NEWS Look into Boston’s 30by2030 Summit, which focused on diversifying leadership in the city. p.2
INBUSINESS Now that these BU students have graduated, finding affordable housing is the next big challenge. p.6
55°/71° SUNNY
SPORTS Women’s hockey junior Reegan Rust answered 20 rapid fire questions. See what she has to say. p.10
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLVI. VOLUME XCIII. ISSUE VII.
BUPD reports spike in oncampus rapes BY SOPHIA BROWN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts reviews and reforms criminal justice laws.
PHOTO BY JENNA MANTO/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Senate pushes criminal justice overhaul BY SARIKA RAM
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Massachusetts legislature is currently drafting comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation, which has been long-awaited by reform advocates. The purpose of wide-ranging criminal justice reform in Massachusetts is to reduce the prison population and thereby decrease state spending by designating incarceration as a last resort punishment, University of Massachusetts Boston professor of sociology Kevin Wozniak said. “On top of the costly nature of incarceration, a good amount of evidence suggests that it isn’t even more effective at preventing recidivism than … probation or treatment,” Wozniak said. The Senate has yet to debate its bill addressing a wide range of issues including sentencing, diversion, bail process, criminal record and juvenile court reform,
Benjamin Forman, the research director at the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, said. The House has not yet released an equivalent of the Senate bill. A major aspect of the Senate bill repeals mandatory minimum sentences for various drug offenses, Forman said. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts issued a joint statement with Prisoners’ Legal Services and the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services Thursday, stating the bill does not go far enough in regards to this particular measure. “While this bill would eliminate mandatory minimums for many drug offenses, it perpetuates a myth that the ‘war on drugs’ is effective policy by maintaining minimums for opioid trafficking and adding new mandatory sentences,” according to the ACLU of Massachusetts. Along with drug reform, the Senate bill includes a controversial provision, dubbed the “Romeo and Juliet” provision, which
would scrap current legislation regarding statutory rape, or criminalizing consensual sex involving minors under the age of 16. Alternatively, the bill proposes legalizing consensual sex between young people close in age. This includes anyone within four years of age with a minor that is 15 years old, three years of age if the minor is under 15 and two years if the minor is under 12. Sana Fadel, the deputy director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice, wrote in an email this legislation is necessary because it appropriately recognizes the reality of sexual relationships between young people. “The legislation is an effort to come into line with a majority of states, to recognize that young people have sexual contact with one another and criminalizing that contact is not the best way to respond to it,” Fadel wrote. “That is an issue for families, faith communities, [and] public health officials, but we don’t think it’s an issue for police and [district attorneys].” CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
The number of yearly reported rape cases on Boston University’s campus nearly tripled over the past three years — from five in 2014 to nine in 2015 to 13 in 2016. Despite this rise, experts say this signifies an increasing willingness to report rape rather than an upsurge in rape cases. The numbers in the annual Security and Fire Safety Report represent only the cases that were reported to the Boston University Police Department and excludes those that go unreported — a figure that may hover around 90 percent, Peter Yeager, a sociology researcher and retired BU professor, wrote in an email. BUPD Sergeant Daniel Healy said the department is well-aware that these numbers are lower than they should be, given how underreported sexual assault is — especially on college campuses. “You can guarantee that the actual number is higher. There’s no question in our mind that there are more people out there that have experienced this crime,” Healy said. Yeager noted that despite the fact that most rapes go unreported, present-day social movements are encouraging victims to open up and be more willing to report rape to authorities. “There has been a broad cultural change that promotes women’s increased willingness to report sexual victimizations of all sorts,” he wrote. The increase in reported rapes at BU comes at a time when people across the country are campaigning to create a safer environment for rape victims to speak up, Yeager wrote. High profile sexual assault trials, such as those of Bill Cosby and Brock Turner, and the controversy surrounding then-candidate Donald Trump’s misogynistic comments, CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Donating stool can save lives BY LAURA AL BAST DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
OpenBiome, a nonprofit stool bank, opened its doors for donations from local community members at its new 870 Commonwealth Ave. site, offering up to $40 per sample. OpenBiome, a research organization dedicated to expanding safe access to fecal transplants, held an open house early Wednesday afternoon at its new West Campus location to encourage prospective donors to consider donating and teach them how to apply. The organization serves two main functions — providing fecal transplant material to clinicians to treat patients and performing research on the human microbiome
— explained OpenBiome external affairs manager Emily Langner. It operates local labs at Sullivan Square in Somerville and Central Square in Cambridge. Langner said OpenBiome has partnered with nearly 1,000 health providers and several clinical researchers based across the country and is excited to debut its bank on BU’s campus. “We’re involved in a variety of ways, from providing [research facilities] with the material to helping them ensure their research studies,” Langner said during the open house. Meg Muckenhoupt, OpenBiome’s external affairs manager, said OpenBiome chose to open a bank at BU specifically because of the variety of local people and potential donors. She noted its diverse and vast demographics. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
PHOTO BY LILIAN LI/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Stool donation center OpenBiome hosts an open house for its new location at 870 Commonwealth Ave.
2 NEWS
30by2030 Summit highlights importance of racial diversity in workplace BY ISABEL OWENS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The 30by2030 Summit attracted over 300 professionals and students to WeWork South Station, a Boston coworking space, Wednesday night to discuss the importance of diversity in corporate America. Project 99, a Boston-based leadership development company focused on diversity in the workplace, hosted the event to advocate for 30 percent racially diverse senior leadership by 2030, the company’s cofounder and managing partner, Josuel Plasencia, said before the summit. Thirty percent of Americans are black or Latino but only 3 percent are represented in top leadership positions in the United States, Plasencia said. “Creating spaces for people to convene of a common goal is always very powerful,” Plasencia said. “The more we’re able to convene and complement each other and plug into each other’s initiatives is how we’re going to achieve the 30 by 2030 goal.” Justin Kang, vice president of economic growth for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber of Commerce has significant power in leading the business community and plans to work with Project 99 to close the leadership gap. “The challenge is, and this is what Project 99 is tackling, is that we need more representation as diverse as this room,” Kang said. “No one wants to live and work in a city that has a reputation, perception or reality that is racist.” Corporate leadership must be committed to diversity for a change to be made, said Kenn Turner, director of diversity and inclusion/ compliance at Massachusetts Port Authority,
Kenn Turner said. “You really do get used to being the only [person of color] and unfortunately that is still far too often the case,” Turner said. “If your board, your CEO, the president of your company isn’t committed to diversity, I mean passionately, viscerally committed, it’s not going to change, because it’s all about a pipeline … it doesn’t happen organically … it isn’t going to bubble up from the bottom.” Maryanne Ravenel, diversity and inclusion manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, said the problem also stems from a lack of development in leadership and lack of opportunities afforded to minorities. “A lot of the time it’s the idea of people at the top thinking they have to give something up for someone else to get something and the idea of equality being ‘someone’s taking my seat,’” Ravenel said. Ravenel said organizations like Project 99 give her hope for the future. “It’s hard to be very hopeful and optimistic in this time,” Ravenel said. “My boyfriend is a black man. Thinking about him not coming home one night, being shot in the street one night … I found my courage and my optimism and my hope in Project 99 — organizations that say it’s OK to be us and it’s ok to be who we are.” Several Boston residents said they are working hard to close the gap within their own organizations. Adam Valsahagun, 23, of Downtown Boston, said he works for the national nonprofit Generation Citizen and believes providing racially representative mentors for students can have an impact on their future success. “We know that we work with a diverse group of students and it’s important for us to have a diverse staff that represents our
PHOTO BY PAIGE WARD/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Project 99 hosts its company launch event, the 30by2030 Summit, Wednesday night at WeWork South Station featuring speakers such as Fletcher “Flash” Wiley.
