The Daily Free Press
Year xliii. Volume lxxxiv. Issue IX
GREAT DEBATERS BUSI and AWC debate sanctions on Iran, page 3.
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Thursday, January 31, 2013 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
TWINNING
Indie pair Tegan and Sara entertain with pop stylings, page 5.
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DOMINATED
Dom Morris helps BU before Hartford matchup, page 8.
WEATHER
Today: AM rain/wind/High 58 Tonight: Partly cloudy/Low 27 Tomorrow: 33/17 Data Courtesy of weather.com
Organizations push for cycle tracks to ensure bike safety Updated legislation would restrict harsh In light of the bike accidents that occurred in the City of Boston in 2012, grassroots orsentences for youth ganizations and city officials are considering By Katherine Lynn Daily Free Press Staff
implementing cycle tracks to further promote bike safety. Mike Tremblay, an engineer at Howard/ Stein-Hudson Associates, proposed the idea of installing a cycle track in South Boston on Broadway and L Street, to create a safer biking atmosphere in the area. The project was originally part of Tremblay’s capstone project at Northeastern University in 2010, but the idea of a cycle track is beginning to take hold in Boston, he said. “Rather than put simple bike lanes down, we wanted to put something a little bit better,” Tremblay said. “What we wanted to do was create an intermediate-level cycle track, which would be separated from the street level by about four inches or so.” The proposed raised bike track would be installed between the sidewalk and parking spaces for cars. This design would protect bikers from traffic on the street and prevent cars or pedestrians from using the cycle tacks created specifically for use by bikers, Tremblay said. “Broadly speaking, there is evidence that cycle tracks improve safety,” said Price Armstrong, the program director at MassBike, an organization that promotes bicycling and bike safety throughout the city. “Certainly bicyclists prefer cycle tracks because they are either grade-separated or there is a horizontal buffer
By Paola Salazar Daily Free Press Contributor
located a second apparent stab wound on the victim’s upper left shoulder. Both wounds were about one to one-and-ahalf inches wide. The victim reported not being aware he had been stabbed and did not see a weapon in either suspect’s hand. The victim was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries. Brookline Police, Boston University Police Department and Massachusetts State Police responded to the scene and are investigating, according to a BU Alert sent to students Tuesday night. No suspects have yet been identified. This incident is the eighth robbery or attempted robbery on or near the Charles River Campus during the 2012-13 academic year. Brown said he met Wednesday morning with BUPD Chief Thomas Robbins to establish steps to be taken based on ongoing inves-
Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick proposed new legislation Monday that would end life without parole sentencing for juveniles between the age of 14 and 18 convicted of murder in the first degree. Patrick’s proposal, An Act to Reform the Juvenile Justice System in the Commonwealth, gives juvenile murderers the chance to be tried without the immediate sentencing of life without parole, according to a Monday press release. “It is time for the Commonwealth’s laws to reflect the value, in accord with the Supreme Court, that young people deserve every opportunity to rehabilitation and reform,” Patrick said in the release. In the case of Miller v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court declared in June that sentencing a juvenile offender to mandatory life without parole for murder in the first degree was unconstitutional. A number of the 26 states that had instated mandatory life without parole for juvenile murderers have altered their laws in accommodation to the Supreme Court’s decision. Massachusetts’s law states juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17 convicted of firstdegree murder are to receive a mandatory sentence of juvenile life without parole. Patrick’s proposal extends the juvenile age limit to 14 through 18. “Every violent felon should be held accountable for their actions, even youths,” Patrick said in the release. “But in sentencing, every felon’s circumstances should be considered, too, and youth itself is a special circumstance.” Gail Garinger, the Massachusetts child advocate, said brain research has demonstrated that the adolescent brain differs in significant ways from the adult brain. “The rationale in Miller [v. Alabama] acknowledges that adolescents are different from adults,” Garinger said in an email. “This Miller rationale is likely to greatly influence how we deal with youth throughout our educational, mental/behavioral health, child welfare and juvenile justice systems.” According to studies used in Miller v. Alabama, the developmental characteristics of adolescents can lead to more impulsive behav-
Robbery, see page 2
Sentencing, see page 2
MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS FILE
In light of recent bike accidents, legislators and advocates are pushing for updated bike lanes.
