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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLIV. VOLUME LXXXIX. ISSUE XI.
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2015-16 Basketball Season Preview
Rebuilding no longer, men’s basketball looking to make a splash BY NICHOLAS FRAZIER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
For the Boston University men’s basketball team, last season can be best summarized as a rebuilding year. After losing three players to graduation and another three to different schools, the Terriers were forced to play inexperienced players throughout the 2014-15 season. This resulted in a 13-17 overall record, a 9-9 Patriot League record and an 89-64 defeat by Lafayette College in the Patriot League quarterfinals for BU coach Joe Jones’ squad. “Last year, we had only four guys that had any playing time from the year before,” Jones said. “So that was tough going through that. But I think our guys have a much better understanding now.” This season, the team will rely on that understanding and experience in order to become a top contender in the competitive Patriot League once again, as every player from last year’s roster has remained on the team.
The Terriers are led by the senior class, which consists of forwards Justin Alston and Nathan Dieudonne as well as guard John Papale. The three players combined to start 85 of 89 games played and averaged at least 25 minutes per game last year. They also combined to make up 40 percent of the Terriers scoring. Junior guard Cedric Hankerson will also lead the Terriers in 2015-16, as he paced the team with 15.9 points per game last season and recently earned preseason All-Patriot League honors. However, the Miami native is dealing with an ACL injury and may miss a few games early in the season. Hankerson is not the only Terrier who enters the new campaign wounded. According to Jones, Dieudonne recently suffered a concussion, sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely is dealing with a foot injury and junior transfer Blaise Mbargorba has a nose injury. All four athletes served as an integral part of the team’s gameplan last season, so it’s a relief to Jones that they are on the mend and should not miss too much time.
“We’ve had some setbacks with injuries this preseason,” Jones said. “It’s hard because we’ve had four of our top eight guys hurt. We’ve had those guys out for a good portion of time. But right now we’re almost fully healthy, and we have everybody at practice now. So we feel pretty good.” Despite the health concerns, the Terriers were selected third in this year’s Patriot League preseason poll, with only Lehigh University and Bucknell University receiving more votes. Even more impressive is Sports Illustrated predicting BU to win the Patriot League and earn a bid in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. These preseason accolades indicate that, even with inexperienced members of the team playing significant minutes, there was plenty to like from BU last season. The Terriers finished fourth in the Patriot League in rebounding margin (plus-0.8), and second in 3-point shots made per game. However, one bleak spot in the Terriers’ game that has to be addressed is the backcourt
play. Despite Papale averaging 3.4 assists per game last season, BU as a whole ranked eighth in the conference in assists per game and turnover margin. The Terriers’ assist-to-turnover ratio was a disappointing 1.00. This season, Jones expects the guards to improve from last season and lead to better play from the whole team. “I like our team this year,” Jones said. “We have all of our guys back, we got [sophomore guard] Eric Johnson healthy and [freshman guard] Kyle Foreman, so we have point guard play now, something we didn’t have last year. So the team’s coming together.” “I think we just have to keep trying to get better,” Jones added. “Our guys just need to continue to have a better understanding and awareness of what we’re trying to do with our offensive and defensive philosophy, and we’ve been working hard on that.” Foreman, who was ranked the No. 6 player in the state of Washington by ESPN.com, is one of three freshmen vying for a place in CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
Improved women’s basketball readies for bounceback season BY JOE CALABRESE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Many things were new for the Boston University women’s basketball team in the 2014-15 season. However, while the conventional wisdom says that what’s new is always better, the Terriers still had trouble breaching the win column last year. They had a new coach in Katy Steding, a new roster with seven underclassmen and a new program-high in games lost. In addition to its 25 losses, last season’s team tied the 1998-99 squad for fewest wins in program history with just five. Steding is now in her second season at the helm, and is confident things are starting to turn around. “We’ve been busy,” Steding said. “There have been a ton of changes, and it’s been terrific. We’re having some fun.” While the team’s record was unimpressive last year, losing by an average of more than 10 points per game and finishing with the second lowest-scoring offense in the Patriot League, what it doesn’t show is how the team improved as the season progressed.
In her first five games, then-redshirt junior guard Troi Melton averaged seven points per game, but in her last five, Melton more than doubled that number, scoring 14.4 points per contest. “Midway through the season last year,
[Melton] got to a point where she was really frustrated with the way she was playing,” Steding said. “So she just really rolled up her sleeves and got back to basics. … Towards the end of the season she really came on for us. So we’re going to ride that.”
PHOTO BY FALON MORAN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Terriers return nine players and add four freshmen in 2015-16.
This season, Melton and fellow guard Clodagh Scannell will be the only seniors on the team. Also heavily improved are sophomore forward Kara Sheftic and sophomore guard Corrine Williams. Both featured in 28 games last year and scored around five points per game. Standing at 6-foot-1, Sheftic also led the team in blocks, while Williams led all freshmen with 34 assists. Continuing into their sophomore campaigns, both should continue to see improvement. On the opposite end of the spectrum, nobody got off to a hotter start than sophomore forward Meghan Green last season. She led the team in points in 11 of their 30 matchups and rebounding in 13. While youth and inexperience were the storylines throughout the previous season, they should no longer pose much of an issue for the Terrier squad. The BU roster only held 10 players during the 2014-15 season. This year, all players will return except Mollie McKendrick, whom the team lost to graduation. CONTINUED AT DFPR.ES/WOMENSBB
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More women on City Council to increase representation BY MAISIE GUZI DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Following a close race for At-Large and District 4 positions, the Boston City Council will have four women in office, a tie for the most who have served in Council history. At-Large councilor-elect Annissa Essaibi George and lawyer Andrea Campbell, councilor-elect of District 4, will join AtLarge Councilors Ayanna Pressley and Michelle Wu in the council in January. Shifting demographics will have a positive impact on the council and Boston as a whole, Essaibi George, also a teacher and business owner, said. “One of the things I talked about on the campaign trial was that Boston is made up of just over 50 percent women, but only two of the [current] 13 members of City Council were women,” Essaibi George said. “It’s important that the City Council be more reflective of the city.” The last time the council had four women serving was from 1994 to 1997. Peggy Davis-Mullen, Maureen Feeney, Maura Hennigan and Diane Modica served at the time. Essaibi George won a spot over Stephen Murphy while Campbell pushed Charles Yancey, who has served since 1983, out of office. In the at-large election, Essaibi George received approximately 18 percent of the vote while Pressley and Wu earned nearly a quarter and 22 percent respectively, The Daily Free Press reported Nov. 3. After winning the election, Campbell expressed excitement to begin her work with City Council. “Now the real work begins to make that vision for District 4 a reality,” Campbell said
PHOTO BY JOHNNY LIU/DFP FILE PHOTO
In January, there will be four women serving on the Boston City Council following last week’s City Council Election.
in a Nov. 3 press release, “I look forward to continuing to mobilize residents around the issues most critical to our community and to push for more resources to come to this district.” District 4 encompasses the neighborhoods of Dorchester and Mattapan. The first woman to hold a spot on the Council was Mildred Harris in 1937. Pressley was the first woman of color elected and Wu was first Asian-American woman to serve on the Council. Essaibi George said she felt encouraged by the strides made in the most recent election to better represent the women of Boston, but also she felt that more needs to be done to incorporate racial diversity into the Council.
“For me, what’s most important is that we have an elected body in Boston that is more representative of the city of Boston. We’re certainly not there yet, but we’ve made improvements with this last election,” Essaibi George said. “We also need to make some more gains in considering the racial and ethnic makeup of the city and how it’s reflected in the City Council.” Citing personal experience in the Boston Public Schools system, Essaibi George said that knowledge can help create a more representative City Council. “What I bring to the table is my experience as a classroom teacher. I’ve been a teacher for 13 years in Boston. I’ve also built a successful small business in the city of Boston, and I’m a parent,” Essaibi George said.
“Those experiences in particular are similar experiences to those of many Boston residents.” Essaibi George said she looks forward to working with the council to offer because of the “unique twist” and different strengths and focuses each councilwoman brings to the group. “Where we differ and complement each other as city councilors and people that love Boston is our variety of skill sets,” Essaibi George said. “That complement is going to be an incredible asset to the City Council.” Several residents said they are pleased with the election of two women to the Council and agreed that it is important to have adequate representation in local politics. Nick Sterling, 55, of South Boston, said that he believes it is important for everyone to be involved in local politics. “There should be a broad range of demographics throughout politics,” he said. “Women, minorities, everybody should be involved in politics.” Theodora Goss, 47, of Kenmore, said she thinks a diverse spread of gender and race in Boston politics will create the strongest government. “We want to make sure that all the different populations of the city are represented in local politics,” she said. “Women are important in all politics and in every level, including up to the president.” Bonnie Larkin, 32, of South Boston, agreed and said diversity ensures that all sides of an issue will be voiced. “You want to make sure you have a diverse group so that way everyone is looking at how issues affect the constituents,” she said. “That way everyone is looking at issues from different perspectives.”
