daily Free Press. “It’s like having friends that you see once a year.”

As the lights dimmed and the crowd focused their attention on stage, fans were greeted with one of the human-sized, fuzzy “monsters” from his album cover, which shared

SOFIA KOYAMA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

DJ ayokay performs at the Sinclair in Cambridge on Sunday.

an uncanny resemblance to the monsters from Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” As “Things Fall Apart” began to play, Ayokay took center stage, swaying to the beat of the song. His charismatic voice mixed with the upbeat tempo of the tune turned the venue into a dreamy landscape.

Ayokay smiled on stage, clearly having a good time as he transitioned into “Swing Swing” — his favorite song he has written, Ayokay said.

“It’s a Sunday night, but are you ready to turn up?” Ayokay asked, encouraging the audience to move their bodies. Indeed, the crowd was just warming up.

Accompanied with a guitarist on the left and a drummer on the right, the singer balanced DJ-ing and singing well throughout the night. This fits into what he had been doing more lately: singing and experimenting with different tempos, which he does well due to his background as a music producer.

“I think my goal with [we come alive] was to try to channel the indie band, electronic song thing into today’s electronic landscape,” Ayokay said.

He toned it down after the energetic openers with “California Will Never Rest.” The crowd followed the slower tempo of the song, slowing down their movements in the pit, as Ayokay belted out, “The answer plays on in our heads/ Black and white torn images/ We’ll drift into our inevitable irrelevance.”

Ayokay said “California Will Never Rest” was heavily inspired by rock band LCD Soundsystem and is his favorite song to perform now that he’s touring with a band of his own.

“It feels like that song was designed for [my] band, where it’s like, my older music was designed as a one man producer,” Ayokay said.

He then switched gears to one of his older singles from 2017, “Cassette.” The f lashing lights

surrounding his figure created an enigmatic silhouette on stage and his energy could be felt through his tireless jumping.

Next came “You Think Too Much,” an unreleased song from Side B of “we come alive,” and silence engulfed the venue as the audience listened intently to the new song.

After the slower “You Think Too Much,” Ayokay then jumped back into his classic synths and let the crowd sing along to his pre-recorded voice in “Stay With Me.” He looked ever-so comfortable jumping around and headbanging to the beat of his own music, which added to the chill vibe of the show.

After he performed singles “The Shine” and “Queen” (one a collaboration with Chelsea Cutler and the later with Quinn XCII), he paused the song to make a toast, thanking the audience for spending their Sunday night with him.

Mixing songs from his entire discography was a smart move for his concert. The process of creating his latest EP involved repeatedly listening to several songs on Spotify, such as “Rushing Back” by Flume and “I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again” by Mura Masa and Clairo, as well as experimenting with differen`st tempos, Ayokay said.

“My goal with it was to try to channel the indie band electronic song thing into today’s electronic landscape,” Ayokay said in the interivew.

Ayokay proceeded to sing “Wasted Touch,” explaining to the audience that the song was specially designed for live performances. Despite restarting the song after a small sound mishap, he set an intimate mood with the song. This song was perhaps the most emotional as he crooned “I’m not the one who’s on your mind.”

“Let’s make it a vibe in here,” Ayokay said into the microphone

as he settled into “Dear Luca” with another flawless transition.

He didn’t miss a beat as he continued singing “Sleeping Next To You” and playing a quick snippet of MGMT’s “Kids.” And with that, he threw a peace sign and left the stage.

Ayokay’s abrupt exit didn’t last long — the crowd began chanting “One more song” right after he left.

The singer and his band came back almost immediately for an encore with “Sleepless Nights.”

For his last song, Ayokay performed “Kings of Summer,” which he had also recorded with Quinn XCII. It was as if the artist knew what the crowd had been waiting for.

“People lose their s--- for that one,” Ayokay said of the song.

He was spot-on. Not one person in the venue missed his cue to “jump around” with him as Quinn’s taped vocals blasted through the speakers.

With his impeccable stage presence and smooth transitions, it’s clear that Ayokay gave his all to Sunday’s performance. Electronic dance music doesn’t just belong to “rave” culture, as Ayokay has proven with his lyrical and low-key EDM music that still maintains a beat.

Boston was amongst the last few cities in Ayokay’s tour, with only four more tour dates following Sunday’s performance. After spending months on the road headlining shows with his band, Ayokay said he thinks that everything ended up where it should be — from the start of crafting his album to performing it live.

“I feel like I set out to do something with [the album],” Ayokay said. “I had such a vision from starting to create the album to how it would translate to the live show, and I feel like I’ve done that to the best of my ability and I think I’ve nailed that portion of it.”

COMMUNITY

FEATURES 7

Boston celebrates Dia de Muertos over the weekend at Copley Square

BY HANNAH SHEARER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Bright, lively music swirled around pots of marigolds and dozens of people, all chatting, laughing and celebrating the memories of those they love that couldn’t be there. Over the weekend, these elements helped bring life to Copley Square.

Dia de Muertos — “Day of the Dead” in English — is a Mexican holiday spanning two days that celebrates the memories of loved ones who have died. The ofrenda (altar), is a central part of the holiday, decorated with photos of lost family members and offerings which often include calaveras (sugar skulls), marigolds and favorite foods of the deceased.

Outside of covering the city in murals and artwork, the Mayor’s Mural Crew works on special projects for Boston, including putting together the Dia de Muertos celebration.

Heidi Schork, the director of the Mayor’s Mural Crew, describes the crew as the “art wing” of city workers, which she said gives them a lot of space to move around and a solid base to bring art into the city.

“That’s really important and it makes a huge difference and it expands out in many ways,” Schork said. “Economic benefit, youth involvement benefit, general happiness and well-being, use of green space. You know, solve problems

CONOR KELLEY/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A woman stands at the decorated altar placed in Copley Square in celebration of Mexican holiday Día de Muertos this past weekend.

through art. I think all of those things are covered.”

They spent about a month and a half organizing the weekend, Schork said, from concept drawings to growing marigolds to building the pieces used. Schork said she credits her four-person team for getting everything up and running.

“We were all hands on deck every single day, six hours a day, doing the work,” Schork said.

Attendees were encouraged to submit pictures of loved ones via the

event page, which were then framed by the Mural Crew with the help of Morgan Memorial and placed on the altar in front of Trinity Church on Copley Place.

Liz O’Brien, the manager of the Mural Crew, took all of the submitted photos and framed them to be placed on the altar.

Two other members, Connor Woods and Jerome Jones, built everything including the altar itself.

Schork said the fact that the event was being hosted by an orga-

nization affiliated with the government makes a huge difference in the impact of the event, especially in access to resources for the celebration.

The crew decorated the space in Copley with help from the Lena Park Fab Lab, a community-maker space that houses tools to make 2-D designs tangible. The space provided the papel picado, colorful paper with elaborate designs cut into it, which they cut using a laser cutter in their office and draped around Copley

COMMUNITY

Place.