students,” Valsahagun said. “The senior leadership will reflect that when we start giving people on the ground more responsibility and more leadership roles.” Maya Nitzberg, 31, of Somerville, said her organization, The Possible Project, has been working closely with Project 99 to provide high school students with opportunity and support to succeed past high school. “Our demographic is low income people of color and so it’s very relevant what they’re doing,” said Nitzberg. “With Project 99 we started having this conversation about ‘what if we work together?’ We have the students, so we can help give them the cohort of students.” Wendy Sachs, 24, of Jamaica Plain, said she attended the summit because she knows Project 99 co-founders, Yulkendy Valdez and
Plasencia, from high school. “I love seeing people from my school doing more diversity focused things, rather than product and finance focused [ventures],” Sachs said. Sachs is a diversity consultant specializing in culture and policy for companies who are still growing but lack racial diversity. In Boston specifically, Sachs said a greater emphasis on diversity in growing businesses is becoming increasingly important. “I see that a ton in Boston specifically, organizations that I’ve been a part of and my friends have been a part of where you go from a few people in an apartment to a 30-plus person organization and it takes a diversity focus type of leadership to get your company back on track to having a decent culture,” Sachs said.
NEWS 3
CAMPUS CRIME LOGS BY SOPHIA BROWN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The following reports were taken from the Boston University Police Department crime logs from Oct. 13-15.
Elevator entrapment in StuVi 1 Building security reported on Friday at 2:25 a.m. that a BU affiliate was trapped inside an elevator between the sixth and eighth floors of 10 Buick St. The Boston Fire Department was notified, but the affiliate was freed before their arrival. Hubway bike taken, replaced with other bike BUPD reported that a Hubway bike was stolen and replaced with another bike on Friday at 12:49 p.m. The suspect fled down Buick Street on the stolen bike. An officer was eventually able to recover the stolen Hubway bike and return it to the station. Bicyclist strikes car door at intersection BUPD reported on Friday at 5:36 p.m. a bicyclist rode into a car door at the intersection of Alcorn Street and Gardner Street. The bicyclist refused medical attention, and the case was referred to the Boston Police Department.
CITY
CRIME LOGS BY ISABEL OWENS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The following crime reports were taken from the Boston Police Department crime logs from Oct. 16-17.
Man possessing drugs chased into McDonald’s Officers conducting a drug investigation in the Allston area Monday at 4 p.m. observed a person appearing to have behavior consistent with drug abuse. Officers followed the suspect into a McDonald’s bathroom. The suspect confessed to possession of prescription opioids and anti-epileptic medication. Officers recovered the drugs and a hearing is to follow. Bus passenger arrested for cocaine possession Officers conducting a drug investigation on Monday at 5:55 p.m. in Allston observed two passengers in a bus they believed to be snorting drugs. Officers approached the vehicle and frisked one of the two suspects, finding a plastic bag containing cocaine in their wallet. The suspect will be summoned to Brighton District Court Threats to throw man off roof BPD responded to a radio call at 12:04 a.m. on Tuesday regarding a threat report in Brighton. The victim told an officer residents from his apartment building threatened to throw him off a roof and “make it look like a suicide,” according to the report.
Senate bill evaluates drug offenses, rape laws REFORM, FROM PAGE 1 Andrew Beckwith, the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said the group opposes the provision because it would cause harm to children. “The long-term implications would be normalizing sex between teens and even preteens,” Beckwith said. “The best psychological and physiological health experts recognize that under a certain age … children do not necessarily possess the mental and emotional capacities to make the type of life-altering decisions they’re involved in engaging in sexual relationships.” Several advocacy groups have felt encouraged by the Massachusetts legislature’s efforts to implement criminal justice reform but have various reservations about other aspects of the Senate bill. Forman said, on behalf of the MassINC Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, there are not enough provisions addressing data transparency in Massachusetts. “We’d like to see more data transparency and accountability so we have a better sense of what the system’s doing and whether or not it’s working,” Forman said. “We actually need to know what’s happened to make sure that we don’t make policy based on sensational crimes.” The ACLU of Massachusetts wrote in the statement they have concerns about certain provisions in the bill because the bill doesn’t retain the same safeguards set up for incarcerated people with mental illness. The proposed bill also doesn’t set a limit for how long someone can be left
alone in solitary confinement. Allison Jordan, a board member of the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, wrote in a statement while the proposed legislation moves in the right direction, it must go further. “For instance, the proposed bill seeks to revise but not abolish the cash bail system,” Jordan wrote. “It codifies procedural rules regarding imposition of solitary confinement but does not restrict the length of time in which one can be held in solitary.” Jordan wrote the bill needs to include more serious measures regarding incarceration and greater review of violent offenses in the Commonwealth. “There is a notable absence of measures aimed at curbing excessive sentences, in particular those that condemn individuals to life in prison with no hope or possibility of parole,” Jordan wrote. Forman said the Senate expects to debate and pass this bill is in the coming weeks, and the House will soon release its own comprehensive criminal justice reform bill they plan to have debated by Nov. 15. The two bills will then go to a conference committee, Forman said, which hopes to reach a compromise by the end of the year. Forman said the implementation of comprehensive criminal justice reform will potentially have major implications for Boston. “We know that the high rates of incarceration have increased primarily in city neighborhoods,” Forman said. “We know that criminal records of incarceration have made it difficult for many young men in
Boston to get good jobs and support families. I think if we fully recognize those consequences and try to do things a different way, it can lead to … more economic mobility and less inequality in the city and region overall.” Several Boston residents said they support various features of the pending criminal justice legislation. Ryan Brennan, 27, of South Boston, said repealing mandatory minimums and raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility are especially important reforms. “I love the fact that we’re trying for the first time really to change the mandatory minimum sentences here in Massachusetts,” Brennan said. “It’s a great idea to have kids that are in high school all underneath the same umbrella versus having someone who’s doing the exact same thing as their friends and getting into a little bit more trouble because they have a couple extra months on their age.” Shineka Prince, 27, of East Boston, said it is sensible to limit the amount of time non-violent offenders spend in jail. “There should be other ways of teaching somebody to not do the wrong thing,” Prince said. “It’s better for them to not go to jail for a long time for something that’s harmless.” Maria Rigaud, 60, of Fenway, said there should be alternative punishments for juveniles. “Young people should be put on rehabilitation instead of locked in jail … because just locking them in jail doesn’t help the community,” Rigaud said.
