2-11-2016

NEWS Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education announced the creation of a Student Aid Enforcement Unit to protect taxpayers from higher education fraud p. 3

SPOTLIGHT MFA celebrates Lunar New Year with traditional dances, crafts and performances p. 7

11°/30° LIGHT SNOW

SPORTS High Five: The men's basketball team kept the good times rolling Wednesday night, pushing its winning streak to five games. p. 12

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLV. VOLUME XC. ISSUE IV.

Locals protest MBTA fair increase

BY ORIANA DURAND DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority met with backlash during a public meeting regarding a potential fare increase.

Frank DePaola, general manager of the MBTA, addressed concerns that were readily voiced by the public who attended the meeting Tuesday in the Chelsea High School auditorium in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Many voiced concerns for the rise in prices, the effects of this rise on consumers and the results it will have on the transportation system.

The MTBA faces a deficit of $242 million and is trying to raise revenue in order to shrink the gap and improve service conditions. DePaola claimed that raising fares would be a “last resort,” stating that cost control was a first priority.

DePaola introduced two options in the fare proposal, although the final decision could potentially be a combination of both.

One option offers an increase in single-ride fares of approximately 5 percent and a systemwide average increase of 6.71 percent. The second option offers an increase in single-ride fares of approximately 10 percent and a systemwide average increase of 9.77 percent.

The current single-ride rate for the T, when using a Charlie Card, stands at $2.10. A proposed increase of 4.8 percent would bring the rate to $2.20, and an increase of 7.1 percent would bring the rate to $2.25.

According to the MBTA Fare Proposal, the changes linked to these options include the creation of a single express bus fare and a single reduced-fare pass for students, seniors and persons with disabilities, as well as cash fares set at 25-cent increments.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

PHOTO BY BRIAN SONG/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

In light of the retirement of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justices Francis Spina, Robert Cordy and Fernande Duffly, a Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission was established to replace them.

Baker announces committee to appoint new justices

BY CAROLYN HOFFMAN OLIVIA QUINTANA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

In response to the upcoming retirement of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justices Francis Spina, Robert Cordy and Fernande Duffly, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced a Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission Wednesday.

According to a Wednesday press release, the committee will be comprised of 12 members, including the governor’s chief legal counsel, the chair and vice chairs of the governor’s judicial nominating commission and a former chief justice of the court.

“We look forward to ensuring the Supreme Judicial Court will continue to fulfill its mission through the consideration of a diverse and broad set of candidates from across Massachusetts who bring outstanding intellectual and legal skills, strong work ethic and a measured temperament and sense of justice to the Commonwealth’s highest court,” Baker said in the release.

In the release, Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito thanked the retiring justices.

“Justices Cordy, Spina and Duffly have served the Commonwealth, our citizens and the judicial system at the highest levels of the legal profession throughout their tenures, and we wish them well,” Polito said

in the release. “We are committed to finding outstanding candidates to fill these vacancies from across the Commonwealth.”

Richard Daynard, a professor of law at Northeastern University, said he does not believe the appointment of new justices will cause any change in the court.

“I don’t think you’ll see a big switch in the type of decisions that the Supreme Judicial Court will be coming up with,” Daynard said. “My impression is that Charlie Baker is not very ideological. He’s obviously not going to appoint somebody who’s pretty middle of the road.”

With so many justices’ impending resCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Students call Trump win “concerning,” Sanders “expected” in primary

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NEWS

Christie drops out of 2016 race, despite Baker endorsement

BY JASSIM ALSANE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Despite a Friday endorsement from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropped out of the 2016 presidential race Wednesday afternoon.

Baker followed Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Maine Gov. Paul LePage as the third governor to endorse Christie, a Friday press release stated.

Baker, for whom Christie campaigned during the election leading to Baker’s eventual defeat of former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, said in the release that Christie’s leadership would provide the country much needed guidance.

“Right now, our country is in dire need of Governor Christie’s tested, and strong leadership,” Baker said in the release. “ … His solid record of getting results for the people of New Jersey while balancing every budget, cutting spending, vetoing more tax hikes than any Governor in American history, and creating over 230,000 private-sector jobs shows that he is ready to take on the serious challenges our next President will face.”

In a statement on his official Facebook page, Christie expressed how proud he has been of his campaign and those who ran it with him.

“I have both won elections that I was supposed to lose and I’ve lost elections I was supposed to win and what that means is you never know what will happen,” Christie wrote. “That is both the magic and the mystery of politics — you never quite know when which is going to happen, even though you think you do. And so today, I leave the race without an ounce of regret.”

Christie also emphasized what he believed was the key value of his campaign.

“I ran for president with the message that the government needs to once again work for the people, not the people work for the government,” Christie wrote. “And while running for president I tried to enforce what

ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH SILBIGER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced his endorsement for former presidential hopeful New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Friday.

I have always believed — that speaking your mind matters, that experience matters, that competence matters and that it will always matter in leading our nation.”

William Bellamy, a professor of international relations at Simmons College, said he thought it was ironic that Baker chose to endorse Christie so close to both the New Hampshire primary election and Christie’s withdrawal from the presidential race. “[Christie’s] one shot was to finish well in New Hampshire and hopefully attract more donor attention and a little bit more money,” Bellamy said. “He would have been able to stay in the game a little bit longer.”

However, Elan Axelbank, a member of Socialist Alternative, said Baker’s endorsement of Christie makes sense because of their shared interests.

“I think they’re really similar in a lot of ways,” Axelbank said. “I think the one thing that should be pointed out is that they are

both currently in the process of trying to privatize would should be public good. Christie’s had this association called the Republican Governors Association, and they pledged $1 million to Baker’s campaign fund.”

Axelbank said he is not surprised that Baker chose to endorse Christie.

“I think that for some people, it’s understandable that it’s shocking,” Axelbank said.

“In my opinion, I’m actually not shocked. I mean, Massachusetts has this reputation for being a liberal state and for its population.

That may be the case, but the political establishment is all tied into each from one state to the next.”

Several residents shared conflicting views regarding Baker’s endorsement of Christie for president.

Erin Thurston, 28, of Downtown Boston, said the news of the endorsement shocked her.

“I was pretty surprised by the fact that

Baker endorsed him,” she said. “I mean, we’re in a pretty liberal area, so it’s surprising that he endorsed someone so conservative — especially someone who was doing so badly.”

Andrew Leroy, 31, of Brighton, said the Republican Party has been too separated with the large number of candidates.

“It was about time some of the Republican candidates dropped out of the race,” he said. “There were so many, and it was at a point where half of them didn’t have a chance and were just splitting the party up.”

Melinda Green, 36, of Fenway, said she’s curious to see if Baker will be able to endorse another candidate.

“I’m just curious to see what happens from here,” she said. “Baker endorsed Christie so close to his dropping out, it’s almost like it didn’t happen. I just want to see whether he backs anyone else or throws his support behind another candidate.”

Baker announces Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission BAKER , FROM PAGE 1

ignations, Daynard said he is cautious of whether Baker’s appointees will be able to tackle controversial social and moral issues in the upcoming years.

“The most famous decision of the SJC in the last 15 years was the Goodridge Decision,” Daynard said. “The question is, would a court of Charlie Baker appointees be open to exercise the kind of courage Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall did in that case?”

Spina, who announced his retirement Friday, reflected on his past 23 years of service in a Friday press release, which detailed his experiences as a Supreme Court justice.

“It has been a privilege and an honor

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to serve the people of the Commonwealth at this level,” Spina said in the release. “I have been blessed to work with so many dedicated employees in the judicial branch whose commitment to justice for all has been a daily inspiration for the past twenty-three years. I will miss working with my wonderful colleagues and fellow employees at the Supreme Judicial Court.”

Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants described Spina as “a great friend and colleague who will be sorely missed.”

“The justices of this Court call Justice Spina 'Saint Francis' for good reason," Gants said in a Friday release. "Whenever an especially difficult opinion needs to be written, or a delicate administrative matter

needs to be addressed, Justice Spina always volunteers, and then makes the problem seem easily solved with his superb intellect, careful craftsmanship, and gentle manner.”

Gants worked with Cordy as a prosecutor in 1983 and commented on their time as colleagues in a Feb. 3 press release. “[Justice Cordy] leaves an enduring legacy as a justice of this Court, not only because of the over 360 carefully crafted and reasoned majority opinions he has authored so far, but also because of the countless unseen contributions he has made to maintain the excellence of this Court,” Gants said in the release. “His energy and productivity is truly the stuff of legend.”

