11-4-2021

ELECTION DAY, 2

GSU ART EXHIBIT, 3

EDITORIAL, 4

Michelle Wu will be the first elected female and POC mayor in Boston.

A public installation shares a Native American artist’s voice.

Yes, nightlife is important for culture — and Boston’s is racist.

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THURSDAY, NOV. 4, 2021

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SOCCER PREVIEW, 8 BU WSoc wraps up the season with 1st place. Postseason incoming.

J O U R NA LI S M

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

YEAR LI. VOLUME C. ISSUE XI

From mask mandates to college loan forgiveness: how BU students view Biden’s first year Sangmin Song Daily Free Press Staff A year ago, their eyes were glued to electoral maps on laptop screens and televisions across a socially-distanced campus, anxiously waiting to see what direction the country would take. Now, BU students share mixed opinions regarding the first year of the Biden administration, noting improvements in COVID-19 policy and overall rhetoric, but poor handling of Afghanistan withdrawal and lack of substantial change in the status quo.

Students from various political campus organizations say there is room for growth at this point in the president’s term, but some see the current administration, compared to the previous, as a notable improvement.

Carter Plantinga, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he was excited by the COVID-19 relief bill passed early in Biden’s term and by the prospect of the infrastructure bill that contains much of Biden’s domestic agenda making its way through Congress now.

“I felt like this current administration was a breath of fresh air in comparison to the last one,” Plantinga said. “Liberal reforms seemed such a far cry from occurring in the previous administration that this time around seem like they might make some meaningful changes.”

CAS junior Quentin Blaizot, a member of Young Americans for Liberty at BU, said nothing has significantly changed since Election Day 2020.

“I feel like we saw just the continuation of the United States,” Blaizot said. “Inflation and supply shortages, all that jazz, were inevitable, whether it be under Biden or Trump, especially with both of their policies not differing too much on that.”

Arsheya Maghsoud, president of BU College Republicans and sophomore in CAS, said he believes Biden has been doing his job poorly.

“There’s definitely a public outcry and demand for this administration to do better because they’ve been underperforming and not following their promises,” he said.

Maghsoud said Biden’s “Build Back Better” social infrastructure

MEGHAN SCOTT | DFP FILE

A person holding a Biden flag stands on a traffic light Nov. 7, 2020 near the Boston Public Garden. Boston University students shared mixed opinions regarding the Biden administration’s first year in office.

bill, whose proposed funding has fluctuated over the past several months in order to appeal to a larger part of Congress, is evidence of the administration’s underperformance.

“They came from [3.5] trillion dollars in funding, all the way back down to [1.85] trillion,” he said.

“There’s still tons of cracks and holes.”

CAS sophomore Allie Barwind, vice-president of BUCR, said Biden’s been “a really large detriment” to the United States so far, adding the positive change he’s brought about does not, in her opinion, outweigh the mistakes.

“I think that he’s done a lot more damage than he has done any good during his presidency,” she said.

“That’s something that kind of disappointed me to see, because I was just hoping for a zero-sum game with him.”

Regarding the president’s COVID-19 plan, particularly the mask mandates on federal property, most students expressed approval of the policy and change in the surrounding rhetoric.

“Having a president that doesn’t make fun of people for wearing masks has meant … people are much, much more comfortable.” Plantinga said. “It’s been very meaningful, the mask mandates at a local and state level.

Some students said they were glad to see actions being made for the nation to combat racism and to effectively communicate with people on both sides of the aisle.

CAS senior Haneul Shin said she appreciated the change in the rhetoric used by the White House, adding that the narrative Biden wants to present of the United States is one of the administration’s biggest improvements.

“The narratives that he gives about

international people, about diversity, about climate change, is very important in the way people think of it and the way people behave,” Shin said.

“He has definitely made an impact in reducing the amount of anti-Asian xenophobia or the use of ‘Chinese Virus’ as the ‘COVID virus’... I feel less threatened or at least less targeted or blamed for the pandemic that is happening.”

Amanda Slutzky, president of the BU College Democrats and a junior in CAS, said Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the World Health Organization was a promising first set of steps, but she hopes to see more improvements to climate policy.

“I think it was the bare minimum for climate change,” she said. “I’d definitely like to see more, but also remembering that it’s not super easy for them right now to get legislation passed.”

However, many students interviewed showed their disappointment toward the manner in which U.S. troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan.

“I think that’s something that was extremely dangerous,” Barwind said.

“He was following a plan that Trump had, but I think it’s really challenging taking over something from one administration when it’s in the middle of it … and I think that really did not turn out well for the Biden administration.”

Shin said she saw the decision as a “betrayal and as a sign of the weakness of U.S. promises.”

“When this happened, I was in Morocco,” she said. “I had lots of discussions with my friends, and they just saw it as further proof of why Western countries are less reliable, and more weakening of its ties.”

With three years left in Biden’s

term, students said they expect more improvements to be implemented, especially given the promises made on his campaign trail.

“Joe Biden ... promised forgiveness for a certain amount of college debt, which could be a big deal for me, obviously,” Plantinga said, adding that he hopes there is also a shot at increasing the minimum wage, even if it has to wait until after the midterms.

Angela Song, a senior in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, said she thinks Biden’s administration needs more time to show progress.

“There’s always room for development and room for growth in whatever situation that you give,” Song said.

“It has just been a year, so I’m pretty sure that the Biden administration [is] trying to pull out different policies.”

Kaija Schilde, a political scientist and an associate professor in Pardee, said students need to understand pronounced, substantial change on a national scale takes time.

“It’s very important for students to understand just how slow-moving the U.S. political system is. It’s designed that way,” she said. “It is annoying and broken, but it was designed to be slow and inefficient to prevent bad ideas from moving too quickly.”

Schilde said she encourages students against “thinking about politics like they’re consumers,” adding that some institutions of power are resilient and to change them requires a deeper understanding of how they work.

“I know that students want to be involved, and the question is ‘How?’” Schilde said. “I like it when there’s social movements and a lot of action, but people also need to be very realistic about what reaches power and what doesn’t.”

OBITUARY: Remembering BU Academy teacher Jennifer Formichelli Tanisha Bhat Daily Free Press Staff

Jennifer Formichelli, a Boston University Academy English teacher, died after being fatally injured Oct. 26 when struck by a school bus at an intersection in Mattapan, where she lived. A candlelight vigil was held at Marsh Chapel Oct. 28.

Before teaching at BUA, Formichelli joined the College of Arts and Sciences’ Core Curriculum — a program designed to introduce students to classic literature and arts — from 2006 to 2012, as a lecturer.

She later taught in the College of General Studies and in 2016, began as an English teacher at BUA. Formichelli herself was a BU alum, graduated with an undergraduate degree in literary history in 1996 and from the Metropolitan College in 2021.

She previously co-edited a volume of T.S. Eliot’s annotated prose and published works on literary history and allusion, Shakespeare and

William Empson. Formichelli was also working on a book covering a 2010 four-person homicide in Mattapan.

BUA released a press statement Oct. 26 expressing the Academy’s sorrow for her death.