Survivors are increasingly reporting assault ASSAULT, FROM PAGE 1 have encouraged many people to try to make it easier for victims to report cases of sexual assault. While the widespread social movement has its benefits, Yeager wrote, there still needs to be more education and advocacy about sexual conduct and protocol, especially on college campuses. “This change is all good,” Yeager wrote, “but more needs to be done to educate young men and women about sexual responsibilities, misconduct and available ways to redress sexual victimization on college campuses and elsewhere.” However, the increase in reported rapes at BU can’t be attributed solely to a changing society, according to BUPD Chief Kelly Nee, in part because the numbers are still currently so small. “The rise in the number of reported cases “could be [caused by] a combination [of factors],” Nee said. “Statistically, when you’re doing percentages, that’s an alarming jump because the numbers are so low to begin with. I do think we could attribute some of this reporting to women feeling more comfortable reporting.” BUPD provides a multitude of services for rape victims that are designed to make sure they get the care they need to feel safe on campus, Nee said — something that the department hopes is helping sexual assault victims, regardless of whether or not they file a report. The police department works closely with BU’s Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Center, the Dean of Students Office and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, Nee said, to support sexual assault victims. Furthermore, BUPD offers Rape Aggression Defense classes, which train women in basic self-defense that they can use in a variety of violent scenarios, including sexual assault. While the BU RAD programs are cur-
rently only offered for women, Nee said officers will be undergoing special education in November to enable them to offer RAD classes to men as well. “We’ve been listening to our community and there are men on campus, if they identify as male or they identify as female, that want to have this type of training,” Nee said. Nee said she hopes the growing social movement and general awareness of the severity of sexual assault make more people willing to report rape cases more often. “Hopefully,” Nee said, “women are feeling more empowered to say something when something like this happens to them, rather than suffering in silence.” Students said it’s vital to heighten conversation about sexual assault and awareness on campus so that victims can feel comfortable reporting such crimes. Fredrika Jorge, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said she wishes BU had publicized the report more than they have. “I don’t think there’s significance [to the increased reporting] to the school, just with
GRAPHIC BY RACHEL DUNCAN/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
society in general,” Jorge said. “I do think the school could make people more aware because we didn’t even know about it. Talk about it.” Renata Tan, a Questrom School of Business junior, said she thinks the stigma associated with sexual assault is to blame for fact that many cases of rape are still not reported. “A lot of people are not okay with reporting it because they don’t want to talk about it. It’s a traumatizing event,” Tan said. Tan added that while having the BUPD around campus does make her feel safer sometimes, they cannot be everywhere, especially for students who live off campus, like her. Kylie Moses, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said she has heard that historically, BU has not handled rape reports well, which could have had some impact on people’s willingness to speak up. “I would hope [victims] are feeling more comfortable,” Moses said regarding rape reports. “Rapes have been happening for a long time, and I would assume [their numbers] haven’t decreased. I would hope people are feeling more comfortable.”
4 NEWS
OpenBiome launches stool donation center in West STOOL, FROM PAGE 1 “[At BU], a lot of people are interested in science, and a lot of people are interested in helping the greater world,” Muckenhoupt said. “Stool donation isn’t just for healthy vegans or people who work out a lot — it’s for everybody.” Langer said that anyone interested can go online to join the registry. Interested donors first fill out an online form with background information, and then once contacted by OpenBiome, a detailed health questionnaire to begin the screening process, she said. “It’s a pretty extensive process, but we make it as easy as possible,” she said. OpenBiome typically responds to applicants within two weeks of them submitting their primary application to inform them of their results. “If you pass that initial screening, we’ll invite you for a clinical interview where you’ll do an in-person health assessment with our medical staff,” Langer added. “There’s a little bit of additional testing
that’s done on blood and stool samples before you’re officially a donor.” After the stool is donated at the bank, samples are transported to OpenBiome’s main site in Somerville. The sample then gets processed, strained and put in a buffer solution that is sent out to more than 900 partner hospitals, according to Muckenhoupt. The samples are turned into treatments for patients with Clostridium Difficile infection – a bacterium that causes diarrhea and serious intestinal conditions such as the inf lammation of the colon — Muckenhoupt said. “[Openbiome] sent out 11,000 treatments for C. Diff infections last year,” she said. “We’re also supporting 18 different clinical research trials into conditions such as inf lammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, obesity and other conditions to see if change in the gut bacteria can help heal these chronic conditions.” Donors are compensated $40 per sample — which can produce up to five treatments for the C. Diff bacterial infection.
“We pay $40 per stool for [student] donations because we know it’s a pain to come here and you have to go through health screens,” she said. Several local community members expressed interest in donating their stool samples to OpenBiome. Cherise Everett, a sophomore in the
“Stool donation isn’t just for healthy vegans or people who work out a lot — it’s for everybody.” School of Hospitality and Administration who was at the open house, said she was familiar with the stool donation process and was interested in getting involved.
“I’ve been recently learning about how this has been used to save lives when people go through chemotherapy,” Everett said. “I would donate if it was someone I know or needed.” Another open house attendee, Marina Majarian, expressed interest in reading more about stool donation after learning of the positive impact it can have. “I didn’t realize you could take someone else’s stool and save lives,” the Harvard University clinical researcher said, “I’d definitely be interested in donating.” Austin Woo, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said he is interested in applying to donate not only for the financial incentive, but also to support a greater cause. “It’s not just about receiving the $40, but also helping someone with their body,” Woo said. He added that he appreciates how the new location makes it convenient for interested donors. “Because they come on campus, it makes it easier to fit into their schedule,” he said. “I feel like I could make a positive impact.”
GRAPHIC BY RACHEL DUNCAN AND ERIC MARKUS/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
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IMPACT
FEATURES 5
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017
Artists gather to discuss womanism, female representation BY JORDAN SALIBY DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
As Solange Knowles communicated through the title of her last album, women of color in the arts and entertainment industry have been struggling to find their “seat at the table,” — their fighting for positions of authority and control. This past Saturday, the Boston Art and Music Soul Fest organized “Souls of Women: Womanism, Arts, Music and Social Change.” Panelists at the event were able to discuss their experiences with creating work that liberates and unites communities of color and also revealed their personal struggles. The panelists discussed how they dealt with the media and societal perceptions of black and brown women succeeding in the arts as shocking, fearful and aggressive. In a statement over email, Karl-Lydie Jean Baptiste, media relations coordinator for BAMS Fest, wrote that the panel was fitting with BAMS Fest’s main purpose because it was “created as a way for Black and Brown female musicians, arts educators, entertainers, and other creatives to discuss how they use their work to help liberate, educate, empower, and heal communities of color.” The panelists included Jha D Williams, an architect by day and spoken word artist by night; Adrienne Hawkins, dancer and choreographer; Adobuere Ebiama, an actress and model, who has been featured in plays and movies such as “Mr. Joy” and “The Convert”; and lastly Paloma Valenzuela, a playwright, screenwriter, director and creator of La Gringa Loca Productions. The women discussed a variety of things relating to their careers as female professional
artists. They mentioned how they dealt with the media and societal perceptions of black and brown women succeeding in the arts as shocking, fearful and aggressive. “There was never an institution that I would say that I stayed with because I could see that there was already a ceiling for me,” Hawkins said during the panel. “I did not see the value in adding what I had to what they [institutions] had because … they dismissed what I had. I’m not going to stay here and have you belittle what I do.” For many women of color that are successful in the arts, there is a realistic fear that their ideas will not be heard by the traditionally male-dominated executive positions, Hawkins said. According to the panelists, this is an omnipresent problem with women of color in their respective fields in the arts, as they struggle to get the same amount of respect as the other people in the industry while they produce work that is equal or better. Valenzuela said she attempted to achieve greater representation of women in the arts by putting women of color central to her work. “My mission is to entertain, to connect and to tell the stories that are often set-aside. Put those stories in the forefront,” she explained. Williams took the lack of representation into her own hands by creating a spoken word group called, “if you can Feel it, you can Speak it.” “At the time that I started it [spoken word group], it was mostly a place for lesbians of color to have a place to speak, to commune, to be heard, to have a place on a stage, and it evolved into a working space where the LGBTQI community of color and their allies could come together,” Williams said. An important commonality between the panelists is womanism, a product of third-wave feminist ideas. Womanism is a more encom-
CATALYST THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017
BU coding club teaches web skills BY EMMA GODDARD DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
From programming scientific software to redoing a portfolio website, coding has become one of the most in-demand skills in many industries. Girls Who Code BU hosted their first “Introduction to Web Development” workshop to make learning about coding more accessible to women of all majors. Girls Who Code BU hosted their first “Introduction to Web Development” workshop in the BU Hariri Institute of Computing on Sunday. A group of around 12 non-coders gathered to learn how to create and design their own websites with the help of the president of the club, Fiona Whittington, a junior in the Boston University College of Communication. Using software such as GitHub, a site that allows you to create and manage web projects, and Bootstrap, a site that provides coded templates for simple layouts of websites, Whittington demonstrated how to get started. Girls Who Code BU decided to host workshops leading up to the event to “allow women the opportunity to explore computer science and show them that it’s not as difficult as they think,” Whittington said. With a welcoming of cookies, music and introductions, people took their seats as Whittington began her presentation of how to create and edit your own website. Whittington said she hoped
this workshop would become a comfortable place for women to feel empowered and confident that they can code. “People feel intimidated by coding, so Girls Who Code BU creates a safe space with female support instead of competition, which is something in the general the world needs,” said Dorothy Spector, a member of Girls Who Code BU and a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. The attendees, mostly students majoring in subjects other than computer science, observed and replicated Whittington’s instruction as she assisted Spector in creating her first website using GitHub. “I’m a huge project-based learner and I feel like I can’t learn how to do something if I don’t have someone doing it right next to me, so that’s how I’m going to lead this workshop,” Whittington said. Participants were given step-by-step instructions to set up their own accounts and successfully manipulate code to create a website to their liking. “Github allows you full control of your website and looks a lot more impressive than other softwares,” Whittington said. “It also doesn’t cost any money.” Though the event was open to all genders, their main focus, and goal of their club, was to “get more girls involved, because there’s such a stigma against coding [and] … STEM, which is very male dominated,” Spector said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAYA RAIFE
BAMS Fest presents panel discussion “Souls of Women: Womanism, Arts, Music and Social Change” Saturday night featuring a performance from Jha D Williams.
