The Daily Free Press
Year xliii. Volume lxxxiv. Issue XLII
SAFETY DANCE Hub unveils helmet vending machine for Hubway, page 3.
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Thursday, November 14, 2013 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
BRAIN FOOD
‘Spinning Plates’ captures complexity of restaurants, page 5.
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LOW LOWELL Men’s basketball smashes Lowell, page 8.
WEATHER
Today: Sunny, high 49. Tonight: Mostly clear, low 32. Tomorrow: 55/35.
Data Courtesy of weather.com
Mayor Menino to co-chair Initiative on Cities at BU Students, officials excited to see mayor will join university
SARAH FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University President Robert Brown (left) and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (right) speak at a press conference Wednesday morning at Boston University’s 100 Bay State Road. By Alice Bazerghi Daily Free Press Staff
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino officially announced Wednesday that he will be co-directing a new Initiative on Cities at Boston University once his tenure as mayor is complete. Menino announced at a press conference at 100 Bay State Road that he will be co-directing the institute with Graham Wilson, chair of the political science department at BU, in hopes
that Boston will become a place where cities come together to discuss how they are approaching problems. “Cities are full of energy and promise, but they are also full of challenges — on environmental fronts, on educational roadblocks, on growing inequalities,” Menino said. “I hope very much to sit down with mayors and leaders around the world as I tackle these issues.” Boston University President Robert Brown said BU has an opportunity to contribute to the
vitality of cities through this initiative because BU is a university rooted in a vital, thriving city. “The mission of the initiative will be to engage researchers, policymakers and constituents from U.S. cities, and especially from around the world, to help plan the government, manage the law and development of infrastructure and services that will be required for cities to flourish,” he said. The Initiative on Cities falls within BU’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and will have a budget of just less than $1 million funded by BU. Menino sturned down offers from Harvard University, Northeastern University, Suffolk University and University of MassachusettsLowell to come to BU. Wilson said the Initiative on Cities would aim to discover what makes cities thrive in order give resources and guidance to struggling cities in the country and around the world. “It’s a case of looking at the Boston experience … a story of incredible adaptation, where this is a vibrant and successful city right now, but it was not 30 or 40 years ago,” he said. “We need to figure out how we achieved that successful transition and how other cities have achieved that successful transition so that these cities can feel like locomotives, pulling along regional or even national economies.” Wilson said because Menino had such success is transforming the city of Boston, his talents would be best utilized at BU, where he can
Menino, see page 2
SG international students forum sees low attendance By Taryn Ottaunick Daily Free Press Staff
Boston University Student Government invited international students to voice concerns at a forum Monday evening as part of SG’s ongoing effort to improve the experiences of international students at BU, though attendance was low at the meeting. International student and forum attendee Latifah Azlan said the forum was an ideal place to voice her concerns because she was speaking to her peers, although she was bothered that only two international students attended. “I wish that more people would have shown up, actually,” she said. “… It gives them [international students] a place to voice out their concerns without feeling intimidated because these people are our friends. They’re our peers. They’re our age group. It really makes it easier for them to relate to you, because they have the same concerns. It’s just that we’re international, and they’re not.”
Azlan, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, came to the meeting with the primary concern of vacation housing. She said she has struggled with vacation housing since her freshman year because she has to move out of her BU residence during breaks. “I have friends at schools in the U.S. who are also from Malaysia, and they don’t have to move out at all,” she said. “I never understood why, because I pay for the full year [of housing], but technically, I’m not getting the full year’s [access]. I understand that there are logistics involved, but at the same time, people in the apartments get to stay.” Outreach efforts to international students, such as SG’s forum, help international students to feel more at home, Azlan said. “It’s really easy to get lost in the sea of people that come here, so it’s great that we’re taking time to understand people from different communities and different backgrounds [and] trying to make them feel more comfortable so
that they can have the best experience at BU,” she said. Topics discussed at the forum included academic resources, mental health, vacation housing, career development and immersion into American culture. The two international attendees, along with representatives from SG Social Affairs, worked collaboratively to identify appropriate solutions to issues. Although SG Social Affairs held a preliminary outreach to evaluate the primary issues of the international community, officials found that not every international student held the same concerns, said SG Director of Social Affairs Rebekah Leopold. “We learned that not all international students are the same, obviously, and that some of the issues we had found in our preliminary outreach weren’t necessarily issues which we talked about in our meeting today,” Leopold, a CAS sophomore, said.