“The Boston University Academy community was profoundly shocked and saddened to learn of the loss of English teacher Dr. Jennifer Formichelli in a tragic accident early this morning,” the statement read.

“She was a cherished member of our school community and will be deeply missed.”

Chris Kolovos, BUA’s Head of School, wrote in an email that Formichelli inspired many of her students with her passion and care and took the time to get to know them personally.

“She loved language and literature, but loved working with adolescents even more,” he wrote. “She took their ideas seriously, challenged them, and laughed with them. She will be – and is already – deeply missed.”

Kyna Hamill, now director of the Core Curriculum said she joined the program as faculty in 2007, soon after Formichelli joined.

“Our colleagues who were here

when she was here have been shocked and very saddened by her death,” she said.

Hamill said on the same day as Formichelli’s passing before they knew of the accident, a colleague had mentioned in a class how “wonderful” a reader and interpreter of literature Formichelli had been.

“She was on our mind that day, and it was a shock,” Hamill said. “Our colleagues who were here when she was here have been shocked and very saddened by her death.”

BUA has created a website for those who knew Formichelli to post remembrances. In an email to the Core Curriculum Newsletter listing, Hamill wrote that The Journal of the Core Curriculum, to which Formichelli often contributed, will have its Spring issue dedicated to her memory.

She is survived by her fiancé, Fillmore Parris, father, Carl and brother, Greg.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY ACADEMY

Boston University Academy English teacher Jennifer Formichelli, pictured above, was fatally struck by a school bus in Mattapan Oct. 26.

2 NEWS

Asian American community celebrates Wu’s election as first elected female mayor, mayor of color in Boston Although the Boston Election Department only reported tallies from 100% of precincts at around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, Essaibi George conceded in a speech to her watch party supporters around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Only 30.59% of precincts were reported at the time.

Congratulations then poured in on social media from endorsers and former mayoral opponents alike, such as Acting Mayor Kim Janey and Andrea Campbell — the latter of whom had not previously endorsed either candidate — offering their praise to Wu. Janey held a joint press conference with Wu Wednesday to address the transition of power, as Wu is set to

take office in about two weeks on Nov. 16.

Isabella Abraham “I am completely confident that mayor-elect Wu is prepared and City News Editor ready to lead on day one,” Janey said.

“We know there are a multitude of For the first time in the 199 years issues, but I am completely confident since the mayoral seat was created, in her ability to lead our city.”

Bostonians elected Michelle Wu as Wu said she is working with Janey their first female mayor and first to take a deeper look at the most mayor of color in the 2021 general pressing issues affecting Boston and election on Nov. 2. to “seamlessly” move forward in The latest results from the City’s addressing them. website as of 4:11 p.m. Wednesday “The priority now is to build out indicate Wu captured 63.94% of the a team that reflects all of Boston, vote — compared to the 35.65% of that includes the expertise of our ballots her opponent Annissa Essaibi communities, that is going to move George won — at 255 of 255 precincts with the urgency of the issues that are reporting. at hand,” Wu said.

Diana Hwang, founder and executive director of the political leadership organization Asian American Women’s Political Initiative, said Wu’s win as an Asian American builds off of the “activation and energy” of AAPI Bostonians who voted in the election.

“I think the real takeaways from her historic win are that our voices and our leadership are needed,” said. “Our votes can be the difference, and if we run, we can win.”

Harris Zhao, vice president of programming for the National Association of Asian American Professionals’ Boston SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF chapter, congratulated Michelle Wu smiling to supporters Tuesday night following her mayoral victory. Wu is Boston’s Wu on behalf of the first female mayor and its first mayor of color to be elected in the 199 years since the mayoral seat’s creation. organization in an

interview and said he thanks her for representing the diverse AAPI community in Boston.

“Michelle Wu being elected and finally sitting in a position of power, it also says that we as an Asian community, we belong to this Boston,” he said. “And we can also trust and then we can start to participate and we can feel like our voice does matter, that it is seen.”

Hwang said Wu’s “resounding” win was all the more “momentous” because of the large point difference she won by.

“There’s no question that the city of Boston is behind her,” she said, “that she really met this moment and inspired a multiracial, multigenerational coalition to come out to support her and that’s incredible.”

Chair of the political science and legal studies department at Suffolk University and associate professor Rachael Cobb said Wu’s landslide victory means she has a lot of support and political capital coming out of the gate.

“I think it is a really important day to pause and honor this extraordinary achievement and really examine the city that has transformed in how it votes and who it’s voting for,” she said.

Hwang said she places Wu’s openness about her identity and the mental health struggles of her mother as reasons many AAPI voters resonated with her platform — especially young AAPI women, who have high rates of suicide and depression. “[Mental health] is something that we don’t talk about and goes unaddressed and unseen,” she said.

“The fact that [Wu] was speaking so openly about it really is important, not only for our community but for what we see as her becoming mayor and really bringing her full lived

experience to running Boston.”

Daughter of Tunisian and Polish immigrants, Essaibi George’s run for mayor put Arab American identity into the spotlight regardless of her loss, said Mohammed Missouri, executive director of the nonprofit Jetpac, which aims to strengthen American Muslim political infrastructure.

Missouri added he hopes to see Wu’s administration be intentional with reaching out to underrepresented communities in the city.

“I’m hoping she’ll really engage with our community and be proactive in doing it,” Missouri said.

“That it’s not just that we have to do the outreach ourselves, but that the mayor’s office actually does that outreach to us.”

Cobb added that Wu’s big win comes in line with other mayoral wins for women of color across the country, for example in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“Politics is still dominated by men,” Cobb said. “I do think this is a national transformation that is going to likely increase, slowly.”

Looking toward the future, Samson Lee, a NAAAP board member, said Wu’s win represents the possibility that people of any ethnicity or political standing can become mayor.

“We look forward to seeing what happens over the next few years and hopefully, Boston will have to grow as a great thriving city for everyone,” he said.

Wu’s election symbolizes a changing face of leadership in Boston that is “bold,” Hwang said.

“For little Asian American girls and for Asian American women across the country, seeing Michelle become mayor and seeing ourselves reflected in her, it’s everything,” she said.

Boston mayoral voters, endorsers react as mayoral election concludes Phil London Cici Yu Daily Free Press Staff

In the historic race to decide who would be the first woman and woman of color to be elected mayor of the City of Boston, voters and supporters of the respective campaigns reflected on their choices.

As of 12:00 a.m. Nov. 3, Michelle Wu captured 62.78% of the City’s vote and Annissa Essaibi George secured 36.81%, with 99.61% of precincts accounted for. Just before 10:30 p.m. on Election Night, Essaibi George conceded the race in a speech at her watch party, making Wu the winner of the 2021 Boston mayoral race.

Wu claims victory, Essaibi George concedes, supporters react post-election Michelle Wu took the stage at her election night watch party Tuesday night as the first woman and the first woman of color elected to the Boston mayoral seat.

“From every corner of our city Boston has spoken,” Wu said. “We are ready to meet this moment. We are ready to become a Boston for everyone.”

Wu emphasized her plans as mayor to tackle “big problems with bold solutions.”

