3-8-2012

Page 1

The Daily Free Press

Year xli. Volume lxxxii. Issue lxxxiv.

Campus & City

ROCKY RUSSIA: BU grad student questions Putin’s win

page 3

[

Thursday, March 8, 2012 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University Sports MUSE

VISITING VIGGO: LOTR actor visits Coolidge Corner to accept award

page 5

]

www.dailyfreepress.com

NO SAP SAPONARI: Parker’s ‘moved on’ from former forward

page 8

Weather Today: Cloudy, High 63 Tonight: Showers, Low 40 Tomorrow: 49/29 Data Courtesy of weather.com

Brown forms task Union faces internal challenges, senators say force, members plan for first meeting By Rachel Eides Daily Free Press Staff

By Gina Curreri Daily Free Press Staff

In an email sent to students Wednesday, Boston University President Robert Brown announced the 16 members who comprise the special Task Force to review the culture of the men’s ice hockey program. Brown stated the task force will work with experts throughout the spring and report its findings over the summer. The task force is expected to go over “recommendations” they can consider before the start of the next academic year. The Office of the President website listed a number of BU affiliates who will join the task force, including BU Trustee Carla Meyer, College of Communication Professor Elizabeth Mehren, School of Public Health Professor Emily Rothman and SPH Professor William DeJong, among others. The task force, which formed after two hockey players were charged with sexual assault, includes people with expertise regarding sexual assaults and student-athlete interactions, said Provost Jean Morrison, co-chairwoman of the task force. DeJong said he approaches the assignment with a completely open mind. “I’ve heard about the accusations made against the two students, and I have read Dr. Brown’s charge to the task force, but I know almost nothing about these two cases or the hockey team as a whole – except that they get into the Beanpot finals almost every year,” DeJong said. Morrison said she and co-chairman Jonathan Cole, chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees, will designate a time for the first meeting with the entire task force within a few days. Morrison said the task force will seek input from students, examine the climate surrounding the team and gather other information. “We’ll also be gathering a lot of data around performance of our student-athletes, how they do academically and what their interactions are with our faculty,” she said. Members said the report the task force will draw up for Brown in the summer is expected

Task Force, see page 2

Some Student Union senators expressed mixed reviews about how Union has communicated and functioned during the spring semester. “This semester has been and will continue to be a tumultuous period in Student Union’s history,” said College of Arts and Sciences senior James Boggie, a four-year Union member. Union has faced staffing problems as well as communication issues throughout the semester, senators said. Union members have left their positions for a number of reasons, including time management and communication. “There will always be turnover and people

decide that they want to leave,” Boggie said. “I’ve been involved since 2009 and I have seen a lot of people go, but this is the first time that I have seen people go who are good at their jobs.” A few Union seats remain empty, Boggie said. The students who represented the College of Fine Arts and Shelton Hall left and have not been replaced. Sophie Miller, former Union executive staff and vice president of internal affairs, said her involvement in the first semester did not go as she hoped it would. “I know that often the reasoning behind a resignation is unique to each individual,” Miller, a CAS sophomore, said in an email interview.

Miller said her challenges were not due to a lack of personal investment, but to the nature and circumstances of her position. After trying to approach her leadership in a different way, Miller said she decided to step down for the year. CAS freshman Sean Gunning said he resigned from his position as advocacy committee chair in February because the semester had been very busy and it became stressful. “Student Union does some great work so there was a lot of pressure to get things done faster than I had been, which is very fair,” Gunning said in a phone interview. “I was not as devoted as they deserved. It wasn’t fair to anyone

Union, see page 4

Kennedy Greenway may become home to year-round market By Becca Shipler Daily Free Press Staff

