The Daily Free Press
Year xliii. Volume lxxxiv. Issue IV
MET MOVEMENT New MET dean hopes to continue momentum, page 3.
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
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LUCKY NO. 14
W. basketball go for 14th straight win, Page 8.
How social media is changing the way you interact, page 5.
WEATHER
Today: Mostly sunny/High 17 Tonight: Partly cloudy/Low 6 Tomorrow: 22/9 Data Courtesy of weather.com
84 Linden St. remains undeveloped 1 year later With Murray out of
running, future Gov. candidates unknown By Katherine Lynn Daily Free Press Staff
MICHAEL FERRUGGIA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
SARAH FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
One year after the Linden Street fire, the property has been sold but no development has been initiated. By Zoe Roos Daily Free Press Staff
The property that once housed a number of Boston University students looks very much the same as when it burned to the ground a year ago Wednesday — an undeveloped, burned-out hole in the ground. However, plans are in the works to redevelop the property, said Michael Berger, the listing agent for the property. Berger, a senior sales associate of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, said when the fire took place, the property was on the market. “It’s a single-family house, originally,” Berger said. Berger said the property has been bought, and is in the process of development. “The house was on the market,” he said.
“They sold it to another person who is going rebuild it as a single family house or going through the approval process to make it a two family house.” The property, located at 84 Linden St., was nearly destroyed completely. At the time, the Boston Fire Department estimated the cost of damages to be more than $500,000 dollars. Berger said the property was quite valuable before the fire. “It had no problems at all,” he said. “It was very valuable. The developers saw a lot of potential in this house. There’s a lot of demand for developers who want projects like this. There are a lot of people who want to move in the Allston-Brighton area.”
The original house was a colonial-style home built in 1880. It had 2,300 square feet of living space, according to the listing online. Although the property has been sold, the real estate post for the house remains online. The property is listed for $359,000 dollars. It was sold in as-is condition, with the remnants of the burned-out structure still standing on the property. A small, red barn that survived the blaze was also sold with the property. The fire left several students injured and one in critical condition after he jumped from the second-story window to escape the flames, according to authorities. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
84 Linden, see page 2
Moody’s downgrades outlook of U.S. higher education By Nora Philbin Daily Free Press Staff
While Moody’s Corporation reported Wednesday that the outlook for U.S. higher education in 2013 is negative, and growth will likely decline, a number of Boston University students said they are not worried. Moody’s, a New York-based credit rating and research organization, surveyed more than 500 colleges and universities and determined the credit conditions for the next 12 to 18 months in higher education are grim, said Moody’s spokesman David Jacobson. “For the last couple years, we have had a stable outlook on the market-leading research universities and a negative outlook on the other universities,” Jacobson said. “What happened this year is we’ve determined the entire sector — both research driven and the smaller universities — are both negative, and what that means is that the growth rate is going to decelerate.”
The Wednesday report downgraded the rating for all American higher education. “Most universities will have to lower their cost structures to achieve long-term financial sustainability,” the Moody’s release stated. “Universities have been restraining costs in response to the weak economic conditions since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, but they have only recently begun examining the cost structure of their traditional business model.” Moody’s divides schools into two groups, research-driven universities and smaller universities mostly reliant on tuition, Jacobson said. Possible national budget cuts and student loan defaulting contributed to the downgrading, Jacobson said. “Some of it is economic, [so] obviously there is a lot more price sensitivity that is suppressing some net tuition revenue growth,” Jacobson said. “Other revenue
sources are also strained I would say. As you know, there is a rising student load burden in the country, defaults are going up a bit, and that is affecting the value of a college degree.” Jacobson said tuition revenues will likely decrease in coming years. “The rising burden of loans on students and increase in student loan defaults is also negatively impacting universities, leading more people to question the value of a college degree,” the Moody’s release stated. “Most universities remain well below the threshold for being cut off from federal aid because of the rate of students default.” Students likely will not see major repercussions, Jacobson said. “One thing that is possible is that the universities might slow down in some of the tuition inflation that has been happening over the past few years,” he said. “That’s
Moody’s, see page 2
Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray announced Thursday that he will not be running for the position of Massachusetts governor in 2014 despite previous speculation, and other possible contenders remain hesitant to put their name in the running. Murray’s spokesman, Scott Ferson, said that Murray made the decision with his family in recent weeks. “He had been discussing it [running for governor] with his wife before the holidays,” he said. “They came to the decision not to run late last week.” Murray has been in public office for more than 15 years and has previously taken part in statewide elections. “For him, he had run statewide twice, so he understood what would be involved from a political stance,” Ferson said. Murray has two daughters, ages six and seven, who contributed to his decision against running in the long-term, statewide campaign, Ferson said. “He and his wife came to the conclusion that both of them, having full-time jobs, and them managing their young and then adding a component to that of running a full-time campaign — which would really be a 20-month campaign — would really be too much of a struggle,” Ferson said. Murray has two years remaining to serve alongside Gov. Deval Patrick. before he will complete this term in its entirety, Ferson said. Murray has no plans for the future beyond his present term, Ferson said. “He will not be a candidate for any office in 2014,” Ferson said. “He has not thought beyond that.” Patrick has already announced that he is not planning on running for re-election as governor, Ferson said, but he had supported Murray’s plan to campaign for the position. “Governor Patrick supported the lieutenant governor running for office,” Ferson said. On Wednesday at a press conference in Worcester, Patrick commented on Murray’s decision to step down from the race. “Because I so respect his judgment, his love for his family and his maturity in many respects in putting his family above his political ambitions, I have mixed feelings,” Patrick said. “Because, had the lieutenant governor decided to be a candidate
Gov. Seat, see page 2
Gender Neutral BU gathers student input on GNH at town hall meeting By Rachel Riley Daily Free Press Staff
About 20 students suggested methods for continuing the gender-neutral housing conversation and gaining support from the BU community Tuesday night. Gender Neutral BU held the town hall meeting at the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism to consider gender-neutral housing on the Charles River Campus. “It’s really important for us to focus this semester on getting student support,” said Rea Sowan, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore. “For all of us that met in this room today, it’s really obvious why having gender-neutral facilities and gender-neutral housing is important.” Sowan said GN BU’s focus during the spring 2013 semester is to make resources accessible and get the entire student body behind gender-neutral housing. GN BU, a non-hierarchical collectivist organization, voted at the meeting to become an official student group.
Although BU’s Committee on Student Life and Policies is working to present President Robert Brown with recommendations on gender-neutral housing, Sowan said GN BU members hope that, by becoming an official student group, they will be able to better spread the word about gender-neutral housing and relative concerns regarding the issue. “Being a student organization would really help us to connect more with the BU community by allowing us to be more visible by giving us the ability to put up posters, physically be in spaces like the George Sherman Union Link and Marsh Plaza,” Sowan said. Hannah Stolarski, a College of Communication sophomore, said GN BU members plan to work with administration and BU officials. “Showing that we want to work with the administration rather than work against them is really positive and will really help make change on campus,” Stolarski said.
GNH, see page 2
MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF College of Arts and Sciences senior KC Mackey discusses ideas of how to spread knowledge about gender-neutral housing on campus with College of Arts and Sciences junior Chelsea Schwalm, who facilitates the Gender Neutral BU meeting at the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism Tuesday night.