“Boston has always been that city that punches above our weight,” she said. “Where our activism, our

community, our joy radiates out into progress across the country. And today, together, we are marching into Boston’s promise.”

Arturo Campos, a Wu campaign volunteer, said he felt vindicated as a first-generation immigrant and a person of color to see Michelle Wu take the stage as Mayor of Boston. “[Wu] went to all the neighborhoods and built a coalition, and said you know what we can have the policies that we need that we deserve, if we work hard for it,” Campos said, “and tonight it’s really great to see that movement triumph.”

Wu voter and volunteer José Lopez said he felt that the labor that was put into the campaign was all worth it in the end, and that a dream of a more inclusive and diverse Boston may be realized.

“I am very excited about the promise of the future of Boston,” Lopez said. “I’m glad I’m here to witness it.

Essaibi George congratulated Wu for winning the election for mayor during her concession speech at her watch party at the Copley Fairmount.

“I want to offer a great big congratulations to Michelle Wu. She’s the first woman, the first person of color and, as an Asian American, the first elected to be mayor of Boston.” Essaibi George said. “I know this is no small feat. You know this is no small feat.”

Essaibi George asked supporters to be engaged in the city every day and “to intentionally do something good” to move Boston forward, adding she would continue fighting for the families, seniors, veterans, people experiencing homelessness and small business owners.

“This race may technically be

over,” she said. “But the work is not supports the Green New Deal is can find common ground with them,” done. Our work is not done.” something that’s extremely important Hooley said. “Whether it’s being Supporter Melissa Janowitsch to me.” from here, being a mother, working said it was unfortunate that Essaibi Life-long East Boston resident in the public school systems, I think George conceded.

Kathleen Orlando, a board of she’s very approachable.”

“It is unfortunate the directors member of the East Boston Mayor-elect Michelle Wu will circumstances,” Janowitsch said, Chamber of Commerce, said she officially become mayor in two “but I am hoping for still positive and voted for Essaibi George — who was weeks on Nov. 16. radical change to come out of this a teacher in East Boston for 13 years.

“We’re ready for every Bostonian administration.”

“She was just always so active in to know that we don’t have to choose Wu’s supporters emphasize the community,” she said. “She did it between generational change and her policies, Essaibi George’s all and she always gave 150%.” keeping the streetlights on… We supporters praise her community West Roxbury resident Tom need, we deserve both,” Wu said. relationships pre-election night Hooley said Essaibi George has “All of this is possible.”

Boston artist Dido Thayer said she been “relentless” throughout her Aaron Velasco and Madison voted for Wu, who she said has been campaign.

Mercado contributed to the writing responsive about the construction “Just seeing her just talk to of this article. A more complete concerns in the community. anybody from any big neighborhood, version of the story can be found on “I live in an artist building over there’s something within her that she the website under the city tab. on Ipswich Street, and we reached out to Mayor Janey because we were having overnight construction... and nobody could sleep in the whole area,” she said.

“It was really a health concern and [Wu] was the only one that ever got back.”

Caroline Olesky, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, a campaign intern for Wu and an organizer for the Terriers for Wu Canvas at Rich Hall, said she voted early. Olesky, originally from Northern California, said she particularly values the candidate’s policies on climate change.

“Every single fall, there’s like a huge threat that my hometown is subjected to wildfire,” SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF Olesky said. “To me, having a candidate that Michelle Wu holds her two children following her mayoral race victory.

FEATURES 3

ARTS

New GSU art installation honors indigenous people’s legacy and rights Viktoria Popovska Daily Free Press Staff The Boston University Arts Initative’s latest public installation by the George Sherman Union on Commonwealth Avenue is accessible for all to see while walking to class as of Oct. 8.

As if rising out of the ground, the installation “Caution: Cultural Emergency” by artist Erin Genia portrays the water monster “Unktehi” from the Dakota people’s origin stories known as ohankanan. Genia said Unktehi is “a spirit that can get disturbed by human behavior.”

The installation explores the intersection of climate change, the destruction of the ecosystem and the displacement of indigenous peoples. Genia said the sod monster also comments on the land it’s on — indigenous people have been removed from this area, and BU may one day be partially underwater as the climate crisis worsens.

“I wanted to just create a piece that would bring those different elements together using sod because I thought if I could make something that is emerging from the ground, it really has the ability to talk about that site in particular,” Genia said.

Genia, a member of SissetonWahpeton Oyate/Odawa, earned her master’s in art, culture and technology from Massachusetts

ANH NGUYEN | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The head of the Dakota folkloric water monster Unktehi in artist Erin Genia’s “Caution: Cultural Emergency” installation outside of the George Sherman Union. Genia’s installation explores the intersection of several themes concerning climate change, Indigenous peoples and decolonization, racial inequality and more.

Institute of Technology and is one of Boston’s artists-inresidence this year, creating the project “Cultural Emergency Response” and the speaker series “Confronting Colonial Myths in Boston’s Public Space.”

Genia’s sculpture on BU’s campus is made with layers of sod and dirt, representing the land used to fill in the marsh that once used to thrive in Boston, said Ty Furman, the managing director of BU Arts Initiative.

The sculpture is part of the BU Arts Initiative’s sponsored series “Indigenous Voices in

the Americas” — a program aimed to highlight indigenous artists from across the Americas.

Genia’s installation was made possible through a collaborative sponsorship between the Arts Initiative and the American and New England Studies Program.

Furman said “art is a phenomenal mechanism” to change the narrative around indigenous peoples.

“There’s a growing awareness and acknowledgment of the erasure of indigenous history,” Furman said. “There were peoples and communities and societies

before what we now have, and what can we learn from that?

I don’t know that we can ever fully exonerate ourselves or fix the damage that was done, historically.”

Genia’s idea for the installation came to her after Furman gave her a tour of campus and she saw the line that runs along the sidewalk in front of BU Hillel, which signifies where the earliest recording of the Charles River’s shoreline reached before landfill was used to create the Boston we know today.

“I started really thinking about

that and thinking about Boston as a ground zero site for climate change,” Genia said after seeing the shoreline signifier. “I had done some work around mapping the city and thinking about different areas that are going to be or projected to be underwater due to climate change as part of my residency.”

The sculpture, like her previous work, draws on her native heritage particularly with her choice to incorporate a flag over the installation. The flag is of the Dakota Morning star symbol, but the inspiration for the colors comes from her time at the Boston Office of Emergency Management.

Genia said it was the first time she created with sod, and the process required “a lot of research about how to work with sod and what kind of things would be involved in it.” The artist only had a one-day window to install the sculpture, she said, but she and her son were able to install it with the help of BU Facilities.

Genia added that her work with the City of Boston and her sculptural installation at BU has given her an interest in continuing to create public art centering around important issues such as climate change, native rights and land — all of which the Unktehi sculpture highlighted.

“It was a really pivotal piece for me,” Genia said. “There’s just something about that process of being on site and thinking about the different implications in the legacy of history and ecology.”

WBUR CitySpace hosts a virtual event celebrating women behind NPR’s foundation for its 50th year leaders in a variety of fields, revealing their backstories and their journeys to where they are today.

Napoli is the author of “Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR,” a book released April 2021 detailing the careers of the women.