Duffly also announced her retirement Wednesday from the Supreme Court, cit-

e look forward to ensuring the Supreme Judicial Court will continue to fulfill its mission through the consideration of a diverse and broad set of candidates from across Massachusetts who bring outstanding intellectual and legal skills, strong work ethic and a measured temperament and sense of justice to the Commonwealth’s highest court.

ing her husband’s health as the primary reason.

“I had planned to leave the bench after serving for 25 years as a judge in 2017,” Duffly said in a Wednesday press release.

“When my husband’s recent surgery required me to devote more of my time to helping him fully recover, I moved up my retirement date.”

Several residents expressed faith in Baker to make the right decision regarding new justices.

Ngoc Ho, 27 of Allston, expressed her complete trust and support of Baker and his decision.

“I am a proud advocate of Gov. Baker, as he is the man behind many of our improvements in 2015,” she said. “I have complete trust in him and confidence in his ability to appoint new justices.”

Michelle McCann, 39, of Back Bay, said she would prefer the justices to be elected instead of appointed, but she thinks Baker will make a good decision.

“In general, you would want it to be an elected office, but I don’t think every office can be elected either,” she said. “Democracy is great, but it’s not always practical. He gets enough references and enough reason to decide one way or another.”

Hannah Brown, 36, of Dorchester, said it will be difficult to appoint three new justices, but she trusts Baker to make a good decision.

“I think he has a really big job to do with this,” she said. “It’s a big thing to appoint three people at once. But I also trust that he’ll put a lot of consideration into this and make a good decision. I mean, he’s the governor for a reason, so I trust his judgment.”

NEWS

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U.S. Dept. of Education creates unit to investigate higher education fraud

BY MADDIE DOMENICHELLA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston University administration does not expect change to its financial aid program despite the creation of the United States Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Enforcement Unit to investigate fraud and abuse in higher education.

Laurie Pohl, vice president for Enrollment and Student Affairs at Boston University, wrote in an email that BU students should not worry about the creation of the Enforcement Unit.

“Our financial aid programs are in excellent standing with DOE, and I do not expect that to change,” Pohl wrote.

Acting Secretary of Education John King Jr. announced the creation of the unit during a press conference Monday. President Barack Obama has requested that $13.6 million be allocated to increase and strengthen enforcement activities within the 2017 budget, according to a Monday DOE release.

The Enforcement Unit, led by Robert Kaye, chief litigation counsel in the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, will work with federal and state agencies to investigate and act on fraud accusations by higher education institutions to protect students and taxpayers, Kaye said.

During the press conference, King said this unit was created to allow the government to respond more efficiently to accusations of illegal actions within higher education, mainly in the for-profit sector. “[Students] have a right to expect they’ll actually get an education that leads to a better life,” he said during the conference. “When that doesn’t happen, we all pay the price. So let me be clear, schools looking to cheat students and taxpayers

will be held accountable.”

The Enforcement Unit will be a crucial actor as more people are going to college due to an increased need for degrees from employers, King said.

“The face of America's student body is changing,” he said. “These changes are good. Good for students and good for the country, but they also create new challenges.”

As the demand for higher education and the number of institutions that provide career training go up, the quality of education varies, King said.

“Some of these programs do a good job preparing students for success and graduating with a meaningful degree or credential,” he said. “But we've also seen too many programs that promise students a better life only to leave them with piles of debt and without the prospect to pay it off.”

Given the circumstances, Kaye said the main goal of his office is to promote fairness and integrity of the financial aid process.

“It is simply imperative that students taking on substantial financial obligations to further their education, to further their lives and not to be subject to unlawful enrollment tactics,” Kaye said.

Ted Mitchell, the under secretary of DOE, also spoke at the press conference.

Protecting students from illegal actions of some higher education institutions can improve the national economy and social mobility, especially for low-income and first-generation minorities, Mitchell said.

“Higher education is and must continue to be the engine of social mobility,” Mitchell said. “We must make certain at every turn that students and families evaluate their options they’re looking at.”

Several students said higher education institutions should be fair and lawful with financial aid, especially when institutions

ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH SILBIGER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

It was announced Monday that the Department of Education created a Student Aid Enforcement Unit to protect consumers and taxpayers from unconstitutional actions in higher education financial aid.

see an influx of first-generation college students.

Christian Evora, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he hopes this unit will protect students from fraud.

“College is an establishment we rely on and put our faith in,” Evora said. “No one should be swindled or cheated [by colleges].”

Olivia Gehrke, a freshman in CAS, said although the unit would be a good idea, she has doubts about its effectiveness.

“It’s a good idea in theory,” Gehrke said. “[But] it would be a difficult thing to pull off and uncover everything illegal from

every university.”

Allyson Fernandez Knott, a sophomore in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said it is important for universities to avoid fraud to make sure students’ money is spent properly.

“I want to be sure the money my parents have spent to provide me a quality education isn’t being misused in a way that isn’t fair,” Knott said. “I also want to be sure that when I graduate and begin to start paying off my college debt, I won’t carry an even bigger, unnecessary burden because the college I went to committed fraud.”

Public health efforts slow as society's attention diverges, experts argue

BY ANNA GONCHAROVA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston University School of Public Health Dean Sandro Galea and SPH Professor George Annas highlighted the United States’ future of public health in an article released Sunday as part of the SPH Dean’s Note series.

While public health efforts have led to tremendous achievements, both Galea and Annas wrote that they are concerned that society’s attention has not been aimed in the right direction and has slowed down the progress of efforts in public health.

Galea explained that the article was an effort to present a more holistic approach to the future of public health that builds on the history of the field.

“We were not aware of any papers that have approached public health as we do, with attention to our aspirations as a field that is concerned with the social, cultural, political, economic and structural conditions that produce health,” Galea wrote in an email.

The dean’s note outlined two core aspirations and four strategies for public health.

The aspirations included broader cooperation between professionals from diverse sectors of the economy and a shift in focus toward improving living conditions for marginalized groups.

One of the strategies aimed to answer the fundamental and “time-specific” question of what matters most to the health of population, while another proposed to extend the reach from smaller-scale focuses to establishing “larger efforts that target foundational drivers.”

The article mentioned the Ebola outbreak as an example of how public discussion should be shifted away from concerns over the outcome of the outbreak, like having “tertiary hospitals and new pharmaceuticals to treat people,” toward emphasizing preventa-

PHOTO BY BRIAN SONG/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A note released Sunday by the Boston University School of Public Health dean’s note series argues that technology has diverged the way society perceives public health as an intervention rather an prevention.

tive precautions and foundational efforts that must be taken to ensure the absence of such outbreak.

With rapid progress that came with the development of technology, the dean’s note expressed concerns that the state of public health has diverged from what it is supposed to be, and proposed suggestions for future focus.

Annas said technology has the tendency to worsen the science of public health. However, the science of the field is what makes an effective public health system that allows people live healthier lives to begin with.

“Technology, or even the Internet, tends

to make people look inward rather than outward,” Annas said. “Public health is about prevention, while the technology is about intervention. [Though] as a country, we are doing extremely well with technology. That is where all of the money goes — new medical machines, the drugs.”

Michael Grodin, a professor in SPH, said public health education focuses to address health issues in society while they are still resolvable.

“Public health works when nothing happens — when you have clean water, when you have food,” he said. “It is a failure when you start to have disease. People don’t see it until

things fall apart.”

Prevention is key in effective public health measures and should be a larger topic of discussion in the public health field, Grodin added.

“The classic public health approach tends to look upstream as opposed to downstream,” he said. “Public health tends to the drowning person analogy. You want to see who is pushing people into the river. Prevention improves health, and it does not get enough social media attention for that.

Several students said widening public health conversations goes hand-in-hand with increasing public health knowledge to the public.

Kathryn Vessel, a senior in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said public health awareness could contribute to an increased awareness of global issues.

“There is this common misconception that what happens in other countries does not matter because we cannot immediately see the effects and it does not affect us,” she said. “But as we have seen with the Zika virus, it does matter.”

Nikita Jain, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said a change in national attitude is the most significant change to public health.

“In our country, we are just focused on treating the disease,” she said. “Preventative medicine is something that needs to be taken on and adopted.”

Lindsey Rateau, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said public health is universally applicable and should have as much exposure as possible so people can keep themselves and others healthy.

“Different people with different backgrounds, cultures or genetic histories are vulnerable to different diseases,” she said. “It’s important to know how to stay healthy, prevent certain illnesses or prevent the spread of an illness that can lead to an epidemic.”

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NEWS

CAMPUS CRIME LOGS

BY ALYSSA MEYERS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The following reports were taken from the Boston University Police Department crime logs from Feb. 1 to Feb. 7.