Students, SHS push for campus mental health redevelopment BY LAUREN FOGELSTROM DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Widespread conversations on the importance of mental health on campus have led several student organizations and administrative departments to push for mental health initiatives. Boston University Student Health Services, BU Student Government and some individual students continue to produce efforts to increase awareness and better care for student mental health. A new program called Campus Connect will be coming to BU in the Spring 2016 semester, Dori Hutchinson, director of services at BU’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, said. “It’s really a public health approach to creating and building this campus culture of caring for each other through gatekeeper training for students, for empathetic listening, for distress on campus and for faculty and staff,” Hutchinson said. Carrie Landa, director of behavioral medicine at SHS and leader of Campus Connect, said providing training is a “very common effort on college campuses” that would decrease stigma and work towards suicide prevention. “[The program] is about training people to talk to students about sensitive mental health issues and provide them with accurate information about access to care on campus,” she said. “[The program] also includes a peer listening program which is something that students have been requesting.” Hutchinson said students’ voices play an important role in demanding an increase in the availability of mental health and behavioral medicine resources. “Places like behavior medicine are under-resourced as an organization, and [places
like SHS] would gladly take more clinicians and more space, and those are issues that students are asking for and working with the university for,” she said. An increasing number of students are seeking help with their mental health, Hutchinson said, but the resource insufficiency at centers such as SHS “plays into things like students having to wait for a regular appointment.” Hutchinson said sometimes as a society, “we disconnect mental health from student life,” and ask about the role of an academic institution in a student’s medical life. “We know from research that good mental health is associated with good academics and healthy lives,” she said. On Oct. 16, the Student Government Advocacy Department sent out via email their Mental Health Survey to the student body. The survey aims to gather information that will be brought to the BU administration to make “concrete and impactful changes” in the ways students receive mental health care on campus, the email stated. 2,300 students completed the survey, SG President Andrew Cho said during a Senate meeting on Oct. 20, The Daily Free Press reported. Data gathered will be analyzed by the Advocacy Department to be forwarded to SHS, Cho, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said. Ramya Ravindrababu, a junior in CAS, took her mental health initiative to SG during a Senate meeting Sept. 29. Ravindrababu received a letter of support unanimously voted on and signed by SG. The letter allowed her to present the argument of requesting more funding for behavioral medicine at BU. Ravindrababu said there has been progress on her initiative since she received the letter from SG. The Panhellenic Council and
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ANNALYN KUMAR/DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
Boston University Student Government sent out a survey Oct. 16 to gain feedback on BU’s mental health resources.
the Undergraduate Psychology Association had shown support for her initiative, Ravindrababu said. “I have been raising awareness by bringing this idea to other student organizations to gather support in order to send the message that students support increased funding for behavioral medicine,” she said. “As a campus, we could do a better job at prioritizing the mental well-being of our students and our community [and] we are certainly making strides in this direction.” In response to the survey, Landa said, “it’s great to hear that students and student leaders are interested in supporting such an important cause that is clearly very important to me, and student health in general.” Hannah Jacobs, a freshman in the Sargent
College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said programs like Campus Connect would bring positive impact to numerous students. Having more therapists available on campus would also be beneficial because a “long waiting list to get a therapist” should not exist, Jacobs said. “I realize how important mental health is and how unfortunately prevalent poor mental health is among college age kids,” she said. “Almost everyone will at some point come in contact with a friend or relative experiencing poor mental health and it’s really important to know how to deal with that not only for the benefit of the person struggling but also for yourself.” CONTINUED ON DFPR.ES/SHSHEALTH
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Past two years see spike in Halloween alcohol violations BY SYDNEY FOY DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University has experienced a rise in medical alcohol transports for students in the past two years during Halloween weekend as compared to previous years, according to the school’s alcohol enforcement numbers. There were almost four times as many Halloween weekend transports to hospitals related to alcohol in 2015 and 2014 — 15 each year — compared to 2013, an analysis of past data revealed. BU started to crack down on alcohol enforcement in 2011 when they increased enforcement and reported statistics weekly on different alcohol violations, the school announced in BU Today. This hike in enforcement was meant to decrease alcohol medical transports, which appeared to be effective for the first two years, as hospital transports decreased to six and four instances during Halloween weekend in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Transports, however, have now shown a spike in the past two years. Scott Pare, deputy director of public safety for the BU Police Department, said in an email that the festive time of year for Halloween increases the party activity within the community, but BUPD prepared in order to prevent the dangerous alcohol-related behavior. “BUPD increased its patrols [this year] to increase visibility and hired additional [Boston Police Department] patrols to assist in the areas surrounding our campus,” he said. “The university increased the number of available activities on campus to give the students many options to celebrate responsibly.”
David Rosenbloom, a professor of health and policy management with an expertise in alcohol and alcoholism, said the marketing of alcohol and the weather could be possible explanations for the rise in drinking in the past two years. “Halloween has become one of the most heavily marketed and promoted days of the year for the alcohol industry so they are really pushing excessive drinking as the Halloween celebration,” he said. “I think that counter-marketing prior to the weekend can help, alternative activities that are not alcohol-based can help.” Several students said they were very aware of the increase in partying and the level of severity that it took over Halloween weekend. “It is kind of frightening though to see that that is happening more and more often now,” said Eli Saracino, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It is definitely something that should be looked into more.” Saracino said the extent of the drinking that took place on Halloween weekend and the increase in binge drinking is possibly culture-related and unsettling. “I know that a lot of Halloween weekend is all about the partying, so a lot of that in college these days is drinking and that could be more enveloped into our culture now,” he said. “ … If there was something to point at I would start by looking there, definitely if it is something almost considered fun and living on the edge to do these now dangerous things.” Elise Roche, a sophomore in CAS, said she thinks drinking has become “trendy” for college students, which could be a possible explanation for the rise in alcohol transportations, but education about alcohol could
SOURCE: BU Police Department GRAPHIC BY RACHEL CHMIELINSKI/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
There were 15 medical alcohol transports over Halloween weekend, according to the Boston University Police Department.
help to bring the numbers back down. “I think that in general educating people is important,” she said. “Keeping people informed about responsible ways to drink is definitely a helpful measure, because I feel like if students knew how to drink responsibly they would do a better job, because yeah it is illegal for a lot of students who are being transported to drink, but I think BU is aware that they are doing it and if people know what they are getting into it ends up better usually.” Aidan Gordon, a freshman in the Col-
lege of General Studies, said the reason for an increase in medical alcohol transports is because students don’t know their limits when it comes to alcohol, but there isn’t much BU can do about the problem. “I see posters everywhere about alcohol awareness and I think that that is very obvious that the information is there if the students want to listen,” he said. “I think it is honestly just a matter of who students surround themselves with and what they choose to do and I don’t know I’m not sure if there is much the school can do.”
Activists await action from State Legislature for public records bill BY KENNEDY DAVIS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Those in support of reforming the state’s public records laws await a hearing from the Massachusetts House of Representatives before the legislative session ends, as promised by Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo. The bill is a combination of two identical bills filed by Sen. Jason Lewis and Rep. Peter Kocot, resulting in legislation with four main requirements regarding access to public records. “This is an unfortunate area where we are not a leader,” Lewis said. “We are, in fact, a lagger. We have not given this issue the attention that it deserves.” Lewis said the first provision in the bill is that public records must be available in a searchable, electronic format whenever possible. “The public records law was originally written in 1973 [when] everything was in paper,” Lewis said. “This is an example of where public records law is so out-of-date that it does not even address electronic records.” Government agencies must appoint someone in charge of public records requests, fees must be adjusted to be accurate and agencies must pay for attorney fees in cases challenging wrongfully denied records access, according to the bill. “That’s to respond to some of the charges we’re seeing today that can be in the tens of thousands of dollars,” Lewis said. “We have even seen fees of millions of dollars, which is just outrageous.” Lewis said the situation in the final provision is not expected to happen often, but would provide an incentive to government agencies to provide the records. Sponsored by the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Over-
PHOTO BY ABIGAIL FREEMAN/DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
A Washington-based investigative news organization ranked Massachusetts among the worst states for easily accessible public records.
sight, the bill was referred to the House Ways and Means committee on July 16. Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin filed a petition to place a question regarding public records on the 2016 election ballot. It was approved by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and is in the process of collecting signatures from voters by Dec. 2. A report released Friday by the Center for Public Integrity gave Massachusetts an “F” rating for public records access, citing that information requests were not resolved in a timely manner and at no cost. Fred Bayles, a professor of journalism in Boston University’s College of Communication, said he is shocked by the state’s inadequacy in dealing with public records
detailed in the report. “A lot [has] to do with the ignorance within the government about what they have to and they don’t have to provide,” Bayles said. “In the past I have asked for agendas and been denied when I was entitled to them.” The liberal nature of Massachusetts, Bayles added, is what leaves it behind other states in ratings. Reporters or members of the public “have to physically go through paper,” which doesn’t always happen in other states, he said. Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said public records legislation increase transparency, and should be highly valued for it.
