3-5-2013 by The Daily Free Press

The Daily Free Press

Year xliii. Volume lxxxiv. Issue XXVI

FESS UP BU Confessions brings out the good, bad and weird, page 3.

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University

BOYS V. GIRLS

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OH-NO’CONNOR

Freshman goalie suffers from collapsed lung, page 8.

Study proves gender stereotypes a thing of the past, page 5.

WEATHER

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BU officials, nat’l. organization suspend Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity By Chris Lisinski Daily Free Press Staff

Boston University officials suspended the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity Monday after the fraternity’s national organization suspended the BU chapter amidst allegations of a party, which involved underage drinking, where a severely intoxicated individual was removed, officials said. Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said he received information Saturday afternoon from a student member of Sigma Alpha Mu that the national organization recommended BU’s chapter suspend its activities. Later

that night, BU officials learned the national organization officially suspended BU’s chapter. “The national organization actually suspended BU’s chapter based upon what they believed was information that Sigma Alpha Mu, at an off-campus location, a private residence, held a fraternity function that involved underage drinking where someone who was severely intoxicated was taken out of the space,” Elmore said. Elmore said he notified BU’s Sigma Alpha Mu leaders their chapter would be suspended Monday.

“We’re also going to be engaged in our own investigation of the chapter in terms of whether potential further university action needs to be taken against individuals,” he said. Early Saturday morning, College of Engineering freshman Tony Barksdale II died at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton after being transported from 22 Wadsworth St. in Allston, where the Sigma Alpha Mu function occurred. Boston Police Department officials are investigating the circumstances of Barksdale’s death.

Elmore said the investigation will determine if the student removed for severe intoxication was Barksdale, who was a new member of Sigma Alpha Mu. “All we know is that there was underage drinking and severe intoxication of at least one person,” Elmore said. “We were told one of the students who was at this function at 22 Wadsworth St. was taken out for medical treatment.” Elmore said his staff as well as that of the Student Activities Office and the Office of Judicial Affairs will investigate the fra-

Sigma Alpha Mu, see page 2

Boston businesses sign amicus brief against Defense of Marriage Act By Sophia Goldberg Daily Free Press Staff

KARA KORAB/DAILY FREE PRESS FILE

At least 30 Massachusetts businesses and companies are opposing the Defense of Marriage Act. Pictured here are two women during Pride 2012.

More than 200 businesses signed the amicus brief against the Defense of Marriage Act Wednesday, including some of Boston’s largest corporations. The brief was created as a result of Supreme Court case, U.S. v. Windsor. Edith Windsor married her partner Thea Spyer in Canada in 2007 but resided in New York, a state that recognized same-sex marriage. When Spyer passed away, Windsor had to pay Federal Estate taxes for Spyer’s estate, which she would not have had to pay if gay marriage rights were recognized under federal law. Kara Suffredini, executive director of MassEquality, a statewide grassroots LGBTQ rights advocacy organization, said the case was a perfect example of the inequality that DOMA continues to support. “Because [Windsor’s] relationship was not recognized, she was treated like a legal stranger for estate purposes, and the government taxed

her partner’s estate at the 50-percent tax rate and she lost $300,000,” she said. Suffredini said that with the removal of DOMA, businesses would have an easier time treating their employees fairly. “Part of the motivation for this amazing brief is that businesses have known for a long time that equality is good for business,” she said. Suffredini said the companies that signed onto this brief often try to balance out samesex couples’ benefits by using something called “grossing up.” “For employees that are in same-sex relationships, they [businesses] offer a stipend to compensate for the taxes that same-sex couples pay for their healthcare. The government considers health benefits that same-sex partners receive as income, instead of benefits,” she said. State Street was one of the Boston-based organizations that signed the brief. The busi-

DOMA, see page 2

School, fire, police top public earners Impacts of Sequester coming to Mass.

TIMELESS FAMILY STORY

After several failed attempts at negotiations between U.S. President Barack Obama and Congress over the federal budget, across the board spending cuts known as the sequester when into effect Friday, and some Massachusetts agencies are bracing for the negative impacts. “[Boston] Mayor [Thomas] Menino and the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s were really pleading with Congress and the House Republicans about finding a better way to find a deficit reduction by closing existing loopholes and being smart about where they are cutting,” said Jake Sullivan, federal relations liaison for Menino. Under the Budget and Control Act of 2011, sequestration was used as a tool to increase the debt ceiling in exchange for $1.2 trillion in debt reduction over 10 years to government agencies. The cuts, which were not avoided Friday, will be split between defense and domestic spending. “There will be immediate direct cuts of funds we use to support housing economic development and support for our at-risk residents,” Sullivan said. “Our neighborhood development will be impacted. It will also hit our school department, and special needs kids program would be impacted as well.” The Commonwealth will lose about $13.9

A RAISIN IN THE SUN

MAR.8 - APR.7

million in funding for education, which will put about 190 teacher jobs at risk, and about 20,000 fewer students would be served, according to a factsheet from the White House on Feb. 24. Head Start services would be eliminated for about 1,100 children in the Commonwealth, which will reduce children’s access to critical early education, according to the factsheet. Pam Kuechler, executive director for the Mass. Head Start Association, said she is not sure how soon the sequester will go into effect, but the organization will receive directions soon. “We certainly had hoped that Congress would find a compromise to avoid these acrossthe-board cuts that could have a devastating effect on children and families,” she said. Kuechler said Head Start officials will do anything possible to combat the sequester. “Going forward, our programs have to follow the directions on implementation, but will be sending a message to Congress through letters and calls to let them know exactly what losing Head Start slots will mean to families,” she said. Josh Young, director of legislative affairs for Action for Boston Community Development, said ABCD is looking at a 5-percent cut to its programs. “There are still quite a few details that are

Sequester, see page 2

Earnings, see page 2

By Kyle Plantz Daily Free Press Staff

SEN

HU NT ING CO T TO MP HE N AN ATR Y PR E E

Boston Public School, Police and Fire Departments accounted for the top 10 highest earners employed by the City of Boston in 2012, each making more annually than Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The leaders of the list are three BPS employees, Teresa Underwood, Carol Johnson and Jonathan Bonds, who made about $427,500, $323,722 and $318,158 respectively, according to a spreadsheet by the city, released Tuesday. Menino came in at number 180 on the list of earners, with an annual salary of $175,000, according to the spreadsheet. “There’s nothing unusual this year compared to previous earnings reports,” said Matthew Wilder, spokesman for BPS. Wilder said Underwood and Bonds were unique situations because both teachers received a majority of their earnings due to court rulings. Other BPS employees who made the list retired in 2012 and were able to take advantage of the retiree benefits offered by the City of Boston, Wilder said. “Any time that someone who has worked in the district for a very long time retires, they are going to move up on the earnings report, based on their ability to cash out their unused vacation time and

their sick time,” he said. Six BPD employees and one retired BFD employee round out the top-ten highest earners, making between $235,269 and $280,121, according to the spreadsheet. BPD did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The remainder of the top 180 included 141 BFD employees, 27 representing BPD, 10 from BPS and the president of the Boston Public Library. BFD spokesman Steve MacDonald said many of the BFD employees on the list retired in 2012 and claimed similar benefits from their employers as those offered to BPS employees. “The top couple of people [on the list employed by the BFD] are all people that retired, and when you retire there are certain buybacks that you can take advantage of,” he said. MacDonald said retiring employees have the ability to claim pay for all of their unused vacation time, as well as 35 percent of their unused sick time. Employees who worked for 30 to 40 years can receive substantial payments upon retirement. High-ranking members of BFD who are still employed also took home large salaries in 2012, MacDonald said.

