The Daily Free Press
Year xliii. Volume lxxxiv. Issue XVI
STRESSASAURUS Millennials more prone to stress, study suggests, page 3.
[
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
CLOSET FREAKS
]
www.dailyfreepress.com
NO-BEAN SALAD Women can’t catch a break in Beanpot consolation, page 8.
How to refurbish your wardrobe on campus for less, page 5.
WEATHER
Today: Sunny/High 41 Tonight: Snow late/Low 28 Tomorrow: 43/32
Data Courtesy of weather.com
Kilachand Hall to combine academics, residence Obama advocates By Amira Francis Daily Free Press Staff
By transforming Boston University’s Shelton Hall into Kilachand Hall — a residence hall that will combine the Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College’s faculty and students — KHC will promote a sense of community among its members, officials said. KHC Manager of Student Advising Amanda Scobie said the money, donated by 1974 Graduate School of Management alumnus Rajen Kilachand, will allow KHC to fulfill its purpose on BU’s campus. “After an initial donation by Mr. Kilachand, which endowed our college, we changed our name,” she said. “He gave another $10 million to the university for us to have a real living and learning community in which our students can live.” The renovations will allow for a combined academic and residential space in Kilachand Hall, Scobie said. The project’s first phase focuses on renovating the first floor of Shelton and is scheduled for completion by September 2013. The second phase of construction, which will focus on the ninth floor, stair tower and elevator, is set to take place during the summer of 2014, said Associate Vice President for Operations Walt Meissner. Meissner said the residence hall will soon include a teaching space for KHC professors and will have a better study space for KHC students. “The east wing of the first floor will be reno-
investment in jobs, education in SOTU By Michael Torruella Daily Free Press Contributor
MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS
Shelton Hall will be changing to Kilachand Hall beginning in September 2013.
vated to accommodate the KHC director and faculty offices, including a teaching space,” he said in an email. “The common room in the middle will remain configured as it is now, but improved to better serve both the KHC and the residence hall.” Charles Dellheim, KHC director and history professor, said the common room is one of the most important parts of the renovation. “A common room will provide an opportu-
nity for informal meetings for faculty and students, as well as for students who are both in KHC and students who are in other parts of the university,” he said. Meissner said BU officials hope to renovate the west wing of the first floor and want to add a new stair and elevator tower as part of the ninth floor renovations. “The west wing is being reconfigured and
Kilachand, see page 2
Philosophy prof. remembered for dedication to students By Margaret Waterman and Brian Latimer Daily Free Press Staff
Krzysztof Michalski brought a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Boston University philosophy department, said Veronica Little, one of his political philosophy students. “He brought a different cultural aspect to it because he had spent time teaching in Europe and lived there obviously for a long time — he could compare how Americans handled certain philosophy versus Europeans,” Little, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said. Michalski died at the age of 64 of an unknown disease Sunday in Vienna, according to a BU philosophy department press release. Little, who took a class with Michalski in the fall 2012 semester, said he had a dry wit, a deep passion for philosophy and a unique teaching style. “We would have readings for the class, and he would just sit down in front of us and we’d
all be circled around him and we would just talk about it,” she said. “He would engage everyone and get everyone’s take on the readings we would do.” Tala Khalaf, a College of Communication sophomore, said Michalski was dedicated to his students, even after he took a leave of absence near the end of the fall 2012 semester. “I really didn’t expect him to be so readily available to us considering how sick he was,” Khalaf said. “It was amazing how quickly he was responding to our emails and helping us with our essays.” Institute for Philosophy and Religion Director Allen Speight said Michalski will be remembered for starting the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. “It allowed our graduate students to go spend a semester or even a year in Vienna in their offices,” he said. “The institute always brought in very high-powered speakers from the world of politics, art and religion.”
Michalski always ensured the institute held regular colloquia and symposia devoted to topics on European future, Speight said. “This really followed his interest as someone who has grown up and been educated in Poland,” he said. “He had this sense of the importance of shaping a new Europe and a new world after the fall of the Soviet Union.” Speight said Michalski will be remembered fondly for his Nietzsche class, which drew the attention of many BU philosophy students. Michalski, who began teaching at BU in 1989, was a cherished member of the BU philosophy community, said Provost Jean Morrison in an email. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Michalski’s family and loved ones,” Morrison said. “Dr. Michalski’s contribution to cultural exchange and to the teaching and study of philosophy — both here and throughout central and eastern Europe — was substantial.”
Michalski, see page 4
U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the nation Tuesday night in his fifth State of the Union speech, focusing on growing the middle class, expanding domestic clean energy production and enacting stricter gun control laws. Obama opened his speech reflecting on the last four years, saying the nation had come a long way economically. “Together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger,” he said. Then the economy took center-stage as Obama spoke of continuing job growth, recognizing that employment numbers are coming back to America. “Our economy is adding jobs — but too many people still can’t find full-time employment,” he said. “It is our generation’s task, then, to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth — a rising, thriving middle class.” Proposing a partial solution the economic struggles of the middle class, Obama turned to the minimum wage, advocating for a large jump from the current $7.25 limit. “I want to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour,” he said. As expected, Obama addressed the deficit, assuring Americans that progress is being made to reduce the national debt. “Both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion — mostly through spending cuts, but also by raising tax rates on the wealthiest one percent of Americans,” he said. “But deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. We must continue growing an economy that creates good middle-class jobs.” Obama then shifted his speech toward the environment, stressing that recent climatic events like Hurricane Sandy and nationwide water droughts were not freak incidents, but signs of climate change. “We must do more to combat climate change,” Obama said. “We can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science — and act before it’s too late”. Obama said growth within the clean energy industry is crucial, not only to secure a healthy environment for future generations, but also to keep America globally competitive.
SOTU, see page 4
Legislators and environmentalists praise lower carbon emission cap in NE By Zoe Roos Daily Free Press Staff
New England Senators and environmentalist joined together Friday to praise a new lower carbon emission cap set by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Nine states, including four from New England, participated in the RGG Initiative, a fouryear-old power plant pollution-cutting program in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, that has been working to reduce climate change pollution, according to an RGGI press release Friday. Dale Bryk, director of the energy and transportation program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the initiatives is multi faceted. “This program has shown the nation unequivocally that environmental and economic progress can indeed go hand in hand,” she said. Interim U.S. Sen. William Cowan praised the initiative for encouraging job growth and environmental protection standards. “Not only is this decision good for our environment, but it will drive job creation, strength-
en our state economies, and continue to establish New England as an innovation leader for the nation,” he said in a statement. Cowan said clean energy is helping keep Massachusetts residents employed. “Massachusetts now has more than 72,000 clean energy workers, and we’ve created hundreds of new clean energy companies and technologies,” he said in a statement. “This decision will continue to drive our leadership in creating a clean energy economic boom.” The new initiative will limit the amount of pollution power plants can emit to fewer than 91 million tons — nearly half of the previous limit— starting in 2014 according to RGGI. This will be an initial reduction of 45 percent. After the initial year, the limit will drop 2.5 percent every year until 2020 according to the RGGI. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said in a statement that he hoped New England’s move would encourage the rest of the country to follow suit.
Carbon, see page 4
GRAPHIC BY MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS
On Friday, four New England states voted in support of a carbon emission cap.