“We need to know what our government is doing on our behalf and the only way to do that is to stay informed,” Silverman said. “By having a strong public records bill, we’re able to get the information that we need to hold our leaders accountable.” Several residents shared varying views about public access to government documents. Clara Kang, 22, of Brighton, said although public records are not of particular concern to her, she was surprised to see Massachusetts’ low ranking. “I do not care that much, but it is really shocking because I thought Massachusetts is somewhere that’s really liberal,” she said. “It should be very easy for citizens to request documents from the government.” Jermaine McNeill, 37, of Dorchester, said the debate about public records is a difficult topic to make sense of. “On one hand, it is the government, so everyone should have access to that information so that they can speak about it and speak accurately, and on the other hand, there is also some government information that should stay private,” he said. Regarding access to documents, McNeill said access to documents depends on the situation. “To each his own,” he said. “Unless it is pertaining to something that is really going to affect people in general, then maybe I would want to know, but if not, as a bunch of people aren’t going to get harmed or hurt in a situation, I’m okay with some information staying private.” Link Axel, 30, of Dorchester, said people should have the right to know government information. “People need to have access to information in order to be able to speak freely,” he said. “Everyone should be able to know what is going on in the government.”
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Early voting coalition seeks to increase participation BY LUIS CASTRO DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Hoping to increase voter turnout for the 2016 election cycle, a coalition of political advocacy groups looks to implement newly-ratified early voting laws throughout the state of Massachusetts. The Election Modernization Coalition, which includes the Common Cause Massachusetts, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts and American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, gathered at the Massachusetts State House on Nov. 5 to announce the standards set by new early voting laws. The law, signed by former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick in 2014, will go into affect in 2016 and will allow voters to head to the polls up to eleven days earlier than Election Day. Towns and cities are also required to have at least one voting location open during business hours. Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, discussed the importance of early voting. “Early voting is one important step towards modernizing our elections. If implemented well, it will allow many people whose work or family obligations preclude them from standing in line or getting to a poll on Election Day an opportunity to vote,” Wilmot said in a Nov. 5 press release.
“It is already working well in 32 other states and will cut down on long lines during high turnout elections and improve the voting experience for many.” Going beyond reforms outlined in the law, the Election Modernization Coalition recommends providing multiple early voting locations based on a city or town’s population, having at least one site available for every 35,000 people, evening and weekend voting hours and advertising about the early voting. Advocates caution that implementing the new laws will not be enough to significantly increase voter turnout on its own, according to the release, because the size of each municipality matters. “Early voting’s success will depend on communities having evening and weekend hours available and, for cities and towns with populations over 35,000, more than one location to vote,” Wilmot said. Through the Early Voting Challenge initiative, the coalition will use a token system of gold and silver “medals” to indicate how well officials are integrating the new early voting days, according to the release. “We’re hoping our contest will encourage municipal officials to adopt our recommended standards for early voting,” said Anne Borg, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, in the release. “If they do, we are confident
it will not only benefit voters in 2016, but will make election administration more manageable as well.” Ileana Cintrón, a research fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, said the success of early voting days will be determined by the strategy city officials implement to inform their constituents of the new opportunity. “Early voting will be great for families that have to work on Election Days. However the success of having early voting days depends on how well groups get the word out,” Cintrón said. “There have been states where this has been successful, we just have to see how well it was implemented there and look for models.” Currently 33 states provide early voting days, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. States such as Wisconsin, Alaska and Iowa that provided early voting days during the 2014 election cycle saw higher voter turnout rates than states like New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware that provided no early voting days, according to the United States Elections Project. The former states had voter turnout rates of 56, 54 and 50 percent, respectively, as opposed to 28, 36 and 34 percent for the latter three. Rahsaan Hall, director of the Racial Justice Program for ACLUM, said the legislation will positively impact communities of color.
PHOTO BY JAKE FRIEDLAND/DFP FILE PHOTO
The Massachusetts Election Modernization Coalition announced Nov. 5 the launch of the Early Voting Challenge, which aims to register voters earlier and increase the amount of votes in the 2016 election.
“Early voting has been proven to increase participation in communities with historically low voter turnout. Communities of color and neighborhoods with large concentrations of young people will greatly benefit from this change in the law,” Hall said in the release. Several residents said they support the initiative and hope it encourages more people to vote. “We should make it as easy as possible to vote,” said John Shafranski, 35, of Allston.
Dave Gettleman, 51, of Allston, said voting should be limited to a number of days instead of an extended period of time because people may lose interest in the election. Despite that, he said voting in general should be easier. “It should be as easy as possible for people to have the ability to vote,” he said. “Whether that is a couple days could be great, but I don’t think it should be an extended period of time, like two weeks. Whatever makes it easiest for us.”
SG introduces Gap Week, weeklong gender equality push BY LEXI PEERY DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Gap Week, a weeklong celebration to unite women with dialogue about gender inequality, was introduced Tuesday during an information session at the Boston University Photonics Center. The event will be hosted by the BU Student Government from Mar. 14 to 19, 2016. Mim Eiben, an executive coordinator of Gap Week, said the showcase aims to foster respect and equality within the BU community through a variety of events and workshops. Gap Week will host events on topics such as successful women in business and politics, women in STEM fields and female-led philanthropic endeavors, Eiben said during the information session. Eiben, a sophomore in the Questrom School of Business, said she has sent over 200 emails informing student groups about the meeting and hopes various groups take part in the initiative’s preparation. “We want to make sure to tap into as many different ways that people react to this issue [of gender inequality] as possible,” Eiben said. “Ideally, the student groups will all be [planning and participating], and interacting and bringing together the BU community over something that is so universal.” Yasmin Gentry, also an executive coordinator and a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Communication, said support from the student body and a coalition of student organizations would help shape what events will happen during Gap Week. “Generally we have had very supportive feedback,” Gentry said. “One of the things [is] that we did leave the proposal vague, so we could leave it up to the students what types of things would go into Gap Week.” Gentry said she hoped Gap Week would unify all the different
groups on campus that focus on similar issues. “Campus unity in regards to equality and respect for the people who desire and who are still working for it is so important,” she said, “so that’s the main goal. I want everybody to be talking about this. I want it to almost be like a BU holiday week.” Virginia Sapiro, a professor of political science in CAS, said Gap Week is a productive event that will allow a space for better discussions on women’s issues. “Silence is the worst thing that can happen,” the former CAS dean wrote in an email. “Good discussion, especially backed up by a careful look into the facts, can certainly help address the challenges we still face.”
Sapiro, however, said the wide use of the term “gender-gap” on campus has ambiguously described issues regarding gender inequality. Issues such as gender-based violence and aggression tend to dismiss women who raise the importance of gender as being “politically correct,” she said. “We are facing [very challenging issues] about the very definition of ‘gender’ and how we think about our gendered identity and experiences raised by discussions of transgender identity,” she said. “Many aspects of gender inequalities are being addressed, at least to some degree. But we still have a lot more to do!” Several student group representatives said they supported the general idea of Gap Week, but voiced their concerns over the name of the
event. Heather Cohen, an executive board member of Feminist Collective, said that the name Gap Week doesn’t encompass all the issues relating to gender inequality. “I don’t think [the name] makes sense since the only gap is the wage gap,” Cohen, a senior in the School of Education, said. “If they are trying to talk about women’s issues, saying ‘Gap Week’ doesn’t make that clear.” Tiffany Lo, a senior in CAS, said she hopes her group, Women in Computer Science, can interact with other groups on campus to expand the group’s reach to the student body. “One of [Women in Computer Science’s] major goals for this year was to expand what the club does beyond CS and reach out to a larg-
er community of people interested in technology,” Lo said. “Gap Week provides a very interesting platform for us to either collaborate with a larger group, or just to have a larger reach talking about women in technology.” Aaryn Clerk, another E-board member for FemCo and a junior in SED, said she hopes Gap Week will truly encompass all women. “We are in consensus that we want the week to be very intersectional and inclusive of all women,” Clerk said. “Not just cis[gender] women or straight women or white women. We want to make sure that this isn’t the type of event that says, ‘Oh well women can empower themselves.’ We want it to address systemic inequality and oppression.”
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Yasmin Gentry and Mim Eiben lead an informational meeting for Gap Week, a week in March 2016 that will be dedicated to empowering women and gender equality within the Boston University community.