Greg Buckland, the coordinator for Fab Lab’s Lena Park location, said the technology helps speed up the process drastically.

“I think it’s a really good application for the laser cutter because it’s very time consuming to do that work by hand,” Buckland said. “ I think it’s also an interesting sort of application of modern technology to a traditional craft.”

The celebration included 500 pots of cempasuchil marigolds, also called “flor de muerto,” or “flower of the dead,” whose brightness is thought to attract the souls of the dead and to help guide them to the spirit world.

The two-day celebration included live music performed by a mariachi band led by Veronica Robles, the founder of Boston’s first all women mariachi band traditional, Mexican cuisine and a free screening of “Coco,” an Academy Award winning animated film that takes place in Mexico and centers on the importance of family and remembrance.

Schork said she felt the event had a sense of both Mexican and Boston culture, filling the vast space of Copley Square with energy and excitement.

“I think that you felt on Saturday when the mariachis were playing and it was fun was out and and everybody was there and you were transported,” Schork said. “At least in my opinion, you could be in Mexico.”

Illustrated courtroom art gallery fundraiser lets Boston relive history

BY LILY KEPNER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

An enraged Charles Manson leaps across the courthouse, pencil flying toward the unflinching Judge Older.

Michael Jackson quietly wipes his eye as he is acquitted in his pedophile case. Moments that are shrouded behind closed courtroom doors are alive now only in the sketches from courtroom artists.

Sunday evening, the creators of the upcoming documentary “Illustrated Courtroom: Manson to #Metoo” hosted an art gallery fundraiser at the Revere Hotel in Boston. The event featured 20 pieces of courtroom art spanning 50 years from the three artists featured in the documentary, all of whom are still active in the field today.

Bram Lowenstein, executive producer and co-director for the documentary and a senior at Emerson College, said he hoped the event would encourage people to relieve their fascination for these historical events.

“We really just want people to have a fun, calm night, learn about something new and maybe begin to have a new perspective or outlook on just how these things are viewed,” Lowenstien said.

Aggie Kenny, a courtroom artist present at the event, began her career at WCBS, a CBS-owned radio station broadcasting from New York City, in the early 1970’s on the Hugh Addonizio trial. She received an

LILY KEPNER/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Visitors view courtroom sketches on display at a gallery fundraiser hosted at the Revere Hotel in Downtown Boston that is ongoing through November.

Emmy for her coverage of the PostWatergate Mitchell-Stans trial in 1974 for the CBS Evening News.

Kenny said that despite the changes to the field, she has found the courtroom to be a wonderful opportunity to pursue her passion for art.

“I love working as an artist and I specifically love drawing the human figure in motion. It’s always a challenge and very, very interesting,” Kenny said.

Beyond courtroom art, Kenny’s sketches on the excavation sites at Ground Zero in 2002 were also fea-

tured at the event. These watercolor pieces are from a larger collection called “Artists as Witness — the 9/11 Responders” previously exhibited at the New York City Police museum.

Kenny was the only artist to access the excavation site at Ground Zero during this time and went independently.

Artist Elizabeth Williams kicked off her career in 1980 under the mentorship of Bill Robles, another artist featured in the documentary.

Her sketches included at the gallery depicted Harvey Weinstein, El Chapo, Jeffrey Epstein, Tekashi

6ix9ine and Felicity Huffman in their courtroom moments.

Robles, the only living courtroom artist to have drawn Charles Manson, is renowned for the detail in his sketches. His career in courtroom art, portraiture, and illustration has spanned over four decades, earning him a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators in Los Angeles.

Taylor Young, an Emerson College student, said she was thrilled to attend the gallery and talk to the artists because she’s interested in

pursuing a career in courtroom art herself. Young said she particularly enjoyed observing each artists individual style when creating a courtroom sketch.

“There’s a lot more to them than people might think,” Young said. “I appreciate the talent that goes into doing something so quickly and so detailed.”

The proceeds of the exhibit will support post-production costs for the documentary, specifically animation and distribution. The kickstarter campaign for the project sets out to raise $27,500 by Nov. 23.

The documentary is slated to be 30 minutes, Lowenstein said, and hopefully completed by July 2020. He said he envisions the documentary becoming a pitch pilot for a threepart documentary, where each artist gets their own part.

“It was definitely something that ballooned from day one, we didn’t expect it to become as big as it is,” Lowenstein said. “But the fact that it is as big as it is right now is incredibly rewarding.”

Lowenstein said he hopes the gallery allows people to relive the fascination they felt when first encountering all this history and to gain a better appreciation for this craft.

“I want people to come out of this with a belief in the artists behind the art,” Lowenstein said, “but also the artists behind this documentary, that what we can do can really, really impact a large amount of people.”

8 OPINION

EDITORIAL

As 2020 elections approach, students must get involved L a st n i g ht m a r ke d t h e e nd of t h e 2019 election sea son, or i n ot her words, the beg i n n i ng of the most i m p o r t a nt m o nt h s of t h e 2 0 2 0 e l e c tions. In the c u r rent heig htened pol itica l atmosphere, suppor ters c a n n o t a f f o r d to c a tc h t h e i r b r e a t h b ef or e d e v ot i n g a l l of t hei r ener g y to g e t t i n g w h a t t h e y w a nt i n 2 02 0 .

A y e a r out f r om w h at i s s p e c u l ate d to b e o n e of t h e m o s t h i s to r i c e l e c t i o n s i n m o d e r n U. S . h i s t o r y — n o m a t te r t h e r e s u lt s — t h e r e a r e a f e w th i ngs ever y voter ca n do to be as i n f or m e d a nd h e a r d a s p o s s i bl e .

F i r s t l y, t h e m e d i a ’s e x t r e m e empha sis on the presidentia l elect ion o v e r s m a l l e r s e a t s mu st b e e r a d ic a te d . Ev e r y s i n g l e Ho u s e s e a t , on e th i rd of the Senate a nd cou ntless st a te a nd l o c a l e l e c t ion s i n 2 02 0 w i l l a f f e c t t h e l i v e s of e v e r y v o t e r, p e r haps more d irectly tha n the presidenc y w i l l.

S m a l l e r i s s u e s m a y n ot r e ce i v e a s much covera ge as a d iv isive presid e nt i a l m a t c h u p , b u t v o t e r s s h o u l d b e a bl e to f i nd i n f or m a t ion on ot h e r elections publ ished by their loca l n e w s r o om s a n d c h a n n e l s . T h e s e a r e the decisions that w i l l u lti mately m a ke c h a n g e w h e r e mo st v ote r s w a nt it a nd c r e a te m or e p a s s ion a te v ote r s t h a t t u r n o ut to p a r t ic i p a te .

The col lege demog raph ic was g reatly represented i n 2018 a nd s h o u l d co nt i n u e to s h o w o u t i n s u p p or t of c a nd id ate s e v en mor e i n 2 02 0 .