LORY RA DI I N LIE RECTE E H SL D BY AN TOM SBE AVE MY RRY BU NUE TH OF EAT TH RE E A R

By Bram Peterson Daily Free Press Staff

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Highest-earning public employees includes 141 from BFD Sigma Alpha Mu no longer permitted to hold functions Earnings: From Page 1

“We do have senior managers and senior chiefs of the department — 14 of them — and they get paid what you would expect a senior manager to be paid,” MacDonald said. He said the need to sufficiently staff all of the fire stations in Boston also requires employees to often work extra hours, which accounts for large portions of some employees’ incomes. “To keep the engines and ladders fully staffed throughout the city, we do pay overtime,” MacDonald said. “So when you look at the members, they all include

probably anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 in overtime because they work a lot of extra hours. So it’s not based on a 40 hour week.” Meredith Weenick, chief financial officer for the City of Boston, said the data was very consistent with what was expected. “There was nothing unusual to the city in terms of overall results of earnings in calendar year 2012,” she said. “It’s the kind of distribution that we normally see, obviously police, fire and schools make up the vast majority of our employees, and therefore, similarly, they are atop the highest earners.”

Sigma Alpha Mu: From Page 1

GRAPHIC BY MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

More than 3,700 state employees were paid more than $100,000 in 2012 with the top earner, a teacher, padding her pay via a settlement.

National Organization for Marriage responds negatively to brief DOMA: From Page 1

ness has a sector, PRIDE, dedicated to maintaining equality in the workplace. Hannah Grove, chief marketing officer and executive sponsor for State Street’s PRIDE network, said State Street was supportive of the brief because it advocated for equality. “It’s incredibly important that we have a workplace that is diverse, inclusive and from our point of view that includes having all of our married colleagues be treated fairly,” Grove said. EMC Corporation, another major

company that signed the brief, has had problems with DOMA for both social and logistical reasons. Executive Vice President and counsel at EMC, Paul Dacier, said DOMA creates difficulties for businesses in which employees must be able to move to different areas of the country. “We’re a very mobile organization, and when we move people around we have to check that they are still eligible for the same benefits,” he said. “If we move someone from Massachusetts and we move them to a different state that does not recognize same-sex marriage, there’s a process of administering that and

tracking that.” Beth Boland, a lawyer from Bingham McCutchen who worked on the brief, said after the brief got the exposure of the press, there was a massive outreach to the firm from employees of the signing companies. “Since that brief was filed and there was a lot of press around it, we have gotten so many ‘thank yous’ from employees around the country that say ‘I work for so-and-so, and I see that they signed onto the brief, and we are so happy that our company has signed on,’” Boland said. Boland said the only negative feedback came from the National Organization for Marriage.

“[The organization] wrote to many of the companies that signed the brief after it was made public and basically said ‘we are going to make a big stink about this, we’re going to boycott your products,’ but that didn’t phase any of the signatories,” she said. Scott Markley, a public information specialist for the U.S. Supreme Court, said the DOMA case is scheduled for oral argument at 10 a.m. March 27. As for when the final decision would be made, Markley said he was unsure, but most cases are usually decided before summer recess in June.

ABCD Dir. of legislative affairs: ABCD avoiding cuts to kids’ programs Sequester: From Page 1

being put together by the OMB [Office of Management and Budget], and we will probably get further direction within the next week or two, but we can count on the effects happening,” he said. Young said ABCD might have to cut 250 slots for its Head Start programs. “We don’t want to cut fewer kids. We are looking to see if we can reduce salaries or cut staff,” he said. Joshua Spaulding, communications director for the National Skills Coalition, said the sequester will affect Massachusetts job training programs.

“We don’t want anymore cuts of federal funding to job training programs,” he said. “There has been a severe disinvestment in the workforce program and we want to see workforce funding be a priority again.” To fight the Sequester and encourage Congress to act, Spaulding said the NSC will showcase the struggles of people who are looking for jobs. “We will continue telling the stories of people on the ground that use the workforce programs and what these cuts will have on them after seeing fewer people being served,” he said. Randall Ellis, a professor of eco-

nomics at Boston University, said a number of alternative options would be better for the country than the sequester cuts. “[The sequester] is forcing relatively flat spending cuts on many government agencies, rather than allowing a more rational set of reductions that pay attention to where it is easier or more appropriate for there to be cuts,” he said. Ellis said it is still unclear when the sequester will impact Massachusetts. “Lots of government agencies will cut staffing if it continues beyond the first week or so,” he said. “I have heard in the short run some

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agencies are just forcing one day per week without pay. The biggest effect specifically on Boston will be cuts in research funding, since Massachusetts receives a high rate of such funding.” Sullivan said state politicians are doing what they can to help soften the blow. “The delegation is doing the right thing by hearing from us and they want to help us. The mayor is talking to people in the community and we need the other congressmen to hear how these cuts are harmful,” he said. “We are not just talking about numbers here, these are people’s lives that are at risk.”

ternity. While the national organization might impose different consequences as a result of suspension, BU’s suspension means Sigma Alpha Mu is not allowed to function as a BU group, Elmore said. “They are no longer permitted to officially act as a registered organization at the university,” he said. “That means that they can’t operate. They can’t initiate new members, they can’t be holding social functions or philanthropy. There’s not anything effectively they can do in any official capacity here at the university.” Sigma Alpha Mu leaders and Interfraternity Council leaders did not respond to requests for comment. The Sigma Alpha Mu national organization also could not be reached for comment by press time. “I’m really disappointed we had to do this — in terms of suspending the chapter — and I’m really disheartened,” Elmore said. “We spent a lot of time over the course of this last academic year discussing things like alcohol use and abuse, having bystander training where members of Sigma Alpha Mu were party to it, or their leadership was party to the conversation.” Elmore said members and leaders of Sigma Alpha Mu had responded to and participated in dialogues about safe and appropriate alcohol use. “We had conversations several times about the need to be smart and use our heads and look out for each other and make sure things like this were not occurring,” he said. “That’s what is particularly frustrating. That’s what is particularly disheartening and what is really disappointing is that we’ve got to go this route right now.”

