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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLIV. VOLUME LXXXVII. ISSUE IV.
PHOTO BY SARAH GRACE FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Attendees at the People’s Climate March filled the streets of New York Sunday in order to raise awareness in the days prior to the United Nations Climate summit.
Boston revamps plan to slow climate change, cut emissions BY MINA CORPUZ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
In collaboration with sustainability organizations and members of the Boston community, the City has begun to update its Climate Action Plan to address climate change and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Established by an executive order in
2007, the CAP outlines how the City will realize its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Boston 25 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The CAP largely focuses on projects concerning building, transportation, energy consumption and waste reduction. Greenovate Boston, a city-sponsored sustainability organization, updates the plan every three years and will release the revised CAP by December, said Leah Bam-
berger, the organization’s sustainability strategist. “We’re at a crucial moment in history where if we don’t start to turn around, global emissions will reach a point in the next five to 10 years when humans will have a hard time adapting to climate change,” Bamberger said. Since the process to update the CAP began in October 2013, the organization has created an online platform, Engage Gree-
novate Boston, through which citizens can post suggestions on revising the CAP until the public comment period concludes in November, Bamberger said. “One of the outcomes of this plan will be that we continue these conversations and keep people engaged,” she said. “... We want to keep ... lines of communication open, even after the plan is completed.”
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Boston bikers urge City to build cycle track on Comm. Ave. BY JAIME BENNIS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Several Boston bicycle advocacy groups are pushing for the construction of a cycle track on Commonwealth Avenue, arguing that physically separating bike lanes from the roadway will reduce the number of accidents that occur on the street each year. “Commonwealth Avenue has the highest
rate of collisions per the amount of bicycling anywhere in the city of Boston, and it’s right in the heart of a major university,” said Jeffrey Rosenblum, advocacy director and co-founder of LivableStreets, one of the advocacy groups. “If you’re going to do separated bike lanes somewhere, this is where you want to do them.” Between 2009 and 2012, there were 100 collisions between motorists and bicyclists on the stretch of Commonwealth Avenue that runs
through Boston University’s campus, stated a report released Monday. In 2012, one of these crashes resulted in the death of BU student and cyclist Christopher Weigl, an aspiring photojournalist who was pursuing a master’s degree in the College of Communication. “Boston is way behind the rest of the country on cycle tracks,” said Pete Stidman, executive director of the Boston Cyclists
Possible plans to redo messy intersection in 2017 and overpass replacement starting in 2016.
Union. “There are some in the works, but there are currently none on the ground. New York City has 44 miles of cycle tracks on the ground. Chicago has 16 miles. Memphis, Tennessee is working on a 16-mile track. Memphis is going to put us to shame. We have in Boston .5 miles of cycle track so far that’s only on one half of the street on Western Avenue in Allston.”
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Already concluded streetscape improvements.
Streetscape improvements and MBTA accessibility upgrades to come in 2014. No cycle track being considered.
GRAPHIC BY CLINTON NGUYEN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
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Former Boston Mayor Menino discusses urban leadership issues, battling cancer, community involvement at BU SP: How are you feeling, and how are you doing now that your career is not as consuming as being the mayor of Boston? TM: “I feel good. I’m battling cancer, but I feel really good. It’s not holding me back. I come to the office ever y day, and I do my work. I just don’t do 18-hour days working anymore. I do six, seven or eight hour workdays. Also, I have a book coming out in October. The name of it is “Mayor for a New America.” It’s about my 20 years of mayor of the City of Boston. It’s a good stor y, and I hope people will appreciate it. It comes out Oct. 14.”
PHOTO BY MIKE DESOCIO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has served as co-director at the Initiative on Cities at Boston University for the past eight months. BY STEPHANIE PAGONES DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
After 21 years in office, former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino accepted a position at Boston University in November 2013 with the Initiative on Cities, a project created to bring political leaders together with academics in the hope of addressing urban issues. The former mayor, who joined the BU community in February, said his semester is off to a strong start. Almost eight months after he began his role as co-director of the IoC, Menino said in a phone call Monday that he is enjoying spending time with students and faculty. Though diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer in March, the longtime urban leader said he is feeling good. Steph Pagones: How is the beginning of your semester? Thomas Menino: “It’s good so far. No one is throwing eggs or protesting me yet.” SP: Are you enjoying your time here? TM: “There are good people here, and I’ve been working with all of the different faculty. You have a great president here, who really is committed to the education of the students, and at what better academic climate than Boston University?”
SP: What is your favorite part of being on BU’s campus and how has it been so far? TM: “Campus is very exciting for me. Meeting all these students who have got great potential and learning from them and also helping them with some of the issues that they might be involved in ... I really enjoy that part of it, helping the students. These four years are the most important years of their lives as far as where they’re going to go the rest of their lives. I give my advice and consent, and I disagree at times with them, but I really have good conversation with them. I have a lot of good conversations.” SP: You held a Pizza and Politics talk on Sept. 17. Is that something that you’d like to do more of? TM: “I really enjoyed that because I got a good sense of what the students are thinking about and how you have to work with them and what you can learn from them. Sometimes, we’re in our own little worlds, and when you open up your eyes to all these students from diverse backgrounds, educations that are very different, different nationalities, you learn a lot from them. It’s more or less a holistic approach to things. You never know what questions they’re going to ask you, which I like the best.”
SP: Please briefly explain your role at the IoC. TM: “At the Initiative on Cities, what we’re trying to do is help mayors do a better job running their cities. We’ve had a couple conferences already this year. I first got here on the marathon bombing, and [we work with] NIH [National Institutes of Health] grants, money that comes into the city for scientific research to help combat some of these diseases we have in our world. We had the mayor of Rome [Ignazio Marino] in one day. Last week, we had Arne Duncan, who is the [United States] Secretary of Education. We are also working with Northeastern [University]. We have a mutual agreement working on early childhood programs, which is something I’m very interested in because these kids need a good start before they get into school. You just can’t put them in a classroom and say, ‘Now you’re going to learn.’ How do you nurture them to get to pre-kindergarten?” SP: What inspired you to become a part of the BU community at the IoC? TM: “I always worked with Boston University in my job as mayor. For 20 years, I saw how engaged they were with the city of Boston itself. They gave a lot back to the city. I said, ‘This is where I want to be – a university that understands urban issues and helps out the urban areas.’ There’s the School of Public Health… you’ve got some great people over there, and the School of Management…all those schools are fine schools. I’ve worked with them in the past, and I want to work with them in the future. BU is there in their thought process. They come up with solutions to some of the problems
we have in cities throughout the world.” SP: What have you brought from your career as mayor to your new position at the IoC? TM: “I have some experience, a little knowhow, [on] how to deal with some of these issues, and I can reach out to people who want to help us with this … I came to BU to help them educate and to work with them on some of the difficult issues of today. It’s a different world today than it was five years ago, [or] a year ago. It’s always changing. How do you continue to change, and how do you bring people in to help you? You can’t do any job alone. You have to reach out to people and have them give you advice and make you do a better job on your own.”
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ometimes, we’re in our own little worlds, and when you open up your eyes to all these students from diverse backgrounds, educations that are very different, different nationalities, you learn a lot from them,” Menino said. SP: What are your future plans and what do you hope to accomplish at the IoC, as well as while you are here at BU? TM: “My future plans are right here, at the Initiative on Cities trying to make better cities around the world. That’s my goal: to try to help some cities. Being a former mayor, I dealt with very complex issues, from running the schools, to police department, fire department, how you balance a budget ... those are big issues that a lot of cities run into problems with. I want to help them, because when I was mayor, the City of Boston was able to do a very fine job managing finances, and I want to try to help mayors do the same thing.”
BTD to review Comm. Ave. construction plans, bike lanes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Construction on Commonwealth Avenue is scheduled to take place over the course of the next few years, but current plans only guarantee the construction of painted bike lanes, Rosenblum said. “Five or six years ago, just even having bike lanes was something special, but that time has passed, and we are in a new era, and the city could easily fall behind,” he said. “So the question is whether the Walsh administration and BU are going to step up and say, ‘[Do] we want the best and safest for our students and for the city of Boston, or are we going to settle for the status quo?’” Rosenblum said current plans to reconstruct Commonwealth Avenue do not sufficiently address bike safety concerns.
“The question is, why are they not planning on building cycle tracks in a stretch that’s through a campus, when the BU administration had a say in the design, with a city that has adopted Complete Streets Guidelines, in a country that is moving towards separate bike facilities,” he said. Tracey Ganiatsos, a spokeswoman for the Boston Transportation Department, said the city will review design plans for Commonwealth Avenue over the course of the next few weeks. “We are in the process of taking a second look at the existing, current design,” she said. “We are likely to make some changes to the bike accommodations.” President of BU Bikes David Miller said students would be more likely to ride on campus if there were protected bike lanes. “Many people who bike at home and
come from smaller towns are very afraid to ride their bike in Boston,” he said. “One of the great benefits of having these bike lanes is that they will increase ridership and people will feel a lot more comfortable biking.” Several BU students said the construction of protected bike lanes on Commonwealth Avenue is a necessary safety precaution. “One of my neighbors in Allston goes to Emmanuel [College], and he’s a frequent user of the bike lane on Comm. Ave.,” said Chris Salazar, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “He rides his bike every day to school, and he was actually still hit by a car. He broke a wrist, and that’s with the use of a bike lane. It is just a necessity to have something like that, because it ensures a lot of safety.”