Assault in Sleeper Hall At 2:53 a.m. Feb. 1, a resident of 275 Babcock St. reported his roommate began yelling at him to turn off his television and then struck him with his fist. The suspect admitted to striking the victim and was placed under arrest.

Student injured in vehicle accident ILLUSTRATION BY ETHAN CAPELLO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Several Boston-area advocacy groups have spoken out about the possible fare increase of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority services that would go into effect in July.

Proposed MBTA fair hikes cause problems with residents MBTA , FROM PAGE 1

DePaola said proposals made in the past offered random and dramatic increases with serious reduction of service.

Transportation for Massachusetts, a coalition of organizations present at the public meeting, urged the MBTA to look elsewhere for revenue, claiming that a fare increase of more than 5 percent is unnecessary and will negatively affect riders, according to Josh Ostroff, partnerships director of T4MA. “Increasing fares will have the effect of encouraging people to drive instead of taking the T, which is much more likely now that gas prices are so low,” Ostroff said. “That will have a negative consequence on congestion and the environment.”

Ostroff emphasized that even a 7-percent increase in fares would be detrimental to those living in poverty and would ultimately go against the mission of the MBTA to serve everybody. Moreover, he argued the rise in prices would have a minimal impact on reducing the MBTA’s debt, rendering the effort useless.

“The MBTA needs hundreds of millions of dollars per year to maintain their aging system and make necessary improvements,”

Ostroff said. “That is far more than they will ever achieve by increasing fares.”

Jim Stergios, executive director of Pioneer Institute, underlined in an email the effects the proposal will have on riders and the T system.

“The T is unfortunately accustomed to running an inefficient operation, with areas of egregious waste, and then coming back to the fare payers and the legislature for a bailout,” Stergios wrote in the email. “That has to stop. Otherwise, the T’s top brass and its unions will never understand that it is their business to demonstrate improved value for fare increases or greater public investment.

The T has to understand that it must earn fare increases.”

Jason Johnson, spokesperson for the MTBA, said, “a series of 10 public meetings on fare changes will be followed by a vote of the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board.” The vote is expected to take place in March.

Several attendees and Boston residents voiced their strong reservations following DePaola’s presentation.

Nelson Martinez, 18, of Chelsea, spoke out after the meeting in opposition to MBTA’s proposal.

“I’ve taken the bus since the sixth grade, and I can’t count how many times I’ve literally had just enough money to get a bus ride home,” he said. “It’s really useful to just have to pay 80 cents to go home. Any bus fare increase would make it a lot harder for me to go from place to place.”

Sylvia Ramirez, 44, of Chelsea, claimed after the meeting that she and four of her children ride the T daily, and a fare increase would be a huge constraint to her budget.

“It’s already enough that I have to put aside money for the MTBA, my son’s youth pass, also lunch money and on top of that, groceries, mortgage and all of the other utility bills,” she said. “If it increases, that means that I need to add more money to that budget that I don’t have.”

Niles Draper, 40, of South Boston, said he would not pay higher fares given the deteriorated condition of the T. “Just like any other investment, they need to show me something before I give them more money, and every year they get worse and worse,” he said. “They need to clean up their management process before I’m willing to give them more dollars.”

A 19-year-old female student was one of two pedestrians injured when three motor vehicles collided at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Essex Street Monday at 1:21 p.m.

Medical Assist at Mugar Memorial Library On Feb. 1 at 2:18 p.m., officers responded to a 19-year-old female student’s seizure at 771 Commonwealth Ave. The victim was transported to the Boston University Medical Campus for further treatment.

Medical assist from the Metcalf Science Center Officers responded at 2:31 p.m. Feb. 1 to a 21-year-old female student who had accidentally splashed a chemical substance in her eyes at 590 Commonwealth Ave. The victim was transported to the St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center for further treatment.

Suspicious circumstances tip On Feb. 2 at 10:55 p.m., officers received a report to 32 Harry Agganis Way via the Boston University Police Department Anonymous Tip Line that a BU student made a post on social media regarding printing out a 3-D rifle. The incident is currently under investigation.

Suspicious circumstances in dorm at 575 Commonwealth Ave.

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Officers responded to a report of an 18-year-old student attempting to take photos of the security cameras at 575 Commonwealth Ave. at 6:03 a.m. Feb. 3. The student also attempted to get students to sign him into different buildings to photograph other security cameras.

Marijuana reported outside of Kilachand Hall The Office of Residence Life at 91 Bay State Road reported a 19-year-old male smoking marijuana Friday at 5:56 p.m.

The student was cited for possession of marijuana for less than one ounce.

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Medical assist after fall on Nickerson bleachers A 55-year-old non-affiliated male was transported from 750 Commonwealth Ave. after falling in the stands at Nickerson Field Saturday at 2:55 p.m. Conditions were snowy at the time.

FEATURES

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INBUSINESS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Bike and Build, good souls cycling for affordable housing

BY MICHAELA JOHNSTON DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

This summer, two Boston University students and an alumnus will partake in an adventure of a lifetime: biking across the country to provide affordable housing opportunities to those in need.

William Dean, Jade Cooper and Adriel Klein are all participating in Bike and Build, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that, according to its website, “empowers young adults for a lifetime of service and civic engagement,” through service-oriented cycling trips.

Justin Villere, senior director of operations and development at Bike and Build, is a 2009 alumnus of the program. He said the three most memorable parts of his trip from Providence, Rhode Island to Seattle, Washington were the people, the service and the adventure.

“You get to see parts of the country most people don’t have a chance to see,” Villere said. “And you do it 10 miles per hour from the seat of your bike, which is a really unique way to do it.”

To prepare for the trips, which include around 15 building days, riders must volunteer with an affordable housing organization for at least 10 hours. They must also raise $4,500 and bike 500 miles, not including indoor cycling or spin classes.

Dean, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been biking around Boston to prepare for his May trip to the Southern United States.

“One of the reasons I chose this trip was because I’ve never been to the South,” he said. “I’m really excited to stop in New Orleans. That’s one of the big build sites.

We’ll be there for three or four days.”

Cooper, a senior in CAS, first heard about Bike and Build after studying abroad in New Zealand.

“I love being immersed in nature,” she said. “I’m so

ILLUSTRATION BY JACQUELYN BUSICK/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Bike & Build, an independent nonprofit organization is preparing for a cross-country trip in May where participants will help provide affordable housing for those in need.

excited to do that this summer — every day, all day, being in nature on the road, having the scenery surrounding [me].”

In addition to cycling, Cooper has been taking Tai Chi and Pilates classes to prepare for her New Haven, CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

CATALYST THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016

#RIPTwitter sparks debate over site's new algorithm

BY PRESTON PARK DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

BuzzFeed News spurred an impassioned Twitter storm Friday when it reported that Twitter would change its algorithm as early as this week. The report prompted a flood of tweets containing #RIPTwitter, a hashtag that trended over the weekend and through the week. The hashtag is being used as a mouthpiece to vocalize Twit-

ter users’ anger against the social media platform’s new Trust and Safety Council, which was created to stem online abuse.

Twitter’s new algorithm plans to introduce a new timeline that will reorganize tweets according to what the system predicts users would like to read, in contrast to the live timeline that has become the signature feature of Twitter. The live timeline is not only a staple in Twitter’s fame, but is also the basis for live-tweeting and conversations via the social platform, all of which #RIPTwitter

ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH SILBIGER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Twitter will be implementing a new algorithm that prioritizes certain content to the top of feeds in an effort to highlight important information for users.

users say are essential to the Twitter experience.

However, the new algorithmic timeline essentially operates by tailoring the user’s experience based on past information provided, whether through read, tweeted or retweeted tweets, combined with information of similar users.

John Byers, a professor of computer science at Boston University, explained some of the basics behind Twitter’s computing concept.

“Twitter is probably compiling read, tweeted and retweeted tweets, building a corpus about you, a body of information personalized using technology known as ‘recommender systems,’” he said.

Byers cited Netflix’s compilation of information on the movies and programs users have watched as an equivalent to Twitter’s algorithmic timeline. The information that these platforms generate is then used to generate recommendations from similar profiles of like-minded people.

Despite the backlash from Twitter users, the new structure may not be a huge disturbance to its normal function.

“Filtering and assorting the timeline have been in works and debated over for a long time — months, if not a year,” said Jacob Groshek, a professor of emerging media studies in BU’s College of Communication. “I don’t think it will be a game-changer. I don’t personally think a lot of people on it will be negatively impacted.”

Groshek said an algorithmic timeline might burden heavy Twitter users who rely on an unfiltered feed. However, he said, that there is “always a tension between an information bubble and having things you’re not cued in pass you by.”

