1-21-2014

Page 1

The Daily Free Press

Year XLIV. Volume LXXXVI. Issue III

UNDER D.C. BU professor aids in researching methane leaks, page 3.

[

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University

FAST FAT

Study finds fast food not only cause of obesity, page 5.

]

www.dailyfreepress.com

DOWN TO THE -UIRE BU goalie Sean Maguire makes 39 saves in loss, page 8.

WEATHER

Today: Sunny/High 20 Tonight: Snow/Low 13 Tomorrow: 16/9

Data Courtesy of weather.com

BU to offer dual degree program in law, medicine Diversity plan to be

developed for Boston public school system

By Taryn Ottaunick Daily Free Press Staff

Boston University will offer a program that allows students to earn a Doctor of Medicine degree and a Doctor of Law degree simultaneously in six years, officials from the Boston University School of Medicine and Boston University School of Law announced Thursday. “This joint degree is a great example of the University’s ‘One BU’ philosophy, as two of BU’s most prestigious professional schools collaborate to provide a new interdisciplinary degree program for our students,” said LAW Director of Communications Ann Comers-Wood. “It is also part of the law school’s strategic plan to develop more dual degree program options for our students.” The program, which will be begin in the Fall 2014 semester, will feature specific blocks of time devoted to both law and medical disciplines in order to save candidates a year of education, said LAW Associate Dean for Academic Affairs David Walker, who helped develop the program. “They spend the first three years at med school as a traditional med student,” he said. “So their first three years are just like any other med student’s. Then, there are two years that they spend at law school in a tradition that a first-year and second-year law student would. The sixth year, they spend one semester at BU LAW and one semester at BUSM.” Walker said one of the primary concerns in creating the program was ensuring that

By Felicia Gans Daily Free Press Staff

KENSHIN OKUBO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston University announced Thursday it will begin offering a joint Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Law degree in Fall 2014. The program will span six years, one year less than if a student pursues the two degrees separately.

candidates would have ample time to focus on both medicine and law without the two disciplines coinciding. “It was important for both of us [BUSM and LAW] that the students have a big chunk of time at the med school and at the law school uninterrupted,” Walker said. “So the student can be a traditional law student for a couple of years, a traditional med. student for three years.” Dr. Megan Sandel, an associate professor

at BUSM and co-creator of the program, said one of the program’s greatest strengths is that it has the flexibility to be tailored to each specific student’s goals. “Our experience in interviewing other JD/MD programs across the country, though there aren’t that many — this is going to be the second one in New england — is that it depends on what the student wants in their career,” Sandel said. “We’ll be able to tailor

Dual Degree, see page 2

$650 million expansion project in Fenway approved by BRA By Kelsey Newell Daily Free Press Staff

Marking the first development project under Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s leadership, an expansion project on the Landmark Center was approved Thursday by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. “The Landmark Center expansion is a transformative project that continues the revitalization of the Fenway neighborhood,” Walsh said in a Monday statement. “It will add new places to live for Bostonians of all income levels, improved neighborhood food access and new public green space. It’s a great project for the City, and I’m pleased that the Boston Redevelopment Authority has approved this development.” The Landmark Center will bring new housing units, underground parking, unique retailers and a large Wegmans grocery store to the Fenway area. Steven Samuels, founder and chairman

of Samuels and Associates, the project developers, listed the many benefits that this expansion will bring to the area in his letter to the director of the BRA. “[The Project will] contribute to the neighborhood’s vision for a diverse urban village, dramatically increasing the high quality publicly accessible open space on the Project Site and revitalizing a largescale existing office building and transforming it into a modern employment hub,” he said. “[It will also] improve the pedestrian experience along well traveled routes between the neighborhood and the MBTA station. These changes will dramatically enhance the Fenway’s position as a vibrant mixed-use district.” According to the Notification Form submitted to the BRA, the finished Landmark Center will include 550 housing units, 13 percent of which will be affordable. It will additionally include 110,000 square feet of

