1-28-2021

CHICK-FIL-A AT COM, 3

BALLET GOES VIRTUAL, 6

REPRESENTATION MATTERS, 9

SPORTS ON HOLD, 11

A Chick-Fil-a truck will stop on campus every Wednesday.

The Boston Ballet has a new, virutal “BB@ yourhome” program.

President Joe Biden should elect more Asian Americans to the court.

BU sports teams will not play for the remainder of January.

CEL EBR ATING

THURSDAY, JAN. 28, 2021

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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

YEAR L. VOLUME XCIX. ISSUE V

Restaurants reopen for late night dining Taylor Brokesh Daily Free Press Staff

Classroom moderator Alexander Stephan, a junior in the College of Fine Arts, said last semester was “kind of a mess,” but approves of IS&T’s decision to begin using Sling.

“It’s still a little early on in the experience to say whether or not it’s working better,” Stephan said, “just simply because the moderators and the brass are getting used to it still.”

Stephan added the “efficiency” of communication still needs improvement. He said although he is accustomed to the stress of working in an unorganized environment, he wishes

Gov. Charlie Baker lifted an order mandating restaurants to close early, allowing local businesses to return to late-night service.

The restriction, imposed by Baker in November, banned restaurants, fitness centers, museums, zoos, movie theaters and a number of other recreational spaces from operating between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. — eliminating into a typically profitable evening time for restaurants.

“The 9:30 curfew was preventing restaurants from having the ability to get a “2nd seating”, which is a significant source of business,” wrote Steve Clark, vice president of government affairs at the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, in an email.

“There were a number of places that were forced to lay off staff, as a result of and right after this curfew was implemented.”

Second seatings refers to replacing shifts of customers to fit more than one group of diners at the same table throughout the evening, according to Clark.

Marco Caputo, the owner and executive chef of Mast’ — an Italian restaurant in the North End — said the curfew had a major impact on business.

“People didn’t come in,” Caputo said. “All my employees went down to 20 hours a week.”

Before the curfew Mast’s kitchen closed at 11 p.m., Caputo said, although the restaurant would typically stay open to serve customers until they decided to leave. With the curfew, those lingering customers were lost and so was profit.

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HANNAH YOSHINAGA | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Administrators of Boston University’s Classroom Moderator program plan to address management and communication issues within the department this semester.

Classroom moderators see continued communication, organization issues Emily Stevenson Daily Free Press Staff Boston University is working to improve its classroom moderator programming with a new app that will resolve issues with communication and organization. However, students and faculty say it is too early to deem it a success.

Classroom moderators help ensure hybrid classes can proceed smoothly by monitoring the Zoom and assisting professors with technical issues, according to the BU TechWeb site.

BU spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email BU Information Services and Technology designed a new scheduling method for quick room and time changes and implemented a new training program for in-person and remote use.

The Learn from Anywhere classroom moderator program formerly used Google Spreadsheets for shift assignments, but it transitioned to the Sling app this semester. Sling is used for messaging, scheduling employee hours and other functions.

Additionally, the moderator training updated the Fall Blackboard modules with quizzes and informa-

tion, “in-person” classroom technology training was expanded, and classes of all sizes can now acquire moderators, according to Riley.

Robert Buchwaldt, an assistant research professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, said there is more consistency with moderators now than compared to the Fall when courses would receive different moderators each day. However, he said he still sees flaws in the program he hopes will be resolved soon.

“I’m happy with moderators and the students who are actually putting the time and the effort in,” Buchwaldt said, “but it’s a logistic issue.”

Marty Walsh’s Mayoral Legacy Daniel Kool Daily Free Press Staff Mayor Marty Walsh has deep roots — and a new future — in the labor movement.

At 21, he joined Boston’s Laborers Local 223 Union, maintaining active involvement for over 20 years. Now, the 53-year-old is being pulled to D.C., where he awaits a likely confirmation as President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Labor.

Having served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 1997, Walsh announced a bid for mayor in May 2013, emphasizing reforms to the Boston Public School system and improved economic opportunities across the city.

Backed by local and national unions, Walsh won a narrow victory against opponent John Connolly, replacing former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino — who retired after 20 years in the seat.

Throughout his two terms, the

Dorchester-native defended the rights of immigrants, worked to improve access to affordable housing, prioritized green development and spearheaded a public health campaign to stop the spread of COVID-19.

In 2017, Walsh promised to continue providing shelter for Boston’s immigrant community, following an executive order by then-President Donald Trump threatening to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities.

“If people want to live here, they’ll live here,” he told reporters at a press conference that January. “They can use my office, they can use any office in this building. Any place they want to use.”

That same year, his administration launched the Greater Boston Immigrant Defense Fund, which seeks to provide legal education and services to the city’s immigrant communities.

He maintained a commitment to the fund, allocating $50,000 from the city’s fiscal year 2020 budget to the program in 2019.

Walsh announced a reactivation

of Boston’s Human Rights Commission after an over 20-year hiatus in 2019, adding that it would focus on ensuring equal protection under the law for all Bostonians — regardless of immigration status.

Walsh also pioneered Imagine Boston 2030, a crowdsourced urban plan to update the city’s architecture with a focus on inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable development and increasing affordability. Since its announcement in 2015, the campaign has worked to address the input of over 15,000 residents.

Boston City Councilor Kenzie Bok said Walsh’s commitment to affordable housing would likely be his legacy as mayor.

“I think in general, on housing,” she said, “he’d really try to throw the kitchen sink at it.”

She noted that in 2017, the Walsh administration added support for public housing to the city budget for the first time. Since then, Bok has CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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NEWS

Classroom moderators see continued communication, organization issues Moderators from Page 1 this were not the case.

“It’s just a lot of slack that I have to pick up as a moderator to make up the extra mileage for their struggles to do it,” Stephan said.

Classroom moderator Emily Cobb, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, wrote in an email “communication is about the same”

as it was in the Fall. Responses to emails have been more “proactive,” she wrote, but she does not believe much has changed otherwise.

“The scheduling issues and communication issues are still there and very prominent,” Cobb wrote.

CAS and CFA junior and classroom moderator Linsy Wang said scheduling shifts has been a hassle both semesters, and the program could improve by establishing shift sign up deadlines.

“Last semester, during the first week of classes, people still wouldn’t have final shifts yet,” Wang said.

However, some moderators, such as CAS junior Mikey DeDona, resigned because of issues he faced with the program last semester, such as not having the ability to schedule ten hours of work per week.

“The amount of stress that this uncertainty and this poorly managed bureaucratic end is causing me is not worth the three hours of money I can

make during an especially stressful semester,” DeDona said.

Stephan said the program has always been responsive when he has brought up his concerns.

“They’ve always dealt with me in a kind fashion,” Stephan said, “and a fashion that made me feel like I was being heard.”

Regardless of his own circumstances, Stephan said he acknowledges not all moderators have had the same experience.

Stephan said he commends IS&T for their efforts to improve programming.

“They are doing everything in their power to make this run smoothly,” Stephan said, “but sometimes it falls short for some people.”

Nick Kolev, campus section editor, is a classroom moderator. He was not involved in the editing of this article.

StuGov launches COVID-19 oversight committee to hold University accountable Nick Kolev Daily Free Press Staff The Boston University Student Government is introducing its COVID-19 University Oversight Committee this Spring to monitor problems with BU policies and actions regarding the pandemic.

The ad hoc committee has stated its intent to report issues with BU’s COVID-19 response to the administration as well as the Senate to find solutions, according to the committee website.

Sen. Ezra Bale, a senior in the College of Communication and chairman of the CUOC, said the committee’s process involves investigating claims brought to their attention by students and faculty.

“We gather all that information and then as a committee, we start to brainstorm,” Bale said. “What are ways we can go about fixing this problem? Is there anything we can do to fix this problem?”

Bale said the committee will then send a written report to the BU administration and release an abridged version of their statement with proposed solutions to the public.

He added the committee was formed with the best interest of students and administration in mind.

“We see these are some things that you’re doing, or that it looks like

you’re doing, that could potentially open you up for liability,” Bale said. “As students of this university, we don’t want that to happen to you because if the University suffers, we suffer.”

Bale said some of the committee’s methods were inspired by the Credit-No Credit initiative used last Fall.

“No matter what, our approach when we talk to the administration is to go from a position of peace,” Bale said.

Vice Chairman Richard Segalman, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said the procedure for communicating with administration is determined on a case-by-case basis.

