NEWS A 2013 Red Sox and Boston Redevelopment Authority deal raises criticism from the Inspector General. p. 4
INBUSINESS As journalism moves online, news companies must adjust accordingly. p. 5
54°/70° LIGHT RAIN
SPORTS Men’s soccer grinds out victory over Holy Cross in lead-up to Patriot League Tournament. p. 12
DAILYFREEPRESS.COM @DAILYFREEPRESS
(FORECAST.IO)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLIV. VOLUME LXXXIX. ISSUE IX.
State legislators consider physicianassisted suicide BY LEXI PEERY DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
PHOTO BY MADISON GOLDMAN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Between 2 and 2:50 a.m. on Oct. 18, a female student was allegedly sexually assaulted in her room at 33 Harry Agganis Way.
StuVi sexual assault possibly not isolated incident BY FELICIA GANS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
As Boston University police officers continue their search for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a student in her dorm room Oct. 18 at approximately 2 a.m., several residents of 33 Harry Agganis Way said the assault wasn’t the only security breach in the residence hall that morning. Lily, a senior who lives in StuVi II and requested her last name not be used, said she was sleeping in her bed at about 2:40 a.m. on Oct. 18, the day of the alleged assault, when two men barged into her room, asking if she was “Sarah.” When she told them no, she said they apologized and left. “In the moment, it didn’t seem threatening. I thought they were walking into the wrong room or they were looking for one of my roommates,” she said, though she added that none of her roommates are named Sarah. “But then when I saw the emergency alert the next day, I was super freaked out.”
Nour, Lily’s roommate who also asked to go by her first name only, said one of the men entered her bedroom first, waking her up and asking the same question. “They seemed so harmless, and they seemed like they had genuinely just come into the wrong room,” she said. “But the next morning a friend of mine sent me the BU Alert, and I realized it could have been related.” Nour went to the BU Police Department on Oct. 18, shortly after the BU community received the emergency alert, which stated that a female student was allegedly sexually assaulted in her StuVi II room between 2 and 2:50 a.m. that morning. The student mentioned in the alert told police the man who assaulted her was a college-aged white male with brown hair and of medium build, about 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10. The victim also said he was wearing a dark-colored button-down, long-sleeve shirt and a down vest, the alert stated. Lily and Nour said they’ve heard other students talk about similar incidents
occurring in their suites, though most declined to share their stories with The Daily Free Press. BUPD Lt. Detective Peter DiDomenica confirmed that officers have spoken to several students who shared details about men entering their suites the same evening as the sexual assault. He said BUPD is not yet sure whether the incidents are related to the assault, but the investigation is still active. “Based on the nature of the activities, they are suspicious, and they have bearing on the actual assault in that they occurred around the same time in the same building,” he said. “It’s clearly relevant.” At a town hall panel held Monday night on the top floor of StuVi II, approximately eight students met with BUPD officers, residence hall representatives and leaders from other student support groups on campus, including the Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Center. Though attendance was lower than expected — several rows of chairs went variety of questions, from campus-wide CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
BU students see anonymous online bullying on campus BY SYDNEY FOY DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Title IX and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are meant to protect students from discriminatory environments that can be created on college campuses. While these structures generally exist institutionally, many students and organizations believe anonymous social media platforms like Yik Yak can be just as hostile. In one incident, several women were threatened with rape and violence over Yik Yak while attending the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. UMW is now under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for choosing not to pursue the offenders. To combat future harassment and discrimination, though, 72 groups dedicated to gender equality and civil rights went so far as to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Oct. 20 calling for guidance to be provided for schools on how to handle problems of online anonymous bullying.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY OLIVIA NADEL/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
On Wednesday, 72 women’s and civil-rights groups sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education urging for more regulation on anonymous social media applications, such as Yik Yak, to prevent student harassment.
“Guarding against misuse is something we take incredibly seriously. We have a number of safeguards in place, and we’re constantly working to enhance our protective measures,” said Yik Yak spokesperson
Olivia Boger in an email. “We work hard to encourage a positive and supportive community environment on Yik Yak, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
As part of an ongoing national conversation about the ethics of allowing terminally ill patients to die on their own terms, state legislators considered a bill about physician-assisted suicide at a Tuesday hearing at the Massachusetts State House. The bill, which resembles similar legislation passed in Oregon and California, would allow physicians to prescribe lethal drugs if a patient meets certain requirements, allowing the patient to supposedly control their own death. “It will allow people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness to be involved with this process,” said state Rep. Louis Kafka, the bill’s author. “What I mean by terminal is incurable, irreversible, and within reasonable medical judgment, [an illness that] would result death within six months. If that is the case, it will give them the choice to end their life, if they meet other criteria.” Advocates argued that people should be able to decide how to end their own lives. Attendees shared personal experiences involving older relatives that died slowly and in pain. Kafka, who has been personally affected by the loss of a constituent in this way, said he hopes to pass the bill in this person’s memory. “My constituent died before any hearing, and we don’t know what he would’ve done because he wasn’t given a chance,” Kafka said at the hearing. “I promised myself that as long as I was a member of the legislature, that I would continue to work to get a bill allowing physician-assisted suicide to pass.” Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon under what is known as the Death with Dignity Act, as well as in Washington, Vermont and most recently California. In Montana, it is upheld by court decision. Eight states other than Massachusetts are currently considering the matter. George Annas, a professor of health law, bioethics and human rights at Boston University, said, given the constraints it places on who can take advantage of it, the bill stands to help people in pain. After all, he said, physicians would only prescribe the lethal drugs. Patients decide to take them. “Physicians should have an ethical obligation to provide their patients with the best care they can when the patient is terminally ill,” Annas said. “This care should include the prescription of drugs that have a legitimate medical purpose … The decision of whether or when to use these drugs should be the patient’s, and not influenced by the physician.” Annas described the bills already adopted in Oregon and California. “The California law was just signed by [California Gov. Jerry Brown], and does not take effect until next year,” Annas said. “It is based on the Oregon model, which has been around for more than a decade. There do not seem to have been any major abuses in Oregon, although it has only been used by a small number of dying patients.” Opponents of the bill also shared personal testimonies, this time focusing on medical improvements and growth that CONTINUED ON PAGE 4