The Daily Free Press
Year xliv. Volume lxxxvi. Issue XX
LITTLE BIT First Bitcoin ATM installed in South Station, page 3.
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Monday, February 24, 2014 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
LACRO$$E
BU lacrosse team earns funding from New Balance, page 5.
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NO-TRE DAME
WEATHER
Today: Cloudy/High 33 Tonight: Cloudy/Low 16 Tomorrow: 29/19
Men’s hockey drops back-to-back games on road, page 8.
Data Courtesy of weather.com
‘It shows that we belong’
MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Fans cheer for BU wrestling during the team’s last home match as a varsity program. BU shut out Sacred Heart 47-0.
MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
BU head wrestling coach Carl Adams embraces senior captain Nestor Taffur after Taffur’s 20-3 technical fall.
Boston University wrestling team shuts out Sacred Heart in final home match By Joon Lee Daily Free Press Staff
The final buzzer rang out and the crowd roared. The Boston University men’s wrestling team gathered in a circle, embracing one another after a 47-0 thrashing of Sacred Heart University. At that moment, the group of men, led by coach Carl Adams and senior co-captains Kevin Innis, Nestor Taffur and Nick Tourville, were one cohesive unit. There was no separating this group of brothers. Usually a successful season finale leads to hope for the next year, reason to work even harder in the offseason to improve upon the
growth of the year gone by. But for this group of brothers, Saturday night’s contest marked the home finale for the entire BU wrestling program. Emotions ran wild all night at Case Gymnasium. Many wrestlers’ family members littered the stands, bouquets of flowers in hand, ready to face the reality of the end of the wrestling program as announced by the school administration in April. Student-athletes from other athletic programs flocked into the stands wearing “Save BU Wrestling” shirts and shook the floor of the gymnasium with their support. Innis said
he believes the atmosphere, in addition to the team’s preparation, led to the blowout over the Pioneers. “Everyone was where they needed to be,” Innis said. “The whole season has been a battle. We’ve had this kind of weighing over us, the decision to drop us and everything, and it was nice to have the focus come back to the team and the guys who we battle with every day and we bleed with every day, and just going out there and putting it on the line because we care about each other.” Moments after the final buzzer, Adams hugged his wrestlers and their family members.
Each person who stopped Adams’ path reached out to him to strike up a conversation with him about the impact he had on his wrestlers. Even after all of his conversations with his students and family members, Adams did not quite know how to feel about the last home match in BU wrestling history. “I’m going to have to digest it first but if it’s going to be the last match, this was the best way to go out,” Adams said. “I feel like we wrestled pretty well and everyone won. Normally, you don’t shut teams out. Someone kind of squeaks
Wrestling, see page 2
US Sen. Markey proposes new piece of legislation to promote handgun safety By Kerrie-Ann Beke Daily Free Press Contributor
Following Massachusetts Rep. Robert DeLeo’s report of 44 gun regulations released in January, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey proposed a new bill that would require all handguns in the United States to be equipped with innovative smart gun technology. “The Handgun Trigger Safety Act”, introduced Wednesday, works to personalize handgun security by adding fingerprint technology to guns to recognize autho-
rized and unauthorized users. The act also calls for a $10 million allotment of funds for gun violence research and technology development. “It’s time that we take some preventative actions rather than some post actions,” said David Brade, regional director at Markey’s office. “We want to save as many lives as possible and prevent as many deaths as possible, and we want to curb the number of shootings that happen every year.” In Boston, there are almost 300 shoot-
ings each year, most of which happen with illegally acquired guns. Introducing this technology would bring those numbers down and reduce gun trauma in communities across the state, Brade said. “It [the act] would ensure that manufacturers, not just in Massachusetts but around the country, equip their products and their weapons with this technology, which will enhance the security of knowing that someone who doesn’t have permission to use your gun won’t be able to use your gun,” he said.
Ladd Everitt, director of communications at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said this legislation would force gun manufacturers to use modern technology to make weapons safer. “This is an ongoing problem with the gun industry,” he said. “The gun industry for decades has been willing to incorporate modern technology into their products to make their products more lethal, but they have never been willing to incorpo-
Markey, see page 2
BU students join in worldwide protest against Venezuelan government By Ashli Molina Daily Free Press Contributor
ALEXANDRA WIMLEY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Jaime Valencia and more than 150 other protesters gathered Saturday afternoon at Copley Square peacefully to condemn the Venezuelan government and President Nicolás Maduro.
Boston University students protested Saturday in Copley Square against the alleged oppression, widespread violence and media blockage occurring in Venezuela. Over 250 Boston-area students and residents from various nationalities came together with pots and pans, horns, pamphlets and banners to raise awareness about the conflict that erupted in Venezuela over a week ago, which is being protested across the globe. Helena Carpio, one of several Venezuelan BU students who helped lead the effort to draw students to the protest, said she worked for leader of the Venezuelan opposition Leopoldo Lopez in the past. “International pressure can do a lot, especially in countries where the population is so vulnerable,” said Carpio, a College of Arts and Sciences senior. “In the case of Venezuela it’s very important strategically
because we’re a country in the interest of the United States because we have a lot of oil.” Protesters rallied through Copley Square chanting Venezuelan songs and other messages criticizing government corruption, violence and censorship. What began as a peaceful student protest in Venezuela has transformed into a chaotic and dangerous series of riots, protestors from BU said. Non-Venezuelan students also attended and supported the protest. “No corrupt government should ever go ignored,” said Joe Curtin, a CAS freshman. “Someone is killed in Venezuela every 20 minutes. People don’t feel safe there. People should feel safe in their country and feel like the government is on their side, but it’s not.” Venezuelan students said they were
Venezuela, see page 2