It h a s b e e n s a i d o v e r a n d o v e r, b u t t u r n o ut i s u lt i m a te l y t h e m o st e s s e n t i a l a s p e c t of a n y e l e c t ion .

Ma ny states attempt to ma ke it d i f f i c u lt f o r s t u d e nt s , b o t h i n - s t a te a nd out -of -state, to vote on ca mpus or th roug h absentee systems.

It i s i m p o r t a n t t o s t a y a w a r e o f the resources that a re ava i lable a nd abide by the ma ny reg u lations placed on absentee voti ng i n order to h a v e e v e r y v ote r ’s v oice h e a r d a nd co u nte d .

Considering we do not even get c l a s s e s of f f or e l e c t ion d a y, it i s d i f f ic u lt f or i n - st a te v ote r s to f i nd t i m e to ret u r n to thei r pol l i ng stations, b ut i n it i a t i v e s f o r p o l l i n g pl a ce s o n ca mpus for a l l st udents have been s h ot d o w n a c r o s s t h e co u nt r y.

M a n y v ote r s a r e d i s co u r a g e d f r om v ot i n g i f t h e y f e el t h e i r one v ote w i l l n ot cont r i b ute to t h e o utcom e of t h e election, wh ich is a da ngerous a nd i n a c c u r a t e a s s u m p t i o n . It i s t h i s m i nd s et t h a t , i f a d o pte d b y to o m a n y p e o pl e , d e te r s v ot i n g to t h e p oi nt of d r a st ic a l l y a f f e c t i n g r e s u lt s .

In doing their resea rch, ma ny p e o pl e f i nd t h e r e i s a c a nd id a te t h a t w a nt s to m a ke c h a n g e s t h e y a r e p a s sionate about, wh ich w i l l motivate t h e m to g e t to t h e p o l l s . A s l o n g a s that issue gets a nother person to v ote , it i s a w or t h w h i l e i nte r e st .

T h e c u r r e nt p o l it ic a l c l i m a te a nd h e i g hte n e d e m ot ion s t h a t com e w it h it have made th is election sea son f e e l l i ke a n e te r n it y. W h e n w e a r e a s p o l a r i z e d a s w e a r e to d a y it i s e a s y to g e t c a u g ht u p i n t h e t i n y c h a n g e s in pol ls or ca mpa ig n ing that have a s m a l l e f f e c t o n t h e u lt i m a te r e s u lt s n e x t y e a r.

CROSSWORD

GABRIELA HUTCHINGS/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

We a r e i n a p o l i t i c a l c y c l e o f con st it u e nt s . b e com i n g u n h a p p y w it h w h a te v e r i s No w i s t h e m o st e s s e nt i a l t i m e to t h e s t a t u s q u o i n o u r p o l it i c a l s y s - e x e r c i s e o u r c i v ic d ut y b y p a r t ic i p a t t e m , w h i c h h a s c a u s e d a c o n s t a n t i n g i n e l e c t i on s . W h a t h a p p e n s n o w b a c k a n d f o r t h b e t w e e n D e m o c r a t s w i l l l a y t h e g r o u nd w or k f or t h e p o l i a n d R e p u b l i c a n s i n a l l l e v e l s a n d c ie s w e a r e d e b a t i n g f or d e c a d e s . p o s it ion s i n g o v e r n m e nt .

A nd j u st a s i m p or t a nt a s v ot i n g i s I f t h i s i s t h e n a t u r a l r h y t h m o f encou r a g i n g t he p e o pl e a r ou nd y ou to p u b l i c o p i n i o n , s o b e i t . B u t i t i s a s w e l l a nd a d v o c a t i n g f or t h e c a u s e s m or e l i ke l y t h e r e p e a te d e l e c t ion of y o u f i n d y o u a r e p a s s i o n a t e a b o u t . c a nd id a te s v ote r s a r e n ot p a s s ion a te C a m p u s i s e x a c t l y t h e k i n d of pl a ce a b o u t b u t t h a t a r e v i e w e d a s m o r e t h a t f o ste r s p o l it ic a l a c t ion t h r o u g h l i k e l y t o w i n t h a t h a s c a u s e d t h i s st u d e nt g r o u p s a nd a c t i v it ie s a nd to p a t te r n . stay informed th roug h the va rious T h e f a c t of l i v i n g i n a d e m o c r a c y o ut l e t s st u d e nt s a nd f a c u lt y pr o v id e . i s t h at it i s t r u l y on l y t he p e o pl e t h at S o t a ke a d e e p br e a t h to d a y, t a ke ca n ma ke a ny cha nges in the gov- a brea k from th i n k i ng about pol ie r n m e nt a nd it s p o l i c i e s , e v e n w h e n t ic s , t h e n k ic k y o u r p a s s ion i nto g e a r e l e c t e d o f f i c i a l s f e e l o u t - o f - t o u c h tom or r o w a nd e v e r y d a y u nt i l No v. 3 , f r om t he l e g it i m a te concer n s of t hei r 2 02 0 .

This week’s crossword puzzle is brought to you by Kelly Fisher COURTESY OF MIRROREYES.COM / CROSSWORD ANSWERS AVAILABLE ON https://dfpress.co/2JUtj4MU

1. Clan emblem 6. Countertenor 10. Portend 14. Fancy 15. 24 in Roman numerals 16. Makes a mistake 17. Collection of maps 18. Citrus fruit 19. Untruths 20. Whatever 22. Fail to win 23. Years (French) 24. Sunrises 26. Cloudburst 30. Awaken 32. Sheeplike 33. Relaxed under the sun 37. They’re found on fish 38. Platters 39. German for “Mister” 40. Small dartshaped projectile

t h e i nd e p e nd e nt st ude n t n ewspap e r at bo sto n un iversity 49th year | Volume 96 | Issue 8 The Daily Free Press (ISSN 1094-7337) is printed Thursdays during the academic year except during vacation and exam periods by Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc., a nonprofit corporation operated by Boston University students. No content can be reproduced without the permission of Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright © 2019 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

DOWN

ACROSS

Haley Lerner, Editor-in-Chief Alex LaSalvia, Campus Editor Joel Lau, City Editor Nathan Lederman, Features Editor

42. Wampum 43. _ _ _ _ _ fit 44. Get temporarily 45. Put one’s foot down 47. “The Matrix” hero 48. Hodgepodge 49. Not segregated 56. Make well 57. Wood-cutting tools 58. Call forth 59. No more than 60. Send forth 61. Seminal f luid 62. WW1 plane 63. Collections 64. Amount of hair

1. Defrost 2. Pledge 3. A city in western Russia 4. French for “State” 5. A communication 6. Wheel shafts 7. 64 in Roman numerals 8. An indefinite period 9. Records over an existing track (sound) 10. Indicator of trends 11. Heavenly hunter 12. Put on clothes 13. Being 21. Half of a pair 25. An Old Testament king 26. Remove, as a hat 27. Wicked 28. Connects two points 29. Uneducated 30. Out of practice