“From its beginnings, public radio did, in one arena, a slightly better job of addressing the needs of a constituency that, at the time, also was rarely given a voice: women,” Napoli’s Author’s Note reads at the beginning of her book. “This is the story of how that happened.”

At the event, Napoli said she enjoys learning more about the backstories of people who are now commonplace media giants. Before “Susan, Linda,

Nina & Cokie,” she released “Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and Stella Tannenbaum the Birth of 24-Hour News,” which Daily Free Press Staff focuses on the beginnings of CNN. “Because CNN just turned 40, it seemed like looking at NPR turning Susan Stamberg, Linda 50 was the natural next step,” Napoli Wertheimer, Nina Totenberg and said at the event. the late Cokie Roberts all worked for The event was held virtually, NPR during its founding years amid and Napoli described Zoom as the women’s movement of the 1970s, “disorienting” because of the inability and all broke boundaries for women to see the audience. in media.

“On the one hand, it was wonderful As NPR celebrates its 50th that it allowed us all to be together anniversary, “founding mothers” safely, but on the other hand, it’s an Stamberg and Wertheimer joined odd construct,” Napoli said in an author Lisa Napoli to provide insight interview. into their life stories Nov. 1 in the Margaret Low, WBUR CEO most recent installment of WBUR’s and event moderator, recalled her “Tell Me More!” series. The monthly early memories of Stamberg and series features conversations between Wertheimer at the event. Low began at NPR as an overnight production assistant in 1982, and she remembers Stamberg applying lipstick in the restroom before the show every night.

“I was either too new or too shy to say much more than hello when I first bumped into her there,” Low saidt. “She was already a legend.”

As she progressed in the newsroom, Low began to work more closely with Stamberg, Wertheimer, Totenberg and Roberts — what she calls an influential experience.

COURTESY OF WBUR CITYSPACE “It was a chance to learn National Public Radio “founding mothers” Margaret Low, Susan Stamberg and Linda Wertfrom the very best,” Low heimer joined author Lisa Napoli to celebrate NPR’s 50th anniversary and discussed the women’s journeys in a virtual event hosted by WBUR CitySpace Monday night. said. “These four women

may not have been the boss, but they were boss and stunning role models for a whole generation of women who followed them.”

Wertheimer was among those who entered the news industry during the women’s movement of the 1970s.

Wertheimer said the experience “was such a wonderful thing to be a part of.”

“I felt very lucky that we had happened to arrive at a moment where things were going on, but you had to jump into it,” Wertheimer said at the event. “You had to grab it with both hands. You couldn’t let any tiny part of that moment get past you.

And it was a little scary, it was a lot scary. But I loved it.”

Wertheimer said she was inspired

by Pauline Frederick, the first woman to work for a television network.

Then, through their perseverance and tenacity, Wertheimer and Stamberg themselves became role models for others.

“We reached our hands out to other women,” Stamberg said, “and we mentored them and we said, ‘Come on in, apply for a job.’”

In an interview, Napoli stressed the importance of understanding that women have not always had the opportunities that are available to them now.

“I feel like everything I do everyday is to honor what my mother, who wasn’t able to go to college as a young person, has done to make it possible for me to have a better life and a better education,” Napoli said.

At the event, the women also discussed the importance of

representation in terms of the current push for racial diversity in the news industry.

“I feel this is a tectonic change that we’re living through this minute,” Stamberg said. “It’s not ‘We shall overcome someday.’ It’s overcoming and it’s happening right now and it’s really paying off.”

While the event was entirely virtual, a Q&A function using the app Slido allowed the audience members to have some of their questions answered live. One audience member inquired how the women met, and Stamberg and Wertheimer reminisced about the office they shared in the early days of NPR and the supportive culture that was created.

“I’m not sure that men have the same experience that women do in a situation like this. We were not competitive. We were not trying to do each other in,” Wertheimer said.

“If anybody needed help, there would be help.”

In terms of advice for those who are beginning careers in journalism, Stamberg — who described herself as a “schmoozer”— suggested that while it is important to be prepared, it is also important to follow instincts, be natural and have confidence when talking to people.

“Turn your internal editor off for a while,” Stamberg said, “And just be open to new possibilities.”

Wertheimer added that journalists should be curious and unafraid.

“Journalism wants people who will do that,” Wertheimer said, “who will step out in front of the crowd and ask the questions that need to be asked.”

4 EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

Nightlife in Boston remains defined by racism As college students, it may seem trite to profess the importance of nightlife, especially with the recent end of ‘Halloweekend.’

But nightlife is more than just the ability to get drunk or see friends. Nightlife involves the freedom to share in space and cultural institutions with people within your community.

It is important to acknowledge that Boston’s nightlife — just as any social structure dominating public life — is regulated by systemic racism that prevents everyone from having equal access to a care-free night in the city.

In a Late Debate forum organized by the nonprofit Greatest MINDS last month, voters, activists, mayoral candidates Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu and other City Council candidates discussed the issue of continued racism and discrimination in Boston nightlife.

Community members at the forum alleged that Boston clubs often refused to play hip-hop.

This speaks to a long-held exclusion of Blackdominated cultural institutions in Boston and the continued segregation of public spaces.

This problem is not new: One club promoter interviewed in a 2012 Boston Globe article noted that Boston nightclubs — in contrast to different cities — were more strict about the kind of music they played.

People at the forum also discussed how they felt dress codes at nightclubs and restaurants were designed to specifically exclude Black people.

Last July, the Boston-based Nathan Bill’s Bar and Restaurant garnered scrutiny after attention was brought to its dress code sign. Among its many provisions, the sign banned clothing associated with racist stereotypes against Black communities. President of the Springfield NAACP — Bishop Talbert Swan — stated at a rally at the restaurant that he saw the sign “as an exclusionary tactic to keep us away based upon those racial stereotypes that we have had to deal with throughout the course of history.”

Nathan Bill’s Bar and Restaurant’s history with racism extends beyond the sign incident, however. In 2015, 14 Springfield cops and the bar’s co-owner John Sullivan were charged for allegedly beating four Black men at Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant, leaving the victims with significant injuries including a broken leg, knocked-out teeth and deep-rooted psychological trauma. Sullivan and the police officers were also thought to have allegedly taken part in a cover-up of the assault.

Nathan Bill’s Bar and Restaurant is simply a microcosm of a problem rampant in Boston’s nightlife at large — with seemingly benign measures like dress codes being utilized to exclude Black patrons existing alongside horrific forms of racist violence.

A 2017 study published by the Journal of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity found that nightclub dress codes across the country were systematically utilized to deny Black people entry into clubs more often than other groups.

The extent of this racial discrimination neared the extent to which racial discrimination occurred in housing audits.

It is not merely a coincidence that discrimination occurred at similar rates in nightclubs and housing audits. Boston is an incredibly segregated city, ranked as the 28th most segregated city out of U.S. metropolitan areas. According to Boston’s 2020 index of dissimilarity, around 64% of Bostonians would need to move to create a city that was evenly distributed.