In fact, Groshek said that the algorithmic timeline might be a good thing for Twitter. “[It] may make it more marketable, reaching users with specific interests,” he said.

Amid the frenzy of Twitter timeline’s looming CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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FEATURES

MUSE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016

FreeP vs. Food: Coffee Crawl

BY BECCA DEGREGORIO, SAMANTHA J. GROSS, JOE INCOLLINGO AND SONIA RAO DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

tas served it at mouth-burning temperature. Our suggestion?

Come for the needed caffeine. Stay for the atmosphere.

Due to the whirlwind nature of college, sleepy students often resort to the nearest coffee locale to keep their eyelids a little less droopy. More often than not, this ends up being a dining points-friendly chain or a nearby, incredibly crowded and hectic shop.

But what about the rest of the city’s coffee shops? When you’ve got more than an hour to spare, it might be worth it to make the trip to that one place Jimmy mentioned last weekend or to the location of your friend’s most Instagram-able latte.

With that in mind, we woke up bright and early one Saturday morning with the mission to scope out four vaguely familiar, highly Yelp-rated joints. This is FreeP versus Food: Coffee Crawl.

Cafe Vittoria (North End): Assorted Espresso Drinks The espresso is as rich as the culture, but make sure you’re ready for both before walking in. Don’t get us wrong.

Caffé Vittoria is exactly what belongs on Hanover Street, continuing the North End’s tradition of cash-only cuisine.

However, it may not belong on the average student’s “coffice space” list. The antique decor of golden chairs and family portraits too prominent to avoid eye contact with is somewhat authentic to the point of guiltiness. Should I be more Italian? When was the last time I called my grandmother? And why am I on my fourth cup of coffee this morning? Matching these concerns, the latte, americano and macchiato felt heavy after drinking. Do yourself the favor of visiting Caffé Vittoria with a loved one and without several cups of coffee already in your stomach.

PHOTO BY SONIA RAO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A Caffe Americano at Render Coffee in the South End.

Render Coffee (South End): Caffe Americano Bop and local art: what better indicators do you need of a quality coffee shop? A man in a Eagles hoodie plays a Nintendo DS in the corner under a canvas of the Green Line. For the Americano, they write 'USA' on the cup, which is cute, but it should be noted that we sat outside for lack of inside seating. Such is the curse of the quaint but popular joint. The back deck must be sublime in the fall, though. The coffee, for its part, is an enigma, the mystery being why it doesn't taste like anything.

PHOTO BY SONIA RAO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A medium roast served black at Refuge Café in the heart of Allston.

Refuge Cafe (Allston): Medium Roast, Black Picture a neighborly joint with brown-spotted bananas, piping hot coffee and giant windows for watching sidewalk acquaintances slip past your laptop. Yes, setting and location-wise, Refuge Cafe is an Allston staple. That said, the Equal Exchange medium roast makes for a reliable morning cup. Nutty and semi-full, this coffee is surprisingly mellow compared to its color and Refuge’s punk-centric playlists. Our one complaint was the sour aftertaste, which proved to be no issue until the cup began cooling off. At least the baris-

PHOTO BY SONIA RAO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

PHOTO BY SONIA RAO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A café au Lait at Equal Exchange Café in the North End.

Equal Exchange Cafe (North End): Medium Roast, Au Lait With teal ferns and mountain contours paneling the walls of this snug shop across from TD Garden, Equal Exchange Café really plays up its titular shtick. Make no mistake, though: capitalism thrives in the form of many a t-shirt, teapot and fair trade chocolate bar. It's cozy, though the “bro-coustic” Mrazian soundtrack makes work a little tough.

The metal chairs don’t help either. At best, the shop offers a good respite in what's increasingly becoming a busier part of the city, and the foamy and comforting cafe au lait works hard at that. Also, North Station is a hike. This could be your go-to if it weren't for the going-to.

It turns out these places are “vaguely” familiar for good reason. While Refuge and Caffé Vittoria may be worth visiting a second time for just the ambience and hearty drinks, respectively, the same cannot quite be said about Render and Equal Exchange. This isn’t to say that these two are lost causes. Statistically speaking, we only visited once, and the underwhelming taste or mechanical feel could’ve been due to a case of bad luck or occasional weird vibes.

For a student looking for a simultaneously hip and calm place to get some work done, Refuge might be the best bet.

But if you can’t make the trek to Allston, your loyal study room and venti-sized pal will always be there for you.

An espresso at Caffe Vittoria, the first Italian caffe in Boston, located in the North End.

Terriers give back through non-profit organization, Bike and Build BIKE AND BUILD, FROM PAGE 5

Connecticut to Stockton, California trip. While she said no amount of training will prepare her for the physical and mental challenges of the journey, she is looking forward to gaining a better perspective on affordable housing in the United States.

“Housing is so expensive these days, it’s ridiculous,” she said. “A lot of people pay way too much for housing, and it’s not even good conditions, so I really like hearing their perspective and trying to immerse myself in that situation and [do] the best I can to help them.”

Klein, a 2014 BU graduate, will bike from Providence to Stockton on his second trip with Bike and Build.

“What appealed to me about it was the community service aspect of it,” he said. “You’re doing something good, and the combination of the travel, seeing new places and the actual biking itself … is a pretty intense thing to do. It’s incredibly healthy and you feel amazing every day.”

Klein added that the build days provide a nice break from biking, since they use “different muscles.”

Villere said the trips leave a lasting impact on riders, and that alumni continue to support the organization long after their cycling ends.

“The alumni are the lifeblood of Bike and Build,” he said. “We rely on them for especially recruiting, getting out the word to their friends and people they go to school or work with.”

Y

ou're doing something good, and the combi-

nation of the travel, seeing new places and the actual biking itself... is a pretty intense thing to do.

Alyssa Russell, also a 2014 BU graduate, went on the Northern United States trip after graduating from college. Among her favorite memories are times spent cycling across North Dakota and Glacier National Park.

“We were biking in flat areas for weeks, and suddenly you see these beautiful mountains in the distance and you’re in the middle of them and climbing them,” she said. “It was just incredible.”

Russell highly recommends that other college students go on Bike and Build trips.

“I think that in college, there’s a lot of pressure to constantly think about your career,” she said. “That is, in my opinion, close-minded. The benefit of personal experiences like [this] is so huge … The confidence you gain doing something like [this] is incredible.”

Villere further emphasized the personal impact Bike and Build leaves on young people, even those who don’t have much prior biking experience.

“Bike and Build is not a race,” he said. “We try to emphasize that you don’t have to be an avid cyclist. The people we’re looking for are people who have a passion for service, adventure and want to make a difference. We believe they can learn to ride bikes — it’s hard to find the opposite.”

FEATURES

7

SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Culture shines through at MFA's Lunar New Year celebration

BY ELISE TAKAHAMA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The normally quiet rotunda of the Museum of Fine Arts reverberated with hundreds of voices Saturday as guests welcomed in the Lunar New Year.

The celebration was held throughout the museum, involving traditional crafts, demonstrations such as the Korean New Year greeting ceremony Sae-bae, performances and special exhibits for all ages.

One of the day’s most popular events was the customary Chinese Lion Dance, performed by Gund Kwok, New England’s only all-female Lion and Dragon Dance Group.

The children of the Chinese Culture Connection also performed a Lion Dance in addition to their Chinese GongFu martial arts demonstration.

Syncopasian, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology a cappella group, performed East Asian-originated songs upstairs next to the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art. The group, which was established in 2008, won the top collegiate prize during the 2015 season of WGBH’s vocal competition “Sing That Thing.”

“We specialize in East Asian pop, so we sings songs in Chinese, in Korean, Japanese and English, of course” said Priyanka Satpute, an MIT junior studying chemical engineering and the president of Syncopasian.

The group’s performance was incredibly popular, with patrons lining up the stairs to get closer to the group.

“It really means a lot to us to be performing for Lunar New Year, which is a pretty significant Asian celebration, and to be performing at the MFA, of all things,” Satpute said.

During the celebration, the Chinese Song Dynasty Gallery was unveiled at the MFA. The new exhibit features works from what is considered to be China’s Golden Age of art and literature.

Irene Chang, a tour guide for the MFA, explained that the previous dynasty, the Tang, was incredibly turbulent and violent. The Song Dynasty, however, was characterized by peace and prosperity.

“So when we moved to the Song Dynasty, people had good lives,” Chang said. “The country settled down and allowed people to expand in terms of arts.”

Chang described the art from the Song Dynasty as being influenced by Indian Buddhism.

“When you see this, you feel like, ‘Wow, it’s a melting pot,’ with the Chinese civilization and the Indian religion and art,” said Chang.