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Campus & City Campus Crime Logs Hit It and Quit It By Robin Ngai Daily Free Press Staff

The following reports were taken from the Boston University Police Department crime logs from Feb. 25 to March 3, 2013. Hit it and quit it A driver was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Carlton Street and Commonwealth Avenue Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. when a red Nissan hit him from behind. There was minor damage to the rear end of the truck. When the first driver confronted the unknown driver, he fled the scene without giving any information. Time for a room swap? At 520 Park Drive Tuesday at about 1:40 p.m., two roommates engaged in a verbal confrontation in which one threatened the other. BUPD officers were called but both students declined to file charges. Both were offered counseling. Check out my package A suspicious package was found on the sixth floor of 881 Comm. Ave. Wednesday afternoon at 1 p.m. BU Environmental Health and Safety workers and Boston Fire Department officers responded to the call. The package, which contained a mysterious white substance, proved to be harmless to the public and people were allowed to reenter the building soon after the call. The person who sent the package has not been identified. Serial snowballer BUPD responded to a call Wednesday at 8 p.m. regarding an unknown suspect who had thrown snowballs at a student’s 112 Bay State Road window five consecutive nights in a row. Raging nerd Thursday, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student was arrested at 755 Comm. Ave. after being removed twice from the Kap Slap concert for causing disturbances. Upon his third attempted entrance at 10 p.m., he was arrested and will report to Brighton District Court for trespassing charges. Bummed out A staff member found a non-affiliated homeless man in the bathroom of the George Sherman Union, located at 755 Comm. Ave., on Friday at 9 p.m. BUPD officers escorted the homeless man out of the building and instructed him to stay off campus. #Creepy Sunday at 9 p.m., BUPD officers responded to a call from female student about her roommate, who had allegedly been tweeting threatening things about her from their residence at 277 Babcock St. They have since been separated but no charges have been filed.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

BU Confessions receive critical comments Students weak with finances, report suggests

By Jenna Lavin Daily Free Press Contributor

While several Boston Universitybased Facebook pages centering on anonymous stories and revelations have captivated student attention, they have also drawn significant criticism for posts some say are offensive. “It’s not the anonymity that makes people offended,” said sociology professor Ashley Mears. “The anonymity allows an uninhibited space of critique where people are not made accountable for their opinions.” BU Confessions, a Facebook page created Feb. 10, allows students to anonymously submit secrets, embarrassing stories and opinions related to both students’ personal lives and to BU in general. The page’s administrator then reviews the submissions and makes them public. The page had almost 3,000 likes as of Monday evening, and recent posts have drawn critical comments from students, often claiming posts are offensive or prejudiced. Mears said freedom from responsibility brings the risk of offending groups or individuals out in a public way.

By Tori Brigham Daily Free Press Contributor

MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

BU Confessions is a community on Facebook which allows students to anonymously post.

“It can be a good thing as the anonymity allows for greater freedom of expression,” she said. “But it can also be catastrophically bad if that critique heightens feelings of exclusion and other vulnerabilities.” Mears said accountability, while sometimes avoided, can be crucial when pointing out injustices. “When I originally created this page, my intentions were simply to have fun with it. I wanted confes-

sions to become a part of everyone’s day,” said the creator of BU Confessions, who wished to remain anonymous, in an email. The creator said the page was supposed to be an outlet for free expression among students. “We all have experiences, stories and thoughts to share — some embarrassing moments, intimate thoughts, a few bizarre experiences

Confessions, see page 4

SAT changes beneficial for colleges, students say By Trisha Thadani Daily Free Press Contributor

College Board’s plans to revamp the SAT to focus more on the core knowledge and skills that prepare students for the rigors of college will be beneficial for applicants, some Boston University students said. Caitlin Fichtel, a College of Communication sophomore, said the SAT has become an “elitist situation,” and success on it has a great deal to do with the type of tutoring one can afford. “It [the test] becomes an issue [of] how good people are at taking the test, and I don’t think it bases anything on knowledge,” Fichtel said. “Also, some people just tend to test better than others.” Making the SAT more representative of the core classes students take in high school, such as science, history and straightforward mathematics, would make the test more effective, Fichtel said. College Board President David Coleman sent an email to his employees Tuesday announcing the organization is looking into ways to

change the SAT to better reflect the demands of higher education. “We will develop an assessment that mirrors the work that students will do in college so that they will practice the work they need to do to complete college,” Coleman said in his email. No specific plans have been announced, but changes will likely be concentrated on the writing section, Coleman said. “An improved SAT will strongly focus on the core knowledge and skills that evidence shows are most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career,” Coleman said in his email. “… We will develop an assessment that mirrors the work that students will do in college so that they will practice the work they need to do to complete college.” High school students examine the average SAT scores of a college’s student body to gauge whether they have a chance at being accepted, said BU spokesman Colin Riley. He said SAT scores do not necessarily determine a student’s ac-

ceptance to BU. “We look at the students in a holistic way,” Riley said. “We don’t look at them in a single dimension … The most important thing on an application is your academic transcript —what courses you took at what rigor.” Several institutions’ admissions officials have ruled out standardized tests as a mandatory part of their applications, Riley said. Although BU may one day eliminate the standardized test from their application process, admissions officials still find some predictive value in high SAT scores. Standardized tests do not undermine the other factors within a student’s application, such as transcript, service and involvement, Riley said. “BU gets such a strong applicant pool because kids who are looking at the Ivy League [schools] also consider BU,” Riley said. “… However, we don’t want to accept a student who is not a good fit because they will not have a good experience.”

SATs, see page 4

College students slammed with credit card debt must learn how to properly deal with their finances before debts and poor financial habits begin affecting their futures, according to a study released Wednesday. “The banks recognize that there is a freshman clientele on campus,” said Daryl Graves, a College of Arts and Sciences undergraduate academic administrator. “Basically they’re encouraging kids to use their credit cards, and every month they just pay their minimum fee, which doesn’t cover interest. Kids have to be careful how they manage their financial decisions.” Graves said he does not believe student debt accumulation is inescapable and freshmen need a “refresher” on responsibility when without supervision for the first time, especially on an urban campus. The study, conducted by EverFi and sponsored by Higher One, focused on student behavior in banking, saving, credit cards and school loans. The findings are based on a survey of 40,000 students attending four-year public and private universities in 43 states. Twenty-eight percent of first-year students had a credit card and 25 percent had more than one, according to the study. Of the students with at least one credit card, 35 percent make only the minimum payment on their credit card and 8 percent of students have been late on a payment in the last year. “This report sounds the alarm that institutions must augment current financial literacy education,” said Director of Financial Literacy and Student Aid Policy at Higher One Mary Johnson in a Wednesday press release. Bruce Watson, a professor of economics, said students are in similar financial situations to adults, but have less experience in dealing with financial burdens. “In a student’s case, they often don’t have a lot of experience handling credit card debt, and they don’t realize immediately that it has to be paid for at some point,” he said

Finance, see page 4

Rehabilitation of Longfellow Bridge to begin spring 2013 By Jordan Pickard Daily Free Press Staff

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board of Directors approved contracts for the rehabilitation of the Longfellow Bridge Wednesday, ensuring that the old bridge will serve the metro area for years to come. Construction on the Longfellow Bridge, which carries Route 3 and the MBTA Red Line over the Charles River, connecting Boston and Cambridge, will begin this spring. Michael Verseckes, spokesman for MassDOT, said repairing the Longfellow Bridge has become necessary. “This construction is happening because the Longfellow Bridge is structurally deficient,” he said. “Its condition is not in the order that we would expect for our bridges to carry as many vehicles per day as this one does.” The rehabilitation of the bridge is

a part of the Accelerated Bridge Program, which aims to reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges in Massachusetts, according to a Wednesday MassDOT press release. “It’s best to address [the Longfellow Bridge] now when we have the opportunity to plan for something,” Verseckes said. The contract for the rehabilitation of the bridge was granted to the construction firms J. F. White, Skanska Koch and Consigli, in the amount of $255,489,000, according to the MassDOT press release. The rehabilitation will provide jobs for hundreds of skilled construction workers. “Our [MassDOT] employee side of it was involved in the planning and design of it,” Verseckes said. “The firm that’s going to build … will do the hiring of the [construction] employees.” Verseckes said the bridge will remain open for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as for one-way vehicu-

