2-27-2014

Page 1

The Daily Free Press

Year XLIV. Volume LXXXVI. Issue XXIII

IMMI-GREAT-ION Boston residents accepting immigrants more, page 3.

[

Thursday, February 27, 2014 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University

READY? BREAK

Break dancing Boston students hold workshop at BU, page 5.

]

www.dailyfreepress.com

HOT PAPALE

Sophomore leads BU to rally past Army, page 8.

WEATHER

Today: Cloudy/High 31 Tonight: Cloudy/Low 8 Tomorrow: 24/13 Data Courtesy of weather.com

PLC to raise money for Lu Lingzi Scholarship Fund To stop funding for fossil fuels, 350MA rallies at State House

COURTESY OF MENGHAN HU

The chairman of the BU Parents Leadership Council announced that the council will match any contribution made to the Lu Lingzi Scholarship Fund on behalf of the seven BU community members picked to run in tribute at the 2014 Boston Marathon. By Sebastian Alamo Daily Free Press Staff

As the Boston University community rallies to prepare for seven of its own to run the 2014 Boston Marathon under the name of late marathon bombing victim and graduate student Lu Lingzi, the BU Parents Leadership Council has

offered to join in the fundraising efforts. In the spirit of fundraising, The PLC will match the money raised by the seven BU community members who were chosen to run in Lu Lingzi’s honor, said Jeanne Knox, chair of the PLC “I, as Chairman, pledged $5,000 to the matching fund, and I am currently raising ad-

ditional funds by reaching out to the PLC full membership in order to create a matching gift for whatever the students raise in their own effort,” Knox said. Chosen among 211 applicants and given slots exempted from the required qualifying time and fundraising minimum, the seven runners will fundraise for the Lu Lingzi Scholarship Fund, created as a tribute to Lu Lingzi, the Boston University graduate student killed in last year’s Boston Marathon bombings, Knox said. “The Parents Leadership Council tries in general to support the students,” she said. “The Parents Leadership Council is looking to, with this pledge, support the efforts of the seven runners who have been chosen and also to support this BU community as a whole in this effort to create a scholarship to remember this wonderful student.” The stories of the runners who applied to represent Lu inspired Knox to spearhead the parent fundraising campaign, said Knox, who was on the Boston University campus when the bombing occurred last year. “I was very moved by their [the runners’] personal stories,” Knox said. “I was very moved by the whole process of choosing seven people out of that enormous number of applications, and I just personally felt that there were parents feeling the same way, certainly in the PLC. That is why I stepped up to do it and why I think other parents in the council will join me.”

lend at a lower interest rate, Lipman said. “It’s harder to get out of paying [federal] loans by declaring bankruptcy,” he said. “The banks know you’re on the line, so even if your credit is not very good, because there’s just no way to get out of it, they’re still going to make the loan.” By contrast, banks are more likely to deny private loans due to the greater risk involved, he said. “If your credit’s not good, they’re nervous, so it gets to be very difficult,” Lipman said. Johannes Schmieder, an assistant professor of economics in CAS, said there were other benefits to taking out federal loans.

Despite the cold weather and potential for snow Wednesday, over 100 activists from 350 Massachusetts rallied at the Massachusetts State House to gain support from legislators and the public for a future of divesting from fossil fuel use. A volunteer-led initiative that confronts climate change issues and urges divestment, 350MA began in June 2012 through Better Future Project, a program that aids other grassroots movements in bringing about change and seeing a future beyond fossil fuel. The fight for fossil fuel divestment began on Sept. 7, 2012, said Malcolm Bliss, the campaign’s statewide coordinator. “It’s going to take a lot to do this, but we need to,” he said. “Fossil fuels are a huge cause for concern and threatening the way of life. We are working toward a just and stable future beyond fossil fuels.” The state Pension Reserves Investment Trust invests approximately 2.5 percent of its funds in fossil companies. Wednesday’s rally was held in support of S-1225, a piece of state legislation that would demand the removal of that stock and prohibit future investments in those companies, Bliss said. Eli Gerzon, the state division organizer of the Better Future Project, said the supporters of this legislation are choosing to invest in the environment. “Divestment is when we’re so invested in an industry that we realize that we do not want to support that and we take the money that we are investing in that industry and invest in something else,” he said. “[Today] we are hoping to show the support that there is for divestment … that gives us the opportunity … to become the first state to divest from fossil fuels.” Massachusetts was the first state to pull its pension fund from apartheid South Africa 30 years ago, and the Commonwealth has the ability to do it again, said speaker Chuck Collins, a researcher for the Institute for Policy Studies. In May, the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide reached 400 parts per million, a level that has not been seen in more than 300 million years, said Devyn Powell, a student representative