Museum-goers were also treated to several crafting

PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

After watching a demonstration of traditional bowing and greeting, a group of young girls try on traditional Korean dresses at the free Lunar New Year Celebration at the Museum of Fine Arts Saturday afternoon.

stations, where they could make miniature hand drums, monkey puppets and traditional Korean coin and token pouches called “bok jumoni.”

Another craft involved hanging frames covered in brightly-colored ribbons with handwritten wishes, based on the traditional Chinese New Year Wishing Tree. One of the frames was made in partnership with the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, covered in wishes made by the program’s youth.

Landa Ruen, an educator and community arts liaison for the MFA and an art education graduate student at Boston University, helped organize the art project.

“We work with 10 different clubs in Boston,” Ruen said. “We’ve been doing that for about 10 years, and there’s different liaisons from the museum that work with each

one of those clubs.”

Ruen lived in China for a couple years and saw firsthand the New Year Wishing Trees that inspired this project. In Chinese tradition, red ribbons inscribed with wishes would be tied to oranges.

“You take that orange, you throw it up into a tree and, if it sticks, then your wish will come true,” Ruen said. “But sometimes if there isn’t an orange attached, then it’s just a long ribbon that you tie around a tree. So imagine a tree that’s just completely covered in red ribbon. It’s absolutely stunning.”

Throughout the day, children and adults alike added their own wishes for the New Year to the rapidly growing collection and enjoyed the culture surrounding the Chinese New Year.

Twitter eliminates reverse chronological order timeline in mobile app #RIPTWITTER, FROM PAGE 5

“death,” many misconstrue what Twitter actually has planned. The switch from a reverse-chronological timeline to the algorithmic timeline to the algorithmic timeline is simply a renovation that expands the “while you were away” feature introduced in early 2015. Twitter’s algorithmic timeline will use the same computing principles to bring the most relevant tweets up top. Most importantly, while this timeline will serve as the default for the new Twitter, users can opt out in favor of the old timeline.

In response to the enflamed reactions, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, tried to calm the concerns on Friday afternoon.

“We never planned to reorder timelines next week,” he tweeted. “we’re going to refine [the live stream] to make Twitter more, not less, live!”

Several Boston-area students acknowledged the pros and cons of Twitter’s new format.

Jennifer Kim, a first year graduate student at Tufts said she is relatively new to Twitter said she prefers seeing tweets in chronological order rather than a relevance-based order.

“If I see a popular article from a few weeks ago and kind of still popular now, and losing relevance, I don’t think I’d click on that,” she said. “I’d like to be updated with the most recent news.”

Andreas Xenopoulos, a sophomore in COM said that the she is is open to Twitter’s new format.

“The changes that they made don’t make that much of a difference because I’ll just go on and scroll through,” she said. “I think its good that they change it and update it.

Change is good I think. I’m not opposed to it.”

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OPINION

8

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Samantha J. Gross, Editor-in-Chief Sonia Rao, 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

45th year | Volume 90 | Issue IV 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 © 2015 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Rhonda Mak, Multimedia Editor

Lucas Williams, Editorial Page Editor

Chloe Bruning, Blog Editor

Sekar Krisnauli T., Campus Editor

Christy Osler, Features Editor

Shakti Rovner, Office Manager

Olivia Quintana, City Editor

Sarah Silbiger, Photo Editor

Jonathan Sigal, Sports Editor

Rachel Chmielinski, Layout Editor

North Carolina's welfare drug tests condemn poor North Carolina released results of a 2013 law that requires welfare applicants to undergo self-funded drug tests. Of the 7,600 applicants, 89 were referred to drug testing and 21 tested positive, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

Social workers interviewed welfare applicants to determine which ones needed to undergo drug tests, which are also required from applicants who have been convicted of drug felonies in the past three years.

Those who test positive have their benefits cut off. Twelve of the 21 positive tests qualified for “reduced payment” because children were involved, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Thirteen states including North Carolina currently have welfare drug testing in place.

The worst part of this is that applicants have to pay for the drug testing out of their own pockets. It’s ridiculous to expect people looking for government assistance to pay $55 for a drug test that they might test negative for. North Carolina’s government shouldn’t be making people pay to get out of a hole they already can’t find a way out of.

If the government had to pay for applicants’ drug tests, however, it would add up to a lot of government money being spent to make sure people don’t frivolously spend government money. This seems entirely

counter-productive.

The main issue with drug-using welfare applicants is that they use taxpayer money to help fund their addictions. In its most simplified form, tax money is being used to buy drugs. That shouldn’t happen, especially when that money is supposed to be used to help people stay alive.

But requiring drug testing won’t miraculously cause all welfare applicants to sober up. Addiction doesn’t work like that.

There’s a reason why people spend money on drugs before food. Maybe it would become an accepted norm that drug users can’t get welfare years down the line, but for those who need welfare immediately, it would be

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rug users are people too.

They have families hey need to support. They don't deserve to die just because they've made a sizable mistake in life.

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reasonable amount of time to get clean. The government would ideally provide applicants with resources to facilitate this. At the end of the grace period, their welfare would run out if applicants were still using drugs.

This sounds great in theory, but putting it into practice could be another story entirely.

But requiring welfare applicants to undergo drug tests perpetuates the myth that drug use is a lower-class phenomenon. Some people who use welfare have never touched a drug in their lives. To those people, it’s degrading and offensive to have pee in a cup for something they know they are innocent of. The 61 North Carolinian welfare applicants who had to take a drug test and pay for it wasted their money on something they knew was pointless. There’s no fairness in that.

This opens up a wider discussion that needs to be had about the stigma between drug use and lower classes. Low-paying jobs require employees to undergo drug tests, but higher-paying jobs don’t. You just have to look at any suburban high school to see that many upper-middle-class white teens do drugs at a rate rock stars can’t keep up with.

Placing restrictions on welfare is easy because it isn’t a gift. It’s a drug in itself. But people shouldn’t have to pay to just survive at the bare minimum of life.

This week’s crossword puzzle is brought to you by Delia Cabe

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disastrous.

Taking welfare away from drug users will just make matters worse. If the government won’t give them money, they’ll obtain it another, possibly less legal, way or die.

Neither of those options should even be considered in modern society.

There should even be a fallback for those who test positive for drugs. Drug users are people too. They have families they need to support. They don’t deserve to die just because they’ve made a sizeable mistake in life.

One pricey alternative to a total cutoff of welfare funding is to give drug-using welfare applicants a delayed cutoff. If applicants use drugs, they should be allotted a

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ACROSS 1. Cuts into cubes 6. Stigma 10. Adhesive strip 14. Panache 15. What a person is called 16. Absent Without Leave 17. Not tight 18. Not closed 19. Police action 20. Interlace 22. Backside 23. At one time (archaic) 24. Male goose 26. Taps 30. "Eureka!"

31. Eastern newt 32. Shortly 33. Alone 35. Kidney-related

DOWN 39. Grand style 41. Breach 43. First Hebrew letter 44. Observed 46. King of the jungle 47. Father 49. Biblical boat 50. Austrian peaks 51. Abounding in stars 54. Stair 56. Emanation 57. Make into a citizen 63. Boast 64. Affirm 65. Nuzzled 66. River of Spain 67. Not less 68. Internment camp 69. A soft sheepskin leather 70. Possesses 71. Inscribed pillar

1. Sandwich shop 2. Computer symbol 3. Coagulate 4. Leisure 5. Cubic meter 6. Racquet-shaped footwear 7. Seat of government 8. Ends a prayer 9. Fail to fulfill a promise 10. A lively whirling dance 11. Honor 12. Composure 13. Church officer 21. Garbage 25. Hairdo 26. Dad 27. A Freudian stage 28. Anagram of "Note"

29. Showy bloom 34. Preliminaries 36. Found on a finger 37. At the peak of 38. Focusing glass 40. Blacken 42. Embellisher (comic art) 45. Not western 48. Generator 51. Cavalry weapon 52. Engine supercharger 53. A kind of macaw 55. Twinges 58. Affirm 59. Boor 60. Small island 61. Ardor 62. Border

OPINION

9

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Free speech threatened abroad Foreign policy weak in 2016 election

BY ELISE RENNER COLUMNIST

A female reporter was dragged from her home in Mexico by gunmen Monday night, NBC reported. Anabel Flores Salazar was a crime reporter in Veracruz, Mexico. This means that she is extremely aware of criminal activity in Mexico — an intimidating job description, to say the least.

In Veracruz alone, 15 journalists have been murdered in the last six years. Just this past August, five gunmen stormed a bar in the nearby town of Orizaba and killed a reporter who was meeting with a supposed drug gang boss.