Bridge, see page 4

SARAH SIEGEL/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Longfellow Bridge, upon which the Red Line travels over the Charles River, is slated to begin construction this summer.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

SED prof.: SAT does not Construction to allow Cambridge-to-Boston traffic measure creativity, skills Bridge: From Page 3

SATs: From Page 3

Joel Scott, a School of Education professor, said in an email that the SAT is not designed to measure certain factors of student success such as creativity, emotional intelligence and other non-cognitive competencies. “The challenge for schools that are considering alternative options, high school portfolios, projects [or] alternative essays, is the time and human resources that are needed to effectively process applications,” Scott said. A number of students said they do not believe the SAT was a good indicator of their potential, because they had to specifically learn how to take the test rather than utilize

the knowledge they gained while in high school. “The SAT focuses more on people test-taking abilities rather than actual intelligence,” said Max Laroch, a College of General Studies sophomore. “Some people are just not good at test taking, even though they may be smart enough to get into a better school.” Timothy Lagos, a COM freshman, said he thinks the ACT better represents the intelligence of the applicant than the SAT. “I had to learn how to take the SAT and it was based on strategy,” Lagos said. “The ACT topics were a bit easier because they were definitely a lot more representative of the topics I learned in high school.”

lar traffic from Cambridge to Boston during construction. Traffic in the opposite direction will be directed to the Craigie Dam Bridge. Joe Pesaturo, MBTA spokesman, said in an email that the MBTA would provide diversions on weekends when Red Line service is closed for construction on the bridge. “During 25 weekends between this summer and fall of 2016, Red Line service will be replaced by buses between Park and Kendall Stations,” Pesaturo said. The dates of the Red Line diversions will be published on the MBTA’s website this spring once the

construction schedule is finalized, Pesaturo said. A number of commuters said that despite the benefits of bridge rehabilitation, the closing of the Red Line during construction would negatively impact their travel. Clare McNamara, a Red Line commuter, said the construction would force her to use her car rather than the T. “I also have a car, but this means I’ll be spending more on gas and probably getting more tickets,” she said. William Phillips, a Red Line commuter, said he doubts the MBTA’s ability to successfully replace Red

Line traffic with buses during construction. “Last time … there were huge crowds at both ends [of the bridge], at Kendall and Park Street [Stations],” Phillips said. “The MBTA is not very well organized about these things, to say it politely.” Daniel Miguelanez, also a Red Line commuter, said the extra time spent taking the bus diversions would be a great inconvenience. “I live in Tuft’s campus and my girlfriend works here at the Massachusetts General Hospital, so, I travel this line almost every day.” Miguelanez said. “It’s not a big distance, but it is a long time.”

COM junior: Attack posts on site ‘unnecessary’ Confessions: From Page 3

and even some heavy ones,” the creator said. Some students said there are benefits and drawbacks to having a confessions page in a public setting. Jessica Leach, a College of Communication junior, said she was offended by a Friday post in which the anonymous author referred to another student by a sexual slur after the student stepped on the author’s expensive Givenchy shoes. “Any post that is needlessly at-

tacking a race, gender, or sexual orientation, like the Givenchy shoes one I commented on, is unnecessary,” she said in an email. “I understand that it’s someone’s opinions, or maybe someone’s weird idea of a joke, but I don’t have to respect it, and neither does anyone else.” Justin Lievano, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman, said he suspects that a Feb. 21 post refers to either him or another student on his floor. “I wasn’t bothered by it because, in my opinion, BU Confessions is sil-

ly,” Lievano said. “I took the whole affair as a joke to begin with.” The creator of the page said he or she had positive goals in mind when first starting the page. “Not only are confessions entertaining and fun to read, but they also allow a way for students to relate to one another’s experiences and even share some advice along the way,” said the page’s creator. “I wanted to use this page to create a real community at this school.” Margaret Waterman contributed to the reporting of this article.

dents more often reported buying only what they needed, setting a budget, paying credit card bills on time and paying student loans on time. Several BU students said they make efforts to ensure they are on stable financial footing. Alison Ishii, a School of Management freshman, said if BU offered classes to help students organize their finances, she would take it. “I didn’t really have trouble adjusting to using my own money here,” Ishii said. “I just had to watch

my money more carefully than I did before.” CAS freshman Bianca Ruelas said she has been in charge of her finances for a long time and has learned how to deal with banks. She said she is financially sound because she does not have a credit card. “I can only spend money that I actually have,” Ruelas said. “It’s hard being in a new city with so many new experiences and having to use my own money for it.”

40 percent of students think debt inevitable, study says Finace: From Page 3

While 79 percent of students surveyed responded they worry about debt, 30 percent responded they feel it is better to buy something and pay it off later, according to the study. About 40 percent of students surveyed believe student debt is inevitable. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed had a checking account and were found to act more responsibly, according to the study. These stu-

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Researchers bridge gender gap in mathematics Christina Janansky Features Staff

he stereotype that men surpass women in the mathematical and scientific fields has existed for decades. However, researchers from Brigham Young University, University of Miami and Rutgers University recently performed an experiment to challenge that stereotype and the gender gap associated with it. In their report — which was published by the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization and appeared in a EurekAlert public release Feb. 25 — researchers concluded women are as proficient as men in mathematics when altering the conditions of a competitive environment. Why study gender gaps? Joe Price, the lead researcher of the study and an assistant professor of economics at BYU, said the concept for his experiment arose out of a couple primary concerns. “We’re getting to the point where there are more girls in college than boys, but there are some occupations that men are much more represented,” Price said. He listed CEOs and partners in law firms as a couple examples of typically maledominated professions. “If women don’t do as well in competitive settings, they won’t do as well in these professions or will drop out of those occupations.” Price said this was one reason why he and researchers began studying the gender gap’s presence in academic and competitive environments. With the influx of women’s enrollment in college, he said it has become increasingly important for researchers to investigate the causes — and resolutions — of gender gaps. Between 2000 and 2010, colleges experienced a 39-percent increase in female enrollment, as compared to the 35-percent increase among males, according to a report by the Institute of Education Sciences. This number is expected to increase greatly over the next decade. Price said a portion of his motivation for the study was personal. He is a math enthusiast and a father of two girls. “[I was] really motivated to find math competitions that girls could thrive in,” Price said. The experiment Price said females are generally more intimidated by competitive environments than males. This prompted researchers to conduct the experiment in students’ typical school classrooms rather than at BYU. This way, girls would feel more comfortable engaging in the competitions. In the experiment, Price said he and researchers designed a series of in-class math competitions using about 500 students — both girls and boys — from 24 elementary schools in Utah. According to the study’s online release on EurekAlert, paired-off students competed against each other to see who could correctly answer the most math questions during a five-minute quiz. The competition consisted of five total rounds and in each round students competed against a new opponent. Winners earned raffle tickets for small prizes and, in the case of a tie, the student who finished the quiz first won.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KIERA BLESSING

Researchers in Utah disproved the stereotype that men are more proficient in mathematics than women. In the experiment, women performed as well as males when researchers de-emphasized time constraints and competitive pressures.