31. A single time 33. Seats oneself 34. Listen 35. Therefore 36. Sketched 38. Hates intensely 41. Not her 42. Most destitute 44. Implore 45. Slumber 46. Crown 47. Homes for birds 48. Units of resistance 50. What a person is called 51. Blockhead 52. Affirm 53. Hefty volume 54. Anagram of “Seek” 55. Lairs

Audrey Martin, Managing Editor

Shubhankar Arun, Sports Editor Victoria Bond, Editorial Page Editor Sofia Koyama, Photo Editor

Maya Mabern, Layout Editor Olivia Ritter, Blog Editor Kami Rieck, Multimedia Editor

OPINION 9

CAMPUS COGNITION:

COLUMNS

CANNABIS CULTURE:

Why city council candidates Social equity programs are rectifying the war on drugs are ignoring BU students

BY BILLY BUGARA COLUMNIST

We a r e c u r r e n t l y a t t h e a p e x o f one of t h e m o st w ond e r f u l a nd e x c it i n g t i m e s of t h e y e a r f or a v id f ol l o w e r s of l o c a l p o l it i c s : e l e c t i o n n i g ht .

T h i s i s a t i m e f u l l of a c t ion a nd p a s s ion f r om c a nd id a te s a nd t h o s e w h o a d v o c a te f or t h e m .

I n a s u c h a n e n g r o s s i n g p o l it i c a l e n v i r o n m e nt l i k e B o s to n , it s h o u l d co m e a s n o s u r p r i s e t h a t t h e s e f e e l i ng s resonate th rou g hout the cit y t h i s t i m e of y e a r. A l l a c r o s s t h e c it y, com m it te e s a nd a d v o c a c y g r o u p s a r e w or k i n g h a r d to g et t h e r e s u lt s t h e y hope w i l l lead to cha nge i n thei r d i st r ic t s .

But what about on Boston Un i v e r s i t y ’s c a m p u s ? S u r e l y, t h e s e c a n d i d a t e s w o u l d l i k e to c a p it a l i z e o n t h e c i t y ’s y o u t h a n d t o c o n v e y thei r messa ge to people spend i ng n i ne mont h s a y e a r l i v i n g i n t h e c it y.

T houg h plent y of sig ns decorate the streets of Com monwea lth Av e n u e a n d B a y S t a t e R o a d , it s e e m s as thoug h the ca nd idates have been p u t t i n g BU n e a r t h e b o t to m of t h e i r p r i o r it y l i s t d u r i n g t h e i r c a m p a i g n s .

M o s t l i k e l y, t h e s e c a n d i d a t e s have either assumed most outo f - s t a t e s t u d e n t s a t B U d o n ’t c a r e about or vote in loca l elections or they bel ieve they a re si mply ta king a more strateg ic route in their ca mpa ig n by focusi ng on the adu lt popu lation.

I f e it h e r of t h e s e f a c to r s a r e t r u e , it w o u l d s a y a l o t a b o u t t h e m i n d s e t of t h e t y p i c a l B o s t o n c a n d i d a t e . I n m y a d m it te d l y br i e f o v e r v i e w of t h i s y e a r ’s l o c a l c a n d i d a t e s , n o t m a n y have even mentioned BU or other co l l e g e s .

T h i s i s j u st i f i a ble to a n e x tent. BU a nd the cit y of Boston a re somewhat s e p a r a te e nt it ie s t h a t s e e t h em s el v e s d i v i d e d b y BU ’s s t a t u s a s a p r i v a t e i n st it ut ion . B ut d o e s t h a t g i v e t h e s e c a nd id ate s t he r i g ht to d o w npl a y t h i s s u b st a nt i a l l y l a r g e st u d ent b o d y t h a t co u l d g i v e t h e m a d d it ion a l s u p p or t ?

O u r s t u d e nt b o d y h a s t h e p o t e n t i a l to m a ke u p t h e f ut u r e of B o ston o n c e o u r c o l l e g e d a y s o u r o v e r.

S t u d e nt s a r e m o r e i n c l i n e d t o s t a y here long -ter m if thei r i mpression of t h e c it y i s p o s it i v e .

T houg h th is rea l ization is va l id, t h e co u n c i l or s a r e n ot a c t i n g o ut of disrega rd. In fact, they may have a relatively sou nd a rg u ment for why t h e y p ut BU l o w i n t h e i r pr ior it ie s .

T h e m a j or it y of o u r st u d e nt b o d y g i v e s j u st a s l it t l e , i f not l e s s , a t te n t ion to l o c a l p ol it ic i a n s a s t he y d o to u s . T h e i r s i g n s m a y g r a ce t h e st r e e t s t h r o u g h o ut t h e y e a r, but t h e a v e r a g e BU st u d e nt d o e s not k no w w h o t h e s e p e o pl e a r e .

A s s a t u r a te d a s t h i s c a m p u s i s i n t h e c u r r e nt - d a y p o l it i c a l l a n d s c a p e , n o t e v e r y s t u d e nt f e e l s t h e n e e d to enga ge themselves w ith pol itics — especia l ly when considering the com p a r a t i v e l y l o w l e v e l of i n f l u e nce l o c a l p ol it ic s pl a y i n t h e m e d i a w h e n com p a r e d to n a t ion a l stor ie s .

A d isti nct d ichotomy is created h e r e : t h e s t u d e n t b o d y ’s l e v e l o f awa reness towa rd thei r loca l pol it i c i a n s g i v e s w a y to t h o s e p o l it i c a l f ig u res respond i ng w ith that sa me m i nd s et . W hen con f r onte d w it h t h i s , it may seem fa i r to consider both sides justif ied in their respective l a c k of con s id e r a t ion .

T h e r e a r e n o d e f i n it i v e a n s w e r s to ho w mu c h t he s e c a nd id ate s s hou ld f o c u s t h e i r a t te nt ion on o u r st u d e nt b o d y, n o r a r e t h e r e a n y t h a t w o u l d s o l v e t h e p r e s s i n g i s s u e of s t u d e nt s n ot p a y i n g e no u g h a t te nt ion to t h e i r l o c a l g o v e r n m e nt .

W h a t c a n b e s a i d , h o w e v e r, f o r those who feel the sl ig htest bit e n g a g e d , i s w e w o u l d f e e l mu c h m or e appreciated if these f ig u res wou ld a t l e a s t a t te m pt to f u r t h e r a c k n o w l e d g e t h e p e o pl e w h o co u l d m a ke u p a g r e a t a m o u nt of t h e i r v ote r b a s e i n t h e com i n g y e a r s .

BY TONY SHEHATA COLUMNIST

Marijuana has been prohibited in the U.S. federally since 1937. However, various states have passed legislation in the past two decades legalizing marijuana for both medical and recreational uses.