Hallie Smith, a sophomore in the College of Communication, said the painted bike lanes on Commonwealth Avenue are often improperly used. “If you had an actual divided lane, people might actually pay attention and abide by it,” she said. “Right now, people walk in the bike lane, and people obstruct the bike lanes.” Eddie Huh, a junior in the School of Hospitality Administration, said he often rode on Commonwealth Avenue during the summer months and found the experience hectic. “Separated lanes for bikes are necessary,” he said. “It’s all about safety, and the painted lane doesn’t really keep us safe as bikers. If we had a separated lane, we could reduce casualties and accidents.”
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Rare enterovirus spreads to Boston, raises public safety concerns among state, BU health officials The rare viral infection enterovirus-D68 hit Massachusetts Tuesday, affirming state health officials’ warnings that citizens need to guard themselves against the illness. EV D-68 began to spread across the United States in mid-August, with over 200 cases confirmed in 30 states including New York and Connecticut, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the virus can manifest in mild cold-like symptoms, adults and children — especially those with asthma — are at a higher risk of developing a serious cough and respiratory problems, said Anita Barry, director of the Infectious Disease Bureau at the Boston Public Health Commission. “We are able to track the level of illness and compare this year’s number of visits to emergency departments in those less than 18 years of age to last year’s visits for asthma-related visits and severe respiratory distress,” she said. “We’ve noticed in the last few weeks, the percentage of visits has markedly increased.” Treatment for EV-D68 symptoms is more important than knowing if one truly has the virus, Barry said. “The lab confirmation is a
problem of capacity for testing specifically for EV-68,” Barry said. “It is important to know that the specific diagnosis is not important. There is no specific treatment against that specific virus. Treatment is supportive to reduce fever or control pain.” Susan Foster, a professor of global public health at Boston University’s School of Public Health, said the reemergence of EV-D68 may suggest a turn in its evolution. “This particular strain was discovered in the 1960s, but the fact that it’s been rare until now maybe suggests that it has somehow mutated and has become easier to transmit because we are seeing this transmission to a large number of people with a small fraction who get sick and need to be hospitalized,” she said. Judy Platt, interim director of Student Health Services at Boston University, said in addition to receiving frequent updates from BPHC and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, BU promotes healthy practices to keep students safe during the flu season. “Although there is not treatment for this strain of enterovirus, we offer numerous immunization clinics to keep students well and prevent the flu,” she said in an email. “The typical advice of rest, hydration, frequent hand washing
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MAE DAVIS/DAILY FREE PRESS
Over 200 cases of the rare enterovirus have already been cited in 30 states, including Massachusetts.
and symptomatic care would apply here as well.” Several residents and students said they are not particularly concerned about the virus and will attempt to remain healthy just as they would if it were a regular flu season. “I feel fine and that I don’t have to take any further precautions to stay healthy and safe. Usually, I will get just a flu shot, and I
feel good,” said Muhammad Umar, 54, of Brighton. Claire Pozniak, a BU College of Arts and Sciences senior, said the media has exaggerated the severity of EV-D68. “There are more serious viruses out there,” she said. “As a test case, the virus proves that we have no way of controlling any potential outbreak. I’m not concerned of the virus itself.”
Ingah Kennedy, 27, of Brighton, said preventative measures are important to reduce the possibility of contracting EV D-68. “I always make sure to get a flu shot because when I [arrived] here from Ireland, I got the flu,” she said. “I think the City is prepared to deal with the general mild incidents concerning the enterovirus, but I am not sure about the more severe cases.”
Independent candidate Evan Falchuk discusses goals, politics BY FELICIA GANS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Attorney and entrepreneur Evan Falchuk is one of three unenrolled candidates vying for the gubernatorial office in the Nov. 4 election. Running as a candidate from the United Independent Party, a political party he launched in January 2013, Falchuk hopes to represent the group’s values of equality, civil rights and efficient use of taxpayer money. Raised in Newton, where he now lives with his wife and three kids, Falchuk wants his campaign to engage voters and inspire a movement of independent candidates to run for office. With his campaign focused on “smart, brave reform,” Falchuk says his ability to take a strong stance on positions and offer answers sets him apart from his opponents. Sitting in his office on Tremont Street, Falchuk spoke to the Daily Free Press about campaign goals, flaws with the two-party system and his passion for political engagement. FG: You grew up in Massachusetts, and you ended up back here, running for governor. What brought you back to the Commonwealth and inspired you to get into politics? EF: I’m a person that needs to feel
passionate about something that I’m doing and that I’m building things… So my challenge with being a lawyer was I was really interested in it…the work was hard and challenging. But I didn’t feel passionate about it at the end of the day, and that can really drive you… you’re working that hard and you’re not feeling it…you have to, have to, have to love it…So that’s what that was like for me professionally… I’ve always been someone who’s interested in politics, but not thinking ‘Oh, I want to go and run for something,” but you start to watch what’s been happening in our country over the last decade or so, and it’s become devoid of substance. It’s about power and wanting to hold that power, but not about engaging voters in a real and meaningful way about real issues. So you watch all the vague platitudes about every single issue, and as a voter, it ticks you off after awhile… I look and I say ‘I am a voter, and what am I supposed to do about this?’ I can sit back and say it stinks and not participate, but at a certain point, you’re like ‘Well, we all have a responsibility to do something about the things that are going on in our country.’ FG: At what point did you realize you didn’t associate with the left or right and decide a third party would be best for you?
EF: I’m a person who says I believe everyone is equal, so maybe I belong in one party because of that. Everyone’s civil rights have to be protected, so maybe I belong in one party. And I think the government’s got to spend taxpayer money wisely, so now maybe I’m in a different party…so what do I do? …So I said ‘Why can’t we create a new party? A structure, a framework, to get lots of new independent candidates on the ballot? Why can’t we do that?’ And you look on it in retrospect, and you say it’s really obvious that someone should do that, but at the time, it’s this new idea…it’s interesting…a party for people who aren’t in a party…because the independent voter is the majority of voters, and the independent voter has a diverse set of views.
about more than me. That’s why we have this party structure. FG: When you go to your website, the slogan says “smart, brave reform.” What do those words mean to you? And why are the actions and goals of the Democratic and Republican candidates not smart and
brave? EF: Here’s what brave means in politics in 2014: taking a position…The way the political process works today is it rewards you for talking that way [in a way that pleases everyone].
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Where do you want to go?
Applying is now faster and more personal. BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEET & GREET
Friday, September 26 Center for Career Development Room 101 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
FG: Did you know you wanted to run for office when you first launched the United Independent Party? EF: Yeah because the only way you make real political change is by having political influence, but real, meaningful change, and that can only happen by people running for office. And it has to be about much more than just one person. Yes, I’m running for governor. Yes, I funded this party. Yes, we are working every day to win the election, and I can see how we will do that. But it has to be
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Falchuk seeks to change two-party system
CAMPUS CRIME LOGS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 I don’t have a primary, and the position I’m taking…I’m just describing rationally and logically what I think. You can disagree with me. I’ve been on conservative radio shows…and at the end of it, they might say ‘I completely disagree with you,’ but they don’t have a question about where I stand. I’m not couching it in terms of ‘I’m a good person, and you’re a bad person.” I’m just talking about it in practical terms, which is what we should be looking for…These are serious problems we’re dealing with, and if you don’t have the moxy to take an opinion when it’s high school kids asking you a question, what’s it going to be like when you have a bunch of legislators saying ‘Why do you support this?’
BY JAIME BENNIS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The following reports were taken from the Boston University Police Department crime logs from Sept. 15 – Sept. 22. Bike Stolen from BU student A BU student reported his bicycle was stolen on Sept. 15 at about 12 a.m. after the cable lock securing the bike was cut in front of 700 Commonwealth Ave.
FG: What are the biggest flaws today in the two party system? EF: The parties themselves are not representative of people. The parties themselves are not interested in changing, other than what it takes to keep a grip onto their power and authority, so that’s why the issues they end up dealing with change with the political winds… You cannot change those parties from within. It can only happen by someone form the outside disrupting the system. FG: Where do you stand on gun laws? Are there additions you want to make to make the Commonwealth safer? EF: If the problem we’re trying to deal with is gun violence, which is why you see all the movement on these gun laws…Here’s the thing. You’ve got a Second Amendment right to own a gun in this country. The government can also regulate it… We live in a country where there are guns and there are a lot of them, and there are a lot of people who own guns. And the overwhelming majority of those law-abiding gun owners aren’t using those guns for any bad purpose…the problem that we have is the people who are using these weapons illegally…[But] you could make every single person in Massachusetts have a lock on their lawfully-owned gun, and you’re not going to stop the illegal gun use and crime. So what is the solution to the problem? Look, there are always things we could do with gun laws, but at the end of the day, we have to get to the root causes of why violence happens and address it. We need gun laws, and I’m not in any way saying we should reduce or limit them…but let’s be real. Let’s get to the underlying causes.
PHOTO COURTESY OF EVAN FALCHUK’S CAMPAIGN
Independent gubernatorial candidate Evan Falchuk will be on the Nov. 4 gubernatorial ballot, representing the United Independent Party, which he launched in January 2013.