For example, if a student’s UPS item were missing, the committee may speak to the Residence Life office or with the dorm staff directly, Segalman said.

“We don’t have anybody particular in mind because every case is a little bit different,” Segalman said. “But we try to reach out to the administrative folk who are kind of in the realm of what we’re dealing with.”

The committee announced on Twitter the first resolution they will introduce in the Senate, which will be on BU’s recent workplace adjustment policies for library staff.

Social Media and Communications Coordinator Vivian Dai, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she attended a meeting

with union representatives to discuss the issue.

“When we heard this, we thought this is really egregious to do to your employees,” Dai said.

The resolution, she said, will be introduced in the first Senate meeting Monday and will be promoted on social media beforehand.

Sen. Savannah Majarwitz, a junior in CAS, said the committee’s main priority is improving communication with administration.

“Transparency is the biggest thing we want to offer,” Majarwitz said, “because I think that’s really what’s going to be the biggest thing that I think the student body wants to see from the University.”

BU Spokesperson Colin Riley said the University welcomed communication with the committee as a way of getting feedback from the student body.

“It’s always good to have student representatives and student concerns,” Riley said. “It’s one of the things I always say when we’re in the office internally, we really want to know what their take on things is.”

“We don’t have anybody particular in mind because every case is a little bit different,” Segalman said. “But we try to reach out to the administrative folk who are kind of in the realm of what we’re dealing with.”

The committee announced on Twitter the first resolution they will introduce in the Senate, which will

ELIZABETH MCCLELLAND | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston University Student Government will introduce a COVID-19 Oversight Committee this semester to hold the University accountable for its health and safety protocols.

be on BU’s recent workplace adjustment policies for library staff.

Social Media and Communications Coordinator Vivian Dai, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she attended a meeting with union representatives to discuss the issue.

“When we heard this, we thought this is really egregious to do to your employees,” Dai said.

The resolution, she said, will be introduced in the first Senate meeting Monday and will be promoted on social media beforehand.

Sen. Savannah Majarwitz, a junior in CAS, said the committee’s main priority is improving communication

with administration.

“Transparency is the biggest thing we want to offer,” Majarwitz said, “because I think that’s really what’s going to be the biggest thing that I think the student body wants to see from the University.”

BU Spokesperson Colin Riley said the University welcomed communication with the committee as a way of getting feedback from the student body.

“It’s always good to have student representatives and student concerns,” Riley said. “It’s one of the things I always say when we’re in the office internally, we really want to know what their take on things is.”

A recap of Marty Walsh’s mayoral legacy Walsh from Page 1 sought to expand the use of city funds in housing.

“That initial commitment, using the capital plan that way, is something that the Walsh administration can take credit for,” Bok said.

Earlier this month, the Boston Zoning Commission voted to add fair housing requirements to the city’s zoning code — a move Walsh fully endorsed. And at the beginning of the year, the Walsh administration created Boston’s first city-funded rent voucher program, which aims to subsidize rents for the city’s most vulnerable individuals, including those

ineligible for state-level subsidies.

Just two days before Walsh’s nomination as Labor Secretary was announced, Bok said she and the mayor were calling the State House in an effort to secure additional funds for housing and inclusive development.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, Bok said Walsh remained receptive to councilors’ suggestions and maintained a “hands-on” approach to informing the public.

“At one point, we were in the basement of City Hall packing those information packets together, when we did that big city info drop on COVID,” Bok said. “In that moment, it just felt like everybody was kind of a pair of hands for getting the info out, and he as well.”

As the pandemic raged on, Boston and the rest of the nation witnessed a summer of protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In late May, Walsh spoke at a prayer vigil for Floyd, imploring Bostonians to “reflect on the pain and the fears” of their Black neighbors. He added that racism should be combated with the same attention and urgency as the pandemic.

Two weeks later, his administration declared racism a public health crisis.

Walsh had previously worked to reform the Boston Police Department, funding a permanent body-camera program in April of 2018.

But when Walsh proposed a 20

percent cut to the BPD’s $61 million overtime budget in mid-June, local advocates — including Bok — said

“[Walsh’s] administration declared racism a public health crisis.” the move was not enough. That money would be allocated to anti-racism initiatives in the city.

In continuation of these protections, Walsh filed an ordinance with the City Council in November to create an Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, an independent organization of community members tasked with reviewing internal investigations by the BPD. Bok said Walsh “holds people in his heart,” and expressed confidence in his ability to advocate for workers without getting lost in bureaucracy.

“He’ll be in D.C. in administrative office buildings that are setting big regulations and rules that can feel kind of far away from the everyday,” she said. “He’ll always, because of who he is, be carrying with him, ‘How does this actually affect a worker, how does this cash out?’”

NEWS 3

Restaurants reopen for late-night dining Restaurants from Page 1 Yard House, a sports bar by Fenway Park, lost its usual Friday and Saturday bustle, which impacted the restaurant’s sales, said General Manager Steve Arakelian.

“Typically, we have a pretty good late night crowd on those nights,” Arakelian said. “We had to adjust our sales projections … labor projections and our labor budget based on the adjustments that we needed to make to the sales.”

Before the curfew, Yard House closed at 11:30 p.m. most nights and at 12:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

As he announced the end of the curfew, Baker said the pandemic was improving in Massachusetts.

“We all know that we are not out of the woods yet by any means, but things do appear to be getting a bit better here in Massachusetts,” the governor said during a Jan. 21 press

conference.

The rate of positive COVID-19 tests in the Commonwealth fell from 8.7 percent at the beginning of January to 5.2 percent at the time of the conference. Since then, it has continued to decrease.

“Lifting the curfew is a big deal to many,” Clark wrote. “This is a welcome change.”

Since the curfew was lifted only Monday, the full effects have not yet been felt by many restaurants.

“We’re talking about a Monday or Tuesday where typically we don’t have a large late night crowd,” Arakelian said. “This weekend, we anticipate that we’ll start to really see the impact of having the curfew lifted.”

Although late-night service can resume, restrictions remain for restaurants: face coverings are required for all customers and all workers, and the size of individual parties cannot exceed six people.

Additionally, it is highly recom-

mended for outdoor seating to be utilized and that indoor tables are distanced at least six feet apart.

Caputo said MAST’ uses outdoor igloos to protect customers from the elements while they dine. Arakelian added Yard House offers outdoor seating if weather permits.

All of these regulations must be followed in addition to a state-mandated seating capacity of 25 percent.

This cap is slated to last until Feb. 8, but can be extended by the governor.

“Everyone’s major concern is the safety of our guests and our team members,” Arakelian said. “But so long as we can operate and take care of our guests in a manner that keeps them [and] keeps our team members safe, then I would love to see the capacity increased.”

Caputo added that he sees the end of the curfew as a sign that people want to go out, and he hopes customers grow more comfortable with dining again.

Vaccinations and increased finan-

HANNAH YOSHINAGA | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Massachusetts lifted an order Monday that required restaurants to close at 9:30 p.m., allowing establishments to resume their previous hours of operation.

cial relief from the state and federal governments, Clark wrote, present some additional hope.

“There does appear to be a light at

the end of the tunnel,” he wrote. “If we can navigate the next few weeks, there is a growing sense of optimism within the industry.”

Chick-fil-A truck comes to Charles River Campus Juncheng Quan Daily Free Press Staff

The Boston University community will be able dine at another fast-food franchise on campus this semester.

A new Chick-fil-A food truck will

THALIA LAUZON | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Chick-Fil-A will operate a food truck in front of the College of Communication every Wednesday until 6 p.m. during the Spring semester.

now make stops on Commonwealth Avenue.

The brightly-painted red Chickfil-A truck will park in front of the College of Communication every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the duration of this semester.

A spokesperson for Chick-fil-A wrote in an email the franchise is operating food trucks at BU and other locations instead of opening a typical brick-and-mortar restaurant because of health concerns.

“Some Chick-fil-A restaurants offer temporary, off-site pop-up locations to customers via Chick-fil-A Food Trucks,” the spokesperson wrote, “which allow them to safely and conveniently serve our customers.”

The spokesperson added that the goal for each truck is to provide dining experiences “beyond the four walls” of their restaurants.

The food truck, which has visited 604 Commonwealth Ave. since Jan. 6, is based from Westborough — roughly 31 miles from the Charles River Campus. Although the truck doesn’t offer a complete Chick-fil-A

menu, customers can buy chicken sandwiches and nuggets, salads, wraps, cookies, brownies, sweet tea, lemonade and the restaurant’s signature waffle fries.