SG, see page 2
By Trisha Thadani and Rachel Riley Daily Free Press Staff
In the wake of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s decision to join Boston University’s faculty, members of the BU community said his decision to join BU over other top universities around the Boston area speaks well to the school’s reputation. Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said Menino will help students engage in the city not only from a service standpoint, but from a learning standpoint as well. “I think with a great city, a great university in the city and a great initiative, this [Menino coming to BU] all works out really well,” Elmore said. “We should have the mayor here. Cities are important for conversation right now, and it’s great we got the initiative. I hope what we can get out from a student life standpoint are opportunities for people to really engage in the city.” Cailin Nolte, a College of Fine Arts sophomore, said the fact Menino chose to join BU over other major universities in the area shows how relevant the school is within not only Boston, but also the entire country. Based on his 20 years of experience as Boston Mayor, Nolte said she expects he will bring new and innovative ideas to the university. “He’s led a city and been a leader within a pretty influential and fairly large city for a pretty long time,” Nolte said. “… He was wellloved by everyone. He got some things right, obviously, and he has an interesting perspective to bring to that table.” During his Wednesday press conference, Menino said his ultimate goal is to get young people enthused about the government. Getting involved in the government it is a great way for college-aged kids to learn and make a difference in people’s lives. “That’s why I’m in the business: to make a difference in people’s lives,” Menino said, “It’s not about monetary value — it’s about how you want to go to bed at night and say ‘jeez, I did something to help people’ … I’ve spent 20 years in education in Boston, and we’ve made progress … and that’s one of the issues I want to stay involved in.” Menino said he will have an open door on Bay State Road where students and faculty can come and engage in discussions with him.
Position, see page 2
Victims’ families address James ‘Whitey’ Bulger at sentencing hearing By Kyle Plantz and Margaret Waterman Daily Free Press Staff
Emotions ran high, words were exchanged and families of the victims of James “Whitey” Bulger’s crimes had the chance to speak their mind to the ex-mobster at a sentencing hearing Wednesday at the U.S. District Court in South Boston. The prosecution began the sentencing by urging Judge Denise Casper to sentence Bulger to life in prison and called him a “little sociopath.” “The defendant has committed one heinous crime after another,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly. “The carnage that he has caused is grotesque. He helped flood his own neighborhood [South Boston] with drugs. As long as he prospered, no one mattered. Human life meant nothing to him.” Bulger, 84, was convicted on Aug. 12 on various counts of racketeering, extortion and money laundering. He was also found guilty of 11 of the 19 murders that
he allegedly committed during his time as former mob boss of the Winter Hill Gang during the 1970s and 1980s. He was found after a prolonged manhunt that lasted 16 years in Santa Monica, Calif. in 2011. Bulger, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, declined to address the court or the families. He did not face about 12 speakers that addressed him and instead stared down, scribbling on his pad of paper. Sean McGonagle — the son of Paul McGonagle, who was killed in 1974 and whose body was found in a shallow grave in 2000 — said Bulger was “Satan,” and that “the electric chair would be too good for him.” “You are a domestic terrorist fueled by greed and a sickening ego,” he said, addressing Bulger. “In ’75, you stooped to an all-time low when you called my house and said, ‘Your father is not coming home for Christmas.’ And I asked who it was and
Whitey, see page 2
EMILY ZABOSKIDAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
J.W. Carney (left) and Hank Brennan (right), James “Whitey” Bulger’s defense attorneys, speak on behalf of their client Wednesday afternoon after Bulger’s sentencing trial at John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in South Boston.