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he parties themselves are not representative of people. The parties themselves are not interested in changing, other than what it takes to keep a grip onto their power and authority,” Falchuk said. FG: Education is a big issue across the board in the gubernatorial race. You talk about your Action to Honors Plan on your website. What makes that different than what other candidates are proposing? EF: What we propose here is that I know there’s not enough money going to the
schools…we lose the ability to actually have a holistic sense of what it means to educate a kid. I think kids should graduate from school with critical thinking skills and creativity and determination and grit. We have to make sure the money’s there for starters, so the action part is filling that gap right now…this is the opportunity. This is our future we’re investing in with kids…And then over the long term, say ‘What does it look like 20 years from now?’ And for me, good planning does that. So this is a time after all of us are out of office, so forget about the politics of it because it’s 20 years from now. And then you can work backwards and say how does it look? FG: What makes you the candidate to beat? EF: Most voters say they want independent leadership, so here’s the question: will they vote? They’ve got to vote. That’s the bottom line. People say ‘I want a viable independent candidate. I want someone who’s not fringe. I want someone who’s actually accomplished something. I want someone who believes, somebody who’s going to level with me on stuff.’ Well, I’m here. I’m laying it out for you. So, vote. If you vote, it’ll happen. If you don’t vote, you’re going to be stuck with the same problems again.
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Sustainability@BU, Greenovate work to shrink greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The City has already reduced its greenhouse emissions by 15 percent since 2005 as a result of many fuel plants turning to natural gas as opposed to coal, Bamberger said. Boston University’s Sustainability@ BU has also developed a university-level Climate Action Plan, which outlines strategies to shrink BU’s environmental footprint by reducing energy consumption, burning cleaner fuels and utilizing renewable energy. “The greening of Boston University’s operations is first and foremost on our list,” said the organization’s Outreach Coordinator Lisa Tornatore. “Since 2006, we have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 21 percent through 2013. The electrical grid is moving toward more renewable energy sourcing, and we’ve converted our fuel to cleaner burn-
ing natural gas. These have reduced our energy consumption overall by 5 percent.” Sustainability Director Dennis Carlberg said BU is helping to implement the City’s CAP through the Mayor’s Green Ribbon Commission, a group of community leaders that develops strategies to fight climate change. “It’s important for BU to be a big player in the city’s Climate Action Plan,” Carlberg said. “... Our goals match the City’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 25 percent by 2020 from a 2006 baseline, and we are on track to meet those goals.” Carlberg said the mayor has raised the bar for the city to move toward greenhouse gas reduction by establishing the Carbon Cup, a pledge to go above and beyond the city’s emissions goals. “We were one of four recipients this
year,” he said. “It involves reducing greenhouse emissions by 35 percent for one million square feet and pledging to reduce emissions by 35 percent for a total of five million square feet by 2020.” Other recipients include Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University. President of student climate advocacy group DivestBU Claire Richer, who protested in the Sept. 21 People’s Climate March in New York City, commended Sustainability@BU and Greenovate Boston’s efforts to combat climate change. “It’s fabulous that they’re doing the Climate Action Plan for the city and at BU,” Richer said. “It’s what we need to do. The federal government has been awful at any sort of climate change policy whatsoever, but states and cities have been leading the charge, and one of the cities that is in the forefront is Boston.”
808 Gallery Artwork damaged and stolen BUPD responded to theft and vandalism at 808 Commonwealth Ave. on Sept. 15 at about 8 p.m. 21 paintings and other pieces of artwork on display were damaged and stolen from a display area on the fifth floor of the building. The incident took place sometime between Sept. 9 and Sept. 15 and is currently under investigation. Student disrupting peace at Mugar Memorial Library A female BU student interrupted students studying at Mugar Memorial Library on Sept. 18 at about 4:45 p.m. When asked to leave the building, she refused to do so and continued her erratic behavior. BUPD removed her from the building and gave her a trespassing warning. Student holding marijuana in dorm Officers assisted residence life officials on Sept. 18 at about 10:15 p.m. with a drug investigation at 140 Bay State Rd. On the third floor of the East Tower, officers suspected students were burning marijuana in a dormitory room. No marijuana was found, but officers found a vaporizer. The vaporizer was taken into custody. Student receives citation for possession of marijuana At about 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 18, BUPD assisted a resident assistant for a drug investigation. BUPD found a student in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and seized it. The student received a civil citation to appear at Brighton District Court. Theft at Kenmore CityCo On Sept. 19 at about 12:40 p.m. an unknown man entered the City Convenience at 534 Commonwealth Ave. in Kenmore Square. The man stole eight $20 scratchoff tickets before fleeing from the store. The suspect is a white male with blonde hair and is about 5’10”. This incident is under investigation, but BUPD has not identified the man yet. Students stopped for alcohol purchase On Sept. 19 at about 9:30 p.m. two BU students were stopped near 1098 Commonwealth Ave. The elder student purchased alcohol for the other underage student. Both received court summons and the alcohol was confiscated. Six BU students transported to hospital for alcohol Six students were taken to the hospital for alcohol-related issues on the morning of September 20. The students were transported from 10 Buick St., Myles Standish Hall, Rich Hall Claflin Hall and 575 Commonwealth Ave. Student Health Services will follow up with the students.
FEATURES
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MUSE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
Review: Not a “fan boy” of new Asian campus food truck BY ROSS HSU DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF PHOTOS BY EVAN JONES/DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
As I walked toward the Fan Boy Food Truck location in South Campus, my stomach and my mind were telling me two things. My mind was firmly convinced that Boston University’s new food truck would be mediocre, seeing as it stocks up at the George Sherman Union kitchen every morning. If I was going to eat at a food truck, I’d rather it not have the disingenuous gourmet flavor of a Rhett’s burger or Copper Kettle soup. My stomach was telling me something entirely different: “If some Asian fusion fries aren’t inside of me in the next few minutes, I’m staging a violent coup.” With my starving mental dichotomy in tow, I walked down the back alley toward the aggressively colorful truck. Licensed to BU by food truck developers and managers Mobi Munch, Fan Boy is one of five food truck brands the company offers to businesses, events and campuses nationwide. I kept this in mind as I contemplated what to order: maybe not all of the ingredients were from BU dining. There are specialties on the menu that are specific to the truck, like their T.K.O. sauce — a mix of kimchee, Seoul sauce and garlic Kewpie — and “Samurai Specialties” like their K-Pop Taco and
Fan Boy Food Truck is a new addition to the BU dining scene, serving Asian fusion food at three different locations on campus.
T.K.O. Lettuce Wraps. Most intriguing was something the menu called Ninja Dust, described as “ancient, secret and yes, it’s spicy.” I ordered after my two-person entourage of fellow late-night gourmands, ensuring that I would get a few bites of their food first. My first bite of Fan Boy’s food was their Sumo Egg Rolls — classic fried vegetable rolls with a side of sriracha Kewpie dipping sauce. The rolls were extremely disappointing and clearly reheated to order, a fact I didn’t care about because of how enamored I was with the sauce. Kewpie, I have since learned, is a Japanese brand of mayonnaise that uses rice vinegar instead of distilled vinegar, giving it a smoother texture and a creamier, less tangy flavor. Mixing this with sriracha was a stroke of genius. I would have eaten stewed boot with a side of sriracha kewpie. Next I had a few bites of fried rice with “crispy tempura chicken,” which was neither crispy nor tempura. The chicken was definitely not fried to order, and the batter tasted like normal chicken fry with maybe one different ingredient – nothing like the oily, crispy light-
ness that tempura is supposed to be. There was no Kewpie to save this dish, and I was under no illusions about its quality. Oh, and the fried rice needed more soy and egg. Moving on, I had a taste of the vegetarian curry with white rice. At least white rice can’t disappoint me, I thought. It isn’t trying to trick me with any stray flavors. The curry was actually quite nice, although I wish there had been more bean pods in it rather than the piles of overcooked cabbage that accompanied it. My original apprehensions about Fan Boy were being affirmed with every bite I took. At least it was cheap. The negative review that was brewing within me was assuaged when my food came. I started by digging into the Fan Boy Fries, by far the best thing I ate from the truck. Slathered in three different kinds of sauce (all hail garlic Kewpie) and then seasoned with Ninja Dust, the beef-and-cilantro covered waffle fries were sweet, spicy, juicy and more fun to eat than a foot-long chili dog. It was refreshing to eat a heart-stopping plate of fries that didn’t rely on cheese or American chili. The beef is the main event, and every other ingre-
dient in the dish conspires to complement the meat’s savory umami. Plus, the bigger waffle fries allowed me to fold them into whimsical little Asian-fusion potato tacos. The fries were so exquisite that they made my final dish – the T.K.O. lettuce wraps – taste mediocre in comparison. The wraps were the spiciest things I ate at Fan Boy. The kimchee and seoul sauce had me breaking a sweat by the time I had scarfed down the first wrap. Unlike the complementary balance of meat and other ingredients in the fries, the kick from the wrap’s supporting cast supercharged the grilled chicken. The wraps were almost too savory thanks to the abundance of soy sauce and sesame seeds. Fan Boy was a mostly disappointing experience that I’ll probably return to. It’s the late night BU dining service I never knew I wanted, even if I’ll probably stick to only two dishes on their menu. Fan Boy gets a begrudging two thumbs up, even if I wish it was called “Fan Boy Waffle Fries: Where We Only Serve Fan Boy Waffle Fries.”