The discussion surrounding federal legalization of marijuana with the upcoming 2020 presidential election may seem like a good thing for cannabis advocates across the country and it is definitely a step in the right direction for the future of cannabis.

But many candidates have failed to address the most important issue of federal legalization — the horrific impact caused by the harsh policies of the war on drugs.

The U.S. government has been passing legislation prohibiting drugs since the late 1800s. In 1870, the U.S. passed laws against opium and in the 1900s the government passed restrictive laws on both marijuana and cocaine. But the official war on drugs began in 1971 when President Richard Nixon decided that the U.S. needed stronger policies and enforcement against drug use across the country.

Drug enforcement policies can generally be perceived as a step taken to protect citizens, but the reality of the war on drugs has been quite insidious. The war on drugs mainly consisted of harsher mandatory sentencing, an increase in drug enforcement manpower and the distribution of many no-knock warrants.

T he c u lt u r a l ch a n g e s spread i n g across the cou ntr y i n the 1970s prov ided Ni xon w ith a n oppor t u n it y: by a sso ci at i n g bl ack com mu n it ies a nd h ippies w ith the use of d r ugs l i ke ma r ijua na a nd heroi n, Ni xon wa s able to t urn publ ic opin ion a ga inst these commun ities. The wa r on d r ugs went on to

w rea k havoc on communities across the countr y.

Harsher sentences led to families losing brothers, sons and fathers. Despite Nixon leaving office, the war on drugs burned on with the “Just Say No” slogan of Nancy Reagan’s anti-drug campaign, discouraging the voluntary use of any drugs.

The war on drugs has cost the federal government more than $47 billion per year, has disproportionately impacted black and Latino communities in the U.S. and has been regarded as a massive detriment to the development and socioeconomic advancement of minority communities across the country.

With federal legalization on the horizon, something must be done to rectify the damage done by the war on drugs. A key step towards reversing this damage is the use of economic empowerment and social equity programs in communities that have legalized marijuana. The purpose of these programs is to allow state legislators to level the playing field for minorities in a recently legalized market.

Legislators should recognize the damage done by the war on drugs and remember the people most impacted when considering the future of cannabis in their state.

Many cities and states have implemented such programs in their legalization process; Massachusetts has developed its own set of social equity programs to assist entrepreneurs and communities that were ravaged by archaic drug enforcement laws.

In addition, many cities across California, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, have implemented programs to remove barriers of entry to the legal cannabis industry.

Similar programs not only look toward the future of the newly legal cannabis industry, but also consider that some citizens may carry criminal records as a result of decades-old marijuana charges. Denver has implemented a process for its citizens to get their criminal records sealed if their record contains marijuana charges.

The legalization of marijuana has a bright future in America, but we cannot forget the dark past it has had in this country. More importantly, we cannot forget the Americans impacted by the archaic drug enforcement while other Americans are getting rich off of the cannabis industry.

RACHEL CALLAHAN/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

INTERROBANG

NextGen Climate, a climate-changed focused political group, have brought puppies to polling stations in the past to encourage people to turn out to vote. We here at the ol’ Free Press want to know: What would entice BU student groups to vote?

CGS: Juice boxes

Student Government: Attention

Dean Elmore: Community building

COM: Instagram followers

Outing Club: A blade of grass

BU Veg Club: Protein

Questrom: Brooks Brothers coupons

Freshman: A Tinder relationship

FreeP: Our civic duty

10 SPORTS

7th Inning Stretch: Bright spots amid a disappointing season for the Red Sox

BY JACOB GURVIS COLUMNIST

I don’t care who Kurt Suzuki votes for in 2020. Or LeBron James. Or Colin Kaepernick. They are each American citizens just like me, with their own right to free speech and the liberty to express their opinions however they may choose.

Well, in theory, of course. As we saw this past week, equality is much more of a pipe dream than it is a reality.

On Monday, the Washington Nationals visited the White House to celebrate the city’s first World Championship since the Washington Senators won it all in 1924. As expected, it was awkward and provided its fair share of controversy.

During President Donald Trump’s speech recounting the Nationals’ magical season, he gave note of Suzuki’s heroic home run in Game 2 against the Houston Astros. Suzuki joined Trump at the podium, donned a “Make America Great Again” hat, and gleefully told the crowd, “I love you all. I love you all. Thank you.” Trump hugged Suzuki from behind and then like Suzuki’s homer, it was over in a flash.

The backlash, however, has been steady and sharp. Many have lambasted Suzuki, a fourth-generation Japanese American born in Hawaii, for his public embrace of the president.

Many have pointed to Suzuki’s Asian heritage as a reason that he should reject Trump and his controversial views on immigration.

I don’t intend to engage in the

politics of the incident. Suzuki has the right to support whomever he chooses, and while he certainly has a more powerful and prominent platform than most, he has the right to express his opinions however he wants.

My issue, however, is the clear and shameful double standard that exists in the ever-complex intersection between sports and politics. It’s pretty simple, really: if you’re a person of color and you express a political belief, you’re told to “shut up and dribble,” while if you’re not, go ahead about whip out your MAGA hat.

Of course, this topic is not so blackand-white (pun intended). But it is hard to ignore the varied reactions that Suzuki, James, and Kaepernick have received when each expressed a political belief, each in a seemingly harmless manner.

While Suzuki was criticized for his actions, the outrage surfaced as a result of the substance of his statement.

Many liberal fans and members of the media questioned Suzuki’s boldly public acceptance of Trump, while teammates like Sean Doolitle notably declined to participate in the visit. But nobody questioned Suzuki’s basic right to put on the hat. There have not been serious calls for Suzuki to be cut, fined, or otherwise punished financially or professionally for his actions.

James and Kaepernick, on the other hand, famously received the opposite treatment. Ever since Kaepernick took a knee during the National Anthem to protest police brutality in America,

he has been on the receiving end of an endless deluge of hatred and vitriol from fans, conservative pundits and the president. Kaepernick was blackballed by the NFL and hasn’t played since 2016.

Similarly, though less drastically, James was told to “shut up and dribble”

by Fox News host Laura Ingraham after he spoke negatively of Trump.

While her final four words have became an infamous rallying cry for social activism and a Sports Emmynominated docuseries, the full quote is even more telling.

“It’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball,” she said. “Keep the political comments to yourselves ... Shut up and dribble.”

Now, Ingraham does not have to care what James thinks about Trump, race relations in the U.S., or anything else. But to question his right to share his beliefs and reduce him to a mere entertainer is a shallow, offensive viewpoint that unfortunately is all too common nowadays.

And it’s not just athletes anymore.

The sports site Deadspin has seen what happens when out-of-touch media executives give their writers the same archaic message of “stick to sports.” Almost the entire editorial staff quit in protest after the outlet’s interim editor-in-chief was fired for not following the misguided directive.