In the ’60s, discriminatory housing laws meant Black Bostonians only had access to mortgages in parts of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan. These laws also increased financial inequality between racial groups, as the mortgage plans offered to Black communities were often inflated and unreasonable.

Segregation is continued to this day through exclusionary zoning policies, which prevent affordable housing from being constructed in certain parts of the city.

These zoning policies contribute to the lack of nightclubs across Boston, especially in neighborhoods mainly populated by communities of color. Moreover, Blackowned nightclubs have reported experiencing excessive policing through unfair noise complaints and being blamed for fights that occurred in nearby streets.

Small nightclub owners are further hindered by the costly process of obtaining a liquor

license. As Mayoral candidate Wu stated in the forum, only eight Black-owned restaurants owned liquor licenses in the entire city.

The reason why these licenses are so expensive is related to the fact that Massachusetts places a cap on the number of liquor licenses it allows. As it is extremely difficult to obtain a liquor license directly from the state due to this cap, businesses instead purchase their licenses on the secondary market at exorbitant prices.

A 2017 study conducted at Tufts Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning center found that liquor licenses are mainly distributed to white and wealthy locations and that one’s race and financial status are “significant predictors of liquor license distribution.” The study also described liquor licenses as being important to allowing economic development in a neighborhood.

The systems through which legal, criminal and financial procedures restrict Black Bostonian’s freedom to share in community and culture cannot be overstated. Nightlife is not a trivial issue. The structures that restrict it are part of a broader system that continually enforces racial discrimination across the city.

Being able to be in a community with other people and share in different cultural practices is vital to encouraging Boston to thrive — not as a city of disparate neighborhoods, but as an honest community, open and accessible to all of its residents.

ILLUSTRATION BY YVONNE TANG

EDITORIAL BOARD Lily Kepner, Editor-in-Chief Madhri Yehiya, Campus Editor

Emma Sánchez, Managing Editor Sabine Ollivier-Yamin, Opinion Editor Isabella Abraham City Editor

Sonja Chen, Sports Editor

Yvonne Tang, Layout & Graphics Editor

Conor Kelley, Photo Editor

Katrina Liu, Lifestyle Editor

Veronica Thompson, Podcast Editor Molly Farrar, Features Editor GRAPHIC BY ALEXIA NIZHNY KK Feuerman, Multimedia Editor

COLUMNS 5

Let Your Hair Down:

OPINION

A society obsessed with aging We live in a culture that urges us to be in perpetual motion, constantly creating, consuming and utilizing every snippet of our time. Yet this very behavior is what pulls us out of where we are in the moment, distracting us with tasks, goals and plans with the fast-paced, success-driven frenzy we call the United States.

All the while, we unknowingly rush through the prime time of our golden years — the youth that is so excessively glorified.

Ultimately, people get into the habit of filling up all their time because they do not want to fall behind the rest in the invisible race of life. The pressure to “be someone” and build purpose early in our lives clashes with the desire to simply connect with our surroundings and fully engage in the present while we still have it.

Our whole outlook on time is broken.

Life is not intentionally designed to favor certain ages. Our biological clock shows no bias, and no rule tells us when and how we should possess beauty, success or even vitality. We create our own timestamps, and we define the meaning attached to each age we pass through.

The reality is that there is so much beauty wrapped up in every month, year and decade.

Each phase of life is valuable and unique in its treasures.

Happiness, discovery, pain and growth are available to us at any given plot point in our individual lives, and meaningful experiences take place throughout our timeline. As a society, we should approach the process of growing with warmth and appreciation. Take a moment to acknowledge how special each age is in these lives of ours, the ones we often crowd with judgment, unrealistic expectations and suffocating standards.

ILLUSTRATION BY YVONNE TANG

Hannah Bohn Columnist When we think of the people we spot plastered on magazine covers, billboards and in television and movies, an image of an unblemished, healthy and polished individual comes to mind. Of course, “beauty” is a timeless theme that occupies any cultural landscape, and many reductive, unrealistic stereotypes of what beauty should be are often projected into society.

However, what is often overlooked is the most fundamental beauty standard we face: a compulsive fixation on youthfulness.

Appearing young is not only glorified in much of what we see in the world around us, but it has led to a deeper, more dangerous phenomenon of fearing the normal process of aging. Even the word “aging”— dare I say it again — feels dirty, yet it is the most natural part of being human.

According to a 2019 study by Ipsos Global Advisor, 60% of Americans feel negatively about aging. According to a 2014 survey by Pfizer, 87% of Americans said they were afraid of getting old, and a 2017 review by the American Psychological Association found that people

fret over perceived age-related issues such as memory loss and struggle with loneliness at far higher rates than they are actually experienced.

Longing to look younger is not only psychologically taxing, but it can come at a great financial expense. The United States is an essential market in the global cosmetic industry, taking advantage of the public’s intense attention to appearing young and thus, ‘attractive.’

The United States earned an estimated revenue of approximately 62.5 billion dollars in 2016 through beauty brands like ​​L’Oréal and Gillette. This year, the size of the anti-aging market alone was worth $17.44 billion and is expected to reach $22.47 billion by 2026, growing at a rate of 5.2%.

The normal resistance we feel to aging is rooted in biological reasoning — the idea

of growing older and thus closer to death is innately unsettling. If we did not fear death in a biological sense, we would not have an incentive to survive.

We must be afraid to die in order to live, and the natural reservations we have toward factors such as memory loss, physical decline or losing loved ones in our old age are all entirely valid concerns. Although inevitable parts of life, these aspects of living are nothing to undermine.

However, when society adds all of this additional pressure to appear, act and feel young, our natural fear of aging metastasizes. We begin to view certain stages of our lifespan with resentment and dread rather than acceptance and gratitude.

The panic associated with getting older plays into one of the largest oxymorons of our society.

Gaming the System:

The ‘boosting’ industry is booming — is that good?

Nick Speranza Columnist In December 2018, the South Korean government announced that the providing of “boosting” in competitive video games would now be punishable by law, with perpetrators required to pay a fine of 20 million won — approximately 18,000 U.S. dollars — or serve two years in prison.

Even to someone who doesn’t know what boosting is, this penalty likely seems extreme — how could anything done in a video game warrant such a steep penalty?

For those who aren’t aware, boosting is a practice in which someone pays a more skilled player to play on their account in a video game, thereby increasing their in-game rank to a higher level than they have achieved on their own.

I am inclined to agree the punishment is too harsh. Sending people to prison for providing boosting services is incredibly cruel and punitive, and adding a legal provision against the practice is just another example of a government acting in the interest of large corporations.

This is because boosting has various negative impacts on a game that developers and the broader esports industry would suffer from — mostly because at some point, the original

owner of the account returns to the game after the boosting is finished and plays in an unearned higher skill tier. These include hindering the game’s ability to accurately determine other players’ ranks, giving professionals lowerquality practice, damaging the integrity of tournaments, and so on.

Yet, despite all its damaging effects, the boosting industry is doing quite well. It is not only the province of failed gaming professionals or slightly above-average players either — pro players in several esports have received disciplinary action of some kind for boosting in their past.