Mexico has historically been one of the most dangerous places in the world for those who work in the media, and it consistently maintains one of the highest levels of unsolved crimes against the press.

The newspaper where Flores Salazar works, El Buen Tono, has been receiving threatening phone calls from individuals who claim to be members of the Zetas drug cartel. These people are threatening to burn down the newspaper’s office because of stories it’s published in the past.

The office disclosed that Flores Salazar had been in the company of one of Zetas’ leaders in 2014 when he was arrested. Prosecutors told NBC they were investigating “all the reporter’s possible ties,” but crimes of this nature come as no surprise to Mexican authorities.

Mexico has fallen far, far behind when it comes to freedom of the press.

The Mexican Constitution gave citizens this most basic right in 1917 in Article 7, which states, “The freedom to write and publish writings on any subjects is inviolable. Neither laws, nor authorities shall execute any kind of previous censorship.” However unfortunate and unforeseen, free speech has certainly provoked crimes as of late.

According to the 2012 Reporters

Without Borders Press Freedom Index, Mexico ranks 149 out of 179 in its freedom of the press, showing just how dire the situation is for reporters.

The government refuses to protect its journalists against the extremely dangerous drug cartels that continue to ravage the media.

In 2014, the Mexican state of Sinaloa approved a reform that “forbid the press to cover any matter of security,” Latin American news network teleSUR reported. This came at a time when Sinaloa was considered one of the most violent states in Mexico solely because of the heightened power of local drug cartels. Is this an appropriate way to combat attacks not only on the ideal of freedom, but also physically on human beings?

Recently, this question has been posed all over the world. In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015, columnists and talk show hosts around the world have been discussing the issue of free speech, often finding ways to bash the United States in the process.

Time magazine writer Charlotte Alter’s 2015 article “We Have a FreeSpeech Problem in America Too,” mentions the incident in which Justine Sacco, an American PR executive, was fired over controversial tweets. Though she was free to express herself through her tweets, this just shows how freedom of speech is becoming regulated in the social sphere.

If we continue to implement Alter’s method of improper comparison, it looks as if the loss of a job is right on par with the loss of life. So often do we fail to realize how good we truly have it in the United States, when just south of us, journalists are risking their lives for a practice we take for granted ever y day.

The default action for so many members of the media in instances like this is to criticize. Perhaps it is more entertaining for us to draw out our government’s f laws with a sharp, politically charged needle than to offer thanks for the syringe it provided us in the first place.

As a new crop of journalists joins the American workforce — the millennials — I can only hope that growing up to see so much positive change in this countr y will help us clear away the cynical dust of those who came before.

BY KOBE YANK-JACOBS COLUMNIST

The global problems facing the next president include dealing with North Korean nuclear ambitions, holding Iran to the terms of the nuclear deal, maritime conflict in the South China Sea and a massive proxy war with a complex web of alliances in Syria and Iraq.

Yet many popular presidential candidates fail to display an understanding of foreign affairs. American voters should demand foreign policy competence from their candidates before they consider their domestic proposals, which largely fall outside the scope of presidential power.

In a press conference early in his second term, President Barack Obama was asked if he still had “the juice to get the rest of [his] agenda through Congress.” He replied by saying to the reporter, “You seem to suggest that somehow, [Congress has] no responsibility and that my job is to somehow get them to behave. ” This exchange exemplifies the Green Lantern Theory of the presidency, a phrase coined by political writer Matthew Yglesias. It refers to the assumption made by the public and the media that failures of policy can be attributed to a lack of presidential willpower.

The flaw in this mode of thinking is that it defies the actual distribution of power in the U.S. government and underestimates the agency of individual senators and representatives.

Wary of a powerful executive branch, the nation’s founders designed the legislative branch to be more powerful than the executive one.

In the very first article of the Constitution, they wrote, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.”

Nonetheless, modern political discourse frames all domestic successes and failures around the abilities of the president in office.

As political scientist Brendan Nyhan wrote, the GLT is “the impulse behind holding a president responsible for a bad economy and giving him credit for a good one (the most important factor in presidential approval and election outcomes).”

This stems from the drama and prestige of the institution. It’s much easier and more dramatic for the media to cover a single individual than 535 disparate legislators. Furthermore, Congress’ arcane operational procedures make it more complex for ordinary individuals to understand.

The implications of forgetting the GLT

during a presidential race are serious. Candidates can make unrealistic, ideologically motivated promises that distract ardent supporters from foreign affairs issues, which tend to be more esoteric.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, for instance, is presently thriving on his ability to woo liberals with expansive domestic proposals. Yet his supporters forget the failure of Obama to deliver on the political transformation that he promised — despite a much less extreme agenda — largely as a result of the presidency’s limitations.

Presidents, while weaker than we imagine in the domestic realm, actually do have significant leeway in foreign affairs. While the U.S. Constitution requires the “advice and consent of the Senate” on treaties, the advent of executive agreements shifted power to the executive branch. Executive agreements are non-legally binding international agreements into which presidents can enter without Senate approval.

Though the legal authority for this type of agreement is debated, presidents have rarely been challenged. In the 1950s, the so-called Bricker Amendment was an attempt to amend the Constitution to limit this authority, but it failed to pass muster.

Thus, today, presidents still utilize executive agreements, uncontested, in order to conduct foreign policy free of the hyper-partisan political climate. Foreign affairs, therefore, is the one realm where significant change isn’t hostage to our current political dysfunction.

The only downside is that the president’s successor is also free to renege on any agreements made because they aren’t legally binding.

Despite this unfortunate caveat, the rise of the United States as a global superpower has made this type of agreement increasingly frequent in the modern era.

While only 31 percent of international agreements were done in this manner during the first 50 years of the Constitution, 94.3 percent of international agreements between 1939 and 1989 — that is, between the start of World War II and the fall of communism — were completed this way, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Given that the execution of foreign relations is almost entirely incumbent upon the president, it is disconcerting that many popular candidates have failed to display any foreign policy competence.

Sanders has avoided the issue when possible, preferring to change the subject or rely on his opposition to the Iraq War to distinguish him from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. On the right, several candidates show murky comprehension and rely heavily on trite expressions of American exceptionalism to reassure voters.

It is time for American voters to withdraw support from candidates who fail to speak intelligently and accurately on foreign affairs, including subjects unrelated to global terrorism.

Global governance and international relations shape the current of human history. We can’t afford to elect a vaguely informed person to lead the world’s most powerful country.

Interrobang A grandmother who identified herself as “Carol” recently beat off two attackers with a staple gun from her purse.

We here at the ol’ free press want to know, what would BU students use to fight off attackers?

Questrom: Their outdoor ashtray

Science Majors: Turtles from the science building’s aquarium. Those guys can be feisty.

BU Dining: The rock-hard rice from the bottom of the rice cooker COM: The power of the pen ENG: The enormous course packs (what’s even in those things?)

IR Majors: The weight of the world Sorority Pledges: Heavy, heavy makeup FreeP: The weight that hits our eyes in a lecture after print night

10

SPORTS

Women’s lacrosse ready for season, Patriot League slate

BY ALYSSA FORSTER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

After an up-and-down 201415 season, the Boston University women’s lacrosse team is ready to turn the page.

With a full slate of Patriot League and non-conference games ahead, BU hopes to make an 8-10 season a thing of the past and return to its winning ways, BU head coach Liz Robertshaw said. The chance to do just that begins Friday when crosstown rival No. 8 Boston College visits Nickerson Field, after which five away contests follow suit.

Robertshaw identified consistency as key to her team’s impending journey and said she’s excited to see what players young and old bring to the table.

“I think a big focus for us this season is to be more consistent than we have been in the past,” Robertshaw said. “We want our team to be aggressive attacking-wise, take lots of chances, get more shots around the cage and obviously score lots of goals.”

Robertshaw also highlighted team defense as something that must improve, mindful of the fact that BU struggled in that regard in 2014-15. Opposing teams scored 10.11 goals per game last season and averaged 23 shots per game.

“Defensively, we want to be more consistent in terms of our play,” Robertshaw said. “We want to limit the amount of shots that our goaltenders see, limit the amount of time we have to play on defense and get the ball to our attackers more.”

This year, seven seniors will return to the team, including midfielders Jill Horka and Ally Adams.

Horka was named to the Presea-

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA WIMLEY/DFP FILE PHOTO

Senior Jill Horka was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team ahead of the 2016 season.

son All-Patriot League Team after totaling 22 points in 17 games her junior year. Adams finished last season with 26 goals and 10 assists, good for second on the team in points behind senior attacker Mallory Collins' 40.