between the bicyclists’ track and the road.” In the fall 2012 semester there were two fatal bike accidents involving Boston University students. Chung-Wei Yang, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, was killed in a collision involving a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus, and College of Communication graduate student Christopher Weigl was killed in an accident with a tractor-trailer. These biking accidents are not uncommon
occurrences on Commonwealth Avenue. According to the Mayor’s Office, Commonwealth Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue have the two highest rates of bike accidents in the city. Armstrong said action needs to be taken to curb the number of accidents. “Every time there is a fatal bike crash, or every time there is a bike crash fatal or not fatal, it reinforces the importance of what we do,” he bike safety, see page 2
Robbery details emerge, Pres. Brown to reconsider safety procedures By Chris Lisinski Daily Free Press Staff
A Boston University Medical Campus research assistant suffered two stab wounds in an armed robbery in Brookline Tuesday night, according to a Brookline Police Department incident report. At about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the 38-year-old victim, whose name was omitted from the report, was walking near on Pleasant Street from Commonwealth Avenue to Beacon Street when two male suspects who were sitting on the steps in front of 94 Pleasant St. attacked him, the report stated. The suspects were described as two males, between 5-foot-10 and 6 feet tall, of average builds, wearing black hooded fleeces or sweatshirts with blue jeans and what appeared to be knit hats pulled over their faces. The victim was unable to tell what ethnicity the suspects were. BU President Robert Brown sent an email
to the community Wednesday afternoon acknowledging the number of robberies near West and South Campus. “This attack is especially troubling because it is the first instance in which assailants have actively used a weapon rather than the threat of violence,” Brown said. The victim reported being grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. His black Patagonia backpack, which was carrying a MacBook Pro, a Verizon cellphone, an iPad and a brown leather wallet containing between $20 and $40 in cash, credit and ATM cards, was taken. The suspects punched the victim once or twice on the left side of his face after throwing him to the ground. They then fled down Browne Street toward St. Paul Street. A Brookline Police officer was the first to arrive on scene and the suspect reported he was bleeding. The officer located a stab wound on the victim’s upper right chest. Brookline Fire Department personnel later
Governor Patrick appoints Mo Cowan as interim Mass. Senator to replace Kerry By Kyle Plantz Daily Free Press Staff
COURTESY OF GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
William “Mo” Cowan was appointed today as U.S. Senator.
Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick has chosen William ‘Mo’ Cowan, his former chief of staff, as the interim senator to fill Secretary of State John Kerry’s vacant Senate seat until a special election is held June 25. “Today I have the great honor, privilege and personal pleasure to appoint Mo Cowan as United States senator in the interim until that special election,” Patrick said in a press conference on Wednesday. Cowan served the Patrick-Murray administration as both chief of staff and chief legal counsel. He is a native of North Carolina and graduated from Duke University in 1991. He came to Massachusetts to attend Northeastern Law School, from which he graduated with his law degree in 1994. Cowan was hired by Patrick as his legal counsel in 2009. In 2010, he was appointed to chief of staff. He left the position in November. “Mo is a highly respected public citizen,” Patrick said in the press conference. “His ser-
vice on the front lines, in our efforts to manage through the worst economy in 80 years and build a better and stronger Commonwealth for the next generation, has given him an intimate understanding of the issues we face.” Cowan succeeds Kerry, who formally resigned from his senator ial position Tuesday after 28 years of service. Cowan said he is honored and humbled by the appointment and promises to represent the people of Massachusetts. “I accept this temporary post confident in the knowledge and perspectives that I have acquired working closely with you [Gov. Patrick] and the Lieutenant Governor,” Cowan said at the press conference. “You in the Commonwealth should be assured that I now go to our nation’s capital, ever mindful of what matters to the people of Massachusetts.” He said Kerry’s work will not go unfinished and he is eager to work with his staff. “Secretary Kerry and his Senate staff have done extremely well by the people of Massachusetts and working with that staff, I aim
to continue that work during the next few months,” he said. Cowan is the first African-American to represent Massachusetts in the Senate since Edward Brooke held the position for two terms from 1966 to 1978. Cowan joins U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina in the Senate, making them the first two African-Americans tto serve in the Senate simultaneously. Mass. Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said choosing the interim senator was a tough decision. Cowan said he was offered the position Tuesday, but knew he was on the long list of possible candidates for the position. He said he is not running for office and does not plan to in the future. Sen. Elizabeth Warren offered her congratulations to Cowan and said she looks forward to working with him, according to a press release Wednesday. “I am very pleased to welcome Mo Cowan to the Senate,” Warren said. “As former chief of staff to Governor Patrick, Mo brings a deep
Senator, see page 4