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SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
Graffiti, street art make cultural comeback at Somerville show BY ALLEGRA PEELOR DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
One morning in April 2013, David Taylor, known as DS7, stopped by The Chelsea, a gallery that was hosting a solo show of his, to find nine of his paintings missing. Five of the paintings, which had been appraised at $4,000 each, were never seen again. Taylor eventually made reproductions of the stolen paintings, and displayed them and some of his other works in an art show Saturday at Warehouse XI in Somerville. Therapist and painter Charles Win, known as Shred15, also had art displayed at the show. His paintings, which look like screenprints and are reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s pop art, portray famous media activists Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Aaron Swartz. The show was called “JACKED” in honor of DS7’s stolen paintings and the information the activists “hijacked.” DS7 started as a graffiti artist in the 1980s. Although he has since transitioned from painting public spaces to painting canvases, his current art is still strongly influenced by the street art. In fact, the main medium DS7 uses is aerosol paint. “Everything goes in full circle,” DS7 said. “You go back to the things you used to do and reinvent it.” Win said he is inspired by graffiti’s “flat images” and graffiti’s use of screens to paint through. He says graffiti should be consid-
PHOTO COURTESY OLIVIA NADEL
“JACKED,” a graffiti art show presented by David Taylor (DS7) and Charles Win (Shread15) took place on Nov. 7 at Warehouse XI.
ered art because it is an important part of American culture, although he understands efforts to stop it in public areas. “To have people say, ‘I don’t want graffiti on my building,’ that’s fair,” Win said. “I wouldn’t want my building to be all graffitied. That’s completely off the mark. I don’t appreciate that and I don’t pretend to support that in any way.” Instead of trying to put a stop to graffiti
altogether, DS7 said that authorities should try to help young people who do graffiti by putting them through programs similar to the ones he went through after he was arrested in the 1980s. “Kids are going to do what they want to do, tagging here and there on the street,” DS7 said. “It’s never going to stop, but you can give kids areas where they can work and paint. If you do that a little more often, then
maybe kids won’t be all over the streets doing their work.” Win agreed with DS7 that there should be a greater effort to put art back in the school curriculum so that children have a place to practice their art that isn’t the streets. “Where are our children supposed to express themselves?” Win said. “The school system has been decimated as far as music, band, art and photography [are concerned].” Win cited projects such as The Wall, a public “canvas” at Central Square, as a possible solution to the “problem” of graffiti. “I think it needs to get back into the school systems if you want kids to take it off the street,” he said. “Kids should have the means to express themselves.” Many JACKED attendees also said they believe that street art should be celebrated and embraced most of the time. “I think street art can be fascinating and I’ve always enjoyed it,” said Lisa Ullman, 54, of Brookline. “There’s a place for it if it’s not destructive or hate-filled … especially when you see it turned into murals or things like that. It can be surprising and help you think about the world.” Michelle Hirschfeld, 38, of Cambridge, said she believes graffiti can help accomplish the goal of creating streets with “a little beauty and art infused in everyday life.” She added, “There are cities around the world that are really embracing it and Boston should get on board. In general, I think it’s a really great movement and there’s a great future for it.”
MUSE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
Pakistani sculptor Huma Bhabha blends materials, narratives BY ALLEGRA PEELOR DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
A man whose legs are two-by-fours, a dog whose ears are paper and a picture of a donkey cart carrying an I-beam next to the freeway — all of these works of art were created by Huma Bhabha, a Pakistani artist who visited Boston University Monday to give a lecture about her work. Bhabha makes a variety of sculptures out of many different media. Most notably, she creates sculptures using a combination of found objects, paint and clay. Bhabha also creates collages on paper and drawings on photographs. Bhabha said some of her greatest influences include Karachi, Pakistan, where she was born and raised, and New York, where she went to graduate school. She said she has a “connection to a special kind of physical rawness found in Karachi” and is also interested in the “concrete canyons” of New York. Bhabha is especially fascinated by the contrasting scenery in the two locations that played a large role in the formation of her identity as an artist. “The landscape is a very important part of my work,” Bhabha said during the lecture. Many of the themes Bhabha explores in her work pertain to life in civilization, especially the destructive parts. “The stories and themes I’m interested in, for example, war and colonialism and dis-
PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Pakistani artist Huma Bhabha spoke about her sculptures of “grotesque dignity” Monday night at Sleeper Auditorium.
placement and contemporary ruins of war, [do not] lose sight of the comedic and theatrical elements,” Bhabha said. She also said she draws inspiration from the scale and imagery of African art as well as the photographs of Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi, who photographed himself
in his studio. “I see a cinematic element [in Brancusi’s photos] which I try to develop in my photos of sculpture inspired by him and other artists,” Bhabha said. Bhabha started making art from a young age growing up in Karachi. Her mother was
an artist and helped to build her interest. “I’m an artist,” Bhabha said. “That’s what I always wanted to be.” As for her artistic process, Bhabha said she does not have a particular routine or defined process every time she makes a sculpture, drawing or photograph. “When I begin to make my work, there is no set plan,” Bhabha said. “I work to find a balance between practicality and form.” Bhabha’s work might be considered unique by many, given the uniqueness of her materials. “I like how these materials … would complement each other very well,” Bhabha said. “It was a combination I had not seen before. Using modeling clay in an expressionistic way was something that I really enjoyed.” Bhabha said she likes using found objects to create her sculptures because it allows her to go into abstraction. She had been interested in assemblage and studied the history of collage in college, which inspired her to use found objects after school. “Sometimes using found materials is easier,” Bhabha said. “When you don’t have that much money, you find things that have the same affect.” Some of Bhabha’s specific sculptures capture her love of found objects and the fact that they add a sort of mystery to the pieces. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
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FEATURES
CATALYST THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
Students reflect on compromising health for class, work BY YASMIN YOUNIS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
You might want to think twice before touching the office water cooler tomorrow. According to research conducted by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, many workers with illnesses often still choose to go to work for reasons including job security, job stress and a high demand of jobs. The research analyzed data from 61 previous studies from 34 different countries. The growing phenomenon of individuals attending work while they are sick is known as “presenteeism.” The study found that presenteeism offers both positive effects such as increased motivation and a strong sense of commitment to the job in addition to negative effects such as decreased productivity and poor performance. Presenteeism affects many individuals, especially university students. Several Boston University students said that when they wake up in the morning and discover that their sniffles became unbearable nasal congestions and their cough became a nasty sore throat, they contemplate whether or not they should actually attend class. “If it was a serious struggle getting out of bed or if I was throwing up, I wouldn’t go,” said Joe Damico, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. However, many students said they feel an immense amount of pressure to attend class or work while they’re ill in order to ensure that they stay on top of their schoolwork or to guarantee a sustainable paycheck. Nate Bellerose, a sophomore in the Questrom School of Busi-
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
According to research by the University of East Anglia, high job demands, stress and job insecurity are the main reasons why people attend work when they are sick.
ness, said he believes going to work or school while sick may hinder his productivity, yet he still feels obligated to attend regardless of his state of health. Roxanne Segina, a freshman in CAS, agreed with Bellerose’s sense of obligation. “I feel as though I have responsibilities to the company to show up and I also don’t want to lose part of my work study,” she said. “ … Being a student in an office full of adults is also sometimes stressful because I am the youngest person there and I don’t want to cop out of my job.” Although students feel personally obligated to attend class while they’re ill, many said they would prefer for their peers to not do the same. “If [someone] is visibly flu-like, I’d obviously be uncomfortable,”
said Megan Phillips, a junior in CAS. Bridget McAdams, a freshman in CAS, expanded on Phillips’ sentiments from a more personal perspective. “If I was to the point where I was disrupting class when I was sick or if I knew I was contagious,” McAdams said, “I wouldn’t go because you are putting other students at risk and you’re interfering with
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others’ education.” That being said, many students said they believe that overall productivity would be at high risk if their classmates or coworkers run the risk of disrupting the learning or work environment because of their illness. Some even said they felt that this standard should apply to professors as well. “It reinforces the idea that,
‘You need to be here because I’m here,’” said Kirby Page, a freshman in CAS. “ … It’s still trying to enforce this idea of attendance … but at what cost?” Productivity, in and of itself, is a major issue that students reported struggling with when determining which is more important to them — health or work. “It’s not beneficial because [sick employees] are not working to the best of their ability and they’re slowing [productivity] down,” Bellerose said. “ … If they’re a critical member of their team, then they need to be there.” Damico shared his opinion that the prevalence of presenteeism shows that people nowadays often value work over their personal well-being. “[Our culture] has changed over time,” he said. “If people had the flu 50 years ago, they probably wouldn’t show up to work. But now, there’s just so much pressure.” Ultimately, the study shed light on a universal issue that people of all ages and backgrounds struggle with on a daily basis. “We live in a high pressure society, especially in the U.S.,” Phillips said. “Our priorities aren’t health … I think it’s extremely problematic.”
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FEATURES
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INBUSINESS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
Fen-tastic Fest features food and philanthropy in Fenway BY ELLA TORRES DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
On a night that applauded the diversity of the Fenway neighborhood, approximately 100 professionals attending the Fen-tastic Fest fundraising affair Tuesday, displaying the heterogeneous culture that the Fenway Community Development Corporation wants to preserve. The event helped raise money for Fenway CDC, an organization working to help all people find and keep affordable housing in the area. “We have a lot of people in the business sector, a lot of the residents, it looks like,” said Louvere Walker, president of Fenway CDC’s board of directors, about the evening’s crowd. “And we also have a quite a few board members and staff … I am so happy that we don’t just see clones of each other.” Rosie Kamal, a former board member of Fenway CDC and area resident since 1967, has been “committed to the Fenway for years” and watched the organization’s efforts to preserve the area’s culture. “Fenway CDC has been really committed to seeing that Fenway remains a really vibrant place for everybody of all different backgrounds and all different incomes,” she said at Tuesday night’s gathering.