SCIENCE TUESDAY Recent solar storm signals mass increase in sun’s activity BY REBECCA DEGREGORIO DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
A healthy distance of approximately 150 million kilometers separates the Sun and Earth, according to Universe Today. For the two intergalactic spheres, this gap provides just enough coziness. But certain cosmic forecasts, specifically solar storms, can make for a rocky relationship. “The sun has, as you may know, an 11year cycle by which it goes through maxima in activity, which we usually represent by counting sunspots. We’re in that maximum period right now,” said Dr. Joshua Semeter, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boston University and associate director of the BU Center for Space Physics. This current, active state suggests the sun will shoot off a series of solar storms in the coming months. And the most recent storm on Sept. 12 just so happened to select Earth as its target, where it struck at approximately 9:55 a.m., according to The Boston Globe. “They [solar storms] can go in any direction really,” said Dr. Philip Muirhead, an
assistant professor of astronomy at BU. “This one happened to be pointed straight at us.” Muirhead said this storm was a bit stronger than most. Astronomers observed what is known as an “X-class flare,” or an exceptional increase in brightness on a specific area of the sun. These storms can form from a number of solar factors regarding the nature of the sun and its grasp on the “blue marble.” “The solar atmosphere, we like to think of it as sort of a red or yellow ball in the sky. But its atmosphere is actually extending even all the way to earth,” Semeter said. “I make the analogy sometimes to a simmering stew where there’s a vapor coming off from the pot, but embedded in the stew are little bubbles.” Formally called “coronal mass ejections,” these bubbles fly off into space and travel forward until they stumble upon something to zap. They’re almost like storm clouds, only more intimidating. During the storm on Sept. 12, three of these storm clouds were present. “So what’s coming at us is this inseparable mixture of plasma and magnetic field, and it’s just sort of expanding all the way to the Earth,” Semeter said. But with this imagery in mind, why
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PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA/SDO. GRAPHIC BY SAM GROSS/DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an X1.6 class solar flare flash in the middle of the sun on Sept. 10 2014.
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FEATURES
SPOTLIGHT Students try healthy recipes, find home away from home at Sargent Choice Test Kitchen BY HEATHER GOLDIN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
For Karen Jacobs, cooking in her Student Village II apartment at 33 Harry Agganis Way is more than just her way of encouraging students to make healthy choices. “As a faculty-in-residence, I want students to feel comfortable coming to my home,” she said. Jacobs, who has been a faculty member in Sargent College since 1983 and has lived in StuVi2 since its opening in 2009, has made it her mission to bring students together to help them develop healthy lifestyles by hosting a night of cooking, playing games and bonding every week. Having never lived in a college dorm herself, Jacobs jumped at the opportunity to serve as a faculty-in-residence. Before StuVi2, Jacobs lived in Warren Towers, still cooking for students but not yet following healthy recipes. After moving to the 23rd floor of StuVi2, Jacobs decided to add that component to her love of cooking by approaching Sargent Choice, a program that works with Boston University’s dining halls to provide healthier options for students. Walking into Jacobs’ apartment, one wouldn’t expect how homey it feels from simply looking at the door. Crammed into the apartment are family pictures, ornate decorations from Jacobs’ travels and the smell of something good cooking. The Sargent Choice Test
PHOTOS BY HEATHER GOLDIN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF. GRAPHIC BY MIKE DESOCIO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Faculty-in-residence and Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences professor Karen Jacobs hosts the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen every Wednesday in her Student Village II apartment.
Kitchen, as it has been dubbed, is held on Wednesdays from 8 to 11 p.m. Sargent Choice provides all the healthy vegetarian recipes for Jacobs and the students – returning or brand new – to make. While not all the recipes go directly into the dining hall, last year, two new recipes found their way to students: Tofu sticks with dipping sauce and chana masala with wholewheat naan bread. These recipes, along with others, can be found on the Sargent Choice Nutrition Center blog . While some of the recipes are more complicated than others, Jacobs said all the featured dishes are made with practical ingredients and are accessible to students on a budget. As a clinical professor in the department of occupational therapy in SAR, Jacobs spreads the word about the Test Kitchen to current students and advisees like SAR senior Janvi Patel, who has been going to the Test Kitchen since her freshman year. Patel said she had never tried sushi before coming to BU. As a vegetarian, she admired Jacobs’ vegetarian sushi recipe, which she is “famous for,” according to Patel and other students in attendance. Although Sargent Choice is always sending new recipes over to the Test Kitchen that Jacobs then prints out for everyone who attends, there are a few popular recipes that are done each year. Despite sometimes having more than 40 students in attendance, the Test Kitchen usually has leftovers for people to snack on.
But extra food isn’t the only thing that draws students to StuVi2 on Wednesday nights. “I like how welcoming it is,” said Melissa Gallanter, a freshman in SAR. Gallanter heard about the program through her sister Suzanne, a SAR senior. She said that after her first time experiencing the Test Kitchen, she wants to come back every week “if my homework allows it.” To make everyone attending more comfortable, Jacobs starts the program off by serving tea and facilitating icebreakers for those who attend to get to know one another. While the food is cooking, Jacobs brings out games like Apples to Apples or Bananagrams so students can take a break from their busy academic lives and relax. While primarily SAR students know about the Test Kitchen, there are others who have found their way to Jacobs’ apartment through other means. “We have nothing better to do, and we wanted to see StuVi2,” said Sabina Razak, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman who discovered the test kitchen by looking through BU’s calendar “I miss homemade food.” First-year occupational therapy graduate student Rachelle Brick has only attended Sargent Choice Test Kitchen twice, but said she already hopes students from other programs will discover this healthy gem on the 23rd floor of StuVi2. “It’s a late night snack,” she said. “Who doesn’t love that?”
FEATURES
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IN BUSINESS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
Unregulated gun markets find buyers on Reddit, Facebook BY OLIVIA DENG DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
In 2011, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranked Massachusetts as the third most stringent state when it comes to gun legislation. Gun legislation was further tightened in August when Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed more gun control measures into law. However, gun violence in Massachusetts remains a significant problem. The most recent FBI data shows that 56.46 percent of murders that occurred in Massachusetts in 2010 were attributed to firearms. A study by Bindu Kalesan, assistant professor at Columbia University, found that although Massachusetts gun ownership dropped between 2000 and 2010, the number of violent deaths and murders increased during that same time. With online marketplaces growing in popularity, illegally purchased guns – also known as “straw-purchased” guns – continue to pose problems for Massachusetts. Debora Seifert, special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said along with federally licensed firearms dealers and gun shows, personal sales rank among one of the most popular ways to purchase guns in Massachusetts. “Unregulated markets, especially in neighboring states and online, are the source of many of the guns that are used to commit crimes in Massachusetts,” said David Rosenbloom, professor of health policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health. “As a matter of public health and safety, gun purchases from anyone other than a licensed gun dealer who complies with state and federal identification laws should be banned. Online gun markets are a threat to public safety.” As of Tuesday, the Facebook group titled “Online Gun(s) for Sale or Trade” boasted 1,114 members. The group, designed to facilitate auctions, sales and trades of guns, hunting accessories and outdoor equipment, states only three rules: “1. Always put your location and price in your post,” “2. Be respectful of other members” and “3. HAVE FUN.” Another Facebook group designed for gun transactions titled “Gun Traders Gadsden” had 463 members as of Tuesday and stated no laws to participate in gun transactions in the group description. But the group “Guns For Sale Cheap $400 Or Less Nationwide,” with a membership of 9,840 as of Tuesday, features a notice from Facebook in its group description: “Any time we receive a report on Facebook about a post promoting the private sale of a com-
54.46% of murders that occurred in Massachusetts were attributed to firearms. 81% of weapons used in shootings had been legally purchased, as of 2013. monly regulated item, we will send a message to that person reminding him or her to comply with relevant laws and regulations.” It also goes on to say that the group will not sell to those younger than 18 and that they won’t allow the sale of “regulated items that indicate a willingness to evade or help others evade the law.” Though Facebook had announced in March that it would regulate gun sales on its website, some groups remain untouched. Reddit has been another haven for those looking to purchase firearms online. On the site, an expansive thread titled “Guns for Sale” had 10,956 traders as of Tuesday. Users denote their intentions by indicating whether they want to sell, buy, trade or perform a price check. Though a disclaimer asking users to comply with laws is displayed, Reddit itself claims that it is not responsible for ensuring that users understand compliance. As of Monday, there were 27 live transactions on Reddit for Massachusetts. On Instagram, the hashtag #gunforsale generated 362 posts as of Wednesday, and #forsalegun yielded 38 posts. While a disclaimer about regulations for the sale of firearms appears for #gunforsale, no disclaimer appears for #forsalegun. The black market for firearms is a difficult one to regulate, Seifert said. “ATF faces numerous challenges when conducting trafficking investigations to include identifying straw purchasers,” Seifert said. “No one can state with any accuracy the total number of firearms that are straw purchased [or] trafficked because these violations often go undetected by law enforcement and the industry.” Seifert said a standard ATF firearm trafficking investigation employs an evidence-based approach. “The cornerstone of any ATF firearms trafficking investigation is an intelligence-driven approach that ultimately disrupts and dismantles firearms trafficking organizations and networks responsible for supplying violent offenders with crime guns,” she said. “Gathering of intelligence involves
lengthy investigations, a cadre of informants, sharing of information with other agencies and tracing of as many crime guns as possible.” While the black market for firearms remains largely unregulated, licensed gun retailers have felt some changes in how business is conducted, said Ted Oven, owner of Northeast Trading Company, a firearms and sporting goods store located in Attleboro. “Well, there are more restrictions,” Oven said. “Prices are going up. Ammunition is becoming harder to get and more expensive. So all of that impacts the gun industry.” Northeast Trading Company, which carries major brands Smith & Wesson, Beretta, PARA, SIG Sauer, Ruger and Walther Arms, has some of the best price rates in Massachusetts, Oven said. In addition to selling products, Northeast Trading Company offers firearm safety training courses for $109. Because the Northeast Trading Company attracts customers across the state, Oven said, he is not considering moving his business online. “All sales are walk-in,” he said. “A handgun has to be sold to a person directly. It doesn’t go by mail, unless it was to another dealer. Then that incurs an added cost, so most people would prefer to come in and buy them directly. For selling guns, I don’t think there’s any advantages [to selling online] except you see a broader audience. But guns can’t be sold that way. If you advertise online, the gun would have to be sent to a dealer in the state to which the gun is being sold to.” Though Oven expressed concern over weapons falling into the wrong hands, he said he is not willing to adopt “smart gun” technology. A smart gun can only be fired by its owner, a feature advocates say could save lives. “That [smart gun technology] is a ridiculous technology. Number one, it is not prov-
en,” he said. “Even the cheapest one is $1,800, which is unreasonable for most people. And if something happens – let’s say you are a police officer and you have a smart gun and you get hurt and you give it to your partner. What good is it if it won’t go off ?” Oven said there is no market for smart guns among gun retailers, adding that major companies will not produce smart guns. “What they really should do is go after criminals, because crime and criminal activity do not occur between licensed gun owners in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” he said. “That’s already been proven 100 times over, throughout the country actually. Crimes come from criminals, and what they need to do is go after criminals, not lock them up and put them back on the street a day later.” A 2013 study of mass shootings in the United States from 1982 to 2012 conducted by Mother Jones found that a majority of weapons used in shootings had been legally purchased. Additionally, Massachusetts is in close proximity to Maine and New Hampshire, two states where it is easier to purchase firearms legally. According to ATF, 133 guns used in crimes in Massachusetts originated from New Hampshire, while 79 originated from Maine. With different methods of skirting strict Massachusetts gun laws, obtaining a gun is not immensely difficult, said Nermeen Tahoun, first-year graduate student at BU’s School of Social Work. “It’s no surprise to me that social media is used as a way of purchasing guns on the black market,” Tahoun said. “It’s just another avenue for them to get it. If you are going to access it illegally, you are going to access it regardless of how you do it.”