student loAns, see page 4

fossil fuels, see page 2

mArAtHon, see page 2

Private firms offer more undergraduate student loans By Adrian Baker Daily Free Press Contributor

Private lenders are offering more loans to college students at institutions such as Boston University due to an upswing in the economy, according to a Wall Street Journal article published Monday. The seven largest private loaners in American allocated almost $6.9 billion to students last year, an 8.1 percent increase from the year before, according to a study conducted for the WSJ by MeasureOne. Many Boston University students said private loans are a necessary addition to financial aid and federal loan packages. Madeline Beach, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said she took out loans from Sallie Mae.

“I chose this option simply because I didn’t have many other choices,” she said. “I was able to get some grant money and loans from BU, but I was still short by several thousand dollars.” Beach said the loan was often accompanied by a higher interest rate than traditional federal loans. “For me, it [Sallie Mae] hasn’t been the best option,” she said. “One year the interest rate was above 10 percent.” Barton Lipman, professor and chair of the economics department in CAS, said private loans tend to cost more due to their high interest rates. Federal loans contain provisions that are intended to guarantee students’ debts are repaid, which allows sources of funding to

By Stephanie Pagones Daily Free Press Contributor

Boston resident creates petition to create more spaces for food truck business By Olivia Deng Daily Free Press Staff

Following Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s second Twitter Q&A, a Change.org petition requesting more allocated space for city food trucks picked up speed, collecting over 200 signatures through Wednesday. Launched on Feb. 20 by Steven Leibowitz, a Boston resident and senior applications trainer at Northeastern University, the petition requests an expansion of operating food trucks in Boston, especially in neighborhoods that are currently not served by food truck programs. “I have been pretty active and engaged in promoting the food trucks for a period of time,” he said. “You have this situation where there are a lot of trucks coming in and it’s really competitive to get a spot in Boston. So having seen that and having seen how popular they are, I thought there’s a lot of opportunities still in the city to grow the program.” Leibowitz, who runs a website about food trucks, said the program has become more competitive since its launch in 2011, largely due to the increase in interested food trucks and the stagnant growth of available food truck spaces. “We started out with a few trucks, a

dozen or so trucks the first year and we’re up to the point now where there’s like 60 or 70 trucks that are vying for spaces in Boston,” he said. “On the flip side of that, we haven’t had a significant increase in the number of spaces available for trucks.” Taking advantage of the public’s focus on Walsh’s Twitter chat, Leibowitz tweeted his petition to @marty_walsh, hoping to attract attention to his petition. The Boston Redevelopment Authority tweeted back at Leibowitz, citing a need to keep in mind a balance between restaurants and food trucks, Leibowitz said. Edith Murnane, director of the Office of Food Initiatives, said a balance must be found between all parties affected before adding food trucks to the city’s streets. Each year, the number of available spaces for food trucks is increased by 15 to 18 percent. “Each year we do that and each year there are more and more spots available,” Murnane said. “We have to balance everyone’s needs. We have to balance neighborhood businesses, business owners, residents, as well as food truck operators and food truck

food trucks, see page 2

ATHANASIOS KASTRITIS/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

After a Twitter chat with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, one participant who voiced his desire for more food trucks in the city created a Change.org petition pushing for more locations for these type of vendors.


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.
2-27-2014 by The Daily Free Press - Issuu