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PHOTO BY RACHEL MCLEAN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Fenway Community Development Corporation hosted “Fen-tastic Fest,” a food festival featuring dishes from around the globe.
The annual fundraiser has been going on for years — so long that many attendees couldn’t remember when it started. “I would say it’s been at least 10-plus years,” Walker said. Others racked their brain to think about how long it’s been. They settled on about 10 years as well. This time around, packed into the startup Hatch Fenway’s office at the Land-
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mark Center, more than $50,000 was raised through donations, making it one of the largest fall fundraisers for the group ever. All of the money from Tuesday night’s event, according to Walker, will go to the organization. Though she didn’t specify exactly how funds would be allocated, she said they’d be divided between an array of functions to keep the program thriving. Iris Tan, Fenway CDC’s marketing and development director, spoke to the necessity of the donations. “Fenway CDC needs to raise essential funds to support our programs such as, number one, affordable housing — the development and preservation,” said Tan, who organized the fundraiser. Other initiatives the program puts on
include connecting students to job training and employment opportunities, working with residents to help educate them and meeting with city leaders about solving social issues. The night culminated in the gathering of guests to hear from various sponsors and directors of the nonprofit as they thanked the group for, as one put it, trying “to fight to ensure that people find and maintain affordable housing.” Dating back to 1973, Fenway CDC has worked to keep the neighborhood available to all — not just the wealthy, Walker said. But the fight has only gotten harder. “We have to adjust here and there over the years, but I hope we can remain strong and do what we need to do and assist as many people as possible,” Walker said. As for the attendees, several said they left inspired by the group’s efforts. Janaya Hart, who works at Elkus Manfredi Architects, said the night spiked her interest to learn more about Fenway CDC and potentially get involved with the group. Alycia Joyal said she scored tickets to the event because her company, Wilmington Trust, which has a Boston location, partnered with M&T Bank, one of the sponsors from the night. “The food’s delicious. We’ve met great people,” Joyal said. “It’s for a good cause, so … I’m happy to be here.” As the night came to a close, Walker said she felt confident in what her group had done and will continue to do. “Of course, there are a lot of other topics related to social issues across the country,” she said, “but [affordable housing] is going to be one of those fights that I think Fenway CDC is at the forefront of.”
Sculptor inspires art students HUMA BHABHA, FROM PAGE 5 Her sculpture “Sleeper” from 2005 is a life-size standing figure inspired by the kouros sculptures of ancient Greece. The pedestal is a part of the sculpture and itself a found object, and from the side the viewer can see that the sculpture is actually hollow and the figure’s legs continue into the pedestal. This idea that the viewer has to walk around the sculpture to get the full affect carries throughout much of Bhabha’s work. “Is it stuck in the white pedestal or is it part of it?” Bhabha said. “This kind of ambiguity is something that I like.” An untitled sculpture of Bhabha’s from 2005 has to been seen from not only different angles, but also in different environments in order to be fully understood. The sculpture looks like a lying down, possibly praying figure with the whole body covered in a trash bag and hands made of clay sticking out. Bhabha said she photographed it in the studio, but also in the landscape of Karachi. “I was noticing how the garbage bag covering the clay to keep it from drying also started to resemble a figure,” Bhabha said. “The narrative changes in a different setting.” Bhabha’s work served as a source of inspiration to many BU students who attended the lecture, especially to those who hope to follow in her footsteps. “[Bhabha] is a great example of a con-
temporary sculptor,” said Laura Capozzi, a freshman in the College of Fine Arts. “I’m really happy that BU brought her here because it really shows us how you could take a creative outlet and apply it to the real world. I learned how to incorporate elements into sculpture that I normally wouldn’t by using unfamiliar materials.” Capozzi said she appreciates how BU gave all students the opportunity to learn from a successful artist right here on campus. “A lot of us go into CFA not really knowing what we want to do in the future, but as a sculptor, she really showed us the possibilities of what we could accomplish,” Capozzi said. Jami Rubin, also a freshman in CFA, agreed with Capozzi in saying that going to Bhabha’s lecture gave her new ideas about the possibilities of art. “I really liked her artwork and I thought her process was super interesting,” Rubin said. “I had never really thought about drawing on photographs before.” Bhabha credited her creative use of photographs and other materials to her unique artistic perspective. “I allow myself to go into abstraction,” she said “The quest is to make it better and whatever that requires … You can see the idea of using different materials and using them in a way where you can say different things.”
OPINION
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
Mike DeSocio, Editor-in-Chief Joe Incollingo, 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
45th year | Volume 89 | Issue XI 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 © 2015 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.
Samantha Gross, Multimedia Editor
Justin Pallenik, Sports Editor
Olivia Nadel, Photo Editor
J.D. Capelouto, Campus Editor
Katie Aramento, Editorial Page Editor
Katelyn Pilley, Layout Editor
Mina Corpuz, City Editor
Sonia Rao, Features Editor
Shakti Rovner, Office Manager
By barring journalists, Mizzou protestors limit conversation University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe resigned Monday, having faced pushback from students on the basis that he did not react quickly enough to racism and injustice against students of color. Most recently, Wolfe did not take action after a swastika was allegedly smeared on the wall of a communal restroom with human feces. Students are standing in protest of Wolfe and the Mizzou administration even after Wolfe’s resignation, quite literally standing their ground on campus. This, in parallel with staunch protests at Yale University over the past two weeks regarding an ill-received email sent by a professor and master of one of the university’s residential colleges. One piece from The Atlantic seems to suggest these protests have gone far past the point of constructivism, however. Meanwhile, a video surfaced Tuesday depicting a white professor from Mizzou’s communication school audibly asking for violent pushback against student journalists, who had brought their cameras to cover a protest in which students sat in tents on a lawn at the school. The students in question, Tim Tai and Mark Schierbecker, claimed their First Amendment right to free press was infringed upon when the professor, Melissa Click, told them to put their cameras away. Just days before, according to USA Today, Click posted this statement on Facebook: “Hey folks, students fighting racism on the MU campus want to get their message into the national media. Who among my friends knows someone who would want a scoop into this incredible topic? This story
involves the failure of administrators, a student on day 6 of a hunger strike, and creative, fearless students. If you can help, please let me know!” Apparently, Click later decided the student protestors’ “safe space” was being infringed upon by the media that she invited to cover the event. Of course, we stand in solidarity with these protestors. Unless we have experienced the racism and horrific threats these students have faced, we can’t possibly identify. That said, we hold that journalism and activism should not be at odds. There must be room for accord between these students and the journalists — specifically student journalists — who wish to bring their stories to light. In large part, a photojournalist’s duty is to document what is going on and not to have influence upon what is happening. The only point at which one should put down his or her camera is when he or she is could lend help in a grave, perhaps violent situation. In some cases, though, an impactful or thought-provoking photo will do much more to help than standing in solidarity ever would. It’s understandable that these protesting students may not want certain media outlets to be present and reporting because they don’t believe these outlets can possibly fairly represent them. But in fighting to make this a national story, Click and her fellow advocates illuminated the need for journalists of all kinds to cover this event. To ask for this sort of coverage and then take it away in times of projected “privacy” or in moments you don’t want the world to see is unethical,
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lieve her stance in a movement has more clout than the stance the entire outside world could take. Even if she is close with this group, she doesn’t live the life of the oppressed and she isn’t being directly affected by institutional racism. These protests took place in a public space and people have the right to be made aware of them. Her attempt to derail student photojournalists only colors the coverage she initially asked for by deciding what will be shown and when it will be shown. As Tai put it, sometimes people forget that freedom of the press is a First Amendment right just as the freedom to assemble is. It isn’t acceptable, then, for people to tell journalists of any nature that they do not approve of who is representing them, but then not offer a solution. You can’t shame the media without allowing a conversation. And at the same time, no one can choose who covers them. At the end of the day, if you’re making news, you’re making news. After all, these movements should not profess themselves to exist in a vacuum. Ideally, what is decided at Mizzou or at Yale should have the potential to have an impact on similar tensions around the country. By looking to isolate themselves by keeping the media out, the students are helping themselves, but hurting their mission. This movement among students was amazing, but this unfortunate video set that movement back. Now, perhaps these students and this professor have realized that because they are still fighting, they should welcome the media. Good journalists don’t set out to distort voices — they set out to amplify them.
