The Daily Free Press
Year xliv. Volume lxxxvi. Issue VII
GRANTED Medical grant aims to reduce preventable harm, page 3.
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Tuesday, January 28, 2014 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
FLASHBACK
Experiment looks at origins of life on Earth, page 5.
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OFF THE BENCH Men’s basketball bench players show strength, page 8.
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Report recognizes difficulties faced by adjunct professors BU officials ensure safety of students in As adjunct professors at many institutions of higher education fight for adequate employment benefits, a report recently issued by Concase of emergency gress recognizes the challenges part-time proBy Taryn Ottaunick Daily Free Press Staff
fessors face. Issued by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the report highlights the struggles faced by adjunct professors in the United States trying to earn a living from their adjunct salary. It is a response to a governmentcreated forum that asked adjunct professors to express their career concerns. The report marks the first time the government has recognized adjunct faculty mistreatment at universities as a growing issue, said Malini Cadambi Daniel, a spokesperson for an organization that aims to garner better benefits for adjunct professors called Adjunct Action. “When you think about how little adjunct faculty make, how few benefits most of them have — no health insurance, no retirement security, how they are forced to reapply for their jobs so they have no job security — it’s shocking,” Daniel said. “If the debate in this country is about income inequality and whether we need to raise minimum wage, this is perfect timing.” Many adjunct professors, such as Andrew Sheehan, an adjunct professor of computer science at BU’s Metropolitan College, work fulltime jobs during the day to support themselves while teaching classes. “I work during the day as a programmer,”
By Kaitlin Junod Daily Free Press Staff
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
A new study from the House Education and the Workforce Committee data shows that adjunct professors are underpaid compared to tenured professors and take on multiple jobs to support themselves and their families.
Sheehan said. “Being an adjunct professor doesn’t actually give very much money. Adjuncts don’t get any benefits really …Mine come from my full-time job. Most adjuncts teach one, maybe two classes, and that definitely wouldn’t allow you to afford rent, student loans, car, gas, utilities, other bills.” Gillian Mason, a former BU adjunct professor and current activist for Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, said one of the most cloying concerns among adjunct professors, particularly
those looking to become full-time employees, is that there are few opportunities for advancement in the adjunct professor system, which is economically beneficial to universities. “BU adjuncts don’t have a union, so there’s really no sense that adjuncts have a voice on the job at BU,” Mason said. “... A lot of folks have the idea when they’re doing that of, ‘This is just temporary, and when I graduate, I’m going to get that tenure-track job and it’s going to be
Adjunct, see page 2
Lack of available liquor licenses hurting Mei Mei Street Kitchen By Kelsey Newell Daily Free Press Staff
Mei Mei Street Kitchen, a restaurant located in South Campus, has been deferred from obtaining a liquor license by the Boston Licensing Board, causing an obstacle for the restaurant’s development. The restaurant is unable to get a beer and wine license from the Boston Licensing Board because the city has reached the limit of alcohol licenses. Right now, the cap for Boston is 650 full liquor licenses and 320 wine and malt liquor licenses, despite that Boston is home to more than 2,000 restaurants and bars. Margaret Li, co-owner of Mei Mei, said the restaurant has been seeking a license since it opened in December.
“If we want one [a beer and wine license] through the city, we either have to wait until one becomes available, which means reapplying and paying the fees every 30 days, or buy one on the open market which is currently running at about $90,000,” she said. “This is a problem particularly faced by small independent business because it is the bigger chains that have the capital to buy these liquor licenses and hold on to them.” Nicole Murati Ferrer, chair of the Boston Licensing Board, one of the two boards required to approve a liquor license petition, said although the board does not have the power to grant extra licenses, it tries to help qualified restaurants when no licenses are available.
There is a law that prevents businesses from applying for a license multiple times within one license year, but Ferrer and the rest of the board try to work around that when a business would otherwise be granted a license had there been any available. “For us in Boston, since we’re almost always at the cap, if we don’t have a license [at the time that we approve of an application] what we do is we defer the application up to 30 days to see if a license become available then,” Ferrer said. “If a license does become available, then we grant that license to that petitioner. If no license opens up, then we reject the petition without precedence so that the person can reapply as often as they want to within
Mei Mei, see page 2
Gun-related incidents made national headlines every day last week, two of which occurred on college campuses. Despite the recent series of shootings, however, security officials at Boston University say the campus is wellequipped to handle emergencies. “We have officers specifically trained on how to respond to shootings should one occur on campus, and that is basically get there as fast as you can, address the shooter speedily to resolve that threat,” said Boston University Police Department Chief Tom Robbins. A student at Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Ind., was shot and killed on Tuesday. Another campus shooting occurred at South Carolina State University Friday, where a student was killed by a gunman. However, Robbins says, the BU community has developed a solid routine on how to keep students informed and safe during emergencies. “One of the biggest things we do is provide information on our website, and we provide information through training that we have developed on people how to react,” Robbins said. The key component of the emergency security plan is notifying the community to avoid the premises of the shooting site through a university-wide virtual alert system, known as BU Alert, Robbins added. “It would be a notification of what’s transpiring,” he said. “We would also tell people how to respond to that--In other words, stay away from this area, police are responding a report of whatever it is.” Lauren Palitz, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior, said the BUPD’s constant presence on campus is reassuring. “They’ve responded well to situations,” Palitz said. “They patrol Allston all the time. I always see BUPD cars all the time. “We’ve chosen to live in an urban environment, so with that choice comes risk, and that risk can’t ever be completely annihilated ... Nobody’s ever 100 percent safe, but I don’t walk around fearing for anything.” BUPD officials developed the emergency
Safety, see page 2
Obama pledges to fight sexual assault on college campuses across United States By Sophia Goldberg Daily Free Press Staff
As President Barack Obama launched an initiative to combat sexual assault at college campuses across the nation Wednesday, one may wonder what resources exist to prevent and handle sexual assault on the Charles River Campus. “The prevalence of rape and sexual assault at our Nation’s institutions of higher education is both deeply troubling and a call to action,” Obama stated in a Wednesday memorandum from the White House. “Although schools have made progress in addressing rape and sexual assault, more needs to be done to ensure safe, secure environments for students of higher education.” Obama established a task force of college administrators that will be given 90 days to create a list of recommendations for preventing and handling cases of sexual assault on campus, according to the memorandum. Boston University Police Department officials make efforts to prevent sexual assault by offering programs and advice to help students avoid incidents of sexual assault during freshman orientation and periodically throughout the year, said BUPD Detective
Lt. Peter DiDomenica. “We have the Rape Aggression Defense course which is provided free to students,” he said. “…It’s kind of a self defense course for women. We also provide advice for not becoming a victim, like not making yourself vulnerable by consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, accepting drinks from people, etc.” Reported sexual assaults at BU in 2013 included four incidents of assault and six incidents of indecent assault and battery. DiDomenica said these numbers are fairly normal for a college campus. “Some cases result in an immediate arrest, but we find frequently that these are reported well after the event occurred, said DiDomenica. “They are very difficult for people to report, and unfortunately it gets delayed sometimes weeks, or even months ... The more time the victim waits to report, the less options we have to collect forensic evidence.” Women in college face a high risk of sexual assault, according to a White House Council on Women and Girls report, entitled “Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call
Sexual Assault, see page 2
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
President Barack Obama announced a measure to combat sexual assaults on college campuses Wednesday, which will involve a task force of college administrators creating a list of recommendations on assault prevention.