The results Prior to the experiment, researchers acquired students’ test scores to compare how similarly intelligent boys and girls performed in identical competitive settings. Although these paired opponents appeared evenly matched on paper, boys defeated girls in the first round. However, after the first round, females competed evenly with males — and even better — for the remainder of the competition. To determine whether the competitive environments contributed to female intimidation, researchers instructed six classrooms to de-emphasize the time component of the competition. Although the quizzes were still five minutes long, winners of ties were not determined by who finished first and students were repeatedly told the quiz was “not a race.” Price said these adjustments changed the results dramatically. With these simple adjustments, girls felt less intimidated and matched the boys from the start. Price said earlier studies determined that girls underperform relative to boys in competitive settings, especially in math-based ones. However, he said his own results shed new light on past studies. “I knew what these bodies of literature said coming in,” Price said. “What I didn’t know coming in is there are ways to make it [the gender gap] go away.” Price said making this gender gap disappear is not only possible — it’s simple. “What we learned is you can make it go away by having participants compete in multiple rounds of a competition,” he said. “You can also make it go away by changing the nature of environment, like taking away pressure or telling them it isn’t a race.”

Patricia Rieker, a professor of sociology at Boston University, specializes in the effects of gender, specifically with regards to public health. She said ideas of biological differences between males and females might have contributed to the creation of gender gaps. “People thought that men and women were biologically different, and that biology had consequences for things like intelligence,” Rieker said. She said this idea led to the educational deprivation of females, allowing men to develop skills women could not acquire without an education. “The fact that they had a barrier in terms of education reaffirmed the idea that males were superior in terms of intellectual abilities, especially in terms of math,” Rieker said. Maya Seshadri, a College of Communication junior, said a disparity of confidence between genders is likely a contributor to the gap. “Boys don’t stress as much as much as girls do because they’re more confident in their abilities to perform in those timeconstrained situations,” Seshadri said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say we ‘underperform’ compared to boys in these situations, but we definitely disappoint ourselves a lot more than boys do.” However, Justin Friedman, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said females handle competitive environments better than the study claims. “I don’t think that women are actually worse at dealing with high pressure situations or competitive environments,” Friedman said. “There are women who do great under pressure and those who don’t, and the same thing goes for men”

Why the gender gap exists Researchers said determining the cause of gender gaps is equally important as solving the problems associated with them.

Eliminating the gap Rieker and Price noted that the gender gap is disappearing in many aspects of both social and academic life.

Price described the increase of female participation in sports as an example of this. “If you look at sports participation we’ve made huge gains in terms of the reaction of women who engage in high school sports,” he said. “Girls are doing just as well as boys are in these competitions. The thing is getting them to stick with it.” Girls are doing just as well as boys in academic fields as well, Rieker explained. In fact, they often perform better than their male counterparts. “Women are graduating with higher grades in high school and more women are going to college,” Rieker said. She said while women have typically dominated “emotionally intelligent” professions like nursing and teaching, more are pursuing “higher-status” professions. “Now that these options and opportunities are greater, we may see them [women] entering into these occupations and careers in larger numbers,” she said. However, being rid of gaps entirely requires the efforts of both men and women. Rieker said eliminating stereotypes that often make women feel inferior to men is a large part of this. “It took a long time for women to believe that they weren’t inferior to men and to believe it [math] was a skill that could be developed,” Rieker said. “To do this, people had to clear up stereotypes and assumptions.” Alyssa Thomason, a CAS sophomore, said stereotypes about gender could influence gender gaps, but overcoming them could eliminate such gaps entirely. “If a girl grows up believing that men are better at math and science, she will have lower expectations of herself and not be as likely to perform her best,” Thomason said. “I don’t struggle with that any more because I see myself as a hard-working individual not as a slave to the stereotype of my gender.”

uesday,

March 5, 2013

Opinion

The Daily Free Press

The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University 43rd year F Volume 84 F Issue 26

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The Daily Free Press (ISSN 1094-7337) is published Monday through Thursday during the academic year except during vacation and exam periods by Back Bay Publishing Co.,Inc., a nonprofit corporation operated by Boston University students. No content can be reproduced without the permission of Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright © 2010 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Unlocking smartphones no longer an offense

Smartphone lovers rejoice. The White House has taken it upon itself to declare its support of a petition advocating consumer freedom to unlock smartphones and tablets, according to BostInno on Tuesday. About time, we say. While previously the Librarian of Congress had ruled that unlocking mobile devices — even after a contract expired — was in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a petition against this ruling on the White House’s “We the People” platform has garnered more than 114,000 signatures, thereby signifying a need for a change in policy. “It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs,” the White House statement stated. And they’re right. These days, with technology anywhere and everywhere, consumers should have more control over their technology consumption environments. They should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. After all, they paid for them. So the White House has declared that neither criminal laws nor technological locks should prevent consumers from consumers from switching

carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation. Any other declaration would be unfair. We’ve reached a point at which smartphones are so ubiquitous that it hardly matters which service provider a customer chooses. Besides, the choice to open the market makes it all the more competitive, and in a positive way: Whereas when AT&T was once the sole provider of Apple iPhone service, now all service providers need to compete to be the best. And if they are not, they can offer reduced rates, which are desirable for some consumers. The ability to unlock phones also affects resale rules. Consumers should be able to sell their phones when they finish with them, making money while making good use of their devices. This is good because it limits the exclusiveness of the smartphoneholder club: Now people can purchase used smartphones at reduced rates and still take part in the benefits of smartphone ownership — of which there are many, and more people should be able to enjoy them. Moreover, focusing criminal efforts on prosecuting smartphone unlockers is a waste of public and government resources. Mostly, there are only benefits to letting people unlock their phones, hence the petition’s approval. Governments have other, more dangerous things to deal with.

GPA not the be-all end-all

Grade point average is generally considered the best measurement on which to define a college applicant’s character and intelligence. Character because it shows that he or she works hard, purportedly, and intelligence because it shows that he or she is able to understand class concepts and do well in them — again, purportedly. But Sunday, USA Today published a debate considering the worth of the GPA in college admissions and beyond. Apparently for many colleges, the number is not a telling or comprehensive a way to judge an applicant unless it’s put into context. Granted, this is obvious, if only for the basic reason that different high schools all have different grade weighting systems. This, after all, is why admissions departments assign representatives to certain districts and certain schools. How else would Boston University evaluate its many international applicants? GPA is not a perfect system, the same way that standardized test scores cannot tell us everything about an applicant, for which reason some colleges (mostly smaller ones) have nixed the SAT requirement on their applications. In considering a prospective student, there are always other factors, like extracurricular activities, as well as a student’s particular interests over the requirements of his or her school. Moreover, as much as grades vary

by school, they also vary by teacher, and often are more subjective than we want to believe. But GPAs and test scores are still the best solution to setting a bar on which to judge thousands upon thousands of applicants. Ultimately, a good GPA says a lot about a candidate, for which reason passfail courses are not the solution to the question of GPA relevance. In pass-fail settings, even those who do the bare minimum have the same grade as those who want to work hard. Interestingly, however, USA Today commentators noted how GPAs include grades from non-academic classes like physical education and band, so therefore are not a good indicator of an applicant’s intelligence. It’s the grades earned in academic courses — and the purported rigor of those courses — that are the most important factors in evaluating a candidate for admission. Of course, once a person gets accepted into college, the standard changes. Most employers care less about GPAs than they do about relevant work experience. (Makes us wonder why we pay for all this grade deflation.) But this is not to say that college grades are good for nothing. Applicant individuality is always something to consider, but there needs to be a way to determine which job applicant is “best.”