This week’s crossword puzzle is brought to you by Christian Putnam
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unproductive and contradictory — especially when gathered in a public space. The strength of student-run media is the ability to bring to light the issues university-sponsored publications may not report on due to public relations concerns. These college students are in the business of writing news for their peers, not in making the institution look good. In terms of student journalism experience, the opportunity to cover events such as this is an extremely important learning curve. If we want our media to be educated and well rounded so as to fairly represent all groups of people, minority or otherwise, we need to provide an outlet for experience to students who are aspiring journalists — especially because Mizzou is regarded as one of the best journalism schools in the country. Student journalists see these issues first hand, and they are responsible for making them accessible to their peers and to other potential readers around the country. To say this is not to miss the greater picture here. We understand the disparity between who is covering the story and whom the story is about. In this case, a student journalist shouldn’t have to be inside the story to write — it’s the content of the story that matters, and that content should always remain truthful and unbiased. And selecting someone to cover the story who has directly experienced these specific injustices may lead to the exact bias we should try to avoid. That being said, it’s pretty presumptuous of a white professor who has studied the First Amendment as a part of her education in becoming a communication professional to be-
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1. Rate 5. Radiolocation 10. Cast a ballot 14. Hearing organs 15. Delete 16. Not under 17. Mathematics 19. Dregs 20. Ear of corn 21. Consumed 22. Charred 23. Capture 25. List components 27. Antlered animal 28. Snuffled 31. Liabilities 34. Question 35. French for “Summer” 36. Historical periods 37. Cunning 38. Extent 39. N N N N 40. Divinity
41. Trifling 42. Prisoner 44. Many millennia 45. Arm of the sea 46. A despicable coward 50. Corrupt 52. Utilizers 54. Armed conflict 55. Egg-shaped 56. Defile 58. Adriatic resort 59. Fangs 60. Anagram of “Seek” 61. Plod along 62. An analytic literary composition 63. What we sleep on
1. Tranquility 2. Moses’ brother 3. Baby beds 4. Eastern Standard Time 5. Statement 6. Mountain crest 7. A romantic meeting 8. In an inane manner 9. Record (abbrev.) 10. Loudness 11. Slept through the alarm 12. Adolescent 13. At one time (archaic) 18. Makes well 22. Flock 24. Catches 26. Rubber wheel 28. Hotel offering 29. French for “State” 30. Declare untrue 31. Accomplishment
32. Sea eagle 33. Torture of the feet 34. Tranquillities 37. Heredity unit 38. Dispatched 40. Pickle flavoring 41. Sheriff’s group 43. Not digital 44. Ribald 46. Triangular formation 47. Conscious 48. Deserved 49. Put on clothes 50. Volumes (abbrev.) 51. Wicked 53. Litigates 56. Consumed food 57. Confederate soldier
OPINION
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
My love for storytelling
BY CASEY MINTZ COLUMNIST
When I was seven years old, I started writing my first book. I don’t even remember what it was about, but I do remember the “about the author” section that came at the end. “Casey Mintz is a beautiful, blondehaired, blue-eyed girl from Florida. She loves writing and hopes that someday she can get a dog.” While I have become slightly more humble since then, I did eventually get a dog, and I do still love writing — obviously, considering I write these columns weekly. But column writing was not my first love: storytelling was. And my life has been punctuated by the stories I’ve written about ever since I can remember. They started off as being extremely juvenile, as you can imagine. Stories about falling in love, something I knew about only from the movies. A horror story called “Into the Nightmare Realm,” which went sadly unfinished because my family’s 2004 computer crashed. Songs written about a boy I had a crush on in fifth grade and poetry written about my middle school drama that seemed like the end of the world back then. When I was much younger, notably in second grade, I used to lie. I’d make up ridiculous tales about being the princess of Japan (I’m a pale, blonde, Jewish girl from South Florida), being a witch who had to go to Halloweentown to fight the evil wizard (yes, like the Disney Channel Original Movie) or being pretty much anyone but myself. My friends would listen in amazement as I wove details together and stitched them so tight they were believable. I made the ridiculous sound sublime. I could answer whatever questions they had because I’d spend my days thinking of background information, filling in the blanks. I convinced one friend so well that one day when I was absent from school, she requested that her mom call my mom to make sure I was okay and hadn’t been defeated by a malicious wizard. I was actually at the dentist. I think that’s where my love for storytelling began: knowing I could convey a falsity so believably. Knowing I could affect people in such a way that they’d tell their
mom to check on me, which probably earned an eye-roll and a sigh, was a great feeling. It was the first knowledge that I had a talent. Throughout middle school, I was known as the girl who all the English teachers loved due to my penchant for devouring book after book and my straight perfect scores on every essay. My seventh and eighth grade English teacher (hi Mrs. Mayerchak) used to pride herself on saving 100 percent grades for only the best essays of the year. I savored each 100 percent-earning essay, always trying to earn more than my best friend at the time. By the end of the year, it became a game. In eighth grade one semester, my final English grade was a 101.3 percent, probably my proudest accomplishment to date. The summer between ninth and tenth grade, I was hypomanic. Hypomania is characterized by manic energy, extremely high productivity and creativity and little need for sleep. So over those two months, I penned my first novel. It was over 1,000 pages. I also wrote the sequel, which clocked in at a little under 700 pages. I’d send chapters as I wrote them to my best friend Hannah, and on the rare nights I didn’t write anything, she would harass me for more. We had starring roles in the book, a self-insert story about going on tour with our favorite band and falling in and out of love with various members. It was fan-fiction before I even knew what fan-fiction was. I became addicted to the art of the story: creating characters, making a timeline, planning scenes, even feeding all that excess creativity by making a slideshow in iMovie that served as a sort-of trailer. Only Hannah and I were even reading this, but being able to produce hundreds of pages of punchy dialogue and description made me feel on top of the world. Since that summer, the hunger for storytelling has never fully faded. I’m constantly planning out the next book-length story I’ll write — I’ve finished two since that summer and I hope to start another over Thanksgiving break. Storytelling is the aspect of writing I love most: it’s why my columns are so narrative — why I always must include a little about myself, even when writing about the news. It makes things personal, interesting, and adds (what I hope is) a spark to yet another rant about feminism or a scientific discovery about anorexia. I can write as many columns as I want, but creating characters and seeing what situations I can put them in and get them out of is my first true love. I don’t know if I’ll ever be satisfied until you see a novel by me on the shelves at Barnes & Noble — a girl can dream, you know?
“Free press” is not free
BY JAMES KING COLUMNIST
We live in an age marked by unprecedented global communication. But while we in the United States have access to seemingly unlimited information, most people still live in places with pervasive censorship. There have been significant strides in press freedom over the past 30 years, but the past 10 have seen a sharp increase in worldwide censorship. Measuring the levels of censorship in a particular country can be a daunting feat, but Freedom House is a U.S.-based group that devotes itself to doing just that. Freedom House uses a scoring system from 0 (no censorship) to 100 (most censorship) using indicators such as state influence over media, tough anti-slander laws, economic independence of media and threats or violence against journalists. Censorship is becoming pervasive across the world, and it’s not just a party official in a dark, mysterious room that changes newspaper headlines. Censorship is changing as fast as technology — and in many places, it’s winning the race. China has become synonymous with censorship. As media evolves, China’s censorship methods have moved into the digital age. The “Golden Shield Project” is the system of censoring and regulating information access in the country by filtering keywords and restricting access to non-approved websites. While the Chinese government exerts massive, systematic efforts to curb dissent, censorship in China is becoming a cooperative effort between the public and private sectors. More than 100,000 people in China work both for the state and private contractors to monitor the Internet, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Censorship has become a booming industry in the world’s most populous nation. Most Chinese media outlets hire government advisors to approve their coverage before it is released, so the need for government retaliation against criticism isn’t very great. Some of the most dangerous places for journalists have notoriously weak governments. Mexico has become one of the “most dangerous places” for journalism due to threats against journalists by criminal groups, especially drug traffickers. Mexican news outlets have said that they avoid publishing content that could provoke violence or threats
from organized crime. The National Human Rights Commission has recorded 88 killings of journalists in Mexico since 2000, along with countless other disappearances. The prevalence of threats in Mexico has created a taboo on covering topics like drug trafficking, human rights abuses carried out by criminal groups. The omission of coverage on criminal activity has allowed it continue without falling under proper public scrutiny, exacerbating the problem. Countries with chronically weak governments like Mexico’s don’t have the capacity to defend press freedom. If a state isn’t strong enough to uphold the freedom of the press, it doesn’t matter what rights are guaranteed. Fast access to information played a crucial role in the political revolutions of the Arab Spring since 2011. Protestors and rebels alike used access to online social media platforms and news outlets to organize. Access to online information was so beneficial that Egypt shut off the country’s Internet access temporarily in attempt to stop the demonstrations. But in post-Arab Spring 2015, as only Syria’s civil war rages on, how much freedom of the press has endured? Not much, according to a report by the Federation of Arab Journalists. The environment for journalists has reportedly become more repressive in places like Egypt, Libya and Yemen than before popular uprisings. After the power of information flow was witnessed during the Arab Spring, regimes, religious institutions and non-state groups are rushing to consolidate control of the media. According to the 2015 report, “political and press freedom were restricted compared to the previous era, especially the two years preceding the Arab Spring,” The Middle East, with the exceptions of Israel and Tunisia, has experienced a drastic loss of press freedom in the last four years. The reduction in freedom of the press over the last 10 years has occurred against a chaotic backdrop. While the end of the Cold War marked an initial drop in censorship as states became free from the Iron Curtain, growing political violence since then has put the press in jeopardy. Authoritarian regimes and violent non-state actors can both hold their guns to the press. The press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders noted this year that, “Beset by wars, the growing threat from nonstate operatives, violence during demonstrations and the economic crisis, media freedom is in retreat on all five continents.” There are more than 7 billion people in the world, and only 14 percent of them live with a “fully free” press. As our world becomes more interconnected via economic, linguistic, cultural and political ties, our access to information shapes how we see each other. As the word’s nations become interdependent, it’s critically important that we have a clear, full picture of each other. How we see each other will shape our world.