With those contributions

present once more, Robertshaw added that she’s observed a veteran presence in the locker room and on the field from day one.

“This year’s group of seniors made the decision at the end of last year that they were going to work harder and really connect the team

together in order to put forth a better effort and a better team,” Robertshaw said. “They have done that, and it’s exceeded my expectations.”

Robertshaw continued in saying that come April, a time when each result is increasingly scrutinized, the veteran leadership will

be even more invaluable.

“They came back to school in shape during the fall, and they’ve worked very hard on and off the field to make sure that the team is well connected,” Robertshaw said.

“They are excited to go and play, which has been really impressive not only to me, but the entire staff.”

The Terriers also welcome five freshman onto the roster for the upcoming season, as attackers Catherine McAuley and Molly Kern, midfielders Kaitlin Belval and Kelly Mathews and defender Tonianne Magnelli have joined the ranks.

Robertshaw shied away from placing too much pressure on any newcomer, but said she feels they’ve adjusted to college lacrosse well so far.

“This is a very strong freshmen class, and we are proud to have them,” Robertshaw said. “The seniors have done a good job of explaining the expectations to the freshmen, and they want them to take on challenges and take risks.

They also want to help the freshmen grow and become the best players they possibly can be during the season.”

For the third-straight year, BU was polled to finish third overall in the Patriot League. Robertshaw said that she appreciates the recognition, but believes the team can aspire to greater heights than that.

“Obviously we are proud of where we stand in the poll, but I think we can be even better,” Robertshaw said. “Last season was tough at times, but there are many spots where there’s room for improvement and growth. I think as long as we stay close as a team and play up to our capabilities, we can go far this season.”

Fanning continues to lead surging men's basketball team CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Jones referred to a first-half ankle injury that forced Dieudonne out of the game and forced the Terriers to reevaluate their strategy. After the injury to Dieduonne, the Terriers were disjointed, and Fanning said he handled the situation very poorly.

“Today, it might not show, but I did a real crappy job of handling myself,” Fanning said. “I got real frustrated with my guys, especially when [senior guard] John [Papale] is battling through injuries and Nate’s out.”

This was not evident in his performance, as Fanning battled back from the second half to hit 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to wrap up the Terrier victory.

While other contributors such

W

as sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely, who finished with 20 points, continued to be integral to the offense, none seemed as important as Fanning.

In the Terriers’ offense onslaught against the Eagles (7-17, 5-8 Patriot League) they were 8-for-14 from deep, something Jones attributes to the teams ability to rotate the ball to the 3-point line.

This is just one example of the Terriers’ recent success, despite losing many players to injury throughout the season.

“We've been playing well, especially since everyone's been down,” Fanning said. “It's kind of like addition by subtraction. We know [junior guard Cedric Hankerson's] our best player and he goes down, our starting big man [senior Justin

e've been playing well, especially since everyone's been down. It's kind of like addition by subtraction.

Alston] goes down, everyone's panicking. The only one who didn't panic [were] Coach Jones and our coaching staff. They were like, ‘You guys are fine. You got more than enough talent to do this.’”

Fanning added that it’s been a collective effort to make up for the absences.

“We just picked each other up, and everyone's been able to step up,” he said. “Five in a row feels good, to see our hard work and all the adversity we faced finally paying off. We know what we got to do, and we're rolling right now.”

With Fanning leading a suddenly lethal Terriers offense, the team seems in prime position to make a Patriot League Tournament run, as it sits at second place in the conference.

Their tournament hopes may take a large hit if Dieudonne is lost for an extended period of time, yet Fanning knows what will have to be done in that case.

“I got to be one of those guys that encourages people, and I didn’t do that today, but now since Nate’s gone ... then we all have to remain positive all the time and pick up the slack,” Fanning said. “It’s a lot of PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF slack if we lose Nate.”

Junior Eric Fanning leads BU with 15 points per game.

SPORTS

11

Women’s basketball drops Patriot League matchup to American

BY JONATHAN SIGAL DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

After competitive play in its last two games, the Boston University women’s basketball team fell hard at American University Wednesday night, dropping a 79-33 decision.

The Eagles (6-17, 4-8 Patriot League) were led by senior Ari Booth’s 22 points, but it was a team effort that BU head coach Katy Steding’s side couldn’t keep at bay. BU (2-21, 2-10 Patriot League) was outrebounded 44-24, let American drain 52.4 percent of its shots and turned the ball over 21 times, leaving a sour note on the team’s pre-game sentiments. “‘Optimistic’ might have been the right word, and ‘energetic’ too,” Steding said of the buildup to Wednesday’s encounter. “We’ve had a couple good practices this week and general excitement about that we’re on an upswing. As a team that’s young, you’re going to face some ups and downs, and this definitely wasn’t an up.”

As Steding alluded to, BU struggled from the onset at Bender Arena. It faced a 39-12 deficit at halftime and at one point trailed by 49 points. The second-year coach was also quick to point out that American has come a long way since BU usurped the Eagles 63-59 Jan. 13 for the first win of the Terriers’ season.

American’s improvements manifested in 19 assists, 26 points in the paint and many intangibles, all of which combined to crush BU’s swelling momentum.

“My hat goes off to American because they worked really, really hard,” Steding said.

“They’ve got great shooters, spread them out, got great shots, were considerably tougher than us on the boards, their pace was really good and we were just a step slow from the start in every spot. We just felt off from the start.”

Despite persistent struggles throughout all four quarters, junior guard Courtney Latham served as a bright spot, and Steding took note. Latham finished with eight points

and four rebounds, answering the call to step her game up.

“I thought Courtney Latham did a really good job, and we’ve been on her to be a little bit more aggressive and looking to attack the basket,” Steding said. “She responded very, very well and always does. When you put a challenge in front of Courtney, she’s an achievement-oriented person and responds to that.”

Steding also highlighted the contributions of several freshmen, noting that the lopsided result served as a “good opportunity for them to get out there and continue to improve their game and get some opportunities they’ve been missing.” Specifically, freshmen Naiyah Thompson and center Milla Ekstrom combined for 28 minutes played and six rebounds.

Looking forward, Steding emphasized that her team learned the value of not digging a hole it cannot escape from. Whether it’s improvements on the glass or a more focused defensive approach, the Terriers took a lot from their trip to our nation’s capital.

“My message to the team was, sometimes it’s just not your night,” Steding said. “We can wallow in it, or we can take a page and realize we have to be tougher on the boards, faster in our sets, more in attack mode on offense and shore up our defense.”

BU’s next chance to get in the win column comes Saturday afternoon when Loyola Maryland University comes to Case Gym. The Greyhounds (9-14, 6-6 Patriot League) are in the middle of the Patriot League playoff race, and the Terriers have their sights on righting the ship quickly.

“We’ve got a great opportunity to get one that got away from us at Loyola,” Steding said.

“That’s the nice thing about college basketball — usually, there’s another opportunity right around the corner. It’s important for us as a young team to not get bogged down by a bad result and move on. It’s something we leave in history and try not to repeat.”

PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Junior Courtney Latham finished with eight points against another Patriot League foe.

Men's basketball team wins again, climbs up standings MEN'S BASKETBALL, FROM PAGE 10

him for Saturday, but we need him.”

After the Terriers defeated the Eagles 61-50 Jan. 13 with 34 points in the paint, Jones said he believed American made it a point to better defend the paint, which left BU’s shooters open at times.

“When they were switching off on things and they have a guard on one of our bigs inside, and then they got to bring over weak-side help, then we can get a skip

pass or ball reversal for a three,” Jones said.

“That’s why we were able to get 3-point shots tonight, because they were helping so much inside. We kind of hurt them inside in the last game, so they were trying to do a good job of taking that away, but it opened up the 3-point shooting.”

Once the second half started, however, the Terriers looked like a different team. Their struggle on offense and turnovers led to easy baskets for the Eagles, as

American opened up the second half on a 15-5 run. With the score 46-44 in favor of BU with 8:34 remaining, it was anyone’s game.

Luckily, BU woke up just in time, going on a lengthy run to put the game away for good in the final minutes. The charge was led by Mosely, who scored eight straight points thanks to two 3-point shots in transition. Mosely ended the night shooting 60 percent from the field, 57.1

percent from deep and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

“That guy's been unbelievable,” Jones said. “He’s been doing this and not really practicing much — it’s amazing what he’s been able to accomplish. You’re never surprised by … Cheddi and Kyle. They’re so talented that you’re not surprised when they do eye-popping things. You just kind of grow to expect those guys to make plays.”