LETTERS! LETTERS! LETTERS!

THE AMERICAN IDEA

What I love about HBO’s “Girls”... COLIN SMITH … And J.D. Salinger, too, actually. Though I’m a little late to the party, on both accounts. In case you missed it, Girls is a sitcom that premiered on HBO a little less than a year ago. Written by and starring Lena Dunham, and based on her own life, it follows a group of four twenty-something girls (and their male friends) as they navigate post-collegiate life in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. Initially premiering to critical acclaim, the show, now in its second season, has garnered a polarized reputation. Some laud its realistic portrayal of the uncertainty that comes with newly self-governed youth, while others deride it for its supposed undertones of smugness and elitism. I myself was introduced to Girls by a male friend of mine, not long after the show came out. I was hesitant at first, wary of being alienated (i.e. emasculated) by the overtly feminine theme. The show is not though, as most newcomers assume, so much about being a “girl” as it is about being a young person, not yet ready to adopt a moniker of adulthood, be that woman or man. Certainly feminine themes are brought up, and I owe to Girls virtually my entire knowledge of female discourse and, unfortunately, the menstrual cycle. But as I see it, the show is about the youth experience as told by someone who happens to be female, and that provides a universal quality I find more than welcoming. Girls is about girls being people, talking about things which concern everyone, and not just the various conniving shenanigans of the men in their lives (which I assume is what girls talk about in real life, too). I wasn’t particularly concerned about expressing my opinion on Girls until very recently. I was happy that the show had sufficient viewership, and a sufficient number of people who liked it, presumably, to keep going for a very long time. I was content to watch this rather amusing debate over the apparent harmfulness of the show, and count myself firmly in the camp that enjoyed Girls more because it ruffled so many feathers. What changed my mind though, strangely enough, was my recent reading of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Unlike most people, the book was not forced upon me by means of a high school English class. I escaped it somehow through an honors track system that assumed, perennially, that I must have read it in the previous class. I’m glad this turned out to be the case, because when I approached the book

of my own accord a few months ago, it had quite a bit of meaning which I think would have far escaped me as a high school freshman. In a lot of ways, Catcher in the Rye is the original Girls. Praised nearly universally for its prose style and technical skill, the book grew from being acclaimed to being battered back and forth in a weird game of moralistic badminton. Catcher ultimately won the battle, and it is now the most widely taught book in public schools in the United States. However, what amounts to widespread popularity for the work also amounts to widespread misinterpretation. I’m glad I never had to read Catcher as a high schooler. Holden Caulfield was sold to me as an angry degenerate society-hater, one whose arrogance clouded any possible tolerance from those who were not themselves also angry, disaffected youth. This was not the case, as it turned out. And it was also not the case, as my teachers thought, that I would accept Holden merely because he was young and angry like I was. His was not the vision I had for my youth. Today’s young people — and the young people of all generations, I’d be willing to bet — are on the whole a lot less angry than people tend to believe. What we really are is independent, is innovative, is new; the manifestation of all those things as “angry” is an easy jump to make, I guess. But that’s not the generalization I find most annoying. That distinction of “angry” comes from the notion that we are not, as young people, self-aware. Because we are. Painfully so. The real reason I love both Girls and the work of J.D. Salinger, and the reason they’ll both be enduring classics in my opinion, is because the stories’ characters are aware of their own naivety, their own pretentiousness, their own imperfection. It’s moments such as when Holden Caulfield opines “I’m a madman, I really am” or when Lena Dunham’s Hannah pronounces “No one could ever hate me as much as I hate myself” that I feel closest to these works. Self-awareness is an all-tooundervalued quality in our society, and in our art. And truly, it’s the bravery of both “Catcher” and “Girls”’s proclaiming that they have something worthwhile and valuable to say in spite of this imperfection that keeps me coming back for more. Colin Smith is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, and a weekly columnist for the Daily Free Press. He can be reached at colin1@bu.edu.

The Daily Free Press welcomes your feedback and commentary. Send us a Letter to the Editor at letters@dailyfreepress.com

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Morris: Fans should understand hatred comes from jealousy Morris: From Page 8

seems to root against Duke. Is it because they don’t storm the court, even after a huge win against a conference rival? Duke wins games like this one every single year. It all comes down to jealousy. Duke is a number one or number two-seed in the tournament every single year, and people resent them for that. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell

Suggs recently declared that the New England Patriots are the most hated team in the NFL. He claims that his hatred of the Pats stems from how the team ‘disrespected’ the Ravens when the teams met in 2007. But quite frankly, that’s a load of bull. He’s just jealous! That’s why everyone hates the Patriots, they’re all jealous. The Patriots are not only the greatest team in the NFL during the past decade, but they’re also one

of the classiest organizations in the league. It’s okay to hate them, but understand that you only do so because they are so good. I’m a huge Boston Red Sox fan, and I absolutely despise the New York Yankees. They are the evil empire. But I know I only hate them because they are easily the best team in the history of baseball. It’s a great rivalry, but the all-time championship totals aren’t even close. I know that at the

end of the day, my hatred stems from how good the Yankees are year in and year out. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t hate teams just for being good. In fact, I encourage it. It’s good for sports because it creates hardened rivalries. But always know why you hate these teams. It’s not because they ‘disrespect’ your team. It’s just because they are so dominant. Never forget that.

Jones impressed with men’s basketball’s late-season run Men’s basketball: From Page 8

guarding them on the perimeter, in the post, all over the place.” Jones praised SBU’s defense afterward for preventing his team from attacking the paint.. “They’re one of the better defensive teams in the country from a field goal percentage standpoint,” Jones said. “They do a great job of keeping you out of the lane. I knew going into the game it wasn’t going to be the way it is against [the University at] Albany or [the University of] Vermont. “They’re another level. We knew it was

going to be hard for us to get easy opportunities.” Proud coach Even against all the odds that have been stacked against his team this year, Jones said he could not be more pleased with the way the Terriers carried themselves all season long. With the ban from the America East Tournament, the departure of senior forward Jake O’Brien to Temple University and five straight losses to begin the season, — along with two defeats to kick off conference play,

— BU found itself in a position in its final regular season game to compete for a share of the America East title. “For us, to sit here and dwell on the fact that we didn’t win the game [Thursday] or play well, we had a great run,” Jones said. “Now we have to regroup and get ready for the postseason. That’s it. These guys have been terrific all year.” “What we did was pretty impressive in terms of the run that we made,” he added. “Winning nine out of 10 games and being a factor this late in the year. That’s impressive.”

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Terrier freshman guard Maurice Watson Jr.