Stronger storms have potential to damage electronic systems CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 didn’t flaming objects start falling from the sky? Fortunately, the Earth’s magnetic field does a good job of keeping such science fiction fictional. When this blob of particles reaches Earth, a shielding effect occurs, which is what happened during this storm. “It turns out that magnetic fields don’t like to mix with one another when they’re in certain orientations,” Semeter said. “It’s basically the same system that’s happening with this coronal mass ejection [from the Sept.
12 storm] and the way it interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field. Current systems are set up that try to shield the magnetized plasma in that object from the Earth.” But some particles and magnetic plasma do enter the Earth’s atmosphere if the storm is strong enough. When this happens, magnetic displays such as the northern lights become visible in places further south than where such displays are normally visible. “Aurora [a natural light display] tells us about the properties of these coronal mass ejections,” Muirhead said. “Unfortunately,
the aurora is difficult to see when you have a lot of light pollution, so I don’t know of anyone that was able to see it in the city of Boston.” The recent storm did produce some low-latitude aurora, Semeter said. Although BU students couldn’t observe this vibrant display, inhabitants of western and northern Massachusetts could. “Not so much right over Boston, but a little bit north over Acadia National Park [in Maine] and so forth, there were some really nice auroral displays,” Semeter said.
BU scientists and engineers plan on keeping their eyes on the star at the center of our solar system — and with good reason. Stronger zaps from the Sun have the potential to damage Earth’s manmade systems, such as GPS, satellites and even continental power grids. “The part that interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field produces all kinds of effects that are quite interesting and possibly detrimental to society,” Semeter said. “It’s sort of like predicting the weather. It’s really difficult sometimes to tell.”
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OPINION
Kyle Plantz, Editor-in-Chief Felicia Gans, Managing Editor
T H E I N D E P E N D E N T S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R A T B O S T O N U N I V E R S I T Y
44th year | Volume 87 | Issue 4 The Free Press (ISSN 1094-7337) is published 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 © 2014 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.
Clinton Nguyen, Multimedia Editor
Conor Ryan, Sports Editor
Hannah Landers, Features Editor
Drew Schwartz, News Editor
Taryn Ottaunick, Opinion Editor
Emily Zaboski, Photo Editor
Shakti Rovner, Office Manager
The National Horrors of Hazing: A Tired Tradition Spread across the tables in the Boston University George Sherman Union Link is a banner covered in marker-traced handprints, signatures and Greek letters. “These hands don’t haze,” the banner proclaims with pride. This week is National Hazing Prevention Week, a yearly initiative begun by HazingPrevention.org to address the national issue of hazing, defined by the Fraternal Information & Programming Group as “any action taken or situation created, intentionally…to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment or ridicule,” in all organizations, including athletics, Greek life and honor societies. Here at BU, our university’s Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council are making extensive efforts to spread awareness of the alleged horrors of hazing that have plagued Greek Life nationally since its genesis, including a hazing panel on Tuesday and weeklong social media campaign. “Fraternity and sorority life has really taken on this leadership role within this initiative because our community nationwide has really been hit with some of the hard-hitting issues that come with hazing,” said Liza Moskowitz, president of BU’s Panhellenic Council. “So BU Panhel and IFC really wanted to take this opportunity to address what broader issues fraternity and sorority life are facing across the country and how BU can be a model of excellence in promoting healthy and empowering fraternity and sorority life communities.” Stories of pledges being beaten with paddles, drinking excessive quantities of alcohol and forfeiting themselves as slaves to their organization represent traditions passed down through generations of fraternities and sororities. Some victims of hazing will tell you how miserable it was and will call for an end to the age-old practice. Others will tell you it made them better, stronger people, and was the bedrock of their loyalty to the group. “The reason why [hazing] continues to occur...is that it is a tried and true method of developing young people,” wrote John Talty in a December 2011 op-ed for
the International Business Times. “It has the ability to turn a jamoke into a man, which is extremely important for that person’s long-term success. College fraternities and sororities love to point out the amount of former presidents and CEOs that were once a part of Greek Life…How many of them do you think were hazed in some capacity during their time in school?” It is true that enduring difficult situations may
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hese humiliations seek to
indoctrinate members into the group mindset, but often are more successful in destroying the confidence of each individual. make you a stronger person. Many find strength through their power to endure illnesses and traumas, but those are matters of uncontrollable circumstance, not the results of a pledge master’s demands. People also claim they grew closer to their fellow members as they were forced to endure the humiliation of hazing, forming unbreakable loyalties. But plenty of bonds have been formed through positive situations. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? Well, people have actually been killed in incidents of hazing. In 2011, Robert Champion of the Florida A&M University Marching Band died in the band’s
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ritual of making the new members walk while old members bludgeon them with instrument paraphernalia. And in 2012, George Desdunes of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Cornell University died of alcohol poisoning after being blindfolded, bound with duct tape and forced to drink in a standard hazing ritual. Physical violence aside, hazing often encompasses mental abuse and person humiliation. Pledges, rookies and new members are forced to do things they never would in normal circumstances. Records of older girls forcing pledges to take off their clothes while they circle the parts of their body they think should be toned and playing endless mind games prior to initiation, all for the sake of the society, are passed through generations of sisterhoods and brotherhoods. These humiliations seek to indoctrinate members into the group mindset, but often are more successful in destroying the confidence of each individual. “Hazing is extremely counterproductive to the purpose of what sororities were founded for,” Moskowitz said, speaking from the sorority perspective. “Sororities were founded 160 years ago as a conduit that women could pursue because undergraduate institutions were not welcoming to women. These small societies were a place women could go for empowerment and for these women to really grow together. From that reasoning… hazing is the exact opposite.” Maybe hazing happens so often in collegiate settings because the students can’t go home and tell their parents or other family members who would be concerned. Victims of hazing are warned of the disloyalty of telling others what they endured, which probably accounts for the fact that only 26 percent of victims tell their parents about their hazing. The desire to belong to the group keeps victims coming back for more. No human has the right to make another human feel they are not important. Any society grown from the common bonds of its members has a responsibility to empower, not physically and mentally torture its initiates. No hands are worthy of hazing.
