9-25-2013

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The Daily Free Press

Year xliii. Volume lxxxxvi. Issue XIV

I’M THE MAP Unclear if MBTA will choose new map from contest, page 3.

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Wednesday, September 25, 2013 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University

SUMMER ABROAD BU students recount experiences in Turkey during unrest, page 5.

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POWER RANK

BU men’s hockey ranked 6th in preseason poll, page 8.

WEATHER www.dailyfreepress.com Today: Sunny, high 67. Tonight: Clear, low 47. Tomorrow: 67/51.

Data Courtesy of weather.com

Walsh, Connolly through to final mayoral election Voters in stronger numbers than in previous elections By Alice Bazerghi Daily Free Press Staff

KIERA BLESSING/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Martin Walsh cheers during his speech Tuesday night at Venezia Waterfront Restaurant in Dorchester after he advanced to the general election in November for mayor of Boston. By Kyle Plantz Daily Free Press Staff

Narrowing down the field from 12 candidates to two, Mass. Rep. Martin Walsh and City Councilor John Connolly advanced from Tuesday night’s primary to the Nov. 5 mayoral election as they square off for the seat to replace Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Walsh came in first, garnering 20,838 votes, or 18.47 percent, and Connolly came in second receiving 19,420 votes, or 17.22 percent, according to statistics by the Boston Elections Department. Former city

MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

John Connolly cheers at his election night party at Hilbernian Hall Tuesday night after he advanced to the general election in November for mayor of Boston.

housing chief Charlotte Golar Richie came in third and Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley came in fourth. Walsh, 46, resident of Dorchester, worked as a union laborer before being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1997 and continued to remain active in labor union affairs. “This is a race about who we are, about values, and about whether Boston will be a city for all its people in every neighborhood, not just some,” Walsh said at his election party at Venezia’s in Dorchester on Tuesday night. “I’m so grateful to all

the people who made tonight’s result possible. Tonight’s a great start, but it’s only a start, and we have a lot more work to do over the next six weeks.” Menino announced on Mar. 28 that he would not run for re-election after several ailments landed him in the hospital for more than eight weeks. Menino has served 20 years in office. He first took the position in 1993. With Menino leaving, Walsh said Boston is entering a new era and he wants to help everyone usher it in together.

Primary, see page 4

Some freshmen find AlcoholEdu online course unhelpful By Hannah Clark Daily Free Press Contributor

Boston University freshmen are in the process of completing the second part of an online required alcohol education program implemented for the first time this year, officials said. AlcoholEdu for College is a prevention program that aims to inform students of risks associated with alcohol consumption, said Student Health Services Director of Wellness and Prevention Services Elizabeth Douglas. “Part Two is a very brief follow up session for students to go through now that they are on campus,” Douglas said. “It reinforces the information and lower-risk decision making and strategies highlighted in Part One.” Students

must complete the 15-minute follow-up section of the program by Oct. 7, which Douglas said allows them time to adjust to life on campus, make their own decisions and then check in with the program to reevaluate and strategize safe solutions for the future. Because BU will not receive aggregate results of the program until later in the year, it is hard to tell if the program has had an impact on student responses, Douglas said. AlcoholEdu is used by hundreds of universities across the country, according to the online course’s website. It also educates students about alcohol-related safety issues while acquiring information about the drinking habits of its own student population.

BU freshmen were required to complete the first part of AlcoholEdu before arriving on campus for the fall semester. “Part One of the online course, which firstyears finished before the start of classes, suggests ways to continue drinking safely or be smarter about drinking behaviors,” said Students for Sensible Drug Policy President Melanie Kirsh. BU likely chose to implement AlcoholEdu because it is widely used among U.S. schools and colleges, she said. “They [the administration] are acknowledging that students drink and use drugs,” Kirsh, a

Alcohol, see page 2

Less than a third of registered voters made their way to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballot for one of the 12 mayoral candidates looking to replace longtime Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. About 113,222 votes were cast in the primary, which is about 30 percent of the city’s 386,000 registered voters. The voter turnout was higher compared to the 2009 mayoral primary election, when only about 23 percent of registered voters participated to vote between Menino and three other candidates. Voters chose between 12 candidates including City Councilors Felix Arroyo, John Connolly, Robert Consalvo, Michael Ross and Charles Yancey, former Boston Public School committee member John Barros, radio station host Charles Clemons, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, former housing chief Charlotte Golar Richie, Community Organizer Bill Walczak, Mass. Rep. Martin Walsh and former schoolteacher David Wyatt. Despite the low voter turnout, several residents said voting for a new mayor was high on their list of priorities since the individual elected will be the first new mayor in 20 years. Christopher Coombs, 29, resident of Dorchester, said he came to the Boston Public Library to cast his ballot for Ross on the historic day. “Mike Ross has been a champion of small business,” he said. “He’s helped me to get all of my establishments open and he’s really been a believer in moving the Boston restaurant scene forward. He knows what direction to take the city and how to grow it proportionately, to keep up in things like public transportation and housing and how to grow the city effectively by planning first and growing second.” Another voter, Catherine Hulgan, resident of Back Bay, said she voted for Barros so that she would be able to select a candidate from the two contenders she liked best. “I voted for Barros … I liked his plans about

Voters, see page 2

research initative WAITING, COUNTING, HOPING BUMC joins Parkinson’s lay its onset. By Trisha Thadani Daily Free Press Staff

KIERA BLESSING/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Mike Ross supporters anxiously watch television coverage of the mayoral primaries as numbers come in Tuesday night at Ross’s election night party at Boston Chops in the South End.

Officials for the Boston University Medical Center announced on Monday that it will join the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative’s newly expanded study of uncommon risk factors of Parkinson’s disease. Samuel Frank, associate professor of neurology at BUMC, said this new research initiative expands on a study launched in 2010 by PPMI. “This is an important study that is helping to bring our understanding of Parkinson’s disease beyond what James Parkinson in the early 1800s did,” Frank said. “... It brings Parkinson’s into a modern era.” The new research initiative will study people who do not have Parkinson’s, but show certain genetic and blood markers that may put them at a higher risk of developing the disease in the future. Frank said the ultimate goal of the project is to find a way to better diagnose and track the progression of Parkinson’s as well as to find a way to slow the disease’s development and de-

“If we can intervene with a medication that slows the progression, then we might be able to delay the onset,” Frank said. “… We are finding better ways to diagnose and track the progression of Parkinson’s disease. That was how it was originally set up with the original cohort.” Researchers will primarily focus on subjects in their 40s, 50s and 60s who show Parkinson’s risk factors such as a reduced sense of smell, rapid eye movement, sleep behavior disorder or a mutation in the “LRRK2” gene, which is often associated with Parkinson’s. Frank said if one of these risk factors shows a direct connection to the development of Parkinson’s, it could further the research of therapies that could slow or stop the disease’s progression in patients. BUMC is currently one of 23 other sites from around the world participating in this $55 million landmark observational clinical study, Frank said.

Parkinson’s, see page 2


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9-25-2013 by The Daily Free Press - Issuu