While new to campus, the food truck has already garnered popularity. COM senior Anna Pham has visited the truck and said she has a personal connection with the chain restaurant.

“For me, I think Chick-fil-A is a place of sentimental value,” Pham said. “I used to go there with my friends back home a lot and it was good cheap food.”

In addition to the food itself, Pham said the truck’s convenience is one reason for its success among students.

“Students like efficiency,” she said. “On their way to class, they can just quickly pick it up.”

The truck often has a long line of customers, Pham said, but the wait is worthwhile.

“It’s comforting and it’s a different style of food than you see anywhere around campus,” Pham said, “and so maybe that’s why there’s such a long

line.”

Alex Theon, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he preferred waiting on Chick-fil-A’s food instead of eating at the nearby Warren Towers Dining Hall.

“The dining options are decent but sometimes you want to take a break from what’s the usual,” Theon said.

“There’s no real Chick-fil-A store around here, it’s out in the suburbs.

It’s good chicken.”

Although Chick-fil-A now joins an increasingly competitive fastfood market on campus — including a Taco Bell Cantina that opened in West Campus in November — CAS sophomore Maysen Pagan said she believes Chick-fil-A is unique because of its popularity.

“I don’t see these lines for Taco Bell,” Pagan said. “I honestly don’t eat at the other fast food places.”

While the food truck is a recent addition to BU, she said she hopes Chick-fil-A’s presence on campus will continue well into the future.

“I hope it stays longer than four months,” Pagan said, “and goes on to next semester too.”

Boston to host Congressional Medal of Honor Convention Samuele A. Petruccelli

Daily Free Press Staff Boston will host the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention and Patriot Award Dinner for a fourth year.

Slated for Sept. 7-11, the event will bring Medal of Honor recipients into the city, where they will visit with public school students, participate in events and then attend a Patriot Award Dinner.

Mayor Marty Walsh, who is expected to leave office and serve as President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Labor, made the announcement during a Friday press conference.

Walsh acknowledged his pride in welcoming back the 69 living medal recipients to Boston, which first hosted the event in October 2001.

“It’s a great honor for our city to host our bravest and most valiant heroes,” Walsh said at the press conference. “We hope that they’ll be able to host a smaller scale convention this fall, if and when the public health

data tells us it’s safe.”

September, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society is prepared to adjust its plans or postpone the event in accordance with the city’s COVID-19 guidelines, according to a Friday press release.

Catherine Metcalf, executive director of education for the Society, said planning conventions and maintaining educational outreach amid the pandemic has been a challenge the Society is willing to take on.

Video conferences have already been able to replace traditional classroom visits for medal recipients and learners, she said.

“Frankly, even our 97-year-old [Medal of Honor recipient] does Zoom meetings, so we’re getting pretty good at that,” Metcalf said. “If need be, we will go virtual.”

Speaking at Friday’s press conference, Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Kelley said the committee was “delighted” to be returning to Boston.

“As soon as people heard we were coming to Boston, their ears went

up,” Kelley said. “Boston has been terrific to us and we’d just like to thank everybody for their hospitality in advance and look forward to September.”

The Medal of Honor is the highest award for military valor in action and is based on six values: courage, sacrifice, commitment, integrity, citizenship and patriotism.

Those values play an essential role in the Society’s Character Development Program — a national youth outreach curriculum, Metcalf said.

“Perhaps teachers can use a lesson in their classroom and show a living history of the Medal of Honor recipient who’s going to be there and instigate some discussion and reflection amongst the students,” Metcalf said.

In addition to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s revised 2018 Framework for History and Social Science also outlines thematic goals for engaging students in civics discourse. Included in the framework is an emphasis on “rights, responsi-

COURTESY OF LAURA BUCHTA VIA FLICKR

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced last Friday it plans to host its Patriot Award Dinner and convention in Boston this September.

bilities, citizenship, a free press and the concept of the common good.”

David Ekbladh, an associate professor of history at Tufts University, said the medal allows recipients to be recognized for heroism without necessarily supporting the conflict in which they fought. “[It] just allows you to focus on the heroic act, and the individual,” he said. “You can talk about the person, you can use it as a way of understanding sacrifice and valor, even in a con-

flict that the country might question.”

Despite the decoration, Medal of Honor recipient Ryan Pitts, who received the medal for defending his platoon in Afghanistan in 2008, said recipients don’t consider themselves heroes.

“The heroes are the ones who did not come home,” he said in the press release. “We wear the medal to honor them, as well as all the men and women who have served and continue to serve.”

4 PHOTOS

New year brings snow Photo gallery by Hannah Yoshinaga.

Snow fell over the Charles River Campus as students started their first week of classes.

The weather didn’t stop some students from getting active outside on Nickerson Field.

Students leave their dorms, trekking through the snow on their way to class.

Snow settles on Nickerson Field.

West Campus Dining Hall.

Two inches of snow fell on Boston yesterday with more on the way.

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6 FEATURES

National rent debt highlights racial inequities, Boston no exception Ashley Soebroto Daily Free Press Staff The pandemic has destabilized the world’s social and economic foundation, and housing has been no exception.

Thirty percent of renters in the United States were unable to pay their January rent on time, according to a national survey done by the Apartment List.

Rob Warnock, a research associate at Apartment List, said the survey also found that 28 percent of renters were coming into 2021 with unpaid bills, creating further financial strain.

“Something that we were tracking a lot last year was whether or not people were having difficulty making their rent payments,” Warnock said in an interview. “It became a very tangible way in which the pandemic was making it difficult for renters to thrive economically.”

The study highlighted racial disparities among renters, with Black residents having more than two times the rate of rent debt than their white counterparts.

“We see enough signals that rent debt is correlated with socioeconomic factors,” Warnock said.

The housing crisis has been a persistent problem in Boston as well — even before the pandemic — where the last decade saw nearly 15 evictions per day, according to a joint study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the non-profit City Life/Vida Urbana organization.

The study also found 78 percent of evictions filed in Boston during the pandemic were in areas where people of color make up the majority of residents.

While the Apartment List survey found that national rent debt has improved slightly from October 2020,

the percentage of Black renters with rent debt increased from six percent to 53. Debt dropped for Hispanic, white and Asian renters, the study found.

Katherine Einstein, an associate political science professor in Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences, said rent debt and the threat of eviction is another example of existing inequalities being worsened for Black and Latinx Americans.

“When we think about the context of this global pandemic, all of these forces seem to be really hitting those communities to a much greater degree,” she said, “and we have to worry about it exacerbating already existing economic inequalities and reinforcing systemic racism.”

Einstein said some states passed moratoriums to protect residents

from eviction during the pandemic.

Massachusetts’ eviction moratorium expired on Oct. 17, 2020. However, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on residential evictions is now in effect nationwide until March 31, protecting qualified residential tenants from being evicted if they submit a form.

Before the CDC moratorium was extended, Massachusetts issued a “COVID-19 Eviction Diversion Initiative” to support tenants as well as landlords during the pandemic.

While these pauses on evictions have helped protect residents temporarily, Warnock said the long-term issue of rent debt and evictions has yet to be addressed.

“They fall short of solving the problem in that they don’t eliminate the debt, they don’t give people an

ability to suddenly pay their debt,” he said. “The rent debt still exists.”

He said residents remain vulnerable to evictions after the moratoriums expire.

“At a certain point, the debt itself needs to be addressed,” Warnock said.

Einstein said these moratoriums have made a large impact in protecting against further spread of COVID-19.

“We’ve identified eviction moratoriums as this really important public health tool, and one that may have saved 10s of 1000s of lives in the United States,” Warnock said, “and could have saved many more had it been implemented in a more timely fashion … across the country last spring.”

Einstein added that some cities

have implemented rent relief programs to deal with the issue of rent debt, but they have not been entirely effective.

“Even in those places where they have actually gone and implemented rent relief programs, they’ve been sort of woefully inadequate to the task at hand,” Einstein said, “and that’s because cities are so budget constrained, they just don’t have the money to support these renters.”

Warnock said cities are likely to create compromises with landlords using rent relief aid to help erase debt.

“That’s kind of where we are today and where I expect a lot of the legislation to go forward over the next year,” Warnock said. “That hasn’t really started in earnest yet, but it will continue a lot through 2021.”