Farmers in the Boston area have an abundance of produce but no place to sell it yearround, said Mimi Hall, the operations manager at the Boston Public Market Association. While there are many seasonal farmers markets in Boston, she said, no farmers markets operate during every season. In a move they say will revitalize Bostonian’s relationships with food, the BPMA recently submitted an official proposal to the city to install a permanent marketplace across from the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The BPMA plans to use the vacant ground floor of a Massachusetts Department of Transportation-owned building at 136 Blackstone St. to house a large-scale, permanent farmer’s market, Hall said. In a letter to Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, the president of the BPMA said the market will provide the public with “a central urban showcase featuring the best food from Massachusetts.” The market will host 90 seasonal and permanent vendors who will sell fresh products such as fruit, vegetables, herbs, eggs, wine and baked goods, according to the BPMA proposal. “The Boston Public Market will reconnect our urban and rural communities and is projected to bring in [more than] $30 million in new sales of food products per year – some $300 million over 10 years,” Hall said. Opening the market, which will spread

MICHELLE KWOCK/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The nonprofit Boston Public Market Association has proposed to operate a food market along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

across a 27,000-square-foot space, will take about $15 million, according to the BPMA proposal. Of that cost, $11 million will come from private funders and the rest will come from the government, as authorized by Massachusetts General Court, according to the project’s Request for Proposals. “The Commonwealth is prepared to invest

up to $4 million from state and federal capital funds to support the opening of the Public Market,” according to the RFP. The BPMA anticipates the market will open on July 1. It will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, according to the BPM website.

Market, see page 4

Models distort self-perceptions of women, government should intervene, study finds By Alex Diantgikis Daily Free Press Staff

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH ANOLIK

A new study presented by The Guardian calls the government to actively address the problems of anorexia and unhealthy body image in the fashion model industry.

When flipping through magazines such as “Vogue” or “Harper’s Bazaar,” one might notice the scant amount of models larger than a size two. Government intervention should occur to “prevent the spread of a potential epidemic of food disorders,” according to a discussion paper that proposed an economic model of eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa affects women between 15 and 34 and is usually socially induced, according to the paper, published by The London School of Economics and Political Science. “The distorted self-perception of women with food disorders and the importance or the peer effects may prompt governments to take action to influence role models and compensate for social pressure on women driving the tradeoff between ideal weight and health,” according to the paper. Dr. Alison Field, an associate in medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, said women need to look at weight as a health issue rather than an issue on body perception. “We want people to be thoughtful enough

to be active and diet, but not overly focused,” Field said. “Women need to look not just at the scale, but look at all the other wonderful attributes they have.” Elizabeth Saviteer, program coordinator for the National Eating Disorders Association, said it is important to keep in mind that beauty is subjective. “Women need to learn to appreciate to the diversity of body shapes and sizes as well as accept their own body image,” Saviteer said. “They need to appreciate what the body can do as well as what it looks like.” Saviteer said numerous studies have shown unrealistic body images in the media affect selfesteem and can lead to dieting. “The ideal figure has certainly got much thinner, as well as our body dissatisfaction,” she said. The media is one of the factors that affect how people see themselves, according to the paper. “The ‘ideal’ body image portrayed by the media influences social interaction and this may in turn make it more dominant,” according to the paper. “This circularity only makes the power of social interactions in shaping people’s self-identity more extreme.”

The Council of Fashion Designers of America recently released a set of rules and regulations for models to encourage healthy eating and dieting habits in the industry. Saviteer said NEDA supports the CFDA’s new guidelines for models, but eating disorder screenings should be required for minors in the industry. NEDA is working with the organization “Off Our Chests!,” a women’s magazine that promotes happiness for women and girls. Saviteer said they are working to get disclosure on images in the media saying the images have been digitally altered. “Photoshop has a negative impact on body image and self esteem,” Saviteer said. Field said the media should not use these thin models and eating disorders should not be glorified. “Wherever we are we’re reminded of this perfect image,” Field said. “At the grocery store, the tabloids say ‘Perfect Bikini’ or ‘Best Dress.’” More than 90 percent of people with anorexia nervosa are female, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Katie Heimer, the community and education

Models, see page 2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
3-8-2012 by The Daily Free Press - Issuu