The truth is, in our intersectional society in 2019, it is not truly possible to separate sports and politics. It never

has been. Sports are inherently political, But at the end of the day, what I think and the phenomenon of players and about what they think does not matter. coaches engaging in political discourse All that matters is that they each have is far from new. But the right to speak equal opportunity to kneel, speak, and out is one that must be extended to wear whatever hat they want. all, regardless of sport, title, race, or Following the firestorm on Monday, belief. Golden State Warriors coach Suzuki told USA Today that he was Steve Kerr has just as much of a right “just trying to have some fun.” He said to bash Trump as Nationals catcher the focus should be on the Nationals’ Suzuki does to wear a MAGA hat on championship, but that “everybody live television. makes everything political.” What Of course, this inability to detach did he expect? sports and politics is shared by jourEven at the highest levels of sports, nalists, too. I have personal opinions culture, and celebrity, a stark double about each of the three aforementioned standard persists around race. If only players, their political beliefs and the Suzuki recognized the privilege he has methods they used to express them. to wear that lightning-bolt of a red hat.

First and Goal: Minshew Mania, Danny Dimes, and the new guard of the NFL quarterbacks

BY CHRIS LARABEE COLUMNIST

Week nine of the NFL season was the strangest one yet. Sunday brought us some of the weirdest football we’ve watched this year.

The tanking Miami Dolphins scored 26 points en route to a win over the hopeless New York Jets. At this point, it’s clear the Jets made the wrong decision in the offseason when hiring coach Adam Gase and it’s clear through a series of embarrassing performances that he should be fired.

A 33-0 shellacking at the hands of the New England Patriots isn’t great but the Jets were not supposed to win that game. But an eight point loss to a Dolphins team that has shipped off multiple starters is unacceptable.

After the loss, Gase said that he wasn’t embarrassed by the loss because it’s the NFL, but calling that loss embarrassing is an understatement. It’s not nice to talk about someone’s job, but Gase should be fired for his performance this season.

The wackiness of this week doesn’t stop there; it just gets weirder.

Aaron Rodgers, one of the best quarterbacks to ever do it, was completely shut down by the Los Angeles Chargers in a way that has never been done before.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Rodgers had a measly 61 yards to his name, a career-low through three quarters for the QB. Defense continues to be the theme of the season, but to shut down a transcendent talent like Rodgers is unexpected and yet, it wasn’t the only strange moment of the game. The first half featured only nine points on the board — three field goals from LA — despite featuring two dynamic offenses and two future hall of fame QBs. Another oddity of this game was the low number of punts for such a low-scoring game.

The Green Bay Packers scored 11 points, but only punted five times, which is low considering how ineffective the offense was.

The Chargers punted only the high-tempo offense, the once in the game, but the offense Patriots hurried to the line and seems to forget they were pro- were stuffed on another run play fessional football players any- for Michel. time they stepped inside the Why offensive coordinator Green Bay 30-yard line leading Josh McDaniels called another to Michael Badgley attempting a run plays to the right side after career-high five field goals. getting stopped is beyond me and In a week with strange events it somehow got worse from there. happening all around the league, After Michel was stopped on secthe weirdest thing to happen ond down, the Patriots hurried to was the Patriots’ uncharacteris- the line again for no reason and tic performance in Baltimore on Tom Brady was sacked to force Sunday night. fourth down.

Unforced mental errors and poor coaching is not the Patriot Way, but it looked like it for most of the game Sunday night.

On the Baltimore Ravens’ first drive of the game, the Patriots’ vaunted defense was pushed up against their own endzone, but in typical Patriots fashion, were able to force a field goal attempt.

Then the first uncharacteristic moment of the night happened: the Patriots caused a What was McDaniels trying neutral zone infraction on the to achieve with such basic play field goal attempt, giving the calling and at such a high-tempo Ravens a first down inside the when the defense needed a rest? five. Holding the Ravens to three The Patriots do not look points there wouldn’t have been incompetent very often, but they the worst thing, but allowing an did Sunday night. The offense opening drive touchdown revved is limited by injury and maybe up the crowd to playoff levels and McDaniels and Bill Belichick put New England in an early hole. don’t want to show their hand A quick three-and-out on the before a potentia l playoff Patriots first possession led to matchup in the future, but the a field goal from Baltimore and Patriots looked completely lost. the Patriots’ ensuing possession Give credit to Ravens coach was one of their ugliest in recent John Harbaugh, he easily outmemory. coached Belichick last night and Running the hurry-up offense, it is not the first time he’s done the Patriots lined up and gave it either.

Michel the ball again for another Even New England’s star three-yard gain. Keeping with players made uncharacteristic

All NFL fans, including Patriots fans, cannot handle the thought of the Patriots losing a single game.

mistakes. James “Sweet Feet” White wasn’t so sweet at the end of the first half. The Patriots had a golden chance to tie up a game that looked like it was going to be a repeat of 2014’s Monday Night Massacre at Kansas City, but White tripped over his own feet at the goal line on third and goal, forcing the Patriots to call a timeout and kick a field goal.

Ju l ia n E del ma n wa sn’t immune to making mistakes either. The go-to receiver caught a pass in the f lats on the Patriots’ first drive of the second half, made a defender miss, and then was promptly stripped of the football, which was then taken to the house by Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

That scoop-and-score effectively buried the Patriots as they would score one more touchdown before stalling at 20 points. The Ravens went on to shock the Patriots 37-20 and then foolishly proceeded to take a team picture on the field like they had just won the Super Bowl.

Baltimore has proved that it belongs with the Patriots and Chiefs at the top of the AFC, but let’s pump the brakes on celebrating the demise of New England.

A ll NFL fans, including Patriots fans, cannot handle the thought of the Patriots losing a single game — everybody is quick to say that the dynasty is dead after one loss through nine games.

L et ’s not forget t hey lost f ive g a mes la st sea son, thei r most losses si nce 2009, a nd we a l l k now how that sea son ended.

SPORTS 11

Terriers women’s basketball team ready for new season

BY MAXWELL BEVINGTON DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

After showing signs of improvement in the 2018-19 season, the Boston University women’s basketball team will be looking to take another step forward under second year head coach, Marisa Moseley.

Before Moseley arrived, the Terriers put up a losing record in every season since 2012-13, including the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons where the Terriers won a total of five and three games respectively.

In the first year under Moseley the Terriers posted a winning record of 15-14 and an 11-7 record in the Patriot League, matching its best league record in team history. With the team’s performance, Moseley was named Patriot League Coach of the Year.

Coming into this season, BU was picked to finish 4th in the Patriot League preseason poll, making it the Terrier’s highest preseason ranking since joining the league. Bucknell was picked to finish one spot ahead of BU at 3rd, Holy Cross was picked to finish 2nd, and Leigh was picked to finish first.

The team returns nine players from the previous season, while having six newcomers.

The Terriers will be tasked with replacing guard Payton Hauck, who led the team with a total of 344 points last season and averaged a team best 12.3 points per game.