SERENA YU | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Apartment List found in a national survey that 30 percent of renters were unable to make their January rent payments on time as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect housing affordability.

BU professors reflect on Boston mayors as powerful leaders, look forward to change Rachel Do Daily Free Press Staff Mayor Marty Walsh’s nomination as Secretary of Labor for the Biden administration marks a new mayoral race for Boston — one that could quickly become historic.

City Councilors Michelle Wu and Andrea Campbell have already announced their races and are the current frontrunners.

Though the pool of candidates will likely grow, this initial start gives the city a chance to change its long history of electing white, male mayors, and potentially choose the first woman of color to lead the majority non-white city.

Even before the election, if Walsh is confirmed by the Senate, City Council President Kim Janey will be appointed as acting mayor, making history as the city’s first Black woman to serve as mayor.

The dawn of a new era in Boston government marks an opportunity to reflect on the city’s largely white history.

Graham Wilson, a Boston University professor of political science, is the director of the Initiative on Cities — BU’s “hub” for research and teaching relating to urban areas.

Wilson said the mayor of Boston is particularly important because of their influence over departments like education, which he said is in “extreme contrast” to places such as Cambridge, where the mayor is more symbolic.

“The Boston mayorship is unusual because it’s unusually powerful,” Wilson said. “This is a city where the mayor is … more powerful than is the case with mayors in other cities.”

Katharine Lusk, executive director of the Initiative on Cities, said this unique power is also due to Boston’s lack of a city planner. The mayor is the political leader and head of the city, so they have a lot of authority, she said.

Wilson said once a Boston mayor is elected, “they usually stay in office,” but pointed to the ’40s for a notable exception in the case of James Curely.

While finishing a five-month sentence in prison for mail fraud, Curely was re-elected mayor for a fourth term, but he lost to John Hynes, then acting mayor, once he was released in 1949.

Wilson said a recent, notable force of change in the city’s mayoral history was the late Thomas Menino — the city’s longest-serving mayor — who began his term in 1993 and served for two decades. Wilson said

Menino was known as a “mayor of neighborhoods” — Menino personally met over half of the city’s residents.

“He was very conscious of the fact that Boston is a city composed of different neighborhoods,” Wilson said, “and he related to each one of those neighborhoods very closely.”

Wilson said Menino was very innovative, and he worked with Wilson to create the Initiative on Cities.

Menino told The New York Times in 2012 he was most proud of making Boston a more accepting place for immigrants and marginalized communities.

Walsh, who succeeded Menino in 2014, instead strove to view the city as a whole, Wilson said, rather than as a collection of neighborhoods. He started projects such as the visionary “Imagine Boston 2030” — the first citywide plan in 50 years.

Since Boston mayors have been white men since John Phillips in 1822 — the city’s first mayor — Wilson said the potential to change this trend is important.

“If we were to have a non-white man, that would be a big symbolic change, and that sort of symbolism is important,” Wilson said. “It would give additional push to the question of … assuming that the city bounces back, how do we share that prosperi-

ty more equally?”

Lusk, who said she worked for Menino, said one of a mayor’s essential roles is creating a “healthy fiscal situation,” which Menino and Walsh, as well as the preceding mayors, have executed well, she said.

Another major responsibility of the next mayor will be education, specifically reopening schools and economic development, Lusk said.

Additionally, the new mayor will have to address the post-pandemic world.

“There still will be a lot of lingering health crises that the mayor will have to tackle,” she said. “That’s mental health crises, that’s addiction

… that’s food insecurity, a whole range of health issues that have been largely invisible to people because everyone has been home.

Throughout the years, the mayors of Boston have shaped the city into a place where “many different kinds of people want to be,” Lusk wrote in a follow-up email. The new mayor will be essential in maintaining that progress.

“None of these things happen without good government,” Lusk wrote. “Our recent mayors have been clear that everyone is welcome, and worked hard to make space and provide a good quality of life to everyone who calls Boston home.”

CAROLYN KOMATSOULIS | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston City Hall. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh will leave office if he is confirmed as Labor Secretary, opening the door for a change in Boston leadership after a history of white, male mayors.

FEATURES 7

Boston Ballet keeps dancing with virtual ‘BB@yourhome’ program Nicole Bartuch Daily Free Press Staff

Attending a show of the acclaimed Boston Ballet was a favorite, classy night-out for Bostonians prior to the pandemic. Now, through the “BB@

LAURYN ALLEN | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston Ballet is offering a streamed “Look Back, Focus Forward” performance and a monthly at-home studio program to virtual audiences this year in place of its usual in-person productions.

yourhome” program, ballet lovers have a new take-home experience.

While nearly all live performances are on hold, BB@yourhome gives new audiences the opportunity to discover dancers’ talent and be entertained — at a time when the industry demands creativity.

The studio program, which started in November and ends in April, runs a new hour-long program each month. The “Look Back, Focus Forward” performance joined in its first ever virtual season Jan. 21, and will be available until the end of the month.

The event kicked off the Ballet’s 2021 year with a virtual journey through the Ballet’s rich past and the excitement of the dancers’ futures.

January’s virtual performance included memorable performances from the company’s past, footage of the dancers on tour and intimate conversations with the performers.

It also features ballets from Russian choreographer, Leonid Yakobson.

Jill Goddard, director of public relations and communications at the Boston Ballet, said the virtual experience, while not ideal, has been a very rewarding way to keep dancing.

“We’re really happy,” Goddard said. “Obviously we’d much rather be in person in the theater, but … we’ve been able to adapt to this model.”

Goddard said the Ballet has a taskforce dedicated to making sure dancers are brought back to the studio in a safe way, with necessary COVID-19 protocols.

“We’ve been very fortunate that all of our dancers have been able to return safely,” Goddard said. “We ha-

ven’t had any instances of COVID in the studios.”

Though the financial challenges of the pandemic are significant, given that the majority of its profits come from ticket sales, the Ballet has survived because of the generosity of its donors and patrons, Goaddard said.

Virtual entertainment has allowed the Ballet to make up some of the money it has lost by offering a 2021 subscription to all four monthly programs. On its website, viewers can find a free preview with six short videos.

Goddard said the virtual program has also allowed the Ballet to reach a broader audience.

“The advantage to BB@yourhome is it’s more accessible than ever before,” she said. “There are people who just physically can never come to the theater, so now there’s programs available to them, which is great.”

Additionally, the program’s format allows the Ballet to incorporate audience feedback as the season goes on, whereas in a normal year the program would be more fully formed.

“We are able to say ‘Okay, our audience is telling us they want longer clips, closer shots, less talking, more dancing,’” Goddard said, “and we’re able to, in real time, incorporate that feedback to make the program as enjoyable as possible.”

She added the leadership team is discussing and considering continuing digital performances post-pandemic.

Tyson Ali Clark, of Somerville, joined the Ballet in 2017. He said one of the elements he looks forward to

at the Ballet is working with new and old choreographers.

He describes the dances as “very versatile.”

“We’re doing all different types of ballets,” Clark said. “You’re getting a mix of all styles and ballets.”

For Clark, the best part about the BB@yourhome series is being able to watch it with his family, instead of only seeing them once the performance is over.

“The whole time that we’re performing, we always see them after the show,” Clark said. “It was really great to see their expressions [and] reactions as I’m dancing.”

Professionals outside of the Ballet recognize the company’s strides during the pandemic, including Micki Taylor-Pinney, the director of the Boston University Dance Program.

“I applaud Boston Ballet’s efforts to bring their dancers back into the studio,” Taylor-Pinney wrote in an email, “to give new choreographers an opportunity to make work, and to find ways to reach audiences, the established and the uninitiated, using social media platforms.”

Taylor-Pinney wrote that the pandemic has had a large impact on the dance community — which she has seen personally at BU — and it requires redefining, like BB@ yourhome.

“The loss of personal connection, instructor to student, student to student, performer to audience, has been felt physically, emotionally, and monetarily,” Taylor-Pinney wrote. “We’d had to look for what is possible and what we can re-work to keep us all dancing.”

BU alumni discuss impacts of green business Connor Allen Daily Free Press Staff Global warming continues to impact the world, and large corporations with hefty fossil fuel emissions are often criticized for exacerbating the crisis. But now, many businesses are joining the climate movement themselves by prioritizing environmental sustainability.

Why the businesses are motivated to do so — and if their actions will be enough — is up for debate.