To me, one of the most striking cases is the action taken against professional South Korean player Su-min “Sado” Kim after he was hired by my home esports team, Philadelphia Fusion, to play in the Overwatch League. He was suspended for 30 days due to his involvement in account boosting and was ineligible to play for the first 30 games of a 40-game season as a result. The team made an interesting decision to release a video sympathizing with him, discussing how he sought boosting as a way to make money off of his skill for his family.

Certainly, not every booster is doing so to provide for themselves and others. But I would be willing to guess the extra pay — and pay for playing video games at that — is still an incredibly enticing prospect.

The position boosters are placed in reflects broader social structures. In my experience, the capitalist culture we live in makes it such that we more or less fail to see the value in fun for its own sake.

To be sure, video games are not the only way to achieve this fun, and are not healthy or worthwhile to play in excess.

But I still think they should be a wellrespected leisure activity.

However, when relatives or other adults

would ask me why I played video games as a child, I could feel the judgment weigh on me for spending my free time on them instead of a different pursuit, whether a more ‘respectable’ hobby like a sport or something career or education-related, even though I was already doing both.

Therefore I would guess that another appeal of boosting is that it disposes of the guilt — whether internal or imposed by other people — surrounding spending your time on an “unproductive’’ exercise. Another thing that seems drilled into us is to get on your hustle and ‘chase a bag’ — that no time spent making money is time wasted. If all the time spent improving at a video game allowed you to be paid to boost other people’s accounts, then it was no longer wasted at all.

In my opinion, competitive video games are indeed quite similar to a discipline like a sport or a musical instrument precisely because their ranked systems allow us to quantify our skill.

There is something noble and enjoyable about dedicating yourself to improvement in a context that assigns skill a number, but also allows us to challenge ourselves and think critically about our own mistakes to get better and reach a level of competency that we are proud of.

Boosting is all in all a bad thing, but can we really blame individuals for offering the service and then wanting to buy it? Wanting to be paid for one’s video game skill is created by the world around us, with its constant pressure to be productive and make money.

Likewise, video games and the communities around them have turned rank into a social currency measuring the worth of one’s opinions, and provided excessive in-game rewards for reaching a high rank — the latter of which has been proven to coincide with boosting.

The prevalence of boosting as a practice, then, demonstrates the need for us to reclaim fun and self-betterment for its own sake — not for rewards — in politics and subculture alike.

ILLUSTRATION BY YVONNE TANG

6 PHOTOS

GALLERY 2021 Boston mayoral election watch parties Shannon Damiano Mohan Ge Daily Free Press Staff

Supporters of Boston mayoral candidates Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George gathered at their respective watch parties Tuesday night as polls closed and votes were tallied. Essaibi George conceded the race to Wu, making Wu the first person of color and the first woman elected mayor of Boston.

SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Michelle Wu waves to supporters at the Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama after her victory in the Boston mayoral election Tuesday night.

SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Supporters of Michelle Wu cheer for her Tuesday night.

SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A child stands among the crowd holding a sign in support of Michelle Wu.

MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Annissa Essaibi George speaks to her supporters Tuesday night.

MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Supporters of Annissa Essaibi George stand together.

MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Linda Champion shakes a pom-pom in support of Annissa Essaibi George.

LIFESTYLE 7

LIFESTYLE

Why I prefer sad endings over happy ones Michelle Tian Daily Free Press Staff What makes a story memorable?

Is it the jokes that stick with you even after you walk out of the movie theater or put down a book? Is it the way you seem to now live vicariously through the characters? Or is it simply because you know your life is now shaped by a mix of reality and fiction?

For me, it’s always about the impact of a story. I want to feel like these characters have come alive, like they’ve weaved their way through the screen or the page and have now made their mark on my heart.

This is precisely the reason why I prefer sad endings over happy endings.

Now, notice I didn’t say “enjoy.” I take absolutely no joy in watching or reading about my favorite characters dying. It’s painful and brutal, and I cry an endless amount of tears.

But I’ve noticed that whenever someone asks me about a story that’s touched me or shaped who

I am, I always turn to a few of the same answers.

And they all have one thing in common: heartbreak.

Sad endings just make everything seem more real. The lives we lead rarely have that happily-ever-after depicted in movies or books. I understand that stories are a way to escape from reality, but there is a certain beauty in watching your life — or the lives of the ones you know — woven into a world that is meant to inspire and touch others.

Let’s take a look at the iconic villain Darth Vader from the “Star Wars” universe. He was once a compassionate man named

COURTESY OF KRISTINA TRIPKOVIC VIA UNSPLASH

A person peering out a window on a rainy day. Michelle writes about the impact and authenticity of sad endings in stories and why she prefers them to happy ones.

Anakin Skywalker, but ultimately had a tragic fall that ripped him away from his emotions.

It physically hurts me to think about his story because his journey is not an evolution — it’s a downfall.

After I finished watching his story pan out, it was the only thing I could think about for weeks. It was torturous, but it just wouldn’t leave my mind. I found myself trying to find videos of him before he became a villain, and I got so attached my heart just broke all over again.

Even now, I’ll have a moment where I think to myself, ‘Anakin would’ve loved this,’ even though he’s just a fictional character. But isn’t that all the more influential?

That someone sticks with you even after their journey ends?

To feel the lingering parts of a story live through you is to understand just how much you can connect and find yourself in it. That alone makes tragic endings so much more powerful and consuming and — arguably — all the more beautiful.

Anakin’s ending is possibly the saddest story I’ve ever watched.

It’s been almost a year, and I still feel such grief for his character.

Happy endings have never made me feel anything that strong for that long. They satisfy me, and I’m always left with a huge smile on my face, but those stories never stick with me. I want to think back to a movie I watched or a book I read and feel an overwhelming sense of emotion.

That’s what makes a good story: heart.

It’s always the saddest endings that pull at my heartstrings the most and remind me of how much good my life contains and how human and vulnerable I am. It’s a beautiful feeling.

What are the stories we tell as we sit around the table? Ones that are greater than life, stories that have touched us enough with lessons that we will with us wherever we go.

Real life is not perfect, and I want at least a glimmer of that in the stories we love. I want to see the messy, brutal and cruel parts of the world and still find light and beauty in it. I don’t want my entire imagination to be filled with unattainable fantasies of constant happiness because as much comfort as that may bring me, it doesn’t change the way I see anything.

Now, I don’t know if anything I just wrote made sense. It’s all a jumble of words in my head and just an instinct for me to gravitate towards sad endings over happy ones. All I know is that stories relating to grief and loss are genuine and unfiltered, and I’d rather get a glimpse of that ugly truth than see nothing but a deceiving mirage.

I want something real and although it can be brutal, it can also be life-changing and something worth re-telling and falling in love with.

And I’d argue that’s what stories are all about.

Five books to read before they hit the screen Lynn Chu Daily Free Press Staff It feels like 2014 all over again, with the avalanche of book adaptations for television and movies announced in the past few years. From BookTok recommendations to Barnes & Noble purchases, I know from personal experience that us readers have a long TBR — or to be read — list. So, if you’re looking to know which ones you should prioritize, here are five books to read before they hit the big screen in the near future.