passing term that includes women of color and other underrepresented groups in the bubble of feminism. “There is not one way to be a feminist, and we’re truly we are all feminists in our own way,” Valenzuela said. The playwright said she believes being a feminist can mean a variety of things and encompass many groups. In relation to feminism and womanism, Williams said she wants to center inclusion. She said she believes that having an inclusive environment allows a variety of voices and perspectives to be heard. “I’m all for prioritizing a certain demo-
graphic of people. However, I’m not going to ever at the same time purposely exclude anybody else,” Williams said. “I don’t believe I have to leave somebody else out of the conversation in order to be heard.” The artists at the “Souls of Women” panel had their own life experience but were all committed to being advocates for women of color. With every poem, dance, film and web series produced by these artists, they find themselves creating opportunities for women of color in the arts and dismantling the society that opposes this. As Williams during her spoken word performance said, “I have decided to not be decided upon without my permission.”
6 FEATURES
INBUSINESS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017
PHOTOS BY KATIE GODERE/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University students and graduates often struggle to afford housing in Greater Boston due to rising rent costs.
BU graduates face harsh housing market in Boston BY CARINA IMBORNONE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Young professionals who spent four years of their lives in America’s college town may find it increasingly hard to live in Boston post-graduation. Rising rent costs throughout the city of Boston, when combined with student loans and entry-level jobs, are raising barriers on entry. The process of gentrification and a very high demand for housing has made the Boston housing market competitive in recent years, according to Linda Susan Sprague Martinez, a professor in the School of Social Work at Boston University. “Not only are rents rising, [but] the cost of housing stock has gone up incredibly, and that’s trickled down into rents,” Sprague Martinez said. “So neighborhoods that were once affordable for new homebuyers and renters ... it’s gotten really pricey.” For students enrolled in Boston colleges and universities who wish to continue living in the city after their graduation, this is a problem. Approximately 152,000 college students currently live in Boston, according to the
Boston Planning and Development Agency. In comparison, Boston’s census population in 2016 was 656,051 individuals, according to the Boston Planning and Development Agency. The burden of student loans contributes to the stress of recent college graduates who hope to start their careers in the city. Mike Schueller, 22, of Allston, said that the cost of living in Boston, especially rent costs, has been a very important factor in his post-college life after graduating from BU with a degree in engineering. “I have quite a large amount of student debt, so a large portion of my salary goes towards monthly payments on those loans,” Schueller said. “Since my loans and rent are the two highest priority bills I have, I had to make sure I picked an apartment that I could afford while being conscious that I needed money for food and other expenses.” Sprague Martinez said the presence of the college-aged and post-college population plays a role in gentrification and increased rents, driving prices up in areas such as Mission Hill and Highland Park in Roxbury, often in ways that hurt recent grads and current residents. “Landlords can see that they can rent to not only college grads but college students,
and they can charge by the bedroom,” Sprague Martinez said. “[Charging by the bedroom] drives up the overall price of the apartment unit.” Rachel Eckles, 22, currently lives in Mission Hill after graduating from BU. She reported she found housing she was satisfied with, if not in the original neighborhood she desired. “There’s definitely a lot of demand among my demographic, but there’s also a lot of supply for apartments opening on [Sept. 1],” Eckles said. “After a long time searching, I found an affordable apartment with my friends.” Marwa Sayed, 22, currently lives in Jamaica Plain after graduating from BU. “I was wondering if I could afford to live in Boston because of how high the rent is; I thought I might have to go to Malden or Medford, where prices are still increasing anyways,” Sayed said. “I live in JP now, and the rent is too high, but it’s better than a lot of other places.” Sayed explained that developments must have 15 percent affordable units — which means people in the area making median income — to be considered as affordable housing. She went on to say that it’s an “imperfect way to measure how much
people can afford because it varies so much by area and neighborhood.” She said she wonders who can possibly afford new developments. “So I see all these shiny new developments go up, and I really wonder who can afford them because it’s not anyone I know,” Sayed said. “But clearly people can afford them, and so the housing that’s left becomes even more competitive and rents increase disproportionately to wages/salaries, which leaves us with less and less in savings each year.” According to Sarah Hosman, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at BU, the rental market in Allston, a traditionally collegiate neighborhood, is very competitive. “There is very high renter occupancy, around 87 percent in Allston,” Hosman said. “It’s historically been, since the 1980s, a high renter neighborhood.” She also said that after years of declining population, Boston is experiencing increasing population. The housing stock has yet to keep up. “People are afraid of being displaced,” Hosman said. “People are afraid they will have to move outside Boston.”
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FEATURES 7
MUSE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017
Museum of Fine Arts Boston kicks off MFA Late Nites Oct. 13 featuring live DJs, a food competition and activities until 2 a.m.
PHOTO BY HALEY ABRAM/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
MFA previews upcoming exhibit at new ‘Late Nites’ BY DIANDRA ROSS DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR
The Museum of Fine Arts hosted their inaugural MFA Late Nites last Friday to unite MFA visitors on the subjects of art, culture and community. The MFA showcased performances and other contemporary art at the event, which began at 8 p.m. and concluded at 2 a.m. It featured a wide variety of attractions, including hip-hop battles, anime music videos and street food showdowns. The event proved to be extremely popular, and pre-sale tickets sold out days before the event. For those who did not purchase tickets in advance, a line wrapped around the museum, filled with people of all ages and backgrounds with wait times of up to 90 minutes, according to comment by the MFA on their Facebook event page. Ashley Bleimes, public relations manager for the MFA, said that the event was a “big success” with over 4,000 people in attendance.
“We were so happy to see so many people,” Bleimes said. Once inside, visitors had plenty of activities in which they could engage, spread across two floors filled with performances and activities. Julie Mackay, a senior in Boston Universit y ’s School of Hospitalit y Administration, was one of the attendees who enjoyed the variety at Friday’s event. “It’s a refreshing way to visit the MFA and interact with new exhibits,” Mackay said. One event attracted a particularly large crowd throughout the night — a rap slam presented by Oomp OutLoud, or Oompa, held in Gallery 168. Artists had to compete slam-poetry-style to determine the best emcee; between each battle, featured artists had the opportunity to perform and share their own music. One of the featured artists, Cliff Notez, said performing at the MFA was particularly special for him. “I’m a Boston kid at heart,” Notez said.