Boston University Alumni and Friends held an online panel Jan. 21 titled “The Sustainability Imperative” with four alumni experts to discuss how larger corporations are adapting to a market that will hold them accountable for their carbon footprints.

Panelist Wendy Nystrom, 1996 alumna of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, is an environmental risk management and sustainability expert. She said she has seen corporations shift to eco-friendly platforms to satisfy the public and stakeholders.

“People are now paying attention and holding them to task.” Nystrom said at the event. “That’s personally, for me, the most important factor because people will follow money. It’s always been that way.”

CAS and Questrom School of

Business 1994 alumnus Stephen Franco, managing director for Bank of America, said environmental, social and governance — ESG — investment has played an increasingly significant role in corporate business.

“I invest in companies that have better ESG performance and policies, and our investment thesis is that those companies are better able to compete and build long-term sustainable business models,” Franco said at the event, “and ultimately drive more profitability and better returns for investors.”

Franco added companies and large investment banks have increased pressure on corporations to disclose their environmental and social performance numbers.

“Overall, ESG criteria has been a significant driver about performance in the stock market,” Franco said. “Shareholders are now holding them accountable on the ESG criteria because they believe it improves investing returns, and now those companies have changed their behavior.”

Global climate change awareness has undoubtedly changed the face of many industries, the panelists said.

College of Engineering 1990 alumna Deborah Caplan, executive vice president of human resources and corporate services for NextEra Energy, Inc., said the market for clean energy in the corporate world has never been stronger. Caplan said businesses are realizing how profitable renewable energy is, which can

HANNAH YOSHINAGA | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

“The Sustainability Imperative” panel hosted by Boston University Alumni and Friends. Participating alumni discussed the importance of ecologically sustainable business practices. Spring semester.

now be achieved at a lower cost.

“The opportunity for the corporate world,” Caplan said at the event, “is really the fact that the demand for clean energy and a clean environment and for sustainable solutions has never been greater.”

However, despite corporations’ pledge to environmental responsibility, it is not always clear which changes are genuine and which are performative.

Large companies often practice “greenwashing” — purposefully deceiving the public by claiming their business practices are environmentally ethical — which was discussed during the panel.

Nalin Kulatilaka, a professor of finance in Questrom and affiliated fac-

ulty with BU’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, said greenwashing can happen when corporations release incomplete data on their contributions to pollution.

“You typically look at only the emissions that are within the control of a firm, so what comes out of your chimneys and what gasoline you burn,” he said in an interview.

“Those are called phase one emissions.”

Phase two emissions, Kulatilaka said, are products people buy that somewhat indirectly emit pollutants, such as buying a seat on a train.

Phase three emissions are pollutants “embedded” in a company’s products and are much more difficult to measure, he said.

“There’s been a tendency for a lot of large corporations who are under the spotlight to push a lot of the dirty stuff into these deep supply chain partners,” Kulatilaka said.

Whether or not corporations are committed to protecting the environment, many activists are determined to hold businesses accountable for their pollution..

Questrom junior Nicole Levine said she was optimistic about corporations’ new commitment to eco-friendly business, but large conglomerates have more actions steps they need to take.

“I don’t think they’re moving with a fast enough pace,” Levine said. “If they really wanted to do this, they could, more than likely.”

8 FEATURES

ARTS BU alumna’s documentary web series highlights multicultural dishes, stories Emma Varcirca Daily Free Press Staff Ivana Strajin, a 2020 Boston University College of Communication alumna, longed for perhaps this year’s most relatable desire: connection.

Her solution doesn’t require travel, tickets or Zoom — all she needed was a recipe.

Every college student craves a homemade meal from time to time, and Strajin was no exception.

Through learning to cook the Serbian food she grew up eating, she was reminded of dinners and quality time spent with her family as a child. She felt connected to her family, even though they were miles away.

That sense of comfort inspired Strajin to share the flavor with the world, editing, directing and producing her own “passion project.”

Thus, the multicultural food documentary web series “HOMEMADE” was born, a program that highlights international recipes and the stories behind them.

Strajin’s love for her own food soon expanded into a love for others’, and the series allowed her to start telling people’s personal anecdotes and memories behind different dishes.

“Pretty much every single dish has some sort of story and traditions attached to it,” she said. “I wanted to try at least get a snapshot of some interesting home cooked, treasured family recipes and the stories that go

along with them.”

The seven-episode series will premiere in the United States Feb. 15 on Amazon Prime, Strajin wrote in an email. Before its release, “HOMEMADE” was recognized as a 2020 Web Series Festival Global Semifinalist.

Each episode — which runs between six and 11 minutes long — features a new Canadian cook and their recipe, as well as the personal significance behind their meal. Strajin said “every single recipe is multi-generational,” which made creating the series all the more interesting.

The heritages represented include Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Canadian, Haitian, Mexican/Columbian, South Indian and Chinese, she said.

“We have a mix,” Strajin said.

“Definitely not capturing everybody, but we’ve got a diverse group of home cooks.”

The filming began in the summer of 2019 but post-production was delayed as Strajin completed her master’s degree last year.

Strajin said the skills she learned through BU’s Media Ventures program was “incredibly helpful” for this project.

“It was very relevant to exactly what I’m doing, which is trying to bring a series to the market,” she said. “We learned all the different steps that are needed to be able to do that.”

One of the privileges of working on this project, Strajin said, was hearing about other people’s comfort food as well.

One cook, who was preparing

rasam with okra fry and potato fry — a South Indian dish — recalled eating the meal with her family and the comfort tied to that cooking and eating ritual. Strajin said that message spoke to her, especially because she too is away from her home country.

“It was just really touching to hear her talk about how this was that comfort food, that comforting meal that she would have,” Strajin said. “She lives in Canada, away from the rest of her family in India, so it’s this simple dish that transports her back home.”

Jane Guan, the animator of the series, said the project was a first for the small film crew, but once they got into their creative groove, it turned into an exciting feat.

“For all of us, it was our first project,” Guan said. “Once we got running, it just became a bit like clockwork.”

Composer Marina Milenkovic said her favorite part of working on the documentary was the stories.

“It really celebrates food and diversity, and it follows home cooks

and family recipes and personal stories,” Milenkovic said, “which is really my favorite part.”

Milenkovic said she tried to weave a musical theme throughout the documentary that would represent the series — the theme she chose represents the heart of what the show brings them all: cheer.

“We landed on the theme that is really bouncy and fun and light,” she said, “and when I think about the series, I really think about joy. There’s so much joy.”

“Homemade,” a seven-episode documentary series that features recipes from across the world. Boston University alumna HANNAH YOSHINAGA | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

FILM & TV

Cinephilia: ‘Pieces of a Woman’ Andrew Harwood Daily Free Press Staff Another semester, another year, the same old blog. Welcome back, cinephiles.

If 2020 proved anything, it was that the film industry can’t be stopped — in fact, movies rolled out steadily throughout the year. Thanks to the pandemic, new films were released on streaming in mass, meaning we had the pleasure of watching as many films as we wanted. And 2021 is no exception. So, what better way to start this week’s blog than with one of the most anticipated films of the year: Kornél Mundruczó’s “Pieces of a Woman.”

Directed by Mundruczó and written by his wife Kata Wéber, “Pieces of a Woman” tells the story of a young Boston couple dealing with the aftermath of their home birth gone wrong. A chasm of grief, regret, depression and bitterness encloses the couple who begin to question their very existence and purpose.

“Pieces of a Woman” is without a doubt a heavy film — the synopsis alone brings light to that. More importantly, the film is incredibly enlightening. It begs the viewer to understand and take away something bigger than the mere tragedy they witness on screen.

This is something that isn’t necessarily hidden but is made apparent in the beginning 24-minute long, single-shot labor scene, where the audience witnesses pure euphoria turn into utter dismay. Aside from the impressiveness of the take, the shot itself is monumental to the film — it introduces us to the characters and segues into the plot at hand, but it also is the start of a long and arduous downward spiral.

A film should never be predictable — or at least, not to a point where you don’t have to finish it to know what happened. “Pieces of a Woman” is a film that could have never been predicted. Characters and emotions swivel and skyrocket like a variable, constantly in motion, perhaps best situated in the performances of Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf.

LaBeouf’s portrayal of a lower middle-class construction worker, sober and determined to find justice and reason regarding his baby’s misfortune, is raw and powerful. But the real scene-stealer is his counterpart, Kirby: a grief-stricken woman so befuddled and engrossed by a tragedy that it destroys her very being. A gritty presence on screen and off, Kirby and LaBeouf’s chemistry is unparalleled, for better or for worse.