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ACROSS 1. Deaden 5. Chaff 10. Resorts 14. Pearly-shelled mussel 15. Cache 16. Not false 17. Demoralized 19. Unusual 20. Snagged 21. Fertilizer ingredient 22. Smooth brown oval nut 23. Subjugate 25. Sugary 27. Gorilla 28. Hyperpituitarism 31. Open grassland 34. Ancestors 35. Spy agency 36. On the road 37. Good person 38. Lather
DOWN 39. Mesh 40. Hides 41. Not fulfilled 42. Building 44. Consumer Price Index 45. Cages 46. Warp 50. Put one's foot down 52. Wrinkled fruit 54. K 55. Disabled 56. Audio recording 58. Cut down 59. 1/16th of a pound 60. Type of sword 61. Like a bog 62. Drive 63. Offers
1. Prod 2. Labor group 3. Fogs 4. Hit on the head 5. Struggle 6. Hackneyed 7. Learning method 8. Dislikes 9. Married 10. Avenue 11. A practical training 12. Emanation 13. Observed 18. Awkward 22. Writing implements 24. Gentlewoman 26. Light bulb unit 28. Coming and 29. On the left or right 30. Spar 31. Windmill blade 32. Pitcher
33. Recent arrival 34. Gutter 37. Gambol 38. Hissy fit 40. Cease 41. Disturb 43. Funny story or show 44. Clinker 46. Numbskull 47. Relative of a giraffe 48. Sped 49. Children 50. Close violently 51. Cab 53. Graphic symbol 56. Mayday 57. Confederate soldier
OPINION
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
Yeezus Christ Superstar: Thoughts on Kanye West
BY BEN GAGNE-MAYNARD COLUMNIST
There are a few moments in my life as a fan of live music that stick out. The ones that have bewildered me the most were moments when an artist performed in a way so that their music and their personal character were inseparable, at once combating and embracing in a rhythmic symbiosis that only the performance of great music could allow. And each time I left feeling like the artist I loved was someone larger than life, ruled by their own sense of self-worth, yet electric in their charisma and brilliant in their art. The fi rst such memory I have of this feeling was when I saw Bob Dylan in concert. Or rather, I saw the back of Bob Dylan’s head in concert. I had listened to Dylan’s music before, mostly because he is one of those undisputed masters I had read about in Rolling Stone Magazine and because my dad seemed to have a fascination with him. In short, I listened to Bob Dylan because I felt like I had to. But it came as a blow to my psyche when that man, THE Bob Dylan, positioned himself on stage so that his back was totally turned to my side of the audience. I didn’t see his face once. To me, this was an outrage, an aff ront to the very essence of what it meant to perform. Yet my father couldn’t help but snicker at such antics, and it didn’t help me feel any less cheated when all he could say was “That’s Bob Dylan for you.” It took years for me to forgive Dylan, but it took minutes for me after the concert to realize I had just seen a performance dominated as much by a genius’ personality as it was by his music. Bob Dylan’s illusive, frustrating antics, the sense that he will always have the ‘last laugh’ in any situation both musical and personal, are perhaps what I love about him the most. So who could have possibly topped Bob Dylan’s show of personal self-assurance, live in-concert? Whose one-of-a-kind charisma could have had even more of a grip on every part of a performance? Kanye West. Kanye’s live performance is still something I talk about anytime I talk about concerts. The immense volcano-prop, what
I call “Mount Vesuv-Yeezus,” that was the center of his performance, the now infamous rant in which he asked, “What do you have to do to prove that you’re creative,” the 35song set list. It was all so much. And it was all so Kanye. And for that crazy, interactive and altogether awe inspiring three hours, I felt like I got it. Whatever he was trying to prove or show to me as a fan, I got it. So it pains me to recognize that Kanye is perhaps the most hated musical personality of our generation. And I can’t blame people for hating Kanye, the man, at times. Yet it would be a shame for Kanye the man to overshadow Kanye the musician, the creator. Sure, his personality is as much a part of his shows as his music is, as I readily mentioned above. But when that personality has created art in the past, great and paradigm-shifting music has always seemed to come about. Bob Dylan is perhaps most revered in today’s musical world because of his uncompromising commitment to his songs, as he has always attempted to make his songs and delivery of those songs stand alone, even as they have (against his will) come to defi ne his personality. T.S. Eliot once asserted what he felt great artists needed to make their art truly great, saying “The poet must develop or procure the consciousness of the past and that he should continue to develop his consciousness throughout his career. What happens is a continual surrender of himself to some-
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ut when that personality has created art in the past, great and paradigm-shifting music has always seemed to come about.
thing which is more valuable. The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.” So it remains to be seen whether Kanye decides that his music is more valuable, more important and more lasting than the one thing that he sometimes seems to value the most: himself.
Full Moon, Empty Budget
BY SARA RYAN COLUMNIST
A wise Instagram bio once said, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Today, we’ll be heading into our solar system for a discussion of how the U.S. government doles out its taxpayer dollars. With a budget of more than $3 trillion, you would think we could invest more than a whopping 0.5 percent to research in space. Those stats for the current fiscal year come from the U.S. Government Printing Office (which is a real thing, I promise). The report details how much cash each department received for discretionary spending. Compared to the $526 billion given to the Department of Defense, NASA’s annual budget of $17.7 billion seems like the office supply allocation. Sunday night, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft entered Mars’ orbit to study the planet’s upper atmosphere, according to NASA. MAVEN, NASA’s latest project with a super edgy acronym, cost an estimated $671 million and took 10 months to reach the Red Planet, according to the Wall Street Journal. MAVEN traveled 400 million miles and is now in place to begin conducting valuable scientific data. The American government has plenty of important programs to fund, but that does not mean we can discard invaluable scientific research. NASA should have a higher priority in the federal budget. The research done at NASA has more practical benefits than the general population can fathom. Take the MAVEN project. Sure, it’s cost taxpayers $671 million (think of how many Pumpkin Spice Lattes that is!), but the research has an incredibly practical application. MAVEN is going to collect data from Mars’ upper atmosphere and report back. Among other things, researchers are hoping to uncover what happened to Mars’ water supply. They want to take this information and apply it to our own environment. Maybe if they can figure out what happened to Mars, we can avoid a similar, waterless, lifeless fate. In addition to all the scientific values,
space exploration appeals to human nature. Since the beginnings of human history, people have always been searching for what comes next. Alexander the Great wanted to conquer the world. Columbus sought the Northwest Passage. Pioneers wanted to settle the western United States. Americans fought to beat the USSR to the moon. Space is what’s next. Human nature causes us to ask questions and seek out answers. Outer space holds our future, and as a nation, we are failing to realize this. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars building bombs and tanks. More of our budget should go toward a more sustainable future for everyone. The problem with space is that it’s not sexy. We landed on the moon 55 years ago, and NASA’s been on the decline ever since. No program has captured the hearts and minds of Americans quite like the Space Race. Back then, it was easier. Anything beyond the stratosphere was breaking news. Now, it’s a 30 second clip on the nightly news. NASA needs a new PR strategy (where do I send my resume?). The organization should draw upon those basic human desires: the need to keep exploring and the competitive drive to be better than everybody else. If the American people are more interested in NASA, the government might just allocate some more cash to its programs. In the most clichéd call to action yet, I’m asking you to write your Congressperson. Or be the super cool kid who talks about MAVEN in the group chat. Yes, the U.S. government needs to put more money towards NASA and other scientific research programs. However, until we keep knocking on their doors and calling their phones, nothing’s going to get done. This could apply to a lot of things — education, healthcare or even fi lling the potholes your car keeps running over. Today, I’m asking you to complain to someone about how underfunded NASA is. NASA gave us Velcro and MRI scanners and memory foam (Tempur-Pedic Swedish sleep system, anybody?). It also gave us hope and fed a generation’s imagination. Few government organizations have that potential; it’s a shame not to use it. Just remember: Right now, 400 million miles from here, a man made object is orbiting a planet humans have never seen. It’s going to provide massive amounts of data, all incredibly relevant to the future of our planet. Why wouldn’t we want to fund more of that? Les Brown, not an anonymous Instagram user, is the original source for the opening quotation.
Interrobang While restoring the statues from the Old Massachusetts State House, sculptor Robert Shure discovered a time capsule from 1901 on Monday in the lion statue. We here at the ol’ Free Press were wondering what people at BU would leave in their own time capsules. CFA: The portrait of Dorian Gray.
SAR: Failed Sargent Choice recipes.
ENG: a 3-D printer.
SHA: Complementary towel and bar of soap.
President Brown: One dollar...he’ll keep the rest for himself.
The FreeP: Every print issue ever published.
BU Athletics: Jack Eichel.
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SPORTS
Paterno’s legacy at Penn State forever tarnished CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 deemed that they earned the removal of their sanctions. Penn State cannot go back and undo perhaps the worst scandal in the history of college sports. It cannot console the victims of the repugnant crimes that its officials operated. But it can play postseason college football. They committed the most sickening behavior in recent history and were let off early on good behavior. However, students went too far when they began chanting, “Where’s our statue?” referring to their one true coach: Joe Paterno. The statue, which depicted Paterno raising his fi nger in the air leading his team out of the tunnel, was removed from its pedestal outside Beaver Stadium in July 2012. A new statue of Paterno will be built in 2015, but it will not return to its pedestal. Its new home will be outside the Tavern Restaurant, a popular bar located about two miles away from Beaver Stadium. When the scandal was fi rst exposed, most people defended Paterno. After some investigating, Joe’s followers remained steadfast. “He did what he was supposed to,” they would say. “He reported it to his supervisor, fulfi lling his responsibility.” Some still say the same thing. I cannot. Imagine being in Paterno’s shoes. Consider everything you’ve worked for, altogether 61 years of dedication, on the cusp of being stripped away because of someone else’s immoral actions. It makes perfect sense
for Paterno (and Penn State as a whole) to want to keep the scandal hidden. Although Paterno technically did everything he was required to do, it is highly unlikely he made a convincing effort to unmask a disgrace that would only tarnish his own reputation. I once saw a comic of Joe Paterno at the Golden Gates of Heaven. Saint Peter greets him, and says, “Oh, you’re here! I’ll eventually get around to telling my superior…” In my opinion, Joe Paterno is the greatest college football coach of all time. His 409 wins, five undefeated seasons and two national championships over his 46 years at Penn State all prove his magnificent value on the football field. And although the NCAA has taken away over 100 of his wins, the wins can never be given to the teams he defeated. A win is an achievement that cannot sensibly be taken away. But there is no evidence regarding the scandal to show his integrity. Rather, there is only evidence to suggest his treachery. The thought that Paterno was an evil man harasses me, haunts me, hurts me. But the unfortunate truth is that I cannot possibly stand up for him or the university he worked for so diligently for so long. Joe Paterno was full of wise verses. My favorite quote of his reads, “Believe deep down in your heart that you’re destined to do great things.” I wish people, including myself, would remember him for his words. But actions, or in this case, inactions, always speak louder than words.