The Boston-based filmmaker, poet and music producer said that the event allowed him to show his art “as a black man” in opposition to more traditional styles. “I never felt included here until a couple months ago when I debuted my film here,” Notez said. “To be here as a black man showing my art is a big ‘F**k you’ to traditional art,” he added. For a different take on music, attendees could head to the Shapiro Family Courtyard to listen and dance to live DJs. Each of the nine DJs and performers had 50 minutes to show off their turntable skills to the dancing crowd. There was a “Chef Showdown” in the courtyard as well. Each table offered its own unique take on Japanese street food, including chicken Tsukune steamed buns and marinated tuna sashimi. Visitors could also head to the second f loor to see a performance presented by Urbanity Dance. Featuring contemporary dancer Ayako Takahashi in a performance titled “Every
Dance Has Been Contemporar y,” it spanned across three different rooms and included several costume changes. Takahashi’s performance also included several moments of improvisation along with audience participation. Attendees who wanted a more lowtempo evening had plenty of options as well. MFA Late Nites included “Drawing After Dark,” where visitors could try their hand at drawing pieces of the collection as well as sketching live models. MFA Late Nites also provided a sneak peek of their newest exhibition, “Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics,” which inspired the entire theme of the event. In accordance with the Japanese themes, the MFA offered visitors manga — comics that were popularized in Japan — in the Anime Boston Manga Library. MFA Late Nites also displayed works from their other galleries, like “Charles Sheeler from Doylestown to Detroit,” which displayed art that highlighted the landscape of urban and industrial cities.
Girls Who Code encourages computer proficiency across all fields CODING, FROM PAGE 5 According to Whittington, BostonHacks — BU’s annual hackathon — is also incredibly male dominated, and she said she feels women are intimidated and not welcomed. Whittington said she wants to inspire women to not be afraid of coding, and know they have the skills to succeed. “[Girls Who Code BU] shows you can do really cool things without having to be a software engineer. It really is a tangible skill, and it’s so applicable to other fields in the workforce,” Minjae Lee, a freshman in the College of General Studies, who attended the workshop, said. This workshop, the first of a four-part series, is just the beginning, Whittington said. Learning to create and edit websites using a template seems simple enough, but Girls Who Code BU are ready for more. “Knowing how people communicate
through a computer can relate to all fields,” Spector said. “It’s really slow in the beginning, because you’re getting everything set up, but really you’re creating a foundation.” As the event came to a close, attendees wrapped up their new projects, now having the ability to make simple edits to the codes of their sites. The club also will host more events like this soon. “I want people to go home and tell their friends that coding isn’t that bad and that they’re proud to show them what they made,” Whittington said. “I want to inspire them to continue to empower other women too.” Whittington and her club are reaching out to women at BU to let them know that they are capable to code and encourage them to explore the world of coding. “I remember taking my computer science course in high school where there were 25 males and I was the only girl,” Lee said. “That’s when you know something needs to change.”
PHOTO BY JENNA MANTO/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Girls Who Code teaches students coding at its “Introduction to Web Development” Sunday afternoon.
8 OPINION
EDITORIAL THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017
Lexi Peery, Editor-in-Chief Elise Takahama, Managing Editor
t h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t u d e n t n e w s pa p e r a t b o s t o n u n i v e r s i t y
46th year | Volume 93 | Issue 7 The Free Press (ISSN 1094-7337) is published Thursdays during the academic year except during vacation and exam periods by Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc., a nonprofit corporation operated by Boston University students. No content can be reproduced without the permission of Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright © 2017 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.
Alana Levene, Campus Editor
Ellie French, Editorial Page Editor
Rachel Duncan, Layout Editor
Till Kaeslin, City Editor
Lauren Frias, Features Editor
Allegra Peelor, Blog Editor
Matthew Martin, Sports Editor
Chloe Grinberg, Photo Editor
Shakti Rovner, Office Manager
Shutting down racism, no matter how small, is vital Just before noon on Wednesday, lecture halls at Boston College became a little emptier, as hundreds of students walked out of their classes in protest. The protest came in response to two instances of racism the school saw over the weekend. The first occurred when two “Black Lives Matter” posters hanging in the school were defaced to read “Black Lives Don’t Matter.” The second happened over social media, when a blackened image of a Philly Cheese Steak, allegedly created by a BC student, was circulated with the caption “I like my steak and cheese like I like my slaves.” The administration denounced both actions, as did the hundreds of students protesting. All across the BC campus, people were outraged. Here at Boston University, all that can feel a million miles away. Enough stops down the Green Line to make BC feel like a whole separate world, our first instinct is to distance ourselves from the situation entirely. “That would never happen here,” we say. After all, “BC sucks.” It makes sense that it would happen there, we agree — BC is much whiter, much smaller and much more Catholic than we are. But when it comes down to it, we don’t know that. We can’t know that. This was done by an anonymous vandal and a social media scoundrel. Those people could be anyone. Just because it didn’t happen to us doesn’t mean that it couldn’t. Just because Martin Luther King Jr. walked these halls does not mean we are immune to racism, not by any means.
If something that racist did happen here, though, it seems like a safe bet that we’d be protesting too. When one of our own went to Charlottesville in August to participate in a white supremacy rally, the outrage that followed was palpable — and all that happened hundreds of miles off campus. If we saw anything like it here on Commonwealth Avenue, it’s hard to imagine it sliding by unnoticed. The rally succeeded not only in what it was protesting, but also in who was doing
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n the face of this racism that was so reprehensible, Boston College held its head high and took a strong stance against it. the protesting. It was not just one student group, or one kind of person participating. It brought BC together. Instead of letting the racism divide their campus, it unified it, with students from every walk of life coming together in protest. We often isolate ourselves without even knowing it. People talk about this phenomenon happening on social media, where liberals only interact with other liberals and conservatives only interact with other conservatives. But the same goes for real life. White students tend to spend their
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weekend were small. No one was hurt. No one individual was targeted. Nothing got out of control.The reaction to them, though, was not. Hundreds of people left their classes Wednesday to show their support, not to mention the widespread reaction on social media. The outcry to the racism was distinctly disproportionate to the racism itself, but that’s not a bad thing. If a few racist tweets and a poster were met with nothing but a few activist tweets and posters, we would be normalizing racism in the worst way.
These racists posts, though few in number, are great in significance. Gestures like these are almost always indicative of a larger problem. When students shut that kind of behavior down, and refuse to tolerate these sentiments on any level, they are nipping that racism in the bud, before it grows into a beast. And in large part, it is all thanks to social media. Although social media was the platform of the problem, it also became the platform of the solution. People became aware of the incident through social media. They became outraged over the incident through social media. They planned a rally against the incident through social media. Through social media, BC students were able to say loud and clear that racism has no place on their campus. That’s pretty incredible. But what’s even better — it didn’t end there. For all of the ways that social media helps activism, it also has its limits. A Twitter thread or Facebook rant can be incredibly impactful, but it can only go so far. On Wednesday, BC took the next step. These students left the confines of the internet and took to the real world to make their anger known, in an unignorable way. BC did well this week. In the face of this racism that was so reprehensible, they held their heads high and took a strong stance against it. But BU is doing well too. We have yet to see that kind of racism here in any form, so let’s keep it that way. We pride ourselves on the activism of alumni like MLK and Howard Thurman. Let’s make them proud.