What can be learned through tragedy? A philosophical takeaway rooted in Aristotle’s “Poetics?” Perhaps,

but a film like “Pieces of a Woman” shouldn’t be deemed philosophical because it is so grounded, so personal, so organic. Wéber wrote the script based on her own experience of losing a child with Mundruczó. This real-world basis adds a whole new

sensation and a surreal grip to a story no one can fathom being true.

At its heart, “Pieces of a Woman” is a tale about dealing with tragedy — in both the right and wrong ways.

Further, the film is a gentle (and not in a good way) reminder that life

moves in no set rhythm or purpose.

It is an aide-memoire to the notion of moving forward, of never being stuck in the past.

A piece of pure emotive success, “Pieces of a Woman” is by far a spectacle.

HANNAH YOSHINAGA | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

OPINION 9

COLUMNS 2021 Breakdown:

Bipartisanship is a lose-lose situation

Gabrielle Aponte Columnist It’s the dawn of a proverbial new day in the United States — a new president, a new administration and a renewed sense of confidence in the president’s ability to deal with the crises at hand.

President Joe Biden spent much of his inaugural address calling for unity in the country, especially in the wake of the horrifying insurrection that took place just two weeks prior.

“Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people and uniting our nation,” he said.

Biden’s address was a refreshing reminder of the tone and composure a president should always have, especially in the wake of such chaos and strife.

A president should be looking to turn the temperature down in these heated moments, not stoke the flames further.

But as refreshing as Biden’s rhetoric was, one question nagged at me as I watched his address: with whom are we unifying and to what end?

Is it Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-K.Y., the leading figure of the Republican Party in former President Donald Trump’s absence? You know, the guy who blocked a vote on $2,000 stimulus

checks for economically desperate Americans just last month?

Or, how about Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-M.O., whose deliberate objections to Biden’s Electoral College victory led to the insurrection at the Capitol?

Or, maybe we’re supposed to unify with politicians from the “moderate” faction of the Republican Party. These so-called moderates include Rep. Liz Cheney, R-W.Y., and other conservatives who voted to impeach Trump despite supporting him unconditionally prior to the insurrection — I guess storming the Capitol was taking it a step too far for these folks.

If recent history has taught us anything, it’s that when Democrats and Republicans team up in the name of “unity” or “bipartisanship,” Americans end up with the short end of the stick.

Take the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act was lauded as a major bipartisan victory, with both sides of the aisle working together to aid struggling Americans.

For a time, it did provide economic relief for many who needed it. But that relief was short lived. The CARES Act boosted unemployment insurance benefits rather than backstopping payroll for businesses forced to close during lockdowns. This separated workers from their jobs and pushed them onto the unemployment rolls.

The CARES Act also only included a onetime stimulus check of $1,200 for Americans who qualified rather than recurring monthly checks — an option supported at the time by prominent left-leaning lawmakers, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-V.T., and Ed Markey, D-M.A. Now Americans are in desperate need yet again because CARES wasn’t as financially effective as it should have been, and Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus package is receiving pushback from Republicans for being

ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXIA NIZHNY

too expensive.

Just a day after Biden’s inauguration, McConnell undermined his calls for unity, accusing Biden of taking “several big steps in the wrong direction.”

If McConnell and the Republicans didn’t make it clear enough for you, Mr. President, they don’t want your unity. And quite frankly, you shouldn’t want it either.

This pandemic is the biggest economic and public health crisis of our lifetime, and it calls for immediate action, not bipartisan bickering.

An overwhelming majority of Americans — 75 percent — believe $600 relief checks are not enough. Furthermore, 57 percent support increasing those payments to $2,000, according to Hill-HarrisX polls.

If the majority of the country supports these actions, why does Biden’s American Rescue Plan only call for a one-time $1,400 stimulus

check? Sure, the $600 Band-Aid check — the second round of stimulus — passed under Trump’s term, but $1,400 is not what was promised to the American people.

Those who have been hit hard by the pandemic will now miss out on the extra $600 they were banking on after Democrats promised $2,000 checks, but hey, I guess that’s the price of unity.

The $2,000 stimulus check is a cautionary tale — a preview of what can be expected from the Biden administration.

If unity with Republicans means these important and immensely popular proposals get half-measured and moderated, then we shouldn’t be aiming to unify with them.

“I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy,” Biden said during his address.

He certainly was right about that.

Minority Report:

Judge like me — representation in government matters

Lincoln Currie Columnist President Joe Biden has the opportunity to improve representation in the federal judiciary, and he needs to use his power to nominate more Asian American judges.

One of my greatest frustrations with discussions about increased minority representation is how rarely Asians are mentioned — if at all.

Asian Americans continue to struggle with representation in so many areas, including the federal judiciary.

Asian Americans — despite making up six percent of the population — account for less than three percent of active judges in the lower federal courts in 2020, according to the Center for American Progress.

Furthermore, there has never been an Asian American justice on the Supreme Court. And it’s unlikely there will be in the foreseeable future — Biden has already pledged to nominate a Black woman to the court.

At age 82, Justice Stephen Breyer — who was nominated by former President Bill Clinton — seems to be the most likely justice to retire within Biden’s term of office.

The next oldest justice is 72-year-old Clarence Thomas, who in 2019 publicly said he wasn’t retiring. The relative youth of the other Supreme Court Justices means multiple vacancies in the next four years are unlikely.

If a vacancy does come up, Biden should honor the commitment he already made to nominate a Black woman to the nation’s highest court. A president’s word matters.

Still, it is frustrating and disappointing to know Asians will be passed up yet again.

The 2020 Democratic Party platform pledges to “appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices … who look like America.” But I don’t see anyone on the Supreme Court who looks like me, and Biden’s pledge all but ensures it will stay that way for the next four years.

Compared to other political actions — which may require spending political capital and undergoing a tedious process — nominating an Asian American justice to the Supreme Court wouldn’t be so difficult.

Our country has had 114 chances to nominate an Asian justice. We have been overlooked 144 times in a process that is fairly simple in our democracy — this makes the reality that much harder to swallow.

As a compromise, Biden can at least nominate Asian American judges to federal district and appellate courts.

As much as I loathed former President Donald Trump’s presidency, he did a respectable job of increasing Asian American representation in the federal courts. Trump appointed seven Asians to federal appellate courts, outperforming former Presidents Barack Obama and George Bush.

While I might not politically agree with these appointees’ opinions, having increased representation in the federal judiciary makes becoming a federal judge feel more like a possibility and less like a fantasy to Asian Americans across the country.

This is why representation matters: people, especially kids, can see themselves in these seven additional judges.

I don’t think I’ll become a federal appeals court judge. But the position feels attainable in part due to people such as Judge Denny Chin.

Chin, a Hong Kong native, currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and has presided over high-profile cases,

including the trial of disgraced financier Bernie Madoff.

I am not saying Asian Americans are the only underrepresented group that should be appointed — Hispanic Americans, for example, are also few and far between in the federal judiciary. Nor am I calling for a quota for Asian Americans or any other race in the federal courts. A judiciary that looks more like America does not mean it must adhere to the exact percentage of the nation’s demographics.

However, considering Asians will most likely be waiting past Biden’s term to see someone who looks like them on the Supreme Court, I think it is only fair to ask him to ensure they are represented at the lower levels of the judiciary.

ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXIA NIZHNY

10 OPINION

EDITORIAL Boston’s new mayoral leadership must build on progressive policies

With Mayor Marty Walsh soon to leave office and serve as Labor Secretary under the Biden administration, our city’s leadership must begin to address the difficulties we are left with.

The most immediate and relevant issues regard COVID-19 response and vaccinations.

Boston is among 222 communities in Massachusetts that are currently at high risk, or in the “red zone.”

Bostonians now look to the new mayoral administration to work with Gov. Charlie Baker in ensuring a smooth vaccination rollout plan.

The state is almost out of Phase 1, despite the slow vaccination rate.

Once Massachusetts has reached Phase 3 and the general public can be vaccinated, there needs to be an emphasis on equal distribution and access across all boroughs and neighborhoods in Boston.

A poll conducted by Suffolk University found that Massachusetts residents prioritize reopening schools. Boston Public Schools have released a tentative vaccination plan on its website, starting with students who need inperson learning the most — such as Englishlanguage learners and students with learning disabilities — on Feb. 1.