Interrobang A man chained himself atop a waterslide on Tuesday in Candia, New Hampshire, to prevent Liquid Planet Water Park from closing permanently after acquiring $1.5 million in debt. We here at the ol’ Free Press want to know, what item would BU people chain themselves to for fear of it being taken away?
CFA: The hashtag #MyCFA
Men’s Hockey: Their championship dreams
Myles: Running water
Kilachand Honors College: Their egos
COM: Their memories of the COM Berm
President Brown: His seventh zero
Questrom: Their $50 million in cheese platters
FreeP: Our credibility
SPORTS
2015-16 BU MEN’S BASKETBALL 0 Eric Johnson Sophomore Guard 6’2” 190
Last season: Appeared in 12 games before succumbing to shoulder injury.
25 Kyle Foreman
1 Nick Havener
Before BU: Ranked as the No. 6 recruit in the state of Washington by ESPN.com.
Last season: Started two games, collecting a career-high five rebounds two times.
32 Justin Alston
2 John Papale
Last season: Started all 30 games, averaging 8.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest.
Last season: Notched the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Patriot League at 2.55.
34 Brandon Johnson
3 Eric Fanning
Before BU: Averaged 19.5 points per game in his senior season at Loomis Chaffee Prep School.
Last season: Scored 10 or more points 18 times, highlighted by a 27-point performance at Army.
41 Dylan Haines
Freshman Guard 6’1” 170
Sophomore Forward 6’8” 225
Senior Forward 6’8” 230
Senior Guard 6’3” 195
Freshman Guard 6’4” 205
Junior Guard 6’5” 210
Junior Forward 7’0” 230
Last season: Made appearances in 14 games, scoring a career-high five points at Loyola University Maryland.
5 Blaise Mbargorba Junior Center 6’11” 225
Last season: Earned an appearance on “SportsCenter” with a thunderous dunk at Lafayette.
Not pictured: Braiten Madrigal
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF BU ATHLETICS
13 Will Goff Senior Guard 6’3” 185
Last season: Garnered a season-high seven points, five assists and three rebounds against Wentworth .
15 Cheddi Mosely Sophomore Guard 6’3” 190
Last season: Named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team after averaging 8.6 points per game.
20 Cameron Curry Junior Guard 5’9” 175
You have the passion... we have the tools. Gain the skills to fight social injustice.
Last season: Received the Reggie Stewart Award for best exemplifying BU basketball at the team’s annual banquet.
21 Cedric Hankerson Junior Guard 6’5” 215
NEW
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F U L L -T I M E & PA R T-T I M E , E V E N I N G
P R O G R A M S AVA I L A B L E
Last season: Averaged 15.9 points, 1.8 steals, 2.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game to earn a spot on the All-Patriot League Second Team.
22 Nate Dieudonne Senior Forward 6’7” 235
Last season: Ranked second in the Patriot League in rebounding with 7.4 boards per game.
24 Kamali Chambers Freshman Guard 5’11” 180
Before BU: Led Brewster Academy to National Prep School, NEPSAC and Lake Region titles in his senior year.
law.cuny.edu/prospective
SPORTS
11
Joe Jones establishing championship culture at BU Now, Hankerson is on the road back from a torn ACL, but his team has to move forward without him when the season begins Friday against Northeastern University. This season, Jones has a team stocked with veteran players and three freshmen, quite the turnaround from last year when only two players had starting experience. “We have a good understanding of what we’re trying to do on both ends of the floor,” Jones said. “We just have to get a level of consistency. I think their level of understanding is better, especially from this point last year, but now it’s just can we get some consistency?” Consistency has been a staple of Jones’ preaching throughout his tenure. While his teams ooze consistency, there was a three-year span when the Ronkonkoma, New York, native’s life was anything but. After leaving his job of seven years as head coach of the Columbia University men’s basketball team, Jones went all the way down Commonwealth Avenue to become an associate head coach with Steve Donahue at Boston College in 2010. Jones’ first year as an associate head coach was also Donahue’s first with the program. Both had to become acclimated. That acclimation process did not last long, though. After just one year as an Eagle, Jones made his way to BU, where he is entering his fifth season. “I haven’t thought about that transition a ton,” Jones said. “I was so excited about the job here.
BY MIKE JOSCELYN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Leading 14-4 with 13:04 left in the first half seemed like an enviable position to be in for the Boston University men’s basketball team. The Terriers appeared ready for the rigors of the Patriot League Tournament. Yet, by the end of the game, BU coach Joe Jones watched his team get outscored 89-64 by eventual-tournament champion Lafayette College. “The low point of my time here was last year in the Patriot League quarterfinals,” Jones said. “The biggest game of the season and we ran out of gas. We weren’t ready to play and they kicked our tails pretty bad. With ten minutes to go in the first half we sort of had control over that portion of the game, but after that we had nothing.” On the eve of the 2015-16 season, Jones ran through the possibilities of last year’s team, which had no shortage of question marks, but still had tantalizing potential. “That was the low point because I think we had enough based on talent to make a run,” Jones said. As a team, the Terriers shot 40 percent in the game, but their best scorers never found a rhythm. BU’s All-Patriot League Second Teamer, then-sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson, had nine of his 14 points in the team’s first-half run. He went 1-for-7 from the field the rest of the way and his team followed suit.
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What was hard was when I was an assistant again — at times I missed being a head coach. But I learned a ton from Steve Donahue and it gave me a chance to step back and think more about how I can be a better head coach. “ During his time with the Terriers, Jones has not reached the Patriot League mountaintop. Winning the conference title, and by default a spot in the NCAA Tournament, has slipped through the State University of New York at Oswego graduate’s hands. “That’s the pinnacle of what we try to do,” Jones said. “You’re always going to strive to make the tournament, which in my opinion is the most exciting thing in all of sports, the NCAA Tournament.” That pinnacle seemed destined to fall to BU in 2013-14 when it dominated the Patriot League to the tune of a 15-3 conference record. The Terriers scored 91 points in their first two Patriot League Tournament games before tangling with American University in the finals. BU shot 30.8 percent from the field, as the Eagles trounced the Terriers, 55-36, shutting down Jones’ best chance to take them to the NCAA Tournament. However, Jones does not classify that game or the 2013-14 season as lost, choosing to look positively at his squad’s accomplishments. “Beating [the University of] Maryland and winning the regular season title would be the high point
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"YOUR MOM WANTS YOU TO EAT AT JIMMY JOHN'S!" ® *WARNING: THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ADVISES THAT EATING RAW OR UNDER-COOKED SPROUTS POSES A HEALTH RISK TO EVERYONE, BUT ESPECIALLY TO THE ELDERLY, CHILDREN, PREGNANT WOMEN, AND PERSONS WITH WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEMS. THE CONSUMPTION OF RAW SPROUTS MAY RESULT IN AN INCREASED RISK OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT. ©1985, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014 JIMMY JOHN’S FRANCHISE, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. We Reserve The Right To Make Any Menu Changes.
PHOTO BY JACKLYN BAMBERGER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Joe Jones is entering his fifth season as head coach of the BU men’s basketball team.
of my time here,” Jones said. While that regular season title is viewed as a high point on the court, Jones is also trying to develop high points off the court. The coach is highly active in the BU community, specifically among the other BU athletic programs. He also guides his players off the court, which means just as much as their performance on it. “We really try to strive for that, as far as developing these guys as young men,” Jones said. “We really strive for that, where we believe they will have success after their playing days are over.” During their playing days, the focus is on bringing the Terriers their first Patriot League championship and their first conference title since 2011. Jones wants to bring a title-winning mentality back to BU as something every incoming class can view as achievable. “The biggest thing I want to do now is to put the program in a position where the culture is one that it’s a championship culture,” Jones said.
“That doesn’t mean you’re winning championships each year. It means kids know how to behave, they know the standards of behavior and they know how much they need to give.” This season is as good as any to establish that culture. Senior guard John Papale sits fifth on the Terriers all-time leaderboard for 3-pointers made with 192 during his tenure. Senior forward Nathan Dieudonne led the Patriot League in offensive rebounding last season averaging 2.4 per game. Even though Hankerson will sit out for the first portion of the season, and junior guard Eric Fanning is indefinitely game-suspended, Jones sees his team as prepped for the rigors of another season chasing that elusive Patriot League championship. “We’ll be ready when the time comes,” Jones said. “The biggest thing is that we have three seniors. I feel we have three seniors that are terrific people and very good players. We’ve set standards for them and have tried to do a good job in making sure they are rising to it.”