This week’s crossword puzzle is brought to you by Michael Peterson
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time primarily with other white students, and black students tend to spend their time primarily with other black students. This is by no means a hard and fast rule, but it is a very dangerous trend. Of course we are more comfortable with people who we are more similar too, but by associating only with people who share our culture, we fail to learn from cultures that differ from our own. Sometimes we need these kinds of rallies to break away from that. In a way, the acts of racism at BC this
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ACROSS 1. Delight 5. Sleighs 10. Poems 14.Not pre-recorded 15. Loses color 16. Center 17. Liberate 19. If not 20. Offer 21. Stadium 22. Small slits 23. Continuing forever 25. Manner of speaking 27. Snake-like fish 28.Inhaling through the nose 31. Territories 34. Metal money 35. Letter after sigma 36. Musical group 37. Doglike nocturnal mammal 38. Guns an engine 39. N N N N
40. Remove errors from 41. Adjust again 42. Loiterer 44. Regret 45. Knight’s “suit” 46. Financial aid 50. Binge 52. Unsophisticated 54. Drollness 55. Operatic solo 56. Nonsense 58. A large amount 59. Not inner 60.Chocolate cookie 61. Jittery 62. Redress 63. Family lines
1. Parish land 2. Circumscribe 3. Avoid 4. Poetic dusk 5. Helix 6. Continuation of the coat collar 7. Distinctive flair 8. Confining 9. South southeast 10. Leopardlike cat 11. Eastern Italian Alps 12. At one time (archaic) 13. Views 18. Flogs with a stick 22. Knights 24. Absorb written material 26. Spanish lady 28. French for “Sister” 29. Central area of a church 30. Burst of wind
31. Cain’s brother 32. Hindu princess 33. Trapping 34. Internet user (obscure slang) 37. Protagonist 38. Coral barrier 40. Greek territorial unit 41. King 43. Oily 44. Idolize 46. Broaden 47. Cognizant 48. Ascended 49. Community spirit 50. Satisfy 51. Goad 53. Countertenor 56. Type of snake 57. Man’s best friend
OPINION 9
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017 MAX VS. MEDIA:
Tell the truth about tax cuts
BY MAX BERMAN COLUMNIST
Would you die for your job? By this I do not mean would you die because of a job, or would you “die” (as in work so hard that it is like death) for a job: I mean would you actually die for your job? This is a hard question to answer. Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered earlier this week with a car bomb. She was a 21st century muckraker who targeted corrupt politicians, money launderers and many others. She will not write another word. Most people choose their jobs because they are safe. If you were told while applying for a job that you may be slandered, attacked, tortured and/or killed, you would probably be long gone. But people choose to be journalists every day. Why is that? Why do people choose to do this harmful and sometimes deadly job? The answer isn’t “because someone has to.” If someone just had to do journalism then we would have replaced journalists with machines a long time ago. I should make something very clear: I am not as brave as some journalists. I do not see myself dodging bullets or outrunning mobs anytime soon — or really ever for that matter. I am not a muckraker by any means. I just ramble once a week about my weird view on a political issue of the moment. I am for all intents and purposes, a book nerd who can churn out 600-800 words a week that will be read by the same five people: three of whom are close
friends who have to read them, one I am dating, and the other, my mom. But somehow, I am still a journalist. So what makes other journalists and I in any way related? I believe people choose to become journalists because they value truth and freedom more than even their lives. There is one pitfall: journalists fight for complete truth. This means there are some stories we have to write that are going to anger a lot of people. I don’t mean stories like begrudgingly covering a municipal meeting — I mean writing about how people’s heroes are not as good as we all thought they were. No one likes quoting a politician’s latest tirade against journalists or writing about producers that sexually harass and assault young actresses. But people have to write these stories. The truth — no matter how uncomfortable — has to be out there. Everyone is up against journalists. Governments don’t like them because they expose corruption. Citizens don’t like them because they tell people things that conflict with their opinions. Most professions have goals that the workers strive for. In business, you try to make the most money. In science, you try to make the world a safer place. Journalists on the other hand have an almost metaphysical ideal: truth. Most other professions also are routinely praised. Think about Halloween: how many little children are dressed up as journalists? Every year the trick or treaters you see are dressed up as cops, doctors, scientists and EVEN CLOWNS. CLOWNS! THE MOST TERRIFYING PROFESSION EVER IS THOUGHT OF AS MORE POPULAR THAN JOURNALISTS. OK … I’m sorry to all the clowns … I’m still kinda freaked out from “It.” Daphne Caruana Galizia’s death reminded me that there are a lot of opponents of truth and freedom: some more deadly than others. Journalists from the book reviewer to the foreign correspondent need to not be deterred by these latest threats. Truth needs us now more than ever before.
THE NEW RAMBLER:
On the murder of journalists
BY DANIEL DELLECHIAIE COLUMNIST
We’ve all heard the concept of being in a partisan or media “bubble.” However, the term bubble doesn’t really do justice to the phenomenon. Bubbles imply something is loosely contained and visible; however, these partisan and media bubbles are more like prison cells, ranging from minimum security to solitary confinement. Since I am left-of-center, I’ll make my point using the Fox News “prison.” I still remember a time in high school when a teacher was discussing what news sources we could use for an assignment. Someone mentioned Fox News and I scoffed, remarking that it clearly favored Republicans. That person didn’t argue with me, they just said two words: it does? A YouGov CBS poll found that only 58 percent of responders believed the current tax reform plan being discussed would favor the wealthy. While the plan is far from complete, one thing is clear: The tax reform bill will favor the American aristocracy. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winning economist and New York Times columnist, details all the lies in a Oct. 14 New York Times column — yes lies, not “falsehoods” — that Trump and the Republicans have been spewing to ensure a tax break for their campaign donors. Trump claims we are the highest-taxed nation, but we are actually the fifth-least taxed developed country. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that the lowest 90 percent of workers will see a tax cut somewhere around one percent.
Those ages 95–99 will receive a two percent cut, and the richest one percent will see an eight percent cut. Republicans will argue that “job creators” will use the extra money to hire more workers and invest more money, thus helping the economy as a whole. This idea is very flawed. Flaw one — job creators could just pocket the money. Flaw two — the wealthiest could invest the money overseas. Flaw three — giving money solely to the middle class could also help the overall economy. But all of the lies and flaws in trickle-down economics don’t keep Fox News from letting lies go unchecked on its website. Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens, argued in a Fox news article/op-ed (I honestly can’t tell the difference on Fox) that “another perfectly sensible proposal is killing the death tax, which unceremoniously celebrated its centennial last year. A Gallup poll last year found that 54 percent of Americans want it eliminated. The tax has a devastating impact on the economy by increasing costs on small businesses.” The real issue I have with Fox News isn’t an explicit support of tax cuts, it’s that I can’t find a source anywhere on Fox News that points out the tax cuts benefit the wealthiest Americans almost exclusively. How do you think only 58 percent of Americans believe the cuts will favor the rich? My guess is the Fox News high security prison plays a factor in keeping out the truth. I spent a dreadful night on Monday watching Tucker Carlson argue that immigrants are bad, debate a leftist economist who wouldn’t answer any questions, and relish in the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Carlson loves to argue that immigrants help the rich while “shafting” the middle class — but has he even mentioned how great the tax plan is for the wealthy? Hopefully I’ve missed something. Perhaps Fox News is providing journalism and not just clickbait for those on the right needing affirmation. Point me to an article, a news clip, something that demonstrates that Fox News is truly honest about these tax cuts. If you can’t, it’s time to tell Fox News its fly is open, and its aristocratic bias is showing.