However, following the state’s timeline, teachers and K-12 education workers will receive their vaccines starting in February, but in actuality, it may be even later. Will it be a priority for the city to vaccinate teachers before in-person classes, or will they be put at risk as

they await their first then second rounds of vaccinations?

We cannot leave our educators floundering without vital protection of their health.

Boston is also notorious for the achievement and funding gap within its public school system.

As such, the new mayor must ensure all public schools have the same resources and facilities — such as nurses, health equipment, access to testing, cleaning supplies and more — to be a coronavirus-safe space for all students and employees.

The same Suffolk University poll reported residents thought the most serious issue plaguing Massachusetts was racism, with unemployment trailing behind. The majority of those surveyed voted in favor of police budget reduction. Walsh was able to do just that.

He signed the Mayor’s Pledge by the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance in 2020. He also announced a plan to reallocate $12 million from the Boston Police Department.

Since then, a Boston Police Reform Task Force, Civilian Review Board and Office of Police Accountability and Transparency have been formed. An ordinance to restrict — not ban — police use of crowd-control weapons was passed by the Boston City Council in December.

As promised, the Council also passed a 2021 operating budget — revised by Walsh — to accommodate for the public health crisis and the reallocate the police budget to mental health services, minority-owned businesses, housing

support and more.

A good start, but only a start at that.

Council members noted how overtime costs were built into the police union’s contract. Those who voted in favor of the budget pushed for the further reallocation of police funds and renegotiation of the contract. Those who voted against were even more adamant — $12 million was “a bare minimum response,” City Councilor Andrea Campbell said, and they were tired of gradual change.

Twelve million dollars is only 20 percent of the police budget. Imagine if we were to reallocate an even higher amount toward programs that are actually successful at protecting and helping people, rather than one that fails to protect and actively harms citizens.

Systemic racism extends far beyond the police department, though. It shows up significantly in the housing segregation and gentrification of Boston.

The Fair Housing Zoning Amendment was recently approved — its successful implementation will be crucial in desegregating Boston and increasing housing affordability.

Walsh’s successor should build on his efforts by working to desegregate the city’s schools.

Boston is also, unfortunately, ranked the third most intensely gentrified city in the United States from 2013-2017, according to a National Community Reinvestment Coalition study. Passing a rent control policy or restricting large-scale developments in certain neighborhoods could help us lose this disgraceful title.

Hostile, anti-homeless architecture — such as the recently removed spikes under the Route 2 bridge and the armrests on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority benches — have also riddled Boston.

Such installations need to be removed and banned from future city developments. In their place, Boston should work toward building safe spaces for people without homes and integrating friendly designs into its landscape.

On a brighter note, Boston’s interim mayor, Kim Janey, will make history as the first woman of color in office, and we’re looking forward to seeing what issues she chooses to tackle first and how she will build upon the progress we have already made.

And as we look toward the mayoral race in the coming months, we must continue to hold our elected officials to their promises and push Boston to become a city that doesn’t thrive off of inequalities but rather fosters communities of growth and equality.

EDITORIAL BOARD Colbi Edmonds, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Kool, City Editor Andrew Hardwood, Multimedia Editor Emma Sanchez, Blog Editor

Cameron Morsberger, Managing Editor Lily Kepner, Features Editor Abbigale Shi, Opinions Editor Alexia Nizhny, Layout & Graphics Editor

Nick Kolev, Campus Editor Charles Moore, Sports Editor Jackson Machesky, Podcast Editor Hannah Yoshinaga, Photo Editor

SPORTS 11

BU Athletics suspended for remainder of January due to COVID-19 Charles Moore Daily Free Press Staff Boston University Athletics announced Wednesday that all athletic activities are suspended for the remainder of January. Three BU sports teams resumed play this month after the pandemic ended their seasons in March.

The department cites an increase in on-campus positive COVID-19 tests in the last week.

BU men’s and women’s basketball was preparing to play the College of the Holy Cross this weekend, while BU men’s and women’s ice hockey was gearing up for a battle against rival Boston College.

BU students and alumni are likely disappointed by the announcement, said Morgan Clark, vice president of public relations for the BU Dog Pound — a vocal, student-led ice hockey cheering squad.

“Of course, everyone was very disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to watch BU sports

this weekend,” Clark said. “But I think my first reaction was just that I was glad that the University was doing what was safest for everybody, COVID wise.”

BU Athletics was finding success on the court and rink at the conclusion of last week.

Women’s basketball touts a 5-1 record, while the men’s team just snapped a five-game losing skid with a decisive series sweep over Lafayette College.

On the ice, men’s hockey took both games against the University of Maine on their way to their first ranking of the season at No. 15, and women’s hockey also found success in a series split with Maine.

“At least from the perspective of the Dog Pound, we are so excited that many of our athletic teams are doing really well right now,” Clark said. “We’re very excited to see where the season goes, whenever it is that athletics can resume.”

The suspension will last until BU Athletics releases a schedule for future events at the end of the month.

GRAPHIC BY JUN LI

PAIGE TWOMBLY | DAILY FREE PRESS FILE

Men’s basketball gets back to winning ways, sweeps Lafayette Cameron Meyer Daily Free Press Staff

The Boston University men’s basketball team made the trip down to Easton, Pennsylvania. to take on Lafayette College Saturday and Sunday at Kirby Sports Center. The Terriers managed to sweep the Leopards, winning the first game 81-76 and the latter 64-61.

Going into the series, the Terriers were 1-5 in the Patriot League — a far cry from conference-winning material, as was projected by the preseason polls. Concurrently, they faced a tall task in battling the 5-1 Leopards led by senior guard Justin Jaworski, who led the nation in scoring going into the weekend.

The Terriers started out the series competitively, battling with the Leopards to a 38-38 score by halftime Saturday. After a team-leading 16 points by senior guard Javante McCoy, the Terriers bested their opponents handedly, never falling behind Lafayette in points in the second half.

“We knew what we were capable of … we just had to get time to mold as a team,” McCoy said in a post game press conference. “A win like this means a lot, so hopefully it can keep us rolling.”

The Terriers were also led defensively by junior guard Jonas Harper, who won All-Defensive Team honors in the 2020 Patriot League.

Primarily tasked with guarding Jaworski, Harper was able to quell the star guard’s impact on the game, limiting him to a 20-point performance.

“We’re not the same program without [Harper]” head coach Joe Jones said. “He’s one of those guys that you appreciate so much because he’s going to give everything he’s got.”

Jones’ side has been battered with injuries so far this season, with starters McCoy, Harper and junior guard Walter Whyte seeing significant time off the court. Saturday’s game against Lafayette marked one of the first times the Terriers could field their best-starting four after a full week of practices.

Without this starting lineup, Jones said the team wasn’t cohesive and therefore fumbled at the start of the season.

“We just didn’t have any practice time together, so we were just completely disjointed,” Jones said. “Tonight you saw us playing the way we’re capable of playing.”

In the second matchup of the series, the Leopards and Terriers faced off in Kirby Sports Center again. The dominant performance for the Terriers Saturday continued for them in the first half Sunday, leading 35-31 by halftime.

This tally marked the first time this season the Terriers have led at the half, as well as the only time the Leopards have fallen behind at the midway mark.

The second half was a tough battle on both sides, becoming a nail-biter as it closed out. In the final five minutes, only a single point separated the two teams for a while. The Terriers struggled offensively, shooting 27% from the field in the second half compared to their 48% shooting percentage in the game prior.

“It was a hard-fought win,” Jones said in a press conference Sunday. “I like these types of games when you don’t particularly play great

offensively, but you still win. That’s a mark of a good team that can do that.”

Despite their inefficiencies with getting points on the board, the Terriers’ performance was defined by solid defensive play. The Leopards shot an abysmal 1-16 from beyond the arc in the second half — thanks to high-perimeter pressure by the Terriers.

“We basically tried to win the game by not giving up 3-point shots,” Jones said. “They had four guys along the perimeter that can all shoot.

There was nobody that you could play off of.”

Individual defensive performances by Whyte and senior forward Sukhmail Mathon were particularly commendable, both with eight rebounds in the game.

Harper also was a highlight for the Terriers defensively, limiting Jaworski to 14 points when he averaged 21.7 ppg before Sunday. Harper’s

steal and score late in the game became another defining moment for the Terriers.

“That play that [Harper] made, when he got the steal and made the layup in transition, that was the play of the game,” Jones said. “He didn’t make shots tonight, because we were exhausted, but that kid is unbelievable.”