Softball picks up wins in tight games against Portland State, UC Riverside Softball: From Page 8

victory of the season. Portland State designated hitter Candice Orozco drilled a solo homer, giving the Vikings an early 1-0 lead in the second. BU answered the next inning with two runs, courtesy of an RBI triple from junior catcher Jayme Mask and a run-scoring groundout from junior shortstop Brittany Clendenny. The teams went blow-for-blow after this, and they were all tied going into the sixth, when the Terriers eventually grabbed a slim 4-3 lead on an RBI double from senior second baseman Emily Roesch. BU added insurance in the seventh, scoring four times, with the help of two Portland errors. Mask recorded her third RBI of the day on a bases-loaded walk, making it the fifth time she reached base in the game. The runs proved to be enough for Tuthill as the Terriers closed out their second victory of the season. “It was great to be back on the field,”

said BU coach Kathryn Gleason. “We came out with a lot of energy.” The Terriers fell to No. 17 University of Arizona in the second game of the day. Freshman pitcher Lauren Hynes got the start for BU and had trouble from the outset. She walked four in the opening frame, part of a three-run first inning for the Wildcats (10-5). Arizona added two more in the third inning on third baseman Lauren Young’s two-run homer. Despite falling behind 5-0, the Terriers cut into the lead. In the sixth, junior third baseman Megan Volpano ripped a three-run home run to cut the deficit to 5-3. That was as close as it got for BU, however, as Arizona added another run in the bottom half of the inning and eventually came away victorious. The second day of the tournament was rough for the Terriers, as they fell in close battles to the University of California-Riverside and again to Arizona. The first contest was a pitcher’s duel between Tuthill and Riverside sophomore

Athletes improving with outdoor season ahead Track and field: From Page 8

formance over the weekend. “Nikko consistently is one of the better athletes on the East Coast,” Lehane said. “She’s been slightly held back by some foot issues, but once she can stay healthy for more than a couple of weeks ... she’s getting quicker over the hurdles and jumping further in the long jump, and she’s a very steady competitor.” Long, arguably the most improved runner for BU this season, continued the best season of her career by posting a personalbest time of 4:51.34 in the mile run, placing sixth. “It’s Nikki’s fourth year, and usually you don’t associate that with major breakthroughs,” Lehane said. “But her best mile time last year was 5:18, and this year she’s running 4:51. That’s a 27-second drop. ... It’s great. It’s great to watch. I was really happy and proud of her to see that.” The women placed 32nd as a team thanks to the ten points from Brady and Long.

With NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend, where graduate student Katie Matthews will compete in the 3,000m and 5,000m run and senior Allison Barwise will compete in the high jump, outdoor season is just around the corner. Lehane said that outdoor season will bring new opportunities and return a few familiar faces. “Some of the people will be going to their primary events,” Lehane said. “We’ll also be getting [junior] Rich Peters back.” Peters, the top miler in BU history, sat out during the indoor season, and will certainly give the Terriers a boost as they transition to the outdoors. While BU is unable to compete in the America East this season, Lehane said that his team is focused on the bigger picture. “Given that we don’t have a conference now, we kind of are getting a little more focused on a bigger regional approach,” Lehane said. “We have the personnel to carry that through.”

Alyssa Razo. Both pitchers put forth quality efforts and neither team scored through the first three frames. In the fourth, Riverside (7-12) plated two, thanks to a pair of BU errors. The two runs were enough for Razo as she pitched a shutout, scattering three hits and striking out three en route to the win. In the second game of the day, the Terriers fell to Arizona for the second time in as many days. Tuthill got the start for BU again, and struggled in the first. Extra-base hits from shortstop Brigette Del Ponte and first baseman Hallie Wilson aided in giving Arizona an early 3-0 lead. The early deficit was enough to deter the Terriers from victory. Despite an RBI fielder’s choice from junior catcher Amy Ekart, BU was unable to solve Arizona pitcher Shelby Babcock, as she allowed only one run in her team’s 4-1 victory. “There are no moral victories,” Gleason said. “It was a great environment. The kids never backed down.” The Terriers looked to salvage a win on

the tournament’s final day. Facing Riverside again, BU won in a wild affair. Hynes struggled again in her start for BU, allowing four runs in her four innings of work, and the Terriers fell behind 4-1 early. With a run-scoring double from Roesch and an RBI single from Ekart, the Terriers cut the lead to one in the fifth. They tied the game in the sixth on sophomore outfielder Emily Felbaum’s sacrifice fly. In the seventh, BU took the lead coming off the bat of sophomore left fielder Mandy Fernandez’s three-run homer, giving the Terriers a 7-4 lead going into the bottom half of the seventh. Riverside would not go quietly, scoring twice in the inning on Tuthill, who came in relief for BU. Riverside got the tying run to second, but with shortstop Nicolette Lujan’s fly out to right, the Terriers earned the victory. “[The Highlanders are] a well-coached team,” Gleason said. “They kept battling. It was a little gut-wrenching.”

“

Quotable

Winning nine out of ten games and being a factor this late in the year. That’s impressive.

-BU coach Joe Jones on men’s basketball’s late-season effort

Page 8

Driving The Lane

You Jealous?

John Morris

Saturday night, the No. 3 Duke University Blue Devils defeated the No. 5 University of Miami Hurricanes 79-76 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. There were two main points that I took from this game. First off, the Cameron crazies (Duke’s devoted student fan base) did not storm the court. In a season where it seems every game ends with the students dancing around with the players on the court, this game did not. The students, while noticeably excited, stayed in their seats. They had been there before. This was a big win, but it’s not the end for Duke. It has much bigger plans for this season. It was refreshing that students finally refrained from storming the court, because this courtstorming thing needs to simmer down. Besides it being dangerous, it’s also just embarrassing. When students storm the court they are basically saying, “We know we’re not good enough to really accomplish anything this year, so we’re going to celebrate this one win like it’s the Super Bowl.” I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be excited when your team upsets a top-ten powerhouse. What I am saying, is it isn’t grounds for rushing the court. Reserve that for only very special situations, like when a rival upsets the number one team when no one gave it a chance. This year it’s happening every week, and it’s lost its mojo. Even if you haven’t been there before, you should act like you have. When the Jets upset the Patriots in the Divisional round of the 2010 NFL playoffs, Antonio Cromartie of the Jets was literally doing back flips on the field as the clock ticked down to zero. When the Jets lost the next week and their season didn’t amounting to anything, they looked foolish. They were a team that needed to learn how to win the right way, unlike Duke. As a Duke fan, I was rooting hard for my Blue Devils while watching that game. But I imagine that just about everyone else in the country was rooting for the Hurricanes to pull the upset. It got me thinking why everybody

Morris, see page 7

Sports

No Events Scheduled Skip Bayless recently listed “52 million reasons” why Joe Flacco doesn’t deserve his new $52 million contract...

BU freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor is out indefinitely with a collapsed lung, leaving Sean Maguire to take on full-time starting duties. P.7.