CARTOON BY TAREQ ALKHUDARI/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Pole dancing, foosball and poker are all in the preliminary stages of being considered for a spot in the Olympics. We here at the ‘ol Free Press want to know — what non-Olympic activity would BU students win a gold medal in? Allston: Beer pong
West Campus: Setting off fire alarms
Freshmen: Leaving underwear in the Warren laundry room
Study abroad students: Posting acceptance emails on Facebook
People outside Questrom: Chain smoking
Bikers: Running into pedestrians
Sorority girls: Editing Instagram pics
FreeP: Crashing our website
10 SPORTS
20 QUESTIONS for women’s hockey transfer REAGAN RUST Junior transfer defenseman Reagan Rust made her debut for the Boston University women’s hockey team count as she scored the Terriers’ (0-3, 0-3 Hockey East) first goal of the season against Merrimack College on Sept. 23. Rust also notched an assist in the first game of the Northeastern series on Oct. 6. The Southaven, Mississippi native spent her last two seasons with Rochester Institute of Technology before transferring to BU. The Daily Free Press caught up with Rust to talk about her transition to a new school, goals for the season, her favorite professional athlete and more. 1. What was it like transferring to BU?
5. What’s your favorite thing about fall?
[It’s] a lot different. It’s right in the city and I was used to country and having a car and everything like that. Now everything is constantly nonstop and I kind of like it that way.
Well [it’s] the start of hockey season so that’s pretty nice.
2. Who or what do you think has made that transition easier?
7. What has been your favorite thing about Boston so far?
My teammates and my coaches definitely made the transition a lot easier for me. They were always there for me to talk to and they helped me with any question that I had.
I just love how many opportunities [there are] here and there’s so much room to grow.
3. How would you describe your first few games with the Terriers? I’d say it’s gone pretty well. You can see that we have a lot of potential and I think as the season progresses we’re going to just keep getting better. 4. What’s your favorite class you’re taking this semester? My Writing 150 class.
6. What is your favorite holiday? I’d have to say Thanksgiving.
8. Who is your favorite professional athlete? Definitely [Pittsburgh Penguins captain and forward] Sidney Crosby. 9. What is your favorite place to eat around campus? Sweetgreen. I really like that place. 10. Who are some of your favorite singers or bands you like to listen to? I like Mumford and Sons. I don’t even know. This is a hard question [because] I like a lot of things.
PHOTO BY BETSEY GOLDWASSER/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Junior defensmen Reagan Rust is tied for first on the team with two points.
11. What place would you really like to visit? I want to go to Italy. 12. You’re originally from Mississippi, what do you miss most about home? The country. I just like being able to take my car and go on long drives being on the country roads. 13. What would you say is the most different about Boston and Mississippi? They’re the two polar opposites. I mean it’s a lot warmer that’s for sure and there’s not as many people and everything’s more spaced out I think in Mississippi. 14. What is your biggest fear? I’m not really scared of much because I’m not scared of moving or anything like that obviously. I don’t really have a terrible fear, maybe mice. Yeah, definitely mice. 15. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what three items would you bring? Could I bring a boat? (Yeah.) Alright — boat, gas and food.
16. Do you have any specific goals for this season?
19. When were you first introduced to hockey?
I want to win the Beanpot. That and a national championship, but one thing at a time.
I was five years old and I started going to [SPHL Mississippi] RiverKings games. [They’re] like a semi-pro team in Mississippi.
17. Which game on the schedule are you most looking forward to? Definitely playing my old team [on Nov. 3 and 4 at the Walter Brown Arena]. 18. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from hockey? When you get knocked down, you got to get back up no matter how many times it happens.
20. What is your favorite thing about playing for BU head coach Brian Durocher? The country. I just like being able to take my car and go on long drives being on the country roads. BY NICOLE HAVENS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
FAST FACT: Rust is enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and is majoring in economics.
Women’s hockey looks for first wins this weekend BY OLIVIA O’BRIEN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Boston University women’s hockey team will head to Orono, Maine to face off against the University of Maine on Friday at 2 p.m. in an effort to win their first game of the season before returning home to play the University of Connecticut on Sunday. In their first contests of the 2017-18 season, the Terriers (0-3, 0-3 Hockey East) struggled to get winning goals in close-scoring games. BU suffered a 2-2 overtime loss to Concordia University in an exhibition matchup on Sept. 22, a 2-1 loss to Merrimack College on Sept. 23 and a 3-2 overtime loss to Northeastern University on Oct. 6 before falling 6-3 to Northeastern (2-3-1, 2-0 Hockey East) the following night. “We need to find a way to win,
and that’s multifaceted, whether it’s getting a puck out of your zone, whether it’s making another save, whether it’s scoring on the power play, any and all of those things could be part of it,” head coach Brian Durocher said. Durocher said he is not underestimating a solid Maine (4-2) team that did not qualify for the playoffs last season. The Black Bears’ roster includes a stack of older, experienced players and Durocher said that getting away with a win would be a formidable challenge for the Terriers. Sophomore forward Tereza Vanisova leads Maine in points with 10, consisting of three goals and seven assists. Vanisova was key in the Black Bears’ 5-2 victory against then-No. 10 Robert Morris University on Oct. 14 after collecting two goals and two assists. “We’ve never gone up there and dominated,” Durocher said.
“It’s always been that when we win we’re pulling teeth and squeezing by, and we’ve lost a few games up there. I have great respect for how [Maine head coach Richard Reichenbach] coaches. Their team has really got confidence on their side right now and it’ll be real tough to get out of there with a win.” Later on in the weekend, the Terriers will host another Hockey East competitor, UConn (3-2, 0-1 Hockey East). The Huskies are coming off a successful series against Union College where their offensive forces were on display after outscoring Union (0-5-1) by a margin of 11-1 over the weekend. Sophomore forward Briana Colangelo and freshman forward Natalie Snodgrass, who lead UConn with seven points each, were key threats over the weekend and will pose a challenge to BU’s young team. Durocher emphasized the
importance of his experienced players in aiding the six new freshman, and readjusting with key players out due to injuries. He said the two transfers, junior defenseman Reagan Rust from Rochester Institute of Technology and redshirt sophomore defenseman Abbey Stanley from the University of North Dakota, will help lead the squad with experience. “They have experience and we count on them for leadership, not just with their ability, but with what they know about college hockey,” Durocher said. With injuries forcing key players to the sideline, younger players have had to step up. Durocher said that has been an adjustment the team has faced early on this season. “From a hockey standpoint, we’re just trying to be thorough in every area,” Durocher said. “I don’t think we can play wide open hockey or try to score more
goals than the other team in the high number sense. We have to try to beat people 3-1 and 3-2 for a little while we get people healthy and get some depth back in the line up.” The younger players are making their presence known by already getting on the scoreboard this season. Freshman forwards Nara Elia and Kristina Schuler both notched their first collegiate goals of their careers against Northeastern on power plays. “It’s nice to know that some of the younger kids, Nara Elia, Kristina Schuler, got on the scoresheet so far and when that goes well it’s a real positive because the Rebecca Leslie’s, the Nina Rodgers, the Victoria Bach, those kids are going to score goals throughout the course of the year,” Durocher said. “They’re going to produce points, but if we can get some young kids involved it’s really important.”
FOLLOW ALONG WITH BU HOCKEY ON TWITTER: @BOShockeyblog
SPORTS 11
Women’s soccer tops Army, 1-0, wins 3rd straight game BY LIAM O’BRIEN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Boston University women’s soccer team extended their three-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory of the United States Military Academy Wednesday night on Nickerson Field. Heading into the contest, the Terriers (8-6-3, 5-1-1 Patriot League) had been on a run of holding opposing offenses without scoring chances — as they have only allowed one goal in the past eight games. This trend continued in West Point, New York. BU slowed down Army’s (3-10-2, 1-5-1) offense, limiting the Black Knights to just eight shots while releasing 19 of their own. The Terriers doubled Army’s
total of shots on goal, notching 10 compared with the Black Knights’ five. The shutout was the ninth of the Terriers season, their fifth of the Patriot League slate. At 14:16, BU made their way onto the scoreboard. Freshman midfielder McKenna Kennedy carried the ball up the left side of the midfield before saucing a pass to senior midfielder Jesse Shreck in the middle of traffic. Using her veteran prowess, Shreck surveyed the field and saw senior Christina Wakefield cutting upfield behind the defense. “We knew that Army plays a pretty aggressive back line,” BU head coach Nancy Feldman said. “If we had good speed, we could get some chances and put some balls behind them. It has to be a perfect pass and a perfectly timed run, and it was.”