Ovechkin, Holtby leading Capitals towards NHL greatness BENEDYKCIUK , FROM PAGE 12

ers and Los Angeles Kings.

While Ovi and the Caps have always been strong offensively, they’ve never wielded firepower quite like this before.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, a 23-year-old Russian forward, has found his stride, and leads the Caps with 54 points through 52 games.

He’s making life easy for normal scorers, including Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. These names represent just four of the Capitals’ seven players on pace to score 20 goals this season, as Justin Williams, Jason Chimera and Marcus Johansson can all be held in that regard.

Defensively, Washington has improved greatly since it won the President’s Trophy several years ago. With names like John Carlson, Karl Alzner, Matt Ni-

skanen and Dmitry Orlov, the Caps’ current defensive roster is younger, faster and stronger than it was in 2009-10, when it featured names like Tom Poti, John Erskine and Shaone Morrisonn.

We saw during last year’s postseason that Braden Holtby was capable of stealing games when he went head-to-head against one of the best goaltenders in recent history in Henrik Lundqvist. Holtby has followed up his playoff performance by dominating this season, boasting numbers such as a 2.08 goals against average, a 92.8 save percentage and a league-best 34 wins. And as a 26-year-old, Holtby is only getting started.

Barry Trotz coached the Nashville Predators from 1998 all the way up until 2014, when he was signed by the Washing-

ton Capitals. He was a Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year) finalist in both 2010 and 2011. He led the Caps to 101 points (45-26-11) in his first year with the team.

The most important feature of this year’s Capitals team, though, is experience. Players like Ovechkin and Backstrom have experienced devastating defeats early on in their career, which has only made them hungrier. Players recently brought in, such Justin Williams, Brooks Orpik and Mike Richards have all won Stanley Cups before. And that is exactly the type of personal experience that the 2009-10 team lacked.

All these factors have contributed to Washington’s outrageous success this year. The Capitals (unsurprisingly) boast the league’s best power play percentage

of 24.4 percent. On average, they score a league-best 3.29 goals per game. Their 84-percent penalty kill rate is good for fourth best in the NHL. They have the fewest goals against in the league with just 117 through 52 games, and the second lowest goals against per game played ratio at 2.25.

The Capitals have a tenacious roster with an excellent mix of skill, speed, strength, youth and experience. They have an elite goaltender, a reputable coach and a trusting fan base. They have the purest scorer of this generation in Alexander Ovechkin, and perfect playmaking complements to him in Backstrom and Kuznetsov. Barring a series of unfortunate injuries, the Washington Capitals are the clear favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

Sports

Quotable "I think as long as we stay close as a team and play up to our capabilities, we can go far this season.” - Liz Robertshaw, women's lacrosse coach, on the 2016 season p. 10

The Blue Line Washington Capitals are Stanley Cup favorites

BY MIKE BENEDYKCIUK DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Over the past several seasons, the Washington Capitals have seen some incredibly talented teams fall far short of postseason glory. In 2009-10, they boasted a staggering 121 points and 54-15-13 record en route to capturing the franchise’s first and only President’s Trophy. That particular team would promptly be eliminated by the eight-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the playoff ’s first round in an upset that stunned the hockey world.

Currently, the Caps are on pace to earn an unprecedented 129 points. That would be the best regular season result since the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings won 131 points. Unfortunately for the Capitals, though, that Red Wings team was eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals.

The good news for the Capitals, though, is that they currently have a team much better than their 2009-10 squad — one that will not go down nearly as easily as its predecessor.

This season, Washington became the first team to win 38 of its 51 first games in 70 years — a feat that is hard to come by, to put it lightly. So, it’s only natural to wonder what has caused a change in sentiment in our nation’s capital. Are these the same Caps that perplexed NHL fans in years past?

There are several reasons why the 2015-16 Capitals are much better than they have been in previous playoff pushes. The top five reasons are as follows: a supporting offensive cast, defensive depth and mobility, goaltending, coaching and experience.

Once the Capitals selected Alexander Ovechkin first overall in 2004, they knew they had a franchise player destined for greatness. This year, the Russian-born forward became the first player to score 30 or more goals in each of his first 11 seasons since Wayne Gretzky. The aforementioned great scored 30-plus in each of his first 13 years in the league, and it came through seasons with the Edmonton OilCONTINUED ON PAGE 11

Homeland Hiccup After inspiring play as of late, the women's basketball team faltered in D.C., losing to American University. p. 11

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Men’s basketball handles American at Case Gym

BY NICK FRAZIER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston University men’s basketball team fought off a late charge from American University Wednesday night, defending Case Gym to the tune of a 71-52 victory, the team’s fifth straight.

Things could not be going much better for the Terriers (15-11, 8-5 Patriot League), as the team won eight of its last 10 games and now sits in second place in the conference standings. With five games left in the regular season, BU has a chance to upend Bucknell University for the first seed in the Patriot League Tournament.

Junior guard Eric Fanning and sophomore backcourt mate Cheddi Mosely dropped 25 and 20 points on the Eagles (7-17, 5-8 Patriot League), respectively.

It was the first time this year two Terriers had more than 20 points in a game.

Freshman point guard Kyle Foreman also played well, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“That was a great team win,” said BU head coach Joe Jones. “We had to gut it out, we had to win and get stops. Our coaching staff did a great job. [Associate] coach [Shaun] Morris did a great job on the offensive end with his input. Just a great stop from our staff and all the players that played. It was a tough, tough win.”

After a slow start to the game, the Terriers played some of their best basketball all season, finishing the first half on a 35-22 run. Jones’ squad shot a scorching 15of-21 from the field in the half, including 6-of-6 on 3-point shots against the Patriot League’s best 3-point shot defense (.313).

BU would go on to shoot 57.1 percent from deep in the game.

“We have some good shooters, and all of these guys can make shots,” Jones said.

“Our ability to score inside, our ability to drive the ball and our ability to shoot the ball just kind of opens up opportunities for us to get threes.”

PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Sophomore Cheddi Mosely has scored 307 points this year, the most of any BU player.

One area of concern is the health of senior forward Nathan Dieudonne, who landed awkwardly after competing for a rebound and needed to be helped off of the court. It appeared to be a sprained left

ankle, but Jones is uncertain of the seriousness of the injury.

“I have no idea,” Jones said. “He said it was pretty bad. I don’t know if we’ll have CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Eric Fanning paces men’s basketball vs. American

BY MICHAEL JOSCELYN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Ever since his return on Dec. 2, junior guard Eric Fanning has paced the Boston University men’s basketball team’s offensive efforts.

Not only does Fanning lead the Terriers (15-11, 8-5 Patriot League) in points with 15 a game, he also acts as a barometer to the team’s play. During the Terriers’ current five-game winning streak, Fanning leads the team with an average of 16.8 points per game. In BU’s two losses that preceded that, his points per game sat at 11.

The Fanning effect was in full force for the Terriers when they defeated American University 71-51 Wednesday night.

In a first half that saw his team shoot an astronomical 71.4 percent from the field, Fanning led the way with 12 points, including a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point range.

“In the first half, we weren’t playing as hard even though we had the lead,” Fanning said. “And in the second half, I don’t know what was going on for the first 12 minutes. It was bad.”

While keeping up that blazing pace was desirable, the Terriers did come back from the stratosphere, and so did Fanning. The Tren-

ton, New Jersey native made two of his five shots in the second half, and BU only shot 33.3 percent from the field.

“We were all screwed up,” said BU head coach Joe Jones. “[With senior forward] Nate [Dieudonne] not being able to play and [sophomore forward] Nick [Havener] getting into foul trouble, we couldn’t run any offense. When we run small with Fanning at the four, we hadn’t done that in a while and we were reeling. I wanted to play Nick and [junior center] Blaise [Mbargorba] together, but since Nick got into foul trouble, we were really thrown off. “ CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

BOTTOM LI NE THURSDAY, FEB. 11

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg

FRIDAY, FEB. 12

SATURDAY, FEB. 13

Men's Lacrosse vs. UMass Lowell,

Men's Basketball @ Loyola Maryland,

12 p.m.

1 p.m.

discovering that Bernie Sanders and

Women's Lacrosse

Women's Hockey vs. New Hampshire,

Donald Trump won the New Hampshire

vs. Boston College, 3 p.m.

primary Tuesday.

Men's Hockey vs. UMass Lowell,

Popovich was visibly upset upon

7:30 p.m.

3 p.m.

Men's Hockey @ UMass Lowell, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEB. 14

MONDAY, FEB. 15

It turns out Popovich was upset Women's Hockey @ New Hampshire,

that the people of New Hampshire

2 p.m.

once again failed to vote for Tim Duncan.