11-29-2018

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UNDER PRESSURE, 2

MONET OR MUSIC, 7

OFFSITE FEES, 8

PERFECTLY BALANCED, 11

BU student organizations aid stressed students during finals season.

A CFA talk examines Claude Debussy’s label of the “impressionist artist.”

The Editorial Board evaluates high bills faced by some urgent care patients.

Women’s hockey sits at 4-4-4 heading into a weekend series against BC.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

YEAR XLVI. VOLUME XCIV. ISSUE XII

First weed shops open for business BY NATALIE PATRICK

DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

SERENA YU/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston University campus along the Charles River. The U.S. government’s Fourth National Climate Assessment mentioned environmental changes likely to impact the country’s economy, infrastructure and tourism.

BU responds to findings in climate report BY LAUREN ASHE

DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Environmental advocates at BU are taking action to reduce the school’s environmental impact in response to a National Climate Report released Nov. 23 by the United States Global Change Research Program. The report, which is the USGCR’s fourth since 2000, describes the current and projected impacts that climate change could have on the United States. The 2018 report predicts detrimental impacts on the economy, infrastructure, tourism, agriculture and air quality, among other areas.

Anthony Janetos, director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and chair of the Department of Earth and Environment, has worked on all four reports and said that people should take its findings seriously. “It’s a pretty stark reminder that the U.S. is already experiencing these impacts,” Janetos said. “They’re serious and warrant a response.” BU’s Climate Action Plan, which was adopted in Dec. 2017, focuses on decreasing the university’s greenhouse gas emissions and increasing its resilience to environ-

mental changes. Janetos said the plan includes a goal to reduce the university’s net carbon emission to zero by 2040. In September, BU announced that it had signed an agreement to purchase renewable energy from a wind farm in South Dakota. The purchase will offset all of the university’s emissions from electricity — which is more than half of its total emissions — according to Janetos. Lisa Tornatore, sustainability director for Sustainability@BU, said that one way the university is responding to climate change is by constructing flood-resistant build-

ings with mechanical and electrical equipment on higher floors to eliminate potential damages in the future. Both the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences and Engineering, which opened in September 2017, and the planned data sciences center to be constructed at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Granby Street, follow the “elevation for resilience” recommended in the university’s Climate Action Plan, Tornatore said. “This means our buildings and our people will be able to recover CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

The first two legal recreational marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts opened Nov. 20 in Leicester and Northampton, and as of Sunday, had together made more than $2 million in revenue. The state Cannabis Control Commission reported that a total of 56,380 units from the two shops were purchased in the first five days of business, with an average of 3.4 units per transaction. Customers spent an average of $39.33 on each unit purchased. Massachusetts voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana for those over the age of 21 in 2016, but the CCC did not vote to approve the first final licenses for marijuana establishments until October of this year. While recreational marijuana is now legal, more than 80 communities have banned recreational cannabis dispensaries as of July, though 53.6 percent of Massachusetts voters supported legalizing recreational marijuana in 2016. Another 110 communities enacted moratoriums on the opening of dispensaries. Cultivate, located in Leicester, was one of the first two marijuana dispensaries to open in the state after receiving approval from the CCC. “We are honored to be making history today and want to thank the Town of Leicester and Cannabis Control Commission for their hard work in delivering on what the people of Massachusetts voted for over twoyears ago,” said Sam Barber, CEO and founder of Cultivate, in a press release.

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Task Force plans for 2030 City offers aid to homeless community BY KIRAN GALANI

DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston University Strategic Planning Task Force has begun work on its strategic plan for the next decade and is holding listening sessions to get the BU community’s thoughts on what should be included. The task force, led by BU Provost Jean Morrison, was put in place this fall to develop a vision for the university in 2030, BU President Robert Brown wrote in an email. The university implemented its first strategic plan in 2007, he wrote. “Strategic planning is a complex and comprehensive process that is only undertaken about every decade because of the time needed to implement the vision,” Brown wrote. The university will use the new plan to help guide decision-making, direction and university priorities in the years leading up to 2030, said Kimberly Howard, a task force member and associate professor in the

Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. The task force is currently working on gathering input from BU staff, faculty and students by holding numerous “listening sessions” across campus, Howard said. “We have invited anyone and everyone across the university community to attend these sessions and provide us with their thoughts about where they think the university should be going,” Howard said. The final listening session will be held on Jan. 30, 2019. Following the sessions, the task force will try to identify major themes and priorities from the community’s vision for BU in 2030, Howard said. “At that point, our task as a task force will be to take all of that feedback across the various constituents and really sift through it to see what the themes are,” Howard said. “So, in many ways it’s a great, big, qualitative CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

HA NGUYEN/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A man seeks shelter in the Hynes Convention Center MBTA station. The City of Boston is working to provide services and resources to aid people who are homeless this winter.

BY ANDY VO

DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

With winter storms and freezing temperatures approaching, the City of Boston has been working with numerous city agencies, homeless shelters and other community partners to provide resources and ser-

vices to aid the individuals affected by homelessness this winter. A Nov. 22 tweet from Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s account urged residents to aid those at risk during periods of inclement weather. “Extreme cold weather and winter storms can put homeless people,

who may suffer from medical and behavioral health conditions, at risk,” the tweet said. “If you see one of our neighbors in the cold today please call 911.” In a statement released in 2016, the City announced that the Department of Neighborhood Development, the Boston Public Health Commission’s Homeless Services and the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Services are coordinating efforts with a goal to ensure the safety of people who are homeless. The City said these groups would work together on emergency shelters, outreach providers, substance abuse services and other community or municipal partner agencies. BPHC stated that winter storms and extreme cold weather pose dangers to individuals who are homeless and suffer from medical or behavioral health problems. In an October Executive CONTINUED ON PAGE 2


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