Two other players the Terriers will need to replace are forward Naiyah Thompson and guard Lauren Spearman. Thompson scored a total of 194 points last year and averaged 6.7 points per game. Spearman scored a total of 274 points last year and averaged 9.4 points per game.

The Terriers will also need to replace Thompson’s production off the boards. She had a total of 169 rebounds last season and averaged 5.8 rebounds per game, good for 3rd best on the team in both categories.

Moseley recognizes the youth of the team, as well as the production that the team needs to replace, but still remains in her confident in the talent of her squad.

“We are more talented, but we are still very young and so I think it is going to take us a little bit of time to get everybody on the same page,” said Moseley.

Although BU is overall a young team, the Terriers do return multiple important players from the previous season.

Senior Nia Irving, junior Katie Nelson, and sophomore Riley Childs all saw significant playing time last year and all are returning for this season. Irving also had the second most overall points on the team with 308 and Nelson led the team in minutes played with 1100.

The Terriers also return junior Mackenzie Miers, senior Vanessa

CHLOE GRINBERG/ DFP FILE

Senior Nia Irving, shown in a Feb. 4 game against Lehigh University, will be crucial for the Boston University women’s basketball team in seeing success this season.

Edgehill, junior Tenisha Pressley, and sophomores Chiara Tibbitt and Ashley Sieper.

Moseley will be looking to these more experienced returning players to step up and help guide the new players on the team.

“I want to see the returners and the leadership of Katie Nelson, and Riley Childs, and Nia Irving. Have them be consistent leaders and role models every single day,” said Moseley.

Moseley has also been impressed with the performances of some of the freshman, specifically guards Sydney Johnson and Annabelle Lanard.

“So far in practice we’ve seen Sydney Johnson, freshman, and Annabelle Lanard, freshman, who have stepped up,” said Moseley.

With the season approaching the team is still looking to improve both offensively and defensively, specifically with all five players on the court

having the ability to score and playing with a higher intensity on defense.

“Ultimately, we want to be able to have five scorers on the floor at all times and I think we’re continually moving closer to that… Defensively I just want us to increase our intensity…

Create some offense off of our defense and really take pride in getting stops,” said Moseley.

The Terriers will tip off their season on Nov. 8 against Marist at home.

Huskies clinch game Person-before-player key to Roberts’ ethos ROBERTS, FROM 12 in final 30 seconds WHYTE, FROM 12 it a 42-40 game.

Rol a nd ’s of fen si ve g a me was the highlight of the night for him, not his defense as he picked up t wo consec uti ve fouls with nine minutes left to play to put him at four fouls.

He was subbed off the court a nd was v isibly fr ustrated as he sat dow n on the bench but returned 40 seconds later.

T he Ter r iers used t hese t wo fou ls as a n energ y burst and brought themselves within t wo points at 55-53 after junior g ua rd A nd rew Petcash made h is second 3- poi nter of the game.

N U would brief ly take a t wo point lead before Why te threw down an emphatic dunk off of a McCoy stea l that sent the BU crowd into a frenzy with a little under four minutes to play.

B ot h tea m s t r aded blow s l i ke t he y h ad a l l g a me, u nt i l B r a ce n a i l e d t h e p ote nt i a l g a me - w i n ner to g i ve N U a 68- 65 lead w it h j u st over 3 0 seconds lef t.

A m issed 3- poi nter by the Terriers forced BU to fou l a nd g ive the Husk ies a cha nce to ice the ga me at the free th row l ine.

Roland converted both free

throws to give N U a 70-65 lead with 14 seconds left. The game was not over yet thoug h, as the Terriers stormed down the court for a quick lay up w ith seven seconds left.

A ti meout wa s ca l led by Jones, but the ensuing inbound pass found Rola nd, who converted free throws again to put BU away for good.

Rola nd f in ished the ga me w ith a ca reer -h ig h 39 points a nd W hy te f i n ished w ith a ca reer a nd Ter r ier -h i g h 23 points in his return.

W hy te sa id the preseason ga mes in Spa in a nd at home prepa red h i m menta l ly a nd physica lly for his return.

“I didn’t feel like I was ner vous at a ll,” Why te said. “I put in a lot of time and a lot of work in the offseason and the doctor did a great job helping me get to where I am now. I felt that progression … and I felt like I was ready.

T h e Te r r i e r s a r e b a c k i n action in Sat urday aga inst S U N Y P O LY a t C a s e G y m on M i l ita r y Appreciation D a y, b e f o r e t r a v e l l i n g t o Ve r m o n t f o r t h e i r f i r s t away ga me of the sea son on We d n e s d a y.

called BU a “global university” and spoke of how his teams have always represented the school. On one of the walls in the team locker room, there is a flag for each country that has been represented by the team.

“We’ve got 30 something flags on the wall, that’s BU,” Roberts said.

The alumni game was scheduled to take place later that day, and Roberts couldn’t have been more distracted by it. Each time an ex-player entered the player lounge, his face would light up and he’d call out to them loudly.

While talking about the growth of US Soccer, Roberts suddenly broke off mid-sentence — “never on time Troy, never on time,” he jokingly admonished recent graduate Troy Samoa, who was making his way onto the pitch. It was a two-minute interaction, but Roberts had completely lost his train of thought when we returned to our conversation.

Being surrounded by all his ex-players, Roberts is visibly excited. He doesn’t just see them as his former players; he called them his “close friends.” Roberts said he is still in touch with a lot of them and admits to being a lot tighter with former players now than when he was a coach.

This is what sets Roberts apart — he doesn’t just build a team, he builds a family. He said that 70 percent of coaching takes place off the field and “the sooner you realize that, the easier the job gets.”

Roberts said that in recent

COURTESY OF STEVE MCLAUGHLIN

Coach Neil Roberts is currently in his 36th year as coach of the Boston University men’s soccer team.

years the job has been made more difficult by social media. Roberts lamented how quiet bus rides have become, with players having their headphones on, lost in their own worlds.

Along with his coaching staff, Roberts has been trying to change this culture. Phones are collected before team dinners and Roberts says it has now reached a point where he has to ask players to lower their volume when they go out for meals.

The current season has been a challenging one for Roberts and his team. With just four wins this season, chances of making the playoffs are slim. But, Roberts remains a figure of calm.

In his team talk the previous night for a must win game against Navy, Roberts told his players that this current period is the ultimate

test of their character.

“This is a bad situation, but how do you deal with it? How do you act? How do you come out of it?

What is your character as a person?

How are your relationships with teammates and that kind of shows really who you are? Roberts asked.

The message was received loud and clear; his team dug deep and came out with a double overtime victory over Navy the next day, keeping their playoff dreams alive.

BU hasn’t tasted success in a while; its last title was back in 2015.