Shreck dropped a pass through the Army zone, leading Heilferty straight to paydirt. Wakefield picked the ball up in front of the defense and beat goalkeeper Sydney Cassalia with a strike. “It was a tougher finish than I think it looked,” Feldman said. “[Wakefield] was at full speed and the keeper was coming out. She is very athletic. She had enough on it to put it away. She is very athletic. She had enough on it to put it away. It was a great pass, something that we knew that if we were able to catch them, [we could] execute.” The goal was another pillar in what has been a successful season for Wakefield. It was her fifth goal of the season, tying her with freshman forward Anna Heilferty for the team lead. She is also tied with Heilferty for the team lead in
assists and points — with three and 13 respectively. From there, the Terriers never looked back. By the end of the first half, they held a 12-2 shot advantage. The Black Knights did up the ante in the second half, taking six shots to the Terriers’ seven. Freshman goalkeeper Amanda Fay, however, made five saves on the night. Shreck was tied for the team lead in shots with three, equaling the bar set by junior Dorrie VarleyBarrett and by junior Mckenna Doyle. The trio combined for four shots on goal. With the win, the Terriers remained in fourth place in the Patriot League. BU will get the chance to measure its progress this Saturday afternoon against Bucknell University, who sits in second place in the conference with a
6-1 conference record. The win secured the Terriers a spot in the Patriot League Tournament this season. The United States Naval Academy, who handed the Terriers their sole in-conference loss earlier this month, are currently in first place in the Patriot League with a 6-0-1 record. Feldman said that she was satisfied with her team’s approach The team will look to finish the season strong. BU has two games left before the postseason. “We had a good approach,” Feldman said. “We were physically committed to the game, winning our 50-50 [balls] keeping them under pressure defensively, and committing to moving off of the ball. You really have to stay poised under pressure, and I thought we did.”
7th Inning Stretch: Red Sox say farewell, Farrell
BY JACOB GURVIS COLUMNIST
A World Series championship. Three division titles in five years, including two in a row. Sixth alltime in games managed and wins. Consecutive 93-win seasons. Does this sound like the resume of a manager who just got fired? Apparently. As John Farrell learned the hard way last Wednesday, Boston sports can be ruthless. Last Monday, the Boston Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs by a juggernaut Houston Astros team, and fans, reporters, and players alike wondered if the Sox skipper would return for a sixth season. Early Wednesday morning, that question was answered. John Farrell had been fired. When Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski addressed the media that morning, he offered so many non-answers that one may wonder if he has a future in politics. “At this point, sometimes change can be better, and that’s why we decided to move forward with the change,” Dombrowski said. “You weigh a lot of different things that become involved … I thought it was the appropriate time to make a change for the betterment of the organization moving forward.” Dombrowski did divulge that Farrell was not fired because of the playoff series loss, and that no number of regular season wins could’ve prevented it. Essentially, Farrell was gone no matter what. In the week since the firing, many have attempted to explain Dombrowski’s decision. To me, three main factors are at play. First, and most simply: Farrell
was never Dombrowski’s guy. When Dombrowski arrived in Boston in August 2015, he inherited a team with a beloved manager. Farrell had come in after the 2012 disaster of Bobby Valentine, and won a championship in the magical 2013 season, his first season as Sox manager. Farrell was there to stay, whether Dombrowski liked it or not. Now, after more than two full years running the Sox, Dombrowski was ready to find his own manager. He and Farrell had a tepid professional relationship, and after consecutive disappointing finishes, he showed Farrell, a Ben Cherington hire, the Fenway door. A second, and more obvious, reason for Farrell’s axing was that he lost his clubhouse. Between the Apple Watch cheating scandal, David Price’s altercation with NESN’s Dennis Eckersley, and the mishandled feud with the Baltimore Orioles and Manny Machado, numerous instances occurred throughout the season that required strong leadership. Instead of owning up to the gaffes, chastising his players, or reestablishing order in the clubhouse, Farrell dismissed blame and pleaded ignorance. As the manager of a big-market team in a media-oriented city like Boston, that’s not good enough. Of course, it is impossible to know exactly what transpired when the clubhouse doors closed; Farrell could have held team meetings and yelled at his players. But considering all three cases proceeded unresolved, it is clear that a strong voice of reason was missing from the 2017 Red Sox. Finally, and most importantly, Farrell failed to get the most out of his players. While an intangible leadership quality, keeping players motivated and at their best is perhaps the most important role of a manager. An alarming number of Sox players regressed in 2017. Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Hanley Ramirez and Xander Bogaerts all saw their numbers slip, from 2016. In the rotation, 2016 Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello led
baseball in losses. This is simply unacceptable. When the majority of the team’s core takes a massive step backward in one season, it is indicative of larger organizational issues. They didn’t just forget how to play baseball. So “Manager John” is out. Dombrowski likely should’ve let Farrell go following the 2016 season, with bench coach and once interim manager Torey Lovullo available as an obvious replacement. Instead, Dombrowski gave Farrell another chance, and Lovullo left for Arizona, where he may win Manager of the Year after leading the Diamondbacks to the playoffs. So who should replace Farrell? Let’s assess the candidates, shall we? Brad Ausmus, whom Dombrowski hired in Detroit, is a safe pick. He’s young, experienced and has relationships with Dombrowski, the problematic Price, and free agent and potential Sox target J.D. Martinez. He has New England roots, and would connect with younger players through his utilization of analytics. Ausmus had been in consideration for the position back in the 2012 offseason, but the Sox chose Farrell. He remains a solid choice, and Boston supposedly interviewed him on Monday. Next is Ron Gardenhire, who managed the Minnesota Twins from 2002-14. He’s older than Farrell (59 compared to 55) — but is well-respected, and has had a successful managerial career. To me, it’s pretty simple. Gardenhire is old, has no connection to Boston, and shouldn’t be picked over the other two. Nevertheless, Dombrowski will interview him. This brings us to Alex Cora — the apparent favorite for the job. Cora, 42, played for Boston from 2005-08, and is regarded as an excellent communicator and an analytics master. Cora is obviously familiar with the Sox (he played with, and mentored, Dustin Pedroia), and Farrell’s greatest weakness — communicating with and motivating players — seems to be Cora’s greatest strength.
He would connect easily with the Sox’s young core, and would be loved by fans. To me, and most Boston media, Alex Cora is the clear favorite. What’s next for our friend John? He’s an excellent baseball mind, and will undoubtedly land elsewhere, whether next week or further down the line. I expect that Farrell will take at least a year off. Managing in Boston is not an easy job, and after five seasons of highly-scrutinized, high-stress work, he deserves a vacation. Farrell gave his all to the Sox, and fans must appreciate what he has done for this city and
franchise. He led the team to a championship, stayed calm under pressure, and put up with an incredible amount of hate from fans, all while battling cancer and going through a divorce. You’ve got to applaud him. That being said, it’s time for a change. The team is growing younger, and the Sox need a manager who connects with players, and gets the most out of them throughout a long and arduous season. Many, myself included, believe Cora is that man. We shall see. So while I’m sad to see Farrell go, Dombrowski made the right call. It’s time for a fresh start.
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