McCoy was the Terrier’s leading scorer Sunday with 14, capping off a 30-point weekend for the senior. This meant he became the team’s 20th highest scorer of all time, marking his spot in Terrier history.

The Terriers will continue their season next weekend, facing the College of the Holy Cross on consecutive days. The Terriers will meet the Crusaders at 2 p.m. in Worcester, Massachusetts. Saturday and will come home Sunday to play at Case Gym at 5 p.m.

Boston University men’s basketball team in a game against the University of New Hampshire Nov. 16, 2019. The Terriers earned their first series sweep of the season over the weekend against Lafayette College.

RACHEL SHARPLES | DAILY FREE PRESS FILE

Sports Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021

BU Men’s hockey extends winning streak to five with sweep over Maine Chad Jones Daily Free Press Staff The Boston University men’s hockey team improved its record to 5-1 after two home wins against the University of Maine. The Terriers bested the Black Bears with a 3-2 overtime win Friday before thumping Maine 5-1 Saturday.

Terrier senior defenseman David Farrance did not waste any time getting the scoring started. Not even two minutes into the game, Farrance glided into a shooting position before rifling home the puck from the point.

The shot proved to be too much for Maine’s freshman goaltender Victor Ostman and BU grabbed an early lead.

The Terriers were looking to add to their advantage with a power play goal late in the first period. Meanwhile, Maine had other plans. Junior forward Adam Dawe galloped into BU’s zone and controlled the puck on the near face-off circle. Dawe whipped a shot past freshman goaltender Drew Commesso — the attempt appeared to catch Commesso off guard, and the puck snuck past him to tie the score at one a side.

Early on in the second period, BU was looking to use its speed to get past Maine’s defense. Sophomore forward Sam Stevens delivered the puck right to Farrance’s stick, who then laid an outlet pass to sophomore forward Markus Boguslavsky. Boguslavsky finished right under the bar off the rush to give the Terriers a 2-1 advantage.

In the middle of the third period, Black Bear freshman forward Brad Morrissey rocketed the puck past Commesso to tie the contest at two apiece. The freshman’s blast would be the last score of regulation, and either team would need an extra pe-

riod to take the game. Skating three against three, BU was looking for its second overtime win — their first being last week’s game two match against the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

With more ice to work with, sophomore defenseman Domenick Fensore went on a tour of BU’s offensive zone. After luring two defenders toward him, he dropped the puck to sophomore forward Robert Mastrosimone near the blue line.

With nothing but space to skate into, the sophomore gained some momentum before firing the puck into the back of the net from atop the right circle. Mastrosimone’s first goal of the season gave BU another overtime win, this time by a 3-2 final.

Commesso finished the game with 23 saves on 25 shots. The penalty kill proved to be a strong point for BU — the Black Bears came up empty five times on the man advantage.

“Obviously it’s awesome for me getting my first [goal] of the season out of the way,” Mastrosimone said in a post-game interview. “But, more importantly, it’s a huge goal for the team, huge win for the team. We battled that game and we stuck with it all the way through.”

Both teams were back for round two at Walter Brown Arena Saturday afternoon. With just over six minutes into the first period, the Terriers would again strike first.

Freshman forward Nick Zabaneh corralled the puck on the near wall

and delivered a pass to Farrance, who snuck down from the blue line. Once Farrance got control of the puck, he found forward Dylan Peterson through a maze of Black Bears. The freshman then buried a shot top shelf to give BU another first-period lead.

Peterson has scored in three of his past four games. Each of his goals so far have been in the opening 20 minutes.

BU began the second period leading 1-0. The Terriers then headed to the power play looking to give themselves an insurance score. Farrance drew attention from Maine by cutting closer to the middle of the ice.

He then softly laid a pass behind his back to a waiting Jay O’Brien.

The sophomore forward then rifled a

CAROLINE FERNANDEZ | DAILY FREE PRESS FILE

Boston University forward Robert Mastrosimone in a game against the University of New Hampshire Oct. 26, 2020. Mastrosimone scored in overtime against the University of Maine to win Friday’s game.

goal from the point, giving BU a 2-0 advantage. The O’Brien blast would be the lone power play score the Terriers would muster against Maine in 10 chances over the series.

Before the second period ended, Mastrosimone capped off an impressive individual effort with a score off the rush. The sophomore’s tally would swell BU’s lead to 3-0 heading into the final period of the weekend.

Not yet a minute into the third, the Terriers had their foot on the gas looking for their fourth goal of the contest. Mastrosimone again showed his speed, as he busted through the neutral zone.

While the forward avoided a check and kept possession of the puck, he slid a pass over to his linemate, Luke Tuch. From the left circle, the freshman forward snapped home a goal off the rush. BU’s lead expanded to 4-0 with 19 minutes remaining.

Looking to spoil a shut-out for Commesso, Dawe added his second score of the series on a wrap-around goal while the Black Bears were on the power play.

Less than a minute later, O’Brien gained the red-line before burying an empty net attempt. The score ballooned to 5-1, which was the final tally of the contest.

Commesso finished with 30 saves on 31 Black Bears shots. He was terrific on the penalty kill, sliding across the crease and dealing with traffic in front of him.

Farrance has started the season in an offensive groove. He has tallied 14 points in the first six Terrier contests.

The BU alternate captain is again in the running for the Hobey Baker Award.

The Terriers concluded the weekend with back-to-back home wins.

They have not lost since Commesso was pulled in a 7-3 defeat to Providence College in BU’s season opener. The Terriers do not currently have their next matchup scheduled.

BU women’s basketball loses undefeated streak to Army Amanda Purcell Daily Free Press Staff The Boston University women’s basketball team played a weekend series against Army West Point Saturday and Sunday in West Point, N.Y. The Terriers took the first match 59-45, but fell to the Black Knights 54-43 in the following game.

After a six-day break, the Terriers were slow to score at the start — BU didn’t get points on the board until the middle of the first quarter, with a layup by sophomore forward Maren Durant.

Once the Terriers got on the scoreboard, the Black Knights sank their third 3-pointer, which prompted BU to call the first timeout of the game.

The gap narrowed for the Terriers after a 3-pointer by senior guard Katie Nelson and four points from sophomore guards Sydney Johnson and Maggie Pina.

The Terriers continued to put their energy

into scoring with junior guard Chiara Tibbett sinking her first 3-pointer of the year to give the Terriers their first lead of the game.

The first quarter ended with a four-point advantage for the Terriers after an impressive 11-point run in the last three minutes of the quarter.

Black Knights junior guard Natalie Stralkus consistently pressed the Terriers defense, scoring 12 points by the middle of the second quarter.

The Black Knights and the Terriers were tied at 21 before a free throw by redshirt junior guard Emily Esposito, which gave the Terriers a one-point advantage.

From there, the Terriers continued to edge out the Black Knights, entering the second half with a five-point lead.

After an attempt by the Black Knights to catch up, back-to-back buckets by Terriers sophomore guard Annabelle Larnard secured the Terriers’ lead before the first timeout of the second half.

The Terriers extended their lead into the double digits late into the third quarter with a 3-pointer by Pina.

That lead ballooned to 17 in the middle of

the fourth quarter, as the Terriers dominated the end stretch. This advantage was the Terriers’ largest in the whole game.

Before Sunday’s match in West Point, N.Y., the Terriers were undefeated through five contests — their best start to a conference season since they opened 2012-13 conference play with six straight wins in the American East.

But, BU ended its winning streak with a loss Sunday.

The Terriers saw no significant offensive production from any one player — Nelson and Johnson both scored a team-leading nine points.

The Terriers shot an abysmal 16-59 (27.1%) from the field and a worse 5-25 (20%) from beyond the arc. The Terriers managed just 43 points: a season low.

The Black Knights shot 17-45 (37.8%) in their winning effort behind junior guard Sarah Bohn’s team-leading 13 points.

The Terriers did out-rebound the Black Knights, but could not keep up with their opponents’ offensive production through four quarters.

Game two featured strong defense for both the Terriers and Black Knights, but Army best-

ed BU 54-43 in a low-scoring bout.

The Terriers’ series against Lafayette College this Saturday and Sunday has been canceled. The Terriers will enjoy 13 days off and will face the College of the Holy Cross Jan. 30 and 31.

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Sophomore guard Maggie Pina in a game against Navy Feb. 15, 2020. The Boston University women’s basketball team split its series against Army West Point last weekend.