When asked about that all-conquering season, Roberts replied “Which one was that?” The understated tone doesn’t change after being reminded of the team’s success that year; “It was no different than it is now, it was kids fighting and trying to win,” Roberts said.

Follow along with BU Sports on Twitter: @DFPsports

“I think there’s some things we can learn from this game and if we can do that, it can help us.”

- Coach Joe Jones remaning upbeat about the team performance

Sports

“He’s a good player, he’s played well, and he’s got a great attitude.”

- Coach Jones on Walter Whyte

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019

Whyte’s return not enough as Terriers fall to Huskies, 72-67

BY CHRIS LARABEE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The 2019-20 season didn’t start off on the brightest note for the Boston University men’s basketba ll team.

The Terriers (0-1) fell to the crosstow n riva l Northeastern Universit y (1-0) in a back-andforth battle that came down to the f ina l thirt y seconds, 72-67.

With 35 seconds left in reg u lation, Husk y sen ior g ua rd Bolden Brace drilled a 3-pointer to sin k BU a nd def late a raucous opening night crowd.

BU head coach Joe Jones sa id the tea m made mista kes, but that a ll the credit has to go to N U. “I was proud of the g uys, I thoug ht we foug ht. I th i n k there’s some th i ngs we ca n lea r n from th is ga me a nd if we can do that, it can help us,” Jones sa id. “[ Jorda n] Rola nd wa s sensationa l. He scored 39, that m ig ht be the most a ny body ’s scored a ga i nst us since I’ve been here … you’ve got to tip your hat to some of the shots he was able to ma ke against us.”

The f irst ha lf of the season was about as even as it could get bet ween the Terriers a nd Huskies.

Senior for wa rd Max Ma honey got things going for BU, w ith a posted- up lay up over a N U defender, but the Husk ies a nswered back w ith a jumper of their ow n, which quick ly beca me the theme of the game as both teams traded blows.

BU never relinquished the lead in the f irst ha lf, leading

by as many as seven points. The Huskies battled back and eventually made it a one point game at the end of the ha lf when g uard Jordan Roland converted a lay up with 30 seconds left in the half to make the score 33-32 in favor of the Terriers.

At the break, Roland led a ll scorers with 18 points. Terrier S o ph om or e g u a r d Wa lte r W hy te paced BU in the f irst ha lf with 13 points as he made a triumpha nt ret urn from a n ankle bone br uise that cost him a ll of the 2018-19 season.

Jones sa id W hy te’s ret urn was no surprise because of his effor t a nd w i l l ing ness to be coached. “ He wa s ter r i f ic ton i g ht and that’s not sur prising, he’s played well. He’s a good player, he’s played wel l, a nd he’s got a g reat attit ude,” Jones sa id.

“We had a rea l ly poor practice Su nday, I was on h im about what he shou ld be doing a nd he sent me a text and owned it.

He understands that he is held to a higher standard than other g uy s a nd he’s ow n i n g t h at, that’s what I love about him.”

Com ing out of the brea k, the Husk ies ca me out f iring.

Ter r ier ju n ior g ua rd Java nte McCoy na i led a 3- pointer to start the second ha lf, but N U fol lowed up quick ly w ith t wo threes of their ow n to tie the game at 38.

N U took its f irst lead of the ga me just t wo a nd a ha lf minutes into the period when Roland scored his 23rd point of the game on a jumper to make

CONTINUED ON 11

MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DFP FILE

Sophomore Walter Whyte, shown in a January 2018 game against Bucknell University, had a triumphant return from injury, scoring 13 points for Boston University men’s basketball in the first half of their game against Northeastern University on Tuesday.

Neil Roberts lifts the lid on his 36 year reign of the men’s soccer team

BY SHUBI ARUN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Rafael Calderon was the backup goalkeeper for Boston University all through his collegiate soccer career.

In his last year with the team, coach Neil Roberts and his backroom staff decided to reward Calderon’s professionalism and dedication.

Before the season started, Roberts promised Calderon that he would start a game at some point in the campaign.

The Terriers had a blistering start to the season in 1994, winning their opening 10 games. The coaching staff decided they’d wait for the unbeaten streak to come to an end and then start Calderon. But, as it turned out, BU didn’t lose a game

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6

BU Men’s Soccer team take on Army West Point at 7:00PM

all season, defeating the traditional powerhouses of University of Portland and University of Maine along the way.

Their last game was against University of Delaware and victory would make BU the first team in the nation to go an entire season unbeaten. But, Roberts hadn’t forgotten his promise to Calderon and decided to start him in the biggest game of the season.

Sitting in the players’ lounge of Case Gym overlooking Nickerson Field, Roberts breaks into a smile as he thinks back to that evening in Delaware 25 years ago.

“Obviously, you wanted to finish number one and kids put pressure on themselves to do that,” Roberts said, “but I didn’t want Rafael to end up being the guy who lost the

game.”

Sensing the opportunity to play party poopers to the number one ranked team in the country, 4000 pumped up Delaware fans filled up the stadium. Roberts remembers Calderon being nervous, but he stood by his decision to start him.

Delaware came charging out of the blocks and right from kickoff had BU under pressure. They hit the crossbar early on and forced Calderon into making a string of saves but BU went into halftime with the game still scoreless.

As Roberts got his men together at the break, he saw Calderon removing his shirt.

“I asked him what he was doing and he goes ‘You said I could start, I started. Now put 40 on,’” Roberts said.

BOTTOM LINE

Number 40 as it turns out was an All-American goalkeeper and he came on in the second half as BU ran out 3-0 winners.

“Even though we were undefeated and everything like that, we still had to make sure we took care of guys,” Roberts said, adding that he still talks to Calderon today and they laugh about the incident.

This is the biggest tenet of Roberts’ coaching style — to see the person behind the player. It’s an ethos he’s always stuck to since his appointment in 1985.

Only one thing has remained the same in Roberts’ 36-year reign as head coach — the kids.

“From my first team to today, it’s always been successful people coming through here,” Roberts said.

But, for a man who’s won 11

THURSDAY, NOV. 7

FRIDAY, NOV. 8

Boston Celtics take on Charlotte Hornets at 8:00 PM

Boston Bruins take on Detroit

Boston Celtics take on San

Red Wings at 7:30PM

Antonio Spurs at 5PM

SATURDAY, NOV. 9

American East Titles, made 13 NCAA tournament appearances and collected five New England Coach of the Year awards, success holds a different meaning.

“With my guys, you’ve got options now, my goal for you is to have more options when you leave here, whether it’s to play professional, whether it’s to go to medical school, whether it’s jobs, whatever it is, MBA, law school, for you to leave BU with options,” Robeerts said. “And I think we do a pretty good job of that.”

The diversity in Roberts’ teams doesn’t just lie in career paths. The current 32-man roster has players of 11 different nationalities. Roberts

CONTINUED ON 11

SUNDAY, NOV. 10

Boston Bruins take on Philadelphia Flyers at 7:00PM