The Daily Free Press
Year xlii. Volume lxxxiii. Issue XXIII
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Thursday, October 11, 2012 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
SPECIAL ISSUE: HOCKEY PREVIEW
Men’s, women’s hockey players, coaches weigh in on upcoming seasons, pages 6–12.
]
BREAKING BARRIERS SG gets gender-neutral housing approved, page 3.
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OPINION: $10K TO END ROBBERIES?
BU offers reward for successful tip, page 5.
Season of new beginnings
By Kevin Dillon Daily Free Press Staff
The Boston University men’s hockey team is back on the ice, preparing for a season of hopeful retribution. The 2011–12 team, which was marred by off-ice issues, ended its season with no hardware to take back home to Agganis Arena. BU lost the Beanpot in overtime to Boston College before falling short in both the Hockey East and NCAA tournaments. BU coach Jack Parker is looking to improve
upon that result as he enters his 40th season as head coach of the Terriers. This season, Parker has in a group of nine freshmen to make up the bulk of the team’s roster. With senior captain Wade Megan leading the way, the 2012–13 Terriers will look to turn a new page in BU hockey history and return to the top of Hockey East. Forwards The forward group is young, as the team welcomes five freshmen forwards to the roster. They are sure to get ice time early, as the Terriers will
likely rely on two freshmen in particular, Danny O’Regan and Wesley Myron, to play center on two of the team’s four forward lines. Another freshman forward likely to make an impact on the scoreboard is Sam Kurker, a Reading native who was a second-round selection of the St. Louis Blues in the 2012 NHL draft. “[The freshmen] have to be important there to be solid contributors to our team because they are going to be getting ice, but they don’t have to be the end-all — they don’t have to carry the team,” Parker said. “The success of the team is
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MICHAEL CUMMO//DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
going to be decided by the sophomores, juniors and seniors. Especially the juniors and seniors.” Among those juniors and seniors are BU’s top two goal scorers from a year ago, left wingers Megan and junior Matt Nieto. Megan led the team with 20 goals last year, while Nieto was second on the team in total points with 42. While Parker said he considered those two the top offensive threats on the team, he does not plan on playing them on the same line.
Preview, see page 10
Safety, racial profiling sources of students’ frustration at town hall BU offers $10K
reward for tips about robberies
By Carol Kozma Daily Free Press Staff
Boston University students voiced concerns about safety on campus since the series of robberies, questioning potential racial profiling from the BU Alert System. Since Sept. 23, there have been three armed robberies and one attempted armed robbery on or near the Charles River Campus. BU Alert messages have described the suspects as two or three black males dressed in hooded sweatshirts each time. Chief of Brookline Police Daniel O’Leary, Chief of BU Police Tom Robbins and Vice President of Student Affairs Peter Fiedler fielded questions from more than 300 students in the Metcalf Ballroom. A number of students asked why only a race-based description was given to students, when the police had more information at their disposal. “I was glad that people brought that up so that we could address it to say that this is not what we are here for,” O’Leary said. “We are here to make sure that everybody is safe. These kids just happen to be black, you know — crimes are committed by every race — male, female. It doesn’t differentiate.” Fiedler said the way the BU Alert System described the suspects would have been the same for suspects of any race. “If it had been three white males who had committed these crimes, we would have done
By Amelia Pak-Harvey Daily Free Press Staff
O’Leary said he believed that the two robberies on Sept. 25 and Oct. 5, both of which included three young black males, are connected, but the two others, which included only two black males, might not be connected. The suspects used a black automatic pistol
Boston University announced a reward of $10,000 for those who provide leads on the suspects of the Brookline armed robberies, police said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. BU Police Department Chief Thomas Robbins said that anyone who provides information to the Crime Stoppers tip line leading to the apprehension of the suspects will receive the reward for their cooperation. “Since the first robbery occurred involving two of our students in the early morning hours of Sep. 23, we’ve been working closely with the Brookline Police Department, both the uniformed branch and investigative branch, to bring these suspects in,” he said. Brookline PD Chief Daniel O’Leary said he thinks the suspects in the third and second robberies are connected, pointing to footage of suspects in the third robbery on Friday.
Meeting, see page 4
Reward, see page 2
KENSHIN OKUBO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University Police Department Chief Thomas Robbins addresses recent incidents involving armed robberies at a town hall meeting in Metcalf Ballroom Wednesday night.
the same thing,” Fiedler said. “There is no prejudice, if you will, in terms of how we report it to the community.” The Brookline PD released more descriptions of the suspects during a press conference in Brookline Wednesday afternoon from a video of the second robbery, which showed all three suspects.