TACO ‘BOUT IT, 2
MAKE AN IMPACT, 6
FINAL WORD, 9
HELLO BALTIMORE, 11
A new Mexican restaurant is coming to West Campus.
A film and arts festival at the BUild Lab promoted creative innovation.
Our Editor-in-Chief says goodbye to the paper that taught him everything.
Men’s lacrosse is traveling to Baltimore Friday for the conference semifinals.
THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
YEAR XLVII. VOLUME XCVI. ISSUE IX
Checking in with BU Hub, two semesters in BY KAMI RIECK
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
GABRIELA HUTCHINGS/ DFP STAFF
Thomas Fiedler.
COM Dean Fiedler looks back College of Communication Dean Thomas Fiedler, is retiring next month. He described his time at BU as rewarding and looks forward to new experiences to come. READ ON PAGE 7
When Boston University initially launched its new general education curriculum, the BU Hub, at the start of the Fall 2018 semester, College of Communication professor John Hall said he opposed the changes. Two semesters into the Hub system, Hall said he appreciates the program’s multidisciplinary approach. The BU Hub aims to broaden students’ education to navigate a more interconnected world, according to the program’s website. All students who matriculate in fall 2018 or later must complete the program’s requirements in six different disciplines, called “capacities,” prior to graduation. Eric Jarvis, the Hub’s program manager, said the curriculum integrates academics more holistically into the undergraduate experience, as it is interwoven with other
coursework, offers innovative learning experiences and encourages student exploration. Incoming transfer students entering in fall 2020 and beyond are obligated to fulfill a modified Hub curriculum from the one taken by students who matriculated at BU as freshmen, according to Jarvis. He said the requirement policy for transfer students is still being finalized and approved by the university. Hall said he has redesigned his courses and syllabi to better meet the various BU Hub requirements. He said he anticipates other professors underwent a similar process to adapt to the Hub, as well. The Hub program’s six essential “capacities” include Philosophical, Aesthetic and H istor ica l Inter pretation; Scientific and Social Inquiry; Quantitative Reasoning; Diversity, Civic Engagement and Global CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
Scooter rollout smooth At-Large Council seats up for grabs BY NATALIE PATRICK
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
It’s been a month since the electric scooter companies Bird and Lime brought their dockless rental vehicles to streets of Brookline for a pilot program. There have not been any reports of accidents involving e-scooters and cars, said Kristiana Lachiusa, community engagement coordinator for the Cambridge-based transportation advocacy group LiveableStreets Alliance. Overall, Lachiusa said she has heard mixed reactions from people who have used the e-scooters in Brookline. “Some people think they are a fun, easy way to get around,” Lachi-
usa said. “Other people have felt uncomfortable riding them, especially given the pavement conditions in certain streets, so it depends who you talk with, I would say.” The e-scooter pilot program deployed 200 total vehicles across Brookline, according to MassLive. Lachiusa added that more e-scooter use could increase the need for bike lanes in Brookline or in other cities that have the vehicles. “It feels like this is a good opportunity for cities like Brookline or their surrounding cities,” she said, “to increase the number of bike lanes — and protected bike lanes specifically — to help try and CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
BY JOEL LAU
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Since nomination applications opened two weeks ago, more than 50 Boston residents have applied to become candidates in the 2019 Boston City Council elections, according to WBUR, hoping to be chosen by voters to fill one of 13 open seats in November. Out of these 55 candidates, 21 are running for the four at-large positions, with the four incumbents — councilors Michael Flaherty, Michelle Wu, Annissa Essa ibi- George a nd A lthea Garrison — facing 18 potential challengers for reelection,
WBUR reported. Six of Boston’s nine remaining councilors, who each represent one of Boston’s nine districts, are also running for reelection, according to WBUR. District 5’s Tim McCarthy, District 8’s Josh Zakim — who represents the area of Boston University — and District 9’s Mark Ciommo announced they will step down once their term finishes. There are 10 contenders running for the District 5 seat, six vying for the District 8 seat and seven contenders competing for District 9, WBUR stated. As Nomination Petition
Forms were released on Tuesday, candidates now have to gather enough signatures of support to get on the ballot for the preliminary elections in September. Contenders for an at-large seat need 1,500 signatures each by the May 13 deadline, while most individual district candidates need 200 signatures each. Wu, a current City Councilor At-Large who was elected in 2013, said she hopes voters look at her track record of opening doors for community engagement and that she will focus on advancing three areas: economic mobility, racial CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Student workers face extra burdens BY CHLOE GRINBERG
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
When Jessica Frith is awake until 5 a.m., an experience college students know well, she isn’t cramming for a test or getting back from a night out. She’s at home in bed watching Netf lix to “decompress” after a ninehour shift, attempting to ignore stressors that might be an overdue paper, an upset coworker or the Uber home that cost the same amount she made in an hour. Frith is a fourth-year Boston Universit y student working toward a five-year program in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, after which she will receive both a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and a Master of Arts in international affairs.
She also works 35–50 hours a week at Earls Kitchen and Bar in the Prudential Center, where she works as a shift manager two to three times a week and as a server one to three times a week. Frith said she receives little help from her parents and works to pay for her rent and food. BU students like Frith, who take on long work hours in addition to a full class schedule, said their commitments have sometimes affected their classwork, social life and mental health. “I haven’t gone to half my classes this semester because I’ve been too anxious to go,” Frith said. “I really care about school, but I’d be more successful if I could put more energy into being a student.” Elise Frankera, a senior in
the College of Arts and Sciences studying math, works 30–35 hours a week at Yard House in Fenway and said she is taking five courses, spending 17 hours total in the classroom. “After work I just don’t want to do any schoolwork,” she said. “Around a month ago I kind of had to step back and tell my managers that I am not able to focus on school because I’m at work so much.” Frankera said she sometimes feels frustrated by her peers at BU who don’t work to pay their own expenses. “They’re able to focus on school,” she said. “They’re able to get these unpaid internships.” Katerina Chew, a coworker and friend of Frith’s, is a junior in the Metropolitan College study-
CHLOE GRINBERG/ DFP STAFF
Often stretched for time due to long work hours, fourth-year Boston University student Jessica Frith (right) frequently hands in her assignments late and chooses to catch up on sleep when her commitments become too overwhelming.
ing criminal justice and pays for her rent and tuition by working as a server and hostess at Earls, she said. “I had a friend who thought
he was doing the same thing as me, but he had a 10-hour-a-week job at BU and wasn’t paying for school,” she said. “I feel like it’s
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7