[ www.dailyfreepress.com ]

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

O’Connor out with collapsed lung Softball takes 2 of 5 games in Arizona

By Tim Healey Daily Free Press Staff

The Boston University men’s hockey team finally has a numberone goaltender, but not by choice. Freshman Matt O’Connor is out indefinitely with spontaneous pneumothorax and is expected to make a full recovery, according to a team source. Spontaneous pneumothorax is a collapsed lung that happens with no apparent cause. O’Connor is in the hospital. There is no information available on a recovery timeline. “A small area in the lung that is filled with air can break open, sending air into the space around the lung,” according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Tall, thin people are more likely to suffer collapsed lungs. The 6-foot-5, 201-pound O’Connor has posted a .910 save percentage and 2.86 goals-against average in 19 games (18 starts) in his rookie campaign. The news comes two days after freshman Sean Maguire started two games in a weekend for the first time this season. After making 49 saves and allowing

By Andrew Battifarano Daily Free Press Staff

MICHAEL CUMMO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Terrier freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor is out indefinitely with spontaneous pneumothorax, also known as a collapsed lung.

one goal in a win against the University of Vermont Friday night, Maguire gave up four goals the next night, just hours after finding out he would make the start. BU coach Jack Parker said after Saturday’s game O’Connor had trouble breathing during the pre-game skate Saturday afternoon, and the team made the de-

cision to hold him back shortly thereafter. Maguire, whose .914 save percentage and 2.95 GAA in 15 games are quite comparable to O’Connor’s numbers, is in line to be the team’s regular goalie. Annie Maroon contributed to this report.

A week after playing in the Citrus Classic in Florida, the Boston University softball team took a trip to the West Coast to compete in the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. After only taking one game in the humid conditions of Florida, the Terriers (3-7) fared slightly better in the dry heat of Arizona as they were victorious in two of their five games in the tournament. In the opening game, BU took on Portland State University. The Terriers, aided by a late-inning scoring barrage, took the first game over Portland State (5-15) by a score of 8-3. The Terriers sent senior pitcher Whitney Tuthill to the mound to try and stop the four-game losing skid. Tuthill went the distance, going seven innings, allowing three runs and eight hits, and striking out three in her second

Softball, see page 7

Men’s basketball confident in Track and field succeeds in chances of making postseason relay events at ECAC meet By René Reyes Daily Free Press Staff

Even after the Boston University men’s basketball team fell to Stony Brook University 71-55 at Agganis Arena Thursday night, BU coach Joe Jones was certain that his squad did enough up to that point to earn a spot in a postseason tournament. In July, the Terriers (17-12, 11-5 America East) were banned from participating in the America East Tournament due to their decision to switch to the Patriot League for the 2013-14 campaign. Having recorded 17 wins — with 11 coming in conference play — and stringing together a sixgame winning streak before their loss to the Seawolves (23-6, 14-2 America East), the Terriers have to wait until Selection Sunday on March 17 to hear if they have received a postseason bid, whether it is to the College Basketball Invitational or the College Insider Tournament. “We’ll play,” Jones said of BU’s postseason chances. “We’re going to make a postseason tournament. There’s no doubt.” Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell also said he sees a place for BU in a postseason tournament. “They’re good,” Pikiell said. “They play good basketball. They’re talented. They’re well coached. ... They definitely deserve a chance to keep playing. I hope they get that opportunity. “Great university, a lot of pride, a lot of tradition through the years and good players. I hope they have a chance to keep on playing. It’d

be great for them.” Still, bitter feelings remain with the Terriers, as they will not have the opportunity to face off against other America East schools in the conference tournament for a chance to head to the Big Dance. “I would have loved to,” Jones said about taking his tream to another America East tournament. “To be honest with you, these guys have not hung their heads at all once they found out about the decision in the summer. They played the season like we were going to play in the tournament. “A lot of teams would have gotten down and not fought back. This team fought back like crazy.”

Neutralizing BU’s guard play During BU’s six-game winning streak, freshman guard Maurice Watson, Jr. and junior guard D.J. Irving made the Terrier offense run with their scoring, passing and rebounding. But Thursday, Stony Brook limited the dynamic backcourt duo of Watson and Irving to 23 points on a combined 10-of-27 shooting. Pikiell credited the Seawolves’ interior defense and forward Tommy Brenton for shutting down BU’s dribble penetration. “We’ve got good quickness on the perimeter,” Pikiell said. “Tommy does a great job of being where he’s supposed to be. We have shot blockers underneath the basket. If they do get in there, we want to make it difficult for them to finish. We did a great job in the first half,

Men’s basketball, see page 7

The Bottom Line

Tuesday, March 5

Man Down

The Daily Free Press

Wednesday, March 6 W. Lacrosse v. Dartmouth, 3 p.m.

Thursday, March 7 No Events Scheduled ...Perhaps he believes Tim Tebow deserves that big of a contract.

By Sarah Kirkpatrick Daily Free Press Staff

Although the sport is frequently noted for its individual focus, the Boston University track and field team proved at the IC4A/ ECAC Championships this weekend that there is always room for teamwork on the track. Exactly eight days after breaking a school record that was untouched for 10 years, freshman David Lagerberg, seniors Tewado Latty and R.J. Page and graduate student Zachary Ray combined again to post an even faster time in the men’s 4x400m relay Sunday afternoon. The time of 3:08.41 was more than a second faster than the 3:09.45 that the quartet posted at the New England Championships Feb. 23. The record time was good for second place, behind George Mason University, which won the event with a time of 3:07.86. BU’s time ranks 25th best in the nation. “It’s rewarding to see the guys produce that,” said Assistant Director of track and field Bruce Lehane. “It’s a great team effort. Track and field is such an individual sport that on the relay, it gives a chance for people to help each other and have a little bit more of a team aspect to it. They competed very well.” But the men were not the only Terriers to break a relay record this weekend. Senior Julia Mirochnick, junior Carolyn Maynard, sophomore Gemma Acheampong and freshman Jade Paul broke the women’s 4x400m relay

Friday, March 8

M. Hockey @ Northeastern 7:30 p.m. Softball @ Under Armour Showcase, 2:30 p.m. Track NCAA Championships, All Day

record Saturday afternoon with a time of 3:47.14. “The girls, it was wonderful to see them get the school record as well,” Lehane said. Individually, several Terriers fared quite well. Latty placed second in the men’s 400m dash, running a conference-best time of 46.86 seconds. “That was fantastic for Tewado,” Lehane said. “He finished really strong, he came off the final curve and just flew.” Ray continued his trend of strong performances by placing third in the 60m hurdles with a season-best time of 7.91 seconds, and placing second in the long jump (7.18m). In the high jump, junior Connor Sullivan placed fifth with a jump of 2.06m. Senior Matt Paulson also picked up four points for the Terriers with a fifth-place finish in the 3,000m run. Paulson’s time of 8:09.41 is the best in the conference. With a team score of 37.5 points, the BU men finished in third place, trailing only the University of Connecticut (104 points) and Cornell University (57.5 points). For the women, seniors Nikko Brady and Nikki Long contributed points individually. Brady placed fourth in the long jump, with a mark of 5.81m, and added a seventh-place finish in the finals of the 60m hurdles (8.66 seconds). Lehane praised Brady’s per-

Track and field, see page 7

Saturday, March 9

M. Hockey v. Northeastern, 7 p.m. W. Hockey v. Providence, 12:30 p.m. W. Lacrosse @ Notre Dame, 3 p.m. Track NCAA Championships, All Day