Terriers recovering from injury, prepping for title FRAZIER, FROM PAGE 1
the rotation this season. He is joined by fellow guards Kamali Chambers and Brandon Johnson, as they will look to help BU overcome their backcourt woes and finish atop the Patriot League. Jones had nothing but positive things to say about the freshmen, and Foreman in particular. “I think right now, Kyle Foreman will be plugged into the rotation, and deservedly so,” Jones said. “I love what [Chambers and Johnson] bring to the team. Both guys have really helped our team, they play with intensity and are very good athletes. I think those guys are extremely coachable. I like those freshmen, and I think they’ve really helped us already.” The Terriers begin their season Nov. 13, when they square off against hometown rival Northeastern University at Case Gym. BU then matches up with the University at Albany on Nov. 16 to kick off the Hall of Fame Classic before going on a five-game road trip, which includes a jaunt with No. 2 University of Kentucky on Nov. 24. Jones’ squad returns home to play cross-river rival Harvard University on Dec. 8. Other notable non-conference games will be Dec. 2 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and
a home game vs. the University of New Hampshire on Dec. 21. The Terriers will kick off conference play at the College of the Holy Cross on Dec. 30. Just three days later, BU will look to knock off Patriot League preseason favorite Lehigh University and its star center Tim Kempton, who earned conference preseason Player of the Year honors. Jones’ team will also have its hands full when it hosts senior Chris Hass and Bucknell University on Jan. 23. For BU, the most important factor this season will be its team chemistry. With every player from last year returning, the Terriers now have a solid group of guys together who all have at least a season of playing experience. For Jones, this makes it much easier to create a threat in the Patriot League. “It’s always good to have continuity in sports,” Jones said, “to have guys that you don’t have to start from ground zero [with]. “Compared to where we were last year at this time, I think we’re obviously further ahead in understanding,” Jones added. “We have a lot of work to do, and we have a long way to go, but I like our team. I think the pieces fit and we have terrific chemistry, and that’s very important in sports, not only in basketball.”
Quotable “You’re always going to strive to make the tournament, which in my opinion is the most exciting thing in all of sports, the NCAA Tournament.” - BU men’s basketball coach Joe Jones, p. 11
Sports Thursday, November 12, 2015
Mr. Jones Makes His Mark Men’s basketball coach Joe Jones has taken a long and winding road to BU. Now, he’s poised to bring the Terriers to new heights. p. 11
Cam Curry provides heart, character for men’s basketball BY JACKLYN BAMBERGER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The word “CREST” lies in big, block print on the backs of the Boston University men’s basketball team’s warm-up shirts. An acronym, it’s meant to reinforce the core values BU coach Joe Jones set for his team: communication, respect, enthusiasm, selflessness and toughness. Although, if anyone needs a refresher, all they’d have to do is look at junior guard Cam Curry. Ever since he arrived on Commonwealth Avenue nearly two-and-a-half years ago, the walk-on has served as the heart and soul of the BU basketball program, inspiring the team on and off the court. “He’s got unbelievable character,” Jones said. “He’s an absolute joy to be around every day. He’s got great energy, great spirit. He’s honest. He’s hardworking. I absolutely love Cam Curry.” That spirit became clear to Jones the minute he saw him play. In the spring of Curry’s senior year at Chino Hills High School, his travel team coach Keith Howard called Jones to tell him about the scrappy 5-foot-9 floor general. After watching highlight tapes, Jones thought Curry’s skill-set and basketball IQ might make him a good fit at BU, so he invited him to Boston to train with the team. There, Jones and the Terrier coaching staff caught a glimpse of Curry’s hustle and composure on the ball. Equally as eye-catching as Curry’s on-court abilities, though, was his character. “[Howard] talked about the type of person that Cam was and that was easy to see when we sat down and spoke to him,” Jones said. “I felt very good about him as a person the first time I met him.” It didn’t take long for Jones to extend a roster spot to Curry, who immediately blended in with the team, to whom he refers as his brothers. But now, headed into his third season in the scarlet and white, Curry and his spirit will be needed more than ever to compensate for the team’s various hurdles as the campaign approaches. Early injuries to junior guard Cedric Hankerson, sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely, an indefinite game-suspension to junior guard Eric Fanning and the team’s move from Agganis Arena to Case Gym due to lack of fan support all plague the Terriers’ preseason. Curry isn’t too worried, though. “Personally, I just want to do what-
PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAWK/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Junior guard Cam Curry made his first career start Dec. 14, 2014, against Quinnipiac University.
ever I can to help the team win,” he said. “Whether that’s playing [or] pushing everybody in practice. Basically, being the energy off the bench or the energy from the bench and cheering everybody on. I’m the biggest cheerleader if I’m not playing.” That was the case back in his freshman campaign. Seasoned guards like Maurice Watson Jr. and D.J. Irving took center stage for the Terriers, meaning much of Curry’s contributions in the 2013-14 season came from courtside. With Curry energizing the bench, his team captured the Patriot League regular-season title and came within one game of an NCAA Tournament berth. After BU lost over one-third of its offensive production in the spring, the 2014-15 campaign was set to be a season of self-discovery for a young and inexperienced Terrier squad. This provided the opportunity for Curry to step up to the challenge. “The coaches have always told me to be ready,” he said. “They always told me to work hard because you never know what could happen.”
What did happen was the Terriers needed Curry. They needed the patience, the energy and the understanding of the game’s nuances that Jones first noticed in those tapes. “For us, we needed to have some guys on the floor that really understood what we were trying to do,” Jones said. “He really helped in that way. … He’s a guy that we can rely on.” After steadily earning more and more playing time during the first month of the season, Curry got the news that he had worked so tirelessly to hear — he would be starting a Division I basketball game against Quinnipiac University. “You always dream about starting in a college basketball game,” Curry said. “When I heard that I was going to start the next day, I told my parents. I told my sister. I told everybody.” The Terriers won the game, and Curry continued to be a major on-court facilitator. Turning his size disadvantage into motivation with heart and grit, Curry tallied a career-high seven points and three steals against the Wentworth Institute of Technol-
ogy on Dec. 29. As it turned out, that sideline energy translated pretty well onto the court. “I like to be that little feisty guy that nobody likes to play against,” Curry said. “The hustle guy.” Even as he spent more time on the court, though, Curry maintained his role as team’s lifeblood when on the bench. On the road against Lafayette College Feb. 9, when junior center Blaise Mbargorba threw down a vicious dunk in a 14-point win, Curry sprung off the bench and leapt no less than three feet into the air. “He just does the right thing every day,” said senior guard John Papale, who lives with Curry. “He works hard in the weight room. He works hard on the court. He’s a great student. He’s someone that I admire and look up to and I think all the other guys look up to him, too. He’s a great leader.” At the season’s end, after making appearances in 20 games, Curry received the team’s highest honor — the Reggie Stewart Award, for “best exemplifying the traits of BU basketball.” Jones called the decision a no-brainer. “It was a great honor just knowing that the coaches thought that I exemplified BU basketball to that highest level on the team,” Curry said. “And to have the players backing me up and saying that I deserved that award, it felt so rewarding.” Those exemplary traits are the same he carries with him, both figuratively and in print, every time he goes to practice. His camaraderie with and respect for his teammates, along with his selflessness and toughness in the face of success and failure, while familiar to him since birth — his dad rose from a tough beginning to become a Stanford University and Harvard University-educated doctor — are still hallmarks of the culture Jones wants to establish at BU. So, as the Terriers embark on their 2015-16 campaign, Jones will look to Curry as a constant reminder of the program he is trying to build, and in ways already has. “Any time you have guys that are doing it the right way, they are a point of reference that you can point out to for other guys to show them how it’s done,” Jones said. “People have to see it and feel it and he gives you a chance to have people see how it’s done the right way. They can see how it’s done the right way … To have a guy like that that does that is uplifting. It makes everything better for your team.”
Justin Alston on cartoons, pet peeves, Halloween, and more BY JACKLYN BAMBERGER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Helping man the glass for the Terriers this season will be senior forward Justin Alston. The 6-foot-8-inch Alston started all 30 games last season, averaging 8.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, and won the team’s Richard Taylor Academic Award and Arturo Brown Most Improved Award at its year-end banquet. As his final season gets underway, The Daily Free Press caught up with the big man from Washington and picked his brain on some tough topics. Here he is, in his own handwriting.
My favorite place to hang out on campus is ...
My favorite cartoon character is ...
My biggest pet peeve is …
The best song lyric of all time is ... The best game I’ve ever been a part of was ...
My Halloween costume this year was ... Draw a self-portrait.
The greatest athlete alive is ...
In a movie based on my life, the lead role would go to …