retail space, 75,000 square feet of grocery space, 15,000 square feet of office space and a subsurface parking garage with a capacity of 1,500 vehicles — not including space available for valet parking. The total cost will be approximately $650 million. The project is at the intersection of Park Street and Brookline Avenue. It will involve demolishing the existing parking garage and building multiple buildings between eight and 15 stories high that will be connected with the existing building. Although it is a costly project, it will return this investment in community benefits, said the release. “The project provides over $8 million in public benefits for the surrounding community for new public art, a multi-use path, improvements to Audubon Circle, support for Emerald Necklace Conservancy programming, and new open space to replace

lanDMark center, see page 2

The Office of Human Capital will develop a three-year plan, known as the Teacher Diversity Action Plan, to increase diversity in the Boston Public School system, Interim Superintendent of Boston Public Schools John McDonough announced Wednesday. TDAP will have three areas of focus: workplace diversity, workplace inclusion and sustainability. The plan’s creators hope to foster a diverse faculty that matches the diversity of its student body, said BPS in a Thursday release. “For years, we’ve been trying to have a higher retained teaching force that is reflective of the student population in terms of diversity,” said BPS spokesman Brian Ballou. “It’s been tough at times, [but] now we are proactively launching this Teacher Diversity Action Plan to recruit highly qualified diverse teaching teams that are culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse, and we believe that by doing so, it will help in terms of the academic achievement of students.” Over the last three years, BPS has maintained its percentages of diversity in teachers, school administrators and other employees. In the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years, 22 percent of teachers and guidance counselors in the school district were black, 10 percent were Latino and 6 percent were listed as “other”. This year, the percentage of black teachers decreased to 21 percent. All other numbers remained the same, BPS reported in a “Workplace Diversity” presentation Wednesday. “Before 2011, [the numbers] were lower,” Ballou said. “In some years, it’s actually been above federally mandated numbers, but overall, it has been lower. It’s a challenge. We are embarking on this proactively in order to bring the ranks of highly qualified diverse teachers up. We believe that we’re on the right track to achieving these goals.” Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union, said the recent percentages are disappointing, compared to the numbers of 25 or 30 years ago. “I hope the school system finally re-

Bps, see page 2

Smoke-outs held on Boston Common to protest ban on smoking in parks By Regine Sarah Capungan Daily Free Press Staff

KIERA BLESSING/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A smoker who prefers to remain anonymous lights his cigarette while sitting in Boston Common. Approximately a dozen people gathered in Boston Common Saturday to protest the city’s smoking ban that the Boston Parks and Recreation Commission passed on Dec. 30.

Protesters gathered in the Boston Common to smoke tobacco on Saturday to ignite conversation against a recent ordinance by City Council that banned smoking in Boston public parks. Former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino initially proposed the smoking ban ordinance, which prohibits smoking of marijuana, tobacco and vaporizers in public parks. It came into effect almost immediately after the City Council approved the ordinance on Nov. 20. The ordinance will be enforced by the Boston Police Department, who will make violators pay a fine of $250 per violation. “They passed this ordinance without really allowing us any input,” said Mike Cann, lead activist. “We weren’t allowed to even speak on it. It’s a blanket ordinance: there’s no place for anyone to smoke on the Common anywhere. We’re hoping to, in the very least, change it to something less severe.” The smoking gathering, which the organizers called the “Boston Common Smoke

Out/Vape Up,” was located at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. ‘Smoke Outs’ will take place on the third Saturday of each month until the smoking ban is repealed, Cann said. Cann, the organizer of the Smoke Out and former president of MassCANN, said selective enforcement would result from the smoking ban. The police would target people who would not be able to pay the fine, such as college students and people of a low socioeconomic status. “We’re really concerned about selective enforcement,” he said. “That’s really why a lot of us are up here. It’s whose going to get targeted. It’s racial profiling.” In addition to being a smoker’s rights activist, Cann is also a cannabis legalization activist. He said the ban was enacted in part to financially hurt the Freedom Rally, known by most as Hempfest, which takes place in the Boston Common every September. He is hoping more people will join the Smoke Outs by April 20, a holiday for cannabis users.

sMoking, see page 2


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1-21-2014 by The Daily Free Press - Issuu