The Daily Free Press
Year xliii. Volume lxxxiv. Issue XXX
DO NOT PASS GO Cab companies sue Uber Tech for monopolistic, unsafe practices, page 3.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
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SKIP THE SALT
A salty diet may be linked to autoimmune disease, page 5.
]
www.dailyfreepress.com
POULIN HONORS
W. hockey team members receive awards, page 8.
Total cost of BU set at over $57K for 2013-14 academic year
GRAPHIC BY CHRIS LISINSKI/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University officials released the tuition increases for the 2013-2014 school year Monday. The graph shows the change in the total tuition and housing costs since 1995. By Zoe Roos Daily Free Press Staff
The total cost of tuition and standard room and board at Boston University will increase 3.6 percent, reflecting a $2,000 cost addition, for the 2013-14 academic year, according to an email to students Monday. BU President Robert Brown announced in an email Monday afternoon that the Board of Trustees set the tuition rate at $43,970, a 3.7 percent increase, and the standard room and
board rate at $13,620, a 3.3 percent increase. These costs bring the standard total cost of attending BU next year to $57,590. “In setting a budget for the coming year, we have worked to protect and continue to improve the quality of a Boston University education and our support services, while recognizing the need to control the cost of attendance for our students and parents,” Brown said in his email. “The tuition increase is one component of a conservative
University budget.” For the 2011-12 academic year, the tuition rate was $42,400 and the standard room and board rate was $13,190, totaling $55,590. Brown said the average tuition increase over the past five years has been 3.8 percent, one of the lowest among similar U.S. universities. Between 2004 and 2009, the average yearly tuition increase was about 1 to 1.5 percent higher than between 2009 and 2013. “The university works very hard to keep tuition increases as low as possible,” said BU spokesman Colin Riley. “For the past decade or more, the tuition increases as a percentage have been below the national average for similar schools.” Despite the increases, BU officials will remain committed to providing financial aid for students, Brown said. “Next year we expect that approximately 8,500 of our undergraduate students — 53 percent — will receive financial aid from the University,” he said. Riley said eligible students will receive a small increase in BU financial aid. “The awarding is based on individual need,” he said. “As long as a student’s financial situation doesn’t change dramatically, then he or she should experience a small increase in aid, but not enough to cover the full increase in tuition.” Brown said BU will work to control costs
The Boston Public Health Commission was awarded $200,000 Thursday by the federal government to combat domestic violence homicides through research on how to best identify and respond to the threat of spousal violence. “We do have an awareness that we have residents of Boston who we know to be at greater and greater risk of domestic violence,” said Ann Marie Delaney, director of the Boston Public Health Commission’s Family Justice Center. “But there is a concern the numbers will be far greater if we don’t work with our community partners to provide safety.” The grant, one of 12 awarded to cities across the country by the Office on Violence Against Women, comes at a time of great need. Since 2003, 234 domestic violence homicides have been recorded by Jane Doe Inc., a Massachusetts-based coalition against domestic violence. In these cases, the vast majority of victims were
women. Although 2012 saw fewer instances of domestic violence homicides than previous years, three cases of domestic violence homicides were tried in the last month in Middlesex County, including the case of Lauren Astley, an 18-year old who was murdered by her 20-year old boyfriend, Nathaniel Fujita. “We are all aware of the three recent firstdegree domestic violence murder convictions in Middlesex County in the past month,” said Mary Lauby, executive director of Jane Doe Inc. “Anyone who saw coverage was moved by the devastating impact of those murders on all affected family members. These newly funded homicide prevention efforts will save lives, make communities safer and save money for the Commonwealth.” Mardi Chadwick, the passageway director at the Brigham and Women’s Hosptial, said many instances of murder related to domestic violence are difficult to label, and therefore
Data Courtesy of weather.com
After privacy breach, Google pays $7 million By Bram Peterson Daily Free Press Staff
numbers of domestic violence homicides might be larger than reported in Massachusetts. Chadwick said the grant money would ensure a smoother running network for identifying dangerous and potentially life-threatening domestic relationships. “We know we have a lot of high-risk cases and our coordination regarding the cases are not necessarily as tight or as coordinated as they could be,” she said. “This grant is really an opportunity to provide a coordinated response in particularly high-risk domestic violence cases.” Chadwick said a multi-pronged approach is concentrated on preventing domestic violence homicides. Certain factors, such as access to weapons, threats to kill and living situations all have been correlated to higher risk of homicide. In particular, cases of non-fatal strangulation in relationships are major warning signs, and research says make impending homicide seven times more likely, Chadwick said.
Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Tuesday that Google Inc. will pay more than $327,000 to Massachusetts after Google collected data and photographs from unsecured wireless networks for its Street View service. “This hard-fought settlement recognizes and protects the privacy rights of people whose information was collected without their permission,” Coakley said in a press release Tuesday. Google agreed to pay $7 million to 38 states and the District of Columbia after finalizing negotiations with a committee of attorney generals from Massachusetts and seven other states, according to the release. “It’s all part of the settlement, all of the different states get a different chunk of the $7 million,” said Jillian Fennimore, deputy press secretary of Coakley’s office. This payment is a result of accidental illegal data collection that Google took part in between 2008 and 2010, when the company obtained confidential information being transmitted from wireless networks, according to the release. “Google outfitted its Street View cars with commercially available antennae and freely available, open-source software called Kismet, between 2008 and May 2010, to drive down public streets and collect WiFi network identification information for use in offering ‘location aware’ or geolocation services,” according to an assurance of voluntary compliance Mar. 8. The company was collecting data via its Street View cars and was only trying to collect data for its geolocation services, but unknowingly collected private user information as well, according to the release. Google became aware of the issue in May 2010 and announced its actions to the public. Representatives terminated the collection of the wireless data and stopped the use of the equipment and software on the cars that was saving the unwanted information. Google has since destroyed all of the private data that it had collected, according to the release. Google declined to comment for, but released a statement March 12 apologizing for the privacy breach. “We work hard to get privacy right at Google. But in this case we didn’t, which is
Domestic violence, see page 2
Google, see page 4
Tuition, see page 2
Boston awarded $200,000 to combat domestic violence homicides By Jasper Craven Daily Free Press Staff
WEATHER
Today: Rain/snow/High 39 Tonight: Snow showers early/ Low 26 Tomorrow: 40/24
BU, city of Boston to post signs, mark road to develop bike safety on Comm. Ave. By Chris Lisinski Daily Free Press Staff
SARAH FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The City of Boston and Boston University are working together to increase bikers’ safety along Commonwealth Avenue.
The stretch of Commonwealth Avenue running through Boston University’s Charles River Campus will be updated with increased bicycle safety measures as part of a joint effort by BU and city of Boston officials, according to a Monday BU press release. By updating signage and developing markings on the road, officials hope to better protect cyclists and pedestrians and to increase awareness among drivers. “I am hopeful that these changes will help protect bicyclists and pedestrians traveling along this very busy stretch of Commonwealth Avenue,” said BU President Robert Brown in the release. “I also am extremely grateful for the city’s continued support of bike-safety initiatives that safeguard all people who use the city streets that pass through our campus.” City officials will implement changes recommended by BU members on a pilot stretch of Commonwealth Avenue between Kenmore Square and Packard’s Corner, where Boston
established its first bike lane, according to the release. To increase awareness, officials will post signs along the street advising drivers of cyclists, according to the release. The signs will designate the area as a “high bicycle and pedestrian activity zone,” establish a 25 mph speed limit and urge drivers to “share the road” and yield to cyclists when turning right. Workers will renovate and update Commonwealth Avenue’s bike lanes to increase visibility and markings. “Each bike lane intersection crossing [will] be painted using non-skid, high-visibility green paint and the width of bike-lane edge markings will increase from four to six inches,” the release stated. “White Bike Sharrow pavement markings within the green paint area will be added at busy intersections. In areas that have long crossings, multiple Sharrows will be installed.” To ensure motor vehicle operators are
Bikes, see page 2