Marrochello looks to the future CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 He coordinated events such as the BU-Cornell University Red Hot Hockey game at Madison Square Garden while assisting with the construction of projects like New Balance Field. Marrochello has also served as the point man on many head coaching hires such as men’s basketball coach Joe Jones, men’s hockey coach David Quinn, men’s lacrosse coach Ryan Polley and women’s basketball coach Katy Steding, among others. For Marrochello, the procedure of finding a new coach is not necessarily stressful, but rather grueling, given the high status of the position. “We’ve never had to beg somebody to look at this job. It would be stressful if the candidate pools were not so great, but we’ve had wonderful candidate pools across the board, and we’ve been able to really land our first choice in every single case, so it’s not stressful. The process itself is stressful, but knowing that we have a great pool of candidates to choose from makes it a little bit peaceful.” While Marrochello has only served as AD for less than three months, he is certainly not resting on his laurels, as he has big plans for the program going forward – plans he looks to enact sooner rather than later. “I’ve said along the way that we can be viewed upon as one of the best, if not the best non-football-playing school,” Marrochello said. “That doesn’t just mean athletics at all. That means if you look at the schools that don’t play football, do they prioritize just one sport? Are they positioned for success across the board? We can perform in a variety of areas and perform well.
“Long-term, I’ve never been one who looks at 10-year goals. I think that’s too far out. I’ve always been kind of the prism of three years. I think that’s more accurate … We’ve got programs that can compete for national championships. I think that we really, really, really as a focus, want to fit well within the Patriot League … Certainly we’ve got long-term facility items that we’re looking at, but right now, I think those are my areas of focus for certain.” Marrochello said one of his main goals is for more of the university’s student-athletes to become integrated into the BU community in an effort to make the athletic department more open and accessible. “Our student-athletes need to be part of the campus community,” Marrochello said. “They’re not here just to go to school and just to go to practice and games…I want our people to be part of the fabric of the community. I don’t want there to be this imaginary moat on Agganis Way that we don’t cross.” For the man who spent evenings watching Beanpot matches and football games on Nickerson Field in the ‘80s, BU certainly feels like home. “It’s got the right balance. We’ve just got a real good balance of … we can win championships; we can perform on a large stage. We’re in a conference that’s a good fit for us. And our student-athletes are true student athletes. And when you look at that blend, that’s a pretty good package right there … We’ve got a good niche where we are. To me, that’s one of the things that makes it special. And that’s one of the things that’s always attracted me to BU, one of the things that’s kept me here to build on the future.”
Kali Shumock receives Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors BY JUDY COHEN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
In its fi rst conference game of the season, the Boston University field hockey team earned a 2-1 victory over Lafayette College Saturday afternoon in Easton, Pennsylvania. The Terriers (4-3, 1-0 Patriot League) took the lead in the 31st minute of the game when freshman midfielder/forward Kali Shumock tallied her fi rst goal of the season
and the fi rst of her collegiate career. The goal, and a later assist on sophomore forward Amanda Cassera’s game-winner, helped Shumock earn Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors. Shumock was a four-year starter during her time at Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and was named the 2014 Lehigh Valley multi-sport athlete of the year and scholar-athlete of the year. In addition to Shumock’s honors, Cassera got the nod in the Honorable Mentions
The return of junior fullback Katie Bernatchez should provide a big boost for the Terriers’ defense.
section of the weekly conference awards after scoring in both of BU’s games on Saturday and Sunday, while senior goalkeeper Valentina Cerda Eimbcke also gained recognition for her nine saves over the course of both contests. Healthy defense, healthy game With an already thin roster in terms of numbers, the Terriers have had some setbacks with player health. Until this weekend, junior fullback Katie Bernatchez was sidelined for most of the season, while BU was also without sophomore fullback Bea Baumberger Altirriba. Now that the two are getting back to 100 percent, the team’s play at the back is tightening up. “It’s just gaining confidence in what we’re doing and that what we’re doing is working,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “We’re fi nally getting healthy. “[Altirriba and Bernatchez] are two very good players for us, so we were able to get them both on the field at the same time, which is helping us really begin to play with the lineups that we want and the formations that we want.” Junior fullback Rachel Coll is also a major contributor on the back end. She is the go-to for attack penalty corner inserts and scored the game-winning goal in Sunday’s overtime thriller against Yale University on a feed from sophomore midfielder Hester van der Laan. “Rachel has played three different positions for us this season, so flexibility has been awesome with her,” Starr said. “She’s a talented hockey player, she has a great attitude and she’s a great athlete.” Coll impresses not just defensively, but also on the attack. She is known to take the ball down the field herself on occasion to get things going for the offense. “She’s a very good two-way player,” Starr said. “She’s a very good defensive play-
er, a very good attacking player and she’s defi nitely been a backbone for us for sure.” Two-game win streak shows maturity in Terriers Five games into its schedule, BU had not been able to string two wins together, alternating results for the past three weeks. With games six and seven in the books, the Terriers finally have consecutive victories on their record. Both of the weekend’s victorious matchups followed a similar storyline. BU would score fi rst, while the opposing team would later even the score, leading to two close, hard-fought results. “The win at Lafayette [4-4, 0-1 Patriot League] was a huge win for us,” Starr said. “What I love about this team, we scored fi rst, they tied it up and we were able to answer back with the game-winning goal, and I love that about that game. “The game on Sunday against Yale [1-5], again back-to-back games. We played Saturday in Pennsylvania, we have a game the next day and it was a scrappy win, again. We scored early, they tied us, they went up, we tied it and we found a way to win it in overtime.” In games like these, where the win is completely up for grabs and both sides are putting up incredible fights, the victor is often the squad that does the best job at handling high-pressure situations. “We do a lot of work with just staying in the moment, working the process, not really getting caught up in the outcome and just really doing the things that we can control, and that’s playing hard, playing smart, playing together. “When you focus on the outcome… you get tight, tentative and tense. With this team: Just really keep staying focused, keep staying calm and doing what they need to do. A lot of maturity happened over this weekend.”
SPORTS
Hockey East Preseason All-Conference Team
Terriers prepare for another challenging 2014-15 campaign against Hockey East foes BY CONOR RYAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN QUACKENBOS/BOSTON COLLEGE
PHOTO COURTESY OF ELAN KAWESCH
MICHAEL MATHESON D / JUNIOR, BC 2013-2014 Stats: 3 G, 18 A 58 blocked shots
KEVIN ROY F / JUNIOR, NORTHEASTERN 2013-2014 Stats: 19 G, 27 A 1.24 points per game
The captain of the 2014-15 Eagles has been one of the conference’s most heralded blueliners in recent years. The first-round (23rd overall) of the Florida Panthers in the 2012 NHL Draft was voted New England Men’s Division I All-Star last season.
Roy was one of the deadliest scorers in Hockey East last season, finishing fifth in the conference with 45 points. Expect more of the same in terms of production from the Lac-Beaufort Québec native in 2014-15.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PC ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
JON GILLIES
DEVIN SHORE
G / JUNIOR, PROVIDENCE 2013-2014 Stats: 2.16 GAA, .931 save percentage
F / JUNIOR, MAINE 2013-2014 Stats: 14 G, 29 A, 129 shots
The Friars earned the top ranking in both the media and coaches’ poll this season in the presence of Gilles between the pipes played a major role in that decision. The third-round (75th overall) pick of the Calgary Flames in the 2012 NHL Draft posted a record of 199-5 with four shutouts last season.