“Where the Crawdads Sing”

by Delia Owens Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing” hit the record for the most weeks at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction and is expected to become a major motion picture next summer. The mystery book tells the story of Kya, a young girl who was abandoned by her family in the marsh of 1960s North Carolina and later becomes involved in a murder investigation.

Actress Reese Witherspoon picked up the book for her book club in 2018, only to join the screen project as a producer alongside Olivia Newman, who will direct the movie. Daisy Edgar-Jones, star of “Normal People,” has been cast to play Kya. Author Delia Owens, who is also a zoologist, published the book — her debut novel — at almost 70 years old, but the response was extraordinary.

Owen’s stunning novel is what I consider a modern-day classic.

It’s simultaneously a coming-ofage novel and a tale of mystery that compels readers to feel a variety of emotions.

“It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover From what I’ve seen, there’s somewhat of a cult on BookTok around author Colleen Hoover and her romance books.

Of her eleven novels, arguably her most popular is a 2016 young adult romance titled “It Ends With Us.” Without giving any spoilers, the book takes you on a heart-wrenching journey in which protagonist Lily Bloom moves to Boston and meets a seemingly perfect neurosurgeon. Love turns out to be harder than she believes, and Lily is forced to navigate herself through a relationship that takes an unexpected turn.

Three years after its publication, Justin Baldoni will partner with Hoover to bring the book to life. Baldoni, best known for playing Rafael on The CW’s “Jane the Virgin,” will not be directing for the first time. He proved to be a double threat with his film directorial debut “Five Feet Apart” in 2019, followed by “Clouds,” released in 2020.

After reading Hoover’s novel, Baldoni decided to take on the project to spread the story to a wider audience. Despite no cast or release date announcements yet, fans are excited that it’s in progress and hope to be buying tickets soon.

“Daisy Jones & The Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid Months after Reese Witherspoon picked up “Where the Crawdads Sing” for her book club, she chose Reid’s “Daisy Jones and The Six” for her March

COURTESY OF KIMBERLY FARMER VIA UNSPLASH

A stack of books. Lynn shares five books that will soon be adapted for television and movies — and that you should read before they do.

2019 selection.

Inspired by the band Fleetwood Mac, the 2019 bestseller is about the rise and fall of a fictional legendary rock band called The Six in the 1970s. The story will be adapted into a 13-episode Amazon Prime Video series produced by Reese Witherspoon with Niki Caro directing the pilot and multiple other episodes.

The star-studded cast includes “Hunger Games” franchise star Sam Claflin as rockstar Billy Dunne and Riley Keough as Daisy Jones.

Keough, the granddaughter of rock legend Elvis Presley, is a fitting choice for Jones, who said on Instagram she considered it an “honor” to be playing Daisy. As a fan of Reid’s equally popular novels, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” and “Malibu Rising,” I would definitely say “Daisy Jones and The Six” is her most unique and cinematically dramatic novel. The combination

of great writing and impending original music — using the lyrics from the book — has created high expectations for the show, which will be released in late 2021 or early 2022.

“The Stars at Noon” by Denis Johnson “The Stars at Noon” is a 1986 novel written by Denis Johnson about the romance between the narrator, a supposed American reporter, and an English businessman she meets in Nicaragua in 1984. The unnamed narrator, whose true mission in the foreign country is a secret, gets caught up in lies and a whirlwind relationship that forces her to try and leave the country.

The movie will be both a romance and a drama thriller directed by Claire Denis. Taron Egerton will star alongside Margaret Qualley, daughter of Andie MacDowell.

“Conversations with Friends” by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney’s hit novel “Normal People” became an Emmy-nominated series in 2020. After the author’s dynamic storytelling proved to be a beloved adaptation on screen, Hulu is planning to capture her debut novel next.

Like “Normal People,” “Conversations with Friends” is the story of two best friends — this time in Dublin where they form an unanticipated connection with a married couple, creating an interesting commentary on modern people and the art of a relationship. Directors Leanne Welham and Lenny Abrahamson will take on the 12-episode project starring Alison Oliver, Sasha Lane, Jemima Kirke and Joe Alwyn.

From what I’ve read, Sally Rooney is an author that creates conversations — pun intended — and I have no doubt that ‘Conversations with Friends’ will similarly be a success on screen.

8 SPORTS

SPORTS

How Boston’s Braves, now lost to history, once called BU’s Nickerson Field home Mitch Fink Daily Free Press Staff Ralph Evans was 5 years old when he took his first batting practice at Braves Field. It was 1947, and Evans’ father pitched peanuts to him outside the stadium after they had attended a Boston Braves ballgame together.

Evans swung at the peanuts with a mini bat as a small crowd looked on.

“They would cheer, and boo when I missed them,” Evans said.

Evans was — and is — a diehard Boston Braves fan. He recalls attending his first game at Braves Field in 1946 when he was only 4 years old, the ecstasy of his team winning the National League pennant in 1948 and the devastation of the team leaving Boston for Milwaukee in 1953.

Evans is 79 years old now, but he remembers it all like it was yesterday. He’s a historian with the Boston Braves Historical Association who specializes in Braves Field, and he worked at Boston University as a baseball coach and athletic trainer from 1970 to 1972.

This week, Evans has seen his Braves, now in Atlanta, play in the World Series for the first time in 22 years.

Today, the Braves’ old stomping grounds lie in the heart of BU’s West Campus.

Bits and pieces of Braves Field make up Nickerson Field — the home to the BU soccer and lacrosse teams, as well as a host of many club sports teams.

Rich, Sleeper and Claflin Halls stand in place of the grandstands

behind home plate, Walter Brown Arena is positioned near where the third-base pavilion once stood and high-rise dorm StuVi 2 is located near what was once right field. The BU Police Department’s headquarters, located across from Agganis Arena, was once the Braves’ headquarters and ticket office.

Only the first-base pavilion of the original ballpark, now used as the stands at Nickerson Field, remains.

When Braves Field opened in 1915 as a replacement for the South End Grounds, the facility was stateof-the-art. At the time, the ballpark could house the most fans — 40,000 — of any stadium in the major leagues.

The complex even included a streetcar line on Babcock Street that carried fans directly to Braves Field.

Braves owner James Gaffney, a wealthy businessman with ties to New York’s Tammany Hall political machine, spearheaded the plan to build Braves Field after the team won the World Series in 1914. “[Gaffney] wanted a palace, based on what he thought fans were looking for at the time,” Thomas Whalen, a College of General Studies associate professor and local baseball historian, said.

As a result, Braves Field was primed for the Deadball Era of the early 1900s. It boasted an enormous playing field with deep outfield walls that could increase the potential for inside-the-park home runs.

“It was kind of built for pitchers, a kind of small ball, hit-and-run, advance-the runner,” Whalen said.

Although the dimensions of the field were scaled down during the Live-ball Era, Evans said dead cen-

ter field was a distant 550 feet away from home plate when the ballpark first opened. According to a list compiled by Bleacher Report, only two home runs in major league history have ever been hit farther than 550 feet — one by Babe Ruth, and one by Mickey Mantle.

Evans noted that Gaffney also built the ballpark to compete with the American League’s Boston Red Sox, which had opened Fenway Park in 1912.

According to Baseball-Reference, the Braves and Red Sox attracted relatively similar attendance numbers throughout the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, but after the Braves won the National League pennant in 1948, the team’s success — and fan attendance — took a nosedive.

The Braves attracted fewer than 300,000 fans to Braves Field for the 1952 season, which was dead-last in the National League and paled in comparison to Fenway Park’s 1.1 million attendees.

A year later, Braves owner Lou Perini moved the franchise to Milwaukee and sold Braves Field to BU on July 29, 1953, for approximately

$500,000. The University put the field to use as a new home for the Terriers’ football team and other athletic activities.

The acquisition allowed BU to move its athletic facilities closer to the heart of campus — the university’s previous athletic field, also called Nickerson Field, was located over 10 miles away in Weston.

The Boston Patriots shared the field with BU from 1960-1961 before the franchise moved to Foxborough in 1971 and rebranded as the New England Patriots.

Rich, Claflin and Sleeper Halls were built in 1964, Walter Brown Arena opened in 1971, and while BU still hosted thousands of fans for football games in the latter part of the 20th century, the field quickly became a shell of its former self without the home-plate and third-base grandstands still intact.

The University eventually shut down the football program in 1997.

A few professional sports teams have shared Nickerson Field with BU since, including the Boston Breakers of the Women’s United Soccer Association from 2001-03 and the Boston

COURTESY OF BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY VIA WIKIMEDIA

A postcard of the 1948 Boston Braves baseball team. Boston Universty’s Nickerson Field contains bits and pieces of the team’s former stomping grounds, Braves Field.

Cannons of Major League Lacrosse from 2004-06.

Since then, Nickerson Field has assumed the purpose it holds today.

Whalen noted that the Red Sox nearly decided to leave Boston and move west instead of the Braves, which would have changed the entire landscape of Major League Baseball and impacted BU’s campus expansion.

“The Braves were just unlucky,” Whalen said. “They were so close to staying here and making a go of it.”

If the Red Sox, and not the Braves, had left town, Whalen thinks BU would have considered buying Fenway Park and could have expanded its campus into Brookline rather than Allston, since Braves Field would have remained standing.

“It is interesting to think about how Boston, development-wise, would have changed,” Whalen added.

George Cicero, a freshman in BU’s College of Engineering, said he had no idea the Braves once played on Nickerson Field.

“I find it really crazy,” Cicero said.

“I didn’t know it was that historic.”

Evans said he had a bottle of champagne on ice for if the Braves close out the 2021 World Series, which they did in a 7-0 victory Tuesday night.

“As much as I love them, they’re in Atlanta,” Evans said.

Nevertheless, the site of Braves Field is a special place for Evans.

“If I ever get to heaven, the one thing I’m going to ask God is, ‘Rebuild this ballpark … and if you want to give me an apartment here, that’s fine,’” Evans said. “In my way of thinking, that would be a great way to spend eternity.”

PREVIEW: Women’s soccer enters conference tournament as top seed (10-5-3, 6-1-2 Patriot League) and has earned her third regular-season championship since BU joined the Patriot League in 2013. BU will face off against Army for the conference semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 4.

Momentum from eight-game undefeated streak drives team into postseason The Terriers had a rocky start to their season, as they recorded a 4-5-1 record in their first ten games of the season. However, a switch was flipped as BU went on a five-game winning streak with wins against the U.S. Naval Academy, Lehigh University,

Yale University, American University and the College of the Holy Cross.

They continued with a pair of ties Brendan Nordstrom and closed out the season with their 10th win of the season, the 23rd time Daily Free Press Staff Feldman has coached to double digits in the win column.

Feldman said the impressive midseason turnaround gives the team The Boston University women’s confidence going into the postseason. soccer team wrapped up their season “I don’t look at it as a streak. I look last Wednesday with a 2-1 win over at it as developing as the season goes Army West Point to secure first on,” Feldman said. “To me, there’s place in the Patriot League and the no momentum. We know what we consequential top seed in the playoffs. are capable of, believe in ourselves Head coach Nancy Feldman is in and we have built confidence in how her 27th season leading the Terriers to bring our best game.”

Feldman said she is looking to leave the regular season in the past.

“It’s a whole new season. Everybody is 0-0-0,” Feldman said. “You just can’t take anyone lightly.

The regular-season championship gets us home field, but that’s it. It’s evensteven when we hit the field.”

The team has not lost a game since Sept. 22 against Colgate, so it will be important to see how this success pushes into the postseason.

Oldham and the ISABELLE MEGOSH | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF offense get the job Boston University women’s soccer players high-five during a match against Loyola University done in key moments Maryland on Oct. 20. The Terriers secured first place in the Patriot League and wrapped their seaSenior forward son Wednesday after a 2-1 win over Army West Point.

Jenna Oldham entered the season with high expectations, as she was on the 2020-21 All-Patriot League First Team and the Preseason All-League Team, as well as the 2021 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.

Oldham has stepped up to the challenge as she leads the team in assists (seven) and points (15), while tied for the most goals with senior forward Amy Thompson (four). Her offensive prowess transcends the team. In the Patriot League, Oldham has the fourth-most points and is tied for the third-most game-winning goals and second-most assists. ‘’I just think the world of her,” Feldman said. “I think she’s on lots of people’s scouting reports of how they’re going to not only get around her, but how they are going to contain her as an attacker.”

In conference play, the Terriers only had two games end in a point differential of more than one goal: A 3-1 victory over Navy and a 3-0 victory over Holy Cross. With a number of games decided by just one goal, every shot is crucial to the team’s success.

With help from senior defender Margaret Berry’s three goals, sophomore forward Abigail McNulty’s six assists and Thompson’s four goals, among others, this offense will be working like a well-oiled machine in the playoffs.

Bennett and Braun’s exceptional work between the posts BU’s goalkeepers, junior Gretchen Bennett and freshman Celia Braun, have served as a backbone to the team. The goalkeepers have alternated starting each game, with a

switch at halftime.

While splitting time inside the net, both keepers have excelled. Braun has racked up 28 saves, a 70% save percentage and 1.27 goals against average, which ranks sixth in the Patriot League. Bennett also has several accolades, with 35 saves, a 77.8% save percentage — which is good for fourth in the Patriot League — and a second-best 1.08 GAA. Not only do both goalkeepers share the box, but Feldman said they also share an important dynamic. “[Bennett] certainly is a steady, mature and really wise young woman, and it certainly has helped [Braun] come along. .. It’s not mentor and mentee, but there’s certainly influence that [Bennett]’s provided to [Braun].”

Formidable defense defines team’s success The one overarching key to BU’s success this season has been its brick-wall defense. The Terriers are tied with Navy for the second-most shutouts in the Patriot League with six. The defense also has not let in more than one goal in conference play, with the exception being a 2-2 double-overtime tie with Bucknell University.

While the defense has been remarkable this season, the team is not ready to settle.

“I don’t think we’ve yet hit our top level in our team defending,” Feldman said. “When teams change tactics or their style is a little different, I think our team can continue to develop into being a little bit better at dealing with and adapting to those differences and changes.”