12-11-2014

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLIV. VOLUME LXXXVII. ISSUE XIV.

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BU President Brown receives more than $1.1 million, report says BY JESSICA DORFAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

About 36 nonprofit private college presidents, including Boston University President Robert Brown, earned more than $1 million in 2012, a Sunday report in The Chronicle of Higher Education found. The report, which analyzed the total salary compensation for presidents at 497 schools with the largest endowments, used information from Internal Revenue Service forms reported to the U.S. Department of Education. Brown earned approximately $1,164,078 million in executive compensation for 2012, putting him as the 20th highest earner on the list. Colin Riley, BU spokesman, said the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees determines the president’s salary and compensation. “It’s fair compensation, and by any measure, his leadership and vision for Boston University has resulted in the university continuing to make strides and to provide quality education to its students,” he said. “The total compensation includes what the Executive Committee from the Board of Trustees determined was a fair increase [of 4 percent].” President Shirley Ann Jackson of Rens-

selaer Polytechnic Institute received a total compensation of approximately $7 million, the highest total for any president on the list, and President John Lahey of Quinnipiac University and President Lee Bollinger of Columbia University in second and third, respectively, each with more than $3 million, according to the report. Components of compensation include a base salary, bonuses, nontaxable benefits like health care and employer-provided housing and other forms of payment, such as travel and meals, according to the report. Deferred compensation, which is payment set aside to be paid out in later years, is not included in the total compensation. In comparison, Brown’s base pay of about $790,000 is 5.2 times more than the salary of a full-time BU professor and 27 times the full tuition of a BU student, according to the report. Riley said Brown’s salary includes nontaxable benefits such as the president’s housing allowance. “About one-fourth of the $1 million in value for the residence is added to the total compensation, and he is required to live there by the University,” he said. “We include the value of the entire property, not just the portion that he uses while some schools, I understand, only calculate the portion they consider a president’s residence.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

GRAPHIC BY ALEXANDRA WIMLEY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

According to an annual report released by The Chronicle of Higher Education on Sunday, 36 nonprofit private college presidents made over $1 million in total salary compensation in 2012.

Mayor Walsh, Mass. State Police open to practice of body camera use

PHOTO COURTESY OF TASER

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced Friday his choice to endorse the pilot program for body cameras in police forces, but said other issues should be prioritized before body cameras become a necessity. BY SAMANTHA GROSS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

After vocalizing opposition to the measure originally, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh endorsed looking into the possibility of utilizing a body camera program for the Boston Police Department, a conversation that is ongoing after the recent killings of unarmed black men. The program, which U.S. President

Barack Obama is urging city police departments to start in order to create a sense of trust in the police force, was at first criticized by Walsh after Obama made the announcement on Dec. 1. “I’m not going to be distracted by having a conversation about whether or not police have body cameras,” Walsh told The Boston Globe after the meeting where Obama made the announcement. “We have to have a lot more discussion around race and racial issues. It’s not one that people want to have

and people would rather forget about, but we’re not going to forget about it in Boston. I made a commitment to have that conversation, and we’re going to have it.” However, Walsh, in a change of mind, endorsed the idea of a pilot program for body cameras on police on Dec. 4 in an interview with the editorial board of the Globe. Walsh believes there are more pressing issues that should be tackled than just implementing a body camera program, said Melina Schuler, spokeswoman for the City of Boston. “Mayor Walsh recognizes the value of police body cameras, but sees that there are issues that run deeper that need to be addressed that technology can’t fix,” Schuler said in an email. Schuler said Boston is striving to strengthen police relationships with the community. The value of the police body cameras is being recognized nationwide and has also received increased attention from the Massachusetts State Police. David Procopio, spokesman for the MSP, said with time, most police departments will adopt body cameras. “Many times, members of the public may make accusations against officers,” he said. “If the police officer is doing his or her job properly — not using excessive force and not using vulgarity — the camera is going to protect the police officer in that case. It ultimately will be beneficial both ways.” TASER International, Inc. is a security

equipment company focused on manufacturing devices designed for use in law enforcement, such as body cameras. TASER has sold over 30,000 cameras since 2009 to more than 1,200 different police departments nationwide, said Steve Tuttle, TASER’s vice president of strategic communications. “They [body cameras] have become game-changing technology,” he said. “These cameras work. They can change behavior on both sides of the badge.” Body cameras are the size of a small iPhone and connect to a small Digital Video Recorder about the size of a lipstick tube. The DVR can then be attached to a collar or hat, Tuttle said. Rialto Police Department in San Bernardino County, California is one of TASER’s most successful clients, he said. “They [Rialto] had an 88 percent drop in complaints and a 59 percent drop in use of force,” he said. “It’s truly the next paradigm shift for law enforcement — to be wearing body cams.” However, despite the success in certain areas, Procopio said some law enforcement is not yet ready for this shift to happen. “It is going to take some time to work out the logistics that have to be addressed before they [body cameras] can be used in a widespread manner and before some of these benefits start being realized,” he said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3


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