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The puck has yet to drop on the 2014-15 NCAA men’s ice hockey season, but that hasn’t stopped both the Hockey East coaches and media from giving their rulings on who will emerge at the top of the conference standings this year. The league announced its preseason coaches’ poll Monday during Hockey East Media Day at TD Garden, with Providence College earning the top ranking with 127 points while also collecting seven of a possible 12 fi rst-place votes. Boston University, looking to rebound after a disappointing 10-21-4 campaign in 2013-14, took the sixth spot in the poll with 83 total points. Boston College ranked second with 120 points and three fi rstplace votes, with fourth-ranked Northeastern University (90 points) and seventh-ranked University of Massachusetts-Lowell splitting the fi nal two fi rst-place selections. The University of Connecticut – the newest member of Hockey East – ranked last with just 26 points. The results mark the fi rst time since 2001 that neither Boston University nor Boston College
claimed the top spot in the coaches’ poll. While the Terriers were not selected as one of the conference’s premier contenders to open the season, senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues noted that BU is not taking too much stock in preseason rulings. “Hockey East is one of the best leagues in the country, and it’s always competitive,” said senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues. “Polls are polls, people have their opinions and it’s just our job to go out there and play our best every time we hit the ice, and the standings and everything will take care of itself.” The coaches’ poll differed in multiple aspects from the Hockey East Writers and Broadcasters Association’s preseason media poll, which was released Sunday. While the Friars and Eagles once again claimed the fi rst and second spots, respectively, on the list, the Terriers were slated to fi nish third with 309 total points – including two fi rst-place votes. The media poll also included its Preseason All-Hockey East Team, which was comprised of one senior and four juniors. Providence’s Ross Mauermann, the University of Maine’s Devin Shore and
Northeastern University’s Kevin Roy accounted for the grouping of forwards, while Maine’s Ben Hutton and Boston College’s Michael Matheson were chosen as the top defensemen in the conference. Providence goaltender Jon Gillies rounded out the team as the media’s pick in net. While BU head coach David Quinn acknowledged the pedigree of teams like Boston College and Providence going into the 2014-15 campaign, he also acknowledged that – as history has shown over the past few seasons – a lot can happen over the stretch of a sixmonth season. “Obviously, Providence and Boston College are the top two teams and rightfully so, but if you go through the history of the preseason polls and you match it up to where the season ends, there’s always a lot of surprises, because it’s just so hard to predict when you’re coaching players between the ages of 18 to 22,” Quinn said. “The name on the back of the jersey might be the same, but the guy in it’s a little bit different every year. “Hopefully, our guys change for the better, and I think they did, and hopefully, we get off to a good start.”
Shore made his presence felt the moment he skated onto the ice at Alfond Arena, registering 69 points in 73 career games with the Black Bears.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
ROSS MAUERMANN
BEN HUTTON
F / SENIOR, PROVIDENCE 2013-2014 Stats: 19 G, 17 A, Plus-20 rating
D / JUNIOR, MAINE 2013-2014 Stats: 15 G, 14 A, 40 blocked shots
Mauermann—who led the Friars with 36 points last season—should continue to be the top-scoring threat for Providence in 2014-15. A heralded two-way player, Mauermann was named Hockey East Co-defensive Forward of the Year last season.
Hutton was a force for the Black Bears in 2014-15, leading the team with 15 goals—tops in the nation amongst defensemen. For his efforts, Hutton received the 2014 Bob Monahan Award—given to the top defenseman in New England.
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BOTTOM LI NE THURSDAY, SEPT. 25 NO EVENTS SCHEDULED
FRIDAY, SEPT. 26
SATURDAY, SEPT. 27
FIELD HOCKEY VS. NORTHEASTERN, 7 P.M.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 28
MONDAY, SEPT. 29
W. SOCCER VS.
SOFTBALL @
NO EVENTS SCHEDULED
ARMY, 1 P.M.
HARVARD, 1 P.M.
The New York Mets started the
M. TENNIS @
W. HOCKEY VS.
W. GOLF @
The most popular response?
hashtag #ImAMetsFanBecause
UCONN INVITATIONAL, ALL DAY
QUEENS UNIVERSITY, 3.PM.
YALE FALL CLASSIC, ALL DAY
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NAVY, 7 P.M.
UCONN INVITATIONAL, ALL DAY
has looked bright for the last 20 years.
“Polls are polls, people have their opinions and it’s just our job to go out there and play our best every time we hit the ice, and the standings and everything will take care of itself.”
The Blue Line THE CHARACTER OF JOE PATERNO
Men’s hockey senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues on BU’s sixth-place ranking in the 2014-15 Hockey East Preseason Coaches’ poll. p. 11
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
New athletic director Drew Marrochello strives to build success, community outreach
BY MIKE BENEDYKCIUK DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
NAMED 2003-04 REGION III ATHLETIC DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
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TAKES OVER AS BU’S ATHLETIC DIRECTOR ON INTERIM BASIS
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NAMED BU’S DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
OFFICIALLY APPOINTED AS BU’S 13TH ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
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BEGINS WORKING AT HUDSON VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE AS ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
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PLAYS VARSITY FOOTBALL AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY FOR FOUR SEASONS
APPOINTED AS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT HUDSON VALLEY
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At fi rst glance, maybe it’s the signed picture of Larry Bird behind his desk. Perhaps it’s the brick taken from the rubble of the old Boston Garden that rests inconspicuously on the windowsill or the photo of the 2008-09 Boston University men’s ice hockey team posing with its NCAA National Championship trophy. Regardless of what piece of memorabilia is fi rst noticed, one thing becomes increasingly clear upon stepping into new Boston University Athletic Director Drew Marrochello’s office at 300 Babcock Street: Sports have always resonated with the Arlington native. “I’m a proud Boston sports fan,” Marrochello said. “I can tell you tell that [Red Sox pitcher Clay] Buchholz is pitching tonight… Growing up around here, I participated in high school at the Armory in a track meet. I went to Boston Breakers football games…I’ve been to Beanpots, I’ve been to BC/BU hockey games – both on our campus and on BC’s campus. I was certainly familiar with the landscape, familiar with the school and familiar with the athletics department growing up.” Marrochello’s connections with the Terriers have now come full circle, as the nine-year veteran of BU’s athletic department was officially appointed as the university’s new AD on a permanent basis on Sept. 9. Marrochello assumed the role vacated by Michael Lynch, who stepped down from his position at the end of June.
for internal affairs for two years before being appointed as deputy director of athletics – a spot he held for seven years. Now, as the head of BU’s athletics department, Marrochello will represent the school in all matters with the NCAA, Patriot League and Hockey East and will look to help build up a program that ranked fourth amongst Division I-AAA members in the 2013-14 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Division I Standings while also compiling a GPA of 3.05 for the semester – the sixth straight year that BU student-athletes have posted a combined GPA of 3.0 or higher. “We’re in a healthy state, but you need to keep growing. You need to keep pursuing excellence, and I tell people, ‘This is an unfi nished product.’ There are more things that we can accomplish,” Marrochello said about the state of his department. “Our student-athletes do really well. They perform in the classroom, and that’s highly important to us. …We’re in a good state right now, but there’s certainly more to do across the board.” Marrochello is no stranger to the workings of the university’s athletics department, as he oversaw many programs, projects and teams during his tenure as deputy AD. During his seven years as deputy, Marrochello managed 24 varsity programs and the day-to-day workings of the entire department while also overseeing the program’s $25 million budget.
“It was really exciting. When Mike announced his resignation in early June, I took over on an interim basis in July, but really, it started to transition into the interim role the day he left,” Marrochello said. “It was a period of almost doing the job for three months, and I would say it was a great relief, real excitement, and I was really, really humbled that they placed their faith in me to lead the department.” Taking on his current position at BU was the end result of a long and varied journey for Marrochello, who earned his bachelor’s degree in government at Wesleyan University in 1991 before acquiring his master’s in education administration from the University of Albany. After coaching football at both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Union College, Marrochello began work at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, eventually serving as athletic director of the school from 1997 to 2005. Marrochello acknowledged that his time at Hudson Valley was instrumental in giving him the experience needed to fulfi ll his duties on Commonwealth Avenue. “Hudson Valley was really a valuable training ground because I had my hands on every single area, whether it was personnel issue, marketing issue, facilities construction,” he said. “You name it, we did it there ... Frankly, it trained me for my role here at BU, and I think that being the athletics director there helped me train for some of the demands at BU.” Marrochello began working at BU in 2005, serving as associate athletic director
05
BY CONOR RYAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
EARNS BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN GOVERNMENT FROM WESLEYAN
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PHOTO BY CLINTON NGUYEN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Marrochello has served in the Boston University Athletics Department since 2005.
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I recently discussed the status of Penn State University football with a friend. While watching the Nittany Lions face off against Rutgers University on Sept. 13, we noticed some Scarlet Knights fans wearing t-shirts with the phrase “Joe Paterno is in hell” written across the chest. Distressed and offended, I instantly tried supporting my childhood hero. I struggled to come up with a shred of material that could help Paterno’s case, but to no avail. No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to defend both the team I grew up adoring and its legendary head coach. Being from Philadelphia, I have several friends and relatives currently attending Penn State. For the vast majority of my life, I considered PSU – a nationally distinguished institution – a viable option for my own college education. The child abuse scandal escalated quickly during my sophomore year of high school, though, and I opted against applying to a school with a permanently stained reputation. Assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s despicable actions, combined with the university’s disgusting attempt to cover them up, nauseated and infuriated me – and they still do. Sandusky’s indignities that wreaked havoc throughout the Penn State community occurred over three years ago. I fi nd that very hard to believe, however, since news headlines continue to constantly remind me of Sandusky’s acts. Overall, tensions have simmered down significantly since 2011-12, though. In fact, the NCAA has lifted its sanctions against the university, making PSU eligible to play in the 2014 postseason and renewing its scholarships in full beginning in 2015. Penn State has certainly done everything right since the child abuse scandal. Former FBI director Louis Freeh, who conducted the investigation back in 2011, made 119 recommendations to the University. Penn State has observed 115 of them and has started three others. As such, the NCAA
GRAPHIC BY SAMANTHA GROSS/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF